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SPIRIT
LODGE
LIBRARY
Myth
& Lore
Page
52
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Some of the 86 pages in this Myth & Lore section are below.
The rest will be found HERE
The First Moccasins
By Bear Medicinewalker,
LoreKeeper
There was once a great Chief who's
feet were very tender. The other Chiefs laughed at him; yet
He would only smiled as he carefully walked past. The people
of the quietly laughed at his discomfort. They were all the
same in this village, having no horses and only bare feet, but
most of them were not bothered by their bare feet. The unhappy
Medicine Man who was advisor to the Chief-of-the- Tender-Feet
was afraid and troubled. Each time he was called before the
chief he was asked, "Can you help me with my tender feet?"
And his reply was always the same, as he knew of nothing to
do to help.
Finally the Medicine Man at last
hit upon a plan. Though he realized it may not be the answer
to the Chief's foot problem, it may just help. The Medicine
Man had the Women of the tribe weave a long, narrow mat of reeds,
and when the Chief had to go anywhere, four Braves unrolled
the mat in front of him so that he walked in comfort.
After a while the Braves grew tired
of following the Chief around and rolling out the mat so he
could walk in comfort. They carelessly unrolled the mat over
a place where flint arrowheads had been chipped and the shards
remained. As the Chief's walked over them the mat did not help
with His tender feet, and became wounded by these chips, he
uttered a series of whoops which made the nearby trees leaves
quiver.
That night the Medicine Man was given
an impossible task by the angry Chief: "Cover the whole
earth with mats so thick that my feet will not suffer. If you
fail, you will be banished when the moon is round."
The Medicine Man frustrated, crept
back to his lodge. He did not wish to be banished on the night
of the full moon, or any other night but could think of nothing
else to do. Suddenly he saw the hide of an Elk which was pegged
to the ground, with two women busily scraping the hair from
the hide, vision of what to be done came to mind. He sent out
many hunters and when they returned the women began their task
to prepare the hide and worked for many days. The Braves of
the tribe brought their hunting knives and began to cut strips,
and the Women sewed with bone needles and rawhide sinews.
On the day before the moon was round,
the Medicine Man went to the Chief and told him that he had
covered as much of the earth as was possible in so short a time.
When the Chief looked from the door of his lodge, he saw many
paths of skin stretching as far as he could see. Long strips
which could be moved from place to place connected the main
leather paths. Even the Chief thought that this time the magic
of the Medicine Man had solved tenderfoot transportation for
all time, but this was not to be !
One day, as the Chief was walking
along one of his smooth, tough leather paths, he saw a beautiful
maiden from the tribe gliding ahead of him, walking on the hard
earth on one side of the Chief's pathway. She glanced back when
she heard his feet on the elk hide pathway and seemed to smile.
The Chief set off on the run to catch up with her, his eyes
fixed on the back of She-Who-Smiled,
His feet suddenly strayed from the narrow path and landed in
a bunch of needle-sharp thorns! The girl ran for her life when
she heard Him scream from the pain of his feet.
Two suns later, when the Chief was
calm enough to speak again, he had his Medicine Man brought
before him and told him that the next day when the sun was high,
he was sending to the land of shadows for his plan had not worked.
That night, the Medicine Man climbed to the top of the mountain
in search of advice from the Grandmothers on how to cover the
entire earth with leather.
He finally slept and entered dreamwalk.
He was taught the answer to his problem. Amid vivid flashes
of lightning, he tore down the steep mountainside, screaming
from pain as jagged rocks wounded his bare feet and legs. Yet
He did not stop until he was safely inside his lodge. He worked
all night until the warriors who were to send him on the shadow
trail came for him, just before noon the next day. He was surrounded
by the Warriors.
He was clutching close to his heart
something tightly rolled in a piece of deerskin. His cheerful
smile surprised those who saw him pass. All looked at him brave
and honorable. Accepting his failure and honoring his fate.
The Chief was waiting just outside
his lodge. He yelled to the Warriors, giving them instruction
to take the fallen Medicine Man to the World of Shadows. Before
the Medicine Man could be led away, he asked to be able to speak
to the Chief. "Speak!" said the chief, sorry that
all this had come about. For even the Chief knew that covering
the entire earth with leather was an impossible task.
The Medicine Man quickly knelt beside
the Chief, unrolled the two objects which he took from his bundle
and slipped one of them on each foot of the Chief. The Chief
seemed to be wearing a pair of bear's hairless feet, instead
of bare feet, and he was puzzled at first as he looked at the
elk hide handcrafted by the Medicine Man.
"Chief," he said, "I
have found the way to cover the earth with leather for you!
My Chief from now on the earth will always be covered with leather."
And so it was the birth of the Moccasins.
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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