He heard ducks quack on the stream. He shot at them, without aiming.
He shot through the door of the wigwam. Behold! His arrow pierced a
swan flying by. It killed many ducks in the stream. The arrow flew
farther. It killed two loons, just coming up from beneath the water.
Then it killed a very large fish.
Iagoo went hunting. He followed the trail of the deer through the
forest. He shot a deer and skinned it. He lifted the meat upon his
shoulders. As he came from his hunting place, Iagoo saw a person on a
prairie before him. He pursued that person. Iagoo ran half a day after
that one. Then he remembered the meat upon his shoulders. He
remembered he carried the body of the deer.
Iagoo had many adventures. He found mosquitoes in a bog-land. They
were very large. The wing of one he used for a sail for his canoe,
when the breeze blew. The nose of that insect was as large as his
wife's digging stick.
One day Iagoo watched a beaver's lodge. He watched for the peering
head of a beaver. Behold! An ant went by. She had killed a hare. She
dragged hare's body on the ground behind her.
OJEEG, THE SUMMER-MAKER
_Ojibwa_
Ojeeg was a great hunter. He lived on the southern shore of Lake
Superior. Ojeeg had a wife and one son.
Now the son hunted game as the father taught him. He followed the
trails over the snow. For snow lay always on the ground. It was always
cold. Therefore the boy returned home crying.
One day as he went to his father's wigwam in the cold and snow he saw
Red Squirrel, gnawing the end of a pine cone. Now the son of Ojeeg had
shot nothing all day because his hands were so cold. When he saw Red
Squirrel, he came nearer, and raised his bow.
Red Squirrel said, "My grandson, put up your arrow. Listen to me."
The boy put the arrow in his quiver.
Red Squirrel said, "You pass my wigwam very often. You cry because you
cannot kill birds. Your fingers are numb with cold. Obey me. Thus it
shall always be summer. Thus you can kill many birds."
[Illustration: PERMANENT ASH-BARK WIGWAM OF THE WILD RICE
GATHERING OJIBWA.
_From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
Red Squirrel said again, "Obey me. When you reach your father's
wigwam, throw down your bow and arrows. Begin to weep. If your mother
says, 'My son, what is the matter?' do not answer her. Continue
weeping. If she says, 'My son, eat this,' you must refuse the food.
Continue weeping. In the evening when your father comes in he will say
to your mother, 'What is the matter with my son?' She will say, 'He
came in crying. He will not tell me.' Your father will say, 'My son,
what is the matter? I am a spirit. Nothing is too hard for me.' Then
you must answer, 'It is always cold and dreary. Snow lies always upon
the ground. Melt the snow, my father, so that we may have always
summer.' Then your father will say, 'It is very difficult to do what
you ask. I will try.' Then you must be quiet. You must eat the food
they give you."
Thus it happened.
Ojeeg then said, "I must make a feast. I must invite my friends to go
on this journey with me." At once Ojeeg killed a bear. The next day he
had a great feast. There were Otter, Beaver, and Lynx. Also Wolverine
and Badger were at the feast.
Then they started on their journey. On the twentieth day they came to
the foot of a high mountain. There was blood in the trail. Some person
had killed an animal. They followed the trail of that person. They
arrived at a wigwam.
Ojeeg said, "Do not laugh. Be very quiet."
A man stood in the doorway of the wigwam. He was a great manito. He
was a head only. Thus he was very strange. Then he made a feast for
them. He made very curious movements, so Otter laughed. At once the
manito leaped upon him. He sprang on him, but Otter slipped out from
under him and escaped.
The manito and the animals talked all night. The manito said to Ojeeg,
the Fisher, "You will succeed. You will be the summer-maker. But you
will die. Yet the summer will come."
Now when they followed the trail in the morning, they met Otter. He
was very cold and hungry, therefore Fisher gave him meat.
Then they journeyed on. On the twentieth day, they came to the top of
a lofty mountain. Then they smoked their pipes.
Then Ojeeg, the Fisher, and the animals prepared themselves. Ojeeg
said to Otter, "We must first make a hole in the Sky-cover. You try
first."
Otter made a great spring. He did not even touch the Sky-cover. He
fell back, down the hill, to the bottom of the hill. Then Otter said,
"I will go home." So he did.
Then Beaver tried. He fell. Also Lynx and Badger fell.
Then Wolverine tried. He made a great leap and touched the sky. Then
he leaped again. He pressed against the Sky-cover. He leaped a third
time. The Sky-cover broke, and Wolverine went into the Sky-land.
Fisher also sprang in quickly after him.
Thus Wolverine and Fisher were in the Sky-plain, in the summer land.
There were many flowers and streams of bright water. There were birds
in the trees, and fish and water birds on the streams. Many lodges
stood there, but they were empty. In each lodge were many _mocuks_,
many bird cages, with birds in them.
At once Ojeeg began to cut the _mocuks_. The birds flew out. They flew
down through the hole in the Sky-cover to the Earth-plain below. They
carried warm air down with them.
Now when the people of the Sky-land saw these strangers, and their
birds escaping, they ran to their wigwams. But they were too late.
Spring, and summer, and autumn had slipped down the hole in the
Sky-cover. Endless summer was just passing through, but they broke it
in two with a blow. Therefore only a part of endless summer came down
to the Earth-plain.
Now when Wolverine heard the noise of the sky people, running to
their lodges, he jumped down the hole and escaped. Fisher also tried
to jump, but the people had shut the cover. Therefore Fisher ran and
the people pursued him. He climbed a great tree in the north, and the
people began shooting at him. Now Fisher was a spirit; he could not be
hurt except in the tip of his tail. At last they shot him in his tail.
Fisher called to the Sky People to stop shooting. But they did not
stop until darkness came. Then they went away. Fisher climbed down. He
went towards the north. He said, "I have kept my promise to my son.
The seasons will now be different. There will be many moons without
snow and cold."
Thus Fisher died, with the arrow sticking in his tail. It can be seen
there, even to this day.[21]
[21] He was telling them the story
Of Ojeeg the Summer-Maker,
How he made a hole in heaven,
How he climbed up into heaven,
And let out the summer-weather,
The perpetual summer-weather.
How the Otter first essayed it,
How the Beaver, Lynx, and Badger,
Tried in turn the great achievement,
From the summit of the mountain ...
--_Hiawatha_
RABBIT GOES DUCK HUNTING
_Cherokee_
Rabbit was very boastful. One day he met Otter. Otter said, "Sometimes
I eat ducks."
"Well, I eat ducks, too," said Rabbit.
So they went up the stream until they saw several ducks in the water.
They followed the trail softly. Then they stood on the river bank.
Rabbit said, "You go first." At once Otter dived from the bank. He
swam under water until he reached a duck; then he pulled it under
quickly so that the other ducks were not frightened. While he was
under water, Rabbit peeled bark from a sapling and made a noose.
"Now, watch me," he said, when Otter came back. He dived in and swam
under water until he was nearly choked. So he came to the top to
breathe. He did this several times. The last time he came up among the
ducks and threw the noose over the head of one.
Duck spread her wings and flew up, with Rabbit hanging to the end of
the noose. Up and up flew the duck, but Rabbit could not hold on any
longer. Then he let go and dropped.
Rabbit fell into a hollow sycamore. It was very tall, and had no hole
at the bottom. Rabbit stayed there until he was so hungry he ate his
own fur, even as he does to this day.
After many days, he heard children playing around the tree. He began
to sing,
Cut a door and look at me,
I'm the prettiest thing you ever did see.
The children at once ran home to tell their father. He came and cut a
hole in the tree. As he chopped away, Rabbit kept singing,
Cut it larger, so you can see me. I am very pretty.
So they made the hole larger. Then Rabbit told them to stand back so
they could get a good look at him. They stood back. Then Rabbit sprang
out and leaped away.
RABBIT AND THE TAR BABY
_Biloxi_
Rabbit aided his friend the Frenchman with his work. They planted
potatoes. Rabbit looked upon the potato vines as his share of the crop
and ate them all.
Again Rabbit aided his friend the Frenchman. This time they planted
corn. When it was grown, Rabbit said, "This time I will eat the
roots." So he pulled up all the corn by the roots, but he found
nothing to satisfy his hunger.
Then the Frenchman said, "Let us dig a well." Rabbit said, "No. You
dig it alone."
The Frenchman said, "Then you shall not drink water from the well."
"That does not matter," said Rabbit. "I am used to licking off the dew
from the ground."
So the Frenchman dug his well. Then he made a tar baby and stuck it up
close to the well. One day Rabbit came near the well, carrying a long
piece of hollow cane and a tin bucket. When he reached the well he
spoke to the tar baby; it did not answer.
"Friend, what is the matter? Are you angry?" asked Rabbit.
Tar baby did not answer. So Rabbit hit him with a forepaw. The forepaw
stuck there.
"Let me go," said Rabbit, "or I will hit you on the other side."
Tar baby paid no attention, so Rabbit hit him with the other forepaw,
and that stuck fast.
"I will kick you," said Rabbit. But when he kicked him the hindpaw
stuck.
"Very well," he said, "I will kick you with the other foot." So he
kicked him with the other foot and that stuck fast. By that time
Rabbit looked like a ball, all four paws sticking to the tar baby.
Just then the Frenchman came to the well. He picked Rabbit up, tied
his paws together, laid him down and scolded him. Rabbit pretended to
be in great fear of a brier patch.
"If you are so afraid of a brier patch," said the Frenchman, "I will
throw you into one."
"Oh, no, no!" said Rabbit.
"I will throw you into the brier patch," repeated the Frenchman.
"I am much afraid of it," answered Rabbit.
"Since you are in such dread of it, I will throw you into it," said
the Frenchman. So he picked up Rabbit and threw him far into the
brier patch. Rabbit fell far away from the Frenchman.
Then he picked himself up and ran off, laughing at the trick he had
played on the Frenchman.
RABBIT AND TAR WOLF
_Cherokee_
Once the weather was dry for so long that there was no more water in
the springs and creeks. The animals held a council to see what to do
about it. They decided to dig a well, and all agreed to help, except
Rabbit who was a lazy fellow.
Rabbit said, "I don't need to dig for water. The dew on the grass is
enough for me."
The others did not like this, but they all started to dig the well. It
stayed dry for a long while and even the water in the well was low.
Still Rabbit was lively and bright.
"Rabbit steals our water at night," they said. So they made a wolf of
pine gum and tar. They set it by the well to scare the thief.
That night Rabbit came again to the well. He saw the black thing
there.
"Who's there?" he asked. But Tar Wolf did not answer. Rabbit came
nearer. Yet Tar Wolf did not move. Rabbit grew brave and said, "Get
out of my way."
Tar Wolf did not move. So Rabbit hit him with his paw; but it stuck
fast in the gum.
Rabbit became angry and said, "Let go my paw!" Still Tar Wolf said
nothing. So Rabbit hit him with his hind foot; that stuck in the gum.
So Tar Wolf held Rabbit fast until morning. Then the other animals
came for water. When they found Rabbit stuck fast, they made great fun
of him for a while. At last Rabbit managed to get away.
RABBIT AND PANTHER
_Menomini_
Rabbit was a great boaster. He wanted a medicine lodge and to have
people think he was a great medicine man.
Now one day, Wabus, the Rabbit, and his wife were traveling. They came
to a low hill covered with poplar sprouts. They were green and tender.
Therefore Rabbit decided to make his home there.
Rabbit went first to the top of a hill and built a wigwam. He made
trails from it in all directions, so he might see anyone who
approached.
When the wigwam was finished, Rabbit told his wife he was going to
dance; but first he ran all about the hill to see if anyone was
watching him. He found no trail. Then he returned and began his song.
Now just as Rabbit returned to his wigwam, Panther reached the base of
the hill, and he found Rabbit's trail. He followed it until he reached
the place where Rabbit and his wife were dancing. Here he hid to watch
Rabbit.
Now Rabbit told his wife to sit at one end of the lodge while he went
to the other. He took his medicine bag. Then he approached her four
times, chanting,
Ye ha-a-a-a-a Ye ha-a-a-a-a
Ye ha-a-a-a-a Ye ha-a-a-a-a
Then he shot at his wife, just as a medicine man does when he shoots
at a new member. Then Rabbit's wife arose and shot at him. Thus they
were very happy.
Then Rabbit began to sing a song which meant this: "If Panther comes
across my trail while I am biting the bark from the poplars, he will
not be able to catch me for I am a good runner."
When he had finished his song, Rabbit told his wife he would go out
hunting. Panther waited for his return.
Now as Rabbit started home again he was very happy. But when he
reached Panther's hiding place, his enemy sprang on his trail. Rabbit
saw him and started back on his trail. Panther raced after him. He
caught him and said,
"You are the man who said I could not catch you. Now who is the
fastest runner?" And before Rabbit could answer Panther ate him up.
But Rabbit was such a boastful man.
HOW RABBIT STOLE OTTER'S COAT
_Cherokee_
All the animals were of different sizes and wore different coats. Some
wore long fur and others wore short fur. Some had rings on their
tails; others had no tails at all. The coats of the animals were of
many colors--brown, or black, or yellow, or gray.
The animals were always quarreling about whose coat was the finest.
Therefore they held a council to decide the matter.
Now everyone had heard a great deal about Otter, but he lived far up
the trail; he did not often visit the others. It was said he had the
finest coat of all, but it was so long since they had seen him that no
one remembered what it was like. They did not even know just where he
lived, but they knew he would come when he heard of the council.
Rabbit was afraid the council would say that Otter had the finest
coat. He learned by what trail Otter would come to the council. Then
he went a four days' march up the trail to meet him. At last he saw
Otter coming. He knew him at once by his beautiful coat of soft brown
fur.
Otter said, "Where are you going?"
"They sent me to bring you to the council," answered Rabbit. "They
were afraid you might not know the trail."
So Rabbit turned back and they traveled together. They traveled all
day. At night Rabbit picked out a camping place. Otter was a stranger
in that part. Rabbit cut down bushes for beds and made everything
comfortable. Next morning they started on again.
In the afternoon, Rabbit picked up pieces of bark and wood, as they
followed the trail, and loaded them on his back.
"Why are you doing that?" asked Otter.
"So that we may be warm and comfortable tonight," said Rabbit. Near
sunset they stopped and made camp. After supper Rabbit began to
whittle a stick, shaving it down to a paddle.
"Why are you doing that?" asked Otter again.
"Oh," said Rabbit, "I have good dreams when I sleep with a paddle
under my head."
When the paddle was finished, Rabbit began to cut a good trail through
the bushes to the river.
"Why are you doing that?" asked Otter.
"This is called 'The Place Where It Rains Fire,' and sometimes it
does rain fire here," said Rabbit. "The sky looks a little that way
tonight. You go to sleep and I will sit up and watch. If you hear me
shout, you run and jump into the river. Better hang your coat on that
limb over there, so it will not get burned."
Otter did as Rabbit told him; then both curled up and Otter went to
sleep. But Rabbit stayed awake. After a while the fire burned down to
red coals. Rabbit called to Otter; he was fast asleep. Then he called
again, but Otter did not awaken.
Then Rabbit rose softly. He filled the paddle with hot coals, threw
them up into the air and shouted, "It's raining fire! It's raining
fire!"
The hot coals fell on Otter and he jumped up.
"To the river," shouted Rabbit and Otter fled into the water. So he
has lived in the water ever since.
Rabbit at once took Otter's coat and put it on, leaving his own
behind. Then he followed the trail to the council.
All the animals were waiting for Otter. At last they saw him coming
down the trail. They said to each other, "Otter is coming!" They sent
one of the small animals to show him the best seat. After he was
seated, the animals all went up in turn to welcome him. But Otter kept
his head down with one paw over his face.
The animals were surprised. They did not know Otter was so bashful.
At last Bear pulled the paw away. There was Rabbit! He sprang up and
started to run. Bear struck at him and pulled the tail off his coat.
But Rabbit was too quick and got safely away.
RABBIT AND BEAR
_Biloxi_
Rabbit and Bear had been friends for some time. One day Rabbit said to
Bear, "Come and visit me. I live in a very large brier patch." Then he
went home.
When he reached home he went out and gathered a quantity of young
canes which he hung up.
After a while Bear reached a place near his house, but was seeking the
large brier patch. Now Rabbit really dwelt in a very small patch. When
Rabbit found that Bear was near, he began to make a pattering sound
with his feet.
Bear was scared. He retreated to a distance and then stopped and stood
listening. As soon as Rabbit saw this, he cried out, "Halloo! my
friend! Was it you whom I treated in that manner? Come and take a
seat."
So Bear went back to Rabbit's house and took a seat. Rabbit gave the
young canes to his guest, who swallowed them all. Rabbit nibbled now
and then at one, while Bear swallowed all the others.
"This is what I have always liked," said Bear when he went home.
"Come and visit me. I dwell in a large bent tree."
Not long after, Rabbit started on his journey. He spent some time
seeking the large bent tree but he could not find it. Bear lived in a
hollow tree, and he sat there growling. Rabbit heard the growls and
fled for some distance before he sat down.
Then Bear called, "Halloo! my friend! Was it you whom I treated in
that manner? Come here and sit down."
Rabbit did so.
Bear said, "You are now my guest, but there is nothing for you to
eat." So Bear went in search of food.
Bear went to gather young canes, but as he went along, he gathered
also the small black bugs which live in decayed logs. When he had been
gone some time, he returned to his lodge with only a few young canes.
He put them down before Rabbit and then walked around him in a circle.
In a little while, he offered Rabbit the black bugs.
"I have never eaten such food," said Rabbit.
Bear was offended. He said, "When I was your guest, I ate all the food
you gave me, as I liked it very well. Now when I offer you food, why
do you treat me in this way?" Then Bear said, also, "Before the sun
sets, I shall kill you."
Rabbit's heart beat hard from terror, for Bear stood at the entrance
of the hollow log to prevent his escape. But Rabbit was very nimble.
He dodged first this way and then that, and with a long leap he got
out of the hollow tree. He went at once to his brier patch and sat
down.
Rabbit was very angry with Bear. He shouted to him, "When people are
hunting you, I will go toward your hiding place, and show them where
you are."
That is why, when dogs hunt a rabbit, they always shoot a bear. That
is all.
WHY DEER NEVER EAT MEN
_Menomini_
After Rabbit had decided about light and darkness, he saw Owasse, the
Bear, coming.
Rabbit said, "Bear, what do you want for food?" Bear said, "Acorns and
fruit."
Then Rabbit asked Fish Hawk. He said, "Fish Hawk, what will you select
for your food?"
Fish Hawk said, "I will take that fellow, Sucker, lying in the water
there."
Sucker said at once, "You may eat me if you can, but that has still to
be decided."
Sucker at once swam out into the deepest part of the river, where Fish
Hawk could not reach him. Then Fish Hawk rose into the air to a point
where his shadow fell exactly on the spot where Sucker lay. Now as
Sucker lay there, he saw the shadow of a large bird on the bed of the
stream. He became frightened. He thought, "It must be a manido," so he
swam slowly to the surface. At once Fish Hawk darted down on him and
carried him into the air. Then he ate him.
Rabbit looked about him again. He saw Moqwaio, the Wolf. He cried,
"Ho, Wolf! What do you wish for food?"
Wolf said, "I will eat Deer." Deer said, "You cannot eat me, because I
can run too swiftly." Wolf said, "We will see about that." So they had
a race. Deer started ahead and ran very swiftly. Wolf ran swiftly,
too, but his fur robe was too heavy. At last he thought, "This robe is
too heavy. I will slip it off." So he threw it off. Then he bounded
ahead and caught Deer and ate him.
Then Rabbit asked another Deer, of the same totem, "Deer, what will
you select as food?"
Deer said, "I will eat people. There are many Indians in the country.
I will eat them."
At once all the animals began to talk. They said to Deer, "The Indian
is too powerful. You can never eat him."
Deer said, "Well, I will plan to eat Indians, anyway." Then he walked
off.
Now one day an Indian was out hunting. He saw deer tracks to the right
and so followed them. They went in a large circle until they brought
him back where he had started. Then he saw deer tracks to the left. So
he followed those, until they also brought him back, in a large
circle, to the point where he started. Then the Indian saw that Deer
was following him.
Deer was determined to eat the Indians, because there were many of
them. It would not be difficult to hunt for food. But first he wanted
to frighten the hunter. So he pulled two ribs from his sides, and
stuck them into his lower jaw. They looked like tusks. Deer looked
very fierce. Then Deer came walking along, looking for an Indian. But
the hunter raised his bow and shot Deer. He carried the deer meat back
to his wigwam.
The shade of Deer at once went to the council of birds and animals. He
told Rabbit all about it.
Rabbit said, "I told you that you could not eat people. You see how it
is? Now you will have to live on grass and twigs."
And so they do, even to this day.
HOW RABBIT SNARED THE SUN
_Biloxi_
Rabbit and his grandmother lived in a wigwam. Rabbit used to go
hunting every day, very early in the morning. But no matter how early
he went, a person leaving long footprints had passed along ahead of
him. Each morning Rabbit thought, "I will reach there before him." Yet
each morning the person leaving long footprints passed before him.
One morning Rabbit said to his grandmother, "Oh, Grandmother, although
I have long wished to be the first to get there, again has he got
there ahead of me. Oh, Grandmother, I will make a noose, and I will
place it in the trail of that one, and thus I will catch him."
"Why should you do that?" asked grandmother.
"I hate that person," said Rabbit. He departed. When he reached there,
he found that the person had already departed. So he lay down near by
and waited for night. Then he went to the trail where the person with
long feet had been passing, and set a snare.
[Illustration: SHELL GORGET SHOWING EAGLE CARVING.
_From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
[Illustration: INDIAN JAR FROM THE MOUNDS OF ARKANSAS.
_From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
Very early the next morning he went to look at his trap. Behold! Sun
had been caught. Rabbit ran home very quickly.
"Oh, Grandmother, I have caught something but it scares me. I wished
to take the noose, but it scared me every time I went to get it."
Then Rabbit took a knife and again went there. The person said, "You
have done very wrong. Come and release me."
Rabbit did not go directly toward him. He went to one side. He bent
his head low and cut the cord. At once Sun went above on his trail.
But Rabbit had been so near him that Sun burned his fur on the back of
his neck.
Rabbit ran home. He cried, "Oh, Grandmother, I have been severely
burned."
"Alas! My grandson has been severely burned," said grandmother.
WHEN THE ORPHAN TRAPPED THE SUN
_Ojibwa_