Choni, the river chieftess

The year was 1611, and Choni was but a young girl barely hitting maturity. Her father was the chieftain of their tribes and he ruled with mercy and peace. There were times he had no other choice to become violent, but this was not one of those times. Choni had been swimming in the mountain river when the strange boats came sailing down to their village. The people on them were even stranger.

She had never seen people as fair skinned as these people. She thought it made them look like angels. She was especially curious about the women. They all had different colors of hair. She wasn't used to this, the women in their tribes only had black or dark brown hair.

One of the men shook hands with her father and she watched as the people followed them up the beach and to the center of their village. Choni was fascinated by these angelic looking people; she hoped they behaved like angels as well. They had a feast that night, with all the trimmings. It was a grand affair; for as grand as one can be in the mountains. Everyone seemed to be getting along splendidly. Choni eventually fell asleep watching the lively party going on around her.

The next morning, she woke up to her father and his warriors fighting with the stangers. Choni didn't understand what had happened, but apparently they were no longer welcome. Choni didn't care to get involved, as long as the river wasn't tainted by these strangers, she was okay with them. Some time went by and Choni began seeing waste being put into the river. This is what angered her the most, these people didn't seem to understand what cleanliness to their environment really was.

She often wondered with the way they carelessly treated the land, how were they with their own homes? Choni would go into the river day after day cleaning their trash out of the river. The river was like a mother to her and her people. These people just took it for granted. Choni didn't understand how anyone could just take mother earth for granted like that.

There ended up being war between them and the strangers. They with their spears and bows and arrows and them with their sticks that exploded. At first, they didn't seem like weapons. Then the first shot was fired and killed Choni's brother instantly. That's when the women and children went running into the mountains, while the men fought the strangers back from the village.

Choni was sad she couldn't be in the river, she was the river chieftess after all. How was she to care for and enjoy the river like she desired to? This war had taken more than just habitation away from them. They seemed to have lost their very source of living. After leaving the river village, Choni was never the same again.

Time went by and Choni became a woman. She had her own husband, children and hut to care for. Whenever she got a chance, she would go visit the river. She would take her children down to the river and teach them how to listen to her. She would tell them, each ripple is a word spoken; if you pay attention and listen and watch, the river will tell you her secrets and sometimes her woes.

She continued to care for both her family, house and the river as she got older. She taught her own daughters to care for and listen to the river as she did. On her dying day, her daughters and people declared her as the one and only Choni, River Chieftess. Her legend lived on through her children and grandchildren; and through many more descendants throughout the centuries. For centuries afterwards, her story was made into a legend and the area had the cleanest and freshest water in the country; all because of the patience and kindness Choni showed for the earth back then. It flourished into a way of life for people ever since.