EarthBow
www.earthbow.com
.
.
Long, long ago, animals and trees talked with each other, but there was no fire at that time. Fox was most clever and he tried to think of a way to create fire for the world.
One day, he decided to visit the Geese, te-tl, whose cry he wished to learn how to imitate. They promised to teach him if he would fly with them.
So they contrived a way to attach wings to Fox, but cautioned him never to open his eyes while flying.
Whenever the Geese arose in flight, Fox also flew along with them to practice their cry.
Free Download
Click here for info
Many more titles available from
EarthBow
eBooks
On one such adventure, darkness descended
suddenly as they
flew over the village of the fireflies, ko-na- tcic-a. In mid-flight, the
glare from the flickering fireflies caused Fox to forget and he opened his
eyes--instantly his wings collapsed! His fall was uncontrollable.
He landed within the walled area of the firefly village, where a fire
constantly burned in the center.
Two kind fireflies came to see fallen Fox, who gave each one a necklace
of juniper berries, katl-te-i-tse.
Fox hoped to persuade the two fireflies to tell him where he could find
a way over the wall to the outside. They led him to a cedar tree, which
they explained would bend down upon command and catapult him over the
wall if he so desired.
That evening, Fox found the spring where fireflies obtained their water.
There also, he discovered colored earth, which when mixed with water
made paint. He decided to give himself a coat of white. Upon returning
to the village, Fox suggested to the fireflies, "Let's have a festival
where we can dance and I will produce the music."
They all agreed that would be fun and helped to gather wood to build up
a greater fire. Secretly, Fox tied a piece of cedar bark to his tail.
Then he made a drum, probably the first one ever constructed, and beat
it vigorously with a stick for the dancing fireflies. Gradually, he
moved closer and closer to the fire.
Fox pretended to tire from beating the drum. He gave it to some
fireflies who wanted to help make the music. Fox quickly thrust his tail
into the fire, lighting the bark, and exclaimed, "It is too warm here
for me, I must find a cooler place."
Straight to the cedar tree Fox ran, calling, "Bend down to me, my cedar
tree, bend down!"
Down bent the cedar tree for Fox to catch hold, then up it carried him
far over the wall. On and on he ran, with the fireflies in pursuit.
As Fox ran along, brush and wood on either side of his path were ignited
from the sparks dropping from the burning bark tied to his tail.
Fox finally tired and gave the burning bark to Hawk, i-tsarl-tsu- i, who
carried it to brown Crane, tsi-nes-tso-l. He flew far southward,
scattering fire sparks everywhere. This is how fire first spread over
the earth.
Fireflies continued chasing Fox all the way to his burrow and declared,
"Forever after, Wily Fox, your punishment for stealing our fire will be
that you can never make use of it for yourself."
For the Apache nation, this too was the beginning of fire for them. Soon
they learned to use it for cooking their food and to keep themselves
warm in cold weather.
Click here to Return to the Native American Myth and Legend contents page
Book sales help EarthBow provide free content
If you find our site useful or interesting, please show your support by
buying a book today!
Shop with confidence, EarthBow is an amazon.com associate
Click one of the book links at the right to learn more about that specific title, or click the link below to see a list of all books about Native American Culture...
More Books About Native American Culture - click here
NEW!! EarthBow eBooks... Click here for more info
www.earthbow.com - Bringing Ancient Ideas to a New Age
Copyright 2004 EarthBow
Non-commercial use: Distribute freely
Commercial use: Prohibited