Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-24
INDIAN MYTHS AND FABLES.
Curious Folk Stories Current among savagss
OF North America

| PRIMITIVE INDIAN RELfaroN-voRsurPrNG TEE
PHESonrSA OF xATuRE-sToRr or A Maiden
AND A sSAxH-A eRrAr HEAD AND A EHsun-
Akcr1os-IRooucH sroRY or TIE CREATION
WHEREVER ONE READS OF THE RE-
hsion Of Indians reference Is made to
tnetr oelief in great spirit" and in the
happy hunting grounds" Of future reward
As matter Of fact neither Of these things
enters at all into the faith OF the North Ameri-
can aoorigines, save in SO far as they have &C.
CURED notion OF them from the white man
Ihey represent merely the God and heaven Of
me Christian missionaries The deities wor-
shiped py these untctored savsges are primar-
lily the phenomena OF nature. Among them
thunder Is Conspicuous. while the lightning
the winds. the rain, &c, are likewise regarded
with alteration. To this day the lroquois can
oiten be seen making 70 the approaching storm
his little propitiatory offering OF burnt tobacco
BY his nation the thunder god Is regarded with
especial yeneration the benefcent divinity
which destroyed the giant monsters that once
upon time poisoned the waters and infested
the land. That such gigantic creatures did
anciently exist is evident from the mighty fos-
sll bones often discovered of beasts 30 huge
~
annihilated them.
Very different from this friendly god Of the
lroquois Is the hostile north wind which brings
calamity in it's train. killing the uuripe corn,
teezing the rivers. depriyiug the people OF
their sustenance and with the touch Of its lev
fingers rendering the hunter stuff in death.
Echo, In the belief of this people. il likewise q
DEITY, exercising his power in times of war by
repeating among the hills their cries of Go
web This renders their victory certain.
1o.a and eyh spirits also play an important
part IN their mythology. Among the good
spirits are three sisters who preside over the
Iavorlte vegetables-corn, beans and squashes.
Ihey love each other very dearly. as their vines
grow IN the same soil and cling about each
other. The CORE spirit is drapcd with long
iea'es and siken tassels; the sister who guards
the bean Is clad in its delicate teudrils while
the spirit OF squashes is clothed with the brill
lant blossoms of the plant.
THE GREAT HEADS.
Among the supernatural beings correspond
ing to good and evil genii among the Iroquois
are the Great Heads, with ever watchfuI ewes
and long hair that serves them for wings. They
inquire largely in the unwritten Indian litera-
ture There were also in early DAYS stone
giants, always the mortal foes Of men, whose
mai determination has furnished the theme
FOR many wonderful stories. These savages,
wnen they accept the Great Spirit, usually re-
tain their former diyinities his attributes
considering the thunder as his voice and the
winds as his breath. At the same time they
nave introduced into their worship form of the
TRINITY, consisting Of the Great Spirit, the sun
ana Mother Earth. Some of the legends IN
which the aboriginal gods are introduced pos
sess no ordinary degree OF interest
Once upon a time there was beautiful Indian
maiden who was compelled by her family to
engage herself to marry a hideous old man OF
her tribe. In desperation she leaped into q
canoe and pushed 1t over the roaring breakers
OF Niagara, preferring the angry waters to the
arms of her detesteo lover. But the god of
thunder, cloud and rain, who watches over the
harvest, dwelt in a cave behind the rushing
cataract He caught her Just as her frail bark
was dashing upon the rocks below and gave her
home for many weeks in his own mysterious
cavern. From him she learned many new
things, among them why her people died 70
often. de told her how an enormous snake lay
coiled up under the ground beneath her village,
and how he crept out and poisoned the springs
because he craved the flesh of human beings
and could never get enough of il SO long as they
dieo from natural causes. The maiden remained
In the cave until her ugly old suitor was dead;
then she returned, and the god killed the SER
pen: with a thunderboit The great dead snake
was SO huge that when the people laid its body
out IN death IL stretched over more than twenty
arrow flights, and as it foated down the waters
of Niagara il Was as If q mountain appeared
above them. Its corpse was too large 70 pass
the rocks, SO 1t became wedged IN between them
and the waters rose over it, thus fashioning the
horseshoe, which remains to this day.
STORY OF THE TEN ORPHANS
There was once strange human-like creature.
consisting simply Of head made terrific with
large eyes and covered with long hair Seen or
unseen if he saw anything that had the breath
of life he growled; Il see thee, see thee; thou
shalt die" In a distant wilderness there lived
ten orphans, all brothers. They all disappeared
one after another, while going to hunt, save
only the youngest. He was out in the woods
when he discovered an old man covered with
earth. The old man said that he had brother
who was known as the Great Head frightful
beng whose bowling could be heard through
the hurricane. The only thing he liked to eat
was chunks cut from a maple tree. Accord
ingly q tree of that kind was cut down and
chopped into sections. The Great Head came
to the feast and was 30 pleased that il con-
Quoted the youth to the home of the witch who
had eaten up the nine brothers. Between them
they killed the witch and burned her to ashes
When this was done they selected what thew
thought were the bones of the nine brothers
and placed them together. Then the Great
Head cried 'Awaker and the brothers all
rose to life, shouting for joy.
Among the most unpleasant spooks believed
In by these Indians Is q carniyorous ghost in
the shape OF a skeleton, and yet another is An
apparition which emits flames of fire.
THE INVISIBLE SNAKE
Many years ago certain boy found @ beau
tiful snake. He kept it in a bowl of water and
took notice that small feathers dropped into
the receptacle became living beings. He ex-
perimented and discovered that whatever he
put into the water became alive He rubbed
some of this snake water on his ewes and fouud
that he could see things that were actually hid
den in the ground. Concluding that he would
make the liquid more powerful by putting more
snakes into 1t. he hung upa number of serpents
so that their oil dropped into the water. BY
putting some OF the solution thus obtained into
his mouth he could breathe fire and by placing
some OF it in his eyes he could see In the dark
Al will he could transform himself into a SER
pent, could become invisible and could travel
at an incredible rate of speed. An arrow dipped
into the liquid and shot at any living being
even if II did not hit its object, would, never
theiess, kill it. feather dipped into this snake
water and pointed at any game would imme-
diately start for the latter and slay it. This
boy became in this manner q great wizard.
Nearly zoo years ago man went into the
woods TO hunt He camped in a field alone
and was wakened by a noise like the beating of
a drum. Going in the direction of the sound
he found a man who led him to a spot where
people were assembled dancing around a
laurel bush. One of them heated a stick and
thrust it through his cheek, and then applied
a medicine to show him how quickly il could
heal the wound. They told him how the
medicine was made by mixing corn and SQUASH
with water. All at once he perceived that