Two Wolves

The story of the Two Wolves is a popular legend of unknown origin, sometimes attributed to the Cherokee[1][2] or Lenape people[3] that is also known as "Which one do you feed",[4] "Grandfather Tells",[1] "The Wolves Within",[1] and "Tale Of Two Wolves".[5] It is a story of a grandfather using a metaphor of two wolves fighting within him to explain his inner conflicts to his grandson. When his grandson asks which wolf wins, the grandfather answers whichever he chooses to feed.

In media

The story is frequently quoted in various forms in media articles,[6][7][8] a podcast called The One You Feed,[9] and was summarized in the 2015 film Tomorrowland.[10] From Wikiquote:[11]

Casey Newton: "There are two wolves" ... You told me this story my entire life, and now I'm telling you: There are two wolves and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair, the other is light and hope. Which wolf wins?
Eddie Newton: C'mon, Casey.
Casey Newton: Okay, fine, don’t answer.
Eddie Newton: Whichever one you feed.
Casey Newton: Good. Eat.

  • In the television series Luke Cage (Season 2, Episode 2, at time-index 48:06) a pastor tells the story of a "Cherokee Legend", with the metaphor of two wolves fighting, where the boy in the story asks "Which wolf is stronger?" and his grandfather responds: "It's the one you feed."
  • In an issue of the Daredevil comic series, the character Echo encounters Wolverine while on a vision quest. He tells her a version of the Two Wolves story he learned from the Chief, albeit referring to them as dogs.[12] Echo then reveals that her late father was the one who originally told that story to the Chief.
  • In Knightfall (TV series) (Season One, Episode Four, "He Who Discovers His Own Self, Discovers God) Godfrey tells the story to Landry in a flashback.
  • In the BBC series Death in Paradise DI Humphrey Goodman garbles the story in his final episode as he tries to explain his feelings to the woman he loves.

Likely references

The names and phrases from the following are likely referring to this legend:

Similar Stories

There are similar stories to Two Wolves that refer to dogs instead of wolves. It is unknown whether these similar stories had any impact on the existing popular legend, or whether they were early examples of cultural appropriation from Native American culture.

John Bisagno version

The earliest known variation of this story was published by the Baptist pastor John R. Bisagno in the book The Power of Positive Praying (Xulon Press, 1965). In this version, a missionary is told by a Mohave Indian convert named Joe that he has a black dog and a white dog always fighting inside him, and that the dog which Joe feeds the most will win.[13][14]

Billy Graham version

A later variation of this story was published by the Reverend Billy Graham in his book The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life (W Publishing Group, 1978) about an Inuit with a black dog and a white dog that he used for match fixing by only feeding the one he wanted to win.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Cherokee Legend - Two Wolves". Firstpeople.us. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  2. "Two Wolves - A Cherokee Parable : Pearls Of Wisdom". Sapphyr.net. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  3. "Native American Indian Wolf Legends, Meaning and Symbolism from the Myths of Many Tribes". Native-languages.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  4. "Which One Do You Feed?". Nativeamericanembassy.net. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  5. "Tale of Two Wolves - Nanticoke Indian Association". Nanticokeindians.org. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  6. "Which wolf are you feeding? - Salisbury Post". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  7. "Editorial: A message of hope". PostIndependent.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  8. "Do You Feed the Good Wolf or the Bad?". Huffingtonpost.com. 2015-08-27. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  9. "A podcast about feeding your good wolf". The One You Feed. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  10. Author Interviews (2015-05-22). "The Future Is Bright In The Time-And-Space Twisting 'Tomorrowland'". NPR. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  11. "Tomorrowland (film) - Wikiquote". En.wikiquote.org. 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  12. Daredevil vol.2. #54.
  13. Bisagno, John (1965). The Power of Positive Praying. Xulon Press. p. 55. ISBN 1-59781-421-0.
  14. "The History of the 'Two Wolves/Two Dogs" story".
  15. Graham, Billy (1978). The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life. W Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN 978-0849900051.
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