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Two Sisters
From the Legend of the Cayuse Girls and the Wolf
by Paul Kane 1847
HAPPY INDIAN NEW YEAR --- March 21
In ancient times the Indian new year began.
The present day highway sign reads Twin Sisters. It once read Two Sisters.
The sisters are not TWINS
The original story by Paul Kane had 3 sisters. The Rocks are 2 of those sisters.
The Indians thought Twins evil spirits and were killed at birth.
It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the trickster coyote. It was the WOLF, the mystical figure of the Columbia Basin. It was the Wolf who was the supernatural god of good and evil.
The hieroglyphic symbol for a Wallawalla person was a wolf.
The symbol for village was the 2 rocks.
"The History of our Past
Gives us Tradition and Continuity
For our Future.
For Tradition and Continuity
Gives us Something Solid to Live By".
Jean Fuller
"Cayuse Girls and the Wolf"
Sacred Landmark of Indian Faith
Wallula === Highway #730
Each Tribe had their own selected animal to which they attributed Supernatural Powers.
The Wallawallas had selected the largest Wolf to which they contributed these Supernatural Powers and this Wolf on the Columbia was the most cunning and artful of all the Nature Spirits Gods.
The Sacred Grounds near Wallawalla Village and their 2 tall rocks on the Columbia called "ki-use girls"(cayuse girls) had great Sacred Religious Connotations to all surrounding Indians and worshiped with a religious fervor.
The Wolf rock across the Columbia from the Girls was also worshiped as their great medicine Supernatural God of good and evil, --- who got rid of one's enemies and protected them from harm. The Wallawalla Warriors carried wolf fur into battle to keep them safe.
The Wolf Warrior is encased in the rock acrossed the river from the Girls, with whom he was so madly in love.
These rocks today are still considered Sacred.
AN ANCIENT LOVESTORY
One day as the Wolf was going down along the River he stopped to watch 2 lovely Cayuse maidens trying to build a rock dam across the River.
They were piling up rocks in order to back up the water, so they could catch some fish.
They had to catch some fish and dry them for winter or they wouldn't have anything to eat during the long cold winter.
They had come on their black and white cayuse pony and set up their tunisht(tepee) to live in while catching and drying the fish.
The Wolf sat watching them as they built up their rock dam. The more he watched them, the more he fell in love with them, wanting them for his very own.
So that night, he sneaked down from his hiding place and destroyed the rock dam, so they couldn't catch any fish. He didn't want them to leave and he knew they wouldn't until they caught some fish to dry.
In the morning the lovely Cayuse maidens once more rebuilt their rock dam to catch some fish and that night the Wolf again went down and destroyed it so they wouldn't catch any.
This went on for several days.
The Cayuse maidens building up the rock dam.
And the Wolf tearing it down.
One day the Wolf found them crying and he asked them why were they crying? They told him they hadn't caught any fish and were very hungry.
The Wolf replied that he would rebuild their rock dam and help them catch some fish, if they would marry him. To this they agreed, rather than starve.
There they lived happily together for some time catching many fish.
Then one day the Wolf became frightened that a "Great Indian Chief" would come along and take his Cayuse maidens away from him and he became very jealous.
Since he was very much in love with his lovely maidens and would never be able to live without them, he didn't want to lose them to anyone.
He decided the only way he could keep them so they would never leave him nor belong to anyone else, was to turn them into rocks.
So using his "Supernatural Powers" he turned the maidens into 2 tall rocks. Now they would always belong to him alone.
Then using his "Supernatural Powers" again, he turned himself into a large rock directly across the River from them, so he could look at them forever.
And into rocks they have stayed --- and stayed --- and stayed --- the Cayuse Girls and the Wolf.
So today you can still see those same tall rocks and the Wolf looking lovingly across the River at his 2 Indian Maidens.
And the Cayuse Girls and The Wolf though turned into rocks many many years ago, their Spirit and their Sacredness live on, and shall live on forever and ever.
And this Wallawalla love story shall live on as long as there is a Wallawalla Indian to tell it.
Taken from "The Cayuse Girls on the Columbia"
by Jean Fuller
I adapted Paul Kane's story into a child's story. I disregarded the third sister as the story was about the two rocks and the third sister seemed irrelevant to the story.
The 2 rocks were landmarks of Indian faith and the two sisters were worshiped as good, moral, wise ancestral elders who gave wisdom and good guidance to keep straight life's pathway.
The Indians believed if their pathway was not kept straight, the world would go out of sync and things would go amuck.
Here the young boys came to seek their vision and their pathway through life.
The two sisters were not twins, as the Indians believed that lookalikes or two born at the same time were evil spirits and were killed at birth before they did any harm. The missionaries convinced them differently and then there was great pride in having twins.
Columbia River, Mighty and Sacred
In winter, the Columbia River froze solid as much as 10 feet deep, sometimes the fish came early, sometimes the fish came late in April and then it was rough going for the Indians without fish and many families went hungry till the fish arrived.
For religious fest they came to Wallawalla, they came to their sacred place, they came in the spring arriving around March 17 for a religious week. The Indians were extremely religious and believed strongly in religious events.
The two sisters, ancestral elders who through prayer and vision guided and kept straight their pathway through life and guided their path with wisdom. The Wallawalla and Cayuse Indians believed very strongly in law and order, good morals, and strongly in the power of the ancestral elders and the Wolf Warrior who protected them from harm, praying to them both.
The Wallawalla, Palouse, DesChutes, Priest Rapids, Cayuse came to Wallawalla village to worship in their own faith religion.
Here for two to three days they fasted, purged, cleansed, sweatbathed and swam in their sacred river to remove all wrong doing. They forgave themselves, each other and their enemies.
They prayed and gave thanks to the Mighty River that brought the fish for their hunger and the driftwood to light their fires that gave them warmth. The Mighty River Nichiwana was the source of their food and driftwood fires.
They prayed to the Sun god to give them warmth and for theirs and the animals, birds, earth well being and good thoughts.
They prayed to the Rain God for the rain for well being and their crops, to keep the earth green.
They prayed to Mother Earth to be bountiful and take care of their many needs.
They prayed for good health and families would have plenty to eat and they could have many children and they would not starve.
They were deep in reverent thoughts, deeply praying for a good year of many fish, many buffalo, much game, roots, berries.
The Indians were always thankful. They gave thanks if times were good, for things as they were and gave thanks that things were not worse.
They baptized and anointed themselves with balsam oil, with some receiving new names.
They went out to the sand dunes to commune with themselves and with nature, to seek their own guidance and that of the spirits.
They climbed the tall cliff to their sacred sister elders to pray, fast, contemplate their existence. They were very serious for their very existence depended on the River. That streams, springs, creeks would run full and they would have much water for fish, ponies, corn and gardens.
Their religious songs and dances were sung with their own voices. Danced without drums, just the sweet sound of their devout voices to make music for their dancing feet.
It was the time for solemn thoughts, quiet prayers, deep feeling of want, happiness, prosperity and close harmonious family ties. They came there from many camps to be together as one.
It lasted about 5 days, finishing with a big feast to end the fasting and the drums and songs changed to ones of war, scalp, hunts and the songs of everyday life.
Then it was time to pack up and continue on their way to their many places in the food cycle. But they carried with them a good feeling of harmony, contentment and high hopes for an abundant good harvest of Mother Earth's many blessings.
Everyone rejoicing with good feelings toward themselves, each other, the world and even their enemies.
The Colors of the Sun
by Jean Fuller
Where the mountain meets the morning, as the day has just begun, and yellow, red and orange are the colors of the sun.
It is the sun we worship, as it ascends on high and shone upon our pathway, as it traveled cross the sky.
It shone directly on us as we smoked - north, south, east, west - and listened to our messages, then answered those -- that's best.
Our Ancient Fathers knew it, good medicine passed along and it with all the Spirits, became the Indian song.
So where the desert meets the evening, as it slowly slips away and crimson, pink and purple, tells the ending of the day