During the long winter nights or during the periods of cold or inclement
weather in which the Indians may not venture out, they sit around the
fire and relate stories intended for the instruction as well as
entertainment of the younger people. The older men have a great stock of
these stories, and many of the women are noted for their ability in
entertaining the children, who sit, with staring eyes and open mouth,
in the arms of their parents or elders.
The following stories came to me directly and not through the medium of
another white person, and probably I am the only white person who has
heard some of them. I have endeavored to give them as nearly in the form
of the original as the differences between the English and the Indian
languages will permit.
_Story of the wolverene and the brant._--A wolverene calling all the
birds together addressed them thus: "Do you not know that I am your
brother? Come to me and I will dress you in feathers." After having
dressed them up he made wings for himself and said: "Now, brothers, let
us fly." The brant told the wolverene, "You must not look below while we
are flying over the point of land when you hear a noise below. Take a
turn when we take a turn."
The first turn they took the wolverene did not look below, but at the
second turn they took, when they came over the point of land, the animal
looked below when he heard the noise of the shouting Indians and down he
came like a bundle of rags.[2]
[Footnote 2: When the Indians perceive a flock of these brant
they make a loud clamor, which frightens the birds so much that
they lose their senses, fall to the ground and are thus killed.
These birds are only seen in the spring migrations and then in
great multitudes, while in the fall it is rare to see even a
single individual, as they have a different return route than in
spring.]
All the Indians ran up to him and exclaimed "There is a brant fallen
down." One of the old Indian women got hold of him and began to pluck
his feathers off, then to disembowel him. She of course smelled the
horrible stench and exclaimed, "This goose is not fit to eat as it is
already rotten!" She gave the carcass to one of the children to throw
away. Another old woman came up and inquired, "Where did you throw the
brant goose to? How could it be rotten? It is not long since it was
killed." The former old woman replied to her, "Go and see, if you do not
believe." She went and found nothing but the dead wolverene.
_Story of the wolverene._--A wolverene was running along the seashore
and perceived a number of geese, brant, ducks, and loons sitting in the
water a short distance off. The wolverene addressing them said, "Come
here, brothers. I have found a pretty bees' nest. I will give it to you
if you will come on shore and have a dance." All the birds went on land.
The wolverene said, "Let us have a dance and I will sing. Shut your eyes
and do not open them until we are done dancing." He began to sing,
"A-ho´u-mu-hou-mu´-mu´-h[)u]m´." The last word was so often repeated
(accompanied with the act of the wolverene snipping off the heads of the
birds) that the loon opened one eye and saw the headless ducks kicking.
The loon ran to the water and exclaimed, "Our brother has killed us!"
The wolverene ran after the loon but the loon dived under the water and
came up a distance off and cried out, "A ho ho ho ho ho ho!" The
wolverene screamed, "Hold your tongue, you red-eyed fowl." The wolverene
returned to where the ducks had been killed; plucked their feathers off
and cleaned them; put them into a large kettle and boiled them.
While attending to the cooking he saw a whisky-jack (Us´ ka tcon)
(_Perisoreus canadensis_) flying about. The wolverene took a firebrand
and threw it at the bird, exclaiming, "You will be telling on me, you
long-tongued bird!" The jay flew away and told the Indians that "Our
brother (wolverene) has killed a lot of ducks and has them cooked,"
adding, "I think he is sleeping. I'll show you where he is if you will
come." The Indians replied, "We will go, for we are very hungry." They
went and found the wolverene asleep alongside the pot. The Indians ate
all of the meat of the ducks. After they had finished the meat they put
the bones back into the kettle and went away. The wolverene awakened
after a time, took his dish and said to himself, "Now, I shall have my
dinner." He poured all the broth into his dish and found nothing but the
bones remaining. In his surprise he said, "Surely, I have been sleeping
a long time; the meat is all boiled away." The jay told him that he had
told the Indians. The wolverene said, "Why did you tell? you stupid
bird; I was keeping a nice piece of fat for you.[3] You will not, now,
get it for your impudence."
[Footnote 3: The jay is well known to be particularly fond of
fat of any kind, hence the tempting morsel withheld was a source
for future reflection.]
_The deer and the squirrel._--A reindeer called all the mammals and
birds together and announced that he would give names to all of them.
When he came to name the squirrel he inquired of the little creature
what name it would prefer. The squirrel replied that it would like to
have the same name as the black bear. The reindeer smiled and informed
the squirrel that it was too small to have the name of the bear. The
squirrel began to cry and wept so long that his lower eyelids became
white.
_The young man who went to live with the deer._--A young man one morning
told his old father that he had dreamed the night before that a deer had
asked him to come and live with them. The old father replied, "That is a
good sign; you will kill many deer after that dream." The young man went
away to hunt, and while out he saw a large herd of deer. A young doe
from the band ran up toward him, and he was about to fire at her when
she said to him, "Do not fire, for my father has sent me to you. Please
put up your arrows." She came nearer and informed him that her father
had sent her to ask him to come and live with the deer forever.
The young man inquired, "How could I live with you when it is upon deer
that I live? I live in a tent and can not live outside. I can not live
without fire. I can not live without water." The doe replied, "We have
plenty of fire, water, and meat; you will never want; you will live
forever. Your father will never want, as there will be enough deer given
to him." The man consented to go with them. The doe pointed to a large
hill and said, "That is our home." She told him to leave his deerskin
mantle, snowshoes, and arrows on the ground, but to keep the bow. As
they were walking along they came to a big valley. She informed him that
that was their path. The two went toward the steep hillside and found
the ground to be covered with deer. Some of the deer were frightened
when they saw the man coming, and started to run. The doe's father said
to the frightened deer, "Do you not pity the poor Indians who have to
hunt for their living while we do not?" When the young man and the doe
came up, the father of the doe addressed the young man, asking if he was
hungry. The man replied, "Yes." The father then gave him a piece of nice
meat and some fat. After the man had finished eating the father
inquired, "Is your father also hungry?" The son replied, "Yes."
The old buck informed the young man that they would give the son's
father some deer to-morrow. After the young man had slept out one night
his father, in the morning, went out to look for his son, but found only
his mantle, snowshoes, and arrows, which had been cast aside the day
before, and also found the tracks in the valley leading to the home of
the deer under the hill. The old man returned to his tent and told the
other Indians that his son had gone away to live with the deer. The old
man then said, "Let us make snares and we will yet take him, as he can
not run as fast as the deer." The Indians prepared a number of snare
nooses and went to the valley to set them among the bushes on the path.
The father of the young doe saw what was going on in the valley and told
the rest, "Let us go and give the old man some deer." He told the young
man to come with them. The man replied that he could not accompany them,
as he would be left behind in no time while they were running. The old
buck instructed the young man to keep among the rest of the deer and he
would not be left behind them. All the deer then went out to the valley.
The young man kept among them; and as they were going through the bushes
he heard the shouts of the Indians who were concealed behind them. The
deer saw the snares and some of the animals fell into the nooses and
were caught. The remainder, with the young man, were soon beyond the
snares. The Indians began to kill the deer which had been taken in the
nooses, and when they had finished they found they had not captured the
young man. They consulted together and decided to search among the
tracks of the escaped deer to ascertain whether his foot-prints were
among them. They found his track and also the mark of his bow as he had
dragged it along in the snow.
The young man's father then said, "Let him go if he thinks he is able to
live with the deer;" and the people returned to their tents.
_The wolf's daughter going to seek her lover._--An old mother wolf one
morning said to her daughter, "You must go and look for your lover or
else we shall all starve to death, as your brothers can not kill any
deer." The daughter inquired of her mother, "Who is my lover?" The
mother replied, "The otter is your lover. He lives in the water. If you
go to the narrows of the lake you will find him." The daughter said she
would go. So early in the morning she started off, and as she was going
along the shore of the lake she saw an open hole in the ice, and in the
water the otter was sitting. The wolf went up to the otter, but the
otter swam away and was going to dive, when the wolf said, "Do not dive
and go away. My mother says you are my lover." The otter asked, "How can
I be your lover when I live in the water?" The wolf replied, "You can
live on the land as well as in the water." The otter answered back,
"I will not live on the land." The wolf retorted, "You will have to live
on the land, and if you do not come out I shall smother you in the
water." The otter said, "You can not smother me, for I have a number of
holes made in the lake ice." The otter dove into the water and
disappeared. The wolf began to howl dismally when the otter vanished.
The wind began to blow and drifted the snow furiously. The snow fell
into the otter's breathing holes and filled them with slushy snow, which
soon froze and completely stopped all the holes in the ice but one where
the wolf was sitting. This hole was kept clear of snow and ice by the
wolf scraping it out as fast as it collected. Soon she heard the otter
going to the holes for breath, but when he came near the hole where the
wolf was sitting she could hear him snuffing for air, and she stood with
open jaws ready to seize him when he should appear. The otter was nearly
exhausted, so the wolf went off a little distance, and the otter came up
to the surface of the water nearly out of breath. He crept out of the
water and rolled himself in the dry snow to take the water off of his
coat of fur and exclaimed to the wolf, "I will live with you; I will
live with you." The wolf then addressed her lover and said, "Did I not
tell you I would smother you?" The otter did not reply to this, but
asked her, "Have you got a piece of line? Give it to me, and I will go
to catch some fish for you if you will go and prepare a tent." The wolf
drew out a piece of fishing line and handed it to the otter. The otter
went down into the same hole in the ice whence he had come. He was gone
some time, and in the meantime the wolf was busy making the tent, which
was completed before the otter returned. Soon after, however, the otter
came back to the hole with a long string of fish which he had killed and
had them all strung on the line. He left the string of fish in the hole
in the ice with one end of it fastened to the ice. The otter rolled
himself in the snow to remove the water from his fur, and then went to
the tent to tell his wife to go and get the fish which he had left in
the hole in the ice. The wolf went and hauled up the line, which was
full of fish, and began to devour so many that soon she could scarcely
move. She hauled the remainder of the fish home to the tent.
The otter was sleeping when she returned. She proceeded to clean the
fish and put on a large kettle full of the fish to boil for supper.
She then crept into bed with her husband, and the next morning she was
delivered of a young otter and a young wolf. After the father and mother
had taken their breakfast the latter sat with her head hanging down and
seemed to be in a miserable mood. The otter inquired of the wife wolf,
"What is the matter with you that you sit so quietly?" The wolf
answered: "I wish I had some deerskins with which to make clothing for
the children. How nicely I should dress them!" The otter replied: "Open
the door and I will show you where I get the deer." It was yet early,
and the otter went away to seek the deer. The otter saw a band of thirty
deer, but had no gun with which to kill them, so he frightened them,
and as they were running away he sprang at them each, and jumped through
them from end to end. He killed all of them in this manner and then
rolled in the snow to cleanse himself. After that was done he wended his
way home, and on arriving informed his wife (for it was then a little
after sunset) that on the morrow she should go to bring home the deer he
had killed, adding that she could follow his track, and thus find them.
The wife had a big pot of fish cooked for him when he returned, and when
he had finished his supper he went to bed. As soon as the wife suspected
her husband to be asleep she went after the deer, and by hauling four at
a time she soon had them all brought, and laid them before the tent.
When that was finished she went to bed. In the morning the otter told
her to get up and make a fire, as she would have to go for the carcasses
of the deer which he had killed the day before. The wife replied:
"I have already brought them all home." The otter asked her: "How could
you bring them home in the dark?" The wife answered: "Look out through
the door if you do not believe me." The otter looked and saw the thirty
deer all piled up before the door. He turned and looked at his wife, but
made no remark. The wolf asked him: "Why do you look at me, so hard?"
The otter said: "I was wondering how you could get them home in such a
short time." The wolf said: "Come, and take your breakfast, for you will
have to help me skin the deer." After they had finished eating their
breakfast they began to skin the deer, and soon had them done. The wolf
told her husband to make a stage or scaffold for the meat, adding that
she would clean the skins. The otter prepared the stage, which in a
short time was completed. The meat was placed on the stage and the skins
hung up to dry around the tent. They then went in to take their supper.
The wife was not in a talkative mood, and soon went to bed. The next
morning the wolf hung her head down, and the otter seeing her again in
such mood, inquired what was the matter with her that she should be so
quiet. The wolf replied: "I am thinking of my poor father and mother and
brothers; I suppose they will all be starved to death. My old father
told me to tell you to put a mark on the middle of the lake so they
would know where I am." The otter went to the middle of the lake and
erected a pile as a mark by which the wolf's relations should know it.
The brothers of the otter's wife were on the hill looking for the mark
set up by their sister's husband, and when they saw it they exclaimed:
"Our sister has saved us! our sister has saved us!" and ran back to
their old father's home to give him the joyful intelligence that they
had seen the mark put up by the husband of their sister. The old wolf
then told his family that they would go and seek their sister and
daughter to live with her and her husband. They all went to the hill by
the lake, and from the top of it they saw the mark, and from it they
followed the track of the otter until they saw the tent in the edge of
the woods. They exclaimed: "There is our sister's tent, for the
deerskins are hanging outside." They raised such a joyful shout at the
prospect before them, that the noise frightened some young otters (for
the family had now become larger) which were playing outside. The little
ones scampered in and hid themselves behind their father's back. The
father inquired, "What is the matter, that you are so frightened?" The
little ones replied: "We are running from the Hunger" (for that was the
name they applied to the wolves). The mother replied: "Perhaps they see
my father, mother, and brothers coming." The otter told his wife to go
out and see. She complied, and when she opened the door they saw a row
of gaunt wolves; nothing but skin and bones. The newcomers immediately
fell to, and began to devour the meat which was on the stage. The
otter's wife remonstrated, and said: "Do not be so greedy; my husband is
not a stingy man. I take my meals when he is sleeping, and pretend not
to eat much during the day." They all went into the tent and the otter
soon went to bed. When they thought he was asleep, they began to eat all
the raw meat and fish, and soon finished it. In the morning when the
otter had awakened, he remarked to his wife: "I think your brothers will
make a fool of me." The wife asked: "What makes you think so?" The otter
replied: "They look at me so hard, that I do not know where to turn my
eyes." After breakfast the otter and his wolf brothers went away to look
for deer. They soon came upon a band of them, and the otter told the
wolves to go and kill them. The wolves ran after the deer, but got only
one of them. After the deer were frightened by the wolves, the otter
sprang after the deer and soon killed every one of them in the same
manner he had killed the others. He then cleaned himself in the dry snow
and returned home. The wolves had started for the tent before the otter,
so when the latter returned they asked the otter: "How many deer did you
kill?" The otter replied: "I killed all that were in the band," adding,
"In the morning you will have to go for the deer." So everything was got
ready for an early start and they all retired to bed. When they awakened
in the morning, one of the wife's brothers said to another: "Look at our
otter brother; he has a white mouth." The otter turned to his wife and
said to her: "Did I not tell you that your brothers would make a fool of
me?" The otter then took his two otter children in his arms, and told
his wife that she would have to make her living as best she could, as he
would not live with her any more, that he was going away to leave her.
He darted off to the lake, and disappeared under the ice, and was never
seen again.
_The devil punishing a liar._--A bear (mackwh) had two young cubs which
she did not want to let know that summer had come, but kept them in the
den and would not let them go out. The young ones continually inquired
if the summer had come, and repeated the question every time the mother
returned from the outside. She invariably answered, "No." Some days
after she fell asleep, when she had returned from one of her trips, and
while sleeping her mouth opened wide. The young ones said to each other:
"Surely the summer is come, for there are green leaves in our mother's
mouth." The mother had told her children how beautiful was the summer
time, how green the trees, how juicy the plants, and how sweet the
berries; so the cubs, impatient, while longing for summer that they
might enjoy what was outside of their den, knew by the leaves in their
mother's mouth that she had deceived them. The older cub told the
younger that they would slip out at the top of the den and go out while
their mother was yet sleeping. They crept out and found the weather so
fine and the surroundings so pleasant that they wandered some distance
off by the time she wakened from her sleep. She ran out and called
loudly for her children, seemingly surprised, and exclaimed: "My sons,
the summer has come; the summer has come." The cubs hid when they heard
their mother's voice. She called to them until nightfall. The older cub
said to his brother: "I wish the devil (A-qan´) would hear her and kill
her for telling us the summer had not come, and keeping us in the house
so long when it was already pleasant outside."
The mother bear soon screamed to her sons: "The devil has heard me and
is killing me."
The cubs heard the devil killing their mother with a stone, pounding her
on the head.
They became frightened and ran-away.
_A wolverene destroys his sister._--A wolverene having wandered far,
for several days without food, suddenly came upon a bear. The former,
feeling very hungry, conceived the plan of destroying his larger prey by
stratagem. The wolverene cautiously approached the bear and exclaimed:
"Is that you, sister?" The bear turned around and saw the wolverene, but
in a low tone, which the wolverene did not hear, said to herself: "I did
not know that I had a brother," so ran quickly away. The wolverene
continued to scream: "Come here, sister, our father has sent me to look
for you. You were lost when you were a little girl out picking berries."
Thus spoken to, the bear approached the supposed brother, who informed
her that he knew of a place, on the hill there, where a lot of nice
berries were ready for eating, saying: "Do you not see the berries
growing on that hill, sister?" The bear answered: "I cannot see so great
a distance." So the two went up the hillside where the berries grew.
When they arrived at the place, and it was some distance off, the bear
asked: "How is it that your eyes are so good?" The wolverene replied:
"My father mashed a lot of cranberries into my eyes and put me into a
sweat house." The bear said: "I wish my eyes were as good as yours." The
wolverene answered: "I will make your eyes as good as mine if you will
gather a lot of cranberries while I prepare a sweat house." The bear
went to gather berries while the other prepared the house during her
absence. The wolverene selected a stone having a sharp edge, which she
concealed under the moss in the sweat house, while she procured a larger
stone for the pillow.
After the sweat house was completed the wolverene cried out: "Sister,
the sweat house is finished!" The bear returned, bringing a quantity of
berries. They both went into the sudatory, whereupon the wolverene
instructed the bear to lie with her head upon the stone pillow, while he
prepared the crushed berries to put in her eyes. He then said to her:
"Now, sister, do not move; you may find the berries will hurt the eyes
and make them very sore, but they will be better soon." The wolverene
filled the bear's eyes full of the sour berries, which made her exclaim:
"Brother, they are making my eyes very sore." The wolverene answered:
"You will find them the better for that. After I get your eyes full of
the berries I will blow my breath on them." After the eyes of the bear
were full of berries the wolverene said: "You are too good to be a
sister," so he struck her on the head with the sharp-edged stone and
cleft her skull between the eyes and killed her.
_The rabbit and the frog._--One day a rabbit was wandering among the
hillsides, and at a short distance from him he observed a tent belonging
to some Indians. Being timid he crept up to the side of the tent and
peeped through a small hole, and saw inside of it a frog sitting near
the fire. The rabbit seeing no danger accosted the frog thus: "Brother,
what are you doing?" The frog replied: "I am playing with the ashes. My
brothers have gone off hunting and I am here as I have a very sore leg
and can not go far." The rabbit rejoined, "come with me and I will keep
you?" The frog answered, "I can not walk as my leg is too sore." The
rabbit offered to carry the frog on his back. The rabbit took the frog
and giving him a toss threw him on his back and said: "This is the way I
will carry you." So they started for the home of the rabbit, where, upon
arriving, the rabbit placed the frog inside of the tent while the former
went out to look for something to eat. While seeking food the rabbit
suddenly spied a smoke curling from among the willows which grew along
the branch of the creek. He became frightened and started to run
homeward exclaiming, "I have forgotten my crooked knife and I must go
quickly to get it." (This part, or what the rabbit says to himself, is
sung as a song; with an attempt at imitation of the rabbit's voice.) The
rabbit ran hurriedly home and sprang into the tent, whereupon the frog
observing the fright of the other inquired, "Brother, what is the matter
that you are so excited?" The rabbit answered, "I saw a large smoke."
"Where is it?" inquired the frog. The rabbit replied, "It is from among
the willows along the creek that runs near by." The frog began to laugh
at the foolish fear of the rabbit and answered him that the smoke
proceeded from the lodge of a family of beavers, and taunted the rabbit
for being afraid of such a timid creature as a beaver when they are good
to eat, adding that his own (frogs) brothers often carried him to the
beavers' houses to kill them when they were out of food; although his
brothers could never kill any of them.
The rabbit was pleased to hear the frog was such a great hunter, and
gladly offered to carry the frog to the lodge of the beavers that some
food could be procured. The frog accepted the offer and was carried to
the creek bank. The rabbit then built a dam of stakes across the stream
and below the lodges in order that the beavers should not escape. The
frog then directed the rabbit to break into the top of the lodge so that
the frog might get at the beavers to kill them. While the rabbit was
breaking into the lodge of the beavers, the frog purposely loosened some
of the stakes of the weir below in order to allow the beavers to escape,
hoping that the rabbit would become angry at him for so doing. When the
rabbit saw what mischief the frog had done, he took the frog and roughly
shoved him under the ice into the water. This did not harm the frog as
it could live under water as well as on land, but the rabbit did not
know that, so he believed he had drowned his brother the frog. The
rabbit then returned to his home, regretting he had acted so harshly and
began to cry for his brother. The frog in the meanwhile, killed all of
the beavers and tied them together on a string, then slowly crawled to
the rabbit's home with his burden on his back. The frog crept up to the
tent but was afraid to enter so he began to play with the door flap of
the tent to make a noise to attract the attention of the rabbit within.
Finally he cried out to the rabbit, "Brother, give me a piece of fire
for I am very cold." The rabbit did not recognize the tired, weak voice
of his brother frog, and, afraid lest it be some enemy endeavoring to
entice him from his home, picked up a piece of dead coal which had no
fire on it and flung it outside. The frog then said, "Brother, there is
no fire on this piece and I can not cook my beavers with it." The rabbit
then ran out quickly and tenderly carried the frog inside, and
immediately the latter began to moan and appear to suffer so much that
the rabbit inquired what was the matter and asked if the beavers had
bitten him. The frog said, "No, it was you who gave me such a hard push
that you have hurt me in the side." The rabbit assured the frog that the
injury was unintentionally caused. The frog then directed the rabbit to
prepare and cook the beavers. The rabbit went out to fetch them but he
began to eat and did not stop until they were all devoured. After having
finished eating them the rabbit went for a walk. Ere long he noticed a
huge smoke curling from the farther end of a valley and becoming greatly
frightened he exclaimed, "I have forgotten my crooked knife and I must
go quickly to get it." He dashed into his door in a terrible state of
mind. The frog coolly inquired, "What is the matter that you are so
scared?" The rabbit said, "I have seen a great smoke at the farther end
of the valley through which the creek runs." The frog laughed loudly at
his fear and said, "They are deer; my brothers often had me to kill
them, as they could not kill any, when we had no meat." The rabbit was
delighted at that so he offered to carry the frog toward the place.
The frog directed the rabbit to make a snowshoe for the one foot of the
frog. The rabbit soon had it made and gave it to his brother. The frog
then said, "Carry me up towards the smoke." The rabbit slung the frog on
his back and away they went in the direction of the deer. The frog then
told the rabbit to stand in one place and not to move while he (the
frog) would work at the deer, and when he had finished he would call him
up to the place.
The frog killed all the deer in a very short time, skinned them, and
stuck the head and neck of one of the deer into the snow so that it
would be looking toward the place whence the rabbit would come. The frog
then took the lungs of one of the deer and put it out to freeze. The
cold turned the lungs white as tallow. The frog shouted for his brother
rabbit to come quickly. When the rabbit came bounding near he saw the
eyes of the deer's head staring at him in a queer manner; he was so much
alarmed that he exclaimed to the frog, "Brother, he sees me." The frog
smiled and said, "I have killed him; he is dead; come on; I have a nice
piece of fat saved for you." (It was the frozen lungs of the deer.) So
he gave the rabbit a large piece and told him to eat it all and quickly,
as it was better when frozen and fresh from the deer's back. The rabbit
greedily swallowed large portions and did not observe the deception.
After a time they built a lodge or tent for the night. Some few hours
after the tent was made the frozen deer lungs which the rabbit had eaten
began to thaw and it made the rabbit so violently ill that he vomited
continually the entire night. The frog had served him this trick as a
punishment for having eaten all of the beaver meat two days before.
_The wolverene and the rock._--A wolverene was out walking on the
hillside and came upon a large rock. The animal inquired of the rock,
"Was that you who was walking just now?" The rock replied, "No, I can
not move; hence I can not walk." The wolverene retorted that he had seen
it walking. The rock quickly informed the wolverene that he uttered a
falsehood. The wolverene remarked, "You need not speak in that manner
for I have seen you walking." The wolverene ran off a little distance
and taunted the rock, challenging it to catch him. The wolverene then
approached the rock and having struck it with his paw, said, "See if you
can catch me." The rock answered, "I can not run but I can roll." The
wolverene began to laugh and said, "That is what I want." The wolverene
ran away and the rock rolled after him, keeping just at his heels.
The animal finally began to tire and commenced to jump over sticks and
stones until at last the rock was touching his heels. At last the
wolverene tripped over a stick and fell. The rock rolled over on him and
ceased to move when it came upon the hind parts of the wolverene. The
animal screamed, "Get off, go away, you are hurting me; you are breaking
my bones." The rock remained motionless and replied, "You tormented me
and had me run after you, so now I shall not stir until some one takes
me off."
The wolverene replied, "I have many brothers and I shall call them." He
called to the wolves and the foxes to come and remove the rock. These
animals soon came up to where the rock was lying on the wolverene and
they asked him, "How came you to get under the rock?" The wolverene
replied, "I challenged the rock to catch me and it rolled on me." The
wolves and foxes then told him that it served him right to be under the
rock. They endeavored, after a time, to displace the rock but could not
move it in the least. The wolverene then said, "Well, if you cannot get
me out I shall call my other brother, the lightning and thunder." So he
began to call for the lightning to come to his aid. In a few moments a
huge dark cloud came rushing from the southwest, and as it hurried up it
made so much noise that it frightened the wolves and foxes, but they
asked the lightning to take off the coat of the wolverene but not to
harm, his flesh. They then ran away. The lightning darted back to gather
force and struck the rock, knocking it into small pieces and also
completely stripped the skin from the back of the wolverene, tearing the
skin into small pieces. The wolverene stood naked, but soon began to
pick up the pieces of his coat and told the lightning, "You need not
have torn my coat when you had only the rock to strike."
The wolverene gathered up his pieces of coat and said he would go to his
sister, the frog, to have her sew them together. He repaired to the
swamp where his sister dwelt and asked her to sew them. She did so. The
wolverene took it up and told her she had not put it together properly
and struck her on the head and knocked her flying into the water. He
took up the coat and went to his younger sister, the mouse. He directed
her to sew his coat as it should be done. The mouse began to sew the
pieces together and when it was done the wolverene carefully examined
every seam and said, "You have sewed it very well; you will live in the
tall green grass in the summer and in grass houses in the winter." The
wolverene put on his coat and went away.
_Creation of people by the wolverene and the muskrat._--As a wolverene
was wandering along the bank of a river he saw a muskrat swimming in the
edge of the water. He accosted the latter animal with the inquiry,
"Who are you? Are you a man or a woman?" The muskrat answered, "I am a
woman." The wolverene informed her that he would take her for a wife.
The muskrat replied, "I live in the water; how can I be your wife?" The
wolverene told her that she could live on the land as well as in the
water. The muskrat went up on the bank to where the wolverene was
standing. They selected a place and she began to prepare a home for
them. They ate their suppers and retired. Soon after a child was born.
The wolverene informed his wife that it would be a white man and father
of all the white people. When this child was born it made a natural
exit. In due time a second child was born which the wolverene decreed
should be an Indian and the father of their kind. This child was born
from its mother's mouth. After a time a third child was born, and the
wolverene announced it to be an Eskimo and father of its kind. This
child was born _ab ano_. In the natural course of events a fourth child
was born, and the wolverene decided it to be an Iroquois and father of
its kind. This child was born from its mother's nose. After a time a
fifth child was born and the wolverene decreed it should be a Negro and
father of its kind. This child was born from its mother's ears. These
children remained with their parents until they grew up. Their mother
then called them together and announced to them that they must separate.
She sent them to different places of the land, and, in parting, directed
them to go to the white men whenever they were in need of anything,
as the whites would have everything ready for them.
_Origin of the whitish spot on the throat of the marten._--A man had a
wife whom a marten fell in love with and endeavored to possess. Whenever
the man would go away from his home the marten would enter, sit by the
woman's side, and endeavor to entice her to leave her husband and go to
live with him. One day the man returned unexpectedly and caught the
marten sitting by the side of his wife. The marten ran out. The man
inquired of his wife what the marten wanted there. The woman replied
that the marten was striving to induce her to desert him and become his
own wife.
The next time the man went off he told his wife to fill a kettle with
water and put it on the fire to boil. The man went outside and secreted
himself near the house. He soon saw the marten go into the house.
The man stole quietly to the door of the house and listened to the
marten, which was talking to his wife. The man sprang into the house and
said: "Marten, what are you doing here, what are you trying to do?" The
man seized the kettle of hot water and dashed it on the breast of the
animal. The marten began to scratch his burning bosom and ran out into
the woods; and because he was so severely hurt he now keeps in the
densest forests, away from the sight of man.
_The Indian and his beaver wife._--One day an Indian was hunting along
the bank of a stream and in the distance saw a beaver's house. In a
moment he perceived a beaver swimming toward him. He drew up and was on
the point of shooting it when the animal exclaimed, "Do not shoot,
I have something to say to you." The Indian inquired, "What is it you
have to say?" The beaver asked him, "Would you have me for a wife?"
The Indian replied, "I can not live in the water with you." The beaver
answered, "You will not know you are living in the water, if you will
follow me." The Indian further remarked that he could not live on
willows and other woods like a beaver. The beaver assured him that when
eating them he would not think them to be willows. She added, "I have a
nice house to live in." The man replied, "My brother will be looking for
me if I come in and he will not know where I am." The beaver directed
the man to take off his clothing and leave them on the bank and to
follow her. The Indian did as he was instructed. As he was wading
through the water he did not feel the water touching him; so they
presently began to swim and soon reached the home of the beaver. The
beaver told him as she pointed ahead, "There is my home, and you will
find it as good and comfortable as your own tent." They both entered and
she soon set before him some food which he did not recognize as willow
bark. After they had slept two nights his brother became alarmed and
went to search for him, and soon found his track. In following it up his
brother came to where he had left his clothing on the bank of the
stream.
The brother was distressed at finding such things, so went sorrowfully
back to the tent thinking that his brother had been drowned, and so told
the other Indians when he arrived. With a heavy heart he went to bed and
in the morning he awakened and told his wife that he had dreamed his
brother was living with a beaver. He told his wife to make some new
clothing for the lost brother as he would go and seek the haunts of the
beavers to discover his brother. The man occupied himself in making a
pair of snowshoes, while the wife prepared the clothing. The next day
she had the clothing done and he directed her to make them into a small
bundle as he would start on the search early the next morning. Other
young men desired to accompany him on the search, but were advised to
remain at home as their presence would prevent him from reaching the
beaver's retreat. Early in the morning he started off, taking the
clothes and snowshoes with him. After some time he found the place where
the beaver had her house and in which he suspected his brother to be
living. He went to work to make a dam across the stream so as to
decrease the depth of water around the beaver's house. The wife had
borne two children to the husband by this time, and when the father had
seen the water going from their house he told the children: "Your uncle
is coming and he is certain to kill you." The water had soon gone down
sufficiently to enable the man to cross the stream to where the house
was situated.
On arriving there he began pounding at the mud walls. The father told
the children to go out or else the house would fall on them. The man
outside quickly killed the two young ones. The wife knew she would soon
be killed also, and after they had heard the deathblows given to their
children she said to her husband, "If you are sorry that I am killed and
ever want to see me again, keep the right hand and arm of my body; take
off the skin and keep it about you." In a few minutes the brother had
begun again to tear out the sides of the lodge. The husband told her to
go out, and that his love for her would make him keep her right hand.
She then went out and was quickly killed with a stick. When this was
done and the husband had heard it all he was very sorry for his wife.
Again the man began to destroy the rest of the house and soon had a
large hole in the wall of one side. The husband then said to him, "What
are you doing? You are making me very cold." The brother replied,
"I have brought some warm clothing for you and you will not feel cold."
"Throw them in," said the husband, "for I am freezing." He put on the
clothes, and while he was doing it the brother noticed the hairs which
had grown on the other's back, but said nothing about it. The husband
then sat in his house until the other was near freezing to death. The
brother then said to him, "Come with me; you can not stay here." The
husband demanded, as a condition of returning, that the brother should
never say anything to him to make him angry if he went back. The brother
promised him not to do so. They then started to return, the brother
taking the bodies of the children and mother on his back, the husband
walking ahead. They soon arrived at the home of their people. The
brother threw down the beavers and directed his wife to skin them. The
husband of the beaver asked for the right hand and arm of the beaver who
had been his wife. It was given to him. He got one of the other women to
skin it, and told her to dry the skin and return it to him. Three nights
after their return to their people a great many beavers were killed and
a large kettle full of flesh was boiled for food. The people pressed the
runaway brother to eat of the flesh of the beavers. He informed them
that if it was the flesh of a female beaver he would not eat it. They
told him that the flesh of the male beavers was all finished long ago.
They forced him to eat a large piece of meat, and when he had swallowed
it they gave him more of it. The second piece was no sooner down his
throat than a large river gushed from his side. The Indian jumped into
the river, while the rest ran away in terror and, as these latter looked
down the river, they saw the man swimming by the side of his wife who
had been a beaver.
_The venturesome hare._--A hare, which had lost his parents, lived with
his grandmother. One day, feeling very hungry, for they were extremely
poor, he asked his grandmother if he could set a net to catch fish. The
old woman laughed at the idea of a hare catching fish, but to humor him,
she consented, for she was indulgent to him because he was her only
charge and looked forward to the time when he should be able to support
her by his own exertions, and not to rely on the scanty supplies which
she was able to obtain. These were very meager, as she was infirm, and
dreaded exposure. She then told him to go and set the net, but added
that she had no fire to cook them with, even if he should catch any. The
hare promised to procure fire if he caught the fish. He went to set the
net in a lake where he knew fish to be plentiful. The next morning he
went to the net and found it to be so full of fish that he was unable to
take it up. He lifted one end and saw there was a fish in every mesh of
the net. He shook out some of the fish and then drew out the net. Part
of the fish were buried, and a large load taken home. He put the fish
down outside of the tent, and went in. He told the old woman to clean
the fish and that he would go across the river to the Indians' tent and
get the fire with which to cook them. The old woman was speechless at
such proposed rashness, but as he had been able to catch so many fish
she refrained remarking on his contemplated project of obtaining fire in
the face of such danger. While the old woman was cleaning the fish he
went back after the net which he had put out to dry on the shore of the
lake.
He folded it up, placed it under his arm, and ran to the edge of the
river which was far too wide to jump over. He used his cunning and
assembled a number of whales. These animals came puffing up the stream
in obedience to his command. He ordered them to arrange themselves side
by side across the stream so that he could walk across on their backs.
He most dreaded the Indians, but jumped into the water to wet his fur.
This being done he sprang from one whale to another until he was safe on
the opposite shore. He then laid down in the sand and bade the whales to
disperse. Some Indian children soon came playing along the sandy bank
and saw the hare lying there. One of the children picked up the hare and
started home with it. When the boy arrived and told how he had obtained
the hare he was directed to put it in the iron tent (kettle) where there
was a bright fire crackling.
The child put down the hare, upon which an old man told the boy to kill
the hare. The hare was terribly frightened, but opened a part of one eye
to ascertain whether there was any place of exit beside the door. In the
top of the tent he observed a large round hole. He then said to himself:
"I wish a spark of fire would fall on my net." Instantly the brands
rolled and a great spark fell on the net and began to burn it. The hare
was afraid of the fire, so he sprang out of the hole in the apex of the
tent. The Indians saw they had been outwitted by a hare, and began to
shout and pursue the animal, which attained such speed that when he came
to the bank of the river he had not time to recall the whales. He gave
an extraordinary leap and cleared the entire expanse of the water. He
examined the net and found the fire smouldering. On arrival at his own
home he said to his grandmother: "Did I not tell you I would get the
fire?" The old woman ventured to inquire how he had crossed the river.
He coolly informed her that he had jumped across.
_The spirit guiding a child left by its parents._--An Indian and his
wife had but one child, which was so infested with vermin that when the
parents contemplated going to the tents of some distant friends the
father advised the mother to leave the child behind. The next morning
after the mother had taken down the tent the little boy asked her
"Mother, are you not going to put on my moccasins?" the mother replied,
"I shall put them on after I have put on my snow-shoes." The little boy
said, "Surely you are not going to leave me!" She said, "No;" but took
hold of her sled and started off. The little boy cried out, "Mother, you
are leaving me," and endeavored to overtake her in his bare feet;
but the mother soon was out of sight. The little boy began to cry and
retraced his steps to the tent place. There he cried until the spirit of
a dead man came to him and asked, "Where is your mother?" The boy
replied, "She has gone away and left me." "Why did she leave you?" asked
the old man. "Because I was so covered with lice," replied the boy. The
spirit said it would remove all of the lice but three. So it began to
pick them off. After this was done the spirit asked, "Where did your
mother go?" The boy pointed out her track. The spirit then said to the
boy, "Would you like to go to your mother?" The boy answered, "Yes." The
spirit put the boy on his back and started in the path made by the sled
of his mother. After a while they came to a tree and in looking at it
the boy saw a porcupine sitting among the branches. The boy greatly
desired to have the animal. So he said, "Grandfather, I wish you would
kill the porcupine." The old man answered, "It will make too much smoke
for me to kill it." After a time they came across a hare which the boy
again desired to have. To this the man assented. So he put the boy down
in the snow and soon caught the hare and killed it. It was now becoming
dark, so they made their camping place for the night. The spirit gave
the boy the hare and told him to cook it. After the meat was cooked the
boy asked the old man what parts of the animal he preferred. The old man
said "Give me the lungs and kidneys." The boy gave him those parts and
consumed the remainder himself. They laid down to sleep and in the
morning they again started on the sled track. About noon they came to
the tents of the Indians, and among them was the tent of the father and
mother of the little boy. The spirit placed the boy down on the outside
near the door of the mother's tent and told him to go in. The boy
entered and saw his father and mother sitting near the fire. The mother
in astonishment said, "Husband, is this not our little boy whom we
deserted at our late camp?" The husband asked the boy, "Who brought you
here?" The little boy answered, "My grandfather." The mother inquired,
"Who is your grandfather?" The father asked, "Where is he now?" The boy
replied, "He is sitting outside." The father asked his wife to look
outside and see if any one was there. The woman did so and informed him
that "I see someone sitting there, but I do not know who it is." The
spirit replied, "You should call me somebody when you are _no one_ to
leave your child to perish." The husband directed his wife to invite the
old man into the tent.
The spirit declined to enter. The father then asked the son to tell him
to come in. The boy went out and conducted the old man within the tent.
The latter seated himself across the fire (this is intended to mean
opposite the door but on the other side of the fire). They slept in the
tent that night, and when the little boy awakened he found all the
people preparing to snare deer. The people asked the little boy to
accompany them. He did so, and when he was ready to start he asked the
old man what part of the deer he should bring home for him. The old man
replied that he would enjoy the lungs better than any other part. The
boy promised to bring a quantity for him on his return in the evening.
Toward evening the boy returned loaded with choice bits for the old man
who had conducted him to his father and mother. While outside of the
tent he called to the old man, saying that he had brought home some food
for him. Hearing no reply he entered the tent, and not seeing the man he
inquired of his mother where the person was. The mother announced that
he had departed, but did not know where he had gone. It was late,
but the boy resolved to rise early and follow his track. He was up at
daybreak, and finding the track followed it until he observed the spirit
crossing a large lake which was frozen over. The boy cried out to the
old man to wait for him. The spirit awaited his approach. The boy said
to him, "Why did you go away when I had promised you some choice food?"
The spirit replied that it could not dwell among living people, as it
was only a spirit and that it was returning to its abode. The old man
advised the boy to return to his people. The boy did so, but the next
morning the desire to see the good old man seized the boy, and again he
started to find him. The other people then tied the boy to a tree and he
soon forgot his benefactor.
_Fate of two Indian men._--Two Indian men who had gone off for the fall
and winter's hunt were living by themselves. They were very unsuccessful
in procuring furs and food, so that when the depths of winter had
approached and the cold was intense they resolved to seek the camp of
their friends. They were provided with nothing but bows and arrows.
The next morning they started off and tramped all day without seeing a
living thing. They made their camp and lamented they had no food. They
finally prepared to sleep, when one of them remarked to the other,
"To-night I shall dream of porcupines." They slept, and in the morning
the one related that he had seen a lot of porcupines around the tent
while he was dreaming. They determined to proceed, but the one finally
thought if they would stop there for the day and succeeding night they
would have all the porcupine meat they would want. They remained there
that day, and in the middle of the night they were aroused by a noise
which proved to be porcupines gnawing the bark from the tent poles. The
one man said, "Slip out and kill some with a stick;" but added, "Go out
in your bare feet." He went out barefooted and killed two or three, and
dashed back into the tent with his feet nearly frozen. He stuck his feet
into the hot ashes and told the other man to bring in the animals. The
other man did so, and began to prepare the flesh for cooking. They ate
one of the porcupines, and by daylight were ready to begin their
journey. They went idly along, shooting their arrows in sport at
anything they could see. They continued this amusement until near
sunset, when one exclaimed, "My arrow has struck something; see, it is
moving;" The other replied, "What can it be, when it is sticking only in
the snow?" The other said he would try and find out what it was. He
cautiously examined, and found when he began to dig it out that the
arrow had entered the den of a bear. So they scratched away the snow and
soon saw a long, black hair sticking out of the hole. He jumped back and
exclaimed, "It is some sort of animal with black hair." The other
replied, "Let us try and get it out. It may be good to eat." They
finally drove the bear out and soon killed it. They began to skin it,
which was soon done. One of the men then said, "It is too big and ugly
to eat; let us leave it." The other, however, cut off a large piece of
fat and put it on the sled. They then prepared their camp, and when
morning came they started off and traveled all day. When night came they
made their camp and soon had a huge fire burning. One of the men hung
the piece of fat over the fire and the oil soon dripped into the fire.
It created such a nice smell that one of them said, "Let us taste the
fat; it may be good to eat." They tasted it and found it so good that
they rated each other soundly for being so foolish as to leave such nice
flesh so far behind them. They resolved to return for it. So they
returned for the carcass of the bear, which was far behind them, and as
it had tasted so good they determined to lose no time in starting. They
went immediately, although it was now dark and very cold. They came to
the place where it had been left and discovered that the wolves and
foxes had eaten all the meat, leaving nothing but the bones. They were
very angry, and began to lay the blame each on the other for having left
it. They regretted they had left such meat for wolves and foxes. They
determined to proceed to where they had camped the third time. On the
way they became very thirsty, and, stopping at a creek to drink, they
drank so long that their lips froze to the ice of the water hole,
and they miserably perished by freezing.
_The starving wolverene._--On the approach of winter a wolverene, which
had been so idle during the summer that he had failed to store up a
supply of provisions for himself, his wife, and children, began to feel
the pangs of hunger. The cold days and snowstorms were now at hand. The
father one day told his wife that he would go and try to discover the
place where his brothers, the wolves, were passing the winter and from
them he would endeavor to procure some food. The wife desired him not to
remain away long, else the children would starve to death. He assured
her that he would be gone no longer than four days, and made
preparations to start early on the succeeding morning. In the morning he
started and continued his journey until near night-fall, when he came to
the bank of a river. On looking at the ice which covered its surface he
descried a pack of wolves ascending the river at a rapid rate. Behind
these were four others, which were running at a leisurely gait. He soon
overtook the latter group, and was perceived by one of these old wolves,
which remarked to the others, "There is our brother, the wolverene,
coming." The animal soon joined the wolves and told them that he was
starving, and asked for food. The wolves replied that they had none, but
that the wolves in advance were on the track of some deer and would soon
have some. The wolverene inquired where they would camp for the night.
They told him to continue with them on the track of the others until
they came to a mark on the river bank. The wolves, accompanied by the
wolverene, continued their way until one of the old wolves called
attention to the sign on the bank and proposed they should go up to it
and await the return of the others. They went up and began to gather
green twigs to make a clean floor in the bottom of the tent. This was no
sooner done than the young wolves (the hunters) returned and began to
put up the tent poles. The old wolves said they themselves would soon
have the tent covering in place. The wolverene was astonished at what he
saw and wondered whence they would procure the tenting and fire. The old
wolves laughed as they observed his curiosity, and one of them remarked,
"Our brother wonders where you will get the tent cover from." The
wolverene replied, "I did not say that; I only said my brothers will
soon have up a nice and comfortable tent for me." The wolves then sent
him off to collect some dry brush with which to make a fire. When he
returned the tent was already on the poles. He stood outside holding the
brush in his arms. One of the wolves told him to bring the wood inside
the tent. He entered and gave the brush to one of the young wolves (the
leader of the hunters). The leader placed the brush in position to
create a good fire, and while that was being done the wolverene wondered
how they would start the fire. One of the old wolves remarked, "Our
brother wonders where and how you will get the fire." He made no reply,
as one of the young wolves (the leader) took up a kettle and went
outside to get some snow to melt for water, and returned with it full of
snow. He set the kettle down and sprang quickly over the pile of brush
and it started into a blaze in an instant. It was now an opportunity for
the wolverene to wonder whence should come the supply of meat to boil.
One of the old wolves said, "Our brother wonders where you will get some
meat to cook for supper." One of the young wolves went out and brought
in a brisket of deer's meat. As soon as the wolverene saw the meat he
asserted that he did not wonder about the source of the supply of meat,
but that he only wished there was some meat ready for cooking. The meat
was cut up and placed in the kettle and when it was ready it was served
out. The choicest portions were selected for the wolverene and placed
before him with the injunction to eat all of it. He endeavored to
consume it, but the quantity was too great even for him. He, having
finished his meal, was about to place the remainder on one of the poles
when a wolf, observing his action, told him not to place it there or
else the meat would change into bark. He then laid it down on a piece of
clean brushwood and when he suspected the eyes of the wolves were not
turned toward him he stealthily inserted the portion of meat between the
tenting and the pole. The wolves saw his action and in a few minutes the
wolverene became very sleepy and soon retired. One of the wolves
carefully displaced the meat from the pole, where the wolverene had put
it, and thrust in its stead a piece of bark. In the morning when the
wolverene awakened his first thought was of the remnant of food. He
reached up for it and found nothing but the piece of bark. The wolves
were on the alert and one of them said, "Did I not tell you it would
change into bark if you put the meat in that place?" The wolverene hung
his head and answered, "Yes," and again laid down to sleep. By the time
he awakened the wolves had a second kettle of meat cooked. They desired
the wolverene to arise and eat his breakfast. The leader told him to
hasten with his meal, as he had discovered some fresh deer tracks. The
wolverene thought he would watch how they broke camp and see where they
put the tentings. He went off a few steps and while his back was turned
the tent disappeared and he failed to discover where it was secreted.
The animals then started off, the young ones taking the lead while the
four old ones and the wolverene followed leisurely behind. After they
had crossed the river the wolverene began to wonder where they would
halt for the night. One of the old wolves told him they must follow the
track of the leader and they would come to the sign made for the site of
the camp. They continued for the entire day, but just before sundown
they came across the bones of a freshly killed deer from which every
vestige of meat had been removed, apparently eaten by wolves; so the
wolverene thought he would stand a poor chance of getting a supper if
that was the way they were going to act. The party continued on the
track and soon came upon the mark for the tent site. The wolverene was
glad to rest, but sat down and began to look ahead in the distance for
the returning hunters. After a few minutes he looked around and saw the
tent standing there. The wolves then sent the wolverene for dry brush,
while they gathered green branches for the tent floor. He brought so
small a quantity that it would not suffice. The young wolves returned at
the same time and they directed him to again procure some brush. When he
returned he found they had stripped all the fat off of the deer meat,
although, he had not seen them bring any when they returned, and placed
it around the inside edges of the tent. The brush was put down and again
the leader jumped over it and a bright, crackling fire started up.
The wolves then said to themselves in a low tone of voice: "Let us go
outside and see what our brother will do when he is left alone with the
fat." They went outside and immediately the wolverene selected the
nicest and largest piece of fat and began to swallow it. The wolves at
the same moment inquired of him: "Brother, are there any holes in the
tent cover?" His mouth was so full, in his haste to swallow the fat,
that it nearly choked him. They repeated their inquiry and the wolverene
gasped out the answer, "yes." The wolves then said: "Let us go inside."
The wolverene sprang away from the fat and sat down by the fire. They
put on a large kettle of meat and soon had their supper ready. They gave
the wolverene all the fattest portions they could find. Having eaten so
much of the frozen fat he became so violently ill, when the hot food
melted the cold fat in his stomach, that he vomited a long time, and was
so weak that he became chilly and shivered so much that he could not
sleep. He asked for a blanket, but one of the wolves placed his own
bushy tail on the body of the wolverene to keep him warm. The wolverene
shook it off and exclaimed: "I do not want your foul-smelling tail for a
blanket." So the wolf gave him a nice and soft skin blanket to sleep
under. When he awakened he announced his intention to return to his
family, as they would soon be dead from hunger. One of the old wolves
directed the younger ones to make up a sledload of meat for the
wolverene to take home with him. The wolf did so, but made the load so
large and long that the wolverene could not see the rear end of the
sled. When it was ready they told him of it, and, as he was about to
start, he requested they would give him some fire, as he could not make
any without. The leader asked how many nights he would be on the journey
homeward. He answered, three nights. The wolf told him to lie down in
the snow. He did so and the wolf jumped over his body three times, but
strictly enjoined upon him not to look back at the sled as he was going
along. The wolverene promised he would comply with his instructions.
After the animal had started and got some little distance from the camp
of the wolves he thought of the peculiarly strange things he had
witnessed while among those animals; and, to test himself, he concluded
to try the method of making a fire. He stopped, gathered a quantity of
dry brush and placed it as he had seen the wolves arrange it. He then
sprang over it and a huge blaze gave evidence of the power within him.
He was so astonished that he resolved to camp there. He melted some snow
and drank the water and retired to rest, without having looked at the
sled. The next morning he started early and made his camp before sunset,
as he was very tired. He gathered some brush and made the fire by
jumping over the pile of fuel. His supper was only some melted snow
which he drank and retired. In the morning he started to continue his
journey homeward and still had not seen the sled which he was dragging.
As he was ready to start he was so confident of his ability to create
fire that he threw away his flint and steel. He traveled all day until
toward sunset he was so fatigued that he concluded to make his camp for
the night. He was so elated with his newly acquired faculty of making
fire that he eagerly gathered a great quantity of dried twigs and
branches, until a large heap was before him. He jumped over it, and
turned round to see the flames creep up and watch the sparks fly. There
was not a sign of a blaze or a spark to meet his gaze. He again jumped
over it, and again, until he was so exhausted that he could not clear
the top of the pile, and at last he knocked the top of it over, as his
failing strength did not enable him to avoid it. The only thing left for
him to do was to return for his flint and steel, which he had so
exultingly thrown aside. The animal berated himself soundly for having
done such a silly trick. Not having seen the sled he was surprised to
find how quickly he regained the site of the camp of the previous night.
Having recovered his flint and steel he returned, and soon had a fire
started; but it was now near daylight. He resolved to start on his
journey as soon as he had some water melted for a drink. He began to
think how quickly he had made the trip for his flint and steel, and
concluded that the great length of the sled had been purposely made to
cause him unnecessary fatigue, as it could not be so very heavy, or else
that he must be extraordinarily strong. He determined to examine it,
and did so. He could not see the farther end of the load. He flattered
himself that he was so very strong, and concluded to continue his
journey. He attempted to start the sled, and found he could not move it
in the least. He upbraided himself for permitting his curiosity to get
the better of his sense. He removed a portion of dry meat and a bundle
of fat, and made them into a load to carry on his back. He placed the
remainder on a stage, and was about ready to start homeward to his wife
and children, whom he believed must be by this time nearly dead from
starvation.
He put the pack of meat on his back and set out. That evening he arrived
at his home, and as soon as his wife heard him her heart was glad. He
entered and informed the family that he had brought home a quantity of
meat and fat, and had procured so much as to be unable to carry it all
at once. His wife begged him to fetch her a piece of meat, as she was
nearly starved. He went out and brought in a large piece of fat. The
wife devoured such a quantity of it that she became very ill, and
suffered all through the night. In the morning the wolverene stated he
would return for the meat which he had stored away the previous day.
He started in the early morning, so as to return by daylight.
As soon as the wolverene looked upon the sled loaded with meat the spell
was broken. One of the old wolves ordered the young wolves to go and
destroy the meat and fat which the wolverene had left on the stage. They
eagerly set out on the track of the sled, and soon saw the staging where
the wolverene had stored the remainder of the food. When they came up to
it they fell to and devoured all but a few scraps of it. The wolves then
went away, and in a few hours the wolverene returned. He saw what had
happened and exclaimed: "My brothers have ruined me! My brothers have
ruined me!" He knew it had been done because he had looked back at the
sled, although strictly enjoined upon not to do so under any
circumstance. He gathered up the fragments which the wolves had left and
returned home. When he arrived there he informed his wife that his
brothers had ruined him, because they had eaten all the meat which he
had stored away while out hunting.
_The starving Indians._--A band of Indians, who had neglected to store
away a supply of food for a time of scarcity, were upon the point of
starvation. An old man who lived at a little distance from the camping
place of the band, had wisdom to lay by a good store of dry meat and a
number of cakes of fat, so that he had an abundance while the other
improvident people were nearly famished. They applied to him, begging
for food, but they were refused the least morsel. One day, however, an
old man came to him asking for food for his children. The man gave him a
small piece of meat. When the man's children ate this food they began to
cry for more. The mother told her little boy to stop crying. He
persisted in his clamor until his mother asked him: "Why do you not
go to the old U´ sets kwa n[)e] po?" (the name means One whose neck
wrinkles into folds when he sits down). This old man heard the mother
tell her child to go to him, and muttered to himself, "That is just what
I want."
The little boy went to the old man's tent door, and lifting aside the
flap, said: "I want to come in." He went in and the old man addressed
the boy by his own name, saying: "What do you want, U´ sets kwa n[)e]
po?" in such a kindly voice that the boy felt assured. The boy said:
"I am very hungry and want some food." The old man inquired in an
astonished voice: "Hungry? and your meat falling down from the stage?"
The old man bade the boy sit down, while he went out to the stage and
selected some choice portions and brought them into the tent and gave
them to the boy. The old man then asked the boy if he had a sister. The
boy said that he had a father, mother, and one sister. After the boy had
finished eating, the old man directed the boy to come with him and see
the meat stages. They went out and the old man said: "Now, go home and
tell your father that all of this food will belong to you if he will
give me his daughter." The little boy went home and repeated what the
old man had said. The father signified his willingness to give his
daughter in marriage to the old man. The boy returned to the old man and
stated that his father was willing to give away his daughter. The old
man immediately went out, took some meat and fat from the stage, and
then cooked three large kettles of food. When this was done he selected
a suit of clothing for a man and two suits for women. He placed the
nicer one of the latter near his own seat, and the other two suits
directly on the opposite side of the fireplace (the place of honor in
the tent). He then told the little boy to call all the Indians, adding:
"There is your father's coat, your mother's dress, and your sister's
dress. Tell your parents to sit where they see the clothing," pointing
to the clothes intended for them, and the sister to sit near the old
man, pointing to his own place. The boy ran out and apprised the people,
together with his own relations. The boy returned to the old man's tent
before the guests arrived. The boy's father came first, and the boy
said: "Father, there is your coat." The mother then entered, and the boy
said: "Mother, there is your dress." The sister then entered, and the
boy pointed to the dress, saying: "Sister, there is your dress." All the
other Indians then came in and seated themselves. They took two kettles
of meat and broke the fat into pieces and feasted until all was
consumed. The old man helped his wife, her father, mother, and brother
to the contents of the other kettle. When all the food was finished the
old man said to the boy, "U´ s[-e]ts kwa n[)e] po, go and set your deer
snares." The old man went with him to find a suitable place. They could
find only the tracks of deer made several days previously. They,
however, set thirty snares and returned home. The next morning they all
went to the snares and found a deer in each one. The people began to
skin the deer and soon had a lot of meat ready for cooking. They began
to feast, and continued until all was done. By this time a season of
abundance had arrived.