[The following is copied from "Jeffh's Unofficial Indian Guide Page" at www.nol.net/~jeffh/yiguide/yiguide.htm -- a great source for Indian Guide Resources]
Collected by Jeffh@nol.net.
Ghost stories told around a camp fire are a high-light for our young braves. They enjoy being scared a little and it forms a close bond in our tribe, making them look forward to our tribes camp fire after the nation camp fire.
Most of these stories are ones that I have gathered from books. I have broken them down in several sections and have included a bibliography. They are not all scary, but some are, so please read them before telling them to the young braves.
Table of Contents:
The Lame Warrior and the Skeleton
The Sioux Who Wrestled With A Ghost
The Big Toe
The Walk
The Attic
Once Bitten
The Viper.
The Attic
Red Sloppity Lips
Tag, You're It!
Instead of appearing as white wraiths, American Indian ghosts more often were skeletons, and they behaved in various ways. Sometimes they performed good deeds. At other times they were capricious, seeking to do harm in some way, or simply teasing and frightening those of the living who happened to cross their paths. 1
(Arapaho)
In the days before horses, a party of young Arapahos set off on foot one autumn morning in search of wild game in the western mountains. They carried heavy packs of food and spare moccasins, and one day as they were crossing the rocky bed of a shallow stream a young warrior felt a sudden sharp pain in his ankle. The ankle swelled and the pain grew worse until they pitched camp that night
Next morning the warrior's ankle was swollen so badly that it was impossible for him to continue the journey with the others. His companions decided it was best to leave him. They cut young willows and tall grass to make a thatched shelter for him, and after the shelter was finished they collected a pile of dry wood so that he could keep a fire burning.
"When your ankle get well," they told him, "don't try to follow us. Go back to our village, and await our return."
After several lonely days, the lame warrior tested his ankle, but it was still too painful to walk upon. And then one night a heavy snowstorm fell, virtually imprisoning him in the shelter. Because he had been unable to kill any wild game, his food supply was almost gone.
Late one afternoon he looked out and saw a large herd of buffalo rooting in the snow for grass quite close to his shelter. Reaching for his bow and arrow, he shot the fattest one and killed it. He then crawled out of the shelter to the buffalo, skinned it, and brought in the meat. After preparing a bed of coals, he placed a section of ribs in the fire for roasting.
Night had fallen by the time the ribs were cooked, and just as the lame warrior was reaching for a piece to eat, he heard foot-steps crunching on the frozen snow. The steps came nearer and nearer to the closed flap of the shelter. "Who can that be?" he said to himself. "I am here alone and unable to run, but I shall defend myself if need be." He reached for his bow and arrow. A moment later the flap opened and a skeleton clothed in a tanned robe stood there looking down at the lame warrior.
The robe was pinned tight at the neck so that only the skull was visible above and skeleton feet below. Frightened by this ghost, the warrior turned his eyes away from it.
"You must not be frightened of me," the skeleton said in a hoarse voice. "I have taken pity on you. Now you must take pity on me. Give me a piece of those roast ribs to eat, for I am very hungry."
Still very much alarmed by the presence of this unexpected visitor, the warrior offered a large piece of meat to an extended bony hand. He was astonished to see the skeleton chew the food with its bared teeth and swallow it.
"It is I who gave you the pain in your ankle," said the skeleton. "It was I who caused your ankle to swell so that you could not continue on the hunt. If you had gone on with your companions you would have been killed. The day they left you here, an enemy war party made a charge upon them, and they were all killed. I am the one who saved your life."
Again the skeleton's bony hand reached out, this time to rub the warrior's ankle. The pain and welling vanished at once. "Now you can walk again," the ghost said. "Your enemies are all around, bit if you will follow me I can lead you safely back to your village."
At dawn they left the shelter and started off across the snow, the skeleton leading the way. They walked through deep woods, along icy streams, and over high hills. Late in the afternoon the skeleton led the warrior up a steep ridge. When the warrior reached the summit, the ghost had vanished, but down in the valley below he could see the smokes of teepees in his Arapaho village. 1
(Sioux)
A young Sioux warrior went out alone to live with the animals and birds for a time. He was seeking a vision from Wakantanka, the Great Mystery, so that he would know what direction to take in life. After meeting and overcoming many difficulties he reached a wilderness. One day as he was walking along through a forest he heard a voice. He searched all around, but could find nothing but an owl sitting in a tree.
When night came on, he made a fire and sat down to warm himself. Suddenly he heard the voice again, singing very loudly. The Sioux shouted to the singer, but no one replied, and after a while the sound died away.
The only food the Sioux had was a small pouch of wasna, or buffalo fat mixed with dried meat and wild cherries. He was reaching for the pouch when the sound of singing came again, eve louder than before, and when the Sioux looked up he saw a ghost standing on the edge of the firelight.
"I want some of your food," the ghost said.
"I have nothing whatever," the young warrior replied.
"Not so," said the ghost. "I know that you have some wasna."
"All right, I will share it with you."
After they had eaten some of the wasna, the Sioux filled his pipe with tobacco and offered it to the ghost. When the ghost reached for the stem, the young man saw that the hand had no flesh, being nothing by bones. At the same time the ghost's robe dropped from its shoulders to its waist so that all its ribs were visible, there being no flesh on them. Although the ghost did not open its teeth as it smoked, the smoke was pouring out through its ribs.
When it had finished smoking, the ghost said to the Sioux: "We must wrestle each other. If you can throw me, I will make you rich in horses."
As the young man owned no horses, he agreed to wrestle the ghost, but before beginning he gathered a pile of brush for his fire so as to light up the forest. While he was doing this the ghost rushed upon him, seizing him with its bony hands and squeezing him most painfully. He tried to push the ghost away, but its legs were very powerful.
After a time, the Sioux noticed that when the wrestled near the fire, the ghost became weak, but the farther they moved away from the fire the stronger the ghost became. As the fire burned lower and lower, the strength of the ghost increased. The young man struggled harder, but the ghost's bones grew tighter around him. After a desperate effort he managed to get near enough to the fire to kick a piece of dry wood into the coals.
As soon as the fire blazed up, the ghost fell upon the ground as though it were coming to pieces. "You have won," the ghost said hoarsely. "Now follow me."
Just as dawn was breaking, the ghost led the Sioux out through the woods into a valley filled with hundreds of horses. The young man roped as many as he could lead back to his village. He never saw the ghost again, but after that he believed in ghosts and whatever they might have to say to people. 1
These are meant to scare you mostly by shouting. Some are pretty tame, but review them first, because there are a few that are actually scary.
A boy was digging at the edge of the garden when he saw a big toe. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to something. So he gave it a good hard jerk, and it came off in his hand. Then he heard something groan and scamper away.
The boy took the toe into the kitchen and showed it to his mother. "It looks nice and plump," she said. "I'll put it in the soup, and we'll have it for supper."
That night his father carved the toe into three pieces, and they each had a piece. Then they did the dishes, and when it got dark they went to bed.
The boy fell asleep almost at once. But in the middle of the night, a sound awakened him. It was something out in the street. It was a voice, and it was calling to him.
"Where is my to-o-o-o-e? " it groaned.
When the boy heard that, he got very scared. But he thought, "It doesn't know where I am, It will never find me."
The he heard the voice once more. Only now is was closer.
"Where is my to-o-o-o-e? " it groaned.
The boy pulled the blankets over his head and closed his eyes. I'll go to sleep," he thought. "When I wake up it will be gone."
But soon he heard the back door open, and again he heard the voice.
"Where is my to-o-o-o-e? " it groaned.
Then the boy heard footsteps move through the kitchen into the dining room, into the living room, in the front hall. Then slowly they climbed the stairs.
Closer and closer they came. Soon they were in the upstairs hall. Now they were outside his door.
"Where is my to-o-o-o-e? " the voice groaned.
His door opened. Shaking with fear, he listened as the footsteps slowly moved through the dark toward his bed. Then they stopped.
"Where is my to-o-o-o-e? " the voice groaned.
(At this point, pause. Then jump at the person next to you and shout:)
YOU'VE GOT IT!
My uncle was walking down a lonely dirt road one day. He came upon a man who also was walking down that road. The man looked at my uncle, and my uncle looked at the man. The man was scared of my uncle, and my uncle was scared of that man.
But they kept on walking, and it began to get dark. The man looked at my uncle, and my uncle looked at the man. The man was very scared of my uncle, and my uncle was very scared of that man.
But they kept on walking, and they came to a big woods. It was getting darker. The man looked at my uncle, and my uncle looked at the man. The man was really scared of my uncle, and my uncle was really scared of that man.
But they kept on walking, and deep down into the woods they went. It was getting darker. The man looked at my uncle, and my uncle looked at the man. The man was terribly scared of my uncle, and my uncle was terribly scared of -
(Now SCREAM "Everything"!)1
A man named Rupert lived with his dog in a house deep in the woods. Rupert was a hunter and a trapper. The dog was a big German shepherd named Sam. Rupert had raised Sam from a pup.
Almost every morning Rupert went hunting, and Sam stayed behind and guarded this house. One morning, as Rupert was checking his traps, he got the feeling that something was wrong at home.
He hurried back as fast as he could, but when he got there he found that Sam was missing. He searched the house and the woods nearby, but Sam was nowhere to be seen. He called and he called, but the dog did not answer. For days Rupert looked for Sam, but he could find no trace of him.
Finally he gave up and went back to his work. But one morning he heard something moving in the attic. He picked up his gun. Then he thought, "I'd better be quiet about this."
So he took off his boots. And in his bare feet he began to climb the attic stairs. He slowly took one step - then another - then another, until at last he reached the attic door.
He stood outside listening, but he didn't hear a thing. Then he opened the door, and -
(Now SCREAM!)
(At this pint, the storyteller stops, as if he has finished. Then usually somebody will ask, "Why did Rupert scream?"
The storyteller replies, "You'd scream too if you stepped on a nail in your bare feet.")1
We were at a traveling carnival, riding the rides and having a good time. We came upon a fortune teller booth and thought it would be fun to have our palms read. My {wife/husband/friend} went first and was told that they were going to lead a healthy, happy life.
When it came time for my time, the fortune teller took my palm and looked at me very strangely. She asked me if I was fond of dogs and I told her yes. She told me that in a previous life I had been a dog, but I had been treated poorly by my owner. In fact, he kept me tied up with a heavy chain and that I tried so hard to escape that it broke my collar bone. In fact, my collar bone has a knot in it even now from this experience - go ahead and feel right here. (encourage one of them to feel your collar bone and when they do turn and try to bite their hand while barking.) 3.
These are silly stories. You can still startle them with a shout at the end of some of them, but generally they are here to make them laugh.
A widow lived alone on the top floor of an apartment house. One morning her telephone rang.
"Hello," she said.
"This is the viper," a man said. "I'm coming up."
"Somebody is fooling around," she thought, and hung up.
A half-hour later the telephone rang again. It was the same man.
"It's the viper," he said, "I'll be up soon."
The widow didn't know what to think, but she was getting frightened.
Once more the telephone rang. Again it was the viper.
"I'm coming up now," he said.
She quickly called the police. They said they would be right over. When the doorbell rang, she sighed with relief. "They are here!" she thought.
But when she opened the door, there stood a little old man with a bucket and a cloth. "I am the viper," he said. "I vish to vash and vipe the windows." 1
At the end of a long, dark road is a long, dark path.
At the end of the long ,dark path is a lone, dark house.
And the lone, dark house has a single, dark door.
Behind the single, dark door is a long, dark hall.
At the end of the long, dark hall are some tall, dark stairs.
At the top of the tall, dark stairs is a long dark balcony.
At the end of the long, dark balcony is a big dark room.
In the big dark room is a big dark closet.
In the big dark closet is a big, dark door.
Behind the big dark door are some steep, dark stairs.
At the top of the steep, dark stairs was a dark, damp attic.
In the dark, damp attic was a big, dark chest.
In the big, dark chest was a small, dark box.
And in the small, dark box was a pink jellybean.3.
A young man was driving along and old road and had become lost. He was trying to find his way back to a gas station to get directions when he ran out of gas. So he grabbed his gas can and began to walk. He had been walking for half an hour without seeing a single other car passing when it began to rain. He pulled his jacket up over his head to help keep the rain away, but it began to rain harder. Then it began to thunder and lightening, so he knew that he must find shelter quickly. Up ahead he saw an old abandoned house, so he ran onto the porch. Certainly nobody would mind. But the wind began to blow and blew the door right open. The wind blew so hard, that it blew the rain onto the porch soaking the man even more. So he went inside to get out of the rain. The house was very large and though it was abandoned, dirty, full of cob-webs and in need of some repair it kept the man dry.
A big gust of wind blew in the door and then back out again, slamming the door shut. The man tried to open the door, but the rain had caused the door to swell, wedging it in the door frame when it slammed. He could not open it.
Just then, he heard a voice call out "Do you know what I do with my red sloppity lips and my long green fingers?" Next to the door was a large, green hairy monster with huge red lips, pointed fangs and gangly legs & arms with very long fingernails. The man panicked and ran down the hall. The monster followed.
Again, he heard the monster say "Do you know what I do with my red sloppity lips and my long green fingers?" as he followed him down the hall. The man ran up some stairs at the end of the hall. And the monster pursued him.
The monster was getting closer, so he heard the monster say louder "Do you know what I do with my red sloppity lips and my long green fingers?". The man ran away from the monster down the hall at the top of the stairs and into a room at the end of the hall, closing the door behind him. But he heard loud footsteps coming down the hall. And he had run into a room with no windows, so he hid in the closet.
The bedroom door flew open and again he heard the monster say even louder "Do you know what I do with my red sloppity lips and my long green fingers?" The man tucked himself into a corner of the closet and hid as best as he could.
The closet door opened wide and the huge hairy monster stood before him. Again, so loud that it hurt the mans ears the monster once again said "Do you know what I do with my red sloppity lips and my long green fingers?"
The man shook as he answered with fear in a quiet voice "no".
The monster smiled and said "Then I'll show you."
BLBLBLBLBLBLBLBL (Put your fingers to your lips and strum them across your lips while you make a "b" sound. Cross your eyes when you do this if you can. This should result in the desired silly effect.) 3.
Two children about your age were out playing in the woods behind their house one cold day. They played and played, running around, playing tag, climbing trees. The did not notice it, but they kept wandering further and further from their house. By the time they began to get hungry, they were very lost. They searched and wandered through the woods, looking for something that looked familiar, but they could see nothing that they recognized. It began to get very cold and the children realized that they needed to find shelter or they would freeze.
As the wandered, the came upon a cave. They looked into the cave and it seemed very dark. They realized they must go into the cave or freeze. Gathering up their courage, they went into the cave. They huddled together just inside the cave opening, but the wind began to blow into the cave so they went a little deeper into the cave to escape the wind.
That's when they noticed the monster: big and black, looking like a giant lizard but oozing slime from head to foot. It stood upright on its hind legs and began to walk toward the children, slowly. The children ran into the back of the cave, barely able to see where they were going. And slowly, plodding after them, came the monster. The children ran back further into the cave, able to barely see from a hole in the cave far, far above them. But they came to the end of the cave. And slowly the monster came towards them, step by step. As it came closer, it stretched out one of it's arms and stuck out a menacing claw. The children were filled with fear, too afraid to move.
The monster came closer and closer until it was close enough to strike. Then it took the claw and with a single swift movement of it's arm, tapped on of the boys. "Tag, you're it!" (this works better if you tag one of the kids listening to the story.) 3.
1. Teepee Tales of the American Indian, Dee Brown; Holt, Rinehart and Winston; New York; 1979.
2. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz; Harper Collins; New York; 1981
3. Stories I remember from Childhood, Indian Guides, Boy Scouts, etc.