All the world had fire now, and there has always been enough since the muskrat dropped the first coal.
The fire melted the ice in the rivers and lakes. The light showed every one where to find water.
The old chief has never been seen since that time.
Hudson Bay Indian’s Story. [[266]]
XIV. HOW THE COPPER MOUNTAIN CAME TO FALL
(Portage Indians, 1894)
here is a noble priest who has long been a missionary among the Portage Indians, near the Lake of the Woods. He has won their respect, given them a written language, and taught them many of the white man’s secrets; in return they have told him many of their stories and their secrets. They have told him why they no longer own copper mines, but must get copper from the Kaidahs, a stronger tribe.
This is the story: