Native american Storytellers; The story of the giants

this is a story about never giving up a story of giants there's a long ridge in central Tripp County South Dakota he looks out of place it was a time when it wasn't there they say it was a summer of storms when red caps people were camped south with a great muddy now known as the Missouri River plowed and plumb were married in the moon of ripening berries two evenings later a storm blew in big black clouds rolled across the sky and the Thunder shouted their angry eyes flashing with the light of a hundred Suns but the storm was not the worst thing that happened something dark and ugly came out of the night ripping into the village cloud and plumb huddled in her Lodge from the darkness to her cries of terror women and children screamed something ripped into their Lodge a mountainous black finger it was er the giant with the strength of a thousand men the blackest of hearts and a bottomless hunger a handle larger than a grown man snatch plum away from cloud and tossed her into a mouth like a large hole in the ground and she was gone via tour part the village to satisfy his hunger no one could stop him he grabbed girls and young women and tossed them into his wide slobbering mouth and he was gone into the blackness of the stormy night by dawn the storm weakened red calf gathered the counsel of all men to consider what to do there was no use to do anything some said he is too big and powerful moved the village and hope he doesn't return some advised cloud didn't intend to make the move he was angry and announced he would gather his weapons and strikeout after eeeh seven others joined him eight young men headed east armed with Lance's knives and bows and arrows yes trail was easy to follow his footprints was so deep rainwater collected in him they found him asleep on a hillside he was an ugly beast naked and unwashed twigs and branches caught in his long tangled hair cloud and the others had never seen here they knew him as an imaginary creature and his stories told by the old ones now there he was bigger than any living thing inside his stomach or plum and the other girl's black Fox asked the question and all their minds how would defeat such a thing we will think of something cloud said he arose and walked eastward flattening everything in his path they followed until a giant stopped at dusk to sleep in a gully the young men made camp and clouds suddenly thought of an idea to kill him we will trap him he announced he has a weakness he is always hungry we will use it to trap him I will offer myself I will get him to chase me and now will lead him into the trap a hole in a ground that we will dig through the night they talked six would dig a hole work loud and one other would decoy you to the trap the place where the trap was a dried Creek where the ground was sand and easy to dig it made stone axes the digging started in cloud and Yolo Hawk left to find the giant they would keep him decoyed when the signal fire was lit they would know the trap was ready then it would lead him to it they found him easily what you never bathed and could be located at great distances when the wind was right the others dug and dug dirt piled up on each side of the trench as they dug deeper and deeper days and nights past the diggers worked without rest out on a prairie eeeyah set out with long strides cloud in yellow hawk ran to keep pace all went well until he Oh spotted them with a yell of surprise and anger he stumbled after them the ground shook Lea's feet were like boulders crashing to the earth yet they were able to stay away from him it was a dangerous game and cloud in yellow hog grew tired because it could not rest back to the west the trench was growing deeper and deeper the others worked their fingers bloody the thought of their women inside the ugly giant stomach was enough to make them work harder the trench was as deep as five man standing on top of one another it was finished it was time to signal cloud in yellow hawk the diggers gathered driftwood and dried brush to cover the trench then another pile of wood was set on fire cloud and yellow hawk saw the fire in the distance the others had finished the trap now cloud would have to lead to John he prayed and made offerings and when after the angry and dangerous eeeyah it was easy to get him to follow but to stay alive cloud had to keep out of the Giants long reach the chase continued through the day and cloud was tiring he led a across the Prairie and toward the trench the others saw you approaching and hid if he fell into the trench they had to collapse the mounds of earth into the hole closer he who came looming larger and larger they saw a man running before him it was cloud stumbling badly soaked in sweat he ran only on sheer willpower he fell many times the fault mightily to stand and push on on a grassy slope cloud lost his footing and slid his hand came down like a fallen tree cloud rolled and barely avoided being flattened but he had no more strength he was too exhausted to be afraid he had given everything he had he could do no more closing his eyes he waited for ear to crush the life out of him but somewhere deep inside he found a pebble of strength one last spark of hope to save plum any other women with a bellow of rage he rolled away from eels outstretched fingers and leaped to his feet the ground shook under iya as cloud ran for the trench behind him his mouth was curled into a snarl his yellow teeth bared in his long black hair swirling like black smoke cloud reached a trench and was halfway across when he heard a shout of triumph and he has cry of surprise and a loud cracking eeeh fall a cloud and broke through the trench covering was far too heavy and he went down into the trench eeeyah fell to the bottom caught firmly in the whole dust billet upward as he struggled filling the air with his deafening yells of rage the others collapsed the dirt down into the trench he is yells turned to whimpers his arm reached up one hand clawed at the edge of the hole but he could not free himself he s struggled with all his might coughing as dirt covered his head his struggles weakened and he called no more a silence fell over the land all the young men stood gaping at the dead giant somehow they had defeated it cloud jumped into the trench and sliced open deer stomach foul air and a green yellow slime leaked out he reached in and pulled out the body of a girl more dead than alive with a yell the other young men jumped into the pit as cloud enlarged of the opening and found more bodies all the young women and girls were barely alive the young men pulled them out of the giant stomach and took him the nearby stream in its cool waters they were gently revived and cleaned the young man filled in the hole to cover his body and the dirt piled higher and higher until it became a long ridge in time grass and cactus grew on it cloud and plum were old together they raised two children along the way and heard the laughter several grandchildren on stormy summer nights plum would gather her grandchildren and tell them the story of a terrible ugly giant the little ones would ask gram a clump of Giants for real and she would only smile it was so long ago that summer of many storms in the days before the coming of horses plum cloud and the others livonian stories now the same is true of iya but there is a long ridge covered with grass and cactus running east to west along a highway many people drive by it every day to most it is only a long hill a few of us though still remember the story of how IO was defeated we know that Ridge is his grave but in our hearts we think of it more as something built by love courage and perseverance and by Giants

Channel: Playitagain Sam

Views: 1,506,337

Keywords: Story

Id: WfWe7c_pj-U

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 18 2012