Tuesday, October 27, 2020
One answer to the previous question
Well, I 'asked' the plains tribes what to do when the leaves turn brown.
The Cherokee had a simple and obvious answer:
So all the people knew that Wahkoda had given this strange plant to the people. They knew of other plants they might eat. They knew there was a time when each plant was ripe. So they watched the strange plant; they guarded it and protected it. Then a flower appeared on the plant. Afterwards, at one of the joints, a new part of the plant pushed out. It had hair. At first the hair was green; then it was brown. Then the people thought, “ Perhaps this fruit is ripe. " But they did not dare touch it. They met together. They looked at the plant. Then a young man said, “My life has not been good. If any evil comes to me, it will not matter." So the people were willing, and the young man put his hand on the plant and then on its fruit. He grasped the fruit boldly. He said to the people, “It is solid. It is ripe.” Then he pulled apart the husks, and said, " It is red." He took a few of the grains and showed them to the people. He ate some. He did not die. So the people knew Wahkoda had sent this plant to them for food. Now in the fall, when the prairie grass turned brown, the leaves of this plant turned brown also. Then the fruit was plucked, and put away.There's a lot of objective science and human wisdom in that story, but the conclusion is simple: Leaves are an idiot light telling us when we can harvest corn. This isn't a reciprocal duty to the trees, so not quite an answer to the original question. [The Cherokee thought deciduous trees were cowards for letting Winter steal their leaves. Maybe they didn't feel duty-bound to the cowardly parts of Nature.] The Kansa didn't seem to have an answer, but they had an interesting intuition about stopping storms.
When there is a blizzard, the other Kansa beg the members of the Tcihaci clan to interpose, as they are the Wind People. They say, “Oh grandfather, I wish good weather. Please have one of your children decorated.” Then the youngest son of one of the Wind People, but one half grown, is selected. He is painted all over with red paint. Then he goes out into the storm and rolls over and over the snow, reddening it for some distance. This stops the storm.See vortices and hail cannons. Some pieces of leftover memory make you wonder if much older cultures had a hi-tech civilization that entirely vanished.
Labels: Alternate universe, Answered better than asked, Lodge
¶ 2:27 PM
