Thursday’s Tale: Brother Sun and Sister Moon

Today, I’m sharing another story  from Walter J. Hoffman’s book, The Menomini Indians, circa 1888. Historically, the Menomini tribe occupied a territory in upper Michigan and Wisconsin.  Today’s tale is about the sun and moon.

Once on a time Ke´so, the Sun, and his sister, Tipä´ke‘so, the Moon (“last-night sun”) lived together in a wigwam in the east. The Sun dressed himself to go hunting, took his bow and arrows and left. He was absent such a long time that when his sister came out into the sky to look for her brother she became alarmed. She traveled twenty days looking for the Sun; but finally he returned, bringing with him a bear which he had shot.

The sun’s sister still comes up into the sky and travels for twenty days; then she dies, and for four days nothing is seen of her. At the end of that time, however, she returns to life and travels twenty days more.

Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all. Feel free to join in.