After you have finished reading the legend, respond to the following question and post it as a comment:
What is the big idea in this legend? What lesson were First Nations people trying to teach by telling this story?
The Granddaughter who was Eaten by a Big Fish
This is a story about Gookum (Cree word for “grandmother”) and her mischievous granddaughter, Beulah. Beulah was a very curious little girl. She was always wandering off from the camp, looking for adventures. Gookum was always telling her to listen. One day, Gookum asked Beulah to get some water from the lake so she could make soup.
“Whatever you do, don’t go swimming in the lake alone,” said Gookum.
“Why not?” asked Beulah.
“Because there is a giant fish in that lake, and he will catch you and swallow you up if you swim too far.”
“Eeeeeya, Gookum. I’m not afraid of a big fish.”
So, Beulah went off to collect the water. Oh, it was a nice warm day. The sun shone brightly. A squirrel chattered as she walked along the path.
“Go away, silly squirrel. I am busy.”
A butterfly flew around the girl. She ran around in circles trying to catch the butterfly until it flew away. “I am really hot now,” Beulah said to herself. Finally, Beulah came to the lake. She went to the big rock where Gookum had showed her to stand to get water. She dipped her buckets in the lake. They filled up quickly. Those buckets were heavy now. She had to be very careful when she carried them to the shore, they were so heavy. With a cup, she scooped out the little sticks and leaves that floated on the top. She was ready to carry them back now.
Carrying the buckets made Beulah tired. She lay down next to the water, in a nice spot on a large flat rock. The sun shone on her. She was very hot, so she took off her shirt. A blue jay landed in a tree next to the path. The blue jay squawked at her.
“You noisy old bird. Stop disturbing me.” The blue jay flew away.
Beulah decided to have a quick swim, just to cool off before she took the water back for Gookum. She removed all of her clothes and dived in.
The water was nice and cool. Beulah was a good swimmer. She decided she would swim out as far as she could. As she swam out, Beulah saw a huge silver flash in the water. It was a great big fish, and with one gulp, it swallowed her whole! Beulah found she was trapped in the stomach of the huge fish Gookum had warned her about.
“Oh no,” she cried. “I should have listened to Gookum!”
Beulah had been gone a long time. Gookum thought that she had found an adventure and forgotten to get water. There was no point in worrying about her — there were chores to be done around camp. She cut wood and made dinner. When Beulah wasn’t home by night, Gookum was worried, but she knew the little girl was able to take care of herself in the woods.
The next day, Beulah still was not back. Gookum needed food, so she gathered the fishing net and went down to the lake. She caught six fish. One was a huge creature that stretched as long as her arms and more. That big fish would feed a whole family for a week. She started cutting up all the fish. When she finally got to the big fish, she slid the knife into the belly. Beulah jumped out, very much alive.
At first, Gookum was startled, but she quickly realized it was Beulah, who was covered head to toe in slimy, sticky fish innards. She shook her head at Beulah, and began to laugh at her. “I told you, I told you not to swim in the lake.” Beulah bowed her head and said nothing. She just went to the lake to clean off all the smelly fish slime.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the big idea of this Lengend is that you should always listen to what people tell you, (unless it is a negative comment) I know that this is the big idea because Beluah says 'oh no! I should have LISTENED to Gookum!'
ReplyDeleteI think that the big idea in this legend is that you have to listen to others if you want to succeed in life. I know this because the grandmother (gookum) said, "I told you, I told you not to swim in the lake." Beulah just bowed and left showing that she acknoledged that the grandmother was right and she was wrong. Also, it seems that Beulah was very stubborn and got annoyed everything she saw.
ReplyDeleteThe big idea of the legend is that if a old person tells you not to do something dumb, don't do it. This is because they have been around for longer than you and you should repect your elders. so if granny says : don't lick the stove" or something don't do it.
ReplyDeleteamal says
ReplyDeletethe big idia is that you suld always listen to a warning, becose you never know when you could get swallowed by a big fich.
the first nation people wanted to tell us to be carefull all the time and that you suld always listen to to your parets becose they always have a reason to tell you not to do that.
I think the big idea in the legend is to listen to other people if they tell you not to do something dangerous or dumb. Especially if they are older than you because they probably know what they're talking about. If someone tells you not to do something and you don't listen because you could get hurt or eaten by a fish.
ReplyDeleteThe big idea of the story is that when someone tells you something very sensible, like don't anger a professional assassin, you better listen!
ReplyDeleteSian says that the big idea of the story is to listen to your elders because they probably know a lot more than you do.
ReplyDeleteI think the big idea of the legend is that you should always listen to an elder or your guardian because they have been around longer than you have and they are more wise than you are. Alyssa 2013.03.21
ReplyDeleteErica
ReplyDeleteI think the big idea of the legend was that your elders know more then you do so you should listen to them. They have been around for a long time and know a lot more life lessons then you. I think the lesson First Nations people were trying to teach us is that you should just listen to instructions and not go wandering off, look where that got Beulah, stuck in a fish!
I think the big idea is that you should always listen to your parents and elders because they are the ones who do as much as they can to protect us and keep us safe. Even if you don't agree with them,they will probably be the ones who end up being right.Alyson
ReplyDelete