Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee (4 page)

Ishi was fascinated by the “healing place,” his word for the hospital. He would roam the halls, making friends and learning. He could not understand how they could “kill” a person, cut him open, close him back up and then he would come back to “life.”

As others learned more about Ishi's way of life, their respect for him grew. At first, they didn't understand why Ishi would cringe whenever he heard a dog barking. Ishi explained that barking dogs meant death to his people. His people would hear the dogs barking as they came up the mountains and they would know that the white men were coming with guns to kill them. They would scatter into the mountains. They would hear gunshots and later, when they would gather at the meeting place, there were always some who were missing. Each time, their numbers grew smaller and smaller. Finally, there were only Ishi, his mother and his sister. Once again they heard the dogs and they scattered into the mountains. Ishi had heard gunshots in the direction his mother had taken. Then he heard gunshots in the direction his sister had taken. Later, he returned to the gathering place and waited for several days, but neither his mother nor his sister showed up. He never saw his mother or sister again. Everybody he had ever known was gone.

It was hard work finding food, and it took several people working together to gather enough food to survive. One person by himself could not gather enough food to live. Soon, starvation drove Ishi down out of the mountains. It was then that he was found in the rancher's buildings looking for food.

Ishi would be taken on sightseeing tours to show him the “white man's world.” They thought that skyscrapers with people living in them would impress him. He simply said, “Like big mountains. I lived in mountains.”

They pointed out airplanes in the sky. Ishi had seen and heard them flying over often enough that he paid them no attention. But he was intrigued with a window shade that would roll up. “Where does it go?” he asked. Then he was taken to the beach. He was stunned! When his people had gathered, he had only seen fifty to sixty people at the most. There on the beach he saw thousands. He did not know that that many people existed in the world.

Bows would disappear from the museum. The museum staff would know that Dr. Pope and Ishi were trying them out and discussing the various merits of each bow. When they were finished, the bows would mysteriously return to their place in the museum.

Ishi was given his own room and was assigned the task of helping out in the museum. He had learned how to wear the clothes of the white man. Soon, he learned how to get around using the trolley cars and was doing his own shopping.

He loved talking about his way of life, and he was asked if he would be willing to talk to the public about it. He agreed, and a Sunday lecture date was sent to the newspapers. He was asked if he would wear his traditional clothing for his talk. He said, “No.” With quiet dignity he said it would be very impolite to wear his clothing in the white man's world. When the Sunday of the lecture arrived, several people showed up. They listened intently to Ishi and asked many questions. When it was over, they asked when he would do it again. The response was totally unexpected, but another date was set. This time more people showed up. The word quickly spread, and Ishi's talks were eagerly received. Soon, it was a regular Sunday afternoon event at the museum. By this time more people were coming to hear Ishi on Sunday afternoon than were coming to the museum during the rest of the week.

Then, one day, Ishi was found lying on the floor of the museum. He was rushed to the hospital.

Dr. Pope immediately took charge, arguing that no one knew Ishi better than he did. Word quickly spread throughout the hospital that Ishi was seriously ill. As usual, Ishi had made many friends when he was roaming the “healing place.” Members of the staff quietly gathered in the hallway outside of his room awaiting word of his condition. Nurses were scurrying in and out of Ishi's room carrying Dr. Pope's tests as he tried to find out what was wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Pope came out of Ishi's room. Sweat beaded his forehead and his face was pale. Quietly, he told the waiting staff, “Ishi is in the latter stages of tuberculosis.” Ishi had been feeling weak for some time and hadn't been able to keep his food down. But he hadn't said anything because he didn't want to be a “bother” to anyone. On March 25, 1916, Ishi passed away.

As was the custom among his people, the following items were placed in his coffin: his favorite bow and five arrows, several obsidian shards, a pouch of dried corn and a pouch of acorn meal for his journey.

He was then cremated. Ishi's ashes were placed in a small black pueblo jar. The inscription reads, “Ishi, the last Yana, 1916.”

Ishi had learned the language, the customs and even how to wear the clothes of a culture that had hunted his people to extinction and yet he was the one called the “savage.”

I will end Ishi's story with his own preferred phrase of farewell, “You stay, I go.”

T
HE
M
AGIC
L
AKE
OF
THE
A
NIMALS

In western North Carolina, deep in the Great Smoky Mountains, you will find the headwaters of the Oconaluftee River. It is said that if you go west from these headwaters you will find a large, grassy plain. There will be no Animals that you can see, for this is the Magic Lake of the Animals.

To see what is there, first you must fast the day before going to this area. The next morning, after fasting, as you travel to the west you will hear many Ducks and the call of other Animals. Soon you will see flocks of Ducks and Geese flying overhead. If you move quietly through the bushes, you will see a huge, shallow lake. Water will be pouring out of the cliffs overlooking the lake. Waterfowl of all kinds will be resting on the surface. Animals will be walking around the shore.

An Animal that is injured will wade out into the lake and swim across. When he comes out on the other side he will be healed. If an Animal has been injured and can make it to the lake then he can be healed. The Animals move around the lake in peace. Here, there is no fighting.

This is the Magic Lake of the Animals.

T
HE
M
ILKY
W
AY

Long ago, a Cherokee family had ground up some cornmeal and placed it in a basket outside their cabin. The next morning when the Father got up, he went over to the basket. He looked inside, and all of the cornmeal was gone. He did not know what had happened to the cornmeal. He woke up his family. They talked about what had happened.

That day, they ground up some more cornmeal, and that evening they left the cornmeal in the basket outside their cabin once again. But this time, when it grew dark, the Father hid in the bushes around the clearing. He sat down to wait. He waited until long after midnight, when a giant Dog appeared and came down out of the northern sky. The Dog landed on the ground, walked over to the basket of cornmeal and started eating. He stayed there until he had finished all the cornmeal. Then he walked to the bushes and disappeared.

Now the Father knew what had happened to the cornmeal. The next morning he woke up his family, gathered them around him and told them what had happened. They worked on a plan to stop this from happening again. Finally, they came up with a plan they thought would work. They ground up some more cornmeal, put it in the basket and left the basket outside their cabin once again. But this time, when it grew dark, everybody picked up drums or switches and hid themselves in the bushes around the clearing.

They waited and waited, until finally, out of the northern sky, the giant Dog again appeared. He came down out of the sky, landed and walked over to the cornmeal. He started eating. At the Father's signal, everybody jumped out of the bushes. They started yelling at the top of their lungs, beating on the drums or rushing toward the Dog with their switches. They started hitting the Dog with their switches and yelling and drumming. The Dog was so stunned that he whirled around, gave a mighty leap and disappeared back into the northern sky. But because he had been eating cornmeal, cornmeal streamed out of his mouth as he leaped back into the sky. And instead of falling down to the earth, this cornmeal floated up into the sky. Today we know that cornmeal as the Milky Way.

  

W
HY
THE
M
INK
S
MELLS

Long ago, there was nobody here but the Animals. The Mink was a great thief. He would steal from everybody, and all of the Animals got tired of the Mink stealing all the time. So they decided to teach him a lesson. They built a fire and then grabbed the Mink and threw him into the fire. He would try to escape and the Animals would throw him back. Finally, they saw his coat had turned black and he smelled like roasted meat. They decided the Mink had learned his lesson and pulled him out of the fire. His coat is still black, and whenever he gets excited he smells like roasted meat. But the Mink did not learn his lesson, and he steals to this day.

 

P
LEIADES AND THE
P
INE

There were seven young Boys who loved to play a game. They would roll a round stone along the ground and throw a curved stick after it trying to strike it. Their Mothers would scold them for playing the game all the time, but it didn't do any good.

One day, all the Mothers gathered up stones and boiled them in the pot for dinner. The Boys came home hungry and their Mothers got the stones out of the pots and said, “Since you like to play better than come home, take the stones for your food.”

The Boys were angry. They left the cabins and went down to the townhouse. They began to dance around the townhouse.

At last, the Mothers went looking for the boys because they were afraid something was wrong. They found all of the Boys dancing around the townhouse. They noticed that the Boys were rising off the ground as they danced. Each time around, they rose higher and higher off the ground. The Mothers began jumping up to try and catch the Boys, but most of them were too high to reach. Only one of the Mothers was able to jump up and grab her son by the ankle and pull him down. But she pulled with such force that he struck the ground, sank into it and the ground closed up over him.