Two Wolves

The folk story of "Two Wolves" has come to me a number of times since the summer so I thought it would be interesting to share some thoughts on it. This story is attributed to many different tribal people. No published accounts of Cherokee oral history, folklore, or philosophy-of which their are many-include this story and it's basic premise of good battling evil is foreign to the Cherokee world-view.

This story, as many others like it, (even IF it were native in origin) would not be attributed to any "one" person as those are verbal stories handed down for generations.

Please note that this story is Inconsistent with native story forms, Native Stories do NOT contain the 'Moral of the story' at the end like non-native stories do.

For instance: The story in Native Form would be:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.  "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

Non-Natives would add this to the story:
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" 

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

This difference is social-religious between the two cultures and is a good way to tell which stories maybe of native origin, and which are not. Religion can be seen as a set of ethics that follows the message of god or a spiritual head. Culture can be seen as something that is common to all people belonging to a nation or a state irrespective of their language or community or religion.

Many of the posts and emails I have received with this story go on to talk about what the message means. How one can take the message and create a better vision for themselves, a better path to enlightenment or the steps needed to become a better person. How one interprets this story is important for us as we Boomers examine our live and move into the next phase of living. This is important because as part of our journey, we will be starting to put together our stories, which contain our own wisdom and view of the world. Do we embrace religion, or culture or both? What message do we want our grandchildren to  hear from us? Which beast do we feed?

 In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, Durkheim (David Émile Durkheim April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917 was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology) recognized the social origin of religion. Durkheim argued that religion acted as a source of solidarity and identification for the individuals within a society, especially as a part of mechanical solidarity systems, and to a lesser, but still important extent in the context of organic solidarity. Religion provided a meaning for life, it provided authority figures, and most importantly for Durkheim, it reinforced the morals and social norms held collectively by all within a society. Far from dismissing religion as mere fantasy, despite its natural origin, Durkheim saw it as a critical part of the social system. Religion provides social control, cohesion, and purpose for people, as well as another means of communication and gathering for individuals to interact and reaffirm social norms