Editing Choctaw mythology (section)

== Mythological tales ==

=== Origin of Poison ===
In a shallow pool of water where the Choctaw people would bathe, there was a poison vine. All that would touch the vine would die. The vine liked the Choctaw people and did not want them to die, but could not warn them when its poison would infect the water. It decided to rid itself of its poison and called the chiefs of the snakes, bees, and wasps because they had all been trampled on and accidentally killed by the men. The chiefs of these small creatures came to an agreement to take and share the vine's poison among themselves as a warning and deterrent against being trampled.

The bees were the first to take the poison, and said that they will take a small amount so as to protect their hives. They too liked the Choctaw people and did not want to kill them with the poison. To show that they were not man's enemy, the bees promised that, after they had been forced to use their stinger, they would die.

The next to take the poison were the wasps, who said they would buzz in the ear of man as a warning before they attacked to protect their nests.

Finally, the snakes took the rest of the poison. They promised that they would always warn man with their rattle before they strike, in order to give man a chance to flee.

From then on, it was only the foolish persons who did not heed the warnings of the small, who were hurt from the vine's poison.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/HowPoisonCameIntoTheWorld-Choctaw.html|title=How Poison came into the World – A Choctaw Legend|website=firstpeople.us|access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref>

=== Brothers Tashka and Walo ===
Two brothers named Tashka and Walo followed the sun for many years from childhood to adulthood. They would follow it throughout its life in the day, until it died over the horizon in the evening. One day, the sun rested over a great expanse of water, and the boys swam into it, going underneath.

They emerged in the home of the sun, finding women all around. These women were the moon and the stars. The moon was the sun's wife and asked the brothers how they entered this realm. The brothers said that they followed the sun for many years since they were boys. The sun then told his wife to boil water, and he placed the brothers in it, keeping them there until their skin fell off. The sun asked if they knew their way back home. The boys replied "no", as they looked over the edge of the sky, seeing land, but were not able to discern their home from such a height.

The sun asked why they had followed him for all these years, to which the brothers replied only to see where he had died. The sun agreed to send them home, but instructed them not to talk for four days after they returned, or they would surely die. He called a giant buzzard to fly them home, and after they had landed, an old man recognized them and went to tell their mother. The mother, frightened since she had not seen them for many days, made them tell her where they had been. They told her of their journey and said that they will now surely die because they did not keep their promise to the sun of silence for four days.

After this the mother was very worried, but they all returned home. The brothers told the tales of the many years they had followed the sun. After telling all of what they knew, they died and entered heaven.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Choctaw tales|last=Mould, Tom|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781617030918|oclc=777549428}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/BrothersWhoFollowedTheSun-Choctaw.html|title=Brothers who followed The Sun – A Choctaw Legend|website=firstpeople.us|access-date=2019-04-14}}</ref>

=== Dog's Lifespan ===
Soon after the Great Spirit created all the animals and humans, he asked each how long their lives should be. The dog was the first to respond, excited by the promise of a long life, and asked for 10 years. The rest of the animals did not know how long they wanted, so the spirit gave them the years he thought was best.

He gave humans three centuries of life and told the dog that, although its life was short, its quality of life will be determined by its master. If the master was good to the dog, feeding, loving, and caring for it, it will prosper and live long. If the master neglected and abused it, it will live a short and miserable life.<ref name=":1" />

===Origin of Grasshoppers and Ants===
During the emergence from {{lang|cho|Nanih Waiya}}, the grasshoppers journeyed with man to reach the surface and spread in all directions. But in the travel to the surface, the mother of the grasshoppers was stepped on by the men, which stopped the rest of her children from reaching the surface. Those already above ground spread in all directions, just as the first tribes of man had done. From then on the Choctaw called the creatures {{lang|cho|eske ilay}} ("mother dead").

As the men emerged from the hill and spread throughout the lands, they would trample on many other grasshoppers, killing and harming the orphaned children. Fearing that they would all be killed as the men multiplied while continuing to emerge from {{lang|cho|Nanih Waiya}}, the grasshoppers pleaded to {{lang|cho|Aba}}, the great spirit, for aid. Soon after, {{lang|cho|Aba}} closed the passageway, trapping many men within the cavern who had yet to reach the surface.

In an act of mercy, {{lang|cho|Aba}} transformed these men into ants, allowing them to rule the caverns in the ground for the rest of history.<ref name=":1" />