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WorksheetsTricksters - Cultural Background Connections
Total questions: 30
Worksheet time: 20mins
What region is associated with the Anansi stories?
The American South
North Africa
East Afrida
West Africa
South Africa
What was NOT a way that cultural exchange occurred and Anansi stories spread in his original context?
War and conquering
Published novels by individual writers
Commerce and exchange of other goods and services
Marriage marriage and travel
The slave trade (within Africa and Trans-Atlantic
What is the core origin of the Anansi stories?
The Ashanti Empire
The Anansi Empire
The Dagomba Coalition
The Kindgom of Krachi
The Griot language group
What term refers to the significant storytellers of Sub-Saharan Africa? These people were living libraries, poets, historians, advisors, composers, and translators among many other duties as well
Skáld
Griot
Tatau
Culture Hero
Trickster
What best describes the relationship of the Ashanti people to Anansi in their story of him?
As people neighboring to his place of origin, those neighbors are kind of jerks and their hero Anansi is kind of a jerk
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a paragon of virtue and culture hero who shows everything their people love and value
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a culture hero who is responsible for significant discovery - like bringing stories to the world
As a people conquered by the empire where his stories originated, their stories involve Worst Anansi who scams everyone he meets and tricks honest people into slavery
What best describes the relationship of the Dagomba people to Anansi in their story of him?
As people neighboring to his place of origin, those neighbors are kind of jerks and their hero Anansi is kind of a jerk
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a paragon of virtue and culture hero who shows everything their people love and value
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a culture hero who is responsible for significant discovery - like bringing stories to the world
As a people conquered by the empire where his stories originated, their stories involve Worst Anansi who scams everyone he meets and tricks honest people into slavery
What best describes the relationship of the Krachi people to Anansi in their story of him?
As people neighboring to his place of origin, those neighbors are kind of jerks and their hero Anansi is kind of a jerk
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a paragon of virtue and culture hero who shows everything their people love and value
As the people of origin for Anansi, he is a culture hero who is responsible for significant discovery - like bringing stories to the world
As a people conquered by the empire where his stories originated, their stories involve Worst Anansi who scams everyone he meets and tricks honest people into slavery
Which pantheon and cultural background had not only the trickster Loki, but also fellow trickster Odin as head of the gods?
Chinese
Norse
Greek
Polynesian
First Nations - North American
Which pantheon and cultural background had some problematic race coding in their stories? (giants = always shifty and evil, dwarves = greedy and evil)
Chinese
Norse
Greek
West African
First Nations - North American
In "Loki the Trickster" we talked about a cultural connection to Medieval Europe on the topic of a wall for Asgard. What best summarizes that connection point?
Wall segments - like Hadrian's Wall - all the way north in bordering Scotland are evidence of Roman occupation and connections to Greek myth
Walls are a common theme with mythology, with one of Sun Wukong's adventures involving the construction of the Great Wall in China
Most of what we picture for "castles" in Medieval Europe are actually the walls around the castle's land for security, not the building where people really lived
The evil giant in the story is an offensive Scottish stereotype, but with recognition towards the strong "dry stone" walls that were constructed
What best describes the interaction between Christianity and worship of Norse gods which we discussed with "Loki and the Death of Balder"?
Missionaries didn't want to fight (or be killed) for telling people their pagan gods were wrong, so they leaned into similarities between Balder-->Jesus and Loki-->Satan to make the transition of religions easier
The area was under siege as part of a Christian Crusade, and replacing all references to Balder and Loki were forcibly replaced with references to Jesus and Satan
Representatives from the church were eradicating Skalds as false prophets of pagan gods, so the poets and bards modified their stories to have the names "Jesus" and "Satan" wherever "Balder" and "Loki" had been
The Norse traditions and cultures had been dead for 100 years by the time Christianity reached the region, so when Monks wanted to transcribe the existing beautiful works of Norse myth they found, they had to change a few words to make things fine with the Church
What term refers to the tradition of artistic body modification (both for sacred purposes and non-sacred purposes) in Polynesian cultures?
Skáld
Griot
Tatau
Tapu
Noa
What was the significance of tapu tatau in Polynesian cultures?
Tattoos earned by warriors based on battles fought and won, given on the day of battle
Tattoos of leaders given when they take authority, given on day of coronation
Tattoos for artistic or storytelling purposes, mainly geometric shapes, patterns, and lines
Tattoos for sacred reasons, including religious rites and family heritage, given in a tattooing ceremony
What was the significance of noa tatau in Polynesian cultures?
Tattoos earned by warriors based on battles fought and won, given on the day of battle
Tattoos of leaders given when they take authority, given on day of coronation
Tattoos for artistic or storytelling purposes, mainly geometric shapes, patterns, and lines
Tattoos for sacred reasons, including religious rites and family heritage, given in a tattooing ceremony
What is the tradition of dance from Hawaii using repeated motions with specific meaning to tell a story, accompanied with a chant (often recounting oral history)?
Siv Afi
Tapu-Noa
Hula
Aumakuea
Haka
What is the term for the Hawaiian guardian spirit of the family, which is often signified in traditional Hawaiian tattoo?
Siv Afi
Pe'a
Hula
Aumakuea
Haka
What is the term for the Samoan "Fire Knife" dance, originally featuring a war-club or war-knife and solo performer, meant for sharpening a warrior's mind before battle and intimidation of enemies?
Siv Afi
Moko
Pe'a
Aumakuea
Haka
What is the term for the traditional Samoan tattoo covering the body from the waist to below the knees and with the name meaning "respect"?
Siv Afi
Moko
Pe'a
Aumakuea
Haka
What is the term for the traditional Maori war chant, always performed in a group (traditionally with just men participating) serving purposes of intimidation, solidarity, respect, pride, and honor?
Siv Afi
Moko
Pe'a
Hula
Haka
What is the term for the traditional Maori tattoo, often on the face, cheeks, or neck for its religious significance and with the head being the holiest part of the body?
Siv Afi
Moko
Pe'a
Hula
Haka
What was the cultural phenomenon we discussed with the many different expressions of Maui, Hina, and other major characters repeated in the Maui stories?
Syncretism - many diverse sources are all put together with the same names despite how different they are in each telling
Divergence - there is a similar core cultural umbrella and repeated ideas, but the distance between cultures leads to the story details being vastly different between tellings
Isolation - because the islands are thousands of miles apart by sea, it is a puzzle to understand how or why there are so many similarities
Aumakuea - each story version changes in order to honor whatever guardian spirit is most relevant in that area, so the names are significant but details highly localized.
Which cultural background presented an Underworld that is cold, with ancient zombie prophets and a grave queen as ruler to make those deals regarding release of the dead?
Chinese (with Sun Wukong)
Norse (with Hel and the Death of Balder)
Polynesian (with Maui)
Greek (with Prometheus)
Which cultural background presented an Underworld deep in the ocean or far out at sea where the largest storms brew (a great place to find ocean spirits, but bound to make monsters if there are no remaining connections to land or humanity)?
Chinese (with Sun Wukong)
Norse (with Hel and the Death of Balder)
Polynesian (with Maui)
Greek (with Prometheus)
Which cultural background presented an Underworld run in an orderly manner by a King Yama who has body guards to go and collect people, as well as clerks to manage all of the records of the dead?
Chinese (with Sun Wukong)
Norse (with Hel and the Death of Balder)
Polynesian (with Maui)
Greek (with Prometheus)
Which cultural background presented an Underworld including torment for those most hated by the gods and deserving of eternal punishment (or until the gods have a reason to let them free from eternal punishment)?
Chinese (with Sun Wukong)
Norse (with Hel and the Death of Balder)
Polynesian (with Maui)
Greek (with Prometheus)
Why is the Monkey King's story coming to us from a novel (The Journey to the West being one of the 4 Great Novels of Classical China) significant in comparison to the other tricksters?
Sun Wukong is a fictional character with no basis in folklore while the other tricksters are important cultural figures
The other tricksters are gods or important figures, while the novel exists to strip Monkey (and the people he comes from) of honor and authority
The novel and its writer make intentional choices with how it portrays Monkey in relation to other figures (like the Buddha) while other stories do not feature such careful cross-cultural interactions
What is the interesting flavor of syncretism that Journey to the West and the story of the Monkey King have to offer?
The shocking number of how many gods were rolled into one with Sun Wukong - a deathless god, an animal god, a war god, a demon lord, a monster of gluttony, etc.
Not bringing together different beliefs as merged into one, but bringing together different beliefs as all coexisting together - traditional gods, dragon worship, ancestor worship, culture heros, Buddhism together
An interesting case where the existing characters in Mythology were mashed together with figures from a large religion - "Buddha and the Monster" from India coming to China as the story of the Monkey King
A case where an idea was put forth first in writing in order to make it more popular with the people (with the novel arranged when the current emperor converted to Buddhism)
What cultural note did we have for religion and philosophy in the context of the Monkey King's story?
That religion and philosophy could occupy the same place in lives - moral guidance for living a good life
That in the context of the story, religion and philosophy are separate and that is why we see divine figures like Monkey practicing philosophical traditions like the Tao
That there is no difference between religion and philosophy - both have moral laws, both have gods, both have worship.
In looking at the scope and differences of First Nations people groups in North America, what role did "Western Expansion" in the history of the United States play?
A beautiful process of cultural exchange and syncretism where the beliefs of different Native American traditions were added to the religious traditions of settles
A purely peaceful coexistence in sharp contrast to the conquering and suppression of regional beliefs seen with Monkey King and Chinese history right before this
People with largely European and English backgrounds moving from the East Coast out west, pushing existing people groups further west or violent conflict when groups collided
A coincidental process by which First Nations groups happened to choose to peacefully move west at the same time East Coast settlers moved west
What was NOT a role that tobacco played in its original cultural context, particularly with the Apache?
Social - smoking tobacco was a social activity shared with friends and family members
Economic - tobacco had a common value among many people, so if they did not have goods to trade, items could have a value in tobacco
Religious and political - tobacco would be used in religious ceremonies or political agreements, such as the peace pipe
Criminal - tobacco was only to be used by men and high-status members of the community, so the privilege of access to tobacco would be revoked from criminals
