Cherokee Morning Song

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

GLOOSKAP CREATES THE EASTERN WORLD.... Please visit "Native Stories on Video" to hear more stories about native life.



Long, long ago, in the great past, there were no people on the earth. All of it was covered by deep water. Birds, flying, filled the air, and many huge monsters possessed the waters.

One day the birds saw a beautiful woman falling from the sky, Star Woman. Immediately the huge ducks held a council. "How can we prevent her from falling into the water?" they asked. After some discussion, they decided to spread out their wings and thus break the force of her fall. Each duck spread out its wings until it touched the wings of other ducks. So the beautiful woman reached them safely.

Then those of the deep waters held a council to decide how they could protect the beautiful being from the terror of the waters. Most beings of the deep water decided that they were not able to protect her, that only a Giant Turtle was big enough to bear her weight. So they asked the turtle and she volunteered, and Star Woman was gently placed upon her back. The Giant turtle magically increased in size and as she paddled, her legs moving the dirt from the deep of the ocean soon became a large island called Turtle Island also known as Earth Mother

After a long time, the Earth Mother gave birth to twin boys. One of them was the Spirit of Good called Glooskap. He made all the good things on the earth and caused the corn, the fruits, and the tobacco to grow. The other twin was the Spirit of Evil called Malsumis or Wolf-Lox. He created the weeds and also the worms and the bugs and all the other creatures that do evil to the good animals and birds.

As Glooskap went about his business one day he reduced beaver and squirrel to their present size and they were not happy. So they spied on Glooskap and heard one night when he was talking to the stars and was telling them how he could be killed by a flowering rush. No sooner did beaver hear this he ran to the camp of Malsumis and informed him of the secret of how Glooskap could be killed. In return for sharing this secret beaver requested to have wings like a pigeon and Wolf-Lox refused and beaver got furious. Beaver went and told Glooskap what he did.

Glooskap then hid in the bushes near Malsumis camp and learned how he could be killed by a fern root when he was talking to the stars. Glooskap fearing for his life jumped out of the bush and killed his brother at once with a fern root and turned him into a mountain where he sleeps to this day like a huge hill.

Then Glooskap went on ruling the eastern north and felt very lonely. He took out his bow and arrow and shot at the ash tree for many days. Where the arrows hit there came out of the bark the first man and woman whom he called Indian - the Children of the light, for they live near the sunrise. Then the animals were created, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. He gave them each a name in ceremony.

After a while Glooskap saw that the human feared the animals so he made the animals smaller and gave his people power over the animals so that the greatest and strongest creature would be man. The animals became his friends and the friends of his people. Two great wolves became his dogs. They guarded his tent and followed him about. The loons of the beach became his messenger and kept him well informed. The Eagles created the wind in his hair. Each creature had a specific task.




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