CHIEF MORNING STAR AND FUDDUNCLE THE BEAR

Chief Morning Star was a very proud Indian Chief.  

He got his name from the last star you see in the dawn sky each morning.  You can still see it as the sun is coming up because it is the brightest star in the sky.  He is a very smart man.  An Indian tribe is like a city.  A lot of Indian families live near one another in a village.  The smartest man in the tribe is made the Chief.  He is like the President, he makes all the rules and everyone listens to what he has to say.

Chief Morning Star was very fond of animals.    He had a great respect for their special senses and loyalty.  One day he came upon a young bear who didn't have a mother.  The Chief took him in and raised him.  He gave him a cute pet name, Fudduncle, because he was kind of a clumsy little guy, who always seemed to be getting into things he shouldn't.

  Chief Morning Star found him a nice cave, perfect for a bear like Fudduncle to live in.  Do you think that kept him from being curious about everyone else's tent?  Of course not!  Fudduncle was just to curious about everything.  That's what usally got him into trouble.

The Chief's wife was known as Running Deer and together they had a      beautiful daughter, Princess Sequoia.  She was named after the tall, strong, beautiful Sequoia Trees that grew in the forrest all around them.  The Indian people are very good at taking care of themselves.  They grow most of what they eat and make many other things they need.

   Princess Sequoia grows corn for the whole community.  Then she takes it to those that need it.  She can do many other things as well.  She weaves beautiful blankets to keep people warm.  The blankets are so nice they are almost to pretty to use.  The Princess also makes bows and arrows for her father to hunt with. There isn't much the Princess can't do.  Her parents are very proud of her.

She keeps her father safe with the sharp arrows she makes for   him.   She also helps keep Fudduncle safe because he's always into something!  The last trouble he got into was thinking he could eat all the honey in a bees nest he found.  He didn't see why anyone would care.

Fudduncle didn't stop to think that the bees might not like it!   Unfortunately for him, they were not happy at all!  Poor Fudduncle was the one who paid the price for that mistake.  The bees buzzed all around him and he got a lot of stings.  A wise eagle flew over and told Princess Sequoia what had happened.  She jumped on her horse and rode off to save Fudduncle from the bees.

   It was a long hard ride but she made it and took Fudduncle to the river and dunked him in the water to get the bees off.  He was sore and swollen but in a few days he was feeling better.  Of course it didn't take long for Fudduncle to find something new to play around with.  One of the little boys in the village had a new all terrain vehicle.  GUESS WHO TOOK A RIDE!

You guessed it, Fudduncle!  He rode into the woods,   stopped at a little rest room but on his way back to the vehicle a dog spotted him and chased him up a tree.  He hung on the the top of that tree with all his strength.  He looked all around and didn't see the vehicle anywhere.  He decided he didn't know how far the dog had chased him and realized he was lost.

Finally the dogs family came along and took him with   them.  Fudduncle slowly came down the tree and quietly walked around making sure the dog was gone.  It didn't take long for Chief Morning Star to realize Fudduncle had been gone much to long.  He jumped on his horse and rode off to find him.

   Fudduncle had become part of his family.  He wasn't   going to let anything happen to him.  The Chief was an expert with his bow and arrow and if he had to use it to save Fudduncle, he would.  He rode a long time then came to the river.  The water was to high for his horse to cross so he had to leave him there on the river bank.  He took the canoe that the tribe keep there to cross the high water.

Chief Morning Star paddled long and hard.  Finally he   saw Fudduncle standing on the side of the river bank.  By the time he got to Fudduncle, the Chief was really tired.  Fudduncle decided to carry him back to the horse to let him rest.  When they arrived back to the village, everyone was very glad to see both of them!

The Chief started a fire by rubbing two sticks together.  That's   how everyone use to start fires before matches were invented.  Just as the wood started to smoke Chief Morning Star sent out smoke signals to all the the villagers, telling them to come and celebrate Fudduncle's home coming. Everyone was so happy to see that Fudduncle had made it home safely they were excited to have a party to welcome him back. 

Chief Morning Star had a big nice fire going.  He asked Chef Rib-let to be in charge of the cooking because he knew everything would taste wonderful with Chef Rib-let cooking!  Everyone in the whole village would be coming.  Not just for the great barbecue but because they all loved Fudduncle.  Everyone brought something for the party and it was a wonderful time.

Chef Rib-let made sure that Fudduncle had all the burgers he wanted!  He had so many that he fell asleep on a picnic table and even Princess Sequia's pet skunk couldn't wake him up.  Fudduncle had such a nice evening, he wished he could have caught the feeling in one of Princess Sequia's Dream Catchers.  Indians believe you can catch your dreams in them and keep them with you forever.

As the village settled down to go to bed,  Fudduncle swept his   cave nice and clean.  He noticed some raccoons in the garbage can getting themselves some left overs of Chef Rib-lets great cooking.  They were going to have their own party tonight.  The raccoons were having such a great time with that can, Fudduncle thought how lucky everyone was, right down to the smallest animal.

As he watched the raccoons he sat down to read some of   the daily news paper.  His mind kept going back to what a lucky bear he was.  The whole village loved and tried to protect him.  His family would do anything for him.  How lucky could one bear be?  Fudduncle thought maybe he'd stay a little closer to home from now on.  He loved his family to much to loose them!

Princess Sequoia made Fudduncle a beautiful Dream Catcher and when she gave it to him she said these words:

MAYBE IF YOU CATCH YOUR DREAMS YOU'LL FIND THEY ARE ALL AROUND YOU RIGHT HERE AT HOME!