Back to Story
The crucial conflict in the values of these two cultures was in their opposing views on the nature of ownership of property. The English insisted on private ownership, and the Naturalls insisting that property could not be owned.
In this Southeastern Native American tale wolves are created in order to destroy private property.
The Origin of Wolves
A doctor [shaman] made the Wolf. That doctor, while travelling along, took up a pinecone lying in the trail. He carried it along and presently found another in the trail and took that. He held one in each hand, sang, and blew upon them. He went on with them, and came to a fork in the trial. He stopped, sang, blew on them, and struck them together. After he had stood there with them for a while, he rolled one of them along upon one trail and the other down the other trail. Both of the pinecones then turned into Wolves. But they were weak and their feet were not stout. They came back to where the doctor stood.
When they got there, that man blew on his hands and felt of the Wolves' backs. He blew on both of his hands and felt of the backs. After he did this, the Wolves grew stouter, and the man said to them, "Both of you go along on this trail until you come to where a man loves who has much property. What he eats, you eat with him." After he had so spoken, the Wolves started along barking and scratching up the dirt.
After they had gone, that man was sorry. He thought, "I am worthless for having done that." He went along on the other trail, but from that time on, the Wolves have disturbed the stock.
It has been told.
From: Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, John R. Swanton, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 88, 1929