seemed strange to him in this new world. Soon he came to a lake with a
little ice on it, and when he walked out he beheld tracks of some
animal. Soon he came to a place where a big wooden mallet lay on the
ice. He thought to himself that somebody had lost this mallet. Then he
took it by the handle and hammered on the ice. Immediately the hammer
fell through. Up from the hole in the ice a red otter emerged. He
killed the red otter. Then he went on with the hammer to another place.
There he tried again, and this time got a blue otter. He tried again at
another place and got a black otter, which was like the otters of this
world. So, taking his load of otters, he went home to display what he
thought was a pretty good hunt. He carried his game in a bag of
leather. When he got to his wigwam, he shoved his bag in the entrance
ahead of him, so that his wife could open it and see what he had
brought. [39] Thought she to herself, when she saw the game-bag, “I
wonder if he will show himself to be a good hunter.” She saw some blood
on the bag. Opening it, she beheld the otters, Now the man had made a
mistake, for these were tame otters and belonged to the Bears. She went
out crying to her people, “This man has killed our otters!” When the
old White Bear heard about the news, he said to his family, “We should
have told this man about our otters, because he didn’t know. On this
account it is all right.” He said no more, because he was afraid of the
magic possessed by his new son-in-law.
(10) Ayas·e and the Origin of Bats.
The Ayas·e family was a large family. They lived in a camp. Very often
they used to go picking berries, for their country was a rocky country
where berries abounded. Very often some of the berry-pickers would get
lost and never be found again. It was thought that some creature made a
prey of them and ate them.
One time one of the Ayas·e men was travelling. On his way he came
across a kind of cabin of rock, from the top of which smoke was rising
and in front of which a number of human skulls hung in the opening. Now
this Ayas·e managed to enter. By being very careful and not touching
the skulls, he gained the inside of the rock house without making any
noise. These skulls were put there to rattle when anybody tried to
pass. When Ayas·e got inside, he beheld two old blind women. As soon as
they became aware of his presence, one of them said, “We had better
begin to cook something and we will find out if Ayas·e is passing
here.” Now these old women had some grease in a bark dish and one of
them put some of the grease in a cooking pail. When she did this,
Ayas·e pulled it out with his hand and ate it. Then she took the spoon
to taste her grease, but found it gone. So she put another lump in the
dish. Ayas·e took this, and when she started to dip it up, it, too, was
gone. This happened three or four times. At last the old woman said,
“Ayas·e must have passed; somebody told us that Ayas·e was going to
pass. He must have passed now.” Then she took a stick which she used to
poke the fire with and began feeling all around, poking in the corners
of the wigwam to find if Ayas·e were there. Every time she came near
poking him, he moved to another part of the wigwam, so she could not
reach him. Pretty soon she touched him with the poker and then he took
off his coat of fisher-skin which he was wearing and threw in into the
door-way. The old women jumped up and when they felt the fur coat they
thought it was Ayas·e trying to escape through the door. Now these old
women had a sharp pointed bone at each elbow. With this pointed bone
they began stabbing the fur coat in their haste to kill Ayas·e, and
pretty soon in their blind fury they fell to stabbing each other, each
one thinking she was stabbing Ayas·e. They killed each other. One of
the old women said before she died, “I believe you hit me by mistake.”
It was too late; they both died.
Now Ayas·e in the wigwam sat down and looked at them a long time. Then
he dragged them outside and looked at them a long time. All around the
wigwam he saw the men’s and women’s bones, the bones of the victims of
these two old blind women. Then he knew that all of his lost people had
been killed by the old women and eaten. They were cannibals in the
shape of monster bats, large enough to kill and eat people. Then Ayas·e
took their bodies and cut them up into small pieces. These he threw
into the air and they sailed off, transformed into small bats as we see
them to-day. I did not see any more.
(11) Origin of the Constellation Fisher (Ursa Major). [40]
The Fisher (mustela pennanti) was living somewhere in this world.
Nobody knows where. Now in those times they had no summer. It was
winter, winter all the time. They knew that summer existed somewhere,
but it never came to them, although they wanted it very much.
Now, once upon a time a man captured some little birds which are called
ni·bənis·e “summer (guardian) birds.” He tied them in bundles and kept
them with him all the time. That was the reason why it was continually
winter, for so long as he held these birds, they could not bring summer
to the North Country. The people pondered very much how to go about
freeing these birds from the creature who kept them. At last somebody
discovered where this creature lived, and they decided that some one
would go and try to free the Summer-birds. Now the Fresh-water Herring
lived in the same wigwam with the man who kept the Summer-birds.
The Fisher at last decided to go and free the birds, so that summer
would come. He travelled a long while and reached the wigwam where the
captor and the Herring lived. When he went in, he found the Herring
alone. He captured the Herring and put some pitch on his mouth, so that
he could not cry out. Then Fisher took the bundles of birds and tried
to break the bindings, so that he could free them. Using his teeth at
last he tore open the bundles and the Summer-birds flew free into the
air. Then the pitch broke from the Herring’s mouth and he cried out,
“Fisher breaks the bundle! The Summer-birds! Fisher breaks the bundles
with his teeth! The Summer-birds!” Two or three times he cried out,
until their captor heard him. Then he came up running, but when he
arrived, the Fisher and the Summer-birds were already far away.
The Fisher ran very fast to save himself. His pursuer had a bow and
arrow with which he was going to kill him, but the Fisher sprang into
the sky and climbed way up, with the hunter following behind him, still
trying to shoot him with his bow and arrow. All he succeeded in
shooting, however, was his tail, which is broken where it was wounded.
[41] Although they chased him continually, they never got him.
(12) The Young Loon.
Once in the autumn of the year, when the birds were ready to fly to the
south for the winter, a young Loon was unable to fly far enough to go
with the rest of the birds. So he said to his mother, “I cannot go back
south with you, as I am not strong enough. But I will stay here all
winter in this place, and in the spring, when you come back, I will
meet you here at this very spot. When you come back and find me here,
it will be on a misty morning.” So they all flew away to the south, and
the young Loon was left behind for the winter. The mother was very sad
because she had to leave him and because he was not strong enough to go
with them.
In the spring time, when the ice is breaking up in the lake, and it
becomes misty, the Indians say, “The Loon is coming back from her
winter sojourn in the South.”
(13) The Giant Pike.
At that time there were two people living who got married and had some
daughters and sons. These grew up and married. One of the sons married
and had children, two sons. The grandfather of these died. Then the
father and mother died, and left the children with only their
grandmother to look after them. At this time they were big enough to
shoot bows and arrows and to go in a canoe with their grandmother to
set the night lines [42] for fish. They lived only by fishing, because
the grandmother was too old to do anything else.
So these two boys used to play around, shooting bows and arrows for
fun, just as the Ojibwa boys do now. They used to play near a lake.
Then their grandmother would say to them, “Don’t swim in that lake.
There is a big pike in there and he might swallow you.” The older boy
believed his grandmother, but the younger did not. So one day, while
they were playing, the younger boy by mistake shot his arrow out in the
lake. He could see it floating on the surface, so he took off his
clothes to swim to it. But his brother said, “You know what grandmother
told you. The big pike might swallow you.” But the boy started to swim
nevertheless, saying, “Koga′miko” (“swallowed in the water”) with each
stroke that his arms took. When he called this out, the big pike came
and swallowed him.
His brother began crying and ran back to his grandmother in the wigwam,
saying, “My little brother is koga′miko, ‘swallowed in the water’.”
Then his grandmother began crying and the two were crying together.
Soon after this they again set their night lines. When they looked
toward the lake, three days later, they saw the float sticks together
and the boy said, “We have a fish.” But the grandmother cried and would
not look toward the lake where her grandson had died. But soon she went
along in the canoe, crying, and pulled in the line. At the end was a
very large fish, and they could see that his stomach was full of
something. He was so large that they could scarcely pull him into the
canoe. However, they managed to get him in and then they paddled to the
shore and dragged the fish to a place where they could conveniently
clean it. They cut his belly, which was distended, and out jumped the
younger brother. “I’m scalded with the intestines! (Ninbabe′nəs,)”
[43] he cried. “I’m scalded. I’ve been here three days.” He was already
beginning to be digested. The grandmother was very glad to get her
grandson back again. That is the end.
(14) Lynx and His Two Wives.
There was a time when Lynx had two wives, the one a Rabbit and the
other a Marten. The three lived in a wigwam. At this time Lynx drove
beaver during the winter time. [44] Rabbit was a very good hunter. But
Lynx this winter had very poor luck and they became very hungry. Lynx
beat his wives because they couldn’t find the beaver. He said to them,
“If you don’t get some beaver for me, I’ll eat both of you.” At this
they became very much frightened. So Rabbit went to a beaver place, and
putting a stick in the hole, she felt a beaver in it. Then Rabbit went
home and told Marten, and they both were glad to get a beaver and save
their lives. Then they both went back to the hole. While Rabbit was
pulling the beaver out of the hole and had hold of his hind quarters,
Lynx came along and tickled Rabbit, so that she let go and the beaver
escaped. Lynx was bent on mischief. He said, “If you don’t get some
beaver, I’ll kill you tonight.”
Rabbit and Marten went home and burrowed a tunnel in the snow, inside
the wigwam. Then they both went into a hole to hide and closed the hole
behind them. When Lynx reached home, he was unable to find his wives,
but he knew they were somewhere near. So he began to pull up testes
suos in se and then he began dancing. [45] He said to himself, “When
they hear this funny thing, they will laugh.” Pretty soon Marten
laughed, and Lynx, digging her out of the hole, killed and ate her.
Soon he grew hungry and tried the same trick. But Rabbit was very much
afraid and would not laugh. Lynx kept on doing this for some time and
finally gave it up. He sat near the fire and cut his belly open, taking
out some of his intestines which he roasted and ate. At last, when he
had eaten all his intestines, he came to his heart. When he pulled at
this, “Huk, huk”! it made a noise. At last he jerked and pulled at it
so hard that he died. This is the end. But all the grandchildren of
Lynx have testicles as they are to-day.
(15) Story of Seal Rock in Lake Timagami.
Once upon a time, on a small island in Lake Timagami, some people went
ashore, and one of the women left her baby in a cradle-board on a rock,
while she went a short distance off. When she came back, the baby was
gone; it had been taken by a big manitu (magic) seal who lived in a
rock and he had taken the child inside with him. The child’s father was
also a manitu, so he began burrowing and digging into the rock for his
baby and he dug a channel. This hole is there yet. When he reached the
baby, it was dead, and the seal was gone. It had dived and crossed two
miles under water to Seal island and gone into a big rock there. He
dove and followed, as he was mi·te·′ and came to the big rock where the
seal had gone in. With his chisel he split the rock, but the seal
escaped. The rock is there yet, split down the centre.
(16) Rabbit, Lynx, and Fisher.
At the time of which my story speaks Lynx and Fisher had the same sharp
nose and face. Fisher used to jump right through a big boulder as high
as a man whenever he wanted to. One day he told Lynx to try to beat him
and jump through. So Lynx tried to do it and smashed his face flat, as
it is now. He went away very sore. Soon he met Rabbit. “Kwe, kwe,” Lynx
asked Rabbit, “where are you going?” Rabbit answered, “I am going to
the short flat-faced country.” Lynx did not understand the joke, and he
let Rabbit pass.
Lynx went on and came to a stream into whose waters he looked, and saw
some flints. He tried to reach some to pick them up and beheld himself
in the water. He discovered how ugly he was. “I’m so ugly. That is what
Rabbit meant when he met me. I’ll fix him.” So he went back, struck
Rabbit’s trail, and followed him. So he followed the trail until it
went into a hole in the snow under a bush. Lynx looked in and saw
Rabbit sitting there, reading. He asked Rabbit, “Has anybody been
passing here lately Hee!” Rabbit made no answer. Lynx asked this
question twice and at last Rabbit spoke, “Tsc, tsc, it’s Sunday
to-day.” Lynx asked the same question again and received the same
reply. Then Rabbit said, “Why don’t you go around and find his track?”.
When Lynx went around, Rabbit ran out and off. When Lynx saw him run,
he chased him and caught him.
“Can you talk English?” said Lynx. “Yes,” answered Rabbit. “Well, can’t
you talk white?” “Yes,” answered Rabbit. “Well, if you don’t talk
white, I’ll kill you.” So Rabbit had to talk white. “Well, what do you
call ‘fire’ in English.” “Wayaʻkabi·′te” (people sitting around a
fire), answered Rabbit. “How do they say ‘axe’ there?”
“Me′matowes‵iŋg” (“noise of chopping”). “What do you call knife?”
asked Lynx. “Taya′tacki·‵wəgis·e” (“sliced meat”), answered Rabbit.
“You are a liar”, said Lynx. “Ki·niŋgwa‵zəm, you are a liar.” And he
killed Rabbit.
(17) Snaring the Sun.
There was once a boy who used to set his snares for his living. One day
he saw a track where the snow was melted, and after a while he decided
to set his snares there and catch the animal that made the tracks. So
he set his snare and went away. That track was the sun’s track, and
when the sun came by next day, it got caught. The sun didn’t rise the
next day and there was steady darkness. The people began to be puzzled.
“Where did you set your snare?” they asked him. He told them, and they
went to look. There they saw the sun caught, but no one could go near
enough to loosen it A number of animals tried to do this, but they all
got burned. At last the Beaver-mouse managed to cut it with his teeth
and freed it. But his teeth got burned with the heat, and so they are
brown to this day, but the sun is here and we have the daylight.
(18) Homo Excrementi.
There were a number of people camping, and one man was camping by
himself. He was a young man and he tried to get his neighbour’s
daughter to marry him, but she wouldn’t have him, saying that he was
not good enough. And so the young man went back and forth trying to get
a wife.
Then the people went away to another place to camp, as it was getting
spring, but the young man stayed back. He was full of mite·′win. [46]
He planned to have revenge upon the girl who would not have him. He
collected omne excrementum quod invenire potuit and made it into the
shape of a man. He was determined to settle with the girls who had
refused him, for he was full of revenge. When he had made the man
alive, he sent him to where the girls were camping. The new creature
was frozen nice and hard, he was nice-looking, and he could talk.
And so Homo excrementi came, early in the morning, crunching through
the snow to where the girls were in camp. When they saw him coming,
they cried, “Somebody’s coming. Make a fire.” And when he reached the
camp every one received him in fine style, as he was such a nice
fellow. “Where do you come from? Who is your father?” they asked him.
“Hump-back,” said he. “Who is your mother?” “Flat-set excrementum,”
answered he. But the old people did not understand him. He was unable
to stay near the fire long, for fear he would melt. They wished him to
stay at the camp, but he couldn’t, so he hurried away.
Then one of the girls who had refused the young man in marriage
followed him and he led her a long chase. She began to feel it grow
warmer (it was April) and soon she found one of his mittens and later
his hat. At last it became so warm that she came to the place where he
had melted altogether et ibi erat agger excrementi. When she examined
the hat, internum ejus excrementi illitum invenit. So she went back
home saying, “Good for him, he’s melted. I’m glad he is melted.” She
couldn’t catch him anyway, so she was angry.
So young girls should not try always to get a nice-looking man, but
take the man selected for them. The old people tell them this story for
a lesson, lest they lose a good man, though not so handsome, to get a
“stinker.”
(19) The Origin of Snakes.
A man was one time walking along and came to a lake which he wanted to
cross. But he had no canoe, and so he walked along the shore until he
saw a big Snake lying in the water with his head on the shore. “Will
you carry me across?” asked the hunter. “Yes,” answered the Snake. “But
it looks cloudy and I am afraid of the lightning, so you must tell me
if it thunders while we are crossing.” The hunter got on the Snake’s
back and they started to swim across the lake. As they went along,
thunder began rumbling, “kαx kαx,” and the lightning flashed. “Mah,
mah, listen!” said the Snake in fear. “I hear something.” Just as they
reached the shore, when the hunter could leap to safety, a stroke of
lightning hit the Snake and broke him into numberless pieces, which
began swimming about and finally came to land. The great Snake was not
killed, but his pieces turned into small snakes which we see all about
to-day.
(20) Muskrat Warns the Beaver.
The Muskrat, Beaver, Dog, and some Ojibwa were companions and hunters.
They were real people who could talk to one another. They started out
one day and came to a small lake and there they saw Beaver houses and
families. It was early in the winter. They said, “That’s a good lake to
drive the beaver, as it’s all rocky and they can’t escape. The season
is right, so we will come tomorrow with dogs.” The Beavers were in
their houses and they saw the Indians, but they couldn’t hear the
talking. The Muskrat heard, however, and went to the Beaver and told
them. “You must look out for yourselves, uncles. Those Indians say you
are very easy to catch.” Now the Muskrat had stayed outside the
Indians’ wigwam and listened to what they were saying, until his feet
got so cold that he could stay no longer. So that this was all that he
had heard to tell his uncle the Beaver.
The next morning the Indians came to the lake and broke the Beaver’s
houses, and the big Beaver told the young ones, “When you see a dog
passing, whistle.” So the young Beavers went to different places under
the ice and when they saw a dog passing, they whistled and all were
thus caught and killed by the men. But the big Beaver didn’t whistle,
and he escaped. The Indians said, “Where’s the big Beaver?” Then they
went back and had a big feast on those they had caught. In those days
people used to cut a flat bone from the hind foot of the beaver and
throw it into the water, so that the dogs wouldn’t get it. These
hunters, however, made a mistake and forgot to save that bone. They
lost it. [47]
So the Indians had their feast, and when they threw the bones into the
water, one of the little Beavers came back to life and went back to his
parents. He said to them, “I had a fine time, father. They hung me over
the fire, and I danced for them.” Shortly all the Beavers came back,
but one of them said, “I’m very sick, father. They didn’t use me
right.” This was the Beaver whose bone from his hind foot the hunters
had lost. He was very sore and disgusted and showed his father the
fresh mark of his foot where the flat bone was lost, when they asked
him what was the matter. The Beavers did not like this and they became
angry. So nowadays the Indians tell the young boys neither to talk
about the Beavers, nor the prospects of a hunt before attacking a
beaver colony, lest the Muskrat hear them and tell the Beaver. And
also, when the hunting dogs suddenly go off from camp and run over the
ice, the hunters say the dogs hear the beavers whistling.
(21) Story of a Hunter.
There were two men living in a camp with two women and the rest of the
band. On a cold day in winter one of the men said he was going to track
a moose, and left on his snowshoes. He said he would be back by night.
He was gone all day and by night he had not returned, so his wife began
to think that possibly he had shot a moose, but, as he had taken his
axe with him, he might have cut himself in some way. They waited until
morning and then, taking up his trail, they tracked him to where he had
shot a moose and farther on to where he had skinned it. The meat was
there, but the skin was gone. Looking around they saw a fire not far
off. When they reached the fire they discovered that the hunter had
rolled himself up in the green hide to sleep, and during the night it
had frozen around him and he had been unable to get out. They thawed
out the skin and all went back to camp.
(22) A Timagami Story.
Once there were a man and his wife living in a bark wigwam. The wife
grew very fond of another man et voluit copulare cum eo sine cognitione
mariti sui. They finally hit upon a plan. She cut a small hole in the
bark near her bedding ut ille cum ea nocte copulare posset. She slept
near the hole et omne bene factum est, sed maritus tandem invenit quid
fieret. So one night he ordered his wife to change places with him when
they slept, et cum venisset amator, maritus penem ejus abscidit per
orificium positum. Tunc membrum virile cepit, without telling his wife
what had happened, and went off on a moose hunt. He killed a moose and
took its intestine end [described like an appendix], secuit penem in
fragmenta, mixed these with fat, and made a smoked sausage out of the
whole. [48] Then he went home and gave it to his wife to eat. When she
had eaten it, he said, “Nunc edisti penem amatoris tui.”
(23) Story of a Fast Runner.
Once a hunter was so quick of foot that when he shot his arrow at a
beaver plunging into the lake from the shore, he would run down, catch
the beaver by the tail before the arrow got to it, and hold it until
the arrow struck. He was a fast runner, indeed.
(24) The Hunter and the Seven Deer.
There once was a hunter who lived in a camp. The summer had been very
dry and the whole country was on fire. He stayed in his camp, however,
although the smoke was so thick that no one could see any distance. One
day he saw seven deer walking along, each holding the other’s tail in
its mouth. The leader alone could see, and he was guiding the others.
So he killed the leader and then took hold of the second deer’s nose,
and so lead them all to his camp alive, where he butchered them.
(25) Story of a Conjurer.
There was a conjurer (mi·te′w), [49] whose name was Gitcikwe′we
(“buzzing noise”), his wife Pi·dje′ʻkwe [50] and their children,
camping at a lake in a wigwam. There was a large lake to the west of
where they were camping full of islands. It was a long portage from the
wigwam to this lake.
One evening, while Gitcikwe′we was sitting in his wigwam, he became
very much frightened. He saw nothing in particular that frightened him,
but on account of his mi·te′w feeling he became afraid and knew that
something was coming. At dusk he gathered up his blankets and jumped
into his canoe with his family, and they floated on the lake beside the
camp, all night long. When he went back to the wigwam in the morning,
he found that a Windigo [51] had been there and had smashed his wigwam.
Then the family started to take the portage which led across to the big
lake containing the islands. When Gitcikwe′we took the portage, he sent
his wife and children ahead and told them to hurry on as fast as they
could, while he would follow behind with the canoe. He said, “When you
hear ‘Meat bird’ (Wiske·djak [52]) flying above you, that means
‘Hurry’, for the Windigo is coming behind to catch you. That will be
your warning.” They reached the other end of the portage and got into
the canoe and paddled out to one of the islands to a place where the
end of the portage, from which they had just come out, was lost to
view. They were safe there, as the Windigo, having no canoe, could not
cross. After Gitcikwe′we put up his camp, he said to his wife, “I am
not yet satisfied. I must beat that Windigo, because he will bother us
all winter, and then we will starve, for I cannot hunt while staying at
camp all the time, watching out for you and the children.”
Then he made his mi·te′o wigwam with its seven poles and covered it
with bark. [53] He went into it and it began to work and move, while a
band of spirits could be heard singing inside. [54] Then Windigo came
there and Gitcikwe′we said to his wife, “We will clinch him and take
him away out west where he came from.” When he clinched him, the
conjuring wigwam shook and made a noise like thunder, and the children
fainted from fright, for they knew their father was inside. When they
recovered consciousness, everything was still in the wigwam, and their
father had gone out west, taking his captive with him. A little while
after this the wigwam started to move again and Gitcikwe′we was back
again from his trip out west. He said to his family, “We will be all
right now. I took him back west. He is very sick from his fright but he
will stay there now.”
There was another mi·te′ Indian one day’s journey from where
Gitcikwe′we was camping. This Indian was so full of mi·te′ also that,
while he was asleep, he heard Windigo passing overhead with a great
moaning noise as if he were in pain. No other people heard it except
this man, because they were not mi·te′.
Next morning Gitcikwe′we awoke and found that it was a fine day with no
wind to bother, and the whole family was happy to think of passing
another winter. Shortly after they had gotten up, they heard a great
noise of shouting in the direction of the end of the portage from where
they had come and which was just lost to view. When Gitcikwe′we heard
this, he loaded his flint lock gun to shoot Windigo, for he thought he
had come back and was making the noise and concluded that that was the
only way to get rid of him. He and his wife got into the canoe for this
purpose. When they turned the point, they saw a young man standing
right in the portage. It was Gitcikwe′we’s wife’s nephew. He had left
his canoe at the other end of the portage, as it was so long to carry
it, and he was expecting his aunt to take him across in her canoe. So
he got into the canoe and the three of them returned to camp. [55]
(26) Legend of Obabika Lake.
Obabika lake is called Ma′nitu Pi·pa′gi·, “Spirit Echo.” On the eastern
shore of this lake is a great rock where a Manitu is believed to live.
Whenever anyone makes a noise in the vicinity, the Manitu becomes angry
and growls. His plaints, the Indians believe, can be clearly heard when
he is offended. The Ojibwa never go near there when they can avoid it;
and they seldom throw a stone in the lake, splash their paddles, or
shoot their guns near its shores.
(27) Iroquois Pictographs.
“The Iroquois used to come here to fight the Ojibwa because the
Americans had driven them from their homes in the States and the
Iroquois had to seek new countries beyond the settlements in the North.
In their excursions, when they got far from home, they cut and painted
pictures in the rocks on river or lake shores, so that their friends,
if they ever penetrated so far, would know that their own people had
been there before them. The characters of these pictures would tell
what had happened, so that if the advance party never returned to their
people, some record would at least be left behind of their journey.”
[56]
The Ojibwa attributed nearly all pictographs to the Iroquois. On Lady
Evelyn lake are a number of such figures, showing animals and men in
canoes.
(28) An Iroquois Legend.
At that time there were people living, four in number: a woman, a young
baby who could hardly walk, and two sons who were grown-up men. Their
father had died and the family lived together in a wigwam. It was
winter and the sons had two rabbit snares’ trails, one to the east and
the other to the north, and they went to different lines on different
days. The mother would attend to the snares and leave the baby, wrapped
in a rabbit skin blanket, alone in the camp, while the two sons would
hunt and look around for game, having only bows and arrows.
When they came home in the evening, they would sometimes bring with
them spruce partridge and other kinds of partridge. Their mother used
to bring home partridges also, but she had no bow or arrows, and the
men wondered how she did it, because she often brought home as many as
ten birds. They could not understand how she was able to do better than
they, so they asked her, “What did you do it with?” They never went
with their mother to where she had her snares, but they were
continually asking her how she caught the partridges. She answered, “I
cut a pole, put a string there on the end, and catch them by the neck,
since I have no bow.” But they didn’t believe her, as they often saw
arrow wounds in the partridges’ breasts. They looked at these wounds
and said, “Somebody must have shot them for you. Was it not the
Iroquois?” “No,” answered the mother, “I caught them with a pole snare
and poked them with a stick in order to bloat them with blood, so they
will make more bouillon.” But still they didn’t believe her and they
said to each other, “Mother doesn’t like to tell us. Some Iroquois, I
guess, are going to kill us. We’ll fool our mother and these Iroquois.
When we go to bed, we’ll sleep with our baby.”
So that night they said to their mother, “We want to sleep with our
brother the baby, on his side of the wigwam.” They dried their
moccasins, put them on, and also put on rabbit skin blankets, for they
were preparing to run out during the night. They had discovered a place
the day before where trees had fallen down and snow had covered them,
thus making a tunnel. So that night they rolled their little brother up
in a blanket and left early in the night, unknown to their mother. When
they left, the Iroquois were getting closer. The mother awoke and cried
out, “Madja′wαk they are going!” She did this to help the Iroquois find
them. The Iroquois followed them on snowshoes, but the sons made a
great number of branch trails in order to deceive them.
The three finally reached their windfall tunnel and there they stayed
and waited for the Iroquois. At daylight the Iroquois took up the trail
and followed until they finally reached them. The three in the cave
could hear the Iroquois talking above them. One of the Iroquois dug a
hole in the snow above the tunnel and peeped down to see if the three
were there. As one by one the Iroquois looked through the hole, the
sons shot them, the arrow falling back through the hole so that they
could use it again. They killed nearly all of them, and at last no more
Iroquois faces appeared above the hole, but the sons could hear crying.
Finally they decided to come out, and one of the sons went out first to
look around, but he could see no one. They then started back to the
wigwam, following the Iroquois tracks, but they only saw two trails.
One of the sons went a little ahead and the other followed behind with
the baby.
When they reached their wigwam, they found it smashed to pieces and the
poles flattened out. Their mother was killed and the Iroquois had cut
off her breasts and made babiche strings [57] of it. These two Iroquois
who were left had made a tripod of sticks and had wound the skin all
the way around it. Then they had gone and were never seen again. The
mother had agreed with the Iroquois that they were not to kill her if
she didn’t tell her sons of their whereabouts.
TIMAGAMI FOLK-LORE.
(1)
It is not proper to tell stories in summer, lest one die; but, if
stories are told, they must be told for ten successive evenings in
order to prevent the evil.
(2)
In order to foretell the sex of the child about to be born, the first
vertebra of a moose or deer may be used. The appearance of one side of
this bone resembles a man’s face, while the other resembles a woman’s.
The seeker for information may place this bone on top of his head and
let it drop to the ground. Whichever face turns upward like a die
indicates the sex of the child. This bone is called uta′backo‵k·e “back
neck-bone”.
(3)
A little device to bring rain: suck the flat side of a green leaf until
it snaps, or slap one hand with the palm of the other, holding the leaf
in the fist of the first.
(4)
Northern Lights: Wase′tibik·an, “light of night.”
(5)
Bine·′s·i·wi·mi·′k·‵an, “birds’ path”. This is the Milky Way, which is
believed to be the guide to the birds in their spring and autumn
migrations.
(6)
Wətα′gwanobi·‵s·an “mist from the water” (?). This is the rainbow,
which is thought to be caused by mist generated in the air by waves of
some great sea.
(The Matachewan Indians of Montreal river call the rainbow
Ani′miki·unujea‵bi “thunder’s legging string”!)
(7)
The whippoorwill (wa′hone·‵s·i) is very rarely heard in Bear island,
although the bird frequents some parts of the lake. Its cry is
considered an omen of ill fortune or of death. Another idea connected
with the whippoorwill’s cry is that it is the signal cry of the
Iroquois (Ma′djina‵dowes·i “bad Iroquois,” referring to the tribes of
the League as distinct from those of Caughnawaga) and that it indicates
the proximity of enemies.
(8)
When robins (gwi·′ckwe) sing noticeably during the day it is a sign of
coming rain. The toad’s (omα′k·αki) song in the daytime has the same
portent.
(9)
To kill blue-bottle flies will bring rain.
(10)
If anyone finds or sees a live mole it is a sign that some member of
the family will die soon. Moles are very rare in the Timagami
neighbourhood and quite a stir is raised when one is encountered.
(11)
Hiccoughing is a sign that the victim has been stealing something. If
it is true and the victim is accused of it, he will stop hiccoughing
from fright.
(12)
If a child is born feet first he is gifted with curing powers for
people with sore backs. They let him jump on the patient’s back.
(13)
The method of cooking squirrels (dji·′tɔ′mǫ) has an influence upon the
weather forces. Squirrels are usually cooked by splitting the carcass,
after it has been skinned, and roasting it in the flames until done.
Should the animal, however, be boiled instead, it will bring rain. When
rain is needed, squirrels are boiled purposely to bring it.
(14)
To bring on a snowstorm an infant is allowed to make its moccasin print
in the snow.
(15)
If an infant warms its hands before the fire, it is a sure sign of cold
weather coming.
(16)
A red sunset with red clouds is a sign of wind.
(17)
A whirling buzzer, made by spinning a bone or wooden disk on a string
operated by the two hands, will cause the wind to rise.
(18)
A divination device is used before the hunt to foretell what kind of
game is going to be killed. It is as follows. The metacarpal bone of a
beaver’s hind leg, with its sinew covering, is taken and cut nearly
through, so that it will break easily.
This is stuck upright in the ground near the fire and a series of lines
radiating from it are traced in the ashes or ground, each line being
named for some game animal: moose, beaver, caribou, deer, bear, otter,
martin, fisher, etc. Then, as the heat shrinks the sinew, it breaks the
bone at the cut and the upper piece points along one of the lines
marked. This answers what kind of game is going to be gotten. The lines
sometimes also are used to denote the direction to be followed to get
the animals designated.
(A variation of this operation was noted from the Mattagami band. Here
a stick is used instead of a beaver bone and the base of the stick is
burned. When this falls, it denotes the direction to be taken to secure
game).
(19) Supernatural Creatures.
Pa·′gαk. This is a personification of a human skeleton without the
flesh, which wanders about the country. When he travels, he goes as
fast as he thinks. When he wishes himself to be in a place, he is there
as soon as he thinks of it. When he is heard by the people, it is a
sign that someone will die. It is thought that he is heard occasionally
three times in succession, making his peculiar noise, once at the
horizon, once at the zenith, and again at the opposite horizon.
Me·′megwe·‵s·i. A species of creature which lives in the high remote
ledges. They are small and have hair growing all over their bodies. The
Indians think they are like monkeys, judging from specimens of the
latter they have seen in the picture-books. These dwarf-like creatures
have ugly faces and seek to hide them when they meet with people. A
little narrative of a meeting with these creatures is told by some
Timagami Indians who had been to Lake Timiskaming. The Indians were
passing the high ledge of rock a few miles below Haileybury, where the
water was very deep and where they had set their nets. They found that
somebody had been stealing fish. They proceeded to watch the nets and
soon saw three Me·′megwe·‵s·i come out astride of an old log for a
canoe, using sticks for paddles. The Indians pursued them, the fairies
meanwhile hiding their faces. Finally the Indians caught one. Then one
Indian said, “Look behind!” When the fairy turned quickly they got a
glimpse of how ugly he was. The Indians then took a knife from this
fairy and the rest disappeared, riding their log through the rock wall
to the inside, where they could be heard crying, as this was where they
lived. The Indians then threw the knife at the rock and it went right
through to the inside to its owner.
APPENDIX: NOTES ON TIMAGAMI FOLK-LORE.
(By Neil C. Fergusson.)
[Note.
Under date of August 30, 1913, Mr. Neil C. Fergusson, Timagami Fire
Ranger, wrote from Bear island, Lake Timagami: “While at Bear Island I
met Mr. Speck, who was gathering Indian lore and legends for the
Victoria Memorial Museum. His work interested me greatly.” He then
proceeds to communicate some folk-lore material which he had himself
collected from Timagami Indians. This, kindly put by Mr. Fergusson at
the disposal of the Geological Survey, is here added as a supplement to
Dr. Speck’s own data.
E. Sapir.]
(1) Whisky Jack and the Markings on Birch Bark.
“One Indian told me a few incidents about Whisky Jack (Anglicised form
of native Wiske·djak) and ended by saying that he had seen the outline
of that strange personage imprinted on a rock along the Ottawa river.
He said that the markings on the birch bark were caused by Whisky Jack
when he struck the bark, which was once clear, with a balsam bough and
then threw a bird at the tree. Hence the knots give the appearance of a
bird with outstretched wings, as seen on the enclosed piece of bark
(see Figure 2).”
(2) The Two Girls, Hell-Diver, and Loon. [58]
Once upon a time two girls who were out in the woods climbed a tall
spruce tree, but when they wanted to descend, they found that it was
impossible. Just then a Moose passed near the tree and both girls
called to him for help. The Moose, however, passed on without aiding
them. Likewise a Deer, an Otter, and a Lynx all went by, but from none
did they receive any help. At last a Wolverine came along and listened
to the girls’ entreaties. He finally climbed the tree and brought the
girls safely to the ground, after which all three walked along
together. The girls didn’t wish the Wolverine as a companion, so one of
them said that she had dropped her hair-ribbon near the spruce tree and
asked the unwelcome companion to go back for it, saying that they would
wait where they were until he returned. The kind Wolverine went off on
his errand, and, as soon as he was out of sight, the two girls made
their departure. So the Wolverine came back and saw no girls. He heard
a whistle and went in that direction. Then he heard another whistle
behind him, and so on, but still he failed to find the girls, for the
trees were whistling one after another in order to fool the poor
Wolverine. The Wolverine went his own way, feeling very much grieved.
The girls walked on swiftly until they came to a little wigwam built in
the bush. It was a very pretty wigwam and looked so inviting to the
tired girls that they went inside to rest. Soon a Bird, who was the
owner, came along and demanded their business in his wigwam. They told
him that they had lost their way, so he gave them a cup of tea and
directed them on their journey. The girls travelled on and came at last
to a river at the end of which was a lake. A Beaver was paddling his
canoe down the stream, but wouldn’t take the girls in. Next a Loon, who
was the king of all water animals, came along in his canoe, but he also
refused to take them with him. Finally a “Hell-diver” came paddling by.
He was very kind and took the two girls down to the lake where he dwelt
and told them that they might sleep in his wigwam that night. He gave
them some blankets and then went out on business.
The girls, however, couldn’t go to sleep, for they heard music and knew
that a dance must be going on. They got out of their bed and went to
the house where they heard the music. Looking in at the window, they
saw the Loon playing the fiddle and all the dancers enjoying
themselves, so they returned to their bed and placed two logs under the
blankets to deceive their kind friend, the “Hell-diver,” into thinking
that they were still where he had left them.
While the two girls were dancing, the “Hell-diver” returned and lay
down under the blankets, but the logs happened to be partly rotten and
were filled with ants, so that it wasn’t long before he discovered the
trick that had been played on him. At once he went to the Loon’s house,
thinking that the girls had been to the dance. All was dark in the
house, as the dancers had left, but he could see that the two girls and
the Loon were lying there asleep. The Loon was snoring with his mouth
wide open. The “Hell-diver” was seized with anger and went swiftly back
to his wigwam, where he heated a piece of iron until it was red hot. He
hastened with this to the Loon’s house and crammed it down the
sleeper’s mouth.
Knowing that he had killed the Loon and that the murder would soon be
discovered on the next day, he made ready to go on a hunting trip and
told his old grandmother that he’d be back on the following evening.
When the murdered Loon was discovered, his murderer was far away in the
bush and had already caught one deer in his trap. He filled a portion
of its entrails with blood and hung it around his neck, then started
for home. As his canoe neared the village in the evening, all the
people ran down to the water’s edge and cried, “Our chief is dead!” The
“Hell-diver” pulled his knife and cut the bladder of blood which hung
about his neck, upsetting the canoe at the same time. The people
lamented, saying, “We shouldn’t have told the ‘Hell-diver,’ for he has
killed himself from grief.”
But far out in the middle of the lake the “Hell-diver” came swimming to
the surface and called aloud. “It was I who killed our king, the Loon.”
Revenge took hold of all the people and they at once gave chase, but
were unable to catch the murderer, and, as darkness was upon them, they
said, “We will build a dam and in the morning, when the lake is dry, we
will catch him.” In the morning the lake was dry and all the villagers
went in pursuit. The chase was a long one and the ‘Hell-diver’ was in
the last stages of fatigue when he ran to the dam and quickly kicked it
down. The waters came running in and all the people were turned into
water animals, but became friends with one another.
PHONETIC KEY.
a, as in father, of medium length; a·, lengthened.
e, open; ɛ·, long as in North German Bär.
e·, longer than e and close in quality.
i and i·, short and long close vowels.
o, close and of medium length.
ɔ·, longer than o and with lips more protruded, almost like au of
English taut.
α, dulled form of short a, like u of English but.
ə, short obscure vowel of uncertain quality.
b–p, bilabial stops varying between true sonant and intermediate
surd-sonant.
d–t, alveolar stops varying between true sonant and intermediate
surd-sonant.
g–k, medial palatal stops varying between true sonant and intermediate
surd-sonant.
s and z, surd and sonant dorsal sibilant pronounced with tip of tongue
deflected to lower alveolar (applies only to Timiskaming Algonquin; in
Timagami Ojibwa s and z are normal).
c and j, surd and sonant sibilant corresponding respectively to English
sh and z of azure.
tc and dj, surd and sonant sibilant affricative corresponding
respectively to English ch and j.
x, voiceless palatal spirant like ch of German Bach.
m, as in English.
n, as in English.
ŋ, palatal nasal like ng of English sing.
w, as in English.
y, as in English.
h, as in English.
˛, nasalized vowel.
ʻ, aspiration following vowel or consonant.
·, denotes that preceding vowel or consonant is long.
′, main stress.
‵, secondary stress.
NOTES
[1] This band is known locally as Ki·we·′gomani‵cəna‵bi “Turn back lake
Indians.” Their rendezvous was at Fort William. Their range extended
around Lake Dumoine and down Dumoine river to the Ottawa river.
[2] Cf. A. B. Skinner, Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern
Saulteaux, Anth. Papers of Amer. Mus. of Nat. Hist., N.Y., vol. IX, pt.
i, 1911.
[3] Ciŋgəbis is the grebe, a well known character in Ojibwa mythology,
sharing the trickster exploits of Wiske·djak. He appears again as the
quasi-hero of a subsequent story in this cycle.
[4] Formal way of ending a narration; the narrator is assumed to have
been a spectator. The informant temporarily discontinued his story
here.
[5] Ejus.
[6] Ejus.
[7] The Indians often use the red willow bark to mix with tobacco. It
is called məskwa′bi·‵mij “red willow tree.” The yellow spots seen on
the red of the bark are where Wiske·djak, in walking over them, got
them between his legs and left yellow matter in the blood from the
scabs. The “rock weed,” wa′kwund (rock tripe) is often eaten in the
bush when other foods fail. It is scraped off the rocks with a flat
stick into a blanket, then washed and boiled and eaten. The water
becomes a little slimy, but it makes a nourishing soup.
[8] Pαgwa′k·wut pugəma′gan “arrow-head hammer,” an old style of war
club with a stone set in a big wooden head attached to a handle and
swung by a thong from the warrior’s elbow to leave his hand free.
[9] It is a most remarkable thing that practically the same legend is
found among all the northern and eastern Algonkians: Cree, Montagnais,
Abenaki, Penobscot, Malecite.
[10] This is the version of the Kingfisher clan of the Timagami band.
[11] This refers to the old custom of seclusion during puberty.
[12] By doing so she became pregnant. Magical conception occurs in the
culture-hero story of the Algonkian, Iroquoian, and Yuchi tribes.
[13] An episode strikingly similar to one found among the Penobscot and
other Eastern Algonkians.
[14] Fire drill.
[15] Onomapoetic term in diminutive.
[16] Rock-tripe, an edible fungus made into soup and eaten in time of
famine. Nenebuc had this experience on a ledge near the eastern shore
of Smoothwater lake (see map).
[17] This big snake became a high rocky ridge on the portage south of
Smoothwater lake (see map above referred to).
[18] The lake is Smoothwater lake, Cųcawa′gami “smooth lake” (see map
above referred to). This is the scene of the world transformation.
[19] The cave is in a high bluff on the west shore of Smoothwater lake.
On the eastern shore is where Nenebuc fell down the rocks and made
wa′kwan.
[20] The medicine people always do that now.
[21] Abi·ndəsa′gan “something to sit or lie on the water with.” The
event occurred near the previously mentioned cave.
[22] This is called Koko‵kowikwe·‵tuɔk “Owl bay,” now known as Kokoko
bay, the northeastern arm of Lake Timagami (see map). The event
occurred on the western shore of the bay.
[23] This fragment has probably come from some neighbouring band of
Ojibwa, possibly Mattagami.
[24] This is a fragment of the culture-hero cycle of the Mattagami band
of Ojibwa, which has become known among the Timagami people, but does
not form a part of their own version.
[25] Every wigwam has horizontal poles crossing near the smoke hole.
This is a drying rack and support for the pot hook.
[26] The Ojibwa formerly cooked in stone vessels as well as in birch
bark.
[27] A very scarce animal in northern Ontario.
[28] The Indians often had much trouble to get food in the winter and
looked forward eagerly to spring, when the ice leaves the rivers,
making “open water,” thus enabling them to seek new hunting places.
[29] An opening in the ice near the camp for the supply of water in
winter.
[30] An affair resembling a megaphone or moose call.
[31] By doing this he would prevent them from travelling and cause them
to freeze or starve to death.
[32] Magic.
[33] The hole is a circle composed of seven stars (Pleiades). This was
the first mite′win or “conjuring” lodge. Seven poles are necessary to
build this lodge. Unless seven are used, the conjurer’s tent will not
rock. The old woman tends the mite′win. When she moves from the hole,
there is sure to be mite′win somewhere here below. The stars form the
rim of the hole through which she lowered the two girls.
[34] Etiam hodie castor saepe pedit.
[35] Kcki·′man, a magic fetish which will secure the owner his wish.
[36] Also called Mici·′ci·ga‵k “Monster Skunk”.
[37] In winter-time, the Indians keep a hole chopped through the ice
near their camp for the water supply.
[38] If he had obeyed her and not looked until the third day, she would
still have been there.
[39] It is the custom for a hunter returning to hand his game bag to
his wife before he enters the wigwam, without speaking, so that she can
see for herself whether he has had good luck or not.
[40] The constellation Ursa Major is called wətci·′gan·αŋg “Fishing
Star.” The story accounts for this constellation name.
[41] This is the bend in the handle of the Great Dipper. The small star
Alcor in this constellation is the wound.
[42] Night lines are set for lake fish. The hook of bone formerly was
fastened into a shank of wood and this tied to a line by a leather
leader which the teeth of the fish could not sever. Then the line was
fastened to another line adjoining the two float sticks by a knot and
wrapping, which would pay out after a little jerk. The float sticks
were anchored by a stone. The bait was tied to the hook, which later
was kept horizontal by a line running from the leader to a pin stuck in
the bait. This ingenious device is shown in Figure 1. As the story
mentions, when the float sticks are together it is a sign that a fish
is on the hook.
[43] Archaic form.
[44] To drive beaver is to hunt them by driving them from their cabins
beneath the ice.
[45] At this time Lynx testes habuit just like those of animals, but
now they are like those of the cat, invisible.
[46] Conjurer’s magic.
[47] They used to suspend the beaver by a swinging string and roast
him, saving all the bones from the dogs in order to throw them into the
lake, as they thought that there would be just as many beavers there
again in the autumn as the number of bones thrown in. This story
explains the ceremonial treatment of beaver remains.
[48] This intestine sausage is a great delicacy among the Indians.
[49] One of the ranks of shamans.
[50] Mi·te‵ʻkwe, “medicine woman”.
[51] A cannibal monster.
[52] Gitcikwe′we intended to assume this guise.
[53] Seven poles are always required for this kind of a wigwam. See
story of Ciŋgibis.
[54] The usual procedure of the conjurer.
[55] This is related as a true story. One of Gitcikwe′we’s daughters is
still living in the Timagami band; she is known as Pi·dje′ʻkwe.
[56] Quoted verbatim from Chief Aleck Paul.
[57] Thongs of rawhide.
[58] Mr. Fergusson writes: “Another Indian told me some stories that he
had heard from his grandmother, who could speak the Ojibwa tongue. I
will write out the one that I thought most interesting.” The story
given by Mr. Fergusson is evidently a close variant of the second part
of No. 5 of Dr. Speck’s Timagami series.
E. Sapir.