In a time of famine, an orphaned boy and his sister discover a beaver lake. The boy asks his sister to cut a hole in the ice and make him willow arrows. He successfully spears many beavers, providing food for their people. Later, as starvation looms again, the boy’s anger leads him to consume a beaver leg, after which he kills more beavers, ensuring their survival.
Source:
The Beaver Indians
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 4
New York, 1912
► Themes of the story
Sacrifice: The sister’s dedication to her brother, carrying him and assisting in his endeavors, exemplifies personal sacrifice for a loved one.
Conflict with Nature: The act of hunting beavers in a frozen environment highlights the struggle against natural elements to secure food.
Family Dynamics: The close relationship between the orphaned siblings, with the sister taking on a parental role, underscores the complexities of familial bonds in challenging circumstances.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
There was a young girl and her younger brother whose father and mother had died. The girl raised her brother. Once when the people were dying of starvation they came where there was a beaver lake as they were moving about. The boy’s sister was carrying a load on her back. [Perhaps this sentence should mean she was carrying her brother on her back.] The boy asked his sister to cut a hole through the ice for him so he might fish there. He also asked her to make him some arrows of a willow, saying he would try to get some fish. She was also to build a fire on the shore. To all this she gave her assent. They went to the bank and sat by a fire for a time. Then he started again to the lake where he stuck his arrows into the water and speared many beaver which he pulled out and killed with a club.
► Continue reading…
He went back to his sister and asked her to bring the beaver for him. She went for them and brought them to the fire where she singed them. Then she started out after the other people carrying the singed beaver and her brother. The boy sat on his sister’s back working at the beaver. As she was carrying him along there someone saw him. They ran up to him. His sister put him down. The people took all the beaver tails from him.
After that they were again dying of starvation. The boy was angry. He ate the leg of a beaver because he was angry. Starvation was killing them and they sent for him. He defecated and again he killed many beaver They lived all right after that.
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