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Monday, October 12, 2009

How the Red Fox Got Red, by Kaisa

"Mom, Can I tell you a story?"

Sure.



"Ok, once upon a time, there was a fox. And everything was white at that time. It was a long time ago, I guess, even the trees and stuff, they were white, OK?

So, this fox, he was hungry. Oh so hungry, and his tummy was talking to him, saying, 'I'm so hungry, go find me a mouse.' So, he went hunting for mouses.

He found a hole in the ground and there was a mouse running to it. And the fox GRABBED IT!

He was gonna eat him. But then the mouse said, "wait, wait, wait. You don't want to eat me. I'll dance for you."

So, the fox let the mouse dance. But he kept a real good eye on his hole so he wouldn't get in there.

Then the mouse said to the fox, "Can you dance?"

And the fox said, "Yes I can dance."

So, the fox and mouse danced and danced together in the white world. And he was having fun. Then all of a sudden, the mouse DANCED RIGHT into his hole!

The fox got so mad that he stomped and stomped and stomped. His face got red. His body got red and he was SO mad that his while body got red up to the tip of the tail. But the tail stayed white so he could see that he used to be white. And he was still hungry.

Mom, that's how the red fox got red. The end."



When we grow up in Kotzebue, many stories are told to children. Some are scary, like "The baby with the big mouth" and some are silly, like "How the Kayuktuq got Red." (red fox) But all tell a story and all have a moral. The moral of this story is not to be tricked and play (dance) when you are supposed to be hunting, or you'll starve.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember having to read the stories in Inupiaq class... some were so silly... hehe the ones I understood... there were some times I just read out loud without listening... haha I was horrible in Inupiaq class. Auto drive right thru it.

Cheryl

K'man said...

Hi there! New to your blog. I found my way here via the crazy woman in Vegas that has 4 children. You can find me at w.7acresofheaven.blogspot.
I love the outdoors and spending time in the woods hunting or watching.
From what I have seen of your blog, you hit the nail on the head. It probably doesn't seem that exciting to you, but it is fascinating to me.
Keep writing! Me, I am going to go back and read all of your posts since you started and get to know you.
Lovely red fox story, BTW. I always wondered how that happened. We have them here in Iowa, too.

K'man said...

Oh, and can I see a post from your boy on his hunting technique for squirrels. One of your posts showed him with a .22 and a BAT!
What kind of squirrel do you hunt with a bat?

Dog Hair in my Coffee said...

My 5th graders are reading Julie of the Wolves right now, and I'm going to use Kaisa's story as an example of the type of storytelling Julie's father did while living at seal camp. Tell her I said "thanks for the help!"

Coffeedog