PLANTS ARE HERE TO GIVE - CHEROKEE MYTH

Cherokee myth on the origin of disease and medicine, which contains several profound truths within its symbolic imagery:

At one time all life lived in harmony; plants, insects, &sh, birds, animals and humans all talked to one another and were friends. A time came when man began to multiply and stake his claim on land, slowly pushing the animals and other life forms into the forests and deserts. At this time, man also began to kill animals, not only for food but also for their skins and fur.

The animals became angry at this treatment from their former friends and the Bear Tribe met in council, led by their Chief, Old White Bear, to discuss what they should do. After several bears described the bloodthirsty actions of man, it was agreed that man and animal were in a state of war with one another. Old White Bear asked what weapons man was using to kill animals, and the bears answered that they were using bows and arrows and that the string for the bow was made from the insides of the bear. The bears decided that they must make their own bows and arrows and one bear sacri&ced himself to provide the needed bowstrings. However, once the bows and arrows were made, the bears realised that they could not draw the string because of their claws, and if they removed their claws they would not be able to climb trees for food and safety. They discarded the idea of &ghting man with the same weapons that man used.

Now the Deer Tribe called a council to devise another method for dealing with the threat from man. They decided that if any Indian man killed a deer without need, and without asking for pardon in a suitable manner, the Deer Tribe would in%ict him with a painful disease that would stiffen his limbs so that he could never hunt again. Chief Little Deer then sent a message to the Cherokee tribe saying, “From now one, your hunters must offer a prayer before killing a deer. You must ask his pardon and state clearly that it is the hunger of your tribe, that cannot be satisfied by any other means, that has led you to your need to kill a deer. If a deer is killed in any other way, or for any other reason than true need, then the hunter will be inflicted with a terrible disease that will ensure that he can never hunt again.”

From then on, whenever a Cherokee killed a deer, Chief Little Deer would travel as fast as the wind and ask the deer if he had been killed for a genuine need, and whether the man who killed him had prayed for pardon. If the answer was ‘no’ then Little Deer would follow the hunter back

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to his cabin and in%ict him with a disease that would cripple him for life. No Cherokee hunter, who values his health, ever kills a deer without need and genuine prayer for forgiveness.

The next council was held by Fishes and Reptiles, who had their own complaints against Man’s treatment of them. They determined that when a man mistreated their kind, then they would make the man a victim of terrifying visions and nightmares of rotting %esh, so that his sleep would not refresh his body or mind, he would lose his appetite, sicken and die.

Finally the Birds, Insects and smaller Animals (down to the tiniest one) met in council to question whether man should be punished for his treatment of them. One after another they came forward to describe man’s cruelty towards them and, &nally, Frog spoke. “We must do something to check the increase in numbers of the human race or, before long, they will become so numerous that we will be crowded off of the face of the Earth and the Earth will die.” It was decided that each bird, insect and smaller animal would create a disease with which to check the growth of the human race. They came up with so many different ailments and diseases that, if their vision had not failed them, there would be no humans today.

When the plants heard of the plans of the Animals, Reptiles, Fish, Birds, Insects and smaller Animals, they determined to defeat their evil plans. Plants know only how to give, and their highest purpose is in the service of others with their body, mind and spirit. Each tree, shrub, herb, grass and moss declared, “I shall appear to help Man whenever he calls upon me with his need.”

In this way, medicine was created and each plant has its use to help and heal the body, mind and spirit of Man, if only we ask. When a medicine man does not know what plant to use for a sick person, the spirit of a plant will tell him.