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Long ago, when man was newly come into the world, there were days
when he was the happiest creature of all. Those were the days when
spring brushed across the willow tails, or when his children ripened
with the blueberries in the sun of summer, or when the goldenrod
bloomed in the autumn haze.
But always the mists of autumn evenings grew more chill, and the
sun's strokes grew shorter. Then man saw winter moving near, and he
became fearful and unhappy. He was afraid for his children, and for
the grandfathers and grandmothers who carried in their heads the
sacred tales of the tribe. Many of these, young and old, would die in
the long, ice-bitter months of winter.
Coyote, like the rest of the People, had no need for fire. So he
seldom concerned himself with it, until one spring day when he was
passing a human village. There the women were singing a song of
mourning for the babies and the old ones who had died in the winter.
Their voices moaned like the west wind through a buffalo skull,
prickling the hairs on Coyote's neck.
"Feel how the sun is now warm on our backs," one of the
men was saying. "Feel how it warms the earth and makes these
stones hot to the touch. If only we could have had a small piece of
the sun in our teepees during the winter."
Coyote, overhearing this, felt sorry for the men and women. He also
felt that there was something he could do to help them. He knew of a
faraway mountain-top where the three Fire Beings lived. These Beings
kept fire to themselves, guarding it carefully for fear that man might
somehow acquire it and become as strong as they. Coyote saw that he
could do a good turn for man at the expense of these selfish Fire
Beings.
So Coyote went to the mountain of the Fire Beings and crept to its
top, to watch the way that the Beings guarded their fire. As he came
near, the Beings leaped to their feet and gazed searchingly round
their camp. Their eyes glinted like bloodstones, and their hands were
clawed like the talons of the great black vulture.
"What's that? What's that I hear?" hissed one of the
Beings.
"A thief, skulking in the bushes!" screeched another.
The third looked more closely, and saw Coyote. But he had gone to
the mountain-top on all fours, so the Being thought she saw only an
ordinary coyote slinking among the trees.
"It is no one, it is nothing!" she cried, and the other
two looked where she pointed and also saw only a gray coyote. They sat
down again by their fire and paid Coyote no more attention.
So he watched all day and night as the Fire Beings guarded their
fire. He saw how they fed it pine cones and dry branches from the
sycamore trees. He saw how they stamped furiously on runaway rivulets
of flame that sometimes nibbled outwards on edges of dry grass. He saw
also how, at night, the Beings took turns to sit by the fire. Two
would sleep while one was on guard; and at certain times the Being by
the fire would get up and go into their teepee, and another would come
out to sit by the fire.
Coyote saw that the Beings were always jealously watchful of their
fire except during one part of the day. That was in the earliest
morning, when the first winds of dawn arose on the mountains. Then the
Being by the fire would hurry, shivering, into the teepee calling,
"Sister, sister, go out and watch the fire." But the next
Being would always be slow to go out for her turn, her head spinning
with sleep and the thin dreams of dawn.
Coyote, seeing all this, went down the mountain and spoke to some
of his friends among the People. He told them of hairless man, fearing
the cold and death of winter. And he told them of the Fire Beings, and
the warmth and brightness of the flame. They all agreed that man
should have fire, and they all promised to help Coyote's undertaking.
Then Coyote sped again to the mountain-top. Again the Fire Beings
leaped up when he came close, and one cried out, "What's that? A
thief, a thief!"
But again the others looked closely, and saw only a gray coyote
hunting among the bushes. So they sat down again and paid him no more
attention.
Coyote waited through the day, and watched as night fell and two of
the Beings went off to the teepee to sleep. He watched as they changed
over at certain times all the night long, until at last the dawn winds
rose.
Then the Being on guard called, "Sister, sister, get up and
watch the fire."
And the Being whose turn it was climbed slow and sleepy from her
bed, saying, "Yes, yes, I am coming. Do not shout so."
But before she could come out of the teepee, Coyote lunged from the
bushes, snatched up a glowing portion of fire, and sprang away down
the mountainside.
Screaming, the Fire Beings flew after him. Swift as Coyote ran,
they caught up with him, and one of them reached out a clutching hand.
Her fingers touched only the tip of the tail, but the touch was enough
to turn the hairs white, and coyote tail-tips are white still. Coyote
shouted, and flung the fire away from him. But the others of the
People had gathered at the mountain's foot, in case they were needed.
Squirrel saw the fire falling, and caught it, putting it on her back
and fleeing away through the tree-tops. The fire scorched her back so
painfully that her tail curled up and back, as squirrels' tails still
do today.
The Fire Beings then pursued Squirrel, who threw the fire to
Chipmunk. Chattering with fear, Chipmunk stood still as if rooted
until the Beings were almost upon her. Then, as she turned to run, one
Being clawed at her, tearing down the length of her back and leaving
three stripes that are to be seen on chipmunks' backs even today.
Chipmunk threw the fire to Frog, and the Beings turned towards him.
One of the Beings grasped his tail, but Frog gave a mighty leap and
tore himself free, leaving his tail behind in the Being's hand---which
is why frogs have had no tails ever since.
As the Beings came after him again, Frog flung the fire on to Wood.
And Wood swallowed it.
The Fire Beings gathered round, but they did not know how to get
the fire out of Wood. They promised it gifts, sang to it and shouted
at it. They twisted it and struck it and tore it with their knives.
But Wood did not give up the fire. In the end, defeated, the Beings
went back to their mountain-top and left the People alone.
But Coyote knew how to get fire out of Wood. And he went to the
village of men and showed them how. He showed them the trick of
rubbing two dry sticks together, and the trick of spinning a sharpened
stick in a hole made in another piece of wood. So man was from then on
warm and safe through the killing cold of winter.
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There was once a young man who wanted to go on a journey. His
mother provided him with sacks of dried meat and pairs of moccasins, but
his father said to him:
"Here, my son, are four magic arrows. When you are in need,
shoot one of them!"
The young man went forth alone, and hunted in the forest for many
days. Usually he was successful, but a day came when he was hungry and
could not find meat. Then he sent forth one of the magic arrows, and
at the end of the day there lay a fat Bear with the arrow in his side.
The hunter cut out the tongue for his meal, and of the body of the
Bear he made a thank-offering to the Great Mystery.
Again he was in need, and again in the morning he shot a magic
arrow, and at nightfall beside his camp-fire he found an Elk lying
with the arrow in his heart. Once more he ate the tongue and offered
up the body as a sacrifice. The third time he killed a Moose with his
arrow, and the fourth time a Buffalo.
After the fourth arrow had been spent, the young man came one day
out of the forest, and before him there lay a great circular village
of skin lodges. At one side, and some little way from the rest of the
people, he noticed a small and poor tent where an old couple lived all
alone. At the edge of the wood he took off his clothes and hid them in
a hollow tree. Then, touching the top of his head with his staff, he
turned himself into a little ragged boy and went toward the poor tent.
The old woman saw him coming, and said to her old man: "Old
man, let us keep this little boy for our own! He seems to be a fine,
bright-eyed little fellow, and we are all alone."
"What are you thinking of, old woman?" grumbled the old
man. "We can hardly keep ourselves, and yet you talk of taking in
a ragged little scamp from nobody knows where!"
In the meantime the boy had come quite near, and the old wife
beckoned to him to enter the lodge.
"Sit down, my grandson, sit down!" she said, kindly; and,
in spite of the old man's black looks, she handed him a small dish of
parched corn, which was all the food they had.
The boy ate and stayed on. By and by he said to the old woman:
"Grandmother, I should like to have grandfather make me some
arrows!"
"You hear, my old man?" said she. "It will be very
well for you to make some little arrows for the boy."
"And why should I make arrows for a strange little ragged
boy?" grumbled the old man.
However, he made two or three, and the boy went hunting. In a short
time he returned with several small birds. The old woman took them and
pulled off the feathers, thanking him and praising him as she did so.
She quickly made the little birds into soup, of which the old man ate
gladly, and with the soft feathers she stuffed a small pillow.
"You have done well, my grandson!" he said; for they were
really very poor.
Not long after, the boy said to his adopted grandmother:
"Grandmother, when you see me at the edge of the wood yonder, you
must call out: 'A Bear! there goes a Bear!' "
This she did, and the boy again sent forth one of the magic arrows,
which he had taken from the body of his game and kept by him. No
sooner had he shot, than he saw the same Bear that he had offered up,
lying before him with the arrow in his side!
Now there was great rejoicing in the lodge of the poor old couple.
While they were out skinning the Bear and cutting the meat in thin
strips to dry, the boy sat alone in the lodge. In the pot on the fire
was the Bear's tongue, which he wanted for himself.
All at once a young girl stood in the doorway. She drew her robe
modestly before her face as she said in a low voice:
"I come to borrow the mortar of your grandmother!"
The boy gave her the mortar, and also a piece of the tongue which
he had cooked, and she went away.
When all of the Bear meat was gone, the boy sent forth a second
arrow and killed an Elk, and with the third and fourth he shot the
Moose and the Buffalo as before, each time recovering his arrow.
Soon after, he heard that the people of the large village were in
trouble. A great Red Eagle, it was said, flew over the village every
day at dawn, and the people believed that it was a bird of evil omen,
for they no longer had any success in hunting. None of their braves
had been able to shoot the Eagle, and the chief had offered his only
daughter in marriage to the man who should kill it.
When the boy heard this, he went out early the next morning and lay
in wait for the Red Eagle. At the touch of his magic arrow, it fell at
his feet, and the boy pulled out his arrow and went home without
speaking to any one.
But the thankful people followed him to the poor little lodge, and
when they had found him, they brought the chief's beautiful daughter
to be his wife. Lo, she was the girl who had come to borow his
grandmother's mortar!
Then he went back to the hollow tree where his clothes were hidden,
and came back a handsome young man, richly dressed for his wedding.
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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 travelled 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 travelled 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.
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Tuskegee Native Lore
Before the beginning, water was everywhere. But no people,
animals, or earth were visible.
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."
Crawfish 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.
Crawfish 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.
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Death of an Eagle by
Brookie Craig
Recently, I went to the Warm Springs reservation in Oregon and
then to the Federal Eagle Repository in Ashland Oregon.
You probably never heard of Nathan Jim, Jr. He was a Yakima
Indian who was arrested for illegal possession of Eagle Feathers
and parts, by the Feds a couple years ago. He languished in fed
jail for l4 months awaiting trial and was finally put on probation
for this heinous crime. His lawyer appealed it under the new
Religious Freedom act which guarantees Native Americans the right
to eagle feathers to practice their religious ceremonies and again
lost the appeal..He killed himself fearing that (in his mind) it
would mean that the feds would rearrest him and sentence him to
jail again.
This so moved his prosecuting US Attorney that he grabbed a
bundle of eagle feathers at the Fed Eagle Repository (yes..our tax
dollars at work) and drove to the reservation so they can use them
for Nathan's spirit sending ceremony (burial) but arrived too late
so Nathan didn't even get a feather in death.
I decided to continue the challenge to the Feds and drove to
Ashland Oregon where they keep dead Eagles (yes..its true they
have a Eagle repository there) and with much dread and fear (we NA
do not TRUST the feds, having felt their wrath many times in the
past) and trembled my way through the door fully expecting the
worst. I was met at the counter by a little old lady who is a
volunteer there. While holding my Bureau of Indian Affairs ID card
in one hand and my Cherokee Tribal Registration card in the other,
I tried to remember my Ancestors who would want my voice to be
strong and proud. I stood a little taller and I said, "I want
a Eagle Feather which is my right under the Religious Freedom
Act." I expected a lightning bolt to come down but instead
saw a gentle smile as she softly said, "Of course,"
walked over and handed me a a packet of federal forms to fill out
with instructions to send in to the Portland office of the US
department of Wildlife management.
I smiled as I read that I will have to have signed references
from another Elder and Verification from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs AND my Tribe to prove that I am, indeed a REAL Indian.
References even for a Eagle Feather.
She asks..."Do you want a Bald or a Golden Eagle?"
CHOICES!?!? I'm not prepared..."Do you want just a wing..or
talons..or the head...or the whole eagle?" WHAT?!?!?! I come
in expecting to be arrested for asking for ONE feather and they're
offering me the WHOLE bird!?! I am confused by the offer and She
sees that I'm unprepared for them offering me choices of parts of
this sacred bird and smiles her suggestion that perhaps I might
want to look at the drawings of the parts of the bird, circle what
I want and include it with the forms...I am defeated instantly by
her gentleness.
I ask her how they send an Eagle to me and she replies through
the U.S. Mail..THE MAIL!?! I cannot envision receiving a dead
Eagle through the mail and smile at the thought that I might owe
postage due upon receipt.
Walking out the door I turn my head and see a stuffed Eagle,
sitting silently perched proudly, in a glass cage, on display in
the main lobby and overwhelming sadness fills my heart as I
realize that another Eagle fell from the sky...a man, also fearful
but who stood up for his beliefs, who will never be remembered by
anyone for a cause that no one really cares about I guess...and
the thought of his falling in vain fills me with a sense of
profound grief, for our People believe that the Eagle is the
sacred Messenger who brings the messages from our Creator...The
thought hits me that no one will hear that message for the Eagle
plunged to Mother Earth and perhaps mankind might have had a
chance to have heard something sacred, but now...will never know.
There is something terribly tragic in that. I hope someone
hears this message and cares about Nathan Jim, Jr. and the Eagle
who fell from the sky.
There is something inherently evil in the system of a country,
that was founded by people escaping religious persecution, that
fills it's citizens with such fear that they kill themselves over
what they consider to be a basic right of religious freedom.
The Eagle Feather by
Randy Macey, Mohawk
When the world was new, the Creator made all the birds. He
colored their feathers like a bouquet of flowers. The Creator then
gave each a distinct song to sing. The Creator instructed the
birds to greet each new day with a chorus of their songs. Of all
the birds, our Creator chose the Eagle to be the leader. The Eagle
flies the highest and sees the furthest of all creatures. The
Eagle is a messenger to the Creator. During the Four Sacred
Riguals we will wear an Eagle Feather in our hair. To wear or to
hold the Eagle Feather causes our Creator to take immediate
notice. With the Eagle Feather the Creator is honored in the
highest.
When one recieves an Eagle Feather that person is being
acknowledged with gratitude, with love, and with ultimate respect.
That feather must have sacred tobacco burnt for it. In this way
the Eagle and the Creator are notified of the name of the new
Eagle Feather Holder. The holder of the Eagle Feather must ensure
that anything that changes the natural state of ones mind (Alcohol
and Drugs) must never come in contact with the sacred Eagle
Feather. The keeper of the feather will make a little home where
the feather will be kept. The Eagle feather must be fed. You feed
the Eagle Feather by holding or wearing the feather at sacred
ceremonies. By doing this the Eagle Feather is recharged with
sacred energy. Never abuse, never disrespect, and never
contaminate your Eagle Feather. The Mohawk man will have three
Eagle Feathers standing straight up on his Kahstowa (feather hat).
by Erik Phelps
When the earth was created, a great thundercloud appeared on
the horizon. Flashing lightning and thundering it's call, it
descended toward the treetops. As the mists cleared, there was an
eagle perched on the highest branches. He took flight and flew
slowly down to the ground. As he approached the earth, he put
forward his foot, and as he stepped upon the ground, he became a
man.
For this reason we recognize the eagle as a messenger of the
creator, and rely upon him to carry word of our actions to God.
When the eagle comes to where we are working, we know that God
cares about us and is watching over us.
by D'Arcy Rheault
Elder Michael Thrasher once told me that the eagle feather has
two sides. If the feather had only one side then Eagle could not
fly. On one side we find mind/intellect, body/movement and
spirit/emotion. Once these are balanced a person is balanced. On
the other side there is institution/education (and not just
Western style education), process (the movement on one's path) and
ceremony. Once these are balanced then a person's life is
balanced. When the two sides of the feather are balanced then we
have proper behaviour.
Funny thing is.......Eagle doesn't care if its feathers have
two sides....It just opens its wings and flies up to Creator.
Miigwech
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Cherokee Native
American Lore
In the beginning
of the world, there was no fire. The animal people were often cold.
Only the Thunders, who lived in the world beyond the sky arch, had
fire. At last they sent Lightning down to an island. Lightning put
fire into the bottom of a hollow sycamore tree.
The animal people knew that the fire
was there, because they could see smoke rising from the top of the
tree. But they could not get to it on account of the water. So they
held a council to decide what to do.
Everyone that could fly or
could swim was eager to go after the fire. Raven said, "Let me
go. I am large and strong."
At that time Raven was white. He flew
high and far across the water and reached the top of the sycamore
tree. While he sat there wondering what to do, the heat scorched all
his feathers black. The frightened Raven flew home without the fire,
and his feathers have been black ever since.
Then the council sent Screech Owl. He
flew to the island. But while he was looking down into the hollow
tree, a blast of hot air came up and nearly burned out his eyes. He
flew home and to this day, Screech Owl's eyes are red.
Then Hooting Owl and Horned Owl were
sent to the island together. But the smoke nearly blinded them, and
the ashes carried up by the wind made white rings about their eyes.
They had to come home, and were never able to get rid of the white
rings.
Then Little Snake swam across to the
island, crawled through the grass to the tree, and entered it
through a small hole at the bottom. But the smoke and the heat were
too much for him, too. He escaped alive, but his body had been
scorched black. And it was so twisted that he doubled on his track
as if always trying to escape from a small space.
Big Snake, the climber, offered to go
for fire, but he fell into the burning stump and became as black as
Little Snake. He has been the great blacksnake ever since.
At last Water Spider said that she
would go. Water Spider has black downy hair and red stripes on her
body. She could run on top of water and she could dive to the
bottom. She would have no trouble in getting to the island.
"But you are so little, how will
you carry enough fire?" the council asked.
"I'll manage all right,"
answered Water Spider. "I can spin a web." so she spun a
thread from her body and wove it into a little bowl and fastened the
little bowl on her back. Then she crossed over to the island and
through the grass. She put one little coal of fire into her bowl and
brought it across to the people.
Every since, we have had fire. And the
Water Spider still has her little bowl on her back.
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