The giant beaver and muskrat

The story tells of a giant man who attempts to hunt a massive beaver. After spotting the beaver under a frozen lake, he drives it back to its lodge and kills it. Discovering unborn young inside, he releases them into the water to calm the restless ice. The tale also mentions a muskrat that reacts to passing canoes, though it no longer does so.

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

Mythical Creatures: The presence of giant animals, such as the beaver and muskrat, indicates encounters with beings beyond ordinary experience.

Sacrifice: The man releases the beaver’s offspring into the water to calm the ice, suggesting a form of offering to restore balance.

Harmony with Nature: The act of releasing the young beavers to calm the ice reflects an understanding of and attempt to maintain balance within the natural world.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Said to have happened on Great Slave Lake. Stories of giants in the north are common; the particular incident explains a local hill as is indicated in the last sentence.

At first they say there was a large man who chiseled for a large beaver. He worked in vain for he could not kill it. He could not find its track anywhere nearby. He went out on the large frozen lake and saw the beaver walking along under the ice. He tapped on the ice and drove the beaver back into its house where he killed it. She had young ones in her and because of that the ice would not remain quiet. He cut the mother open, took out the young ones, and put them in the water. The ice then became quiet. That was why he did it. They say both the man and the beaver were giants. The beaver house is still standing.

Out to the east where there are no trees, away from the country in which beaver are found, there used to be a muskrat. If a canoe passed by, the muskrat would hear it. They say one did not speak when he paddled by the place. It is not long since someone in passing there felt the water move. He is not there now and since he is gone they do not feel the water move.

► Continue reading…

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

The Earth recovered by diving

In this Dane-zaa creation myth, birds inhabited a world covered entirely by water. Seeking land, they attempted to dive beneath the water’s surface but failed. A small bird named Xak’ale succeeded, resurfacing with earth under his fingernails. From this earth, land and trees emerged, leading to the world’s formation.

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 story explains how the world, specifically the land, was formed from the water.

Origin of Things: It provides an explanation for the existence of land and trees, detailing their emergence from the water through the efforts of the bird Xak’ale.

Mythical Creatures: The bird Xak’ale, who possesses the unique ability to dive deep and retrieve earth, can be seen as a mythical figure within this context.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

In reply to questions it was learned that the earth is believed to have disappeared during a deluge from which certain people saved themselves by turning into waterbirds. The deluge was caused by the melting of the snow which accumulated during four summerless years. The incident of diving for the earth is very widespread in North America.

At first there was no land and no people, nothing but birds living on the water. They were the only living things. They came together at a certain place and one of them said, “I wonder where the land is?” They were looking for land without success. One of them tried to find land at the bottom of the water, but did not succeed. They all tried, but were not able to find it.

One of them, named Xak’ale, also dived into the water saying he would look for land. He went down disappearing from sight. He was gone a long time and when he came up, he was on his back vainly trying to breathe. He breathed a little and said, “Look here under my finger nails.” They looked under his nails and found some earth there which they took out. Xak’ale who brought the land up was small.

Trees grew again on the land which was taken from the water and the earth was made again. They say birds did this and the one who succeeded was named Xak’ale.

► Continue reading…

Watc’agic kills the dancing birds

A man with birds as brothers encounters a flock and offers to share his songs if they dance with their eyes closed. As he drums, the birds dance blindly, allowing him to secretly kill them one by one. The man remains unafraid, knowing all animals are his kin.

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: The protagonist employs cunning and deceit to outsmart the birds, convincing them to dance with their eyes shut, which leads to their demise.

Conflict with Nature: The man engages in a struggle against natural creatures, in this case, the birds, resulting in their death.

Moral Lessons: The tale may serve as a cautionary story about trust and the potential dangers of deception.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Once a man who had all kinds of birds for his brothers was traveling. He came along where there were very many birds about. When they saw this man carrying something on his back one of them asked, “Brother, what are you carrying?” “They are my songs,” he replied. “Sing them for us, brother; and we will dance,” said the bird. “Those who dance to my songs must keep their eyes shut,” the man said. “We will do as you say,” the birds agreed. “Wait, I will build a dancing camp for you,” the man said. When he had the camp ready he said, “Now, come on and dance.” The man was drumming for the birds who were dancing with closed eyes. He was wringing the necks of the birds without the other birds discovering it. There were many of them and he killed them all. That man was not afraid of anything because all the animals were his brothers.

► Continue reading…

A man turns into a squirrel and escapes from a bear

A man is pursued by a large bear and seeks refuge in a tree. When the bear climbs after him, the man transforms into a squirrel, leaps to another tree, and descends safely. He then gathers wood, ignites a fire at the base of the bear’s tree, causing the bear to burn and fall. The man reverts to his human form and escapes unharmed.

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 protagonist undergoes a physical change by turning into a squirrel to escape the bear.

Conflict with Nature: The man faces a life-threatening encounter with a bear, representing a struggle against natural forces.

Cunning and Deception: The man uses cleverness to outwit the bear, first by transforming and then by setting a trap.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man lay down for the night by a river where there was a trail with the prints of animals’ feet. He heard a big noise made by a large bear. He ran to it and then he ran away from it. There was nothing he could do and he could not get away from the bear. He climbed a tree and the bear jumped up and climbed until he was not far below him. The bear was so big and fat he could not climb higher and he would not go away. The man was worn out for sleep and he could not go down for he was afraid of the bear which was watching him. “What can I do?” he said to himself. He turned himself into a squirrel and jumped far over to another tree which was standing there.

► Continue reading…

He ran to the trunk of that tree and went down without the bear which was sitting high up in the tree knowing it. The man gathered many knots and brought them on his back to the foot of the tree and set them on fire. The fire shot high up the tree and set it on fire. The bear was big and could not do anything. He began to burn and fell down. He became a man again and ran off. That is the way he avoided being killed.

A man marries the daughter of a bird

A solitary man encounters a small man with two daughters and marries one. The father-in-law invites him to hunt “moose,” which are actually birds called tsebise. Confused, the man kills two owls in anger. Later, he hunts real moose, but the father-in-law, frightened by their size, flees, revealing that the “moose” he referred to were indeed birds.

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

Conflict with Nature: The protagonist’s hunting experiences and the differing perceptions of animals highlight a struggle or misunderstanding between humans and the natural world.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the man and his father-in-law, including their misunderstandings and interactions, showcases complex familial relationships.

Cultural Heroes: The protagonist’s actions and experiences may reflect foundational narratives within the Beaver Indian culture, portraying him as a cultural hero.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

There was a man who was traveling around alone. At first he did not come where there were any people, but after a time he came where there was a small man living by himself who had two daughters. He was given one of these for a wife and lived there with them.

“There are some moose that live over here,” the small man said to his son-in-law one day, “let us go over there.” They went over there. He was living on birds only. “You stand here and watch that big tree and I will drive the game to you,” the father-in-law said. The Beaver was watching there supposing it was moose that was meant.

► Continue reading…

Not long after, some birds flew by, but he paid no attention to them. After that his father-in-law ran up and asked where they were. “I did not see any moose, only some birds flew by,” the man replied. Those birds are called tsebise and stay here all winter. “You say only birds passed. Those are the ones. They are moose,” the father-in-law said.

Then the young man was angry and went back into the woods. Two owls had lighted there, and he went to them and killed them both. He was angry. He brought them to the old man and threw them at him. The head of one of the owls fell in the fork of a stick. The old man tried in vain to lift it out and when he could not, he cut it up where it lay. He told the son-in-law to go home and tell his mother-in-law to come after the meat quickly. When he came home he told them, “Go after the meat quickly, he tells you.” They went there and brought the meat back. They made a soup of the owl’s head. The old man said to his son, “Go and tell your brother-in-law to come here and eat the head soup.” When he told his brother-in-law that, he replied that he hated the water of owls’ eyes. “I will not go there,” he said. The old man was angry about it.

The next morning the large man went hunting and killed two real moose. They went out for the meat and the old man went out behind them. The moose had not yet been cut up, and when he saw the moose he was afraid and ran away. “It is the large animal that eats people he means,” the old man said and then he ran away from it. Those are the birds one sees around here which stay all winter. They say those birds were men at first.

The beaver who went home with a Cree

A lone Beaver man and a Cree warrior, both having lost their companions, confront each other. The Cree takes the Beaver to his camp, where the people attempt to burn the Beaver alive. Using supernatural powers, the Beaver summons otters to cause chaos, leading to a series of events where alliances shift, and ultimately, the Beaver integrates into the Cree community by marrying one of their women.

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

War and Peace: The narrative centers on the conflict between the Beaver man and the Cree, each having lost their respective groups to the other’s people.

Revenge and Justice: The Beaver man’s younger brother seeks to avenge their fallen kin by attacking the Cree.

Family Dynamics: The narrative highlights the bond between the Beaver man and his younger brother, focusing on their collective response to their family’s demise.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

There was a powerful man all of whose young men had been killed by the Cree. He himself, a Beaver, was the only one alive. There was a Cree too, all of whose followers had been killed. Just the two men were alive, and they tried in vain to get the best of each other. Then the Cree went to his camp accompanied by the Beaver. There was another Cree at the camp who was a powerful man. When these men approached and the people saw them, the Cree was asked what he had done with his band and how it happened that he was accompanied by one of the enemy. The head man of the camp directed that a fire be made to burn the stranger. They got a lot of wood and set fire to it. Then they brought the man up to the fire which was burning fiercely.

► Continue reading…

It happened that the man they were going to roast carried a wooden spoon. He held this up between himself and the fire, but it kept catching fire.

He began to study the situation intently. “I wish otters would run among the people,” he said to himself. Then otters rushed among the people who were standing at a distance. “Otters are running among us,” one of them said. They rushed away from there and where there had been many people there were now none. He sat there by himself while the otters rushed out on the ice. His former companion, alone, was running near them. Then the Beaver man himself ran with them. At one place where the otters were running the Beaver ran in front of them and caught two of them. He threw them at his former companion who caught them both and threw them back. The Beaver caught them again. Just as he caught them the other Cree said, “Do it to me.” He threw them at him. They really knocked him down because the Beaver was stronger than he. They started to kill him and just the otters were coming out of the snow covered with blood. The man himself was under the snow and the otters only were to be seen. Then the Cree who had been the companion of the Beaver caught the otters, held them together, and killed them. He was a powerful man. “This man was with me and alive and yet you spoke as you did,” he said to the other Cree.

He gave one of his wives to his companion and made a relative of him. The Beaver lived with him and had some children. After this, his younger brother, a boy, started after him accompanied by some others. He saw his brother’s tracks and followed him. He came back and reported that the man they were to attack was powerful, but that now they had started they would not turn back. “If we do not succeed we will all be killed,” he told them. “We will attack them tomorrow morning.” He came back and worked against them with his mind, using supernatural power. He appeared to kill them.

When the Beaver heard his younger brothers attacking them, he immediately ran to his former partner and began to kill him. “Now I can do nothing,” the Cree said, and after that was killed. Some of the younger brothers were killed, but they killed all of the Cree.

Second version

Obtained in English from Ike through John Bourassa.

The Cree living to the east were the first to come in contact with white people and consequently had guns before the Beaver did. The Cree used to fight with the Beaver and by the use of their flintlock guns killed a good many of them. Among the Beaver were some good medicinemen who had flint for medicine and were able therefore to keep the flints on the guns from acting on the powder.

There was a battle one time in which there was a Beaver who was a powerful medicineman and on the other side a Cree who was equally strong. All the Cree in the band were killed except this Cree medicine-man and all the Beaver save their medicinemen. These two being left were so evenly matched in supernatural powers neither could prevail over the other. The Beaver went home with the Cree and became a second husband of the Creeps wife, living in the same tipi with him.

The Beaver was bad and used to go about killing Cree whenever he could find one by himself. He was so powerful as a medicineman the Cree could not kill him. One day as he was returning from a hunt he fell in with a Cree who had killed two swans and was taking them home. The Beaver killed the Cree and took the swans. When the swans were cooked, he left a portion for this Cree he had killed, thinking to hide his guilt. One day as he was hunting he met his Beaver friends. He planned with them an attack upon the Cree promising them the aid of his supernatural help. He spent the night making medicine to weaken the Cree, but told the Cree the medicine was to make them irresistible. The Beaver had agreed to join the attacking party some distance from the camp to protect them by his medicine, but fearing they would not be able to kill the powerful Cree medicineman he rushed into his tipi and said, “I am coming to kill you.” The Cree, baring his breast said, “Stab me here.” The Beaver did so and killed him. Then the Beaver killed all the Cree.

The interpreter omitted the two following incidents which the narrator included in the story:

At the first fight the Cree sent two otters against the Beaver which the Beaver medicine-man caught and taking one in each hand knocked them together killing them. When the Beaver man met his friends he went to their camp. One of his moccasins was torn and his sister-in-law mended it for him using a piece of moose skin which had been used to tie up vermilion paint. When he returned, his Cree wife noticed this mended place, but said nothing and did not warn the Cree.

The man’s name in Chipewyan was said by Fournier to be Satselle’.

The underwater people

A mysterious young man leads three companions to an underwater realm beneath a lake. There, they encounter a community living in skin tipis and are welcomed by the headman. After a brief stay, the headman provides them with a fragile canoe for their return. As warned, the canoe dissolves near the shore, but all four men manage to reach land safely.

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 protagonists travel to an underwater realm inhabited by otherworldly beings.

Forbidden Knowledge: The men gain insight into a hidden underwater world unknown to others.

Sacred Spaces: The underwater realm serves as a significant and mystical location within the narrative.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

While the people were sitting by the camp they suddenly saw a young man passing along carrying a blanket on his back. “Where are you going and what are you going to do?” one of them asked him. “I am going to become a young man again,” he replied. “How will you do that? We will go with you,” they said to him. “Do as you please,” the stranger replied. The young man who had spoken and two of his brothers-in-law went with him. They walked along until they came to a lake. Suddenly this man who had been walking ahead said “Xwui” and went through the ice to the bottom of the lake where he had a wife. “You do as I do,” he told his companions. There were many skin tipis standing there and many people walking about.

► Continue reading…

They went toward one of the tipis which was very large. The stranger walked ahead and the others did as he did according to the directions he had given them. Suddenly, someone jumped on the foot of the man who had suggested accompanying the stranger. It was a frog that did it, but he thought it was a man. The man who had gone ahead as the leader had a wife there and he used to go there to visit.

It seemed to them they had been there but a short time, when the head man of the underwater people said to them, “I do not like it that the minds of your relatives are so intent on us.” They started back in a canoe the head man made for them. “Take care how you use my canoe, for it is not very good,” he warned them as they started away. They came nearly to the shore in it when it melted as the owner of it had told them it would. Two of the men came ashore, but two of them were missing, one of the young men and his brother-in-law. The two who got ashore believed the others were dead, but as they were sitting on the bank they saw the head of a man appear and reappear. The man swam ashore and stood up. The other one was seen swimming as a jackfish. He turned into a man so that finally all of them came ashore and returned to their camp.

A man is carried away by a giant bird

A man is abducted by a giant bird and taken to its nest. The bird’s offspring hides him from its father. When the birds sleep during the day, the man escapes, gathers wood, and sets the tree ablaze, causing the birds’ wings to burn. They fall to the ground and become beings that frighten 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

Supernatural Beings: The giant bird represents a supernatural entity interacting with the human world.

Conflict with Nature: The man’s struggle against the giant bird and his subsequent actions highlight a direct confrontation with a natural force.

Cunning and Deception: The man’s cleverness in escaping and defeating the bird by setting its nest on fire showcases the use of wit to overcome adversity.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man was walking one time at night when suddenly something caught him and took him up toward the sky. The man wondered what had happened. He was carried to a large nest which was resting in a tree. The bird in the nest took good care of him and did not kill him. After the bird which had brought him had gone away and when it was nearly daylight another bird came back. “How does it happen you smell of a man?” this bird said to the young one in the nest. “I should smell of a man when one was brought here for me to eat,” the young one replied. He hid the man so well from his father that he could not find him. The birds slept during the daytime and the man came safely down to the ground.

► Continue reading…

He gathered a great quantity of knots and dry wood which he placed at the foot of the tree. He set this pile on fire and the tree caught fire high up where the birds were sitting. Their wings were all burned and they fell down. After that they walked around on the ground. Before that they were the things that frighten people.

Crow monopolizes the game

A famine strikes as game animals vanish. Crow remains well-fed, arousing suspicion. Nighthawk discovers that Crow has hidden the animals underground. The people confront Crow, eventually releasing the animals. To make hunting difficult, Crow covers the animals with bones, forcing hunters to target their noses. Later, Crow adds ribs to the animals, shaping their current 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

Trickster: Crow embodies the trickster archetype by cunningly hiding the animals and manipulating their forms, impacting the people’s survival.

Conflict with Nature: The people struggle against the unnatural disappearance of game animals, leading to famine and a direct confrontation with Crow to restore balance.

Cosmic Order and Chaos: Crow’s actions disrupt the natural order, leading to chaos in the form of famine, which is eventually addressed by the people’s intervention to restore balance.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Once, as winter was coming on, the people were dying of famine for the game animals had all disappeared from that region. Crow was not generally about with the remainder of the people but when he did visit them he appeared to be well fed and happy. The others agreed that they would watch him when he went home but when they tried it, one after the other was forced to give it up because it grew dark where Crow was going along. Telocye, nighthawk, was the last one who could still see him. When he too was about to lose sight of Crow he asked to have dust thrown in front of his eyes. When this was done the nighthawk could still see.[This was because twilight, when the nighthawk could see best, was imitated.]

► Continue reading…

“He disappears into the ground twice and beyond that I cannot see him,” Nighthawk reported. When asked if he could follow him he said he thought he could, so they all set out to find where Crow lived.

When they came there they found Crow had driven all the animals into the earth and had shut them up. That was the reason no animals had been seen. They attacked Crow but he fought back with a club and it was not an easy victory. The door behind which the animals were confined was made of fat. They were trying to tear it down so the animals might come out. Crow tried in vain to club the people back for one of them finally succeeded in breaking down the door. The animals all came out. “They are smart animals,” he said to himself. The animals all came out, but Crow found a way to make it difficult to kill them. He threw among them bones from which all the meat had been scraped. Again they were in trouble, for the animals were covered all over with bone and the only way they could be killed was to beat them on the nose until the blood vessels burst and they bled to death. The people were still dying of famine, and Crow himself was hungry. Then he made ribs and threw them among the animals. Because he did that the animals now have ribs.

This story belongs to the time when the world was being established.

The woman who discovered copper

A woman, captured by enemies, escapes and discovers copper near the ocean. She shares this find with her community, who begin using the metal for tools. However, after multiple expeditions, the copper vanishes following inappropriate behavior towards a mysterious woman associated with the metal. Subsequent attempts to retrieve the copper fail, and the woman is eventually left undisturbed.

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

Origin of Things: The tale explains the origin of copper usage among the Dane-zaa people.

Forbidden Knowledge: The woman’s discovery of copper introduces new knowledge to her community, but subsequent attempts to obtain more are hindered by mysterious circumstances, suggesting that this knowledge may be restricted or comes with consequences.

Loss and Renewal: The initial discovery of copper brings prosperity, but its subsequent loss due to the mysterious woman’s actions forces the community to adapt and seek renewal in other ways.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

This myth was recorded by Samuel Hearne in 1771.

One time a man’s wife who had been left alone was stolen by the people who live beyond the ocean (the Eskimo) and taken away to their country where she was held as a captive. The life was hard on her and she went away alone and came to the shore of the ocean. While she was there, unable to cross, a wolf came walking through the water toward her. He told her the passage was a good one and that she had better cross by means of it. She went up from the shore with the intention of abandoning her one child which had a large belly as a result of his greed. She killed a caribou and boiled the blood in the second stomach of the animal. She deserted the boy whose attention had thus been diverted.

There by the shore of the ocean metal was lying under the ground. The woman was passing by there and saw some of it.

► Continue reading…

She took a load of it and carried it to her relatives. They came to know the metal in this manner. The men all went for the metal and had a hard time bringing their loads home. They used it for arrow points; it was of great value to them for it was all they had to use. It was metal but not very strong for it was copper.

They went for it again and when they came there, there were many men and only’ one woman. All the men had intercourse with the woman who sat down on the copper and it disappeared so that it could not be secured.

They went for it again after that, but it was not to be seen, and they could not secure it. The woman had sunk into the ground until it came halfway up her body. Those men who had kept her jointly were unable to secure any metal. They went for it again after that and found only the woman’s head projecting above the ground which now came up around her neck. She was seen again after two years, she was still alive. That was the last time they saw her. After that they left her alone.