{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35175/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35175","id":"gutenberg_35175","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35175","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Hiawatha, active 15th century","Indians of North America -- Folklore"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Julia Miller, Josephine Paolucci and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This\nfile was produced from scans of public domain material\nproduced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nALGIC RESEARCHES,\n\nCOMPRISING\n\nINQUIRIES RESPECTING THE MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS\n\nOF THE\n\nNORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.\n\nFIRST SERIES.\n\nINDIAN TALES AND LEGENDS.\n\nIN TWO VOLUMES.\n\nVOL. II.\n\nBY HENRY ROWE SCHOOLCRAFT.\n\nAuthor or a Narrative Journal of Travels to the Sources of the Mississippi;\nTravels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley;\nAn Expedition to Itasca Lake, &c.\n\nNEW YORK:\nHARPER & BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF STREET.\n1839.\n\nEntered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839,\nBy HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT,\nIn the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOL. II.\n\n\n                                                                 Page\n\nThe Red Swan                                                        9\n\nAggo Dah Gauda, or The Man with his Leg tied up                    34\n\nIosco, or a Visit to the Sun and Moon                              40\n\nThe Two Jeebi                                                      61\n\nPah-hah-undootah, or The Red Head                                  67\n\nLeelinau, or The Lost Daughter                                     77\n\nPuk Wudj Ininee, a Fairy Tale                                      85\n\nMishosha, or The Magician of the Lakes                             91\n\nThe Weendigoes                                                    105\n\nThe Racoon and Crawfish, a Fable                                  119\n\nLa Poudre, or The Storm Fool                                      122\n\nGit-chee-gau-zinee, or The Trance                                 127\n\nWassamo, or The Fire Plume                                        132\n\nOssco, or The Son of the Evening Star                             150\n\nKwasind, or The Fearfully Strong Man                              160\n\nMudjee Monedo and Minno Monedo                                    165\n\nThe Pigeon Hawk and Tortoise, a Fable                             181\n\nThe Charmed Arrow                                                 182\n\nAddik Kum Maig, or The Origin of the Whitefish                    194\n\nOwasso and Wayoond, or The Manito Foiled                          199\n\nShawondasee                                                       214\n\nThe Linnet and Eagle, a Fable                                     216\n\nThe Moose and Woodpecker, or Manabozho in distress                217\n\nWeeng                                                             226\n\nIagoo                                                             229\n\nThe Grave Light, or Adventures of a Warrior's Soul                233\n\nPauguk                                                            239\n\nThe Vine and Oak, an Allegory                                     242\n\n\n\n\nTHE RED SWAN\n\nFROM THE ALGIC.\n\n\nThree brothers were left destitute, by the death of their parents, at an\nearly age. The eldest was not yet able to provide fully for their\nsupport, but did all he could in hunting, and with his aid, and the\nstock of provisions left by their father, they were preserved and kept\nalive, rather, it seems, by miraculous interposition, than the adequacy\nof their own exertions. For the father had been a hermit,[1] having\nremoved far away from the body of the tribe, so that when he and his\nwife died they left their children without neighbours and friends, and\nthe lads had no idea that there was a human being near them. They did\nnot even know who their parents had been, for the eldest was too young,\nat the time of their death, to remember it. Forlorn as they were, they\ndid not, however, give up to despondency, but made use of every exertion\nthey could, and in process of time, learned the art of hunting and\nkilling animals. The eldest soon became an expert hunter, and was very\nsuccessful in procuring food. He was noted for his skill in killing\nbuffalo, elk, and moose, and he instructed his brothers in the arts of\nthe forest as soon as they become old enough to follow him. After they\nhad become able to hunt and take care of themselves, the elder proposed\nto leave them, and go in search of habitations, promising to return as\nsoon as he could procure them wives. In this project he was overruled by\nhis brothers, who said they could not part with him. Maujeekewis, the\nsecond eldest, was loud in his disapproval, saying, \"What will you do\nwith _those you propose to get_--we have lived so long without them, and\nwe can still do without them.\" His words prevailed, and the three\nbrothers continued together for a time.\n\nOne day they agreed to kill each, a male of those kind of animals each\nwas most expert in hunting, for the purpose of making quivers from their\nskins. They did so, and immediately commenced making arrows to fill\ntheir quivers, that they might be prepared for any emergency. Soon\nafter, they hunted on a wager, to see who should come in first with\ngame, and prepare it so as to regale the others. They were to shoot no\nother animal, but such as each was in the habit of killing. They set\nout different ways; Odjibwa, the youngest, had not gone far before he\nsaw a bear, an animal he was not to kill, by the agreement. He followed\nhim close and drove an arrow through him, which brought him to the\nground. Although contrary to the bet, he immediately commenced skinning\nhim, when suddenly something red tinged all the air around him. He\nrubbed his eyes, thinking he was perhaps deceived, but without effect,\nfor the red hue continued. At length he heard a strange noise at a\ndistance. It first appeared like a human voice, but after following the\nsound for some distance, he reached the shores of a lake, and soon saw\nthe object he was looking for. At a distance out in the lake, sat a most\nbeautiful Red Swan, whose plumage glittered in the sun, and who would,\nnow and then make the same noise he had heard. He was within long bow\nshot, and pulling the arrow from the bow-string up to his ear, took\ndeliberate aim and shot. The arrow took no effect; and he shot and shot\nagain till his quiver was empty. Still the swan remained, moving round\nand round, stretching its long neck and dipping its bill into the water,\nas if heedless of the arrows shot at it. Odjibwa ran home, and got all\nhis own and his brothers' arrows, and shot them all away. He then stood\nand gazed at the beautiful bird. While standing, he remembered his\nbrother's saying that in their deceased father's medicine sack were\nthree magic arrows. Off he started, his anxiety to kill the swan\novercoming all scruples. At any other time, he would have deemed it\nsacrilege to open his father's medicine sack, but now he hastily seized\nthe three arrows and ran back, leaving the other contents of the sack\nscattered over the lodge. The swan was still there. He shot the first\narrow with great precision, and came very near to it. The second came\nstill closer; as he took the last arrow, he felt his arm firmer, and\ndrawing it up with vigour, saw it pass through the neck of the swan a\nlittle above the breast. Still it did not prevent the bird from flying\noff, which it did, however, at first slowly, flapping its wings and\nrising gradually into the air, and then flying off toward the sinking of\nthe sun.[2] Odjibwa was disappointed; he knew that his brothers would be\ndispleased with him; he rushed into the water and rescued the two magic\narrows, the third was carried off by the swan; but he thought that it\ncould not fly very far with it, and let the consequences be what they\nmight, he was bent on following it.\n\nOff he started on the run; he was noted for speed, for he would shoot an\narrow, and then run so fast that the arrow always fell behind him. I\ncan run fast, he thought, and I can get up with the swan some time or\nother. He thus ran over hills and prairies, toward the west, till near\nnight, and was only going to take one more run, and then seek a place to\nsleep for the night, when suddenly he heard noises at a distance, which\nhe knew were from people; for some were cutting trees, and the strokes\nof their axes echoed through the woods. When he emerged from the forest,\nthe sun was just falling below the horizon, and he felt pleased to find\na place to sleep in, and get something to eat, as he had left home\nwithout a mouthful. All these circumstances could not damp his ardour\nfor the accomplishment of his object, and he felt that if he only\npersevered, he would succeed. At a distance, on a rising piece of\nground, he could see an extensive town. He went toward it, but soon\nheard the watchman, MUDJEE-KOKOKOHO, who was placed on some height, to\noverlook the place, and give notice of the approach of friends or\nfoes--crying out, \"We are visited;\" and a loud holla indicated that they\nall heard it. The young man advanced, and was pointed by the watchman to\nthe lodge of the chief. \"It is there you must go in,\" he said, and left\nhim. \"Come in, come in,\" said the chief, \"take a seat there,\" pointing\nto the side where his daughter sat. \"It is there you must sit.\" Soon\nthey gave him something to eat, and very few questions were asked him,\nbeing a stranger. It was only when he spoke, that the others answered\nhim. \"Daughter,\" said the chief, after dark, \"take our son-in-law's\nmockasins, and see if they be torn; if so, mend them for him, and bring\nin his bundle.\" The young man thought it strange that he should be so\nwarmly received, and married instantly, without his wishing it, although\nthe young girl was pretty. It was some time before she would take his\nmockasins, which he had taken off. It displeased him to see her so\nreluctant to do so, and when she did reach them, he snatched them out of\nher hand and hung them up himself. He laid down and thought of the swan,\nand made up his mind to be off by dawn. He awoke early, and spoke to the\nyoung woman, but she gave no answer. He slightly touched her. \"What do\nyou want?\" she said, and turned her back toward him. \"Tell me,\" he said,\n\"what time the swan passed. I am following it, and come out and point\nthe direction.\" \"Do you think you can catch up to it?\" she said. \"Yes,\"\nhe answered. \"Naubesah,\" (foolishness) she said. She, however, went out\nand pointed in the direction he should go. The young man went slowly\ntill the sun arose, when he commenced traveling at his accustomed speed.\nHe passed the day in running, and when night came, he was unexpectedly\npleased to find himself near another town; and when at a distance, he\nheard the watchman crying out, \"We are visited;\" and soon the men of the\nvillage stood out to see the stranger. He was again told to enter the\nlodge of the chief, and his reception was, in every respect, the same as\nhe met the previous night; only that the young woman was more beautiful,\nand received him very kindly, and although urged to stay, his mind was\nfixed on the object of his journey. Before daylight he asked the young\nwoman what time the Red Swan passed, and to point out the way. She did\nso, and said it passed yesterday when the sun was between midday and\n_pungishemoo_--its falling place. He again set out rather slowly, but\nwhen the sun had arisen he tried his speed by shooting an arrow ahead,\nand running after it; but it fell behind him. Nothing remarkable\nhappened in the course of the day, and he went on leisurely. Toward\nnight, he came to the lodge of an old man. Some time after dark he saw a\nlight emitted from a small low lodge. He went up to it very slyly, and\npeeping through the door, saw an old man alone, warming his back before\nthe fire, with his head down on his breast. He thought the old man did\nnot know that he was standing near the door, but in this he was\ndisappointed; for so soon as he looked in, \"Walk in, Nosis,\"[3] he said,\n\"take a seat opposite to me, and take off your things and dry them, for\nyou must be fatigued; and I will prepare you something to eat.\" Odjibwa\ndid as he was requested. The old man, whom he perceived to be a\nmagician, then said; \"My kettle with water stands near the fire;\" and\nimmediately a small earthen or a kind of metallic pot with legs appeared\nby the fire. He then took one grain of corn, also one whortleberry, and\nput them in the pot. As the young man was very hungry, he thought that\nhis chance for a supper was but small. Not a word or a look, however,\nrevealed his feelings. The pot soon boiled, when the old man spoke,\ncommanding it to stand some distance from the fire; \"Nosis,\" said he,\n\"feed yourself,\" and he handed him a dish and ladle made out of the same\nmetal as the pot. The young man helped himself to all that was in the\npot; he felt ashamed to think of his having done so, but before he could\nspeak, the old man said, \"Nosis, eat, eat;\" and soon after he again\nsaid, \"help yourself from the pot.\" Odjibwa was surprised on looking\ninto it to see it full, he kept on taking _all out_, and as soon as it\nwas done, it was again filled, till he had amply satisfied his hunger.\nThe magician then spoke, and the pot occupied its accustomed place in\none part of the lodge. The young man then leisurely reclined back, and\nlistened to the predictions of his entertainer who told him to keep on,\nand he would obtain his object. \"To tell you more,\" said he, \"I am not\npermitted; but go on as you have commenced, and you will not be\ndisappointed; to-morrow you will again reach one of my fellow old men;\nbut the one you will see after him will tell you all, and the manner in\nwhich you will proceed to accomplish your journey. Often has this Red\nSwan passed, and those who have followed it have never returned: but you\nmust be firm in your resolution, and be prepared for all events.\" \"So\nwill it be,\" answered Odjibwa, and they both laid down to sleep. Early\nin the morning, the old man had his magic kettle prepared, so that his\nguest should eat before leaving. When leaving, the old man gave him his\nparting advice.\n\nOdjibwa set out in better spirits than he had done since leaving home.\nNight again found him in company with an old man, who received him\nkindly, and directed him on his way in the morning. He travelled with a\nlight heart, expecting to meet the one who was to give him directions\nhow to proceed to get the Red Swan. Toward night fall, he reached the\nthird old man's lodge. Before coming to the door, he heard him saying,\n\"Nosis, come in,\" and going in immediately, he felt quite at home. The\nold man prepared him something to eat, acting as the other magicians had\ndone, and his kettle was of the same dimensions and material. The old\nman waited till he had done eating, when he commenced addressing him.\n\"Young man, the errand you are on is very difficult. Numbers of young\nmen have passed with the same purpose, but never returned. Be careful,\nand if your guardian spirits are powerful, you may succeed. This Red\nSwan you are following, is the daughter of a magician, who has plenty of\nevery thing, but he values his daughter but little less than wampum. He\nwore a cap of wampum, which was attached to his scalp; but powerful\nIndians--warriors of a distant chief, came and told him, that their\nchief's daughter was on the brink of the grave, and she herself\nrequested his scalp of wampum to effect a cure. If I can only see it, I\nwill recover, she said, and it was for this reason they came, and after\nlong urging the magician, he at last consented to part with it, only\nfrom the idea of restoring the young woman to health; although when he\ntook it off, it left his head bare and bloody. Several years have passed\nsince, and it has not healed. The warriors' coming for it, was only a\ncheat, and they are now constantly making sport of it, dancing it about\nfrom village to village; and on every insult it receives the old man\ngroans from pain. Those Indians are too powerful for the magician, and\nnumbers have sacrificed themselves to recover it for him, but without\nsuccess. The Red Swan has enticed many a young man, as she has done you,\nin order to get them to procure it, and whoever is the fortunate one\nthat succeeds, will receive the Red Swan as his reward. In the morning\nyou will proceed on your way, and toward evening you will come to the\nmagician's lodge, but before you enter you will hear his groans; he will\nimmediately ask you in, and you will see no one but himself; he will\nmake inquiries of you, as regards your dreams, and the powers of your\nguardian spirits; he will then ask you to attempt the recovery of his\nscalp; he will show you the direction, and if you feel inclined, as I\ndare say you do, go forward, my son, with a strong heart, persevere, and\nI have a presentiment you will succeed.\" The young man answered, \"I will\ntry.\" Early next morning after having eaten from the magic kettle, he\nstarted off on his journey. Toward evening he came to the lodge as he\nwas told, and soon heard the groans of the magician. \"Come in,\" he said,\neven before the young man reached the door. On entering he saw his head\nall bloody, and he was groaning most terribly. \"Sit down, sit down,\" he\nsaid, \"while I prepare you something to eat,\" at the same time doing as\nthe other magicians had done, in preparing food--\"You see,\" he said,\n\"how poor I am; I have to attend to all my wants.\" He said this to\nconceal the fact that the Red Swan was there, but Odjibwa perceived that\nthe lodge was partitioned, and he heard a rustling noise, now and then,\nin that quarter, which satisfied him that it was occupied. After having\ntaken his leggings and mockasins off, and eaten, the old magician\ncommenced telling him how he had lost his scalp--the insults it was\nreceiving--the pain he was suffering in consequence--his wishes to\nregain it--the unsuccessful attempts that had already been made, and the\nnumbers and power of those who detained it; stated the best and most\nprobable way of getting it; touching the young man on his pride and\nambition, by the proposed adventure, and last, he spoke of such things\nas would make an Indian rich. He would interrupt his discourse by now\nand then groaning, and saying, \"Oh, how shamefully they are treating\nit.\" Odjibwa listened with solemn attention. The old man then asked him\nabout his dreams. His dreams, (or as _he saw when asleep_,[4]) at the\nparticular time he had fasted and blackened his face to procure guardian\nspirits.\n\nThe young man then told him one dream; the magician groaned; \"No, that\nis not it,\" he said. The young man told him another. He groaned again;\n\"That is not it,\" he said. The young man told him of two or three\nothers. The magician groaned at each recital, and said, rather\npeevishly, \"No, those are not them.\" The young man then thought to\nhimself, Who are you? you may groan as much as you please; I am inclined\nnot to tell you any more dreams. The magician then spoke in rather a\nsupplicating tone. \"Have you no more dreams of another kind?\" \"Yes,\"\nsaid the young man, and told him one. \"That is it, that is it,\" he\ncried; \"you will cause me to live. That was what I was wishing you to\nsay;\" and he rejoiced greatly. \"Will you then go and see if you cannot\nprocure my scalp?\" \"Yes,\" said the young man. \"I will go; and the day\nafter to-morrow,[5] when you hear the cries of the Kakak,[6] you will\nknow, by this sign, that I am successful, and you must prepare your\nhead, and lean it out through the door, so that the moment I arrive, I\nmay place your scalp on.\" \"Yes, yes,\" said the magician; \"as you say,\nit will be done.\" Early next morning, he set out on his perilous\nadventure, and about the time that the sun hangs toward home,\n(afternoon) he heard the shouts of a great many people. He was in a wood\nat the time, and saw, as he thought, only a few men; but the farther he\nwent, the more numerous they appeared. On emerging into a plain, their\nheads appeared like the hanging leaves for number. In the centre he\nperceived a post, and something waving on it, which was the scalp. Now\nand then the air was rent with the _Sau-sau-quan_, for they were dancing\nthe war dance around it. Before he could be perceived, he turned himself\ninto a No-noskau-see, (humming bird) and flew toward the scalp.\n\nAs he passed some of those who were standing by, he flew close to their\nears, making the humming noise which this bird does when it flies. They\njumped on one side and asked each other what it could be. By this time\nhe had nearly reached the scalp, but fearing he should be perceived\nwhile untying it, he changed himself into a Me-sau-be-wau-aun, (the down\nof anything that floats lightly on the air,) and then floated slowly and\nlightly on to the scalp. He untied it, and moved off slowly, as the\nweight was almost too great. It was as much as he could do to keep it\nup, and prevent the Indians from snatching it away. The moment they saw\nit was moving, they filled the air with their cries of \"It is taken from\nus; it is taken from us.\" He continued moving a few feet above them: the\nrush and hum of the people was like the dead beating surges after a\nstorm. He soon gained on them, and they gave up the pursuit. After going\na little farther he changed himself into a Kakak, and flew off with his\nprize, making that peculiar noise which this bird makes.\n\nIn the meantime, the magician had followed his instructions, placing his\nhead outside of the lodge, as soon as he heard the cry of the Kakak, and\nsoon after he heard the rustling of its wings. In a moment Odjibwa stood\nbefore him. He immediately gave the magician a severe blow on the head\nwith the wampum scalp: his limbs extended and quivered in agony from the\neffects of the blow: the scalp adhered, and the young man walked in and\nsat down, feeling perfectly at home. The magician was so long in\nrecovering from the stunning blow, that the young man feared he had\nkilled him. He was however pleased to see him show signs of life; he\nfirst commenced moving, and soon sat up. But how surprised was Odjibwa\nto see, not an aged man, far in years and decrepitude, but one of the\nhandsomest young men he ever saw stand up before him.\n\n\"Thank you, my _friend_,\" he said; \"you see that your kindness and\nbravery has restored me to my former shape. It was so ordained, and you\nhave now accomplished the victory.\" The young magician urged the stay of\nhis deliverer for a few days; and they soon formed a warm attachment for\neach other. The magician never alluded to the Red Swan in their\nconversations.\n\nAt last, the day arrived when Odjibwa made preparations to return. The\nyoung magician amply repaid him, for his kindness and bravery, by\nvarious kinds of wampum, robes, and all such things as he had need of to\nmake him an influential man. But though the young man's curiosity was at\nits height about the Red Swan, he controlled his feelings, and never so\nmuch as even hinted of her; feeling that he would surrender a point of\npropriety in so doing; while the one he had rendered such service to,\nwhose hospitality he was now enjoying, and who had richly rewarded him,\nhad never so much as even mentioned anything about her, but studiously\nconcealed her.\n\nOdjibwa's pack for travelling was ready, and he was taking his farewell\nsmoke, when the young magician thus addressed him: \"Friend, you know for\nwhat cause you came thus far. You have accomplished your object, and\nconferred a lasting obligation on me. Your perseverance shall not go\nunrewarded; and if you undertake other things with the same spirit you\nhave this, you will never fail to accomplish them. My duty renders it\nnecessary for me to remain where I am, although I should feel happy to\ngo with you. I have given you all you will need as long as you live; but\nI see you feel backward to speak about the Red Swan. I vowed that\nwhoever procured me my scalp, should be rewarded by possessing the Red\nSwan.\" He then spoke, and knocked on the partition. The door immediately\nopened, and the Red Swan met his eager gaze. She was a most beautiful\nfemale, and as she stood majestically before him, it would be impossible\nto describe her charms, for she looked as if she did not belong to\nearth. \"Take her,\" the young magician said; \"she is my sister, treat her\nwell; she is worthy of you, and what you have done for me merits more.\nShe is ready to go with you to your kindred and friends, and has been so\never since your arrival, and my good wishes go with you both.\" She then\nlooked very kindly on her husband, who now bid farewell to his friend\nindeed, and accompanied by the object of his wishes, he commenced\nretracing his footsteps.\n\nThey travelled slowly, and after two or three days reached the lodge of\nthe third old man, who had fed him from his small magic pot. He was\nvery kind, and said, \"You see what your perseverance has procured you;\ndo so always and you will succeed in all things you undertake.\"\n\nOn the following morning when they were going to start, he pulled from\nthe side of the lodge a bag, which he presented to the young man,\nsaying, \"Nosis, I give you this; it contains a present for you; and I\nhope you will live happily till old age.\" They then bid farewell to him\nand proceeded on.\n\nThey soon reached the second old man's lodge. Their reception there was\nthe same as at the first; he also gave them a present, with the old\nman's wishes that they would be happy. They went on and reached the\nfirst town, which the young man had passed in his pursuit. The watchman\ngave notice, and he was shown into the chief's lodge. \"Sit down there,\nson-in-law,\" said the chief, pointing to a place near his daughter. \"And\nyou also,\" he said to the Red Swan.\n\nThe young woman of the lodge was busy in making something, but she tried\nto show her indifference about what was taking place, for she did not\neven raise her head to see who was come. Soon the chief said, \"Let some\none bring in the bundle of our son-in-law.\" When it was brought in, the\nyoung man opened one of the bags, which he had received from one of the\nold men; it contained wampum, robes, and various other articles; he\npresented them to his father-in-law, and all expressed their surprise at\nthe value and richness of the gift. The chief's daughter then only stole\na glance at the present, then at Odjibwa and his beautiful wife; she\nstopped working, and remained silent and thoughtful all the evening.\nThey conversed about his adventures; after this the chief told him that\nhe should take his daughter along with him in the morning;--the young\nman said \"Yes.\" The chief then spoke out, saying, \"Daughter, be ready to\ngo with him in the morning.\"\n\nThere was a Maujeekewis in the lodge, who thought to have got the young\nwoman to wife; he jumped up, saying, \"Who is he (meaning the young man),\nthat he should take her for a few presents. I will kill him,\" and he\nraised a knife which he had in his hand. But he only waited till some\none held him back, and then sat down, for he was too great a coward to\ndo as he had threatened. Early they took their departure, amid the\ngreetings of their new friends, and toward evening reached the other\ntown. The watchman gave the signal, and numbers of men, women, and\nchildren stood out to see them. They were again shown into the chief's\nlodge, who welcomed them by saying, \"Son-in-law, you are welcome,\" and\nrequested him to take a seat by his daughter; and the two women did the\nsame.\n\nAfter the usual formalities of smoking and eating, the chief requested\nthe young man to relate his travels in the hearing of all the inmates of\nthe lodge, and those who came to see. They looked with admiration and\nastonishment at the Red Swan, for she was so beautiful. Odjibwa gave\nthem his whole history. The chief then told him that his brothers had\nbeen to their town in search of him, but had returned, and given up all\nhopes of ever seeing him again. He concluded by saying that since he had\nbeen so fortunate and so manly, he should take his daughter with him;\n\"For although your brothers,\" said he, \"were here, they were too timid\nto enter any of our lodges, and merely inquired for you and returned.\nYou will take my daughter, treat her well, and that will bind us more\nclosely together.\"\n\nIt is always the case in towns, that some one in it is foolish or\nclownish. It happened to be so here; for a Maujeekewis was in the lodge;\nand after the young man had given his father-in-law presents, as he did\nto the first, this Maujeekewis jumped up in a passion, saying, \"Who is\nthis stranger, that he should have her? I want her myself.\" The chief\ntold him to be quiet, and not to disturb or quarrel with one who was\nenjoying their hospitality. \"No, no,\" he boisterously cried, and made\nan attempt to strike the stranger. Odjibwa was above fearing his\nthreats, and paid no attention to him. He cried the louder, \"I will have\nher; I will have her.\" In an instant he was laid flat on the ground from\na blow of a war club given by the chief. After he came to himself, the\nchief upbraided him for his foolishness, and told him to go out and tell\nstories to the old women.\n\nTheir arrangements were then made, and the stranger invited a number of\nfamilies to go and visit their hunting grounds, as there was plenty of\ngame. They consented, and in the morning a large party were assembled to\naccompany the young man; and the chief with a large party of warriors\nescorted them a long distance. When ready to return the chief made a\nspeech, and invoked the blessing of the great good Spirit on his\nson-in-law and party.\n\nAfter a number of days' travel, Odjibwa and his party came in sight of\nhis home. The party rested while he went alone in advance to see his\nbrothers. When he entered the lodge he found it all dirty and covered\nwith ashes: on one side was his eldest brother, with his face blackened,\nand sitting amid ashes, crying aloud. On the other side was Maujeekewis,\nhis other brother; his face was also blackened, but his head was covered\nwith feathers and swan's down; he looked so odd, that the young man\ncould not keep from laughing, for he appeared and pretended to be so\nabsorbed with grief that he did not notice his brother's arrival. The\neldest jumped up and shook hands with him and kissed him, and felt very\nhappy to see him again.\n\nOdjibwa, after seeing all things put to rights, told them that he had\nbrought each of them a wife. When Maujeekewis heard about the wife, he\njumped up and said, \"Why, is it just now that you have come?\" and made\nfor the door and peeped out to see the women. He then commenced jumping\nand laughing, saying, \"Women! women!\" That was the only reception he\ngave his brother. Odjibwa then told them to wash themselves and prepare,\nfor he would go and fetch them in. Maujeekewis jumped and washed\nhimself, but would every now and then go and peep out to see the women.\nWhen they came near he said, I will have this one, and that one, he did\nnot exactly know which--he would go and sit down for an instant, and\nthen go and peep and laugh; he acted like a madman.\n\nAs soon as order was restored, and all seated, Odjibwa presented one of\nthe women to his eldest brother, saying, \"These women were given to me;\nI now give one to each; I intended so from the first.\" Maujeekewis\nspoke, and said, \"I think three wives would have been _enough_ for\nyou.\" The young man led one to Maujeekewis, saying, \"My brother, here is\none for you, and live happily.\" Maujeekewis hung down his head as if he\nwas ashamed, but would every now and then steal a glance at his wife,\nand also at the other women. By and by he turned toward his wife, and\nacted as if he had been married for years. \"Wife,\" he said, \"I will go\nand hunt,\" and off he started.\n\nAll lived peaceably for some time, and their town prospered, the\ninhabitants increased, and everything was abundant among them. One day\ndissatisfaction was manifested in the conduct of the two elder brothers,\non account of Odjibwa's having taken their deceased father's magic\narrows: they upbraided and urged him to procure others if he could.\nTheir object was to get him away, so that one of them might afterward\nget his wife. One day, after listening to them, he told them he would\ngo. Maujeekewis and himself went together into a sweating lodge to\npurify themselves. Even there, although it was held sacred, Maujeekewis\nupbraided him for the arrows. He told him again he would go; and next\nday, true to his word, he left them. After travelling a long way he came\nto an opening in the earth, and descending, it led him to the abode of\ndeparted spirits. The country appeared beautiful, the extent of it was\nlost in the distance: he saw animals of various kinds in abundance. The\nfirst he came near to were buffalo; his surprise was great when these\nanimals addressed him as human beings. They asked him what he came for,\nhow he descended, why he was so bold as to visit the abode of the dead.\nHe told them he was in search of magic arrows to appease his brothers.\n\"Very well,\" said the leader of the buffaloes, whose whole form was\nnothing but bone. \"Yes, we know it,\" and he and his followers moved off\na little space as if they were afraid of him. \"You have come,\" resumed\nthe Buffalo Spirit, \"to a place where a living man has never before\nbeen. You will return immediately to your tribe, for your brothers are\ntrying to dishonour your wife; and you will live to a very old age, and\nlive and die happily; you can go no farther in these abodes of ours.\"\nOdjibwa looked, as he thought, to the west, and saw a bright light, as\nif the sun was shining in its splendour, but he saw no sun. \"What light\nis that I see yonder,\" he asked. The all-boned buffalo answered, \"It is\nthe place where those who were good dwell.\" \"And that dark cloud,\"\nOdjibwa again asked. \"Mudjee-izzhi-wabezewin,\" (wickedness) answered the\nbuffalo. He asked no more questions, and with the aid of his guardian\nspirits, again stood on this earth and saw the sun giving light as\nusual, and breathed the pure air. All else he saw in the abodes of the\ndead and his travels and actions previous to his return, are unknown.\nAfter wandering a long time in quest of information to make his people\nhappy, he one evening drew near to his village or town, passing all the\nother lodges and coming to his own, he heard his brothers at high words\nwith each other; they were quarrelling for the possession of his wife.\nShe had, however, remained constant and mourned the absence and probable\nloss of her husband; but she had mourned him with the dignity of virtue.\nThe noble youth listened till he was satisfied of the base principles of\nhis brothers. He then entered the lodge, with the stern air and\nconscious dignity of a brave and honest man. He spoke not a word, but\nplacing the magic arrows to his bow, drew them to their length and laid\nthe brothers dead at his feet. Thus ended the contest between the\nhermit's sons, and a firm and happy union was consummated between\nODJIBWA,[7] or him of the primitive or gathered voice, and the Red Swan.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Pai-gwud-aw-diz-zid.\n\n[2] Pungish-e-moo, falling or sinking to a position of repose.\n\n[3] My grandchild.\n\n[4] Enaw-bandum.\n\n[5] The Indian expression is, Awuss-Waubung--the day _beyond_ to-morrow.\n\n[6] A species of hawk.\n\n[7] This word may to be a derivative from Ojeebik, a root, &c. and\nmaidwa, voice, or from odjoebwuh, to gather, v. a.\n\n\n\n\nAGGO DAH GAUDA,\n\nOR\n\nTHE MAN WITH HIS LEG TIED UP.\n\n\nAggo Dah Gauda had one leg looped up to his thigh, so that he was\nobliged to get along by hopping. He had a beautiful daughter, and his\nchief care was to secure her from being carried off by the king of the\nbuffaloes. It was a peculiarity in which he differed from other Indians,\nthat he lived in a log house, and he advised his daughter to keep in\ndoors and never go out into the neighbourhood for fear of being stolen\naway.\n\nOne sunshiny morning Aggo Dah Gauda prepared to go out a fishing, but\nbefore he left the lodge reminded his daughter of her strange and\npersecuting lover. \"My daughter,\" said he, \"I am going out to fish, and\nas the day will be a pleasant one, you must recollect that we have an\nenemy near, who is constantly going about, and do not expose yourself\nout of the lodge.\" When he had reached his fishing ground, he heard a\nvoice singing at a distance the following strains, in derision of him.\n\n       Aggo Dah Gauda\n       Aggo Dah Gauda\n       Ke anne po--po--\n       Ko no gun a.\n\n       Aggo Dah Gauda\n       Aggo Dah Gauda\n       Ke anne po--po--\n       Ko gau da.\n\n     Man with the leg tied up,\n     Man with the leg tied up,\n     Broken hip--hip--\n                  Hipped.\n\n     Man with the leg tied up,\n     Man with the leg tied up,\n     Broken leg--leg--\n                  Legged.\n\nHe saw no one, but suspecting it to come from his enemies the buffaloes,\nhe hastened his return.\n\nLet us now see what happened to the daughter. Her father had not been\nlong absent from the lodge, when she thought in her mind, [_ke in ain\ndum_] it is hard to be thus for ever kept in doors. The spring is now\ncoming on, and the days are so sunny and warm, that it would be very\npleasant to sit out doors. But my father says it would be dangerous. I\nknow what I will do. I will get on the top of the house, and there I can\ncomb and dress my hair. She accordingly got up on the roof of the small\nhouse, and busied herself in untying and combing her beautiful hair. For\nher hair was not only of a fine glossy quality, but was so long that it\nreached down on the ground, and hung over the eaves of the house, as she\nsat dressing it. She was so intent upon this, that she forgot all ideas\nof danger, till it was too late to escape. For, all of a sudden, the\nking[8] of the buffaloes came dashing on, with his herd of followers,\nand taking her between his horns, away he cantered over the plains,\nplunged into a river that bounded his land, and carried her safely to\nhis lodge, on the other side. Here he paid every attention to gain her\naffections, but all to no purpose, for she sat pensively and\ndisconsolate in the lodge among the other females, and scarcely ever\nspoke, and took no part in the domestic cares of her lover the king. He,\non the contrary did every thing he could think of to please her and win\nher affections. He told the others in his lodge to give her every thing\nshe wanted, and to be careful not to displease her. They set before her\nthe choicest food. They gave her the seat of honour in the lodge. The\nking himself went out hunting to obtain the most dainty bits of meat,\nboth of animals and wild fowl. And not content with these proofs of his\nattachment he fasted himself, and would often take his pib be gwun,[9]\nand sit near the lodge indulging his mind in repeating a few pensive\nnotes.\n\n       Ne ne moo sha\n       Ne ne moo sha\n            We ya.\n\n       Ma kow\n       We au nin\n            We yea.\n\n       Azhe--azhe\n       Sau gee naun ih\n            We yea.\n\n       Ka-go ka-go\n       Dush ween e\n       Shing gain--\n       E me she kain\n            We yea.\n\n     My sweetheart,\n     My sweetheart,\n            Ah me!\n\n     When I think of you,\n     When I think of you,\n            Ah me!\n\n     How I love you,\n     How I love you,\n            Ah me!\n\n     Do not hate me,\n     Do not hate me,\n            Ah me!\n\nIn the mean time Aggo Dah Gauda came home, and finding his daughter had\nbeen stolen, determined to get her back. For this purpose he immediately\nset out. He could easily track the king, until he came to the banks of\nthe river, and saw that he had plunged in and swam over. But there had\nbeen a frosty night or two since, and the water was so covered with thin\nice, so that he could not walk on it. He determined to encamp till it\nbecame solid, and then crossed over and pursued the trail. As he went\nalong he saw branches broken off and strewed behind, for these had been\npurposely cast along by the daughter, that the way might be found. And\nthe manner in which she had accomplished it, was this. Her hair was all\nuntied when she was caught up, and being very long, it caught on the\nbranches as they darted along, and it was these twigs that she broke off\nfor signs to her father. When he came to the king's lodge it was\nevening. Carefully approaching it, he peeped through the sides and saw\nhis daughter sitting disconsolately. She immediately caught his eye, and\nknowing that it was her father come for her; she all at once appeared to\nrelent in her heart, and asking for the dipper, said to the king, \"I\nwill go and get you a drink of water.\" This token of submission\ndelighted him, and he waited with impatience for her return. At last he\nwent out with his followers, but nothing could be seen or heard of the\ncaptive daughter. They sallied out in the plains, but had not gone far,\nby the light of the moon, when a party of hunters, headed by the\nfather-in-law of Aggo Dah Gauda, set up their yells in their rear, and a\nshower of arrows was poured in upon them. Many of their numbers fell,\nbut the king being stronger and swifter than the rest, fled toward the\nwest, and never again appeared in that part of the country.\n\nWhile all this was passing Aggo Dah Gauda, who had met his daughter the\nmoment she came out of the lodge, and being helped by his guardian\nspirit, took her on his shoulders and hopped off, a hundred steps in\none, till he reached the stream, crossed it, and brought back his\ndaughter in triumph to his lodge.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[8] In our Indian languages the highest terms for men in power are\nKOSINAUN, our father, and OGIMAU, chief. Both admit of a prefixed\nadjective to indicate great, and of a diminutive inflection to denote\ninferiority in size, power, or excellence. The term \"king\" is retained\nhere, from the verbal narration of the interpreters.\n\n[9] Indian flute.\n\n\n\n\nIOSCO,\n\nOR\n\nA VISIT TO THE SUN AND MOON.\n\nA TALE OF INDIAN COSMOGONY, FROM THE OTTOWA.\n\n\nOne day five young men and a boy of about ten years of age, went out a\nshooting with their bows and arrows. They left their lodges with the\nfirst appearance of daylight, and having passed through a long reach of\nwoods, had ascended a lofty eminence before the sun arose. While\nstanding there in a group, the sun suddenly burst forth in all the\neffulgence of a summer's morning. It appeared to them to be at no great\ndistance from the position they occupied. \"How very near it is,\" they\nall said. \"It cannot be far,\" said Iosco, the eldest, \"and if you will\naccompany me, we will see if we cannot reach it.\" \"I will go! I will\ngo!\" burst from every lip. Even the boy said he would also go. They told\nhim he was too young; but he replied, \"If you do not permit me to go\nwith you, I will mention your design to each of your parents.\" They\nthen said to him, \"you shall also go with us, so be quiet.\"\n\nThey then fell upon the following arrangement. It was resolved that each\none should obtain from his parents as many pair of moccasins as he\ncould, and also new clothing of leather. They fixed on a spot where they\nwould conceal all their articles, until they were ready to start on\ntheir journey, and which would serve, in the meantime, as a place of\nrendezvous, where they might secretly meet and consult. This being\narranged, they returned home.\n\nA long time passed before they could put their plans into execution. But\nthey kept it a profound secret, even to the boy. They frequently met at\nthe appointed place, and discussed the subject. At length every thing\nwas in readiness, and they decided on a day to set out. That morning the\nboy shed tears for a pair of new leather leggings. \"Don't you see,\" said\nhe to his parents, \"how my companions are drest?\" This appeal to their\npride and envy prevailed. He obtained the leggings. Artifices were also\nresorted to by the others, under the plea of going out on a special\nhunt. They said to one another, but in a tone that they might be\noverheard, \"we will see who will bring in the most game.\" They went out\nin different directions, but soon met at the appointed place, where they\nhad hid the articles for their journey, and as many arrows as they had\ntime to make. Each one took something on his back, and they began their\nmarch. They travelled day after day, through a thick forest, but the sun\nwas always at the same distance. \"We must,\" said they, \"travel toward\nWaubunong,[10] and we shall get to the object, some time or other.\" No\none was discouraged, although winter overtook them. They built a lodge\nand hunted, till they obtained as much dried meat as they could carry,\nand then continued on. This they did several times; season followed\nseason. More than one winter overtook them. Yet none of them became\ndiscouraged, or expressed dissatisfaction.\n\nOne day the travellers came to the banks of a river, whose waters ran\ntoward Waubunong. They followed it down many days. As they were walking,\none day, they came to rising grounds, from which they saw something\nwhite or clear through the trees. They encamped on this elevation. Next\nmorning they came, suddenly, in view of an immense body of water. No\nland could be seen as far as the eye could reach. One or two of them\nlaid down on the beach to drink. As soon as they got the water into\ntheir mouths, they spit it out, and exclaimed with surprise, Shewetagon\nawbo! [salt water.] It was the sea. While looking on the water, the sun\narose as if from the deep, and went on in its steady course through the\nheavens, enlivening the scene with his cheering and animating beams.\nThey stood in fixed admiration, but the object appeared to be as distant\nfrom them as ever. They thought it best to encamp, and consult whether\nit were advisable to go on, or return. \"We see,\" said the leader, \"that\nthe sun is still on the opposite side of this great water, but let us\nnot be disheartened. We can walk around the shore.\" To this they all\nassented.\n\nNext morning they took the northerly shore, to walk around it, but had\nonly gone a short distance when they came to a large river. They again\nencamped, and while sitting before the fire, the question was put,\nwhether any one of them had ever dreamed of water, or of walking on it.\nAfter a long silence, the eldest said he had. Soon after they laid down\nto sleep. When they arose the following morning, the eldest addressed\nthem: \"We have done wrong in coming north. Last night my spirit appeared\nto me, and told me to go south, and that but a short distance beyond the\nspot we left yesterday, we should come to a river with high banks. That\nby looking off its mouth, we should see an island, which would approach\nto us. He directed that we should all get on it. He then told me to cast\nmy eyes toward the water. I did so, and I saw all he had declared. He\nthen informed me that we must return south, and wait at the river until\nthe day after to-morrow. I believe all that was revealed to me in this\ndream, and that we shall do well to follow it.\"\n\nThe party immediately retraced their footsteps in exact obedience to\nthese intimations. Toward the evening they came to the borders of the\nindicated river. It had high banks, behind which they encamped, and here\nthey patiently awaited the fulfilment of the dream. The appointed day\narrived. They said, we will see if that which has been said will be\nseen. Midday is the promised time. Early in the morning two had gone to\nthe shore to keep a look out. They waited anxiously for the middle of\nthe day, straining their eyes to see if they could discover any thing.\nSuddenly they raised a shout. Ewaddee suh neen! There it is! There it\nis! On rushing to the spot they beheld something like an _island_\nsteadily advancing toward the shore. As it approached, they could\ndiscover that something was moving on it in various directions. They\nsaid it is a Manito, let us be off into the woods. No, no, cried the\neldest, let us stay and watch. It now became stationary, and lost much\nof its imagined height. They could only see _three_ trees, as they\nthought, resembling trees in a pinery that had been burnt. The wind,\nwhich had been off the sea, now died away into a perfect calm. They saw\nsomething leaving the fancied island and approaching the shore, throwing\nand flapping its wings, like a loon when he attempts to fly in calm\nweather. It entered the mouth of the river. They were on the point of\nrunning away, but the eldest dissuaded them. Let us hide in this hollow,\nhe said, and we will see what it can be. They did so. They soon heard\nthe sounds of chopping, and quickly after they heard the falling of\ntrees. Suddenly a man came up to their place of concealment. He stood\nstill and gazed at them. They did the same in utter amazement. After\nlooking at them for some time, the person advanced and extended his hand\ntoward them. The eldest took it, and they shook hands. He then spoke,\nbut they could not understand each other. He then cried out for his\ncomrades. They came, and examined very minutely their dresses. They\nagain tried to converse. Finding it impossible, the strangers then\nmotioned to the Naubequon, and to the Naubequon-ais,[11] wishing them\nto embark. They consulted with each other for a short time. The eldest\nthen motioned that they should go on board. They embarked on board the\nboat, which they found to be loaded with wood. When they reached the\nside of the supposed island, they were surprised to see a great number\nof people, who all came to the side and looked at them with open mouths.\nOne spoke out, above the others, and appeared to be the leader. He\nmotioned them to get on board. He looked and examined them, and took\nthem down into the cabin, and set things before them to eat. He treated\nthem very kindly.\n\nWhen they came on deck again all the sails were spread, and they were\nfast losing sight of land. In the course of the night and the following\nday they were sick at the stomach, but soon recovered. When they had\nbeen out at sea ten days, they became sorrowful, as they could not\nconverse with those who had hats on.[12]\n\nThe following night Iosco dreamed that his spirit appeared to him. He\ntold him not to be discouraged, that he would open his ears, so as to be\nable to understand the people with hats. I will not permit you to\nunderstand much, said he, only sufficient to reveal your wants, and to\nknow what is said to you. He repeated this dream to his friends, and\nthey were satisfied and encouraged by it. When they had been out about\nthirty days, the master of the ship told them, and motioned them to\nchange their dresses of leather, for such as his people wore; for if\nthey did not, his master would be displeased. It was on this occasion\nthat the elder first understood a few words of the language. The first\nphrase he comprehended was _La que notte_, and from one word to another\nhe was soon able to speak it.\n\nOne day the men cried out, land! and soon after they heard a noise\nresembling thunder, in repeated peals. When they had got over their\nfears, they were shown the large guns which made this noise. Soon after\nthey saw a vessel smaller than their own, sailing out of a bay, in the\ndirection toward them. She had flags on her masts, and when she came\nnear she fired a gun. The large vessel also hoisted her flags, and the\nboat came alongside. The master told the person who came in it, to tell\nhis master or king, that he had six strangers on board, such as had\nnever been seen before, and that they were coming to visit him. It was\nsome time after the departure of this messenger before the vessel got up\nto the town. It was then dark, but they could see people, and horses,\nand odawbons[13] ashore. They were landed, and placed in a covered\nvehicle, and driven off. When they stopped, they were taken into a large\nand splendid room. They were here told that the great chief wished to\nsee them. They were shown into another large room, filled with men and\nwomen. All the room was Shonean-cauda.[14] The chief asked them their\nbusiness, and the object of their journey. They told him where they were\nfrom, and where they were going, and the nature of the enterprise which\nthey had undertaken. He tried to dissuade them from its execution,\ntelling them of the many trials and difficulties they would have to\nundergo: that so many days' march from his country dwelt a bad spirit,\nor Manito, who foreknew and foretold the existence and arrival of all\nwho entered into his country. It is impossible, he said, my children,\nfor you ever to arrive at the object you are in search of.\n\nIosco replied; \"Nosa,\"[15] and they could see the chief blush in being\ncalled _father_, \"we have come so far on our way, and we will continue\nit: we have resolved firmly that we will do so. We think our lives are\nof no value, for we have given them up for this object. Nosa,\" he\nrepeated, \"do not then prevent us from going on our journey.\" The chief\nthen dismissed them with valuable presents, after having appointed the\nnext day to speak to them again, and provided every thing that they\nneeded or wished for.\n\nNext day they were again summoned to appear before the king. He again\ntried to dissuade them. He said he would send them back to their country\nin one of his vessels: but all he said had no effect. \"Well,\" said he,\n\"if you will go, I will furnish you all that is needed for your\njourney.\" He had every thing provided accordingly. He told them, that\nthree days before they reached the Bad Spirit he had warned them of,\nthey would hear his Sheshegwun.[16] He cautioned them to be wise, for he\nfelt that he should never see them all again.\n\nThey resumed their journey, and travelled sometimes through villages,\nbut they soon left them behind and passed over a region of forests and\nplains, without inhabitants. They found all the productions of a new\ncountry: trees, animals, birds, were entirely different from those they\nwere accustomed to, on the other side of the great waters. They\ntravelled, and travelled, till they wore out all of the clothing that\nhad been given to them, and had to take to their leather clothing again.\n\nThe three days the chief spoke of meant three years, for it was only at\nthe end of the third year, that they came within the sight of the\nspirit's sheshegwun. The sound appeared to be near, but they continued\nwalking on, day after day, without apparently getting any nearer to it.\nSuddenly they came to a very extensive plain; they could see the blue\nridges of distant mountains rising on the horizon beyond it: they pushed\non, thinking to get over the plain before night, but they were overtaken\nby darkness: they were now on a stony part of the plain, covered by\nabout a foot's depth of water: they were weary and fatigued: some of\nthem said, let us lie down; no, no, said the others, let us push on.\nSoon, they stood on firm ground, but it was as much as they could do to\nstand, for they were very weary. They, however, made an effort to\nencamp, lighted up a fire, and refreshed themselves by eating. They then\ncommenced conversing about the sound of the spirit's sheshegwun, which\nthey had heard for several days. Suddenly the instrument commenced; it\nsounded as if it was subterraneous, and it shook the ground: they tied\nup their bundles and went toward the spot. They soon came to a large\nbuilding, which was illuminated. As soon as they came to the door, they\nwere met by a rather elderly man. \"How do ye do,\" said he, \"my\ngrandsons? Walk in, walk in; I am glad to see you: I knew when you\nstarted: I saw you encamp this evening: sit down, and tell me the news\nof the country you left, for I feel interested in it.\" They complied\nwith his wishes, and when they had concluded, each one presented him\nwith a piece of tobacco. He then revealed to them things that would\nhappen in their journey, and predicted its successful accomplishment. \"I\ndo not say that all of you,\" said he, \"will successfully go through it.\nYou have passed over three-fourths of your way, and I will tell you how\nto proceed after you get to the edge of the earth. Soon after you leave\nthis place, you will hear a deafening sound: it is the sky descending on\nthe edge, but it keeps moving up and down; you will watch, and when it\nmoves up, you will see a vacant space between it and the earth. You must\nnot be afraid. A chasm of awful depth is there, which separates the\nunknown from this earth, and a veil of darkness conceals it. Fear not.\nYou must leap through; and if you succeed you will find yourselves on a\nbeautiful plain, and in a soft and mild light emitted by the moon.\" They\nthanked him for his advice. A pause ensued.\n\n\"I have told you the way,\" he said; \"now tell me again of the country\nyou have left; for I committed dreadful ravages while I was there: does\nnot the country show marks of it? and do not the inhabitants tell of me\nto their children? I came to this place to mourn over my bad actions,\nand am trying, by my present course of life, to relieve my mind of the\nload that is on it.\" They told him that their fathers spoke often of a\ncelebrated personage called Manabozho, who performed great exploits. \"I\nam he,\" said the Spirit. They gazed with astonishment and fear. \"Do you\nsee this pointed house?\" said he, pointing to one that resembled a\nsugar-loaf; \"you can now each speak your wishes and will be answered\nfrom that house. Speak out, and ask what each wants, and it shall be\ngranted.\" One of them, who was vain, asked with presumption, that he\nmight live for ever, and never be in want. He was answered, \"Your wish\nshall be granted.\" The second made the same request, and received the\nsame answer. The third asked to live longer than common people, and to\nbe always successful in his war excursions, never losing any of his\nyoung men. He was told, \"Your wishes are granted.\" The fourth joined in\nthe same request, and received the same reply. The fifth made an humble\nrequest, asking to live as long as men generally do, and that he might\nbe crowned with such success in hunting as to be able to provide for his\nparents and relatives. The sixth made the same request, and it was\ngranted to both, in pleasing tones, from the pointed house.\n\nAfter hearing these responses they prepared to depart. They were told by\nManabozho, that they had been with him but one day, but they afterward\nfound that they had remained there upward of a year. When they were on\nthe point of setting out, Manabozho exclaimed, \"Stop! you two, who asked\nme for eternal life, will receive the boon you wish immediately.\" He\nspake, and one was turned into a stone called Shingauba-wossin,[17] and\nthe other into a cedar-tree. \"Now,\" said he to the others, \"you can go.\"\nThey left him in fear, saying, we were fortunate to escape so, for the\nking told us he was wicked, and that we should not probably escape from\nhim. They had not proceeded far, when they began to hear the sound of\nthe beating sky. It appeared to be near at hand, but they had a long\ninterval to travel before they came near, and the sound was then\nstunning to their senses; for when the sky came down, its pressure would\nforce gusts of wind from the opening, so strong that it was with\ndifficulty they could keep their feet, and the sun passed but a short\ndistance above their heads. They, however, approached boldly, but had to\nwait some time before they could muster courage enough to leap through\nthe dark veil that covered the passage. The sky would come down with\nviolence, but it would rise slowly and gradually. The two who had made\nthe humble request, stood near the edge, and with no little exertion,\nsucceeded, one after the other, in leaping through, and gaining a firm\nfoothold. The remaining two were fearful and undecided: the others spoke\nto them through the darkness, saying, \"leap! leap! the sky is on its way\ndown.\" These two looked up and saw it descending, but fear paralyzed\ntheir efforts; they made but a feeble attempt, so as to reach the\nopposite side with their hands; but the sky at the same time struck on\nthe earth with great violence and a terrible sound, and forced them into\nthe dreadful black chasm.\n\nThe two successful adventurers found themselves in a beautiful country,\nlighted by the moon, which shed around a mild and pleasant light. They\ncould see the moon approaching as if it were from behind a hill. They\nadvanced, and an aged woman spoke to them; she had a white face and\npleasing air, and looked rather old, though she spoke to them very\nkindly: they knew from her first appearance that she was the moon: she\nasked them several questions: she told them that she knew of their\ncoming, and was happy to see them: she informed them that they were half\nway to her brother's, and that from the earth to her abode was half the\ndistance. \"I will, by and by, have leisure,\" said she, \"and will go and\nconduct you to my brother, for he is now absent on his daily course: you\nwill succeed in your object, and return in safety to your country and\nfriends, with the good wishes, I am sure, of my brother.\" While the\ntravellers were with her, they received every attention. When the proper\ntime arrived, she said to them, \"My brother is now rising from below,\nand we shall see his light as he comes over the distant edge: come,\"\nsaid she, \"I will lead you up.\" They went forward, but in some\nmysterious way, they hardly knew how: they rose almost directly up, as\nif they had ascended steps. They then came upon an immense plain,\ndeclining in the direction of the sun's approach. When he came near, the\nmoon spake--\"I have brought you these persons, whom we knew were\ncoming;\" and with this she disappeared. The sun motioned with his hand\nfor them to follow him. They did so, but found it rather difficult, as\nthe way was steep: they found it particularly so from the edge of the\nearth till they got halfway between that point and midday: when they\nreached this spot, the sun stopped, and sat down to rest. \"What, my\nchildren,\" said he, \"has brought you here? I could not speak to you\nbefore: I could not stop at any place but this, for this is my first\nresting-place--then at the centre, which is at midday, and then halfway\nfrom that to the western edge.\"[18] \"Tell me,\" he continued, \"the object\nof your undertaking this journey and all the circumstances which have\nhappened to you on the way.\" They complied. Iosco told him their main\nobject was to see him. They had lost four of their friends on the way,\nand they wished to know whether they could return in safely to the\nearth, that they might inform their friends and relatives of all that\nhad befallen them. They concluded by requesting him to grant their\nwishes. He replied, \"Yes, you shall certainly return in safety; but your\ncompanions were vain and presumptuous in their demands. They were\nGug-ge-baw-diz-ze-wug.[19] They aspired to what Manitoes only could\nenjoy. But you two, as I said, shall get back to your country, and\nbecome as happy as the hunter's life can make you. You shall never be in\nwant of the necessaries of life, as long as you are permitted to live;\nand you will have the satisfaction of relating your journey to your\nfriends, and also of telling them of me. Follow me, follow me,\" he said,\ncommencing his course again. The ascent was now gradual, and they soon\ncame to a level plain. After travelling some time he again sat down to\nrest, for we had arrived at Nau-we-qua.[20] \"You see,\" said he, \"it is\nlevel at this place, but a short distance onwards, my way descends\ngradually to my last resting place, from which there is an abrupt\ndescent.\" He repeated his assurance that they should be shielded from\ndanger, if they relied firmly on his power. \"Come here quickly,\" he\nsaid, placing something before them on which they could descend; \"keep\nfirm,\" said he, as they resumed the descent. They went downward as if\nthey had been let down by ropes.\n\nIn the meantime the parents of these two young men dreamed that their\nsons were returning, and that they should soon see them. They placed\nthe fullest confidence in their dreams. Early in the morning they left\ntheir lodges for a remote point in the forest, where they expected to\nmeet them. They were not long at the place before they saw the\nadventurers returning, for they had descended not far from that place.\nThe young men knew they were their fathers. They met, and were happy.\nThey related all that had befallen them. They did not conceal any thing;\nand they expressed their gratitude to the different Manitoes who had\npreserved them, by feasting and gifts, and particularly to the sun and\nmoon, who had received them as their children.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[The foregoing tale was related by Chusco, an Ottowa chief, converted to\nChristianity a few years ago. He was born at L'arbre Croche, in\nMichigan, some years after the taking of Fort Mackinac, in 1763,--an\nevent of such notoriety in Indian tradition, that it is generally\nreferred to by them as an era. He was present at the treaty of\nGreenville, in 1793, and received an annuity during the last few years\nof his life in consequence of a promise understood to have been made to\nhim by General Wayne.]\n\nChusco was a man of small stature; he appears to have possessed great\nbodily activity in his youth, united to a mind of quick observation. He\nembraced, at an early period of his life, the profession of a seer, and\npractised it with the approbation of his tribe till within a few years.\nAbout 1827 his mind was arrested by the truths of revelation, which were\nfirst brought to his notice by his wife, who had been instructed at a\nmission on the island of Mackinac. He made a profession of religion\nwithin a year or two after, renounced his idolatry, gave up the use of\nardent spirits and every species of fermented drink, and exhibited a\nconsistent Christian life, to the period of his death, in 1837. He is\nburied at Round Island, in lake Huron, where a neat paling has been\nplaced over his grave. The story itself, so far as respects the object,\nis calculated to remind the reader of South American history, of the\nalleged descent of Manco Capac and the Children of the Sun. But I am not\nprepared to say, that an examination of the traditional history of the\nAlgics will sustain the comparison.\n\nThe tale does not appear to be of great comparative antiquity. The\nintroduction of ships, and guns, and axes, is sufficient to indicate\nthis. It is interesting, however, as revealing their notions of\ncosmogony, the division of the day into quartads, and their impressions\nof general geography. It would appear that they believe the earth to be\n_globular_; they speak of but a single sea. The tradition of Manabozho\nis attested, and he is here represented, as in all other known\ninstances, to be a Bad, and not a Good Spirit, and there is no\ncountenance given to the verbal opinion, sometimes expressed, that this\npersonage partakes of any of the characters of a Saviour.\n\nThe moral bearing of the story is, perhaps, to indicate the danger of\nambition. Ambition and presumption, in human wishes, are very clearly\nrebuked by the results of the oracular response, and by the immediate\nfulfilment of the predictions.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[10] The East--i. e. place of light.\n\n[11] Ship and boat. These terms exhibit the simple and the diminutive\nforms of the name for ship or vessel. It is also the term for a woman's\nneedlework, and seems to imply a tangled thready mass, and was perhaps\ntransferred in allusion to a ship's ropes.\n\n[12] Wewaquonidjig, a term early and extensively applied to whiteman, by\nour Indians, and still frequently used.\n\n[13] Odawbon comprehends all vehicles between a dog train and a coach,\nwhether on wheels or runners. The term is nearest allied to vehicle.\n\n[14] Massive silver.\n\n[15] My father.\n\n[16] A rattle.\n\n[17] A hard primitive stone, frequently found along the borders of the\nlakes and water-courses, generally fretted into image shapes. Hardness\nand indestructibility are regarded as its characteristics by the\nIndians. It is often granite.\n\n[18] This computation of time separates the day into four portions of\nsix hours each--two of which, from 1 to 6, and from 6 to 12, A. M.\ncompose the _morning_, and the other two, from 1 to 6, and from 6 to 12,\nP. M. compose the _evening_.\n\n[19] This is a verbal form, plural number, of the transitive\nadjective--foolish.\n\n[20] Midday, or middle line.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO JEEBI-UG,[21]\n\nOR\n\nA TRIAL OF FEELING.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThere lived a hunter in the north who had a wife and one child. His\nlodge stood far off in the forest, several days' journey from any other.\nHe spent his days in hunting, and his evenings in relating to his wife\nthe incidents that had befallen him. As game was very abundant he found\nno difficulty in killing as much as they wanted. Just in all his acts,\nhe lived a peaceful and happy life.\n\nOne evening during the winter season, it chanced that he remained out\nlater than usual, and his wife began to feel uneasy, for fear some\naccident had befallen him. It was already dark. She listened attentively\nand at last heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Not doubting it\nwas her husband, she went to the door and beheld two strange females.\nShe bade them enter, and invited them to remain.\n\nShe observed that they were total strangers in the country. There was\nsomething so peculiar in their looks, air, and manner, that she was\nuneasy in their company. They would not come near the fire; they sat in\na remote part of the lodge, were shy and taciturn, and drew their\ngarments about them in such a manner as nearly to hide their faces. So\nfar as she could judge, they were pale, hollow-eyed, and long-visaged,\nvery thin and emaciated. There was but little light in the lodge, as the\nfire was low, and served by its fitful flashes, rather to increase than\ndispel their fears. \"Merciful spirit!\" cried a voice from the opposite\npart of the lodge, \"there are two corpses clothed with garments.\" The\nhunter's wife turned around, but seeing nobody, she concluded the sounds\nwere but gusts of wind. She trembled, and was ready to sink to the\nearth.\n\nHer husband at this moment entered and dispelled her fears. He threw\ndown the carcass of a large fat deer. \"Behold what a fine and fat\nanimal,\" cried the mysterious females, and they immediately ran and\npulled off pieces of the whitest fat,[22] which they ate with\ngreediness. The hunter and his wife looked on with astonishment, but\nremained silent. They supposed their guests might have been famished.\nNext day, however, the same unusual conduct was repeated. The strange\nfemales tore off the fat and devoured it with eagerness. The third day\nthe hunter thought he would anticipate their wants by tying up a portion\nof the fattest pieces for them, which he placed on the top of his load.\nThey accepted it, but still appeared dissatisfied, and went to the\nwife's portion and tore off more. The man and his wife felt surprised at\nsuch rude and unaccountable conduct, but they remained silent, for they\nrespected their guests, and had observed that they had been attended\nwith marked good luck during the residence of these mysterious visiters.\n\nIn other respects the deportment of the females was strictly\nunexceptionable. They were modest, distant, and silent. They never\nuttered a word during the day. At night they would occupy themselves in\nprocuring wood, which they carried to the lodge, and then returning the\nimplements exactly to the places in which they had found them, resume\ntheir places without speaking. They were never known to stay out until\ndaylight. They never laughed or jested.\n\nThe winter had nearly passed away, without anything uncommon happening,\nwhen, one evening the hunter staid out very late. The moment he entered\nand laid down his day's hunt as usual before his wife, the two females\nbegan to tear off the fat, in so unceremonious a way, that her anger was\nexcited. She constrained herself, however, in a measure, but did not\nconceal her feelings, although she said but little. The guests observed\nthe excited state of her mind, and became unusually reserved and uneasy.\nThe good hunter saw the change, and carefully inquired into the cause,\nbut his wife denied having used any hard words. They retired to their\ncouches, and he tried to compose himself to sleep, but could not, for\nthe sobs and sighs of the two females were incessant. He arose on his\ncouch and addressed them as follows:\n\n\"Tell me,\" said he, \"what is it that gives you pain of mind, and causes\nyou to utter those sighs. Has my wife given you offence, or trespassed\non the rights of hospitality?\"\n\nThey replied in the negative. \"We have been treated by you with kindness\nand affection. It is not for any slight we have received, that we weep.\nOur mission is not to you only. We come from the land of the dead to\ntest mankind, and to try the sincerity of the living. Often we have\nheard the bereaved by death say that if the dead could be restored, they\nwould devote their lives to make them happy. We have been moved by the\nbitter lamentations which have reached the place of the dead, and have\ncome to make proof of the sincerity of those who have lost friends.\nThree moons were allotted us by the Master of life to make the trial.\nMore than half the time had been successfully past, when the angry\nfeelings of your wife indicated the irksomeness you felt at our\npresence, and has made us resolve on our departure.\"\n\nThey continued to talk to the hunter and his wife, gave them\ninstructions as to a future life, and pronounced a blessing upon them.\n\n\"There is one point,\" they added, \"of which we wish to speak. You have\nthought our conduct very strange in rudely possessing ourselves of the\nchoicest parts of your hunt. _That_ was the point of trial selected to\nput you to. It is the wife's peculiar privilege. For another to usurp\nit, we knew to be the severest trial of her, and consequently of your\ntemper and feelings. We know your manners and customs, but we came to\nprove you, not by a compliance with them, but a violation of them.\nPardon us. We are the agents of him who sent us. Peace to your dwelling,\nadieu!\"\n\nWhen they ceased total darkness filled the lodge. No object could be\nseen. The inmates heard the door open and shut, but they never saw more\nof the two JEEBI-UG.\n\nThe hunter found the success which they had promised. He became\ncelebrated in the chase, and never wanted for any thing. He had many\nchildren, all of whom grew up to manhood, and health, peace, and long\nlife were the rewards of his hospitality.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[21] Ghosts.\n\n[22] The fat of animals is esteemed by the N. A. Indians among the\nchoicest parts.\n\n\n\n\nPAH-HAH-UNDOOTAH,\n\nOR\n\nTHE RED HEAD.\n\nA SIOUX TALE.\n\n\nAs spring approaches, the Indians return from their wintering grounds to\ntheir villages, engage in feasting, soon exhaust their stock of\nprovisions, and begin to suffer for the want of food. Such of the\nhunters as are of an active and enterprising cast of character, take the\noccasion to separate from the mass of the population, and remove to some\nneighbouring locality in the forest, which promises the means of\nsubsistence during this season of general lassitude and enjoyment.\n\nAmong the families who thus separated themselves, on a certain occasion,\nthere was a man called ODSHEDOPH WAUCHEENTONGAH, or the Child of Strong\nDesires, who had a wife and one son. After a day's travel he reached an\nample wood with his family, which was thought to be a suitable place to\nencamp. The wife fixed the lodge, while the husband went out to hunt.\nEarly in the evening he returned with a deer. Being tired and thirsty he\nasked his son to go to the river for some water. The son replied that it\nwas dark and he was afraid. He urged him to go, saying that his mother,\nas well as himself, was tired, and the distance to the water was very\nshort. But no persuasion was of any avail. He refused to go. \"Ah, my\nson,\" said the father, at last, \"if you are afraid to go to the river\nyou will never kill the Red Head.\"\n\nThe boy was deeply mortified by this observation. It seemed to call up\nall his latent energies. He mused in silence. He refused to eat, and\nmade no reply when spoken to.\n\nThe next day he asked his mother to dress the skin of the deer, and make\nit into moccasins for him, while he busied himself in preparing a bow\nand arrows. As soon as these things were done, he left the lodge one\nmorning at sunrise, without saying a word to his father or mother. He\nfired one of his arrows into the air, which fell westward. He took that\ncourse, and at night coming to the spot where the arrow had fallen, was\nrejoiced to find it piercing the heart of a deer. He refreshed himself\nwith a meal of the venison, and the next morning fired another arrow.\nAfter travelling all day, he found it also in another deer. In this\nmanner he fired four arrows, and every evening found that he had killed\na deer. What was very singular, however, was, that he left the arrows\nsticking in the carcasses, and passed on without withdrawing them. In\nconsequence of this, he had no arrow for the fifth day, and was in great\ndistress at night for the want of food. At last he threw himself upon\nthe ground in despair, concluding that he might as well perish there as\ngo farther. But he had not lain long before he heard a hollow, rumbling\nnoise, in the ground beneath him. He sprang up, and discovered at a\ndistance the figure of a human being, walking with a stick. He looked\nattentively and saw that the figure was walking in a wide beaten path,\nin a prairie, leading from a lodge to a lake. To his surprise this lodge\nwas at no great distance. He approached a little nearer and concealed\nhimself. He soon discovered that the figure was no other than that of\nthe terrible witch, Wok-on-kahtohn-zooeyah'pee-kah-haitchee, or the\nlittle old woman who makes war. Her path to the lake was perfectly\nsmooth and solid, and the noise our adventurer had heard, was caused by\nthe striking of her walking staff upon the ground. The top of this staff\nwas decorated with a string of the toes and bills of birds of every\nkind, who at every stroke of the stick, fluttered and sung their\nvarious notes in concert.\n\nShe entered her lodge and laid off her mantle, which was entirely\ncomposed of the scalps of women. Before folding it, she shook it several\ntimes, and at every shake the scalps uttered loud shouts of laughter, in\nwhich the old hag joined. Nothing could have frightened him more than\nthis horrific exhibition. After laying by the cloak she came directly to\nhim. She informed him that she had known him from the time he left his\nfather's lodge, and watched his movements. She told him not to fear or\ndespair, for she would be his friend and protector. She invited him into\nher lodge, and gave him a supper. During the repast, she inquired of him\nhis motives for visiting her. He related his history, stated the manner\nin which he had been disgraced, and the difficulties he laboured under.\nShe cheered him with the assurance of her friendship, and told him he\nwould be a brave man yet.\n\nShe then commenced the exercise of her power upon him. His hair being\nvery short she took a large leaden comb, and after drawing it through\nhis hair several times, it became of a handsome feminine length. She\nthen proceeded to dress him as a female, furnishing him with the\nnecessary garments, and decorated his face with paints of the most\nbeautiful dye. She gave him a bowl of shining metal. She directed him\nto put in his girdle a blade of scented sword-grass, and to proceed the\nnext morning to the banks of the lake, which was no other than that over\nwhich the Red Head reigned. Now PAH-HAH-UNDOOTAH, or the Red Head, was a\nmost powerful sorcerer and the terror of all the country, living upon an\nisland in the centre of the lake.\n\nShe informed him that there would be many Indians on the island, who as\nsoon as they saw him use the shining bowl to drink with, would come and\nsolicit him to be their wife, and to take him over to the island. These\noffers he was to refuse, and say that he had come a great distance to be\nthe wife of the Red Head, and that if the chief could not come for her\nin his own canoe, she should return to her village. She said that as\nsoon as the Red Head heard of this, he would come for her in his own\ncanoe, in which she must embark. On reaching the island he must consent\nto be his wife, and in the evening induce him to take a walk out of the\nvillage, when he was to take the first opportunity to cut off his head\nwith the blade of grass. She also gave him general advice how he was to\nconduct himself to sustain his assumed character of a woman. His fear\nwould scarcely permit him to accede to this plan, but the recollection\nof his father's words and looks decided him.\n\nEarly in the morning, he left the witch's lodge, and took the hard\nbeaten path to the banks of the lake. He reached the water at a point\ndirectly opposite the Red Head's village. It was a beautiful day. The\nheavens were clear, and the sun shone out in the greatest effulgence. He\nhad not been long there, having sauntered along the beach, when he\ndisplayed the glittering bowl, by dipping water from the lake. Very soon\na number of canoes came off from the island. The men admired his dress,\nand were charmed with his beauty, and a great number made proposals of\nmarriage. These he promptly declined, agreeably to the concerted plan.\nWhen the facts were reported to the Red Head, he ordered his canoe to be\nput in the water by his chosen men, and crossed over to see this\nwonderful girl. As he came near the shore, he saw that the ribs of the\nsorcerer's canoe were formed of living rattlesnakes, whose heads pointed\noutward to guard him from enemies. Our adventurer had no sooner stepped\ninto the canoe than they began to hiss and rattle, which put him in a\ngreat fright. But the magician spoke to them, after which they became\npacified and quiet, and all at once they were at the landing upon the\nisland. The marriage immediately took place, and the bride made presents\nof various valuables which had been furnished by the old witch.\n\nAs they were sitting in the lodge surrounded by friends and relatives,\nthe mother of the Red Head regarded the face of her new daughter-in-law\nfor a long time with fixed attention. From this scrutiny she was\nconvinced that this singular and hasty marriage augured no good to her\nson. She drew her husband aside and disclosed to him her suspicions:\nThis can be no female, said she, the figure and manners, the\ncountenance, and more especially the expression of the eyes, are, beyond\na doubt, those of a man. Her husband immediately rejected her\nsuspicions, and rebuked her severely for the indignity offered to her\ndaughter-in-law. He became so angry, that seizing the first thing that\ncame to hand, which happened to be his pipe stem, he beat her\nunmercifully. This act requiring to be explained, to the spectators, the\nmock bride immediately rose up, and assuming an air of offended dignity,\ntold the Red Head that after receiving so gross an insult from his\nrelatives, he could not think of remaining with him as his wife, but\nshould forthwith return to his village and friends. He left the lodge\nfollowed by the Red Head, and walked until he came upon the beach of\nthe island, near the spot where they had first landed. Red Head\nentreated him to remain. He pressed him by every motive which he thought\nmight have weight, but they were all rejected. During this conference\nthey had seated themselves upon the ground, and Red Head, in great\naffliction, reclined his head upon his fancied wife's lap. This was the\nopportunity ardently sought for, and it was improved to the best\nadvantage. Every means was taken to lull him to sleep, and partly by a\nsoothing manner, and partly by a seeming compliance with his request,\nthe object was at last attained. Red Head fell into a sound sleep. Our\naspirant, for the glory of a brave man, then drew his blade of grass,\nand drawing it once across the neck of the Red Head completely severed\nthe head from the body.\n\nHe immediately stripped off his dress, seized the bleeding head, and\nplunging into the lake, swam safely over to the main shore. He had\nscarcely reached it, when looking back he saw amid the darkness, the\ntorches of persons come out in search of the new-married couple. He\nlistened till they had found the headless body, and he heard their\npiercing shrieks of sorrow, as he took his way to the lodge of his kind\nadviser.\n\nShe received him with rejoicing. She admired his prudence, and told him\nhis bravery could never be questioned again. Lifting up the head, she\nsaid he need only have brought the scalp. She cut off a small piece for\nherself, and told him he might now return with the head, which would be\nevidence of an achievement that would cause the Indians to respect him.\nIn your way home, she said, you will meet with but one difficulty.\nMAUNKAH KEESH WOCCAUNG, or the Spirit of the Earth, requires an offering\nfrom those who perform extraordinary achievements. As you walk along in\na prairie, there will be an earthquake. The earth will open and divide\nthe prairie in the middle. Take this partridge and throw it into the\nopening, and instantly spring over it. All this happened precisely as it\nhad been foretold. He cast the partridge into the crevice and leapt over\nit. He then proceeded without obstruction to a place near his village,\nwhere he secreted his trophy. On entering the village he found his\nparents had returned from the place of their spring encampment, and were\nin great sorrow for their son, whom they supposed to be lost. One and\nanother of the young men had presented themselves to the disconsolate\nparents, and said, \"Look up, I am your son.\" Having been often deceived\nin this manner, when their own son actually presented himself, they sat\nwith their heads down, and with their eyes nearly blinded with weeping.\nIt was some time before they could be prevailed upon to bestow a glance\nupon him. It was still longer before they recognised him for their son;\nwhen he recounted his adventures they believed him mad. The young men\nlaughed at him. He left the lodge and soon returned with his trophy. It\nwas soon recognised. All doubts of the reality of his adventures now\nvanished. He was greeted with joy and placed among the first warriors of\nthe nation. He finally became a chief, and his family were ever after\nrespected and esteemed.\n\n\n\n\nLEELINAU,\n\nOR\n\nTHE LOST DAUGHTER.\n\nAN ODJIBWA TALE.\n\n\nLeelinau was the favourite daughter of an able hunter who lived near the\nbase of the lofty highlands called Kaug Wudjoo, on the shore of Lake\nSuperior. From her earliest youth she was observed to be pensive and\ntimid, and to spend much of her time in solitude and fasting. Whenever\nshe could leave her father's lodge she would fly to remote haunts and\nrecesses in the woods, or sit upon some high promontory of rock\noverlooking the lake. In such places she was supposed to invoke her\nguardian spirit. But amid all the sylvan haunts, so numerous in a highly\npicturesque section of country, none had so great attractions for her\nmind as a forest of pines, on the open shore, called Manitowok, or the\nSacred Grove. It was one of those consecrated places which are supposed\nto be the residence of the PUK WUDJ ININEE, or little wild men of the\nwoods, and MISHEN IMOKINAKOG, or turtle-spirits, two classes of minor\nspirits or fairies who love romantic scenes. Owing to this notion, it\nwas seldom visited by Indians, who attribute to these imaginary beings a\nmischievous agency. And whenever they were compelled by stress of\nweather to make a landing on this part of the coast, they never failed\nto leave an offering of tobacco, or some other article.\n\nTo this fearful spot Leelinau had made her way at an early age,\ngathering strange flowers or plants, which she would bring home to her\nparents, and relate to them all the little incidents that had occurred\nin her rambles. Although they discountenanced her visits to the place,\nthey were unable to restrain them, for they did not wish to lay any\nviolent commands upon her. Her attachment to the spot, therefore,\nincreased with her age. If she wished to propitiate her spirits to\nprocure pleasant dreams, or any other favour, she repaired to the\nManitowok. If her father remained out later than usual, and it was\nfeared he had been overwhelmed by the tempest, or met with some other\naccident, she offered up her prayers at the Manitowok. It was there that\nshe fasted, supplicated, and strolled. And she spent so much of her\ntime there, that her parents began to suspect some bad spirit had\nenticed her to its haunts, and thrown a charm around her which she was\nunable to resist. This conjecture was confirmed by her mother (who had\nsecretly followed her) overhearing her repeat sentiments like these.\n\n     Spirit of the dancing leaves\n     Hear a throbbing heart that grieves,\n     Not for joys this world can give,\n     But the life that spirits live:\n     Spirit of the foaming billow,\n     Visit thou my nightly pillow,\n     Shedding o'er it silver dreams,\n     Of the mountain brooks and streams,\n     Sunny glades, and golden hours,\n     Such as suit thy buoyant powers:\n     Spirit of the starry night,\n     Pencil out thy fleecy light,\n     That my footprints still may lead\n     To the blush-let Miscodeed,[23]\n     Or the flower to passion true\n     Yielding free its carmine hue:\n     Spirit of the morning dawn,\n     Waft thy fleecy columns on,\n     Snowy white, or tender blue\n     Such as brave men love to view.\n     Spirit of the green wood plume\n     Shed around thy leaf perfume\n     Such as spring from buds of gold\n     Which thy tiny hands unfold.\n     Spirits hither quick repair,\n     Hear a maiden's evening prayer.\n\nThe effect of these visits was to render the daughter dissatisfied with\nthe realities of life, and to disqualify her for an active and useful\nparticipation in its duties. She became melancholy and taciturn. She had\npermitted her mind to dwell so much on imaginary scenes, that she at\nlast mistook them for realities, and sighed for an existence\ninconsistent with the accidents of mortality. The consequence was, a\ndisrelish for all the ordinary sources of amusement and employment,\nwhich engaged her equals in years. When the girls of the neighbouring\nlodges assembled to play at the favourite game of pappus-e-kowaun,[24]\nbefore the lodge door, Leelinau would sit vacantly by, or enter so\nfeebly into the spirit of the play, as to show plainly that it was\nirksome to her. Again, in the evening, when the youths and girls formed\na social ring around the lodge, and the piepeendjigun[25] passed rapidly\nfrom hand to hand, she either handed it along without attempting to\nplay, or if she played, it was with no effort to swell her count. Her\nparents saw that she was a prey to some secret power, and attempted to\ndivert her in every way they could. They favoured the attentions paid to\nher by a man much her senior in years, but who had the reputation of\ngreat activity, and was the eldest son of a neighbouring chief. But she\ncould not be persuaded to listen to the proposal. Supposing her aversion\nmerely the result of natural timidity, her objections were not deemed of\na serious character; and in a state of society where matches are left\nvery much in the hands of the parents, they proceeded to make the\ncustomary arrangements for the union. The young man was informed,\nthrough his parents, that his offer had been favourably received. The\nday was fixed for the marriage visit to the lodge, and the persons who\nwere to be present were invited. As the favourable expression of the\nwill of the parents had been explicitly given, and compliance was as\ncertainly expected, she saw no means of frustrating the object, but by a\nfirm declaration of her sentiments. She told her parents that she could\nnever consent to the match, and that her mind was unalterably made up.\n\nIt had been her custom to pass many of her hours in her favourite place\nof retirement, under a low, broad-topped young pine, whose leaves\nwhispered in the wind. Thither she now went, and while leaning\npensively against its trunk, she fancied she heard articulate sounds.\nVery soon they became more distinct, and appeared to address her.\n\n     Maiden, think me not a tree\n     But thine own dear lover free,\n     Tall and youthful in my bloom\n     With the bright green nodding plume.\n     Thou art leaning on my breast,\n     Lean for ever there, and rest!\n     Fly from man, that bloody race,\n     Pards, assassins, bold and base;\n     Quit their din, and false parade\n     For the quiet lonely shade.\n     Leave the windy birchen cot\n     For my own, light happy lot,\n     O'er thee I my veil will fling.\n     Light as beetle's silken wing;\n     I will breathe perfume of flowers,\n     O'er thy happy evening hours;\n     I will in my shell canoe\n     Waft thee o'er the waters blue;\n     I will deck thy mantle fold,\n     With the sun's last rays of gold.\n     Come, and on the mountain free\n     Rove a fairy bright with me.\n\nHer fancy confirmed all she heard as the words of sober truth. She\nneeded nothing more to settle her purpose.\n\nOn the evening preceding the day fixed for her marriage, she dressed\nherself in her best garments. She arranged her hair according to the\nfashion of her tribe, and put on the ornaments she possessed. Thus\nrobed, she assumed an air of unwonted gayety, as she presented herself\nbefore her parents. I am going, said she, to meet my little lover, the\nchieftain of the green plume, who is waiting for me at the Spirit Grove;\nand her countenance expressed a buoyant delight, which she had seldom\nevinced. They were quite pleased with these evidences of restored\ncheerfulness, supposing she was going to act some harmless freak. \"I am\ngoing,\" said she, to her mother, as she left the lodge, \"from one who\nhas watched my infancy, and guarded my youth. Who has given me medicine\nwhen I was sick, and prepared me food when I was well. I am going from a\nfather who has ranged the forest to procure the choicest skins for my\ndress, and kept his lodge supplied with the best food of the chase. I am\ngoing from a lodge which has been my shelter from the storms of winter,\nand my shield from the heats of summer. Adieu! adieu!\" she cried as she\nskipped lightly over the plain.\n\nSo saying she hastened to the confines of the fairy haunted grove. As it\nwas her common resort, no alarm was entertained, and the parents\nconfidently waited her return with the sunset hour. But as she did not\narrive, they began to feel uneasy. Darkness approached, and no daughter\nreturned. They now lighted torches of pine wood, and proceeded to the\ngloomy forest of pines, but were wholly unsuccessful in the search. They\ncalled aloud upon her name, but the echo was their only reply. Next day\nthe search was renewed, but with no better success. Suns rose and set,\nbut they rose and set upon a bereaved father and mother, who were never\nafterward permitted to behold a daughter whose manners and habits they\nhad not sufficiently guarded, and whose inclinations they had, in the\nend, too violently thwarted.\n\nOne night a party of fishermen, who were spearing fish near the Spirit\nGrove, descried something resembling a female figure standing on the\nshore. As the evening was mild, and the waters calm, they cautiously\npaddled their canoe ashore, but the slight ripple of the water excited\nalarm. The figure fled, but they recognised, in the shape and dress, as\nshe ascended the bank, the lost daughter, and they saw the green plumes\nof her lover waving over his forehead, as he glided lightly through the\nforest of young pines.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[23] Claytonia Virginica.\n\n[24] A game played with sticks and two small blocks on a string by\nfemales.\n\n[25] A game played with a piece of perforated leather and a bone.\n\n\n\n\nPUCK WUDJ ININEE\n\nAN ODJIBWA TALE.\n\n\nThere was a time when all the inhabitants of the earth had died,\nexcepting two helpless children, a baby boy, and a little girl. When\ntheir parents died, these children were asleep. The little girl, who was\nthe elder, was the first to awake. She looked around her, but seeing\nnobody besides her little brother, who lay asleep, she quietly resumed\nher bed. At the end of ten days her brother moved without opening his\neyes. At the end of ten days, more he changed his position, lying on the\nother side.\n\nThe girl soon grew up to woman's estate, but the boy increased in\nstature very slowly. It was a long time before he could even creep. When\nhe was able to walk, his sister made him a little bow and arrows, and\nsuspended around his neck a small shell, saying, you shall be called\nWA-DAIS-AIS-IMID, or He of the Little Shell. Every day he would go out\nwith his little bow shooting at the small birds. The first bird he\nkilled was a tomtit. His sister was highly pleased when he took it to\nher. She carefully skinned and stuffed it, and put it away for him. The\nnext day he killed a red squirrel. His sister preserved this too. The\nthird day he killed a partridge (Peena), which she stuffed and set up.\nAfter this, he acquired more courage, and would venture some distance\nfrom home. His skill and success as a hunter daily increased, and he\nkilled the deer, bear, moose, and other large animals inhabiting the\nforest. In fine he became a great hunter.\n\nHe had now arrived to maturity of years, but remained a perfect infant\nin stature. One day walking about he came to a small lake. It was in the\nwinter season. He saw a man on the ice killing beavers. He appeared to\nbe a giant. Comparing himself to this great man he appeared no bigger\nthan an insect. He seated himself on the shore, and watched his\nmovements. When the large man had killed many beavers, he put them on a\nhand sled, which he had, and pursued his way home. When he saw him\nretire, he followed him, and wielding his magic shell, cut off the tail\nof one of the beavers, and ran home with his trophy. When the tall\nstranger reached his lodge, with his sled load of beavers, he was\nsurprised to find the tail of one of them gone, for he had not observed\nthe movements of the little hero of the shell.\n\nThe next day WA-DAIS-AIS-IMID, went to the same lake. The man had\nalready fixed his load of beavers on his _odaw'bon_ or sled, and\ncommenced his return. But he nimbly ran forward, and overtaking him,\nsucceeded, by the same means, in securing another of the beaver's tails.\nWhen the man saw that he had lost another of this most esteemed part of\nthe animal, he was very angry. I wonder, said he, what dog it is, that\nhas thus cheated me. Could I meet him, I would make his flesh quiver at\nthe point of my lance. Next day he pursued his hunting at the beaver dam\nnear the lake, and was followed again by the little man of the shell. On\nthis occasion the hunter had used so much expedition, that he had\naccomplished his object, and nearly reached his home, before our tiny\nhero could overtake him. He nimbly drew his shell and cut off another\nbeaver's tail. In all these pranks, he availed himself of his power of\ninvisibility, and thus escaped observation. When the man saw that the\ntrick had been so often repeated, his anger was greater than ever. He\ngave vent to his feelings in words. He looked carefully around to see\nwhether he could discover any tracks. But he could find none. His\nunknown visiter had stepped so lightly as to leave no track.\n\nNext day he resolved to disappoint him by going to his beaver pond very\nearly. When WA-DAIS-AIS-IMID reached the place, he found the fresh\ntraces of his work, but he had already returned. He followed his tracks,\nbut failed to overtake him. When he came in sight of the lodge the\nstranger was in front of it, employed in skinning his beavers. As he\nstood looking at him, he thought, I will let him see me. Presently the\nman, who proved to be no less a personage than Manabozho, looked up and\nsaw him. After regarding him with attention, \"who are you, little man,\"\nsaid Manabozho. \"I have a mind to kill you.\" The little hero of the\nshell replied, \"If you were to try to kill me you could not do it.\"\n\nWhen he returned home he told his sister that they must separate. \"I\nmust go away,\" said he, \"it is my fate. You too,\" he added, \"must go\naway soon. Tell me where you would wish to dwell.\" She said, \"I would\nlike to go to the place of the breaking of daylight. I have always loved\nthe east. The earliest glimpses of light are from that quarter, and it\nis, to my mind, the most beautiful part of the heavens. After I get\nthere, my brother, whenever you see the clouds in that direction of\nvarious colours, you may think that your sister is painting her face.\"\n\n\"And I,\" said he, \"my sister, shall live on the mountains and rocks.\nThere I can see you at the earliest hour, and there the streams of water\nare clear, and the air pure. And I shall ever be called PUCK WUDJ\nININEE, or the little wild man of the mountains.\"\n\n\"But,\" he resumed, \"before we part for ever, I must go and try to find\nsome Manitoes.\" He left her and travelled over the surface of the globe,\nand then went far down into the earth. He had been treated well wherever\nhe went. At last he found a giant Manito, who had a large kettle, which\nwas for ever boiling. The giant regarded him with a stern look, and then\ntook him up in his hand, and threw him unceremoniously into the kettle.\nBut by the protection of his personal spirit, he was shielded from harm,\nand with much ado got out of it and escaped. He returned to his sister,\nand related his rovings and misadventures. He finished his story by\naddressing her thus: \"My sister, there is a Manito, at each of the four\ncorners of the earth.[26] There is also one above them, far in the sky,\nand last,\" continued he, \"there is another, and wicked one, who lives\ndeep down in the earth. We must now separate. When the winds blow from\nthe four corners of the earth you must then go. They will carry you to\nthe place you wish. I go to the rocks and mountains, where my kindred\nwill ever delight to dwell.\" He then took his ball stick, and commenced\nrunning up a high mountain, whooping as he went. Presently the winds\nblew, and as he predicted, his sister was borne by them to the eastern\nsky, where she has ever since been, and her name is the Morning Star.\n\n     Blow, winds, blow! my sister lingers\n       For her dwelling in the sky,\n     Where the morn, with rosy fingers,\n       Shall her cheeks, with vermil dye.\n\n     There, my earliest views directed,\n       Shall from her their colour take,\n     And her smiles, through clouds reflected,\n       Guide me on, by wood or lake.\n\n     While I range the highest mountains,\n       Sport in valleys green and low,\n     Or beside our Indian fountains\n       Raise my tiny hip holla.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[26] The opinion that the earth is a square and level plain, and that\nthe winds blow from its four corners, is a very ancient eastern opinion.\n\n\n\n\nMISHOSHA,\n\nOR\n\nTHE MAGICIAN OF THE LAKES.\n\n\nIn an early age of the world, when there were fewer inhabitants than\nthere now are, there lived an Indian, in a remote place, who had a wife\nand two children. They seldom saw any one out of the circle of their own\nlodge. Animals were abundant in so secluded a situation, and the man\nfound no difficulty in supplying his family with food.\n\nIn this way they lived in peace and happiness, which might have\ncontinued if the hunter had not found cause to suspect his wife. She\nsecretly cherished an attachment for a young man whom she accidentally\nmet one day in the woods. She even planned the death of her husband for\nhis sake, for she knew if she did not kill her husband, her husband, the\nmoment he detected her crime, would kill her.\n\nThe husband, however, eluded her project by his readiness and decision.\nHe narrowly watched her movements. One day he secretly followed her\nfootsteps into the forest, and having concealed himself behind a tree,\nhe soon beheld a tall young man approach and lead away his wife. His\narrows were in his hands, but he did not use them. He thought he would\nkill her the moment she returned.\n\nMeantime, he went home and sat down to think. At last he came to the\ndetermination of quitting her for ever, thinking that her own conscience\nwould punish her sufficiently, and relying on her maternal feelings to\ntake care of the two children, who were boys, he immediately took up his\narms and departed.\n\nWhen the wife returned she was disappointed in not finding her husband,\nfor she had now concerted her plan, and intended to have despatched him.\nShe waited several days, thinking he might have been led away by the\nchase, but finding he did not return, she suspected the true cause.\nLeaving her two children in the lodge, she told them she was going a\nshort distance and would return. She then fled to her paramour and came\nback no more.\n\nThe children thus abandoned, soon made way with the food left in the\nlodge, and were compelled to quit it in search of more. The eldest boy,\nwho was of an intrepid temper, was strongly attached to his brother,\nfrequently carrying him when he became weary, and gathering all the wild\nfruit he saw. They wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, losing\nall traces of their former habitation, until they were completely lost\nin its mazes.\n\nThe eldest boy had a knife, with which he made a bow and arrows, and was\nthus enabled to kill a few birds for himself and brother. In this manner\nthey continued to pass on, from one piece of forest to another, not\nknowing whither they were going. At length they saw an opening through\nthe woods, and were shortly afterward delighted to find themselves on\nthe borders of a large lake. Here the elder brother busied himself in\npicking the seed pods of the wild rose, which he preserved as food. In\nthe meantime, the younger brother amused himself by shooting arrows in\nthe sand, one of which happened to fall into the lake. PANIGWUN,[27] the\nelder brother, not willing to lose the arrow, waded in the water to\nreach it. Just as he was about to grasp the arrow, a canoe passed up to\nhim with great rapidity. An old man, sitting in the centre, seized the\naffrighted youth and placed him in the canoe. In vain the boy addressed\nhim--\"My grandfather, (a term of respect for old people,) pray take my\nlittle brother also. Alone, I cannot go with you; he will starve if I\nleave him.\" Mishosha, (the old man,) only laughed at him. Then uttering\nthe charm, CHEMAUN POLL, and giving his canoe a slap, it glided through\nthe water with inconceivable swiftness. In a few moments they reached\nthe habitation of the magician, standing on an island in the centre of\nthe lake. Here he lived with his two daughters, who managed the affairs\nof his household. Leading the young man up to the lodge, he addressed\nhis eldest daughter. \"Here,\" said he, \"my daughter, I have brought a\nyoung man to be your husband.\" Husband! thought the young woman; rather\nanother victim of your bad arts, and your insatiate enmity to the human\nrace. But she made no reply, seeming thereby to acquiesce in her\nfather's will.\n\nThe young man thought he saw surprise depicted in the eyes of the\ndaughter, during the scene of this introduction, and determined to watch\nevents narrowly. In the evening he overheard the two daughters in\nconversation. \"There,\" said the eldest daughter, \"I told you he would\nnot be satisfied with his last sacrifice. He has brought another victim,\nunder the pretence of providing me a husband. Husband, indeed! the poor\nyouth will be in some horrible predicament before another sun has set.\nWhen shall we be spared the scenes of vice and wickedness which are\ndaily taking place before our eyes.\"\n\nPanigwun took the first opportunity of acquainting the daughters how he\nhad been carried off, and been compelled to leave his little brother on\nthe shore. They told him to wait until their father was asleep, then to\nget up and take his canoe, and using the charm he had obtained, it would\ncarry him quickly to his brother. That he could carry him food, prepare\na lodge for him, and be back before daybreak. He did, in every respect,\nas he had been directed--the canoe obeyed the charm, and carried him\nsafely over, and after providing for the subsistence of his brother,\ntold him that in a short time he should come for him. Then returning to\nthe enchanted island, he resumed his place in the lodge, before the\nmagician awoke. Once, during the night, Mishosha awoke, and not seeing\nhis destined son-in-law, asked his daughter what had become of him. She\nreplied that he had merely stepped out, and would be back soon. This\nsatisfied him. In the morning, finding the young man in the lodge, his\nsuspicions were completely lulled. \"I see, my daughter,\" said he, \"you\nhave told the truth.\"\n\nAs soon as the sun arose, Mishosha thus addressed the young man. \"Come,\nmy son, I have a mind to gather gulls' eggs. I know an island where\nthere are great quantities, and I wish your aid in getting them.\" The\nyoung man saw no reasonable excuse; and getting into the canoe, the\nmagician gave it a slap, and uttering a command, they were in an instant\nat the island. They found the shores strown with gulls' eggs, and the\nisland full of birds of this species. \"Go, my son,\" said the old man,\n\"and gather the eggs, while I remain in the canoe.\"\n\nBut Panigwun had no sooner got ashore, than Mishosha pushed his canoe a\nlittle from the land, and exclaimed--\"Listen, ye gulls! you have long\nexpected an offering from me. I now give you a victim. Fly down and\ndevour him.\" Then striking his canoe, he left the young man to his fate.\n\nThe birds immediately came in clouds around their victim, darkening the\nair with their numbers. But the youth seizing the first that came near\nhim, and drawing his knife, cut off its head. He immediately skinned the\nbird, and hung the feathers as a trophy on his breast. \"Thus,\" he\nexclaimed, \"will I treat every one of you who approaches me. Forbear,\ntherefore, and listen to my words. It is not for you to eat human flesh.\nYou have been given by the Great Spirit as food for man. Neither is it\nin the power of that old magician to do you any good. Take me on your\nbacks and carry me to his lodge, and you shall see that I am not\nungrateful.\" The gulls obeyed; collecting in a cloud for him to rest\nupon, and quickly flew to the lodge, where they arrived before the\nmagician. The daughters were surprised at his return, but Mishosha, on\nentering the lodge, conducted himself as if nothing extraordinary had\ntaken place.\n\nThe next day he again addressed the youth:--\"Come, my son,\" said he, \"I\nwill take you to an island covered with the most beautiful stones and\npebbles, looking like silver. I wish you to assist me in gathering some\nof them. They will make handsome ornaments, and possess great medicinal\nvirtues.\" Entering the canoe, the magician made use of his charm, and\nthey were carried in a few moments to a solitary bay in an island, where\nthere was a smooth sandy beach. The young man went ashore as usual, and\nbegan to search. \"A little farther, a little farther,\" cried the old\nman. \"Upon that rock you will get some fine ones.\" Then pushing his\ncanoe from land--\"Come, thou great king of fishes,\" cried the old man;\n\"you have long expected an offering from me. Come, and eat the stranger\nwhom I have just put ashore on your island.\" So saying, he commanded his\ncanoe to return, and it was soon out of sight.\n\nImmediately, a monstrous fish thrust his long snout from the water,\ncrawling partially on the beach, and opening wide his jaws to receive\nhis victim. \"When!\" exclaimed the young man, drawing his knife and\nputting himself in a threatening attitude, \"when did you ever taste\nhuman flesh? Have a care of yourself. You were given by the Great Spirit\nto man, and if you, or any of your tribe eat human flesh, you will fall\nsick and die. Listen not to the words of that wicked man, but carry me\nback to his island, in return for which I will present you a piece of\nred cloth.\" The fish complied, raising his back out of the water, to\nallow the young man to get on. Then taking his way through the lake, he\nlanded his charge safely on the island before the return of the\nmagician. The daughters were still more surprised to see that he had\nescaped the arts of their father the second time. But the old man on his\nreturn maintained his taciturnity and self-composure. He could not,\nhowever, help saying to himself--\"What manner of boy is this, who is\never escaping from my power. But his spirit shall not save him. I will\nentrap him to-morrow. Ha, ha, ha!\"\n\nNext day the magician addressed the young man as follows: \"Come, my\nson,\" said he, \"you must go with me to procure some young eagles. I wish\nto tame them. I have discovered an island where they are in great\nabundance.\" When they had reached the island, Mishosha led him inland\nuntil they came to the foot of a tall pine, upon which the nests were.\n\"Now, my son,\" said he, \"climb up this tree and bring down the birds.\"\nThe young man obeyed. When he had with great difficulty got near the\nnest, \"Now,\" exclaimed the magician, addressing the tree, \"stretch\nyourself up and be very tall.\" The tree rose up at the command. \"Listen,\nye eagles,\" continued the old man, \"you have long expected a gift from\nme. I now present you this boy, who has had the presumption to molest\nyour young. Stretch forth your claws and seize him.\" So saying he left\nthe young man to his fate, and returned.\n\nBut the intrepid youth drawing his knife, and cutting off the head of\nthe first eagle that menaced him, raised his voice and exclaimed, \"Thus\nwill I deal with all who come near me. What right have you, ye ravenous\nbirds, who were made to feed on beasts, to eat human flesh? Is it\nbecause that cowardly old canoe-man has bid you do so? He is an old\nwoman. He can neither do you good nor harm. See, I have already slain\none of your number. Respect my bravery, and carry me back that I may\nshow you how I shall treat you.\"\n\nThe eagles, pleased with his spirit, assented, and clustering thick\naround him formed a seat with their backs, and flew toward the enchanted\nisland. As they crossed the water they passed over the magician, lying\nhalf asleep in his canoe.\n\nThe return of the young man was hailed with joy by the daughters, who\nnow plainly saw that he was under the guidance of a strong spirit. But\nthe ire of the old man was excited, although he kept his temper under\nsubjection. He taxed his wits for some new mode of ridding himself of\nthe youth, who had so successfully baffled his skill. He next invited\nhim to go a hunting.\n\nTaking his canoe, they proceeded to an island and built a lodge to\nshelter themselves during the night. In the mean while the magician\ncaused a deep fall of snow, with a storm of wind and severe cold.\nAccording to custom, the young man pulled off his moccasins and leggings\nand hung them before the fire to dry. After he had gone to sleep the\nmagician, watching his opportunity, got up, and taking one moccasin and\none legging, threw them into the fire. He then went to sleep. In the\nmorning, stretching himself as he arose and uttering an exclamation of\nsurprise, \"My son,\" said he, \"what has become of your moccasin and\nlegging? I believe this is the moon in which fire attracts, and I fear\nthey have been drawn in.\" The young man suspected the true cause of his\nloss, and rightly attributed it to a design of the magician to freeze\nhim to death on the march. But he maintained the strictest silence, and\ndrawing his conaus over his head thus communed with himself: \"I have\nfull faith in the Manito who has preserved me thus far, I do not fear\nthat he will forsake me in this cruel and emergency. Great is his power,\nand I invoke it now that he may enable me to prevail over this wicked\nenemy of mankind.\"\n\nHe then drew on the remaining moccasin and legging, and taking a dead\ncoal from the fireplace, invoked his spirit to give it efficacy, and\nblackened his foot and leg as far as the lost garment usually reached.\nHe then got up and announced himself ready for the march. In vain\nMishosha led him through snows and over morasses, hoping to see the lad\nsink at every moment. But in this he was disappointed, and for the first\ntime they returned home together.\n\nTaking courage from this success, the young man now determined to try\nhis own power, having previously consulted with the daughters. They all\nagreed that the life the old man led was detestable, and that whoever\nwould rid the world of him, would entitle himself to the thanks of the\nhuman race.\n\nOn the following day the young man thus addressed his hoary captor. \"My\ngrandfather, I have often gone with you on perilous excursions and\nnever murmured. I must now request that you will accompany me. I wish to\nvisit my little brother, and to bring him home with me.\" They\naccordingly went on a visit to the main land, and found the little lad\nin the spot where he had been left. After taking him into the canoe, the\nyoung man again addressed the magician: \"My grandfather, will you go and\ncut me a few of those red willows on the bank, I wish to prepare some\nsmoking mixture.\" \"Certainly, my son,\" replied the old man, \"what you\nwish is not very hard. Ha, ha, ha! do you think me too old to get up\nthere?\" No sooner was Mishosha ashore, than the young man, placing\nhimself in the proper position struck the canoe with his hand, and\npronouncing the charm, N'CHIMAUN Poll, the canoe immediately flew\nthrough the water on its return to the island. It was evening when the\ntwo brothers arrived, and carried the canoe ashore. But the elder\ndaughter informed the young man that unless he sat up and watched the\ncanoe, and kept his hand upon it, such was the power of their father, it\nwould slip off and return to him. Panigwun watched faithfully till near\nthe dawn of day, when he could no longer resist the drowsiness which\noppressed him, and he fell into a short doze. In the meantime the canoe\nslipped off and sought its master, who soon returned in high glee. \"Ha,\nha, ha! my son,\" said he; \"you thought to play me a trick. It was very\nclever. But you see I am too old for you.\"\n\nA short time after, the youth again addressed the magician. \"My\ngrandfather, I wish to try my skill in hunting. It is said there is\nplenty of game on an island not far off, and I have to request that you\nwill take me there in your canoe.\" They accordingly went to the island\nand spent the day in hunting. Night coming on they put up a temporary\nlodge. When the magician had sunk into a profound sleep, the young man\ngot up, and taking one of Mishosha's leggings and moccasins from the\nplace where they hung, threw them into the fire, thus retaliating the\nartifice before played upon himself. He had discovered that the foot and\nleg were the only vulnerable parts of the magician's body. Having\ncommitted these articles to the fire, he besought his Manito that he\nwould raise a great storm of snow, wind, and hail, and then laid himself\ndown beside the old man. Consternation was depicted on the countenance\nof the latter, when he awoke in the morning and found his moccasin and\nlegging missing. \"I believe, my grandfather,\" said the young man, \"that\nthis is the moon in which fire attracts, and I fear your foot and leg\ngarments have been drawn in.\" Then rising and bidding the old man\nfollow him, he began the morning's hunt, frequently turning to see how\nMishosha kept up. He saw him faltering at every step, and almost\nbenumbed with cold, but encouraged him to follow, saying, we shall soon\nget through and reach the shore; although he took pains, at the same\ntime, to lead him in roundabout ways, so as to let the frost take\ncomplete effect. At length the old man reached the brink of the island\nwhere the woods are succeeded by a border of smooth sand. But he could\ngo no farther; his legs became stiff and refused motion, and he found\nhimself fixed to the spot. But he still kept stretching out his arms and\nswinging his body to and fro. Every moment he found the numbness\ncreeping higher. He felt his legs growing downward like roots, the\nfeathers of his head turned to leaves, and in a few seconds he stood a\ntall and stiff sycamore, leaning toward the water.\n\nPanigwun leaped into the canoe, and pronouncing the charm, was soon\ntransported to the island, where he related his victory to the\ndaughters. They applauded the deed, agreed to put on mortal shapes,\nbecome wives to the two young men, and for ever quit the enchanted\nisland. And passing immediately over to the main land, they lived lives\nof happiness and peace.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[27] The end wing feather.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WEENDIGOES.[28]\n\nA SAGINAW STORY.\n\n\nOnce there lived in a lonely forest, a man and his wife, who had a son.\nThe father went out every day, according to the custom of the Indians,\nto hunt for food, to support his family. One day while he was absent,\nhis wife, on going out of the lodge, looked toward the lake that was\nnear, and saw a very large man walking on the water, and coming fast\ntoward the lodge. He had already advanced so near that flight was\nuseless. She thought to herself, what shall I say to the monster that\nwill please him. As he came near, she ran in, and taking the hand of her\nson, a boy of three or four years old, led him out. Speaking very loud,\n\"See, my son,\" said she, \"your grandfather,\" and then added in a\nconciliatory tone, \"he will have pity on us.\" The giant advanced, and\nsaid sneeringly, \"Yes, my son.\" And then addressing the woman said,\n\"Have you anything to eat.\" Fortunately the lodge was filled with meal\nof various kinds. The woman thought to please him by handing him some\ncooked meat, but he pushed it away in a dissatisfied manner, and took up\nthe raw carcass of a deer, which he _glutted_ up, sucking the bones, and\ndrinking the blood.\n\nWhen the hunter came home, he was surprised to see the monster, for he\nlooked very frightful. He had again brought home the whole carcass of a\ndeer, which he had no sooner put down than the cannibal seized it, tore\nit to pieces, and devoured it, as if it had been a mere mouthful. The\nhunter looked at him with fear and astonishment, telling his wife that\nhe was afraid for their lives, as this monster was one whom Indians call\nWeendigo. He did not even dare to speak to him, nor did the cannibal say\na word, but as soon as he had finished his meal, he laid himself down\nand fell asleep.\n\nEarly next morning he told the hunter that he should also go out\nhunting, and they went together. Toward evening they returned, the man\nbringing a deer, but the Weendigo brought home the bodies of two\nIndians, whom he had killed. He very composedly sat down and commenced\ntearing the limbs apart, breaking the bones with his teeth, and\ndespatching them as easily as if they had been soft pieces of flesh. He\nwas not even satisfied with that, but again took up the deer which the\nhunter had brought, to finish his supper, while the hunter and his\nfamily had to live on their dried meat.\n\nIn this manner the hunter and the Weendigo lived for some time, and it\nis remarkable that the monster never made an attempt on their lives,\nalthough the ground outside the lodge was white with the human bones he\nhad cast out. He was always still and gloomy, and seldom spake to them.\nOne evening he told the hunter that the time had now arrived for him to\ntake his leave, but before doing so he would give him a charm, that\nwould always make him successful in killing moose. This charm consisted\nof two arrows, and after giving them to the hunter he thanked him and\nhis wife for their kindness, and departed, saying that he had all the\nworld to travel over.\n\nThe hunter and his wife felt happy when freed from his presence, for\nthey had expected, at every moment, to have been devoured by him. He\ntried the virtues of his arrows, and never failed to be successful in\ntheir use. They had lived in this manner for a year, when a great evil\nbefell them. The hunter was absent one day when his wife, on going out\nof the lodge, saw something like a black cloud approaching. She looked\ntill it came near, when she perceived that it was another Weendigo. She\napprehended no danger, thinking he would treat them as the first one had\ndone. In this she was wholly mistaken. Unluckily they had but a small\nportion of moose meat in the lodge. The Weendigo looked around for\nsomething to eat, and being disappointed he took the lodge and threw it\nto the winds. He hardly seemed to notice the woman, for she was but a\nmorsel for him. However, he grasped her by the waist. Her cries and\nentreaties, with those of her son, had no effect--the monster tore out\nher entrails, and taking her body at one mouthful, started off without\nnoticing the boy, probably thinking it was not worth his while to take\nhalf a mouthful.\n\nWhen the hunter returned from the forest, he did not know what to think.\nHis lodge was gone, and he saw his son sitting near the spot where it\nhad stood, shedding tears. On a nearer approach he saw a few remains of\nhis wife, and his son related all the circumstances of her death. The\nman blackened his face and vowed in his heart he would have revenge. He\nbuilt another lodge, and collecting the remains of his wife, placed\nthem in the hollow part of a dry tree. He left his boy to take care of\nthe lodge while he was absent, hunting, and would roam about from place\nto place, trying to forget his misfortune. He made a bow and arrows for\nhis son, and did every thing in his power to please him.\n\nOne day, while he was absent, his son shot his arrows out, through the\ntop of the lodge, but when he went out to look for them he could not\nfind them. His father made him some more, and when he was again left\nalone, he shot one of them out, but although he paid particular\nattention to the spot where it fell, he could not find it. He shot\nanother, and immediately ran out of the lodge to see where it fell. He\nwas surprised to see a beautiful boy, just in the act of taking it up,\nand running with it toward a large tree, where he disappeared. He\nfollowed, and having come to the tree, he beheld the face of the boy,\nlooking out through an opening in the hollow part. Nha-ha[29] (oh dear,)\nhe said, my friend, come out and play with me. And he urged him till he\nconsented. They played and shot their arrows by turns. Suddenly the\nyounger boy said, \"your father is coming. We must stop. Promise me that\nyou will not tell him.\" The elder promised, and the other disappeared in\nthe tree. The elder boy then went home, and when his father returned\nfrom the chase, sat demurely by the fire. In the course of the evening\nhe asked his father to make him a new bow. To an inquiry of his father\nas to the use he meant to make of two bows, he replied, that one might\nbreak, or get lost; he then consented. Next day, after his father had\ngone, he went to his friend, and invited him to come out and play, and\nat the same lime presented him the new bow. They went and played in the\nlodge together, and raised the ashes all over it. Suddenly again the\nyoungest said, \"your father is coming, I must leave.\" He again exacted a\npromise of secrecy, and went back to his tree. The eldest took his seat\nnear the fire. When the hunter came in, he was surprised to see the\nashes scattered about. \"Why, my son,\" said he, \"you must have played\nvery hard to day, to raise such a dust, all alone.\" \"Yes,\" said the boy,\n\"I was lonesome, and ran round and round--_that_ is the cause of it.\"\n\nNext day the hunter made ready for the chase as usual. The boy said,\n\"Father, try and hunt all day, and see what you can kill.\" As soon as he\nhad gone, the boy called his friend, and they played and chased each\nother round the lodge. The man was returning and came to a rising piece\nof ground, when he heard his son laughing and making a noise, but the\nsounds appeared as if they arose from _two_ persons playing. At the same\ninstant the young boy of the tree stopped, and after saying, \"your\nfather is coming,\" ran off to the tree, which stood near the lodge. The\nhunter, on entering found his son sitting near the fire, very quiet, but\nhe was much surprised to see all the articles of the lodge lying in\nvarious directions. \"Why, my son,\" said he, \"you must play _very_ hard,\nevery day, and what do you do, all alone to throw about all our things\nin this manner, and cause the ashes to spread about the lodge.\" The boy\nagain made excuse. \"Father,\" said he, \"I play in _this_ manner--I chase\nand drag my coat around the lodge, and that is the reason you see ashes\nspread about.\" The hunter was not satisfied until he saw his son play\nwith the coat, which he did so adroitly as to deceive him. Next day the\nboy repeated his request that the father would be absent all day, and\nsee if he could not kill _two_ deer. He thought it strange for his son\nto make such a request, and rather suspected something. He, however,\nwent into the forest, and when out of sight, his son went for his young\ncompanion to the tree, and they resumed their sports. The father, on\ncoming home at evening, when he reached the rising ground, which almost\noverlooked the lodge, heard again the sounds of laughing and playing,\nand could not be mistaken; he was now certain there were two voices. The\nboy from the tree had barely time to escape, when he entered and found\nhis son, sitting as usual, near the fire. When he was seated and cast\nhis eyes around, he saw the lodge was in worse confusion than before.\n\"My son,\" said he, \"you must be very foolish, when alone, to play so.\nBut tell me--I heard two voices I am certain,\" and he looked closely on\nthe prints of the footsteps in the ashes. \"True,\" he said, \"here is the\nprint of a foot that is smaller than my son's,\" which satisfied him that\nhis suspicions were well founded, and that some very young person had\nplayed with his son. The boy, at this time, thought best to tell his\nfather all that had been done. \"Why, father,\" said he, \"I found a boy in\nthe hollow of the tree, near the lodge, where you put my mother's\nbones.\" Strange thoughts came over the man; he thought that this little\nboy might have been created from the remains of his deceased wife. But\nas Indians are generally fearful of disturbing the dead, he did not dare\nto go near the place where he had placed her remains. He thought best to\ntell his son, and make him promise, that he would entice his friend to a\ndead tree, that was near their lodge, by telling him that they could\nkill many flying squirrels by setting fire to it. He said he would\nconceal himself near by, and take the boy. Next day the hunter went into\nthe woods, and his son went and insisted on his friend's going with him\nto kill the squirrels. He objected that his father was near, but was, at\nlength, persuaded to go, and, after they had set fire to the tree, and\nwhile they were busy in killing the squirrels, the father suddenly made\nhis appearance and clasped the boy in his arms. He cried out, Kago!\nKago! (don't, don't) you will tear my clothes--which appeared to have\nbeen made of a fine transparent skin. The father tried to reassure him\nby every means in his power. By long-continued kindness, he, at last,\nsucceeded, and the boy was reconciled to his new situation; but it was\nowing principally to the society of his friend. The father now knew that\nit was the Great Spirit who had thus miraculously raised him a son from\nthe remains of his wife; and he felt persuaded that the boy would, in\ntime, become a great man, and aid him in his revenge on the Weendigoes.\n\nThe hunter was now more reconciled to the loss of his wife, and spent as\nmuch time as he could spare from the chase, in attending to his sons.\nBut what was very remarkable, both his sons retained their low stature,\nalthough they were well formed and beautiful.\n\nOne day he advised his sons not to go near a certain lake, which, he\nsaid, was inhabited by foul birds, who were vicious and dangerous. In\nthe course of one of their rambles, the boys had wandered near it, and\nthey came out and stood on its banks. They saw, on one side, a mountain,\nrising precipitously from the water, and reaching apparently to the sky.\nThey stood and looked for some time with astonishment at the sight. The\nyoungest spoke and said, \"I see no harm in climbing the rock to see what\nis to be discovered on its top.\" They ascended, and had got up, with\ndifficulty, half way, when the rumbling noise of thunder was heard, and\nlightning began to play near them. But they were undaunted, and reached\nthe top, where they beheld an enormous bird's nest, and in it two very\nlarge young birds. Although they had only the soft down, as yet, on\ntheir bodies, they appeared to be monsters, and when the young men put a\nstick near their eyes, which they opened and shut very quick, the\nflashes they emitted broke the stick in pieces. They, however, took the\nyoung birds, and with great difficulty reached the lodge with them. When\ntheir father came home, they told him what fine birds they had, and\nrequested him to tame them, and bring them up as pets, \"for,\" said\nthey, \"when we took them we intended them for you.\" They told him where\nthey had procured them, saying, that he need not have given them the\ncaution respecting the dangers of the lake. The father was now convinced\nthat both his sons were gifted with supernatural powers. He, however,\nadvised them not to go near another lake he told them of, which was\ninhabited by _Mishe-genabigoes_.[30] When he was again absent, the boys\nwandered near that lake, and as they were talking, they heard some one\nordering them away, and telling them not to make so much noise. \"Who are\nyou?\" they answered. \"I am Mishegenabig,\" cried the same voice; \"and who\nare you that dare to disobey me?\" The youngest boy told his brother to\nsing some magic words, while he went in search of the one who had so\ninsultingly spoken to them; and while he waded into the water, the other\nsang these words:\n\n     O pau neence\n     In de go wish\n     Se nau bun\n     Opunai sun\n     Mau moke e sagin.\n\n     _Literal translation._\n     Little slave--\n     Bad monster--\n     I spy him--\n     His diminutive liver--\n     Peeping out (as a mushroom\n     suddenly shooting out of the ground, or a thing appearing from\n     beneath the water, and applied generally to a person, or noun\n     animate, unexpectedly appearing as a mushroom, &c.)\n\nHe continued singing as he was directed, and he soon saw pieces of liver\nfloating on the water. Soon after his brother returned from under the\nwater with a mishegenabig, whom he dragged by his horns. \"Brother,\" said\nhe, \"this is the one who was so insolent to us. We will now go home and\nmake a pet of him.\" When they reached home they told their father that\nthey had brought him another pet. Their father was thoughtful. He was\nsurprised to see his son overcome all manner of monsters; he, however,\nkept silent, and rejoiced in spirit to think that his sons were so\nfortunate in commencing life.\n\nOne day, after musing for a long time, he told his sons that his time\nwas come, and that he should have to follow his forefathers to the land\nof the west. \"But,\" he continued, \"before I leave this earth, my sons,\nlisten to my advice.\" He proceeded to speak to them, and when he had\ndone, the youngest said, \"Father, you must remember the Weendigoes, and\nthe misery they brought on you. You will now leave earth, with your two\nfeathered favourites; but first we will feed them with the flesh of the\nmishegenabig.\" They did so, and their father departed amid thunder and\nlightnings, for the two birds were the offspring of thunder. He fixed\nhis residence as directed by the Great Manito in the sky toward the\nnorth, and he retains his name to the present day, which is, The Thunder\ncommencing in the north, and going south.[31]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[This story exhibits the mind of the Saginaws in a characteristic light.\nThis tribe are emphatically the Seminoles of the North, consisting\noriginally of individuals who were refugees from the great Odjibwa\nfamily. Their origin, as a distinct band, is comparatively recent,\ndating no farther back than the time of the flight of the Sauks from the\ndistrict of country which is now, in allusion to them, denominated\nSaginaw. The principal town of that adventurous and warlike tribe, was,\nand is still, called by the natives SAUKINONG (i. e. Sauk-town), and the\nChippewa refugees who succeeded, took their denomination of Saginaws\nfrom the term. Without farther allusion to their history, it may be\nobserved, that the Saginaws have never made the least advances in\neducation or religion. Cruelty, deception, intemperance, and a blind\nadherence to the idolatrous customs and superstitions of the nation from\nwhich they sprang, have been their characteristics. Up to this day,\nthere is not a school, or teacher, or preacher, among them. There is not\none individual of unmixed blood in the tribe, who can read, or has any\npretence to the knowledge of Christianity. Most of their lore is of\nmurders and thefts committed, or vicious adventures of some sort. They\nhave been, emphatically, a band of plunderers. They bore a conspicuous\npart in the depredations committed on the frontiers of Virginia and\nPennsylvania, during the revolutionary, and Wayne's war. Their late\nleader and head chief, KISHKAKO, was a perfect Abaellino in purpose, who\nspent a long life in iniquities, private and public, and would, at last,\nhave paid the forfeit of his life on the gallows, had he not committed\nsuicide in jail.\n\nThe tales of this tribe, of which there are three specimens furnished,\npartake strongly of the character of the tribe. They have less\noriginality, less moral, and less adherence to the ancient manners and\ncustoms of the original stock, than any other of the traditionary\nfictions yet examined. There is also less purity of language in the\noriginal, and a strong dash of vulgarity, which it has required some\ncare to keep out of the translation.]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[28] The radix of this word is not apparent. The term is used to signify\ncannibal, giant, monster. The plural termination in _es_ is in\naccordance with the rule of number in English orthography, applied to\noriginally foreign substantives ending in _o_, as in potatoes,\nmulattoes, &c., and previously applied in relation to Indian words, in\nWinnebagoes, Otoes, &c.\n\n[29] This phrase is peculiar to boys and girls, and is sung repeating it\nseveral times.\n\n[30] Monstrous serpents.\n\n[31] Thunder from this part of the heavens is called, by the Indians,\nthe autumnal thunder. It is the last generally heard for the season, and\nthey say, speaking of it in the plural, that \"they are hollaing on their\nway home.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE RACOON AND CRAWFISH.\n\nA FABLE.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThe Racoon searches the margins of streams for shell-fish, where he is\ngenerally sure of finding the AS-SHOG-AISH-I, or crawfish. Indian story\nsays, that the enmity between these two species, and the consequent\nwariness of each for the other, was such, that the poor racoon, with all\nhis stealthiness, was at last put to great straits for a meal. The\ncrawfish would no longer venture near the shore, and the racoon was on\nthe point of starvation. At length he fixed on this expedient to decoy\nhis enemy.\n\nKnowing the crawfish to feed on worms, he procured a quantity of old\nrotten wood (filled with these worms) and stuffing it in his mouth and\nears, and powdering it over his body, he lay down by the water's edge,\nto induce the belief that he was dead.\n\nAn old crawfish came out warily from the water, and crawled around and\nover his apparently deceased enemy. He rejoiced to find an end put to\nhis murderous career, and cried out to his fellows, \"Come up my\nbrothers and sisters, Aissibun[32] is dead, come up and eat him.\" When a\ngreat multitude had gathered around, the racoon suddenly sprung up, and\nset to killing and devouring them in such a way that not one was left\nalive.\n\nWhile he was still engaged with the broken limbs, a little female\ncrawfish, carrying her infant sister on her back, came up, seeking her\nrelations. Finding they had all been devoured by the Racoon, she\nresolved not to survive the destruction of her kindred, but went boldly\nup to the enemy and said, \"Here, Aissibun, you behold me and my little\nsister. We are all alone. You have eaten up our parents, and all our\nfriends, eat us too.\" And she continued plaintively singing her chant.\n\n     Racoon, racoon, monster thin!\n     You have murdered all my kin:\n     Leave not one to pine alone\n     On those shores so late our own.\n     You have glutted not a few,\n     Stealthy monster, eat us too--\n     Let the work be finished soon,\n                   Aissibun amoon.[33]\n\n     Here, behold us! linger not,\n     Sad and lone is now my lot:\n     One poor sister, young and small,\n     Now makes up my little all--\n     She a baby--faint and weak,\n     Who cannot yet \"mother\" speak--\n     Come, you monster, eat us soon,\n                      Aissibun amoon.\n\n     Once my people, lodge and band,\n     Stretched their numbers through the land;\n     Roving brooks and limpid streams,\n     By the moon's benignant beams.\n     First in revel, dance, and play,\n     Now, alas! ah! where are they?\n     Clutch us, monster,--eat us soon,\n                         Aissibun amoon.\n\nThe Racoon felt reproached by this act of courage and magnanimity. \"No,\"\nsaid he, \"I have banqueted on the largest and the fattest,--I will not\ndishonour myself by such little prey.\"\n\nAt this moment Manabozho happened to pass by seeing how things were.\n\"Tyau!\" said he to the Racoon, \"thou art a thief and an unmerciful dog.\nGet thee up into trees, lest I change thee into one of these same\nworm-fish, for thou wast thyself originally a shell, and bearest in thy\nname the influence of my transforming hand.\"[34]\n\nHe then took up the little supplicant crawfish and her infant sister and\ncast them into the stream. \"There,\" said he, \"you may dwell. Hide\nyourselves under the stones, and hereafter you shall be playthings for\nlittle children.\"\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[32] The Racoon.\n\n[33] Racoon, eat us.\n\n[34] The name of the racoon in the Chippewa language, appears to be a\nderivation from _Ais_ a shell, with the inflection for the perfect past\ntense (bun) united with the copulative vowel _i_. But no tale of such\ntransformation as is here alluded to, has been met with.\n\n\n\n\nLA POUDRE,\n\nOR\n\nTHE STORM-FOOL.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThe vernal equinox in America, north of the 44 deg. of north latitude,\ngenerally takes place while the ground is covered with snow, and winter\nstill wears a polar aspect. Storms of wind and light drifting snow,\nexpressively called _poudre_ by the French of the upper Lakes, fill the\natmosphere, and render it impossible to distinguish objects at a short\ndistance. The fine powdery flakes of snow are driven into the smallest\ncrannies of buildings and fixtures, and seem to be endowed with a\nsubtile power of insinuation, which renders northern joinerwork but a\npoor defence. It is not uncommon for the sleeper on waking up in the\nmorning, to find heaps of snow, where he had supposed himself quite\nsecure on lying down.\n\nSuch seasons are, almost invariably, times of scarcity and hunger with\nthe Indians, for the light snows have buried up the traps of the\nhunters, and the fishermen are deterred from exercising their customary\nskill in decoying fish through the ice. They are often reduced to the\ngreatest straits, and compelled to exercise their utmost ingenuity to\nkeep their children from starving. Abstinence, on the part of the elder\nmembers of the family, is regarded both as a duty and a merit. Every\neffort is made to satisfy the importunity of the little ones for food,\nand if there be a story-teller in the lodge, he is sure to draw upon his\ncabin lore, to amuse their minds, and beguile the time.\n\nIn these storms, when each inmate of the lodge has his _conaus_, or\nwrapper, tightly drawn around him, and all are cowering around the cabin\nfire, should some sudden puff of wind drive a volume of light snow into\nthe lodge, it would scarcely happen, but that some one of the group\nwould cry out \"Ah, Pauppukeewiss is now gathering his harvest,\" an\nexpression which has the effect to put them all into good humour.\n\nPauppukeewiss, was a crazy brain, who played many queer tricks, but took\ncare, nevertheless, to supply his family and children with food. But, in\nthis, he was not always successful. Many winters have passed since he\nwas overtaken; at this very season of the year, with great want, and\nhe, with his whole family, was on the point of starvation. Every\nresource seemed to have failed. The snow was so deep, and the storm\ncontinued so long, that he could not even find a partridge or a hare.\nAnd his usual resource of fish had entirely failed. His lodge stood in a\npoint of woods, not far back from the shores of the Gitchiguma, or great\nwater, where the autumnal storms had piled up the ice into high\npinnacles, resembling castles.\n\n\"I will go,\" said he to his family one morning, \"to these castles, and\nsolicit the pity of the spirits, who inhabit them, for I know that they\nare the residence of some of the spirits of Kabiboonoka.\" He did so, and\nfound that his petition was not disregarded. They told him to fill his\nmushkemoots, or sacks, with the ice and snow, and pass on toward his\nlodge, without looking back, until he came to a certain hill. He must\nthen drop his sacks, and leave them till morning, when he would find\nthem filled with fish.\n\nThey cautioned him, that he must by no means look back, although he\nwould hear a great many voices crying out to him, in abusive terms, for\nthese voices were nothing but the wind playing through the branches of\nthe trees. He faithfully obeyed the injunction, although he found it\nhard to avoid turning round, to see who was calling out to him. And\nwhen he visited his sacks in the morning, he found them filled with\nfish.\n\nIt chanced that Manabozho visited him on the morning that he brought\nhome the sacks of fish. He was invited to partake of a feast, which\nPauppukeewiss ordered to be prepared for him. While they were eating,\nManabozho could not help asking him, by what means he had procured such\nan abundance of food, at a time when they were all in a state of\nstarvation.\n\nPauppukeewiss frankly told him the secret, and repeated the precautions\nwhich were necessary to ensure success. Manabozho determined to profit\nby his information, and as soon as he could, he set out to visit the icy\ncastles. All things happened as he had been told. The spirits seemed\npropitious, and told him to fill and carry. He accordingly filled his\nsacks with ice and snow, and proceeded rapidly toward the hill of\ntransmutation. But as he ran he heard voices calling out behind him,\n\"thief!\" \"thief! He has stolen fish from Kabiboonoka,\" cried one.\n\"Mukumik! mukumik! Take it away! Take it away!\" cried another.\n\nIn fine his ears were so assailed by all manner of opprobrious terms,\nthat he could not avoid turning his head, to see who it was that thus\nabused him. But his curiosity dissolved the charm. When he came to\nvisit his bags next morning, he found them filled with ice and snow.\n\nIn consequence, he is condemned every year, during the month of March,\nto run over the hills, with Pauppukeewiss following him, with the cries\nof mukumik! mukumik!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[NOTE. This trick seems put, with allegoric justice, on Manabozho, on\naccount of his vain-glorious boasting, and imitation of others; for\nthere was nothing done by any one, which he did not deem himself\nadequate to, and immediately set about to perform. Story-tellers say, he\nwas once rebuked for this spirit, by a little child, who picking up his\nfoot put his great toe in his mouth, which Manabozho tried, but could\nnot do. The Odjibwas apply the term PEEWUN to the kind of finely\ngranulated snow-storm, above alluded to.]\n\n\n\n\nGIT-CHEE-GAU-ZINEE,\n\nOR\n\nTHE TRANCE.\n\n\n[The following story is related by the Odjibwas, as semi-traditionary.\nWithout attaching importance to it, in that light, it may be regarded as\nindicating Indian opinion on the temporary suspension of nervous action\nin trance, and on the (to them) great unknown void of a future state.\nThe individual, whose name it bears, is vouched to have been an actual\npersonage living on the shores of Lake Superior, where he exercised the\nauthority of a village chief.\n\nIn former times, it is averred, the Chippewas followed the custom of\ninterring many articles with the dead, including, if the deceased was a\nmale, his gun, trap, pipe, kettle, war club, clothes, wampum, ornaments,\nand even a portion of food. This practice has been gradually falling\ninto disuse, until at present, it is rare to see the Indians deposit\nany articles of value with adults. What effect tales like the following\nmay have had, in bringing this ancient pagan custom into discredit, we\nwill not undertake to decide. Much of the change of opinion which has\nsupervened, within the last century, may be fairly attributable to the\nintercourse of the Indians with white men, and in some situations, to\nthe gradual and almost imperceptible influence of Christianity on their\nexternal manners and customs. Still, more is probably due to the keen\nobservation of a people, who have very little property, and may be\nnaturally judged to have ascertained the folly of burying any valuable\nportion of it with the dead.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGit-Chee-Gau-Zinee, after a few days' illness, suddenly expired in the\npresence of his friends, by whom he was beloved and lamented. He had\nbeen an expert hunter, and left, among other things, a fine gun, which\nhe had requested might be buried with his body. There were some who\nthought his death a suspension and not an extinction of the animal\nfunctions, and that he would again be restored. His widow was among the\nnumber, and she carefully watched the body for the space of four days.\nShe thought that by laying her hand upon his breast she could discover\nremaining indications of vitality. Twenty-four hours had elapsed, and\nnearly every vestige of hope had departed, when the man came to life. He\ngave the following narration to his friends:\n\n\"After death, my Jeebi travelled in the broad road of the dead toward\nthe happy land, which is the Indian paradise. I passed on many days\nwithout meeting with any thing of an extraordinary nature. Plains of\nlarge extent, and luxuriant herbage, began to pass before my eyes. I saw\nmany beautiful groves, and heard the songs of innumerable birds. At\nlength I began to suffer for the want of food. I reached the summit of\nan elevation. My eyes caught the glimpse of the city of the dead. But it\nappeared to be distant, and the intervening space, partly veiled in\nsilvery mists, was spangled with glittering lakes and streams. At this\nspot I came in sight of numerous herds of stately deer, moose, and other\nanimals, which walked near my path, and appeared to have lost their\nnatural timidity. But having no gun I was unable to kill them. I thought\nof the request I had made to my friends, to put my gun in my grave, and\nresolved to go back and seek for it.\n\n\"I found I had the free use of my limbs and faculties, and I had no\nsooner made this resolution, than I turned back. But I now beheld an\nimmense number of men, women, and children, travelling toward the city\nof the dead, every one of whom I had to face in going back. I saw, in\nthis throng, persons of every age, from the little infant--the sweet and\nlovely _Penaisee_,[35] to the feeble gray-headed man, stooping with the\nweight of years. All whom I met, however, were heavily laden with\nimplements, guns, pipes, kettles, meats, and other articles. One man\nstopped me and complained of the great burdens he had to carry. He\noffered me his gun, which I however refused, having made up my mind to\nprocure my own. Another offered me a kettle. I saw women who were\ncarrying their basket work and painted paddles, and little boys, with\ntheir ornamented war clubs and bows and arrows--the presents of their\nfriends.\n\n\"After encountering this throng for two days and nights, I came to the\nplace where I had died. But I could see nothing but a great fire, the\nflames of which rose up before me, and spread around me. Whichever way I\nturned to avoid them, the flames still barred my advance. I was in the\nutmost perplexity, and knew not what to do. At length I determined to\nmake a desperate leap, thinking my friends were on the other side, and\nin this effort, I awoke from my trance.\" Here the chief paused, and\nafter a few moments concluded his story with the following admonitory\nremarks:\n\n\"My chiefs and friends,\" said he, \"I will tell you of one practice, in\nwhich our forefathers have been wrong. They have been accustomed to\ndeposit too many things with the dead. These implements are burthensome\nto them. It requires a longer time for them to reach the peace of\nrepose, and almost every one I have conversed with, complained bitterly\nto me of the evil. It would be wiser to put such things only, in the\ngrave, as the deceased was particularly attached to, or made a formal\nrequest to have deposited with him. If he has been successful in the\nchase, and has abundance of things in his lodge, it would be better that\nthey should remain for his family, or for division among his friends and\nrelatives.\"\n\nAdvice which comes in this pleasing form of story and allegory, can give\noffence to no one. And it is probably the mode which the northern\nIndians have employed, from the earliest times, to rebuke faults and\ninstil instruction. The old men, upon whom the duty of giving advice\nuniformly falls, may have found this the most efficacious means of\nmoulding opinion and forming character.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[35] The term of endearment for a young son.\n\n\n\n\nWASSAMO,\n\nOR\n\nTHE FIRE PLUME.\n\nFROM THE OTTOWA.\n\n\nWassamo was living with his parents on the shores of a large bay on the\neast coast of Lake Michigan. It was at a period when nature\nspontaneously furnished everything that was wanted, when the Indian used\nskins for clothing, and flints for arrow heads. It was long before the\ntime that the flag of the white man had been first seen in these lakes,\nor the sound of an iron axe had been heard. The skill of our people\nsupplied them with weapons to kill game, and instruments to procure bark\nfor their canoes, and to dress and cook their victuals.\n\nOne day, when the season had commenced for fish to be plenty near the\nshore of the lake, Wassamo's mother said to him, \"My son, I wish you\nwould go to yonder point, and see if you cannot procure me some fish,\nand ask your cousin to accompany you.\" He did so. They set out, and in\nthe course of the afternoon arrived at the fishing ground. His cousin\nattended to the nets, for he was grown up to manhood, but Wassamo had\nnot quite reached that age. They put their nets in the water and\nencamped near them, using only a few pieces of birch bark for a lodge to\nshelter them at night. They lit up a fire, and while they sat conversing\nwith each other, the moon arose. Not a breath of wind disturbed the\nsmooth and bright surface of the lake. Not a cloud was seen. Wassamo\nlooked out on the water toward their nets, and saw that almost all the\nfloats had disappeared. \"Cousin,\" he said, \"let us visit our nets,\nperhaps we are fortunate.\" They did so, and were rejoiced, as they drew\nthem up, to see the meshes white, here and there, with fish. They landed\nin fine spirits, and put away their canoe in safety from the winds.\n\"Wassamo,\" said his cousin, \"you cook, that we may eat.\" He set about it\nimmediately, and soon got his kettle on the fire, while his cousin was\nlying at his case on the opposite side of the fire. \"Cousin,\" said\nWassamo, \"tell me stories, or sing me some love songs.\" The other obeyed\nand sung his plaintive songs. He would frequently break off, and tell\nparts of stories, and then sing again, as suited his feelings or fancy.\nWhile thus employed, he unconsciously fell asleep. Wassamo had scarcely\nnoticed it, in his care to watch the kettle, and when the fish were\ndone, he took the kettle off. He spoke to his cousin, but received no\nanswer. He took the wooden ladle and skimmed off the oil, for the fish\nwere very fat. He had a flambeau of twisted bark in one hand to give\nlight, but when he came to take out the fish he did not know how to\nmanage to hold the light. He took off his garters and tied them around\nhis head, and then placed the lighted flambeau above his forehead, so\nthat it was firmly held by the bandage, and threw its light brilliantly\naround him. Having both hands thus at liberty, he began to take out the\nfish, every now and then moving his head, as he blew off the oil from\nthe broth. He again spoke to his cousin, but he now perceived by his\nbreathing, that he was asleep. He hastened to finish the removal of the\nfish, and while he blew over the broth repeatedly, the plume of fire\nover his forehead waved brilliantly in the air. Suddenly he heard a\nlaugh. There appeared to be one or two persons, at no great distance.\n\"Cousin,\" he said, to the sleeping boy, \"some person is near us. I hear\na laugh; awake and let us look out.\" But his cousin was in a profound\nsleep. Again he heard the laughing. Looking out as far as the reflection\nof the fire threw light, he beheld two beautiful young females smiling\non him. Their countenances appeared to be perfectly white, and were\nexceedingly beautiful. He crouched down and pushed his cousin, saying,\nin a low voice, \"awake! awake! here are two young women.\" But he\nreceived no answer. His cousin seemed locked up in one of the deepest\nslumbers. He started up alone, and went toward the females. He was\ncharmed with their looks, but just as he was about to speak to them, he\nsuddenly fell senseless, and both he and they vanished together.\n\nSome short time afterward the cousin awoke. He saw the kettle near him.\nSome of the fish were in the bowl. The fire still cast its glare faintly\naround, but he could discover no person. He waited and waited, but\nWassamo did not appear. Perhaps, thought he, he is gone out again to\nvisit the nets. He looked, but the canoe was still in the place where it\nhad been left. He searched and found his footsteps on the ashes. He\nbecame uneasy--NETAWIS! NETAWIS! (cousin, cousin,) he cried out, but\nthere was no answer. He cried out louder and louder, NETAWIS, NETAWIS,\nwhere are you gone? but still no answer. He started for the edge of the\nwoods, crying NETAWIS, NETAWIS. He ran in various directions repeating\nthe same words. The dark woods echoed NETAWIS, NETAWIS. He burst into\ntears and sobbed aloud.\n\nHe returned to the fire and sat down, but he had no heart to eat.\nVarious conjectures passed in his mind respecting his cousin. He thought\nhe may have been playing me a trick. No, impossible! or he may have\nbecome deranged and ran into the woods. He hoped the morning would bring\nwith it some discovery. But he was oppressed by the thought that the\nIndians would consider him the murderer of the lost man. \"Although,\"\nreasoned he, \"his parents are my relations, and they know that we are\ninseparable friends, they will not believe me, if I go home with a\nreport that he is lost. They will say I killed him, and will require\nblood for blood.\"\n\nThese thoughts weighed upon his mind. He could not sleep. Early in the\nmorning he got up and took in the nets, and set out on foot for the\nvillage, running all the way. When they saw him coming, they said, \"some\naccident has happened.\" When he got in, he told them how his cousin had\ndisappeared. He stated all the circumstances. He kept back nothing. He\ndeclared all he knew. Some said, \"he has killed him treacherously.\"\nOthers said, \"it is impossible, they were like brothers; sooner than do\nthat they would have given up their lives for each other.\" He asserted\nhis innocence, and asked them to go and look at the spot of their\nencampment. Many of the men accordingly went, and found all as he had\nstated. No footsteps showed that any scuffle had taken place. There were\nno signs of blood. They came to the conclusion that the young man had\ngot deranged, and strayed away, and was lost. With this belief they\nreturned to the village. But the parents still waited and hoped he would\nreturn. Spring came on and the Indians assembled from various quarters.\nAmong them was Wassamo's cousin. He continued to say that he had done\nnothing to hurt his friends. Anxiety and fear had, however, produced a\nvisible change in his features. He was pale and emaciated. The idea of\nthe blood of his friend and relation being laid to his charge, caused a\ncontinual pain of mind.\n\nThe parents of Wassamo now demanded the life of Netawis. The village was\nin an uproar. Some sided with the parents, some with the young man. All\nshowed anxiety in the affair. They at last, however, decided to give the\nyoung man's life to the parents. They said they had waited long enough\nfor the return of their son. A day was appointed on which the young man\nshould give his life for his friend's. He still went at large. He said\nhe was not afraid to die, for he had never committed what they laid to\nhis charge. A day or two before the time set to take his life, he\nwandered in a melancholy mood from the village, following the beach. His\nfeelings were wrought to such a pitch, that he thought once or twice to\nthrow himself into the lake. But he reflected, they will say I was\nguilty, or I would not have done so. \"No, I will not, I would prefer\ndying under their hands.\" He walked on, thinking of his coming fate,\ntill he reached the sand banks, a short distance from the village. Here\nwe will dismiss him for the present.\n\nWhen Wassamo fell senseless before the two young women, it must have\nbeen some minutes before he recovered, for when he came to himself, he\ndid not know where he was, and had been removed to a distant scene. On\nrecovering his senses he heard persons conversing. One spoke in a tone\nof authority, saying, \"You foolish girls, is this the way you go about\nat nights, without our knowing it? Put that person you brought on that\nbed of yours, and let him not lie on the ground.\" After this Wassamo\nfell himself moved and placed on a bed. Some time after he opened his\neyes fully, and was surprised to find himself in a spacious and superb\nlodge, extending as far as the eye could reach. One spoke to him,\nsaying, \"Stranger, awake, and take something to eat.\" He arose and sat\nup. On each side of the lodge he beheld rows of people sitting in\nregular order. At a distance he could see two prominent persons who\nlooked rather older than the rest, and who appeared to command obedience\nfrom all around them. One of them, the Old Spirit man, addressed him.\n\"My son,\" said he, \"those foolish girls brought you here. They saw you\nat the fishing ground. When you attempted to approach them, you fell\nsenseless, and they conveyed you underground to this place. But be\nsatisfied. We will make your stay with us pleasant. I am the guardian\nSpirit of NAGOW WUDJOO.[36] I have wished frequently to get one of your\nrace to intermarry with us. If you can make up your mind to remain, I\nwill give you one of my daughters--the one who brought you away from\nyour parents and friends.\"[37] The young man dropped his head and made\nno answer. His silence they construed into an assent to their wishes.\n\n\"Your wants,\" continued the Old Spirit, \"will all be supplied, only be\ncareful not to stray away far from this. I am afraid of that Spirit who\nrules all islands lying in the Lakes. For he demanded my daughter in\nmarriage, and I refused him: when he hears that you are my guest, it may\nbe an inducement for him to harm you. There is my daughter, (he\npointed.) Take her, she shall be your wife.\" And forthwith they sat near\neach other in the lodge, and were considered as married.\n\n\"Son-in-law,\" said the Old Spirit, \"I am in want of tobacco. You shall\nreturn to visit your parents, and can make known my wishes. For it is\nvery seldom that those few who pass these Sand Hills, offer a piece of\ntobacco. When they do it, it immediately comes to me. Just so,\" he\nadded, putting his hand out of the side of the lodge, and drawing in\nseveral pieces of tobacco, which some one at that moment happened to\noffer to the Spirit, for a smooth lake and prosperous voyage. \"You see,\"\nhe said, \"every thing offered me on earth, comes immediately to the side\nof my lodge.\" Wassamo saw the women also putting their hands to the side\nof the lodge, and then handing something around, of which all partook.\nThis he found to be offerings of food made by mortals on earth.\n\n\"Daughter,\" said the Old Spirit Woman, NAUONGUISK[38] cannot eat what we\neat, so you can procure him what he is accustomed to. \"Yes,\" she\nreplied, and immediately pushed her hand through the side of the lodge,\nand took a white fish out of the lake, which she prepared for him. She\ndaily followed the same practice, giving every variety of fish he\nexpressed a wish for. Sometimes it was trout, pike, sturgeon, or any\nother fish the lake furnished. She did the same with regard to meats, or\nthe flesh of any animal or fowl he asked for. For the animals walked\nover the roof of the lodge, the birds sat upon its poles, and the waters\ncame so near to its side, that the Spirits had only to extend their\nhands to the outside to procure whatever they wanted.\n\nOne day the Old Spirit said, (although it was perpetual day with them)\n\"son-in-law, you must not be surprised at what you will see, for since\nyou have been with us, you have never seen us go to sleep. It was on\naccount of its being summer, which is constant daylight with us. But now\nwhat you call winter is approaching. It is six months night with us,\nyou will soon see us lie down, and we shall not get up, but for a\nmoment, throughout the whole winter. Take my advice. Leave not the\nlodge, but try and amuse yourself. You will find all you wish there,\"\nraising his arm slowly and pointing. Wassamo said he would obey, and act\nas he recommended.\n\nOn another occasion a thunder storm came on, when every spirit instantly\ndisappeared. When the storm was over, they all again re-entered the\nlodge. This scene was repeated during every tempest. \"You are\nsurprised,\" said the Old Spirit, \"to see us disappear whenever it\nthunders. The reason is this. A greater Spirit, who lives above, makes\nthose thunders sound and sends his fire. We are afraid, and hide\nourselves.\"\n\nThe season of sleep approached, and they, one after another, laid\nthemselves down to their long sleep. In the mean time Wassamo amused\nhimself in the best way he could. His relations got up but once during\nthe whole winter, and they then said it was midnight, and laid down\nagain. \"Son-in-law,\" said the Old Spirit, \"you can now, in a few days,\nstart with your wife to visit your relations. You can be absent one\nyear, but after that time you must return. When you get to the village\nyou must first go in alone. Leave your wife a short distance from the\nlodge, and when you are welcome then send for her.[39] When there, do\nnot be surprised at her disappearance whenever you hear it thunder. You\nwill also prosper in all things, for she is very industrious. All the\ntime that you pass in sleep she will be at work. The distance is short\nto your village. A road leads directly to it, and when you get there do\nnot forget my wants, as I stated to you before.\"\n\nWassamo promised obedience to their directions, and then set out in\ncompany with his wife. They travelled in a good road, his wife leading\nthe way, till they got to a rising ground. At the highest point of this,\nshe said, we will soon get to your country. After reaching the summit,\nthey passed, for a short distance, under the lake, and emerged from the\nwater at certain sand banks on the bay of WEKUADONG.[40]\n\nWassamo left his wife concealed in a thicket, while he went toward the\nvillage alone. On turning the first point of land, who should he meet\nbut his cousin. \"Oh Netawis, Netawis,\" said his cousin, \"you have just\ncome in time to save me. They accuse me of having killed you.\" Words\ncannot express their joy. The cousin ran off in haste for the village\nand entered the lodge where Wassamo's mother was. \"Hear me,\" he said, \"I\nhave seen him whom you accuse me of having killed. He will be here in a\nfew moments.\" The village was in instant commotion. All were anxious to\nsee him whom they had thought dead. While the excitement was at its\nheight Wassamo entered the lodge of his parents. All was joy at the\nhappy meeting. He related all that had happened to him from the moment\nof his leaving their temporary night lodge with the flame on his head.\nHe told them where he had been, and that he was married. As soon as the\nexcitement of his reception had abated, he told his mother that he had\nleft his wife a short distance from the village. She went immediately in\nsearch of her, and soon found her. All the women of the village\nconducted her to the lodge of her relations. They were astonished at her\nbeauty, at the whiteness of her skin, and more so, at her being able to\nconverse with them in their own language. All was joy in the village;\nnothing but feasting could be seen while they had the means of doing so.\nThe Indians came from different quarters, to offer them welcome, and to\npresent their tobacco to the Spirit's daughter.\n\nThus passed the summer and the fall, and Wassamo's parents and\nrelations, and the Indians around were prospered in all things. But his\ncousin would never leave him, he was constantly near him, and asking him\nquestions. They took notice that at every thunder storm his wife\ndisappeared, and that at night, as well as during the day, she was never\nidle. Winter was drawing on, and she told her husband to prepare a lodge\nfor her to pass the season in, and to inform the Indians beforehand of\nher father's request. He did so, and all now began to move off to their\nwinter quarters. Wassamo also prepared for the season. He gave one half\nof his lodge to his wife. Before lying down, she said, no one but\nyourself must pass on the side of the lodge I am on. Winter passed\nslowly away, and when the sap of the maple began to run, she awoke and\ncommenced her duties as before. She also helped to make sugar. It was\nnever known before or since that so much sugar was made during the\nseason. As soon as the Indians had finished their sugar-making, they\nleft the woods and encamped at their village. They offered tobacco\nprofusely at the lodge of Wassamo, asking for the usual length of life,\nfor success as hunters, and for a plentiful supply of food. Wassamo\nreplied, that he would mention each of their requests to his\nfather-in-law. So much tobacco had been offered, that they were obliged\nto procure two sacks, made of dressed moose skin, to hold it. On the\noutside of these skins the different totems[41] of the Indians, who had\ngiven the tobacco, were painted and marked, and also those of all\npersons who had made any request.\n\nWhen the time arrived for their departure, they told their relatives not\nto follow them, or see how they disappeared. They then took the two\nsacks of mooseskin filled with tobacco, and bade adieu to all but\nNetawis. He insisted on going with them a distance, and when they got to\nthe sand banks he expressed the strongest wish to proceed with them on\ntheir journey. Wassamo told him it was impossible, that it was only\nspirits who could exert the necessary power. They then took an\naffectionate leave of each other. The young man saw them go into the\nwater and disappear. He returned home and told his friends that he had\nwitnessed their disappearance.\n\nWassamo and his wife soon reached their home at the grand Sand Hills.\nThe Old Spirit was delighted to see them, and hailed their return with\nopen arms. They presented him with the tobacco, and told him all the\nrequests of the people above. He replied that he would attend to all,\nbut he must first invite his friends to smoke with him. He then sent his\nMEZHINAUWA,[42] to invite his friends the Spirits, and named the time\nfor their reception. Before the time arrived he spoke to his son-in-law.\n\"My son,\" said he, \"some of those Manitoes I have invited are very\nwicked, and I warn you particularly of the one who wished to marry my\ndaughter. Some of them you will, however, find to be friendly. Take my\nadvice, and when they come in, sit close to your wife--so close you must\ntouch her. If you do not you will be lost, for those who are expected to\ncome in are so powerful, that they will draw you from your seat. You\nhave only to observe my words closely, and all will be well.\" Wassamo\nsaid he would obey.\n\nAbout midday they commenced coming in. There were spirits from all parts\nof the country. One entered who smiled on him. He was the guardian\nSpirit of the Ottowas, and he lived near the present GITCHY\nWEKUADONG.[43] Soon after, he heard the sounds of the roaring and\nfoaming of waters. Presently they rushed in, and passed through the\nlodge like a raging tempest. Tremendous pieces of rocks, whole trees,\nlogs, and stumps rolled past, and were borne away by the strong current,\nwith the noise and foaming of some mighty cataract in the spring. It was\nthe guardian spirit of Water-Falls. Again, they heard the roaring of\nwaves, as if beating against a rocky shore. The sounds came rapidly on.\nIn a few moments in rolled the waves of Lake Superior. They were\nmountain high, and covered with silver-sparkling foam. Wassamo felt\ntheir pressure and with difficulty clang to his seat, for they were of\nfrightful appearance, and each one seemed as if it would overwhelm them.\nThis was the last spirit who entered. It was the guardian of Islands in\nthe surrounding lake.\n\nSoon after, the Old Spirit arose and addressed the assembly. \"Brothers,\"\nhe said, \"I have invited you to partake with me of the offerings made by\nthe mortals on earth, which have been brought by our relative (pointing\nto Wassamo). Brothers, you see their wishes and desires, (pointing to\nthe figured mooseskins). Brothers, the offering is worthy of our\nconsideration. Brothers, I see nothing on my part to prevent our\ngranting their requests; they do not appear to be unreasonable.\nBrothers, the offering is gratifying. Our wants for this article are\nurgent. Shall we grant their requests? One thing more I would\nsay--Brothers, it is this. There is my son-in-law; he is a mortal. I\nwish to detain him with me, and it is with us jointly to make him one of\nus.\" \"Hoke! Hoke!\" ran through the whole company of Spirits.[44]\n\nThe tobacco was then divided equally among them all. They decided to\ngrant the requests of the people on earth, and also respecting the\nspirit's son-in-law. When the Spirit of Islands passed Wassamo, he\nlooked angrily at him. The guardian spirit of the Ottowa bands said, \"it\nis very strange that he can never appear anywhere without showing his\nbad disposition.\"\n\nWhen the company was dispersed, the Old Spirit told Wassamo that he\nshould once more visit his parents and relatives, and then it should be\nonly for a short time. \"It is merely to go and tell them that their\nwishes are granted, and then to bid them farewell for ever.\" Sometime\nafter Wassamo and his wife made this visit. Having delivered his\nmessage, he said, \"I must now bid you all farewell for ever.\" His\nparents and friends raised their voices in loud lamentation. They\naccompanied him to the Sand Banks, where they all seated themselves to\nsee them make their final departure. The day was mild; the sky clear;\nnot a cloud appeared, nor a breath of wind to disturb the bright surface\nof the water. The most perfect silence reigned throughout the company.\nThey gazed intently on Wassamo and his wife as they waded out into the\nwater, waving their hands. They saw them go into deeper and deeper\nwater. They saw the waves close over their heads. All at once they\nraised a loud and piercing wail. They looked again, a red flame, as if\nthe sun had glanced on a billow, marked the spot for an instant, but the\nFeather of Flames and his wife had disappeared for ever.\n\n[The preceding tale opens a chapter in Indian demonology, which was\nnarrated by the late chief Chusco, an Ottowa. This individual had\nperformed the office of a seer and necromancer for his tribe for a long\nseries of years, and had acquired notoriety and power among them from\nthe successful display of these arts. The story was related after his\nconversion to Christianity, but he continued to affirm to the last, that\nhis power as a JOSSAKEED, or juggler, was derived from a _direct energy_\ncommunicated by the Great Evil Spirit.]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[36] Sand mountains, usually called _La Grandes Sables_, a noted range\nof SAND DOWNS, of oceanic formation, on the south shores of Lake\nSUPERIOR.\n\n[37] This speech was commenced by throwing the blame of his captivity\nupon the daughters. But the Spirit soon reveals, that he had long wished\nfor such an event, and leaves it to be inferred that it was brought\nabout by his direct agency. This subterfuge, to call it by its lightest\nname, shows that plain truth is not a point of character most\nstrenuously sought after by the OLD SPIRIT.\n\n[38] This is a term applied by women to a son-in-law, &c.\n\n[39] This is the present ceremonious custom of visiting among the\nnorthern Indians, for strangers of their own, or other tribes Friends\nproceed directly to the lodges, but it is the privilege of relations\nonly to enter them without invitation at the door.\n\n[40] Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan.\n\n[41] Family marks, or arms. This institution has been noticed among the\nAlgonquin tribes from an early day. It is a link in the genealogical\nchain by which the bands are held together--and a curious trait, whether\nit be regarded of ancient or modern usage. It has no reference to\npersonal names, but indicates the family or tribal name. All the\nindividuals of a particular family, as the deer, crane, beaver, &c. when\ncalled upon for their signature, affix their respective family mark,\nwithout regard to specific names. And it is precisely analogous to the\nexisting feudal institutions of coats of arms. _Totame_, or _totem_ is\nthe term, and it is a word appealed to by them with pride, and as\nfurnishing evidence of blood relationship. Whatever the institution may\nbe derived from, it is certain that a Benjaminite or an Ephraimite,\ncould not appeal to his tribal appellation with more emphasis and\ndogmatism than do our northern Indians to their _totems_.\n\n[42] This is an official personage, standing in the light of an aid, or\noffice help, to the chiefs. He carves at feasts, and lights the pipe at\ncouncils or ceremonial occasions. He is the verbal messenger of state\nmessages, but not a messenger in the common acceptation of the term. He\nis an important functionary in all formal business, or negotiations with\nthe chiefs.\n\n[43] Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan.\n\n[44] The interjection Hob! is used by these tribes to imply approbation\nand assent. The change in the word here indicated, is to be regarded as\none of the points of invention, in their tales of demonology.\n\n\n\n\nOSSEO,\n\nOR\n\nTHE SON OF THE EVENING STAR.\n\nAN ALGONQUIN TALE.\n\n\nThere once lived an Indian in the north, who had ten daughters, all of\nwhom grew up to womanhood. They were noted for their beauty, but\nespecially Oweenee, the youngest, who was very independent in her way of\nthinking. She was a great admirer of romantic places, and paid very\nlittle attention to the numerous young men who came to her father's\nlodge for the purpose of seeing her. Her elder sisters were all\nsolicited in marriage from their parents, and one after another, went\noff to dwell in the lodges of their husbands, or mothers-in-law, but she\nwould listen to no proposals of the kind. At last she married an old man\ncalled OSSEO, who was scarcely able to walk, and was too poor to have\nthings like others. They jeered and laughed at her, on all sides, but\nshe seemed to be quite happy, and said to them, \"It is my choice, and\nyou will see in the end, who has acted the wisest.\" Soon after, the\nsisters and their husbands and their parents were all invited to a\nfeast, and as they walked along the path, they could not help pitying\ntheir young and handsome sister, who had such an unsuitable mate. Osseo\noften stopped and gazed upwards, but they could perceive nothing in the\ndirection he looked, unless it was the faint glimmering of the evening\nstar. They heard him muttering to himself as they went along, and one of\nthe elder sisters caught the words, \"Sho-wain-ne-me-shinnosa.\"[45] \"Poor\nold man,\" said she, \"he is talking to his father, what a pity it is,\nthat he would not fall and break his neck, that our sister might have a\nhandsome young husband.\" Presently they passed a large hollow log, lying\nwith one end toward the path. The moment Osseo, who was of the turtle\ntotem, came to it, he stopped short, uttered a loud and peculiar yell,\nand then dashing into one end of the log, he came out at the other, a\nmost beautiful young man, and springing back to the road, he led off the\nparty with steps as light as the reindeer.[46] But on turning round to\nlook for his wife, behold, she had been changed into an old, decrepit\nwoman, who was bent almost double, and walked with a cane. The husband,\nhowever, treated her very kindly, as she had done him during the time of\nhis enchantment, and constantly addressed her by the term of\nne-ne-moosh-a, or my sweetheart.\n\nWhen they came to the hunter's lodge with whom they were to feast, they\nfound the feast ready prepared, and as soon as their entertainer had\nfinished his harangue, (in which he told them his feasting was in honour\nof the Evening, or Woman's Star,) they began to partake of the portion\ndealt out, according to age and character, to each one. The food was\nvery delicious, and they were all happy but Osseo, who looked at his\nwife and then gazed upward, as if he was looking into the substance of\nthe sky. Sounds were soon heard, as if from far-off voices in the air,\nand they became plainer and plainer, till he could clearly distinguish\nsome of the words.\n\n\"My son--my son,\" said the voice, \"I have seen your afflictions and pity\nyour wants. I come to call you away from a scene that is stained with\nblood and tears. The earth is full of sorrows. Giants and sorcerers, the\nenemies of mankind, walk abroad in it, and are scattered throughout its\nlength. Every night they are lifting their voices to the Power of Evil,\nand every day they make themselves busy in casting evil in the hunter's\npath. You have long been their victim, but shall be their victim no\nmore. The spell you were under is broken. Your evil genius is overcome.\nI have cast him down by my superior strength, and it is this strength I\nnow exert for your happiness. Ascend, my son--ascend into the skies, and\npartake of the feast I have prepared for you in the stars, and bring\nwith you those you love.\n\n\"The food set before you is enchanted and blessed. Fear not to partake\nof it. It is endowed with magic power to give immortality to mortals,\nand to change men to spirits. Your bowls and kettles shall be no longer\nwood and earth. The one shall become silver, and the other wampum. They\nshall shine like fire, and glisten like the most beautiful scarlet.\nEvery female shall also change her state and looks, and no longer be\ndoomed to laborious tasks. She shall put on the beauty of the starlight,\nand become a shining bird of the air, clothed with shining feathers. She\nshall dance and not work--she shall sing and not cry.\"\n\n\"My beams,\" continued the voice, \"shine faintly on your lodge, but they\nhave a power to transform it into the lightness of the skies, and\ndecorate it with the colours of the clouds. Come, Osseo, my son, and\ndwell no longer on earth. Think strongly on my words, and look\nsteadfastly at my beams. My power is now at its height. Doubt not--delay\nnot. It is the voice of the Spirit of the stars that calls you away to\nhappiness and celestial rest.\"\n\nThe words were intelligible to Osseo, but his companions thought them\nsome far-off sounds of music, or birds singing in the woods. Very soon\nthe lodge began to shake and tremble, and they felt it rising into the\nair. It was too late to run out, for they were already as high as the\ntops of the trees. Osseo looked around him as the lodge passed through\nthe topmost boughs, and behold! their wooden dishes were changed into\nshells of a scarlet colour, the poles of the lodge to glittering wires\nof silver, and the bark that covered them into the gorgeous wings of\ninsects. A moment more, and his brothers and sisters, and their parents\nand friends, were transformed into birds of various plumage. Some were\njays, some partridges and pigeons, and others gay singing birds, who\nhopped about displaying their glittering feathers, and singing their\nsongs. But OWEENEE still kept her earthly garb, and exhibited all the\nindications of extreme age. He again cast his eyes in the direction of\nthe clouds, and uttered that peculiar yell, which had given him the\nvictory at the hollow log. In a moment the youth and beauty of his wife\nreturned; her dingy garments assumed the shining appearance of green\nsilk, and her cane was changed into a silver feather. The lodge again\nshook and trembled, for they were now passing through the uppermost\nclouds, and they immediately after found themselves in the Evening Star,\nthe residence of Osseo's father.\n\n\"My son,\" said the old man, \"hang that cage of birds, which you have\nbrought along in your hand, at the door, and I will inform you why you\nand your wife have been sent for.\" Osseo obeyed the directions, and then\ntook his seat in the lodge. \"Pity was shown to you,\" resumed the king of\nthe star, \"on account of the contempt of your wife's sister, who laughed\nat her ill fortune, and ridiculed you while you were under the power of\nthat wicked spirit, whom you overcame at the log. That spirit lives in\nthe next lodge, being a small star you see on the left of mine, and he\nhas always felt envious of my family, because we had greater power than\nhe had, and especially on account of our having had the care committed\nto us of the female world. He failed in several attempts to destroy\nyour brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, but succeeded at last in\ntransforming yourself and your wife into decrepit old persons. You must\nbe careful and not let the light of his beams fall on you, while you are\nhere, for therein is the power of his enchantment: a ray of light is the\nbow and arrows he uses.\"\n\nOsseo lived happy and contented in the parental lodge, and in due time\nhis wife presented him with a son, who grew up rapidly, and was the\nimage of his father. He was very quick and ready in learning every thing\nthat was done in his grandfather's dominions, but he wished also to\nlearn the art of hunting, for he had heard that this was a favourite\npursuit below. To gratify him his father made him a bow and arrows, and\nhe then let the birds out of the cage that he might practise in\nshooting. He soon became expert, and the very first day brought down a\nbird, but when he went to pick it up, to his amazement, it was a\nbeautiful young woman with the arrow sticking in her breast. It was one\nof his younger _aunts_. The moment her blood fell upon the surface of\nthat pure and spotless planet, the charm was dissolved. The boy\nimmediately found himself sinking, but was partly upheld, by something\nlike wings, till he passed through the lower clouds, and he then\nsuddenly dropped upon a high, romantic island in a large lake. He was\npleased on looking up, to see all his aunts and uncles following him in\nthe form of birds, and he soon discovered the silver lodge, with his\nfather and mother, descending with its waving barks looking like so many\ninsects' gilded wings. It rested on the highest cliffs of the island,\nand here they fixed their residence. They all resumed their natural\n_shapes_, but were diminished to the _size_ of fairies, and as a mark of\nhomage to the King of the Evening Star, they never failed, on every\npleasant evening, during the summer season, to join hands, and dance\nupon the top of the rocks. These rocks were quickly observed by the\nIndians to be covered, in moonlight evenings, with a larger sort of PUK\nWUDJ ININEES, or little men, and were called Mish-in-e-mok-in-ok-ong, or\nturtle spirits, and the island is named from them to this day.[47] Their\nshining lodge can be seen in the summer evenings when the moon shines\nstrongly on the pinnacles of the rocks, and the fishermen, who go near\nthose high cliffs at night, have even heard the voices of the happy\nlittle dancers.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[45] Pity me, my father.\n\n[46] The C. Sylvestris inhabits North America, north of latitude 46 deg.\n\n[47] Michilimackinac, the term alluded to, is the original French\northography of MISH EN I MOK IN ONO, the _local_ form (sing. and plu.),\nof Turtle Spirits.\n\n\n\n\nKWASIND,\n\nOR\n\nTHE FEARFULLY STRONG MAN.\n\n\nPauwating[48] was a village where the young men amused themselves very\nmuch in ancient times, in sports and ball-playing.\n\nOne day as they were engaged in their sports, one of the strongest and\nmost active, at the moment he was about to succeed in a trial of\nlifting, slipped and fell upon his back. \"Ha! ha! ha!\" cried the lookers\non, \"you will never rival Kwasind.\" He was deeply mortified, and when\nthe sport was over, these words came to his mind. He could not recollect\nany man of this name. He thought he would ask the old man, the\nstory-teller of the village, the next time he came to the lodge. The\nopportunity soon occurred.\n\n\"My grandfather,\" said he, \"who was Kwasind? I am very anxious to know\nwhat he could do.\"\n\nKwasind, the old man replied, was a listless idle boy. He would not play\nwhen the other boys played, and his parents could never get him to do\nany kind of labour. He was always making excuses. His parents took\nnotice, however, that he fasted for days together, but they could not\nlearn what spirit he supplicated, or had chosen as the guardian spirit\nto attend him through life. He was so inattentive to his parents'\nrequests, that he, at last, became a subject of reproach.\n\n\"Ah,\" said his mother to him one day, \"is there any young man of your\nage, in all the village, who does so little for his parents? You neither\nhunt nor fish. You take no interest in any thing, whether labour or\namusement, which engages the attention of your equals in years. I have\noften set my nets[49] in the coldest days of winter, without any\nassistance from you. And I have taken them up again, while you remained\ninactive at the lodge fire. Are you not ashamed of such idleness? Go, I\nbid you, and wring out that net, which I have just taken from the\nwater.\"\n\nKwasind saw that there was a determination to make him obey. He did not\ntherefore make any excuses, but went out and took up the net. He\ncarefully folded it, doubled and redoubled it, forming it into a roll,\nand then with an easy twist of his hands wrung it short off, with as\nmuch ease as if every twine had been a thin brittle fibre. Here, they at\nonce saw, the secret of his reluctance. He possessed supernatural\nstrength.\n\nAfter this, the young men were playing one day on the plain, where there\nwas lying one of those large, heavy, black pieces of rock, which\nManabozho is said to have cast at his father. Kwasind took it up with\nmuch ease, and threw it into the river. After this, he accompanied his\nfather on a hunting excursion into a remote forest. They came to a place\nwhere the wind had thrown a great many trees into a narrow pass. \"We\nmust go the other way,\" said the old man, \"it is impossible to get the\nburdens through this place.\" He sat down to rest himself, took out his\nsmoking apparatus, and gave a short time to reflection. When he had\nfinished, Kwasind had lifted away the largest pine trees, and pulled\nthem out of the path.\n\nSailing one day in his canoe, Kwasind saw a large furred animal, which\nhe immediately recognised to be the king of beavers. He plunged into the\nwater in pursuit of it. His companions were in the greatest\nastonishment and alarm, supposing he would perish. He often dove down\nand remained a long time under water, pursuing the animal from island to\nisland; and at last returned with the kingly prize. After this, his fame\nspread far and wide, and no hunter would presume to compete with him.\n\nHe performed so many feats of strength and skill, that he excited the\nenvy of the Puck-wudj In-in-ee-sug, or fairies, who conspired against\nhis life. \"For,\" said they, \"if this man is suffered to go on, in his\ncareer of strength and exploits, we shall presently have no work to\nperform. Our agency in the affairs of men must cease. He will undermine\nour power, and drive us, at last, into the water, where we must all\nperish, or be devoured by the wicked Neebanawbaig.\"[50]\n\nThe strength of Kwasind was all concentrated in the crown of his head.\nThis was, at the same time, the only vulnerable part of his body; and\nthere was but one species of weapon which could be successfully employed\nin making any impression upon it. The fairies carefully hunted through\nthe woods to find this weapon. It was the burr or seed vessel of the\nwhite pine. They gathered a quantity of this article, and waylaid\nKwasind at a point on the river, where the red rocks jut into the water,\nforming rude castles--a point which he was accustomed to pass in his\ncanoe. They waited a long time, making merry upon these rocks, for it\nwas a highly romantic spot. At last the wished-for object appeared,\nKwasind came floating calmly down the stream, on the afternoon of a\nsummer's day, languid with the heat of the weather, and almost asleep.\nWhen his canoe came directly beneath the cliff, the tallest and stoutest\nfairy began the attack. Others followed his example. It was a long time\nbefore they could hit the vulnerable part, but success at length crowned\ntheir efforts, and Kwasind sunk, never to rise more.\n\nEver since this victory, the Puck Wudj Ininee have made that point of\nrock a favourite resort. The hunters often hear them laugh, and see\ntheir little plumes shake as they pass this scene on light summer\nevenings.\n\n\"My son,\" continued the old man, \"take care that you do not imitate the\nfaults of Kwasind. If he had not so often exerted his strength merely\nfor the sake of _boasting_, he would not, perhaps, have made the fairies\nfeel jealous of him. It is better to use the strength you have, in a\nquiet useful way, than to sigh after the possession of a giant's power.\nFor if you run, or wrestle, or jump, or fire at a mark, only as well as\nyour equals in years, nobody will envy you. But if you would needs be a\nKwasind, you must expect a Kwasind's fate.\"\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[48] i.e. Place of shallow cataract, named _Sault de Ste Marie_ on the\narrival of the French. This is the _local_ form of the word, the\nsubstantive proper terminates in EEG.\n\n[49] Nets are set in winter, in high northern latitudes, through\norifices cut in the ice.\n\n[50] A kind of water spirits.\n\n\n\n\nMUDJEE MONEDO AND MINNO MONEDO,\n\nOR\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF EVIL AND THE SPIRIT OF GOOD.\n\nA SAGINAW TALE.\n\n\nIn a beautiful portion of the country, which was part forest and part\nprairie, there lived a bloodthirsty Manito in the guise of an Indian,\nwho made use of all his arts to decoy men into his power for the purpose\nof killing them. Although the country yielded an abundance of game, and\nevery other production to satisfy his wants, yet it was the study of his\nlife to destroy human beings, and subsist upon their blood. The country\nhad once been thickly populated, but he had thinned it off by his\nwickedness, and his lodge was surrounded by the bleached bones of his\nvictims.\n\nThe secret of his success lay in his great speed. He had the power to\nassume the shape of any quadruped, and it was his custom to challenge\npersons to run with him. He had a beaten path on which he ran, leading\naround a large lake, and he always ran around this circle, so that the\nstarting and winning point were the same. At this point stood a post,\nhaving a sharp and shining knife tied to it, and whoever lost the race\nlost his life. The winner immediately took up the knife and cut off his\ncompetitor's head. No man was ever known to beat this evil Manito in the\nrace, although he ran every day; for whenever he was pressed hard, he\nchanged himself into a fox, wolf, or deer, or other swift-footed animal,\nand thus left his competitor behind.\n\nThe whole country was in dread of him, and yet, such was the folly and\nrashness of the young men, that they were continually running with him;\nfor if they refused, he called them cowards, which was a taunt they\ncould not bear. They would rather die than be called cowards. In other\nrespects, the Manito had pleasing manners, and visited the lodges around\nthe country, like others; but his secret object in these visits was to\nsee whether the young boys were getting to be old enough to run with\nhim, and he was careful to keep a watch upon their growth, and never\nfailed to challenge them to run on his race ground. There was no family\nwhich had not lost some of its most active members in this way, and the\nManito was execrated by all the Indian mothers in the country.\n\nThere lived near him a widow, whose husband and ten sons he had killed\nin this way, and she was now left with an only daughter and a son of ten\nor twelve years old, named MONEDOWA. She was very poor and feeble, and\nsuffered so much for the want of food, that she would have been glad to\ndie, had it not been for her daughter and her little son, who was not\nyet able to hunt. The Manito had already visited her lodge to see\nwhether the boy was not sufficiently grown to challenge him. And the\nmother saw there was a great probability that he would be decoyed and\nkilled as his father and brothers had been. Still, she hoped a better\nfate would attend him, and strove, in the best way she could, to\ninstruct him in the maxims of a hunter's and a warrior's life. To the\ndaughter she also taught all that could make her useful as a wife, and\ninstructed her in the arts of working with porcupine quills on leather,\nand various other things, which the Indian females regard as\naccomplishments. She was also neat and tasteful in arranging her dress\naccording to their customs, and possessing a tall and graceful person,\nshe displayed her national costume to great advantage. She was kind and\nobedient to her mother, and never neglected to perform her appropriate\ndomestic duties. Her mother's lodge stood on an elevation on the banks\nof a lake, which gave them a fine prospect of the country for many miles\naround, the interior of which was diversified with groves and prairies.\nIt was in this quarter that they daily procured their fuel. One day the\ndaughter had gone out to these open groves to pick up dry limbs for\ntheir fire, and while admiring the scenery, she strolled farther than\nusual, and was suddenly startled by the appearance of a young man near\nher. She would have fled, but was arrested by his pleasing smile, and by\nhearing herself addressed in her own language. The questions he asked\nwere trivial, relating to her place of residence and family, and were\nanswered with timidity. It could not be concealed, however, that they\nwere mutually pleased with each other, and before parting, he asked her\nto get her mother's consent to their marriage. She returned home later\nthan usual, but was too timid to say anything to her mother on the\nsubject. The meetings, however, with her admirer on the borders of the\nprairie, were frequent, and he every time requested her to speak to her\nmother on the subject of their marriage, which, however, she could not\nmuster the resolution to do. At last the widow suspected something of\nthe kind, from the tardiness of her daughter in coming in, and from the\nscanty quantity of fuel she sometimes brought. In answer to inquiries,\nshe revealed the circumstance of her meeting the young man, and of his\nrequest. After reflecting upon her lonely and destitute situation, the\nmother gave her consent. The daughter went with a light step to\ncommunicate the answer, which her lover heard with delight, and after\nsaying that he would come to the lodge at sunset, they separated. He was\npunctual to his engagement, and came at the precise time, dressed out as\na warrior with every customary decoration, and approached the lodge with\na mild and pleasing, yet manly air and commanding step. On entering it,\nhe spoke affectionately to his mother-in-law, whom he called (contrary\nto the usage,) NEEJEE, or _friend_.[51] She directed him to sit down\nbeside her daughter, and from this moment they were regarded as man and\nwife.\n\nEarly the following morning, he asked for the bow and arrows of those\nwho had been slain by the Manito, and went out a hunting. As soon as he\nhad got out of sight of the lodge, he transformed himself into a PEENA,\nor partridge, and took his flight in the air. Where or how he procured\nhis food, is unknown; but he returned at evening with the carcasses of\ntwo deer. This continued to be his daily practice, and it was not long\nbefore the scaffolds near the lodge were loaded with meat. It was\nobserved, however, that he ate but little himself, and that of a\npeculiar kind of meat, which added to some other particulars, convinced\nthe family of his mysterious character. In a few days his mother-in-law\ntold him that the Manito would come to pay them a visit, to see how the\nyoung man prospered. He told her that he should be away that day\npurposely, but would return the moment the visiter left them. On the day\nnamed he flew upon a tall tree, overlooking the lodge, and took his\nstand there to observe the movement of the Manito. This wicked spirit\nsoon appeared, and as he passed the scaffolds of meat, cast suspicious\nglances toward them. He had no sooner entered the lodge, stopping first\nto look, before he went in, than he said--\"Why, woman, who is it that is\nfurnishing you meat so plentifully?\" \"No one,\" she answered, \"but my\nson--he is just beginning to kill deer.\" \"No, no,\" said he, \"some one is\nliving with you.\" \"Kaween,\"[52] said the old woman, dissembling again,\n\"You are only jesting on my destitute situation. Who do you think would\ncome and trouble themselves about _me_?\" \"Very well,\" replied the\nManito, \"I will go; but on such a day, I will again visit you, and see\nwho it is that furnishes the meat, and whether it is your son or not.\"\nHe had no sooner left the lodge and got out of sight, than the\nson-in-law made his appearance with two more deer. On being told of the\nparticulars of the visit, \"Very well,\" said he, \"I will be at home next\ntime and see him.\" They remonstrated against this, telling him of his\ncruelties, and the barbarous murders he had committed. \"No matter,\" said\nhe, \"if he invites me to the race ground, I will not be backward. The\nresult will teach him to show pity on the vanquished, and not to trample\non the widow, and those who are without fathers.\" When the day of the\nexpected visit arrived, he told his wife to prepare certain pieces of\nmeat, which he pointed out and handed to her, together with two or three\nbuds of the birch-tree which he requested her to put in the pot; and he\ndirected that nothing should be wanting to show the usual hospitality to\ntheir guest, although he knew that his only object was to kill him. He\nthen dressed himself as a warrior, putting tints of red on his visage\nand dress, to show that he was prepared for either war or peace.\n\nAs soon as the Manito arrived, he eyed this, to him, strange warrior,\nbut dissembled his feelings, and spoke laughingly to the old woman,\nsaying, \"Did I not tell you that some one was staying with you, for I\nknew your son was too young to hunt!\" She turned it off by saying that\nshe did not think it necessary to tell him, as he was a Manito and knew\nbefore asking. He then conversed with the son-in-law on different\ntopics, and finished by inviting him to the race ground, saying it was a\nmanly amusement--that it would give him an opportunity of seeing other\nmen, and he should himself be pleased to run with him. The young man\nsaid he knew nothing of running. \"Why,\" he replied, \"don't you see how\nold I look, while you are young and active. We must at least run to\namuse others.\" \"Be it so, then,\" replied the young man, \"I will go in\nthe morning.\" Pleased with his success, the Manito now wished to return,\nbut he was pressed to remain and partake of the customary hospitalities,\nalthough he endeavoured to excuse himself. The meal was immediately\nspread. But one dish was used. The young man partook of it first, to\nshow his guest that he need not fear to partake, and saying at the same\ntime to him, \"It is a feast, and as we seldom meet, we must eat all that\nis placed on the dish, as a mark of gratitude to the Great Spirit for\npermitting me to kill the animals, and for the pleasure of seeing you,\nand partaking of it with you.\" They ate and conversed until they had\neaten nearly all, when the Manito took up the dish and drank the broth.\nOn setting it down, he immediately turned his head and commenced\ncoughing violently, having, as the young man expected, swallowed a grain\nof the birch tops, which had lodged in his windpipe. He coughed\nincessantly, and found his situation so unpleasant, that he had to\nleave, saying, as he quit the lodge, that he should expect the young man\nat the race ground in the morning.\n\nMONEDOWA prepared himself early in the morning by oiling his limbs, and\ndecorating himself so as to appear to advantage, and having procured\nleave for his brother to attend him, they repaired to the Manito's race\nground. The Manito's lodge stood on an eminence, and a row of other\nlodges stood near it, and as soon as the young man and his companion\ncame near it, the inmates cried out, \"We are visited.\" At this cry he\ncame out, and descended with them to the starting post on a plain. From\nthis, the course could be seen, as it wound around the lake, and as soon\nas the people assembled, he began to speak of the race, then belted\nhimself up, and pointed to the knife which hung on the post, and said it\nwas to be used by the winner. \"But before we start,\" said the old man,\n\"I wish it to be understood, that when men run with me, I make a bet,\nand expect them to abide by it. Life against life.\" He then gave a\nyell, casting a triumphant glance on the piles of human bones that were\nscattered about the stake. \"I am ready,\" replied the stranger, as he was\ncalled, (for no one knew the widow's son-in-law,) and they all admired\nthe symmetry and beauty of his limbs, and the fine and bold air which he\nassumed before his grim antagonist. The shout was given, and they went\noff with surprising speed, and were soon out of sight. The old man began\nto show his power by changing himself into a fox, and passing the\nstranger with great ease, went leisurely along. Monedowa now exerted his\nmagic powers by assuming the shape of a partridge, and lighting a\ndistance ahead of his antagonist, resumed his former shape. When the\nManito spied his opponent ahead, \"Whoa! whoa!\" he exclaimed\ninvoluntarily, \"this is strange,\" and immediately changed himself into a\nwolf, and repassed him. As he went by, he heard a whistling noise in the\nManito's throat. He again took flight as a partridge, ascending some\ndistance into the air, and then suddenly coming down with great\nvelocity, as partridges do, lit in the path far ahead. As he passed the\nwolf, he addressed him thus: \"My friend, is this the extent of your\nspeed.\" The Manito began to have strong forebodings, for, on looking\nahead, he saw the stranger in his natural shape, running along very\nleisurely. He then assumed alternately the shapes of various animals\nnoted for speed. He again passed the stranger in the shape of a\nreindeer.[53] They had now got round the circle of the lake, and were\napproaching the point of starting, when the stranger again took his\nflight as a partridge, and lit some distance in advance. To overtake\nhim, the Manito at last assumed the shape of a buffalo, and again got\nahead; but it appears this was the last form he could assume, and it was\nthat, in which he had most commonly conquered. The stranger again took\nhis flight as a partridge, and in the act of passing his competitor saw\nhis tongue hanging out from fatigue. \"My friend,\" said he, \"is this all\nyour speed?\" The Manito answered not. The stranger had now got within a\nflight of the winning post, when the fiend had nearly caught up to him.\n\"Bakah! bakah! neejee,\" he vociferated. \"Stop, my friend, I wish to talk\nto you,\" for he felt that he should be defeated and lose his life, and\nit was his purpose to beg for it. The stranger laughed, as he replied,\n\"I will speak to you at the starting post. When men run with me, I make\na bet, and expect them to abide by it. Life against life.\" And\nimmediately taking his flight, alighted so near to the goal, that he\ncould easily reach it in his natural form. The Manito saw the movement,\nand was paralyzed. The people at the stake shouted. The stranger ran\nwith his natural speed, his limbs displaying to great advantage, and the\nwar eagle's feathers waving on his head. The shouts were redoubled, hope\nadded to his speed, and amid the din, he leaped to the post, and\ngrasping the shining blade, stood ready to despatch his adversary the\nmoment of his arrival. The Manito came, with fear and cowardice depicted\nin his face. \"My friend,\" said he, \"spare my life,\" and then added in a\nlow voice, as if he did not wish others to hear it, \"give me to live,\"\nand began to move off, as if the request was granted. \"As you have done\nto others,\" replied the noble youth, \"so shall it be done to you;\" and\nhis bleeding head rolled down the sloping hill. The spectators then drew\ntheir knives, and cut his body into numberless pieces. The conqueror\nthen asked to be led to the Manito's lodge, the interior of which had\nnever been seen. Few had ever dared even to ascend the eminence on which\nit stood. On entering, they saw that it consisted of several apartments.\nThe first was arranged and furnished as Indian lodges usually are. But\nhorror struck upon his mind as they entered the second,--it was\nentirely surrounded by a wall of human skulls and bones, with pieces of\nhuman flesh scattered about. Upon a scaffold, the dead bodies of two\nhuman beings were hanging, cut open, for the purpose of drying the\nflesh. The third apartment had its sides beautifully decorated, but\nhorrid to behold, two monsters in the form of black snakes, lay coiled\nup, one on each side of the lodge. It appears that one of them was the\nwife, and the other the child of the Manito. They were MISHEGENABIKOES,\nor Devils. This was also the natural shape of the Manito, but he had\nassumed the human form only to deceive. The orifice by which they had\noriginally come out of the earth was closed, and escape for them was\nimpossible. The magic knife still glittered in the stranger's hand, and\nwithout a moment's delay, he severed both their heads. He then commanded\nthe people to bring together combustibles, which they set fire to, and\nconsumed their remains. When the fire reached their carcasses, a dark\nsmoke, ascended from the lodge, and the hideous forms of fiery serpents\nwere seen curling amid the flames.\n\nThe mysterious stranger, who had thus proved their deliverer, then\ncommanded them to bring together all the human bones scattered around,\nand after making due preparations, he chose three magic arrows, and\nshooting the first into the air, cried, \"Arise!\" He then shot the\nsecond, repeating the cry, and immediately shot the third, uttering\naloud, \"Arise!\" And the bones arose, and stood up covered with flesh, in\ntheir natural forms. And they instantly raised a loud and joyous shout\nof thanks to their deliverer.\n\nThe Genius of Benevolence (for such we must now regard him), motioned to\nall the people to keep silence, and addressed them as follows; \"My\nfriends, the Great Spirit who lives above the skies, seeing the\ncruelties of the Manito I have destroyed, was moved with pity for you,\nand determined to rid the earth of such a monster. I am the creation of\nHis thinking mind, and therein first appeared, and he gave me such\npower, that when the word was spoken, it was done. When I wished to have\nthe swiftness of a bird, I flew, and whatever power I wanted was given\nme. You are witnesses of it, and have seen the Mudjee Monedo killed and\nburned, and the bones of his victims get up and shout. This is as\nnothing with Him. It was done to restore your friends. And this will be\nthe way when the earth has an end, for all people will arise again, and\nfriends unite in going to the happy hunting grounds, when they will see\nwho directs all things. My stay with you will be short, for I must\nreturn whence I came. During this brief time, I will, however, instruct\nyou, and teach you to live happy.\"\n\nThe whole multitude then followed him to the widow's lodge, where he\ntaught them what to do. They built their lodges around him, forming a\nvery large town. They dug up the earth and planted--they built large\nhouses, and learned many new arts, and were happy. Not as it is now--for\nall the Indians have forgotten it. Having done this, he ascended into\nthe clouds, leaving his wife the future mother of a son, to whom he\nreferred the people assembled to witness his departure, for subsequent\ncounsel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNOTE.--How much of the present fiction is due to ideas communicated to\nthe Indian mind, since the discovery of America, it would be impossible\nto determine.\n\nIt has been found by the examination of the skull of a Saginaw, [made by\nMr. J. Toulmin, Smith,] that the organ of destructiveness is very\nlargely developed, exceeding by an inch, in the posterior breadth of the\nhead, that of exhibited specimens of the Caucasian race. This skull,\nhowever, exhibited benevolence strongly marked, and the entire groups of\nthe anterior organs, exceeded as 6 to 5-1/2 those of the posterior\ngroups, indicating, so far as the theory is followed, that favourable\neffects might be anticipated to result from education.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[51] The term Neejee, is restricted in its use by males to males, and\ncannot, with propriety, be applied by males to females, or by females to\nmales.\n\n[52] No indeed!\n\n[53] The CERVUS SYLVESTRIS, or American species of Reindeer, in confined\nin its range, north of Lake Huron. No traces of it have been observed\nsouth of the parallel of the straits of Michilimackinac, although it is\nfound in the peninsular area between those straits and the south shores\nof Lake Superior. This animal is called ADICK by the Algic race, and is\nthe CARABOO of the Canadian.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIGEON HAWK AND TORTOISE.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThe pigeon hawk bantered the tortoise for a race, but the tortoise\ndeclined it, unless he would consent to run several days' journey. The\nhawk very quickly consented, and they immediately set out. The tortoise\nknew, that if he obtained the victory it must be by great diligence, so\nhe went down into the earth, and taking a straight line, stopped for\nnothing. The hawk, on the contrary, knowing that he could easily beat\nhis competitor, kept carelessly flying this way and that way in the air,\nstopping now to visit one, and then another, till so much time had been\nlost, that when he came in sight of the winning point, the tortoise had\njust come up out of the earth, and gained the prize.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHARMED ARROW.\n\nFROM THE OTTOWA.\n\n\n[This tale is separated from a mass of traditionary matter, relating to\nthe origin and wars of the northern Indians, with which, however, it\nappears to have no historical connexion beyond the existence of a few\nactual proper names of men and places.]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSagimau had performed great feats against the enemies of his tribe. He\nhad entirely routed and driven off one of the original tribes from the\nlakes, and came back to his residence on Lake Huron a conqueror. He was\nalso regarded as a Manito. But, he could not feel easy while he heard of\nthe fame and exploits of Kaubina, a great Chippewa chief and Manito in\nthe north. Kaubina lived on a large island in Lake Superior, and was not\nonly versed in magic himself, but had an aged female coadjutor who was\na witch, and went under the name of his grandmother. She lived under\nLake Superior, and took care to inform him of every thing that\nthreatened him.\n\nSagimau determined to measure strength with him. He accordingly thought\nmuch about him. One night he dreamed that there was a certain head of a\nlance, which, if it could be procured, would give him sway over other\ntribes. This treasure was in the possession of a certain beautiful and\nmajestic eagle, to whom all other birds owed obedience, and who, in\nconsequence of having this weapon, was acknowledged king of birds. The\nlance was, however, seldom seen, even by those most intimate with the\nowner. The seer of the village dreamed the same dream. It was much\ntalked about, and made much noise. Sagimau determined to seek for it, as\nit would make him the greatest hero in the world. He thought he would\nfirst go and see Kaubina, and endeavour to deceive him, or try his skill\nin necromancy. But he resolved to proceed by stratagem. After several\ndays' travel he crossed the neck of land separating the two great\nwaters, and reached the banks of Lake Superior, opposite a large island,\nwhich is now called Grand Island. Here Kaubina lived. Some days before\nthis visit, the witch came into Kaubina's lodge and requested some\ntobacco. But he happened to be in an ill humour, and refused her,\ntelling her he had none. \"Very well,\" said she, \"you will see the time\nwhen you may wish you had given me some.\"\n\nMeantime Sagimau was plotting against him. He resolved to carry off his\nyoungest wife. Having no canoe to cross to the island, he asked his\ncompanions whether any of them had ever dreamed of walking in the water.\nOne of the men answered yes. He was therefore selected to accompany him.\nThey went into the water until it came breast high. \"You must not have\nthe least doubt,\" said he to the young man, \"but resolve that you can\nwalk under water. If you doubt, you will fail.\" They both thought strong\nof it,[54] and disappeared. When about half way through the strait, they\nmet two monsters, who looked as long as pine trees, and had glistening\neyes. But they appeased them by giving them tobacco, and went on. On\ngetting near the island, Sagimau said to his friend, you must turn\nyourself into a white stone on the shore, near the path where the women\ncome to dip water. I will assume the shape of a black log of driftwood,\nand be floating, and thumping on the shore near by.\n\nKaubina had attended a feast that day, and after he got home to his\nlodge, complained of thirst. He requested his old wife to get him some\nwater. \"My! My!\" said she, \"it is dark, and why not let that one go,\nwhom you think so much of.\" He then spoke to the youngest, who\nimmediately got a flambeau, and prepared to go, having first asked the\nelder wife to accompany her. She declined. Dark as it was, and alone,\nshe pursued the path to the edge of the water. She noticed the white\nstone, and the wood near it, and thought she had never seen them before;\nbut if I return, thought she to herself, with such a story, without the\nwater, they will laugh at me. She made a quick motion to dip the water,\nbut was instantly seized by Sagimau and his companion. They drew her\nunder the water, carried her to the main land, and proceeded one day's\njourney homeward, when they encamped. Meantime Kaubina waited for his\nexpected drink of water. He at last got up and searched for her on the\nshore, and in the lodges, but could get no intelligence. He was\ndistressed, and could not rest. Next morning he renewed his search, but\nin vain. He invoked the name of his grandmother, with due ceremony,\nmaking the customary present of tobacco. At length she appeared, and\nafter reminding him of his neglect of her, in her last application for\nthe sacred weed, she revealed to him the whole plot, and also told him\nthe means he must use to recover his lost wife. If you follow my advice,\nsaid she, you will get her back in a friendly way, and without\nbloodshed. Kaubina obeyed the injunctions of the witch. He carried with\nhim a number of young men, and overtook Sagimau at his first night's\nencampment. When the latter saw him, he assumed a smiling aspect, and\ncame forward and offered his hand. It was accepted. They then sat down\nand smoked. After this Kaubina said, why did you take my wife. It was\nonly, Sagimau replied, to see how great a Manito you were. Here she\nis--take her. Now that I know your qualities, we will live in peace.\nEach concealed the deep hostility he entertained for the other. They\nparted in peace.\n\nAfter the interview, Sagimau sent his warriors home to Lake Michigan. He\ndetermined to remain in the country and seek the charmed arrow. For this\npurpose he retired to a remote wood, and transformed himself into a dead\nmoose, which appeared as if the carcass had lain a long period, for\nworms were in its eyes and nostrils. Very soon eagles, hawks, crows, and\nother birds of prey, flocked to the carcass. But the skin was so hard\nand tough that they could not penetrate it with their bills. At length\nthey said, let us go and call WAUB WE NONGA to come and cut a hole for\nus with his lance. Ze Ghe Nhiew offered to go, but having been told that\nthe dead moose was Sagimau, flew back affrighted. The birds renewed\ntheir attempt to pierce the hide, but without success. They then\nrepeated their request to the white vulture-eagle. The latter returned\nthe same wary reply, fearful it was the stratagem of the Manito Sagimau;\nbut when appealed to the third time, with the assurance that worms were\nin the eyes and nostrils of the carcass, he consented. All the birds\nwere seated around the carcass, eager for the feast. When they heard the\nsweeping noise of the wings of Waub-we-nonga, the king of the birds,\nthey made a cry of joy. He viewed the carcass from a distance. Two birds\nolder than the rest, screamed out to him to come and cut the skin. He\nadvanced cautiously, and gave a blow, but to no effect, the lance\nbounded back from the tough hide. The birds set up a loud scream,\ndesiring that he would renew the effort. He did so, and drove the lance\nin, about a foot. Sagimau immediately caught hold of it and wrenched it\nfrom the bird. He instantly resumed his human form and commenced his\nreturn to his country. The great bird followed him, entreating him to\ngive it back, and promising, on compliance, that he would grant him any\nthing that he might desire. Sagimau sternly refused. He knew that it\ncontained magic virtues by which he could accomplish all his purposes,\none of the first of which was, to overthrow Kaubina. This resolution he\nfirmly maintained, although the bird followed him all the way back,\nflying from tree to tree, and renewing its solicitations.\n\nSagimau had no sooner reached his village with this trophy, than he\ncommenced gathering all the tobacco he could, as presents to the\ndifferent spirits of the land, whom he deemed it necessary to appease,\nin consequence of the deception he had used in wrongfully getting\npossession of the arrow. This sacred offering he carefully put up in\ncedar bags, and then commenced a journey to such places as he knew they\ninhabited, to leave his offering, and to obtain the permission of the\nManitoes to retain his trophy. He travelled the whole circuit of Lake\nMichigan, and then went across to Lake Huron, visiting every high place\nand waterfall, celebrated as the residence of spirits. But he was\nunfavorably received. None of the spirits would accept his offerings.\nEvery spirit he asked replied, \"Waub-we-nonga has passed before you with\nhis complaints, accusing you of a theft, and requesting that the arrow\nbe returned to its lawful owner. We cannot, therefore, hear you. He who\nhas stolen shall again be stolen from.\" The very same words were used by\neach. The last spirit he applied to lived in a cleft, on a high point of\nrock, surrounded by woods, on the summit of the island called\nMishinimakinong. He added this sentence. \"Hlox has cursed you.\" Thus\nfoiled at every point, he returned home with all his tobacco. He called\nall his _jossakeeds_, and medicine-men, and jugglers together, and laid\nthe gift before them, requesting their advice in this emergency. He\nasked each one to tell him whether his skill could designate the spirit\nwhich was meant by that outlandish word uttered on the island. One of\nthe oldest men said, \"It has been revealed to me, by my guardian spirit,\nin a dream. It is the name of a witch living in the bottom of Lake\nSuperior; she is a relative of Waub-we-nonga.\" Not another word was\nuttered in the council. Silently they smoked out their pipes, and\nsilently they returned to their lodges.\n\nWe must now return to Kaubina. When he had recovered his wife, he went\nback directly to his lodge on the island, and with due ceremony invoked\nthe counsel and aid of his grandmother. For this purpose he erected a\n_pointed_ lodge,[55] and covered it close around with bark. He took\nnothing in with him but his drum, medicine sack, and rattles. After\nsinging for some time, he heard a noise under ground, and the woman\nappeared. \"My grandson,\" said she, \"I am made acquainted with your\nwishes. Your enemy seeks your blood. Sagimau has obtained the great war\nbird's arrow, and is preparing the sacred gift of our country[56] to\nappease the spirits, and obtain their permission to use it. If he\nobtains his wishes, he will prevail. But I will use all my power to\ncircumvent him. I have a firm friend among the guardian spirits of our\nnation, who lives on an island toward the south. Waub-we-nonga himself\nis my relation. You may rely upon my power. In nine days I shall\nreappear.\" At the end of that time she fulfilled her promise, and told\nhim to watch, and that at such a time his enemy would come against him\nwith a large war party in canoes.\n\nIn the meantime Sagimau had visited the spirits, and failed in his\ndesign. He would have remained at home, after the result of his council\nwith the old men and sages, had he not continued to hear of the\nexploits of Kaubina, who was making excursions toward the southwest, and\ndriving back all the tribes who lived on the great lake. He was not only\ngoaded on by envy of his fame, but he thought him the cause of the\nspirits not accepting his tobacco, and thus rendering useless in his\nhands the sacred arrow. He mustered a large war party and set off in\ncanoes for the north, for the purpose of attacking the Odjibwas. His old\nmen tried to dissuade him from this expedition, but were not heeded.\nWhen the party reached the Great Sand Dunes, Sagimau dreamed that he saw\nKaubina on an island, and took him prisoner. He was, therefore, assured\nof success, and went boldly on. They crossed over to the island to watch\nthe movements of Kaubina, who, at this time, had his village on the main\nland. This was revealed to the latter by his grandmother, who declared\nthe bloody intentions of the enemy. Kaubina appeared in a moment to\nforget this advice, for he said to his wife, \"Come, let us go over to\nthe island for basswood bark.\" \"Why,\" said she, \"have you not just told\nme that Sagimau was watching there?\" \"Well,\" said he, \"I am not afraid.\nI would have gone if I had not heard this account, and I will go now.\"\nWhile crossing the bay in his canoe, he directed his wife to land him\nalone, and push out her canoe from the shore, and rest there, so that\nif any accident occurred, she might immediately cross and arouse the\nwarriors. He directed her, the moment she reached his lodge, to take out\nhis medicine sack, and his fighting skin, (which was made out of a large\nbear skin,) and to spread out the latter ready for him, when he arrived,\nso that he could slip it on in an instant, as he relied on its magic\nvirtues to ensure him an easy victory. Shortly after landing him, while\nresting on her paddles, she heard the sa-sa-kwan, or war whoop. She\nimmediately paddled for the village, and gave the alarm.\n\nIt turned out that when Kaubina landed from the canoe, he stepped ashore\nnear the ambush of Sagimau's party, who arose to a man and instantly\nmade him a prisoner. They immediately tied him to a tree, and pushed\nover to the main land to secure the village before the alarm spread.\nThey landed very expeditiously, and getting behind the village,\napproached from that part. The fight had but just commenced when Kaubina\nappeared. He had been released by Hlox, and invoking his spirit, flew to\nthe rescue of his people. He found his fighting skin ready, and slipping\nit on hastily, he now felt himself invulnerable. He then cried out to\nhis adversary and challenged him to single combat. Sagimau did not\ndecline. \"Here am I,\" said he. \"I defy you.\" They closed instantly.\nBlow was answered with blow, without any apparent advantage to either,\ntill about midday, when Sagimau began to give out. He appealed to\nKaubina, saying, \"My elder brother, it is enough!\" (nesia me-a-me-nik.)\nNo answer was returned, but the reinvigorated blows of his rival and\nadversary. Kaubina fought with the rage of a demon, and soon after the\nscalp of Sagimau was flying in the air. Nearly the whole Ottowa party\nfell with him. It is said the arrow which Sagimau either forgot to use,\nor was mysteriously withheld from using, was lost in this combat, and\nreturned to the spirit of the King of the Birds who owned it.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[54] This phraseology is peculiar to the Indian language, and is in\naccordance with the Indian plan of thought. To think strong of a thing,\nimplies resolution to the enterprising, and confidence to the doubting.\n\n[55] A high pointed pyramidal lodge is appropriated to the Indian\npriesthood or magicians.\n\n[56] Tobacco.\n\n\n\n\nADDIK KUM MAIG,[57]\n\nOR\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE WHITE FISH.\n\n\nA long time ago, there lived a famous hunter in a remote part of the\nnorth. He had a handsome wife and two sons, who were left in the lodge\nevery day, while he went out in quest of the animals, upon whose flesh\nthey subsisted. Game was very abundant in those days, and his exertions\nin the chase were well rewarded. The skins of animals furnished them\nwith clothing, and their flesh with food. They lived a long distance\nfrom any other lodge, and very seldom saw any one. The two sons were\nstill too young to follow their father to the chase, and usually\ndiverted themselves within a short distance of the lodge. They noticed\nthat a young man visited the lodge during their father's absence, and\nthese visits were frequently repeated. At length the elder of the two\nsaid to his mother; \"my mother, who is this tall young man that comes\nhere so often during our father's absence?\"\n\n\"Does he wish to see him? Shall I tell him when he comes back this\nevening?\" \"Bad boy,\" said the mother, pettishly, \"mind your bow and\narrows, and do not be afraid to enter the forest in search of birds and\nsquirrels, with your little brother. It is not manly to be ever about\nthe lodge. Nor will you become a warrior if you tell all the little\nthings you see and hear to your father. Say not a word to him on the\nsubject.\" The boys obeyed, but as they grew older, and still saw the\nvisits of this mysterious stranger, they resolved to speak again to\ntheir mother, and told her that they meant to inform their father of all\nthey had observed, for they frequently saw this young man passing\nthrough the woods, and he did not walk in the path, nor did he carry any\nthing to eat. If he had any message to deliver, they had observed that\nmessages were always addressed to the men, and not to the women. At\nthis, the mother flew into a rage. \"I will kill you,\" said she, \"if you\nspeak of it.\" They were again intimidated to hold their peace. But\nobserving the continuance of an improper intercourse, kept up by\nstealth, as it were, they resolved at last to disclose the whole matter\nto their father. They did so. The result was such as might have been\nanticipated. The father, being satisfied of the infidelity of his wife,\nwatched a suitable occasion, when she was separated from the children,\nthat they might not have their feelings excited, and with a single blow\nof his war club despatched her. He then buried her under the ashes of\nhis fire, took down the lodge, and removed, with his two sons, to a\ndistant position.\n\nBut the spirit of the woman haunted the children, who were now grown up\nto the estate of young men. She appeared to them as they returned from\nhunting in the evening. They were also terrified in their dreams, which\nthey attributed to her. She harassed their imaginations wherever they\nwent. Life became a scene of perpetual terrors. They resolved, together\nwith their father, to leave the country, and commenced a journey toward\nthe south. After travelling many days along the shores of Lake Superior,\nthey passed around a high promontory of rock where a large river issued\nout of the lake, and soon after came to a place called PAUWATEEG.[58]\n\nThey had no sooner come in sight of these falls, than they beheld the\nskull of the woman rolling along the beach. They were in the utmost\nfear, and knew not how to elude her. At this moment one of them looked\nout, and saw a stately crane sitting on a rock in the middle of the\nrapids. They called out to the bird. \"See, grandfather, we are\npersecuted by a spirit. Come and take us across the falls, so that we\nmay escape her.\"\n\nThis crane was a bird of extraordinary size and great age. When first\ndescried by the two sons, he sat in a state of stupour, in the midst of\nthe most violent eddies. When he heard himself addressed he stretched\nforth his neck with great deliberation, and lifting himself by his\nwings, flew across to their assistance. \"Be careful,\" said the crane,\n\"that you do not touch the back part of my head. It is sore, and should\nyou press against it, I shall not be able to avoid throwing you both\ninto the rapids.\" They were, however, attentive on this point, and were\nsafely landed on the south shore of the river.\n\nThe crane then resumed his former position in the rapids. But the skull\nnow cried out. \"Come, my grandfather, and carry me over, for I have lost\nmy children, and am sorely distressed.\" The aged bird flew to her\nassistance. He carefully repeated the injunction that she must by no\nmeans touch the back part of his head, which had been hurt, and was not\nyet healed. She promised to obey, but soon felt a curiosity to know\nwhere the head of her carrier had been hurt, and how so aged a bird\ncould have received so bad a wound. She thought it strange, and before\nthey were half way over the rapids, could not resist the inclination she\nfelt to touch the affected part. Instantly the crane threw her into the\nrapids. \"There,\" said he, \"you have been of no use during your life, you\nshall now be changed into something for the benefit of your people, and\nit shall be called Addik Kum Maig.\" As the skull floated from rock to\nrock, the brains were strewed in the water, in a form resembling roes,\nwhich soon assumed the shape of a new species of fish, possessing a\nwhiteness of colour, and peculiar flavour, which have caused it, ever\nsince, to be in great repute with the Indians.\n\nThe family of this man, in gratitude for their deliverance, adopted the\ncrane as their totem, or mark; and this continues to be the\ndistinguishing tribal sign of the band to this day.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[57] This term appears to be a derivative from ADDIK, the reindeer, and\nthe plural form of the generic GUMEE water, implying deer of the waters.\nTo facilitate the reading of this, and other compound derivatives, a\ncapital letter is placed at the head of syllables.\n\n[58] Sault Ste Marie.\n\n\n\n\nOWASSO AND WAYOOND.\n\nOR\n\nTHE MANITO FOILED.\n\nA SAGINAW TALE.\n\n\nOwasso and Wayoond were sons of the Thunder that rules in the northern\nhemisphere.[59] Their father had left them at an early age, after having\nsuffered greatly from the power of some horrid Weendigoes, or\nman-eaters, against whom he prevailed at last. Wayoond was the youngest\nof the two, and was but a mere boy when his father left them, and\nascended into the skies; but he was intrusted to the care of his elder\nbrother. And he left them his parting advice. They lived in a large\ncountry, where there were lakes and open fields, and often amused\nthemselves in playing ball. Game was very plenty at that time, and they\nhad no difficulty in killing as many animals and birds as they wanted.\nFor their father had been a great medicine man, and had given them\npowerful spirits to aid them in all they undertook.\n\nSome time after the father's ascent, the young men went to amuse\nthemselves by playing ball near the shores of a beautiful lake. They\nplayed and laughed with great spirit, and the ball was seldom allowed to\ntouch the ground. In this lake happened to be a wicked old Manito, who\nlooked at them playing, and was very much pleased with their beauty and\nactivity. He thought to himself, what shall I do to get them to\naccompany me--he willed that one of them should hit the ball sideways,\nand that it should fall into his canoe. It so happened. When the boys\nsaw the old man they were surprised, as they had not noticed him before.\n\"Bring the ball to us,\" they both cried out, \"come to the shore.\" \"No,\"\nanswered the old man. He, however, came near enough for either of them\nto wade out to him. \"Come, come,\" he said, \"come and get your ball.\"\nThey insisted on his coming ashore, but he would not consent. \"Very\nwell,\" said the eldest, \"I will go and get it,\" and he jumped into the\nwater and approached the old man. \"Hand it to me,\" he said, touching the\ncanoe. \"Ha,\" answered the old man, \"reach over and get it yourself.\" The\nyoung man did so, and as he was in the act of reaching, the old Manito\npushed him into the canoe, and uttering the words, _maujaun chemaun_!\noff they flew, cutting the water so fast, that the spray fell over them.\nIn a short time they reached the old man's lodge.\n\nHe then took the young man by the arm and led him to his lodge. \"My\ndaughter,\" he said, to his eldest, as they entered the lodge, \"I have\nbrought you a husband.\" The young woman smiled, for she soon saw what a\nfine looking young man he was. The old man told him to take his seat\nnear her, and the ceremony was soon ended that made them man and wife.\n\nThe young man felt for his poor brother, but it was out of his power, at\nthat time, to render him any assistance. He remained very happy with his\nwife, and they were blessed with a son. She told him that her father was\na magician, and had a magic canoe, and was wicked. He, one day, asked\nhis son-in-law to go out a fishing with him. They started, for the\nmagician had only to speak, and off went the canoe. They reached a rocky\nisland and fished round it. The young man had fastened his spear in a\nvery large sturgeon, who was making violent efforts to extricate himself\nfrom the barbs. The old man thought this a very favourable opportunity\nto drown his son-in-law, and by aiding the canoe as it rocked outwards,\nplunged the young man head foremost into the lake. He then spoke to his\ncanoe, and in a very few moments was out of sight. The young man knew\nthat this would happen, but being gifted with limited magic powers, he\nknew also how to relieve himself. He spoke to the fish and told him to\nswim toward the lodge, while he carried him along, which he did with\ngreat velocity. Once he told the sturgeon to rise near the surface of\nthe water, so that he might catch a glimpse of the magician. He did so,\nand the young man saw him busy, in another direction, fishing. He\nproceeded and reached the beach, near the magician's lodge, in advance\nof him. He then spoke to the fish, not to be angry for his having\nspeared him, as he was created to be meat for man. He then drew the fish\non shore, and went up and told his wife to dress it and pull out the\ngristly part and cook it immediately. She did so, and when it was cooked\nthe magician arrived. \"Your grandfather is arrived,\" said the woman to\nher son, \"go and see what he brings, and eat this as you go,\" handing\nhim some of the gristle. The boy went, and the magician immediately\nasked him, \"What are you eating? and who brought it?\" He replied, \"My\nfather brought it.\" The magician had his doubts and felt perplexed; he,\nhowever, put on a grave face, and entering the lodge, acted as if\nnothing unusual had transpired.\n\nSome days elapsed when he again requested his son-in-law to accompany\nhim. The young man said, \"Yes!\" His wife had then told him the true\ncharacter of her father, and the number of times he could exercise his\nmagic powers. They went out, and arrived at a solitary island composed\nentirely of rocks. The magician said, \"go on shore and pick up all the\ngulls' eggs you can find.\" The rocks were covered with them, and the air\nresounded with the cry of the gulls, who saw the robbery committed on\nthem. The magician took the opportunity to speak to the gulls. \"I have\nlong wished,\" said he, \"to offer you something. I now give you this\nyoung man for food.\" He then uttered the charm to his canoe, and it shot\nout of sight, abandoning the young man to his fate. The gulls flew in\nimmense numbers around him, and were ready to devour him. He addressed\nthem and said--\"Gulls, you know you were not formed to eat human flesh,\nand man was not made to be the prey of birds; obey my words. Fly close\ntogether, a sufficient number of you, and carry me on your backs to the\nmagician's lodge.\" They obeyed him, and he soon found himself swiftly\ngliding toward home.\n\nIt appears that the magician in telling his canoe to go, often limited\nit, in point of time, or distance, till he ordered it forward again. In\nthis instance he fell asleep, and the canoe stood still, for the young\nman in his flight over the lake saw him lying on his back in the canoe,\ntaking a nap, as the day was calm and delightful. The gulls, as they\npassed over him, treated him with great disrespect. He jumped up and\nexclaimed, \"It is always so with these double pierced birds!\" Owasso\nreached the lodge in safety, and killed two or three of the gulls for\nthe sake of their feathers to ornament his son's head. When the magician\narrived, his grandson met him with his head covered with feathers.\n\"Where did you get these?\" he asked. \"My father brought them,\" he\nanswered. He felt perplexed and uneasy, but said nothing. He entered the\nlodge in silence, and sat down to meditate upon some new plan for\ndestroying his son-in-law. He reflected that he had tried two of his\ncharms without effect, and had but two more left. He again asked the\nyoung man to go with him to get young eagles, he said he wished to tame\nthem, and keep them as pets. They started on the trip, and after\ntraversing an immense waste of water, at length reached a desolate\nisland in the centre of the lake. They landed and soon found an eagle's\nnest. The young man obeyed his father-in-law's wishes, by climbing up\nto get the young ones. He had nearly reached the nest, when he heard the\nmagician's voice addressing the tree, saying, \"Grow up,\" and the tree\ninstantly reached an extraordinary height. \"Now, eagles!\" said he, \"I\npromised you food, and I give you this young man to feed upon.\" Then he\nsaid to the canoe, \"Go!\" and away he went, leaving the young man at the\nmercy of the eagles. The birds were enraged at seeing their young in\ndanger--they flew round him with their beaks open, and their claws\ndistended, ready to tear him in pieces. His power, however, extended to\nthem also, and he got them to fly back with him to the lodge. His wife\nwas rejoiced to think that he had escaped the third charm, and told him\nit was now his turn to ask the magician to go out, fearing that the old\nman would not repeat the invitation himself. She gave him all necessary\ndirections, which he promised to follow.\n\nWhen the magician arrived, his surprise and consternation was at its\nheight, finding that his third effort had failed, and that he had but a\nsingle charm more in his power.\n\nOne evening as Owasso and his wife were sitting on the banks of the\nlake, and the soft breeze, swept over it, they heard a song, as if sung\nby some one at a great distance. The sound continued some time and then\ndied away in perfect stillness. \"Oh! 'tis the voice of my brother,\"\ncried the young man. \"If I could only see him!\" and he hung down his\nhead in deep anguish. His wife felt for him, and to console him, she\nproposed that they should attempt to make their escape on the morrow.\nThe plan was laid. The younger sister was to offer to comb her father's\nhair during the warm and sultry part of the day, and pick the hairs\nclean, and in so doing, it was supposed he would fall asleep. The plan\nsucceeded, and as soon as he slept, the young man and family embarked in\nthe magic canoe, then saying _majaun chemaun_! off the canoe started.\nThey had nearly reached the land, and could distinctly hear the voice of\nthe young man, singing, as before, when the magician awoke. He suspected\nsomething, and looking for his canoe immediately found it gone. He spoke\nhis magic words, extended his sinewy arm in the air, and drew it in. The\ncharm was irresistible--the young man and his wife saw, with anguish,\nwhen almost within reach of the shore, that the canoe suddenly turned\nback. They soon reached the lodge. The magician stood on the beach, and\ndrew up his canoe. He did not utter a word. The young couple entered\nthe lodge in silence.[60] Autumn was now near its close, and winter soon\nset in. Soon after the first fall of snow, the young man asked the\nmagician to go out hunting deer, as they could now easily be tracked.\nThey set out together, and after several days' journey, arrived at a fit\nplace for their object. They busied themselves in hunting all day, but\nwithout success. At evening they built themselves a lodge of pine\nbranches to sleep in. The night was bitterly cold, but the young man\ntook off his leggings and moccasins and hung them up to dry. The\nmagician did the same, carefully hanging his own in a separate place,\nand they laid down to sleep. During the night the magician got up and\nwent out, remaining some time. As the young man suspected him, and knew,\nindeed, what kind of a trick the old man meant to play him, he took this\nopportunity to get up and change the moccasins and leggings, putting his\nown in the place of the magician's, depending on the darkness of the\nlodge, to impose on him. Afterward they both laid down and slept. Near\ndaylight the magician got up to rekindle the fire, and slyly reached\ndown his own leggings and moccasins with a stick, thinking they were the\nyoung man's, and dropped them into the fire, at the same instant\nthrowing himself down, pretending he still wanted to sleep.\n\nThe leather leggings and moccasins soon drew up and were burnt.\nInstantly jumping up, and rubbing his eyes, the magician cried out,\nSon-in-law, your moccasins are burning. Owasso got up deliberately and\nunconcerned. \"No, my friend,\" said he, \"here are _mine_\" taking them\ndown and putting them on. \"It is _your_ moccasins that are burning.\" The\nmagician dropped his head in vexation to think that he had been foiled\nin all his attempts. Nothing was now left, and he knew that no mercy\nwould be shown him. The young man left him to meditate on all his crimes\nof blood, and to meet that fate from the want of covering for his feet\nand legs, which he had prepared for him. He reached home in safety in a\nfew days, notwithstanding the cold, and resolved to quit the place for\never, and go in search of his brother. Although the weather was cold,\nthe lake had not yet frozen over, and the young hunter and his family\nresolved to embark immediately, the younger sister went with them in the\nhope of getting a husband. Word was given to the magic canoe, and they\nwent swiftly on their way to the opposite shore. Owasso soon heard his\nyounger brother's well-known voice, as the sounds were wafted on the\nbreeze, singing the following words:\n\n     Ni si ai\n     Ni si ai\n     A ko nau gud dau o un\n     A ko nau gud dau o un\n     Ash i gun ai a he ee\n     Ni mau en gun e wee\n     Ash i gun ai a he ee\n     Ni mau en gun e wee.\n\nMy brother--my brother! since you left me going in the canoe, a-hee-ee,\nI am half changed into a wolf, E-wee--I am half changed into a wolf,\nE-wee. This he kept repeating as they neared the shore. The sounds were\nvery distinct. On the sand they saw the tracks of a wolf, as if\ndeparting. They also saw the prints of human hands; and they soon saw\nWayoond himself, half man and half wolf, running along shore. Owasso ran\nafter him, crying, Ni she ma! Ni she ma! but the partly transformed\nobject, jumped on the bank and looked back for some time, repeating the\nformer words, and disappeared in the woods.\n\nThe women built a lodge at the spot, and got everything comfortable for\na long stay. The man was, however, very uneasy, and exerted his power\nto regain his brother--for he kept near the lodge at night, singing in a\nmost pitiful strain. They always left food for him some distance from\nthe lodge, which he eat in the night.\n\nThe unmarried woman, who was something of a mud-jee-kee-kua-wis,\nproposed to dig a pit and cover it with light sticks and leaves, for the\npurpose of placing the meat on, that when he came to eat it he might\nfall in. Her plan succeeded, and when they came next morning to examine\nit, they were rejoiced to find the half wolf in the pit. The man had\nbeen fasting previously, and he brought his medicines and charms, and\nthrew some over his brother, who, after some time, resumed his human,\nshape. He was taken to the lodge, but it was some time before the change\nwas perfect, and still longer before he was restored to health. His\ndisposition, however, was soured, for he always sat and looked very\ngloomy, and felt no pleasure in the society of his friends. He\nrecommenced hunting, in which he was very successful, for he always hung\nthe tail of a wolf to his girdle at his back, or at his leg-bands or\ngarters, which gave him great speed and vigour in overtaking animals of\nthe deer kind.\n\nMAUJEEKIKUAWIS was forward in her advances toward him. He, however,\npaid no attention to it, and shunned her. She continued to be very\nassiduous in attending to his wants, such as cooking, and mending his\nmoccasins. She felt hurt and displeased at his indifference, and\nresolved to play him a trick. Opportunity soon offered. The lodge was\nspacious, and she dug a hole in the ground, where the young man usually\nsat, covering it very carefully. When the brothers returned from the\nchase, the young man threw himself down carelessly at the usual place,\nand fell into the cavity, his head and feet remaining out, so that he\nwas unable to extricate himself. \"Ha! Ha!\" cried Maujeekikuawis, as she\nhelped him out, \"you are mine, I have caught you at last, and I did it\non purpose.\" A smile came over the young man's face, and he said, \"So be\nit, I will be yours:\" and from that moment they lived happily as man and\nwife.\n\nThey all lived contented and happy after this, for a length of time. The\nelder brother's son grew up to manhood, and was noted for his beauty,\nbravery, and manliness. He was very expert in the chase, and supplied\nthem abundantly with food.\n\nOne evening the brothers mentioned their desire of visiting a very high\nmountain in the vicinity, in order, as they said, to gratify their\ncuriosity, and see the country which lay beyond it. The women tried to\ndissuade them, and expressed their fears lest some accident might befall\nthem; but their opposition was unavailing. The men prepared to depart,\nand gave their parting advice to their wives and children, telling them,\nthat should anything serious happen, Owasso's elder son was now fully\ncapable of supporting them, and that the time was not far distant when\nthey should all meet each other in those happy hunting grounds toward\nthe setting sun.\n\nThe night after this parting address they left the lodge. It was very\ndark, still not a breath of air could be felt--when lo! flashes of\nlightning appeared, and the noise of rumbling thunder was suddenly heard\nadvancing from the north (where their father had gone) and the quietude\nof the night gave place to one of the most terrible tempests. The dark\nair was lit up with flashes of vivid and forked lightning, and the roar\nof that ear-stopping thunder was incessant. At the same time the south\nwind rushed on with a tremendous noise, laying the most stately trees\nlevel with the earth.\n\nThe young men never returned, but tradition says that they were taken up\nby their father from the mountain's top, and aided him in wreaking just\nvengeance on all Weendigoes and magicians. For it appears that after he\nwas fixed in his ethereal abode, he beheld with horror the bad actions\nof these wicked men. And he resolved to destroy them, and rid the earth\nof such monsters, as well as to take vengeance for what he had himself\nsuffered from them. To this end he exerted the power the Great Spirit\nhad given him, by sending thunder and lightning to destroy them all.\nFrom this period the Indian world has been free from them. Still the\nimaginations of our old and young men often dwell upon their former\npower, and they are led to believe that the hills, and caves, and\nforests, occupied by these once visible, are still possessed by\ninvisible demons.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[NOTE. This story, it will be perceived, very much resembles, in some of\nits incidents, one previously inserted from the Odjibwa. It also\nembraces one of the principal incidents in the allegory of the \"Forsaken\nBoy,\" from the same source.]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[59] Thunder is invariably _personified_ by the Algic Indians. There is\nno other mode of describing it in their vocabulary.\n\n[60] This taciturnity is characteristic of the American Indians, who\nseldom speak or manifest any emotion when events of this nature take\nplace in actual life, especially if hard feelings have been excited in\neither party.\n\n\n\n\nSHAWONDASEE.\n\nFROM THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE ODJIBWAS.\n\n\nMudjekewis and nine brothers conquered the Mammoth Bear, and obtained\nthe Sacred Belt of Wampum, the great object of previous warlike\nenterprise, and the great means of happiness to men. The chief honour of\nthis achievement was awarded to Mudjekewis, the youngest of the ten, who\nreceived the government of the West Winds. He is therefore called\nKABEYUN, the father of the winds. To his son, WABUN, he gave the East;\nto SHAWONDASEE, the south, and to KABIBONOKKA, the North. Manabozho,\nbeing an illegitimate son, was left unprovided. When he grew up, and\nobtained the secret of his birth, he went to war against his father,\nKABEYUN, and having brought the latter to terms, he received the\ngovernment of the Northwest Winds, ruling jointly with his brother\nKABIBONOKKA the tempests from that quarter of the heavens.\n\nShawondasee is represented as an affluent, plethoric old man, who has\ngrown unwieldy from repletion, and seldom moves. He keeps his eyes\nsteadfastly fixed on the north. When he sighs, in autumn, we have those\nbalmy southern airs, which communicate warmth and delight over the\nnorthern hemisphere, and make the _Indian Summer_.\n\nOne day, while gazing toward the north, he beheld a beautiful young\nwoman of slender and majestic form, standing on the plains. She appeared\nin the same place for several days, but what most attracted his\nadmiration, was her bright and flowing locks of yellow hair. Ever\ndilatory, however, he contented himself with gazing. At length he saw,\nor fancied he saw, her head enveloped in a pure white mass like snow.\nThis excited his jealousy toward his brother Kabibonokka, and he threw\nout a succession of short and rapid sighs--when lo! the air was filled\nwith light filaments of a silvery hue, but the object of his affections\nhad for ever vanished. In reality, the southern airs had blown off the\nfinewinged seed-vessels of the prairie dandelion.\n\n\"My son,\" said the narrator, \"it is not wise to differ in our tastes\nfrom other people; nor ought we to put off, through slothfulness, what\nis best done at once.\" Had Shawondasee conformed to the tastes of his\ncountrymen, he would not have been an admirer of _yellow_ hair; and if\nhe had evinced a proper activity in his youth, his mind would not have\nrun flower-gathering in his age.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LINNET AND EAGLE.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThe birds met together one day, to try which could fly the highest. Some\nflew up very swift, but soon got tired, and were passed by others of\nstronger wing. But the eagle went up beyond them all, and was ready to\nclaim the victory, when the gray linnet, a very small bird, flew from\nthe eagle's back, where it had perched unperceived, and being fresh and\nunexhausted, succeeded in going the highest. When the birds came down,\nand met in council to award the prize, it was given to the eagle,\nbecause that bird had not only gone up nearer to the sun than any of the\nlarger birds, but it had carried the linnet on its back.\n\nHence the feathers of the eagle are esteemed the most honourable marks\nfor a warrior, as it is not only considered the bravest bird, but also\nendowed with strength to soar the highest.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOOSE AND WOODPECKER.\n\nFROM THE PILLAGERS.[61]\n\n\nAfter Manabozho had killed the Prince of Serpents, he was living in a\nstate of great want, completely deserted by his powers, as a deity, and\nnot able to procure the ordinary means of subsistence. He was at this\ntime living with his wife and children, in a remote part of the country,\nwhere he could get no game. He was miserably poor. It was winter, and he\nhad not the common Indian comforts.\n\nHe said to his wife, one day, I will go out a walking, and see if I\ncannot find some lodges. After walking some time he saw a lodge at a\ndistance. The children were playing at the door. When they saw him\napproaching they ran into the lodge, and told their parents that\nManabozho was coming. It was the residence of the large redheaded\nWoodpecker. He came to the lodge door and asked him to enter. He did so.\nAfter some time, the Woodpecker, who was a magician, said to his wife,\nHave you nothing to give Manabozho, he must be hungry. She answered, No.\nIn the centre of the lodge stood a large white tamarack tree. The\nWoodpecker flew on to it, and commenced going up, turning his head on\neach side of the tree, and every now and then driving in his bill. At\nlast he drew something out of the tree, and threw it down, when, behold!\na fine, fat racoon on the ground. He drew out six or seven more. He then\ndescended, and told his wife to prepare them. Manabozho, he said, this\nis the only thing we eat. What else can we give you? It is very good,\nreplied Manabozho. They smoked their pipes and conversed with each\nother. After eating, the great spirit-chief got ready to go home. The\nWoodpecker said to his wife, Give him the remaining racoons to take home\nfor his children. In the act of leaving the lodge he dropped\nintentionally one of his mittens, which was soon after observed. Run,\nsaid the Woodpecker to his eldest son, and give it to him. But don't\ngive it into his hand; throw it at him, for there is no knowing him, he\nacts so curiously. The boy did as he was bid. Nemesho (my grandfather),\nsaid he, as he came up to him, you have left one of your mittens--here\nit is. Yes, said he, affecting to be ignorant of the circumstance, it is\nso. But don't throw it, you will soil it on the snow. The lad, however,\nthrew it, and was about to return. List, said Manabozho, is that all you\neat,--do you eat nothing else with the racoon. No, replied the young\nWoodpecker. Tell your father, he answered, to come and visit me, and let\nhim bring a sack. I will give him what he shall eat with his racoon\nmeat. When the young one reported this to his father, the old man turned\nup his nose at the invitation. What does the old fellow think he has\ngot! exclaimed he.\n\nSome time after the Woodpecker went to pay a visit to Manabozho. He was\nreceived with the usual attention. It had been the boast of Manabozho,\nin former days, that he could do what any other being in the creation\ncould, whether man or animal. He affected to have the sagacity of all\nanimals, to understand their language, and to be capable of exactly\nimitating it. And in his visits to men, it was his custom to return,\nexactly, the treatment he had received. He was very ceremonious in\nfollowing the very voice and manner of his entertainers. The Woodpecker\nhad no sooner entered his lodge, therefore, than he commenced playing\nthe mimic. He had previously directed his wife to change his lodge, so\nas to enclose a large dry tamarack tree. What can I give you, said he to\nthe Woodpecker; but as we eat, so shall you eat. He then put a long\npiece of bone in his nose, in imitation of the bill of this bird, and\njumping on the tamarack tree, attempted to climb it, doing as he had\nseen the Woodpecker do. He turned his head first on one side, then on\nthe other. He made awkward efforts to ascend, but continually slipped\ndown. He struck the tree with the bone in his nose, until at last he\ndrove it so far up his nostrils that the blood began to flow, and he\nfell down senseless at the foot of the tree. The Woodpecker started\nafter his drum and rattle to restore him, and having got them, succeeded\nin bringing him to. As soon as he came to his senses, he began to lay\nthe blame of his failure to his wife, saying to his guest, Nemesho, it\nis this woman relation of yours,--_she_ is the cause of my not\nsucceeding. She has rendered me a worthless fellow. Before I took her I\ncould also get racoons. The Woodpecker said nothing, but flying on the\ntree, drew out several fine racoons. Here, said he, this is the way _we_\ndo, and left him with apparent contempt.\n\nSevere weather continued, and Manabozho still suffered for the want of\nfood. One day he walked out, and came to a lodge, which was occupied by\nthe Moose, (Moez.) The young Mozonsug[62] saw him and told their father\nManabozho was at the door. He told them to invite him in. Being seated\nthey entered into conversation. At last the Moose, who was a Meet a,\nsaid, What shall we give Manabozho to eat? We have nothing. His wife was\nseated with her back toward him, making garters. He walked up to her,\nand untying the covering of the armlet from her back, cut off a large\npiece of flesh from the square of her shoulder.[63] He then put some\nmedicine on it, which immediately healed the wound. The skin did not\neven appear to have been broken, and his wife was so little affected by\nit, that she did not so much as leave off her work, till he told her to\nprepare the flesh for eating. Manabozho, said he, this is all we eat,\nand it is all we can give you.\n\nAfter they had finished eating Manabozho set out for home, but\nintentionally, as before, dropped one of his _minjekawun_, or mittens.\nOne of the young Moose took it to him, telling him that his father had\nsent him with it. He had been cautioned not to hand it to him, but to\nthrow it at him. Having done so, contrary to the remonstrance of\nManabozho, he was going back when the latter cried out BAKAH! BAKAH![64]\nIs _that_[65] the only kind of meat you eat? Tell me. Yes, answered the\nyoung man, that is all, we have nothing else. Tell your father, he\nreplied, to come and visit me, and I will give him what you shall eat\nwith your meat. The old Moose listened to this message with indignity. I\nwonder what he thinks he has got, poor fellow!\n\nHe was bound, however, to obey the invitation, and went accordingly,\ntaking along a cedar sack, for he had been told to bring one. Manabozho\nreceived him in the same manner he had himself been received,--repeating\nthe same remarks, and attempted to supply the lack of food in the same\nmanner. To this end he had requested his wife to busy herself in making\ngarters. He arose and untied the covering of her back as he had seen the\nMoose do. He then cut her back shockingly, paying no attention to her\ncries or resistance, until he saw her fall down, from the loss of blood.\nManabozho, said the Moose, you are killing your wife. He immediately ran\nfor his drum and rattle, and restored her to life by his skill. He had\nno sooner done this than Manabozho began to lay the blame of his ill\nsuccess on his wife. Why, Nemesho, said he, this woman, this relation of\nyours--she is making me a most worthless fellow. Formerly, I procured my\nmeat in this way. But now I can accomplish nothing.\n\nThe Moose then cut large pieces of flesh off his own thighs, without the\nleast injury to himself, and gave them to Manabozho, saying with a\ncontemptuous air, this is the way _we_ do. He then left the lodge.\n\nAfter these visits Manabozho was sitting pensively in his lodge one day,\nwith his head down. He heard the wind whistling around it, and thought,\nby attentively listening, he could hear the voice of some one speaking\nto him. It seemed to say to him; Great chief, why are you sorrowful. Am\nnot I your friend--your guardian Spirit? He immediately took up his\nrattle, and without leaving his sitting posture, began to sing the chant\nwhich at the close of every stanza has the chorus of \"WHAW LAY LE AW.\"\nWhen he had devoted a long time to this chant, he laid his rattle aside,\nand determined to fast. For this purpose he went to a cave, and built a\nvery small fire near which he laid down, first telling his wife, that\nneither she nor the children must come near him, till he had finished\nhis fast. At the end of seven days he came back to the lodge, pale and\nemaciated. His wife in the meantime had dug through the snow, and got a\nsmall quantity of the root called truffles. These she boiled and set\nbefore him. When he had finished his repast; he took his large bow and\nbent it. Then placing a strong arrow to the string, he drew it back, and\nsent the arrow, with the strength of a giant, through the side of his\nbark lodge. There, said he to his wife, go to the outside, and you will\nfind a large bear, shot through the heart. She did so, and found one as\nhe had predicted.\n\nHe then sent the children out to get red willow sticks. Of these he cut\noff as many pieces, of equal length, as would serve to invite his\nfriends to a feast. A red stick was sent to each one, not forgetting the\nMoose and the Woodpecker.\n\nWhen they arrived they were astonished to see such a profusion of meat\ncooked for them, at such a time of scarcity. Manabozho understood their\nglances and felt a conscious pride in making such a display. Akewazi,\nsaid he, to one of the oldest of the party, the weather is very cold,\nand the snow lasts a long time. We can kill nothing now but small\nsquirrels. And I have sent for you to help me eat some of them. The\nWoodpecker was the first to put a mouthful of the bear's meat to his\nmouth, but he had no sooner begun to taste it, than it changed into a\ndry powder, and set him coughing. It appeared as bitter as ashes. The\nMoose felt the same effect, and began to cough. Each one, in turn, was\nadded to the number of coughers. But they had too much sense of decorum,\nand respect for their entertainer, to say any thing. The meat looked\nvery fine. They thought they would try more of it. But the more they\nate, the faster they coughed and the louder became the uproar, until\nManabozho, exerting his former power, which he now felt to be renewed,\ntransformed them all into the ADJIDAMO, or squirrel, an animal which is\nstill found to have the habit of barking, or coughing, whenever it sees\nany one approach its nest.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[61] A warlike tribe of the Algic stock located at the sources of the\nMississippi.\n\n[62] Diminutive form, plural number, of the noun Moez.\n\n[63] The dress of the females in the Odjibwa nation, consists of\nsleeves, open on the inner side of the arm from the elbow up, and\nterminating in large square folds, falling from the shoulders, which are\ntied at the back of the neck with ribbon or binding. The sleeves are\nseparately made, and not attached to the breast garment, which consists\nof square folds of cloth, ornamented and sustained by shoulder straps.\nTo untie the sleeves or armlets, as is here described, is therefore to\nexpose the shoulders, but not the back--a simple devise, quickly\naccomplished, by which the magician could readily exercise his art\nalmost imperceptibly to the object.\n\n[64] Stop! stop!\n\n[65] It is difficult to throw into the English pronoun the whole of the\nmeaning of the Indian. Pronouns in this language being, like other parts\nof speech, transitive; they are at once indicative both of the actor,\npersonal, and relative, and the nature of the object, or subject of the\naction, or relation. This, and that, are not used in the elementary form\nthese pronouns invariably possess in the English. Inflections are put to\nthem indicating the class of natural objects to which they refer. A noun\nmasculine or feminine, requiring an animate pronoun, a noun inanimate, a\npronoun inanimate.\n\n\n\n\nWEENG.\n\nFROM THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHIPPEWAS.\n\n\nSleep is personified by the Algic race, under the name of Weeng.[66] But\nthe power of the Indian Morpheus is executed in a peculiar manner, and\nby a novel agency. Weeng seldom acts directly in inducing sleep, but he\nexercises dominion over hosts of gnome-like beings, who are everywhere\npresent, and are constantly on the alert. These beings are invisible to\ncommon eyes. Each one is armed with a tiny puggamaugon, or club, and\nwhen he observes a person sitting or reclining under circumstances\nfavourable to sleep, he nimbly climbs upon his forehead and inflicts a\nblow. The first blow only creates drowsiness, the second makes the\nperson lethargic, so that he occasionally closes his eyelids, the third\nproduces sound sleep. It is the constant duty of these little emissaries\nto put every one to sleep whom they encounter--men, women, and\nchildren. And they are found secreted around the bed, or on small\nprotuberances of the bark of the Indian lodges. They hide themselves in\nthe GUSHKEEPITAUGUN, or smoking pouch of the hunter, and when he sits\ndown to light his pipe in the woods, are ready to fly out and exert\ntheir sleep-compelling power. If they succeed, the game is suffered to\npass, and the hunter obliged to return to his lodge without a reward.\n\nIn general, however, they are represented to possess friendly\ndispositions, seeking constantly to restore vigour and elasticity to the\nexhausted body. But being without judgment, their power is sometimes\nexerted at the hazard of reputation, or even life. Sleep may be induced\nin a person carelessly floating in his canoe, above a fall; or in a war\nparty, on the borders of an enemy's country; or in a female, without the\nprotection of the lodge circle. Although their peculiar season of action\nis in the night, they are also alert during the day.\n\nWhile the forms of these gnomes are believed to be those of _ininees_,\nlittle or fairy men, the figure of Weeng himself is unknown, and it is\nnot certain that he has ever been seen. Most of what is known on this\nsubject, is derived from Iagoo, who related, that going out one day with\nhis dogs to hunt, he passed through a wide range of thicket, where he\nlost his dogs. He became much alarmed, for they were faithful animals,\nand he was greatly attached to them. He called out, and made every\nexertion to recover them in vain. At length he came to a spot where he\nfound them asleep, having incautiously ran near the residence of Weeng.\nAfter great exertions he aroused them, but not without having felt the\npower of somnolency himself. As he cast up his eyes from the place where\nthe dogs were lying, he saw the Spirit of Sleep sitting upon a branch of\na tree. He was in the shape of a giant insect, or _monetoas_, with many\nwings from his back, which made a low deep murmuring sound, like distant\nfalling water. But Iagoo himself, being a very great liar and braggart,\nbut little credit was given to his narration.\n\nWeeng is not only the dispenser of sleep, but it seems, he is also the\nauthor of dulness, which renders the word susceptible of an ironical\nuse. If an orator fails, he is said to be struck by Weeng. If a warrior\n_lingers_, he has ventured too near the sleepy god. If children begin to\nnod or yawn, the Indian mother looks up smilingly, and says, \"they have\nbeen struck by Weeng,\" and puts them to bed.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[66] This word has the _g_ sounded hard, as if it were followed by a\nhalf sound of _k_--a common sound for _g_ final in the Odjibwa.\n\n\n\n\nIAGOO.\n\nFROM THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHIPPEWAS.\n\n\nIagoo is the name of a personage noted in Indian lore for having given\nextravagant narrations of whatever he had seen, heard, or accomplished.\nIt seems that he always saw extraordinary things, made extraordinary\njourneys, and performed extraordinary feats. He could not look out of\nhis lodge and see things as other men did. If he described a bird, it\nhad a most singular variety of brilliant plumage. The animals he met\nwith were all of the monstrous kind; they had eyes like orbs of fire,\nand claws like hooks of steel, and could step over the top of an Indian\nlodge. He told of a serpent he had seen, which had hair on its neck like\na mane, and feet resembling a quadruped; and if one were to take his own\naccount of his exploits and observations, it would be difficult to\ndecide whether his strength, his activity, or his wisdom should be most\nadmired.\n\nIagoo did not appear to have been endowed with the ordinary faculties of\nother men. His eyes appeared to be magnifiers, and the tympanum of his\nears so constructed that what appeared to common observers to be but the\nsound of a zephyr, to him had a far closer resemblance to the noise of\nthunder. His imagination appeared to be of so exuberant a character,\nthat he scarcely required more than a drop of water to construct an\nocean, or a grain of sand to form an earth. And he had so happy an\nexemption from both the restraints of judgment and moral accountability,\nthat he never found the slightest difficulty in accommodating his facts\nto the most enlarged credulity. Nor was his ample thirst for the\nmarvellous ever quenched by attempts to reconcile statements the most\nstrange, unaccountable, and preposterous.\n\nSuch was Iagoo, the Indian story-teller, whose name is associated with\nall that is extravagant and marvellous, and has long been established in\ndie hunter's vocabulary as a perfect synonym for liar, and is bandied\nabout as a familiar proverb. If a hunter or warrior, in telling his\nexploits, undertakes to embellish them; to overrate his merits, or in\nany other way to excite the incredulity of his hearers, he is liable to\nbe rebuked with the remark, \"So here we have Iagoo come again.\" And he\nseems to hold the relative rank in oral narration which our written\nliterature awards to Baron Munchausen, Jack Falstaff, and Captain Lemuel\nGulliver.\n\nNotwithstanding all this, there are but a few scraps of his actual\nstories to be found. He first attracted notice by giving an account of a\nwater lilly, a single leaf of which, he averred, was sufficient to make\na petticoat and upper garments for his wife and daughter. One evening he\nwas sitting in his lodge, on the banks of a river, and hearing the\nquacking of ducks on the stream, he fired, through the lodge door at a\nventure. He killed a swan that happened to be flying by, and twenty\nbrace of ducks in the stream. But this did not check the force of his\nshot; they passed on, and struck the heads of two loons, at the moment\nthey were coming up from beneath the water, and even went beyond and\nkilled a most extraordinary large fish called Moshkeenozha.[67] On\nanother occasion he had killed a deer, and after skinning it, was\ncarrying the carcass on his shoulders, when he spied some stately elks\non the plain before him. He immediately gave them chase, and had run,\nover hill and dale, a distance of half a day's travel, before he\nrecollected that he had the deer's carcass on his shoulders.\n\nOne day, as he was passing over a tract of _mushkeeg_, or bog-land, he\nsaw musquitoes of such enormous size, that he staked his reputation on\nthe fact that a single wing of one of the insects was sufficient for a\nsail to his canoe, and the proboscis as big as his wife's shovel. But he\nwas favoured with a still more extraordinary sight, in a gigantic ant,\nwhich passed him, as he was watching a beaver's lodge, dragging the\nentire carcass of a hare.\n\nAt another time, for he was ever seeing or doing something wonderful, he\ngot out of smoking weed, and in going into the woods in search of some,\nhe discovered a bunch of the red willow, or maple bush, of such a\nluxuriant growth, that he was industriously occupied half a day in\nwalking round it.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[67] The muscalunge.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GRAVE LIGHT,\n\nOR\n\nADVENTURES OF A WARRIOR'S SOUL.\n\nFROM THE ODJIBWA.\n\n\nThere was once a battle between the Indians, in which many were killed\non both sides. Among the number was the leader of the Odjibwas, a very\nbrave man, who had fought in many battles; but while he was shouting for\nvictory, he received an arrow in his flesh, and fell as if dead. At last\nhis companions _thought he was dead_, and treated him as if he were.\nThey placed his body in a sitting posture, on the field of battle, his\nback being supported by a tree, and his face toward the enemies'\ncountry. They put on him his head-dress of feathers, and leaned his bow\nagainst his shoulders, for it was before the white men had brought guns\nfor the Indians. They then left him and returned to their homes.\n\nThe warrior, however, heard and saw all they did. Although his body was\ndeprived of muscular motion, his soul was living within it. He heard\nthem lament his death, and felt their touch as they set him up. \"They\nwill not be so cruel as to leave me here,\" he thought to himself. \"I am\ncertainly not dead. I have the use of my senses.\" But his anguish was\nextreme, when he saw them, one after another depart, till he was left\nalone among the dead. He could not move a limb, nor a muscle, and felt\nas if he were buried in his own body. Horrid agonies came over him. He\nexerted himself, but found that he had no power over his muscles. At\nlast he appeared to leap out of himself. He first stood up, and then\nfollowed his friends. He soon overtook them, but when he arrived at\ntheir camp no one noticed him. He spoke to them, but no one answered He\nseemed to be _invisible_ to them, and his voice appeared to have no\n_sound_. Unconscious, however, of his body's being left behind, he\nthought their conduct most strange. He determined to follow them, and\nexactly imitated all they did, walking when they walked, running when\nthey ran, sleeping when they slept. But the most unbroken silence was\nmaintained as to his presence.\n\nWhen evening came he addressed the party. \"Is it possible,\" said he,\n\"that you do not see me, nor hear me, nor understand me? Will you permit\nme to starve when you have plenty? Is there no one who recollects me?\"\nAnd with similar sentiments he continued to talk to them, and to upbraid\nthem at every stage of their homeward journey, but his words seemed to\npass like the sounds of the wind.\n\nAt length they reached the village, and the women and children, and old\nmen, came out, according to custom, to welcome the returning war party.\nThey set up the shout of praise. Kumaudjing! kumaudjing! kumaudjing!\nThey have met, fought, and conquered, was heard at every side. Group\nafter group repeated the cry.\n\n     Kumaudjing! kumaudjing! kumaudjing!\n     They have met, fought, and conquered\n       The strong and the brave,\n     See the eagle plumes nod,\n       And the red trophies wave.\n         Kumaudjing! kumaudjing!\n         The war-banner waves,\n         They have fought like our fathers,\n         And scorn to be slaves,\n         The sons of the noble,\n         They scorn to be slaves.\n     And he--where is he, who has led them to fight,\n       Whose arrow was death,\n       And whose war-club was might.\n         Kumaudjing! kumaudjing!\n         The hero is near,\n     He is tying his enemies' scalp to his robe.\n     And wiping the enemies' blood from his spear.\n         He is near--he is near,\n         And, hark, his Sa-sa-kwan[68]\n         Now bursts on the ear.\n\nThe truth, however, was soon revealed; although it caused a momentary\ncheck, it did not mar the _general_ joy. The sight of scalps made every\ntongue vocal. A thousand inquiries were made, and he heard his own fate\ndescribed, how he had fought bravely, been killed, and left among the\ndead.\n\n\"It is not true,\" replied the indignant chief, \"that I was killed and\nleft upon the field of battle. I am here. I live. I move. See me.\"\nNobody answered. He then walked to his own lodge. He saw his wife\ntearing her hair, and lamenting his fate. He asked her to bind up his\nwounds. She made no reply. He placed his mouth close to her ear, and\ncalled for food. She did not notice it. He drew back his arm and struck\nher a blow. She felt nothing.\n\nThus foiled he determined to go back. He followed the track of the\nwarriors. It was four days' journey. During three days he met with\nnothing extraordinary. On the fourth, toward evening, as he drew near\nthe skirts of the battle field, he saw a fire in the path. He stepped on\none side, but the fire had also moved its position. He crossed to the\nother side, but the fire was still before him. Whichever way he took,\nthe fire appeared to bar his approach. At this moment he espied the\nenemy of his fortunes in the moccasin, or flat-headed snake. \"My son,\"\nsaid the reptile, \"you have heretofore been considered a brave man--but\nbeware of this fire. It is a strong spirit. You must appease it by the\nsacred gift.\" The warrior put his hand to his side, but he had left his\nsack behind him. \"Demon,\" he exclaimed, addressing the flame, \"why do\nyou bar my approach. Know that I am a spirit. I have never been defeated\nby my enemies, and I will not be defeated by you.\"\n\nSo saying, he made a sudden effort and leaped through the flames. In\nthis effort he _awoke from his trance_. He had lain eight days on the\nbattle field. He found himself sitting on the ground, with his back\nsupported by a tree, and his bow leaning against his shoulder, as his\nfriends had left him. He looked up and beheld a large Gha Niew, or war\neagle, sitting in the tree, which he immediately recognised as his\nguardian spirit, or personal Manito. This bird had watched his body, and\nprevented the other birds of prey from devouring it.\n\nHe arose and stood for a few minutes, but found himself weak and\nemaciated. By the use of simples and such forest arts as our people are\nversed in, he succeeded in reaching his home. When he came near, he\nuttered the Sa sa kwan, or war cry, which threw the village into an\nuproar. But while they were debating the meaning of so unexpected a\nsound, the wounded chief was ushered into their midst. He related his\nadventures as before given. He concluded his narrative by telling them\nthat it is pleasing to the spirits of the dead to have a fire lit up on\ntheir graves at night, after their burial. He gave as a reason, that it\nis four days' travel to the place appointed for the residence of the\nsoul, and it requires a light every night at the place of its\nencampment. If the friends of the deceased neglect this rite, the spirit\nis compelled to build a fire for itself.\n\n     Light up the fire upon my grave\n                    When I am dead.\n     'Twill softly shed its beaming rays,\n     To guide the soul its darkling ways,\n     And ever, as the day's full light\n     Goes down, and leaves the world in night,\n     These kindly gleams, with warmth possest,\n     Shall show my spirit where to rest\n                    When I am dead.\n\n     Four days the funeral rite renew,\n                     When I am dead.\n     While onward bent, with typic woes,\n     I seek the red man's last repose;\n     Let no rude hand the flame destroy,\n     Nor mar the scene with festive joy;\n     While night by night, a ghostly guest,\n     I journey to my final rest,\n                     When I am dead.\n\n     No moral light directs my way\n                     When I am dead.\n     A hunter's fate--a warrior's fame,\n     A shade, a phantom, or a name,\n     All life-long through my hands have sought,\n     Unblest, unlettered, and untaught:\n     Deny me not the boon I crave--\n     A symbol-light upon my grave,\n                    When I am dead.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[68] War cry.\n\n\n\n\nPAUGUK.\n\nFROM THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE CHIPPEWAS.\n\n\nIn a peculiar class of languages like the native American, in which\nsymbols are so extensively used, it might be anticipated that Death\nshould be thus denoted.\n\nI asked SHAGUSH KODA WAIKWA, from whom this allegory is derived, whether\nthe Northern Indians discriminated between a corpse, a ghost, a spirit,\nan angel, and death, considered as a personification. The answer was\naffirmative, and I received the name for each.\n\nPauguk, according to this authority, is the personification of death. He\nis represented as existing without flesh or blood. He is a hunter, and\nbesides his bow and arrows, is armed with a _puggamagon_, or war club.\nBut he hunts only men, women, and children. He is an object of dread and\nhorror. To see him is a sure indication of death. Some accounts\nrepresent his bones as covered by a thin transparent skin, and his eye\nsockets as filled with balls of fire.\n\nPauguk never speaks. Unlike the JEEBI or ghost, his limbs never assume\nthe rotundity of life, neither is he to be confounded in form with the\nnumerous class of minor Manitoes, or spirits. He does not possess the\npower of metamorphosis. Unvaried in repulsiveness, he is ever an object\nof fear; and often, according to Indian story, has the warrior, flushed\nwith the ardour of battle, rushing forward to seize the prize of\nvictory, clasped the cold and bony hand of PAUGUK.\n\n\"I shall never forget the fate of OWYNOKWA,\" continued the narrator.\n\"She was a widow of my native village, who had been left with six sons.\nOne after the other, as they became of suitable age, they had joined the\nwar parties who went out against their enemies and fallen in battle. At\nlast but one was left; he was her only stay and comfort, supplying her\nwith food and protection in her old age. But he too, as he became old\nenough, spurning the dull life of a hunter, followed the war drum of his\ntribe, and went out against our enemies in the West. The absence of such\na war party, is a time of anxiety and suspense with the women of a\nvillage. To relieve this, and at the same moment to prepare them for\nmore particular intelligence, the returning party gives the war-cry of\ntriumph, and the death-wail indicating the number slain, as soon as they\ncome within hearing. On the present occasion, Owynokwa rushed from her\nlodge, the moment she caught the first sound. She stood with her lips\nparted, in an attitude of intense and agonized suspense; and as soon as\nthe death-wail broke upon her ear, despair appeared to rivet her to the\nspot. She heeded nothing; not a muscle moved; she neither inquired nor\nheard, who were the slain, but sank slowly to the earth in the place\nwhere she stood. She was carried into her lodge, and the next morning\nshowed signs of reanimation, but they were slight and brief--the\nrigidity of death soon seized upon her frame, and she followed her son\nto the land of spirits. Her son was indeed among the slain, but mortal\ntongue had not communicated the fact. It was generally supposed she had\nmet the glare of Pauguk at the moment the death-wail or Chee kwau dum\nhad broke on her ear.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE VINE AND OAK.\n\nAN ALLEGORY IN THE MANNER OF THE ALGICS.\n\n\nA vine was growing beside a thrifty oak, and had just reached that\nheight at which it requires support. \"Oak,\" said the ivy vine, \"bend\nyour trunk so that you may be a support to me.\" \"My support,\" replied\nthe oak, \"is naturally yours, and you may rely on my strength to bear\nyou up, but I am too large and too solid to bend. Put your arms around\nme, my pretty vine, and I will manfully support and cherish you, if you\nhave an ambition to climb, even as high as the clouds. While I thus hold\nyou up, you will ornament my rough trunk with your pretty green leaves\nand shining scarlet berries. They will be as frontlets to my head, and I\nshall stand in the forest like a glorious warrior, with all his plumes.\nWe were made by the Master of Life to grow together, that by our union\nthe weak should be made strong, and the strong render aid to the weak.\"\n\n\"But I wish to grow _independently_,\" said the vine, \"why cannot you\ntwine around me, and let me grow up straight, and not be a mere\ndependant upon _you_.\" \"Nature,\" answered the oak, \"did not _so_ design\nit. It is impossible that you should grow to any height _alone_, and if\nyou try it, the winds and rain, if not your own weight, will bring you\nto the ground. Neither is it proper for you to run your arms hither and\nyon, among the trees. The trees will begin to say--\"It is not my\nvine--it is a stranger--get thee gone, I will not cherish thee.\" By this\ntime thou wilt be so entangled among the different branches, that thou\ncanst not get back to the oak; and nobody will _then_ admire thee, or\npity thee.\"\n\n\"Ah me,\" said the vine, \"let me escape from such a destiny:\" and with\nthis, she twined herself around the oak, and they both grew and\nflourished happily together.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Algic Researches, Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics of the North American Indians, First Series. Indian Tales and Legends, Vol. 2 of 2","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":52409}