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Legends
Long ago, perhaps in the days when Chickasaws still resided in the land
of the setting sun.....
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Ghost of the White Deer
A brave, young warrior for the Chickasaw
Nation fell in love with the daughter of a chief.
The chief did not like the young man, who was
called Blue Jay. So the chief invented a price
for the bride that he was sure that Blue Jay
could not pay.
" Bring me the hide of the White Deer, : said
the chief. The Chickasaws believed that
animals that were all white were magical.
"The price for my daughter is one white deer."
Then the chief laughed. The chief knew that an
all white deer, an albino, was very rare and
would be very hard to find. White deerskin was
the best material to use in a wedding dress,
and the best white deer skin ame from the
albino deer.
Blue Jay went to his beloved, whose name
was Bright Moon. "I will return with your bride
price in one moon, and we will be married.
This I promise you." Taking his best bow and
his sharpest arrows Blue Jay began to hunt.
Three weeks went by, and Blue Jay was often
hungry, lonely, and scratched by briars. Then,
one night during a full moon, Blue Jay saw a
white deer that seemed to drift through the
moonlight. When the deer was very close to
where Blue Jay hid, he shot his sharpest
arrow.
The arrow sank deep into the deers heart. But
instead of sinking to his knees to die, the deer
began to run. And instead of running away, the
deer began to run toward Blue Jay, his red
eyes glowing, his horns sharp and menacing.
A month passed and Blue Jay did not return as
he had promised Bright Moon. As the months
dragged by, the tribe decided that he would
never return.
But Bright Moon never took any other young
man as a husband, for she had a secret. When
the moon was shinning as brightly as her
name, Bright Moon would often see the white
deer in the smoke of the campfire, running,
with an arrow in his heart. She lived hoping
the deer would finally fall, and Blue Jay would
return.
To this day the white deer is sacred to the
Chickasaw people, and the white deerskin is
still the favorite material for the wedding dress.
Worth reading-Links
Worth a visit The Life and Customs of the Indian Territory
Worth a visitIndian Country Today
Worth a visitNativeWeb Search
Worth a visitFirst Inhabitants: The Indians
Worth a visitAnthropology Papers
Worth a visitMuskogean Language
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