Native American Myth: Fireflies Save the Day

When I was little, I loved to sit on the front porch with my great grandfather and watch the fireflies. I was, of course, convinced that they were magical; a notion my grandfather wasn't about to discourage.

He and I would spend hours trying to catch one or two in a jar so that I could see them close up. Of course, I couldn't bear to leave them there for long because I felt that they deserved to be free to shed their light for the world to see.

Needless to say, as I grew older, one thing remained constant about my love of warm summer nights - - the brilliant light of the magical fireflies. I passed that particular love of nature down to my children when they were small.

I was, therefore, both pleased and happily surprised to find a myth about fireflies in my great grandmother's papers. It is a wonderful story that I hope you will enjoy.

It seems that Native Americans in general, and the Cherokee in particular, had a love for all aspects of nature. They cared not only about the cute, furry animals that were easy for everyone to love and cherish, but also for creepy crawly reptiles and insects. And they had stories for many of the creatures they held dear.

The Cherokee were apparently not alone in the their awe of fireflies. I found references to them at several different Native American sites. Many of them, like me, believed that there was something magical about these unusual bugs that lit up the night sky. But no story was as beautiful as the one my great grandmother recorded.

Winter had been harsh and the spring was short. The Cherokee people were anticipating an unusually hot summer, rifled with violent storms and "twisters." The were, of course, correct!

The days were unusually arid and the sun was unrelenting. Every day, the children of the village would go to the creek and jump in to find cool, wet relief.

One day, a group of them were headed to the creek and one of the youngest children in the village begged to be allowed to go with them. The little girl, who was just four years old, begged and pleaded until her mother finally relented after making her son promise to watch over his tiny sister.