Chapter LXVIII: Section 2: Myths and Mythic Animals

Among the hundreds of figures and characters seen by the present writer on the slate rocks that abound on the shores and islands of Kejimkoojik Lake, Queen’s county, Nova Scotia, described in Chap. II, Sec. 1, there appears a class of incised figures illustrating the religious myths and folk lore of the Indian tribes which inhabited the neighborhood within historic times. It is probable that in other parts of America, and, indeed, in all lands, the pictographic impulses and habits of the people have induced them to represent the scenes and characters of their myths on such rocks as were adapted to the purpose, as they are known to have done on bark, skins, and other objects. But these exhibitions of the favorite or prevalent myths in the shape of petroglyphs, though doubtless existing, have seldom been understood and deciphered by modern students. Sometimes they have not originally been sufficiently distinct or have become indefinite by age, and frequently their artists have been people of languages, religions, and customs different from the tribes now or lately found in the localities and from whom the significance of the petroglyphs has been sought in vain. The conditions of the characters at Kejimkoojik, now mentioned, are perhaps unique. They are drawn with great distinctness and sufficient skill, so that when traced on the rocks they immediately struck the present writer as illustrative of the myths and tales of the Abnaki. Many of these myths had been recently repeated to him by Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, of Calais, Maine, the highest authority in that line of study, and by other persons visited in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and in Cape Breton and Prince Edwards Islands, who were familiar with the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Amalecite, and Micmac tribes. A number of these myths and tales had before been collected in variant forms by Mr. Charles G. Leland (_a_). It is a more important and convincing fact that the printed impressions of the figures now presented were at once recognized by individual Indians of the several Abnaki tribes above mentioned to have the signification explained below. It is also to be noted that these Abnaki have preserved the habit of making illustrations from their stories by scratchings and scrapings on birch bark. The writer saw several such figures on bark ornaments and utensils which exhibited parts of the identical myths indicated in the petroglyphs but not the precise scenes or characters depicted on the rocks. The selection of themes and their treatment were not conventional and showed some originality and individuality both in design and execution. From the appearance and surroundings of the rock drawings now specially under discussion they were probably of considerable antiquity and suggested that the Micmacs, who doubtless were the artists, had gained the idea of practicing art for itself, not merely using the devices of pictography for practical purposes, such as to record the past or to convey information.

Fig. 654 is one of the drawings mentioned, and indicates one episode among the very numerous adventures of Glooscap, the Hero-God of the Abnaki, several of which are connected with a powerful witch called by Mr. Leland Pook-jin-skwess, or the Evil Pitcher, and by Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, Pokinsquss, the Jug Woman. She is also called the toad woman, from one of her transformations, and often appeared in a male form to fight Glooscap after he had disdained her love proffered as a female. Among the multitude of tales on this general theme, one narrates how Glooscap was at one time a Pogumk, or the small animal of the weasel family commonly called Fisher (Mustela Canadensis), also translated as Black Cat, and was the son of the chief of a village of Indians who were all Black Cats, his mother being a bear. Doubtless these animal names and the attributes of the animals in the tales refer to the origin of totemic divisions among the Abnaki. Pokinsquss was also of the Black Cat village, and hated the chief and contrived long how she could kill him and take his place. Now, one day when the camp had packed up to travel, the witch asked the chief Pogumk to go with her to gather gull’s eggs; and they went far away in a canoe to an island where the gulls were breeding and landed there, and then she hid herself to spy, and having found out that the Pogumk was Glooscap, ran to the canoe and paddled away singing:

Nikhed-ha Pogumk min nekuk,
Netswil sāgāmawin!

Which being translated from the Passamaquoddy language means--

I have left the Black Cat on an island,
I shall be chief of the Fishers now!

The continuation of the story is found in many variant shapes. In one of them Glooscap’s friend the Fox came to his rescue, as through Glooscap’s m’toulin or magic power he heard the song of appeal though miles away beyond forests and mountains. In others the Sea Serpent appears in answer to the Hero-God’s call, and the latter, mounting the serpent’s back, takes a load of stones as his cargo to throw at the serpent’s horns when the latter did not swim fast enough. In the figure the island is shown at the lower right hand as a roundish outline with Glooscap inside. The small round objects to the left are probably the gull’s eggs, but may be the stimulating stones above mentioned. Pokinsquss stands rejoicing in the stern of a canoe, which points in the wavy water away from the island. The device to the left of the witch may be the dismantled camp of the Black Cats, and the one to her right is perhaps where the Fox “beyond forests and mountains” heard Glooscap’s song of distress.

Fig. 655, another specimen of the same class, refers to one of the tales about At-o-sis, the Snake, who was the lover of a beautiful Abnaki woman. He appeared to her from out the surface of a lake as a young hunter with a large shining silvery plate on his heart and covered with brilliant white brooches as fish are covered with scales. He provided her with all animals for food. The bow attached to the semi-human head in the illustration may refer to this expertness in the chase. The head of the female figure is covered or masked by one of the insignia of rank and power mentioned in Chap. XIII, Sec. 2. She became the mother of the Black Snakes.

Fig. 656, from the same locality, shows simply a crane, and a woman who bears in her hand two branches; but this is a sufficient indication of the tale of the Weasel girls, who had come down from Star-land by means of a diminishing hemlock tree, and flying from Lox had come to a broad river which they could not cross. But in the edge of the water stood motionless a large crane, or the Tum-gwo-lig-unach, who was the ferryman. “Now, truly, this is esteemed to be the least beautiful of all the birds, for which cause he is greedy of good words and fondest of flattery. And of all beings there were none who had more bear’s oil ready to annoint every one’s hair with--that is to say, more compliments ready for everybody--than the Weasels. So, seeing the Crane, they sang:

Wa wela quis kip pat kasqu',
Wa wela quis kip pat kasqu'.

The Crane has a very beautiful long neck,
The Crane has a very beautiful long neck.

“This charmed the old ferryman very much, and when they said: ‘please, grandfather, hurry along,’ he came quickly. Seeing this, they began to chant in chorus sweetly as the Seven Stars themselves:

Wa wela quig nat kasqu',
Wa wela quig nat kasqu'.

The crane has very beautiful long legs,
The crane has very beautiful long legs.

“Hearing this the good crane wanted more; so when they asked him to give them a lift across he answered, slowly, that to do so he must be well paid, but that good praise would answer as well. Now they who had abundance of this and to spare for everybody were these very girls. ‘Have I not a beautiful form?’ he inquired; and they both cried aloud: ‘Oh, uncle, it is indeed beautiful!’ ‘And my feathers?’ ‘Ah, _pegeakopchu_.’ ‘Beautiful and straight feathers, indeed!’ ‘And have I not a charming long, straight, neck?’ ‘Truly our uncle has it straight and long.’ ‘And will ye not acknowledge, oh maidens, that my legs are fine?’ ‘Fine! oh, uncle, they are perfection. Never in this life did we see such legs!’ So, being well pleased, the crane put them across, and then the two little weasels scampered like mice into the bush.”

Though but one woman figure is drawn, the two boughs borne by her suggest the two weasel girls, who had come down the hemlock tree and had also been water fairies until their garments were stolen by the marten, and thereupon they had lost their fairy powers and become women in a manner at once reminding of the Old World swan-maiden myth.

Fig. 657 is a sketch of the Giant Bird Kaloo, or, in the literation of Mr. Leland, Culloo. He was the most terrible of all creatures. He it was who caught up the mischievous Lox in his claws and, mounting to the top of the sky among the stars, let him drop, and he fell from dawn to sunset. Lox was often a badger in the Micmac stories, and was more Puck-like than the devilish character he showed among the Passamaquoddy, being then generally in the form of a wolverine, though sometimes in that of a lynx. In the illustration Kaloo is soaring among the stars, and appears to possess an extra pair of legs armed with claws. Perhaps one of the objects beneath his beak represents Lox or some other victim falling through the air. There is another story of Lox’s two feet talking and acting independently of the rest of his body, and the two feet and legs without any body may be a symbol of the tricksy demigod.

Fig. 658 represents Kiwach, the Strong Blower, a giant who kills people with his violent breath. Tales of him seem to be more current or better preserved among the Amalecites than among the other Abnaki.

Fig. 659 is an exact copy of the design on a birch-bark jewel box made by the Passamaquoddy of Maine, amiably contributed by Mrs. W. W. Brown, together with the description of that part of the myth which is illustrated on the box. There are several variants of this myth, the nearest to the form now presented being published by Mr. J. Walter Fewkes (_a_).

The Sable and the Black Cat wanted some maple sugar, and went to a wood where the maple trees grew. Toward night they lost their way and separated from each other to find it, agreeing to call to each other by _m’toulin_ power. These animals were as frequently in human form as in that designated by their names, and could change to the forms of other animals. It is not certain, from anything in the present version of the myth, which one of the daimons was represented by the Sable, but the Black Cat afterward appears as Glooscap. Sable, in his wanderings, came to a wigwam in which was a large fire with a kettle boiling over it, tended by a great Snake. The Snake said he was glad the Sable had come, as he was very hungry and would eat him, but in gratitude for his coming would put him to as little pain as was possible. The Snake told him to go into the woods and get a straight stick, so that when he pierced him he would not tear open his entrails. Sable then went out and sang in a loud voice a _m’toulin_ song for the Black Cat to hear and come to his aid. The Black Cat heard him and came to him. Then the Sable told the Black Cat how the Snake was going to kill him. The Black Cat told Sable not to be afraid, but that he would kill the big Snake. He told him that he would lie down behind the trunk of a hemlock tree which had fallen and that Sable should search out a stick that was very crooked, only pretending to obey the commands of the great Snake. After finding such a stick he should carry it to the Snake, who would complain that the stick was not straight enough, and then Sable should reply that he would straighten it in the fire, holding it there until the steam came out of the end. Then while the Snake watched the new mode of straightening sticks Sable should strike the Snake over the eyes. The Sable sought out the most crooked stick he could find and then returned to the wigwam where the Snake was. The Snake said the stick was too crooked. The Sable replied as directed and held it in the fire. When it was burning he struck the Snake with it over the eyes, blinded him, and ran away. The Snake followed the Sable, and as he passed over the hemlock trunk the Black Cat killed him and they cut him into small pieces.

The two human figures on the left show the animals under the forest trees in human form bidding good-bye before they parted in search of the right trail. Their diminutive size gives the suggestion of distance from the main scene. Next comes the great Snake’s wigwam, the stars outside showing that night had come, and inside the kettle hung over a fire, and on its right appear the wide-open jaws and an indication of the head of the great Snake. The very crooked stick is on the other side. Farther on the Black Cat comes responsive to the Sable’s call. Next is shown, the Black Cat and the Sable, who is in human form, near the hemlock tree. The fact that the tree is fallen is suggested, without any attempt at perspective, by the broken-off branches and the thick part of the trunk being upturned. The illustration ends with the Black Cat sitting upon the Snake, clawing and throwing around pieces of it.

The illustration above presented gives an excellent example of the art of the Passamaquoddy in producing pictures by the simple scraping of birch bark.

The characters in Fig. 660 are reproduced from Schoolcraft (_k_).

The first device, beginning at the left, is used by the Ojibwa to denote a spirit or man enlightened from on high, having the head of the sun.

The second device is drawn by the Ojibwa for a “wabeno” or shaman.

The third is the Ojibwa “symbol” for an evil or one-sided “meda” or higher-grade shaman.

The fourth is the Ojibwa general “symbol” for a meda.

Mr. William H. Holmes, of the Bureau of Ethnology, gives the following account (condensed from the American Anthropologist, July, 1890) of a West Virginia rock shelter (shown in Pl. XXXI). The copy is in two rows of figures, but in the original there is only one row, the parts marked _a_ and _a_ being united:

In Harrison county, West Virginia, a small stream, Two-Lick
creek, heading near the Little Kanawha divide, descends into the
west fork of the Monongahela about 4 miles west of Lost Creek
station, on the Clarksburg and Weston railroad. Ascending the
stream for a little more than 2 miles and turning to the right up a
tributary called Campbells run, is a recess in the rocks, the result
of local surface undermining of an outcrop of sandstone assisted by
roof degradation, which therefore is a typical rock shelter. At the
opening it is about 20 feet long and in the deepest part extends
back 16 feet.

The rock sculptures, of which simplified outlines are given in
Pl. XXXI, occupy the greater part of the back wall of the recess,
covering a space of some 20 feet long by about 4 feet in height.
At the left the line of figures approaches the outer face of the
rock, but at the right it terminates in the depths of the chamber,
beyond which the space is too low and uneven to be utilized. There
are indications that engravings have existed above and below those
shown, but their traces are too indistinct to be followed.

PICTOGRAPH IN ROCK SHELTER, WEST VIRGINIA.]

The more legible designs comprise three heads, resembling
death’s-heads, one human head or face, one obscure human figure,
three birds resembling cranes or turkeys (one with outspread wings),
three mountain lions or beasts of like character, two rattlesnakes,
one turtle, one turtle-like figure with bird’s head, parts of
several unidentified creatures (one resembling a fish), and four
conventional figures or devices resembling, one a hand, one a star,
one the track of a horse, and the fourth the track of an elk,
buffalo, deer, or domestic cow.

The serpents, placed above and toward the right of the picture,
are much larger than life, but the other subjects are represented
somewhat nearly natural size. The animal figure facing the two
death’s-heads is drawn with considerable vigor and very decidedly
suggests the panther. A notable feature is the two back-curving
spines or spine-like tufts seen upon its shoulder; it is possible
that these represent some mythical character of the creature. Two of
the animal figures, in accordance with a widespread Indian practice,
exhibit the heart and the life line, the latter connecting the heart
with the mouth; these features are, as usual, drawn in red.

The human head or face is somewhat larger than life; it is
neatly hollowed out to the nearly uniform depth of one-fourth of
an inch, and is slightly polished over most of the surface. Ear
lobes are seen at the right and left, and an arched line, possibly
intended for a plume, rises from the left side of the head. A
crescent-shaped band of red extends across the face, and within this
the eyes are indistinctly marked. The mouth is encircled by a dark
line and shows six teeth, the spaces between being filled in with
red.

Probably the most remarkable members of the series are the
three death’s-heads seen near the middle of the line. That they are
intended to represent skulls and not the living face or head is
clear, and the treatment is decidedly suggestive of that exhibited
in similar work of the more cultured southern nations. The eye
spaces are large and deep, the cheek bones project, the nose is
depressed, and the mouth is a mere node depressed in the center.

All the figures are clearly and deeply engraved, and all save
the serpents are in full intaglio, being excavated over the entire
space within the outlines and to the depth of from one-eighth to
one-fourth of an inch. The serpents are outlined in deep unsteady
lines, ranging from one-fourth of an inch to 1 inch in width, and in
parts are as much as one-half an inch in depth. The example at the
left is rather carefully executed, but the other is very rude. It is
proper to notice a wing-like feature which forms a partial arch over
the larger serpent. It consists of a broad line of irregular pick
marks, which are rather new looking and may not have formed a part
of the original design; aside from this, there are few indications
of the use of hard or sharp tools, and, although picking or striking
must have been resorted to in excavating the figures, the lines and
surfaces were evidently finished by rubbing. The friable character
of the coarse, soft sandstone makes excavation by rubbing quite
easy, and at the same time renders it impossible to produce any
considerable degree of polish.

The red color used upon the large face and in delineating
the life line and heart of the animal figures is a red ocher or
hematite, bits of which, exhibiting the effects of rubbing, were
found in the floor deposits of the recess. The exact manner of its
application is not known (perhaps the mere rubbing was sufficient),
but the color is so fixed that it can not be removed save by the
removal of the rock surface.

Regarding the origin and purpose of these sculptures, it seems probable that they are connected with religious practices and myths. If the inscriptions were mnemonic records or notices it is reasonable to suppose that they would have been placed so as to meet the eye of others than those who made or were acquainted with them. But these works are hidden in a mountain cave, and even yet, when the forest is cleared and the surrounding slopes are cultivated, this secluded recess is invisible from almost every side. The spot was evidently the resort of a chosen few, such as a religious society. Such sequestered art gives evidence of a mystic purpose.

In this connection it may be noted that a rock drawing in the Canyon Segy, Arizona (Fig. 661), shows Baho li-kong-ya, a god, the genius of fructification, worshipped by living Moki priests. It is a great crested serpent with mammæ, which are the source of the blood of all the animals and of all the waters of the land.

The serpents in the last-mentioned plate and figure may be compared with two Ojibway forms published by Schoolcraft (_l_).

The upper design of Fig. 662 undoubtedly represents a mythical animal, referred to in the myths of some of the Innuits. It is reproduced from a drawing on walrus ivory, bearing Museum No. 40054, obtained at Port Clarence, Alaska. This form is not so close in detail to that form usually described and more fully outlined in the lower design of the same figure, which is reproduced from a specimen of reindeer horn drill-bow, from Alaska, marked No. 24557, collected by L. Turner.

Ensign Niblack, U. S. Navy (_d_), gives the following description of the illustration reproduced here as Fig. 663.

It represents T’kul, the wind spirit, and the cirrus clouds,
explaining the Haida belief in the causes of the changes in the
weather. The center figure is T’kul, the wind spirit. On the right
and left are his feet, which are indicated by long streaming
clouds; above are the wings, and on each side are the different
winds, each designated by an eye, and represented by the patches
of cirrus clouds. When T’kul determines which wind is to blow, he
gives the word and the other winds retire. The change in the weather
is usually followed by rain, which is indicated by the tears which
stream from the eyes of T’kul.

The same author, p. 322, thus describes Fig. 664:

It represents the orca or whale-killer, which the Haida believe
to be a demon called Skana. Judge Swan says that, according to their
belief--

“He can change into any desired form, and many are the legends
about him. One which was related to me was that ages ago the
Indians were out seal-hunting. The weather was calm and the sea
smooth. One of these killers, or blackfish, a species of porpoise,
kept alongside of a canoe, and the young men amused themselves by
throwing stones from the canoe ballast and hitting the fin of the
killer. After some pretty hard blows from these rocks the creature
made for the shore, where it grounded on the beach. Soon a smoke
was seen, and their curiosity prompted them to ascertain the cause,
but when they reached the shore they discovered, to their surprise,
that it was a large canoe, and not the Skana that was in the beach,
and that a man was on shore cooking some food. He asked them why
they threw stones at his canoe. ‘You have broken it,’ he said, ‘and
now go into the woods and get some cedar withes and mend it.’ They
did so, and when they had finished the man said, ‘Turn your backs
to the water and cover your heads with your skin blankets and don’t
look till I call you.’ They did so, and heard the canoe grate on the
beach as it was hauled down to the surf. Then the man said, ‘Look,
now.’ They looked, but when it came to the second breaker it went
under and presently came up outside of the breaker a killer and not
a canoe, and the man or demon was in its belly. This allegory is
common among all the tribes on the Northwest Coast, and even with
the interior tribes with whom the salmon takes the place of the
orca, which never ascends the fresh-water rivers. The Chilcat and
other tribes of Alaska carve figures of salmon, inside of which is
the full length figure of a nude Indian. * * * Casual observers
without inquiry will at once pronounce it to be Jonah in the fish’s
belly, but the allegory is of ancient origin, far antedating the
advent of the white man or the teachings of the missionary.”

The same author, Pl. XLIX, gives an explanation of Fig. 665, which is a copy of a Haida slate carving, representing the “Bear-Mother.”

The Haida version of the myth is as follows:

A number of Indian squaws were in the woods gathering berries
when one of them, the daughter of a chief, spoke in terms of
ridicule of the whole bear species. The bears descended on them and
killed all but the chief’s daughter, whom the king of the bears took
to wife. She bore him a child half human and half bear. The carving
represents the agony of the mother in suckling this rough and
uncouth offspring. One day a party of Indian bear hunters discovered
her up a tree and were about to kill her, thinking her a bear, but
she made them understand that she was human. They took her home and
she afterwards became the progenitor of all Indians belonging to the
bear totem. They believe that the bear are men transformed for the
time being. This carving was made by Skaows-ke'ay, a Haida. Cat.
No. 73117, U. S. Nat. Museum. Skidegate village, Queen Charlotte
Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Dr. F. Boas (_d_) gives the following account of a myth of the Kwakiut Indians illustrated on a house front at Alert Bay, copied here as Fig. 666.

The house front shows how Kunkunquilikya (the thunder-bird)
tried to lift the whale. The legend says that he had stolen the son
of the raven, who in order to recover him, carried a whale out of a
huge cedar that he covered with a coating of gum. Then he let all
kinds of animals go into the whale, and they went to the land of the
thunder-bird. When the bird saw the whale he sent out his youngest
son to catch it. He was unable to lift it. He stuck to the gum and
the animals killed him. In this way the whole family was slaughtered.

On Pl. XXXII is shown a reproduction of a native Haida drawing, representing the Wasko, a mythologic animal partaking of the characteristics of both the bear and the orca, or killer. It is one of the totems of the Haidas.

WASCO AND MYTHIC RAVEN, HAIDA.]

On the same plate is a figure representing the Hooyeh, or mythic raven. The character is also reproduced from a sketch made by a Haida Indian. Both of these figures were obtained from Haida Indians who visited Port Townsend, Washington, in the summer of 1884.

The following is extracted from Mrs. Eastman’s (_b_) Dahcotah. The picture, reproduced here in Fig. 667, is that of Haokah, the antinatural god, one of the giants of the Dakotas, drawn by White-Deer, a Sioux warrior, living near Fort Snelling about 1840.

_Explanation of the drawing._--_a_, the giant; _b_, a frog that
the giant uses for an arrow point; _c_, a large bird that the giant
keeps in his court; _d_, another bird; _e_, an ornament over the
door leading into the court; _f_, an ornament over a door; _g_, part
of court ornamented with down; _h_, part of court ornamented with
red down; _i_, a bear; _j_, a deer; _k_, an elk; _l_, a buffalo;
_m_, _n_, incense-offering; _o_, a rattle of deer’s claws, used
when singing; _p_, a long flute, or whistle; _q_, _r_, _s_, _t_,
are meteors that the giant sends out for his defense, or to protect
him from invasion; _u_, _v_, _w_, _x_, the giant surrounded with
lightnings, with which he kills all kinds of animals that molest
him; _y_, red down in small bunches fastened to the railing of the
court; _z_, the same. One of these bunches of red down disappears
every time an animal is found dead inside the court; _aa_, _bb_,
touchwood, and a large fungus that grows on trees. These are eaten
by any animal that enters the court, and this food causes their
death; _cc_, a streak of lightning going from the giant’s hat; _dd_,
giant’s head and hat; _ee_, his bow and arrow.

Mrs. Eastman’s explanation of the drawing would have been better if she had known more about the mystery lodges. It is given here in her own words.

Fig. 668, from Copway (_c_), shows the representations, beginning from the left, of spirits above, spirits under water, and animals under ground, all of which are called ma'nidōs.

Fig. 669 is a reproduction of a drawing made by Niópet, chief of the Menomoni Indians, and represents the white bear spirit who guards the deposits of native copper of Lake Superior. According to the myth the animal is covered with silvery hair, and the tail, which is of great length and extends completely around the body, is composed of bright, burnished copper. This spirit lives in the earth, where he guards the metal from discovery.

In a midē' song, given by James Tanner (_f_), is the representation of an animal resembling the preceding, viz, the middle character of Fig. 670, to which is attached the Ojibway phrase and explanation as follows:

Che-be-gau-ze-naung gwit-to-i-ah-na maun-dah-ween ah-kee-ge
neen-wa-nah gua-kwaik ke-nah gwit-to-i-ah-na.

I come to change the appearance of the ground, this ground; I
make it look different each season.

This is a Manito who, on account of his immensity of tail, and
other peculiarities, has no prototype. He claims to be the ruler
over the seasons. He is probably Gitche-a-nah-mi-e-be-zhew (great
underground wild-cat).

The “underground wild-cat” is again mentioned in the same work, page 377, with an illustration now presented as the left-hand character of the same Fig. 670, slightly different from the above, described as follows:

A-nah-me be-zhe ne-kau-naw.

Underground wild-cat is my friend.

At the fourth verse he exhibits his medicines, which he says are
the roots of shrubs and of We-ug-gusk-oan, or herbs, and from these
he derives his power, at least in part; but lest his claim, founded
on a knowledge of these, should not be considered of sufficient
importance, he proceeds to say, in the fifth and sixth verses,
that the snakes and the underground wild-cat are among his helpers
and friends. The ferocity and cunning, as well as the activity of
the feline animals have not escaped the notice of the Indians,
and very commonly they give the form of animals of this family to
those imaginary beings whose attributes bear, in their opinion,
some resemblance to the qualities of these animals. Most of them
have heard of the lion, the largest of the cats known to white men,
and all have heard of the devil; they consider them the same. The
wild-cat here figured has horns, and his residence is under the
ground; but he has a master, Gitche-a-nah-mi-e-be-zhew (the great
underground wild-cat), who is, as some think, Matche-Manito himself,
their evil spirit, or devil. Of this last they speak but rarely.

In another song from Tanner, p. 345, sung only by the midē', is the drawing, the right hand character of the same figure, of a similar animal with a bar across the throat, signifying, no doubt, its emerging or appearance from the surface of the ground.

Nah-ne-bah o-sa ann neen-no ne-mah-che oos-sa ya-ah-ne-no.
[Twice.]

I walk about in the nighttime.

This first figure represents the wild-cat, to whom, on account
of his vigilance, the medicines for the cure of diseases were
committed. The meaning probably is that to those who have the
shrewdness, the watchfulness, and intelligence of the wild-cat,
is intrusted the knowledge of those powerful remedies, which, in
the opinion of the Indians, not only control life and avail to
the restoration of health but give an almost unlimited power over
animals and birds.

Schoolcraft, part II, p. 224, describes Fig. 671 as follows:

It was drawn by Little Hill, a Winnebago chief of the upper
Mississippi, west. He represents it as their medicine animal. He
says that this animal is seldom seen; that it is only seen by
medicine men after severe fasting. He has a piece of bone which
he asserts was taken from this animal. He considers it a potent
medicine and uses it by filing a small piece in water. He has also a
small piece of native copper which he uses in the same manner, and
entertains like notions of its sovereign virtues.

The four preceding figures are to be compared with those relating to the Piasa rock. See Figs. 40 and 41, supra.

Fig. 672.--A Minneconjou Dakota, having killed a buffalo cow, found an old woman inside of her. The-Swan’s Winter Count, 1850-’51.

For remarks upon this statement see Lone-Dog’s Winter Count for 1850-’51, supra.

Graphic representations of Atotarka and of the Great Heads are shown in Mrs. Erminie A. Smith’s Myths of the Iroquois, in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Several illustrations of myths and mythic animals appear in the present work in Chap. IX, Secs. 4 and 5.

THUNDER BIRDS.

Some forms of the thunder bird are here presented:

Figs. 673 and 674 are forms of the thunder bird found in 1883 among the Dakotas near Fort Snelling, drawn and interpreted by themselves. They are both winged, and have waving lines extending from the mouth downward, signifying lightning. It is noticeable that Fig. 673 placed vertically, then appearing roughly as an upright human figure, is almost identically the same as some of the Ojibwa meda or spirit figures represented in Schoolcraft, and also on a bark Ojibwa record in the possession of the writer.

Fig. 675 is another and more cursive form of the thunder bird obtained at the same place and time as those immediately preceding. It is wingless, and, with changed position or point of view, would suggest a headless human figure.

The thunder-bird, Fig. 676, is blue, with red breast and tail. It is a copy of one worked in beads found at Mendota, Minnesota.

The Sioux believe that thunder is a large bird, and represent it thus, Fig. 677, according to Mrs. Eastman (_c_), who adds details condensed as follows:

This figure is often seen worked with porcupine quills on their
ornaments. U-mi-ne wah-chippe is a dance given by some one who fears
thunder and thus endeavors to propitiate the god and save his own
life.

A ring is made of about 60 feet in circumference by sticking
saplings in the ground and bending their tops down, fastening them
together. In the center of this ring a pole is placed, about 15 feet
in height and painted red. From this swings a piece of birch bark
cut so as to represent thunder. At the foot of the pole stand two
boys and two girls. The boys represent war; they are painted red and
hold war clubs in their hands. The girls have their faces painted
with blue clay; they represent peace.

On one side of the circle a kind of booth is erected, and
about 20 feet from it a wigwam. There are four entrances. When
all arrangements for the dance are concluded the man who gives it
emerges from his wigwam, dressed up hideously, crawling on all fours
toward the booth. He must sing four tunes before reaching it.

In the meantime the medicine men, who are seated in the wigwam,
beat time on the drum, and the young men and squaws keep time to the
music by hopping on one foot and then on the other, moving around
inside the ring as fast as they can. This is continued for about
five minutes, until the music stops. After resting a few moments the
second tune commences and lasts the same length of time, then the
third and the fourth; the Indian meanwhile making his way toward the
booth. At the end of each tune a whoop is raised by the men dancers.

After the Indian has reached his booth inside the ring he must
sing four more tunes. At the end of the fourth tune the squaws all
run out of the ring as fast as possible, and must leave by the same
way that they entered, the other three entrances being reserved for
the men, who, carrying their war implements, might be accidentally
touched by one of the squaws, and the war implements of the Sioux
warrior have from time immemorial been held sacred from the touch of
woman. For the same reason the men form the inner ring in dancing
round the pole, their war implements being placed at the foot of the
pole.

When the last tune is ended the young men shoot at the image of
thunder, which is hanging to the pole, and when it falls a general
rush is made by the warriors to get hold of it. There is placed at
the foot of the pole a bowl of water colored with blue clay. While
the men are trying to seize the parts of the bark representation of
their god they at the same time are eagerly endeavoring to drink the
water in the bowl, every drop of which must be drank.

The warriors then seize on the two boys and girls (the
representations of war and peace) and use them as roughly as
possible, taking their pipes and war-clubs from them and rolling
them in the dirt until the paint is entirely rubbed off from their
faces. Much as they dislike this part of the dance, they submit to
it through fear, believing that after this performance the power of
thunder is destroyed.

James’s Long (_f_) says:

When a Kansas Indian is killed in battle the thunder is supposed
to take him up they do not know where. In going to battle each man
traces an imaginary figure of the thunder on the soil, and he who
represents it incorrectly is killed by the thunder.

Fig. 678 is “Skam-son,” the thunder-bird, a tattoo mark copied from the back of an Indian belonging to the Laskeek village of the Haida tribe, Queen Charlotte islands, by Mr. James G. Swan.

Fig. 679 is a Twana thunder-bird, as reported by Rev. M. Eells in Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey, III, p. 112.

There is at Eneti, on the reservation [Washington Territory], an
irregular basaltic rock, about 3 feet by 3 feet and 4 inches, and a
foot and a half high. On one side there has been hammered a face,
said to be the representation of the face of the thunder-bird, which
could also cause storms.

The two eyes are about 6 inches in diameter and 4 inches apart
and the nose about 9 inches long. It is said to have been made by
some man a long time ago, who felt very badly, and went and sat on
the rock and with another stone hammered out the eyes and nose. For
a long time they believed that if the rock was shaken it would cause
rain, probably because the thunder-bird was angry.

The three following figures, taken from Red-Cloud’s Census, are connected with the thunder-bird myth:

Fig. 680.--Medicine bird. Red-Cloud’s Census. The word medicine is in the Indian sense, before explained, and would be more correctly expressed by the word sacred or mystic, as is also indicated by the waving lines issuing from the mouth.

Fig. 681.--Five thunders. Red-Cloud’s Census. The thunder-bird is here drawn with five lines (voices) issuing from the mouth, which may mean many voices or loud sound, but is connected with the above mentioned wavy or spiral lines, which form the conventional sign for waka^n.

Fig. 682.--Thunder pipe. Red-Cloud’s Census. This is a pipe to which are attached the wings of the thunder-bird.

Fig. 683, one of the drawings from the Kejimkoojik rocks of Nova Scotia, may be compared with the other designs of the thunder-bird and also with the Ojibwa type of device for woman. As regards the head, which appears to have a non-human form, it may also be compared with the many totemic designations in Chapter XIII, on Totems, Titles, and Names.

Marcano (_d_), describing Fig. 684, reports:

At Boca del Infierno (mouth of hell), on a plain, there are
found stones, separated from each other by spaces of 7 meters, on
which are found inscriptions nearly a centimeter in depth. One of
them represents a great bird similar to those which the Oyampis
(Crevaux) are in the habit of drawing. On its left shoulder are
seen three concentric circles arranged like those that form the
eyes of the jaguars of Calcara. This figure is often reproduced in
Venezuelan Guiana and beyond the Esequibo. The bird is united at the
right by a double connecting stroke with another which is incomplete
and much smaller. Furthermore, three small circles are seen below
the left wing; three others, farther apart, separate its right wing
from the neck of the lower bird. The triangles which form the breast
and the tail of the two birds are worthy of note.

Mr. A. Ernst (_b_) describes the same figure:

From the same place (“Boca del Infierno,” a rapid of the
Orinoco, 35 kilometers below the mouth of the Caura) is easily
recognized a rough representation of two birds; from the feathers
of the larger one water seems to be dropping; above, to the right,
is seen a picture of the sun. This may be symbolic, and would then
remind one of the representation of the wind and rain gods on the
ruins of Central America.

Fig. 685 is a copy of four specimens of Indian workmanship in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The objects are depicted by porcupine quills worked on pieces of birch bark, and represent various forms of the thunder-bird. The specimens are reported as having been obtained from a northwestern tribe, which may safely be designated as the Ojibwa, because the figures relate to one of the most important mythic animals of that tribe, and also because birch bark is used, a material exceedingly scarce in the country of the Sioux, among whom also the thunder-bird has a prominent religious position.

_a._ Made of neutral-tinted quills upon yellow bark, as is also _b_, which is without the projecting pieces to designate wings. In _c_, made of yellow quills on faded red bark, the head is shown with the wings and legs beneath, while in the two preceding figures the head takes the place of the bird’s body. _d._ Here is still more abbreviation, the body and legs being absent, leaving only the head and wings. This is made of neutral-tint quills on straw-yellow bark.

Fig. 686 is a copy of a painting on a jar, probably of old Moki work, thus described in the manuscript catalogue of Mr. T. V. Keam:

It is the “Rain bird” (Tci-zur), the upper portion surrounded
by inclosing cloud symbols, arranged so as to convey the idea of
the germinative symbol implying the generative power of rain. The
crosshatching, still water, in the wings denotes rain water in
volume. The body or tail of the bird divided into two tapering
prolongations is a very common occurrence. As a cloud emblem in the
modern ware, the Tci-zur is not like the Um-tokina (Thunder-bird) in
mythical creation, but is the comprehensive name used by the women
for any small bird. Explained as a rain emblem by the fact that
during seasons of sufficient rainfall flocks of small birds surround
the villages and gardens, while during drought they take flight to
the distant water courses.

Fig. 687 is reproduced from Kingsborough (_c_). It represents Ahuitzotl, which is the name of an aquatic animal famous in Mexican mythology. The conventional sign for water is connected with this animal which Dr. Brinton (_c_) calls a hedgehog.

Wiener (_c_) gives a copy, here reproduced as the left-hand character in Fig. 688, of a bas-relief found at Cabana, Peru, representing a fabulous animal, a quadruped, the hair of which is floating and its tongue hanging out of the mouth and ending in serpents’ heads. One-sixth actual size.

The same author, loc. cit., gives a copy, now reproduced as the right-hand character in the same Fig. 688, of another bas-relief in granite found at Cabana, Peru, representing a fabulous animal, perhaps the alcoce, sitting like a dog. One-sixth natural size.

Mr. Thomas Worsnop (_a_) gives an account of Fig. 689, abbreviated as follows:

Sir George Grey, between 1836 and 1839, saw on a sandstone rock a most extraordinary large figure. Upon examination this proved to be a drawing at the entrance to a cave, which he found to contain besides many remarkable paintings. On the sloping roof the principal character, i. e., the upper one of Fig. 689, was drawn. In order to produce the greater effect the rock about it was painted black and the figure itself colored with the most vivid red and white. It thus appeared to stand out from the rock, and Sir George Grey says he was surprised at the moment that he first saw this gigantic head and upper part of a body bending over and staring grimly down at him. He adds that it would be impossible to convey in words an adequate idea of this uncouth and savage figure, and therefore he only gives such a succinct account as will serve as a sort of description.

Its head was encircled by bright red rays, something like the rays one sees proceeding from the sun, when depicted on the signboard of a public house; inside of this came a broad stripe of very brilliant red, which was crossed by lines of white; but both inside and outside of this red space were narrow stripes of a still deeper red, intended probably to mark its boundaries; the face was painted vividly white and the eyes black, being, however, surrounded by red and yellow lines; the body, hands, and arms were outlined in red, the body being curiously painted with red stripes and bars.

Upon the rock which formed the left-hand wall of this cave, and which partly faced you on entering, was a very singular painting, the lower character of the same figure, vividly colored, representing four heads joined together. From the mild expression of the countenances they appeared to represent females, and to be drawn in such a manner, and in such a position, as to look up at the principal figure, before described; each had a very remarkable head-dress, colored bright blue, and one had a necklace on. Both of the lower figures had a sort of dress painted with red in the same manner as that of the principal figure, and one of them had a band round her waist. In Sir George Grey’s opinion each of the four faces was marked by a totally distinct expression of countenance, and none of them had mouths.