Part 4

8. Sorcerer controls flow of waters. Almost captures hero fleeing in a canoe by drawing the current of the water toward himself. Hero reverses current and escapes.

9. Magical objects are concealed under a bed. Hero dreams he wants them in retaliation for his “uncle’s” evil desires.

10. Pursuing or sentinel monsters are pacified by gifts of meat.

11. Youth not yet able to hunt practices shooting at an animal’s paw, hung on lodge rafter.

12. Sorcerers’ hearts or livers are concealed in a safe place in their lodges, guarded by conjured dogs or ducks. Hero finds hearts and destroys sorcerers.

13. Hero obtains hearts of enemies and squeezes them, causing enemies to faint. He dashes them on rocks and kills enemies.

14. Hero conjures lodge of witches into flint. Orders it to become red hot and so destroys enemies.

15. Hero learns how to jump through the air.

16. Hero reduces sister to miniature and places her in a conical arrow tip, shooting her away to safety. Hero follows by magic flight creating obstacles as he goes.

17. Corn rains down into empty bins of starving people. Corn maiden comes to marry hero whose younger brother is ungrateful for food, casting it in fire thereby burning Corn Maiden’s body. She departs.

18. Powered man throws flint chips calling upon them to kill animals.

19. Hero violates taboo. Calamity impends but hero overcomes.

20. Heroine kills pursuing monster by throwing boiling oil into its face.

21. Hero kicks over tree and causes skeletons to rise in flesh. Bones are mismated through haste. Origin of cripples.

22. Hero or twin heroes walk into the ground and disappear.

23. Lonely bird sings for a mate. Various creatures seek to comfort lonely bird but all are rejected until a natural mate calls and is found injured or trapped. Released by lonely bird who flies away with him.

24. Animals talk to men. Some animal warns hero of impending danger and plans escape.

OBJECTS.

1. _Dream helpers._ These are animals or persons that have come to the hero in a dream and promised to assist him in times of peril.

2. _Astral body._ The hero has an astral self that appears in times of great danger and points out a way of escape.

3. _Hollow log regeneration._ Hero who has been abused or conjured is regenerated by passing through a hollow log.

4. _Talking flute._ The flute kept in a “bundle” talks to hero’s friend and informs him of condition, or it tells hero where he may find game.

5. _Running moccasins._ Hero pursued takes off moccasins and orders them to run ahead and make tracks that baffle pursuer.

6. _Magic Arrow._ An invincible arrow that kills whatever it is aimed at. It may be shot promiscuously into the air and game will return with it, falling dead at hero’s feet. No one but hero can withdraw arrow.

7. _Forbidden chamber._ A certain walled-off part of the lodge is forbidden to the hero, who in older relative’s absence explores it, causing anger of magical beings.

8. _Door-flap action._ Sorcerer commands hero to perform dream demand by going out of door and consummating demand before the door curtain flaps back.

9. _Magic fish line._ Sorcerer hooks hero’s fleeing canoe with a magical fish line. Hero burns off line by emptying pipe upon it.

10. _Hero ties his hair to earth._ When hero suspects he is in the hands of a sorceress he ties a hair to a root before he sleeps. Sorceress makes off with him but cannot go beyond the stretching length of the hair and is compelled to return.

11. _Lice hunting._ Sorceress hunts lice in hero’s head, lulling him to sleep.

12. _Saliva gives power._ If a powered being touches any object or weapon with his saliva it takes some of his power.

13. _Wampum tears._ Captured hero or heroine when tortured sheds wampum tears which enemies greedily take.

14. _Magical animal skins._ Hero or sorcerer has enchanted skins which he can conjure to living animals. He may enter a skin and assume the characteristics of its original owner.

15. _Magic pouch._ The pouch of animal skin holds the hero’s utensils, tobacco and pipe. It may be conjured to a living thing.

16. _Magic suit._ A self-cleaning suit that gives power to wearer.

17. _Magic canoe._ A canoe that has unusual speed and may be paddled into the air.

18. _Inexhaustible kettle._ Hero’s friend puts scrapings of corn or nut into it and it expands enormously supplying enough food. Hero tries the experiment and expands kettle too greatly bursting the lodge.

19. _Magical springs._ Springs that have been enchanted by sorcerers are the dwelling places of monsters that lure the unwary to drink. The monster then drags in his victim and eats him.

20. _Enchanted clearings._ Clearings guarded by monsters who prevent hero from visiting sorcerer living in a lodge within.

21. _Bark dagger._ Hero incapacitated by thrust of bark dagger piercing his back. Villain steals hero’s clothing and impersonates him. See Imposter.

22. _Sweat lodge regeneration._ Hero recovers through a sweat of bear’s grease. Lodge covered with a fat bear pelt.

23. _Powered finger._ Hero has power to kill animals by pointing his finger at them.

24. _Animated finger._ Hero obtains a magic finger that stands in his palm, pointing out the location of anything he desires.

25. _Sharpened legs._ A character is able to whittle his legs to points and use them as spears.

25. _Borrowed skin._ Hero borrows skin (coat) of deer, mole, or other animal, and entering it moves about without exciting suspicion of enemy.

26. _Borrowed eyes._ Hero borrows eyes of deer or owl for a blind uncle enabling him to recover his own eyes or to see for a few moments a long lost relative, generally a brother.

27. _Stolen eyes._ Sorceresses rob young men of their eyes.

28. _Quilt of eyes._ Quilt made of winking eyes stolen from young men who have looked at the witches who continually sew upon such a quilt.

29. _Girls in box._ Enchanted girls hidden in a bark box come forth upon demand of conjurer. The enchantment is not of an evil nature.

30. _Enchanted feathers._ These placed upon hero’s hat give him great power, particularly for running.

31. _Enchanted birds._ Hero has enchanted birds upon his hat that bring coals to light his pipe.

32. _Bark dolls._ Dolls are enchanted so that they speak for their maker, deceiving evil pursuer of hero.

33. _Talking moccasins._ Moccasins placed in lodge talk to evil pursuer, setting him or her astray.

34. _Reducible dog._ A tiny dog that is kept in a pouch. It may be enlarged to a size sufficient to carry the hero or his fleeing sister. Upon being patted with the hand or magic rod it becomes reduced to a size almost invisible.

35. _Talking skull._ Hero finds the skull of his uncle. It asks him for tobacco and then directs him how to overcome sorcery.

36. _Flayed skin._ A human skin is the slave of sorcerers and guards their lodge, clearing or path, screaming out the presence of intruders. It may be revived by hero who removes the enchantment.

37. _Wampum eagle._ An eagle covered with wampum. Many people shoot at this eagle trying to kill it. Only the hero can with his magic arrow.

38. _White beaver._ A magical beaver, generally the “brother” of a witch, is killed by hero who invites in friends to help eat the beast.

39. _Blue lizard._ Lives in a magic spring and lures the unwary to death by pulling them into the water.

40. _Flying heads._ These are spirits of the storm winds. They are generally evil characters in stories.

41. _Pygmies._ There are tribes of “little people” living under ground or in rocky places. They have valuable charms and can be forced to give them to men. They have a ceremony in which they delight. If men beings perform this ceremony favor is gained. They like tobacco and nail parings.

42. _Buffalo one rib._ A magically endowed buffalo kills men. It cannot be injured by arrows because it has only one rib, a bony plate protecting its entire body. Vulnerable in the bottom of one foot.

43. _Fast-growing snake._ A boy finds a pretty snake and feeds it. It grows enormously and soon eats a deer. Game is exhausted and snake goes after human beings.

44. _White pebble._ A white stone is given magical power and when thrown at a magical monster hits and kills it.

45. _Flesh-eating water._ The water of a magical lake eats the flesh from the bones of the unwary. Monsters living in it are immune.

46. _Sudden friend._ Hero in predicament sees a strange person before him who announces that he is a friend and will help the hero escape. Tells hero what to do.

COMPONENTS OF THE COSMOLOGICAL MYTH.

1. _Sky world._ A world above the clouds inhabited by transcendent beings.

2. _Celestial tree._ A wonderful tree in the center of the sky world.

3. _Sky woman._ Falls through hole made by uprooted sky tree and brings a promised child with her.

4. _Primal turtle._ Rises from sea to receive sky woman.

5. _Earth diver._ Animals dive to secure earth for turtle’s back.

6. _World-tree._ Springs up from root of sky tree brought down by sky woman. Grows in the “middle of the world.” Flowers of light.

7. _Female first born._ A daughter soon born to the sky woman. Grows to quick maturity.

8. _Immaculate conception._ Daughter conceives in mysterious manner.

9. _Rival twins._ Twins born to daughter. Warty, flint hearted one, kills mother at birth. Fair one, the elder, watches her grave and finds corn, beans, squashes, potatoes and tobacco springing from it. Elder twin is constructive, younger is destructive.

10. _Hoarded water._ Evil twin causes a great frog to drink all the water of the earth. Good twin hits it with a stone causing it to disgorge.

11. _Father search._ Good Minded twin searches for father and finds him on a great mountain to east.

12. _Son testing._ Good Minded’s father tests him with wind, water, fire and rock. Good Minded proves sonship and returns to earth island with bags of animals.

13. _Man making._ Good Minded molds man from clay after reflections seen in water.

14. _Primal beings return._ Good Minded and grandmother return to sky.

15. _Evil banished._ Evil Minded placed in underground cavern.

III. THE ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH THE LEGENDS WERE TOLD

Let us journey backward into the forgotten yesterday; let us catch a fleeting glimpse of a little village along the creek of Doshowey.

It is during the closing year of the Eighteenth Century. The time is in the moon Nĭsha (January), and the whole earth is covered by a thick blanket of heavy snow.

There is a deeply worn trail along the bank of the creek, but nobody walks in the trail, for it is as deeply rutted as it is deeply trodden. It is not now a road but a trench floored with rough ice and carpeted with broken patches of snow. Along the sides of the trail, over the white way, are supplementary and parallel trails that in places spread wide with the tell-tale mark of snowshoes. Here and there are deep dents where boys have wrestled and thrown each other into the drifts.

About us are great trees. Back from the creek are areas covered with tall pines and hemlocks; toward the creek are great deciduous trees looking gnarled and weather-worn. In the more open spaces are groves of nut trees, the hickory, the butternut and the walnut. Even in the depth of winter the region is inviting and suggests happiness and opportunity.

We continue our journey until we come within sight of a little village of log huts and bark lodges. The huts are rather small and primitive looking and the lodges for the most part look battered and smoky. Here and there, however, is a log cabin more sumptuous than the rest, and there are even bark houses that look comfortable. There seem to be no streets in this village, for the houses are set in any spot, seemingly, where the builder chose to erect his dwelling. Stretching in every direction are little cornfields, stripped of their ears and standing like ragged wrecks in the wind.

Before we reach the village there is an open space occupying a level area. Here and there are a score of boys and as many men shouting and playing games. In an icy trough, made by dragging a log through the snow for a quarter of a mile or more, the older boys are playing a game of snowsnake. We find that there are two rival teams, each with twenty-four long flat pieces of polished wood called “gawasa,” or snowsnakes. The idea of the game seems to be to find out who can throw a gawasa the greatest distance.

There is a great shout as one contestant rushes forward holding his gawasa by the tip and throws it with all his might into the trough. On it speeds like a living thing, gliding ahead with a slight side to side movement like a serpent springing forward. At the entrance of the trough a band of opponents is crying out discouraging remarks, while his own cheer squad is shouting its confidence and praises. A hundred feet down the trough an opponent waves his feathered cap over the gawasa as it speeds by, calling it “a fat woodchuck that cannot run,” while just a bit beyond, a friend also waves his cap and shouts a cabalistic word of magic. Finally the gawasa slows down and stops. Two trail markers rush to the spot and plunge colored sticks into the snow to mark the distance it has traveled. There is a referee from each team to insure absolute accuracy. In another moment another gawasa comes darting ahead, its leaden nose striking the tail of the first, nosing under it and throwing it out of the track, then speeding onward a score of paces ahead. The trail markers rush forward with other sticks and there is a great shout from the winning side.

Each team keeps its gawasa in leathern cases. A special “snowsnake doctor” draws out each as it is wanted and carefully wipes it with a soft fawn-skin, then waxes or oils the snake with some secret compound designed to make it slip with less friction over the icy path. These formulae are great secrets and a successful “doctor” is in great demand, and receives big fees.

We glance over into the square where boys are playing a game of javelins and hoops. The object, we soon discover, is to pierce the hoop with the javelins, thus stopping its progress as it rolls onward between the lines of contestants to its goal. This is also a popular game with the dogs, especially the puppies, who every now and again dash after the hoop, much to the disgust of the team throwing it. We hear the cry of “Sigwah, ahsteh, sigwah!” meaning get out, go away, and then hear the yelp of the poor pup as it is struck with a javelin, and whimpers away from this maddened crowd of humans.

In another portion of the field we see a group of large girls playing football with a small ball stuffed with deer hair. There is a grand melee as the two “centers” come together and kick at the ball, missing and striking each other’s shins. There is a peal of laughter as each falls in the snow from the impact, and rolls over upon the ball which other eager players strive to extricate with their feet, for their hands must not touch the ball. The game is a rough-and-tumble one, but no one is injured, for the kicking feet that fly about so nimbly are clad in soft-nosed moccasins.

We pass on and leave this scene of winter fun for a more sober group sitting on logs beneath the pines at the creek bank. It is a group of older men waiting for the return of a hunting party, and we learn that soon there is to be a great feast,—in fact a nine-day celebration in which all the people will participate. Out on the creek we also see little clusters of men fishing through the ice, and, judging by the shouts, fishing is good.

It may be well to pause here and carefully note the appearance of the men. It is not difficult to see that they are Indians. Their coppery red skins and raven black hair indicate this. Moreover, their dress and language permits no mistake in our conclusion. One man, more aged than the rest, is garbed in buckskin from head to foot. His shirt is long and of a beautiful white tan. About the neck, the chest, the shoulders, the sides and upon the cuffs there is a rich adornment of porcupine quill embroidery in various tasteful colors,—red, yellow and white being predominant. The leggings are of the same soft velvet tan, and embroidered at the bottoms in a deep cuff of quill work, which extends up the front in a thin line. Just below each knee is a garter embroidered with a finer appliqué than the rather coarse quill work. Close inspection shows it to be long hair from the “bell” of the moose. It is so flexible that, unlike quill work, it allows the garter to be tied snugly without stiffness. Beneath the shirt, though it hangs down nearly to the knees, the edge of a loin-cloth is just seen. Looking down at his feet you will observe a pair of beautiful moccasins. They are of the puckered toe type, with a single seam up the center of the foot, the leather being drawn up in neat puckers to conform to the shape of the foot. The flaps of the moccasins are also embroidered with quill work, in a running pattern looking like half circles and above which rise tendril designs,—looking like the zodiacal sign of Aries. It is the old man’s cap, however, which interests us most. It is not at all like the conventional war-bonnet which we have seen in picture and pageant. Instead it is like a closely fitting cap of fine fur, apparently beaver. It has a wide band about it, holding it tightly to the head. On the upper part of this band are close rows of dangling silver cones that jingle against one another as the old man moves his head. From the center of the hat rises a spool-like socket into which is inserted a fine eagle plume, that turns on a spindle within the socket. Around the spool and fastened to it are clusters of smaller feathers that fluff over the top of the cap in gay abandon. Across the old man’s breast is a worsted belt, red in color, and decorated with beads in a most interesting fashion. About the old man’s waist is a stouter belt of buckskin, into which is thrust a tomahawk, and from which dangles a pipe bag. Stooping over, he picks up a pair of overshoes made of woven cornhusk stuffed with pads of oiled rags and buffalo hair. Looking at the other men you observe that all have on similar crude looking over-moccasins, but that most of them are of thick oil-tanned buckskin leather, instead of cornhusk.

The old man walks away toward the village and we linger a moment to learn that his name is Jack Berry,[8] and that he is considered an old-fashioned fellow, but that he commands great respect. We find, in fact, that the village just ahead is named after him, “Jack Berry’s Town,” and that it is one of the eight villages of Indians scattered over the Buffalo Creek tract.

It is now late in the afternoon and the sun is sinking over the forest to the west. Men and boys, and now and then a small group of women, walk swiftly toward the village. Some of the men are bending low under heavy loads of game, trussed up in burden-frames. Several men have strings of fish and a few men and women have long strings of white corn upon their shoulders.

Naturally we are hungry after our long journey through the brisk winter afternoon. We are also ready to sit down by the fire and dry our damp feet. Where shall we go, who will know us?

Everybody seems to know us, for everybody speaks, saying, “Nyahweh skanoh, Gyahdasey,” (“I am thankful to see you strong of body, my friend.”) We stop and talk with one group after another and tell them that we are strangers, rather tired and very hungry. Everybody smiles and says, “Yes, that’s so,” but not a soul invites us to supper and lodging. Our guide smiles at us and finally says, “You may go to any cabin here, walk in and sit down.” You may take off your shoes and put on any warm pair of moccasins you find hanging on the wall, you may pretend that you are dumb, and say nothing. No one will ask you a question, but every want that you have will be anticipated and every comfort of the lodge given to you, though it is the only bed as your couch, the only buffalo robe your cover, and your food the last bowl of soup. Among the Seneca you are welcome. No matter who you are, you are an honored guest and welcome to any home you chose to enter. It is for you to invite yourself to a home and honor it with your presence.

We look about with some concern, for most of the houses are small and look overcrowded. Finally, since we are in search of knowledge, as well as amusement and adventure, we choose a very commodious bark long house, from whose roof we see six fires sending up columns of black smoke. This place looks as if it might afford us company enough to satisfy our social inclinations and room enough to stow us away for the night. If we hesitated a moment we were soon convinced of our good judgment by the tempting odors of steaming maize puddings and hull-corn hominy, together with the appetizing smell of venison roasting over hot stones.

We pause at the entry of the lodge and note the wooden effigy of a bear’s head hanging in the gable of the building. This is a symbol that clans-folk of the Bear dwell within and that all “Bears” are welcome. However, as we know that neither Turtles nor Hawks, nor any other clansman or stranger will be denied admission, we push aside the buffalo robe that curtains the doorway and enter.

Before us is a vast hall some twenty-four feet wide and eighty feet long. On either side are low platforms, scarcely more than knee high from the earthen floor. Above are other platforms, but these are six or seven feet above and form a roof over the lower platforms. On the latter we see people lounging, sitting or reclining, as suits their inclination.

An elderly woman comes forward and greets us, and as she does so, several men also come forward. Some, dressed in trader’s cloth clothing grasp our hands in welcome, while an old man, evidently a relic of an older day, places his hands on our chests and says, “Strength be within you.” This we learn is the old Indian way of greeting, in the days before hand-shaking came into vogue.

Some one points out an unoccupied seat filled with robes and we are invited to place our luggage on the platform above. From a long pole, hanging from the beams that form the roof supports, hang braids of corn, forming a curtain that nearly makes our loft inaccessible. As we push our pack basket well toward the center of the platform we hear a squeal, and a seven-year-old boy who has been sleeping there on a pile of pelts darts over the corn pole and swings himself to the floor.

The whole building is replete with stores of food, and besides the corn, we see large quantities of smoked meat, dried fish, dried pumpkins and squashes and dried herbs of various kinds. The center of the lodge is a broad aisle and at every eight paces there is a fireplace on the floor, the smoke from which rises to the roof and escapes through large rectangular holes made by leaving off the bark roofing.