How the Duck got His Colors by Janey

There is an Indian story that says that "back then" all the ducks used to be white. Then OLD-man saw all the ducks gathering to fly south. So OLD-man was on this big hill covered with LOTS of moss. He gathered some moss and he thought of something to trick the ducks because he wanted a big duck dinner. So he began walking down the big hill, then he called to the ducks and said, "Come on lets have a party and dance, but first help me build a tepee to dance in."

So he got some poles and leaned them against each other and wound them together with some thread. Then he spread the moss over the tepee. So he built a nice fire in the middle and then he called and said, "Lets have a party with nice dancing."

One wise duck said "Don't listen to him."

So Old-man saw that they were thinking about it, but then they decided it would be fun to go to a party. Grey goose and his brother decided they would just watch. The ducks went in and Old-man said "Would some of you play some instruments?" and they started dancing around the fire.

Then he said "Stop. For this dance you need fancy clothes. I'll get out my paint brush and paint you. For this dance you need to close your eyes, or they'll be burned by the fire."

They started dancing with their eyes closed and and one by one he put them in a basket to kill them after the dance. So grey goose and his brother yelled "Stop" and everyone opened their eyes. So they saw what was happening and flew south. To this day the ducks have kept their bright painted colors and fly south and if they have red eyes it means they peeked at the fire.