There was, among the Knisteneaux, in the days that are past, a very
wise chief, who was also the greatest medicine-man that ever dwelt in
the nation. He knew all the herbs, and plants, and roots, and barks,
which were good for the curing of diseases: and, better still, the
words, and charms, and prayers, and ceremonies, without which they
were not effective. He could call down rain from the clouds, and
foretell the approach of storms, and hail, and tempests, beyond any
man that ever lived in the nation. Had not his worship of the Ki-jai
Manitou, or Great Spirit, been sincere, frequent, and fervent, these
things had not been; he would have found his prayers unheard, or
unheeded, or unanswered--he would have seen his skill baffled, and his
charms and medicines impotent and ineffective. But he was beloved by
the Great Spirit, and thence came his wisdom, and power, and strength,
and success; and thence, my brother knows--for he is himself a wise
priest and a cunning man--come the wisdom, and strength, and power,
and success, of all men, whether white like him, or red like myself.
But, if this good and prudent priest of the Knisteneaux was beloved by
the Great Spirit, he was equally hated by the Matchi Manitou, or
Spirit of Evil. This bad being, who is the opposite to him that sends
good gifts to the Knisteneaux, delights in mischief, and is best
pleased when he has wrought injury or distress to mankind, and brought
upon them ruin and dismay, hunger, nakedness, want, sickness, pain,
disgrace, seeing how much Makusue, for that was the name of the
priest, interfered with his schemes of testifying his hatred to men,
was always making him feel the weight of his vengeance, and thwarting
his plans for the benefit of the nation by every means in his power.
If Makusue went to gather _Moscharnewatchar_[A], he was sure to find
the Evil Spirit perched near, trying to frighten him away; if he went
to dig the _Ehawshoga_[B], his enemy had certainly caused the earth to
freeze, that he might be defeated of his object. If Makusue wished to
cross the lake, the wind was sure to blow violently the moment he
entered his canoe, and rain to drench him before he left it. If he
sought an opportunity to surprise the Coppermines, the Evil Spirit
flew with the speed of a loon before a high wind to apprise them of
his intentions. Equally great was the hatred of Makusue for the Evil
Spirit. If he found any one disposed to worship him, he was
indefatigable in his endeavours to detach him from him. He never
failed to make sport and derision of him when he was raging, nor to
shout and halloo after him when he saw him flying over, nor to set the
dogs upon him, when he was prowling about the village at midnight. So
there was a bitter warfare kindled between the Matchi Manitou and the
good priest, and each did the other all the harm he could. Both
grinned at each other whenever they met, like a couple of cross dogs
who have found a bone, or a woman at her husband who brings a younger
wife to supplant her in place and affection.
[Footnote A: Mos-char-ne-wat-char--"It causes heat and cold"--Indian
balsam, said to be one of the most valuable articles belonging to the
Indian class of remedies. They give an infusion of it in colds,
coughs, asthmas, and consumptions.]
[Footnote B: Ehawshoga--"Bite the mouth"--Indian turnip, another of
their remedies.]
But, at length, the success of Makusue in drawing away worshippers
from his enemy became so great, that the latter feared the utter
dis-peopling of his Hunting-Grounds, or Land of Wicked Souls. To him
the greatest enjoyment was that of tormenting the spirits of men, and
this enjoyment, if Makusue continued his course of success, he was
likely to be deprived of. So he went to the Great Spirit and spoke to
him thus:--
"When _we_ made man, did we not agree that I should take the souls of
the wicked, and thou those of the good?"
"We agreed that thou shouldst take the souls of the wicked, and I the
souls of the good," answered the Great Spirit. "And wilt thou say that
the agreement has not been kept?"
"Thou hast not broken it, nor have I, and yet it is broken."
"In what way, and by whom then, is it broken?"
"By Makusue, the priest and chief of the Knisteneaux."
"What has Makusue done?"
"Baffled and thwarted me in every pursuit: if one proposes to offer me
sacrifice, along comes Makusue and extinguishes the fire. There is
death written on the face of another, but Makusue speaks powerful
words over the _mastinjay_[A], the patient drinks it, gets well, and I
am the loser. Thus I am deprived of the pleasing occupation of
tormenting the wicked. There is nobody dies now that belongs to me."
[Footnote A: Dittany, used by the Indians as a remedy for various
diseases.]
"What wouldst thou have me do?" demanded the Great Spirit. "Makusue is
a good servant, and a very honest priest. I cannot allow him to be
harmed. But that thou mayst not altogether want business, I will allow
thee to torment, for three suns and three sleeps, the souls of all the
Knisteneaux that belong to me--the souls of the wicked remain thine.
But thou shalt kindle the flames to burn them in the low and marshy
grounds only."
"It is well," answered the Evil Spirit. "I will see that the fire
shall be kindled in the low and marshy grounds only."
So the Evil Spirit, much pleased with his bargain, returned to the
land of the Knisteneaux to watch for the souls of their dead, and the
Great Spirit winged his way back to the Mountain of Thunder.
When it was told Makusue of the agreement which the Great Spirit had
made with the Spirit of Evil, grief for his people filled the heart of
the good priest. At nightfall he repaired to the hill, with olay upon
his hair, and addressed his master thus:
"I have served thee long, and thou didst say faithfully, yet thou hast
given the souls of my people that I have brought to thee into the
hands of the Evil Spirit, to be tormented for three suns and three
sleeps."
"I know that I have done this," answered the Master. "Is it not well!"
"Thou canst not do otherwise than well," answered the priest; "and yet
why should those be punished, even for so short a period, whom thou
hast deemed worthy to live in the Happy Hunting-Grounds for ever
after?"
"What thou sayest has reason with it, Makusue," answered the Great
Spirit. "It was not well advised in me to grant so great a favour to
the Matchi Manitou. But it is said, and cannot be recalled."
"But it may be evaded," answered the cunning priest.
"How?" demanded the Master.
"Thou hast told the Evil Spirit that he may torment the souls of the
Knisteneaux for three suns and three sleeps, taking care to kindle the
fire in the low and marshy grounds only."
"I have."
"Let the souls of the dead, as thou hast said, repair to those spots,
but let them first take a form which it shall not be in the power of
the Evil Spirit to torture. Let them repair thither in the form of fog
or vapour."
"It is well," answered the Great Spirit. So he bade the spirit of each
Knisteneau, immediately on its leaving the body, to wear for three
suns and three sleeps the form of fog or mist. It was by this trick
of the wise Makusue's, that the souls of our people were reprieved
from the tortures which the Matchi Manitou was preparing for them. And
still does the same thing continue. When the breath of a Knisteneau
leaves the body, it repairs for the allotted period to the low marshy
grounds, where it becomes fog and vapour. If my brother will go to one
of those spots, upon either of the three days next following the death
of a Knisteneau, he will see that my words are not the words of a
mocking-bird, but of a man who knows that the anger of the Great
Spirit will be upon him, if he does not speak the truth.