TRADITIONAL STORIES & POEMS

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THEME FOR THIS MONTH: SPIDERS


Native American International

Submitted by The Echota Cherokees




G R A N D M O T H E R   S P I D E R
S T E A L S   T H E   S U N

[ Submitted by The Echota Cherokees ]

In the beginning there was only blackness, and nobody could see anything. People Kept bumping into each other and groping blind. Theysaid: "What this world needs is light."
   Fox said he knew some people on the other side of the world who had plenty of light, but they were too greedy to share it with others. Possum said he would be glad to steal a little of it. "I have a bushy tail," he said. "I can hide the light inside all that fur." Then he set out for the other of the world. There he found the sun hanging in a tree and lighting everything up. He sneaked over to the sun, picked out a tiny piece of light, and stuffed it into his tail. But the light was hot and burned all the fur off. The people discovered his theft and took back the light, and ever since, Possum's tail has been bald.
   "Let me try," said Buzzard. "I know better than to hide a piece of stolen light in my tail. I'll put it on my head." He flew to the other side of the world and, diving straight into the sun, seized it in his claws. He put it on his head, but it burned his head feathers off. The People grabbed the sun away from him, and every since that time Buzzard's head has remained bald.
   Then Grandmother Spider said, "Let me try!" First she made a thick-walled pot out of clay. Next she spun a web reaching all the way to the other side of the world. She was so small that none of the people there noticed her coming. Quickly Grandmother Spider snatched up the sun, put it in the bowl of clay, and scrambled back home along one of the strands of her web. Now her side of the world had light,and everyone rejoiced.
   Spider Woman brought not only the sun to the Cherokee, but fire with it. And besides that, she taught the Cherokee people the art of pottery making.

- From a tale reported by James Mooney in the 1890s


Legend of the Dream Catcher


  Long ago when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision.
  In his vision, Iktomi, the great teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider.
  Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language that only the spiritual leaders could understand.
  As he spoke Iktomi, the spider, the spider, took the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it and began to spin a web.
  He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life...and how we begin our lives as infants and we move on to childhood, and then to adulthood. Finally, we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle.
  "But," Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces-some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer in the right direction. But if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you and steer you in the wrong direction."
  He continued, "There are many forces and different directions that can help or interfere with the harmony of nature, and also with the great spirit and all his wonderful teachings."
  All the while the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web starting from the outside and working towards the center.
  When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said..."See, the web is a perfect circle but there is a hole in the center of the circle."
  He said, "see the web to help yourself and your people to reach your goals and make good use of your people's ideas, dreams and visions.
  "If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas-and the bad ones will go through the hole."
  The elder passed on his vision to his people and now the Sloux Indians use the dream catcher as a web of their life.
  It is hung about their beds or in their home to sift their dreams and visions.
  The good in their dreams are captured in the web of life and carried with them...but the evil in their dreams escapes through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer part of them.
  They believe that the dream catcher holds the destiny of their future.

Submitted and Read by Lupe Siniard


HOW MR. SPIDER'S WAIST GOT TINY
(A Traditional Story from Liberia, Africa)
Totumoh Reeves of Liberia
(Totumoh has an audio in "Liberian English" of this story
which we hope to soon have digitized)
This is the story of Mr. Spider.

Mr. Spider is the craftiest of all animals in the forest and also the greediest. One day it was heralded throughout the forest that Bush Hog's coming out party was on the same day as Red Deer's birthday bash. The forest was abuzz as all of the animals tried to decide which one of the parties they would attend. Eventually, the news reached Mr. Spider, who in his greediness, devised a plan to attend both occasions. Spider called in his best friends Ground Hog and Pepper Bird to help him. This was the plan. Spider would tie a very long string about his waist. Ground Hog would go to one party taking along an end of the string. Pepper Bird would go in the opposite direction, to the other party, taking the other end of the string. They were to pullon the string, telling spider which party began first. Spider planned to go and eat his full until he felt a tug on the other end. He would then proceed to the other party and eat his full there too. The morning of the party came and Ground Hog and Pepper Bird took their ends of the string and each proceeded to a party, while Spider sat at home, waiting for a tug. What Spider did not know was that both parties also began at the same time. At three o'clock sharp, Ground Hog and Pepper Bird both began to pull on their strings. They both wondered why Spider was not coming. They thought he could not feel the tug, so they pulled harder. The harder they pulled, the smaller Spider's waist became. Ground Hog and Pepper Bird pulled until both parties were over. By that time Spider's waist had gotten very tiny indeed. That is how Spider's waist got so tiny.

Moral: Greediness is not good.

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Read by Paeko Horwitz originally from Tokyo, Japan.
Submitted and translated by K. Oshida of
The Japanese Cultural Center, University of Alabama

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