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
*Kluskap's Two Marriages, His
Wanderings, His Death (Solomon)
[1]
This Kluskap lived alone with his
mother, and his mother thought it was time for him to get married.
And she went to another town, to another Indian village to look for
a wife for her son. And they say you can't see him. You couldn't see
him; he was invisible to everybody else only to the girl that would
be good enough for him to marry. That would be the only girl that
he'd ever marry.
[2]
. . . It's hard to tell it all, you
know. . . . The trouble is I have to think; I think in Indian and
then translate it. . . That's what makes it so hard for Indian
children to learn in school too, because their mind is in Indian
language and then they have to translate it into English language
before they can speak it out . . . There's so many Indian stories
that I know, I get them all mixed up. Mostly all I could think of
would be all fairy tales like, you know.
MRS. HEGEMAN: Go ahead and go
through it in Indian, and this may refresh your...
MRS. SOLOMON: You mean you could
translate it?
MRS. HEGEMAN: Oh, that would be
good.
MRS. SOLOMON: Maybe that would be
better, you know, [as though I] was telling her the stories
[[meaning her daughter, Mrs. Black.]] and then she
could translate it in English for you, which wouldn't take so much
time. I could do it, but you know it would take so much uh—take just
twice as long.
MRS. HEGEMAN: Well, go ahead.
MRS. SOLOMON: It would make uh it
dull for you?
MRS. HEGEMAN: No, I'd love to hear
it.
MRS. SOLOMON: And then you could
play the tape for someone and they could hear it in Indian and then
uh—
MRS. HEGEMAN: [[To Mrs. Black]]
And then you could read it to them in English! Hey! Great.
[Note: From this point on,
Mrs. Solomon told the story in Malecite. Later, her daughter, Mrs.
Black, recorded a translation of her mother's tape. What follows is
Mrs. Black's translation.]
One day his mother told him, “I
think you're old enough to get married now, and we'll have to go and
shop around for a wife for you.”
And Kluskap told his mother, “Oh
don't be silly. I don't want to get married.”
His mother says, “Well, it's the
only thing for you to do, just get married.”
He couldn't change his mother's
mind. His mother kept right on planning, all [the time]
looking around for a wife for him. Every day she'd go out and pick
berries and go by the sea shore and pick sea shells, thinking that
she's going to run into somebody fitting for her son. And one day. .
. she was in this little town [and] that's where she met an
old friend of hers who had a daughter about marrying age. And she
made arrangements with this friend of hers to come to her house for
dinner (if you would call it that in those days). Well, she invited
the old lady and her daughter to her house. And the old lady agreed
to bring her daughter. They agreed on the summer moon, the next
summer moon (I guess that, translated into English, would mean next
summer).
Well, they came around anyway. And
when they came to Kluskap's mother's house, there he was sitting
at the head of the table. And this old lady brought her
daughter, but this old lady's daughter could not see Kluskap.
All she saw was his mother and her mother and nobody
else. And Kluskap just took one look at her and he didn't like the
looks of her, so he just walked out of the house and took off. He
didn't want to marry her, and his mother, seeing this, she thought
to herself, `Well if she doesn't see him she couldn't be good enough
for my son. Because the only girl that will ever be good enough to
marry my son is the one that will be able to see him.'
Well, when he left the house he
decided that he was not going to marry that girl. So he went out and
started getting winter supplies for his people, his tribe. [He]
got all the firewood for the old folks and went hunting far and
wide. [He] got all kinds of meat and wood and supplies for
the whole winter.
It was on this one day he was out
hunting. Oh, he went farther than he usually did. He got tired and
sat down on a tree stump. . . . He saw these three coming, and they
were big huge men. In fact they were giants compared to him. They
come up to him [and says], “Well hello friend. What are you
doing here?”
He says, “Well, I'm just resting. I
been hunting all day.”
They said, “Well, why don't you
come home with us and rest? We have a nice comfortable home.”
He says, “Well, why not?” So he
went along with them, the three giants.
They walked for a ways until they
came to this side of a mountain.
[3] And they opened this side of a mountain and they
entered a cage [cave?]. They entered a cage. When they went
in that cage, there they saw these two wolves growling at them, and
he [Kluskap] says, “Go lay down!” And these wolves obeyed him
immediately. Now these three giants they were really surprised
because these wolves obeyed him better than they obeyed them, and
they were supposed to be their pets. Well, they just ignored that
and they went right on ahead.
They entered this room inside the
mountain. And there [sitting] in a corner is a old old man.
He was an old man. [The] minute he saw Kluskap he says,
“Well, welcome young man. I've been expecting you for a long time.
Come in and meet my baby. See how you like her.”
Well Kluskap looked at her and
says, “I like her very much.” And she saw him too.
The old man says, “Well, if you
like her you'll have to try to win her hand. And in order to win her
hand you'll have to beat each one of my sons, starting tomorrow.”
So Kluskap spent the night in the
cave with them. And the old man took a little red charmed bow and
arrow made of bone, red bone. (Now I don't know how they got the red
bone in those days, but it was red bone.) And he told Kluskap, “Now
you take this bow and arrow, and any time that you need help just
use this bow and arrow and you will be sure to be ahead of anybody
else. You will win over anybody else. And keep it by your side at
all times.”
[4]
Well, that was all right. So the
next morning bright and early they went out and they were supposed
to go shooting at the porcupine. It was a real large one, big as a
hogshead barrel, and it was perched up on a large birch tree. When
they came to this tree where the porcupine was, the oldest one says,
“All right, my friend, you shoot first.”
Kluskap says, “Oh no. I'm the one
that's supposed to shoot against you. You're the one that's supposed
to shoot first, not me.”
Well the oldest one [took] the
first shot, and he missed that porcupine. And the next to the oldest
took a shot; he missed [it] also. Well, this youngest son came to
Kluskap. He wanted to be friends with Kluskap. He says, “You stay by
me at all times and you do everything I say and we'll be all right.”
[Then] he says, “It's my turn to shoot.” So the youngest boy
took a shot at the porcupine. He missed also.
Well, Kluskap took out his charmed
bow and arrow and shot at the porcupine and hit him square on the
head. And just as he hit him, this youngest son took Kluskap and
says, “Now come run for it. Make for the biggest tree you can find.”
So they ran behind the biggest tree they could find, and the
porcupine quills started flying. They were so large that they went
right through the trees, but the tree they were hiding behind was so
thick that the porcupine quills couldn't go through it while [they]
went through all the rest of them. [The] young brother told
him, “Now if one of those quills had hit us it would have cut you
right in two.” Well, that was all right. He says, “Well, we're safe
now. Let's go on home. That's enough for today.”
So they went home. And when they
got home, this little old man had supper all ready for them and
ready to eat. He says, “Well, you did very well today, and tomorrow
it will be something else.”
These two older brothers came in.
Oh they were so ashamed that they were beat! They didn't even want
to look at Kluskap. They just turned their faces the other
way. Wouldn't even look at him.
And the old man sat him down on a
fur rug; gave him a fur rug and sat him down in it. And the fur was
so thick that it reached up to his neck when he was sitting
on it. (Maybe that was to honor him or something.) And he
told him, “Tomorrow we'll have a different game to compete [in].”
All right. So the next morning at
sunrise they went out again, only this time they went somewhere
else. They went out to a swamp and they came to a pond in the
swamp, and there was a lot of old logs in that pond. The oldest one
says, “Well, let's get that play worm of ours out of that water.”
So they kicked on one of these old
logs, and you could see a big giant snake out in the middle
of the pond popping its head out. The oldest one says, “See that
snake out there? It's just a plaything to us. You're supposed to
try to kill that snake.”
Kluskap says, “Well, you're going
to have to try first, because I'm the one that's competing against
you. You're going to have to try to shoot that before I do.”
So the oldest one took the first
shot, and by the time he got the arrow off the bow the snake had
went under water again. Well, he didn't do much good, so the second
one he kicked the log in order to make the snake come up again. He
missed when he tried to shoot him, and the third one did the same
thing. Well, then it was Kluskap's turn. He kicked the log and as
soon as the head came up he took his charmed bow and arrow and shot
at him and smashed his head to smithereens. And as he shot
the snake's head, this youngest boy took his hand and says, “O.K.,
come on, friend. Let's run for it, because we'll have to run very
fast.”
And they started running. And this
snake was twisting and squirming around, throwing his tail this way
and that way and everywhere! Everywhere the tail went it cut the
trees right off, knocked the trees right out! And there was [a]
good many times that [the] end of the tail almost hit them,
but they were traveling quite fast, and they went on home.
Well now, when they reached the
house this old man greeted Kluskap. He says, “Well, my son, I'm
getting to like you more and more every day. How did you do
today?”
The youngest one spoke up. He says,
“He did very well. He beat my other two brothers.” And the two
brothers never did show up home. They were so ashamed they didn't
want to come home again.
So the old man says, “I guess
that'll be enough of this stuff. They didn't come home, so I guess
there won't be any more games to play.” So he married his daughter
and Kluskap on that white fur rug. (The polar bear rug she calls
it.)
[5] Well, he married them there and [Kluskap]
he stayed on and on. Finally he did get married.
He stayed long enough for them to
have a son. They had a son. And I don't know how long it was [until]
finally one day he says to his wife, “I'm getting worried about my
people. The old people must be getting out of winter supplies like
wood and food. I'm afraid I'll have to go home and see to it that
they have enough supplies. [I'll have to be gone] long enough
to go hunting and get this stuff for them to get by on for the
winter.”
And his wife says, “Well, it's all
right. I guess it's all right then. I'll let you go home to your
people under one condition: Don't let anybody kiss you on your
cheek, because if you do you will never find me again. You will
never set eyes on our son again.”
Kluskap says, “Well, I have to go
because my people must be worried about me. They must be wondering
where I am—whether I'm lost or dead.”
She says, “Well, I will let you go
under those conditions. Just don't let anybody kiss you on your
cheek.”
He says, “All right.”. . . .
His wife also told him, “Don't tell
anybody where you have been all this time. Don't tell anybody that
you have been married and have a son. Don't tell anybody anything
whatever [about what] you have been doing from the time you
left the reservation to the time you're going back.” And Kluskap
agreed to all that.
[6]
When he went home his mother asked
him where he had been [all this time]. Kluskap says, “Well, I
can't talk right now. All I want is to have something to eat so I
can lie down and go to sleep.” So he had a nice big hot bowl of uh
(she calls it) moose soup [[Laughter]], and some
Indian corn, and after that he just went to bed.
After he fell asleep, his mother
was watching him sleep, and she thought to herself, `My gosh, my son
has aged a lot, and he's acting so strangely. I wonder what could be
wrong with him, and how could I have him tell me his troubles? He's
not talking much and he's altogether different from what he used to
be. And he's aged so much! He's beginning to look like an old man.'
So she bent over and kissed him on his cheek while he was asleep.
[7]
And that woke him up in an instant.
He woke up and he says, “What did you do that for?” And that's where
he lost all the love he ever had for his mother. He just took his
snowshoes and his charmed bow and started looking for his family.
And all his travels, all his different travels where he searched for
his family are where they get the stories of Kluskap—what he did in
this place, looking for his family, and that place, and all so
forth. And he kept right on searching until he got to be quite an
old man. But his dog died before he died.
Well, one day he came to this
little dwelling (I guess you call it). And there was an old man and
an old lady and their daughter and their grandson. And it seemed to
him that this little boy—you know, not a little boy [but] a
grown man by now this man would be about the same age as his own
son. And he felt kind of a kinship toward them. He thought they were
his people. And this old man must have been reading his thoughts or
something or he must have been some kind of a wizard (or whatever
you call it), because one day he says, “Didn't you ever stop to
think that we could be the people that you're looking for?”
Kluskap says, “Yes, I've been
thinking about that, but I'm not quite sure yet”. . . . So one day
he says, “I think I'll go on a hunt, but I will leave my dog.”
[8] And. . . you feed him good. He's not used to
eating left-overs. I will leave you some meat for my dog and some
for you, and I will bring back lots of fresh meat when I get back.
But make sure that you do not feed my dog any left-overs, because my
dog never [did eat them things].”
Well, they agreed to it. He went
hunting, and these people they took care of the dog like he said for
them to take care of him until their meat supply was so low one day
they just had enough for their breakfast the next day. They thought
it was a shame for them to be feeding this dog all that fresh meat,
and they only had enough meat left for breakfast—just for them; they
didn't have anything left for the dog. And so the old man says to
the daughter, he says, “Well, we have some left-overs from supper.
Why don't you feed that to the dog?”
The old lady says, “Well, I guess I
might as well, since that's all we have.”
She took these bones and left-over
meat to the dog. The dog just took one look at it and he just turned
away and ran out of the house and crying around the house and raced
around the house three times. And after the third time he took off [toward]
where the sun was rising. He took off toward the sunrise, and all
they could hear was this dog crying away in the distance.
And it was about that time that
Kluskap came back. When he came back from the hunt he had all kinds
of fresh meat with him. So he left one bag outdoors before he went
in the house, and he took the rest of it in the house. He said to
the people, “See? I told you I'd be back with plenty of fresh meat.”
And the old lady says, “Well,
that's good. We have just run out at breakfast time. . . .What's the
other meat you left outdoors for?”
He says, “Well, that's for my dog.
By the way, where is my dog?”
Oh the old lady started crying. And
Kluskap wanted to know where his dog was, so the old man [? young
man] told him. He said, “Well, we didn't have much meat left for
breakfast, so my mother gave him the left-overs that we had from
yesterday, and the last we seen of your dog he started crying
towards the sunrise.”
Then Kluskap lost all feeling of
kinship he had towards this couple. And he had thought, `Well these
must be really my people.' So he got so mad because they abused his
dog he just up and took his tomahawk and scalped every one of them,
and he left them right there and went to look for his dog.
He walked and walked and walked,
looking for his dog. He traveled for three days and three nights
before he found the place where his dog had spent the first night,
so he spent the night there. He got up bright and early in the
morning and he started searching again. This time he kept walking
and walking, and he walked for two days and two nights before he
found the second place where his dog had rested. So he rested there
again, and the next morning bright and early at the break of dawn he
started tracking his dog down again. Well, the third place where he
found [where his dog had rested] it was [still] the
same day. [At] sunset that night, he found this place where
his dog had rested for the night again. So either his dog must have
been getting very tired or he must have been taking some very long
steps tracking his dog. Anyways, he rested that night and thought,
`Well, tomorrow I'll catch up [with him].'
So come sunrise he started looking
for his dog. He walked and walked and finally he could see his dog
at a distance. And he kept calling, “Wait for me, my pet. Wait.” But
the dog kept right on going. The second time he called, he says, “My
pet, wait for me,” and finally the next time he called, he said,
“Please wait for me.” So the dog turned his head and looked at his
master. But he was so tired he could just barely keep on going.
Finally Kluskap caught up with him. [He] put his arms around
him and said, “Everything's all right now, pet. I have killed the
people that have been abusing you. You and I are together again and
I will not leave you again.”
“What's the use, my master? I am so
worn out—and I'm going to die anyway. The best thing for you to do
is kill me also.”
Kluskap says, “No, I can't do that,
my pet. We've been too close for such a long time.”
[The dog] says, “Yes,
because you will get more use out of me when I'm dead. But if I die
anyway [i.e. not by your hand], well, then you wouldn't get
any help from me.”
Then [Kluskap] he said to
his dog, “Well, what use will I get out of you?”
The dog says, “Well, just follow my
instructions. Just hit me over the head with your ax, and after I'm
dead you skin me from the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail, and
take only the width of my nose all the length of my body with you.
And take it with you and go as far as you can on foot. Do not rest
until you can't walk any further. . . . Don't tan the hide `til
after you've stopped hearing me howling. When you stop hearing me
howling, then you can tan the hide, but whatever you do, do not tan
the hide on your first night. But make sure that I am dead and away
before you start tanning me.”
And his dog was getting weaker and
weaker, just so he could barely talk to him. (I guess they had
talking dogs in those days.) But [the dog] says, “Master, I
think you better hurry up and kill me before I die, [because]
then you won't get any use out of me. And after you tan the hide,
you make a belt out of it and keep it around your waist always. And
as long as you're wearing that belt no man will be able to overpower
you and you will be stronger than anybody that walks. Now go ahead
and kill me.”
[9]
Then Kluskap took his ax and he hit
his dog over the head with it. He felt so sorry for his dog that he
was crying as he was skinning it. After he got done skinning his
dog, he buried him and rested for the night. However, the next
morning he started walking, and he walked and walked and walked. . .
Finally he just couldn't seem to make himself take another step, so
he just made a shelter for the night. But all through the night he
couldn't seem to sleep. All he could hear was his dog howling and
baying at the moon. And finally he did drift off to sleep.
So the next day he started walking
again, and he walked the whole day. Come sunset he found a place for
shelter and he tried to sleep again. He still could hear his dog
howling, but he didn't hear him as clearly as he did the night
before, but he still heard him. Finally he went to sleep, and the
next day he started out again. The third night he could just barely
hear his dog faintly crying at a distance. Then he drifted off to
sleep. The fourth day he started out again, and that night when he
found a place to rest he didn't seem to hear his dog at all. So he
just laid there, he was deadly tired. So he just laid there and then
he must have fallen off to sleep, and he spent a very restful night
that night.
Early the next morning he woke up.
And he got up and built a fire and started tanning his dog's hide.
He went fishing, got himself something to eat, and returned and
finished making his belt. It took him all day to make the belt.
Finally when he finished it, it was already getting dark. He said to
himself, `Well, I'm too tired to keep on going. I think I'll spend
the night here and I'll start out in the morning again.' So he put
the belt on, after he had finished it, and he was amazed at the
power it had given him. He wasn't one bit tired and he felt like a
new man with all that strength and power. So he said to himself,
`Well, I'll just keep on going then, but I wish I could forget about
my dog.' But how could he forget? He was wearing his nose and tail
and his back, so he couldn't very well forget about him. But anyway
he kept right on walking.
He (there she goes again!) walked
and walked and walked. Finally he met these three men. They said,
“Well, hello, friend. We haven't seen you for a long time. Where
have you been all these years?” But he didn't recognize these three
men, and yet they seemed to recognize him. [They said],
“Well, you're our brother-in-law.” He looked at them; he still
didn't recognize them. He didn't think they were his brothers-
in-law. They said to him, “Well, come on and see our new game. Come
play a game with us.”
He went along with them. Finally
they brought him to the top of a mountain. [There
were] two great big mountains, and you could see a little tiny
brook down at the bottom . . . in between the
two mountains. The oldest one says, “Well, here's our new game. Now,
let's play the game.” And he let out a big whistle. And it seems
like it was out of nowhere this big giant snail came [[Laughter]],
and they made the snail make a bridge across the two mountain tops
by putting himself between the two mountains. The oldest one said,
“See? We have to play a game and see who can walk across this snail
from here to the other mountain top. You try first.”
[10]
Kluskap says, “No, you try first.
You're the one that tried to get me to play this game.”
And the oldest one says, “Well,
it's easy. To us it's no game at all, because even two of us can
walk across it alone.”
Kluskap says, “All right, go right
ahead.” And that snail looked so slimy and everything he couldn't
understand how a person could go across that. . . .
They went across. And [after]
they went across Kluskap just stamped on the snail's head. . . and
the snail went falling down the mountainside. So that left the other
two stranded on the other mountain, and he was left on the first
mountain with the youngest one.
[The youngest one?] says,
“Well, that went wrong. That leaves the two of us behind.”
Kluskap looked at him. He thought,
`Well, I don't think you're my brother-in-law. I don't know why
you're calling me that.' [But] he thought he'd string along
with him. So they started walking.
They walked quite a ways and
finally they come to this place [where] they heard laughter.
Oh, they sounded like a bunch of lively people there, and they
decided to take a look and see who it was. They walked around and
finally they came to two small mountains. Between [these] two
small mountains there was a bunch of girls. They had a swing there,
a great big huge swing.
[11] And they were swinging away. And finally one of
the girls said, “Voices! I think somebody's trying to take a peak at
us.” Then the girls saw Kluskap and his friend, so they said, “Come
on over. Why don't you guys come over and swing with us? Why don't
you get on the swing and we'll push you.”
Kluskap said, “No. I don't think
that swing is strong enough to hold me.”
The girls said, “Well, if it holds
the three of us why shouldn't it hold the two of you?”
Well, they thought that was pretty
good, so they got on the swing. The girls started pushing them, and
oh they had a lot of fun. And Kluskap's friend was kind of flirty.
He says to Kluskap, “That was a nice looking girl. Which one would
you take?”
Kluskap was about to say, “Well, if
I had my choice I'd take the youngest one,” but before he could say
that the girls had cut the swing. And as Kluskap looked down, all [he]
could see below them was a big giant kettle boiling over, and they
were supposed to drop into the pot. But before they could fall,
Kluskap pushed his charmed bow ahead and it made the swing go
forward, and when the swing went forward they jumped off. And all
you could see falling into that kettle was a great big rock. So they
ran off behind the bushes.
And it seemed like out of nowhere
there came an old, old man. Oh he was so old his legs were wobbling
and he was bowlegged. And he had a hook with him, or something to
turn the kettle. He said, “Oh, my daughters are so nice to me. They
[always] give me plenty to eat.” He went out and tried to
stir up what was in the pot. He cried, “Something's wrong somewhere.
There should be something in here. All I can see is a rock!”
At that time, Kluskap and his
friend had gone around, and he said to his friend, he says, “Let's
change forms and follow these girls.” So they changed forms and went
back the same way they had entered the first time. And sure enough,
they could hear these girls laughing and giggling on that swing.
They went near and the girls said,
“Oh come on over and try our swing. It's a lot of fun.”
And they went willingly. They said,
“Oh yes, we'll try it, but let's inspect it first.” So they looked
over the swing real good. Finally they told the girls, “Well, this
doesn't look too strong. I don't think it's going to hold us. Why
don't you try it out for us?”
The girls said, “All right, we'll
show you it's strong enough.” So the girls got on the swing. And
just as they were swinging high enough, Kluskap cut the rope. And
there they went. They fell right into that boiling kettle that was
waiting for them. And then [Kluskap and his friend] they
walked off—left the kettle, left everything there.
This old man came hobbling towards
the kettle. [He says], “Well, there's something in the kettle now.
And he kept stirring it up, stirring it up. The first one that he
stirred up was his baby daughter. He was crying! He said, “Oh, what
a crying shame. Now I won't have anybody to give me things to eat.”
He says, “Well, I'm hungry enough, so I'm going to keep right on.”
And when they left the mountainside there the old man was eating
away [and] having a feast, and they took off.
Well, after they left the
mountainside they continued their travels, but this brother-in-law
didn't think too much of what Kluskap did. He says, “You know, you
just ruined my chances of getting married. That's the first time I
ever found someone that I liked, and you had to get rid of her!”
Kluskap says, “Oh, there's plenty
more. Let's keep on going.”
Well, they traveled on, and I don't
know how long. Finally they came to this Indian village. But the
chief of this village was kind of mean and jealous. But. . . they
were visiting with this old lady. This old lady was in the shape of
a groundhog. She said to them, “Oh, come in the house, and I'll feed
you [and] give you shelter for the night.”
But this old lady had a nosy
friend, which was the Otter. The Otter went and found out that the
old lady had company—old Granny had company. When he found that out
he went and told the Chief that Granny had company. “Old Granny
Groundhog's got some company.”
The Chief says, “Well, I'm not
going to stand for that. Old Granny knows that whenever there's
strangers in town they have to come and show their powers against
our men. You go over there and tell Granny that her company will
have to compete with our men starting tomorrow morning. As you know,
it is our custom that everytime there's a stranger in town he has to
compete against my best men. And if they're stronger than the men I
have on the reservation now, they have the right to marry my
daughter.” He says, “Now you go back and tell old Granny that her
visitors will have to compete come sunup.”
[12]
This Otter went back to Old Granny.
Says, “Well, Granny, that's what the Chief told me.”
[Granny] she says, “Kimm
kim kim kim! [[Laughter]] (I guess that's the
groundhog way of crying) I can't have visitors without that Chief
butting in on me! But I guess it's O.K. if that's the way he wants
it.” She gave them a good supper and a bed to sleep in.
Early the next morning they all got
up. They went out to this uh (I don't know what you call it—the
ground where they all compete against one another). Oh there was a
lot of people that they had to compete against. In fact, there was
one big strong man who was an old man but he was big. He had great
big muscles, and they had him uh rooted down to the ground (I guess
they buried his feet down as far as his knees). And that was the
first one they had to take—this old man standing there with his
muscles all bulging out. And just so they can't knock him down, they
planted him in the ground knee deep. The old man looked at Kluskap [and
he says], “Well, who's going to be first?”
Kluskap says to his friend, he
says, “Oh don't you bother with him. I'll wrestle with him. You
leave him to me.” He says to the old man, “You try me first, because
I'm not the type that would fight against an old man.”
“Old man, huh? I'll show you who's
an old man. You just come to me.”
[Kluskap says], “No,
you hit me first. You try to wrestle me down.”
The old man grabbed Kluskap, and he
couldn't even budge him. He strained every muscle, [but]
couldn't even budge him. The old man says, “Now I can't move you.
It's your turn to try to move me.”
[Kluskap says,] “That's
child's play for me.” He picked him up, and he picked him up so fast
that he uh disjointed his knees (I guess). [When he] picked
him up off the ground his feet were still in the ground and his legs
came apart at the knees. So the old man's tribesmen carried him
away. Well, that was the end of that game.
[13]
So they went home to the old
grandmother. Old Granny says, “Oh I'm so happy that you have won.
You've made me so happy now I'm beginning to cry again. Kimm kimm
kim kim.”
“Ahh come on now, Granny, you don't
have to cry that much. We know you're happy.”
Granny says, “Well, tomorrow is
another day.”
So they went to bed, and early the
next morning again, they went out to the grounds. And that day they
had some sort of ball game. You know, rolling balls. And instead of
using regular balls they used heads. (Now I don't know where they
got the heads, but they were using heads.) And every once in a while
a head would come their way and snap their [i.e. its] teeth
at it [i.e. them]. Human heads, and they had bushy hair and
bushy beards and everything! Finally Kluskap got sick and tired of
this, so the next head that came along he kicked it and he busted [it]
wide open and brains splattered all over the place. And the instant
he kicked it, there was a moan in the crowd. Moaning. [And]
someone fell down in the crowd. (So the head must have belonged to
the one that fell down.)
This kept on, and finally Kluskap [said],
“I'm getting sick and tired of this. Every time a head rolls
our way they snap at us.” So they kept on busting all these heads.
They ended up busting nine. And he says, “Oh this is enough of this.
I'm tired of it.” Well, that was the end of that—when he got tired
of busting the heads, [and] they got tired of seeing their
men fall.
[14]
They went back to Granny's. He said
to his brother-in-law, he says, “We'll go and spend the night with
Granny again.”
They went back and Granny says,
“Well, I see you made out good today.”
[Kluskap] he says, “Yes, we
made out real fine. Tomorrow we have to enter a canoe-making
contest. Tomorrow we have to see who can make the best canoe. We
have to make the canoe tonight, but we don't have any supplies.”
Granny says, “Oh don't worry about
that. I have plenty of pitch and birch bark, and there's plenty of
cedar out here too that's all dried up and all you have to do is uh
(I don't know what they have to do with it. You know, wiggle it into
shape).”
Well, Kluskap and his little friend
went to work. They worked all night took them all night to finish
that canoe. . . . All they had to do now was put the pitch over it
so it won't leak. They told Granny, “Well, Granny, we need your
pitch now.”
Granny went to look for her pitch
and she said, “Somebody has stolen my pitch. Kimm kim kim kim kim!
Now I don't know who's against me.” (No, they didn't steal it. It
was all hardened and dried up).
Kluskap says, “Well, don't cry over
it, Granny. We'll fix that up.” Well, it didn't take them no time at
all to fix it all up, and finally they had it all dried and finished
and ready for the water.
Well, they went on down to the
river where they was going to have the race, a canoe race down
river. Kluskap and his friend started down and oh they were way
ahead of them. Finally Kluskap says, “I'm sick and tired of playing
games with these people. Now I'm really going to mean business.
We'll really show them that we can beat them.”
So Kluskap put all he had into it
and went to the point where they were supposed to reach. [Then]
they turned around and went back upriver again. They even met these
people that were coming down river. They were still going strong and
they weren't even halfway down there yet.
Well anyways, they got back to the
village. The Chief says, “Well, you proved that you're much stronger
and much better than any man I have in the village. So I guess we'll
have a wedding. First we'll have a reception, but you'll have to go
hunting to provide fresh meat and everything for the reception.”
Now Kluskap didn't think much of
this. He says, “Now that's going a little bit too far. First we had
to compete against every man in your village in order to get a
bride, and now we have to go and earn our own food. Now I think that
we're entitled at least to [having] you people to provide the
food.”
“Well,” the Chief says, “Well, I
guess you're right. That is going a bit too far.” Then he sent his
men out hunting and Kluskap and his friend rested and waited until
they came back.
While they were resting, his
brother-in-law kept saying, “Well, which one are you going to take?
Which one of the girls?”
Well Kluskap says, “You know who
I'm going to take. I always take the youngest one.” And they had
three to choose from, [so] Kluskap asked his brother-in-law,
“Which one would you take?”
His brother-in-law said, “Well,
which one do you think I should take?”
Kluskap says, “Well, I can't make
up your mind for you. That's for you to do. I can't tell you who you
should marry.”
Well, that's all this young fellow
talked about all the time they were resting [and] taking a
break. And all the women in the village were busy cooking and baking
and everything, getting ready for the reception. Well, it got so
that this young fellow had made up his mind and they had the
wedding. And it was a big celebration. The celebration lasted for
ten days and people came from all over for miles and miles around.
Well, after all the celebrations
they settled down and stayed right in this new village. [Kluskap]
built his tipi there and made a home for himself. Oh his wife was
such a nice wife; she waited on him hand and foot. He didn't even
have to lift a finger. [She] brought his meals to him and
everything. And then she did some real beautiful bead work. And this
went on for—oh I don't know how long they'd been married. Finally
one day she says to her husband, “Tell me why don't you ever take
off that belt you're wearing?”
[15]
He says, “Oh I couldn't do that.
That's where my strength comes from—that belt. Without that belt I'm
no good.”
She said, “Well couldn't you even
take it off when you go to bed?” (I guess he wore it all the time.
He never took it off.)
He says, “No, I can't even take it
off when I go to bed.”
She says, “Well, why don't you wear
these nice belts I've been making you?” She had been making him
belts with beads on [them] and belts made of dyed
moose hair and oh all sorts of them. They had plenty of belts. But
no, nothing was good enough for him. He just had to keep that old
belt he made from his dog.
Finally one time he said to
himself, `I don't see any harm in taking it off at night.' So he
hung it up at night [and] put it back on in the morning. . .
One time his [fellow men]
said, “I guess it's about that time that we have to go north and go
whaling again. We'll have to get some whales to get our oil with.
And some polar bear. We need some polar bear skins to make some new
coats for the Chief. And our Chief is getting real old. Who knows?
We might be electing a new Chief pretty soon.”
Well, it was decided that they'd
all leave the next day. Next day they took off, and there was a big
crowd of them. And they had some of these wizards or whatever
you used to call them that used to be able to change shapes. They
call them wizardswell, anyway something like that. And the farther
north they went the colder it got. Oh they had to go way [up],
maybe up to the Arctic. Well before they got there, some of
these uh powerful men had either frozen to death or they had changed
into birds--turned themselves into birds and tried to fly back. But
no. Before they could even take off they froze right there. They all
froze to death but Kluskap and his brother-in-law.
Well, they hunted and brought back
what they could, and they had plenty of whale oil and polar bear
furs, so they went back. These are the only two that survived. When
they got back to the reservation, the Chief said, “Well how come you
two are the only ones that survived? All those powerful men that
went, and none of them even came back! You must have some hidden
power to be able to go through that and come back alive.”
And all these other people from
different villages had heard about these two back from the great
North. They came to the village and said to Kluskap, “[Well, it
seems that] you're the only one that survived. Next time we go,
we'll go with you.”
Kluskap says, “Well, I'm not going
again until the next year, because I just came back from the North.
I won't go again until the next year.”
Well, that was all right. So in the
meantime him and his wife had been real close and everything. There
was times that he forgot to put his belt back on in the morning. It
got so that he'd go for weeks without wearing his belt. He wouldn't
think about putting his belt on until he got tired, and then he'd
remember his belt. Well, he was very happy with his wife. Finally
the year was up and it was time to go hunting again. They formed
another hunting party. Well then, he got ready to go hunting again
got everything all packed and they took off.
Before they took off, he looked
down by the shore and he saw this strange little puppy dog playing
around and every once in a while he'd come running in front of him.
But before he could catch him the dog would just run away again. And
[Kluskap] says to himself, `This looks like my old dog, but
it's too small to be my dog. It can't be.'
Well, he kept on going. . . . The
further they went, the colder it got. Finally it got so cold that he
started to tighten his belt, and then he realized that his belt was
missing. When he realized that he left his belt home, he started to
turn back, but he realized it was no use to turn back because it got
so cold he was just numb from cold. And these icicles were getting
bigger and bigger all the time and turning to icebergs, and
everywhere he looked ice was closing in on him. Finally when he was
so weak he was lying on the ice [by the] open water, along
came an eel. [It] come swimming towards [him] and this
eel spoke to him. When he looked at the eel, then he remembered this
little dog that was on the shore before he left his home. So he said
to the eel, “Now I remember you used to be like that. I remember
now. You tried to warn me. You tried to remind me before I left the
house that I had forgotten my belt. But now there is nothing you can
do for me, my pet, because I think I've reached the end.”
And just before he died he caught a
glimpse of this uh wizard—you know, the man with magic powers—the
one that had somehow been able to make him forget his belt because
he had his eye on Kluskap's wife.
And there Kluskap died, with that
eel trying to keep him warm. Because the dog had turned himself into
an eel and followed Kluskap and tried to reach him, but there wasn't
anything he could do. That's the end of Kluskap.
Return to Top
Footnotes
[1]
Since the matter of the picaresque as opposed to the plotted
narrative in Wabanaki tales has already been discussed in the
Introduction, p. 10, no more need be said of it here. The
whole tale is unique. That is to say, I have not found this
particular series of adventures as a series in any other
published Wabanaki (or for that matter Northeast Algonkian) sources.
Most of the separate incidents, however, have many parallels, which
the notes will point out. Interestingly enough, very few even of
these parallels are told of Kluskap.
[2]
There is a Micmac tale about “The Invisible Boy,” who could only be
seen by the girl who was to marry him. See Rand, 101-109; Leland,
303-307; Parsons, 77-78.
[3]
For a good discussion of this theme of the people who live inside
the mountain, see Eckstorm I, 39-52. The most common version of the
story has a man living in the mountain (sometimes he is the
mountain) who marries a human girl. Less often we find it as we do
in our tale, a girl who marries a mortal. The only other Malecite
versions I can find are in Mechling II, 97-99, 114-115, and both
tell of the mountain man. Two versions that show close
parallels with the present tale are in Leland, 259-261 (Passamaquoddy),
and Speck VIII, 76-77 (Penobscot). For more on the old man who never
leaves the mountain (and his sons either or both are sometimes
spoken of as The Thunders), see Alger, 16-17, and Leland, 266-267.
The entire story should be compared
with the well-known European tale The Man On A Quest For His Lost
Wife (Type 400), where we also find the elements of a hero
gaining a girl's hand only by enduring certain tests, his return
home under certain tabus, the breaking of the tabus, and the search
for the lost wife. Motifs H 331 Suitor contests: bride offered as
prize; H 331.4 Suitors contests: shooting. See also page
35 above, and footnote # 40.
[4]
In a Penobscot tale, Snowy Owl is given his grandfather's magic bow:
“Whatever he shot at he could not miss.” (Speck VIII, 50). Long Hair
has a similar bow (Speck VIII, 53). See also Alger, 36-37.
[5]
White bears and white bearskins occur frequently in Wabanaki tales,
always as something magical or, at least, extraordinary. For
Malecite, see Mechling II, 12. Passamaquoddy: Leland, 217, 292, 299.
Penobscot: Alger 95-98. Micmac: Rand 352-353. See also Speck VII,
109 (Montagnais and Naskapi).
[6]
The girl who marries Katahdin is forbidden to tell where she has
been or who her husband is. See Leland, 255-256. Motif C430
Naming Tabu: Prohibition against uttering the name of a person or
thing.
[7]
This episode is strongly reminiscent of the European motif of The
Forgotten Fiancee (D2003), Although here the hero does not
forget. See also motif C120 Tabu: Kissing.
[8]
Although nothing has been made of the dog up to this point, he
becomes extremely important from here on in. In the Micmac tale
(Rand, 272-273), Kluskap has a marvelous dog that can be tiny or
become as large as a bear at will. In a Penobscot tale, White Weasel
has a very faithful and helping dog (Speck VIII, 70-73.) And for a
highly poetical account of the dog coming to Kluskap, see Nicolar,
45ff.
[9]
Speaking of the Penobscots, Speck says, “In the myths we learn that
a belt served frequently as an instrument of magic. Gluskap had one
which he girded on his magic power, so to speak” (Speck IV, 257).
See, for examples, the following: Rand, 274, 277, 289, 369; Leland,
31, 53, 59; Leland and Prince, 126, 203; Prince, 31. The Penobscot
hero Long Hair also has a magic belt (Speck VIII, 53). Motifs D1025
Magic Skin of Animal; D1335.4 Magic belt gives strength.
However widespread magic belts may be in Wabnaki tales, the motif of
making the belt from his pet's hide is almost certainly European.
See, for example, the instructions given by the bull to his master
in Wilmot MacDonald's version of the well known European tale, “The
Little Red Ox” (Type 511A), Northeast Folklore IV (1962), 15.
[10]
I can find no clear parallel to this episode. Adney, in an
unpublished note, speaks of “The Wi-wil-a-mekhw, a species of
water dragon, somewhat like the Chi-pitch-kam of the Micmacs;
the same name being that of common snail or Helix.... The common
snail, bearing its helical or spiral shell, in its slimy, repulsive
appearance, and amphibious habit, is the Wi-wil-a-mekhw's
visible and other form, the one being able to change into the
other.” (Adney Mss.) There are three boxes of manuscripts relating
to this monster in the Peabody Museum Library! Speck mentions that
“One time a Passamaquoddy Indian said to John Neptune that he had a
baohi'gan, an immence horned snail as large as a mountain,
and he challenged John Neptune to fight it.” (Speck IV, 283).
[11]
Motifs G327 Swinging Ogre; K855 Fatal Swinging Game.
For a Malecite parallel, see Mechling II, 64. Penobscot: Speck VIII,
65-66. Montagnais: Speck V, 15. See also Leland, 40-41.
[12]
The suitor contest is one of the most popular themes in all North
American Indian folklore and some version of the present tale is
found in almost every collection made among Indians of the Wabanaki
group: the hero arrives on the scene a stranger, is made to compete
against the local talent (usually in three separate engagements), is
successful, and marries the chief's daughter (see Motif H331).
Kluskap gained his first wife by winning such a contest (see above,
pages 26-28), and he helped Turtle succeed in his. (See
above, pages 21-22.) When a tale becomes as popular as this,
it is always tempting to speculate on its relation to reality, to
see some sort of direct representation of what actually used to
happen. That way lies madness; the tale-reality relationship is
hardly ever that simple. Anyone who wishes to explore it further
however, might well examine the Wallises' statement that there is
evidence that among the Micmac a prospective groom at one time
served a year's apprenticeship to the bride's father before the
marriage was permitted (Wallis I, 240-243). Finally, two Penobscot
tales are similar enough in many details to make them worth citing
here, the tale of Long Hair and that of White Weasel. (Speck VIII,
53-55; 70-73).
[13]
For two very close parallels to this episode, see Mechling II, 46 (Malecite),
Speck VIII, 72-73 (Penobscot). In both cases the entire suitor
contest is very close to the present tale. Motif H331.6 Suitor
contest: wrestling.
[14]
For another Malecite version of the ball game played with human
heads, see Mechling II, 46, 53. Passamaquoddy: Leland and Prince,
179-180; Prince, 35. Penobscot: Leland, 125-126; Speck VIII, 54. See
also Speck VIII, 73. Motiff R261.1 Pursuit by rolling head.
[15]
For a parallel to Kluskap being encouraged to remove his magic belt,
see the Penobscot story of Long Hair in Speck VIII, 55.
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