Indian Mythology | Assiniboin Mythology

The Beaver Man

 

(a)1
A young man, who had never been married, always had dreams. He told his father, "When you go hunting, don't walk close to the lake." The old man forgot his warning and once, while returning from the chase, he walked by the lake. He beheld some beavers, and among them a beaver-woman, who said to him, "I want to marry you, my house is below there." The old man undressed, and followed her, after hanging up his clothes by the dam. Then the people dreamt about what had happened, and the young man helped his father to get out. Another man, who had dreams, challenged the young man to find the beaver-woman. Accordingly, he went to the lake, entered her house, and never came back.

(b)
A man found several beavers at work. He heard them laughing like women and thought he should like to marry them. He doffed his clothes and was going to dive into the water, but one of the beavers said, "Wait awhile, I'll first see my father." The old beaver said, "First give him some beaver-grease to paint his body with, then you can have him." They gave him the grease, for without it he could not have stayed in the water. He lived with them for a year and had a child by one of his wives. They built a strong house in the water. The people tried to kill the beavers, but could not catch them. One young man knew where the beavers dwelt and told all the people. He had seen and recognized the beaver-man, and announced that he had seen the lost tribesman. The people then killed all the beavers except the beaver-man and one female, whom they allowed to go.

The Piqued Buffalo-Wife2

(a)
A man wanted some eagle-feathers. He got to an eyrie, found four young birds there, and plucked off their wings. The old eagle attacked him, but was killed in the struggle. The chief of the eagles, Big-Eagle, then pursued the man and, catching hold of his head, flew with him to a mountain-top, where he left him astride a crag. The man was nearly starved. After ten days the eagle returned, gave the man two feathers from each wing, and took him down to a buffalo-trail. "You will meet an old buffalo-chief. He will be wild, but don't run away. Put one of the feathers in his head, and he won't hurt you."

When the buffalo came, the man followed the eagle's directions. The buffalo told the man he would meet another wild buffalo and bade him put a feather in his head also. The man obeyed. The second buffalo then said, "My youngest brother is coming behind me. Put a feather in his head." The man obeyed, and though the bull was preparing to kill him, he left him alone as soon as he was offered the feather. The bull said, "At the end of this road you will find a spring and you will see the tracks of a buffalo cow. Don't tell her about the tracks (?)." When the man got to the tracks, he said, "I should like to eat kidneys, I should like to eat buffalo feet." The cow appeared and asked, "What did you say about me?" "I did not say anything about you." "I heard what you said; I want to take you home." She took him to the camp as her husband. There they gave him his brother-in-law's kidneys to eat.

The Indians were making a buffalo-pound. The man's father-in-law told him not to look outside his tent. But when the man heard the buffalo running he looked out and saw his brother chasing buffalo. Then he made bows and arrows, saying, "I am also going to catch buffalo." The next morning he went to the Indian camp and gave each man two arrows. Then they killed most of the buffalo.

The man picked up grass, willow-leaves, and other kinds of food, and asked the old buffalo, "What would you like to live on?" The old buffalo tried the different kinds of food. He said, "I prefer grass." Then the man asked the moose to choose, and he picked out willow-leaves. The bear chose berries and roots, the deer grass and leaves. This is how the animals got their food.

The man had a calf by his buffalo-wife. He also married a moose-woman. His brother, Magpie, was lusting for one of the wives. One day the man was out hunting. Magpie asked the women to race. The buffalo-woman won. The second time the moose made a mud-hole in her rival's path. The buffalo-woman stuck in the mud, and the moose won. The buffalo-woman was angry, and when she had gotten out she returned to her father, accompanied by the calf. When her husband came home, he found one of his wives gone and pursued her. When he got to the buffalo camp, the old buffalo got up a dance of the buffalo, in the course of which they trampled the man to death.

Magpie was living with the moose-woman. When his brother did not return, he went to look for him. The calf told him how the buffalo had killed his father. Magpie looked for his brother's hair. At last, he found some of it, took it back to the camp, and restored his brother to life. Then the man said to the calf, "Tell your grandfather to get all the buffalo after me. We shall fight." When the buffalo came after them, the moose-woman began to cry. Magpie said, "Give me some red iron (?)." He chewed it, threw it in the air and thus made an iron house. The buffalo ran against it, but only killed themselves. Some were scared and ran home.

(b)
Magpie married a buffalo and a moose-woman. The buffalo gave birth to a calf. The two women were jealous of each other, each wishing to stay alone with her husband. Magpie once declared that he would stay with the one that would defeat the other in a race. They began to run on level ground, and the buffalo ran ahead. Then the moose said, "I wish you would get stuck in a mud hole before you get back." On their way back, the buffalo got stuck and lost the race. When she extricated herself, she was very angry and returned to her father.

When Magpie found that the buffalo-woman had deserted him, he followed after her. The buffalo-calf was lingering behind his mother. When the man got near him, he said, "Look, my son, I am thirsty and exhausted." The calf said, "Follow my footsteps and you will get to a good spring." The man obeyed and found good water. The calf said, "You will get thirsty three times before we reach the buffalo camp." The man continued following his wife and got thirsty again. Again his son directed him to a spring. After drinking, he ran after his wife, thinking he might catch her, but he never even caught sight of her. At last they got to the buffalo camp, where there were many lodges. The buffalo-woman went to her father's lodge. "What is the matter, my daughter? Why do you come back?" "I had a race with the moose-woman, and got stuck in a mud-hole. She has my husband all to herself now." The man was afraid at first, but finally he went to his father-in-law. The old buffalo said, "We are going to have a war dance now. Put on your headdress and your best clothes. Watch the buffalo and act like them." Before dancing, Magpie said, "I am hungry." The old buffalo said, "I'll give you something to eat." Then he allowed him to eat one of his brothers-in-law, but ordered him not to cut his legs and to pile up the meat after skinning him. After the man had eaten, the dance began. They danced three times without hurting him, the calf dancing beside his father. The fourth time all the buffalo jumped up, hooked him, threw him continually in the air, and killed him.

When Magpie did not return, the moose-wife began to cry. Her brother-in-law said, "Stay where you are, I'll go to look for my brother." He started out. At last, he found a buffalo trail. He was afraid to enter the buffalo camp, but, seeing a young calf, he asked him, "Where is my brother?" "The buffalo have hooked him to death in their war-dance." Magpie's brother stayed outside the lodges and listened here and there. He heard his nephew crying. The calf told him how his father had been hooked and trampled to pieces. He walked on the dance-ground until he found a small bit of Magpie's hair. He wrapped it up in his blanket, blew smoke at the blanket, and said, "Wake up!" Thus he restored his brother to life. Magpie got angry at the buffalo, seized one of the buffalo by his horns, and made a fire that burnt up his hair. That is why the buffalo have curly hair.

The moose was staying with Magpie and his parents. One day all the buffalo came to attack them. The old man went outside the lodge and saw the buffalo thundering along. All were terrified except Magpie, who continued to sleep. "Look, all the buffalo are coming, get up!" For a long time he paid no attention to them. At last, he got up, asked for water, washed himself, and asked his mother for some iron. She said there was none. Magpie looked for it himself, found a small piece, and chewed it up. Thus he transformed their lodge into one of heavy iron. The buffalo ran against it, but could not destroy it, while Magpie, sitting on their roof, shot many of the buffalo. Sitcon'ski joined the buffalo, saying, "I'll try to kill Magpie, give me some iron horns and I'll hook his house." For a long time Magpie did not notice him. At last, he 'said, "What is Sitcon'ski doing there?" "Oh," answered Sitcon'ski, "I was only joking."

(c)
Long ago the Stoneys were fighting with a hostile band. One Stoney boy had a beaded jack-rabbit tail stuck in his head. He had a bone knife, with which he used to cut off people's heads. Both his own people and the enemy were afraid of him. He was called Jack-Rabbit. 'the enemy shot at him, but could not hurt him. He pursued them and cut off their necks. They fled, pursued by the Stoneys. After a while Jack-Rabbit went to look for another chance to fight. Before he got to the enemy, he met a young woman. She was one of the enemy's chieftainesses and warned him not to go near the camp, "Don't follow me, or you will have a hard time." Nevertheless, he followed, and hid in a coul6e by her camp. The girl called all her people. "Watch, I have seen somebody." Jack-Rabbit heard what she was saying. He lay down and began to shoot at her. The woman, whose name was Porcupine, had never been hurt before, but Jack-Rabbit killed her. The people wondered who had caused her death, but when they went to look for him, they only found a rabbit in his hiding-place. As soon as they were gone, he re-transformed himself into a man and as such entered the camp. He went to an old woman's lodge. She advised him to go away or he would get killed, but Jack-Rabbit answered, "No one can kill me," and stayed there. He was joined by another man, who had come a great distance and became his comrade.

Sodalis Leporem certiorem fecit virginem semper eodem loco mingere quo minxisset juvenis et eomodo gravidam fieri. Lepus quodam loco minxit, et eodem loco virgo. Jack-Rabbit went away. After a while, the girl gave birth to a child. The people bade Jack-Rabbit go home. Before lying down to sleep, he heard the woman saying, "Ha, ha, ha! If your father kills a black-fox, we'll use the skin." Jack-Rabbit killed her, but let the child live, and traveled on. The next night he heard the woman saying the same words as before. Again he killed her, sparing the child. The next day he journeyed on. In the night he heard the same voice as before. He killed her and burnt her, then he walked on, and killed an elk. In the night he heard the woman coming again. She was saying to her child, "Your father has killed an elk, we'll cut lots of meat." Jack-Rabbit said, "I won't kill her any more." She asked him why he had done so before. He said, "I can't kill you anyway, I'll marry you now."

When the boy was big, the woman said, "Your comrade is always angry, I'll go back home." She went across the mountains. Jack-Rabbit followed her, but could not overtake her. (There follows a fragmentary version of the piqued buffalo-woman story. The calf points out a spring, where his father may drink and prepares him for the tests awaiting him. He arrives at the buffalo camp. Six buffalo dance with him. He is to pick out his son from among other calves. His son helps him by shutting one eye and lowering one ear. Thus, Jack-Rabbit succeeds in the first recognition-tests, but in the last he picks out the wrong calf and is killed.)3

The buffalo moved camp. The calf walked on crying. He stopped to listen at every little hole. He found a piece-of his father's hair; it groaned. He made a bow and arrows. Standing near the hair, he shot an arrow into the air, crying, "Run away, you'll get hurt." The first time there was another groan. The second time he cried again, "You had better run, or you'll get killed." He heard a human sound in reply. The third time there was a human body lying there, but it did not getup. The fourth time Jack-Rabbit was alive again and rose. The boy transformed the hair into a great many people. With them Jack-Rabbit pursued the buffalo. He caught up to them. "We will play to-day. First you played with me, now I'll play with you." He went to his lodge and called on a big frost to come. The old buffalo was shivering. "Hold on," he cried, "I'll let you have my wife, don't make it so cold." The lodge-cover had a hole, in it and the sun was shining through. Jack-Rabbit began to pull down the sun. While it was frosty outside, it got hot within. The buffalo got hot, and began to move around. Jack-Rabbit pulled it down further. The buffalo got so hot that his guts burst. The lodge was getting burnt. Then Jack-Rabbit let the sun go back again.


1 Found by Mr. Skinner among the Cree.
2 Cf. Grinnell, (c), p. 104 (Blackfoot); Dorsey and Kroeber, p. 395 (Arapaho); Kroeber, (d), p. 186 (Cheyenne); Simms, p. 289 (Crow); G. A. Dorsey, (d), p. 94 (Arikara); Id., (a) p. 284 (Pawnee).
3 Cf. Wissler and Duvall, p. 118 (Blackfoot).

Assiniboin Mythology

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Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, 1909

 

 

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