Part 2 Section 2 Summary and Analysis

The second section of "The World Around Us" recounts how different sorts of mythological people came into being.

"How the Half Boys Came to Be" (Kiowa) The introduction to this story tells of an ancient ritual celebrated by the Kiowa people, in which ten medicine bundles, called the Ten Grandmothers, each guarded by a male and female priest, were ritually cleansed once a year. During this ceremony, the story of each bundle's contents was told. However, because the telling of the stories always took place in private and in secret, most of those stories have been lost.

A beautiful young Woman journeys to the World Above the Sky where she meets the Sun, marries him, and about a year later becomes mother to a little Boy. One day, as the Woman prepares to go out and dig potatoes, the...