A boy went on a turtle hunt, and after following the different streams
for hours, finally came to the conclusion that the only place he would
find any turtles would be at the little lake, where the tribe always
hunted them.
So, leaving the stream he had been following, he cut across country to
the lake. On drawing near the lake he crawled on his hands and knees in
order not to be seen by the turtles, who were very watchful, as they had
been hunted so much. Peeping over the rock he saw a great many out on
the shore sunning themselves, so he very cautiously undressed, so
he could leap into the water and catch them before they secreted
themselves. But on pulling off his shirt one of his hands was held up
so high that the turtles saw it and jumped into the lake with a great
splash.
The boy ran to the shore, but saw only bubbles coming up from the
bottom. Directly the boy saw something coming to the surface, and soon
it came up into sight. It was a little man, and soon others, by the
hundreds, came up and swam about, splashing the water up into the air to
a great height. So scared was the boy that he never stopped to gather
up his clothes but ran home naked and fell into his grandmother’s tent
door.
“What is the trouble, grandchild,” cried the old woman. But the boy
could not answer. “Did you see anything unnatural?” He shook his head,
“no.” He made signs to the grandmother that his lungs were pressing so
hard against his sides that he could not talk. He kept beating his side
with his clenched hands. The grandmother got out her medicine bag,
made a prayer to the Great Spirit to drive out the evil spirit that had
entered her grandson’s body, and after she had applied the medicine, the
prayer must have been heard and answered, as the boy commenced telling
her what he had heard and seen.
The grandmother went to the chief’s tent and told what her grandson had
seen. The chief sent two brave warriors to the lake to ascertain whether
it was true or not. The two warriors crept to the little hill close to
the lake, and there, sure enough, the lake was swarming with little men
swimming about, splashing the water high up into the air. The warriors,
too, were scared and hurried home, and in the council called on their
return told what they had seen. The boy was brought to the council
and given the seat of honor (opposite the door), and was named “Wankan
Wanyanka” (sees holy).
The lake had formerly borne the name of Truth Lake, but from this time
on was called “Wicasa-bde”--Man Lake.