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The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky

The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky is a folktale from the Arapaho nation about a girl, Sapana, who is tricked by a supernatural sky-being into traveling to his home, where he keeps her, and then must find a way to return to her people, helped by the buzzard and the hawk.

The story is nearly identical to the first part of the Cheyenne legend of Falling Star in which a young maiden climbs an ever-growing tree in pursuit of a porcupine and finds herself in the sky realm, unable to return to earth. In that story, the young woman dies trying to escape, but her son, Falling Star, is rescued and raised by the meadowlark, finally returning to his people as a great champion. In the Arapaho story, Sapana is rescued by the birds who hear her cry and come to her aid.

The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky deals with many themes common in Native American literature including devotion to a cause and determination (exemplified in Sapana's pursuit of the porcupine), things not being what they seem (the porcupine is actually a sky-being), and the importance of one's home. The tale also serves as an origin myth explaining why the Arapaho always left food for the buzzard and hawk after a buffalo hunt. The story is still among the most popular Arapaho tales, is also told by citizens of the Caddo nation, and is frequently included in anthologies.

Cheyenne, Arapaho, & Bird Figures

It is not surprising that the Cheyenne Falling Star and the Arapaho The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky share similarities as the two nations were – and still are – closely related. The Cheyenne and Arapaho allied against common enemies in the early 19th century, and, although they were different nations, they had, and have, many cultural aspects in common. Scholar Adele Nozedar comments:

When the settlers first came upon them, the Arapaho were already expert horsemen and buffalo hunters. Their territory was originally what has become northern Minnesota, but the Arapaho relocated to the eastern Plains areas of Colorado and Wyoming at about the same time as the Cheyenne; because of this, the two people became associated and are also federally recognized as the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. (25)

It is unclear where the name Arapaho originated, but it seems to have been given to the people by European colonists who mispronounced the name given them by the Crow – Alappaho ("Many Tattoos") – and then the Arapaho began to refer to themselves by that name. They called themselves Hinono'eino ("the people" or "our people"), and the Cheyenne called them Hitanwo'iv ("People of the Sky"). After forming their alliance, the Arapaho and Cheyenne intermarried, and their histories became entwined. As Nozedar observes, their close relationship is recognized today by the US government, but it should be noted that they are distinct nations, each with their own culture, religious rites, and stories.

In regards to religion, the Arapaho have acquired the reputation of being more spiritually oriented and introspective than other nations, which has led some writers to make sharp distinctions between them and the Cheyenne. Scholar Michael G. Johnson, for example, comments, regarding the two in the 19th century:

The Arapaho were often noted for their religious and contemplative disposition, less warlike than the Cheyenne. They were a nomadic equestrian people, hunting bison, developing military and age-graded organizations, and observed the Sun Dance. (119)

While Johnson's observation on the religious disposition of the Arapaho is accurate, the other aspects listed apply equally to the Cheyenne. The Cheyenne also had military societies, hunted bison, had age-graded organizations, observed the Sun Dance, and were no more "warlike" than the Arapaho. The Cheyenne Creation Story and Arapaho Creation Story also have much in common. The differences between the Cheyenne and Arapaho, though marked, are not as great as their similarities, and this is evident in their literature, which features common themes and figures, including birds.

Birds frequently appear in the tales of all Native peoples of North America and often as helpers, messengers from the gods, and guides. The use of birds in stories, lore, legend, and ritual prayer is not at all unique to the Cheyenne and Arapaho, but there is a familiarity between birds and humans in the stories of both nations that, generally speaking, seems warmer than the same relationship given in the stories of the Sioux or Pawnee or Cherokee or other nations.

In Falling Star, it is a meadowlark who saves the hero and raises him, and in The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky, it is the buzzard and the hawk, and in both, the birds are presented more as family members, helpers, than as spiritual guides or messengers. Like family members – in theory at least – they may not always be able to save or even help a person, but they are always there to lend what help they may. In Falling Star, the meadowlark is unable to save the maiden but raises her son. In The Girl Who Climbed to the Sky, the buzzard is presented as a friend and helper, but it is not always depicted that way in Native American literature. Vultures are sometimes portrayed as "helpers" who dispose of the dead and clear away waste but, often, are seen as bad omens symbolizing death or disaster.

Origin of the Sweat Lodge

The sweat lodge is a temporary or permanent structure integral to Native American culture and frequently used in spiritual ceremonies. The lodge is often a low, dome-shaped, structure heated by hot rocks which produce steam as water is poured on them, raising the temperature to induce heavy sweating among participants and physical and spiritual cleansing.

The sweat lodge is part of the seven sacred rites of the Sioux, and the Lakota refer to the rite of purification, in which the lodge plays a central role, as inipi ("to live again") as it is believed participants shed both physical and non-physical impurities through the ceremony. Once freed, or even in the process of liberation from what has been holding one back from becoming one's true self, a participant might receive a vision directing that person's future path (beneficial to themselves and others) or delivering a message for the good of the wider community or the world.

The sweat lodge is also an important aspect of the Sun Dance and of many other ceremonies in different nations. As with all civilizations, each nation likes to lay claim to being the first the gods favored with some important gift or discovery and so it is with the Origin of the Sweat Lodge from the Piegan people of the Blackfoot Confederacy. This origin story not only explains how the sweat lodge came to be but also how intimately the sun, moon, and stars – and, by extension, all of the universe – are intimately connected to human beings. It also emphasizes, as many Native American tales do, the cultural value of the primacy of communal over individual good.

The Piegan

The Piegan are a part of the Blackfoot Confederacy along with the Kainai and Siksika and once lived in the vast region stretching from modern-day Saskatchewan, Canada, through Montana, USA, and areas east and west. The Piegan are the largest band of the three and seem to have come originally from the Great Lakes region before becoming a part of the Plains Indians culture. The three nations are bound by a common language – Algonquin – but otherwise have their own distinct culture.

All three celebrate the Sun Dance and make use of the sweat lodge as well as observing other practices and rituals common to many, if not all, Native American nations, such as the recognition of 'medicine' – spiritual power – and the use of the 'medicine bag' – a pouch containing items of transcendent power which have meaning to the specific individual carrying it. The common term for a holy person of a nation, 'medicine man' or 'medicine woman', comes from that person's highly developed personal spiritual power, but every person has access to the spiritual world and the Great Spirit, and this relationship is both symbolized and maintained through practices such as the keeping of one's medicine bag. Scholar Michael G. Johnson writes:

religion included the wide use of "bundles" containing symbols (usually remnants of birds, animals, and objects) of the power of dreamed or vision experience. These personalized sources of power were opened at times, with accompanying rituals for group benefit, for health, hunting, and prestige. (105)

The sweat lodge was one such time a medicine bag would be opened by the person leading the ceremony for the good of the participants but, individually – and on a daily basis – the bag helps to maintain one's balance in life through the reminder of connection to all other living things and, in the story of the Origin of the Sweat Lodge, though the bag is not mentioned, it would have helped maintain the kind of relationship with higher powers that causes Morning-Star to look down and take pity on the young man who is the central character.

Whether a medicine bag is opened during a sweat lodge ceremony or remains closed is up to the person presiding over it and the perceived needs of the participants, but, opened or closed, the ceremony held – and still holds – tremendous spiritual and cultural significance.

How the Turtle Went to War

How the Turtle Went to War (also Turtle Goes to War) is a Native American legend commonly associated with the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux nations, but the narrative also appears in the stories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and others. It is among the most popular Native American tales and is often anthologized.

The details of the story differ, but all involve the Chief of the Turtles (Turtle Chief or Chief Turtle) declaring war on a nearby Native American village and the ensuing battle. The reason for the war is sometimes given as a response to the people overhunting and not respecting the turtle, though, in some versions, no reason is given at all. The Sioux version of the story, according to scholar Bobby Lake-Thom, gives the reason as:

The Indians had been greedy and killed more turtles than they could eat whenever they got lazy and tired of hunting. This made the Turtle Chief very angry. (156)

The version known as Turtle Goes to War claims that the turtles "had received many insults from men" and finally resolved to do something about it (AAANativeArts.com, 1). This version is also an origin tale explaining how Snapping Turtle and Box Turtle fell out during the campaign, and this is why these two types of turtles are never found in the same area. The events of the story are understood to have occurred in the distant past, before people recognized the spiritual power of the turtle and, perhaps, explain how they came to do so.

The Turtle in Native American Lore

The turtle is sacred to many of the Native peoples of North America and frequently features prominently in their creation stories. In the Lakota Sioux Creation Story, Turtle brings mud up from the bottom of the primordial sea for the Creator, Wakan Tanka, to make into dry land by building on the back of its shell. This same image appears in the creation stories of other Native American nations, as noted by scholar Adele Nozedar:

The creation myths of the east coast peoples, such as the Lenape and the Iroquois, tell that the Great Spirit built their ancestral lands by placing earth on the back of a colossal turtle; hence North America is sometimes given the name Turtle Island. There are many names for the turtle god: for the Hopi, he is Kahaila; for the Abenaki, he is Tolba; for the Mi'kmaq, he is Mikcheech. For the Seneca, the name for the animal is ha-no-wa, to differentiate it from the mythical turtle, whose name is hah-nu-wah. As a symbol, for Native Americans, the turtle stands for healing, wisdom, and spirituality, as well as longevity, fertility, and protection. (513)

Initially, however – in the long ago – this was not the case. Turtles earned the respect of human beings by asserting themselves under the leadership of Chief Turtle, although this is not explicitly stated in all versions of the legend. As with the stories of any Native American Nation, the tale of Chief Turtle's War offers many different possibilities for interpretation. It can be read as an origin myth, as a cautionary tale on the consequences of disrespecting the natural world, as a simple comedy, a satire of war and leadership (in the Turtle Goes to War version), as a hero's tale, and fits many other interpretations as well.