Long ago the humans and the animals got along fine. All the peoples, human and animal, could
communicate with each other and were at peace. The animals of that long-ago
time were much larger than the animals of today. Indeed, the animals of today
are but shadows of those who once were.
There came a time when we humans forgot our place and broke
the harmony. We humans began to reproduce at an alarming rate, and we gave
ourselves to the production of all sorts of weapons meant for the destruction
of the animals: spears and atlatls, bows and arrows, blowguns and traps of all
kinds. We began to hunt, not just for food, but simply for the fun of killing.
We humans also killed many animals just by pure carelessness, never stopping to
think of the results of our actions. Even as we walked from place to place, we
were not careful where we stepped, so that many of the tiny many-legged and
legless ones were crushed to death or maimed. Some humans went so far as to
purposely kill little animals merely from a feeling of disgust or loathing,
going out of their way to step on a bug or squash a harmless spider. It was clear
that we humans believed ourselves to be the only ones who mattered in all of
creation, and as we continued clearing land and building our cities; it looked
as if there would soon be no more room for anyone else to live in the earth.
The animals decided something had to be done about this
human problem. The bears met separately from the other animals. The Great White
Bear, presiding at the council asked, “What’s the problem?”
“It’s these humans; they kill us indiscriminately.”
“How do they kill us?”
“With bows and arrows.”
“Of what are their bows made?”
“The bow of locust wood and the bowstring of our guts.”
The bears decided they would make bows of their own with
which to kill the humans. They got some locust wood, and one of the bears
sacrificed himself to give material for the bowstring. When the bow was
finished and arrows were made, one of the bears stood up to shoot. He could
pull the string, but releasing it was a problem. His long claws would get hung
and throw him off target. The other bears, ducking his wild arrows, cried out,
“Stop, stop. Something must be done. We’ll cut your claws.”
After the bear’s claws were cut, he could shoot a bow as
well as any man. “Now the humans have had it!” all the bears said. “We will
hunt them, as they have hunted us! All we have to do is cut our claws.”
“Wait!” said the Great White Bear. “How is it that we bears
make our living?”
“By climbing trees to get honey and by ripping open rotten
logs to find insects and by digging in the earth for rodents and by catching
fish.”
“How do we do all these things?”
“With our long claws.”
The bears understood that if they cut their claws they could
no longer make a living as bears and would starve to death. The idea to hunt
the humans with bows and arrows was scrapped, and they never came up with
another solution.
All the other animals came together in a joint council to
discuss the human problem. The Grubworm presided at the council. After all, it
was his people, the little creeping and crawling peoples of the earth, who had
suffered most from the actions of the humans. The animals all sat in a circle.
The talking stick was passed, giving each an opportunity to speak. The Toad
said, “Something must be done. These humans despise me. They are forever
kicking me or throwing things at me, because they think I am ugly. Just look at
all the bumps they’ve put on my back!”
One of the little birds rose and said, “Although I’m too
small to provide much meat, their little boys kill my people and roast us over
the fire until our feathers and feet are burned off.” One after the other, the
animals spoke of atrocities committed by the humans. The only one with nothing
to say against the humans was the little chipmunk, who was too small to be
hunted for food and too quick to be stepped on. When he spoke in defense of the
humans, the other animals jumped on him and gave him such a scratching down his
back that the stripes are there to this day!
Once it was established that something must be done about
the humans in order to save the rest of creation, the floor was open for
discussion of what to do. It was finally decided that each of the animal peoples
would come up with at least one disease with which to inflict the humans, in
order to kill most of them and to teach the rest some respect. Various animals
attending the council agreed to come up with every sort of ailment from cancer
to p.m.s. When the Grubworm heard this last one, he laughed so hard he fell
over backwards and has been crawling around like that ever since.
So, all the animals went their separate ways to meet in
council, each with their own kind, to work out the details of what they would
do. The deer met in council, with their chief, Little Deer, presiding. The deer
understood the humans to be a pitiful and needy people who live only by the
deaths of others. For this reason, the deer decided to allow the humans to
continue killing some deer each year, but only what is needed for food, NEVER
FOR SPORT. Furthermore, a human hunter, upon killing a deer, is required to
show respect for the spirit of the deer by begging the deer’s pardon and making
a proper tobacco offering. And so, Little Deer, the chief and adawehi of all
the deer will come. Swiftly and invisibly he will come to the place where the
deer has died. Gently he will bend down over the blood. In a whisper, he will
ask the spirit of the slain deer, “Did this hunter treat you with respect? Did
he beg your pardon? Did he offer tobacco?”
If the answer is, “Yes,” all is well, and Little Deer will
go on his way. But if the answer is, “No,” Little Deer will track that hunter
to his home. There, Little Deer will strike that hunter with rheumatism, which
he may never hunt again!
Word was sent to the human people, and we Cherokees have not
forgotten this treaty with the deer.
And so, many diseases came into the earth. Many people died.
For a while, it looked as though maybe no humans would survive in the earth.
The great cities were forgotten and fell into ruin.
The plant peoples who saw all of this, also elected to come
together and meet in council. Deciding to take pity on us humans, each plant
agreed to give of itself to provide medicine for at least one human disease or
ailment. All we humans had to do was ask in a respectful way.
Source:thespiritscience.net
