The following story was obtained from the lips of a Chippeway warrior
named _Maw-gun-nub_, or Setting-ahead. He told it with as serious an
air as if it had been a matter of actual and important history, and
was evidently a firm believer in the wonders therein contained.
An Indian village stood upon the borders of the Lake of the Woods. It
was a summer day, and a heavy rain storm had passed over the country,
when a large Giant or Cannibal suddenly made his appearance in the
village. He was as tall as the tallest hemlock, and carried a club in
his hand which was longer than the longest canoe. He told the Indians
that he had come from a far country in the North; that he was tired and
hungry; and that all the wild rice and the game in the village must be
immediately brought to his feet, that he might satisfy his appetite. His
orders were obeyed, and when the food was brought, and the inhabitants
of the village were collected together to see him enjoy his feast, the
Giant told them he was not yet satisfied; whereupon, with one blow of
his huge club, he destroyed, with one exception, all the people who had
treated him so kindly. The only person who escaped the dreadful blow was
a little boy, who happened to be sick in one of the wigwams.
After the Giant had committed his cruel deed, he devoured a number of
the dead bodies, and during the night disappeared without discovering
the boy. In a few days the boy was well enough to move about, and as he
went from one wigwam to another, he thought of his friends who had been
so suddenly killed, and was very unhappy. For many seasons did he live
alone. While very young his food consisted of such birds as the
partridge, but as he grew up to the estate of manhood, he became a
successful hunter, and often feasted upon the deer and the buffalo. He
became a strong man, but was very lonely, and every time he thought of
the Giant who had destroyed his relatives and friends he thirsted for
revenge.
Time passed on, and the Chippeway hunter became uneasy and discontented.
He fasted for many days, and called upon the Great Spirit to give him
power to discover and destroy the Giant who had done him so much harm.
The Great Spirit took pity upon him, heard his prayer, and sent to his
assistance a troop of a hundred men, from whose backs grew the most
beautiful of wings. They told the hunter that they knew all about the
Giant, and would help him to take his life. They said that the Giant was
very fond of the meat of the white bear, and that if the hunter would
give a bear feast they were certain that the Giant would make his
appearance and ask for a portion of the choice food. The time for giving
the feast was appointed, and it was to take place in a large natural
wigwam, formed by the locked branches of many trees; whereupon the
strange people disappeared and the hunter started towards the north
after a bear.
The hunter was successful; the appointed time arrived, the feast was
ready, and the strange people were on the ground. The dancing and the
singing were all over, and the hot bear soup filled the wigwam with a
pleasant odor. A heavy tramp was heard in the woods, and in a little
time the Giant made his appearance, attracted to the place by the smell
of the soup. He came rushing to the wigwam like one who knew not what it
was to fear; but when he saw the array of people with wings he became
very quiet, and asked the hunter if he might participate in the feast.
The hunter told him that he might, on condition that he would go to the
mouth of a certain stream that emptied into the lake, and bring
therefrom to the wigwam a large rock which he would find there. The
Giant was angry at this request, but as he was afraid of the people with
wings he dared not disobey. He did as he was bidden, and the thong which
he used to hold the rock on his back cut a deep gash in his forehead.
The hunter was not yet satisfied, and he told the Giant that before he
could be admitted to the feast he must bring to the wigwam a gill-net
that would reach across the widest stream. The Giant departed, and,
having obtained a beautiful net from a _mammoth spider_ that lived in a
cave, he brought it to the hunter. The hunter was well pleased, but not
yet fully satisfied. One more thing did he demand from the Giant before
he could be admitted to the feast, which was this, that he must make his
appearance at the feast wearing a robe made of weasel skins, with the
teeth and claws all on. This robe was obtained, the Giant was admitted,
and the feast proceeded.
It lasted for several days and nights, and the hunter, the strange
people, and the Giant danced and caroused together as if they had been
the best of friends. The Giant was delighted with the singing of his
entertainers, and while he praised them to the skies he did not know
that in his bowl of soup the Chippeway hunter, who had not forgotten the
death of his friends, had placed a bitter root, which would deprive him
of his strength. But such was, indeed, the case. On the last night of
the feast the Giant became very tired and stupid, and asked permission
to enjoy some sleep. Permission was granted, and in the centre of the
great lodge was spread for his accommodation his weasel-skin robe. Upon
the stone which he brought from the river did he rest his head, and over
him was spread the net he had obtained from the mammoth spider. He then
fell into a deep sleep, and the men with wings and the hunter continued
the revelry. Each man supplied himself with a war club, and they
performed the dance of revenge. They formed a ring around the sleeping
Giant, and at a signal made by the hunter they all gave him a severe
blow, when the spirit-men disappeared into the air, and the weasel-skin
robe suddenly became alive. The little animals feasted upon the Giant
with evident satisfaction, and by morning there was nothing left of him
but his bones. These did the hunter gather into a heap, and having burnt
them to ashes, he threw them into the air, and immediately there came
into existence all the beautiful birds which now fill the world. And in
this manner was the great Giant of the Chippeways destroyed, and instead
of his living to feast upon the flesh of man, his own body, by the
wisdom of the Great Spirit, was turned into the birds, which are the
animal food of man.