Difficult Tasks - Jamaica Julia Gentle, Santa Cruz Mountains. A boy live with a very rich gentleman, and he have no children and he believe that when he die, the boy get all the fortune; so he want to kill the boy. And he throw out a barrel of rice and say boy must pick up every grain before he come back. And dead mother come and pick up every grain. And when he come and see the boy pick up all the rice, say, "You mean to get all me fortune!" He tell the boy must go to the headman town and carry away the duppy-man one bell. An the dead mother go with the boy and the mother tell the boy what time the duppy lie down he must mash them hard. And he go take the bell out the middle of the town where the duppy is, and must run to four cross-roads before he come home with the bell. Then all the duppy scatter; one go one crossroad and one another, and the boy run home to massa with the bell. Then after he carry the bell come home, the man say, "I don' know what to do! I believe you going to get me fortune!" And him tak one sword, the sharpest sword, and give the boy the dull sword and say, "We now play sword!" And the boy take the dull sword and kill the man and get all the fortune. Jamaica Anansi Stories ,Martha Warren Beckwith, New York, Published By The American Folk-Lore Society, G. E. Stechert & Co., Agents. [1924] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Di-S-Qau-Ni (chestnut bread) - Cherokee Cut chestnuts into small bits, then blend with whatever beans you prefer. Use whatever seasonings you wish, wild ramps, onions, (optional: a touch of sassafras), sweet grass or whatever. Cook the same as you would any other beans until done. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deganawidah: The Two Serpents - Haudenosaunee When Deganawidah was leaving the Indians in the Bay of Quinte in Ontario, he told the Indian people that they would face a time of great suffering. They would distrust their leaders and the principles of peace of the League, and a great white serpent was to come upon the Iroquois, and that for a time it would intermingle with the Indian serpent as a friend. This serpent would in time become so powerful that it would attempt to destroy the Indian, and the serpent is described as choking the life's blood out of the Indian people. Deganawidah told the Indians that they would be in such a terrible state at this point that all hope would seem to be lost, and he told them that when things looked their darkest a red serpent would come from the north and approach the white serpent, which would be terrified, and upon seeing the red serpent he would release the Indian, who would fall to the ground almost like a helpless child, and the white serpent would turn all its attention to the red serpent. The bewilderment would cause the white serpent to accept the red one momentarily. The white serpent would be stunned and take part of the red serpent and accept him. Then there is a heated argument and a fight. And then the Indian revives and crawls toward the land of the hilly country, and then he would assemble his people together, and they would renew their faith and the principles of peace that Deganawidah had established. There would at the same time exist among the Indians a great love and forgiveness for his brother, and in this gathering would come streams from all over - not only the Iroquois but from all over - and they would gather in this hilly country, and they would renew their friendship. And Deganawidah said they would remain neutral in this fight between the white and red serpents. At the time they were watching the two serpents locked in this battle, a great message would come to them, which would make them ever so humble, and when they become that humble, they will be waiting for a young leader, an Indian boy, possibly in his teens, who would be a choice seer. Nobody knows who he is or where he comes from, but he will be given great power, and would be heard by thousands, and he would give them the guidance and the hope to refrain from going back to their land and he would be the accepted leader. And Deganawidah said that they will gather in the land of the hilly country, beneath the branches of an elm tree, and they should burn tobacco and call upon Deganawidah by name when facing the darkest hours, and he will return. Deganawidah said that as the choice seer speaks to the Indians that number as the blades of grass, and he would be heard by all at the same time, and as the Indians are gathered watching the fight, they notice from the south a black serpent coming from the sea, and he is described as dripping with salt water, and as he stands there, he rests for a spell to get his breath, all the time watching to the north to the land where the white and red serpents are fighting. Deganawidah said that the battle between the white and the red serpents opened very slowly but would then become so violent that the mountains would crack and the rivers would boil and the fish would turn up on their bellies. He said that there would be no leaves on the trees in that area. There would be no grass, and that strange bugs and beetles would crawl from the ground and attack both serpents, and he said that a great heat would cause the stench of death to sicken both serpents. And then, as the boy seer is watching this fight, the red serpent reaches around the back of the white serpent and pulls from him a hair which is carried toward the south by a great wind into the waiting hands of the black serpent, and as the black serpent studies this hair, it suddenly turns into a woman, a white woman who tells him things that he knows to be true but he wants to hear them again. When this white woman finishes telling these things, he takes her and gently places her on a rock with great love and respect, and then he becomes infuriated at what he has heard, so he makes a beeline for the north, and he enters the battle between the red and white serpents with such speed and anger that he defeats the two serpents, who have already been battle weary. When he finishes, he stand on the chest of the white serpent, and he boasts and puts his chest out like he's the conqueror, and he looks for another serpent to conquer. He looks to the land of the hilly country and then sees the Indian standing with his arms folded and looking ever so noble that he knows that this Indian is not the one to fight. The next direction that he will face will be eastward and at that time he will be momentarily blinded by a light that is many times brighter than the sun. The light will be coming from the east to the west over the water, and when the black serpent regains his sight, he becomes terrified and makes a beeline for the sea. He dips into the sea and swims away in a southerly direction, and shall never again be seen by the Indians. The white serpent revives, and he too sees the light, and he makes a feeble attempt to gather himself and go toward that light. A portion of the white serpent refuses to remain but instead makes its way toward the land of the hilly country, and there he will join the Indian People with a great love like that of a lost brother. The rest of the white serpent would go to the sea and dip into the sea and would be lost out of sight for a spell. Then suddenly the white serpent would appear again on the top of the water and he would be slowly swimming toward the light. Deganawidah said that the white serpent would never again be troublesome to the Indian People. The red serpent would revive and he would shiver with great fear when he sees that light. He would crawl to the north and leave a bloody, shaky trail northward, and he would never be seen again by the Indians. Deganawidah said as this light approaches that he would be that light, and he would return to his Indian People, and when he returns, the Indian People would be a greater nation than they had ever been before. >From Native American Prophecies by Scott Peterson Leon Shenandoah Speaks. Supreme Sachem of the Iroquois, Successor to the Original Tododaho, Speaker of the Hotinoshonee (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. >From Wisdomkeepers by Steve Wall and Harvey Arden It's prophesied in our Instructions that the end of the world will be near when the trees start dying from the tops down. That's what the maples are doing today. Our Instructions say the time will come when there will be no corn, when nothing will grow in the garden, when water will be filthy and unfit to drink. And then a great monster will rise up from the water and destroy mankind. One of the names of that monster is "the sickness that eats you up inside" - like diabetes or cancer or AIDS. Maybe AIDS is the monster. It's coming. It's already here. Our prophet Handsome Lake told of it in the 1700s. He saw Four Beings, like four angels, coming from the Four Directions. They told him what would happen, how there would be diseases we'd never heard of before. You will see many tears in this country. Then a great wind will come, a wind that will make a hurricane seem like a whisper. It will cleanse the earth and return it to its original state. That will be the punishment for what we've done to the Creation. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deereeree the Wagtail, and the Rainbow - Australian DEEREEREE was a widow and lived in a camp alone with her four little girls. One day Bibbee came and made a camp not far from hers. Deereeree was frightened of him, too frightened to go to sleep. All night she used to watch his camp, and if she heard a sound she would cry aloud: "Deerceree, wyah, wyah, Deereeree," Sometimes she would be calling out nearly all night. In the morning, Bibbee would come over to her camp and ask her what was the matter that she had called out so in the night. She told him that she thought she heard some one walking about and was afraid, for she was alone with her four little girls. He told her she ought not to be afraid with all her children round her. But night after night she sat up crying: "Wyah, wyah, Deereeree, Deereeree." At last Bibbee said! "If you are so frightened, marry me and live in my camp. I will take care of you." But Deereeree said she did not want to marry. So night after night was to be heard her plaintive cry of "Wyah, wyah, Deereeree, Deereeree." And again and again Bibbee pressed her to share his camp and marry him. But she always refused. The more she refused the more he wished to marry her. And he used to wonder how he could induce her to change her mind. At last he thought of a plan of surprising her into giving her consent. He set to work and made a beautiful and many coloured arch, which, when it was made, he called Euloowirree, and he placed it right across the sky, reaching from one side of the earth to the other. When the rainbow was firmly placed in the sky, and showing out in all its brilliancy, of many colours, as a roadway from the earth to the stars, Bibbee went into his camp to wait. When Deereeree looked up at the sky and saw the wonderful rainbow, she thought something dreadful must be going to happen. She was terribly frightened, and called aloud: "Wyah, wyah." In her fear she gathered her children together, and fled with them to Bibbee's camp for protection. Bibbee proudly told her that he had made the rainbow, just to show how strong he was and how safe she would be if she married him. But if she would not, she would see what terrible things he would make to come on the earth, not just a harmless and beautiful roadway across the heavens, but things that would burst from the earth and destroy it. So by working on her mixed feelings of fear of his prowess, and admiration of his skill, Bibbee gained his desire, and Deereeree married him. And when long afterwards they died, Deereeree was changed into the little willy wagtail who may be heard through the stillness of the summer nights, crying her plaintive wail of "Deereeree, wyah, wyah, Deereeree." And Bibbee was changed into the woodpecker, or climbing tree bird, who is always running up trees as if he wanted to be building other ways to the than the famous roadway of his Euloowirree, the building of which had won him his wife. Australian Legendary Tales: Folk-Lore of the Noongahburrahs, by K. Langloh Parker [1897] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer Spirits - Winnebago by Richard L. Dieterle Deer spirits live in the village of Earthmaker, where they are famous musicians, playing the flute and singing. These spirits can take on a human form to communicate with men. There is a deer mound in the Wazidja where dwells the Great White Doe. At this mound, under her supervision, all the souls of deer who have died enter, and out of it all the souls of deer who are to be reincarnated are born. During the tenth month (the Strawberry Moon), the Great White Doe always remains inside the mound, since this is the time when does conceive. The spiritual nature of the deer is bound up with the four cardinal directions and with the winds that emanate from them. This reflects the connection between sound and pervasiveness -- the cries of the deer radiate out to the four corners, so their nature is to control air and what air pervades. Also, deer as animals that rely on speed to survive, have unusually well developed lungs, which means that they, more than most species, have a special control of air. If the voice of a deer is heard, the weather will change from good to bad or vice-versa. Thus if a Deer clansman, who has inherited the spiritual nature of deer, were to sing his clan song too loudly or wail in grief, someone might die. This same activity can also raise a gale force wind. This is because air and sound, being part of the spiritual constitution of deer, make up both the essence of weather and the essence of human life, the breath. To create too much of this power, which apparently subsists in a finite reservoir, is to draw it away from some other spiritual reservoir, such as a human being; or in nature, a mass of air. Because pervasiveness commands the four quarters, the Deer Clan has some claim to government. It is said too that were it not for the breath that the primordial Deer chief blew upon the simmering embers of the first fire, it would not have lit up at all. Thus they have a share in the sovereignty inherent in the possession of the first fire. Another figure associated with cardinal directions is Redhorn. He is also the deity Herok'a, whose eponymous spirit-followers give magical powers to hunters. In his youth he was known as He at whom They Throw the Deer Lungs, since his older brother Kunu once threw them at Redhorn when he refused to fast. The deer lungs symbolize the wind and centrality of the deer, the seat of its essence by which it commands the four quarters. Thus the deer are particularly cooperative with Redhorn and the Herok'a spirits. Once a man shot at a cave painting of a deer during an initiation ceremony for a neophyte devotee of the Herok'a, and from out of the wall a deer fell dead at their feet. Deer hunting can sometimes lead a man into mysterious encounters. A young man once shot a deer, but although it was mortally wounded, it kept on running, obliging him to chase after it. It took him out of the way just so that when he packed it back, he found himself walking through an abandoned village where he was destined to rendezvous with the ghost of his departed lover. In recent times, P'edjga's brother went hunting for a deer that also failed to fall when hit, so that the hunter was obliged to club the animal to death. It was too heavy to carry, but when the man returned with help, the deer had mysteriously disappeared. Deer not only have human hunters to contend with, but wolves as well. Wolf Spirits have some control over deer. Once two Wolf Spirits were reborn in the flesh, one as a wolf and the other as a human. As long as the human left the deer liver from his kill for his brother, the human enjoyed bounty beyond limit. However, his wife induced him to keep the deer liver, ever after which he was not able to kill a deer. Only by cooperating with his brother, as humans do with dogs to this day, was he able to kill a deer and regain his strength. Humans and wolves are like brothers. In the earliest times, Deer Spirits, because they control the wind, enlisted the North Wind to lure off hunters who came to kill them. The North Wind captured twelve deer slaying brothers and confined them in a snowbound prison, while their parents fell into want. The Deer Spirits appeared and tormented the old couple by dancing around the inside of their lodge, singing spiteful songs. So the old man took oysters and incubated them between his legs, and two wolves hatched from them. These two gave rise to the race of wolves. The wolf brothers conquered the Deer Spirits and rescued the brothers from the captivity of the North Wind. In those days, all the deer lived together, but the wolf brothers scattered them over the face of the earth, a pattern of distribution to which they hold down to the present day. Coyotes, near relatives of wolves, are in some debt to deer. Once Coyote had the tip of his tail bitten off by an animated human corpse. When a deer passed by in response to his calls for help, it took pity on him and gave him the tip of its white tail. Thus, this kind of deer has a short tail, and the coyote has had a tail with a white tip ever since. Deer suffered setbacks of other kinds which had an impact on their present constitution. Once the spirit known as the "Green Man," encountered a deer. He yelled to it, "Younger brother, come here, I need to borrow your heart." When the deer came, Green Man took out its heart and replaced it with one made of dirt. This is why deer hearts today are so dry. It is also why deer are so skittish: -- for if the earth were to quake, so would their hearts. This may also poke fun at the Deer Clan name, "Shakes the Earth" (Mâgiksuntcga ?), which was meant to express the power of the cervid founders of the clan. The dry heart is not the only venison organ eaten by the Hotcâgara. It is said that someone raised on a diet of deer brains will grow taller than others and will be free of disease. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that deer brains were used in tanning leather, which protects it as well as making it more pliable. http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.DeerSpirits.html Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer Medicine - Commanche One time the People camped at the base of a mountain near a rushing stream. Over time a person disappeared, then another. The band grew troubled and took their worries to their medicine makers. After sweat lodge purification, after sage and sweet grass cleansing, the medicine makers held council. "I do not trust those deer," Medicine Man said. "I trust them less than you." Medicine Woman looked up at the mountain where the deer lived near a large cave. "I suspect they are stealing our people." "And keeping them in their cave." "To eat," Medicine Man said. "Our people depend on us to care for them." "And we must do so. Medicine Man and Medicine Woman walked up the mountain to the cave of the deer. Guard Deer stood near four sticks at the dark hole of an entrance. "Good morning," Medicine Woman said. "How are you?" "You look plump and well," Medicine Man said. "What food do you eat?" Medicine Woman asked. "We eat good food," Guard Deer said. "Would you like to see?" "Yes, we would." Guard Deer picked up one of the sticks and knocked on the entrance. "One fat buffalo." A buffalo trotted out. "That is impressive," Medicine Woman said. "Watch this." Guard Deer hit the entrance again. "One buffalo calf." A buffalo calf walked out. "I am really impressed," Medicine Man said. "Now you know how we get our food," Guard Deer said. "You may see no more." "Thank you," Medicine Woman said. As the medicine makers walked away, they whispered to each other. "I do not believe that is all in their cave," Medicine Man said. "I agree. We must find out what else is in there." They hid behind a large rock while they considered their problem. "Maybe we could change the sticks when Guard Deer looks the other way," Medicine Man said. "Guard Deer is too sharp." "That is true." "They must change guards soon and the entrance will be unguarded for a brief time," Medicine Woman said. "We must strike then." "Yes." Without making a sound, they worked their way back to the entrance. Concealed behind rocks and plants, they watched and waited. Soon Guard Deer stepped away to consult the next Guard Deer. They raced to the entrance. Medicine Woman grabbed a stick and hit the cave. "Two people." Two warriors walked out. Medicine Man placed his hand on the stick, and they struck again. "More men." Many men ran out of the cave. All of them carried bows with arrows in quivers on their backs. Deer erupted from all directions, but the warriors fought together to drive them back. When the battle was won by the People, most of the deer lay dead. The medicine makers turned to the deer still alive. "We are the strongest so hereafter we will eat you," Medicine Man said. "Your skin and bones, all of your body, will be used to help the People," Medicine Woman added. Guard Deer raised a head. "So be it." from Texas Indian Myths and Legends by Jane Archer Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer Clan Origin Myth - Winnebago The Deer Clan (Tca Hik'ik'áradjera) is a small clan of the Lower or Earth Moiety that is strongly allied to the Elk Clan, with whom they have a friendship relation. It is said that "the Deer clan's responsibilities concerned the environment and weather." [1] Deer clansmen participate in the spiritual nature of the deer. Since the four limbs of the deer have a mystical unity with the cardinal points, if a Deer clansmen moves his limbs suddenly, he may cause a human being to die. Weeping loudly can have the same effect as well as summoning forth gale force winds. For similar reasons, they must be careful not to sing the clan song too loudly. [2] It goes like this: I use the cries of the four directions, I use the cries of the four directions; I use the cries of the four directions, I use the cries of the four directions. (1) This is the life of the Deer Clan. The black deer and the elk with him, where the center of the earth is, there they appeared. And they went to the east side. There they were going. Then the black deer said, "My dear younger brother, I am heavy in flesh. Go on alone -- here is where I will remain," he said. He did not go there. And he went back to the center of the earth whence they started. He came back. (2) Again they asked him four times. Again, indeed, they did it. There the black deer recognized the money necklace. So the Deer Clan was beaten. So he called himself "Black Deer Chief." And going back, they went again. Likewise, he recognized the money necklace himself. They went around the earth. And again under the black deer they went east. The big one went first. As they went, this one wondered where they started from. (3) Again they came back there. "My brother, you yourself try to do something," he said. So Hena (the second born) he went first himself. They set out. Again they went. They came back there. "My brother, you yourself try to do something," he said. And so Haga went first. They had come back again. And they told Naghíga to go first. He suddenly came to the fore. When he hit the right side of his horn on the earth, there he made an herb appear. When he did it, the flower was very white. (4) Again when he struck the earth with the left side horn, he generated a tree there. And the stem of the herb is meant for eating, for that he made it. And again they ate the fruit of the tree. There they ate from the top of the tree. And so they said that they would call the name of one of the women by the name "She who Eats from the Top of the Tree." And when they went walking they made the earth tremble, it is said. They went to the east side. And so they said that they would name a man "Shakes the Earth," they said. (5) And if there were some brothers, they would call the smallest, "Walking Leader," they would call him. And again among the women one came to be called, "She who Comes Back." Again the men would call him, "He who Comes Back." In the beginning, they went back there again. This is the reason on account of which they say that whatever movements they did, from these they got their names. The names for however they lived, they called themselves by the name. And they lived in control of the cardinal winds. And so if on a very nice day a voice should be heard, (6) the day would be transformed into a bad day. Again, it being a bad day, hearing the voice will transform into a very nice day. And so the Deer Clan people have control over the day. And so they call themselves with the name, "They Play with the Wind," they would call them. Also they say, "Going with the Wind Woman," they say. Where deer would situate themselves as they go, going with the wind, they would situate themselves, and so they say that. Not anywhere on the earth did they miss. (7) There they came home. The big one collapsed. And they said, "What has happened?" they said. Then Henu said, "My younger brother, not at anytime did he say something." Then he said, "I don't know a thing." Nañghi alone spoke and said, "My dear older brothers, our older brother has died. Thus did Earthmaker do it that way." And he talked to the dead one, saying to him, "In the first place, my older brother, the Creator made for you, this first one, a place of safety. That he did. (8) You have not obtained a large portion of life. You made those of us above the ground poor. And what I am going to ask you is this: that you'll leave behind the life that you missed above ground, that we ask of you. With that life, let us live. What you have left off, that is what I mean. And this is the second request: the wars which you did not handle, all the honors that you would have earned, here above ground we will handle. (9) O elder brother, I ask of you what you have done. And the third request is this: all the food that you missed with your mouth, all the tree fruit, all the sweet food there is that you would have eaten, these that you missed and left behind when you went, again these we wish to get a hold of. These that you missed when you went, I ask for. These things we will be using. And this is the fourth request, o elder brother: all the good things that people wear, everything that you put in the back of the lodge, (10) these you should not touch, as we who are left behind on earth will be using them." He asked that he do it. "And wherever you are going, there the really good things we who are left behind on earth request that we may take hold of; for this we are petitioning for ourselves." And he took red paint and said, "My brother, I am going to paint you. They will recognize you at home, for this is the way we are. Hereafter, all those men who are to live after, (11) they also will all be doing like this. The story (worak) will be that he did the painting in just this way," he said. And he blackened his forehead with charcoal, and they streaked the corners of his eyes with red, and the chin and front of the throat he made red. And they dug a grave. There they buried him. And he prepared a song. He finished singing and they buried him. And they traveled around the earth. (12) And where the clans gathered, there they came. They were people. And so they called them the "Deer Clan." Their own life they lived the way deer did. Where they started from, thus were the names of the Deer Clan. How they derived those names was from whatever habits the deer have. Again, what you see in them, it is in this way that they have their names. They say the name "White Hair." Also they say "Fast One." It is said that deer have short white hair. Again it is said because they are fast. (13) They say "Shy One." It is said that deer are shy. They also say, "Pronged Horn." It is said that the horns are pronged. Dog names, that kind they are. And so it is said that this is the way of the Deer Clan. When they said it, in this way so they lived at Red Bank on Within Lake (Green Bay). There the clans gathered together, there were all the different clans, there where they first began. This is the end. [5] Version 2. When the earth was new just one deer emerged from it, but he returned below in search of a companion. Thus there are two names in the Deer Clan, "He Who Appears First," and "He Who Returns." When the deer came to earth they encountered the first fireplace, but it only contained smoldering embers. So they blew upon it until it blazed. Thus the Deer Clan, it is said, has a partial chieftainship. The first to appear on earth wore the chief's medallion. [6] Notes: [1] David Lee Smith, Folklore of the Winnebago Tribe (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997) 9. [2] Paul Radin, The Winnebago Tribe (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990 [1923]) 198. [3] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 201; and "Deer Clan Origin Myth," in Paul Radin, [unpublished] Winnebago Notebooks, Winnebago III, #19a, Freeman number 3899 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) 1-13. All names were collected by Radin unless otherwise noted (as below). [4] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 198. [5] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 199-201. "Deer Clan Origin Myth," 1-13. [6] Radin, The Winnebago Tribe, 201. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer Hunting In The Mescalero Country - Jicarilla Apache They started from Tierra Amarilla and placed their camp at Cebolla. From there they moved camp to Cangillon and from there to El Rito. Next they went to Cuchilla. From there they moved to Española. From there they moved to Santa Fe, camping on the hill east of the town. Then they moved to TseLkaihî?âye. From there they went east to a Mexican town. Then they camped at Anton Chiso. Next they stopped at Alamo Gordo. From there they moved to Bosque. From there they moved to DzeLk'ane daLkîdjîye, "mulberry trees scattered". From there they moved to Naudajehi. From there they moved to Rio Bonito where the soldiers were living. They camped right among the houses of the soldiers remaining four days. From there they removed to Carrizo where the sawmill stood. The Mescalero were camped there and we camped among them. They were drinking tiswin. After a while a number of us started after deer together. One Mexican who had married a Mescalero, Carilla, by name, was with us. We camped right by the soldiers. They nearly caught us. Some were in front of us, among them Carilla. During the night he rode back to us and we moved camp before day, although it was raining. Two men rode up behind us telling us to hurry up. We came to a gap at the end of a mountain about daylight. A large number of people camped there. We came to a lake called Pato. Early in the morning we moved from there separating into two bodies and camped at a place where there was no water. "You look for water," he told us. We searched for water in vain. Three of us found a little water standing right in the plain. We returned to the camp to find that they had moved away from us. We followed behind them until evening. They had camped at the edge of the water by Turkey Mountain. "To-morrow we will hunt," he said. Early the next morning before daylight, Luna and I went together a considerable distance before it became daylight. We found deer running through the timber. We separated, one going on either side, and lost sight of each other. One deer ran toward me and then ran off to a distance. I went where trees were standing and climbed up where I could see in all directions. The deer were moving about but there was nothing that could be used for cover. Being unable to get close, with the sight at the highest notch, I shot and missed. The deer ran east and I followed them. When I got near to them as they were going slowly up the mountain I shot without having moved the sight. I did not hit them. The deer ran up the steep place to the top. Then I remembered the sight and moved it back. Close by me I heard the discharge of a gun. I sat down on top of the hill and was smoking when I looked over there and saw a deer running straight toward me. I was sitting behind some trees. When it was close to me I shot. It ran off this way and I ran after it. I found blood and over there it was lying dead. I butchered it and put the meat on a tree thinking, "I will come after it to-morrow." I went home to the camp. When I came past the arroyo there was a band of deer jumping over each other. Coming up to the edge of the rock, I shot, killing seven. I butchered them and left them right there on the ground. I ran back to the camp, got a horse, and rode back. Having tied them on the horse, I brought them home. The others also brought back meat from different directions. Luna had killed five; three antelope, two deer. Another man killed one, another two, and another three. This way they brought back meat. They started out in another direction. I killed two bucks. From there we brought back a large amount of meat. From there we moved camp to the lakes and went out hunting in different directions. Some brought back antelope and some brought back deer. We dried much meat and packed it in parfleches. Coming back with it we camped at Rio Bonito. Jicarilla Apache Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard; New York: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VIII; (1911) and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden - Tewa Long ago in the ancient home of the San Juan people, in a village whose ruins cam be seen across the river from present-day San Juan, lived two magically gifted young people. The youth was called Deer Hunter because even as a boy, he was the only one who never returned empty-handed from the hunt. The girl, whose name was White Corn Maiden, made the finest pottery, and embroidered clothing with the most beautiful designs, of any woman in the village. These two were the handsomest couple in the village, and it was no surprise to their parents that they always sought one anther's company. Seeing that were favored by the gods, the villagers assumed that they were destined to marry. And in time they did, and contrary to their elders' expectations, they began to spend even more time with one another. White Corn Maiden began to ignore her pottery making and embroidery, while Deer Hunter gave up hunting, at a time when he could have saved many of his people from hunger. They even began to forget their religious obligations. At the request of a pair's worried parents, the tribal elders called a council. This young couple was ignoring all the traditions by which the tribe had lived and prospered, and the people feared that angry gods might bring famine, flood, sickness, or some other disaster upon the village. But Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden ignored the council's pleas and drew closer together, swearing that nothing would ever part them. A sense of doom pervaded the village, even though it was late spring and all nature had unfolded in new life. Then suddenly White Corn Maiden became ill, and within three days she died. Deer Hunter's grief had no bounds. He refused to speak or eat, preferring to keep watch beside his wife's body until she was buried early the next day. For four days after death, every soul wanders in and around its village and seeks forgiveness from those whom it may have wronged in life. It is a time of unease for the living, since the soul may appear in the form of a wind, a disembodied voice, a dream, or even in human shape. To prevent such visitation, the villagers go to the dead person before burial and utter a soft prayer of forgiveness. And on the fourth day after death, the relatives gather to perform a ceremony releasing the soul into the spirit world, from which it will never return. But Deer Hunter was unable to accept his wife's death. Knowing that he might see her during the four-day interlude, he began to wander around the edge of the village. Soon he drifted farther out into the fields, and it was here at sundown of the fourth day, even while his relatives were gathering for a ceremony of release, that he spotted a small fire near a clump of bushes. Deer Hunter drew closer and found his wife, as beautiful as she was in life and dressed in all her finery, combing her long hair with a cactus brush in preparation for the last journey. He fell weeping at her feet, imploring her not to leave but to return with him to the village before the releasing rite was consummated. White Corn Maiden begged her husband to let her go, because she no longer belonged to the world of the living. Her return would anger the spirits, she said, and anyhow, soon she would no longer be beautiful, and Deer Hunter would shun her. He brushed her pleas aside by pledging his undying love and promising that he would let nothing part them. Eventually she relented, saying that she would hold him to his promise. They entered the village just as their relatives were marching to the shrine with the food offering that would release the soul of White Corn Maiden. They were horrified when they saw her, and again they and the village elders begged Deer Hunter to let her go. He ignored them, and an air of grim expectancy settled over the village. The couple returned to their home, but before many days had passed, Deer Hunter noticed that his wife was beginning to have an unpleasant odor. Then he saw that her beautiful face had grown ashen and her skin dry. At first he only turned his back on her as they slept. Later he began to sit up on the roof all night, but White Corn Maiden always joined him. In time the villagers became used to the sight of Deer Hunter racing among the housed and through the fields with White Corn Maiden, now not much more than skin and bones, in hot pursuit. Things continued in this way, until one misty morning a tall and imposing figure appeared in the small dance court at the center of the village. He was dreaded in spotless white buckskin robes and carried the biggest bow anyone had ever seen. On his back was slung a great quiver with the two largest arrows anyone had ever seen. He remained standing at the center of the village and called, in a voice that carried into every home, for Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden. Such was its authority that the couple stepped forward meekly and stood facing him. The awe-inspiring figure told the couple that he had been sent from the spirit world because they, Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden, had violated their people's traditions and angered the spirits; that because they had been so selfish, they had brought grief and near-disaster to the village. "Since you insist on being together," he said, "you shall have your wish. You will chase one another forever across the sky, as visible reminders that your people must live according to tradition. If they are to survive." With this he set Deer Hunter on one arrow and shot him low into the western sky. Putting White Corn Maiden on the other arrow, he placed her just behind her husband. That evening the villagers saw two new stars in the west. The first, large and very bright, began to move east across the heavens. The second, a smaller, flickering star, followed close behind. So it is to this day, according to the Tewa; the brighter star is White Corn Maiden, set there after she had died; yet she will forever chase her husband behind across the heavens. >From American Indian Myths and Legends, Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz, editors. Copyright © 1984 by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deegeenboyah the Soldier-bird - Australian DEEGEENBOYAH was an old man, and getting past hunting much for himself; and he found it hard to keep his two wives and his two daughters supplied with food. He camped with his family away from the other tribes, but he used to join the men of the Mullyan tribe when they were going out hunting, and so get a more certain supply of food than if he had gone by himself. One day when the Mullyan went out, he was too late to accompany them. He hid in the scrub and waited for their return, at some little distance from their camp. When they were coming back he heard them singing the Song of the Setting Emu, a song which whoever finds the first emu's nest of the season always sings before getting back to the camp. Deegeenboyah jumped up as he heard the song, and started towards the camp of the Mullyan singing the same song, as if he too had found a nest. On they all went towards the camp sing joyously: Nurdoo, nurbber me derreen derreenbah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Garmbay booan yunnahdeh beahwah ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Gubbondee, dee, ee, ee, ee. Neäh neïn gulbeejah, ah, ah, ah, ah." Which song roughly translated means: I saw it first amongst the young trees, The white mark on its forehead, The white mark that before I had only seen as the emus moved together in the day-time. Never did I see one camp before, only moving, moving always. Now that we have found the nest We must look out the ants do not get to the eggs. If they crawl over them the eggs are spoilt." As the last echo of the song died away, those in the camp took up the refrain and sang it back to the hunters to let them know that they understood that they had found the first emu's nest of the season. When the hunters reached the camp, up came Deegeenboyah too. The Mullyans turned to him, and said: "Did you find an emu's nest too?" "Yes," said Deegeenboyah, "I did. I think you must have found the same, though after me, as I saw not your tracks. But I am older and stiff in my limbs, so came not back so quickly. Tell me, where is your nest?" "In the clump of the Goolahbahs, on the edge of the plain," said the unsuspecting Mullyan. "Ah, I thought so. That is mine. But what matter? We can share-there will be plenty for all. We must get the net and go and camp near the nest to-night, and to-morrow trap the emu." The Mullyan got their emu trapping net, one made of thin rope about as thick as a thin clothes line, about five feet high, and between two and three hundred yards long. And off they set, accompanied by Deegeenboyah, to camp near where the emu was setting. When they had chosen a place to camp, they had their supper and a little corrobborce, illustrative of slaying emu, etc. The next morning at daylight they erected their net into a sort of triangular shaped yard, one side open. Black fellows were stationed at each end of the net, and at stated distances along it. The net was upheld by upright poles. When the net was fixed, some of the blacks made a wide circle round the emu's nest, leaving open the side towards the net. They closed in gradually until they frightened the emu off the nest. The emu seeing black fellows on every side but one, ran in that direction. The blacks followed closely, and the bird was soon yarded. Madly the frightened bird rushed against the net. Up ran a black fellow, seized the bird and wrung its neck. Then some of them went back to the nest to get the eggs, which they baked in the ashes of their fire and ate. They made a hole to cook the emu in. They plucked the emu. When they had plenty of coals, they put a thick layer at the bottom of the hole, some twigs of leaves on top of the coals, some feathers on the top of them. Then they laid the emu in, more feathers on the top of it, leaves again on top of them, and over them a thick layer of coals, and lastly they covered all with earth. It would be several hours in cooking, so Deegeenboyah said, "I will stay and cook the emu, you young fellows take moonoons-emu spears-and try and get some more emu." The Mullyan thought there was sense in this proposal, so they took a couple of long spears, with a jagged nick at one end, to hold the emu when they speared it; they stuck a few emu feathers on the end of each spear and went off. They soon saw a flock of emu coming past where they were waiting to water. Two of the party armed with the moonoon climbed a tree, broke some boughs and put these thickly beneath them, so as to screen them from the emu. Then as the emu came near to the men they dangled down their spears, letting the emu feathers on the ends wave to and fro. The emu, seeing the feathers, were curious as to how they got there, came over, craning their necks and sniffing right underneath the spears. The black fellows tightly grasped the moonoons and drove them with force into the two emu they had picked One emu dropped dead at once. The other ran with the spear in it for a short distance, but the black fellow was quickly after it, and soon caught and killed it outright. Then carrying the dead birds, back they went to where Deegeenboyah was cooking the other emu. They cooked the two they had brought, and then all started for the camp in great spirits at their successful chase. They began throwing their mooroolahs as they went along, and playing with their bubberahs, or returning boomerangs. Old Deegeenboyah said, "Here, give me the emus to carry, and then you will be free to have a really good game with your mooroolahs and bubberahs, and see who is the best man." They gave him the emus, and on they went, some throwing mooroolahs, and some showing their skill with bubberahs. Presently Deegeenboyah sat down. They thought he was just resting for a few minutes, so ran on laughing and playing, each good throw eliciting another effort, for none liked owning themselves beaten while they had a mooroolah left. As they got further away -they noticed Deegeenboyah was still sitting down, so they called out to him to know what was the matter. "All right," he said, "only having a rest; shall come on in a minute." So on they went. When they were quite out of sight Deegeenboyah jumped up quickly, took up the emus and made for an opening in the ground at a little distance. This opening was the door of the underground home of the Murgah Muggui spider-the opening was a neat covering, like a sort of trap door. Down though this he went, taking the emus with him, knowing there was another exit at some distance, out of which he could come up quite near his home, for it was the way he often took after hunting. The Mullyans went home and waited, but no sign of Deegeenboyah. Then back on their tracks they went and called aloud, but got no answer, and saw no sign. At last Mullyangah the chief of the Mullyans, said he would find him. Arming himself with his boondees and spears, he went back to where he had last seen Deegeenboyah sitting. He saw where his tracks turned off and where they disappeared, but could not account for their disappearance, as he did not notice the neat little trap-door of the Murgah Muggui. But he hunted round, determined to scour the bush until he found him. At last he saw a camp. He went up to it and saw only two little girls playing about, whom he knew were the daughters of Deegeenboyah. "Where is your father?" he asked them. "Out hunting," they said. "Which way does he come home?" "Our father comes home out of this;" and they showed him the spiders' trap-door. "Where are your mothers?" "Our mothers are out getting honey and yams." And off ran the little girls to a leaning tree on which they played, running up its bent trunk. Mullyangah went and stood where the trunk was highest from the ground and said: "Now, little girls, run up to here and jump, and I will catch you. jump one at a time." Off jumped one of the girls towards his outstretched arms, which, as she came towards him he dropped, and, stepping aside, let her come with her full force to the ground where she lay dead. Then he called to the horror-stricken child on the tree: "Come, jump. Your sister came too quickly. Wait till I call, then jump." "No, I am afraid." "Come on, I will be ready this time. Now come." "I am afraid." "Come on; I am strong." And he smiled quite kindly up at the child, who, hesitating no longer, jumped towards his arms, only to meet her sister's fate. "Now," said Mullyangah, "here come the two wives. I must silence them, or when they see their children their cries will warn their husband if he is within earshot." So he sneaked behind a tree, and as the two wives passed he struck them dead with his spears. Then he went to the trapdoor that the children had shown him, and sat down to wait for the coming of Deegeenboyah. He had not long to wait. The trap-door was pushed up and out came a cooked eniu, which he caught hold of and laid on one side. Deegeenboyah thought it was the girls taking it, as they had often watched for his coming and done before, so he pushed up another, which Mullyangah took, then a third, and lastly came up himself, to find Mullyangah confronting him spear and boondee in hand. He started back, but the trap-door was shut behind him, and Mullyangah barred his escape in front. "Ah," said Mullyangah, "you stole our food and now you shall die. I've killed your children." Decgeenboyah looked wildly round, and, seeing the dead bodies of his girls beneath the leaning tree, he groaned aloud. "And," went on Mullyangah, "I've killed your wives." Deegenboyah raised his head and looked again wildly round, and there, on their homeward path, he saw his dead wives. Then he called aloud, "Here Mullyangah are your emus; take them and spare me. I shall steal no more, for I myself want little, but my children and my wives hungred. I but stole for them. Spare me, I pray you. I am old; I shall not live long. Spare me." "Not so," said Mullyangah, " no man lives to steal twice from a Mullyan;" and, so saying, he speared Deegeenboyah where he stood. Then he lifted up the emus, and, carrying them with him, went swiftly back to his camp. And merry was the supper that night when the Mullyans ate the emus, and Mullyangah told the story of his search and slaughter. And proud were the Mullyans of the prowess and cunning of their chief. Australian Legendary Tales: Folk-Lore of the Noongahburrahs, by K. Langloh Parker [1897] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deer and Coyote - Cochiti Somewhere on a mountain dwelt Deer and Coyote. Deer spoke thus. To Coyote he said thus, "Come and visit my house." "All right," said Coyote. Then she visited the place where Deer dwelt. They were good friends. She arrived there. She entered. "How are things, friend?" "It is good," said Deer. "Sit down and eat. There is wafer bread and I will kill my two children. Please put down the bones carefully. After you have finished eating I shall take them down to the river." Then she finished eating. Then Coyote stayed there. "Friend, I will carry these bones down to the river." Then she carried them down. She arrived below at the river and put them into the river, into the water. Then her children came up and they all went. They arrived (at the house). Next Coyote wanted to imitate her. "Next you, my friend, visit my house!" Then Coyote killed her children. The deer went there. She arrived. She entered Coyote's house. "How are things, friend?" said she. "It is well, sit down! Eat! Here is wafer bread and I have also killed my children. Put down the bones carefully. Later on I shall carry them to the river." Then Deer finished eating. Coyote carried the bones down to the river. She arrived at the river and put them into the water. She waited, but not at all did her children come out. She had killed them forever. Then she went to the place where she dwelt. She arrived there and she told Deer that her children had not come out. Coyote became angry and pursued Deer. The little Deer had already gone ahead. From there eastward they went. They went and crossed the river from there to the northeast side. The deer arrived at some place where there was a buck. The little. deer were there already. Then she told the buck: "Coyote pursues me. She became angry because her children did not come out of the river." Then Coyote could not cross the river. There was a big flood. She said to Beaver, "Take me across!" she said to him. "Please, I am pursuing the deer. I will kill her wherever I overtake her." Then Beaver took Coyote across. To some place in the northeast went Coyote. She arrived at the place where the buck was. "Where did the Deer Woman go?" said she. "I shall kill her. She killed my children." Then the buck said, "You will not kill her. Now you are going to die." He gored her and took out her intestines. Then he had killed her. VARIANT: "BEAVER" A deer and a coyote lived at White Bank. They each had two children, and they used to visit each other every evening. One day Old Mother Deer and Old Mother Coyote were smoking together. Old Mother Deer said, "Shall we have a great feast and invite each other?" "All right, we shall have a great feast." "I will come and call you for the feast." Then Deer said to herself, "To-morrow I shall kill my poor dear little children to serve up at the feast." That evening she called her little children. She took hold of them and killed them. She cut them up and put them in a great pot to boil. In the morning she called the Coyotes. They all came, Grandfather Coyote and Mother Coyote and the two children. The Father Deer said, "I'll smoke first with old Coyote." They smoked a while. They went in. "Good morning," they said to each other. "Sit down," said Deer. They rolled the cigarettes and they smoked. The Mother Deer set out food. When everything was ready she called them to eat. They sat up and had the feast. Mother Deer went into the other room and brought out a big white manta and spread it on the floor beside them. She said, "Every little bone you find, put on this manta. Don't let them drop." They ate and ate and ate. Mother Deer said, "Don't leave any meat on the bones, eat them clean." She watched the bones carefully to see that no harm came to them. When they were finished they all said, "Thank you." Mother Coyote asked Mother Deer, "Where are your children?" "My children?" said Deer, "You ate them all up." When they moved back from the feast they sat down against the wall and the, two men began to smoke again. Mother Deer took up the white manta with all the little bones in it, and put it on her back. She said, "I shall take them down to the river and throw them into the water. Do not go home till I come back from the river." They sat and waited for her. The father heard her coming and said, "Here she comes." Mother Deer came in first and behind her came the two fawns. When she threw the bones into the river the fawns came to life again. Mother Coyote was frightened to see the fawns alive again. When they went out Mother Coyote said to Deer Mother, "To-morrow it is my turn to make the great feast." When she got home, she told Old Man Coyote to bring the little Coyote children in and kill them for the feast. She put them in a great pot. When they were cooked she said, "My poor little children are cooked now. I will go and call my neighbors." She went for them and brought them all at once. As they went in they said good morning to each other. Mother Coyote said, "Sit down." Old Man Coyote and Old Man Deer smoked together, and Mother Coyote set out food and said, "Come and enjoy yourselves. I have killed my two little children." When they began to eat Mother Coyote said, "Eat it all up and leave no meat on the bones." She went in and brought a white manta and spread it on the floor and told them, "Put all the bones on the manta. Let none drop." When they finished eating they thanked her. Mother Coyote said, "Wait a while till I go to the river and throw these bones into the water." But Deer had thought already that Coyote could not bring her children back to life and she didn't wait for her to come back. Mother Coyote threw her children's bones into the river and waited, but no little coyotes came up. She cried as hard as she could. When she got home the Deer had gone already. They ran as fast as they could. Coyote was very angry and cried, "They will see what they will get!" She ran after them. The Deer came running down the arroyo (just north of Cochiti) and crossed the river near Whirlpool Place. On the other side of the river there was an old Beaver who lived in a hole. When Coyote came to the river she couldn't get across. She called to Beaver, "Will you set me across the river?" Beaver came to ferry her over. Old Coyote got into the little boat. As soon as she got in Old Beaver began to tickle Old Coyote. They played with each other. They got to the middle of the river and they had intercourse. Old Coyote asked, "Is the boat getting across the river?"--"Almost across, just wait a minute. It is close." Already they were way down by Santo Domingo (two miles). Coyote jumped out and said, "I won't let the Deer go free." She ran on after them. She ran as fast as she could. As she got on top of La Bajada hill, she saw Deer ahead. She was close to them. The fawns were tired; they lagged. Coyote was tired out too, but she ran on. She said, "Now I'll catch you!" Father Deer was lying under a big cedar. He said, "Let her come up and I'll gore her." She came on, running to get to the fawns. Father Deer put his antlers through her chest from side to side and threw her on top of the cedar. "You shall stay up there till you are dried up." So there the Deer were saved. Father Deer went back to his home, and Mother Deer and the two children came back from Blue Shell Mountain to their village and they are still living at Cochiti. Tales of the Cochiti Indians by Ruth Benedict, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 98 [1932] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Deeds and Prophecies of Old Man - Blackfoot Old Man came from the south, traveling north. As he moved along he made the mountains, plains, timber and brush, putting rivers here and there, fixing up the world as we see it today. Old Man covered the plains with grass for the animals to feed upon. He marked off certain pieces of ground, and made all kinds of roots and berries grow in the earth--wild carrots, wild turnips, service berries, bull berries, cherries, plums and rosebuds. He put trees in the ground. After Old Man made the Porcupine Hills, he took some mud and shaped it into human forms. He blew breath upon them and they became people. He made men and women, and named them Siksika, or Blackfeet. They asked him: "What are we to eat?" He replied by making more images of clay in the forms of buffalo. Then he blew breath on these and they stood up, and when he made signs to them, they started to run. "These are your food," Old Man said to the Siksika. After he had made the buffalo, Old Man went out on the plains and made the big horn, a sheep with a big head and horns. Because it was awkward and could not move fast, the big horn did not travel easily on the level prairies. And so Old Man took it by one of its horns and led it up into the mountains and turned it loose. There it skipped about among the rocks and went up high places with ease. "This is the place that suits you," Old Man said. "This is what you are fitted for, the rocks and the mountains." While he was in the mountains, Old Man made the antelope and turned it loose, but the antelope ran so fast that it fell over some steep rocks and hurt itself. He saw that this would not do, so he carried the antelope down on to the plains where he turned it loose. It ran away swiftly and gracefully, and Old Man said: "This is what you are suited for." One day Old Man decided to make a woman and a child. He went to a river-bank, took some wet clay, and molded it into human shapes. Then he covered them up with straw. The next morning he took the covering off and told the images to rise and walk, and they did so, following him down to the river. "I am Napi," he told them. "Old Man, the maker of all things." As they were standing by the river, the woman said to him: "How is it? Will we always live? Will there be no end to it?" "I have never thought of that," Old Man replied. "We will have to decide it." He picked up a buffalo chip and threw it in the river. "If the buffalo chip floats," he said, "when people die, they will come back to life again after four days. But if it sinks, when they die that will be an end to them." When he threw the chip in the river, it floated. The woman did not like the thought of dying, even for only four days. "No, we should not decide it that way," she said. She picked up a stone. "If the stone floats, we will always live," she said. "If it sinks, people will die forever." She threw the stone into the river and it sank to the bottom. "There," said the woman. "Perhaps it is better for people to die forever. Otherwise they would never feel sorry for each other and there would be no sympathy in the world." "Well," said Old Man. "You have chosen. Let it be that way. Let that be the law." Not long afterwards, the woman's child died, and she went to Old Man, pleading with him to change the law about people dying. "You first said that people who die will come back after four days," she said. "Let that be the law." "Not so," Old Man replied. "What is made law must be law. We will undo nothing that we have done. The child is dead, and it cannot be changed. People will have to die." About this time many of the Siksika people that Old Man had made came to him with complaints that they did not know how to hunt the buffalo and obtain meat. Instead, the buffalo were hunting them, they said, running after them and killing some people. "I will make you a weapon that will kill these animals," Old Man promised. He went out and cut some service berry shoots and brought them in and peeled the bark off them. He then caught a bird and took some feathers from its wing. After tying these feathers to one of the service berry shoots, he broke a black flint stone into pieces and fastened a sharp flint point to one of the shoot ends and named it an arrow. Then he took a large piece of wood, shaped it, strung it, and named it a bow. While the people watched, he showed them how to use bows and arrows. "Next time you hunt buffalo," he said, "take these things with you and use them as I have instructed you. Do not run from the buffalo. When they run at you, wait until they are close enough and shoot them with arrows." After the people had learned to kill buffalo, Old Man showed them how to take the skins from them to make robes. He showed them how to set up poles and fasten the skins on them to make teepees to sleep under. One day Old Man told the Siksika that it was time for him to move on north to make more land and more people. "I have marked off this land for you," he said. "The Porcupine Hills, Cypress Mountains, and Little Rocky Mountains, down to the mouth of the Yellowstone on the Missouri, and then toward the setting sun to the head of the Yellowstone and the tops of the Rocky Mountains. There is your land, and it is full of all kinds of animals, and many things grow in this land. Let no other people come into this land, or trouble will come to you. This land is for the five tribes, the Blackfeet, Bloods, Piegans, Gros Ventres and Sarcees. If other people try to cross the line, take your bows and arrows and give them battle and keep them out. If you let them come and make camp, you will lose everything." For many moons the five tribes gave battle to all other people who tried to cross the line made by Old Man, and kept them out. But after a while some bearded men with light skins came, bringing presents. They said they wanted to stay only a little while to trap animals for their furs. The five tribes let them make camp, and as Old Man had prophesied, the tribes soon lost everything. http://www.indigenouspeople.net/blacfeet.htm Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death Song Of A Warrior - Wyandote A warrior sang his death song. He was not afraid to die by fire. His soul went on to the Little People. The way was awful. But nothing can harm the brave. The wise men said they would sing the song for him they wrote. And they did sing it. I am in the land of mt enemies. I am a prisoner of war. I am bound to a stake. My foes come around me to see me die. I hate them. I defy them. I chant my song of death. Cowards, look upon me & learn how to die like a WARRIOR!!! You fear me. I am a real MAN!! I followed the warpath. It led me to your towns. Many did I slay. Your chiefs did I strike down. I gave their bodies to the wolves and to the birds of prey. Nothing do I fear? The fire is my father. I am master of my own soul. Look upon me, you Cowards, See me rejoice, See me die in glory, as a Warrior should die! I am a dead Warrior. My soul rises from my body. It is Free...I journey...I stand by our Grandmother...She is in the Great city built under ground by Se'sta. She speaks to me of the Land Of The Little People. She directs me. She gives me the torch of Heno.... It is a guide in the darkness. It is a weapon...none can stand before it. She tells me the brave can never fail. I take the torch. I go in Courage...I step forth on shown afar off the Land of the Little People. Mountains rise before me. I approach them. I ascend them. I see a broad valley of mystery & horror. Beyond that, terrible mountains pierce the sky. They are lifted up and thrown down again to crush him without courage. By valor do I conquer? I pass over the frightful hills. I stand at the border. At the foot of the tall rock a great black stream rolls. I stand upon a crag...A river is under my feet. There is one more trail of my courage. I look beyond the river of darkness. I see the l Land Of The Little People. It is Beautiful ......... Great streams of light stretch across the sky. They reach to the ends of the heavens, Courage rages in my soul. It rises within me. The black river thunders between its rocky walls. I come across it. It is the stream of Death.............. With the torch of Heno I strike the Flying Heads as they come about me with bloody fangs. And the serpent's do I strike with my might. They utter horrible screams and flee away. I spring from stone to stone in the raging river. The furious waters are about me. They hiss and boil. I leap forward.... I come over upon the far bank of the mad raging river. There I see my mother ...I see my father. I see all the Warriors of old. They welcome me to the Land of the Little People. Then I turned to see the terrible way over which I came into the beautiful land. I spread my arms and cry, " Flee Away, Ye Monsters, and Be Gone Away"...For you can never harm the Brave!!!!!!! The Long way is nothing. The terrors are forgotten. Upon this shore I am a God. I am in the Land of the Little People. It is mine from the beginning of the " Lower World". Indian Myths" by:Edna Clyne in 1928 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui - Inca Being in the highest prosperity and sovereignty of his life, he fell it of a grave infirmity, and, feeling that he was at the point of death, he sent for all his sons who were then in the city. In their presence he first divided all his jewels and contents of his wardrobe. Next he made them plough furrows in token that they were vassals of their brother, and that they had to eat by the sweat of their hands. He also gave them arms in token that they were to fight for their brother. He then dismissed them. He next sent for the Incas orejones of Cuzco, his relations, and for Tupac Inca his son to whom he spoke, with a few words, in this manner: "Son! you now see how many great nations I leave to you, and you know what labour they have cost me. Mind that you are the man to keep and augment them. No one must raise his two eyes against you and live, even if he be your own brother. I leave you these our relations that they may be your councillors. Care for them and they shall serve you. When I am dead, take care of my body, and put it in my houses at Patallacta. Have my golden image in the House of the Sun, and make my subjects, in all the provinces, offer up solemn sacrifice, after which keep the feast of purucaya, that I may go to rest with my father the Sun." Having finished his speech they say that he began to sing in a low and sad voice with words of his own language. They are as follows: "I was born as a flower of the field, As a flower I was cherished in my youth, I came to my full age, I grew old, Now I am withered and die." Having uttered these words, he laid his head upon a pillow and expired, giving his soul to the devil, having lived a hundred and twenty-five years. For he succeeded, or rather he took the Incaship into his hands when he was twenty-two, and he was sovereign one hundred and three years. Taken from History of the Incas," by Pedro Sarmiento De Gamboa, translated by Sir Clements Markham, Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society 1907, pages 138-139. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death of the Great Elk - Jicarilla Apache In the early days, animals and birds of monstrous size preyed upon the people; the giant Elk, the Eagle, and others devoured men, women, and children, until the gods were petitioned for relief. A deliverer was sent to them in the person of Djo-na-aì'-yì-&ibreven, the son of the old woman who lives in the West and the second wife of the Sun. She divided her time between the Sun and the Waterfall, and by the latter bore a second son, named Ko-ba-tcis'-tci-ni, who remained with his mother while his brother went forth to battle with the enemies of mankind. In four days Djo-na-aì'-yì-&ibreven grew to manhood, then he asked his mother where the Elk lived. She told him that the Elk was in a great desert far to the southward. She gave him arrows with which to kill the Elk. In four steps he reached the distant desert where the Elk was lying. Djo- na-aì'-yì-&ibreven cautiously observed the position of the Elk from behind a hill. The Elk was lying on an open plain, where no trees or bushes were to be found that might serve to shelter Djo-na-aì'-yì-în from view while he approached. While he was looking at the Elk, with dried grass before his face, the Lizard, Mai-cu-i-ti-tce-tcê, said to him, "What are you doing, my friend? " Djo-na-aì'-yì-în explained his mission whereupon the Lizard suggested that he clothe himself in the garments of the Lizard, in which he could approach the Elk in safety. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în tried four times before he succeeded in getting into the coat of the Lizard. Next the Gopher, Mi-i-ni-li, came to him with the question, "What are you doing here, my friend?" When Djo-na-aì'-yì-în told the Gopher of his intention, the latter promised to aid him. The Gopher thought it advisable to reconnoiter by burrowing his way underground to the Elk. Djo-na- aì'-yì-în watched the progress of the Gopher as that animal threw out fresh heaps of earth on his way. At length the Gopher came to the surface underneath the Elk, whose giant heart was beating like a mighty hammer. He then proceeded to gnaw the hair from about the heart of the Elk. "What are you doing?" said the Elk. "I am cutting a few hairs for my little ones, they are now lying on the bare ground," replied the Gopher, who continued until the magic coat of the Elk was all cut away from about the heart of the Elk. Then he returned to Djo- na-aì'-yì-în, and told the latter to go through the hole which he had made and shoot the Elk. Four times the Son of the Sun tried to enter the hole before he succeeded. When he reached the Elk, he saw the great heart beating above him, and easily pierced it with his arrows; four times his bow was drawn before he turned to escape through the tunnel which the Gopher had been preparing for him. This hole extended far to the eastward, but the Elk soon discovered it, and, thrusting his antler into it, followed in pursuit. The Elk ploughed up the earth with such violence that the present mountains were formed, which extend from east to west. The black spider closed the hole with a strong web, but the Elk broke through it and ran southward, forming the mountain chains which trend north and south. In the south the Elk was checked by the web of the blue spider, in the west by that of the yellow spider, while in the north the web of the many-colored spider resisted his attacks until he fell dying from exhaustion and wounds. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în made a coat from the hide of the Elk, gave the front quarters to the Gopher, the hind quarters to the Lizard, and carried home the antlers. He found that the results of his adventures were not unknown to his mother, who had spent the time during his absence in singing, and watching a roll of cedar bark which sank into the earth or rose in the air as danger approached or receded from Djo-na-aì'-yì-în, her son. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în next desired to kill the great Eagle, I-tsa. His mother directed him to seek the Eagle in the west. In four strides he reached the home of the Eagle, an inaccessible rock, on which was the nest, containing two young eaglets. His ear told him to stand facing the east when the next morning the Eagle swooped down upon him and tried to carry him off. The talons of the Eagle failed to penetrate the hard elk-skin by which he was covered. "Turn to the south," said the ear, and again the Eagle came, and was again unsuccessful. Djo- na-aì'-yì-în faced each of the four points in this manner, and again faced toward the east; whereupon the Eagle succeeded in fastening its talons in the lacing on the front of the coat of the supposed man, who was carried to the nest above and thrown down before the young eagles, with the invitation to pick his eyes out. As they were about to do this, Djo-na-aì'-yì-în gave a warning hiss, at which the young ones cried, "He is living yet." "Oh, no," replied the old Eagle; "that is only the rush of air from his body through the holes made by my talons." Without stopping to verify this, the Eagle flew away. Djo-na-aì'- yì-în threw some of the blood of the Elk which he had brought with him to the young ones, and asked them when their mother returned. " In the afternoon when it rains," they answered. When the mother Eagle came with the shower of rain in the afternoon, he stood in readiness with one of the Elk antlers in his hand. As the bird alighted with a man in her talons, Djo-na-aì'-yì-în struck her upon the back with the antler, killing her instantly. Going back to the nest, he asked the young eagles when their father returned. "Our father comes home when the wind blows and brings rain just before sunset," they said. The male Eagle came at the appointed time, carrying a woman with a crying infant upon her back. Mother and babe were dropped from a height upon the rock and killed. With the second antler of the Elk, Djo-na-aì'-yì-în avenged their death, and ended the career of the eagles by striking the Eagle upon the back and killing him. The wing of this eagle was of enormous size; the bones were as large as a man's arm; fragments of this wing are still preserved at Taos. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în struck the young eagles upon the head, saying, "You shall never grow any larger." Thus deprived of their strength and power to injure mankind, the eagles relinquished their sovereignty with the parting curse of rheumatism, which they bestowed upon the human race. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în could discover no way by which he could descend from the rock, until at length he saw an old female Bat, Tca-na'-mi-în, on the plain below. At first she pretended not to hear his calls for help; then she flew up with the inquiry, "How did you get here?" Djo-na-aì'-yì-în told how he had killed the eagles. "I will give you all the feathers you may desire if you will help me to escape," concluded he. The old Bat carried her basket, ilt-tsai-î-zîs, by a slender spider's thread. He was afraid to trust himself in such a small basket suspended by a thread, but she reassured him, saying; "I have packed mountain sheep in this basket, and the strap has never broken. Do not look while we are descending ; keep your eyes shut as tight as you can." He began to open his eyes once during the descent, but she warned him in time to avoid mishap. They went to the foot of the rock where the old Eagles lay. Djo-na-aì'-yì-în filled her basket with feathers, but told her not to go out on the plains, where there are many small birds. Forgetting this admonition, she was soon among the small birds, who robbed the old Bat of all her feathers. This accounts for the plumage of the small bird klo'-kîn, which somewhat resembles the color of the tail and wing feathers of the bald eagle. The Bat returned four times for a supply of feathers, but the fifth time she asked to have her basket filled, Djo- na-aì'-yì-în was vexed. "Yon cannot take care of your feathers, so you shall never have any. This old skin on your basket is good enough for you." "Very well," said the Bat, resignedly, "I deserve to lose them, for I never could take care of those feathers." Frank Russell, Myths of the Jicarilla Apaches, 1898 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death And Burial - Yana "He is sick, he is very sick. It looks as if he is going to die. Perhaps he will not recover. If four days have elapsed and he has not recovered, you will run to get the medicine-man, and he will suck the sickness out of him. You will offer him as pay perforated white beads. Wear them around your neck. Surely he will get up and start hither, for medicine-men always like perforated white beads." He who had been sent arrived (at the medicine-man's house) and put the beads down on the ground. The medicine-man smelled them. "I shall not be able to make him recover. I shall indeed go to see him anyway. The perforated white beads already have an odor."[1] He ran back and arrived home. He hung up the beads and cried, sitting down on the ground. "Do you put water down on the ground. The medicine-man has already come." The medicine-man sat down. "Well, I shall try to do what I can." He doctored him. "He will not recover. I do not understand what to do, I am beaten."[2] After he had finished doctoring, he said, "He will die." (The sick man's father) started in to cry, and they all wept with him. "Do you run to bring them hither!" he said. "They shall all come here. I do not wish them to be ignorant about this." On the following day, at daybreak, he had died. They all started in to cry together. "Go and dig the grave! Do you put together the perforated white beads, the dressed buckskin blanket, dentalia, wa'k'u shell beads, aprons fringed with pine-nut tassels, various pack-baskets, and trinkets. Make a burial net of coarse rope, and wrap him up in it." Then they washed him and combed his hair. The people all came, came together, dancing and weeping, women, men, and their children, while his mother cried. He was lifted down and put away in the house, while the people and his father and mother wept over him. They did not eat anything. Now they sewed together the deer-hide blanket. "Now!" said (his father). "Amm!"[3] Don't think that you will continue to eat. There is no sickness going about, and yet I am the only one going about that has sickness. Since the people were not sick, I thought I had a good medicine-man. Perchance you think you will not go to get wood!"[4] (Thus he spoke to himself). "You will just go ahead and bury him tomorrow! Do you make the grave deep!" (he said to the people). There was a man from the south[5] who said, "I do not intend to cry." He had flint arrowheads and inspired everyone with fear. "Whence is the poison that is always acting? I have no intention of eating, of eating my food with tears." It was the brave warrior that spoke thus. "You will bury him at noon. Probably nearly all have come. They say that there are many weeping for him, they say the chief weeps for him, they say that he is greatly angered. My medicine-man forgets, does he not? I shall not be the only one to cry.[6] Do you all start!" They took him up and carried him, all sorts of belongings being wrapped up with him-arrows, bows, and various blankets, Now they had all moved down to his grave. They brought him down to the grave and put him into it. "Now! Cry!" said he. His brother lay down in the grave, was pulled out back again. "Do not weep, you will soon follow him."[7] The women all danced and cried, weeping for him, putting down water on the ground to the east of him. "Now it is well, is it not?" he said. "Let me see! Go ahead and fail to find the poison.[8] In former days he said to me, 'Surely you shall have no cause to weep, and thus it will always be with you.' That is what he said to me." The dead man's mother stayed there all night near the grave. Now the people all moved off back to his house. "I shall no longer stay in the house. Set the house on fire!" They set on fire his ropes and all his belongings. "Set the food on fire!" They set everything on fire, and moved on to another place. "You all will go to get other food. I did not think that I would ever be without his laughter when eating." They were all weeping at night, when suddenly the old woman came back. Now at night they started in to eat. "Do you all eat after weeping! Truly we shall all die; we shall not live forever, is it not so? The time of death is near at hand.[9] Do you all procure food for yourselves! Go to the river and catch salmon. No!" he said, "I shall not hurry (to eat). 'Yes, we shall catch salmon (for you),' he used to say to me.[10] I shall cry yet a while, if you please. I shall take food soon." The chief spoke. "Pray do it now!" he said (to the warrior). "Lie in wait for him on his trail. He will find out! They say he has been talking about me, that is what he has been saying. Yes, he will know! He thinks that he has sense. I have sense. the sense of a chief. I shall soon speak out my mind. Though he was my medicine-man, pray shoot him!" he said. "Take him out into the brush and kill him!" The people brought wa'k'u beads, dentalia, and perforated white beads. "Here! Pound these," they said. He pounded them at the grave. "I did not know about it, that is why I did not come," (they said). Every summer they burn food (at the grave). Footnotes: [1] I.e., they already smell of death. [2] Le., I can not cope with the disease spirit. [3] He angrily apostrophizes the medicine-man, whom he suspects of having magically "poisoned" his son. [4] The implication is that he will murder the medicine-man when he unsuspectingly goes out into the brush for firewood. [5] This man, named Wa'it'awasi, was said to be a brave warrior, a yô'?laina. [6] in other words, the medicine-man's folks will weep, for he shall not escape with his life. [7] This sort of consolation seems to be rather Christian than Indian. [8] He is again angrily apostrophizing the medicine-man. "You will fail to find it, will you?" [9] He remembers how his son used to say to him, "Don't bother about getting salmon. I'll attend to that myself." Yana Texts, by Edward Sapir. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-235 [1910] and is now in the public domain Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death of an Eagle by Brookie Craig Recently, I went to the Warm Springs reservation in Oregon and then to the Federal Eagle Repository in Ashland Oregon. You probably never heard of Nathan Jim, Jr. He was a Yakima Indian who was arrested for illegal possession of Eagle Feathers and parts, by the Feds a couple years ago. He languished in fed jail for l4 months awaiting trial and was finally put on probation for this heinous crime. His lawyer appealed it under the new Religious Freedom act which guarantees Native Americans the right to eagle feathers to practice their religious ceremonies and again lost the appeal..He killed himself fearing that (in his mind) it would mean that the feds would rearrest him and sentence him to jail again. This so moved his prosecuting US Attorney that he grabbed a bundle of eagle feathers at the Fed Eagle Repository (yes..our tax dollars at work) and drove to the reservation so they can use them for Nathan's spirit sending ceremony (burial) but arrived too late so Nathan didn't even get a feather in death. I decided to continue the challenge to the Feds and drove to Ashland Oregon where they keep dead Eagles (yes..its true they have a Eagle repository there) and with much dread and fear (we NA do not TRUST the feds, having felt their wrath many times in the past) and trembled my way through the door fully expecting the worst. I was met at the counter by a little old lady who is a volunteer there. While holding my Bureau of Indian Affairs ID card in one hand and my Cherokee Tribal Registration card in the other, I tried to remember my Ancestors who would want my voice to be strong and proud. I stood a little taller and I said, "I want a Eagle Feather which is my right under the Religious Freedom Act." I expected a lightning bolt to come down but instead saw a gentle smile as she softly said, "Of course," walked over and handed me a a packet of federal forms to fill out with instructions to send in to the Portland office of the US department of Wildlife management. I smiled as I read that I will have to have signed references from another Elder and Verification from the Bureau of Indian Affairs AND my Tribe to prove that I am, indeed a REAL Indian. References even for a Eagle Feather. She asks..."Do you want a Bald or a Golden Eagle?" CHOICES!?!? I'm not prepared..."Do you want just a wing..or talons..or the head...or the whole eagle?" WHAT?!?!?! I come in expecting to be arrested for asking for ONE feather and they're offering me the WHOLE bird!?! I am confused by the offer and She sees that I'm unprepared for them offering me choices of parts of this sacred bird and smiles her suggestion that perhaps I might want to look at the drawings of the parts of the bird, circle what I want and include it with the forms...I am defeated instantly by her gentleness. I ask her how they send an Eagle to me and she replies through the U.S. Mail..THE MAIL!?! I cannot envision receiving a dead Eagle through the mail and smile at the thought that I might owe postage due upon receipt. Walking out the door I turn my head and see a stuffed Eagle, sitting silently perched proudly, in a glass cage, on display in the main lobby and overwhelming sadness fills my heart as I realize that another Eagle fell from the sky...a man, also fearful but who stood up for his beliefs, who will never be remembered by anyone for a cause that no one really cares about I guess...and the thought of his falling in vain fills me with a sense of profound grief, for our People believe that the Eagle is the sacred Messenger who brings the messages from our Creator...The thought hits me that no one will hear that message for the Eagle plunged to Mother Earth and perhaps mankind might have had a chance to have heard something sacred, but now...will never know. There is something terribly tragic in that. I hope someone hears this message and cares about Nathan Jim, Jr. and the Eagle who fell from the sky. There is something inherently evil in the system of a country, that was founded by people escaping religious persecution, that fills it's citizens with such fear that they kill themselves over what they consider to be a basic right of religious freedom. http://www.kstrom.net/isk/stories/eagle.html Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death - Chinook When a person dies who has many relatives, much property, and many slaves, his relatives tie [dentalia] to his body. Two young men are selected to prepare the corpse. If [the deceased] had a good canoe, he is placed into it and it is put up. It is painted and two holes are made in its stern. The people go down to the beach and wash and comb themselves. They cut their hair--men, women, and children. After they have cut their hair, they take other names. Women, men, and children change their names. Then the dentalia of the deceased are distributed. His relatives take them as well as his slaves and canoes. If the deceased liked one of his relatives [particularly] he would say. "He shall take my wife after I am dead." If he had two wives he speaks in this way to two persons. Now the women are taken to his relatives. When a woman loves her husband and she is near her death, she will say to her elder sister: "Your brother-in-law shall marry you;" or she may say so to her younger sister. When an old man dies and his widow is young, she is taken to his younger brother. In the same way [when and old woman dies and her widower is young, he is given his wife's younger sister]. When there is a chief, he takes the [deceased chief's name a long time, after the death of the latter]. His relative takes his name. Two people are told to name him. Now two people give him the name. They are given much property [for performing this service]. This is done when a man, a woman, or a child is named. After a year the corpse is cleaned. Two young men are hired, who also rearrange the canoe and paint it. When a man dies who has a guardian spirit, his baton is placed next to the canoe. When a shaman dies, his baton is placed next to the canoe. His rattle of bear claws is hung on to the stern of the canoe. When he had a rattle made of shell, it is hung in the same place. When a shaman has many children, his baton is carried far into the woods. His rattle is carried there also. When a brave dies, his headdress is placed on top of a pole near his canoe burial. When he had a shell rattle, it is hung on to the canoe. When a woman dies, only her coat is hung on the canoe burial. When anybody takes the dentalia away from a corpse, the person who took them is killed. When anybody makes fun of a canoe burial, and [the relatives of the deceased] learn about it, he must give away many dentalia, else he is killed. If he gives away many dentalia he is not killed. When the child of a chief dies, he becomes very sad. He says to his relatives: "Let us go to the chief of that town." The chief tries to please him. Now the people go to another town. Then he is given three slaves, canoes, and dentalia by the chief whom he visits. He receives many dentalia. He distributes all these dentalia and canoes among his relatives. He keeps only two slaves. If [the chief of] that town does not give him any dentalia they fight. Many people are killed, and now a feud originates. When a relative [of the chief] who has given dentalia dies, he assembles all his relatives and goes to the man whom he had given dentalia. Now the same is done [as before]. They give him slaves, dentalia, and canoes. His heart becomes glad. When a chief dies, his relatives are sad. They speak to each other and go to war. They kill the chief of another town. When a person has been killed, an old man who has a guardian spirit is asked to work over the murderer. The old man takes coal and mixes it with grease. He puts it onto the face [of the murderer]. He gives him a head ring of cedar bark. Cedar bark is also tied around his ankles and knees and around his wrists. For five days he does not drink water. He does not sleep, and does not lie down. He always, stands. At, night he walks about and whistles on bone whistles. He always says ä ä ä. For five days he does not wash his face. Then on the next morning the old man washes his face. He takes off that coal. He removes the black paint from his face. He puts red paint on his face. A little coal is mixed with the red paint. The old man puts this again on to his face. Sometimes this is done by an old man, sometimes by an old woman. The cedar bark which was tied to his legs and arms is taken off and buckskin straps are tied around his arms and his legs. Now, after five days he is given water. He is given a bucket, out of which he drinks. Now food is roasted for him, until it is burned. When it is burned black it is given to him. He eats standing. He takes five mouthsful, and no more. After thirty days he is painted with new red paint. Good red paint is taken. Now he carries his head ring and his bucket to a spruce tree and hangs it on top of the tree. [Then the tree will dry up.] People never eat in company of a murderer. He never eats sitting, but always standing. When he sits down [to rest] he kneels on one leg. The murderer never looks at a child and must not see people while they are eating. When a woman's husband dies she becomes a widow. Then she goes up the river. [There she stays] sometimes one day, sometimes two days. She bathes. For thirty days she does not eat fresh food. She also does not look at a child or at a sick person. She bathes every day. She rubs her body with sweet-smelling herbs. She never wears a good blanket. Her blanket is always bad. For one year she must not laugh. Then her dead husband's relatives tell her: "Now be glad; your brother-in-law will marry you;" then she puts on a good blanket. When she laughs shortly after becoming a widow, her husband's relatives are not pleased. When she marries again quickly, they ask a shaman to send disease to her and she dies. When a widow has a child which is small, her dead husband's relatives say to her soon: "Now be glad," and, indeed, she gets glad. Chinook Texts, by Franz Boas; U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin no. 20; US Government Printing Office; [1894] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Death, and Life and Death - Kono In the beginning there was nothing: neither matter nor light existed. In this world lived only Death, whose name is Sa, and his wife and and their only daughter. Needing a place for his family to live, Sa eventually used his magical powers to create a vast sea of mud. They lived in this filth and instablilty for many years. Finally the god Alatangana came to visit Sa and his familty. Alatangana was appalled at the mess in which they lived, and he condemned Sa for creating such a dirty place that lacked light and life. To set things right, Alatangana first consolidated the mud into the solid earth. However, this lifeless expanse across which he could now walk still depressed him. First he made plants to cover the new earth, and then animals to live on it. Even Sa realized that Alatangana had made the world a much better place, and he took Alatangana in as his guest. Alatangana was wifeless, and eventually he decided he wanted Sa's daughter for his wife. Sa at first was diplomatic in refusing to let Alatangana marry his daughter, but finally he explicitly refused Alatangana's request. Alatangana, however, wooed Sa's daughter, and eventually they eloped to a distant region of the earth. Alatangana and his new wife set up a happy home amidst the paradise that Alatangana had created from Sa's sea of mud. They had fourteen children. Seven were girls and seven were boys, and of each four had light skin and three had dark. This did not distress Alatangana, but he and his wife were shocked to find that their chidren spoke different languages that the parents did not understand. Frustrated with this state of affairs, Alatangana finally went to Sa for advice. Sa explained that this was a curse that he had put on Alatangana's children because of the way Alatangana had stolen his daughter. Alatangana returned home, and eventually his children went off to found the peoples of the world, the French, the English, and the other European peoples, and the Kono, the Guuerze, the Manon Malinke, and the Toma Yacouba of Africa. All these descendents of Alatangana and his wife still lived in darkness, because although Alatangana had made the life that covered the earth, he had could not find a way to make light. As before, his frustration forced him to call on Sa for help, but rather than face his hostile father-in-law, he decided to send two messengers. He chose the tou-tou bird, a small red bird that is one of the first to arise each morning in the forest, and the rooster. These two birds went to ask Sa how the world could be lit so that the new peoples of the earth could see to work. When the two presented their problem to Sa, he invited them into his home and taught them a song with which they could call forth daylight. When the two returned to Alatangana, he was furious at the nonsense they reported about a song they had learned. He nearly killed them, but eventually he sent them on their way. Not long afterward, the rooster broke into song, and the tou-tou bird sang its first notes. For the first time, dawn began to appear, and soon it was day. The sun that they had called forth made its way across the sky, and when it set the stars appeared to provide faint light at night. Every day since has begun the same way, with the call of the tou-tou bird and the cry of the rooster. Alatangana was grateful for the gift that he now realized Sa had given to him and his children. Sa was not long, however, in calling for payment of the debt. He came to Alatangana and pointed out the good things that he had done despite Alatangana's theft of his daughter. Now he demanded that in return he could, whenever he liked, claim any of Alatangana's offspring. Knowing his guilt and his debt to Sa, Alatangana agreed, and so it is that Alatangana's children, the human people, must meet with Death whenever he calls for them. Ulli Beier, 1966, The Origin of Life and DeathÐAfrican Creation Myths: London, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 65 p. (GR355.B4) This story comes from the Kono people of Guinea. Like many African stories, it is as concerned with the origin of death as with the origin of life, and with the origin of the many races that inhabit the earth. Note on page iii of the print edition: This book is not copyrighted by the author and may be freely reproduced, so long as it is not copyrighted by those who reproduce it, and so long as it is not sold for more than the cost of reproducing and binding. The author receives no money from the sale of this book. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da and Hiawatha - Haudenosaunee The Hiawatha in this story is the historic person of the late fourteenth century. He should not be confused with the character in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem. The Song of Hiawatha. In the late nineteenth century, the Iroquois Six Nations Council asked their six hereditary Chiefs to write in English for the first time the traditional oral history of the formation of the League of Five nations. It was formed about 1390, 100 years before Columbus discovered America. (The Tuscaroras joined the League conditionally in 1715.) The traditional history was dictated by the six ceremonial Chiefs, one from each of these tribes: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Senecas, Onondagas, and the Tuscaroras. Two subchiefs were appointed secretaries, and the typewritten report was prepared by an Indian. On July 3,1900, the completed history was approved by the Council of the Confederacy. About 1390, an Iroquois mother living near the Bay of Quinte had a very special dream: A messenger came to her and revealed that her maiden daughter, who lived at home, would soon give birth to a son. She would call him De-ka-nah-wi-da (De-kah-a-wee-da). When a grown man, he would bring to all people the good Tidings of Peace and Power from the Chief of the Sky Spirits. De-ka-nah-wi-da was bom, as the dream foretold. He grew rapidly. One day he said to his mother and grandmother, "The time has come for me to perform my duty in the world. I will now build my canoe." When it was completed, and with the help of his mother and grandmother, he dragged the canoe to the edge of the water. The canoe was made of white stone. He got into it, waved good-bye, and paddled swiftly away to the East. A group of Seneca hunters on the far side of the bay saw the canoe coming toward them. De- ka-nah-wi-da stepped ashore and asked, "Why are you here?" The first man replied, "We are hunting game for our living." A second man said, "There is strife in our village." "When you go back," De-ka-nah-wi-da told them, "you will find that peace prevails, because the good Tidings of Peace and Power have come to the people. You will find strife removed. Tell your Chief that De-ka-nah-wi-da has brought the good news. I am now going eastward." The men on the lakeshore wondered, because the swift canoe was made of white stone. When they returned to their village and reported to their Chief, they found that peace prevailed. After leaving his canoe on the east shore, De-ka-nah-wi-da traveled overland to another tribal settlement and asked the Chief, "Have you heard that Peace and Power have come to earth?" "Yes, I have heard," answered the Chief. "I have been thinking about it so much that I have been unable to sleep." De-ka-nah-wi-da then explained, "That which caused your wakefulness is now before you. Henceforth, you will be called Chief Hiawatha. You shall help me promote peace among all the tribes, so that the shedding of blood may cease among your people." "Wait," said Hiawatha. "I will summon my people to hear you speak." All assembled quickly. "I have brought the good tidings of Peace and Power from the Chief of the Sky Spirits to all people on earth. Bloodshed must cease in the land. The Good Spirit never intended that blood should flow between human beings." Chief Hiawatha asked his tribe for their answer. One man asked, "What will happened to us if hostile tribes are on either side of us?" "Those nations have already accepted the good news that I have brought them," replied De-ka-nah-wi-da. Hiawatha's tribe then also accepted the new plan of peace. When the Messenger departed, Hiawatha walked with him for a short distance. "There is one I wish to warn you about because he may do evil to you," confided De-ka-nah-wi-da. "He is a wizard and lives high above Lake Onondaga. He causes storms to capsize boats and is a mischief-maker. I go on to the East." Hiawatha had three daughters. The eldest became ill and died. Not long afterward, the second daughter died. All of the tribe gathered to console Hiawatha and to help him forget his great sorrow. One of the warriors suggested a game of lacrosse. During the game, the last of Hiawatha's daughters went to the spring for water. Halfway there, she saw a beautiful high-flying bird of many bright colors. She called for the people to look at the bird. Then the huge creature swooped down toward her. In fear, she started to run back to her lodge. At the same time, the people came running to see the bird. Hiawatha's daughter was knocked down in the confusion. They did not see her and she was trampled to death. "Has the wizard sent that bird and caused the death of my daughter?" wondered Hiawatha. Deeper in sorrow, he decided to leave his tribe and go away. A few days later, he met De-ka-nah-wi-da, who commissioned him a Peacemaker Henceforth, Hiawatha would spend his time going from village to village and spread the good ^"S8 of peace and Power, so that the children of the future would live in peace. The Mohawk Nation was the first to accept the peace plan, and they invited Hiawatha to make his home with them. One night De-ka-nah-wi-da appeared outside Hiawatha's sleeping room. "It is now urgent" he said softly, 'that you come with me. We must go at once to another settlement. I have been there before and I promised to return." On their way, they came to a large lake. De-ka-nah-wi-da asked Hiawatha to choose between paddling across the rough water and flying over it. Remembering the warning about the wizard, he chose to flyover the lake. De-ka-nah-wi-da used his supernatural power and turned both of them into high-flying birds. When they reached the opposite shore, they resumed their natural bodies. Then they journeyed to the top of a very high hill to see the one chief, the great wizard, who had not yet accepted the good news of peace. Upon seeing him, Hiawatha was startled-the wizard's head was a mass of writhing snakes. His hands and feet were claw like and twisted He used his power to persecute others. After a long time of discussion and gentle persuasion, Hiawatha noticed that the wizard began to smile! He exclaimed, "I do want to accept your plan of Peace and Power." At once the wizard began to change. His hands and feet straightened Hiawatha combed the snakes from his hair. Soon other chiefs arrived to help in the wizard's regeneration. De-ka-nah-wi-da then asked all the chiefs and their chief warriors and assistants to meet on the shores of Lake Onondaga for a Council Hiawatha/Chief of the Mohawks, asked the Oneida, Seneca, and Cayugachiefs to bow their heads with him before the reformed wizard, who was the Onondaga Chief Atotarho (A-ta-tar'-ho). This was their way of showing their acceptance of him and their willingness to follow his leadership when called upon. The Messenger stood before the Council and explained a plan for the Constitution of the Iroquois League of Peace: "Let us now give thanks to the Great Chief of the Sky Spirits, for our power is now complete. 'Yo-Hen, Yo-Hen,'" he said, meaning praise and thanksgiving. The Great Spirit created man, the animals, earth, and all the growing things. I appoint you, Atotarho, Chief of the Onondagas, to be Fire-Keeper of your new Confederacy Council of the Five United Iroquois Nations. "Chief Warrior and Chief Mother will now place upon your head the horns of a buck deer, a sign of your authority. "Hiawatha shall be the Chief Spokesman for the Council. He will be the first to consider a subject and to give his opinion. He shall then ask the Senecas, Oneidas, and the Cayugas for their opinions, in that order If not unanimous, Atotarho's opinion will be considered next. Hiawatha shall continue the debate until a unanimous decision is reached. If not accomplished within a reasonable time, the subject shall be dropped. "Let us now make a great white Wampum of shell beads strung on deer sinews. Each bead will signify an event and create a design of memory. We shall place it on the ground before the Fire-Keeper Beside it we shall lay a large White Wing. With it, he can brush away any dust or spot-symbolic of destroying any evil that might cause trouble. "We shall give the Fire-Keeper a rod to remove any creeping thing that might appear to harm the White Wampum or your grandchildren If he should ever need help, he shall call out in his thunderous voice for the other Nations of the Confederacy to come to his aid. "Each Chief shall organize his own tribe in the same way for the peace happiness, and contentment of all his people. Each Chief shall sit at the head of his own Council and matters shall be referred to him for final decision. "In the future, your Annual Confederacy Council Fire shall be held here at the Onondaga village of Chief Atotarho. It will be your Seat of Government. "Let us now plant a symbolic tree of long leaves destined to grow tall and strong. It will represent your unity and strength. When other nations wish to accept the good Tidings of Peace and Power, they shall be seated within the Confederacy Council. Atop the tall tree will proudly sit an all-seeing eagle to watch and warn you of any danger. "Let each Chief now bring one arrow to form a bundle of arrows. Tie them together so tightly that they cannot be bent or broken apart. Place the bundle of arrows beside the Council Fire as another symbol of your unity and strength. "Let us join hands firmly, binding ourselves together in a circle If a tree should fall upon the circle, your circle cannot be broken. Your people can thus be assured of your unity and peace. "If a Council Chief should ever want to remove himself as Chief then his Horns of Authority shall be placed upon the head of his hereditary successor. "You Chiefs must now decide what you will do with your war weapons," said De-ka-nah-wi-da. Hiawatha then led the thoughtful discussion of the subject. The men agreed to dig a deep chasm where there was a rushing river beneath. Into this river the chiefs and their chief warriors threw all of their armaments of war. Then they closed the chasm forever. De-ka-nah-wi-da reconvened the Council and stated: "I charge you never to disagree seriously among yourselves. If you do, you might cause the loss of any rights of your grandchildren, or reduce them to poverty and shame. Your skin must be seven hands thick to stand for what is right in your heart. Exercise great patience and goodwill toward each other in your deliberations. Never, never disgrace yourselves by becoming angry. Let the good Tidings of Peace and Power and righteousness be your guide in all your Council Fires. Cultivate good feelings of friendship, love, and honor for each other always. "In the future, vacancies shall be filled from the same hereditary tribes and clans from which the first Chiefs were chosen. The Chief Mother will control the chiefship titles and appoint hereditary successors. New Chiefs shall be confirmed by the Confederacy Council before the Condolence Ceremony. At that time, the Horns of Authority shall be placed upon the head of the new Chief. "All hunting grounds are to be in common. All tribes shall have co-equal rights within your common boundaries. I now proclaim the formation of the League of the Five Iroquois Nations completed. I leave in your hands these principles I have received from the Chief of the Sky Spirits. In the future you will have the power to add any necessary rules for the safety and well-being of the Confederacy. "My mission is now fulfilled. May your Confederacy continue from generation to generation-as long as the sun will shine, the grass will grow, the water will run. I go to cover myself with bark. I will have no successor and no one shall be called by my name." De-ka-nah-wi-da departed from the Council Fire. Chief Spokesman and Lawgiver Hiawatha arose before the Council and stated, "Hereafter, when opening and closing the Council Fire, the Fire-Keeper shall pick up the White Wampum strings and hold them high to honor all that has gone before. He will offer praise and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit. In Annual Council, the Chiefs will smoke the Pipe of Great Peace. "If a chief stubbornly opposes matters of decision before the Council, displaying disrespect for his brother Chiefs, he shall be admonished by the Chief Mother to stop such behavior and to act in harmony. If he continues to refuse, he shall be deposed. "If a family or clan should become extinct, the Chief's title shall be given to another chosen family within his Nation, and the hereditary title will remain within that family." All of the Chiefs of that first Council Fire agreed with Hiawatha's plan as a part of their new Constitution. Chief Fire-Keeper Atotarho arose before the Council with his arms outstretched, holding the White Wampum strings high in praise and thanksgiving to the Holder of the Heavens. Herewith, he closed the historic first Confederacy Council Fire of the Iroquois League of Five Nations. "Yo-Hen, Yo-Hen!" he solemnly concluded, "thank you." The Five Chiefs then smoked the Pipe of Great Peace! Taken from Duncan C. Scott, Royal Academy of Canada, Proceedings and Transactions, vol 5, Section 2, 1911: 194-246.and Paul A.W. Wallace, White Roots of Peace. Philadelphia: University of Penn. Press, 1946. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]