River of Tears
Alexandra S.
When the Earth was just created, there were no rivers until Gluskabi, the mythical hero of the Passamaquoddy, a small Alquonquin-speaking tribe, came around. Before there were rivers, the Passamaquoddy land was filled with deep emerald forests and huge snow-capped mountains. The sun would always rise there first, so the Passamaquoddy called their land the "Dawnland."
In this far away land known as the "Dawnland", a group of men went hunting for deer and game in the bright morning sun. Gluskabi, who was nearby watching them hunt for the food, smiled when he saw them eating every piece of what they caught. He could hear one of the men, named Eagle's Eye, exclaim to his friend, Blue Sky, "This sure is good food, I don't think I ever can eat again, I'm so full."
"At least you did eat every single piece of food you caught. Now, you know next time to catch less," remarked Blue Sky.
Gluskabi turned around and in the distance he could see another group of men. They were also hunting food, but not just because they were hungry, but because they were doing it for fun. One of the men named Harsh Wind shouted to his partner, Fire Bull, "This sure is fun. Let's have a contest to see who can kill the most animals by sun down."
"Yeah, but we can't tell our wives or they'll know we killed too many animals for them to use for food and clothing," whispered Fire Bull. Gluskabi didn't like what he heard and saw. He decided to punish them, but not just them. All the Passamaquoddy people would be punished so that they can see how important it is to not waste any food they kill. Besides, they're supposed to consider themselves descended from animals.
Gluskabi thinks and thinks and thinks, but can't come up with a reasonable punishment. As he tries to think, he sees two bear cubs rolling around on the ground in blackberries and staining their brown fur. Gluskabi yells at the two bears, "You are bothering me. Can't you see I'm trying to think! From now on your fur is going to be stained black and will stay black!" That is why some bears are brown and some are black. Then Gluskabi mumbled to himself "bears". A short time later, Gluskabi jumped up and proclaimed, "I think I should take a little visit over to the old and wise bear to ask him for advice on a punishment.
When Gluskabi reached the old and wise bear, the bear asked him, "Why if it isn't wonderful little Gluskabi. What do you want now?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you if you had any good punishments in mind? You see this group of men were out hunting and were killing more than they needed, just for fun." Gluskabi was trembling when he spoke, a little nervous to be talking to such an enormous animal.
"I see your point, and you have come to the right animal, indeed. How about this, you are upset, right?"
"Very."
"Then how does this sound? If you're so upset, I think you should cry."
"But wouldn't anyone cry if they were upset? Besides, what good does crying do?"
"Please let me finish and then you might understand what I'm trying to say."
"Sorry."
"That's all right, now then, you will cry so much that the Passamaquoddy villages will start overflowing with tears. Then, you'll see what happens."
"What do you mean, then you'll see what happens?" But it was too late, the bear had already disappeared into the forest.
Gluskabi walked home thinking about what the bear had meant. When Gluskabi reached his longhouse, he followed what the bear had said and started to cry. Gluskabi cried and cried and when he tried to stop, he just couldn't.
As Gluskabi cried, he watched the Passamaquoddy village float by. Fortunately, for some Passamaquoddy, they had wigwams which were easy to move and made out of overlapping birchbark sheets with very collapsible poles to hold them up. Some women started making things that floated on the tears to keep them dry from the big waves of tears.
The Passamaquoddy people and even Fire Bull and Harsh Wind begged Gluskabi to stop. They promised never to kill more than they needed and to not waste anything. Then Gluskabi finally stopped.
The next morning the sun was the brightest and the hottest that it had ever been. It dried up all of the "water" that overflowed, but left behind beautiful, glistening streams of Gluskabi's tears that are now known as rivers. When Gluskabi woke up, it was then that he had figured out what the bear had meant.