The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought: Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-DayChamberlain, Alexander Francis
Science
The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought: Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day
Chamberlain, Alexander Francis
Child rearing; Children -- Folklore; Folklore and children
The legend of the "Blood-clot Boy" is also recorded from the narration
of the Blackfeet Indians by Bev. John MacLean and Mr. Grinnell. The tale
of his origin is as follows: "There lived, a long time ago, an old man
and his wife, who had three daughters and one son-in-law. One day, as
the mother was cooking some meat, she threw a clot of blood into the pot
containing the meat. The pot began to boil, and then there issued from
it a peculiar hissing noise. The old woman looked into the pot, and was
surprised to see that the blood-clot had become transformed into a
little boy. Quickly he grew, and, in a few moments, he sprang from the
pot, a full-grown young man." Kûtoyîs, as the youth was named, became an
expert hunter, and kept the family in food. He also killed his lazy and
quarrelsome brother-in-law, and brought peace to the family. Of Kûtoyïs
it is said he "sought to drive out all the evil in the world, and to
unite the people and make them happy" (480(1893).167).
Concerning the Micmac Indians of Nova Scotia, Mr. Band informs us
(521.xlii.):--
"Children exposed or lost by their parents are miraculously preserved.
They grow up suddenly to manhood, and are endowed with superhuman
powers; they become the avengers of the guilty and the protectors of the
good. They drive up the moose and the caribou to their camps, and
slaughter them at their leisure. The elements are under their control;
they can raise the wind, conjure up storms or disperse them, make it hot
or cold, wet or dry, as they please. They can multiply the smallest
amount of food indefinitely, evade the subtlety and rage of their
enemies, kill them miraculously, and raise their slaughtered friends to
life."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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