Whippoorwill
Oneida Sound Recording
Description: Feeding children told by Eddie Metoxen to Andrew Beechtree and read by Amos Christjohn
Written text: Internlinear Translation (PDF)
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English Translation
Whippoorwill
In the traditional way the Oneidas just used to hunt and more of their food came from that. And it was the way back then as it is today that some were mean and stingy. So this is where she will step.
They say there was a family living deep in the woods, a couple and their daughter. So one day he went hunting and got delayed – maybe he had gone farther than he wanted. She cooked at the time they usually eat and she even fried up some venison. When the old man had not yet returned, she just turned the meat over and over. Their daughter was just speaking and she asked for something to eat just pointing at the meat and saying, "Is it cooked, Ma, is it cooked?"
But her mother just replied, "Get away from there and be quiet too." So the child stopped her noisy talk and she went outside where suddenly to her surprise it seemed as if the child was talking from above. So she ran outside looking around. She couldn't find her. All she saw was a small bird climbing around as if looking for food and saying, "Is it cooked?" She went back inside and grabbed the dish. Then she went back outside holding the dish of his meat. Then it had just gone too far. She was flying around a certain ways off and saying, "Ma, it is cooked."
This is how the red headed woodpecker came into being.
More Texts
This traditional Oneida story is one of several. For more, see our listing of Oneida Sample Texts.
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