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diff --git a/22096.txt b/22096.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0f5b8b --- /dev/null +++ b/22096.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3977 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children, by Mabel Powers + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Stories the Iroquois Tell Their Children + +Author: Mabel Powers + +Release Date: July 18, 2007 [EBook #22096] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES THE IROQUOIS TELL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + STORIES + THE IROQUOIS + TELL THEIR + CHILDREN + + + [Illustration] + + + MABEL POWERS + (YEH SEN NOH WEHS) + + + AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY + NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO + + Copyright, 1917, by + MABEL POWERS. + _All rights reserved._ + W. P. 9 + + + [Illustration] + + + + + TO ALL THE CHILDREN WHO ASK + HOW AND WHY, + ESPECIALLY THOSE RED CHILDREN + WHO SEE WITH WONDER EYES, + AND THOSE PALEFACE CHILDREN + WHO YET BELIEVE IN FAIRIES, + THESE STORIES ARE LOVINGLY DEDICATED + + [Illustration] + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + + ACKNOWLEDGMENT 8 + + FOREWORD BY THE CHIEFS 9 + + INTRODUCTORY + + HOW THE STORIES CAME TO BE 11 + + WHY I WAS CALLED THE STORY-TELLER 13 + + THE LITTLE PEOPLE 18 + + STORY-TELLING TIME 23 + + HOW THE IROQUOIS GIVE THANKS 27 + + A FIREMAKER AND A PEACEMAKER 34 + + + IROQUOIS WONDER STORIES + + HOW THE WHITE MAN CAME 45 + + WHY THE EAGLE DEFENDS AMERICANS 49 + + HOW THE TURKEY BUZZARD GOT HIS SUIT 60 + + WHY THE PARTRIDGE DRUMS 66 + + HOW THE INDIANS LEARNED TO HEAL 69 + + WHY DOGS CHASE FOXES 75 + + WHY HERMIT THRUSH IS SO SHY 79 + + HOW GOOD AND EVIL CAME TO BE 85 + + HOW A BOY WAS CURED OF BOASTING 90 + + WHY THE CUCKOO IS SO LAZY 95 + + HOW THE COON OUTWITTED THE FOX 99 + + WHY THE GOLDFINCHES LOOK LIKE THE SUN 103 + + WHAT THE ASH AND THE MAPLE LEARNED 107 + + HOW THE WOMAN OVERCAME THE BEAR 112 + + WHY THE WOODPECKER BORES FOR ITS FOOD 115 + + WHY THE ICE ROOF FELL 119 + + WHY THE CHIPMUNK HAS BLACK STRIPES 122 + + HOW TWO INDIAN BOYS SETTLED A QUARREL 125 + + HOW MICE OVERCAME THE WARRIORS 130 + + WHY CROWS ARE POOR 135 + + WHY THE INDIAN LOVES HIS DOG 139 + + GREEDY FAWN AND THE PORRIDGE 145 + + WHY HOUNDS OUTRUN OTHER ANIMALS 152 + + WHY INDIANS NEVER SHOOT PIGEONS 155 + + HOW OLD MAN WINTER WAS DRIVEN BACK 159 + + WHY LIGHTNING SOMETIMES STRIKES 168 + + WHY THE HARE HAS A SPLIT LIP AND SHORT TAIL 176 + + CORN PLUME AND BEAN MAIDEN 180 + + HOW THE ROBIN BURNED HIS BREAST 187 + + + IROQUOIS FAIRY STORIES + + HOW MORNING STAR LOST HER FISH 195 + + HOW LITTLE SHOOTER LOST HIS LUCK 201 + + HOW AN INDIAN BOY WON HIS NAME 205 + + HOW THE FAIRIES WORKED MAGIC 211 + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENT + + +If the Red Children had not welcomed the writer to their lodge fires, +these stories the Iroquois tell their children could not have been +retold. With one or two exceptions, the ideas found in the stories have +been had from the lips of the Indians themselves. To ARTHUR C. +PARKER--_Ga wa so wa neh_--for his careful review of the stories and +assistance in securing authentic Iroquois illustrations; and to the +following story-tellers who so kindly welcomed her to their lodges, and +told her stories, the writer is most grateful. + + EDWARD CORNPLANTER (_So son do wah_--"Great Night") Seneca Wolf + WILLIAM PATTERSON (_Ga reh hwonts_--"Power has come down") Tuscarora Deer + MOSES SHONGO (_Ho non da a suh_--"Keeper of the hills") Seneca Wolf + CLIFFORD SHONGO (_Ouhn yah dah goh_--"Very dark blue sky") Seneca Wolf + CHARLES DOXON (_Hoh squa sa ga dah_--"Woodsman") Onondaga Turtle + DANIEL GEORGE (_Jo ha a ga dah_--"Roadscraper") Onondaga Eel + MARY PRINTUP (_Wah le sa loh_) Mohawk Snipe + DAN WILLIAMS + (_Oh geh rah u reh ru ha neh_--"Running Bear") Tuscarora Bear + ELI HENRY Tuscarora Deer + HARRIETT PEMBLETON (_Gah do rehn tah_--"Dropping Husks") Tuscarora Turtle + AMOS KILLBUCK + (_Har wen do dyoh_--"He has forsaken early dawn") Seneca Wolf + ALFRED JIMESON (_Har neh a oh_--"Hatchet in his hands") Seneca Heron + WILLIAM HOAG (_O no nah_--"Very cold") Seneca Wolf + ELLEN PIERCE SHONGO (_Yea wen noh aih_--"The high word") Seneca Wolf + BAPTIST THOMAS (_Sa ha whe_--"Long feather") Onondaga Turtle + ALBERT CUSICK (_Sha go na qua da_--"Made them mad") Onondaga Eel + THEODORE JIMESON (_Jah o yah_) Seneca Snipe + DAVID WARRIOR (_Dwen o gwah_) Cayuga White Heron + WILLETT JIMESON (_So i as ah_--"Owner of fine cornstalks") Seneca Wolf + NANCY GREYSQUIRREL (_Gah gwah tah_--"One who lifts") Seneca Bear + EMILY TALLCHIEF (_Gi das was_--"Wind blowing through corn") Seneca Turtle + LOUISE PIERCE LOGAN (_Ga yah was_--"The quivering heaven") Seneca Wolf + THOMAS JONES (_Gah ne yehs_--"The dropping snow") Seneca Wolf + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Once our fathers own these lands of New York State. Once the Iroquois +were great people. Their council fires burn from Hudson on east to Lake +Erie on west, from rising to setting sun. Then White man come. He ask +for small seat size buffalo skin. He take larger and larger one, till +Indian have but small place to sit. + +Now we have little left but stories of our fathers. They, too, will soon +be lost and forgotten, but a voice has come to speak for us. _Yeh sen +noh wehs_--the one who tells the stories--will carry these stories of +our fathers to Paleface. She will help White man to understand Indian, +Indian to be understood. She will have all men brothers. + +Indian's heart is glad that _Yeh sen noh wehs_, our white friend, has +come to us. She have good eyes. She see right. She like things Indian. +She try to preserve them. Our old men and women tell her the stories +told them, many, many moons ago, when little children. + +_Yeh sen noh wehs_ write down these stories so our children and our +children's children may read and know them; and so Paleface Children may +learn them also. Indian tell these stories to his children to make them +good and brave and kind and unselfish. May they teach Paleface Children +how they should do. + +Again we say, Indian is glad to have some one speak for him. He is glad +to have some one write down the great and beautiful thoughts in Indian's +mind and heart. We have spoken. _Na ho._ + +Chief of Seneca Nation, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + +Chief of Onondagas, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + +Chief of Tuscaroras, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + +Chief of Oneidas, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + +Chief of Cayugas, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + +Chief of Mohawks, + +[Illustration: handwritten signature] + + + + +HOW THE STORIES CAME TO BE + + +Out of the moons of long ago, these stories have come. Then every tribe +of the Iroquois had its story-teller. + +When the Old Man of the North came out of his lodge, and the forests and +rivers of the Red Children grew white with his breath, these +story-tellers wandered from wigwam to wigwam. + +Seated on warm skins by the fire, the story-teller would exclaim, +"_Hanio_!" This meant, "Come, gather round, and I will tell a story." + +Then all the Red Children would cry, "_Heh_," and draw close to the +fire. This meant that they were glad to hear the story. And as the +flames leaped and chased one another along the fire trail, they would +listen to these wonder stories of the Little People, of the trees and +flowers, of birds, of animals, and men. When the story-teller had +finished, he said, "_Na ho_." This meant, "It is the end." + +The earth was very young, when the Red Children first learned how +everything came to be, and just why it is that things are as they are. +They told these wonderful things to their children, and their children +in turn told them to their children; and those children again in turn +told them to theirs, that these things might not be forgotten. + +Now, but few of the Red Children know these stories that the +grandmothers and old men of the tribe used to tell. The story-teller is +no longer seen wandering from wigwam to wigwam. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY I WAS CALLED THE STORY-TELLER + + +Some time ago the writer of these stories was asked to speak for an +Indian Society. She accepted the invitation, and that night made her +first Indian friends. + +Her new friends told her many beautiful things about the Red Children. +The more the writer learned about the Iroquois people, and things +Indian, the more interested she became. After a time she began to tell +the Paleface the things she had learned. + +Soon, one of the tribes, the Senecas--the tribe to which her new friends +belonged--heard that she was speaking for them. They wished to honor +her, so they asked her to be present at their Green-Corn Feast, and +become one of them. + +So when the Green-Corn moon hung her horn in the night sky, the writer +found the trail to the Land of the Senecas. There the Senecas adopted +her into the Snipe clan of their nation. She was called _Yeh sen noh +wehs_--"One who carries and tells the stories." + +Thus it was that the writer became one of the Red Children, _Yeh sen noh +wehs_--the Daughter of the Senecas. + +The more _Yeh sen noh wehs_ learned of the Red Children, and their +simple stories, the more she loved them. One day, _Yeh sen noh wehs_ +said she would be the story-teller not only of the Senecas, but of all +the tribes of the Iroquois. There are six great families of this people. +Each family is called a tribe or nation. + +Once, the council fires of these six nations burned from the Hudson on +the east, to Lake Erie on the west, and they were a great and powerful +people. + +It was at the time of the Berry Moon that _Yeh sen noh wehs_ hit the +story trail. Since then she has journeyed through all the lands of the +Senecas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Mohawks, and the +Tuscaroras. + +Like the story-teller of old, _Yeh sen noh wehs_ wandered from lodge to +lodge of the Iroquois. "_Hanio_," she would call, and as the Indians +gathered round, she would tell them one of the stories that other Indian +friends had told to her. + +Sometimes this would remind the Red Children of another story, which +_Yeh sen noh wehs_ did not know, and they would tell it to her. It was +in this way that these stories have been gathered. + +There were many days when _Yeh sen noh wehs_ told her stories, but none +were told in return. Few members of the tribes--these usually the +oldest--could remember the stories "they used to tell." + +Sometimes _Yeh sen noh wehs_ heard a story as she trudged along a +furrow, beside a ragged Indian who was plowing with a more +ragged-looking team. Or she would listen as she helped an Indian woman +prepare the evening meal, pick berries, or gather nuts. + +[Illustration] + +Sometimes, as _Yeh sen noh wehs_ sat by a fire down in the depths of a +beautiful wood, and watched the smoke of the sacred medicine rise, a +medicine man would tell her a story; or an Indian woman would drop a +word, as she sat at her door weaving baskets or making beadwork. + +These stories _Yeh sen noh wehs_ has made into a story book, that they +might not be lost and forgotten; that all the Iroquois Red Children and +their children's children might know and tell them, and that Paleface +children might learn them as well. + +The American children have no fairies of their own. They must borrow +their fairies from children of other nations. _Yeh sen noh wehs_ thought +it very sad, so she put a magic feather in her cap, and winged moccasins +on her feet. Then she went on the chase for real American wonder +stories, and for real American fairies. + +[Illustration] + +Had there not been a feather in the magic cap she wore, _Yeh sen noh +wehs_ would not have found them. But the feather pointed the way to the +Nature Wonder Trail, and there she caught a glimpse of the "Little +People,"--the only true American fairies. + + + + +THE LITTLE PEOPLE + + +All children who live close to Mother Earth come to know and to see the +fairies of the flowers, the woods, the rocks, and the waters. + +These fairies the Iroquois call the _Jo gah oh_, or "Little People," +because they are so small. The Little People can do wonderful things. +Whatever they wish, they can do. They can fly through the air. They can +dart under or through the water, into the earth and through the rocks, +as they please, for they wear invisible moccasins and travel in winged +canoes. + +Their wee babies are carried on the little mothers' backs,--just like +the Indian's papoose. The little fathers have wonderful winged bows and +arrows, that can shoot any distance they wish. + +[Illustration] + +The Little People bring good luck to the Indians. Whatever Indian boys +and girls wish for,--if they wish hard enough, the _Jo gah oh_ will +bring to them. + +It is said that there are three tribes of these Little People,--those +that live in the rocks beside streams and lakes, those that hover near +the flowers and plants, and those that guard the dark places under the +earth. + +The rock Little People are very strong. They can uproot large trees and +can hurl great rocks. Sometimes they dare the Indians to a test of +strength with them. They also like to play ball with stones. + +The Red Children fear the Stone Throwers, as they call them. But they +love the little folk that help the flowers to blossom, and the fruit and +grains to grow and ripen. + +They remember these Little People in their Feasts of Thanksgiving, for +do the _Jo gah oh_ not help the sweet waters of the maple to flow? Do +they not whisper to the growing seeds and show the way to the light? Do +they not guide the runners of the strawberries, turn the blossoms to the +sun, and paint the berries red? They also tint the grains, and give to +the corn its good taste. + +A third tribe of Little People dwell under the earth. They guard the +sacred white buffaloes, and keep the serpent monsters that live in the +darkness below from coming to the surface to the Red Children. + +[Illustration] + +There are trails that lead out to the sunlight, but the Little People +guard them close, although sometimes a great serpent will find the +trail of a spring, and will follow it and poison the waters. + +Often, at night, these elves of the dark come to the upper world to +dance with the other Little People. + +Wherever you find a tree in a deep, dark part of the wood, around which +no grass will grow, there you may be sure a dance ring has been formed. +There the Little People have danced till the moon dropped out of the +sky. + +[Illustration: DANCE RATTLE] + + + + +STORY-TELLING TIME + + +The old-time Indians say that long, long ago, the Little People made a +law that stories must not be told in summer. + +Summer is the time for work. Bees must store their honey. Squirrels must +gather their nuts. Men must grow their corn. Trees and plants must leaf, +and flower, and bear their fruit. + +If stories were told, plants, birds, animals, and men would stop their +work to listen. This would mean poor crops and hungry people. Animals +would forget to grow their winter coats and lay by their winter stores. +Birds would fail to start in time for the South. + +The old Indians say that the story-teller who disobeys this law of _Jo +gah oh_ will suffer some misfortune. Winter is the time to tell the +stories, for then the work of animals, plants, and men is done,--and the +Little People are fast asleep. + +No, it is not safe to tell stories in summer. No one knows when a bird, +or a bee, or a butterfly may be listening, and may tell the chief of the +Little People. Should the chief of the Little People be offended, he +might cause something dreadful to happen to the story-teller. + +Last summer, the writer of these stories came very near being changed +into an animal,--or something worse,--just for telling stories. So an +old Indian said. She does not know now how she escaped. She thinks it +must have been because she was a White Indian. This is how it happened. + +It was at the time of the Harvest Moon. _Yeh sen noh wehs_ spoke for one +of the tribes at their council house, and she told some of these wonder +stories. + +All went well until the middle of the night. Then a very old Indian +came to warn her of her danger. It seems that he had been at the council +in the evening, and had heard the stories told, many of which he knew. + +He told _Yeh sen noh wehs_ he had expected to see her change into +something else right then and there. He said he would not dare to tell a +story. "No, no, me 'fraid, evil come!" he said. + +Then he wanted to know if _Yeh sen noh wehs_ was a real Indian. He had +been told that she was a White Indian, but when he heard her tell the +stories, he said, he thought she was a real Indian. + +When _Yeh sen noh wehs_ told him that she had not a drop of Indian blood +running in her veins, he looked very solemn. At last he spoke. He told +the interpreter to tell her,--for he spoke but a few words of +English,--that the Great Spirit made a snake, a snake; a fox, a fox; a +muskrat, a muskrat; a coon, a coon; a bear, a bear; an Indian, an +Indian; a White Indian, a White Indian. Each must be snake, fox, coon, +bear, Indian or White Indian, as long as he lived. Each must be himself. + +Then the old man asked what disease _Yeh sen noh wehs_ had, that made +her go around with a feather in her hair, acting like a real Indian, if +she were a White Indian. + +_Yeh sen noh wehs_ had no answer. And she does not know to this day, +what saved her from being changed into a rabbit, a katydid, or something +worse, by the chief of the Little People. She knows, however, that she +is very glad she is telling the stories to you, in the WINTER time. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW THE IROQUOIS GIVE THANKS + + +The Iroquois Red Children are a grateful people. The true Iroquois never +rises after eating without saying, "_Niaweh_," which means, "I am +thankful." The others reply, "_Niuh_,"--"It is well." + +The Red Children never pick a flower without thinking how kind the Great +Spirit has been, to cause the flowers to grow. They like flowers, and no +matter how poor the Indian cabin, flowers are always to be found near. + +When the Iroquois pick fruit, they give thanks to the Great Spirit. And +always do they leave some, for the "little brothers of the wood." + +They do not try to pick every cherry or berry, or nut or apple, for +themselves. Fruits grow for the birds and animals as well as for men, +and the little brothers of the wood must not be forgotten. Some of +everything that grows is left for them. + +[Illustration: SAP BUCKET] + +During the spring and summer, the Iroquois give several thanksgiving +feasts. The first is early in the spring, at maple-sugar time. As soon +as the sap begins to flow, the Maple Feast is called. + +The Indians gather about a large maple tree. A fire is lighted near, +upon which one of their number sprinkles tobacco. As the smoke rises, a +prayer of thanksgiving is made to the Great Spirit, for causing the +sweet waters of the maple to flow. Then the maple trees are thanked for +their service to men, and protection is asked for the trees during the +coming year. + +When "the leaf of the dogwood is the size of a squirrel's ear," it is +planting time. Then an Indian maid goes into the fields and scatters a +few grains of corn, asking the aid of the Great Spirit for the harvest. +The Indian always plants his seed with the growing moon, that it may +grow with the moon. + +[Illustration] + +The next feast is the Strawberry Feast and Dance. + +The strawberry is one of the best gifts of the Great Spirit to his +children. So greatly is it prized that it is thought to grow on the Sky +Road that leads to the Happy Hunting Ground. An Indian who has been very +ill, near death, will say, "I almost ate strawberries." + +When the strawberry ripens, the Red Children are happy. They sing their +praises to the Great Spirit and dance with joy. They remember the Little +People who have helped to make the berries beautiful, and they have a +song of praise and dance of thanks for them as well. Without the help of +the Little People, the strawberries would not be so sweet and ripe. + +At the time of the Harvest Moon comes the last feast of the summer. This +thanksgiving feast lasts four days. The Indians not only give thanks for +the ripening of the corn, but for every growing thing. Therefore this +feast is longer than the others, since it takes some time to name all +the good gifts of the Great Spirit to the Red Children, and to give +thanks for them all. + +There is a story[1] of the corn in which the Spirit of the Corn is a +maiden, not a handsome young chief, as one of the stories claims. This +Corn Maiden was one of three sisters, and was called _Ona tah_. + +[Footnote 1: _Myths and Legends of the Iroquois_, by Harriet Maxwell +Converse.] + +The three sister vegetables--the corn, the bean, and the squash--were +called the _Di o he ko_, which means "those we live on," since they are +the life-giving vegetables. + +These sisters lived together on a hill and were very happy. But one day +_Ona tah_ wandered away in search of dews for her kernels. + +The Evil Spirit was watching. He seized _Ona tah_, the Spirit of the +Corn, and sent one of his monsters to blight her fields. The killing +winds swept over the hill, and the spirits of the squash and bean fled +before them. + +_Ona tah_ was held for some time a prisoner in the darkness under the +earth, by the Evil Spirit. + +[Illustration] + +At last a sun ray found her and guided her back to her lost hilltop. +There she found that her sisters had fled. She was alone. + +Then _Ona tah_ made a vow to the sun that she would never again leave +her fields. But she sighs for her lost sisters, and mourns the blight +that came upon her beautiful fields. For since the time when _Ona tah_ +wandered away and left her fields, the corn has not grown so tall or so +beautiful as once it did. + +[Illustration] + + + + +A FIREMAKER AND A PEACEMAKER + + +[Illustration] + +In the olden times, tribes of Indians did not always live in one place +as they do now. They sometimes wandered from one valley or woodland to +another. When they came to a sheltered place, where there was pure +running water, and where plenty of game and wood were to be found, they +would build their lodges and light their council fires. + +There they might camp for one moon, or for many moons. As long as their +arrows brought game on the hunting trails near, they would not break +camp. But if game grew scarce, or if for any reason they did not like +the camp ground, they would move farther on. + +Sometimes they would go several days' journey, before they found a +camping place such as they liked. + +The first thing that was done in making a camp was to secure fire and +light the council fire. This fire was always kept burning. It never went +out while they remained. + +The Indians loved the fire. It was the gift of the Great Spirit to the +Red Children. It kept them warm and cooked their food by day, and +protected them by night. + +A line of fires was kept burning around the camp. This protected the Red +Children from the wild animals, for all animals fear fire, and are +charmed by it. They might prowl and howl all night long outside the fire +ring, but never would they attempt to come within that ring. There the +Indians could sleep in peace, guarded by the spirits of the fire. + +[Illustration] + +The Indian that could make fire first became a chief and leader. When it +was decided to camp at a certain place, a signal would be given. At this +the young braves would leap into the woods, to see which one first could +bring back fire. Each had his own secret way of making it. Usually a +bowstring was twisted about a fire stick, and the stick was turned +rapidly in a groove. In a few seconds, smoke would rise from the sawdust +that formed. After a little fanning a flame would leap forth. + +The Indian whose brain and hand worked swiftest and surest was the +smartest and best man. He became a Firemaker, and was made a chief of +the tribe. He could do something that the rest could not,--at least he +had proved himself to be more skillful. Such a man, it was thought, had +a better understanding of all things, and therefore could tell the rest +of the tribe what ought to be done. + +He no longer was just a man who ate and slept, walked and ran. He was a +man with a mind. He could think and could do things. So he became a +Firemaker chief, and he helped the tribe to think and do. + +The Iroquois Red Children believe that there are three kinds of men: +those that use the body only; those that use body and mind; and those +that use body, mind, and spirit. + +Now it happened that sometimes an Indian grew to be so kind and so +great, that he could not only strike the fire we see, but the fire we do +not see,--the fire of love that burns in the hearts of people. + +[Illustration] + +When an Indian could strike this kind of fire, and warm the hearts not +only of his own tribe but of all tribes, so that they came to love one +another, he was a great chief, a Peacemaker chief. Such a man would go +from tribe to tribe, teaching the people how they should do, so that all +might live in peace and plenty, like brothers. + +To be a Peacemaker was the highest seat an Indian could take. Few +Indians became Peacemaker chiefs, and they were the great men of the +tribe. + +Indian women also might become Peacemakers. At one time the Iroquois had +a Peace Wigwam, where all disputes and quarrels were settled. + +The most beautiful, just, and fair-minded woman of all the tribes was +chosen to sit in this wigwam. It was her duty to tend the Peace fire, +and to see that it never went out. She also kept a pot of hominy always +steaming over the fire. + +If two Indians had a dispute, it was the custom for them to run to the +Peacemaker's wigwam. They entered from opposite sides. Inside the +wigwam, a deerskin curtain separated them from each other. + +[Illustration] + +The Peacemaker would listen to the grievance of the one and then to that +of the other. Then she would draw aside the curtain, get the enemies +together, and settle the dispute with justice. + +The two would then eat of the hominy, and depart in peace,--no longer +enemies, but friends. + +No nation could fight another nation without the consent of the +Peacemaker. Because the peacewomen were wise, and just, and kind, and +taught men to love, not fight each other, the Iroquois were for many +years at peace. + +But one day, it is said, a Peacewoman proved untrue to her trust. She +thought more of her own happiness than that of the nation. + +[Illustration] + +This woman was very beautiful, and the people loved her. For some time +she sat in the Peace Wigwam, and tended faithfully the Peace fire. + +One day an Oneida and a Cayuga chief fell to quarreling. They sought the +Peace Wigwam. As they entered and saw the young Peacewoman tending the +fire, each thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful. + +Into the heart of each there leaped the desire that she might tend his +wigwam fire. + +The Peacemaker listened to the quarrel of the young chiefs and settled +it justly. Then each tried to persuade her to leave the Peace fire and +return with him to his lodge. But the Peacemaker said, "No, I must tend +the fire, it must be kept burning." The chiefs departed with heavy +hearts. + +But the Oneida chief could not forget the beautiful woman. When a moon +had passed, he returned to the Peace Wigwam. This time he persuaded the +Peacemaker to leave her fire and return with him to sit at his wigwam +door. + +The Peace fire flickered and went out. The Iroquois again went on the +warpath, and for many, many moons, they fought and suffered and died. + + + + +IROQUOIS WONDER STORIES + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW THE WHITE MAN CAME + + +Long, long before Columbus came to America, the Red Children were here. +They were the first and only real Americans. + +From the Big Sea Water on the east to the Big Sea Water on the west, +ranged these Children of the Sun, as they called themselves. + +Happy and free as the sunlight and air about them, they ran through wide +forests all their own, or plied their bark canoes up and down the +streams. + +Then the Indian had a dream. This was long before Columbus dreamed his +dream of the Western World. + +In his dream the Indian saw a great White Bird coming out of the east. +Its wings were stretched wide to the north and south. With great +strength and speed, it swept toward the setting sun. + +In fear and wonder the Indian watched this giant White Bird appear and +disappear. He knew its meaning, and the Indian's heart was sad. + +Then the White man came. From the Big Sea Water on the east he came, in +his great white-winged canoe. With one hand pointing to the Great +Spirit, and with the other extended to the Red man he came. He asked for +a small seat. A seat the size of a buffalo skin would be quite large +enough for him, he said. + +In the name of the Great Spirit, the Red Children greeted the White man, +and called him "brother." They gave him the seat he asked. They gave him +a large buffalo skin also, and showed him where he could spread it by +their council fire. + +The White man took the buffalo skin. He thanked his Red brother in the +name of the Great Spirit. Then he began to cut the skin into many, many +small strips. + +[Illustration] + +When the whole buffalo skin had been cut into narrow strips, he tied the +strips together. They made a long cord that would reach over a long +trail. + +In amazement the Indians watched the White man while he measured off a +seat as long and as broad as this cord would reach around. The "small +seat," the size of a buffalo skin, became a tract of land. + +Soon the White man asked for another seat. This time his seat took in +the Indians' lodges and camp fire. He asked the Indians if they would +move on a few arrow flights. This they did. + +Then the White man wanted another seat. Each time it took a larger skin +for him to sit upon. This time the skin stretched so far that it covered +a part of the Indians' hunting and fishing grounds. + +Again the Indians moved on. Again the White man followed. Each time his +seat grew larger, until the Indian had a place but the size of a buffalo +skin on which to sit. + +Thus it was that the White man came. Like a great White Bird that swept +from the Big Sea Water on the east to the Big Sea Water on the west, the +White man came; and he drove the Indian from the rising to the setting +sun. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY THE EAGLE DEFENDS AMERICANS + + +Many, many moons before the White man came, a little Indian boy was left +in the woods. It was in the days when animals and men understood each +other better than they do now. + +An old mother bear found the little Indian boy. + +She felt very sorry for him. She told the little boy not to cry, for she +would take him home with her; she had a nice wigwam in the hollow of a +big tree. + +Old Mother Bear had two cubs of her own, but she had a place between her +great paws for a third. She took the little papoose, and she hugged him +warm and close. She fed him as she did her own little cubs. + +The boy grew strong. He was very happy with his adopted mother and +brothers. They had a warm lodge in the hollow of the great tree. As +they grew older, Mother Bear found for them all the honey and nuts that +they could eat. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +From sunrise to sunset, the little Indian boy played with his cub +brothers. He did not know that he was different from them. He thought he +was a little bear, too. All day long, the boy and the little bears +played and had a good time. They rolled, and tumbled, and wrestled in +the forest leaves. They chased one another up and down the bear tree. + +Sometimes they had a matched game of hug, for every little bear must +learn to hug. The one who could hug the longest and the tightest won the +game. + +Old Mother Bear watched her three dear children at their play. She would +have been content and happy, but for one thing. She was afraid some harm +would come to the boy. Never could she quite forget the bear hunters. +Several times they had scented her tree, but the wind had thrown them +off the trail. + +Once, from her bear-tree window, she had thrown out rabbit hairs as she +saw them coming. The wind had blown the rabbit hairs toward the hunters. +As they fell near the hunters, they had suddenly changed into rabbits +and the hunters had given chase. + +At another time, Mother Bear tossed some partridge feathers to the wind +as the hunters drew near her tree. A flock of partridges went whirring +into the woods with a great noise, and the hunters ran after them. + +[Illustration] + +But on this day, Mother Bear's heart was heavy. She knew that now the +big bear hunters were coming. No rabbits or partridges could lead these +hunters from the bear trail, for they had dogs with four eyes. +(Foxhounds have a yellow spot over each eye which makes them seem +double-eyed.) These dogs were never known to miss a bear tree. Sooner or +later they would scent it. + +Mother Bear thought she might be able to save herself and her cubs. But +what would become of the boy? She loved him too well to let the bear +hunters kill him. + +[Illustration] + +Just then the porcupine, the Chief of the animals, passed by the bear +tree. Mother Bear saw him. She put her head out the bear-tree window and +called to him. He came and sat under the bear-tree window, and listened +to Mother Bear's story of her fears for the boy. + +When she had finished, Chief Porcupine said he would call a council of +the animals, and see if they could not save the boy. + +Now the Chief had a big voice. As soon as he raised his voice, even the +animals away on the longest trails heard. They ran at once and gathered +under the council tree. There was a loud roar, and a great flapping of +wings, for the birds came, too. + +Chief Porcupine told them about the fears of Mother Bear, and of the +danger to the boy. + +"Now," said the Chief, "which one of you will take the boy, and save him +from the bear hunters?" + +It happened that some animals were present that were jealous of man. +These animals had held more than one secret council, to plan how they +could do away with him. They said he was becoming too powerful. He knew +all they knew,--and more. + +The beaver did not like man, because men could build better houses than +he. + +The fox said that man had stolen his cunning, and could now outwit him. + +The wolf and the panther objected to man, because he could conceal +himself and spring with greater surety than they. + +[Illustration] + +The raccoon said that man was more daring, and could climb higher than +he. + +The deer complained that man could outrun him. + +So when Chief Porcupine asked who would take the boy and care for him, +each of these animals in turn said that he would gladly do so. + +Mother Bear sat by and listened as each offered to care for the boy. She +did not say anything, but she was thinking hard,--for a bear. At last +she spoke. + +To the beaver she said, "You cannot take the boy; you will drown him on +the way to your lodge." + +To the fox she said, "You cannot take him; you would teach him to cheat +and steal, while pretending to be a friend; neither can the wolf or the +panther have him, for they are counting on having something good to eat. + +"You, deer, lost your upper teeth for eating human flesh. And, too, you +have no home, you are a tramp. + +"And you, raccoon, I cannot trust, for you would coax him to climb so +high that he would fall and die. + +"No, none of you can have the boy." + +Now a great bird that lives in the sky had flown into the council tree, +while the animals were speaking. But they had not seen him. + +When Mother Bear had spoken, this wise old eagle flew down, and said, +"Give the boy to me, Mother Bear. No bird is so swift and strong as the +eagle. I will protect him. On my great wings I will bear him far away +from the bear hunters. + +"I will take him to the wigwam of an Indian friend, where a little +Indian boy is wanted." + +Mother Bear looked into the eagle's keen eyes. She saw that he could see +far. + +Then she said, "Take him, eagle, I trust him to you. I know you will +protect the boy." + +The eagle spread wide his great wings. Mother Bear placed the boy on his +back, and away they soared, far from the council woods. + +The eagle left the boy, as he had promised, at the door of a wigwam +where a little Indian boy was wanted. + +This was the first young American to be saved by an American eagle. + +The boy grew to be a noble chief and a great hunter. No hunter could hit +a bear trail so soon as he, for he knew just where and how to find the +bear trees. But never was he known to cut down a bear tree, or to kill a +bear. + +However, many were the wolf, panther, and deerskins that hung in his +lodge. The hunter's wife sat and made warm coats from the fox and beaver +skins which the hunter father brought in from the chase. But never was +the hunter, his wife, or his children seen to wear a bear-skin coat. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW THE TURKEY BUZZARD GOT HIS SUIT + + +[Illustration] + +It was a long, long time ago, when the earth was very young. Trees and +flowers were growing everywhere, but there were no birds. One morning +the Great Spirit drew back the blanket from the door of his wigwam in +the sky. He looked upon the earth and smiled, for he saw that his work +was good. + +"Today," thought he, "I will make big butterflies, to fly in and out +among the beautiful trees and flowers of the earth. They shall sing as +they fly." + +Then the Great Spirit spoke, and the tree tops were full of birds,--but +they had no feathers. + +All day he watched them fly and listened to their songs. But their naked +bodies and long legs did not please him. Before the sun had set he had +made feathered suits, of every size and color, to cover them. + +That night, as the birds hid their heads under their wings, the Great +Spirit spoke to them. He told about the feathered suits he had made for +them, and where these suits could be found. + +A council was called next day by the birds. They chose _Gah gah go wah_, +the Turkey Buzzard, to get the suits. He could fly over a long trail and +not be tired. + +The birds told him that if he would go, he might have the first choice +of the suits of feathers, but he must try on no suit more than once. + +Turkey Buzzard promised and set out toward the setting sun. Twice the +sun set, and three times it rose, before he found the feathered suits. +There were many of them, and they were very beautiful. He could not make +up his mind which one he would like best to wear. + +Then he remembered that he could try on each suit of feathers once. So +he began to put them on. + +The feathers of the first suit were too long. They trailed on the ground +as he walked. Neither could he fly well in them. Turkey Buzzard laid +that suit aside. + +The next suit shone like gold. The feathers were a beautiful yellow. +Turkey Buzzard put it on and strutted up and down the forest. + +"Oh, how handsome I am!" he said. "But I must not keep this, for if I +did, I should shine so like the face of the Great Spirit, that all the +other birds would see me." + +And he slipped off the suit of yellow feathers as quickly as possible. + +A third suit was of pure white feathers. Turkey Buzzard thought it +looked very beautiful. It was a perfect fit. + +"But it will get dirty too soon," he said. "I will not choose this." + +And this, too, was laid aside. + +There were not enough feathers in the fourth suit. Turkey Buzzard +shivered with cold. It was not warm enough. He would not have it. + +There were too many feathers, and too many pieces, in the fifth suit. It +took too much time to put it on. Turkey Buzzard did not want that. + +So he went from one suit to another, trying on and taking off. Always he +had some new fault to find. Something was wrong with each one. Nothing +quite pleased him. No suit was just right. + +At last there was but one suit left. It was not pretty. It was a plain, +dull color,--and very short of feathers at the neck and head. Turkey +Buzzard put it on. He did not like it. It did not fit him well: it was +cut too low in the neck. Turkey Buzzard thought it was the homeliest +suit of all. But it was the last suit, so he kept it on. + +Then _Gah gah go wah_, the Turkey Buzzard, gathered up the suits and +flew back to the bird lodge. He still wore the plain, dull-colored suit. + +The birds again called a council. Each was told to select a suit from +those that _Gah gah go wah_ had brought, and put it on. This they did. + +Then the birds in their beautiful feathered suits began to walk and fly +about the Turkey Buzzard, and to make fun of his plain, dull dress. + +But _Gah gah go wah_ held his head high. He walked proudly about among +the birds. He looked with scorn on their beautiful suits. After a time +he spoke. + +He said, "_Gah gah go wah_, the Turkey Buzzard, does not want your +suits. He had the pick of them all. He likes his own suit best." + + Adapted from Erminie Smith's _Myths of the Iroquois_. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY THE PARTRIDGE DRUMS + + +[Illustration] + +It was after the Great Spirit had made all the beautiful birds, that the +Evil Spirit came along. He saw the beautiful birds and heard their +beautiful songs. He saw that the earth people liked the birds and liked +to hear them sing. + +Now the Evil Spirit did not wish people to be happy, so he said, "I will +make a bird that will make people afraid. I will make a big bird that +will not sing, but will make a great noise." + +So the Evil Spirit went to work. In a short time he had made a big bird, +that could not sing, but could drum. + +The big bird flew away into the wood. That night a drumming noise was +heard in the wood. The people were afraid. They could not sleep, because +of the noise. + +In the morning, they went into the woods to search for the noise. Deep +in the forest could still be heard that strange drumming. They followed +it, until they came to a deep, dark place in the woods. There was a loud +fluttering and whirring of wings, and a great bird flew out from among +them, along the ground and over the trees. + +The people were afraid. They called to the Great Spirit to help them. + +The Great Spirit was near. He heard their cry, and went after the bird, +for he was very angry. + +The Great Spirit said, "I will not have my people frightened by this +great bird; it shall die." + +The big bird gave the Great Spirit a long chase. At last the Great +Spirit came upon it. He seized it, and threw it against a large tree. + +As the big bird struck the tree, drops of blood flew in all directions. +They changed into smaller birds that went whirring into the woods, just +as the big bird had done. There they began to drum. + +Like the big bird, these smaller birds like to startle people. They +flutter out from under the leaves, and with a whirring noise they fly +far into the wood. There they perch on an old log, or a rock, and drum +with their wings. + +Some of the earth people say they are drumming for their mates. But +others still think that the birds drum to make people afraid. + +So this is how the Indians say the partridges came to be. This is why +they drum, and why some of the earth children still love to hunt +partridges. + + + + +HOW THE INDIANS LEARNED TO HEAL + + +A long, long time ago, some Indians were running along a trail that led +to an Indian settlement. As they ran, a rabbit jumped from the bushes +and sat before them. + +[Illustration: MEDICINE RATTLE] + +The Indians stopped, for the rabbit still sat up before them and did not +move from the trail. They shot their arrows at him, but the arrows came +back unstained with blood. + +A second time they drew their arrows. Now no rabbit was to be seen. +Instead, an old man stood on the trail. He seemed to be weak and sick. + +[Illustration] + +The old man asked them for food and a place to rest. They would not +listen but went on to the settlement. + +Slowly the old man followed them, down the trail to the wigwam village. +In front of each wigwam, he saw a skin placed on a pole. This he knew +was the sign of the clan to which the dwellers in that wigwam belonged. + +First he stopped at a wigwam where a wolf skin hung. He asked to enter, +but they would not let him. They said, "We want no sick men here." + +On he went toward another wigwam. Here a turtle's shell was hanging. But +this family would not let him in. + +He tried a wigwam where he saw a beaver skin. He was told to move on. + +[Illustration] + +The Indians who lived in a wigwam where a deer skin was seen, were just +as unkind. Nor was he permitted to enter wigwams where hung hawk, snipe, +and heron skins. + +At last he came to a wigwam where a bear skin hung. + +"I will ask once more for a place to rest," he thought. + +And here a kind old woman lived. She brought food for him to eat, and +spread soft skins for him to lie upon. + +The old man thanked her. He said that he was very sick. He told the +woman what plants to gather in the wood, to make him well again. + +This she did, and soon he was healed. + +A few days later the old man was again taken sick. Again he told the +woman what roots and leaves to gather. She did as she was told, and +soon he was well. + +[Illustration] + +Many times the old man fell sick. Each time he had a different sickness. +Each time he told the woman what plants and herbs to find to cure him. +Each time she remembered what she had been told. + +Soon this woman of the Bear clan knew more about healing than all the +other people. + +One day, the old man told her that the Great Spirit had sent him to +earth, to teach the Indian people the secrets of healing. + +"I came, sick and hungry, to many a wigwam door. No blanket was drawn +aside for me to pass in. You alone lifted the blanket from your wigwam +door and bade me enter. + +"You are of the Bear clan, therefore all other clans shall come to the +Bear clan for help in sickness. + +"You shall teach all the clans what plants, and roots, and leaves to +gather, that the sick may be healed. + +"And the Bear shall be the greatest and strongest of the clans." + +The Indian woman lifted her face to the Great Spirit to thank him for +this great gift and knowledge of healing. When she turned again to the +man, he had disappeared. + +No one was there, but a rabbit was running swiftly down the trail. + +[Illustration: MEDICINE MASK] + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY DOGS CHASE FOXES + + +A fox was running through the wood near a river. He had a fish in his +mouth. + +The fish had been stolen from an Indian who lived down the stream. The +fox had been passing near the Indian's wigwam. He saw the fish hanging +by the fire. It was cleaned and ready to cook. + +"What a tasty breakfast!" thought the fox. "I think I will watch the man +eat." + +Soon the Indian went into the wigwam. The fox slipped up to the fire. He +seized the fish, and ran away with it. + +When the Indian came back, he had no breakfast. The fish was gone. No +fox was to be seen. + +The fox ran along, feeling much pleased with himself. + +"What a cunning fox I am," he chuckled. "I will play another foxy trick. +This time it shall be on the bear I see coming." + +He ran up a tree that had been bent half way to earth by the West Wind. +There he began to eat his fish. He smacked his lips so loudly that the +bear heard him. + +The bear stopped under the tree, and asked, "What are you eating that +tastes so good?" + +For answer the fox threw down a bit of the fish. The bear smacked his +lips and cried, "More! More!" + +"Go to the river, swim out to the big log, and catch your own fish," +called the fox. "It's very easy! Just drop your tail into the water. +Hold it there till a fish comes along and bites, then pull it up. That +is the way I catch my fish. You can catch all the fish you want with +your own tail." + +The bear hurried on to the river. He swam to the log and dropped his +tail into the water, as the fox had advised. + +All day he sat and fished with his tail,--for bears then had very long +tails. + +The sun set, but no fish had pulled his tail. All night the bear sat on +the log and fished. Cold North Wind blew his breath over the water. The +river grew still and white. + +Towards morning, the bear felt that his tail was getting very heavy. Now +at last he was sure he had a fish. He tried to pull it up. But alas! his +tail was frozen fast in the ice. + +Then the fox came along. He laughed long and loudly at the bear, and +asked if the fishing was good. + +Some dogs heard the fox, and came tearing through the thick underbrush. +They saw the fox and started after him. + +The fox slyly led them on to the frozen river toward the bear. The bear +saw them coming, and called to the fox to go around some other way. The +fox made believe he did not hear, and came straight on to the bear to +ask him what he had said. + +The dogs leaped upon the bear. The bear struggled. He gave one great +pull, and freed himself from the ice. He struck at the dogs so fiercely +with his great paws, that they soon left him, and went on after the fox. + +Dogs have been running after foxes ever since. + +When the bear got his breath, he stood up and looked around at his tail. +He found he had only a small piece left. Most of his tail had been left +in the ice. + +This is why bears have short tails, and why dogs still love to chase the +fox. + + + + +WHY HERMIT THRUSH IS SO SHY + + +[Illustration] + +Some moons after the council when the birds chose their feathered suits, +a second council was called. The purpose of this council was to see +which bird could fly to heaven, and bring a song to earth. + +When all the birds had arrived and were perched upon the council tree, +the wise old owl spoke. + +"Friends and brothers, listen," said the owl. "Many of you have strong +wings, but your voices are not beautiful. High, high up in the sky, a +long trail beyond the clouds, is the Happy Hunting Ground. + +"There live all our brothers of the wood, whom the Great Spirit has +called. They sing songs more beautiful than any heard on earth. + +"The bird that can fly beyond the clouds will hear that singing. He +shall bring a song to earth. Who will fly the Great Sky Trail, and bring +a song to earth? Who-whoo! Who-whoo! Who-whoo!" + +At this, all the birds that were swift of wing flew high in the air. +They circled round and round to show their skill. Then they disappeared +in the clouds. + +But one by one they dropped to earth; for when they had reached the +Great Sky Trail beyond the clouds, they were too tired to take it. + +At last the eagle arose and stretched his great wings. + +"Listen," he said, "for the Chief of Birds speaks. No other bird is so +swift and so strong as the eagle. He has circled the earth. He has flown +to the rim of the world. The eagle will fly the Great Sky Trail and +bring the song to earth." + +A little brown thrush sat near the eagle. + +"Oh," he thought, "how I would like to bring that song to earth!" + +But he was so small, and his wings were so tired! + +Then an idea popped into the little brown head of the thrush. He hopped +softly to the back of the eagle, and hid in the thick feathers near the +neck. So small and light was the thrush, that the eagle did not feel his +weight. He did not know that the little brown thrush was on his +back,--and the other birds did not tell him. + +The eagle spread his great wings. Up, and up, and up, they soared. The +council wood became a little speck and then was seen no more. Over, and +under, and through the clouds, on, and on, and on, they sailed, along +the Great Sky Trail. + +[Illustration] + +At last the eagle's strength began to fail. He could go no further. The +great wings of the chief of birds could beat the air no longer. They +fell at his side. + +The little brown thrush felt the eagle quiver and begin to drop toward +the earth. + +Then away flew the little brown thrush. The air was so light it seemed +easy to fly. On and on he went, for he was not tired. He had had a ride +almost to heaven. + +"Now," he thought, "I will go on and will get the song." + +For some time, the little brown thrush flew along the Great Sky Trail. +All at once the air seemed full of song. He knew he was nearing the +Happy Hunting Ground. + +He listened. One song seemed more beautiful to him than the rest. Again +and again he listened. He caught the notes. He sang them many times, +until he was sure that he could carry the song to earth. + +Then down, and down, and down, he floated, through clouds and storms and +sunshine, back to Mother Earth. + +Very happy, he flew toward the council wood. He was so full of his +beautiful song and the wonderful Sky Trail, he thought he must pour out +his song at once. + +But when he reached the council wood, he dared not open his mouth! He +remembered that he had stolen his ride part way to heaven,--and he knew +the other birds knew it. + +But that song! he must sing it! He thought his throat would burst, if he +did not sing! + +So the little brown thrush flew off by himself, into a deep, dark part +of the wood. There, hidden by the brush and the bushes, he poured forth +the song he had heard on the Great Sky Trail. + +Men hearing it to-day, say, "Listen, a hermit thrush! What a beautiful +song! But he is such a shy bird, one seldom can catch a glimpse of him." + +They do not know why he keeps so close under cover. + + + + +HOW GOOD AND EVIL CAME TO BE + + +Every boy has wondered how there came to be two of him. + +Every girl has puzzled over how she happened to be twins. Sometimes she +is the good girl,--sometimes a naughty one. + +The Indians say this is how it happened. + +The world was very young. There was no earth, only a cloud-like sea. + +The sea was filled with water animals, and water birds flew over it. All +was dark. Light had not yet come. + +Then the cloud-sea began to call for light. The Great Spirit heard, and +said, "It shall be so. I will make a new place for man to live in." + +The Great Spirit called the beautiful Sky Mother to Him. Her face was +like the sun, she was so light of heart. + +The Great Spirit told the Sky Mother to look down. She, too, heard the +cloud-sea calling, and she said, "I will go." + +As she began to descend, the animals saw her coming. "See the light," +they cried. "Where will it rest?" + +One of the water animals said, "I will go to the bottom of the sea and +get something for it to rest on." + +He went down, but he never came back. + +Other animals followed him. But they, too, did not come back. + +Then the muskrat said, "I will go. I will be the earth bringer." + +He returned, with some mud in his mouth and claws. + +"It will grow fast," he cried, in a weak voice. "Who will carry it?" + +The turtle offered his back. As the muskrat placed the mud on the +turtle's shell he died. But the beaver came and slapped the mud down +with his tail. + +The mud on the turtle's back grew very fast. Soon it was a small island. +The turtle became the earth bearer. He has continued to hold up the +earth ever since. + +Now, when the sea rises in great waves, or the earth shakes, the Indians +say, "The turtle is stretching. He is wiggling his back!" + +Now, since there was a place for the light to rest on, the birds flew up +to meet it. They found that the light was the beautiful Sky Mother. + +Then the birds spread wide their great wings, and bore the Sky Mother +through the air to the cloud-sea. They placed her on the island on the +turtle's back. There the Sky Mother had rested some time, when she felt +something stirring beneath her heart. She heard voices. One was soft and +kind and full of love, the other was harsh and quarrelsome. + +Soon the Sky Mother looked into the faces of the first-born of earth, +for she had borne the twin brothers, the spirits of Good and Evil. As +she looked into the face of the Good Mind, she said, "You shall be +called the Light One." + +Then she looked into the face of his brother, and said, "You shall be +named the Dark One." + +The island became a beautiful land. + +The twin brother Light One grew up happy, loving, peaceful, and kind. He +wanted to make the new land the most beautiful place in which to live. +The twin brother Dark One grew up sullen, quarrelsome, hateful, and +unkind. He tried to make the land the worst place in which to live. + +From his mother's beautiful face the Light One made the sun. He set it +in the eastern sky, that it might shine forever. Then the Dark One put +darkness in the west to drive the sun from the sky. + +The Light One gave his mother's body to the earth, the Great Mother from +which springs all life. He made great mountains, and covered them with +forests from which beautiful rivers ran. The Dark One threw down the +mountains, gnarled the forests, and bent the rivers which his brother +had made. + +Every beautiful thing which the good brother Light One made, the bad +brother Dark One tried to destroy and ruin. + +And because the first-born of earth were the twin spirits, the Good Mind +and the Evil Mind, there has been a good and bad spirit born into every +boy and girl who has come into the world since. + +So the Indians say! + + + + +HOW A BOY WAS CURED OF BOASTING + + +There was once an Indian boy, who thought he knew more and could do more +than anyone else. He was so proud of himself that he walked around like +a great chief, who wears a war shirt with many scalp locks on it. + +The other Indian boys and girls called him Spread Feather, because he +strutted about like a big turkey or a peacock. + +One day, Spread Feather was playing ball with the other boys. Not once +had he failed to drive or catch the ball with his crosse stick. Twice he +had thrown the ball with such force that some one had been hurt. + +Spread Feather grew more and more pleased with himself, as he played. He +began to use tricks and to talk very large. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + +"No one can play ball as I," he said. "I can catch the swiftest ball +that can be thrown. I can throw the ball to the sky. I can run faster +than the deer." + +Spread Feather boasted so loudly that a rabbit heard him. The rabbit +came out of the bushes and sat up on his hind legs. He watched Spread +Feather play, and listened to his boasting. + +Soon a strange boy was standing where the rabbit had sat. + +The stranger said to Spread Feather, "I would like to play ball with +you." + +"Come on, then!" taunted the boastful boy. "Spread Feather will show the +strange ball player how to catch a ball." + +They began to play. + +The stranger could run like a deer. His balls were so swift and so +curved that Spread Feather could not see them. He could not catch one. +They seemed to come from the sky. + +At last one ball hit Spread Feather on the mouth. He fell to the ground. +His face was red with anger, and his lips were red with blood. + +He sprang to his feet and shouted to the stranger, "Though I do not like +the taste of your ball, yet I can throw you." + +"Very well, then," said the stranger. "We will have a game of 'Catch as +catch can.'" This is the Indian name for a game of wrestling. + +Spread Feather set his feet very hard on the ground. + +"My legs are as strong as the legs of a bear," he boasted. + +They began to wrestle. Soon Spread Feather's arms fell at his sides. He +panted for air. He had no breath and no strength. + +The stranger picked Spread Feather up and tossed him over his head like +a ball. The boy fell without a word. + +When Spread Feather opened his eyes, a rabbit sprang into the bushes. + +All night, Spread Feather lay and thought, and thought. He was too weak +and too sore to go back to his wigwam. Nor was he eager to meet the +other boys. + +At sunrise a rabbit hopped near. The rabbit slyly suggested that he +might like to play another game of ball. + +The boy sat up and said to the rabbit, "Spread Feather is no more. He no +longer struts like a turkey. He has nothing to say. He will win a new +name. It will not be Spread Feather." + + + + +WHY THE CUCKOO IS SO LAZY + + +The land was lean and hungry. The Old Man of the North Lodge had +breathed upon the valley. His breath had frozen the corn, and there was +no bread for the people. + +The Indian hunters took to the chase. They followed every track of deer +or rabbit. If their arrows brought them meat, they threw it over their +shoulders and ran to the village, that the hungry women and children +might eat. + +But one Indian remained in his wigwam. He sat by the fire with his wife +and child, and waited for the hunters to bring game. + +This man refused to go on the hunt. He was lazy. All day he sat by the +fire and smoked his pipe. Once in a while, he would stir the water in +the kettle which he kept boiling for the meat that he hoped the hunters +might bring. Whenever the child, his little son, begged him for food, he +would say, "It isn't done yet." + +At last the little Indian boy grew so sick and faint for want of food +that he cried aloud. + +[Illustration] + +The lazy Indian father was angry. He seized the pudding stick, and +struck the child to the ground. Instantly a bird flew up and perched on +the pole over the fire, from which the kettle hung. + +"Now it's done!" said the bird solemnly, for it did not seem to have a +light heart like other birds. + +Now, strange as it may seem this father was no longer cruel and lazy. +His lazy spirit seemed to have gone. He wanted to go at once on the +chase, and hunt food for his wife and little boy. + +"To-night you shall have deer meat to eat," he said, as he spread a soft +skin by the fire, for the boy to lie on. Then he turned to place the +child on the skin,--but no boy was there. He had no son. Only that +strange bird perched, joyless and alone, over the fire, on the pole from +which the kettle hung. + +"Now it's done!" the bird cried again, and with that it flew out of the +wigwam. + + * * * * * + +That spring the Indians discovered a new bird in the woods. The bird was +too lazy to build a real nest. + +This bird did not weave together twigs and moss, leaves and ferns, bits +of hair and thistledown, to make a cozy, warm, safe nest for its eggs +and young, as did the other birds. This bird would lay its eggs +anywhere. Wherever a few sticks lay crosswise in a track, or in a little +hollow of the ground, or where some twigs or dried ferns were caught +loosely in a bush, there this lazy bird would lay its eggs and rear its +young. + +It was too lazy to build a real nest, that was safe and warm for its +little ones. + +[Illustration] + +The Indians called the bird "the cuckoo." But only one Indian knew how +the cuckoo came to be, and why it is too lazy to build a real nest. + + + + +HOW THE COON OUTWITTED THE FOX + + +A wise old raccoon sat up in a tree near the river where the bear lost +his tail. The coon saw the fox play his foxy trick on the bear, and he +did not like it. + +"The fox is getting a big head," said the coon. "This must not be. His +head must be made smaller. Some of the foxiness must be taken out of it. +He is getting too foxy. He thinks he has the cunning of all the animals, +and that no one can outwit him. Some one must play a 'fox' trick on +him." + +Not many days later, the coon saw the fox coming down the trail. The +coon was eating some juicy yellow apples that he had found on a tree not +far away. As soon as he saw the fox, he ran up a tree, and began to +smack his lips as the fox had done to tempt the bear. + +The fox stopped under the tree, just as the bear had stopped. + +"What tastes so good?" he asked. + +For answer the coon threw down an apple to the fox, just as the fox had +thrown the piece of fish down to the bear. + +The fox took the apple and ate it. + +"Fine! Fine!" said the fox, when he had finished the last mouthful. +"Where did you get it?" + +[Illustration] + +The coon then told the fox how to find the apple tree. He must follow +the trail along the river, down to the pine bluff. Then he must climb +the bluff and run toward the setting sun, until he came to an open +field. In the center of that field stood a great apple tree. It was +filled with juicy yellow apples. + +[Illustration] + +"But you can climb the tree and pick your own apples. How can I get them +off the tree?" whined the fox. + +"Oh, that's easy," said the coon. "Just back off two bow shots from the +tree, then lower your head,--so. Run hard and butt the tree with your +head. You have such a big head, it will shake the tree so hard that all +the apples will fall at once. Do as I tell you, and you will have all +the apples you want for a long time." + +The fox thanked the coon and started at once. + +He found the apple tree, just as the coon had said. + +[Illustration] + +"What a fine open place to run in," thought the fox. "I will get such a +fine start that when I hit the tree it will shake the world." + +Already he began, in his mind, to see the apples falling, like pine +needles, and to feel the earth shake under his feet. + +The fox did as the coon had told him. One arrow flight he backed off, +then another. Then he closed his eyes, lowered his head, and ran swiftly +over the thick grass. He struck the tree as hard as ever he could, with +his big head. + +Not an apple fell, but a dazed, foolish-looking fox fell to the ground. + +Next morning as the sun rose, a shame-faced fox was seen running toward +the woods beyond the pine bluff. He carried his head low, and he seemed +to be playing no foxy tricks. + + + + +WHY THE GOLDFINCHES LOOK LIKE THE SUN + + +It was some moons after the coon outwitted the fox, before they again +met. The coon was hurrying by, when the fox saw him. + +Now the fox had not forgotten the trick the coon had played on him. His +head was still sore from that great thump against the apple tree. So the +fox started after the coon. He was gaining, and would have caught him, +had they not come to a tall pine tree. + +The coon ran to the very tiptop of the pine tree. There he was safe, for +the fox could not climb. + +The fox lay down on the soft pine needles and waited for the coon to +come down. The coon stayed up in the pine tree so long that the fox grew +tired and sleepy. He closed his eyes and thought he would take a short +nap. + +The coon watched, until he saw that the fox was sound asleep. Then he +took in his mouth some of the pitch from the pine tree. He ran down the +tree and rubbed the pitch over the eyes of the sleeping fox. + +The fox awoke. He sprang up and tried to seize the coon, but, alas! he +could not see what he was doing. The lids of his eyes were held fast +with the pine gum. He could not open them. + +The coon laughed at the fox's plight, then ran and left him. + +The fox lay for some time under the tree. The pine gum, as it dried, +held the lids of his eyes closer and closer shut. He thought he should +never again see the sun. + +Some birds were singing near by. He called them, and told them of his +plight. He asked if they would be so kind as to pick open his eyes. + +The birds flew off and told the other birds. Soon many of the little +dark songsters flew back to where the fox lay. Then peck, peck, peck, +went the little bills on the eyelids of the fox. Bit by bit they +carefully pecked away the pine gum. If one grew tired, another bird +would take its place. + +[Illustration] + +At last the fox saw a streak of light. Soon the lid of one eye flew +open, then the other. The sun was shining, and the world looked very +beautiful to the fox, as he opened his eyes. + +He was very grateful to the little birds for bringing him light. He told +them to ask what they would, and he would give it to them. + +The little birds said, "We do not like the plain, dark suits which the +Turkey Buzzard brought us. Make us look like the sun we have brought to +you." + +The fox looked about him. Beautiful yellow flowers were growing near. He +pressed some of the sun color from them, and with the tip of his tail as +a brush, he began to paint the dark little birds like the sun. + +The birds fluttered so with joy, he thought he would paint the bodies +first. Before he could brush the wings and tails with the sun paint, +each little bird had darted away, like a streak of sunshine. So happy +and light of heart were the birds, that they could not wait for the fox +to finish the painting. + +This is why goldfinches are yellow like the sun. It is why they have +black wings and tails, why they flutter so with joy, and why they never +finish their song. + + + + +WHAT THE ASH AND THE MAPLE LEARNED + + +Long ago, birds, trees, animals, and men knew each the language of the +other, and all could talk together. + +In those days, the trees of the forest grew very large and strong. At +last they came to know their strength too well. They became selfish, and +proud, and quarrelsome. Each tree boasted that he was the greatest and +strongest. Each one struggled to gain for himself the most earth, the +best air, the brightest sun. No tree had a thought for the other. + +One day the trunk of a great Maple tried to crowd out an Ash. The Ash, +of course, thought he had as much right to stand there as the Maple, and +he said he would not stir a limb. + +"Get out of my way," cried the Maple. "I am greater than you, and of +more use to man; for I furnish the sweet water for him to drink." + +"Indeed, I will not!" said the Ash. "I am greater than you, and of more +use to man than you; for I furnish the tough wood from which he makes +his bow." + +At this the trees fell to wrestling. Back and forth, in and out they +swayed, each trying to throw the other. They forgot that they were +brothers in the wood. + +Then the South Wind came along. He heard the loud voices and stopped to +find out what the quarrel was about. + +"I am greater than you, for I furnish the sweet water for man to drink," +came the angry voice of the Maple, as he threw his huge trunk against +the Ash. + +"No, you are not," retorted the Ash, and he sent the Maple back with a +great push of his strong elbow. "I am greater than you, for I furnish +the tough wood from which he makes his bow." + +[Illustration] + +For a time, the South Wind watched them writhe and twist and try to +throw each other to the ground. Then he said, softly, "You, O Maple, do +not cause the sweet water to flow for man; nor do you, O Ash, make your +wood to grow pliant and tough for his bow." + +"Who does, then?" they asked defiantly. + +"Listen," said the South Wind, "and you shall hear." + +Then the Maple and Ash forgot their quarrel. They bent their heads so +low and close to listen, that an arm of the Maple slipped through an arm +of the Ash. + +[Illustration] + +And as they stood thus listening, each with an arm locked in an arm of +the other, the South Wind gently swayed them to and fro. Then a voice +was heard, singing, "_San noh-eh! San noh-eh! San noh-eh!_" which +means, "The Mother of all things." + +Thus it was that the Ash and the Maple learned that it was Mother Earth +who gave them their life, and power, and strength, and that they were +brothers, because they had one Mother. + +The Ash and the Maple whispered the secret to the birds. The birds came +and listened to the voice, and went and told the animals. The animals +came and listened, and went and told men. And thus all the earth +children learned that there is one Great Mother of every living thing, +and that all are brothers. + +And now, whenever two trees lock arms lovingly, and the South Wind sways +them gently to and fro, that same voice may be heard, singing, "_San +noh-eh! San noh-eh! San noh-eh!_" + + + + +HOW THE WOMAN OVERCAME THE BEAR + + +An Indian woman built a wigwam in the deep wood. She was a brave woman. +She had no fear. + +One night, she heard something coming along the trail. Thump, thump, +thump, it came, to the very door of her wigwam. + +There was a rap. + +"Come in," said the woman, but no one entered. + +Again there came a rap. + +Again the woman called, "Come in." Again the latch was not lifted. + +A third time the rap came. A third time the woman called, "Come in," but +no one entered. + +Then the strange thump, thump, thump, was heard going down the trail. + +The next night, the same thing occurred. Soon after dark, the woman +heard the thump, thump, thump, coming along the trail. Up to the very +door of the wigwam it came. + +Three times, a rap, rap, rap, was heard as before. Three times the woman +answered, "Come in," but no one entered. + +Then the same strange thump, thump, thump, was heard going down the +trail again. + +The third night, the woman thought she would make sure who was calling. +She stood for a long time, with her hand on the latch. + +At last she heard the visitor coming. Thump, thump, thump, it came along +the trail. There were three raps. + +"Come in," called the woman, but the latch did not move in her hand. She +waited. Again came the raps. + +This time she threw wide open the door, and there stood a great black +bear. He showed his sharp teeth and growled, "Are you at home?" + +The woman looked him straight in the eye and replied, "I am at home." + +At once the bear turned on his heel and went down the trail, as fast as +he could go. + +Never again did the woman hear that strange thump, thump, thump; and +never again did the bear call to see if she were at home. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY THE WOODPECKER BORES FOR ITS FOOD + + +Once upon a time, the Great Spirit left the Happy Hunting Ground and +came to earth. He took the form of a poor, hungry man. He went from +wigwam to wigwam, asking for food. + +Sometimes he found the Indians sitting around the fire, telling stories +and talking of the Great Spirit. Then the man would pass by unseen. + +One day, he came to a wigwam in which a woman was baking cakes. + +"I am very hungry," the man said. "Will you please give me a cake?" + +The woman looked at the man, and then at the cake. She saw that it was +too large to give away. + +She said, "I will not give you this cake, but I will bake you one, if +you will wait." + +The hungry man said, "I will wait." + +[Illustration] + +Then the woman took a small piece of dough and made it into a cake and +baked it. But when she took this cake from the coals, it was larger than +the first. + +Again the woman looked at her cake. Again she saw it was too large to +give away. Again she said, "I will not give you this one, but I will +bake you one, if you will wait." + +Again the man said, "I will wait." + +This time the woman took a very, very, tiny bit of dough, and made it +into a cake. + +"Surely, this will be small enough to give away," she thought, yet when +baked it was larger than both the others. + +The woman stood and looked at the three cakes. Each was too large to +give away. + +"I will not give you any of the cakes," she said to the man. "Go to the +woods, and find your food in the bark of trees." + +Then the man stood up and threw off his ragged blanket and worn +moccasins. His face shone like the sun, and he was very beautiful. The +woman shrank into the shadow of the wigwam. She could not look upon his +face, for the light. + +"I am the Great Spirit," said he, "and you are a selfish woman. Women +should be kind, and generous, and unselfish. You shall no longer be a +woman and live in a warm wigwam, with plenty of cakes to bake. _You_ +shall go to the forest and hunt _your_ food in the bark of trees. Summer +and winter, you shall eat worms of the same size as the cake you would +have made for me." + +The woman began to grow smaller and smaller. Feathers grew upon her +body, and wings sprang from it. The Great Spirit touched her head, and +it became red. + +[Illustration] + +"Always shall you wear this red hood," he said, "as a mark of your +shame. Always shall you hide from man. Always shall you hunt for little +worms, the size of the cake you made for me." + +At this a sharp cry was heard, and a bird flew into the fireplace of the +wigwam, and up the chimney. As it passed out of the chimney, the soot +left those long streaks of black which we see now on the woodpecker's +back. + +Ever since then, this woodpecker has had a red head, and has been hiding +from man on the farther side of the tree trunk, and boring in the bark +for _little_ worms. + + + + +WHY THE ICE ROOF FELL + + +A great many winters ago, there lived at the foot of a certain lake a +tribe of wicked Indians. These Indians were so fierce, and warlike, and +wasteful, they went about destroying everything. + +They laid low a tract of beautiful forest trees, for no good purpose. +They tore up shrubs and plants that gave them food and medicine. They +shot their arrows into every bird or animal they saw, just for sport. + +[Illustration] + +The great trees--their silent brothers of the wood--trembled and sighed +when they heard these Indians coming. The squirrels darted into hollow +trees, and birds flew in alarm at their footsteps. The deer and rabbit +ran from the trail. + +At last the Great Spirit became very angry with this tribe. Always he +had taught the Indians never to kill an animal, unless for food and +protection; never to fell a tree, unless for fuel or shelter; never to +dig up shrubs or plants, unless for some good use. + +"All life," the Great Spirit had said, "is sacred and beautiful. It must +not be wasted." + +And never before had he known the Indians to waste the beautiful living +things about them. The Great Spirit was very sad. + +The ice formed very thick on the lake that winter. + +One night, there came a great storm of wind and rain. The ice broke +loose from the shores, and the wind blew it down the lake. At the foot +of the lake, a mass of ice was piled high over the shore, where lived +these wasteful Indians. + +Like a giant roof, the ice spread over the little Indian village lying +there asleep, but the Indians did not know. They slept on, unaware of +their danger, for a deep, heavy sleep had come upon them. + +Just as the sun rose, the ice roof gave way and fell upon the sleeping +Indians, crushing them in their wigwams. + +The waste they had brought upon their brothers of the wood had brought +punishment upon them. The Great Spirit had destroyed these wicked +Indians, that the good Indians might keep his world beautiful. + +Ever after, as long as the Indians occupied the country, before the +White man came, no trees were felled, and no animals or birds were +killed, unless for some wise and useful purpose. + + + + +WHY THE CHIPMUNK HAS BLACK STRIPES + + +At one time, the animals had tribes and chiefs, like men. It was when +the porcupine was chief, that a council was called. + +A great fire was lighted, for it was night. When all the animals were +seated around the fire, the porcupine spoke. + +[Illustration] + +"Friends," he said, "we have met here to settle a great question: 'Shall +we have night all the time, or day?'" At this, all the animals began to +talk at once. There was great confusion. The night animals kept +shouting, "Night, night! Always night!" Others of the animals cried, +"Day, day! Always day!" Still others called for "Day and night!" + +There was so much noise that it could not be decided what was best. + +At last the animals grew tired of calling. One by one the voices grew +fainter, and the shouting ceased. Of the night animals, the voice of the +bear alone was heard. He had a big voice and still kept calling, "Night, +night! Always night!" + +The animals who wanted day all the time, and those who wanted day and +night, also became quiet,--all except the chipmunk. He chattered on, "We +will have light--and then night. We will have light--and then night. +Chee, chee, chee!" + +Then the bear, too, became tired. He was fat and lazy, and so sleepy! He +thought he would take a short nap. + +But all night long the wide-awake little chipmunk kept up his song. Not +for a moment did he stop to rest. Out of the dark came his voice, sure +and cheery, "We will have light--and then night. We will have +light--and then night! Chee, chee, chee!" + +And before the animals knew it, the sun began to rise. + +At the first rays of light, the bear sat up, blinked, and rubbed his +eyes. He saw that while he had slept, light had indeed come. He knew +that he and the night animals had been beaten in the council, and that +the chipmunk and the animals who wanted day and night had won. + +The bear was very angry. He struck at the chipmunk with his paw. But he +was clumsy, and the chipmunk was spry! + +The chipmunk laughed and sprang into a hole of a hollow tree near by. +But those black stripes on the chipmunk's back show where the paw of the +black bear touched him as he slipped into the tree. + +Ever since this council, and the little chipmunk called so long and loud +for "light and night," we have had day and night. + + + + +HOW TWO INDIAN BOYS SETTLED A QUARREL + + +[Illustration] + +Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow were two little Indian boys. They +lived by Singing River, and they played from sunrise to sunset. They +were as happy as the day was long. + +In the summer, they fished and swam in Singing River, and they shot +their arrows into chipmunk and woodpecker holes. Sometimes they played +"Dodging Arrows," a game their mother had taught them when they were +very young. + +In the winter, they jumped into fleecy snowdrifts and rolled until their +little bronze bodies took on a red-raspberry tint. Then they would send +their snow-snakes skimming over the hard crust of snow. + +Snow-snakes were small rods of wood, polished smooth with resin, oil, or +wax. They could be thrown long distances. Long Moose--Lightning Bow and +Flying Squirrel's father--could throw a snow-snake a mile and a half, +over the crust of the snow. But the snow-snakes he used were eight feet +long and tipped with lead. + +It was the Moon of Berries. Six times had Flying Squirrel and Lightning +Bow seen the Berry Moon hang her horn in the night sky. And not once in +all their lives had they quarreled. + +One morning, Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow planned a foot race. +Seven times they were to run. Three times, Flying Squirrel had made the +goal first. Three times, Lightning Bow had outrun him. The seventh race +was claimed by each. No one saw them run, so no one could decide the +game. And they fell to quarreling. + +[Illustration] + +Louder and louder their voices were raised. More and more angry they +grew. + +White Fawn, their mother, was baking corn bread on the coals of the +wigwam fire. The angry voices reached her ears. She stepped to the door. + +"For shame!" she called. "Go and set up your sticks." + +[Illustration] + +Then she showed Lightning Bow and Flying Squirrel how to set up three +sticks so they would stand for many days. + +"Now go into the wood, set up your sticks, and leave your quarrel +there," she said. "When the Berry Moon has passed, you shall return and +see if the sticks are still standing. + +"If they lean toward the rising sun, Lightning Bow was right. If they +lean toward the setting sun, Flying Squirrel won. If they have fallen +down, neither was right and neither won." + +Lightning Bow and Flying Squirrel went into the wood and set up their +sticks. Then they began to throw balls with willow wands, and soon they +were happy again. + + * * * * * + +The sun had risen and set many times. The Berry Moon had passed. It was +the Thunder Moon, when White Fawn said to Lightning Bow and Flying +Squirrel, "Today you may go into the wood and see if your sticks are +still standing." + +Hand in hand, the two little Indian boys ran into the wood. They found +only a heap of rotting sticks. + +Flying Squirrel and Lightning Bow stood and looked at the sticks. They +thought and thought. + +"What did we set up the sticks for?" each asked of the other. + +And for the life of them they could not remember what they had quarreled +about, and why they had set up the sticks! + + + + +HOW MICE OVERCAME THE WARRIORS + + +Once a tribe of the Iroquois became very warlike and cruel. They liked +to follow the warpath rather than the hunting trails. + +These warriors thought only of the war dance. They forgot to give thanks +for the sweet waters of the maple, and for the planting season. Neither +did they remember to praise the Great Spirit, in song and dance, for the +juicy strawberries, and the waving green corn, as once they had done. + +To fight was the one desire of their lives, the one thought that filled +their minds. They boasted that none were so fierce and bloodthirsty as +they. + +"Our arrows fall like leaves of the pine," they said, "and always are +they red with blood. Our war shirts have many scalp locks on them." + +One day, a dispute arose with a neighboring tribe of their nation. The +Peace Wigwam was not far away, but these warriors would not take their +quarrel to it, as was the custom. The fighting Indians would have none +of the Peace Wigwam. + +[Illustration] + +"Let the women and papooses sit in the sun at the door of the Peace +Wigwam," they said scornfully. "Chiefs are for the warpath." + +A fierce cry was raised, and the war dance was begun. The chiefs painted +their bodies, donned their war shirts, sharpened their tomahawks, tipped +their arrows, and tightened their bowstrings. + +[Illustration] + +But by the time they had made ready, the sun had set, and the blanket of +darkness had fallen upon them. A council was quickly called. It was +decided that they would not start to war until moonrise. So the warriors +lay down to sleep. + +As they slept, another council was called. This was not a council of +men, but of mice. + +From long and short trails they came, hundreds and hundreds of mice, for +all had heard the warriors boast of their strength. + +"Now," said the mice, "we will show these boasters how weak are men, +and how strong are little mice." + +When all the mice were gathered about the council tree, the leader spoke +thus: "My brothers, listen! The Great Spirit did not give men strength, +that they should fight and kill one another. The Great Spirit did not +make men powerful, that they should strike down and kill the weaker +animals. Let us show these fierce warriors that it is the weak who are +strong, and the strong who are weak. Let every mouse destroy at least +one weapon before the moon shall rise." + +At this, all the mice set to work. Snap, snap, snap, went the bowstrings +on all sides. Then the sharp little teeth began on the feathers that +winged the poisoned arrows. Soon the feathers lay in bits about the +ground. + +Next, the deerskin cords that bound the sling shots were cut in two, and +before the moon had risen, every weapon had been made useless; every +Indian had been disarmed,--and the mice had scampered away. + +The warriors awoke. Again the war cry was raised. They sprang to their +feet and seized their weapons, but found them useless. Their bows had no +strings; their arrows, no wings; their slings, no cords. + +The warriors who boasted that they were the strongest and fiercest on +the earth, had been made powerless by mice. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY CROWS ARE POOR + + +After the Great Spirit had made the Red Children and had given them this +beautiful land in which to live, he sent them a great gift,--the gift of +the corn. + +_Ga gaah_, the Crow, claims it was he who brought this gift. He says he +was called to the wigwam of the Great Spirit in the sky. A grain of corn +was placed in his ear, and he was told to carry it to earth, to the Red +Children. + +Therefore, as _Ga gaah_ brought the gift, he claims he has a right to +pull what corn he needs. _Ga gaah_ says he does not "steal" corn. He +simply takes what belongs to him, his rightful share. + +And surely _Ga gaah_ is not greedy! He never takes more corn than he +wants for himself. He never hides or stores it away. He takes just what +he wishes to eat at the time, and no more, for crows never think of +to-morrow. + +In summer, they are happy in the cornfields, guarding the roots from +insect enemies, and pulling the tender blades whenever they are hungry. + +[Illustration] + +But when winter comes, the crows are sad. Many councils are held. +Sometimes a council tree will be black with crows. All are so poor and +so hungry, that they get together to try to plan a better way to live. + +There is much noise and confusion at a crow council, for all the crows +talk at once. All are saying, "No bird is so poor as the crow; he is +always hungry. Next summer, let us plant and raise a big crop of corn, +and gather and save it for the winter. Next winter, crows will not be +hungry; they will have food. + +"We will no longer take from the fields of the Red Children just enough +corn for a meal to-day. We will raise our own corn, and lay by a store +for the winter." + +And having agreed that this is a wise plan, the council ends. + +A few days later, another council will be called. At this, the crows +will plan how and where to plant the corn. Some will be appointed to +select a field, others to find seed, and still others to plant and tend +the corn. + +But, alas! When spring comes, and skies are blue, and the sun shines +warm, the crows forget the hunger of the winter, and the councils in the +tree. They remember only that the skies are blue, and the sun shines +warm, and now there is plenty of corn. + +Happy and content, they walk up and down the fields of the Red Children. + +"We have all we want to-day," they say, "Why should we think of +to-morrow, or next winter? We had a good meal this morning, and we are +sure of one to-night. Is not this enough for a crow? What more can he +ask?" + +And the next winter comes, and finds the crows as poor and as hungry as +they were the last. Again they are holding noisy councils in the council +tree. Again they are laying plans for the great crop of corn that they +will raise next summer! + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY THE INDIAN LOVES HIS DOG + + +The dog is the Indian's best friend. He is the comrade by day and the +protector by night. As long as the Indian's dog has strength, he will +fight for his friend. + +The Indian says this is how the dog came to take his part. + +An Indian and his dogs went into the woods to hunt. It was in the days +when dogs and men could talk together, and each understood the language +of the other. + +When they reached the woods, the dogs began to talk with the Indian. +They told him many wonderful things about the woods, which he did not +know. They taught him many tricks of the chase: how to scent and track +the game, and where to look for trails. + +[Illustration] + +The man listened to what the dogs said, and he did as they told him. +Soon the sledge which the dogs had drawn to the woods was piled high +with deer and other game. + +Never had the Indian's arrows brought him so much game. Never had he met +with such success in hunting. He was so pleased that he said to the +dogs, "Always shall I talk with you, give ear to what you say, and be +one of you." + +"Ah, but listen!" said the dogs. "If you wish to be one of us, you must +live under the law of dogs, not men. Animals have laws different from +those of men. When two dogs meet for the first time, they try their +strength to see which is the better dog. + +"Men do not fight when strangers meet, they shake hands. As we fight +strange dogs, so you, too, must fight strange men, to see which is the +best man,--if you are to live under the law of dogs." + +The man said he would think it over, and at sunrise give his answer. +Indians always sleep before deciding a question. + +Next morning, the man said he would live under the law of animals, and +fight strange men. + +The following day, the man made ready to leave the woods. From the +basswood, he made a strong harness for the dogs, so that they could draw +the load of game back to the camp for him. + +[Illustration] + +When the sun was high, the man and the dogs started with the sledge +load of game. They had not gone far before they saw two strange Indians +coming. + +"Now," said the dogs to the man, "remember you are living under the +dog's law. You must fight these strange men." + +The man attacked first one Indian and then the other. At last both +turned on him, and when they left him, he was nearly dead. At this, the +dogs took a hand. They leaped upon the Indians and drove them from the +woods. Then they came back to where their friend lay on the ground, and +began to talk with him and lick his face. + +The man could not speak for some time, but when his voice came to him, +he said to the dogs, "No longer do I wish to live under the law of +animals. No more shall I fight strangers. From this time, I shall shake +hands with strangers, and bid them welcome. From this time, I shall be a +man and live under the law of men." + +"Then," said the dogs sadly, "we shall no longer be able to talk with +you, and tell you the things that we know. But we will always stand by +you. We will be your friends and will fight for you, when you need us as +you did to-day." + +This is why the Indian and his dog are now unable to speak each other's +language. This is also why an Indian's dog will fight to the death for +his friend. + +Not only is the dog a true friend to the Indian in this world, but in +the next as well. It seems that the soul of an Indian on its journey to +the Happy Hunting Ground must cross a deep, swift-running stream. On +either side of this dark river, there stand two dogs who hold in their +teeth a great log upon which the souls pass. + +The soul of the Indian who has been kind to his dog crosses the log +easily, for the dogs stand guard. As the soul of such an Indian reaches +the river, they say, "This Indian was kind to his dog. He gave him of +his own food, and the dog always had a warm place by his fire. We will +help this Indian to cross." + +Then the dogs grip the log firmly in their teeth, and hold it steady +while the soul of the kind Indian passes over. + +But if the soul of an Indian who has been unkind to his dog comes to the +river, the dogs say, "This man was cruel to his dog. He gave his dog no +place by the fire, he beat him, he let him go hungry. This man shall not +cross." + +Then the dogs grip the log lightly in their teeth, and when the soul of +the unkind Indian is half way across, they turn it quickly to one side, +and the soul is thrown into the deep, dark river. + +Many an Indian has been kind to his dog, that he might make sure of a +safe crossing on that log. + + + + +GREEDY FAWN AND THE PORRIDGE + + +[Illustration] + +In the days when there was no one living in this country but the +Indians, there were no houses; there were only Indian wigwams. There +were no roads and no streets, but Indian trails. + +At that time there grew a wonderful chestnut, which the Indians used in +their cooking. A very small bit of this chestnut grated into a kettle +would make a potful of porridge. + +[Illustration] + +In a certain wigwam lived Deerheart and Sky Elk, and their little son +Greedy Fawn. The mother was called Deerheart because she was so loving, +and gentle, and kind. The father was named Sky Elk because he was so +strong and fleet of foot. Greedy Fawn, too, came rightly by his name. +You will soon know why. + +One day, Deerheart and Sky Elk went on a long trail. As they left the +wigwam, they said to Greedy Fawn, "Do not touch the chestnut, do not +build a fire, while we are away." + +Greedy Fawn promised. He watched his father and mother disappear down +the western trail. Then he went back to the wigwam. + +"Now," thought he, "I will have all the porridge I want." + +So he ran and gathered some sticks. He built a fire with the sticks. +Then he hung the kettle over the fire, and put some water in it. Then he +found the chestnut. He grated a little of the chestnut into the kettle, +and began to stir. Then he grated some more, and some more, and some +more. + +Faster and faster Greedy Fawn stirred the boiling porridge, for it began +to swell and fill the kettle. + +Larger and larger, it grew, and it grew, and it grew. + +Greedy Fawn was so frightened he did not know what to do. + +"Oh, will it never stop swelling?" he thought. Harder and harder he +stirred to keep the porridge from boiling over. Beads of perspiration +ran down his little bronze face, yet still he stirred. He dared not +stop. + +Then he remembered that sometimes his mother would rap the kettle with +the porridge stick, if it became too full. + +Rap, rap, rap, went the porridge stick on the edge of the kettle. +Instantly the _kettle_ began to swell. Larger, and larger, and larger it +grew. Greedy Fawn was so frightened he did not know what to do. + +Now Greedy Fawn could not reach across the kettle, to stir the porridge +with his stick, so he began to run around it. And around, and around, +and around the kettle he ran, stirring, and stirring, and stirring. + +At last the kettle was so large that it nearly filled the wigwam. There +was just space enough left for Greedy Fawn to run around it. And around, +and around, and around the kettle he ran, stirring, and stirring, and +stirring. + +Oh, how his little arms ached! And, oh, how tired his small legs were! +But still he ran. He dared not stop. + +Here was porridge enough to last a small boy a lifetime, and he could +not stop to taste one mouthful! + +[Illustration] + +At last Greedy Fawn could run no longer. He stumbled and fell by the +side of the kettle. He was too weak to rise. The stick fell from his +hand, and the porridge boiled on. Higher, and higher, and higher it +rose, until it ran over and down the sides of the kettle. Closer, and +closer the boiling porridge crept to the little Indian boy, and soon +Greedy Fawn and his stick were nearly buried in porridge. + +For once Greedy Fawn had all the porridge he wanted. And never again +would he have wanted anything, had not Deerheart and Sky Elk heard his +cries, and come running like deer up the trail to save him. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY HOUNDS OUTRUN OTHER ANIMALS + + +A hound was chasing a hare through the woods. + +Some wolves and panthers were chasing a bull that had been feeding in +the valley near the woods. For some time they had been trying to run him +down, but they did not seem to gain on him. + +[Illustration] + +When the wolves and panthers saw that they were not gaining on the bull, +they halted to take counsel. They decided that it would take a whole day +of hard running to get the bull, and a hound was near! Why not go for +the hound? + +All agreed. They set off for the hound. + +Now the bull had heard the wolves and panthers take council, and he, +too, set off for the woods. + +As he neared the wood, the bull called to the hound and warned him that +a pack of wolves and panthers was after him. Just then they came into +sight. The hound dared not meet them alone, and he knew not which way to +turn. + +Then the bull called, "Come, jump on my back. I can outrun them." + +The hound ran and leaped on the back of the bull, and away they went. + +The bull and the hound talked as they ran. The bull said he thought the +wolves would soon grow tired, fall back, and give up the chase. But he +was wrong. They were too angry at being outwitted. + +"You think to take our game from us," they howled at the bull. "But we +will eat hound meat to-night." + +The bull saw it was a run for life. All day he ran. For a time it was +easy to outrun the wolves and panthers, but at last they began to press +hard upon him. + +As the sun dropped out of the sky, the bull felt his knees begin to +weaken. The weight of the hound was telling on him. A moment later, he +stumbled and fell. + +In an instant, the pack was upon them. But with one leap, the hound +cleared the pack and was off down the trail. + +The weaker wolves and panthers leaped upon the bull. The stronger went +on. + +But now the best of them were no match for the hound. He was fresh and +strong, for he had been riding all day. They were tired and worn from +the long chase, and soon they gave it up. + +Because the hound is able to save his strength for the end of the chase, +he can now outrun not only wolves and panthers, but all the other +animals. + + + + +WHY INDIANS NEVER SHOOT PIGEONS + + +An Indian hunter went into the forest in search of game. + +The forest was so large that it would have taken three days to journey +through it. All day he followed the track of the deer, but his arrows +brought him no food. + +At night, he came to a dark, swift-running stream. He was tired and +hungry. + +"Here," said he, "I will lie down and rest until sunrise." + +He began to search for a bed of pine needles, for the Indian loves the +pine tree. It is his friend by day and by night. By day it is his forest +guide. At night it gives him a soft, sweet-smelling bed on which to +sleep, and it shields him from the storm. + +The hunter ran along the stream. It was very dark. He felt no soft pine +needles under his moccasined feet, only the knotted roots of trees. + +Suddenly the great roots of an oak tree reached out and caught him. He +could not free his foot from the oak's grasp. + +The sun rose and set. The great tree still held the hunter fast. He was +weak from pain and hunger. + +It was now two days since he had tasted food. Four notches had been cut +in his stick, for the Indian measures time in this way. Each sunrise and +sunset, when he is on the trail, is marked by a notch on a small stick +which he carries. + +Three times did the sun again rise and set, yet the tree did not let go +its hold. There were now ten notches on the stick, and the hunter was so +weak that he could scarcely cut the last one. + +As the sun rose on the fifth day, a bird flew into the tree. He saw the +hunter lying on the ground, and came close and spoke to him. + +The hunter understood, for in those days men and birds could talk +together. + +The bird asked the man what he could do for him, and the hunter +whispered, "You are strong. You can fly a long trail. Go and tell the +chief of my people." + +The bird flew swiftly away with the message. He did not wait until the +sun was high. He did not stop to eat one berry or one worm. He did not +fly high, nor fly low to talk with other birds. He went straight to the +people the hunter had told him of. + +The West Wind tried to blow him back. A black cloud came up to frighten +him, but he went through it. On, and on, and on, he went. Straight to +the wigwam of the chief, he carried his message. + +The chief had called together the young men who were fleet of foot, and +was about to send them forth to find the lost hunter. They were asking +the chief what trails they had best take. Before the chief could reply, +a beautiful dove-colored bird had flown close to his ear and had spoken +to him in soft, low tones. + +[Illustration] + +The chief told the young men what the bird had said, and they set off on +the trail the bird had named. Before sunset, they had found the lost +hunter. + +Carefully they freed him from the grasp of the great oak and bore him to +his people. That night there was a feast and a dance in his honor. + +Ever since, the Indians have loved the birds that carry the messages, +and they never shoot a pigeon. + + + + +HOW OLD MAN WINTER WAS DRIVEN BACK + + +Far away in the North Sky lives Old Man Winter. Every year he leaves his +wigwam in the sky and comes to earth. + +At the foot of a mountain, he builds a lodge of ice and snow, which no +human being, animal, or bird can enter. There he lives for a time. + +North Wind is the only friend of Old Man Winter. When he passes near Old +Man Winter's lodge, he gives a loud shriek, and with his blustering +breath he blows open the door and enters. + +Near a fire which glows, but does not warm, North Wind finds a seat. +There he and Old Man Winter sit and smoke, and lay their plans for the +next snowstorm. + +When the council is ended, North Wind departs, to drive up the snow and +hail from the corners of the earth. + +Old Man Winter also leaves his lodge. He stalks over the mountains and +valleys of the Red Children. The land becomes white with his breath. The +rivers are stilled, and all the voices of the wood are hushed as he +passes. A deep sleep falls upon every living thing. + +No sound is heard in the forest but the rapping on the trees. Old Man +Winter carries a great hammer, and he strikes the trees a blow as he +passes. The colder it grows, the louder and more frequently he raps. The +trees snap, and the Indian lodges crack with his blows. + +One day, as Old Man Winter was stalking through a forest, he came upon a +hunter's lodge. For days the snow had been falling. No track of deer or +rabbit was to be seen, and the hunter and his little boy sat within, +weak from hunger. They were also very cold, for the fire in the lodge +burned low. + +Old Man Winter laughed and shook his hammer in glee, as he drew near. +Once, twice, three times, he rapped. The little boy within heard him, +and rapped three times in reply,--just as Old Man Winter had done. + +At this, the hunter spoke. He told the boy that he must not mock a +nature spirit, lest some harm should come to him. He might be captured +and made to serve that spirit. + +Now when Old Man Winter heard the mocking raps of the little boy within +the lodge, he was very angry. He breathed fiercely upon the little +lodge. It shrank and shivered at his touch like a living thing. He +struck it several sharp blows with his hammer, and passed on. + +The fire inside the lodge burned lower and lower. The hunter and his +little son drew closer and watched the last flame flicker and die out. + +[Illustration] + +As they sat by the ashes, numb with the cold, all of a sudden a new +warmth filled the lodge. The South Wind gently opened the door, and a +young chieftain, with a face like the sun, entered. He saw the dying +hunter and the boy, and he warmed them back to life. When they were +stronger, he helped them to rekindle the fire. Then he told them to take +a few dried blackberries that they had in the lodge, and boil them in +water. + +He said they must eat a portion of the blackberries, and throw the rest +at Old Man Winter when he returned. This would frighten him away, for he +was terribly afraid of blackberries. + +[Illustration] + +Blackberries mean sunshine and summer heat. Old Man Winter cannot stay +where they are. He never visits the earth at blackberry time. + +The hunter and the little boy said they would do as they had been told. +Soon the young chieftain left the lodge, with the South Wind. + +Not many days later, Old Man Winter returned, and again came rapping at +their lodge. But this time the hunter and the little boy were ready. +They threw the blackberries at him, as they had been told, and he ran in +fear to his ice lodge. + +The South Wind and the young chieftain with a face like the sun were +near. They followed close upon the Old Man's track. When he was again +inside the ice lodge, the South Wind rapped gently at the door. + +"Begone!" said the Old Man. "No one but North Wind is welcome to my +lodge." + +Then the South Wind breathed soft and warm upon the door of the ice +lodge, and it melted at their feet. The young chieftain passed in and +sat down by the strange fire that had no heat. The South Wind stayed +without, and sang, soft and low. + +The Old Man was very angry. He raged about the lodge and ordered the +young chieftain with sunshine in his face and warmth in his breath to +depart. + +"I am great and powerful," said the Old Man. "When I touch the sky, the +snow falls. When I speak, hunters hide in their lodges; animals crawl +into their holes; and birds fly in fear. + +"When my hand touches the earth, it grows cold and hard, and all life +dies. Begone! or I will make an ice man or a snow man of you." + +But the young chieftain moved not. He only sat and smiled at the bluster +of the Old Man. + +Slowly he filled a pipe, and handed it to the Old Man, saying, "Here, +smoke with me. It will give you strength to go to your lodge in the +North Sky. It is time for you to depart. You are old, and tired, and +worn. You and North Wind have had your day. The days that are to come +belong to South Wind and to me. + +"I, too, am powerful, and I am young! I do not fear you. When I touch +the earth, it grows soft and warm. Every living thing stirs in its +sleep,--birds and bees, flowers and trees, animals and men. When I +speak, the sleeping sun awakes. See! already he begins to send down his +arrows. Hasten! that they may not find you, on the trail to the North +Sky." + +The Old Man trembled. His legs and arms grew weak. Icicles fell from his +beard. Great tears rolled down his cheeks. + +"Who are you?" he whispered, as he was melting at the young chieftain's +feet. + +"I am _Go hay_--the Spring," answered the young chieftain. "All the +earth is glad, when I come to drive you back to your lodge in the North +Sky, for I bring sunshine, and love, and joy." + +But the Old Man did not hear. He was far on the North Sky trail, and +Spring and South Wind were masters of earth. + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY LIGHTNING SOMETIMES STRIKES + + +An old man of the Iroquois nation once wished to make a beautiful Indian +maiden his wife. The old man had many rare furs and valued strings of +wampum. These he brought and laid at the door of the wigwam where the +maiden lived. + +[Illustration] + +The father and mother were pleased with the old man's gifts. They told +him that when the Planting Moon should come, the maiden should go to his +wigwam. + +Now the maiden did not love the old man. She did not wish him to make +her his wife. "I will never sit at his wigwam door," she said. + +It was midwinter, when the old man brought the gifts, the time of the +pale, cold moon. From that time, the maiden watched, with a heavy heart, +the moons wax and wane. + +At last the snows disappeared. No more was the North Wind heard +shrieking about the lodge. The gentle South Wind had come, bringing with +him the singing birds. + +The little brooks awoke and sang. They were happy that spring had come, +and all the earth children were glad,--except the maiden. Her heart grew +more heavy and sad, as the face of the sun grew brighter. + +Then the Planting Moon came. The maiden watched the moon hang her horn +in the sky. Then she ran swiftly to the great river that flowed not far +from the lodge. Lightly she sprang into her canoe. A few quick strokes, +and the canoe was in midstream. + +The current ran swift and strong. The little craft was carried swiftly +down the river toward the great falls known as Niagara Falls. As the +canoe neared the falls, the maiden was seen to rise and stretch out her +arms, as though about to leap. A smile was on her face, and a song was +on her lips, as the canoe shot into the mist that overhung the water. + +Then, from the caverns below a dark blanket floated upward, as though +spread to catch the maiden. It was Heno, the Thunder Spirit, who dwelt +behind the falls. He had caught her in the folds of his blanket, and +had saved her from the great rocks below. + +[Illustration] + +Heno took the maiden to live with him, in his lodge behind the falls. +There she was very happy, so happy that her smile shone through the +mist, and the Indians cried, "See! A rainbow!" + +In her new home the maiden learned many wonderful things. She found she +possessed strange powers, not known to her before. She could float on a +cloud at will, and she seemed filled with a strange fire. + +One day, the young woman was given a son. Heno and she were very happy. +Many moons the mother and child played together. When Heno was away on +one of his journeys through the sky, they would ride the great bubbles +of foam that went dashing through the rocks. Sometimes they would catch +sunbeams in a net, as they sat on the edge of a cloud and fished. + +One day, Heno asked the young woman if she would like to visit her +people. + +"If you wish," he said, "you shall return for a time, taking our son +with you. But remember, both of you possess powers unknown to the earth +children. Be careful how you use them. Never let another child strike +the boy, for that child would at once wither and die. Never strike the +boy yourself, for he would fall stunned to earth." + +[Illustration: CRADLE BOARD] + +The woman listened to Heno's words. Soon they were wrapped in his great +cloud blanket, and were floating over the river. When they came to the +home of her people, Heno left the woman and the boy by the river, and +went on further to the east. + +The people were glad to see the woman, whom they had mourned as dead. +She told them of the wonderful things she had learned in her new home. +She told them also how Heno was freeing their land of a monster serpent, +that trailed underneath the earth, poisoning their springs and causing +sickness. Always, she said, Heno carried a basket of great rocks on his +back, which he hurled at the monster whenever he saw him. Soon he would +kill the serpent, and they would be sick no more. + +During many days, the mother and the little boy stayed with the earth +people. Sometimes, when the child was playing by the river, he would see +a dark cloud approaching. Then he would clap his hands with joy and cry, +"There comes my father!" + +The black cloud would float earthward, and Heno would stop and have a +word with the mother and the boy. As he left them he always said, "Do +not let anyone strike the boy." + +But one day, the mother did not watch the boy, and he fell to playing +with some earth children. They grew angry as they played, and struck the +boy. Instantly these earth children fell dead to the ground. Then the +mother laid hands on the boy, to punish him, and he fell to earth. + +At this, there came a great rumbling and roaring through the sky, and +Heno appeared. He took the lifeless child in his arms, crying, "You have +disobeyed. No longer shall you have this great power I gave you. You +shall remain on earth and be simply an earth woman. I will take the boy +to my abode. Henceforth, our lodge shall be in the sky. There he will +return to life, and ever after he will go with me on my journeys through +the sky." + +Then the sky shook and trembled. The door of the sky lodge opened, and +Heno and the boy were seen no more. + +Now, when a rumbling and rolling through the sky is heard, the Indians +say, "'Tis the voice of Heno! He is coming from his lodge in the sky!" + +But when a flash of fire is seen, and a loud crash is heard, they say, +"That is the boy! He is trying to hit the earth children with a fire +stone. He remembers how they struck him, a long time ago." + +[Illustration] + + + + +WHY THE HARE HAS A SPLIT LIP AND SHORT TAIL + + +Once a rabbit began to run back and forth through the woods, calling for +snow, snow, snow! It was one of those large gray rabbits, with long +ears, that people call hares. + +As this hare ran back and forth through the woods, he sang at the top of +his voice, "_Ah gon ne yah--yeh! Ah gon ne yah-yeh! Ah gon ne yah--yeh! +dah gen, dah ton, Ah gon ne yah--yeh! Ah gon ne yah--yeh!_" This meant, +"Snow, snow, snow! How I would run if I had snow! Snow, snow, snow! How +I would run if I had snow!" + +Now, strange as it may seem, as this hare ran back and forth singing for +snow, snow, snow, some flakes of snow began to fall. The hare was so +delighted that he jumped up and down for joy. + +"_Ah gon ne yah--yeh! Ah gon ne yah--yeh! Ah gon ne yah--yeh!_" he sang, +in short, quick notes of joy. And the higher he jumped, and the louder +he sang, the faster and thicker the snow came. + +The hare was so delighted that he again began to run. All day long he +ran, back and forth through the woods, calling for "Snow, snow, snow! +How I would run if I had snow!" And the snow fell faster and faster. +Thicker and thicker it came. The path in which the rabbit ran grew +higher and higher, as the snow fell deeper and deeper. + +But at last the hare was so tired that he could run no longer. He no +longer sang for "Snow, snow, snow! How I would run if I had snow," for +he now had more snow than he wanted. The snow was up to the tiptops of +the trees, and it was very hard to run. + +The hare was very tired. He thought he must take a rest. Night was +coming on. He looked about him. Near the path were the top branches of a +willow tree, sticking out above the snow. He sprang into a crotch of +those branches. There he could sit and rest for a time. Soon he fell +asleep. He slept all night and part of the next day. + +That night it began to rain, and it rained very, very hard. The snow +began to melt, and it melted very, very fast, and when that hare awoke, +not a flake of snow was to be seen! + +But there was the hare away up in the tiptop of that willow tree! What +to do he did not know. He was very hungry. He wondered how long he could +stay there and not starve. He saw some tender buds on the branches. He +ate those, and then he gnawed bark for a time. + +However, sooner or later, the hare knew he must jump or starve. He +looked down at the earth. It looked very good to him. He could see some +fresh green moss and some beautiful grass. One jump, and they were his! +But what a jump! + +At last the hare whipped his courage up to the jumping point. He shut +his eyes, and gave one great jump to earth. But when he jumped, he +caught his tail on the branch of the willow tree and left part of it up +there. And when he jumped, he struck the front of his face on a sharp +stone, and the stone split his upper lip in two. + +Ever since then, hares have had split lips and short tails, and ever +since then, willow trees have had tails, or catkins, on them, in the +spring. + + + + +CORN PLUME AND BEAN MAIDEN + + +The Great Spirit had smiled upon his Red Children. The land was filled +with plenty, for the Great Spirit had given to them the three sustainers +of life, the corn, the bean, and the squash. Flowers bloomed, birds +sang, and all the earth was glad with the Red Children, for the gifts of +the Great Spirit. + +On one side of a hill grew the tall, waving corn, with its silk tassels +and plumes. On another side, beans, with their velvety pods, climbed +toward the sky. Some distance down a third slope, beautiful yellow +squashes turned their faces to the sun. + +One day, the Spirit of the corn grew restless. There came a rustling +through the waving leaves, and a great sigh burst from the heart of the +tall stalks. The Spirit of the corn was lonely. + +After that, every morning at sunrise, a handsome young chief was seen to +come and stand on the brow of the hill. On his head were shining red +plumes. Tall, and strong, and splendid he stood, wrapped in the folds of +his waving blanket, whose fringed tassels danced to the summer breeze. + +"_Che che hen! Che che hen!_ Some one I would marry! Some one I would +marry!" the young chieftain would sing, many, many times. + +One day, his voice reached the Squash Maiden, on the other side of the +hill. The Squash Maiden drew about her a rich green blanket, into which +she had woven many flaunting gold trumpet-shaped flowers. Then she ran +swiftly to the young chieftain. + +[Illustration] + +"Marry me! Marry me!" said the Squash Maiden, as she spread her +beautiful gold and green blanket at his feet. + +Corn Plume looked down at the Squash Maiden sitting on her blanket at +his feet. She was good to look upon, and yet Corn Plume was not content. +He wanted a maiden who would stand by his side, not always sit at his +feet. + +Then Corn Plume spoke thus to the Squash Maiden. + +"Corn Plume cannot marry Squash Maiden. She is very beautiful, but she +will not make song in Corn Plume's heart. Squash Maiden will grow tired +of his lodge. She will not stay in his wigwam. She likes to go a long +trail, and wander far from the lodge. + +"Corn Plume cannot make Squash Maiden his wife, for he is not content +with her. But she shall be Corn Plume's sister, and sit in his lodge +whenever she will. The maiden Corn Plume weds must be ever at his side. +She must go where he goes, stay where he stays." + +Next morning at sunrise, the voice of Corn Plume was again heard, +singing from the hilltop, "_Che che hen! Che che hen!_ Some one I would +marry! Some one I would marry! _Che che hen! Che che hen!_" + +This time his song reached the ears of the Bean Maiden. Her heart sang, +when she heard the voice of Corn Plume, for she knew that he was calling +her. So light of heart was Bean Maiden, that she ran like a deer up the +hillside. On and on, up and over the brow of the hill she climbed, till +she reached the young chieftain's side. + +Then Corn Plume turned and beheld the most beautiful maiden he had ever +seen. Her eyes were deep and dark, like mountain pools. Her breath was +sweet as the waters of the maple. She threw off her blanket of green, +and purple, and white, and stretched her twining arms to him. + +Corn Plume desired to keep Bean Maiden forever close to him. He bent his +tall plumed head to her. Her arms wound round and round the young +chieftain, and Corn Plume was content. + +So closely were the arms of Corn Plume and the Bean Maiden entwined, so +truly were they wed, that the Indians never attempted to separate them. +Ever after, corn and beans were planted in the same hill, and often a +squash seed was added. + +Since the Great Spirit had placed the corn, the bean, and the squash +together on a hill, the Indian said they should continue to live and +grow and occupy a hill together. + +The door of Corn Plume's lodge was ever open to the Squash Maiden, if +she chose to enter. But seldom did she stay in his wigwam. More often, +she was found running off on a long trail. + +But Bean Maiden remained true to Corn Plume. Always she was found by his +side. Never did she leave the lodge unless he went with her. Corn +Plume's lodge was her lodge, and her trail was his trail. + +And because the Spirits of the corn and the bean are as one, the Indians +not only plant and grow them together, but cook and eat them together. +"In life, they were one," they say, "We will not separate them in +death." + +And now, when a great rustling and sighing of the corn is heard in the +White man's land, the Indians often say, "'Tis the Spirit of Corn Plume, +crying for his lost Bean Maiden!" + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW THE ROBIN BURNED HIS BREAST + + +Some Indian hunters once made their way north, to hunt for moose. It was +at the time of Falling Leaves. + +They journeyed for several days, until they came to a lake. Close by the +lake they built a log cabin. Moss was placed between the logs to keep +out the wind, and a thick roof was made from hemlock boughs. In the +center of the roof, a small opening was left for the smoke from the +lodge fire to pass out. + +Here the hunters lived during the Moon of Falling Leaves. Every day they +went on the moose trail, but they found no moose. Their arrows brought +them little game of any kind. They became discouraged and sick, and one +by one the hunters lay down and died. + +At last there was but one hunter left. He, too, was sick, and he grew +weaker day by day. His food was nearly gone. It was growing cold, and +there was little wood in the cabin to burn. + +But the man did not give up. Again and again he cried aloud, "Some one +will come and help me! Some one will come and help me!" + +One day, as he lay there too weak to rise, the fire flickered and went +out. It seemed that he must die. But even then he did not give up. Again +and again, with his weak voice he cried, "Some one will come and help +me! Some one will come and help me!" + +And some one did come and help him. His cry was heard, for a bird came +flying in through the smoke hole in the roof of the lodge. + +The bird had such a cheery, brave voice that the man felt better the +moment he flew in. The bird said to the man, "I was near; I heard you +calling. I have come to help you." + +Then the bird saw that the fire was out, and that the man was cold. He +fluttered among the ashes until he found a bit of live coal. With a glad +chirp, he flew out through the roof. Soon he was back, with his bill +full of dried twigs. He placed them on the fire and began to fan them +into flame with his wings. Soon the twigs were blazing. Then he flew out +for more twigs,--and more, and more, and more. + +The brave little bird kept on carrying twigs until the fire burned hot, +and the lodge was warm once more. + +When the bird had flown into the lodge, he had had a clean, white +breast. After the fire was built, his breast was covered with red and +brown spots. He tried to pick them off with his bill, but they would +not come off. Instead, they seemed to spread, and his whole breast +became red-brown. Then the bird knew that he must have burned his breast +to a red-brown, when he was fanning the fire into flame. + +But the little bird did not care if he had soiled his white breast, and +burned it red-brown. Had he not brought cheer and life to a dying man? + +He chirped a few glad notes, then said to the man, "I will go now, but I +shall be near your lodge. When you need me, call, and I will come +again." + +Later in the day, the man again called for help. The fire was getting +low, and he was not yet strong enough to go out and gather twigs. Again +the bird came to his aid. In and out he flew, many times, after small +branches and twigs, until they were piled high on the fire, and once +more it crackled and burned. + +There was a little wood in the lodge. The man placed it on the fire, +and the warmth healed the man, so that soon he was well and strong +again. + +Every day the man talked with the bird, for he was always near, and his +cheery voice and brave words gave the man courage. + +Once more he went on the moose trail, and this time his arrows brought +him moose. In a short time the hunter had all the meat, skins, and moose +hair he wanted. The moose hair he was taking to his wife, to work into +pretty forms on moccasins. + +The first snow was falling, as the hunter started south on the home +trail. The bird hopped along by his side for a little way, then said, "I +must leave you now. Winter is coming, and I must be on my way to the +Southland, or the snow will catch me. In the spring you will see me +again." + +When spring came, the bird with the red-brown breast came with his mate, +and built a nest close to the hunter's home lodge. In the nest, that +summer, there grew up five little birds, and they, too, had red and +brown breasts. + +And ever since, Robin Redbreast has continued to come and build his nest +close to the lodges of men, for Robin Redbreast is a friend to man. + +[Illustration] + + + + +IROQUOIS FAIRY STORIES + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW MORNING STAR LOST HER FISH + + +Once the Little People, the Indian fairies, ran with the Red Children +through the woods, and played with them beside the streams. Now they are +not often seen, for the white man drove them out of the woods with the +Indians, and away from the waters, with his big steam noises. + +But before steamboats and great mills were on the streams, the Little +People were there. They were often seen paddling their tiny canoes, or +sliding down the great rocks on the banks. They loved to slide down a +bank where one rock jutted out, for then they had a big bounce. They +also liked to sport and jump with the fish. + +There was a young Indian girl whose name was Morning Star. She was +called Morning Star because her face was so bright, and she was always +up early in the morning. + +Morning Star lived with her father in a comfortable wigwam by a river. +Every day she would get up with the sun, and run down to the river where +the great rocks were, to catch fish for breakfast. + +Morning Star caught her fish in a basket. At night, she would go and +fasten her basket between the rocks, in a narrow place of the stream. +Then, when the fish swam through in the night, they would get caught in +it, and Morning Star would find plenty of fish waiting for her. In the +morning, she would take the basket of fish back to the wigwam, and soon +the smell of fish frying on hot coals would come from the lodge. + +Never since Morning Star began to fish with her basket, had Chief Little +Wolf, her father, had to wait for his fish breakfast before starting on +the chase. But one morning, neither Chief Little Wolf nor Morning Star +breakfasted on fish. This is how it happened. + +On this morning, the Indian girl was up as usual with the sun. She ran +down the river just as the Great Spirit lifted the sun's smiling face. +Morning Star had such a light heart that she was glad just to be alive, +and she sang a song of praise as she ran. All true Indians at sunrise +lift their arms and faces to the sun, and thank the Great Spirit that he +has smiled upon them again. + +Happy and fleet as a deer, Morning Star ran on until she came to the +great rocks. There she saw a whole tribe of tiny little folk gathered +about her basket. Some of them were perched on the sides of the basket, +laughing and singing. Others were lifting the fish from it and throwing +them into the stream. Still others were opening and closing the splints +of the basket for the fish to slip through. + +Morning Star knew that these tiny folk were the _Jo gah oh_. She knew +also that these Little People were friends of the fish. They know every +twist of a fish net and every turn of a hook. Often they have been known +to set fish free, and to guide them into deep, quiet places, far away +from the men who fish. + +Morning Star called to the Little People and begged them not to let all +the fish go. Then she began to climb down the rocks, as fast as she +could. The little Chief called up to her, "Fish, like Indian girls, like +to be alive." + +Then he told the Little People to keep on setting the fish free. + +When Morning Star reached her basket, a few fish were still in it. She +put out her hand to take them from the Little People,--and not a fish, +nor a _Jo gah oh_ was to be seen. The Little People had darted into +the rocks, for they go through anything, and the fish had slipped +through the tiny spaces between the splints of the basket. + +[Illustration] + +Morning Star heard the laughter of the Little People echo deep within +the rocks, for they like to play pranks with the earth children. And far +down the stream, she saw the fish leap with joy at being still alive. +She took up her empty basket and went back to the wigwam. + +That morning for breakfast, Morning Star baked corn cakes on the hot +coals. As she ate the hot cakes, she thought they tasted almost as good +as fish. + +Ever after, when Morning Star saw a fish leap from the stream, she +remembered what the _Jo gah oh_ had said: "Fish, like Indian girls, like +to be alive." + + + + +HOW LITTLE SHOOTER LOST HIS LUCK + + +One day, an Indian boy was playing beside a stream, when one of the +little elf men came along in his canoe. The boy had his bow and arrow +with him; so had the little elf man. + +The little man stopped and offered to trade bows and arrows. The Indian +boy looked first at his bow, and then at that of the little man. His bow +was large. The little man's bow was very small. The boy thought his own +bow was better, so he said he would not trade. + +The little elf man laughed and drew his bow. + +"You think only big things are great," he said. "Some day you will learn +better. Some day you will want this little bow and these little arrows. +Some day you will wish you had traded." + +Then he shot an arrow into the clouds, sprang into his canoe, and +paddled off up the stream. As he disappeared, he called back to the boy, +"You will see me again, sometime!" + +The Indian boy ran to his wigwam home. He told his father about the +little man he had seen, and how the man wanted to trade bow and arrows. + +"And you did not trade?" exclaimed the father. + +"No," said the boy, "his bow was small; mine is large." + +"Foolish boy!" said the father. "That little man was a _Jo gah oh_, one +of the Little People. They do wonderful things. Their arrows are winged +with power. Had you traded bows, you would have become a great hunter, +and been able to get near the animals. + +"Those little arrows of the _Jo gah oh_ fly swift and far, and always +bring back game. The boy who has a _Jo gah oh_ bow and arrow always has +good luck. One arrow of theirs is worth a flight of yours. Had you +traded bow and arrows, you would have been called 'He shoots the sky.' +Now you shall be called 'Little Shooter.'" + +Little Shooter grew to be a man. He went often on the chase, but his +arrows did not bring much game. + +Many times, he wished he could meet the little elf man again, and trade +bow and arrows, for sometimes he ran for days and found no track of deer +or rabbit. But the little elf man never came. + +One day, when Little Shooter had grown to be quite an old man, he was +walking in the woods. He stopped under a tree to rest. Several times he +felt something fall on his head. + +At last he looked up to see what it was. + +There sat the little elf man, swinging on the tip of a branch, and +throwing nuts and twigs at him. He looked just as he did when Little +Shooter met him by the stream long before. He had not grown old or +changed at all. + +"How long have you been here?" asked Little Shooter. + +"I have always been here," said the little man. "I have been in the +world ever since the stones were soft." + +Then he laughed, and asked, "Does Little Shooter now like big bow and +arrows best, or has he learned that sometimes small things are great? +Next time, he had better trade with the little man," and aiming another +nut at Little Shooter's head, he disappeared in the tree trunk. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HOW AN INDIAN BOY WON HIS NAME + + +It was bluebird time, many moons ago. Little brooks laughed and danced, +and all the forest was glad. + +An Indian boy came running through the forest. He, too, was glad, for it +was spring! + +As he ran down the trail, he saw something hanging from a bush. The bush +was but a few rabbit jumps from the trail, so he stopped to see what new +flower the spring had brought. He found the new flower to be a tiny +papoose cradle. + +The boy picked the cradle from the bush, and held it in the palm of his +hand. As he looked closer, he saw that there was a tiny papoose in the +little cradle. The wee papoose laughed in his face, as he spoke to it. + +The boy had never seen so tiny a papoose, and he thought he would take +it home to his mother, it was so cunning. She had but nine of her own. +He was sure she would like one more, and that there would be a place for +the tiny stranger in their wigwam. + +He started to run on down the trail, but something seemed to hold him +fast. He could not get away. Three times he tried to run, but each time +he only circled round that bush. Something held him to the spot. + +Just then there came a sharp cry from up the trail. The boy thought some +animal must be hurt or in pain. He turned to look and saw a little woman +coming. She was less than a foot high, but she ran like a deer to the +boy, and cried and begged him to give back her baby. + +Then the boy knew it was the love of that little mother that had held +him fast. He could not break the love cord between that mother and her +baby. + +Now the boy had a heart that was soft and kind. He liked to see +everything happy. When he saw the little mother crying and begging for +her baby, he felt sorry for her. + +[Illustration] + +Many times he had heard his mother tell how every mother bird loves her +young; every mother bear, her cub; every mother deer, her fawn; every +Indian mother, her papoose. And he knew this little fairy mother must +also love her fairy baby, so he put it on the little mother's back, and +told her she should have her papoose. + +The little mother gave a glad cry, as she felt the baby on her back once +more. Then she drew a stone from a bag which she carried, and slipped it +on a string of beads that hung from the boy's neck. + +The stone shone on his breast like a dewdrop. + +"Because you are good, and kind, and unselfish, and because you make +everything happy," she said, "you shall wear this good-luck stone. It +will bring you whatever you want. + +"We Little People give this stone to those earth children only, who are +strong and yet protect the weak. Wear it always on your breast. Never +take it off, and you will become a mighty chief." + +Then the little mother gave another glad cry, and with her baby on her +back she disappeared into an oak. + +The boy ran on. His heart grew lighter and the stone brighter, as he +ran. Before he reached his mother's wigwam, his arrows had brought back +game for their evening meal. + +From the day when the boy met the little _Jo gah oh_ mother in the wood, +and was given the stone, he had good luck. Whatever he did, all went +well with him. If he went on the chase, he brought back deer. If he +planted corn, it grew tall and fine. No boy could throw a ball as far, +or could run as fast as he. He could shoot his arrows to the sky, and +could send his snow-snakes skimming far beyond the rest. + +So lucky was this Indian boy, that his tribe called him +"Luck-in-all-moons." "He wears the good-luck stone," the old people said +as they sat around the fire, and they nodded their heads knowingly. But +they never knew how he came by it, or why he won the stone. + +And when "Luck-in-all-moons" grew to be a man, his tribe made him a +great chief. Just as the little _Jo gah oh_ mother had said, he became a +chief, though not in the chieftain line. + +Because he stood so strong and straight, serving the people, protecting +the weak, and doing great deeds, he was called the Pine-tree Chief. + +"His feet are planted deep in wisdom and strength," they said, "and his +head is not far from the sky. He sees far and points us the way. As the +topmost branch of the pine points always to the east, so +Luck-in-all-moons shall guide us to the sun rising. He shall be our +Pine-tree Chief." + + + + +HOW THE FAIRIES WORKED MAGIC + + +Once a little Indian girl was very sad and unhappy. The Great Spirit had +taken her father and mother, and she had gone to live with relatives who +did not want her. Often she went to sleep hungry, for only the scraps of +food that were left from a meal were given to her. + +One day, the relatives of the little girl brought in a fine deer from +the chase, and made ready for a feast. They told the girl to get out of +the lodge, for there was neither room, nor meat for her. + +The little girl ran and hid herself in a great field of corn. There she +cried aloud. + +Soon a band of strange Little People gathered about her, to comfort her. +On all sides, from the folds of the green cornstalks they came. + +They stroked her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, "Don't +cry, little girl. We will take care of you. You shall come and live with +us. We will make a feast for you. We know why you are sad, for we can +read the thoughts of all the earth children. Come with us, and we will +show you more wonderful things than you have ever seen." + +At this the little girl dried her tears, and smiled at the kind Little +People. + +"You are very good to me," she said. "Who are you?" + +"We are the _Jo gah oh_," they replied, "the Little People. Come, and we +will show you what we can do." + +Then they slipped some winged moccasins upon her feet. They wrapped her +in an invisible blanket and put a magic corn plume in her hair, and the +next moment all were flying through the air. + +They flew to a ledge of great rocks. At the touch of the Little People, +the rocks opened, and they passed within. + +The girl found herself in a beautiful lodge. Kind _Jo gah oh_ mothers +were baking cakes and roasting meat. They welcomed the girl, and soon a +feast was spread in her honor. + +Now the heart of the little girl was so light that she danced with joy. + +"What wonderful people you are! Can you go anywhere, or do anything you +wish?" + +"Yes," said the little chief, "the _Jo gah oh_ are small, but they are +great. Come with us, and you shall see what we can do." + +Again they were flying through the air. Soon they reached the lodge +where the little girl had lived. It was night, and her relatives were +asleep, but she could see the deer that hung outside ready for the +feast. + +"Now," said the _Jo gah oh_ chief, "we will call out a pack of wolves +from the wood yonder, and there will be no fat deer for this selfish +feast, at sunrise." + +Now no wolves had been seen in that wood for many moons. But at the call +of the fairies, a pack sprang from it, ran to the lodge, seized the +deer, and tore it into shreds. Then they again disappeared in the wood. + +The little girl's eyes were large now with wonder, as they flew back to +the fairy lodge in the rocks, but she was not afraid of these strange +Little People. She was so happy with them she wished she might always +live in a _Jo gah oh_ lodge. + +One morning, the little chief said, "Today we shall see more wonders." + +This time a tiny canoe was waiting. They stepped into it and sailed +down a river until they came to a great tree. + +"In that tree," said the little chief, "lives a great, black bear. Every +day he comes out that door you see high up in the bear tree. I will make +the door fast so he cannot open it. A deep sleep will fall on him. He +will sleep for many moons." + +Then the chief threw three stones through the open door of the bear +tree. Each time, a flame spread like a blanket over the door. A growling +and scratching was heard within. Then all became still. + +"Now," said the chief, "the bear will sleep until I call him in the +spring. He is locked up for the winter. Come, let us go on." + +The little girl drew her invisible blanket closer, as the canoe went +sailing with the birds through the clouds. The birds that were swift of +wing called loudly for a race. + +"Come on!" said the fairy chief. + +Then he spread wide the invisible sails of his canoe, and they flew past +the birds like a streak of lightning. Even the eagle was left far +behind. They seemed to shoot through the sky. + +And, oh, what fun it was to be a bird! The little girl would have sailed +on forever, but the little chief said, "You shall now return to your +people. We have given them soft hearts and kind minds. They are calling +for you. They will be glad to see you." + +And soon the little girl was again in the wigwam of her relatives, +sitting by the warm fire. + +They greeted her with joy, spread a soft skin for her to sit upon, and +gave her the best food. And the little girl lived with them, ever after, +and was happy. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories the Iroquois Tell Their +Children, by Mabel Powers + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES THE IROQUOIS TELL *** + +***** This file should be named 22096.txt or 22096.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/0/9/22096/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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