Dakota Pathways: History and Legend

Dakota Pathways: A History was a 20-part series used by Educator's across South Dakota for use in their classrooms. The 14 minute long segments explore some of the history of South Dakota. History and Legend is the 8th segment produced in the series.

There are many different ways that history is passed on from generation to generation. In today's world, people learn about history by reading books, watching television, or reading material from the Internet. But these weren't always the way that people learned history.

How do you think people learned history in ancient times? Did they know about their history? If they did, how did they learn about it? A major way that history was passed down from generation to generation was through stories. Young children would learn about the history of their cultures by listening to stories from their elders.

Now, this seems like a good way to learn about history, right? There was one problem. The stories weren't always the same. A lot of times the information changed from story to story. And a lot of times, the stories became larger than life. Sometimes people or things in these stories were able to do extraordinary things that were sometimes hard for people to believe. These stories are called myths and legends.
Have you ever heard a myth that you had a hard time believing was true? If so, you aren't the only one. Myths have confused, and entertained, people for thousands of years. In this episode, you will learn about some myths that took place right here in South Dakota.

Which ones will you believe?