Spirit Animal Origin Story – Adapted
To dive a little deeper into our Native American study of spirit animals, you will create your own origin story as told from the point-of-view of a spirit animal that resembles your personality and character.
Write Your Own Spirit Animal Origin Story – Starring YOU as a Spirit Animal
For this writing piece, you are going to write your own origin story – how you came to be in the vein of the Native American Tradition.
You will assume the identity of an animal – you should have already picked one in Craft's class. Don't sweat it if you chose an animal that is not indigenous to where you were born or to the Pacific Northwest – you can adapt your story so the animal fits in with the setting of your story.
Back to the narrative. Tell a story about how you came to be the person you are at this moment in time through the lens of your spirit animal (anthropomorphism).
Think Native American storytelling tradition.
- Tell the story of how the animal came to be in the first place, then...
- Transition to a specific story of how the animal endures a hardship, or obstacle in life – a "trial by fire" – and learns something about him/herself, or the nature of the world
- In consequence, thereafter, the animal changes – usually physically, i.e., "... and that's why the Great Spirit gave the racoon a striped tail..."
Things to remember/consider:
- Base your story on something in your OWN life – a time where you endured or overcame, and learned something from it
- Don't be afraid to exaggerate and/or change details to create a compelling story
- Change real people in your story to animals too
- Thinking about your own story and what you learned from it, how would this experience translate into a change for your spirit animal?
The Technical Stuff You Need to Know
- Minimum 1.5 pages – 2 pages maximum, typed, single-spaced
- 12-point font – plainish font
- Title centered and author’s (you) name underneath
