Animal Jests - Jamaica IX. Louse an' Dog-flea have a quarrel. Dog-flea, he said, "Brar Louse, when him ketchin' yo' a head, how you manage?" Louse said, "Brar, me gwine a knot knot." Louse said to Dog-flea, say, "Brar, when him ketchin' you, how you manage?" Dog-flea said, "Me gwine a seam in." Dog-flea said, "Den, Louse, when dem a comb you, whe' you go?" Louse said, "I lie down flat 'pon de meat." Louse said to Dog-flea, "Den, Brar, when dem dip a hot water how you manage?" Dog-flea say, "Come, come, sah, dat don't fe yo' business!" So de quarrel end. X. Ground-lizard and Ground-rat were two friends. Rat said to Ground-lizard, "How black nigger sta'?" Lizard say, "Oh, dey ugly-lookin' chaps'." Rat said, "Yes? I see dem but nebber can stan' to look pon dem. Soon as dem see me dem say, 'Look Groun'-rat! look Groun'-rat!' an' take a stone to kill me, so I get out a dem sight." Ground-lizard say, "When dey buck up on me suddenly, I jump, but when I go a little way, turn round on dem an' look; dat how I know dey ugly-lookin' chap.' XI. Puss and Dog went out journeying one day and they found a thruppence. So they divided and now the trouble was they didn' know which thing to buy with a penny ha'penny. Dog said, "Brar Puss, I goin' to take fe my quattie to buy a quattie worth of look'." Puss say, "I won' buy 'look', I wi' buy cattle!" So the Puss buy a pair of lizard and let them go on the run, and they run to breed. That is why you see a cat always after lizard, and a dog is always looking, looking, looking and doing nothing, XII. Han' a go market. Hear beg Han' a buy meat. When Han' come a pass, he cut piece of de meat. Den Mosquito see him, an' Mosquito come fe go tell Hear say Han' cut de meat. Den eb'ry time Mosquito go to tell Hear, Han' knock him. He come back again--"Hearie!" Han' knock him (striking his ear with his hand). Couldn't tell him yet. XIII. Monkey said to Goat, "I want to make a ball and I have a jacket I don't want to wear; so I sent for you to see if you will buy the jacket." And said, "Try on the jacket, see if it will fit you." So Goat try on the jacket, and Monkey said, "It kyan't fit you better!" Goat said, "Fit? fit? fit? (strutting about looking at himself) fit fe tre-ew!" So Goat buy the jacket. XIV. Anansi an' Tiger was traveling going thru' a stream of water. Anansi want to find if Tiger can tell a story. Anansi foot went right down on a sort of stone in de water. Anansi say, "I mash a fish!" Tiger holla out say, "I smell de fat!" XV. Tacoomah say, "Anansi, yo' ma dead!"--"A' right! bit's wort' a meat fe sarve t'day."--"Anansi, yo' ma wake!"--"A' right! one somebody kyan't live a worl'." NOTE: Witticisms. X. In Tremearne, FL 22:222-223, Lizard and Mouse both court a woman. Mouse tells her that Lizard is blind, can't see at night; Cock tells her that Rat is a thief, can't be seen in the market. In Koelle, 174-177, Toad and Rat have a wager to see if one can do what the other cannot. Toad passes a crowd with a whole skin; Rat is pursued with sticks and stones. XI. See number 48. XII. From Alexander Archibald, near Mandeville. XIII. From Mrs. Matilda Hall, Harmony Hall. See number 4. XVI. This and the next two witticisms were written out by some young lads in Bethlehem, Santa Cruz Mountains. 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/

Angangujuk - Inuit It is said that Ángángujuk's father was very strong. They had no other neighbors, but lived there three of them all alone. One day when the mother was going to scrape meat from a skin, she let the child play at kayak outside in the passage, near the entrance. And now and again she called to him: "Ángángujuk!" And the child would answer from outside. And once she called in this way, and called again, for there came no answer. And when no answer came again, she left the skin she was scraping, and began to search about. But she could not find the child. And now she began to feel greatly afraid, dreading her husband's return. And while she stood there feeling great fear of her husband, he came out from behind a rock, dragging a seal behind him. Then he came forward and said: "Where is our little son?" "He vanished away from me this morning, after you had gone, when he was playing kayak-man out in the passage." And when she had said this, her husband answered: "It is you, wicked old hag, who have killed him. And now I will kill you." To this his wife answered: "Do not kill me yet, but wait a little, and first seek out one who can ask counsel of the spirits." And now the husband began eagerly to search for such a one. He came home bringing wizards with him, and bade them try what they could do, and when they could not find the child, he let them go without giving them so much as a bite of meat. And seeing that none of them could help him, he now sought for a very clever finder of hidden things, and meeting such a one at last, he took him home. Then he fastened a stick to his face, and made him lie down on the bed place on his back. And now he worked away with him until the spirit came. And when this had happened, the spirit finder declared: "It would seem that spirits have here found a difficult task. He is up in a place between two great cliffs, and two old inland folk are looking after him." Then they stopped calling spirits, and wandered away towards the east. They walked and walked, and at last they sighted a lot of houses. And when they came nearer, they saw the smoke coming out from all the smoke holes. It was the heat from inside coming out so. And the father looked in through a window, and saw that they were quarrelling about his child, and the child was crying. "Who is to look after him?" So he heard them saying inside the house; each one was eager to have the child. When the father saw this, he was very angry. And the people inside asked the child: "What would you like to eat?" "No," said the child. "Will you have seal meat?" "No," said the child. And there was nothing he cared to have. Therefore they asked him at last: "Do you want to go home very much?" Ángángujuk answered quickly: "Yes." And his father was very greatly angered by now. And said to those with him: "Try now to magic them to sleep." And now the wizard began calling down a magic sleep upon those in the hut, and one by one they sank to sleep and began to snore. And fewer and fewer remained awake; at last there were only two. But then one of those two began to yawn, and at last rolled over and snored. And now the great finder of hidden things began calling down sleep with all his might over that one remaining. And at last he too began to move towards the sleeping place. Then he began to yawn a little, and at last he also rolled over. Now Ángángujuk's father went in quickly, and now he caught up his son. But now the child had no clothes on. And looking for them, he saw them hung up on the drying frame. But the house was so high that they had to poke down the clothes with poles. At last they came out, and walked and walked and came farther on. And it was now beginning to be light. As soon as they came to the place, they cut the moorings of the umiak, and hastily made all ready, and rowed out to the farthest islands. They had just moved away from land when they saw a number of people opposite the house. But when the inland folk saw they had already moved out from the land, they went up to the house and beat it down, beating down roof and walls and all that there was of it. After that time, Ángángujuk's parents never again took up their dwelling on the mainland. Here ends this story. Taken from: Eskimo Folk-Tales, collected by Knud Rasmussen, translated and edited by W. Worster, [London, 1921] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Akigsiak - Inuit IN days of yore it once happened that some people went far into a firth to fish for salmon, and at the time one of the women was carried off by an inlander, and was taken by him to a very remote place. She belonged to the coast people, but afterwards married the man who carried her off, and they begat a son, who was named Akigsiak. In his boyhood two of his father's nephews were his constant playfellows. They often used to box and fight each other, but Akigsiak soon outdid them completely; even in swiftness his friends did not surpass him. As his mother belonged to the coast people, while his father was from the interior of the country, he was smaller of growth; but notwithstanding, he was respected and feared by the other inlanders, and had a great reputation for strength and ability in hunting. Akigsiak used to seek intercourse with the coast people in order to gain information concerning his mother's relatives; and at such a meeting he once told them as follows: "When my father grew older he was incapable of providing for us. One winter we had a great famine, and every day I went out in search of provisions; and meanwhile my father watched me from the tops of the highest mountains, at the same time taking note of any change in the weather, and as soon as the sky darkened he made me a signal that I could hear far and wide, after which I took my way homewards. He also gave me several instructions, and said I might go anywhere excepting to the north, because of a monstrous reptile that was reported to ravage those parts. One day my father gave me the signal; but not even having had a chance of killing any game, I did not obey his call. Afterwards, when I was going to return home, the storm overtook me, and I could hardly see anything on account of the wind and the snowdrifts, and consequently lost my way. Wandering about in this manner, I at length discovered something that appeared to me like two large windows of a house; then I saw that the other parts were like a hill; and finally I saw that this was the terrible reptile against which my father had warned me. I at once took to flight. However, he had already seen me, and pursued me; but whenever he came up I leapt across him, and striking him with my lance, I continued running. At last, however, turning round to look for him, and noticing that he was quite close upon me, I cried aloud with fatigue, and falling to the ground, I lost my senses. I was soon awakened by a cool touch upon my face, and at once remembered the monster reptile. Looking about for him, I beheld him lying close to my feet. With my eyes constantly fixed upon him, I very cautiously crept away; and as he did not even move, I rose to my feet and walked on: but I did not reach my home until the fourth day, and had been given up for lost. On entering the house my father said, 'Our housemates have got nothing to help thee with.' But I told him that I had barely escaped from the reptile, and that apparently I had left him dead; and then my father said, 'The body of the reptile is said to consist of nothing but fat;' and he added, 'our house-fellows are almost starving.' These were now informed of what had happened, and they went out in search of the monster; but many of them died before they reached the spot-some just outside their houses others farther away, till the whole road was covered with dead bodies. But those who reached the reptile flensed away at him, and found him to consist principally of fat, mixed with a little lean flesh. They afterwards had it for food the whole winter." This was Akigsiak's report at his first meeting with the coast people. The next time he told how he had once been away on an excursion with his father, and that on approaching the sea-shore they observed a whale close outside, and a number of coast people standing on the beach. By his father's orders he ran down and made an old man teach him a magic lay for luring the whale up the river. As soon as the whale had entered the river a crowd of inlanders appeared; but before they had been able to penetrate the skin of the whale with their harpoons, Akigsiak ran off home in order to fetch his weapons. Though he had to round three large bays on his way, he was still in good time to dispatch the whale after his return, and then proceeded to give everybody his share of it, not forgetting the old coast man, whom he protected against the inlanders. At the third meeting he went on to tell how, having once heard that some other inlanders had caught an immense fish the shape of a salmon, he hurried down to the river-side and threw his harpoon also into the fish, but that his companions being too few, the other inlanders stationed on the opposite side succeeded in hauling it from them. He then hastened on to a place where the river was somewhat narrower, and in jumping across hurled him self round, head over heels, before he alighted on his feet at the opposite shore. There he soon frightened away the other inlanders, took his share of the fish-which he threw across to his own people on the other side-and then jumped back in the same way he had come. At his fourth meeting with the coast people, Akigsiak told them about a quarrel he once had with an igalilik (viz., "pot- bearer," certain fabulous inlanders carrying boiling pots on their shoulders), whom he had pushed down a precipice, crushing him to death against the rocks. At last, Akigsiak met with an inorusek (another kind of gigantic inlanders) on the high banks of a river. While they were amusing themselves with throwing stones, the inorusek persuaded him to try to hit a kayaker just passing by below, whom he did not fail to kill on the spot. Akigsiak, repenting himself of his deed, afterwards slew the inorusek, but is said never from this time to have ventured himself among the coast people again, because of the murder he had committed. Only once, they say, did he go to visit a certain coast man, who lived on the banks of a river, in order to try a boxing-match and a race with him. Although he was said to be a smaller man than the other inlanders, he was at all events larger than our people; his back was as broad as that of two others put together, and his height very little less than two people on top of each other. The Eskimo of Siberia, by Waldemar Bogoras; The Jessup North Pacific Expedition; Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, Volume VIII, No III. Leiden & New York, [1913] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Creation Story - Ainu In the beginning, the world was nothing but a quagmire. Nothing could live there. But in the six skies above and in the six worlds below dwelled Gods, demons, and animals. In the foggy and hanging skies of the lower heavens, demons lived. In the star-bearing and high skies of the clouds lived the lesser Gods. In the skies of the most high lived Kamui, the creator God, and his servants. His realm was surrounded by a mighty metal wall and the only entrance was through a great iron gate. Kamui made this world as a vast round ocean resting on the backbone of an enormous trout. This fish sucks in the ocean and spits it out again to make the tides; when it moves it causes earthquakes. One day Kamui looked down on the watery world and decided to make something of it. He sent down a water wagtail to do the work. When the poor bird arrived and saw what a mess everything was in, it was at its wit's end to know what to do. However, by fluttering over the waters with its wings and by trampling the sand with its feet and beating it with its tail, the wagtail at last created patches of dry land. In this way islands were raised to float upon the ocean in this, the floating world. Even today, the faithful wagtail is still carrying on its work, still beating the ground with its tail. When Kamui created the world, the devil tried to thwart him. One morning, the devil got up and lay in wait with his mouth gaping wide to swallow the sun. But Kamui sent a crow to fly down the devil's throat and make him choke and cough. That is why the crow is such a bold bird. Because a crow once saved the world, all crows think they can act as they like, even stealing people's food. When the animals who lived up in the heavens saw how beautiful the world was, they begged Kamui to let them go and live on it, and he did. But Kamui also made many other creatures especially for the world. The first people, the Ainu, had bodies of earth, hair of chickweed, and spines made from sticks of willow. That is why when we grow old, our backs become bent. Kamui sent Aioina, the divine man, down from heaven to teach the Ainu how to hunt and to cook. When Aioina returned to heaven after living among the people and teaching them many things, the Gods all held their noses, crying, "What a terrible smell of human being there is!" They sniffed and sniffed to find out where the stink was coming from. At last they traced the smell to Aioina's clothes. The Gods sent him back to earth and refused to let him back into heaven until he left all his clothes behind. Down in the floating world, Aioina's cast-off sandals turned into the first squirrels http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/miranda.htm#AIN Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Hey I read, otherwise I wouldn't forward stuff worth reading :) I just haven't taken time to read the links sent. Lately if I'm not battling Lightening storms (fighting to get through emails before they get close) I am rushing around & praying to help malnourished horses. There's a malnourished mare in Wy., that I'm trying to find a home for (no she's not mine, I live in Idaho) before its too late. Not easy, everyone seems to want to put her down rather then take her in & feed her. I'd like to take her in, but I live 9+ hrs away, no money to pay for a hauler & not trailer to go get her myself (not that my truck would make it that far to begin with) We've got another storm coming in & between the storm, keeping kids in the yard, away from the bull snakes, fixing dinner, dealing with the landlord's visit's.......I haven't gotten much accomplished today :) So.......some time soon I'll check out the links below :) Alli ----- Original Message ----- From: "Danm" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 4:58 PM Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] Ancient One > Yup cuz you are taking time to use up my power and not reading <G> I know! > ok check this one out. > http://www.lostworlds.org/etowah_mounds.html > > > also another topic- > Science is also beginning to prove Cherokee were not here for ever now > were > they first. > Maybe folks need to check this out to prove me wrong. > Dan

Yup cuz you are taking time to use up my power and not reading <G> I know! ok check this one out. http://www.lostworlds.org/etowah_mounds.html also another topic- Science is also beginning to prove Cherokee were not here for ever now were they first. Maybe folks need to check this out to prove me wrong. Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 7:49 AM Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] Ancient One > I'm behind on messages (again) so I haven't checked this out, but I look > forward to later today :) (I hope) > > depends on if we have anymore rain storms hit (Dan keep them with you > would > ya) LOL > > Alli :)

I'm behind on messages (again) so I haven't checked this out, but I look forward to later today :) (I hope) depends on if we have anymore rain storms hit (Dan keep them with you would ya) LOL Alli :) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Danm" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 9:38 PM Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] Ancient One > speaking of ancient > here is an interesting thing on wiki > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani-kutani > > Dan > ======*====== > List archives > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

speaking of ancient here is an interesting thing on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani-kutani Dan

Avarunguak Or Agdlerut - Inuit AT a well-peopled place the trick of pinching was a favourite amusement with the inhabitants. One night a girl, who was an only sister with a number of brothers, came running in, crying, "I wonder who it can possibly be who is always running after me and paying court to me?" They told her that when he again made his appearance, she had better bring him into the house. When at length she brought him in, it was a man totally unknown to all of them. Avarunguak-such was his name-had grown up in solitary places, and when he came among people he married this girl, and after a while learned to manage a kayak, and grew an excellent hunter. Once they had some visitors from the south, and an old woman of the party accosted Avarunguak thus, saying, "If Avarunguak were to hear of the nice hunt, and the many auks[a] we have down in the south, I am sure he would be wanting to go there!" So saying, she went away; but having heard her, Avarunguak could not sleep, so great was his desire to go at once. Already the next morning he ordered his housemates to make ready for the voyage; he wanted to be off for the south, he said. They loaded the boat and got under way. On the way out they asked the people they encountered whether the place was still far off, and all made answer that it was not very nigh yet. At length they put on shore, to rest from the toil of rowing, at a place where the people said that to-morrow they might possibly gain their destination. "When ye leave here, and have doubled the cape, ye will come in sight of a very large tent-this ye must shun; but soon afterwards ye will perceive a little white point, and having also passed this, ye will fall in with a great many people. To those ye shall go up." On leaving, they soon observed the little white promontory right enough. Avarunguak steered his boat towards the large tent, unheeding the advice of his companions. On landing, a huge man came out from the tent towards them, and receiving them very civilly, went on saying, "It is really a matter of difficulty to get any one to keep company with here; pray stay and live with me;" and accordingly they prepared for wintering there. Every morning Avarunguak awoke at an early hour, but somehow his housemate was always out and off before him. One day in autumn he happened to meet him on their look-out hill; and when the huge man observed him, he said, "It will soon be the time when the auks will come screaming across the country; then thou must be sure to get up in good time." But rise as early as he might, Avarunguak was never able to be beforehand with his companion, but always found he had gone out first. One day, when he again overtook him on the hill, he said, "There, the auks are coming across the sea. Make haste to thy tent; but mind, shut the curtain closely, so that only one bird can get in at a time; and do not begin to catch any of them until the tent is quite full." When Avarunguak had entered and drawn the curtain close, he heard a tapping and rustling, and the birds began to flutter in. He could not, however, take time, but began catching them too soon, upon which the birds instantly left; and at the same time he heard the man scolding, and saying, "Didst thou not mind my telling thee that thou wert not to catch them till the tent was quite full, lest I should be in want of food?" Still, Avarunguak had got a great many birds, quite sufficient to live upon for a good length of time. Some time after, his house-fellow said, "Now it is near the time for the walrus, but I do not pursue them; the red walrus is a very ferocious beast, and at that time I do not venture out at all." When these animals appeared, Avarunguak grew very excited about going, taking a great interest in all kinds of hunting that were new to him. When he landed his first walrus, his big companion came down to the beach, took hold of the walrus, and dragging it along with only one hand, passed by Avarunguak's tent, and carried it off to his own. Avarunguak wondered, and said to himself, "I doubt if I shall have a taste of my first walrus;" and entering, he saw the big man busy eating it all by himself, his wife and daughter only looking on; but he did not dare to make any objections. Next time he got a walrus the big man's wife came, and at once carried off his prize, and, after her, their three daughters did the same by turns. Not until they had all got their walrus did they desist; and then, at last, he could think of providing for the ensuing winter. In the beginning his huge friend proposed that they should come and live all together in his house; and when Avarunguak consented, the big man added, "We are five individuals ourselves, and consequently have five windows. Now I suppose that thou wilt add as many as ye count persons." To this Avarunguak answered, "Why, we have never built any more than two or three windows for a company of travellers, with only one boat, whatever their number may be."[b] "Then just do as thou mayst like, and put in two or three windows, but only do come and live with us." In the beginning of winter Avarunguak always caught plenty; but the big man having no kayak of his own, never went out. As time wore on, the sea froze up, and all hunting ceased. The master of the house then spoke, "Here we are all badly off; but I know that behind our country there is good hunting enough, and thither we intend to go tomorrow." Avarunguak had a great mind to accompany them; but the other asked him, "How swift mayst thou be?" "Why, I think I can run a race with any of the quadrupeds." But still the man was very unwilling to take him with him, and only consented at last after much beseeching. The next day they departed, all of them carrying cords of sealskin round their necks. They crossed the neighbouring mountains, and in the distance beheld a bare land, and then the big man spoke: "Dost thou see yonder lofty mountains far away? Behind, there is a sea where the white whale in abundance are found; but when we get so far, thou must only aim at the small ones, because thou wilt not be expert enough to carry home one of the larger ones." As they wandered along, the daughters had to take hold of Avarunguak by his arms to help him along, because he was not quite able to keep up with them. When they reached the appointed place, each of them watched at a cleft in the ice. No sooner did Avarunguak see a huge white whale rise to the surface than he at once aimed at and killed it. Then the other party came on, each of them bringing up two fish; but when the master saw that Avarunguak had disobeyed his orders, he gave him a scolding; and when they prepared to return, they wanted to tie his fish to their own, and make him sit down on the top of it, and thus be dragged home. But he answered, "Since I commenced hunting I have never let my game be carried home by any one but myself, nor shall I do so now. I have caught the fish myself, and will take care to bring it home." They let him have his own way, but in a moment they disappeared from his sight, as if they had been blown away. It was evening, and again beginning to dawn, before he could even see his home, and he met the others coming back to fish anew. It was not till the fourth day he got home; and on the way he had been obliged to eat all the matak (skin) of his dolphin. Meanwhile his relatives had been very anxious about him, thinking that perhaps his companion had killed him. About this time, Avarunguak's people had a dog that happened to whelp. When the first whelp appeared, the huge man whispered something to his wife, on which she brought it him, and he took hold of it and examined all its joints. The wife then put it back in its place, and subsequently brought each new-born whelp to him to be examined in the same way; but when they had handled the seventh, which was also the last, they were heard saying, "This one is perfect; there is not a limb wanting." From that time they seemed despondent; and Avarunguak, who began to fear their intentions, one day said to them, "If you would like to have a dog, you are welcome to take the one you like best." This seemed to please them highly, and they chose the last born, and became so fond of it that they let it stop on the ledge and sleep at night beside them. From this time Avarunguak himself became a great favourite with his other house-fellows. While the winter lasted, the big man once spoke as follows, "We intend soon to go and visit our enemies." Avarunguak was very desirous to join the party, but his house-master answered him, "No, friend; thou wouldst too soon be worn out: for, in the first place, thou canst not eat blubber and flesh enough; and secondly, because of thy clumsiness and want of speed." He answered, "As to the blubber and flesh, methinks I do well enough as regards both of them." Whereat the big one rejoined, "Well, then, try to lick out the oil of all the lamps here, beginning with the outermost." Avarunguak succeeded; and only a few days after, the leader told him "that now he might accompany them to their enemies," adding, "when we have entered, and begin licking the oil, thou must be sure to help us. Next they will present each of us with one large white fish, and thou must thrust thy knife right into it, turn it round, and put the piece thou has cut out into thy mouth, and suddenly exclaim, 'I must go outside, but I will be back in a moment, and go on eating; I enjoy it very much.' But when outside take to thy heels, and run for home as fast as possible, and before thou hast been off long, we shall empty the lamps, and soon overtake thee." Some time after, they carried out their intention of visiting their enemies in their place of abode. They at once set about licking the oil of the lamps, beginning with the first, Avarunguak joining them to the best of his ability. When the hosts saw a stranger among their visitors, they regarded him keenly, so that the huge man interposed: "That is a new housemate of ours; he is living with us at present, and assists us every way,"-and they went on praising and flattering him very much, and making a great deal of his dexterity and strength, adding that he was more than a match for them every way. This was anything but the truth; but they dared not do otherwise, for fear of their enemies. The host now said, "Bring in the meal for the visitors," and the women instantly went out, and returned, bringing in large white fish. The guests soon fell to; but Avarunguak forgot he had been advised to leave off in good time, and never remembered till he was quite satisfied. He then observed his companions making signs to him, and quickly pronouncing the words he had been told, took himself off, and commenced running as fast as possible. On coming near their own house he turned round, and looking back, he saw that the creatures he had been visiting were transformed into bears, pursuing him closely; but his own housemates soon overtook him, and the daughters again took him by the arms to speed him on. When they had almost reached the house, the enemies seemed at their very heels, and Avarunguak was deserted by his protectors, who gave him a blow, so that he fell, and the bears instantly gathered round him. But he chanced to have a salmon for his amulet, and this did him good service in making him too slippery to be caught hold of, and thus he escaped. When spring came round, Avarunguak took a fancy to remove to another place; and on departing, his huge companion said to him, "I hope thou wilt soon return and stay with us; but wherever thou goest, mind to tell the people never to kill a bear when one appears." Thus they departed; but on turning round, they now saw that their housemates too had been transformed into bears: they had been wintering among bears in human shape. Later on they heard that some people in the south had killed a bear, and still later Avarunguak and his wife died. Footnotes [a] Alca arra-Greenlandish, agpa. [b] A house with three windows is considered a very large one; those with five must have been very rare. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, by Henry Rink; London [1875] and is now in the public domain. [Greenland] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

There was a time when everything was still. All the spirits of the earth were asleep - or almost all. The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth. The Father of All Spirits said to the Sun Mother, "Mother, I have work for you. Go down to the Earth and awake the sleeping spirits. Give them forms." The Sun Mother glided down to Earth, which was bare at the time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Mother rested, well pleased with herself. The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits. This time she ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers. However once again the Father urged her on. The Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her. Her heat melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the world were created. Then she created fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Next she awoke the spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors. Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Sun Mother's work. She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the sun. The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, towards the west. However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them. All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them like a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. The earth's children learned to expect her coming and going and were no longer afraid. At first the children lived together peacefully, but eventually envy crept into their hearts. They began to argue. The Sun Mother was forced to come down from her home in the sky to mediate their bickering. She gave each creature the power to change their form to whatever they chose. However she was not pleased with the end result. The rats she had made had changed into bats; there were giant lizards and fish with blue tongues and feet. However the oddest of the new animals was an animal with a bill like a duck, teeth for chewing, a tail like a beavers and the ability to lay egg. It was called the platypus. The Sun Mother looked down upon the Earth and thought to herself that she must create new creatures less the Father of All Spirits be angered by what she now saw. She gave birth to two children. The god was the Morning Star and the goddess was the moon. Two children were born to them and these she sent to Earth. They became our ancestors. She made them superior to the animals because they had part of her mind and would never want to change their shape. http://classiclit.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=classiclit&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.williams.edu%2F%7Elindsey%2Fmyths%2Fmyths_13.html Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Arrow Young Men (The Creation Of The World) - Coos Two young men were travelling. They stopped in the middle of their journey, (and one of them said,) "How would it be if we two should try it? What do you think about it?"--"It would be good if we two should try it," answered the other one. "We ought to try it with that soot here." They had five pieces (disks) of soot. Now they stopped and dropped one piece into the ocean. The world at that time was without land. Everything was covered with water. Again they dropped one piece (disk). The ocean was rolling over the disk. The next day they dropped another disk. Then they stopped at some small place and dropped another disk into the ocean. They looked at it from above, Now land began to appear, and they saw it. They were very glad when they saw the land coming up. The next day they dropped another disk. Land began to stick out (come up). They looked frequently at the waves, that rolled back and forth continually. "What is your opinion?" said one of the two men. Shall we try it again?"--"With what shall we try it?" asked the other one. The water was still rolling back and forth. "Let us split this mat." They did so, and placed the two pieces over the five disks of soot. Now they went down to examine it. Still the land was not solid enough. So one of them said, "Let us split this basket in two!" They split it, and put it on the sand beach. The waves were held back now, since the water was able to go down through the basket. Now the young men went down and examined the land. "This will do," said one of them. "It's good that way." Now they began to look around the world which they had created. There were no trees. "Suppose we set up some trees," said one of them. "It would be very good," answered the other one. Then they stuck into the ground the feathers of an eagle. The feathers began to grow, and developed soon into fir-trees. "All kinds of trees shall grow," said the older man. All the different kinds of trees commenced to grow. "Suppose we create animals," said one of the young men. "It won't be good if there shouldn't be any animals. The future generations ought to have animals." (Then they created animals.) Early in the morning they went to look at the world they had created. Suddenly they saw tracks on the ocean beach. "Whose tracks may these be?" asked one of them. They followed the tracks, and soon came upon a person sitting (on the top of a snag). "You, indeed, must have made these tracks. Who are you?"--"I am a medicine-man," answered the person whose face was painted all over with red paint. "You have no right to travel here. This is our world, we have made it. Are you surely a medicine-man?" They seized the stranger and killed him. Then they spilled his blood in all directions, and said to him, "You will be nothing, the last generation shall see you." Then they turned back. Suddenly one of them became pregnant. The child could not come out. "What will become of us? We ought to have wives." None of them had done anything; nevertheless he became pregnant. The child was all the time trying to come out, but could not do it. So they sent some one to the north, and told him, "There is a man living there. He is a good man. Bring him here." Some one went to get him. They went out in a canoe. To their surprise, there were no waves. So they wished that waves would come. "Five times shall the north wind come and (bring) five breakers." And so it was. They were waiting for the fifth wave. And when this came, they went ashore. (They found the man, and brought him to the pregnant person.) As soon as he saw the pregnant man, he took out the child. It was a girl. From this girl all the people took their origin. She caused the people to multiply, and to inhabit the world. Now the young men continued their journey. They once more examined the world which they had created, and found it to be good. Everything began to assume its present appearance. They both had bows. "How would it be if we should shoot towards the sky?" Indeed, they began to shoot. They looked at their arrows as they were shooting them. "You too ought to shoot one arrow," said one of the young men. "Shoot it so that it shall hit the shaft of mine, and it will look as if it were one arrow; but don't shoot too hard!" He shot and hit it. "Shoot again!" Their arrows became joined, and reached down to the place where they were standing. "Suppose we climb up now!"--"All right!" They shook the, arrows. "Are they firm? Won't they come apart?--Now you try to climb up!" He climbed up. "This is very good indeed." Then the other man climbed up. They looked down, and saw the beautiful appearance of the world which they had created. Nobody knows what became of the two young men. Here the story ends. Coos Texts, by Leo J. Frachtenberg; Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, Volume I; Columbia University Press, New York; [1913] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Ancient One Ancient One sat in the shade of his tree in front of his cave. Red People came to him and he said to Red People, "Tell me your vision." And Red People answered, "The elders have told us to pray in this manner, and that manner, and it is important that only we pray as we have been taught for this has been handed down to us by the elders." "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. Then Black People came to him and he said to Black People, "Tell me your vision." And Black People answered, "Our mothers have said to go to this building and that building and pray in this manner and that manner. And our fathers have said to bow in this manner and that manner when we pray. And it is important that we do only this when we pray." "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. Then Yellow People came to him and he said to Yellow People, "Tell me your vision." And Yellow People answered, "Our teachers have told us to sit in this manner and that manner and to say this thing and that thing when we pray. And it is important that we do only this when we pray." "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. Then White People came to him and he said to White People, "Tell me your vision." And White People answered, "Our Book has told us to pray in this way and that way and to do this thing and that thing, and it is very important that we do this when we pray." "Hmmmm," said the Ancient One. Then Ancient One spoke to the Earth and said, "Have you given the people a vision?" And the Earth said, "Yes, a special gift for each one, but the people were so busy speaking and arguing about which way is right they could not see the gift I gave each one of them." And the Ancient One asked same question of Water and Fire and Air and got the same answer. Then Ancient One asked Animal, and Bird, and Insect, and Tree, and Flower, and Sky, and Moon, and Sun, and Stars, and all of the other Spirits and each told him the same. Ancient One thought this was very sad. He called Red People, Black People, Yellow People, and White People to him and said to them. "The ways taught to you by your Elders, and your Mothers and Fathers, and Teachers, and Books are sacred. It is good that you respect those ways, for they are the ways of your ancestors. But the ancestors no longer walk on the Face of the Earth Mother. You have forgotten your own Vision. Your Vision is right for you but no one else. Now each of you must pray for your own Visions, and be still enough to see them, so you can follow the way of the heart. It is a hard way. It is a good way. Native American Lore, Told by Bearwalker http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore69.html Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Aikanaka Legend - Hawaiian {Thrum version.} Ai-kanaka (Man-eater) is a Maui chief, son of Heleipawa, son of Kapawa. He is born at Kowali-Muo-lea, at a place called Ho'olono-ki'u in Hana district and reared at Makali'i-hanau, and his home is on Kauiki hill. He is a good industrious man and a kind ruler. Hina-hana-ia-(i)-ka-malama (Hina who worked in the moon), or Hina-mai-ka-lani ( Hina from the heavens), comes from Ulupaupau in Kahiki to be his wife and to them are born, first, imbecile children, then Puna-i-mua (Puna the firstborn), and last Hema. Hina's servants are Kaniamoko and Kahapouli. After the birth of Puna, Hina begins to enlarge her landholdings. The children's excrement has to be carried to the north side of the water hole at Ulaino and Hina wearies of their constant messing and the tapu involved in the disposition of the excrement. Hence on the night of Hoku (Full moon) she leaps to the moon from a place called Wanaikulani. Her husband leaps to catch her, the leg breaks off in his hand (hence she is called Lono-muku), and there she hangs in the moon to this day. { Kamakau version.} Aikanaka, son of Kailoau, son of Heleipawa, is born in Kipahulu, Hana district, on East Maui. The place of his birth and the site of his house on the hill Kuekahi can still be seen. Strange stories are told of his wife Hina-hanaia-ka-malama or Hina-ai-ka-malama (Hina fed on the moon). She is said to have found food from the moon in the shape of the sweet potato called hualani. Her husband cut off her foot and threw it to the moon where she lived. Hawaiian Mythology, by Martha Beckwith, Yale University Press [1940, copyright not renewed] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Augpilagtok - Inuit Augpilagtok, who was living in the southern part of the country, chanced to hear that Kangek (pron. Kanghek-at the firth of Godthaab) was an excellent place for seal-hunting. He accordingly started for it; but the autumn set in, and the ground was hard with frost before he arrived; so on coming across an old deserted house at Ikarisat, not far from Kangek, he decided to stop there, and set about preparing an abode for the winter. At first he had fair hunting; so much was he able to store up, that it might have been thought the seals came to his house of their own accord. Heavy northern gales were blowing, and the fall of snow was so great that he was forced to take his store of seals into the house, and live entirely upon them. At last, however, they were finished. The weather was getting calmer, but the sea was still covered with ice. In these circumstances he made himself a small harpoon for hunting on the ice, but first went out to reconnoitre, and find out the breathing-holes of the seals. The first day he roamed all around the bay Ameralik without finding one opening in the ice. The next he tried Kapisilik, but also in vain. The third day, having had the same bad luck at Kangersunek, and having nothing to eat, he set to whetting his knife in the evening. He had a dog with drooping ears, and his knife was intended for this poor animal. He killed it, and cut a piece from the loin, which he ate raw, skin and all, only scraping off the hairs; and when the rest had been boiled he again ate with a hearty appetite. The following day he remained in the house. On the next he climbed the highest mountains to survey the neighbourhood, and discovered an opening in the ice, not far from his dwelling-place, but it was then too late to start. The following morning he set off, carrying his kayak on his head as far as the water's edge. Having rowed for some time along the margin of the ice, he unexpectedly detected a number of huts; and the beach was also red with blood from sea-animals which had been killed. He pulled away; and on arriving had a friendly welcome from the inmates, who asked him to their huts. This place was that Kangek which, for want of better knowledge of the locality, he had not been able to reach before the winter overtook him. In ascending the beach he saw the frozen entrails of some auks thrown out upon the dunghill, and not till he had swallowed some of these could they get him to go inside, where he soon got a proper meal, and had his kayak filled with stores for his departure. A short time after this he removed with all his household to Kangek. Every day he alternately went out seal-hunting and spearing birds; and during this period his little son was provided with a kayak of his own. When auk-hunting his father told him, "When thou goest out for auks and I am not with thee, thou needest not look so much for my kayak, but be watchful of the others; there are those among them whom it would be no joke to disturb while they are busy at their hunt." One day, however, when they had gone out together after birds, Augpilagtok had got to a little distance from his son. Suddenly he heard angry voices, and turning round saw the small kayak surrounded by the other men. Augpilagtok, who at once suspected something wrong, quickly produced his amulet from out the edging of his jacket, and hiding it inside his mouth rowed on as fast as possible. Having reached them he tossed up the amulet, saying, "Whomsoever!" at which one was instantly overturned, then a second, then a third, and so on, till all were drowned excepting himself and his son, who returned home together. Not feeling secure in this place any longer, they removed farther north to Antangmik in the spring. During their stay there the father recommended the son to exert himself to grow a match for his enemies, from whom they might expect an assault some day or other. The son soon became a first-rate kayaker, and chased the sea-animals at the remotest places. On his excursions he was often accompanied by the middlemost of several brothers living at the same settlement. One day when he thought himself quite alone, he was surprised to hear a sound like that of an approaching kayak, and turning round he saw with some amazement his usual companion deliberately aiming at him with his harpoon. He narrowly escaped by overturning his kayak; and when he rose again the other said it was only in fun, although it had been an attempt on his life in good earnest. At home he told his father of this occurrence, but he advised him to take no notice of it, lest he should stir up more foes for himself. The next day the same thing happened, and he barely escaped. The third time he resolved to revenge himself, and killed his antagonist. After the deed he returned home, having first put the seal on his kayak, but turned tail foremost. By this sign his father at once knew what had happened; but the brothers of the deceased,who were standing outside the house-door, thought he had placed it the wrong way to ease the kayak while rowing against the wind. Augpilagtok's son on landing said, "I have put it thus because it was the next one after a man; he thrice attempted my life, and was in the act of killing me; if ye are longing for him ye may go and look for him." At this news they all began to cry, and entered the house, to observe the usual mourning ceremonies. After this the youth became cautious, and never started except when the weather was too bad for the others to venture out. Once in the spring he was invited with his father to visit the brothers. Augpilagtok said to his son, "We may as well make a bold entrance, and I will go first, and take a good leap across the doorway, right to the entrance of the room." They thus entered, and saw all the brothers stretched out at full length on the ledge, only their feet visible on its outer edge (a sign of wrath). They were treated to some frozen liver in an oblong dish; but when they had got only half through with it, the frozen roof fell in and covered the dish with turf-dust. The eldest brother now said, "When the roof falls down like this, it only can be by sorcery. The Southlanders are rather deep, and know a thing or two; we had better leave them alone." Augpilagtok now said to his son, "Slip off thy clothes;" and taking a knife cut up his belly. But when the entrails began to fall out, he merely drew his hand across the cut, and instantly it healed. Some time after they once more repaired to the south. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, by Henry Rink; London [1875] and is now in the public domain. [Greenland] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Atungak, A Tale From Labrador - Inuit A man named Atungak had two wives. One of them having run away, he pursued her in his sledge, and soon overtook her. They then travelled together, and came to cannibals, whose chief invited them to his house, and set before them a dish of man's and wolves' brains mixed together. When they declined eating it, another was served consisting of the flesh of a child and of a walrus; and this also being rejected, they brought in dried reindeer-flesh, which they ate with hearty appetite. Meanwhile the people got hold of some children, and feigning to pet them they killed them and sucked out their brains. A young lad was also there who carried a sling wherewith to entangle strangers; but when he approached Atungak with this design he was struck on the head with a piece of pyrites-stone, and fell to the ground. Afterwards, when his mother came from another house to look for him she only found one of his legs left, lying under the bench, with the boot still on it, by means of which she recognised it. She then exclaimed, "Ye have done very ill in taking that miserable Ajajusek, who ought to have served his younger brother for food." Atungak and his wife travelling on, came to a country the people of which were all lame. Before they reached them the chief came to receive p. 448 them, and warned them against his people as being a very ill-natured set. Nevertheless, when Atungak's wife saw their ball-playing, she could not help laughing, and said that they hopped about like so many ravens. Atungak got very much afraid when he heard the bystanders repeating this. He at once cut asunder all the lashings of the sledges belonging to the lame people, so that they could not pursue them. Hastening from there they came to two black bears engaged in a fight, and no other way being left they were obliged to pass between them; after which they came to a pot boiling of itself, which they could not avoid crossing over. Lastly, they came to a man watching at the breathing-hole of a seal, and on speaking to him they recognised him as Atungak's son, whom they had left behind a child. They had travelled over the whole world without changing or getting old. In the north, caves and clefts in the rocks are still to be seen, in which they are said to have rested. NOTE.-This story, and the next from East Greenland, being both imperfect fragments, received from the most widely severed Eskimo countries, will be found to contain some very curious similarities. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, by Henry Rink; London [1875] and is now in the public domain. [Greenland] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Arrow Boy - Cheyenne Arrow Boy, the wonderful boy, gives a magic performance still enacted during Sioux Yuwipi ceremonies, in which the medicine man is tied up with a rawhide thong and covered with a star blanket (formerly a buffalo robe) while eerie lights flicker and invisible rattles and strange voices are heard. The pottery-making Pueblos have another version of this tale that they call the legend of the Water-Olla Boy. After the Cheyenne had received their corn, and while they were still in the north, a young man and woman of the tribe were married. The woman became pregnant and carried her child in the womb for four years. The people watched with great interest to see what would happen, and when the woman gave birth to a beautiful boy in the fourth year, they regarded him as supernatural. Before long the woman and her husband died. The boy, was taken in by his grandmother: who lived alone. He learned to walk and talk very quickly. He was given a buffalo calf robe and immediately turned it inside out so that the hair side was outward, the way medicine men wore it. Among the Cheyenne there were certain medicine men of extraordinary wisdom and supernatural powers. Sometimes they would come together and put up a lodge. Sitting in a large circle, they chanted and went through curious rituals, after which each man rose and performed wonders before the crowd. One of these magic dances was held when the boy was about ten. He made his grandmother ask if he could take part, and the medicine men let him enter the lodge. "Where do you want to live?" the chief of the medicine men asked, meaning, "Where do you want to sit?" Without ceremony the boy took his seat beside the chief. To the man who had ushered him in, the child gave directions to paint his body red and draw black rings around his face, wrists, and ankles. The performance began at one end of the circle. When the boy's turn came, he told the people what he was going to do. He used sweet grass to burn incense. Then he passed his buffalo sinew bowstring east, south, west, and north through the smoke. He asked two men to assist him and told them to tie his bowstring around his neck, cover his body with his robe, and pull at the ends of the string. They pulled with all their might, but they could not move him. He told them to pull harder, and as they tugged at the string, his head was severed. It rolled out from under the robe, and the men put it back. Next the men lifted the robe up. Instead of the boy, a very old man was sitting in his place. They covered the old man with the robe and pulled it away again, this time revealing a pile of human bones with a skull. A third time they placed the robe over the bones and lifted it. Nothing at all was there. But when for a fourth time they spread the robe over the empty space and removed it, the wonderful boy sat in his place as if nothing had happened. After the magic dance, the Cheyenne moved their camp to hunt buffalo. When a kill had been made, the wonderful boy led a crowd of boys who went hunting for calves that might return to the place where they last saw their mothers. The boys found five or six calves, surrounded them, and killed a two-year-old with their arrows. They began to skin it very carefully with bone knives, keeping the hide of the head intact and leaving the hooves on, because the wonderful boy wanted the skin for a robe. While they worked, a man driving a dog team approached them. It was Young Wolf, head chief of the tribe, who had come to the killing ground to gather what bones had been left. He said, "My children have favored me at last! I'll take charge of this buffalo; you boys go on off." The children obeyed, except for the wonderful boy, who kept skinning as he explained that he wanted only the hide for a robe. The chief pushed the wonderful boy aside, but the boy returned and resumed skinning. Then the chief jerked the boy away and threw him down. The boy got up and continued his work. Pretending that he was skinning one of the hind legs, he cut the leg off at the knee and left the hoof on. When the chief shouldered the boy out of the way and took over the work, the wonderful boy struck him on the back of the head with the buffalo leg. The chief fell dead. The boys ran to the camp and told the story, which caused great excitement. The warriors assembled and decided to kill the wonderful boy. They went out to look for him near the body of their chief, but the boy had returned to camp. He was sitting in his grandmother's lodge while she cooked food for him in an earthen pot, when suddenly, the whole tipi was raised by the warriors. Quickly the wonderful boy kicked the pot over, sending the contents into the fire. As the smoke billowed up, the boy rose with it. The old woman was left sitting alone. The warriors looked around and saw the boy about a quarter of a mile away, walking off toward the east. They ran after him but could not seem to draw closer. Four times they chased him with no success, and then gave up. People became afraid of the wonderful boy. Still, they looked for him everyday and at last saw him on top of a nearby hill. The whole camp gathered to watch as he appeared on the summit five times, each time in a different dress. First he came as a Red Shield warrior in a headdress made out of buffalo skin. He had horns, a spear, and a red shield. And two buffalo tails tied to each arm. The second time he was a Coyote warrior, with his body painted black and yellow and with two eagle feathers sticking up on his head. The third time he appeared as a Dog Men warrior wearing a feathered headdress and carrying an eagle-bone whistle a rattle of buffalo hoof, and a bow and arrows. The fourth time he was a Hoof Rattle warrior. His body was painted, and he had a rattle to sing by and a spear about eight feet long, with a crook at one end and the shaft at the other end bent in a semicircle. The fifth time his body was painted white, and on his forehead he wore a white owl skin. After this the wonderful boy disappeared entirely. No one knew where he went, people thought him dead, and he was soon forgotten, for the buffalo disappeared and famine came to the Cheyenne. During this time the wonderful boy traveled alone into the highest ranges of the mountains. As he drew near a certain peak, a door opened in the mountain slope. (Read "The Gold Of The Gods" by Erich Von Daniken, - such door actually exists! - Even though Von Daniken talks a lot of crap desperately trying to prove that "aliens" exist, nevertheless - his archeological discoveries are still rocking the many foundations of what we have held to be "world history", and completely tears it to pieces, but you have to be strong minded enough to ignore his mad ramblings and read on! Might this also be the reference made by the Sioux as to where the buffalo disappeared when they "went inside a mountain"? Note that almost ALL tribes have legends of a mountain or mountains with a "door" in it - that leads to other places. It, and some of the connecting tunnels - some of which are literally HUNDREDS of miles long, extend underground to various places all over South America, and may also be the place to which Moctezuma alluded, when he told his people to take the remaining gold to other lands by going "inside the mountains", after the Spanish broke their promises, and then later killed him, they never did solve the mystery though, of where such enormously huge quantities of gold disappeared to in such a short time!).He passed through into the earth, and the opening closed after him. There inside the mountain he found a large circle of men. Each represented a tribe and was seated beneath that tribe's bundle. They welcomed the wonderful boy and pointed out the one empty place under a bundle wrapped in fox skin. "If you take this seat, the bundle will be yours to carry back to the Cheyenne," the headman said. "But first you will remain here four years, receiving instruction in order to become your tribe's prophet and counselor." The wonderful boy accepted the bundle, and all the men gave thanks. When his turn came to perform the bundle ceremony, they took it down and showed him its sacred ceremonies, songs, and four medicine arrows, each representing certain powers. Then for four years under the mountain peak, they taught him prophecies, magic, and ceremonies for warfare and hunting. Meanwhile the Cheyenne were weak with hunger, threatened by starvation. All the animals had died, and the people ate herbs. One day as the tribe was traveling in search of food, five children lagged behind to look for herbs and mushrooms. Suddenly the wonderful boy, now a young man bearing the name of Arrow Boy, appeared before them. "My poor children, throw away those mushrooms," he said. "It is I who brought famine among you, for I was angry with your people when they drove me from their camp. I have returned to provide for you; you shall not hunger in the future. Go and gather some dried buffalo bones, and I will feed you." The children ran away and picked up buffalo bones, and the wonderful boy, Arrow Boy, made a few passes that turned them into fresh meat. He fed the children with fat, marrow, liver, and other strengthening parts of the buffalo. When they had eaten all they wanted, he gave them fat and meat. "Take this to your people," he said. "Tell them that I, Motzeyouf, Arrow Boy, have returned." Though the boys ran to the camp, Motzeyouf used magic to reach it first. He entered the lodge of his uncle and lay down to rest, for he was tired. The uncle and his wife were sitting just outside, but they did not see Arrow Boy pass by. The boys arrived in camp with their tale, which created great excitement. The uncle's wife went into the lodge to get a pipe, and it was then that she saw Arrow Boy lying covered with a buffalo robe. The robe, and his shirt, leggings, and his moccasins, all were painted red. Guessing that he was Motzeyouf, the men went into the lodge, asked the stranger to sit up, and cried over him. They saw his bundle, and knowing that he had power, they asked him what they should do. Motzeyouf told the Cheyenne to camp in a circle and set up a large tipi in the center. When this had been done, he called all the medicine men to bring their rattles and pipes. Then he went into the tipi and sang the sacred songs that he had learned. It was night before he came to the song about the fourth arrow. In the darkness the buffalo returned with a roar like thunder. The frightened Cheyenne went in to Arrow Boy and asked him what to do. "Go and sleep," he said, "for the buffalo, your food, has returned to you." The roar of the buffalo continued through the night as long as he sang. The next morning the land was covered with buffalo, and the people went out and killed all they wanted. From that time forth, owing to the medicine arrows, the Cheyenne had plenty to eat and great powers. Retold from a tale reported by George A. Dorsey in 1905, and is now in the public domain. Note: The medicine arrows brought down from the mountains by Motzeyouf still exist and are cared for by the Arrow Keeper of the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Arnarsarsuak, The Kivigtok Woman - Inuit Arnarsarsuak was a pretty girl, much courted by the best seal-hunters of the neighbourhood. Her brothers being unwilling to let her get married, she at length took up with a fellow and lived with him as his concubine. Before long she was with child, but notwithstanding, her brothers still continued loving her dearly. One day she had been out to fetch water, and at the very moment she was about to enter she chanced to hear her sisters-in-law within talking about her, saying to each other, "I wonder who ever will care to be troubled with the charge of that wretch Arnarsarsuak is going to give birth to." On hearing these words, she at once put down her pails in the passage, and ran off far to the inland, away from humankind. During her flight she perceived that the time had come when she should be delivered; she fell into a deep swoon, and on recovering found she had given birth to a kingulerak.[1] Formerly, in the days of her prosperity, she had been kind and charitable to two orphan children, a boy and a girl, who lived among them. Many years after, when Arnarsarsuak's brothers were all dead, the two orphans took up their abode at a solitary place out on some far away islands. When the brother was following his trade in his kayak the sister felt miserably lonely; to make up for which, however, when he again returned she felt as if the house were full of visitors. One evening when they were sitting chatting together, the brother suddenly said, "I think I shall try to recall the song that Arnarsarsuak used to sing." But the sister advised him rather to desist, saying, "Remember that Arnarsarsuak now belongs to those of uncommon kind, having fled from mankind during her pregnancy. I have heard that such people have the gift of hearing their own songs a long way off." However, the brother would not give up his intention; but no sooner had he commenced singing than a voice was heard outside, "On hearing my song I could not resist coming, and here I am." The brother and sister looked at each other in great alarm, knowing that their house was far away from any one. However, they soon recognised the voice to be Arnarsarsuak's, on which the sister resumed, "Did not I tell thee she would be sure to hear thee singing? now go and answer, thou being the best talker of us." The brother, however, did not stir; and the voice was again heard, "Ye need not be afraid of me; I only want to get inside." Seeing her brother could find no words, the sister said, "Well, come in;" and presently a sound was heard of something creeping along the passage, while the two shrank back on the ledge in silence, with a sure foreboding that the next moment they would be frightened to death. The sound rapidly approached; they only ventured a timid glance towards the entrance, and immediately after Arnarsarsuak entered, prettier than ever, and said, "I was lately far from this place, in the interior, whence I was suddenly lured by some voice calling me hither." The sister now took courage to say, "It was only for a pastime he tried to sing thy lay." Arnarsarsuak continued, "Ye know why I fled; it was because I heard my sisters-in-law observing that no one would be found willing to provide for my poor offspring. On that day I ran far off into the interior, when I was soon to give birth to a kingulerak, which ever since adhered to my body till a few days ago. In my present state ye have nothing to fear from me, and I would be very glad to come and stay with you." Seeing that they had no choice, and could not get rid of her, they allowed her room on the farthest end of the ledge, and themselves lay down, leaving a wide space between them; still they were quite unable to fall asleep. The following day the brother wanted to go out hunting; his sister, however, persuaded him to stay at home on account of her new housemate, whom they still considered rather a doubtful personage. On the ensuing day he went out kayaking, but kept so near to the house as not to lose sight of them for any length of time. In the evening, however, he returned, bringing with him two seals, and the sister at once ran down as usual to flense and cut up the animals, but Arnarsarsuak would not allow it, taking all the work on herself; and having quickly flensed both seals, she made up a fire, and while she did the cooking she sewed at the same time. As time went by, and their fears subsided, the brother resolved to marry her; but when she came to be pregnant the sister began to fear she would bear no human offspring, and in that case she said, "Whither am I to flee? seeing we live on an island, I can only rush down to the sea." When her time had come, the brother as well as the sister determined to run away from the house; but when the brother turned back to have a last look through the window, his wife turned towards him, saying, "It is all over, and the birth has taken place. Do not fear, but come in to me." On hearing this he hastened to bring his sister back. When they returned, Arnarsarsuak sat smiling kinclly on them, and said, "Behold the object of your fears, my two babes." She then showed them a little bear cub and a real child. Both were nursed together, and when the bear had begun to go about by himself she again bore a child and another little bear. In due time the father gave his boys kayaks, and the bears of their own account went out for provender; and at length the father could afford to take things easy, and rest from work. Subsequently he proposed that they should all set out together in search of other people, thinking that the children ought not to live always at such a desolate place. Accordingly they started northwards, the sons following in their kayaks, while the bears kept swimming alongside the boat. Travelling on thus, they at length came in sight of a well-peopled place; on this the bears stuck closer to the boat, and out of bashfulness only papped their muzzles above water. The father remarked, "Don't be ashamed; remember ye also are of human extraction." However, on landing a little south of the settlement they were received by a number of people, who on seeing two large bears ran off for their weapons. But on the father calling to them, "What are you thinking of? they also are my children," they desisted. The new-comers took up their winter quarters at this place, where the sons both got married, and all lived happy tagether. When the weather was too bad for the men to go out hunting, the bears went off in their stead. After wintering there they again broke up for their old home, and were joined by several people of the place, who accompanied them thither, where their bones now rest. Footnotes [1] An anghiak who remained attached to the mother on account of her being kivigtok, until she had revenged herself. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, by Henry Rink; London [1875] and is now in the public domain. [Greenland] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/

Anansi seeks his Fortune - Jamaica Stanley Jones, Claremont, St. Ann. Anansi was very poor and he went out to seek his fortune, but he had no intention of working. He clad himself in a white gown. And he met a woman. She said to him, "Who are you, sah? an' whe' you from?"--"I am jus' from heaven." The woman said, "Did you see my husban' dere?" He said, "Well, my dear woman, heaven is a large place; you will have to tell me his name, for perhaps I never met him." She said his name was James Thomas. Anansi said, "Oh, he is a good friend of mine! I know him well. He is a big boss up there and he's carrying a gang. But one trouble, he has no Sunday clo'es." The woman ran away and got what money she could together and gave it to Anansi to take to her husband. But he wasn't satisfied with that amount; he wanted some more. He went on a little further and saw a man giving a woman some money and telling her to put it up for 'rainy day'. After the man had left, Anansi went up to the woman and told her he was "Mr. Rainy Day." She said, "Well, it's you, sah? My husband been putting up money for you for ten years now. He has quite a bag of it, and I'm so afraid of robbers I'm glad you come!" So Anansi took the money and returned home and lived contentedly for the rest of his days. NOTE: Anansi seeks his Fortune. See note to number 106, and Grimm 104, Wise Folks, Bolte u. Polívka, 2:440-451. One version from Parsons, Andros Island, 93-94, connects this episode with those of the frightened robbers and the tongue-cutting in number 109. 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/

Anansi in Monkey Country - Jamaica a. Bunya. Elizabeth Hilton, Harmony Hall, Cock-pit Country. Anansi go to Monkey country. Put on a big pot of water an' tell the Monkey when him get in the pot of water, when him say "Bunya", they mus' take him out of the pot of water. When they take him out, they mus' go in. So when he go in the pot of water, as soon as he feel the water hot he say, "Bunya." They take him out. An' put all of them one time into the pot of water. An' when them said, "Bunya!" Anansi said, "No bunya yet!" An' said, "Bunya!" Anansi said, "No bunya yet!" Anansi wouldn't take them out until them boil. Anansi take them out an' eat them. One little one let' at the top of the pot that the water didn't scald. That one run go to the next Monkey country an' tell them the story about Anansi an' the 'bunya.' When Anansi eat, he start to the other country, an' him go there an' tell the Monkey mus' put him into the pot of water an' when he say, "Bunya," mus' take him out. So when Anansi feel the water hot, he say, "Bunya!" Monkey say, "No bunya yet!" Anansi say, "Bunya!" Monkey say, "No bunya yet!" Monkey keep Anansi in that pot till him kill him. b. Christen Christen. Adolphus Iron, Claremont, St. Ann. One time hard time ketch Brar Nansi. Him couldn't get not'ing to eat. Him trabble away to Monkey country fe go preach. When him ketch deh, him say, "Well, frien's, I come here to chris'en, but I chris'en wid a large oben." De Monkey, dem glad fe hear. Dem jump an' buil' up de oben. Anansi say, "You mus' pack it wid wood an' light it wid fire. When it well hot, me will go in first, an' when you hear me say, 'Chris'en,' you mus' open de door." De Monkey, dem agree. De oben buil', de oben light, Anansi go in. Anansi holler, "Chris'en!" Dem open de door. Anansi jump out, dem begin jump in. When de las' monkey jump in, Anansi shet de door. Monkey begin holler, "Chris'en! chris'en!" Anansi say, 'No chris'en yet!" When Anansi t'ink dem a well roas', him open de door. One scorch-side one jump out an' run fe de odder Monkey country an' tell all wha' done. Anansi stan' deh till him eat off de whole ob de roas' one dem. Him trabble again till him ketch de odder Monkey country. All was prepare to meet him. De scorch-sided one meet him first. {p. 48} Anansi say, 'Brar, I t'ink I know you!" De Monkey said, 'No, sah, a de firs' me an' you buck up!" Anansi say, "Well, I come here to chris'en, but I chris'en wid an oben." De Monkey, dem buil' up de oben quicker yet. Anansi say, "I will go in firs'; when you hear I say, 'Chris'n!' you open de do'." All de Monkey say yes. When Anansi feel de fire, him holler, "Chris'n, chris'n, chris'n!" De Monkey say, "No chris'n yet!," An' dey let Anansi stay all roas' till he burst! NOTE: Anansi in Monkey Country Mrs. W. E . Wilson (Wona) thinks that the second version of the story, told by Jekyll, 70-72, is not a true negro form, because of the great respect in which Jamaica negroes hold the rites of the established church. Compare Cronise and Ward, 133-145; Fortier, 24-27. As a device for getting victims cooked and eaten, the story is related to numbers 16 and 38 in this collection. 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/

Ai Laau, The Forest Eater - Hawaiian WHEN Pele came to the island Hawaii, seeking a permanent home, she found another god of fire already in possession of the territory. Ai-laau was known and feared by all the people. Ai means the "one who eats or devours." Laau means "tree" or a "forest." Ai-laau was, therefore, the fire-god devouring forests. Time and again he laid the districts of South Hawaii desolate by the lava he poured out from his fire-pits. He was the god of the insatiable appetite, the continual eater of trees, whose path through forests was covered with black smoke fragrant with burning wood, and sometimes burdened with the smell of human flesh charred into cinders in the lava flow. Ai-laau seemed to be destructive and was so named by the people, but his fires were a part of the forces of creation. He built up the islands for future life. The process of creation demanded volcanic activity. The flowing lava made land. The lava disintegrating made earth deposits and soil. Upon this land storms fell and through it multitudes of streams found their way to the sea. Flowing rivers came from the cloud-capped mountains. Fruitful fields and savage homes made this miniature world-building complete. Ai-laau still poured out his fire. It spread over the fertile fields, and the natives feared him as the destroyer giving no thought to the final good. He lived, the legends say, for a long time in a very ancient part of Kilauea, on the large island of Hawaii, now separated by a narrow ledge from the great crater and called Kilauea-iki (Little Kilauea). This seems to be the first and greatest of number of craters extending in a line from the great lake of fire in Kilauea to the seacoast many miles away. They are called "The Pit Craters" because they are not hills of lava, but a series of sunken pits going deep down into the earth, some of them still having blowholes of sputtering steam and smoke. After a time, Ai-laau left these pit craters and went into the great crater and was said to be living there when Pele came to the seashore far below. In one of the Pele stories is the following literal translation of the account of her taking Kilauea: "When Pele came to the island Hawaii, she first stopped at a place called Ke-ahi-a-laka in the district of Puna. >From this place she began her inland journey toward the mountains. As she passed on her way there grew within her an intense desire to go at once and see Ai-laau, the god to whom Kilauea belonged, and find a resting-place with him as the end of her journey. She came up, but Ai-laau was not in his house. Of a truth he had made himself thoroughly lost. He had vanished because he knew that this one coming toward him was Pele. He had seen her toiling down by the sea at Ke-ahi-a-laka. Trembling dread and heavy fear overpowered him. He ran away and was entirely lost. When he came to that pit she laid out the plan for her abiding home, beginning at once to dig up the foundations. She dug day and night and found that this place fulfilled all her desires. Therefore, she fastened herself tight to Hawaii for all time." These are the words in which the legend disposes of this ancient god of volcanic fires. He disappears from Hawaiian thought and Pele from a foreign land finds a satisfactory crater in which her spirit power can always dig up everlastingly overflowing fountains of raging lava. Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes, by W.D. Westervelt. Boston, G.H. Ellis Press [1916] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/