Twisted Hair
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
"Twisted Hair" is the Native American term of honor given to the storyteller. Their spirit could hear the heartbeat of Mother Earth and Father Sky.

To become a storyteller you had to be recognized by an elder Twisted Hair. The Twisted Hair was the bearer of news from one village to the next and the source of gossip for the women of the tribe. They were the light spirit among all the people and made all the people one because the history of the people was kept by the Twisted Hair and passed down from generation to generation.

The Twisted Hair carried very little with him as he wandered, for the people of the village he was visiting would gift him with food and shelter. He always carried a warm robe, his pipe and his storytellers' bag.

Stories are usually only told when the weather is a bit nippy because everyone knows that bugs are terrible gossips. If one of them were to overhear a story, they would spread rumors and the story that the spirit is about might be offended. The Twisted Hairs knew so many stories that, in a sacred manner, they would gather clay from Mother Earth and make story tiles. The tiles were put in a leather bag and one of the children would be asked to pick one out. The symbol on the tile would remind him of a particular story.

The Twisted Hair's pipe was wrapped in a skin given to him by his mother. This gift kept his family close by as he spent little time at home.

When a Twisted Hair came into a village the children would run to greet him and all the people would stop their work, for they knew it was time to listen and learn. All the people would get their robes and gather in a circle around the Twisted Hair. The children would always be in the front of the circle. When anyone got cold they would pull their robes up around themselves, because unless it was an extreme emergency - no one ever left the circle of the Twisted Hair in the middle of a story, for to do so was a great dishonor.

Before he told stories, the Twisted Hair always made a prayer fire. He offered tobacco to Great Mystery and all our relations. Then he first honored the chief, then the elder men and women by offering them to share his pipe. Then he offered it to all others.

When the storytelling was over, they would feast. The Twisted Hair would stay in the village from one to two weeks. Of all the people that traveled from village to village, he was the most beloved. So remember, when you hear a story - you know that a Twisted Hair is nearby, either physically or in spirit.

Child of the Evening Star and birth of the Little People
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
Once long ago, on the shores of the great lake, there lived a hunter who had ten beautiful young daughters. Their hair was as dark and glossy as the wings of the blackbird and when they walked or ran it was with the grace and freedom of the deer in the forest.

Thus it was that many suitors came to court them -- brave and handsome young men, straight as arrows, fleet of foot, who could travel from sun to sun without fatigue. They were sons of the prairie, wonderful horsemen who would ride at breakneck speed without saddle or stirrup. They could catch a wild horse with a noose, tame him in a magical way by breathing into his nostrils, then mount him and gallop off as if he had always been ridden. There were those also who came from afar in canoes, across the waters of the great lake, canoes which shot swiftly along, urged by the strong, silent sweep of the paddle.

All of them brought gifts with which they hope to gain the father's favor. Feathers from the wings of the eagle who soars high up near the sun; furs of fox and beaver and the thick, curly hair of the bison; beads of many colors and wampum, the shells that the Indians used for money; the quills of the porcupine and the claws of the grizzly bear; deerskin dressed to such softness that it crumble in the hands -- these and many more other things they brought.

One by one the daughters were wooed and married, until nine of them had chosen husbands. One by one other tents were raised to that instead of the single family lodge on the shores of the lake there were tents enough to form a little village. The country was a rich one and there was game and fish enough for all.

There remained the youngest daughter, Oweenee -- the fairest of them all. Gentle as she was beautiful, none was so kind of heart. Unlike her proud and talkative elder sisters, Oweenee was shy and modest and spoke but little.

She loved to wander alone in the woods with no company but the birds and squirrels and her own thoughts.

What these thoughts were we can only guess, but from her dreamy eyes and sweet expression, one could suppose that nothing selfish or mean or hateful ever came into her mind. Yet Oweenee, modest though she was, had a spirit of her own. More than one suitor had found this out. More than one conceited young man, confident that he could win her, went away crestfallen when Oweenee began to laugh at him.

The truth is Oweenee seemed hard to please. Suitor after suitor came -- handsome, tall young men, the handsomest and the bravest in all the surrounding country. Yet this fawn-eyed maiden would have none of them. One was too tall, another too short. One was too thin, another too fat. At least, those were the excuses she gave for sending them away. Her proud sisters had little patience with her. She seemed to be questioning their own taste, for Oweenee, had she said the word, might have gained a husband more attractive than any of theirs. Yet no one was good enough. They could not understand her, so they ended up despising her as a silly and unreasonable girl.

Her father, too, who loved her dearly and wished her to be happy, was much puzzled. "Tell me, my daughter," he said to her one day, "is it your wish to never marry? The handsomest young men in the land have sought you in marriage and you have sent them all away -- often with a poor excuse. Why is it?"

Oweenee looked at him with her large, dark eyes.

Father," she said at last. "It is not that I am willful. But it seems somehow as if I had the power to look into the hearts of men. It is the heart of a man and not his face that really matters. And I have not yet found one youth who in this sense is really beautiful."Soon after, a strange thing happened. There came into the little village an Indian named Osseo, many years older than Oweenee. He was poor and ugly, too. Yet Oweenee married him.

How the tongues of her nine proud sisters did wag! Had the spoiled little thing lost her mind? they asked. Oh, well! They always knew she would come to a bad end, but it was pretty hard on the family.

Of course they could not know what Oweenee had seen at once -- that Osseo had a generous nature and a heart of gold, that beneath his outward ugliness was the beauty of a noble mind and the fire and passion of a poet. That is why Oweenee loved him.

Now, although Oweenee did not suspect it, Osseo was really a beautiful youth on whom an evil spell had been cast. He was in truth the son of the king of the Evening Star -- the star that shines so gloriously in the western sky, just above the rim of the earth as the sun is setting. Often on a clear evening it hung suspended in the purple twilight like some glittering jewel. So close it seemed, and so friendly, that the little children would reach out their hands, thinking that they might grasp it before it was swallowed by the night, and keep it always for their own. But the older ones would say, "Surely it must be a bead on the garments of the Great Spirit as he walks in the evening through the garden of the heavens."

Little did they know that poor, ugly Osseo had really descended from that star. And when he, too, stretched out his arms toward it, and murmured words they could not understand, they all made fun of him.

There came a time when a great feast was prepared in a neighboring village and all of Oweenee's kinfolk were invited to attend.

They set out on foot -- the nine proud sisters, with their husbands, walking ahead, much pleased with themselves and their finery, and all chattering like magpies. But Oweenee walked behind in silence, and with her walked Osseo.

The sun had set. In the purple twilight, over the edge of the earth, sparkled the Evening Star. Osseo, pausing, stretched out his hands toward it, as if imploring pity. But when the others saw him in this attitude they all made merry, laughing and joking and making unkind remarks.

"Instead of looking up at the sky," said one of the sisters, "he had better be looking on the ground. Or else he may stumble and break his neck." Then calling back to him she cried, "Look out! Here's a big log. Do you think you can manage to climb over it?"

Osseo did not answer, but when he came to the log he paused again. It was the trunk of a huge oak tree blown down by the wind. There it had lain for years, just as it fell, and the leaves of many summers lay thick upon it. There was one thing, however, but the sisters had not noticed. The tree trunk was a solid one, but hollow, and so big around that a man could walk inside it from one end to the other without stopping.

But Osseo did not pause because he was unable to climb over it. There was something mysterious and magical in the appearance of the great hollow trunk. He gazed at it a long time, as if he had seen it in a dream and had been looking for it ever since.

"What is it, Osseo?" asked Oweenee, touching him on the arm. "Do you see something that I cannot see?"

But Osseo only gave a shout that echoed through the forest, and he leaped inside the log. Then as Oweenee, a little alarmed, stood there waiting, a man came out from the other end.

Could this be Osseo? Yes, it was he -- but how transformed! No longer bent and ugly, no longer weak or ailing, but a beautiful youth -- vigorous and straight and tall. His enchantment was at an end. He smoked his pipe to give thanks to the Creator.

But the evil spell had not been wholly lifted, after all. As Osseo approached he saw that a great change was taking place in his loved one. Her glossy black hair was turning white, deep wrinkles lined her face, she walked with a feeble step, leaning on a staff. Although he had regained his youth and beauty, she had suddenly grown old.

"Oh, my dearest one!" he cried. "The Evening Star has mocked me in letting this misfortune come upon you. Better far had I remained as I was. Gladly would I have borne the insults and laughter of your people rather that you should be made to suffer."

"As long as you love me," answered Oweenee, "I am perfectly content. If I had the choice to make, and only one of us could be young and fair, it is you that I would wish to be beautiful.

Then he took her in his arms and caressed her, vowing that he loved her more than ever for her goodness of heart. And together they walked hand in hand, as lovers do.

When the proud sisters saw what had happened they could scarcely believe their eyes. They looked enviously at Osseo, who was now far handsomer than any one of their husbands and much their superior in every other way. In his eyes was the wonderful light of the Evening Star, and he spoke all men turned to listen and admire him. But the hardhearted sisters had no pity for Oweenee. Indeed, it rather pleased them to see that she could no longer dim their beauty and realize that people would no longer be singing her praises in their jealous ears.

The feast was spread and all made merry except Osseo. He sat like one in a dream, neither eating nor drinking. From time to time he would press Oweenee's hand and speak a word of comfort in her ear. But for the most part he sat there gazing through the door of the tipi at the star-besprinkled sky.

Soon a silence fell on all the company. From out of the night, from the dark, mysterious forest, came the sound of music -- a low, sweet music that was like, yet unlike, the song sung by the thrush in summer twilight. It was magical music such as none had ever heard, coming, as it seemed, from a great distance and rising and falling on the quiet summer evening. All those at the feast wondered as they listened. And well they might! For what to them was only music, was to Osseo a voice that he understood, a voice from the sky itself, the voice of the Evening Star. These were the words that he heard:

"Suffer no more, my son, for the evil spell is broken and hereafter no magician shall work you harm. Suffer no more. For the time has come when you shall leave the earth and dwell here with me in the heavens. Before you is a dish on which my light has fallen, blessing it and giving it a magic virtue. Eat of this dish, Osseo, and all will be well."

So Osseo tasted the food before him and behold! The tipi began to tremble, and rose slowly into the air; up, up above the treetops -- up, up toward the stars. As it rose the things within it were wondrously changed. The kettles of clay became bowls of silver, the wooden dishes were scarlet shells, while the bark of the roof and the poles supporting it were transformed into some glittering substance that sparkled in the rays of the stars. Higher and higher it rose. Then the nine proud sisters and their husbands were all changed into birds. The men became robins, thrushes, and woodpeckers. The sisters were changed into various birds with bright plumage. The four who had chattered most, whose tongues were always wagging, now appeared in the feathers of the magpie and the blue jay.

Osseo sat gazing at Oweenee. Would she, too, change into a bird and be lost to him? The very thought of it made him bow his head with grief. Then, as he looked at her once more, he saw her beauty suddenly restored, while the color of her garments was to be found only where the rainbows are made.

Again the tipi swayed and trembled as the currents of the air bore it higher and higher, into and above the clouds. Up, up, up -- until at last it settled gently on the land of the Evening Star.

Osseo and Oweenee caught all the birds and put them in a great silver cage where they seemed quite content in each other's company. Scarcely was this done when Osseo's father, the king of the Evening Star, came to greet them. He was attired in a flowing robe, spun from stardust, and his long white hair hung like a cloud on his shoulders.

"Welcome," he said, "my dear children. Welcome to the kingdom in the sky that has always awaited you. The trials you have passed through have been bitter, but you have borne them bravely and now you will be rewarded for all your courage and devotion. Here you will live happily. Yet of one thing you must beware."

He pointed to a little star in the distance -- a little winking star, hidden from time to time by a cloud of vapor.

"On that star," he continued, "lives a magician named Wabeno. He has the power to dart his rays, like so many arrows, at those he wishes to injure. He has always been my enemy. It was he who changed Osseo into an old man and cast him down on the earth. Be careful that his light does not fall on you. Luckily, his power for evil has been greatly weakened, for the friendly clouds have come to my assistance and form a screen of vapor through which his arrows cannot penetrate."

The happy pair fell upon their knees and kissed his hands in gratitude.

"But these birds," said Osseo, rising and pointing to the cage. "Is this also the work of Wabeno, the magician?"

"No," answered the king of the Evening Star. "It was my own power, the power of love, that caused your tipi to rise and bear you here. It was likewise my power that the envious sisters and their husbands were transformed into birds. Because they hated you and mocked you, and were cruel and scornful to the weak and the old, I have done this thing. It is not so great a punishment as they deserve. Here in the silver cage they will be happy enough, proud of their handsome plumage, strutting and twittering to their hearts' content. Hang the cage there, at the doorway of my dwelling. They shall be well cared for."

Thus it was that Osseo and Oweenee came to live in the kingdom of the Evening Star and, as the years passed by, the little winking star where Wabeno, the magician, lived grew pale and paler and dim and dimmer, until it quite lost its power to harm. Meanwhile, a little son had come to make their happiness more perfect. He was a charming boy with dark, dreamy eyes of his mother and the strength and courage of Osseo.

It was a wonderful place for a little boy to live -- close to the stars and the moon, with the sky so near that it seemed a kind of curtain for his bed and all the glory of the heavens spread out before him. But sometimes he was lonely and wondered what Earth was like -- the Earth his father and mother had come from. He could see it far, far below -- so fare that it looked no bigger than an orange. And sometimes he would stretch out his hands toward it, just as the little children on Earth stretch out their hands for the moon.

His father had made him a bow, with little arrows, and this was a great delight to him. But still he was lonely and wondered what the little boys and girls on Earth were doing, and whether they would be nice to play with. Earth must be a pretty place, he thought, with so many people living on it. His mother had told him strange stories of that faraway land, with its lovely lakes and rivers, its great green forests where the deer and the squirrel lived, and the yellow rolling prairies swarming with buffalo.

These birds, too, in the great silver cage had come from Earth, he was told. And there were thousands and thousands just like them, as well as others even more beautiful that he had never seen at all. Swans with long, curved necks, that floated gracefully on the waters, whippoorwills that called at night from the woods, the robin redbreast, the dove, and the swallow. What wonderful birds they must be!

Sometimes he would sit near the cage, trying to understand the language of the feathered creatures inside. One day a strange idea came into his head. He would open the door of the cage and let them out. Then they would fly back to Earth and perhaps they would take him with them. When his father and mother missed him they would be sure to follow him to Earth, and then --

He could not quite see how it would all end. But he found himself quite close to the cage, and the first thing he knew he had opened the door and let out all the birds. Round and round they flew. And now he was half sorry, and a little afraid as well. If the birds flew back to Earth and left him there what would his grandfather say?

"Come back, comeback!" he called.

But the birds only flew around him in circles and paid no attention to him. At any moment they might be winging their way to Earth.

"Come back, I tell you" he cried, stamping his foot and waving his little bow. "Come back, I say, or I'll shoot you."

Then, as they would not obey him, he fitted an arrow to his bow and let it fly. So well did he aim that the arrow sped through the plumage of a bird, and the feathers fell all around. The bird itself, a little stunned but not much hurt, fell down and a tiny trickle of blood stained the ground where it lay. But it was no longer a bird, with an arrow in its wing. Instead there lay in its place a beautiful young woman.

Now, no one who lives in the stars is ever permitted to shed blood, whether it be of man, beast, or bird. So when the few drops fell up the Evening Star everything was changed. The boy suddenly found himself sinking slowly downward, held up by invisible hands, yet ever sinking closer and closer to Earth. Soon he could see its green hills and the swans floating on the water. Until at last he rested on a grassy island in a great lake. Lying there, and looking up at the sky, he could see the tipi descending, too. Down it softly drifted, until it in turn sank upon the island. And in it were his father and mother, Osseo and Oweenee -- returned to Earth, to live once more among men and women and to teach them how to live. For they had learned many things in their life upon the Evening Star and the children of Earth would be better for the knowledge.

As they stood there, hand in hand, all the enchanted birds came fluttering after them, falling and fluttering through the air. Then as each one touched the Earth it was no longer a bird but a human being...

Each was a human being, yet not quite as before. For now they were only dwarfs, Little People, or Puk-Wudjies, as the Indians called them. Happy Little People they became, seen only by a few. Fishermen, they say, would sometimes get a glimpse of them dancing on a summer night in the light of the Evening Star.

The Little People became great helpers to humans. They warn of pending danger and find plants deep in the forest to cure the sick. It is now a custom to honor the Little People with gifts tied to tiny poles stuck in the ground near the place where they live.

Coyote and the Mice
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
Not many animals liked Coyote. Some thought he was foolish and others thought he was boastful. The mice didn't like him because he was mean to them.

One day when he was out walking, Coyote saw the Mice making lots of noise and rushing around under a tree.

"Quick! Quick! Throw that rope over the branch!" cried one. "I need a bag! I need a bag now!" cried another.

They scurried around, tripping and falling over each other as they tied small bags onto the ends of several ropes, then threw the other ends over the branches.

"What are you stupid mice up to now?" asked Coyote. "We haven't got time to stop and talk Mr Coyote," squeaked one mouse, throwing a rope over another branch. "Haven't you heard? North Wind is on his way. He's going to throw hailstones as big as a bear's paw at all the animals! We're going to climb into these bags and pull ourselves up under the branches, so the hailstones can't hit us."

Fearing the hailstones, Coyote said "I'll join you." All the mice stopped dead in their tracks. "Ohhh! I don't know about that," they squeaked. "If you don't let me, I'll be mean to you again," shouted Coyote.

"Alright. You can join us," squeaked the mice. "But you'll have to get your own bag and rope because we don't have anything big enough or strong enough to hold you." "No problem," said Coyote. "I've got everything I need at home". "Then hurry Mr Coyote, because North Wind will be here any minute."

Coyote rushed off home. The mice waited until he was out of sight, then fell over squeaking with laughter. When they saw him coming back they picked themselves up and pretended to tie more bags.

"You must wait until last and pull yourself up, Mr Coyote, because you are too heavy," said the mice. "No. I'll go first," said Coyote. "North Wind is fast and could get here before I'm protected. If all of you hold the end of the rope you can pull me up."

The mice shook their heads doubtfully. Coyote yelled "do it, or I'll be mean to you!" "Alright," said the mice. Coyote got into the bag and the mice tied the rope around the top of it. A mouse picked up a small stone and threw it at the bag.

"Ouch," said Coyote "I felt a hailstone already. Quick, get me up under the tree!" The mice pulled on the rope until Coyote swung off the ground. Then they tied the end of the rope around the tree trunk.

The mice picked up stones and threw them at the bag. "Ooowww! Ooowww!" howled Coyote. "The hailstones hurt." "Be brave Mr Coyote. The storm will pass soon," said the mice. And they picked up bigger stones to throw at the bag."Ooowww, my head! Oooww, my back!" howled Coyote. Finally they stopped throwing stones and one of the mice said, "North Wind has gone now, we can come down."

When Coyote's bag was on the ground and the rope untied, Coyote slowly crawled out onto the ground, all battered and bruised. "I thought I was going to die," he said. "They must have been the biggest hailstones ever!"

Coyote felt the ground. It was dry. He looked up at the blue sky and there wasn't a cloud to be see. "How could this be? We've just had a hailstorm," he said.

"We tricked you, you dumb old Coyote," yelled the mice as they scurried off into their holes, laughing.

"I'll get you for this," howled Coyote, feeling his sore head. "But not today". "Ooow, my sore head. Ooow, my sore back. Ooow, my sore nose" he cried as he slowly hobbled home to bed.

Creation Story
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
History begins with Creation. There are several versions of the Creation story. This is one of them:

Our world began with the creation of the Earth, which is seen as the horizontal plane that separates the world above from the world below. In the Sky-World lived a fellow named "The Sky Holder." Next to his lodge was the Great Tree of Light, for which he was the caretaker. The flowers of this tree gave off bright light. His wife, named "Mature Flowers," fell through a hole created when he uprooted that tree at her urging. She fell into the dark world below, a world of endless water. The water animals decided to save her because she had the power to create life. The birds flew up and caught her in their inter-locked wings. They decided to place her on the back of a giant snapping turtle. The muskrat was the only animal that could dive deep enough to retrieve some mud from the bottom of the sea. The mud was placed on the back of the turtle and it began to grow. As she walked about in an ever-expanding circle, the mud grew into an island. Each day she walked counterclockwise and the island expanded. The Iroquois still dance in that direction to honor the Creation. Seeds fell from her clothing and began to sprout in the fresh Earth.

She then gave birth to a daughter who later had many suitors from the male beings who could transform themselves into human form. She selected the being that wore scalloped leggings and a large robe, said to be a turtle being. He placed two arrows over her body at night, and she became pregnant. She had twins, but died giving birth to the second son, as he was born through her armpit. The Sky Woman buried her daughter and from her body grew the Three Sisters - Corn, Beans and Squash. From her heart grew the tobacco plant, which we still use as a way to carry our thought to the Sky World. The deceased daughter became known as Earth Mother.

The good-minded twin was named "He Grasps the Sky With Both Hands," and his evil-minded brother was named "Flint - The Mischievous One." The good-minded brother set about to create plants, animals and birds. In the sky he placed our Grandmother the Moon, our Elder Brother the Sun (Day Bringer), the Morning Star, and the Milky Way as the path to the Sky World. He created the cycles of day and night, of the changing seasons.

His evil-minded brother, in trying to imitate his brother's work, created thistles, thorns, bats, monsters, and serpents, as well as rapids in the rivers, winter in the seasons, and other things that would make life on the new Earth difficult for the people that were about to be created. The evil-minded brother fought his good-minded brother for dominance in the newly created world. They played lacrosse to a draw. This is why lacrosse is still played today, as it is a way to manifest the classic struggle of good over evil. They held a wrestling match but were of equal strength. However, the evil-minded one was finally defeated by being struck by a deer antler and banished from the Earth. The Universe was divided into two spheres of power. The evil-minded one was sent underground, where he would rule over the serpents and powers of the deep. He would also have dominion over the night. The good-minded brother would be responsible for life on Earth and have dominion over the day. Forever, the two brothers would be opposing powers of our universe and the idea of duality is introduced.

The grandmother had favored Flint and tried to have him return to the Earth, but she lost her authority to the good-minded twin after losing a dice game. That game is still played in the ceremonies today, again as a way to relive the events from the time of creation and teach us to take both success and failure in stride.

The good-minded one then went about creating many things in the new world. First he took yellowish bark from a tree and created the Asian people. He then took the foam from the great salt sea and created the Caucasian people. He created African people from the rich, black soil. The good-minded one created a man that he named "Sapling" and a woman he named "Growing Flower," from the reddish clay. He breathed life into them. But all the races began to fight over a shinny object and had to be sent to four different quarters of the world, each in their own land. The basic element of four is introduced into our world view.

The good-minded brother taught the people the use of the plants and animals, ceremonies of thanksgiving and to live in harmony and peace. We have come to refer to him as Sonkwaiatison, "The Creator." Before departing from the Earth, he struck a deal with the people. We are to protect his gifts of Creation and be respectful of all living things, and were to simply be thankful for all that he has provided, as he has given us all that we need to live a happy life. In return for showing thanks, he would strive to keep the cycles of life continuing for the benefit of the people.

Eagle and Red Tail
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
A long time ago, Eagle and Red Tail were the same size, and very good friends. But Red Tail was very jealous of Eagle, and thought he was better than him.

Red Tail would always make up contests for them to do, so he could show up his friend. This really made Eagle very sad, and every night he would pray to creator, that Red Tail would stop. It was not that Eagle was inferior, just that competing with a friend was wrong. They should enjoy being different, and what each other brought to the friendship.

Well one day Red Tail came up with the idea that they would each fly as high as they could, and then soar back down to the ground. Eagle kept saying he did not want to compete with his friend, it was wrong. But Red tail would not be put off. He kept taunting Eagle till he finally gave in to him. They both took off, and started flying. Eagle was ahead of Red Tail, and this made him furious. He started playing tricks on Eagle acting like he was hurt. When Eagle came back to help him, he took off so fast, he lost some of his feathers.

Eagle decided to just let Red Tail win, then maybe the contests would stop. So Eagle just soared around waiting for Red Tail to come back. He soared for 3 days waiting. He was beginning to really worry about his friend. Finally he saw Red Tail coming back. But he looked really small to him. As Red Tail got closer Eagle noticed that he was smaller. Eagle asked him where had he been, and what had happened to him. Red Tail told him he went so high he saw creator. Eagle thought he was playing a joke on him. But Red Tail told him so seriously, that he was very sorry for all the contests, and mean tricks he had played on him.

Eagle wanted to know after all these years why was he sorry for them. "Well" said Red Tail, "When I saw Creator he told me how you had prayed to him every night that I would stop the contests and the foolish games. It made me feel so small in character, that I began to shrink to the size you see me now.

Then Creator said as my punishment I would stay this way, and all my descendants shall be this size as well. And I will never be able to fly as high as the Eagle again. So my friend I truly am sorry for being so cruel to you. You clearly were better than me." Eagle was so touched by Red Tails words all he could do was look at him. Then he said to Red Tail, "No my friend we are equal yet different. Unique in our own ways. You will always be my friend. But now we can celebrate our differences, and our new understanding of each other." So on this they agreed, and cemented the friendship by giving each other a feather. And that is why Red Tail is smaller than Eagle. And why they both wear white as a sign of their continuing respect for each other.

Feather Song
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
In a time before the Earth was complete there were some Creatures that came from the water. These Creatures could no longer live in the ocean, as it was becoming hot from all the volcanos that were burning on the bottom of the ocean floor. These Creatures had to crawl onto the shore and they were not dressed with cloths. They did not have the knowledge of what to eat in this strange land. It began to get colder and they started to cry for help but no help came. A small white cloud heard the cry and he listened to them as they told of the hot ocean water and how they could no longer live there. The small white cloud said he would go and ask the Elders in the sky world what to do. He left to talk to the Elders and after he explained all the problems of the Creatures they had a great council.

The sky world shook and turned black and rain fell for a long time. Finally the Cloud Elders came down to earth and said,"We will help you but first you must agree to honor the Earth and to live with respect with all the other things that are here." "You must never forget where you are from and that we have helped you here today. In this way you must be ever aware of others that are to come and you must help them too." With that the Clouds shook and shook many seeds like snow fell from the clouds. They told the ocean people to eat the seeds and they would know how to live here on this land.

Soon all was good and the Creature People were warm and happy and something strange started to happen to them. Long white soft things started to grow from their bodies and they were warm. They started to dance with joy and soon found our that they could fly. After many tries they flew off into the hills to live where it was warm and dry. For many years they lived there and they were many kind of the Creature People. Years and Years went by.

One day one of the beautiful Creature People was flying over the water and he heard a cry so he went to see what it was. There on the shore he found many Creatures and they were cold and hungry, they were crying. He listened to the Creatures and he said he could remember once when his people came from the ocean he remembered his Great Great Grandmother telling about the Cloud Beings and the seeds they brought. So he decided to fly to the Cloud Beings and ask for their help.

He flew for days and finally reached the Sky World and spoke to the Cloud Elders. They answered back in an angry voice and said no. We will not come because you did not hear them or help them sooner. He pleaded with them to help and they again had a council there was thunder and lightning as they talked. Finally they said they would help if he could go and get all the winged ones to come and pull the clouds down to the Creatures.

He flew day and night back to the Creature People in the hills. They had a council and some agreed and because of one Creature person the others did not agree. The other Creature person had always been greedy and did not want to share the space with others. He said that it was to crowded and that there was not enough food to feed all of them.

Finally half of the beautiful winged ones flew to get the clouds and the others stayed there on the hill. It took a long time to fly up to the Cloud Nation and a long time passed until the winged ones were able to help the Sea Creatures become able to fly.

One day they all returned to the hills and they found many changes in all the ones who stayed behind. Many of the winged ones had grown long and crooked necks and had to wait a long time to get their food, others had grown long and strange legs and had to stand in the water and wait for their food to come to them. Some could not fly at all and had no feathers on their wings, some had huge bodies and short legs and had to swim in the water to live.

It was sad to see all the beautiful hunters so ugly and now they had to go to the water to eat, and live. They could no longer live on the hill and hunt like the Winged ones did. The leader of the winged looked around to see if he could find the one who was responsible for all the sadness and he saw him walking on all four feet with no feathers, he only had quills where the feathers once grew.

He had become Porcupine and no one wanted to be near him. The Bird Nation grew into the Nation it is today and the Eagle who was the one chosen to watch out for all the Earth Creatures and to send help for those who need it.

Creator said he would give them something to remind them that they once came from the ocean so he made scales on the legs of the birds. To this day they are the only other two legged on the Earth except the Bear when it stand tall.

Fox and Magpie
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
One time, Fox and Magpie were roaming about the land. Each of them had an empty stomach. They were hungry. As they walked about, they looked into a nearby water, that was flowing, and sighted a fish swimming by. The Fox and magpie wanted something bigger and left the fish alone. They had thoughts of how deer meat would be very delicious, right now. They had hoped to come upon a large deer, by itself. They hoped the deer would be slow, so they could make their hunt successful. The image was so real in their thoughts, that they thought there was a real deer in their sights, but the image vanished very quickly. There was no deer in sight.

The Fox and Magpie continued their journey from there into the trees, after the last experience. It was beginning to get dark outdoors and under the trees where they were. Sometimes there was no light, because the tall trees were blocking the sun. They could hear something rustling around in the trees, what could it be? Both the Fox and Magpie became very frightened. The sound was coming nearer and nearer to them. The sound was like that of thunder. Just then, the wind picked up and blew very hard. When the wind became unbearable, they found shelter in a hold in the ground. They hid in that hole. Much later, they were both still afraid of that rumbling sound, because they did not know what was making that noise. As they sat in the hole, Fox looked up and over the edge and he could see buffalo in the distance. Magpie also looked out and saw the great herd of buffalo. This great herd of buffalo were moving by walking. The buffalo were enormous in size, and there were so many of them. The backs of the buffalo, as they were moving, looked to Fox and Magpie, like the darkness of the night.

Fox and Magpie were now getting very, very hungry. The buffalo looked very delicious to them. The two of them got out of the hole they were hiding inside, and started towards the where the buffalo were. They walked over to them. Along the way Fox and Magpie came across an ant pile. They looked at the ant pile, and they could many ants working while moving in a single line. Fox stopped, looked, and jumped on top of the ant pile, and stomped his feet onto it. He scattered the small pebbles which make up the outside of an ant pile.

Fox and Magpie were so hungry that their stomachs were beginning to rumble. Since they were at the ant pile, they began to eat some of the ants. They ate a lot of the little ants. The little ants crawled into Fox's nose and into his hair. The little ants were running all over his body and even down to the end of his tail. The little ants were also crawling onto Magpie's feet and legs, soon they were in his wing feather, and shortly they were running all over his body. Even though the ants were running all over their bodies, the Fox and Magpie had had their fill of ants. They had eaten enough to lay down and relax in the grass. Much later, as they were laying around being very comfortable, each of them felt an itch inside their stomach. As the itching became unbearable, both the Fox and Magpie jumped up and looked as though they were dancing, they were only trying to relieve the itch inside their stomach. Soon the two of them were sweating heavily, from the strange itch dance that they were doing. The Fox and Magpie ran to the nearest running water and stuck their heads in, to relieve the itch. While they were at this stream, they each had a drink of water. They both laid down in the grass again, after they had a drink of water.

After they each took a bath in the water. That night when they slept, they had stomach pain. Overnight, their stomach had become numb, and the following morning they could not feel anything, especially inside their lungs.

Hodadenon: The last one left and the chestnut tree
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
Long ago a boy and his uncle lived together in an elm bark lodge. The boy's name was Hodadenon, which means "The Last One Left." All of the rest of his family had disappeared over the years and it was thought they had been killed by those who were 'otgont', possessed of wicked powers.

Each morning the uncle would feed Hodadenon and then go out of the lodge to hunt, leaving the boy by himself. Each evening he would return, again feed the boy, and then go to sleep.

One day Hodadenon was playing by himself in the lodge. He began to think. "Enh," he said, "why is it that I never see my uncle eat?"

Then he took a bone awl and made a small hole in the deerskin he used as a blanket each night. "Tonight," said Hodadenon, "I shall see what happens after we go to bed."

That evening as always the uncle returned. He fed the boy and told him to go to sleep. Hodadenon lay down on one side of the fire and on the other side the uncle lay down on his couch, which was made of saplings and covered with many animal skins.

Pulling the deerskin over his head, Hodadenon pretended to sleep, but he could still see his uncle through the small hole he had made. After a time, the uncle stood up and went over to the fire.

"Hodadenon," said the uncle in a soft voice, but the boy did not answer. Three times more the uncle called his name, but Hodadenon still pretended to sleep. Coming closer to the fire, the uncle blew very hard into it. Sparks flew out, landing on the boy's legs.

"Hodadenon," said the uncle, "be careful. You are going to be burned." But even though some of the sparks fell on his bare skin and burned him Hodadenon did not move.

"Nyoh," said the uncle, "the boy is indeed asleep." He went over to his couch and removed the skins. He lifted off the top of the couch and took out a box made of birch bark. All of this Hodadenon watched through the hole in his blanket.

Opening the box made of birch bark, the uncle took out a small pot. It was so small that it fit easily in the palm of his hand. From inside the pot he took out another object which the boy could not clearly see though it looked to be smaller than an acorn. Using a little knife, the uncle scraped tiny shavings from the thing into the pot. Then, putting the tiny pot over the fire, he blew on it and sang this song:

Grow, pot, grow in size Grow, pot, grow in size

And as Hodadenon watched, the pot grew in size as the uncle sang his song and blew on it. Finally the pot was as large as a normal cooking pot and the odor of something delicious came from it. Before long the food was ready and the uncle ate it all. When he was through, he blew once more on the pot and sang this song:

Shrink, pot, shrink in size Shrink, pot, shrink in size

And once again the pot became small enough to hold in the palm of his hand. Replacing the thing he had scraped in the tiny pot, Hodadenon's uncle replaced the pot in the birch bark box and again hid everything in the secret compartment under his couch. Then he went to sleep.

The next morning, as always, the uncle went out hunting and left the boy alone in the lodge. For a time Hodadenon played around the lodge. He shot his small bow and arrow at a target and did other things, but the song his uncle sang to the pot kept going through his head. Finally he could stand it no longer.

"My uncle will be back soon from his hunting," he said. "He will be very hungry. I should prepare a meal for him."

Hodadenon went over to his uncle's couch, pulled off the skins and opened the compartment. Taking out the box of birch bark, he opened it and found the tiny pot. Within it was half of a small dry nut.

"So this is my uncle's food," said Hodadenon, "but it is almost gone. If I want to make enough for him to eat, I must use it all. I am sure he can get more." So Hodadenon took a knife and scraped all that was left of the nut into the tiny pot. Then, placing the pot over the fire, he blew on it and sang:

Grow, pot, grow in size Grow, pot, grow in size

Sure enough, just as it had done for his uncle, the pot became larger. Now it was the size of a normal cooking pot and it was boiling and boiling.

But Hodadenon was not satisfied, "surely my uncle will be more hungry than this when he comes home. I must make more." Then he blew on the pot and again sang:

Grow, pot, grow in size Grow, pot, grow in size

Now the pot was so large and bubbling so fast that Hodadenon had to stretch to stir the contents, which smelled very good indeed.

"Neh," said Hodadenon, "this isn't enough. What if my uncle wishes to share this good food with me. After all, he will be grateful that I prepared it. I must make more." So, once more, he blew on the kettle and sang the song. Again the pot grew and now it was so large that Hodadenon had to stand on top of his uncle's couch and use a canoe paddle to stir the contents, but he was so excited that he did not want to stop.

"This is almost enough for us," he said, "but what if we should have visitors? We should have enough to offer them as well."

So, for a fourth time, Hodadenon blew on the pot and sang the magic song. The pot grew so big that Hodadenon had to get out of the lodge because it filled the whole place from side to side! It was so big that the only way the boy could stir it was by taking a long pole up to the roof and reaching down to stir it through the smoke hole!

When Hodadenon's uncle came back from hunting, the first thing he saw was the pudding bubbling out of the door of the lodge. He heard someone singing above him and looked up. There was Hodadenon, swinging his legs in the smoke hole, still stirring the pudding and singing happily:

What a good cook I am What a good cook I am We all will eat well now What a good cook I am.

"Nephew," called the old man, "come down from there. What you have done has killed me."

Then Hodadenon's uncle blew on the pot through the door of the lodge and sang the song to make it grow small. When it was down to the size it had been at the beginning, he entered the lodge, lay down on his couch and began to weep.

Hodadenon, who had come down from the smoke hole, walked over to where the old man lay. "Uncle," said Hodadenon, "what is wrong?"

"Hodadenon," said the uncle, "you have used up all of the only food I can eat. Now I will starve to death. This is why I never allowed you to see me eat. I knew that you would do this."

"Uncle," said the boy, "things can't be that bad. Just go and get another of those little nuts."

"Neh," said the uncle, "that is the kind of food called a chestnut. Long ago, though it was very dangerous, I obtained that one. All these years I have eaten it and it would have lasted for many more. Now I am too old to get another one."

"Wah-ah," said Hodadenon, "this is my doing. I shall go and bring back many chestnuts."

"It is not possible," said the old man. "The way is long and guarded by many terrible creatures. Others of your family have gone there but none have ever returned."

Yet Hodadenon would not give up. Finally the uncle agreed to tell him the way. "Go straight to the north, the uncle said. "There you will find a narrow path. At its first turn it is guarded by two great rattle snakes, slaves to the evil ones who own the chestnut trees. No one can get past them."

"But what if I do, Uncle?" asked Hodadenon. If anyone by good luck passes the great snakes, he will next encounter two huge hears. They guard a passageway between the rocks. They too are slaves of the evil ones. They will tear apart anyone who tries to pass.

"Further on down the path are two giant Panthers which leap upon anyone who attempts to get by them. Hodadenon, it cannot be done."

"Is that all, Uncle?" Hodadenon said.

"Is it not enough?" said the old man. "Neh, that is only the beginning. Next is the place where the chestnut trees grow. There live the seven sisters who own the trees. All of them are strong in 'otgont' power. If anyone comes to steal the chestnuts, they run from their long lodge and beat the person to death with their clubs. No one can hope to go undetected, for a flayed human skin hangs in the top of a tree looking down on the chestnut grove and it sings a warning when anyone comes close."

"Nyah-weh, Uncle," said Hodadenon, "I thank you for your good advice. Now I must he on my way. I shall return with the food you need if all goes well." Taking two sticks, he tied them together and placed them standing near the fire. "Watch these sticks, Uncle," said the boy. "If all is well with me they will not move, but if I am killed they will break apart."

Now Hodadenon set out on his way. He went straight to the north and found a narrow path. "This must be the road my uncle told me of," said Hodadenon. "It looks easy enough to travel."

The boy continued along and soon the path began to twist and wind. Ahead, it turned sharply to the left. Hodadenon stopped, crept off the path, went through the trees, and peered out cautiously. There on either side of the path, were two great rattlesnakes, coiled and ready to strike.

"Uncle," said Hodadenon, "you know this road well." He went and caught two chipmunks. Holding one in each hand he again began to walk the path.

When he came to the two rattlesnakes he threw a chipmunk into the mouth of each before they could strike him.

"Tca," he said, "you seem to be in need of food. Now I have given you that which you should hunt for yourselves. Hawenio, our Creator, did not make any of his beings to be slaves. Go from this place."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two rattlesnakes uncoiled and crawled off in different directions, leaving the road unguarded as Hodadenon went along his way.

Meanwhile, back at the lodge, the two tied sticks which had been quivering now stood still as Hodadenon's uncle watched them intently.

Now the path entered a rocky place. Again Hodadenon left the trail to scout ahead. There, where the way dipped between two big boulders, were a pair of giant bears, crouched and ready to tear apart anybody who tried to go by. "Uncle," said Hodadenon, "you have traveled this road before." He climbed a tree where he heard the buzzing of many bees, pulled out two combs of honey and went back onto the path. When he came to the bears, he hurled the combs of honey into their mouths before they could grab him.

"Hunh," the boy said, "it looks to me as if you were hungry. Now I have given you that which you like best of all. The one who gave us breath, Hawenio, did not make us to be the slaves of anyone. Go from this place."

At his words, the two bears turned and went away,each in a different direction as Hodadenon continued down the trail.

Meanwhile, back at the uncle's lodge, the two tied sticks stopped quivering and Hodadenon's uncle breathed a sigh of relief.

Now the path entered a deep forest and wound between large trees. Leaving the trail, Hodadenon crept along till he could see the place where two huge panthers, eyes glowing like green flames, hid behind a pair of giant pines on either side of the path.

"Uncle," Hodadenon said, "you remember your travels well." Taking his bow and arrows, he killed two deer. Carrying them over his shoulders, he went down the trail once more. Before the panthers could leap upon him, he threw each of them a deer.

"Ee-yah," he said, "I see that you were in need of food. Now I have given you that which you are supposed to hunt. Know that the one who gave us strength to walk around, Hawenio, did not intend that any living creature should serve another as a slave. Go from this place."

In two different directions away into the trees slunk the panthers and the boy continued along his way.

Meanwhile, back at the lodge, the two sticks which had been shaking as if struck by a strong wind once more stood still as Hodadenon's uncle watched them.

The path in front of Hodadenon was very straight and wide. It looked to have been traveled by many feet. The boy listened very carefully and soon he began to hear a very faint song coming from the treetops. Crawling forward through the brush, he peered up and saw the one who was singing. It was the skin of a woman tied in the top of a tree. This was her song:

Gi-nu, gi-nu, gi-nu I am the one who sees all, I see you.

The song was very soft. Hodadenon could barely hear it, but he knew it would grow loud indeed if she caught a glimpse of him. Below her was a grove of trees. They were covered with a fruit which had burrs all over it. These, Hodadenon knew, must be the chestnuts. Beyond the skin woman and the trees was a great pile of human bones and just to the other side of them was the long lodge of the seven witches. "Tcu," said Hodadenon, "now I shall need some help." Going to a basswood tree, he peeled a long strip of bark. With a burned stick and the juice of berries, he decorated the piece of bark until it looked just like a long wampum belt. Slinging it over his shoulder, he knelt down and tapped four times on the earth.

"My friend," he said, "I am in need of help."

Up out of the ground poked the nose and then the head of a female mole. "Nyoh, Hodadenon! How can I help you?" asked the mole.

"Grandmother," said the boy, "if I make myself very small, will you carry me under the earth with you?"

"That's too easy," said the mole. "Let's go!"

Then Hodadenon began to rub himself with his hands. As he did so he grew smaller and smaller until he was small enough to travel with the mole under the earth. Down into the ground they went, coming up beneath the very tree where the Skin Woman was swaying back and forth. Once again Hodadenon rubbed himself with his hands until he was back to normal. Then he called up to Skin Woman.

"Sister," he called, "I have seen you first. Do not tell the others I am here and I will give you this fine belt of wampum."

"Wah-ah!" said Skin Woman, "I did not see you, Hodadenon. Give me the belt and I will not warn them you are here."

Hodadenon tossed the belt up to Skin Woman. She put it on and immediately it wrapped itself so tightly about her she could not speak. Under the tree, Hodadenon quickly filled his pouch with chestnuts. Then, making himself small once more, he called for his friend, Mole, to take him back under the earth.

Up in the tree, Skin Woman finally got her breath. She began to sing:

Gi-nu, gi-nu, gi-nu Someone has bribed me I cannot say who.

Out from the long lodge ran the seven witches. Each of them carried a long club. They ran to the place where Skin Woman hung, but they saw no one.
"Someone has been here," said one of the witches.

"Some of our chestnuts are gone," said another.

"Skin Woman," said a third witch, "you are our slave. Speak and tell us who has been here."

But Skin Woman did not answer the question. All she did was swing back and forth in the wind, singing this song:

Gi-nu, gi-nu, gi-nu I've been given a wampum belt Shining and new.

"You are a fool," said another of the witches. "That is only the bark from a tree."

"It must have been The Last One Left." said the fifth witch, "the boy whose uncle stole from us long ago."

"If he comes back," said the sixth witch, "we will catch him and kill him."

"Nyoh," said the last witch, "now we must punish our slave." She took her club and struck Skin Woman a heavy blow. Each of the others did the same. Then the seven witches went back into the long lodge, leaving the Skin Woman covered with bruises, but still singing softly of her fine new belt of wampum.

Meanwhile, back in the lodge of Hodadenon's uncle, the two sticks had fallen over on the floor. Picking them up and standing them upright once more, the old man watched them with great concern.

From his hiding place in the earth, Hodadenon had listened to all that was said by the seven sisters. "It is not right," he said "that those terrible creatures should go on like this. Friend Mole, we must go back there."

The mole dove deeper into the earth. She carried Hodadenon under the long lodge and came up beneath the couch where the sisters slept. There, tied to a string of sinew, were seven hearts. Quick as a spark leaping from the fire, Hodadenon grabbed the string of hearts and ran from the lodge. Seeing him, the seven witches grabbed their clubs and gave chase.

Now back in the lodge of Hodadenon's uncle the two sticks fell over once more. The old man was so disheartened that he did not stand them up again. He lay there staring at them, certain that his nephew would now never return alive.

From the top of her tree, Skin Woman sang as the seven witches chased Hodadenon:

Gi-nu, gi-nu, gi-nu Hodadenon has your hearts This will be the end of you.

Now the first witch had almost caught up with the boy and raised her club to strike him. As she did so, Hodadenon squeezed one of the hearts on the sinew string and the witch fell dead. Now the second witch was about to strike. Again Hodadenon squeezed a heart and the second witch died also. In the end, he had squeezed all seven of the hearts and all seven of the evil sisters had fallen dead.

Climbing to the top of the tree, Hodadenon cut loose the cords which held Skin Woman. He brought her down and placed her on top of the pile of human bones. Then he began to push against a great dead hickory tree which was near the pile.

"Get yourselves up, my relatives!" he shouted. "A tree is about to fall on you!"

Immediately Skin Woman and all of the people whose bones were piled there leaped up and came back to life. Skin Woman was, indeed, the sister of Hodadenon. Long ago the evil witches had caught her and the others of his family whose bones lay in that pile. There before him were his parents, his brothers, and all his relations. All were very happy to be alive and thanked the boy again and again.

Taking the chestnuts from the ground, Hodadenon passed them out to all his relatives.

"Plant these all over," he said. "Food will be shared with everyone from now on."

Finally, his pouch filled with chestnuts, Hodadenon went back to the lodge of his uncle. The old man lay there on his couch, thin as a skeleton, his eyes fixed on the two tied sticks.

"Uncle," said Hodadenon, "I have returned."

The old man jumped up and embraced the nephew. To this day he still sits in that lodge, making chestnut pudding in his pot. And from that time on, the chestnuts, like all the other good things given to us by Hawenio, our Creator, no longer belong to just one family, no matter how powerful they are, but are shared by all.

Creation Story
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
When Tu-chai-pai made the world, the Earth was the woman, the sky was the man. The sky came down upon the Earth. The world in the beginning was a pure lake covered with tules. Tu-chai-pai and his younger brother, Yo-ko-mat-is, sat together, stooping far over, bowed down by the weight of the sky. The Maker said to his brother, "What am I going to do?"

"I do not know," said Yo-ko-mat-is.

"Let us go a little farther," said the Maker.

So they went a little farther and sat down to rest. "Now what am I going to do?" said Tu-chai-pai.

"I do not know, my brother."

All of this time the Maker knew what he was about to do, but he was asking his brother's help. Then he said, "We-hicht, we-hicht, we-hicht," three times. He took tobacco in his hand. and rubbed it fine and blew upon it three times. Every time he blew, the heavens rose higher above their heads.

Younger brother did the same thing because the Maker asked him to do it. The heavens went higher and higher and so did the sky. Then they did it both together, "We-hicht, we-hicht, we-hicht," and both took tobacco, rubbed it, and puffed hard upon it, sending the sky so high it formed a concave arch.

Then they placed North, South, East, and West. Tu-chai-pai made a line upon the ground.

"Why do you make that line?" asked younger brother.

"I am making the line from East to West and name them so. Now you make a line from North to South."

Yo-ko-mat-is thought very hard. How would he arrange it? Then he drew a cross line from top to bottom. He named the top line North, and the bottom line South. Then he asked, "Why are we doing this?"

The Maker said, "I will tell you. Three or four men are coming from the East, and from the West three or four Indians are coming."

The brother asked, "Do four men come from the North, and two or three men come from the South?"

Tu-chai-pai said, "Yes. Now I am going to make hills and valleys and little hollows of water."

"Why are you making all of these things?"

The Maker explained, "After a while when men come and are walking back and forth in the world, they will need to drink water or they will die." He had already made the ocean, but he needed little water places for the people.

Then he made the forests and said, "After a while men will die of cold unless I make wood for them to burn. What are we going to do now?"

"I do not know," replied younger brother.

"We are going to dig in the ground and find mud to make the first people, the Indians." So he dug in the ground and took mud to make the first men, and after that the first women. He made the men easily, but he had much trouble making women. It took him a long time.

After the Indians, he made the Mexicans and finished all his making. He then called out very loudly, "People, you can never die and you can never get tired, so you can walk all the time." But then he made them sleep at night, to keep them from walking in the darkness. At last he told them that they must travel toward the East, where the sun's light was coming out for the first time.

The Indians then came out and searched for the light, and at last they found light and were exceedingly glad to see the Sun. The Maker called out to his brother, "It's time to make the Moon. You call out and make the Moon to shine, as I have made the Sun. Sometime the Moon will die. When it grows smaller and smaller, men will know it is going to die, and they must run races to try and keep up with the dying moon."

The villagers talked about the matter and they understood their part and that Tu-chai-pai would be watching to see that they did what he wanted them to do. When the Maker completed all of this, he created nothing more. But he was always thinking how to make Earth and Sky better for all the Indians.

Cricket and Cougar
A lore of many tribes of Alta and Baja California
Cougar was walking in the forest, and he jumped onto a fallen log to look around. From inside the log came a tiny voice.

"Get off the roof of my lodge!" Out from the rotten end of the log came a tiny Cricket. "You are standing on the roof of my lodge, Cougar," said the little insect. You must step off now, or the roof-pole will break and my lodge will fall in."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" asked Cougar sternly, although he did step off the log. He lowered his head until his nose was very close to Cricket. "In this forest, I am the chief of the animals!"

"Chief or no Chief," said Cricket bravely, "I have a cousin who is mightier than you, and he would avenge me."

I don't believe you, little insect," snarled Cougar, "Believe me or believe me not," said Cricket. "it is so."

"Let your cousin come to this place tomorrow, when the sun is high, and we will see who is the mightier," said Cougar. "If your cousin does not prove himself to me, I will crush you and your entire lodge with my paw!" Cougar turned and bounded off through the forest.

The next day, when the sun was high, Cougar came back along the same trail. He stopped over the log and called to cricket. "Cricket, come out! Let me meet your mighty cousin!"

Just then, a tiny mosquito flew up from the log buzzed into the big cats ear.

"What is this?" cried the cougar, who had never seen or heard a mosquito before. The mosquito began to bite the soft inner ear of the cougar, and drank from his blood. "Ahrr! Ahrr!" cried the cougar in pain, "Get out of my ear!" The cougar pawed at his ear, and ran around in a circle shaking his head. The mosquito bit him again and again.

Cricket came out of the log and called up to the cougar. "Are you ready to leave my lodge alone?"

Cougar said that he would so Mosquito came out of Cougar's ear and went into the log lodge with Cricket. Cougar ran off down the trail, and never went that way again.

Dance in a Buffalo Skull
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
It was night upon the prairie. Overhead the stars were twinkling bright their red and yellow lights. The moon was young. A silvery thread among the stars, it soon drifted low beneath the horizon.

Upon the ground the land was pitchy black. There are night people on the plain who love the dark. Amid the black level land they meet to frolic under the stars. Then when their sharp ears hear any strange footfalls nigh they scamper away into the deep shadows of night. There they are safely hid from all dangers, they think.

Thus it was that one very black night, afar off from the edge of the level land, out of the wooded river bottom glided forth two balls of fire. They came farther and farther into the level land. They grew larger and brighter. The dark hid the body of the creature with those fiery eyes. They came on and on, just over the tops of the prairie grass. It might have been a wildcat prowling low on soft, stealthy feet. Slowly but surely the terrible eyes drew nearer and nearer to the heart of the level land.

There in a huge old buffalo skull was a gay feast and dance! Tiny little field mice were singing and dancing in a circle to the boom-boom of a wee, wee drum. They were laughing and talking among themselves while their chosen singers sang loud a merry tune.

They built a small open fire within the center of their queer dance house. The light streamed out of the buffalo skull through all the curious sockets and holes.

The Arrow Chain
A Tlingit Legend
Two very high-caste boys were chums. The father of one was town chief and had his house in the middle of the village, but the house of the other boy's father stood at one end.

These boys would go alternately to each other's houses and make great quantities of arrows which they would play with until all were broken up.

One time both of the boys made a great quantity of arrows to see which could have the more. Just back of their village was a hill on the top of which was a smooth grassy place claimed by the boys as their playground, and on a certain fine, moonlight night they started thither.

As they were going along the lesser chief's son, who was ahead, said, "Look here, friend. Look at that moon. Don't you think that the shape of that moon is the same as that of my mother's labret and that the size is the same, too?" The other answered, "Don't: You must not talk that way of the moon."

Then suddenly it became very dark about them and presently the head chief's son saw a ring about them just like a rainbow. When it disappeared his companion was gone. He called and called to him but did not get any answer and did not see him. He thought, "He must have run up the hill to get away from that rainbow." He looked up and saw the moon in the sky. Then he climbed the hill, and looked about, but his friend was not there.

Now he thought, "Well! the moon must have gone up with him. That circular rainbow must have been the moon."

The boy thus left alone sat down and cried, after which he began to try the bows. He put strings on them one after the other and tried them, but every one broke. He broke all of his own bows and all of his and his chum's except one which was made of very hard wood.

He thought, "Now I am going to shoot that star next to the moon." In that spot was a large and very bright one. He shot an arrow at this star and sat down to watch, when, sure enough, the star darkened. Now he began shooting at that star from the big piles of arrows he and his chum had made, and he was encouraged by seeing that the arrows did not come back.

After he had shot for some time he saw something hanging down very near him and, when he shot up another arrow, it stuck to this. The next did likewise, and at last the chain of arrows reached him. He put a last one on to complete it.

Now the youth felt badly for the loss of his friend and, lying down under the arrow chain, he went to sleep. After a while he awoke, found himself sleeping on that hill, remembered the arrows he had shot away, and looked up. Instead of the arrows there was a long ladder reaching right down to him. He arose and looked so as to make sure. Then he determined to ascend.

First, however, he took various kinds of bushes and stuck them into the knot of hair he wore on his head. He climbed up his ladder all day and camped at nightfall upon it, resuming his journey the following morning. When he awoke early on the second morning his head felt very heavy. Then he seized the salmon berry bush that was in his hair, pulled it out, and found it was loaded with berries.

After he had eaten the berries off, he stuck the branch back into his hair and felt very much strengthened. About noon of the same day he again felt hungry, and again his head was heavy, so he pulled out a bush from the other side of his head and it was loaded with blue huckleberries. It was already summer there in the sky.

That was why he was getting berries. When he resumed his journey next morning his head did not feel heavy until noon. At that time he pulled out the bush at the back of his head and found it loaded with red huckleberries.

By the time he had reached the top the boy was very tired. He looked round and saw a large lake. Then he gathered some soft brush and some moss and lay down to sleep. But, while he slept, some person came to him and shook him saying, "Get up. I am after you." He awoke and looked around but saw no one. Then he rolled over and pretended to go to sleep again but looked out through his eyelashes.

By and by he saw a very small but handsome girl coming along. Her skin clothes were very clean and neat, and her leggings were ornamented with porcupine quills. Just as she reached out to shake him he said, "I have seen you already."

Now the girl stood still and said, "I have come after you. My grandmother has sent me to bring you to her house." So he went with her, and they came to a very small house in which was an old woman. The old woman said, "What is it you came way up here after, my grandson?" and the boy answered, "On account of my playmate who was taken up hither." "Oh!" answered the old woman, "He is next door, only a short distance away. I can hear him crying every day. He is in the moon's house."

Then the old woman began to give him food. She would put her hand up to her mouth, and a salmon or whatever she was going to give would make its appearance. After the salmon she gave him berries and then meat, for she knew that he was hungry from his long journey. After that she gave him a spruce cone, a rose bush, a piece of devil's club, and a small piece of whetstone to take along.

As the boy was going toward the moon's house with all of these things he heard his playmate screaming with pain. He had been put up on a high place near the smoke hole, so, when his rescuer came to it, he climbed on top, and, reaching down through the smoke hole, pulled him out. He said, "My friend, come. I am here to help you." Putting the spruce cone down where the boy had been, he told it to imitate his cries, and he and his chum ran away.

After a while, however, the cone dropped from the place where it has been put, and the people discovered that their captive had escaped. Then the moon started in pursuit. When the head chief's son discovered this, he threw behind them the devil's club he had received from the old woman, and a patch of devil's club arose which the moon had so much trouble in getting through that they gained rapidly on him.

When the moon again approached, the head chief's son threw back the rose bushes, and such a thicket of roses grew there that the moon was again delayed. When he approached them once more, they threw back the grindstone, and it became a high cliff from which the moon kept rolling back. It is on account of this cliff that people can say things about the moon nowadays with impunity. When the boys reached the old woman's house they were very glad to see each other, for before this they had not had time to speak.

The old woman gave them something to eat, and, when they were through, she said to the rescuer, "Go and lie down at the place where you lay when you first came up. Don't think of anything but the playground you used to have." They went there and lay down, but after some time the boy who had first been captured thought of the old woman's house and immediately they found themselves there.

Then the old woman said, "Go back and do not think of me any more. Lie there and think of nothing but the place where you used to play." They did so, and, when they awoke, they were lying on their playground at the foot of the ladder.

As the boys lay in that place they heard a drum beating in the head chief's house, where a death feast was being held for them, and the head chief's son said, "Let us go," but the other answered, "No, let us wait here until that feast is over." Afterward the boys went down and watched the people come out with their faces all blackened. They stood at a corner, but, as this dance is always given in the evening, they were not seen.

Then the head chief's son thought, " I wish my younger brother would come out," and sure enough, after all of the other people had gone, his younger brother came out. He called to his brother saying, "Come here. It is I," but the child was afraid and ran into the house instead. Then the child said to his mother, "My brother and his friend are out here."

"Why do you talk like that?" asked his mother. "Don't you know that your brother died some time ago?" And she became very angry. The child, however, persisted, saying, "I know his voice, and I know him."

His mother was now very much disturbed, so the boy said, "I am going to go out and bring in a piece of his shirt." "Go and do so," said his mother. "Then I will believe you."

When the boy at last brought in a piece of his brother's shirt his mother was convinced, and they sent word into all of the houses, first of all into that of the second boy's parents, but they kept both with them so that his parents could come there and rejoice over him. All of the other people in that village also came to see them.

The Star Shooter
A Tlingit Legend
A long time ago, in a Tlingit village, there lived two boys who were best friends. One was the chief's son and the other one's father was also a very important man. The two boys played together all the time. What they liked to do best was play pretend hunting games. They both had bows and they knew how to make arrows. One day, instead of playing hunting, they decided to see how many arrows they could make in a day. By evening they had made a great big pile of them. They carried their arrows towards a hill where they often played.

It was a full moon that night, and the chief's son said, "Look at that full moon. It is so beautiful tonight. You can see the moon's face so clearly."

"Huh!" said his friend. 'You can see it clearly and it sure is ugly."

"You shouldn't talk like that," said the chief's son. "The moon will hear and be upset."

Suddenly, the moon was no longer shining. Even though the stars were still out, the sky was very, very dark. Then, Whoosh! A rainbow swirled around the two boys. It was so light, they could hardly see. Then just as suddenly, the rainbow was gone and the sky was dark again.

The chief's son turned to talk to his friend, but his friend was gone. Maybe he ran up the hill to get away from the light, the chief's son thought. So he went up the hill. His friend was not there. Just then, the moon started shining again. Uh-oh, thought the chief's son. I bet that rainbow was the moon and has taken my friend to his house. How in the world can I rescue him? If only I could shoot an arrow that high.

Well, he thought, there's no harm in trying. The chief's son put an arrow in his bow and shot it straight up into the sky. It didn't come back down, and he saw a dark spot appear on the star next to the moon. He had that whole, huge stack of arrows next to him, so he shot another arrow, and another, and another. None of them came down, so he kept on shooting. The stack was getting shorter and shorter. He wasn't sure where his arrows were going, but when he shot the next arrow, he looked up, and he could see the back of that arrow. They were all sticking together in a long chain. He kept shooting until he could reach the bottom arrow.

Now, if I could only climb it, he thought, but my arms are much too tired to climb to the moon after shooting all those arrows. So the chief's son laid down and went to sleep.

When he woke up, where that chain of arrows had been there was a ladder. Now he could climb up to that star next to the moon and from there he could surely get to the moon. He knew it would be a long journey. He was afraid if he went home to get some food, the ladder would be gone, so he pulled up three berry bushes and stuck them in his hair. Then he started climbing.

He climbed all day, and when, night came, he just slept on the ladder.

When he woke up the next morning, he was hungry, but the bushes on top of his head felt heavy. He reached up, and he pulled a bunch of pink salmon berries off of one and ate them. At noon he pulled blue huckleberries off another bush and in the evening, he pulled red huckleberries off the third bush. He slept on the ladder again. On the third day, he again climbed all day, and got his meals from the bushes in his hair.

Finally, very late in the day, he got to the top of the ladder and stepped off onto the star. He was so tired he fell right to sleep.

A small girl dressed in clean skin clothes with porcupine quill decorations woke him up. "Come with me to my grandmother's, " she said. The chief' s son got up and followed her. When he got to the grandmother's house, the grandmother said, "Why have you come here, my grandson?"

"Oh, grandmother," he said respectfully, "I have come to find my best friend. I believe that the moon has taken him away.

'Well," said the grandmother. "The moon lives right next door to me. You can see his house from here. And I know he has taken some young child, because I have heard him crying. You may be able to get him back, but it will be a hard job. First you must eat, and then I will give you some magic tools."

So she fed him and then she gave him a pine cone, a rosebush, a piece of devil's club and a sharpening stone.

The boy snuck over to the moon's house and climbed up and looked in the smoke hole. His friend was sitting on a shelf near the smoke hole crying. The chief's son pulled his friend out and put the pine cone in his place. He told the cone to grow and cry. The pine cone grew as large as his friend and started crying. The two friends started back to the old woman's house Unfortunately, the pine cone fell off the shelf and the moon saw the boy was gone and started chasing the two boys. The moon had nearly caught the boys, when the chief's son threw down the rosebush. It grew into a big thicket of rose bushes and the moon was slowed down trying to get through.

The boys had gotten somewhat ahead when the moon managed to break through the roses.

When the moon got close again, the chief's son threw down the devil's club. It grew into a huge thicket. Devil's club has huge leaves with stickers on them and big heavy stalks with long, sharp thorns on it. It was much harder for the moon to get through the devil's club than the roses, but he did, and almost caught up again.

This time, the chief's son threw down the sharpening stone. It grew into a steep, steep mountain with a sharp, sharp point on the top. The moon tried and tried to get up the mountain, but he just kept rolling back down again, so this time the boys made it safely to the old woman's house. They thanked her again and again for helping them and then went to climb down the ladder, but it was no longer there. The old woman had gone along with them, and she said, "All you have to do to get home, is to just think of that place on the hill that you always play. Think of it and nothing else, then go to sleep."

So she went back home and they laid dowm to sleep. They were almost asleep when the chief's son started to think about how nice the old woman had been to him. Immediately, they found themselves back in the old woman's house. She said, "If you want to go home, you must not think about me. Think only about where you are going." This time they were able to think only about going home. They went to sleep and when they woke up they were in their village, on the hill.

They heard a drummer drumming the death dance. The people in the village thought the two friends had died, so they were doing what they do when somebody dies. They were all in the chief's house. People started coming out pretty soon. They all had their faces painted black and their eyes were red from sad crying. It was night, so they did not see the two friends. The brother of the chief's son came out. The chief's son called his brother. The little boy was scared and ran back and told his mother that his brother and his friend were outside. "Are you teasing me?" she said angrily.

"No,". he said, "It's really them. I'll prove it." The little boy ran outside and the chief's son gave his little brother his shirt. He took It to his mother. His mother ran out to see the two boys, yelling for the whole village to come. Everybody started crying again, but now it was happy crying.

The woman who married a Frog
A Tlingit Legend
There once was a young woman who was very vain. Her father was the village chief and her family was very respected. Many young men wanted to marry her, but she thought that she was too good for all of them. One day, she and her sister were walking beside the big lake in their village. That lake had many frogs. Several of them were sitting on a mud bank, in the middle of the lake, and she started making fun of them.

"How ugly those frogs are," she said. Then, she stooped over and picked up one which was sitting on the shore and looking at her.

"You are so ugly," she told that frog. "Even another frog wouldn't marry you!!" With that, she threw the frog back into the lake.

That very night, when the young woman stepped outside of her lodge to walk, while everyone else was sleeping, she was surprised to see a young man standing there. His clothing was decorated with beautiful green beads and he was very handsome.

"I have come to marry you," the young man told her. "Come with me to my father's house."

The young woman agreed. She had never seen such a handsome young man and wanted to be his wife.

"We must climb this hill to get to my father's house," the young man said and he pointed to the lake. They started to walk down to the water, but to the young woman, it felt as though they were climbing a hill. When they got to the water, they didn't stop...they went under.

The next morning, the young woman's family noticed that she was missing. They looked everywhere for her and when they discovered the footprints leading to the water, they decided that she must have drowned.

They beat the drums and held a death feast. People, in the village, cut their hair and blacked their faces and mourned the loss of the young woman.

One day, however, a man was walking down by the lake. When he looked at the middle, he saw a lot of frogs sitting on the mud bank. And there, in the middle of all those frogs sat the chief's lost daughter!!! He began to wade out towards the frogs, but they leaped into the water, and took the young woman with them.

The man went very quickly to the chief's home. "I have seen your daughter!" he said. "She has been taken by the frogs. I tried to get to her, but the Frog People took her with them under the water."

The young woman's mother and father went down to the lake. There, they saw their daughter sitting on the mud bank surrounded by the Frog People. Just like before, when the chief tried to reach her, the frogs leaped in and carried her under the lake with them.

Then, the chief's other daughter spoke.

"My sister insulted the Frog People," she said. That is why they have taken her.

The chief knew then what he must do. He made offerings to the Frog People, asking them to forgive his daughter. They placed dishes of food on the surface of the water. The dishes floated out, to the middle of the lake, and then sank. But, the frogs wouldn't give the young woman up.

Then, the chief placed robes, of fine skins, on the bank. The young woman and the Frog People came to the bank and took the robes. But, when the chief came close, the Frog People drew her back into the lake.

The Frog People just would not give up. At last, the chief had a plan. he gathered together all of the people in the village.

"We will dig a trench," he said. "We'll drain all of the water out of the lake, and rescue my daughter."

The people dug for a long time and the water began to drain away.

The Frog People tried to fill the trench with mud, but they couldn't stop the water from flowing out of the lake. The Frog People tried to drive the people away, but the people only picked up the frogs and dropped them back into the water. They were very careful not to hurt any of the frogs, but they didn't stop digging the trench. The water kept flowing out and the homes of the Frog People were being destroyed.

At last, the chief of the Frog People made a decision. After all, it was his son who married the young woman.

"We aren't strong enough to fight these humans," he said. "We must give my new daughter-in-law back to her people."

So, they brought the young woman to the trench. Her father and mother saw her and pulled her out. She was covered with mud and smelled like a frog!

One frog leaped out of the water after her. It was the frog that had been her husband. But, the people carefully picked him up and put him back into the lake.

The chief took the young woman home. For a long time, she could only speak like a frog does.

"Huh, Huh, Huh!!"

But, finally, she began to speak like a human again.

"The Frog People know our language," she told the people. "We must not talk badly about them."

So from that day on, the people showed great respect to the Frog People. They learned the songs that the woman had brought from the Frog People and they used the frog as an emblem.

They learned a great lesson. They never forgot what happened to the young woman who was too proud. To this day, when the people of the village hear the frogs singing, they say that the Frog People are telling their children this story too.

How Mosquitoes came to be
A Tlingit Legend
Long time ago there was a giant who loved to kill humans, eat their flesh, and drink their blood. He was especially fond of human hearts. "Unless we can get rid of the giant," people said, "none of us will be left," and they called a council to discuss ways and means. One man said, "I think I know how to kill the monster," and he went to the place where the giant had last been seen. There he lay down and pretended to be dead.

Soon the giant came along. Seeing the man lying there, he said: "These humans are making it easy for me. Now I don't even have to catch and kill them; they die right on my trail, probably from fear of me! "The giant touched the body. Ah, good, he said, "this one is still warm and fresh. What a tasty meal he'll make; I can't wait to roast his heart." The giant flung the man over his shoulder, and the man let his head hang down as if he were dead.

Carrying the man home, the giant dropped him in the middle of the floor right near the fireplace. Then he saw that there was no firewood, and went to get some. As soon as the monster had left, the man got up and grabbed the giant's huge skinning knife.

Just then the giant's son came in, bending low to enter. He was still small as giants go, and the man held the big knife to his throat. "Quick, tell me, where's your father's heart? Tell me or I'll slit your throat!" The giant's son was scared. He said: "My father's heart is in his left heel."

Just then the giant's left foot appeared in the entrance, and the man swiftly plunged the knife into the heel. The monster screamed and fell down dead. Yet, the giant still spoke. "Though I'm dead, though you killed me, I'm going to keep on eating you and all the humans in the world forever!"

"That's what you think!" said the man. "I'm about to make sure that you never eat anyone again." He cut the giant's body into pieces and burned each one in the fire. Then he took the ashes and threw them into the air for the winds to scatter. Instantly each of the particles turned into a mosquito. The cloud of ashes became a cloud of mosquitoes, and from their midst the man heard the giant's voice laughing, saying: "Yes, Ill eat you people until the end of time. "As the monster spoke, the man felt a sting, and a mosquito started sucking his blood, and then many mosquitoes stung him, and he began to scratch himself.

Big Long Man's Corn Patch
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
As soon as Big Long Man got back from the mountains he went to his garden to admire his corn and melons. He had planted a big crop for the coming winter. When he saw that half of the corn stalks had been shucked and the ears stolen, and that the biggest melons were gone off of the melon vines, he was very angry.

"Who stole my corn and melons?" he muttered to himself. "I'll catch the thief, whoever he is."

He began to scheme. The next day he built a fence around the garden. But the fence did no good. Each morning Big Long Man found more corn stalks stripped.

At last he thought up a scheme to catch the thief. He gathered a great ball of pine pitch and molded it into the shape of a man. He set the figure up in the corn field and then went to his hogan.

That night Skunk came along to get a bit of corn for his dinner. He had heard from Badger that Big Long Man was away in the mountains. He squeezed his body under the fence and waddled up to a clump of corn. He was just about to shuck a fat ear when he noticed a man standing by the fence. Skunk let go of the ear of corn in fright. He could see in the moonlight that the man was not Big Long Man. He waddled over to the fence and spoke to the figure.

"Who are you, in Big Long Man's corn patch?'' asked Skunk.

The figure did not answer.

"Who are you?" said Skunk again, moving closer.

The figure did not answer.

"Speak!" said Skunk boldly, "or I will punch your face."

The figure did not say a word. It did not move an inch.

"Tell me who you are," said Skunk a fourth time, raising his fist, "or I will punch your face."

The figure said not a word. It was very quiet in the moonlit corn field. Even the wind had gone away.

Plup went Skunk's fist into the pine gum face. It sunk into the soft pitch, which is as sticky as glue, and there it stuck. Skunk pulled and pulled.

"If you don't let go my hand," he shouted, "I will hit you harder with my left hand."

But the pine pitch held tight.

Plup went Skunk's left hand. Now both hands stuck fast.

"Let go my hands, or I will kick you," cried Skunk, who was by this time getting mad.

The pine gum man did not let go.

Plup, Skunk gave a mighty kick with his right foot. The foot stuck too, just like the hands.

"I will kick you harder," said Skunk and Plup he kicked with all of his strength with his left foot. Pine gum man held that foot too. Skunk struggled but he could not get loose. Now he was in a fine plight. Every limb was held tight. He had only one more weapon, his teeth.

"I will bite your throat," he shouted and he dug his teeth into the pine gum throat.

"Ugh!" he gurgled for he could no longer say a word. His tongue and teeth were held fast in the pine pitch.

The next morning Big Long Man came to his corn patch and there was Skunk stuck onto the pine gum man. Only his tail was free, waving behind him.

"Ah!" said Big Long Man. "So it's you, Skunk, who has been stealing my corn."

"Ugh," replied Skunk. His mouth full of pine pitch.

Big Long Man pulled him away from the gum figure, tied a rope around his neck and led him to his hogan. He put a great pot of water on the stove to boil, then he took the rope off of Skunk's neck.

"Now, Skunk," he said, "go fetch wood."

Skunk went out into the back yard. Just then Fox happened to pass by. He was on his way to Big Long Man's corn patch. Skunk began to cry loudly. Fox stopped running, and pricked up his sharp ears.

"Who is crying?" he said.

"I am crying," said Skunk.

"Why?" said Fox.

"Because I have to carry wood for Big Long Man. He gives me all of the corn I want to eat, but I do not want to carry wood."

Fox was hungry. He knew that if he stole corn he was liable to get caught. "What an easy way to get corn," he thought. "I would not mind carrying wood."

Out loud he said, "Cousin, let us change places. You go home and I will carry wood for Big Long Man. I like the job. Besides, I was just on my way to steal an ear of corn down at the field."

"All right," said Skunk. "But don't eat too much corn. I have a stomach ache." He felt his fat stomach and groaned. Then he waddled happily away. Fox gathered up an armful of piñon wood. He hurried into Big Long Man's hogan. Big Long Man looked at him in surprise.

"Well, well, Skunk, you changed into a fox, did you? That's funny."

Fox did not say a word. He was afraid he might say the wrong thing and not get any corn to eat. Big Long Man took the rope which had been around Skunk's neck and tied it around Fox's neck.

Fox sat down and waited patiently. Soon the water in the big pot began to bubble and steam. At last Fox said, "Isn't the corn cooked yet, Big Long Man?"

"Corn?" asked Big Long Man. "What corn?"

"Why the corn you are cooking for me," said Fox. "Skunk said you would feed me all of the corn I could eat if I carried wood for you."

"The rascal," said Big Long Man. "He tricked you and he tricked me. Well, Fox, you will have to pay for this." So saying he picked up Fox by the ears and set him down in the boiling water. It was so hot that it took off every hair on his body. Big Long Man left him in the pot for a minute and then he pulled him out by the ears and set him free out of doors.

"Don't be thinking you will ever get any of my corn by tricks," said Big Long Man.

Fox ran yelping toward his den. He was sore all over. Half way home he passed Red Monument. Red Monument is a tall slab of red sand stone that stands alone in a valley. On top of the rock sat Raven eating corn that he had stolen from the corn patch. At the bottom was Coyote holding on to the rock with his paws. He was watching for Raven to drop a few kernels. He glanced behind him when Fox appeared. He did not let go of the rock, however, because he thought Fox might get his place. He was surprised at Fox's appearance.

"Where is your fur, Fox?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I ate too much corn," said Fox sadly. "Don't ever eat too much corn, Coyote. It is very painful." Fox held his stomach and groaned. "Corn is very bad for one's fur. It ruined mine."

"But where did you get so much corn, cousin?" asked Coyote, still holding on to the rock.

"Didn't you hear?" asked Fox. "Why, Big Long Man is giving corn to all the animals who carry wood for him. He will give you all you can eat and more too. Just gather an armful of piñon sticks and walk right into his hogan."

Coyote thought a moment. He was greedy. He decided to go to Big Long Man's hogan but he did not want Fox to go with him. He wanted everything for himself.

"Cousin," he said, "will you do me a favor? Will you hold this rock while I go and get a bite of corn from Big Long Man? I am very hungry and I do not dare leave this rock. It will fall and kill somebody."

"All right," said Fox, smiling to himself. "I will hold the rock. But do not eat too much." He placed his paws on the back side of the rock and Coyote let go. The next minute Coyote was running away as fast as he could toward Big Long Man's hogan. Fox laughed to himself, but after a bit he became tired of holding the rock. He decided to let it fall.

"Look out, Cousin Raven," he shouted. "The rock is going to fall." Fox let go, and jumped far away. Then he ran and did not look behind. He was afraid the rock would hit his tail. If Fox had looked behind him he would have seen the rock standing as steady as a mountain.

Presently, along came Coyote, back from Big Long Man's hogan. He was running at top speed and yowling fearfully. There was not a hair left on his body. When he came to Red Monument he saw Raven still sitting on his high perch nibbling kernels of corn.

"Where has Fox gone?" howled Coyote who was in a rage.

Raven looked down at Coyote. "Fox?" he said. "Why, Fox went home, I suppose. What did you do with your hair, Coyote?"

Coyote didn't answer. He just sat down by the foot of the rock and with his snout up in the air waited for Raven to drop a few kernels of corn.

"I'll get Fox some other day," he muttered to himself.

Brother Turtle The Rock Animal
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
Long ago giants ruled the land and sea. They feared no element or spirit. They felt nothing could hurt or destroy them. Then one day the giants claimed to be more powerful, beautiful, and sacred than all the elements.

This made the elements of Sky, Water, Land, and all their relatives very mad. So brother Cloud covered the land and sea for a long time shooing the sun away.

Many of the giants died, but a few lived through the dark days. When Sun returned and learned what the giants had done, he became very upset. Instead of warming the lands and seas of Mother Earth, he started to bake all things. His heat shrank and changed the color and the nature of all living things on Earth. His fierce heat even turn some of the giants into pools of a black liquid.

Two elements, Rocks and Sand, did not agree with the Sun's actions. They covered the animals of the sea and land. Many animals did not trust Rocks and left their safe covering. One animal, Turtle, became angry at Sun's behavior and of having to hide all the time. He stuck out his head, arms, and legs and tail to confront Sun.

One Rock decided to help Turtle. He covered what he could of Turtle to protect him from Sun's heat. Turtle asked Sun, "Why don't you stop your action before you destroyed all the creatures of Mother Earth?" Hearing this made Sun even madder. He made the land ever hotter and started to boil all the water. Turtle hid behind Rock, but his face, hands, and legs were scalded by Sun's heat. "See how brave Turtle was," said Brother Rock. Another Rock told turtle to turn around. Then he jumped onto turtle's back, just as Sun came as close as he could to Turtle. Turtle pulled in his exposed parts as he heard Rock crack and split, time and time again. The sound made the other animals begin to cry out for help from Mother Earth.

Seeing her creatures being destroyed, Mother Earth called upon all her energy to save them. She moved ice over them to cool them. This made Sun beat down on her even harder.

Turtle refused to give up. He stood up to the Sun, protected by the two rocks. The battle between Sun and Earth went on for a long time. The rest of the creatures ran and hid where they could, but the heat burnt their skin and on some, fried off their legs. When Mother Earth covered the land with ice and Sun melted it, they learned how to hold their breath to live underwater. All the creatures felt sorry for their hero Turtle, but none went to join him.

The noise woke up the Great Spirit. Sun's anger and foolish acts saddened him. With one thought the Great Spirit flung Sun across space, far away from mother Earth and her creatures. Sun begged the Great Spirit not to hurt him. He told him that he was sorry for what he had done.

Suddenly Sun stopped flying in space. He heard the Great Spirit speak. "From this day on, Sun may not move as he wants. He will only be allowed to have Mother Earth circle around him at a safe distance. She may come as close as she feels it is necessary to keep her elements and creatures alive.

The Great Spirit looked down at Mother Earth and said, "Sun is sorry, and your animals will live as they learned, fearing neither water or land. Both shall be their home."

Then a voice yelled out, "What about me?" "Who speaks", said the Great Spirit. "It is I, Turtle. I have a rock melted to my back and cannot move." "I release you, but Rock will remain with you forever. As a rock animal you will remind all the creatures of this day and how you saved the Earth. Although you have a rock stuck to your back and you can only move slowly, I grant you long life. The rest of the creatures will live fast and short lives, but you will live long and grow wise".

Turtle, burnt and scaled from the battle, was teased and laughed at by the other animals. They quickly forgot what he had done for them. Yet, turtle never got angry at them. He merely reminded them of how great it was to be alive. After many, many years, most of the animals who lived through the battle between Sun and Earth died. Yet Turtle lived on.

Some say Turtle live forever. His children say he carries Mother Earth on his back through space as a reward for his courage and kindness. Even today the turtle lives a long and slow paced life. His shell shows us the hurt that hate causes. The weight of it shows how deep and heavy war scars those that live through it. It reminds us how long it takes to rebuild, forgive, forget and learn to love again.

Do you stand tall against all? Or do you forget the lessons learned and run fast and make fun of those who take their time to complete a task with kindness and care?

You may do as you wish, but the turtle people will out live you.

A man eats his sisters' berries
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
Once there was a man who said to his three sisters, "I saw many ali'la-berries (Lower Thompson word) down the river. Let us go down there in a canoe and pick them."

They arrived at the place, and picked berries until they had filled one set of baskets. When they had placed them in the canoe, the brother said, "I hear enemies coming. They will kill us. All of you must hide."

The two eldest sisters ran off into the woods; while he hid the youngest one in a hole, and covered her with leaves. Then he went to the canoe and ate all the berries, threw the juice over himself, and lay down in the bottom of the canoe as though he were covered with blood.

The little girl peered through the leaves, and saw what he did. After a while the elder sisters returned, and, finding where she was hidden, asked her where their brother was. She told them what she had seen, but they would not believe her.

When they went to the canoe and saw him, they thought he was dead. They said, "The enemies must have killed him. See! He is covered with blood."

The little girl answered, "That is not blood, it is berry-juice." They tickled his soles until he moved and began to laugh. They asked him why he had acted thus.

He answered, "I longed for a good feed of berries." Then they filled the other set of baskets with berries and returned home.

NOTE: A version of this story is current among the Uta'mqt.

Buffalo and Eagle Wing
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
A long time ago there were no stones on the earth. The mountains, hills, and valleys were not rough, and it was easy to walk on the ground swiftly. There were no small trees at that time either. All the bushes and trees were tall and straight and were at equal distances. So a man could travel through a forest without having to make a path.

At that time, a large buffalo roamed over the land. From the water, he had obtained his spirit power--the power to change anything into some other form. He would have that power as long as he only drank from a certain pool.

In his wanderings, Buffalo often traveled across a high mountain. He liked this mountain so much that one day he asked it, "Would you like to be changed into something else?"

"Yes," replied the mountain. "I would like to be changed into something nobody would want to climb over."

"All right," said Buffalo. "I will change you into something hard that I will call 'stone.' You will be so hard that no one will want to break you and so smooth that no one will want to climb you."

So Buffalo changed the mountain into a large stone. "And I give you the power to change yourself into anything else as long as you do not break yourself."

Only buffaloes lived in this part of the land. No people lived here. On the other side of the mountain lived men who were cruel and killed animals. The buffaloes knew about them and stayed as far away from them as possible. But one day Buffalo thought he would like to see these men. He hoped to make friends with them and persuade them not to kill buffaloes.

So he went over the mountain and traveled along a stream until he came to a lodge. There lived an old woman and her grandson. The little boy liked Buffalo, and Buffalo liked the little boy and his grandmother. He said to them, "I have the power to change you into any form you wish. What would you like most to be?"

"I want always to be with my grandson. I want to be changed into anything that will make it possible for me to be with him, wherever he goes."

"I will take you to the home of the buffaloes," said their guest. "I will ask them to teach the boy to become a swift runner. I will ask the water to change the grandmother into something, so that you two can always be together."

So Buffalo, the grandmother, and the little boy went over the mountain to the land of the buffaloes.

"We will teach you to run swiftly," they told the boy, "if you will promise to keep your people from hunting and killing buffaloes."

"I promise," said the boy.

The buffaloes taught him to run so fast that not one of them could keep up with him. The old grandmother could follow him wherever he went, for she had been changed into Wind.

The boy stayed with the buffaloes until he became a man. Then they let him go back to his people, reminding him of his promise. Because he was such a swift runner, he became a leader of the hunters. They called him Eagle Wing.

One day the chief called Eagle Wing to him and said to him, "My son, I want you to take the hunters to the buffalo country. We have never been able to kill buffaloes because they run so very fast. But you too can run fast. If you will kill some buffaloes and bring home the meat and the skins, I will adopt you as my son. And when I die, you will become chief of the tribe."

Eagle Wing wanted so much to become chief that he pushed from his mind his promise to the buffaloes. He started out with the hunters, but he climbed the mountain so fast that they were soon left far behind. On the other side of the mountain, he saw a herd of buffaloes. They started to run in fright, but Eagle Wing followed them and killed most of them.

Buffalo, the great one who got his power from the water, was away from home at the time of the hunt. On his way back he grew so thirsty that he drank from some water on the other side of the mountain not from his special pool. When he reached home and saw what the hunter had done, he became very angry. He tried to turn the men into grass, but he could not. Because he had drunk from another pool, he had lost his power to transform.

Buffalo went to the big stone that had once been a mountain.

"What can you do to punish the hunter for what he has done?" he asked Stone.

"I will ask the trees to tangle themselves so that it will be difficult for men to travel through them," answered Stone. "I will break myself into many pieces and scatter myself all over the land. Then the swift runner and his followers cannot run over me without hurting their feet."

"That will punish them," agreed Buffalo.

So Stone broke itself into many pieces and scattered itself all over the land. Whenever the swift runner, Eagle Wing, and his followers tried to run over the mountain, stones cut their feet. Bushes scratched and bruised their bodies.

That is how Eagle Wing was punished for not keeping his promise to Buffalo.

A story of the Coyote and the bag of salt
An American Indian Legend - Nation Unknown
I am Elijah. My Medicine Name is "Racing Waters". My totem is a dolphin. A totem is your special animal. I am ten years old. I am very lucky to be able to tell you all this. I would like to share with you, one of the stories I know.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, "Coyote" and his "Wife" lived near a village. One day a great Ceremony was scheduled for two days away. They would be dancing and eating all day. The women would bake bread and other goods to get ready.

At that time, salt was needed to make anything, almost, taste good.

Now, Mrs Coyote said to her husband, go get a bag of salt from Salt Lake. It is time for me to bake lots of bread. So, Mr Coyote ran to the lake as fast as he could. When he got there, he thought,I had better fill the bag with salt. But before he could fill the bag half way, he fell down, and before he hit the ground, he was fast asleep.

Then a little Butterfly happened to be flying around. He thought of a trick he could play on Coyote. He went and got his buddies. When they got there, they all lifted Coyote and carried him away to his lodge and put him back in his hammock. When he woke up, he thought, I must have been dreaming when my wife said I had to go to Salt Lake to get salt.When his wife came in, carrying her bucket of water, Coyote knew it was not a dream. She said, Why you lazy bones, can't you do a lick of work? She poured her water bucket on his head.

He went back to Salt Lake the next day. When he got there, the same thing happened. And the day after that, he got there breathless, he filled his bag of salt. Then he fell down as fast asleep as ever.

This time the butterflies took pity on him and took him back to his lodge with the bag of salt.

Mrs Coyote got to bake the bread.