How the Red Bird got his Color

Cherokee Words:
wolf wa ya
raccoon gv li
bird tsi qua
brown u wo di ge
red gi ga ge
red bird to tsu wa

Gv li loved to tease wa ya.
One day gv li teased wa ya so much
that wa ya became very angry.
Waya began to chase gv li
through the woods. Gv li, being
the clever animal that he is,
kept ahead of wa ya.
Gv li came to a river.
Instead of jumping in the river,
he quickly climbed a tall tree
and peered over a branch to see what
wa ya would do next.
When wa ya came to the river,
he saw the reflection of gv li in the water.
Thinking that it was gv li,
waya jumped in and tried to catch him.
Waya continued to search for gv li
for such a long time that he became
so tired he nearly drowned.
Finally, tired and exhausted,
waya climbed up the river bank
and fell fast asleep.
After a while, gv li quietly climbed
down the tree and slipped over to
the sleeping waya.
While wa ya slept, gv li began to
plaster the eyes of wa ya with mud.
Then when he had finished,
gv li ran off through the woods
laughing to himself thinking of
the clever trick he had played.
After a while, waya woke up.
He began to whine,
"Oh, someone please help me. I can't see.
I can't open my eyes."
But no one came to help him.
Finally tsi qua u wo di ge heard the
cries of waya. He flew over to
waya and landed on his shoulder.
He said, "What's the matter Brother Wolf?
Can I help you?" Waya cried,
"I can't open my eyes.
Oh, please help me to see again.
" Tsi qua u wo di ge said, "
I'm just a little brown bird
but I will help you if I can.
" Waya said, " Tsi qua u wo di ge,
if you can help me to see again,
I will take you to a magic rock
that oozes red paint.
We will paint your feathers gi ga ge."
Tsi qua u wo di ge began pecking away at
the dried mud on the eyes of waya.
Soon wa ya could open his eyes again.
True to his promise wa ya said,
"Thank you, my brother;
now jump up onto my shoulder.
" Away they ran through the woods
to the rock that oozed red paint.
When they came to the rock,
waya reached up and plucked a
twig from a tree branch.
He chewed the end of the twig until
it was soft and pliable like the
end of a paint brush.
Then he dipped the end of the twig
into the red paint and began
to paint the feathers of tsi qua,
gi ga ge. When all of his feathers
were gi ga ge, tsi qua flew off
to show all of his family and friends
how beautiful he was. That is why,
from that day to this,
you can see to tsu wa flying around
the woods in Cherokee country.