Why the North Star Stands Still
Paiute
Long, long ago, when the world was young, the
People of the Sky were so restless and travelled so much that
they made trails in the heavens. Now, if we watch the sky all
through the night, we can see which way they go.
But one star does not travel. That is the North
Star. He cannot travel. He cannot move. When he was on the earth
long, long ago, he was known as Na-gah, the mountain sheep, the
son of Shinoh. He was brave, daring, sure-footed, and
courageous. His father was so proud of him and loved him so much
that he put large earrings on the sides of his head and made him
look dignified, important, and commanding.
Every day, Na-gah was climbing, climbing,
climbing. He hunted for the roughest and the highest mountains,
climbed them, lived among them, and was happy. Once in the very
long ago, he found a very high peak. Its sides were steep and
smooth, and its sharp peak reached up into the clouds. Na-gah
looked up and said, "I wonder what is up there. I will climb to
the very highest point."
Around and around the mountain he travelled,
looking for a trail. But he could find no trail. There was
nothing but sheer cliffs all the way around. This was the first
mountain Na-gah had ever seen that he could not climb.
He wondered and wondered what he should do. He
felt sure that his father would feel ashamed of him if he knew
that there was a mountain that his son could not climb. Na-gah
determined that he would find a way up to its top. His father
would be proud to see him standing on the top of such a peak.
Again and again he walked around the mountain,
stopping now and then to peer up the steep cliff, hoping to see
a crevice on which he could find footing. Again and again, he
went up as far as he could, but always had to turn around and
come down. At last he found a big crack in a rock that went
down, not up. Down he went into it and soon found a hole that
turned upward. His heart was made glad. Up and up he climbed.
Soon it became so dark that he could not see,
and the cave was full of loose rocks that slipped under his feet
and rolled down. Soon he heard a big, fearsome noise coming up
through the shaft at the same time the rolling rocks were dashed
to pieces at the bottom. In the darkness he slipped often and
skinned his knees. His courage and determination began to fail.
He had never before seen a place so dark and dangerous. He was
afraid, and he was also very tired.
"I will go back and look again for a better
place to climb," he said to himself. "I am not afraid out on the
open cliffs, but this dark hole fills me with fear. I'm scared!
I want to get out of here!
" But when Na-gah turned to go down, he found
that the rolling rocks had closed the cave below him. He could
not get down. He saw only one thing now that he could do: He
must go on climbing until he came out somewhere.
After a long climb, he saw a little light, and
he knew that he was coming out of the hole. "Now I am happy," he
said aloud. "I am glad that I really came up through that dark
hole."
Looking around him, he became almost breathless,
for he found that he was on the top of a very high peak! There
was scarcely room for him to turn around, and looking down from
this height made him dizzy. He saw great cliffs below him, in
every direction, and saw only a small place in which he could
move. Nowhere on the outside could he get down, and the cave was
closed on the inside..,
"Here I must stay until I die," he said. "But I
have climbed my mountain! I have climbed my mountain at last!
He ate a little grass and drank a little water
that he found in the holes in the rocks. Then he felt better. He
was higher than any mountain he could see and he could look down
on the earth, far below him.
About this time, his father was out walking over
the sky. He looked everywhere for his son, but could not find
him. He called loudly, "Na-gah! Na-gah!" And his son answered
him from the top of the highest cliffs. When Shinoh saw him
there, he felt sorrowful, to himself, "My brave son can never
come down. Always he must stay on the top of the highest
mountain. He can travel and climb no more.
"I will not let my brave son die. I will turn
him into a star, and he can stand there and shine where everyone
can see him. He shall be a guide mark for all the living things
on the earth or in the sky."
And so Na-gah became a star that every living
thing can see. It is the only star that will always be found at
the same place. Always he stands still. Directions are set by
him. Travellers, looking up at him, can always find their way.
He does not move around as the other stars do, and so he is
called "the Fixed Star." And because he is in the true north all
the time, our people call him Qui-am-i Wintook Poot-see. These
words mean "the North Star."
Besides Na-gah, other mountain sheep are in the
sky. They are called "Big Dipper" and "Little Dipper." They too
have found the great mountain and have been challenged by it.
They have seen Na- gah standing on its top, and they want to go
on up to him.
Shinoh, the father of North Star, turned them
into stars, and you may see them in the sky at the foot of the
big mountain. Always they are travelling. They go around and
around the mountain, seeking the trail that leads upward to Na-gah,
who stands on the top. He is still the North Star.
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