Kaliteyo Paul Willingham
Aunt Kaliteyo was my favorite
aunt. It's not that I didn't love my Aunt Oteka too, but I didn't see her as
much. I kind of grew up with Aunt
Kaliteyo. She would be at home visiting with my mother Wenonah when I got home
from school, and we would have milk and cookies together. She loved to raid our
ice box for corn bread. She taught me to swim, how to sit up straight, and how
to answer the phone with "Gunning's residence." She was my buddy.
Aunt Kaliteyo was named after
one of my great, great, great aunts, a sister of Ela-teecha, from whom we all get
our Chickasaw blood. This aunt Kaliteyo was married to one of the Maytubby's. Floyd
Maytubby, her great grandson, was the Chickasaw governor when I was little. I
mentioned him in my story: The First
Chickasaw Princess, published Oct 5, 2011.
After my mother's death I found among
her papers a legend about the origin of the Maytubby name. The document was written
by Mrs. Agnes Trousdale, one of our Maytubby cousins. The story was never used by
the historical society, and I haven't written about it myself until now, afraid
that I might be infringing on the rights of the Maytubby's, but I've finally
decided to write an abridged version with the idea of preserving the story for our
family and for the tribe. I'm assuming that Mrs. Trousdale wouldn't mind since
she gave it to my mother, Wenonah.
Mint-Ubbe, The Origin
of the Chickasaw Name of Maytubbe
Long ago, before the coming of
the white man, there was a great hunter among the Chickasaw. He could see farther,
walk more softly, and shoot an arrow straighter than any of the other warriors.
The tradition at that time was for each person to be given a name which represented
a characteristic he possessed or a deed he had performed, but the chiefs had not
given this warrior a name, since they could not think of one worthy of him.
In the same village lived a beautiful
maiden called Kaliteyo, or "running water," because of the musical
laughter which flowed forth from her mouth like a babbling brook. The great warrior
and the lovely maiden Kaliteyo had long been exchanging glances when the
warrior's mother delivered a bundle of clothes to the mother of Kaliteyo. This
was the traditional manner of proposing marriage among the Chickasaw. If Kaliteyo
accepted the bundle, it meant that she had accepted the warrior's proposal.
Of course Kaliteyo happily
accepted the bundle; the two were married, and for many moons they lived
happily together. Soon a son was born to them, and then another and another.
As the years passed, game became
scarce near the village, and the hunters struggled to provide enough meat for
the tribe. Finally, one autumn, when the stores of meat became low, the chiefs
announced that if the hunters did not find game soon, the tribe could not
survive the winter. So, bidding his wife and sons goodbye, the nameless hunter set
out to find a new hunting ground.
The great hunter searched for many
days, travelling far and wide, and finding only small game, but no deer or buffalo.
Finally, fearing that his family might be starving, he gathered up what little
meat he had found and started for home. Meanwhile, Kaliteyo, worried that her
husband had been attacked by a wild beast or captured by a hostile tribe, left
their children with her mother, and set out to find him.
After a few days, Kaliteyo came
to a small valley filled with tall grass. As she looked she thought she saw
something move. Then she saw them. She couldn't believe her eyes. In the valley
was a large herd of buffalo. As she lay there, wondering if she had the
strength to kill one of the massive beasts herself, she heard a noise. Not
knowing whether the noise came from a wild animal or a hostile warrior, she lay
still and waited. Then who should emerge from the forest but her husband, the
nameless warrior.
Kaliteyo, overjoyed at finding
her husband safe, and excited that they could now end the tribe's famine, began
running toward her husband pointing toward the buffalo and calling out to him, "Mint-ubbe!
Mint-ubbe!" - "Come and kill them! Come and kill them!" As the
great hunter came over the ridge he saw them too, and quickly began releasing
arrows into the herd.
As soon the nameless one had killed
enough buffalo to feed the tribe for the winter he and his beloved
Kaliteyo returned home to summon the other warriors to help butcher the meat
and carry it back to the village. Afterwards there was a great celebration and
the old chiefs finally gave the great hunter a name - Mint-ubbe.
