story

THE STORY TELLER
Native American Stories

Tell Me a Story
Tell me a story
of a time long ago
when people took the time
to listen to the songs
of the ancient forests,
of the morning sunrises,
of the spirits of the canyons,
and cared for all things living,
when life was simple
and all cared for Mother Earth.
But now widespread polluting of her rivers,
rampant logging in her ancient forests,
unchecked strip mining, tearing at her soul,
creating slurries only for profit,
and total destruction of her habitats,
when will this stop?
Take us back to a simpler time,
a time when there was respect,
respect for the rights of others,
and for all living things on Mother Earth.

The following are some of my favorite stories.
Hope you enjoy!

Earth Making
(Cherokee)
The Cherokee are one of the very few Indian tribes who conceive of
the sun as female. This version is unusual for the Cherokee because
it refers to the sun as "he".

**
Earth is floating on the waters like a big island, hanging from four
rawhide ropes fastened at the top of the sacred four directions. The
ropes are tied to the ceiling of the sky, which is made of hard rock
crystal. When the ropes break, this world will come tumbling down,
and all living things will fall with it and die. Then everything will
be as if the earth had never existed, for water will cover it. Maybe
the white man will bring this about.
Well, in the beginning also, water covered everything. Though living
creatures existed, their home was up there, above the rainbow, and it
was crowded.
"We are all jammed together," the animals said. "We need more room."
Wondering what was under the water, they sent Water Beetle to look
around. Water Beetle skimmed over the surface but couldn't find any
solid footing, so he dived down to the bottom and brought up a little
dab of soft mud. Magically the mud spread out in the four directions
and became this island we are living on - this earth. Someone
Powerful then fastened it to the sky ceiling with cords.
In the beginning the earth was flat, soft, and moist. All the
animals were eager to live on it, and they kept sending down birds to
see if the mud had dried and hardened enough to take their weight.
But the birds all flew back and said that there was still no spot
they could perch on.
Then the animals sent Grandfather Buzzard down. He flew very close
and saw that the earth was still soft, but when he glided low over
what would become Cherokee country, he found that the mud was getting
harder. By that time Buzzard was tired and dragging. When he flapped
his wings down, they made a valley where they touched the earth; when
he swept them up, they made a mountain. The animals watching from
above the rainbow said, "If he keeps on, there will be only
mountains," and they made him come back. That's why we have so many
mountains in Cherokee land.
At last the earth was hard and dry enough, and the animals
descended. They couldn't see very well because they had no sun or
moon, and someone said, "Let's grab Sun from up there behind the
rainbow! Let's get him down too!" Pulling Sun down, they told him,
"Here's a road for you," and showed him the way to go - from east to
west. Now they had light, but it was much too hot, because Sun was
too close to the earth. The crawfish had his back sticking out of a
stream, and Sun burned it red. His meat was spoiled forever, and the
people still won't eat crawfish. Everyone asked the sorcerers, the
shamans, to put Sun higher. They pushed him up as high as a man, but
it was still too hot. So they pushed him farther, but it wasn't far
enough. They tried four times, and when they had Sun up to the height
of four men, he was just hot enough. Everyone was satisfied, so they
left him there.
Before making humans, Someone Powerful had created plants and
animals and had told them to stay awake and watch for seven days and
seven nights. (This is just what young men do today when they fast
and prepare for a ceremony.) But most of the plants and animals
couldn't manage it; some fell asleep after one day, some after two
days, some after three. Among the animals, only the owl and the
mountain lion were still awake after seven days and seven nights.
That's why they were given the gift of seeing in the dark so that
they can hunt at night.
Among the trees and other plants, only the cedar, pine, holly, and
laurel were still awake on the eighth morning. Someone Powerful said
to them: "Because you watched and kept awake as long as you had been
told, you will not lose your hair in the winter." So these plants
stay green all the time.
After creating plants and animals, Someone Powerful made a man and
his sister. The man poked her with a fish (!!!) and told her to give
birth. After seven days she had a baby, and after seven more days she
had another, and every seven days another came. The humans increased
so quickly that Someone Powerful, thinking there would soon be no
more room on this earth, arranged things so that a woman could have
only one child every year. And that's how it was.
Now, there is still another world under the one we live on. You can
reach it by going down a spring, a water hole; but you need
underworld people to be your scouts and guide you. The world under
our earth is exactly like ours, except that it's winter down there
when it's summer up here. We can see that easily, because spring
water is warmer than the air in winter
and cooler than the air in summer.

- Told at a Cherokee treaty council meeting in New York City,
1975.

The Creation of the Red and White Races
A Native American Tale

Among the people of long, long ago, Old Man Coyote was the symbol of good.
Mountain Sheep was the symbol of evil.
Old-Man-in-the-Sky created the world. Then he drained all the water off the
earth and crowded it into the big salt holes now called the oceans. The land
became dry except for the lakes and rivers.

Old Man Coyote often became lonely and went up to the Sky World just to talk.
One time he was so unhappy that he was crying. Old- Man-in-the-Sky questioned
him.

"Why are you so unhappy that you are crying? Have I not made much land for
you to run around on? Are not Chief Beaver, Chief Otter, Chief Bear, and
Chief Buffalo on the land to keep you company?

"Why do you not like Mountain Sheep? I placed him up in the hilly parts so
that you two need not fight. Why do you come up here so often?"

Old Man Coyote sat down and cried more tears. Old-Man-in-the-Sky became cross
and began to scold him.

"Foolish Old Man Coyote, you must not drop so much water down upon the land.
Have I not worked many days to dry it? Soon you will have it all covered with
water again. What is the trouble with you? What more do you want to make you
happy?"

"I am very lonely because I have no one to talk to," he replied. "Chief
Beaver, Chief Otter, Chief Bear, and Chief Buffalo are busy with their
families. They do not have time to visit with me. I want people of my own, so
that I may watch over them."

"Then stop this shedding of water," said Old-Man-in-the-Sky. "If you will
stop annoying me with your visits, I will make people for you. Take this
par fleche. It is a bag made of rawhide. Take it some place in the mountain
where there is red earth. Fill it and bring it back up to me."

Old Man Coyote took the bag made of the skin of an animal and traveled many
days and nights. At last he came to a mountain where there was much red soil.
He was very weary after such a long journey but he managed to fill the
par fleche. Then he was sleepy.

"I will lie down to sleep for a while. When I waken, I will run swiftly back
to Old-Man-in-the-Sky."

He slept very soundly.

After a while, Mountain Sheep came along. He saw the bag and looked to see
what was in it.

"The poor fool has come a long distance to get such a big load of red soil,"
he said to himself. "I do not know what he wants it for, but I will have fun
with him."

Mountain Sheep dumped all of the red soil out upon the mountain. He filled
the lower part of the par fleche with white solid, and the upper part with red
soil. Then laughing heartily, he ran to his hiding place.

Soon Old Man Coyote woke up. He tied the top of the bag and hurried with it
to Old-Man-in-the-Sky. When he arrived with it, the sun was going to sleep.
It was so dark that the two of them could hardly see the soil in the
par fleche.

Old-Man-in-the-Sky took the dirt and said, "I will make this soil into the
forms of two men and two women."

He did not see that half of the soil was red and the other half white. Then
he said to Old Man Coyote, "Take these to the dry land below. They are your
people. You can talk with them. So do not come up here to trouble me."

Then he finished shaping the two men and two women--in the darkness.

Old Man Coyote put them in the par fleche and carried them down to dry land.
In the morning he took them out and put breath into them. He was surprised to
see that one pair was red and the other was white.

"Now I know that Mountain Sheep came while I was asleep. I cannot keep these
two colors together."

He thought a while. Then he carried the white ones to the land by the big
salt hole. The red ones he kept in his own land so that he could visit with
them. That is how Indians and white people came to the earth.

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

~BamaRiver~ Native American Wisdom
© 2001

Grandmother Spider steals the sun.
(Cherokee)

In the beginning there was only blackness, and nobody could see
anything. People kept bumping into each other and groping blindly.
They said: "What this world needs is light." Fox said he knew some
people on the other side of the world who had plenty of light, but
they were too greedy to share it with others. Possum said he would be
glad to steal a little of it. "I have a bushy tail," he said. "I can
hide the light inside all that fur." Then he set out for the other
side of the world.
There he found the sun hanging in a tree and lighting everything up.
He sneaked over to the sun, picked out a tiny piece of light, and
stuffed it into his tail. But the light was hot and burned all the
fur off. The people discovered his theft and took back the light, and
ever since, Possum's tail has been bald.
"Let me try," said Buzzard. "I know better than to hide a piece of
stolen light in my tail. "I'll put it on my head." He flew to the
other side of the world and, diving straight into the sun, seized it
in his claws. He put it on his head, but it burned his head feathers
off. The people grabbed the sun away from him, and ever since that
time Buzzard's head has remained bald.
Then Grandmother Spider said, "Let me try!" First she made a
thick-walled pot out of clay. Next she spun a web reaching all the
way to the other side of the world. She was so small that none of the
people there noticed her coming. Quickly Grandmother Spider snatched
up the sun, put it in the bowl of clay, and scrambled back home along
one of the strands of her web. Now her side of the world had light,
and everyone rejoiced. Spider Woman brought not only the sun to the
Cherokee, but fire with it. And besides that, she taught the Cherokee
people the art of pottery making.

- From a tale reported by James Mooney in the 1890s.

A Story From Grey Wolf

Some time ago I wrote about our connectedness to the trees and plants and how we are similar to them in the manner of our birth and development. I was looking at the great Elm tree in my yard a few days ago and a few more thoughts along these lines came to me and I thought I would share them with you.

When a seed from a tree, or a plant, falls to the ground it puts down a tap root deep into the earth where it is not only anchored in place, but also draws nourishment for it's continued growth. Eventually, as the stalk begins to grow, new rootlets spread out from this tap root gaining more nourishment from the soil and furthering the growth and development of the tree. None of this is visible since it happens below ground and out of sight. However the nourishment is fed from the root system up to the developing stem and branches, eventually reaching all parts of the tree.

If the roots are many and spread over a wide area, and if the soil is rich in nutrients, the tree will flourish and strive to reach it's potential as a tree and to fulfill its purpose. If on the other hand, the root system is small, or the soil depleted of nourishment, the tree's growth and development will be stunted and the tree will never reach it's potential - indeed it may perish with the onslaught of the vagaries of it's environment.

I see a correlation here with people and their development. If we are firmly rooted in our culture, and have a strong faith in Creator, then we are anchored firmly through our belief systems and we can draw spiritual nourishment, strength and wisdom from our cultural teachings. This ensures that our beliefs are strong and because of this we will grow and develop into a strong and vibrant being - striving to reach our personal potential. If on the other hand, we are not firmly rooted, and if our association with our culture is weak, then we lack that stabilizing influence and we have little or nothing to draw upon to ensure our development.

We develop and grow in accordance with the beliefs we hold about ourselves and our world. These are internal aspects of our being and are unseen, just as the influence of the root system of the tree is also unseen, but is of vital importance to the survival of the individual - either person or tree.

The tree develops and grows from the inside. What is under the bark determines what the tree will ultimately become. We are the same. We grow and develop in accordance with our beliefs - from the inside. What we have inside of us - our personal beliefs - determines what we will ultimately become.

The trunk of the tree ultimately divides, forming branches and each branch further divides adding new ones to the tree structure. This continues out to the smallest terminal twigs which bear the leaves. Near the trunk, the branches are large and strong giving support for the further branches which they generate. As one looks farther out on the limbs, away from the trunk, we see that the supporting branches get smaller and smaller until, at last, we come to the twigs and their leaves.

I see this situation as being similar to our extended family. If we see an individual person to be the main trunk, then the branches that first form would represent our offspring. These branches depend upon the nourishment that we provide to ensure their growth and development. It is our moral and ethical strength, as individuals, that determines the degree of development and growth that our offspring will attain. If our support is strong, and we have provided physical, emotional and spiritual nourishment, then our offspring will pass these attributes on to their offspring. Each succeeding branch depends upon the strength and support given by the preceding branch. This continues out to the farthest reaches of the tree structure. The same holds true with our families. Our descendents many times removed, will bear the influences which we imparted to our nearest offspring and this will ultimately determine what our family "tree" will become.

It is important to remember that we who are the main trunk, influence the development of the farthest leaf. These leaves, in their turn, contribute to the development and survival of the tree as a whole. Each branch, twig and leaf, plays a vital part. All are part of the whole. Remove any one branch, or twig, and we alter the ultimate shape and form of the structure, detracting from the potential that the tree can attain. The same holds true with our families. Every individual is connected to, and is part of, the whole family. The actions of any one individual affects the whole family structure. If any one individual fails to receive support and nourishment from his family, then he will not reach his potential and this affects the potential of the family structure as a whole.

The teachings of our Ancient Ones tell us that we are all connected. We are all part of the whole. The actions of one affect all. I see this to be true.

Walk in harmony and brotherhood and may Creator grant you peace.

GreyWolf