Children of the Sun

Way beyond the earth, a part of the Osage lived in the sky. They wanted to
know where they came from, so they went to the sun. He told them that they
were his children. Then they wandered still farther and came to the moon.
She told them that she gave birth to them, and that the sun was their
father. She said that they must leave the sky and go down to live on earth.
They obeyed, but found the earth covered with water.
They could not return to their home in the sky, so they wept and called out,
but no answer came from anywhere. They floated about in the air, seeking in
every direction for help from some god; but they found none. The animals
were with them, and of these the elk inspired all creatures with confidence
because he was the finest and the most stately. The Osage appealed to the
elk for help, and he dropped into the water and began to sink. Then he
called to the winds, and they came from all quarters and blew until the
waters went upward in a mist.

At first only rocks were exposed, and the people travelled on the rocky
places that produced no plants to eat. Then the waters began to go down
until the soft earth was exposed. When this happened, the elk in his joy
rolled over and over, and all his loose hairs clung to the soil. The hairs
grew, and from them sprang beans, corn, potatoes, and wild turnips, and then
all the grasses and trees.

   From Alice Fletcher and Francis LaFleche, who recorded this myth in 1911

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story #2

 The Fatal Swing...

Once there was a man living by the big water. He was a deer hunter. He would
go out and kill wild turkeys and bring them in. Finally his mother-in-law
fell in love with him.

There was a swing by the water, and the old woman and her daughter would
swing across it and back. After a while, the old woman partially cut the
rope, so that it would break. While the husband was out hunting one day the
old woman said to her daughter, "Let us go to the swing, and have some fun."

The old woman got in first, and swung across the water and back. Then the
girl got in the swing and she swung across all right, but when she was half-
way back, the rope broke in two, and the girl fell into the water and was
drowned.

The old woman went home and got supper for her son-in-law. The man came in
just at dark, and he missed his wife, and said, "Mother-in-law, where is my
wife?" The old woman said, "She has gone to the swing, and has not yet
returned." The old woman began to prepare supper for her son-in-law. The man
said, "Do not give me any supper."

So he started to cry. The old woman said, "Do not cry; she is dead, and we
cannot help it. I will take care of the baby. Your wife got drowned, so she
is lost entirely." The man cut off his hair and threw his leggings away and
his shirt, and was mourning for his wife. He would go out, and stay a week
at a time without eating.

He became very poor. Finally he said he was going off to stay several days;
that he could not help thinking of his wife. He went off and stayed several
days, and when he came home he would cry all the time.

One time, when he was out mourning, a rain and thunderstorm came up, and
lightning struck all around the tree he was sitting under. He went back home
and saw his baby, but stayed out of his sight. Again he went out, and it
rained and thundered, and he went up by a big tree and lightning struck a
tree near by him.

The Lightning left him a club, and said, "Man, I came here to tell you about
your wife for whom you are mourning. You do not know where she is, or how
she came to be missing. That old woman drowned her in the big water. The old
woman broke the rope and the girl is drowned in the big water. This club you
must keep in a safe place. I was sent here to you, and I will help you get
your wife back, and you must not be afraid of the big water. Go ahead and
try to get her, and the fourth day you will get her all right."

The man went to the big water, and he saw his wife out in the water, and she
said, "I cannot get to you. I am tied here with chains. I am going to come
up four times." The next time she came out half-way. She said, "Bring me the
baby, and I will let her nurse." So the man took the baby to her mother and
let her nurse.

The woman said, "They are pulling me, and I must go. But the next time you
must get me." So she came out the third time up to her knees. The man took
the baby to her and let it nurse again. The woman said, "I have got to go
back. They are pulling me by the chains. I must go, but the next time will
be the last.

I want you to try your best to get me." The man said, "I am going to get
you, without doubt." The woman came out the fourth time, and the man hit the
chain with the club and it seemed as though lightning struck it, and broke
it. He got his wife.

So they went home, and the old woman said, "My daughter, you have got home."
But the woman said not a word. Then the man heated an arrow red-hot and put
it through the old woman's ears. So they killed the woman.

The Spider and the People
One day, the chief of the Isolated Earth people was hunting in the forest.
He was also hunting for a symbol to give life to his people. He came upon
the tracks of a huge deer.The chief became very excited.

"Grandfather Deer," he said,"surely you will show yourself to me."You are
going to become the symbol of my people."

He began to follow the tracks. His eyes were on nothing else as he followed
those tracks, and he ran faster and faster through the forest. Suddenly, he
ran right into a huge spider's web that had been strung between the trees,
across the trail. When he got up, he was very angry. He struck at the spider
who was sitting at the edge of the web. But the spider jumped out of reach.
Then the spider spoke to the man.

"Grandson," the spider said, "why do you run through the woods looking at
nothing but the ground?"

The chief felt foolish, but he had to answer the spider. "I was following
the tracks of a great deer," the chief said. "I am seeking a symbol of
strength for my people."

"I can be such a symbol,"said the spider.

"How can you be a symbol of strength?" said the chief. "You are small and
weak, and I didn't even see you as I followed the great Deer."

"Grandson," said the spider, "look upon me. I am patient. I watch and I
wait. Then all things come to me. If your people learn this, they will be
strong indeed."

The chief saw that this was so. Thus the Spider became one of the symbols of
the people.

The Wisdom of the Willow Tree
What is the meaning of life? Why is it that people grow old and die?

Although he was young, those questions troubled the mind of Little One. He
asked the elders about them, but their answers did not satisfy him. At last
he knew there was only one thing to do. He would have to seek the answers in
his dreams.

Little One rose early in the morning and prayed to Wah-Kon-Tah for help.
Then he walked away from the village, across the prairie and toward the
hills. He took nothing with him, no food or water. He was looking for a
place where none of his people would see him, a place where a vision could
come to him.

Little One walked a long way. Each night he camped in a different place,
hoping that it would be the right one to give him a dream that could answer
his questions. But no such dream came to him.

At last he came to a hill that rose above the land like the breast of a
turkey. A spring burst from the rocks near the base of a great elm tree. It
was such a beautiful place that it seemed to be filled with the power of
Wah-Kon-Tah. Little One sat down by the base of that elm tree and waited as
the sun set. But though he slept, again no sign was given to him.

When he woke the next morning, he was weak with hunger. I must go back home,
he thought. He was filled with despair, but his thoughts were of his
parents. He had been gone a long time. Even though it was expected that a
young man would seek guidance alone in this fashion, Little One knew they
would be worried. "If I do not return while I still have the strength to
walk," he said, "I will die here and my family may never find my body."

So Little One began to follow the small stream that was fed by the spring.
It flowed out of the hills in the direction of his village, and he trusted
it to lead him home. He walked and walked until he was not far from his
village. But as he walked along that stream, he stumbled and fell among the
roots of an old willow tree. Little One clung to the roots of the willow
tree. Although he tried to rise, his legs were too weak.

"Grandfather," he said to the willow tree, "It is not possible for me to go
on."

Then the ancient willow spoke to him. "Little One," it said, "all the Little
Ones always cling to me for support as they walk along the great path of
life. See the base of my trunk, which sends forth those roots that hold me
firm in the earth. They are the sign of my old age. They are darkened and
wrinkled with age, but they are still strong. Their strength comes from
relying on the earth. When the Little Ones use me as a symbol, they will not
fail to see old age as they travel along the path of life."

Those words gave strength to Little One's spirit. He stood again and began
to walk. Soon his own village was in sight, and as he sat down to rest for a
moment in the grass of the prairie, looking at his village, another vision
came to him. He saw before him the figure of an old man. The old man was
strangely familiar, even though Little One had never seen him before.

"Look upon me," the old man said. "What do you see?"

"I see an old man whose face is wrinkled with age," Little One said.

"Look upon me again," the old man said.

Then Little One looked, and as he looked, the lesson shown him by the willow
tree filled his heart. "I see an aged man in sacred clothing," Little One
said, "The fluttering down of the eagle adorns his head. I see you, my
grandfather. I see an aged man with the stem of the pipe between his lips. I
see you, my grandfather. Your are firm and rooted to the earth like the
ancient willow. I see you standing among the days that are peaceful and
beautiful. I see you, my grandfather. I see you standing as you will stand
in your lodge, my grandfather."

The ancient man smiled. Little One had seen truly. "My young brother," the
old man said, "your mind is fixed upon the days that are peaceful and
beautiful." And then he was gone.

Now Little One's heart was filled with peace, and as he walked into the
village, his mind was troubled no longer with those questions about the
meaning of life. For he knew that the old man he had seen was himself. The
ancient man was Little One as he would be when he became an elder, filled
with that great peace and wisdom which would give strength to all of the
people.

From that day on, Little One began to spend more time listening to the words
his elders spoke, and of all the young men in the village, he was the
happiest and the most content.