Description
The Trickster and the Troll by Lakota writer, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, presents her interpretation of an imagined encounter between the Sioux trickster and the Norwegian troll. Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve draws on her tribal heritage for the character of Iktomi, the Sioux trickster, and her husband's Norwegian heritage for the troll character. The author explains the idea for the book came from this dual heritage of her children and goes on to explain the nature of the Sioux trickster and the Norwegian troll. Often each character is portrayed in stories as mischievous, cruel, helpful or kind. Tricksters do not learn from their misadventures and each is a beloved character from their cultural traditions. Stories from both cultures are told to children by parents or elders as entertainment as well as teaching tools. This book presents a possible scenario with Iktomi meeting Troll when Troll comes to America with his Norwegian family. After a confrontational first contact, Iktomi and Troll begin to find qualities of value in the other. In fact they become almost friends and colleagues as they both try to relocate their cultural groups. With the opening of the West, the Plains peoples and the buffalo find life extremely difficult. The Native Americans endured the newcomers from Europe who were seeking farmland, riches, and a new way of life. Even the Norwegian family finds that life in America is difficult and they that they must leave their cultural traditions behind and become “Americans”. The Trickster and the Troll manage to locate people from their perspective cultures who wish to relearn about their heritage. This book presents a unique approach and perspective for elementary students studying European contact with Native People, and the impact of immigration on North America's land and original inhabitants. A helpful glossary of Lakota Sioux and Norwegian terms is provided.