How Butterflies Came to Be (A Papago tale)
Retold by Susan Selk (Fairfield Public Schools permission to copy)
Long ago, Earth-Maker created the world and Iitoi, our Elder Brother, created living things. Not long after, Iitoi was out walking. It was just after the rains had come, and the desert was blooming everywhere. Iitoi climbed to the top of a mesa, and from there he could see a village of cone-shaped homes with wooden frames, covered with brush and dirt, down below. The women were grinding corn, and the children seemed happy, playing stick games. Seeing them play made Elder Brother happy.
Then a faded leaf floated by, and it caused Elder Brother to become sad. It reminded him that nothing lasts forever. Winter would be there soon, and the beautiful colors of the desert would disappear. Days would grow short and nights would be cold again.
Iitoi wished that everyone could hold on to those beautiful colors, just a little bit longer. He thought it would make the children happy, and in turn he would be happy again.
Iitoi always had his creation bag with him. It was a special bag, and could hold whatever he needed it to carry. He filled his bag with all the colors of the desert. The white of the cornmeal, the green from the pine needles, and yellow from the fallen leaves. He added the pinks, oranges and purples of the flowers, and the black from the beans. He caught some gold from the rays or the sun and blue from the sky, and placed them in the bag. He added some red berries that had been dropped by the birds nearby. Then, when he heard the birds singing, he took some of their songs and placed them in the bag also.
“Come here. I have something for you.” Elder Brother called out to the children. Several of them ran over to see what Iitoi had for them. “Open it,” he said. “There’s a surprise in there for all of you.” He gave the bag to the children and they opened it. Out flew the very first butterflies. They fluttered around the children’s heads and landed on their arms. Their wings were as bright as the sunlight and were all the colors of the desert. They were white and green and yellow, pink and orange and purple, black and blue and gold. They looked like flowers as they danced and sang above the children’s heads.
The children were very happy, but when the birds heard these new creatures singing, they went to Elder Brother.
“You have given the most beautiful colors of the desert to these new creatures, and you have given them our song also. We were here first. When we were made, we each got our own song. Now you have given our songs away, to creatures who have more beautiful colors than we do.”
Iitoi realized that they were right. "The songs belonged to you. I should not have given them away.” And so Iitoi, our Elder Brother gave the songs back to the birds.
So to this day, butterflies dance in the sky when they fly, but they are silent. And their colors are a gift of beauty, just as Elder brother wanted them to be.
Then a faded leaf floated by, and it caused Elder Brother to become sad. It reminded him that nothing lasts forever. Winter would be there soon, and the beautiful colors of the desert would disappear. Days would grow short and nights would be cold again.
Iitoi wished that everyone could hold on to those beautiful colors, just a little bit longer. He thought it would make the children happy, and in turn he would be happy again.
Iitoi always had his creation bag with him. It was a special bag, and could hold whatever he needed it to carry. He filled his bag with all the colors of the desert. The white of the cornmeal, the green from the pine needles, and yellow from the fallen leaves. He added the pinks, oranges and purples of the flowers, and the black from the beans. He caught some gold from the rays or the sun and blue from the sky, and placed them in the bag. He added some red berries that had been dropped by the birds nearby. Then, when he heard the birds singing, he took some of their songs and placed them in the bag also.
“Come here. I have something for you.” Elder Brother called out to the children. Several of them ran over to see what Iitoi had for them. “Open it,” he said. “There’s a surprise in there for all of you.” He gave the bag to the children and they opened it. Out flew the very first butterflies. They fluttered around the children’s heads and landed on their arms. Their wings were as bright as the sunlight and were all the colors of the desert. They were white and green and yellow, pink and orange and purple, black and blue and gold. They looked like flowers as they danced and sang above the children’s heads.
The children were very happy, but when the birds heard these new creatures singing, they went to Elder Brother.
“You have given the most beautiful colors of the desert to these new creatures, and you have given them our song also. We were here first. When we were made, we each got our own song. Now you have given our songs away, to creatures who have more beautiful colors than we do.”
Iitoi realized that they were right. "The songs belonged to you. I should not have given them away.” And so Iitoi, our Elder Brother gave the songs back to the birds.
So to this day, butterflies dance in the sky when they fly, but they are silent. And their colors are a gift of beauty, just as Elder brother wanted them to be.