Category: Americas

Big Bird story

A widow named Big Bird seeks a wealthy husband for her daughter. One day, her son spots a magnificently dressed stranger by the river. Big Bird welcomes him, but after he requests the removal of their dog during dinner, she discovers the dog dead with peculiar three-toed footprints nearby. Suspecting the stranger, she insists he remove his shoes, revealing he has only three toes. The stranger persuades Big Bird’s daughter to accompany him upstream. During the journey, rain washes away his disguise, exposing him as a crow. The daughter cleverly ties his tail to the canoe and escapes, returning safely to her family.

Source: 
The Fireside Stories of the Chippwyans
by James Mackintosh Bell
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.16, No.61, pp. 73-84
April-June, 1903

► Themes of the story


Trickster: The stranger uses deception, disguising himself to appear as a suitable husband, embodying the trickster archetype.

Cunning and Deception: The story revolves around the stranger’s deceit and the daughter’s cleverness in uncovering his true nature and planning her escape.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts lessons about the dangers of deception and the importance of discernment in choosing companions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Big Bird was a widow of a famous chief who lived with her son and beautiful daughter on the banks of a large stream. Her great ambition was to secure a rich husband for her daughter, suitable to her birth. So she told her little boy to go to the bank of the river, and to watch unceasingly to see if he could discover anybody passing suitable for a son-in-law. One day the boy ran to his mother, and with a face beaming with joy told her there was somebody passing, whom he at least would like for a brother-in-law. Big Bird was delighted and immediately took some bark, and went down to the river to meet the expected bridegroom, whom she was pleased to see was magnificently dressed in a white skin costume covered with shell-like beads.

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Walking before him, she put pieces of bark on the ground all the way to her camp for him to step on. There she and her daughter, having prepared a meal of unusual splendor, set it before their guest. It happened there was an old dog in the camp, and the man said he could not eat until the animal was removed. Big Bird, wishing to show her new son-in-law every hospitality, complied with his request, and, taking the dog out, killed him, and left him in the bush. The man then ate his supper, and they all went to sleep.

Next morning Big Bird got up to make a fire, but, finding no wood in the tepee, went out to get some, and was surprised to see the dog lying with his eyes removed, with his flesh pecked all over, and with the footprints of a three-toed animal all around him. On going back to the camp, she told them all to take off their shoes to see who had only three toes. They all did so, save the stranger who told her that it was a thing he never did. However, Big Bird kept begging him to remove them, telling him she had a pair of new moccasins for him, which would exactly match his handsome costume. Evidently his vanity was at last touched, and he consented, and, while taking them off, said “kinno, kinno” (look! look!) and quickly put them on again. The boy then called out, “He has only three toes.” The stranger denied this, and said, “I did it so quickly that you imagine I have only three toes, but you are mistaken.”

After breakfast he told his wife that he wanted to go for his clothes which were at his camp some distance up stream, and that he wished her to accompany him. Thinking her husband’s conduct rather strange, she at first objected, but, on hearing of the numerous gewgaws at his camp, at last consented to go. So they got into their canoe, and started off, the man sitting in the bow, and the woman in the stern. They had not proceeded far up stream, when rain began to fall heavily, and the girl soon noticed that the rain was washing the shining white stuff off her husband’s back, and then black feathers began to appear. “Ah,” she thought to herself, “I have married a crow.” When he was not looking, she tied his tail, now grown to visible proportions, to the bar of the canoe, whereat he turned around, and asked her what she was doing. She replied, “Your coat is so fine I am working with the beads.” “Oh,” said he, “I see I have married an industrious wife,” and resumed his paddling. She then tried to find an excuse to make her escape, and told him that the point they were just passing was a famous locality for wild duck eggs, and that she would like to go ashore and hunt some for his supper. He readily consented, and as soon as she got ashore, she ran up the bank, and disappeared into the forest. The crow tried to get out to follow her; but as his tail was tied to the canoe, this was impossible, and he contented himself with calling out after her, “Caw, caw; once more I have tricked you people.” He then leisurely proceeded to untie his tail, and flew off ready for another escapade.

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Wisaketcak

In Chipewyan lore, Wisaketcak, anticipating a great flood, built a canoe and refused to share it, leading to the drowning of others. After the flood, he enlisted a duck to retrieve mud from beneath the waters, recreating the earth. In another tale, Wisaketcak, after getting his head stuck in a deer skull, transformed into a deer, narrowly escaping hunters. Later, he deceived a bear into eating berries to fatten it, killed it, and overindulged in its fat, resulting in his own discomfort.

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 a great flood that submerges the land, leading to the reconstruction of the earth from mud brought up by a diving duck.

Trickster: Wisaketcak exhibits cunning behavior, such as preventing the beaver from damaging his canoe and deceiving the bear to ultimately kill and eat it.

Conflict with Nature: The incessant rain causing a flood and Wisaketcak’s interactions with animals highlight struggles against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Long ago it commenced to rain. It rained incessantly. The Indians fled to higher ground. They gathered on the highest mountain. Wisaketcak, who had expected a flood, built a canoe. When the land was nearly submerged, he embarked. The other Indians were having the water up to their knees. Wisaketcak did not permit anyone to get into his boat.

The Indians asked the beaver to punch a hole into the canoe with his teeth. When the beaver got near the boat, Wisaketcak asked, “What are you coming for?” “Just to look at your canoe.” “Let me see your teeth, I think they are sharp.” Wisaketcak threw a stone down the beaver’s throat so that he could not injure his canoe. When the mountains were flooded, all the Indians were drowned.

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Wisaketcak called a kind of long-tailed duck. “Brother, come here! It has ceased to rain. Dive down, and see whether you can find any mud.” It dived for a long time. At length it came up with some mud on its feet. It dived again and again, and every time it rose to the surface it brought up some mud until the earth was entirely rebuilt.

* * *

Wisaketcak was traveling about. He got to a deer skull. There were many maggots inside. He addressed them as follows: “Brethren, let me eat with you.” They consented. He shoved his head inside; it stuck fast, so that he could not get it out. He turned himself into a deer, and continued to travel along. He got to a river. Not seeing any one near by, he began to swim across. When more than half way across, he caught sight of four birchbark canoes coming down. The people in the canoes were saying, “There’s a deer crossing the river ahead of us, let us shoot him.” They hurried towards him. The deer got ashore on a rocky bank. Falling down, he struck his head against the rock and broke his skull. He turned into his natural shape, and ran into the brush. The people cried, ‘This is Wisaketcak!’

He was traveling alone through the brush when he heard a bear running. “Brother, why are you running away from me? Stop there.” The bear stood still. Wisaketcak began to feel about his ribs. “You are very lean, how is that?” “There are no berries around here, that is the reason.” Wisaketcak said, “I know a place not very far from here, where there are lots of berries, let us go there.” They started out, Wisaketcak leading. They got to the place, and the bear began to eat. When he had eaten his fill, he lay down in the sun, then he ate again. Wisaketcak noticed that the bear was fattening. He felt his ribs again. The bear asked, “What are you doing this for? “Oh! I always do that to my brother.” Wisaketcak began breaking some sticks. “What are you doing this for?” “Oh, I just feel like working.” Wisaketcak continued breaking sticks. While the bear was eating, Wisaketcak from time to time felt his ribs, saying this was but an old trick of his. Finally, the bear lay down, and fell asleep. Wisaketcak went up close to him, took a stick and struck him over the head, ears, and stomach until he had killed him. Then he cut him open, and feasted on him. He ate so much fat that he began to have pains in the stomach. Looking around, he caught sight of two juniper trees growing together. “Brethren, spread apart, I have pains in the stomach.” They obeyed, and he got between them. The trees closed, and jammed him tight. While he was in this position, some whiskey-jacks came and began to eat of the bear meat. “Little brethren,” said Wisaketcak to the trees, “let me go to watch my food.” However he could not get out. In the meantime, the birds devoured all the food, leaving nothing but bones. “Brethren,” he said again, “separate and let me get out.” After a long time, he succeeded in freeing himself. Being angry at the trees, he began to twist them about. Since then junipers have had irregular trunks.

When he got down, he found nothing but the bear bones. Pounding these, he extracted the marrow and put it in a bladder, because it was too hot to be eaten. He got to a creek, sat down, and caught sight of a muskrat swimming there. “My brother, come here,” and cool this grease for me in the water.” The muskrat replied, “My tail is too big, I can’t swim well with it.” “Come here, and I will fix it for you.” He pulled the muskrat’s tail and made it small. The muskrat said, “My brother, I feel quite well now, let me have the bladder now, I will cool it.” “Be careful, so that it will not burst.” The muskrat dived down. The bladder burst, and the grease began to float down stream. Wisaketcak ran along, dipping it up with his hands.

Wisaketcak traveled along night and day. He found fresh tracks; they were those of a moose-cow and two young moose. “My brethren, why are you running away? Wait for me.” They stood still, and he caught up to them. “My brethren, you are foolish to stop like this. The Blackheads (Chipewyan) are following your tracks and will kill you. Keep traveling in a circle, back and forth, turn about, and lie down on the leeward of your path. Then they will not know which tracks to follow, and you will be able to scent them and make your escape.” This is what the moose do today, because Wisaketcak taught them.

Wisaketcak started off again. He found that his eyes were getting weak. When he came to a big lake, he said, “I will try to get new eyes.” He cut out his eyeballs, and went about blind. Whenever he struck a tree, he would ask it, “Brother, what kind of a tree are you?” And the tree would answer, “Poplar” (or whatever other species it belonged to). At last he got to a pine, and the tree answered, “I am a pine, I have plenty of gum.” Wisaketcak found the gum, chewed it, rolled it between his palms and put the gum balls into his sockets. Thus he got new eyes.

He traveled on, and got to a big lake, where he found many Cree Indians. The Cree recognized him, and asked him whether he knew of any Chipewyan near by. “I did not come here to tell you about my brethren.” He left them, and went towards the Barren Grounds. There he espied a great many lodges in the open country, and encountered a large band of Chipewyan. “My brethren, don’t stay here too long, for many Cree are looking for you.” He started off again. After a long time, he reached another band of Chipewyan, who were starving. “My brethren, why are you starving? There are plenty of deer not far from here, you ought to go and live there.” In those days they had no guns. They started in the direction indicated, and got the deer. They constructed a deer pen and set snares near its opening. Some began to drive deer, and many were dispatched with bows and arrows. At that time the Indians had no clothes.

Wisaketcak said, “It will not be always like this. You will not wear deer raiment forever. Some time you will wear another people’s clothes.” And this has come true.

Wisaketcak left the Indians. He got to a range of rocky mountains. “My brethren, you are too high, you had better come down into the valley, then I shall walk better.” They came down, and he continued his journey. He reached a creek. Being thirsty he stooped to drink. He saw some fish. “Little brethren, what are you doing here?” “We are eating.” “Where is your father?” “We don’t know, he is just traveling.” “If you see any Chipewyan Indians with nets, enter the nets and feed them.”

He started off again. He got to two mountains, where there were many birches, all without a single branch. “Brethren, you look too pretty without branches, you can’t live long that way.” He picked up brushes, threw them on the birches, and thus made numerous holes. That is why birches are striped nowadays, and Indians find it hard to make birchbark canoes.

He went on traveling. He reached a little lake. He saw ducks swimming there. “Brethren, come ashore here.” There was a female with young ones. “This little one looks like you,” he said. “There are lots of you. If you see any Chipewyans, or Crees, fly around them, so that they may kill you and feast on you.”

He went on. He got to a little river, where he slaked his thirst. He saw two otters swimming towards him. “Brethren, what are you doing? You have exceedingly short legs, they are not good for walking on land.” “We are meant to live in the water.” “Live wherever there are fish. There are plenty of. Chipewyan and Cree Indians going around starving. Go, and put fish on top of the ice to help them.” The otters consented.

Late in the fall, Wisaketcak reached a little river. He saw two beavers eating. “What are you doing here?” “We are just eating.” “Why don’t you build a house? Stick birches and poplar branches around, use mud for plastering, and put branches at the bottom. Thus you may live in the winter. Build a dam. If you don’t do this you will have no water to swim in.” He taught them. Since then they have always built dams. He further told them not to swim about before sunset, or the Indian huntsmen would kill them.

Wisaketcak continued his journey. He came to a herd of buffalo. Some of them began to run away. “Brethren, don’t run away, I have come to see you.” Then he asked, “What are you eating?” They said they were eating branches and trees. He told them to eat nothing but grass. “If you see starving Indians, let one of you lag behind so that the Indians can feed on you.”

He traveled on. He got to a clump of pines.[I am using, of course, my interpreter’s designation.] All the trees looked alike. “You all look alike, I will make one of you different.” Addressing one of them, Wisaketcak said, “Brother, be stickier than the rest. You shall have more gum than the others.” Thus originated the balsam fir, of which the gum is still used by the Cree.

He started off again. His buttocks were getting blistered. He tore off the scabs and threw them on birch trees. Thus originated touchwood. Wisaketcak came to a lake. There he saw a flock of geese, some old, some young. “Brothers, come here for a little while. I am making a dance not far away, and I should like you to accompany me.” He erected a lodge, and bade the geese enter. He called all kinds of other birds inviting them to join. He bade all shut their eyes. They began to drum. Wisaketcak, as the leader of the dance, sat on one side. They danced around. Whenever a fat bird got near him, Wisaketcak pulled it over, killed it, and threw it aside. At last one young goose opened one eye and saw Wisaketcak pulling its father by the leg. “Wisaketcak is killing us!” it cried. The surviving birds all fled. As the water-hen and the loon were running out, Wisaketcak stepped on their feet. That is why their feet are not fit for walking on land. Wisaketcak cooked the fattest geese, and had a great feast. Of the rest he took out the gizzards and put them aside, then he went in search of a stick to put them on. He forgot all about them, however, and traveled on. He reached a place where there were plenty of ants. “Little brethren how do you live in the winter? You have a very low dwelling.” “That is why birds are killed.” (?) He showed them how to build ant-hills.

* * *

Wisaketcak was traveling in the spring. He came to a place where a bear had been defecating and saw the excrements covered with fish scales. He laughed at the scales. The bear came, and said, “I heard you laughing about my excrements; I have come to see what you are laughing for.” Wisaketcak said, “I was only saying it was a pity there were no bones or berries there instead of scales.” They quarreled, and began to fight. Wisaketcak called on the ermine to help him. “My little brother, get into the bear’s anus and destroy his guts, or he will kill me.” The ermine entered the bear’s body, ate his heart, and thus killed him. When the ermine came out, Wisaketcak washed him, holding him by the tail, that is why ermines have white bodies and black tails.

Wisaketcak continued traveling. He got to a rocky mountain, where he found plenty of black objects which cause flatulency. He ate many of them. After a while he began to break wind and was unable to stop. So he heated a stone, and sat on it. His rump became covered with scabs. He was obliged to scratch the itching parts until he tore them off and threw them up on the top of birch trees, where they are still visible.

Wisaketcak set out to travel. He saw a band of geese. “My brethren, come hither.” They came down. “Give me half of your feathers, so that I may fly with you to your country.” They consented, and he flew along with them. They were obliged to pass through a rocky, mountainous country, where many Indians were living. Nets had been set to catch geese. When the birds approached these snares, they scattered to avoid them, but Wisaketcak’s borrowed feathers dropped off and he fell down among the Indians. “This is Wisaketcak again, we will dung on him.” They placed him in a pit. “Whoever shall defecate, shall befoul him.” In the night an old woman rose to ease herself and went to the pit, but in the meantime Wisaketcak had got out, merely leaving his clothes. The old woman soiled his clothes.

Wisaketcak went traveling again. He saw two moose. “Brethren,, wait for me.” He overtook them. “Brethren, you had better give me some hair, then I shall be a moose and stay with you.” He became a moose and traveled with them. They told him that no Indians were near by. He joined about twelve moose. About the time of the heavy ice crust, Wisaketcak and one of the moose heard a noise. “It seems,” said Wisaketcak, “that some one is coming after us. I will travel ahead and let you follow.” The Indians came and killed the moose, one by one. Wisaketcak was left alone. When they got close, he tore off the moose-skin, turned into his real form, and ran off, leaving the skin behind. The people said, “That’s Wisaketcak again.”

Wisaketcak was traveling. He came to a big lake where he saw some swans. “Brethren, come ashore to me.” He asked them for some of their feathers, saying that he should like to be a swan. They consented, and he became a swan. One calm evening, one of the swans said to Wisaketcak, “You had better not cry so loud, or the Indians will hear us.” It was the swan’s molting time. Wisaketcak replied, “There are no Indians near by.” However, he caught sight of some canoes going after them. The swans started out on the lake to escape, but got too tired to fly. Most of them were killed. At last, two of them and Wisaketcak were the only ones that remained. The two birds approached the shore and were also killed. Wisaketcak set foot on shore and tore off his skin. The people said, “That’s Wisaketcak again.”

Wisaketcak got tired. He sat down. “I will not travel any more.” He seemed to turn into a stone. For a long time he continued to sink below the ground. Only his hair was still visible on the outside of the rock. That was the end of him.

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The bear and the man

A man suspects a bear is pulling on his canoe’s gunwale and discovers he’s correct. The bear invites him to find a creek abundant with fish, but their journey extends into autumn without success. They build a shelter for winter, with the bear offering sustenance to the man. In spring, the man’s people find them and kill the bear. The man mourns his companion’s death, attributing his tears to smoke when questioned.

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


Sacrifice: The bear sacrifices itself to ensure the man’s survival and reunion with his people.

Transformation through Love: The bond between the man and the bear leads to personal growth and a deep sense of loss upon the bear’s death.

Community and Isolation: The man experiences isolation during his time with the bear and later reintegration into his community, highlighting the contrasts between solitude and belonging.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Once a man was cutting out the gunwale of his canoe in the brush. He carried it homewards, one end on his shoulder, the other trailing on the ground. From time to time it seemed to get heavier, and he said to himself, “I am sure, a bear is pulling at the wood.” He turned around, and saw it was really a bear. The Bear said, “Do you hear the noise of the creek near by?” The man said, “Yes.” “There are lots of fish there, let us go thither.” They started off. The bear bade him leave his wood behind, and he did so. They walked on and on for many days, and by autumn they had not yet reached the creek. Then the Bear said, “Let us make a house.” He dug a hole in the ground, and told his companion to get grass to stop up the entrance. They went inside, and the boy was told to sit farthest from the door.

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“If you get thirsty,” said the Bear, [said to be a male by the narrator] “you may suck me, and if you get hungry, you can do the same. Thus you will be able to live with me all winter.”

They lived together in the cave. Towards spring, the Bear said, “Some of your friends are thinking of you and will soon be thinking of me.” When the snow began to melt he said, “Perhaps tomorrow your people will be here. Make a mark with your hand outside the cave, so they’ll know that you are here and won’t shoot inside.” Next day they heard a noise above, and snow began to fall down the air-hole. The Chipewyan detected the mark of the boy’s hand and said, “Surely some person is inside.” The Bear said to the boy, “Tell them there is a bear-man here. If they kill me, you may eat my flesh, but not my entrails, though your friends may.” The boy went out, and the people shot the bear, made a big fire, roasted him and feasted on him. The boy went on the opposite side of the fire, where it was smoky, and began to cry on account of his friend’s death. When they asked him why he cried he said it was on account of the smoke.

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 stolen women

Two sisters are abducted by the Cree while their tribe’s men are hunting. Their brother, a medicine man, embarks on a quest to rescue them, receiving guidance from various animals along the way. He eventually locates his sisters and devises a plan for their escape. The younger sister successfully flees, but the story ends abruptly, leaving the elder sister’s fate 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


Quest: The brother undertakes a journey to rescue his kidnapped sisters.

Cunning and Deception: The brother devises a clever plan to facilitate his sisters’ escape from the Cree.

Family Dynamics: The narrative centers on the brother’s determination to save his sisters, highlighting strong familial bonds.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A band of Chipewyan were staying by a lake. While the men were hunting, some Cree stole two of the Chipewyan women, who were sisters. Returning, the Chipewyan wanted to go after the Cree, but there were too few of them. So they stayed where they were, and continued to hunt deer. Each man would skin his deer, put all the deer meat in the hide, and thus drag it to the lodge. The brother of the stolen women was a medicine-man. He was very angry and started alone after the Cree. On his way he passed three birds’ nests. He had to speak to each before they allowed him to pass, and they gave him information as to the Cree. The fourth animal he met was a flying squirrel. It told him where he might find his sisters. “First, you must pass a snail, and if you lack food, ask the snail for some.

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Then you will get to an old woman.” The man traveled on, until he camped by a creek. He had nothing to eat. When a snail came, he asked it for food. The snail dived into the water, brought up four white fish and gave them to him. But on opening the sack, he found the fish transformed into snails. So he threw them away, and traveled on until he got to a lodge. He entered. There was an old woman there. “Grandmother, I am very hungry.” “I have nothing to give you, but go to the bush, and you will be sure to find some chickens. Pluck a chicken on the spot where it falls dead, stir up the feathers with a stick, and blow on them. Then every feather will turn into a chicken.” He acted accordingly, and each feather changed into a chicken that flew on the trees.

He started off again. His wife had been tracking him. He had been pulling along his deer hide with meat all the time, not noticing how his load was lightening as pieces of the meat fell out. The increased lightness of his load he attributed to his increasing strength. His wife had fed on these lost scraps of venison. She knew he had only one deer and kept track of the pieces found. She knew after a while that only the head was left. At last she found the head, and then she thought she had better turn back, or she should starve, that being the very last piece.

Her husband continued until he got to an old woman. She was a toad. She said, “You won’t travel a day, before you’ll arrive at your destination. I can’t tell you how you can best rescue your sisters, you’ll have to judge yourself when you get there.” He walked on, and got to the tracks of the Cree. At sunset he saw smoke far ahead. He saw a lodge without poles, but tied together of sticks, with an opening at one side. He watched in the bushes all night. He heard the people talking Cree, but stayed in the brush all night. Some one had left a moose hide outside.

In the morning he saw two women coming out of the lodge. They were his sisters. He made signs to them, and one of them came to him. The other woman worked at the moose hide. The man said, “This evening I’ll try to rescue you from the Cree. Cover yourself with a blanket and tie it with a rotten string, so that when your husband tries to pull you back, the string will break. Tell your sister about it.” In the evening the two women ate with their husband. They donned blankets and put sinew around, but the older sister used a kind of strong rag (?). The younger sister went ahead. She told their husband that they were going to fetch wood. The younger one started off. Her husband tried to restrain her, but the string broke, and she escaped. But the string of the older did not break, and so her husband held her back. The Chipewyan and his younger sister escaped. Every night, by their medicine, the Cree transformed the camping place of the fugitives into an island with fierce rapids around it, but in the morning the Chipewyan, by his medicine, conquered that of the Cree. Thus they got away in safety.

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

Adventures of two boys

Two boys survive a Cree attack that decimates their tribe. They encounter two young geese, tie them to an old canoe, and fall asleep as the geese pull them along. Upon waking, the geese have matured, and the boys, driven by hunger, consume them. Their journey leads them to a giant’s lodge, where they are given magical bows and instructed to always leave a remnant of their food. Disobeying the giant’s warning, one boy retrieves a stuck arrow, causing him to ascend to the sky, where he embarks on further adventures.

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


Transformation: The boys undergo significant changes, both physically and emotionally, as they navigate their journey and face various challenges.

Quest: Their journey to find safety and return to their homeland serves as a central quest in the narrative.

Loss and Renewal: The story begins with the loss of their community and follows the boys as they seek renewal and a new beginning.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A band of Indians was staying along a lake. Once two little boys were playing by the lake, while the Cree came and killed all their people. When they returned home, one of them said, “All our people are killed, I don’t know what to do.” They walked about crying.

Towards evening two young unfledged geese came swimming along. The boys caught hold of them. Finding an old canoe by the shore, they tied the geese to it and bade them swim off to their country. The boys fell asleep, while the geese pulled their canoe along. When they woke up, the geese were full-grown. They were hungry and had nothing to eat, so they killed the geese, roasted them, and ate their flesh.

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They started off traveling and continued going for a long time. They got to a lodge. There was a giant family living there. The children were outside. The mother came out; she did not know what kind of people the boys came from. She took them in, and they were kept there for a long time. After a while, the giant dreamt that some Indians were coming. He said to the boys, “My grandchildren, I am hungry for fish and beaver. Walk along the shore, and if you see anything white rising, cry out, ‘My grandfather would like to eat some beaver and fish!’”

The little fellows started out. They saw something white rising from the water and called out as bidden by the giant. Then a beaver and a trout came out of the water, and they killed both. They carried them to the lodge. The giant cut up and dried the trout. Of its eyes he made pemmican for the little fellows. He made two bows and arrows and gave them to the boys. “If you shoot with this arrow, and it should get stuck anywhere, don’t remove it, but leave it in that place. This other arrow will never stick, but will always fall down again.” Then he bade them refrain from eating all their meat at once, but ordered them always to leave a remnant. He showed them the way to their own country, and they started out.

They had something to eat when they got hungry, but, remembering the giant’s caution, they pushed a part of their meat back into their sack. In the evening they opened the sack, and it contained as much pemmican as before. They ate all but a small piece, which was replaced in the bag. In the morning the meat was still of the same size as originally.

They hunted some chickens perched on a tree. One was killed and fell down, but the arrow stuck. The boys took the chicken and started off again into the bush, but there they found the arrow lying in front of them. They walked on. Again some chickens alighted on a tree, not very far away. They shot at it, and the one arrow got stuck though rather close to the ground. One boy was going to get it. His brother said, “We were told not to go after that arrow.” The first boy said it was not high, and insisted on getting it. As he touched it, the arrow ascended higher. “I’ll jump up and get hold of it.” “No, don’t,” said the other boy, but his brother disobeyed and jumped. Then the arrow went up with him to the sky.

It was summer when he was traveling on the earth, but in heaven it was winter. The arrow stopped, and the boy began to travel about. It looked like his own country in winter. He saw partridge tracks, and finally he got to people’s tracks. Following them for a long time, he got to two lodges, one being large and the other small. He entered the small one, and found an old woman sitting there all alone.

In the large lodge people were heard singing and laughing. The old woman took a lot of coal and blackened the hero’s face with it. After a while her two girls came in from the large lodge. Seeing the boy, they called out that their mothers had a fine-looking visitor. They went back to their large lodge and told the other inmates about him. Meanwhile the old woman washed him and dressed him up nicely. When the girls returned, and saw the boy nicely dressed, they no longer laughed at him, but were surprised. They told the people of the lodge what a nice boy was staying with their mother.

Both desired to marry him. In the night the boy slept in the old woman’s lodge and the girls came in and lay down on each side of him. He turned to the youngest, et sub vestem manum introduxit, sed aliquid manum prehendit, and he pulled it back. Tunc ad utrius filiae vaginam pedem suum propellit, sed iterum aliquid eum prehendere conatus est. He pulled it back. One woman had mice under her dress, the other one ermines. They all fell asleep. In the morning the boy still slept soundly. He sunk way down into the ground. The old woman and the girls started off with their lodge-poles. The girls in one place smelt a person. They heard some animal calling underground. “One of us had better get ribs to dig up this fellow.” They got a rib and began digging, but it broke. Then they got a moose rib, and with it they succeeded in digging up the boy who had turned into a wolf. He recognized the girls, and said, “You pretend to know much, but I know nearly as much as you. Here are two arrows, if a female comes, it shall belong to the Ermine girl, if a male comes, it shall belong to the Mouse girl.”

The girls saw the tracks of a male and of a female moose. The wolf said, “If a moose starts running, just shoot your arrows and follow into the bush.” They soon came to the female, cut it up and dried its meat. The male was shot and treated in the same way. As the wolf had directed, one girl stayed by one moose, the other by the other, while the wolf remained with the mother. The wolf and the old woman heard wolves howling in the distance. Starting in that direction they found that one girl had been rent to pieces by the wolves and that a lot of ermines were running about there. The wolves had only torn the Mouse-girl’s dress and there were a lot of mice running about there. The wolf said, “Your daughters thought they knew lots, but I know more.” He started off with the wolves. Then he turned back into a person and married the Mouse-girl. The three then stayed together.

The boy was a great hunter. They had plenty of dried meat. The old woman would make rawhide cordage and when she had made a great deal of cord, she said, “I know a place where there is a hole in the sky, and where we can go down to another world.”

They traveled a long time to the sky-hole. She made a moose-skin bag for the boy, passed a line through it, and said, “I’ll let you down to your own country. When it stops, you’ll open the sack and come out. Pull the line to let me know you have arrived.” He descended for a long time, until the sack stopped. He got out, and jerked the rope, whereupon the sack immediately ascended again.

He found himself on an island, and all around it was nothing but foaming rapids. He got to an eagle’s nest. Only the young eagle was there. He said, “I am very anxious for you, for my people are wicked. I’ll try to save you. Hide under my wing-feathers.” So he pushed the boy under his feathers. Then he continued, “My mother will soon come. When she approaches it will be dark like a cloud. When my father comes, it will sound like a big wind.” After a while it began to grow dark. “My mother is coming.” When the female arrived she said, “My son, I smell some people here.” But the eaglet replied, “There is nothing here.” She repeated, but he insisted that no one was there. After a while a big storm was heard, and the father bird arrived. “My son, I smell the odor of people here.” The boy denied that there were any people there. The father repeated his statement, but the boy persisted in his denial. After a time the old eagles started off again. Then the eaglet said, “Pull out two feathers from each side of my body, and try to fly.” He put the feathers on the boy’s arms, and said, “Fly around.” The boy began to fly but his legs hung down. “Pull two feathers from my tail, and attach them to your legs.” The boy did so, and then flew about like an eagle. “Now you can fly to your country, but always stop for the night,” said the eaglet. “When you reach your country, stick my feathers on the trees.” The boy flew to his country. He arrived there by night, and stuck up his borrowed feathers. He traveled homeward, camping every night, as ordered by the eaglet. One day he was hungry, and began to break a beaver lodge, making a chisel of rib bones and a spear. He watched for the beaver, but though something stirred in the water, no beaver came up. As it grew dark, he camped. Suddenly something caught hold of him from behind. It was one of the big eagles, who flew off with him. They got to a frozen creek, all covered with blood. There the bird threw the boy down, but the latter just put out his chisel, and was not hurt by the fall. Then the bird again seized him, carried him off, and hurled him against a sharp ice-crag. But again he put forward his chisel, so that it stuck in the ice, and he was saved. Then the eagle said, “My children will kill him.” So he took him back to the eyrie. The young ones recognized him. The old bird said, “I’ve brought you a person to kill when you are hungry.” The young birds said, “We’ll keep him for company, let him stay with us.” After much discussion the old eagle finally consented. Then the old eagles flew off. The young eagle again gave feathers to the boy, and he flew off. [The narrator insisted that nothing further was known of the boy’s adventures.]

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Marten-axe

Marten-axe, a remarkable man, frequently traveled among his friends and harbored a deep animosity toward the Cree people. On one journey, he encountered a group of Cree and, being fluent in all languages, deceived them by claiming to be a fellow Cree whose kin had been slain by the Chipewyan. Gaining their trust, he accompanied them to a mountaintop. During the night, as the Cree slept, Marten-axe tied their legs to a rock and rolled it down the mountain, killing them all.

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: Marten-axe embodies the trickster archetype, using deception to achieve his goals.

Revenge and Justice: Marten-axe’s actions can be interpreted as a form of retribution against the Cree, whom he claims have wronged him.

Conflict with Authority: By deceiving and killing the Cree, Marten-axe challenges another group’s power and authority.

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Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Marten-axe was a wonderful man. He used to travel among his friends. Whenever he found Cree, he would always kill them. He was in the habit of staying with the Chipewyan. Once he started out to travel, and came to a band of Cree. He knew all languages. So he told the Cree that he was a Cree himself and that the Chipewyan had killed all his friends. He traveled with the Cree to the top of a high mountain, where he lay down. In the night, while the Cree were sleeping, he tied all their legs with a cord, to the same rock. Then he rolled the rock down the mountain, killing all the Cree.

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The magical trees

In ancient times, Chipewyan parents would leave their children at home, using medicine to summon large trees to feed the fire. As the medicine weakened, the branches sometimes harmed the children. On one occasion, a returning mother found her baby’s belly torn and the tree covered in blood. Enraged, she beat the tree, and since then, trees no longer come by themselves.

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


Magic and Enchantment: The trees, animated through medicinal practices, exhibit supernatural characteristics by moving and feeding the fire autonomously.

Conflict with Nature: The unintended consequences of the trees harming children highlight a struggle between humans and the natural elements they’ve attempted to control.

Divine Punishment: The injury inflicted upon the children can be interpreted as a form of retribution for humans overstepping natural boundaries through their medicinal practices.

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Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Long ago men and women going off together would sometimes leave their little ones alone at home with a small fire and, by medicine, could send in large trees to feed the fire. But when the medicine got weak, the branches would sometimes hurt the children. Once a woman, returning home, found a baby’s belly torn and the tree covered with blood. She was furious, and began beating the tree. Since then the trees can no more be made to come in by themselves.

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The giants

A giant hunts beavers along Lake Athabaska, keeping only one Indian boy alive as his ‘grandchild.’ After discovering the edibility of beaver tails through the boy’s initiative, they encounter another giant, Djeneta. A battle ensues, with the boy aiding his ‘grandfather’ by cutting Djeneta’s ankle, leading to Djeneta’s defeat. Djeneta’s massive body forms a land bridge, introducing deer to new territories.

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 story explains natural phenomena, like the reddish appearance of rocks and the migration of deer between lands.

Mythical Creatures: The narrative features giants as central characters.

Ancestral Spirits: The giant raises the Indian boy, indicating a connection between mythical beings and humans.

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Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A giant used to hunt beaver along Lake Athabaska, going about half way to Fond du Lac. He was bringing up a little Indian boy, whom he called his grandchild, and whom he kept alive after killing all the other Indians. In hunting beavers he broke the beavers’ lodge, and they all escaped. He broke another lodge. One beaver went across the lake, another up the river.

The giant looked around for the former, found a little hole and saw the beaver’s head popping out. He struck it with a stick, so hard that blood was sprinkled all over, hence the reddish appearance of the rocks there. The beaver that went up the river escaped, that is why there are many beavers there.

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The giant cut off the beaver’s tail. Seeing the scales he said, “This is not good to eat,” and threw the beaver’s tail away. The Indian boy picked it up and put it in the fire. The scales fell off, and the inside was found good to eat. This was the first time the giant ever ate a beaver tail. When through eating, he put his grandson in his mitten, and walked off. He found moose tracks, but said, “These are rabbit tracks.” His grandson said to him, “These are not rabbit tracks but moose tracks.” They got to a moose, and Hotcowe, the giant, put it in his belt as one would a rabbit. Then he went to the Barren Grounds, and thence to the sea, where he met another giant, named Djeneta. Djeneta was fishing in the ocean with a hook.

Before reaching Djeneta, Hotcowe took his grandson out of his mitten, and bade him approach the fisherman half way and deliver him a challenge to fight. The boy did as he was bidden, and when near enough shouted, “Grandfather!” Djeneta asked, “What do you want?” The boy delivered his message, and ran back, but by that time the giants had already each made a step forward and were already fighting above him. The fisherman was getting the best of the contest, when Hotcowe called to his grandchild, who always carried a beaver tooth, to cut the giant’s ankle. The boy obeyed, causing the giant to fall down so that Hotcowe could easily dispatch him.

The fisherman’s head fell on this island [my interpreter suggested “North America”] while his feet reached another land. Mud gathered on his corpse, connecting the island and the other country, and then deer for the first time ran from the new land into this country.

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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

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

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.

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