their hold. Then Buzzard flew from the clouds to the earth. But now
Wind blew them in all directions. Then at last they came to earth.
They saw the trees around their own village. They rested under the
trees. An old man passing by knew them. So he went down the trail and
told their mother. She at once hastened to see them. When she met
them, she began to talk. She made them talk to her. They told her. So
they spoke before the four days were ended. Therefore Sun could not
keep his promise.
SUN AND MOON
_Menomini_
Once upon a time, Ke-so, the Sun, and his sister, Tipa-ke-so, the
Moon, the "last-night sun," lived together in a wigwam in the East.
One day Sun dressed himself to go hunting, took his bows and arrows,
and left. He was gone a long time. When he did not return, his sister
became frightened, and came out into the sky to look for her brother.
At last he returned, bringing with him a bear which he had shot.
Moon still comes up into the sky and travels for twenty days. Then she
disappears, and for four days nothing is seen of her. At the end of
the four days, she comes into the sky again, and travels twenty days
more.
Sun is a being like ourselves. He wears an otter skin about his head.
THE MOON PERSON
_Biloxi_
In olden days, the Moon Person used to make visits to the Indians. One
day a child put out a dirty little hand and made a black spot on Moon
Person. Therefore Moon felt ashamed and when night came he
disappeared. He went up above. He stays up above all the time now, so
they say. Sometimes he is dressed altogether in a shining robe, and
therefore he is bright at night. But immediately afterwards he
disappears. You can still see the black spot, so they say.
THE STAR CREATURES
_Cherokee_
One night hunters in the mountains noticed two shining lights moving
along the top of a distant ridge. After a while the lights vanished on
the other side. Thus they watched many nights, talking around the camp
fire.
One morning they traveled to the ridge. Then they searched long. At
last they found two round creatures covered with soft fur or downy
feathers. They had small heads.
Then the hunters took these strange creatures to their camp. They
watched them. In the day, they were only balls of gray fur; only when
the breeze stirred their fur, then sparks flew out. At night they grew
bright and shone like stars.
They kept very quiet. They did not stir, so the hunters did not fasten
them. One night they suddenly rose from the ground like balls of fire.
They went above the tops of the trees, and then higher until they
reached the Sky-land. So the hunters knew they were stars.
METEORS
_Menomini_
When a star falls from the sky it leaves a fiery trail. It does not
die. Its shade goes back to its own place to shine again. The Indians
sometimes find the small stars where they have fallen in the grass.
THE AURORA BOREALIS
_Menomini_
In the Land of the North Wind live the _manabaiwok_, the giants of
whom our old people tell.
The _manabaiwok_ are our friends, but we do not see them any more.
They are great hunters and fishermen. Whenever they come out with
their torches to spear fish, we know it because the sky is bright over
that place.
THE WEST WIND
_Chitimacha_
A little boy named Ustapu was one day lying on the shore of a lake.
His people had just reached the shore from the prairies, but the wind
was too high for them to cross.
As he lay there, he suddenly saw another boy fanning himself with a
fan of turkey wings. This was the boy who made the West Wind. Ustapu
said to his tribe, "I can break the arm of the boy who makes West
Wind." But they laughed at him. He took a shell and threw it at the
boy and struck his left arm.
Therefore when the west wind is high, the Indians say that the boy is
using his strong arm. When the west wind is a gentle breeze, they say
he is using his injured arm. Before that, the west wind had always
been so strong it was very disagreeable, because Wind-maker could use
both arms. Now it is much gentler.
The Indians think this boy also made the other winds.
THE LONE LIGHTNING
_Ojibwa_
At one time an orphan boy whose uncle was very unkind to him ran away.
He ran a long way. He ran until night. Then because he was afraid of
wild animals, he climbed into a tree in the forest. It was a high pine
tree, and he climbed into the forked branches of it.
A person came to him from the upper sky. He said, "Follow me. Step in
my trail. I have seen how badly you are treated." Then at once as the
boy stepped in his trail, he rose higher and higher into the upper
sky. Then the person put twelve arrows into his hands. He said, "There
are evil manitoes in the sky. Go to war against them. Shoot them with
your bow and arrows."
The boy went into the northern part of the upper sky. Soon he saw a
manito and shot at him. But that one's magic was too strong. Therefore
the shot failed. There was only a single streak of lightning in the
northern sky, yet there was no storm, and not even a cloud.
[Illustration: OJIBWA DANCER'S BEADED MEDICINE BAG.
_From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]
Eleven times the boy thus failed to kill a manito, and thus he had
but one arrow left. He held this in his hands a long while, looking
around. Now these evil manitoes had very strong medicine. They could
change their form in a moment. But they feared the boy's arrows
because they were also strong magic. And because they had been given
to him by a good manito, they had power to kill.
At last the boy saw the chief of the evil manitoes. He drew his bow
and shot his last arrow; but the chief saw it coming. At once he
changed himself into a rock. And the arrow buried itself in a crack of
the rock. The chief was very angry. He cried, "Now your arrows are all
gone! And because you have dared to shoot at me, you shall become the
trail of your arrow."
Thus at once he changed the boy into Nazhik-a-wawa, the Lone
Lightning.
THE THUNDERS
_Cherokee_
The Great Thunder and his sons, the two Thunder boys, live far in the
West, above the Sky-plain. The lightning and the rainbow are their
beautiful robes. Medicine men pray to Thunder, and call him the Red
Man because there is so much red in his dress.
There are other thunders that live lower down, in the cliffs and
mountains, and under waterfalls. They travel on bridges from one peak
to another, but the Indian cannot see these bridges. The Great
Thunders above the sky are kind and helpful when we make medicine to
them, but the others are always plotting mischief. One must not point
to the rainbow.
MONTHS OF THE YEAR
_Natchez_
The Natchez begin the year in March, each being a lunar month.
Therefore there are thirteen.
1 Deer month
2 Strawberry month
3 Little Corn month
4 Watermelon month
5 Peach month (July)
6 Mulberry month
7 Great Corn month (maize)
8 Turkey month (October)
9 Bison month
10 Bear month
11 Cold meal month (January)
12 Chestnut month
13 Nut month (nuts broken to make bread, at the close of
winter, when supplies run low)
WHY THE OAKS AND SUMACHS REDDEN
_Fox_
Once on a time, long ago, when it was winter, so they say, it snowed
for the first time. And while the very first snow lay on the ground,
so they say, three men went early in the morning to hunt for game.
In a thick growth of shrub on a side hill, a bear had entered in. They
could see the trail in the snow. One went in after him, and started
him going in flight.
"Away from The-place-whence-comes-the-cold he is making fast!" he
called to the others.
But the one who had gone round by way of The-place-from-whence-comes-
the-cold, cried, "In the direction From-whence-comes-the-source-of-midday
is he hurrying away." Thus he said.
The third, who had gone round by way of The-place-whence-comes-the-
source-of-midday, cried out, "Towards-the-place-where-the-sun-falls-down
is he hastening."
Back and forth for a long while did they keep the bear fleeing from
one to another. After a while, one of the hunters who was coming
behind looked down. Behold! The earth below was green. For it is
really true, so they say, that up into the Sky-land were they led away
by the bear. While they were chasing him about the dense growth of
shrubs, that was surely the time that up into the Sky-land they went.
Then quickly he called, "Oh, Union-of-rivers, let us turn back. Truly
into the Sky-land is he leading us away." So he called to
Union-of-rivers, but no answer did he receive from that one.
Now Union-of-rivers, who went running between the man ahead and the
man behind, had a little puppy, Hold-tight.
Now in the autumn, they overtook the bear. Then they slew him. After
they had slain him, many boughs of an oak did they cut, also of
sumach. So with the bear lying on top of the boughs, they skinned him,
and cut up the meat. Then they began to scatter the pieces in all
directions.
Towards The-place-whence-comes-the-dawn-of-day they hurled the head.
In winter, when dawn is nearly breaking, stars appear which are that
head, so they say.
Also to the east flung they his backbone. In winter time, certain
stars lie close together. These are the backbone, so they say.
And it has also been told of the bear and the hunters that the group
of four stars in front are the bear and the three hunters. And between
the front star and the star behind, a tiny little star hangs. That is
the little dog, Hold-tight, which was the pet of Union-of-rivers.
And so often as autumn comes, the oaks and sumachs redden at the leaf
because their boughs were stained with the blood of the bear.
THE MAN OF ICE
_Cherokee_
Once when the people were burning the woods in the fall, a poplar tree
began to burn. It burned until the fire went down into the roots; and
then down into the ground. It burned and burned until there was a
great hole in the ground, and the people began to be afraid the whole
world would burn. They tried to put out the fire, but it was too deep
in the ground.
At last someone said, "There is a man living in a house of ice, far
toward the Frozen Land. He can put out the fire."
So messengers were sent. They traveled many sleeps until they came to
the house of the Man of Ice. He was a little fellow with long braids
of hair, hanging to the ground.
He said at once, "Oh, yes, I can help you," and began to unbraid his
hair. When it was all loose, he took it in one hand and struck the
ends against the other hand. The messengers felt a wind blow against
their cheeks.
He struck the ends of his hair again across his hand. A light rain
began to fall. A third time he struck the open hand with his hair.
Sleet began to fall with the rain. The fourth time, and large
hailstones fell. They fell as though they came out of the ends of his
hair.
"Now go home," said the medicine man. "I shall be there tomorrow."
So the messengers returned. They found the people standing around the
burning hole.
The next day, as the people stood again at the burning hole, watching
the fire, a light wind came from the north. They were afraid because
they knew the medicine man had sent it. The wind made the flames sweep
higher. Then a light rain began to fall. It but made the fire hotter.
Then came sleet with a heavy rain, and hail. The flames died down but
clouds of smoke and steam arose.
Then the people fled to their wigwams for shelter. A great wind arose
which blew the hail into the depths of the fire and piled up a great
heap of hailstones. Then the fire died out and the smoke ceased.
Now when the people went to look again--a lake stood where flames had
been. Yet from below the water came the sound of embers still
crackling.
THE NUNNEHI
_Cherokee_
The Nunnehi are The People Who Live Anywhere. They were spirit people
who lived in the highlands of the Cherokee country, and they liked the
bald mountain peaks where no timber ever grows.
No one could see the Nunnehi except when the spirit-people let
themselves be seen, and then they looked and acted just like other
Indians. But they like music and dancing, and hunters in the mountains
often could hear the dance songs and the drum; yet when they went
towards the sound, it would suddenly shift behind them or in some
other direction. They were a friendly people, too. Some Indians have
thought they were the same as the Little People; but those are no
larger than little children.
Once a boy was with the Nunnehi. When he was about ten or twelve years
old, he was playing one day near the river, shooting at a mark with
his bow and arrow. Then he started to build a fish trap in the water.
While he was piling up the stones in two long walls, a man came and
stood on the bank.
The man said, "What are you doing?" The boy told him. The man said,
"That's pretty hard work. You ought to rest awhile. Come and take a
walk up the river."
The boy said, "No. I am going to the lodge to get something to eat."
"Come to my lodge," said the man. "I'll give you good food and bring
you home again in the morning."
So the boy went to the man's lodge with him. They went up the river.
The man's wife and all the other people were glad to see him. They
gave him plenty to eat. While he was eating, a man that the boy knew
very well indeed came in and spoke to him. So he did not feel strange.
Afterwards he played with the other children and slept there that
night. In the morning, their father took him down the trail. They went
down a trail that had a cornfield on one side and a peach orchard on
the other, until they came to a cross trail. Then the man said,
"Go along this trail across that ridge and you will come to the river
road that will take you straight to your home."
So he went back to his house. The boy went down the trail, but soon
he turned and looked back. There was no cornfield there; there were no
peach trees or house--nothing but trees on the mountain side. Still he
was not frightened. He went on until he came to the river trail in
sight of his home. He saw many people standing about talking. When
they saw him, they ran towards him shouting, "Here he is! He is not
drowned or killed in the mountains!"
Then they said, "Where have you been? We have been looking for you
ever since yesterday noon."
"A man took me over to his house, just across the ridge," said the
boy. "I thought Udsi-skala would tell you where I was."
Udsi-skala said, "I have not seen you. I was out all day in my canoe
looking for you. It was one of the Nunnehi who made himself look like
me."
His mother said, "You say you had plenty to eat there?"
"Yes," said the boy.
"There is no house there," his mother answered. "There is nothing
there but trees and rocks, but we hear a drum sometimes in the big
bald peak above. The people you saw were the Nunnehi."
THE LITTLE PEOPLE
_Cherokee_
There is another race of spirits, the Little People. They live in rock
caves and in the mountain side. They hardly reach to a man's knee, but
they are very handsome, with long hair falling to the ground. They
work wonders, and are fond of music. They spend half their time
drumming and dancing. If their drum is heard in lonely places in the
mountains, it is not safe to follow it. They do not like to be
disturbed and they throw a spell over people who annoy them. And even
when such a person at last gets back home, he seems dazed.
Sometimes the Little People come near a house at night, but even if
people hear them talking, they must not go out. And in the morning,
the corn is gathered, or the field cleared, as if a great many people
had been at work.
When a hunter finds a knife in the woods, he must say, "Little People,
I want to take this," because it may belong to them. Otherwise, they
may throw stones at him as he goes home.
There are other spirits. The Water Dwellers live in the water and
fishermen pray to them.
There are also the hunter spirits who are very handsome. Sometimes
they help the hunters, but when someone trips and falls, we know one
of these hunter spirits tripped him up.
Then there is Det-sata. Det-sata was once a boy who ran away from his
home. He has a great many children who are all just like him and have
his name. When a flock of birds flies up suddenly as if frightened, it
is because Det-sata is chasing them. He is mischievous and sometimes
hides an arrow from the bird hunter who may have shot it off into a
perfectly clear space, but looks and looks without finding it.
Then the hunter says, "Det-sata, you have my arrow. If you do not give
it up, I'll scratch you." When he looks again, he finds it.
WAR SONG
_Ojibwa_
From the place of the South
They come.
From the place of the South
They come.
The birds of war--
Hear the sound of their passing screams in the air.
THE WAR MEDICINE
_Cherokee_
Some warriors had medicine to change themselves into any animal or
bird they wished.
Long ago, a warrior coming in from the hunt, found enemies attacking
the wigwams of his people across the river. The men were away hunting.
On the river bank, he found a mussel shell. With his medicine he
changed the shell into a canoe. Thus he crossed the river, and went to
his grandmother's wigwam. She sat with her head in a blanket, waiting
to be killed. At once he changed her into a small gourd, and fastened
her to his belt. Then he climbed a tree and became a swamp woodcock.
Thus he flew back across the river. So the warrior and his grandmother
escaped.
THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN
_Wyandot_
Now in early days, the Wyandots lived about the St. Lawrence River, in
the mountains to the eastward. They were the first tribe of old. They
had the first chieftainship. The chief said to his nephews, the
Lenapées,
"Go down to the seacoast and look. If you see anything, come and tell
me."
Now the Lenapées had a village by the sea. They often looked out, but
they saw nothing. One day something came. When it came near the land,
it stopped. Then the people were afraid. They ran into the woods. The
next day two Indians went quietly to look. It was lying there in the
water. Then something just like it came out of it and walked on two
legs over the water.[25] When it came to the land, two men stepped out
of it. They were different from us. They made signs for the Lenapées
to come out of the woods. They gave presents. Then the Lenapées gave
them skin clothes.
[25] A row boat.
The white men went away. They came back many times. They asked the
Indians for room to put a chair on the land. So it was given. But soon
they began to pull the lacing out of the bottom and to walk inland
with it. They have not yet come to the end of the string.
Transcriber's Note
Variations in spelling and accent usage are preserved as printed.
"The Death Trail" is accredited to the Cherokee in the Table of
Contents, but to the Choctaw as a subtitle to the story itself. This
is preserved as printed.
"The Kite and the Eagle" has no credit to a particular nation.
"The Tiny Frog and the Panther" had no credit in the Table of
Contents, but is accredited to the Biloxi as a subtitle to the
story. This is preserved as printed.
Page 12 mentioned Kuti Mandkce. With reference to the 1912 Bureau of
American Ethnology Bulletin 47, _A Dictionary of Biloxi and Ofo
Languages_, this has been amended to Kuti Mankdce.
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
The following amendment has been made on the assumption that it was a
printer error:
Page v--Gitchee amended to Gitche--... who made Gitche Gomee,
the Great Water.
Illustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in
the middle of a paragraph. The frontispiece illustration has been
moved to follow the title page.