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       MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE
          MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
               AND THE
             GREAT LAKES


        Selected and Edited by
         KATHARINE B. JUDSON

  AUTHOR OF "MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF
  CALIFORNIA AND THE OLD SOUTHWEST,"
  "MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE PACIFIC
        NORTHWEST," ETC., ETC.


             ILLUSTRATED

            [Illustration]


               CHICAGO
         A. C. McCLURG & CO.
                 1914


              Copyright
         A. C. McCLURG & CO.
                1914

        Published August, 1914

   W. F. Hall Printing Co., Chicago




  _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS.
    _Illustrated. Small quarto._
      _$1.50 net._

  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF CALIFORNIA AND THE OLD SOUTHWEST.
    _Over fifty full-page illustrations. Small quarto._
      _$1.50 net._

  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ALASKA.
    _Beautifully illustrated. Small quarto._
      _$1.50 net._

  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
    Especially of Washington and Oregon.
    _With fifty full-page illustrations. Small quarto._
      _$1.50 net._

  MONTANA: "The Land of Shining Mountains."
    _Illustrated. Indexed. Square 8vo._
      _75 cents net._

  WHEN THE FORESTS ARE ABLAZE.
    _Illustrated. Crown 8vo._
      _$1.35 net._

  A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers




  [Illustration: EARLY INDIAN DRAWING SHOWING A WRESTLING BOUT FOR
  A TURKEY.
    The Donor, a Hunter, is the Shrouded Figure on the Horse.
    _From Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology._]




PREFACE


Mystery, magic, and manitoes abound in the land of Hiawatha, in the
land of the Ojibwas, among the green islands, graceful and beautiful,
lying amidst the dancing blue waters when the sun shines over Gitche
Gomee, the Great Water.[1] Manitoes, great and mighty, lived in the
cool depths of the mighty forests, in the rivers and lakes, and even
in the snows of winter. And adventures there were in those early days
amongst these islands of the North, when manitoes directed the affairs
of men.

    [1] Gitche Gomee is Lake Superior.

But the animal fathers lived upon the earth before there came the
"two-legged walkers." There were many animals. There were many
beavers. It was the beavers who made Gitche Gomee, the Great Water.
They made it by building two dams. The first they built at the Grand
Sault, and the second was five leagues below. When Great Hare came up
the river, he said, "This must not be so." Therefore he stepped upon
the first dam. But he was in haste. He did not break it down;
therefore there are now great falls and whirlpools at that place. But
at the second dam, Great Hare stepped upon it mightily; therefore
there are now few falls and only a little swirling water at that
place. Great Hare was very mighty. When he chased Beaver he stepped
across a bay eight leagues wide.

Around Michilimackinack was the land of Great Hare. There, amongst the
green islets, under the cool shade of wide spreading trees, where fish
leaped above the rippling waters, he made the first fish net. He made
it after watching Spider weave a web for catching flies.

It was Wenibojo,[2] who, in Ojibwa land, discovered the wild rice and
taught the Indians to use it. He first pointed out the low grassy
islands in the lakes, waving their bright green leaves and spikes of
yellowish-green blossoms. He showed them how to cut paths through the
wild rice beds before the grain was ripe, and later, to beat it into
their canoes. He told them always to gather the wild rice before a
storm, else the wind would blow it all into the water. Therefore the
Indians use wild rice in all their feasts. They even taught the white
men to use it.

    [2] Wenibojo is only a variation of the name also given as
    Manabush. Both are identical with Hiawatha.

When the snows of winter lay deep upon the forests of the North, when
ice covered lakes and rivers, then the story tellers of the Ojibwas,
as of all other Indian tribes, told the tales of the olden times, when
manitoes lived upon the earth, and when the animal fathers roamed
through the forest. But such stories are not told in summer. All the
woods and shores, all the bays and islands, are, in summer, the home
of keen-hearing spirits, who like not to have Indians talking about
them. But when the deep snows come, then the spirits are more drowsy.
Then the Indians, when North West rattles the flaps of the wigwams,
and wild animals hide in the shelter of the deep forest, tell their
tales. All winter they tell them, while the fires burn in the
wigwams--tell them until the frogs croak in the spring.

Tales they tell of how Gitche Manito, the Good One, taught the Indians
how to plant the Indian corn, how to strip and bury Mondamin, and how
to gather the corn in the month of falling leaves, that there may be
food in the camps when the snows of winter come. Tales they tell of
Gitche Manedo, the Evil One, who brings only distress and
sickness--tales of the land of Hiawatha. Mystery and magic lay all
about them.

It is a far cry from the stories of the North along the banks of the
Mississippi, from that land of long winters, through the country of
the mound builders, to the sunnier Southland; yet from north to south,
around the glimmering Indian fires, grouped eager men and women and
children, listening to the story tellers.

But quite different are the tales of the Southland--of the Cherokees,
Biloxis, and Chitimachas. They are stories of wild turkeys, of
persimmons and raccoons, and of the spirits which dwell in the
mountain places where none dare go. Stories also are they of Brer
Rabbit and the tar wolf, which came from Indian slaves working in the
fields in early days, through the <DW64> slaves working beside them, to
the children of the white men.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is a loss to American literature that so much of the legendary
history of these Indian tribes has gone, beyond hope of recovery.
Exquisite in color, poetical in feeling, these legends of sun, moon,
and stars, of snow, ice, lightning, thunders, the winds, the life of
the forest birds and animals about them, and the longing to understand
the why and the how of life--all which we have only in fragments.
Longfellow's work shows the wonderful beauty of these northern
legends, nor has he done violence to any of them in making them
poetical. His picture of the departure of Hiawatha, the lone figure
standing stately and solemn, as the canoe drifted out towards the
glowing sunset, while from the shore, in the shadow of the forest,
came the low Indian chant, mingling with the sighing of the pine
trees, is truely Indian. For the mystical and poetical is strong in
the Indian nature.

As in all the other volumes of this series, no effort has been made to
ornament or amplify these legends in the effort to make them
"literary," or give them "literary charm." They must speak for
themselves. What editing has been done has been in simplifying them,
and freeing them from the verbose setting in which many were found.
For in this section of the country, settled before it was realized
that there was an Indian literature, the original work of noting down
the myths was very imperfectly done.

Thanks are due to the work of Albert E. Jenks, on the wild rice
Indians of the upper lakes; to James Mooney, for the myths of the
Cherokees; to George Catlin, for some of the upper Mississippi
legends; to the well-known but almost inaccessible work of
Schoolcraft, and to others.

                                                    K. B. J.




TABLE OF CONTENTS


                                                                PAGE
  The Earth-Maker                                 _Winnebago_      1

  Creation                                       _Chitimacha_      5

  The Creation                                      _Wyandot_      8

  Creation of the Races                              _Biloxi_     12

  Story of the Creation                              _Ojibwa_     14

  Creation (a fragment)                              _Ojibwa_     16

  Creation of the Mandans                            _Mandan_     17

  The Flood                                      _Chitimacha_     19

  The Great Flood (a fragment)                       _Mandan_     20

  The Great Flood                                  _Menomini_     21

  Origin of Fire                                   _Menomini_     26

  The Thunderers and the Origin of Fire            _Menomini_     28

  The Origin of Fire                             _Chitimacha_     31

  The Gifts of the Sky God                       _Chitimacha_     32

  Mondamin                                           _Ojibwa_     34

  Mondamin                                           _Ottawa_     37

  The Corn Woman                                   _Cherokee_     40

  Discovery of Wild Rice                             _Ojibwa_     42

  Origin of Wild Rice                                _Ojibwa_     44

  Origin of Winnebago                              _Menomini_     45

  The Origin of Tobacco                            _Menomini_     49

  Origin of Maple Sugar                            _Menomini_     51

  Manabush and the Moose                           _Menomini_     53

  Origin of Day and Night                          _Menomini_     54

  Origin of the Bear                               _Cherokee_     56

  Origin of the Word Chicago                         _Ojibwa_     58

  Origin of the Word Chicago                       _Menomini_     60

  The Coming of Manabush                           _Menomini_     61

  The Story of Manabush                            _Menomini_     62

  Manabozho and West                                 _Ojibwa_     65

  Manabush and the Great Fish                      _Menomini_     69

  The Departure of Manabush                        _Menomini_     72

  The Return of Manabush                           _Menomini_     74

  The Request for Immortality                      _Menomini_     75

  Peboan and Seegwun                                 _Ojibwa_     77

  The Grave Fires                                    _Ojibwa_     79

  The Death Trail                                  _Cherokee_     82

  The Duck and the North West Wind                   _Ojibwa_     84

  How the Hunter Destroyed Snow                    _Menomini_     87

  The Pipe of Peace                                  _Ojibwa_     90

  The Thunder's Nest                                 _Ojibwa_     92

  The Pipestone                                       _Sioux_     93

  The Pipestone                                 _Knisteneaux_     94

  Pau-puk-kee-wis                                    _Ojibwa_     95

  Iagoo, the Boaster                                 _Ojibwa_    102

  Ojeeg, the Summer-Maker                            _Ojibwa_    104

  Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting                         _Cherokee_    109

  Rabbit and the Tar Baby                            _Biloxi_    111

  Rabbit and Tar Wolf                              _Cherokee_    114

  Rabbit and Panther                               _Menomini_    116

  How Rabbit Stole Otter's Coat                    _Cherokee_    118

  Rabbit and Bear                                    _Biloxi_    122

  Why Deer Never Eat Men                           _Menomini_    125

  How Rabbit Snared the Sun                          _Biloxi_    128

  When the Orphan Trapped the Sun                    _Ojibwa_    130

  The Hare and the Lynx                              _Ojibwa_    134

  Welcome to a Baby                                _Cherokee_    137

  Baby Song                                        _Cherokee_    139

  Song to the Firefly                                _Ojibwa_    140

  Song of the Mother Bears                         _Cherokee_    141

  The Man in the Stump                             _Cherokee_    143

  The Ants and the Katydids                          _Biloxi_    144

  When the Owl Married                             _Cherokee_    145

  The Kite and the Eagle                                         147

  The Linnet and the Eagle                           _Ojibwa_    148

  How Partridge got his Whistle                    _Cherokee_    149

  How Kingfisher got his Bill                      _Cherokee_    151

  Why the Blackbird Has Red Wings                _Chitimacha_    153

  Ball Game of the Birds and Animals               _Cherokee_    155

  Why the Birds Have Sharp Tails                     _Biloxi_    158

  The Wildcat and the Turkeys                        _Biloxi_    159

  The Brant and the Otter                            _Biloxi_    161

  The Tiny Frog and the Panther                                  163

  The Frightener of Hunters        _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    166

  The Hunter and the Alligator     _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    167

  The Groundhog Dance                              _Cherokee_    169

  The Racoon                                       _Menomini_    171

  Why the Opossum Plays Dead                         _Biloxi_    172

  Why the 'Possum's Tail is Bare                   _Cherokee_    174

  Why 'Possum Has a Large Mouth    _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    176

  The Porcupine and the Two Sisters                _Menomini_    177

  The Wolf and the Dog                             _Cherokee_    179

  The Catfish and the Moose                        _Menomini_    180

  Turtle                                           _Menomini_    181

  The Worship of the Sun                             _Ojibwa_    185

  Tashka and Walo                  _Choctaw_ (_Bayou Lacomb_)    189

  Sun and Moon                                     _Menomini_    192

  The Moon Person                                    _Biloxi_    193

  The Star Creatures                               _Cherokee_    194

  Meteors                                          _Menomini_    195

  The Aurora Borealis                              _Menomini_    196

  The West Wind                                  _Chitimacha_    197

  The Lone Lightning                                 _Ojibwa_    198

  The Thunders                                     _Cherokee_    200

  Months of the Year                                _Natchez_    201

  Why the Oaks and Sumachs Redden                       _Fox_    202

  The Man of Ice                                   _Cherokee_    205

  The Nunnehi                                      _Cherokee_    207

  The Little People                                _Cherokee_    210

  War Song                                           _Ojibwa_    212

  The War Medicine                                 _Cherokee_    213

  The Coming of the White Man                       _Wyandot_    214




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                                  PAGE
  Early Indian drawing showing a wrestling bout         _Frontispiece_

  Early Indian pottery                                              20

  Wild rice tied in bunches or sheaves                              42

  Wild rice kernels after threshing and winnowing                   42

  Birch-bark yoke, and sap buckets, used in maple sugar making      52

  Picture writing. An Ojibwa Meda song                              84

  Permanent ash-bark wigwam of the wild rice gathering Ojibwa      104

  Shell gorget showing eagle carving                               128

  Indian jar from the mounds of Arkansas                           128

  Spider gorgets                                                   158

  Shell pins made and used by Indians of the Mississippi Valley    176

  Ojibwa dancer's beaded medicine bag                              198




MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND THE GREAT LAKES




THE EARTH-MAKER

_Winnebago_


When Earth-maker came to consciousness, he thought of the substance
upon which he was sitting. He saw nothing. There was nothing anywhere.
Therefore his tears flowed. He wept. But not long did he think of it.
He took some of the substance upon which he was sitting; so he made a
little piece of earth for our fathers. He cast this down from the high
place on which he sat. Then he looked at what he had made. It had
become something like our earth. Nothing grew upon it. Bare it was,
but not quiet. It kept turning.

"How shall I make it become quiet?" thought Earth-maker. Then he took
some grass from the substance he was sitting upon and cast it down
upon the earth. Yet it was not quiet.

Then he made a man. When he had finished him, he called him Tortoise.
At the end of all his thinking, after he came to consciousness, he
made the two-legged walkers.

Then Earth-maker said to this man, "The evil spirits are abroad to
destroy all I have just created. Tortoise, I shall send you to bring
order into the world." Then Earth-maker gave him