Ghost of the White Deer
Chickasaw
A lore of the Chickasaw People of Oklahoma
A brave, young warrior for the Chickasaw Nation fell in love with
the daughter of a chief. The chief did not like the young man, who
was called Blue Jay. So the chief invented a price for the bride
that he was sure that Blue Jay could not pay.
" Bring me the hide of the White Deer, : said the chief. The
Chickasaws believed that animals that were all white were magical.
"The price for my daughter is one white deer." Then the
chief laughed. The chief knew that an all white deer, an albino,
was very rare and would be very hard to find. White deerskin was
the best material to use in a wedding dress, and the best white
deer skin came from the albino deer.
Blue Jay went to his beloved, whose name was Bright Moon. "I
will return with your bride price in one moon, and we will be married.
This I promise you." Taking his best bow and his sharpest arrows
Blue Jay began to hunt.
Three weeks went by, and Blue Jay was often hungry, lonely, and
scratched by briars. Then, one night during a full moon, Blue Jay
saw a white deer that seemed to drift through the moonlight. When
the deer was very close to where Blue Jay hid, he shot his sharpest
arrow. The arrow sank deep into the deers heart. But instead of
sinking to his knees to die, the deer began to run. And instead
of running away, the deer began to run toward Blue Jay, his red
eyes glowing, his horns sharp and menacing.
A month passed and Blue Jay did not return as he had promised Bright
Moon. As the months dragged by, the tribe decided that he would
never return.
But Bright Moon never took any other young man as a husband, for
she had a secret. When the moon was shinning as brightly as her
name, Bright Moon would often see the white deer in the smoke of
the campfire, running, with an arrow in his heart. She lived hoping
the deer would finally fall, and Blue Jay would return.
To this day the white deer is sacred to the Chickasaw People, and
the white deerskin is still the favorite material for the wedding
dress.
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