Wolverene

After that he fed his own wives and children, as usual, but gave nothing to his mother-in-law and brothers-in-law. He allowed them a fire, however, but he gave orders to his wives not to give them any food.

When Wolverene’s daughter saw that her grandmother was starving, she went to her mother, saying she was very hungry, and asked her for some beaver-meat. Pretending to eat the meat, she passed it down her dress, and carried it to her grandmother and the boys. The latter now began to hunt, for they were very hungry. One day they chased a moose by the place where Wolverene was working beaver on the ice. They asked him if the moose was far ahead; and he answered, “Just a little ways.” The lads chased the moose a very long way before they caught up with it and killed it. They brought back some meat and fat to their camp. That night they broke some bones to extract the marrow, and Wolverene heard them. He called out, “Oh, you have some meat! You are eating marrow-bones.” The old woman was angry, and answered back, “No, you are mistaken. We are breaking old bones. Where should we get meat? We are starving.”

That night, when Wolverene was asleep, the old woman and boys shifted camp to where the moose was. Next morning Wolverene noticed that there was no fire at their camp, and sent one of his sons over to find out the reason. He came back and told his father that there were no people there. Wolverene knew now that the lads had killed the moose. He made up his mind to follow them, and told his wives to go ahead. He would stay behind and finish catching beavers, and then overtake them. He killed a number of beavers, and, taking one of them on his back, he set out. Before long he passed his wife, who was pregnant, and therefore walking very slowly.

When he reached the people’s camp, he said, “I have brought you some good meat;” and he gave the beaver to his mother-in-law. He had defecated inside the beaver. The old woman threw it away, saying, “We do not eat your dirt.” Wolverene said, “How nice the moose-fat smells!” The people said, “We will feed you fat; sit down and close your eyes.” He was not particular now about concealing his privates, but sat down before the fire and lifted up his apron (or shirt?), exposing himself to view. When he shut his eyes, the people poured hot grease on his privates. He began to scratch at the burnt place; and while he was doing this, they clubbed and killed him. They then went out and met the wife who had the children and was pregnant, killed her, and cut open her belly. They also killed all the children excepting the youngest, who managed to escape and climbed a tree. Here he became a wolverene, and said, “Henceforth I shall break into people’s caches, and steal out of their marten-traps.”

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page