But the Catawba have a different tale of those days. When this world was still new, they say, all of it was sharp rocks and steep hills, high cliffs and jagged peaks-except for one small valley hidden deep in the mountains. There, it was always summer. A clear stream ran through its green meadows. The deer and the wolf drank from it side by side. Beavers built a dam to make a pond, and fishes swam in it. Flowers bloomed on the banks and did not die. Trees flowered and bore fruit, and then flowered again. Bluebirds and buntings sang in the branches. Bees hummed. Blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries, huckleberries, serviceberries, and mulberries ripened all the year round. The little valley was the best of all places.

Once the Great Spirit had made the valley, he shaped a new creature to live in it. He made this new being to stand on two legs, much like himself. He gave it dark hair and eyes and a dress made of large round leaves ofgalax, and set her down in the grassy meadow. “You are First Woman,” said the Great Spirit, “and this is your home to live in and to rule.” Then, when he had said it, he went away and left her.

First Woman was happy at first. She found a cave to shelter her from the always-summer rains, and made it her home. She ate berries with honey, and pawpaws and persimmons and fish. She swam with the beavers and ran with the deer, and neither she nor her valley grew old. Every day was the same as every other day, until she began to wish that it was not.

One day, as First Woman sat at the opening of her cave, she saw a bright red butterfly flutter by. She had never seen such a thing before, and so she rose and followed it. Down across the valley it flew, and up into a narrow ravine. First Woman climbed after it a long, winding way until it led her to the foot of a waterfall. But then it vanished. First Woman turned back, but took the wrong path, and wandered farther and farther out of her way At nightfall, cold and weary and frightened, she curled up on the ground to sleep. A little before dawn she awoke to find a dark shape bending over her-not a wolf or panther, but a shape much like her own. Yet she was the only human being in this world.

“What are you?” she asked in fear. It was larger than she, its face fiercer. Its shirt and leggings were made of cloud, as if it had just stepped down from the sky.

The Sky Man reached down to help First Woman to her feet. “I was on my way from the evening star to the morning star,” he said. “When I looked down, I saw first that you are very beautiful, and then that you were lost. I wish to help you find your way, and so I have come down to your world, even though the Great Spirit will be angered.” “Will He be?” First Woman asked fearfully.

“Yes,” said the Sky Man, “for He has commanded that the People Above do not come down to this world unless He sends them. His anger is terrible, and I fear it.” But he smiled at her. “Indeed, I would rather stay here with you than return to the World Above and His anger.” First Woman’s heart filled with happiness, for she had been lonely and not known it. “Come,” she said, and she took his hand and went with him down to her beautiful valley.

There they lived together as wife and husband, and in time First Woman bore a child. Only then did they begin to think of the times to come. First Woman knew that from their children and their children’s children would come a people who would overflow the valley and fill the world. How would they live? The world outside was harsh and bare. Sky Man feared that their children would suffer even more because he had disobeyed the Great Spirit’s command, and he was unhappy. Together, they prayed to the Great Spirit for his forgiveness.In the World Above, the Great Spirit heard, and knew that their hearts were good. He lifted his hand, and a great wind rose. He moved his hand, and the great wind pushed mountains closer together and made space for other valleys, and for prairies. And all this world was made beautiful.

When the work was done, the Great Spirit leaned down from the World Above and told First Woman and Sky Man that all this world was theirs. But he told them, too, that because Sky Man had disobeyed him, from that day they must work for their food. He told them that life would no longer be all summer. Now there would be winter, and with it bitter cold. He told them that there would come a time when they would see in the water of the beavers’ lake that their hair had grown white. He told them that in time they must grow old, and die. And First Woman and Sky Man looked at the beautiful world, and at their child, and still were glad.

Taken from the book The Wonderful Sky Boat and Other Native American Tales of the Southeast retold by Jane Louise Curry

After having helped the Creator bring forth the Penobscot, Klouskap realized these children needed guidance. He was a very powerful medicine man, but he could only do so much. These children needed to know a mother’s sweet, tender love, and they also needed to know a father’s strength and honor.

It was decided by forces too powerful for you and I to comprehend that a First Mother and First Father would be created. From the morning dew that collects on all the sacred plants of this earth, First Mother was created. From sea foam of the powerful ocean, First Father was created. Together, they set out to nurture and protect their Penobscot children with the powerful guidance of Klouskap.

For many years the Penobscot lived in their sacred lands, hunting, fishing, learning, and surviving. What a beautiful world they lived in but, just as fast as good things will come to you, they will also leave. Over some period of time, a drought had started in the Penobscot’s land and only progressed to the point of desperation. First Mother saw that many of her children were dying, too weak from not having any food to eat. From the power and knowledge of her motherhood, she knew what she had to do.

First Father was called home by his wife. He already felt in his heart that something was about to happen, something that would take all of his strength! He found his beautiful wife alone, sitting in the dim light of a small fire In a calmly powerful voice, First Mother began to speak.

“Husband,” she said, “listen to me, as I am the mother of all Penobscot and can’t bear the sadness of watching my children perish. You, along with a small group of men, will take my life, then take my body to an open field. There you will drag my body around the field until all of my flesh is worn off and I am nothing but bones. Next you will have to bury my bones in the center of the field, leave for seven days and nights, and then return.”

Shocked and saddened, First Father cried in protest. “I know in my heart what you tell me must be done but it’s also my heart that tells me I can’t! I will need some time to think about this. I will need to talk to Klouscap.”

At that, First Father set out for Klouscap’s lodge where he was hoping to find an answer that he knew he wouldn’t receive.

“First Mother has the power to save her children,” said Klouscap to First Father. “You must listen to her every word, as hard as it is, and do what she wishes.”

It was with a sadness that we can only imagine that First Father and a small group of men ended the life of First Mother. They carried out her wishes exactly as directed, dragging her body around the field and then burying her bones in the center. With secret prayers and ancient songs, they blessed the area and left.

It seemed to be the longest seven days and nights that First Father could ever remember, but finally the time had come. With sad anxiety, First Father and the small group of men returned to the now sacred site. What they saw was the salvation of the Penobscot, a miracle that couldn’t be believed…. ….where First Mother’s flesh laid warm on the Earth, plants of corn, squash, beans, and potatoes now grew. Enough to feed all her children and with the sacred seeds of each plant, no Penobscot would ever go hungry again. Where her bones were placed in the womb of Mother Earth, the sacred tobacco plant now grew. With this plant, her Penobscot children could send their prayers on clouds of smoke to Creator.

A great gathering took place in honor of First Mother. People sang and danced and lived in her beauty. Only through her death did the rest of the Penobscots survive. This is why until this very day we should always regard our mothers with love, loyalty, and most important, respect.

as told by Jason Keith Brown, Rabbit Clan

In the moon of trees popping in the wind [January], Grandpa Iron told us kids a story about the magpie. My sister Betty and I had been running races, barefoot in the snow, with other kids that lived nearby, on the dirt road that ran over the hill past our house. There were not many cars on the reservation at that time, but I remember people used to get stuck on that road when it rained or the snow melted. They’d come in and drink coffee, waiting for the road to freeze back up.

When we saw the full moon rising, big and silver above the cold snow-covered plains, we ran into Grandma and Grandpa’s log house and crowded around the big potbelly stove to get warm. We knew it was time for another of Grandpa Iron’s stories. And we were real hungry.

When the sun went down, the road froze, and the people who had been stuck left. After supper. Grandpa Iron took his hat from the wall and laid it on the bed. We kids sat in a circle on the floor, and Grandpa smudged us off with sweet cedar smoke. Then he began a story about the magpie.

Once, a long time ago, the .people were hungry; the tribe had no food. A chief called Red Lightning was out hunting one day when a big rain came and he took shelter in a cave and fell asleep. As he slept he dreamed that the Thunder-beings came to him and told him they would help his people. But first they wanted to know if the people were worth saving.

So the Thunder-beings told Red Lightning they were going to hold a race. The wings of the air and the two-leggeds of the universe would be on one side, and all the four-leggeds would be on the other. If the two-leggeds and the wings of the air beat the four-leggeds, they would be provided for. But if the four-leggeds won, they would eat the people and the birds.

Red Lightning was surprised at all the fierce four-leggeds who gathered for the race. And he was astonished at the number of brave warriors. The race started. The track ran clear around the circle of the Earth. The racers ran on and on. A big wind started to blow, so the magpie cleverly perched on a buffalo’s ear and waited for the wind to die down. Later a hot day came; the buffalo could not run, so the birds pulled out in front. Then a big rain fell, killing some of the birds.

Again, the magpie rode out the storm on the buffalo’s ear. With the racers almost around the Earth and the finish line in sight, the buffalo was in the lead. The four-leggeds cheered, each making the sounds it makes. Suddenly the magpie took to the air, flying high, then at once falling to the ground, faint with hunger and exhaustion. But he had crossed the finish just in front of the buffalo.

And that was how the wings and the two-leggeds won the great race. The Thunder-beings told the magpie always to wear a rainbow as a reminder of his victory, and indeed, his tail has a rainbow in it to this day. Then the Thunder-beings gave the bow and arrow to Red Lightning so he could hunt and provide for his people. And Red Lightning taught his tribe, so they had food and shelter from that time on.

Grandpa Iron told us that since that day the magpie has been our friend, respected because it was smart enough to win the race that saved our people. Grandpa hung his hat on the wall, and Grandma passed around a dipper of cold water before tucking us under the big pile of quilts on the old iron bed. Grandpa turned out the lamp, and the wind blew a fine powder of snow through the cracks between the logs of the house.

We slept and dreamed of the great race that had saved the people. And the Earth stayed young.

Full Moon Written by Eagle Walking Turtle, 1997 – Arapahoe

["When I was a boy I lived with my grandparents on the Northern Arapahoe Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Grandpa Iron was always happy and full of life's joy. Grandma Iron was much more serious. They both taught me, along with my brothers and sisters, that all of nature should be listened to, loved, and respected. Each time a full moon came, Grandpa Iron would tell us a story. First he'd burn cedar needles, and we would fan the sweet-smelling smoke over our heads to purify our bodies before Grandpa's story. He always took his hat from the wall and placed it on the bed before he began his telling. I suppose this goes back to the time when warriors hung their medicine bags on the tipi pole behind them before speaking. The following stories are among those that Grandpa told us about the love and respect our people have for our animal brothers and sisters - the four-leggeds, the ones that fly, the ones that slither in the grasses, and the ones that swim in the waters." -- Eagle Walking Turtle]

Long ago, on the enormous far rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, lived the ancestors of the Snake Clan, who belonged to the Hopi Indian tribe.

Chief of the Hopis had a very wise son, who liked to sit and meditate on the edge of the canyon rim. He tried many times to imagine where the powerful river far below finally ended.

Experienced ancient men of their tribe did not know the answer for Wise Son. Their council leaders had different ideas among themselves. One thought the river took a secret course through enormous underground passages. Another thought it entered the middle of the world and there it nurtured large and dangerous reptiles.

Impatient, Wise Son said to his father, the Chief, “Is it not time for me to seek my quest? I wish to go down the great river and find the place where it ends.”

Proud of his son’s desire for accomplishment, the Chief gladly granted him permission to follow his quest. Wise Son, overjoyed with his coming venture, planned specifically for every need. His family and tribal friends helped him to design and to build a waterproof boat that could be closed entirely, like a cocoon.

He constructed a long pushing-pole to help him navigate the waters. The Shaman tied prayer sticks at the top of the pole, with special blessings for a safe journey.

Finally, the day arrived for Wise Son to launch his special canoe. The Chief and his braves arrived with supplies of food, good wishes, and more prayer sticks.

Week after week. Wise Son drifted with the river. He was happy. He learned to keep his boat in the main current, though it carried him through several turbulent side routes, including rapids and tunnel-like caves. He victoriously came though these experiences with joy in his heart.

On and on Wise Son traveled, winding his way out of steep canyons and through flat meadowlands. He caught fresh fish for his main food supply. One day. Wise Son noticed a change in the taste of the water. It was salty and he knew that he should not drink it. Then to his surprise, he suddenly floated into a great body of water that extended as far as he could see. He had discovered the place where the mighty river ended, in the ocean where the sun sleeps!

He saw an island and guided his boat to its shore. There was a house nearby. Upon investigation, he found only a very small entrance door. He knocked and asked, “Please, will you let me come in and see you?”

Spider Woman, who possessed supernatural power, lived there and answered, “Please make the hole large enough and enter.” This, Wise Son did and sat down inside. He presented to Spider Woman one of his prayer sticks and told her of his adventure to find the place where the river ended.

“When I return to my tribe, I wish to take with me a gift that might be helpful to my people,” he said.

“There is a neighboring house where there are many beautiful ornament-like beads and rocks. These might be gifts that you can take to your people,” she replied. “But I must caution you to be careful of the vicious animals on the path. I will give you some of my magic lotion to protect you.”

Together they started for the treasure house. To guide him. Spider Woman sat upon Wise Son’s ear, where she could whisper to him. Immediately, Wise Son sprinkled some magic lotion on the marshy path. A colorful bridge appeared instantly, guiding them across the marsh to the treasure house.

First, they encountered an enormous lion like animal showing its fangs. Wise Son tossed him a prayer stick and sprinkled magic lotion, which calmed the creature.

Second, they met a bear like animal; third, a mad catlike creature- fourth, a ferocious wolf-like beast; fifth, a huge angry-looking snake with rattles on its tail. Wise Son quieted all of them with Spider Woman’s magic lotion.

The treasure house had steps leading to the roof, and from there steps took them down into a large room. Men squatted around the inside walls. The braves wore handsome, bright-colored beads hanging about their necks. They had painted their faces tribal fashion.

Wise Son squatted by the fire. All remained quiet for some time. The men gazed at Wise Son constantly. Finally, their Chief arose and lighted his pipe. After smoking four times, he passed the pipe to the stranger. Wise Son smoked the magic number of times that seemed to please the Chief and the others. They then greeted him in a friendly manner, as if he were one of their own.

In return for their warm welcome. Wise Son gave to each man a prayer stick tipped with special feathers made by ancient Hopi tribesmen.

“Now it is time to put on our snake costumes,” announced the Chief.

Wise Son observed that skins of enormous serpents were suspended from the ceiling, around all four walls. He was asked to face about, so that he would not see how the braves got into their snakeskin costumes.

When Wise Son was asked to turn back, he saw snakes of many sizes and colors, hissing and writhing over the dirt floor. Spider Woman remained on Wise Son’s ear.

“Be strong,” she whispered to him. ‘The snakes will not hurt you, only frighten you. Do whatever I tell you.” The Chief of the Snake People had made his daughter become a yellow-snake-with-rattles. Wise Son did not know this, and he was asked to choose the Chief’s daughter. If he could choose correctly, the Snake People would show him their ceremonial dance. They also would give him many beads and gem-rocks to take to his tribe.

Wise Son tried very hard to guess which snake was the Chief’s daughter. Spider Woman whispered in his ear, “Choose the yellow one with rattles.” Wise Son did, and yellow-snake-with-rattles suddenly became the loveliest and fairest of Indian maidens. He knew immediately that he could easily fall in love with her.

That evening the Chief and his braves gave to Wise Son all the secrets of the Snake Ceremony. They taught him the words of praise and thanksgiving, which they sang for him. They showed him the ceremonial steps, which they danced for him. They showed him how they put on their snake costumes. Finally, they showed him their religious altar.

After Wise Son learned all that he should know, he and Spider Woman re-crossed the bridge and returned to her house. He presented her with another prayer stick, as he thanked her for her help. In return, she gave him a beautiful bead of turquoise from her north room. She eave him a white shell from her east room. From her south room, she gave him a red bead, and from her west room a larger turquoise. She then gave him a bag of special beads for his tribe, but she warned him not to open it on the way home.

Next morning. Wise Son went back to the house of the Snake People to say farewell. Their Chief welcomed him and declared, “You have gained our friendship and my beautiful daughter. Take her for your wife. We wish you happiness and a pleasant journey back to your tribe.”

The tribe gave them many presents of good clothing and much food to send the happy couple on their way to Hopi land.

They took the overland route following the great river. Each day Wise Son found the treasure bag heavier and heavier. He and his wife could hardly carry it between them. One day out of extreme curiosity, they opened the bag and looked inside.

Regardless of Spider Woman’s caution, the two rolled out the beads and made strands for each to wear around their necks. By the following morning, all of the gift beads had vanished. Only remaining were the gems from the four rooms in Spider Woman’s house.

Many moons later, the young couple reached Hopi land on the far rim of the Grand Canyon. Wise Son was delighted to be home again after his great adventure. The entire Hopi tribe rejoiced over his safe return and welcomed his new young wife to their tribe.

Wise Son told where the great river ended. He told them about the Snake Clan, and that he and his wife brought them a special ceremony from the Snake People, living where the sun sleeps.

Wise Son and his wife taught the Hopis all the songs and dances of the Snake Ceremony. This was the beginning of the Snake Clan of the Hopi Tribe.

Today, visitors are welcomed by the Hopis when their Snake Clan performs at its annual Snake Ceremony. This is their traditional praise and thanksgiving offering for the blessings of rain to the Hopi Tribe.

Taken from James, Harry C. Haliksai: A Book of Hopi Legends. El Centre, Calif.: Desert Magazine, 1940. pgs 14-15.

There are a few stories concerning the first contact of the Cherokee with whites and negroes. They are very modern and have little value as myths, but throw some light upon the Indian estimate of the different races.

One story relates how the first whites came from the east and tried to enter into friendly relations, but the Indians would have nothing to do with them for a long time. At last the whites left a jug of whisky and a dipper near a spring frequented by the Indians. The Indians came along, tasted the liquor, which they had never known before, and liked it so well that they ended by all getting comfortably drunk. While they were in this happy frame of mind some white men came up, and this time the Indians shook hands with them and they have been friends after a fashion ever since. This may possibly be a Cherokee adaptation of the story of Hudson’s first landing on the island of Manhattan.

At the creation an ulûñsû’tï was given to the white man, and a piece of silver to the Indian. But the white man despised the stone and threw it away, while the Indian did the same with the silver. In going about the white man afterward found the silver piece and put it into his pocket and has prized it ever since. The Indian, in like manner, found the ulûñsû’tï where the white man had thrown it. He picked it up and has kept it since as his talisman, as money is the talismanic power of the white man. This story is quite general and is probably older than others of its class.

When Sequoya, the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, was trying to introduce it among his people, about 1822, some of them opposed it upon the ground that Indians had no business with reading. They said that when the Indian and the white man were created, the Indian, being the elder, was given a book, while the white man received a bow and arrows. Each was instructed to take good care of his gift and make the best use of it, but the Indian was so neglectful of his book that the white man soon stole it from him, leaving the bow in its place, so that books and reading now belong of right to the white man, while the Indian ought to be satisfied to hunt for a living.–Cherokee Advocate, October 26, 1844.

The negro made the first locomotive for a toy and put it on a wooden track and was having great fun with it when a white man came along, watched until he saw how to run it, and then killed the negro and took the locomotive for himself. This, also, although plainly of very recent origin, was heard from several informants.

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney. From the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900] and is now in the public domain.