A man boasts about his ability to catch beavers even in confined spaces. He enlists companions to help drive muskrats and beavers into a small area for an easy hunt. Despite their efforts, the beaver eludes them. Eventually, after enduring hunger, they discover a stick and find the beaver sitting nearby, leading to a successful hunt that pleases everyone.
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
Quest: The man’s journey to hunt beavers and muskrats represents a pursuit to achieve a specific goal.
Cunning and Deception: The man uses strategic methods to outsmart and capture the animals, reflecting the use of wit to achieve his objectives.
Conflict with Nature: The narrative centers on the man’s struggle against natural creatures, highlighting the challenges humans face when interacting with the natural world.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Dane-zaa people
One man went to get beaver. “I should be able to kill beaver even in very small places,” he said to himself. He went back and asked someone to go with him after beaver and muskrats. He said they could go behind and drive the muskrats ahead so they might kill them in a small beaver place and eat them all up. They went there and started after them and the muskrats ran off ahead of them. When he came back there again the men were sitting at the small beaver place. “We will eat it all up,” he said. “We will make a hole under his food and go in there. Far up there they came to the end. They looked for him there but he was not to be found. Then one man went into a minkskin and looked for him.
► Continue reading…
Then he found him and started after him. There at the end he pushed the wood out. He went home again.
Then they were very hungry. “Go look for some sticks,” he told them. They looked for them and found a stick. When they were looking for it they saw the beaver sitting. They killed them all. The people were pleased.
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