The Boy who Lived with the Bears

JOSEPH BRUCHAC

This is a Native American legend from the Haudanosaunee people. They are part of a group of six Native American tribes from northeastern America called the Iroquois Nation. The Haudanosaunee people are also called “the people of the long-house”, because members of a clan, as many as 60 people, lived together in one house. Each clan was led by a clan mother. The story is an oral legend. Before people could read and write they told stories to each other. Often the stories were legends that explained different things: how the earth was created, why the bear has no tail or in this case, why it is important to treat children well.

Long ago, in a small village of the Haudenosaunee people, there lived a little boy whose parents had died. UNDERSTANDING TASKS 1 True or false? a The animals all run away from the noise the boy makes. b Outside the cave the boy sees lots of people. c The boy decides to live with the family that likes fruit and fish. d The bears are afraid of all the hunters. e They hide in a house in the forest. f The boy has forgotten that he used to be a human being. g The hunter starts a fire to get the bears to come out. h The hunter kills the bears and rescues the boy.

Glossary for the recorded text tribe stamme oral muntlig tail hale custom tradisjonen elders eldste did not have a straight mind var ikke snill treated him badly var slem mot ham ragged slitte scraps rester bothered plaget troublesome plagsomme lodge jakthytta vanished forsvant clearing åpning, lysning Vurderingseksemplarsquirrels ekorn woodchucks skog murmeldyr chipmunks jordekorn moles muldvarper shuffled slepte seg poked pirket borti burrow hi dug (dig) gravde the most delicious de deiligste covered with dekket med Flapping Jaws «Den som snakker med seg selv» hollow hul log trestamme nephew nevø twisted-mind thing noe veldig galt

2 Answer the questions. a Why does the boy live with his uncle? b Why is his uncle respected? c How does the boy know that something is wrong when they go hunting? d In which direction do they go hunting? e Why don’t people usually hunt there? f How does the uncle get the boy to crawl into the cave?

VIEWPOINTS

3 Discuss the questions. a How do we know that the hunter was sorry for what he did? b What does the story teach adults to do? c Do you think there is any truth in this story? Could something similar really happen? LANGUAGE LAB 4 Prepositions Find the correct preposition for each sentence. in on at by for during since before until a The boy shouted just in time to save the bears. b ___ the boy’s time in the forest, he started to look like a bear. c He stayed with the bears ___ two seasons. d ___ his parents died he had stayed with his uncle. e The boy sang ___ he heard someone singing back loudly. f The boy was saved ___ the animals. g ___ the uncle found the boy, he thought he had been killed by animals. Vurderingseksemplar h Just ___ that moment the boy remembered that he too was a Two Legs. i To please his uncle, the boy was probably always ___ time. 5 Irregular Verbs: Past Tense Find the past tense form of the irregular verb in brackets. a The boy listened. Two Legs and Four Legs came (come) into the clearing and right up to the log. And then everything ___ (become) quiet. The boy ___ (think) they had gone away. But then he ___ (begin) to smell smoke. b And indeed, it was (be) as the old mother bear ___ (say). Their lives ___ (be) very good together. They ___ (take) their time going through the forest.

They ___ (eat) delicious berries and honey, and the boy ___ (grow) fat and happy.

Navajo Code Talkers

Early in the Second World War, a 17-year-old Navajo named Jack Nez signed up for the US Marines. He had special This message is written in secret code. Can you figure out what it STARTING POINT language skills the Marines needed in their fight against the says and Japanese in the Pacific. When Jack returned to his family after explain how the war, he never told them about the important role that he the code had played there. “All we knew was that he was a radio works? operator,” explains his son Glenn. Many years later, and after VLR XOB X Jack’s death, his family found out that he had been involved PJXOQ ZLLHFB! in a top-secret program involving his native language. Jack Nez was one of the original Navajo Code Talkers. Secure and quick communication is vital in times of war, and secret codes have been used for this purpose for centuries. During World War II the Japanese were breaking secret military codes almost as fast as the Americans could develop them. They knew where, when and how the Americans

Vurderingseksemplarthe Pacific Stillehavet native language morsmålet secure sikker vital viktig purpose hensikt

Navajo Code Talkers at a Veterans Day parade in New York City.

analyst analytiker sifting through a sieve som sand mellom fingrene brainwave en lys idé reservation reservat missionaries misjonærer fluently flytende give it a try gi det en sjanse participate delta around the clock døgnet rundt substituted byttet ut terms termer, begreper hummingbird kolibri buzzard musvåk

planned to attack almost immediately. One military analyst says the situation was “like sand sifting through a sieve”. The leaks in strategic communication resulted in huge American losses. Something had to be done. The Americans needed a code language that the enemy was unable to break. Then an engineer in California had a brainwave. Philip Johnston had grown up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, where his parents were Protestant missionaries. He spoke the language fluently. He suggested that the military use a secret code based on the Navajo language. The complex language was perfect for code. It was almost impossible for nonNavajos to learn, and it had no written form. The US Marine Corps decided to give it a try. spell out stave høyt In May 1942, Jack Nez and 28 other Navajo recruits arrived at Camp Elliott in California. Some of them had never been off the reservation before. They were there to participate in the top-secret Code Talker program. Philip Johnston was there to help them develop and learn to use the code. The young men worked around the clock. First, they substituted military terms with everyday Navajo words. For example, they gave different kinds of planes the names of different kinds of birds in Navajo. The first code had 211 terms; later it grew to 411 words and phrases. English Navajo word Translation fighter plane da-he-tih-hi hummingbird bomber plane jay-sho buzzard bombs a-ye-shi eggs battleship lo-tso whale submarine besh-lo iron fish Vurderingseksemplar fighter plane da-he-tih-hi hummingbird

Then they developed an alphabet system so they could also spell out words. The first letter of a Navajo word corresponded with one of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. For common letters they chose more than one Navajo word.

A

B wol-la-chee ant

shush bear

C moasi cat

The Code Talkers had to memorize the code and practice using it under stressful conditions. When they were ready, they were sent to the war in the Pacific. By the end of World War II over 400 Navajos had taken part in the program. The Navajo Code Talkers played a crucial role in many battles. Working in pairs, one sent and received messages over the radio, while the other operated the radio and listened for errors. They communicated with other teams of code talkers. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a Japanese island, six code talkers worked day and night, transmitting over 800 messages without error. Their skill, speed and accuracy helped turn the tide of the war. The Japanese were never able to crack the Navajo code. The original 29 Navajo Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000 for their important contributions to the war effort. Jack Nez’s son Glenn says, “We are proud to know that he was involved with this bit of history.”

The Navajo Nation

memorize lære utenat stressful conditions stressende forhold crucial avgjørende received mottok errors feil transmitting sendte accuracy nøyaktighet turn the tide snu strømmen crack the code knekke koden awarded tildelt contributions bidrag Vurderingseksemplar

UNDERSTANDING

1 Answer the questions. a Which Native American tribe was Jack Nez from? b What situation was like “sand sifting through a sieve”? c What was Philip Johnston’s brainwave? d Why was Navajo a perfect choice for a code language? e What kinds of names did they give different kinds of planes in the secret code?

2 These numbers are the answers. What are the questions? Scan the text to find the information you need. a 17 b 29 c 211 d 26 e 400 f 800 g 2000

VIEWPOINTS

3 Discuss the questions. a Why do you think that Jack Nez did not tell his family about what he did during

World War II? b The Code Talker program was not de-classified until 1968. By the time the code talkers were officially recognized in 2000, only six of them were still alive. Do you think that all of the families felt like Jack Nez’s son Glenn? Why or why not? c Why is it important that minority groups like the Native Americans in the USA are officially recognized for their achievements?

SPEAKING SPOT

4 Make a list of 10–12 keywords and phrases from “Navajo Code Talkers”. Use the list to tell a partner about the text.

Navajo girl on her horse in the Monument Valley, Arizona , USA . Vurderingseksemplar

186

WRITING WORKSHOP

5 Use the list of keywords and phrases from exercise 4 to write a summary of “Navajo Code Talkers”.

LANGUAGE LAB

Keywords help you remember the contents of a text.

6 Active and passive voice Are the sentences in active or passive voice? a Jack Nez never told his family about his war experiences. active b 29 Navajo Indians were recruited to the Code Talker program. c The young men substituted military terms with Navajo words. d Planes were given the names of birds. e The Code Talkers practiced using the code. f They were sent to the war in the Pacific. g The Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000. 7 These sentences about the traditional way of life of the Navajo people are in the passive voice. Rewrite them in the active voice. Start each sentence with the subject in brackets. a Babies were carried on cradleboards by their mothers. (Mothers) Mothers carried their babies on cradleboards. b Earth houses called hogans were built out of wood and clay. (They) c Clothing was made from deerskin and yucca plants. (They) d Moccasins were worn on their feet. (They) e Baskets were woven by women. (Women) f Silver and turquoise jewelry was crafted by men. (Men) g 9000 Navajos were forced to walk from Arizona to New Mexico in 1864. (Soldiers) h The Navajo Nation was established in 1868. (The government) i The Navajo Tribal Council is elected by the people. (The people) Vurderingseksemplar

DIGITAL DIVE

8 World War II was not the first time that a Native American language was used to create a code. During World War I the Choctaw language was used to send secret messages. Search the internet to find out more about the Choctaw Code Talkers of WWI. Write 5–8 sentences about what you find.

CREATIVE CORNER

9 Your teacher will show you the full Navajo alphabet code. Spell your name using the code, and say it to a partner.