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The Deer People, 24x36 acrylic, copyright Lelia Canter, 1/07

“The Deer People” represents the Cherokee legend of “Little Deer”. Long ago, in the old days; the animals held council to discuss concerns of increasing human population and hunting. The Deer People held council under their chief “Little Deer”.
After some lengthy discussion, the Deer People decided to send rheumatism to any hunter who did not respectfully ask their pardon with special prayers before killing any one of their deer tribe. Now, whenever a hunter shoots a deer; “Little Deer” who is as swift as the wind and cannot be wounded; runs quickly to the spot where the deer was killed and asks it’s spirit if it heard the hunter’s prayer of pardon. If the answer is no; “Little Deer” follows the hunter home invisibly and strikes the hunter with rheumatism so that he is crippled and can no longer hunt. Thus, no Cherokee hunter who had regard for his health ever failed to ask pardon of a deer before killing it.

Original and limited edition prints available .
Contact Lelia Canter for pricing.