Stories of Wolf

Stories of Wolf

The Wolf's Revenge
(Tales from the Cherokee)

Kana'ti had wolves to hunt for him, because they are good hunters and
never fail. He once set out two wolves at once. One went to the east
and did not return. The other went to the north, and when he returned
as night and did not find his fellow he knew he must be in trouble and
started after him. After traveling on some time he found his brother
lying nearly dead beside a great greensnake (salikwa'yi) which had
attacked him. The snake itself was too badly wounded to crawl away,
and the angry wolf, who had magic powers, taking out several hairs
from his own whiskers, shot them into the body of the snake and killed
it. He then hurried back to Kana'ti, who sent the Terrapin after a
great doctor who lived in the west to save the wounded wolf. The wolf
went back to help his brother and by his magic powers he had cured him
long before the doctor came from the west, because the Terrapin was
such a slow traveler and the doctor had to prepare his roots before he
started.

The Wolf and The Dog

In the beginning, the people say, the Dog was put on the mountain and
Wolf beside the fire. When the winter came the Dog could not stand the
cold, so he came down to the settlement and drove the Wolf from the
fire. The Wolf ran to the mountains, where it suited him so well that
he prospered and increased, until after a while he ventured down again
and killed some animals in the settlements. The people got together
and followed and killed him, but his brothers came from the mountains
and took such revenge that ever since the people have been afraid to
hurt a wolf.

The Wolves Within

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at
a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story. I
too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so
much,with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and
does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your
enemy would die. "I have struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good
and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not
take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it
is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, ah! He is
full of anger. The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper.
He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think
because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his
anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two
wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which
one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."


The First Healers

One day as a man was walking alone he met a coyote.
Coyote spoke to the man and said, "How would you like to smoke my pipe?"
The man thanked the coyote and said "Sure!"

When the man was finished, the coyote said to him,
"You have smoked my pipe so now you are my friend and I will not harm
you, but will take you to meet my people. I want my people to know
that you have smoked my pipe. They will be glad to see you and will
give you great powers."

They walked on a way and after a while they met many coyotes and wolves.
When the coyotes and the wolves saw the coyote with the man one wolf
called to the other wolves and said,
"Everyone be seated. Let us hear what these people who are coming have
to say."

When they were seated the coyote stood up and said,
"This man is my brother. He smoked my pipe. He came with me to pay you
a visit. Let us take pity on him and make him a wonderful man."

The man was frightened, for the wolves came very close to him. Then
the man was told that he must not be afraid to look. So he did and saw
many coyotes, old and young.

The coyotes began to roll in the dust then they came to the man and
gave him plant roots and told him that the roots were good for healing
the sick.

Then one of the coyotes arose and said,
"We will give you this root and if any many is bitten by a mad dog
give him this medicine. He will then get well and not go mad. The
other medicinal roots are good for other ailments and pains."

Next a wolf stood up and rolled in the dust. Then he arose and gave
the man a whistle and said,
"I give you the whistle. When anybody is sick, use this whistle and
the person will be made well."

Then another wolf arose and gave the man a piece of bone with the
skull of a wolf on it and said,
"Take this piece of bone. If anyone attempts to poison or bewitch you,
lay the bone on your forehead and you will be able to overcome them.
My power is the bone."

Finally the man spoke and said,
"This is enough. I thank you wolves and coyotes, I am glad I came here."

Then coyote took the man back to the village.
"When you get home," the coyote said, "take this whistle. Blow it
before you get home. Blow hard and we will hear it; all the coyotes
and wolves will hear it."

The man did as he was told and heard the coyotes and wolves howl in
the distance.

After several days he heard of a man who was very ill.
He went to him and doctored him. With the new healing powers he had
learned from the wolves and the coyotes, he was able to cure the sick man.

Thus began the journeys of the first healers.

The Woman Who Lived With The Wolves...told by "Oliver Brown Wolf"

A Minnekoju camp which had settled down for the winter was raided by
Crow Indians. The Crow stole many horses and took a Lakota woman back
to their camp.The Lakota woman was unhappy staying in the Crow camp.
She missed her people. Some of the Crow women saw this and took pity
on her. They gave her food and a blanket and told her to hide by a
creek near the camp.She hide herself in the bushes along the banks of
the creek. A short time later some of the Crow men came looking for
her. While the Lakota woman was hiding, two wolves came upon her. The
wolves growled at her and circled around her. The woman thought the
wolves were going to kill her.
But the wolves treated her kindly and guided her along a path to the
east. The wolves and the woman traveled together while the Crow were
chasing them.A raging blizzard caught the woman and her wolf friends
in the open prairie. Two more wolves joined them as they walked
through the blowing snow. The small wolf pack and the woman struggled
through the snowdrifts and the cold winds.
There is power in this story. The woman was able to get safely away
from the Crow because of the blizzard. If one is travelling in a
blizzard and remembers this story- one need not be afraid.

After many days of traveling, the small band reached Squaw Buttes
near present day Opal, South Dakota. They came to a cave in the rocks
and the wolves forced her inside. The cave had an awful smell. As her
eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw many wolves in the large den.
She thought that the wolves would tear her apart. Instead the wolves
dragged her in a deer- tore it apart- and shared it with the woman.

The wolves were one big family. Many generations of wolves lived
together in the cave. Each wolf had its own place in the family. The
hunter wolves brought in the meat. The mother wolf nursed their young.
The elder wolves taught the younger wolves the skills of hunting. The
other wolves kept watch over the den. In this way- they all looked
after each other. The woman made herself a home in the den. She
learned to speak and understand the wolves' language. The woman would
dry and store the meat for the winter. She got along well with the
wolves and they got along well with her. Soon she smelled just like
the other wolves.
The wolves knew their country well. They always knew whenever the two-
legged ones passed through. The wolves usually stayed away from the
two- leggeds. The wolves did not like the way they smelled.

At turnip digging time of the year- the woman's mother was still
mourning. She thought that her daughter had been killed. One day the
hunter wolves saw the mother near the den. The wolves went back and
told the woman.The woman wanted to go back to her people. She was
worried that they would not accept her back. The wolves told her to
wave her blanket two times if she wanted to stay with her mother. If
she waved once- the wolves would come and take her back to the den.

When the mother saw her daughter coming- she was so happy to see her
that she cried. The woman waved her blanket twice to the wolves who
were watching her from the hills. The wolves saw this and went back to
their cave.
The woman's name became Iguga Oti Win - "Woman who lived in the rock".
The rock is now considered a sacred area to the Lakota.

Be Careful of this tale because if it is told on a winter night- it
might cause a blizzard!

How Wolf Ritual Began

From the Squamish Tribe of the Pacific Northwest

A long time ago, a young woman of the tribe, with three companions,
was walking outside the village. They were going to a place called
Tomak'cluh to look for ah-et's'l, a small plant whose roots they use
for food.
During the journey a Wolf went trotting across their path, strong and
sleek and scarcely noticing the girls. The young woman said: "How
handsome he is! I wish my husband, when I marry, could be as strong
and as fearless." At nighttime the women went to sleep, and the Wolf
came in.
(The Wolves know everything and read the minds of human creatures) The
girl did not know that he had come, but the Wolf woke the sleeping
girl, and told her he was going to take her with him. Opening her
eyes, she saw a fine young man standing before her.....


The young woman went with the Wolf to his home in the mountain, and
was there a long time. Two sons were born who grew up to be half Wolf
and half man. The old father of the girl, meanwhile, did not know
where his daughter had gone, and was greatly troubled. At her home
they tried
everywhere to find her, looking in vain in all sorts of places, until
they grieved for her as dead. In the Wolf country the oldest son,
grown to be a man, asked his mother why he looked different from the
people around him (the Wolves). The mother had told him that he came
from another
place, and that there, far from where the Wolves live, dwelt her own
father. Then the son asked when she was going home, because he wished
very much to see what it was like there. So the woman told her husband
that their son would like to see his grandfather. He finally agreed,
but before they went, as a gift to his wife, the Wolf began to teach
the woman about the Klukwana [the wolf ritual], which they had there.
It was the
Chief of Wolves that the woman have married and all the wolves came to
the Chief's house to have Klukwana.


When she had learned all about it, the Wolves came to take her away to
her own village. They brought her to her father's house at night, and
waited behind the other houses but did not come near. The woman went
in to wake her father, and began talking to him of a daughter he had
lost, though she kept hidden who she was. She said she herself had a Wolf
husband, and that she had with her two sons....The woman also told her
father many things about the Wolves, and that the villagers must not
do anything when the Wolves howled, or try to harm them. Instead they
must try to learn from them.... The old father had been much grieved
because
his daughter was dead, but he did not know her because it was
nighttime and she was much changed after so many years. But at last
had revealed herself to him and told him that now she was going to
have a "song" of her own as a sign that the Wolves had brought her
back and by which he might know her again. [The father gathered his
people and told them of
his daughter's return. They heard the wolves outside and began to beat
on long boards and sticks. The wolves howled four times and departed.


Then the woman taught her father all about Klukwana, and the secrets
she had learned from the Wolves as to their power and strength. After
she had taught him all the songs and all the dances, the father began
the Klukwana and later taught the rest of the tribe all that his
daughter had learned from the Wolves.


How Rabbit Fooled Wolf~Creek Nation

Two pretty girls lived not far from Rabbit and Wolf. One day Rabbit
called upon Wolf and said, "Let's go and visit those pretty girls up
the road."

"All right," Wolf said, and they started off.

When they got to the girls' house, they were invited in, but both
girls took a great liking to Wolf and paid all their attention to him
while Rabbit had to sit by and look on. Rabbit of course was not
pleased by this, and he soon said, "We had better be going back."

"Let's wait a while longer," Wolf replied, and they remained until
late in the day. Before they left, Rabbit found a chance to speak to
one of the girls so that Wolf could not overhear and he said, "The one
you've been having so much fun with is my old horse."

"I think you are lying," the girl replied.

"No, I am not. You shall see me ride him up here tomorrow."

"If we see you ride him up here," the girl said with a laugh, "we'll
believe he's only your old horse."

When the two left the house, the girls said, "Well, call again."

Next morning Wolf was up early, knocking on Rabbit's door. "It's time
to visit those girls again," he announced.

Rabbit groaned. "Oh, I was sick all night," he answered, "and I hardly
feel able to go."

Wolf kept urging him, and finally Rabbit said, "If you will let me
ride you, I might go along to keep you company."

Wolf agreed to carry him astride of his back. But then Rabbit said, "I
would like to put a saddle on you so as to brace myself" When Wolf
agreed to this, Rabbit added: "I believe it would be better if I
should also bridle you."

Although Wolf objected at first to being bridled, he gave in when
Rabbit said he did not think he could hold on and manage to get as far
as the girls' house without a bridle. Finally Rabbit wanted to put on
spurs.

"I am too ticklish," Wolf protested.

"I will not spur you with them," Rabbit promised. "I will hold them
away from you, but it would be nicer to have them on."

At last Wolf agreed to this, but he repeated: "I am very ticklish. You
must not spur me."

"When we get near the girls' house," Rabbit said, "we will take
everything off you and walk the rest of the way."

And so they started up the road, Rabbit proudly riding upon Wolf's
back. When they were nearly in sight of the house, Rabbit raked his
spurs into Wolf's sides and Wolf galloped full speed right by the house.

"Those girls have seen you now," Rabbit said. "I will tie you here and
go up to see them and try to explain everything. I'll come back after
a while and get you."

And so Rabbit went back to the house and said to the girls: "You both
saw me riding my old horse, did you not?"

"Yes," they answered, and he sat down and had a good time with them.

After a while Rabbit thought he ought to untie Wolf, and he started
back to the place where he was fastened. He knew that Wolf must be
very angry with him by this time, and he thought up a way to untie him
and get rid of him without any danger to himself. He found a thin
hollow log and began beating upon it as if it were a drum. Then he ran
up to Wolf as fast as he could go, crying out: "The soldiers are
hunting for you! You heard their drum. The soldiers are after you."

Wolf was very much frightened of soldiers. "Let me go, let me go!" he
shouted.

Rabbit was purposely slow in untying him and had barely freed him when
Wolf broke away and ran as fast as he could into the woods. Then
Rabbit returned home, laughing to himself over how he had fooled Wolf,
and feeling satisfied that he could have the girls to himself for a while.

Near the girls' house was a large peach orchard, and one day they
asked Rabbit to shake the peaches off the tree for them. They went to
the orchard together and he climbed up into a tree to shake the
peaches off. While he was there Wolf suddenly appeared and called out:
"Rabbit, old fellow, I'm going to even the score with you. I'm not
going to leave you alone until I do."

Rabbit raised his head and pretended to be looking at some people off
in the distance. Then he shouted from the treetop: "Here is that
fellow, Wolf, you've been hunting for!" At this, Wolf took fright and
ran away again.

Some time after this, Rabbit was resting against a tree-trunk that
leaned toward the ground. When he saw Wolf coming along toward him, he
stood up so that the bent tree-trunk pressed against his shoulder.

"I have you now," said Wolf, but Rabbit quickly replied: "Some people
told me that if I would hold this tree up with the great power I have
they would bring me four hogs in payment. Now, I don't like hog meat
as well as you do, so if you take my place they'll give the hogs to you."

Wolf's greed was excited by this, and he said he was willing to hold
up the tree. He squeezed in beside Rabbit, who said, "You must hold it
tight or it will fall down." Rabbit then ran off, and Wolf stood with
his back pressed hard against the bent tree- trunk until he finally
decided he could stand it no longer. He jumped away quickly so the
tree would not fall upon him. Then he saw that it was only a leaning
tree rooted in the earth. "That Rabbit is the biggest liar," he cried.
"If I can catch him I'll certainly fix him."

After that, Wolf hunted for Rabbit every day until he found him lying
in a nice grassy place. He was about to spring upon him when Rabbit
said, "My friend, I've been waiting to see you again. I have something
good for you to eat. Somebody killed a pony out there in the road. If
you wish I'll help you drag it out of the road to a place where you
can make a feast off it."

"All right," Wolf said, and he followed Rabbit out to the road where a
pony was lying asleep.

"I'm not strong enough to move the pony by myself," said Rabbit, "so
I'll tie its tail to yours and help you by pushing."

Rabbit tied their tails together carefully so as not to awaken the
pony. Then he grabbed the pony by the ears as if he were going to lift
it up. The pony woke up, jumped to its feet, and ran away, dragging
Wolf behind. Wolf struggled frantically to free his tail, but all he
could do was scratch on the ground with his claws.

"Pull with all your might," Rabbit shouted after him.

"How can I pull with all my might," Wolf cried, "when I'm not standing
on the ground?"

By and by, however, Wolf got loose, and then Rabbit had to go into
hiding for a long, long time.



Creation Legend ~ Pawnee

It is told in the creation legend of the Pawnee that a great council
was held to which all the animals were invited. For a reason no one
remembers, the brightest star in the southern sky, the Wolf Star, was
not invited. He watched from a distance, silent and angry, while
everyone else decided how to make the earth. In the time after the
great council the Wolf Star directed his resentment over this bad
treatment at The Storm that Comes Out of the West, who had been
charged by the others with going around the earth, seeing to it that
things went well. Storm carried a whirlwind bag with him as he
traveled, inside of which were the first people. When he stopped to
rest in the evening he would let the people out and they would set up
camp and hunt buffalo.



One time the Wolf Star sent a gray wolf down to follow Storm around.
Storm fell asleep and the wolf stole his whirlwind bag, thinking there
might be something good to eat inside. He ran far away with it. When
he opened it, all the people ran out. They set up camp but, suddenly,
looking around, they saw there were no buffalo to hunt. When they
realized it was a wolf and not Storm that had let them out of the bag
they were very angry. They ran the wolf down and killed him.

When The Storm that Comes out of the West located the first people and
saw what they had done he was very sad. He told them that by killing
the wolf they had brought death into the world. That had not been the
plan, but now it was this way.

The Storm that Comes out of the West told them to skin the wolf and
make a sacred bundle with the pelt, enclosing in it the things that
would always bring back the memory of what had happened. Thereafter,
he told them, they would be known as the wolf people, the Skidi Pawnee.

The Wolf Star watched all this from the southern sky. The Pawnee call
this star Fools the Wolves, because it rises just before the morning
star and tricks the wolves into howling before first light. In this
way the Wolf Star continues to remind people that when it came time to
build the earth, he was forgotten.


Wolf and Dog (Crow Nation)

A Crow woman was out digging roots when a wolf came by. The woman's
dog ran up to the wolf and said, "Hey, what are you doing here? Go
away. You only came around because you want what I have."

"What have you got?" asked the wolf. "Your owner beats you all the
time. Kids kick you out of the way. Try to steal a piece of meat and
they hit you over the head with a club."

"At least I can steal the meat!" answered the dog. "You haven't got
anything to steal."

"Hah! I eat whenever I want. No one bothers me."

"What do you eat? You slink around while the men butcher the buffalo
and get what's left over. You're afraid to get close. You sit there
with your armpits stinking, pulling dirt balls out of your tail."

"Look who's talking, with camp garbage smeared all over your face."

"Hrumph. Whenever I come into camp, my owner throws me something good
to eat."

"When your owner goes out to ease himself at night you follow along to
eat the droppings, that's how much you get to eat."

"That's okay! These people only eat the finest parts!"

"You're proud of it!"

"Listen, whenever they're cooking in camp, you smell the grease, you
come around and howl, and I feel sorry for you. I pity you . . ."

"When do they let you have a good time?" asked the wolf.

". . . I sleep warm, you sleep out there in the rain, they scratch my
ears, you -"

Just then the woman shouldered a bundle of roots, whacked the dog on
the back with a stick, and started back to camp. The dog followed
along behind her, calling over his shoulder at the wolf, "You're just
full of envy for a good life, that's all that wrong with you."

Wolf went off the other way, not wanting any part of that life.



The Wolf and The Crane

A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a
small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow
it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down
groaning and groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain.
He tried to induce every one he met to remove the bone. "I would give
anything," said he, "if you would take it out." At last the Crane
agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws
as wide as he could. Then the Crane put its long neck down the Wolf's
throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.

"Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?" said the Crane.

The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: "Be content. You have
put your head inside a Wolf's mouth and taken it out again in safety;
that ought to be reward enough for you."

Gratitude and greed go not together.


The Dog and The Wolf

A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a
House-dog who was passing by. "Ah, Cousin," said the Dog. "I knew how
it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do
you not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?"

"I would have no objection," said the Wolf, "if I could only get a place."

"I will easily arrange that for you," said the Dog; "come with me to
my master and you shall share my work."

So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way
there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog's
neck was very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.

"Oh, it is nothing," said the Dog. "That is only the place where the
collar is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but
one soon gets used to it."

"Is that all?" said the Wolf. "Then good-bye to you, Master Dog."

Better starve free than be a fat slave.


The Boy and The Wolves (Also known as Broken Promises)

Once upon a time an Indian hunter built himself a house in the middle
of a great forest, far away from all his tribe; for his heart was
gentle and kind, and he was weary of the treachery and cruel deeds of
those who had been his friends. So he left them, and took his wife and
three children, and they journeyed on until they found a spot near to
a clear stream, where they began to cut down trees, and to make ready
their wigwam. For many years they lived peacefully and happily in this
sheltered place, never leaving it except to hunt the wild animals,
which served them both for food and clothes. At last, however, the
strong man felt sick, and before long he knew he must die.

So he gathered his family round him, and said his last words to them.
"You, my wife, the companion of my days, will follow me ere many moons
have waned to the island of the blest. But for you, O my children,
whose lives are but newly begun, the wickedness, unkindness, and
ingratitude from which I fled are before you. Yet I shall go hence in
peace, my children, if you will promise always to love each other, and
never to forsake your youngest brother."

"Never!" they replied, holding out their hands. And the hunter died
content.

Scarcely eight moons had passed when, just as he had said, the wife
went forth, and followed her husband; but before leaving her children
she bade the two elder ones think of their promise never to forsake
the younger, for he was a child, and weak. And while the snow lay
thick upon the ground, they tended him and cherished him; but when the
earth showed green again, the heart of the young man stirred within
him, and he longed to see the wigwams of the village where his
father's youth was spent.

Therefore he opened all his heart to his sister, who answered, "My
brother, I understand your longing for our fellow-men, whom here we
cannot see. But remember our father's words. Shall we not seek our own
pleasures, and forget the little one?"

But he would not listen, and, making no reply, he took his bow and
arrows and left the hut. The snows fell and melted, yet he never
returned; and at last the heart of the girl grew cold and hard, and
her little boy became a burden in her eyes, till one day she spoke
thus to him, "See, there is food for many days to come. Stay here
within the shelter of the hut. I go to seek our brother, and when I
have found him I shall return hither."

But when, after hard journeying, she reached the village where her
brother dwelt, and saw that he had a wife and was happy, and when she,
too, was sought by a young brave, then she also forgot the boy alone
in the forest, and thought only of her husband.

Now as soon as the little boy had eaten all the food which his sister
had left him, he went out into the woods, and gathered berries and dug
up roots, and while the sun shone he was contented and had his fill.
But when the snows began and the wind howled, then his stomach felt
empty and his limbs cold, and he hid in trees all the night, and only
crept out to eat what the wolves had left behind. And by-and-by,
having no other friends, he sought their company, and sat by while
they devoured their prey, and they grew to know him, and gave him
food. And without them he would have died in the snow.

But at last the snows melted, and the ice upon the great lake, and as
the wolves went down to the shore, the boy went after them. And it
happened one day that his big brother was fishing in his canoe near
the shore, and he heard the voice of a child singing in the Indian tone --

`My brother, my brother!

I am becoming a wolf,

I am becoming a wolf!'

And when he had so sung he howled as wolves howl. Then the heart of
the elder sunk, and he hastened towards him, crying, `Brother, little
brother, come to me;' but he, being half a wolf, only continued his
song. And the louder the elder called him, "Brother, little brother,
come to me," the swifter he fled after his brothers the wolves, and
the heavier grew his skin, till, with a long howl, he vanished into
the depths of the forest.

So, with shame and anguish in his soul, the elder brother went back to
his village, and, with his sister, mourned the little boy and the
broken promise till the end of his life.