The Myths of the North American IndiansSpence, Lewis
History
The Myths of the North American Indians
Spence, Lewis
Indian mythology -- North America; Indians of North America -- Folklore
"On one occasion the celebrated chief Wabojeeg went out early in the
morning, near the banks of Lake Superior, to set martin-traps. He had
set about forty, and was returning to his wigwam, armed with his
hatchet and knife only, when he encountered a buck moose. He sheltered
himself behind trees, retreating; but as the animal pursued, he picked
up a pole, and, unfastening his moccasin-strings, tied the knife firmly
to the pole. He then took a favourable position behind a tree and
stabbed the animal several times in the throat and breast. At length
it fell, and he cut out and carried home the tongue as a trophy of his
prowess.
"In 1808, Gitshe Iawba, of Kewywenon, Lake Superior, killed a
three-year-old moose of three hundred pounds weight. It was in the
month of February, and the snow was so soft, from a partial thaw, that
the _agim_, or snow-shoes, sank deep at every step. After cutting up
the animal and drawing out the blood, he wrapped the flesh in the skin,
and, putting himself under it, rose up erect. Finding he could bear
the weight, he then took a litter of nine pups in a blanket upon his
right {55} arm, threw his wallet on top of his head, and, putting his
gun over his left shoulder, walked six miles to his wigwam. This was
the strongest man that has appeared in the Chippeway nation in modern
times.
"In 1827, Annimikens, of Red River of the North, was one day quite
engrossed in looking out a path for his camp to pass, when he was
startled by the sharp snorting of a grizzly bear. He immediately
presented his gun and attempted to fire; but, the priming not igniting,
he was knocked by the animal, the next instant, several steps backward,
and his gun driven full fifteen feet through the air. The bear then
struck him on one cheek and tore away a part of it. The little
consciousness he had left told him to be passive, and manifest no signs
of life. Fortunately, the beast had satiated his appetite on the
carcass of a buffalo near by. Having clawed his victim at pleasure, he
then took him by the neck, dragged him into the bushes, and there left
him. Yet from such a wound the Indian recovered, though a disfigured
man, and lived to tell me the story with his own lips.
"Relations of such hunting exploits and adventures are vividly repeated
in the Indian country, and constitute a species of renown which is
eagerly sought by the young."
Costume
The picturesque costume of the Red Man is so original in character as
to deserve more than passing mention. An authority on Indian costume,
writing in _Bulletin 30_ of the Bureau of American Ethnology, says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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