... as told by Tsisghwanai (Traveller Bird)


Long ago, the Old Ones say, in the year of the Great Harvest, the land of
the Cherokees was becoming too thickly populated. The people realized that
they needed more lands in order to grow and prosper. So the Peace Chief sent
out a delegation of the leading men of the nation to talk with the
neighboring Anitsigsu (Chickasaws), who claimed large areas of suitable
lands toward the southwest. Now the Chickasaws were not as strong as the
Cherokees, for they had been at war for a long time with their enemies.

The Cherokees sat in council with the Chickasaws to arrange the terms of the
exchange of territory. This council lasted for many days. There were many
courtesies to be observed before business could be started. At the
beginning, it was polite to sit in complete silence. The didahnvwisgi
(physician-priest, commonly referred to as "medicine men") enacted the
lengthy invocation. After the invocation, the ancient and sacred Tsola
(tobacco) Pipe Ceremony must be performed. The pipe was passed leisurely
around to each council member, who took his turn on the sacred medicine.
Some elaborate speeches of greeting and the presentation of gifts expressed
the good will of the visitors. These were answered by the hosts. These
amenities must not be hurried, lest it appear that the Cherokees were eager
to have their business done with and go on home.

At the end of each day, the Chicksaws prepared an elaborate feast, which was
served by the young maidens. The most beautiful maiden of them all was the
daughter of the Chickasaw War Chief. Among the Cherokee group was Sanuwa
(the hawk), nephew and heir of one of the powerful Cherokee War Chiefs.

The first night he sat for a long time around the campfire composing a love
song. The next afternoon he did not appear at the council meeting. He was
playing the new song and she secretly went to meet him by the bend in the
river. They enjoyed the thrill of a forbidden adventure. They gathered wild
flowers and waded barefoot across the stream, following after the shrill cry
of a blue dove. Sanuwa told her of the land of his people, where the
mountains touch the sky and the sun always stands still. He knew that he was
expected to choose a wife from the proper clan of an important Cherokee
village in order to increase the power and solidarity of the nation. And
she, too knew that a brave warrior had spoken to her parents for her. But
the Redbird Spirit of love pays no heed to the notions of nations, and
fluttered at the breast of the young lovers.

So the young lovers agreed that when the council was ended and his people
went on their way homeward, Sanuwa would come for her. They planned that if
he should be detained she would
hide in a thicket at the bend of the river and he would come for her there.
Finally the council ended between the Chickasaws and the Cherokees. The
Chickasaws agreed to move back a day's walk to allow for the expansion of
the Cherokee Nation, and to share their hunting lands with the Cherokees.
Many of the Chickasaw warriors objected to the trading away of their lands
and wanted to fight for them, but the civil Chief could see that there was
no chance of keeping the land for themselves. He argued that it was better
to trade away than to lose it, along with the lives of many warriors. But
when the Cherokees left, the daughter of the Chickasaw War Chief could not
be found. The Chickasaw warriors began a search for her. They were the first
to find her, hiding in the thicket at the bend of the river. When Sanuwa
arrived, he found her dead. He buried her there at the bend of the river.
Then he rejoined his own group and began the long journey homeward.

The next spring, Sanuwa returned and found among the deep green leaves
growing over
the mound, the soft brown petals of a sweet-smelling bush. He knelt beside
it and called it his Sweet One, for he had claimed the Chickasaw maiden for
his own. He carried the bush back to his homeland and planted it. But long
before the long winter was over, he grew eager to see and to be with his
Sweet One. So he went back to her grave and waited until his own death came.

But the bush with deep brown flowers spread throughout the lands of the
Cherokees. And to this day, the Cherokee Sweet Shrub opens her eager face
and sweet smell in early spring to welcome the return of her loved one.