"Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark", Analysis and Final Thoughts by Caitlin Margitan

Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark

This version of the legend comes from Frank Linderman's 1915 collection Indian Why Stories.

It was a hot day, and Old-man was trying to sleep, but the heat made him sick. He wandered to a hilltop for air; but there was no air. Then he went down to the river and found no relief. He travelled to the timberlands, and there the heat was great, although he found plenty of shade. The travelling made him warmer, of course, but he wouldn't stay still.

 

"By and by he called to the winds to blow, and they commenced. First they didn't blow very hard, because they were afraid they might make Old-man angry, but he kept crying:

 

"'Blow harder -- harder -- harder! Blow worse than ever you blew before, and send this heat away from the world.'

 

"So, of course, the winds did blow harder -- harder than they ever had blown before.

 

"'Bend and break, Fir-Tree!' cried Old-man, and the Fir-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Pine-Tree!' and the Pine-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Spruce-Tree!' and the Spruce-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, O Birch-Tree!' and the Birch-Tree did bend, but it wouldn't break -- no, sir! -- it wouldn't break!

 

"'Ho! Birch-Tree, won't you mind me? Bend and break! I tell you,' but all the Birch-Tree would do was to bend.

 

"It bent to the ground; it bent double to please Old-man, but it would not break.

 

"'Blow harder, wind!' cried Old-man, 'blow harder and break the Birch-Tree.' The wind tried to blow harder, but it couldn't, and that made the thing worse, because Old-man was so angry he went crazy. 'Break! I tell you -- break!' screamed Old-man to the Birch-Tree.

 

"'I won't break,' replied the Birch; 'I shall never break for any wind. I will bend, but I shall never, never break.'

 

"'You won't, hey?' cried Old-man, and he rushed at the Birch-Tree with his hunting-knife. He grabbed the top of the Birch because it was touching the ground, and began slashing the bark of the Birch-Tree with the knife. All up and down the trunk of the tree Old-man slashed, until the Birch was covered with the knife slashes.

 

"'There! that is for not minding me. That will do you good! As long as time lasts you shall always look like that, Birch-Tree; always be marked as one who will not mind its maker. Yes, and all the Birch-Trees in the world shall have the same marks forever.' They do, too. You have seen them and have wondered why the Birch-Tree is so queerly marked. Now you know.

Source: Linderman, Frank. "Why the Birch Tree Wears the Slashes in its Bark." Archived American Indian Legends. Native Languages of the Americas. 9 Dec 2008 .

 

Analysis:

            I choose this story for my last post because it demonstrates how specific creation stories can be in terms of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge they provide.  The story on the surface discusses the insanity of an old man, but with a closer look gives a description of the important components of one of the species in the Black Foot tribe’s bio-region.  From an outsider’s perspective one can see from reading creation stories and looking at the contents cultural and subsistence value in tribes members’ physical lives it becomes evident that all that is discussed in creations stories explains the value of the elements of the environment in terms of those species individual existence, the use for subsistence they provide, and their importance in terms of spirituality.  Creation stories show organisms’ existence for themselves separate from their uses in the lives of the humans that share their land. In the story above the Birch-Tree says "'I won't break,' replied the Birch; 'I shall never break for any wind. I will bend, but I shall never, never break.'(Linderman)  This quote reflects on the flexibility of the Birch-Tree designed for survival in extreme weather.  The Black Foot do not just recognize that the tree will not break they understand why.  Scientists are always trying to understand why, and they would say that the Birch-Tree has a higher tolerance for wind because the wind blows strongly in the regions where it resides.  Therefore there is no real difference in these two explanations messages accept for that of the indigenous society provides more.   In the creation story there is also a representation of how to identify the Birch-Tree; they identify it be the scares that the old man gave it when it would not break.  This element alludes to the Black Foot’s skill at ethno-botany in the sense that they can separate the Birch-Tree from the other kinds of trees with its exterior appearance as well as its interior ability.

            When the story gives the explanation of how those exterior markings got there it is more then just a description of the tree’s markings, but an explanation of the Black Foot’s spiritual connection to the tree.  This story provides original instructions of how to treat the tree, and use its attributes within subsistence without harming its attributes designed for itself.  The only element of TEK that the story leaves out, but implies is how the tree can help in term of subsistence.  In the story one see that a tree with wood that bends, but not breaks would be good to use in the construction of a canoe or a basket.  Most would not be flexible enough and strong enough to fulfill those tasks, but the Birch-tree provides bark that is capable of those two things among others. 

In all three of my posts now I have addressed what I can gather about the TEK found in the creation stories of indigenous tribes across the US, but until now I have not acknowledged that to truly understand what these stories provide one has to learn from the tribal elders of that community.  To often anthropologists give an etic viewpoint and claim to understand the ecologic knowledge and actions of other communities.  What I have expressed comes from my knowledge gained from reading about these different tribes lifestyles, reading their creation stories, and what I learned about native communities and their environmental  knowledge in my class at the University of Washington, environmental anthropology, Anthro 210.  I would rather this knowledge be shared by a member of the emic community so that misinterpretations are not made.  I want to learn myself from those individuals as well, but we must recognize that they must be willing to share that knowledge first.  The TEK of a community is sacred and cannot/should not be taken as general knowledge by the rest of global society.  If that were done it would be an example of exoticism of native knowledge, and degrade their culture.

Mi'kmaq post is by Tyson Wine

Agulabemu, the Great Bullfrog (Mi'kaq)

TRADITIONAL ETHICS

One of my favorite aspects of indigenous stories is their ability to teach ethics. Indeed, the story-process itself has replaced the need for punishment due to its amazing ability to prevent crime. We learned about this in the beginning of the course when we were learning that the reestablishment of culture for American Indians helped reduce crime and substance abuse. However, it is more than the mere establishment of community; it is also, I believe, the establishment of crime as a possibility. As Devon Pena was expressing in lecture, it is the establishment of the prison that leads to the requirement of prisoners to fill it. I believe that American Indians would agree to this, for there appears to be a belief in what the modern industrial nations refer to as "The Law of Attraction:" that is, like attracts like. I believe that American Indians would agree with the existence of this law due to their practice of gambling, which is highly misunderstood by most westerners. The American Indian gambles for two reasons: First, s/he believes in her/his ability to change the outcome of supposedly "random" events, such as the roll of a die or the side of the peach pits. Thus, winning at gambling portrays the strength of the mind. Second, losing is humbling and informative. These games continue to day and are far from the Western idea of gambling for "the big one."

Anyway, this story is not about the law of attraction or gambling, but I love it for its ability to teach without punishment. Before I delve into it I want to point out that in many place-based cultures, differences in behavior are normal to the extent that the mentally challenged are treated the same as the rest of the tribe. I believe that our focus on differences (in attention span, mental capacity, race, etc) leads to much more crime than anythings else.

At the bottom of this post, I will list the books I refer to in this intro:

One more thing - I can't help but draw connections between Delbert's story and this story of the Great bullfrog. Tell me what you think!

AGULABEMU, THE GREAT BULLFROG

This story begins in a Mi'kmaq village of happy, easy-going people that were entirely dependent on a little brook for all of their water needs, as their was no rain and no other source of water in the land. While the brook was usually plentiful, it began to diminish and eventually ran dry, making the people themselves very dry and concerned. They sent a messenger to find out what was happening to their beloved stream.

Three days of traveling brought the messenger to a dam that had been built upon the little stream, allowing no water to flow downhill to the village. There was a village at the dam and he asked to see the chief to discover why this dam had been built and ask for its removal. The chief, whom he was led to, turned out to be a "whale of a man" in human form, very intense, with great yellow eyes. The messenger gasped

Gehdoo samqwai!
Geespasee!
I am thirsty!
I am dry!

The monster replied:

Do as you choose, do as you choose, do as you choose.
What do I care? What do I care? What do I care?
If you want water, Go somewhere else!

Photo of Mi'kmaq native with canoe "Mi'kmaq Village PEI." Mr. Martin Mitchell. Photo by Crushed Ferret, 2008.

The messenger expressed his suffering and described the suffering and unhappiness of the people in the village. This appeared to please the monster, and he bored a small hole into the dam, allowing a trickle of water to drip out of the reservoir, and forced the messenger to be gone.

Upon returning, the messenger told of the water and in time a tiny stream flowed through the village, but it quickly dried up. The people, who were very honest and kind, did not know what to do. Deciding to send their bravest hunter to demand the dams removal or knock it down, the villagers were left with a difficult and uncomfortable decision. Fortunately, the great Glooskap understood their sorrow and came to their aid, from where no one ever knows, and promised to go as the bravest of the villagers to speak with this monster and, if necessary, break down this dam.

Glooskap was very intimidating, with his face painted the color of blood and a large eagle upon his shoulder. When he walked into the village up stream, all of the villagers feared him greatly, and he sat down by the dried-up creek bed and asked a boy for a drink of water. The boy, fearful of the frightening deity, ran off and returned with a dirty glass of water, not to Glooskap's liking.

Sculpture of the diety Glooskap, Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, photo by Simon P.

Glooskap decided to go and find this chief who had insulted him and denied the villagers water.

"Give me water to drink,and the best, at once, you Thing of Mud!"

The beast told him to get lost, so Glooskap thrust a spear into his belly All of the water that should have been running downstream gushed out of the monsters belly, as he had consumed it all himself. The deflated monster was now tiny, and glooksap caught him and crumpled him in his hand. Ever since, the monster has been the tiny bullfrog with Glooksaps punsihment seen in his wrinkled back.

Downstream, the villagers were gone! They had been at the river dreaming of what they would do with all of the water in the world. When this daydream was granted, they opted to enjoy the water instead of remaining in the village.

The one who wished to live forever in the soft mud and always be wet and cool became the leech.
The one who wished to plunge and dive from rocks, drinking as he dove, became the spotted frog.
Another wished to flow up and down with the tides, living in land but always in water, and so he became the crab.
Lastly, one wished to swim always and forever, and so he became fish.

As it was the hour of granted wishes, these creatures came into being upon their wishes. This is the story of the first sea creatures.

ANALYSIS
I think that this story is great in its interpretation of similarities between animals and humans. While we do this sometimes in the Westernized world, we rarely due this with sea life, which just shows greater than ever the lack of a culture/nature dichotomy among native cultures. This lack of separation is not merely shifted to include those parts of nature that we can associate with as primates or mammals, as westerners often do, but incorporates all nature to prove there really does not exist a barrier between nature and culture.

Pritchard also points out the greatness of this story with the physical punishment of the monster being visible on the bullfrog's back, so that children can go out into nature and see this story for themselves, talk about it, and share enthusiasm with eachother about it. This is one attribute of the importance of story-telling in community development and upbringing. Ethics through stories seems to be effective in these societies.

My favorite part of this story is what I can only describe as the "emotionalization" of nature that the natives use to interpret the various animals. While we use our scientific discourse to interpret the naimal kingdoms based on biology, the Mi'kmaq view these animals as living life through their desires - in this case their desire to be wet, to swim, to dive, to drink.

Most important, this is one more tale of the balance of water and earth that is so essential and so often spoken of in oral traditions. I'm reminded of a story of a South American people, I forget which, who told the westerners that they should not take resources out of the earth as this was the planets blood, and while the westerners laughed, it only became evident later that removing these resources (oil) was indeed killing the planet. This form of ecological knowledge, that is the knowledge of the balance of the earth and the need to avoid overexploitation, is often so simply put that scientific discourse laughs it off. However, we can see in this story that the balance of water and earth has been important to both women/men and biological diversity for millenia.

In addition to this balance is the ethical balance of good and evil. This story is a great emphasis of "what goes around comes around." What's more, the story does not threaten punishment at any given point, it merely flows from what is necessary, and the end result is not death, but reciprocity. The bullfrog loses because that is the balance of nature, not because he deserved it in the interpretation of the people.

This book, Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing, by Robert Wolff is a great book and helped me understand a lot of the concepts that I speak of in these interpretations. I highly recommend it.

How the World Was Made

by Rebecca Mortensen

This is the ancient Filipino account of the creation.

How the World Was Made

Thousands of years ago there was no land nor sun nor moon nor stars, and the world was only a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The water was the kingdom of the god Maguayan, and the sky was ruled by the great god Captan.

Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Captan had a son known as Lihangin, the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the wind.

Three sons and a daughter were born to them. The sons were called Licalibutan, Liadlao, and Libulan; and the daughter received the name of Lisuga.

Licalibutan had a body of rock and was strong and brave; Liadlao was formed of gold and was always happy; Libulan was made of copper and was weak and timid; and the beautiful Lisuga had a body of pure silver and was sweet and gentle. Their parents were very fond of them, and nothing was wanting to make them happy.

After a time Lihangin died and left the control of the winds to his eldest son Licalibutan. The faithful wife Lidagat soon followed her husband, and the children, now grown up, were left without father or mother. However, their grandfathers, Captan and Maguayan, took care of them and guarded them from all evil.

After a time, Licalibutan, proud of his power over the winds, resolved to gain more power, and asked his brothers to join him in an attack on Captan in the sky above. At first they refused; but when Licalibutan became angry with them, the amiable Liadlao, not wishing to offend his brother, agreed to help. Then together they induced the timid Libulan to join in the plan.

When all was ready the three brothers rushed at the sky, but they could not beat down the gates of steel that guarded the entrance. Then Licalibutan let loose the strongest winds and blew the bars in every direction. The brothers rushed into the opening, but were met by the angry god Captan. So terrible did he look that they turned and ran in terror; but Captan, furious at the destruction of his gates, sent three bolts of lightning after them.

The first struck the copper Libulan and melted him into a ball. The second struck the golden Liadlao, and he too was melted. The third bolt struck Licalibutan, and his rocky body broke into many pieces and fell into the sea. So huge was he that parts of his body stuck out above the water and became what is known as land.

In the meantime the gentle Lisuga had missed her brothers and started to look for them. She went toward the sky, but as she approached the broken gates, Captan, blind with anger, struck her too with lightning, and her silver body broke into thousands of pieces.

Captan then came down from the sky and tore the sea apart, calling on Maguayan to come to him and accusing him of ordering the attack on the sky. Soon Maguayan appeared and answered that he knew nothing of the plot as he had been asleep far down in the sea.

After a time he succeeded in calming the angry Captan. Together they wept at the loss of their grandchildren, especially the gentle and beautiful Lisuga; but with all their power they could not restore the dead to life. However, they gave to each body a beautiful light that will shine forever.

And so it was that golden Liadlao became the sun, and copper Libulan the moon, 

while the thousands of pieces of silver Lisuga shine as the stars of heaven. To wicked Licalibutan the gods gave no light, but resolved to make his body support a new race of people. So Captan gave Maguayan a seed, and he planted it on the land, which, as you will remember, was part of Licalibutan's huge body.

Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out. The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the parents of the human race. Their first child was a son whom they called Libo; afterwards they had a daughter who was known as Saman. Pandaguan was a younger son and he had a son called Arion.

Pandaguan was very clever and invented a trap to catch fish. The very first thing he caught was a huge shark. When he brought it to land, it looked so great and fierce that he thought it was surely a god, and he at once ordered his people to worship it. Soon all gathered around and began to sing and pray to the shark. Suddenly the sky and sea opened, and the gods came out and ordered Pandaguan to throw the shark back into the sea and to worship none but them.

All were afraid except Pandaguan. He grew very bold and answered that the shark was as big as the gods, and that since he had been able to overpower it he would also be able to conquer the gods. Then Captan, hearing this, struck Pandaguan with a small thunderbolt, for he did not wish to kill him but merely to teach him a lesson. Then he and Maguayan decided to punish these people by scattering them over the earth, so they carried some to one land and some to another. Many children were afterwards born, and thus the earth became inhabited in all parts.

Pandaguan did not die. After lying on the ground for thirty days he regained his strength, but his body was blackened from the lightning, and all his descendants ever since that day have been black.

His first son, Arion, was taken north, but as he had been born before his father's punishment he did not lose his color, and all his people therefore are white.

Libo and Saman were carried south, where the hot sun scorched their bodies and caused all their descendants to be of a brown color.

A son of Saman and a daughter of Sicalac were carried east, where the land at first was so lacking in food that they were compelled to eat clay. On this account their children and their children's children have always been yellow in color.

And so the world came to be made and peopled. The sun and moon shine in the sky, and the beautiful stars light up the night. All over the land, on the body of the envious Licalibutan, the children of' Sicalac and Sicabay have grown great in numbers. May they live forever in peace and brotherly love!

Source:

John Maurice Miller, Philippine Folklore Stories (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1904), pp. 57-64.

Analysis

I was really interested by this story since it was a little different than the others I posted. In this story, the main characters who create the world aren't gods or people in the sky from another world, they are natural beings such as the wind and the ocean. A difference between this and the other creation storied is that the humans on the earth are not created from these beings, they come from the earth. Also included in this story is a description of why people have different color skin. I have not heard of this being in a creation story before so I was a little shocked when I read it the first time. I also liked how not only an explanation of how the earth was created in this story, but how the sun, moon, and stars came to be is also incorporated. Although this story is very specific in what is created, I found it interesting that animals were not included. It seems that the fish and sharks were already in the ocean before the humans came but there is no other reference to the creation of animals. If I inaccurately interpreted anything or if you find another interesting part of the story, let me know and I will edit my post.

Australia's Stolen Generation

Post by Arreana A.

I will admit that this doesn't have anything to do with Creation stories, if much at all, I saw this video and thought back to the beginning of the quarter and Karina Walter's piece on Indigenous Historic Trauma.

The video I've linked you too I found while perusing YouTube at my own leisure. As a fellow sufferer of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), I too felt the impact of the Australian Government's apology to the Indigenous societies. The personal interviews alone confirm Karina Walter's theory of the importance of vindication, an idea I personally feel and promote. Though the Australian Government has very far to go before they have made up their horrible and numerous sins against the Australian Aboriginal peoples, this apology, given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is a step in the right direction.

The apology is given after more then a hundred years of Indigenous repression. In particular this apology was aimed at what's been termed as “Australia's Stolen Generation”. From 1869 to 1969 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were made wards of the state, removed from their families by government programs and missionary programs and placed into orphanages, internment camps and other institutions. As you'll see in the video, the government went as far to erase the child's heritage and change the child's name in order to hide the child from the parents. At the worst of times children faced abuse at the hand of their new “caretakers” and since 1969 have had to live with these traumatic experiences. The apology by Kevin Rudd arrived late: February 13^th, 2008, but – as the saying goes – better late then never.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9mJpL67QUw

I hope that Australia continues this trend of repentance. I would love to see Aboriginal land returned to the people, and for a greater knowledge of their cultural beliefs and TEK to gain acceptance and voice throughout the country.

Again, sorry this isn't anything about a creation story, I just wanted to share.

The picture above is of Kevin Rudd receiving the relieved Indigenious peoples on the day of his apology. Kevin Rudd, it should be said, did this as one of his first acts after being appointed Prime Minister. Well done, I say.

The Golden Chain

by Rebecca Mortensen

This creation story comes from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Togo and Benin. In the religion of the Yoruba, the supreme being is Olorun, and assisting Olorun are a number of heavenly entities called orishas. This story was written down by David A. Anderson/ Sankofa, who learned it from his father, who learned it from his mother, and so on back through the Yoruba people and through time.

The Golden Chain

      Long ago, well before there were any people, all life existed in the sky. Olorun lived in the sky, and with Olorun were many orishas. There were both male and female orishas, but Olorun transcended male and female and was the all-powerful supreme being. Olorun and the orishas lived around a young baobab tree. Around the baobab tree the orishas found everything they needed for their lives, and in fact they wore beautiful clothes and gold jewelry. Olorun told them that all the vast sky was theirs to explore. All the orishas save one, however, were content to stay near the baobab tree.

      Obatala was the curious orisha who wasn't content to live blissfully by the baobab tree. Like all orishas, he had certain powers, and he wanted to put them to use. As he pondered what to do, he looked far down through the mists below the sky. As he looked and looked, he began to realize that there was a vast empty ocean below the mist. Obatala went to Olorun and asked Olorun to let him make something solid in the waters below. That way there could be beings that Obatala and the orishas could help with their powers.

      Touched by Obatala's desire to do something constructive, Olorun agreed to send Obatala to the watery world below. Obatala then asked Orunmila, the orisha who knows the future, what he should do to prepare for his mission. Orunmila brought out a sacred tray and sprinkled the powder of baobab roots on it. He tossed sixteen palm kernels onto the tray and studied the marks and tracks they made on the powder. He did this eight times, each time carefully observing the patterns. Finally he told Obatala to prepare a chain of gold, and to gather sand, palm nuts, and maize. He also told Obatala to get the sacred egg carrying the personalities of all the orishas.

      Obatala went to his fellow orishas to ask for their gold, and they all gave him all the gold they had. He took this to the goldsmith, who melted all the jewelry to make the links of the golden chain. When Obatala realized that the goldsmith had made all the gold into links, he had the goldsmith melt a few of them back down to make a hook for the end of the chain.

      Meanwhile, as Orunmila had told him, Obatala gathered all the sand in the sky and put it in an empty snail shell, and in with it he added a little baobab powder. He put that in his pack, along with palm nuts, maize, and other seeds that he found around the baobab tree. He wrapped the egg in his shirt, close to his chest so that it would be warm during his journey.

      Obatala hooked the chain into the sky, and he began to climb down the chain. For seven days he went down and down, until finally he reached the end of the chain. He hung at its end, not sure what to do, and he looked and listened for any clue. Finally he heard Orunmila, the seer, calling to him to use the sand. He took the shell from his pack and poured out the sand into the water below. The sand hit the water, and to his surprise it spread and solidified to make a vast land. Still unsure what to do, Obatala hung from the end of the chain until his heart pounded so much that the egg cracked. From it flew Sankofa, the bird bearing the sprits of all the orishas. Like a storm, they blew the sand to make dunes and hills and lowlands, giving it character just as the orishas themselves have character.

      Finally Obatala let go of the chain and dropped to this new land, which he called "Ife", the place that divides the waters. Soon he began to explore this land, and as he did so he scattered the seeds from his pack, and as he walked the seeds began to grow behind him, so that the land turned green in his wake.

      After walking a long time, Obatala grew thirsty and stopped at a small pond. As he bent over the water, he saw his reflection and was pleased. He took some clay from the edge of the pond and began to mold it into the shape he had seen in the reflection. He finished that one and began another, and before long he had made many of these bodies from the dark earth at the pond's side. By then he was even thirstier than before, and he took juice from the newly-grown palm trees and it fermented into palm wine. He drank this, and drank some more, and soon he was intoxicated. He returned to his work of making more forms from the edge of the pond, but now he wasn't careful and made some without eyes or some with misshapen limbs. He thought they all were beautiful, although later he realized that he had erred in drinking the wine and vowed to not do so again.

      Before long, Olorun dispatched Chameleon down the golden chain to check on Obatala's progress. Chameleon reported Obatala's disappointment at making figures that had form but no life. Gathering gasses from the space beyond the sky, Olorun sparked the gasses into an explosion that he shaped into a fireball. He sent that fireball to Ife, where it dried the lands that were still wet and began to bake the clay figures that Obatala had made. The fireball even set the earth to spinning, as it still does today. Olorun then blew his breath across Ife, and Obatala's figures slowly came to life as the first people of Ife.

Source:

David A. Anderson/Sankofa, 1991, The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth: Mt. Airy, Maryland, Sights Productions, 31 p. (Folio PZ8.1.A543 Or 1991)

Analysis

This story shows many similarities to the others we have heard so far. This story also mentions a tree that the people lived around before going to earth like in Tom Porter's "Turtle Island". As in the story of Nu Wa I told earlier, the person who came to the earth brought seeds to plant on the new earth. The person who came to the earth also made little statues of people out of clay which were then turned into people later on. I did, however, think it was interesting that in this story, it is specifically noted that the people made were not all alike, some missing limbs or eyes. I thought that showed a lot of the character of the Yoruba people in that they still see those people as being beautiful. I also was surprised to see the inclusion of the gases from the universe. I usually don't see a creation story including something I see as being scientific into the story. These are just a few things I noticed in this story but if there is something I misread or another interesting idea, let me know and I will include it.

Pictures to go with "The Story of Corn and Medicine" posted By Caitlin Margitan

Once again I can't figure out how to post my pictures so here is a link to see painting interpretations of Selu (at 

http://www.meredith.edu/nativeam/selu.jpg

) 

and her husband the Lucky Hunter (at www.meredith.edu/ nativeam/selu2.jpg)