Using Polynesian legends and folktales to encourage culture vision and creativity.

"What is that shadow on the moon?" Despite diversity in nationality, lifestyle, religion, or ethnicity, children all over world look into the night sky to ponder a similar question.

"Craters," says a European-American child, who recently had visited an observatory and listened eagerly to the scientists' explanation.

"It's a rabbit, a rabbit on the moon," murmurs a Native American mother, passing on to her child one of many rich traditions from her culture.

"It's Sina," says a Samoan grandmother. "In the days of great famine, Sina, the maker of tapa, grieved over the hunger of her little daughter. As she looked at the bright, round moon, she thought of a giant breadfruit, and she wished that the moon were a breadfruit so that her child could have a bite. Insulted and angry, the moon swooped down and took Sina to her, and now Sina must continue to pound the tapa cloth from her place on the surface of the moon." (Herman, 1955).

A Maori child in New Zealand remembers another Sina, a bad-tempered woman who was carrying heavy jars of water when the moon slipped behind some dark clouds. This Sina stumbled in the darkness, spilled her water, and injured her knee. Angry, she cursed the moon, calling him "cooked head," one of the worst insults in the Maori culture. As punishment for her impertinence, the Maori Sina was taken onto the moon, where she still vents her temper. (Te Kanawa, 1989).

A Hawaiian child may argue that the woman in the moon is Hina, a mother who was so distressed with her sloppy, dirty children that she ran away to live on the moon, where things were cleaner. (Westervelt, 1964).

From one set of shadows comes many explanations and stories. Each culture has its folklore - those stories and traditions that carry knowledge, wisdom, values, beliefs, wit, and imaginings from one generation to the next. Such folklore has been called the "informal knowledge" of a people (Livo & Reitz, 1987).

This informal knowledge passed on through shared stories and traditions can broaden children's world views in ways more personal than can maps, historical facts, or lists of exports. Because stories and traditions touch the heart as well as the mind, they change the ways that children understand and respond to people of another culture. Mary Catherine Bateson (1994) poses an ideal that every parent and teacher should consider: "What would it be like to have not only color vision but culture vision, the ability to see the multiple worlds of others?" (p. 53).

Through sharing folklore with children, we may begin to develop such culture vision. Because children are naturally attracted to stories, they easily can become imaginatively involved with characters, settings, and adventures. By linking the stories to creative activities, we can sharpen their culture vision, and help children express their feelings through writing, drawing, storytelling, and creative drama.

Culture vision should be extended to everywhere around the world. The ancient cultures of Polynesia, particularly those from Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, and New Zealand (Maori), can be particularly exciting for young children. People tend to group these island cultures together and stereotype them, as well. Fortunately, these peoples' cultures are accessible through their rich and varied legends and folktales. Before Europeans came to their islands, the Polynesian peoples had no written language; thus, they transmitted cultural knowledge, skills, and beliefs through an oral tradition of legends and stories.

Teaching Through Nature

The ancient Polynesians lived close to nature; nature was the measure of, as well as the predominant influence in, their lives. Consequently, many of the legends and fables of Polynesia are concerned with nature's creatures and phenomena. Some nature stories were created to preserve and transmit a cultural value, such as not exalting oneself above one's peers. One Maori tale, for example, describes how the totara tree bragged that since he believed that he could stretch high enough to reach the Sky Father, he should become king of the forest. The other trees bragged as well, and soon the air was filled with crackling noises as all the trees reached and stretched as high as they could. None of them could reach the sky, however. The totara, having bragged first and loudest, was so ashamed that he retreated into the deep parts of the forest and attempted to hide himself where the foliage was thickest. Today, totara trees are found only in these deeply secluded areas, and they are difficult to find because they blend so modestly into their surroundings (Te Kanawa, 1989).

Like folklore from many cultures, the Maori stories often feature tricksters and their victims; learning these stories is part of a child's initiation into the norms and practices of the society. Many young children enjoy hearing of Kakariki, the small green parrot with bright red feathers under his wings. Kaka, the large brown parrot, dissatisfied with his own dull coloring, flatters Kakariki into "lending" him the bright feathers, just for a little while. Admiring the larger, more clever bird, Kakariki agrees to pull out the red feathers and give them to Kaka. The sly Kaka flies quickly into the deeper forest, faster and farther than Kakariki can follow. Today, it is Kaka who proudly wears the beautiful red feathers, while Kakariki is a dull and sad little bird (Te Kanawa, 1989).

Not only do folktales tend to be brief and simple, they also are vivid enough for young children to understand and remember. Young children everywhere can extend and refine their culture vision by listening, and then dramatizing, cultural stories.

Because they involve a limited number of characters, a single setting, and only a few details, nature stories are easy to retell or dramatize with simple costumes or puppets. Using the Maori folktale of the totara tree as an example, children could act out the trees' competitiveness and examine ways in which Totara might have dealt with his embarrassment, rather than retreating from it. Those assuming the roles of the other trees might explore ways in which they could help Totara understand that friends do not need to brag to each other.

Renzulli (1992) has noted, "If you truly want to understand something . . . try changing it" (p. 171). As they dramatize or retell the stories, children can explore how they changed the stories, examining which differences seem to be influenced by their own culture and society. If the children wish that Kaka had not succeeded in cheating Kakariki, they could use drama or puppetry to present a new, more satisfying ending for the story. Kaka could be compared to such classic tricksters as Aesop's foxes or Uncle Remus's Br'er Rabbit, to show the ways in which similar characters and themes are found in the folklore of many nations and peoples.

Nature fables are a simple and interesting genre to create. Young children easily respond imaginatively to nature. Once they have heard a few stories, they will find it easy to express some of their personal wonder in creative story form. Howard Gardner (1973) found that even very young children will naturally use literary devices and create stories; Gardner believes that it is through stories that young children begin making sense of their world. Enhance children's appreciation for nature by using animals, plants, and natural objects and formations as the genesis for creative stories. If it is practical to do so, take children on a nature walk, simple hike, a picnic, or some other outing. Ask them to bring something from nature to class - an interesting rock, a leaf, a bird's nest, or an insect. Use photos of a culture's flora and fauna to enhance the discussion.

Whether at a park or in a classroom, the storytelling circle is an important aspect of ancient and modern Polynesian cultures - almost every child who has grown up in the Hawaiian Islands has participated in these circles as part of his or her cultural experience (Kikuchi, 1976). To make the cultural experience seem more authentic, children can wear simple leis, which they can construct by stringing a circlet of anything from small shells or small candies to pasta and/or breakfast cereals. If additional "costumes" are desired, they can be made by simply wrapping the child in brightly colored cloth (preferably a floral print). Children can take turns showing their natural object or picture, and then telling a story in which it is featured.

Exploring With Analogies

Another way to tap creatively into the cultural identity of a people is through explorations of how analogies can be used to interpret experience. The Polynesian people create rich and varied metaphors to communicate the values and standards of their cultures (Love, 1991).

Traditional Polynesian names are often figurative, making them a natural prelude for exploring analogies. According to Hawaiian legend, the first man was named Wela-ahi-lani-nui, which means "The Great Heaven Burning Hot"; the first woman was Ke-aka-huli-lani, which means "The Heaven-Changed Shadow," as she was created as a shadow and given life. Looking at names in translation helps children realize that some cultures choose names using criteria other than what is currently popular. Names from some of the Hawaiian legends include "Listen to the Heavenly Voice," "The Covering of the Mekoa Leaf," "Child Nourished by the Gods," and "Mu With the Red Garland" (Rice, 1977). Children could be encouraged to choose descriptive names for themselves, which could be worn as badges or written on placards to place on desks: "Swift Runner of Races," "Hair Like Golden Sunshine," or "Kind Friend to Everyone."

Having chosen names to represent themselves in figurative terms, children may be ready to look at other ways in which language can be used in both literal and figurative ways. Samoan traditions and stories are particularly effective for looking at literal and figurative meanings, as the Samoan people are very apt to express themselves metaphorically. For example, Samoan parents often tease their children by making promises that they mean only in a metaphorical way (Love, 1991). A teacher could illustrate the custom by representing writing time as "free time," since students are free to express whatever ideas they want, or math time as "game time," because the students are going to drill math facts by playing a competitive game.

Thus, teasing and joking can be a relaxed and non-threatening way to examine the use of analogies, both as a language skill and a cultural practice. To strengthen culture vision, the teacher could explain that Polynesian languages contain very few general or abstract words (Westervelt, 1964). Because the early cultures had no way of recording their words in written form, they had to use words that were closely tied to things people encountered in their daily lives. The more vivid and specific words are, the easier they are to remember. Values or other concepts that could be misinterpreted had to be connected with something for which people could form vivid mental pictures. Consequently, many traditional stories were created to help children understand cultural values or standards.

The Samoan story of the two-mouthed sea cucumber, for example, often is used to transmit the cultural value of integrity. Loosely translated, the story is as follows:

A battle was to take place between the fish who lived in the sea and the birds who lived in the air. Both groups developed their plans for attack. When the fish had made their plans, their king cautioned them that no one was to tell the birds what they were going to do. All the fish and sea creatures agreed. But the sea cucumber forgot, and he told the birds the strategy that the fish were planning to use.

The birds were ready for the fish when they attacked, and they drove the fish back into the sea. "Hurrah for the birds, hurrah for the birds!" the sea cucumber cheered. But the next day the fish changed their strategy, and they drove the birds into the bushes. "Hurrah for the fish, hurrah for the fish, "shouted the sea cucumber. Neither side could trust the sea cucumber; they said that he was "double tongued." So they would not be betrayed again, the fish decreed that the sea cucumber could never again live in the deep areas of the sea. He would have to stay in lagoons and shallow areas where he could not do great damage.

From this story comes the Samoan proverb, "He has two mouths like the sea cucumber," which is used to describe a person who tells tales or changes loyalty, and cannot be trusted. (Adapted and proverb quoted from Herman, 1955).

Even very young children will be skeptical that a sea cucumber really could have two mouths. Therefore, a teacher might show them a picture of a sea cucumber, and then have them draw what it might look like if it really had two mouths and could talk to the birds out of one mouth and to the fish out of the other. These pictures could generate a discussion of times in their own lives when the children might have been tempted to say one thing to one group of people and a totally different thing to a second group.

Children also could be urged to remember teaching stories that have been used by parents or teachers to communicate values and standards in their own culture. The teacher can emphasize how comparing an abstract value to a concrete experience or story is a way of "making the strange familiar" (Khatena, 1978, p. 71).

Highly creative children find analogies to be a natural form of expression (Khatena, 1973), and all children can benefit from thinking in an analogical mode, since "noting similarities and differences [can] take students past the concrete and stretch them toward a more abstract level of thinking" (Meador, 1994, p. 70). Initiate a creative thinking/writing activity by asking children to choose a value or type of behavior they feel is important, and to make up a story to represent it. After carefully revising and illustrating their stories, the children can share them with classmates in a storytelling circle, or they can compile them into a class book.

Dealing With Fear

In addition to transmitting a culture's values and standards, stories often reflect the people's hopes and fears. All people have fears. Although some fears are a matter of individual experiences and sensitivities, some fears are culturally based - centered in historical tradition or in dangers common to groups of people. One way in which the Maori people of New Zealand dealt with fears was to create taniwhas (monsters) that resembled their fears, and to tell stories of heroes who destroyed these creatures.

Many of the taniwhas resembled lizards, as many Maori feared reptiles. Before people understood how illnesses are caused, the Maori thought that lizards represented a mysterious power that attacked people from inside, causing illness and even death. Many Maori also believed that if a lizard appeared before them, they would soon die (Andersen, 1928). Such fears led to stories of colossal taniwhas that could attack and eat a large caravan of travelers or a group of warriors.

One of the most famous taniwhas, Hotu-Puku, was said to be bigger than a whale, shaped like a lizard, covered with spines and lumps, and possessing a long, thorny tail and razor-sharp teeth. From a distance Hotu-Puku looked like a huge earthen hill that could move. After Hotu-Puku had eaten a large group of travelers, 170 warriors decided to avenge their deaths by killing him. They spent many days plaiting strong ropes from the leaves of the cabbage tree, as well as making nooses and snares, which they laid at the entrance of the taniwha's cave. Some of the strongest and bravest of the men lured Hotu-Puku into chasing them by running in front of the cave. When the monster pursued the men, it became ensnared. Although Hotu-Puku fought viciously, the men were finally able to kill it with their knives and clubs. The story illustrates how an obstacle may be overcome if everyone works together, each acting his part with great courage, according to his individual strength (Andersen, 1928; Te Kanawa, 1989).

Another well-known taniwha, Peke-haua, lived near a deep water hole (Andersen, 1928). This creature's existence originated from fears of aquatic creatures and other forms of destruction from the sea; hence, the taniwha was a water monster that resembled a fish. The people made a large basket-like water trap out of twisted vines, and eventually killed the monster. Again, the people overcame their fears through courage and cooperation.

Taniwhas were as varied as people's imaginations and fears (Andersen, 1928). Pou-whenua, a talking taniwha, had a huge head and batlike wings. The warrior Kahu tricked this taniwha into marrying an ugly woman, after which the taniwha got his revenge by kidnapping Kahu's bride. Kahu and his friends caught Pou-whenua in a noose and choked it to death (Te Kanawa, 1989). In another story, a taniwha named Kataore, a tamer beast who was actually one of the chief's pets, had eyes that looked like full moons over dark mountains, with irises like shimmering greenstone in the middle of its back eyeballs. Much beloved by the chief, its death precipitated a war (Andersen, 1928).

Children can learn more about the early Maori people by creating taniwhas that represent their own fears. After the teacher has explained about some of the Maori taniwhas, children can brainstorm some of their own fears, distinguishing them from fears that seem related to their culture and society. The children can create original taniwhas through drawings, finger paintings, posterboards, or working with clay or dough. Have the children use objects of various sizes and colors (e.g., beans, gravel, pasta, breakfast cereal, small candies, and glitter) to represent taniwhas' scales, scabs, or scars. As the children work on their taniwhas, the teacher can encourage them to talk about why they have chosen to use certain shapes and features, and have them describe the exploits, as well as, possibly, the eventual demise of their monsters. When the taniwhas have been completed, the children can share them in a class storytelling circle or present them to a group of parents and guests.

Conclusion

Cultural diversity has been identified as "one of the most important issues (perhaps the most important issue) for educational practice today" (Canella & Reiff, 1994, p. 8). Many resources exist for teaching facts about history, geography, current events, and, even, the customs of other nations and peoples. But to promote culture vision - the ability to understand people by living temporarily in their worlds - one must transcend those resources and enter into the hearts of the people.

Reading, telling, discussing, and making creative interpretations of folklore is one way to share this intimate side of a culture. Children will learn to consider how individuals of another culture think and feel as they sample and create native stories and legends through creative drama, written narratives, storytelling circles, art projects, and language activities. They can compare aspects of these thoughts and feelings to their own, discerning things that are common to ali people, as well as things that are culture-specific. Polynesian folklore holds rich possibilities for increasing culture vision, while providing enjoyable activities and promoting creative talents and responses. One of the collectors of Polynesian folklore, Westervelt (1964), begins his anthology with the words "in the misty memory of long ago." Perhaps if we bring folklore out of the mists through which we sometimes view it and into today's classrooms through reading, storytelling, and creative activities, we can develop the culture vision so important to the success of tomorrow's citizens.

References

Andersen, J. C. (1928). Myths and legends of the Polynesians. New York: Farrer & Rinehart.

Bateson, M. C. (1994). Peripheral visions: Learning along the way. New York: HarperCollins.

Canella, G. S., & Reiff, J. C. (1994). Teacher preparation for diversity. Equity and Excellence in Education, 27(3), 28-33.

Gardner, H. (1973). The fine arts and human development. New York: Wiley.

Gordon, W. J.J. (1961). Synectics: The development of creative capacity. New York: Harper and Row.

Herman (Ed. & Trans.). (1955). Tala o le vavu: Samoan legends. Pago Pago, American Samoa: The Association of the Marist Brothers' Old Boys.

Khatena, J. (1978). The creatively gifted child. New York: Vintage Press.

Khatena, J. (1973). Imagination imagery of children and the production of analogy. The Gifted Child Quarterly, 17(2), 98-102.

Kikuchi, W. K. (1976). The fireball in Hawaiian folklore. In A. L. Kaeppler & H. A. Nimmo (Eds.), Directions in Pacific traditional literature (pp. 196-216). Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum Press.

Livo, N. S., & Reitz, S. A. (1987). Storytelling activities. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Love, J. W. (1991). Samoan variations: Essays on the nature of traditional oral arts. New York: Garland Publishing.

Meador, K. S. (1994). The effect of synectics training on gifted and nongifted kindergarten students. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 18(1), 55-73.

Renzulli, J.J. (1992, Fall). General theory for the development of creative productivity through the pursuit of ideal acts of learning. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36(4), 170-182.

Rice, W. H. (Ed. & Trans.). (1977). Hawaiian legends. Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum Press.

Te Kanawa, K. (1989). Land of the long white cloud: Maori myths, tales and legends. New York: Arcarde Publishing.

Westervelt, W. D. (1964). Hawaiian legends of old Honolulu. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle.

Sharon Black teaches at the David O. McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. She formerly lived in Hawaii.