Coyote and the People
Coyote and the People Old Native American Storyretold by Anna Kreyling - Age Ten Washington USA
One day when Coyote was fishing in a stream he saw Bear.
Bear was very angry, a bee had stung him on the nose!
He said to Coyote "I am very hungry, the bees did not give me any honey. I will eat you!"
Coyote said "That is where you are wrong Bear." And with those words he slayed Bear. With his blood he made different Indian tribes.
After he was finished Fox said "You still have one more area of land left!" Coyote thought and he sprinkled rich blood from the heart of Bear onto the area of a beautiful river.
That is how the Indian nation of tribes was formed
The End
How the Cockatoo got its Crest Dictated by Madeleine Dale - aged 5Pialba, Queensland - Australiaas remembered from a story once read to her
Once upon a time the cockatoos were all white.
The othe birds teased the cockatoo for he had no colours. One day he found three coloured feathers. He picked them up and put them in his tail.
When he went walking the other birds noticed that they were their feathers. They started to pluck out the cockatoo's feathers.
The cockatoo flew and flew and hit the sun.
The sun was so hot that it made his crest yellow and he came shooting back to earth.
That's why cockatoos have yellow crests.
If you look in the trees and see a cockatoo you'll notice that its crest is yellow
The End.
How the Humming Bird got its Hum by Joey B. - aged 8?Chadds Ford, PA - U.S.A.
Once upon a time in the the middle of the forest there lived a prince who lived with his father the king. They lived in a castle at the edge of a river.
The prince had a wonderful singing voice.
Usually he'd go out into the forest and sing. And usually the animals would get attracted to his voice.
Now the keeper of the animals did not like the animals going out into the forest. He had to do something about the prince.
For many years he had been thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Finally he thought of something.
After the prince was old enough his father asked him to marry Sabrina. The prince did not know what to say, but he did not want to hurt his father's feelings, and he did think that Sabrina was a nice girl. So he agreed.
Meanwhile the keeper of the animals watched the prince come out of the castle. He aimed his gun and fired at him and killed him.
The animals cried. The prince went into heaven. Two angels appeared out of nowhere and said "We will let you back on earth but we will have to make one small change".
Before his eyes he was back on earth but then he looked at himself, he was covered in feathers!
The angels had turned him into a hummingbird.
And that's how the hummingbird got its hum.
The End.
How the Zebra got its Stripes by Ginny - aged 12?ForestCity - U.S.A.
Zebras, many years ago were not black and white. They were white.
Some would say that they were a mixture between a white horse, and a donkey or mule.
People at this time were still trying to domesticate (or train) wild horses so they could show them off, and prance around on them since they were so beautiful.
Now zebras were called zebras since they were a bit different from horses, and mules. But it was very difficult to catch, and train a zebra. One day a zebra which was still very young, wondered off into the village. Many people started to stare and whisper about how they would catch it.
The zebra became alarmed, and realized what they would try to do. So he frantically began to run. People started to run inside to get a net to catch the zebra with. He ran and ran. Finally he had an idea.
He found some black paint, and tipped it out of the pot that it was in. It splattered out into little wavy lines. So he rolled in it until his body was covered with black stripes. He did this thinking that it would make him ugly.
The people of the village finally found him, and realized what he had done to himself. They didn't think that he was pretty any more since he had black blurry stripes all over him. So they let him go.
Soon all zebras did that so that people would leave them alone. Then gradually they didn't need too. Zebras started to be born like that except they were beautiful.
The End.
By Rachel - Age 11
Leicter, England
Long ago the Rhinoceros didn't have a horn. Just a long, gray head.
Now the Rhinoceros wanted to be different. He thought of every thing. A mane, but the lion and horse already had that. Speed, but the Cheetah had that. Everything he thought of someone already had it.
One day the Rhinoceros was walking across the beach, when he saw a shell, shaped like a horn. He said "This is a very nice shell, I will keep it."
The next day the Rhinoceros gathered all his friends to decide what the Rhinoceros should have to make him different.
Suddenly the Platypus started shouting "A flat tail, a flat tail."
"But you have that" said the Cheetah
"Oh" the Platypus exclaimed.
Just then the Platypus's tail got caught on the shell and flicked it onto the Rhinoceros's head. The animals pulled and pulled to got it off, but the more they pulled the more it got stuck. The Rhino thought and said "stop, this will make me look different."
The animals all looked back. He was right it did look different.
So from then on the Rhinoceros raises its head proudly, and says "look at my horn, you will never see anything like it again."
The end
The Mouse and the Douglas-Fir Cone
Retold by: Claralynn NunamakerLaytonville California
Long, long ago there lived a mouse in the forest.
The mouse was fearful all day and all night, for the sly fox always tried to catch him and eat up him.
The mouse was very clever and was able to hide from the fox for a long, long time. But one day, he let his attention wander, and before he knew it, the fox was right there!
The mouse was very scared and ran off as fast as he could. But he knew the fox was faster, so frantically he searched for a place to hide.
He spied a cone that he thought was big enough to hide him, so he scurried inside. Well, he was hidden well enough that the fox couldn't find him, but really the cone was too small.
And to this day, you can see the hind legs and the tail of the mouse sticking out from the Douglas-fir cone, where he is STILL hiding from the fox!
The End
Spider, Hare and the Moon Origin Unknown - Retold by Roby & Fran Hall West Sussex England
Moon was sad. She had spent many years looking at the people on Earth and she saw that they were afraid. They were afraid of dying. To make them feel better she decided to call on her friend Spider to take a message to them.
"Spider", She said, "The people of Earth are afraid of dying and that makes me very sad. Please tell them that they will all die sooner or later but it is nothing to be scared of."
So Spider slowly made his way back to Earth, carefully picking his way down on moonbeams and sunbeams. On his way he met Hare.
"Where are you going Spider?", said Hare.
"I am going to give the people of Earth a message from Moon.", he said.
"Oh, you'll be far too long. Tell me the message and I'll take it there for you", replied Hare.
"OK! Moon wants the people of Earth to know that they will all die...... ", Spider started.
"Right! Tell the people of Earth that they will all die", said Hare. And with that, Hare disappeared off to Earth.
Spider gloomily made his way back to Moon and told Her what had happened. Moon was very cross with Hare and when he came back to tell them that he had given them the message, she hit him on the nose! And that is why to this day, the Hare has a split lip.
"You had better take the message yourself", said Moon to Spider.
And to this day, Spider is still carefully carrying Moon's message and spinning the web in the corner of our rooms - but how many of us listen?
The End
Eliza and Athena By Sally - AgeThirteenDavidsonCountyNorth Carolina U.S.A
"I made this myth up for my Language arts class. I hope you like it"
Once there was a young girl named Eliza. She was the daughter of a king and so she never had to work. She became very lazy. She had her servants do everything for her.
"I am so very thirsty, and my glass is on the table. Please get it for me." she called. Immediately a servant picked the glass up from the table next to Eliza and held it up to her lips until Eliza was no longer thirsty.
The next day, Eliza was walking to dinner when her hat fell off. She called for a servant and a young man ran over, picked up the hat, dusted it off , and placed it back on Eliza's head.
She continually called for her servants to do simple tasks for her. Her father noticed her laziness and decided to punish her. He set her in a room with only a loom and some yarn. No servants were allowed in the room.
"You will stay in this room, not eating or drinking until you have woven a blanket for me. You have to do all of the work by yourself. Call for me when you are done". The king left Eliza all alone in her room.
Eliza called for her servants, but none appeared. Then she remembered her father telling her about Athena, the goddess of wisdom and handicrafts. She called for Athena over and over until finally, she fell asleep.
While she was sleeping, she had a dream. Hermes spoke to her in her dream. He said "Athena has heard your pleas for help. She is very angry with you. She will come to you and inform you of your punishment". Eliza awoke very frightened. She then saw that there was an owl on the edge of her window. The owl spoke to her.
"I am Athena. You have called upon me to do your work. You must be punished for your laziness. You are a mortal of high importance, therefore you have no work to do. I am going to make you a lowly animal.
You will have to work constantly just to stay alive. People will look down at you in disgust. You will be killed just because you are insignificant. All of your children and their children and so on will have the same fate".
Eliza worked for the rest of her life. All of her children have the same fate. They are doomed to be ants for the rest of their lives.
The End
How the Sky came to be By Laura Beeston age 11Grade 6 GrosvenorSchoolWinnipeg, ManitobaCanada
Before the stars, when the earth was long and flat, and the moon was cold and plain, there lived a spirit named Obweji.
Obweji was very powerful because he was the Spirit of the Sky. He owned the universe and the great flat earth. He had many servants on earth, they were all afraid of him and did his bidding.
They were all happy when Obweji lifted and went up to his big dark sky again.
On earth there was a beautiful maiden named Pateka. Her hair was the colour of a ravens wing and her eyes sparkled like the fire. She was kind and respectful to her people and she loved the sun.
One day Obweji came down to Pateka's village to choose a bride.
All the people were obligated to give forth their daughters and the families who didn't were killed.
When Obweji saw Pateka he chose her right away because of her great beauty. When Pateka was given to him she cried and cried but went with him for the sake of her people.
She cried many nights after and the only thing that pleased her was staring into the sun for many hours. Obweji was sorry but very mad at Pateka for being disrespectful to him.
One night Pateka told Obweji, " I am leaving you because you are cruel to my people!!"
The words shocked Obweji and he became furious at her. He grabbed her stone necklace from her neck. But Pateka was too quick and darted away from him. He held the broken necklace as she ran away never to be seen again.
Obweji was so overcome by anger that he threw all the beads in the sky, and there they stopped and shone like diamonds in day and night.
Obweji was ashamed and scared to face his people, he felt weak and thought about his lost love all the time. A few days later Obweji started to cry.
He picked up his earth and rolled it very slowly in his big hands then he turned faster and faster until his palms hurt and his head ached. He was so sad that he went to the moon and slept for 4 days.
Then he died of a broken heart.
The servants were overjoyed because they didn't have to work for him anymore. But they would be reminded of him when they looked at his image on the moon.
And Pateka? She ran to the spirit of the sun and married him. They were very happy and had many children.
They named them, Venus, Mercury , Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus ,Pluto and Neptune. They lived happily ever after.
And that is how the sky came to be.
The End
Why there are clouds By Nicole HamiltonGrade 6 student GrosvenorSchoolWinnipeg, ManitobaCanada
In the forest long, long ago, there lived an old man. The man lived with his son. The old man's name was Wise Man and his son's name was Little Wolf.
Wise Man looked very old and wrinkled. His eyes were filled with wisdom and his head was covered in long white hair. Little Wolf's hair was black, black as the darkest night.
Little Wolf's eyes could see a toothpick in a whole pile of hay. He could run like a cheetah and he could kill a bear with his bare hands.
"Father, we are so lucky to live in the forest together. It is so beautiful, " Little Wolf told his father.
"Yes, Little Wolf," Wise Man answered. "But I will not always be here with you, some day I will die and you will hunt and cook for yourself."
"I do not want to live without you, " Little Wolf replied and he ran off crying.
Wise Man went to where his son was crying. "I will not go now so let us share the moments we have, " Wise man told Little Wolf.
Little Wolf asked, "Can we go fishing in the beautiful lake?"
"Of course," answered Wise Man.
The two of them went to the still lake. They got into the canoe and paddled to the middle of the lake. As soon as they set out the rods they both caught a fish.
When it started to get dark the two of them went back to their tipi with five fish each. Little Wolf got into the bedroll and fell asleep.
The next morning Wise Man was not up yet. Little Wolf thought something was wrong because Wise Man was always up before him. Little Wolf went back into the tipi and saw Wise Man lying there.
"Little Wolf," Wise Man said, "I am sick and I need Medicine."
Littler Wolf ran to the medicine pouch and got 4 different medicines that Wise Man would have to take every day. Wise Man was taking the medicine for 4 days and then he died.
It was the saddest day of Little Wolf's life.
That evening as Little Wolf sat mournfully looking at the sky, he saw something familiar. It was white and fluffy.
"Father!" Little Wolf cried. The fluffy face nodded and the eyes twinkled.
It was Wise Man. Now every once in a while Wise Man would come down and give Little Wolf advice on how to live.
That is why there are clouds
The End
The Fastest Rabbit By Nickolas D. HuirasAge: 9 Missoula, MontanaUSA
One day a mother rabbit was having a baby rabbit.
The other rabbits were very fast and could jump very high. When the little rabbit was 4 months old, it started to talk.