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Chickasaw Storytelling
Chickasaw storytelling was usually performed by the women of the tribe. In earlier time, the men hunted and the women cared for the domestic tasks and the
teaching of the children. These women of wisdom had much to share with the younger women and children in villages and the stories helped them to remember
since there wasn't a written form to the language.
Today, many of the elder men are also storytellers. Here is a story I would like to share with you.
EAGLE FEATHERS
In the beginning, the Great Spirit showed himself through the birds and the animals. The creature most loved by the Great Spirit was the eagle, for the eagle tells the story of life.
The eagle, as you know, lays only two eggs in her nest each year. All living things in the world are divided into two's; man and woman, male and female, the animals, birds flowers, even the trees. All things also have children of two
kinds so that life may continuer. People have two eyes, two hands, two feet, a body and a soul, substance and shadow. Through our eyes we see pleasant and unpleasant scenes, through the nose we smell good and bad odors, and with our ears, we hear joyful words and sounds and noises and words that make us sad, Our mind is divided between food and evil. We have light and dark, night and day, summer and winter, peace and war, life and death.
The right hand is often used for evil such as war, or striking a person in anger. The left, the one nearer the heart, is always full of kindness. His right foot may lead us on the wrong path, but it is the left that brings us back and keeps us on the right way.
And so it is with the eagle. The eagle feather is divided in light and dark, representing daylight and darkness, summer and winter. The white tells us of summer, when all is bright; the dark reminds us of the dark days of winter.
It is you who will choose the path in life you sill follow -- the right way or the wrong way. When you are confused, breath your prayer on the eagle's down and send it to the Great Spirit. He will listen.
When you earn the right to wear the eagle's feather by bringing honor to yourself by good work and showing respect, wear them with pride and dignity. They represent life itself.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.
~Chief Seattle, 1855
Incan soldiers invented the process of freeze-drying food. The process was primitive but effective — potatoes would be left outside to freeze overnight, then thawed and stomped on to remove excess water.
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