Straddlebug || myBlog

Subject : Sauk - Coming of Corn Story
Date/Time : 8/29/2012 8:31:52 AM

The Coming of Corn

I will relate the manner in which corn first came. According to tradition handed down to our people, a beautiful woman was seen to descend from the clouds, and alight upon the earth, by two of our ancestors who had killed a deer, and were sitting by a fire roasting a part of it to eat. They were astonished at seeing her, and concluded that she was hungry and had smelt the meat. They immediately went to her, taking with them a piece of the roasted venison. They presented it to her, she ate it, telling them to return to the spot where she was sitting at the end of one year, and they would find a reward for their kindness and generosity. She then ascended to the clouds and disappeared. The men returned to their village, and explained to the tribe what they had seen, done ad heard, but were laughed at by their people. When the period had arrived for them to visit this consecrated ground, where they were to find a reward for their attention to the beautiful woman of the clouds, they went with a large party, and found where her right hand had rested on the ground corn growing, where the left hand had rested beans, and immediately where she had been seated, tobacco.

~ Sauk leader Black Hawk (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak) 1833

Subject : Sauk Proverb
Date/Time : 8/29/2012 8:30:46 AM

Sharing and giving are the ways of God.

Subject : Shawnee - Star Maiden Story
Date/Time : 8/28/2012 8:40:32 AM

The Shawnee Indians tell of a group of star maidens who came secretly down to Earth to perform a mystical dance within a magical circle drawn upon the great prairie. One day by chance a young hunter saw the twelve beautiful girls just as they decended from their celestial chariot. He hid nearby and watched their strange fairy dances, fascinated not only by the grace of the movement, but also by the beauty of the dancers. On the following day the youth, White Hawk, returned to the place and found that so, too, the dancers came again. Intrigued, White Hawk watched the ceremonies day after day as he found himself falling deeply in love with the fairest and youngest of the maidens.

Knowing that the girls would be frightened away should he approach them, White Hawk used his supernatural powers to change his form into that of a field mouse. In that fashion he crept through the long prairie grass until he was right within the magic circle. When his love danced near, White Hawk suddenly resumed his normal form and rose to seize her firmly in his arms.

The others fled at once and sped away into the heavens, for the young maiden could not escape the lad's grasp and the rest had no choice.

Star Maiden looked at White Hawk and found him to be a handsome young man, and she returned his love. They were warmly welcomed in his village. The two were married and lived happily for many years. A son was born to them.

Yet after a period Star Maiden experienced a longing for her former home and people. She ran away, taking her little son with her, and journeyed to her land above, to the village of white tents in the sky.

But she was not happy there, for she truly loved White Hawk and could not think of living without him. In council, the chiefs of the star kingdom decided to invite White Hawk to make his home with them in the sky. Star Maiden's son, now grown to be a brave youth, was sent as a messenger to Earth; and he was able to persuade his father to return with him to star country.

As a token for his new countrymen, White Hawk took with him gifts such as a feather from an eagle, a horn from a bison, a cast-off skin from a rattleshake. These were accepted with much ceremony and delight, for the sky people had never seen these strange things. For himself and his wife and son, White Hawk took the feathers of a white falcon, and in that guise the three now live not in the land nor in the heavens, but they are free as the wind and can travel to either home.

The dancers no longer come to Earth for their ritual dances, but they can be seen in the sky in the constellation Corona Borealis. There they dance on summer evenings, their circle not fully complete, since Star Maiden is no longer with her sisters.

Subject : Shawnee Proverb
Date/Time : 8/28/2012 8:39:57 AM

We are all one child spinning through Mother Sky.

Subject : Shawnee Story
Date/Time : 8/27/2012 9:25:35 AM

Brother Crow and Brother Buffalo

The crow was pure white in the beginning. He was the brother to the buffalo. The Shawnee needed the buffalo for food and skins but everytime the Shawnee would hunt the buffalo, the crow would warn him.

The hunting party gathered around the campfire to prepare for the hunt. Cawanemua said,"We must do something about crow." "I will dress as a buffalo and when brother crow comes to warn the buffalo of our hunt, I will grab him."

The next day, Cawanemua pulled the buffalo skin over him and joined the herd grazing near by. Sure enough, crow came warning the buffalo as the Shawnee hunters approached. Crow was crying,"Caw, Caw, hunters afar!" Cawanemau jumped up and caught crow by his legs and carried him back to the camp.

That night, around the fire as the hunters discussed the fate of crow, Panseau , the smallest brave listened and watched crow. Some wanted to kill and eat crow, since they were very hungry and crow had spoiled the hunt by warning the buffalo. Others wanted to let crow go, thinking that he had learned his lesson and would not warn buffalo again.

Cawanemau was getting more and more angry...he grabbed crow and threw him in the fire. Panseau seeing crow turning black from the fire and soot....grabbed him from the flames. Cawanemau was furious with Panseau. He yelled, "Crow decieves us, we are hungry and cold because he warns buffalo!!! Yet you save him from the flames!!" Panseau, in a small voice, quietly said, "Crow warns his brother. Just as I would warn you, my brother."

Crow, who was shaken and blackened from the flames, heard Panseau. Everyone was very still, thinking about what Panseau the smallest brave had said. Crow spoke, " I am blackened for warning buffalo, who is my brother. I now say Shawnee is my brother also. I will never warn buffalo of your hunt and you, brother Shawnee, will remember to give thanks to buffalo for giving himself to you for food to fill your belly and skins to keep you warm.

Cawanemau stood. "Crow is our brother. Buffalo is our brother also. We will only hunt buffalo when we need food and skins. We will remember to always give thanks. Brother crow will remain black, so he too can remember and remind us of his promise to never warn our brother buffalo." That my friends is how the crow became black.

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