pahinhwinh
pahinhwinh
Joined:
June 11, 2009
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Post subject: How Strawberries Came to Us |
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This was told to me by a Tsalgi female after a Sun Dance up here in Lakota country. She said it came from her people.
A long time ago, First Man & First Woman had been living fine in their lodge but one day, they got into an argument. First Woman was so upset, she left!
First Man didn't get too upset; he figured she'd come back by nightfall. But she didn't. And she didn't come back the next day, or the next day, until several days and nights had passed. First Man thought, "She's stubborn, but she's also warm, & soft in the right places, & she has her ways.. I guess I should look for her."
He went first to Grandfather West Wind, but He hadn't seen her. He asked all the spirits of the West about First Woman, but they hadn't seen her either. He told First Man they'd watch for her & if they saw her, they'd let him know. First Man thanked the West & went to the North to seek First Woman.
Grandfather North Wind hadn't seen First Woman, and neither had any of the Spirits of the the North, but they told First Man they'd watch for her & let him know if they saw or heard her. First Man thanked the North & went to East to continue seeking First Woman.
Grandfather Easr Wind hadn't seen First Woman, and neither had any of the Spirits of the the East, but they told First Man they'd watch for her & let him know if they saw or heard her. First Man was starting to worry, because he only had one Direction left. So he went to South, seeking First Woman.
Grandfather South Wind hadn't seen First Woman, and neither had any of the Spirits of the the South, but they told First Man they'd watch for her & let him know if they saw or heard her. First Man was worried, now. He went back to their lodge to wait & pray.
Meanwhile, First Woman, who had made a new lodge for herself deep in the woods, began to think about First Man. He's terribly stubborn, she thought, but he's warm, & has nice muscles, and he makes life easier often. She thought maybe she should go and check on him.
Besides, only little people don't apologize, and she couldn't remember why they had argued.
But - when she went to look for the trail, it was gone. As she looked around for a clue to it, she spotted a pretty plant with white flowers & red berries, growing close to the ground. She tried a tiny bite of the fruit, thinking "if it's poison, a tiny bite won't really hurt me.." She found it to be sweet & tart & very good. After awhile, she felt fine, so she ate it, & looked for another. It was a short way from the first one..
Then the next one was further.. First Woman kept finding these berries & eating them & when she looked up, she was at the edge of the original lodge yard, and First Man was standing there looking at her.
He said, "You've been gone a long time." She replied, "I lost my trail. I was picking these red berries & found myself here."
But then, First Woman realized she had A Problem. She had eaten every berry & could see no more. She couldn't make a proper apology without any gift for First Man..
She told him this, & said, "maybe we can work this out?"
He replied, "I found these berries too. I saved one for you in case you came back." And he offered it to First Woman.
Now First Woman had another dilemma. If she refused the berry, they would still be at odds. If she ate it all, she would be selfish. So she took a bite of the berry & offered the rest to First Man, who accepted it, and so their argument was resolved.
To this day, when the Tsalagi People want to apologize or end an argument, they give each other strawberries. And that is how strawberries came to be.
What have you done today to help heal the Sacred Hoop, of which you, too, are a part? |
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