Why the Turtle Has a Broken Shell 

In the Time of the Beginning, it was told this way, of how the Turtle came to have a broken shell.  Long ago, when the World was new, things were different than they are today. Bears had beautiful long furry long tails, Beaver had a round fluffy tail, Raven was white and not black,
and Turtle had a beautiful, bright, shiny and round shell. 
Now this Turtle was the first of all Turtles. And all Turtles today are descended from this Grandfather Turtle. He was larger than today’s turtles, and his shell was almost perfectly round, so bright that others could see their reflection looking back at them when they peered
into it. 
Now this Grandfather Turtle was very proud of his shell. He was also somewhat lazy. So, being crafty, he found a way to use his shiny shell so that he didn’t have to work very hard at all to get food. He traded with other animals who wanted to see their reflections. If they brought him nice treats to eat, he would sit very still, eating quietly while other animals peered into his beautiful, bright shiny shell to see how they looked from the outside in rather than the
inside out. 
Bear came to preen and comb his beautiful long furry and ringed tail. Beaver came to look at his sharp teeth and pick them clean of branches and bark with is tail. Deer came to admire his fine antlers, shaking his head and admiring how handsome he was. All the while, Turtle sat very very still, eating all the food he wanted and never doing any work to earn it. 
Now, Creator was watching this with some amusement. At first Creator was impressed with Turtles creativity. But over time, Creator became more and more not impressed. The natural order of the World of Physical Things was that food must be sought after and earned by
working for it, by being smarter than others, by prayerful asking for Gifts received. Turtle was setting a bad example of waste and idleness. 
Aside from eating, Turtle’s main pleasure in life was.. now this may be hard to believe.. but, really, it was true then. Turtle LOVED to talk. About anything and everything. He loved the sound of his own voice. He collected stories about everyone around him. He had a wonderful
memory and could recall even the smallest details of long ago times. He could mimic the sounds of others voices, so well that sometimes he even fooled himself! 
Turtle was also very good at understanding why some Animal Kind were as they are. He understood that Fox was crafty and sneaky; that Old Man Coyote taught others by playing tricks on them. He knew that Eagle could see so much that he often saw things others missed.
Turtle was also very good a figuring out what weaknesses his friends had.  
As Time moved on, Creator became more and more unhappy. Creator decided to teach Turtle a lesson. More than that, Creator decided to Teach all Turtles now and to the end of Time a Lesson about the value of hard work. 
Creator talked to Ducks. They were to convince Turtle that there was a place not so far way where there was SOOO much food, that Turtle wouldn’t have to work at all to get it, he could just sit in one place and have all the food he wanted. 
So the Two Ducks (ducks never go anywhere alone, then or now), went to see Turtle. They offered to take him to this wonderful place. Turtle’s eyes got very big, and he became so excited at the very idea, that it was almost no time at all till the Two Ducks were carrying Turtle through the sky. 
Now, how did they do this, you ask? Well, they took a branch from a tree, and put it between their feet, like a swing. Turtle grabbed firmly on the stick with his mouth and they lifted off. 
Turtle was really enjoying the flight, and saw so many things. He wanted to tell the Two Ducks about all the wonders he was seeing. He began mumbling, trying to talk around the stick. He tried very hard to use his own claws to hang onto the tree branch, but they were just not long enough to do that. The Two Ducks warned him over and over to ‘be quiet’. 
They flew on. The Two Ducks began to head toward the mountain ranges. Far below was a canyon, and the river was way down a the bottom. Huge rocks were everywhere. Turtle continued to try to talk around the stick in his mouth. He looked down below and saw the
biggest canyon and biggest river he had ever seen in his life. 
Suddenly, he could contain himself no more. ‘Look’ he shouted, ‘it’s so…’ and down he fell. . all the way to the bottom of the canyon and landed right on top of the rocks. Crack, crack, crack went his beautiful round shell! 

As he lay there on his back on the ground, Creator spoke to him. Creator told him that the natural order of the world was that all things must be earned. Creator told him that when a Being sounds one’s voice, and energy is sent out to the Created Universe and that this energy
creates many things. Creator instructed Turtle to consider what he was saying and what that might create before he spoke. Creator instructed Turtle to share this Teaching with all. 
Turtle was very scared, and a little hurt. He couldn’t get up off his back. His back hurt. He pleaded with Creator to help him, that he’d do anything he was asked if only Creator would heal his shell and help him back upright. 
Creator finally agreed, and placed the following conditions on Turtle: that he and all his descendants would forever have a cracked shell to remind them of the value of work and the natural laws of working and learning what one has. That Turtle and all his descendants would remember the stories and Teachings of the Medicine Wheel, and share these with others in a kind and gentle way. That the shell that Turtle carried would forever be a reminder of the natural order of the world, having 13 sections, one for each full Face of Grandmother Moon that marks the natural cycle of one year. That Turtle would forever
carry his only home around on his back, his shell to remind others that all that one has is held within them, if they only learn to listen to the Voice of Creator. 
And so it is to this day that Turtle is the Storyteller, the keeper, the ‘rememberer,’ the calendar of each year. That we understand the power of using our Voices and sound our Voice carefully. And so it is that some Turtles are still most unhappy with loosing their shiny shell and are most grumpy and bad tempered. And so it is also that once a Turtle grabs onto something with it’s mouth, it cannot ever let go.. except that it’s head is taken off it’s body and
it dies. 
And so it was told this way of how the Turtle came to be as it is today.