Why The Moon Glows

By: Vanessa

Long ago when the night was black, in a small village near a river a little boy sat on a rock splashing his feet in the water. His name was Kanata. Every night after everyone had gone to sleep Kanata would sneak out of his village and come to sit on his rock. Tonight Kanaka thought that he would like to have a sun for the night, but not a bright sun just a glow, to light the dark night. The next night, Kanaka brought a torch. He broke a twig off of a tree, then he stood up on his rock and lit the twig on fire and with all of his might he threw the twig into the sky. He tried this every night for a long time. When Kanaka saw this was not working he decided to go see the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit lived in the sky so he had to be able to fly to get to the Great Spirit. After thinking very hard and considering all of the possibilities he decided he wanted to become a blue jay. Kanata went to see the Shaman of their village. Kanata said to the Shaman “I want to become a blue jay, but I don’t know how to transform myself into one.” The Shaman answered, “If you want to turn yourself into a bird, any type of bird, then you must go and see the bird sprit.” “Where does the bird sprit live?” asked Kanata. “In the forest with the birds. But first you have to live with birds and be kind to the birds and then they will take you to the bird spirit to transform you into a bird.” the Shaman told Kanata. Kanata and the Shaman lit a fire, burnt sweet grass and chanted for Kanata’s good luck. The next day Kanata went to the forest and he found some birds singing in a tree. Kanata had been in the forest many other times and he had heard the birds sing. But this time it seemed different. It was almost as if he could understand the birds. When he listened carefully he could just make out what they were saying. On the first day of living with the birds, Kanata gathered roots and berries to eat, and then he gathered some dead leaves to sleep on. He covered the dead grass with his deerskin. Then he went to the stream and he put some water in his bag made of moose hide. He set up a fire pit and lit a fire. On the second day Kanata gathered some wild rice and some more berries. He mixed the berries with the pemmican in the sack around his neck. On the third day Kanata went to explore the forest. On the fourth day he got some water. Then he spotted a robin who flew by and landed in a near by tree Then the robin flew over to Kanata and circled around his head a few times. He said, “Follow me! Follow me!” He flew slowly and Kanata followed him. The robin brought Kanata to the bird spirit. The bird spirit asked the robin to leave. Then the bird spirit asked the Kanata why he had come. Kanata told him that he wanted to become a blue jay. The bird spirit told Kanata that to become a blue jay he had to pluck a feather from a blue jay and bring it back to him. Kanata went out into the forest to look for a blue jay. Along the way Kanata met a blackbird that said,“What are you doing here?” “I’m looking for a blue jay.” Kanata replied. Why are you looking for a blue jay?” "The black bird asked eagerly. “I’m looking for a blue jay to pluck one of its feather’s” Kanata said “Why would you want to pluck a blue jay’s feather when you can pluck one off my feathers.” “I’m bringing a blue jay’s feather to the bird spirit, so he can turn me into a blue jay.” replied Kanata. Then the black bird said, “Oh, I didn’t know that. But why would you want to be a blue jay?” “I want to become a blue jay because I’m going to fly to the Great Spirit to ask him for some sort of glow in the night.” Kanata said annoyed. “What do you call this sort of glow in the night asked the black bird curiously. “Well” said Kanata “I’m really not sure yet.” “I know!” said the blackbird excitedly “You should call this type of night time glow a moon!” “Why should I call it a moon?” asked Kanata confused. “You should call it a moon because my name is Moon and I’m the one who practically made the glow in the night. Moon is a perfect name for it”, the crow answered. “Well then Moon, I’ll be seeing you later because I have to go see a blue jay.” And with that Kanata walked off to find a blue jay. A little while later Kanata found a blue jay and Kanata explained to the blue jay why he wanted to pluck one of his feathers, but he simply would not let Kanata pluck just one of his feathers. Kanata thought that this blue jay was just grumpy, but little did he know the blackbird had already spread rumors about a little boy who would be telling lies and wanting to pluck one of their feathers to give to the chief of their village.

Kanata went to another blue jay that looked even nicer than the first. Kanata explained to this blue jay why he wanted to pluck its feather, but it wouldn’t let Kanata. So Kanata looked around very hard and chose another blue jay to ask. This blue jay wouldn’t let this blue jay let Kanata pluck its feather either. Kanata was so sad! He sat down on a tree stump and said, “If I can’t pluck a feather from a blue jay I can’t go back to the bird spirit and I’ll have to go back to my village. If I can’t even pluck a feather from a blue jay I’m never going to be able to go hunting.” A young blue jay was listening and she felt sorry for him, so she plucked out one of her feathers and dropped it. The feather floated gracefully to the ground and landed in front of Kanata. Kanata looked around but he couldn’t see a blue jay anywhere. He picked up the feather and he turned into a blue jay! It was like magic. Then he flew off and before he got out of the forest he saw the blackbird. I see that you must have plucked a feather from a blue jay!” said the blackbird.“ I think that you better take me along.” Kanata said, “I think I’ll be fine on my own.” The black- bird asked Kanata “Are you sure you won’t get lost? I mean there’s lots of clouds up there and they’re always moving, it would be easy to get lost.” “If it’s easy to get lost for anyone how would you be any help to me?” Kanata asked. “Me?” the blackbird said suddenly. “Yes you, who else would I be talking to?” Kanata said. The blackbird was really starting to get on his nerves. “Oh. Well I have a great sense of direction and I’m very brave”, the blackbird said proudly. Kanata replied, “ I have a pretty keen sense of direction myself and I’ll be just fine without you! Besides you don’t know left from right!” Kanata said. “I do so!” the black bird retorted. “Prove it!” Kanata said back. “Fine then I will!” then the blackbird pointed up and said, “That’s right.” Then he pointed down and said “And that’s left.” Kanata pointed up that’s not right.” Then he pointed down “That’s not left.” Then he pointed towards the mountains and said, “That’s right.” Then he pointed deeper into the forest “That’s left.” The blackbird said