Shea's Myth-Folk Blog

Long ago, when only plants lived on earth, Redwoods were the only ones who had sunlight. All the other plants wanted sunlight too, but Redwoods were taller than everyone else. They stole the sunlight before it could reached any of the other plants.  The other plants lived in darkness and fear but Redwoods refused to share sunlight with anyone else.  The other plants decided to hold a council to discuss the growing worry they had about living in darkness. Meanwhile, Redwoods held their own council in the light. They set up guards to protect themselves from having other plants try to come take sunlight from them.  But Flower had taken root near where the Redwoods were having their meeting before the guards set up. While the Redwoods had their meeting, a small bit of sunlight crept towards Flower. Flower hid a little bit of sunlight in its petals and slowly started moving back towards the other plants' meeting.  Before Flower could escape, however, the Redwoods no...

The story "The Memaloose Islands" tells the story of a young chief and the woman he loves. The chief goes over the spirit trail and cannot find any rest in the land of the spirits. The maiden had a vision telling her that she should go to the land of the spirits and she told her father about her vision. He prepared a canoe and they paddled up Great River to the spirit island. They heard singing and a beat drum and four spirits greeted them when they reached the death island. The maiden got off the canoe, but her father returned home. She found the chief and they danced all night. When the morning came, the spirits slept but she could not sleep soundly. She woke up later that day, surrounded by skeletons and skulls. The maiden realized she was in the island of death and became filled with horror. She found a boat and paddled home to her village. Her father was worried though, because she had been to the spirit land and evil would fall upon the tribe if she returned. Again, th...

In the story " How Beaver Stole Fire ," animals and trees walked and talked and there we no men on the earth. Pine Trees had the secret of fire and refused to share with anyone else, no matter how cold it got. One winter, it got so cold that many animals came close to freezing to death. The animals held a council because they wanted to steal fire. At the same time, the Pines held a council on the Grande Ronde River and had a fire to keep them warm. They had guards watching for animals so they could not steal fire. Before the guards took place, however, Beaver hid near the fire. When a lit coal rolled towards him, he grabbed it and ran away. The Pine Trees started chasing after him, but Beaver kept running. Sometimes he ran side to side and sometimes he ran straight, and this is why the Grande Ronde River curves in some places and is straight in others. Many of the Pines grew tired and stopped along the river. That is why there are thick...