The Winslow mail., 1923-06-29
-rAGian
Lou8e ales
BY
Ford c. FricIk
1TIIIIllIIIIIIiIiIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIITITIITIIITTII7
THE FIRST WINTER

Tn THE days of the long ago tile
- world was world of summer. The
| ManitOu, father of us all, lived in the
heavens and smiled down upon his
children of the earth; and the world
was a world of sunshine; and birds
sang the year through, the fruit grew
on the trees; and fishes filed the
streams and everywhere was happi-
ness and prosperity
In those days there were no wars
and no pestilence; no hatred and no
envy. But everywhere the redmen
ruled in Joy, and hunted and fished
as they pleased-and there was no
work to he done and no fields to be
cultivated and no meat to be dried,
for in those, days the corn ripened
throughout the year, and buffalo were
plentiful at all times, and fresh meat
could be had for the asking.
But by and by evil spirits came
among the people, and they told tales
of wickedness. They laughed at the
Manitou and defied his power and
they called him "Old Woman" and
laughed at his kindness These evil
spirits influenced the Indians, and the
Indians, too, made fun Of the Mani
tou, and they defied him to punish
them and declared that he had lost
his power and that they no longer
need worship him.
At length the ManitOu became angry
and sorry: and he called a council of
the chiefs and told them that his heart
was sore, and asked that they once
more accept his rule and give him
their worship. But they only laughed
and so the Manitou declared that he
would remove the sun from the heav-
ems as mark of his power.
By and by the sun began slowly to
change it's route, and each day 1t be-
came less and less In the heavens, and
the tribesmen were much afraid. Cold
winds swept the earth, and snow fell
and the leaves on the trees died and
fell to the ground, and the streams
were covered with ice so that it was
impossible to fish. The buffalo dis
appeared and the rabbits and the
bears were unable to come out on ac-
count Of the great snow.
Among the Indians sickness pre-
vailed, and many died and great sor-
row was upon the land, until finally
two old chiefs went out into the snow
and climbed many miles to the top Of
great mountain and there they
prayed the Manitou that he should
give them aid, and make his face to
shine once more upon the world.
The Manitou heard their prayer and
was moved, and slowly he sent the
sun back upon Its course. and once
more the grass was green, and the
streams sang, and the birds returned
to their homes And the Indians who
were sick and starved and hungry re-
gained their strength and their health
and the world was happy once more
in the warmth of the sun, which Is the
face of the ManitOu.
But when the summer time had
come, then the Manitou appeared to
the tribesmen and held council with
them. and he said to them:
"You have doubted my power You
have scoffed my strength. You have
overlooked my kindness And so have
I punished you From this time forth,
each year, will I withdraw my face
for period; and the land will become
q land of ice and snow, and the
streams will be covered with ice and
the lodge of the red man shall be a
lodge of desolation.
$50 must you prepare yourselves
and work and labor that during the
long period of winter your lodges
shall be full of food and your fires
shall have plenty of fuel
When he had said this the Manitou
disappeared in cloud. And from that
time on the winter has come each
year, with it's cold and its desolation
Each year the trfbesmen know that
1t is warning to them of the power
of the Manitou And so during the
winter months they build their fires
and hold their councils and pray to
the Manitou that he may look with
favor upon them when the springtime
comes again
Note--It is interesting to note that
this legend exists in varying forms
among a score or more of tribes
throughout the country The writer
had 1t from the Arapahoes. 1t ex-
lists among the Iroquois, likewise and
among the nlini, the Cherokees and
the Dakotahs, to his personal knowl-
edge. Probably many other tribes
also number it among the legends.