XXVII. THE STAR THAT NEVER MOVES
(Algonquin)
n one tribe of the Algonquin Indians the story is told that the North Star is the eye of Keneu, which is their name for eagle. It was also the name of a warrior of their tribe.
He had won his name by his great feats of bravery; his eyes never grew dim with sickness nor pain; he had never shown fear. When he was taken prisoner by his enemies in war, he had, unarmed, run the gauntlet; he had escaped when all the strong men of his enemies had stood in two lines striking at him as he ran between the lines.
Keneu had run into the wild forest, which he had never crossed before. He made himself a war club of metikomeesh. Its seeds are set in wood cups. The black bear, or Mukwa, feeds on the nuts when they fall. The war club was strong and heavy.
Keneu crossed the wild forest; he found his own village. He sought out the wigwam of the girl with whom he had played when they were children.
When Keneu stood at the doorway of her father’s lodge, her father met him and gave him food. Keneu [[161]]told his story and all believed him, and he asked for the maiden; he had thought of her welcome when he should come to his home.
“Memainggwah the butterfly,—where is she?” asked Keneu.
“She walked the Pathway of the Spirits alone one moon before Keneu came,” said her father; and the mother wailed a mourning cry from the place where she sat.
“Keneu the war eagle will find Memainggwah. His wings are stronger than the wings of the butterfly. Keneu will go back into the wild forest.”
The warrior, who had so bravely fought his way through bands of men and hidden ways of thick trees, gave the war cry like an eagle, then bounded back into the wilderness. No one saw him again as Keneu the warrior.
The father of Memainggwah, when crossing a marsh one night, was followed by a dancing light as large as half the moon when it is overhead in the sky. The dancing light seemed to call out to him. He heard it say: “I am Keneu. The Great Spirit has said that I shall find Memainggwah, but not for many moons. Come to this place and seek for me.”
The father of the maiden went again to the soft marsh land. This time tiny lights flitted all about him. Singing, humming, whirling, they seemed to fill the air. Wawwawtaissa, little fire-birds, the Indians call them. [[162]]
One of the little living fires came and lit upon his arrows. It sang: “Watch for me. I shall go to Memainggwah soon. The eye of Keneu the war eagle will shine through the blue of the Great Lodge. You will see Keneu near Mukwa in the sky.”
When three moons had gone the father saw a new light in the sky. It was where Keneu had said. He took his great peace pipe and offered smoke to the new star. The star never changed its place. It shone like the eye of a war eagle.
There it has been through hundreds of moons. It is the eye of Keneu. He is happy, for he has found Memainggwah. She waited for him halfway on the Bridge of Souls, made by the stars which are a white pathway to the Happy Hunting Grounds.
White men call this star near Mukwa the Great Bear, the North Star. It never stirs from its place in the north. This star helps lost men to find their way back to the trail. An Indian in his canoe at night can watch this star and know which way to go.
Keneu knew what it was to seek the lost. While the North Star shines there is hope for those who wander in the forest or on the wide lakes. [[163]]
Indian Women with Papooses
From a Photograph
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