At last Menabozho conquered, for he had more love for man in his heart than had his brother, and the [[224]]great firestone giant fell, and his pieces are scattered everywhere.
This gave Menabozho courage, and he traveled all over the earth teaching men how to use stone and bone. He taught them how to make stone axes. He showed them how to make snares and traps so as to catch fishes and birds. He taught the women how to weave mats and beautiful baskets.
While he traveled he saw the huge creatures whose bones are now dug up from far under the ground. Menabozho slew these animals himself and hid them away. He opened the pathway for the rivers between the hills and mountains. He made the earth ready for the Indian.
Menabozho placed four spirits at the four sides of the heavens. The spirit which he put in the north sends snow and ice so that the Indian may hunt during the cold moons. The spirit in the south sends the warm wind and gives the red man corn, melons, and tobacco. The spirit that stands in the west sends the rain, and the spirit in the east gives light to the earth.
Some Indian legends say that Menabozho now lives on an ice mountain in the great sea. If he, by any chance, were driven from his home all things would burn if he should touch his feet to the ground to spring into the air. The end would come, for the [[226]]sun could never shine again without Menabozho to guide it from the east to the west.
An Indian Basket Exhibit
From a Photograph
When this great manitou walked on the earth his steps measured as long as the steps one tribe would take in one day. He could step over mountains and think they were only ant-hills. He could step over a large lake. If he wished, he could make himself as short as a man. He had great power.
It is told that a little child once outwitted him. The boy was playing outside his mother’s lodge and dared the manitou to do as he did. The manitou loved the child and waited to see what it did. The boy lay down and put his toe into his mouth. Menabozho tried to do this same thing and could not.