THE FIRE STORM

THE FIRE STORM

Long before the white eyes came to our lands, from the distant shores of the great waters, there was a story told around the story fires, of a time when three young warriors went hunting in the great forest, north of Shooting Creek.

These three young warriors had a very good time hunting and blessing the spirits of the life of the animals they had killed. They dressed the meat of the animals and their hides. Then they turned in for the night.

One of the young warriors was awakened by the sound of thunder and lighting. When he saw the lightning hit a tall pine tree, he called the others. For in the great forest, things change from second to second, for when the lightning hit the tall pine tree, the fire began and moved very fast. It moved around them as if it was just going to eat them up in the flames. When the oldest of the three young warriors said, "Come here, dig a hole as long as you are and use your water to wet yourself down. Get in the hole and cover yourself up with mother earth and hurry". The three young warriors covered themselves with the earth. The fire was hot and raced over the tops of the warriors. When the fire had passed, the three young warriors pushed themselves up out of mother earth. They looked around, all they could see was the smoke and the black and white burnt trees and grounds of mother earth. The meat they had gotten from hunting was burned and the youngest of the three said, "Well, at least mother earth has cooked for us. We will have a lot to eat". The other young warrior said, "Look there, the fire lights the night sky as it raced towards the Tennessee River. Look to the south, the fire races towards our village at Shooting Creek".

The young warriors raced to the south to try and help the people in the village at Shooting Creek. When they reached the village, it was burnt to the ground. As they looked around to see who they could find, they saw the people coming up out of Shooting Creek. All the people were saved by the waters of Shooting Creek. They made a circle on mother earth and gave thanks to her for saving their lives. Then they went to work rebuilding the village. next