🧚 Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2

(f) Nenebuc Wounds the Giant Lynx, Disguises Himself in a Toad’s Skin, and Finally Slays Her.1

He had his bow and arrow with him, and as he went along he saw a great snake.2 [17] He shot it with his arrow.3 He came to a big lake with a nice, sandy shore, where he saw Lions [18] (mici·′bi­zi‵w “giant lynx”).4 He couldn’t shoot them with his arrow as they were too far away, nor was there any place where he could hide himself until they came to sun themselves by the shore, when they felt too cold in the water.5 Finally he hit upon a plan.6 He took some birch bark from a rotten stump, rolled it into a hollow cylinder, and placed it, like a wigwam, near the shore.7 He got inside and made a little hole in the bark through which to shoot and kill the Lions.8

When the Lions saw the thing on the beach, they grew curious to find out what this strange thing was on the beach that was not there the day before.9 So they sent a big snake to twist around it and to try to upset it, but the snake did not succeed in doing this, for Nenebuc stood too firm.10 So the Lions came ashore upon the sand and Nenebuc shot one of them with his arrow—a she-lion, the wife of the Lion chief.11 He did not kill her, but wounded her badly in the side, and the flint arrow point stayed in the wound.12 She was very badly wounded and went back to a hole which led to a cave in a big rock where she lived.13 [19] Nenebuc was sorry that he had not killed the Lion queen.14

As he went along the shore, the next morning, he heard someone singing and shaking a rattle.15 Nenebuc stood there wondering and waiting, and pretty soon he saw an old woman making the song.16 So he went across to see her, and when they met, he asked her, “What are you doing?”17 “I’m a doctor,” she answered.18 “The queen of the Lions has been shot by Nenebuc and I am going to cure her.”19 She didn’t know that it was Nenebuc to whom she was talking, for she was too old.20 So Nenebuc told her, “Let me hear you singing.21 Is that what you are going to do to cure her?”22 “Yes, I will sing and then pull out that arrow.”23 The Lions had sent for her at the foot of the lake to cure the queen.24 Nenebuc picked up a club and killed her, saying, “You are no doctor (macki·ki·′winini‵k·we ‘medicine-person woman’) at all.”25 Then he discovered that she was no person at all, but a big toad (omα′kαk·i·‵).26 So he skinned her and put on the skin.27 The skin had a hole in the groin, and as he had no needle to sew it up with, his scrotum hung out when he put it on himself.28 This did not worry Nenebuc, for he thought, “It will be all right, unless they notice me too closely.”29 So he walked past the cave in which the Lions lived and kept singing and rattling all the time.30

When the young lions heard him, they said, “There’s the old medicine woman coming.”31 They were very glad to think that their mother would be cured.32 So they opened the door in the rock and Nenebuc went in, and one of the daughters came to meet him and said, “Come in, old woman.”33 They were very much pleased.34 Nenebuc said, “Don’t shut the doors.35 Leave them open, as the queen needs plenty of fresh air!”36 [20] Then he said, “I’m hungry.37 I’ve had a long walk and I’m tired.”38 Then they gave him a good meal first.39 While he was eating, he sat with open legs and the children cried out, “Look at the old woman with testicles hanging out!”40 But the older ones told them to be silent, as they thought some old women had testicles.41

When he had finished eating, Nenebuc said, “Don’t watch me.42 I’m going to pull out the arrow point.43 You will hear her suffering and me singing, but don’t look until you hear her stop suffering.44 Then she will be cured, and the arrow point will be out.45 So don’t look, for I am going to cure her.”46 Then he began rattling and singing, and, as he did so, he shoved the arrow point farther into the wound of the queen in order to kill her.47 When she yelled, her people thought that the hurt was caused in pulling it out.48 At last one of the little lion children peeped and saw Nenebuc pushing the arrow farther in.49 He told his sister, “That’s Nenebuc himself inside!”50 Then Nenebuc ran outside and the Queen Lion was dying.51 Nenebuc had difficulty to clear himself.52 He pulled off the toad skin and tried to climb up the rock.53

(g) The Giant Lynx Causes the World Flood and Gathers the Animals on a Raft; Muskrat Dives for Earth, which Nenebuc Transforms into a New World.54

As soon as the queen died, a giant stream poured out of the cave and the lake began rising.55 “That is going to flood the world and be the end,” said Nenebuc.56 So he cut trees and made a kind of raft.57 [21] So he had his raft ready, and the end of the world came.58 He couldn’t see any trees, water covered everything, and he made the flood.59 He saw all kinds of animals swimming toward his raft and he took them on.60 “Come on, come on,” he cried, “and stay here.”61 For he wanted to save them, so that after the flood there would be all kinds of animals.62 The animals stayed on the raft with him for a long while.63 Some time after this he made a rope of roots and tied it to the Beaver’s tail, telling him to dive and to try and reach the land underneath.64 He knew the water would get lower afterwards.65 The Beaver couldn’t reach the land and he came up to the surface of the water again.66

Seven days after this he allowed the Muskrat to try and bring the land.67 Muskrat dove and they waited for a long time, but he didn’t come up.68 This Muskrat doubled up and put his nose into the hair of his breast which enabled him to breathe by the bubbles clinging there.69 By doing this he could rest and dive still deeper.70 At last he used up all the air in his breast hair and could only grab a little piece of mud.71 Then he started up to the surface of the water, but drowned before he reached the raft.72 Nenebuc pulled the Muskrat in and he still was holding the mud.73 Nenebuc said, “I am going to dry this.74 As soon as it is dry, you can all run around again and have this world.”75 So he dried it, but not entirely, and that is the reason why some parts of the world are swampy and wet, while others are dry like this.76 So the animals had the earth again and the world was made.77

(h) Nenebuc Sends Crow Out, for Disobedience Changes Him Black and Gull Partly Black, then Retires to the West, until He Will Return Again.78

Nenebuc knew the world was round like a ball, but he didn’t know how large it was.79 He was sitting down, tired.80 So he said to Crow, “Go fly around the world and don’t eat until you come back again.81 If you do, we will know it.”82 Crow at that time was white.83 Crow had to do as he was told, because Nenebuc was chief of all men and animals.84 So Crow started and flew and flew along the salt water beach.85 Soon he became very hungry and wondered how far he was away from Nenebuc.86 One morning he was flying along the shore and he saw an old dead fish.87 He was so hungry that he tasted a little bit of it, and finally made a meal of it.88 When he finished eating, he found he had turned black.89 This is the way Crow became black.90

When Crow reached the place from which he started out, he found Nenebuc and all the animals waiting for him.91 He told Nenebuc that he had eaten, and then Nenebuc said to Gull, “You go try.92 Do the same and don’t eat until you come here.”93 So Gull went.94 When he got to the same place at which Crow had felt hungry, Gull felt hungry.95 One morning he saw the same dead fish.96 He thought, “Well, I mustn’t eat it, for if I do, I’ll be as black as Crow.”97 He took one mouthful and started flying.98 When Gull returned, Nenebuc could see a little black on his wings, so he said, “Gull has had a mouthful too.”99