EarthBow
www.earthbow.com
.
.
Source: Myths and Tales of the
Southeastern Indians, By John R. Swanton, 1929
In early days the Indians lived in camps, and when they got tired of one
place they moved off to another.
The men would go out hunting and the women would go to dig mud potatoes.
One time, while they were living this way, each clan encamped by itself,
an old woman came to one of the camps and said, "I would like to warm
myself on the other side of your fire."
They said they had no place for her and added "Maybe they will give you a
place at the next camp." But the, people at the next camp said the same
thing, and so it was with all of them until she came to the last, which
was the Alligator camp.
Free Download
Click here for info
Many more titles available from
EarthBow
eBooks
There they said to her "Why,
there is plenty of room here. You can
stay here." Next morning the men started out hunting and the women went
for potatoes, leaving the children at home. Now this woman was Corn itself
and, while they were away, she made hominy out of herself and fed the
children with it.
When the grown people came home the children said "My, this woman had
plenty of food. She fed us all while you were gone." Then the leading man
said "Tell her to have plenty of food and I will eat when I come back." So
the children told her, and she made blue dumplings and all kinds of foods
made from corn.
The children said "Why, she shelled it off from those sores," but he
answered "All right, I will be hungry and eat it." When he returned he
feasted with the old woman and thought the new food good. Then she told
him to build two cribs with an entry between them, and she said "At night,
just at dark, put me at the door of one and push me in, and come right
away." He did so and could hear a roaring that night. Next morning, when
he went to the cribs, they were both filled with corn. It was in this way
that flour corn and flint corn originated. The same old woman also told
the man not to drop the corn around or waste it.
One time some people were living in a certain place, and they noticed that
the dripping from the eaves of the house (I do not know whether this was
during a rainstorm or not) were red. So they picked up some old pieces of
pottery which had been dripped upon (called paski') and put them under the
bed. During that night they heard something under the bed crying like a
child, so they drew out what they had placed there and found it was a
baby.
The old woman who found him took care of him and nursed him until he grew
up. When he got to be, about four feet tall, she made a bow and arrows for
him, and he wandered about shooting. A long way off from where they lived
was some rising ground, and the boy was told never to go to that and look
beyond it.
When the boy went out hunting for the first time he came in and said to
the old woman, "Some things with blue beads came running."
"Those were turkeys," she said; "We can eat them. Kill them. They are
game."
The next time he came in he said, "I saw some things with white tails."
"We eat those. They are good," said the old woman.
When he got back with these various things he would find the old woman
with white dumplings and other corn foods, and he wondered how she got
them. One time he came back and, instead of entering the house, peeked
through a crack. Then he saw the old woman shake her body, and when she
shook it the grain poured out of her.
By and by the young man went over to the rising ground which he had been
warned not to cross and looked over. On the other side he saw people
playing ball. When he came back the old woman offered him some food but he
would not eat and she said, "You scorn me, then." He had seen men and
women on the other side of the hill, and he did not care for her any more.
Then the old woman told him to find a rattlesnake and a blue jay.
Out of these she made him a fife (flute). That was to be an ornament for
the top of his head. Then she told him to kill the trees all about to make
a field. "When you get through," she said, "take me and drag me all around
over that place and burn me up, and after three months come over and look
at me." The boy did as the old woman had told him, and afterwards he put
on the headdress she had made for him and crossed the rising ground again.
There he met a Rabbit who made friends with him.
They went on together and presently they came to a pond where there were
turtles, and Rabbit said, "Let us go in and get some turtles." So they got
ready, and when Rabbit said "Dive" they dived together under water.
Rabbit, however, instead of remaining down there getting turtles, came out
right away, seized the youth's headdress and ran away with it. Meanwhile
the youth collected a number of turtles which he tied to a cord and
brought ashore. He found that Rabbit had disappeared with his headdress,
but he took the turtles he had caught and went along until he came to a
house.
Putting his turtles into a hole which had been dug near by he went to the
door and said to the old woman who lived there, "You had better make a
fire and cook those turtles, and send round to invite all of your
neighbors."
She did so and had a feast. After the feast all met at the square ground.
When Rabbit came there wearing his red coat and headdress, the rattlesnake
and jay called out, "The rumor is that Pasakola has stolen that man's
cap." He struck them with his flute to make them stop, but they kept on
calling just the same and trying to get to their true master, so the
people took them away and gave them to him.
After that the youth took the old woman's daughter as his wife. One day he
went down to the river with her and washed his head in the stream, and all
of the fish floated up intoxicated. Then he said to his wife, "You had
better tell your mother to come down and cook this fish."
So the old woman went down to the creek and found lots of big fish there,
and she told the young men to go all around the edge of the town and
notify everybody to come to the feast.
All did so. By and by the youth told his wife to comb her hair in the
center, and when she had done it he seated her on the doorstep, took an
ax, and with one blow cut her in two so cleverly that he made two women
out of her. After that Rabbit thought that he could do the same things. So
he went down to the creek and washed his head and told his wife (who was
sister to the wife of the other man) to tell her mother to go down and get
the big fish there. She went down, but there was nothing there.
Then Rabbit had his wife comb and part her hair, seated her on the
doorstep and struck her on the head, killing her instantly. By and by the
youth recalled what the first old woman had told him about going back to
see where he had dragged her about, and he did so. He found the whole
place covered with red silk corn (probably yellow corn). Wormseed and
cornfield beans were also growing in this field.
So he used the wormseed as a "cold bath" (medicine) before he ate the corn
and the beans, and that is why they now take it before eating corn in
husking time. (Told by Big Jack of Hilibi)
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