3. Native American Creation Story

 

The Origin of Duct Tape

            In ancient native times when the sun was the only source of light and the stars were peaceful nightlights, lived two giants on the clouds; a husband and a wife. They were both five stories tall. They once lived on earth with normal sized humans but the Chief of the Sky forced them to live in a deserted area on the clouds. They were a couple who argued everyday over a wide span of topics. Their spats contained ear shattering shouting and physical violence. The normal humans were often disturbed and injured so they complained to the giants. The giant couple wouldn’t cease so the people complained to the Chief in the Sky. He listened to their complaints and saw the damage that the couple caused so he forced them to move to the clouds. The reaction of the giants wasn’t so peaceful considering they were very angry people.

            The husband giant had a strong love for berries. He was addicted to the taste and could never have too many. When he ate them he would always make a sticky mess. He would be covered in the berry juice. His habits made his wife furious because he would get their furniture dirty and leave stains on the wall. One day she got completely fed up with him. She yelled at him to get out of the house and sleep outside. He gladly followed her orders because he knew he could eat as many berries as he wanted while he was outside.  He left the clouds and climbed down a mountain. He went in the forest and found bushes with his beloved berries on them. He ate them till he was full and happy. As a result he was sticky all over but he didn’t care since he didn’t have to listen to his wife nag at him.

            The night was quickly approaching so he found a place to sleep. He came across a soft field of grass that would be the perfect fit. He forgot to bring a blanket from his house and knew his wife wouldn’t let him come in and get one while he was sticky, so he had to be resourceful and make one. He thought about using leaves but they were too brittle. He thought about using tree bark but it was too hard. He gazed across the forest and looked for some fitting material. A pack of grey wolves strut across the forest. An idea struck him. He would use the fur from the wolves as a blanket. He quickly overpowered them since he was a giant and ripped their fur off of them, made a blanket, put it on him and went to sleep. In the altercation lots of the fur was stripped and what looked like grey clothe remained. The giant slept peacefully.

 In the middle of the night a group of travelers walked through the forest. They were traders and sellers so they constantly moved around to find new merchandise to distribute. As they walked they began to smell a fruity flavor. They followed the smell in hopes of finding food to trade and sale. They walked into a large grey heap. They continued to smell the fruitful flavor yet saw no food. They poked and probed at giant grey heap until someone peeled off a piece. They noticed it contained the smell and it was sticky. They looked at it as of no use until one stopped them with an idea. He proposed it would be used to hold things together and that they could sale it in rolls. The travelers peeled away all of the sticky grey material off the heap. They had tons of it and wrapped it on rolls.

The giant woke up in astonishment due to the fact that his blanket was gone. He came to the conclusion that the wind blew it away. The sticky grey material sold well so the travelers were in search of more. The giant made another wolf fur blanket and the travelers found him and peeled it off. The travelers needed a name for their discovery so that they could tell more people about it. They named it Duct Tape. The giant was dumbfounded. He didn’t know where his blanket was disappearing to but as long as he had his berries he never got angry and continued to make a new one every day. He stayed in the forest and never went back to his wife and the travelers discovered something that would revolutionize the world.