Native American Oral Tradition

I started my English 3 American Literature classes with a read aloud today. It is an adaptation of a Native American Legend called "The Hidden One." The legend is basically about a young girl who has been mistreated and abused by her older sister. The sister would lie and cover up her abuse so the father would never know. In their village lived a great hunter with his sister, and the hunter was invisible; only a woman with a pure heart and brave spirit could see him and become his bride. The older sister goes to "See" the hunter to marry him, but pretends to see him when she cannot. Her lie is revealed and she is disgraced. So, the little sister goes to "See" the hunter and is taunted by the village for her audacity since she is ugly and scarred by her sister's beatings. She truly does see the hunter and her ugliness and scars melt away to show a beautiful young woman. She and the hunter are married and they each are invisible no more.
My Raisse-ers found this for me at the start of last semester and I used it then as a read aloud with only myself reading. This semester I made copies for six students and asked volunteers to read the different parts of the legend. The class enjoyed it, the response was more enthusiastic than last semester. After reading this, we discussed possible genres for this story, and what other stories it might remind students of. (i.e. Cinderella) Then I launched into the class notes for Native American Oral Tradition, and how stories are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. This has become a great introduction to this material. Thanks Raisse-ers!