Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-08-24
LEGEND OF THE IRoouols.
Origin of the Clan Of Turtle Accounted
For in a Wonderful and
Amusing Tale.

Indians known as the Turtle clan is ex-
planned by a legend current in the tribe.
1t runs as follows:
Once upon a time many tortoises of
the kind known as mud turtles lived in
a pool in the forest and enjoyed them
selves undisturbed for years. They had
plenty to eat and often spoke with pity
of other mud turtles who lived in pools
where flies and bugs and such delicacies
were less plentiful
The chief of the pool was a big fat
mud turtle who was noted for his great
appetite and his dislike of exertion
Now in the course of time there came
a very hot, rainless summer and the
happy pool dried up. Then the turtles
held council to decide upon what
should be done.
They could not stay where they were,
for the mud had become dust or had
resolved itself into hard, brick-like
chunks, and turtles must have mud and
water in order to live. All the neighbor-
ing pools were occupied by other turtles,
but wise old fellow who had travelled
told them of a fine pool not occupied and
which would be an excellent place tc
which to emigrate
So the turtles set out for the new pool
and as the way was long and the jour-
ney lay most of the way across the open
country, where the fierce rays of the
sun beat down upon them with pitiless
severity, they suffered greatly and were
almost dead when they finally reached
their home and plunged into it's cool wa
tiers and its soft, delightful mud.
However, one of them failed to reach
safety. That exception was the fat old
turtle with the big appetite He wad-
died along with the others for awhile,
but as the sun got hotter and hotter he
began to lag behind, and finally he was
left alone. The sun blistered his Shout
ders under his shell and he thought:
oh. if l could get rid of this shell
could then catch up with the Others
So he began making a great effort to
crawl out of his shell, and to his surprise
done so he was no better off than before,
for the heat now began to scorch his
BODY and he thought to himself: eff l
keep on this way shall soon be we'll
done turtle steak, fit only for a feast in
some wigwam."
So he crawled to one side and rested
under a clump of ferns, thinking that
he would resume his march when the
sun had gone down.
While he rested there in the cool shade
of the ferns he saw an Indian go by.
Looping along at an easy gait and seem
ing to travel with such ease that the fat
turtle was filled with envy, and thought:
Why cannot l walk on my hind legs
the way that man does and get over the
ground as easily as he?"
1t occurred to him to try it. He tried
little practice found that he could do sc
with comparative ease.
This was the turning point in the life
of that turtle. He had learned how
much could be accomplished by trying
and he said to himself: Il have been a
fat, lazy old mud turtle all my life and
have never done anything because l was
afraid to try. Now have found that
by trying / was able to cast off my shell
anu w lI1 lug L CAN Walk erect ike an
Indian. | have been fat, lazy old turtle
all my life, but now | am going to be q
man."
So he began to practice walking anG
talking and eating berries and roots enc
wild game, which he caught. instead OF
contenting himself with his former diet
Of worms. bugs and flies. and after
awhile he became so much like a mar
that he ventured into one of the Indian
villages, where he told his story anC
completed his education.
He grew slim and tall and learned to
hunt with bow and arrow so skillfully
that in time he married the chiefs
daughter and his descendants are all
known to this day as the Turtle clan,
the bravest warriors and the most skilE
full hunters among the Iroquois.
His former companions who reached
the new pool remained mud turtles all
the rest of their lives and their descend
ants are mud turtles to this day.