I have heard several times a short "wise tale", often attributed to an
unnamed Native American elder, about a "two dogs" tale.  A version
goes like this: 

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog, all of the
time."  When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and
replied "The one I feed the most."

I like this story, but I wonder the origin of the story.  I'd like to
identify the original source of this commentary if possible... the
particular source, or failing that, a general tribe, or tradition, or
earliest known mention.

I'm also curious how this tale was disseminated --- versions of this
tale appear in many places on the internet (search for "two dogs"
inside feed), many by religious/spiritual groups.  Perhaps there's a
church connection to its spread.

In summary, I'm looking to find three things:

(1) A name of the "elder"/source of this story, if not apocryphal
(2) Failing that, some idea of the general tradition/source of the
story.  Does it appear in any collection of native american stories?
(3) Where was this first widely published that made it popular?

---

Request for Question Clarification by leli-ga on 27 Mar 2004 03:24 PST

Hello bkft

My research suggests there may only be an answer to your last question, i.e.
"(3) Where was this first widely published that made it popular?"

I have traced a version of this to a book published in 1978 by a
well-known preacher. Here it is a tale about one particular (unnamed)
man, not an elder, and it is not one of his people's traditional
stories.

The book has been reprinted at intervals, and the story was also used
in a book by a different author published in 1997.

If this information would be a satisfactory answer for you, do let me
know and I'll be happy to write up the details.

Thanks - Leli

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 27 Mar 2004 11:35 PST

I first heard a version of this tale in the 1950s. I live in Oklahoma,
and the tale is straongly associated with an Indian Nation whose
tribal headquarters is in my area. A Google search provides more than
200 hits which tie the tale to this particular tribe. However, all I
can offer is anecdotal evidence. Would this be sufficient?

---

Clarification of Question by bkft-ga on 30 Mar 2004 17:30 PST

Dear researchers, thanks for the updates.

I'll be content with the answer if I could find out (2) and (3), which
is sounds two researchers each have a lead on.  Specifically, I'd like
to know the general tribal source/tradition, and the place it was
published to make it popular.

Administrative question: How do I split payment among two researchers?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 30 Mar 2004 17:46 PST

My friend and colleague leli-ga has graciously provided me with the
information that she mentioned above, regarding the books containing
this tale.

If you like, I can combine her information with mine, and post an
answer. GA has no provision for officially splitting fees between
Researchers.

---

Clarification of Question by bkft-ga on 11 Apr 2004 13:47 PDT

Pinkfreud & leli, why don't you post what you have, and I'll accept
the response.  Something is better than nothing!  Thanks!

Using Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book" feature, my friend and
colleague Leli found two books which contain variations of the story:

From "The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life," by Billy
Graham (1978):

"An Eskimo fisherman came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always
brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black.
He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in
the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight
and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday, the black dog
would win; another Saturday the white dog would win - but the
fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He
said, "I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins
because he is stronger."

Amazon "Search Inside the Book"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0849942136/ref=sib_vae_pg_92/104-9339224-8908742?%5Fencoding=UTF8&keywords=two%20dogs&p=S033&twc=2&checkSum=AYjOEgjHRvOYSPPJR6KVEisdZc4Wsm8GwJ9ir%2Bi7JwY%3D#reader-link

From "Experiencing the Soul: Before Birth, During Life, After Death,"
by Eliot Rosen and Ellen Burstyn (1997):

"A Native American Elder once described his own inner struggles in
this manner: 'Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean
and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all
the time.' When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and
replied, 'The one I feed the most."

Amazon "Search Inside the Book"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/156170461X/ref=sib_vae_pg_75/104-9339224-8908742?%5Fencoding=UTF8&keywords=two%20dogs&p=S01A&twc=1&checkSum=H0pspu4Jk54py%2F7HWzsDrq0EXNSougNiiBkFE64gLLY%3D#reader-link

======================================================================

My own experience of the story dates back to 1958. I grew up in
northeastern Oklahoma, very near the Cherokee Nation Tribal
Headquarters. One of my closest friends, a little girl named Billie,
attended a Cherokee Baptist Church. Occasionally Billie and her family
would take me to church with them on Sunday mornings. The church
services were in the Cherokee language, which I did not understand,
but Bible studies and Sunday school classes were taught in English. I
remember being very impressed by a simple parable told by the Sunday
school teacher, an elderly Cherokee man. The parable was about a young
Cherokee who is brought before the tribal elders, who are concerned
about his aggressive tendencies. One of the elders takes the young man
aside and tells him that his anger is understandable, since all humans
have within them two wolves. One wolf is good and peaceable, and the
other is evil and angry. The two wolves are in constant battle with
one another, since neither is powerful enough to destroy the other.
The young man asks the elder "But if they are of equal power, which
wolf will win?" And the elder replies, "The one you feed the most."

This does not, of course, prove that the story has a Cherokee origin.
But there are many, many citations of the story (usually with two
wolves, rather than two dogs) which link it with Cherokee tradition.
You can find hundreds of variations on the story by scanning through
the results of this Google search:

Google Web Search: "the one * feed" + "cherokee" + "two"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22the+one+*+feed%22+cherokee+two

Here is a page that examines the tale and discusses its possible origins:

Story-Lovers: "THE WOLF I FEED" or "THE ONE I FEED" STORY
http://www.story-lovers.com/listswolfifeedstory.html

One rather bizarre source that is sometimes mentioned in connection
with this story is Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. It seems to
me very unlikely that Shaw would have circulated a story of this sort,
but many citations of the story give him the credit:

"Drum maker Wayne Manthey has a George Bernard Shaw quote on the back
of his business card. It reads, 'A Native American elder once
described his own inner struggles in this manner: 'Inside of me there
are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean. The other dog is good. The mean
dog fights the good dog all the time.' When asked which dog wins, he
reflected a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most."

Lake Harriet Spiritual Community
http://www.lhscweb.org/news/archives/writings_0401.html

Note that the "Shaw" version quoted above is identical to the quote
that appeared in the book "Experiencing the Soul" that Leli found.
Other mentions of Shaw as the source may be found with this Google
search:

Google Web Search: "george bernard shaw" "the one i feed"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22george+bernard+shaw%22+%22the+one+i+feed

As is often the case with folklore, the true origins of this tale are
uncertain. The story was told by a Native American shaman in the 2003
film "The Missing," which seems to have given it new life. Wherever it
came from, it is a beautifully concise summation of the human
condition, and its wisdom is meaningful to almost everyone who hears
it.

Thank you for an interesting question. I hope the material that Leli
and I have found provides a satisfying (if not definitive) response.
If anything is unclear or incomplete, please request clarification;
I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Good attempt to answer a difficult question.  Cooperative and detailed response.

It wasn't 100% the answer I was hoping for, but both the researchers
and I are satisfied that the answer is probably as good as we can do
with web research right now.  I'm happy with the effort.

I'd like to apologize for my typographical error above. For
'straongly,' please read 'strongly', and chalk it up to an
insufficiency of caffeine at the time when I typed this. ;-)

Pinkfreud & leli, why don't you post what you have, and I'll accept
the response.  Something is better than nothing!  Thanks!

Thank you very much for the generous tip.

~pinkfreud