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Source:
From
Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney, 1900
Long ages ago, soon after the world was made, Kenati, a Cherokee Indian
hunter and his wife Selu, lived on Looking-glass Mountain in North
Carolina. They had a little son named Good Boy.
Whenever Kenati hunted in the woods, he always brought back all the game
his family needed. His wife cut up the meat and washed it in the river
not far from their lodge. Good Boy played near the river almost every
day. One day his parents thought they heard laughing in the bushes, as
if there were two children playing there.
That evening Kenati asked his son, "Who were you playing with today down
by the river_"
"He is a boy who comes out of the water and calls himself my elder
brother," replied Good Boy.
When Selu washed game in the river again, the parents thought the water
boy must grow from the animal blood. She never saw the water boy,
because as she approached he disappeared.
One evening, Kenati said to his son, "Tomorrow when your playmate comes
out of the water, wrestle with him and hold him down and call me, so we
can come and see him." Good Boy promised to do as his father asked.
Next day a wrestling match took place between the two boys. Kenati and
Selu were not far away, and at the first call from their son, they ran
to see the boy from the river. Compared with Good boy, the other one
looked wild.
"Let me go! Let me go!" he cried out. Good Boy held him down until his
parents arrived. They took the water boy home with them.
The family kept the wild one in the house form some time, trying to tame
him. But he was always disagreeable in his disposition and tried to lead
Good Boy into mischief. The family discovered that wild one possessed
some magic powers, so they decided to keep him. They named him Wild Boy.
Always Kenati came home from hunting with a large fat deer on his back.
Always he was lucky with game. One day Wild Boy said to his brother, "I
wonder where our father finds so much game_ Let's follow him next time."
In a few days, Kenati took his bow and arrows and went hunting.
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Shortly
afterward the boys followed. Staying out of sight, they saw
their father
go into a swamp where some strong reeds were growing. With these,
hunters usually made arrow shafts. Wild Boy changed himself into a puff
of bird's down. A little wind carried him up and onto Kenati's shoulder.
There he watched where Kenati went and what he did. The father was not
aware of Wild Boy's presence on his shoulder as he gathered reeds and
fitted them with feathers.
"I wonder what those things are for_" thought Wild Boy to himself.
Kenati came out of the swamp and went on his way into the woods. The
wind carried the down off Kenati's shoulders and soon Wild Boy was his
normal self again. Still keeping out of sight of their father, the two
brothers followed him into the mountains.
When Kenati reached a certain place, he stopped and lifted a large rock.
At once, a large buck deer came running out of the hole. Kenati shot it
and lifted it upon his back, starting home with his prize.
"Oho!" said the boys. "He keeps the wild animals shut up inside a cave
until he needs them. He then kills the game with those things he made in
the swamp." They hurried to reach home before their father arrived with
his heavy load.
The very next day, the boys wanted to see if they could do as their
father had done. First, they went to the swamp and made some arrows.
When they came to the big rock, they lifted the cover and instantly a
deer ran out, but they forgot to replace the cover.
As they made ready to shoot the deer, another deer came out of the hole,
then another, and another--the boys became so confused they forgot what
to do next.
Long ago, a deer's tail stuck straight out from his body. When Wild Boy
struck at a deer's tail with an arrow, the tail stood straight up. The
boys thought it great fun. As another deer ran by, Good Boy swung at it
with an arrow so hard that the tail curled over the deer's back. Since
that time most deer's' tails curl at the end.
All of the deer in the cave came out and disappeared into the forest.
Following them were raccoons, rabbits, and all the other four-footed
animals. Last came turkeys, partridges, pigeons, and other winged
creatures. They darkened the air as they flew away. Such a noise arose
that Kenati heard it at his lodge. To himself he said, "I must go to see
what trouble my boys have stirred up."
Kenati went to the mountain, to the place of the large rock. There stood
the two boys, but all the animals and birds were gone. Kenati was
furious with them, but said nothing. He went into the cave and kicked
off the covers of four large jars that stood in the back corner.
Out of the jars swarmed bedbugs, lice, and gnats that attached the two
boys. they screamed from terror as they tried to beat off the insects.
Bitten and stung, the boys dropped to the ground from exhaustion.
When Kenati thought they had learned their lesson, he brushed away the
pests. "Now you rascals," he scolded them. "You have always had plenty
to eat without working for it. When we needed game, all I had to do was
to come up here and take home just what we needed. Now you have let all
of the game escape. From now on when you are hungry, you will have to
hunt throughout the woods and mountains and then not find enough game."
The two boys went home and asked their mother for something to eat.
"There is no more meat," said Selu. "I will go to the storehouse and try
to find something."
She took her basket and went to the two-story provision house set upon
poles high above the ground, out of reach of most animals.
Every day before the evening meal, Selu climbed the ladder to the one
opening. She always came back with her basket full of beans and corn.
"Let's go and see where she gets the corn and beans," urged Wild Boy to
his brother. They followed Selu and climbed up in back of the
storehouse. They removed a piece of mud from between the logs and looked
through the crack. There stood Selu in the middle of the room with her
basket on the floor. When she rubbed her stomach, the basket was
half-filled with corn. When she rubbed her legs, the basket was full to
the top with beans. Wild Boy said, "Our mother is a witch. Maybe her
food will poison us."
When Selu came back to the house, she seemed to know what the boys were
thinking. "You think I am a witch_"
"Yes, we think you are a witch," Wild Boy replied.
"When I die, I want you boys to clear a large piece of ground in front
of our lodge. Then drag all of my clothes seven times around the inside
of the circle. If you stay up all night and watch, next morning you will
be rewarded with plenty of corn."
Soon thereafter Selu became ill and died suddenly. The boys set to work
clearing the ground as she had said. But instead of the whole piece of
ground in front of the lodge, they only cleared seven small spots. This
is why corn does not grow everywhere in the world.
Instead of dragging Selu's clothing seven times, they only went around
the circle twice, outside and inside the circle. The brothers watched
all night, and in the morning there were fully grown beans and corn, but
only in the seven small spots.
Kenati came home from a long hunting trip. He looked for Selu but could
not find her. When the boys came home, he asked them, "Where is your
mother_"
"She turned into a witch and then she died," they reported. Kenati was
saddened by the news.
"I cannot stay here with you any longer. I will go and live with the
Wolf people," he said.
He started on his journey. Wild Boy changed himself into a tuft of
bird's down and settled upon Kenati's shoulder to learn where he was
going.
When Kenati reached the settlement of the Wolf people, they were having
a council in their town-house. He went in and sat down with the tuft
upon his shoulder. Wolf Chief asked Kenati what was his business.
"At home I have two bad boys. In seven days, I want you to go and play a
game of ball with them."
The Wolf people knew that Kenati wanted them to punish the boys and
promised to go in seven days. At that moment the down blew off of
Kenati's shoulder and the smoke carried it up and through the smoke hole
in the roof. It came down to the ground outside, where Wild Boy resumed
his own shape and ran home fast to tell his brother. Kenati did not
return but went on to visit another tribe.
The two brothers prepared for the coming of the wolves. Wild Boy the
magician told his brother what to do. Together they made a path around
the house, leaving an opening on one side for the wolves to enter.
Next, they made four large bundles of arrows. These they placed at four
different points on the outside of the circle. Then they hid themselves
in the woods nearby and waited for the wolves.
At the appointed time, a whole army of wolves surrounded the house. They
came in the entrance the boys had made. When all were within, Wild Boy
magically made the pathway become a high fence, trapping the wolves
inside.
The two boys on the outside began shooting arrows at the wolves. Since
the fence was too high for the wolves to jump over, they were trapped
and most were killed.
Only a few escaped through the entrance and made their way into a nearby
swamp. Three or four wolves eventually survived. These were the only
wolves left alive in the world.
Soon thereafter, some strangers came from a great distance to learn
about the brothers' good grain for eating and making bread. Only Selu
and her family had the corn secret.
The two brothers told the strangers how to care for the corn and gave
them seven kernels to plant the next night on their way home. They were
advised that they must watch throughout the night, then the following
morning they would have seven ears of corn. This they should do each
night, and by the time they reached home, they should have enough corn
for all their people to plant.
The strangers lived seven days' distance. Each night they did as the
brothers had instructed them. On the last night of the journey, they
were so tired that they fell asleep and were unable to continue the
whole night's watch. Next morning, the corn had not sprouted and grown
as on the previous six nights.
Upon arriving in their own village, they shared all the corn they still
had left with their people. They explained how the two brothers told
them the way to make the corn prosper. They watched over the planting
with care and attention. A splendid crop of corn resulted. Since then,
however, the Cherokee Indians needed to tend their corn only half the
year to supply their people.
Kenati never came back to his home. The two brothers decided to search
for him. Wild Boy sailed a magic disk to the north wind and it returned.
He sailed it to the south wind and it returned, but it did not return
from the east wind. They knew that was where their father was living.
They walked a long, long time and finally came upon Kenati with a dog
walking by his side.
"You bad boys," rebuked Kenati. "Why have you followed me here_"
"We are men now," they replied. "We plan to accomplish what we set out
to do." Wild Boy knew that the dog was the magic disk that had not
returned, and had become a dog only a few days ago.
Kenati's trail led to Selu, waiting for him at the end of the world
where the sun comes up. All seemed glad to be reunited for the present.
Their parents told the two brothers that they must go to live where the
sun goes down. In seven days, the two boys left for the Land of the
Setting-Sun. There they still live, overseeing the planting and the care
of corn.
The brothers still talk about how Selu brought forth the first corn from
her seed. Since that time, the Cherokee tribe refer to her as the "Corn
Woman."
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