The Legend of the Cranberry: A Paleo-Indian Tale

Green, E. (1993). The legend of the cranberry a paleo-indian tale. New York: Simon &

Schuster. 17 pp. ISBN: 0-671-7595-2.

     The Legend of the Cranberry is from a Native American story about the huge elephants with horns, known as the mastodon. The story begins with the Paleo-Indians befriending the mastodon, or "Yah-qua-whee" and they work together to complete chores. Then the mastodon turn against the people. The small animals, and saber tooth tigers all help the people control the mastodon. Sadly for the mastodon, they are killed in giant pits that the people run them into. From the mastodon's remains, the holes turn into marshes. The Paleo-Indians have trouble finding food since the mastodon's were killed. The holes that the mastodon's ran into, turn into bogs where flowers grow in the spring time. These flowers are cranberries that the Paleo-Indians now eat and use it for dyes. The ending of the story shows the Native Americans (the possible descendants of the Paleo-Indains) sharing the cranberries with the Pilgrims. The flowers are called cranberries because the "crane" lives at the bogs where the cranberries grow.

     This story could be used before a Native American unit. The Author's Note at the end describes more about the history of the story. A teacher could use the story show a legend from the Indians. The story also tells the story of the possible descendants of the Native Americans, which is important to understanding the Native Americans.