16

She and Mad Bear began to laugh and cry with joy. The
Great Spirit would soon bless them with a child. So many
seasons had passed and now they would soon have their long
awaited child.

It was now late fall, and three of the elderly women were
caring for White Horse Woman inside her tepee. The child
would soon be born. Outside, Mad Bear and the other members
of the tribe waited patiently. Suddenly, they heard a faint, then
louder cry. Mad Bear was now a father.



10

White Rabbit hopped on White Horse Woman’s lap and
snuggled into her arms. “What a true friend you are.” she told
White Rabbit. “I will be patient and continue to pray to the
Great Spirit.”

One season had passed since White Rabbit was brought
to the camp. For a reason she could not explain, White Horse
Woman sensed that White Rabbit soon would leave them. A
great sadness filled her heart, but she knew that the animals
and birds were meant to be free. Every living being needed
some freedom. The Great Spirit said it was so, and for this
reason, she could not force White Rabbit to stay.



20

White Horse Woman stood up and began to walk away.
She then whispered softly, “Be safe, White Rabbit, you have

been my true friend. I shall not forget you.”
White Horse Woman did not turn around. She knew that
White Rabbit was no longer sitting there, but it had heard her,

just as the Great Spirit did.



aloe

Long ago there lived a chief and his wife. The chief’s
name was Mad Bear. He was big, strong and quite handsome.
Mad Bear was a very wise and kindhearted chief. His wife’s
name was Gives Away White Horses Woman. Everyone in the
tribe called her White Horse Woman. She was very small and
beautiful with long pretty hair the color of midnight. White
Horse Woman was very quiet. When she did speak, her voice
was so soft that the words were almost a whisper. She was a
very kind and gentle woman.



Mad Bear was allowed to go into the tepee and join White
Horse Woman and their new daughter. How beautiful she was
with hair the color of midnight and eyes very large and brown.
Together, Mad Bear and White Horse Woman prayed and gave
thanks to the Great Spirit.

17



“Yes, my friend, the Great Spirit has been good to us.” she
spoke softly. She held the child beside the rabbit. “You see how
beautiful she is? Her name shall be White Rabbit Woman.
Your story shall be told to her children and all their descen-
dants.” The rabbit looked up at her and seemed to say, “Yes,
White Horse Woman, you are kind and gentle. You were
patient.”

19



14

Another season passed. The long winter was over and
spring had now shown the signs of a beautiful year. Mad Bear
and his hunting party were leaving to hunt game for the
people. The women, children and elders stayed in the camp and
attended to their daily duties. Several days passed. Mad Bear
and his hunting parties returned to camp. As they ap-
proached, they could hear joyful laughter. The men hurried to
reach the camp.



As she spoke the chief walked inside. “My wife, what
have you found?” he asked.

She told him the story of how she and the little white
rabbit had come to meet. Mad Bear saw the happiness in White
Horse Woman’s eyes. Many seasons had passed since he last
saw her display so much joy. His heart filled with loving happi-
ness. How he hoped and prayed that the Great Spirit would
soon bless them with a child who would bring them so much
happiness.



One beautiful summer day, as White Horse Woman and
the other women of the camp were picking chokecherries, she
saw a little white rabbit. The little rabbit sat beside the
chokecherry bush and did not move. The little animal seemed
to be lost and very much afraid. “Poor little rabbit, have you
lost your mother?” White Horse Woman asked as she knelt
down beside it.

The little white rabbit slowly lifted its head and sadly
gazed at White Horse Woman. A tear began to trickle down
from the corner of the rabbit’s eye. The little rabbit seemed to
say, “Yes, White Horse Woman, I am lost and very much
afraid.” White Horse Woman said, “Poor little rabbit, I shall
take you back to our camp. I will feed you and care for you. You
will bring much joy and laughter.”



The chief and his wife longed to have a child. White
Horse Woman would often become very sad when she watched
the children in the camp playing. Their joyful laughter often
made her weep. She loved the children very much. Great
Spirit, however, had not given her and Mad Bear a child to love
and care for. White Horse Woman’s unhappiness caused Mad
Bear to feel great sadness. He tried to comfort her, but she
seemed to become more lonely as the seasons passed.



Many women were gathered at Mad Bear’s and White
Horse Woman’s tepee. Mad Bear rushed inside and found
White Horse Woman sitting on her soft buffalo robe.

“My wife, what is the reason for all this joy?” he asked.
Her face glowed with happiness as she spoke. “The Great Spirit
has chosen this time to give us our child.”



They followed White Horse Woman and the Rabbit back
to the camp. As they approached, their laughter could be heard
by the elders, who were always pleased when they saw the
children in a happy and playful mood. White Horse Woman
told the children, “I will take the little white rabbit into my
tepee and feed it and after the poor little animal has rested, we
shall let it become familiar with its new home and friends.”

White Horse Woman took the little white rabbit into her
tepee and gently laid it on a soft buffalo robe. The little rabbit
seemed to smile at her with its big eyes. “Little white rabbit,”

she said, “how I would love to have a child as beautiful and
gentle as you.”



Booklets available in the Level IV sequence are listed below. Numbers refer to the Planned Sequence of use
in the Teacher’s Manual. Materials developed by these tribes and others in the Northwest are included in
the Levels I, II and III sequences.

i

3.

4.

5.

10.

11.

. Warm Springs Animal Stories

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

. Snail Women at Sq*a’le

The Suquamish Tribe of the Port Madison
Reservation

Blue Jay — Star Child/Basket Woman
Muckleshoot Tribe

Assiniboine Woman Making Grease
Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Peck Reservation

Coyote
The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

|. How the Summer Season Came

Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap
Reservation

. Little Weasel’s Dream

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

. Fort Hall Stories

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation

. The Bear Tepee

Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Sioux Stories and Legends
Sioux Tribe of the Fort Peck Reservation

Kootenai Stories
Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

Chief Mountain’s Medicine

Gros Ventre Tribe from the Fort Belknap
Reservation

Coyote the Trickster

Burns Paiute Reservation

Running Free

Shoalwater Bay

Salish Coyote Stories

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

Coyote and the Cowboys
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation

Napi’s Journey

Blackfeet Tribe

Warm Springs Stories

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

Tepee Making

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

Baskets and Canoes
Skokomish Tribe

Warrior People
Blackfeet Tribe


White °Rabbit

The Indian Reading Series

Level V Book 16


One beautiful autumn evening, White Rabbit hopped
into White Horse Woman’s tepee. White Rabbit began to hop
and dance on the soft buffalo robe. White Horse Woman began
to laugh and sing. She and White Rabbit had come to love each
other very much. White Rabbit had become her special friend.



As the days passed, the little white rabbit came to know
the children. They played with it but were careful not to hurt
it. The little white rabbit grew as fast as the days passed.

One day White Horse Woman told the children, “Because
little white rabbit has grown, we shall have to call it White
Rabbit. It is not a little white rabbit anymore.” The children
thought it should be so. From then on the rabbit was called
White Rabbit.



As she spoke to the little rabbit, it hopped toward her.
White Horse Woman began to laugh. The little white rabbit
sensed her kindness and seemed no longer afraid. White Horse
Woman picked up the little white rabbit and cuddled it in her
arms. “I shall show you to the chief and the children.” she said.
“They will be so pleased that I have found you.”

Many of the children were playing by a stream. White
Horse Woman called to them, “Come and see what I have
found.” The children became very excited. “Don’t frighten the
little rabbit.” White Horse Woman told the children.



18

Several mornings passed and White Horse Woman
decided to take her daughter for a walk along the stream. As
she approached the stream, she noticed a white rabbit sitting
beside a chokecherry bush. White horse Woman slowly walked
toward the rabbit.



This work has not as yet been published and is afforded all
protections under the U.S. Copyright Law (PL. 94-553) effective
January 1, 1978.

Copyright in the published edition will be held by and in the name of the
Members of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transcribed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written
permission of the author agency identified below.

The project presented or reported herein was performed
pursuant to a grant from the National Institute of Education,
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. However, the
opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the
position or policy of the National Institute of Education,

and no official endorsement by the National Institute of
Education should be inferred.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
710 S.W. Second Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204


The following night, as White Horse Woman slept, she
dreamed of White Rabbit. In her dream White Rabbit was
playing with the children. White Rabbit was hopping and
dancing with the children. The children began dancing in a

circle around White Rabbit. As White Rabbit joyfully hopped,

a cloud formed around it. It was very difficult to see White
Rabbit.

11



The sun was rising and people began their daily ac-
tivities. Some of the children began looking for White Rabbit.
But White Rabbit could not be found. White Horse Woman and
the children became very sad. They knew their friend would
never return. White Horse Woman whispered, “Be safe White
Rabbit. You have been my true friend. I shall not forget you.”

13



‘) THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
My) Stories and Legends of the Northwest

White Rabbit
Level V Book 16

A Sioux story written by Ann Lambert

Jerome Fourstar, Coordinator
Madonna Fourstar

Josephine Tapaha

Geraldine Clancy

Illustrated by Joseph Clancy

Joseph Coburn, Director
Pacific Northwest Indian Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory



i) THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
% Stories and Legends of the Northwest



THE INDIAN READING SERIES: Stories and Legends of the
Northwest is a collection of authentic material cooperatively devel-
oped by Indian people from twelve reservations. Development ac-
tivities are guided by a Policy Board which represents the Indian
community of the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest Indian
Reading and Language Development Program Policy Board mem-
bers are:

@ Lloyd Smith-Warm Springs
Chairman

© Clement Azure — Devils Lake Sioux

© Walter Moffett — Nez Perce

e Emmett Oliver — Quinault

© Bob Parsley — Chippewa

@ Helen Redbird — Cherokee

@ Max Snow

e Jeanne Thomas — Warm Springs

@ Bill Yellowtail — Crow


White Rabbit laid down on the buffalo robe and looked
sadly into White Horse Woman’s eyes. The rabbit sensed that
her heart was still filled with sadness. White Horse Woman
spoke to White Rabbit. “Yes, my friend, I am still very sad. The
Great Spirit has not yet answered our prayers. Mad Bear says
that we must be patient and that the Great Spirit will choose
the time to give us our child. But so many seasons have passed.
White Rabbit, you must help me be patient.”



12

Suddenly, the children’s laughter became louder and
louder. As they drew away from the circle, White Horse
Woman saw the figure of the most beautiful little girl that she
had ever seen. The little girl wore a white buckskin dress with
long fringes. Her hair was long and the color of midnight. Her
eyes were very large, brown and filled with happiness. The
little girl turned and looked at White Horse Woman. She called
her “Mother” in a tone that was but a whisper. White Horse
Woman awakened Mad Bear and told him of her dream. It had
made her so very happy.