Reading Notes: Native American, Reading A
1. Sioux: The Rabbit and the Bear with the Flint Body by Marie McLaughlin (1916).
The Rabbit was in need of arrows. He had plenty of sticks but was missing the flint needed to make arrowheads. His grandmother told him to go to the old bear chief, for half his body was made of flint. So the Rabbit journeyed to the village of the bears.
It was wintertime and so the bears were lodged under the shelter of a hill, so that the cold wind would blow past them. At the end of the village, there lived an old woman. The woman here welcomed strangers, and so when the Rabbit came she offered him a seat, and at night he laid with his feet towards the fire.
The next day, the Rabbit went to the Bear Chief's lodge. They sat together and smoked for a while, and then the Bear Chief finally asked the Rabbit what he came here for. The Rabbit told him his need for flint to make arrows, and so the bear got up and revealed his half flint, half flesh body.
The Bear told his wife to bring a stone hammer and to give it to the Rabbit. He told the Rabbit not to strike too hard. The Rabbit struck a small piece of flint off the Bear's body. "Too big?" he asked. The Bear urged him further, to cut off a bigger piece. The Rabbit struck a little harder this time. "Too big?" The bear again told him to strike off bigger pieces, that at this rate he would be here all day. The Rabbit then struck again, very hard this time! And the Bear broke in two...
At this, the Rabbit darted out of the lodge. There was a great outcry in the village and all the bears started to chase the Rabbit. As the Rabbit was running away, he chanted, "Snow, snow; lots more, lots more" and snow began to fall.
The Rabbit, being light on his feet, bounded over the top of the snow. The bears, being so heavy, all sunk in, unable to move. The Rabbit saw this and turned back to kill them all with his club. This is why we have so few bears.
Bibliography:
Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).
The Rabbit was in need of arrows. He had plenty of sticks but was missing the flint needed to make arrowheads. His grandmother told him to go to the old bear chief, for half his body was made of flint. So the Rabbit journeyed to the village of the bears.
It was wintertime and so the bears were lodged under the shelter of a hill, so that the cold wind would blow past them. At the end of the village, there lived an old woman. The woman here welcomed strangers, and so when the Rabbit came she offered him a seat, and at night he laid with his feet towards the fire.
The next day, the Rabbit went to the Bear Chief's lodge. They sat together and smoked for a while, and then the Bear Chief finally asked the Rabbit what he came here for. The Rabbit told him his need for flint to make arrows, and so the bear got up and revealed his half flint, half flesh body.
The Bear told his wife to bring a stone hammer and to give it to the Rabbit. He told the Rabbit not to strike too hard. The Rabbit struck a small piece of flint off the Bear's body. "Too big?" he asked. The Bear urged him further, to cut off a bigger piece. The Rabbit struck a little harder this time. "Too big?" The bear again told him to strike off bigger pieces, that at this rate he would be here all day. The Rabbit then struck again, very hard this time! And the Bear broke in two...
At this, the Rabbit darted out of the lodge. There was a great outcry in the village and all the bears started to chase the Rabbit. As the Rabbit was running away, he chanted, "Snow, snow; lots more, lots more" and snow began to fall.
The Rabbit, being light on his feet, bounded over the top of the snow. The bears, being so heavy, all sunk in, unable to move. The Rabbit saw this and turned back to kill them all with his club. This is why we have so few bears.
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| Arrowhead. Source: Flickr. |
Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).
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