100. The Morning Star and the Cannibal Wife
Once far off in the woods there lived by themselves a husband and wife. It was the custom of the husband to hunt, while the woman devoted her time to raising corn and beans.
One day, while the wife was baking a cake in the ashes, a large spark from the fire fell on her hand as she sat in front of the hearth. The pain caused her to rub the spot with her finger. Soon it began to blister, whereupon she wet her finger in her mouth and rubbed the burned spot; in this way she got a taste of her own blood, and strange as it may seem, she took a liking for it and craved more of it. So with a knife she cut out pieces of the burned flesh, which she ate ravenously. The taste for the flesh grew on her so that she put a coal of fire on another spot on her hand, where it burned more flesh; thus she continued to cut out pieces of her own flesh and eat them. She persisted in this unnatural practice until she had eaten all the flesh from her legs and arms.
The husband had a dog, which was very wise and faithful to him. Now this dog eagerly watched what the woman was doing. When about half through eating the flesh off of her limbs, the unnatural wife, turning to the dog, said: “You would better go and tell your friend and master to escape from this place at once. You must go with him, for if you do not hurry away I shall eat you both.” Obeying this warning, the dog started and, running as fast as he could into the forest until he came to the place where the husband was hunting, [[465]]he told him at once that his wife had become an Ongwe Ias (cannibal), and that she would eat them both if they did not flee immediately. The man and the dog started without delay on a keen run. After a while the man, knowing that the dog’s legs were short and not strong, decided to put him into a hollow tree. The dog consented to this in order to save the man, as he knew what was in store for both. So the hunter placed the dog in a hollow tree, at the same time bidding him to become punk. The hunter went on as fast as he could run, continuing until he came to a river with high banks, where an old man lived. He said to the old man: “Grandfather, I am in great trouble. Take me across the river to save me from peril of my life. My wife, who has become a cannibal, is pursuing me in order to devour me.” The old man said in reply: “Oh! I know what you are telling me, but she is still a long way behind you. She will not be here for some time to come. But you must bring me a basketful of fish from my fishpond.” The hunter at once went to the pond, which was enclosed, where he found a wickerwork dip net, with which he soon filled the basket with fish. As soon as the basket was full he hastened back with it to the old man, who soon said, “Sit down and eat with me.” So they ate together the fish, which had been prepared and cooked by the old man in such manner as to give the fugitive hunter more orenda (magic power) to resist the hostile influence of that of his wife. When they had finished eating the fish, the old man said, “I now want you to bring me a basketful of groundnuts.” The hunter went at once to the garden of the old man, and digging up the groundnuts as quickly as possible, brought them to him. After these were prepared and cooked they sat down and ate them. Then the old man said, “I will now take you across the river.” Going to the river bank, the old man lay face downward, resting on his elbows at the edge of the water, and stretching out his neck to the farther bank. He said to the hunter, “Now you may walk over on my neck, but you must be very careful, for I am not as strong as I have been in the past.” The hunter walked over on the old man’s neck with great care. When he had reached the other bank, the old man bade him good-by with the remark, “Far away in the west you will see a large lodge, which belongs to three aunts of yours, who will help you further; so call on them for aid.” On hearing this, the hunter hurried away.
After the woman had sent the dog away she ate all the flesh from her bones; then with small sticks she pushed all the marrow out of her bones and devoured that, too. Finally she filled the hollows in her bones with small pebbles, which rattled as she moved around. From time to time she sang and danced, causing the pebbles in her bones to rattle; whereupon she would exclaim: “Oh, that sounds fine!” [[466]]Having become ravenous, she fell to devouring everything in the lodge—meat, bread, corn, beans, skins; in fact, everything that could be eaten. When she had eaten everything in the lodge, she started in pursuit of her husband. She soon discovered his tracks and followed them. Once in a while on the way she would stop and dance, listening with delight to the rattle of the small pebbles in her bones. Afterward she would take up the trail again.
Shortly after the hunter had fled from the lodge of the old man his wife came running along. Coming up to the bank of the river, she screamed: “Old man, take me across this river. I am pursuing my husband to seize him and eat him. Come! Be quick!” The old ferryman, not being accustomed to hear words like these, slowly turned toward the woman, saying: “I can not take you across. There is no walk for you, who are chasing your husband to eat him.” But the woman begged and begged him to comply with her request. At last the old man replied: “It is well. Go bring me a basketful of fish and also dig me a basketful of groundnuts.” Going out, the woman caught a basketful of fish in the old man’s pond; then from his garden she dug a basketful of groundnuts and brought them to the old man. When he had prepared and cooked them, she would not eat them, for she now craved nothing but human flesh. After eating by himself, the old man went to the bank of the river and, getting into position, stretched his neck across the water like a turtle, making a very narrow, high, arching span. Then he told her to walk across. But the woman became angry and said: “How do you suppose I am going to cross on that kind of walk?” The old man replied: “Oh! you can do just as you like about it. I am old now and can not make my neck flat. If I did, it would break down. As it is, you must walk very carefully.” No matter how the woman raged she had to go on that narrow path; so she picked her steps carefully, scolding as she went along. The river, which was very angry and deep, was full of terrible creatures. When the woman reached the middle of the river, she made the old man so angry by her scolding that he suddenly jerked his neck, making her fall into the water; whereupon she was devoured instantly, with the exception of her stomach, in which was her life, which floated downstream, passing the lodge of the three aunts of the hunter, her husband. Seeing it on the surface, the three aunts, having caught it, chopped it up fine, thus killing the woman.
In the meanwhile the husband came to the lodge of his three aunts, who told him to keep on his way and that they would watch and do what they could to aid him. So he kept on until he came to a wood, in which he saw a young woman gathering sticks for fuel. She asked him: “Where are you going?” He replied: “I am going on until I find pleasant people to live with.” The young woman answered: [[467]]“You would better remain here with me as my husband. We can live very happily if you can manage my grandmother, who is a little old woman, but very troublesome.” As the young woman was pleasant and good-looking, the hunter decided to remain with her. When they arrived at the lodge of the young woman the little old woman, her grandmother, was outside. She was about one-half the height of an ordinary person, but very stout. She exclaimed: “Oh! you have brought a husband, have you?” Continuing, she added: “You would better bring him into the lodge to let him rest. You should also give him something to eat.” The young woman replied: “It is well; you ask him to come into the lodge.” So the grandmother told them to enter the lodge; following her inside, they sat down. Thereupon the grandmother, getting a club from the farther end of the room, began beating her granddaughter, saying: “Oh! you like too well to have a husband.” She struck her many blows, which the granddaughter endured without making any defense. When bedtime came the old woman said to her granddaughter: “Your husband must sleep with me tonight.” There was nothing to be done but to comply with her demand. So the husband went to the old woman’s bed. The latter covered herself and the man with a skin, fastening it down on all sides in such manner that it was air-tight, so the man could scarcely breathe. Then the old woman made an attempt to smother the husband; she would have done so had he not had a small false face [fetish] hidden away in his bosom. At once he told this aid to absorb all the odor into itself, and thereupon it did so. When morning came, contrary to the expectation of the grandmother, the husband was alive and well. The old woman now for a time left him in peace, and he enjoyed the company of his wife.
Several days later the old woman said to the man: “We must go to an island today to hunt.” They found that the island was low and that in the middle of it there was a very deep lake. Having made a landing, they drew their canoe up on the island. The old woman said to the man: “Take your position here on the right,” indicating with her finger a spot away from the canoe, “and I will drive the game toward you.” The man had gone about halfway toward the place when, hearing a sound in the direction of the canoe, he turned back, only to see the old woman in the canoe paddling away as fast as she could. He called to her to return, but it was of no use.
The man remained on the island all day long; there was no escape for him. He noticed the marks of water high up on the trees, which were very tall. He knew well what these marks meant. When night came the water began to rise, and thereupon the hunter climbed the highest tree he could find on the island. The water kept rising, and [[468]]he continued to climb as it rose. With the first streak of dawn in the east the hunter saw that all the shorter trees were covered with water, while around him on all sides were great numbers of monsters waiting to devour him. He sat at the top of the tallest tree on the island. While looking around for some avenue of escape he saw the Morning Star shining brightly in the east. Remembering that the Morning Star had promised him in a dream in the days of his youth to help him in the time of trouble or peril, he prayed that the Morning Star would hasten the coming of the day, for he believed that with the advent of daylight the waters would subside and he would be saved. He cried in the anguish of his mind: “Oh, Morning Star! hasten the Orb of Day. Oh, Morning Star! hurry on the daylight. You promised when I was young that you would help me if I ever should be in great peril.” Now, the Morning Star lived in a beautiful lodge, with a small boy as a servant. Hearing the voice of the hunter appealing to him for aid, he called out to the servant, “Who is that shouting on the island?” The small boy replied, “Oh! that is the husband of the little old woman’s granddaughter. He says that you promised him in a dream when he was young that you would help in the time of trouble.” The Morning Star answered, “Oh, yes! I did promise him to do so. Let the Orb of Day come at once.” Immediately daylight came, and the water on the island subsided.
When the waters were dried from the land the hunter slipped down from the tree, and going to the landing place he buried himself in the sand, leaving only his nostrils and one eye exposed. Early in the forenoon the old woman came again to the island. Drawing up the canoe on the beach, she said to herself: “The flesh of my granddaughter’s husband has been eaten up by this time, but I suppose his bones are left. Being very young, they must have good marrow in them, so I think I will have some of this marrow.” So saying, she started to search the island for the bones. The man was watching her, and when she had gone far enough away he sprang up out of the sand, and boarding the canoe pushed off and paddled away. When he had gone some distance from the island the old woman saw him, whereupon she cried out in agony of despair, “Oh, grandson, come back! I will never play another trick on you. I will love you.” The hunter replied in derision, “Oh, no! I will not return. You shall play no more tricks on me,” and continued to paddle away.
When night came the water on the island began to rise. Then the old woman climbed the tall pine tree to escape the monsters waiting to devour her. Between midnight and sunrise the water, still rising, was nearing the treetop where the old woman was, when she called out to the Morning Star, “You promised me when I was young that you would help me when I should be in distress.” The Morning Star asked the boy, “Is that man down there on the island yet?” [[469]]The lad replied, “Oh, no! He got off yesterday. This is the little old woman herself. She says you promised her in a dream to help her.” The Morning Star replied, “Oh, no! I never had any conversation with her. I never made any promise to her.” With these words the Morning Star fell asleep again and slept on, letting the Orb of Day come at its own time. The water on the island kept rising and rising until it had reached the top of the pine tree, when the inhabitants of the lake ate up the little old woman.
The man was at home with his young wife and they lived ever after in peace and happiness.
101. The Woman and the Cannibal[379] Thunder
One day a stranger came to a lodge in which a man, his wife, and four children lived, and asked leave to marry the young daughter of the family. Both father and mother consenting, he married her.
The man remained there for a time, and then he wished his wife to go to his own lodge. The old people were willing, so the two started. They soon reached a large cabin, whereupon the young man said, “This is my cabin.” When they arrived there was no one in it, but toward night the woman heard some person approaching on the run. Soon afterward a man entered and sat down by the door; again she heard the sound of someone running, and another man entered and sat down; then a third person came. They began talking one with another, relating how far they had been. One of them said, “I had good luck; I killed a bear.” Finding that he was the only one of the three who had killed anything, they said, “Go, bring it in; we will cook it.” The young woman sat watching at the end of the room. The man brought in what he called a bear, which she saw was the trunk and head of a man. Having cut it up, they put it into a kettle to boil; when cooked, they ate it. The three walked to and fro in the room without once looking toward the woman. Her husband was there, but he did not talk, nor eat with the men. Although they were his brothers, he never ate their kind of food. The next morning, and on succeeding days, after making the usual preparations, the three went hunting; in the evening they returned, and sitting down by the door, talked over their journey. If they had killed any game they brought it into the lodge, and cooked and ate it; if they had killed nothing, they ate what was left from the meal of the previous evening.
One day when the young woman went to draw water she found a man standing by the spring. He addressed these words to her, “I came to tell you that your husband is going into the ground tomorrow. He is magically a very powerful and evil man. As soon as he is gone, you must put your moccasin exactly in the center of your lodge, telling it to answer for you every time your husband [[470]]speaks. When you have done that, hurry to this place.” The next morning the husband said, “I am going into the ground. I want you to stay in the lodge all the time I am away,” and turning around where he stood, he disappeared in the ground. After doing as she had been told to do by the stranger, the wife went to the spring, where she found the man. Putting her into the top of an arrow, and saying, “When the arrow falls, get out and hurry along the lake as fast as you can,” he shot it into the air.
Soon the husband called to his wife, “Are you there?” at which the moccasin answered in her voice, “Yes.” After a time he called again, “Are you there?” “Yes,” was again her reply. He was away several days, during which many times did he ask, “Are you there?” always receiving the same answer. When he appeared above the ground and asked, “Where are you, wife, are you here?” a voice answered, “Yes.” Looking around, he could not see her; then suddenly he discovered what had been talking to him. He was very angry and began to search for the woman’s tracks. He followed them to the spring, where they disappeared. After looking for a long time he became discouraged, and calling his dog Onhagwio,[380] he said, “You failed to watch my wife while I was gone. Now you must find her.” Then he watched the dog as it ran round and round, coming back to the spring; finally it stopped scenting the ground, and looking into the air, it sniffed. All at once the dog ran off northward, looking up all the time as if it saw tracks (but trailing a faint scent in the air). The man followed. After a while they came to the spot where the arrow fell. There were tracks on the ground. The dog barked and began to run faster, the man urging it on. As they neared the woman, the man who had been at the spring stood before her. He put her again into an arrow, saying, “You will come down on an island in a lake, and you must run across this island in all directions.” When the husband and the dog came to the place where she met the man they lost her track. Again the dog scented, and finding the trail in the air, followed it. When they reached the lake, the man changed himself into a flea, and going into the hair behind the dog’s ear, held on. Then the dog swam to the island, on reaching which the flea turned to a man again. Coming to the spot where the arrow fell, they found her tracks, which they followed across and around the island. As they neared the woman, the man again stood by her, and putting her once more into his arrow, said, “You will come down on the shore of the lake; then run as fast as you can. I can help you no longer, but you will soon reach a village, where you will find some one to help you. You may see now who I am.” As he turned to go away, she saw that the man was a Djondjongwen.[381]
The dog arrived at the place where the tracks disappeared on the ground; here he found the woman had crossed the lake. Again the [[471]]man turned to a flea and the dog swam with him to the shore. Having found the woman’s footprints, they followed them. As they were getting very near, so near that she could hear the dog bark, she came to a lodge in which a man was sitting, making flint arrowheads. His name was Hathegwendonnis.[382] The woman asked him to help her. He said. “Go on as fast as you can; the man in the next lodge will help you. I, too, will do all I can to aid you.” When the dog and man came to the lodge, Hathegwendonnis threw toward him a handful of flint. The flint flew in every direction; wherever it struck it tore up trees and earth. But the dog ran at Hathegwendonnis and, seizing him by the back of the neck, shook him until he was dead. The woman reached the second lodge, where she found a man making nets. His name was Hadaeonnis.[383] To him she said, “I am running away; can you help me?” He answered, “Go on as quickly as you can; you will soon come to a cabin, and the people who live there can help you. I will do all I can.” When the man and dog came to the lodge Hadaeonnis threw his net, which caught them, winding round and round them. For a long time they struggled; at last, breaking through the net, the dog ran at Hadaeonnis, seizing him by the neck, and shaking him until he was dead. In the third cabin the woman found four men. When she had asked them for help, they began chopping down great dry trees, which they piled on her tracks. Soon they had a high pile, and setting fire to the wood, they stood waiting, two at each end. When the dog and the man came to the fire, the dog wanted to go around, but the man, seeing that the tracks led into the fire, said, “No; you must go through.” When they came out on the other side, both dog and man were nearly dead. The eldest of the four men said, “We will shoot and kill them,” but they found shooting had no effect. Then the older man said, “We will catch them and pull out their hearts.” Having caught and killed them, they pulled out their hearts; these they put into a red-hot kettle, which the old man had heated over the fire. The hearts flew around and around in the kettle trying to get out, but the men shot them until they were dead and burned up.
Now the old man, whose name was Deoneyont,[384] went to the cabin and told the woman she was safe. He said, “You must rest four days; then you can go home.” When the fourth day came the old man said, “It is time to go. Your home is in the south. As you travel, you will know where you are.” In the afternoon she met a man who said, “Toward night you will see something to eat.” She traveled all day, and in the evening she came to a stump, where she found a part of Ononda onoqgwa.[385] She thought this must be what he meant, so she ate it; then she went on until dark. The next morning she started again. In the afternoon she met the same man, who told her she would soon find something to eat. Toward night she [[472]]came to a stump, where she found a pot of hulled corn. On the following day, when she awoke, the man was standing by her; he said, “You are near home, so I shall leave you here. I am one of those whom you call Hadiwenodadyes.”[386] Starting on, she soon came in sight of an old cabin. Then she came to a spring which she knew, for it was the spring where, when a girl, she used to get water. Going to the cabin, she found all her people, who looked very old. She said, “Mother, I have come.” All were very glad and said, Nyâwen.
[The narrator thinks the net-maker was a spider.]
102. Gaqga and Sgagedi[387]
A brother and his sister lived together in a lodge. The brother never allowed his sister to go outside. When he went hunting, he did not fail to tell his dog to stay at home and to bring whatever his sister wanted.
One day when her brother was hunting the sister wanted water; not seeing the dog she thought what harm could it do for her to go out and bring back water as quickly as possible. She ran to the spring, and stooping down, filled the bucket, but as she straightened up and rested, putting the bucket on the edge of the spring, someone, grasping her from behind, carried her away through the air. The dog came on the run, and barking loudly, made a spring into the air to catch her, but he could not reach her. On hearing the dog bark, the brother hurried home. Finding his sister gone, he said to the dog, “You have caused me great trouble.” The animal felt the rebuke so keenly that, putting his head beneath his body, he became a stone.
Gaqga, the man who had stolen the young woman, took her to an island in the middle of a lake, where she passed some time. Every day Gaqga would go away, returning with dry fish which he found on the shore. Sometimes he would bring pieces of human flesh, which he ate himself; afterward he would send the young woman to get water for him to drink.
One day when the woman went to the edge of the island for water, a man stood before her, who said: “I have come to tell you that the man who is keeping you is very hungry, and has made up his mind to kill you tomorrow. He will tell you to bring water to fill the kettle; as soon as you do this, he will seize his club to kill you. You must run behind the post on which the kettle hangs. He will strike the post and break his arm. Then come to this spot as quickly as you can.” The next day Gaqga acted as the man said he would. When the kettle was full, seizing his heavy club, he struck at the girl, who ran behind the post; as his arm came down with the club it struck the post and it broke. The woman ran to the lake. The man was there with a canoe. Both got into it, and the man pushed [[473]]out into the lake. This man was Sgagedi. After a while Gaqga’s arm felt better, so he followed the girl to the water. Seeing the canoe far off on the lake, he was very angry, saying, “This is the work of Sgagedi.” As the canoe was approaching shore, the girl saw a lodge near by. When Sgagedi stepped into the canoe, he divided himself, one half sitting at each end of the canoe. As the canoe struck land, the half of the body which was at the stern was raised and thrown forward, whereupon, striking the front half, it was joined thereto, so that the two parts became a whole man. The girl was sitting in the bottom of the boat, when the mother of the man came to her, saying, “My daughter, come with me,” and led her to the lodge. She was now Sgagedi’s wife. Every time he went out on the water he divided himself, one half sitting at each end of the canoe. As soon as the canoe touched land he became whole again. All his life he had been traveling around on the lake in this way, liberating people captured by witches.
After a while the young woman gave birth to twin boys. As soon as they were born the old grandmother threw them into the lake; as they touched the water they began to paddle and quickly swam to shore. Again she threw them in the water, but in a moment they were back again; then she threw them far out into the lake. When they swam to shore she said, “That will do.” They now began to run around and play. They grew very quickly and after a while said to their father, “We think you ought to rest, so you would better stay at home and let us go out in the canoe and do your work.” “It is well,” replied the father.
Thereupon the twins started off in the canoe, and after rowing some distance one said to the other, “See! there is something on the land that looks as if it were falling to pieces.” “That is true,” said the other brother; “let us go ashore and find out what it is.” So they landed, and going to the spot they found an old lodge lying flat on the ground; within was something breathing, which they discovered was a very old man. They got him out of the lodge, and one of the boys said, “This is our uncle, and we must carry him home.” The man consented to go with them. As they were leaving the place he pointed to a large stone, saying, “That is my dog.” Striking it with a switch he said, “Get up,” whereupon the dog got up, shaking himself and stretching, as is the custom of dogs. They traveled on until they came to the water, with the dog following them. Then all got into the canoe and the boys paddled across the lake. When they reached home the boys said, “Grandmother, we have found our uncle.” On looking at the old man, she was convinced that he was her brother. Now the boys said to their grandmother, “You must marry our uncle.” “It is well,” replied she. After that they all lived together very happily. [[474]]
103. Dagwanoenyent and Gaasyendietʻha[388]
There was a large village of people provided with plenty of meat, who lived happily. Among these people was a man who lived at one end of the village, whom few noticed.
One night this man had a dream, in which his Dream Spirit said to him, “Something is going to happen to the people of the village, so you must notify them to move away within ten days.” In the morning he went to the center of the village, and having gathered the people together, told them his dream. Some of them believed and some did not. Five days later, all those who had believed his dream joined those who had not believed and paid no further heed to the warning.
On the fifth night the man dreamed again. This time his Dream Spirit said to him: “We know that all the people do not believe you. Now save yourself. Start within three days, taking your bow and all your arrows with you. About halfway up the high hill east of the village you will find a large hollow rock; enter this cavern, and you will find a subterranean passage running toward the village. Look through this passage, and you will see all that is going on in the village. The people will be destroyed. At midday of the tenth day a great cry will be raised by the people, such a cry as you have never heard. When it begins to die away you must commence to shoot through the passage, for the monster that destroys the village will track you to this place. You will save your life if you shoot all your arrows before the monster reaches the underground passage. When your arrows are gone, come out of your hiding place and go to the place where the monster has fallen. Then take a small piece of its skin together with the hair (which is very long) from the back of its head; this will be of use to you, for it has great orenda (magical power). This monster is called Dagwanoenyent. You must wind the hair around your body next to your skin and declare at the same time that there is nothing that you can not do. At night when it is too dark for you to be seen, go northward a short distance, and you will find a tree upturned by the roots. Go around the roots—you must not be frightened, for I will give you something which will be of great service to you.”
The morning after this dream the man seemed very gloomy and unhappy. When the time came, taking his bow and bundle of arrows, he started; going eastward, he soon began to climb the mountain (he did not take his family, for all believed not in his dream). Just as the sun set he came to a large rock, in the opposite side of which he found an opening. Entering here, he kept on until, as he thought, he arrived directly under the center of the rock; there he found a room high enough for him to stand in. (There [[475]]was stone all around, but the bottom was earth.) He now remembered the subterranean passage, and looking around, he found it; then he lay down to sleep. The next morning when he went out there was a deer standing close by, which he killed and skinned. Having roasted some of the venison, he ate it for breakfast.
Then the man went on top of the rock, which he found large and level. The tenth day, as he sat on the rock he heard a great noise coming from the south, but he could see nothing. After a while the sound seemed to approach the village, whereupon he saw something that looked like smoke. He saw, too, that the trees in a very wide area were uprooted and were falling toward the village. As the terrible noise neared the village, he went under the rock, where he took position opposite the underground passage. As he looked through it the village seemed to him to be right at hand. In a short time he heard a terrible outcry, which was the screaming of the people in distress. He could see that the huts were hurled up into the air and torn to pieces. He could also see the Monster eating the people. When all the rest were eaten, it missed one, and laughing, said, “The world is not large enough for him to hide in.” Then the man saw that the trees bent toward the east, and from this he knew the Monster was on his track. Stringing his bow, he began to shoot through the underground passage as rapidly as possible. When but few of his arrows remained the noise seemed to be rapidly approaching. Finally, when only two arrows were left, he saw a great Black Monster[389] approaching. Thereupon he shot the last arrow. At that instant the roar and noise ceased, and the Monster fell; he heard it say, “It is dismal (awendonyat); you have killed me.” The man said, “I will go and see this creature.” On going to the place where the head lay, and examining it, he discovered that every arrow he had shot was in the head. As he stood there, thinking, he said, “I must do as I was commanded,” so he took part of the scalp from the crown of the head, with the long hair hanging to it. This he tied around his body, saying, “You must always help me and not let me be overpowered by anything.” He then climbed the remainder of the hill, reaching the top quickly, for he could now go very fast. On looking around, he found a place to build a brush hut and began work. In a short time he had completed the hut. Then he said, “I must have plenty of meat,” and going out, he saw deer, bear, and all other kinds of game in great numbers. Having killed what he wanted, he skinned the deer and the bears. In doing this, he merely took hold of the skin of the head and pulled it off. After he had skinned the animals, he put up hurdles in brush arbors, on which he placed the meat to dry.
It was still the day on which he killed Dagwanoenyent. When it began to get so dark that he could not distinguish objects, he [[476]]started, as his dream had said, toward the north. He had not gone far when he came to a fallen tree with the roots turned up. On starting to go around this, when halfway around, he saw Gaasyendietʻha, which had its great mouth open and seemed very angry. When the Gaasyendietʻha saw that the man was not frightened, it began to laugh; then, changing itself to a man (human being), it said: “You must take one of my teeth out. This will be of great use to you, for it will enable you to change yourself into any form you wish.” The man took out one of the double teeth, the one farthest back in the jaw. At this Gaasyendietʻha said: “You shall live. You shall have full magical power in your possession, but you and I must always counsel with each other, especially if you are in trouble; now we must part.” Immediately Gaasyendietʻha, resuming his natural form, flew off through the air.
Going back to his hut, the man made up his mind that this should be his home hereafter. He remained in the hut one year; at the end of that time, getting lonely, he thought of the people, and said to himself: “I will go and see whether I can find anybody.” As he started he turned himself into a Gadjidas[390] and flew toward the southwest. He did not know how far he might go before finding people, but, as he soared high, he kept looking down on the earth. After a time he saw something directly to the west which made him think people were living there, so he came lower and lower. When near the ground he saw a village and said: “Well, I shall eat up all the people that live here, but if I find a good-looking woman, I shall take her home.” Then he turned himself into a Ganiagwaihegowa, and, beginning at the first house, he ate all the people. When he thought he had eaten everybody and had seen no woman that suited him, he saw away off on one side of the town a little hut from which smoke came out. Going there, he found an old man and a woman with several children, all of whom he ate. Then saying, “I have finished,” he changed himself into a man. He stood around a while and then, seeing a little trail, followed it. He had not gone far when he met a woman who was very handsome and whom he liked at once. As they talked together he asked: “Where do you live?” “Oh! right over here at that lodge,” she replied. He said, “You would better go home with me, for there is no one living there; all the people are dead.” “I must see first,” she answered. They then went back to the village. She led him to the last hut, in which he had found the old man and woman with the children. She was their daughter. Finding only the blood on the ground, she began to cry. He laid his hand on the top of her head, and as he touched her she instantly became senseless; whereupon he shook her, causing her to become a small gnat. Changing himself into a hen hawk and putting the gnat (ogenhwan) under his wing, he flew off in the direction of his [[477]]home. In a short time he was there, and, changing himself into a man again, he took the woman from under his wing and shook her back into her natural form and size. Then he said: “This is our home; you must stay here and take care of the meat and the lodge.” She obeyed, while every day he went off to hunt.
One night some time afterward, as they sat in the hut the man heard a noise outside, as though some one were coming on a run. Suddenly the door opened and a man came in. They greeted one another. “I have come again,” said the man. “I find that you have made yourself into two persons now. I am here to warn you. A great monster has become very envious of you and has said, ‘There is a man over yonder who has become magically very powerful, and I have determined to try to overpower him and to eat him.’ Tomorrow at noon this monster will come. You must go eastward until you reach a large hill of stones, half as high as the highest mountain, not far from here. The place will be your only refuge when this monster attacks you. Get up on these rocks, and when it approaches you, you must jump from one rock to another. It will jump after you, but when it fails to reach you and falls, you may feel safe. We will then take care of it. This is what I had to tell you, so now I shall go.” The man and his wife went to sleep. The next morning the woman, noticing that her husband was gloomy, said, “What is the matter?” “Nothing, except I am thinking of what will become of me today at noon.” (She had neither seen nor heard the strange man who had spoken to her husband, although she was present. They two were so powerful in orenda that only they heard what was said.) The husband, walking up and down, seemed to be very uneasy.
As it neared noon, leaving his wife, the man started for the rocks. Seating himself on the top of the highest rock, he waited. Just at midday he heard a great noise, a distant howl; then he heard another nearer; then a third howl, just at the rocks. Now by way of defiance he gave a whoop, calling out, “I am the strongest of the strong. Nothing can overpower me.” The source of the sound was a bear, the oldest and strongest of the great bears. As it came up, it leaped on the rocks where the man stood, whereupon he jumped on the next rock, with the monster close behind him. In this way they kept leaping from one rock to another, being ever about the same distance apart, until the man began to feel tired and faint, and as he looked ahead the next rock seemed farther off than any of the others had been. Making a greater exertion, he just reached it. The bear was close behind him, but as it sprang, it fell short, just striking its jaws on the edge of the rock. The man looked over the edge of the rock and then jumped to the ground. As he struck the ground, looking behind him, he saw the rock from which he had leaped turn [[478]]over and fall on the monster, killing it. “That is what I said; there is nothing that can overpower me,” the young man thought. He then went back to his hut very happy. His wife asked what had happened to him. “I have killed a monster bear that came to destroy me,” he replied.
Now all went on as usual. One day after the man returned from hunting, as he and his wife sat by the fire they heard a man approaching the hut, and they kept listening until he came to the door. When the man opened the door, there stood his friend. For the first time now the woman saw him. They greeted each other. The guest said: “The time has come when your life is again in danger, but I will try to save you and your wife. I will tell you what to do. Rub your hands on your wife’s head and she will turn to Osʻhada;[391] then you must tell it to follow you wherever you go. It will not be well for you to stay here; you must go away, but remain here as long as you can after your wife has gone. She must start immediately after you change her into Osʻhada, and when you have given up all hope of being able to stay, then flee directly toward the south. Tomorrow morning as soon as you get up, you must do as I have told you. I shall go now and we shall meet again.”
Thereupon the visitor started off. The man and wife began to talk. They did not know what to do. In the morning the man rubbed her head, saying, “Let my wife become Osʻhada.” At once she became Osʻhada and rested on his hand, while with the other hand he rubbed it off in the direction it was to go. Then piling up all his meat, he said in a loud voice, “I give this meat to you, all flesh-eating animals that live in the woods.” He now went toward the southeast from his lodge to a very large elm tree, which was smooth up to a great height, where branches formed a crotch. Climbing the tree, he sat in this crotch. Soon he noticed that he felt faint and very weak at intervals, and he thought that there must be near him something mysterious. He looked around everywhere, but saw nothing. Taking out the tooth Gaasyendietʻha had given him, he dampened it with spittle; then having rubbed his finger over the tooth, he passed it over his eyes, saying, “Now I can see everything that is going on, even down in the ground.” On looking into the ground, he saw, deep down, a tree and on the tree a great monster. He sat still, watching it as it slowly climbed the tree. As it came near the top, the faint feeling grew stronger on the man. He saw that the animal was a Djainosgowa,[392] the greatest of the Djainos family of monsters. This Djainosgowa had determined to overpower the orenda of the man. It came up out of the ground and up into the heart of the tree on which the man was sitting. As it came nearer and nearer, the man leaped to another tree. At that instant the Djainosgowa, [[479]]coming out at the place where the man had been sitting, said, “Guhge sedjinoⁿ (You are indeed somewhat of a man, but I am determined to overpower you in orenda).” Thereupon the Djainosgowa leaped toward the man, but the man jumped to another tree, and then from tree to tree, the Djainosgowa following. There was a great rock at the brink of the hill to which the man ran; from this he leaped through the air across the great valley to a mountain far away. Thence he ran directly southward, right along the top of the mountain, descending on the other side to another very wide valley. He ran across this valley and had begun to ascend the mountain on the other side when he heard the monster in close pursuit. It continued to run all night. In the morning he came to an opening, on the other side of the valley. It was nearly dark, but the man continued to run all night. In the morning he came to an opening, on the farther side of which he could discern a hill and smoke arising. As he came to the foot of the mountain, he stopped, and turning around, he saw that the monster Djainosgowa had gotten to the opening. Raising its paw, it struck the man’s footprint on the trail. Instantly the man fell to the ground. As he fell, his friend appeared and said: “Get up; you cannot live if you fall this way.” So saying, he pushed him into a run, telling him to hurry. The man then felt stronger and again ran fast from valley to valley, with the Djainosgowa always about the same distance behind. All at once the man fell again. Immediately his friend was there, and put him on his feet, saying, “Keep up your courage,” at the same time pushing him into a run. Again he felt stronger and ran fast. He ran all night. It was a very dark night and he struck a great maple tree, going straight through it; this happened many times during the night, whenever he hit a tree.
For eight days and nights the monster chased him. When it discovered that the man went through trees it threw its power ahead of him, making the trees so hard that the man could no longer go through them. On the ninth night the monster commanded a terrible rainstorm to come and the night to be so dark that the man could not see where he was going, but the man ran on until midnight without hitting a tree. Just at midnight he struck a tree and was thrown far back. At that moment his friend was there, who said, “Do all you can; exert yourself”; and taking hold of his hand he led him. The two went and traveled a great deal faster than the man had gone alone, unaided by his friend, Gaasyendietʻha, the Meteor. The two ran together until daylight, when the friend left and the man went on alone. This was the tenth day and he began to be very tired and faint, but still the monster was approaching and its strokes on his tracks were frequent, so that the man fell often. The chances seemed against his escape. Night came and the Djainosgowa made it terribly [[480]]dark. Running against a tree, the man bounded far back, but fortunately the Djainosgowa was so near that he fell behind it. The Djainosgowa, having likewise struck the tree, was also thrown back. At once the man was up and running forward again. The Djainosgowa was just upon him and was reaching out to grasp him when the man fell, as it seemed to him, into a hole in the ground. He thought, “Well, I am near my end. When I strike I shall be dashed to pieces.” He kept falling, and as he fell he grew sleepy. Looking up he saw the monster coming down the side of the hole, winding round and round. Thereupon the man went to sleep. After a long time he woke and was still falling, and the monster was still pursuing him. At last the man landed on his feet. He seemed to have come out of the hole, and on looking around he saw a beautiful country. Saying to himself, “My friend told me to go toward the south,” he ran in that direction. As he went on rapidly he saw the Djainosgowa coming toward him very fast, and thought, “Now I shall die.” As it came near the monster turned itself into a man. The runner, closing his eyes, kept on thinking, “I will not be looking at him when he reaches me.” He ran until he thought it was a long time to wait to be seized; then he opened his eyes and looked around, but he could not see the Djainosgowa, but still he kept on running.
Soon the man came to a lodge, which he entered, finding within an old man, who, looking up, exclaimed: “Oh, my grandson! I am glad you have come. I have been waiting for you a long time. You are bringing with you what I have wanted to eat for a long time. So go back there and stay. The Djainosgowa and I will fight alone. We will see whether it is as powerful as it thinks it is.” Soon the noise of the monster’s approach could be heard. Coming to the lodge, it asked, “Where is the man I have been chasing?” The old man said, “Here I am.” “No; you are not the man,” Djainosgowa replied. “I am; but if you think it is some one else, you shall not find out until you overpower me,” retorted the old man. The Djainosgowa said, “Come outside; there is not room in here.” “Very well,” replied the old man, and, arising, he went out. Then they began to fight. Whenever the animal bit the old man, tearing open the flesh, it immediately came together and healed. The old man tore off the forelegs of the Djainosgowa. They fought until the Djainosgowa was torn to pieces and the old man convinced himself that the pieces were not alive. Then he hung up the meat in the lodge and said to his grandson: “Come out! I have killed the monster you were afraid of. I am very thankful, for I have been wishing for this kind of meat for a long time.” The old man boiled the meat in a large kettle, not leaving a particle. In a small kettle he cooked bear’s meat for his grandson. As the meat was boiling, he put corn into the pounder and with only a few strokes it became [[481]]corn meal; then having made bread, he began to eat. He was constantly giving thanks for the meat he was eating. At last, when he had eaten every bit of the great Djainosgowa he said: “I thank you, my grandson, for this will last me for a great many tens of years. You must stay with me until you are rested and cured, for you have been infected by the orenda (magic power) of this great monster.”
One day the old man said, “I want you to see what I have planted.” A short distance from the lodge they came to a field where something was growing. The old man said, “This is called onĕñoñ.” There were great tall cornstalks with ears of corn on them as long as the man was tall and kernels as large as a man’s head. The field extended farther than the eye could see. The old man said, “Let us go on the other side.” There the young man saw another field, where all varieties of corn were growing. Going on, they came to a third field, whereupon the old man said, “These are squashes.” They were very large and in great variety. Passing the squash field, they went to the old man’s lodge.
The next day, after he had rested, the grandson, having bade the old man good-by, went on. He traveled many days and finally came to a large opening, where there was a village. After thinking a while, he went to the lodge of the chief, who received him well. The chief’s daughter, looking at him, asked, “Have you ever heard of a man sending his wife off in the form of Osʻhada, a vapor?” He thought and thought this over; he had entirely forgotten about it. After a good while, remembering the past, he said, “Yes; I myself did that.” “I thought I recognized you. I am your wife,” declared the woman. They were glad to be together again.
104. Dagwanoenyentgowa Sʻhagodigendji[393] and Yenonsgwa
Dagwanoenyentgowa Sʻhagodigendji, the eldest woman of her people, lived in the woods with two grandchildren, a boy and a girl.
One day, when the old woman had gone on a journey, a Yenonsgwa came to the lodge. Picking up the younger child, after speaking kindly to her and saying that she was a pretty little thing, the Yenonsgwa swallowed her. Then she began to talk to the boy, telling him how well he looked, but did not kill him. Sitting on the bed, she told the boy that if he would get on her back she would take him out to look for his grandmother. Accordingly he climbed on her back; but soon becoming frightened, he grasped her so tightly that he became fastened to it, so he could not get off, although he tried hard to do so. The Yenonsgwa started off, but went in a direction different from that where his grandmother was. The boy [[482]]told her so, but she said: “Oh! we shall soon come to the place where she is.” The Yenonsgwa woman went very far into the woods, and the boy began to cry for his grandmother; he cried so hard that Yenonsgwa told him to get off her back. She did not like to hear him cry, and, moreover, she wanted to eat him. But he did not get off, for he could not do so. Yenonsgwa could neither get her hands around to pull him off, nor could she turn her head to bite him; she could not get at him in any way. Knowing this, the boy clung to the middle of her back, for he knew also that she would eat him if he slipped down. They traveled thus for many days.
When the grandmother returned home she found that the boy and girl were not in the lodge, and she became very uneasy. She searched everywhere, but found no traces of either. After a while, finding the tracks of the Yenonsgwa around the lodge, she guessed what the trouble was. The old woman followed the trail of the Yenonsgwa, saying that she was bound to get her grandchildren back.
Yenonsgwa tried to get the boy off, even rubbing him against a hickory tree, but the boy said: “Oh! I like that. Rub harder.” At this she stopped rubbing and went on. The grandmother, in the form of a whirlwind, followed her, and Yenonsgwa told the boy that his grandmother was following as a whirlwind, and would strike and kill both. The boy was silent. Then looking around for a refuge, Yenonsgwa found a hiding place in a deep ravine. There she dug a hole, into which she went and covered herself with the earth which slipped down from above. Now Yenonsgwa heard Dagwanoenyentgowa coming, and said to the boy: “You can hear your grandmother coming if you listen.” Then the Dagwanoenyentgowa rushed over the place where they lay. The boy shouted to his grandmother, who heard him. Changing her course, she came back straight to the spot where they were, blowing the earth off the hiding place, so that Yenonsgwa was visible on the surface of the ground. When the grandmother asked the boy whether he was there, he answered: “Yes.” The Yenonsgwa, however, lay still, whispering to the boy: “Be quiet! Your grandmother will see us.” The grandmother then called to the boy by name: “Dagwanoenyentgowa, get off Yenonsgwa’s back.” Having done so, he went a short distance from her inside the cavern. Then the old woman, his grandmother, hurled great stones at Yenonsgwa, rending all her clothes of rock and killing her. Thereupon the old woman took her grandson with her toward home. On the road she said: “Never allow yourself to be treated in this way again. Never let anyone maltreat you. You can master all those people if you only use your orenda (magic power), for you are a Dagwanoenyentgowa like myself.” The old woman remained at home a few days with her grandson. [[483]]
Meanwhile some of the Yenonsgwa’s people found her trail, which they followed until they came to the place where her clothes were rent and scattered, and she lay dead. When they asked, the spirit of the Yenonsgwa told them that the old woman had killed her and had rent her coating of stone. The men of the Yenonsgwa’s people now resolved to collect a large company of their people to kill the old woman, Dagwanoenyentgowa.
While they were preparing for this, the old woman, while she was out on one of her journeys, found out their plans. When she heard the news of the intended attack she said to her grandson, “We must get your sister out of the belly of the Yenonsgwa, for she is sitting within, crying for me all the time.” So they set out from home, and when they reached the place where Yenonsgwa lay dead the old woman, having built a little fire, began to burn tobacco on it for her granddaughter, saying, “This is what we like; this is what we like.” She burned perhaps half a pouch full and kept pushing the smoke toward the Yenonsgwa’s body, saying, “This is what we like. Do you come out of Yenonsgwa’s body.” Still no sign of the granddaughter; she did not come out of Yenonsgwa’s body. At last the old woman said: “We must have more help. You have a great many relatives—uncles, aunts, and cousins. We must call them here.” So saying, the old woman, the Dagwanoenyentgowa, called them loudly. They came one by one. There was a great number of them. They broke up and removed all the clothing of the Yenonsgwa, which they threw away, leaving the body naked. Then the old woman built a fire at Yenonsgwa’s head, on which she burned tobacco. All the Dagwanoenyentgowa walked around the fire, each throwing tobacco into it, saying, “This is what we like; this is what we like.” After each one of them had gone around once and had thrown tobacco into the fire once, the young girl started up in Yenonsgwa’s body, panting for breath. Soon she arose, and walking out, said, “How long have I been here?” The people gave her tobacco to smoke. She inhaled it until she gained her full strength. Then all went home—the old woman with her two grandchildren to her lodge, and the other Dagwanoenyents each to his own place.
After they had been home a while a Yenonsgwa came to the old woman’s lodge, who talked pleasantly and inquired how they were. Finding out that they were only three in number, the Yenonsgwa went back, thinking it would be a small task to kill them. After the Yenonsgwa had gone away the old woman said, “We are in trouble now. There is a great number of these Yenonsgwa people leagued together against us. They are assembled somewhere around here. When this struggle commences we do not know whether or not we shall be able to come home here again.” As soon as she had finished talking with her grandchildren the old woman went out and called loud and long, [[484]]“Dagwanoenyentgowa! Dagwanoenyentgowa! Dagwanoenyentgowa!” The girl did not know what that meant, so she asked her grandmother, who told her, “I am calling your relatives to help us. You are a Dagwanoenyentgowa, too.” They came one by one. When all had come they numbered 60, besides the old woman and her grandchildren. Dagwanoenyentgowa Sʻhagodigendji said that each one must have a round stone to strike with, just heavy enough to handle well. They had barely gotten the stones when the Yenonsgwa began to appear, thousands and thousands in number. The Dagwanoenyentgowa were frightened when they saw them, but the old woman who led them said, “We must separate and attack them singly. You must keep the stones in your hands. Be firm and have the faith that you will kill with one blow each one you hit and you will do so.”[394] Then the Dagwanoenyentgowas ran off in different directions, with the Yenonsgwa chasing them. Whenever they had the chance the Dagwanoenyentgowa struck and killed a Yenonsgwa, and so they kept retreating and killing the Yenonsgwa for a long distance. The old woman told all her people to go up a high mountain on the south ahead of them and to continue fighting as they went, saying, “When we all reach the top we will go down a little on the other side, and the Yenonsgwa will come to the top, and we shall then strike them. One part of us will strike them from the east and the other from the west side, and we will get behind them and drive them into the great ravine on the south side of the mountain, where a river runs, and they will all perish there.” On coming to the mountain top, where there was a large space, and looking around the Yenonsgwa saw nothing of the Dagwanoenyentgowa. They looked on every side, but could see no one, whereupon they thought that the Dagwanoenyentgowas had gone for good. They had not stood there long, however, when they heard the sound of wind below them on the mountain on both sides of them. The sound grew louder and louder, and presently the Dagwanoenyentgowa struck them on both sides, and uniting in their rear struck them there also. So terrible were the attack and the power of the Dagwanoenyentgowa that they tore all the trees out by their roots and swept the earth from the top of the mountain, hurling the trees and earth into the ravine and river below. The dead Yenonsgwas were piled up on one another like rocks in the river bed and along its banks. The Dagwanoenyentgowa were now dancing on the mountain top, when the old woman said, “We have hurled the Yenonsgwa down there now and we would better finish them. Let half of you go along the ridge running south from this mountain east of the river and the other half on the western ridge and blow all the trees and stones and earth into the great ravine.” They did so, and when they came together they had stripped the mountain spurs naked. The river forced everything [[485]]to the end of the ravine, piling up the débris in a great dam, so that the river became a lake on the south side of the mountain, which is called Hadiqsadon Genonsgwa ganyudae.[395]