Haw-Ho-Noo; Or, Records of a TouristLanman, Charles
History
Haw-Ho-Noo; Or, Records of a Tourist
Lanman, Charles
Fishing -- North America; United States -- Description and travel
Many seasons passed away and the star continued to be seen above the
watch-fires of the Chippewyans; but it would never remain long in one
place, and its light appeared to have become dimmed. It ever seemed to
be looking for something that it could not find, and people knew that it
was unhappy on account of the untimely death of the girl it had loved.
Additional years passed on, and with the leaves of autumn, it finally
disappeared. A cold and long winter soon followed, and then the hottest
summer that had ever been known. During this season it so happened that
a hunter chanced at night to follow a bear into one of the largest
swamps of the land, when to his astonishment he discovered a small light
hanging over the water. It was so beautiful that he followed it for a
long distance, but it led into such dangerous places that he gave up the
pursuit, and returned to tell his people what he had seen. And then it
was that the oldest men of the tribe told him that the light he had seen
was the star that had been driven from heaven, and that it was now
wandering over the earth for the purpose of finding the beautiful girl
it had loved. And that same star is still upon the earth, and is often
seen by the hunters as they journey at night through the wilderness.
ORIGIN OF THE POTTOWATOMIES.
According to the belief of the Pottowatomies, there once lived on the
western shore of Lake Michigan two great spirits. Their names were
_Kit-che-mo-ne-to_, or the Good Spirit, and _Mat-che-mo-me-to_, the Evil
Spirit. They were equally powerful, but the creation of the world was
attributed to the former. When he had piled up the mountains, and filled
the valleys with running streams, he proceeded to people the world with
living creatures, and allotted to each variety its peculiar sphere. He
then endeavored to create a being that should resemble himself, but in
this attempt he did not succeed. The animal that he made looked and
acted more like a wolf than any other creature. Disappointed at this
failure the Good Spirit became angry, and seizing the strange creature
he had made he threw it into a great lake, and it was drowned. A storm
arose, and the waters of the lake made a terrible noise as they beat
upon its rocky shores. Among the shells and pebbles washed upon the
sands were the bones of the strange animal that the Good Spirit had
made, and when the storm had abated the bones were turned into a being
who bore a strong likeness to the present race of Pottowatomies, and
that being was the first woman. So well pleased with this creation was
the Good Spirit that he made five other beings resembling her in form,
but only more rugged, who were to help her in all her employments; and
these were the first men. One of them was named _U-sa-me_, or
Smoking-Weed; another _Wa-pa-ho_, or Pumpkin; another _Esh-kos-sim-in_,
or the Melon; another _Ko-kees_, or the Bean; and the other
_Mon-ta-min_, or Yellow Maize. The business of these several beings was
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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