The killing of the large human mosquitoes

Enormous mosquitoes once preyed upon humans. A woman, encountering one, climbed a tree to escape. She tricked the mosquito into giving her his spear, then fatally wounded him. The mosquito returned to his camp, where others attempted to aid him, but he died. The remaining mosquitoes pursued the woman but were thwarted by a medicineman’s strategy, leading to the extermination of the giant mosquitoes.

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

Cunning and Deception: The woman’s clever tactics to deceive and ultimately kill the mosquito highlight the use of wit to overcome danger.

Mythical Creatures: The presence of giant, human-like mosquitoes introduces elements of mythical beings within the narrative.

Guardian Figures: The medicineman acts as a protector, devising a plan to safeguard the community from the mosquito threat.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Obtained from Ike, in English through John Bourassa

Long ago there used to be large mosquitoes which killed people. Once when a company of people was traveling along, a dog lost the load off his back. As a woman was looking for the lost bag she suddenly saw a canoe with someone in it paddling around a point. The woman thought immediately as she saw him that he must be one of the kind who were accustomed to kill people and that he would kill her. She climbed a tree to escape him. As he was coming up the tree after her she called to him, “Do not come up the tree for your moose,” meaning himself. “The tree leans over the river and your moose will fall in the river and be lost if you kill me here. Wait, and I will come down and then you can kill me.” Agreeing to this, he went a little way from the tree while the woman came down.

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She started to run and cross the point around which the river made a long bend. The mosquito jumped into his canoe and paddled around the point. When the woman saw him coming she climbed another tree which leaned over the river. He was about to pass under the tree when the woman let fall some urine on him. He wondered where water could be coming from for the sun was shining. Looking up he said, “Oh, my moose is sitting on the tree.” He started to climb the tree after her, holding his spear in his hand. When he was close the woman told him to give her his spear while he climbed up. “I will give it back to you when you get up here and you may stab me with it,” she said. He gave her the spear and she went further up the tree with it. When he came up close to her she speared him on the crown of his head. The man fell down. Holding the spear up as it was still sticking in his head he started home, crying, “The moose is killing me; the’ moose is killing me.”

He came back to the camp still holding the spear which he was unable to pull out. When he came near the camp the mosquitoes all ran out saying, “Oh, the moose killed a man.” When they had tried in vain to get the spear out they sent for a smart man to see if he could do it. This man advised driving the spear down through as the easiest way to remove it. They did this, driving the spear down through so it came out under his chin. The man died.

The mosquitoes then decided to follow the woman’s track since she could not be far from the camp. When the mosquitoes were near the camp of the people a medicineman advised that mooseskins should be hung all around where the mosquitoes were camped, so that the larger ones at least would not be able to come through. They did this and only the small mosquitoes, those of the present size, were able to come through the holes in the skins. All the big ones were killed with the aid of the medicineman.

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The giant beaver and muskrat

The story tells of a giant man who attempts to hunt a massive beaver. After spotting the beaver under a frozen lake, he drives it back to its lodge and kills it. Discovering unborn young inside, he releases them into the water to calm the restless ice. The tale also mentions a muskrat that reacts to passing canoes, though it no longer does so.

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

Mythical Creatures: The presence of giant animals, such as the beaver and muskrat, indicates encounters with beings beyond ordinary experience.

Sacrifice: The man releases the beaver’s offspring into the water to calm the ice, suggesting a form of offering to restore balance.

Harmony with Nature: The act of releasing the young beavers to calm the ice reflects an understanding of and attempt to maintain balance within the natural world.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

Said to have happened on Great Slave Lake. Stories of giants in the north are common; the particular incident explains a local hill as is indicated in the last sentence.

At first they say there was a large man who chiseled for a large beaver. He worked in vain for he could not kill it. He could not find its track anywhere nearby. He went out on the large frozen lake and saw the beaver walking along under the ice. He tapped on the ice and drove the beaver back into its house where he killed it. She had young ones in her and because of that the ice would not remain quiet. He cut the mother open, took out the young ones, and put them in the water. The ice then became quiet. That was why he did it. They say both the man and the beaver were giants. The beaver house is still standing.

Out to the east where there are no trees, away from the country in which beaver are found, there used to be a muskrat. If a canoe passed by, the muskrat would hear it. They say one did not speak when he paddled by the place. It is not long since someone in passing there felt the water move. He is not there now and since he is gone they do not feel the water move.

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The Earth recovered by diving

In this Dane-zaa creation myth, birds inhabited a world covered entirely by water. Seeking land, they attempted to dive beneath the water’s surface but failed. A small bird named Xak’ale succeeded, resurfacing with earth under his fingernails. From this earth, land and trees emerged, leading to the world’s formation.

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 story explains how the world, specifically the land, was formed from the water.

Origin of Things: It provides an explanation for the existence of land and trees, detailing their emergence from the water through the efforts of the bird Xak’ale.

Mythical Creatures: The bird Xak’ale, who possesses the unique ability to dive deep and retrieve earth, can be seen as a mythical figure within this context.

► From the same Region or People

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

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

In reply to questions it was learned that the earth is believed to have disappeared during a deluge from which certain people saved themselves by turning into waterbirds. The deluge was caused by the melting of the snow which accumulated during four summerless years. The incident of diving for the earth is very widespread in North America.

At first there was no land and no people, nothing but birds living on the water. They were the only living things. They came together at a certain place and one of them said, “I wonder where the land is?” They were looking for land without success. One of them tried to find land at the bottom of the water, but did not succeed. They all tried, but were not able to find it.

One of them, named Xak’ale, also dived into the water saying he would look for land. He went down disappearing from sight. He was gone a long time and when he came up, he was on his back vainly trying to breathe. He breathed a little and said, “Look here under my finger nails.” They looked under his nails and found some earth there which they took out. Xak’ale who brought the land up was small.

Trees grew again on the land which was taken from the water and the earth was made again. They say birds did this and the one who succeeded was named Xak’ale.

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The giants

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

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

► Themes of the story

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

Mythical Creatures: The narrative features giants as central characters.

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

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

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

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

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

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

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

Moose and Rabbit

Moose and Rabbit, once equal in size and nameless, compete to determine who will become the moose. During their wrestling match near a fire, Rabbit burns his hind feet, causing them to draw up, while Moose singes his rump. As a result, Moose’s rump appears burned, and Rabbit’s altered feet prevent him from becoming the moose.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: The anthropomorphic portrayal of Moose and Rabbit engaging in human-like activities.

Conflict with Nature: The struggle between the two animals, influenced by natural elements like fire.

Origin of Things: The tale explains the distinctive physical features of moose and rabbits.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

One time Moose and Rabbit were having a contest. They were then of the same size and were without names. They were fighting to see who would be moose.

“The one who is the stronger will be moose,” one of them proposed. They began to wrestle near the fire. Rabbit was pushed near the fire and stepped into it with both his hind feet which were burned. Then moose fell back and singed his rump in the fire. Since then the rumps of moose look as if they had been burned. Rabbit’s feet were so drawn up that he could not be moose.

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The jackfish that became a man

An eagle catches a jackfish but drops it into a lake, where it grows large. A girl eats the fish and later gives birth to a child with fish scales. Initially, her father wants to abandon the baby but allows her to raise it. The child becomes a man who sings about his transformation from fish to human.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The jackfish undergoes a significant change, first growing into a large fish and then transforming into a human being.

Mythical Creatures: The tale features a creature that exists beyond the ordinary realm—a fish that becomes a human.

Ancestral Spirits: The man’s origin from a fish and his recounting of his story through songs may suggest a connection to ancestral or spiritual elements within the culture.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

This was given as a “story.” The interpreter, Ennou, insisted that it was only a story, but the relator immediately explained that it was ceremonial as the context plainly shows it to be. The objects used were small pieces of the fat from the tail of an otter, piece of moose tongue, tissue from the inside of bear’s tongue, “stone” from the head of a fish, tooth of a weasel, silk thread and beaver scent. These are tied to the hook as a charm.

A large eagle caught a jackfish and was carrying it to a tree. It fell into the middle of the lake and lived there until it grew to be a big fish. Finally, it was caught in a net. A girl, while eating it, suddenly stopped. She had a child on which there were fish scales. Her father started to throw it away but relented and gave the girl permission to raise it. When the child became a man, he used to tell his story in songs. “When I was a small jackfish I stuck my nose in the grass by the shore. An eagle took me up suddenly and started with me toward his nest. I fell back into the middle of the lake and became a large jackfish. Once, when swimming through the narrows, I thought I smelled something. As I swam around I thought I saw a small fish and bit him. I broke the fish line but could not eat because the hook was in my throat. Soon after, while swimming through the narrows, I thought I saw some algae but it was a net and I was caught. ‘It is only a poor jackfish, just skin and bones,’ he said of me and threw me by the shore. As I lay there I thought to myself, ‘I wish a young girl who is pregnant would roast my tail.’ Soon a nearly grown girl came there. ‘I am going to roast that jackfish’s tail,’ I heard her say. She began to eat me, but as she was swallowing the last bit, I caused her belly to shake. She caught her breath and stopped chewing. I became a person.” This is what he told by means of songs in the sweat lodges. They found out from him what kind of a person he was. Long ago, a man used to know something like this.

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A man-eating monster

A man becomes ensnared in sunbeam snares set by the man-eating giant, Holdile. Feigning death, he is placed in a sack and carried to the giant’s home. The man escapes, deceives the giant’s children, and flees. After a chase, he tricks the giant into burning his cape and kills him with a stick. However, the giant resurrects and continues hunting humans.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The protagonist uses cunning and deception to escape from the giant.

Mythical Creatures: The giant, Holdile, represents a mythical being within the narrative.

Conflict with Nature: The man’s entrapment in sunbeams and his navigation through the muskeg highlight struggles against natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A man was walking alone one time when something happened to him. Although he could not see anything when he looked about, he took his knife and began slashing the air as he turned from side to side. He found himself tied up worse than before and that he had been caught in sunbeams which someone had set for a snare. After a time he heard someone coming along, saying to himself, “I think I feel something.” Before the person came to him, the man hit himself and covered himself with his own blood. The giant came to him and thinking him dead put him in a sack. It was the giant, Holdile, who eats men. He started away carrying the man on his back. He put him down occasionally to rest. The man tried to make no noise but sniffled in spite of himself. “I heard something,” the giant said and took the load off.

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Then he tickled the man all over on his hands, feet, and body. The man was unusually powerful and was able to refrain from laughing. He put him back in the sack and carried him to his home. He hung the sack on a tree and went away to the top of a hill to cut some sticks with which to make spits for roasting the kidneys.

When he had gone away, the man began to swing himself gently in the sack, until he fell down. The young ones called out, “Father, your caribou is alive.” The man jumped up, put ashes in the children’s mouths and ran away. The giant ran after him. They came to an island that lay in the midst of the muskeg. They ran around it until he was tired. The giant shouted to the man. “My son, make a fire for me, I am cold.” He had been sweating and his clothes were wet. They stood by the fire drying themselves. The giant hung his cape up to dry and lay down with his back to the fire. Soon the man broke a piece of wood. “What did you do that for?” asked the giant. “I am going to fix the fire with it,” the man said. Then he told him, “Grandfather, your cape fell into the fire.” The man had pushed it in with the stick. He struck the giant and killed him with the same stick that he had used to push the cape into the fire. After a time, he came to life again. The man ran away but the giant ran after him. The giant is still hunting men.

The old woman and the singing fish

An elderly woman lives alone, diligently fishing and preparing for winter. One evening, she hears singing and, hoping for company, readies herself to meet a visitor. Upon investigation, she discovers the source of the song is a small fish. Disappointed, she returns home, eats, feels lonely, and eventually weeps in the woods.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Community and Isolation: The old woman’s solitary life and her reaction to the singing indicate themes of isolation and the desire for companionship.

Sacred Spaces: The pond or location where the fish appears may have spiritual or mystical significance.

Mystical Creatures: If the singing fish is a legendary being rather than just a magical event.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Few stories contain so many of the details of the monotonous everyday life of an old Indian woman in so short a compass as this one does. It gets its point to the Indian in the haste with which she makes ready to see a man.

There was once an old woman. She worked on alone, and in the summer she fished with a net, and (so) had plenty of fish. She cut them and hung them up and dried them, and put them into a cache, a grass cache which she had. Now she had plenty of food, and, having plenty of food, she was glad. It came on winter, and she did her cooking. She cooked only the bones, even though she had plenty of food. “I shall be short in the winter,” thought she. Once in a while only, she made ice-cream (vwa’nkgyuk). This she ate occasionally.

Now, once at dusk she took off the curtain from the smoke-hole and made the fire, and she put the pot upon (or against) the fire, and cooked (her food) and dished it up. “Now, then,” thought she, “that’s all. I will put on the curtain and go to bed.” So she threw her fire out at the smoke-hole, and went out to it. She went up and put on the curtain. She went to the door and stood still, as if she expected to hear something.

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She listened carefully, and thrust her fingers into her ears and drew them out again, to better her hearing. Then she heard. She heard some one singing, and ran in at her door. She thrust her hand under the shelf for the wash-bowl. She poured water into it, and washed her face and combed her hair, and finished her toilet. She reached out and got her bag, and took out the clothing that was in it, and put on a fish-skin parka and went out again. Presently some one sang; and she went in and took her place on the shelf, and busied herself spinning sinew thread on her fingers. Just a little while she sat there. Then she went out again. Again she listened. From the same place came the sound of singing. Then the old woman thought, “I don’t believe it’s a man.” She went downstream from the house. She looked down also at the edge of the water, and saw a little fish. It sang as it swam around. She caught up a stick and threw it out upon the bank, and went back and entered the house. She staid there a little while, and went out again. Everything was quiet. “It must have been a man,” she thought. She went in again and ate something. She sucked in some ice-cream, and felt lonesome. She cried, and went into the woods.

The man who fooled the cannibal giant

A man argues that giants are foolish and decides to prove it. He stands naked and motionless on a trail frequented by giants. A giant approaches, inspects him thoroughly, but, puzzled by his stillness, concludes he isn’t prey and leaves. The man then returns home, demonstrating that giants can be easily deceived. This story highlights the perceived simplicity of giants in Tahltan folklore.

Source:
Tahltan Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.32, No.124, pp.198-250
April-June, 1917
Vol.34, No.133, pp.223-253
July-September, 1921
Vol.34, No.134, pp.335-356
October-December, 1921

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: The story features a giant, a mythical being common in various cultural tales.

Cunning and Deception: The man’s strategy involves deceiving the giant by remaining motionless, highlighting the use of wit to achieve his goal.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts a lesson about the power of intelligence and cunning over brute strength, teaching that even formidable adversaries can be overcome with wit.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Some men were disputing as to the powers of cannibals and giants. One of them maintained that giants were not clever. They had mosquito brains: therefore they could easily be deceived. He claimed that giants and cannibals and mosquitoes were all related, parts of the same flesh. They all had the same instinctive desire to attack, kill, and eat people; but nevertheless they were all foolish. This man said he would show the others how foolish giants really were. He would try them. He stripped off all his clothes, and stood naked near a trail that giants frequented, in an open place, where people could see a long way. A giant saw him, and came stealthily towards him. The man stood perfectly rigid and motionless. The giant came up and felt of him, saying to himself, “He is just like game.” He smelled of his mouth, privates, and anus. He smelled of him all over. He lifted his eyelids, and opened his mouth.

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He said again, “He is just like game, but he does not act like game. It is funny that he should be here now. Not long ago there was nothing standing here.” He wondered. He went away some distance and watched the man, but the man never moved. He went farther away and watched. Then he came back and examined the man again. At last he made up his mind that the object could not be game, and departed. When the giant was out of sight, the man put on his clothes and went home. This is why, if a hunter sees game at a distance lying or standing and motionless, he is sometimes deceived, and mistakes the game for something else. When one does this, other people joke him or make fun of him by saying, “You are just the same as a giant,” or “You have mosquito brains.”

The brothers and the giant

Two brothers camp together when the younger pursues forbidden porcupine tracks, leading him to a giant. The giant traps him in a tree, anticipating a meal. The elder brother arrives, deceives the giant into handing over his axe, and kills him. Upon splitting the giant’s head, a swarm of mosquitoes emerges, explaining their origin as descendants of cannibalistic giants.

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The story explains the origin of mosquitoes.

Mythical Creatures: The giant represents a mythical being within the tale.

Cunning and Deception: The elder brother’s deceit leads to their victory over the giant.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Two brothers were camped together. The younger one went out hunting. Before leaving the camp he was told by the elder one that if he saw small porcupine-tracks, he must not follow them. He forgot, however, and, seeing small porcupine-tracks, followed them. They led to where a giant was, who at once gave chase. The hunter climbed a tree. The giant was glad when he found he had treed the man, and danced and sang around the bottom of the tree at the prospect of a meal. He stripped off most of his clothes, and got out his stone axe to chop the tree. The lad then called on his elder brother, who hurried to the place. When he saw the giant, he said, “Oh, I am glad you have got that boy! He has treated me shamefully. He is really my enemy. Sit down, and give me your axe. I will chop down the tree for you.” The giant gave him the axe, and sat down near the tree. The man told him to shut his eyes, for perhaps some chips might fly into them.

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He struck the tree a blow, and then with the next blow hit the giant on the head and killed him. The lad then came down the tree. As they viewed the giant’s body, they remarked, “How bad these people are, and still so foolish! It seems wonderful that they are able to do so much harm when they are so simple. They are able to kill people, and yet people can easily fool them. Let us open his head and see what is in it! Let us see what kind of brains he has!” They split the head, and a cloud of mosquitoes came out and attacked the brothers. They found that the giant had nothing but mosquitoes for brains, and closed up the head quickly. This is why mosquitoes attack people and suck their blood. They are cannibals because they originated from the cannibal giants. Had the brothers not split open the giant’s head and let them out, possibly there would be no mosquitoes in the world now.