CHAPTER IX. THEIR LEGENDARY STORIES AND HISTORICAL TALES. " "Tis a story, Handed from ages down; a nurse's tale, We learn it and believe THE Ojibways have a great number of legends, stories, and historical tales, the relating and hearing of which, form a vast fund of winter evening instruction and amusement. There is not a lake or mountain that has not connected with it some story of delight or wonder, and nearly every beast and bird is the subject of the story-teller, being said to have transformed itself at some prior time into some mysterious formation-of men going to live in the stars, and of imaginary beings in the air, whose rushing passage roars in the distant whirlwinds. I have known some Indians who would commence to narrate legends and stories in the month of October and not end until quite late in the spring, sometimes not till quite late in the month of May, and on every evening of this long term tell a new story. Some of these stories are most exciting, and so intensely interesting, that I have seen children during their relation, whose tears would flow quite plentifully, and their breasts heave with thoughts too big for utterance. Night after night for weeks have I sat and eagerly listened to these stories. The days following, the characters would haunt me at every step, and every moving leaf would seem to be a voice of a spirit. To those days I look back with pleasurable emotions. Many of these fanciful stories have been collected by H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq. It is not my purpose to unnecessarily extend this work with a large number of these. I will, however, in this connection narrate a few, in order to give you some idea of the manner in which my people amuse themselves in their wigwams, and promise to send you, at some future day, a good handfull from the forest. These legends have an important bearing on the character of the children of our Nation. The fire-blaze is endeared to them in after years by a thousand happy recollections. By mingling thus, social habits are formed and strengthened. When the hour for this recreation arrives, they lay down the bow and the arrow and joyously repair to the wigwam of the aged man of the village, who is always ready to accommodate the young. Legends are of three distinct classes, namely, the Amusing, the Historical, and the Moral. In the Fall we have one class, in the Winter another, and in the Spring a third. I can at present have only time and space to give specimens of the second of these. LEGEND FIRST. THE STAR AND THE LILY. An old chieftain sat in his wigwam quietly smoking his favorite pipe, when a crowd of Indian boys and girls suddenly entered, and with numerous offerings of tobacco, begged him to tell them a story. Then the old man began: "There was once a time when this world was filled with happy people, when all nations were as one, and the crimson tide of war had not begun to roll. Plenty of game was in the forest and on the plains. None were in want, for a full supply was at hand. Sickness was unknown. The beasts of the field were tame, they came and went at the bidding of man. One unending spring gave no place for winter-for its cold blasts or its unhealthy chills. Every tree and bush yielded fruit. Flowers carpeted the earth; the air was laden with their fragrance, and redolent with the songs of married warblers, that flew from branch to branch, fearing none, for there were none to harm them. There were birds then of more beautiful song and plumage than now. It was at such a time, when earth was a paradise and man worthily its possessor, that the Indians were the lone inhabitants of the American wilderness. They numbered millions, and living as Nature designed them to live, enjoyed its many blessings. Instead of amusements in close rooms, the sports of the fields were theirs. At night they met on the wide green fields. They watched the stars; they loved to gaze at them, for they believed them to be the residences of the good who had been taken home by the Great Spirit. One night they saw one star that shone brighter than all others. Its location was far away in the South near a mountain peak. For many nights it was seen, till at length it was doubted by many that the star was as far distant in the Southern skies as it seemed to be. This doubt led to an examination, which proved the star to be only a short distance, and near the tops of some trees. A number of warriors were deputed to go and see what it was. They went, and on their return said it appeared strange and somewhat like a bird. A committee of the wise men were called to inquire into, and if possible ascertain the meaning of the strange phe nomena. They feared that it might be the omen of some disaster. Some thought it precursor of good, others of evil, and some supposed it to be the star spoken of by their forefathers, as the forerunner of a dreadful war. One moon had nearly gone by, and yet the mystery remained unsolved. One night a young warrior had a dream, in which a beautiful maiden came and stood at his side, and thus addressed him: 'Young brave! charmed with the land of thy forefathers, its flowers, its birds, its rivers, its beautiful lakes, and its mountains clothed with green, I have left my sisters in yonder world to dwell among you. Young brave! ask your wise and your great men where I can live and see the happy race continually; |