The spirit guiding a child left by its parents

A lice-infested boy is left behind by his parents but is saved and lice-picked by the spirit of a dead man. Riding the spirit’s back, he follows his mother’s trail, hunts a hare, and is reunited with his baffled parents. After graciously feeding the spirit, he tracks him across frozen lakes, only to see him depart and, in time, forget his spectral benefactor.

Source:
Ethnology of the Ungava District,
Hudson Bay Territory
by Lucien M. Turner
Smithsonian Institution
Bureau of American Ethnology
Annual Report 11, 1889-1890
Washington, 1894

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The mother’s decision to abandon her infested child, despite her maternal bond, embodies a poignant act of betrayal.

Journey to the Otherworld: The spirit’s intervention transports the boy into a realm beyond the living, guiding him along a supernatural path.

Ancestral Spirits: The benevolent dead man who rescues and mentors the boy represents the influence of forebears on the living.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Naskapi Lore

Learn more about the Naskapi people

An Indian and his wife had but one child, which was so infested with vermin that when the parents contemplated, going to the tents of some distant friends the father advised the mother to leave the child behind. The next morning after the mother had taken down the tent the little boy asked her “Mother, are you not going to put on my moccasins?” the mother replied, “I shall put them on after I have put on my snow-shoes.” The little boy said, “Surely you are not going to leave me!” She said, “No;” but took hold of her sled and started off. The little boy cried out, “Mother, you are leaving me,” and endeavored to overtake her in his bare feet; but the mother soon was out of sight. The little boy began to cry and retraced his steps to the tent place.

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There he cried until the spirit of a dead man came to him and asked, “Where is your mother?” The boy replied, “She has gone away and left me.” “Why did she leave you?” asked the old man. “Because I was so covered with lice,” replied the boy. The spirit said it would remove all of the lice, but three. So it began to pick them off. After this was done the spirit asked, “Where did your mother go?” The boy pointed out her track. The spirit then said to the boy, “Would you like to go to your mother?” The boy answered, “Yes.” The spirit put the boy on his back and started on the path made by the sled of his mother. After a while they came to a tree and in looking at it the boy saw a porcupine sitting among the branches. The boy greatly desired to have the animal. So he said, “Grandfather, I wish you would kill the porcupine.” The old man answered, “It will make too much smoke for me to kill it.” After a time they came across a hare which the boy again desired to have. To this the man assented. So he put the boy down in the snow and soon caught the hare and killed it. It was now becoming dark, so they made their camping place for the night. The spirit gave the boy the hare and told him to cook it. After the meat was cooked the boy asked the old man what parts of the animal he preferred. The old man said “Give me the lungs and kidneys.” The boy gave him those parts and consumed the remainder himself. They laid down to sleep and in the morning they again started on the sled track. About noon they came to the tents of the Indians, and among them was the tent of the father and mother of the little boy. The spirit placed the boy down on the outside near the door of the mother’s tent and told him to go in. The boy entered and saw his father and mother sitting near the fire. The mother in astonishment said, “Husband, is this not our little boy whom we deserted at our late camp?” The husband asked the boy, “Who brought you here?” The little boy answered, “My grandfather.” The mother inquired, “Who is your grandfather?” The father asked, “Where is he now?” The boy replied, “He is sitting outside.” The father asked his wife to look outside and see if any one was there. The woman did so and informed him that “I see some one sitting there, but I do not know who it is.” The spirit replied, “You should call me somebody when you are no one to leave your child to perish.” The husband directed his wife to invite the old man into the tent.

The spirit declined to enter. The father then asked the son to tell him to come in. The boy went out and conducted the old man within the tent. The latter seated himself across the fire (this is intended to mean opposite the door but on the other side of the fire). They slept in the tent that night, and when the little boy awakened he found all the people preparing to snare deer. The people asked the little boy to accompany them. He did so, and when he was ready to start he asked the old man what part of the deer he should bring home for him. The old man replied that he would enjoy the lungs better than any other part. The boy promised to bring a quantity for him on his return in the evening. Toward evening the boy returned loaded with choice bits for the old man who had conducted him to his father and mother. While outside of the tent he called to the old man, saying that he had brought home some food for him. Hearing no reply he entered the tent, and not seeing the man he inquired of his mother where the person was. The mother announced that he had departed, but did not know where he had gone. It was late, but the boy resolved to rise early and follow his track. He was up at daybreak, and finding the track followed it until he observed the spirit crossing a large lake which was frozen over. The boy cried out to the old man to wait for him. The spirit awaited his approach. The boy said to him, “Why did you go away when I had promised you some choice food?” The spirit replied that it could not dwell among living people, as it was only a spirit and that it was returning to its abode. The old man advised the boy to return to his people. The boy did so, but the next morning the desire to see the good old man seized the boy, and again he started to find him. The other people then tied the boy to a tree and he soon forgot his benefactor.

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Origin of the whitish spot on the throat of the marten

A cunning marten enamored of a man’s wife repeatedly tries to lure her away during her husband’s absences. Discovering its deceit, the husband sets a boiling kettle trap, dousing the marten when it visits. Scalded, the creature flees into the woods, its burned breast driving it into the densest forests, thus explaining why martens remain elusive and shy of humans.

Source:
Ethnology of the Ungava District,
Hudson Bay Territory
by Lucien M. Turner
Smithsonian Institution
Bureau of American Ethnology
Annual Report 11, 1889-1890
Washington, 1894

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale explains why martens avoid humans, attributing their shy behavior to the scalding the marten endured.

Love and Betrayal: The story centers on the marten’s attempt to betray the marital bond.

Cunning and Deception: Repeated attempts by the marten to deceive the wife highlight this theme.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Naskapi Lore

Learn more about the Naskapi people

A man had a wife whom a marten fell in love with and endeavored to possess. Whenever the man would go away from his home the marten would enter, sit by the woman’s side, and endeavor to entice her to leave her husband and go to live with him. One day the man returned unexpectedly and caught the marten sitting by the side of his wife. The marten ran out. The man inquired of his wife what the marten wanted there. The woman replied that the marten was striving to induce her to desert him and become his own wife. The next time the man went off he told his wife to till a kettle with water and put it on the fire to boil. The man went outside and secreted himself near the house. He soon saw the marten go into the house.

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The man stole quietly to the door of the house and listened to the marten, which was talking to his wife. The man sprang into the house and said: “Marten, what are you doing here, what are you trying to do?” The man seized the kettle of hot water and dashed it on the breast of the animal. The marten began to scratch his burning bosom and ran out into the woods; and because he was so severely hurt he now keeps in the densest forests, away from the sight of man.

The wolfs daughter going to seek her lover

A wolf mother sends her daughter to claim the otter as husband to save the family from starvation. The clever otter tests the wolf, then agrees to provide fish and slays deer with remarkable skill. The wolf rescues her starving kin, but after her brothers mock the otter, he abandons his wolf wife, dives back into the lake, and vanishes forever.

Source:
Ethnology of the Ungava District,
Hudson Bay Territory
by Lucien M. Turner
Smithsonian Institution
Bureau of American Ethnology
Annual Report 11, 1889-1890
Washington, 1894

► Themes of the story

Quest: The wolf daughter undertakes a perilous journey to find her destined lover to save her starving family.

Cunning and Deception: The otter outwits his would-be captor and uses clever tricks both in escaping and in procuring food.

Love and Betrayal: A bond formed under duress ultimately unravels when mockery and mistrust lead the otter to abandon his wolf wife.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Naskapi Lore

Learn more about the Naskapi people

An old mother wolf one morning said to her daughter, “You must go and look for your lover or else we shall all starve to death, as your brothers can not kill any deer.” The daughter inquired of her mother, “Who is my lover?” The mother replied, “The otter is your lover. He lives in the water. If you go to the narrows of the lake you will find him.” The daughter said she would go. So early in the morning she started off, and as she was going along the shore of the lake she saw an open hole in the ice, and in the water the otter was sitting. The wolf went up to the otter, but the otter swam away and was going to dive, when the wolf said, “Do not dive and go away. My mother says you are my lover.” The otter asked, “How can I be your lover when I live in the water!” The wolf replied, “You can live on the land as well as in the water.”

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The otter answered back, “I will not live on the land.” The wolf retorted, “You will have to live on the land, and if you do not come out I shall smother you in the water.” The otter said, “You can not smother me, for I have a number of holes made in the lake ice.” The otter dove into the water and disappeared. The wolf began to howl dismally when the otter vanished. The wind began to blow and drifted the snow furiously. The snow fell into the otter’s breathing holes and filled them with slushy snow, which soon froze and completely stopped all the holes in the ice but one where the wolf was sitting. This hole was kept clear of snow and ice by the wolf scraping it out as fast as it collected. Soon she heard the otter going to the holes for breath, but when he came near the hole where the wolf was sitting she could hear him snuffing for air, and she stood with open jaws ready to seize him when he should appear. The otter was nearly exhausted, so the wolf went off a little distance, and the otter came up to the surface of the water nearly out of breath. He crept out of the water and rolled himself in the dry snow to take the water off of his coat of fur and exclaimed to the wolf, “I will live with you; I will live with you.” The wolf then addressed her lover and said, “Did I not tell you I would smother you?” The otter did not reply to this, but asked her, “Have you got a piece of line? give it to me, and I will go to catch some fish for you if you will go and prepare a tent.” The wolf drew out a piece of fishing line and handed it to the otter. The otter went down into the same hole in the ice whence he had come. He was gone some time, and in the meantime the wolf was busy making the tent, which was completed before the otter returned. Soon after, however, the otter came back to the hole with a long string of fish which he had killed and had them all strung on the line. He left the string of fish in the hole in the ice with one end of it fastened to the ice. The otter rolled himself in the snow to remove the water from his fur, and then went to the tent to tell his wife to go and get the fish which he had left in the hole in the ice. The wolf went and hauled up the line, which was full of fish, and began to devour so many that soon she could scarcely move. She hauled the remainder of the fish home to the tent.

The otter was sleeping when she returned. She proceeded to clean the fish and put on a large kettle full of the fish to boil for supper. She then crept into bed with her husband, and the next morning she was delivered of a young otter and a young wolf. After the father and mother had taken their breakfast the latter sat with her head hanging down and seemed to be in a miserable mood. The otter inquired of the wife wolf, “What is the matter with you that you sit so quietly?” The wolf answered: “I wish I had some deerskins with which to make clothing for the children. How nicely I should dress them!” The otter replied: “Open the door and I will show you where I get the deer. “It was yet early, and the otter went away to seek the deer. The otter saw a band of thirty deer, but had no gun with which to kill them, so he frightened them, and as they were running away he sprang at them each, and jumped through them from end to end. He killed all of them in this manner and then rolled in the snow to cleanse himself. After that was done he wended his way home, and on arriving informed his wife (for it was then a little after sunset) that on the morrow she should go to bring home the deer he had killed, adding that she could follow his track, and thus find them. The wife had a big pot of fish cooked for him when he returned, and when he had finished his supper he went to bed. As soon as the wife suspected her husband to be asleep she went after the deer, and by hauling four at a time she soon had them all brought, and laid them before the tent. When that was finished she went to bed. In the morning the otter told her to get up and make a fire, as she would have to go for the carcasses of the deer which he had killed the day before. The wife replied: “I have already brought them all home.” The otter asked her: “How could you bring them home in the dark?” The wife answered: “Look out through the door if you do not believe me.” The otter looked and saw the thirty deer all piled up before the door. He turned and looked at his wife, but made no remark. The wolf asked him: “Why do you look at me, so hard?” The otter said: “I was wondering how you could get them home in such a short time.” The wolf said: “Come, and take your breakfast, for you will have to help me skin the deer.” After they had finished eating their breakfast they began to skin the deer, and soon had them done. The wolf told her husband to make a stage or scaffold for the meat, adding that she would clean the skins. The otter prepared the stage, which in a short time was completed. The meat was placed on the stage and the skins hung up to dry around the tent. They then went in to take their supper. The wife was not in a talkative mood, and soon went to bed. The next morning the wolf hung her head down, and the otter seeing her again in such mood, inquired what was the matter with her that she should be so quiet. The wolf replied: “I am thinking of my poor father and mother and brothers; I suppose they will all be starved to death. My old father told me to tell you to put a mark on the middle of the lake so they would know where I am.” The otter went to the middle of the lake and erected a pile as a mark by which the wolf’s relations should know it. The brothers of the otter’s wife were on the hill looking for the mark set up by their sister’s husband, and when they saw it they exclaimed: “Our sister has saved us! our sister has saved us!” and ran back to their old father’s home to give him the joyful intelligence that they had seen the mark put up by the husband of their sister. The old wolf then told his family that they would go and seek their sister and daughter to live with her and her husband. They all went to the hill by the lake, and from the top of it they saw the mark, and from it they followed the track of the otter until they saw the tent in the edge of the woods. They exclaimed: “There is our sister’s tent, for the deerskins are hanging outside.” They raised such a joyful shout at the prospect before them, that the noise frightened some young otters (for the family had now become larger) which were playing outside. The little ones scampered in and hid themselves behind their father’s back. The father inquired, “What is the matter, that you are so frightened!” The little ones replied: “We are running from the Hunger” (for that was the name they applied to the wolves). The mother replied: “Perhaps they see my father, mother, and brothers coming.” The otter told his wife to go out and see. She complied, and when she opened the door they saw a row of gaunt wolves; nothing but skin and bones. The newcomers immediately fell to, and began to devour the meat which was on the stage. The otter’s wife remonstrated, and said: “Do not be so greedy; my husband is not a stingy man. I take my meals when he is sleeping, and pretend not to eat much during the day.” They all went into the tent and the otter soon went to bed. When they thought he was asleep, they began to eat all the raw meat and fish, and soon finished it. In the morning when the otter had awakened, he remarked to his wife: “I think your brothers will make a fool of me.” The wife asked: “What makes you think so?” The otter replied: “They look at me so hard, that I do not know where to turn my eyes. “After breakfast the otter and his wolf brothers went away to look for deer. They soon came upon a band of them, and the otter told the wolves to go and kill them. The wolves ran after the deer, but got only one of them. After the deer were frightened by the wolves, the otter sprang after the deer and soon killed every one of them in the same manner he had killed the others. He then cleaned himself in the dry snow and returned home. The wolves had started for the tent before the otter, so when the latter returned they asked the otter: “How many deer did you kill?” The otter replied: “I killed all that were in the band,” adding, “In the morning you will have to go for the deer. “So everything was got ready for an early start and they all retired to bed. When they awakened in the morning, one of the wife’s brothers said to another: “Look at our otter brother; he has a white mouth.” The otter turned to his wife and said to her: “Did I not tell you that your brothers would make a fool of me?” The otter then took his two otter children in his arms, and told his wife that she would have to make her living as best she could, as he would not live with her any more, that he was going away to leave her. He darted off to the lake, and disappeared under the ice, and was never seen again.

Omishus

A skilled hunter discovers his wife’s affair with a tree-spirit and slays them both, unleashing her vengeful head. His two sons flee as it pursues them, only to stall it with magical tokens and a swan’s aid. The head drowns, becomes a sturgeon, and later feeds them. Their treacherous grandfather then tries to sacrifice their father to gulls, snakes, and eagles, but each plot backfires until the young man escapes home.

Source:
Notes on the Eastern Cree
and Northern Saulteaux
by Alanson Skinner
The American Museum
of Natural History
Anthropological Papers
Volume IX, Part 1
New York, 1911

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: This tale explains why the sturgeon has fleshy cheeks, attributing it to the mother’s head turning into that fish after drowning.

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s secret liaison with the tree-spirit constitutes a central act of marital betrayal.

Revenge and Justice: The husband metes out violent retribution on both his unfaithful wife and her supernatural paramour.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Salteaux Lore

Learn more about the Salteaux people

The Northern Saulteaux form the most isolated band of the Ojibway. They occupy the region north of Lake Superior and east of Lake Winnipeg. They call themselves “Otcipweo”. The number of the Northern Saulteaux on the Government annuity rolls (for 1911) is: Lac Seul, 800; Fort Hope, [eighty died during the La Grippe epidemic of 1908-9] 550; Martens Falls, 112; English River, 65, making a total of 1527.

Myth obtained at Martens Falls Post on the Albany River.

There was once a man and his wife who had two children. They were both boys. The man was a great hunter and used to kill a good many deer. Often, when he came home from the chase he would find his children had been crying all day. He asked his wife, “What are our children crying about?” The woman replied, “When I leave them in the tent while I go to get firewood, they always start to cry.” But the man did not believe it and made up his mind that he would watch his wife and find out what she did to the little ones in his absence.

One day, he pretended to set out but he did not go very far. Then he returned. After he was gone, the woman dressed herself, combed her hair, and went out of the wigwam carrying her ax. The woman went over to a big tree. She pounded on the tree with the ax. Immediately, a man came out of the tree.

He took the woman in his arms, et longe cum ea concubit [and slept with her a long time] so that she did not go home to her children, for totem diem concubuit [because they slept together for the entire day]. After the man saw what his wife was doing he went away. He killed a deer, and returned to his lodge.

He told his wife to get the deer and bring it home. After she had gone, he put on her dress and took up her ax and went out. He went to the famous tree and pounded on it. The man came out again and he killed him, and cut off his head.

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He took a little blood. Then he started to cook the man’s blood mixed with deer’s blood.

After a time, his wife came home with the carcass of the deer he had killed. He gave her some of the man’s blood and vension to eat. After she had finished her meal, he inquired. “How did that blood taste?” She replied, “This is deer’s blood.” “No, that is your paramour’s blood you have been eating,” replied the husband! Then he killed her too.

He cut off her head, and went away, deserting his children. The younger child began to cry and continued to weep. Then he went to his mother’s body trying to get nourishment from her dead breasts. While he was doing this, the woman’s head began to move and her eyes opened. This frightened the children terribly and they ran away. As they ran, they heard something following. It was their mother’s head rolling after them. The head nearly caught up to them. Then the oldest boy threw a needle on the trail behind them. The head came to this and stopped for a while, so the children got a long start. At last, the head, all smeared with blood, caught up to them again. Then the oldest lad threw away his comb behind them.

“Let this be a high mountain,” cried the child. Sure enough, a great mountain sprang up and crossed the trail. At last, the children came to a river, where they saw swans swimming. They wished to get across and begged the swans to save them as there was a Windigo (Cannibal) chasing them. A swan came over and took the boys across. He told them not to sit near his neck as they rode across for he had a scab there. After he had ferried the children over the swan continued to swim about the river.

At length, the head came to the river, and began to roll backward and forward along the shore seeking to get over. The head saw the swan and called out, “Take me across the river.” The swan said, “No.” Then the head said, “Those are my children that went across the river.” Then the swan said, “No, the children said that a Windigo was following them.” So the head repeated, “Those are my children, take me across, and when you have done so, licet mecum coire.” The swan replied, “Quo modo tecum coeam, cum corpus tibi absit?” Caput dixit, “Per foramen magnum.” [“How can I have intercourse with you, when you have no body?” The head said, “Through the large hole.”]

The swan agreed and started to take the head across. He told the head not to touch his neck on account of the scab, and started to ferry it across. The head started to rub the swan’s neck and this hurt him, he spread his wings and shook them until the head fell into the river and was drowned.

Although the river was very broad, the two children threw stones across from the other side. The little chap began to cry again, so the eldest brother found a nice round stone and gave it to him. They threw their stones at it. One of them hit it and it sank out of sight. While they were playing they saw a sturgeon leap out of the water. It seems the head had been turned into a sturgeon. That is why the sturgeon has fleshy cheeks unlike other fish.

While they were playing at the edge of the water, they saw someone approaching in a canoe. He came ashore and stood in the canoe looking at the boys for a little while. Then the man wished one of the stones would fall in his canoe. The next stone did fall in his canoe. It was the nice round stone which the oldest boy had given to the little one when he cried. The oldest one cried out to the man, “Bring us that stone, so that my little brother may have it to keep him from crying.” The man told the oldest brother to come over and get the stone himself. The boy came to get the stone, and the man tripped him with his paddle so that he fell in his canoe. Then, the old man whose name was Omishus, pounded on the bottom of his canoe with his paddle, and off it went without paddling.

The youngest boy began to cry because he had been left behind, but Omishus left him to his fate. Then Omishus came to his tent. He pulled his canoe ashore and turned it over. Then he went into his lodge. He had two daughters who were waiting for him. He said to the oldest one, “I have brought a man with me, you had better go and see him.” So the girl went out to see the young man. She looked under the canoe, but as soon as she saw him, she decided that he was too homely, and she wouldn’t marry him. When she returned to the wigwam, Omishus asked her, “What do you think of my guest?” “He is too ugly,” replied the girl. Then Omishus told his youngest daughter that she had better go and see his captive. “He was good looking when I took him in the canoe,” said he, “he has been crying a great deal, that is what makes him ugly.” The youngest daughter went down and washed away the tear marks from the young man’s face, dressed him up, and married him.

The young man stayed with Omishus for a long time and his wife became the mother of two children. One day, the young man said to his father-in-law, “I wonder where we could get some gulls’ eggs?” The old man replied that he would show him a fine place. They took their bows and arrows and off they started in the canoe. At last, they came to the place where the gulls were on an island. “There are the gulls,” cried the young man. “Well,” said Omishus, “go over across where the big ones are.” The young man at once took his bow and arrows and started over to get some eggs.

As soon as the young man was well ashore, the old man pounded on the canoe bottom with his paddle and off it went. “Here you are, gulls,” he cried, “I give you my son-in-law to eat.” The deserted son-in-law saw a very large gull flying towards him. It approached the young man meaning to kill him, but he cried out, “I’m not the right kind of food for gulls, fly over the old man’s canoe.”

The old man was lying back in his magic canoe looking at the sky, pounding on the canoe bottom all the time. “When you are directly over the old man, void your excrement full in his face,” cried the young chap. The old man jumped and cried, “Phew! that’s the kind of smell the excrement of the gulls has after they have eaten my son-in-law.”

Then the young man killed the great gull and cut off its head. He took it home with some gulls’ eggs. He gave each of his children an egg and he told them, “When your grandfather arrives, go down to meet him and eat your eggs at the same time.” At length, the old man came. The two children went down to meet him, eating their eggs, as they were told. When the old man saw them eating the eggs, he asked, “Where did you get those eggs?” “Our father brought them to us,” said they. “Poor children,” said the old man, “the gulls have long ago eaten up your father.”

When the old man had landed he went straight to his camp and there sat his son-in-law inside the wigwam with the head of the big gull beside him. The wicked old man was surprised, for the gull was the embodiment of one of his dreams. The oldest girl was now frightened and wished she had married her brother-in-law and cast many looks at him. The old man observed this, and said to her, “Why are you looking at your brother-in-law so hard? Go and sit by his side.” Now, the young man had two wives.

The young man said, one day, “I wonder where I could get a sturgeon to make glue?” “I’ll show you,” said the old man, so off they went together. “There is a sturgeon,” cried the young man. The old man said, “No, that is not a good one. He has not got good isinglass. We will go farther on.” At last, they came to a place where there were plenty of sturgeon. The old man said to his son-in-law, “You stand on the gunwales of the canoe with your bow and arrow to look for sturgeon.” At length, they came to very deep water, and the old man pounded hard on his canoe. The canoe jumped ahead so quickly that the young man was thrown into the water. Then the old man cried out to the great snakes that live in the water, “I feed you my little son.” The young man sank to the bottom and there he saw a great snake coming after him. “I am not the right food for snakes,” said he. “Take me ashore.” The snake had horns. The young man took hold of them and the snake ferried him ashore. “If you hear the thunder,” said the snake, “tell me.” The snake soon heard the thunder and he asked the young man about it, but the young man replied, “I see no clouds.” At length, it thundered very close to them, and the snake heard it certainly and saw the lightning as well. This made the snake drop his burden and turn back. He splashed the water away up as he fled. The young man struggled ashore and reached home. He first killed some sturgeon. When he got home he told his wives to cook some of the meat.

Then he told his children to go down to the water’s edge and meet their grandfather. “Eat some of the sturgeon meat before him,” he said. After a while, their grandfather came back. The two children went down to meet him, eating some of the sturgeon meat as they were told. When the old man saw them eating the sturgeon he asked, “Where did you get that sturgeon meat?” “Our father brought it to us,” said they. “Poor children, the great horned water snakes have long ago eaten up your father.” When the old man had landed he went straight to his camp, and there sat the young man inside the wigwam. The wicked old man was surprised for the horned water snake had been the embodiment of one of his dreams.

One day, the young man asked his father-in-law where they could get an eagle. They went off together. “There is an eagle,” cried the young man. “No, come farther on,” said the old man, “I know where there is a big nest.” At last the old man pointed out a nest, and left the young man there while he went over to it. The young man climbed the tree. When he was there the old man called out to the eaglets, “I feed you my son-in-law,” and went away. The young man asked the two eaglets that were in the nest what their names were. He asked the female first, “Owatci,” said she. The male bird said, “I am a tree as straight as you are when you stretch yourself.” So he killed them both, and took them home. Then the last of the old man’s dreams had failed. The young man had the eaglets cooked and gave one of each to his children. He told his children to go down to the water’s edge and meet their grandfather. “Eat the eaglets before him,” he said.

After a while their grandfather came back. The two children went down to meet him, eating the eaglets, as they were told. When the old man saw them eating the eaglets he asked, “Where did you get those eaglets?” “Our father brought them to us,” said they. “Poor children, the eagles have long ago eaten your father.” When the old man had landed he went straight to his camp and there sat the young man inside the wigwam. The wicked old man was surprised for the eaglets had been the embodiment of one of his dreams. “I wonder,” said the young man one day in the winter, “where we can kill a caribou?” “I know,” said the old man, “we will go tomorrow, I’ll go with you.” So off they went. They had to camp over night in a swamp. The old man told his son-in-law that the name of the swamp was (scorched-up-swamp, Jiteomuskeg). The young man, when he heard this thought, “Surely you want to burn my moccasins?”

Then they went to bed. The fire nearly went out, but the old man got up and took his son-in-law’s moccasins and leggings and burned them. Then the old man went back to bed and cried out, “Phoo! Your moccasins are burning.” Then the young man laughed, “Those were your own moccasins you burnt. I changed mine for yours when you slept, and I saw you when you put them in the fire.”

In the morning, the young man dressed himself and left Omishus and went home. He took his father-in-law’s canoe because one of his wives could make it go as well as her father. After they crossed the sea, they left the canoe tied to a tree near the shore. The old man started to heat a stone in the fire. When it was hot he tried to roll it through the snow to melt a path for his bare legs. It did not succeed. Then he rubbed charcoal on his legs. “I dreamt about caribou long ago, and I ought to be able to walk as they do on the snow without any trouble,” said he. At last he reached the sea. Then he was very angry because his canoe was gone. He started to shout, “My canoe, my canoe, my canoe!” His canoe heard and began to pull and move back and forth to get away. Then his son-in-law said to his wife, “You had better let the canoe go.” She did and it went off to the old man and they never saw him again.

The wolverine

A hunter leaves his wife at home to tend marten traps despite her warnings. While he’s away, a mysterious man visits, gifts the wife a beautiful bead necklace, and vanishes. The husband returns, smashes the beads in anger, and the wife weeps outside. In moonlight, the stranger restores the necklace whole and takes her away. Distraught, the husband burns his possessions and turns into a wolverine.

Source:
Athapascan Traditions
from the Lower Yukon
by J.W. Chapman
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.16, No.62, pp. 180-185
July-September, 1903

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The story explains the origin of the wolverine through the husband’s transformation.

Transformation: The husband is physically transformed into a wolverine after his wife is taken.

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s divided loyalty between her mortal husband and the mysterious visitor highlights betrayal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Athabaskan Lore

Learn more about the Athabaskan people

There was once a couple who lived by themselves. They had a house and a cache and the man occupied himself in hunting. He hunted martens both with traps and with the arrow.

One day he said, “I believe I will go to my marten traps;” but the woman did not want to let him go. “No,” said she, “please don’t. Stay here today; there may be strangers coming.” But the man answered, “Who is there to come? There’s nobody at all. There are no tracks but mine;” and he put on his gear and left the house. Meanwhile the woman wept as she sat sewing at home.

At noon, yonder, outside the door, she heard some one knocking the snow from his boots, and a man came in, but it was not her husband.

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The woman drew her hair down over her face so as to cover it, then put food into a bowl, meat and fat, and handed it to him. “Have something to eat,” she said. “I am not hungry,” said he; “it is for you that I came here; go with me.” And when she refused he gave her a beautiful necklace of seed beads, and hung them about her neck and went out.

Meanwhile she had made a fire and cooked food, expecting her husband; for she thought, “When he comes he will be hungry.” At length he returned, and after they had eaten he fixed the curtain over the smoke-hole and they went to bed. When she undressed, her husband saw the great necklace of beads. He broke out in anger, “Who gave them to you, if no one has been here?” And taking a great maul, he broke them to pieces, and putting them upon a shovel he threw them out at the smoke-hole, and lay down again.

Thereupon the woman began to cry. “Come,” said her husband, “go outside and cry; there is no sleep to be had here;” and she went out crying. The moon was shining, but she stood where no light fell upon her, and where the moon shone she looked for (him). See! There in the moonlight is that man. He laughs as he stands looking at her in the moonlight. Then he went to her and came close to her. “What say you?” said he. “Why,” she said, “he pounded up the beads and threw them out at the smoke-hole.”

So up to the top of the house went the man, and took up the beautiful beads whole, as they were before, and put them upon the woman’s neck, and took her and went out into the moonlight.

Meanwhile, her husband roused himself up, and went out to find that his wife was gone. All around the place he went, but found only his own tracks, for the stranger had left none. He kindled a fire, and burned his parka and his own hair and his back, and went away as a wolverine.

Story of lynx-man

The story narrates the experiences of a man and his wife who, while hunting in the mountains, encounter the enigmatic Lynx-Man. This being abducts the wife, leading the husband on a journey aided by a benevolent Eagle to rescue her. The couple ultimately reunites and overcomes Lynx-Man.

Source:
Kaska Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.30, No.118, pp. 427-473
October-December, 1917

► Themes of the story

Cunning and Deception: The couple’s strategic planning and execution of Lynx-Man’s demise showcase the use of wit to achieve their objective.

Guardian Figures: The Eagle serves as a protector and guide, assisting the husband in locating and rescuing his wife.

Love and Betrayal: The narrative centers on the husband’s deep affection for his wife and the lengths he goes to in order to save her from abduction.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Kaska Lore

Learn more about the Kaska people

Once a long time ago a man was hunting in the mountains with his wife. At that time there was no game in the low parts of the country. People lived on sheep, marmots, and ground-squirrels, all of which abounded in the mountains. The man wanted to procure some eagle feathers: so, taking a rope with him, and accompanied by his wife, he went to a cliff where there was an eagle’s nest. He tied the rope around his waist, and got his wife to lower him down. Just when he had reached the ledge where the nest was, Lynx-Man appeared at the brink of the cliff, and ordered the woman to let go the end of the rope. Being afraid, she did as directed. Lynx-Man then took her away to a place in the bottom-lands where the brush was very thick and there were many Jack pines.

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Here he set many snares, and always caught plenty of rabbits. He cooked and offered the woman rabbits, but she would not eat. On the way to this place the woman had carried some grouse that Lynx-Man had caught, and, as she went along through the brush, she plucked the birds and dropped the feathers along the way as a sign.

When the Mother-Eagle came back to the nest, she found the man there. She said, “What are you doing here?” and he answered, “I came here to get some eagle-feathers. My wife let me down, and I had barely reached the ledge when for some reason the rope fell down. Now I have no means of getting up or down.” Eagle said, “Why, Lynx has stolen your wife; that is why the rope fell down. Get on my back, and I will take you down and show you where to find your wife.” The man did not answer, as he was afraid, and Eagle knew it. She said, “There is no danger. I am able to carry you. Put that big stone on my back, and I will show you.” The man did as directed, and the Eagle flew away with the stone on her back, and threw it off on the opposite mountain. Returning, the man got on her back, and she flew down with him. Eagle then said, “Watch my flight. I will fly to where your wife is. When I circle four times, you will know she is directly below where I am.” Eagle flew off, and the man watched. After flying some distance, Eagle circled twice, and then went on. After a time she circled four times, and then returned. On arriving back, Eagle asked the man if he had noticed where she went, and he answered, “Yes.” Eagle then told him there was a large Caribou below where she had circled twice, and his wife’s camp was underneath where she had circled four times. Eagle plucked a number of feathers from her body and gave to the man, saying, “I will now leave you. My children are hungry, and I must go and feed them.”

The man went to where the Eagle had circled twice, and found a caribou there, which he killed. He then went on, and came to Lynx’s camp, where he found his wife alone. She was glad to see him, and said to him, “When Lynx comes, you must say you are my brother, and address him as brother-in-law.” Towards evening Lynx came to camp, carrying a load of rabbits. When he saw the man, he drew his bow and was about to shoot at him. The woman cried out, “This is my brother come to visit me. Don’t shoot at him!” Lynx said, “Oh, my brother-in-law indeed!” and came into camp. He cooked many rabbits for his supposed brother-in-law. That night, when Lynx-Man was asleep, the man and woman killed him. Then they shifted camp to where the carcass of the caribou was.

The deceitful wife

A woman with two husbands encounters a war party while retrieving a forgotten needle-case. After being assaulted, she returns with ptarmigan, lying about their origin. Her mother-in-law suspects deceit, and upon the husbands’ return, they confirm wrongdoing. They share a final meal, send their mother away, and then kill their wife for her betrayal. The war party arrives, but the brothers escape into the darkness.

Source:
Kaska Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.30, No.118, pp. 427-473
October-December, 1917

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The woman’s infidelity and deception lead to a tragic outcome, highlighting the destructive consequences of betrayal within familial relationships.

Cunning and Deception: The woman’s attempt to conceal her actions demonstrates the use of deceit, and her mother-in-law’s suspicions showcase the dynamics of uncovering hidden truths.

Revenge and Justice: The brothers’ decision to kill their wife as retribution for her deceit reflects themes of justice and the lengths individuals may go to restore honor or balance.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Kaska Lore

Learn more about the Kaska people

A woman had two husbands who were brothers, and their mother lived with them. [Notice the common reference to women with two husbands in Kaska. It appears also in Tahltan myths. This does not occur in any Salish stories that I have collected.] She and her mother-in-law shifted camp while her husbands went hunting. When about to make camp, she noticed that she had forgotten her needle-case in the last camp, and she went back for it. On her return she fell in with a war-party of many men, who intended to attack her people. They had connection with her until she became quite exhausted. They told her not to tell the people, gave her a lot of ptarmigan, and let her go. She carried the birds to camp and gave them to her mother-in-law.

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The latter asked her how she came by them, and she told her that she had killed them with stones. The old woman examined them, and saw that they had been killed with arrows. She said to her daughter-in-law, “Get some water for your husbands; they will be coming home soon.” When she had returned with the water, she immediately lay down and slept, for she was very tired. Just when the men were coming, the old woman spilled the water, then woke up her daughter-in-law and sent her for more water. She noticed that she was very lame. While she was gone, the woman showed the birds to her sons, who at once knew there was something wrong. They had brought home some fat caribou meat. They told their mother they would have a last big feed together, and that when the meal was finished she must go out and try to escape. They cooked and ate a hearty meal. When the repast was over, the old woman took the pails, pretending that she was going for water. She left the camp, and ran off into the woods. The men built up a huge fire so as to intensify the darkness surrounding it. They then attacked and killed their wife, because she had deceived them. The war-party heard her cries and rushed into the camp. The brothers ran out in the darkness and escaped. This is why since then women have been deceitful and hide their actions and wrong doings.

The man who cohabited with his sister

A man becomes infatuated with his sister, neglecting his wives and children. He kills his sister’s husband, hoards food for her, and lets his family starve. Suspicious, his elder wife discovers the affair and the murder. She avenges by killing the sister and, with her co-wife, later kills their husband, ending his betrayal and restoring balance.

Source:
Kaska Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.30, No.118, pp. 427-473
October-December, 1917

► Themes of the story

Family Dynamics: The narrative centers on complex familial relationships, including a man living with his two wives (who are sisters) and his illicit relationship with his own sister.

Love and Betrayal: The man’s infatuation with his sister leads him to betray his family, resulting in deceit and treachery.

Revenge and Justice: The elder wife, upon discovering her husband’s actions, exacts revenge by killing his sister and, eventually, the man himself, restoring a sense of justice.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Kaska Lore

Learn more about the Kaska people

A man lived in one place with his two wives, who were sisters. The elder had four children, and the younger none. In another place not far away lived his sister, who was married to a brother of his wives. The man always killed plenty of marmots, and the family were well provided for. After a time he brought home no marmots, and the family began to be hungry. He had become enamoured of his sister, who was a young girl, and he visited her constantly. He killed his sister’s husband (brother to his wives), cut his body open, and defecated inside. He brought all the meat to his sister, and none to his family, for he wished them to starve to death. He claimed that he had bad luck and could get no game.

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Sometimes he was away as long as five nights, and returned without anything. The women managed to live by snaring ground-squirrels. They noticed that their husband was always fat and contented-looking, and he never slept with them. They became suspicious, and one day the elder wife followed him. When he was out of sight, she ran; and when in sight, she lay and watched. She took advantage of the nature of the ground, and followed him until §he saw him enter his sister’s camp. She hid and watched until she saw him leave the camp for the purpose of visiting his marmot-traps. He was dressed in new clothes, while, when he came home to them, he always wore old ragged clothes. When he was out of sight, she approached the camp, and, in passing by the place where they got water, she saw the defiled body of her brother lying there. She entered the camp, and saw much meat there. She said to her sister-in-law, “Oh, you are well off! Your husband must be a good hunter, for you have plenty of meat on hand. Our husband cannot get anything, and we are starving.” Her sister-in-law then cooked some liver for her, although there was an abundance of good meat in the camp. After eating, she said to her sister-in-law, “I think you have many lice in your head. I will louse you before I go.” The girl accepted the service, and laid her head in the woman’s lap. After lousing her a little while, the woman took the two bone scratchers which were suspended by a string around the girl’s neck, and with one in each hand ran them into the girl’s ears and killed her. She pounded up some dried meat, and filled the girl’s mouth and nostrils with it. Then, taking a pack of the best meat and fat, she went home, and fed her children with fat. When the man returned to his sister’s camp, he found her dead, and was very sorry. He took his pack of marmots to his own camp, where he said to his wives, “I have had good luck this time, and have brought you some meat; but you must make a camp for me some distance away, as I want to be alone. If I sleep with you, my bad luck may return.” His real reason was that he might be alone, and thus be able to cry without being noticed. The women made a camp for him a little ways off, arranged everything nicely, and put a block of wood under his pillow. That evening they fed the children with some roots. One of them cried for fat; and the women, fearing their husband had heard it, said, “It is roots the child means. How could he know about fat? He has never been used to eating it.” Their husband went over to his camp, and they could hear him crying. After a while he fell asleep, and they could hear him snoring. The two women then went over and clubbed him to death on the head. Before he died he cried, “You have killed my sister, and now you kill me!” (This is why men sometimes take a fancy to their sisters, and even cohabit with them. Had not this man in mythological times become enamoured of his sister, men would not do so now.)

The elder sister now proposed that they should go to where their late husband’s brother lived, and tell him what had happened. He was unmarried and lived alone. The younger sister was afraid, saying that he would kill them; but at last she agreed to go. They gathered all their meat together, and took all the marmots from the traps, and made a cache of all. Then they burned the body of their husband and departed. When they drew near their brother-in-law’s camp, the elder sister said, “I am not afraid. I don’t care if he kills me. I shall go and see him.” She went into the camp, carrying her baby on her back, and told the man of the killing of his brother and sister, giving him full details. He said to her, “You have done right. My brother did evil, and acted like a dog.” The woman told him that her sister was afraid, and remained some distance away with the children. He said, “Tell her to come in. She need not be afraid. I do not blame you for what you have done.” She went into camp with the children, and the two sisters became the wives of their brother-in-law.

War with the Swan people

A hunter’s wife is abducted by a man from the Swan people, who reside in a distant, cold land separated by a sky barrier that intermittently rises and falls. The hunter gathers a war party, constructs canoes, and pursues the abductor. They navigate through the sky’s opening and continue their journey into the Swan people’s territory.

Source:
Kaska Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.30, No.118, pp. 427-473
October-December, 1917

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The Swan people are depicted as otherworldly entities with unique abilities, interacting with humans.

Love and Betrayal: The narrative centers on the husband’s love for his wife and the betrayal he feels due to her abduction.

Trials and Tribulations: The protagonist and his companions face numerous challenges, including building canoes, enduring harsh climates, and confronting the Swan people, to achieve their objective.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Kaska Lore

Learn more about the Kaska people

Once a man had a wife who had many brothers. He hunted caribou all the time, and his wife staid in camp and prepared the meat and skins. One day when carrying caribou back-fat, and while on his way home from hunting, he heard cries from down below, near his camp. He hurried there, and found that a strange man had taken his wife. She had held on to the willows, but he had dragged her along and put her in his canoe. He was just pushing off when the husband arrived at the water-edge. The husband told the man to let him see his wife; but the man would not do this, and kept her down in the bottom of the canoe. The husband asked the stranger many questions; and the latter answered freely, for he thought there was no possibility of his ever being followed.

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He learned that the stranger was a Swan man. He belonged to the Swan people, who often stole women from the Indians. They lived in a high cold country a long distance off. Between their country and the Indian country the sky intervened; but at intervals it would rise for a short time, and then fall again on the water. At these times people could pass through from one country to the other. The man stated that there was snow in his country already, and that the winter had set in. The husband asked him how he did on the way going home. He answered, “I anchor my canoe with a stone every night, and go on in the morning.” The husband then asked him to give him something that would satisfy him for the loss of his wife, and he gave him an arrow. Then the stranger departed, never expecting that people could possibly follow him.

The husband now gathered all his own friends, his wife’s brothers and all her friends, to make up a large war-party. They made many canoes, many snowshoes, many moccasins, and many arrows and spears. They started on the track of the Swan man over the lake. At night they lashed all their canoes together and anchored them. After many days they arrived at a place where there seemed to be a hole in the sky. The sky was rising and falling at short intervals at this place. They watched a chance when the sky rose above the water, and rushed through. The sky came down and hit the last man. They thought this bad luck: so they gave this man a canoe, and sent him back.

It was summer in their own country, but on the other side of the sky it was already winter. At last they saw smoke on the shore, and came to an old camp. The people had lately left this camp, excepting two old women and a girl. [Some informants say that the women were very old and blind, and therefore not able to travel with the people.] They had gone off on their early winter hunt in the interior. The war-party hid near the camp. One old woman said to the other, “Put a stick on the fire.” She got up and pulled a log along to put it on the fire. One of the war-party, concealed in the bushes near the fire, took hold of the opposite end of the stick. He pushed it and pulled it, causing the old woman (who held on) to go backwards and forwards. The other woman laughed, saying, “Why does she go back and forth in that way?” The woman holding the log made a sign to her to keep quiet, and not to laugh. Then she whispered, “Maybe there is some one here. You know there was a woman stolen by our people lately.”

The war-party now cached their canoes, put on their snowshoes, and followed the people’s tracks. They intended to kill the old women on their return. The Swan people were still travelling every day, the men hunting, and the women dragging the toboggans and making the camps. The captive woman had not slept with her new husband yet. She always lingered behind, dragging her toboggan; and when she cut brush for the camp, she always did so back on the trail. An old woman also followed behind, being unable to drag her toboggan as fast as the others.

The husband who had lost his wife was chief of the war-party. After a number of days they caught up with the Swan people, and the chief went ahead to reconnoitre. He saw his wife cutting brush, and he stopped. She came back along the trail, and saw him. She was glad, and about to rush towards him; but he said to her, “Don’t come near me, only speak! We are famished. Can you get food for us?” The old woman was not far away, and she had much meat in her toboggan. The captive woman went to her, and told her how her axe had broken, and that she wanted some sinew to tie the stone to the handle again. The old woman said, “Go to my toboggan and take out some sinew.” She went there, and took out meat and replaced it with brush. She then hauled the meat back to the war-party. Again she hauled back brush to camp, and told the old woman her axe had broken again. The old woman told her to take some more sinew, and she took meat and carried it to the war-party. The chief (her former husband) said to her, “Tonight put fresh meat on the men’s snowshoes and on their arrow-points (and spear-points?), so that it will freeze on, and they cannot use them. In the morning a strong wind will blow, and then we shall come. Keep your husband [some people say “two husbands”] awake by playing and fooling with him until he is tired. He will then sleep soundly.”

Her new husband was chief of the Swan people. When nearly daybreak, the woman built a fire, and one man started out to hunt. Then a strong cold north wind began to blow, and nothing could be seen outside the camp except the driving snow. The war-party crept up in the storm, and the woman ran out and joined them. They attacked and killed all the people. The only one who escaped was the man who had gone hunting.

When they returned to the camp near where they had cached their canoes, they found that the two old women and the girl had changed into mice. They set out on their return journey on the lake, and came to the place where sky and water met. They found that the sky had frozen to the water, and that they were barred by what seemed a wall of ice. All the shamans and the animals tried to make a passage through, but without result. The Lynx jumped at the ice wall, trying to make a hole with his nose, and drove it back into his face. This is why he has now such a short blunt nose. At last Weasel made a hole and passed through; the next animal, a little bigger, enlarged the hole and went through; and thus they enlarged the hole, a bigger animal passing through each time. At last the moose went through, and then they took the canoes through. The party then travelled back the way they had come, and reached home in safety.

Now the Mice women in Swan land travelled into the interior to find their people. The girl with the old women was sister to the man who had gone hunting and thus escaped death. They found his tracks and followed him; but he always kept ahead of them, and camped alone. They could not overtake him. The old women had a dog that could speak like a person. This dog always went forward to the hunter’s camp, and brought back meat for the women and the girl. Thus they continued journeying until they reached a large camp of Swan people who were their friends. The hunter would not camp with them, however, because his sister (the Mouse girl) was pregnant, and he was ashamed. He had never had connection with her, so he was much ashamed when people said he was the father of his sister’s child. He became so much ashamed that he committed suicide. (Here follows the child story, which I did not record.)

The rival husbands

A strong man takes another’s wife but fails to provide for her and her children. The original husband, though poor, eventually hunts successfully, bringing back meat for his starving children. The stronger man, unable to match this feat, returns the wife, acknowledging his inadequacy. This story highlights themes of true capability and responsibility.

Source:
The Beaver Indians
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 4
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The narrative centers on a man who takes another’s wife, leading to complex interpersonal dynamics and feelings of betrayal.

Family Dynamics: The story highlights the struggles of a father striving to provide for his children amidst challenging circumstances.

Cunning and Deception: One character deceives others by pretending to have hunted successfully, using blood from his nose and arranged pine brush to simulate a kill.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Once there was a man who, although poor was strong. There was a married man, camped by himself who was not so strong. Having lost his wife to the stronger man, he said to himself, “Why is it he does not kill anything? They will kill my children.” He continued living with them in the same camp. The man who had taken the wife away hunted a good deal but did not kill anything. Although the children were about to die of starvation he paid no attention to them. The other man who had always been poor hunted but did not kill anything. Finally, the grandmother of the children said to her son-in-law, “It seems as if your children will starve. Why do you not do something about it?” “Well, get my arrows out,” he replied to his mother-in-law.

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He hunted along one side of the road until he came to a band of caribou. He killed them all and carried a large quantity of the meat back with him for the children. The poor man who shared the camp with him had said he would move the camp to a considerable distance. The father went back to the road which he followed. He had already passed the new camp. They had not gone further than he had in hunting. Suddenly, he saw the tent standing in front of him. He put the load down outside and went in without it. “Mother-in-law, you will find some partridge dung over there from which you can make some soup for the children,” he said. “I brought it for that purpose; bring it inside.” His partner spoke up, “I saw it lying there and left it. Do not get it, for my children will choke on it.” The old woman brought the load in, and when the other man saw it was meat he was much pleased. They went for the remainder of the meat.

The other man went away hunting the next morning and came home in the evening. His leggings were covered with frozen blood. He did not bring back meat but said they would go for it in the morning. When they came where he claimed to have killed the animals it was apparent the caribou had run away from him. The blood on his leggings was from his nose. He had broken pine brush and covered it with snow thinking it would be mistaken for caribou carcasses. “What is the matter; it is nothing but pine brush. He said it was caribou meat,” the father of the children said when he saw it.

They went back and the man who had taken the wife away gave her back, for he concluded he was not capable enough around the camp to have the responsibility of a wife. They say he was that kind of a man.

This happened when they were wearing breechcloths of skin.