Man Learns to do Housework 

We are often told that the Cherokee man never does woman's work.  But
this is  not always true. One story tells how the man learned from the
fish to do the work of the home. A man had been hunting for many days
and when he returned home, he found his family very, very ill. They
were so ill that his wife could not cook, and she could not tell him
what to do for her. He was afraid that his wife and two children would
die if he didn't find out what to do for them. He knew his wife
prepared herbs and plants when they were sick,and he knew a little
about the cooking.So he took some of the meat he had brought from the
hunt and made a simple stew in the cooking pot. He offered a gourd
full to his wife and children. His wife was too sick to eat the stew
and the children had became sicker. He was  very worried. He had no
close neighbors and he thought he had very little time before
something must be done. That night he could not sleep, so early in the
dark morning he went out to the river bank to think and worry.  "What
can I do? What does she do for us? He worried and thought. Down the
river he heard a splash and he saw some bugs flying around. He knew
that meant there was  fish in the water. Up the stream, he saw a
mother fish and some babies. Then he saw the father fish bringing a
bug for  their breakfast. He watched the fish parents taking care
taking care of the babies. It was a calm and pretty little scene. He
looked down at the hands he had that the fish didn't have and he
looked  at the legs that he had that the fish didn't have. He
remembered that the Great one had given him a mind. So he said to
himself, "get up and do something". he thought very hard and tried to
remember the medicine plants. He stepped on a plant and recognized the
smell as one his wife had used in their  stew when someone felt bad.
He took the plant and put a bit of it in the  water with the meat. He
fed the broth to his wife and children and before night, they felt
better. Then his wife could tell him more about what could be used for
medicine. 

The Cherokee know that the water and land animals have much to teach
people about how to provide for their families. 

We are reminded to be aware of our place on earth. And to fulfill our
obligations to our Family, our self,and our nation, the natural world
of the Creator. Words say ,we are to awaken, stand up, be counted for
we are reconized in the spirit world!