Long ago the Cherokee
people lived in a dark world. They had no Sun or
Moon or light of any kind. It was so dark that the animals, birds, and
insects kept bumping into each other.
One day the animals
called a meeting to see what could be done.
Woodpecker spoke first.
"I've heard,"
he said, "that people on the other side of the world have
light. Maybe if we go there, they will give us some."
I'll go," said
Owl. "I can see in the dark."
"No, I should
go," Opossum said. "If they are stingy with their light,
I'll steal some and hide it under my bushy tail."
They all agreed, so
Opossum started at once. As he headed East, the
world grew lighter. Soon he had to squint to keep from being blinded,
but he kept on going until he found the Sun.
- Carefully he placed
a small piece of it under his tail. He set out for
home as fast as his short legs would go, but that piece of Sun was
so
hot it set his tail on fire.
The people who lived in the land of the Sun demanded that he return
the
piece he took. Poor Opossum. He now had to squint, his fine bushy
tail
was ruined, and the animals still had no light.
The animals called
another meeting, and this time Buzzard volunteered.
"I can fly far and fast," he boasted. "I can bring back
the light in no time."
He flew East and stayed
up high so the people couldn't see him. Then he
dived straight down, snatched a piece of the Sun, and hid it on top of
his head. But as he was flying away, his beautiful head feathers caught
on fire. Buzzard dropped the piece of Sun at once, but his head had
turned bright red and was completely bald, just as it is today.
- The animals met once
more, "What shall we do now?" they asked.
- "We musthave
light!"
Grandmother Spider
crawled out of the nearby grass. "You big creatures
have done all you can," she said. "Perhaps a smaller creature
could do better."
"You'll get burned
up!" squawked the Owl. "Maybe not," answered
Grandmother Spider. They were so desperate for light they agreed to let
her go.
Grandmother Spider felt
around until she found some damp clay. Then she
rolled it into the shape of a bowl. "It will dry slowly as I travel
in
the dark," she said to herself. "That way it won't
crack."
As she traveled, she
spun a trail of thread to find her way home.
When she came to the
place of the Sun people, she quickly reached out
and took a piece of the Sun. She dropped it into her bowl and covered
it. Then she quietly followed her thread-trail back home.
When the animals
uncovered Grandmother Spider's bowl, they could hardly
believe their eyes. The first light they had ever seen shot out its
rays. Even today, the spider's web is shaped like the rays of the Sun.
From that time on, not
only did the Cherokee people have light, but
pottery making became honored work among them.
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