Reading Notes Week 10: Tejas Legends Part A

Old Woolly Bird's Sacrifice was heart-wrenching, and one of my favorite origin stories so far encountered. I grew up in Texas, and nothing ever brings me back harder to my childhood than smelling magnolia flowers on a warm summer day. I actually went and looked up which tribes were present along the Gulf Coast historically, and my dad's old collection of scavenged arrowheads looks really similar to this collection of the Karankawa Indians.

Karankawa Indian Arrow Tips, Rosenberg Library

The story of Grandmother River's Trick provides an explanation for how gar fish became trapped in freshwater lakes and ponds, and this story too brought me back to being about 8 years old and staring in amazement at the enormous, terrifying fish swimming below my dad's tiny boat. Bass and perch are protected by Grandmother River, which makes sense considering how much better they are for sustaining a tribe. Gar are horrifying. I actually had nightmares as a kid about anything related to underwater predators, and gar are basically fantastic freshwater nightmare fuel. Here's a few examples:

 Alligator Gar | Atractosteus spatula, Inked Animal

Alligator gar caught at Moon Lake, Mississippi. March 1910. Nature

Grilled garfish with pepper and lime, prepared by Shoshanna Lee. Taste Defined

Okay, that last one doesn't look too scary, but even though you get free toothpicks with your meal I'd probably skip it. The gar origin in freshwater ponds was fun, and it could be even more fun to delve into how alligators, alligator gar, and alligator snapping turtles could have once been separated. Grandmother River was fun too, and I'd like to learn more about her as well. 

Story Sources: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936)