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Grandfather Stone Tells Many Stories
In time passed, there was no such thing as stories. The People did not have a way to keep up with their history or with their customs. Worse yet, they lost track of their Ancestors.
In a small village near the great woods, there was a boy who was a skilled hunter. He knew the woods well, and he often provided the People with food. He was hunting one day, and had some game birds, which he had gotten. He was returning back to his village, the snow and icy Winds tired him a lot. He stopped and sat on a rock to rest.
There was a great Stone beside him that had the shape of a man's face. The Stone said to the boy, "I will tell you a story."
The boy jumped to his feet and looked all around him, but saw no one. Then the Stone said, "Let me tell you a story." The boy said to the great Stone, "I will listen"
The Stone spoke, "First, you must give me something." So the boy placed tobacco upon the Stone, the Stone told the boy the first story ever told.
When the Stone was through speaking, the boy thought, "Thank you, Grandfather. The boy saw that the story had made him forget his fatigue and the cold Wind did not seem as cold. He went back to his village and gathered all people together.
As the boy told them this same story, they forgot their hunger and forgot about the cold Winter Winds. They respected the boy for what he told them. They knew that the story was a gift of the Creator.
The next day, he returned to the great Stone, and gave it another gift of tobacco. And the Grandfather Stone told him another different story. Each day throughout the long, cold Winter, the boy did this. The Grandfather Stone told him of the creation, and of many things.
Finally, when Spring had arrived, the boy went to the Grandfather Stone, the Stone didn't speak when he gave the Stone a gift of tobacco. The boy asked for another story, and the Grandfather Stone spoke for the last time, I have no more stories. I have given them all to you. Now, it is your duty to bring these stories to the People. You must keep these stories, and pass them down to your children. There will be many more stories, in time.
Reposted with Permission from Karen Shadow Dancer
< author unknown>
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