A description of primitive life

The narrative discusses the challenging existence of the Beaver Indians before contact with white settlers. They relied on snares, bows, and arrows for hunting, and crafted tools from natural materials like moose horn and beaver teeth due to the absence of iron. Fire was made by striking stones together, and shelters were constructed manually. Food scarcity often led to near-starvation conditions, highlighting their resilience in a harsh environment.

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

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The Dane-zaa people’s struggle against natural forces to secure food and resources.

Cultural Heroes: The reference to “the one who made this world” suggests foundational figures or deities influencing their way of life.

Sacred Objects: The use of specific tools and methods, such as beaver teeth and moose horn chisels, which may hold cultural significance.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Formerly, before white people were known, they were living in a miserable way. They were making their living with snares and bows and arrows. They used a piece of horn to chisel for beaver, and it was a very miserable way. There was no iron at that time, and the beaver chisels were made of moose horn. That they might see the beaver under the ice, they made shovels of wood to remove the snow. When they had no iron, they used beaver teeth [The teeth were left attached to the jawbone. Petitot has a story of a giant who had the teeth of a giant beaver for a knife.] The one who made this world told us it would be that way. They made fire by rubbing two stones together with dry grass rubbed fine for tinder. They made their houses and firewood with their hands.

► Continue reading…

They made knives by rubbing stones sharp, with which they cut the meat they ate.

They say that living that way the people were near starvation. They were close to dead people, living that way. When they had no meat in their bellies, they used to put pine brush under their belts. There was nothing inside of them, and the brush enabled them to breathe without bending.

When, at first, they were living with snares, they used to put trees in a row, leaving a passageway between. When the moose passed along there, they were caught in the snares. When they had no combs they made combs of pine-brush.

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

A man finds beaver in small places

A man boasts about his ability to catch beavers even in confined spaces. He enlists companions to help drive muskrats and beavers into a small area for an easy hunt. Despite their efforts, the beaver eludes them. Eventually, after enduring hunger, they discover a stick and find the beaver sitting nearby, leading to a successful hunt that pleases everyone.

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

Quest: The man’s journey to hunt beavers and muskrats represents a pursuit to achieve a specific goal.

Cunning and Deception: The man uses strategic methods to outsmart and capture the animals, reflecting the use of wit to achieve his objectives.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative centers on the man’s struggle against natural creatures, highlighting the challenges humans face when interacting with the natural world.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

One man went to get beaver. “I should be able to kill beaver even in very small places,” he said to himself. He went back and asked someone to go with him after beaver and muskrats. He said they could go behind and drive the muskrats ahead so they might kill them in a small beaver place and eat them all up. They went there and started after them and the muskrats ran off ahead of them. When he came back there again the men were sitting at the small beaver place. “We will eat it all up,” he said. “We will make a hole under his food and go in there. Far up there they came to the end. They looked for him there but he was not to be found. Then one man went into a minkskin and looked for him.

► Continue reading…

Then he found him and started after him. There at the end he pushed the wood out. He went home again.

Then they were very hungry. “Go look for some sticks,” he told them. They looked for them and found a stick. When they were looking for it they saw the beaver sitting. They killed them all. The people were pleased.

A man and his wife alone escape the Cree

In a time of famine, a group of Beaver people hurried to a lake, hoping to find fish. Upon arrival, they were ambushed by the Cree, who killed all except one nearly starved man. He reunited with his wife, and they hid in the snow for four days without fire. When the man returned to the lake, he found the bodies of his slain people.

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

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The couple endures extreme conditions, sleeping in the snow without fire, highlighting their struggle against the harsh natural environment.

War and Peace: The story centers around the violent conflict with the Cree, resulting in the massacre of the man’s community.

Community and Isolation: Following the attack, the couple finds themselves isolated, being the sole survivors of their community.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

At first the people were starving. One man was nearly starved. They were hurrying to the lake for fish. “We will get to the fish by tomorrow,” they said. When they came down to the lake the Cree were there and killed them all except the miserable man. He was the only one that survived. He had started back after his wife and met her when she was nearly to the lake. He called to her to come to him. She went there and they cleared away the snow and lay down and slept four days without a fire. When the sun rose they got up and the man started over to the lake. Out on it was a black spot which proved to be the bodies of the people who had been killed. Not one of the Beaver was alive.

► Continue reading…

A man, frightened by his wife, kills swimming caribou

A man and his wife face starvation due to a lack of caribou. When two caribou appear swimming across a lake, the man initially hesitates to hunt them. His wife’s desperate gestures prompt him to overcome his fear, successfully kill the caribou, and provide sustenance for them both. The man briefly distances himself but eventually returns to his wife.

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

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The man engages in a struggle to hunt caribou, highlighting the challenges humans face against natural forces.

Family Dynamics: The interaction between the man and his wife, especially his fear and subsequent actions, underscores complex marital relationships.

Trials and Tribulations: The couple faces the hardship of potential starvation, representing the broader theme of enduring and overcoming life’s challenges.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man and his wife were sitting where the caribou cross the lake. It looked as if they would starve to death. There were no caribou. Then suddenly there were two caribou swimming across. He had a canoe there into which he went and started to paddle toward the caribou. He did not paddle long and did not kill them, but turned around and started to paddle back. “What is the matter?” his wife said to herself. She was very hungry. He was paddling close to her. “What is the matter? We were about to die before; now we cannot live,” the woman was thinking. The deer were swimming over there in the middle of the lake. The man was paddling close and she spread her legs toward him. He was afraid and paddled away from her.

► Continue reading…

He really left her and killed the caribou, and they blew ashore where the woman was sitting. The woman sat there, but the man was gone; he was far away. “I think he deserted me,” she said to herself. She did not know where the people were and feared she would die. Then he came back to her.

A man saves his parents-in-law from starving

In a time of famine, a man noticed his mother-in-law lagging behind due to hunger. He instructed her to wait and, after making noises to distract her, hunted and killed two moose. Meanwhile, his father-in-law had also hunted a bear. Reuniting, they sustained themselves with the meat and later rejoined their group, who had moved on and were suffering from starvation.

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

Sacrifice: The son-in-law prioritizes the well-being of his parents-in-law, sharing his hunted meat to ensure their survival during a famine.

Community and Isolation: The son-in-law and his parents-in-law are isolated from the larger group, highlighting themes of familial bonds and the dynamics of community support versus abandonment.

Conflict with Nature: The struggle to find food and survive against the backdrop of a harsh, unforgiving natural environment underscores this theme.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

One time the people were starving and were traveling where there was a cache. One old woman was so hungry she sat down. Her son-in-law on ahead knew that his mother-in-law had sat down. His brother was far away. “Sit here and wait for me,” he said to her. “If I go in the timber, and if you hear something do not pay any attention to it.” Her son-in-law made a noise by breaking a stick, but she did not go to him. She could almost see her son-in-law, who was making a noise with his bowstring. He had killed two cow moose. His father-in-law had been sitting over there with his wife. The son-in-law went again to bring the meat. His father-in-law who had killed a bear, had also gone for the meat. They met each other there and traveled on happily.

► Continue reading…

Because the other people had deserted them, they did not follow after them. They lived happily where they were, using the meat of the animals which they had killed for food. Some time after, they followed the remainder of the band, and came to the cache. The meat was gone. These first comers moved away again, but they did not succeed in killing anything and they nearly died of starvation. Those who came last had meat, but they did net share with those who came first to the cache.

A young man carries about fire all winter

In a sub-arctic tale, a young man, lacking proper fire-starting tools, carries embers throughout winter. After discarding partridge feet post-meal, he later, starving, consumes them. A partridge appears in his dream, chastising his pride and predicting future abundance. The next evening, he discovers a fatally frozen moose beneath the snow, providing ample sustenance and teaching him humility.

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

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The young man struggles against the harsh winter conditions, facing challenges such as scarcity of food and the necessity to carry fire for survival.

Dreams and Visions: A partridge visits the young man in his sleep, delivering a message that foretells an improvement in his circumstances, which subsequently comes true.

Loss and Renewal: The young man experiences a period of deprivation and near-death, followed by a renewal of fortune when he discovers the moose, providing him with ample sustenance.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Obtained in English from Ike through John Bourassa

There was a young man who went around alone one winter. He had neglected to provide himself with the proper stones for making fire before the snow came and covered them up. He was therefore obliged to carry fire with him wherever he went. He was without food and starving one night when he killed a partridge. He scraped away the snow, built a fire, and cooked the partridge. He ate the bird and when he had finished dropped the feet in the snow behind him.

The next day he went on and wandered about for many days without being able to kill anything. Finally, he came back to the same place and cleared away the snow for a fire. As the fire melted the snow away he saw the discarded partridge feet. He then recognized his former camping place.

► Continue reading…

He picked up the feet and ate them. That night a partridge came to him in his sleep and said, “You were proud. You were too proud to eat my feet as other people do, but now you want to have them. You are miserable and about to die, but from now on you will be all right. By tomorrow night you will have plenty to eat. The next day he went about thinking all day long he would find some game as had been promised. Night came without his having had a chance to kill anything. He moved the snow away and built his fire against a drift that the heat might be reflected toward him. He sat there wondering that an animal should deceive him by making a promise that had not been fulfilled. As the fire grew hot he heard a sound like the frying of grease. He kept pushing the fire together and as he did so the sound was heard again. He finally noticed the drift of snow covered a moose which had been killed in the fall when it was fat. The fire had been built near the hips of the moose and the choicest parts were ready cooked. He had the whole moose to himself and was all right after that.

The shiftless husband

A man and his wife face starvation during winter. The husband fails to catch fish or rabbits due to his laziness, while his wife successfully provides for them by fishing and setting snares. The story explains the origin of shiftless men, suggesting that such individuals exist because of this man’s behavior.

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

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a lesson on the consequences of laziness and the virtues of hard work and responsibility.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative involves attempts to procure food from natural sources like fishing and hunting, underscoring the challenges of survival in a harsh environment.

Cultural Heroes: The wife emerges as a cultural hero by exemplifying the values of diligence and competence, ensuring the family’s survival.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man who was camping by himself ran out of food and went with his wife to a lake to get some fish. He went out on the lake and sat by his hook, but came home at night without any fish. His wife wondered what was the matter, for fish had always been taken in that lake. She told her husband that she herself would go fishing the next day. Her husband assented to this. The woman got some fish very quickly. She found her husband had not even cut a hole entirely through the ice, and that was why he had not taken any fish. The woman got a good many. The man himself had gone to set snares for rabbits but came home without any. The wife wondered why he hadn’t caught any, for rabbits were plentiful.

► Continue reading…

“I will go to look after your snares tomorrow,” she told him. “All right,” he said, “you look after my snares.” She found he had merely cleared away the snow on the top of the mountain and sat there all day. He had set two of the snares and thrown the remainder down in the snow. She gathered them up and set them. She caught many rabbits which she took home with her. The man had spent the day fishing but had not caught any fish, for he had not gotten the hook into the water.

Now the woman suspected what sort he was. If it had not been for his wife he would have starved. They lived through the winter because of the woman’s effort. He was not a manlike fellow and had concluded he could not live anyway.

When the point of the story was asked for, the informant said this man was the first of such men. Because he was a shiftless man we still have them.

The hunting fetish

A hunter, weakened by starvation, struggled as moose consistently evaded him. He possessed a small moose figurine, believed to be part of his own flesh, gifted by a moose to bring good luck. Despite using this charm, the moose remained elusive. In despair, he buried the figurine in the snow and succumbed to hunger. It’s believed he offended the moose, leading to his demise.

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

Divine Punishment: The man’s death is a consequence of angering the moose, suggesting retribution from a higher power.

Sacred Objects: The moose figurine serves as a powerful artifact with mystical significance in hunting.

Conflict with Nature: The man’s struggle against natural forces, represented by the elusive moose, leads to his starvation.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man was starving and it seemed he could not live. He was dying of hunger because the moose detected his presence before he could get up to them. They knew he was a powerful man. He was so weak he could not walk very far.

He came where there were some moose but before he could shoot them they rushed off. He had a little moose, an image, that used to sit on him. He pulled that out and waved it in front of the moose, but they took no notice of it and continued to run off. He put the little moose under the snow and himself died immediately.

► Continue reading…

The little moose was the same as his own flesh. They say he was using it to hunt with at the time when people were hunting with arrows. Because a moose liked the man it took out its own little one and put it in the man’s body and that gave him good luck. He must have angered the moose and because of that he died of hunger. They say that was the way it happened. [The last paragraph was obtained in response to a question as to the meaning of the story.]

The loaned hunting dog

An old man owned a hunting dog, which was actually a wolf adept at hunting moose. A young man borrowed the dog but ignored instructions to reward it with the moose’s tongue, offering the liver instead. Angered, the dog killed the young man. The old man lamented his loss, but the dog eventually returned, and they continued hunting together.

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

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts the importance of following instructions and respecting established customs.

Conflict with Nature: The young man’s failure to adhere to natural laws or customs leads to his demise.

Ancestral Spirits: The old man’s relationship with the wolf-dog may symbolize a connection to ancestral knowledge or guidance.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

An old man had a hunting dog which was very good for moose. That was because it was not an ordinary dog but a wolf. A young man saw a moose track, but did not succeed in killing the moose. He came to the old man and said, “Grandfather, I saw a moose track, lend me your dog and I will go after it.” “My dog is mean,” the old man replied, “you must promise to treat the dog exactly as I tell you.”

The young man agreed to do so. “If you kill a moose the first thing you must do is to give the dog the end of the tongue. He is only pleased when I do that. You must do the same. Do not fail to do as I do, my grandson.”

► Continue reading…

The young man went hunting with the dog and killed a moose. Instead of doing as the old man had told him he cut off the liver and threw it to the dog. The dog was angry and did not eat the liver but went off and left it there. The young man cut up the moose and started home. Being thirsty he went to get a drink. The dog which was lying there jumped on the man as he drank and disemboweled him, killing him. He ate all the man’s ribs.

Neither the man nor the dog returned. The Indians at the camp were going to bed, but the old man said, “There must be some reason my dog is not here. He has been howling and he does not do that without some reason. I told the young man repeatedly not to treat the dog in any way differently from the way I treat him. I loaned him the dog because he asked me for him so many times. The dog has probably killed him. I fear he is not living. Look for him and see if you can find out what has happened.”

They went out to look for him and came upon his tracks where he had been approaching the camp. They saw his body lying there in front of them. The dog had killed him. The dog was not there and they did not know where he had gone.

The old man who had been living by the dog’s aid said, “How shall I live? The dog with which I got my living has left me alone.” He was much displeased. He called the dog and the next morning it came back to him. He lived with the help of the dog again. The dog did not kill the old man who was able to live on good meat again. They say that was a very good dog.

They tell this story about the time the world was beginning.

Thunderbirds

In Dane-zaa lore, thunderbirds inhabit high mountains, nesting on elevated hills where they clear surrounding timber. Visible only to those with strong supernatural abilities, these formidable creatures are feared by others, as they can attack and kill those who approach without such powers. Despite their strength, “earth’s roots” are believed to be more powerful. Thunderbirds are described as being about the size of jackpine partridges.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The Thunderbirds themselves are powerful entities that reside on high mountains and possess the ability to destroy timber and attack humans.

Conflict with Nature: The Thunderbirds’ capacity to tear twisted trees apart and the danger they pose to humans highlight a struggle against formidable natural forces.

Sacred Spaces: The high mountains where the Thunderbirds dwell are considered perilous and are accessible only to those with significant supernatural power, indicating these locations hold spiritual significance.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

They breed where there is a high hill. They destroy all the timber where they make their nest. They live on every high mountain. The places where they live are dangerous. Only men with strong supernatural power can see them. Those are the only ones who know where they live. As soon as a person who has nothing of that kind (supernatural power) comes near, they attack him. The people who do not see them are afraid of them. They say they can kill a man because they are strong. “Earth’s roots” are the only things which are stronger than they are. They tear twisted trees to pieces. In reply to a question the informant added that the thunderbirds are about as large as the jackpine partridges. He said his father used to go to see the thunderbirds.

► Continue reading…