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Long ago when the world was
young, there were not many stars in the sky. In those days the people depended on corn for
their food. Dried corn could be made into corn meal by placing it inside a large hollowed
stump and pounding it with a long wooden pestle. The cornmeal was stored in large baskets.
During the winter, the ground meal could made into bread and mush.
One morning an old man and his wife went to their storage basket for some cornmeal. They
discovered that someone or something had gotten into the cornmeal during the night. This
upset them very much for no one in a Cherokee village stole from someone else.
Then they noticed that
the cornmeal was
scattered over the
ground. In the middle of
the spilt meal were
giant dog prints. These
dog prints were so large
that the elderly couple
knew this was no
ordinary dog.
They immediately alerted the people of the village. It was decided that this must be a
spirit dog from another world. The people did not want the spirit dog coming to their
village. They decided to get rid of the dog by frightening it so bad it would never
return. They gathered their drums and turtle shell rattles and later that night they hid
around the area where the cornmeal was kept.
Late into the night they
heard a whirring sound
like many bird wings.
They look up to see the
form of a giant dog
swooping down from the
sky. It landed near the
basket and then began to
eat great mouthfuls of
cornmeal.
Suddenly the people jumped up beating and shaking their noise makers. The noise was so
loud it sounded like thunder. The giant dog turned and began to run down the path. The
people chased after him making the loudest noises they could.
It ran to the top of a hill
and leaped into the sky, the cornmeal spilling out the sides of its mouth. The giant dog
ran across the black night sky until it disappeared from sight. But the cornmeal that had
spilled from its mouth made a path way across the sky. Each gain of cornmeal became a
star.
The Cherokees call that pattern of
stars, gi li' ut sun stan un' yi (gil-LEE-oot-soon stan-UNH-yee), "the place where
the dog ran." And that is how the Milky Way came to be.
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İRed
Moon
İEagles Aerie
Mentor
-Editor : Wareagle
- Original artwork remains the
copyrighted property of
their respective artists.
-
Many thanks to
David Penfound
For permission to use your wonderful graphics
-
2000-2008
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