Earthmaker made the world with trees and fields, with rivers, lakes, and springs, and with hills and valleys. However, there weren’t any humans, and so one day he decided to make some. He scooped out a hole in a stream bank and lined the hole with stones to make a hearth, and he built a fire there. Then he took some clay and made a small figure that he put in the hearth to bake. He then realized that it was only half-baked. That figure became the white people. He decided to try again, so he put a new figure in the hearth to bake. He realized that this figure was overbaked and it became the black people. The Earthmaker decided to try one more time. He put this figure in the hearth to bake and this figure was baked just right, and it became the red people. The red people became many tribes, and they spread across the land. Among these tribes were the Ojibwe, the Ottawa, and the Potawatomi. A man …show more content…
The tree was so beautiful, and the view from under it was so tranquil, and the man forgot his sorrow, and eventually he was happy. As he sat under the tree, he saw another man approaching in the distance. He was crying as he walked toward the tree, but he saw the tree’s beauty and stopped under it. The two men sat and talked of their troubles. As they talked, a third approached weeping. The tree men talked and realized that their sons had died fighting in the same wars. They concluded that the Great Spirit had brought them together to this tranquil place, where they could hear the spirits speak. They agreed that there had been too much fighting between their tribes, and too much grief. They resolved to go back to their tribes and live in peace. Ten days later, the three old men led their people to the great tree. Each of them agreed to a set of rules to preserve the peace and to guide their peoples. This is how the Potawatomi, the Ojibwe, and Ottaway came to live in peace and to intermarry, as one