Legends of Fire

This passage describes a Native American legend about how fire was made.

Lexile Level: 670L

Categories: Classics & Literature

There are many legends and myths about how fire came to people. The Greeks said one of the gods took some fire from the other gods and gave it to humans. The head of the gods, Juno, punished the thief. In America, the Alibamo Creek Indians thought that long ago Bear had owned Fire. Bear forgot to take care of Fire. It burned lower and lower. The people of the tribe heard Fire crying for help. They fed it with brush and sticks. Human beings now owned the fire because they had saved it. Many tribes in the southeastern United States called fire by the name of "grandfather." This shows how well they thought of fire and its power.