Why the Turtle's Shell Is Cracked

I took a picture of this little guy in late May.

I apologize as it has been a really long time since I've written a story. I had to take a six month break, but life has finally returned back to normal and I can continue sharing a few new stories with you. I heard this particular tale several years ago from a friend who comes from Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He in turn heard this story from his grandfather. It is a pretty short story and I believe that there are similar variations of this story told by several different tribes across most of Oklahoma. This particular version is one that is told by the Cherokee.

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Why The Turtle's Shell Is Cracked

 In ages past, Turtle and Possum were once steadfast friends and the two shared in many adventures together. One day, the two friends decided to hunt for wild grapes. After a short walk into the forest, they found a tree that was covered in grapevines. Possum climbed the tree branches and found that the thick leaves had hidden a treasure trove of grapes. After eating his fill, Possum threw down several large and juicy grapes for his friend the Turtle to eat. But a wolf spied the two friends eating the grapes and he decided that he would take the grapes for himself. Whenever Possum threw a grape down for Turtle, the wolf would leap up and snatch the grape before it had even hit the ground. Poor Turtle could do nothing but watch in silence. But Possum decided that he'd had enough. Taking a small bone out of his pouch, he hurled the bone towards the wolf. The wolf, thinking it was a grape, greedily leapt up and snatched the bone mid-flight. Too late did the wolf realize his mistake, and before long, the wolf choked to death on the bone.

Possum and Turtle sung a victory song and both took great pride in Possum's victory. Turtle eyed the wolf and said, "I think that I will take the wolf's ears and use them as spoons for my hominy mush." Possum did not think this was a good idea but he could not talk Turtle out of it. So Turtle took the wolf's ears and used them as spoons for his hominy mush. When other woodland creatures saw Turtle using his wolf-ear spoons, they began to whisper that he must be a great warrior to have slain such a powerful wolf; perhaps he even had great medicine. Turtle did nothing to dispel these rumors, and he might have even help spread a few himself. However, this did not please Possum and, shortly after, their friendship came to an end. Eventually, word of the Turtle's prowess reached the ears of a mighty wolf clan. When they learned that Turtle had "killed" one of their own and had made a trophy out of the wolf's ears, they grew very angry. They decided that they would punish the Turtle for his disrespect.

The wolves gathered a large hunting party and they quickly tracked down the little Turtle as he was nearing his watery home. The wolves, cautiously circled the Turtle. They did not know what the Turtle could do. After all, hadn't he had killed one of their own? Turtle quickly realized that the wolves, while angry, showed him more than a modicum of respect. In fact, the wolves didn't quite know what to do with Turtle. One wolf brought out a large pot. He suggested that they should put the Turtle in this pot and smother him to death. The Turtle heard this plan and was terribly afraid. But he wisely puffed out his chest and laughed, "Go ahead and try. With my medicine, I will shatter that pot into a hundred pieces." Another wolf suggested that they should build a fire and roast the Turtle to death. Again the Turtle laughed, "With my medicine, no fire can hurt me. You would just be wasting your time." The Turtle slyly added, "As long as you don't throw me into the river to drown, there is nothing you can do to hurt me." Now it must be said that for all the wolves' gifts, intelligence was not one of them. The wolves gleefully grabbed the Turtle and held him high into the air in order to cast him into a river so that he might drown. Turtle only feigned fright, when in actuality, he was quite happy with this outcome. However, too late did he notice that this river was full of rocks and boulders. Before he could think of another clever plan, the wolves hurled the Turtle into the river.

As he plummeted towards the river, the Turtle went into his shell and braced himself. The impact of the fall was terrible. With a loud crack, he landed right on top of a large rock and his beautiful shell was shattered into a dozen pieces. Only with the help of Rabbit, a master healer, was Turtle able to mend his shell. But his shell was forever scarred and scuffed and you can still see the scars to this day.