EarthBow
www.earthbow.com
.
.
Source: Myths and Tales of the
Southeastern Indians, By John R. Swanton, 1929
Once there was a little boy who lived with his grandmother. He grew up
to be very fond of hunting and had three dogs named "Simursitty,"
"Jeudawson," and "Ben-boten."
His name was "Tookme." He killed many bison and that caused them to hold a
council at which two bison agreed to turn themselves into pretty girls and
attempt to destroy Tookme.
They went one evening to his grandmother's house and, though they made
themselves very agreeable, the old lady did not fancy them and warned her
grandson against them.
The dogs growled at them whenever they came near.
Free Download
Click here for info
Many more titles available from
EarthBow
eBooks
As night came on the bison begged Tookme to chain his
dogs, for
fear they might bite them during the night. He consented and chained them,
for they said they could not sleep if the dogs were loose. Tookme was
pleased with the girls, but his grandmother insisted that something was
wrong.
The next morning the girls said they must return to their home and asked
Tookme to go with them.
"No," said his grandmother, "he can not go."
But finally it was agreed that he should go a part of the way to a certain
prairie. When they came to this prairie, a herd of bison was feeding
there. Suddenly the girls changed to bison, at whose signal the herd
surrounded Tookme. In alarm he stuck one of his arrows in the ground,
when, behold, it turned into a cottonwood tree; and Tookme quickly
ascended it out of reach of the angry bison.
They began to punch at the tree with their horns and continued doing so
until it fell. Then Tookme stuck another arrow in the ground and another
cottonwood tree shot up in the air, into the branches of which he jumped
as the first one was falling.
This he repeated until his arrows were all gone, when he threw down his
bow and a tall sycamore sprang up. While he was in the sycamore he began
to call his dogs:
Simursitty, come,
Jeudawson, come,
Ben-boten, come,
Come to Tookme,
Come to Tookme.
The bison mocked him, saying: "Tookme, Tookme."
His grandmother was asleep, but the howling of the dogs awakened her, and
running to them she saw them trying to break their chains and then she
heard the voice of her grandson in the distance:
Simursitty, come,
Jeudawson, come,
Ben-boten, come,
Come to Tookme,
Come to Tookme.
She knew he was in danger, so she broke the chains and away flew the
faithful dogs. They frightened the bison away and rescued their master.
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