The well-known tale of Cinderella has been retold through various cultural perspectives. The Native American version of the classic story, as told by Aaron Shephard, transforms into a legend known as "The Hidden One". Below, I have retold the story from the perspective of one of the minor characters, the Hidden One's sister.
“My brother comes,” I told her. “Do you see him?” The young woman gazed along the shore. “I’m not sure . . . .” As my disappointment began to rise, suddenly the scarred girl's eyes lit like bugs in the night. “Yes, I see him! But how can there be such a one?” Curiously, I questioned the strange young woman's perception. “What is his shoulder strap?” “His shoulder strap is . . . is the Rainbow!” My eyes grew wide as the moon at it's fullest. “And his bowstring?” “His bowstring is . . . the Milky Way!” I smiled, finally The Hidden One has found the wife he deserves. “Let us return.” Finally, the Woman had come that would make a suitable wife for my brother. I used the water I had blessed with our mother's love, gathered with the cleansing power of an entire universe from the sacred stream. After removing her birch clothing, she was bathed in my special water. Her scars disappeared, revealing the skin smooth and shining underneath. Finally, a comb made from the trees from which my Father's roots grew brushed through the hair of the young woman. Her hair was now long to the young woman's waist, shining and thick. Lastly, the young woman dressed in a wedding outfit I had made from the sacred beads I had gathered from the lake's shore. For the first, and final time, I was able to greet my brother cheerfully: "You are discovered!" The Hidden One walked over to the young, no londer scarred woman and took her hands in his. “For years I have waited to find a woman of pure heart and brave spirit. Only such a one could see me. And now you shall be my bride.” The strangely scarred woman was no longer plagued by shame in her appearance. She was then known as The Lovely One, and finally, my brother was no longer alone. ReflectionIn Teaching Children's Literature we examined traditional literature like folktales, mythology, legends, fairy tales and fables. Folktales are enjoyed by readers of all ages, but are especially impactful in developing children's imaginations and morality. The oral stories have simple, quickly developed plots, engaging repetition, vague settings, basic characters, a variety of language, moral themes and motifs. There are various methods of engaging children in traditional literature, even integrating technology to support children's own creative connections to classic tales, like in Heather Lotherington's multiliteracy approach. (Lotherington, 2006) For my class' analysis of traditional and classic literature, we were asked to retell a familiar story through a different character's point of view. While researching folktales, I stumbled upon three fascinating variants of Cinderella. The Native American version, The Hidden One, the Chinese version, Yeh-Shen, and the Egyptian tale, Rhodopis. All three had similar motifs to the Western Cinderella folktale, but with the influence of their cultural beliefs and environment. Rhodipus included Egyptian Gods, Yeh-Shen considered Chinese lifestyle in the story's development and The Hidden One stole my heart with the beautiful style and reflection of Native American culture. In order to provide multicultural literature while studying literacy aspects of traditional literature, including different variants of familiar tales from other areas reveals emotionally engaging connections and thought provoking differences. ResourcesKiefer, B., & Tyson, C. (2014). Picturebooks. In Charlotte Huck's children's literature: A brief guide (Second ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Lotherington, H., & Chow, S. (2006). Rewriting “Goldilocks” in the urban, multicultural elementary school. The Reading Teacher, 60(3), 242-252.
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