Part 4

One time the younger tried to think of something that he ever did before. He thought there must be some people some place nearby. He thought, “this evening when my brother comes home I’ll ask him about this.” His brother came home at night and after supper the younger began to ask him if there were any Indians living nearby. “Well,” the older boy said to his brother, “yes, there are some people living to the west who are called ‘white men,’ and some people living east of us, but it is a long way.” The younger boy began to get lonesome thinking about these people whom he would like to see, so one day he asked his brother if he would let him go and see some of the white people. “Well,” his brother said, “it will take you four days to get there; you go straight west all the time.” “Well, I will go to-morrow and I will try and get back in a week,” the younger said. He got ready the night before he started the journey. He left camp just about daylight and walked all day. When night came he made camp for the night. The next day he started early in the morning, the same as he did the first day. On the fourth day while walking he noticed somebody had been cutting some trees with a very sharp thing. He looked at the stumps for a long time. He never saw an axe before. He went on a little farther. He heard some one cutting something. He went on till he saw a man who was very white. He thought, “this must be a white man.” He got to where this man was working and sat down close by. They began to speak to each other. The white man asked him where did he come from. The Indian told him where he came from and said, “I just came to see the people and I am going to camp near the city.” The white man said, “I have got a little shanty here in the bush and if you like to stay in it you are welcome.” The Indian said, “I don’t know what you call a shanty till I see it.” The white man said, “I will show you the shanty. You come along,” and they both went up to where the shanty was. The white man showed the Indian all the “rigging,” such as dishes and pans, the like of which the Indian never saw before. The white man gave him some meat, bread, tea, and sugar, things this Indian never ate before.

The Indian would like to go to town one day and see the place. He went out and looked around. He picked up some rags and made a very nice quilt. He sold this quilt for $25.00. He made a lot of them and sold them all at $25.00 each.

One day a nice-looking, young man came up to see him and told him that there was going to be a big feast on Wednesday at the big hall up town. He went down to it with this young man. The feast was a French one. The King wanted to find a good cook, and every time the King had a feast there was a different cook. When the hour came to eat they all sat down and the King came out and also sat down and started to eat. He just tasted and went away. This will show that he didn’t like it. The cooks were all men. This King wanted to find a good cook for his only daughter. When the feast was over the King came out again and said to all the people, “Who will try again for next week’s feast?” Some of the boys knew that the Indian boy was a good cook, and one of them went over to the Indian boy and asked him if he would try. Well, the Indian boy was a little shy at first, but he thought he would try. He went to his little shanty and thought about it all the time, and how he would make things look nice. The feast day came and he went over to the place and started in to cook. When he got ready about four o’clock in the evening he got some girls to help him with the tables. About six o’clock he called the people to “come in.” All the boys and girls said to one another “This Indian man is going to get his for sure.” The waiter called to the King that everything was ready. The King came in and saw everything was good. He started to eat and he ate a lot this time. He told the people that he had found a good cook at last. He called his daughter to come out; this girl was never seen, only from a distance. She came out and stood by her father. The King called the Indian young man to come to where they were. The Indian came up and the King called a preacher and had the young couple married right there, and they stayed there at the King’s house.

One day the people had an excursion out on the lake. There were about five hundred people on board. They went a long ways out on the lake. The Indian’s wife did not like to go on this excursion so she did not go, but the Indian went, although his wife did not like him to go, but he wanted to go badly. One of the boys thought that this would be a good chance to kill the Indian, so three boys got together and made a plan to throw the Indian overboard. They got him to go to the back end of the steamboat and then grabbed him by the legs. Down he went into the water. Nobody saw him, only the boys that thrust him down. He swam around for a long time and then began to think about his wife and his brother. He could not see land any place. He heard some bird up in the air and on looking up he saw a hawk. He began to call the bird and the bird came down to him. He asked the bird if there was an island close by, and the bird said, “Yes, there is a rock not far from here.” The Indian said, “I’d like to ask you if you could take me to the rock.” “I will try,” said the bird. “Take hold of my legs and I will take you to the rock.” The bird got so big that it had no trouble in taking the Indian to the rock. When they got there the Indian sat on the rock not knowing where to eat. Well, he thought he would get the bird to go to the city and get him something to eat. So he called the bird and the bird came near. He told the bird to go to a big house with a big verandah. The bird flew away and she was away for two hours, then she came back with a nice little parcel of nice cakes which the Indian’s wife had given to the bird. The Indian had a good lunch. The wife did not know where he was. There was a big reward to anybody that had seen him or had seen him killed.

The big bird came to the rock, where the Indian was, in the evening, and said to him, “Maybe I could take you home if you pay me what I want. I would like to get the first baby you see when you get home.” (While the Indian was away there was a baby born at home.) “Well,” the Indian said, “I will do that.” They started to cross the big lake to get home. They got close to shore when the bird got tired and had to come down in the water about a hundred yards from shore. Anyway the Indian swam to shore and went home. When he got there he saw a little baby boy, for his wife had a child born. Well, he thought he had to give it to the bird, which he did, and his wife was glad that he went and gave up the boy to the big bird.

NO. 29.

JOHN YORK’S OWN STORY.

When he was a young man the Mohawks were bad at that time. Nobody was allowed to go out alone anywheres. He wanted to hunt very badly so he and another young man went out one morning quite a long ways off the Reserve to hunt bear and duck. They got to Mud Lake (Carden Township) the next day about the middle of the afternoon. They shot about twenty-five duck that night. The next morning early they heard something across the narrows; they looked and saw a great, big, black bear. They got in their canoe and got near enough to shoot and kill the bear. While looking at the dead bear they heard another one coming down to drink, near where they were standing. They both shot and killed this one. They took the two bears in their canoe and started for home. After going down the lake a little way he looked up and saw three bears in a big oak tree. The two hunters got out of the canoe and went to the tree. He shot the big one but did not kill him outright, but had to shoot again. This left only one more shot ready for use, as they had one double and one single-barrel shot guns. The other two bears came down the tree. He shot one of these and killed it and the last bear had to come down when there was no shot ready for him. He (York) grabbed the bear by the legs till the other hunter got his gun loaded. The bear was a cub but fought like an old bear, tearing the clothes off the man. The hunters got the five bears and took them home. When they got home there was a big feast and everybody came and ate some bear meat, for their friends thought the hunters had been killed by the Mohawks.

The first of these following tales was told to me some eight or ten years ago by Ben Simcoe, an elderly Indian from the Rama Reserve, Ontario County, near Lake Couchiching, and is probably a modern version of an older tale, as it introduces the negro and white man. The word “He” in the story stands for “God” or the “Creator.” I could not get definitely from the Simcoe who it did stand for. He seemingly did not know much about earlier Indian beliefs and conditions.

The remaining three stories were told to me this summer by Jonas George, Chippewa, of Rama Reserve, aged about sixty-four, professed Christian. His Indian name is Wash-a-ghe-zik, which means “A clear day.”

G. E. Laidlaw.

The sketch of the two little shiny men setting lightning at the tree, also the “Monster,” were drawn by Wash-a-ghe-zik.

THE CREATION OF MAN.

Told by Ben Simcoe, Chippewa (Ojibwa), of Rama Reserve, Ontario County.

He (the Creator) took some clay and made a man. He baked it; it was not done enough. He threw it away; it was no good. This was the white man.

He took some more clay and made another man and baked it. This one was baked too much, and was burnt. It was no good. He threw this away. This was the negro.

He took another bit of clay and made a third man. He baked this and it came out all right. It was just right. This was the Indian, better than the white man or the negro.

THUNDERBOLT.

This story was told to Wash-a-ghe-zik by his father, and was told to his father by his grandfather.

A young Indian, many years ago, went out to hunt early one morning, and coming on noon he got hungry and started back to camp. In passing a pine stub that had been struck by lightning he saw “something” sticking in the tree where the lightning hit. He pulled this “something” out and looked at it. It was about two fingers broad, and about one hand long. He put it back again in the tree exactly like he found it, and went on. When he came to camp he told his father about it, and his father and several other men, together with the young man, went back to examine it. Neither his father or the men with him could pull this “something” out, but the young man could; so he pulled it out, wrapped it up and took it to camp. This “something” would tell the young man some hours before a storm came up that the storm was coming, so that the Indians could make camp. The young man used to dream that he could split trees by pointing this “something” at them, but never tried it. He kept this for many years. He was about eighteen years old when he found it, and lived to be forty-seven. He died unmarried and his name was forgotten.

The “something” was shiny and quivering, and nobody knew what it was made out of. It was lost shortly before the man died. Wash-a-ghe-zik had no name for this “something,” and said the Indians could not make up a name for it.

NIM-MAH-KIE.

Once, a long time ago, before the white man came to Canada, an Indian struck out through the bush to hunt. It came on a storm and he took a line for camp, which was by a little lake away up north. It came on worse, and the Indian crawled under a projecting pine tree. He saw the lightning strike several trees, and looking very closely at one tree that was struck he saw a little man (about two feet high) standing by one side of the tree, and looking again at the tree he saw another little man standing at the other side of the struck tree. Both these men were fine little fellows, all black and shining, and are called Nim-Mah-Kie (Thunder). They climbed up in the air like they were climbing ladders, and disappeared. After they went up more lightning came down. These little men set the lightning at the trees and make the thunder. Thunder and lightning keep the monsters down on the land and in the lakes.

MONSTERS.

These monsters, which are about twelve feet long and about one and one-half to two feet thick, and which have long jaws full of teeth, and look like half fish and half snake, live in hills near lakes. They have underground passages from the hills to the water, and can sometimes be seen early in the morning. In small lakes and bays of larger lakes they move around with great swiftness, forcing the weeds and floating sticks, etc., up high on the shore, similar to swirling your hand around in a wash basin. Sometimes they do this with so much force that they leave the small lakes partially dry. One of these monsters lives in the hill just north of where the old Indian portage from Lake Simcoe enters West Bay, Balsam Lake (now Portage Road). Another lives in the hill at Atherley, Rama Reserve, Lake Couchiching, and another lives up north in a lake the name of which is now forgotten. Thunder and lightning kill these monsters.