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    Category: Folklore

    Hmong Folklore – The Flood

    Hmong Folklore – The Flood 10ib.pbworks.com Avery long time ago, the universe turned upside down and the whole world was flooded with water. All living…

    Rose Clayborne January 15, 2014
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    Native American (Algonquin) Folklore – The Spirit Bride

    The Spirit Bride By Grandfather Daniel Seven Hawk Eyes | www.manataka.org There was once a young warrior whose bride died on the eve of their…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 26, 2013
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    Native American (Apache) Folklore – Apache Tear Drop

    Apache Tear Drop www.firstpeople.us Apache Tear Drop is a form of black obsidian. It is a calming translucent stone, found in Arizona and other parts…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 26, 2013
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    Native American (Caddo) Folklore – Buffalo Woman, A Story of Magic

    Buffalo Woman, A story of Magic www.firstpeople.us Snow Bird, the Caddo medicine man, had a handsome son. When the boy was old enough to be…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 26, 2013
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    Native American (Ojibwa) Folklore – How the Bat Came to Be

    How the Bat came to be www.firstpeople.us Long ago, as the sun began to rise one morning, he came to close to Earth and got…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 26, 2013
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    Native American (Navajo) Folklore – The Navajo And the Astronaut

    The Navajo and the Astronaut www.firstpeople.us Back in the 1960s a NASA team doing work for the Apollo moon mission took the astronauts near Tuba…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 25, 2013
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    Native American (Yinnuwok) Folklore – Ghost Stallion

    Ghost Stallion This is a tale the old men tell around the fire, when the stars are blown clean on a windy night, and the…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 25, 2013
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    Native American (Blackfoot) Folklore – Legends of Old Dog-Chief

    Legends of Old Dog-Chief www.manataka.org Once there was a very nice girl the daughter of a head man, and many young men sought her for…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 25, 2013
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    Native American (Nation Unknown) Folklore – Turkey, The Peace Eagle

    Turkey, The Peace Eagle www.firstpeople.us Our “Elders”, tell us the Legend of the Turkey is not one we need to explain the Great Mystery and…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 25, 2013
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    Native American (Iroquois) Folklore – Why the Owl Has Big Eyes

    Why the Owl has big eyes www.firstpeople.us Raweno, the Everything-Maker, was busy creating various animals. He was working on Rabbit, and Rabbit was saying: “I…

    Hmongs & Native Americans October 25, 2013
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    Why the Owl has big eyes

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    Native American (Iroquois) Folklore - Why the Owl Has Big Eyes
    Native American (Iroquois) Folklore - Why the Owl Has Big Eyes

    Raweno, the Everything-Maker, was busy creating various animals. He was working on Rabbit, and Rabbit was saying: "I want nice long legs and long ears like a deer, and sharp fangs and claws like a panther." "I do them up the way they want to be; I give them what they ask for," said Raweno. He was working Rabbit's hind legs, making them long, the way Rabbit ordered. Owl, still unformed, was sitting on a tree nearby and waiting his turn. He was saying: "Whoo, whoo, I want a nice long neck like Swan's, and beautiful red feathers like Cardinal's, and a nice long beak like Egret's, and a nice crown of plumes like Heron's. I want you to make me into the most beautiful, the fastest, the most wonderful of all the birds." Raweno said: "Be quiet. Turn around and look in another direction. Even better, close your eyes. Don't you know that no one is allowed to watch me work?" Raweno was just then making Rabbit's ears very long, the way Rabbit wanted them. Owl refused to do what Raweno said.

    "Whoo, whoo," he replied, "nobody can forbid me to watch. Nobody can order me to close my eyes. I like watching you, and watch you I will!" Then Raweno became angry. He grabbed Owl, pulling him down from his branch, stuffing his head deep into his body, shaking him until his eyes grew big with fright, pulling at his ears until they were sticking up at both sides of his head. "There," said Raweno, "that'll teach you. Now you won't be able to crane your neck to watch things you shouldn't watch. Now you have big ears to listen when someone tells you what not to do. Now you have big eyes, but not so big that you can watch me, because you'll be awake only at night, and I work by day. And your feathers won't be red like cardinal's, but gray like this"; and Raweno rubbed Owl all over with mud ,"as punishment for your disobedience." So Owl flew off, pouting: "Whoo, whoo, whoo."

    Then Raweno turned back to finish Rabbit, but Rabbit had been so terrified by Raweno's anger, even though it was not directed at him, that he ran off half done. As a consequence, only Rabbit's hind legs are long, and he has to hop about instead of walking and running. Also, because he took fright then, Rabbit has remained afraid of most everything, and he never got the claws and fangs he asked for in order to defend himself. Had he not run away then, Rabbit would have been an altogether different animal. As for Owl, he remained as Raweno had shaped him in anger, with big eyes, a short neck, and ears sticking up on the sides of his head. On top of everything, he has to sleep during the day and come out only at night.

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