The father and mother often saw their children. The Morning Star is happy in her Star Lodge. The brother is happy among the trees and the rocks. [[171]]
XXXI. THE WOMAN IN THE MOON
(Algonquin)
n old medicine woman lived with one tribe of the Algonquins. She knew all the plants that gave medicine; she could tell of things that would happen to her tribe or her family many moons before the things came to pass; but she did not know one thing. She did not know when this world would come to an end. She was forever asking the Great Spirit to tell her.
A manitou was sent to her to make her stop asking. She said she would stop when her headband, which she was weaving, was done.
The manitou said she must hide herself from her people or he could not answer her question. The question would be answered when the forehead strap was finished. She hid herself in the moon. There she sits weaving the headstrap.
Once a month she stirs a great kettle of boiled corn that stands before her; while her two hands have hold [[172]]of the stick, the cat which is always near her unravels her headstrap. She begins over again when the corn is stirred.
There you can see her every night when the moon is full. She has never stopped asking, the manitou has never answered, and her weaving has never been finished. [[173]]