FOLKLORE-L Archives
Archiver > FOLKLORE > 1998-06 > 0897112503
From: <>
Subject: [FOLKLORE-L] kiowa Indian Saynday Story
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 01:55:03 EDT
Saynday was coming along, and as he came he saw little Red Ant with a big sack
over her shoulder. Little Red Ant was different in those early days. Her
head and her body were all in one piece, with no neck between them. When she
carried her big round sack it looked like one ball carring another and rolling
along the ground. "Hello, there ," said Saynday,, "You look as if you were
hot." "iam hot," said little Red Ant. "It's a hot day." "Sit down and
rest," said Saynday, "and let's talk things over." "All right," said little
Red Ant. They sat down and rested in the shade of a prickly pear, ande
Saynday made himself small enough to talk comfortably to little Red Ant.
"I've been thinking a lot," said Saynday. What have you been thinking about?"
asked little Red Ant. "I've been thinking about deaths," said Saynday, "My
world and my people have been going quite a while now, and things are
beginning to get old and die sometimes." "What wrong with that?" said little
Red Ant "It makes room for new people." "The people who die don't like it,"
said Saynday. "There isn't any way to make them stop dying," said Little Red
Ant. "No, but there might be a way to bring them back," said Saynday "I've
been thinking and thinking and thinking about it, and I think I know a way to
bring them back when they've been dead four days," ":Well, it sounds rather
silly to me," said little Red Ant. "I don't see anything silly about it,"
said Saynday. "I think it is," said little Red Ant. "The way things are now,
the people who die off are old. They've had a good time and lived life out.
When they go, it doesn't hurt them. Then there is a place for a new person to
come along and enjoy life. I think the new one ought to have a turn." "That'
the way it is now," said Saynday, "but maybe it won't always be that way.
Maybe some of the young people will get killed off by accident. Then we ought
to have some way to bring them back so they can enjoy their full lives." "I
don't think you need to," said little Red Ant. "If they're so stupid they go
and get killed it's just their own fault's>' "All right," Said Saynday. "I
wanted to know what you thought. Now that I know, I will let there be death.
When things and people die, they won't come back to this world any more. Now
I have to go and see some more of my world. Good-bye." And he and little Red
Ant went their separate ways. Four days later Saynday was coming back and he
came to that same prickly pear. There was mourning and crying all around. He
looked down on the ground and saw little Red Ant. She was sitting in the
shade of the prickly pear and crying as if her heart would break. Saynday
made himself little again, and sat down beside her. "What 's the matter?"
said Saynday. "Oh, it's my son," said little Red Ant. "What happened to your
son?" said Saynday. "A bufflo stepped on him," answered little Red ant "and
now he's all gone dead." "That"s to bad," said Saynday. "It's terrible,"
said little Red Ant. And before Saynday could do anything, she pulled his
knife out of his belt and cut herself almost in two, just above her shoulders.
Saynday thought there had been enough dying already for one morning, so he
took the knife away before she could cut herself clear in two. "There ," he
said, "you see how it is. That's the way people feel when someone they love
dies. They want to die too. If you'd let me have my way, your son would have
come back at the end of four days. But you thought there would be too many
people in the world if that happened. So now you know why I wanted to do
that. For all the rest of the world, people will keep on dying. And for all
the rest of the world, you will go around cut almost in two, to remind you of
what you did to everybody." And that's the way it was, and that's the way it
is, to this good day. This is from Alice Marriott's book SAynday People.
Derry Ann
This thread: