New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-10-06
A CURIOUS INDIAN LEGEND.

A CURIOUS INDIAN LEGEND.
How the Ntsqually Tribe Was Saved
from Extinction.
The following is the history of the
Nisqu;llly tribe as it is told by one of
them who knew the legends and ira
ditions of this dusby people:
A great many years ago-so many
that man cannot enumerate theni-the
tribe became so numerous that they ate
up all the game and fish, and then they
turned cannibals: after time they be-
came worse than wild animals, so much
so that the Great Spirit sent great
rain which flooded the whole country,
and all living things were drowned, ex-
cepting one squaw and a dog, who both
happened to be on the headwaters of
the Nisqually river, and they, seeing
the waters rising rapidly, fed to Mount
Tacoma, and remained on its summit
until the waters subsidized. From the
squaw and the dog sprang the present
Nisqually Indians. With the destruc-
ton of all things on the earth was lost
the use of all arms, tools and fire. The
progeny of the squaw and dog walked
upon adj tours, and dug camas, fern,
and other roots with the L hands. They
lived in holes in the earth, they knew
nothing about clothing, and they suf-
;v, th1;
ked condition. They nearly all became
diseased or deformed, and, to make
matters worse, large bear of enor-
nous proportions came up from the
south, and when he cast his eye upon
an Indian that Indian lost all power of
locomoton and became an easy prey to
the ravenous beast. AS the Indian had
no arms and knew nothing about tam
anamus, the Indians were entirely de-
fensless, and the bear was about to de-
populate the country. The Great Spirit
seeing their deplorable condition and
taking pity upon them sent over the
mountains from the east great taman-
anus man. OF savior. whose counte-
nance was as the sun and his voice as
the thunder, and he was armed with
bow, arrows, and spear. His first
act was to assemble the people togeth-
Ell and ask them why they annoyed
their Great Father with so much weep
ing, and they answered it was on ac-
count of the beast from switch none
could escape. He then taught them of
the existence of two great spirits-one
of good and one of evil. He taught
them how to make white and black
tamanamus and likewise how to walk
erect. He then returned to the noun
tains for one moon to talk to the Great
Father.
On his return he again called the peo-
pie together and held big potiach,
giving the Indians what appeared to
them at that time great curiosities. To
the young men he gave bows and ar
rows. likewise spears, taught them how
to make and use them. To the old men
he gave canoes, with the proper in
structions for their manufacture, like
wise how to make fshhooks and how
to use them. To the old women he gave
camas sticks, baskets made of cedar
bark and seawecd, and showed them
how TO make them and explained their
use and purpose; likwise how to make
fire and its use; taught them how to
cook and how to carry burdens by the
use Of y strap across the head,-in fact,
taught them all kinds of work that was
calculated to make woman useful to
her lord and master-man. The young
women he taught to sing and adorn
their persons with paint, and to wear a
girdle made of the inner bark of cedar,
reaching from the waist to the knee.
He taught them that woman should
have but one man, and that it was her
duty and interest to encourage her man,
to purchase all the wives his circum-
stances would permit. The tamanamus
man, having instructed the people in
everything that was useful and tending
their comfort, became full of strong
tanlanamus.
HIS next task was the destruction of
the great beast. He took seven arrows
from his culver, and, being assisted by
the men of the tribe, made for one
whole sun tamanamus over the sacred
arrows and they became fully charged.
He took one of the arrows and pushed
it into the ground in the center of the
Nisqually plains. He then walked
half a day toward the haunts
Of the bear, where he again placed
another arrow. So he proceeded to do
for each half days travel nearer the
bear, until he had placed erect in a
straight line six arrows. Then, with
his seventh arrow in his hand, the
tamana1nus man approached the bear.