{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_76755/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_76755","id":"gutenberg_76755","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76755","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Ojibwa Indians -- Legends","Ojibwa Indians -- Mythology"],"text":"OJIBWA MYTHS AND TALES\n\n\n                                   BY\n                          COL. GEO. E. LAIDLAW\n\n\n             REPRINTED FROM THE ARCH\u00c6OLOGICAL REPORT, 1915\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOJIBWA MYTHS AND TALES.\n\nBy COL. G. E. LAIDLAW.\n\n\nThis series was obtained from Peter York this summer of 1915, when\ncamped here with his family of basket makers, and also after his return\nto the Rama Reserve where he lives. This reserve is to the east of Lake\nCouchiching in Ontario County in Ontario Province. The tales told by\nJohn York were told in Ojibwa to Peter York and were written down in\nEnglish by Peter York, who can read and write English. I have followed\nYork\u2019s phraseology in the stories as closely as possible, using his\nterms, such as \u201cwent to work,\u201d etc., and not changing his meaning in\nany sense. Some of these stories may appear crude, and others rather\nindefinite, but I have in no way altered them, preferring to leave them\nas they are.\n\nJohn York is an old man of 96 years and his Indian name is\n\u201cKitche-Penascie\u201d or \u201cBig Thunder.\u201d Peter York is 48 years old and his\nIndian name is \u201cPenascie\u201d or \u201cThunder.\u201d Both names, according to Peter,\nare \u201chard\u201d names. York frequently visits this section which is only a\nscore of miles from the Reserve.\n\nNanabush is one of the variants of Nenebojo, others being Nanabozho and\nNenebuc. This personage while being human possesses certain\nsupernatural powers, one of them being, that whoever or whatever he\naddressed had to answer him. Nanabush seems to have been a joker and a\nscapegoat at times, and is reputed to be alive yet. York remarked upon\none occasion that Nanabush \u201cwas a sort of god\u201d and addresses him as Mr.\nNanabush. This band of Ojibwas did not know where or when Nanabush was\nborn, or the circumstances of his birth. Perhaps some of the older\nIndians on the Reserve might know. Inquiries will be made in the\nfuture.\n\nYork\u2019s ending to the stories is \u201cThis ends this story.\u201d And his use of\nthe words \u201cgreat big\u201d means a giant such as \u201ca great big man,\u201d a giant.\n\u201cA great big beaver,\u201d a giant beaver, etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 1.\n\nNANABUSH AND THE DUCKS. (MODERN.) (NO. 1.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nA long time ago Nanabush when out hunting ducks came to a lake. He saw\na nice bay, round (curved) all along to the end which we all know bays\nare not straight. And in this bay there were a lot of ducks sitting\nalong the shore, and Nanabush would like to kill them all with one\nshot. He did not know how to do it. He thought that he must get them\nall. He looked at his gun which was straight, and he thought if he\ncould bend his gun he might get them all. He went to work and bent his\ngun. He got close and made a good aim, pulled the trigger and \u201cBang.\u201d\nWhen the smoke cleared away there were no ducks to be seen dead or\nalive. Nanabush got so mad (angry) that he made another plan.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 2.\n\nNANABUSH AND THE DUCKS. (NO. 2.)\n\nTold by Mrs. Joseph Kenice.\n\n\nThe other plan that Nanabush made to get these ducks was this: He and\nhis mother made a big camp (lodge or wigwam) and invited all the\ndifferent kinds of ducks to come to a big dance on such a day set apart\nfor the dance. All the ducks came and when they came up Nanabush\nstarted to sing a song. Before the dance started he told the ducks that\nthey had to keep their eyes closed when they danced and had to dance\naround the middle of the camp. Nanabush seated himself near the door\nand as the ducks would dance near him he would grab them and twist\ntheir necks and throw them behind him (York exemplified this by\ngestures) and got quite a lot this time. But one of the birds, a diver,\nopened her eyes a little bit and saw what Nanabush was doing. She made\nfor the door and told all the ducks to run away. Nanabush made for the\none that told on him. He got the duck in the door as she was going out\nand reached out his foot and stamped on her as she went past, and this\nis the reason the diver has flat feet and legs that stick out behind.\nThese are some of Nanabush\u2019s works while he lived. This ends this\nstory.\n\n\n\nNote by G. E. L.\u2014The song that Nanabush sang for the ducks was called\n\u201cKi-ah-wah-na,\u201d which, according to York, means \u201cSomething that has\nbeen used to get such a thing or to do such a thing with. May have been\nan axe or a knife, etc.\u201d This is very indefinite, but is just what York\nexplained, that it was difficult to understand. I fail to see any\nconnection with the ducks as in other variations of this story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 3.\n\nTHUNDERBIRDS. (NO. 1.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nThe old people once went to the Blue Mountains near Collingwood a long\ntime ago. At the end (escarpment) near the Bay a Thunderbird had its\nnest. It had two young birds. They were shaped like geese, but were\nnaked and were about as high as a man\u2019s chest and were of brownish red\nor russet color. By and by they began to grow pin-feathers and get big.\nThen they went away. The old people went over several times to see\nthem, and they first saw them during a thunderstorm.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 4.\n\nTHUNDERBIRDS. (NO. 2.)\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nOnce two Indians, a man and his wife, camped near a little lake. The\nIndian was trapping. He had a dream one night never to cross on the ice\nat night on any lake, but one day shortly afterwards he went too far\naway hunting and got very tired. As he was coming home with his bag of\nbeaver on his back, and his ice chisel in his hand, he came to a narrow\nplace in the lake where he either had to cross on the ice or go a long\nway around, so he thought he\u2019d chance the ice (risk it for once), but\nwhen he got about half way over he heard something coming down from\nabove, but could not see anything because it was dark. He fainted\n(became unconscious) and dropped on the ice, and the next thing he knew\nhe found himself sitting inside a big bird\u2019s hand (or claws) with all\nhis game, beaver, ice chisel and bag. He could not do anything except\nto remain very still. After a while he saw something ahead, which was a\nrock, and the big bird lit on the rock and let the man go and flew away\nagain.\n\nThe man saw two young ones (young Thunderbirds) coming towards him, and\nwhen one of these got near enough it opened its mouth wide. The man got\nup and got his chisel and knocked the young bird down and killed it.\nThis young bird was very big and heavy (as York expressed it, \u201cit would\nweigh easy a ton\u201d). The man made up his mind what to do, as he had got\nto die anyway, so he went to work and opened the young bird and took\nall the insides out and got in himself. He found that he could stay\ninside the bird in going down to earth again. He managed to get the\nyoung bird to the edge of the rock. Then he got inside and fastened\nhimself in with his long sash, closed the open hole with strings and\nrolled off. The young Thunderbird spread its wings and began to float\ndown through the air. The man fainted and when he came to he found\nhimself on the edge of a lake in a strange place, so he got up and\nwandered about till he came on some man tracks which he followed up\ntill he came to two men and asked them where he was. They told him\nwhere he was and the name of the place, and then he knew which way to\ngo to reach his own camp.\n\nWhen he got near his own camp he saw that the place looked very old\nanyway. He went nearer and got to the door and called \u201cWho\u2019s in there?\u201d\nSome one inside told him to \u201ccome in.\u201d Inside he saw a very old lady.\nHe thought \u201cthis can\u2019t be my wife, she\u2019s too old. I\u2019ve been only away a\nfew days.\u201d He asked her \u201cwhere was her man?\u201d She said, \u201cA good many\nyears ago my husband had a dream \u2018never to walk across the ice of any\nlake\u2019 and he may have tried to go across some lake at night and was\ntaken by some big bird (Thunderbird) or somebody I never heard of. Here\nI have been ever since he went away and nobody knows where he is.\u201d The\nman told her who he was and they kissed each other and lived together\nthe rest of their lives. This shows that he was away a long time, but\nit seemed short to him. When on the Thunderbird\u2019s rock he killed only\none of the young Thunderbirds. The other he did not touch.\n\n\n\nNotes by G. E. L.\u2014The word \u201cLady\u201d used here is equivalent to\nOgemah\u00adkwee, which means a chief\u2019s wife or daughter, or some female\nrelative of a chief. This word is also used in speaking of, or to a\nwhite lady of quality.\n\nKissing is seldom met with in stories or tales of their own life by the\nIndians, so I think it is a modern introduction.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 5.\n\nRAT AND BEAVER STORY\u2014WAH-ZESK AND AH-MIC.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nA long time ago the Rat had the Beaver\u2019s tail, and the Beaver the Rat\u2019s\ntail. The Rat wanted to trade tails, very badly, but the Beaver didn\u2019t\ncare enough about trading, but at last he traded. Then the Beaver when\nhe got his present tail liked it very much for he found that he could\nswim faster, but the Rat didn\u2019t like it, because he had to swim slower,\nso he begged the Beaver to trade back, but the Beaver would not trade;\nso the Rat cried and cried till his eyes got small, and this is the\nreason that the Rat has small eyes and a small tail.\n\n(Rat here means the Muskrat.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 6.\n\nTHE BEAR, THE WILD CAT AND THE BIG STURGEON\u2014MUH KWAH, PEZHEW AND\nKITCH\u00c9 N\u016cH MAH.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nNear the mouth of the Nottawasaga River there are rapids. The bear was\nfishing there one day. He was catching sturgeon in his paws and\nthrowing them over his shoulder on to the bank. By the time when he had\nenough he quit fishing and started to carry the sturgeon back into the\nwoods from the pile he had thrown them into. The wild cat (lynx) was\nwatching the bear whilst the bear was fishing. When the bear went away,\nthe wild cat went to fish at the same place. He caught a very big\nsturgeon, but on account of his crooked claws, could not let go, and\nthe sturgeon swam out to deep water and drowned the wild cat.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 7.\n\nNE-WE-NO-NAH K\u2019SHE M\u016cH.\n\nThe story of the woman who visited a man who lived in a tree, and who\ncould change himself into a serpent when he wished.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nA very long time ago there was an Indian who lived with his family in\nthe wilderness or wild bush where nobody was to be seen. This man lived\nby hunting wild game. One time he noticed his wife dressing up very\nnice. This kept on for a good many days. One day the oldest boy told\nhis father that the mother went away every time the father left camp\nfor hunting. The man thought that he would watch her, so he went away\none morning, but went only a little way and watched the camp. After a\nlittle while the wife came out dressed in her best. She went out in the\nbush and the man followed to see what she would do. She went to a big\ntree and stood at the foot of the tree and rapped, just the same as a\nperson would do on a house door. Then he saw a very nice man come out\nof the tree and observed what was going on, so he thought he would kill\nhis wife as soon as she got back to camp. When he got home he made a\nbig fire and told his two children (boys) what he was going to do, and\nalso told them what to do when he (the father) would run away. His wife\ncame home in the evening and he killed her and burned her in the fire.\nHe then told his boys \u201cif they saw the sky red that would show them\nthat he (their father) was killed by his wife\u2019s sweetheart.\u201d The next\nday they saw the sky red which showed them that their father was\nkilled, so they ran away themselves. Before their father went away he\ntold them that their mother would follow them though she was dead, so\nthe father gave them some things to use in case they wanted help; an\nawl, a stone, and a thorn. When they saw their mother coming, they\nthrew the stone down, when it became a big mountain, and the two boys\nwent a long way before their mother was able to get over the mountain\nand catch up to them. When she came close again the boys threw the\nthorn down when it became a very big bush of thorn trees (Haw trees),\nwhich gave the two boys a chance to get ahead a good bit before she got\nthrough. When she got close again the boys threw the awl down, which\nbecame many hundred awls with their points sticking up, but she managed\nto get over them and kept on trying to get her children.\n\nThe boys came to a big river and saw a big snail which they asked to\ntake them across the river. The big snail stretched himself across the\nriver and the two boys got across. When the mother got to the river she\nalso asked the big snail to take her over. The snail told her he would,\nbut when about half way across the snail dropped the woman into the\nriver, and that was the last of her.\n\nThe two boys went on and came to a lake where nobody was to be seen\nonly themselves. The big boy made a little bow and arrow for his little\nbrother. After a little while they saw someone coming in a log canoe,\nwho turned out to be a bad old man. As soon as the old man saw the two\nboys he made up his mind to take one of them and leave the other, so he\ntold the little boy with the bow and arrow to shoot up in the air. The\narrow dropped into the canoe, and the old man told the big boy to come\nand get it. As soon as the big boy got in the canoe the old man pushed\nout quickly and left the little boy behind. The big boy asked the old\nman to take his brother along but the old man said \u201cNo!\u201d When they got\nto the old man\u2019s place the big boy was locked up (confined) for a good\nmany days and could not get a chance to run away. One day the old man\ntold the big boy that if he wanted to go out with him he could go. They\ncame to a big hill and he asked the boy to go for a sleigh ride down\nthe hill. The old man wanted the boy to sit in front but the boy chose\nto sit behind. There were stumps and stones down the hill and as they\nwent down the hill very fast, the boy thought to hit a stone and kill\nthe old man, which he did. Then the boy thought about his little\nbrother and went back and looked for him. When he got to the place\nwhere his brother was left he saw a wolf which was his brother who had\nbecome half a wolf and half a boy. Which all Indians believe to be\nwhere the wolf came from. The boy got too hungry and became part wolf.\nThis ends this story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 8.\n\nOJIBWA AND MOHAWK. (NO. 1.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nLong years ago there were two Ojibwa boys who lived so close together\nthat they called each other \u201cBrother,\u201d and one time when they got to be\nbig boys they talked about getting married, so they went away to an\nIndian (Ojibwa) village not far away and got girls to marry them. When\nthey got married they wanted to know what to do to make a living. One\nsaid \u201cWe will go a long ways up the river to hunt and stay there for a\ngood while and will be able to get enough to keep us during the winter\nmonths.\u201d They got ready for the trip and started with a good supply.\nThey stayed a long time till they got enough (furs and meat) and then\nstarted to come home.\n\nOn their way home they came to a place where there were a lot of stumps\nand snags, and one of them struck a stump and made a big hole in his\ncanoe. He had to go to shore to fix his canoe, whilst the other canoe\nwent on ahead. When the canoe was mended they started on again and when\nthey came to a little lake they saw their comrade just about the other\nside of the little lake going into a river where there were lots of\nother Indians (Mohawks, their enemies) waiting for them to come home\nwith their catch of fur and meat. The man in the second canoe said to\nhis wife, \u201cWell, my brother is going to get killed, as he goes into the\nriver, you watch!\u201d And when the first canoe was just going into the\nriver there was smoke of gunfire from both sides. The wife (in the\nsecond canoe) said, \u201cWe will be killed the same way.\u201d The husband\nreplied, \u201cWell, no. If I get mad (angry) there is no shot that could\nhit me. I will go alone to see, and you stay here till I come back.\u201d\n\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cYou can\u2019t go, you will be shot too.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said he,\n\u201clet them shoot, they can\u2019t hit me. I had a dream in my early days that\nno gun could hurt me, and if my dream is no good I won\u2019t come back.\u201d So\nthey got everything out of the canoe and he started in the canoe with\nhis gun for the same place where his comrade got shot. When he got\nthere the gunfire started from both sides of the river and kept up for\na long time, till after a while the fire was not so bad, after another\nwhile the fire ceased and the wife looked and looked and after a short\ntime she saw something coming straight to where she was waiting. She\nknew the canoe but there was a different man in it. She hid herself in\nthe bush till she heard her man calling to her and then she came out.\nHer man was all black, and it was because he had so many close shots\nfired at him that the gunpowder blackened him up, so that the wife only\nknew him by his voice when he called her. They got ready and crossed\nthe lake to where the fight took place. They got out of the canoe and\nhe showed his wife where there were a good many dead Indians (Mohawks)\non both sides of the river. They went to work to see if they could find\ntheir friends\u2019 bodies. It did not take them long to do so and to bury\nthem the best way they could. They then started on their way home and\nupon arrival spread the story and went to see the parents of the dead\nones. This ends this story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 9.\n\nOJIBWA AND MOHAWK. (NO. 2.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nA good many years ago there were two head chiefs of the two big nations\nof Indians, the Ojibwas and the Mohawks. One time the head chief of the\nMohawks thought to do something to hurt the Ojibwa chief. He did not\nknow just what to do. The Ojibwa chief had one son and one daughter.\nWell, the Mohawk thought \u201cIf I kill one of his children this would make\nhim mad (angry).\u201d So he got his warriors to come to him and told them\nto go to the Ojibwa village at night and try to kill the chief\u2019s son or\ndaughter. The warriors started at night and went on their errand and it\nhappened that the son was out late and was taken prisoner. The warriors\ntook the boy to the Mohawk chief and the chief cast lots, by drawing\nlittle sticks, and the one that got the longest stick had to kill the\nboy. The boy was killed before the people and the chief called a big\nfeast and had the boy cooked. When everything was ready he invited all\nthe other neighbouring chiefs as well as the Ojibwa chief who had lost\nhis son, and there were hundreds of Indians besides. The big feast was\nready by this time and all sat down on the ground. Those who were\nappointed to act as waiters started to bring in the eatables, beginning\nat the door, giving the food to the men as they went along. The head\nOjibwa chief was placed in the middle, and when the waiters came to him\nthey brought his son\u2019s head well cooked. This chief recognized his\nson\u2019s head, but said nothing, and as they were all eating, he ate his\nson\u2019s head just to show them that he was a man.\n\nWhen everything was over the Ojibwa chief started for home, and as he\nwas going home he made up his mind that he would also do this kind of\nwork some day. He did not do it at once but waited for a few years,\nwhen he got his warriors to come to him one day and told them that they\nhad to go to the Mohawks\u2019 village and get the chief\u2019s daughter and\nbring her to him. One of the warriors told the chief \u201cthat there were\nhundreds of warriors guarding the Mohawk chief\u2019s house ever since the\nBig Feast when the Ojibwa chief\u2019s son was killed and eaten\u201d (or in\nother words, since you lost your son).\n\nThe Ojibwa chief then said, \u201cYou go in the daytime and take her and I\nwill make them sleep sound. I will be able to do that.\u201d So they\nstarted, six of the best men. When they got to the Mohawk village they\nfound all the watchers asleep and the chief also sound asleep. They\ntook the girl away as they were told to bring her. Before this the\nOjibwa chief told one of his men to kill her, and she was killed in a\nquiet way. Nobody knew what happened. The Ojibwa chief then called a\nbig feast and told his people to get ready, that after the feast there\nwas going to be a big battle right there. So they got everything ready.\n\nThey called the Mohawk chief to come and all the Mohawks that could\ncome at that time came, and all the Indians came from other places.\nThey all sat down and ate. The girl\u2019s head well cooked was placed\nbefore the Mohawk chief. As soon as he saw his daughter\u2019s head he gave\na loud yell and fainted. Just at this time the Ojibwa chief rose up and\nasked his men to start and kill every one of the Mohawks. The Ojibwa\nchief killed the Mohawk chief himself and his men killed the rest of\nthe Mohawks at this time. After this happened the news spread all over\nand the two big nations got so mad (angry) that they declared war. The\nwar took place in winter time. They fought on Lake Couchiching and the\nLake was full of Indians. When the fight began the Ojibwa in command\nwas a girl who led the warriors. When the Mohawks saw them coming they\nsaid \u201cwe\u2019ll have fun now.\u201d When the Ojibwas came very close the girl\nwho led gave a big loud yell and all the Mohawks fell down on their\nhands and knees and tried to crawl away, but the Ojibwa warriors killed\nevery one of them that they could find. Young and old, women as well as\nmen, except two, a boy and a girl, and from this pair came the present\nMohawks. This ends this Mohawk story.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014(The girl leader of the Ojibwa was not the sister of the boy that\nwas killed and eaten. She was a different girl, but had a dream that\nshe could do this leading.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 10.\n\nOJIBWA AND MOHAWK. (NO. 3.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nThe Ojibwas were once entering Lake Couchiching by the west side in\nwinter time on the ice. They were going across to fight the Mohawks on\nthe east side, when an old Mohawk woman came down to the ice hole to\nget some water. She saw the Ojibwas coming and turned her back to them\nand exposed her anus in contempt and otherwise made fun of them. Then\nshe went and told her people. The opposing warriors fought on the ice\nand the Mohawks were beaten. After the battle the Ojibwas painted a red\nwoman in just the same position as the Mohawk woman posed, on the rocks\non the east shore near where the fight took place (now called\nMcPherson\u2019s Quarry or Geneva Park). This figure now remains and can be\nseen to day. (It is about 5 or 6 feet above water and is about 1 ft.\nhigh.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 11.\n\nOJIBWA AND MOHAWKS. (NO. 4.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nAn Ojibwa man and wife and one child were out hunting away back in the\nwoods and one day the man said to his wife, \u201cWe are going to have\ntrouble now. There are some Mohawks about, and they are going to come\nto-night to kill us. There is no use running away for we are too far\nfrom home. If I am killed they will take you away to their home.\u201d The\nnight came and this man and wife watched nearly all night, till about\ndaylight they heard an owl and some other kind of bird. This shows that\nthe Mohawks were near and had surrounded their camp. There were fifteen\nMohawks and the one Ojibwa man had to fight them all. Well, he did very\nwell for he killed quite a lot of them, but his wife and child were\ntaken prisoners whilst he was fighting. He was not killed but escaped\nand ran towards his home. He ran for two days till he reached home and\ntold his friends what had happened. He raised a war party of some forty\nor fifty men and one old man, a prophet, and started after the Mohawks.\n\nThis old man, the Prophet, knew where the Mohawks went and he also knew\nthat the wife was still alive, and that child was killed on the way to\nthe Mohawks\u2019 home, for he had that power. So the Ojibwa war party\nstarted for the Mohawk country and while they were going the old man\nsaid, \u201cShe has made her escape and is coming back.\u201d So they all ran to\nmeet her and they met her. She told a very bad (pitiful) story to the\nmen. She said, \u201cOn the way every night I had to keep the fire going all\nnight to keep them warm. Some days they all go out hunting, but one had\nto stay and watch me. One day they all went out but one bad man who\nstayed in camp to watch me. This bad man made a big fire and went out\nand cut a good-sized stick. Then he took my baby and ran the stick into\nhim (through the anus) and roasted him in the big fire. Well, I could\nnot do anything only cry, and this bad man came right in front of me\nand began to mock and cry, and facing the other way showed his\nbuttocks. I grabbed his privates and pulled all I could, and he fell\ndown and I got up and rolled him to the fire and burnt him. Then I took\nhis gun, I did not run away till I killed every one them. Towards the\nevening one came when I was inside the camp, when he got near I shot\nhim. He fell dead, and after a while another one came and I also shot\nhim. I took his gun which was loaded. The last time two came together.\nWell, I thought, if I kill them this time I would be safe, so I made a\ngood aim and fired at the first. He fell and the other tried to run\naway; before he got away I shot him dead and started to run back\ntowards our country.\u201d One of the Ojibwa war party took her home, and\nthe rest went on their way to the Mohawk village. When they got there\nthey killed some of the children to pay the Mohawks for what they did.\n\nThis woman made a good plan to get these Mohawks. She did not run away\nafter she killed the first man for fear the rest would chase her and\ncatch her, so she stayed in camp and killed them as they came in singly\nfrom hunting. She would take the gun of the man just killed and would\nbe ready for the next.\n\nThe Mohawks in camping at night fixed some poles around the fire about\ntwo feet from the ground, and would lay on their backs with their feet\non the poles, warming their hind quarters. The Ojibwa woman had to keep\nthe fire going all night. The killing or torturing of children was the\nworst thing Indians could do. This ends this story.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014All these fights took place in this locality. The river referred\nto is the Gull River. The Ojibwa used to come to where Beaverton now is\nand then across to South Bay, Balsam Lake, by another route south of\nthe Portage Road. (This is borne out by other evidence than York\u2019s.) I\nspoke of the embankment at South Bay to York, but he had never seen it\nthough he had heard of it, and remarked that it was \u201cone of the\nfighting grounds.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 12.\n\nRAMA WITCHES. (NO. 1.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nOne time an old witch lived in Rama on the west side of Lake\nCouchiching. She covered herself with the skin of an owl when she\nwanted to fly at night for the purpose of taking the first joints off\nthe fingers of children, which she used to string up like\nold-fashioned, dried apples in her camp. These children would die at\nonce. She had the power to take these joints off.\n\nOne day she wanted to go to near where Atherley now is, and compelled\ntwo young men to go with her in the canoe, for she had the power to\ncompel young men to go with her, generally the best of them. She wanted\nto go to a man\u2019s place who had two black dogs. She wanted these dogs.\nWhen she arrived there she asked the man for the dogs, but he said\n\u201cNo!\u201d She then asked him for one dog, but still he said \u201cNo.\u201d She then\ntook a paddle and shoved the canoe off shore saying to the man, \u201cI\nshove off with one of your children.\u201d (Meaning that one of his children\nwould die.) The man said, \u201cMaybe you will die yourself before you get\nhome. The bees will have your meat.\u201d She sat in the middle of the canoe\nwith one of the young men paddling at the bow and the other at the\nstern. When about half way home the young man at the stern heard a bee\nhumming overhead and looking up he saw the bee enter the woman\u2019s ear\ninto her head. In a short time her body was full of bees, eating her\nup, and she began to twist around and say: \u201cYouh, youh,\u201d and died in\nthe canoe. The young men put her overboard at what is now Ground Hog\nPoint, which took its name from her, for she was called \u201cKuk-oh-chees,\u201d\n\u201cThe Ground Hog.\u201d\n\nShe had forgotten to take her bag (medicine bag) with her and had left\nit in her camp. The man\u2019s power was stronger than hers, for he killed\nher and nothing happened to him. He had power over the bees. Sometimes\nwhen this witch was looking for children at night she carried a light.\nThe young men went with her because they were afraid she would kill\nthem if they didn\u2019t go.\n\nShe said as she died, \u201cWell, anyway I never killed any big people, just\nchildren,\u201d but the people found joints of fingers of grown-up persons\non the strings as well as those of children in her camp.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014Ground Hog Point is called in Ojibwa Kuk-oh-cheesh,\nN\u0101y-ash-sheeng.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 13.\n\nRAMA WITCHES. (NO. 2.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nAnother old witch once lived in Rama. She disguised herself in a\nturkey\u2019s skin when she wished to fly. She caused many people to die.\nOne day when all the people were having a bee to hoe corn she went to\nthe bee, leaving her turkey skin in her bag (medicine bag) at her home.\nThere was a little boy who lived with her and who had often watched her\nthrough a hole in his blanket when she was dressing herself in this\nturkey skin, and thought that he would like to try it himself, so he\ntook the turkey skin out of the bag and put it on. The skin was very\nmuch worn by now and had lost lots of feathers and was ragged, but\nstill preserved the power to fly. So the boy flew over to the hoeing\nbee, and all the people began to say: \u201cLook at the witch, look at the\nwitch,\u201d and the witch herself began to get very mad (angry) and act\ncrazy when she saw the boy in her turkey skin. The boy lit on the\nground and the people rushed over and took off the skin and found that\nit was only a boy. The witch\u2019s son who was also there took an axe and\nrushed up to his witch mother and said, \u201cYou must stop causing people\nto die, or else I\u2019ll put the axe to your head.\u201d She said, \u201cNo! she\nwould not.\u201d Whereupon he struck her on the head with the axe and killed\nher on the spot.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 14.\n\nTHE SOCIAL PROBLEM.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nOnce a small party left the Rama Reserve for the purpose of going on a\nhunt up the Gull River waters. Amongst this party was a bad man who had\nleft his wife on the Reserve and had taken another woman with him,\nwhich was a very bad thing to do. After being on the hunt for some time\nthis man died and was prepared for burial, and a grave was dug. He was\nleft in a place just outside the camp for three days before burial. One\nof the children of the camp who happened to go and look at the body,\ncame back and said that clothes were pushed off the body\u2019s face and\nbreast, so the older people went to see. They found this was so and the\nman coming to life. He came to life and said that he had been in heaven\nand was sorry for what he had done by leaving his wife on the Reserve,\netc., but that he knew he was going to die in exactly a month from that\nday at midday, and would never see Rama again. After a short while the\nparty moved camp on their homeward journey, and at Balsam Lake when the\nmonth was just about to be up the man said that he was going to die and\nknew he could not stop it. So he made a little camp and went in there.\nHe was all right the night before and also on the morning of the last\nday, but before noon he said his time was near and began to act\nterribly crazy-like. His eyes stuck out and he chewed his tongue and\nrolled around his camp in terrible agony. He acted so strangely and\nshook his camp so much that he so frightened the others that they were\nafraid to go near him and so left him alone to die. His actions\ncontinued till noon when the man died in horrible pain. Thus was he\npunished for leaving his wife and taking another woman.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 15.\n\nWINTIGOES (GIANTS).\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nIn olden times people used to believe that if a person fasted for a\nperiod of about ten or twelve days he would learn something about bears\nor lions, or something very strong, and if he dreamed of any of these\nanimals he would be just as strong.\n\nOne time a man had a dream that he could fight with the Wintigoes any\ntime. He could be just as big and just as strong, and during one winter\ntime he knew that the Wintigo was coming to eat them (i.e. his family).\nHe said to his wife \u201cThe Wintigo is coming to-night, and is going to\neat us, and if my dream fails we shall be eaten by the Wintigo.\u201d The\nnight came and the man went out to meet the Wintigo a little way off.\nThe wife listened for a little while, then she heard trees flying all\nover and she saw two great, big men biting each other and hitting each\nother with great, big trees, and also with their hands. This kept on\nfor a long time, till all at once it went past, and she watched if her\nman would come home. After a while he came out of the woods just as\nsmall as he was when he went out to fight. He said, \u201cI won the battle\nfor the first time since I had my dream. You come over with me and I\nwill show you where I finished the Wintigo.\u201d They both went out till\nthey came to the place where they saw, as if somebody had been\nunderbrushing, so fierce was the battle that all the underbrush and\nsmall trees were knocked or trampled down. At the far end of this place\nthey saw a great big man lying down dead, with his big kettle and a\ngreat big knife, for the Wintigo was going to kill and eat these\npeople. So the man and wife went to work and gathered up wood and made\na big fire and burned the Wintigo to ashes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 16.\n\nLITTLE LYNX STORY.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nBlack Bear had a very good winter one time. It was a very hard winter\nfor the smaller animals on account of the snow and frost and storms.\nThis big Black Bear used to go on the deer runways and catch a deer and\neat him up, and the Lynx used to watch the Black Bear climb up in a\ntree and jump on the deer as they passed along the runways, which they\nhad in the winter months, and which was an easy thing for a big black\nbear to do. Once when the Lynx was very hungry he could not catch\nanything as there was too much snow. Well, he thought that he would try\nand kill a deer, so he went out on one of their runways and watched for\na deer to come along. Soon he saw one coming and he climbed up a tree\nand when the deer came under the tree the Lynx jumped on his back. The\nDeer started off wild and went all over the woods, but the Lynx still\nheld on having a good hold and the Deer could not shake him off. The\nDeer knew that there was a leaning tree in the bush so he made for\nthat, knowing that he could knock the Lynx off as he ran under the\ntree. The Deer ran very fast and as he ran under the tree there\nhappened to be a knot on the under side of the tree where the Deer\nwent, so the Lynx got his back skinned from his head to his tail. It\nalso just happened that an Indian was out hunting that way and tracking\ndeer. He saw a deer track which was a very bad one with blood all over.\nSo he followed it up till he came to the Lynx lying dead and a little\nfarther on he found the Big Buck dead too. The Deer had got so tired\nthat he lay down and died. So the Indian had good luck finding them\nboth.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 17.\n\nNANABUSH AND THE FOUR MEN. (NO. 4.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nA good many years ago four Indians wanted to know something about \u201chow\nto be a man that would know how to fight and never get hurt.\u201d Well,\nthey talked about it and decided to go and see Nanabush and ask these\nthings. They made the journey, which took them two long years to get to\nhis place. On the way up they could hear Nanabush beating his drum and\nsaying to them, \u201cCome on, my children.\u201d Well, one day they heard him\nsaying, \u201cYou will get to my place in the morning.\u201d The morning came and\nthey saw a clean place; everything looked to be good. They saw a big\ncamp here and went to the door and rapped. Nanabush said, \u201cCome in, my\nchildren,\u201d and shook hands with them. They talked a little while when\nNanabush said something to his daughter, who was a very nice-looking\ngirl, and she started to cook something which was bear meat, and took\nsome blueberries and cooked them (both) in a very little pot (about the\nsize of a cup). While those men were watching the girl one of them\nthought, \u201cI could eat all that in the pot with one spoonful.\u201d Nanabush\nknew what this fellow was thinking about and said, \u201cYou will see if you\ncan eat that much.\u201d They all sat down and started to eat out of the\nlittle pot. They ate all that they wanted and the pot was still full.\nNanabush said, \u201cYou men can\u2019t eat it all.\u201d After the meal Nanabush\nsaid, \u201cNow you must tell me what you want to know. You have walked for\na long time.\u201d The first man said to Nanabush, \u201cI would like to know if\nthere is a battle in our country, and I would like to know that if I\nwas shot at I would like the ball not to hit me.\u201d Nanabush said, \u201cThis\nwill happen so, you just think about me when going to fight.\u201d\n\nThe next man came before Nanabush and said, \u201cI am a hunter and I would\nlike to call the game to me when I want them, some wild beasts.\u201d\nNanabush said, \u201cThis will be so, when you go hunting you call just what\nyou want and they will come.\u201d\n\nThe third man came before Nanabush. \u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cI would like to\nget myself a wife, nobody likes me.\u201d Nanabush said, \u201cYou see my\ndaughter, you take her and she will be your wife.\u201d\n\nThe fourth man came before Nanabush and said, \u201cI would like to live\nforever.\u201d Nanabush said (in reproach), \u201cWe all know that every man has\ngot to die, and you would like to live forever.\u201d He reached out his\nhand and took the fourth man and placed him on his side, when the man\nbecame a granite stone, and there were only three men that came back\nhome. Everything that Nanabush said was so.\n\nNanabush said to the one that wanted a wife, that he must not speak to\nher till they got home, and they all started home happy. On the last\nday before reaching home the man who had Nanabush\u2019s daughter wanted to\ntalk to her, so he spoke to her, but before he had finished his words\nthe girl was missing and could not be found, so he got home without a\nwife. This ends this story.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 18.\n\nNANABUSH AND THE YOUNG MAN AND WIFE. (NO. 5.)\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nA good many years ago two families lived on an Island. One family had\none son, and the other one daughter. The two young people got married\nand lived for a little while when the young wife took sick and died.\nThe old people buried her on the Island, but the young husband went out\nafter the burying, and the old people saw him lie down near the grave.\nJust as soon as he closed his eyes he saw his wife going away. He\nfollowed her for a long time but could not get near enough to catch\nher, so he went on till night came. She said to him (her husband), \u201cWe\nwill camp here,\u201d and she made her camp a little way ahead. He made his\ncamp behind hers. The next morning came and they started again. On\ntheir way he saw a big house by the roadside, but before they reached\nthe house he heard somebody talk to him and who told him that \u201cthis was\nthe place where all the dogs live that you ever owned. The ones that\nyou have used badly, and they will pay you for what you have done to\nthem while living.\u201d The man that spoke said to him, \u201cI will help you.\nYou take these bags of shoes and when the dogs attack you throw the\nshoes at them.\u201d When the young husband got to the house the dogs\nattacked him. He dropped the bags of shoes and the dogs attacked the\nshoes and the young man passed out and saw his wife ahead of him the\nsame as usual. The night came again and they camped out once more. The\nnext day came and about noon they saw another house on the road ahead.\nWhen they came to this house they saw some people who invited them to\neat, but they did not eat. This was the last house to be seen before\nthey got to the place where they were going. They went on till they saw\na great big house. The wife went in ahead and the man came in behind.\nWhen he got in he saw nothing but a big room full of little beds, but\nnobody was in the house. He went all over the house but could not find\nhis wife so he went out and looked around. He saw another house nearby\nand went over to it. He rapped at the door and someone said, \u201cCome in.\u201d\nHe went in and saw an old man sitting down who said to him, \u201cYou have\ncome a long way to try and get your wife back. Once they get in that\nbig house you can\u2019t see them any more, but, if you want help I can help\nyou a lot.\u201d \u201cI will be very much obliged if you will,\u201d said the young\nman. \u201cWell,\u201d the old man said, \u201cThere will be a big dance in the big\nhouse to-night. They do that every time a new man or a new woman gets\nhere. I will hide you in my pocket and at the dance I will catch her.\u201d\nThe night came. As soon as the sun went down people could be heard\nrunning around all over (spirits or ghosts).\n\nThis old man was the man who sang at the dance so he started the dance\na little after dark. He who was sitting in the pocket was watching his\nwife. He saw her coming and dancing too. When she got near the old man\ncaught her and got a very small box and put her in and went out. This\nbroke up the dance. The old man took the box to his house. There were\ntwo little boxes, one for the wife, and another in which was an oil of\nsome kind. The old man said to the young husband, \u201cIt took you four\nyears to get here and you will get back in two days. Beware (listen)\nand do what I say. When you get home, get two small stones and make\nthem hot, open the box of oil and let it melt on the stones. Cover\nyourself and the boxes with blankets. You listen till you hear her\nspeak and then open the box. You will see her alive again.\u201d The young\nhusband did all this when he got back home and his wife came to life\nagain. They came to where they started at first on the Island. There\nwas nobody living there this time so they sat down and after a little\nwhile he said, \u201cDo you see that point up there? Watch a little while\nand you will see two canoes coming this way. There will be our parents\nin them.\u201d The canoes came out in the lake straight for the island and\nwhen they came near they stopped. The old people said, \u201cSomeone\u2019s at\nthe grave.\u201d The two young people spoke, \u201cCome on, we got back here\nagain alive.\u201d The old people almost jumped out in the water when they\nsaw their children and heard them talking.\n\nIn olden times people used to believe in feeding the dead by burning\nsome bread and meat (food) over the grave, and this was what brought\nthe parents back to the island at this particular time.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014(The old man in this story is Nanabush, who was also the man that\nspoke about the dogs.)\n\nThis story is from John York, who claims it is a true story and\nhappened in the days gone by.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 19.\n\nTHE LITTLE DOG STORY.\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nIn the old days people used to have faith in their dogs. One time a man\nhad a very small, little dog. When he went out hunting he put the\nlittle dog inside of his coat. Every time the little dog tried to bark\nthe man knew that there was some game near.\n\nOne night while the man was asleep the little dog licked him on the\nface till he woke up, which went to show that there was trouble at\nhand. The little dog tried to take his master outside the camp. They\nboth went out and the little dog began to roll in the snow. Every time\nhe rolled he grew bigger. He rolled till he got to be as big as a\ngood-sized calf, then he stopped and watched the lake. They saw a\ngreat, big dog coming across the ice to kill the man. The man\u2019s dog\nwent out to meet this one and conquered it. This big dog was a\ngrey-looking one with no hair.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 20.\n\nKILLING THE OLD PEOPLE.\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nIn the days gone by when an old man or woman got helpless they used to\nbe killed outright.\n\nOne time while two families, one of which had an old woman, were out\ncamping, they decided to kill the old woman. They told her that they\nwere going to move to some other place. They took her by the hand and\nled her to the bush some distance away where they stopped in a lonely\nplace and told her to sit there till they got ready to build a camp.\nInstead of making a camp they went back home and left her to die. The\nold woman was left on a river bank, and it happened that one of the\nboys was out hunting that way and when he was coming back home he saw\nhis grandmother sitting by the river side. He wondered how she got\nthere, but told her to get in the canoe and took her back to camp. He\nleft her near the camp telling her to come in after dark. The hunter\nthen went into the camp and after a while the old woman came in.\nEverybody sat still, they did not know what to say, as they had thought\nthat she would have died that night out on the river bank. She never\ntold how she came back, neither did her grandson, so it was never known\nto the rest. The people quit killing the old people from that time.\nThey never did it again. The Indians used to do this; when people got\ntoo old they were killed to be got out of the way.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 21.\n\nOJIBWA AND MOHAWK. (NO. 5.)\n\nTold by Peter York.\n\n\nThe Mohawks were so bad that they used to kill for nothing. One time\nthere were three Ojibwa brothers, and one day the Mohawks met one of\nthe brothers and killed him. They hid him in the bush and took his\nscalp home. When the other two came to know that their brother had been\nkilled they got mad (angry) and both got ready with war clubs and lots\nof shot and powder. When they got to the Mohawk village their enemies\nwere waiting for them to come. These brothers did all they could; they\nkilled about three to five hundred of the Mohawks. While the fight was\ngoing on, one of the two Ojibwas got shot in the leg, and the leg was\nbroken below the knee, but he fought on till he got tired and sick.\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said to his brother, \u201cwe are going to get beaten. I will die\nin their hands, you run away and tell our people what has happened.\u201d\nThe other brother started back home and left his brother to be killed,\nwho was killed some time later. The one that got home told all the\npeople what had happened. Everybody got ready to go down and kill all\nthe Mohawks. When they got to the place where the fight was they saw\nthe dead man sitting up dressed in some very nice things, such as\nbuckskin clothing, but his scalp was taken.\n\nWhen the Ojibwas got to the Mohawk village their captain gave a big\nyell to show the Mohawks that there was going to be a fight, and\nstarted to kill everyone who was in the village. When they got through\nthey searched the place for the scalp that was taken from the brother\nand when they found it they burnt the village and started back home.\nWhen they got there they had a big time over the recovered scalp.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 22.\n\nNANABUSH. (NO. 6.)\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nIt was never known how Nanabush was born, only that he was working for\nGod for many years (York says 2,000 years, which is evidently his\nexpression to denote a very long time) looking after the world, such as\nto regulate the weather, rain, snow, and other things.\n\nNanabush did have a wife once, but only one child which was a girl.\nWhile living together he made up his mind to send his wife away to look\nafter the dead, those that died long years ago, where she is now.\n\nThe old man is here somewhere in the north. She looks after the dead\nand he looks after the living. He will not die, nor will be sick, and\nis the only man that will live as long as the world lasts. He never\nworks and always has plenty to eat, and lots of tobacco which he keeps\nin a skunk-skin bag. (In those days skunks were as big as a big\nPorcupine.) Nanabush is getting very grey sitting all the time smoking\nhis pipe.\n\nIf you look sometimes in the north sky you will see the sky white at\nnight. This is the time that Nanabush is poking his fire or making his\nfire.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014Nanabush is often referred to as \u201cThe Old Man.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 23.\n\nNANABUSH AND HIS WIFE\u2019S CHAIR. (NO. 7.)\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nNanabush went to hunt beaver one time. He placed his wife to watch for\nthe beaver and she sat on a rock watching for the beaver to come out.\nShe heard her man calling for her, he had killed the beaver. She went\nover and fixed the meat and dried it. This beaver was a great big one\n(a giant). His tail was very wide (about 5 feet). The rock on which she\nsat is just like a big chair and is on the Rama Reserve. Lots of people\ngo to see it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 24.\n\nTHE TAILLESS STURGEON.\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nOne time there was a family camping at Sturgeon Lake (Victoria County).\nOne day the old man went out to fish through the ice, and while fishing\nhe saw a queer-looking fish. He speared it and killed it, then took it\nhome and cooked it; all the family ate of it, and in a very short time\nthey all took sick and died. These sturgeon from Sturgeon Lake are\ndescended from a serpent which was cut in two a long time ago, but\nlived and bred young ones with no tails.\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014John York said he used to camp at Sturgeon Lake years ago. Had\nheard these sturgeon jumping at night, but had never caught any.\n\nSturgeon Lake has no sturgeon. The name may be given to it from its\nshape. There are no sturgeon in this chain of lakes, now known as the\nKawartha Lakes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 25.\n\nNANABUSH AND THE DUCKS. (NO. 8.)\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nOne time Nanabush was walking, very tired and hungry. He came to a lake\nand looking around he saw a very nice sandy beach. Well, he thought,\nthis is a nice shore to kill some ducks. There were lots of ducks on\nthe lake. He called one of the ducks which came to him. He asked the\nduck, \u201cIs your Chief Duck here at any place?\u201d \u201cYes. He is here at the\npresent time. He is chief of all kinds of ducks,\u201d the duck replied.\nNanabush then said, \u201cI would like to see him and have a talk.\u201d The duck\nsaid, \u201cIf you would like to see him I will go and get him.\u201d Nanabush\nsaid, \u201cYes, go and bring him here.\u201d The Chief Duck came. \u201cWell,\u201d\nNanabush said, \u201cdo you know what is going to take place here very\nsoon?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d said the Chief Duck. \u201cWell,\u201d said Nanabush, \u201cthere is\ngoing to be a big dance.\u201d \u201cWho is going to furnish the music?\u201d said the\nChief Duck. \u201cI am going to furnish the music,\u201d said Nanabush and he\nreached out his hand and got his drum and began to sing, which made the\nChief Duck dance right there. \u201cWell,\u201d said the Chief Duck, \u201cwhen is\nthis big dance coming off?\u201d Nanabush said, \u201cIf you like to have it\nto-night, we can have it to-night.\u201d \u201cWell, it just suits me, and I will\ntell all the kinds of ducks to come,\u201d said the Chief Duck. This pleased\nNanabush very much, and the Chief Duck went away.\n\nNanabush got everything ready. He made a big camp and made a big fire\ninside. Night came and all the ducks came in from all around. About\ndark Nanabush started to sing. He told the ducks that as soon as they\ncame inside they would have to close their eyes. He started singing one\nof his songs which pleased all the ducks. He told them, \u201cThe time is\nnow on\u201d and all the ducks started to come in dancing with their eyes\nclosed. He told them that they had to pass through right in front of\nhim. Every one of them passed him and he grabbed them and twisted their\nnecks. He got a lot of them, but one opened his eyes a little bit and\nsaw what Nanabush was doing. This duck made a big yell and told all the\n(remaining) ducks what Nanabush was doing, and made for the door, but\nbefore he got out Nanabush kicked him and stepped on his feet (we now\ncall this duck the Diver).\n\nNanabush picked up all the dead ones and buried them in the ashes to\ncook. When he got them all fixed he lay down and told his anus to\nwatch. He went to sleep and it happened to be that there was a lion\nclose by who ate all the ducks. When Nanabush woke up he went to work\nand looked for the cooked ducks, which were gone. He said to his anus,\n\u201cI told you to watch, I will burn you for not doing what I told you to\ndo.\u201d He laid his anus towards the fire and began to shove all the hot\ncoals in to it. He started off and went through where there were a lot\nof little trees, going right over them. He twisted around and looked at\nthe little trees which were red with his blood and said, \u201cIn future\npeople will call those trees red willows.\u201d He went on to a rock which\nhe slid down; on looking back he saw the blood-stains on the rock which\nhe called \u201cred granite\u201d (i.e. which became the red granite of\nnowadays).\n\n\n\nNote.\u2014This lion was probably the American panther.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 26.\n\nORIGIN OF BIRDS.\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nOne time a man shot another with his bow and arrow for stealing his\nwife. He watched the actions of his wife and this man and saw them\nsleeping together in a bush, when he shot them with his arrows and\nkilled them both. He went to work and cut up about half the man into\nlittle bits and threw these up in the air. The pieces of meat did not\nfall back again, but became different birds, such as the blue jay,\nrobins and others. He cut some more pieces a little bigger and threw\nthese up in the air too, when they became gulls, cranes and such-like\nbirds.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 27.\n\nTHE PEOPLE WHO BECAME SERPENTS.\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\nTwo families were camping out some years ago. One old man had a good\nboy who was hunting all the time, getting all kinds of game and always\nhaving plenty to eat. The other family had a daughter, and one time the\ntwo young people got married. The girl\u2019s mother did not like this\nbecause the young man had good luck always. This old woman was a witch\nand she could do anything she liked. One time this bad old woman went\nout just a little way in the bush and put a bone on the road (trail),\nso to let this young man step on the bone and get hurt. When this young\nman came home in the evening he happened to step on the bone and got\nhurt, which laid him up nearly all winter, and they all got hard times.\nWhile this young man was in the camp before he got better, they got so\npoor that they had to go to some other place. The husband of the old\nwitch went out alone to a little lake some miles away to see if there\nwere any fish there. He cut a hole in the ice and let down his decoy.\nHe did not take a spear with him. He saw some big fish and then went\nhome and told his people that he saw a lot of fish. They all decided to\nmove near the lake and that family went. Only the sick man did not like\nto go till he got better. He was just about getting better when the\nother family went away. He went out hunting and got some game for\nhimself, wife, father and mother. They lived there till on towards\nspring when the ice went away. The other campers never came back to see\nthem. One day his wife said, \u201cI would like to go and see my mother.\u201d\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cyou can go and see her.\u201d She went out and found the\nlake and saw the camp, but she could not see anybody, or no signs, or\nno smoke in the camp. She went near and spoke. After a while some one\ntried to speak inside the camp and said, \u201cWe have eaten a fish of some\nkind and I am sure it was a big snake; we have all got to be snakes.\u201d\n\nThe young wife looked in and saw that her mother (the witch) was all\nsnake except her head, and the rest of the family were the same way.\nShe went home and told what she had seen but the rest did not go to see\nthem for a long time. One day they went down to see what the others\nlooked like. They looked in the camp but there was nobody home, then\nthey went down to the lake and saw the others sunning themselves the\nsame as other snakes. The two families all became big serpents.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 28.\n\nTHE INDIAN BOY WHO MARRIED A KING\u2019S DAUGHTER.\n\nTold by John York.\n\n\n(A most curious blending of the old and the new. G. E. L.)\n\nA good many years ago there were two brothers living in a camp away\nback in the woods where nobody else was to be seen. Their father and\nmother had died when they were little boys. The elder hunted all the\ntime and got a lot of deer and other kinds of game. The younger was\nbusy in looking after the venison, cutting it up and drying it. When he\ngot it all dried he pounded it up very fine, same as corn meal, and put\nit away in bags for to use in the winter.\n\nOne time the younger tried to think of something that he ever did\nbefore. He thought there must be some people some place nearby. He\nthought, \u201cthis evening when my brother comes home I\u2019ll ask him about\nthis.\u201d His brother came home at night and after supper the younger\nbegan to ask him if there were any Indians living nearby. \u201cWell,\u201d the\nolder boy said to his brother, \u201cyes, there are some people living to\nthe west who are called \u2018white men,\u2019 and some people living east of us,\nbut it is a long way.\u201d The younger boy began to get lonesome thinking\nabout these people whom he would like to see, so one day he asked his\nbrother if he would let him go and see some of the white people.\n\u201cWell,\u201d his brother said, \u201cit will take you four days to get there; you\ngo straight west all the time.\u201d \u201cWell, I will go to-morrow and I will\ntry and get back in a week,\u201d the younger said. He got ready the night\nbefore he started the journey. He left camp just about daylight and\nwalked all day. When night came he made camp for the night. The next\nday he started early in the morning, the same as he did the first day.\nOn the fourth day while walking he noticed somebody had been cutting\nsome trees with a very sharp thing. He looked at the stumps for a long\ntime. He never saw an axe before. He went on a little farther. He heard\nsome one cutting something. He went on till he saw a man who was very\nwhite. He thought, \u201cthis must be a white man.\u201d He got to where this man\nwas working and sat down close by. They began to speak to each other.\nThe white man asked him where did he come from. The Indian told him\nwhere he came from and said, \u201cI just came to see the people and I am\ngoing to camp near the city.\u201d The white man said, \u201cI have got a little\nshanty here in the bush and if you like to stay in it you are welcome.\u201d\nThe Indian said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what you call a shanty till I see it.\u201d\nThe white man said, \u201cI will show you the shanty. You come along,\u201d and\nthey both went up to where the shanty was. The white man showed the\nIndian all the \u201crigging,\u201d such as dishes and pans, the like of which\nthe Indian never saw before. The white man gave him some meat, bread,\ntea, and sugar, things this Indian never ate before.\n\nThe Indian would like to go to town one day and see the place. He went\nout and looked around. He picked up some rags and made a very nice\nquilt. He sold this quilt for $25.00. He made a lot of them and sold\nthem all at $25.00 each.\n\nOne day a nice-looking, young man came up to see him and told him that\nthere was going to be a big feast on Wednesday at the big hall up town.\nHe went down to it with this young man. The feast was a French one. The\nKing wanted to find a good cook, and every time the King had a feast\nthere was a different cook. When the hour came to eat they all sat down\nand the King came out and also sat down and started to eat. He just\ntasted and went away. This will show that he didn\u2019t like it. The cooks\nwere all men. This King wanted to find a good cook for his only\ndaughter. When the feast was over the King came out again and said to\nall the people, \u201cWho will try again for next week\u2019s feast?\u201d Some of the\nboys knew that the Indian boy was a good cook, and one of them went\nover to the Indian boy and asked him if he would try. Well, the Indian\nboy was a little shy at first, but he thought he would try. He went to\nhis little shanty and thought about it all the time, and how he would\nmake things look nice. The feast day came and he went over to the place\nand started in to cook. When he got ready about four o\u2019clock in the\nevening he got some girls to help him with the tables. About six\no\u2019clock he called the people to \u201ccome in.\u201d All the boys and girls said\nto one another \u201cThis Indian man is going to get his for sure.\u201d The\nwaiter called to the King that everything was ready. The King came in\nand saw everything was good. He started to eat and he ate a lot this\ntime. He told the people that he had found a good cook at last. He\ncalled his daughter to come out; this girl was never seen, only from a\ndistance. She came out and stood by her father. The King called the\nIndian young man to come to where they were. The Indian came up and the\nKing called a preacher and had the young couple married right there,\nand they stayed there at the King\u2019s house.\n\nOne day the people had an excursion out on the lake. There were about\nfive hundred people on board. They went a long ways out on the lake.\nThe Indian\u2019s wife did not like to go on this excursion so she did not\ngo, but the Indian went, although his wife did not like him to go, but\nhe wanted to go badly. One of the boys thought that this would be a\ngood chance to kill the Indian, so three boys got together and made a\nplan to throw the Indian overboard. They got him to go to the back end\nof the steamboat and then grabbed him by the legs. Down he went into\nthe water. Nobody saw him, only the boys that thrust him down. He swam\naround for a long time and then began to think about his wife and his\nbrother. He could not see land any place. He heard some bird up in the\nair and on looking up he saw a hawk. He began to call the bird and the\nbird came down to him. He asked the bird if there was an island close\nby, and the bird said, \u201cYes, there is a rock not far from here.\u201d The\nIndian said, \u201cI\u2019d like to ask you if you could take me to the rock.\u201d \u201cI\nwill try,\u201d said the bird. \u201cTake hold of my legs and I will take you to\nthe rock.\u201d The bird got so big that it had no trouble in taking the\nIndian to the rock. When they got there the Indian sat on the rock not\nknowing where to eat. Well, he thought he would get the bird to go to\nthe city and get him something to eat. So he called the bird and the\nbird came near. He told the bird to go to a big house with a big\nverandah. The bird flew away and she was away for two hours, then she\ncame back with a nice little parcel of nice cakes which the Indian\u2019s\nwife had given to the bird. The Indian had a good lunch. The wife did\nnot know where he was. There was a big reward to anybody that had seen\nhim or had seen him killed.\n\nThe big bird came to the rock, where the Indian was, in the evening,\nand said to him, \u201cMaybe I could take you home if you pay me what I\nwant. I would like to get the first baby you see when you get home.\u201d\n(While the Indian was away there was a baby born at home.) \u201cWell,\u201d the\nIndian said, \u201cI will do that.\u201d They started to cross the big lake to\nget home. They got close to shore when the bird got tired and had to\ncome down in the water about a hundred yards from shore. Anyway the\nIndian swam to shore and went home. When he got there he saw a little\nbaby boy, for his wife had a child born. Well, he thought he had to\ngive it to the bird, which he did, and his wife was glad that he went\nand gave up the boy to the big bird.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNO. 29.\n\nJOHN YORK\u2019S OWN STORY.\n\n\nWhen he was a young man the Mohawks were bad at that time. Nobody was\nallowed to go out alone anywheres. He wanted to hunt very badly so he\nand another young man went out one morning quite a long ways off the\nReserve to hunt bear and duck. They got to Mud Lake (Carden Township)\nthe next day about the middle of the afternoon. They shot about\ntwenty-five duck that night. The next morning early they heard\nsomething across the narrows; they looked and saw a great, big, black\nbear. They got in their canoe and got near enough to shoot and kill the\nbear. While looking at the dead bear they heard another one coming down\nto drink, near where they were standing. They both shot and killed this\none. They took the two bears in their canoe and started for home. After\ngoing down the lake a little way he looked up and saw three bears in a\nbig oak tree. The two hunters got out of the canoe and went to the\ntree. He shot the big one but did not kill him outright, but had to\nshoot again. This left only one more shot ready for use, as they had\none double and one single-barrel shot guns. The other two bears came\ndown the tree. He shot one of these and killed it and the last bear had\nto come down when there was no shot ready for him. He (York) grabbed\nthe bear by the legs till the other hunter got his gun loaded. The bear\nwas a cub but fought like an old bear, tearing the clothes off the man.\nThe hunters got the five bears and took them home. When they got home\nthere was a big feast and everybody came and ate some bear meat, for\ntheir friends thought the hunters had been killed by the Mohawks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe first of these following tales was told to me some eight or ten\nyears ago by Ben Simcoe, an elderly Indian from the Rama Reserve,\nOntario County, near Lake Couchiching, and is probably a modern version\nof an older tale, as it introduces the negro and white man. The word\n\u201cHe\u201d in the story stands for \u201cGod\u201d or the \u201cCreator.\u201d I could not get\ndefinitely from the Simcoe who it did stand for. He seemingly did not\nknow much about earlier Indian beliefs and conditions.\n\nThe remaining three stories were told to me this summer by Jonas\nGeorge, Chippewa, of Rama Reserve, aged about sixty-four, professed\nChristian. His Indian name is Wash-a-ghe-zik, which means \u201cA clear\nday.\u201d\n\n    G. E. Laidlaw.\n\nThe sketch of the two little shiny men setting lightning at the tree,\nalso the \u201cMonster,\u201d were drawn by Wash-a-ghe-zik.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CREATION OF MAN.\n\nTold by Ben Simcoe, Chippewa (Ojibwa), of Rama Reserve, Ontario County.\n\n\nHe (the Creator) took some clay and made a man. He baked it; it was not\ndone enough. He threw it away; it was no good. This was the white man.\n\nHe took some more clay and made another man and baked it. This one was\nbaked too much, and was burnt. It was no good. He threw this away. This\nwas the negro.\n\nHe took another bit of clay and made a third man. He baked this and it\ncame out all right. It was just right. This was the Indian, better than\nthe white man or the negro.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHUNDERBOLT.\n\nThis story was told to Wash-a-ghe-zik by his father, and was told to\nhis father by his grandfather.\n\n\nA young Indian, many years ago, went out to hunt early one morning, and\ncoming on noon he got hungry and started back to camp. In passing a\npine stub that had been struck by lightning he saw \u201csomething\u201d sticking\nin the tree where the lightning hit. He pulled this \u201csomething\u201d out and\nlooked at it. It was about two fingers broad, and about one hand long.\nHe put it back again in the tree exactly like he found it, and went on.\nWhen he came to camp he told his father about it, and his father and\nseveral other men, together with the young man, went back to examine\nit. Neither his father or the men with him could pull this \u201csomething\u201d\nout, but the young man could; so he pulled it out, wrapped it up and\ntook it to camp. This \u201csomething\u201d would tell the young man some hours\nbefore a storm came up that the storm was coming, so that the Indians\ncould make camp. The young man used to dream that he could split trees\nby pointing this \u201csomething\u201d at them, but never tried it. He kept this\nfor many years. He was about eighteen years old when he found it, and\nlived to be forty-seven. He died unmarried and his name was forgotten.\n\nThe \u201csomething\u201d was shiny and quivering, and nobody knew what it was\nmade out of. It was lost shortly before the man died. Wash-a-ghe-zik\nhad no name for this \u201csomething,\u201d and said the Indians could not make\nup a name for it.\n\n\n\n\n\nNIM-MAH-KIE.\n\nOnce, a long time ago, before the white man came to Canada, an Indian\nstruck out through the bush to hunt. It came on a storm and he took a\nline for camp, which was by a little lake away up north. It came on\nworse, and the Indian crawled under a projecting pine tree. He saw the\nlightning strike several trees, and looking very closely at one tree\nthat was struck he saw a little man (about two feet high) standing by\none side of the tree, and looking again at the tree he saw another\nlittle man standing at the other side of the struck tree. Both these\nmen were fine little fellows, all black and shining, and are called\nNim-Mah-Kie (Thunder). They climbed up in the air like they were\nclimbing ladders, and disappeared. After they went up more lightning\ncame down. These little men set the lightning at the trees and make the\nthunder. Thunder and lightning keep the monsters down on the land and\nin the lakes.\n\n\n\n\n\nMONSTERS.\n\nThese monsters, which are about twelve feet long and about one and\none-half to two feet thick, and which have long jaws full of teeth, and\nlook like half fish and half snake, live in hills near lakes. They have\nunderground passages from the hills to the water, and can sometimes be\nseen early in the morning. In small lakes and bays of larger lakes they\nmove around with great swiftness, forcing the weeds and floating\nsticks, etc., up high on the shore, similar to swirling your hand\naround in a wash basin. Sometimes they do this with so much force that\nthey leave the small lakes partially dry. One of these monsters lives\nin the hill just north of where the old Indian portage from Lake Simcoe\nenters West Bay, Balsam Lake (now Portage Road). Another lives in the\nhill at Atherley, Rama Reserve, Lake Couchiching, and another lives up\nnorth in a lake the name of which is now forgotten. Thunder and\nlightning kill these monsters.","title":"Ojibwa myths and tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13734}