Publications
NORTHEAST
FOLKLORE
Volume VI: 1964
MALECITE AND PASSAMAQUODDY TALES
Contents
|
Introduction |
Stories and the Art of Story-Telling
|
Kluskap Tales from the Malecite
|
Miscellaneous Malecite Tales |
Passamaquoddy Tales |
Bibliography
III. KLUSKAP TALES FROM THE
MALECITE
*Kluskap And His Twin
Brother
(Solomon)
[1]
Well, this is Viola Solomon trying
to tell the story of Kluskap, Lord of the Indians. And this Kluskap
had a twin brother. . . .Before they were born they even had a
consultation about it. He [Kluskap?] asked his brother,
“Which way would you want to be born?”
So Malsumsa said (that's the
Wolverine), “I'd like to be born—burst right into life, even right
through there to life.” That's the way he wanted to be born.
So he asked Kluskap, “Well, how do you want to be born?”
He says, “I don't want to be born
any different than the rest of the people.”
Well, so it come to pass they were
born, and he [Kluskap] was born just like any other human
being; and then this Malsumsa, his mother died giving birth [to
him]. Malsumsa's the Indian Devil. . . . That's the
Wolverine.
So anyway they brought themselves
up. And they was always together, `til one day they tried their
strength against each other which one would have more power than the
other, although they were twins. Well, he [Malsumsa] said,
“How would a person kill you anyway? How could a person kill you?”
Well he said (that's how he got his
name), this Kluskap told his brother a lie. He said, “All you gotta
do is to go and pluck a feather out of this white owl's tail and hit
me over the head with it when I'm sleeping. I'll never know what
struck me.”
Well anyway they went on a hunting
trip. And soon they'd be pulling up trees right by the roots, you
know, and they seemed to think that Kluskap was stronger. Anything
they tried Kluskap was always the strongest of the two. Malsumsa
didn't like it; he envied his brother all the time. Well one day he
seen a white owl while Kluskap was sleeping. So he went and plucked
a feather out of this white owl's tail. It was in the night when the
moon was shining bright. He could see that white owl just as plain.
So he caught this owl and hit his brother with this tail feather.
My God, Kluskap just woke up! [It]
just woke him up. “You found out that I was just telling you a lie.
You just struck me hard enough to make me mad,” he said.
“Now, because you are so wicked I shall turn you into a beaver.”
[Malsumsa he said], “If you
turn me into a beaver I'll always eat up your woods.”
Well [Kluskap] he said, “I
shall drive you away from this territory.” He picked up three rocks.
This beaver went and jumped in the
river, flapped his tail and said, “Try and hit me [if] you
can.”
Kluskap picked up a rock and tried
to hit him, but this beaver was too smart, too fast for him. He went
up the St. John River, and the first hiding place he came to was
going up on that Pokiok Falls. That's where he struck the
first rock landed. So this Beaver thought that was too much
for him. So he went further up the St. John River, and right
now you can see them rocks. I mean you can't now; since they built
the dam [i.e. at Beechwood] they're all under water.
There's two big rocks. [[Speaking to her daughter, Mrs.
Black]]: You've seen them, huh? [Mrs. Black: Uhmhm].
They call [them] “Tobique Rocks.” There's one about three
miles below Perth and one right here at the mouth of Tobique. Well,
a little below. [[Aside:]] Oh, right here! I thought I
was over in the point! [i.e. at the reservation]. And
one at the Grand Falls. That's what made the falls.
MRS. HEGEMAN: You said this is how
Kluskap got his name?
MRS. SOLOMON: That's how he got his
name.
MRS. HEGEMAN: Well, what does it
mean? Kluskap.
MRS. SOLOMON: Well, it means a liar
in Indian. Kluskap: a person that lies. You know, a person who tells
lies.
MRS. HEGEMAN: Did he retain his
strength?
MRS. SOLOMON: He retained his
strength and he retained the name. He kept that name all the time.
MRS. HEGEMAN: But he was a—although
he was a liar—though—he was a good person?
MRS. SOLOMON: He was a good person,
yes. He only told that lie. He only told that one lie to his
brother, his twin brother.
Return to Top
* * * * * *
Kluskap And The
Beaver (Black)
[2]
Kluskap—name of medeulin
meaning “bewitched” or “in cahoots with the devil.” This is the
belief of the St. John River Indians, from St. John, New Brunswick
to Edmunston. This man was considered to know more than anyone else
and was more or less chief of the tribe. He had one enemy and he was
called the “Beaver,” whose name was Gwabid. One day they had
a big battle at Grand Falls which is called Gupsquick. The
Kluskap was trying to catch the beaver on the riverbank. Since the
beaver lived on water he could travel faster than Kluskap. He gave
up trying to keep up with him, and went to the riverbank and picked
up a large rock and threw it at the beaver, thinking that if he hit
him he would kill him on the spot. After he threw it he found out
that the beaver was farther away than he had thrown the rock. The
rock landed at the mouth of the Tobique River. When Kluskap saw
that, he picked up another rock and threw it with more force, only
this time the rock was much bigger. The rock is still at the mouth
of the river. The Indians still believe that it is the very rock
Kluskap had thrown at the Gwabid.
He gave up trying to get the beaver
with a rock and decided to call upon the powers that he possessed
and try to catch him by jumping along the riverbank. The jump he
took was one-half mile long, so it took him fifty-four jumps along
the riverbank. Finally he was on the other side of the river and the
beaver was in the water. He jumped in the river and went to the
bottom. When he got his hand on the beaver he turned himself into
another beaver, and they fought like beavers until they got tired.
That didn't prove anything, because their strength was evenly
matched, so the first beaver decided to turn himself into a snake,
thinking he could choke the other beaver. When the other beaver saw
he had turned himself into a snake, he also decided to turn himself
into a snake. They fought until they were tired. Neither one could
overpower the other. When they could not get the best of each other,
the first one turned himself into a Budeb, an Indian name for
some kind of monster. When the second one saw this he turned himself
into a Budeb, and they fought for four weeks. The pool of
water where they fought is so muddy now and the underneath keeps
boiling up. We don't know who won the battle, because people still
think that they are still fighting.
Return to Top
* * * * * *
The Tobique
Rocks (Adney Mss.)
[3]
Another version of the Kluskap
story of the Great Beavers and the rocks in the river below Tobique
Village is as follows: Once there was a big strong Indian, the most
powerful man there was. He picked up a huge rock and threw it down
river. That is the rock a little below the mouth of Tobique. As he
accomplished this astonishing feat, there appeared a man out of
nowhere who picked up another rock, as big as a house, and threw it
five miles further down river. Then he disappeared. That man was
Kluskap, far stronger than any Indian.
* * * * * *
*Kluskap
Visits The
King Of England
(Solomon)
[4]
Well, he stayed with his mother's
sister; stayed with his aunt. . . . Then one day this aunt
said she'd like to go and visit her brother in Nova Scotia. That's
Turtle. So in the meantime Kluskap said he wanted to go to England
anyway. He wanted to go and visit the King, King of England.
Gamanokeek, that's what they call England. Maybe that's getting
too uh—
MRS. BLACK: [[To Mrs. Hegeman]]
Don't you want all the details?
MRS. HEGEMAN: Oh yes, yes, I want
all I can get about it. [[Laughter]]
MRS. SOLOMON: I'm afraid that'd be
too long.
MRS. HEGEMAN: Oh, I don't care.
MRS. SOLOMON: And, at any rate, his
boat was on an island, a small island.
[5]
But he could make that float just like a ship, you know. He floated
across, he drifted across the [ocean] to England to see the
King of England. . . . He left his aunt up to [her]
brother's. Then when he got to England he left his island right in
the harbor there. He spent overnight there.
And the next morning the King woke
up. He said, “What nice woods we have out here. Now we won't have to
go so far for wood.” In England there wasn't hardly any trees there.
So the King sent his soldiers out to cut all the wood they can—all
the trees down.
Kluskap he always liked to sleep,
so while he was sleeping the King's men came and cut down all the
trees off his island. . . . . When he woke up he found out [what
had happened]. He said, “Who done that?”
They said, “The King's men.” He had
some of his braves with him.
“So I'm going to see the King.” He
just stepped across. He could take long steps when he wanted to. He
could step right across water. [[Laughter]]. He
done a lot of deeds, you know.
And when he got there the
King says, “Who is this funny-looking creature we see here?”
He said, “It's me. I'm Kluskap,
Kluskap the Indian.”
“Oh,” he says, “what you want
here?”
He said, “I want to know why you
went and cut down all my mast poles.” You know, he could sail good
with the trees.
He [the King] says, “We need
that wood.”
[Kluskap] he said, “You
don't have to [bang up] my masts.
“Ahh,” [the King ] says,
“you can't do anything about it.” . . . . Well, the King ordered his
men to put [Kluskap] into the uh (what do you call that?)
cannon. [Now he says to him], “You get in there. We'll take you back
to your island quicker than you can step over.”
So [Kluskap] he got in the
cannon there, great big cannon. . . . The cannon didn't go off
anyway, so the King looked in. There was Kluskap there smoking his
pipe.
[6]
[[Laughter]] He made himself so small that the cannon
wouldn't shoot. [[Laughter]].
Well the King said, “Well, you win.
We'll take you back.”
“Yes, and before you do that,” [Kluskap]
he said, “I want you to put up some masts for me so I can sail back
to my country.”
The King said, “What if I don't do
it?”
[Kluskap] he said,
“I'll—I'll—” Then he done that [[gesturing]]. He said,
I'll flip you over there with my finger.”
[The King] said, “Can you do
it?”
He said, “Of course.” And he done
it.
The King landed on Kluskap's
island. So his men had to go back and get him. I don't know how many
days it took them to sail him across [[Laughter]] from
the island to England. [The King] said, “You win. I'll send
the men over.”
Then this Kluskap went back to his
country, and on his way . . . he picked up his aunt and uncle. His
uncle thought he'd pay a visit, you know, on the St. John River, to
Woolosstuk; that's what they call St. John River:
Woolosstuk, “the great river.”. .
Return to Top
* * * * * *
*Kluskap And His Uncle
Turtle (Solomon)
[7]
It must have been in the fall of
the year, because this Glamuksus
[8]
wore his snowshoe. He only had one, one snowshoe.
[9]
That's what he used to travel with, the Turtle. And when they came
to this place, they said, “We're going to stay here for the night.”
So this Turtle looked up there. He seen a lot of women standing
there. [[Laughter]] “I guess I'll have to leave one
eye here so I won't go blind.” He took off his eye and hung it up on
a branch. Then they went up the hill and Kluskap looked around and
he couldn't see his Uncle anywhere. Well, this Uncle was going, “Ummummummummumm,”
looking up at the women. [[Loud laughter]]. That's the
reason why he left his eye hanging on the tree. He was afraid to
lose his eyesight.
[10]
Now some messengers left to meet
him. That was uh. . . [[Long pause, some back and forth
conversation]]. . . .
MRS. BLACK: That's where he went to
look for a wife there. Glamuksus did, the Turtle.
MRS. SOLOMON: Yes, but. . . some
messengers then came and told him that the Chief was waiting for
them at his house. At his house; you know, sogama, wigwam—
Chief's house. It was this mimuksuwes; that's an Indian name
for . . . otter. They came and told him, “The Chief is waiting for
you at the house, and they want to see you.” So they both went.
[The Chief told them there was
going to be a contest, and the winner]
[11]...
“can choose from these three daughters. Whichever one wins [will
get the daughter]. There's going to be a tournament. There's
going to be wrestling, and a ball game, and. . . a snowshoe race.”
Turtle thought, `How can I win that
race with one snowshoe?'
(You know, it sounds more
interesting when we say it in Indian. . . It sounds more funny and
it sounds more interesting too. . .).
And this Chief had three sons that
was caribou.
[12]
Three sons they were all caribou, very swift—swift runners. So [Turtle]
he had to win the race against them.
MRS. BLACK: Turtle's no competition
for caribou.
MRS. SOLOMON: No. [[Laughter]].
Kluskap said, “Well, you'll win the race. I can give you the power
to win the race.”
Well, they went in the morning,
early in the morning. They had an early start. And these caribou;
these swift runners, every time they come to a resting place, they
could see these snowshoe tracks. The Turtle was way ahead of them. .
. . Yes, the Turtle was way way ahead of them caribou. And coming
back, my God, this Turtle brought back. . . more game than the
Caribou brothers did. . . .
[Note: The end of
this episode seems to be missing on the tape, as does the beginning
of the following:]
. . . . Chief's house. For the next
[game, Kluskap taught Turtle to jump over the
wigwam.] “There, you could jump. I told you you could.” [Kluskap]
he says, “Try it again.” So the Turtle tried it again. And this
Kluskap went in the wigwam [and] built a fire. This Turtle
tried it on his own power, and he got hung up amongst them poles—you
know, them poles they have up over there? And Kluskap was building a
fire inside. [Turtle] he got hot up there. [[Much
laughter]]. He got so warm, [my God did he] sweat! [[More
laughter]] And that water dropping on the fire down below.
It—it—[[Laughter and talking]], it got blue; it got [[Much
laughter and confusion]] blue. I don't know how to say that
in English [[whispered, very softly, by someone: “It's
a penis.”]] Well anyway, all them ashes come up against this Turtle
that's caught up amongst them stakes. Now those ashes went up all
over him. That's why the Turtle is always red. [[Laughter]].
That's why the Turtle is so red around his arms and around his legs.
[13]
MRS. HEGEMAN [[in a comment
edited into the tape at a later time]]: At this point I
would like to add that Mrs. Solomon didn't tell the complete story.
She thought that it would be improper in the presence of strangers.
But the heat from the fire caused the Turtle to lose his water,
causing such smoke and ashes to come up and burn the Turtle's sex
organ. And that is why to this day the turtle has such a shriveled
up sex organ.
Return to Top
* * * * * * *
The Great Wind
Eagle (Solomon)
[14]
. . . . Well, [these people]
they settled on a—oh, some place below there going down to
the—somewhere near Digby, Nova Scotia. They lived high up on a hill
so that tide water couldn't reach them. And there on top of this
hill there was this eagle. It controlled the wind. And every time he
flaps his wings there come a big wind. And one day one of the
brothers came and shot the eagle and wounded one wing, because he
didn't go and visit them. So anyway that stagnated the water. They
didn't have no water to drink. All the water was spoiled around
there—no spring water or nothing because there was no wind.
Then this Kluskap he heard about
that. . . . He went way up on the mountain and found the eagle was
wounded. So he picked him up [and] tied up his wing. He said,
“Now flap your wings and make some wind.” There came a big wind. My
goodness, the wind blew for a week. . . . The eagle he blew most of
the trees down and most of the houses (I should say wigwam; it's an
Indian story).
Well, why don't we call that enough
for tonight and I'll think it over or I could write it down and you
can copy it.
Return to Top
* * * * * *
Footnotes
[1]
Told by Mrs. Solomon, Nov. 14, 1962. NAFOH Accession # 179, pg. 138,
Tape # T228. The present version is a combination of two common
Kluskap tales: the good and bad twins (which includes the trading of
life secrets) and the fight with the giant beavers. Usually these
are entirely separate tales, but Mrs. Solomon makes a neat
transition from one to the other by having Kluskap change his
brother into a beaver. For an interesting parallel, see Leland,
15-18, although his text is admittedly a composite (for a versified
rendering, see Leland and Prince, 43-49).
Speck (VIII,8) says that the good
and the bad twin episode “suggests Iroquois influence,” and
certainly it is more important in Iroquois mythology than it is in
that of any of the Wabanaki groups. Jack's version (196-197) is
presumably from a Malecite informant, and Leland prints a second
version (106-110) sent him by Jack, which he claims is Micmac.
Rand's informant (339-340) may have been a Malecite. Mechling
(II,44) simply reprints Rand's version. On the attitude toward twin
births and some speculation on its relation to this tale, see
Mechling III, 26; Wallis II, 33-34; Wallis I, 249. Motif T575.1.3
Twins quarrel before birth in mother's womb. K975.1 Pretended
exchange of confidences as to the one thing that can kill.
The “fight with the beaver” is
probably the most popular Kluskap episode going, partly, I am sure,
through its recurrence in travel bureau handouts and the like.
Malecite versions include those published by Jack, 193-195 (two
versions); Mechling II, 1-2; Speck III, 479-480; Wallis II, 42.
Passamaquoddy: Leland, 20-21, 64; Leland and Prince, 54-55, 115-116.
Micmac: Speck II, 60; Parsons, 86. For a Montagnais parallel, see
Speck V, 23-24.
[2]
Told by Mrs. Black, Loring, ME, Oct., 1962. NAFOH Accession # 179,
pg. 89-90. Mrs. Black was told the story by her mother, Mrs.
Solomon. See the preceding section for notes on the fight with the
beaver. Mrs. Black's text seems to combine this tale with a rather
well known tale of an encounter between a medeulin and a
water monster, the Wiwiliamecq, a story that is often told to
explain the roily waters of a particular lake. For a discussion of
this tale (and a bibliography) see Eskstorm II, 39-48, 89-95. See
also Speck IV, 282-283; Leland and Prince, 253. There are, by the
way, three manuscript boxes bulging with Adney's ingenious and (I
believe) mistaken theorizings on the significance of this monster (Adney
Mss, Peabody Museum). Mrs. Black's having the combat as still
continuing is unique but logical.
[3]
From the Adney Mss. No source is given, but the item is dated
September, 1947. It is presumably Malecite. See the forgoing items
for further annotation.
[4]
Told by Mrs. Solomon, Nov. 14, 1962. This seems to have been a
rather popular tale, if we judge both from the number of versions
that have been collected in a limited area and from their diversity.
So far as I know, no other Malecite versions are in print, although
after giving a Micmac version the Wallises note that “a similar
story was heard from the Malliseet on the St. John River” (I,
335n.), and Horace Beck says that he has collected the tale in the
settlement at Kingsclear, N.B. Leland (127-130) prints two
Paasamaquoddy versions. For Micmac versions, see Wallis and Wallis,
I, 333-335, and Rand, p. xlv. There is a parallel tale about Young
Katahdin in Speck VIII, 78-79.
[5]
Kluskap's island boat, or stone canoe, is standard equipment not
only in this tale, but in various others too numerous to footnote.
Motif D1524.4 Island Canoe.
[6]
In most versions of this tale the King does fire the cannon.
Interesting enough, the detail of Kluskap “smoking his pipe” is a
constant.
[7]
Turtle is the Wabanaki fall-guy. He is poor, lazy, licentious, and
stupid,—a shambling buffoon involved in a series of pratfalls and
entirely dependent upon his nephew's power. In spite of the fact
that he usually does bail him out, Kluskap delights in teasing him.
Turtle is not always appreciative of Kluskap's help and tries to
kill him in several tales. Since tales about Turtle are found
wherever Kluskap tales are found, I will cite only what appear to be
significant parallels to the present tales.
[8]
Wallis II, 19, gives gu'la muk' sis as the designation for
“mother's brother.”
[9]
See Mechling II, p. 43.
[10]
This incident is not entirely clear. If Turtle leaves his eye behind
so that it can watch the women, why does he stay behind too? It is
more likely that he leaves one eye behind as a “spare” so that when
he goes off to look at the women he will not be in danger of losing
both eyes. At any rate, the incident is almost certainly a version
of the eye-juggler motif (J2423), known in some form over
most of North America. If it is, then this makes its first
occurrence among the Wabanaki groups, so far as I know.
[11]
The tape at this point is very indistinct. My restoration is based
on parallel versions of the same episode as told by others. See page
35 below, for more on this type of contest. Motif H331.5, Suitor
contest:race.
[12]
Caribou are specifically mentioned in this connection in Barratt,
7-11; Jack, 195-198; Mechling II, 28.
[13]
This is one of the best known of Turtle's adventures, and it is used
to explain any of several things about him such as his markings, his
color, the hardness of his shell, and his apparent
indestructibility. In several versions, Kluskap even disembowels
Turtle and cuts his head off in order to give him long life. So far
as I know, however, the present version is the only one using the
episode to explain the Turtle's peculiar penis (though for a variant
and amusing explanation of this item see Speck VIII, 48). For other
Malecite versions see Mechling IV, 28, 43. For a Passamaquoddy
version, see Prince, 43. Penobscot: Speck VIII, 480-49. Micmac:
Rand, 290; Wallis, I, 482. Leland's version (54-55) is part of a
composite Passamaquoddy and Micmac text, as is the one in Leland and
Prince, 129-131. See also Speck VI, 187.
[14]
Told by Mrs. Solomon, Nov. 14, 1962. This is another very popular
Wabanaki tale, which is usually (though not always) told about
Kluskap. In its “normal” form, Kluskap is annoyed that there is too
much wind; therefore he tricks the wind bird Wudjausen (the
Penobscot name) and breaks his wings. The waters now grow stagnant,
and he must repair the damage, but he admonishes Wudjausen to
flap his wings with less gusto in the future. For other Malecite
versions, see Mechling II, 45; Speck III, 480. Passamaquoddy: Fewkes,
266; Leland, 111-112; Leland and Prince, 158-161; Prince, 47-49.
Micmac; Leland, 359-362; Rand, 360-361. Penobscot: Alger, 12-13;
Speck VIII, 40-41. See also the Penobscot tale of Skunk, who tied
the wing of the great bird that makes light and darkness (Speck
VIII, 74). Motif A1125. Winds caused by flapping wings.
Kluskap's Two Marriages, His
Wanderings, His Death
Back to Northeast
Folklore
