Legend of The Tlanuhwa and The Uhktena

When the world of the Ani Yunwiya was
new all living things were great in size
and strength. Two of the many creatures that
had been created and placed upon Ani Daksi
Amayeli by Unethlana the Apportioner were
the Tlanuhwa and the Uhktena.

The Tlanuhwa were very large birds with
markings much like the red-tail hawk of today.
The markings or symbols of the great Tlanuhwa
could only be worn by the ancient Ani Kituhwah
warriors when they went into war. Some people
say the Tlanuhwa were the original parents,
Ani Tawodi, of the great hawks that live today.
The Uhktena are enormous creatures that live in
the rivers and lakes of the great Ouascioto valleys
and mountains (the Ohio Valley and Appalachians).
The Uhktena come and go from this world to the
underworld. They enter the underworld through
caves that are found under the waters of rivers
and lakes and also through certain entrances into
the earth where there are springs.

The Uhktena have the body of a snake with very
pretty and colorful circles all around their torsos.
They also have wings like the great buzzard
and horns upon their head like the great deer.
Upon their forehead there is a special crystal
which people prize because it has very special
power over light and dark. This crystal is also
a window into the future and the past.

The crystal is called an Ulunsuti stone;
it is the most powerful thing a person can possess.
The stone is carried in a circular buckskin pouch
along with a little red pigment and must never be
kept in the house but in a safe dry place outside
the house away from people.
When one gazes into an Ulunsuti stone,
one will see either a white or a red blood-like
streak appear. Only certain priests of the Ani
Kuhtahni of the Ani Yunwiya know how to use these
Ulunsuti stones and can invoke certain formulas or
prayers which are aides to humans when used
properly. One such protection prayer (Igowesdi)
that calls upon a great Uhktena is:
"Now! Nearby here the Great Red Uhktena now
winds his way. Now! Now the glare of the purple
lightening will dazzle the Red Uhktena. Also,
this ancient tobacco will be as much of a
thorough-going wizard. Now! The Seven Reversers
(priests of the mounds) looking at me will be
dazzled by the Great Red Uhktena. Udohiyuh!"
At a certain place the Ani Yunwiya call Hogahega
Uweyu i which lies alongside the Wanegas
(now known as the Tennessee River),
there remains one of the ancient cave homes
of the Tlanuhwa. Located high up in the cliffs
by the river, it is at this place that an ancient
fight took place between the Tlanuhwa and the Uhktena.
Near the caves of the Tlanuhwa was one of
the towns of the Ani Yunwiya.
The people living in the town never had any
problems with the Tlanuhwa until one day,
the Tlanuhwa began to swoop down out of the sky,
grabbing young children in their talons and taking
them away to their caves by the Hogahega Uweyu i.
The people of the town became very upset and all
the mothers started crying and shouting at the men
to bring back the children stolen by the
Tlanuhwa.

So the men made a plan; they went very near
the Tlanuhwa caves and took vines growing
there from some trees and made ropes to climb
down over the cliffs to the caves. The men
waited until they were certain that the Tlanuhwa
were out of the caves. Then down the ropes some
of the men went, into the caves of the Tlanuhwa.
All of the children that had been taken from the
Ani Yunwiya town were there in the caves and,
were very anxious to get back to their homes.
Also in those caves were many eggs of the Tlanuhwa.
The men had gotten the children out just in time
because as they started back up the vine ropes
they heard the great screams of the Tlanuhwa
returning to their caves with more children
in their talons. So very quickly the men began
throwing the unhatched eggs of the Tlanuhwa down
into the Hogahega Uweyu i far below.
When the eggs splashed into the waters far
below the Tlanuhwa caves, the great Uhktena
came up from below the waters and began eating
the eggs as fast as the men could throw them into
the water. This made the Tlanuhwa very angry and
they dropped the children and swooped down upon the
Uhktena. The men waiting below the caves caught
the children as they fell. Thus began a long fight
between the Tlanuhwa and the Uhktena.
The Tlanuhwa destroyed the Uhktena and tore it
into four pieces. Afterwards, the pieces of
the Uhktena were thrown all around the country
along with the great crystal, the Ulunsuti stone.
Many people are still searching for that
Ulunsuti stone in the mountains along the
Hogahega uweyu I.
After that terrible fight the Tlanuhwa were
so angry at what the humans had done with their
eggs that they flew far away, up above the sky
vault and have never been seen since.
However, one can see the pictures that the
ancient Ani Yunwiya made of the Tlanuhwa and
Uhktena, on the walls of the many caves among
the Ouascito (Central Fire) Mountains,
the ancient home of the Ani Yunwiya.

It is said that today, far below the cave of
the Tlanuhwa on the banks of the
Hogahega Uweyu i, one can still see the
rocks that were stained from the blood of
the Uhktena and the Tlanuhwa from the fight
they had that day.


Thank you for sending this to me. Love the story.

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