REAL NEAT LEGEND... GHOST OF THE WHITE DEER

 Ghost of the White Deer

A Chickasaw Legend

A brave, young warrior for the 

Chickasaw Nation fell in love with the 

daughter of a chief. The chief did not 

like the young man, who was called 

Blue Jay. So the chief invented a price 

for the bride that he was sure that 

Blue Jay could not pay.

"Bring me the hide of the White Deer." said the chief. The Chickasaws believed 

that animals that were all white were magical. "The price for my daughter is 

one white deer." Then the chief laughed. The chief knew that an all white deer, 

an albino, was very rare and would be very hard to find. White deerskin was 

the best material to use in a wedding dress, and the best white deer skin came 

from the albino deer.

Blue Jay went to his beloved, whose 

name was Bright Moon. "I will return 

with your bride price in one moon, 

and we will be married. This I 

promise you." Taking his best bow 

and his sharpest arrows Blue Jay 

began to hunt.Three weeks went by, 

and Blue Jay was often hungry, 

lonely, and scratched by briars. Then, 

one night during a full moon, Blue Jay saw a white 

deer that seemed to drift through the moonlight. 

When the deer was very close to where Blue Jay hid, 

he shot his sharpest arrow. The arrow sank deep 

into the deer's heart. But instead of sinking to his 

knees to die, the deer began to run. And instead of 

running away, the deer began to run toward Blue 

Jay, his red eyes glowing, his 

horns sharp and menacing. A 

month passed and Blue Jay did 

not return as he had promised 

Bright Moon. As the months 

dragged by, the tribe decided that he would never 

return. But Bright Moon never took any other young man as 

a husband, for she had a secret. When 

the moon was shinning as brightly as her name, Bright 

Moon would often see the white deer in the smoke of the 

campfire, running, with an arrow in his heart. She 

lived hoping the deer would finally fall, and Blue 

Jay would return.To this day the white deer is 

sacred to the Chickasaw People, and the white deerskin is 

still the favorite material for the wedding dress. 

                            ===================================================