The story recounts a tragic event where, during a buffalo hunt, a group of children is killed by strangers. Upon discovering the massacre, the grieving parents rush back, but one young man remains composed. He later tracks down the perpetrators, mutilates them by cutting off their ears, and leaves them to suffer, thus avenging the slain children.
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
Revenge and Justice: The narrative centers on avenging the slain children, highlighting retribution and the restoration of moral order.
Tragic Flaw: The initial complacency or negligence of the community members may have contributed to the tragedy, underscoring human vulnerabilities.
Family Dynamics: The story delves into familial bonds, emphasizing the deep impact of the children’s loss on their parents and the community.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
The men were away after buffalo and their wives were moving the camp along after them. There was one woman living with them. “When you were named Wind-crossing-each-other, you used to say they (the Cree) are coming after us.” “Yes,” she said. This woman (?) who was coming along behind them turned off on another road. She made a road far from that place, not stopping to sleep until it was daylight. When one could see, the young buffaloes were coming from way over there. They drank up all the water. All the children were saying, “Mother, father, here is mother’s camp.” Now strange people had killed all the children. All the children had followed her along the upper road. She had put them in a hole there.
► Continue reading…
An old woman ran from there to where the men were killing the buffalo and said, “Come, our children have all been killed. The men started running on the snow without their moccasins. They were crying because their children were all killed. There was one boy, the old woman’s son, who did not care. “Do as you please,” he told them. “I will come in the morning.” He did not care, he simply pulled the meat out of his mouth. When it was nearly daylight he started. The others were lying on the ground with cramps. He went after the others. They were crying because their children had been killed. He cut off the ears of some of them and let them suffer still living. He made them like the rest of his relatives. “Let them suffer,” he said and so he had revenge. [Both the text and the interpretation were so poorly done that the narrative is hardly intelligible.]
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