26. 27.
26. Na-nah nub-be-gah-ne-na ha-ge-tah wah-kum-me-ga uk-ke-ko-no-dah go-na, neen-na-nah nah-be-yahn-ne-na, ke-na-nah nub-be-ah neen-na, whe-he-yah! we-he-ya!
Thus have I sat down, and the earth above and below has listened to me sitting here.
This is again the figure of Na-na-bush, sitting on the earth, in the same attitude in which he is represented in the first part of the performance. The meaning is, that all who join in these devotional exercises must, throughout their continuance, which is for the greater part of the night, retain immoveably the same attitude, and give a serious attention to the performer, who must observe the same rule; and when all is finished, he, without uttering a word to any of those about him, rises and walks out of the lodge.
27. Pa-mo-ta-yah-na che-maun duh-kwa pa-mo-ta-yah-ga, whe-he-ya-ha!
I make to crawl, a bear, I make to crawl.
Probably the meaning is, that by these observances and by this prayer, the hunter may cause to crawl (kill) a bear, or any animal. It is to be observed, that a bear is never, in these songs, called by the common name, but always che-mahn-duk.
It requires two years of attentive study, in the intervals of leisure that occur in the life of a hunter, to learn this song, and he must pay his instructor the value of many beaver skins. It was first introduced into the band to which Mr. Tanner belonged, by an Ojibbeway of the village of Was-waw-gun-nink. Our narrator, as well as his foster brother, Wa-me-gon-a-biew, had paid this man, whose name was Ke-zha-shoosh, great sums for his medicines, and it was a quarrel originating in this subject, which ended in his assassination by Wa-me-gon-a-biew, as related in the preceding narrative. The Ojibbeways of Red River relate, and some of them believe, that very wonderful effects have been produced by this song, and the medicine belonging to it, such as, that after using it for four days one man succeeded in bringing a live moose into the midst of the village at Was-waw-gun-nink in such a state of fatuity, that he made, though uninjured, no effort to escape. These extravagant fables remind us of the powers attributed by the ancients to the music of Orpheus, and others of the earliest poets.