Week 2 story: A Guiding Spirit

 

 A Guiding Spirit

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This story can now be view in my portfolio here.

There was once a native American man who was tasked to go out and find food for his tribe. The tribe had recently fallen upon hard times and supplies were running scarce. Atop that, the man belongs to a small tribe and was one of few that able enough to venture out and find food for his fellow tribesmen. He made his preparations before setting out. He gathered tools to help ensure his survival. He readied his weapons for the prey that he was hoping to happen upon. Lastly, before he set out, he began to gather some basic rations for the journey ahead, but soon made the decision that he best leave it all for the tribe.  He set out in the forest, and it was not long until he was overtaken by hunger. The man scavenged as best he could, yet he was spending much greater amounts of energy then he was gaining.

Nearing the end of the third day, the man hadn’t seen so much as the tracks of an animal. He was slowly becoming demoralized over this quest that he had taken on. He was exhausted from all this hunting; He was becoming delirious from the starvation; and he was losing all hope due to their being no sign of wild game. Still, the man knew that he must continue on, in order to save his tribe. He found a nice clearing to make camp for the night and immediately passed out due to the extreme mental and physical fatigue the he was overcome by.

It was not long into this slumber that he was awoken by a spirit. The spirit said to the man “do not lose hope my child, for you will soon find the food that you desire”. After hearing this, the man regained his moral and began the next day reinvigorated. Hearing that he would soon find food gave him the confidence that he so desperately needed to press on. He searched hard all through the fourth day and just knew that he was sure to find food for his tribe. Alas, even with the spirits guidance, he was still empty handed at the end of the fourth day. He was also feeling very weary, for he had expended so much extra energy because he knew that he was soon to find food.

This night, the man had barely started to set up camp before he passed out due to exhaustion. Regardless of this extreme fatigue, the man was shortly awoken by the spirit again. The spirit said to the man “you cannot succumb to your exhaustion my child, press on for you are close to the food that you desire”. Again, the man began the new day reinvigorated, but this time he could feel his body was nearing its limits. The man marched on and just when the sun light began to fade, so did his faith in the spirit. He realized this was but a fool’s journey and chose carefully the place he may lay for his final slumber. He set his head on the soft dirt and prepared to join his ancestors.

The man was abruptly awoken by the spirit. She said to him “have faith in me as your tribesmen have faith in you. You are soon to find food; you must press on”. The man awoke to see a new morn. He had gone to sleep for what he thought to be his last, yet here he lays still alive. He decides the spirit must be right if he is still alive, and he decides that he must press on. He musters up what little strength he has left and continues his journey. He eventually comes to a river, and as though bestowed to him by the spirit herself, there is a hearty young buck on the other side. He uses the last of his strength to quickly and quietly ready his shot. He sends the arrow, with the last of his might, sailing through the head of the buck. It falls to the ground with a thud. Alas, he has found the food that may yet save him and his tribe.

The man walks away from this story a hero. He knows that he can put all of his faith into the spirits, for they will never misguide him. He was told by the spirits that he would soon find food if he kept going, and he did eventually find food with enough persistence. But I ask you this. Is there not a chance that the man knew he must find food, and that there was not another option? Could the spirit be no more than a hallucination brought on by hunger and exhaustion? Is the fact that he eventually found food not just mere coincidence and “soon” but a relative frame of time, something to keep him pressing forward? Could this guiding spirit of his simply be his own spirit, his will to survive, refusing to yield, and guide him to just keep moving forward in the hopes that there may be food? No, not if you ask the man. The spirit saved him and his tribe, and this story will be passed on from generation to generation, and all the children will grow up knowing that the spirits will guide and protect them.That is the lesson that was learned through this one man's journey. 

Author's Notes: This story was based upon The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost. I used that story as a vague outline when creating this one. The last line of that story made me ponder what sort of psychological things I could add into a story, and I guess this is what the outcome was.  A story of an Indian who is guided by a spirit, be that his own or a ghost. In one of my psychology classes I am learning about how people make connections and form beliefs around strong positive correlations, like touching a stove and it being hot or needing to find food and then finding food. I wanted to make a story that could display how we form these beliefs based on these correlations, be them causal or coincidental. Beyond that, I had hoped to maybe get across how deep these beliefs can run and how they are not easily broken.

The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).