Thunder Horse

The Story

EXCERPT: Told in the presence of Jay:)

These mountains are everything to us, as it is today. It was the center of our homeland; we traveled to the north; we traveled to the east, to the south. But this was the heart of our homeland. It had everything for us. We came here for our tipi poles; we came here to hunt our deer. We came here to refresh ourselves and for the medicine and things that we need in our lives. It was also here that we returned to seek visions from the high points of our mountains—that we would know and see in this world. This land is everything to us; this mountain is everything to us.

In our sorrows, it puts happiness back in us. When the land itself is sad, we are sad with it and then it comes right back and says, "Do not be sad, my children." For we are its children; we are its children. It was made for us and we roam around it, but we always return to it. As a child always returns to its parents, we return to our mother here, these mountains.

The blueness and richness that you, as you look into them,...means something. Not only is it food and a home, but it is also security. My people, they walk this land with a security that they have a home. They have something that is tangible. For everything else has been taken from us in this world. We became a conquered people. But this land is our land . . . rest assured that we will fight for it with everything that we have.

When we walk on it, we look, we look around at the land and we see the vegetable food that it gives to us. When we look around, our relatives, the animals, they also see that vegetable food, for it is their food, too. This home is our home with our animal relatives. Our horses, our deer, our elk, our antelope, the turkey, ducks, goose: whatever this land has, we live n this country with it. Everything was given to us to live on;the bounties of this country is beyond belief . . .

In the summer, in the summer when the rains come, the clouds would come from different directions—and they would bring forth rain. And they would pass through; and the land was cheerful, happy, bright—and it was clean and fresh.

In the fall, when the little rains came, and they came to dry up the leaves for the winter, the land was saying something. It was saying, "Get ready! Get ready! For winter's comin'. Make your tipis warm. Make your parfleches heavy with food, for the winter will be hard." It said something, when the winds in the fall came out with the little rain. It said to get ready, to be prepared, to be on guard, for this was the time; it was a tricky time.

And then as it got to be winter, the little snows would come. They were sharp and the wind would blow with them. And that means you'd have to stay, stay close to camp, stay close to home.

After that, the big snows came. The big snows came—not with a fierce wind but with a heavy thick wind. And you were, if you were industrious, you were assured that you would weather the storm. But even the snow, with all it's cold and its hardships that it brought, it was another thing. It said something to us—that this land was being refreshed by heavy snows and that it was putting moisture into the land.

And then spring would come. Spring, with all the plants would show their new faces to the world. And they were brave. And then you would understand what the snow, the big snows, were about: it was moisture that was being stored up. And this would be the beginning of plant life—which we all subsisted on.

As that went on into very late spring and early summer, the land would dry up; the land would dry up and it cracked. The land would crack and everything would be dusty. And even the people were dusty in their feelings, too. So they would pray; they would bring forth their dances and call out to the Four Directions of the Universe for help and say, "Help us! Our land is pitiful. We are pitiful. Help us."And the rains would come, the heavy summer rains, as they come now with the big, thick clouds coming over. [Now we could smell the rain.]

And Little Boy Lightening would herald them in; as they were coming in, he would be fierce and loud. And he would throw his arrows all over the land. And then a man should not . . . wander about. Horses knew better and would stand—not under trees—but somewhere where they would would not be hurt by lightening.

And then Old Man Thunder, as you hear now, he would come in. [for, indeed, the storm was moving closer to us and we could now clearly hear thunder and, even though inside, we were aware of ever closer and closer lightening strikes]. He would be like a voice saying, "Yes, I am God's generosity to you my children." And he would give us the heavy rains and the land would burst forth with all the plant life. And both our animal relatives and we would be happy and our faces would brighten up . . .

When the two Spirit Warriors came out of the Sky, in the beginningtime, to give Lightening and Thunder to The People, Thunder rode on a black horse and Lightening rode on a blue horse. They were the most handsome men that had ever been seen. And they had long, black, flowing hair and their heel fringes on their moccasins were long and flowing. Their gees [breechcloths] were long and flowing in back of them. The manes and tails of their horses were fire and they were coming down to a people. They put forth their fingers, their hands on the left side [closest to the heart and therefore closest to Creator]. And the one on the black horse, from his finger tips came thunder. And the Spirit Warrior on the blue horse, from his finger tips came lightening. That's how lightening and thunder came to a people.

This story is abridged from the original tellings (July 29, 1975 and July 14, 1976). Bernard's first language was Mescalero Apache; his second was Chiricahua Apache; his third and fourth languages were Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache, learned at the same time; his fifth was Navajo; his sixth was English; his seventh, Spanish and the eighth, German.