Spirits, Fairies, and Merpeople Read online

  The chief threw off his sleeping robes and rushed out of the tepee. He looked around cautiously and listened carefully, but he saw nothing and heard nothing. Satisfied that all was as it should be, he returned to the lodge.

  Again, Blue Cloud heard the voices. She held the baby close. It was then that she realized the voices came from the open mouth of the sleeping child. Careful not to wake him, she laid the baby on the ground. “It is the child,” she whispered to her father. “The voices are coming from inside the child.”

  The voices grew louder and louder. “This is not a child but an evil spirit come to destroy us,” the chief said softly. “We must leave before he awakes, or he will swallow the whole village.”

  Quickly and quietly the chief crept from the tepee to find Broken Feather and Spotted Bear. “Warn everyone! The child is an evil spirit. We must leave before he wakes. His power is greatest at night.”

  Spotted Bear and Broken Feather moved silently from lodge to lodge, and soon the entire village had packed and slipped away unheard. Nothing remained of the village but the evil-spirit child sleeping on the ground where the chief’s tepee had been.

  The next morning, as the sun rose above the horizon, the tiny child woke to find himself all alone. He flew into a terrible rage, as the evil spirit changed from his baby form into a great, ugly terrifying beast. He had become a giant with a massive head and body perched high atop tall, spindly legs, barely able to walk. From its huge mouth lined with sharp, pointy teeth, came screeching as he wobbled back and forth in search of the fleeing people.

  Once the people were a safe distance away, a party of brave warriors retraced their steps with their bows, arrows, and spears. They quickly slew the great, ugly spirit. As the huge beast fell to the ground dying, an entire village – tepees and people – emerged from its gaping mouth.

  “Thank you for freeing us,” the people cried. “Never again need we fear the evil spirit Lodge Eater.”

  WATER LILY FINDS HER LOVE

  COOS

  American West Oregon Coast

  Water Lily and her five older brothers lived in a village where the western sea met the land. Her brothers worried about her. Other maidens her age had husbands and children to care for. “Why do you not choose one of the fine young men from our village?” they often asked.

  But Water Lily showed no interest in the young men of the village. “My love is in the ocean,” she would say. Her brothers could only shake their heads and wonder. Water Lily preferred to spend all her time alone, walking beside the ever-changing ocean and swimming in the coves along the shore.

  Water Lily was often gone for long periods of time, making her brothers worry even more. Once, Water Lily did not return for a very long time, indeed. For three seasons her five brothers and many other villagers searched for her. She was not to be found anywhere. People said “How sad it is that the ocean has taken her.”

  But one day Water Lily did return, and she was not alone. She had with her a small baby. Her brothers and all the villagers rejoiced that she was home, but they wondered about the child.

  “Where did this tiny baby come from?” they asked. “Where is his father?”

  “He is my son,” was her only reply.

  As the days passed, the baby cried day and night. Everyone in the lodge complained. “We have no peace from this constant crying.” Water Lily took the baby and a willow basket and went into the woods to gather roots and berries. The baby wailed loudly all the way.

  A great patch of blackberry bushes grew near the shore. The berries were juicy and sweet. Water Lily placed the crying infant at the foot of a tall tree. She began filling her basket with the berries and suddenly realized that the crying had stopped. Water Lily returned to the tall tree where she’d left the baby. She was astonished to find him contentedly gnawing on a piece of fish.

  “Where did the fish come from?” She looked around. A tall, handsome young man emerged from the trees. His skin was as green as the ocean and his head was covered in flowing white sea foam. Strings of pink and coral shells hung around his neck.

  “My son was hungry so I gave him food,” he said.

  “Who are you and where do you come from?” asked Water Lily.

  “I am your husband, your love from the ocean. I have come for my family.”

  Water Lily picked up the baby, now happily sucking on his piece of fish, and followed the strange young man to a small cove, hidden beyond the blackberry patch. He held out a webbed hand. “Water Lily, my love. I am taking you home.” She cradled the child and stepped into the dark water.

  The three swam deep, deep to the bottom of the sea, where they came upon a great underwater village. And there they lived in peace and health. Water Lily never returned to her village, but she told her small son tales of his uncles’ great skills. One day, the child said, “I would like to be a great hunter, like my uncles.” So Water Lily made a small bow and fashioned arrows for him.

  The child protested. “These arrows are not straight.”

  Water Lily replied, “I know. Your uncles were the arrow-makers, not I. I will visit them and bring you back straighter arrows.”

  Water Lily prepared for her journey. She knew that her brothers liked sea otter skins, so she prepared a bundle of five of the softest, thickest pelts. “These will be their gift in exchange for the arrows.” Carrying the bundle of pelts, she swam up, up until she reached the water’s surface.

  Water Lily lifted her head and saw a movement on the shore. Hunters were standing on the rocks, aiming at her. She recognized them as her brothers. “Don’t shoot,” she cried. “It’s me, Water Lily, back from the ocean!”

  “You can’t be Water Lily! She was taken by the ocean long ago.”

  Water Lily swam closer to shore. “Look, it’s me!” she called.

  They did look, but she was not the sister they remembered. This was a strange creature with green and scaly skin. Her hair was twined with pink seaweed strands. She held out the otter skins in her webbed hands. “It is me. I have been gone a long, long time, but my love and my family are in the ocean.”

  The brothers conferred. This was Water Lily, the sister they had lost. She stayed in the sea, but she told them of her family and the great underwater village that was now her home. “My son wishes to be a great hunter like you. I’d like to trade these skins for some of your fine arrows.”

  The brothers were pleased to see Water Lily and to hear of her contentment. They gave her many arrows to take to their nephew. Before she vanished into the depths she said, “I have one more gift for you. The people of the underwater village will send a whale to your beach tomorrow. Divide the meat among all the people and tell them that I will always remember them.”

  The five brothers never saw Water Lily again, but their earth village received many gifts of whale meat. And in return, they would shoot their arrows into the ocean, gifts for the people under the sea.

  THE FAIRY VILLAGE

  OJIBWA

  Woodlands and Central North America

  Long ago, among the Ojibwa there was an important chief, and that chief had ten daughters. The daughters all married men who were good hunters and strong, courageous warriors. All except Red Leaf, that is.

  Red Leaf fell in love with Star Talker and though her sisters objected, she married him. He was old and feeble. He was so frail that he could barely walk. But whenever anyone wondered aloud about the match, Red Leaf would say, “I love him and I am happy.”

  One evening the ten sisters and their husbands and all their many children were invited to come to their father’s lodge for a great feast. As they made their way there, Star Talker stopped many times to rest and to speak to the stars.

  “Look! He thinks Evening Star is his father,” said one of the sisters.

  They continued on their way and came upon a hollow log lying beside the trail. Star Talker dropped to his knees and crawled through one end. When he came out the other, he was no longer old and feeble. He had changed in
to a handsome young man. His white hair was a shiny long mane. He stood straight and tall. But Red Leaf had changed too.

  No longer was she a beautiful young woman. She was frail and old. Her lovely black hair had become stringy and gray. Her back was bent, her smooth skin now dry and wrinkled. But this did not change the love they had for each other.

  When they arrived at the chief’s lodge, a voice came from the heavens. It was Evening Star. “I have come to speak with my son, Star Talker. Long ago an evil star cast a spell that turned you into an old man wandering the earth. Because of the love you and your wife, Red Leaf, share, the spell has been broken. You are free to return home, and you may bring Red Leaf and all her family to live among the stars.”

  Suddenly the ten sisters, their husbands, all their many children, and their father, the chief, floated upwards, changing into birds with bright-colored feathers. Evening Star placed the birds in a cage atop the clouds.

  Again Evening Star’s voice rang out from the heavens. This time, his words were a warning to Star Talker. “Take care not to stand in the light of the evil star or the spell will return.”

  All lived happily in the heavens for many years, Evening Star happiest of all, for his son Star Talker and Star Talker’s earthly wife, Red Leaf, gave him a grandson named Flicker. Evening Star loved the little boy very much and could deny him nothing. The two spent their time watching the world below and all the people who lived there.

  Flicker particularly loved to watch the young men hunting. “I would like to be a great hunter someday, like the people.” So Evening Star fashioned a little bow and arrows for his grandson.

  “You must practice every day if you wish to be a great hunter,” said Evening Star.

  For many days Flicker shot his arrows into the clouds. His aim got better and better. One day he told his grandfather, “I cannot be a great hunter if I have only clouds to shoot.” Evening Star could not refuse a wish from his grandson. He opened the cage atop the clouds.

  All the beautifully colored birds flew out of the open door. Flicker took careful aim and shot one arrow, then another. The third arrow flew from his bow and met its mark. It pierced the breast of a robin.

  Flicker was proud and wanted to show his grandfather. But before he could pick up the tiny bird it changed back into its earthly form. Flicker felt himself floating down through the heavens until at last his feet touched the earth. All the colorful birds that had flown among the heavenly clouds began to drift back to earth. As they came closer, they changed back into their human forms. But they were no bigger than pine cones.

  The tiny people came to rest atop the mossy cliffs that stood high above a rushing waterfall. There they built their lodges of flower stems and wore robes of flower petals. They were happy to be back in their earthly world. They thanked Evening Star for giving them a beautiful new home.

  Today, if we listen very hard, we can still hear the tiny people singing and dancing and giving thanks in the soft light of the Evening Star.

  SPIRITS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

  UTE

  The Plains of Utah and Colorado

  In the beginning, when the universe was young, there were two heavens. The farther heaven of planets, moon, and stars was the dwelling place of the higher spirits. Below was the other heaven, where the lesser spirits had created the earth with its mountains, plains, seas and rivers, and all the living things upon it.

  The finest creation in Lower Heaven was corn. When the lesser spirits made corn, they were satisfied with what they had done. “Our corn needs care,” they said, and made people to tend to it.

  The people needed food and water and shelter so they could live and tend the corn. So the spirits gave them clean rushing rivers, game to hunt for food, and shelter. All of this was so they could tend the corn.

  The people had everything they needed to live in contentment, but they were stiff-necked. They argued and fought amongst themselves.

  “We have given them everything they need to live in peace and yet they carp and bicker,” said the lesser spirits. “We cannot let this continue.”

  So the lesser spirits gathered up woven baskets, the largest they could find. They placed gold and silver in some of them, the richest earth in others. And, of course, they filled others with corn. When they knew that they had preserved all of the earth’s treasures they caused the waters to rise.

  The flood drowned the forests and plains. It swept away all living things. And it washed the earth of the ungrateful people.

  The lesser spirits took their baskets of gold and silver and of fertile earth and of corn, and left the lower heaven to join the higher spirits. But when they were above the clouds the higher spirits stopped them. “There is no way into heaven with the things you carry,” they said.

  The lesser spirits had no choice. Hearts breaking, they emptied their baskets into the sky. The gold and silver and rich soil fell and fell back to the earth into mounds that stood above the swirling waters. The last baskets they emptied contained precious corn. It landed on the mounds of gold and silver and earth. But some of the lesser spirits could not bear to part with all of the corn. They hid some away. It was only a little, they told themselves.

  Sometimes the lesser spirits would eat of the secret corn, but on the whole, they lived happily in the far heaven. One day, as they were looking down on the mounds of gold and silver and dark earth, they saw a young man and woman.

  “They must have survived the rising of the waters,” said one spirit. The spirits watched as the people planted tiny seeds of corn in the rich dark earth. And they watched the couple tending the shoots as they grew. Their care for the corn touched the lesser spirits. “We will not despair of them. We will give them another chance,” they said.

  So the lesser spirits called up to the rain clouds, the home of the Great Lizard. Now, the Great Lizard had a thirst that could not be quenched. They told him of the flooded world below and all the water there.

  Great Lizard slithered out of the rain clouds and down to earth. He lowered his head to the waters and began to drink. He drank and he drank and the waters fell. And as the waters fell, the earth rose.

  Soon Great Lizard had drunk the earth dry and was ready to return to the rain clouds. But his body was too bloated with water. He flew for a moment and then crashed back to earth. When he landed he turned to stone that shattered. And from his shattered body poured streams and rivers that fed the dry soil.

  Once again the earth was a good place for people to live. The lesser spirits kept watch from up in the heavens, every now and then tasting from their hidden cache of corn. Sometimes a kernel falls, and we see a shooting star.

  SOULS IN THE MIST

  CREE

  Plains and Woodlands of Canada and Northern U.S.A.

  The universe was ruled by two spirits. The Great Spirit ruled the heavens and the earth and all that was good. Evil Minded ruled the underworld and all that was wicked. At the beginning of time they came to an agreement. When the people died, the souls of those who had lived with love, respect, and kindness would spend eternity shining in the heavens with the Great Spirit. The souls of those who had done wrong would go to the underworld to be tormented eternally by Evil Minded.

  This arrangement worked out well, for there were as many evil souls as good souls to be collected; that is, until Three Crow.

  Three Crow was an ancient wise man who lived among the Cree. He loved and honored the Great Spirit. Because of his love and devotion, the Great Spirit gave Three Crow a wonderful gift. He was given the knowledge of healing plants and roots and the understanding to use them.

  Whether Three Crow was called upon for a healing potion, or whether he was asked for advice, all the people knew they could depend on him. He taught the people to follow the path of love, respect, and kindness. “And in doing so,” he would tell them, “you will be welcomed by the Great Spirit in the heavens.” He warned them about Evil Minded and his terrible underworld. “His is a path to eternal torment and tor
ture.”

  Evil Minded hated Three Crow. Because of his teachings, there were fewer wrong-doing souls and fewer souls to torture. Evil Minded tried many ways to tempt people into wrong doing. He promised them wealth and power, but only a few chose the path to the underworld.

  Evil Minded went to the Great Spirit. “We had an agreement,” he raged, his voice thundering through the heavens. “You had as many good souls as I had bad, and I had as many bad as you had good. Because of Three Crow, my world is almost empty!”

  “Three Crow has taught the people to live with love and respect,” replied the Great Spirit. “When they come to me they are good.”

  “But no one is good all the time,” argued Evil Minded. “Even the best do bad things sometimes.”

  “This is true. We will make a new agreement.” Great Spirit thought for some time before he spoke again. “I will give you all the souls for three days and nights. In that time we will see those with true love in their hearts. I will welcome them into my heavens. You may keep the rest.”

  Evil Minded happily agreed, but before he could rush off to kindle his welcoming fires, the Great Spirit added another condition to the agreement. “You must promise to burn your fires only in the marshy lowlands. We do not want you to set the whole world on fire.”

  “Yes, yes, I promise,” Evil Minded called out as he hurried away to gather wood for his fires.

  When Three Crow heard of the new agreement, he grew sick at heart and grieved for the people. In despair, he cried out to the Great Spirit, “Please have mercy on the souls of the good. Evil Minded is cruel, and he will torture all the souls for three days and three nights. They will suffer terribly.”