Native American Indian Legend – A Cherokee Parable
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
My mother’s father was Cherokee and even had a “roll number”, when they used to keep track of where Indians were living. He was born in 1898 and lived to be 96 years old. He had the exact profile of the Indian on the Indian Head Nickel. My mother told me when she was a little girl, she thought her father must be very important because he was on money. How cute. But he was about as Indian as your local grocer (no disrespect intended to Native Americans or Grocers). It was a culture that he never lived, nor passed on. But I’m proud of this heritage and I enjoy Indian Folklore. This one is one of my absolute favorites and is as true now as it was whenever it was conceived and taught to their children. I will be spending some time with my children this Christmas and won’t be “blogging” quite as much, but then you never know… Enjoy!
