Fig. 659.—Story of Glooscap.
Fig. 659 is an exact copy of the design on a birch-bark jewel box made by the Passamaquoddy of Maine, amiably contributed by Mrs. W. W. Brown, together with the description of that part of the myth which is illustrated on the box. There are several variants of this myth, the nearest to the form now presented being published by Mr. J. Walter Fewkes (a).
The Sable and the Black Cat wanted some maple sugar, and went to a wood where the maple trees grew. Toward night they lost their way and separated from each other to find it, agreeing to call to each other by m’toulin power. These animals were as frequently in human form as in that designated by their names, and could change to the forms of other animals. It is not certain, from anything in the present version of the myth, which one of the daimons was represented by the Sable, but the Black Cat afterward appears as Glooscap. Sable, in his wanderings, came to a wigwam in which was a large fire with a kettle boiling over it, tended by a great Snake. The Snake said he was glad the Sable had come, as he was very hungry and would eat him, but in gratitude for his coming would put him to as little pain as was possible. The Snake told him to go into the woods and get a straight stick, so that when he pierced him he would not tear open his entrails. Sable then went out and sang in a loud voice a m’toulin song for the Black Cat to hear and come to his aid. The Black Cat heard him and came to him. Then the Sable told the Black Cat how the Snake was going to kill him. The Black Cat told Sable not to be afraid, but that he would kill the big Snake. He told him that he would lie down behind the trunk of a hemlock tree which had fallen and that Sable should search out a stick that was very crooked, only pretending to obey the commands of the great Snake. After finding such a stick he should carry it to the Snake, who would complain that the stick was not straight enough, and then Sable should reply that he would straighten it in the fire, holding it there until the steam came out of the end. Then while the Snake watched the new mode of straightening sticks Sable should strike the Snake over the eyes. The Sable sought out the most crooked stick he could find and then returned to the wigwam where the Snake was. The Snake said the stick was too crooked. The Sable replied as directed and held it in the fire. When it was burning he struck the Snake with it over the eyes, blinded him, and ran away. The Snake followed the Sable, and as he passed over the hemlock trunk the Black Cat killed him and they cut him into small pieces.
The two human figures on the left show the animals under the forest trees in human form bidding good-bye before they parted in search of the right trail. Their diminutive size gives the suggestion of distance from the main scene. Next comes the great Snake’s wigwam, the stars outside showing that night had come, and inside the kettle hung over a fire, and on its right appear the wide-open jaws and an indication of the head of the great Snake. The very crooked stick is on the other side. Farther on the Black Cat comes responsive to the Sable’s call. Next is shown, the Black Cat and the Sable, who is in human form, near the hemlock tree. The fact that the tree is fallen is suggested, without any attempt at perspective, by the broken-off branches and the thick part of the trunk being upturned. The illustration ends with the Black Cat sitting upon the Snake, clawing and throwing around pieces of it.
The illustration above presented gives an excellent example of the art of the Passamaquoddy in producing pictures by the simple scraping of birch bark.
The characters in Fig. 660 are reproduced from Schoolcraft (k).
Fig. 660.—Ojibwa shamanistic symbols.
The first device, beginning at the left, is used by the Ojibwa to denote a spirit or man enlightened from on high, having the head of the sun.
The second device is drawn by the Ojibwa for a “wabeno” or shaman.