{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44935/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44935","id":"gutenberg_44935","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44935","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Indians of North America -- Folklore","Indians of North America -- Great Lakes Region (North America) -- Folklore","Indians of North America -- Mississippi River Valley -- Folklore","Legends -- Great Lakes Region (North America)","Legends -- Mississippi River Valley"],"text":"MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE\n          MISSISSIPPI VALLEY\n               AND THE\n             GREAT LAKES\n\n\n        Selected and Edited by\n         KATHARINE B. JUDSON\n\n  AUTHOR OF \"MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF\n  CALIFORNIA AND THE OLD SOUTHWEST,\"\n  \"MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE PACIFIC\n        NORTHWEST,\" ETC., ETC.\n\n\n             ILLUSTRATED\n\n            [Illustration]\n\n\n               CHICAGO\n         A. C. McCLURG & CO.\n                 1914\n\n\n              Copyright\n         A. C. McCLURG & CO.\n                1914\n\n        Published August, 1914\n\n   W. F. Hall Printing Co., Chicago\n\n\n\n\n  _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_\n\n  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS.\n    _Illustrated. Small quarto._\n      _$1.50 net._\n\n  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF CALIFORNIA AND THE OLD SOUTHWEST.\n    _Over fifty full-page illustrations. Small quarto._\n      _$1.50 net._\n\n  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ALASKA.\n    _Beautifully illustrated. Small quarto._\n      _$1.50 net._\n\n  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.\n    Especially of Washington and Oregon.\n    _With fifty full-page illustrations. Small quarto._\n      _$1.50 net._\n\n  MONTANA: \"The Land of Shining Mountains.\"\n    _Illustrated. Indexed. Square 8vo._\n      _75 cents net._\n\n  WHEN THE FORESTS ARE ABLAZE.\n    _Illustrated. Crown 8vo._\n      _$1.35 net._\n\n  A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: EARLY INDIAN DRAWING SHOWING A WRESTLING BOUT FOR\n  A TURKEY.\n    The Donor, a Hunter, is the Shrouded Figure on the Horse.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nMystery, magic, and manitoes abound in the land of Hiawatha, in the\nland of the Ojibwas, among the green islands, graceful and beautiful,\nlying amidst the dancing blue waters when the sun shines over Gitche\nGomee, the Great Water.[1] Manitoes, great and mighty, lived in the\ncool depths of the mighty forests, in the rivers and lakes, and even\nin the snows of winter. And adventures there were in those early days\namongst these islands of the North, when manitoes directed the affairs\nof men.\n\n    [1] Gitche Gomee is Lake Superior.\n\nBut the animal fathers lived upon the earth before there came the\n\"two-legged walkers.\" There were many animals. There were many\nbeavers. It was the beavers who made Gitche Gomee, the Great Water.\nThey made it by building two dams. The first they built at the Grand\nSault, and the second was five leagues below. When Great Hare came up\nthe river, he said, \"This must not be so.\" Therefore he stepped upon\nthe first dam. But he was in haste. He did not break it down;\ntherefore there are now great falls and whirlpools at that place. But\nat the second dam, Great Hare stepped upon it mightily; therefore\nthere are now few falls and only a little swirling water at that\nplace. Great Hare was very mighty. When he chased Beaver he stepped\nacross a bay eight leagues wide.\n\nAround Michilimackinack was the land of Great Hare. There, amongst the\ngreen islets, under the cool shade of wide spreading trees, where fish\nleaped above the rippling waters, he made the first fish net. He made\nit after watching Spider weave a web for catching flies.\n\nIt was Wenibojo,[2] who, in Ojibwa land, discovered the wild rice and\ntaught the Indians to use it. He first pointed out the low grassy\nislands in the lakes, waving their bright green leaves and spikes of\nyellowish-green blossoms. He showed them how to cut paths through the\nwild rice beds before the grain was ripe, and later, to beat it into\ntheir canoes. He told them always to gather the wild rice before a\nstorm, else the wind would blow it all into the water. Therefore the\nIndians use wild rice in all their feasts. They even taught the white\nmen to use it.\n\n    [2] Wenibojo is only a variation of the name also given as\n    Manabush. Both are identical with Hiawatha.\n\nWhen the snows of winter lay deep upon the forests of the North, when\nice covered lakes and rivers, then the story tellers of the Ojibwas,\nas of all other Indian tribes, told the tales of the olden times, when\nmanitoes lived upon the earth, and when the animal fathers roamed\nthrough the forest. But such stories are not told in summer. All the\nwoods and shores, all the bays and islands, are, in summer, the home\nof keen-hearing spirits, who like not to have Indians talking about\nthem. But when the deep snows come, then the spirits are more drowsy.\nThen the Indians, when North West rattles the flaps of the wigwams,\nand wild animals hide in the shelter of the deep forest, tell their\ntales. All winter they tell them, while the fires burn in the\nwigwams--tell them until the frogs croak in the spring.\n\nTales they tell of how Gitche Manito, the Good One, taught the Indians\nhow to plant the Indian corn, how to strip and bury Mondamin, and how\nto gather the corn in the month of falling leaves, that there may be\nfood in the camps when the snows of winter come. Tales they tell of\nGitche Manedo, the Evil One, who brings only distress and\nsickness--tales of the land of Hiawatha. Mystery and magic lay all\nabout them.\n\nIt is a far cry from the stories of the North along the banks of the\nMississippi, from that land of long winters, through the country of\nthe mound builders, to the sunnier Southland; yet from north to south,\naround the glimmering Indian fires, grouped eager men and women and\nchildren, listening to the story tellers.\n\nBut quite different are the tales of the Southland--of the Cherokees,\nBiloxis, and Chitimachas. They are stories of wild turkeys, of\npersimmons and raccoons, and of the spirits which dwell in the\nmountain places where none dare go. Stories also are they of Brer\nRabbit and the tar wolf, which came from Indian slaves working in the\nfields in early days, through the negro slaves working beside them, to\nthe children of the white men.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is a loss to American literature that so much of the legendary\nhistory of these Indian tribes has gone, beyond hope of recovery.\nExquisite in color, poetical in feeling, these legends of sun, moon,\nand stars, of snow, ice, lightning, thunders, the winds, the life of\nthe forest birds and animals about them, and the longing to understand\nthe why and the how of life--all which we have only in fragments.\nLongfellow's work shows the wonderful beauty of these northern\nlegends, nor has he done violence to any of them in making them\npoetical. His picture of the departure of Hiawatha, the lone figure\nstanding stately and solemn, as the canoe drifted out towards the\nglowing sunset, while from the shore, in the shadow of the forest,\ncame the low Indian chant, mingling with the sighing of the pine\ntrees, is truely Indian. For the mystical and poetical is strong in\nthe Indian nature.\n\nAs in all the other volumes of this series, no effort has been made to\nornament or amplify these legends in the effort to make them\n\"literary,\" or give them \"literary charm.\" They must speak for\nthemselves. What editing has been done has been in simplifying them,\nand freeing them from the verbose setting in which many were found.\nFor in this section of the country, settled before it was realized\nthat there was an Indian literature, the original work of noting down\nthe myths was very imperfectly done.\n\nThanks are due to the work of Albert E. Jenks, on the wild rice\nIndians of the upper lakes; to James Mooney, for the myths of the\nCherokees; to George Catlin, for some of the upper Mississippi\nlegends; to the well-known but almost inaccessible work of\nSchoolcraft, and to others.\n\n                                                    K. B. J.\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                PAGE\n  The Earth-Maker                                 _Winnebago_      1\n\n  Creation                                       _Chitimacha_      5\n\n  The Creation                                      _Wyandot_      8\n\n  Creation of the Races                              _Biloxi_     12\n\n  Story of the Creation                              _Ojibwa_     14\n\n  Creation (a fragment)                              _Ojibwa_     16\n\n  Creation of the Mandans                            _Mandan_     17\n\n  The Flood                                      _Chitimacha_     19\n\n  The Great Flood (a fragment)                       _Mandan_     20\n\n  The Great Flood                                  _Menomini_     21\n\n  Origin of Fire                                   _Menomini_     26\n\n  The Thunderers and the Origin of Fire            _Menomini_     28\n\n  The Origin of Fire                             _Chitimacha_     31\n\n  The Gifts of the Sky God                       _Chitimacha_     32\n\n  Mondamin                                           _Ojibwa_     34\n\n  Mondamin                                           _Ottawa_     37\n\n  The Corn Woman                                   _Cherokee_     40\n\n  Discovery of Wild Rice                             _Ojibwa_     42\n\n  Origin of Wild Rice                                _Ojibwa_     44\n\n  Origin of Winnebago                              _Menomini_     45\n\n  The Origin of Tobacco                            _Menomini_     49\n\n  Origin of Maple Sugar                            _Menomini_     51\n\n  Manabush and the Moose                           _Menomini_     53\n\n  Origin of Day and Night                          _Menomini_     54\n\n  Origin of the Bear                               _Cherokee_     56\n\n  Origin of the Word Chicago                         _Ojibwa_     58\n\n  Origin of the Word Chicago                       _Menomini_     60\n\n  The Coming of Manabush                           _Menomini_     61\n\n  The Story of Manabush                            _Menomini_     62\n\n  Manabozho and West                                 _Ojibwa_     65\n\n  Manabush and the Great Fish                      _Menomini_     69\n\n  The Departure of Manabush                        _Menomini_     72\n\n  The Return of Manabush                           _Menomini_     74\n\n  The Request for Immortality                      _Menomini_     75\n\n  Peboan and Seegwun                                 _Ojibwa_     77\n\n  The Grave Fires                                    _Ojibwa_     79\n\n  The Death Trail                                  _Cherokee_     82\n\n  The Duck and the North West Wind                   _Ojibwa_     84\n\n  How the Hunter Destroyed Snow                    _Menomini_     87\n\n  The Pipe of Peace                                  _Ojibwa_     90\n\n  The Thunder's Nest                                 _Ojibwa_     92\n\n  The Pipestone                                       _Sioux_     93\n\n  The Pipestone                                 _Knisteneaux_     94\n\n  Pau-puk-kee-wis                                    _Ojibwa_     95\n\n  Iagoo, the Boaster                                 _Ojibwa_    102\n\n  Ojeeg, the Summer-Maker                            _Ojibwa_    104\n\n  Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting                         _Cherokee_    109\n\n  Rabbit and the Tar Baby                            _Biloxi_    111\n\n  Rabbit and Tar Wolf                              _Cherokee_    114\n\n  Rabbit and Panther                               _Menomini_    116\n\n  How Rabbit Stole Otter's Coat                    _Cherokee_    118\n\n  Rabbit and Bear                                    _Biloxi_    122\n\n  Why Deer Never Eat Men                           _Menomini_    125\n\n  How Rabbit Snared the Sun                          _Biloxi_    128\n\n  When the Orphan Trapped the Sun                    _Ojibwa_    130\n\n  The Hare and the Lynx                              _Ojibwa_    134\n\n  Welcome to a Baby                                _Cherokee_    137\n\n  Baby Song                                        _Cherokee_    139\n\n  Song to the Firefly                                _Ojibwa_    140\n\n  Song of the Mother Bears                         _Cherokee_    141\n\n  The Man in the Stump                             _Cherokee_    143\n\n  The Ants and the Katydids                          _Biloxi_    144\n\n  When the Owl Married                             _Cherokee_    145\n\n  The Kite and the Eagle                                         147\n\n  The Linnet and the Eagle                           _Ojibwa_    148\n\n  How Partridge got his Whistle                    _Cherokee_    149\n\n  How Kingfisher got his Bill                      _Cherokee_    151\n\n  Why the Blackbird Has Red Wings                _Chitimacha_    153\n\n  Ball Game of the Birds and Animals               _Cherokee_    155\n\n  Why the Birds Have Sharp Tails                     _Biloxi_    158\n\n  The Wildcat and the Turkeys                        _Biloxi_    159\n\n  The Brant and the Otter                            _Biloxi_    161\n\n  The Tiny Frog and the Panther                                  163\n\n  The Frightener of Hunters        _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    166\n\n  The Hunter and the Alligator     _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    167\n\n  The Groundhog Dance                              _Cherokee_    169\n\n  The Racoon                                       _Menomini_    171\n\n  Why the Opossum Plays Dead                         _Biloxi_    172\n\n  Why the 'Possum's Tail is Bare                   _Cherokee_    174\n\n  Why 'Possum Has a Large Mouth    _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    176\n\n  The Porcupine and the Two Sisters                _Menomini_    177\n\n  The Wolf and the Dog                             _Cherokee_    179\n\n  The Catfish and the Moose                        _Menomini_    180\n\n  Turtle                                           _Menomini_    181\n\n  The Worship of the Sun                             _Ojibwa_    185\n\n  Tashka and Walo                  _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    189\n\n  Sun and Moon                                     _Menomini_    192\n\n  The Moon Person                                    _Biloxi_    193\n\n  The Star Creatures                               _Cherokee_    194\n\n  Meteors                                          _Menomini_    195\n\n  The Aurora Borealis                              _Menomini_    196\n\n  The West Wind                                  _Chitimacha_    197\n\n  The Lone Lightning                                 _Ojibwa_    198\n\n  The Thunders                                     _Cherokee_    200\n\n  Months of the Year                                _Natchez_    201\n\n  Why the Oaks and Sumachs Redden                       _Fox_    202\n\n  The Man of Ice                                   _Cherokee_    205\n\n  The Nunnehi                                      _Cherokee_    207\n\n  The Little People                                _Cherokee_    210\n\n  War Song                                           _Ojibwa_    212\n\n  The War Medicine                                 _Cherokee_    213\n\n  The Coming of the White Man                       _Wyandot_    214\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                                  PAGE\n  Early Indian drawing showing a wrestling bout         _Frontispiece_\n\n  Early Indian pottery                                              20\n\n  Wild rice tied in bunches or sheaves                              42\n\n  Wild rice kernels after threshing and winnowing                   42\n\n  Birch-bark yoke, and sap buckets, used in maple sugar making      52\n\n  Picture writing. An Ojibwa Meda song                              84\n\n  Permanent ash-bark wigwam of the wild rice gathering Ojibwa      104\n\n  Shell gorget showing eagle carving                               128\n\n  Indian jar from the mounds of Arkansas                           128\n\n  Spider gorgets                                                   158\n\n  Shell pins made and used by Indians of the Mississippi Valley    176\n\n  Ojibwa dancer's beaded medicine bag                              198\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND THE GREAT LAKES\n\n\n\n\nTHE EARTH-MAKER\n\n_Winnebago_\n\n\nWhen Earth-maker came to consciousness, he thought of the substance\nupon which he was sitting. He saw nothing. There was nothing anywhere.\nTherefore his tears flowed. He wept. But not long did he think of it.\nHe took some of the substance upon which he was sitting; so he made a\nlittle piece of earth for our fathers. He cast this down from the high\nplace on which he sat. Then he looked at what he had made. It had\nbecome something like our earth. Nothing grew upon it. Bare it was,\nbut not quiet. It kept turning.\n\n\"How shall I make it become quiet?\" thought Earth-maker. Then he took\nsome grass from the substance he was sitting upon and cast it down\nupon the earth. Yet it was not quiet.\n\nThen he made a man. When he had finished him, he called him Tortoise.\nAt the end of all his thinking, after he came to consciousness, he\nmade the two-legged walkers.\n\nThen Earth-maker said to this man, \"The evil spirits are abroad to\ndestroy all I have just created. Tortoise, I shall send you to bring\norder into the world.\" Then Earth-maker gave him a knife.\n\nBut when Tortoise came to earth, he began to make war. He did not look\nafter Earth-maker's creation. So Earth-maker took him back.\n\nThen he sent Hare down to earth to restore order. He said, \"See,\nGrandmother, I have done the work my father directed me to do. The\nlives of my uncles and aunts, the two-legged walkers, will be endless\nlike mine.\"\n\nHis grandmother said, \"Grandson, how could you make the lives of your\nuncles and aunts endless like yours? How could you do something in a\nway Earth-maker had not intended it to be? Earth-maker could not make\nthem thus.\"\n\nHare thought, \"My grandmother must be related to some of the evil\nspirits I have killed. She does not like what I have done, for she is\nsaying that I killed the evil spirits.\"\n\nNow grandmother heard him think. \"No, Grandson, I am not thinking of\nthat. I am saying that our father made death so there should not be a\nlack of food on earth. He made death to prevent overcrowding. He also\nmade a spirit world in which they should live after death.\"\n\nHare did not like what she said. \"Grandmother surely does not like\nit,\" he thought. \"She must be related to the evil spirits.\"\n\n\"No, Grandson, it is not so. But to quiet you, your uncle and aunts\nwill live to be very old.\" Then she spoke again, \"Now, Grandson, stand\nup. The two-legged walkers shall follow me always. I shall follow you\nalways. Therefore try to do what I tell you. Remember you are a man.\nDo not look back after you have started.\"\n\nThen they started to go around the earth.\n\n\"Do not look back,\" she said.\n\n\"I wonder why she says that,\" thought Hare. Then he turned his head\nthe least little bit to the left, and looked back to the place from\nwhich they had started. Instantly everything caved in.\n\n\"Oh, my! Oh, my!\" exclaimed grandmother. \"Grandson, a man you are; but\nI thought you were a great man, so I greatly encouraged you. Now even\nif I wished to, I could not prevent death.\"\n\nThis she meant, so they say.\n\nThen they went around the earth, to the edge of the fire which\nencircles the earth. That way they went, so they say.\n\n\n\n\nCREATION\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nThere was a Creator of All Things. This Great Mystery understood all\nthings. He had no eyes, yet he could see. He had no ears, yet he could\nhear. He had a body, but it could not be seen.\n\nWhen the earth was first made, the Creator of All Things placed it\nunder the water. The fish were first created. But when the Creator\nwanted to make men, there was no dry land. Therefore Crawfish was sent\ndown to bring up a little earth. He brought up mud in his claws.\nImmediately it spread out and the earth appeared above the waters.\nThen the Great Mystery made men. He made the Chitimachas. It was at\nNatchez that he first made them.\n\nHe gave them laws but the people did not follow the laws. Therefore\nmany troubles came, so that the Creator could not rest. Therefore the\nCreator made tobacco. Then men could become quiet and rest. Afterwards\nhe made women, but at first they were like wood. So he directed a\nchief to teach them how to move, and how to cook, and to sew skins.\n\nNow when the animals met the Chitimachas, they ridiculed them. For\nthese men had no fur, and no wool, and no feathers to protect them\nfrom storms, or rain, or the hot sun. The Chitimachas were sad because\nof this.\n\nThen the Creator gave them bows and arrows, and taught them how these\nthings should be used. He told them that the flesh of the animals was\ngood for food, and their skins for covering. Thus the animals were\npunished.\n\nThe Creator taught them also how to draw fire from two pieces of wood,\none flat and the other pointed; thus they learned to cook their food.\nThe Creator taught them also to honor the bones of their relatives;\nand so long as they lived, to bring them food.\n\nNow in those days, the animals took part in the councils of men. They\ngave advice to men, being wiser. Each animal took especial care of the\nChitimachas. Therefore the Indians respect the animals which gave good\nadvice to their ancestors, and this aids them even today in time of\nneed.\n\nThe Creator also made the moon and the stars. Both were to give life\nand light to all things on earth. Moon forgot the sacred bathing,\ntherefore he is pale and weak, giving but little light to man. But Sun\ngives light to all things. Sun often stops on her trail to give more\ntime to the Indians when they are hunting, or fighting their enemies.\nMoon does not, but always pursues his wife over the sky trail. Yet he\ncan never catch up with her.\n\nThe mounds in the Chitimacha country are the camping places of the\nspirit sent down by the Creator to visit the Indians. This spirit\ntaught the men how to cook their food and to cure their wounds. He is\nstill highly honored.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CREATION\n\n_Wyandot_\n\n\nThere was, in olden days, something the matter with the earth. It has\nchanged. We think so. We think the Great Mystery made it and made men\nalso. He made them at a place called Mountains. It was eastward. When\nhe had made the earth and these mountains, he covered the earth over\nwith something. He did it with his hands.\n\nUnder this, he put men. All the different tribes were there. One of\nthe young men climbed up and found his way to the surface. It was very\nbeautiful. Then a deer ran past, with an arrow in its side. He\nfollowed it to where it fell and died. He looked back to see its\ntracks, and he soon saw other tracks. They were the footprints of the\nperson who shot the deer. He soon came up. It was the Maker of Men.\nThus he taught the Indians what they must do when they came out of the\nearth. The creator showed the Indian how to skin the deer, and prepare\nit for food, and how to use the skin for dress.\n\nWhen everything was ready, he said, \"Make a fire.\"\n\nThe Indian said, \"I do not know how.\"\n\nTherefore the creator made the fire. Then he said, \"Put the meat on\nthe fire. Roast it.\"\n\nThe Indian did this, but he did not turn the stick. Therefore it was\nburned on one side and not roasted on the other. So the creator showed\nhim how to turn the stick.\n\nThen the Great Mystery called all the Indians up out of the earth.\nThey came out by tribes. To each tribe he gave a chief. Then he made a\nhead chief over all the tribes, who should teach them what they should\ndo.\n\nThe Great Mystery also made Good and Evil. They were brothers. One\nmade pleasant things grow. The other spent all his time spoiling his\nbrother's work. He made stony places, and rocks, and made bad fruits\nto grow. He made great trouble among men. He annoyed them very much.\nGood had to go back and do his work over again. It kept him very busy.\nThen Good decided to destroy Evil.\n\nTherefore Good proposed to run a race with Evil. When they met, Good\nsaid, \"Tell me first--what do you most fear?\"\n\n\"Bucks' horns,\" said Evil. \"What do you most fear?\"\n\n\"Indian grass braided,\" said Good.\n\nThen Evil at once went to his grandmother, who braided Indian grass.\nHe got a great deal of it. He put the grass in the trail, and put it\nin the limbs of the trees along the trail where Good was to run. Good\nalso filled the path, where his brother Evil was to run, with bucks'\nhorns.\n\nThey said, \"Who shall run first?\" They argued about it. At last Good\nsaid, \"Well, I will, because I proposed the race.\" So he started off\nand Evil followed him. When Good became tired, he pulled down a strand\nof braided green grass and chewed it. Thus he ran rapidly. But Evil\nbecame tired. Yet Good would not stop until he reached the end of the\ntrail.\n\nThe next day Evil started on his trail. Everywhere he was stopped by\nthe branches of bucks' horns. They greatly annoyed him. He said to\nGood, \"Let me stop.\" Good said, \"No, you must go on.\" At last, towards\nevening, Evil fell in the trail. At once Good took bucks' horns and\nkilled him.\n\nThen Good returned to his grandmother. She was very angry. She loved\nEvil. That night Good was awakened by a sound. The spirit of Evil was\ntalking with his grandmother. Then when Evil knew Good was awake, he\nsaid, \"Let me into the wigwam.\" But Good always said, \"No.\"\n\nAt last Evil said, \"I go to the northwest land. You will never see me\nmore. Those who follow me will never come back. Death will keep them.\"\n\n\n\n\nCREATION OF THE RACES[3]\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\n    [3] Obviously influenced by missionary teaching, but a most\n    curious myth.\n\nKuti Mankdce, the One Above, made people. He made one person, an\nIndian. While the Indian was sleeping, he made a woman. Then the One\nAbove went away to find food for the man and woman.\n\nAfter he left, something was standing there upright. It was a tree. A\nperson said, \"Why do you not eat the fruit of this tree? I think he\nmade it for you to eat.\"\n\nSo the woman pulled off some fruit and stewed it and she and the\nIndian ate it. Shortly after, the One Above returned. Now he had gone\naway to find food for them. When he found they had stewed this fruit,\nhe was very angry. He said, \"Work for yourself. Find your own food,\nelse you shall be hungry.\"\n\nWhen the One Above had been a long time gone, he sent back a letter to\nthe Indians. But the Indians did not receive it, because the Americans\ntook it. That is why Americans know how to read and write.\n\nNow after the letter came, the people found a very clear stream of\nwater. The American found it first and lay down in it; therefore he is\nvery white all over. Next came the Frenchman, but the water was not so\nclear. Then came the Indians; therefore Indians are not of light\ncomplexion, because they did not find the water when it was clear.\nAfterwards came the Spaniard, and he was not white, because the water\nhad become very muddy.\n\nSome time after the Negro was made. The One Above thought he should\nattend to work, so he made the Negro's nose flat. And by this time the\nwater was very muddy, and the stream was very low. So the Negro washed\nonly the palms of his hands. Therefore Negroes are very black except\non the palms of their hands.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF THE CREATION\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nWhen Gitche Manito, the Good Mystery, created the earth-plain, it was\nbare, without trees or shrubs. Then he created two Indians, a man and\na woman. Now when there were ten persons on the earth-plain, death\nhappened. The first man lamented, and went back and forth over the\nplain, complaining.\n\nHe said, \"Why did the Good Spirit send death so soon?\" The Good\nMystery heard this. He called a great council. He said, \"Man is not\nhappy. I have made him very frail, therefore death happens. What shall\nwe do?\"\n\nThe council lasted six days, and there was not a breath of air to\ndisturb the waters. The seventh was the _nageezhik_, the excellent\nday. The sky was blue and there were no clouds. On that day Gitche\nManito sent down a messenger to earth. In his right hand was a piece\nof white hare's skin, and in the left the head of a white-headed\neagle. On each was the blue stripe of peace.\n\nThe messenger said, \"Gitche Manito sent me. He has heard your words.\nYou must obey his commands.\" Then he gave to the Indians the hare's\nskin, the eagle's head, and a white otter skin with the blue stripe of\npeace.\n\nThus Gitche Manito taught the Indians how to make magic and how to be\nstrong.\n\n\n\n\nCREATION\n\n(A fragment)\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nLong ago, Nokomis came down from Sky-land, but remained fluttering in\nmid air. There was no place on which to rest her foot.\n\nThe Fishes at once held a great council. Now Tortoise had a\nshell-covered back, very broad. After the council, he rose to the\nsurface so that Nokomis might rest upon his back. Then the\ndrift-masses of the sea gathered about the Tortoise. Thus the land was\nmade.\n\nThen Nokomis found herself alone on the land. So she married a manido\nfrom the Sky-land. Two sons had Nokomis--twin brothers. But the\nbrothers were not friends. One was a good huntsman; the other could\nkill no game at all. So they disputed. Then one brother rose to the\nSky-land. He caused the Thunders to roar over his brother's head.\n\nNow the sister of these twin brothers was the ancestor of the Ojibwas.\n\n\n\n\nCREATION OF THE MANDANS\n\n_Mandan_\n\n\nThe Mandans were the People of the Pheasants. They were the first\npeople in the world. At first they lived in the earth. Now, in the\ndark Earth-land, they had many vines. Then at last one vine grew up\nthrough a hole in the Earth-plain, far above their heads. One of their\nyoung men at once went up the vine until he came out on the\nEarth-plain. He came out on the prairies, on the bank of a river, just\nwhere the Mandan village now stands.[4]\n\n    [4] 1834.\n\nHe looked all about him. The Earth-plain was very beautiful. There\nwere many buffaloes there. He killed one with his bow and arrow, and\nfound it was good for food.\n\nThen the young man returned to his people under the ground. He told\nthem all he had seen. They held a council, and then they began to\nclimb up the vine to the Earth-plain. Some of the chiefs, and the\nyoung warriors, and many of the women went up. Then came a very fat\nwoman. The chiefs said, \"Do not go up.\" But she did, so the vine\nbroke.\n\nThe Mandans were very sorry about this. Because no more could go up,\nthe tribe on the Earth-plain is not very large. And no one could\nreturn to his village in the ground. Therefore the Mandans built their\nvillage on the banks of the river. But the rest of the people remained\nunderground.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLOOD\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nLong, long ago, a great storm came. At once the people baked a great\nearthen pot, and in this two of them saved themselves. The pot was\nheld up on the surface of the water. Now two rattlesnakes were also\nsaved in the earthen jar, because in the olden days rattlesnakes were\nthe friends of man. In those days, when an Indian left his lodge the\nrattlesnake entered it and protected it until he returned.\n\nWhen all the land was flooded, the red-headed woodpecker hooked his\nclaws into the sky and so hung above the waters. But the flood rose so\nhigh that part of his tail was wet. You can see the marks even to this\nday.\n\nWhen the waters sank, he was sent to find land. He could find none.\nThen a dove was sent and came back with a grain of sand. This sand was\nplaced on top of the great waters and immediately it stretched out. It\nbecame dry land. Therefore the dove is called \"Ground Watcher.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREAT FLOOD\n\n(A fragment)\n\n_Mandan_\n\n\nThe earth is a large tortoise. It moves very slowly and carries a\ngreat deal of earth on its back. Long ago there was a tribe which is\nnow dead. They used to dig deep down in the earth for badgers. They\ndug with knives. One day they stuck a knife far down into the earth.\nIt cut through the shell of Tortoise.\n\nTherefore Tortoise at once began to sink into the water. The water\nrose through the knife cut until it covered all the ground. All the\npeople were drowned except one man.\n\nBut some of the old people say it was this way. They say there were\nfour Tortoises, one in the East, one in the West, one in the South,\nand another in the North. Each Tortoise made it rain for ten days.\nTherefore the water covered the earth and all the people were drowned.\n\n  [Illustration: EARLY INDIAN POTTERY.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREAT FLOOD\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nManabush[5] wanted to punish the evil manidoes, the Ana maqkiu who had\ndestroyed his brother Wolf. Therefore he invented the ball game.\n\n    [5] The Manabozho of the Ojibwas.\n\nThe place selected by Manabush for a ball ground was near a large sand\nbar on a great lake near Mackinac. He asked the Thunderers to play\nagainst the Ana maqkiu. These evil manidoes came out of the ground as\nBears. One chief was a silvery white bear, and the other a gray bear.\nThey played the ball game all day. Manabush watched the game from a\ntree on a knoll.\n\nWhen night came, Manabush went to a spot between the places where the\nBear chiefs had played ball. He said, \"I want to be a pine tree, cut\noff halfway between the ground and the top, with two strong branches\nreaching out over the places where the Bear chiefs lie down.\" At once\nhe became just such a tree.\n\nNow when the players came to the ball game the next morning, the Bear\nchiefs at once said, \"This tree was not standing there yesterday.\"\n\nThe Thunderers at once said, \"Oh, yes. It was there.\" Thus they\nargued. At last one Bear chief said, \"This tree is Manabush. Therefore\nwe will kill him.\" At once they sent for Grizzly Bear. They said,\n\"Climb this tree. Tear off the bark. Scratch it.\" Grizzly Bear did so.\nHe also bit the branches.\n\nThen the Bear chiefs called to Serpent. They said, \"Ho, Serpent! Come\nclimb this tree. Bite it. Strangle it in your coils.\" Serpent at once\ndid so. It was very hard for Manabush; yet he said nothing at all.\n\nThen the Bear chiefs said, \"No, it is not Manabush. Therefore we will\nfinish the game.\"\n\nNow when they were playing, someone carried the ball so far that the\nBear chiefs were left entirely alone. At once Manabush drew an arrow\nfrom his quiver and shot the White Bear chief. Then he shot another\narrow at Gray Bear chief. He wounded both of them. Then Manabush\nbecame a man again and ran for the sand bar. Soon the underground Ana\nmaqkiu came back. They saw the two Bear chiefs were wounded. They\nimmediately called for a flood from the earth to drown Manabush. It\ncame very quickly and followed that one. Then Badger came. He hid\nManabush in the earth. As he burrowed, he threw the earth behind him,\nand that held the water back. So the Ana maqkiu could not find\nManabush. Therefore they gave up the search just as the water began to\nfill Badger's burrow. So Manabush and Badger returned above ground.\n\nNow the underground people carried their chiefs to a wigwam. They said\nto an old woman, \"Take care of them.\" Then Manabush followed them. He\nmet the old woman. He took her skin and hid himself in it. So he went\ninto the wigwam. He killed both the Bear chiefs. Then he took the\nskins of the bears. When he came out of the wigwam he shook a network\nof basswood twigs, so that the Ana maqkiu might know he had been\nthere.\n\nAt once they pursued him. Water poured out of the earth in many\nplaces. A great flood came.\n\nManabush at once ran to the top of the highest mountain. The waters\nfollowed him closely. He climbed a great pine tree on the mountain\ntop, but the waters soon reached him. Manabush said to the pine, \"Grow\ntwice as high.\" At once it did so. Yet the waters rose higher.\nManabush said again to the tree, \"Grow twice as high.\"\n\nHe said this four times, yet the waters kept rising until they\nreached his arm pits. Then Manabush called to Kisha Manido for help.\nThe Good Mystery at once commanded the waters to stop.\n\nManabush looked around. There were only a few animals in the water. He\ncalled, \"Ho, Otter! Come to me and be my brother. Dive down into the\nwater. Bring up some earth that I may make a new world.\" Otter dived\ndown into the water and was gone a long time. When he appeared again\non the surface, Manabush saw he was drowned.\n\nThen he called again, \"Ho, Mink! Come to me and be my brother. Dive\ndown into the water. Bring me some earth.\" Then Mink dived into the\nwater. He was gone a long time. He also was drowned.\n\nManabush looked about him again. He saw Muskrat. He called, \"Ho,\nMuskrat! Come to me and be my brother. Dive down into the water. Bring\nme up earth from below.\" Muskrat immediately dived into the water. He\nwas gone a very long time. Then when he came up, Manabush went to him.\nIn his paw was a tiny bit of mud. Then Manabush held Muskrat up, and\nblew on him, so he became alive again.\n\nThen Manabush took the earth. He rubbed it between the palms of his\nhands and threw it out on the water. Thus a new world was made and\ntrees appeared on it.\n\nManabush told Muskrat that his tribe should always be numerous, and\nthat wherever his people should live they should have enough to eat.\n\nThen Manabush found Badger. To him he gave the skin of the Gray Bear\nchief. But he kept for himself the skin of the silvery White Bear\nchief.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF FIRE\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nWhile Manabush was still a young man, he said to Nokomis, the Earth,\n\"Grandmother, it is cold here and we have no fire. I shall go and get\nsome.\"\n\nNokomis said, \"Oh, no! It is too dangerous.\"\n\nBut Manabush said, \"Yes, we must have fire.\"\n\nAt once Manabush made a canoe of birch bark. Then he became a rabbit.\nSo he started eastward, across the great water, to a land where lived\nan old man who had fire. He guarded the fire carefully so that people\nmight not steal it.\n\nNow the old man had two daughters. One day they came out of the sacred\nwigwam where the fire was kept. Behold! There was a little rabbit, wet\nand cold and trembling. They took it up at once in their arms. They\ncarried it into the wigwam. They set it down near the fire.\n\nSo Manabush sat by the fire while the two girls were busy. The old man\nwas asleep. Then Rabbit hopped nearer the fire. When he hopped, the\nwhole earth shook. The old man roused. He said, \"My daughters, what\nhas happened?\"\n\nThe girls answered, \"Nothing at all. We picked up a little wet rabbit\nand are letting him dry by the fire.\" Then again the old man fell\nasleep. The girls were busy.\n\nSuddenly Rabbit seized a stick of burning wood and ran out of the\nwigwam. He ran with great speed towards his canoe. The old man and the\ntwo girls followed him closely. But Rabbit reached his canoe and\npaddled quickly away, to the wigwam of Nokomis. He paddled so quickly\nthat the fire stick burned fiercely. Sparks flew from it and burned\nRabbit.\n\nAt once Rabbit and Nokomis gave fire to the Thunderers. They have had\nthe care of fire ever since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THUNDERERS AND THE ORIGIN OF FIRE\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nWhen the Great Mystery created the earth, he made also many manidos.\nThose of animal form were People of the Underground, and evil. But the\nbird manidos were Eagles and Hawks. They were the Thunderers. The\ngolden eagle was the Thunder-which-no-one-could-see.\n\nNow when Masha Manido, the Good Mystery, saw that Bear was still an\nanimal, he permitted him to change his form. Thus Bear became an\nIndian, with light skin. All this happened near Menomini River, near\nwhere it empties into Green Bay. At this place also Bear first came\nout of the ground.\n\nBear found himself alone, so he called to Eagle, \"Ho, Eagle! come to\nme and be my brother.\" So Eagle came down to earth and became an\nIndian.\n\nWhile the Thunderers stood there, Beaver came near. Now as Beaver was\na woman, she became a younger brother of the Thunderers. Soon after,\nas Bear and Eagle stood on a river bank, they saw a stranger,\nSturgeon. They called to him. Therefore Sturgeon became Bear's younger\nbrother and his servant. So also Elk was adopted by the Thunderers. He\nbecame a younger brother and water carrier.\n\nAt another time, Bear was going up Wisconsin River and sat down to\nrest. Out from beneath a waterfall came Wolf.\n\nWolf said, \"What are you doing in this place?\"\n\nBear said, \"I am traveling to the source of the river. I am resting.\"\n\nJust then Crane came flying by. Bear called, \"Ho, Crane. Carry me to\nmy people at the head of the river. Then will I make you my younger\nbrother.\"\n\nCrane stopped and took Bear on his back. As he was flying off, Wolf\ncalled, \"Ho, Bear. Take me also as your younger brother. I am alone.\"\n\nBear said, \"I will take Wolf as my younger brother.\"\n\nThis is how Wolf and Crane became younger brothers of Bear. Wolf\nafterwards let Dog and Deer join him, having seats in the council.\n\nNow Big Thunder lived at Winnebago Lake, near Fond du Lac. The\nThunderers were all made by Masha Manido to be of benefit to the whole\nworld. When they return from the Southwest in the spring, they bring\nwith them the rains which make the earth green and the plants and\ntrees to grow. If it were not for the Thunderers, the earth would be\ndry and all things would perish.\n\nMasha Manido gave to the Thunderers squaw corn, which grows on small\nsticks and has ears of several colors.\n\nThe Thunderers were also the Makers-of-Fire. Manabush first gave it to\nthem, but he had stolen it from an old man living on an island in the\nmiddle of a great lake.\n\nBear and Sturgeon owned rice, which grew abundantly in the waters near\nBear's village. One day the Thunderers visited Bear's village and\npromised to give corn and fire, if Bear would give them rice.\n\nThe Thunderers are the war chiefs and have charge of the lighting of\nthe fire. So Bear gave rice to them. Then he built a long tepee and a\nfire was kindled in the center by the Thunderers. From this all the\npeople of the earth received fire. It was carried to them by the\nThunderers. When the people travel, the Thunderers go ahead to the\ncamping place and start the fire which is used by all.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF FIRE\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nFire first came from the Great Being, Kutnakin. He gave it into the\ncare of an Indian so old that he was blind.\n\nNow the Indians all knew that fire was good, therefore they tried to\nsteal it. The old man could not see them when they came stealthily to\nhis wigwam, but he could feel the presence of anyone. Then he would\nbeat about him with his stick until he drove away the seekers for\nfire.\n\nNow one day an Indian seized the fire suddenly. At once the Watcher of\nthe Fire began beating about him with his stick, until the thief\ndropped the fire. But the old man did not know he had dropped it. He\nstill beat about him so fiercely with his stick that he pounded some\nof the fire into a log.\n\nThat is why fire is in wood.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIFTS OF THE SKY GOD\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nLong, long ago, many Indians started to reach the Sky-world. They\nwalked far to the north until they came to the edge of the sky, where\nit is fitted down over the Earth-plain. When they came to this place,\nthey tried to slip through a crack under the edge, but the Sky-cover\ncame down very tightly and quickly, and crushed all but six. These six\nhad slipped through into the Sky-land.\n\nThen these men began to climb up, walking far over the sky floor. At\nlast they came to the lodge of Kutnakin. They stayed with him as his\nguests. At last they wished to go back to their own lodges on the\nEarth-plain.\n\nKutnakin said, \"How will you go down to the Earth-plain?\"\n\nOne said, \"I will go down as a squirrel.\" So he started to spring down\nfrom the Sky-land. He was dashed to pieces.\n\nKutnakin said to the next, \"How will you go down to the Earth-plain?\"\n\nAnd this man also went as an animal. And so the next one also. They\nwere dashed to pieces. Then the others saw that they were crushed by\ntheir fall.\n\nTherefore the fourth said, \"I will go down as a spider.\" And he spun a\nlong line down which he climbed safely to earth.\n\nThe fifth said, \"I will go down as an eagle,\" and he spread his wings\nand circled through the air until he alighted on a tree branch.\n\nThe last one said, \"I will go down as a pigeon,\" and so he came softly\nto earth.\n\nNow each one brought back a gift from Kutnakin. The one who came back\nas a spider had learned how to howl and sing and dance when people\nwere sick. He was the first medicine man. But one Indian had died\nwhile these six men were up in the Sky-land. He died before the shaman\ncame down to earth as a spider. Therefore death came among the\nIndians. Had the shaman come back to earth in time to heal this\nIndian, there would have been no death.\n\nThe one who came back as an eagle taught men how to fish. And the\npigeon taught the Indians the use of wild maize.\n\n\n\n\nMONDAMIN\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nWhen the springtime came, long, long ago, an Indian boy began his\nfast, according to the customs of his tribe. His father was a very\ngood man but he was not a good hunter, and often there was no food in\nthe wigwam.\n\nSo, as the boy wandered from his small tepee in the forest, he thought\nabout these things. He looked at the plants and shrubs and wondered\nabout their uses, and whether they were good for food. He thought, \"I\nmust find out about these things in my vision.\"\n\nOne day, as he lay stretched upon his bed of robes in the solitary\nwigwam, a handsome Indian youth came down from Sky-land. He was gaily\ndressed in robes of green and yellow, with a plume of waving feathers\nin his hands.\n\n\"I am sent to you,\" said the stranger, \"by the Great Mystery. He will\nteach you what you would know.\" Then he told the boy to rise and\nwrestle with him. The boy at once did so. At last the visitor said,\n\"That is enough. I will come tomorrow.\"\n\nThe next day the beautiful stranger came again from the Sky-land.\nAgain the two wrestled until the stranger said, \"That is enough. I\nwill come tomorrow.\"\n\nThe third day he came again. Again the fasting youth found his\nstrength increase as he wrestled with the visitor. Then that one said,\n\"It is enough. You have conquered.\" He sat himself down in the wigwam.\n\"The Great Mystery has granted your wish,\" he said. \"Tomorrow when I\ncome, after we have wrestled and you have thrown me down, you must\nstrip off my garments. Clear the earth of roots and weeds and bury my\nbody. Then leave this place; but come often and keep the earth soft,\nand pull up the weeds. Let no grass or weeds grow on my grave.\" Then\nhe went away, but first he said, \"Touch no food until after we wrestle\ntomorrow.\"\n\nThe next morning the father brought food to his son; it was the\nseventh day of fasting. But the boy refused until the evening should\ncome.\n\nAgain came the handsome youth from the Sky-land. They wrestled long,\nuntil he fell to the earth. Then the Indian boy took off the green and\nyellow robes, and buried his friend in soft, fresh earth. Thus the\nvision had come to him.\n\nThen the boy returned to his father's lodge, for his fasting was\nended. Yet he remembered the commands of the Sky-land stranger. Often\nhe visited the grave, keeping it soft and fresh, pulling up weeds and\ngrass. And when people were saying that the Summer-maker would soon go\naway and the Winter-maker come, the boy went with his father to the\nplace where his wigwam had stood in the forest while he fasted. There\nthey found a tall and graceful plant, with bright silky hair, and\ngreen and yellow robes.\n\n\"It is Mondamin,\" said the boy. \"It is Mondamin, the corn.\"[6]\n\n    [6] Then Nokomis, the old woman,\n        Spake, and said to Minnehaha:\n        \"'Tis the Moon when leaves are falling;\n        All the wild rice has been gathered,\n        And the maize is ripe and ready;\n        Let us gather in the harvest,\n        Let us wrestle with Mondamin,\n        Strip him of his plumes and tassels,\n        Of his garments green and yellow.\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nMONDAMIN\n\n_Ottawa_\n\n\nWhen the Ottawas lived on the Manatoline Islands, in Lake Huron, they\nhad a very strong medicine man. His name was Mass-wa-wei-nini, Living\nStatue. Then the Iroquois came and drove the Ottawas away. They fled\nto Lac Court Oreilles, between Lake Superior and the Mississippi\nRiver. But Living Statue remained in the land of his people. He\nremained to watch the Iroquois, so that his people might know of their\nplans. His two sons stayed with him.\n\nAt night, the medicine man paddled softly around the island, in his\ncanoe. He paddled through the water around the beautiful green island\nof his people. One morning he rose early to go hunting. His two boys\nwere asleep. So Living Statue followed the game trail through the\nforest; then he came to a wide green plain. He watched keenly for the\nenemy of his people. Then he began to cross the plain.\n\nWhen Living Statue was in the middle of the plain, he saw a small man\ncoming towards him. He wore a red plume in his hair.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked Red Plume.\n\n\"I am hunting,\" said Living Statue.\n\nRed Plume drew out his pipe and they smoked together.\n\n\"Where does your strength come from?\" asked Red Plume.\n\n\"I have the strength common to all men,\" said Living Statue.\n\n\"We must wrestle,\" said Red Plume. \"If you can make me fall, you will\ncry, 'I have thrown you, _Wa ge me na_!'\"\n\nNow when they had finished smoking, they began to wrestle. They\nstruggled long. Red Plume was small, but his medicine was strong.\nLiving Statue grew weaker and weaker, but at last, by a sudden effort,\nhe threw Red Plume. At once he cried, \"I have thrown you, _Wa ge me\nna_!\"\n\nImmediately Red Plume vanished. When Living Statue looked at the place\nwhere he had fallen, he saw only _Mondamin_, an ear of corn. It was\ncrooked. There was a red tassel at the top.\n\nSomeone said, \"Take off my robes. Pull me in pieces. Throw me over the\nplain. Take the spine on which I grew and throw it in shady places\nnear the edge of the wood. Return after one moon. Tell no one.\"\n\nMass-wa-wei-nini did as the voice directed. Then he returned into the\nwoods. He killed a deer. So he returned to his wigwam.\n\nNow after one moon, he returned to the plain. Behold! There were\nblades and spikes of young corn. And from the broken bits of spine,\ngrew long pumpkin vines.\n\nWhen summer was gone, Living Statue went again to the plain with his\nsons. The corn was in full ear. Also the large pumpkins were ripe.\n\nThus the Ottawas received the gift of corn.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CORN WOMAN\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOne day a hunter could find no game. He had but a few grains of corn\nwith him. He was very hungry. In the night a dream came to him and he\nheard the sound of singing.\n\nEarly the next morning the hunter rose, but again he found no game.\nWhen he slept again the dream came to him, and again came the sound of\nsinging, but this time it was nearer. Yet again he could find no game.\n\nThe third night the dream came to the hunter, and when he awoke, he\nstill heard the song. Then he rose quickly and followed the song. At\nlast he came to a single green stalk of Selu.\n\nThe stalk spoke to him. It said, \"Take off my roots, and take them\nwith you to your wigwam. Tomorrow morning you must chew them before\nanyone awakes. Then go again into the woods. So will you always be\nsuccessful in hunting.\"\n\nThe green stalk gave him many directions for hunting the elk and the\ndeer. So it talked until the sun rose to the very top of the sky\ntrail. Immediately the green stalk became a woman. She rose gracefully\ninto the air and vanished.\n\nThen all the people knew that the hunter had seen Selu, the Corn, wife\nof Kanati. Therefore the hunter was always successful.\n\n\n\n\nDISCOVERY OF THE WILD RICE\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nLong ago, Weniboj\u00f3[7] made his home with his grandmother, Nokomis. One\nday Nokomis said to her grandson, \"Prove yourself a man. Take a long\njourney. Go through the great forests. Fast you. Prepare for the\nhardships of life.\"\n\n    [7] Another form of the Ojibwa Manabozho, or the Menomini\n    Manabush.\n\nSo Weniboj\u00f3 took his bow and arrow from his wigwam. He wandered\nout into the forest. Many days he wandered. Then at last he\nreached a broad lake, covered thick with heavy-headed stalks. But\nWeniboj\u00f3 knew not that the grain was food.\n\nSo Weniboj\u00f3 went back to his grandmother, Nokomis. He told her of the\nbroad, quiet lake, with the heavy-headed stalks. So Nokomis came, and\nin their canoe they gathered the wild rice and sowed it in another\nlake.\n\n  [Illustration: WILD RICE TIED IN BUNCHES OR SHEAVES.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n  [Illustration: WILD RICE KERNELS AFTER THRESHING AND WINNOWING.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\nAgain Weniboj\u00f3 left Nokomis. With his bow and arrow he wandered far\ninto the forest. Then some little bushes spoke as he walked.\n\"Sometimes they eat us,\" they said. Weniboj\u00f3 made no answer. Again\nthe bushes spoke, \"Sometimes they eat us.\"\n\n\"Who are you talking to?\" he asked.\n\n\"To Weniboj\u00f3,\" they said. So he bent down and dug up the bushes by the\nroots. The roots were long, like an arrow. They were good to eat, but\nWeniboj\u00f3 had fasted too long.\n\nAfter a while, Weniboj\u00f3 wandered on. He was very hungry. Many bushes\nspoke to him. Many said, \"Sometimes they eat us,\" but he made no\nanswer.\n\nOne day he followed the river trail, when the sun was high. Many\nlittle bunches of straw were growing out of the water. They spoke to\nhim. They said, \"Weniboj\u00f3, sometimes they eat us.\"\n\nSo Weniboj\u00f3 picked some of the grains from the heavy-headed stalks and\nate.\n\n\"You are good to eat,\" he said. \"What do they call you?\"\n\n\"They call us _manomin_,\" answered the wild rice.\n\nThen Weniboj\u00f3 waded far out into the water. He beat out grains and ate\nmany. They were good for food.\n\nThen Weniboj\u00f3 remembered the grain which Nokomis had sown, and he\nreturned to his grandmother and the _manomin_ lake.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF WILD RICE\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nNow one evening Weniboj\u00f3 returned to his wigwam from hunting. He had\nfound no game. As he came towards his fire, he saw a duck sitting on\nthe edge of a kettle of boiling water. Immediately the duck flew away.\n\nWeniboj\u00f3 looked in the kettle. Behold! Grains were floating upon the\nwater. Then he ate the broth made with the grains. It was good.\n\nSo Weniboj\u00f3 followed the trail of the duck. He came to a lake of\n_manomin_. All the birds and the ducks and geese were eating the\ngrain. Therefore Weniboj\u00f3 learned to know _manomin_, the wild rice.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF WINNEBAGO\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day Manabush walked along the lake shore. He was tired and hungry.\nThen he saw, around a sand spit jutting far out into the water, many\nwaterfowl.\n\nNow Manabush had with him only a medicine bag. He hung that on a\nmanabush tree in the brush. He put a roll of bark on his back, and\nreturned to the lake shore. He passed slowly by so as not to frighten\nthe birds. Duck and Swan suddenly recognized him, and swam quickly\naway from the shore.\n\nOne of the Swans called out, \"Ho! Manabush, where are you going?\"\n\n\"I am going to have a dance,\" said Manabush. \"As you may see, I have\nall my songs with me.\"\n\nThen he called out to all the birds, \"Come to me, brothers! Let us\nsing and dance.\"\n\nAt once the birds returned to the shore and walked back upon an open\nspace in the grass. Manabush took the bundle of bark from his back. He\nplaced it on the ground, got out his singing sticks, and then he said\nto the birds,\n\n\"Now, all of you dance around me as I drum. Sing as loudly as you can\nand keep your eyes closed. The first to look will always have red\neyes.\"\n\nSo Manabush began to beat time upon his bundle of bark. The birds with\neyes closed danced around him. Then Manabush began to keep time with\none hand, as the birds sang loudly. With the other he seized a Swan by\nthe neck. Swan gave a loud squawk.\n\n\"That's right, brothers! Sing as loudly as you can,\" shouted Manabush.\n\nSoon he seized another Swan by the neck. Then he seized a Goose. At\nlast there were not so many birds singing. Then a tiny duck opened his\neyes to see why. At once he shrieked, \"Manabush is killing us!\nManabush is killing us!\" And he started for the water, followed by the\nrest of the birds.\n\nNow this little duck was a poor runner. Manabush quickly caught him\nand said, \"I won't kill you; but you shall always have red eyes. And\nyou shall be the laughing stock of all the birds.\"\n\nAnd with that Manabush pushed him so hard, yet holding on to his tail,\nthat the duck went far out into the middle of the lake and his tail\ncame off. Because of that he has red eyes and no tail, even to this\nday.\n\nThen Manabush gathered up the birds he had killed and took them out\non the sand spit. He buried them in the sand and built a fire over\nthem to cook them, but he left sticking out the heads of some and the\nlegs of others so he would know where they were.\n\nBut Manabush was tired. He slapped his thigh and said, \"You watch the\nbirds and awaken me if anyone comes near them.\" He stretched out on\nthe sand with his back to the fire and went to sleep.\n\nAfter awhile, Indians came along in their canoes. They saw the fire\nand the roasting birds. They went ashore on the sand pit. They pulled\nout the birds and ate them. But they put back into the sand the heads\nand feet, just as they had found them. So they departed.\n\nAfterwards, Manabush awoke, very hungry. He pulled at the head of a\nswan. Behold! The head came out, but there was no bird. He pulled at\nthe feet of a goose. No bird was there. So he tried every head and\nfoot; but the birds were gone.\n\nHe slapped his thigh again and asked, \"Who has been here? Someone has\nrobbed me of my feast. I told you to watch.\"\n\nHis thigh answered, \"I fell asleep also. I was very tired. See! There\nare people moving away in their canoes! They are dirty and poorly\ndressed.\"\n\nThen Manabush ran to the point of the sand spit. He could see the\npeople who were just disappearing around a point. He shouted,\n\"Winnebago! Winnebago!\" Therefore the Menomini have always called\ntheir thievish neighbors Winnebago.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF TOBACCO\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day when Manabush was passing by a high mountain, a fragrant odor\ncame to him from a crevice in the cliffs. He went closer. Then he knew\nthat in the mountain was a giant who was the Keeper of the Tobacco. He\nentered the mouth of a cave, going through a long tunnel to the center\nof the mountain.\n\nThere in a great wigwam was the giant. The giant said sternly, \"What\ndo you want?\"\n\nManabush said, \"I want some tobacco.\"\n\n\"Come back again in one year,\" said the giant. \"The manidoes have just\nbeen here for their smoke. They come but once a year.\"\n\nManabush looked around. He saw a great number of bags filled with\ntobacco. He seized one and ran out into the open air, and close after\nhim came the giant.\n\nUp to the mountain tops fled Manabush leaping from peak to peak. The\ngiant came close behind him, springing with great bounds. When\nManabush reached a very high peak, he suddenly lay flat on the\nground; but the giant, leaping, went over him and fell into the chasm\nbeyond.\n\nThe giant picked himself up, and began to climb up the face of the\ncliff. He almost reached the top, hanging to it by his hands. Manabush\nseized him, and drew him upwards, and dropped him down on the ground.\n\nHe said, \"For your meanness, you shall become Kakuene, the jumper. You\nshall become the pest of those who raise tobacco.\" Thus the giant\nbecame a grasshopper.\n\nThen Manabush took the tobacco, and divided it amongst his brothers,\ngiving to each some of the seed. Therefore the Indians are never\nwithout tobacco.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF MAPLE SUGAR\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day Manabush returned from the hunt without any food. He could\nfind no game at all. So Nokomis gathered all their robes, and the\nbeaded belts, and their belongings together. They built a new wigwam\namong the sugar maple trees.\n\nNokomis said, \"Grandson, go into the woods and gather for me pieces of\nbirch bark. I am going to make sugar.\" Manabush went into the woods.\nHe gathered strips of birch bark, which he took back to the wigwam.\nNokomis had cut tiny strips of the bark to use as thread in sewing the\nbark into hollow buckets. Then Nokomis went from tree to tree cutting\nsmall holes through the maple bark, so that the sap might flow. She\nplaced a birch-bark vessel under each hole. Manabush followed her from\ntree to tree looking for the sap to drop. None fell. When Nokomis had\nfinished, Manabush found all the vessels half full.\n\nHe stuck his finger into the thick syrup. It was sweet. Then he said,\n\"Grandmother, this is all very good, but it will not do. If people\nmake sugar so easily, they will not have to work at all. I will\nchange all this. They must cut wood and keep the sap boiling several\nnights. Otherwise they will not be busy.\"\n\nSo Manabush climbed to the very top of a tree. He showered water all\nover the maples, like rain. Therefore the sugar in the tree dissolved\nand flows from the tree as thin sap. This is why the uncles of\nManabush and their children always have to work hard when they want to\nmake sugar.\n\n  [Illustration: BIRCH-BARK YOKE, AND SAP BUCKETS, USED IN MAPLE\n  SUGAR MAKING.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n\n\n\nMANABUSH AND THE MOOSE\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nManabush killed a moose. He was very hungry, but he was greatly\ntroubled as to how he should eat it.\n\n\"If I begin at the head,\" he said, \"they will say I ate him headfirst.\nBut if I begin at the side, they will say I ate him sideways. And if I\nbegin at the tail, they will say I ate him tail first.\"\n\nHe was greatly troubled. And while he thus spoke, the wind blew two\ntree branches together. It made a harsh, creaking sound.\n\n\"I cannot eat in this noise,\" said Manabush, and he climbed the tree.\nImmediately the branches caught him by the arm and held him. Then a\npack of wolves came and ate up the moose.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF DAY AND NIGHT\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day as Wabus, the Rabbit, traveled through a forest, he came to a\nclearing on the bank of the river. There sat Totoba, the Saw-whet Owl.\nThe light was dim and Rabbit could not see well. He said to Saw-whet,\n\n\"Why do you want it so dark? I do not like it. I will cause it to be\nlight.\"\n\nSaw-whet said, \"Do so, if you are strong enough. Let us try our\npowers.\"\n\nSo Rabbit and the Owl called a great council of the birds. Some of the\nbirds and animals wanted Rabbit to succeed so that it would be light.\nOthers wanted it to remain dark.\n\nRabbit and Owl began to try their powers. Rabbit began to repeat\nrapidly, \"_Wabon. Wabon. Wabon_\" (Light. Light. Light), while Owl kept\nsaying as rapidly as he could, \"_Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa qkot. Uni\ntipa qkot_\" (Night. Night. Night).\n\nIf one of them should speak the word of the other, he would lose. So\nRabbit kept repeating rapidly, \"_Wabon. Wabon. Wabon_,\" while Owl\nsaid as rapidly as he could, \"_Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa qkot. Uni tipa\nqkot._\" At last Owl said Rabbit's word, \"_Wabon_,\" so he lost.\n\nTherefore Rabbit decided there should be light. But because some of\nthe animals and birds could hunt only in the dark, he said it should\nbe night part of the time. But all the rest of the time it is day.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF THE BEAR\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nLong ago, before the white man came, in the land of the Cherokees was\na clan called the Ani Tsagulin. One of the boys of the clan used to\nwander all day long in the mountains. He never ate his food at home.\n\n\"Why do you do so?\" asked his father and mother. The boy did not\nanswer.\n\n\"Why do you do so?\" they asked many days, as the boy wandered away\ninto the hills. He did not answer them.\n\nThen his mother saw that long brown hair covered his body. They said\nagain, \"Where do you go?\" They asked, \"Why do you not eat at home?\"\n\nAt last the boy said, \"There is plenty to eat there. It is better than\nthe corn in the village. Soon I shall stay in the woods all the time.\"\n\nHis father and mother said, \"No.\"\n\nThe boy kept saying, \"It is better than here. I am beginning to be\ndifferent. Soon I shall not want to live here. If you come with me you\nwill not have to hunt, or to plant corn. But first you must fast\nseven days.\"\n\nThe people began to talk about it. They said, \"Often we do not have\nenough to eat here. There he says there is plenty. We will go with\nhim.\"\n\nSo they fasted seven days. Then they left their village and went to\nthe mountains.\n\nNow the other tribes had heard what they had talked in their village.\nAt once they sent messengers. But when the messengers met them, they\nhad started towards the mountains and their hair was long and brown.\nTheir nature was changing. This was because they had fasted seven\ndays. But the Ani Tsagulin would not go back to their village. They\nsaid to the others:\n\n\"We are going where there is always plenty to eat. Hereafter we shall\nbe called _Yana_, bears. When you are hungry, come into the woods and\ncall us, and we will give you food to eat.\"\n\nSo they taught these messengers how to call them and to hunt them.\nBecause, even though they may seem to be killed, the Ani Tsagulin live\nforever.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF THE WORD CHICAGO\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nOnce an Ottawa hunter and his wife lived on the shores of Lake\nMichigan. Then the hunter went south, toward the end of the lake, to\nhunt. When he reached the lake[8] where he had caught beaver the year\nbefore, it was still covered with ice. Then he tapped the ice to find\nthe thinner places where the beaver families lived. He broke holes at\nthese weaker points in the ice, and went to his wigwam to get his\ntraps.\n\n    [8] Between Milwaukee and Chicago, going south to where\n    Chicago now stands.\n\nNow the hunter's wife chanced to pass one of these holes and she saw a\nbeaver on the ice. She caught it by the tail and called to the hunter\nto come and kill it quickly, before it could get back into the water.\n\n\"No,\" said the hunter, \"if I kill this beaver, the others will become\nfrightened. They will escape from the lake by other openings in the\nice.\"\n\nThen the woman became angry, and they quarreled.\n\nWhen the sun was near setting, the hunter went out on the ice again,\nto set more traps. When he returned to his tepee, his wife had gone.\nHe thought she had gone to make a visit. The next morning she had not\nreturned, and he saw her footprints. So he followed her trail to the\nsouth. As he followed her trail, he saw that the footprints gradually\nchanged. At last they became the trail of a skunk. The trail ended in\na marsh, and many skunks were in that marsh.\n\nThen he returned to his people. And he called the place, \"The Place of\nthe Skunk.\"\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF THE WORD CHICAGO[9]\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\n    [9] Schoolcraft gives the origin of the word Chicago, as\n    follows:\n\n    Chi-cag The animal of the leek or wild onion.\n\n    Chi-cag-o-wunz The wild leek or pole-cat plant.\n\n    Chi-ca-go Place of the wild leek.\n\n    It would really seem, from the myths and the origin of the\n    word, as given above, that the name originated from the great\n    amount of skunk weed on the marshes now covered by the city.\n\nPotawatomi Indians used to live in the marshes where Chicago now\nstands. They sent out word to the other tribes that hunting was good.\nThen the Menomini Indians went to the marshes for game. In the night\ntheir dogs barked much. But when the Menomini Indians reached the spot\nwhere the dogs barked, they found only skunks.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COMING OF MANABUSH\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nWhen the daughter of Nokomis, the Earth, died, Nokomis wrapped her new\nbaby in soft dry grass. She laid him on the ground under a large\nwooden bowl. Then she mourned four days for her daughter.\n\nAt the end of four days, Nokomis heard a sound in her wigwam. It came\nfrom the wooden bowl. Then she remembered. She took up the bowl. At\nonce she saw a tiny white rabbit, with trembling pink ears. She took\nit up. She said, \"Oh, my dear little Rabbit. Oh, my Manabush.\" She\ntook care of him.\n\nOne day Rabbit hopped across the wigwam. The earth shook. At once the\nevil underground spirits, the Ana maqkiu, said to one another, \"What\nhas happened? A great manido is born somewhere!\" Immediately they\nbegan to plot against him.\n\nIn this way Manabush came to earth. He soon grew to be a young man.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF MANABUSH[10]\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\n    [10] The Manabozho of the Ojibwa given by Longfellow as\n    Hiawatha.\n\nThe daughter of Nokomis, the Earth, is the mother of Manabush, who is\nalso the Fire. Flint first grew up out of Nokomis, and was alone. Then\nFlint made a bowl and filled it with earth. Wabus, the Rabbit, came\nfrom the earth, and became a man. Thus was Manabush created.\n\nBeneath the earth lived the Underground People, the enemies of\nManabush. They were the Ana maqkiu who annoyed him constantly, and\nsought to destroy him.\n\nNow Manabush shaped a piece of flint to make an axe. While he was\nrubbing it on a rock, he heard the rock make sounds:\n\n    _Ke ka   ke ka   ke ka   ke ka_\n    _Goss    goss    goss    goss_\n\nHe soon understood what the rock was saying: that he was alone on the\nearth. That he had neither father, mother, brother, nor sister. This\nis what Flint said while Manabush was rubbing it upon the rock.\n\nWhile he was thinking of this, he heard something coming. It was\nMokquai, the Wolf. He said to Manabush, \"Now you have a brother, for\nI, too, am alone. We shall live together and I will hunt for you.\"\n\nManabush said, \"I am glad to see you, my brother. Therefore I shall\nmake you like myself.\" So he made him a man.\n\nThen Manabush and his brother moved away to the shore of a lake and\nthere built a wigwam. Manabush told his brother of the evil spirits,\nthe Underground People, who lived beneath the water. He said, \"Never\ngo into the water, and never cross on the ice.\"\n\nNow one day Wolf-brother went a-hunting. It was late when he started\nback. He found himself on the shore of the lake, just opposite the\nwigwam. He could see it clearly. He did not want to make a long\njourney around by the lake shore; therefore he began to cross on the\nice. When he reached the middle of the lake, the ice broke. The\nUnderground People pulled him under the water and he was drowned.\n\nNow Manabush knew this. He mourned four days for Wolf-brother. On the\nfifth day, while he was following the hunting trail, he saw him\napproaching.\n\nWolf-brother said, \"My fate will be the fate of all our people. They\nwill all die, but after four days they will return.\" Then Manabush saw\nit was only the shade of his brother.\n\nThen he said, \"My brother, return to the place of the setting sun. You\nare now called Naqpote. You will have charge of the dead.\"\n\nThe Wolf-shade said, \"If I go there, and others follow me, we shall\nnot be able to return when we leave this place.\"\n\nManabush again spoke. He said, \"Go, Naqpote. Prepare a wigwam for\nothers. Build a large fire that they may be guided to it. When they\narrive there must be a wigwam for them.\"\n\nThus Naqpote left the earth. He lives in the land of the shades, in\nthe country of the setting sun, where the earth is cut off.\n\n\n\n\nMANABOZHO AND WEST\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nManabozho lived with his grandmother Nokomis, the Earth, on the edge\nof a wide prairie. The first sound he heard was that of an owl. He\nquickly climbed down the tree. He ran to Nokomis.\n\n\"Noko,\" he cried, \"I have heard a monido.\"\n\nNokomis said, \"What kind of a noise did it make?\"\n\n\"It said, _Ko ho, Ko ho!_\" said Manabozho.\n\n\"Oh, it is only a bird,\" said Nokomis.\n\nOne day Manabozho thought, \"It is very strange I know so little and\ngrandmother is so wise. I wonder if I have any father or mother.\" He\nwent back to the wigwam. He was very silent.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" said Nokomis.\n\nManabozho asked, \"Have I no father or mother?\"\n\nNow his mother had died when he was a very little baby, but Nokomis\ndid not want to tell him. At last she said, \"West is your father. He\nhas three brothers. They are North, East, and South. They have great\npower. They travel on mighty wings. Your mother is not alive.\"\n\nManabozho said, \"I will visit my father,\" but he meant to make war on\nhim because he had learned that his father had not been kind to his\nmother and he meant to punish him.\n\nManabozho started on his journey. He traveled very rapidly. He went\nvery far at each step. So at last he met his father, West, on the top\nof a high mountain. West was glad to see his son. Manabozho pretended\nto be glad.\n\nThey talked much. One day the son asked, \"What are you most afraid of\non earth?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" said West.\n\nManabozho said, \"Oh, yes, there must be something.\"\n\nAt last West said, \"There is a black stone on earth. I am afraid of\nthat. If it should strike me, it would injure me.\" West said this was\na great secret.\n\nOne day he asked Manabozho, \"What are you most afraid of?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" was the answer.\n\n\"Oh, yes, there must be something you are afraid of,\" said West.\n\nThe son said, \"_Ie-ee Ie-ee_--it is--it is--\" He seemed afraid to\nmention it.\n\nWest said, \"Don't be afraid!\" Then at last his son said, \"It is the\nroot of the _apukwa_, the bulrush.\"\n\nThey quarreled because West had not been kind to the mother of\nManabozho.\n\nSome days later they quarreled. Manabozho said, \"I will get some of\nthe black rock.\"\n\n\"Oh, no! Do not do so,\" cried West.\n\n\"Oh, yes!\" said his son.\n\nWest said at once, \"I will get some of the _apukwa_ root.\"\n\n\"Oh, no!\" cried Manabozho, pretending to be afraid. \"Do not! Do not!\"\n\n\"Oh, yes!\" said West.\n\nManabozho at once went out and brought to his father's wigwam a large\npiece of black rock. West pulled up and brought in some bulrush roots.\nManabozho threw the black rock at West. It broke in pieces. Therefore\nyou may see pieces lying around even to this day. West struck his son\nwith the bulrush root. Thus they fought. But at last Manabozho drove\nWest far over the plains to the Darkening Land. So West came to the\nedge of the world, where the earth is broken off short. Then he cried,\n\"Stop, my son! I am immortal, therefore I cannot be killed. I will\nremain here on the edge of the Earth-plain. You must go about doing\ngood. You must kill monsters and serpents and all evil things. All\nthe kingdoms of the earth are divided, but at the last you may sit\nwith my brother North.\"[11]\n\n    [11] Back retreated Mudjekeewis,\n         Rushing westward o'er the mountains,\n         Stumbling westward down the mountains,\n         Three whole days retreated fighting,\n         Still pursued by Hiawatha\n         To the doorways of the West-Wind,\n         To the portals of the Sunset ...\n               .  .  .  .\n         \"Hold,\" at length cried Mudjekeewis,\n         \"Hold, my son, my Hiawatha!\n         'Tis impossible to kill me,\n         For you cannot kill the immortal.\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\nThus Manabozho became the Northwest wind.\n\n\n\n\nMANABUSH AND THE GREAT FISH\n\n_Menomini_[12]\n\n\n    [12] The Ojibwas have a similar myth.\n\nAfter his brother Wolf had died, Manabush looked about him. He found\nhe was no longer alone on earth. There were many other people, the\nchildren of Nokomis. They were his aunts and uncles.\n\nThe evil manidoes annoyed the people very much. Therefore Manabush\nwished to destroy them. Therefore he went to the shores of the lake\nwhere they lived. He called to the waters to disappear. Four times he\ncalled out. At once the waters vanished. There lay the Ana maqkiu.\nThey lay on the mud in the bottom of the lake. They looked like\nfishes. The chief lay near the shore. He was very large.\n\nManabush said to Great Fish, \"I shall destroy you because you will not\nallow my people to come near the shore.\" So he went towards Great\nFish. But the smaller manidoes caused the waters to return. Thus they\nall escaped.\n\nThen Manabush went into the woods. He made a canoe of birch bark. He\nwanted to destroy Great Fish in the water. As he left the shore in his\ncanoe, he began to sing, \"Great Fish, come and swallow me.\" Only the\nyoung fish came near. Manabush said scornfully, \"I do not wish you. I\nwant your chief to come and swallow me.\" Great Fish was much annoyed.\nHe darted forward and swallowed Manabush and his canoe.\n\nThus Manabush found himself in the Great Fish. He looked about him.\nMany of his people were there. Bear and Deer, Porcupine and Raven,\nBuffalo, Pine-tree Squirrel, and many others.\n\nManabush said to Buffalo, \"My uncle, how did you get here? I never saw\nyou near the water, but always on the prairie.\"\n\nBuffalo said, \"I came near the lake to get some fresh green grass.\nGreat Fish caught me.\" And thus said all the animals. They said, \"We\ncame near the lake and Great Fish swallowed us.\"\n\nThen Manabush said, \"We will now have to go to the shore of Nokomis,\nmy grandmother. You will all have to help me.\" At once they all began\nto dance around inside of Great Fish. Therefore he began to swim\nquickly towards shore. Manabush began to cut a hole over his head, so\nthey could get out when Great Fish reached the shore of Nokomis, the\nEarth. They sang a magic song. They sang, \"I see the sky. I see the\nsky.\" Pine Squirrel had a curious voice. He hopped around singing,\n\"_Sek-sek-sek-sek!_\" This was very amusing to the other people.\n\nGreat Fish thought, \"I ought not to have swallowed that man. I must\nswim to the shore where Nokomis lives.\" So he swam quickly until he\nreached the beach. Then Manabush cut a larger hole. Thus they all\nclimbed out of Great Fish. The birds helped Manabush. They stood on\nthe sides of Great Fish and picked the flesh from his bones.[13]\n\n    [13] And again the sturgeon, Nahma,\n         Heard the shout of Hiawatha,\n         Heard his challenge of defiance,\n         The unnecessary tumult,\n         Ringing far across the water.\n               .  .  .  .\n         In his wrath he darted upward,\n         Flashing leaped into the sunshine,\n         Opened his great jaws and swallowed\n         Both canoe and Hiawatha.\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEPARTURE OF MANABUSH\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nNow Manabush was going away. He went to Mackinac. When he reached\nthere, he made a high, narrow rock, and this he leaned against the\ncliff. This rock is as high as an arrow can be shot from a bow. At\nthis place he was seen by his people for the last time. Before he\nwent, he talked with them.\n\nManabush said, \"I am going away now. I have been badly treated by\nother people who live in the land about you. I shall go across a great\nwater towards the rising sun, where there is a land of rocks. There I\nshall set up my wigwam. When you hold a _mita-wiko-nik_ and are all\ntogether, you shall think of me. When you speak my name, I shall hear\nyou. Whatever you ask, that I will do.\"\n\nThen Manabush spoke no more to his people. He entered the canoe. Then\nhe went slowly over the great water, to the land of rocks. He\nvanished from his people as he went towards the rising sun.[14]\n\n    [14] The Ojibwas say he went toward the setting sun.\n\n         Thus departed Hiawatha,\n         Hiawatha the Beloved,\n         In the glory of the sunset,\n         In the purple mists of evening,\n         To the regions of the home-wind,\n         Of the Northwest wind, Keewaydin ...\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nTHE RETURN OF MANABUSH\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nThe uncles of Manabush, the people, used to visit a rock near Mackinac\nwhere the old men said Manabush was living. They built a long lodge\nthere. They sang in their _mita-wiko-nik_ there. Manabush heard them.\nSometimes he came to them. He appeared as a little white rabbit,\ntrembling, with pink ears, just as he had first appeared to Nokomis,\nhis grandmother.\n\n\n\n\nTHE REQUEST FOR IMMORTALITY\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day long after Manabush had gone away from his people, an Indian\ndreamed that he spoke to him. At daylight, he sought seven friends,\nchief men of the Mita-wit. They held a council together, and then rose\nand went in search of Manabush.\n\nThe Dreamer blackened his face.\n\nOn the shore of the Great Waters, they entered canoes, and paddled\ntoward a rocky place in the Land of the Rising Sun. Very long they\npaddled over the water, until they reached the land where dwelt\nManabush.\n\nSoon they reached his wigwam. Manabush bade them enter. The door of\nthe wigwam lifted and fell again as each one entered. When all were\nseated, Manabush said:\n\n\"My friends, why is it you have come so long a journey to see me? What\nis it you wish?\"\n\nAll but one answered, at once: \"Manabush, we wish some hunting\nmedicine; thus we may supply our people with much food.\"\n\n\"You shall have it,\" said Manabush. Then he turned to the silent one.\nHe asked, \"What do you wish?\"\n\nThe Indian replied, \"I wish no hunting medicine. I wish to live\nforever.\"\n\nManabush rose and went towards the Indian. He took him by the\nshoulders and carried him to his sleeping place. He set him down, and\nsaid:\n\n\"You shall be a stone. Thus you shall be everlasting.\"\n\nImmediately the other Indians arose and went down to the shore. In\ntheir canoes they returned to their own land. It is from these seven\nwho returned that we know of the abode of Manabush.\n\n\n\n\nPEBOAN AND SEEGWAN\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nLong ago an old man sat alone in his lodge beside a frozen stream. The\nfire was dying out, and it was near the end of winter. Outside the\nlodge, the cold wind swept before it the drifting snow. So the old man\nsat alone, day after day, until at last a young warrior entered his\nlodge. He was fresh and joyous and youthful.\n\nThe old man welcomed him. He drew out his long pipe and filled it with\ntobacco. He lighted it from the dying embers of the fire. Then they\nsmoked together.\n\nThe old man said, \"I blow my breath and the streams stand still. The\nwater becomes stiff and hard like the stones.\"\n\n\"I breathe,\" said the warrior, \"and flowers spring up over the plain.\"\n\n\"I shake my locks,\" said the old man, \"and snow covers the land.\nLeaves fall from the trees. The birds fly away. The animals hide. The\nearth becomes hard.\"\n\n\"I shake my locks,\" said the young man, \"and the warm rain falls.\nPlants blossom; the birds return; the streams flow.\"\n\nThen the sun came up over the edge of the Earth-plain, and began to\nclimb the trail through the Sky-land. The old man slept. Behold! The\nfrozen stream near by began to flow. The fire in the lodge died out.\nRobins sat upon the lodge poles and sang.\n\nThen the warrior looked upon the sleeping old man. Behold! It was\nPeboan, the Winter-maker.[15]\n\n    [15] In his lodge beside a river,\n         Close beside a frozen river,\n         Sat an old man, sad and lonely,\n         White his hair was as a snow-drift;\n         Dull and low his fire was burning,\n         And the old man shook and trembled,\n               .  .  .  .\n         Hearing nothing but the tempest\n         As it roared along the forest,\n         Seeing nothing but the snow-storm,\n         As it whirled and hissed and drifted.\n         All the coals were white with ashes\n         And the fire was slowly dying,\n         As a young man, walking lightly,\n         At the open doorway entered.\n         Red with blood of youth his cheeks were,\n         Soft his eyes, as stars in Spring-time.\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nTHE GRAVE FIRES\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nA small war party of Ojibwas fought, long ago, with enemies on an open\nplain. Then their chief was shot by an arrow in his breast as he rode\nafter the retreating enemy. When his warriors found their chief dead,\nthey placed him, sitting, with his back against a tree. They left him\nthere with his bow and arrows.\n\nBut the chief was not dead. He saw the warriors leave him and he ran\nafter them as they rode the homeward trail. He followed closely in\ntheir trail. He slept in their camp, yet they did not see him.\n\nWhen the war party reached their own village, they sang the song of\nvictory, yet they sent up the death wail for those who were killed.\nThe women and children came out. The chief heard his warriors tell of\nhis death. He said, \"No, I am not dead,\" but they did not hear him.\n\nThen the chief went to his own wigwam. His wife was weeping, and\nwailing for his death. \"I am here,\" he said, but she did not hear him.\n\"I am hungry,\" he said. She made no answer. Only she raised again the\ndeath wail.\n\nThen the chief thought. Perhaps only his spirit had returned. Perhaps\nhis body was yet on the field of battle. So he followed the trail back\nto the battle field. It was a four days' journey. For three days he\nsaw no one as he journeyed. The fourth day, on the edge of the plain,\nhe saw a fire in his trail. He walked to one side and the other; the\nfire moved also and always burned before him. Then he turned in\nanother direction. The fire was again in his trail. Then he sprang\nsuddenly, and jumped through the flame.\n\nAt once he awoke. He was sitting on the ground, with his back against\na tree. Over his head in the branches sat a large war eagle. Now Eagle\nwas his guardian, because he had come to him in his fasting vision in\nhis youth.\n\nThen the wounded chief arose. He followed the trail of the war party\nto his village. Four days he followed the homeward trail. He came to a\nstream which flowed between him and his wigwam, therefore he gave the\nwhoop which means the return of an absent friend. Then the Indians\nbegan to think. They said, \"No one is absent. Perhaps it is an enemy.\"\nSo they sent over a canoe with armed men. Thus the chief landed among\nhis own people.\n\nThen the chief gave them instructions. He said it was pleasing to a\nspirit to have a fire burning at the grave for four days after the\nbody was buried. This was because it is four days' journey on the\ndeath trail to the Ghost-land; so the spirit needed a fire at his\ncamping place every evening.\n\nAlso he said the spirit needed his bow and arrow, his best robes, in\nhis journey. Therefore the Ojibwas burn a fire four nights at a new\ngrave, that the spirit may be happy in following the Trail of the Dead\nto the Spirit-land.[16]\n\n    [16] Thus they buried Minnehaha.\n         And at night a fire was lighted,\n         On her grave four times was kindled,\n         For her soul upon its journey\n         To the Islands of the Blessed.\n         From his doorway Hiawatha\n         Saw it burning in the forest,\n         Lighting up the gloomy hemlocks;\n         From his sleepless bed uprising,\n         From the bed of Minnehaha,\n         Stood and watched it at the doorway,\n         That it might not be extinguished,\n         Might not leave her in the darkness.\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH TRAIL\n\n_Choctaw_\n\n\nAfter a man dies, he must travel far on the death trail. It journeys\nto the Darkening-land, where Sun slips over the edge of the\nEarth-plain. Then the spirit comes to a deep, rapid stream. There are\nsteep and rugged hills on each side, so that one may not follow a land\ntrail. The Trail of the Dead leads over the stream, and the only\nbridge is a pine log. It is a very slippery log, and even the bark has\nbeen peeled off. Also on the other side of the bridge are six persons.\nThey have rocks in their hands, and throw them at spirits when they\nare just at the middle of the log.\n\nNow when an evil spirit sees the stones coming, he tries to dodge\nthem. Therefore he slips off the log. He falls far into the water\nbelow, where are evil things. The water carries him around and around,\nas in a whirlpool, and then brings him back again among the evil\nthings. Sometimes evil spirit climbs up on the rocks and looks over\ninto the country of the good spirits. But he cannot go there.\n\nNow the good spirit walks over safely. He does not mind the stones\nand does not dodge them. He crosses the stream and goes to a good\nhunting land. It is more beautiful there than on the Earth-plain.\nThere are no storms. The sky is always blue, and the grass is green,\nand there are many buffaloes. Therefore there is always feasting and\ndancing.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DUCK AND THE NORTH WEST WIND\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nOnce Shingebiss, the duck, lived all alone in his wigwam on the shore\nof a lake. It was winter and very cold. Ice had frozen over the top of\nthe water. Shingebiss had but four logs of wood in his wigwam, but\neach log would burn one month and there were but four winter\nmonths.[17]\n\n    [17] And at night Kabibonokka\n         To the lodge came, wild and wailing,\n         Heaped the snow in drifts about it,\n         Shouted down into the smoke-flue,\n         Shook the lodge poles in his fury,\n         Flapped the curtain of the doorway,\n         Shingebis, the diver, feared not,\n         Shingebis, the diver, cared not;\n         Four great logs had he for firewood,\n         One for each moon of the winter,\n         And for food the fishes served him,\n         By his blazing fire he sat there,\n         Warm and merry, eating, laughing,\n         Singing, \"O Kabibonokka,\n         You are but my fellow mortal!\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n  [Illustration: PICTURE WRITING. AN OJIBWA MEDA SONG.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\nShingebiss had no fear of the cold. He would go out on the coldest\nday. He would seek for places where rushes and flags grew through the\nice. He pulled them up and dived through the broken ice for fish. Thus\nhe had plenty of food. Thus he went to his wigwam dragging long\nstrings of fish behind him on the ice.\n\nNorth West noticed this. He said, \"Shingebiss is a strange man. I will\nsee if I cannot get the better of him.\"\n\nNorth West shook his rattle and the wind blew colder. Snow drifted\nhigh. But Shingebiss did not let his fire go out. In the worst storms\nhe continued going out, seeking for the weak places in the ice where\nthe roots grew.\n\nNorth West noticed this. He said, \"Shingebiss is a strange man. I\nshall go and visit him.\"\n\nThat night North West went to the door of the wigwam. Shingebiss had\ncooked his fish and eaten it. He was lying on his side before the\nfire, singing songs.\n\nHe sang,\n\n    Ka neej   Ka neej\n    Be in   Be in\n    Bon in   Bon in\n    Oc ee   Oc ee\n    Ca We-ya   Ca We-ya.\n\nThis meant, \"Spirit of North West, you are but my fellow man.\"\n\nNow he sang this because he knew North West was standing at the door\nof his wigwam. He could feel his cold breath. He kept right on singing\nhis songs.\n\nNorth West said, \"Shingebiss is a strange man. I shall go inside.\"\n\nTherefore North West entered the wigwam and sat down on the opposite\nside of the lodge. Shingebiss lay before the fire and sang:\n\n\"Spirit of North West, you are but my fellow man.\"\n\nThen he got up and poked the fire. The wigwam became very warm. At\nlast North West said, \"I cannot stand this. I must go out. Shingebiss\nis a very strange man.\" So he went out.\n\nThen North West shook his rattles until the great storms came. Thus\nthere was much ice and snow and wind. All the flag roots were frozen\nin hard ice. Still Shingebiss went fishing. He bit off the frozen\nflags and rushes, and broke the hard ice around their roots. He dived\nfor fish and went home dragging strings of fish behind him on the ice.\n\nNorth West noticed this. He said, \"Shingebiss must have very strong\nmedicine. Some manito is helping him. I cannot conquer him. Shingebiss\nis a very strange man.\"\n\nSo he let him alone.\n\n\n\n\nHOW THE HUNTER DESTROYED SNOW\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOnce a hunter with his wife and two children lived in a tepee. Each\nday the hunter went out for game. He was a good hunter and he brought\nback much game.\n\nBut one day, after autumn had gone and winter had come, the hunter met\nKon, Snow, who froze his feet badly. Then the hunter made a large\nwooden bowl and filled it with Kon. He buried it in a deep hole where\nthe midday sun could shine down upon it, and where Snow could not run\naway. Then he covered the hole with sticks and leaves so that Snow\nwould be a prisoner until summer.\n\nNow when midsummer came, and everything was warm, the hunter came back\nto this hole and pulled away the sticks and leaves. He let the midday\nsun shine down upon Kon so that he melted. Thus the hunter punished\nKon.\n\nBut when autumn came again, one day the hunter heard someone say to\nhim, when he was in the forest: \"You punished me last summer, but\nwhen winter comes I will show you how strong I am.\"\n\nThe hunter knew it was Kon's voice. He at once built another tepee,\nnear the one in which he lived, and filled it full of firewood.\n\nAt last winter came again. When the hunter was in the forest one day,\nhe heard Kon say: \"Now I am coming to visit you, as I said I should.\nIn four days I shall be at your tepee.\"\n\nWhen the hunter returned home, he made ready more firewood; he built a\nfire at the two sides of the tepee. After four days, everything became\nfrozen. It was very cold. The hunter kept up the fires in the tepee.\nHe took out all the extra fur robes to cover his wife and children.\nThe cold became more severe. It was hard not to freeze.\n\nOn the fifth day, towards night, the hunter looked out from his tepee\nupon a frozen world. Then he saw a stranger coming. He looked like any\nother stranger, except that he had a very large head and an immense\nbeard. When he came to the tepee, the hunter asked him in. He at once\ncame in, but he would not go near either of the fires. This puzzled\nthe hunter, and he began to watch the stranger.\n\nIt became colder and colder after the stranger had come into the\ntepee. The hunter added more wood to each of the fires until they\nroared. The stranger seemed too warm. The hunter added more wood, and\nthe stranger became warmer and warmer. Then the hunter saw that as he\nbecame warm, he seemed to shrink. At last his head and body were quite\nsmall. Then the hunter knew who the stranger guest was. It was Kon,\nthe Cold. So he kept up his fires until Kon melted altogether away.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIPE OF PEACE\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nIn the olden days, so they say, the Indians fought much. Always they\nfollowed the war trail. Then Gitche Manito, the Good Mystery, thought,\n\"This is not well. My children should not always follow the war\ntrail.\" Therefore he called a great council. He called all the tribes\ntogether. Now this was on the upper Mississippi.\n\nGitche Manito stood on a great wall of red rock. On the green plain\nbelow him were the wigwams of his children. All the tribes were there.\n\nGitche Manito broke off a piece of the red rock. He made a pipe out of\nit. He made a pipe by turning it in his hands. Then he smoked the\npipe, and the smoke made a great cloud in the sky.\n\nHe spoke in a loud voice. He said, \"See, my people, this stone is red.\nIt is red because it is the flesh of all tribes. Therefore can it be\nused only for a pipe of peace when you cease to follow the war trail.\nTherefore it is the Place of Peace. To all the tribes it belongs.\"\n\nThen the cloud grew larger and Gitche Manito vanished in it.\n\nNow therefore, because of the command of Gitche Manito, the Indians\nsmoke the pipe of peace when they cease to follow the war trail. And\nbecause it is the Place of Peace, the tomahawk and the scalping knife\nare never lifted there.[18]\n\n    [18] On the Mountains of the Prairie,\n         On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry,\n         Gitche Manito, the mighty,\n         He the Master of Life descending,\n         On the red crags of the quarry,\n         Stood erect and called the nations,\n         Called the tribes of men together.\n               .  .  .  .\n         \"I am weary of your quarrels,\n         Weary of your wars and bloodshed,\n         Weary of your prayers for vengeance,\n         Of your wranglings and dissensions;\n               .  .  .  .\n         Break the red stone from this quarry,\n         Mould and make it into Peace-pipes,\n         Take the reeds that grow beside you,\n         Deck them with your brightest feathers,\n         Smoke the calumet together.\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nTHE THUNDER'S NEST\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nThunder had a Nest where a very small bird sits upon her eggs during\nfair weather. When an egg hatches, the skies are rent with bolts of\nthunder.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIPESTONE\n\n_Sioux_\n\n\nBefore there were any people on the earth, Gitche Manito hunted the\nbuffalo. He killed them and cooked them before his camp fire on the\nRed Rocks, on the top of the Coteau des Prairies, the Mountain of the\nPrairies. So the blood of the buffaloes ran over the rocks and made\nthem red.\n\nGitche Manito was then a very large bird. We can still see his tracks\nin the red stone. Now it happened a large snake crawled out of its\nhole to eat the eggs of the Bird. Then at once the egg hatched out in\na clap of thunder.\n\nGitche Manito took a piece of stone to throw at the snake. He shaped\nit in his hands like to a man.\n\nNow this man's feet stood fast in the ground where he was. Thus he\nstayed for many ages; therefore he grew very old. He was older than a\nhundred men at the present time. At last another tree grew beside him.\nIt grew a long while, until a snake bit off the roots. Then the two\npeople left the pipestone quarry. They wandered away. They were the\ngrandfathers of all the tribes.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PIPESTONE\n\n_Knisteneaux_\n\n\nA great flood came. Then the tribes met on the Coteau des Prairies, on\nthe Mountain of the Prairies, to get out of the way of the waters.\nThen the waters rose higher; thus the tribes were drowned. Gitche\nManito made them into stone. Therefore the stone is red.\n\nNow when the waters were rising, a young woman caught the foot of a\nlarge bird flying near. It was War-eagle. He carried her to the top of\na large mountain. Thus she was saved. Then she married War-eagle.\n\nNow all the tribes were drowned. Therefore the children of War-eagle\nand the Indian woman were the ancestors of all the Indians.\n\n\n\n\nPAU-PUK-KEE-WIS\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nA man found himself standing alone on the prairie. He was very large\nand strong. He thought to himself, \"How did I come here? Am I all\nalone on the earth? I must travel until I find the abode of men.\"\n\nSo he started out. After a long time he came to a wood. There were\ndecayed stumps there, very old, as if cut in the olden times. Again he\njourneyed a long time. He came to a wood in which there were more\nstumps, newly cut. Then he came to the fresh trail of people. He saw\nwood just cut, lying in heaps. At sunset he came out of the forest. He\nsaw a village of many lodges standing on rising ground.\n\nHe said, \"I will go there on the run.\" He ran. When he came to the\nfirst lodge, he sprang over it. Those within saw something pass over\nthe smoke hole. They heard a thump on the ground.\n\nThey said, \"What is that?\" They ran out. They invited him to enter.\nMany warriors were in the wigwam, and an old chief.\n\nThe chief said, \"Where are you going? What is your name?\"\n\nHe said, \"I am in search of adventures. I am Pau-puk-kee-wis.\" Then\nthey laughed.\n\nAfter a short time he went on. A young man went with him as his\n_mesh-in-au-wa_, as his pipe bearer.\n\nAs they journeyed, Pau-puk-kee-wis did strange things. He leaped over\ntrees. He whirled on one foot until dust clouds were flying.\n\nOne day a large village of wigwams came in their trail. They went to\nit. The chief told them of evil manitoes who had killed all the people\ngoing to that village. War parties had been sent against them. The\nwarriors were all killed.\n\nPau-puk-kee-wis said, \"I will go and visit them.\"\n\nThe chief said, \"Oh, no. They are evil. They will kill you.\"\n\nPau-puk-kee-wis said, \"I will go and visit them.\"\n\nThen the chief said, \"I will send twenty warriors with you.\"\n\nSo Pau-puk-kee-wis, with his pipe bearer and twenty warriors, started\noff at once. They came near that lodge. Pau-puk-kee-wis said, \"Hide\nhere. Thus you will be safe. You will see what I do.\" He went to that\nlodge. He entered.\n\nThe manitoes were very ugly. They were evil looking. There were a\nfather and four sons. They offered him food. He refused it.\n\nThe old manito said, \"What have you come for?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" said Pau-puk-kee-wis.\n\n\"Do you want to wrestle?\" asked the manito.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Pau-puk-kee-wis.\n\nAt once the eldest brother rose and they began to wrestle. These\nmanitoes were very evil. They wished to kill Pau-puk-kee-wis in order\nto eat him. But that man was very strong. He tripped the manito. Then\nhe threw him down. His head struck on a stone.\n\nThe next brother wrestled with Pau-puk-kee-wis. He fell. Then the\nother two wrestled. All four fell on the ground. The old manito began\nto run. Pau-puk-kee-wis pursued him. He pursued him in a very queer\nway, just for fun. Sometimes he leaped over him and ran ahead.\nSometimes he pushed him ahead from behind.\n\nAll the twenty warriors cried, \"Ha! ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha!\nPau-puk-kee-wis is driving him.\"\n\nAt last Pau-puk-kee-wis killed him. Thus all the evil manitoes were\ndead.\n\nThen they looked on the bones of the warriors and people who had been\nkilled by those evil ones. Then Pau-puk-kee-wis took three arrows. He\nperformed a ceremony to Gitche Manito. He shot one arrow. He cried,\n\"You who are lying down, rise up or you will be hit.\" At once the\nbones all moved to one place.\n\nHe shot a second arrow. He cried, \"You who are lying down, rise up,\nor you will be hit.\" The proper bones moved together, toward each\nother.\n\nHe shot a third arrow. He cried, \"You who are lying down, rise up, or\nyou will be hit.\" The people became alive again. Then Pau-puk-kee-wis\nled them back to the village of the friendly chief.\n\nThis one then came to him with his council. He said, \"You should rule\nmy people. You only are able to defend them.\"\n\nPau-puk-kee-wis said, \"I am going on a journey. Let my pipe bearer be\nchief.\" So he was.\n\nPau-puk-kee-wis began his journey. \"Ho! ho! ho!\" cried all the people.\n\"Come back again. Ho! ho! ho!\"\n\nHe journeyed on. He came to a lake made by beavers.[19] He stood on\nthe beaver dam and watched. He saw the head of a beaver peering out.\n\n    [19] With a smile he spake in this wise:\n         \"O, my friend, Ahmeek, the beaver,\n         Cool and pleasant is the water;\n         Let me dive into the water,\n         Let me rest there in your lodges;\n         Change me, too, into a beaver!\"\n             Cautiously replied the beaver,\n         With reserve he thus made answer,\n         \"Let me first consult the others,\n         Let me ask the other beavers.\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\"Make me a beaver like yourself,\" said Pau-puk-kee-wis. He wanted to\nsee how beavers lived.\n\n\"I will go and ask what the others have to say,\" said Beaver.\n\nSoon all the beavers looked out to see if he were armed. He had left\nhis bow and arrow in a hollow tree.\n\n\"Make me a beaver,\" said Pau-puk-kee-wis. \"I wish to live among you.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Beaver chief. \"Lie down.\" He lay down. He found himself a\nbeaver.\n\n\"You must make me large,\" he said.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Beaver chief. \"When we get into the lodge, you shall be\nmade very large.\"\n\nSo they all dived down into the water again. They passed heaps of tree\nlimbs and logs lying on the bottom of the river.\n\n\"What are these for?\" asked Pau-puk-kee-wis.\n\n\"For our winter food,\" said Beaver chief.\n\nNow when they got into the lodge, they made Pau-puk-kee-wis very\nlarge. They made him ten times larger than themselves.\n\nSoon a beaver came running in. He cried, \"The Indians are hunting us.\"\nAt once all the beavers ran out of the lodge door on the bottom of the\nriver. Pau-puk-kee-wis was too large. He could not get out. The\nIndians broke down the dam. They lowered the water. They broke in the\nlodge. They saw that one.\n\n\"_Ty-au! Ty-au!_\" cried the Indians. \"_Me-sham-mek_, the chief of the\nbeavers, is here.\"\n\nSo they killed him. Yet Pau-puk-kee-wis kept thinking. They placed his\ngreat body on a pole. Seven or eight Indians carried it. They went\nback to their lodges. They sent out invitations for a great feast.\nThen the women came out to skin him on the snow. When his flesh became\ncold, the _Jee-bi_ of Pau-puk-kee-wis went away. His spirit went away.\n\nSo Pau-puk-kee-wis found himself standing alone on a prairie. Soon\nthere came near by a herd of elk. He thought, \"They are very happy. I\nwill be an elk.\" He went near them, and said, \"Make me an elk. I wish\nto live among you.\"\n\nThey said, \"Yes. Get down on your hands and knees.\"\n\nSoon he found himself an elk.\n\n\"I want big horns and big feet,\" said Pau-puk-kee-wis. \"I want to be\nvery large.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" said the elk. So they made him very large. At last they\nsaid, \"Are you large enough?\" Pau-puk-kee-wis said, \"Yes.\"\n\nSo he lived with the elks. One cold day they all went into the woods\nfor shelter. Soon some of the herd came racing by like a strong wind.\nAt once all began to run.\n\n\"Keep out on the prairies,\" they said to Pau-puk-kee-wis.\n\nBut he was so large he got tangled up in the thick woods. He soon\nsmelt the hunters. They were all following his trail. Pau-puk-kee-wis\njumped high. He broke down saplings. Then the hunters shot him. He\njumped higher. He jumped over the tree tops. Then all the hunters shot\nhim. So they killed him. Then they skinned him. When his flesh became\ncold, the spirit of Pau-puk-kee-wis went away.\n\nThus Pau-puk-kee-wis had many adventures. After a long time Manabozho\nkilled him. Then he was really dead because he was killed in his human\nform. Manabozho said, \"You shall not be permitted to live on the earth\nagain. I will make you a war eagle.\"\n\nThus Pau-puk-kee-wis became a war eagle. He lives in the sky.\n\n\n\n\nIAGOO, THE BOASTER[20]\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\n    [20] From his lodge went Pau-puk-keewis,\n         Came with speed into the village,\n         Found the young men all assembled\n         In the lodge of old Iagoo,\n         Listening to his monstrous stories,\n         To his wonderful adventures.\n               .  .  .  .\n         Homeward now returned Iagoo,\n         The great traveller, the great boaster,\n         Full of new and strange adventures,\n         Marvels many and many wonders.\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\nIagoo was a great boaster. Once he told the people of a water lily he\nhad seen. He said the leaf was large enough to make garments for his\nwife and daughter.\n\nOne evening Iagoo was sitting in his wigwam, on the bank of the river.\nHe heard ducks quack on the stream. He shot at them, without aiming.\nHe shot through the door of the wigwam. Behold! His arrow pierced a\nswan flying by. It killed many ducks in the stream. The arrow flew\nfarther. It killed two loons, just coming up from beneath the water.\nThen it killed a very large fish.\n\nIagoo went hunting. He followed the trail of the deer through the\nforest. He shot a deer and skinned it. He lifted the meat upon his\nshoulders. As he came from his hunting place, Iagoo saw a person on a\nprairie before him. He pursued that person. Iagoo ran half a day after\nthat one. Then he remembered the meat upon his shoulders. He\nremembered he carried the body of the deer.\n\nIagoo had many adventures. He found mosquitoes in a bog-land. They\nwere very large. The wing of one he used for a sail for his canoe,\nwhen the breeze blew. The nose of that insect was as large as his\nwife's digging stick.\n\nOne day Iagoo watched a beaver's lodge. He watched for the peering\nhead of a beaver. Behold! An ant went by. She had killed a hare. She\ndragged hare's body on the ground behind her.\n\n\n\n\nOJEEG, THE SUMMER-MAKER\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nOjeeg was a great hunter. He lived on the southern shore of Lake\nSuperior. Ojeeg had a wife and one son.\n\nNow the son hunted game as the father taught him. He followed the\ntrails over the snow. For snow lay always on the ground. It was always\ncold. Therefore the boy returned home crying.\n\nOne day as he went to his father's wigwam in the cold and snow he saw\nRed Squirrel, gnawing the end of a pine cone. Now the son of Ojeeg had\nshot nothing all day because his hands were so cold. When he saw Red\nSquirrel, he came nearer, and raised his bow.\n\nRed Squirrel said, \"My grandson, put up your arrow. Listen to me.\"\n\nThe boy put the arrow in his quiver.\n\nRed Squirrel said, \"You pass my wigwam very often. You cry because you\ncannot kill birds. Your fingers are numb with cold. Obey me. Thus it\nshall always be summer. Thus you can kill many birds.\"\n\n  [Illustration: PERMANENT ASH-BARK WIGWAM OF THE WILD RICE\n  GATHERING OJIBWA.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\nRed Squirrel said again, \"Obey me. When you reach your father's\nwigwam, throw down your bow and arrows. Begin to weep. If your mother\nsays, 'My son, what is the matter?' do not answer her. Continue\nweeping. If she says, 'My son, eat this,' you must refuse the food.\nContinue weeping. In the evening when your father comes in he will say\nto your mother, 'What is the matter with my son?' She will say, 'He\ncame in crying. He will not tell me.' Your father will say, 'My son,\nwhat is the matter? I am a spirit. Nothing is too hard for me.' Then\nyou must answer, 'It is always cold and dreary. Snow lies always upon\nthe ground. Melt the snow, my father, so that we may have always\nsummer.' Then your father will say, 'It is very difficult to do what\nyou ask. I will try.' Then you must be quiet. You must eat the food\nthey give you.\"\n\nThus it happened.\n\nOjeeg then said, \"I must make a feast. I must invite my friends to go\non this journey with me.\" At once Ojeeg killed a bear. The next day he\nhad a great feast. There were Otter, Beaver, and Lynx. Also Wolverine\nand Badger were at the feast.\n\nThen they started on their journey. On the twentieth day they came to\nthe foot of a high mountain. There was blood in the trail. Some person\nhad killed an animal. They followed the trail of that person. They\narrived at a wigwam.\n\nOjeeg said, \"Do not laugh. Be very quiet.\"\n\nA man stood in the doorway of the wigwam. He was a great manito. He\nwas a head only. Thus he was very strange. Then he made a feast for\nthem. He made very curious movements, so Otter laughed. At once the\nmanito leaped upon him. He sprang on him, but Otter slipped out from\nunder him and escaped.\n\nThe manito and the animals talked all night. The manito said to Ojeeg,\nthe Fisher, \"You will succeed. You will be the summer-maker. But you\nwill die. Yet the summer will come.\"\n\nNow when they followed the trail in the morning, they met Otter. He\nwas very cold and hungry, therefore Fisher gave him meat.\n\nThen they journeyed on. On the twentieth day, they came to the top of\na lofty mountain. Then they smoked their pipes.\n\nThen Ojeeg, the Fisher, and the animals prepared themselves. Ojeeg\nsaid to Otter, \"We must first make a hole in the Sky-cover. You try\nfirst.\"\n\nOtter made a great spring. He did not even touch the Sky-cover. He\nfell back, down the hill, to the bottom of the hill. Then Otter said,\n\"I will go home.\" So he did.\n\nThen Beaver tried. He fell. Also Lynx and Badger fell.\n\nThen Wolverine tried. He made a great leap and touched the sky. Then\nhe leaped again. He pressed against the Sky-cover. He leaped a third\ntime. The Sky-cover broke, and Wolverine went into the Sky-land.\nFisher also sprang in quickly after him.\n\nThus Wolverine and Fisher were in the Sky-plain, in the summer land.\nThere were many flowers and streams of bright water. There were birds\nin the trees, and fish and water birds on the streams. Many lodges\nstood there, but they were empty. In each lodge were many _mocuks_,\nmany bird cages, with birds in them.\n\nAt once Ojeeg began to cut the _mocuks_. The birds flew out. They flew\ndown through the hole in the Sky-cover to the Earth-plain below. They\ncarried warm air down with them.\n\nNow when the people of the Sky-land saw these strangers, and their\nbirds escaping, they ran to their wigwams. But they were too late.\nSpring, and summer, and autumn had slipped down the hole in the\nSky-cover. Endless summer was just passing through, but they broke it\nin two with a blow. Therefore only a part of endless summer came down\nto the Earth-plain.\n\nNow when Wolverine heard the noise of the sky people, running to\ntheir lodges, he jumped down the hole and escaped. Fisher also tried\nto jump, but the people had shut the cover. Therefore Fisher ran and\nthe people pursued him. He climbed a great tree in the north, and the\npeople began shooting at him. Now Fisher was a spirit; he could not be\nhurt except in the tip of his tail. At last they shot him in his tail.\n\nFisher called to the Sky People to stop shooting. But they did not\nstop until darkness came. Then they went away. Fisher climbed down. He\nwent towards the north. He said, \"I have kept my promise to my son.\nThe seasons will now be different. There will be many moons without\nsnow and cold.\"\n\nThus Fisher died, with the arrow sticking in his tail. It can be seen\nthere, even to this day.[21]\n\n    [21] He was telling them the story\n         Of Ojeeg the Summer-Maker,\n         How he made a hole in heaven,\n         How he climbed up into heaven,\n         And let out the summer-weather,\n         The perpetual summer-weather.\n         How the Otter first essayed it,\n         How the Beaver, Lynx, and Badger,\n         Tried in turn the great achievement,\n         From the summit of the mountain ...\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nRABBIT GOES DUCK HUNTING\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nRabbit was very boastful. One day he met Otter. Otter said, \"Sometimes\nI eat ducks.\"\n\n\"Well, I eat ducks, too,\" said Rabbit.\n\nSo they went up the stream until they saw several ducks in the water.\nThey followed the trail softly. Then they stood on the river bank.\n\nRabbit said, \"You go first.\" At once Otter dived from the bank. He\nswam under water until he reached a duck; then he pulled it under\nquickly so that the other ducks were not frightened. While he was\nunder water, Rabbit peeled bark from a sapling and made a noose.\n\n\"Now, watch me,\" he said, when Otter came back. He dived in and swam\nunder water until he was nearly choked. So he came to the top to\nbreathe. He did this several times. The last time he came up among the\nducks and threw the noose over the head of one.\n\nDuck spread her wings and flew up, with Rabbit hanging to the end of\nthe noose. Up and up flew the duck, but Rabbit could not hold on any\nlonger. Then he let go and dropped.\n\nRabbit fell into a hollow sycamore. It was very tall, and had no hole\nat the bottom. Rabbit stayed there until he was so hungry he ate his\nown fur, even as he does to this day.\n\nAfter many days, he heard children playing around the tree. He began\nto sing,\n\n    Cut a door and look at me,\n    I'm the prettiest thing you ever did see.\n\nThe children at once ran home to tell their father. He came and cut a\nhole in the tree. As he chopped away, Rabbit kept singing,\n\n    Cut it larger, so you can see me. I am very pretty.\n\nSo they made the hole larger. Then Rabbit told them to stand back so\nthey could get a good look at him. They stood back. Then Rabbit sprang\nout and leaped away.\n\n\n\n\nRABBIT AND THE TAR BABY\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nRabbit aided his friend the Frenchman with his work. They planted\npotatoes. Rabbit looked upon the potato vines as his share of the crop\nand ate them all.\n\nAgain Rabbit aided his friend the Frenchman. This time they planted\ncorn. When it was grown, Rabbit said, \"This time I will eat the\nroots.\" So he pulled up all the corn by the roots, but he found\nnothing to satisfy his hunger.\n\nThen the Frenchman said, \"Let us dig a well.\" Rabbit said, \"No. You\ndig it alone.\"\n\nThe Frenchman said, \"Then you shall not drink water from the well.\"\n\n\"That does not matter,\" said Rabbit. \"I am used to licking off the dew\nfrom the ground.\"\n\nSo the Frenchman dug his well. Then he made a tar baby and stuck it up\nclose to the well. One day Rabbit came near the well, carrying a long\npiece of hollow cane and a tin bucket. When he reached the well he\nspoke to the tar baby; it did not answer.\n\n\"Friend, what is the matter? Are you angry?\" asked Rabbit.\n\nTar baby did not answer. So Rabbit hit him with a forepaw. The forepaw\nstuck there.\n\n\"Let me go,\" said Rabbit, \"or I will hit you on the other side.\"\n\nTar baby paid no attention, so Rabbit hit him with the other forepaw,\nand that stuck fast.\n\n\"I will kick you,\" said Rabbit. But when he kicked him the hindpaw\nstuck.\n\n\"Very well,\" he said, \"I will kick you with the other foot.\" So he\nkicked him with the other foot and that stuck fast. By that time\nRabbit looked like a ball, all four paws sticking to the tar baby.\n\nJust then the Frenchman came to the well. He picked Rabbit up, tied\nhis paws together, laid him down and scolded him. Rabbit pretended to\nbe in great fear of a brier patch.\n\n\"If you are so afraid of a brier patch,\" said the Frenchman, \"I will\nthrow you into one.\"\n\n\"Oh, no, no!\" said Rabbit.\n\n\"I will throw you into the brier patch,\" repeated the Frenchman.\n\n\"I am much afraid of it,\" answered Rabbit.\n\n\"Since you are in such dread of it, I will throw you into it,\" said\nthe Frenchman. So he picked up Rabbit and threw him far into the\nbrier patch. Rabbit fell far away from the Frenchman.\n\nThen he picked himself up and ran off, laughing at the trick he had\nplayed on the Frenchman.\n\n\n\n\nRABBIT AND TAR WOLF\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOnce the weather was dry for so long that there was no more water in\nthe springs and creeks. The animals held a council to see what to do\nabout it. They decided to dig a well, and all agreed to help, except\nRabbit who was a lazy fellow.\n\nRabbit said, \"I don't need to dig for water. The dew on the grass is\nenough for me.\"\n\nThe others did not like this, but they all started to dig the well. It\nstayed dry for a long while and even the water in the well was low.\nStill Rabbit was lively and bright.\n\n\"Rabbit steals our water at night,\" they said. So they made a wolf of\npine gum and tar. They set it by the well to scare the thief.\n\nThat night Rabbit came again to the well. He saw the black thing\nthere.\n\n\"Who's there?\" he asked. But Tar Wolf did not answer. Rabbit came\nnearer. Yet Tar Wolf did not move. Rabbit grew brave and said, \"Get\nout of my way.\"\n\nTar Wolf did not move. So Rabbit hit him with his paw; but it stuck\nfast in the gum.\n\nRabbit became angry and said, \"Let go my paw!\" Still Tar Wolf said\nnothing. So Rabbit hit him with his hind foot; that stuck in the gum.\n\nSo Tar Wolf held Rabbit fast until morning. Then the other animals\ncame for water. When they found Rabbit stuck fast, they made great fun\nof him for a while. At last Rabbit managed to get away.\n\n\n\n\nRABBIT AND PANTHER\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nRabbit was a great boaster. He wanted a medicine lodge and to have\npeople think he was a great medicine man.\n\nNow one day, Wabus, the Rabbit, and his wife were traveling. They came\nto a low hill covered with poplar sprouts. They were green and tender.\nTherefore Rabbit decided to make his home there.\n\nRabbit went first to the top of a hill and built a wigwam. He made\ntrails from it in all directions, so he might see anyone who\napproached.\n\nWhen the wigwam was finished, Rabbit told his wife he was going to\ndance; but first he ran all about the hill to see if anyone was\nwatching him. He found no trail. Then he returned and began his song.\n\nNow just as Rabbit returned to his wigwam, Panther reached the base of\nthe hill, and he found Rabbit's trail. He followed it until he reached\nthe place where Rabbit and his wife were dancing. Here he hid to watch\nRabbit.\n\nNow Rabbit told his wife to sit at one end of the lodge while he went\nto the other. He took his medicine bag. Then he approached her four\ntimes, chanting,\n\n    Ye ha-a-a-a-a   Ye ha-a-a-a-a\n    Ye ha-a-a-a-a   Ye ha-a-a-a-a\n\nThen he shot at his wife, just as a medicine man does when he shoots\nat a new member. Then Rabbit's wife arose and shot at him. Thus they\nwere very happy.\n\nThen Rabbit began to sing a song which meant this: \"If Panther comes\nacross my trail while I am biting the bark from the poplars, he will\nnot be able to catch me for I am a good runner.\"\n\nWhen he had finished his song, Rabbit told his wife he would go out\nhunting. Panther waited for his return.\n\nNow as Rabbit started home again he was very happy. But when he\nreached Panther's hiding place, his enemy sprang on his trail. Rabbit\nsaw him and started back on his trail. Panther raced after him. He\ncaught him and said,\n\n\"You are the man who said I could not catch you. Now who is the\nfastest runner?\" And before Rabbit could answer Panther ate him up.\nBut Rabbit was such a boastful man.\n\n\n\n\nHOW RABBIT STOLE OTTER'S COAT\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nAll the animals were of different sizes and wore different coats. Some\nwore long fur and others wore short fur. Some had rings on their\ntails; others had no tails at all. The coats of the animals were of\nmany colors--brown, or black, or yellow, or gray.\n\nThe animals were always quarreling about whose coat was the finest.\nTherefore they held a council to decide the matter.\n\nNow everyone had heard a great deal about Otter, but he lived far up\nthe trail; he did not often visit the others. It was said he had the\nfinest coat of all, but it was so long since they had seen him that no\none remembered what it was like. They did not even know just where he\nlived, but they knew he would come when he heard of the council.\n\nRabbit was afraid the council would say that Otter had the finest\ncoat. He learned by what trail Otter would come to the council. Then\nhe went a four days' march up the trail to meet him. At last he saw\nOtter coming. He knew him at once by his beautiful coat of soft brown\nfur.\n\nOtter said, \"Where are you going?\"\n\n\"They sent me to bring you to the council,\" answered Rabbit. \"They\nwere afraid you might not know the trail.\"\n\nSo Rabbit turned back and they traveled together. They traveled all\nday. At night Rabbit picked out a camping place. Otter was a stranger\nin that part. Rabbit cut down bushes for beds and made everything\ncomfortable. Next morning they started on again.\n\nIn the afternoon, Rabbit picked up pieces of bark and wood, as they\nfollowed the trail, and loaded them on his back.\n\n\"Why are you doing that?\" asked Otter.\n\n\"So that we may be warm and comfortable tonight,\" said Rabbit. Near\nsunset they stopped and made camp. After supper Rabbit began to\nwhittle a stick, shaving it down to a paddle.\n\n\"Why are you doing that?\" asked Otter again.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Rabbit, \"I have good dreams when I sleep with a paddle\nunder my head.\"\n\nWhen the paddle was finished, Rabbit began to cut a good trail through\nthe bushes to the river.\n\n\"Why are you doing that?\" asked Otter.\n\n\"This is called 'The Place Where It Rains Fire,' and sometimes it\ndoes rain fire here,\" said Rabbit. \"The sky looks a little that way\ntonight. You go to sleep and I will sit up and watch. If you hear me\nshout, you run and jump into the river. Better hang your coat on that\nlimb over there, so it will not get burned.\"\n\nOtter did as Rabbit told him; then both curled up and Otter went to\nsleep. But Rabbit stayed awake. After a while the fire burned down to\nred coals. Rabbit called to Otter; he was fast asleep. Then he called\nagain, but Otter did not awaken.\n\nThen Rabbit rose softly. He filled the paddle with hot coals, threw\nthem up into the air and shouted, \"It's raining fire! It's raining\nfire!\"\n\nThe hot coals fell on Otter and he jumped up.\n\n\"To the river,\" shouted Rabbit and Otter fled into the water. So he\nhas lived in the water ever since.\n\nRabbit at once took Otter's coat and put it on, leaving his own\nbehind. Then he followed the trail to the council.\n\nAll the animals were waiting for Otter. At last they saw him coming\ndown the trail. They said to each other, \"Otter is coming!\" They sent\none of the small animals to show him the best seat. After he was\nseated, the animals all went up in turn to welcome him. But Otter kept\nhis head down with one paw over his face.\n\nThe animals were surprised. They did not know Otter was so bashful.\nAt last Bear pulled the paw away. There was Rabbit! He sprang up and\nstarted to run. Bear struck at him and pulled the tail off his coat.\nBut Rabbit was too quick and got safely away.\n\n\n\n\nRABBIT AND BEAR\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nRabbit and Bear had been friends for some time. One day Rabbit said to\nBear, \"Come and visit me. I live in a very large brier patch.\" Then he\nwent home.\n\nWhen he reached home he went out and gathered a quantity of young\ncanes which he hung up.\n\nAfter a while Bear reached a place near his house, but was seeking the\nlarge brier patch. Now Rabbit really dwelt in a very small patch. When\nRabbit found that Bear was near, he began to make a pattering sound\nwith his feet.\n\nBear was scared. He retreated to a distance and then stopped and stood\nlistening. As soon as Rabbit saw this, he cried out, \"Halloo! my\nfriend! Was it you whom I treated in that manner? Come and take a\nseat.\"\n\nSo Bear went back to Rabbit's house and took a seat. Rabbit gave the\nyoung canes to his guest, who swallowed them all. Rabbit nibbled now\nand then at one, while Bear swallowed all the others.\n\n\"This is what I have always liked,\" said Bear when he went home.\n\"Come and visit me. I dwell in a large bent tree.\"\n\nNot long after, Rabbit started on his journey. He spent some time\nseeking the large bent tree but he could not find it. Bear lived in a\nhollow tree, and he sat there growling. Rabbit heard the growls and\nfled for some distance before he sat down.\n\nThen Bear called, \"Halloo! my friend! Was it you whom I treated in\nthat manner? Come here and sit down.\"\n\nRabbit did so.\n\nBear said, \"You are now my guest, but there is nothing for you to\neat.\" So Bear went in search of food.\n\nBear went to gather young canes, but as he went along, he gathered\nalso the small black bugs which live in decayed logs. When he had been\ngone some time, he returned to his lodge with only a few young canes.\nHe put them down before Rabbit and then walked around him in a circle.\nIn a little while, he offered Rabbit the black bugs.\n\n\"I have never eaten such food,\" said Rabbit.\n\nBear was offended. He said, \"When I was your guest, I ate all the food\nyou gave me, as I liked it very well. Now when I offer you food, why\ndo you treat me in this way?\" Then Bear said, also, \"Before the sun\nsets, I shall kill you.\"\n\nRabbit's heart beat hard from terror, for Bear stood at the entrance\nof the hollow log to prevent his escape. But Rabbit was very nimble.\nHe dodged first this way and then that, and with a long leap he got\nout of the hollow tree. He went at once to his brier patch and sat\ndown.\n\nRabbit was very angry with Bear. He shouted to him, \"When people are\nhunting you, I will go toward your hiding place, and show them where\nyou are.\"\n\nThat is why, when dogs hunt a rabbit, they always shoot a bear. That\nis all.\n\n\n\n\nWHY DEER NEVER EAT MEN\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nAfter Rabbit had decided about light and darkness, he saw Owasse, the\nBear, coming.\n\nRabbit said, \"Bear, what do you want for food?\" Bear said, \"Acorns and\nfruit.\"\n\nThen Rabbit asked Fish Hawk. He said, \"Fish Hawk, what will you select\nfor your food?\"\n\nFish Hawk said, \"I will take that fellow, Sucker, lying in the water\nthere.\"\n\nSucker said at once, \"You may eat me if you can, but that has still to\nbe decided.\"\n\nSucker at once swam out into the deepest part of the river, where Fish\nHawk could not reach him. Then Fish Hawk rose into the air to a point\nwhere his shadow fell exactly on the spot where Sucker lay. Now as\nSucker lay there, he saw the shadow of a large bird on the bed of the\nstream. He became frightened. He thought, \"It must be a manido,\" so he\nswam slowly to the surface. At once Fish Hawk darted down on him and\ncarried him into the air. Then he ate him.\n\nRabbit looked about him again. He saw Moqwaio, the Wolf. He cried,\n\"Ho, Wolf! What do you wish for food?\"\n\nWolf said, \"I will eat Deer.\" Deer said, \"You cannot eat me, because I\ncan run too swiftly.\" Wolf said, \"We will see about that.\" So they had\na race. Deer started ahead and ran very swiftly. Wolf ran swiftly,\ntoo, but his fur robe was too heavy. At last he thought, \"This robe is\ntoo heavy. I will slip it off.\" So he threw it off. Then he bounded\nahead and caught Deer and ate him.\n\nThen Rabbit asked another Deer, of the same totem, \"Deer, what will\nyou select as food?\"\n\nDeer said, \"I will eat people. There are many Indians in the country.\nI will eat them.\"\n\nAt once all the animals began to talk. They said to Deer, \"The Indian\nis too powerful. You can never eat him.\"\n\nDeer said, \"Well, I will plan to eat Indians, anyway.\" Then he walked\noff.\n\nNow one day an Indian was out hunting. He saw deer tracks to the right\nand so followed them. They went in a large circle until they brought\nhim back where he had started. Then he saw deer tracks to the left. So\nhe followed those, until they also brought him back, in a large\ncircle, to the point where he started. Then the Indian saw that Deer\nwas following him.\n\nDeer was determined to eat the Indians, because there were many of\nthem. It would not be difficult to hunt for food. But first he wanted\nto frighten the hunter. So he pulled two ribs from his sides, and\nstuck them into his lower jaw. They looked like tusks. Deer looked\nvery fierce. Then Deer came walking along, looking for an Indian. But\nthe hunter raised his bow and shot Deer. He carried the deer meat back\nto his wigwam.\n\nThe shade of Deer at once went to the council of birds and animals. He\ntold Rabbit all about it.\n\nRabbit said, \"I told you that you could not eat people. You see how it\nis? Now you will have to live on grass and twigs.\"\n\nAnd so they do, even to this day.\n\n\n\n\nHOW RABBIT SNARED THE SUN\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nRabbit and his grandmother lived in a wigwam. Rabbit used to go\nhunting every day, very early in the morning. But no matter how early\nhe went, a person leaving long footprints had passed along ahead of\nhim. Each morning Rabbit thought, \"I will reach there before him.\" Yet\neach morning the person leaving long footprints passed before him.\n\nOne morning Rabbit said to his grandmother, \"Oh, Grandmother, although\nI have long wished to be the first to get there, again has he got\nthere ahead of me. Oh, Grandmother, I will make a noose, and I will\nplace it in the trail of that one, and thus I will catch him.\"\n\n\"Why should you do that?\" asked grandmother.\n\n\"I hate that person,\" said Rabbit. He departed. When he reached there,\nhe found that the person had already departed. So he lay down near by\nand waited for night. Then he went to the trail where the person with\nlong feet had been passing, and set a snare.\n\n  [Illustration: SHELL GORGET SHOWING EAGLE CARVING.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n  [Illustration: INDIAN JAR FROM THE MOUNDS OF ARKANSAS.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\nVery early the next morning he went to look at his trap. Behold! Sun\nhad been caught. Rabbit ran home very quickly.\n\n\"Oh, Grandmother, I have caught something but it scares me. I wished\nto take the noose, but it scared me every time I went to get it.\"\n\nThen Rabbit took a knife and again went there. The person said, \"You\nhave done very wrong. Come and release me.\"\n\nRabbit did not go directly toward him. He went to one side. He bent\nhis head low and cut the cord. At once Sun went above on his trail.\nBut Rabbit had been so near him that Sun burned his fur on the back of\nhis neck.\n\nRabbit ran home. He cried, \"Oh, Grandmother, I have been severely\nburned.\"\n\n\"Alas! My grandson has been severely burned,\" said grandmother.\n\n\n\n\nWHEN THE ORPHAN TRAPPED THE SUN\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nAnimals and men lived on the earth in the beginning. The animals\nkilled all the people except a girl and her tiny brother, who hid from\nthem. The brother did not grow at all. Therefore when the sister\ncollected firewood, she took him with her. She made him a bow and\narrow.\n\nOne day she said, \"Now I must leave you for a while. Soon the\nsnowbirds will come and pick worms out of the wood I have cut. Shoot\none of them and bring it to me.\"\n\nThe boy waited. The birds came and he shot at them with his arrows. He\ncould not kill one. The next day he shot at them again. Then he killed\none. He came back to the wigwam with a bird.\n\nHe said, \"My sister, skin it. I will wear the skins of the snowbirds.\"\n\n\"What shall we do with the body?\" she asked.\n\n\"Cut it in two. We will put it in our broth.\" Now at that time, the\nanimals were very large. People did not eat them.\n\nThe boy killed ten snowbirds. Then his sister made a coat for him. One\nday he said, \"Are we alone on the Earth-plain?\"\n\nShe said, \"The animals who live in such a place have killed all our\nrelatives. You must never go there.\" Therefore he went in that\ndirection.\n\nNow he walked a long while and met no one. Then he lay down on a knoll\nwhere the sun had melted the snow. He fell asleep. Then Sun looked\ndown at him and burned his bird-skin coat. He tightened it so that the\nboy was bound into it. When he awoke, the boy said to Sun, \"You are\nnot too high. I will pay you back.\"\n\nHe went home. He said to his sister, \"Sun has spoiled my coat.\" He\nwould not eat. He lay down on the ground. He lay ten days on one side.\nThen he turned over and lay ten days on the other side.\n\nAt last he rose. He said to his sister, \"Make me a snare. I shall\ncatch Sun.\"\n\nShe said, \"I have no string.\" The boy said, \"Make a string.\" Then she\nremembered a bit of dried sinew which her father had had. So she made\na snare for him.\n\nThe boy said, \"That will not do. Make a better snare.\" She said, \"I\nhave no string.\" At last she remembered. She cut off some of her hair.\nShe made a string from that.\n\nThe boy said, \"That will not do. Make me a noose.\" She thought again.\nThen she remembered. She went out of the wigwam. She took something.\nShe made a braid out of that thing.\n\nThe boy said, \"This will do.\" He was much pleased. When he took it, it\nbecame a long red cord. There was much of it. He wound it around his\nbody.\n\nThe boy left the wigwam while Sun was at home. He did this so that he\nmight catch him as he came over the edge of the earth. He put the\nnoose at the spot just where Sun came over the edge. When Sun came\nalong, the noose caught his head. He was held tight, so that he could\nnot follow his trail in the Sky-land.\n\nNow the animals who ruled the earth were frightened because Sun did\nnot follow the trail. They said, \"What shall we do?\" So they called a\ngreat council. They said, \"We must send someone to cut the noose.\"\nThus they spoke in the council.\n\nNow all the animals were afraid to cut the cord. Sun was so hot he\nwould burn them. At last Dormouse said, \"I will go.\" He stood up in\nthe council. He was as high as a mountain. He was the largest of all\nthe animals.\n\nWhen Dormouse reached the place where Sun was snared, his fur began\nto singe and his back to burn. It was very hot. Dormouse cut the cord\nwith his teeth. But so much of him was burned up, he became very\nsmall. Therefore Dormouse is the smallest of animals. That is why he\nis called Kug-e-been-gwa-kwa.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HARE AND THE LYNX\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nOnce there was a little white hare, living in a wigwam with her\ngrandmother. Now Grandmother sent Hare back to her native land. When\nHare had gone a short way, Lynx came down the trail. Lynx sang:\n\n    Where, pretty white one,\n    Where, pretty white one,\n        Where do you go?\n\n\"_Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!_\" cried Hare, and ran back to\nGrandmother.\n\n\"See, Grandmother,\" she said, \"Lynx came down the trail and sang,\n\n    Where, pretty white one,\n    Where, pretty white one,\n        Where do you go?\"\n\n\"Ho!\" said Grandmother. \"Have courage! Tell Lynx you are going to your\nnative land.\"\n\nHare went back up the trail. Lynx stood there, so Hare sang,\n\n    To the point of land I go,\n    There is the home of the little white one,\n        There I go.\n\nLynx looked at the trembling little hare, and began to sing again,\n\n    Little white one, tell me,\n    Little white one, tell me,\n    Why are your ears so thin and dry?\n\n\"_Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!_\" cried little Hare, and ran back to\nGrandmother.\n\n\"See, Grandmother,\" said Hare, \"Lynx came down the trail and sang,\n\n    Little white one, tell me,\n    Little white one, tell me,\n    Why are your ears so thin and dry?\"\n\n\"Ho!\" said Grandmother, \"Go and tell him your uncles made them so when\nthey came from the South.\"\n\nSo Hare ran up the trail and sang,\n\n    My uncles came from the south;\n    They made my ears as they are.\n    They made them thin and dry.\n\nAnd then Hare laid her little pink ears back upon her shoulders, and\nstarted to go to the point of land. But Lynx sang again,\n\n    Why do you go away, little white one?\n    Why do you go away, little white one?\n    Why are your feet so dry and swift?\n\n\"_Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee! Tshwee!_\" cried Hare and again she ran back\nto Grandmother.\n\n\"Ho! do not mind him,\" said Grandmother. \"Do not listen to him. Do not\nanswer him. Just run straight on.\"\n\nSo the little white hare ran up the trail as fast as she could. When\nshe came to the place where Lynx had stood, he was gone. So Hare ran\non and had almost reached her native land, on the point of land, when\nLynx sprang out of the thicket and ate her up.\n\n\n\n\nWELCOME TO A BABY\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nLittle wren is the messenger of the Birds. She pries into everything.\nShe gets up early in the morning and goes around to every wigwam to\nget news for the Bird council. When a new baby comes into a wigwam,\nshe finds out whether it is a boy or a girl.\n\nIf it is a boy, the Bird council sings mournfully, \"Alas! The whistle\nof the arrow! My shins will burn!\" Because the Birds all know that\nwhen the boy grows older he will hunt them with his bows and arrows,\nand will roast them on a stick.\n\nBut if the baby is a girl, they are glad. They sing, \"Thanks! The\nsound of the pestle! In her wigwam I shall surely be able to scratch\nwhere she sweeps.\" Because they know that when she grows older and\nbeats the corn into meal, they will be able to pick up stray grains.\n\nCricket also is glad when the baby is a girl. He sings, \"Thanks! I\nshall sing in the wigwam where she lives.\" But if it is a boy, Cricket\nlaments, \"_Gwo-he!_ He will shoot me! He will shoot me! He will shoot\nme!\" Because boys make little bows to shoot crickets and grasshoppers.\n\nWhen the Cherokee Indians hear of a new baby, they ask, \"Is it a bow,\nor a meal sifter?\" Or else they ask, \"Is it ball-sticks or bread?\"\n\n\n\n\nBABY SONG\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\n    Ha wi ye   hy u we,\n    Ha wi ye   hy u we.\n    Yu we   yu we he,\n    Ha wi ye   hy u we.\n\n    The Bear is very bad, so they say,\n    Long time ago he was very bad, so they say.\n    The Bear did so and so, they say.\n\n\n\n\nSONG TO THE FIREFLY\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nIn the hot summer evenings, when the grassy patches around the lakes\nand rivers sparkle with fireflies, the Indians sing a song to them.\n\n    Flitting white-fire-bug,\n    Flitting white-fire-bug,\n    Give me your light before I go to sleep.\n    Give me your light before I go to sleep.\n    Come, little waving fire-bug.\n    Come, little waving fire-bug.\n    Light me with your bright torch.\n    Light me with your bright torch.[22]\n\n    [22] Saw the fire-fly, Wah-wah-taysee,\n         Flitting through the dusk of evening,\n         With the twinkle of its candle,\n         Lighting up the brakes and bushes;\n         And he sang the song of children,\n         Sang the song Nokomis taught him;\n         \"Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly,\n         Little, flitting, white-fire insect ...\"\n                              --_Hiawatha_\n\n\n\n\nSONG OF THE MOTHER BEARS\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOne day a hunter in the woods heard singing in a cave. He came near\nand peeped in. It was a mother bear singing to her cubs and telling\nthem what to do when the hunters came after them.\n\nMother Bear said,\n\n    When you hear the hunter coming down the creek, then\n    Tsagi,   tsagi,   hwilahi,\n    Tsagi,   tsagi,   hwilahi,\n    Upstream, upstream, you must go.\n    Upstream, upstream, you must go.\n\n    But if you hear them coming down stream,\n    Ge-i,   ge-i,   hwilahi,\n    Ge-i,   ge-i,   hwilahi,\n    Downstream, downstream, you must go.\n    Downstream, downstream, you must go.\n\nAnother hunter out in the woods one day thought he heard a woman\nsinging to a baby. He followed the sound up a creek until he came to a\ncave under the bushes. Inside there was a mother bear rocking her cub\nin her paws and singing to it,\n\n    Let me carry you on my back,\n    Let me carry you on my back,\n    Let me carry you on my back,\n    Let me carry you on my back,\n    On the sunny side go to sleep.\n    On the sunny side go to sleep.\n\nThis was after some of the people had become bears. The hunter knew\nthey were of the Ani Tsagulin tribe.[23]\n\n    [23] See \"Origin of the Bear.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN IN THE STUMP\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nAn Indian had a field of corn ripening in the sun. One day when he\nwanted to look at it, he climbed a stump. Now the stump was hollow and\nin it was a nest of bear cubs. The man slipped and fell down upon the\ncubs.\n\nAt once the cubs began calling for their mother, and Mother Bear came\nrunning. She began to climb down into the stump backwards. Then the\nIndian caught hold of her leg; thus she became frightened. She began\nto climb out and dragged the Indian also to the top of the stump. Thus\nhe got out of the stump.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANTS AND THE KATYDIDS\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nThe Ancient of Ants was building a house. She worked hard to finish\nher house before the cold weather came.\n\nNow when it was very cold, the Katydid and the Locust reached her\nhouse, asking for shelter. They said they had no houses.\n\nThe Ancient of Ants scolded them. She said, \"After you are grown up,\nin the warm weather, you sing all the time, instead of building a\nhouse.\" She would not let them come into her house.\n\nThen the Katydid and the Locust were ashamed, and as the weather was\nvery cold, they died. That is why katydids and locusts die every\nwinter, while the ants live in their warm houses. But the katydids and\nlocusts never do anything in warm weather but sing.\n\n\n\n\nWHEN THE OWL MARRIED\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOnce there was a widow with only one daughter. She said often, \"You\nshould marry and then there will be a man to go hunting.\"\n\nThen one day a man came courting the daughter. He said, \"Will you\nmarry me?\"\n\nThe girl said, \"I can only marry a good worker. We need a man who is a\ngood hunter and who will work in the cornfield.\"\n\n\"I am exactly that sort of a man,\" he said. So the mother said they\nmight marry.\n\nThen the next morning the mother gave the man a hoe. She said, \"Go,\nhoe the corn. When breakfast is ready I will call you.\" Then she went\nto call him. She followed a sound as of someone hoeing on stony soil.\nWhen she reached the place, there was only a small circle of hoed\nground. Over in the thicket someone said, \"Hoo-hoo!\"\n\nWhen the man came back in the evening, the mother said, \"Where have\nyou been all day?\"\n\nHe said, \"Hard at work.\"\n\nThe mother said, \"I couldn't find you.\"\n\n\"I was over in the thicket cutting sticks to mark off the field,\" he\nsaid.\n\n\"But you did not come to the lodge to eat at all,\" she answered.\n\n\"I was too busy,\" he said.\n\nEarly the next morning he started off with his hoe over his shoulder.\n\nThen the mother went again to call him, when the meal was ready. The\nhoe was lying there, but there was no sign of work done. And away over\nin the thicket, she heard a hu-hu calling, _Sau-h! sau-h! sau-h!\nhoo-hoo! hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo! chi! chi! chi! whew!_\n\nNow when the man came home that night, the mother asked,\n\n\"What have you been doing all day?\"\n\n\"Working hard,\" he said.\n\n\"But you were not there when I came after you.\"\n\n\"Oh, I went over in the thicket awhile,\" said the man, \"to see some of\nmy relatives.\"\n\nThen the mother said, \"I have lived here a long while, and no one\nlives in that swamp but lazy hu-hus. My daughter wants a husband that\ncan work and not a hu-hu!\" And she drove him from the house.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KITE AND THE EAGLE\n\n\nKite was very boastful. One day he spoke scornfully of Eagle, who\nheard his words. Kite began to sing in a loud voice,\n\n    I alone,\n    I alone,\n    Can go up,\n    So as to seem as if hanging from the blue sky.\n\nEagle answered scornfully. He sang,\n\n    Who is this,\n    Who is this,\n    Who boasts of flying so high?\n\nKite was ashamed. He answered in a small voice, \"Oh, I was only\nsinging of the great Khakate. It is he who is said to fly so high.\"\n\nEagle answered, \"Oh, you crooked tongue! You are below my notice.\"\n\nThen Eagle soared high into the sky. But just as soon as he was out of\nhearing, Kite began to sing again in a very loud voice,\n\n    I alone,\n    I alone,\n    Can go up,\n    So as to seem as if hanging from the blue sky.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LINNET AND THE EAGLE\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nAll the Birds met in council, each claiming to fly the highest. Each\none claimed to be the chief. Therefore the council decided that each\nbird should fly toward the Sky-land.\n\nSome of the birds flew very swiftly; but they tired and flew back to\nearth. Now Eagle went far above all. When Eagle could fly no farther,\nLinnet, who had perched upon Eagle's back, flew up. Far above Eagle\nflew the tiny gray bird.\n\nNow when the Birds held a council again, Eagle was made chief. Eagle\nhad flown higher than all the rest, and had carried Linnet on his\nback.\n\n\n\n\nHOW PARTRIDGE GOT HIS WHISTLE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nIn the old days, Terrapin had a fine whistle and Partridge had none.\nTerrapin whistled constantly. He was always boasting of his fine\nwhistle.\n\nOne day Partridge said, \"Let me try your whistle.\"\n\nTerrapin said, \"No.\" He was afraid Partridge would try some trick.\n\nPartridge said, \"Oh, if you are afraid, stay right here while I use\nit.\"\n\nSo Terrapin gave it to him. Partridge strutted around, whistling\nconstantly.\n\nHe said, \"How does it sound with me?\"\n\n\"You do it very well,\" said Terrapin, walking by his side.\n\n\"Now how do you like it?\" asked Partridge, running ahead.\n\n\"It's fine,\" said Terrapin, trying to keep up with him. \"But don't run\nso fast!\"\n\n\"How do you like it now?\" asked Partridge, spreading his wings and\nflying to a tree top. Terrapin could only look up at him.\n\nPartridge never gave the whistle back. He has it even to this day. And\nTerrapin was so ashamed because Partridge stole his whistle, and\nTurkey had stolen his scalp, that he shuts himself up in his box\nwhenever anyone comes near him.\n\n\n\n\nHOW KINGFISHER GOT HIS BILL\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nSome of the old men say that Kingfisher was meant in the beginning to\nbe a water bird, but because he had no web on his feet and not a good\nbill, he could not get enough to eat. The animals knew of this, so\nthey held a council. Afterwards they made him a bill like a long,\nsharp awl. This fish gig he was to use spearing fish. When they\nfastened it on to his mouth, he flew first to the top of a tree. Then\nhe darted down into the water and came up with a fish on his bill. And\never since, Kingfisher has been the best fisherman.\n\nBut some of the old people say it was this way.\n\nBlacksnake found Yellowhammer's nest in the hollow tree and killed all\nthe young birds. Yellowhammer at once went to the Little People for\nhelp. They sent her to Kingfisher. So she went on to him.\n\nKingfisher came at once, and after flying back and forth past the hole\nin the hollow tree, he made a quick dart at the snake and pulled him\nout, dead. When they looked, they saw he had pierced Blacksnake with\na slender fish he carried in his bill. Therefore the Little People\nsaid he would make good use of a spear, so they gave him his long\nbill.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE BLACKBIRD HAS RED WINGS\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nOne day an Indian became so angry with everyone that he set the sea\nmarshes on fire because he wanted to burn up the world.\n\nA little blackbird saw it. He flew up into a tree and shouted, \"_Ku\nnam wi cu! Ku nam wi cu!_ The world and all is going to burn.\"\n\nThe man said, \"If you do not go away, I will kill you.\" But the bird\nonly kept shouting, \"_Ku nam wi cu!_ The world and all is going to\nburn.\"\n\nThen the Indian threw a shell and hit the little bird on the wings,\nmaking them bleed. That is how the red-winged blackbird came by its\nred wings.\n\nNow when people saw the marshes burning, they quickly ran down and\nkilled game which had been driven from it by the fire. Then they said\nto the angry man,\n\n\"Because you put fire in those tall weeds, the deer and bear and other\nanimals have been driven out and we have killed them. You have aided\nus by burning them.\"\n\nNowadays when the red-winged blackbird comes around the house, he\nstill shouts, _Ku nam wi cu_, so they say.\n\n\n\n\nBALL GAME OF THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOnce the Animals challenged the Birds to a great ball play, and the\nBirds accepted. The Animals met near the river, in a smooth grassy\nfield. The Birds met in the tree top over by the ridge.\n\nNow the leader of the Animals was Bear. He was very strong and heavy.\nAll the way to the river he tossed up big logs to show his strength\nand boasted of how he would win against the Birds. Terrapin was with\nthe Animals. He was not the little terrapin we have now, but the first\nTerrapin. His shell was so hard the heaviest blows could not hurt him,\nand he was very large. On the way to the river he rose on his hind\nfeet and dropped heavily again. He did this many times, bragging that\nthus he would crush any bird that tried to take the ball from him.\nThen there was Deer, who could outrun all the others. And there were\nmany other animals.\n\nNow the leader of the Birds was Eagle; and also Hawk, and the great\nTlanuwa. They were all swift and strong of flight.\n\nNow first they had a ball dance. Then after the dance, as the birds\nsat in the trees, two tiny little animals no larger than field mice\nclimbed up the tree where Eagle sat. They crept out to the branch tips\nto Eagle.\n\nThey said, \"We wish to play ball.\"\n\nEagle looked at them. They were four-footed. He said, \"Why don't you\njoin the Animals? You belong there.\"\n\n\"The Animals make fun of us,\" they said. \"They drive us away because\nwe are small.\"\n\nEagle pitied them. He said, \"But you have no wings.\"\n\nThen at once Eagle and Hawk and all the Birds held a council in the\ntrees. At last they said to the little fellows, \"We will make wings\nfor you.\"\n\nBut they could not think just how to do it. Then a Bird said, \"The\nhead of our drum is made of groundhog skin. Let us make wings from\nthat.\" So they took two pieces of leather from the drum and shaped\nthem for wings. They stretched them with cane splints and fastened\nthem on the forelegs of one of the little animals. So they made\nTlameha, the Bat. They began to teach him.\n\nFirst they threw the ball to him. Bat dropped and circled about in the\nair on his new wings. He did not let the ball drop. The Birds saw at\nonce he would be one of their best men.\n\nNow they wished to give wings also to the second little animal, but\nthere was no more leather. And there was no more time. Then somebody\nsaid they might make wings for the other man by stretching his skin.\nTherefore two large birds took hold from opposite sides with their\nstrong bills. Thus they stretched his skin. Thus they made Tewa, the\nFlying Squirrel.\n\nThen Eagle threw to him the ball. At once Flying Squirrel sprang after\nit, caught it in his teeth, and carried it through the air to another\ntree nearby.\n\nThen the game began. Almost at the first toss, Flying Squirrel caught\nthe ball and carried it up a tree. Then he threw it to the Birds, who\nkept it in the air for some time. When it dropped to the earth, Bear\nrushed to get it, but Martin darted after it and threw it to Bat, who\nwas flying near the ground. Bat doubled and dodged with the ball, and\nkept it out of the way of Deer. At last Bat threw it between the\nposts. So the Birds won the game.\n\nBear and Terrapin, who had boasted of what they would do, never had a\nchance to touch the ball.\n\nBecause Martin saved the ball when it dropped to the ground, the Birds\nafterwards gave him a gourd in which to build his nest. He still has\nit.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE BIRDS HAVE SHARP TAILS\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nOnce upon a time, they say, the world turned over. Then the waters\nrose very high and many people died. A woman took two children and\nlodged in a tree. She sat there waiting for the waters to sink, for\nshe had no way of reaching the ground.\n\nWhen the woman saw the Ancient of Red-headed Buzzards, she called to\nhim, \"Help me to get down and I will give you one of the children.\" He\nassisted her, but she did not give him the child.\n\nThe waters were so deep that the birds were clinging by their claws to\nthe clouds, but their tails were under water. That is why their tails\nare always sharp. One of these birds was the Ancient of Yellowhammers.\nTherefore its tailfeathers are sharp at the ends. The large Red-headed\nWoodpecker was there, too, and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and that\nis why their tails have their present shape.\n\n  [Illustration: SPIDER GORGETS.\n    1. From a Mound, Missouri.\n    2. From a Stone Grave, Illinois.\n    3. From a Mound, Illinois.\n    4. From a Mound, Tennessee.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WILDCAT AND THE TURKEYS\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nThe Ancient of Wildcats had been creeping up on the Wild Turkeys\ntrying to catch some. He tried in vain. Then he got a bag, crawled\ninside, and rolled himself along. He rolled himself to the Ancient of\nTurkey Gobblers.\n\nWildcat said, \"Get into my bag and see what fun it is to roll.\"\n\nThe Ancient of Turkey Gobblers crawled into the bag. Wildcat tied up\nthe end and rolled it along for some time. After he had rolled it\nquite a distance, he stopped and untied the bag.\n\n\"It is very good,\" said the First of All the Turkey Gobblers. Then he\nsaid to the other Wild Turkeys, \"Get in the bag and see how pleasant\nit is.\"\n\nBut the young Turkeys were afraid. Gobbler urged them to try the new\ngame. At last one young Turkey stepped into the bag. Wildcat tied the\nend and pretended that he was going to roll it. It would not go.\n\n\"It will not go because it is too light. There is only one in it,\"\nsaid Wildcat. \"Let another young Turkey step in.\"\n\nAt last another young Turkey stepped in. Wildcat tied the bag, threw\nit over his shoulder and ran home. When he reached home he laid the\nbag down.\n\nThen Wildcat said to his mother, \"I have brought home something on my\nback, and placed it outside. Beware lest you untie the bag.\"\n\nHis mother said to herself, \"I wonder what it can be.\" So she untied\nthe bag. One of the turkeys flew out. She managed to catch the other\none. She caught both feet with one hand, and both wings with the\nother. She cried out, \"Help! Help! I have caught four!\"\n\nThe Ancient of Wildcats scolded his mother. Then he killed the turkey\nand cooked it. His mother went into another room.\n\nThen Wildcat spread his feast. As he was eating the Turkey he made a\nconstant noise. He walked back and forth. He talked continually and\nkept up a steady rattling. When he stopped the noise a little he said,\n\"I am going home,\" as if a guest were speaking. He said this again and\nagain. He made a noise with his feet as if people were walking about.\nHe ate all the turkey except the hip bone.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRANT AND THE OTTER\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nOnce upon a time the Ancient of Brants and the Ancient of Otters were\nliving as friends. One day the Ancient of Otters said to the Ancient\nof Brants, \"Come to see me tomorrow,\" and departed.\n\nBrant went to make the call. When he arrived, the Ancient of Otters\nsaid, \"Halloo! I have nothing at all for you to eat! Sit down!\" Then\nhe went fishing. He used a \"leather vine\" which he jerked now and then\nto straighten it. He caught many fish. When he reached home he cooked\nthem.\n\nWhen the fish were cooked, ready for the feast, the Ancient of Otters\nput some into a very flat dish. But the Ancient of Brants could not\neat from a flat dish. All he could do was to hit his bill against the\ndish, and raise his head as if swallowing something. But Otter ate\nrapidly.\n\nOtter said to his guest, \"Have you eaten enough?\"\n\n\"Yes, I am satisfied,\" said Brant.\n\n\"No, you are not satisfied,\" said Otter. He took more fish and placed\nthem in the flat dish, eating rapidly as before. Brant could only hit\nhis bill against the side of the dish.\n\nWhen the Ancient of Brants was departing, he said to Otter, \"Come to\nsee me tomorrow.\"\n\nWhen Otter reached the house of the Ancient of Brants the next day,\nBrant cried, \"Halloo! I have nothing at all to give you to eat! Sit\ndown!\"\n\nThen the Ancient of Brants went fishing, using a \"leather vine\" which\nhe jerked now and then to straighten it. He caught many fish and took\nthem home to cook them. When the fish were cooked, they began to\nfeast. But the Ancient of Brants had put some into a small round dish.\nAncient of Otters could not get his mouth into the dish. But Brant ate\nrapidly.\n\n\"Have you eaten enough?\" Brant asked, after a while.\n\nOtter replied, \"Yes, I am satisfied.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" said the Ancient of Brants. \"How could you possibly be\nsatisfied! I have served you as you served me.\"\n\nBut this ended their friendship.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TINY FROG AND THE PANTHER\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nThe Ancient of Tiny Frogs[24] was shut up by his grandmother, so that\nhe might learn magic. Then she took him on a journey.\n\n    [24] The tiny frog, called p\u00e9ska, is a black one, not more\n    than an inch long, living in muddy streams in Louisiana. It\n    differs from the bullfrog, common frog, and tree frog.\n\nFirst they met the Ancient of Panthers. The grandmother said to him,\n\"This is your sister's son. Look at him and wrestle with him.\" The\nAncient of Panthers was very brave. To show his strength, he climbed\nvery high up a tree which he tore to pieces, falling to the ground\nwith it.\n\nThen he seized the Ancient of Tiny Frogs. But the frog caught him by\nthe hind legs and whipped him against a tree. He beat him so severely\nthat Panther's jaw was broken in many places. That is why all panthers\nhave a short jaw.\n\nThe Ancient of Tiny Frogs and his grandmother continued their journey.\nNext they met Bear. The grandmother said to him, \"Look at your\nsister's son. Go and wrestle with him.\" Bear began to pull the limbs\noff a tree to show his strength. Soon he rushed upon the Ancient of\nTiny Frogs. But that one caught Bear by the hind legs and beat him\nagainst a tree until he broke off short his tail. That is why bears\nhave such very short tails.\n\nAgain the old grandmother, singing as she walked, went along the trail\nwith her grandson. They met Buffalo. She said, \"Look at your sister's\nson. Go and wrestle with him.\" Now Buffalo was very strong. With his\nhorns he uprooted a tree, and then spent some moments in breaking it\nto pieces. Then he rushed at the Ancient of Tiny Frogs. But that one\ncaught Buffalo by the hind legs and beat him against a tree. He beat\nhim until the back of his neck was broken and he had a great hump on\nhis shoulders. So Buffalo went away, but that is why buffaloes have\nsuch very heavy, humpbacked shoulders.\n\nAgain they walked along the trail, singing. It was not long before\nthey met with Deer. To him the grandmother said, \"Look at your\nsister's son. Go and wrestle with him.\" Deer leaped up to show his\nagility. Then he sprang at the Ancient of Tiny Frogs. But that one\nseized him by the legs and beat him against a tree, breaking his nose,\nand leaving him with a very small nose, even as deer today have small\nnoses.\n\nThen the Ancient of Tiny Frogs said to Deer: \"I shall remain here\nunder the leaves. When hunters are after you and have almost reached\nyou, I will urge you to escape by saying, '_P\u00e9s! P\u00e9s!_' When I say\nthat, do your best to get away.\"\n\nHardly had he finished speaking, when he cried out, \"_P\u00e9s! P\u00e9s!_ It is\nso! Go quickly! Do your best!\" Then Deer leaped away. For just then\nthe hunters had come, sure enough.\n\nTherefore, when a tiny frog cries out now, people say that some one is\non the point of running after a deer.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FRIGHTENER OF HUNTERS\n\n_Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)\n\n\nKashehotapalo is the frightener of hunters. His head is small and\ndried up, like an old man's. His legs and feet are like those of a\ndeer. He lives in low, swampy places, far away from men.\n\nIf the hunters come near him, when they are chasing a deer, he slips\nup behind them and calls loudly. Thus he frightens them away. His\nvoice is like that of a woman. His name means \"the woman call.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUNTER AND THE ALLIGATOR\n\n_Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)\n\n\nAll the hunters in a village killed many deer one winter, except one\nman. This one saw many deer. Sometimes he drew his bow and shot at\nthem; yet they escaped.\n\nNow this hunter had been away from his village three days. He had seen\nmany deer; not one had he killed. On the third day, when the sun was\nhot over his head, he saw an alligator.\n\nAlligator was in a dry, sandy spot. He had had no water for many days.\nHe was dry and shriveled.\n\nAlligator said to the hunter, \"Where can water be found?\" The hunter\nsaid, \"In that forest, not far away, is cold water.\"\n\n\"I cannot go there alone,\" said Alligator. \"Come nearer. Do not fear.\"\nThe hunter went nearer, but he was afraid.\n\n\"You are a hunter,\" said Alligator, \"but all the deer escape you.\nCarry me into the water, and I will make you a great hunter. You shall\nkill many deer.\"\n\nThe hunter was still afraid. Then he said, \"I will carry you, but\nfirst I must bind you so that you cannot scratch me; and your mouth,\nso that you cannot bite me.\"\n\nSo Alligator rolled over on his back and let the hunter bind him. He\nfastened his legs and mouth firmly. Then he carried Alligator on his\nshoulders to the water in the forest. He unfastened the cords and\nthrew him in.\n\nAlligator came to the surface three times. He said, \"Take your bow and\narrow and go into the woods. You will find a small doe. Do not kill\nit. Then you will find a large doe. Do not kill it. You will meet a\nsmall buck. Do not kill that. Then you will meet a large, old buck.\nKill that.\"\n\nThe hunter took his bow and arrow. Everything happened just as\nAlligator had foretold. Then he killed the large, old buck. So he\nbecame a very great hunter. There was always venison in his wigwam.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GROUNDHOG DANCE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nSeven wolves once caught a groundhog. They said, \"Now we'll kill you\nand have something to eat.\"\n\nGroundhog said, \"When we find good food, we should rejoice over it, as\npeople do in the green-corn dances. You will kill me, and I cannot\nhelp myself. But if you want to dance, I'll sing for you. Now this is\na new dance. I will lean up against seven trees in turn. You will\ndance forward and then go back. At the last turn you may kill me.\"\n\nNow the Wolves were very hungry, but they wanted to learn the new\ndance. Groundhog leaned up against a tree and began to sing. He sang,\n\n    _Ho wi ye a hi_\n\nand all the Wolves danced forward. When he shouted \"_Yu!_\" they turned\nand danced back in line.\n\n\"That's fine,\" said Groundhog, after the first dance was over. Then\nhe went to the next tree and began the second song. He sang,\n\n    _Hi ya yu we_,\n\nand the Wolves danced forward. When he shouted \"_Yu!_\" they danced\nback in a straight line.\n\nAt each song, Groundhog took another tree, getting closer and closer\nto his hole under a stump. At the seventh song, Groundhog said,\n\n\"Now this is the last dance. When I shout '_Yu!_' all come after me.\nThe one who gets me may have me.\"\n\nThen he sang a long time, until the Wolves were at quite a distance in\na straight line. Then he shouted \"_Yu!_\" and darted for his hole.\n\nAt once the Wolves turned and were after him. The foremost Wolf caught\nhis tail and gave it such a jerk he broke it off. That is why\nGroundhog has such a short tail.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RACOON\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOne day Racoon went into the woods to fast and dream. He dreamed that\nsomeone said to him, \"When you awaken, paint your face and body with\nbands of black and white. That will be your own.\"\n\nWhen Racoon awoke, he painted himself as he had been told to do. So we\nsee him, even to the present day.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE OPOSSUM PLAYS DEAD\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nThe Ancient of Opossums thought that he would reach a certain pond\nvery early in the morning, so that he might catch the crawfish on the\nshore. But someone else reached there first, and when Opossum reached\nthere the crawfish were all gone.\n\nThis person did this every day. Opossum did not know who it was, so he\nlay in wait for him. He found it was the Ancient of Racoons.\n\nThey argued about the crawfish and the pond. They agreed to see which\ncould rise the earlier in the morning, go around the shore of the pond\nand catch the crawfish.\n\nRacoon said, \"I rise very early. I never sleep until daylight comes.\"\n\nOpossum said the same thing. Then each went home.\n\nNow Opossum lay down in a hollow tree and slept there a long time. He\narose when the sun was very high and went to the pond. But Racoon had\nbeen there ahead of him, and had eaten all the crawfish. Racoon sang\nthe Song of the Racoon as he was going home. Opossum stood listening.\nHe, too, sang. He sang the Song of the Opossum, thus:\n\n    _H\u00ed na   k\u00ed-yu   wus-s\u00e9-di_\n\nHe met the Racoon who had eaten all the crawfish.\n\n\"Ha!\" said Racoon. \"I have been eating very long, and I was going\nhome, as I was sleepy.\"\n\nOpossum said, \"I, too, have been eating so long that I am sleepy, so I\nam going home.\"\n\nOpossum was always telling a lie. People say this of the Opossum\nbecause if one hits that animal and throws it down for dead, soon it\ngets up and walks off.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE 'POSSUM'S TAIL IS BARE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\n'Possum used to have a long, bushy tail and he was so proud of it that\nhe combed it out every morning and sang about it at the dance. Now\nRabbit had had no tail since Bear pulled it off because he was\njealous. Therefore he planned to play a trick on 'Possum.\n\nThe animals called a great council. They planned to have a dance. It\nwas Rabbit's business to send out the news. One day as he was passing\n'Possum's house, he stopped to talk.\n\n\"Are you going to the council?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, if I can have a special seat,\" said 'Possum. \"I have such a\nhandsome tail I ought to sit where everyone can see me.\"\n\nRabbit said, \"I will see that you have a special seat. And I will send\nsomeone to comb your tail for the dance.\" 'Possum was very much\npleased.\n\nRabbit at once went to Cricket, who is an expert hair cutter;\ntherefore the Indians call him the barber. He told Cricket to go the\nnext morning and comb 'Possum's tail for the dance. He told Cricket\njust what to do.\n\nIn the morning, Cricket went to 'Possum's house. 'Possum stretched\nhimself out on the floor and went to sleep, while Cricket combed out\nhis tail and wrapped a red string around it to keep it smooth until\nnight. But all the time, as he wound the string around, he was\nsnipping off the hair closely. 'Possum did not know it.\n\nWhen it was night, 'Possum went to the council and took his special\nseat. When it was his turn to dance, he loosened the red string from\nhis tail and stepped into the middle of the lodge.\n\nThe drummers began to beat the drum. 'Possum began to sing, \"See my\nbeautiful tail.\"\n\nEvery man shouted and 'Possum danced around the circle again, singing,\n\"See what a fine color it has.\" They all shouted again, and 'Possum\nwent on dancing, as he sang, \"See how it sweeps the ground.\"\n\nThen the animals all shouted so that 'Possum wondered what it meant.\nHe looked around. Every man was laughing at him. Then he looked down\nat his beautiful tail. It was as bare as a lizard's tail. There was\nnot a hair on it.\n\nHe was so astonished and ashamed that he could not say a word. He\nrolled over on the ground and grinned, just as he does today when\ntaken by surprise.\n\n\n\n\nWHY 'POSSUM HAS A LARGE MOUTH\n\n_Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)\n\n\nVery little food there was for Deer one dry season. He became thin and\nweak. One day he met 'Possum. Deer at once exclaimed, \"Why, 'Possum,\nhow fat you are! How do you keep so fat when I cannot find enough to\neat?\"\n\n'Possum said, \"I live on persimmons. They are very large this year, so\nI have all I want to eat.\"\n\n\"How do you get the persimmons?\" asked Deer. \"They grow so high!\"\n\n\"That is easy,\" said 'Possum. \"I go to the top of a high hill. Then I\nrun down and strike a persimmon tree so hard with my head that all the\nripe persimmons drop on the ground. Then I sit there and eat them.\"\n\n\"That is easily done,\" said Deer. \"I will try it. Now watch me.\"\n\n'Possum waited. Deer went to the top of a nearby hill. He ran down and\nstruck the tree with his head. 'Possum watched him, laughing. He\nopened his mouth so wide while he laughed that he stretched it. That\nis why 'Possum has such a large mouth.\n\n  [Illustration: SHELL PINS MADE AND USED BY INDIANS OF THE\n  MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. FOUND IN GRAVES.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PORCUPINE AND THE TWO SISTERS\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOnce there dwelt in a village two sisters, who were the swiftest\nrunners in the Menomini tribe. Towards the setting sun was another\nvillage, two days' walk away.\n\nThe sisters wished to visit this village. They began to run at great\nspeed. At noon they came to a hollow tree lying across the trail. In\nthe snow on the ground, there, behold! lay the trail of Porcupine,\nleading to the hollow tree. One of them broke off a stick and began to\npoke into the log, that Porcupine might come out. She said, \"Let's\nhave some fun with him.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the other sister, \"he is a manido. We should leave him\nalone.\"\n\nBut the girl with a stick poked into the hollow log until Porcupine\ncame out. Then she caught him and pulled out his long quills and threw\nthem in the snow. The other said, \"No, it is cold. Porcupine will need\nhis robe.\"\n\nAt last the sisters ran on. The village was still far away.\n\nNow when they left Porcupine, he crawled up a tall pine tree until he\nreached the very top. Then he faced the north and began to shake his\nsmall rattle, singing in time to its sound.\n\nSoon the sky darkened. Snow began to fall. Now the sisters could not\nrun rapidly because of the deepening snow.\n\nOne looked back and saw Porcupine in the tree top, shaking his rattle.\nShe said, \"We must go back to our own village. I am afraid some harm\nwill overtake us.\"\n\nThe other answered, \"No, let us go on. We need not fear Porcupine.\"\nThe snow became deeper, so they rolled up their blankets as they ran\non.\n\nWhen the sun followed the trail over the edge of the world, the\nsisters could not even see the village. Still they ran on. Then in the\nlate evening they came to a stream which they knew was near the\nvillage.\n\nBehold! It was dark. The snow was very deep. The sisters no longer had\nstrength. They could hear voices in the village. They could not call\nloud enough to be heard. Thus they perished in the snow.\n\nOne should never harm Porcupine because he is a manido.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE DOG\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nIn the beginning, so they say, Dog was put on the mountain side and\nWolf beside the fire. When winter came, Dog could not stand the cold,\nand drove Wolf away from the fire. Wolf ran into the mountains and he\nliked it so well that he has stayed there ever since.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CATFISH AND THE MOOSE\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOnce when the Catfish were all together in one place in the water, the\nCatfish chief said, \"I have often seen a moose come to the edge of the\nwater to eat grass. Let us watch for him and kill him and eat him. He\nalways comes when the sun is a little way up in the sky.\"\n\nThe Catfish agreed to attack Moose. So they went to watch. They crept\neverywhere in among the grass and rushes when Moose came down to the\nwater's edge, slowly picking at the grass. All the tribe watched to\nsee what the Catfish chief would do. He slipped slowly through the\nmarshy grass to where Moose was standing. He thrust his spear into\nMoose's leg.\n\nMoose said, \"Who has thrust a spear into my leg?\" He looked down and\nsaw the Catfish tribe. At once he began to trample upon them with his\nhoofs. He killed many, but others escaped and swam down the river.\n\nCatfish still carry spears, but their heads are flat, because Moose\ntramped them down in the mud.\n\n\n\n\nTURTLE\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nThere was a large camp in which Miqkano, the Turtle, took up his\nabode. He built a wigwam but he had no one to keep house for him. He\nthought he needed a wife.\n\nNow Turtle found a young woman whom he liked. He said, \"I want you to\nbe my wife.\"\n\nShe said, \"How are you going to provide for me? You cannot keep up\nwith the rest of the people when they move.\"\n\nTurtle replied, \"I can keep up with the best of your people.\"\n\nThen the young woman wanted to put him off. She said, \"Oh, well, I\nwill marry you in the spring.\"\n\nTurtle was vexed with this. At last he said, \"I shall go to war and\ntake some captives. When I return in the spring, I shall expect you to\nmarry me.\"\n\nThen Turtle prepared to go on the war path. He called all his friends,\nthe Turtles, to him. He left camp, followed by a throng of curious\nIndians. The young woman he wanted to marry laughed as the Turtles\nmoved away. They were so very slow.\n\nTurtle was vexed again. He said, \"In four days from now you will\nsurely mourn for me because I shall be at a great distance from you.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the girl, laughing, \"in four days from this time you will\nscarcely be out of sight.\"\n\nTurtle immediately corrected himself, and said, \"I did not mean four\ndays, but four years. Then I shall return.\"\n\nNow the Turtles started off. They traveled slowly on until one day\nthey found a great tree lying across their trail.\n\nTurtle said, \"This we cannot pass unless we go around it. That would\ntake too long. What shall we do?\"\n\nSome said, \"Let us burn a hole through the trunk,\" but in this they\ndid not succeed.\n\nTherefore they had to turn back home, but it was a long time before\nthey came near the Indian village again. They wanted to appear as\nsuccessful warriors, so as they came near, they set up the war song.\nThe Indians heard them. They at once ran out to see the scalps and the\nspoils. But when they came near, the Turtles each seized an Indian by\nthe arm and said,\n\n\"We take you our prisoners. You are our spoils.\"\n\nThe Indians who were captured in this way were very angry. Now the\nTurtle chief had captured the young woman he said he was going to\nmarry. He said to the Indian girl, \"Now that I have you I will keep\nyou.\"\n\nNow it was necessary to organize a dance to celebrate the victory over\nthe Indians. Everyone dressed in his best robe and beads. Turtle sang,\n\n\"Whoever comes near me will die, will die, will die!\" and the others\ndanced around him in a circle. At once the Indians became alarmed.\nEach one fled to his own lodge, in the village. Turtle also went to\nthe village, but he arrived much later because he could not travel so\nfast.\n\nSomeone said to him, \"That girl has married another man.\"\n\n\"Is that true?\" stormed Turtle. \"Let me see the man.\"\n\nSo he went to that wigwam. He called, \"I am going for the woman who\npromised to be my wife.\"\n\nHer husband said, \"Here comes Turtle. Now what is to be done?\"\n\n\"I shall take care of that,\" said his wife.\n\nTurtle came in and seized her. He said, \"Come along with me. You\nbelong to me.\"\n\nShe pulled back. She said, \"You broke your promise.\" The husband said\nalso, \"Yes, you promised to go to war and bring back some prisoners.\nYou failed to do so.\"\n\nTurtle said, \"I did go. I returned with many prisoners.\" Then he\npicked up the young woman and carried her off.\n\nNow when Turtle arrived at his own wigwam, the young woman went at\nonce to a friend and borrowed a large kettle. She filled it with water\nand set it on to boil. Turtle became afraid. He said, \"What are you\ndoing?\"\n\nShe said, \"I am heating some water. Do you know how to swim?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said Turtle. \"I can swim.\"\n\nThe young woman said, \"You jump in the water and swim. I can wash your\nshell.\"\n\nSo Turtle tried to swim in the hot water. Then the other Turtles,\nseeing their chief swimming in the kettle, climbed over the edge and\njumped into the water. Thus Turtle and his warriors were conquered.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORSHIP OF THE SUN\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nLong ago, an Ojibwa Indian and his wife lived on the shores of Lake\nHuron. They had one son, who was named \"O-na-wut-a-qui-o,\nHe-that-catches-the-clouds.\"\n\nNow the boy was very handsome, and his parents thought highly of him,\nbut he refused to make the fast of his tribe. His father gave him\ncharcoal; yet he would not blacken his face. They refused him food;\nbut he wandered along the shore, and ate the eggs of birds. One day\nhis father took from him by force the eggs of the birds. He took them\nviolently. Then he threw charcoal to him. Then did the boy blacken his\nface and begin his fast.\n\nNow he fell asleep. A beautiful woman came down through the air and\nstood beside him. She said, \"I have come for you. Step in my trail.\"\n\nAt once he began to rise through the air. They passed through an\nopening in the sky, and he found himself on the Sky-plain. There were\nflowers on the beautiful plain, and streams of fresh, cold water. The\nvalleys were green and fair. Birds were singing. The Sky-land was very\nbeautiful.\n\nThere was but one lodge, and it was divided into two parts. In one end\nwere bright and glowing robes, spears, and bows and arrows. At the\nother end, the garments of a woman were hung.\n\nThe woman said, \"My brother is coming and I must hide you.\" So she put\nhim in a corner and spread over him a broad, shining belt. When the\nbrother came in, he was very richly dressed, and glowing. He took down\nhis great pipe and his tobacco.\n\nAt last, he said, \"Nemissa, my elder sister, when will you end these\ndoings? The Greatest of Spirits has commanded that you should not take\naway the children of earth. I know of the coming of O-na-wut-a-qui-o.\"\nThen he called out, \"Come out of your hiding. You will get hungry if\nyou remain there.\" When the boy came out, he gave him a handsome pipe\nof red sandstone, and a bow and arrows.\n\nSo the boy stayed in the Sky-land. But soon he found that every\nmorning, very early, the brother left the wigwam. He returned in the\nevening, and then the sister left it and was gone all night. One day\nhe said to the brother, \"Let me go with you.\" \"Yes,\" said the brother,\nand the next morning they started off.\n\nThe two traveled a long while over a smooth plain. It was a very long\njourney. He became hungry. At last he said, \"Is there no game?\"\n\n\"Wait until we reach the place where I always stop to eat,\" said the\nbrother. So they journeyed on. At last they came to a place spread\nover with fine mats. It was near a hole in the Sky-plain.\n\nThe Indian looked down through the hole. Below were great lakes and\nthe villages of his people. He could see in one place feasting and\ndancing, and in another a war party silently stealing upon the enemy.\nIn a green plain young warriors were playing ball.\n\nThe brother said, \"Do you see those children?\" and he sent a dart down\nfrom the Sky-plain. At once a little boy fell to the ground. Then all\nthe people gathered about the lodge of his father. The Indian, looking\ndown through the hole, could hear the _she-she-gwan_ of the _meta_,\nand the loud singing. Then Sun, the brother, called down, \"Send me up\na white dog.\"\n\nImmediately a white dog was killed by the medicine men, and roasted,\nbecause the child's father ordered a feast. All the wise men and the\nmedicine men were there.\n\nSun said to the Indian, \"Their ears are open and they listen to my\nvoice.\"\n\nNow the Indians on the Earth-plain divided the dog, and placed pieces\non the bark for those who were at that feast. Then the master of the\nfeast called up, \"We send this to thee, Great Manito.\" At once the\nroasted dog came up to Sun in the Sky-plain. Thus Sun and the Indian\nhad food. Then Sun healed the boy whom he had struck down. Then he\nbegan again to travel along the trail in the Sky-plain, and they\nreached their wigwam by another road.\n\nThen O-na-wut-a-qui-o began to weary of the Sky-land. At last he said\nto Moon, \"I wish to go home.\"\n\nMoon said, \"Since you like better the care and poverty of the earth,\nyou may return. I will take you back.\"\n\nAt once the Indian youth awoke. He was in the very plain where he had\nfallen asleep after he had blackened his face and begun his fast. But\nhis mother said he had been gone a year.\n\n\n\n\nTASHKA AND WALO\n\n_Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)\n\n\nTashka and Walo were brothers. They lived a long while ago, so they\nsay. Every morning they saw Sun come up over the edge of the earth.\nThen he followed the trail through the sky.\n\nWhen they were four years old, they started to follow Sun's trail.\nThey walked all day, but that night when Sun died, they were still in\ntheir own country. They knew all the hills and rivers. Then they\nslept.\n\nNext morning they began again to follow Sun, but when he died at the\nedge of the earth, they could still see their own land.\n\nThen they followed Sun many years. At last they became grown men.\n\nOne day they reached a great sea-water. There was no land except the\nshore on which they stood. When Sun went down over the edge of the\nearth that day, they saw him sink into the waters. Then they crossed\nthe sea-water, to the edge. So they came to Sun's home.\n\nAll around there were many women. The stars are women, and Moon also.\nMoon is Sun's wife.\n\nMoon asked them how they had found their way. They were very far from\ntheir own land. They said, \"For many years we have followed Sun's\ntrail.\"\n\nSun said, \"Do you know your way home?\" They said, \"No.\" So Sun took\nthem up to the edge of the water. They could see the earth, but they\ncould not see their own land.\n\nSun asked, \"Why did you follow me?\" They said, \"We wished to see where\nyou lived.\"\n\nSun said, \"I will send you home. But for four days you must not speak\na word to any person. If you do not speak, you shall live long. You\nshall have much wealth.\"\n\nThen Sun called to Buzzard. He put the two brothers on Buzzard's back.\nHe said, \"Take them back to earth.\" So Buzzard started for the earth.\n\nNow the clouds are halfway between heaven and earth. The wind never\nblows above the clouds, so they say.\n\nBuzzard flew from heaven to the clouds. The brothers could easily keep\ntheir hold. Then Buzzard flew from the clouds to the earth. But now\nWind blew them in all directions. Then at last they came to earth.\nThey saw the trees around their own village. They rested under the\ntrees. An old man passing by knew them. So he went down the trail and\ntold their mother. She at once hastened to see them. When she met\nthem, she began to talk. She made them talk to her. They told her. So\nthey spoke before the four days were ended. Therefore Sun could not\nkeep his promise.\n\n\n\n\nSUN AND MOON\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nOnce upon a time, Ke-so, the Sun, and his sister, Tipa-ke-so, the\nMoon, the \"last-night sun,\" lived together in a wigwam in the East.\nOne day Sun dressed himself to go hunting, took his bows and arrows,\nand left. He was gone a long time. When he did not return, his sister\nbecame frightened, and came out into the sky to look for her brother.\nAt last he returned, bringing with him a bear which he had shot.\n\nMoon still comes up into the sky and travels for twenty days. Then she\ndisappears, and for four days nothing is seen of her. At the end of\nthe four days, she comes into the sky again, and travels twenty days\nmore.\n\nSun is a being like ourselves. He wears an otter skin about his head.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MOON PERSON\n\n_Biloxi_\n\n\nIn olden days, the Moon Person used to make visits to the Indians. One\nday a child put out a dirty little hand and made a black spot on Moon\nPerson. Therefore Moon felt ashamed and when night came he\ndisappeared. He went up above. He stays up above all the time now, so\nthey say. Sometimes he is dressed altogether in a shining robe, and\ntherefore he is bright at night. But immediately afterwards he\ndisappears. You can still see the black spot, so they say.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR CREATURES\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOne night hunters in the mountains noticed two shining lights moving\nalong the top of a distant ridge. After a while the lights vanished on\nthe other side. Thus they watched many nights, talking around the camp\nfire.\n\nOne morning they traveled to the ridge. Then they searched long. At\nlast they found two round creatures covered with soft fur or downy\nfeathers. They had small heads.\n\nThen the hunters took these strange creatures to their camp. They\nwatched them. In the day, they were only balls of gray fur; only when\nthe breeze stirred their fur, then sparks flew out. At night they grew\nbright and shone like stars.\n\nThey kept very quiet. They did not stir, so the hunters did not fasten\nthem. One night they suddenly rose from the ground like balls of fire.\nThey went above the tops of the trees, and then higher until they\nreached the Sky-land. So the hunters knew they were stars.\n\n\n\n\nMETEORS\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nWhen a star falls from the sky it leaves a fiery trail. It does not\ndie. Its shade goes back to its own place to shine again. The Indians\nsometimes find the small stars where they have fallen in the grass.\n\n\n\n\nTHE AURORA BOREALIS\n\n_Menomini_\n\n\nIn the Land of the North Wind live the _manabaiwok_, the giants of\nwhom our old people tell.\n\nThe _manabaiwok_ are our friends, but we do not see them any more.\nThey are great hunters and fishermen. Whenever they come out with\ntheir torches to spear fish, we know it because the sky is bright over\nthat place.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WEST WIND\n\n_Chitimacha_\n\n\nA little boy named Ustapu was one day lying on the shore of a lake.\nHis people had just reached the shore from the prairies, but the wind\nwas too high for them to cross.\n\nAs he lay there, he suddenly saw another boy fanning himself with a\nfan of turkey wings. This was the boy who made the West Wind. Ustapu\nsaid to his tribe, \"I can break the arm of the boy who makes West\nWind.\" But they laughed at him. He took a shell and threw it at the\nboy and struck his left arm.\n\nTherefore when the west wind is high, the Indians say that the boy is\nusing his strong arm. When the west wind is a gentle breeze, they say\nhe is using his injured arm. Before that, the west wind had always\nbeen so strong it was very disagreeable, because Wind-maker could use\nboth arms. Now it is much gentler.\n\nThe Indians think this boy also made the other winds.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LONE LIGHTNING\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\nAt one time an orphan boy whose uncle was very unkind to him ran away.\nHe ran a long way. He ran until night. Then because he was afraid of\nwild animals, he climbed into a tree in the forest. It was a high pine\ntree, and he climbed into the forked branches of it.\n\nA person came to him from the upper sky. He said, \"Follow me. Step in\nmy trail. I have seen how badly you are treated.\" Then at once as the\nboy stepped in his trail, he rose higher and higher into the upper\nsky. Then the person put twelve arrows into his hands. He said, \"There\nare evil manitoes in the sky. Go to war against them. Shoot them with\nyour bow and arrows.\"\n\nThe boy went into the northern part of the upper sky. Soon he saw a\nmanito and shot at him. But that one's magic was too strong. Therefore\nthe shot failed. There was only a single streak of lightning in the\nnorthern sky, yet there was no storm, and not even a cloud.\n\n  [Illustration: OJIBWA DANCER'S BEADED MEDICINE BAG.\n    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]\n\nEleven times the boy thus failed to kill a manito, and thus he had\nbut one arrow left. He held this in his hands a long while, looking\naround. Now these evil manitoes had very strong medicine. They could\nchange their form in a moment. But they feared the boy's arrows\nbecause they were also strong magic. And because they had been given\nto him by a good manito, they had power to kill.\n\nAt last the boy saw the chief of the evil manitoes. He drew his bow\nand shot his last arrow; but the chief saw it coming. At once he\nchanged himself into a rock. And the arrow buried itself in a crack of\nthe rock. The chief was very angry. He cried, \"Now your arrows are all\ngone! And because you have dared to shoot at me, you shall become the\ntrail of your arrow.\"\n\nThus at once he changed the boy into Nazhik-a-wawa, the Lone\nLightning.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THUNDERS\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nThe Great Thunder and his sons, the two Thunder boys, live far in the\nWest, above the Sky-plain. The lightning and the rainbow are their\nbeautiful robes. Medicine men pray to Thunder, and call him the Red\nMan because there is so much red in his dress.\n\nThere are other thunders that live lower down, in the cliffs and\nmountains, and under waterfalls. They travel on bridges from one peak\nto another, but the Indian cannot see these bridges. The Great\nThunders above the sky are kind and helpful when we make medicine to\nthem, but the others are always plotting mischief. One must not point\nto the rainbow.\n\n\n\n\nMONTHS OF THE YEAR\n\n_Natchez_\n\n\nThe Natchez begin the year in March, each being a lunar month.\nTherefore there are thirteen.\n\n     1 Deer month\n     2 Strawberry month\n     3 Little Corn month\n     4 Watermelon month\n     5 Peach month (July)\n     6 Mulberry month\n     7 Great Corn month (maize)\n     8 Turkey month (October)\n     9 Bison month\n    10 Bear month\n    11 Cold meal month (January)\n    12 Chestnut month\n    13 Nut month (nuts broken to make bread, at the close of\n         winter, when supplies run low)\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE OAKS AND SUMACHS REDDEN\n\n_Fox_\n\n\nOnce on a time, long ago, when it was winter, so they say, it snowed\nfor the first time. And while the very first snow lay on the ground,\nso they say, three men went early in the morning to hunt for game.\n\nIn a thick growth of shrub on a side hill, a bear had entered in. They\ncould see the trail in the snow. One went in after him, and started\nhim going in flight.\n\n\"Away from The-place-whence-comes-the-cold he is making fast!\" he\ncalled to the others.\n\nBut the one who had gone round by way of The-place-from-whence-comes-\nthe-cold, cried, \"In the direction From-whence-comes-the-source-of-midday\nis he hurrying away.\" Thus he said.\n\nThe third, who had gone round by way of The-place-whence-comes-the-\nsource-of-midday, cried out, \"Towards-the-place-where-the-sun-falls-down\nis he hastening.\"\n\nBack and forth for a long while did they keep the bear fleeing from\none to another. After a while, one of the hunters who was coming\nbehind looked down. Behold! The earth below was green. For it is\nreally true, so they say, that up into the Sky-land were they led away\nby the bear. While they were chasing him about the dense growth of\nshrubs, that was surely the time that up into the Sky-land they went.\n\nThen quickly he called, \"Oh, Union-of-rivers, let us turn back. Truly\ninto the Sky-land is he leading us away.\" So he called to\nUnion-of-rivers, but no answer did he receive from that one.\n\nNow Union-of-rivers, who went running between the man ahead and the\nman behind, had a little puppy, Hold-tight.\n\nNow in the autumn, they overtook the bear. Then they slew him. After\nthey had slain him, many boughs of an oak did they cut, also of\nsumach. So with the bear lying on top of the boughs, they skinned him,\nand cut up the meat. Then they began to scatter the pieces in all\ndirections.\n\nTowards The-place-whence-comes-the-dawn-of-day they hurled the head.\nIn winter, when dawn is nearly breaking, stars appear which are that\nhead, so they say.\n\nAlso to the east flung they his backbone. In winter time, certain\nstars lie close together. These are the backbone, so they say.\n\nAnd it has also been told of the bear and the hunters that the group\nof four stars in front are the bear and the three hunters. And between\nthe front star and the star behind, a tiny little star hangs. That is\nthe little dog, Hold-tight, which was the pet of Union-of-rivers.\n\nAnd so often as autumn comes, the oaks and sumachs redden at the leaf\nbecause their boughs were stained with the blood of the bear.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN OF ICE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nOnce when the people were burning the woods in the fall, a poplar tree\nbegan to burn. It burned until the fire went down into the roots; and\nthen down into the ground. It burned and burned until there was a\ngreat hole in the ground, and the people began to be afraid the whole\nworld would burn. They tried to put out the fire, but it was too deep\nin the ground.\n\nAt last someone said, \"There is a man living in a house of ice, far\ntoward the Frozen Land. He can put out the fire.\"\n\nSo messengers were sent. They traveled many sleeps until they came to\nthe house of the Man of Ice. He was a little fellow with long braids\nof hair, hanging to the ground.\n\nHe said at once, \"Oh, yes, I can help you,\" and began to unbraid his\nhair. When it was all loose, he took it in one hand and struck the\nends against the other hand. The messengers felt a wind blow against\ntheir cheeks.\n\nHe struck the ends of his hair again across his hand. A light rain\nbegan to fall. A third time he struck the open hand with his hair.\nSleet began to fall with the rain. The fourth time, and large\nhailstones fell. They fell as though they came out of the ends of his\nhair.\n\n\"Now go home,\" said the medicine man. \"I shall be there tomorrow.\"\n\nSo the messengers returned. They found the people standing around the\nburning hole.\n\nThe next day, as the people stood again at the burning hole, watching\nthe fire, a light wind came from the north. They were afraid because\nthey knew the medicine man had sent it. The wind made the flames sweep\nhigher. Then a light rain began to fall. It but made the fire hotter.\nThen came sleet with a heavy rain, and hail. The flames died down but\nclouds of smoke and steam arose.\n\nThen the people fled to their wigwams for shelter. A great wind arose\nwhich blew the hail into the depths of the fire and piled up a great\nheap of hailstones. Then the fire died out and the smoke ceased.\n\nNow when the people went to look again--a lake stood where flames had\nbeen. Yet from below the water came the sound of embers still\ncrackling.\n\n\n\n\nTHE NUNNEHI\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nThe Nunnehi are The People Who Live Anywhere. They were spirit people\nwho lived in the highlands of the Cherokee country, and they liked the\nbald mountain peaks where no timber ever grows.\n\nNo one could see the Nunnehi except when the spirit-people let\nthemselves be seen, and then they looked and acted just like other\nIndians. But they like music and dancing, and hunters in the mountains\noften could hear the dance songs and the drum; yet when they went\ntowards the sound, it would suddenly shift behind them or in some\nother direction. They were a friendly people, too. Some Indians have\nthought they were the same as the Little People; but those are no\nlarger than little children.\n\nOnce a boy was with the Nunnehi. When he was about ten or twelve years\nold, he was playing one day near the river, shooting at a mark with\nhis bow and arrow. Then he started to build a fish trap in the water.\nWhile he was piling up the stones in two long walls, a man came and\nstood on the bank.\n\nThe man said, \"What are you doing?\" The boy told him. The man said,\n\"That's pretty hard work. You ought to rest awhile. Come and take a\nwalk up the river.\"\n\nThe boy said, \"No. I am going to the lodge to get something to eat.\"\n\n\"Come to my lodge,\" said the man. \"I'll give you good food and bring\nyou home again in the morning.\"\n\nSo the boy went to the man's lodge with him. They went up the river.\nThe man's wife and all the other people were glad to see him. They\ngave him plenty to eat. While he was eating, a man that the boy knew\nvery well indeed came in and spoke to him. So he did not feel strange.\n\nAfterwards he played with the other children and slept there that\nnight. In the morning, their father took him down the trail. They went\ndown a trail that had a cornfield on one side and a peach orchard on\nthe other, until they came to a cross trail. Then the man said,\n\n\"Go along this trail across that ridge and you will come to the river\nroad that will take you straight to your home.\"\n\nSo he went back to his house. The boy went down the trail, but soon\nhe turned and looked back. There was no cornfield there; there were no\npeach trees or house--nothing but trees on the mountain side. Still he\nwas not frightened. He went on until he came to the river trail in\nsight of his home. He saw many people standing about talking. When\nthey saw him, they ran towards him shouting, \"Here he is! He is not\ndrowned or killed in the mountains!\"\n\nThen they said, \"Where have you been? We have been looking for you\never since yesterday noon.\"\n\n\"A man took me over to his house, just across the ridge,\" said the\nboy. \"I thought Udsi-skala would tell you where I was.\"\n\nUdsi-skala said, \"I have not seen you. I was out all day in my canoe\nlooking for you. It was one of the Nunnehi who made himself look like\nme.\"\n\nHis mother said, \"You say you had plenty to eat there?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the boy.\n\n\"There is no house there,\" his mother answered. \"There is nothing\nthere but trees and rocks, but we hear a drum sometimes in the big\nbald peak above. The people you saw were the Nunnehi.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE PEOPLE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nThere is another race of spirits, the Little People. They live in rock\ncaves and in the mountain side. They hardly reach to a man's knee, but\nthey are very handsome, with long hair falling to the ground. They\nwork wonders, and are fond of music. They spend half their time\ndrumming and dancing. If their drum is heard in lonely places in the\nmountains, it is not safe to follow it. They do not like to be\ndisturbed and they throw a spell over people who annoy them. And even\nwhen such a person at last gets back home, he seems dazed.\n\nSometimes the Little People come near a house at night, but even if\npeople hear them talking, they must not go out. And in the morning,\nthe corn is gathered, or the field cleared, as if a great many people\nhad been at work.\n\nWhen a hunter finds a knife in the woods, he must say, \"Little People,\nI want to take this,\" because it may belong to them. Otherwise, they\nmay throw stones at him as he goes home.\n\nThere are other spirits. The Water Dwellers live in the water and\nfishermen pray to them.\n\nThere are also the hunter spirits who are very handsome. Sometimes\nthey help the hunters, but when someone trips and falls, we know one\nof these hunter spirits tripped him up.\n\nThen there is Det-sata. Det-sata was once a boy who ran away from his\nhome. He has a great many children who are all just like him and have\nhis name. When a flock of birds flies up suddenly as if frightened, it\nis because Det-sata is chasing them. He is mischievous and sometimes\nhides an arrow from the bird hunter who may have shot it off into a\nperfectly clear space, but looks and looks without finding it.\n\nThen the hunter says, \"Det-sata, you have my arrow. If you do not give\nit up, I'll scratch you.\" When he looks again, he finds it.\n\n\n\n\nWAR SONG\n\n_Ojibwa_\n\n\n    From the place of the South\n        They come.\n    From the place of the South\n        They come.\n    The birds of war--\n    Hear the sound of their passing screams in the air.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WAR MEDICINE\n\n_Cherokee_\n\n\nSome warriors had medicine to change themselves into any animal or\nbird they wished.\n\nLong ago, a warrior coming in from the hunt, found enemies attacking\nthe wigwams of his people across the river. The men were away hunting.\nOn the river bank, he found a mussel shell. With his medicine he\nchanged the shell into a canoe. Thus he crossed the river, and went to\nhis grandmother's wigwam. She sat with her head in a blanket, waiting\nto be killed. At once he changed her into a small gourd, and fastened\nher to his belt. Then he climbed a tree and became a swamp woodcock.\nThus he flew back across the river. So the warrior and his grandmother\nescaped.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN\n\n_Wyandot_\n\n\nNow in early days, the Wyandots lived about the St. Lawrence River, in\nthe mountains to the eastward. They were the first tribe of old. They\nhad the first chieftainship. The chief said to his nephews, the\nLenap\u00e9es,\n\n\"Go down to the seacoast and look. If you see anything, come and tell\nme.\"\n\nNow the Lenap\u00e9es had a village by the sea. They often looked out, but\nthey saw nothing. One day something came. When it came near the land,\nit stopped. Then the people were afraid. They ran into the woods. The\nnext day two Indians went quietly to look. It was lying there in the\nwater. Then something just like it came out of it and walked on two\nlegs over the water.[25] When it came to the land, two men stepped out\nof it. They were different from us. They made signs for the Lenap\u00e9es\nto come out of the woods. They gave presents. Then the Lenap\u00e9es gave\nthem skin clothes.\n\n    [25] A row boat.\n\nThe white men went away. They came back many times. They asked the\nIndians for room to put a chair on the land. So it was given. But soon\nthey began to pull the lacing out of the bottom and to walk inland\nwith it. They have not yet come to the end of the string.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nVariations in spelling and accent usage are preserved as printed.\n\n\"The Death Trail\" is accredited to the Cherokee in the Table of\nContents, but to the Choctaw as a subtitle to the story itself. This\nis preserved as printed.\n\n\"The Kite and the Eagle\" has no credit to a particular nation.\n\n\"The Tiny Frog and the Panther\" had no credit in the Table of\nContents, but is accredited to the Biloxi as a subtitle to the\nstory. This is preserved as printed.\n\nPage 12 mentioned Kuti Mandkce. With reference to the 1912 Bureau of\nAmerican Ethnology Bulletin 47, _A Dictionary of Biloxi and Ofo\nLanguages_, this has been amended to Kuti Mankdce.\n\nMinor punctuation errors have been repaired.\n\nThe following amendment has been made on the assumption that it was a\nprinter error:\n\n    Page v--Gitchee amended to Gitche--... who made Gitche Gomee,\n    the Great Water.\n\nIllustrations have been moved where necessary so that they are not in\nthe middle of a paragraph. The frontispiece illustration has been\nmoved to follow the title page.","title":"Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":36194}