A Medicine Story. Number I by Jeremiah Curtin

Name: A Medicine Story. Number I
Author: Jeremiah Curtin

"A Medicine Story. Number I" by Jeremiah Curtin is a Native American tale centering on Ktilisúnak, a very young boy who is abruptly cast out by his weary grandmother with nothing but his bow and arrows and a bitter parting wish that he might someday become a great chief. Wandering cold and naked across a broad flat near the mountains in search of his married sister, the boy encounters a terrifying supernatural being called Skoks, a spirit woman who arrives on a whirlwind and grows until her head touches the sky. When she passes him, the boy falls unconscious, blood pouring from his mouth, because Skoks has reached into him and seized his heart. She carries it westward through the air, holding it in her closed fist, testing whether it has the quality she seeks. After speaking and laughing to the heart, she releases it, and the boy perceives a bird alighting on his chest. He rises from the ground transformed, no longer a small child but a young man, marked by his encounter with the spirit world. His sister, though frightened and saddened to learn what happened to him, takes him in. Skoks is not finished with Ktilisúnak; she intends to become his medicine power and make him a great healer. Each evening he feels the spirit coming again and falls senseless while she communicates with him. Acting on the instructions he receives, his sister travels to the nearby village of Blaiwas and brings back old men who spend five days singing to the assembled medicine spirits and negotiating their requirements. Each spirit demands specific ritual objects: Skoks requires a cap and plates of tule grass, Eagle medicine wants eagle feathers, fish-hawk medicine wants fish-hawk feathers, and so on. The old men also instruct the sister on how she must conduct herself to keep the medicines from turning against her brother—she must not cook or sweep dust in the house, must not stir ashes carelessly, must not urge him to eat, and must always be ready to sing when required. Ktilisúnak lies quietly in the house, going out only when called to heal the sick, as befits a doctor in possession of powerful medicines. His first patient is a neighbor reduced to skin and bones and near death. The young man and his sister go to the man's house with Skoks invisibly attending, and Ktilisúnak places his hands on either side of the dying man's body, holding his life inside him. Within half a day the patient recovers. The trouble begins when his sister returns home and, without thinking, remarks aloud that she is tired. The medicines hear her. That night they tell Ktilisúnak they did not expect her to tire of them so quickly. When he asks her the next morning, she admits she is weary of so much singing. He confesses his own weariness but says he cannot afford to neglect his medicines if he wants to live. The medicines, led by Skoks, are deeply offended. They tell him he and his sister are ungrateful and declare that henceforth he will be an ordinary man without healing power. They depart. Immediately Ktilisúnak falls ill. He sings and cries for his medicines to return, but they do not hear him. The old men come again and try to call the spirits back, but the effort fails. Ktilisúnak tells them it is no use, that Skoks now holds his life. He wastes away and dies. His body is burned along with fine beads and mats brought by the people in his honor. Blaiwas rebukes the sister, telling her plainly that it is as if she killed her own brother with her careless words, and reminding her that medicines can hear what is spoken even at a great distance. Overcome with grief and shame, the sister burns down her house and moves away. Meanwhile, the old grandmother who first drove the boy out now understands what has happened. Full of remorse, she circles the sister's house three nights in succession, weeping so that her voice sounds like a spirit's cry, with red tears running down one side of her face and black tears down the other. In a final pronouncement she tells her granddaughter that she herself is going to the mountains and will be a person no longer, and that the sister likewise will be transformed into a bird who appears to doctors. Both women become birds, and the tale closes on this image of grief, consequence, and supernatural transformation.

By Jeremiah Curtin · First published 1912 · Genre: Indigenous folklore, Magical realism, Spiritual fiction · 1,808 words

First lines

CHARACTERS / Blaiwas Eagle / Ktilisúnak Ktilis' Son / Skoks Spirit / Skoksun Kalo The Land of Spirits

Ktilisúnak (Ktilis' son) was so young that he couldn't talk plainly. He lived with his grandmother. His sister was married and lived on a broad flat near the mountains. The grandmother was tired of taking care of the boy, and one evening she threw the little fellow out; then she threw him his bow and arrows, and said:

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A Medicine Story. Number I is listed on Textopian as a short story by Jeremiah Curtin, dated 1912 CE.

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Work type: Short story
Author: Jeremiah Curtin
Date: 1912 CE
Language: English
Genres: Indigenous folklore, Magical realism, Spiritual fiction, Cautionary tale, Coming-of-age story
Length: 1,808 words
Structure: 1 section, 31 paragraphs
Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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Genres

Indigenous folklore — The narrative is presented as a traditional medicine story from an Indigenous culture, featuring spiritual beings, shamanic practices, and oral storytelling conventions typical of Native American folklore.
Magical realism — The story blends supernatural elements such as spirit beings, shape-shifting, and magical transformations seamlessly with realistic narrative details and emotional consequences.
Spiritual fiction — The work centers on spiritual encounters, medicine spirits, and the relationship between the physical and spiritual worlds, with themes of spiritual power and communion with supernatural forces.
Cautionary tale — The narrative functions as a moral lesson about respecting spiritual powers, honoring obligations, and the consequences of ingratitude and neglect toward supernatural beings and family.