Students read some popular Native American myths and then wrote their own:

Why the Crocodile Can't Fly

        Well, one day a boy named Siab walked up to a dock by the river.  When he got to the
end of the dock, he saw a crocodile. The crocodile looked at him and turned its head away. After
 a few days Siab often went to feed the crocodile, but it would not eat, nor would it bite him when he put his hand to its jaws. Siab thought that something was wrong, and that night he took a warm cloth and went outside to the dock. He was determined to find out what was wrong with the crocodile. He stayed there all night until he fell asleep and he went inside his house. Then outside his window, the crocodile dragged its belly and went to Siab's window. Then it did something that Siab never thought of, it talked. Siab looked speechlessly at the animal.
        The next morning Siab awoke at a field which was all the way across the prairie and across the river. He started walking home, and then he saw that the crocodile had been with him the whole time. When they got home, Siab told his parents that he flew with the crocodile, but of course they did not believe him. That night he wanted to go flying with the crocodile so he sneaked out and went with it.Then Siab's father went outside, and he saw them in the sky.
        The next morning while Siab was gone, the father took his knife and went to the docks.
He saw the crocodile and its wings. He took his hand and covered the crocodile's mouth shut. Then hetook his knife and cut the wings off the crocodile. That night Siab was outsideand went to see the crocodile. The father had forgotten about the wings on the dock, and when Siab got to the animal he started to cry. He took the wings and he ran inside his house.  After a few days the animal got sick and died. And that is why crocodiles cannot fly.

                                                                                              By Bud Davis

Falling Star

        One evening Sunflower and Rosemary were lying in the grass wondering why bright lights where falling. One day she climbed up a tree after a kitten.
 While trying, Sunflower said to Rosemary, “I am trying to get down a kitten so he can go back her mother."
       Rosemary said, “Get down from there, because the tree is getting bigger and bigger," but Sunflower didn’t listen to her, and by the time she got the kitten she was in the sky.
       While up there she saw the oldest one named 4-paw and asked him, "Why are the lights falling?" and 4-paw said, “We are falling stars, not lights."
       "But I thought you were lights."
       "No," said 4-paw. "When we get old, we start to burn and fall, and that is why we are named falling stars."
                                                                                       By Nicole Simester
 

How Bears Lost Their Tails

     One day in the woods two bear cubs were playing around an old tree trunk. The Bear Mother told them not to go pass the giant rock because the evil Black Foot lived there and he took little animal's tails, but the cubs didn’t listen to Bear Mother. The evil Black Foot saw them coming, so he thought of a plan to get their tails. Black Foot thought he would have them come in and take a nap since they looked tired.  The bears agreed, so they went into the long house. Then when they fell asleep he got the sharpest knife he had and chopped off their tails. They didn’t notice until Bear Mother asked them where their tails were. They said that they went past the giant rock and took a nap at a long house. Bear Mother said that it was Black Foot.

                                                                                          By Ben Abell
 

HOW DEER GOT THEIR HORNS

     One day a deer was wondering around the forest when all of a sudden a pack of wolves started to chase it.  The deer ran and ran until it was so tired it could hardly walk at all.  The deer hid behind a tree until the wolf pack had run past the tree.  Then the deer had the beaver make a weapon that could be mounted on his head in-between the ears.  The beaver made a rack of antlers.  The beaver tied it on the deer's head.

                                                                                             By Brian Carr

How the Grass Got Its Color

         Once long ago there were three Indians: their names where Coco, Little Bear, and Chief. They all loved different colors.  One of them liked only green colors.  When he saw green things, he always wondered what it would be like to be that thing. He saw grass, birds, and a lot of other things. He always wondered what it would be like to be grass and always wished but it never came true. So Coco thought of their creator Ma-ona, and Coco said to himself, " I wonder if he could grant my wish."
        Their creator Ma-ona lived a long way from where their village was. So the next day Coco got ready and he set off on the long journey to Ma-ona. Finally two weeks later he got to the Creator in the mountains and asked,  “I wish to be grass,” but Ma-ona said, "Only if you do me three favors will you be grass.  So Coco did these three favors.  Coco finally got them done, and Ma-ona granted his wish and ever since his brothers wondered where Coco went but Ma-ona told them.
                                                                                         By Dustin Walker

How the Raccoon Got Its Mask

         Once long ago the raccoon was a nasty animal.  This animal was named the Black Bandit in this village.  He was known for stealing Indian goods.  So far the Black Bandit had already robbed the tent of Little Bear, the chief of the village.
         One night in the village, Black Bandit was on the way to rob Sun Flower’s tent.  As he was going, he saw Squonto’s tent and thought he could rob it first, but as he was entering the tent Squonto chased him out.  Black Bandit was not done yet.  He was going to Sun Flower’s tent, but Squonto had beaten him there and had the whole village waiting for him.  When he arrived, Little Bear, Squonto, and Sun Flower were there, and Squonto said, “I didn’t know he was that small!" and they all realized that he was a raccoon looking for food.  They went up to him and tried to pull off his mask, but it was stuck on for good.  This is why the raccoons look like they are by wearing masks.

                                                                                              By Ryan Poulter

How We Got Mountains

        A long time ago there was an evil and giant Indian chief, named Kebosava, who ruled the ground beneath the surface, who wanted to rule the ground beneath and above. So he ordered his men to rise above the ground and destroy all the Indian villages. The Chief Laglow from the world above overheard this and told the villages. So all the Indian chiefs and other men came up with a plan to freeze the Spirits when they rise above the ground, and this would kill the evil Kebosava. They went to the Chief of the Wind and told him what Kebosava’s plan was. Wind Chief agreed to help and came along with the men. Then they sneaked underground. As they arose, they had Wind Chief blow the magical forces of freezing wind at the chiefs, and the ground had been lifted up to form mountains. That is how mountains were formed. To keep the evil Indians from becoming unfrozen,  there is snow on top of the mountains so they don’t rise out of the ground anymore.

                                                                                                    By Jenny Stern
 

How We Got Valleys

        One day the chief, Running Cloud, of the Wambosie tribe was walking through the forest. He was very worried, thinking about the terrible war his tribe was in, when he came upon an unusual looking tree. It was very old and had gnarled-looking branches, but it was the sturdiest of all the trees in the forest. Running Cloud was curious about this tree, so he laid his hand on the bark. The tree felt this touch and let its spirit awaken.  Running Cloud was not frightened, just awed at the spirit. The spirit was very nice and very wise. They started talking. Running Cloud learned that the spirit was called Oshuwaga. He answered Oshuwaga's questions about the world, since Oshuwaga could not leave his tree very often, and Running Cloud also told him about the terrible war and his worries. When he was finished talking, the spirit got an idea. He told Running Cloud, "Since you have been so kind to me, I will return the favor. Tonight at midnight, I will go to your enemies' campsite and finish them off for you. I will not kill them, just frighten them enough that they will never bother you again." Running Cloud was very grateful, and he vowed he would repay the spirit someday. He left, and waited for the night to come.
        At eleven o' clock, Running Cloud decided to go to the campsite and watch this great deed. When he got to the campsite, all was quiet. Running Cloud waited for forty- five minutes. Nothing happened. Finally at eleven fifty-nine, one minute before midnight, out of the shadows came Oshuwago. He walked over to the very edge of the campsite. Then, suddenly, he grew ten feet taller. He looked over toward Running Cloud and winked. Then he took a big hand out of his pocket and picked up the whole campsite and all the rich soil underneath. He looked inside all the tents and yelled the battle cry of the Wambosie. The men came out in shock. They tried to bring down Oshuwago, but he vanished, taking the campsite with him. What Oshuwago did not know, though, was that Wak'djunk'aga, the trickster, was on the enemies' side. Oshuwago reappeared screaming his head off. Wak'djunk'aga had turned into a bigger giant. He was very ferocious, and it scared Oshuwago. He ran all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, then back to the Pacific Ocean, making huge valleys as he went. As the chief's promise to repay Oshuwago, he left the valleys there, as a symbol that Oshuwago was all-powerful. So from this day forth, we have those valleys.

                                                                                                  By Nicole McLain
 

THE INDIAN WHO ALWAYS WONDERED

            One day, in a small, small village, there lived an Indian, an Indian who always wondered about nature, and many things around him. Early one morning Hack, (the Indian), went for a walk, and during his walk, he stumbled upon a turkey. So he walked back to his village. When he reached his village, he asked many of his people about turkeys. They told him that turkeys are very vicious animals. They also told him that the turkeys get their colors from every animal they kill. Well, he thought he knew enough about turkeys, so he went on to seek whatever he could. After awhile he saw a bear. He wondered why it was so big, brown, and angry loosen. So he thought for a little while, and then he thought, since they were brown they must have burnt themselves, and he's angry because of the way that he looks, and he's tall because he used to be part of a tree. After a while he had forgotten about bears, when he saw the biggest thing of his life. He had seen some mountains. So then he thought those were there because rocks must of fallen from the sky and must have kept falling for awhile. By the time he quit thinking about how the mountains got where they were they were, the sun was setting, so he went back to his village, back into his tepee, and lay down. Then he thought, what will I see tomorrow? Then he thought himself to sleep.

                                                                                                                    By: RAY TARBILL
 

Why Polar Bears Are White and Live in the North

         Once long long ago Manisus protected everyone from all evil things. The polar bears were most dreaded by all living things. Manisus made up a plan to trap all of the polar bears and send them far, far away where it was very, very cold. Here is what my tribe's chief, Sungod, told us.
         “Oh, Mr. Polar Bear! Where are you?” Manisus’s slave, Chipawa yelled. She was very beautiful with long black hair and almond eyes.
         “ I am here, savage,” the polar bear yelled. “You better run if you don’t want me to eat you!”
         “ Manisus, please help me! Please protect me from this awful polar bear,” Chipawa yelled.    But Manisus did not come, and Chipawa got eaten by the polar bear. A couple years later Manisus found a new slave to help catch the polar bear. This time her name was Sunflower. Sunflower was very powerful and wise.
         “Sunflower, I want you to go and capture the polar bear's chief. Don’t let me down like the last person I sent,” Manisus told her, smiling.
         “I won’t, Manisus,” said Sunflower. “I promise to bring back their chief.”
         “Good; now go!” said Manisus, waving a hand for her to leave. Sunflower reached the woods just before dark.
         “Here, Mr. Polar Bear.”
         “What do you want?”
         Instead of answering she used her powers to send the chief  back to Manisus in a glass cage. When it returned,  Manisus was amazed at how  the polar bear had arrived so quickly.
Manisus sent the chief and his fellow polar bears up north and turned them white so no one would be able to see them to save them in the snow and ice. But Sunflower accidentally turned herself into the queen polar bear. She and the chief will live for eternity up north never to be rescued by anyone.

                                                                                                 By Brittany Hansen

Why Rabbits Have Long Ears

         A long time ago there was a little rabbit named Seth who always took the old bridge to get to the other side of the river. He always took that bridge, even though it was the long way. A little ways down there was another bridge that was blocked off because it was cracked and ready to break. One day he decided to take the other bridge so he could get to the other side quicker. As Seth was walking across the bridge, it started to collapse. Seth was worried that he would fall. When the bridge fell Seth fell too and got his ears caught on each side of the bridge. It stretched and stretched his ears out until they came loose from  the bridge. Seth cried because his ears were long. So from then on it just passed through the family to have long ears.

                                                                                                  By Shawn Rae

Why the Moon Changes Shapes

            As we all gathered by the campfire, my Uncle John started to tell us the story about why the moon changes shapes.
           “In a far off land,” he began,” there lives an Indian tribe by the name of Kwobahak, and every month they have their own little pow-wow together. They gather around a great huge campfire, just like we’re doing now, and dress up in their finest headdresses and moccasins with beads on them. They paint their faces with glorious colors such as red, orange, blue, and yellow. Then they pull their finest handcrafted chair out, right next to the fire.”
         “When they begin their pow-wow, the Indian Chief Calminae sits down in the chair next to the fire. Next all the Indian boys and girls walk in a circle around the Chief and get faster and faster until they are running. Finally they get so fast they run right out of the circle.”
         “Now the Calinae is smiling so that makes the quarter of the moon that you see.”
         “Next the Indian ladies jump in the circle and dance around the ring and create their own rain like dances. They shake their bead dangles and create a joyous noise.”
         “Now the Calminae is watching in the other direction because there is a commotion in the background so that his half face creates the half moon.”
         “Next the strong Indian men do their dance which they have been working on all month. They use their homemade maracas with rice inside of them.”
         “And now guess what the Calminae is doing? He is in awe so he now has a big o shape on his mouth. That makes the full moon.”
         “This story also tells you why the moon changes a lot, because of the pow-wows.”
 I didn’t quite believe the story at first, but then it hit me, why else would the moon change shapes?

                                                                                                    By Katrina Duden

Why Trees Change Color

         A long time ago there was a town council member named Rethorita. Rethorita had very different moods all of the time.  One day when he was feeling really bare and had no thoughts, the devil turned him into a tree.  The devil said, "What you are feeling now is going to be winter."
         After a while Rethorita got used to being a tree and wasn’t so bare and gloomy any more.  He started to get thoughts and be happy.  The devil saw this and said, “This will be spring.”  The tree’s leaves were growing on him bright green.  He felt so beautiful.  People would walk by and say, "Wow, look at that tree!  It is simply beautiful.”
         After awhile he felt so proud of himself that he would get greener and greener.  The weather was beautiful outside, and he was so happy about it.  He would grow flowers and apples on himself even though he wasn’t an apple tree.  He loved it when birds would come and make a nest on one of his branches.  He loved to sway in the light wind and listen to the birds chirp and sing songs.  He wished it would always be like this.
         The great time lasted for a few more months.  After a while the warm breeze would be chilling and make him shiver.  The sun wasn’t out as much, and it was sure cloudy a lot.  The birds weren’t chirping and singing as much because they all were migrating south for the winter.  The tree got sad and angry about that, so his leaves started to turn colors.  When he saw that he was changing colors, he got even angrier because he loved his bright green leaves.
         The devil came up from the underworld and said,” This is going to be called fall because you're losing all of your leaves.  Ha. Ha.”  The tree got mad because the devil was laughing at him, and he then lost all of his leaves. Then, the devil came back up and said,” Well, it looks like you’re ready for winter again.”  That is why leaves change colors.

                                                                                                     By Mary Rhoades

Why There Are Clouds

        In the old times, fellow Winnebegos used the fire signal to tell each other what was going on. The fire signal was a fire, a blanket, and the smoke from the fire that went into the sky in a certain form. The other person could see the smoke easily because the sky was always a clear blue. The signal was used a lot, so much that sometimes you can not see the bright blue sky behind the smoke, but on some days you can see the sky easily.
        With all the smoke signals cluttering up the sky, the Sky Spirit got angry and decided to do something to stop the fire signals. The Spirit thought and thought. He tried turning the sky dark, but the people shone light from the fire on the smoke. Then he tried to stop the fires themselves by making a constant rain; back then the rain fell straight from the blue sky with no clouds. The humans still made the fire signals.
         The Spirit almost gave up, but just then an idea came to him. He would make big, white, soft, floating things in the sky which he would call clouds. The clouds would mess up the signals so the humans couldn't read them. The signals should surely stop then.
         He was right; the people stopped making the signals. But sometimes on a nice clear day the fire signal is still used.

                                                                                               By Adam Bracke
 

How Killer Whales Got Their Name

         Once upon a time, there was a whale named Killer because when the girls looked at him they all fainted.  He was very popular.  The reason he was so popular was because one day a whale was holding a group of other whales hostage and threatened to lay them out on the beach to suffer until they finally all died.  But then Killer showed up and gave up his life for everyone else.  So after that, he suffered on the beach until he died.  The day after, all the whales he saved wanted to give him something in return.  They all decided to put his name in front of their own.  So from that day on they were called Killer whales instead of just whales.  So if you were wondering where their name came from, it’s not because they kill people, it’s because of one whale named Killer that saved the lives of his fellow whales.

                                                                                                By: Missy Simester

How the Frog Got Its Hop

        There once lived a frog named Wart. He was different from the other frogs. He was always trying things no other frogs were doing. Before frogs hopped around, they all crawled. Wart was getting tired of crawling from here to there all the time. So he started thinking of some other fun ways to get around. Wart tried to walk, but he didn’t have the best balance. Then he tried to crawl backwards, but he kept running into things. So Wart sat down and thought, and thought, and thought. But while he was thinking he noticed how strong and muscular his legs were. Then Wart decided he was going to try to hop around. He loved it. He loved how high he could jump into the sky.
        But when he showed all the other frogs they thought he was crazy. “ We’re just fine with crawling around,” said one frog. Sad about how all the other frogs reacted, Wart started to crawl off. But then all of a sudden the chief of all the frogs started hopping around. “This is a blast,” said the chief frog. Then the chief frog made everyone try it. They all loved it just as much as Wart did. And from that day on, that is how all the frogs got around, hopping. Wart still says that he is the one who can jump the highest.

                                                                                                    Jamie Coleman
 

How the Raccoon Got Rings on Its Tail

         One summer day, two Indian boys were playing ring toss.   Indian one found a stick and stuck it in the ground.   Indian two threw a ring made out of wood and it broke the stick.   Well, the two Indian boys were sitting, trying to figure out what to throw the rings on.   Just then Indian two saw a raccoon’s tail sticking out of the grass.   Then he threw a ring and it hit the raccoons tail, and it startled the raccoon so it started to run away.
         Then the two Indian boys started to run after the raccoon.  They caught it about twenty feet from where the raccoon originally was.  Indian one held the raccoon down.   Then Indian two threw 3 or 4 rings at the same time.   They all made it and they all went on the raccoon’s tail.   Well, all the rings got stuck.  So ever since that summer’s day all raccoons had rings on their tail.

                                                                                                 By Maria Lombardo

How the Skunk Got His Stripe

        One day two young Indian boys were outside, riding their miniature covered wagons.  Their names were Little Bear and Running Fox.  While they were riding along, one of Little Bear’s wheels got stuck in a deep hole.  He heard a whimpering sound that sounded like a baby skunk.  He turned around and there it was, sitting on a log.  He was crying.  Little Bear walked over and said, “Little skunk, what is the matter?”
        Then the little skunk said, “That was my house that your wheel is in.  My mother is going to be very upset because it took her a long time to dig the hole for us children.”
        Little Bear said, “ I feel really bad, Running Fox. You have to help me push this wagon out of this hole before his mother gets home.”
         After they were done getting something to eat, Running Fox and Little Bear started to push the wagon out of the hole.  They almost had the wagon out, when the little skunk said that his mother was coming up the path towards their hole.  Running Fox and Little Bear did not see that the little skunk was standing right in front of the wagon.  The next thing that they knew was that the wagon had run over the little skunk.  He was very angry that they had run him over, but he was also very thankful that they got the wagon out of the hole before his mother got home.
         From that day on all skunks have one white line down their back.  The little skunk, Little Bear, and Running Fox all lived happily ever after.

                                                                                                            By: Erin Bohms

How the Skunk Got Its Stripe

       Once upon a time there was a young warrior called LockYajobo who was sent out on a mission to become a man.  LockYajobo was far away from home, deep in the woods of “Death Become You.” As he was making his way through the swampy area, he saw a little black animal that looked kind of like a cat, and in his village cats were considered evil animals and were to be killed when seen.” LockYajobo got out his bow and arrows, and as he shot the arrow something made a loud screeching noise. He jumped and missed the little cat-like animal.
        Later on that day LockYajobo was still hunting, and as he was doing this, he came upon some white powdery stuff. He picked it up and put it in a little pouch he had. On his way back to camp, he saw the little animal again and thought, "I missed it once.  I’m not going to miss again,” so he took out his bow and arrow and shot, but missed once again. At this LockYajobo was so mad he decided he was going to catch this animal and burn it. When he was running after it, his water spilled all over the white power, and then it turned it to a white liquid and fell onto the animal's back. LockYajobo decided it was not a cat and said, "I’ll name this animal after my father Skunkdotied, so now the animal known today as the skunk has a white stripe down its back.

                                                                                                        By Kim Page

How the Turtle Lost Its Speed

        One day long ago on a small deserted island there lived the turtles. These turtles were so fast when they ran you couldn’t even see them. Everyday they would race each other to see who was the fastest, and the winner would be the king of the day. Some of these turtles were very stubborn, and they would not listen to anybody. After a while an Indian named Chief Cow came to ask the turtles a question. He asked three turtles, but all of them ran right past him without even talking to him. So he decided to throw magic dust on them to make them slow down. After they slowed down, he was still mad because they ignored him so he left and never came back. Since then the turtles have always been slow.

                                                                                                    By  Matthew Knebel

How the Raccoon Got His Mask

        One day a mother raccoon was about to give birth.  She was pushing as hard as she could and finally out came a baby raccoon. He came out butt first and when he turned around they saw his face. It was the ugliest thing they had ever seen. His face was all messed and wrinkled up, and it just looked horrible!  The parents didn't know what to do.
        One year later the little coon ventured out to meet all the other coons his age. When they saw him, they all were so very frightened they ran away and hid. They all made fun of him, not letting him play in their games. The little raccoon was so sad that no one liked him - not even his parents like him. When he sneaked behind people, they all jumped and screamed in horror. And that also happened with other raccoons too.
        One night some campers left out their food, and the coons decided to sneak up and steal it. But they knew if they got caught, they would be shot because that hunter had already gotten one of their friends. They did not invite the scary looking one, but he decided to go anyway. They had it and the scary one sneaked behind them and scared them; they made a frightening sound and the hunter came out with his gun and shot all of them except the scarey looking one. He ran off into the forest. He looked back at his mom, dad, family, and relatives, and they were all dead. So the little raccoon decided to go to the other side of the forest where the wolves, bears, and deer were.
        He saw a wolf about ready to eat a deer he was hunting. And the deer saw his face and ran away. The wolf was mad; he chased after the raccoon and he went into this little hole, and there he saw a mask shaped just like his face. He put it on and thought this would hide his deformed ugly face. He went further in the cave, and he saw a female raccoon. He asked the female what she was doing here; she said she was kicked out of her tribe because her face was too ugly and she came here and found these masks. He told her they were the only raccoons left in the entire forest. Four years later there were a bunch of raccoons running around with masks on, all thanks to the two raccoons that started it all.

                                                                                                    By Tim Wetzell

WHY DOES THE RACCOON HAVE A MASK?

        So why does the raccoon have a mask? One September night Big Eyed Man had to prove he was a real man. His task was to steal a neighboring tribe's horse. Well, from his name you could probably tell that he had big eyes, and he knew that he did. So to fix that problem he found an old deer hide and cut a rectangle out of it. After that he took that rectangle and put two little eyeholes in it. Then he had to hunt for a tendon. Once he found that, he tied it to the hide and used it for a mask.
        After he made his mask, he set out to get the horse from the other tribe. On his way he saw a little brownish-gray animal.  The animal told him he had a problem too - it was the  same problem but he was going to steal a batch of nuts from squirrel . The man told him he could help him out so he made a mask for the raccoon and now they steal stuff together. So now you know why the raccoon has a mask.
 

 Why It Rains

        There once lived a group of Indians called the Wakikis.  Within the group there was a grandmother named Naomi and her granddaughter, Pocahontas.  They were very close.  The grandmother loved her granddaughter so much.  One day Naomi became very ill.  Her granddaughter was very upset. Naomi held on for so long just to be with Pocahontas.  Finally her grandmother couldn’t hang on any longer, and she passed away that night.  Not only was the little girl upset, but Naomi was, too.  In Heaven it is said that every once in a while Naomi will start to think about how much she misses her granddaughter Pocahontas and begin to cry.  Supposedly, that is why it rains today.

                                                                                                        Megan Melton

Why the Rattlesnake Rattles

         There once lived a Souix boy named Unk-Bunk, which meant, well, nothing.  His parents, who were a little slow, let him name himself.
         One day while he was playing, he got a nasty snakebite.  He wanted to find a way to warn people when a snake was near.  But he didn’t know how. So he asked his father, Jolting-Buzzard, “Father, what should I do?”
         “Stay away from it, my son,” he replied.
         So he then asked his grandfather, Wise-Owl, “What can I do to save our people from this snake?”
         Wise-Owl said, “The braves will deal with it.”
         Later he was watching his little brother, Tiny-Buck, when suddenly Tiny-Buck shook his rattle and scared him. That was the answer!
         The next day he caught the snake and attached the rattle to its tail.  He thought he saved the world.

                                                                                                By: Dustin Thompson

Why the Sun Sets and the Moon Rises

         Long, long ago back in an old Indian Winnebago tribe, a young girl named Niobe was asking her father, Chief Howi questions.  The only one he couldn’t answer was why the sun sets and the moon rises.
        Her father always said,” Young Niobe, why must you ask so many questions?”
         “I must know things, Father.”
          So her father Chief Howi said,” Go and talk to your grandfather.”  So after that she went to her grandfather’s hut.
        “Young Niobe is that you?”
        “Yes”, said Niobe. “Grandfather will you tell me why the sun sets and the moon rises?”
        “Sure”, said Grandfather. "A very long time ago, there was an Indian village where it was always day, never night.  At that time there were battles.  During that time, there was a girl named Ducky.  Ducky was also confused why the sun never set.  Then one day the Sunflower God came and said,” Ducky, you must find the warriors so that they can shoot the sun with their mighty arrows. If they don’t, your great village will soon come to an end; it will melt.”
Ducky did not want that to happen, so she set off.  She found the warriors, and they shot the sun with their mighty arrows.  They pulled down the sun.  Then Ducky saw a weird shape in the sky.  It was a moon.  Then the Moonflower God came down and said, ”Ducky, thank you so much.”
        And from that day on the sun sets and the moon rises.

                                                                                                        By Caitlin Fisk
 

Why There Are Stars

         Every time someone was not loyal to his tribe he would be punished by the great chief. He would have to go to the stars and spend the rest of his life there. Constellations are several of these unloyal people put together. So if you are ever unloyal to your tribe you will be a star.

                                                                                                       By Derrick Maupin

Why Trees Lose Their Leaves

        Once upon a time before there were trees, there lived a man, a very scary man who lived in the desert.   To get wood you would have to pray for it. But the gods soon got tired from doing this.  As more people needed wood the gods decided to make things called trees that were made out of wood.
        Then the very ugly and scary man heard about this and could not believe what he was hearing. Since he lived in the desert all he saw were tumbleweeds and cactuses.  He went to a town north from where he lived.  Since the gods made them, they had special powers to grow them hair (which to us are leaves) used to keep them warm.
        When the ugly scary man got to the town up north, he walked up to the first tree he had ever seen. The trees got so scared their leaves fell out. Then every other tree he tried to look at, their leaves would fall out, too. During the time he did this was the season known to us as fall because the name of the man was John Falls; that is how we got the name Fall. Ever since then, the trees always lose their leaves in the fall.

                                                                                                                By Tyler Scott

Why Turtles Walk So Slow

       Turtles used to go as fast as a bunny rabbit until one day when a rude rabbit named Alley, made a bet with a turtle named Ozzie that he could run faster than the turtle.  Ozzie said that he was faster than Alley, and he was.  Alley said that he was faster, and that he was more fit than anybody he knew. "I run every other day".
        "Ah, I run every day', said Ozzie. They came up to the starting line. A horn blew and they were off. They were neck-to-neck, till the turtle pulled ahead. Alley was so disappointed in himself he slowed down and started to mope. Ozzie felt sorry for Alley, so he stopped at a nearby park until Alley caught up a little. While Ozzie was swinging on the swings, Alley walked by feeling sorry for himself.  He didn't even realize that Ozzie was playing.   After a half in hour went by, Ozzie got tired of waiting, so he ran to the finish line. When he got to the finish line, he saw the ribbon tearing and Alley won. Alley didn't know that he won at first. Then he realized that he had won, and he started to dance. So from that day on Ozzie decided slow and steady is better than going in a hurry; whether you win or don't win you stay steady and you can enjoy the view on the way. So from that day on turtles go slow and steady, and rabbits think that they are faster, but we all know that turtles are faster.

                                                                                                              By Heather Morris
 
 

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