Four elemental brothers—North, South, East, and West—live in a cavern and stand above a great hole to blow the world’s winds. The youngest, West, blows fiercest gusts, but the eldest, North, warns him to restrain his strength to protect their mother (the Earth) and the people. Together they balance their powers, ensuring the winds are strong enough to serve yet never so wild as to harm.
Source:
Some Naskapi Myths
from Little Whale River
by Frank G. Speck
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.28, No.107, pp. 70-77
January-March, 1915
► Themes of the story
Origin of Things: This tale explains the natural phenomenon of wind by personifying its four directional forces.
Family Dynamics: The story centers on sibling relationships, hierarchies of age, and mutual influence among the four brothers.
Guardian Figures: The eldest (North) moderates his younger brother’s power to protect “their mother” (the Earth) and its people.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Naskapi people
There were four brothers in a family which lived in a great cave in the earth. Of these four brothers, one was the North, another was the South, another the West, and the other the East. These were the Wind brothers, who made the winds. The West was the youngest of them; the North was the oldest; the South was the next to the oldest; and the East was the next to the West, the youngest. To cause the winds they would stand up, so as to be head above the great hole, and blow. Then the wind would come according to which of the brothers made it, the north, south, east, or west. And so it continued. The West was very wild when he raised a wind. But the oldest, the North, said to him, “No, no! Don’t do that! You will raise such high winds that it will destroy the people, the Indians.”
► Continue reading…
Then when the youngest, the West, jumped up again to blow a wind, the North would tell him, “No, no! Stop, you will kill our mother!” Well, so they lived, these brothers, causing and regulating the winds of the world.
It happened that the North wind was the softest, and the East wind a little stronger, harder. The South also came with gusts, strong, but not as bad as the West wind, the youngest brother, who was the worst. When these brothers made the winds, they were satisfied with doing just enough not to destroy the people, but tried to manage things rightly. They would say, all of them, “We must try to look after our people, not to destroy them with our winds!”
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Dreamtime Whispers 