The Comanche people moaned aloud to the Great Spirit. " Our land is dying and we are dying too. Tell us what we have done wrong to make you so angry. Tell us what we must do to get rain from you."
For three days, the people prayed this prayer and danced it. People waited and prayed and died especially the children and the aged.
One small girl called She-Who-Sits-Alone who still lived watched her people dance and pray. In her lap was a doll which she treasured above all things else. It was a warrior doll with a bone belt, beaded leggings and on its head were blue feathers from the Blue Jay.
She-Who-Sits-Alone spoke to her doll. "Soon the wise men will go off to the hills and listen to the winds which carry the wisdom of the Great Spirit. Then, we shall know what to do once more to make the rains come and the earth alive."
She talked to her doll and held it close to her heart--- for it had been made by her mother and father and grandmother........... and now they were all dead of hunger. Her warrior doll was all that she had left of the happy days gone by.
The wise men came back saying solemnly, " The Great Spirit says that we have become selfish. For years, we have taken from the earth but have not given anything back. So, the Great Spirit says that we must make a sacrifice: A burnt offering of our most valued possessions. Then, the ashes will be scattered on the winds and the rains will come and life will return to the earth."
The people then went back to their tents to look for their most valued possessions. One warrior said, " What shall I give? I am sure the Great Spirit not want my new bow."
A woman added, " I know the Great Spirit does not want my special blanket either." And so went through the village. Everyone had an excuse to keep what he or she valued most.
Except She-Who-Sits-Alone. She held her warrior doll to her chest and spoke to it, " It is you the Great Spirit wants for you are the most valued possession." And she knew what she had to do.
Later that night, when everyone was asleep, She-Who-Sits-Alone crawled out from her blanket, took a lighted stick from the smoldering campfire and crept outside. She went to the top of a hill, placed the light stick on the ground and spoke aloud.
" O great Spirit, here is my warrior doll. It is the only thing I have from my mother and father. It is my most valued possession. Please, accept it."
Still holding her doll, she gathered some twigs and fanned up a fire and held her doll near it. She hesitated and tears began to roll down her cheeks. But then she thought of her parents and grandparents and friends who had died of hunger and thrust her doll into the fire.
When the flames died down and the ashes had cooled, she scooped them up and scattered them to the four winds. She was now tired. So, on the hill, she fell asleep without her doll but a smile on her lips.
The next morning, the sun awoke her. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked over the hill. As far as she could see, where her doll's ashes had fallen, the ground was covered with beautiful flowers like the little blue bonnets. They were as blue as the feathers in her doll's hair.
When the people saw this, they had no doubt in their minds that this was the sign the Great Spirit had forgiven them. So, they sang and danced their thanks. In the middle of the songs, a gentle rain began to fall, the land began to live again and the people were saved. And every year, in the springtime in the land now called Texas, the Great Spirit remembers the love and sacrifice of the little girl and fill the valleys with beautiful blue flowers. From that day on, She-Who-Sits-Alone was given a new name: One-Who-Loved-Her-People.
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