"SELU"
by Dana Brashear
"There is so much for you to learn Morning-Dawn." Ududu spoke to the
child in a wise manner. The two trod over field and stream in search of
the perfect prize.
"Tell me more, Ududu. How did our people come to be? How did my mother
come to be so that I was made to be brought to life?" Morning-Dawn's
curiosity was beaming through his brown eyes. He yearned to know more.
Just then the two came upon a corn field. It was a mighty field with
large stalks of corn and beautiful leaves surrounding the yellow ears.
Ududu looked at Morning-Dawn and smiled.
"Well, curious one, I will tell you of the creation of the first woman.
Her name was Selu. The others sometimes call her Corn Woman. You see,
the Great One created all living things. He even created man and placed
him in the Great Smoky Mountains to be with the animals." Ududu hardly
had time to take a breath and Morning-Dawn excitedly interrupted.
"The
man, was he like us? Did he have the hair of a horse and the color of
the mud by the stream?"
Ududu spoke. "Yes, little one, he looked just
like you. He was brave and strong and lived in the Great Mountains
alone, until... Well, we will get to that. Let me continue with the
tale."
"The Great One could see that the man, who looked just as we do, needed
a companion. The animals did not speak his language and he longed for
Selu. The Great One made the man fall asleep, and while he was
dreaming the Great One caused a beautiful green plant to grow over the
heart of the man."
"Ududu, how could that be? Plants need soil and water to grow, not the
heart of man!" Morning-Dawn could not believe his grandfather's tale.
Ududu went on, "The heart of man is the reason that the plants grow. We
harvest the plants for our heart."
"The beautiful plant began to grow and grow. A golden tassel appeared
on the stalk. Selu emerged from the thick green leaves. The man then
awoke to see her on top of the stalk. He left his resting place and
helped her down from where she was perched like a sparrow. The Great
One saw that he had done good and the man and woman lived together
forever."
Morning-Dawn, with his curiosity pleased, checked the feathers on his
arrows and continued on the journey.
This
is a sculpture of Selu, or
Corn Woman, that can be found at Cherokee.org.
To return to my
storybook please click here.
My email is Dana.L.Brashear-1@ou.edu or you can click here to reach me. I found
this story at www.Cherokee.org along with the picture. This is a good
site to learn about the Cherokee heritage and all that the Cherokee
Nation has to offer. I chose this story because it is a story of
Cherokee creation. It is important to the Cherokee people in explaining
their origins. The Cherokee people migrated southwest from Virginia,
Tennesee, Kentucky, and North Alabama due to fighting with neighboring
Iroquois and Delaware indians. The arrival of Desoto in 1540 was
thought to kill out around 75% of the Cherokee population. When more
invaders came they rounded up the Cherokee and forced them into
Oklahoma onto reservations. Many Cherokee still live on reservations in
the east. The North Carolina Band is one who still maintain that life
style. The Cherokee people refer to themselves as Tsalagi, which is the
name for their Cherokee nation. They also go by Aniyaunwiya or
"principal people". The Great One is a central figure that is close to
the
Christian God. I made the original story longer and added a few more
details. I did not change the plot but added a frametale and an idea of
a distinct narrarator. I find this story interesting because in some
way it parallels the Christian ideas of creation with a few different
details. Their ideas of one god that rules over them and that man was
created first and then woman was created as a helpmate remind me of the
similarities of Adam and Eve. However, they differ in the incorporation
of nature into their tales.The Cherokee intertwine their creation with
the creation of
other things in nature so that the universe is interwoven and one
cannot survive without the other. The Cherokee were closely connected
with nature and their surroundings.