Hi, It's Frizzy Lizzy time

Hi, dear friends and followers, thank you for dropping by.
Today is Saturday and that means a visit to Frizzy Lizzy time, Please do join us

Hi, It's Frizzy Lizzy time

"Hi, Sarah! How's it going? Nice to see you this morning! How was your Thanksgiving Day? Really? Sure, I have fresh coffee and something other than pumpkin pie to get you started. Just leave your boots by the door and put the rest of you in a chair and we can talk."

"I'm glad that Charley and I had Thanksgiving together this year. That gave me a good reason to refuse my sister's invitation and stay home and have a pleasant day with Charley instead of a house full of drinking, burping, farting, and football.

"No, silly, I wasn't burping and farting! I didn't have to! Her sons-in-law did enough of that for me - and six other people!

Last time I was there they were playing cards while I was helping out in the kitchen and they got drunk, I mean inebriated, blotto, had a snoot full by the time we were ready to have dinner."

Now do you remember my little Dachshund? That's right, the black wiener dog, Sarge? You do?

Well, anyway, I had him with me and all was OK. He was the only dog there and he stayed out of the footpath.

So everyone eats, including the two sons-in-law, both of whom are lit like a Christmas tree before they start eating. They manage to get through supper without missing their mouths or spilling anything, I have to give them that much. All goes well, they have a few more beers, then the older one crawls into the recliner chair to watch football."

"Now this really piercing odor starts coming over toward the dining room and I can't figure where it's coming from. It was awful, like Satan melting brimstone! So I get really curious and I begin to think that it's the dog. Now what the hell am I going to do about that?

I can't tell the dog to stop farting. I can't give him a Beano pill because it's already too late for that. I can't put him outside because it's cold and icy, and if he sees another animal, he'll be off chasing it. So I try my best to scold him, nicely, of course, because the house is warm and full of people."

"So I go over by him and I give him a dose of 'Bad dog!', complete with finger wagging, and he looks at me with the quizzical look that all dogs give their humans when they have not the foggiest idea of why you are yelling at them. I tell him again, 'Bad dog!', and he turns his head sideways, maybe in the hope of getting a better understanding of why mommy sounds upset."

"Finally, I'm about ready to find my heavy winter jacket and put my boots on and take the little guy for an airing-out when I hear this KAA-RRRRRIP! Immediately my nose is assaulted by an odor of molten brimstone, so sharp that the little hairs in my nose are on fire! The dog looks up at me as if to say, "I told ya it wasn't me!"

"That lazy-assed, overfed, drunk-out-of-his-mind older son-in-law of hers is asleep, farting loud enough to need a permit and polluting the air badly enough to generate smog in the living room!

I apologized to Sarge and got my jacket and boots. A walk did both of us some good."

"So between turkeys stuffing themselves and fruitcakes getting blasted and farting like it's suddenly a new parlor game, I'm glad that I stayed here with Charley. We had a prime rib roast, garlic mashed potatoes, a nice, fresh salad, dessert, and a quiet night with only pleasant aromas.

I hope that your Thanksgiving was at least that good, Sarah."

Thank you again for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read Frizzy Lizzy. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it. Thank you and have a wonderful Saturday.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Legends of Native American Sauk people

Hi, dear friends and followers, thank you for dropping by. Today we visit the Sauk people.

We are now in Michigan, a place that became a territory in 1805 and a state in 1837. It was originally a part of the Northwest Territory that yielded the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The Potawatomie and Ojibwe held the greatest territorial influence in Michigan. Other tribes present were the Kickapoo, Sauk (also Sac), Fox, Kickapoo, Miami, and Menominee.

Today's stories feature two characters common to literature and tales throughout the world: the orphaned brother and sister who have nothing, but fortune smiles on them and their conditions improve. These legends surely qualify as "tall tales" because they take what is impossible or unheard of and reduce it to an everyday occurrence for the orphan protagonists.

Although these legends were selected and attributed to the Sauk People, they could have been told with little alteration by any number of prairie and plains-dwelling tribes. They were oral traditions that were first recorded by French missionaries working in the Upper Mississippi River Valley in 1637.

Pour yourself a warm drink, get comfortable, and enjoy three short stories featuring the orphaned boy and girl.

Legends of Native American Sauk people

1.
A hostile tribe caught sight of a camp of about four hundred Stoney lodges. They waited until night fall when all the Stoneys were asleep. Then they killed all except a young girl and her little brother, who hid in a dog-house.

After the Blackfoot were gone, the children came out of their hiding place, looked about and found that everyone was killed. The girl packed her belongings and set out with her brother to look for another Stoney band.

At sunset, the girl struck fire, and they lay down without any supper. The next morning the boy asked his sister to make a bow and arrows for him. She made two of the arrows with a blunt (?) point and strung the bow with sinew. Then they traveled all day again and went to bed supperless.

The boy grew perceptibly every day. He told his sister, "If I kill four rabbits, each of us will eat two." The girl agreed. The boy went off a little distance, found four rabbits in the brush, killed them, and brought them home. The girl asked how he had killed them, and he told her he had used the blunt (?) arrows. The girl skinned and roasted the rabbits. Then she said, "Let each of us eat one rabbit to-night and another in the morning." "No, each must eat two now, as I said." At last, the girl. agreed, and they ate up the rabbits.

In the morning the boy had grown again. "Sister," he said, "if I kill a moose, we'll have plenty of dry meat." He traveled some distance and shot a moose. He came home. "I have killed a big moose, but it is too heavy for me to turnover for skinning." The girl took her knife and helped him to skin it. Then he seized it by the legs and carried it to the fire. The next morning he had grown again. The boy made new arrows of larger size for himself, while the girl was preparing dried meat. Every day the orphan killed some game.

One night the boy began to sing, "Before we get up in the morning, I wish we had a new lodge with new furniture. What do you think?" His sister said she also desired a new lodge. In the morning the girl woke up first and found herself in a new, well-furnished lodge. She was very glad and roused her brother. Then she built a fire.

The boy said, "If I go hunting and some Indians carry you off in the meantime, what do you think of that?" She said, "Whatever you say, happens. Why do you speak like this?" The next morning he went to hunt, but did not kill any game. He stood on a hill, looking around until he got drowsy and fell asleep. In the meantime, some Indians came to the tent, stole their property and abducted the girl on horseback.

While the boy was sleeping, something spoke to him, saying, "People are stealing your sister and your lodge." He woke up and ran home as fast as he could. He was very angry. There was nothing left on the site of the lodge. He followed the enemy's tracks and from a ridge saw them traveling fast. He pursued them, but could not catch up; he only saw them from afar. Being exhausted, he called out, "I am weary; come, White-Horse-with-the-Black-Mane."

He walked on until he heard a voice behind. The white horse came singing. He jumped on it. It said, "Don't release my mane." Then it went as fast as a bird. When they got close to the enemy, he singled out his sister, took a blunt (?) arrow, pulled the bow-string three times, and the fourth time shot off the arrow, saying, "Pass around my sister." With two shots he killed all the people. He took his sister back.

She was crying, because the enemy had consumed all their provisions. "Don't cry, we'll get some more." He dismissed his horse and walked home with the girl. In the evening he said, "I wish to have a nice lodge at sunrise." The next morning they woke up in a fine lodge. He went hunting and killed some game. "Go, get that meat," he said to his sister. "How far is it? If it is very far, I won't be able to pack it." "Don't go to-day; wait until to-morrow, then I'll get you a horse to pack it on." In the morning the girl woke up and said, "Hurry up, get me the horse." The boy set out, found four horses by a spring, and brought them home. He gave two to the girl, and said, "When you pack this one, just tell him to go straight home." Thus he brought the meat back.

The boy was ashamed to be living alone with his sister. He said, "If any young man comes near when I am out to-morrow, bid him enter." He went away. The girl saw a young man by a nearby hillock and called him to her. They married. When the boy returned, he was glad to meet his brother-in-law, and presented him with all his property and his lodge.

The woman told her husband about her brother's doings. The young man had many friends whom he wished to see. "You had better come to my camp," he said to his wife and the orphan boy. "I'll get some more horses," replied the boy, and brought four pack-horses and three to ride on. His brother-in-law rode on ahead and told his father that he had found the orphans and had married the girl. He also told him about the boy's exploits. His father said, "Bring them here, I will give him my prettiest daughter."

Then the husband again invited his wife and his brother-in-law home. The woman asked her brother to marry her sister-in-law, and he was willing to do so. They arrived at the camp-circle, the old man as chief lodging in the center. The boy's brother-in-law gave him many fine presents. He gave him half of his horses. The orphan boy said, "I wish I had a new house in the morning," and the next day he had a fine lodge close to that of the chief.

2.
A young orphan boy was living with his sister. By his medicine he managed to kill beavers. In the winter he was in the habit of cutting the ice and putting his medicine in the water, then all the beavers would come out, and the boy caught them. Thus he obtained plenty of beaver-skins.

He would hear people trying to kill beavers, but they could not do it. When they gave up the attempt, he would go there and use his medicine, which he carried about his neck. Being very strong, he tied all the beavers to a sinew string and carried them home.

Once the other people tried to rob him, but he said, "Let me alone, these are my beavers." If they persisted, he seized their arms and broke them. He never told his sister where he went to hunt. When the people came back to camp with broken arms, the girl said, "You never told me about breaking their arms, you must set them again." The boy was paid well for treating the people. He just touched their arms, saying, "There is nothing wrong, "and they went home cured. All the people were afraid of him now.

One day, he said to the girl, " Perhaps a lot of people will come and carry you off together with our lodge." She asked, "Supposing they take me, what will you do?" "I will put a shell in the ground, go inside, and sing."

The people came and carried off the girl. They heard something within a shell. They tried to break it open by stamping on it, but only tore their feet. They tried to push it over, but could not do so. Then they just went away with the girl. The boy had two arrows. He shot them at the enemy, crying, "Avoid my sister!" The arrows killed everyone except the girl, whom her brother then took back again.

The boy went traveling. He heard a bear singing, "I am walking on the earth." The orphan sang, "I have met the stone." The bear heard him, and stopped singing. "What are you saying?" he asked. "I was not saying anything." "I want to know - what you were singing. How many times have you met the stone?" The bear was scared and fled, but the boy shot an arrow into his anus, splitting his back open and piercing his heart.

3.
An orphan boy and his sister were living together. The boy had a sinew string. During the daytime he was never home. "What do you do during the day? "his sister asked. "I am trying to ensnare the sun with my sinew."

One day he caught him and there was no day light. The girl asked, "What is the matter? Why is there no light?" "I have caught the sun." "You had better release him; if we don't see the daylight, we shall die."

The boy approached the sun, but it got too hot for him. He returned to his sister, and said, "I cannot free him, he is too hot." At last, he sent a small mouse to gnaw up the sinew. The mouse went close. All its hair was burnt up, nevertheless it gnawed the sinew in two. Then the sun was free, and there was daylight once more.

Thank you again for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read this Native American legend. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it Thank you and have a wonderful Thursday!

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

How Wisakatchekwa Got Into Some Trouble

Hi, dear friends and followers, thank you for dropping by. Today we visit the Illini people.

The Illini was quite a force in the territory of Illinois.  The map might not accurately show boundaries of any tribes in any given place because Native Americans had no borders or boundaries but it does show the degree of influence held by the Illini.

This was not a single tribe or people but was instead a confederation of peoples that included the Kaskaskia, the Cahokia, the Peoria, the Tamaroa, Moingwena, Michigamea, Albiui, Amonokoa, Chepoussa, Chinkoa, Coiracoentanon, Espeminkia, Maroa, Matchinkoa, Michibousa, Negawichi, and Tapouara.  At the time of European contact in the 17th century, they were believed to number over 10,000 people. They occupied a broad inverted triangle from modern-day Iowa to near the shores of Lake Michigan in modern Chicago, south to modern Arkansas.  By the mid-18th century, only five principal tribes remained—the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaroa.

Wisakatchekwa (Wisaka) is the benevolent culture hero of the prairie Algonquian tribes (sometimes referred to as a "transformer" by folklorists.)  His name is spelled so many different ways partially because these tribes speak several different languages, and partially because they were originally unwritten (so English speakers just spelled it however it sounded to them at the time).

Wisaka is a trickster character whose adventures are often humorous.  Unlike Plains Indian tricksters, Wisaka is usually portrayed as a good friend of humankind, not a dangerous or destructive being.

The details of Wisaka's life vary somewhat from community to community. Most often he is said to have been directly created by the Great Spirit.  (Some Kickapoo communities in Mexico identify Wisaka as the son of the Great Spirit, though this may be an influence from Christianity.)  In other traditions, Wisaka is born of a virgin mother and raised by his Grandmother Earth.  In some stories Wisaka is said to have created the first humans out of mud, while in others, the Great Spirit created people modelled on Wisaka, who then became their Elder Brother.  In many tribal traditions, Wisaka has a younger brother named Chibiabos or Yapata, who was killed by water spirits and became the ruler of the dead.

How Wisakatchekwa Got Into Some Trouble

Two old blind men lived together and had plenty of game. They were far off by themselves, they had no cook, not anything. They did their own cooking. They had a guide rope to the river where they got their water.

This Wisakatchekwa was traveling through the country by himself and ran onto these old people. And he asked them if they wouldn't let him stay with them, that he might do the cooking.  So the old men told him he might stay, and he stayed there quite awhile.

He asked them how they got their game, them being blind and never anyone close, but the old men never told him how they got it. He finally got tired of staying with them.  Then he told them, "I guess I'll travel on," and the old people told him, "You may go."  And when he left, he changed the guide rope to go to the steep bank. 

So after he was gone, one of the old men told the other, "I believe I'll go and get a bucket of water."  And he went and never came back for a long time.  Finally, the other fellow was uneasy.  He went out.  He fell into the river like the other.  And they had hard work to get out.  And they said, "That's some of our crazy grandson's doings."

By that time, Wisakatchekwa was far out of the country.  The old men said to one another, "We can draw him back by smoking a pipe."  So they filled a pipe and began making long draws of smoke.  And that drew Wisakatchekwa back to the house.

 When he got close to the house, how was he going to get along with them, and what were they going to do with him?

He found that the door was wide open.  He walked in quietly, and finally the old men said, "I believe our grandson is in the house."  Then one said to the other, "I believe I can smell our grandson."  And the other said, "Suppose we cause the door to be closed?"  And the door was closed so that Wisakatchekwa could not open it himself. 

 Then each got a spear and tried to spear Wisakatchekwa; they kept going around inside the house.  Finally, they could hear him.  They got him worn out.  Finally they could hit pretty close to him, and he began to get scared, as he could not get out.  Finally he made himself known to them.  And the old men asked him why he changed the guide rope to the water.  And he told them he changed that for himself and that he forgot to put the guide rope where it belonged when he left.  So he begged them not to kill him, that he would do anything in the world for them.  Then the old men let him go. He stayed with them a while longer.

One day while he was out hunting, the old men talked to themselves about it, how they could get rid of him.  Finally one of them proposed how to get rid of him.  So when he came back, the old men told him they could get along without him if he was of a mind to travel. 

The old man told him how they got so much game.  He said, "I will tell you how we get this game, and you can do the same.  You can go to some big lake.  There you will find all kinds of fowls and so on.  You must prepare a lot of string to tie from your waist to each bird.  Then you dive into one end of the lake. Dive from one bird to another.  Tie them by their feet.  Then, when you get as many as you want, you come up in the middle of the lake.  And you tell them, "You birds cannot always live in that lake."

Wisakatchekwa did just what the old man had told him. When he attached himself to the birds with the string, they began to fly.  But instead of holding them down as the old man told him, they raised him out of the water.   He had so many birds of all kinds.  They carried him so many days.  He wondered how he ever could get down.  He had nothing to cut the strings with.  Finally he asked for the strings to be all broken, and the strings were all broken from the birds.

Then he came down.  He was up high when he was coming down.  He lit his pipe and smoked several times, and he could finally see the earth.  He began to wonder where he was going to fall, in deep water or in a deep hollow full of leaves.  Instead, he fell into a hollow tree, and he was in there several days and could not get out.

 Finally some people camped close by. Women were out hunting for dry wood.  They saw a big tree.  They imagined it was hollow.  They went there and began to pound on it, and they could hear something run up and down in the hollow tree.  They thought it might be a bear, and they cut a little hole, and sure enough they could see some black hair.  It was Wisakatchekwa's [body] hair. 

 Then the women went back to the camp and told the men that they thought they had found a bear in a hollow tree.  Then the men went out to prepare to kill the bear.  They cut the tree down, and before that tree began to fall,  Wisakatchekwa began to be frightened.   He began to talk to them, and when they cut the tree down, then he came out.  That was the only way he had a chance to get out.

(As told by George Washington Finley to Truman Michelson, 1916; after Knoepfle 1993. George Washington Finley (1858-1932) was the last full-blooded Piankashaw Indian. He was raised as a Peoria and was one of the last speakers of the Peoria language.)  

Thank you again for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read this Native American legend.  I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it  Thank you and have a wonderful Thursday!

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Pandora's Enchantment Part 2

Hi dear friends and followers, thank you for dropping by, Today is Wednesday, poem day. I wish to present to you another Poem titled, Pandora's Enchantment. So take five and relax and have a read. Enjoy

Pandora's Enchantment Part 2

Click on link below to review Part 1

Pandora's Enchantment Part 1

A soft, green light drifted through the woods;

it illumined the grove

where the prince had slept.

A delicate hand brushed his sleeping cheek.

He awoke with a start and took to arms,

eyes open, feet solid, ready, he was,

for whatever it was that he saw as a threat.

But he was not ready for this adversary!

Before him stood, or rather, hovered in air,

three small beings, in a green glow bathed.

As their radiance faded,

they descended, softly,

to stand on the ground

before the dumbstruck prince.

Through his befogged mind

he heard them speak thus:

"We are emissaries of Queen Vare.

Our Queen has sent us

to intervene.

Please move quickly, your Highness!

The air here is charged

with the energy of

someone's dark and evil magic."

"If you will, your Highness,

please follow us."

The beings descended and walked before him

shaped as three swordsmen,

complete in all ways.

'twas only by stature

that they were enchanted.

To the prince's knee

their full height was!

Yea, small, but with swords

as lethal as any man has felt.

Swiftly they moved, and with agility,

in places where none save rabbits could go.

The passage was harder

for the much taller prince,

who, hacking his way where the others ran,

continued forward, sword in hand.

They fought with the woods

for an interminable time.

Until before them they saw

a lush, verdant valley;

the prince was in awe!.

Gentle slopes, laden

with blossoms so fair,

some with colors and aromas

he had ever experienced before.

The blooms bobbed lightly

in the warm, fair breeze,

their aroma filling the air,

transforming its very essence

into a sweetness such that

he felt he could drift away,

and stay in the ecstasy

of the pure divinity

of this strange land.

Suddenly, a shift in the wind

caught the three swordsmen

and the noble prince as well;

in a cloud of vapor it swallowed them up!

They rose in a spiral, and continued to rise

until all became still and the mist withdrew.

“This is not the green valley, the place so fair.

I have traveled to a place but I know not where!”

The prince and his companions

were afraid to move

as around them a heavy mist stood.

All around them was foliage,

lush, verdant, and green,

but not like the blossoms

they had earlier seen.

“Where on Earth can I be?,”

the Prince asked himself.

Intrepid, but prudent,

he waited in stealth

to see this place

upon which he had landed

and what sort of person

its people commanded.

The mist slowly parted;

he saw land's ragged edge.

As the mist drew back further,

the ocean beckoned to him.

It was there with whitecaps

and waves a-plenty,

but far below him!

Not just below,

as in a mountain or cliff,

but further below

than the eagles fly!

“I am having a dream,

or my mind is ill!” thought the Prince

as his visage fell.

Away from the land's end

the prince did fly.

He was on an island in the sky!

For a distance he walked

towards the island's center (he hoped!)

and saw a building of stone

with golden spires.

Solid and gleaming

it sat like a jewel.

The Prince prayed that its keeper

would bid him well.

To its massive doors he walked

and was received without their fear.

He was alien in their land,

just one against their many.

Inside the fortress-like structure,

he was guided to a room,

large and lighted softly,

not by candle or torch,

but with a soft light that seemed

to emit from its walls.

So strange was this place

he thought, “Magic, of course!”

He was led to a chair

and motioned to sit.

Upon taking his seat,

his swordsmen left him,

floating in the air,

just as they had come.

It felt like eternity

but they returned to the Prince

with a woman'like being,

clad in fine purple

and linen and gold.

Her face was thin, with almond eyes;

vibrant green, they were; they betrayed her not.

She floated to the room in a throne-like chair

with smaller beings, each a their own vibrant color,

servants hovering to her right and left.

A sweet sound, like that of songbirds, filled the air. 

“If there is a paradise, this must be it,”

the Prince thought.

He pinched himself to ascertain its reality,

the reality that he would sit afore,

the ancient, legendary Queen Vare,

Queen of the land of Nepenthe!

His mind had no image that 

this was where

the Wizard of Deluca's directions

had been for him to follow,

He had not truly believed

in the wizard's disclosure,

that such a place truly existed.

The Queen spoke,

and the room lit up

in soft, fluidic light;

colors flashing on the walls all around,

like to sunbeams reflected on the surface of a pond!

Birds sang their strange, enchanting melodies!

More smaller beings floated into the room,

from other places within the sky palace!

She tapped her staff once and all fell silent.

“Come forward, young prince.

I have been waiting for you.”

He stammered and said,

“Yes, and I have arrived, your honor;”

then clearly intoned, “I am at your service!”

He knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

“My dear boy, if you wish to go back to your Kingdom,

it will not be without risk.

However, you have another choice:

you may live here, but never must you stray

for if you do, the curse will return.

Not just upon you,

but on your kingdome as well.”

“Here, I have an amulet which contains inside

the power to overcome Pandora and her pride.

But you must never look into her eyes.

Make that mistake and you shall pay

for eternity in Hades as her slave.

This will also free her from her childhood curse,”

The Queen stretched her long, slim arm

and placed the amulet gently into

the Prince's right hand.

Though the Queen had

some insect-like features,

her beauty, like her dominion,

was singular, unto herself.

Composed by Cynthia©

End of part 2, Part 3 will be announced in advance. 

Thank you again for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read my poem. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it, thank you and have a wonderful Wednesday.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿ 

How the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ottawa Became One People

Hi dear friends and followers, today we visit the Potawatomi People

The Potawatomi People shared the land in what was once the Indiana Territory which became the state of Indiana on December 11, 1816.

The legend that follows here may not be the stuff that tall tales are made of at all as other tribes and nations of Native Americans, including the Iroquois, Powhatan, and Seminole, learned to live together peacefully in a confederation.

This legend is a morality tale and has elements that is are parts of the Iroquois Confederation in it. Can you guess what they might be?

How the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ottawa Became One People

A long, long time ago, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Ottawa people were enemies. An Ojibwe man had ten children, all boys. He brought them up to be warriors and all ten sons were killed in battle. There was also an Ottawa man who had ten sons who were warriors, and they too were all killed. At the same time, a Potawatomi man had his ten sons killed in raids as well. Each father was left without children. All three men mourned their sons and could not see the point in living any longer. They wandered away from their tribes and into the woods, looking for a place to die.

The Ojibwe man traveled west until he was completely exhausted. As he came to a place to rest, he saw a tree which had a long root running toward the east. The root was as long as a tree is tall, and very thick. He laid down and rested awhile, and then looked towards the south. There he saw another very long root-as long as the one which went to the east-running toward the south. He went to the west and north sides of the tree and found two other roots, each as long as a tree is high. All around the tree, the grass grew long and rich. He walked around the tree until he had come to the east, he realized that the four roots pointed exactly in the four directions.

As he looked up at the tree, he realized that there were also four huge branches, one to the East, one to the West, one to the South and one to the North. The tree had beautiful leaves, but only had these four branches, each extending out as far as the roots. As he examined the tree, he could also see that the tree had a big root that ran straight down into the earth and a huge branch that went up from the center straight to the sky. There were no leaves on that branch until the very top, and then there only a few. All around the tree he could see the blue sky, and there was no wind or breeze.

As the Ojibwe man walked around the tree, he was happy and forgot all of his sorrow at losing his sons. He had never seen so beautiful a place. As he sat there, he heard a noise like someone crying. He looked around, but didn’t see anyone. At last he saw a man walking toward the tree, weeping and mourning just as he had earlier. He saw that the newcomer was an old man, just like him, and that he approached the tree from the south. As the newcomer came to the spot, he saw how beautiful it was and stopped crying. He looked around and noticed all the things about the tree and then he saw the first man. He saw that the man was mourning, and asked him why.

The Ojibwe man, who was sitting at the base of the great tree, said, "I had ten sons and I lost them all in war. I decided I had nothing left to live for and wandered until I came to this beautiful place." The other man, an Ottawa, said, "I did the same as you. I had ten sons and they were all killed and I did not wish to live. I wandered off to die and came to this place."

They talked over the past, and while they were talking they forgot their sorrow and felt happy. While they talked, they heard the noise of a person crying. Far off they saw a man approaching, mourning and crying. It was an old man, about the same age as the other two, and as he walked along wearily. They watched him as he came from the west and approached the west root of the tree. He stopped and examined the root, and he began to notice how beautiful the tree and the place was and wiped away his tears. As he came up to the tree, the Ojibwe man and the Ottawa man asked him who he was and why he was mourning. He answered that he was a Potawatomi and that he mourned his ten sons lost in war. Like them, he had wandered off to die.

They each told their stories and saw that the same thing had brought them to this place. The Ojibwe man said, "It is the will of the Great Spirit that has brought us here to meet."

They all agreed. They walked around and explored the place together, and saw that the air was very still and calm around the tree. It was very quiet and it seemed to them that every word they spoke could be heard by the spirits. Together they said, "The spirits have sent us here to hold council together. There has been too much fighting in our lives."

The Ojibwe man said, "I think I had better go back to my people." The Ottawa man agreed, saying, "Yes, I think it has been wrong for us to fight all the time. We have suffered and neglected our children. It is best for us to go home." And the Potawatomi man said, "All this is true. It is wrong to allow all these people to die because of the fighting between us. We should all go home, and stop the fighting between our tribes and live in peace."

They lit their pipes and smoked, agreeing on what they had said. They talked a long while. As they smoked and talked, the Ojibwe man-having been the first to get to the tree-felt he had a right to speak first. "Our people should unite as one. I will be the eldest brother. And the Ottawa will be our second brother. And you, Potawatomi, will be the youngest brother." They all agreed.

The Ojibwe man said, "My brothers, I will make a pipe and a stem for it. When I get home, I will present it to my people. I will tell them that I had ten children who were all killed in war; but I will wash that away. I will paint the stem of the pipe blue, like the sky, and we will use this pipe when we make peace with other nations."

And the Ottawa man said, "I will do the same. I will remind my people of my sons, and I will have them quit fighting."

The Potawatomi said, “I too will make a pipe of peace. I will call a council of our people and tell them of our resolution, and explain the foolishness of allowing our people to be killed."

The Ojibwe said again, "It is good. Our spirits have brought us together at this point, and have brought us to agreement." They agreed that in ten days they would all meet and bring their tribes to the roots of the tree, and at these roots their tribes would live, each sheltered by one of the great branches. And then they all went their separate ways home.

When he got home, the Ojibwe man took tobacco and put it in his pipe. He was not a chief, only an old man. He took the pipe to the Chief and told him that it was the pipe of peace. The Chief smoked it with him. The old man told all his people to make peace. He told all the head chiefs of different Ojibwe bands to take the pipe, and to tell his story and to explain that the pipe was to be used in friendship. The smoke from the tobacco would soothe and purify their hearts and maintain peace. The older people, who had learned the lesson of peace through their losses, would teach the messages to the younger people, who would carry it on. The same thing happened with the Ottawa and the Potawatomi.

Ten days later, they brought their people to the roots of the beautiful tree. As they all got there, each set up camp on one root of the tree. The Ojibwe man brought a chunk of wood, and so did the Ottawa man and the Potawatomi man. Together, they started a common fire and brought food so they could cook together. As they began cooking, they took tobacco and lit the pipe of the Ojibwe man from the fire they had built together. They were going to offer the pipe to their chiefs to smoke together, but they thought that they should it first offer the pipe to the Great Spirit who had brought them together. They pointed the pipe stem straight up in the air by the tree. Then they pointed the stem to the East and offered it to the spirit of the east. Then they pointed to the south and offered it to the spirit of the south and then to the spirit of the west and lastly to the spirit of the north. Then they turned the stem down toward the central root of the great tree, offering it to the spirit that keeps the earth from sinking in the water.

After this, they offered the pipe to the Ojibwe Chief and he smoked it, and passed it to the braves and warriors. They all smoked. The man of the Ottawa tribe did the same, as did the Potawatomi tribe. After that, they all lived as one people, and said "We will keep this fire to represent our bond with each other, and the Potawatomi will be keepers of this sacred fire.” The three old men made rules for the people to live together, and presented them as a path that their people must follow. From the point at which they met under the tree, they must live always in peace and friendship. From that time forward, they kept their rules and the three tribes lived in peace and intermarried with each other and came to be almost as one people.

Thank you for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read these interesting legends. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it, thank you and have a wonderful day.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿