Hi dear friends and followers, welcome to another Native American Legend a white man became an Indian 

How a White Man Became an Indian

Today we progress westward into Ohio. It was once called the Northwest Territory when America was a very young nation, just a few states past 13 Original Colonies.

The map that accompanies our offering today shows the presence of tribes and nations that you have heard of before, like the Seneca, Erie, Delaware, and Shawnee. Of the reamining tribes on this map the Wyandot (also Wyandotte) have the greatest number of legends to choose from.

The stories shared here were gathered by one William Elsey Connelley, a teacher and avocational historian who lived from 1855 to 1930. They are contained in his original work, "Indian Myths," published in 1928. To the best of my knowledge its copyright has expired.

The first story is a brief account of Connelley's adoption into the Wyandot tribe. He wrote this book for use by children in the third to fifth grades. You can see that in the way he relates the stories.

Connelley was also the Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society from 1914 to 1930. He is credited with gathering and preserving a very complete record of the history of Wyandot County, Kansas.

The Wyandot were subject to "removal" from their home lands and went on the "Trail of Tears" to Kansas, which explains their presence in Wyandotte County.

How a White Man Became an Indian

Not so very long ago there was to be found living in the far West a quaint old man. He had seen many moons. His head was almost white from the frosts of some seventy winters. He was a Wyandot Indian, and he lived with his own people. His house stood among the trees by a clear, swift river in the beautiful hills. At a great city far from his home he had some land. This land was worth much money. Some mean white men were about to take the land away from him. But a kind white man made them pay the Indian what the land was worth.

This white man had been a friend of the Indians all his life. When he helped this good Wyandot, all the Indians were pleased. They said he must visit them at their homes among the hills. When he went there to see them, they told him beautiful stories, which he wrote down. They had him attend their secret feasts, which they did not let any other white man see. They taught him to speak like an Indian. He wrote down all they told him. Then they said he must be an Indian, too. He said that would be fine. And they made him a Wyandot Indian. This is how they did it.

A great feast was made. All the Indians were told to come to the feast to welcome the white man. Much food was made ready, for the Indians were very fond of good things to eat. They were the first people to grow corn. They had it in their fields for ages before the white people ever saw any of it. They knew how to cook it in many ways. At this feast all these dishes of corn were there in great plenty. And the Indians cook well all the food used by white people.

They had bread, pies, cakes, beef, pork, ham, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk, coffee, and tea made from the sweet-smelling spice wood.

The men ate first, and the white man ate with them. Indian men do not talk much. They said little while eating at this feast. When they When they were done, the women sat down to eat. They were merry and gay. They talked and laughed as they ate.

Then the Indians cried out all in one voice, “Quah! Quah! Quah!” which means, “Hail! Hail! Hail!” This was their way of saying they were willing to receive the white man into their tribe.

With the Wyandots the woman is the head of the house. The Chief turned to the Head Woman and said, “Will you make a place by your fire for this white man? Will you take him to be one of your family?”

The Head Woman took the white man by the hand and said, “He will live by my fire. He shall be a Wyandot of the Deer Clan. He shall be one of my family. A Wyandot of my house was a great chief. He was the Head Master of all the Wyandots. He lived many years ago. Since that time no man has held his high office. I wish this white man raised up to his place. Give him the name and the office of the Half-King.”

The Chief then gave the white man the name and the office of the Great Chief of the Wyandot of the old times.1 Then all the Indians came and spoke to the white man. They made him welcome. They said he was their brother. They gave him presents. Some gave him wampum or Indian money. One gave a cannon ball which he found on a field of battle where he was a soldier. One woman gave him a horn of a buffalo. A very poor Indian gave him some feathers from the tail of a rooster.

The white man gave each Indian a present, and the meeting was ended.

1. Too-da re-zhu – The Great Deer.

How We Got These Indian Stories

Before the first white people came, only the Indians lived in our country. They had been here a very long time; they could not tell for how long. The Indians had a happy life. In summer the men hunted and fished. They went on long journeys into the woods or over the hills and plains. Sometimes they went in canoes on the lakes and along the rivers. The women and children often remained at home. Their lodges stood at the edge of the forest, or on the bank of a lake, or in the meadows beside the swift-flowing stream. For food they hunted game, gathered wild berries and fruits, dug up the roots of plants and trees, and in small fields raised squashes, pumpkins, beans and corn. Some raised tobacco.

When winter came the snow often lay white over the land. The cold wind blew about the Indian lodges. At night the dogs howled, and the lodges looked dark and lonely. But inside there was a bright fire of dry wood. At one side of the fire sat the mother on a pile of furs. She was weaving baskets or putting beads on buckskin clothes. On the other side sat the father. He smoked his pipe and told beautiful stories to the children.

The Indians had no books or papers. So the stories had to be kept in memory and told down from one to another. Would you not have liked to sit with the red children around the evening fire of the Indian lodge? They had to remember the stories well, for the next night the father might call on them to repeat what they had heard. Then when they grew up they could tell the stories to their own boys and girls.

After the white people came, the Indian fathers did not always tell the stories to the children. For they had much trouble and had to move from place to place. At last only a few old men in the tribe knew the stories. A kindly white man found the old men living deep in the great woods. They made him a Wyandot Indian, like themselves. He wrote down what these wise old Indians told him. So now all boys and girls may read the stories which once were heard only by the red children.

Thank you for dropping by and taking a few minutes to read these interesting legends. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on it, thank you and have a wonderful day.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿