Pre-listening: When you have a quarrel with your partner who usually says sorry or makes the peace first – you, your partner, or you hardly ever quarrel? Now listen to the story to find out what happened when the first man and his mate were created, and they had an argument with each other:

While-listening: Make a note of how many different types of berry are named in the story.

Post-listening: Hand out the worksheets. The learners can work on the activities individually, and then pair up or get into groups to compare their answers.

Reconstruct the story by putting the following sentences in the correct order: 1-i / 2-h / 3-c / 4-g / 5-a / 6-d /7-f / 8-e / 9-b

Match the collective nouns on the left with what they refer to on the right: 1-f or 1-d / 2-c / 3-i / 4-b / 5-l / 6-k / 7-d or 7-f/ 8-e / 9-j / 10-g / 11-h / 12-a

COMMENTS

The Cherokee (who call themselves the Tsalagi) originally occupied a large portion of the Alleghany mountains. Their territory covered the present-day states of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. In 1839, after a long series of conflicts with the US Government during which they were pushed westward towards the Mississippi, the Cherokees were forcibly evicted from their land and marched to Oklahoma in the dead of winter by the US Army. This is today known as the "Trail of Tears", one of the most shameful actions ever taken by the Unites States government, and possibly for this reason, the Cherokee tribe has become a focal point for a lot of white guilt.

The Myths of the Cherokee, excerpted from the 19th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, is a nineteenth century collection of Cherokee myths, legends and folklore by the noted anthropologist James Mooney (1861-1921), who lived for several years with the Cherokee.

THE STORY

When the first man was created and a mate was given to him, they lived together very happily for a time, but then began to quarrel, until at last the woman left her husband and started off toward Nûñâgûñ'yï, the Sun land, in the east. The man followed alone and grieving, but the woman kept on steadily ahead and never looked behind, until Une'`länûñ'hï, the great Apportioner (the Sun), took pity on him and asked him if he was still angry with his wife. He said he was not, and Une'`länûñ'hï then asked him if he would like to have her back again, to which he eagerly answered yes.

So Une'`länûñ'hï caused a patch of the finest ripe huckleberries to spring up along the path in front of the woman, but she passed by without paving any attention to them. Farther on he put a clump of blackberries, but these also she refused to notice. Other fruits, one, two, and three, and then some trees covered with beautiful red service berries, were placed beside the path to tempt her, but she still went on until suddenly she saw in front a patch of large ripe strawberries, the first ever known. She stooped to gather a few to eat, and as she picked them she chanced to turn her face to the west, and at once the memory of her husband came back to her and she found herself unable to go on. She sat down, but the longer she waited the stronger became her desire, for her husband, and at last she gathered a bunch of the finest berries and started back along the path to give them to him. He met her kindly and they went home together (from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney). From Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900] Scanned at www.sacred-texts.com, January-February 2001, and in the public domain).

ORIGIN OF STRAWBERRIES: WORKSHEET

Reconstruct the story by putting the following sentences in the correct order:

a. Farther on he put a clump of blackberries, but these also she refused to notice.

b. He met her kindly and they went home together

c. He said he was not, and Une'`länûñ'hï then asked him if he would like to have her back again, to which he eagerly answered yes.

d. Other fruits, one, two, and three, and then some trees covered with beautiful red service berries, were placed beside the path to tempt her, but she still went on until suddenly she saw in front a patch of large ripe strawberries, the first ever known.

e. She sat down, but the longer she waited the stronger became her desire, for her husband, and at last she gathered a bunch of the finest berries and started back along the path to give them to him.

f. She stooped to gather a few to eat, and as she picked them she chanced to turn her face to the west, and at once the memory of her husband came back to her and she found herself unable to go on.

g. So Une'`länûñ'hï caused a patch of the finest ripe huckleberries to spring up along the path in front of the woman, but she passed by without paving any attention to them.

h. The man followed alone and grieving, but the woman kept on steadily ahead and never looked behind, until Une'`länûñ'hï, the great Apportioner (the Sun), took pity on him and asked him if he was still angry with his wife.

i. When the first man was created and a mate was given to him, they lived together very happily for a time, but then began to quarrel, until at last the woman left her husband and started off toward Nûñâgûñ'yï, the Sun land, in the east.

1 ___ 2 _ 3 _ 4 _ 5 _ 6 _ 7 _ 8 _ 9 ___

**We say a group of people but a patch of huckleberries or strawberries, and a clump of blackberries. Match the collective nouns on the left with what they refer to on the right:**

1. a bank of a. coastline

2. a bed of b. earth

3. a carpet of c. flowers

4. a clod of d. fog

5. a cloud of e. fruit trees

6. a dune of f. grass

7. a patch of g. hills

8. an orchard of h. ice

9. a puddle of i. leaves

10. a range of j. rainwater

11. a sheet of k. sand

12. a stretch of l. smoke

1 ___ 2 ___ 3 ___ 4 ___ 5 ___ 6 ___ 7 ___ 8 ___ 9 ___ 10 ___ 11 ___ 12 ___

Sometimes arguments can lead to positive results if we learn something from them – either about ourselves or about the people we argue with. When has something like this happened to you? Tell the person next to you about it, and / or write an account of the argument and what happened as a result of it for homework.

Alternatively, you might like to rewrite the story, giving it a different ending in which the woman keeps on walking and perhaps meets someone else!