A hunter, weakened by starvation, struggled as moose consistently evaded him. He possessed a small moose figurine, believed to be part of his own flesh, gifted by a moose to bring good luck. Despite using this charm, the moose remained elusive. In despair, he buried the figurine in the snow and succumbed to hunger. It’s believed he offended the moose, leading to his demise.
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
Divine Punishment: The man’s death is a consequence of angering the moose, suggesting retribution from a higher power.
Sacred Objects: The moose figurine serves as a powerful artifact with mystical significance in hunting.
Conflict with Nature: The man’s struggle against natural forces, represented by the elusive moose, leads to his starvation.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
A man was starving and it seemed he could not live. He was dying of hunger because the moose detected his presence before he could get up to them. They knew he was a powerful man. He was so weak he could not walk very far.
He came where there were some moose but before he could shoot them they rushed off. He had a little moose, an image, that used to sit on him. He pulled that out and waved it in front of the moose, but they took no notice of it and continued to run off. He put the little moose under the snow and himself died immediately.
► Continue reading…
The little moose was the same as his own flesh. They say he was using it to hunt with at the time when people were hunting with arrows. Because a moose liked the man it took out its own little one and put it in the man’s body and that gave him good luck. He must have angered the moose and because of that he died of hunger. They say that was the way it happened. [The last paragraph was obtained in response to a question as to the meaning of the story.]
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Dreamtime Whispers 