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

if they would spare his life, he would get the great crystal of the Uktena.
    The crystal was in the forehead of the great Uktena serpent. If a medicine man could get the crystal, it would make him the greatest medicine man ever known. But to meet the Uktena meant that the person would die. The Cherokee told the Shawano about this. He laughed and said that he was not afraid. His medicine was strong! They told him they would spare his life if he would bring back the crystal. The Shawano quickly agreed.

    The Uktena was a great serpent and would wait in ambush in remote and hidden places. Uktena had learned that the Cherokee would use the mountain gaps to travel from valley to valley. He would select the darkest gaps with many places to hide and he would wait for them there. The Cherokee told the Shawano about the Uktena’s ambushes.
    The Shawano went to the northern border of Cherokee country. There, he found a great Blacksnake that was larger than any that had ever been seen before. He said, “Hah! You are too small!” And he continued searching.
    He went to another gap, and there he found a great Moccasin Snake—the largest anyone had seen. But when people asked him about it later, he said it had been too small to notice.
    At another gap he found a Green Snake, and he called the people to come see the pretty Green Snake. When they got to the gap, they saw a huge Green Snake with coils that overflowed the gap. They ran away in terror.
    At another gap he found a great Lizard, but it was not what he wanted so he paid it no attention.
    He traveled south, and at the Frog Place he found a great Frog sitting in the gap. When the people came to see it, again they ran away in terror. He laughed at them for running away from a Frog and continued on.
    At other places he found great monsters of all kinds, but they were not what he was looking for and he continued searching. He went to the Leech Place on the Hiwassee and thought that the Uktena might be hiding in the deep pool. He dived into the waters and great Fish would rush at him and turn away. He saw many other monsters under the water, but they were not what he was looking for so he came out of the water and continued to the south. Finally, he found the Uktena asleep on a mountain.
    Quietly, he took a deep breath and silently ran down the side of the mountain as far as he could go on the one breath. When he stopped, he made a big circle of pine cones. Inside of this circle, he dug a trench. He set fire to the pine cones and went back up the mountain.
    The Uktena was still asleep when he returned. He drew back his arrow and sent it flying into the seventh spot back from the Uktena’s giant head. This is where the Uktena’s heart is located. The Uktena looked around and saw the Shawano running down the mountain. Uktena started after him, the crystal in his forehead flashing. The Shawano ran down the mountainside, jumped over the burning pine cones and cleared the trench. He quickly lay down inside the circle of fire. The Uktena didn’t get far; the arrow had pierced his heart and he was dying. He threw his coils around, spitting his poison all over the mountain.
    The poison couldn’t get past the circle of fire—it would hiss and sputter as it hit the fire. But one small drop got inside the circle and hit the Shawano in the forehead. He didn’t know it had landed on him. The Uktena’s blood was pouring from its wound. The blood was also poisonous and flowed down the mountain. The trench stopped the blood before it got to the Shawano and he was safe. In its dying struggles, the Uktena knocked down trees and flattened bushes all around him. Slowly, it rolled down the mountain until it came to rest at the bottom. The Shawano called in all of the Birds to feast on the Uktena, and then he left. The Birds ate everything.
    Seven days passed before the Shawano returned to the place where the Uktena had died. He came at night. The Birds had cleaned