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Lincoln
Journal - Concord,MA,USA
... As a member of the Board
of Directors for the Indian Arts and Education ... "The
American way of ... has got a long way to go compared to
the Native American way of ...
Route
66 artists gather at Isleta
Valencia
County News Bulletin - Belen,NM,USA
... leatherwork as
well as Native American shawls. There will be something
for every type of taste and style. Among the Route 66 Society for the
Arts members whose ...
Is
post office mural inappropriate?
MetroWest
Daily News - Framingham,MA,USA
... time of history."
Kaltofen likened the Native American experience to ...
"Our American history is ... the Work Progress Administration
Section of Fine Arts after being ...
Arts
& Entertainment notes
iBerkshires.com
- North Adams,MA,USA
... program is to encourage and
nurture the active participation in the arts for all ...
Jewelry of Denise and Dawn Wallace", a show of Native American
jewelry, on ...
Laguna
Pueblo artist to provide image for language festival
Tulsa Native American Times - Tulsa,OK,USA
...
will create the image and poster for the Native Nations, Native
Voices event next summer. Chaffins, 36, attended the Institute of American
Indian Arts in Santa ...
Art
on the Rails
Art & Antiques
- USA
... Artworks for "Native Views," which continues
through December 2007, come from the Institute of American Indian
Arts in Santa Fe, the Heard Museum in Phoenix ...
See all stories on this topic
Local
schools get high scores
Camden
Chronicle - Camden,TN,USA
... students, 21 Hispanic students,
12 Asian students, and 8 Native American students ...
portion met the Federal Benchmark in Math, Reading, Language Arts,
and Writing ...
Get
involved: Events around the Midlands
The
State - Columbia,SC,USA
10, "From Our Earth and Sky: Folk Art
by South Carolinians With Native American Ancestry," Goodall
Gallery, Columbia College. Arts and crafts created by ...
See all stories on this topic
2
museum cafes a new art form
Arizona
Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
... While an underground arts
scene percolates to the surface on Roosevelt Avenue ... Museum
is internationally renowned for its collection of Native American
art and ...
This once a
day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Navajo artist Teddy Draper Workshops
Chinle, Arizona (Canyon DeChelly)-
Seminars and workshops have limited capacity and usually require enrollment months in advance.
Workshop information for 2005
March 15-19, instructor Elmer Yazzie, "cut yucca brush" watercolor technique.
May 16-20, instructor Teddy Draper, Jr., pastel techniques, insights into art, culture, and connecting to nature.
June 7-11, Indian Jewelry Basics (class limited to 4 students).
June 7-11, instructor Teddy Draper, Jr., pastel techniques, insights into art, culture, and connecting to nature.
Contact Teddy Draper at dechelly2000@yahoo.com
Web Sites:
Indigenous Peoples Literature
Essay on the Zuni World View
Excerpt (Complete article is available in PDF)
The duties of the Bow
Society, and latter the Tribal Council, was enforcement as a secular
institution despite religious evaluations.
It would not do to punish or fend witchcraft through religious rite and
ceremony, for to do so the canonical rite would paradoxically expose itself to
the dangerous simply by reference to it, and would be akin to ‘fighting fire
with fire’, a very undesirable prospect to the Zuni. Thus,
attanni
is negated by observance (
teshkwi)
and
violations are reflections upon the individual, and dealt with by secular
enforcement, which collectively, may include gossip, criticism, and public
ridicule
[111].
The underlying dialectic of
the beautiful and the dangerous is evident in distinct dialogues, even in the
absence of aesthetic expression, for
attanni
is proper to secular
dialogue and is pertinent to religious dialogue only in the sense of observance
where ‘if you have been living rightly, then
attanni
is not an issue’ (
Ko’na
to’ tewanan ateyaye
). Non-verbal
expression is not meaningless nor is a deviant utterance meaningless where the
objective is the immersion of the subject into the social structure in order to
eliminate causes of behavior conducive to the anti-structure of a social
hierarchy where the collective consciousness of the people is to “pray to
become one”
[112].
[111]
Op. cit.
Dutton, 1983: 13.
[112]
Eggan, Fred and T.N. Pandey. “Zuni
History, 1855-1970”.
Handbook of
North American Indians, Southwest.
Vol.9. Ed. By Alfonso Ortiz. Pp. 474-481. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979.
Notices:
"Honor Your Spirit, Protect The Children"
Winter & Christmas 2004 - Request for Donations
http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home.html
If you wish to make a difference and help children and elders through the harsh winter
months in Montana, please take the time to read our
request. On behalf of reliable Northern Cheyenne contacts from Lame Deer, we are once
again collecting donations for those in need on the Northern
Cheyenne reservation.
There is a large need especially for new and good quality used warm items, as well as
toys.
List of useful donations :
- warm clothing such as knitted items for children of all ages from babies to
teenagers, and for elders
- jeans and T-shirts, all sizes
- socks, gloves, boots, hats and scarves
- blankets
- toys for Christmas
Donations should be sent to the following address:
Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children
% Sue Buck
PO Box 901
Great Falls, MT 59403-0901 (USA)
Please contact suemontana@mcn.net for mailing information other than regular
US Mail service. (Also please include your name and address if you would like for us to
acknowledge/confirm receipt of your donations.)
The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away but the warm clothes and
blankets will be distributed right away. During Montana
winters, the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero so warm winter clothing
and blankets can be lifesaving.
Our goal is to help the children, the elders, the single parent families, or families
unable to make ends meet due to the high unemployment
rate, the difficult conditions and the extreme poverty on the reservation.The children need
all the help and encouragement they can get!
Other items that would also be appreciated: grooming supplies like toothpaste, tooth
brushes,soaps and shampoos, combs, hair brushes, hair
barrettes, rubber bands or other types of hair or pony tail holders. Last but not least :
pampers diapers or pull-ups.
Thank you for being a part of this project and supporting it."
Respectfully,
Manuel Redwoman,
Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone for your support !
Haidu Language Project
Did you know that before Christopher Columbus arrived in the new world,
the "Indians" in North America spoke over 300 indigenous languages?
Today, roughly 20 of these languages have speakers of all ages.
Unfortunately, the Haida language of Kasaan, Alaska is not among them.
Currently, only seven Kasaan Haidas speak the Kasaan Haida dialect with
varying degrees of fluency--all elders over the age of 75. I know this because
my dad grew up in Kasaan, 25 miles from my birthplace of Ketchikan, Alaska.
We belong to the Haida tribe. This summer, I urged the Kasaan Haida
Heritage Foundation (KHHF) to allow me to utilize the foundation's nonprofit
status to seek funding and conduct projects that preserve our elders'
knowledge.
In September, we created the position of Media Specialist in which I intend
to raise money and interview our elders, especially in regards to the Haida
language. I will produce, direct, and coordinate a video documentary to raise
awareness and archive the language. I plan to make the results available in
digital formats on the KHHF website.
If given the chance, I believe people would rally to this cause. We need to
get the word out. So, I call on friends like you to get the ball rolling and join
"The Grassroots Founders Campaign" Grassroots because the idea is to
reach out to many individuals on a personal level; Founders because you will
underwrite the beginning of our preservation effort.
Donations received from now until December 31, 2004 will earn the donor
a Grassroots Founder designation. I ask for a relatively small gift of 25 to 100
dollars. Donor's names will appear in the KHHF newsletter and donations
will be eligible for a tax deduction for this year. Grassroots Founders get
special on-screen mention in the documentary.
Please send checks (payable to "KHHF") to:
Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation
600 University Street, Suite 3010
Seattle, WA 98101-1129
Write in the memo area on your check or include a note designating funds for
"Media Specialist/Projects".
Very importantly, SPREAD THE WORD. Please pass this on to 5 to 10
friends, or more. You will multiply your donation exponentially and play a vital
role in preserving the Haida language for future generations. We appreciate
anything you can do to help us preserve our language and heritage.
Sincerely,
Frederick Olsen, Jr.
For more information, email me or go to
http://kavilco.com/pages/
aboutkhhf.html
KHHF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 92-0169568).
From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories
A Man Pursued By His Uncle and By His Wife - Seneca
AN old man and his nephew lived together in a forest. Their house had a
partition through the middle and a door at each end. The uncle never entered
the part occupied by his nephew, and all communication between the two was
held by each hearing through the partition what the other said to himself.
Each went in and out of his own part of the house when he liked, but neither
ever crossed the threshold of the other part. After a time the nephew
discovered his uncle's true nature--he was a man-eater.
One day a woman came to the young man's part of the house. The next morning
the uncle said, "My nephew has two ways of breathing." The young man,
speaking to himself, said, "My uncle is mistaken, I am talking to myself."
"My nephew can't deceive me," said the old man. There are two persons in his
part of the house. I am glad that game has come to him--I am going hunting."
When his uncle had gone, the young man said to his wife, "My uncle knows
that you are here, now you must do as I tell you. If you don't he will kill
and eat you. Three women have been here. He killed and ate each one of them,
for they paid no heed to what I told them. Before I go away to hunt, I will
bring wood and water and whatever you want, so you need not go out. If you
go out, you are lost. My uncle will kill you. As soon as I leave the house
he will come back."
The young man started off, but turned back and a second time warned his wife
not to disobey him. The minute the nephew was out of sight in the forest,
the uncle came to the door. The old man had the power of commanding things
to be done and the person had to obey though they didn't hear or see him. He
said, "Let the woman come out!"
But the woman had power also. When he saw that she didn't come out, he said,
"Let the water she is cooking with boil away!" The water boiled away, but
the woman had a plenty more. The old man was angry, and said, "I will get
her out in one way or another." As the young man was coming home, he saw
smoke rising from his part of the house. "All is well," thought he. "My
uncle has not been able to kill my wife." When he went into the house he
praised the woman for her obedience.
That afternoon, about dusk, they heard the old man come into his part of the
house and they knew that he hadn't brought any game. He hunted only for
people. He called out, "What luck has my nephew had to-day." "I have had
good luck," answered the young man. The old man began to mutter to himself,
to blame his nephew for hiding his uncle's game. At last he said, "I will
wait a while then I will have my own." He heard two persons breathe and he
was angry. Determined to have something to eat he pounded bones into bits,
put the bits into a kettle, filled the kettle with water and hanging it over
the fire made soup.
The young man and his wife were silent. The man had decided to leave his
uncle and his plans were laid. He had walked in circles around the house
making each circle larger than the preceding one till he had a ring three
days' journey in circuit and now he told his wife what she must do. That
night the uncle said, "I am going away for a while. I can find no game
around here."
"Well," answered the nephew, "hunters, go where they can find something to
kill and they are often gone a long time. I am going farther myself. Game is
getting scarce in our neighborhood."
The young man had power. He caused a house to appear in a place six days'
journey away, then he told his wife about the house, and said, "I have a
brother there and I am going to send you to him. This brother is invisible.
No stranger has ever seen him. Hitherto he has accompanied me, but now fie
will aid you."
The young man took an arrow from his quiver, shook his wife till she was
only a couple of inches long, then, taking off the flint point of the arrow,
he put her inside the arrow and replacing the point, said, "In three days I
will follow you."
Putting his arrow on the bow string he drew it and sent the arrow to the
East. That instant the call of a woodpecker was heard. The feathers on the
arrow were from that bird, and all the way the arrow sang with the voice of
a woodpecker.
The young man could see the trail that the arrow left as it went through the
air. He went back to the cabin, and waited. In three days his uncle came,
but without game. Talking to himself he asked, "What luck has my nephew
had?" "Good luck," said the young man. "I have a plenty to eat." "I found
nothing," said the old man. "This hunting ground is barren, my eyes see no
more game. But if I have no fresh meat I have bones. I'll break them up and
make soup." Then the nephew heard his uncle breaking bones--there was a
terrible noise. At last the young man said, "My uncle makes too much noise."
"My nephew wouldn't make less noise if he were in my place. I am trying to
get something to eat." And paying no attention to what his nephew said, the
old man kept at work. The next morning, at daybreak, he said, "I am going
hunting. I shall be gone three days."
"I am glad," thought the young man, and as soon as his uncle was out of,
sight he took the trail that he had made and followed it three days. Then he
went directly toward his new cabin. Glancing up he saw the arrow's trail,
which looked like a rainbow in the sky. After a while he made a long leap
and as he leaped he ran in the air, went up far above the forest and off on
a level which was still in the air.
The trail of the arrow was in the form of a rainbow and it seemed to roll up
and dissolve in mist as the young man passed over it. It ended where the
arrow had struck. In the cabin at the end of the trail he found his wife.
The invisible brother saw the arrow when it struck the ground and burst. He
saw the woman come out of the arrow and take her natural size.
When she came into the house, he said to her, "I knew you were coming. By
obedience to your husband you have been able to make this journey. No one
has ever seen me before except my brother and he only two or three times. I
know what will come from my uncle's wrath. He will pursue, and, if possible,
kill you."
The old man came home and began to talk to his nephew. When he received no
answer he was very angry. He knew that his nephew was not at home, and going
out he looked for his trail, struck it and found that the footprints were as
old as his own, made three days before. Going back to the house he muttered,
"I'll follow him to-morrow. The world is small. He cannot escape me. I'll
follow him everywhere."
The invisible brother, though a great distance away, heard his uncle talking
to himself, heard his threats, heard him say, "My daughter-in-law will never
get out of my reach. I can go to the edge of the world very quickly. My
nephew is trying to save her. He'll not succeed. I'll eat her flesh."
The next morning the old man set out. He followed his nephew's footprints
till night, then, looking up, saw that his own house was near, that he had
been going around and around. He was angry, and said, "To-morrow I will get
on the right trail."
As soon as daylight came, the old man started again. As he traveled he found
that the trail was growing dim, but he kept on till midday, then he saw that
he was near his own house. "Be it so!" said he. "Though my nephew is
possessed with the witchcraft of all the animals, I will have his wife's
flesh."
He followed the trail three days longer, then he reached the end of it and
cried out, exultantly, "My daughter-in-law's flesh is mine!" Looking up in
the air he saw his nephew's trail. The trail of the arrow was gone, but the
footprints of the nephew remained on the clouds.
As the old man followed on the ground the trail that he saw in the air, he
muttered to himself. The invisible brother heard his threats and the three
started for a lake that was not far away. The woman took the lead; the
husband stepped in her footprints. When they came to the lake, the young man
took a clam shell and threw it toward the opposite bank. Immediately the
banks came together and the three stepped over. When they had crossed and
the lake had again resumed its natural size they looked back but could
scarcely see, at one look, 1 the bank they had left. The young man, thinking
that when his uncle came to the lake he would be long in crossing, left his
wife and went to hunt for game.
The old man came to the lake and ran back and forth looking for a place to
cross. At last he called out, "Daughter-in-law, Daughter-in-law, how did you
cross the lake?" And though the woman knew he wanted to kill her, she
thought, "Why doesn't he throw a clam shell!"
He heard distinctly what she said in her mind and picking up a clam shell he
threw it. The banks came together and when the woman looked to see where the
old man was she was terrified to find him right there at her side.
He caught her by the hair, and said, "I knew that I should eat your flesh.
My nephew has no right to keep game from me." With one blow he cut off the
woman's head. She had been left alone. The invisible brother was not there
to warn her. The woman had twin boys. The old man hid the children in a
hollow tree, together with the woman's head, then putting the body on his
back, he went to the lake, and picking up a clam shell threw it toward the
opposite bank. The banks came together and he stepped over. As he looked
back, he saw the lake spread out again. The young man thought that when near
home he would see smoke rising from his cabin, but he did not. "My uncle's
words have come true," thought he. "She forgot my warning." He was lonesome
and discouraged and he determined never to go back to his uncle's house.
While cooking supper, the young man had to go for water. As he stooped down
to dip it up he heard a voice say, "Your uncle has killed me! Your uncle has
killed me!" On looking around he saw that the willows were bespattered with
blood, and he knew from the blood out of which the voice came that his wife
had been killed. He had two proofs now, his uncle's tracks and the speaking
blood. The young man continued to hunt and as he had good luck he didn't go
again to the house across the lake. One day when he came from hunting he saw
tracks around his fire, two little trails. Though he saw fresh tracks each
evening he paid no attention to them. They looked like the tracks of a child
but he thought that a little animal made them. At last he noticed that some
of his meat was gone and that each day more and more disappeared. Then he
resolved to catch the thief. Pieces of meat hung up to dry had been pulled
down, dragged out of the house and then pulled along on the ground.
The young man followed the trail till he came to a big log. The log, was
hollow and the trail disappeared at the opening. He was sure that some
animal lived in the tree. The next day he started off, as usual, but after
going a short distance into the forest he stopped to watch his house. Soon
he saw two little boys come out of the log and run toward the house. They
went in and after a while came out dragging a piece of meat. When they
reached the log they disappeared in the opening, pulling the meat in after
them. The man thought, "To-morrow I will catch those children,"
He knew they could talk, for as they pulled the meat along he heard one of
them say, "Hurry, father will come!"
The next morning the young man went a short distance into the forest, hid
and waited. The time seemed long, but at last the boys came from the log,
ran to the house, went in and closed the door. The man hurried home, went
into the house and fastened the door behind him. As soon as the children saw
him, they began to cry. "Why do you cry?" asked he, "I am your father. Don't
cry." When they stopped crying, he asked, "How do you know that I am your
father?"
One boy was a little larger than the other, and when the man questioned them
he answered, "An old man killed our mother. He cut off her head and hid it
in a hollow log and he put us in there too. Our mother's head is in the tree
now." "What do you do with the meat you take from here?" "We feed it to our
mother." "You must stay with me now," said the father. He was kind to them
and the boys were glad to stay. He made them playthings, bow and arrows and
a ball and club. Whenever he went hunting, they carried meat to their
mother.
One day the larger boy said to his father, "My mother is hungry." "Feed
her," said he. "Feed her all she will eat. We have a plenty of meat. You can
take as much as you want." Soon the man saw that the meat was disappearing
very fast, faster than he could bring it in. He was frightened. One of the
boys noticed this, and said, "My mother eats a great deal, we can't carry
her enough." And he asked his father to go and see her. The man went to the
log and looking in saw two great eyes in a skull. "What can we do?" asked
one of the boys.
"I am afraid," said the father, "that after she has eaten all the meat she
will eat us." "We must go to some place far away," said the boys, "so that
she will have to travel a long time to overtake us. We can't feed her. She
never gets enough, and we are tired." The man knew that it would soon be
impossible to satisfy the Head, so he said, "We will go away from here. You
will start in the morning and travel till you come to a large village. My
dogs will go with you as far as the village, then they will come back to
help me."
The boys started and after they had gone quite a distance and were tired,
the larger dog said to the larger boy, "Sit on my back." Then the smaller
dog said to the smaller boy, "Sit on my back." The boys did as told. The
dogs ran on swiftly. After a long time they came to a place where trees had
been felled, then they said to the boys, "We are near a village. You must
walk now." The boys were unwilling to walk, but the dogs, shaking themselves
as if they had just been in water, threw them off and told them to go to the
village. The dogs turned then and went back to their master.
The man knew that by going South he would find uncles who would help him,
just such powerful men as his old uncle. When the dogs came back, they told
their master that they would stay till the last meat was gone, but he must
go, for as soon as the meat was eaten the Head would fly in the direction he
took. They would delay it all they could, but he must travel fast for his
life was in danger.
The man started toward the South and went with great swiftness, for he was a
fast runner. Two days after he left, one of the dogs overtook him, and said,
"The meat is gone and the Head is trying to find the boys. It can follow as
far as they walked but no farther. Be on your guard for it will find your
trail."
The dog could see a great distance, it looked back, and said, "The Head is
coming! You have always said that no one could outrun you. The time has come
when you must exert all your strength."
When the Head started, the dogs left behind did what they could to delay it.
They bit it and when it turned to pursue them, they dodged into the ground.
It went on and again they sprang at it and when it turned they again escaped
into the ground. The trail of the Head could be seen plainly for the bark
was gnawed from the trees where the dogs kept it back, delayed it and made
it angry.
All at once, far off in the West, one of the little boys said to the other,
"Our father is in trouble, our mother is following him." Soon a dog came up
to the man, and said, "The Head is possessed of such power that we don't
know how to keep it back. We are doing what we can, but you must run with
all your strength."
The man ran with all speed. Seeing a house he darted into it and called out
to an old man sitting there, "Uncle, help me! A terrible Head is following
me to take my life!" "I will help you all I can," said the old man, "but
hurry to the next house, your aunts live there; they will help you. If I am
killed, a dark cloud will go up to the sky."
The man was about half way between the two houses when he heard a terrible
noise and looking back saw that the Flying Head had reached his uncle's
house and his uncle was fighting it with all his strength. When he turned a
second time he saw a great black cloud rise into the sky and he knew that
his uncle was dead.
That minute one of the dogs came to the man, and said, "Your uncle is dead.
He was never beaten before." When the Head had devoured the old man's flesh,
it rushed after the husband. The man ran as fast as he could. When almost
exhausted, he saw a house, ran into it and called to the women sitting
there, "Help me! help me! Something is following me to take my life!" "Poor
man," said one of his aunts. "Hurry on. We will do what we can to delay the
Head. Go to the next house. Your mother lives there. Maybe she can help
you."
The man wasn't out of sight of the house when he heard a great noise and
heard his aunts call to their children to have courage. The Head flew into
the house, and bit at everything it came in contact with. The women beat it
with clubs. The man heard the blows fall on the skull. When he was half way
to his mother's house, all was still at his aunts' house. Suddenly his
invisible brother called out, "Run! Run or we are lost!"
The invisible brother urged the man forward, pushed him and he seemed to run
faster. The brother urged and pushed till they reached the house. Then the
man cried, "Mother, help me, help me!"
"Poor Son, you are in great trouble," said the mother. "Go on, we will do
what we can." The man hurried through the house. The Head came in as he went
out. The dogs ran around the house and urged their master on. The mother
called to her children, "Kill the Head if you can! Fight with all your
strength!" They took their most poisonous weapons and began to strike the
Head. One of the women stumbled and fell; the Head devoured her in an
instant.
The old mother cautioned her children, telling them to be careful and make
no misstep. The youngest girl, remembering there was bears' oil in the
house, thought she would boil it and see if she couldn't kill the Head with
boiling oil. While the Head was chasing the women through the house, the oil
began to boil, then the girl seized the kettle and threw the oil onto the
Head. It burned and killed the Head.
'Your brother is free," said the mother. "We ought to have a game of ball.
It is our duty to give thanks. The Head will be the ball." She picked up the
Head, carried it out and called in a loud voice, "Here, warriors, is a ball
for you to play with." Soon a great many people, with netted clubs in their
hands, came and began to play ball. (These players were animals that lived
in the forest.) The man saw them play with his wife's head. Each one
struggled to get the ball and in that way they wore it out.
One of the dogs said to him, "Your wife is dead and you are safe." When it
said, "Your wife is dead," the man's strength left him, his arms dropped
down, and he was very sad. "You are sorry," said the invisible brother, "but
I am glad. Why should you be sad? She would have devoured you, if they had
not killed her. Now there is no one to harm us. Our uncle will not trouble
us again." "Your children are living off in that direction," said he,
pointing to the West. "Go and find them." So saying he turned and when the
brother looked after him, he had disappeared.
The man and his dogs traveled toward the West. When the dogs left the
children they were near a house at the edge of a village. In that house
lived an old woman and her granddaughter. One day when the girl was in the
woods stooping down to pick up broken boughs, she heard voices. She listened
and, as the wind came toward her, she discovered that they were the voices
of children. She went home with her wood, told her grandmother that she had
heard children crying, and asked her to come to the forest and listen.
"It is a pleasure to know that there are children alive. They must be for
us," said the grandmother. "We will go and find them." When they came to the
place where the girl had heard the voices, she said, "Now listen!"
"True," said the grandmother, "there are children in the woods. We must look
everywhere till we find them. Maybe they are sent to us because we are
alone."
The girl followed the sound, going in the direction from which the wind
came, she could hear distinctly and she knew the sound came from near the
ground. At last she came to where the boys were. They were apparently about
a year old, one a little larger than the other and both were crying. The
girl began to comfort the children, to tell them she would be their mother
and be kind to them.
While she was talking, her grandmother came. She pitied the children and
'said to them, "Stop crying. It is the will of the Great Spirit that you
should be our children. I will be your grandmother and my granddaughter will
be your mother."
"All we have we will give to you," said the girl. "I will love you as your
mother would." The boys stopped crying and went home with the girl. Each boy
had the little bow and arrow and ball club that his father had made for him.
"We will take good care of these children," said the grandmother. "There are
many people in our village, but not a child. I have lived here a long time,
but I have never seen a little child." When the boys were old enough to hunt
for birds, their grandmother gave them bows and arrows and they brought in a
good deal of game.
One day the larger boy called, "Grandmother, come and see what I have
killed. It is covered with spots. It is over here in the weeds." "Where is
it? Where is it?" asked the grandmother. The boys led the way, but she could
hardly keep in sight of them, the weeds were so high. On reaching the spot
she found a fawn a few hours old. She carried the fawn home, and said to
herself, "I am thankful that I have these children. They will be great
hunters; their game is getting larger. First they killed birds, now they
have killed a fawn."
One day the larger boy said, "Our father is coming." "I am afraid our father
is dead," answered the other boy. The grandmother overheard this and told
the boys to go and hunt for birds, she was hungry for bird meat. The next
day, while the children were out, a man came to the house. The invisible
brother had told the man that when he came to the old woman's house he must
say, "Grandmother, I am glad to see you," and to the girl, "Sister, I am
glad to see you." As the man went in, he saluted the old woman as
Grandmother, and to the girl he said, Sister.
One of the boys said to the other, "Our father has come!" "I don't think
so," said his brother, "Our father had dogs; there are no dogs with this
man." To find out he raised the skin door a little and looking in he saw his
father sitting there with his elbow on his knee and his face on his hand.
"We must find the dogs," said the larger boy.
They followed their father's tracks and they hadn't gone far when they found
that the dogs had run off in another direction. They tracked the dogs and
toward night found them standing by a fallen tree. The dogs heard the
children's voices and ran to meet them. They were as glad to see the boys as
the boys were to see them.
"We must go home," said the brothers, but they didn't know the way. The dogs
took the lead. It was late at night and very dark when they got home.
When the boys didn't come, the grandmother and granddaughter were
frightened. They were waiting for daylight -to come so they could hunt for
them. When they came, the grandmother asked, "Why did you stay so long and
frighten us?"
The father was happy to be with his children again. The girl was the man's
sister and the old woman was his grandmother.
They all lived together now and were happy.
Footnotes
311:1 As far as one can see. The distance varies, of course, with the
position of the spectator and the nature of the country.
Seneca Indian Myths by Jeremiah Curtin 1922
[Told by Johnny John who learned it from his grandmother, "who lived to be
one hundred and thirty years old."]
From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories
