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 a...