Native American Legends
The Man who married the Thunder's Sister
A Cherokee Legend
In the old times the people used to dance often and all night.
Once there was a dance at the old town of Sâkwi'yï, on
the head of Chattahoochee, and after it was well started two young
women with beautiful long hair came in, but no one knew who they
were, or whence they had come.
They danced with one partner and another, and in the morning slipped
away before anyone knew that they were gone; but a young warrior
had fallen in love with one of the sisters on account of her beautiful
hair, and after the manner of the Cherokee had already asked her
through an old man if she would marry him and let him live with
her.
To this the young woman had replied that her brother at home must
first be consulted, and they promised to return for the next dance
seven days later with an answer, but in the meantime if the young
man really loved her he must prove his constancy by a rigid fast
until then. The eager lover readily agreed and impatiently counted
the days.
In seven nights there was another dance. The young warrior was
on hand early, and later in the evening the two sisters appeared
as suddenly as before. They told him their brother was willing,
and after the dance they would conduct the young man to their home,
but warned him that if he told anyone where he went or what he saw
he would surely die.
He danced with them again and about daylight the three came away
just before the dance closed, so as to avoid being followed, and
started off together. The women led the way along a trail through
the woods, which the young man had never noticed before, until they
came to a small creek, where, without hesitating, they stepped into
the water.
The young man paused in surprise on the bank and thought to himself,
"They are walking in the water; I don't want to do that."
The women knew his thoughts just as though he had spoken and turned
and said to him, "This is not water; this is the road to our
house." He still hesitated, but they urged him on until he
stepped into the water and found it was only soft grass that made
a fine level trail.
They went on until the trail came to a large stream which he knew
for Tallulah river. The women plunged boldly in, but again the warrior
hesitated on the bank, thinking to himself, "That water is
very deep and will drown me; I can't go on." They knew his
thoughts and turned and said, "This is no water, but the main
trail that goes past our house, which is now close by." He
stepped in, and instead of water there was tall waving grass that
closed above his head as he followed them.
They went only a short distance and came to a rock cave close under
Ugûñ'yï (Tallulah falls). The women. entered,
while the warrior stopped at the mouth; but they said: "This
is our house; come in and our brother will soon be home; he is coming
now." They heard low thunder in the distance. He went inside
and stood tip close to the entrance. Then the women took off their
long hair and hung it up on a rock, and both their heads were as
smooth as a pumpkin. The man thought, "It is not hair at all,"
and he was more frightened than ever.
The younger woman, the one he was about to marry, then sat down
and told him to take a seat beside her. He looked, and it was a
large turtle, which raised itself up and stretched out its claws
as if angry at being disturbed. The young man said it was a turtle,
and refused to sit down, but the woman insisted that it was a seat.
Then there was a louder roll of thunder and the woman said, "Now
our brother is nearly home." While they urged and he still
refused to come nearer or sit down, suddenly there was a great thunder
clap just behind him, and turning quickly he saw a man standing
in the doorway of the cave.
"This is my brother," said the woman, and he came in
and sat down upon the turtle, which again rose up and stretched
out its claws. The young warrior still refused to come in. The brother
then said that he was just about to start to a council, and invited
the young man to go with him. The hunter said he was willing to
go if only he had a horse; so the young woman was told to bring
one. She went out and soon came back leading a great uktena snake,
that curled and twisted along the whole length of the cave.
Some people say this was a white uktena and that the brother himself
rode a red one. The hunter was terribly frightened, and said "That
is a snake; I can't ride that." The others insisted that it
was no snake, but their riding horse. The brother grew impatient
and said to the woman, "He may like it better if you bring
him a saddle, and some bracelets for his wrists and arms."
So they went out again and brought in a saddle and some arm bands,
and the saddle was another turtle, which they fastened on the uktena's
back, and the bracelets were living slimy snakes, which they got
ready to twist around the hunter's wrists.
He was almost dead with fear, and said, "What kind of horrible
place is this? I can never stay here to live with snakes and creeping
things." The brother got very angry and called him a coward,
and then it was as if lightening flashed from his eyes and struck
the young man, and a terrible crash of thunder stretched him senseless.
When at last he came to himself again he was standing with his
feet in the water and both hands grasping a laurel bush that grew
out from the bank, and there was no trace of the cave or the Thunder
People, but he was alone in the forest. He made his way out and
finally reached his own settlement, but found then that he had been
gone so very long that all the people had thought him dead, although
to him it seemed only the day after the dance.
His friends questioned him closely, and, forgetting the warning,
he told the story; but in seven days he died, for no one can come
back from the underworld and tell it and live.
Native American Legends
Back to Top
Other Native American Legends
|
Native American Legends A-B