Reading Notes: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains (Part B)

Of the stories in Part B, I much preferred the ones about ghosts and spirits. Even though I felt like the other stories weren't as entertaining, I found it interesting that the rabbit was the trickster character for the Native Americans. Perhaps that is why some tribes, like the Choctaw,  hold rabbit hunting events and pieces of the animal in high regard.

The Man Who Shot a Ghost

• a man traveled alone through the woods and killed several rabbits in the forrest
• perhaps the amount of game he collected attracted the spirits near by
• the ghosts can physically interact with humans, as a ghost comes by and kicks the man in the back while he is hiding
• before the ghost escapes, the man fires a shot through his leg
• the man hears the ghost mention to another spirit that he had been shot in the head even though the man clearly shot him in the leg
• the next day the man walked over to where he last heard the ghosts speak and found that one of the graves was disturbed and that the bone that was visible showed there was a wound to the skull
• many ghost stories stem from someone trying to disturb the resting place of a deceased individual
• tribes take burial sites very seriously and believe that the spirits of those who have passed away still may linger there so it is best not to disturb anything lest you be haunted

The Indian Who Wrestled With a Ghost

• a man goes on the warpath and must stay in the woods overnight
• he hears the sound of a woman wailing for her son but pretends to be asleep
• a woman walks into the light of his fire and picks up his foot and drops it repeatedly to determine if he is dead
• she almost cuts it, but the man springs up from his spot and shoots her and she runs off into the night
• once the light of day arrived, he released he had camped near a burial scaffold from long ago
• even female spirits are dangerous
• once again the man sleeps on burial ground teeming with spirits
• the next night a stranger appears and requests pipe tobacco
• stranger turns out to be a skeleton and challenges the man to a duel
• perhaps this symbolizes the reaper
• if the man wins then he will conquer his foes and take a prize of horses back home
• the closer the skeleton is to the light of the fire, the weaker he becomes
• he grows stronger the darker it is

Defeating the skeleton at the fire.

Bibliography

Great Plains Unit

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