NationStates Jolt Archive


Random question regarding a Native American legend

Dempublicents1
16-04-2007, 20:23
I recently found this:

"If anyone desires a wish to come true they must
capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.

Since they make no sound, they can't tell the wish
to anyone but the Great Spirit.

So by making the wish and releasing the butterfly
it will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Author Unknown"


It's always attributed as a "Native American" or "American Indian" legend. However, I know that these are very broad categories. I doubt that this can really be attributed to all Native American tribes, even if it is in a similar form to the way they might tell it. Does anyone know which tribe or tribes it might have originated with?

And, to make this topic much more NSG, we can talk about how many things tend to get attributed to tribal cultures as a whole, rather than to individual cultures. I've seen it with Native American tribes and also with African tribes. In fact, I quite often see someone say something like "The Africans sold themselves into slavery. It wasn't white people," as if all African tribes were exactly the same. Am I the only one who is sometimes frustrated by this?
Greyenivol Colony
16-04-2007, 20:41
When I have questions like this I like to ask the Wikipedia Reference Desk. I'd wager some of the brightest peoples of the internet live there.
Ashmoria
16-04-2007, 20:53
its not a story ive ever heard before.

but in my experience when its a "native american legend" its usually made up.

it IS very frustrating to not be able to really track down a story or legend. with the change of population over time its not always possible to figure out exactly where something came from though.
Northern Borders
16-04-2007, 20:55
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/native_american-mythology.php