Told by John York.
A good many years ago two families lived on an Island. One family had
one son, and the other one daughter. The two young people got married
and lived for a little while when the young wife took sick and died.
The old people buried her on the Island, but the young husband went out
after the burying, and the old people saw him lie down near the grave.
Just as soon as he closed his eyes he saw his wife going away. He
followed her for a long time but could not get near enough to catch
her, so he went on till night came. She said to him (her husband), “We
will camp here,” and she made her camp a little way ahead. He made his
camp behind hers. The next morning came and they started again. On
their way he saw a big house by the roadside, but before they reached
the house he heard somebody talk to him and who told him that “this was
the place where all the dogs live that you ever owned. The ones that
you have used badly, and they will pay you for what you have done to
them while living.” The man that spoke said to him, “I will help you.
You take these bags of shoes and when the dogs attack you throw the
shoes at them.” When the young husband got to the house the dogs
attacked him. He dropped the bags of shoes and the dogs attacked the
shoes and the young man passed out and saw his wife ahead of him the
same as usual. The night came again and they camped out once more. The
next day came and about noon they saw another house on the road ahead.
When they came to this house they saw some people who invited them to
eat, but they did not eat. This was the last house to be seen before
they got to the place where they were going. They went on till they saw
a great big house. The wife went in ahead and the man came in behind.
When he got in he saw nothing but a big room full of little beds, but
nobody was in the house. He went all over the house but could not find
his wife so he went out and looked around. He saw another house nearby
and went over to it. He rapped at the door and someone said, “Come in.”
He went in and saw an old man sitting down who said to him, “You have
come a long way to try and get your wife back. Once they get in that
big house you can’t see them any more, but, if you want help I can help
you a lot.” “I will be very much obliged if you will,” said the young
man. “Well,” the old man said, “There will be a big dance in the big
house to-night. They do that every time a new man or a new woman gets
here. I will hide you in my pocket and at the dance I will catch her.”
The night came. As soon as the sun went down people could be heard
running around all over (spirits or ghosts).
This old man was the man who sang at the dance so he started the dance
a little after dark. He who was sitting in the pocket was watching his
wife. He saw her coming and dancing too. When she got near the old man
caught her and got a very small box and put her in and went out. This
broke up the dance. The old man took the box to his house. There were
two little boxes, one for the wife, and another in which was an oil of
some kind. The old man said to the young husband, “It took you four
years to get here and you will get back in two days. Beware (listen)
and do what I say. When you get home, get two small stones and make
them hot, open the box of oil and let it melt on the stones. Cover
yourself and the boxes with blankets. You listen till you hear her
speak and then open the box. You will see her alive again.” The young
husband did all this when he got back home and his wife came to life
again. They came to where they started at first on the Island. There
was nobody living there this time so they sat down and after a little
while he said, “Do you see that point up there? Watch a little while
and you will see two canoes coming this way. There will be our parents
in them.” The canoes came out in the lake straight for the island and
when they came near they stopped. The old people said, “Someone’s at
the grave.” The two young people spoke, “Come on, we got back here
again alive.” The old people almost jumped out in the water when they
saw their children and heard them talking.
In olden times people used to believe in feeding the dead by burning
some bread and meat (food) over the grave, and this was what brought
the parents back to the island at this particular time.
Note.—(The old man in this story is Nanabush, who was also the man that
spoke about the dogs.)
This story is from John York, who claims it is a true story and
happened in the days gone by.