X. LEGEND OF THE ARBUTUS
(Chippewa, 1894)
n old teepee stood by a frozen river in the forest where there are many pine trees. The tops of the trees were white with snow. The teepee was almost covered with the snow. An old chief sat in this teepee; his hair was like the icicles that hang from dead pine-tree branches; he was very old.
He was covered with furs. The floor of his teepee was covered with the skins of the bear and the elk. He had been a great hunter. His name was Peboan. Peboan was faint with hunger, and he was cold. He had been hunting for three days. He had killed nothing. All the moose, deer, and bear had gone. They had left no trail. Wabasso, the rabbit, had hidden in the bushes. There was no food, no meat for Peboan.
He called upon the great Menabozho for help.
“Come, Menabozho, come help Peboan, the chief of the winter manitous. Come, for Mukwa the bear has gone from me. Come, or Peboan must go to the far [[254]]north to find Mahto the white bear. Peboan is old, and his feet are weary.”
Peboan crawled on his knees over the furs to the little fire in the middle of the teepee. He blew on the coals with his faint breath, and the coals grew very red. His breath was like a wind; the coals made the wind warm like a south wind. The deerskins that covered the teepee trembled like leaves, for the warm wind blew them.
Peboan sat on the furs on the floor of his teepee and waited. He knew Menabozho would hear him.
Peboan heard no sound, but he looked toward the door of his teepee. It was lifted back, and he saw a beautiful Indian maiden.
She carried a great bundle of willow buds in her arms. Her dress was of sweet grass and early maple leaves. Her eyes were like a young deer. Her hair was like the blackest feathers of a crow, and it was so long that it was like a blanket over her shoulders. She was small; her feet were hidden in two moccasin flowers.
“Menabozho heard Peboan, the winter manitou. He has sent me. I am Segun.”
“You are welcome, Segun. Sit by my fire; it is warm. I have no meat. Sit down and tell me what you can do.”
“Peboan may tell first what he can do,” said Segun. [[255]]
Peboan said: “I am a winter manitou; I blow my breath, and the flowers die. The waters stand still; the leaves fall and die.”
Segun said: “I am a summer manitou; I blow my breath, and the flowers open their eyes. The waters follow me on my trail.”
Peboan said: “I shake my hair, and the snow falls on the mountains, like the feathers of Waubese, the great white swan.”
Segun said: “I shake my hair, and warm rain falls from the clouds. I call, and the birds answer me. The trees put on their leaves, and the grass grows thick like the fur of the bear. The summer sky is my teepee. Menabozho has said that the time has come for you to go.”
Peboan’s head bent over on his shoulder. The sun melted the snow on the pine trees; it melted the snow on the teepee. Segun waved her hands over Peboan, and a strange thing happened.
Peboan grew smaller and smaller. His deerskin clothes turned to leaves and covered Peboan on the ground.
Segun looked, but Peboan was gone. She took some flowers from her hair and hid them under the leaves on the ground. There was ice on the leaves, but it did not hurt the pink flowers. Segun breathed on the flowers, and they became sweet. [[256]]
She said: “I go, but the flowers shall stay to tell of Segun’s visit to Peboan. The children shall find them and know that Segun has sent Peboan away. It shall be so each time the snows melt and the rivers begin to run. This flower shall tell that spring has come.”
Peboan’s teepee was sweet with the breath of the flowers, but Segun was gone. [[257]]