There was, in the land of the Caddos, a good and devout hunter and
fisherman, named Sakechak, or "he that tricks the otter." He dwelt
with his family upon the little hill Wecheganawaw, on the border of
the lake Caddoque. He was a tall man, spare in flesh, but very active,
and able to endure more fatigue than the wolf or the wild cat--able to
live six days without food, and feast the next six days without
intermission. None had eyes like Sakechak to follow the trail of a
light-footed animal over the frozen earth; none like him could strike,
unerringly, a salmon at twice the depth of a man. Nor was this hunter
without the qualities of a warrior. When the Padoucas came, with
hostile intent, to the borders of the lake Caddoque; among those who
first took down the spear, and braided the scalp-lock, was Sakechak,
the hunter of the little hill Wecheganawaw. He it was who first
sounded the war-whoop; he it was who took the first Padouca scalp; he
it was who pursued farthest the retreating enemy, and he who returned
from the weary pursuit to dance longest the dance of Triumph. And
Sakechak was as wise as brave, and as good as wise. Never was he
caught suffering his feelings to escape from his controul or
management; his word was esteemed in the council as the word of
wisdom; his warning of danger was regarded as the cry of the owl.
Never did he mock the wretched, or laugh, or scoff at the insane; he
was always respectful to the aged; and he daily cried to the Master of
Life, from the high grounds, with clay spread thick upon his hair, and
at every successful hunt offered, to the same Great Judge and
protecting guide of man, the best part of the animals he had caught.
That Great Being regarded him with more love than he regards other
mortals, and showed it by many signs. The fish he speared were always
fatter than those taken by other hunters; the deer that lay at the
foot of the wife of Sakechak could not be lifted like other men's by a
mere boy. The thunder that shattered, and the wind that prostrated,
the forest-trees in other places were never known to do the like by
the tall oaks that sheltered the hill Wecheganawaw. The corn of this
good hunter came out of the ground two suns sooner than other men's,
and the tobacco in his garden was ripe, yellow, and fit for use, while
that of his neighbours was green, and food for the worm. The
Caddoques, and the other Indians, might have seen enough of the
rewards bestowed upon goodness, in the person of Sakechak, to have
made them leave off their wickedness. But no, they kept on sinning,
until the Great Being deemed them unfit longer to live upon the earth
which he had created for their use.
Once upon a time, as Sakechak was about to rest his limbs for the
period of darkness, he felt the stirring of the ant which lay under
the skin of his left hand, and, binding over his eyes the hide of the
young badger, he laid his head upon a bundle of the leaves of the
black hornbeam, and slept as soon as possible[A]. His dream was
strange and wonderful, and it was accomplished. He saw the Master of
Life, being the first Caddoque who had ever seen him. He was a very
tall and big man, shaped like an Indian in all save his hands, which
were each a sharp spear of terrible proportions, and his tongue was an
immense arrow. His eyes were bright as the sun, and each much larger;
his hair was very long, and swept the earth, and he wore a great white
hat[B]. Each of his feet was larger than the lake Caddoque. He spoke
to the dreamer in his lowest whisper, which, nevertheless, was louder
than the loudest thunder, and his words were these:--
[Footnote A: See this superstition in the last tale.]
[Footnote B: The Indians always give a corporeal form to the Supreme
Being, and, in every instance that I have heard of, when supposing him
to have a human form, imagine him with some kind of covering upon his
head. Since their introduction to the white people, they have
invariably supposed this covering to be a hat.]
"Sakechak!"