The weekly Elko independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1872-1887, 1875-06-19
: Dhrwinism Among the Indians.

Farther north among the Ants Of Van
c9nyer Island, perhaps the comm0ncst
notioh.of origin is that men ut first en-
1stcd' as. birds, animals and fishes. We
\ arc told of a certain Quawteaht, repre-
'kSentcd somewhat contradictorily, rs the
Tfirst Ait that ever lived, thickcst and
hairy .limbcd, and rs the chief of Ait
dcttY,sa purely supernatural being, if not
the creator, ut least the maker and shapcr
ol most things, the maker Of tho land
ngA the water, aud of the animals that
lnllabit The one or tho other. In each Of
these animals, rs at first created, there re-
sided the embryo or the essence Of a man.
Ono day q canoe came down the coast.
paddlcd'by two percentages in the, ut that
LING, unknown form Of men. The animals
Sl;were frightened out of their wits, and fed,
each from his house, in such haste thathc
left behind him the human essence that
he usually carried in his body. These
cmbryos rapidly developed into men;
they multiplied, made use Of the huts dc.
serted by the animals and became in every
way rs the Ants are now. There exists
another, account of the origin of the Ants,
which would make them the direct de-
sccndcnts of Quawtcaht and an immense
bird that lie marricd,-thc great Thunder
Ehrd, Tootooch, with which, under n diff
tercnt name and in u different sex, We
shall become more familiar presently.
} The Tapping Of Toot0oh's wings shnok
the hills with thunder, tootah; and when
she put out her forkcd tongue, the light
ming quivcred across the sky.
The Ants have various legends of the
wayin which tire was first obtained which
legends may be reduced to the following
Qp3wteaht withheld tho fire, for some
2. reason or other, from the creatures that
he had brought into the world, with one
exception; 1t was always to be found
burning in tho home of the cutie. fish, tel
:? hoop: The other beasts attempted to steal
-tthis fire, but only the deer succeeded; he
hid n little of it in the joint of his hind
leg, md escaping, introduced the element
to general use. . rlr. r.~
Not all animals, it would appear, were
prSda2aa: N the general creation; the
loon and the crow had special origin, be-
e ing metanlorplIoscd men. Two fishermen,
being out ut sea in their canoes fell to
9uarreling, the one ridiculing the other
for his small success in fishing. Finally
tic unsuccessful man became so infuri-
atedi by the taunts of his companion that
he knocked him on the head, and stole
his fish, cutting out his tongue before lie
padded of, lest by any chance the unfor-
turlatc should recover his senses and gain
the shore. The %prccaution was we'll taken,
for the mutilated man reached the land
land tried to dcnounce his late companion.
!; No sound, however, could he utter but
something resembling the cry of Il loon,
upon which the Great Spirit, Quawteaht,
became so Unfortunately angry at the
whole affair that he changed the poor
mute into @ loon, and his assailant into a
crow. So when the mournful voice of the
Gloon is heard from the silent lake or river,
1t IS still the poor fisherman that we hear,
trying to make himself understood and to
tell tho whole story of his wrongs.-Ban-
crGlt's Natire Races.