Post by Okwes on Jan 13, 2008 17:48:19 GMT -5
First Woman - Catawba
But the Catawba have a different tale of those days. When this world was
still new, they say, all of it was sharp rocks and steep hills, high cliffs
and jagged peaks-except for one small valley hidden deep in the mountains.
There, it was always summer. A clear stream ran through its green meadows.
The deer and the wolf drank from it side by side. Beavers built a dam to
make a pond, and fishes swam in it. Flowers bloomed on the banks and did not
die. Trees flowered and bore fruit, and then flowered again. Bluebirds and
buntings sang in the branches. Bees hummed. Blackberries, raspberries, and
gooseberries, huckleberries, serviceberries, and mulberries ripened all the
year round. The little valley was the best of all places.
Once the Great Spirit had made the valley, he shaped a new creature to live
in it. He made this new being to stand on two legs, much like himself. He
gave it dark hair and eyes and a dress made of large round leaves ofgalax,
and set her down in the grassy meadow. "You are First Woman," said the Great
Spirit, "and this is your home to live in and to rule." Then, when he had
said it, he went away and left her.
First Woman was happy at first. She found a cave to shelter her from the
always-summer rains, and made it her home. She ate berries with honey, and
pawpaws and persimmons and fish. She swam with the beavers and ran with the
deer, and neither she nor her valley grew old. Every day was the same as
every other day, until she began to wish that it was not.
One day, as First Woman sat at the opening of her cave, she saw a bright red
butterfly flutter by. She had never seen such a thing before, and so she
rose and followed it. Down across the valley it flew, and up into a narrow
ravine. First Woman climbed after it a long, winding way until it led her to
the foot of a waterfall. But then it vanished. First Woman turned back, but
took the wrong path, and wandered farther and farther out of her way At
nightfall, cold and weary and frightened, she curled up on the ground to
sleep. A little before dawn she awoke to find a dark shape bending over
her-not a wolf or panther, but a shape much like her own. Yet she was the
only human being in this world.
"What are you?" she asked in fear. It was larger than she, its face fiercer.
Its shirt and leggings were made of cloud, as if it had just stepped down
from the sky.
The Sky Man reached down to help First Woman to her feet. "I was on my way
from the evening star to the morning star," he said. "When I looked down, I
saw first that you are very beautiful, and then that you were lost. I wish
to help you find your way, and so I have come down to your world, even
though the Great Spirit will be angered." "Will He be?" First Woman asked
fearfully.
"Yes," said the Sky Man, "for He has commanded that the People Above do not
come down to this world unless He sends them. His anger is terrible, and I
fear it." But he smiled at her. "Indeed, I would rather stay here with you
than return to the World Above and His anger." First Woman's heart filled
with happiness, for she had been lonely and not known it. "Come," she said,
and she took his hand and went with him down to her beautiful valley.
There they lived together as wife and husband, and in time First Woman bore
a child. Only then did they begin to think of the times to come. First Woman
knew that from their children and their children's children would come a
people who would overflow the valley and fill the world. How would they
live? The world outside was harsh and bare. Sky Man feared that their
children would suffer even more because he had disobeyed the Great Spirit's
command, and he was unhappy. Together, they prayed to the Great Spirit for
his forgiveness.In the World Above, the Great Spirit heard, and knew that
their hearts were good. He lifted his hand, and a great wind rose. He moved
his hand, and the great wind pushed mountains closer together and made space
for other valleys, and for prairies. And all this world was made beautiful.
When the work was done, the Great Spirit leaned down from the World Above
and told First Woman and Sky Man that all this world was theirs. But he told
them, too, that because Sky Man had disobeyed him, from that day they must
work for their food. He told them that life would no longer be all summer.
Now there would be winter, and with it bitter cold. He told them that there
would come a time when they would see in the water of the beavers' lake that
their hair had grown white. He told them that in time they must grow old,
and die. And First Woman and Sky Man looked at the beautiful world, and at
their child, and still were glad.
Taken from the book The Wonderful Sky Boat and Other Native American Tales
of the Southeast retold by Jane Louise Curry
But the Catawba have a different tale of those days. When this world was
still new, they say, all of it was sharp rocks and steep hills, high cliffs
and jagged peaks-except for one small valley hidden deep in the mountains.
There, it was always summer. A clear stream ran through its green meadows.
The deer and the wolf drank from it side by side. Beavers built a dam to
make a pond, and fishes swam in it. Flowers bloomed on the banks and did not
die. Trees flowered and bore fruit, and then flowered again. Bluebirds and
buntings sang in the branches. Bees hummed. Blackberries, raspberries, and
gooseberries, huckleberries, serviceberries, and mulberries ripened all the
year round. The little valley was the best of all places.
Once the Great Spirit had made the valley, he shaped a new creature to live
in it. He made this new being to stand on two legs, much like himself. He
gave it dark hair and eyes and a dress made of large round leaves ofgalax,
and set her down in the grassy meadow. "You are First Woman," said the Great
Spirit, "and this is your home to live in and to rule." Then, when he had
said it, he went away and left her.
First Woman was happy at first. She found a cave to shelter her from the
always-summer rains, and made it her home. She ate berries with honey, and
pawpaws and persimmons and fish. She swam with the beavers and ran with the
deer, and neither she nor her valley grew old. Every day was the same as
every other day, until she began to wish that it was not.
One day, as First Woman sat at the opening of her cave, she saw a bright red
butterfly flutter by. She had never seen such a thing before, and so she
rose and followed it. Down across the valley it flew, and up into a narrow
ravine. First Woman climbed after it a long, winding way until it led her to
the foot of a waterfall. But then it vanished. First Woman turned back, but
took the wrong path, and wandered farther and farther out of her way At
nightfall, cold and weary and frightened, she curled up on the ground to
sleep. A little before dawn she awoke to find a dark shape bending over
her-not a wolf or panther, but a shape much like her own. Yet she was the
only human being in this world.
"What are you?" she asked in fear. It was larger than she, its face fiercer.
Its shirt and leggings were made of cloud, as if it had just stepped down
from the sky.
The Sky Man reached down to help First Woman to her feet. "I was on my way
from the evening star to the morning star," he said. "When I looked down, I
saw first that you are very beautiful, and then that you were lost. I wish
to help you find your way, and so I have come down to your world, even
though the Great Spirit will be angered." "Will He be?" First Woman asked
fearfully.
"Yes," said the Sky Man, "for He has commanded that the People Above do not
come down to this world unless He sends them. His anger is terrible, and I
fear it." But he smiled at her. "Indeed, I would rather stay here with you
than return to the World Above and His anger." First Woman's heart filled
with happiness, for she had been lonely and not known it. "Come," she said,
and she took his hand and went with him down to her beautiful valley.
There they lived together as wife and husband, and in time First Woman bore
a child. Only then did they begin to think of the times to come. First Woman
knew that from their children and their children's children would come a
people who would overflow the valley and fill the world. How would they
live? The world outside was harsh and bare. Sky Man feared that their
children would suffer even more because he had disobeyed the Great Spirit's
command, and he was unhappy. Together, they prayed to the Great Spirit for
his forgiveness.In the World Above, the Great Spirit heard, and knew that
their hearts were good. He lifted his hand, and a great wind rose. He moved
his hand, and the great wind pushed mountains closer together and made space
for other valleys, and for prairies. And all this world was made beautiful.
When the work was done, the Great Spirit leaned down from the World Above
and told First Woman and Sky Man that all this world was theirs. But he told
them, too, that because Sky Man had disobeyed him, from that day they must
work for their food. He told them that life would no longer be all summer.
Now there would be winter, and with it bitter cold. He told them that there
would come a time when they would see in the water of the beavers' lake that
their hair had grown white. He told them that in time they must grow old,
and die. And First Woman and Sky Man looked at the beautiful world, and at
their child, and still were glad.
Taken from the book The Wonderful Sky Boat and Other Native American Tales
of the Southeast retold by Jane Louise Curry