A Native American Folktale : By Talya

Talya joined us for four weeks last summer, and she chose Story Arts & Illustration for her ‘theme’ each week. Girls generally choose a mix of themes – to round out their time with us – but Talya is serious about writing, and she was not to be dissuaded from her Story Arts selection. Later, during the Fall months, she shared some of her stories with me via email, and at the start of this blog, I shared a post inspired by her (“Prompts”).

In drawing girls’ voices into the blog, I have reached out to a few campers and young friends who I know have something to share! Below is a tale by Talya – a 4th grade girl whose mind swirls with stories. Her stories spill onto the page and screen; she lets her characters guide her, taking her down paths she had not originally conceived. I’ve had the honor of reading many of these, and when I asked her to contribute a story, this is the one she chose. It is one I had read before, and I am delighted with her selection.

NATIVE AMERICAN FOLKTALE
by Talya A. Pollak

Somewhere on the prairie, the Sioux tribe was starving. Every single one of their shirt sizes had decreased drastically. The men’s sizes had gone from XXXXL to XXL, the women’s had gone from XL to M, and the children’s were XXS instead of S.

And the worst part of the famine was that the horses were so thin they could barely trot, much less gallop swiftly after buffalo. So the hunters went on foot. This made them very tired, and the occasional buffalo they actually did catch were all bones and no meat.

Needless to say, all the children did was lie around and complain of their hunger. Even the wheat crop had died. The famine had lasted six excruciating months, and showed no signs of stopping. The shamans made many sacrifices, but the Great Spirit did not respond. The Sioux didn’t know how much longer they could last.

One day, Chief Red Cloud decided to bring his daughter, Gentle Fawn, with him on a buffalo hunt. Though only eleven winters old, she was a ridiculously fast runner and animals seemed to be attracted to her. Her father hoped Gentle Fawn would bring good fortune to the hunt.

They ran across the plain without stopping for quite a while. Just when the group was about to give up, the chief’s daughter spotted a buffalo. Gentle Fawn cried out, “Oh, Father! Look! It’s a beautiful baby buffalo!” Dark Night, an overly grumpy hunter, grumbled, “I hate tongue twisters. A beautiful baby blaffo-I mean buffalo- I can’t even say that.” “Be silent and run!” Chief Red Cloud yelled.

At last they caught up to the buffalo. The hunters surrounded it and the chief took out his bow and an arrow. Gentle Fawn, who had run with them, cried, “Oh. My. Goodness! Father, you can’t kill him! Look how his ribs show! He’s just as hungry as we are.” Red Cloud saw that she was right, and put away his bow and arrow. But his daughter wasn’t done talking. “He is trying to lead us somewhere! I just know it!” she said.

Indeed, the buffalo was pushing its head out of the circle of hunters. The chief saw then that his daughter was right. He ordered the hunters to let it go and follow it. Soon they came to a gigantic-and I do mean GIGANTIC-field of wheat. Gentle Fawn smiled, and her father fainted with joy. Only Dark Night remained without emotion. Everyone picked up an armful of wheat and Gentle Fawn whispered something into the buffalo’s ear. It nudged Chief Red Cloud (who regained consciousness, smiled again, and picked up an armful of wheat). The chief then led the hunters and the baby buffalo back to their home.

After they explained what had happened, Gentle Fawn fed the horses and almost everyone went to harvest the rest of the wheat. Only the shamans remained behind, thanking the Great Spirit a little overzealously.

Later……

Gentle Fawn kept the buffalo, which grew very fat, as a pet. Eventually she married Running Wind (a boy who could run almost as fast as her, but had a cucumber-shaped nose). Her father stayed chief for a very long time, and is in some Native American history books today. Dark Night eventually married Bright Flower (a beautiful, cheery blond) and never (well, almost never) scowled again.