Part 7

There were once three brothers who had spent their lives as hunters. At last one growing tired of the chase suggested that, as a break in the monotony of existence, they would walk to the end of the earth where the sky touched the water of the great seas. This proposition met with favor with all and together they set out on their long journey. Many years of adventure were spent, when at last they reached the spot where the sky bends down to earth (gaenhyakdondye).

For two changes of the moon they camped near this spot and watched the mysterious things that happened about the blue dome’s rim. Each day it rose high from the earth and fell back upon the sea. When it rose the water would recede and when it fell the water would rise high on the shore. Finally two brothers desired to run upon the sand beneath the rim of the bowl but the third brother hung back and was afraid, but seeing the others afar off he ran beneath the rim and hastened to overtake them but just as the two stepped out from the farther side of the blue wall it came down and the third was crushed; but his spirit sped forward like the wind on its journey. The two mourned the loss of their brother in this summary way but continued their adventure.

Now on the other side of the sky all things seemed turned around. Before them was a high rounded hill and when they ascended it they found a large village in the distance. A man came running toward them. It was their brother.

“How came you here, brother?” they asked. “We did not see you pass us,” but all the other brother would say was, “Never hesitate, never delay!” and passed on.

They saw an old man approaching. His youthful vigor and strong, well-proportioned body surprised them. No earthly symptoms of old age had he. His white hair alone betokened that.

Coming near he greeted them. “I am the Father of All,” he said, “and my son is T‘haho^n’hiawă’´ko^n, the Great Spirit. He is the ruler of all below. Now let me advise you. When you see him call him quickly and say ‘Nya‘wĕ‘´skäno’’! If you fail to speak first he will say, ‘you are mine,’ and you will no more be men but spirits as your brother is.”

The brothers went their way and came to a high white lodge. As they walked up the path a tall handsome man stepped out.

“Nyawĕ‘´skäno’!” shouted the brothers in chorus.

“Dogĕ^ns!” responded the being. “Come in. I have been watching you a long time.”

The brothers entered the lodge.

“How are your bodies, men?” asked the being.

“Good indeed!” replied the brothers.

“Untrue,” said the great being. “I am the Master of Life and know! One of you must lie down and I will purify him first, and then the other.”

One brother placed himself upon the ground. Master of Life took a small shell, placed it to his lips, tapped him upon the neck, and then carefully sealed the shell with a lump of clay. He now began to skin the prostrate man. He stripped every muscle from its fastenings, took out the organs, and separated the bones. He cleansed each fibre from corruption and disease with a fluid from his mouth and then put the man together again. The same process was repeated with the second brother. Then, placing the shells upon their mouths, he loosened the clay and tapped the necks of the men. Sitting up they said, “It seems as if we have slept.”

“Every power of your bodies is renewed,” said the Master of Life. “How would you like to test your skill now?” And, leading the way, he entered a beautiful forest surrounded by a hedge. The borders of the grove were lined with beds of vegetables and flowers.

“Come into the inner part of my garden,” said the Master of Life, “and see my droves of deer.”

A stalwart buck with proud branching antlers came bounding toward them.

“He is the swiftest of all my runners,” said the Master of Life. “Try to catch him.”

The men followed after and easily overtook the fleeing deer.

“He has given us good speed,” said the brothers, nor was this the only power. For long they tried their skill in every way and found it equal to any task that creatures could perform.

Returning to the great white lodge the brothers saw a messenger of wondrous swiftness come speeding toward them. Upon his wide expanded chest was suspended a brilliant ball of light. In some unknown tongue he shouted as he dashed by on his journey.

“Do you understand his words, or do you even know him?” asked the Master. “He is Sun, my messenger, Ho‘sĕ^n’äge‘´dagōwā. Each day he brings me news. Nothing from east to west escapes his eyes. He has just told me of a war raging even now between your people and another nation, so come, let us look down upon the earth.”

Going to a high hill the men looked down through a hole in the sky and saw the struggling bands of men, saw the flaming lodges, and even the cries of anguish and rage.

“Such things men will ever do,” said the Master of Life as he led them away.

The brothers lived long in the upper world and learned much that their tongues never could tell. They saw untenanted villages awaiting the coming of tribes yet to be born and saw their own lodges where they should be when they came again as spirits. Many good things the great Master of Life told them, and our preachers proclaim them now.

At last the Master told them they must depart, and, guided by two messengers, they descended to the earth by night and slept on the ground.

In the morning they discovered that their native village was overgrown with trees, and following a path through the woods came to another settlement. In a council they told their story and no one knew them except a sister, aged and on the verge of the grave.

“The war of which you speak,” said they, “took place fifty years ago.”

The men did not love earth now but longed for their lodges in the sky world. They were men of wonderful physical power and neither pestilence nor enchantments could kill them but two fiery shafts of the sky did. They then journeyed back to the great white lodge, but this time could not return.[11]

3. THE DEATH PANTHER.[12]

Now the old folk say this is true.

Two boys were fast friends and always were seen together. Their favorite sport was to play in the waters of a deep lake that washed the feet of a tall white-headed mountain that lay a distance from the village.

One day as they splashed in the water, swimming, diving, and sporting as boys do, one suggested that they both dive at the same instant and see which could remain below the surface the longer. This suggestion was at once acted upon and each time they dove they remained below a greater time.

In the course of the game one of the boys, Oohoosha, by name, discovered a flat projecting rock to which he could cling. As he lay holding fast to the rock after a dive he saw a hazy indistinct object approaching him and when it neared him he saw that it was a tall warrior whose smooth glistening body was the color of the sky or the color of clear water when the clouds pass over.

“Come with me,” said the man, in a friendly manner and although he had never heard this language before, Oohoosha strangely understood it now. So, marveling, he followed.

The dark green water began to clear and in the distance, he thought he saw a number of boys playing ball. The guide led Oohoosha into a large moss-covered council hall where a stout preacher, with a yellow and pink face, swaying body and large round eyes was declaiming to the people.

“God created all good things and made men as well as fish!” he shouted, as the bubbles floated up from his mouth. “The earth people are his children as well as we, so why should not we who know and foreknow many things, notify them that trouble is coming and warn them to avoid it?”

“I will go,” said the boy’s friend, as he pulled his cap. “It is my office.”

The preacher rolled his eyes and looked at the speaker, with a shudder and then called out, “Gaă‘sioñdie´t’hă’ has promised to go. May he succeed!”

The preacher sat down and the dances began, and long and solemnly the people danced. After these ceremonies the boy’s friend told him that he must go up to the earth-world and warn men of disaster. He took him to his lodge and bade him care for it during his absence. He was to have free access to everything save the back room of the lodge which he must shun. With a few general instructions he departed, leaving Oohoosha to care for his interests.

For four moons the boy kept watch, over the lodge and dwelt there but no one came near him, and when at last the friend returned Oohoosha asked how he had fared.

“Ah!” sighed the man, “do not ask me. You must not stay here longer, for in my madness you may see me as I am. I am the messenger of death. He is Sondowekowa, I am Gahachendietoh. I am in disguise but should you see me you would soon die, so depart and preach what I whisper that henceforth mankind may profit.”

With trembling limbs and blanched face the boy listened to the whispered words of his friend and when he had learned all, he shot upward to the surface of the lake. Striking out he swam to the shore and searching beneath a rock shelter he found his clothing as fresh as when he had doffed them. Dressing, he set out to find his comrade. He came to the village but found on its site only charred and blackened frames. A deep-trodden trail bordered with the bones of dogs and fragments of kettles led away to the west, and following it Oohoosha saw a new village, but only a few houses were there. The people who moved like ghosts silently about were gaunt and scarred.

Suddenly a lodge door opened and out rushed his old comrade, who seeing Oohoosha, drew back with a cry of fear and surprise; but Oohosha calling, he came forward timidly and took his hand. Looking at him doubtfully he spoke.

“Oh, Oohoosha!” he cried. “How came you back from death! I thought you drowned four moons ago when we dived in the lake.”

“While I clung to a rock,” answered Oohoosha, “a man came to me and said ‘follow!’ I did not drown but lived this while in the underwater world. Now, tell me, why is the village so altered and why do the people stalk silently about, with dull eyes?”

“Ah me!” said the comrade. “A devastating war has been waged and we are reduced in number; a terrible famine has swept away the game and crops; a pestilence carried away all but a handful of our people, then to add to our trouble a marauding band came and burned our village while we slept.”

“And did no warning sign appear?” asked Oohoosha.

“Yes, but we knew it not as such until it was long too late and then we noticed a blue panther floating high in the trees. He had no visible face but from his tail shot flames of fire.”[13]

“That creature,” exclaimed Oohoosha, “is the herald of disaster. His name is Gaă‘sioñdie´t’hă’ and when he is seen all men must burn tobacco. Tobacco incense is the sign that disaster is not wanted and when he has breathed it he will go away satisfied with the offering and turn aside the impending evil. But come, I must call a council and tell the people.”

4. THE GREAT BEAR CONSTELLATION.

In the days of the first people, before the creation of our kind of man-beings, there were seven brothers. All were hunters, but one was not as skillful as the others, and he was called the Lazy One.

The brothers on a certain occasion had failed to find any game though they had hunted many moons. They became very hungry and their minds were charged with magic because of their long fast. When their hunger seemed unendurable they resolved to go out and make one last effort to find game. One brother was reluctant to go and clung to his bed, but the others wrestled with him and forced him to go with them, but he assumed to be so weak that they had to make a burden litter upon which they carried him. Four brothers carried this burden, one went before with a torch and one behind with a kettle, hoping for food.

When they had gone a long way in this manner the leading brother said: “By aid of my torch I see the tracks of a large bear. I believe that we shall soon overtake him.” When he had said this the lazy brother in the litter said, “I am very weak and you must bathe me with your salivary fluid.”[14] They paused to do this though the brothers did not like to delay their hunt.

After a time the bear tracks appeared to be fresh before them and all five brothers made ready for the hunt. The rear brother commenced to gather firewood for the feast. Thus they traveled for three days more until the bear appeared just ahead. “We must now abandon you, brother,” said the litter-bearers, “for we are weak and all of us shall have to assist in killing him before he overpowers us. Now, we shall leave you here alone and we hope you may recover.”

When the lazy brother found himself abandoned he leaped up and ran ahead. Being full of power from the bath he had received and from his rest, he quickly engaged the bear and killed it with an axe.

When his brothers came up he had skinned the bear and had cut off some meat. Soon the brother who bore the torch made a fire and the brother with the kettle had placed the meat therein.

When all were satisfied they looked about them and discovered that they were far up in the air and that the earth was a good ways below them. They looked down and saw that the blood and oil from the bear had stained the leaves of the trees and made them red, orange and yellow. This is how the autumn leaves became colored.

After a time they went on their journey and soon found that the bear had revived, though they had killed and eaten him. So they again pursued him, being hungry, and when they killed him it was autumn again.

This bear chase keeps up all the time,—year after year, and has been so since the first people came. If you will look into the sky where the bear-chase cluster is seen to the north, you will find the man with the torch at the end of the group (big dipper or great bear constellation), and will see the man with the pot in the middle of the handle.

It seems also that there is a cave in which the bear hides and out of which he comes at the time the brothers are very hungry. Then he is pursued until killed by the brother who has saved his strength. This keeps on forever. So we call those stars Nia´gwai’ hadēs´he’ (Bear they pursuing are).

5. THE SEVEN BROTHERS OF THE STAR CLUSTER.[15]

Seven brothers[16] had been trained as young warriors. Each day they practised in front of their mother’s lodge, but this did not please the mother. With the boys was an uncle whose custom it was to sit outside the lodge door and drum upon a water drum, that the boys might learn to dance correctly.

In time the boys became perfect in their dancing, and then announced that they were about to depart on an expedition to test their skill. The seven assembled about the war post and began their dance. They then went into their mother’s lodge and asked her to supply them with dried meat and parched corn for their journey but she sent them away, scoffing at their presumptions.

Again they danced and again returned for food. “I will not give you so much as a small cake of corn bread,” said the mother hoping to restrain them. But they went back to their dance. A third time they returned but again were repulsed.

The fourth dance started and the oldest youth changed his tune to the song of Djihaya. With great enthusiasm he sang compelling his brothers to dance a dance of magic.

Hearing the wierd music the mother rushed out of the lodge and saw her sons dancing in the air over the trees. This greatly startled her and she cried, “Return, my sons! What manner of departure is this?” But the song continued and the boys danced higher and higher.

Again the mother cried, “Oh, my eldest son, will you not return?” But the eldest son would not listen, though his heart was touched. Then the mother screamed, “Oh my eldest son, will you not hear your mother’s voice? Only look down to me!” Then was the oldest son’s heart touched very deeply, but he did not respond, for fear of making his brothers weak.

“Oh my brothers,” he called. “Heed no sounds from the earth but continue dancing. If you look down you shall fall and never more be able to dance.”

The mother now gave a heart-broken cry and called, “Oh my first born son, give your mother one look,—one last look or I die!” This weakened the heart of the oldest son and he looked down toward the figure of his mother with outstretched arms, weeping for him.

As he looked he lost his power to master the air, and began to fall. With great rapidity he fell until he struck the earth and penetrated it, leaving only a scar where the soil came together again.

The mother rushed to the spot and swept aside the rubbish, but no trace of her son could she find. Finally looking up she saw her other boys dancing far up in the sky. They had become the “dancing stars.”

In deep sorrow the mother with covered head sat beside the spot where her first born had fallen. For a whole year she wept as she watched.

Winter came and her dancing boys appeared over the council house and each night were observed overhead, but no sign of her eldest could be seen.

Came springtime and the time of budding plants. From the spot where the eldest had disappeared a tiny green shoot appeared. This the mother watched with great solicitude. It grew into a tall tree and became the first pine. This tree was guarded by the melancholy old woman and she would allow no man to touch it; she knew that it was her son and would sometime speak to her.

The winds blew and the tree swayed, it began to speak, and the mother heard. Only she could interpret the sounds that came from the waving branches, only she could see the face of the young warrior with his plumes.

A careless hunter slashed at the tree and blood flowed, but the mother bound up the wound and drove other intruders away. In time the tree bore small short feathers (cones), and more trees grew. These the hunters slashed in order to get pitch for canoes and ropes.

Every winter the pine tree talked to its dancing brothers in the sky and the mother knew that her eldest son should be her comfort while she rested on this earth.

GENERAL NOTES. This legend I had from Edward Cornplanter but being so familiar with it I made only a few rough notes which I have transcribed. This myth is similar to the Huron and Wyandot forms recounting the origin of “the cluster.”

6. THE SEVEN STAR DANCERS.[17]

Now this even happened a long time ago in the days when the whole world was new. Our Creator it was (S‘hoñgwadiĕnnu’k´dăon), had finished his work.

One of the first men beings lived with his nephew in a lodge near a river. The river was broad and had a wide sandy shore. The nephew received the name Djinaĕñ’´dă’ and his uncle sent him away to dream on the shore of the river, there to stay and dream until his dream helpers appeared. For a long time he did not eat, but drank water and sweat himself in a sweat lodge.

One night he thought that he saw a light upon the water and he looked and saw lights moving toward him. Hiding in the reeds on the shore he watched. Soon he saw seven shining young women dancing[18] in the water against the shore and they made no splashing but went up and down. He heard them speak but could not understand what they said. He observed them all intently, for all were without clothing and were very beautiful of body. The youngest appeared the most beautiful of all. The young man watched her and thought that she would do for a wife.

Hoping to catch her he rushed out from his hiding place but the maidens were alarmed and leaped into a great corn basket and were drawn rapidly up into the sky and he looked and said, “They are dancing,” (De‘hoñnont´gwĕ^n‘).

Djinaĕñ’´dă’ (Elk) continued his vigil and the next night he saw the dancers swing back over the water in their basket. Soon they came to the shore and alighted. Again he heard their voices and again they began their bewitching dance. Djinaenda’s eyes were upon the youngest dancer and she appeared more beautiful than ever. He waited until she danced very near to him and away from the basket, then he rushed out from his hiding place and pursued the maidens, at length grasping the youngest before she touched the basket, but she gave a leap, and the youth holding to her was drawn upward as she fell into the basket. She looked to see who held her so tightly and immediately both fell to the earth.

The maiden gazed upon Djinaenda and asked him what he wanted. “I want to marry you,” he said. “You have caused me to love you.”

“Then we shall be married,” said the maiden, “but we must return to the sky and prepare for living upon the earth.” So the basket came down and drew them into the sky.

Djinaenda was taken to the lodge of the dancing sisters and then led to the lodge of a great chief who caused him to recline upon the ground. The chief then took him apart, joint by joint and removed all his organs. After cleansing them he replaced them and Djinaenda was regenerated. He now felt very strong and able to do mighty things.

His bride now came to him and said that she would now return to the earth with him and live as his wife. The sisters then placed the couple in the basket and lowered them to the earth. They came down on the beach of the river but it was changed and there was a great village of men beings there.

Djinaenda inquired where his uncle lived but no one knew. Finally an old man said, “An old man such as you describe lived in the woods with his nephew near this place more than a hundred years ago.”

The couple now tried to live contentedly but could not understand the ways of the people, and so, in time the two returned to the sky. The wife rejoined her sisters but she had lost her brightness, and Djinaenda roamed the sky world hunting game which he captured by running it down.

My grandmother told me that they are up there yet.

7. THE COMING OF SPRING.[19]

In the ancient times when this world was new an old man wandered over the land in search of a suitable camping spot. He was a fierce old man and had long white flowing hair. The ground grew hard like flint where his footsteps fell, and when he breathed the leaves and grasses dropped and dried up red, and fell. When he splashed through the rivers the water stopped running and stood solid.

On and on the old man journeyed until at last on the shores of a great lake by a high mountain he halted. He gathered the trees that had been uprooted by hurricanes and made a framework for a dwelling. He built the walls of ice and plastered the crevices with branches and snow. Then, to guard his lodge against the intruder, he placed uprooted stumps about on every side. Not even bad animals cared to enter this house. Everything living passed by it at a distance. It was like a magician’s house.

The old man had but one friend. It was North Wind, and it was he alone who might enter the door of the stronghold and sit by the fire. Very wonderful was this fire and it gave flames and light but no heat! But even North Wind found little time to enter and smoke with the old man, for he took greater pleasure in piling high the snow and driving hail, like flints, against the shivering deer or hungry storm bound hunter. He liked to kill them. There came times, however, when North Wind needed new tricks and so he sought the advice of the old man,—how he might pile up the snow banks higher, how he might cause famine or make great snow-slides to bury Indian villages.