EarthBow
www.earthbow.com
.
.
Source: Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney,
1900
A long time ago the people of the old town of Kanu'ga`la'yi (Briertown), on Nantahala river, in the present Macon county,
North Carolina, were much annoyed by a great insect called U'la'gu'.
U'la'gu' was as
large as a house, and used to come from some secret hiding place, and
darting swiftly through the air, would snap up children from their play
and carry them away. It was unlike any other insect ever known, and the
people tried many times to track it to its home, but it was too swift to
be followed.
They killed a squirrel and tied a white string to it, so that its course
could be followed with the eye, as bee hunters follow the flight of a bee
to its tree. The U'la'gu' came and carried off the squirrel with the
string hanging to it, but darted away so swiftly through the air that it
was out of sight in a moment.
They killed a turkey and put a longer white
string to it, and the U'la'gu' came and took the turkey, but was gone
again before they could see in what direction it flew. They took a deer
ham and tied a white string to it, and again the U'la'gu' swooped down and
bore it off so swiftly that it could not be followed.
At last they killed
a yearling deer and tied a very long white string to it. The U'la'gu' came
again and seized the deer, but this time the load was so heavy that it had
to fly slowly and so low down that the string could be plainly seen.
The hunters got together for the pursuit. They
followed it along a ridge to the east until they came near where Franklin
now is, when, on looking across the valley to the other side, they saw the
nest of the U'la'gu' in a large cave in the rocks.
EarthBow eBooks
Free Download
Click here for info
Only $7.95
Click here for info
Many more titles available from
EarthBow
eBooks
On this they raised a great shout and made
their way rapidly down the
mountain and across to the cave.
The nest had
the entrance below with tiers of cells built up one above another to the
roof of the cave. The great U'la'gu' was there, with thousands of smaller
ones, that we now call yellow-jackets. The hunters built fires around the
hole, so that the smoke filled the cave and smothered the great insect and
multitudes of the smaller ones, but others which were outside the cave
were not killed, and these escaped and increased until now the
yellow-jackets, which before were unknown, are all over the world.
The
people called the cave Tsgagun'yi, "Where the yellow-jacket was," and the
place from which they first saw the nest they called A'tahi'ta, "Where
they shouted," and these are their names today.
They say also that all the fish and frogs came from a great monster fish
and frog which did much damage until at last they were killed by the
people, who cut them up into little pieces which were thrown into the
water and afterward took shape as the smaller fishes and frogs.
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