How the Wind Got Its Howl
One crisp Vermont morning, a young boy named Calling Crow was
walking back to his lodge. Calling Crow was a member of the Abenaki
tribe which was often referred to as "People of the Dawn
Land." "Abenaki" meant those living at the sunrise.
As Calling Crow entered his lodge which was near a large mountain
and lake, he saw his grandfather, Wise Owl, who was plucking corn
off of a corn cob and putting it in a basket he had made. Calling
Crow saw a stick in the door which meant that some one was working
and didn't want to be bothered but he ignored the sign and interrupted
Wise Owl , whispering in his selfish way, "Grand father may
I go hunting with Swift Fox ?"
Wise Owl answered with his old crackly Algonquian voice, "You
may go but hurry up and remember, don't take anything you don't
need."
Calling Crow squealed a small, "Yes", and ran out the
door with his bow and arrow. He caught up to his brother, Swift
Fox, who wasn't allowed to go very far from the village and or
to stay in the woods after dark.
As the two brothers wandered farther into the woods with lots
of aspen trees, Calling Crow saw some nuts and berries that he
would have picked but Swift Fox was walking too fast. Calling
Crow started to wander away, not noticing the distance between
his brother and him.
As Calling Crow wandered just out of sight of Swift Fox he heard
a rustling in the bushes, so he followed the noise. It ended up
to be a chipmunk which was one thing Native Americans never hunted
because it was too small and was of no use.
Calling Crow had never caught anything and was too excited about
the chipmunk that he forgot about what his grandfather had ordered.
Before Calling Crow knew it he had caught and killed a chipmunk.
The wind started to blow, making the trees sway from side to side.
Then Calling Crow remembered what would happen if a Native American
killed something she/he didn't need. The wind would howl in pain
because it too was a part of nature.
Calling Crow was scared because he never heard the wind howl and
it was getting dark. The wind pushed Calling Crow into a tree
as if it were going to yell at him.
When Calling Crow arrived at his village he did not tell anyone
about the incident that had made the wind continue to howl. Finally,
Calling Crow burst into tears and told Wise Owl what happened
. Wise Owl understood and helped to solve the problem by taking
the bones out of the chipmunk and putting them back into nature,
and as he did the wind stopped its howl. From that day on, no
one in the Abenaki tribe ever killed any thing they didn't need.
But people today kill things they don't need and that is why the
wind howls.