How Wisakatchekwa Got Into Some Trouble – Illini As told by George Washington Finley to Truman Michelson, 1916; after Knoepfle 1993. George Washington Finley (1858-1932) was the last full-blooded Piankashaw Indian. He was raised as a Peoria and was one of the last speakers of the Peoria language. Two old blind men lived together and had plenty of game. They were far off by themselves, they had no cook, not anything. They did their own cooking. They had a guide rope to the river where they got their water. This Wisakatchekwa was traveling through the country by himself and ran onto these old people. And he asked them if they wouldn't let him stay with them, that he might do the cooking. So the old men told him he might stay, and he stayed there quite awhile. He asked them how they got their game, them being blind and never anyone close, but the old men never told him how they got it. He finally got tired of staying with them. Then he told them, "I guess I'll travel on," and the old people told him, "You may go." And when he left, he changed the guide rope to go to the steep bank. So after he was gone, one of the old men told the other, "I believe I'll go and get a bucket of water." And he went and never came back for a long time. Finally, the other fellow was uneasy. He went out. He fell into the river like the other. And they had hard work to get out. And they said, "That's some of our crazy grandson's doings." By that time, Wisakatchekwa was far out of the country. The old men said to one another, "We can draw him back by smoking a pipe." So they filled a pipe and began making long draws of smoke. And that drew Wisakatchekwa back to the house. When he got close to the house, how was he going to get along with them, and what were they going to do with him? He found that the door was wide open. He walked in quietly, and finally the old men said, "I believe our grandson is in the house." Then one said to the other, "I believe I can smell our grandson." And the other said, "Suppose we cause the door to be closed?" And the door was closed so that Wisakatchekwa could not open it himself. Then each got a spear and tried to spear Wisakatchekwa; they kept going around inside the house. Finally, they could hear him. They got him worn out. Finally they could hit pretty close to him, and he began to get scared, as he could not get out. Finally he made himself known to them. And the old men asked him why he changed the guide rope to the water. And he told them he changed that for himself and that he forgot to put the guide rope where it belonged when he left. So he begged them not to kill him, that he would do anything in the world for them. Then the old men let him go. He stayed with them a while longer. One day while he was out hunting, the old men talked to themselves about it, how they could get rid of him. Finally one of them proposed how to get rid of him. So when he came back, the old men told him they could get along without him if he was of a mind to travel. The old man told him how they got so much game. He said, "I will tell you how we get this game, and you can do the same. You can go to some big lake. There you will find all kinds of fowls and so on. You must prepare a lot of string to tie from your waist to each bird. Then you dive into one end of the lake. Dive from one bird to another. Tie them by their feet. Then, when you get as many as you want, you come up in the middle of the lake. And you tell them, "You birds cannot always live in that lake." Wisakatchekwa did just what the old man had told him. When he attached himself to the birds with the string, they began to fly. But instead of holding them down as the old man told him, they raised him out of the water. He had so many birds of all kinds. They carried him so many days. He wondered how he ever could get down. He had nothing to cut the strings with. Finally he asked for the strings to be all broken, and the strings were all broken from the birds. Then he came down. He was high when he was coming down. He lit his pipe and smoked several times, and he could finally see the earth. He began to wonder where he was going to fall, in deep water or in a deep hollow full of leaves. Instead, he fell into a hollow tree, and he was in there several days and could not get out. Finally some people camped close by. Women were out hunting for dry wood. They saw a big tree. They imagined it was hollow. They went there and began to pound on it, and they could hear something run up and down in the hollow tree. They thought it might be a bear, and they cut a little hole, and sure enough they could see some black hair. It was Wisakatchekwa's [body] hair. Then the women went back to the camp and told the men that they thought they had found a bear in a hollow tree. Then the men went out to prepare to kill the bear. They cut the tree down, and before that tree began to fall, Wisakatchekwa began to be frightened. He began to talk to them, and when they cut the tree down, then he came out. That was the only way he had a chance to get out.

Aho! -----Original Message----- From: Barbara Young Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 5:26 PM To: cherokee@rootsweb.com Subject: [Cherokee Circle] stories Hi Blue Panther. I am passing them on.:} My daughter has made a lively pastime with reading every folk tale, myth, etc she can find. She has an extensive library of them. She is enjoying yours very much. My interest grew from her passion for them.:} All the best take good care Barbara in MA ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

siyo that is great, to pass on my elders words "I am not old enough or wise enough to be call a elder" he now walks the wind so I can call him my elder and he cannot argue . blue panther -----Original Message----- From: Fran West-Powe Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 2:36 PM To: cherokee@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] stories Siyo, Blue Panther! As the most elderly (at least no other has owned up to being more of an elder!) subscriber, I read, enjoy and forward many of your stories to children, grands and grgands (grgrgrands yet young) so just via my family your stories ride on the wind. We thank you. Fran Chinkapin On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 6:50 PM, Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> wrote: > hi all, siyo > > when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing > again, since I have never posted these stories. > > you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I > have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. > > Blue panther > ======*====== > List archives > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

How Win-Pe The Sorcerer, Having Stolen Glooskap's Family, Was By Him Pursued, And How Glooskap For A Merry Jest Cheated The Whale. Of The Song Of The Clams, And How The Whale Smoked A Pipe – Wabanaki N'kah-ne-oo. In old times (P.), in the beginning of things, men were as animals and animals as men; how this was, no one knows. But it is told that all were at first men, and as they gave themselves up to this and that desire, and to naught else, they became beasts. But before this came to pass, they could change to one or the other form; yet even as men there was always something which showed what they were. Now Glooskap lived on an island named Aja-ligun-mechk, and with him were many Indians with the names and natures of animals and birds. These men, but most of all Pulowéch, the Partridge, having acquired power themselves, became jealous of Glooskap, and made up their minds to depart when he was away, taking with them Martin and the grandmother. For they had great hope that Glooskap, being left alone on the island, would perish, because they knew not his power. There is another story which says that he was living at the mouth of the Oolostook, at a place called Menogwes (St. John, N. B.), and went away into the forest as far as Goolwahgik (Juan), and had been gone six weeks, when he returned home and found the old woman, whose name was Mooinarkw, and Martin had been taken away. Following their tracks to the shore he saw one of his greatest enemies, a terrible sorcerer named Win-pe, just pushing off in his canoe. And with him were his wife and child and Dame Bear and Martin. They were still within call, and Glooskap cried from the shore to the grandmother to send back his dogs, which were not larger than mice, and, as some stories tell us, were squirrels. So she took a woltes-takun, which is a small wooden platter, and on such Indian dice are tossed. This she put in the water, and placed the dogs on it, and it floated to the shore, and Glooskap took it up. Win-pe with his family and prisoners pushed on to Passamoogwaddy (M.), and thence to Grand Manán; and after remaining there a while he crossed over to Kes-poog-itk (Yarmouth), and so went slowly along the southern coast through Oona-mah-gik (Cape Breton), and over to Uktukkamkw (Newfoundland), where he was slain. Now whether it was to gain magical power, or to weaken that of Win-pe, or to chasten the others by suffering, who knows? But Glooskap rested seven years alone before he pursued the enemy, though some say it was seven months. And when the time had come, he took his dogs and went to the shore, and looked far out to sea over the waves, and sang the magic song which the whales obey. Soon there rose in the distance a small whale, who had heard the call, and came to Glooskap; but he was then very great, and he put one foot on the whale to test his weight, and the fish sank under him. So he sent it away. Then the lord of men and beasts sang the song again, and there came the largest, a mighty female, and she bore him well and easily over to Kes-poog-itk. But she was greatly afraid of getting into shoal water, or of running ashore, and this was what Glooskap wished her to do that he might not wet his feet. So as she approached she asked him if land were in sight. But he lied, and said "No." So she went on rapidly. However, she saw shells below, and soon the water grew so shoal that she said in fear, "Moon-as-tabá-kán-kwi-jéan-nook? (M.) Does not the land show itself like a bow-string?" And he said, "We are still far from land." Then the water grew so shoal that she heard the song of the Clams as they lay under the sand, singing to her that she should throw him off and drown him. For these Clams were his deadly enemies. But Bootup the Whale did not understand their language, so she asked her rider--for he knew Clam--what they were chanting to her. And he replied in a song:-- "They tell you to hurry (cussal) (M.), To hurry, to hurry him along, Over the water, Away as fast as you can!" Then the Whale went like lightning, and suddenly found herself high on the shore. Then she lamented and sang:-- "Alas, my grandchild (noojeech), Ah, you have been my death; I can never leave the land, I shall swim in the sea no more." But Glooskap sang:-- "Have no fear, noogumee, You shall not suffer, You shall swim in the sea once more." Their with a push of his bow against her head he sent her off into deep water. And the Whale rejoiced greatly. But ere she went she said, "Oh, my grandson," "K'teen penabskwass n'aga tomawé?" (P.). "Hast thou not such a thing as an old pipe and some tobacco?" He replied,-- "Ah yes. You want tobacco, I behold you." So he gave her a short pipe and some tobacco, and thereunto a light. And the Whale, being of good cheer, sailed away, smoking as she went, while Glooskap, standing silent on the shore, and ever leaning on his maple bow, beheld the long low cloud which followed her until she vanished in the far away. And to this day the Indians, when they see a whale blow, say she is smoking the pipe of Glooskap. In a Passamaquoddy tale of Pook-jin-skwess the Witch, the Clams sing a song deriding the hero. The words are:-- "Mow chow nut-pess sell Peri marm-hole wett." These words are not Indian, but they are said to mean,-- You look very funny with your long hair streaming in the wind, And sailing on a snail's horn. The large Clams sing this in a bass voice, the small ones in falsetto. The gypsies say that a Snail, when put on a fire, utters four cries, or squeaks; hence in Germany the Romany call it Stargoli: that is, shtor-godli, four cries. Footnotes: Mr. Rand translates this Micmac word as Mrs. Bear. In the Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, by Dr. Henry Rink, we are told in the story of Akigsiak that an old man taught the hero a magic lay for luring a whale to him. In another, Katersparsuk sings such a song to the walrus. THE ALGONQUIN LEGENDS OF NEW ENGLAND, or, Myths and Folk Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes, by CHARLES G. LELAND, [1884]

How Wek'-Wek Was Saved From The Flood – Miwok Fragment Of A Tale Of The Olamentko Tribe Of Bodega Bay PERSONAGES O'-ye the Coyote-man Wek'-wek the Falcon Pe'-leet the Grebe How Wek'-Wek Was Saved From The Flood O'-YE the Coyote-man, and Wek'-wek the Falcon-man quarrelled. Then O'-ye gathered up the people and took them away with him across the ocean, leaving Wek'-wek alone. Then he made the rain come and cover the world with water. The water grew deeper and deeper and covered all the trees and all the hills and all the mountains until nothing was left but water. Wek'-wek could find no place to rest--nothing to stand on--and had to fly and fly and fly till he was all tired out. By and by he could fly no longer and fell on the water and was floating around nearly dead when his wing caught on a little stick. This stick stuck up from the top of the roundhouse of Pe'-leet the Grebe, who came up to see what was the matter. He found Wek'-wek (a relative of his) nearly drowned and pulled him down into his roundhouse and saved him. Then O'-ye the Coyote-man let the water down and brought the people back. The Dawn of the World; Myths and Weird Tales Told by the Mewan [Miwok] Indians of California; Collected and Edited by C. Hart Merriam; Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke Co., [1910] ] and is now in the public domain.

Siyo, Blue Panther! As the most elderly (at least no other has owned up to being more of an elder!) subscriber, I read, enjoy and forward many of your stories to children, grands and grgands (grgrgrands yet young) so just via my family your stories ride on the wind. We thank you. Fran Chinkapin On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 6:50 PM, Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> wrote: > hi all, siyo > > when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing > again, since I have never posted these stories. > > you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I > have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. > > Blue panther > ======*====== > List archives > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Blue Panther. I am passing them on.:} My daughter has made a lively pastime with reading every folk tale, myth, etc she can find. She has an extensive library of them. She is enjoying yours very much. My interest grew from her passion for them.:} All the best take good care Barbara in MA

so are you passing them on -----Original Message----- From: wthreerivers@aol.com Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:18 AM To: cherokee@rootsweb.com ; CherokeeChat@yahoogroups.com ; CherokeeMAINVillage@yahoogroups.com ; runningtree@mediacombb.net ; indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com ; littlewolfstraditions@yahoogroups.com ; Native_village@yahoogroups.com ; Tradition_OF_The_Redroad@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] stories Good morning You cannot send too many stories as most of these stories have been hidden for many years -----Original Message----- From: Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> To: cherokee <cherokee@rootsweb.com>; CherokeeChat <CherokeeChat@yahoogroups.com>; CherokeeMAINVillage <CherokeeMAINVillage@yahoogroups.com>; Dan Perry <runningtree@mediacombb.net>; indigenous_peoples_literature <indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com>; littlewolfstraditions <littlewolfstraditions@yahoogroups.com>; Native_Village <Native_village@yahoogroups.com>; redroad <Tradition_OF_The_Redroad@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu, Jun 26, 2014 3:35 pm Subject: [Cherokee Circle] stories hi all, siyo when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing again, since I have never posted these stories. you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. Blue panther ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

How We Beat The Caribs - British Guiana I give the following almost word for word translation of the account told me by an old Pomeroon Arawak; it is well worth comparing with Brett's version: An Arawak and a Carib were very friendly: this must needs be so, because each had taken the other's sister to wife. They regularly used to go hunting together. After living in harmony for a long time, they went out hunting, but on this occasion they did not go in company, and they both stayed away longer than usual, and their friends wefe beginning to wonder what had happened to them. The Arawak, having finally returned, went to see after his brother-in-law, followed his tracks into the bush, and came on the babracote upon which he found the dried body of his sister whom her husband had evidently killed. He went home, but did not speak for some time. He them told his wife, the Carib's sister, to come into the bush and hunt with him: when he got her away, he killed and babracoted her. The Carib next came along to see what had happened, and he soon saw. He also went home again, but did not speak for some time. Finally, he expressed a wish to fight and kill the Arawak, but the Nafudi said "No. All the Caribs together must fight the Arawaks together." So both sides cut a big field and planted plenty of the particular canes required for making arrows, and when these canes were full grown, they cut them down and completed their weapons, and both sides erected a strong house, Waiba, to store them in. Up at Jack Low, on the left bank of the Pomeroon, is still to be recognized the site of the old settlement and fortress, the place itself even to this day being known as Waiba-diki. Furthermore, it was arranged by both parties that as they intended fighting their battle at sea, and not on land, they would allow themselves time to build a large number of canoes. This being done, they filled their boats with arrows: twenty canoes were paddled by Arawaks, and forty by Caribs. They all went down the river, out to sea, at the Pomeroon mouth, each taking up such position as would permit of the intervening distance being just sufficient to allow of the arrows thrown from one side reaching the other. The Arawaks, however, were shrewd. They made themselves cork-wood shields [nonabokuanna].1 The Caribs let fly their arrows first, but these stuck in the shields, when the Arawaks broke them off with their mossi, the now almost obsolete club. None of the Arawaks were slain, and it was now their turn to shoot. This they did, with the result that they killed all their enemy, except two, whom they purposely spared in order that they might go home and tell their friends what had happened, and what to expect should they ever dare to fight the Arawaks again. The two who had been spared went away to the Cuyuni, to the Barima, and to the Waini, and remained three months gathering together all their people, who clamored that they would never rest until they had destroyed all the Arawaks. The Arawaks were waiting for them at Waiba-diki, their stronghold, and stretched a vine-rope across the river; and as the hosts of Caribs approached up the stream, the steering paddles of their canoes became entangled in this rope, and broke away; and while the occupants were looking after them, their canoes all tossed one against the other in dire confusion, and the Arawaks shot showers of arrows into the wavering multitude. Half the Caribs were destroyed; the other half effected a landing. But around their fortress, the Arawaks had already built a palisade, with just a few chinks in it to permit of arrows flying through; they were all well under cover, and though losing a few of their own people, massacred as before all their enemy, leaving but two to give the news to their friends. These two went to the east, to Surinam, and started collecting the remnants of their own tribe from those parts. p. 384 About three months passed. The Arawaks could wait no longer, so they traveled over to Surinam, and came upon the Carib forces, collected in a fortress with enclosing palisade, similar to what they themselves had constructed for their own preservation at Waiba-diki. The Caribs were in overwhelming numbers. So the Arawaks hid themselves, and sent in one of their number to reconnoiter. This man, who could talk Carib, painted himself like one of that nation, and boldly entered the enemy's camp, where he found them all drinking. He said he was a Carib, and that he had just come from the Pomeroon looking for his family; he accepted a little drink and then took his departure, but not before discovering that very early on the following morning, long before daybreak, a crab whistle (i. e. made from a crab claw) would be blown as a signal for them to prepare for battle. The scout returned to his people, with all the information that he had gleaned. That night, every one of the Arawaks made a crab whistle, and surrounding the Caribs while they were still drinking, blew their whistles, surprising the enemy, and slew them all, save one man and woman, who begged so earnestly for their lives that only their legs were speared. It is from this couple that all the present day Caribs are derived, and this is why there are comparatively so few of them. It was we Arawaks who broke their power. Footnotes: 1 Although we have historical evidence of the use of shields from the Orinoco, Cayenne, and the Amazon, this is the first reference that I have come across concerning these weapons in British Guiana.—W. E. R. An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians, Walter E. Roth, from the Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1908-1909, pp. 103-386, Washington D.C., 1915, and is now in the public domain.[ British Guiana ][ South America ]

How Water Was Lost And Recovered - Alabama There is a game called låkålu'nka (the moccasin game) which is played with four square pieces of deer hide placed upon a big bearskin laid down hair side up. The players having formed two sides, a man on one side takes a bullet, moves it about in his hands and after pretending to put it under various pieces of deer hide finally deposits it under one of them when he thinks the fact will escape observation. One of the opponents then guesses under which skin it has been placed, and if he is successful his party takes the bullet; if he fails he guesses again, and if he fails two or three times another of his party tries his skill. One time a man who was very fond of this game and who had a very considerable family was so unfortunate as to lose all of his possessions, down to his very clothes. Finally he wagered the water of the world and lost that, upon which all of the streams, ponds, and other reservoirs of water dried up and everyone was dying of thirst. All were seeking water but did not know how they could get it. By and by a Bicici'hka (a small speckled woodpecker with a red head) discovered a cane as big as a tree, lighted upon it, and began pecking. But before he had made much of a hole he heard a noise inside which frightened him and he flew away. He found some one and said to him, "Something is making a noise inside of a cane." The person answered, "It is water," so he went back to the place and pecked a hole all the way through, when the water gushed out and all of the creeks were overflowed. All the creatures drank and were very happy. Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, by John R. Swanton; Smithsonian Institution, USGPO, Washington, D.C.; Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 88 (1929) and is now in the public domain.

I, too, am saving the tales. I am putting them on a flash drive for my g'son. My dad said that we were part Cherokee thru his mother, although, I have not been able to prove it. Everything my grandson sees about cherokees he wants to hear about the orgin or the story. He is 9 yrs old. I, also, have printed and searched our ancestry. Thank you for taking time for those of us who are very interested in these tales. God Bless you and yours. Linda -------------------------------------------- On Mon, 6/30/14, Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> wrote: Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] stories To: cherokee@rootsweb.com Date: Monday, June 30, 2014, 5:05 PM so are you passing them on -----Original Message----- From: wthreerivers@aol.com Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2014 6:18 AM To: cherokee@rootsweb.com ; CherokeeChat@yahoogroups.com ; CherokeeMAINVillage@yahoogroups.com ; runningtree@mediacombb.net ; indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com ; littlewolfstraditions@yahoogroups.com ; Native_village@yahoogroups.com ; Tradition_OF_The_Redroad@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cherokee Circle] stories Good morning You cannot send too many stories as most of these stories have been hidden for many years -----Original Message----- From: Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> To: cherokee <cherokee@rootsweb.com>; CherokeeChat <CherokeeChat@yahoogroups.com>; CherokeeMAINVillage <CherokeeMAINVillage@yahoogroups.com>; Dan Perry <runningtree@mediacombb.net>; indigenous_peoples_literature <indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com>; littlewolfstraditions <littlewolfstraditions@yahoogroups.com>; Native_Village <Native_village@yahoogroups.com>; redroad <Tradition_OF_The_Redroad@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu, Jun 26, 2014 3:35 pm Subject: [Cherokee Circle] stories hi all, siyo when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing again, since I have never posted these stories. you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. Blue panther ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Good morning You cannot send too many stories as most of these stories have been hidden for many years -----Original Message----- From: Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> To: cherokee <cherokee@rootsweb.com>; CherokeeChat <CherokeeChat@yahoogroups.com>; CherokeeMAINVillage <CherokeeMAINVillage@yahoogroups.com>; Dan Perry <runningtree@mediacombb.net>; indigenous_peoples_literature <indigenous_peoples_literature@yahoogroups.com>; littlewolfstraditions <littlewolfstraditions@yahoogroups.com>; Native_Village <Native_village@yahoogroups.com>; redroad <Tradition_OF_The_Redroad@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu, Jun 26, 2014 3:35 pm Subject: [Cherokee Circle] stories hi all, siyo when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing again, since I have never posted these stories. you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. Blue panther ======*====== List archives http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

How Vulture Became Bald - Ojibwa Once again we are are introduced to Nanabush. The great native healer,teacher,medecine man, trickester... When the Creator was creating all Creation...he came to the flyers,, All the flyers were made different sizes and all had purpose...just like you and I. Then the creator created the Thunderbirds necklace (the Rainbow).. All the flyers were instructed to take flight and travel through the neclace..And all did...when they came out the other side ...They got there colors... Now remember that all colors are powerful....in healing, health and medecine.. Different colors represent different things..for example.. the White is the color of change..purity.. The red is the color of vision...passion.. The yellow is the color of time... and intellect (logic).. the black is the colour of respect and mysterious medecines... Green is the color of growth and renewal.. Purple is the color of healing and grounding.. Pink is a color of passiveness and unconditional love.. Blue is spirit,,calmness and balance.. And so all the flyers received colors from the thunderbirds neclace... Now there was one giant bird whom had a beautiful head of feathers..She noticed that she was not colorful enough and wanted to be more... so she flew back through the thunderbirds necklace again and again... Everytime she went through a new colour was added to her head of feathers....Ohh was she magnificent.. And she flew down to the calm pond and looked at herself.. WOW was she beautiful... In no time she visited all the rest of the flyers and noticed something.. they were not like her...in fact they looked plain she thought to herself.. and as time went on....She developed a nasty habit....In stead of visting and sharing about the wonders of the world,,,she would talk only of how beautiful she was...and eventually.. the rest of the flyers wanted nothing to do with her..Yet she was not taken aback.... Ohhh loook at me Blue jay ...I am not only more beautiful and much larger ....than you ...I am better.. she would say to all the flyers.. Well all the animals were getting tired of her ways and requested that Nanabush...teach her a lesson.... Nanabush agreed...and went down to the beach...he took some medecine from his pouch and ate it..then sang a powerful song and slowly he turned into a Bear...Then nanabush rested on the beach and fell asleep.... Now The colourful large bragish flyer saw this giant bear in the open..and presumed it dead...so slowly it travelled down to the bear....She landed softly and poked at the foot of the bear..no movement... yet nanabush woke up...and peeked open an eye...and made no response..Nanabush forced himself to stay still....while the flyer poked at his feet...ohhhh it tickled yet nanabush still made no movement... The flyer was getting hungry and wanted to get to the meat of the bear...She hopped on its belly and poked at it trying really hard to break the skin..yet the skin was to tough..So she hopped around and poked at the eyes.. yet nanabush closed them really tight.. and she couldn't get through... She hopped to the backside of Bear...."ohhh here is an opening.." She stuck her head in the bears butt....and Nanabush clenched his muscles and let some gas go !!!! BOOM!!! And out flew the flyer...Splash into the water... All the other flyers came out and laughed at her... when she came up...Nanabush got up and pulled the feathers from his butt...and told her..You will from now on ...travel in humility..silently.. for now you don't have the colours anymore ...to seperate yourself from others....and he walked away ... Today the Vulture is bald.....always travelling in silence and ashamed...humility is big in the vulture....for if you don't appreciate the little things in this life time...how are you to appreciated the Big things... This is the lesson of the Vulture...

How Two Girls were changed to Water-Snakes, and of Two Others that became Mermaids – Passamaquoddy POCUMKWESS, or Thoroughfare, is sixty-five miles from Campobello. There was an Indian village there in the old times. Two young Indian girls had a strange habit of absenting themselves all day every Sunday. No one knew for a long time where they went or what they did. But this was bow they passed their time. They would take a canoe and go six miles down the Grand Lake, where, at the north end, is a great ledge of rock and sixty feet of water. There they stayed. All day long they ran about naked or swain; they were wanton, witch-like girls, liking eccentric and forbidden ways. They kept this up for a long time. Once, while they were in the water, an Indian who was hunting spied them. He came nearer and nearer, unseen. He saw them come out of the water and sit on the shore, and then go in again; but as he looked they grew longer and longer, until they became snakes. He went home and told this. (But now they had been seen by a man they must keep the serpent form.) Men of the village, in four or five canoes, went to find them. They found the canoe and clothes of the girls; nothing more. A few days after, two men on Grand Lake saw the snake-girls on shore, showing their heads over the bushes. One began to sing, "N'ktieh iében iut, Qu'spen ma ké owse." We are going to stay in this lake A few days, and then go down the river. Bid adieu to our friends for us; We are going to the great salt water. After singing this they sank into the water. They had very long hair. A picture of the man looking at the snake-girls was scraped for me by the Indian who told me this story. The pair were represented as snakes with female heads. When I first heard this tale, I promptly set it down as nothing else but the Melusina story derived from a Canadian French source. But I have since found that it is so widely spread, and is told in so many different forms, and is so deeply connected with tribal traditions and totems, that there is now no doubt in my mind that it is at least pre-Columbian. Another and a very curious version of this story was obtained by Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, who has been the chief discoverer of curious Indian lore among the Passamaquoddies. It is called: Ne Hwas, the Mermaid The Algonquin Legends of New England or, Myths and Folk Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes by Charles G. Leland , 1884

I'm still enjoying each one. Thanks a million ... or at least 5,000 thanks for now.​ On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 4:50 PM, Blue Panther <Blue_Panther@otelco.net> wrote: > hi all, siyo > > when we get to the end of the ‘h’ stories ,I will have to start editing > again, since I have never posted these stories. > > you can help me if you find errors that I miss. please tell me. so far I > have posted some where around 5000 stories , we are not done yet. > > Blue panther > ======*====== > List archives > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=cherokee > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CHEROKEE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- "In GOD we trust" "one nation Under GOD, Indivisible, with Liberty & Justice for all"

How Turtle Got His Tail - Okanogan No one could run faster than Rabbit. He had won many races and prizes. He had won Frog's tail from Frog and Bear's tail from Bear. Rabbit's own tail was very long. One sun, Turtle, who had no tail at all, went to Rabbit and said: "Spe-pa-lee'-na, my friend, I would like to race with you. I think I can beat you. I would like to win those tails, yours and the others." Rabbit laughed, for Ar-sikh' was such a slow traveler. Rabbit made fun of him before the people. But Turtle insisted, and Rabbit finally agreed to race with him. "Beating you will be easy," said Rabbit. "When do you want to race?" "Let us race tomorrow while the morning is young," said Turtle. The people all gathered the next morning early to watch the strange race between Rabbit, the swift-jumper, and Turtle, the slow-walker. They started, and Rabbit quickly left Turtle far behind. "No use for me to run all the way now," Rabbit remarked to himself. "I will sit down awhile and wait for that silly Ar-sikh'. That will make him feel foolish." So Rabbit stopped to rest. He went to sleep. When he awoke, he was surprised to see Turtle moving slowly along some distance ahead. "I must have slept long," said Rabbit, and he hopped swiftly after the slow-walker. He passed Turtle and kept on going until, when he looked back, he could not see the other. Then he sat down to wait, and again he fell asleep. While Rabbit slept, Turtle crawled by, and when Rabbit opened his eyes there was Turtle far ahead. But that did not worry Rabbit. He easily overtook the slow one. That is the way they raced, Rabbit running and resting and going to sleep, and Turtle plodding, plodding without a stop. The race trail was long. It went to a half-way stake and returned to the point of starting. On the home stretch, Rabbit decided to take one last rest. He intended to stay awake, but, in spite of himself, he fell asleep. When he finally awoke he could not see Turtle anywhere. "He ought to be in sight by now," said Rabbit. "Perhaps he has given up." Then Rabbit rubbed his eyes and looked again. Away off, near the finish-line, he saw a speck. It was Turtle. Rabbit was startled. He jumped up and ran. He ran his fastest, but he had slept too long. Turtle crawled over the finish-line first. Rabbit was a few leaps behind. The people laughed and laughed at Rabbit, and he was very much ashamed. Cutting off his own tail, so that there was only a little stump left, Rabbit gave it to Turtle. He also gave Turtle the other two tails. Turtle first tried on Bear's tail. It was too long and bushy. He threw it aside and tried on Rabbit's own tail. That did not suit him, either, as the fur was thick and fine -- the water and mud would make it too heavy. Then Turtle put on Frog's tail. "That is the tail I need," said Turtle. "Frog's tail matches my color, it hasn't any fur or hair on it, and it is just the right size." Taken from Coyote Tales by Humishuma, Colville-Okanogan for Mourning Dove [Christine Quintasket], 1933

How Turtle Fooled The Yawarri – Guiana It was a time of scarcity and drought, and the Bush-rat [yawarri] in the course of his search for food came upon Turtle, also on the lookout for a bite. After saying "How day?" to each other and inquiring after their respective business—whence they had come, and whither they were going—they began to discuss the hardness of the times, and thus from one thing to another, the question finally arose as to which of them in case of necessity could fast the longer. Each one's assurance of his own superiority in this respect led them to arrange a competition, it being agreed that the one party should choose any tree, and the other party abstain from food until this tree should bear fruit. Yawarri accordingly chose a plum tree and, fencing it all round, put Turtle inside the inclosure. Every month did Yawarri visit his willing captive and ask whether he were still alive. "Still alive! Why not? No harm can befall me," was the reply he received. This conversation was repeated once a month for six months, at the end of which time, the plum-tree buds had opened, the flowers had bloomed, and the ripe fruit had fallen. So the fence was broken down and the Turtle let out. It was now Yawarri's turn to show what he could do, so Turtle built him a fence around a wild cashew tree, shut him in, and went away. At the end of a month Turtle came up to the fence and shouted out to Yawarri, asking him if he were still alive. "Yes! alive!" was the answer. After the lapse of another month Turtle visited him again with the same question, "Yes! alive! but a bit exhausted," was the reply on this occasion. On completion of the third month, Turtle came again, but this time he received no reply at all. Yawarri was no longer alive: only the flies on his dead body were alive. Yawarri did not know that the wild cashew bears fruit only once in every three or four years. An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians, Walter E. Roth, from the Thirtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1908-1909, pp. 103-386, Washington D.C., 1915, and is now in the public domain.[ British Guiana ][ South America ]

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How Turtle Flew South for the Winter - Dakota It was that time of year when the leaves started to fall from the trees. Turtle was walking around when he saw many birds gathering together. They were making a lot of noise, and Turtle was curious. "Hey," Turtle said, "What is happening?" "Don't you know?" the birds said. "We're getting ready to fly to the south for the winter." "Why are you going to do that?" Turtle asked. "Don't you know anything?" the birds said. "Soon it's going to be very cold here and the snow will fall. There won't be much food to eat. Down south it will be warm. Summer lives there all of the time and there's plenty of food." As soon as they mentioned food, Turtle became even more interested. "Can I come with you?" he asked. "You have to fly to go south," said the birds. "You are a turtle and you can't fly." But Turtle would not give up. "Isn't there some way you could take me?" He begged and pleaded. Finally, the birds agreed, just to keep him quiet. "Look here," the birds said, "can you hold a stick hard in your mouth?" "That's no problem at all," Turtle said. "Once I grab hold of something no one can make me let go until I'm ready." "Good," said the birds. "Then you can hold on hard to this stick. These two birds here will each grab one end of it in their claws. That way, they can carry you along. But remember...you HAVE to keep your mouth shut!" "That's easy," said Turtle. "Now let's go south where Summer keeps all that food." Turtle grabbed onto the middle of the stick and two big birds came and grabbed each end. They flapped their wings hard and lifted Turtle off the ground. Soon, they were high in the sky and headed south. Turtle had never been so high off the ground before, but he liked it. He could look down and see how small everything looked. But before they had gone too far, he began to wonder where they were. He wondered what the lake was down below him and what those hills were. He wondered how far they had come and how far they would have to go to get to the south where Summer lived. He wanted to ask, but he couldn't talk with his mouth closed. Turtle rolled his eyes. But the two birds just kept on flying. Then, Turtle tried waving his legs at them, but they acted like they didn't see him. Now, Turtle was getting upset. If they were going to take him south, the least they could do was tell him where they were now! "Mmmmmmph," Turtle said, trying to get their attention. It didn't work. Finally, Turtle lost his temper. "Why don't you listen to........." but that was all he said, for as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he had to let go of the stick, and he started to fall. Down and down he fell, a long, long way. He was SO frightened that he pulled his head and legs inside his shell, to protect himself. When he hit the ground, he hit so hard that he cracked his shell!! He was lucky that he had not been killed, but he ached all over. He ached so much that he crawled into a nearby pond, swam down to the bottom and dug into the mud as far away from the sky as he could get. Then, he fell asleep and he slept all through the winter and didn't wake up until spring. So it is that today, ONLY the birds fly south to the land where Summer lives while turtles, who all have cracked shells now, sleep through the winter.

How Turtle Came ON the shores of a great water in Canada is a land where Indians once dwelt. In the days of French rule it was a garrisoned fort. The remains of the old moat and ramparts and stockade are still seen in the centre of what is now a large green meadow; but they are now overgrown with grass, and should you go there, on summer days you can see children playing upon them, picking wild flowers and making daisy chains, unmindful of the past fortunes of the spot on which they play. Behind you across the river which empties here is a city in modern dress. Before you is the sea with two little islands not far away resting in the summer haze upon its bosom. Moaning gas-buoys toss about in the gentle roll of the waters; by night red beacon lights lift their bright heads all about to light the sailor's road; summer cottages nestle on the beach before you; the hum of modern life is in your ears and the sight of it is in your eyes as you stand to-day upo n the cliff. But it was not always so. Long before the coming of the white race, before beacon lights and cities and summer cottages were known, this land was the home of Indians. Many of their descendants live there still, at peace with the white folk who took their lands and their forests. They are the remnants of Glooskap's people. It was here, on the beach in the little cove, that the Turtle was first created and where he first dwelt. Long ago, after the white men came, he fled from these waters; and although his descendants are still sometimes caught by fishermen off the coast, neither he nor his children nor any of his tribe ever went back to the place of his creation. But the place of his birth is still pointed out. It was in Glooskap's time that the Turtle came into being. There dwelt in the land an old Indian, a lazy, poor, and by no means beautiful man. As a hunter he had been of no value; he lived alone, and now he had come to the end of his life with little of the world's goods to his credit. But although he was poor, he was of a merry heart and a good nature, and he was well liked by all. Now, the chief of the tribe had three beautiful daughters who were much sought for by the young men of the village, all of whom wished to win their love. The eldest was the loveliest in the land; her name was Flower of the Corn. The old Indian would gladly have made one of these girls his wife for he was tired of living alone, but she on her part thought him worthless, and he on his part feared that if he wooed her, her many other suitors would be jealous and would perhaps take his life. So the old man kept his secret to himself and continued his sad existence. It happened that one day Glooskap came into the land to see his people. Of all the tents in the village he chose that of the old man as his resting place, for he had known him a long time and liked him because of his good nature and his merry heart. He was not with him long before he knew his secret, that he loved Flower of the Corn; and he also learned of his fear to woo her. Glooskap encouraged him and urged him to make his wishes known to the chief. But the old Indian said, "I am old and poor and I have no good clothes to wear, and I know that I should meet only with scorn." But Glooskap placed upon him his magic belt, and at once the old man became young and handsome; he also gave him fine clothes. Then he sent him to the chief's home. And the old man said, after the fashion of Indians when they wish to marry, "I am tired living alone. I have come for your eldest daughter." And the old chief, when he saw him so beautiful because of Glooskap's magic power , could not refuse his request and Flower of the Corn became his bride. As the old man had feared, the young men of the village were very angry because he had won so beautiful a wife, and they resolved to do him harm. At first they tried to take vengeance on Glooskap, for as they had seen little of him they did not know of his great power. A great wedding feast was held for the old man and his bride, to which all the young men were invited. Two of the most jealous sat next to Glooskap, one on each side, and during the feast they plotted to kill him. But Glooskap heard them plotting against his life and he knew that the time had come for him to show his strength. So at the end of the wedding feast, as he arose from the table he turned to each one and tapped him gently on the nose. When each rubbed the spot that Glooskap had touched, he found that his nose had disappeared. In great shame and anger they fled from the feast, and never afterwards dwelt among men. One of these was Toad; the other was Porcupine. And since that time nei ther Toad nor Porcupine has ever had a nose and their faces have always been flat because of Glooskap's touch at the banquet long ago. Some days after the wedding feast, a great festival was held in the village. Glooskap knew that here again an attempt would be made upon the old Indian's life by his jealous enemies. He feared too that after he had gone from the village his old friend would surely be treacherously killed, and, as the time of his going away was at hand, he resolved upon a plan to save him from danger. He told the old man that at the festival his enemies would try to trample him under their feet during a game of ball. And he gave him a magic root which, if he ate it before the game, would give him power to jump high when they crowded in upon him. Sure enough, in the game of ball the young men surrounded the old man and watched for a chance to crush him. Twice he jumped high over their heads and escaped unhurt. But the third time when he jumped he stuck upon the top of a tent and could not get down. Inside the tent sat Glooskap quietly smoking his pipe and waiting for this very thing to happen. He made a smouldering fire from which the smoke rose in great clouds and passed out at the top of the tent around the old man, and he smoked and smoked great pipefuls of tobacco until far into the night. And the old man hung to the tent poles, dangling in the smoke until midnight. He hung there so long that from the smoke of the smouldering fire and that of Glooskap's pipe, his old skin became as hard as a shell. And Glooskap said to him, "I have done this thing for your own good. I fear that if I leave you here, after I have gone your enemies will kill you. I make you now chief of the Tortoise race and your name shall be called Turtle; hereafter you may roll through a flame of fire and you will not be burned nor will you feel pain, and you may live in water or on land as you prefer. And you shall have a very long life; and although your head be cut off you shall live nine days afterwards. And when your enemies throw you into the fire or into the water you need have no fear." Then he took him down from the tent pole. The next day the old Indian's enemies, angry because he had escaped at the festival, built a great fire in the forest, and seizing him as he walked alone in the woods, they threw him upon it. But he went to sleep in the flame and when he awoke he called for more wood, telling them that he was very cold. They wondered greatly, and after plotting together they resolved to throw him into the sea. They carried him far out in a canoe and dropped him overboard, and went ashore well pleased with their work, for they believed that at last they had taken vengeance. The next day was a day of great heat. At low tide when some of his enemies looked out to sea they saw basking in the sun on a sand-bar far away a strange figure. They were curious, and they rowed out to see what it was that shone so brightly in the sun. When they reached the sand-bar after paddling a long time they saw that it was the old Indian. There he was, sunning himself on the sand-bar, his hard smok ed back shining in the bright light. As they came near, he said, "Good day," and grinning at them mischievously, he rolled lazily off the sand-bar and disappeared in the water. Glooskap before he left the island, used his magic power to change Flower of the Corn in the same way and he sent her into the sea to live with her husband. And he gave her power to lay eggs in the sand. And the two lived happily for many long years, and raised up a mighty race. But still the Turtle rolls sideways into the sea like his old ancestor if men come near him as he suns himself on the sand. And you can still see on his back the marks of Glooskap's smoke. When the white men came, he left the land of his creation, but his descendants to this day live to a great age and grow to a great size along the Atlantic coast. MacMillian, Cyrus. Canadian Wonder Tales. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918.