Legend: The Thunder Helper, Creek
   


Once there was a boy who had no mother or father. All day long he would take
long walks and play by himself. One day as the boy was walking along the creek,
he heard a noise like Thunder. When he looked up, he saw a Tie-snake and the
Thunder having a fight. The Tie-snake called to the boy saying, "Kill the Thunder,
and I will tell you everything I know.

I know all the things that are under the earth." Just as the boy was putting an
arrow to his bow, he heard a loud noise. It was the Thunder speaking to him,
"Boy, boy, don't pay any attention to the Tie-snake, I, Thunder, can help you to
be brave, strong and wise. Shoot your arrow at the Tie-snake."

The boy shot at the Tie-Snake, killed him, and the Tie-snake fell into the
creek. Now the Thunder made the boy strong and wise, but the Thunder told the boy
that he must never, never tell anyone that the Thunder had made him strong,
brave and wise. The boy became the best hunter in the village. He was good and kind
to all of the people. When he talked, the people listened. In the cold time,
the people were very hungry, for there was no food and very little corn.

Many days passed, and the boy stood before them and said, "Last night the owl
in the tree talked to me. The owl told me to come to his tree. He told me there
was a bear sleeping in a hole in the ground." The young men of the village
laughed at him for saying the owl talked to him, but the old men did not laugh for
they knew the boy was wise. One of the young men did not laugh. He told the boy
he would go hunt the bear with him. He knew the people were hungry.

The young man and boy went to the tree with the owl in it. By the tree, in a
hole in the ground, they found the bear sleeping. They killed the bear and took
it back to the village. The people were happy to have so much meat to eat. Now,
when the boy said something, the people found what he said was true. The time
came when the men of the village went to fight. Many men were killed. The women
were so afraid; they knew the enemy would come and burn the village.

The boy stood before the women and said, "Do not be afraid. I will go and kill
the enemy. They will not burn our village." The boy went into the woods and
found the men of the village. He said to them, "Stay where you are. I will go to
meet the enemy and kill them. Never again will the enemy try to burn our
village." The men watched the boy as he went to meet the enemy. They saw the Thunder
and the Lightening. The Thunder and Lightening came down upon the enemy. All the
enemy were killed. The men waited in the woods for a long time.

The boy never came back. No one in the village ever saw him again. When the old
men hear the Thunder and see the Lightening, they know what to think. They are
now wise in many things. They are sure that they hear the boy call in the
Thunder, and when the Lightening illuminates the sky, the old men are sure they can
see the face of the boy. "The Thunder Helper laughs," the old men say, and
then they go to sleep unafraid.

      Native American legend