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===The Story of Corn and Medicine=== The Story of Corn and Medicine begins with the creation of the earth and animals. Earth was created out of mud that grew into land. Animals began exploring the earth, and it was the Buzzard that created valleys and mountains in the Cherokee land by the flapping of his wings. After some time, the earth became habitable for the animals, once the mud of the earth had dried and the sun had been raised up for light.<ref name="Norton" /> According to the Cherokee medicine ceremony, the animals and plants had to stay awake for seven nights. The reasons weren't well known. Only the owl, panther, bat, and unnamed others were able to fulfill the requirements of the ceremony, so these animals were given the gift of night vision, which allowed them to hunt easily at night. Similarly, the only trees able to remain awake for the seven days were the cedar, pine, spruce, holly, laurel, and oak. These trees were given the gift of staying green year-round.<ref name="ParkerCitation" /> The first woman argued with the first man and left their home. The first man, helped by the sun, tried tempting her with blueberries and blackberries to return, but was unsuccessful. He finally persuaded her to return by giving to her strawberries.<ref>{{cite news| last = Neufeld | first = Rob | title = Visiting Our Past: Asheville before Asheville: Cherokee girls, De Soto's crimes | work = [[Asheville Citizen-Times]] | date = July 29, 2018 | url = https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2018/07/29/visiting-our-past-asheville-before-asheville-cherokee-de-soto/834579002/ | access-date = July 29, 2018 }}</ref> Humans began to hunt animals and quickly grew in numbers. The population grew so rapidly that a rule was established that women can only have one child per year. Two early humans, a man and his wife, were Kanáti and Selu. Their names meant "The Lucky Hunter" and "Corn", respectively. Kanáti would hunt and bring an animal home for Selu to prepare. Kanáti and Selu had a child, and their child befriended another boy who had been created out of the blood of the slaughtered animals. The family treated this boy like one of their own, except they called him "The Wild Boy". Kanáti consistently brought animals home when he went hunting, and one day, the boys decided to secretly follow him. They discovered that Kanáti would move a rock concealing a cave, and an animal would come out of the cave only to be killed by Kanáti. The boys secretly returned to the rock and opened the entrance to the cave. The boys didn't realize that when the cave was opened many different animals escaped. Kanáti saw the animals and realized what must have happened. He journeyed to the cave and sent the boys home so he could try to catch some of the escaped animals for eating. This explains why people must hunt for food now. The boys returned to Selu, who went to get food from the storehouse. She instructed the boys to wait behind while she was gone, but they disobeyed and followed her. They discovered Selu's secret, which was that she would rub her stomach to fill baskets with corn, and she would rub her sides to fill baskets with beans. Selu knew her secret was out and made the boys one last meal. She and Kanáti then explained to the boys that the two of them would die because their secrets had been discovered. Along with Kanáti and Selu dying, the easy life the boys had become accustomed to would also die. However, if the boys dragged Selu's body seven times outside a circle, and then seven times over the soil within the circle, a crop of corn would appear in the morning if the boys stayed up all night to watch. The boys did not fulfill the instructions completely, which is why corn can only grow in certain places around the earth. Today, corn is still grown, but it does not come overnight. During the early times, the plants, animals, and people all lived together as friends, but the dramatic population growth of humans crowded the earth, leaving the animals with no room to roam. Humans also would kill the animals for meat or trample them for being in the way. As a punishment for these horrendous acts, the animals created diseases to infect the humans. Like other creatures, the plants decided to meet, and they came to the conclusion that the animals' actions had to be too harsh and that they would provide a cure for every disease.<ref name=UofGeorgia>{{cite web|title=The Story of Corn and Medicine|url=http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSCorn&Medicine.html|website=Creation Stories from around the World|publisher=University of Georgia|access-date=12 November 2016|archive-date=30 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030173020/http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSCorn%26Medicine.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This explains why all kinds of plant life help to cure many varieties of diseases. Medicine was created in order to counteract the animals' punishments.
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