Part 8

Then Nenebuc turned Bear into Squirrel and Squirrel into Bear. Squirrel did not care at all, because he was fond of eating berries and roots anyway. He did not care to eat Indians.

But Big Bear felt very badly. He wept so much at being Squirrel that his eyebrows turned gray, and his eyes are all white and shiny. Nenebuc said to Bear, “Now what are you going to eat?” and Bear said, “I shall go right on eating people.” But he was so small, now that he was Squirrel, he couldn’t eat them at all.

Nenebuc said, “You are too small to eat people. Run up that black spruce there, and taste the seeds in the cones. Then see whether you want to eat Indians any more.”

And Squirrel did that. He tasted the sweet seeds in the spruce cones and was so well pleased he said he really did not want to eat Indians any more.

COYOTE AND FOX

_Shuswap_

Coyote, while traveling about, came to an underground house in which lived very small, short people. They were the Rock Rabbit People. Coyote said, “They are far too short for people. I will just eat them up.” He killed every one of the Rabbit people, tied them all on a string, and carried them off on his shoulder.

Now the weather was clear and hot, so Coyote carried them to the shade of a large yellow-pine tree. He made a big fire, and heated stones red hot; then he dug a hole in the earth and put in the hot stones. Then he put in the rock rabbits and covered them with leaves and then with earth. Then Coyote went to sleep in the shade of the big yellow pine.

Now along came Fox, and seeing Coyote asleep, he spied the earth oven. Then he at once began to dig out the rabbits and eat them. He had eaten half of them when Coyote awoke. Coyote was very lazy and sleepy. He said to Fox, “Spare me ten.” Fox kept right on eating. Then Coyote said, “Well, spare me nine.” Fox still went on eating. Coyote was very lazy. He saw Fox eating the rabbits, and he kept talking about them. He kept asking Fox to spare some for him. At last he said, “Spare me half a rabbit, anyway.” But Fox ate every scrap.

Fox could hardly move when he had eaten all those rabbits. Coyote was very hungry, and he suddenly became very wide awake. Coyote said, “I will settle with that fellow,” and he followed Fox’s trail. Soon he came upon Fox sleeping in the shade of a thick fir tree. Coyote, by his magic, made that tree fall on Fox. “Now I guess we are square,” said Coyote.

But the tree was so branchy that the trunk never came anywhere near Fox. He crawled out from among the branches and walked away. Coyote followed close after him.

Soon Fox reached a place where the rye grass, or wild redtop, was very thick and tall. He crept into the middle of it and went to sleep. Coyote set fire to the grass, but Fox waked up and set back fires, so Coyote’s fire did not reach him.

Then Fox went on again until he came to a reedy place, where hares were many. Coyote set fire to the reeds, saying, “Fox will burst in the fire.” But when the fire spread, the hares ran out and Coyote was so busy clubbing some of them that Fox ran out also, and Coyote never saw him until he was far off. Then he called, “Fox, you may go.”

Now Coyote traveled on until he came to a place where magpies were many. He set snares and caught many, and then made a robe for himself of the skins. He put on his robe and was well pleased. He kept singing,

What a beautiful robe I have! How the feathers shine!

He sang that over and over.

Soon afterward Coyote met Fox who was wearing a robe of silver-fox skins, gleaming in the sun, and thickly covered with tail feathers of the golden eagle. Coyote said, “His robe looks better than mine, and is much more valuable.” So he offered to exchange robes.

Fox said, “How can you expect me to exchange my fine robe with eagle feathers for your robe of magpie skins?” So Coyote made believe to turn away; but the moment they separated, he seized Fox’s robe and made off with it.

Coyote ran on until he came to a lake. He took off his robe of magpie skins and tore it to bits. Then he threw the pieces into the water. Coyote then put on the eagle-feather robe and strutted about in it, admiring himself. He kept saying, “If only a wind would come, then I could see and admire these feathers as they fluttered.”

Now Fox had watched Coyote until he was out of sight. Fox was thinking. Then by his magic he made a great wind to blow. The wind blew the robe off Coyote’s back and carried it back to Fox.

Now Coyote went back to the lake, to see if he could find his old magpie robe. The wind had scattered all the pieces and the feathers. Only here and there on the lake could a feather be seen.

Fox was wearing that robe afterward, when he became just an ordinary fox. Therefore he still wears silver-fox skins, the most valuable of all furs.

THE VENTURESOME HARE

_Eastern Eskimo_

A long time ago, Hare lived with his grandmother. They were poor, and Hare was hungry. One day he said, “Grandmother, I shall set a trap and catch fish.” The old woman laughed. She said, “_If_ you can! Go set the net, grandson. But even if you should catch one, we have no fire.”

“I’ll see to that,” said Hare.

Off went Hare with the net, and he set it. The next morning in every mesh of the net was a fish, caught by its fins. Hare said, “Oh, _my_!” He could not even pull up the net, so he shook out some of the fish and pulled the rest in. Many of these he buried. The rest he took home, and dropped them outside the lodge while he went in.

“Grandmother,” said Hare, “Here are the fish. You clean them. The Indians across the river have fire, and I shall go over and steal some.”

Grandmother was frightened. She said, “Oh, no!” But Hare had now dried his net, so he folded it up and put it under his arm.

Then Hare went to the river, but the river was wide. Hare could not possibly jump across, so he sat down and thought. Then he called to the whales to help him. Many whales at once came up the river, and side by side they lay across the river. Hare jumped from one to the other. Thus he crossed. Then Hare jumped into the water to wet his fur.

Now Hare laid himself down in the sand along the shore, for he had seen some Indian children. Then the children came to where Hare lay. They saw him there. At once a boy picked him up and carried him home. Someone said, “Well, put him in the pot.” And a pot stood ready there, near a bright, crackling fire. So the boy put down Hare. An old man said, “You must kill him first.”

Hare was greatly frightened. He opened one eye just a little to see if there was any way of escape beside the door. In the top of the tepee was a large round smoke hole. Hare said, “I wish a spark of fire would fall on my net.” Instantly the brands burned through and rolled apart and a great spark fell on the net and began to burn it.

Hare, in a flash, sprang out of the smoke hole—sprang out through the top of the tepee. The Indians saw him leap, and they ran after Hare shouting. Now when Hare came to the river bank he had not time to call his friends, the whales, to help him. Hare was running very fast, and he gave one great leap across the river and landed on the other side.

“Did I not tell you, Grandmother, that I would get fire?” said Hare when he reached home.

“How did you get across the river, Grandson?” asked Grandmother.

“Oh, I just jumped across,” said Hare indifferently.

RABBIT AND FROG

_Eastern Eskimo_

One day Rabbit wandered over the hillside, and came near an Indian wigwam. Now Rabbit was very timid. He crept close to the lodge and peered through a small hole. There was Frog, sitting near the fire.

“Brother,” said Rabbit, “what are you doing?”

“I am playing with the ashes,” said Frog.

“Come live with me,” said Rabbit.

Frog said, “I have a lame leg. That is why I am sitting here while my brothers are out hunting.”

Rabbit went into the lodge and tossed Frog on his back. “This is the way I will carry you,” he said.

When Rabbit reached home, he went out to hunt for food. Suddenly he spied smoke curling up from among the willows along the river bank. Rabbit became frightened, and started home, exclaiming, “I have forgotten my crooked knife! I must go quickly and get it.” Rabbit rushed home and dashed excitedly into his lodge. He exclaimed, “I have forgotten my crooked knife! I came home to get it.”

Frog said calmly, “Brother, why are you frightened?”

Rabbit said, “I saw a large smoke.”

“Where was it?” asked Frog.

“Among the willows by the river,” said Rabbit.

“Pooh!” said Frog. “The smoke came from Beaver’s lodge. He lives down there. You’re very brave to be so afraid of Beaver! _I_ can hunt _him_.”

Rabbit felt better. He said, “I’ll carry you to Beaver’s lodge. We’ll break it in and catch him.” So he carried Frog to Beaver’s lodge down among the willows by the river.

Rabbit built a dam of stakes across the stream, and told Frog to watch, while he broke in the top of Beaver’s lodge. While Rabbit was doing this, Frog pulled up some stakes, and therefore Beaver escaped. When Rabbit saw this, he shook Frog roughly and pushed him into the water under the ice.

And this was just what Frog wanted.

BIG TURTLE

_Wyandot_

An old man lived with his nephew. Every day the nephew went somewhere. Every day the uncle asked, “Well, where have you been today? What did you see today?”

One day the nephew said, “I have pulled off Eagle’s feather.” And in truth he had Eagle’s tail feather. His uncle at once exclaimed, “Danger! We are in danger!”

Then he hung the eagle feather in the smoke hole of his house. Soon Eagle came and stood for a while over the smoke hole. The uncle exclaimed, “Danger! We are in danger! We must have a council at once!”

So they called a council of all the animals. The young man sent around saying, “Come, for there is danger!” They all came at once. The old man stood at the door of his house. Some of the animals he would not allow to enter. He said to Deer, to Bear, and to Wolf, “I do not want you at this council. You can run too fast.” Only the animals that could not run fast were allowed to form a council. Turtle came, and Otter and Skunk and Porcupine and others.

Then they held their council. Each said what he would do in case of danger. Porcupine said, “I will shoot my quills through them when they come near me.” They all said things like that.

Then the people from the council all ran away to where a big tree stood, for fear Eagle would come. For safety they all climbed the tree. Then Eagle came and stood over the smoke hole for the second time, but the feather was not there. Turtle had carried it away.

Now the tree that all the people had climbed was very rotten. A strong wind came and blew it down, so the animal people were scattered all about. Porcupine had been covered with bits of rotten wood. Therefore Porcupine climbed up on Turtle’s back, to hide him, and they went away. Turtle carried the Eagle’s feather. Now all along the way Porcupine kept scattering ashes on Turtle’s trail so Eagle would not see him. But Eagle followed the trail of ashes. Then, just as he got to the bank of the river, Eagle’s friends caught Turtle.

They said, “We will throw Turtle into the fire.” Turtle pretended to enjoy it very much. Then they struck him, but they hit Turtle on his shell. They could not see that he minded it. Then someone said, “Let us drown Turtle.” Turtle began to cry, “Oh, no! I am afraid of the water!” Then they dragged him toward the water. Turtle pushed back—he pushed back, and he cried. That is why someone said, “Let us drop him to the bottom of the water. That is the place for him.” So it was done. They threw him in. They could see Turtle lying on his back on the bottom of the water. Then they left him.

At once Turtle turned over and swam to a log near the opposite shore. Turtle climbed on that log, and waved Eagle’s feather high in the air. He shouted, “Ki-he.” Truly, that is the cry of one who has overpowered his enemy.

Now Eagle’s friends heard it. They gathered on the shore. They said, “Who will bring back Eagle’s feather?” They held a council. One said, “No, I cannot go there.” Another said, “No, I would be drowned if I went there.” At last Otter said, “I will try it.” So he did.

Now Turtle sat on that log waving the feather. Otter darted across the river and reached that log where Turtle was sitting. Turtle dropped off the back side into the water. Soon Otter began to yell, “Oh-oh! He is hurting me so badly!” Turtle was pinching him all over. Otter yelled, “Oh, he is pinching me all over!”

Therefore Turtle kept that feather of Eagle’s. Turtle cannot be overpowered by anyone—so the Wyandots say.

WOLVERENE AND ROCK

_Eastern Eskimo_

Wolverene was out walking one day, out on a hillside, when he came to a large rock. Wolverene asked, “Was it you who was out walking just now?”

“No,” said Rock, “I cannot walk.”

“Well, I’ve seen you walking,” said Wolverene sharply.

“That isn’t true,” said Rock. But Wolverene insisted that it was. He said, “You are the very Rock I have seen out walking.”

Wolverene then ran off a little way and jeered at Rock. He shouted, “Catch me if you can!” Then Wolverene went close to Rock and hit him with his paw. He shouted, “See if you can catch me.”

“I can’t walk, but I can roll,” said Rock, who was very indignant.

“That’s just what I wanted,” said Wolverene, and he began to run.

But Rock began to roll. Wolverene raced away and Rock tore after him, close to his heels, all down that hillside. Then Wolverene began to jump and leap and Rock rolled faster and faster, touching his heels. Then Wolverene tripped over a stick and fell. Rock rolled right on top of him and stopped there. He stopped rolling.

Wolverene yelled, “Get off of me. You are breaking my bones!” Rock stayed right there. Then Wolverene yelled to the Wolves and Foxes to come and save him. They all gathered around Rock and Wolverene.

“How did you get under Rock?” they asked. Wolverene was not a favorite. Wolverene said, “I dared Rock to run after me, and he rolled.” Then they all said, “It served you right.”

But yet they tried to push Rock away. Rock stayed right there. The animals pushed and pushed. Rock did not roll.

Then Wolverene began to shout to his other brother, Thunder and Lightning. In a few minutes a dark cloud rushed up from the southwest. It made so much noise and was so black that all the Wolves and Foxes ran away. Lightning suddenly drew back and then rushed forward and hit Rock, while Thunder crashed. Lightning knocked Rock into tiny small pieces, but he also tore Wolverene’s coat all to pieces.

Wolverene picked himself up and saw that he had no fur at all. He could find only a few bits of his coat so he said sharply to Lightning, “You needn’t have torn my coat all to pieces when I only asked you to strike Rock!”

RAVEN’S CANOE MEN

_Haida_

Crow made a great feast. He invited all the people, and he invited Raven. But Raven refused. Raven wanted all the feast of hemlock-bark cakes and cranberries.

Before they began eating, Raven ran into the woods. He made rotten trees into ten canoes. Then he put in spruce cones, standing them up along the middle of the canoes. Raven put grass tops into their hands for spears. Raven walked near them, with his blanket wrapped tightly around him. The canoes came around the point, terrible to behold! Men were standing in lines along the middle of the canoes. The people fled at once. They left their feast. Then Raven went into the house and ate the cakes of hemlock bark and cranberries. He ate and he ate! When the canoes landed they were washed about by the waves.

RAVEN AND PITCHMAN

_Haida_

Raven came to a town. Now the Pitch People lived at that town. Therefore Raven said to Pitchman, “Let us go fishing.” While it was dark, they went fishing. Then only Pitchman killed halibut; Raven could not kill any. Pitchman wanted to go home before the sun rose because he was afraid of being melted.

Then they went fishing again in the morning. And again only Pitchman killed halibut, and Raven caught nothing at all; and again Pitchman wanted to go home early before the sun rose. But Raven did not want to go home. He said, “Oh, no.”

When the sun rose, Pitchman wanted to go home very much. Raven said, “Wait until I kill a halibut.” Then the sun got higher. Pitchman began to say “A-a-a-a-a,” rather weakly, because he was getting warm. Pitchman wanted to go home very much.

“Put the blanket over you,” said Raven to Pitchman. When the sun got too hot, Pitchman said, “Ummmm!” He kept saying it. Then Pitchman began to melt. At last he melted completely.

WHEN RAVEN MARRIED OFF HIS SISTER

_Haida_

Raven wanted to find a good husband for his sister. He went out one day and cried, “Who will marry my sister?”

“I,” “I,” “I,” “I,” said all the animals. So Raven began to question them.

“What can you do?” he asked Grizzly Bear.

“When I see people, I will roar,” said Grizzly.

“You are too bad-tempered,” said Raven. He refused him.

Wolf offered. “What can you do?” asked Raven.

“I snap at people if I am alone. When the pack is with me, I devour them,” said Wolf.

“You are too bad-tempered,” said Raven.

Then Elk offered. “I can crash through the forests,” said Elk. Raven refused him.

“What can you do?” asked Raven of Deer and Porpoise. They were cousins.

“I can pull out any skunk cabbage with my teeth,” said Deer. Porpoise said, “I will always eat clean things. I always eat herring.” That is why, when Deer swims to an island, Porpoise always swims with him.

So Raven consented. He let Porpoise marry his sister.

BEAVER AND PORCUPINE

_Haida_

Beaver’s store of food was plentiful. While he was away hunting one day, Porcupine stole that food. Then he remained sitting there. When Beaver returned he asked, “Did you eat my food?”

Porcupine said, “No, indeed. How can the food of supernatural beings be taken? You have supernatural power and I have supernatural power.”

Then they started to fight. Beaver tried to seize Porcupine with his teeth, but when he threw himself at his face, the sharp spines struck him. After they had fought for a while, Beaver went to the place where his parents lived. He was all covered with spines.

Then his father called the people together, and the Beaver people came in a crowd. They all went along to fight Porcupine. Porcupine used angry words to them. Then they pushed down his house upon him. They seized him. They took him to an island lying out at sea, upon which two trees stood.

When Porcupine was almost starved, he called upon the animals of his clan. He called upon his father. He called upon all of his friends. They did not answer him.

By and by Something said to him, “Call upon Cold-weather, call upon North wind.” Porcupine did not understand. Then the Voice said, “Sing North songs. Then you will be saved.”

So Porcupine began singing,

Xune qa-sa zune, Let the sky clear altogether; Hu-n, hu-n, hun, hun.

After that he sat on a rock and sang,

Xunisa, Let it be cold weather; Gai-ya-li-sa, Let it be smooth on the water.

Then North sent cold weather. The wind became strong. Then Porcupine began to sing for smooth water. When it became smooth, the surface of the sea froze. When the ice became thick, his friends came and got Porcupine; but he was not able to walk.

Now after Porcupine reached his father’s house, his father called all the Forest People. He gave them all food. Then they asked Porcupine why the Beaver people did this to him. He said it was because he had eaten Beaver’s food.

Then the Porcupine people went to war with the Beaver people. But they did not defeat the Beaver people. After they had fought for a while, they stopped.

After that, when they were gathering food, they seized Beaver. The Porcupines did this. They were always plotting against Beaver. They took Beaver up a tall tree. After he had been there awhile, he began eating the tree from the top. He finally got down and went away. Beavers cannot climb trees.

BEAVER AND PORCUPINE

_Shuswap_

Beaver and Porcupine lived together. They used to eat together, but their food was different and Porcupine was always eating Beaver’s food. He would leave his own food and eat Beaver’s.

One day Beaver said, “Hereafter we shall eat apart.” So he took his own food and went some distance away, leaving Porcupine to eat his own. But even so, Porcupine left his own food, and came around to Beaver, and ate his.

One day Beaver said to Porcupine, “Tomorrow we will travel into the mountains where there is much food.” They packed their blankets and boxes and all their things and traveled into the mountains, where they camped. The next morning Beaver said, “There is much food here in the mountains. I am going hunting.”

When Beaver had gone some distance, he stopped and called to Porcupine far, far away:

“Hereafter you shall be a common porcupine. You shall always live in the mountains. You shall never again live with Beaver nor eat his food. Neither shall you ever live in a good country.”

That is why porcupines live in the mountains, while beavers live in low, flat lands, where there is plenty of water. Because when Beaver left Porcupine, he traveled on to a flat country, with many lakes and streams.

BEAVER AND DEER

_Haida_

Deer lived near Taku. The skunk cabbage he ate was like a garden. Beaver came also to this place and he gnawed down the forest trees growing around there. So there came to be many trees on top of the garden. Then Beaver went away.

Deer went to see his property. Then he saw that trees were piled upon it and he knew that Beaver had done this.

Now Beaver lived under an island in a lake in the woods. One morning he felt the water was going down. Beaver went out. Deer was standing there, and Deer had dug a trench from the lake. But Deer could not get at Beaver.

Therefore Deer called to Beaver, “Come, go with me.” So Beaver went with him. Then they came to the shore of the sea. Beaver had never been in the sea, but Deer said, “Let us swim out to that island.”

“I have never been in the sea,” said Beaver.

“You shall sit on my back,” said Deer. “There are many things to eat over there.” So Beaver got on Deer’s back, and they went there. When he got off, Deer went with him up to the woods. Then they came up under the trees.

Deer said, “Go up, and I will sit down here and wait for you.” So Beaver went up into the woods. When Beaver was a long way off, Deer ran away quickly and swam off.

Beaver came back quickly, but Deer was nowhere to be seen. Beaver sat down on the beach. He could see no way to get off the island, because he was not used to swimming in the ocean. After he had sat there awhile, evening came upon him. Then, in the middle of the night, he called to the different animals.

First he called to Black Bear, then he called to Wolf. “Save me!” he called. Then he called to Grizzly Bear, and he called to all the smaller animals. None of them heard him. Beaver had been upon the island ten nights. He called every day, wailing. When he was unsuccessful, his heart was tired. So he sat still.

After a while, Beaver began to call to North: “North, save me! North, save me! North, save me!” And as he sang this every day, he continued to wail.