Reading Notes: Great Plains, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies

 Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies lives in the moon. She only appears in the night. She is a mother of six children. Lucky enough, three boys and three girls. The oldest son is the day, then the sun, and then the night. “The Woman who Wears a Plume;” is the oldest daughter who is the morning star. The middle is a star which circles around the polar star named,“The Striped Gourd.” The third is Evening Star.

When springtime rolls around, the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies sends all the animals who roam the Great Plains. The Indians plant their corn, they know the corn crop will grow very large, and Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies make sure it does. The Indians also plant gourds and beans, they must plant beans. 

Indians have a corn feast in the spring. They save dried meat and celebrate. They hang meat on the scaffolds they build. The old women in the village meet around the scaffold with a stick with dried meat on it. They dance around the scaffolds with meat on them as the men beat their drums. 

The old women eat their meat after the celebration. 

Another corn feast happens during the fall. The corn is ripe and perfect to eat. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies sends the buffalo to herd them. All of the women carry a cornstalk along with the ears attached. “Mother, pity us. Do not send the cold too soon, or we may not have enough meat. Mother, do not let the game depart, so that we may have enough for winter," says Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.

The birds go back south in the fall. They go to Old-Woman. They take the dried meat on the scaffolds to Old-Woman because she is fond of it.

 Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies owns patches of corn. Her great stag keeps it as well as the white-tailed stag. Blackbirds guard the corn patch too. Mice and moles contribute to the help. The spring time roles around and the birds go back to the North, to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.

In the past,  Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies lived near the Little Missouri. Indians would occasionally visit her. Twelve showed up one day and she offered a small kettle of corn. They were extremely hungry and once they ate the small kettle of corn, it kept refilling so they had enough to eat. 

Bibliography: Story source: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913). Great Plains: Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies

An image of Little Missouri, North Dakota. 

Little Missouri