Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1Jones, James Athearn
History
Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 1
Jones, James Athearn
Indians of North America -- Folklore
dread, is the country where the spirits of the beasts, birds, fishes,
&c.--all animate nature which is not man--is found. Here are the spirits
of bears, and wolves, and snakes, all that is cruel, or bloody, or
hideous. And these are sure to give battle to the shades of the human
beings, as they cross the lands and waters where they dwell. The
punishment they inflict consists alone in the terror they excite, for
the jaws, so thickly studded with teeth, are but a shadow, and the claws
could only retain in their grasp a shade. The dwelling place of the
souls of the brutes has its enjoyments and pleasures suited to their
tastes. The snail, that delights to crawl in slime, will have full
permission to do so; the tortoise, and the prairie dog, and the mole,
may still creep into the earth if they choose, and the squirrel still
suspend himself by his tail from the bough of the tree. If the bear
choose to suck his claws, none shall say him nay, and the neeshaw may
bury himself as deep in the mud as he likes.
"At length the souls arrive at the region where they are destined to
spread their tents for ever. I have heard from the lips of our fathers
of its pleasures and its joys; all are well and truly described in your
old tradition. Happiness and rest are for the good, misery and labour
for the bad. Bright skies, eternal springs, and plenty of all things,
reward him who did his duty well; continual storms, endless winter,
parching thirst, pinching hunger, and crying nakedness, punish him who
performed them ill. Men and women of my nation! forsake evil ways, and
earn, by so doing, unbounded happiness. Hunter, dread not the bear, and
be patient and industrious; warrior, fear not thine enemy, and shouldst
thou unhappily fall into his power, bear his torments as a warrior
should bear them, and sing thy death-song in the ears of his tribe. And
thou, my beloved husband, persevere for a few more moons in the course
which made thee the light of my eyes while living, and renders thee not
less dear now I inhabit the world of spirits. Thou wilt soon rejoin the
souls of thy wife and child in the land of unceasing delights. Till
then, farewell."
Having spoken thus, the little doves flung out their skyey wings to
catch the breath of the Great Spirit sent to waft them home, and were
soon swept away from the sight of the Knisteneaux. Not so their tale,
which has resisted the current of time, and survives in the memories of
all our nation.
VI. THE TETON'S PARADISE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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