04/08/2024
Long ago, when the earth and sky were new, there were seven sisters who lived in a village. The sisters loved to dance, and every day they danced together in the forest, following each other wherever they went. However, one evening, they heard a glorious song in the distance that seemed to call to them. Without speaking, they danced off towards the source of the song, forgetting about their home and suppers. They danced through the woods and into the forest.
As the sisters danced, they found themselves moving higher and higher and towards a beautiful sound that was growing louder and more mysterious. Suddenly, their feet felt lighter, and they saw that everything they had ever known was far below them, and they knew they were dancing up into the sky. They continued to dance towards the sound, and the stars and moon seemed to watch over them.
It was during this dance that the sisters met a great black bear, who sang a song to them. Her tail was strewn with stars, and around her neck, she wore a shimmering necklace of stars. Her nose, toes, and belly twinkled, and there was a belt of shining stars around her belly. The sisters danced closer to her, and the bear continued to sing. They danced for hours, and the bear sang, and her twinkle grew brighter.
However, after many hours, the sisters looked up and saw how very dark it was and how far away they had traveled, and they could not remember the way home. When they looked towards the moon, she told them that this was their new home now. The stars and the moon loved how they danced and wished for them to live in the sky with them.
The smallest sister heard her mother's voice and decided to leave her sisters to join her mother. As she raced down, she left behind a bright star trailing her. When she finally landed on the ground, she vanished and, in her place, was simply a hole. The mother wept upon seeing this and pleaded with her other daughters to stay in the sky and dance with the great black bear.
"Yes, mother," they called, "we will stay in the sky."
Down below the mother sat and wept, and soon she saw a small green shoot spring up from the hole. Quickly it grew, higher and higher. This was the youngest sister reaching up for her sisters. Higher the shoot grew until at last it reached the six sisters, and they cried, "Welcome back, sister."
The seven stars are called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. During a clear winter's night, one may catch a glimpse of this constellation in the south. When the new moon appears in January, Pleiades reaches its highest point in the sky.
As told by John Gonzalez
Standing Bear Network
Illustration by John Gonzalez