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

said they had found an area in the lowlands where the chestnuts and acorns were knee-deep. They were happy that they would not starve and got ready to dance.
    The leader of the Bears was one the Cherokee called “Long Hams.” He was a big Black Bear that was always lean. After the dance, the Bears noticed the Hunter’s bow and arrows. One said, “This is what Man kills us with. Let us learn how to use them and we can use them against him.”
    They took the bow and arrows from the Hunter. A Bear put the arrow on the bow and drew the string back. The string got caught in his long claws and the arrow fell to the ground. The Bears realized they could not use the bow and arrows, so they gave them back to the Hunter. The dance and council were now over and everybody left.
    The Hunter and the Bear were the last to leave. They traveled on until they came to another cave. The Bear said, “This is where I live.”
    He went inside the cave. The Hunter followed him. The Hunter was very hungry and he thought, “How will I get something to eat?”
    The Bear read his thoughts and sat on his hind legs. He rubbed his stomach with his forepaws and when he opened his paws they were filled with chestnuts. He gave them to the Hunter. He rubbed his stomach with his forepaws again and when he opened his paws they were filled with huckleberries. He gave these to the Hunter. He rubbed his stomach with his forepaws again. When he opened his paws they were filled with blackberries. He gave them to the Hunter. He rubbed his stomach with his forepaws again and when he opened his paws they were filled with acorns. The Hunter said he had had enough.
    The Hunter lived with the Bear in the cave all winter long. The Hunter started growing long hair all over his body. He started acting like a Bear, but he still looked like a Man. In early spring, the Bear told the Hunter, “Your people are getting ready for a great hunt. Soon, they will come to find us. They will kill me and take these clothes from me”—he meant his skin—“but they will not harm you. They will take you back with them.”
    A few days later the Bear said, “This is the day they will come to kill me. The Split-noses will come first to find me.” Split-noses are what the Bears called Dogs in those days.
    The Bear continued, “They will kill me and drag me outside the cave. They will take off my clothes and then cut me into many pieces. You must cover the blood with leaves. They will take you away. When you have traveled a little ways, look back and you will see something.”
    Soon, they heard the Dogs coming up the mountain. The Dogs came to the front of the cave and stood barking into the cave. The Hunters looked into the cave and saw the Bear. They shot several arrows into the Bear and he dropped to the ground. They went into the cave and pulled the Bear out. The Dogs were still barking into the cave. The Hunters looked into the cave again and saw the Man. They started to release their arrows again, but they realized it was a Man and not a Bear. They brought him out of the cave. As the Man was standing outside the cave, the Hunters started skinning the Bear. Then they cut the Bear up into quarters so they could carry him away. When they had finished, they picked up the quarters and the skin and started down the mountain.
    The Man covered the blood with leaves and started after the Hunters. After they had gone a little ways, the Man looked back and saw the Bear rise from the leaves, shake them off and disappear into the woods.
    When they got close to their village the Man told the Hunters, “They had to put him where nobody could see him and he had to fast and take no water for seven days and seven nights. He had to do this so the Bear’s nature would leave him and he could live like a Man again.”
    They put him in a house and closed it off. The Man’s wife found out and came to take him home. They refused to