🧚 Chapter II.

Myths and folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa 28 Introduction 28 Myths and tales 281

(1) Nenebuc, the transformer 28 (a) The magic birth of Nenebuc and his four brothers 28 (b) Nenebuc tempers the wind 30 (c) Nenebuc starts travelling, anum suum castigat for deceiving him, changes the colour of the Partridge family, and originates rock tripe from his scabs for the benefit of the people 31 (d) Nenebuc prepares a feast and gets caught between two trees, while the animals receive a distribution of fat 33 (e) Nenebuc gets caught in the Bear’s skull 33 (f) Nenebuc wounds the Giant Lynx, disguises himself in a Toad’s skin, and finally slays her 34 (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 36 (h) Nenebuc sends Crow out, for disobedience changes him black and Gull partly black, then retires to the west, until he will return again 37 (2) Nenebuc fragment 38 (3) Nenebuc transforms the Bear 39 (4) Wemicus 39 (5) Ciŋgəbis 47 (6) Beaver gives a feast 53 (7) Tcaka·bįs 54 (8) Aniwɔ·ye, the Giant Skunk, and the origin of Skunks 56 (9) The man who transformed a doll into a woman and followed her into the world above 57 (10) Ayas·e and the origin of Bats 62 (11) Origin of the Constellation Fisher (Ursa Major) 63 (12) The young Loon 64 (13) The Giant Pike 65 (14) Lynx and his two wives 67 (15) Story of Seal Rock in Lake Timagami 68 (16) Rabbit, Lynx, and Fisher 68 (17) Snaring the Sun 69 (18) Homo Excrementi 69 (19) The origin of Snakes 71 (20) Muskrat warns the Beaver 71 (21) Story of a hunter 72 (22) A Timagami story 73 (23) Story of a fast runner 73 (24) The hunter and the seven Deer 73 (25) Story of a conjurer 74 (26) Legend of Obabika lake 76 (27) Iroquois pictographs 76 (28) An Iroquois legend 762

Timagami folk-lore 783

(1) Telling stories in summer 78 (2) Foretelling sex of child to be born 78 (3) How to bring rain 79 (4) Northern Lights 79 (5) Milky Way 79 (6) Rainbow 79 (7) Whippoorwill’s cry 79 (8) Rain omens 79 (9) Killing blue bottle flies 80 (10) Finding a live mole 80 (11) Hiccoughing 80 (12) Children born feet first 80 (13) Cooking squirrels 80 (14) How to bring on a snowstorm 80 (15) An infant warming its hands 80 (16) Red sunset 81 (17) Whirling buzzer 81 (18) Divining what game is to be killed 81 (19) Supernatural creatures:— Pa·g·αk 81 Me·megwe·s·i 824

Appendix: Notes on Timagami folk-lore, by Neil C. Fergusson5

(1) Whisky Jack and the markings on birch bark 83 (2) The two girls, Hell-diver, and Loon 836

Phonetic key 867

ILLUSTRATIONS.8

Map: Hunting territories of the Timagami, Timiskaming, Kipawa, and Dumoine bands in pocket.9 Figure 1.10 Night set-line 66 Figure 2.11 Markings on birch bark 8312