The Kind Hawk - a Hopi Legend

Long ago, in a Hopi village, a little boy lived with his mother, who loved him very much.  She dressed him in a beautiful shirt and moccasins, covered with the most intricate embroidery.

  

 One day, the boy went out to play.  he started to wander far from the village, across the plains.  There, he was spotted by another tribe.  The raced in and carried him off.  The other tribe brought the boy to their camp.  Once there, the women took his shirt and moccasins, and gave them to the Chief's son.  While the other children played all day, the little Hopi boy worked and worked.  They gave him little to ea.  Soon the boy grew thin and ill.


Near the camp, there was a high bluff.  And atop the high bluff there lived a hawk.  Each day the hawk looked out at the world, spread beneath him.  And each day the hawk coasted on the thermals, and gliding over the camp where the boy worked and worked.  One day, when all the tribe members were gathered at the Chief's lodge, the hawk swooped down and hovered over the boy's head.

The boy was frightened.  The past weeks had been difficult and sad for him.  He could not imagine life becoming even worse.  "Please do not kill me!" he begged the hawk.


The hawk reassured him.  "I mean you no harm," he told the boy.  "I have watched you and seen your troubles.  Hop on my back.  Hold onto my wings and I will fly you away from this place."

The boy jumped on the hawk's back.  Anything, he reasoned, would be better than his life here.  He held on tight.  The hawk flew up in the air.  With the boy on his back, the hawk glided over the place where the tribe members were gathered.  When they saw the boy on the hawk's back they were amazed and angry.

The hawk flew to the highest bluff and set the boy down.  "Wait here," he told him.  


Then the hawk flew back to the village.  He swooped straight to the Chief's son and, using his fierce beak, pulled the shirt right off him.  This he carried to the boy.  Then the hawk returned to the camp.  He dived straight for the moccasins, pulling them right off the feet of the Chief's son.  With these, the hawk returned to the bluff and the boy.


There, the hawk dressed the boy.  Then he fed him meat of a jack rabbit, and other fine foods.  Finally, with the boy dressed and fed, the hawk flew him back to his mother.


And then, without waiting for thanks or praise, he flew back to his bluff and looked out at the world again.

Netsuke pendants on etsy

The Eagle

by Alfred Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

 A tiger's eye eagle can be found here.

Real eagles can be found far from the tiger's eye eagles.

The Eagle Feather

The Eagle Feather
by Randy Macey, Mohawk



When the world was new, the Creator made all the birds. He colored their feathers like a bouquet of flowers. The Creator then gave each a distinct song to sing. The Creator instructed the birds to greet each new day with a chorus of their songs. Of all the birds, our Creator chose the Eagle to be the leader.



The Eagle flies the highest and sees the furthest of all creatures. The Eagle is a messenger to the Creator. During the Four Sacred Rituals, we will wear an Eagle Feather in our hair. To wear or to hold the Eagle Feather causes our Creator to take immediate notice. With the Eagle Feather the Creator is honored in the highest.



When one receives an Eagle Feather, that person is being acknowledged with gratitude, with love, and with ultimate respect. Sacred tobacco must be burned for that feather. In this way the Eagle and the Creator are notified of the name of the new Eagle Feather Holder. The holder of the Eagle Feather must ensure that anything that changes the natural state of ones mind (Alcohol and Drugs) must never come in contact with the sacred Eagle Feather. The keeper of the feather then makes a little home where the feather will be kept.



The Eagle feather must be fed. One feeds the Eagle Feather by holding or wearing the feather at sacred ceremonies. By doing this, the Eagle Feather is recharged with sacred energy. One must never abuse, never disrespect, and never contaminate his Eagle Feather.

For more eagle stories, go here.



For your eagle charm, go here.
And for an Eagle Cam, check here.