How the Turtle Went to War
How the Turtle Went to War (also Turtle Goes to War) is a Native American legend commonly associated with the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux nations, but the narrative also appears in the stories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and others. It is among the most popular Native American tales and is often anthologized.
The details of the story differ, but all involve the Chief of the Turtles (Turtle Chief or Chief Turtle) declaring war on a nearby Native American village and the ensuing battle. The reason for the war is sometimes given as a response to the people overhunting and not respecting the turtle, though, in some versions, no reason is given at all. The Sioux version of the story, according to scholar Bobby Lake-Thom, gives the reason as:
The Indians had been greedy and killed more turtles than they could eat whenever they got lazy and tired of hunting. This made the Turtle Chief very angry. (156)
The version known as Turtle Goes to War claims that the turtles "had received many insults from men" and finally resolved to do something about it (AAANativeArts.com, 1). This version is also an origin tale explaining how Snapping Turtle and Box Turtle fell out during the campaign, and this is why these two types of turtles are never found in the same area. The events of the story are understood to have occurred in the distant past, before people recognized the spiritual power of the turtle and, perhaps, explain how they came to do so.
The Turtle in Native American Lore
The turtle is sacred to many of the Native peoples of North America and frequently features prominently in their creation stories. In the Lakota Sioux Creation Story, Turtle brings mud up from the bottom of the primordial sea for the Creator, Wakan Tanka, to make into dry land by building on the back of its shell. This same image appears in the creation stories of other Native American nations, as noted by scholar Adele Nozedar:
The creation myths of the east coast peoples, such as the Lenape and the Iroquois, tell that the Great Spirit built their ancestral lands by placing earth on the back of a colossal turtle; hence North America is sometimes given the name Turtle Island. There are many names for the turtle god: for the Hopi, he is Kahaila; for the Abenaki, he is Tolba; for the Mi'kmaq, he is Mikcheech. For the Seneca, the name for the animal is ha-no-wa, to differentiate it from the mythical turtle, whose name is hah-nu-wah. As a symbol, for Native Americans, the turtle stands for healing, wisdom, and spirituality, as well as longevity, fertility, and protection. (513)
Initially, however – in the long ago – this was not the case. Turtles earned the respect of human beings by asserting themselves under the leadership of Chief Turtle, although this is not explicitly stated in all versions of the legend. As with the stories of any Native American Nation, the tale of Chief Turtle's War offers many different possibilities for interpretation. It can be read as an origin myth, as a cautionary tale on the consequences of disrespecting the natural world, as a simple comedy, a satire of war and leadership (in the Turtle Goes to War version), as a hero's tale, and fits many other interpretations as well.
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