When the world of the Ani Yunwiya was new all living things were great
in size and strength. Two of the many creatures that had been created
and placed upon Ani Daksi Amayeli by Unethlana the Apportioner were the
Tlanuhwa and the Uktena.

The Tlanuhwa were very large birds with markings much like the red-tail
hawk of today. The markings or symbols of the great Tlanuhwa could only
be worn by the ancient Ani Kituhwah warriors when they went into war.
Some people say the Tlanuhwa were the original parents, Ani Tawodi, of
the great hawks that live today.

The Uktena are enormous creatures that live in the rivers and lakes of
the great Ouascioto valleys and mountains (the Ohio Valley and
Appalachians). The Uktena come and go from this world to the underworld. They
enter the underworld through caves that are found under the waters of
rivers and lakes and also through certain entrances into the earth where
there are springs.

The Uktena have the body of a snake with very pretty and colorful
circles all around their torsos. They also have wings like the great buzzard
and horns upon their head like the great deer. Upon their forehead
there is a special crystal which people prize because it has very special
power over light and dark. This crystal is also a window into the future
and the past.

The crystal is called an Ulunsuti stone; it is the most powerful thing
a person can possess. The stone is carried in a circular buckskin pouch
along with a little red pigment and must never be kept in the house but
in a safe dry place outside the house away from people.

When one gazes into an Ulunsuti stone, one will see either a white or a
red blood-like streak appear. Only certain priests of the Ani Kuhtahni
of the Ani Yunwiya know how to use these Ulunsuti stones and can invoke
certain formulas or prayers which are aides to humans when used
properly. One such protection prayer (Igowesdi) that calls upon a great Uktena
is:

"Now! Nearby here the Great Red Uktena now winds his way. Now! Now the
glare of the purple lightening will dazzle the Red Uktena. Also, this
ancient tobacco will be as much of a thorough-going wizard. Now! The
Seven Reversers (priests of the mounds) looking at me will be dazzled by
the Great Red Uktena. Udohiyuh!"

At a certain place the Ani Yunwiya call Hogahega Uweyu i which lies
alongside the Wanegas (now known as the Tennessee River), there remains
one of the ancient cave homes of the Tlanuhwa. Located high up in the
cliffs by the river, it is at this place that an ancient fight took place
between the Tlanuhwa and the Uktena. Near the caves of the Tlanuhwa was
one of the towns of the Ani Yunwiya.

The people living in the town never had any problems with the Tlanuhwa
until one day, the Tlanuhwa began to swoop down out of the sky,
grabbing young children in their talons and taking them away to their caves by
the Hogahega Uweyu i. The people of the town became very upset and all
the mothers started crying and shouting at the men to bring back the
children stolen by the Tlanuhwa.

So the men made a plan; they went very near the Tlanuhwa caves and took
vines growing there from some trees and made ropes to climb down over
the cliffs to the caves. The men waited until they were certain that the
Tlanuhwa were out of the caves. Then down the ropes some of the men
went, into the caves of the Tlanuhwa.

All of the children that had been taken from the Ani Yunwiya town were
there in the caves and, were very anxious to get back to their homes.
Also in those caves were many eggs of the Tlanuhwa.

The men had gotten the children out just in time because as they
started back up the vine ropes they heard the great screams of the Tlanuhwa
returning to their caves with more children in their talons. So very
quickly the men began throwing the unhatched eggs of the Tlanuhwa down
into the Hogahega Uweyu i far below.

When the eggs splashed into the waters far below the Tlanuhwa caves,
the great Uktena came up from below the waters and began eating the eggs
as fast as the men could throw them into the water. This made the
Tlanuhwa very angry and they dropped the children and swooped down upon the
Uktena. The men waiting below the caves caught the children as they
fell. Thus began a long fight between the Tlanuhwa and the Uktena.

The Tlanuhwa destroyed the Uktena and tore it into four pieces.
Afterwards, the pieces of the Uktena were thrown all around the country along
with the great crystal, the Ulunsuti stone. Many people are still
searching for that Ulunsuti stone in the mountains along the Hogahega uweyu
I.

After that terrible fight the Tlanuhwa were so angry at what the humans
had done with their eggs that they flew far away, up above the sky
vault and have never been seen since. However, one can see the pictures
that the ancient Ani Yunwiya made of the Tlanuhwa and Uktena, on the walls
of the many caves among the Ouascito (Central Fire) Mountains, the
ancient home of the Ani Yunwiya.

It is said that today, far below the cave of the Tlanuhwa on the banks
of the Hogahega Uweyu i, one can still see the rocks that were stained
from the blood of the Uktena and the Tlanuhwa from the fight they had
that day.