First World Short Stories
The Cherokee Story of Creation The Legend of The Sacred Pipe
Many stories have been told about the 'Sacred Pipe'. The Whites refer to it as The Peace Pipe, but
persons of Indian descent know it as a sacred item having a special place in Indian cultures. The pipe, in
one form or another, has come to most cultures around the world. Every society has used the pipe in one
way or another. Our Lakota brothers tell the story of the White Buffalo woman and how she first brought
the pipe to the Red man. What is important is not how the pipe first arrived or who it came to first. What
is important is that the pipe is revered as a sacred item and also important is that it did come from The
Creator. What is most important is that pipe was brought to all men of this world, for we all must share
this world. Long ago, but not long after the world was new, a tribe of red skinned people came to live on the lands
which are around The Blue Smoke Mountains.
When all was water, the animals lived above in Galunlati,
but it was very crowded and they all wanted more room. Dayunisi, the little
water-beetle, offered to see what was below the water. She repeatedly dived
to the bottom and came up with soft mud, eventually forming the island we
call earth. The island was suspended by cords at each of the cardinal points
to the sky vault, which is solid rock.
Birds were sent down to find a dry place to live, but none could be
found. The Great Buzzard, the father of the buzzards we see now, flew down
close to the earth while it was still soft. He became tired and his wings
began to strike the ground. Where they struck the earth became a valley, and
where they rose up again became a mountain. And thus, the Cherokee country
was created.
The animals came down after the earth dried, but all was dark. So, they set
the sun in a track to go every day across the island from east to west. At
first the sun was too close to the island and too hot. They raised the sun
again and again, seven times, until it was the right height, just under the
sky arch. The highest place, then, Gulkwagine Digalunlatiyun, is the
"seventh height."
The animals and plants were told to keep watch for seven nights, but as the
days passed, many began to fall asleep. On the seventh night, only owl,
panther, and a few others remained awake. These were given the power to see
in the dark and prey on the animals that sleep at night. Of the plants,
only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake
to the end, and were therefore given the power to always remain green and to
be the greatest medicine. But to the others it was said: "Because you have
not endured to the end, you shall lose your hair every winter."
This is the story of how the pipe first came to the Southern Cherokee. If you know any differences in this
story that is because it was told to me this way:
At this time, the animals of the world still talked to men and taught them how to live on and care for the
land. These people were called " Ani'yunwiya " or the One True People. In this tribe lived a brave warrior
woman. She was called 'Arrow Woman'. Arrow Woman was taught to use the bow, the spear and the
knife. Even though it was a man's job to hunt and fight, Arrow Woman could shoot straighter with the bow
than any man, she could throw the knife so as split a branch no bigger than your thumb and she could
throw the spear into eye of a hawk in flight. Because of all this, no man would tell her to be like a woman.
One day while on a hunt, Arrow Woman came upon the tracks of Yona the bear. She saw blood on the
ground and knew him to be wounded so she followed his tracks. High into the mountains she followed.
Soon she came to a place that she did not know. It was in this place, a place known only to the animals
that she finally saw Yona the bear. He had a deep cut in his side and she saw him bowing down in
prayer. She saw him bowing toward a large field of tall grass and speaking words that she had not heard
before. Suddenly, the grass shimmered and became a lake. Arrow Woman saw Yona dive into the water.
After a time he emerged from the water, his side was completely healed. Yona then saw Arrow Woman
and walked to her. Yona told her, "this is the sacred lake of the animals. It is called, 'Atagahi' and it's
location is known only to the animals. It is where we come for healing and strength. You are the first man
creature to see the sacred lake. You must never tell your kind of it's location for it is the home of 'The
Great Uktena'. With these words Yona the Bear turned and walked into the woods and disappeared.
Arrow Woman was tired after following Yona all day so she decided to rest a while by this lake. She built
a small fire and sat down to eat a meal that she had brought with her. She took a drink of the water from
the lake and felt instantly refreshed. She was amazed, she felt strong as Yan'si the Buffalo. She felt as if
she run faster than Koga the Raven could fly.
The woods were quiet, Unole the wind was sleeping, Nvda the sun was shining bright but was not hot, the
surface of the lake was completely calm, Arrow Woman began to get sleepy.
It was at this time that she saw 'Uktena'; she had been told of him when she was a child, but no one in
her tribe ever claimed to have seen him. High above the water he raised his great serpent's head, the
jewel in his forehead glistening. He began to move toward her. Arrow Woman grabbed up her spear and
stood up to face the great creature coming to her, standing proud, showing no fear, the way any warrior
should. She raised her spear and prepared to strike the huge beast.
Uktena stopped a short distance from her. He smiled, his mouth was larger than a man was tall and full
of teeth longer than man's forearm. He spoke to the brave woman on the bank of his lake. To her he said,
"Put down your weapons for I mean you no harm. I come only to teach." Arrow Woman laid down her
spear and began to relax, somehow knowing Uktena spoke truly.
Uktena told her to sit and to listen. Uktena dipped his head below the surface and came back up a
moment later. In his mouth he had a strangely crooked stick and a leather pouch. These things he laid
on the ground in front of Arrow Woman. Then the Great Uktena began to teach. He said,
"This that I have laid before you is the Sacred Pipe of The Creator." He then told her to pick up the pipe.
"The bowl is of the same red clay The Creator used to make your kind. The red clay is Woman kind and
is from the Earth. Just as a woman bears the children and brings forth life, the bowl bears the sacred
tobacco (tsula) and brings forth smoke. The stem is Man. Rigid and strong the stem is from the plant
kingdom and like a man it supports the bowl just as man supports his family." Uktena then showed
Arrow Woman how to join the bowl to the stem saying, " Just as a man and a woman remain separate
until joined in marriage so too are the bowl and stem separate. Never to be joined unless the pipe is
used." Uktena then showed her how place the sacred tsula into the pipe and with an ember from the fire
lit the tsula so it burned slightly. He told her this, "The smoke is the breath of The Creator, When you
draw the smoke into your body, you will be cleansed and made whole. When the smoke leaves your
mouth, it will rise to The Creator. Your prayers, your dreams, your hopes and desires will be taken to Him
in the smoke. Also the truth in your soul will be shown to Him when you smoke the pipe. If you are not
true, do not smoke the pipe. If your spirit is bad and you seek to deceive, do not smoke the pipe."
Uktena continued his lesson well into the night teaching Arrow Woman all of the prayers used with the
pipe and all of the reasons for using the pipe. He finished just as the moon was beginning her nightly
journey across the sky in search of her true love. He told Arrow Woman to wrap the pipe in cloth, keeping
the parts separate. With this done He told her that she would never again be able to find this place but to
remember all that she had learned. Uktena then returned to depths of the lake. Arrow Woman saw the
water shimmer and become again the field of grass. She left, taking with her the pipe and her lessons
and a wondrous tale.
Ever since that time, The Ani Yun Wiya have used the sacred pipe and never again has any man seen
the sacred lake of Uktena.
Return to my fire
