Indian Nature Myths

by Julia Darrow Cowles

He was thinking of the morrow when he would begin his fast; for this was the custom among the Indians. When a youth reached a given age he went away by himself, and for seven days he ate no food, but spent the time in prayer to the Great Spirit that his part in life might be made clear to him, and that it might prove a worthy one.

Now Wunzh, who stood in the tepee door, was an unusually thoughtful lad, for his father had so taught him; and he was filled with high and with grave thoughts as he looked across the waving grass.

Beyond his sight, in a thicket, he knew that his father and younger brother were clearing the ground and raising the little tepee wherein he would spend the days of his fasting.

Wunzh knew full well what his prayer to the Great Spirit would be, but how would it be answered? He thought of this long and often.

As he had run about the prairie or made his way through the forests when a little lad, he had wondered how it was that the grass and the trees sprang up out of the dark earth. He had wondered why some of the flowers smelled sweet while others were offensive; why some of the roots were good for healing, while others caused sickness or even death, though all came from the same soil. But to none of these questions could he find an answer.

Wunzh’s father was poor, and so were many other Indians; and some of them were ill, or very old. But in order to live they must hunt or fish, for game and fish were their only food. And so life was hard for many of the Indians.

Since Wunzh was thoughtful and had considered all these things, he knew full well what his prayer to the Great Spirit would be.

On the following day he left the tepee of his father and went to the little clearing in the thicket, where he would fast for seven days. And there he prayed that in some way which the Great Spirit would show him, he might bring a great blessing to his people and make their lives less hard. He knew full well that most of his comrades prayed that they might become great warriors, or that they should be mighty men of the chase. But Wunzh prayed not for these.

For four days he fasted and prayed, and each day he grew weaker from lack of food, but his faith and his courage grew stronger.

On the fifth day, as he lay upon his bed of skins, there appeared outside the door of his tepee a strong, bright youth, clad all in shimmering greens and golden yellows, and wearing upon his head a plume of waving green.