Tales of Human Creation
Rabbit Boy
[ WHITE RIVER SIOUX ]
This is a story of Rabbit Boy; in some tribes it is called ths story of Blood Clot Man. "As you know," Jenny Leading Cloud said, "we Indians think of the earth and the whole universe as a never-ending circle, and in ths circle man is just another animal. The buffalo and the coyote are our brothers; the birds, our cousins. Even the tiniest ant, even a louse, even the smallest flower you can find-they are all relatives. We end our prayers with the words mitakuye oyasin-'all my relitves'-and that includes everthing that grows, crawls, runs, creeps, hops, and flies on this continent. White people see man as nature's master and conqueror, but Indians, who are close to nature, know better."
In the old, old days, before Columbus "discovered" us, as they say, we were even closer to the animals than we are now. Many people could understand the animal languages; they could talk to a bird, gossip with a butterfly. Animals could change themselves into people, and people into animals. It was a time when the earth was not quite finished, many kinds of mountains and streams, animals and plants came into being according to nature's plan.
In these far-gone days, hidden from us as in a mist, there lived a rabbit-a very lively, playful, good-hearted rabbit.
One day this rabbit was walking, enjoying himself,when he came across a clot of blood. How it got there, nobody knows. It looked like a blister, a little bladder full of red liquid. Well, the playful rabbit began toying with the clot of blood, kicking it around as if it were a tiny ball.
Now, we Indians believe in Takuskanskan, the mysterious power of motion. Its spirit is in anything that moves. It animates things and makes them come alive. Well, the rabbit got into this strange moveing power without even knowing it, and the motion of being kicked around, or rather the spirit of the motion-and I hope you can grasp what I mean by that-began to work on the little blob of blood so that it took shape, forming a little gut. The rabbit kicked it some more, and the blob began to grow tiny hands and arms. The rabbit kept nudgeing it, and suddenly it had eyes and a beating heart. In this way the rabbit, with the help of the mysterious moveing power, formed a human being, a little boy. The rabbit called him We-Ota-Wichasha, Much-Blood Boy, but he is better known as Rabbit Boy.
The rabbit took him to his wife, and both of them loved this strange little boy as if he were their only son. They dressed him up in a beautiful buckskin shirt, which they painted with the sacred red color and decorated with designs made of porcupine quills. The boy grew up happily among the rabbits. When he was almost a man, the old rabbit took hi aside and said: "Son, I must tell you that you are not what you think you are-a rabbit like me. You are a human. We love you and we hate to let you go, but you must leave and find your own people."
Rabbit Boy started walking until he came to a village of human beings, when he saw boys who looked like himself. He went into the village. The people could no help staring at this strange boy in his beautiful buckskin clothes. "Where are yo from?" they ask him. "I am from another village," said Rabbit Boy, though this was not true. There was no other village in the whole world, for as I told you, the earth was stil in its begining.
In the village was a beautiful girl who fell in love with Rabbit Boy, not only for his fine clothes, but also for his good looks and kind heart. Her people, too, wanted him to marry into the village, wanted a man with his great mystery power to live among them. And Rabbit Boy had a vision. In it he was wrestling with the sun, raceing the sun, playing hand games with the sun-and always winning.
But, Iktome, the wicked Spider Man, the mean trickster, prankster, and witch doctor, wanted that beautiful girl for himself. He began to say bad things about Rabbit Boy. "Look at him," Iktome said, "showing off his buckskin outfit to us who are too poor to have such fine things." And to the men he also said: "How come you're letting him marry a girl from your village?" He also told them: "In case you want me to, I have a magic hoop to throw over that Rabbit Boy. It will make him helpless."
Several boys said, "Iktome is right." They were jealous of Rabbit Boy on account of his strange power, his wisedom and generosity. They began to fight him, and Spider Man threw his magic hoop over him. Though it had no effect on Rabbit Boy, he pretended to be helpless to amuse himself.
The village boys and young men tied Rabbit Boy to a tree with rawhide thongs. All the time, the evil Spider Man was encouraging them: "Let's take our butchering knives and cut him up!"
"Friends, kola-pila,"said Rabbit Boy, "if you are going to kill me, let me sing my death song first."and he sang:
After the death song, the villagers killed Rabbit Boy and cut him up into chunks of meat, which they put in a soup pot. But Rabbit Boy was not hurt easily. A storm arose, and a great cloud hit the face of the sun, turning everything into black night.
When the cloud was gone, the chunks of meat had disapeared without a trace. But those who had watched closely had seen the chunks forming up again into a body, had seen him going up to heaven on a beam of sunlight. A wise old medicine man
said, "This Rabbit Boy realy has powerful medicine: he has gone up to the sun. Soon he will come back stronger than before, because up there he will be given the sun's power. Let's marry him to that girl of ours."
But the jealous spider, Iktome, said, "Why bother about him? Look at me: I am much more powerful than Rabbit Boy! Here, tie me up too; cut me up! Be quick!" Iktome thought he remembered Rabbit Boy's song. He thought there was power in it-
magic strength. But Iktome did not remember the words right. He sang:
They cut Iktome up, as he had told them, but he never came to life again. The spider had finaly outsmarted himself. Evil tricksters always do.
-Told by Jenny Leading Cloud in White River Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, 1967, and recorded by Richard Endoes.
Friends, friends,
I have fought the sun.
He tried to burn me up,
But he could not do it.
Even battling the sun,
I hold my own.
Friends, friends,
I have fought the moon,
She tried to fight,
But I won.
Even battling the moon,
I came out on top.
Blood Clot
[Southern Ute]
Unlike the previous tale, here the baby is born from a clot of buffalo blood and derives his power from the mighty buffalo tribe.
Long ago a very old man and his wife lived alone and
hunted for game, but it was scarce and they were
hungry. One day the man discovered some buffalo
tracks and followed them to the place where the
animal had stopped. There he found only a big clot of
blood, which he wrapped in his shirt and carried
home.
The old man told his wife to boil the blood, and she
put it into the kettle with water from the creek.
But before it came to a boil over the fire, they
heard cries inside the kettle. The man ran up to it
and pulled out a baby, a little boy, who had somehow
formed out of the blood clot.
The old couple washed the baby and wrapped him up. By
the next morning he had grown much larger, an that
day he continued to grow untill he could crawl about
by himself. The second day he was able to walk a
little; by the third day he was walking with ease.
The couple called him Blood Clot and came to treat
him as their son.
The old man made little arrows so that the child
could learn to shoot. Soon Blood Clot needed larger
arrows, and with them he began to hunt birds and
other small game. He never brought the game home
himself, but sent the old man for it . One day Blood
Clot returned from hunting and said, "I have killed
something with a striped back." The man went out and
fetched an animial a little bigger than a mouse,
which he cooked for the three of them. The next day
the boy announced, "I have killed a white
short-tailed animal." It was a cottontail, which the
man also cooked.
The day after that, Blood Clot went farther and
killed a badger. "I have killed a animal in a hole in
the ground," he said, and the man brought the
creature home and cooked it. The following day when
the boy returned, he said, "I have killed an animal
with black ears and a black tail." To the old man's
joy, it was a female deer. The three of them ate and
were happy.
Next Blood Clot said, "I have killed a big fellow
with big antlers." It was an elk, so again the family
feasted on meat. The old man gave the boy a
full-sized bow and arrows, and Blood Clot went into
the mountains and shot a mountain goat. "I have
killed an animal with big horns in the mountains," he
said when he came down. "Every day," the old man said
proudly, "he kills a different kind of animal."
Now their troubles were over, and they had an easy
time. Blood Clot killed a mountain lion. Then he
tracked and shot an otter: "I have killed an animal
with nice fur, living in the water." The old man
tanned the skin to make strings for tying the boy's
braids. The following day Blood Clot found a beaver:
"I have killed a water animal with a tail of this
size."
At last there came a day when Blood Clot said, "I
want to visit the village where many people live.
Before that, I will go on my last hunt for you, all
day and all night. First I want you to tie up the
tent, put rocks on the edge, and fasten the door lest
the night wind carry it away. Though the wind will be
strong, don't go outdoors and don't be afraid. I will
call you when you can come out."
The old couple obeyed, and he hunted all night while
they were sleeping. About daybreak they heard a big
noise, forerunner of a wind that threatened to tip
over the tent. The man was frightened and wanted to
go out, but the wife held him back, reminding him of
what their son had said.
When daylight came, they heard their son's voice:
"Come on out; I'll show you something." They
unfastened the door and saw dead buffalo lying all
around.
"I have done this for you," Blood Clot said. "Dry the
meat and hides; save the meat and it will last you
for a long time." The young man asked his mother to
fix him lunch, and she gave him pemmican. "Now my
parents have plenty of food," he said. As he left,
they cried and asked him to return.
Wearing buckskin leggings, carrying a quiver of mountain lion skin, Blood Clot begain to travel. After a few days he reached the village. At the outskirts he asked for the chief's house, and a man told him, "It is in the center." There he found the chief with his wife and daughter. They invited him to sit down, and the chief asked him where he came from and what his tribe was.
"I don't know what tribe I belong to. I have come to visit you," Blood Clot replied. The chief stepped outdoors and shouted to the people to come and meet their visitor. The villagers were starving for lack of game, but all gathered at the chief's house and sat down.
The chief said, "Do any of you know the tribe of this young man?" People named the tribes--Deer, Elk, Otters, Beavers, and others. They asked him whether he belonged to any of these, but he thought not. At last one old man said, "I think I know from the power in him, although I may be mistaken. I think he is one of the Buffalo." Blood Clot though about it, and finally agreed.
The people of the village asked Blood Clot to stay and marry the chief's daughter. He agreed to this as well, and the wedding was held.
That eveing h asked his father-in-law to bring one arrow from the tipi. Whe the chife returned, Blood Clot told him to have all the tipi fastened and to warn the people that they should stay indoors, for there would be great storm. The chief told the villagers, and at daybreak when they heard a big noise, they cried out if fear but did not leave their tipi.
Then Blood Clot called to the chief, who came out to find dead buffalo before every lodge. At his son-in-law's bidding he summoned the whole village for a feast, and all were happy.
Blood Clot stayed there until one day when a group of villagers went out to hunt buffalo. Long before this, he had told his wife, "You know the Buffalo Calf? I am part of that, it is part of me, so you must never say the word 'calf.'" When the party killed some buffalo and were butchering, another herd came running past. His wife pointed and called, "Kill that calf!" Immediately Blood Colt jumped on his horse and galloped away, changing as he did so into a buffalo. His wife cried and attempted t catch him, buy in vain. From that time on, Blood Clot ran with the buffalo.
Blood Clot
[Southern Ute]
Unlike the previous tale, here the baby is born from a clot of buffalo blood and derives his power from the mighty buffalo tribe.
Long ago a very old man and his wife lived alone and
hunted for game, but it was scarce and they were
hungry. One day the man discovered some buffalo
tracks and followed them to the place where the
animal had stopped. There he found only a big clot of
blood, which he wrapped in his shirt and carried
home.
The old man told his wife to boil the blood, and she
put it into the kettle with water from the creek.
But before it came to a boil over the fire, they
heard cries inside the kettle. The man ran up to it
and pulled out a baby, a little boy, who had somehow
formed out of the blood clot.
The old couple washed the baby and wrapped him up. By
the next morning he had grown much larger, an that
day he continued to grow untill he could crawl about
by himself. The second day he was able to walk a
little; by the third day he was walking with ease.
The couple called him Blood Clot and came to treat
him as their son.
The old man made little arrows so that the child
could learn to shoot. Soon Blood Clot needed larger
arrows, and with them he began to hunt birds and
other small game. He never brought the game home
himself, but sent the old man for it . One day Blood
Clot returned from hunting and said, "I have killed
something with a striped back." The man went out and
fetched an animial a little bigger than a mouse,
which he cooked for the three of them. The next day
the boy announced, "I have killed a white
short-tailed animal." It was a cottontail, which the
man also cooked.
The day after that, Blood Clot went farther and
killed a badger. "I have killed a animal in a hole in
the ground," he said, and the man brought the
creature home and cooked it. The following day when
the boy returned, he said, "I have killed an animal
with black ears and a black tail." To the old man's
joy, it was a female deer. The three of them ate and
were happy.
Next Blood Clot said, "I have killed a big fellow
with big antlers." It was an elk, so again the family
feasted on meat. The old man gave the boy a
full-sized bow and arrows, and Blood Clot went into
the mountains and shot a mountain goat. "I have
killed an animal with big horns in the mountains," he
said when he came down. "Every day," the old man said
proudly, "he kills a different kind of animal."
Now their troubles were over, and they had an easy
time. Blood Clot killed a mountain lion. Then he
tracked and shot an otter: "I have killed an animal
with nice fur, living in the water." The old man
tanned the skin to make strings for tying the boy's
braids. The following day Blood Clot found a beaver:
"I have killed a water animal with a tail of this
size."
At last there came a day when Blood Clot said, "I
want to visit the village where many people live.
Before that, I will go on my last hunt for you, all
day and all night. First I want you to tie up the
tent, put rocks on the edge, and fasten the door lest
the night wind carry it away. Though the wind will be
strong, don't go outdoors and don't be afraid. I will
call you when you can come out."
The old couple obeyed, and he hunted all night while
they were sleeping. About daybreak they heard a big
noise, forerunner of a wind that threatened to tip
over the tent. The man was frightened and wanted to
go out, but the wife held him back, reminding him of
what their son had said.
When daylight came, they heard their son's voice:
"Come on out; I'll show you something." They
unfastened the door and saw dead buffalo lying all
around.
"I have done this for you," Blood Clot said. "Dry the
meat and hides; save the meat and it will last you
for a long time." The young man asked his mother to
fix him lunch, and she gave him pemmican. "Now my
parents have plenty of food," he said. As he left,
they cried and asked him to return.
Wearing buckskin leggings, carrying a quiver of mountain lion skin, Blood Clot begain to travel. After a few days he reached the village. At the outskirts he asked for the chief's house, and a man told him, "It is in the center." There he found the chief with his wife and daughter. They invited him to sit down, and the chief asked him where he came from and what his tribe was.
"I don't know what tribe I belong to. I have come to visit you," Blood Clot replied. The chief stepped outdoors and shouted to the people to come and meet their visitor. The villagers were starving for lack of game, but all gathered at the chief's house and sat down.
The chief said, "Do any of you know the tribe of this young man?" People named the tribes--Deer, Elk, Otters, Beavers, and others. They asked him whether he belonged to any of these, but he thought not. At last one old man said, "I think I know from the power in him, although I may be mistaken. I think he is one of the Buffalo." Blood Clot though about it, and finally agreed.
The people of the village asked Blood Clot to stay and marry the chief's daughter. He agreed to this as well, and the wedding was held.
That eveing h asked his father-in-law to bring one arrow from the tipi. Whe the chife returned, Blood Clot told him to have all the tipi fastened and to warn the people that they should stay indoors, for there would be great storm. The chief told the villagers, and at daybreak when they heard a big noise, they cried out if fear but did not leave their tipi.
Then Blood Clot called to the chief, who came out to find dead buffalo before every lodge. At his son-in-law's bidding he summoned the whole village for a feast, and all were happy.
Blood Clot stayed there until one day when a group of villagers went out to hunt buffalo. Long before this, he had told his wife, "You know the Buffalo Calf? I am part of that, it is part of me, so you must never say the word 'calf.'" When the party killed some buffalo and were butchering, another herd came running past. His wife pointed and called, "Kill that calf!" Immediately Blood Colt jumped on his horse and galloped away, changing as he did so into a buffalo. His wife cried and attempted t catch him, buy in vain. From that time on, Blood Clot ran with the buffalo.
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