the story of the milky way
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The story of the Milky Way.( A Cherokee Anecdote.)
Along time ago, when there was a lot of unanswered questions, it was custom to listen to the elders teach morals in the form of a story.
In the beginning, when there was only one star in the sky and Grandma would stay up late doing all the traditional things that the woman of a tribe would do, such as tuck the little ones in, clean and prepare for the next days meal. She noticed,”SOMEBODY HAS STOLEN SOME OF THE CORNMEAL OUT OF THE STORAGE!”
The next morning, Grandma asked all the little ones; “Who could have done such a thing?”Of course, right away everyone said;“NOT ME!”
Hmm, This was truly a mystery, Grandma thought.Grandson! Grandma asked;“Tonight, you are going to camp out next to our storage and you will watch out for the thief who has been taking our cornmeal.”The Grandson said;“Should I bring a weapon, Grandma?”Grandma said;”No, we will plan together how to deal with this hungry creature of this planet!”
So, that night the brave young boy camped out. And to his surprise, he saw something that he
has never saw before!
Digging deep into the cornmeal storage and stealing was a glowing ahnimoosh!The Thief was a dog!And it was made of what looked like stars!The Grandson thought to himself;” How am I going to tell Grandma and the others?”
Grandma, Grandma! The grandson woke up everyone!He told everyone what he had seen that night and asked his grandma;”Is this dog a magic dog?”Grandma said;” No, this dog is a spirit dog and may have great power!
We must be very careful tonight! Said; Grandma.”And bring all your drums and turtleshell rattles here!Now, listen said;”Grandma.”Tonight we are going to wait for the spirit dog by the cornmeal bin and when we see it…………..
We will make a great noise!
So, after dark, they all went and waited, and waited, and waited.
Then suddenly, The great spirit dog appeared!Don’t be afraid! Said;”Grandma.”Just wait until I say go and then…………..
Now! Shouted the Grandma! Then everyone shouted and played their drums and turtleshell rattles.And the spirit dog ran off into the woods and all the tribe chases the spirit dog into the dark.
With cornmeal falling out of its mouth, the spirit dog runs deep into the woods and on top of a hill and then..
The spirit dog leaps and runs across the sky!All the cornmeal that was in the spirit dogs mouth turned into a star and left behind a bright band of light across the night sky!
And that is how the cherokee explain the milky way in the form of a story!
Story wrote and illustrated by:Joseph Bruchac and Gayle Ross.
