Fournier’s grandfather’s supernatural power

In midwinter, a Beaver tribe faced starvation near Hay River. A surviving group sought help from a renowned medicine man, who vowed to ensure his relatives would never struggle to find game. He erected a painted medicine pole and sang, causing a thunderstorm and heavy snowfall. The snow buried the moose, leaving only their heads exposed, making them easy prey. As the snow melted, flooding allowed beavers to gnaw the tops of tall cottonwood trees along Hay River.

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

Magic and Enchantment: The medicineman’s ritual invokes supernatural forces to alter the environment, demonstrating the influence of higher powers in mortal affairs.

Conflict with Nature: The community faces the challenges of starvation due to harsh winter conditions and scarcity of game, highlighting their struggle against natural forces.

Sacred Spaces: The creation and use of the medicine pole serve as a focal point for the ritual, indicating a location of spiritual significance.

► 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 Fournier through John Bourassa. The informant was in his grandfather’s camp and remembers this incident well.

The informant’s father’s father was a great medicineman. A party of Beaver were traveling in midwinter beyond Hay River toward the Rocky Mountains. A band had been separated from the main party and through bad luck in hunting the men had all starved. The surviving women and children came to the grandfather’s camp. The old man, displeased because some of his relatives in this band had died, said he would make medicine so that none of his relatives would have trouble in killing all the game they wanted to eat. He made a medicine pole, painted it, and set it up. He had a man stand beside the pole and made it as high as the man. He then began to sing, and although it was the middle of the winter it thundered and began to snow. The snow fell until it was as high as the top of the pole. Then they could kill all the game they needed. Just the heads of the moose were sticking out of the snow and they could be killed with spears. When the snow melted the water was so high that the beaver gnawed the tops of the tallest Cottonwood trees along Hay River.

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A magician spends a winter in a lake

A man, believing in his supernatural abilities, requests to be placed in a sack and submerged in a lake through an ice hole. He remains underwater throughout the winter, surviving until the snow melts, when he is retrieved alive. Others who attempted this feat often perished, indicating that only those with significant supernatural power could endure such trials.

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

Magic and Enchantment: The man’s belief in his supernatural powers and his survival suggest influence beyond the natural realm.

Trials and Tribulations: Enduring an entire winter submerged in a lake represents a significant test of endurance and faith in his abilities.

Conflict with Nature: The act of immersing oneself in a frozen lake for an extended period highlights a direct confrontation with natural elements.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man was put in a sack which was then lowered into a lake through a hole which had been cut in the ice. The man to whom it was done had said, “Do that to me.” He thought he had supernatural power to endure that. The others kept watch while he sat in the water all winter until the snow was nearly melted. They saw he was still alive and took him out.

Some who tried to do that died and others lived. Those who were not very powerful supernaturally, died. Many who did such things to each other died. Before white people came there was no sickness. At first they died only when they were using supernatural power on each other.

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Watc’agic kills the dancing birds

A man with birds as brothers encounters a flock and offers to share his songs if they dance with their eyes closed. As he drums, the birds dance blindly, allowing him to secretly kill them one by one. The man remains unafraid, knowing all animals are his kin.

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

Trickster: The protagonist employs cunning and deceit to outsmart the birds, convincing them to dance with their eyes shut, which leads to their demise.

Conflict with Nature: The man engages in a struggle against natural creatures, in this case, the birds, resulting in their death.

Moral Lessons: The tale may serve as a cautionary story about trust and the potential dangers of deception.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Once a man who had all kinds of birds for his brothers was traveling. He came along where there were very many birds about. When they saw this man carrying something on his back one of them asked, “Brother, what are you carrying?” “They are my songs,” he replied. “Sing them for us, brother; and we will dance,” said the bird. “Those who dance to my songs must keep their eyes shut,” the man said. “We will do as you say,” the birds agreed. “Wait, I will build a dancing camp for you,” the man said. When he had the camp ready he said, “Now, come on and dance.” The man was drumming for the birds who were dancing with closed eyes. He was wringing the necks of the birds without the other birds discovering it. There were many of them and he killed them all. That man was not afraid of anything because all the animals were his brothers.

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A man turns into a squirrel and escapes from a bear

A man is pursued by a large bear and seeks refuge in a tree. When the bear climbs after him, the man transforms into a squirrel, leaps to another tree, and descends safely. He then gathers wood, ignites a fire at the base of the bear’s tree, causing the bear to burn and fall. The man reverts to his human form and escapes unharmed.

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

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes a physical change by turning into a squirrel to escape the bear.

Conflict with Nature: The man faces a life-threatening encounter with a bear, representing a struggle against natural forces.

Cunning and Deception: The man uses cleverness to outwit the bear, first by transforming and then by setting a trap.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man lay down for the night by a river where there was a trail with the prints of animals’ feet. He heard a big noise made by a large bear. He ran to it and then he ran away from it. There was nothing he could do and he could not get away from the bear. He climbed a tree and the bear jumped up and climbed until he was not far below him. The bear was so big and fat he could not climb higher and he would not go away. The man was worn out for sleep and he could not go down for he was afraid of the bear which was watching him. “What can I do?” he said to himself. He turned himself into a squirrel and jumped far over to another tree which was standing there.

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He ran to the trunk of that tree and went down without the bear which was sitting high up in the tree knowing it. The man gathered many knots and brought them on his back to the foot of the tree and set them on fire. The fire shot high up the tree and set it on fire. The bear was big and could not do anything. He began to burn and fell down. He became a man again and ran off. That is the way he avoided being killed.

A man marries the daughter of a bird

A solitary man encounters a small man with two daughters and marries one. The father-in-law invites him to hunt “moose,” which are actually birds called tsebise. Confused, the man kills two owls in anger. Later, he hunts real moose, but the father-in-law, frightened by their size, flees, revealing that the “moose” he referred to were indeed birds.

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 protagonist’s hunting experiences and the differing perceptions of animals highlight a struggle or misunderstanding between humans and the natural world.

Family Dynamics: The relationship between the man and his father-in-law, including their misunderstandings and interactions, showcases complex familial relationships.

Cultural Heroes: The protagonist’s actions and experiences may reflect foundational narratives within the Beaver Indian culture, portraying him as a cultural hero.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

There was a man who was traveling around alone. At first he did not come where there were any people, but after a time he came where there was a small man living by himself who had two daughters. He was given one of these for a wife and lived there with them.

“There are some moose that live over here,” the small man said to his son-in-law one day, “let us go over there.” They went over there. He was living on birds only. “You stand here and watch that big tree and I will drive the game to you,” the father-in-law said. The Beaver was watching there supposing it was moose that was meant.

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Not long after, some birds flew by, but he paid no attention to them. After that his father-in-law ran up and asked where they were. “I did not see any moose, only some birds flew by,” the man replied. Those birds are called tsebise and stay here all winter. “You say only birds passed. Those are the ones. They are moose,” the father-in-law said.

Then the young man was angry and went back into the woods. Two owls had lighted there, and he went to them and killed them both. He was angry. He brought them to the old man and threw them at him. The head of one of the owls fell in the fork of a stick. The old man tried in vain to lift it out and when he could not, he cut it up where it lay. He told the son-in-law to go home and tell his mother-in-law to come after the meat quickly. When he came home he told them, “Go after the meat quickly, he tells you.” They went there and brought the meat back. They made a soup of the owl’s head. The old man said to his son, “Go and tell your brother-in-law to come here and eat the head soup.” When he told his brother-in-law that, he replied that he hated the water of owls’ eyes. “I will not go there,” he said. The old man was angry about it.

The next morning the large man went hunting and killed two real moose. They went out for the meat and the old man went out behind them. The moose had not yet been cut up, and when he saw the moose he was afraid and ran away. “It is the large animal that eats people he means,” the old man said and then he ran away from it. Those are the birds one sees around here which stay all winter. They say those birds were men at first.

A man is carried away by a giant bird

A man is abducted by a giant bird and taken to its nest. The bird’s offspring hides him from its father. When the birds sleep during the day, the man escapes, gathers wood, and sets the tree ablaze, causing the birds’ wings to burn. They fall to the ground and become beings that frighten 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

Supernatural Beings: The giant bird represents a supernatural entity interacting with the human world.

Conflict with Nature: The man’s struggle against the giant bird and his subsequent actions highlight a direct confrontation with a natural force.

Cunning and Deception: The man’s cleverness in escaping and defeating the bird by setting its nest on fire showcases the use of wit to overcome adversity.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

A man was walking one time at night when suddenly something caught him and took him up toward the sky. The man wondered what had happened. He was carried to a large nest which was resting in a tree. The bird in the nest took good care of him and did not kill him. After the bird which had brought him had gone away and when it was nearly daylight another bird came back. “How does it happen you smell of a man?” this bird said to the young one in the nest. “I should smell of a man when one was brought here for me to eat,” the young one replied. He hid the man so well from his father that he could not find him. The birds slept during the daytime and the man came safely down to the ground.

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He gathered a great quantity of knots and dry wood which he placed at the foot of the tree. He set this pile on fire and the tree caught fire high up where the birds were sitting. Their wings were all burned and they fell down. After that they walked around on the ground. Before that they were the things that frighten people.

Crow monopolizes the game

A famine strikes as game animals vanish. Crow remains well-fed, arousing suspicion. Nighthawk discovers that Crow has hidden the animals underground. The people confront Crow, eventually releasing the animals. To make hunting difficult, Crow covers the animals with bones, forcing hunters to target their noses. Later, Crow adds ribs to the animals, shaping their current form.

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

Trickster: Crow embodies the trickster archetype by cunningly hiding the animals and manipulating their forms, impacting the people’s survival.

Conflict with Nature: The people struggle against the unnatural disappearance of game animals, leading to famine and a direct confrontation with Crow to restore balance.

Cosmic Order and Chaos: Crow’s actions disrupt the natural order, leading to chaos in the form of famine, which is eventually addressed by the people’s intervention to restore balance.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Once, as winter was coming on, the people were dying of famine for the game animals had all disappeared from that region. Crow was not generally about with the remainder of the people but when he did visit them he appeared to be well fed and happy. The others agreed that they would watch him when he went home but when they tried it, one after the other was forced to give it up because it grew dark where Crow was going along. Telocye, nighthawk, was the last one who could still see him. When he too was about to lose sight of Crow he asked to have dust thrown in front of his eyes. When this was done the nighthawk could still see.[This was because twilight, when the nighthawk could see best, was imitated.]

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“He disappears into the ground twice and beyond that I cannot see him,” Nighthawk reported. When asked if he could follow him he said he thought he could, so they all set out to find where Crow lived.

When they came there they found Crow had driven all the animals into the earth and had shut them up. That was the reason no animals had been seen. They attacked Crow but he fought back with a club and it was not an easy victory. The door behind which the animals were confined was made of fat. They were trying to tear it down so the animals might come out. Crow tried in vain to club the people back for one of them finally succeeded in breaking down the door. The animals all came out. “They are smart animals,” he said to himself. The animals all came out, but Crow found a way to make it difficult to kill them. He threw among them bones from which all the meat had been scraped. Again they were in trouble, for the animals were covered all over with bone and the only way they could be killed was to beat them on the nose until the blood vessels burst and they bled to death. The people were still dying of famine, and Crow himself was hungry. Then he made ribs and threw them among the animals. Because he did that the animals now have ribs.

This story belongs to the time when the world was being established.

The orphan boy kills beaver

In a time of famine, an orphaned boy and his sister discover a beaver lake. The boy asks his sister to cut a hole in the ice and make him willow arrows. He successfully spears many beavers, providing food for their people. Later, as starvation looms again, the boy’s anger leads him to consume a beaver leg, after which he kills more beavers, ensuring their survival.

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 sister’s dedication to her brother, carrying him and assisting in his endeavors, exemplifies personal sacrifice for a loved one.

Conflict with Nature: The act of hunting beavers in a frozen environment highlights the struggle against natural elements to secure food.

Family Dynamics: The close relationship between the orphaned siblings, with the sister taking on a parental role, underscores the complexities of familial bonds in challenging circumstances.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

There was a young girl and her younger brother whose father and mother had died. The girl raised her brother. Once when the people were dying of starvation they came where there was a beaver lake as they were moving about. The boy’s sister was carrying a load on her back. [Perhaps this sentence should mean she was carrying her brother on her back.] The boy asked his sister to cut a hole through the ice for him so he might fish there. He also asked her to make him some arrows of a willow, saying he would try to get some fish. She was also to build a fire on the shore. To all this she gave her assent. They went to the bank and sat by a fire for a time. Then he started again to the lake where he stuck his arrows into the water and speared many beaver which he pulled out and killed with a club.

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He went back to his sister and asked her to bring the beaver for him. She went for them and brought them to the fire where she singed them. Then she started out after the other people carrying the singed beaver and her brother. The boy sat on his sister’s back working at the beaver. As she was carrying him along there someone saw him. They ran up to him. His sister put him down. The people took all the beaver tails from him.

After that they were again dying of starvation. The boy was angry. He ate the leg of a beaver because he was angry. Starvation was killing them and they sent for him. He defecated and again he killed many beaver They lived all right after that.

Agait’osdunne, the hair scrapings man

An old woman discovers a mysterious child among hair scrapings. She raises him, noticing his rapid growth and peculiar behavior, including transforming into a buffalo at night. The boy aids his starving relatives by providing beaver meat and later, as a buffalo, leads them to a successful hunt. His actions bring prosperity to his 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

Creation: The tale begins with the mysterious appearance of a child among hair scrapings, suggesting a unique origin or birth.

Supernatural Beings: The boy’s extraordinary abilities and origins point to interactions with or the existence of supernatural entities.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative includes elements of humans struggling against natural forces, such as starvation and the need to hunt for survival.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

One time when many people were camping about they heard a child cry where they had been dressing hides. All the women ran to the place. When they did not find the child they took up the hairs of the scrapings one at a time and put them to one side. There was nothing there. Then an old woman went there and found a child crawling among the scrapings. She took the child up and put it in her mitten.

She took care of it after that and it became large very quickly and was soon walking about. He became a person from the buffalo. “Grandmother bring me only grass,” he said to her. She brought him grass for a bed. During the night it all disappeared.

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“He is always doing such things,” she said to herself. When she lay down again she watched him through a hole in her blanket. She saw him get up and shake himself and immediately become a buffalo. “Why did I do this?” she said to herself and lay down again under her blanket. “So this is what you are doing,” she thought. After that she took good care of him.

Once the Indians were all chiseling out beaver. “I will watch them,” the boy thought and went where they were eating the beaver meat. When he saw the meat, he reached to take some a man was offering him. The man pulled it back again, fooling the boy. He was very angry. One old man gave him something to eat. After the Indians had gone he picked up a beaver leg and swallowed it, saying, “You will not kill beaver until I pass this bone.”

After that his grandmother traveled alone with the children behind the main band who were starving. Her nephews were starving; they were having a hard time. “Grandmother, I will fish with a hook and line. There are fish here in this old beaver pond,” he said. She cut a hole in the ice for him. “I will fish here,” he said. She went over where he was fishing. He took out a large beaver. He pushed a stick into the water and caught four beaver which he killed with a club. “Grandmother, there are four fish down there which I have killed,” he said to her. His grandmother went there and found he had killed four large beaver. She carried them back and put them by the fireplace. They ate beaver meat. “Grandmother, give me the mesentric membrane,” he said. She did as he requested.

Then his grandmother took him on her back and carried him after the other Indians. When the advance party saw the mesentric membrane he had in his hand they acted like crazy people about it. They threw down the children they were carrying to run after him. They got hold of the membrane and pulled it from side to side. This made him angry.

His uncle had set snares for beaver. He was sitting there by them and started to cry. “What is the matter?” he asked. “Kill it for me,” he said. Then he passed the leg bone of a beaver. Then all who were there, all his uncles, took out beaver.

Then they moved on ahead. Again they were starving, when someone reported having seen buffalo that did not know people were about. After the others had gone to bed he took arrows from each man and went to the buffalo. When he came near them he transformed himself into a buffalo and started to play with them. He killed them all and started back. They had a big fire ready for him and were sitting there, waiting. His grandmother was sitting on the pile of wood, crying. “Grandmother, why are you crying?” he asked. He took an arrow and held it on his bow. “One buffalo was caught in the willows. Who said this about me? Who said of me that, ‘he went along the people’s trail carrying arrows?’” he inquired. No one spoke and for that reason he did not shoot. He held two arrows by their heads, broke them, and threw them into the fire. “What did I do to your animals?” he asked them. They thought the buffalo were all ahead of them.

They started away, but one old man sat there after the others had gone. Agait’osdunne had put some buffalo fat in the fold of his blanket. He pulled that out for his grandfather. “Grandfather, the wolves killed a young buffalo. I thought I would put its fat in my pocket.” He passed it to him. “It is not young buffalo’s fat,” the old man said to himself. Then he told his grandfather that each man who knew his own arrows would know which buffalo belonged to him. His grandfather went away along the road after the others. They thought the buffalo were lying there alive and they were sitting over them ready to shoot. “.Why are you sitting there?” he asked. They thought the buffalo were still alive and they would take them all in snares. When he came to them he said, “Take the ones your arrows are sticking in.” He thought he and his grandmother would have an animal and he had left an old arrow lying on it. They stepped over that buffalo.

Agait’osdunne was very poor. The large band that camped ahead had a certain man for chief. He had a daughter no one liked. She went out one time and looking at Agait’osdunne said, “I do not like your eyes.” He was very angry because of that and after she had gone he went there and urinated.

She was very soon pregnant and gave birth to a child. “Make a medicine lodge,” the chief said. They made a medicine lodge. “The child will urinate on the man who is its father,” the chief said. They all came there where the medicine lodge stood. He disappeared now and then and then he was not about at all. [This probably refers to the spirit supposed to assist in the divination.] They did not know who could be its father. Agait’osdunne was the only one who did not go there. “Well, let everyone of the men come here,” the chief said. His grandmother was sorry for the child and liked it and for that reason went there. As soon as she took it, the child urinated. All the women then stripped the clothes from Agait’osdunne and put out his fire, but his grandmother put some fire in sinew and put it inside a pillow. They drove him away from his grandmother. “I hope when they get up they will take out the sinew,” she said. The next morning when they arose there was nothing they could do anything with. “Look inside grandmother’s pillow,” he said. She went there and found fire under the sinew where it had been left and built a fire with it.

“I wish you would make some arrows for me,” he told the woman. She made arrows for him from some poor willows. “I wish three wolves would come along here to us,” he said. Before long three wolves came there and he killed them all. The women went to them. They took hold of the wolves by their noses, rubbed them, and pulled the entire body out of the skins. Then they put on the skins with the hair still on them. “I wish thirteen caribou would come along here,” he said. They came very soon and he killed them all. They made a tipi cover of their skins. He wished again for three moose and they came. He killed them and they had the leather they needed.

He wished the others might die of starvation. For his grandmother, however, he used to drop fat along behind. “Because they did not care whether he starved or not, let them be very hungry and die of starvation,” he was thinking about them. “Well, let them come here,” he thought. They came there. He told them that before he had resolved not to get meat for them. He went away from them but before leaving, he told them that if many moose went by they were not to shoot the leader but only those following behind. Then owl, who was a person then, shot the moose that was in front. His wife took a skin and ran after him. She ran far away to him. “You are alive. You will not die quickly,” she said to him. “Roll up in the skin,” she told him. Then they beat owl with a club and that is why his head is large.

Second version. A child was heard to cry from a buffalo skin. An old woman went toward it and found a child sitting among the hairs which had been scraped from the buffalo skins. She took up the child and because she felt sorry for it, took care of it and raised it, although the others tried to dissuade her.

It grew quickly. “Put nothing but grass under me, grandmother,” he said. She put some grass under him but in the night she saw it was gone; there was nothing but bare ground under him. “What are you doing, grandchild?” she said to herself. She watched him through her ragged blanket one night and saw him stand up, a large buffalo. He ate up the grass he was lying on. “My grandson is a buffalo,” she thought.

A famine was killing the people when someone saw a herd of buffalo. There were many people camping there who decided to go together and kill the buffalo. The boy saw the buffalo and at night, while the people were asleep, took an arrow from each man’s supply. He went to the buffalo during the night and shot them all because they were not afraid of him. “The buffalo will belong to the man whose arrow is on it,” he said to himself, and distributed the arrows on the dead buffalo. “We will make meat of this one for my grandmother,” he said, and placed two of his arrows on one of the animals.

He went back to the camp to find someone had built a big fire. His grandmother was sitting on the wood, crying. “What is the matter, grandmother?” he asked; “You went for the people’s animals and they say they will burn you.” “Who says that about me?” he asked. “They all say it of you. They are not pleased.” “None of your animals ran away. They are still where they were last night. Go to them,” he said.

An old man was sitting there after the others had left. He took a seat by this old man and said, “I saw the wolves kill a young buffalo, grandfather.” They two followed along the way the others had gone. They found some of the Indians lying in front of the dead buffalo while others were trying to surround them. When they came up to the buffalo they found they had all been killed and the arrows were lying on the bodies. The people were all very much pleased.

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

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

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.