This is what they are teaching in MD 3rd grade public schools

Re. 3rd grade MD public school curriculum
Here is my son's reading assignment verbatum: exactly as printed

Buffaloes ate people.

A long time ago buffaloes used to eat people It is true! The hair on their chins is the hair of the people they used to eat.

Ya-a-a-a-a..... It is terrible to think about those times. One day Crow called all the animals and people to the plains for a meeting.

The CREATOR stood on the highest hilltop and asked, "Is it right that buffaloes eat people or should people eat buffaloes?"

The Creator decided that the animals and the people should run a race to decide who should eat what.

The animals joined with the buffaloes because they have four legs. The birds joined with the people because they have 2 legs

..........

Frankly folks I do not understand the educational value of this curriculum. It reads more like an SNL script of a Mississippi classroom. It does smack of creationism despite the rest of the nonsense and strange capitalizations.

What do you think?

Nothing harmful, as long as it's taught in the right context. Promotes cross-cultural understanding, and acceptance.

...and thanks to google here it is in its entirety.

http://www.earthbow.com/native/cheyenne/buffalo.htm

How The Buffalo Hunt Began

The buffalo formerly ate man. The magpie and the hawk were on the side of the people, for neither ate the other or the people. These two birds flew away from a council between animals and men.

They determined that a race would be held, the winners to eat the losers. The course was long, around a mountain.

The swiftest buffalo was a cow called Neika, "swift head." She believed she would win and entered the race. On the other hand, the people were afraid because of the long distance. They were trying to get medicine to prevent fatigue.

All the birds and animals painted themselves for the race, and since that time they have all been brightly colored. Even the water turtle put red paint around his eyes. The magpie painted himself white on head, shoulders, and tail. At last all were ready for the race, and stood in a row for the start.

They ran and ran, making some loud noises in place of singing to help themselves to run faster. All small birds, turtles, rabbits, coyotes, wolves, flies, ants, insects, and snakes were soon left far behind. When they approached the mountain the buffalo-cow was ahead; then came the magpie, hawk, and the people; the rest were strung out along the way. The dust rose so quickly that nothing could be seen.

All around the mountain the buffalo-cow led the race, but the two birds knew they could win, and merely kept up with her until they neared the finish line, which was back to the starting place. Then both birds whooshed by her and won the race for man. As they flew the course, they had seen fallen animals and birds all over the place, who had run themselves to death, turning the ground and rocks red from the blood.

The buffalo then told their young to hide from the people, who were going out to hunt them; and also told them to take some human flesh with them for the last time. The young buffaloes did this, and stuck that meat in front of their chests, beneath the throat. Therefore, the people do not eat that part of the buffalo, saying it is part human flesh.

From that day forward the Cheyenne began to hunt buffalo. Since all the friendly animals and birds were on the people's side, they are not eaten by people, but they do wear and use their beautiful feathers for ornaments.

i've read it before.

Looks like somebody's directly emphasizing "CREATOR". i.e. Jesus' dad.

Like that "ya-a-a-a-a!" thing.

I dunno, maybe it's something. If you want to look into it, how that word was emphasized in the history of the story (which probably would have been passed down orally... there WOULD be room for emphasis and rhythm, and some might see a need to translate that into textual representation.)

I'd sure like to see the reference to this particular legend.

http://www.redlodgebooks.com/newbooks/0689714521.html

If they are teaching it as a Native American myth, in the context of teaching other creation myths and not as science, I think that's a good thing.

on edit:

Here's a noncommercial link with a longer version of the story:
http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co09062003/CO_09062003_Great_Race.htm

... it's difficult to say. This sounds like it's supposed to be a Native American legend explaining how men came to eat animals. That's my best guess.

Cheers.

The intention is to fix the word "Creator" in the child's head for some later definition.

Is it a fable from a particular culture? If so, it could tell us about the beliefs and values of that culture. The very point might be to consider how cultures have widely varying viewpoints--and that should be a good thing.

Or, perhaps it reveals other "origin" stories. My students were actually shocked that Hindus had different views of the origin of the world than Christians. This story, meant to explain why..."Whatever it's trying to explain"...happened could segue into a meaningful discussion of how religions explain things--then it might lead to a powerful discussion of how science is DIFFERENT from religion.

But then I have no idea what the intended context was.

...and this was a Catholic institution, no less!

It did me no harm at all...the fables, that is... :)

We won't get into what Catholic school does to you, overall.

so they can't be that bad.

As fables go it is OK I guess. I plan to introduce my son to the works of Joseph Campbell.

...they provide an excellent education, and produce more Atheists/Agnostics than can be believed! :)

I do Love George Carlin's stuff, too.

"Isn't it fun to read about myths and folklore? The Native Americans had some great stories that helped explain the world around them. And few cultures can compare with the amazing stuff that the Greeks and Romans conjured up! The Bible is another book that's packed with interesting myths and legends. It's all great reading, and many people think this stuff is the truth, isn't that something? But certainly very little, if any, is true." Then we'd giggle about the ark filled with animals.

But I was never into fiction, myself. I'm far more interested in reading about what really happened/happens.