Recovering Native American Writings in the Boarding School Press

by Jacqueline Emery

  He felt very lonely and was almost ready to cry. His grandmother noticed this and was very sorry for him. She called him to her and said, “My grandson, you have always been a good boy to me; do now what I shall tell you. Take your pony down to the creek and give him a good washing. After that bring him to me.” The boy did as his grandmother had said, and when he had returned she proceeded to paint the horse with bright colored Indian paints which she had made from some magic clay that she knew about, for she was a medicine woman and knew many strange secrets of this kind. When she had finished her work the poor little pony looked gorgeous indeed.

  The other young men had started off sometime before, but the grandson, armed with his bow and arrows jumped into his saddle, and soon overtook the party that was on the trail of a herd of buffaloes, going at full speed. The brightly painted pony went even more swiftly and soon got ahead of all the others. This gave Quital a chance to shoot down a number of buffaloes before his companions came up. These he took home to his grandmother so that she had buffalo meat enough to last all the winter.

  For this feat the boy was considered a great hero.15

  The First Squirrel, 1904

  Once there was a chief who was very sick and many thought he would die. The doctors and medicine men had done all in their power to restore him to health, but to no avail.

  One day during this sad time an old man all dressed in red came into the camp, and went directly to the tent of the chief. He looked tired and hungry, but instead of receiving him hospitably and giving him a place to rest, as is the custom with all Indians, the chief’s wife spoke unkindly to the man and sent him away unfed.

  Now the chief had seven sons and when the youngest saw the old man going away tired and hungry he was sorry for him, and taking him aside gave him something to eat.

  When he had finished eating the old man said to the boy, “My grandson, you have shown me a tender heart, and I will tell you this. I am a medicine man and came here to cure your father, but they have been unkind to me and I cannot do it. Look! Do you see yonder mountain? Beyond that is another and on the farther side of it stands a grove of trees. There I will meet you and show you where you can get some medicine to cure your father. You will meet difficulties on the way, but you must not stop to eat or to drink or to take part in any games or sports along the way.”

  When the youngest son heard all this he went in and told his father and expressed his desire to go for the medicine. But the chief preferred that his oldest and favorite son should be the one to cure him, so he sent for him and gave him the directions that had been given to the younger brother.

  The young man started off on his journey and day by day the father awaited his return. After five days, when the son had not returned, the old chief sent out his second son, hoping that he would find his brother and both come back with the medicine, but five more days passed and he did not return. Then he sent the third son, and as he did not return he sent the fourth, and so on every five days until he had sent every one except the youngest. Then he bade the boy go and at least find his brothers.

  The boy was anxious to go and started off at once. As he travelled on he came one day upon two of his brothers sitting down under a few sand cherry bushes eating the fruit. They tried to persuade him to stop and eat also, but he closed his ears and ran on.

  When he had passed the first mountain he came upon two more of his brothers running races with some strange young men. They urged him to stay, promising to give him some of the beautiful blankets, buckskin clothes, and horses that they had; but again he stopped his ears and hurried on.

  As he went on farther he came to a place where there was a table standing under the trees, and there he found two more of his brothers playing a game. They begged him to join them, and when he refused and went on, they ran after him, but soon got tired and went back.

  After he had crossed the last mountain he came to a spring under a grove of trees. He was so tired and thirsty that he was going to lie down and drink, but just as he was about to take the water he heard a man’s voice. He looked up to see who it was that had spoken to him and found beside him the red-robed medicine man. “This water,” said the man, “contains mineral matter, and is not good for you, therefore do not drink.”

  The man then stooped down and taking up a little of the water, put into it a certain plant that grows in Montana and said, “This will cure your father. Take it to him.”

  The boy then took the medicine and carried it home to his father, and almost immediately the old chief began to get well. Then he said to the boy, “Go, my youngest son, and bring your brothers home to me.”

  Again the boy started out and found his brothers and tried to persuade them to go home with him, but they were enjoying themselves and would not listen to him, so he had to go home alone.

  When the boy came back without his brothers the old chief was very angry because he thought his youngest son was deceiving him. He told him that he could not come home again until he could bring his brothers with him.

  This made the boy very sad and he went out into the woods. He thought himself all alone, but all at once he found beside him his old friend the medicine man. He told him his trouble and the man was very sorry for him. He could not bring the brothers back, he said, but he could change him into anything that he would like to be.

  The boy considered. He would not care to be a tree nor flower, he thought, but he would like to be some animal that could live like the birds in the beautiful trees. So the medicine man changed him into a pretty little animal that lives in the trees, that eats nice food, and can travel high up out of danger faster than any other. This is how there came to be squirrels.16

  The Big Dipper, 1904

  There was once a chief who had two daughters, the younger one of which he liked the best. One day they went out under the trees to work with porcupine quills. These were hanging on a tree. The older sister reached up for them, but the quills rose up out of her reach. She climbed the tree but still the quills went higher and higher, so presently she got tired and came down.

  Then the younger one climbed the tree, but the porcupine quills acted in the same way. However she would not stop but kept on climbing. After awhile she went so high she came to another world and found that the chief there was the son of the Sun. She went on through the woods and came to a small tent where an old woman lived, and just at that time she was cooking dinner. The little girl went in but the old woman did not look up but kept on with her work. The girl did not say anything either. When the old woman got through she gave her a part of her dinner. After they had eaten, the girl helped her put away her cooking utensils and brought in some wood for her. This pleased the old woman and she told her she could sleep there that night, but that she must hide herself because the chief always went through every tent at night to see how his people were getting on, and might find her.

  She did not know it, but the chief did see her and the next morning he called for her. He was pleased with her and told her she could stay there with his family. She was glad to do so, and after a while she became the chief’s wife and had a little son. When the little boy was growing up her husband gave orders that she must never let him kill meadow larks, and she herself must never dig Indian turnips nor turn over round stones.

  One day she took her little boy out to walk. He had his little bow and arrow, and all at once she found he had killed a meadow lark. Immediately all the rest of the birds began to sing, “This is not your home. This is not your home. Go back where you belong. Go back where you belong.”

  At another time the boy wanted some Indian turnips and she dug some for him. She had disobeyed her husband in two things so she thought she might as well finish up, so she turned over a round stone and under it she found a hole in the ground and through it she saw the earth that she had left long ago and the camp where she had lived when a little child.

  This filled her with a great desire to come back to earth, but she wanted to bring her son with h
er. She asked her husband. He would not let his child go, but he ordered his men to get the sinews of buffaloes and to make a rope long enough to let her down to the earth. This they did and she was lowered to her old home. She found there instead of her family an old woman who was her step-mother. Her father had died and her step-mother treated her with great unkindness. One rainy day she sent her out to dig Indian turnips and told her she must also bring a rabbit home to her and must be back before sun down. She went but she could not find any rabbits and she had nothing to dig the turnips with so she sat down and cried.

  There were seven brothers living near there and they were eating their supper. One of them said, “Be quiet, I hear a little girl crying somewhere.” So they stopped and listened. One was kind hearted and said, “Let us go out and look for her,” so they went out on a hill and the one who was good of sight pointed her out and another who could run fast went and asked her about her troubles. She told him about her step-mother and the task she had given her to do. He went back and told his brothers and they all started out to dig turnips and one of them killed a rabbit. Then he took the rabbit and turnips and brought them to the little girl and she took them back to her step-mother.

  The next day she sent her out again, and the day after and each time she brought back the rabbit and turnips. One day she went out and never came back because the seven brothers had adopted her as their sister and she went to live with them. In someway her step-mother found out where she was and came there while the seven brothers were away. She asked the girl what she usually did when the brothers returned home and the girl replied that she went out to meet them and welcome them, but she did not tell her that she got their meals for them.

  The step-mother then changed the girl into a dog while she put herself in her place. She went out to meet them and welcomed them home, but did not get their supper and they began to wonder why. The little dog jumped upon the brothers and tried to lick their hands, but the step-mother struck her and she cried like a person. The brothers thought this was strange so when the supposed girl had gone to sleep the brothers began to question the dog. Her step-mother had forbidden her to tell the brothers, but they threatened to kill her if she refused, so she told them. Then they called the woman and ordered her to change the dog back to a girl again. This they forced her to do and then sent her away. They did not like to live there any more because their place had been found out and they wished to live alone. Then the youngest said, “Let us be rock, hills, trees, etc.,” but the oldest said, “No, let us be stars and place ourselves in the skies where we will live forever.”

  One of them could shoot very well so he took eight good arrows, and as he shot each one up into the sky a brother would go with it. When the sixth had gone up and had formed the outline of the dipper that we see in the sky every night he shot up one little arrow that took the girl, and then last of all went up himself. You will always see the little girl near the big dipper in the sky, near the seven kind brothers who had befriended her.17

  William J. Owl (Eastern Band Cherokee)

  William J. Owl (born ca. 1883) graduated from Carlisle in 1911. He was employed at the Cherokee Indian School in North Carolina in 1912. (Littlefield and Parins, Biobibliography: Supplement, 262)

  The Beautiful Bird, 1910

  The beautiful bird was in existence many, many moons ago, and at that time, the Cherokees claim he was the most beautiful of the fowls of the air, and that he was also the ruler of all the birds. He was adored for his good looks and praised for his courage.

  The time came, however, when he began to exaggerate his authority in everything. At all feasts he was the first to be served, and no one could touch a bit of food without his presence and permission. He had been so rude that he had created an ill feeling in the hearts of all towards him. Finally they were unwilling to provide or contribute to his wants or needs.

  The birds called a council to decide whether to banish him as their ruler or to put him out of existence. His ill behavior had impressed the hearts of all in such a way that they at once decided to get rid of him. Some thought it best to ostracize him entirely, while others thought it wiser and more of a punishment to degrade him by causing a change to come upon him, which would make life a burden to him the remainder of his days.

  They arranged to have a great feast in his honor. The day was set and all preparations were made for the occasion. The eatables were set opposite the trap which was laid for him. The food was so arranged that in order to get anything to eat he must take it through the trap. Any time they wished they could spring the trap on him.

  After a long and tiresome journey he arrived very hungry. He never once thought that a plot had been planned to punish him. He began eating his meal in the usual way and after he had nearly finished, the trap was sprung and the fun was on. He found his head was caught and he fought desperately for his release.

  After a long and terrible struggle he succeeded in freeing himself, but only to be scorned and laughed at the remainder of his days, for in his desperate effort to free himself he had worn away all the beautiful feathers and plumes on his head and neck. He was so ashamed and humiliated, he tucked his head under his pinion only to find his wing feathers all worn away too. He demurely walked away never again to associate with the other birds.

  When they realized the effect his conditions had upon him it was hard for them to decide what he should do to obtain a livelihood. They finally decided that he and all his descendants should forever lead the life of scavengers. This was considered the most degraded life any bird could lead. It would be necessary for him to be continually on the lookout for food, as there were just certain kinds of food which he could feed upon and only during a short time in the year.

  After he was changed he became the turkey buzzard. His descendants are shy and always fly at considerable height. They are continually on the alert for carrion to feed upon. If a turkey buzzard is seen sailing around overhead it is a sure indication of a carcass in that locality.18

  The Way the Opossum Derived His Name, 1912

  Many, many winters ago, before the great snow, as the Indians termed the glacial period, the opossum derived his name from the tricks he played on the other animals.

  He is a crafty looking little animal with a long tail, with which he can hang or suspend himself from a limb by winding it about the limb. He can climb trees and cling to the branches and the strongest winds cannot dislodge him.

  Once upon a time there lived in his neighborhood a deer family with whom he became acquainted, because of Mr. Deer’s beautiful daughter, and it was there that he met the panther, and because of the deer’s daughter they became enemies. The panther was in the habit of making frequent calls at the deer’s and the opossum met him there. The panther’s jealousy became so great that he was led to try and kill the opossum.

  When Mr. Deer learned of the rivalry between the two, he thought that he would settle the question, and do it in a quiet way, by keeping it a secret from the panther. So one day he told the opossum he would give him his daughter if he would ride the panther by his house, never thinking the opossum would have courage enough to attempt a task of that kind.

  The opossum at once began planning for the ride. He knew the days and hours the panther made his calls at the deer’s home. After thinking seriously he decided to meet the panther and have a talk with him; but when he saw the panther coming he decided to deceive the panther in such a way that probably he would have pity on him and help him.

  While the panther was quite a distance away the opossum lay down in the path and began to roll over and over as if suffering from pain. When the panther came up he laughed and started on his way, for he was glad to see the opossum who was, as he believed, dying. After he had passed the opossum called to him for help, asking the panther to carry him home. The panther only laughed, but after a second thought he decided it would be a good scheme, for he could prove to the deer family that he was not an enemy to all the other animals as some had thou
ght. The panther returned and took the opossum upon his back and started off to the home of the opossum for he was sure the opossum could not live.

  In order to reach the home of the opossum they would have to pass the deer home and that was what both were anxious to do. Just as they came to the deer home all the deer family came out to see the opossum ride the panther. As they passed, they heard some of the deer remark about the courage of the little opossum. Upon hearing that the opossum sat up straight and began kicking the panther in the sides as if he were a horse, and then cried out, “See me ride the panther!” Upon bearing that, the panther became very angry and tried to catch the opossum, but he escaped in the branches of some trees nearby.

  When the panther learned of the trick he was enraged and was more eager than before to kill the opossum, but he could not catch him because he could not climb a straight tree or one that had many limbs on it.

  In those days the rain gods were not so numerous and water was scarce, there being only one pool from which the Indians and all animals received their water. The panther knew the opossum would have to have water to drink, for he could not live without it, so he went to the pool to lie in wait for him, for he was sure of getting him when he came for drink.

  After a time the opossum became thirsty and knew that he would have to have water or else he would perish; so he began to plan another trick by which he might deceive the panther. One day he went down hoping to find the panther absent or asleep; but he was neither; so he was at a loss as to what he should do. As he was going down to the place he called home, he saw an Indian maiden coming toward him carrying a water pot. As he thought she was going for water, he stepped aside and awaited her return. She soon appeared, as she had only gone to a neighboring village for some maple syrup, which the Indians were accustomed to make.