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| | Smokyriversongs' Look At Indian Life And The Lore
Snoquaimie - Uitoto
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Abenaki - Arapaho | Arikara - Chinook | Chippewa - Haida | Hichiti - Karasha | Karok - Malecite | Mayan - Navajo | Nez Perce - Ottawa | Pauit - Quinault | Salish - Snohomish | Snoquaimie - Uitoto | Upper Segit - Yuki | Cherokee | Native American | Sioux | Indian Wisdom And Quotes
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Snoqualmie Indian Lore: L Soon Fox and Blue Jay found the rope and climbed up it. Late at night they came to the place where it was fastened to the underside of the sky. They entered the sky. Blue Jay flew to a tree and Fox found himself in a lake. There he changed himself into a Beaver. Moon had set a trap in the lake, and Beaver got caught in it. Next morning Moon took Beaver out of the trap. skinned him, stretched his skin out to dry, and threw the body into the corner of the smokehouse.the next night Beaver waited until Moon was asleep. Then he got up, took his skin from the place were it was stretching, and put it back on. While moon was still snoring, he examined the lodge and the sky world. outside he found a great forest of fir, ceder and pine trees. He pulled some of them up by their roots and then, with his spirit powers, made them small enough to carry under one arm. Under his other arm he put Moons' tools for making daylight. He took some fire from below the smoke hole, put ashes and leaves and bark around it, and carried it in one hand. He found the Sun hidden away in Moons' lodge and carried it away in his other hand. The beaver found the hole Blue Jay had made, changed himself back to the Fox again, and went down the rope to earth. there he gave the fire to the people. he set out the trees. he made the daylight. he set the sun in it's place so it would give light and heat to all. The people were happy because of the things Fox brought from the sky. by this time Moon had awakened. When he found the beaver skin gone and the sun stolen, he was very angry. he knew that one of the earth people had tricked him. Noticing footprints around the lodge, he followed them to the top of the rope Spider had made. "I'll follow him to the earth world," Moon thought. but as he started down, the rope broke. Both he and the rope fell down in a heap and were transformed into a mountain.
Squamish Indian Lore: The Legend Of Wountie A One day, a man came to fish for his family for the winter. He looked into the river and found that many fish were coming home this year. he said thanks to the spirit of the fish, for giving themselves as food for his family and cast his net into the river and waited. In time, he drew his nets in, and they were full, enough fish for his family for the whole year. he packed these away into ceder bark baskets, and prepared to go home. But he looked into the river, saw all those fish, and decided to cast his net again. again it was filled with fish. which he threw onto the shore. A third time, he cast his net into the water and waited. This time when he pulled his net in, it was torn beyond repair by sticks, stumps, and branches which filled the net. to his dismay, the fish on the shore and the fish in the baskets were also sticks and branches. He had no fish, his nets were ruined. It was then that he looked up the mountain, and saw Wountie , the spirit that protected the river, Wountie told him that he had broken faith with the river and with nature, by taking more than he needed for his family. And this was the consequence.
Tewa Indian Lore: A Fish Story There occurred in those days a great drought. Rain had not come for many, many days. The crops were dying and the water in the lake was going down and down. Prayers had to be offered to the Great Spirit. The custom was to fast and stay in the kiva until the rain came. On the night of the third day, however, one of the men could no longer stand the isolation. When the others went to sleep, he sneaked out of the kiva and ran to a nearby lake. There he drank and drank, swallowing all the water he had been thinking about for three days. After filling his body with water, he returned to the kiva. He entered slowly and stepped quietly down the stairs so that he would not be heard. The next day at noon, the woman who was in charge of feeding the men went to the kiva. She could not believe what she saw: water was gushing from it straight up into the air, and suspended in the torrent were fish, frogs, eels, snakes, and ducks. Sadly, with her basket still in her hand, she slowly returned to the village. Seeing this, the old man and his wife both said, The old man knew that this was a bad omen for the people of the village. When he reached home, he told his wife, The old woman prepared a basket filled with blue cornmeal and placed the little snake inside. Her husband took the basket and headed toward the east, where there was a snake burrow. At the home of the snakes, he fed them blue cornmeal, and one by one all kinds of snakes wiggled through the meal. Then he placed Fee-ne-nee among the others and said to her: At home the old couple cried again and told their people that the law required them to move from their home, O-Ke-owin, and seek another place to live. Now you know why we live where we do. The tragedy that occurred at O-Ke-owin forced our people to move to Xun ochute, which is now San Juan.
How To Scare A Bear On top of Red Rock Hill, lived a little rabbit. Prickly pears were his favorite food, and every day he would hunt for them along the east bank of the Rio Grande. Eventually he ate all the prickly pears along that bank, so he cast his hungry eyes across the river. He said to himself, The rabbit knew the river was too deep and too wide for him to swim on his own, and he sighed, The rabbit wanted to get home before night fell, so he wasted no time but went right to picking and eating prickly pears. That afternoon the little rabbit returned to the river, and his uncle easily carried him back across the water. The next day the little rabbit got up early and hurried to meet Brother Bear. Because of his early start, he arrived first and decided to stroll in the woods. As he was hopping around, he spotted an old horse bell that still had a dried-up piece of leather tied to it. He hung it around his neck, and with each jump the bell went "Clank! Clank!" the little rabbit said to himself, When noon came, Brother Bear appeared. The two picked a place in the dense wooded area to have their contest. Then Brother Bear made a circle on the ground with a stick. Little Rabbit sat down, and Brother Bear took off into the woods. A few minutes later the rabbit heard strange sounds: Aaah...Aaaah...Aaah... "I know that's Brother Bear," thought the little rabbit. "He's trying to scare me, but I won't move." Leaving Brother Bear sitting in the circle, the rabbit headed into the woods. He just put the old horse bell around his neck and headed toward the place where Brother Bear was waiting. Ah nana-na --- Ah nana-na --- When Brother Bear heard this, he thought, Coming closer to the circle where Brother Bear was sitting, the little rabbit rang his horse bell louder and sang his song once more. As the story goes, the little rabbit defeated Brother Bear. And today if you see a rabbit around the Tewa country, and if he has a red ring around his neck, you can be sure that the rabbit is descended from the little rabbit who won Brother Bear's pretty red necklace.
Tlingit Indian Lore: Long ago there was a giant who loved to kill humans, eat their flesh, and drink their blood. He was especially fond of human hearts.
Raven Raven thought over all kinds of plans for getting this light into the world and finally he hit on a good one. The girl swallowed this dirt and became pregnant. When her time was completed, they made a hole for her, as was customary, in which she was to give birth, and lined it with rich furs of all sorts. Then its grandfather felt sad and said, So they put moss inside and the baby was born on it. Its eyes were very bright and moved around rapidly. Round bundles of varying shapes and sizes hung about on the walls of the lodge. When the child became a little larger, it crawled around back of the people weeping continually, and as it cried it pointed to the bundles. So the child played with this, rolling it about on the floor back of the people, until suddenly he let it go up through the smoke hole. It went straight up into the sky and the stars scattered out of it, arranging themselves as you now see them. Some time after this he began crying again, and he cried so much that it was thought he would die. Then his grandfather said, He played and played with it around behind his mother. After a while he let that go up thought the smoke hole also, and there was the big moon. His grandfather felt very sad when he gave this to him. Journeying on, Raven was told of another place where a man had an everlasting spring of water. This man was named Petrel (Gan~'k). Raven wanted this water because there was none to drink in this world, but Petrel always slept by his spring, and he had a cover over it so as to keep it all to himself. Then Raven came in and said to him, When night came, Raven said, Petrel got up, went outside and looked around - then Raven went over to Petrel's spring, took off the cover and began drinking. So Raven stuck there, and Petrel put pitch wood on the fire under him so as to make a quantity of smoke. This happened somewhere around the Nass, and afterwards he started up this way. After this Raven went on again and came to a large town where were people who had never seen daylight. They were out catching eulachon in the darkness when he came to the bank opposite, and he asked them to take him across but they would not. Then he said to them, At this Raven opened his box just a little and shed so great a light on them that they were nearly thrown down. He shut it quickly, but they quarreled with him so much across the creek that he became angry and opened the box completely, when the sun flew up into the sky.
Tokpelia Indian Lore: The First World So Sótuknang gathered from endless space that which was to be manifest as the waters. He placed them on the universes so that each would be half solid and half water.
Toltec Indian Lore: The Scabby One Lights The Sky "How?" asked Tecciztecatl, dressed in iridescent hummingbird feathers and jewels of gold and turquoise. "By jumping into the fire, O Tecciztecatl," said the gods. But Tecciztecatl was afraid, he didn't want to be burned up. Four times he tried to immolate himself, and four times th heat, the flames and his fear drove him back. Then the lowliest of all gods, Nanautzin, dressed in humble garments of woven reeds, misshapen, ugly, and covered with scabs, offered to renew the world and light up the sun by jumping into the fire. None of the gods had paid him the slightest attention before, but now they all cried with one voice: "O, Scabby One, be thou he who brings back the Sun!" Without a moment's hesitation Nanautzin hurled himself into the flames, burning up with a great crackling sound, his blazing garments of reeds lighting up the sky. And ashamed of his cowardice, Tecciztecatl followed his example and was cremated also. At once the sun rose to light up the new fifth world, and it was the despised Scabby One, brave Nanautzin, who by his death had given life to the sun.
Tsimshian Indian Lore: The Bear Who Married A Woman O The mother said, "When a man comes to marry, feel the palms of his hands. If they are soft, decline him. If they are rough, accept him." She meant that she wanted to have for a son in law a man skillful in building canoes. Her daughter obeyed her commands and refused all the young men. One night a young man came to her bed. The palms of his hands were very rough, and therefore she accepted his suit. Early in the morning however, he had suddenly disappeared, even before she had seen him. When her mother arose early and went out, she found a halibut on he beach in front of their lodge, although it was midwinter. The following evening the young man came back, but disappeared again before dawn. The young woman never saw the face of her husband, but every morning she found and animal or fish on the beach, every day there was a larger one, Thus the widow came to be very rich. She was anxious to see her son in law, and thank him. So one day she waited until he arrived. Suddenly she saw a red bear emerge from the water. He carried a whale under each arm, and put them down on the beach, As soon as he noticed that he was being observed, he was transformed into a rock. As he was a supernatural being of the sea.
Grizzly Bear invited all the large animals to his house. On the following day the large animals assembled on a wide prairie and called together all the small animals, even down to the insects. The multitude sat down, the small animals on one side of the plain, the large animals on the other. Panther came, and Black Bear, Wolf, Elk, Reindeer, and Wolverine. Then the chief speaker, Grizzly Bear, rose. The small animals did not reply at first. After they had been silent for a while, Porcupine rose and said, Grizzly Bear rose again. After he had spoken, Porcupine put his thumb into his mouth, bit it off, said, The large animals were speechless at Porcupine's wisdom. Finally Grizzly Bear admitted, Then Porcupine spoke again in his wisdom: That's why wild animals, large and small, take to their dens in winter.
Giant flew inland [toward the east]. He went on for a long time, and finally he was very tired, so he dropped down on the little round stone which he father had given to him. It became a very large rock way out at sea. Giant rested on it and refreshed himself, and took off the raven skin. At that time, there was always darkness. There was no daylight then. Again Giant put on the raven skin and few toward the east. Now, Giant reached the mainland and arrived at the mouth of the Skeena River. There he stopped and scattered the salmon roe and trout roe. He said while he was scattering the, "Let every river and creek have all kinds of fish!" Then he took the dried sea-lion bladder and scattered the fruits all over the land, saying, "Let every mountain, hill, valley, plain, the whole land, be full of fruits!" The whole world was still covered with darkness. When the sky was clear, the people would have a little light from the stars, and when the clouds were in the sky, it was very dark all over the land. The people were distressed by this. Then Giant thought that it would be hard for him to obtain his food if it was always dark. He remembered that there was light in heaven, when he had come. Then he made up his mind to bring down the light to our world. On the following day Giant put on his raven skin, which his father the chief had given to him, and flew upward. Finally he found the hole in the sky, and he went through it. Giant reached the inside of the sky. He took off the raven skin and put it down near the hole in the sky. He went on, and came to a spring near the house of the chief of heaven. Then he sat down and waited. Then the chief's daughter came out, carrying a small bucket in which she was about to fetch water. She went down to the big spring in front of her father's house. When Giant saw her coming along, he transformed himself into the leaf of a cedar and floated on the water. he chief's daughter dipped it up in her bucket and drank it. Then she returned to her father's house and entered. After a short time she was with child, and not long after that she gave birth to a boy. then the chief and his wife were very glad. They washed the boy regularly. He began to grow up. Now he was beginning to creep about. They washed hi often, and the chief smoothed and cleaned the floor of the house. Now the child was strong and crept about every day. He began to cry, "Hama, Hama!" He was crying all the time, and the great chief was troubled, and called in some of his slaves to carry about the boy. The slaves did so, but he would not sleep for several nights. He kept on crying, Hama, Hama!" Therefore the chief invited all his wise men, and said to them that he did not know what the boy wanted and why he was crying. He wanted the box that was hanging in the chief's house. This box, in which the daylight was kept, was hanging in one corner of the house. It's name was Ma. Giant had known it before he descended to our world. The child cried for it. The chief was annoyed, and the wise men listened to what the chief told them. When the wise men heard the child crying aloud, they did not know what he was saying. He was crying all the time, "Hama, hama, hama!" One of the wise men understood him, said to the chief, "He is crying for the ma. Therefore the chief ordered it to be taken down. The man put it down. They put it down near the fire, and the boy sat down near it and ceased crying. He stopped crying, for he was glad. Then he rolled the ma about inside the house. He did so for four days. Sometimes he would carry it to the door. Now the great chief did not think of it. He had quite forgotten it. Then the boy really took up the ma, put it on his shoulder, and ran out with it. While he was running, someone said, "Giant is running away with the ma!" He ran away, and the hosts of heaven pursued him. They shouted that Giant was running away with the ma. Then the hosts of heaven returned to their houses, and he flew down with it to our world. At that tie the world was still dark. He arrived farther up the river, and went down river. Giant had come down near the mouth of the Nass River. He went to the mouth of the Nass River. It was always dark, and he carried the ma about with him. He went on, and went up the river in the dark. A little farther up he heard the noise of the people, who were catching olachen in bag nets in their canoes. There was much noise out on the river, because they were working hard. Giant, who was sitting on the short, said, "Throw ashore one of the things that you are catching, my dear people!" After a while, Giant said again, "Throw ashore one of things that you are catching!" Then those on the water scolded him. "Where did you come from, great liar. . .?" The [animal] people knew that it was Giant. Therefore they made fun of him. The Giant said again, "Throw ashore one of things that you are catching, or I shall break the ma!" and all those who were on the water answered, "Where did you get what you are talking about, you liar?" Giant said once more, "Throw ashore one of the things your are catching, my dear people, or I shall break the ma for you!" One person replied, scolding him. Giant had repeated his request four ties, but those on the water refused what he had asked for. Therefore Giant broke the ma. It broke, and it was daylight. The north wind began to blow hard, and all the fisherman, the Frogs, were driven away by the north wind. All the Frogs who had made fun of Giant were driven away down the river until they arrived at one of the large mountainous islands. Here the Frogs tried to climb up the rock; but they stuck to the rock, being frozen by the north wind, and became stone. They are still on the rock. . .and all the world had the daylight.
Tuscarora Indian Lore: When harvest time came, the people picked, but they did not do it well. Much of the corn was left unlicked and only the birds ate it. The people wasted more than they ate. They threw ears of corn to their dogs. "There is much game in the forest," the people said. "We can always hunt to survive, even if the stored corn spoils." So the people went on without showing respect for the corn that gave them life. They even forgot to say thanks to the Creator for their good fortune. That autumn, after the harvest moon, the people went hunting. But the hunters had bad luck. Animals were hard to find. It seemed that the deer and moose and even the rabbits had all disappeared from the forest. The people tried to fish, but the streams and lakes were empty. Finally, the people dug up their stored corn. But the poorly made baskets had fallen apart. Much of the corn had been eaten by mice. The rest had rotted away. "What shall we do?" the people said. "We will starve." Meanwhile, Dayohagwenda was walking in the forest. He was thinking about the way his people no longer showed respect for the corn or gave thanks. "Grandfather," Dayohagwenda said, "why are you weeping?" Now Dayohagwenda knew who the old man was. He was Corn Spirit. Dayohagwenda went back to the village. "We are going to starve," the people said. "Our corn is gone and we have no other food." The people understood. "It is Corn Spirit," they said. "He has left us and now we will surely die." Then Dayohagwenda dug up his own stored corn. His baskets had been well made. He had dug his granary deep and covered it properly. All of his harvest was there. From then on, Dayohagwenda's people always showed respect for the corn. So it is to this day.
Tuskegee Indian Lore: The Origin of Earth There were birds, however, who held a council to decide if it might be best to have all land or all water. "Let us have land, so we can have more food," said some of the birds. Others said, "Let's have all water, because we like it this way." Subsequently, they appointed Eagle as their Chief who was to decide one way or the other. Eagle decided upon land and asked, "Who will go and search for land?" Dove volunteered first and flew away. In four days he completed his hunt and returned, reporting, "I could not find land anywhere." Craw fish came swimming along and was asked by the council to help search for land. He disappeared under the water for four days. When he arose to the surface again, he held some dirt in his claws. He had found some land deep in the water. Craw fish made a ball of the dirt and handed it to Chief Eagle, who then flew away with it. Four days later he returned and said to the council, "Now there is land, an island has been formed-- follow me!" The whole bird colony flew after Eagle to see the new land, though it was a very small island. Gradually, the land began to grow larger and larger as the water became lower and lower. More islands appeared and these grew together, creating larger islands into one earth. Tuskegee Indians say they were chosen by the Great Spirit to be the first people to live upon the new earth, a long, long time ago.
Uitoto Indian Lore: The Father touched an illusory image. He touched a mystery. Nothing was there. The Father, Who-Has-an-Illusion, seized it and, dreaming, began to think. Had he no staff? Then with a dream-thread he held the illusion. Breathing, he held it, the void, the illusion, and felt for it's earth. There was nothing to feel: "I shall gather the void," He felt, but there was nothing. Now the Father thought the word. "Earth." He felt of the void, the illusion and took it into his hands. The Father then gathered the void with dream-thread and pressed it together with gum. With the dream-gum iseike he held it fast. He seized the illusion, the illusory earth, and he trampled and trampled it, seizing it, flattening it. Then as he seized it and held it, he stood himself on it, on this that he'd dreamed, on this that he'd flattened. As he held the illusion, he salivated, salivated and salivated, and the water flowed from his mouth. Upon this, the illusion, this, as he held it, he settled the sky roof. This, the illusion, he seized, entirely, and peeled off the flue sky, the white sky.
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