Billie Wind: The Talking Earth

The Talking Earth: aloudEvolution of Character

Billie Wind, a thirteen-year-old girl who is in the Seminole tribe and her clan is wind She has a very scientific mind and does not believe in the legends. “And it is told you doubt the that there are little people who live underground and play tricks on people.” As the councilmen say this Charlie Wind, Billie Wind’s uncle, sends her off into the Everglades. She is allowed come back until she has heard the animals talk. Billie Wind connects how science and her tribal legends relate.

Billie first starts off on an island where a forest fire starts. An owl near her is trying to warn her, but by the time she realizes there is one she is running for her life. She notices while running that the fire

looks often like the Serpent that the legends mentioned. She relates the Serpent that punishes bad Seminoles back to forest fires. To hide from the “serpent” she jumps in a hole in the ground. Later on, she finds an otter in the hole also known as Pentang. She soon starts questioning Petang and the talking animal legends.
After the fire dies down she gets off the island and onto a different piece of land. She there makes a canoe, but it’s too heavy to get on the water. Petang shows her, through his actions and his own natural skills, how to get the boat on the water. While she explores the island the bugs show her that the white men have sprayed. Then seeing this she decides to get off the island as fast as possible.
As she is rowing away from the island she sees a pelican that tells her she’s approaching a lake when she really thought she is heading down a river. This helps her rework her plan and manages to make her to the river. After that, she can see a hurricane is coming from the low tide and the birds flying away. She then later realizes that all animals hold the secrets to life. The secrets can be unlocked from their actions and understanding them. Next, she relates how burden and the Seminole legends are closely related.
Billie now survived a hurricane and heard the animals speak. She has found the truth of the legends. She reflects back on her journey and believes in the legends. Thus relating science to the truth of the Seminole legends.