Treasury of American Indian TalesRessler, Theodore Whitson
General
Treasury of American Indian Tales
Ressler, Theodore Whitson
Indians of North America -- Folklore; Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
“Since the disappearance of the bears the deer have flocked to the
shores of this fine lake, and now whenever fresh meat is needed a small
party of us come to the lake and in a short time we have enough meat for
the needs of our people.”
Soon the two had reached the shores of Bear Lake and, looking out upon
the calm waters, Little Black Cloud said, “My, how peaceful the waters
look, father. It seems as though nothing or no one had ever visited
these shores before.”
Then a short distance down the shore there was a rustling in the brush
and a splash, and soon the head of a doe would be seen bending to drink,
and then another and another; and then the eight-pointed head of a buck
could be seen a short distance beyond the does.
“Look, father, look. How many deer are there?” Little Black Cloud was
very excited, for never before had he seen such a large number of deer
in one place at the same time.
“Come, my son, we must leave our gear here and go in pursuit of the fine
deer. They abide all along these shores and back away from the lakes in
the shaded glens and the open meadows. It may not be as easy to catch
them as it is to see them.”
Once again the canoe was placed in the water, and father and son set off
to hunt the deer. They moved quietly down the shore, but no sooner had
they reached a spot near enough to fire an arrow when the deer would
turn and disappear into the woodlands. For several hours they paddled
the shore but try as they might to approach the deer quietly the animals
would turn as if warned and, with a flick of their tails, were deep in
the woods by the time the canoe was within striking distance.
Soon dusk was drawing nigh, and the two turned their canoe to return to
where they had left their gear.
“Come,” said Little Black Cloud’s father, “we will have some supper and
when it is dark we shall hunt again.”
“But, father, how can you hunt when it is dark? You cannot see the
deer.”
“I will show you, my son. First we must gather some pine knots.”
And so the supper was prepared and two very hungry Indians feasted and
then sat back to allow the food to settle. Finally the father rose and
taking his boy by the hand they wandered into the woods to gather pine
knots. Finally they had gathered about ten pine knots and these they
placed in the bottom of the canoe.
Then Little Black Cloud’s father made an attachment on the front of the
canoe which would hold a burning pine knot. It was getting dark faster
now, and so the two Indians loaded their weapons into the canoe and then
strapping a piece of birch bark to the bow of the canoe to act as a
reflector they pushed away from shore after lighting a pine knot and
placing it in the holder which contained sand so the fire would not burn
the canoe. It was then that Little Black Cloud was able to see why his
father wanted the pine knots.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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