How Grandmother Spider brought
fire & pottery to the Cherokee
It was the time when the animals
could walk upright and talk just
as the humans could. In this time
it was dark on one side
of the world while the other
side had light and fire.
The animals on the dark side
were stumbling into each other
and so the grumbling began.
Sly Fox, who was good
at getting the others to do
all of the work, said,
" We should send someone to the
other side to bring back a
coal fire, so we can
have light and warmth."
All of the animals agreed,
but argued about who
should go.
Possum argued that he should
go because he could see
in the dark, and he had a
glorious bushy tail to hide the
coal of fire in. It
was agreed that possum should
go. Possum began his journey
and in time reached the
other side, where he stole
a coal of fire and hid it
in his bushy tail. He started
the journey back and had not gone
far when he smelled something
burning. Possum was not to
bright and so he began
to turn in circles hunting
for the fire.
When he discovered the fire was
in his tail, he jumped
into the water to douse the fire.
Thus possum returned to the
people without the fire, and
to this day he has a
long red, bare tail. Soon
the animals were arguing again
about who would bring fire
to the people.
Buzzard sang out that he
should go because he could
fly high, and fast to the
other side, and steal the
coal of fire. It was agreed
that buzzard would go.
Buzzard flew into the air
soaring high, and graceful on
his big wings. It did
not take long for buzzard
to reach the other side, and
swoop down to gather a
coal of fire. Buzzard placed
the coal of fire in the
lovely top knot of feathers on
his head, and began to soar
back to the people. Buzzard had
not flown long, when he smelled
something burning, and it did not take
him long to realize that
the feathers on his head were
on fire. He dived into the
lake to put out the fire,
and he now had to go back to
the people without the fire.
To this day buzzard has a
bare red head. Once again the
animals began to complain, and
search for who would go next. They
were so loud, that it took them
some time to hear the teeny tiny voice
from above saying, "I will go
and bring back the fire to
the people." When the animals
looked up and discovered it was
Grandmother Spider speaking, they all
began to laugh and point fingers,
that one so small thought she
could succeed where others had failed.
Grandmother Spider paid no attention
to the laughter and simply went
about preparing for her trip.
She took a little clay from
the riverbank and fashioned
a small bowl, which she placed on
her back.
Grandmother Spider then began to spin
her web to the other side.
She reached the other side and took
just a small coal of fire
into the bowl on her back.
Then Grandmother made the journey
back to the other side and
the people waiting there. This is
how Grandmother Spider brought fire
to the Cherokee and the
knowledge of making pottery.
As a symbol of Grandmother Spider's
bravery, there is a small bowl
shape found on her back still today.
This is told just as Grandfather
long ago, and I share it with you today.
