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Legend->Creation: Origins of the Apache Indians |
Posted on Tuesday, February 05 @ 22:42:49 CST | |
Keywords: Apache creation story apache origins apache stories apache legends apache tribal history quick facts on the apache tribes american indian history american indian tribe native american tribes of the US and Mexico Ojo Caliente Hot Spring Apache White Mountain Apaches chiricahua apache Bedonkohe Chokonen Chihenne Nedni american indian history US history Chief Geronimo geronimo
Source: As Told by Geronimo, Public Domain Document
These tribes often held councils, and the birds
wanted light admitted. This the beasts repeatedly
refused to do. Finally the birds made war against the beasts.
The beasts were armed with clubs, but the
eagle had taught his tribe to use bows and arrows.
The serpents were so wise that they could
not all be killed. One took refuge in a perpendicular
cliff of a mountain in Arizona, and his eyes (changed into a brilliant stone)
may be see in that rock to this day.
The bears, when killed,
would each be changed into several other bears,
so that the more bears the feathered tribe killed,
the more there were.
The dragon could not be
killed, either, for he was covered with four coats
of horny scales, and the arrows would not penetrate
these.
One of the most hideous, vile monsters
(nameless) was protected against arrows, so the
eagle flew high up in the air with a round, white
stone, and let it fall on this monster's head, killing him
instantly. This was such a good service
that the stone was called sacred.
They fought for
many days, but at last the birds won the victory.
After this war was over, although some evil
beasts remained, the birds were able to control
the councils, and light was admitted. Then mankind
could live and prosper.
The eagle was chief
in this good fight: therefore, his feathers were
worn by man as emblems of wisdom, justice, and power.
Among the few human beings that were yet
alive was a woman who had been blessed with
many children, but these had always been destroyed
by the beasts. If by any means she succeeded
in eluding the others, the dragon, who
was very wise and very evil, would come himself
and eat her babes.
After many years a son of the rainstorm was
born to her and she dug for him a deep cave.
The entrance to this cave she closed and over the
spot built a camp fire. This concealed the babe's
hiding place and kept him warm.
Every day she
would remove the fire and descend into the cave,
where the child's bed was, to nurse him; then she
would return and rebuild the camp fire.
Frequently the dragon would come and question
her, but she would say, "I have no more
children; you have eaten all of them."
When the child was larger he would not always
stay in the cave, for he sometimes wanted
to run and play. Once the dragon saw his tracks.
Now this perplexed and enraged the old dragon,
for he could not find the hiding place of the boy;
but he said that he would destroy the mother if
she did not reveal the child's hiding place.
The
poor mother was very much troubled; she could
not give up her child, but she knew the power
and cunning of the dragon, therefore she lived in
constant fear.
Soon after this the boy said that he wished to
go hunting. The mother would not give her consent.
She told him of the dragon, the wolves, and
serpents; but he said, "Tomorrow I go."
At the boy's request his uncle (who was the
only man then living) made a little bow and some
arrows for him, and the two went hunting the
next day. They trailed the deer far up the mountain
and finally the boy killed a buck.
His uncle
showed him how to dress the deer and broil the
meat. They broiled two hind quarters, one for
the child and one for his uncle. When the meat
was done they placed it on some bushes to cool.
Just then the huge form of the dragon appeared.
The child was not afraid, but his uncle was so
dumb with fright that he did not speak or move.
The dragon took the boy's parcel of meat and
went aside with it. He placed the meat on another
bush and seated himself beside it. Then he said,
"This is the child I have been seeking. Boy, you
are nice and fat, so when I have eaten this venison
I shall eat you."
The boy said, "No, you shall
not eat me, and you shall not eat that meat." So
he walked over to where the dragon sat and brought
the meat back to his own seat.
The dragon said,
"I like your courage, but you are foolish. What do
you think you could do?"
"Well," said the boy,
"I can do enough to protect myself, as you may
bind out."
The dragon took the meat again,
and then the boy retook it. Four times in all the
dragon took the meat, and after the fourth time
the boy replaced the meat he said, "Dragon, will
you fight me?"
The dragon said, "Yes, in whatever
way you like."
The boy said, "I will stand
one hundred paces distant from you and you may
have four shots at me with your bow and arrows,
provided that you will then exchange places with
me and give me four shots."
"Good," said the
dragon. Stand up."
Then the dragon took his bow, which was
made of a large pine tree. He took four arrows
from his quiver; they were made of young pine
tree saplings, and each arrow was twenty feet in
length. He took deliberate aim, but just as the
arrow left the bow the boy made a peculiar sound
and leaped into the air.
Immediately the arrow
was shivered into a thousand splinters, and the
boy was seen standing on the top of a bright rainbow
over the spot where the dragon's aim had
been directed. Soon the rainbow was gone and the
boy was standing on the ground again.
Four times
this was repeated, then the boy said, "Dragon,
stand here: it is my time to shoot."
The dragon
said, "All right, your little arrows cannot pierce
my first coat of horn, and I have three other coats
--shoot away."
The boy shot an arrow, striking
the dragon just over the heart, and one coat of the
great horny scales fell to the ground.
The next
shot another coat, and then another, and the
dragon's heart was exposed. Then the dragon
trembled, but could not move.
Before the fourth
arrow was shot the boy said, "Uncle, you are
dumb with fear; you have not moved; come here
or the dragon will fall on you."
His uncle ran
toward him. Then he sped the fourth arrow with
true aim, and it pierced the dragon's heart. With
a tremendous roar the dragon rolled down the mountain
side---down four precipices into a canyon below.
Immediately storm clouds swept the mountains,
lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and the
rain poured. When the rainstorm had passed, far
down in the canon below, they could see fragments
of the huge body of the dragon lying
among the rocks, and the bones of this dragon
may still be found there.
This boy's name was Apache. Usen taught
him how to prepare herbs for medicine, how to
hunt, and how to fight.
Apache was the first chief
of the Indians and wore the eagle's feathers--
the sign of justice, wisdom, and power. To him
and to his people, as they were created, Usen
gave homes in the land of the West.
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