A young Cree hunter, preferring rabbit over fish, camped separately from his tribe. One day, his wife noticed an enemy’s reflection in water. Anticipating an attack, the hunter sent his family to the main camp. At dawn, enemies assaulted his empty tipi. Using snowshoes and invoking a south wind, he led them away, causing them to overheat and discard clothing. Summoning a north wind, he froze and defeated them all.
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
Cunning and Deception: The man employs strategic deception by luring his pursuers away from their clothing and then changing the weather conditions to weaken them before attacking.
Trials and Tribulations: The protagonist faces the challenge of defending his family and himself against a large group of enemies, requiring resilience and resourcefulness.
Magic and Enchantment: The man’s ability to summon winds indicates the use of supernatural powers to influence natural elements in his favor.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
Obtained in English from Ike through John Bourassa.
There was a large camp of Indians at Hay Lake where they were spending the winter living on fish. A young married man, not caring for fish, was camping by himself at some distance, living on rabbit. Fearing an attack, he took the precaution of keeping a trail broken between his camp and the large camp on the lake. He did this by going over it with his snowshoes once a month.
One morning while he was visiting his snares, his wife was sitting in the tipi lacing a pair of snowshoes. Her little boy who was just beginning to talk was playing beside her. The child looked into the dish of water in which the hide for lacing the snowshoes was being dampened and said to the mother, “Whose face is that in the water?” The mother looked in the vessel and saw the reflection of the face of a foe looking in over the door.
► Continue reading…
Feeling sure there would be no attack in the daytime, the woman made no sign and went on rapidly with her work. The spy withdrew.
When her husband came home she asked him why he had peeked in over the door. Is not this your own tipi?” she asked him. The husband asked her if she was sure someone had done that. “Yes,” she said, “even the child noticed him. His track must be outside.” “I have been expecting this,” the man replied. “That is why I kept the trail to the large camp open. That is why I made the snowshoes, I wanted them to fight with. Hurry and finish lacing them by night, if you can. When it is dark so they cannot see you, you must take the child and go to the main camp. I will stay here and fight them alone. If we all go together to the big camp the enemy will follow and kill a good many.”
By hurrying, the woman finished lacing the snowshoes by dusk and, taking the child, went to the large camp, leaving her husband alone. Near morning, before the usual time of attacking, the man built a good fire and went out of the tipi taking his snowshoes and weapons. He sat down in the brush nearby to watch. At daybreak, a large party of the enemy attacked with much shouting. They surrounded the tipi and stabbed it through and through. Not hearing anyone, a man went in and called to those on the outside, “There is no one here.” “Yes there is,” the man called from his hiding place. He started to run on his large snowshoes which kept him on the surface of the snow. Making use of his medicine, he called for a south wind. It came and the party pursuing him began to sweat and drop off their clothes. When he had led them a long ways from their clothes he called for a north wind. It came, and the sweating enemy turned to go back for their abandoned clothing. On their way back they huddled around fires trying to keep warm. The man now turned on them and speared them, half frozen by their fires and killed them all.
He traveled all day to reach the large camp, fearing for the safety of his wife and child. As he approached the camp he heard the head man wailing for his supposed death. “No,” the man said, “I am not dead this time. I killed them all.”
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Dreamtime Whispers 