The Legend of the Big White Dog and the Sacred Pole

The Legend of the Big White Dog and the Sacred Pole

Hi dear friends and followers.
Our last legend was taken from the Choctaw People, a dominant tribe in the state of Alabama. If you go back to that legend and the map included with it, you will see that they shared that land with the Chickasaw People. This legend explains how that came to be and was borrowed directly from the official website of the Chickasaw Nation. I have not changed a word of it.

The Legend of the Big White Dog and the Sacred Pole

About the Author: Reverend Humes was born November 25, 1887 at Tishomingo, Indian Territory, the old capital of the Chickasaw Nation. In July of 1935, at the age of forty-seven, he became a Methodist minister and served faithfully not only his own people, but also the Choctaws until his retirement in affairs and welfare of his fellow Indians. This highly respected senior citizen was one of the eight members of Chickasaw Governor Overton James Advisory Council. Reverend Humes and his wife made their home at Wapanucka, Oklahoma, some twenty miles northeast of Tishomingo.

When statehood came to Oklahoma in 1907, my people, the Chickasaws, were living in an area between Red River and the Canadian River in what was then the southwestern part of Indian Territory. That area today is the south-central part of Oklahoma.

The land in Indian Territory had not always been home to them, however. Only since the 1830s, when the heartbreaking Treaties of the Removal forced them west of the Mississippi River, had the Chickasaw people resided in this location.

Before that time, the Chickasaw's vast domain had extended northward from the northern portions of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama to the Ohio River and eastward from the Mississippi River to the headwaters of Elk River in what is now the state of Tennessee.

That was the old homeland of the Chickasaw Indians. That was where my people were living when the first Europeans--De Soto and his party--passed through their country in the winter of 1540 and '41 on their way to discovering the Mississippi River. That was the land on which my ancestors had lived and died for untold centuries.

Yet the story of this Muskhogean tribe of Indians, according to an old Chickasaw legend, stretches back into time even farther. The legend reveals that long before my people were ever known as the Chickasaw, they dwelt in a land far to the west of the Mississippi.

This Chickasaw legend of The Beginning goes like this: IN A TIME long since past, there lived somewhere in the West a tribe of Indians constantly warred upon by a powerful enemy. Because of the never ending attacks, the people of this tribe enjoyed little of the peace and comfort for which they so deeply yearned.

In time, the families who lived nearest the enemy and who, over the years, had borne the brunt of enemy assaults became so weary and heavy-hearted that they appealed to their wise prophets to find a solution to the problem.

The men of wisdom held a special consultation. They sat around the council fire and deliberated for many hours, and, most important, they sought guidance from Ubabeneli, The Creator of all things, who sat above the clouds and directed the destiny of all.

At last, the prophets concluded their deliberations. They summoned their fellow tribesmen and told them of the decision they had reached.

The people, said the wise men, would seek a new home where they could find peace and happiness. Their guide to the new land would be a kohta falaya (long pole). This kohta falaya, though, was no ordinary pole. It was something extra special, for it had been made sacred by Ubabeneli.

At the end of each day's journey, the prophets explained, the sacred pole would be stuck into the ground so that it stood perfectly straight. Each morning the pole would be carefully examined, and in whatever direction it was leaning, that would be the direction of travel.

That procedure was to be repeated until the kohta falaya leaned no more. And when that happened, the people would know it was a divine sign from Ubabeneli that their journey was over, and their new home had been reached.

Then the prophets told them the people would be split into two groups to make traveling safer and easier and that the brave young chief called Chickasaw would lead one party and his equally brave brother Choctaw, also a chief, would lead the other.

The people listened intently. They liked what they heard. 

The words of optimism which fell from the tongues of the wise men lifted their spirits immeasurably and when the talks ended, the elated people started dancing and singing, continuing to rejoice until the early hours of morning.

During the next few days, the families busied themselves packing their meager belongings and making other necessary preparations for the journey. At last, the eve of departure arrived.

That evening the prophets stuck the kohta falaya into the ground and then retired for the night; the next morning, at the break of day, the long pole was closely inspected and found to be leaning toward the east.

So with Chief Chickasaw at the head of one of the parties and Chief Choctaw heading the other, the two-headed colony bade farewell to the remainder of the tribe and set out in the direction of the rising sun.

It was a sight to behold, this great Indian caravan: Old men and old women, boys and girls, young braves and young maidens, husbands and their wives--some with newborn babies, others with babies yet unborn--all moving along on foot with their few worldly possessions, each knowing with certainty that somewhere a new homeland awaited them and by-and-by the sacred long pole would lead them to it.

Far in front of this procession of red people ranged a large white dog. He darted to the right, then to the left; he was everywhere, always on the alert. The people loved the big creature very dearly. He was their faithful guard and scout, and it was his duty to sound the alarm should enemies be encountered.

Travel was slow and laborious. Every evening found migrating Indians only a short distance from where they had commenced that day's journey. Even so, each day's walk took the people farther and farther from their old homeland, until, in time, they found themselves passing through the homelands of other red people--red people who eyed them with suspicion and considered them intruders.

Sometimes the weary travelers were allowed to pass unmolested through these foreign domains, but more often than not they were set upon by the jealous guardians of their ancestral lands and forced to fight their way through.

Sickness was a constant companion of marchers, and the tribal doctors stayed busy digging into their medicine bags. But when sinti, the snake, struck any one of them, the big white dog was quickly summoned and had only to lick the wound to make the victim well again.

Yet, even with the extraordinary healing powers of the medicine men and the beloved white dog, the ugly hand of death reached down into the double-headed colony of red people and took away loved ones at will.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. And then one day, just as the sun was setting, the two parties of Indians came upon a scene beyond their imagination. It was a great river, the likes of which they had never seen before, and the unexpected sight overwhelmed them.

For a long time the astonished people stood on the riverbank and stared in awe at the mighty watercourse. They called the giant river misha sipokoni (beyond all age); today, that great river is known far and wide as the Mississippi.

That night the families sat around their campfires and talked joyfully to one another. Many of the people believed the promised land had been reached and felt certain the sacred long pole would confirm their belief at daybreak.

But at sun up the next day, the homeless people saw that the kohta falaya still leaned toward the east, and they knew that "home" was somewhere on the other side of the wide, wide river before them.

The tribesmen hurriedly set about constructing rafts, and soon the crossing was underway. Almost immediately a serious mishap occurred which left the Indians very sad. The raft carrying their beloved white dog came to pieces in the middle of the river, and though all the people were quickly rescued, the big dog, which managed to climb onto a piece of broken timber, could not be reached. The people could only watch helplessly as he was swept downstream and out of sight. That was the last the Indians ever saw of their faithful guard and scout.

Many days were required to ferry all the people and their belongings to the opposite side, but, in time, the difficult crossing was completed.

The families rested by the river several days, then packed up and continued their eastward march. Some weeks later they camped at a certain place, which later became known as Nanih Waya, in what is now Winston County, Mississippi. At daylight the following morning, the people found the kohta falaya wobbling around crazily, leaning first in one direction and then another.

The migrants became somewhat excited--and uneasy, too--for they had never before seen the sacred long pole behave in such a strange manner. At last the kohta falaya grew very still and stood perfectly straight.

At this point, the two brothers--Chief Chickasaw and Chief Choctaw--had their first difference of opinion. Chief Choctaw, as well as some of the prophets, was quite satisfied that the perfectly erect pole was the divine sign from Ubabeneli that their new home had been reached. Chief Chickasaw on the other hand, was not at all pleased with the way the sacred pole had wobbled around, and he felt certain the promised land lay farther toward the rising sun.

Discussions on the matter were held by the two chiefs and the prophets, but at the end of several hours, opinions remained unchanged. Seeing that talking was getting them no place, Chief Chickasaw pulled the sacred long pole from the ground and commanded all those who believed the promised land lay farther to the east to pick up their packs and follow him.

That was the beginning of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian Nations. From that day on Chief Chickasaw's followers, who were relatively few compared to the great number who remained in camp, were referred to as Chickasaws, and those who stayed with Chief Choctaw were called Choctaws.

After leading the Chickasaws farther eastward to various parts of what are now states of Alabama and Georgia, the kohta falaya reversed its direction and guided the people westward to a place in the vicinity of the present-day towns of Pontotoc and Tupelo, Mississippi; and there, less than a hundred miles north of where the Choctaws had settled, the sacred long pole stood straight as an arrow. The Chickasaw people then knew with certainty that at last they had found their new homeland and that their long journey was at an end.

By the Reverend Jess J. Humes
as told to
Robert Kingsberry

Thank you for dropping by and taking a few minutes of your time to read this Native American legend. I would appreciate hearing what your thoughts are on it, thank you and have a wonderful day.

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

Grandmother Spider Steals the Fire

Hi dear friends and followers, today we again resume the Native American legends and myths, So take five and have a read. Enjoy

Grandmother Spider Steals the Fire

Many thousands of years ago groups classified by anthropologists as Paleo-Indians lived in what today is referred to as the American South. These groups were hunter-gatherers who hunted a wide range of animals, including a variety of megafauna, which became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene age. The 19th-century historian Horatio Cushman noted that Choctaw oral history accounts suggested their ancestors had known of mammoths in the Tombigbee River area; this suggests that the Choctaw ancestors had been in the Mississippi area for at least 4,000–8,000 years. Cushman wrote: "the ancient Choctaw through their tradition (said) 'they saw the mighty beasts of the forests, whose tread shook the earth." Scholars believe that Paleo-Indians were specialized, highly mobile foragers who hunted late Pleistocene fauna such as bison, mastodons, caribou, and mammoths. Direct evidence in the Southeast is meager, but archaeological discoveries in related areas support this hypothesis.

Choctaw History at Glance

The Choctaw are native to the Southeastern United States and members of the Muskogean linguistic family, which traces its roots to a mound-building, maize-based society that flourished in the Mississippi River Valley for more than a thousand years before European contact. 

Although their first encounter with Europeans ended in a bloody battle with Hernando de Soto’s fortune-hunting expedition in 1540, the Choctaw would come to embrace European traders who arrived in their homeland nearly two centuries later. By the time President George Washington initiated a program to integrate Southeastern Indians into European American culture following the Revolutionary War, many Choctaw had already intermarried, converted to Christianity and adopted other white customs. The Choctaw became known as one of America’s Five Civilized Tribes, which also included the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek and Seminole.

Trail of Tears

The Choctaw signed nine treaties with the United States before the Civil War, beginning with the Treaty of Hopewell in 1786 – which set boundaries and established universal peace between the two nations. Subsequent treaties, however, reshaped those borders and forced the Choctaw to cede millions of acres of land. In 1830, the United States seized the last of the Choctaw’s ancestral territory and relocated the tribe to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi. The Choctaw were the first to walk the Trail of Tears. Nearly 2,500 members perished along the way.

Despite the many lives lost, the Choctaw remained a hopeful and generous people. The first order of business upon arriving in their new homeland was to start a school and a church. They drafted a new constitution. And when the great potato famine befell the people of Ireland, the Choctaws collected money to help alleviate the country’s suffering. 

Grandmother Spider Steals the Fire

(Creation story of the Choctaw People of Tennessee and Mississippi)

The Choctaw People say that when the People first came-up out of the ground, People were encased in cocoons, their eyes closed, their limbs folded tightly to their bodies. And this was true of all People, the Bird People, the Animal People, the Insect People, and the Human People. The Great Spirit took pity on them and sent down someone to unfold their limbs, dry them off, and open their eyes. But the opened eyes saw nothing, because the world was dark, no sun, no moon, not even any stars. All the People moved around by touch, and if they found something that didn't eat them first, they ate it raw, for they had no fire to cook it.

All the People met in a great Pow-wow, with the Animal and Bird People taking the lead, and the Human People hanging back. The Animal and Bird People decided that dark was not good, but cold and miserable. A solution must be found!!! Someone spoke from the dark, "I have heard that the people in the East have fire".

This caused a stir of wonder, "What could fire be"!!! There was a general discussion, and it was decided that if, as-rumor-had-it, fire was warm and gave light, they should have it too. Another voice said, "But the people of the East are too greedy to share with us". So it was decided that the Bird and Animal People should steal what they needed, the fire!!!But, who should have the honor!!! Grandmother Spider volunteered, "I can do it!!! Let me try"!!! But at the same time, Opossum began to speak. "I, Opossum, am a great Chief of the animals. I will go to the East and since I am a great hunter, I will take the fire and hide it in the bushy hair on my tail". It was well know that Opossum had the furriest tail of all the animals, so he was selected.

When Opossum came to the East... he soon found the beautiful-red-fire jealously guarded by the people of the East. But Opossum got closer and closer until he picked up a small piece of burning wood, and stuck it in the hair of his tail, which promptly began to smoke, then flame. The people of the East said, "Look, that Opossum has stolen our fire"!!! They took it and put it back where it came from and drove Opossum away. Poor Opossum!!! Every bit of hair had burned from his tail, and to this day, Opossums have no hair at all on their tails.

Once again, the Pow-wow had to find a volunteer Chief. Grandmother Spider again said, "Let me go!!! I can do it"!!! But this time a bird was elected, Buzzard. Buzzard was very proud. "I can succeed where Opossum has failed. I will fly to the East on my great wings, then hide the stolen fire in the beautiful long feathers on my head". The birds and animals still did not understand the nature of fire. So Buzzard flew to the East on his powerful wings, swooped past those defending the fire, picked up a small piece of burning ember, and hid it in his head feathers. Buzzard's head began to smoke and flame even faster!!! The people of the East said, "Look!!! Buzzard has stolen the fire"!!! And they took it and put it back where it came from. Poor Buzzard!!! His head was now bare of feathers, red and blistered looking. And to this day, buzzards have naked heads that are bright-red and blistered.

The Pow-wow now sent Crow to look the situation over, for Crow was very clever. Crow at-that-time was pure white, and had the sweetest singing voice of all the birds. But he took so long standing over the fire, trying to find the perfect piece to steal that his white feathers were smoked black. And he breathed so much smoke that when he tried to sing, out came a harsh, Caw!!! Caw!!!

The Council said, "Opossum has failed. Buzzard and Crow have failed. Who shall we send"!!!

Tiny Grandmother Spider shouted with all her might, "LET ME TRY IT PLEASE"!!! Though the council members thought Grandmother Spider had little chance of success, it was agreed that she should have her turn. Grandmother Spider looked-then like she looks-now, she had a small torso suspended by two sets of legs that turned the other way. She walked on all of her wonderful legs toward a stream where she had found clay. 

With those legs, she made a tiny clay container and a lid that fit perfectly with a tiny notch for air in the corner of the lid. Then she put the container on her back, spun-a-web all the way to the East, and walked tip-toe until she came to the fire. She was so small, the people from the East took no notice. She took a tiny piece of fire, put it in the container, and covered it with the lid. Then she walked back on tip-toe along the web until she came to the People. Since they couldn't see any fire, they said, "Grandmother Spider has failed"!!!

"Oh No", she said, "I have the fire"!!! She lifted the pot from her back, and the lid from the pot, and the fire flamed up into its friend, the air. All the Birds and Animal People began to decide who would get this wonderful warmth. Bear said, "I'll take it"!!! but then he burned his paws on it and decided fire was not for animals... for look what happened to Opossum!!!

The Birds wanted no part of it, as Buzzard and Crow were still nursing their wounds. The insects thought it was pretty, but they too, stayed far away from the fire.

Then a small voice said, "We will take it, if Grandmother Spider will help". The timid humans, whom none of the animals or birds thought much of, were volunteering!!!

So Grandmother Spider taught the Human People how to feed the fire with sticks and wood to keep it from dying, how to keep the fire safe in a circle-of-stone so it couldn't escape and hurt them or their homes. While she was at it, she taught the humans about pottery made of clay and fire, and about weaving and spinning, at which Grandmother Spider was an expert.

The Choctaw remembered!!!

They made a beautiful design to decorate their homes, a picture of Grandmother Spider, two sets of legs up, two down, with a fire-symbol on her back.

This is so their children never forget to honor

Grandmother Spider: Fire-bringer!!!

Thank you again for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read native American legend. I would appreciate hearing what your thoughts on it, thank you and have a wonderful day.

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

Walk in Peace

The forgotten Elvenen

Hi dear friends and followers, today is Saturday, and again I wish to present to you another Poem, The forgotten Elvenen.

So take five and have a read. Enjoy

The forgotten Elvenen

Once there was an enchanted world

whose residents were called the Elven.

It was surely a place

of wonderment and magick;

Lovely it was, nestled on an island

between the two great waterfalls.

It was the place where elves from near and far

gathered to celebrate their festival times.

The dark elves came, and the light ones, too.

Wood elves sailed-in on their boats of wood.

The mountain elves were there,

and the plains ones, too.

The air that day was electrically charged,

with merriment it was filled that day!

But foreboding, like a pall was cast,

like a darkening storm to block their way.

All could feel the magic, but everyone knew

that the lights of these festivities took on a paler hue.

Something lurked, like a restless beast,

the depth of whose darkness is best left untold;

pacing impatiently at the end of it's tether.

The magic and gaiety were close upon

the true reason for this festive night

Wilt thou learn the lore

that from a far land came?

From the Five Lands they came,

Each a point of the pentacle,

as they are often called.

Legend describes them

as the Five Foreign Lands.

This is the mark in history,

where the Elven are great.

The center of their pentacle might be no more.

The tall ones, the humans, they hunger for the land.

Their relentless advance is closer now.

Neither the valiant soldiers

nor for the sorcerers staff fights,

for to take a life

would have broken sorcerer's code.

The festivities on this night

are not for merriment and joy,

but a celebration of the gathering of the wise;

A convention of all elementals.

Shape-shifters, faie, sprites, gnomes, and dwarves,

all living with the essence of nature.

All retained their physical forms;

marvelous and magnificent these beings were!

They sparkled and shimmered

with their radiant inner light;

thousands of years of adaptation

to the elements of nature had gifted them

with this ability to shine from within, without!

In harmony with the forest these denizens dwelt,

and knew it by heart, both day and night.

They were the first true civilization,

the first monument builders.

The festivities fell silent as order was called

What to discuss? All there knew too well.

They were aware of the tall ones,

The barbarians with an insatiable hunger,

to own the land and all it contains,

without regard to none other,

Not even other humans!

Soon they would arrive

at the door step of Elvenen,

with its tall stone structures

lined with heavily ornamented pillars;

with its pyramids, broad plazas and temples,

all lined

along steep cliffs,

with hanging gardens,

overlooking some of the most magnificent

and spectacular waterfalls in the world!

There were blooms

of every variety imaginable;

The assembly room fairly radiated

with their colors.

All were present on that fateful night.

As the darkness drew closer

its life force was felt,

from a distance at first,

like the sound

of a swarm of insects.

The earth beneath their feet vibrated!

And there were peals

of what sounded to them

like distant thunder.

An elder wizard climbed up on a pedestal

and to the heavens he raised his staff.

He chanted to the goddess,

and all there chant with him.

Then all clasped hands

as together they moved.

Slowly in rhythm, circles within circles,

each rotated the opposite direction of the other.

Suddenly came a blinding flash!

A ball of bright blue energy formed,

and descended to just above the sorcerer's head!

"The tools of the ancients still served well,"

the wizard remarked to himself.

Then a low rumbling,

and the earth shook

below their feet!

Yet all continued to dance and chant!

The earth shook

and the rumbles crept closer.

To the tall ones in the valley

it was a sight they had never seen before.

Huge boulders, the size of houses,

rolled uphill towards the summit!

"Earthquake?" one suggested.

Others shouted, "No,

it's the end of the world!

The tall ones would be land was being laid waste

as all assembled danced and chanted,

faster and faster!

The ball of energy grew and grew

as it spiraled upwards,

into dark and roiling storm clouds it changed.

Lightning flashed all around, 

followed by a great bolt of lightning.

No sound could be heard,

but a shock was felt

which made man and beast

to fall flat to the earth;

then a calm

for miles around not a leaf stirred.

The storm clouds dispersed

and the sun shone once more.

Upon reaching the summit,

all that the tall ones could see

was a canyon filed with ruble.

The five points of the pentacle star

had been dimmed

but the spirit of the Elven lived on.

They are in your heart, dear reader

as they live in mine,

and with anyone else who believes,

that they are not only a part of the elements -

but they are the elements.

Have you ever seen a spark of bright light

while walking around the house at night?

Three Rings for the Elvenen-kings under the sky

On that day were joined

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Composed by Cynthia ©.

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 Sunday.

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