A small Cherokee lad by the name of White Eagle lived with his father
and mother on the shores of a large lake in the Appalachian Mountains.
He was a lad of about eleven years. His father, Great Eagle, was known
in the tribe as one of the bravest of warriors. In this Cherokee tribe
there was much talk of war with other tribes, and the tribe’s highest
honors and respect always went to the bravest and most daring warrior.
Not many suns away lived another woodlands tribe, the Eries. This story
concerns a young captive from this Erie tribe and White Eagle, the
Cherokee boy.
Very rarely did any tribe go so far afield in its hunting, but this one
winter food was very scarce for the Cherokees and they traveled quite a
distance north in search of additional game. They moved into the hunting
grounds of the Iroquois, quickly made their kills, and started for home.
On their way, they came upon an Erie boy whom Great Eagle decided to
bring home to his tepee as a brother to his son.
The Cherokee tribe lived in a sentry-patrolled, fortified village. When
Little Frog, as the Erie lad was called, first saw the village, he was
frightened. He realized that he was near the entire tribe of fearful
Cherokees whose wars his father had often recounted to him. Great Eagle
sensed the boy’s fear and laid his hand gently on his shoulder. Great
Eagle took him to his home and introduced him to White Eagle. White
Eagle was pleased to have a boy of his own age to play with in his own
wigwam. That night there was much dancing and merry-making to celebrate
the successful hunting raid into the Iroquois lands.
The following morning Great Eagle roused the boys to tell them that
today they would go in search of small game to improve their shooting
ability. Each boy was given a small amount of food, and they started off
for the forest with Great Eagle. Little Frog began to look upon Great
Eagle as his father and felt happy. His own father had been killed in an
early tribal raid.
As they padded through the forest, they could hear the cry of wild birds
and every now and then the snapping of a twig. Great Eagle signaled with
his hand for the two youngsters to wait. Then he moved off to the side
to investigate the noise; but once again he returned to the trail,
indicating that the game they were after was not to be seen.
When the sun had risen high in the heavens, Great Eagle decided they
would sit and rest and eat some food. As they were eating, Little Frog
asked White Eagle, “Do you often travel with your father?” White Eagle
replied, “Right now I am being trained by my father to become a great
warrior.”
The Erie boy was very much impressed with this and thought of himself
how wonderful it would be if he had a father. White Eagle then asked
Little Frog, “Do you miss your village and your people?” “No,” Little
Frog replied, “because in my village I was not wanted by anyone. My
father had been killed in battle. My mother died of a great sickness and
I was cast out of my father’s wigwam by a new brave. I was made to work
for myself to get food and to live as best I could.” White Eagle
realized then how lucky he was to have such a fine warrior father as
Great Eagle.
After drinking some water to wash down the dried deer meat, Great Eagle
arose and the boys stood up quickly, and they started forward. The brave
signaled the boys to follow him more softly now. Little Eagle noticed
that they were approaching a stream where beaver had built their dams
and homes. As they approached the stream, Great Eagle pointed to the
brush where the boys should wait while he looked about for the beaver.
Not having seen any, Great Eagle returned to where the boys were hidden
and told them they would start back to the village and search for wild
turkeys and rabbits. White Eagle felt a slight disappointment at not
having been able to try out his new arrows on the beaver, but he trusted
the wisdom of his father. So he and Little Frog returned along the trail
with Great Eagle.
When they had almost reached the edge of the forest, Great Eagle stopped
and pointed into the brush at the side of the trail. There, crouching in
hiding, was a small cotton-tail rabbit. Quickly, White Eagle raised his
bow and let fly an arrow. The rabbit took one leap and fell dead. White
Eagle was so excited that he danced up and down, shouting at the top of
his lungs that he had made his kill. Great Eagle quieted his son and
then looked slowly in Little Frog’s direction. Approaching the rabbit,
Great Eagle noticed that two arrows had struck it. He knew that Little
Frog must have shot his arrow at the same time as White Eagle. White
Eagle and Little Frog began to argue about whose arrow had really killed
the rabbit. Naturally, each claimed that his arrow had made the kill.
Great Eagle was at a loss as to just what to do. He was always fair in
his decisions and did not want to favor one boy over the other,
especially because it involved his son. So Great Eagle said, “Let us
agree; say that each of your arrows shared in killing the rabbit, for I
can see that you are both like stubborn elm trees—and you are both
better with your bows than I had thought.”
With that, Great Eagle picked up the rabbit and put it in his pouch and
the three of them started for home. Both boys seemed quite happy now
that Great Eagle had made the decision. However, that night Little Frog
leaned over in his bed and tapped White Eagle’s shoulder. “White Eagle,”
he said, “what does your father mean when he says we are like the
stubborn elm?” “Tomorrow morning,” said White Eagle, “I will show you
what my father meant.” With that the boys went to sleep.
The following morning when they arose, Little Frog was impatient to
learn why Great Eagle had called them stubborn like the elm, and he
quickly reminded White Eagle of his promise of the night before. Hand in
hand, they started for the great forest. As they went along, White Eagle
kept breaking branches of the different trees along the way. Little Frog
was imitating White Eagle as they walked until they came upon a small
young elm tree. White Eagle did his best to break the elm tree, but all
it did was bend. Then Little Frog tried to help him break the tree; but
despite their weight and strength, it still only bent.
Just then they heard a voice behind them and Great Eagle stepped up and
placed his hands on the shoulders of both boys.
“Now,” he said, “you have found the reason why I called you stubborn as
the elm. Many, many of the trees of the forest can be broken and forced
to the earth. But the elm tree will bend and not break unless the
strength of several braves is put upon it. So it is with two proud young
Indian boys who both believe they are right, putting their equal
strength against each other in an argument. Neither gives way, just as
the elm will not give away. If I attempted to add my strength on either
side of the argument, the other might have bent to the earth like the
elm if we all put our weight upon it. So remember this tree. As long as
you believe honestly that you are right, you can be strong and straight
like the elm tree; but once you leave the path of truth and wisdom you
become weak and brittle, and your enemy can bow you to the ground in
shame and defeat.”
This story was told to the author by James Ariga, a boy of part
Cherokee blood, at the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation in the year
1947.