The Girl With A Long Tongue
Towards night, sometimes in September while the sun was just going down over the hill towards the north, this woman managed to sneak out of her tepee. It just so happened that everybody was in their tepees, settling down to get ready for bed.
The woman got out of her tepee, and let her tongue down and looked to the foothills. On this hill were the two boys who went hunting. As soon as they came on top of the hill and started walking towards the river, the girl took one look at them and the two boys turned into stone.
While the girl was wandering around, somebody spotted her and ran to the Chief shouting that the girl was seen outside her tepee without his permission. The Chief and all the people rushed out to see what the woman was up to. She said, "There was nobody around my tepee, and it was so quiet." Later on she said "I was looking towards the hill, when two people started coming down from the hills, and I don't want to say what happened next. It is up to you to find out." The Chief then sent some men up the hill a couple of miles to find out what had happened to those two boys.
When the men reached the bottom of the hill they found two boys who were turned into stone. The stones were 12 to 15 feet high. They were shaped as wearing two big packs on their backs.Today it is said that this must have happened sometime in 1604. The stones are part of what can be seen from about nine miles from Fort McPherson on the right hand side of the Peel River toward the mountain. Nowadays, tourists come every summer to take pictures of it.
As told by: Rody Peters
of Fort McPherson
Wakantanka
The Breath Giver
But with all this beauty around Him, Wakantanka was uneasy. He was happy and loved the Hills He had made, but there was no one He could talk to. There was no one He could love. No one who could return His love.
To all his creatures He had given something of Himself: Strength to the Bear - Swiftness to the Hawk - Grace to the Deer - Perseverance to the Turtle - Majesty to the Eagle.
But there was something still in Him that He must share -- it was love. And this was His greatest gift of all. This part of Himself would make His work perfect. So He must take care with giving it.
Mother, the Earth, lay off toward the Rising Sun. She, too, stirred with life and stretched out her body trying to give birth to love. She crooned in her yearning:
"My body is yours, Life Giver. You made me a mother of many children. I nurse them. I feed them. They grow and multiply everywhere. But I see you are still lonesome, my husband. I have been faithful to you and have slept with no other. But my children do not have all of you in them. They are like me, and hide in me. Now take my red flesh. Dig deep in it. Tear it. I give it all to you. I care not if afterwards I am called a Dead Land. It is myself and all the love I can give you.
When your son is born you will look at him at first rising and at evening. You will know he is your son. He will look like you. He will turn his face to you and love you."
Mother, the Earth, sang her song day after day, and her love never grew less. The wind heard her words and carried them to the Holy Hills where Wakantanka listened, and He looked out over the prairies, wishing.
The wind knew the heaviness in His heart and gently it spoke in the night to the Mother. "Mother, I will help you offer yourself. I would never touch you, but I know there is no other way to satisfy your prayer. In the morning I will call my strong brother from the South. He will bleach the grass that covers you and tear it away from you. He will lift it up like a cloud, and your body will bleed. It will be red like the sun and then you can say, "Breath Giver, take this part of me; from me make children like yourself and they will love you as I do. Sleeping Mother, are you ready for this hurt?"
"Yes, Yes," the Mother sang. "Do it to me. And do not wait for the dawn. Call the south wind now and let him begin. I will sing with him. There will be no tears or pain. I am close to the Holy Hills and will always see how happy the Father is, and how loving are our children."
The south wind was not cruel. It worked gently and warmly. A new sound began to whisper in the valleys of the hills. The deer lifted their heads to catch a new scent. The eagle whirled farther from his high home. Wakantanka turned His eyes here and there. All His creatures were alert.
Stars blazed at night, and a stillness came. The great red sun lifted itself to see what was new....... and there on a high bare red hill stood upright a new thing.Head thrown back, fingers and arms outstretched, red as the sun, swift as the deer, wise as the owl, loving as the Mother, stood Man, the Son of God, the one being who could say A-te , Father.
by Wambdi Wicasa
Tunkasina and |
| A long time ago, when everything was new, all children played without fear. To some of his children Tunkasina (Grandfather) had given strong eyes, and they liked the heat of the day. For these children Tunkasina put a big light in the sky, and they ran free over the prairie. Other children had weaker eyes. They liked to play in the leaves and in the grasses under the trees. For these children Tunkasina put a little light in the sky, and it came out, when these children woke at the end of the day. Everyone was satisfied. Day followed night, and night came after the day. No one had to worry. Tunkasina was happy, and he always came to visit. His work was good. But, then, something terrible happened. One night the little light did not show up ! ! ! ! ! Deep darkness was everywhere. The night-children went outside, but right away they were lost. They ran back and forth, and their crying woke up the whole camp. Fathers could not find their sons, and mothers could not find their daughters. Fear shook everyone. They had never felt this way before, and they didn't know what to do. Fear was like a damp fog creeping over everyone. It chilled the bones of the worn, old men. It confused the senses of the trusted, wise men. Everyone kept turning around and looking over his shoulder. There was great danger. Tunkasina heard the cries of his children and the running footsteps of the parents. He also felt the danger that was threatening his children. He rushed down from his place to see what had happened. He looked and looked -- and THERE IT WAS ! ! ! ! The sky was empty......There was no little light in the sky. And he began searching for her. He looked and looked.....And then he found her. She was sleeping with another man. She had been unfaithful to him, and she had neglected his children. When he found her it was terrible. He dragged her from the bed and tore her over rocks. He beat her and pounded her. He shook her and slapped her. He punished her and he shamed her. Then he threw her away ! ! ! ! ! That was a long time ago. Look at her now. You can see that she is wandering here and there in the night. And she still has the marks and the bruises on her. She will never be the same again. She is shamed. When she gets close to the big light, watch her. She will hide her face. And, when she is far from the big light, she will look out again. Maybe someday Tunkasina will take her back again. |
| This is how Fear -- Evil -- came to the children that Tunkasina always |
| wanted to be happy. |
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