one deserted the village. The Turtle could not travel as fast as
the rest and was left behind. It being an
unusually hot day in the
fall, the Turtle grew very thirsty and
sleepy. Finally scenting
water, he crawled towards the point from
whence the scent
came, and coming to a large lake jumped in and had a bath, after
which he swam towards the center and dived down, and
finding some
fine large rocks at the bottom, he crawled in among them and fell
asleep. He had his sleep out and arose to the top.
Swimming to shore he found it was summer. He had slept all winter.
The birds were singing, and the green grass and leaves gave forth
a sweet odor.
He crawled out and started out looking for the Chippewa camp. He
came upon the camp several days after he had left his winter
quarters, and going around in search of his wife, found her at the
extreme edge of the village. She was nursing her baby, and as he
asked to see it, she showed it to him. When he saw that it was a
lovely baby and did not
resemble him in any respect, he got angry
and went off to a large lake, where he
contented himself with
catching flies and insects and living on
seaweed the
remainder of
his life.
THE MAN AND THE OAK
There once lived a Sioux couple who had two children, a boy and a
girl. Every fall this family would move away from the main camp
and take up their winter quarters in a grove of
timber some
distance from the
principal village. The reason they did this was
that he was a great
hunter and where a village was located for the
winter the game was usually very
scarce. Therefore, he always
camped by himself in order to have an
abundance of game adjacent
to his camp.
All summer he had roamed around following the tribe to wherever
their fancy might take them. During their travels this particular
year there came to the village a strange girl who had no relatives
there. No one seemed very
anxious to take her into their
family, so the great
hunter's daughter,
taking a fancy to the poor
girl, took her to their home and kept her. She addressed her as
sister, and the parents, on
account of their daughter, addressed
her as daughter.
This strange girl became
desperately in love with the young man of
the family, but being addressed as daughter by the parents, she
could not
openly show her feelings as the young man was considered
her brother.
In the fall when the main village moved into a large belt of
timberfor their winter quarters, the
hunter moved on to another place two
days' travel from the main winter camp, where he would not be
disturbed by any other
hunters.
The young man had a tent by himself, and it was always kept nice
and clean by his sister, who was very much attached to him. After
a long day's hunt in the woods, he would go into his tent and lie
down to rest, and when his supper was ready his sister would
say, "My brother is so tired. I will carry his supper to him."
Her friend, whom she addressed as sister, would never go into the
young man's tent. Along towards spring there came one night into
the young man's tent a woman. She sat down by the door and kept
her face covered so that it was
hidden from view. She sat there a
long time and finally arose and went away. The young man could not
imagine who this could be. He knew that it was a long distance
from the village and could not make out where the woman
could have come from. The next night the woman came again and this
time she came a little nearer to where the young man lay. She sat
down and kept her face covered as before. Neither spoke a word.
She sat there for a long time and then arose and
departed. He was
very much puzzled over the actions of this woman and
decided to
ascertain on her next visit who she was.
He kindled a small fire in his tent and had some ash wood laid on
it so as to keep fire a long time, as ash burns very slowly and
holds fire a long time.
The third night the woman came again and sat down still nearer his
bed. She held her blanket open just a
trifle, and he, catching up
one of the embers, flashed it in her face; jumping up she ran
hurriedly out of the tent. The next morning he noticed that his
adopted sister kept her face
hidden with her blanket. She chanced
to drop her blanket while in the act of pouring out some soup, and
when she did so he noticed a large burned spot on her cheek.
He felt so sorry for what he had done that he could eat no
breakfast, but went outside and lay down under an oak tree. All
day long he lay there gazing up into the tree, and when he was
called for supper he refused,
saying that he was not hungry, and
for them not to
bother him, as he would soon get up and go to bed.
Far into the night he lay thus, and when he tried to arise he could
not, as a small oak tree grew through the center of his body and
held him fast to the ground.
In the morning when the family awoke they found the girl had
disappeared, and on going outside the sister discovered her brother
held fast to the earth by an oak tree which grew very rapidly. In
vain were the best medicine men of the tribe sent for. Their
medicine was of no avail. They said: "If the tree is cut down the
young man will die."
The sister was wild with grief, and extending her hands to the sun,
she cried: "Great Spirit,
relieve my
suffering brother. Any one
who
releases him I will marry, be he young, old,
homely or
deformed."
Several days after the young man had met with the
mishap, there
came to the tent a very tall man, who had a bright light encircling
his body. "Where is the girl who promised to marry any one who
would
release her brother?" "I am the one," said the young
man's sister. "I am the all-powerful
lightning and
thunder. I see
all things and can kill at one stroke a whole tribe. When I make
my voice heard the rocks shake loose and go rattling down the
hillsides. The brave warriors cower shivering under some shelter
at the sound of my voice. The girl whom you had adopted as your
sister was a sorceress. She bewitched your brother because he
would not let her make love to him. On my way here I met her
traveling towards the west, and
knowing what she had done, I struck
her with one of my blazing swords, and she lies there now a heap of
ashes. I will now
release your brother."
So
saying he placed his hand on the tree and
instantly it crumbled
to ashes. The young man arose, and thanked his deliverer.
Then they saw a great black cloud approaching, and the man said:
"Make ready, we shall go home on that cloud." As the cloud
approached near to the man who stood with his bride, it suddenly
lowered and enveloped them and with a great roar and
amidst flashes
of
lightning and loud peals of
thunder the girl ascended and
disappeared into the west with her Thunder and Lightning husband.
STORY OF THE TWO YOUNG FRIENDS
There were once in a very large Indian camp two little boys who
were fast friends. One of the boys, "Chaske" (meaning first born),
was the son of a very rich family, and was always dressed in the
finest of clothes of Indian
costume. The other boy, "Hake"
(meaning last born), was an
orphan and lived with his old
grandmother, who was very
destitute, and
consequently could not
dress the boy in fine
raiment. So
poorly was the boy dressed that
the boys who had good clothes always tormented him and would not
play in his company.
Chaske did not look at the clothes of any boy whom he chose as a
friend, but mingled with all boys
regardless of how they were clad,
and would study their dispositions. The well dressed he found were
vain and
conceited. The fairly well dressed he found
selfish and spiteful. The
poorly clad he found to be
generous and
truthful, and from all of them he chose "Hake" for his "Koda"
(friend). As Chaske was the son of the leading war chief he was
very much sought after by the rest of the boys, each one
trying to
gain the honor of being chosen for the friend and
companion of the
great chief's son; but, as I have before said, Chaske carefully
studied them all and finally chose the
orphan Hake.
It was a lucky day for Hake when he was chosen for the friend and
companion of Chaske. The
orphan boy was taken to the lodge of his
friend's parents and dressed up in fine clothes and moccasins.
(When the Indians' sons claim any one as their friend, the friend
thus chosen is adopted into the family as their own son).
Chaske and Hake were
inseparable. Where one was seen the other was
not far distant. They played, hunted, trapped, ate and slept
together. They would spend most of the long summer days
hunting in
the forests.
Time went on and these two fast friends grew up to be fine
specimens of their tribe. When they became the age to select a
sweetheart they would go together and make love to a girl. Each
helping the other to win the
affection of the one of his choice.
Chaske loved a girl who was the daughter of an old medicine man.
She was very much courted by the other young men of the tribe, and
many a horse loaded with robes and fine
porcupine work was tied at
the medicine man's tepee in
offering for the hand of his daughter,
but the horses, laden as when tied there, were turned loose,
signifying that the offer was not accepted.
The girl's choice was Chaske's friend Hake. Although he had never
made love to her for himself, he had always used honeyed words to
her and was always loud in his praises for his friend Chaske. One
night the two friends had been to see the girl, and
on their return Chaske was very quiet, having nothing to say and
seemingly in deep study. Always of a bright, jolly and amiable
disposition, his silence and moody spell
grieved his friend very
much, and he finally spoke to Chaske,
saying: "Koda, what has come
over you? You who were always so jolly and full of fun? Your
silence makes me
grieve for you and I do not know what you are
feeling so downhearted about. Has the girl said anything to you
to make you feel thus?"
"Wait, friend," said Chaske, "until morning, and then I will know
how to answer your
inquiry. Don't ask me anything more tonight, as
my heart is having a great battle with my brain."
Hake
bothered his friend no more that night, but he could not
sleep. He kept wondering what "Pretty Feather" (the girl whom his
friend loved) could have said to Chaske to bring such a change over
him. Hake never suspected that he himself was the cause of his
friend's sorrow, for never did he have a thought that it was
himself that Pretty Feather loved.
The next morning after they had eaten breakfast, Chaske proposed
that they should go out on the prairies, and see if they would have
the good luck to kill an
antelope. Hake went out and got the band
of horses, of which there were over a hundred. They
selected the fleetest two in the herd, and
taking their bows and
arrows, mounted and rode away towards the south.
Hake was overjoyed to note the change in his friend. His oldtime
jollity had returned. They rode out about five miles, and scaring
up a drove of
antelope they started in hot
pursuit, and as their
horses were very fleet of foot soon caught up to the drove,
and each singling out his choice quickly dispatched him with an
arrow. They could easily have killed more of the
antelope, but did
not want to kill them just for sport, but for food, and
knowingthat they had now all that their horses could pack home, they
dismounted and proceeded to dress their kill.
After each had finished packing the kill on his horse, Chaske said:
"Let us sit down and have a smoke before we start back. Besides,
I have something to tell you which I can tell better sitting still
than I can riding along." Hake came and sat down opposite his
friend, and while they smoked Chaske said:
"My friend, we have been together for the last twenty years and I
have yet the first time to
deceive you in any way, and I know I can
truthfully say the same of you. Never have I known you to
deceiveme nor tell me an untruth. I have no brothers or sisters. The
only brother's love I know is yours. The only sister's love I will
know will be Pretty Feather's, for brother, last night she told me
she loved none but you and would marry you and you only. So,