Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook: Unit: Native Am. Heroes

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Myth-Folklore Unit: Native American Hero Tales

Overview. Stith Thompson's anthology, Tales of the North American Indians, was a pioneering work in comparative studies of Native American storytelling. This reading selection contains Thompson's collection of hero tales from many different tribal traditions including Hupa, Apache, Crow, Cree, and more. Some of the stories are about human heroes, like the boy who challenges "Unnatural Uncle" and defeats him with the help of the Eagle people. Other heroes are the children who come from the gods, like Jonayaíyin, who is sent to the Apache in order to rescue them from the deadly predations of Giant Elk and Great Eagle. There are also animal heroes, like Bluejay and his companions who find themselves swept out to sea and facing many challenges in their long journey back to their home.

Language. Thompson's book is an anthology of stories takes from various anthropological sources, written in a variety of styles. Some of the stories are told in a more traditional oral style, while other stories are edited in a style more like literary prose.

Story Length. Most of the stories in this unit are two or three pages long.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Native American Hero Tales. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

READING A:

READING B:

(Crow horsemen, photo by E. Curtis)

Heroes: The Jealous Uncle

This story was originally published in the Journal of American Folklore in 1908; you can see the complete collection of Tales from Kodiak Island online at Hathi Trust. The author explains: "These tales were obtained at Unga Island, Alaska. They were told in the Russian language by Mrs. Reed, Nicoli Medvednikoff, Corneil Panamaroff, all natives of the island of Kodiak. [...] The Natives of Kodiak speak Russian almost as freely as they do their mother-tongue. They call themselves Aleuts."

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

The Jealous Uncle

Kodiak

In a village lived a man, known to his neighbors as "Unnatural Uncle." When his nephews became a few years old, he would kill them. Two had already suffered death at his hands.

(Yupik mother and child)

After the second had disappeared, his wife went to the mother of the boys and said: "Should another boy be born to you, let us conceal the fact from my husband and make him believe the child a girl. In that case he will not harm him, and we may succeed in bringing him up."

Not long after the above conversation another nephew was born. Unnatural Uncle, hearing that a child was born, sent his wife to ascertain the sex of the child. She, as had been agreed upon, reported the child a girl. "Let her live," he said.

The two women tended and dressed the boy as if he were a girl. When he grew older, they told him to play with the girls and impressed upon him that he should at all times imitate the ways, attitudes, and postures of the girls, especially when attending to the calls of nature.

Unnatural Uncle watched the boy as he was growing up, and often wondered at his boyish looks.

One day the boy, not knowing that his uncle was about and observing him, raised up his parka and so exposed his body. "Ah," said Unnatural Uncle to his wife, on reaching home, "this is the way you have fooled me. But I know everything now. Go and tell my nephew I wish to see him."

With tears in her eyes the poor woman delivered the message to the nephew, and told him of the disappearance of his brothers and of his probable fate. The father and mother of the boy wept bitterly, for they were certain he would never return. The boy himself, although frightened, assured his parents to the contrary, and begged them not to worry, for he would come back safe and sound.

"Did my brothers have any playthings?" he asked before going.

He was shown to a box where their things were kept. In it he found a piece of a knife, some eagle-down, and a sour cranberry. These he hid about his person and went to meet his uncle.

The latter greeted him, and said: "Nephew, let us go and fetch some wood."

When they came to a large forest, the boy remarked: "Here is good wood; let us take some of it, and go back."

"Oh, no! There is better wood farther on," said the uncle.

From the forest they stepped into a bare plain. "Let us go back. There is no wood here," called the boy. But the uncle motioned to him to come on, telling him that they would soon find better wood.

A little later they came to a big log. "Here is what I want," exclaimed the uncle, and began splitting it. "Here, nephew, jump in, and get that wedge out," called the uncle to the boy, as one of the wedges fell in.

When the boy did so, the man knocked out the other wedges; the log closed in on the boy and held him fast. "Stay there!" said Unnatural Uncle, and walked off.

For some time the boy remained in this helpless condition, planning a means of escape. At last he thought of his sour cranberry and, taking it in his hand, he rubbed with it the interior of the log from edge to edge. The sourness of the berry caused the log to open its mouth, thus freeing him.

On his way back to the village, he gathered a bundle of wood, which he left at his uncle's door, announcing the fact to him: "Here, uncle, I have brought you the wood."

The latter was both surprised and vexed at his failure, and determined more than ever to kill the boy. His wife, however, warned him: "You had better not harm the boy; you have killed his brothers, and if you hurt him, you will come to grief."

"I will kill him, too," he savagely replied.

Next: The Jealous Uncle (cont.)

(700 words)

Heroes: The Jealous Uncle (cont.)

Do you remember the three objects the hero took with him? They were: a piece of a knife, some eagle-down, and a sour cranberry. He used the sour cranberry to break out of the log. Now you will see what he does with the eagle-down and with the knife!

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(Kodiak, Alaska)

The Jealous Uncle (cont.)

When the boy reached his father's home, he found them weeping and mourning. "Don't weep!" he pleaded. "He cannot hurt me; no matter where he takes me, I will always come back."

In the morning he was again summoned to appear at his uncle's. Before going, he entreated his parents not to feel uneasy, assuring them that no harm would befall him, and that he would be back.

The uncle called the boy to go with him after some ducks and eggs. They passed several places abounding in ducks and eggs, and each time that the boy suggested, "Let us take these and go back," the uncle replied: "Oh, no! There are better ducks and eggs farther on."

At last they came to a steep bluff, and, looking down, saw a great many ducks and eggs. "Go down carefully, nephew, and gather those ducks and eggs. Be quick, and come back as soon as you can.

The boy saw the trap at a glance and prepared for it by taking the eagle-down in each hand, between thumb and finger. As the boy took a step or two downward, the uncle gave him a push, causing him to lose his footing. "He will never come back alive from here," smiled the uncle to himself, as he walked back.

If he had remained awhile longer and looked down before going, he would have seen the boy descending gently instead of falling. The eagle-down kept him up in the air, and he lighted at his own pleasure safe and sound. After gathering all the ducks and eggs he wanted, he ascended by holding up the down, as before, and blowing under it. Up, up he went, and in a short time stood on the summit.

It was night before he sighted his uncle's home. At the door he deposited the birds and eggs and shouted: "Here, uncle, are the ducks and eggs."

"What! back again!" exclaimed the man, very much mortified.

His wife again pleaded with him to leave the boy in peace. "You will come to grief, if you don't," she said.

"No; he cannot hurt me," he replied angrily, and spent the remainder of the night thinking and planning.

Although he assured them that he would return, the boy's parents did not have much faith in it, for he found them on his return weeping for him. This grieved him. "Why do you weep?" he said. "Didn't I say I would come back? He can take me to no place from which I cannot come back."

In the evening of the third day the aunt appeared and said that her husband wished the boy. He told his parents not to be disturbed and promised to come back soon.

This time the uncle invited him to go with him after clams. The clams were very large, large enough to inclose a man. It was ebb tide, and they found plenty of clams not far from the beach. The boy suggested that they take these and go back, but the uncle put him off with, "There are better clams farther out."

They waded into the water, and then the man noticed an extraordinarily large clam. "Take him," he said, but when the boy bent over, the clam took him in. So confident was Unnatural Uncle of his success this time that he uttered not a word, but with a triumphant grin on his face and a wave of his hand he walked away.

The boy tried to force the valves apart but, not succeeding, he cut the ligament with his piece of a knife, compelling the clam to open up little by little until he was able to hop out. He gathered some clams, and left them at his uncle's door as if nothing had happened.

The man, on hearing the boy's voice outside, was almost beside himself with rage. His wife did not attempt to pacify him. "I will say nothing more," she said. "I have warned you, and if you persist in your ways, you will suffer."

The next day Unnatural Uncle was busy making a box.

"What is it for?" asked his wife.

"A plaything for our nephew," he replied.

In the evening the boy was sent for. On leaving his parents he said: "Do not feel uneasy about my absence. This time I may be away a long time, but I will come back nevertheless."

Next: The Jealous Uncle (end)

(700 words)

Heroes: The Jealous Uncle (end)

In many Native American cultures, "four" is the special number for storytelling. The uncle is going to make four (unsuccessful) attempts on the boy's life and you will then see how the number four comes into play in the conclusion of the story when the boy returns, transformed. It's a very dramatic conclusion to the story, involving eagles. For more on eagles in Alaska, here is a YouTube video showing the bald eagles of Kodiak Island.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

The Jealous Uncle (end)

"Nephew, here is something to amuse you," said his uncle. "Get inside of it, so that I may see whether it fits you." It fitted him; so did the lid the box, and the rope the lid. He felt himself borne along, and from the noise of the waves he knew it was to the sea. The box was lowered, and with a shove it was set adrift. It was stormy, the waves beat over the box, and several times he gave himself up as lost.

How long he drifted he had no idea, but at last he heard the waves dashing against the beach, and his heart rejoiced. Louder, and louder did the joyful peal sound. He gathered himself together for the sudden stop which soon came, only to feel himself afloat again the next moment. This experience he went through several times before the box finally stopped and he realized he was on land once more.

As he lay there, many thoughts passed through his mind; where was he? was any one living there? would he be saved? or would the flood tide set him adrift again? what were his people at home doing? These, and many other thoughts passed through his brain, when he was startled by hearing voices which he recognized, a little later, as women's. This is what he heard:

"I saw the box first," said one.

"No, I saw it first," said the other.

"I am sure I saw it before you," said the first speaker again, "and, therefore, it is mine."

"Well, you may have the box, but its contents shall belong to me," replied the other.

They picked up the box and began to carry it, but finding it somewhat heavy and being anxious to know what it contained, they stopped to untie it.

"If there are many things in there, I shall have some of them," said the first speaker, who rued her bargain. The other one said nothing.

Great was their surprise on beholding him. He was in turn surprised to see two such beautiful girls, the large village, the numerous people, and their peculiar appearance, for he was among the Eagle people in Eagle land. The full grown people, like the full grown eagles, had white faces and heads, while those of the young people, like those of young eagles, were dark. Eagle skins were hanging about all over the village, and it amused him to watch some of the people put on their eagle skins and change to eagles and, after flying around, take them off and become human beings again.

The girls, being the daughters of the village chief, led the boy to their father, each claiming him. When he had heard them both, the chief gave the boy to the older girl (the second speaker). With her he lived happily, but his thoughts would very often wander back to his former home, the people there, his parents, and the thought of his uncle's cruelty to them would make his heart ache.

His wife noted these spells of depression and questioned him about them until he told her of his parents and uncle. She, like a good wife, bade him cheer up, and then went to have a talk with her father. He sent for his son-in-law, and advised him to put on his (chief's) eagle skin, soar up high until he could see his village, fly over there, visit his parents, and bring them back with him. He did as he was told, and in a short time found himself in the village. Although he could see all other people, his parents were not in sight.

This was in the evening. During the night he went out to sea, brought back a large whale, and placed it on the beach, knowing that all the villagers would come out for the meat.

The first person to come to the village beach in the morning was Unnatural Uncle and, when he saw the whale, he aroused the village, and a little later all, except the boy's father and mother, were there, cutting and storing up the whale. His parents were not permitted to come near the whale, and when some of the neighbors left some meat at their house, Unnatural Uncle scolded, and forbade it being done again. "I can forgive him the killing of my brothers, the attempts on my life, but I will revenge his treatment of my parents."

With these thoughts in his mind, the eagle left his perch and flew over to the crowd. He circled over its head a little while, and then made a swoop at his uncle.

"Ah, he knows that I am chief, and the whale is mine, and he asks me for a piece of meat." Saying this, he threw a piece of meat at the eagle.

The second time the eagle descended it was still nearer the man's head, but he tried to laugh it off and turn it to his glory. The people, however, did not see it that way, and warned him to keep out of the eagle's clutches, for the eagle meant mischief.

When the eagle dropped the third time, it was so near his head that he fell on his face.

The fourth time the eagle swooped him and flew off with him.

Not far from the shore was a high and steep rock, and on its summit the eagle put down the man, placing himself opposite. When he had taken off the skin and disclosed himself, he said to his trembling uncle: "I could have forgiven you the death of my brothers, the four attempts on my life, but for the cruel treatment of my parents you shall pay. The whale I brought was for my parents and others, and not for you alone, but you took entire possession of it, and would not allow them even to approach it. I will not kill you without giving you a chance for your life. Swim back to the shore, and you shall be spared."

As he could not swim, Unnatural Uncle supplicated his nephew to take him back, but the latter, putting on the eagle skin and hardening his eagle heart, clutched him, and from a dizzy height in the air dropped him into the sea.

From the beach the crowd watched the fatal act, understood and appreciated it, and, till it was dark, continued observing, from the distance, the eagle. When all had retired, he pulled off the skin and set out for his father's barrabara. He related to his parents his adventures and invited them to accompany him to his adopted land, to which they gladly consented. Early in the morning he put on again his skin and, taking a parent in each claw, flew with them to Eagle land, and there they are living now.

Next: Bluejay and His Companions

(1920s postcard showing a barrabara)

(1100 words)

Heroes: Bluejay and His Companions

This story was originally published in The Jesup North Pacific Expedition in 1898. It is a tale of the Quinault people of western Washington. You can find out more about the Quinault people at Wikipedia, and also at the official site of the Quinault Nation.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Bluejay and His Companions

Quinault

Bluejay and his chief, with Land Otter, Beaver, and another man, used to go out seal-hunting together. In the same house with them, but at the other end, lived Grouse, who was a widower with a lot of children, and he spent most of his time in the woods building a canoe.

(grouse)

Every trip that the five men made, they caught five seals, very fat ones, but they gave nothing but the poor, lean parts to Grouse. Bluejay was at the bottom of this and kept saying that fat was too good for Grouse, and he poked fun at him and sneered at him whenever he was about. Grouse never said a word, but took what was given him without complaining.

One day Grouse made a wooden seal, carving it out of cedar and burning it until it was black. Then he talked to the seal and told it what it was to do, and it dived down into the water and went out to sea.

Next day before daylight, the five men started out, and about sunrise came upon a big seal, and speared it. The seal dived, and swam to the westward, dragging the canoe after it until they were out of sight of land. The spearman tried to get rid of it, but could not, and when night came they were still rushing westward, and when they waked in the morning they were still going, but not so fast.

Not long afterward the line slackened, and they heard something butting against the canoe. Bluejay looked over and saw a wooden seal with the harpoon sticking into it just behind the flipper. Then his chief began to scold Bluejay and said, "I know this is Grouse's work. He is angry because we gave him no fat, and because you talked to him so much." Bluejay could only hang his head and say nothing.

They cut the line and began to paddle back, but had no idea where they were going. Three days and two nights they paddled, and the third night they all fell asleep from exhaustion. When they waked in the morning, the canoe was stuck fast, and they thought they were ashore, and one of them, the fifth man, jumped out, but he sank and was drowned, and then they saw that they were not ashore, but that the seaweed was so thick that they had stuck fast in it. So now there were only four of them, and they paddled on.

On the fourth night they did not feel like sleeping, for they thought they could see the hills back of Quinault. In the morning they could discern the coast plainly, and after paddling all day they reached the shore and landed at a place quite strange to them. Next morning they went on again in what they thought was a southerly direction and suddenly, as they rounded a point, came upon a village. Several canoes came out through the surf and helped them ashore, and they were taken up to the village.

In the centre of the village was a tall smooth pole which the people said was Squirrel's pole, which he used for climbing, and they said that Squirrel would like to have a climbing-match with Bluejay. Bluejay's master said to him, "Now don't get frightened, but go in and do your best. You know you can climb well, and if you are beaten we may all be killed."

Then both Squirrel and Bluejay took sharp bones, so that if one got ahead he could hit the one behind on the head, and they started to climb. All the people crowded around to see the contest, for the pole was high and the two were well matched. At last the people saw them reach the top and saw one of them strike the other on the head so that he came tumbling down, and all the people shouted, for they thought it was Bluejay. But when he reached the ground, they found it was Squirrel who had lost. So now, since Bluejay had beaten their best climber, they let him and his companions go.

Next: Bluejay and His Companions (cont.)

(700 words)

Heroes: Bluejay and His Companions (cont.)

Bluejay managed to win the contest with Squirrel, but they still do not have any way to get back home. In his next contest, Bluejay will face Hair-seal, which is a type of seal that has hair instead of fur. They are also known as "true seals" or "earless seals," and you can find out more at Wikipedia. For this contest, Bluejay will resort to trickery, and along with his companions, he will use tricks in the other contests that they face on their journey home.

In the end, they call upon their tamanous (tamanowas, itamanoas), a kind of "spirit power" or "spirit guardian," in order to escape their enemies.

And remember how badly they treated Grouse as the story started? Keep an eye out for Grouse at the end of the story here.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Bluejay and His Companions (cont.)

They paddled on down the coast, and after some time they rounded a point, and come upon another village, much like the first. Here Hair-seal challenged Bluejay to a diving-match, and Bluejay found himself in a difficult position, for he was no diver at all. But his master turned the canoe over and washed it out, leaving the brush from the bottom floating about it on the water. Then he told Bluejay to accept the challenge and dive, but to come up under the brush and lie there concealed, and not to show himself.

So both Bluejay and Hair-seal dived, and Bluejay came up immediately under the brush and floated there where no one could see him. He waited until he shivered so with the cold that the brush moved with his shaking, and his master began to be afraid the people would notice it, so he rocked the canoe and made waves to conceal the motion of the brush, and no one suspected that Bluejay was hidden there.

Now, they had agreed that when the sun had passed from one tree to another not far off, each was to have the right to hit the other in the head with a sharp bone. So, when Bluejay saw that the sun had reached the second tree, he dived down and found Hair-seal lying with his head down close to the bottom. Bluejay jabbed him with the bone before Hair-seal knew what was happening, and Hair-seal came floating up to the surface. All the people shouted, "Bluejay's up!" But it turned out to be Hair-seal, while Bluejay went back under the brush without showing himself. There he waited about half an hour longer, and then came out shouting and laughing, and saying that he felt splendidly and not tired at all. In that way Hair-seal was beaten, and the people let Bluejay and his party go on again.

They paddled on as before until they came to another village, and there the people challenged the four wanderers to go into a sweat-house with four of their people and see which could stand the most heat. So four of the village people went into one corner of the sweat-house, and the four travelers into the other. Then the door was closed so that it was pitch dark, and soon it became very hot. But Beaver and Land Otter began to dig, and in a very short time they had tunnelled to the river. Then all four got into the water and were as comfortable as could be, while the four men from the village were nearly baked.

When the time was up, Bluejay and his friends came back into the sweat-house, and when the door was opened, they all jumped out. Bluejay and his friends were as fresh as possible, while the four men from the village were nearly cooked, and their eyes were all white from the heat. So, having beaten the people at their own game, they were allowed to go on and, paddling as hard as they could, before they knew it they had rounded another point, and come upon a village as before. They ran the canoe clear up on the beach and tied it, and, taking their paddles, went into one of the houses.

The people immediately challenged the new arrivals to sit up five days and five nights without sleeping, against four of their own number. The friends were afraid not to accept, so they started the match. One party sat on one side of the house and the other on the other. The men from the village had spears, and when any one of them was falling asleep, they would prod him with a spear and wake him. They kept calling out to each other all night, "Are you awake? Are you still awake?" And they reviled each other constantly.

Bluejay did all the talking for his side, and was hardly quiet a minute. All the next day they jeered at each other, and so they did the next night. Bluejay and the spokesman of the other side kept talking back and forth the whole time. The next day they did the same thing, and so on the third night, and the fourth day and the fourth night it was still the same.

On that night the men from the village nearly went to sleep, but Bluejay's men were all right as yet. Bluejay himself was almost done up, but his master would pull his ears and kept him awake, for Bluejay's master was the best man of them all.

The fifth night, the men of the village went to sleep, and Bluejay's master told Land Otter and Beaver to dig so that they could get out. They did so and fetched four pieces of old wood with phosphorescent spots on them, and they placed the pieces where they had been sitting, one piece for each man, and the spots looked like eyes. Then, while the other crowd was still sleeping, they got out, and, taking everything they could lay their hands on, they stole away in the canoe.

Just before daylight one of the other four waked and called Bluejay several times, but got no answer. So he waked the others and, taking their spears, they speared what they thought were their rivals. But when daylight came, they saw that they had been fooled, and that their spears were sticking into wood.

There was great excitement, and the people decided to give chase and, making ready their canoes, they started after the fugitives. Along in the afternoon, Bluejay's master said, "I feel sure some one is following us," and, looking back, they saw a lot of canoes in pursuit. Then they paddled with all their might, and Bluejay's master paddled so hard that at every stroke he broke a paddle, until he had broken all they had, and they floated helpless.

Then the others turned to Bluejay and said, "You are always talking about your tamanous. Make use of him now, if you have one, for we are in a bad fix." But Bluejay could only hang his head, for he had no tamanous.

Then Land Otter called on his tamanous, and a little wind arose.

Then Beaver called upon his, and the wind became a little stronger, but all the time the other canoes were drawing closer.

Then Bluejay's master called upon his tamanous, and there swept down a great storm and a fog. The storm lasted only a short time, and when it had passed, they looked about them and saw hundreds of capsized canoes, but not a man living, for all the people had been drowned.

They went around and gathered up all the paddles they wanted and went on, and at last reached the Quinault country and were among good people. The people who had pursued them were probably Makahs, for they are a bad lot.

Finally they reached their home near Damon's Point and, after that, whenever they came in from sealing, they were careful to give Grouse the biggest and fattest seal.

Next: Dug-From-Ground

(baby seal, Damon Point WA)

(1200 words)

Heroes: Dug-From-Ground

This is a story of the Hupa people of northwestern California; you can find out more about the Hupa at Wikipedia.

You will see references in this story to the rock known as obsidian; it is volcanic glass, produced when lava cools. Black is the most common color of obsidian, but there are more rare forms which are blue, yellow, or red. You can find out more at Wikipedia.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(Hupa, photo by Edward Curtis)

Dug-From-Ground

Hupa

An old woman was living with her granddaughter, a virgin. The girl used to go to dig roots and her grandmother used to say to her, "You must not dig those with two stalks."

The girl wondered why she was always told that. One morning she thought, "I am going to dig one," so she went across the river and began digging. She thought, "I am going to take out one with a double stalk."

When she had dug it out, she heard a baby cry. She ran back to the river, and when she got there, she heard someone crying "mother" after her.

She jumped into the boat and pushed it across. When she got across, the baby had tumbled down to the other shore.

She ran up to the house and there she heard it crying on that side. She ran into the house, then she heard it crying back of the house.

At once she sat down and then she heard it tumble on the roof of the house. The baby tumbled through the smoke-hole and then rolled about on the floor. The old woman jumped up and put it in a baby basket. The young woman sat with her back to the fire and never looked at the child.

The old woman took care of the baby alone. After a time it commenced to sit up and finally to walk. When he was big enough to shoot, the old woman made a bow and he began to kill birds. Afterward he killed all kinds of game and, because his mother never looked at him, he gave whatever he killed to his grandmother.

Finally he became a man. The young woman had been in the habit of going out at dawn and not returning until dark. She brought back with her acorns as long as her finger.

One time the young man thought "I am going to watch and see where she goes."

The young woman had always said to herself, "If he will bring acorns from the place I bring them, and if he will kill a white deer, I will call him my son."

Early one morning the son saw his mother come out of the house and start up the ridge. He followed her and saw her go along until she came to a dry tree. She climbed this and it grew with her to the sky. The young man then returned saying, "Tomorrow I am going up there." The woman came home at night with the usual load of long acorns.

The next morning the man went the way his mother had gone, climbed the tree as he had seen her do, and it grew with him to the sky. When he arrived there he saw a road. He followed that until he came to an oak, which he climbed, and waited to see what would happen. Soon he heard laughing girls approaching. They came to the tree and began to pick acorns from allotted spaces under it.

The young man began to throw down acorns. "That's right, Bluejay," said one of the girls.

Then another said, "It might be Dug-from-the-ground. You can hardly look at him, they say, he is so handsome."

Two others said, "Oh, I can look at him; I always look at this walking one (pointing to the sun); that is the one you can hardly look at."

He came down from the tree and passed between the girls. The two who had boasted they could look at him turned their faces to the ground. The other two who had thought they could not look him in the face were able to do so.

The young man killed the deer, the killing of which the mother had made the second condition for his recognition as a son. He then filled the basket from his mother's place under the tree and went home. When the woman saw him with the acorns as long as one's finger, she called him her son.

After a time he said, "I am going visiting."

"All right," said the grandmother, and then she made for him a bow and arrows of blue-stone, and a shinny stick and sweat-house wood of the same material. These he took and concealed by putting them under the muscles of his forearm. He dressed himself for the journey and set out.

He went to the home of the immortals at the edge of the world toward the east. When he got down to the shore on this side, they saw him. One of them took out the canoe of red obsidian and stretched it until it was the proper size. He launched it and came across for him.

When he had landed, the young man placed his hand on the bow and as he did so, the boat gave a creak, he was so strong. When they had crossed, he went to the village. In the middle of it he saw a house of blue-stone with a pavement in front of black obsidian.

He went in and heard one say, "It is my son-in-law for whom I had expected to be a long time looking."

Next: Dug-From-Ground (cont.)

(900 words)

Heroes: Dug-From-Ground (cont.)

You will see a reference here to "money's meat," which refers to meat from a type of mollusk called dentalia shellfish whose shells were used as a form of money. You can read more about Dentalia at Wikipedia. The photo below (by Edward Curtis) shows a woman wearing a dentalia shell headdress and earrings:

You will also see reference to a game called "shinny" which is a game like lacrosse. You can learn more about shinny here: Native Games.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Dug-From-Ground (cont.)

When the sun had set there came back from different places ten brothers. Some had been playing kiñ, some had been playing shinny, some had been hunting, some spearing salmon, and others had been shooting at a mark.

Eagle and Panther were both married to daughters of the family. They said to him, "You here, brother-in-law?"

"Yes," he said, "I came a little while ago."

When it was supper time, they put in front of him a basket of money's meat, which mortal man cannot swallow. He ate two baskets of it and they thought he must be a smart man.

After they had finished supper they all went to the sweathouse to spend the night. At midnight the young man went to the river to swim. There he heard a voice say, "The sweathouse wood is all gone."

Then Mink told him that men could not find sweathouse wood near by, but that some was to be found to the southeast. They called to him for wood from ten sweathouses and he said "Yes" to all. Mink told him about everything they would ask him to do.

He went back to the sweathouse and went in. When the east whitened with the dawn, he went for sweathouse wood as they had told him. He came to the place where the trail forks and one of them turns to the northeast and the other to the southeast. There he drew out from his arm the wood his grandmother had provided him with and split it fine. He made this into ten bundles and carried them back to the village.

When he got there he put them down carefully but the whole earth shook with the shock. He carried a bundle to each sweathouse. They all sweated themselves. He spent the day there and at evening went again to the sweathouse. When he went to the river to swim, Mink met him again and told him that the next day they would play shinny.

After they were through breakfast the next morning, they said, "Come, brother-in-law, let us go to the place where they play shinny." They all went and after placing their bets began to play. Twice they were beaten. Then they said, "Come, brother-in-law, play." They passed him a stick. He pressed down on it and broke it. "Let me pick up something," he said. He turned about and drew out his concealed shinny stick and the balls.

Then he stepped out to play and Wildcat came to play against him. The visitor made the stroke and the balls fell very near the goal. Then he caught Wildcat, smashing his face into its present shape, and threw the ball over the line.

He played again, this time with Fox. Again he made the stroke and when he caught Fox, he pinched his face out long as it has been ever since. He then struck the ball over the line and won.

The next time he played against Earthquake. The ground opened up a chasm, but he jumped over it. Earthquake threw up a wall of blue-stone, but he threw the ball through it. "Dol" it rang as it went through.

Then he played with Thunder. It rained and there was thunder. It was the running of that one which made the noise. It was then night and he had won back all they had lost. There were ten strings of money, besides otterskins, fisherskins, and blankets.

The next day they went to shoot at the white bird which Indians can never hit. The others commenced to shoot. and then they said to their guest, "Come, you better shoot." They gave him a bow, which broke when he drew it. Then he pulled out his own and said, "I will shoot with this although the nock has been cut down and it is not very good." They thought, "He can't hit anything with that." He shot and hit the bird, and dentalia fell all about. They gathered up the money and carried it home.

The Hupa man went home to his grandmother. As many nights as it seemed to him he had spent, so many years he had really been away. He found his grandmother lying by the fire. Both of the women had been worried about him. He said to them, "I have come back for you."

"Yes," they said, "we will go."

Then he repaired the house, tying it up anew with hazel withes. He poked a stick under it and away it went to the end of the world toward the east, where he had married. They are living there yet.

Next: The Attack on the Giant Elk

(800 words)

Heroes: The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle

This tale from the Jicarilla Apache comes from a different source than the source I used for the Apache unit here in the UnTextbook; that unit is from the Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard, while this particular story comes from the Journal of American Folk-Lore (1898) which you can read online at Hathi Trust. Here is what the author says about his source: "The following myths were related by Laforia, a very old woman, whose grandson Gunsi translated." In this first part of the story, the hero Jonayaíyin battles the elk; in the next part of the story, he will battle the eagle.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(elk)

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle

Jicarilla Apache

In the early days, animals and birds of monstrous size preyed upon the people; the giant Elk, the Eagle, and others devoured men, women, and children, until the gods were petitioned for relief. A deliverer was sent to them in the person of Jonayaíyin, the son of the old woman who lives in the West, and the second wife of the Sun. She divided her time between the Sun and the Waterfall, and by the latter bore a second son, named Kobachíschini, who remained with his mother while his brother went forth to battle with the enemies of mankind.

In four days Jonayaíyin grew to manhood, then he asked his mother where the Elk lived. She told him that the Elk was in a great desert far to the southward. She gave him arrows with which to kill the Elk. In four steps he reached the distant desert where the Elk was lying.

Jonayaíyin cautiously observed the position of the Elk from behind a hill. The Elk was lying on an open plain, where no trees or bushes were to be found that might serve to shelter Jonayaíyin from view while he approached.

While he was looking at the Elk, with dried grass before his face, the Lizard said to him, "What are you doing, my friend?"

Jonayaíyin explained his mission, whereupon the Lizard suggested that he clothe himself in the garments of the Lizard in which he could approach the Elk in safety. Jonayaíyin tried four times before he succeeded in getting into the coat of the Lizard.

Next the Gopher came to him with the question, "What are you doing here, my friend?" When Jonayaíyin told the Gopher of his intention, the latter promised to aid him. The Gopher thought it advisable to reconnoitre by burrowing his way underground to the Elk. Jonayaíyin watched the progress of the Gopher as that animal threw out fresh heaps of earth on his way.

At length the Gopher came to the surface underneath the Elk whose giant heart was beating like a mighty hammer. He then proceeded to gnaw the hair from about the heart of the Elk.

"What are you doing?" said the Elk.

"I am cutting a few hairs for my little ones; they are now lying on the bare ground," replied the Gopher, who continued until the magic coat of the Elk was all cut away from about the heart of the Elk. Then he returned to Jonayaíyin, and told the latter to go through the hole which he had made and shoot the Elk.

Four times the Son of the Sun tried to enter the hole before he succeeded. When he reached the Elk, he saw the great heart beating above him and easily pierced it with his arrows; four times his bow was drawn before he turned to escape through the tunnel which the Gopher had been preparing for him. This hole extended far to the eastward, but the Elk soon discovered it and, thrusting his antler into it, followed in pursuit.

The Elk ploughed up the earth with such violence that the present mountains were formed, which extend from east to west. The black spider closed the hole with a strong web, but the Elk broke through it and ran southward, forming the mountain chains which trend north and south. In the south the Elk was checked by the web of the blue spider, in the west by that of the yellow spider, while in the north the web of the many-colored spider resisted his attacks until he fell dying from exhaustion and wounds.

Jonayaíyin made a coat from the hide of the Elk, gave the front quarters to the Gopher, the hind quarters to the Lizard, and carried home the antlers. He found that the results of his adventures were not unknown to his mother, who had spent the time during his absence in singing and watching a roll of cedar bark which sank into the earth or rose in the air as danger approached or receded from Jonayaíyin, her son.

Jonayaíyin next desired to kill the great Eagle, I-tsa. His mother directed him to seek the Eagle in the West.

Next: The Attack on the Giant Elk (cont.)

(700 words)

Heroes: The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle (cont.)

As you will see, Jonayaíyin uses what he took from the elk as he does battle this time against the eagle: he is wrapped in the elkskin and he also has elk's blood with him, along with the elk's antlers.

As the story reaches its conclusion, you will also learn just why the bat has wings without feathers!

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(eagle nest)

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle (cont.)

In four strides he reached the home of the Eagle, an inaccessible rock, on which was the nest, containing two young eaglets.

His ear told him to stand facing the east when the next morning the Eagle swooped down upon him and tried to carry him off. The talons of the Eagle failed to penetrate the hard elk-skin by which he was covered.

"Turn to the south," said the ear, and again the Eagle came and was again unsuccessful. Jonayaíyin faced each of the four points in this manner, and again faced toward the east, whereupon the Eagle succeeded in fastening its talons in the lacing on the front of the coat of the supposed man, who was carried to the nest above and thrown down before the young eagles, with the invitation to pick his eyes out.

As they were about to do this, Jonayaíyin gave a warning hiss, at which the young ones cried, "He is living yet."

"Oh, no," replied the old Eagle; "that is only the rush of air from his body through the holes made by my talons." Without stopping to verify this, the Eagle flew away.

Jonayaíyin threw some of the blood of the Elk which he had brought with him to the young ones and asked them when their mother returned. "In the afternoon when it rains," they answered.

When the mother Eagle came with the shower of rain in the afternoon, he stood in readiness with one of the Elk antlers in his hand. As the bird alighted with a man in her talons, Jonayaíyin struck her upon the back with the antler, killing her instantly.

Going back to the nest, he asked the young eagles when their father returned. "Our father comes home when the wind blows and brings rain just before sunset," they said. The male Eagle came at the appointed time, carrying a woman with a crying infant upon her back. Mother and babe were dropped from a height upon the rock and killed.

With the second antler of the Elk, Jonayaíyin avenged their death and ended the career of the eagles by striking the Eagle upon the back and killing him. The wing of this eagle was of enormous size; the bones were as large as a man's arm; fragments of this wing are still preserved at Taos.

Jonayaíyin struck the young eagles upon the head, saying, "You shall never grow any larger." Thus deprived of their strength and power to injure mankind, the eagles relinquished their sovereignty with the parting curse of rheumatism, which they bestowed upon the human race.

Jonayaíyin could discover no way by which he could descend from the rock until at length he saw an old female Bat on the plain below. At first she pretended not to hear his calls for help; then she flew up with the inquiry, "How did you get here?"

Jonayaíyin told how he had killed the eagles. "I will give you all the feathers you may desire if you will help me to escape," concluded he.

The old Bat carried her basket by a slender spider's thread. He was afraid to trust himself in such a small basket suspended by a thread, but she reassured him, saying: "I have packed mountain sheep in this basket, and the strap has never broken. Do not look while we are descending; keep your eyes shut as tight as you can."

He began to open his eyes once during the descent, but she warned him in time to avoid mishap. They went to the foot of the rock where the old Eagles lay. Jonayaíyin filled her basket with feathers but told her not to go out on the plains where there are many small birds. Forgetting this admonition, she was soon among the small birds who robbed the old Bat of all her feathers. This accounts for the plumage of the small bird klokin, which somewhat resembles the color of the tail and wing feathers of the bald eagle.

The Bat returned four times for a supply of feathers, but the fifth time she asked to have her basket filled, Jonayaíyin was vexed. "You cannot take care of your feathers, so you shall never have any. This old skin on your basket is good enough for you."

"Very well," said the Bat, resignedly, "I deserve to lose them, for I never could take care of those feathers."

Next: Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away

(800 words)

Heroes: Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away

You can read about the Crow people at Wikipedia. The story was collected by S. C. Simms in the summer of 1902 when he was working with the Crow (Absahrokee) people of Montana. His specific informant was a storyteller named Bull-That-Goes-Hunting. You can find the other Crow stories told by Bull-That-Goes-Hunting at Hathi Trust.

I added the subheadings to the story to help make it easier to follow.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(Crow people, circa 1840)

Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away

Crow

Red Woman and the Twins

Once upon a time there lived a couple, the woman being pregnant. The man went hunting one day, and in his absence a certain wicked woman named Red-Woman came to the tipi and killed his wife and cut her open and found boy twins. She threw one behind the tipi curtain, and the other she threw into a spring. She then put a stick inside the woman and stuck one end in the ground to give her the appearance of a live person and burned her upper lip, giving her the appearance as though laughing.

When her husband came home, tired from carrying the deer he had killed, he saw his wife standing near the door of the tipi, looking as though she were laughing at him, and he said: "I am tired and hungry, why do you laugh at me?" and pushed her. As she fell backwards, her stomach opened, and he caught hold of her and discovered she was dead. He knew at once that Red-Woman had killed his wife.

The Father and the First Boy

While the man was eating supper alone one night, a voice said, "Father, give me some of your supper." As no one was in sight, he resumed eating and again the voice asked for supper.

The man said, "Whoever you are, you may come and eat with me, for I am poor and alone."

A young boy came from behind the curtain and said his name was "Thrown-behind-the-Curtain." During the day, while the man went hunting, the boy stayed home.

One day the boy said, "Father, make me two bows and the arrows for them." His father asked him why he wanted two bows. The boy said, "I want them to change about." His father made them for him, but surmised the boy had other reasons and concluded he would watch the boy, and on one day, earlier than usual, he left his tipi and hid upon a hill overlooking his tipi, and while there, he saw two boys of about the same age shooting arrows.

That evening when he returned home, he asked his son, "Is there not another little boy of your age about here?"

His son said, "Yes, and he lives in the spring."

His father said, "You should bring him out and make him live with us."

The son said, "I cannot make him, because he has sharp teeth like an otter, but if you will make me a suit of rawhide, I will try and catch him."

The Second Boy Comes Home

One day, arrangements were made to catch the boy. The father said, "I will stay here in the tipi and you tell him I have gone out."

So Thrown-behind-the-Curtain said to Thrown-in-Spring. "Come out and play arrows."

Thrown-in-Spring came out just a little and said, "I smell something."

Thrown-behind-the-Curtain said, "No, you don't; my father is not home," and after insisting, Thrown-in-Spring came out, and both boys began to play.

While they were playing, Thrown-behind-the-Curtain disputed a point of their game, and as Thrown-in-Spring stooped over to see how close his arrow came, Thrown-behind-the-Curtain grabbed him from behind and held his arms close to his sides, and Thrown-in-Spring turned and attempted to bite him, but his teeth could not penetrate the rawhide suit.

The father came to the assistance of Thrown-behind-the-Curtain and the water of the spring rushed out to help Thrown-in-Spring, but Thrown-in-Spring was dragged to a high hill where the water could not reach him, and there they burned incense under his nose, and he became human.

The three of them lived together.

Waking the Mother

One day one of the boys said, "Let us go and wake up mother."

They went to the mother's grave and one said, "Mother, your stone pot is dropping," and she moved.

The other boy said, "Mother, your hide dresser is falling," and she sat up.

Then one of them said, "Mother, your bone crusher is falling," and she began to arrange her hair which had begun to fall off.

The mother said, "I have been asleep a long time."

She accompanied the boys home.

The Old Woman and her Pot

The boys were forbidden by their father to go to the river bend above their tipi, for an old woman lived there who had a boiling pot, and every time she saw any living object, she tilted the kettle toward it and the object was drawn into the pot and boiled for her to eat.

The boys went one day to see the old woman, and they found her asleep and they stole up and got her pot and awakened the old woman and said to her, "Grandmother, why have you this here?" at the same time tilting the pot towards her, by which she was drowned and boiled to death.

They took the pot home and gave it to their mother for her own protection.

Over the Hill

Their father told them not to disobey him again and said, "There is something over the hill I do not want you to go near."

They were very anxious to find out what this thing was, and they went over to the hill and, as they poked their heads over the hilltop, the thing began to draw in air, and the boys were drawn in also, and as they went in, they saw people and animals, some dead and others dying.

The thing proved to be an immense alligator-like serpent.

One of the boys touched the kidneys of the thing and asked what they were. The alligator said, "That is my medicine, do not touch it."

And the boy reached up and touched its heart and asked what it was, and the serpent grunted and said, "This is Where I make my plans."

One of the boys said, "You do make plans, do you?" and he cut the heart off and it died.

They made their escape by cutting between the ribs and liberated the living ones and took a piece of the heart home to their father.

Next: Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away (cont.)

(1000 words)

Heroes: Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away (cont.)

You will see that the twin brothers perform a whole series of heroic feats, culminating in a task that the Thunder-Bird gives to them. This photo shows a Crow tipi painted with a Thunderbird image:

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away (cont.)

The Three Trees

After the father had administered another scolding, he told the boys not to go near the three trees standing in a triangular shaped piece of ground, for if anything went under them they would bend to the ground suddenly, killing everything in their way.

One day the boys went towards these trees, running swiftly and then stopping suddenly near the trees, which bent violently and struck the ground without hitting them. They jumped over the trees, breaking the branches, and they could not rise after the branches were broken.

The Tipi Over the Hill

Once more the boys were scolded and told not to go near a tipi over the hill for it was inhabited by snakes, and they would approach anyone asleep and enter his body through the rectum.

Again the boys did as they were told not to do and went to the tipi, and the snakes invited them in. They went in and carried flat pieces of stone with them and, as they sat down, they placed the flat pieces of stones under their bottoms.

After they had been in the tipi a short while, the snakes began putting their heads over the poles around the fireplace, and the snakes began to relate stories, and one of them said, "When there is a drizzling rain, and when we are under cover, it is nice to sleep."

One of the boys said, "When we are lying down under the pine trees and the wind blows softly through them and has a weird sound, it is nice to sleep."

All but one of the snakes went to sleep, and that one tried to enter the rectum of each of the boys and failed, on account of the flat stone. The boys killed all of the other snakes but that one, and they took that one and rubbed its head against the side of a cliff, and that is the reason why snakes have flattened heads.

The Man on the Steep Cut Bank

Again the boys were scolded by their father, who said, "There is a man living on the steep cut bank, with deep water under it, and if you go near it he will push you over the bank into the water for his father in the water to eat."

The boys went to the place but, before going, they fixed their headdresses with dried grass.

Upon their arrival at the edge of the bank, one said to the other, "Just as he is about to push you over, lie down quickly."

The man from his hiding place suddenly rushed out to push the boys over, and just as he was about to do it, the boys threw themselves quickly upon the ground, and the man went over their heads, pulling their headdress with him, and his father in the water ate him.

Moccasins of Fire

Upon the boys' return and after telling what they had done, their father scolded them and told them, "There is a man who wears moccasins of fire, and when he wants anything, he goes around it and it is burned up."

The boys ascertained where this man lived and stole upon him one day when he was sleeping under a tree and each one of the boys took off a moccasin and put it on and they awoke him and ran about him and he was burned and went up in smoke. They took the moccasins home.

Their father told them that something would yet happen to them, for they had killed so many bad things.

The Thunder-Bird

One day while walking the valley, they were lifted from the earth and after travelling in mid-air for some time, they were placed on top of a peak in a rough high mountain with a big lake surrounding it, and the Thunder-Bird said to them, "I want you to kill a long otter that lives in the lake; he eats all the young ones that I produce and I cannot make him stop."

So the boys began to make arrows, and they gathered dry pine sticks and began to heat rocks, and the long otter came towards them. As it opened its mouth the boys shot arrows into it, and as that did not stop it from drawing nearer, they threw the hot rocks down its throat, and it curled up and died afterwards. They were taken up and carried through the air and gently placed upon the ground near their homes, where they lived for many years.

Next: The Son-in-Law Tests

(Crow horsemen, photo by E. Curtis)

(700 words)

Heroes: The Son-in-Law Tests

The story was originally published by in Myths and Folklore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa by F. G. Speck in 1915; you can find the book online at Hathi Trust. You can read the story of the other sons-in-law of Wemicus there.

In this story, you will see how Wemicus's daughter helps her husband again and again to escape from Wemicus's tricks. Wemicus, however, is a manitou, a spirit, so it is hard to defeat him. You can read more about manitous at Wikipedia.

Lake Timagami (Temagami) is located in Canada; the name means "deep water by the shore" in the Ojibwa language. You can find out more at Wikipedia.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

The Son-in-Law Tests

Timagami Ojibwa

Wemicus [the animal-trickster] had a son-in-law who was a man. This man's wife, the daughter of Wemicus, had had a great many husbands, because Wemicus had put them to so many different tests that they had been all killed off except this one. He, however, had succeeded in outwitting Wemicus in every scheme that he tried on him. Wemicus and this man hunted beaver in the spring of the year by driving them all day with dogs.

The man's wife warned him before they started out to hunt, saying, "Look out for my father; he might burn your moccasins in camp. That's what he did to my other husbands."

That night in camp Wemicus said, "I didn't tell you the name of this lake. It is called 'Burnt moccasins lake.'"

When the man heard this, he thought that Wemicus was up to some sort of mischief and was going to burn his moccasins. Their moccasins were hanging up before a fire to dry and, while Wemicus was not looking, the man changed the places of Wemicus' moccasins and his own, and then went to sleep.

Soon the man awoke and saw Wemicus get up and throw his own moccasins into the fire. Wemicus then said, "Say! Something is burning; it is your moccasins."

Then the man answered, "No, not mine, but yours."

So Wemicus had no moccasins, and the ground was covered with snow. After this had happened the man slept with his moccasins on.

The next morning the man started on and left Wemicus there with no shoes. Wemicus started to work. He got a big boulder, made a fire, and placed the boulder in it until it became red hot. He then wrapped his feet with spruce boughs and pushed the boulder ahead of him in order to melt the snow. In this way he managed to walk on the boughs. Then he began to sing, "Spruce is warm, spruce is warm."

When the man reached home be told his wife what had happened.

"I hope Wemicus will die," she said.

A little while after this they heard Wemicus coming along singing, "Spruce is warm, spruce is warm." He came into the wigwam and, as he was the head man, they were obliged to get his meal ready.

The ice was getting bad by this time, so they stayed in camp a while. Soon Wemicus told his son-in-law, "We'd better go sliding." He then went to a hill where there were some very poisonous snakes. The man's wife warned her husband of these snakes and gave him a split stick holding a certain kind of magic tobacco which she told him to hold in front of him so that the snakes would not hurt him.

Then the two men went sliding. At the top of the hill Wemicus said, "Follow me," for he intended to pass close by the snakes' lair. So when they slid, Wemicus passed safely and the man held his stick with the tobacco in it in front of him, thus preventing the snakes from biting him. The man then told Wemicus that he enjoyed the sliding.

The following day Wemicus said to his son-in-law, "We had better go to another place." When she heard this, the wife told her husband that, as it was getting summer, Wemicus had in his head many poisonous lizards instead of lice. She said, "He will tell you to pick lice from his head and crack them in your teeth. But take low-bush cranberries and crack them instead." So the man took cranberries along with him.

Wemicus took his son-in-law to a valley with a great ravine in it. He said, "I wonder if anybody can jump across this?"

"Surely," said the young man, "I can." Then the young man said, "Closer," and the ravine narrowed and he jumped across easily.

When Wemicus tried, the young man said, "Widen," and Wemicus fell into the ravine. But it did not kill him, and when he made his way to the top again, he said, "You have beaten me."

Then they went on.

They came to a place of hot sand and Wemicus said, "You must look for lice in my head."

"All right, father," replied the son-in-law. So Wemicus lay down and the man started to pick the lice. He took the cranberries from inside his shirt and each time he pretended to catch a louse, he cracked a cranberry and threw it on the ground, and so Wemicus got fooled a second time that day.

Then they went home and Wemicus said to his son-in-law, "There are a whole lot of eggs on that rocky island where the gulls are. We will go get the eggs, come back, and have an egg supper." As Wemicus was the head man, his son-in-law had to obey him.

So they started out in their canoe and soon came to the rocky island. Wemicus stayed in the canoe and told the man to go ashore and to bring the eggs back with him and fill the canoe. When the man reached the shore, Wemicus told him to go farther back on the island, saying, "That's where the former husbands got their eggs, there are their bones." He then started the canoe off in the water by singing, without using his paddle.

Then Wemicus told the gulls to eat the man, saying to them, "I give you him to eat."

The gulls started to fly about the man, but the man had his paddle with him and he killed one of the gulls with it. He then took the gulls' wings and fastened them on himself, filled his shirt with eggs, and started flying over the lake by the aid of the wings.

When he reached the middle of the lake, he saw Wemicus going along and singing to himself. Wemicus, looking up, saw his son-in-law but mistook him for a gull. The man flew back to camp and told his wife to cook the eggs, and he told his children to play with the wings.

When Wemicus reached the camp, he saw the children playing with the wings and said, "Where did you get those wings?"

"From father," was the reply.

"Your father? Why the gulls ate him!"

Then he went to the wigwam and there he saw the man smoking. Then Wemicus thought it very strange how the man could have gotten home, but no one told him how it had been done.

Thought he, "I must try another scheme to do away with him."

One day Wemicus said to his son-in-law, "We'd better make two canoes of birch-bark, one for you and one for me. We'd better get bark." So they started off for birch-bark.

They cut a tree almost through and Wemicus said to his son-in-law, "You sit on that side and I'll sit on this." He wanted the tree to fall on him and kill him. Wemicus said, "You say, 'Fall on my father-in-law,' and I'll say, 'Fall on my son-in-law,' and whoever says it too slowly or makes a mistake will be the one on whom it will fall." But Wemicus made the first mistake, and the tree fell on him and crushed him.

However, Wemicus was a manitu and was not hurt.

They went home with the bark and made the two canoes. After they were made, Wemicus said to his son-in-law, "Well, we'll have a race in our two canoes, a sailing race." Wemicus made a big bark sail, but the man did not make any, as he was afraid of upsetting.

They started the race. Wemicus went very fast and the man called after him, "Oh, you are beating me." He kept on fooling and encouraging Wemicus, until the wind upset Wemicus' canoe and that was the end of Wemicus.

When the man sailed over the spot where Wemicus had upset, he saw a big pike there into which Wemicus had been transformed when the canoe upset. This is the origin of the pike.

Next: The Jealous Father

(pike)

(1300 words)

Heroes: The Jealous Father

Many of the Cree people live today in what is Canada, and there are also Cree people who live in Montana. You can find out more at Wikipedia.

This story was originally published in Notes on the eastern Cree and northern Saulteaux by Alanson Skinner (1911), which you can find at Hathi Trust. The Walrus is an important character in this first part of the story, and the book contains another story about the Walrus here: Wemishus.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

(Cree man, photo by G. Fleming)

The Jealous Father

Cree

Once there was an old man named Aioswé who had two wives. When his son by one of these women began to grow up, Aioswé became jealous of him. One day, he went off to hunt and, when he came back, found marks on one of the women (the co-wife with his son's mother) which proved to him that his son had been on terms of intimacy with her.

One day the old man and the boy went to a rocky island to hunt for eggs. Wishing to get rid of his son, the old man persuaded him to gather eggs farther and farther away from the shore. The young man did not suspect anything until he looked up and saw his father paddling off in the canoe. "Why are you deserting me, father? "he cried.

"Because you have played tricks on your stepmother," answered the old man.

When the boy found that he was really left behind, he sat there crying hour after hour.

At last, Walrus appeared. He came near the island and stuck his head above the water. "What are you crying for, my son?" said Walrus.

"My father has deserted me on this island and I want to get home to the mainland. Will you not help me to get ashore?" the boy replied.

Walrus said that he would do so willingly. "Get on my back," said Walrus, "and I will take you to the mainland."

Then Walrus asked Aioswé's son if the sky was clear. The boy replied that it was, but this was a lie, for he saw many clouds. Aioswé's son said this because he was afraid that Walrus would desert him if he knew it was cloudy.

Walrus said, "If you think I am not going fast enough, strike on my horns [tusks] and let me know when you think it is shallow enough for you to get ashore, then you can jump off my back and walk to the land."

As they went along, Walrus said to the boy, "Now my son, you must let me know if you hear it thunder, because as soon as it thunders, I must go right under the water." The boy promised to let Walrus know.

They had not gone far, when there came a peal of thunder. Walrus said, "My son, I hear thunder."

"Oh, no, you are mistaken," said the boy who feared to be drowned, "what you think is thunder is only the noise your body makes going so quickly through the water."

Walrus believed the boy and thought he must have been wrong.

Some time later, there came another peal of thunder and this time, Walrus knew he was not mistaken; he was sure it was thunder. He was very angry and said he would drop Aioswé's son there, whether the water was shallow or not. He did so, but the lad had duped Walrus with his lies so that he came where the water was very shallow, and the boy escaped, but Walrus was killed by lightning before he could reach water deep enough to dive in. This thunderstorm was sent to destroy Walrus by Aioswé's father, who conjured for it. Walrus, on the other hand, was the result of conjuring by his mother, who wished to save her son's life.

When Aioswé's son reached the shore, he started for home, but he had not gone far before he met an old woman, who had been sent as the result of a wish for his safety by his mother (or was a wish for his safety on his mother's part, personified).

The old woman instructed the lad how to conduct himself if he ever expected to reach his home and mother again. "Now you have come ashore there is still a lot of trouble for you to go through before you reach home," said she, and she gave him the stuffed skin of an ermine (weasel in white winter coat). "This will be one of your weapons to use to protect yourself," were her words as she tendered him this gift, and she told him what dangers he would encounter and what to do in each case.

Next: The Jealous Father (cont.)

(700 words)

Heroes: The Jealous Father (cont.)

In this part of the story Aioswé's son continues to defeat one enemy after another after another so that he can return home.

For more about "whiskey jack," or Wisakedjak, the trickster whose name is also given to the jay-bird, see Wikipedia. You can also find more information in Coffin's Indian Tales of North America.

[Notes by LKG]

This story is part of the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

The Jealous Father (cont.)

Then the son of Aioswé started for his home once more. As he journeyed through the forest he came upon a solitary wigwam inhabited by two old blind hags who were the result of an adverse conjuration by his father. Both of these old women had sharp bones like daggers protruding from the lower arm at the elbow. They were very savage and used to kill everybody they met.

When Aioswé's son approached the tent, although the witches could not see him, they knew from their magic powers that he was near. They asked him to come in and sit down, but he was suspicious, for he did not like the looks of their elbows.

He thought of a plan by which he might dupe the old women into killing each other. Instead of going himself and sitting between them he got a large parchment and, fixing it to the end of a pole, he poked it in between them.

The old women heard it rattle and thought it was the boy himself coming to sit between them. Then they both turned their backs to the skin and began to hit away at it with their elbows. Every time they stabbed the skin, they cried out, "I am hitting the son of Aioswé! I've hit him! I've hit him!" At last, they got so near each other that they began to hit one another, calling out all the time, "I am hitting the son of Aioswé!" They finally stabbed each other to death, and the son of Aioswé escaped this danger also.

When the young man had vanquished the two old women, he proceeded on his journey. He had not gone very far when he came to a row of dried human bones hung across the path so that no one could pass by without making them rattle. Not far away, there was a tent full of people and big dogs. Whenever they heard anyone disturb the bones, they would set upon him and kill him.

The old woman who had advised Aioswé's son told him that when he came to this place, he could escape by digging a tunnel in the path under the bones. When he arrived at the spot, he began to follow her advice and burrow under. He was careless and, when he was very nearly done and completely out of sight, he managed to rattle the bones. At once, the dogs heard and they cried out, "That must be Aioswé's son." All the people ran out at once, but since Aioswé's son was under ground in the tunnel, they could not see him, so after they had searched for a while they returned. The dogs said, "We are sure this is the son of Aioswé," and they continued to search.

At length, they found the mouth of the hole Aioswé's son had dug. The dogs came to the edge and began to bark till all the people ran out again with their weapons. Then Aioswé's son took the stuffed ermine skin and poked its head up. All the people saw it and thought it was really ermine. Then they were angry and killed the dogs for lying.

Aioswé's son escaped again and this time he got home. When he drew near his father's wigwam, he could hear his mother crying, and as he approached still closer he saw her. She looked up and saw him coming. She cried out to her husband and co-wife, "My son has come home again."

The old man did not believe it. "It is not possible," he cried. But his wife insisted on it.

Then the old man came out and, when he saw it was really his son, he was very much frightened for his own safety. He called out to his other wife, "Bring some caribou skins and spread them out for my son to walk on."

But the boy kicked them away. "I have come a long way," said he, "with only my bare feet to walk on."

That night, the boy sang a song about the burning of the world and the old man sang against him but he was not strong enough.

"I am going to set the world on fire," said the boy to his father, "I shall make all the lakes and rivers boil."

He took up an arrow and said, "I am going to shoot this arrow into the woods; see if I don't set them on fire." He shot his arrow into the bush and a great blaze sprang up and all the woods began to burn.

"The forest is now on fire," said the old man, "but the water is not yet burning."

"I'll show you how I can make the water boil also," said his son. He shot another arrow into the water, and it immediately began to boil.

Then the old man who wished to escape said to his son, "How shall we escape?"

The old man had been a great bear hunter and had a large quantity of bear's grease preserved in a bark basket. "Go into your fat basket," said his son; "you will be perfectly safe there."

Then he drew a circle on the ground and placed his mother there. The ground enclosed by the circle was not even scorched, but the wicked old man who had believed he would be safe in the grease baskets was burned to death.

Aioswé's son said to his mother, "Let us become birds. What will you be?"

"I'll be a robin," said she.

"I'll be a whisky jack (Canada jay)," he replied. They flew off together.

Next: Dirty-Boy

(whisky jack)

(900 words)

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