Chapter 1: Answers on the Road

 Denman was bent down, filling his animal skin with water in a creek. He was beginning to become frustrated. All day he had been walking up and down the line of Cherokee looking for his grandfather. He was beginning to fear that he had made a mistake. While Denman sat there trying to master his fears and doubt, his luck began to change.

    “Hello there, I'näge-utäsûñ'hï, have you found the answers in this creek bed?” an old man called down at him. Denman had left the trail a bit to fill his skin, and now this old man had followed him down a bit. Denman knew the voice. It is hard to forget one of the earliest voices you heard.
    “No, Grandfather, I have not found an answer in this creek besides one for my thirst,” Denman grinned as he turned to face the older man. “That is why I spend my time with you, to find answers.”
    The old man chuckled. “There are many answers in this world. There have always been answers. And then we pass these answers down we do not stare into creek beds looking for them,” the old man added. “Walk with me now and I will give you answers that water could not,” the old man turned smiling at his own jokes.
    Denman rolled his eyes and walked after the old man. "Why hasn’t he asked me what I’m doing here yet?" Denman thought.
    “Do you know how we came to be here, I'näge-utäsûñ'hï?” the old man asked.
    "I did not know that anyone knew the beginning.”
    “Oh yes son, we know very much about the beginning of the world. And how our people came to be here. I will tell you this story.”
   




   
    Denman’s grandfather began,
    “This is the story of how the world began, and how our people came to live here in the mountains. When the world began, everything was water. And all the animals were high above the water, above the arch of the world. But the animals became curious to see what was below the water. So finally, the beaver’s grandchild, the water beetle, volunteered to go below the arch and see what he could find. He went and hopped around on the water, but he could not find any land to settle on! Finally he dove deep into the water and returned to the surface with mud from the bottom of the sea. This mud grew and expanded on all sides until it had created an island which we call earth now. Then the earth was fastened to the sky with four long strong chords. My father and his father could not remember who did this, though.
The earth was still very soft because it was mud from deep in the sea! But the animals wanted to leave the arch and go down onto the ground. They were scared the ground would not hold them yet, because the birds of the sky had been watching to see when it would dry. Finally, the great buzzard went down to make the earth ready because it finally seemed dry. But as the great bird flew over the land, it was not dry yet. And the buzzard became tired and flew close to the ground. Because the ground was not yet ready, as his wings flapped down he created valleys, and as they reached back up to the sky his wings created mountains. He was above Cherokee land when this happened, and that is why our land is full of mountains and valleys. The animals were afraid he would make the whole world mountains, so they called him home. Then the earth finally dried, and the animals came down from the arch.
But the world was still dark. Then the animals took the sun and set it on a path that would cross over the earth from east to west. But the sun was too close and it burned too hot, it even burned the shell of the red crawfish. This is why his meat is spoiled and we do not eat him. So the conjurers took the sun and moved it one arm length away. This was still too hot, and it was not until they had moved the sun seven armlengths away that it was cool enough below on earth. This is why the final place is called the seventh height; because it is where the sun is placed above our island.
Then the animals and plants on earth were told to stay awake for seven days and nights. But only some of them made it through all seven days and nights. Among the animals were the owl, the panther and a few others. This is why these animals were given the night to seek their food, and why they can move so well in the dark forest. Among the plants were the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly and the laurel. This is why these trees make the best medicine and keep their hair all year long while they other trees become bare. After this man and woman came. But at first there was only a brother and sister, until one day the man hit the woman with a fish and said, ‘Multiply!’ and she had a child seven days later. After that she had a child every seven days, until everyone feared there would not be enough land for all the people! So after this, the woman only had a child once every year, and it has been this way since.”
   
    The old man spoke again, “You see, my son, everything has a beginning and reason for being the way it is. The mountains are here because the Great Buzzard got tired, and we do not eat the red crawfish because he was burned by the sun which was too close.”
    “So there is a reason for the Cherokee being moved from this land then?” Denman asked.
    “I do not know, but our beginning will not change. And our beginning will always be a part of who we are. And it will show us where to go. Everyone has a beginning and a reason, this is the way of our world.”
    Denman wondered if his grandfather was speaking about him.


Author’s Note: This comes from the story “How the World Was Made.” I chose to write the story in a bit more concise manner. This was for a few reasons. First, I was having trouble fitting the story in with the frame tale and still make it short enough. But this was really a secondary reason. The real reason was because I wanted to make it seem like Denman was hearing the story on the road, and it was coming straight from his grandfather’s memory. The story was not meant to sound like it was being told in a sacred way at a gathering. Instead, I wanted the story to sound like it was being told for a reason. Denman’s grandfather is trying to tell him something about his origin and the origin of the Cherokee. He is not telling Denman the story just so Denman can know the oral history. The people are embarking on a difficult journey, and Denman is beginning a quest to find out who he is. Denman’s grandfather wants him to hear this story to try and tell him that he has a beginning and a purpose, like all things in Cherokee culture. Perhaps this is why origin stories are so common in Cherokee myths, and I want to focus on that message in this storybook. In the original story there was also a part about the lower world and how its seasons occur opposite to ours, but I left this out. This is how the Cherokee explain the water from the streams being cool in the summer and warm during the winter. They believe the streams lead to the underworld. Finally, I told the story in a simple and direct way, not making it as flowery as it could have been. This was to play into the frame tale and shorten the story overall.

Original Text:
Story: How the World was Made
Author: Mooney, James
Site: Myths of the Cherokee (1897-98)



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