Wi′ndigo: a man-eating creature who roams through woods devouring luckless victims. He is believed to have commenced as a hunter who became lost in the bush, and lost all his provisions and clothing. Then he preyed upon anything he could find, like an animal.
(2)
Pa·′gukʻ: a creature of bones, a skeleton, that clatters through the forest, making a great rattling and squeaking noise. When this is heard, it is understood as an omen that some friend will be lost. Pa·′gukʻ is accounted for by the story of a hunter who got starved out in the bush. Before he died he wished that his life and the strength of his flesh might be transferred to his bones. He got his wish, and his strength went into his bones when his flesh fell away. Whenever he wished, he could fly through the air as though on wings.
(3)
The constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear or Dipper) is called wədji·′g “fisher” or “black cat” (Mustela pennanti). The four main stars of the group form the body of the animal; the stars trailing behind (the handle of the dipper) represent the fisher’s [[23]]tail, the bend showing the bent tail of the animal. The story accounts for the presence of the fisher in the sky, relating how the various animals tried to reach the north star, but eventually froze to death. The fisher is still trying to reach it and he is the nearest, but he only keeps going round and round it (representing the revolution of the constellation about the North Star) without being able to get there.
(4)
The Northern Lights are called wa′t·e “illumination” (reduplicated wawa′t·e is “lightning” from thunder). They are caused by the waves splashing against the rocky shores of the northern seas (James bay), which produce a sort of reflected glow. The seething noise which is sometimes heard when the aurora is visible is attributed to the grinding of the rocks and gravel along the shore of the sea driven by the action of water and wind in the north.
The Indians here think that within two days after the aurora is seen they will get a heavy wind storm. They also state that wild geese require a day and a night to reach Lake Timiskaming from James bay when they migrate, thus showing the speed of the wind by comparison.
(5)
The Rainbow is called wədα′dgwanəbi·sanʻ “forms from the water,” since the phenomenon is believed to be caused by the mist from breakers on some great body of water, just as a rainbow will appear above the spray along the seashore or hanging in the mist above some waterfalls.