Why the Buffalo has a Hump
One day, while Nanabush was walking through the tall northern
forests, he thought to himself:
“These trees have been my friends and companions all my
life. Just for once, however, I would like to be able to see for
miles around me with no trees to block my view.”
Nanabush had heard that far to the Northwest of his
homeland lay broad plains of the prairies. He decided that he
would make the long journey westward to see the flat prairie
country for himself. He packed his few belongings, said goodbye
to all his friends among the birds and animals and Indians of the
Northland, and set out for the west.
“I’ll be back in a few months, ’he told his friends as he left.
“The northland is my home, and I will always return to it while I
live on the earth.’
For many days he travelled through the forest, over rocky
ridges and across many lakes and rivers until he finally came to
the edge of the prairie. He stopped to stare. He had heard all
about the great western plains, of course, but when he first set
eyes upon them he could hardly believe what he saw. The prairie
seemed as boundless as the clear sky above. The land stretched
out, flat and treeless, for as far as his powerful eyes could see.
Even in his imagination he had not thought the prairie to be as
wide as he actually found it. Excited by what he saw, Nanabush
ran out into the waving grass. Then he heard the sound of
someone crying. He stopped and looked around. There was no
one in sight, but he heard the sound again. It was a small voice
crying, and it seemed to be coming from the ground. Nanabush
looked down, and there, almost at his feet, he saw a bird’s nest
and inside it a small mother bird sitting on her eggs.
Nanabush stooped down.
‘What is the matter, little bird?’ he asked. ‘Why are you
crying so hard?’
The little bird looked up, startled to see a great man leaning
over her nest.
‘Who are you?’
‘I am Nanabush, a friend of the birds.’
‘A friend you say?’ said the little bird. ‘We birds who make
our nests on the prairie need a friend.’
‘Why is that?’ asked Nanabush.
‘Well every day at about this time, the prairie foxes come
by, ordering all the birds to get out of the way, and if we don’t
move quickly when they tell us, we are likely to be trampled to
death.’
‘What!’ exclaimed Nanabush, I have never heard of a fox
trampling a bird a to death.’
‘Alas,’ sighed the little bird sadly, ‘it’s not the foxes who run
over us, but he buffalo.’
‘Buffaloes? What are Buffaloes?’ asked Nanabush, who only
knew the animals of the forests.
As the little bird began to explain to him that the great,
shaggy buffaloes were the chiefs of all the prairie animals, a
furious barking arose.
‘Who is making that noise?’ asked Nanabush, looking up in
surprise.
‘Just as I’ve been telling you,’ said the little bird. ‘The foxes
are out running, ordering all the birds and small animals to make
way for the buffaloes. After the foxes pass by, the great buffaloes
will come charging through and hold their races for the day.’
In the distance, Nanabush could see the first of the foxes
bounding over the grassy plain. As they came closer, he could
hear what they were saying
‘Make way, Make way! The chiefs of the prairies are on their
way.
Then, without any further warning, Nanabush heard the
thundering of might hooves, and the first of the buffaloes came
charging toward them. The buffalo breathed heavily as he moved
his huge body so quickly across the plains. Nanabush scooped up
the little bird and ran to one side. And not a moment too soon.
Following behind the foxes the buffaloes raced over the spot
where the little bird had its nest. When they had passed,
Nanabush went to look in the trample grass for the nest, but all
he could see were the hoof marks left behind by the stampeding
buffaloes. The nest had been pounded right into the ground.
‘Just as I feared,’ sighed the little bird. ‘That was the third
nest I’ve built this summer. Now I’ll have to start all over again.’
When the noise of the thundering buffaloes had passed,
Nanabush began to hear cries coming from the prairie grass in all
directions. Many other birds’ nests had been trampled and
crushed too.
‘Not only do our nests get broken, but many of the birds are
killed every day.’ said the little bird, and began to cry again.
Nanabush grew very angry.
‘This is a terrible thing,’ he said in a voice of thunder. ‘I will
not allow the great buffaloes to trample on the little birds, and I
will not allow the foxes to act as their helpers and frighten the
birds with their threats.’
Nanabush turned to the poor bird. ‘Don’t cry,’ he said
soothingly. ‘Tomorrow will be the last day that you need to fear
for your homes and lives. I have just worked out a plan.’
The next morning Nanabush came and lay in the tall grass
where he thought the foxes and buffaloes would pass by. Then,
as soon as her heard the foxes barking, commanding all the birds
and little animals to get out of the way, he jumped up, holding in
his arms a great stick he had brought with him.
When the foxes saw him, they veered off quickly, wondering
who he might be, but afraid of his stick nonetheless. Few
seconds later the first of the buffaloes came charging up. The
great beast happened to be the chief of all the buffaloes, but he
was running so fast that he could not stop or even turn when
Nanabush sprang at him. Nanabush hit the chief on the
shoulders, and the chief came to a sudden stop.
Until then, buffaloes had always had smooth, flat backs, but
the buffalo chief was so afraid that Nanabush would hit him again
that when he tried to move away from the powerful Nanabush, he
hunched up his back into an enormous hump.
‘Shame on you,’ raged Nanabush, ‘shame on you, you great
beast! Do you not realize what you are doing to the little birds
and animals of the prairies with these daily races of yours?’
The buffalo looked down at the ground, too ashamed to look
at Nanabush.
‘From now on, you and all your tribe of buffaloes will be
cursed by having humps on your backs, just like the one you
have now. Also you will always hang your heads low in shame,
just as you are dong now.’
Then Nanabush turned to speak to the foxes, but in their
fright they had quickly burrowed holes in the ground, and crawled
into them, hoping Nanabush would not see them. They did not
realize that they could not escape from his powerful eyes.
‘Hide in holes in the ground, will you?’ Nanabush
shouted at them. ‘Very well, from now on, for what you have
done, you shall have to live in those holes you have dug in the
ground. They will certainly be cold when winter comes!’
Thus it was that the buffaloes and foxes came to be as we
know them today, all because of what they had done to the little
birds and animals of the prairies.
1/18/2010 1:22:00 AM