Indians of North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
When a babe Chief Logan was brought by his father to Fort Augusta in
1742, to be baptized by the Moravian missionaries. Hence his American
name, which is famous in history and romance.
There was another Chief Logan who was for a time chief among the
Delawares. This chief lost an eye in a battle and was then deprived of
his position, as a chief must be physically perfect.
History has preserved the names of numbers of Indians famous in war and
peace.
Samoset, who greeted the Pilgrims with the cordial “Welcome,
Englishmen,” is one of the first on the list. Squanto, Massasoit,
Canonicus, Miantonomoh are well known in New England history. These are
the names of men who kept their promises and fought bravely for their
white friends.
King Philip saw the ruin of his country and people and commanded an
uprising. He was a terrible warrior, and his name is both famous and
infamous. Tecumseh, Red Cloud, Black Hawk, and others are well known in
western history. These names and hundreds of others are kept in memory
as the names of cities, rivers, or lakes.
A NAVAJO MEDICINE CHANT
The Navajos give a medicine dance and chant a long song when a sick
person asks for this service. This chant is the story in song of the
capture and escape of a young Navajo brave. He is helped by his
people’s gods, who are like the creatures that live in his own country.
This is the part of the chant telling of his escape:
“He came to the house of the Butterfly. It was filled with butterflies
and rainbows.
“Kacluge, the great Butterfly, welcomed him to his lodge. His wife took
the young brave by the hand. He was welcome.
“She left the room, but came back with a great pearl dish in her hand.
It was a sea-shell filled with water. She gave him soapweed. He washed
and was white. He dried his hands with meal and painted his face with
white earth; then he was fair as a white man.
“Kacluge gave him fine white moccasins. He gave him a collar of beaver
skin, and a whistle to call for help.
“His arms looked like wings, for plumed prayer-sticks were fastened to
them in the Butterfly’s lodge.
“The young man was no longer tired. He was strong again, and like a
white butterfly in beauty. Kacluge fed him with white corn meal mixed
with pure water. He slept in the house of the Butterfly.
“In the morning the young Navajo stepped on the white sand. The wife of
the Butterfly put two burning lines of white lightning before his feet.
He stepped upon these, and his white moccasins fastened to the
lightning.
“‘Now,’ said the Butterfly, ‘the lightning is yours; follow where it
leads.’
“With one step he stood on a high hill. He saw a flash of lightning
fill the valley.
“‘It is the trail I must follow,’ said the young Navajo. Across the
valley, on the trail of the lightning, he ran to the mountains; and
now, pure in face, in heart, and with white feet, the lightning led him
home.”
Adapted from Powell’s Report.
HOW THE CAVE PEOPLE FOUND DRY LAND ON THE EARTH
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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