Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee by Lloyd Arneach Read Free Book Online Page A

he dropped the fruit. He knew the Terrapin would take his time getting to the fruit on the ground. The Terrapin would always thank him for dropping the fruit down to him.
    Then Possum realized he hadn’t heard Terrapin thank him for a while. He looked down and there was a big Wolf standing over the Terrapin. When Possum pulled off another fruit and dropped it, the Wolf quickly grabbed it before it hit the ground. He would then stand over Terrapin and wait for another. Terrapin was not saying anything because the big Wolf could crush his shell with his jaws.
    Possum moved to another branch as he thought how he could help Terrapin. He grabbed another fruit and dropped it. The Wolf dashed over and snatched it out of the air. Possum now knew what he would do. He kept dropping fruit as he searched the tree. Finally, he saw a large green persimmon. He pulled it loose and dropped it. The Wolf dashed over and snatched this out of the air also, but this green one was too large and lodged in his throat. The Wolf tried to dislodge the persimmon but he had been too greedy and tried to swallow before he realized how large it was. The persimmon choked the Wolf to death.
    The Terrapin waited until he was sure the Wolf was dead. Then he took out his knife and cut off the Wolf’s ears. He dried and shaped them so he could use them as spoons. He put a hole in them, ran a thong through the hole and put the thong around his neck. That was how he carried the wolf’s ears around with him.
    It was the custom among the people in those days to put gruel out beside the door for anyone to eat if they were hungry. The Terrapin came to a home and decided to eat. He used the Wolf’s ear as a spoon. People saw this and started talking. The Terrapin had killed a Wolf! The Terrapin continued on and soon he came to another home. Word had spread faster then the Terrapin could walk.
    These people had heard the story and wanted to see for themselves if it was true, so they invited the Terrapin to eat. He took the ears from around his neck and used them once more as a spoon. The people watched in amazement. It was true! Word was spreading before the Terrapin had finished eating. In a little while, Terrapin was full. He thanked the people and started on his way.
    By this time, word had reached the Wolves. They called the pack together with their howls. When all of the pack had gathered, they were told what had happened. They all set out through the forest to seek revenge on the Terrapin for killing a member of their pack.
    The Terrapin knew when he heard the howling that the pack was gathering to seek revenge on him. He started out as fast as he could go to find safety. It wasn’t long before the Wolves picked up his trail. Their howls were not far away. The Terrapin came to the edge of a high cliff with a river far below. He could hear the Wolves rushing through the forest. As the Wolves burst out of the forest they saw the Terrapin and their snarls made his blood run cold. They would tear him to pieces! He had to choose: wait for the Wolves to tear him apart or take his chances with the cliff.
    Terrapin jumped off the edge of the cliff. The Wolves dashed to the edge of the cliff and watched silently as the Terrapin fell into the river. The impact was so great that the Terrapin’s shell was broken into many pieces. As the Terrapin sank under the waters, he sang a medicine song that pulled his shell back together and mended it. He sank to the bottom of the river and started walking. He slowly walked out of the river on the other side. His shell showed where it had been pulled back together and healed. You can still see where it was healed to this day.

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    The Cherokee fought many battles with the Shawano. In one battle, they caught a great Shawano medicine man. His name was “the Groundhog’s mother.” The Cherokee tied him up and were getting ready to torture him. The Shawano begged for his life and told the Cherokee that