The adulteress

A woman dissatisfied with her husband secretly visits a large, hollow birch tree inhabited by two giant ants that embrace her. Suspicious of her nightly absences, her husband follows her and witnesses the encounter. Distressed, he abandons their home. The woman attempts to track him but never succeeds, leaving their fates unknown.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The woman’s infidelity and the resulting betrayal of her husband are central to the narrative.

Cunning and Deception: The woman deceives her husband by pretending to gather firewood while secretly meeting the ants.

Conflict with Nature: The woman’s unnatural relationship with the ants represents a transgression against natural order.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

There was a woman who did not care for her husband. Every evening she went out to gather firewood for the night. However, she never got enough to last through the night, so she would leave in the middle of the night under pretext of fetching more. In reality she went to a rotten birch tree as large as a lodge, in which two large ants were dwelling. These would embrace her. At length her husband grew suspicious and followed her one night. He saw her tapping the tree and turning her back towards it. The ants came out and embraced her. When the man saw this, he turned back home and left the country. Not finding him on her return, his wife tracked him, but never found him. Perhaps they are still traveling that way today.

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The trip to the sky

In a time of scarcity, a tribe discovered that all animals had ascended to the sky. They journeyed upward and found sacks containing various creatures and elements. Upon releasing a sack holding heat, it fell and scorched the earth, leaving only water. To recreate land, birds were sent to retrieve mud from the depths, gradually rebuilding the world.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Creation: The narrative describes the reformation of the earth after a catastrophic event, detailing how a bird’s efforts led to the reconstruction of land from the waters.

Journey to the Otherworld: The community embarks on a journey to the sky in search of the animals that have disappeared, aiming to retrieve them and restore balance to their world.

Conflict with Nature: The story highlights the struggle against natural forces, particularly when the accidental release of heat from the sky leads to the burning of the world and subsequent flooding.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Once in the summer, the Indians had neither fish nor game to eat. They had a council and decided to make medicine. One man said, “Let us get some squirrels.” They got one squirrel and put it alongside the fire. They worked medicine until the squirrel’s hair was singed yellow. The medicine-worker thus found out where good weather and bad weather, rain and snow, as well as all the animals, were kept. He told the people all the animals had gone up to the sky, and advised them to go there also.

The people set out in canoes and kept traveling for a time, then they made a portage to a little lake. They saw a cloud hanging across the sky. All animals were kept in this cloud in different sacks, and the last sack was nearest to the sky-hole.

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The men paddled up (sic) their canoes until they got to the cloud, and a little fellow told them what kind of animals were contained in each bag, until they got to the last. They asked him several times what was contained in it, but he refused to answer.

At last they seized the sack and ascended to the sky with it, then they dropped it through the sky-hole. The sack contained all the heat, and in falling it burst, so that the heat came out and burnt up the world. They also took the jackfish and threw it down that is why it has such a peaked head now.

There was no earth then, only water was left. [This is unintelligible from the version here presented, but becomes clear from Petitot’s tale, in which the expedition to the salty takes place during an exceptionally severe winter for the purpose of getting heat from the upper world. When the sack is opened, the heat spreads rapidly, melting all the snow and thus producing a flood.] The people sent down birds from the sky to dive for land. They dived down but came back without finding land. At last one bird (pin-tail duck) dived. It did not return for a long time. It came at last, with mud in its mouth and feet. It was sent out again, and brought more mud. It kept flying back and forth, bringing more mud; and thus gradually built up the earth again.

The Snow-Man

An extended two-year winter causes animals to lose their horns and people to face starvation. An encounter with a white figure, the Snow-Man, leads to the revelation that northern Indians are harming his offspring. Upon hearing this, the Snow-Man retreats to the Barren Grounds, bringing the return of summer, migrating geese, and the restoration of animals’ horns.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The community struggles against an unending winter and its harsh consequences.

Loss and Renewal: The tale depicts a cycle of hardship during the extended winter, followed by rejuvenation with the return of summer.

Origin of Things: The story provides an explanation for the seasonal changes and the return of animals’ characteristics.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Once it continued to be winter for two years. There were no geese in the country, and moose, deer, and caribou had no horns, the people did not know why. The ice never thawed during all this time. The Indians could not dig holes for their nets. They made big fires, heated stones red-hot, and threw them on the ice, but it was too thick to be broken through. The Indians were beginning to starve. Towards springtime there was a little thawing, but then it became winter once more. Many died of starvation. The survivors were crying for fear. One man started off towards Fond du Lac to set snares for partridges. When visiting his snares he met a person on the road. This person was quite white, and behind him came nothing but snow. It was the Snow-Man. The Indian said, “What are you coming here for? The Indians up north are killing all your children.” When Snow-Man heard this, he turned right about to the Barren Grounds. Then summer came, the geese returned, and moose and deer had horns once more.

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Ede’khuwe

In this tale, young women mark caribou with strings and ear cuts to recognize them later. The following year, the caribou don’t return, leading to starvation. A man discovers the marked caribou preventing others from returning. He removes the strings and leads a young deer back, with its mother and the herd following, restoring the caribou to his people.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Cultural Heroes: Ede’khuwe emerges as a hero who undertakes a journey to find and bring back the caribou, ensuring the survival of his people.

Harmony with Nature: The story underscores the importance of living in harmony with nature and respecting wildlife, as the community’s initial disrespect leads to ecological imbalance.

Sacred Objects: The caribou hold a significant place in the community’s life, and their departure and return are central to the narrative.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

The meaning of this name is “Worms-in-his-horns”

Formerly the Indians would play with caribou, making them stand quiet by patting them. Some silly girls once said, “Let us mark some of them.” So they took some string from the back of their hair, tied it around the deer’s necks and cut their ears. “We’ll know these deer when they come next year.” In the fall the deer returned to the Barren Grounds. Next year there were no deer. The people began to starve. One man said, “I’ll see whether I can’t find them.” He kept on traveling until he reached a big body of water. On the sea there was a dead calm. He saw deer swimming, many of them with strings around their necks and with marked ears. These would not let the others return to the Indian country, but drove them back. The hero went to the deer and cut off the strings from their necks. He seized one little deer and led it off towards his people. Its mother followed. Then all the other deer also followed. They got to a big mountain. The Indians were on the other side and perceived Ede’khuwe with something beside him. After feeding, he sent the little deer to the Indians, and all the others started in the same direction. Without Ede’khuwe no more caribou would have been seen in this country.

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The Crow

A man decides to paint all white birds in different colors. The crow, originally white, refuses to be painted but is forcibly turned entirely black as punishment for his conceit. In retaliation, the crow hoards deer, causing the people to starve. Eventually, a truce is reached: the people can hunt deer again, provided they leave the liver and internal fat for the crow.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale explains the origin of the crow’s black color and the cultural practice of leaving certain parts of the deer for the crow.

Trickster: The crow embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning and retaliation against the humans.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts lessons about humility, respect for nature, and the consequences of actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A large band of Indians were living along a lake. All kinds of white birds came there. A man called out to them, “I shall paint you with different colors, it does not look well for all of you to look alike!” He left the white wavy as it was, painted the loon black and white, and so gave a different color to each species. At last came the crow, who was quite white. “I’ll spot you like the loon,” said the man. But the crow protested strongly, saying he did not want his clothes painted at all. But the Indians caught him, and the painter blackened him all over, saying, “You are too conceited, I’ll blacken you.” All the other birds and the Indians ran away. The crow tried to catch them, but only managed to get hold of the blackbird. The crow said, “You, at least, shall be of the same color as myself,” and rubbed his paint all over the blackbird.

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The crow continued to be angry. He started first south, then northwards to the Barren Grounds, and built a fence to prevent the deer from coming to the Indians. The painter bade different birds scour the country for deer, but they returned without having found a trace of them. A long time after, the night-owl, perching on a tree, saw the crow coming from the south. The crow was seated on a pine; he wore a necklace of deer’s eyeballs. The people said, “The crow is getting deer away from us.” The crow laughed, and said, “You made me black, you are looking black from starvation now.” The bird-painter bade the night-owl watch the crow’s movements. He saw the crow fly first south, then return and go in the opposite direction to the Barren Grounds until he disappeared between two big mountains. All the Indians started after him. They found a big enclosure with two gates between the rocks. Several animals were sent to get through these entrances, but the crow beat them back with a club. The wolves tried first, then the lynx attempted to crawl through, putting in his nose, but the crow dealt him a blow that flattened his nose to its present shape. Then two white foxes were sent. They got through the first door, and the crow, instead of hitting them, only broke his own gate. The foxes got through the second door. Then the deer began to sally forth. The night-owl was watching them and cried out, “They are coming as plentiful as maggots!” There were so many that they trampled down the track so as to become invisible, they could only be heard coming. The crow wept at the loss of his game, but by his medicine he made the skins of the escaping deer so hard that weapons could not pass through them, so the Indians continued to starve. At length, the crow said, “You played me a fine trick, but I played you one also by making you starve. But from tomorrow on you shall be able to chase the deer again, only leave me the liver and the inside fat.” The people promised to do so as long as he lived. Then their young hunters went out and got plenty of meat. The Indians still leave the guts and fat for the crows to feed on.

The Sun-Catcher

A man named Ayas sets a snare on a trail after his deerskin coat is mysteriously burned. The next day, the sun fails to rise, and Ayas discovers he has trapped the sun. Various animals attempt to free it, but only a small yellow mouse succeeds by gnawing through the snare, sacrificing itself in the process. This act explains why a certain species of mouse has yellow fur.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The narrative explains the origin of the yellow coloring of a particular mouse species, attributing it to the mouse’s act of freeing the sun.

Sacrifice: The small yellow mouse sacrifices its life by gnawing through the snare to release the sun, ensuring its return to the sky.

Loss and Renewal: The temporary loss of the sun and its eventual release symbolize a cycle of disappearance and restoration, reflecting themes of loss and renewal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A man named Ayas was traveling about in the brush. He came to a trail, where he found all the sticks burnt. He lay down to sleep there, and while he was sleeping something passed over him and burnt up his deerskin coat. He woke up and was very much vexed at the sight of his burnt garment. Unstringing his bow, he cried, “I’ll find out what passes this place.” He made a snare of the string, setting it in the road. He went home. The next day, there was no sign of the sun’s rising. Ayas’ sister suspected that her brother was to blame, and said, “You are always after some mischief.” He replied, “I set a snare the other day, I’ll see whether I have caught anything.” He found that he had snared the sun. All the animals tried to release it, but it jumped to and fro, so that it was too hot for them.

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At last, a small yellow mouse began gnawing at the string until it was gnawed through, but the mouse was burnt to death. The sun started on its path. This is how the skin of one species of mice came to be yellow. If it had not been for the mouse, the sun would have remained a prisoner.

The Man in the Moon

A skilled beaver hunter produces a large amount of grease and forbids others from tasting it. One man disobeys, prompting the hunter to declare, “Henceforth you can look for me in the moon.” He then ascends to the moon, where he can be seen with his leggings down and his little dog on his lap.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale provides an explanation for the lunar image, detailing how the figure of a man and his dog came to be seen on the moon.

Conflict with Authority: The hunter’s reaction to the community’s disrespect reflects a challenge to societal norms or leadership, highlighting tensions between individual actions and communal expectations.

Sacred Spaces: The moon becomes a significant location in the narrative, serving as the final abode of the hunter and his dog, and holding symbolic meaning within the tale.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

In another version the final statement is to the effect that one can see the kettle with beaver grease and the little dog.

Once there was a great beaver hunter. Returning from the chase one day, he made a lot of grease and forbade the people to touch it. Nevertheless, one man put his finger in, and tasted of the fat while the hunter was pulling down his leggings. When the beaver hunter noticed what had occurred, he was furious. He went outside, followed by his little dog, and announced to the people, “Henceforth you can look for me in the moon.” That is where one can see him, with his leggings down and a little dog sitting on his lap.

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Betsune-Yenecan

An old woman discovers a tiny, talking baby in the forest and raises him. When hunters deny the child a specific deer part, he vows to make them starve. He ensures his uncles’ prosperity while others face scarcity. Guiding his grandmother, he provides abundant food through his unique abilities, showcasing themes of respect and the consequences of underestimating others.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Authority: Betsune-Yenecan faces disrespect from the hunters, leading him to assert his power and teach them a lesson, reflecting a challenge to established authority.

Sacred Objects: The use of hooks and other items in the story may hold symbolic significance, representing tools that bridge the natural and supernatural realms.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts lessons on respect and the consequences of underestimating others, emphasizing the importance of humility and reverence for all beings.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

The meaning of the name is “His-grandmother-raised-him”

Many Indians were camping together. One evening they heard a little baby crying in the brush. A number of young girls ran thither, but as they approached the noise ceased. Not long after, the crying was heard again. This occurred three times. The fourth time an old woman went to see what was the matter. Again she heard the sound as if it came from directly in front of her. She found some deer dung. Scratching it up, she found a baby about eight inches long. She picked it up, and it began speaking to her. The old woman had sons who had gone off hunting. When they returned, the baby asked one of them for the front leg of the smallest deer slain by them. It was given to him, and he fed on that. Another time they killed plenty of deer. Betsune-yenecan again requested his grandmother to ask for the leg of the smallest deer, but the men refused, saying they wanted it for their own children, and offered him some other part.

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When the old woman returned without the leg, Betsune-yenecan was very angry. “Because I am small they insult me, but I will make them starve.” The other people heard what he said and were angry. They said, “We’ll see whether the little boy can make us starve.” They went away. The grandmother stayed with the child.

Betsune-yenecan told the old woman to cut plenty of pine branches, to put the ends in the fireplace of each abandoned lodge, and to let him know as soon as the tips of the sticks were burnt. After a while she called him. In his uncles’ lodges the sticks were burnt in deer hoof shape, in the other lodges they were burnt round (?). “This means that my uncles will always have deer, while the other people will starve.” He started off with his grandmother, who was afraid of starving. Betsune-yenecan said to her. “There need be no fear of starvation, just do as I tell you.” She carried him on her back. They got to a muddy little lake. “Stop and fish here,” he said. “Why, there is nothing here but worms.” “Take me down and I’ll drop my hooks.” Some animal with a white covering came to the hook. It was a gigantic jackfish. Then Betsune-yenecan told her to lower the hook, and she caught a black trout. “That’s enough,” said the boy, “there won’t be any more now. Build a brush lodge here, dry the fish, make grease, and we’ll camp here.” The old woman did as she was bidden. Betsune-yenecan went out. She thought he was only playing, but at noon he was not yet back. She saw his snowshoe tracks leading to the brush. Then she began to bemoan his loss and was afraid that all alone she should starve. But in the evening she heard a noise, and he came in covered with ice. “I think, you have fallen into the ice.” “No, take off my belt.” Inside his coat there were plenty of deer tongue tips. He had killed the deer by biting off the tips of their tongues, and what seemed to be ice on him was only the foam from their mouths. The next morning he said, “Let us go where I have killed the deer. The first one we see you will dry and pound for me; gather the grease but don’t eat any yourself.” It was a little bit of a deer, which was lying on the lake. Betsune-yenecan bade his grandmother build a shelter. She dried the deer meat, of which they had plenty.

Then the boy went to see his uncles. He got to where they were, but concealed himself. By a lake he saw their hooks set for jackfish. He took off his snowshoes, turned himself into a deer, and scratched around near the hooks. Only his two uncles were alive, subsisting on fish and bear meat; the other Indians had perished. They noticed the deer. “It is odd that that little deer is continually scratching around where our hooks are.” Then one of them said, “That was a queer boy that our mother found; perhaps he is a medicine-man and has turned into a deer to laugh at us. We had better track him.” They got to a clump of pines; there the deer tracks ceased, and snowshoe tracks began. The men followed them until they got to a lake, where they saw a spruce tree lodge. They found their mother having plenty of meat and fat. The little fellow was there, so small that he could hardly be seen. After the arrival of her sons, the old woman soon fell sick and died. The boy turned into a deer again and disappeared towards the Barren Grounds. Before leaving he said, “As long as you and your children live, you will always tell a tale about me.”

Spread-Wings

A hunter named Spread-Wings is pursued by a band of Cree. Using his medicine, he confounds them and escapes with his fearful partner. Frustrated by his companion’s timidity, Spread-Wings decides to travel alone. He encounters a giant frog, which he kills, and later discovers a woman in his lodge, who reveals she was sent from heaven to alleviate his loneliness. They live together until she returns to her moose family, instructing him to wait for her return.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Spread-Wings uses his medicine to outsmart the pursuing Cree, making them pass by his canoe without noticing it.

Conflict with Nature: Spread-Wings faces a giant frog, a formidable natural creature, which he must confront and overcome.

Love and Betrayal: The relationship between Spread-Wings and the woman, who ultimately leaves him to return to her moose family, touches upon themes of companionship and separation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Adam said that he was related to this hero, while Fortin claimed to have seen him when he was old and blind and unable to walk.

Spread-wings was off on a deer hunt. He went towards the Barren Grounds, leaving his partner with a canoe at the foot of a mountain. A band of Cree began to pursue him. He fled towards the canoe, but was headed off. He had no arrows, but only spears. He ran along the river, the Cree pursuing him. By his medicine he made them stupid, so that they passed by his canoe without noticing it. They may be running even today. Spread-wings called for his partner who was very much scared. They got to a high knoll. Spread-wings said, “I’ll get on top and look out for Indians.” He told his partner to paddle to a certain point, where Spread-wings would meet him. There was a very steep hill between, but Spread-wings thought, “I’ll try to get there before you,” and arrived there first. There was an inlet there, but Spread-wing’s comrade, for fear of the Cree, did not go ashore, but paddled on. Spread-wings walked; again he had to cross a steep mountain. His partner paddled beyond the next inlet, thinking Spread-wings was ahead.

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At last, Spread-wings actually got ahead and threw sticks across the next narrows, barring his companion’s path. He himself hid in the bushes. When his partner came and found the path barred, he tried to turn back, but a strong current prevented him. Then Spread-wings jumped into the water and pulled him ashore.

Spread-wings caught a large jackfish, which they cooked and ate. Then they started off again and traveled along a great lake until they got back to their own people. Spread-wings told them how timid his partner had been and said henceforth he would travel alone.

The next day he started off by himself. He stopped at a little lake. There he heard a noise behind him. A great frog, as big as a moose, was going to attack him. In fear for his life he tried to work his medicine, and, seizing some rotten pine branches along the shore, he threw them at the frog, hitting it between its eyes and killed it.

He continued traveling with his blankets. When tired he stopped, made a lodge of spruce wood, and lay down to sleep. When rested, he went out without making a fire or arranging his bed. He traveled about all day, killed some deer and cached them. When he returned to his lodge he found a fire burning in it and his bed was arranged. This happened several days in succession. One day he thought he would find out who was doing this. He came home earlier than usual and saw smoke rising from the lodge. Gently lifting the door flap, he saw a woman sitting there. Two beds were prepared, one for him and one for herself, not side by side, but with only the pillows together. She told him she was sent from heaven, because God pitied him on account of his loneliness. She was, however, not a real person, but a moose. Spread-wings did not know this, but rather suspected it. They lived together until the fall. Then the woman said, “My relations bade me meet them at a certain mountain.” They got to the mountain, at the foot of which there was a coulee with willows and birch. Spread-wings knew this was a moose country. Not long after they got there a noise of moose was heard, and the woman said, “My son is coming,” and, a little later, “My son-in-law is coming,” and, finally, “My husband is coming.” She ran off to her husband, turning into a moose before she got to the brush. Before going she told Spread-wings not to return home, but to wait for her there for two nights. She stayed in the brush for two nights, then she turned into a woman again and re-joined Spread-wings.

After a while she again told Spread-wings that her relatives wanted to meet her in another place. They started out. Near that place she bade Spread-wings wait. She heard a moose calling, but several times she did not recognize the voice and did not go. The fourth time she recognized her moose husband’s voice. Again she bade Spread-wings wait for her for four days. Spread-wings heard the moose call, and thought to himself, “I am sure my wife is going to turn into a moose now.” He traveled after her, but after a while turned back, leaving his blankets hanging. He went to hunt chickens and partridges. Finally, he turned back. He found that the woman had already erected a brush lodge, from which smoke was rising. This time she had arranged the beds next to each other. “Why did you make the beds this way now and not before?” She said that before she had not received her friends’ and husband’s permission, but now it had been granted. “You can do with me as you choose.” The man said that was what he had always wished, but did not care to ask for.

They lived together. About spring the woman fell sick. Her husband did not go hunting. She gave birth to two young moose. On the next day she gave birth to two young boys. She told her husband she should not stay with him any longer, but should return to her own people.

She had been sent for one year to bear him sons, who were to help him. As she was nursing the boys, she had been obliged to neglect the little moose. She made for the brush and called like a moose, then the young ones followed. The man also followed her, but only found her discarded clothes and came home crying. Before going she bade him stay in that place for a month until his boys were big enough to help him.

After a month Spread-wings began traveling with his boys. They came to a pine bluff. The younger one said, “There’s a very strong smell here, it smells of people.” “Perhaps it is nothing.” “Yes, there are people here.” They found the tracks of a band of Cree. The younger brother did not want to follow on account of the strong smell, and kept behind his father and brother. After some time they got to the Cree.

The younger brother was in the habit of not obeying his father, but only his elder brother. The elder brother wished to get married, and with his father’s consent he married a Cree woman in the fall.

Once the two brothers started on a moose hunt. They came to a little lake. Being thirsty, they wanted to drink. The younger brother said, “Let me drink first.” The elder brother consented. The younger drank, then, while the elder was drinking, he ran into a bush and turned into a moose. The elder brother followed him for a distance, then started in another direction, found moose-tracks, shot a moose, cut it up, cached it, and went home. He tried to track his brother, whom he found sleeping with little horns on his head. The horns fell off. The elder brother took his horns, waked the younger one, and took him homeward. The younger brother was very thin when he got there. He found the smell of the Cree too strong for him.

The younger brother did not want to get married. He stayed there all winter, but in the spring he felt like traveling. The smell of people was too strong for him. He traveled away as a moose and lived as one. The elder brother started on a moose hunt, and began tracking until he got a moose. He was going to shoot it, but thought it might be his brother, so he called out, “Brother!” Then the moose really turned into a person again. He took him home, but fell on the way, and then the younger ran away again as a moose. The elder brother ran after him and caught him, and then he turned into a human being again. But when near the camp, he again changed into a moose and escaped. The elder brother cried, “After this, don’t let me catch you, or I’ll shoot you.” But he never could catch him.

* * *

One winter no deer were to be found and all the wolves were starving. The wolves started toward the big sea. They saw some large object lying on the shore. It turned out to be a walrus (?). All piled on top of it, and though many were killed they finally succeeded in killing the monster. The wolves had a good feed on the walrus. Two deer were allowed to pass. [I do not understand this sentence.] A herd of deer were coming.

In the Barren Grounds the wolves nearly died of thirst. When they got to the top of a mountain, all began to scratch there, trying to get water from a hole by magic, but they did not succeed. At last they asked Spread-wings, who was a wolf at the time. “If you fail, we shall die.” Spread-wings always kept an arrow with which he had once been shot. Beginning to sing, he pointed the arrow towards the sky. Clouds came, rain began to fall, and the hole was filled with water. All the wolves drank of the water. Spread-wings held the arrow upward until all had drunk their fill, then he reversed it, and the water disappeared from the hole.

Crow-head

The story recounts his journey from avenging his father’s death to reviving his slain people. After learning that a medicine-man killed his father, Crow-head uses mystical means to kill him. Later, when enemies massacre his tribe, Crow-head employs his crow-skin garment’s powers to resurrect his people and outwit the adversaries. This narrative highlights themes of vengeance, resurrection, and cunning.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Revenge and Justice: Crow-head seeks retribution against the medicine-man who killed his father.

Resurrection: He brings his community members back to life after they are killed by the Cree.

Ancestral Spirits: The influence of his deceased father motivates Crow-head’s actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Soon after Crow-head’s birth, his father died. Crow-head knew nothing about him. Once the other Indians were fishing, and there were several medicine-men among them. It was in the evening, and the setting sun presented a bloodshot appearance. One medicine-man pointed at it and asked the boy, “Do you see that red sky? That is your father’s blood.” This made Crow-head suspect that one of the medicine-men had killed his father. He went home, where he was living with his grandmother, and began to cry. “Why are you crying?” “I heard those men talking about my father.” “There is no use crying, you will be a man some day.” The next day the people were fishing. Crow-head punched a hole in the ice and began angling with a hook. The Indians caught nothing, only Crow-head caught a large trout.

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He pulled out its soft parts, and hid the bones under his deerskin capote. He started towards the medicine-man who had killed his father, pulled out the fish spine, and broke it over him. When the people went home that evening, they missed the medicine-man. They did not know what was the matter with him. One man went out and found him lying dead by his fishing rod. This was the first time Crow-head ever killed anyone. By breaking the fish spine, he had broken that of his enemy and thus killed him.

(b) Crow-head was living with a little orphan, whom he called his grandchild. He used to wear a crow-skin cape, which warned him of the approach of enemies and constituted his medicine. Two girls in the camp once made fun of his crow-skin garment. Crow-head was displeased and said to his grandson, “We will make a birchbark canoe and leave.” In a coulee they found fine birchbark. Some Indians from the rocks on either side pelted them with snowballs. “Some bad Indians are pelting us with snow,” said the orphan. “That’s nothing,” replied Crow-head. They took the bark for the canoe and returned. In the meantime the bad Indians, who were Cree, had killed all the Chipewyan. Crow-head piled all the corpses together in a heap. He was a great medicine-man. He began to make a canoed Worms began to come to the corpses. Then he took his crow-skin, laid it on the dead bodies, and told the boy not to wake him until the next day at noon. While he was sleeping, worms crawled into his nose, ears, and mouth.

Crow-head woke up and started off in his canoe. In the Barren Grounds he made many small lodges, and with his medicine declared that all the dead should be in those lodges. He left and lay down on the worms. The people all came to life again, and nothing remained in place of their corpses save their rotten garments. The Cree started homewards, but Crow-head, lying on the maggots, caused them by his magic to return to the same place. The little boy cried, thinking his grandfather was dead. He pushed the old man, but Crow-head pretended to be dead. At last, the boy pulled him by his beard, then Crow-head awoke and beheld the Cree. The Cree were surprised to get back to their starting point and, seeing the two survivors, decided to kill them also. Crow-head rose, walked to the river, shaved off the bark of a rotten birch, made peep-holes in the tree, hid the boy in the hollow, and ordered him to watch.

Crow-head was a dwarf. He went to the river with the crow-skin on his back and a blanket over it, pretending to mourn his lost relatives. The Cree, thinking he was but a child, said, “There is no use killing a child like that with a pointed arrow.” So they shot at him with blunt points, but all the arrows grazed off. Then they pulled ashore, and Crow-head fled to the brush, pursued by the enemy. When far from the canoes, he threw off his blanket, took a deer horn which he carried for a weapon, and ran among the enemy, breaking each man’s right arm and left leg. Then they said, “This is Crow-head.” They retreated towards their canoes, but Crow-head smashed every one of them. Then he summoned his grandson from his hiding place. The Cree had spears, and Crow-head told the boy to take them and kill their enemies. The boy did as he was bidden. The Cree said to the boy, “If it were only you, you could not do this to us.” And they made a “crooked finger” at him [a gesture of contempt, signifying, “Ne cunno quidem equivales”; the left thumb is held between the index and middle finger of the same hand, and the palm is turned towards the speaker].

Crow-head left his grandson. He was gone for many days. The boy cried, not knowing what was the matter. Up the river he heard waves beating against the bank. Going thither, he found his grandfather washing himself. Crow-head asked the boy, “What are you crying for?” “I thought you were lost.” “There is no use crying, all our people are alive again.” When through washing, he bade his grandson fix the canoe, then he told him to put the slain enemies’ mentulae on the gunwale. They started to join the resuscitated Indians. They heard some one playing ball, laughing and singing. Putting ashore, they heard the noise of crying. They went into a lodge and asked what the crying was about. “Two friends of ours are lost, they have been killed by the Cree.” Then they recognized Crow-head and his grandson.

The two girls who made fun of Crow-head’s crow-skin were not restored to life by him.

(c) Late in the fall, when the Chipewyan were going to a lake to fish and it was commencing to freeze, two boys came running and told the people that two giants taller than pine trees had killed all their friends. The Chipewyan were camping on the edge of a big lake. None of them slept that night for fear of the giants. The next morning the giants were seen approaching. Crow-head said, “There is no use in running away, they will kill me first.” He put on his crow-skin and went towards them on the ice. The first giant wished to seize him, and with long fingers shaped like bear claws he tore Crow-head’s crow feathers. The giants fought for the possession of Crow-head, each wishing to eat him up. Crow-head hit both of them with his deer horn, and killed them. He walked homeward. He was so angry that he could neither speak nor sleep. His eyes were like fire. He went to the lake and, beginning at one point, he commenced to hammer along the edge until he got back to his starting place. There he fell dead, for his heart was under the nail of his little finger and by hammering the ice he had injured it.

(d) Everyone was moving. Two girls were making little birchbark vessels for Crow-head. They were just sewing the edge with roots. One of them said, “This Crow-head knows everything, but he will not know this.” And she pulled out one of her pubic hairs and twisted it in with the roots. The two girls were married, but never told Crow-head of their husbands, who were far out on the lake. An Indian in league with them plotted to have Crow-head killed by the husbands, and invited him to run a race to the place where they were. But Crow-head beat his opponent in the race, and killed the women’s husbands with his spear.

The Indians were angry and desired to kill Crow-head. They began shooting at him, but he merely took his deer horn from his crow-skin tippet and pointed it at them, so that they hit only the point of his weapon without being able to touch him. At last he said, “If you don’t cease, I shall kill all of you.” Then they were afraid and let him alone. Nevertheless, many medicine-men tried to make medicine against him in secret. They attempted to throw a beetle (?) at him. Crow-head had left the people and was living by a lake. Once he was thirsty and pulled out the grass growing. by the water edge. He began to drink and found a beetle in the water. He killed it. Then he bit his own tongue and spat out the bloody spittle to make his enemies believe they had killed him. They went after him, but when they found the slain beetle they knew their medicine was not strong enough for him. Then they sent a big bear after him. Crow-head had lain down to sleep. In the night the bear caught him, and without hurting him held him by his feet and legs, waiting for the arrival of the Indians. But Crow-head twisted round and round in the bear’s grasp until he got free. Then he crawled away between his legs. He turned back and dispatched the bear with bow and spear. He cut up the animal, spread out its flesh and skin, and started off again. The Indians made a big feast when they found the fresh bear meat all ready to be eaten.

Crow-head, by his medicine, restored the two women’s husbands to life.

He traveled along as far as a lake. There was no snow, but only clear ice. He looked through the ice and saw a great many people below it. “I will kill all these people,” he said. He began pounding the ice with a club. But what he had taken for people were only arrows, and one of them entered his little finger, where his heart was. The Indians following him found him dead.

Crow-head was so called because he made a crow-skin collar that became his medicine.

(e) Once Crow-head left his crow-skin in his lodge and went off. Coming back, he did not find it in the position he had left it. He asked his grandmother why she had allowed any one to abuse it. “Someone has counted every feather on it and has been laughing at it. I will go away and let the Cree kill the people.” “What shall I do?” asked his grandmother. “I will take you along.” That night the Cree killed all the Chipewyan, but Crow-head and his grandmother escaped.

(f) Crow-head and Spread-wings started traveling, knowing that no one could kill them. Long ago the Indians did a great deal of fighting. Crow-head and Spread-wings always helped the Indians they stayed with. They were related to everybody. Crow-head the older of the two, knew it was impossible to kill him. Spread-wings could be killed, but had three lives. Crow-head started off towards the place where the sun is close to the earth, and he will not come back here until the end of the world.