As he moved along into forests that were not familiar to him he noticed that fresh animal sign was really not there, in fact it seemed this area was lacking in life.
They eat, they rest, the young man sleeps but is in fact awakened in time to see Old Mantake, our White Deer.
White Deer is the Game Keeper who observes how the dependent and weak ones of the earth go about taking the life of game and whether or not they do proper ceremony as in asking Great Spirit for the gift of life and celebrating in thanks for this gift when they take a life; and most important treating the remains appropriately and with respect after they have eaten.
If not, and the hunter does these things poorly and with disrespect, he will only absorb the animal’s negative soul or stories and nothing good will come of this exchange.
The boy realizes that Old Man keeping White Deer captive has impaired this delicate balance.
He then carries White Deer back to his home land but as White Deer’s life slips away the land around him comes alive with wildlife and beautiful plants.
White Deer reminds him of the need to respect ceremony and all things and then White Deer dies.
Since that time, White Deer emerges from time to time to remind us of this.
The White Deer Story is adapted from John Bierhorst’s “The White Deer” (1995).
