 I firmly believe that they are living entities in and of themselves that survive in a dimension we just cannot see or feel, and they come to us in dreams. And it's my path in this life to give these stories a voice so that they can continue to survive. I mean, with an oral tradition that's how our stories have lived for, you know, 15,000 years or better. While Gluscomba, whose name means he who made himself, was the first of the two legates to walk upon the earth. He was here before the human beings were here. Because he made himself, and Creator was quite all-impressed with that, because he made himself from the leftovers of what Creator was making the world from, and as he brushed the dust off his hands, that dust had the gift of life from Creator's hand still in it, and that life couldn't be negated, and everything kind of swirled and twisted around, and his being was formed and became Gluscomba. So as Creator went off to do other Creator things, he left Gluscomba here on this earth to oversee the planet, to finish and refine Creator's work, to create more plants and animals as needed, and to teach the people how to live well upon land and make sure that everyone furred, feathered, finned, and two-legged cooperated with one another so that everyone could live well together. And he's sort of the hero of the Abenaki people. He teaches them lessons. He plays tricks on them to teach them lessons sometimes. And over the generations, as he's taught everyone everything they can pretty much learn, he decided he was going to retire, and he took his grandmother, who's such a good cook, his Nugami, and disappeared from the land where he's in retirement. You'll hear some people refer to him as Gluscop or Gluscabe. Gluscop is actually a past tense version of the name Gluscomba, meaning he has been, but is no longer. I prefer Gluscomba because it's the present tense, and he's still here. He's still out there. He's still a being in existence than something of the past to. I don't like the idea of him being a historic relic. He's such a dynamic character in the Abenaki history and pantheon of stories that I think it's important to keep him alive. OK. Hello. I am Carolyn Black Hunt. I have a stroke three and a half years ago. Hello. I'm Carolyn's husband, Rick Hunt, and Carolyn is a renowned storyteller. And we performed all over New England, New York, New Jersey for about a little over 10 years. Three years ago, Carolyn had a stroke and because of it, she now experiences what's called aphasia, which is, it affects the speech part of the brain. So Carolyn is intellectually all there, but because of the aphasia, it's difficult sometimes for her to express herself verbally. She's come a long way and I'm honored to be here today to support her in this documentary about her life and her career as a storyteller. I met Carolyn about 14 years ago after calling her to ask her to be a head dancer at a powwow that my cousin was putting on called Nwila. And so I called Carolyn. I'd known of her in the native community for many years, but we never really sat and talked or really met. So I called her up and I asked her she wanted to be a head dancer at a powwow. And she says, well, I've never done that before. And I said, well, you can learn. So I talked her into it and I said, why don't we go out for Chinese food and talk? And there's a funny anecdote that goes along with this. Carolyn was working in an office at the time and she told her co-worker. She says, I can't believe he asked me out for Chinese food. And she said, don't worry about it. He's not giving you a ring. So we got together. We went out for Chinese food and chatted and we've been together ever since. Yes. And Carolyn did learn how to be a head lady dancer. Then we were asked to go to the Roxas state in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. They were having a seasonal event and they wanted some Native American components to it. So we were asked if Carolyn could tell some stories and we said, sure. So we went up there and our first gig as laughing couple was at the Roxas state. I put mural paper up on the side of a barn that had ridges all over it. So it was very bumpy to draw on, but people enjoyed it. The next thing we started getting invitations to go to schools to perform. And our first performance at a school was in Madbury, New Hampshire. We went down there and we had a blast. And it was just terrific. So suddenly people started approaching us to perform at their powwows, conferences, cultural events, colleges, elementary schools, the Universalist Church. And eventually Carolyn ended up doing, I think, nine performances with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra singing in Abonacci to folks all over Vermont. And then we had the honor of performing with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra at the Flynn Theater. They had my drawing wall on a, like a platform. And Carolyn was on one side of the stage in Regalia and was singing in Abonacci to a crowd of 2,500 people plus. I was standing on the platform drawing and I looked down and I could see violinists and a harpist and cellos and horn section. And I thought to myself, I've become the moody blues. So since then we have been performing all over the place. We've had some really interesting experiences. Our last performance was at the Flynn Theater. Hello. This is my old pal Lenny Novak. He is an incredible artist. He does museum quality dream catchers that are like all over the place in museums and in people's private collections. And Chronicle New Hampshire recently did a show on him. His heart is really big and he is so loved by us. He's going to be reading a story that came to Carolyn literally in a dream full. Like she got out one morning and she said to me, I just had this dream. And she started telling it to me and I said, stop. You need to write this down immediately. So what 18 pages later she had this traditional native story that was gifted to her in a dream. I mean it came to her and my jaw dropped after reading it. And she has shared it a few times in different places, in her venues. And it was used a couple of times in elementary schools to deal with the theme of bully. It's called Grizzly and Black Bear. Carolyn, it's a great honor to read this. Thank you. Ready? Okay. In the long ago time Grizzly and Black Bear did not look as they know them now. They were not covered with fur and they did not walk on all fours. In fact they were smooth skinned and walked on two legs just like the first people did and still do. And together they all shared in the bounty of the world that Creator had made. Now Grizzly, he was big and tall. He stood on a good two feet taller than the tallest men and he was very muscular. His shoulders were very wide and his arms were very big. His hands were huge, twice the size of those of the biggest men. And he had big solid legs like tree trunks. He was bigger than his cousin Black Bear. Black Bear was as big as the biggest man but not as big as Grizzly. And Grizzly took great pride in being the biggest and the strongest of all the two-legged. After some time Grizzly's pride began to turn into arrogance. He began to despise the people because they were not as big and as strong as he was. And in his arrogance he soon began to treat people badly. Black Bear saw this and his heart grew sad. He liked the people well enough even though he and his cousin Grizzly were bigger and stronger. Black Bear felt bad because his cousin was treating the people badly and tried to talk with them about it. But Grizzly's arrogance was complete and he began to convince Black Bear that they were better than the people that creator loved them more by having them bigger and stronger. And soon Black Bear began to see things through Grizzly's proud eyes. And Grizzly became mean to the people, began to do things for him so that he would not have to do them for himself. He made the people give him meat they hunted, the fish, the birds they caught. He made them give them food that they had grown and the nuts and berries they collected. The people became angry with Grizzly for his bad treatment of them. Their wise men and women tried to talk with him but he closed his ears and roughly pushed him away. He often knocked the elders down with this great strength. The strongest and bravest warriors decided to fight with Grizzly to make him stop his bad behavior. But one by one Grizzly defeated them. Injuring many of them with his biggest strength. And the people became afraid of Grizzly who had once been their friend. And enjoying the feeling of the people's fear, Grizzly's arrogance grew. He became even meaner. He became so mean that even his cousin Black Bear did not dare to speak against him. Grizzly's heart had turned black. And the people suffered under the meanness of Grizzly. He took all of their best food. He took all of their warmest furs. And Grizzly grew his fingernails very very long to show people and Black Bear that in his superior strength he did not have to work for anything. This made the lives of the people miserable. He made them so miserable that they held a secret meeting away from the eyes and ears of Grizzly. It was decided that they would send their best runner far to the north. This runner would go find Glucumba who had once said in living in the land of the ice. And so under cover of darkness the runner went to search for Glumsgaba. The runner went to search for Glumsgavi to ask him for his help in dealing with the ways of the Grizzly. The runner was gone for many moons and while he was gone the people suffered. Finally nearly out of food and strength and hope the runner found Glumsgavi and he told Glumsgavi of how Grizzly who used to be friendly to the people had become arrogant and mean. He told Glumsgavi and how Grizzly roughly pushed the elders to the ground when they were told to talk to him. He told Glumsgavi of the brave warriors who had fought the Grizzly to protect the people and how they failed. Upon hearing these words Glumsgavi grew sad for the people in whom he cherished and he grew angry at Grizzly who now thought himself better than all of the cherished other two-legged creatures. Glumsgavi gave his weakened man to the care of his grandmother Nusgumi as he prepared for his journey and the next morning Glumsgavi set off for the land to the south talking with him taking with him the two wolf dogs one white and one black and though the runners had taken months to find him Glumsgavi had the journey south in just a few days upon his arrival Glumsgavi immediately went to the people and he saw for himself the poverty and the misery of the Grizzly inflicted upon the people. He saw for himself their shabby clothing and their inadequate food anger filled his heart after spending the night with the people Glumsgavi went in search of Grizzly at first light. Grizzly and Black Bear were sitting in the remains of a previous night's fire. Grizzly was in a foul mood because no one of the people had come yet to awaken the fire. Black Bear knew better than to offer it to him he did not want Grizzly to knock him down as he had done in the past. Hearing approaching footsteps in the still darkness forest Grizzly mumbled it is about time somebody arrived to rekindle my fire and hope he brought a lot of food because I am very hungry. I am not here for your fire Glumsgavi said he has stepped into the clearing his wolf dogs following one on each side well well look who's here cousin Black Bear the people have sent Glumsgavi to do their bidding today and Grizzly laughed Black Bear did not laugh. I am not here to serve you Grizzly I have come to tell you that the people will no longer live in fear of you I am here to tell you that you will no longer treat the people badly Glumsgavi said quietly Grizzly laughed then he narrowed his eyes and said and you think you will make this so I will make this so said Glumsgavi Grizzly slowly rose from the hollow cedar log he'd been sitting on then make it so little one he growled before Black Bear could even blink Grizzly and Glumsgavi left upon one another and as Glumsgavi made contact with Grizzly he grew until he was equal in Grizzly's size and height equally matched Grizzly and Glumsgavi engaged in a mighty battle Black Bear was too stunned and horrified to move as Grizzly and Glumsgavi fought they trampled through the fire pit Black Soot and White Ash were kicked all over Black Bear as they fought Glumsgavi grew through Grizzly from him Grizzly came down hard upon the cedar log breaking it inside the log was a huge beehive and also broke open Grizzly and Black Bear became covered in sticky honey and cedar splinters Glumsgavi again leapt onto Grizzly knocking him and Black Bear to the ground as they rolled onto the ground the dry leaves stuck to Grizzly's body Black Bear was also covered with these leaves the battle grew more vicious they crashed around in the clearing through the trees together Grizzly was making loud grunting noises through all of it Black Bear could hear Glumsgavi's quiet voice he was talking to Grizzly as they fought these were the words he spoke you are not worthy of the people you are not worthy of the gifts created gave you and making you too legged because you act like a beast a beast you will be as Glumsgavi spoke these words Grizzly began to change fur the color of the leaves the honey and the cedar splinters that stuck to him began to grow on his body his arms and legs began to change feeling what was happening to him Grizzly's heart grew angrier still who was Glumsgavi to change what he was he grew so angry that he drove his forehead into Glumsgavi's chest knocking him backwards so hard did he do this that Grizzly's forehead was pressed flat you have no right to punish me bellowed at Glumsgavi the rules people because creator made me strong enough to do so but it is not too late the words Glumsgavi had spoken went already take an effect Grizzly looked down at his huge hands as dark brown fur grew over them he watched as his long fingernails turned into claws he felt his great size push him down on all fours when he tried to speak again all he came out of his mouth was a mighty roar creator made you big and strong so that you would help the people be their protector but you have chosen another way you chose to live badly now you must pay the price of that choice Glumsgavi not even breathing heavy spoke with these words quietly the great brown furred beast that was Grizzly growled again and charged at Glumsgavi but the two wolf dogs who had been quietly watching the fight leapt from him with one on each side the wolf dogs lunged and snapped at Grizzly keeping keeping him off balance Grizzly's heart had now known such anger and now it began a few twinges of fear knowing that he had been defeated and hating Glumsgavi for it Grizzly turned and ran away the wolf dog began to chase but Glumsgavi called him back in his anger and his shame Grizzly ran for a long time he ran from the place that had always known as his home with grandfather son behind him he ran crossing the mighty river that split the land in two he ran across the Greek open plains on the other side he ran until he found the high mountains behind which grandfather son disappeared at the end of each day seeing there were few people in this great open place Grizzly stopped running he decided that he would live here where no one knew who he was before he became the great beast the grandchildren of his grandchildren's grandchildren live in these remote western places still and to this day Grizzly is still angry that the people had called Glumsgavi upon him his mood is still surely after Grizzly ran away Glumsgavi turned his eyes on black bear he stood he still lay on the ground where he had fallen covered in honey and leaves cedar splinters soot and ash he dared not speak Glumsgavi met black bears fearful eyes he knew that black bear was not responsible for the aggression of Grizzly's heart but he was responsible for his own actions he was responsible for going along with grizzly's self-important ideas and he was responsible for the way Grizzly began to treat the people because he did nothing to stop it Glumsgavi black bear knew both knew these things Glumsgavi and black bear both knew these things they both knew that he black bear must also pay the price for his own behavior Glumsgavi raised his hands in the air palm facing toward black bear and he spoke in a soft sad voice these are the words he spoke you did not honor your friendship with the people you did not honor the gifts the creator gave you because you acted as beast a beast you must be black bear felt great sadness in his heart but he knew that he must meet his punishment with honor he felt his fur grow on his skin he felt his body changing soon the transformation was complete no longer having the gift of words black bear spoke to Glumsgavi with his eyes his eyes said i will make up for the part in this to the people i give you my word Glumsgavi read black bear's eyes and nodded as black bear turned to go the excited wolf dogs leapt forward for another chase black bear heard their barking and climbed the nearest tree his heart quaking with fear Glumsgavi called the wolf dogs back to him dogs can no longer be your friend black bear glumsgavi said creator gave them the responsibility to protect people because grizzly grizzly treated the people badly and you went along with it dogs can now only see you as a threat black bear nodded his understanding glumsgavi returned to the people and told them what had happened the people were happy and relieved that grizzly was no longer around to make misery in their lives they were also saddened that they had lost their friend black bear some of the people were so sad about losing a special friend that they formed a family clan the bear clan even though black bear did not stand in the way of grizzly's actions they wanted to honor their old friend and it was the members of this clan the bear clan who sought out black bear in the forest they gave him the opportunity to make up for what he had done and make up he did to those who came to him in a good way black bear offered all that he could although he was now very shy he taught those who came to him what he knew for you see black bear is one who had all the knowledge of the plant medicines in the forest he taught his medicine knowledge to these who came to him he held nothing back and soon the people of the black bear clan became greatly known as being healers amongst the people and it became the responsibility of the black bear clan to share and use this knowledge for the good of all the people in this way black bear made up for the bad choices he had made again it was a great honor even though i'm not a storyteller well i'm carolins aren't and because i knew her since she was little yes and we've been friends and family course forever and we're very much alike we like to hike together we spent about five years doing a lot of hiking yes a little trail hiking because she would not get lost she's great in the woods knew the trails i not so much yes carolin made her dress we walk on the fourth of july parade because we want people to remember her who was here first who was driven to canada with the wars and it was just very few of us her sister danielle walked with us and we would walk from north woodstock to lincoln and i would i'm part of the legion so we'd walk in the beginning of the parade behind an legion float and it was as though we were carried by the ancestors it wasn't a it wasn't a long walk for us it was a spiritual walk for us and people would look at us in different response some were insulting and some were honorable but they remembered and our ancestors were with us and we didn't always recognize or were aware of some of your relatives ended up being part of the st francis of hokey right peoples could you talk about that a little bit i can it was about oh maybe 20 years ago yes i have a relatives from vermont from newport vermont and donald nalt the name of my father the last name of my mother came to the house and he had the documentation of our ancestors who were traced to to st francis and during the early times they had to lead a lot of the natives the abinac he left the area and they went to canada for safety um in the beginning the abinac he were friendly and would trade with people but they were driven out and the women and children would find safety north so that is where they went and that brought us to honor our heritage to walk the fourth of july parade to go to powwows to dance with the drums and the sound of the drums to the earth and it's beautiful and fun oh yes we had a lot of fun doing that then rick was a firekeeper at a powwow and carolyn told me oh he's got the stimples he's so cute we've got to go to this powwow and so we got all our gear and gone and we traveled and traveled i said you sure we're not lost no i know right where we are so we went down and we would be in at the powwow where rick was but i don't think you talked to him then i think you we asked a couple of vendors where he was but yes at that point so uh we were sort of following rick and eventually they connected i think over in north haro powwow because he was a firekeeper and that's when rick asked carolyn to dance not realizing that we had been following him dancing so that worked out pretty well yes but um it's great here to to anna carolyn her beautiful storytelling and she could tell a story for two and a half hours no problem even longer rick would interpret the stories behind being able to draw and be in in that moment of discovery and imagination and bring people to understand our culture a different culture and to honor and it's still going on and the abanaki i believe are being recognized more and more as time passes and people look back and see a different way of life and yes they were here uh-huh honored and pleased to introduce our dear friend kelly who is going to be reading one uh be reading a traditional story uh um written in carolyn's voice called corn husk girl um kelly is going to be married in about a week and we're so happy for you my name is kelly mowers and soon to be novak and i am mcmack and i did not know that for many years because i live in new england and in new england you were told to go underground you were not native because there were too many other people here that wanted you so we did not have open tribes we did not have open history we did not have anything except for whisperings lenny abanaki and algonquin was told to stay with the land and we were denied even that but i met lenny and learned and through the travels that we've had and the people we have met i found a part of me that was missing for many years and so it's an honor to be accepted to read and read a story that is tied to a belief that is deep in my heart so thank you carolyn and rick and thank you carolyn this story is amazing it's a traditional story told in carolyn's voice so let me continue here in the time when the world was young the people were still new to life they were still learning about how and where to gather food about the seasons about the birds and the animals sometimes they were successful with their learning sometimes they were not sometimes the food they needed were not ready or did not grow when the people needed them this meant that they had a harder time when the weather was bad and when they could not go gathering or hunting and this made the time of the deep snows especially difficult often the people would go hungry their children tucked into bed with empty stomachs this did not go unnoticed by the spirit being of corn woman she felt sad that the people had no way to prepare for these hard times the hungry cries of the children made her heart weep she felt so sorry for the people that she asked her creator if she could go down to the world and help the people and this meant they had a harder time when the weather was bad they could not go gathering or hunting and this made the time of deep snows especially difficult often the people would go hungry their children tucked into bed with empty stomachs this did not go unnoticed by the spirit being of corn woman she felt sad that the people had no way to prepare for these hard times the hungry cries of the children made her heart weep she felt so sorry for the people that she asked the creator if she could go down to the world and help the people creator agreed and so corn woman left the place of spirit and became a solid being in the physical world and as a real looking woman she traveled from village to village to be with the people once the people of each village became accustomed to her strangeness as she was not truly human and began to they began to trust her she would call them together once gathered she announced who she really was and that she had come to give them a very special gift from the bag she carried with her on her side she produced an ear of corn and she explained to them what it was she showed them how to enrich the soil with fertilizers to feed the kernels of corn plants she showed them how to plant the corn and mounds along with squash and beans to help the corn stocks grow tall and strong she showed them how to know when the ears were ready for harvest and she showed the ways that it could be cooked she taught them the importance of drying some of the corn each year to last them through the winter months she also explained that some of this should be saved as seed corn so that they could grow more each year and so she traveled from village to village to share her gift and the knowledge to go with it when the people had learned that all all that she could teach them about the gift of corn it was time for her to leave them and return back to the place of spirit but the people loved corn woman dearly and did not want her to leave them however corn woman could not stay instead she would create a new being to live amongst the people to keep them company and this new being would be a connection between the people and corn woman and so using the discarded husks of the corn the people had eaten corn woman made a new being when corn woman when excuse me when corn woman finished shaping the body she asked the creator to breathe the breath of life into her creation and so this new being came to life and the name given to her was corn husk girl together corn woman and the creator instructed corn husk girl how to behave while living with the people she was to travel amongst the different villages and help the people as they needed she was instructed to give assistance to the old ones when she saw any need and to listen to their memories for their labor history of the people she was instructed to spend her time with the children to help each of them to help teach each of them how to live their lives excuse me okay she was instructed to spend she was instructed to spend her time with the children to help teach them how to live their lives with honor and to be useful members of the village for their lay the future of the people she was also to treat everyone equally regardless of how they looked or how old or young they were for any way that they may be different from others for their lay the present time of the people when corn husk girl asked if she could accept the responsibilities as part of her gift of life she readily agreed then corn woman introduced her to the peoples of the villages before she left herself and withdrew from the physical world corn husk girl did as she was instructed and traveled across the land and visited each village in turn the people were happy to have corn husk girl amongst them she was especially loved amongst the children who would soon follow her all over the villages soon she soon she was showing the children how to make small dolls from husks of corn and the children always tried to draw her face upon their dolls as they thought of her as beautiful they often told her so because they loved her corn husk girl was always being told of her beauty by the peoples of the different villages the older girls even showed her how to see her reflection in puddles pools and other bodies of water even in the birch part pales they used and corn husk girl began to enjoy seeing her own face this way soon she began to spend more and more time looking into her own reflection and admiring the beauty of her own face in addition the older girls who also like to spend time at their own faces began to tell corn husk girl that she could spend her time with them that she was far too pretty to spend all of her time with the old ones or the little ones she should join them admiring themselves and in teasing boys who looked she should join them admiring themselves in teasing the boys who looked like to look at them and this is what she began to do at first she fell guilty for walking past the old ones who are struggling with their daily chores but the other girls told her that her time should be her own and that helping the old ones would be taken care of by someone else the old ones would not mind that she was too beautiful for them to be angry at her corn husk girl began to believe these words and soon was not even looking at the old ones when she passed and the other girls walked past she did not see them struggling with aching bones and weak bodies she also felt she also felt guilty about not spending time and teaching and playing with the young ones again the other girls told her that she was too beautiful to spend all of her time with such little children anyway it was a responsibility of the parents to teach their own children how to be good people she corn husk girl should focus on herself and do what she enjoyed spending time with the other pretty girls and teasing boys who like to look back at them corn husk girl began to think this way and soon was shooting shooing away the small children who wanted time to spend with her she was too busy with older girls to notice their tears and disappointment so guilty about the older girls that she no longer spent time with the others told her that they were more worthy to do the task than corn husk girl had been given because they did not have faces that attracted the boys as such they had to be more useful so that maybe someday they too would find a good husband corn husk girl agreed with us and no longer concerned herself with those girls who were not considered pretty corn woman and creator noticed this change in corn husk girls behavior and they were not pleased she had strayed from the purpose of her life corn woman decided that corn husk girl needed to be reminded of why she had been made and returned to the world to pay her a visit she waited until corn husk girl was traveling between the villages before approaching her corn husk girl she said creator and i have been watching you since the day you were brought to life we have been watching the changes in your behaviors and are not pleased with what our eyes are seeing you no longer see the needs of the old ones no longer see how they struggle and get through the chores of their day you no longer see the tears and expressions of sadness from the little ones you no longer spend time with you no longer see the hurt of those girls you ignore because you believe they are not worthy of your attention instead too much time is spent looking at the reflection of your own face too much time is spent with girls who feel they are too pretty to need the use of their villages too much value is now placed upon the features of your face and not enough on the sort of person you should be this behavior from you is not acceptable i urge you to forget this foolishness and return to the purpose for which you were created you were given great privilege and responsibility by being given your life i recommend that you return to the ways you were instructed in and leave behind your frivolities corn husk girl listened to the words that corn woman spoke to her she hung her head in shame tears falling from her eyes corn woman the words you speak are true i have moved away from the responsibilities given to me by you and the creator i will go forward today and return to those responsibilities with a good heart corn woman brushed the tears from corn husk girls she could said i know what you i know that you enjoy spending time with the older girls and the attention of the boys looking at you there is nothing wrong with that indulging in it now and then we'll hurt no one just do not forget the old ones and the other children they love you and wish to spend time with you as well do not disappoint them corn husk girl i promise you're a good girl corn woman told her i know you will do the right thing then corn woman gave corn husk girl a hug and return to the place of spirit corn husk girl did as she was promised and spent only a little time with the older girls who like to tease the boys but they did not like that corn husk girl was taking care of her responsibilities their own parents had noticed corn husk girls behavior and made comments to their own daughters that corn husk girl did not place the value place her value in her face that corn husk girl was a good example to the young ones by spending time teaching and playing with them and by helping the old ones that corn husk girl did these things of her own free will and with good heart and that she was a fine young woman to do these things without having to be asked to because of this the older girls began to tease corn husk girl about how only the old men were appreciating her beauty they teased her that the boys were forgetting all about her because she was spending time with the little ones instead of with them they were not noticing her because they spent time with the unpretty girls at first corn husk girl laughed about these teasings but with time the teasing words of her pretty friends began to work their way into corn husk girls heart she began to believe that her time again was being wasted by her responsibilities she began to spend more and more time with her pretty friends teasing the boys who like to watch them she began to feel put upon and she began spending less and less time with the other people of the village once more creator and corn woman noticed the changes in corn husk girls behavior once again they were not pleased corn woman decided that it was time to have another talk with corn husk girl she waited until corn husk girl was traveling between the two villages before approaching her when corn woman found corn husk girl she was sitting behind a slow moving brook gazing over her own reflection so absorbed so absorbed with she and looking at her own face she did not even see or hear corn woman approach her and jumped at the sound of corn woman's voice corn husk girl said corn woman this will not do oh exclaimed corn husk girl as she left to her feet it's not what you are thinking i was only sitting here resting my feet and i was looking at the water to watch the reflections of the clouds in the sky i was thinking of how better to serve the people when i arrived at the next village corn woman looked into the sky it was clear and blue and unmarked by even the smallest cloud she took a deep breath before she spoke corn husk girl creator and i have been watching you since the day of creation and accepting the life given you you agreed to certain responsibilities you fulfilled the responsibilities well and with a good heart for a long time but then you began to listen to the words of only a few people and your behaviors began to change your heart filled with the resentment towards those you were help you were created to help even though they continue to appreciate your actions and love you but you forstook them to indulge in the benefits of your face and your face has become more important to you than all else the continuation of this behavior will not do do you understand the weight of these words that i am speaking to you while corn woman was speaking corn husk girl hung her head low but this time she did not cry this time she did not feel ashamed this time she felt annoyed at corn woman but she did not let these feelings show so she kept her head face turned downward yes corn woman she responded keeping her face averted i understand the strength of the words you speak to me i will try to do better when i arrive at the next village i do not believe that you are understanding the weight of my words corn husk girl but you must return to your responsibilities they are far more important that than that of having boys stealing glances at you they are more important than the reflection of your face and still water your beauty cannot be more of more importance to you than your actions every action you take or do not take has repercussions i do not believe that you are giving these repercussions any thought it would be in your best interest to pay attention to them for only you can change them and failure to make these changes will have its own repercussions yes corn woman i do understand your word corn husk girl looked up meeting corn woman's gaze i will do what needs to be done you have my word i hope so corn husk girl i hope so corn woman stood looking at corn husk girl for a long moment searching in her eyes corn husk girl did not look away nodding her head corn woman stepped away and vanished back into the place of spirit again corn husk girl returned to her responsibilities but this time her heart was not into it she grew impatient with the slowness of the old ones she quickly tired of the memories they wished to share with her she grew weary of the constant chatter and the endless energy of the little ones and how they tried to follow her everywhere she went she grew short-tempered with less pretty girls as they shared their feelings about other girls and the boys who do attention they could not capture as she could think of all she could think about was how unfair her obligations were how she could never be this sort of never lived the sort of life that she wished for herself she had she began to feel sorry for herself after a while those feelings began to turn into resentment and so corn husk girl began to create excuses for not doing her responsibilities at first it was only once in a while she would slip away to a quiet place and look into her reflection thinking of the boys who used to follow her around hoping to catch her eye after some time her excuses became more and more frequent she began to spend more and more time with the other pretty girls teasing the boys and she thought to herself so what if she had agreed to her responsibilities upon her creation she did not understand what she would have to give up for it all it was unfair she deserved to live her life as she chose just like everyone else why couldn't she make her own decisions for how she spent her time everyone else could why couldn't she the thoughts began to fill her head but again her behaviors did not go unnoticed corn woman and the creator had been paying close attention to the choices that corn husk girl was making they discussed at length what was to be done corn husk girl did as okay but again her behaviors did not go unnoticed corn woman and the creator had been playing paying close attention to the choices that corn husk girl was making they discussed at length what the consequences of her actions should be and they decided that it should be the creator who spoke to her this time again they waited until corn husk girl was between villages to address her with these concerns when creator found corn husk girl along the path she was standing beside a large puddle looking at her reflection corn husk girl creator called out softly so as not to startle her i have come to speak with you corn husk girl looked up her eyes glowing wide she never expected that she would have to face creator for her actions her heart began to be fast with fear oh creator she cried out please tell me you are not here to unmake me you can't do that to me i can explain everything tears flowed freely down her face corn husk girl creator began in a voice both sad and soft there is no excuse that you can give that will make excuses for your actions you were created to take the place of corn woman amongst the people it was your responsibility to visit and assist the old ones as corn woman did before you it was your purpose to teach the young ones the importance of thinking of the needs of others over their own wants as corn woman had done before you you were instructed to treat everyone with equal care and love as corn woman had done before you two times before now corn woman has come to you to bring you back to your purpose two times you have chosen to place your own wants over the needs of others two times you have dropped the responsibilities of your purpose to indulge the allure of your features two times you have given your word that this behavior would not continue yet it has returned each time no corn husk girl i will not take the breath of life back from you corn woman made you with love and intent and i will not take that away from her you are her gift to the people and i will deny i will not deny that gift however your current behaviors cannot continue to happen your purpose must be fulfilled as such you have only one option left the source of your distraction must be removed so saying creator waved a hand close in front of corn husk girl's face as the hand wave passed corn husk girl's features began to blur and become indistinct then her features were gone altogether and so corn husk girl continued to fulfill her purpose she once again began to enjoy spending time helping and listening to the old ones once again enjoyed playing with and teaching the young ones once again she began to treat everyone with equal value and once again she enjoyed the adoration of everyone who lived in each of the villages she visited not just the hopeful eyes of the boys she had teased in a short time corn husk girl forgot all about the loss of her beautiful face and instead lived her life with true beauty and from that day forward through all the generations the corn husk dolls that corn husk girl taught the children to make that are still being made today have remained faceless so they continue to look like the beloved corn husk girl i'd like to claim that i wrote this i didn't so much write it as i copied it down from what i remembered in my dream but it came to me in its entirety it's been a great story this year we it's gotten a lot of uh playtime i should say because because of the themes of the story about responsibility to others and how you treat others um especially we're awareness right now and in public schools and elementary schools is about bullying we asked some of the kids um at a school we're at new york you know how many kids had been subjected to um the behaviors that one of this character displays to the other characters in the negative way and and uh we were really surprised to see how many hands went up and and i was looking around at some of the teachers and they were kind of surprised too uh how many hands had come up um so we thought that this would be a timely story uh for awareness of bullying thank you so much for sharing that i love this story and i'm so grateful that it was given to me to share with people the first time we told it last august we were at a pow wow and i introduced the story for the first time and i had ben coming up to me ben i didn't know complete strangers coming up and saying my god what in tester you made me cry and i don't think a storyteller can get a better compliment than that yeah that's great yeah well good for you thank you so much for joining us today thank you for giving us the opportunity to come and share with you again it's great fun to do so oh it's really great to have you both here surprising they really identify with coyote right and where you know it's like well what do you think about coyotes behavior well yeah he should have done this but this is why he did it they always have an excuse for coyote isn't that funny but they they do learn you know when you ask them you know what do you think about what coyote did oh well he was absolutely wrong so why do you think he was wrong well he was wrong because of this but this is why he did it and it's like well do you think that made it okay well no but you shouldn't punish coyote he's just a dog anyway so they always come to his defense but they they understand the story and it touches them in the heart yeah um which is what the stories are supposed to do because that's how they get remembered right and then you know and as I tell the kids you know as the stories touch you and they stay with you and someday you're going to tell this story to another child or to your own child or to a grandchild or even to your parents or grandparents that makes you a storyteller too and that's how the stories have survived you know our people have been here you know according to um the archaeologists we've been here for 12,000 years according to us we've been here forever we were put here specifically by creator this is where we're supposed to be this is why we're here um and we didn't have written language the way that the europeans have written language we didn't have an alphabet and the way the stories were continued was one one person to another they were the school they were the education of the people they taught the people how to be and how not to be and how to live well with one another and examples like coyote were you know why you shouldn't misbehave and what happens because of it and because the stories are passed on from one person to the next because it's touched them in the heart the stories live yes you know and the stories are just out there waiting to have a voice and I've I've been blessed and honored to be chosen to be that voice to be one of the voices so I try to honor that as well as I can and I have a lot of fun with it and and it's a we've always been well received everywhere we've gone because people people want to hear stories and it's funny because we're especially in the schools um I think sometimes the teachers get more engrossed in the stories than the kids do which is wonderful yeah it reminds me so much too of using music in that way of sharing stories and feelings and and uh I know music is a healer and can bring you change your moods and yes rise up your energy and it's just wonderful and you do same thing with storytelling thank you I really love it