Told By: ShaunaSay WhiteFeather
Cherokee Legend Keeper/StoryTeller
A long time ago, when I was very young, my family and all my elders would sit around in a circle and listen to all the stories of our peoples. This is one of those stories���
There was a village, much like our own village here, that worked very hard in making preparations for the long winters ahead. Storing much grains and meats, and making sure everyone would be well taken care in every way.
On one fall night, the harvest moon was big and bright as life itself! The orange and yellow and brown colored leaves swirled in the cool, brisk, autumn air.
The stars seemed so near, you actually felt as if you could pluck one from the very sky!
There were two brave warriors that sat at a large crackling fire, protecting the very valuable meat and grains huts of the entire village. As they sat, they talked quietly among themselves of the spring and summer hunts, and of the stories of all of the events that had happened among the people.
One of the warriors pulled his buffalo robe closer around him, as he felt the air grow colder as the night drew later. This one warrior looked up into the night sky, and he started to notice a strange sight! As he stared in wonderment, the other warrior looked also, both set of eyes were fixed on this strange site! There above them, up in the starry sky, was a huge white slivery cloud floating down ever so gently towards earth mother, coming right down towards them!
As the cloud descended, the two brave warriors, who at this time weren�t so brave�. Ran as fast as they could, and hid behind the largest bushes they could find! They were shaking in fear so hard, that the bushes shook just as hard!
Now as they were hiding and shaking, and shaking and hiding, the cloud touched down upon earth mother and started to take the form of a LARGE WHITE SPIRIT -DOG! This large white spirit-dog, did not even take notice of the bushes shaking so violently over on the side of him, but; walked over to the grain and meat huts.
The spirit-dog then stuck his massive head into one of the grain huts, and started gobbling up bunches and bunches of the grain! When the spirit-dog had filled his massive belly full of grain, he then leapt up into the sky and took the shape of the large white slivery cloud again!
The night was waning into dawn, and the two brave warriors were STILL behind the bushes hiding! But; during all that time, they asked each other over and over, how could they tell the chief and everyone in the village what had happened�.
�No one is going to believe us!� said one warrior, �Everyone in the tribe will shun us, or mock us when we tell what happened� said the other warrior. �We will be banished from the tribe, or worse!� said the other warrior. �We must tell the truth, no matter what happens!� said the warrior.
So, as dawn was totally upon them, the two warriors came from behind the bushes they were hiding behind, and went to the lodge of the Chief, to call a meeting of all the peoples of the village into the main council house. All the peoples murmured among themselves, curious of what had happened��.
The Chief raised his hand and all became quite! Then the Chief motioned for the two warriors to come into the center of the council house to speak.
When the two warriors had finished telling what had happened, just as they had feared, some of the people made fun of them and thought it was a child�s dream story, others were furious, and that all the hard work was in vain of the people, for these two warriors must have fell asleep, and some wolf or animal came up during the night and ate the grain, or; even another tribe stole the grain and they lied to cover the wrong up.
Then anger welled up among many others, and harsh talks of shunning or banishment! All except the wise Chief who listened with his heart, not anger. The wise Chief stood up, and again raised his hand for everyone to become quite. When the quite came in the council house, the Chief spoke these words to all the peoples, �My people, my people, angry words and hearts will not find the truth, the truth will come forth like the spring from winter, soft and gentle. I ask these two warriors who have proved their worth and honor many times before among us, to go forth tonight and build another fire, and sit there and guard the huts again tonight, and if this great white spirit-dog returns, or; some other tribe or forest animal comes, they are to quietly go and wake everyone in the village, and everyone will be ready to get up from their beds and bring tom-toms, and rattles, all their noise makers, and the women be ready to trill the hardest and loudest they can trill, and gather around this great white spirit-dog, or other tribe, or; forest animal and chase what ever it was away from our food huts never to return again.�
So, as the night was approaching, the two brave warriors made their fire again, and wrapped themselves up very tightly with their buffalo robes around the fire shaking just as hard as they did behind the bushes. The darkness fell, and they waited for the stars to come out as they did the night before, both of the warriors dared to look up into the night sky, praying the whole time that the silvery white cloud would not appear again�But; it did! Just as the night before, it floated gently down towards earth mother, and took the shape of the spirit-dog just as before!
As it went and stuck its massive head into another grain hut, and again started gobbling grain into his belly.
The two brave warriors ran as fast as they could, and done as the wise Chief had instructed, they woke everyone up in the village! All the peoples gathered their tom-toms, gathered their rattles and noisemakers, and the women ready to trill the hardest and loudest they can trill, and all formed a huge circle around the white spirit-dog! The Chief raised his hand up, then very quickly down!
Then all the people of the village at the same time began beating their tom-toms, rattling their rattles, making noise with all their noise makers, and the women trilled as hard and loud as they could trill!
And as all of this happened, the great white spirit-dog, became so afraid and confused, he started to run around and around in circles as if chasing its tail!
So it was, that this spirit-dog finally leapt into the sky! But; this time, instead of turning into a large silvery white cloud, it kept going and going and going up into the sky! And all of the grain it had so GREEDLY eaten from the village people�s storage huts, fell out of the corners of its massive mouth and made a trail behind it, as it went up into the sky!
As we, even today, gather on a cold night around a warm fire and look up into a starry sky as our ancestors did not so long ago, we too will be able to see that same trail of grain, for the Creator of all, made the grain into a trail of stars for all to learn a lesson of greed and truth�.
This is what we call today�. The Milky Way!
