An old hunter plans to pursue two moose. The moose, aware of his intentions, attempt to evade him. The hunter successfully kills one and chases the other, which eventually reveals itself as his younger brother who had transformed into a moose. Recognizing this, the hunter spares the moose, allowing his brother to return to human form.
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
Transformation: The younger brother undergoes a physical change from human to moose and back to human.
Family Dynamics: The relationship between the hunter and his younger brother is central to the narrative.
Loss and Renewal: The younger brother’s disappearance and eventual return to human form symbolize themes of loss and restoration.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
A large band of Indians were moving about when one old man said that he would hunt the next morning along the mountains. There were two moose together who heard the old man say that. “That old man has great supernatural power; he is coming after us and we will not be able to get away from him. We will travel very slyly,” the moose said. They had heard the old man talking and therefore traveled about with great caution.
When the old man came along he did not follow the tracks of the moose, but went around another way and shot one of them with arrows. He did not stop to cut up the moose he had killed, but, saying to himself that there had been two of them and that one was missing, he went after it.
► Continue reading…
The moose ran very fast and lay down quietly at the end of the path. The old man went directly to the place where the moose was lying, following a direction at right angles to that taken by the moose. The moose got up. The old man had feathers on his bow (arrow) which showed the way he should go. When these feathers moved the moose heard it. He saw the man. “What shall I do now, he has me killed long ago?” the moose said to himself. He looked about to see where the trees were thick and ran there. The man ran along beside him so that the moose could not escape. Seeing a small open place, the moose said to himself, “Let him kill me there.” Seeing that there was nothing more that he could do, he ran to the open place, jumped to the spot, and fell.
It seems that the moose was a person. This old man had had a younger brother who had disappeared into a herd of moose. That was the moose he was following. “I am that one,” the moose said, “what do you want?” “It is better for you to go to some larger country,” said the man. He did not kill the moose for he knew it was his younger brother. Then he left him and became a man again.
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Dreamtime Whispers 