🧚 Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 7 · page 2

So young girls should not try always to get a nice-looking man, but take the man selected for them.109 The old people tell them this story for a lesson, lest they lose a good man, though not so handsome, to get a “stinker.”110

(19) The Origin of Snakes.111

A man was one time walking along and came to a lake which he wanted to cross.112 But he had no canoe, and so he walked along the shore until he saw a big Snake lying in the water with his head on the shore.113 “Will you carry me across?” asked the hunter.114 “Yes,” answered the Snake.115 “But it looks cloudy and I am afraid of the lightning, so you must tell me if it thunders while we are crossing.”116 The hunter got on the Snake’s back and they started to swim across the lake.117 As they went along, thunder began rumbling, “kαx kαx,” and the lightning flashed.118 “Mah, mah, listen!” said the Snake in fear.119 “I hear something.”120 Just as they reached the shore, when the hunter could leap to safety, a stroke of lightning hit the Snake and broke him into numberless pieces, which began swimming about and finally came to land.121 The great Snake was not killed, but his pieces turned into small snakes which we see all about to-day.122

(20) Muskrat Warns the Beaver.123

The Muskrat, Beaver, Dog, and some Ojibwa were companions and hunters.124 They were real people who could talk to one another.125 They started out one day and came to a small lake and there they saw Beaver houses and families.126 It was early in the winter.127 They said, “That’s a good lake to drive the beaver, as it’s all rocky and they can’t escape.128 The season is right, so we will come tomorrow with dogs.”129 The Beavers were in their houses and they saw the Indians, but they couldn’t hear the talking.130 The Muskrat heard, however, and went to the Beaver and told them.131 “You must look out for yourselves, uncles.132 Those Indians say you are very easy to catch.”133 Now the Muskrat had stayed outside the Indians’ wigwam and listened to what they were saying, until his feet got so cold that he could stay no longer.134 So that this was all that he had heard to tell his uncle the Beaver.135

The next morning the Indians came to the lake and broke the Beaver’s houses, and the big Beaver told the young ones, “When you see a dog passing, whistle.”136 So the young Beavers went to different places under the ice and when they saw a dog passing, they whistled and all were thus caught and killed by the men.137 But the big Beaver didn’t whistle, and he escaped.138 The Indians said, “Where’s the big Beaver?”139 Then they went back and had a big feast on those they had caught.140 In those days people used to cut a flat bone from the hind foot of the beaver and throw it into the water, so that the dogs wouldn’t get it.141 These hunters, however, made a mistake and forgot to save that bone.142 They lost it.143 [47]144

So the Indians had their feast, and when they threw the bones into the water, one of the little Beavers came back to life and went back to his parents.145 He said to them, “I had a fine time, father.146 They hung me over the fire, and I danced for them.”147 Shortly all the Beavers came back, but one of them said, “I’m very sick, father.148 They didn’t use me right.”149 This was the Beaver whose bone from his hind foot the hunters had lost.150 He was very sore and disgusted and showed his father the fresh mark of his foot where the flat bone was lost, when they asked him what was the matter.151 The Beavers did not like this and they became angry.152 So nowadays the Indians tell the young boys neither to talk about the Beavers, nor the prospects of a hunt before attacking a beaver colony, lest the Muskrat hear them and tell the Beaver.153 And also, when the hunting dogs suddenly go off from camp and run over the ice, the hunters say the dogs hear the beavers whistling.154

(21) Story of a Hunter.155

There were two men living in a camp with two women and the rest of the band.156 On a cold day in winter one of the men said he was going to track a moose, and left on his snowshoes.157 He said he would be back by night.158 He was gone all day and by night he had not returned, so his wife began to think that possibly he had shot a moose, but, as he had taken his axe with him, he might have cut himself in some way.159 They waited until morning and then, taking up his trail, they tracked him to where he had shot a moose and farther on to where he had skinned it.160 The meat was there, but the skin was gone.161 Looking around they saw a fire not far off.162 When they reached the fire they discovered that the hunter had rolled himself up in the green hide to sleep, and during the night it had frozen around him and he had been unable to get out.163 They thawed out the skin and all went back to camp.164

(22) A Timagami Story.165

Once there were a man and his wife living in a bark wigwam.166 The wife grew very fond of another man et voluit copulare cum eo sine cognitione mariti sui.167 They finally hit upon a plan.168 She cut a small hole in the bark near her bedding ut ille cum ea nocte copulare posset.169 She slept near the hole et omne bene factum est, sed maritus tandem invenit quid fieret.170 So one night he ordered his wife to change places with him when they slept, et cum venisset amator, maritus penem ejus abscidit per orificium positum.171 Tunc membrum virile cepit, without telling his wife what had happened, and went off on a moose hunt.172 He killed a moose and took its intestine end [described like an appendix], secuit penem in fragmenta, mixed these with fat, and made a smoked sausage out of the whole.173 [48] Then he went home and gave it to his wife to eat.174 When she had eaten it, he said, “Nunc edisti penem amatoris tui.”175

(23) Story of a Fast Runner.176

Once a hunter was so quick of foot that when he shot his arrow at a beaver plunging into the lake from the shore, he would run down, catch the beaver by the tail before the arrow got to it, and hold it until the arrow struck.177 He was a fast runner, indeed.178

(24) The Hunter and the Seven Deer.179

There once was a hunter who lived in a camp.180 The summer had been very dry and the whole country was on fire.181 He stayed in his camp, however, although the smoke was so thick that no one could see any distance.182 One day he saw seven deer walking along, each holding the other’s tail in its mouth.183 The leader alone could see, and he was guiding the others.184 So he killed the leader and then took hold of the second deer’s nose, and so lead them all to his camp alive, where he butchered them.185