No?^^]^' ^^^' EASTERN CHEROKEE FOLKTALES — KILPATRICK 401 



3.— HOW THE GROUNDHOG LOST HIS TAIL* 



The Groundhog used to have a bushy tail. 



Once the Wolf caught the Groundhog and was getting ready to 

 kill him. 



The Groundhog said, "Don't kill me yet. Before you kill me, let 

 me sing a pretty song for you, and you can dance to it seven times 

 around that tree." 



So he began to sing, and the Wolf danced around the tree. As he 

 was dancing around the tree for the seventh time, the Groundhog 

 turned a somersault and dived into a hole under the tree. 



The Wolf caught him by the taU, which came off, and was left in 

 the Wolf's claw. The groundhog has not had a bushy taU since. 



4.— THE CONTEST OF THE DEER FOR SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION 



Two deer agreed to have a contest. They were to jump across the 

 river where it was deep and flooded to a flat rock on the other side. 



"If one of us jumps as far as the other bank, that one will be a 

 buck," they said, "but if one of us falls into the river, that one will 

 be a doe." 



They jumped at the same time, but only one of them managed to 

 get across. That one became a buck. The one that had fallen into 

 the river became a doe. 



Up until a few years ago the flat rock upon which the deer landed, 

 about a mile from Ela, toward Governors Island,^® could still be seen. 

 A deer's hoofprint in the rock could be plainly seen. The place was 

 called Ahvn Tsula:sgv:i ('deer, where footprinted, he'). About 



^"^ years ago a highway was built which necessitated blasting 



the rock. 



AVIAN MYTHS 

 1.— THE BIRD THAT WAS ASHAMED OF HIS FEET* 



There is a bird called a no:ghw{i)si^^ which is about the size of a 

 quail and which walks like a quail. It usually stays in lowlands. 



The feet of one of these birds grew so long that he became ashamed 

 of himself and hid in the grass all the time. 



The Grasshopper came to see him and said, "What are you hiding 

 for?" 



"I am ashamed to go out," said the bird. 



"Why?" asked the Grasshopper. 



s« In Swain County, N.C., on the Tuckasegee River, adjacent to the part of the Eastern Cherokee Reser- 

 vation known as the 3200-Acre Tract. 

 " Olbrechts forgot to supply a figure here. 

 •8 Meadowlark. No:g^wii)si also means 'star.' 



