 A LEGEND --- THE FIRST MOCCASINS
There was once a great chief of the Plains who had very tender feet. Some
laughed at him but kept the smiles off their faces, when he hobbled past, as
others also suffered when he did. Actually, all of them were in the same
canoe, having no horses and only bare feet, but luckily very few of them had tender feet. Unhappily,
the medicine man, who was an advisor to the Chief-of-the-Tender-Feet, was often blamed and the chief
told him that he had better come up with some way of solving his problem or suffer the consequences.
The medicine man at last hit upon a plan. He had some women of the tribe weave a long, narrow mat
of reeds, and when the big chief had to go anywhere four braves unrolled the mat in front of him so
that he walked in comfort. One day, the braves carelessly unrolled the mat over a place where flint
arrowheads had been chipped. When the big chief's tender feet were wounded by these chips, he
uttered a series of whoops that made the nearby aspen tree leaves quiver so hard that they have been
trembling ever since.
That night the poor medicine man was given an impossible task by the angry chief: 'Cover the
whole earth with mats so thick that my feet will not suffer. If you fail, you will die when the moon is
round.' The frightened maker of magic crept back to his lodge. Suddenly, he saw the hide of an elk
which he had killed, pegged to the ground, and an idea flashed into his groping mind. He sent out
many hunters and many women were busy for many days. On the day before the moon was round, the
medicine man went to the chief and told him that he had covered as much of the earth as was possible
in so short a time. When the chief looked from the door of his lodge, he saw many paths of skin
stretching as far as he could see. The chief thought that this time the magic of the medicine man had
solved his tenderfoot situation for all time - but this was not to be! One day, as the big chief was
walking along on one of his smooth, tough leather paths, he saw a pretty maiden of the tribe gliding
ahead of him. He set off on the run to catch up with her, his eyes fixed on the back of She-Who-
Smiled, and so his feet strayed from the narrow path and landed in a bunch of thorns! His yells made
the Indians in the distant village think that they were being attacked by wildcats. The chief told the
medicine man that in two suns he would be sent to the land of shadows.
That night, the medicine man climbed to the top of a hill in search of advice from friendly spirits,.
He slept, and in a dream vision, he was shown the answer to his problem. Amid vivid flashes of
lightning, he tore down the steep hillside, wounding his bare feet and legs, but he did not stop until he
was safely inside his lodge. He worked all night and when the warriors, who were to send him on the
shadow trail came for him, he was ready. His cheerful smile surprised those who saw him pass. 'Wah,
he is brave!' said the men of the tribe. 'He is very brave!' said the women of the tribe.
The big chief was waiting just outside his lodge. He gave the guards swift, stern orders. Before the
maker of magic could be led away, he asked to say a few words to the chief. 'Speak!' said the chief,
sorry to lose a clever medicine man who was very good at most kinds of magic. Even the chief knew
that covering the entire earth with leather was an impossible task.
The medicine man quickly knelt beside the chief, unrolled two objects which he took from his
bundle, and slipped one of them on each foot of the chief. The chief seemed to be wearing a pair of
bear's hairless feet, instead of bare feet. He was puzzled at first as he looked
at the elk hide handicraft of his medicine man. 'Big chief,' the medicine man
exclaimed joyfully, 'I have found the way to cover the earth with leather! For
you, O chief, from now on the earth will always be covered with
leather.' And so it was. -- A Plains Indian story
Great Salt Lake Council