A long time ago, there was a young Cherokee boy. He loved to hunt and spend time with his family and the rest of his tribe. Most of all, he loved to hear stories and myths of the Cherokee tribe. His father told him many stories about the Cherokee tribe and their history. However, his favorite story to hear was about how the world came to be.
He listened as father told him about the earth. The Cherokee believed that the earth was once buried deep in the ocean and was discovered by a beetle. Eventually, someone unknown attached the edges of the earth to four cords. The earth still hangs in suspense to this day. The young boy's eyes were always filled with wonder and amazement at the thought of these four cords. He could barely believe it was true and always wished to see these cords for himself.
On the day of his thirteenth birthday, he decided he would set out to find at least one of these cords so he could put his wonder to rest. He knew the task before him was a dangerous one but he knew it had to be done. That night, he quietly packed a sack of his belongings and slipped away in the middle of the night.
He decided he would start by heading north. It was about to be summer time and he knew it would be the best time of the year to trek through the northern part of the earth. He also figured that the cords must be located at the "top" of the earth or otherwise everything would be upside down. And so northern bound he was.
The terrain was much worse than he expected but he trudged on. He traveled north through what is known today as Canada. When he reached Canada, he noticed there were many mountains. "Those mountains are my best chance at finding a cord," he thought to himself. He carefully observed the mountains that were before him. He searched to find the tallest one; that way he would be able to see the cords for certain. When he determined which mountain was the tallest, he began to hike to it.
It was much farther away than he thought. It took him almost two weeks to reach the base of the mountain before he could even begin to climb it. It took him another two months to reach the top of the mountain. When he finally did, he saw it. Right before him, he was able to see one of the four cords that suspend the earth like an island above the water. The young boy guessed that the cord was a mile around, for he could not even see around it. The cord was made of thick pieces of metal that were twisted together to make one cord. He reached out to touch it and could feel a vibration running through the cord. He knew that this was because of the sheer stress that the cord was under. He was proud to know that his journey was not a waste. Tears began to fill his eyes as he realized his people were right all along.
He could not wait to share his findings with the rest of his tribe. The journey home was a long and hard one. He arrived back home almost nine months after his departure. His family and tribe were so worried about him because they thought he had died.
After assuring them that he was in great health, he shared with them his wonderful news. The tribe praised him for his bravery and boldness. They had a huge gathering to celebrate the young boy. He was filled with joy because he finally knew the truth and he never doubted another Cherokee story again.
Author's Note: The original story talks about how the earth came into existence. The animals of the earth originally lived on Gälûñ'lätï but started to run out room and needed more space. Below them was nothing but water. A water beetle named Dâyuni'sï offered to travel below them to the water to see what he could find. The beetle dove into the water and found soft mud, which began to grow, and eventually became the island known as earth. The animals waited for the earth to become dry before they left Gälûñ'lätï and moved to earth. In the original source, they gave background for why there’re things such as mountains and the sun. To keep the earth from becoming water again someone unknown attached four cords to the cardinal points of the earth. These cords were attached to the sky vault, which is solid rock. From this sky vault, the earth was hung. The story mentions that the Cherokee fear that the earth will become overpopulated and the cords will break and the earth will sink into the sea again. I used the original source as an inspiration for my story. When I read this story, I imagined what young Cherokee children thought about this story. I also thought it might have been difficult for some to believe such a story. I decided to tell a story of a young Cherokee boy who had his own doubts about the validity of this story.
Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee: How The World Was Made by James Mooney; link to the reading online.
