--- title: Timiskaming Folk-lore. — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · full text with trees description: Timiskaming Folk-lore., «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: (1) --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/10/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/) / Timiskaming Folk-lore. # Timiskaming Folk-lore. Timiskaming Folk-lore. of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck: the whole text, 96 sentences and 1673 words. 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(1)[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") Wi′ndigo: a man-eating creature who roams through woods devouring luckless victims.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") He is believed to have commenced as a hunter who became lost in the bush, and lost all his provisions and clothing.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he preyed upon anything he could find, like an animal.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") (2)[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") Pa·′gukʻ: a creature of bones, a skeleton, that clatters through the forest, making a great rattling and squeaking noise.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") When this is heard, it is understood as an omen that some friend will be lost.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") Pa·′gukʻ is accounted for by the story of a hunter who got starved out in the bush.[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") Before he died he wished that his life and the strength of his flesh might be transferred to his bones.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") He got his wish, and his strength went into his bones when his flesh fell away.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") Whenever he wished, he could fly through the air as though on wings.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") (3)[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") The constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear or Dipper) is called wədji·′g “fisher” or “black cat” (Mustela pennanti).[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") The four main stars of the group form the body of the animal; the stars trailing behind (the handle of the dipper) represent the fisher’s tail, the bend showing the bent tail of the animal.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") The story accounts for the presence of the fisher in the sky, relating how the various animals tried to reach the north star, but eventually froze to death.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") The fisher is still trying to reach it and he is the nearest, but he only keeps going round and round it (representing the revolution of the constellation about the North Star) without being able to get there.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") (4)[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") The Northern Lights are called wa′t·e “illumination” (reduplicated wawa′t·e is “lightning” from thunder).[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") They are caused by the waves splashing against the rocky shores of the northern seas (James bay), which produce a sort of reflected glow.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") The seething noise which is sometimes heard when the aurora is visible is attributed to the grinding of the rocks and gravel along the shore of the sea driven by the action of water and wind in the north.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") The Indians here think that within two days after the aurora is seen they will get a heavy wind storm.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") They also state that wild geese require a day and a night to reach Lake Timiskaming from James bay when they migrate, thus showing the speed of the wind by comparison.[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") (5)[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") The Rainbow is called wədα′dgwanəbi·sanʻ “forms from the water,” since the phenomenon is believed to be caused by the mist from breakers on some great body of water, just as a rainbow will appear above the spray along the seashore or hanging in the mist above some waterfalls.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") (6)[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") The Milky Way is bine′s·imi·k·αnʻ “bird’s path,” because it is by the Milky Way that the fowl and birds follow their northward or southward course in their migrations.[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") It guides them southward in the autumn and back again in the spring.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") Less frequently the Milky Way is called dji·ba′imi·k·αnʻ “spirit path” over which the spirits of the dead are thought to journey.[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") (7)[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") To see a white animal is a sign of bad luck to a hunter.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") “Once a man went hunting.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") After he had been travelling all day and taken a few animals, he saw a bear that was half black and half white.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he said to himself, ‘I must not hunt any more this trip.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") If I do, some harm will come to my family.’[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") So he went home.”—“If a hunter sees an albino animal he must stop hunting or evil will befall him or some member of his family.”[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") (8)[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") To find a dwarfed animal is an omen of misfortune.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") “Once two men were out on a long hunting trip.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") Soon after they had begun trapping, they found a dwarfed beaver in one of the traps.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") It was not small because it was young, but they could see it was an old one, but much undersized.[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") When the older of the two men saw this, he said, ‘We must go home at once and give up hunting because something is wrong at home.’[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") Although they had been gone only a short time, they turned back, and when they got home, they found that one of his sons was dead and that the family was waiting to bury him.”[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") (9)[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") To foretell what kind of animals will be killed the next day by men just before going hunting, a partridge breast bone is burnt or scorched before the fire.[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") The shape of the scorched portion suggests, by a vague resemblance, the form of some animal.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") (10)[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") The tips of the wings of birds that are killed for food are preserved about the camp for good luck, or, as they say, “to ask for more luck.”[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") Some hunters also preserve the skulls of all the game they kill.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") “If they throw these parts of the animals away, they won’t be able to find what creatures they may look for afterward.”[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") (11)[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") If blue bottle flies are killed it will bring rain.[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") (12)[52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") If, in winter, rabbit’s hair is thrown into the smoke of a fire, as it rises in the heat toward the sky, it will cause snow the next day.[53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") Children are scolded when they do these things at the wrong time.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") (13)[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") In the body of a fish are various bones which the Indians liken to different utensils and tools in the hunter’s outfit.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") There is a gun, spear, bow and arrow, knife, paddle, sled, snowshoe, awl, etc. This is merely a saying.[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") (14)[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") Another idea is that a “left-handed person is clever, because he fools people by the way he does things.”[59](59/ "tree and pragmatics") (15) Bear Feast.[60](60/ "tree and pragmatics") The following description of the ceremony attending the eating of a bear is based on the accounts of three participants.[61](61/ "tree and pragmatics") When a bear has been killed, the families in the neighbourhood assemble at a camp conveniently near.[62](62/ "tree and pragmatics") The hunter who has killed the bear becomes the host of the occasion, which is called mα′gwαce·‵ “feast.”[63](63/ "tree and pragmatics") Slabs of birch bark are spread upon a clear space of ground to serve as a sort of table.[64](64/ "tree and pragmatics") The carcass is then butchered, the head being cut off, including the first vertebra, the long piece of breast fat is also cut off with the head, so that the two remain together.[65](65/ "tree and pragmatics") The head with this mass of breast fat is then put into a separate cooking vessel.[66](66/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the birch bark slabs, often 12 feet long, forming the cover of some wigwam, are covered with the cut up portions of the meat.[67](67/ "tree and pragmatics") Birch bark dishes are placed for each participant on the bark, with extra dishes for the gravy.[68](68/ "tree and pragmatics") The grease from the cooking vessels is then collected and put into a separate vessel to cool, so that it will be thick enough to drink.[69](69/ "tree and pragmatics") When the meat has been boiled properly, all the guests are seated at their places around the bark spread.[70](70/ "tree and pragmatics") Often they have a dance around it at this time.[71](71/ "tree and pragmatics") Before they begin to eat, the chief goes around to each guest and with a big wooden spoon, holding about a cupful and a half, gives each a spoonful of grease.[72](72/ "tree and pragmatics") Then they begin to eat.[73](73/ "tree and pragmatics") When the feast is about half through, the chief gets up and decorates the bear’s head with bright coloured ribbons about six inches long attached to little cedar sticks about four inches long, with their ends split to hold the ribbons.[74](74/ "tree and pragmatics") These ribbon streamers are stuck into the fat and about the head.[75](75/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the head itself is impaled on a stick and, carrying this in his hand, the chief dances twice around the company, singing a tune to a burden of syllables.[76](76/ "tree and pragmatics") After this performance the chief plants the stick with the head upon it in the middle of the spread before all the guests, where it is left.[77](77/ "tree and pragmatics") Then they finish eating.[78](78/ "tree and pragmatics") After the feast the oldest and most venerable man in the camp is presented with the head and the attached breast fat, which he may either take home or distribute over again to the company.[79](79/ "tree and pragmatics") After the feast is over the chief must go around and consume what grease is left.[80](80/ "tree and pragmatics") This is to demonstrate his capacity as a man and hearty eater.[81](81/ "tree and pragmatics") After all is over, the lower jaw bone is tied to the skull in its proper position and black stripes are painted on the skull.[82](82/ "tree and pragmatics") This is then put on the stub end of a branch of a tree facing from some prominent point toward the river or lake, near the water’s edge.[83](83/ "tree and pragmatics") Here it can be seen by passers by as a reminder of the place and occasion of the bear feast.[84](84/ "tree and pragmatics") The Indians themselves can give little comment on the meaning or reason of this ceremony, except that it is done from respect to the bear and satisfaction in securing a bountiful supply of meat.[85](85/ "tree and pragmatics") It belongs to the variously expressed series of bear rites widespread among the northern tribes.[86](86/ "tree and pragmatics") (16) Legend of Iroquois Falls.[87](87/ "tree and pragmatics") Once long ago a war party of Iroquois came north into this country to fight the Indians at Abitibi.[88](88/ "tree and pragmatics") On the way they captured an old woman and took her with them to guide them.[89](89/ "tree and pragmatics") When they were on Abitibi river they drew near the big falls there without knowing it.[90](90/ "tree and pragmatics") The old woman was made to stay in the first canoe.[91](91/ "tree and pragmatics") When she knew they were nearing the falls she slowed up so that the flotilla of canoes became bunched.[92](92/ "tree and pragmatics") The approach to the falls is very much concealed.[93](93/ "tree and pragmatics") All of a sudden they found themselves upon the brink of the falls, and before they could help themselves they all went over.[94](94/ "tree and pragmatics") The old woman was lost with the rest in saving her people from being massacred by the Iroquois.[95](95/ "tree and pragmatics") \[9\][96](96/ "tree and pragmatics") - ← previous: [Free Translation.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/9/) - next →: [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 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