Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 11:55:13 GMT -5
Emergence - Abenaki
First Manitou, the Great Spirit, made Kloskurbeh, the great teacher. One day
when the sun was directly overhead, a young boy appeared to Kloskurbeh. He
explained that he had been born when the sea had churned up a great foam,
which was then heated by the sun, congealed, and came alive as a human boy.
The next day, again at noon, the teacher and the boy greeted a girl. She
explained that she had come from the earth, which had produced a green plant
which bore her as fruit. And so Kloskurbeh, the wise teacher, knew that
human beings came forth from the union of sea and land. The teacher gave
thanks to Manitou and instructed the boy and girl in everything they needed
to know. Then Kloskurbeh went north into the forest to meditate.
The man and the woman had many, many children. Unfortunately, they had so
many children that they were unable to feed them all by hunting and picking
wild foods. The mother was filled with grief to see her children hungry, and
the father despaired. One day the mother went down to a stream, entering it
sadly. As she reached the middle of the stream, her mood changed completely
and she was filled with joy. A long green shoot had come out of her body,
between her legs. As the mother left the stream, she once again looked
unhappy.
Later, the father asked her what had happened during the day while he was
out trying to gather food. The mother told the whole story. She then
instructed the father to kill her and plant her bones in two piles. The
father, understandably, was upset by this command and he questioned the
mother many times about it. Naturally, it was shocking and disturbing to
think that he had to kill his wife in order to save his children: But she
was insistent.
The father immediately went to Kloskurbeh for advice. Kloskurbeh thought the
story very strange, but then he prayed to Manitou for guidance. Kloskurbeh
then told the father that the mother was right; this was the will of
Manitou. So, the father killed his wife and buried her bones in two piles as
he was commanded to do.
For seven moons, the father stood over the piles of bones and wept. Then one
morning, he noticed that from one pile had sprouted tobacco and, from the
other, maize. Kloskurbeh explained to the man that his wife had really never
died, but that she would live forever in these two crops.
To this day, a mother would rather die than see her children starve, and all
children are still fed today by that original mother. Men like to plant in
the cornfields extra fish they catch as a gift of thanks to the first mother
and a remembrance that we are all children of the union of sea and land.
First Manitou, the Great Spirit, made Kloskurbeh, the great teacher. One day
when the sun was directly overhead, a young boy appeared to Kloskurbeh. He
explained that he had been born when the sea had churned up a great foam,
which was then heated by the sun, congealed, and came alive as a human boy.
The next day, again at noon, the teacher and the boy greeted a girl. She
explained that she had come from the earth, which had produced a green plant
which bore her as fruit. And so Kloskurbeh, the wise teacher, knew that
human beings came forth from the union of sea and land. The teacher gave
thanks to Manitou and instructed the boy and girl in everything they needed
to know. Then Kloskurbeh went north into the forest to meditate.
The man and the woman had many, many children. Unfortunately, they had so
many children that they were unable to feed them all by hunting and picking
wild foods. The mother was filled with grief to see her children hungry, and
the father despaired. One day the mother went down to a stream, entering it
sadly. As she reached the middle of the stream, her mood changed completely
and she was filled with joy. A long green shoot had come out of her body,
between her legs. As the mother left the stream, she once again looked
unhappy.
Later, the father asked her what had happened during the day while he was
out trying to gather food. The mother told the whole story. She then
instructed the father to kill her and plant her bones in two piles. The
father, understandably, was upset by this command and he questioned the
mother many times about it. Naturally, it was shocking and disturbing to
think that he had to kill his wife in order to save his children: But she
was insistent.
The father immediately went to Kloskurbeh for advice. Kloskurbeh thought the
story very strange, but then he prayed to Manitou for guidance. Kloskurbeh
then told the father that the mother was right; this was the will of
Manitou. So, the father killed his wife and buried her bones in two piles as
he was commanded to do.
For seven moons, the father stood over the piles of bones and wept. Then one
morning, he noticed that from one pile had sprouted tobacco and, from the
other, maize. Kloskurbeh explained to the man that his wife had really never
died, but that she would live forever in these two crops.
To this day, a mother would rather die than see her children starve, and all
children are still fed today by that original mother. Men like to plant in
the cornfields extra fish they catch as a gift of thanks to the first mother
and a remembrance that we are all children of the union of sea and land.