Origin of Disease and Medicine

In the old days the beasts, birds, fishes, insects
and plants could all talk and they and the people
lived together in peace and friendship.
But as time went on the people increased so
rapidly that their settlement spread over the
whole earth, and the poor animals found themselves
beginning to be cramped for room. This was bad
enough, but to make it worse,
Man invented bows, knives, blowguns, spears,
and hooks, and began to slaughter the larger
animals, birds, and fishes for their flesh or
their skins, while the smaller creatures,
such as the frogs and worms, were crushed
and trodden upon without thought, out of pure
carelessness or contempt. So the animals resolved
to consult upon measures for their common safety.
The Bears were the first to meet in council in their
townhouse under Kuwa-hi mountain, the "Mulberry
Place," and the old White Bear chief presided.
After each in turn had complained of the way
in which Man killed their friends, ate their flesh,
and used their skins for his own purposes,
it was decided to begin war at once against him.
Some one asked what weapons Man used to
destroy them. "Bows and arrows, of course,"
cried all the Bears in chorus.
"And what are they made of?"
was the next question. "The bow of wood,
and the string of our entrails," replied one of the Bears.
It was then proposed they make a bow and some
arrows and see if they could not use the same weapons
against Man himself.
So one Bear got a piece of locust wood and
another sacrificed himself for the good of the
rest in order to furnish his entrails for the string.
But when everything was ready and the first
Bear stepped up to make the trial, it was found
that in letting the arrow fly after drawing back the bow,
his long claws caught in the string and spoiled the shot.
This was annoying, but someone suggested that they
might trim his claws, which was accordingly done,
and on a second trial it was found that the
arrow went straight to the mark. But here the chief,
the old White Bear, objected, saying it was necessary
that they should have long claws in order to be able
to climb trees. "One of us has already died to
furnish the bow string and if we now cut off
our claws we must all starve together.
It is better to trust to the teeth and claws that nature
gave us, for it is plain that man’s weapons were not
intended for us."
No one could think of any better plan,
so the old chief dismissed the council and
the Bears dispersed to the woods and thickets
without having concerted any way to prevent
the increase of the human race. Had the result
of the council been otherwise, we should now
be at war with the Bears, but as it is, the hunter
does not even ask the Bear’s permission when
he kills one.
The Deer next held a council under their chief,
the Little Deer, and after some talk, devised to
send rheumatism to every hunter who should
kill one of them unless he took care to ask their
pardon for the offense. They sent notice of their
decision to the nearest settlement of Indians and told
them at the same time what to do when necessity
forced them to kill one of the Deer tribe.
Now, whenever the hunter shoots a Deer,
the Little Deer, who is swift as the wind and can not
be wounded, runs quickly up to the spot and,
bending over the bloodstains, asks the spirit of the
Deer if it has heard the prayer of the hunter for
pardon. if the reply be "Yes," all is well,
and the Little Deer goes on his way; but if the
reply be "No," he follows on the trail of the hunter,
guided by the drops of blood on the ground,
until he arrives at his cabin in the settlement,
when the Little Deer enters invisibly and strikes
the hunter with rheumatism, so that he becomes
at once a helpless cripple. no hunter who has regard
for his health ever fails to ask pardon of the Deer
for killing it, although some hunters who have not
learned the prayer may try to turn aside the
Little Deer from his pursuit by building a fire
behind them in the trail.
Next came the Fishes and Reptile,
who had their own complaints against Man.
They held council together and determined to
make their victims dream of snakes twining about
them in slimy folds and blowing foul breath
in their faces, or to make them dream of eating
raw or decaying fish, so that they would lose appetite,
sicken and die. This is why people dream
about snakes and fish.
Finally the Birds, Insects, and smaller animals
came together for the same purpose, and the
Grubworm was chief of the council. It was
decided that each in turn should give an opinion,
and then they would vote on the question as to
whether or not Man was guilty. Seven votes
should be enough to condemn him. Once after
another denounce Man’s cruelty and injustice
toward the other animals and voted in favor of death.
The Frog spoke first, saying:
"We must do something to check the increase
of the race, or people will become so numerous
that we will be crowded from off the earth.
See how they have kicked me about because
I’m ugly, as they say, until my back is covered
with sores;" and here he showed the spots on his skin.
Next came the Bird--no one remembers now which
one it was - who condemned Man "Because he burns
my feet off," meaning the way in which hunters
barbecue birds by impaling them on a stick set
over the fire, so that their feathers and tender feet
are singed off. Others followed in the same strain.
The Ground-squirrel alone ventured to say a good
word for Man, who seldom hurt him because he
was so small, but this made the others so angry
that they fell upon the Ground-squirrel and tore
him with their claws, and the stripes are on this
back to this day.

They began then to devise and name so
many new diseases, one after another, that
had not their invention at last failed them, no
one of the human race would have been able to
survive. The Grubworm grew constantly more
pleased as the name of each disease was called off,
until at last they reached the end of the list, when
some one proposed to make menstruation sometimes
fatal to women. On this he rose up in his place
and cried "Wadan! (Thanks!) I’m glad some
more of them will die, for they are getting so
think that the tread on me." The thought fairly
made him shake with joy, so that he fell over
backward and could not get on his feet again,
but had to wriggle off on his back,
as the Grubworm has done ever since.
When the Plants, who were friendly to Man,
heard what had been done by the animals, they
determined to defeat the latters’ evil designs.
Each Tree, Shrub, and Herb, down even to the
Grasses, and Mosses, said: "I shall appear to help
Man when he calls upon me in his need."
Thus came medicine; and the plants, every one
of which has its use if we only knew it, furnish
the remedy to counteract the evil wrought by the
revengeful animals. Even weeds were made for some
good purpose, which we must find out for ourselves.
When the doctor does not know what medicine
to use for a sick man, the spirit of the plant
tells him.

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