Wigwam E
Young Spirit
Tales
Stories for the young
ones and the young at heart.
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The
Legend of The Multiplying Box
In
an Indian village lived Yakdsi, the dirty boy.
Ever since he had been old enough to run and
play, he had not washed himself.
He would not let anyone else wash him. Water
never touched his body.
Soon he did not look like a boy at all.
He did not look like an animal either, for any
animal would be ashamed to be as dirty as he.
At
last his parents said, “We cannot stand the shame of
having such a son.
An evil spirit must be in him.
We are going to move to another village.”
“We
will move with you,” said the others.
“For many moons now, we have had no luck with
our hunting and fishing.
No matter how the Chief fasts and bathes, no
animal or fish will come near us.
We must go far away from that dirty boy.”
Canoes
were fastened together.
Houseboards were lashed behind them.
Everything useful in the village was packed and
put into them.
Yakdsi’s
grandmother wished to stay with him, but the others
would not let her.
Before leaving she put some live coals into a
clam shell. Then,
she put the shell into a hole where a housepost had
been. Secretly
she told her grandson about the fire.
“I
will not go the village,” said Yakdsi’s
ten-year-old brother.
“I like my brother, and I am going to stay
with him.” When
his father and mother said that he could not stay, he
ran into the woods and hid.
There he stayed until all the people had left.
The
two boys were now alone.
They had no food.
They had no house to live in.
They had only the fire that their grandmother
had left. But
in a few hours they made themselves a shelter of
hemlock branches.
They gathered moss for a bed and for blankets.
They were hungry, for all the food had been
taken from the village, but they slept well.
Just
as the sun was rising, they were awakened by the call
of an eagle. “That
is a strange cry,” said Yakdsi.
“What can it mean?”
Together they went to the beach.
There they found a fine fat trout.
They took it and roasted it by the fire.
How good it smelled!
“We
must not east it,” said Yakdsi.
“I am too unclean.”
Instead, he went away to bathe himself in a
woodland pool. All
day he stayed at the pool.
He washed himself, and then rubbed himself with
spruce boughs. Again
he washed, and again he rubbed.
So the day was spent.
When he returned to his brother at night, he
went straight to bed.
The
next morning the boys were again awakened by the
eagle. This
time a huge flounder was left on the beach.
Still Yakdsi would not eat, but went again to
the bathing pool.
By the late afternoon his body was clean and
glowing.
On
the third morning, the call of the eagle was clear and
proud. A
king salmon was found on the beach.
They both ate a hearty meal.
When they had finished, Yakdsi went again to
his bathing pool.
As he washed, he felt strong and powerful.
The ripples in the water told him that good
spirits were near.
“How
good it feels to be clean!”
He said to himself, “I feel clean too, in my
heart and in my soul.
But I am sorry for the trouble that I brought
to my tribe.”
At
dawn of the following day, Yakdsi and his brother were
awakened by a great shaking, and by water dripping
from above. Their
brush shelter was gone.
They were lying on the sleeping benches of a
beautiful plank house.
Hundreds of sea animals and sea flowers were
clinging to the ceiling.
Hundreds of small fishes were swimming around
the floor. Then
suddenly, all this sea life disappeared, and there,
sitting in the seat of honour, was a spirit woman.
The spirit woman washed Yakdsi’s body with
living water which gave him magic power.
As she washed she said to him:
“You
have made your body clean:
Keep it clean.
The spirit of the pool
Has cleansed your soul.
Keep it clean.
Keep all within you clean.
All without keep clean,
And the good spirit
Will stay with you
Throughout your days.”
“Because
there is no evil in your soul, because you have made
your body clean, and because your heart is kind, these
gifts I give to you.
With this magic hunting rod, you have only to
say, “Come, deer,” and a fine, large deer will lie
at your feet. If
you say, “Plenty of salmon we need in our village,”
all the nets and fish traps will be full.
But of all the gifts I give you, the most
wonderful of all is the multiplying box.
No matter how much you take out, it will always
be full. If
you whisper, “ten otter robes,” then ten glistening
otter robes will fill the box with their beauty.
And if you should desire twenty fine coppers,
then twenty fine coppers will appear in the multiplying
box.”
With
the giving of these fine gifts, the spirit woman
disappeared, but her gifts helped Yakdsi to become a
great Chief. With
his multiplying box he gave to all the children the very
best of birthday feasts.
If he wished to give them a great surprise, he
had only to whisper the name of the spirit woman, and
his fine house became for a few moments like a castle
under the sea. But,
most of all, the multiplying box helped him to become
the ‘Greatest Potlatch Giver’ in all the villages by
the sea.
(This story comes from the book - TOTEM TIPI and
TUMPLINE - Stories of Canadian Indians - by Olive Fisher
and Clara Tyner.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
WHY
THE TREES LOSE THEIR LEAVES
(A Cherokee Legend)
In the early times, the trees and animals were always
able to talk to one another.
They lived close to each other and shared many
things; but every year, the cold time came and the birds
would fly south to where it remained warm and would
return with their families in the spring, when the warm
season returned.
One year, as the
cold season approached Sparrow was injured.
He would not be strong enough to fly to the warm
lands with his family by himself, so he made his family
fly south to the warm lands without him.
Injured, he knew he
would not survive the cold season. So he sought the help
of the trees. He
approached Oak. “Oh,
Oak, I am injured, and cannot fly, the cold season
approaches, and if I do not find shelter before then,
surely I shall die.
Please, Oak, let me shelter among your leaves and
branches during the cold times that I may heal and greet
my family on their return in the spring.”
But Oak was a crusty
old tree, and did not relish the idea of having a guest
in the cold time, so he told sparrow: “Sparrow, go
find somewhere else to spend the cold time.
I do not wish you to spend the cold time with
me.”
And poor Sparrow was
hurt in his spirit to be turned away.
So Sparrow went to
Maple and asked her.
“Maple, I am hurt and not able to fly to the
warm lands with my family for the cold season.
Please let me shelter among your leaves and
branches during the cold time, or surely I will perish.
And Maple, though a very sweet tree, did not
enjoy the thought of a guest for the cold time and she
too, turned Sparrow away.
“You, .
. . you go ask someone else to shelter you, Sparrow.
I do not wish you to spend the cold time with
me.”
And again, hurt in
spirit, Sparrow was turned away.
Sparrow went in turn
to each of the trees and asked each for shelter in the
cold time; and each, and every time, Sparrow was turned
away . . . until, there was no tree left to ask, except
Pine.
With no hope left, but not willing to accept death
. . . , Sparrow approached Pine.
“Pine.
I am injured, and not able to fly south to the
warm lands with my family.
If, I do not find shelter before the cold time, I
will surely perish.
Please . . . , let me shelter among your leaves
and branches during the cold time . . .”
Pine thought to
himself, (“I am the least of the trees, what can I
do?”) . . . but his heart heard Sparrow’s plight.
“Sparrow, my leaves are tiny . . . more like
needles . .
. my branches are not as many as other trees, but what I
have you are welcome to share.”
And so, Sparrow spent
the cold time with Pine.
And when the warm times returned in the spring,
Sparrow’s family returned also.
And Sparrow had healed over the cold time and flew
to greet their return.
Creator had seen and
heard all that had happened between Sparrow and the Trees.
And Creator called a great council of the Trees and
spoke to them, “You who were given so much
. . . Who
had so much, would not share the least of what you had
with Sparrow in his need.
Because of this
. . . , from this day forward, when the cold time
is upon the land, your leaves shall wither and die and
blow away.”
Creator then spoke to
Pine. “Pine,
you, who had the least of all the trees, gave so much,
have touched my Spirit.
When the cold times come, You of all the trees
shall keep your leaves they shall remain green through all
the seasons for the gift you have given me, through
Sparrow.”
And that is why, to
this day, that when the cold time comes to the land, all
the leaves wither, and die, and blow away . . . except for
Pine.
(Permission to use,
given by First People - please see my Wigwam H - Smoke Rings
for their link.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Eagle With One Wing
The man, they say, the elder told,
Had lost his way for years.
His looks had changed from head to toe,
They say he loved his beers.
Then, early one evening, of an autumn moon
He stumbled into a dark river.
Feathers and he, both soaked and wet,
Where he fought to crawl out and shiver.
When he lay down, eyes opened up,
He struggled to make sense of this thing;
The creature that perched next to him,
Was an eagle with just one wing.
"Get up, get up," the eagle squawked,
"You'll freeze if you stay there."
Tired and cross the man grunted back,
"What causes you to care?"
Eagle replied, "It is my turn,
To give a helping hand.
Funny to hear, but nonetheless,
We all have purpose, understand!"
"Get up, get up, get on your feet,
Before you lose a limb.
The cold will steal your warmth away,
You must hold up your chin!"
"You are not lost, you're not alone,
You've quit, if anything!
So did I, but what I'd give to fly.
Now, be a man, or eagle with one wing!"
Author, White Sparrow
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
COYOTE,
WOLVES, and BEARS
Once
there were five wolves that would share meat with Coyote.
One night the wolves were staring at the sky.
“What are you looking at?” asked Coyote.
“There are two animals up there,” they told
him.
“But we can’t get to them.”
“That is easy,” said Coyote.
He took his bow and shot an arrow into the sky
where it stuck.
He shot another arrow, which stuck into the first.
Then, he shot another and another until the chain
of arrows reached the ground.
The five wolves and Coyote climbed the arrows and
the oldest wolf took along his dog.
When they reached the sky they could see that the
animals were grizzly bears.
The wolves went near the bears and sat there
looking at them and the bears looked back.
Coyote thought they looked good sitting there, so
he left them and removed his arrow ladder.
The
three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper and the two
stars of the bowl near the handle are the wolves.
The two stars on the front of the bowl that point
to the North Star are the bears.
Alcor, the little star by the wolf in the middle of
the handle is the dog.
-Original
Native Band and Author Unknown
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bluebird
and the Coyote
A
long time ago the Bluebird’s feathers were a very ugly
colour.
It
lived near a lake with waters of the most delicate blue
which never changed, because no stream flowed in or out.
Because the bird admired the blue water, it bathed
in the lake four times every morning for four days, and
every morning it sang:
There’s
blue water.
It lies there.
I went in.
I am all blue.
On
the fourth morning it shed all its feathers and came out
in its bare skin, but on the fifth morning it came out
with blue feathers.
All
the while, Coyote had been watching the bird.
He wanted to jump in and catch it for his dinner,
but he was afraid of the blue water.
But on the fifth morning he said to the Bluebird:
“How is it that all your ugly colour has come out
of your feathers, and now you are all blue and sprightly
and beautiful?
You are more beautiful than anything that flies in
the air.
I want to be blue, too!”
“I
went in only four times,” replied the Bluebird.
It then taught Coyote the little song it had sung.
And
so Coyote steeled his courage and jumped into the lake.
For four mornings he did this, singing the song the
Bluebird had taught him, and on the fifth day he turned as
blue as the bird.
That
made Coyote feel very proud.
He was so proud to be a blue coyote that when he
walked along he looked about to see if anyone was noticing
how fine and blue he was.
Then,
he started running very fast, looking at his shadow to see
if it was also blue.
He was not watching the road, and presently he ran
into a stump so hard that it threw him down upon the
ground and he became dust-coloured all over.
And to this day, all coyotes are the colour of dusty
earth!
The
End
(Author Unknown)
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