Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-08-23
PAWNEE LORE
NEUROLOGICAL Tales of an
American Indian Tribe.....

water and said; My brother, follow
me, and then whatever / do, you do
Also The beaver dived into the
water. The boy followed, and he
soon found himself in the lodge of
the beavers. Then the beavers told
the boy that they had decided to take
pity upon him and were going to help
him kill this old woman. The beaver
then told the boy that when he
should dive he should select the place
on the west side, and as soon as he
dived he should swim up to the lodge
and enter II. There they would keep
him as long as the woman remained
under the water. The boy was thank
full. The old beaver said to the
young beaver: Lie down while l cut
your leg or The young beaver lay
down and lis leg was cut off. 1t was
placed in pot and boiled and after
the meat was cooked they took 1t out
and fed the boy with the meat of the
leg of the beaver. When the boy ate
of the leg the old beaver took the
bone of the leg and threw it outside
of the lodge into the water; then the
old beaver said to the young Eeaver:
Go and bring your leg back again
The young beaver went out, diVed
into the water, and when it came
back 1t had its leg on again. The
boy was told to go home and to be
ready to dive with the witch the next
day. The old beaver then gave the
-s----.-e-HruH DIue mud with which he
was to daub himself all over. The
ny went home and went to bed.
early III the morning IoySe,--VrtSi>s-
Open came and said. Young man, the
old woman is ready to dive with you
Then Byes-Wide-Ope cried through
the village and told the people to go
down to the stream of water; that
the young man and the old woman
were going to dive. When they ar
rived at the water the boy selected
the west side and the old witch stood
on the east side. They walked down
to the water, waded in, and when
they reached the middle of the stream
they dived. AS they dived the boy
swan under and reached the lodge of
the beavers and entered 1t. AS soon
as he entered the lodge of the beav-
ers the old beaver said; My son, lie
down and / will cut off your leg and
boil it for your brother to eat The
young beaver lay down, his leg was
cut off, put in pot and boiled. Then
the old beaver told the boy that while
the pot was boiling he must lie down
and sleep. The boy lay down and
slept. The man told one of the beav.
ers to swim toward the bank and to
watch and see when the old woman
should come out from the water. The
beaver swan to the bank and sat un.
der the grass which hung over the
bank. The beaver watched and
watched.
The old woman and the boy had
dlved in the morning. 1t was then in
the afternoon and neither of them
had come up. Toward evening the
old woman thought to herself: The
boy must be drowned | must come
out of the water The old woman
jumped out from the water. She be.
gan to straighten out her hair, and
as she reached the bank she said:
The boy died under the water a long
time ago, and we must hunt for his
body The people on the boys side
said: No, we must wait until the boy
comes up from the water The bea.
yer came into the lodge and said:
The old woman is now standing on
the hank The beavers awoke the
boy, gave him meat and he ate, and
then the old beaver threw the bone
out of the lodge into the water and
told the young beaver to go and
bring back the leg. The young beaver
went out. diYed into the water, and
when it returned it had its legs again.
Then the boy was told to go out OF
the beavers lodge, to swim to the
middle of the stream and then jump
out. He did so. When the boy came
up from the water there was a yell
from the side of the boy, and the peo-
pie began to kill the people who were
on the side Of the old woman. The
people on the old witch's side were all
killed. The old witch was killed on
the side of the bank and tramped In
under the ground. If the young man
had not beaten the old woman in div
ing there would still be witches In
the country, and they would be kill
ing people"