From:  James LaPointe, Legends of the Lakota, Indian Historian Press, San Francisco, 1976, pp. 29-34.  ISBN 0-913436-26-7.

 Ancient people the world over have been awed by the celestial wonders of the night skies. The Indian too, eyeing the endless expanse of stars twinkling like fireflies, searched for answers. He believed the luminous veil sweeping across the sky was the Trail of the Spirits, and the North Star was the father of Fallen Star, a supernatural being, the hero of many an Indian legend.
 

 In the days when Indian life flourished upon unspoiled, well-protected prairies, and the animals roamed unmolested, Fallen Star symbolized the ideals of the Indian: honesty, courage, nobility, and brotherhood. He was the guardian of the red people against the hazards of nature. In times of misfortune, pestilence, and famine, he taught them the uses of medicinal herbs, and how to combat the diseases of nature. The Lakota people say that Fallen Star was especially kind to them because he was the son of a Lakota maid.
 

 Tales of Fallen Star all point to the belief he was of celestial origin, a member of the Maghpia Oyate, (Cloud People). A belief still prevails that he now resides somewhere in the frosty dome of the heavens, a brilliant star, forever looking down with anxious concern upon his mortal and saddened people.
 

 In ancient Indian life, there were men who specialized in the lore of the heavens. Intellectually gifted, with extraordinarily keen memories, these men studied solar behavior as well as the faraway stars. They imparted their knowledge to posterity through oral narratives and by object lessons. They had knowledge of the fixed stars, the moving stars called planets, the visiting stars with tails and the sailing stars that sometimes loom into sudden brilliance and then fade in the deep blackness of the heavens.
 

The gradual whirling movement of the Big Dipper was part of their calendar. They made vivid and imaginative pictures of the star clusters. They said some of the clusters resembled animals of the earth. One cluster was called Pa yamini pa, (a monster with three heads).
 

After an evening of casual talk and story telling, it was the custom of the native people to go into the night, singly or in groups, attending to chores before retiring. At this time, if the sky was clear, the wise men who knew the stars gave lessons to the young, and to any others interested in the mysteries of the heavens. Pointing upward into the scintillating display of heavenly bodies, they traced out the animals portrayed by each cluster.
 

The ancient wise men said that all heavenly bodies exert influences upon life on earth, and the destinies of individual life are at all times under the spell of the sun, the moon, and the stars.
 

The Lakota people held in utmost reverence the most mystifying of all heavenly phenomena, the Milky Way. This mass of elongated, pale wonder of the sky held a definite meaning for them. They referred to the Milky Way, with great respect, as the pathway of the dead. This luminous trail, stretching from horizon to horizon through the dark skies and the cold expanse of space, was in their language wanaghi tachanku, (trail of the spirits). "It is the trail all Lakota people must take when fate overtakes them," was a common expression among the elders.
 

High in the heavens the Milky Way splits into two parts, one branch continuing endlessly across the sky. The other branch breaks off for a short distance and then fades away in a faint nebula. At this split in the Milky Way, Lakota legend says, there stands a Divine Arbiter of the souls of the dead.
 

Holding a plumed scepter in his arms, a token of his immortal authority, the Arbiter stood in judgment over the never- ending procession of ghostly marchers. Like death itself, there was no trail around the Arbiter. Judging each soul by the markings made by life itself, he searched for tattoo marks of the Societies to which the soul belonged. He looked for scars revealing the sins of human error. If a person showed such scars, the immortal judge pointed his scepter in the direction of the short trail, at the end of which was a precipice over which the ill-fated soul tumbled through space forever.
 

Those souls showing the markings of a moral life were directed toward the unbroken trail. This was a long, long trail, legends say, but at its end there was the Wanaghiyata (home of departed souls).
 

Wanaghiyata was the Lakota's conception of the hereafter. In this spirit world, only peace and plenty prevailed. The concept of their heaven was uncomplicated. Cool, fresh waters to drink, Washecha (foodstuffs aplenty), invigorating air to breathe, green foliage for shade, and lush grasses for the animals. Sickness, war, and death no longer marred the happiness of family life. Serenity prevailed. There were no pearly gates, or streets paved with gold.
 

Fallen Star was the fruit of a poignant romance, the tender tale of an earth girl and a strange young man who came from another world far in the heavens. The story begins:

Ages ago, in a small village of the Lakota, there lived a shy, comely maid, mild mannered and gentle. In her big black eyes there was always a hint of laughter. She had beautiful thick hair, immaculately braided with strips of soft, white fur. Skins of finest texture covered her dainty body. She was the very image of young, chaste womanhood.
 

From far and near, bold warriors came to woo this maid of the prairie lands where lilies bloom. The gallant men with strong, healthy bodies, wore their markings of prowess proudly and with dignity. It was most perplexing to make a choice from among such a group of warriors.
 

The courting ways of the red man were liberal. Sought-after maidens were closely chaperoned to insure only the best of unions, but all deserving braves had equal time to speak their words of love. These courting scenes usually took place under the light of an approving moon or near flickering campfires, where an elderly woman would sit, head discreetly bowed.
 

To Tapun Shawin (red-cheeked maid) there came one evening a young warrior, strangely radiant. With an aura of magic, he floated over the ground like a rolling fog. In the heavy moonlight, his shadow was crowned with a halo. When this young man, in the custom of the day, took his turn with the other suitors to speak his words of subtle persuasion, he won the heart of the maid.
 

As befitting occasions of this nature, it was joyously heralded to the village that Tapun Shawin was to be the bride of the charming stranger. While the mating rituals were in progress, the young man astounded the village by revealing that he was a member of the Maghpia Oyate and humbly asked the earth people to permit him to take his bride to a home far beyond the limits of the clouds.
 

And so the newly wed couple departed on their long journey, leaving the earth village in sadness. Arriving in the sky world, no sooner had they emerged from their bridal tipi than Starman's grandmother took over the management of the new household. She cast a stern eye upon the little earth bride, so young, so naive. Indeed she resented the intrusion. But she loved her grandson, and so, in a cold, methodical way, she began to teach the artless young bride the ways of the world above.
 

The earth girl enjoyed only the company of her man, and she accompanied him on many of his long, mysterious missions in the sky until one day she felt the stirrings of a new life within her.
 

It was now springtime in this strange land so far from the earth. In the warmth of the spring air, fresh grass carpeted the rolling hills with a greenish hue. Flowers burst into bloom, and the birds sang merrily as they tended to their annual springtime chores. It was the joyous season, the waking-up time for all living things. But alas, the warm sun and the feeling of being reborn sent twinges of nostalgia through the earth girl. To dispel the grip of sadness she wandered far away to the wooded hills, there to dream of her childhood. Vivid memories of her happy young life passed through her mind. These feelings gave way to the knowledge that she was uncomfortably heavy with the life within her. Feeling helpless and alone, she experienced an uncontrollable urge to do something reckless and daring.
 

The grandmother had been patient with the girl, knowing that women in her condition were not always rational. She had a fond hope that not too many moons away she would be holding a great-grandchild in her arms. But, with each day the young woman's behavior became more disturbing. She cautioned the girl to remember that the sky world was much different from the earth. Animals were more dangerous. Even growing plants and edible tubers would bring harm if not handled properly. The girl only sulked, and again wandered far into the hills, carrying her digging bar.
 

She remembered the many times she had gone as a small child to gather berries, herbs and tubers with her earth mother. As she rambled aimlessly here and there, recalling pleasurable child- hood incidents, she spied a plant which she remembered as tasting bitter but pleasant. Casting aside precaution, she reasoned it would do no harm to enjoy once again the tangy taste of the plant she had once so enjoyed.
 

As she plunged her digging bar into the earth to extract the root, there was an unfamiliar hollow sound. As though plunged into quicksand, the bar crazily sank downward. She felt a queer sensation, as though the ground underneath her was crumbling away. Frightened, remembering now the warnings of the old woman, she reached out for something to grasp, but the movement only caused her to sink deeper, deeper, and then into oblivion.
 

When Starman learned what had happened to his cherished earth bride, a sadness beyond control overwhelmed him. Despondent and sullen, he refused solace and sought a remote spot in the sky to grieve and mourn his loss in solitude. To this day, so legends say, Starman sits with bowed head, never moving. This star that forever remains in one place is known to the Lakota as Wazia Wichaghpi, (North Star) or, sometimes Wichaghpi 0wanjihan (the star always in one place).
 

The romance and marriage of Wazia Wichaghpi and Tapun Shawin had been short but idyllic. It had been a good omen for the Lakota because the child of this marriage, Fallen Star, would become their everlasting legacy. A headstrong girl, about to become a mother, had disappeared from the sky-world. But the strings of the legend extend back to earth, as we shall now see.
 

A group of small boys were hunting for rabbits one day, and for squirrels, turkey and other small game. Imitating their elders by stalking game through brush and thicket, they stumbled upon a most peculiar scene. For an instant they stood paralyzed in their tracks, then ran away screaming. Before going too far, how- ever, fright gave way to curiosity. They cautiously returned for a closer look.
 

A woman, her comely face upturned, lay there as though in deep sleep, while a tiny child busily nursed from the breast of the motionless woman. Because the mother lay so unnaturally still, the boys picked up the baby boy, carefully wrapped him in calf-hide robes taken from their own shoulders, and took him back to the village. Breathlessly they told how they had come upon the scene, and how the newborn child had been vigorously nursing.
 

There was much curious speculation, but no explanation for this strange incident. Medicine men were apprehensive. What did it portend? Was she a cloud woman who had fallen to the earth? Many women, already mothers, came forward wanting the baby, but the elders of the village decreed that the child should go to a lonely woman in need of a child.
 

Now hunters brought fresh meat to the new mother and her adopted child, as custom decreed. The women in nearby lodges provided other nutritious foods. Everyone was solicitous for the welfare of the mysterious little boy.
 

He was named Fallen Star by the people. There seemed to be no other explanation except that, like a wandering meteor, this woman with a child in her womb had fallen from the heavens, perhaps to bring blessings upon the earth people.
 

The young boy grew strong, nursing on a calf's bladder bag filled with nourishing, herb-flavored soups. He ate solids of pulverized meats prepared in concentrated mixtures seasoned with herbs and wild fruits.
 

Fallen Star was a most unusual child; he matured early into a sturdy, healthy boy. He played and hunted with other children, but he seemed to know he was no ordinary boy and was destined for special duties. Soon after attaining manhood, he told his adopted mother that his father was a bright star in the sky and by the command of Taku Wakan he must now watch over all the people of the earth. One night, quietly and mysteriously, Fallen Star left this earth, returning to the heavens of his father's people. But the Lakotas know he belongs in part to them, as the son of a Lakota mother.
 

Today, from somewhere near the Trail of the Spirits, known to others as Milky Way, Fallen Star sends rays of hope for his earth people.