In a Cherokee tale, the animals felt sorry for poor kingfisher
who wanted to be a water bird but didn’t have webbed feet nor a good bill for fishing.
The animals made him a long sharp spear for fishing
which they attached to the front of his mouth.
Kingfisher flew to the top of a tree to watch for fish.
When he saw one, he dove into the water and surfaced with a fish in his bill.
Since then, kingfisher have been “king of all fishers.”