A hunter had been all day looking for deer in the mountains without success until he was completely tired out and sat down on a log to rest and wonder what he should do, when a buzzard, a bird which always has magic powers, came flying overhead and spoke to him. asking him what was […]
Tag: north america
Never Kill an Eagle, he will be revenged
Once a hunter in the mountains heard a noise at night like a rushing wind outside the cabin, and on going out he found that an eagle had just alighted on the drying pole and was tearing at the body of a deer hanging there. Without thinking of the danger, he shot the eagle. In […]
How the Turkey Vulture lost his head feathers
WHY THE BUZZARD’S HEAD IS BARE The buzzard used to have a line topknot, of which he was so proud that he refused to eat carrion, and while the other birds were pecking at the body of a deer or other animal which they had found he would strut around and say: “You may have […]
Why you should never have a Hooting Owl for a husband
A widow with one daughter was always warning the girl that she must be sure to get a good hunter for a husband when she married. The young woman listened and promised to do as her mother advised. At last a suitor came to ask the mother for the girl, but the widow told him […]
How the Crane beat the Hummingbird, but not found love
The Hummingbird and the Crane were both in love with a pretty woman. She preferred the Hummingbird, who was as handsome as the Crane was awkward, but the Crane was so persistent that in order to get rid of him she finally told him he must challenge the other to a race and she would […]
The origins of the Cherokee Pheasant Dance
The Pheasant once saw a woman beating corn in a wooden mortar in front of the house. “I can do that, too,” said he, but the woman would not believe it, so the Pheasant went into the woods and got upon a hollow log and drummed with his wings, as a pheasant does, until the […]
How the Kingfisher got his long bill
Some old men say that the Kingfisher was meant in the beginning to be a water bird, but as he had not been given either web feet or a good bill, so he could not make a living. The animals held a council over it and decided to make him a bill like a long […]
The Turkey Vulture in Cherokee medicine
The buzzard (Turkey Vulture) is said to have had a part in shaping the earth, as was narrated in the genesis myth. It is reputed to be a doctor among birds, and is respected accordingly, although its feathers are never worn by ball players, for fear of becoming bald. Its own baldness is accounted for […]
The Golden Eagle, the sacred bird of the Cherokee bird tribes
The eagle is the great sacred bird of the Cherokee, as of nearly all our native tribes, and figures prominently in their ceremonial ritual, especially in all things relating to war. The particular species prized was the golden or war eagle (Aquila chrystaetus), called by the Cherokee the ” pretty-feathered eagle.” on account of its […]
How Raven found and lost his pretty wife Goose
For a long time Raven lived alone, but finally became tired of this and decided to take a wife. For this purpose he looked about and noticed that it was late in the fall and that the birds were going soutliward in large flocks. Then Raven flew away and stopped directly in the path taken […]