It is said that in ancient times there lived together in a very long lodge two male persons. They were related one to the other as uncle (mother’s brother) and nephew. As such, according to the custom of the times, they occupied opposite sides of the fire in the long lodge.
For something to eat, as he grew, the nephew, who was a very little boy, shot birds and other small game.
It came to pass one day that Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs said: “Oh, my nephew! I am thankful that now you are growing into manhood. It is a long time since I began to care for you. It will happen that a little later on you will kill larger animals.” [[587]]
In time this did happen, for one day he killed a partridge, which he carried home. On entering the lodge his uncle exclaimed: “Wuʻ, my nephew! I am very thankful you are returning home, having killed a large game animal. What is the name of the animal you have killed? What kind of animal is it? Do you know?” In reply the youth said: “I do not know.” The old man, going toward his nephew, grasped the partridge so quickly that he raised the young boy off the ground, saying: “Hand me at once the body of the thing which you are bringing back killed, for you, of course, do not know what kind of thing it is.” Then the old man, going aside and taking a seat, began to pluck and dress the partridge, saying at the same time: “This thing requires, of course, nothing but dumplings.” Setting a kettle over the fire, he made dumplings which he put into the kettle with the partridge. The old man kept on saying, as he watched the bird cooking: “Perhaps this will taste exceedingly good to us two.” The grease floated on the top of the water, for the bird was very fat. Then the old man, removing the kettle from the fire, set it aside. He put into a bark bowl or dish a share for his nephew, saying: “Oh, my nephew! this is what you may eat,” but he held it just over the fire. When the young boy arose to receive his portion and reached out for the dish, his uncle, grasping his hand along with the dish, pulled the nephew over the fire, wherein he fell on his elbows. At once he arose covered with hot coals, and took a seat aside on his own side of the fire. Dissimulating his evil purpose, the old man said: “I am in too much of a hurry, for I thought that I held it aside from the fireplace.” The nephew was greatly astonished at what his uncle had done to him, for he never had illtreated him before; and the lad began to weep, saying to himself: “I wonder why he has done this thing to me.”
The next morning the old man said: “Oh, my nephew! arise. Game animals usually go about the clear places very early in the morning. So arise and go out to hunt.”
After arising and making needed preparations, the nephew started out to hunt in the forest. He kept on thinking: “My uncle has indeed abused me very much.” As the boy went from place to place he was much surprised to hear a man at a distance say, Tcĭt! and he directed his steps toward the spot whence he believed the sound came. Soon he was surprised to see the skull of an old man protruding out of the ground. As the boy approached the skull said to him: “Oh, my nephew! you are much to be pitied now, for affairs have taken a turn which will cause you misfortune. Exert yourself with all your (magic) power, for he will indeed outmatch your orenda (magic power) if it so be that you do not learn to remember the things which you have killed.” Thus spoke the skull of the old man. [[588]]
But he continued: “You shall do this in your defense. I will assist you. I am the brother of your uncle, who has outmatched to the utmost degree my orenda. I will tell you, moreover, that that lodge, so long, was at one time full of our relations and kindred, who are now no more. This is the reason it is so long and empty. Now go yonder, not far from here, to an old rotten log, lying prone, and in which you will find a raccoon, as it is called. You must kill it, and you must pass by this place on your way home and I will give you further instructions.” Going to the place indicated by the skull of the old man, the boy killed the raccoon, returning at once to the place where the skull protruded from the ground. Thereupon the skull said to him: “You must not forget the name raccoon, for this is the name of this animal which you have killed. On your way home you must keep on saying, ‘Raccoon, raccoon, raccoon.’ So return home now. And he will again ask, probably, as is his custom, ‘What is it that you are bringing home killed?’ So do not get into the habit of forgetting. Exert yourself as much as possible.”
Thereupon the young boy started for his home in the long lodge, saying as he trudged along, “Raccoon, raccoon, raccoon.” At first he whispered it, but when nearing the lodge he uttered it loudly. Just as he pushed aside the door flap and stepped inside the lodge he stubbed his foot, and his burden, the raccoon, fell inside and he beside it. At that moment his uncle, the old man, said: “Oh, my nephew! now you are bringing back, killed, a large game animal; what is its name and what kind of animal is it?” Now, after his mishap at the doorway, the boy had entirely forgotten the name of the animal, so he reluctantly answered: “I do not know the name of it.” At this his uncle demanded the game, saying: “Hand the body to me, then, for you do not know what kind of thing you are bringing home killed.” The nephew did as he was told, whereupon his uncle, taking a seat aside, began to skin the animal, at the same time saying: “The name of this animal is raccoon.” The nephew took a seat on the opposite side of the fire.
Then the old man set a kettle over the fire, with the remark: “The only way to prepare this game is to cook it with corn-meal mush, which should be eaten with it. I shall skim off the grease and pour it over the mush.” The youth did nothing but watch his uncle. When the meal was cooked the uncle kept saying: “This will indeed taste very good to us two.” Then he took out a share for his nephew, putting into a bark dish some of the mush and a portion of the meat. Going to the edge of the fireplace, he said, “Oh, my nephew! here is a portion for you to eat,” again holding it over the fire. The youth arose quickly to receive it and took the bark bowl in his hands. Just as before, the old man grasped his hands and drew him into [[589]]the fire, at the same time saying: “What is the use of my holding it somewhere else when I myself am hungry.” Of course the youth fell into the fire on his elbows, and on jumping out he was all covered with hot coals and ashes. Going aside, he took a seat there. Then Sʻhogoⁿʻʹgwāʼs began to eat. When he had finished, he remarked to himself, “I think I will save some of this for another time”; so he put some of the food in a high place. The youth, his nephew, began to weep, saying: “Perhaps he will kill me; I think it possible.”
The next morning the old man again spoke to his nephew, saying: “Oh, my nephew! do you arise. It is the custom for game animals to be found in the open places very early in the morning.” Quickly arising from his bed, the youth at once made the necessary preparations, and after finishing these, he started out to hunt. Once more he directed his course toward the place where the skull of his uncle protruded from the ground. On arriving there, his uncle addressed him: “Well, my nephew, what came to pass?” The youth answered: “I kept repeating the name ‘raccoon’ as I went along, and when I had reached a point quite near the lodge I just whispered the name to myself, saying ‘Raccoon, raccoon, raccoon.’ But at the very doorway I caught my foot in an obstruction, and the body of the animal fell into the lodge and I with it. At that moment my uncle asked me, ‘What is the name of the game you are bringing home killed?’ Of course, I did not remember anything whatever about the name of the animal, so I answered him, ‘I do not know.’ To this the old man replied, ‘Quickly hand me the body of the animal, for you do not know its name; and it is well known that raccoon is its name.’ ” Then the man whose skull protruded from the ground said: “Oh! how unfortunate it was that stumbling against an obstruction and falling down caused you to forget the name of the animal. Exert yourself to the utmost. Be brave. Your only safety consists in remembering the names of the animals that you may kill. You must remember at all times these names. Now, then, go to that place there in the distance where turkeys abound. One of them you must kill; and when you have killed it, you must pass by this place on your way home.” As directed, the youth went to the place designated by his uncle, and there he killed a turkey. Then he returned to the spot where his uncle’s skull protruded from the ground. To encourage him his uncle said: “Be brave and exert yourself to the utmost. This time you must remember the name of this game bird. It is called a turkey. As you are going along homeward, you must keep saying, ‘Turkey, turkey, turkey’; and as soon as you arrive near the lodge you must set your feet down carefully as you walk, and must go along whispering the name to yourself, ‘Turkey, turkey, turkey.’ ” [[590]]