A young man is taken to another world by fledgling geese

A hunter captures young geese and asks them to take him to their mother’s land. He falls asleep in his canoe and awakens in a different world. Following a wolf, he encounters a man who offers his daughter in marriage. After hunting together, the man advises the hunter to return to his own people, which he eventually does.

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


Journey to the Otherworld: The protagonist is transported to another realm by the fledgling geese.

Sacred Spaces: The otherworldly lake and the land he arrives at can be seen as sacred or significant locations.

Guardian Figures: The wolf guides the man, acting as a protector or mentor.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


A man was hunting in a canoe when he saw some young yellow geese. He paddled up to them and caught them. He thought they were too small to kill. Tying them to the canoe, he told them to tow him to their mother’s country. He lay down in his canoe and fell asleep. He slept very soundly and a long time passed before he woke up, and then the geese were nearly large enough to fly.

It was not this earth on which he stood when he woke up, but he thought he was still in his own country. It was a large lake. He waded ashore and walked along by the lake, thinking intently. Suddenly in the distance he saw a wolf running along. The wolf was looking toward the man.

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The wolf ran down until he came to the water which he entered. As he walked through the water he kept looking back toward the man who began to follow the wolf. They continued this way, the wolf running ahead and the man following until after they had gone a long distance when land appeared. He went ashore and walked along by the water.

He came where a man was living who had many children. This man gave the stranger a daughter in marriage. The man who lived there went hunting by himself and killed a moose. The other man killed nothing. The first man thought much about it. “He is my son-in-law and a relative, let him hunt with me once anyway. Let him hunt with my snowshoes.” He loaned him a pair of his own snowshoes and he went hunting. He had not gone very far when he killed a female with young. When he came back to the camp he saw many tracks. They thought they were the tracks of a good many people but they were really their own tracks. He returned the snowshoes to his father-in-law. “Go back to your relatives,” the old man told his son-in-law. He went hunting, paddling in his canoe. In the distance something was moving. When he crossed to them he found they were his relatives.


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Wonyoni escapes from the Cree

Wonyoni, an elderly hunter, encounters Cree warriors while hunting moose. To divert them, he rolls a large stone down a hill, creating noise that misleads the Cree into chasing the stone, thinking it’s him. Seizing the opportunity, Wonyoni safely returns to his camp, outsmarting his pursuers.

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: Wonyoni outsmarts the Cree by using a clever trick to mislead them.

Conflict with Authority: The story depicts an individual evading pursuit by a dominant or opposing group.

Trickster: Wonyoni plays the role of a trickster, using wit rather than strength to overcome his enemies.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


The old man, Wonyoni, was hunting moose with a dog when he became aware of Cree in the neighborhood. “What shall I do?” he said to himself and began to study the situation. He started off making tracks away from the place where his camp was situated. He came to an open place, looking back now and then. He was looking for the Cree, when suddenly he saw a man. He was traveling toward a large river and when he came there, he found a large stone and carried it with him up the hill where he was going to lie down for the night. He was on the watch there when suddenly the Cree were all around him. “How shall I get away from here?” he said to himself. Still considering this he went to bed. The Cree were all around him.

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When they made a rush at him to kill him he kicked the large stone he had brought up the hill so that it rolled down, breaking the trees as it went. The Cree thinking it was Wonyoni running away, chased after it. The old man immediately started back to his camp. The Cree were sitting there waiting for daylight so they could catch him. They did not kill him and he got back to his camp without being discovered because he was smart.


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The revenge of Wonyoni

An old man named Wonyoni lives with his three sons. Despite their father’s warnings, the two older sons visit their malevolent uncle and are killed. The youngest escapes and informs Wonyoni. Seeking revenge, Wonyoni confronts his brother-in-law, who underestimates him due to his small stature. Using cunning and a jawbone weapon, Wonyoni kills the larger man, avenging his sons.

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: Wonyoni seeks retribution for the murder of his sons by confronting and killing his brother-in-law.

Cunning and Deception: Wonyoni uses his intelligence and strategic thinking to overcome his physically stronger brother-in-law.

Tragic Flaw: The uncle’s overconfidence and underestimation of Wonyoni lead to his downfall.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


There was an old man who raised his children by themselves. When the boys were grown up one of them said, “Father, do you know of any people living close by?” The father replied, “No, my son, I do not know of any people living close by except your uncle who lives near, but he has always been a bad man.” “We will visit him,” the boys said. “Do not do it; you will not live if you do,” said the father. “We will visit our uncle any way; it is hard for us to live by ourselves,” the boys replied. “Well, go then,” the father said. Addressing the youngest boy he asked him what supernatural help he had. “My dream was of newly fallen snow that does not pack,” the youngest replied. When the two older boys started the youngest one told his father that he too would go.

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“Well,” replied his father, “your uncle is bad. If your brothers go into the house, you stay outside and play.”

The boys started to make the visit. The two older ones came to their uncle who recognized them. “They are my nephews. Quick, give them something to eat,” he said. His wife gave them some bear grease by means of which he killed them. He killed the two boys but the youngest ran away. He came where he had left his snowshoes, put them on, and made his escape.

When he came to his father he said, “Father, he killed my two brothers.” The father was little disturbed and slept as usual. The old man was undersized and his name was Wonyoni which means “smart.” “I will pay my brother-in-law a visit tomorrow morning,” he said.

He went where the camp had been but found his brother-in-law had moved away. The bodies of his sons were lying there. The camp had been moved across the lake. Wonyoni started to cross on the ice and saw his brother-in-law walking by the lake. “Do not come this way,” the brother-in-law called, “you are in pitiful condition.” [This remark probably refers to the usual seclusion of those who have recently suffered the loss of near relatives, which the murderer was trying to enforce.]

They say he was a large man. “Brother-in-law, why do you speak as any other man might? Do I visit you for nothing that you say that.” Wonyoni said. “Don’t you come here, nevertheless; you are pitiful,” he replied, but the old man paid no attention to him. He walked on until he came near him. “You are coming to me because I killed your children. You begin the fight,” he said to Wonyoni, who replied, “I am in pitiful condition as you say. What am I able to do to you?” “You begin the fight anyway,” he said again. “Fix yourself,” Wonyoni said.

The large man had a buffalo rawhide and Wonyoni had beaver skins of the same sort. The latter had a jawbone for a weapon and the former the backbone of a buffalo. [The buffalo skins and the beaver skins were to give supernatural help as well as real protection] Wonyoni made a feint at the head of the other man who thinking he was to be hit in the head raised his buffalo hide. Wonyoni striking under this, broke his legs and killed him. Although he was a small man he was a formidable one they say.


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Wonyoni avenges the death of his sons

Wonyoni lived in isolation with his family due to his brother’s malevolence. Despite warnings, his three sons visited their uncle, who murdered the two eldest. The youngest escaped and informed Wonyoni. Feigning indifference, Wonyoni later confronted and killed his brother in retaliation. This tale, rooted in Dane-zaa lore, underscores themes of familial bonds, betrayal, and vengeance.

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: Wonyoni seeks retribution for the unjust killing of his sons by his brother.

Tragic Flaw: The uncle’s malevolence and cruelty lead to his downfall.

Conflict with Authority: Wonyoni challenges his brother’s oppressive and violent behavior, ultimately overthrowing him.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


A man named Wonyoni had always camped by himself and raised his family apart from others. One of his sons once inquired if they were the only existing people. His father told him that an uncle lived not far away by a fish lake, but because this uncle was a mean man he had raised his family by themselves. The boy replied that they would visit the uncle anyway.

“Well, my boy, you are to be pitied, for you will not live long if you do that,” the father warned him. “Never mind that, we will visit him,” the boy said. “I have hindered your going many times, now do as you like,” the father conceded.

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Before the three boys set out to make the visit the father told the youngest boy not to go into the tipi even if the two older boys did so. He renewed the boy’s shoe strings because the old ones were dry and brittle. He also advised him to leave his snowshoes along the trail, one pair behind the other because the track upon the snow was not strong. The boy did as his father advised.

When they came to the uncle’s home the two older boys went in but the youngest played outside, although they called to him to come in. The uncle had killed all who had visited him previously and had rendered their fat. He directed his wife to cook for the guests. When they had been fed he took two spears and conducted the boys to the base of the tipi where he placed them. “This is the way your aunt and I used to do when we found a she-bear and her young ones. When we came upon them we would scare them out, and one standing on either side, we would spear them as they ran out. “This is the lard we made of them.” Then as an illustration of the way it was done he drove the spears through both boys at the same time. The remaining boy ran back down the road. The uncle chased him but because the road was not firm enough to hold the older man, the boy outran him and escaped. When he returned, his father inquired about his brothers. “My uncle killed them,” the boy replied.

To this Wonyoni paid no attention but lay by the fire as if nothing had happened. His wife cried and tried to throw herself into the fire. When daylight was appearing the next morning, the man went to his son and said, “Come, let us go to your uncle.” They went where he had lived but found the tipi had been moved away. He had killed the two boys without any reason and burned everything over. “My brother is laughing at us ahead there. Your uncle never knows what he ought to do,” the father said.

They followed to the other side of the lake where the tipi had been placed on a large flat. Wonyoni was angry. When they came near they saw the uncle walking outside watching for them. He came up to them and met them. He was a large man. When he came up close to them Wonyoni ran back from him. “I guess you ran off because your feelings are hurt,” the large man said to him. Then Wonyoni ran up to him again saying, “You intend doing again as you did to the boys. Well, you make the first move,” he said, showing his lack of respect. Wonyoni then aimed a blow at the man’s head, but struck below and broke his legs. The large man fell and Wonyoni came up to him and killed him with his club.

The father and son then went up the bank where the camp stood. No one was stronger than that old man. “Where did you put him?” the large man’s wife asked. She had a flat stone in her bag which she took out and threw at the man. Stepping to one side he dodged it and jumped on the woman, knocking her down. Wonyoni then killed all the people at the camp of the uncle whose name had been Bear-stands-in-the-water. Wonyoni, having killed many people, returned to his own camp. The people were all glad.


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The moose that had been a man

An old hunter plans to pursue two moose. The moose, aware of his intentions, attempt to evade him. The hunter successfully kills one and chases the other, which eventually reveals itself as his younger brother who had transformed into a moose. Recognizing this, the hunter spares the moose, allowing his brother to return to human form.

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


Transformation: The younger brother undergoes a physical change from human to moose and back to human.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the hunter and his younger brother is central to the narrative.

Loss and Renewal: The younger brother’s disappearance and eventual return to human form symbolize themes of loss and restoration.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


A large band of Indians were moving about when one old man said that he would hunt the next morning along the mountains. There were two moose together who heard the old man say that. “That old man has great supernatural power; he is coming after us and we will not be able to get away from him. We will travel very slyly,” the moose said. They had heard the old man talking and therefore traveled about with great caution.

When the old man came along he did not follow the tracks of the moose, but went around another way and shot one of them with arrows. He did not stop to cut up the moose he had killed, but, saying to himself that there had been two of them and that one was missing, he went after it.

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The moose ran very fast and lay down quietly at the end of the path. The old man went directly to the place where the moose was lying, following a direction at right angles to that taken by the moose. The moose got up. The old man had feathers on his bow (arrow) which showed the way he should go. When these feathers moved the moose heard it. He saw the man. “What shall I do now, he has me killed long ago?” the moose said to himself. He looked about to see where the trees were thick and ran there. The man ran along beside him so that the moose could not escape. Seeing a small open place, the moose said to himself, “Let him kill me there.” Seeing that there was nothing more that he could do, he ran to the open place, jumped to the spot, and fell.

It seems that the moose was a person. This old man had had a younger brother who had disappeared into a herd of moose. That was the moose he was following. “I am that one,” the moose said, “what do you want?” “It is better for you to go to some larger country,” said the man. He did not kill the moose for he knew it was his younger brother. Then he left him and became a man again.


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The orphan boy kills beaver

In a time of famine, an orphaned boy and his sister discover a beaver lake. The boy asks his sister to cut a hole in the ice and make him willow arrows. He successfully spears many beavers, providing food for their people. Later, as starvation looms again, the boy’s anger leads him to consume a beaver leg, after which he kills more beavers, ensuring their survival.

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


Sacrifice: The sister’s dedication to her brother, carrying him and assisting in his endeavors, exemplifies personal sacrifice for a loved one.

Conflict with Nature: The act of hunting beavers in a frozen environment highlights the struggle against natural elements to secure food.

Family Dynamics: The close relationship between the orphaned siblings, with the sister taking on a parental role, underscores the complexities of familial bonds in challenging circumstances.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


There was a young girl and her younger brother whose father and mother had died. The girl raised her brother. Once when the people were dying of starvation they came where there was a beaver lake as they were moving about. The boy’s sister was carrying a load on her back. [Perhaps this sentence should mean she was carrying her brother on her back.] The boy asked his sister to cut a hole through the ice for him so he might fish there. He also asked her to make him some arrows of a willow, saying he would try to get some fish. She was also to build a fire on the shore. To all this she gave her assent. They went to the bank and sat by a fire for a time. Then he started again to the lake where he stuck his arrows into the water and speared many beaver which he pulled out and killed with a club.

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He went back to his sister and asked her to bring the beaver for him. She went for them and brought them to the fire where she singed them. Then she started out after the other people carrying the singed beaver and her brother. The boy sat on his sister’s back working at the beaver. As she was carrying him along there someone saw him. They ran up to him. His sister put him down. The people took all the beaver tails from him.

After that they were again dying of starvation. The boy was angry. He ate the leg of a beaver because he was angry. Starvation was killing them and they sent for him. He defecated and again he killed many beaver They lived all right after that.


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Agait’osdunne marries the chief’s daughter

Agait’osdunne, a man of low status, impregnates the chief’s daughter. To identify the father, the chief uses his thunderbirds, which reveal Agait’osdunne’s guilt. Banished together, Agait’osdunne utilizes his supernatural abilities to provide for them, while their former tribe faces starvation. Despite adversities, including an attack that nearly kills him, Agait’osdunne’s resilience and powers ensure their survival.

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


Transformation: Agait’osdunne, initially perceived as a miserable man who had never killed anything, demonstrates supernatural abilities and resourcefulness, transforming his and his wife’s dire circumstances into a sustainable life.

Conflict with Authority: The chief, representing authority, casts out his daughter and Agait’osdunne, leading to their struggle against this imposed hardship.

Revenge and Justice: After being ostracized, Agait’osdunne ensures that those who cast them out receive only animal blood to sustain themselves, serving as a form of retribution for their earlier actions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


They did not know what kind of a man Agait’osdunne was. He was a miserable man and miserable beyond that; and they had no respect for him since he had never killed anything. There was another man who was highly respected, the chief. He had a daughter of whom he took great care to guard her from evil. All at once it appeared from her shape that she was pregnant. Her father was determined to find out by whom she was in that condition. He was a man who had very great supernatural power, and had some young thunderbirds that he was keeping in a cage. He thought he would find out what he wanted to know through the help of these birds. He brought the men all together and asked each of them who did it.

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They all denied knowing who had done it. Then he made them go in where the birds were. If the man who was guilty went in the birds would ruffle up their feathers. He was going to find out about it in this way. They went in one by one but the feathers of the birds did not move.

“Are these all the men?” he asked. “There is one man who is not here,” they told him. Then Agait’osdunne came in and the feathers of the birds stood out immediately. “Her child is from that man,” he concluded. He sent his child away in very pitiful condition. “Let them die,” he said. He cast them off, leaving them no clothes to wear. They were in pitiful condition and there was nothing they could do. Agait’osdunne was determined they should live. With his supernatural power he caused a moose to come there and killed it. From its skin he made two good garments. He was that kind of a being. If he said something should happen that thing happened.

By means of that power they lived all winter without suffering hardships. Those from whom they had moved were starving to death. Because they had cast him off to die, he would give them nothing but the blood, and he gave them much of that. “Let them live on the blood of the animals that are killed,” he said. When he went after animals he told his wife that the one which came first should be spared. There was one mean man who shot it and killed all the animals that they lived on. When she saw her husband was not around she thought something might have befallen him. She took a mooseskin garment and went to him. When she came up to him he was still alive. She put a skin over his head and made him well again. Agait’osdunne was from an animal. Nothing was difficult for him.


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Atcecq kills a bad man

In a time of famine, a young boy named Atcecq visits a notorious old man known for his cruelty. Despite warnings, Atcecq seeks food from the old man, who attempts to intimidate him. After consuming the offered fish without harm, the old man challenges Atcecq to a display of supernatural power. Atcecq cleverly turns the old man’s power against him, causing his death. This act liberates the community, allowing them to access the lake’s fish and end their starvation.

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


Trickster: Atcecq employs cunning and wit to outsmart the malevolent old man, a hallmark of the trickster archetype.

Conflict with Authority: Atcecq challenges the old man’s oppressive dominance, ultimately overthrowing his tyrannical rule.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts ethical teachings, emphasizing the triumph of good over evil and the value of intelligence in overcoming adversity.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


One time when they were starving they started to move toward a lake where they knew there were fish. A bad old man was known to live there but they thought he was away from home. When they came to the place they found he was still living there. Then that small boy said he would visit his grandfather, meaning the old man. His friends advised him against it, but he replied that since he was starving and suffering much he would visit him nevertheless. The others tried hard to stop him but he set out to pay the visit. When he arrived the old man asked why he came. “I came to you, grandfather, because I am starving,” the boy replied. “Well, you will not live long,” the old man said, “go back or I will kill you.”

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“You do not talk as other people do, grandfather,” the boy said. “Well, cook him some fish,” he told his wife. The boy ate the fish when it was set before him. “What kind of a person are you who eat the fish I give you and still live? You are Atcecq,” the old man said. “Why do you say that? I ate what you gave me and I am happy,” the boy replied.

“Cook for him again,” he said, and his wife did so. “No person ever did this way with me before, but let us use supernatural power on each other,” the old man said. “What am I to do, that you speak that way?” the boy asked. “You have eaten much of my food,” the old man replied. “You do something to me first, grandfather,” the boy said. The old man made a large frog sit on his palm and told the boy to take it. “Now you do something to me,” the old man said. “Yes, grandfather, but what do I know, that you should say that to me?” the boy asked. “You swallowed a small frog and how is it that it did not bother you?” the old man asked. “What sort of a person am I that you should say that?” the boy asked again. The old man swallowed it and he could hardly breathe.

When Atcecq started back the old man said that since he had done that to him, he would know how to cure him. He sent his wife to bring the boy back that he might cure him. When the boy saw the sorrowful looking old woman coming after him he told her that he was not yet old enough to marry and that her husband might keep her. He turned back and came to the old man who was still breathing. When the boy began to sing over him the frog closed the old man’s mouth and he died.

The boy then ran back to his friends who asked how it happened he was still alive. “My grandfather was very kind. He is not a mean man. He fed me well and I ate what he gave me,” the boy replied. They knew the old man was mean and they were afraid of him.

Atcecq killed him and the people were very much pleased. They moved camp to the place where the fish were and many people were saved from starving.

The old man had many wives for he had taken the wives of the men he had killed. They took these women away. Many people were glad because of what Atcecq had done.


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

Atcecq kills buffalo

In a time of famine, a group of Indigenous people discovered buffalo but lacked the means to hunt them. A boy named Atcecq took initiative, despite the community’s anger and threats against him. He skillfully hunted the buffalo, distributing the meat based on family size, thereby saving the community from starvation. This tale highlights themes of courage and resourcefulness.

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


Hero’s Journey: Atcecq embarks on a transformative adventure, taking initiative to hunt the buffalo and ultimately becoming a hero to his people.

Conflict with Authority: Atcecq defies the community’s decision to wait until the next day to hunt, challenging their authority by acting on his own.

Sacrifice: Atcecq risks his life and faces the community’s wrath to provide food for his people, sacrificing his safety for their well-being.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


One time when a band of Indians were without food, someone saw some buffalo. They did not have guns and since the buffalo were in an open place without cover they did not know how they could get them. They decided to wait until the next day when they could make a fence and drive them into a corral.

A boy, named Atcecq, started after the buffalo by himself, and the people were all angry. “Let us kill him,” they were saying. They went after him. They prepared a large fire for him and sat down by it waiting for him. As he was coming back he found his grandmother who had raised him, sitting behind the fire crying.

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“Why are you crying, grandmother?” he asked. “These people say they are going to kill you,” she replied. “Show me which one of them says that of me,” he asked of his grandmother. They were afraid of him.

Then they started after the buffalo and found them still where they had been seen. “Be careful, they might see us,” they said. The boy followed along after the others. They also told him to take care the buffalo did not see him. This boy had killed all the buffalo. From a man who had many children he had taken two of his arrows, but if there was only one child he took only one arrow. With these arrows he had killed all the buffalo, allotting them one or two animals according to the number of children. They were all saved from starving.


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

Agait’osdunne, the hair scrapings man

An old woman discovers a mysterious child among hair scrapings. She raises him, noticing his rapid growth and peculiar behavior, including transforming into a buffalo at night. The boy aids his starving relatives by providing beaver meat and later, as a buffalo, leads them to a successful hunt. His actions bring prosperity to his people.

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


Creation: The tale begins with the mysterious appearance of a child among hair scrapings, suggesting a unique origin or birth.

Supernatural Beings: The boy’s extraordinary abilities and origins point to interactions with or the existence of supernatural entities.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative includes elements of humans struggling against natural forces, such as starvation and the need to hunt for survival.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people


One time when many people were camping about they heard a child cry where they had been dressing hides. All the women ran to the place. When they did not find the child they took up the hairs of the scrapings one at a time and put them to one side. There was nothing there. Then an old woman went there and found a child crawling among the scrapings. She took the child up and put it in her mitten.

She took care of it after that and it became large very quickly and was soon walking about. He became a person from the buffalo. “Grandmother bring me only grass,” he said to her. She brought him grass for a bed. During the night it all disappeared.

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“He is always doing such things,” she said to herself. When she lay down again she watched him through a hole in her blanket. She saw him get up and shake himself and immediately become a buffalo. “Why did I do this?” she said to herself and lay down again under her blanket. “So this is what you are doing,” she thought. After that she took good care of him.

Once the Indians were all chiseling out beaver. “I will watch them,” the boy thought and went where they were eating the beaver meat. When he saw the meat, he reached to take some a man was offering him. The man pulled it back again, fooling the boy. He was very angry. One old man gave him something to eat. After the Indians had gone he picked up a beaver leg and swallowed it, saying, “You will not kill beaver until I pass this bone.”

After that his grandmother traveled alone with the children behind the main band who were starving. Her nephews were starving; they were having a hard time. “Grandmother, I will fish with a hook and line. There are fish here in this old beaver pond,” he said. She cut a hole in the ice for him. “I will fish here,” he said. She went over where he was fishing. He took out a large beaver. He pushed a stick into the water and caught four beaver which he killed with a club. “Grandmother, there are four fish down there which I have killed,” he said to her. His grandmother went there and found he had killed four large beaver. She carried them back and put them by the fireplace. They ate beaver meat. “Grandmother, give me the mesentric membrane,” he said. She did as he requested.

Then his grandmother took him on her back and carried him after the other Indians. When the advance party saw the mesentric membrane he had in his hand they acted like crazy people about it. They threw down the children they were carrying to run after him. They got hold of the membrane and pulled it from side to side. This made him angry.

His uncle had set snares for beaver. He was sitting there by them and started to cry. “What is the matter?” he asked. “Kill it for me,” he said. Then he passed the leg bone of a beaver. Then all who were there, all his uncles, took out beaver.

Then they moved on ahead. Again they were starving, when someone reported having seen buffalo that did not know people were about. After the others had gone to bed he took arrows from each man and went to the buffalo. When he came near them he transformed himself into a buffalo and started to play with them. He killed them all and started back. They had a big fire ready for him and were sitting there, waiting. His grandmother was sitting on the pile of wood, crying. “Grandmother, why are you crying?” he asked. He took an arrow and held it on his bow. “One buffalo was caught in the willows. Who said this about me? Who said of me that, ‘he went along the people’s trail carrying arrows?’” he inquired. No one spoke and for that reason he did not shoot. He held two arrows by their heads, broke them, and threw them into the fire. “What did I do to your animals?” he asked them. They thought the buffalo were all ahead of them.

They started away, but one old man sat there after the others had gone. Agait’osdunne had put some buffalo fat in the fold of his blanket. He pulled that out for his grandfather. “Grandfather, the wolves killed a young buffalo. I thought I would put its fat in my pocket.” He passed it to him. “It is not young buffalo’s fat,” the old man said to himself. Then he told his grandfather that each man who knew his own arrows would know which buffalo belonged to him. His grandfather went away along the road after the others. They thought the buffalo were lying there alive and they were sitting over them ready to shoot. “.Why are you sitting there?” he asked. They thought the buffalo were still alive and they would take them all in snares. When he came to them he said, “Take the ones your arrows are sticking in.” He thought he and his grandmother would have an animal and he had left an old arrow lying on it. They stepped over that buffalo.

Agait’osdunne was very poor. The large band that camped ahead had a certain man for chief. He had a daughter no one liked. She went out one time and looking at Agait’osdunne said, “I do not like your eyes.” He was very angry because of that and after she had gone he went there and urinated.

She was very soon pregnant and gave birth to a child. “Make a medicine lodge,” the chief said. They made a medicine lodge. “The child will urinate on the man who is its father,” the chief said. They all came there where the medicine lodge stood. He disappeared now and then and then he was not about at all. [This probably refers to the spirit supposed to assist in the divination.] They did not know who could be its father. Agait’osdunne was the only one who did not go there. “Well, let everyone of the men come here,” the chief said. His grandmother was sorry for the child and liked it and for that reason went there. As soon as she took it, the child urinated. All the women then stripped the clothes from Agait’osdunne and put out his fire, but his grandmother put some fire in sinew and put it inside a pillow. They drove him away from his grandmother. “I hope when they get up they will take out the sinew,” she said. The next morning when they arose there was nothing they could do anything with. “Look inside grandmother’s pillow,” he said. She went there and found fire under the sinew where it had been left and built a fire with it.

“I wish you would make some arrows for me,” he told the woman. She made arrows for him from some poor willows. “I wish three wolves would come along here to us,” he said. Before long three wolves came there and he killed them all. The women went to them. They took hold of the wolves by their noses, rubbed them, and pulled the entire body out of the skins. Then they put on the skins with the hair still on them. “I wish thirteen caribou would come along here,” he said. They came very soon and he killed them all. They made a tipi cover of their skins. He wished again for three moose and they came. He killed them and they had the leather they needed.

He wished the others might die of starvation. For his grandmother, however, he used to drop fat along behind. “Because they did not care whether he starved or not, let them be very hungry and die of starvation,” he was thinking about them. “Well, let them come here,” he thought. They came there. He told them that before he had resolved not to get meat for them. He went away from them but before leaving, he told them that if many moose went by they were not to shoot the leader but only those following behind. Then owl, who was a person then, shot the moose that was in front. His wife took a skin and ran after him. She ran far away to him. “You are alive. You will not die quickly,” she said to him. “Roll up in the skin,” she told him. Then they beat owl with a club and that is why his head is large.

Second version. A child was heard to cry from a buffalo skin. An old woman went toward it and found a child sitting among the hairs which had been scraped from the buffalo skins. She took up the child and because she felt sorry for it, took care of it and raised it, although the others tried to dissuade her.

It grew quickly. “Put nothing but grass under me, grandmother,” he said. She put some grass under him but in the night she saw it was gone; there was nothing but bare ground under him. “What are you doing, grandchild?” she said to herself. She watched him through her ragged blanket one night and saw him stand up, a large buffalo. He ate up the grass he was lying on. “My grandson is a buffalo,” she thought.

A famine was killing the people when someone saw a herd of buffalo. There were many people camping there who decided to go together and kill the buffalo. The boy saw the buffalo and at night, while the people were asleep, took an arrow from each man’s supply. He went to the buffalo during the night and shot them all because they were not afraid of him. “The buffalo will belong to the man whose arrow is on it,” he said to himself, and distributed the arrows on the dead buffalo. “We will make meat of this one for my grandmother,” he said, and placed two of his arrows on one of the animals.

He went back to the camp to find someone had built a big fire. His grandmother was sitting on the wood, crying. “What is the matter, grandmother?” he asked; “You went for the people’s animals and they say they will burn you.” “Who says that about me?” he asked. “They all say it of you. They are not pleased.” “None of your animals ran away. They are still where they were last night. Go to them,” he said.

An old man was sitting there after the others had left. He took a seat by this old man and said, “I saw the wolves kill a young buffalo, grandfather.” They two followed along the way the others had gone. They found some of the Indians lying in front of the dead buffalo while others were trying to surround them. When they came up to the buffalo they found they had all been killed and the arrows were lying on the bodies. The people were all very much pleased.


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