SupporterofTroopsRLhusbKmartkutie's blog: "Cherokee Legends"

In the latter half of 1838, Cherokee People who had not voluntarily moved west earlier were forced to leave their homes in the East.

The trail to the West was long and treacherous and many were dying along the way. The People's hearts were heavy with sadness and their tears mingled with the dust of the trail.

The Elders knew that the survival of the children depended upon the strength of the women. One evening around the campfire, the Elders called upon Heaven Dweller, ga lv la di e hi. They told Him of the People's suffering and tears. They were afraid the children would not survive to rebuild the Cherokee Nation.

Gal v la di e hi spoke to them, "To let you know how much I care, I will give you a sign. In the morning, tell the women to look back along the trail. Where their tears have fallen, I will cause to grow a plant that will have seven leaves for the seven clans of the Cherokee. Amidst the plant will be a delicate white rose with five petals. In the center of the blossom will be a pile of gold to remind the Cherokee of the white man's greed for the gold found on the Cherokee homeland. This plant will be sturdy and strong with stickers on all the stems. It will defy anything which tries to destroy it."

The next morning the Elders told the women to look back down the trail. A plant was growing fast and covering the trail where they had walked. As the women watched, blossoms formed and slowly opened. They forgot their sadness. Like the plant the women began to feel strong and beautiful. As the plant protected its blossoms, they knew they would have the courage and determination to protect their children who would begin a new Nation in the West.

A long time ago, the people of the old town of Kanu'ga'la'yi on Nantahala river, in the present Macon County, North Carolina, were much annoyed by a great insect called Ulagu. Large as a house, it used to come from some secret hiding place and snap up children and carry them away. It was unlike any other insect ever known and the people tried many times to track it to its home, but it was too swift to be followed.

They killed a squirrel and tied a white string to it, so that its course could be followed with the eye, as bee hunters follow the flight of a bee to its tree. The Ulagu came and carried off the squirrel with the string hanging to it, but darted away so swiftly through the air that it was out of sight in a moment. They repeated the operation with a turkey, then a deer ham, but nothing worked. At last they killed a deer and tried again. This time the load was so heavy that it had to fly slowly and so low that the string could be plainly seen.

The hunters got together for the pursuit. They followed it along a ridge until they saw the nest of the Ulagu in a large cave in the rocks below. On this, they raised a great shout and made their way rapidly down to the mountain and across to the cave. The nest had the entrance below with tiers of cells built up one above another to the roof of the cave. The great Ulagu was there, with thousands of smaller ones, that we now call yellow-jackets. The hunters built fires around the holes, so that the smoke filled the cave and smothered the great insect and multitudes of the smaller ones, but others which were outside the cave were not killed, and these escaped and increased until now the yellow-jackets, which before were unknown, are all over the world. The people called the cave Tsgagunyi "Where the yellow-jacket was", and the place from which they first saw the nest they called "Atahita" "Where they shouted" and these are their names today.

Night moon forever watching the earthen creatures padding through the night,
Stars that paint the world with ideas and truth,
Sky being that holds them all together,
Watch the wolf travel the land and carry his hymn through the night,
Wolf who walks in the night scared not of his shadow,
Wolf who always sees the path that is open even when it is dark,
Wolf who owns his place in the universe even when he travels the land,
Howl to the greatness of the night,
Plains that hold the life blood of the buffalo,
Mountains that provide homes to those in need of shelter,
Hills sharing the space in between the two,
Watch for the wolf as he approaches carrying his song through the day
Wolf who would listen,
Wolf who's leadership is also his harmony,
Wolf who's prowess encourages the young to grow,
Howl to the greatness of the day,
Winds that breath the wolf's howl to the world,
Trees that share the world with the animals,
Flowers that whisper when the wolf stops to smell the earth,
Watch the wolf as he binds the earth with sky in a single breath,
Wolf who holds friendship, loyalty, and love,
Wolf who preservers against the thunder,
Wolf who hunts when his brethren are hungry,
Howl to the the greatness of the world,
Ocean of blue and keeper of rain,
Streams that share the life flow of mother earth,
Rivers that weave the earth to the ocean,
Watch for the wolf as he sings his story for all to hear
Wolf who knows solitude is a friend to the soul,
Wolf who knows a glass pond is sometimes better walked around,
Wolf who knows... the beauty of your Spirit
Sing your music.

by Ryan Reh for his dear friend TsighiniWahya