Then he saw, around a sand spit jutting far out into the water, many
waterfowl.
Now Manabush had with him only a medicine bag. He hung that on a
manabush tree in the brush. He put a roll of bark on his back, and
returned to the lake shore. He passed slowly by so as not to frighten
the birds. Duck and Swan suddenly recognized him, and swam quickly
away from the shore.
One of the Swans called out, "Ho! Manabush, where are you going?"
"I am going to have a dance," said Manabush. "As you may see, I have
all my songs with me."
Then he called out to all the birds, "Come to me, brothers! Let us
sing and dance."
At once the birds returned to the shore and walked back upon an open
space in the grass. Manabush took the bundle of bark from his back. He
placed it on the ground, got out his singing sticks, and then he said
to the birds,
"Now, all of you dance around me as I drum. Sing as loudly as you can
and keep your eyes closed. The first to look will always have red
eyes."
So Manabush began to beat time upon his bundle of bark. The birds with
eyes closed danced around him. Then Manabush began to keep time with
one hand, as the birds sang loudly. With the other he seized a Swan by
the neck. Swan gave a loud squawk.
"That's right, brothers! Sing as loudly as you can," shouted Manabush.
Soon he seized another Swan by the neck. Then he seized a Goose. At
last there were not so many birds singing. Then a tiny duck opened his
eyes to see why. At once he shrieked, "Manabush is killing us!
Manabush is killing us!" And he started for the water, followed by the
rest of the birds.
Now this little duck was a poor runner. Manabush quickly caught him
and said, "I won't kill you; but you shall always have red eyes. And
you shall be the laughing stock of all the birds."
And with that Manabush pushed him so hard, yet holding on to his tail,
that the duck went far out into the middle of the lake and his tail
came off. Because of that he has red eyes and no tail, even to this
day.
Then Manabush gathered up the birds he had killed and took them out
on the sand spit. He buried them in the sand and built a fire over
them to cook them, but he left sticking out the heads of some and the
legs of others so he would know where they were.
But Manabush was tired. He slapped his thigh and said, "You watch the
birds and awaken me if anyone comes near them." He stretched out on
the sand with his back to the fire and went to sleep.
After awhile, Indians came along in their canoes. They saw the fire
and the roasting birds. They went ashore on the sand pit. They pulled
out the birds and ate them. But they put back into the sand the heads
and feet, just as they had found them. So they departed.
Afterwards, Manabush awoke, very hungry. He pulled at the head of a
swan. Behold! The head came out, but there was no bird. He pulled at
the feet of a goose. No bird was there. So he tried every head and
foot; but the birds were gone.
He slapped his thigh again and asked, "Who has been here? Someone has
robbed me of my feast. I told you to watch."
His thigh answered, "I fell asleep also. I was very tired. See! There
are people moving away in their canoes! They are dirty and poorly
dressed."
Then Manabush ran to the point of the sand spit. He could see the
people who were just disappearing around a point. He shouted,
"Winnebago! Winnebago!" Therefore the Menomini have always called
their thievish neighbors Winnebago.
THE ORIGIN OF TOBACCO
_Menomini_
One day when Manabush was passing by a high mountain, a fragrant odor
came to him from a crevice in the cliffs. He went closer. Then he knew
that in the mountain was a giant who was the Keeper of the Tobacco. He
entered the mouth of a cave, going through a long tunnel to the center
of the mountain.
There in a great wigwam was the giant. The giant said sternly, "What
do you want?"
Manabush said, "I want some tobacco."
"Come back again in one year," said the giant. "The manidoes have just
been here for their smoke. They come but once a year."
Manabush looked around. He saw a great number of bags filled with
tobacco. He seized one and ran out into the open air, and close after
him came the giant.
Up to the mountain tops fled Manabush leaping from peak to peak. The
giant came close behind him, springing with great bounds. When
Manabush reached a very high peak, he suddenly lay flat on the
ground; but the giant, leaping, went over him and fell into the chasm
beyond.
The giant picked himself up, and began to climb up the face of the
cliff. He almost reached the top, hanging to it by his hands. Manabush
seized him, and drew him upwards, and dropped him down on the ground.
He said, "For your meanness, you shall become Kakuene, the jumper. You
shall become the pest of those who raise tobacco." Thus the giant
became a grasshopper.
Then Manabush took the tobacco, and divided it amongst his brothers,
giving to each some of the seed. Therefore the Indians are never
without tobacco.
ORIGIN OF MAPLE SUGAR
_Menomini_
One day Manabush returned from the hunt without any food. He could
find no game at all. So Nokomis gathered all their robes, and the
beaded belts, and their belongings together. They built a new wigwam
among the sugar maple trees.
Nokomis said, "Grandson, go into the woods and gather for me pieces of
birch bark. I am going to make sugar." Manabush went into the woods.
He gathered strips of birch bark, which he took back to the wigwam.
Nokomis had cut tiny strips of the bark to use as thread in sewing the
bark into hollow buckets. Then Nokomis went from tree to tree cutting
small holes through the maple bark, so that the sap might flow. She
placed a birch-bark vessel under each hole. Manabush followed her from
tree to tree looking for the sap to drop. None fell. When Nokomis had
finished, Manabush found all the vessels half full.
He stuck his finger into the thick syrup. It was sweet. Then he said,
"Grandmother, this is all very good, but it will not do. If people
make sugar so easily, they will not have to work at all. I will
change all this. They must cut wood and keep the sap boiling several
nights. Otherwise they will not be busy."
So Manabush climbed to the very top of a tree. He showered water all
over the maples, like rain. Therefore the sugar in the tree dissolved
and flows from the tree as thin sap. This is why the uncles of
Manabush and their children always have to work hard when they want to
make sugar.
[Illustration: BIRCH-BARK YOKE, AND SAP BUCKETS, USED IN MAPLE
SUGAR MAKING.
_From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
MANABUSH AND THE MOOSE
_Menomini_
Manabush killed a moose. He was very hungry, but he was greatly
troubled as to how he should eat it.
"If I begin at the head," he said, "they will say I ate him headfirst.
But if I begin at the side, they will say I ate him sideways. And if I
begin at the tail, they will say I ate him tail first."
He was greatly troubled. And while he thus spoke, the wind blew two
tree branches together. It made a harsh, creaking sound.
"I cannot eat in this noise," said Manabush, and he climbed the tree.
Immediately the branches caught him by the arm and held him. Then a
pack of wolves came and ate up the moose.
ORIGIN OF DAY AND NIGHT
_Menomini_
One day as Wabus, the Rabbit, traveled through a forest, he came to a
clearing on the bank of the river. There sat Totoba, the Saw-whet Owl.
The light was dim and Rabbit could not see well. He said to Saw-whet,
"Why do you want it so dark? I do not like it. I will cause it to be
light."
Saw-whet said, "Do so, if you are strong enough. Let us try our
powers."
So Rabbit and the Owl called a great council of the birds. Some of the
birds and animals wanted Rabbit to succeed so that it would be light.
Others wanted it to remain dark.
Rabbit and Owl began to try their powers. Rabbit began to repeat
rapidly, "_Wabon. Wabon. Wabon_" (Light. Light. Light), while Owl kept
saying as rapidly as he could, "_Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa qkot. Uni
tipa qkot_" (Night. Night. Night).
If one of them should speak the word of the other, he would lose. So
Rabbit kept repeating rapidly, "_Wabon. Wabon. Wabon_," while Owl
said as rapidly as he could, "_Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa
qkot._" At last Owl said Rabbit's word, "_Wabon_," so he lost.
Therefore Rabbit decided there should be light. But because some of
the animals and birds could hunt only in the dark, he said it should
be night part of the time. But all the rest of the time it is day.
ORIGIN OF THE BEAR
_Cherokee_
Long ago, before the white man came, in the land of the Cherokees was
a clan called the Ani Tsagulin. One of the boys of the clan used to
wander all day long in the mountains. He never ate his food at home.
"Why do you do so?" asked his father and mother. The boy did not
answer.
"Why do you do so?" they asked many days, as the boy wandered away
into the hills. He did not answer them.
Then his mother saw that long brown hair covered his body. They said
again, "Where do you go?" They asked, "Why do you not eat at home?"
At last the boy said, "There is plenty to eat there. It is better than
the corn in the village. Soon I shall stay in the woods all the time."
His father and mother said, "No."
The boy kept saying, "It is better than here. I am beginning to be
different. Soon I shall not want to live here. If you come with me you
will not have to hunt, or to plant corn. But first you must fast
seven days."
The people began to talk about it. They said, "Often we do not have
enough to eat here. There he says there is plenty. We will go with
him."
So they fasted seven days. Then they left their village and went to
the mountains.
Now the other tribes had heard what they had talked in their village.
At once they sent messengers. But when the messengers met them, they
had started towards the mountains and their hair was long and brown.
Their nature was changing. This was because they had fasted seven
days. But the Ani Tsagulin would not go back to their village. They
said to the others:
"We are going where there is always plenty to eat. Hereafter we shall
be called _Yana_, bears. When you are hungry, come into the woods and
call us, and we will give you food to eat."
So they taught these messengers how to call them and to hunt them.
Because, even though they may seem to be killed, the Ani Tsagulin live
forever.
ORIGIN OF THE WORD CHICAGO
_Ojibwa_
Once an Ottawa hunter and his wife lived on the shores of Lake
Michigan. Then the hunter went south, toward the end of the lake, to
hunt. When he reached the lake[8] where he had caught beaver the year
before, it was still covered with ice. Then he tapped the ice to find
the thinner places where the beaver families lived. He broke holes at
these weaker points in the ice, and went to his wigwam to get his
traps.
[8] Between Milwaukee and Chicago, going south to where
Chicago now stands.
Now the hunter's wife chanced to pass one of these holes and she saw a
beaver on the ice. She caught it by the tail and called to the hunter
to come and kill it quickly, before it could get back into the water.
"No," said the hunter, "if I kill this beaver, the others will become
frightened. They will escape from the lake by other openings in the
ice."
Then the woman became angry, and they quarreled.
When the sun was near setting, the hunter went out on the ice again,
to set more traps. When he returned to his tepee, his wife had gone.
He thought she had gone to make a visit. The next morning she had not
returned, and he saw her footprints. So he followed her trail to the
south. As he followed her trail, he saw that the footprints gradually
changed. At last they became the trail of a skunk. The trail ended in
a marsh, and many skunks were in that marsh.
Then he returned to his people. And he called the place, "The Place of
the Skunk."
ORIGIN OF THE WORD CHICAGO[9]
_Menomini_
[9] Schoolcraft gives the origin of the word Chicago, as
follows:
Chi-cag The animal of the leek or wild onion.
Chi-cag-o-wunz The wild leek or pole-cat plant.
Chi-ca-go Place of the wild leek.
It would really seem, from the myths and the origin of the
word, as given above, that the name originated from the great
amount of skunk weed on the marshes now covered by the city.
Potawatomi Indians used to live in the marshes where Chicago now
stands. They sent out word to the other tribes that hunting was good.
Then the Menomini Indians went to the marshes for game. In the night
their dogs barked much. But when the Menomini Indians reached the spot
where the dogs barked, they found only skunks.
THE COMING OF MANABUSH
_Menomini_
When the daughter of Nokomis, the Earth, died, Nokomis wrapped her new
baby in soft dry grass. She laid him on the ground under a large
wooden bowl. Then she mourned four days for her daughter.
At the end of four days, Nokomis heard a sound in her wigwam. It came
from the wooden bowl. Then she remembered. She took up the bowl. At
once she saw a tiny white rabbit, with trembling pink ears. She took
it up. She said, "Oh, my dear little Rabbit. Oh, my Manabush." She
took care of him.
One day Rabbit hopped across the wigwam. The earth shook. At once the
evil underground spirits, the Ana maqkiu, said to one another, "What
has happened? A great manido is born somewhere!" Immediately they
began to plot against him.
In this way Manabush came to earth. He soon grew to be a young man.
THE STORY OF MANABUSH[10]
_Menomini_
[10] The Manabozho of the Ojibwa given by Longfellow as
Hiawatha.
The daughter of Nokomis, the Earth, is the mother of Manabush, who is
also the Fire. Flint first grew up out of Nokomis, and was alone. Then
Flint made a bowl and filled it with earth. Wabus, the Rabbit, came
from the earth, and became a man. Thus was Manabush created.
Beneath the earth lived the Underground People, the enemies of
Manabush. They were the Ana maqkiu who annoyed him constantly, and
sought to destroy him.
Now Manabush shaped a piece of flint to make an axe. While he was
rubbing it on a rock, he heard the rock make sounds:
_Ke ka ke ka ke ka ke ka_
_Goss goss goss goss_
He soon understood what the rock was saying: that he was alone on the
earth. That he had neither father, mother, brother, nor sister. This
is what Flint said while Manabush was rubbing it upon the rock.
While he was thinking of this, he heard something coming. It was
Mokquai, the Wolf. He said to Manabush, "Now you have a brother, for
I, too, am alone. We shall live together and I will hunt for you."
Manabush said, "I am glad to see you, my brother. Therefore I shall
make you like myself." So he made him a man.
Then Manabush and his brother moved away to the shore of a lake and
there built a wigwam. Manabush told his brother of the evil spirits,
the Underground People, who lived beneath the water. He said, "Never
go into the water, and never cross on the ice."
Now one day Wolf-brother went a-hunting. It was late when he started
back. He found himself on the shore of the lake, just opposite the
wigwam. He could see it clearly. He did not want to make a long
journey around by the lake shore; therefore he began to cross on the
ice. When he reached the middle of the lake, the ice broke. The
Underground People pulled him under the water and he was drowned.
Now Manabush knew this. He mourned four days for Wolf-brother. On the
fifth day, while he was following the hunting trail, he saw him
approaching.
Wolf-brother said, "My fate will be the fate of all our people. They
will all die, but after four days they will return." Then Manabush saw
it was only the shade of his brother.
Then he said, "My brother, return to the place of the setting sun. You
are now called Naqpote. You will have charge of the dead."
The Wolf-shade said, "If I go there, and others follow me, we shall
not be able to return when we leave this place."
Manabush again spoke. He said, "Go, Naqpote. Prepare a wigwam for
others. Build a large fire that they may be guided to it. When they
arrive there must be a wigwam for them."
Thus Naqpote left the earth. He lives in the land of the shades, in
the country of the setting sun, where the earth is cut off.
MANABOZHO AND WEST
_Ojibwa_
Manabozho lived with his grandmother Nokomis, the Earth, on the edge
of a wide prairie. The first sound he heard was that of an owl. He
quickly climbed down the tree. He ran to Nokomis.
"Noko," he cried, "I have heard a monido."
Nokomis said, "What kind of a noise did it make?"
"It said, _Ko ho, Ko ho!_" said Manabozho.
"Oh, it is only a bird," said Nokomis.
One day Manabozho thought, "It is very strange I know so little and
grandmother is so wise. I wonder if I have any father or mother." He
went back to the wigwam. He was very silent.
"What is the matter?" said Nokomis.
Manabozho asked, "Have I no father or mother?"
Now his mother had died when he was a very little baby, but Nokomis
did not want to tell him. At last she said, "West is your father. He
has three brothers. They are North, East, and South. They have great
power. They travel on mighty wings. Your mother is not alive."
Manabozho said, "I will visit my father," but he meant to make war on
him because he had learned that his father had not been kind to his
mother and he meant to punish him.
Manabozho started on his journey. He traveled very rapidly. He went
very far at each step. So at last he met his father, West, on the top
of a high mountain. West was glad to see his son. Manabozho pretended
to be glad.
They talked much. One day the son asked, "What are you most afraid of
on earth?"
"Nothing," said West.
Manabozho said, "Oh, yes, there must be something."
At last West said, "There is a black stone on earth. I am afraid of
that. If it should strike me, it would injure me." West said this was
a great secret.
One day he asked Manabozho, "What are you most afraid of?"
"Nothing," was the answer.
"Oh, yes, there must be something you are afraid of," said West.
The son said, "_Ie-ee Ie-ee_--it is--it is--" He seemed afraid to
mention it.
West said, "Don't be afraid!" Then at last his son said, "It is the
root of the _apukwa_, the bulrush."
They quarreled because West had not been kind to the mother of
Manabozho.
Some days later they quarreled. Manabozho said, "I will get some of
the black rock."
"Oh, no! Do not do so," cried West.
"Oh, yes!" said his son.
West said at once, "I will get some of the _apukwa_ root."
"Oh, no!" cried Manabozho, pretending to be afraid. "Do not! Do not!"
"Oh, yes!" said West.
Manabozho at once went out and brought to his father's wigwam a large
piece of black rock. West pulled up and brought in some bulrush roots.
Manabozho threw the black rock at West. It broke in pieces. Therefore
you may see pieces lying around even to this day. West struck his son
with the bulrush root. Thus they fought. But at last Manabozho drove
West far over the plains to the Darkening Land. So West came to the
edge of the world, where the earth is broken off short. Then he cried,
"Stop, my son! I am immortal, therefore I cannot be killed. I will
remain here on the edge of the Earth-plain. You must go about doing
good. You must kill monsters and serpents and all evil things. All
the kingdoms of the earth are divided, but at the last you may sit
with my brother North."[11]
[11] Back retreated Mudjekeewis,
Rushing westward o'er the mountains,
Stumbling westward down the mountains,
Three whole days retreated fighting,
Still pursued by Hiawatha
To the doorways of the West-Wind,
To the portals of the Sunset ...
. . . .
"Hold," at length cried Mudjekeewis,
"Hold, my son, my Hiawatha!
'Tis impossible to kill me,
For you cannot kill the immortal."
--_Hiawatha_
Thus Manabozho became the Northwest wind.
MANABUSH AND THE GREAT FISH
_Menomini_[12]
[12] The Ojibwas have a similar myth.
After his brother Wolf had died, Manabush looked about him. He found
he was no longer alone on earth. There were many other people, the
children of Nokomis. They were his aunts and uncles.
The evil manidoes annoyed the people very much. Therefore Manabush
wished to destroy them. Therefore he went to the shores of the lake
where they lived. He called to the waters to disappear. Four times he
called out. At once the waters vanished. There lay the Ana maqkiu.
They lay on the mud in the bottom of the lake. They looked like
fishes. The chief lay near the shore. He was very large.
Manabush said to Great Fish, "I shall destroy you because you will not
allow my people to come near the shore." So he went towards Great
Fish. But the smaller manidoes caused the waters to return. Thus they
all escaped.
Then Manabush went into the woods. He made a canoe of birch bark. He
wanted to destroy Great Fish in the water. As he left the shore in his
canoe, he began to sing, "Great Fish, come and swallow me." Only the
young fish came near. Manabush said scornfully, "I do not wish you. I
want your chief to come and swallow me." Great Fish was much annoyed.
He darted forward and swallowed Manabush and his canoe.
Thus Manabush found himself in the Great Fish. He looked about him.
Many of his people were there. Bear and Deer, Porcupine and Raven,
Buffalo, Pine-tree Squirrel, and many others.
Manabush said to Buffalo, "My uncle, how did you get here? I never saw
you near the water, but always on the prairie."
Buffalo said, "I came near the lake to get some fresh green grass.
Great Fish caught me." And thus said all the animals. They said, "We
came near the lake and Great Fish swallowed us."
Then Manabush said, "We will now have to go to the shore of Nokomis,
my grandmother. You will all have to help me." At once they all began
to dance around inside of Great Fish. Therefore he began to swim
quickly towards shore. Manabush began to cut a hole over his head, so
they could get out when Great Fish reached the shore of Nokomis, the
Earth. They sang a magic song. They sang, "I see the sky. I see the
sky." Pine Squirrel had a curious voice. He hopped around singing,
"_Sek-sek-sek-sek!_" This was very amusing to the other people.
Great Fish thought, "I ought not to have swallowed that man. I must
swim to the shore where Nokomis lives." So he swam quickly until he
reached the beach. Then Manabush cut a larger hole. Thus they all
climbed out of Great Fish. The birds helped Manabush. They stood on
the sides of Great Fish and picked the flesh from his bones.[13]
[13] And again the sturgeon, Nahma,
Heard the shout of Hiawatha,
Heard his challenge of defiance,
The unnecessary tumult,
Ringing far across the water.
. . . .
In his wrath he darted upward,
Flashing leaped into the sunshine,
Opened his great jaws and swallowed
Both canoe and Hiawatha.
--_Hiawatha_
THE DEPARTURE OF MANABUSH
_Menomini_
Now Manabush was going away. He went to Mackinac. When he reached
there, he made a high, narrow rock, and this he leaned against the
cliff. This rock is as high as an arrow can be shot from a bow. At
this place he was seen by his people for the last time. Before he
went, he talked with them.
Manabush said, "I am going away now. I have been badly treated by
other people who live in the land about you. I shall go across a great
water towards the rising sun, where there is a land of rocks. There I
shall set up my wigwam. When you hold a _mita-wiko-nik_ and are all
together, you shall think of me. When you speak my name, I shall hear
you. Whatever you ask, that I will do."
Then Manabush spoke no more to his people. He entered the canoe. Then
he went slowly over the great water, to the land of rocks. He
vanished from his people as he went towards the rising sun.[14]
[14] The Ojibwas say he went toward the setting sun.
Thus departed Hiawatha,
Hiawatha the Beloved,
In the glory of the sunset,
In the purple mists of evening,
To the regions of the home-wind,
Of the Northwest wind, Keewaydin ...
--_Hiawatha_
THE RETURN OF MANABUSH
_Menomini_
The uncles of Manabush, the people, used to visit a rock near Mackinac
where the old men said Manabush was living. They built a long lodge
there. They sang in their _mita-wiko-nik_ there. Manabush heard them.
Sometimes he came to them. He appeared as a little white rabbit,
trembling, with pink ears, just as he had first appeared to Nokomis,
his grandmother.
THE REQUEST FOR IMMORTALITY
_Menomini_
One day long after Manabush had gone away from his people, an Indian
dreamed that he spoke to him. At daylight, he sought seven friends,
chief men of the Mita-wit. They held a council together, and then rose
and went in search of Manabush.
The Dreamer blackened his face.
On the shore of the Great Waters, they entered canoes, and paddled
toward a rocky place in the Land of the Rising Sun. Very long they
paddled over the water, until they reached the land where dwelt
Manabush.