Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 2

Traditions of the North American Indians,?by James Athearn Jones

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Vol. 2 (of 3), by James Athearn Jones This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Author: James Athearn Jones
Release Date: March 15, 2007 [EBook #20827]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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FRONTISPIECE.
Vol. 2.
[Illustration: Designed & Etched by W. H. Brooks, A. R. E. A. She is gone! that beautiful form is but shadow. page 87.] London, Published by Colburn & Bentley, April 1830.

TRADITIONS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS:
BEING
A SECOND AND REVISED EDITION OF
"TALES OF AN INDIAN CAMP."
BY
JAMES ATHEARN JONES.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON: HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1830. F. SHOBERL, JUN., LONG ACRE.

PLATES.
VOL. I. PAGE.
Frontispiece to face the title The Wahconda's Son 159
VOL. II.
Frontispiece to face the title Caverns of the Kickapoo 204
VOL. III.
Frontispiece to face the title Garanga 204

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
Page. Legends of the Creation. I. The Two Chappewees. A Tradition of the Dog-Rib Tribe 1 II. Sakechak, the Hunter 21 III. The Bird of Ages 35 IV. The Great Hare 43 V. The Six Nanticokes 49 VI. The Universal Mother 93 The Coming of Miquon 99 The Funeral Fire 115 The Portioning of the Sons 125 The Maiden's Rock 131 The Expedition of the Lenni Lenapes 141 Gittahee Gauzinee 181 Ampato Sapa 189 The Caverns of the Kickapoo 201 The Mountain of Little Spirits 207 The Valley of the Bright Old Inhabitants 223 The Legend of Moshup 261 The Phantom Woman. A Tradition of the Winnebagoes 273 The Two Ghosts 285 The Vision of the Abnakis Chief 303

TALES OF AN INDIAN CAMP.

LEGENDS OF THE CREATION.
I. THE TWO CHAPPEWEES. A TRADITION OF THE TRIBE OF THE DOG-RIBS.
Upon a narrow strait, between two tempestuous and stormy seas, lived the young man Chappewee, whose father, the old man Chappewee, was the first of men. The old man Chappewee, the first of men, when he first landed on the earth, near where the present Dog-ribs have their hunting-grounds, found the world a beautiful world, well stocked with food, and abounding with pleasant things. There is nothing in the world now which was not in it then, save red clay, a canoe with twelve paddles, and the white man's rum. Then, as now, whales were disporting in the liquid element; musk-oxen filled the glades, and deer, and bears, and wolves, were browzing on the hills, or prowling about the forest. But there was at that time no canoe, for there was nobody to paddle it; no rum, for who would drink it? and red clay was not found till a long time afterwards, when the young man Chappewee's nose bled, and coloured the earth, a portion of which has since been red.
When the old man Chappewee came upon the earth, he found no man, woman, or child, upon it. Knowing that it was not good to be alone, he created children. To these children he gave two kinds of fruit, the black and the white, but forbade them to eat the black. Having issued his commands for the government and guidance of his family, and laid up plenty of provisions for them, he took leave of them for a time, to go into a far country where the sun dwelt, for the purpose of conducting him to the world, which was yet unvisited by his beams. So, taking with him three thousand large roasted porpoises, oceans of black fish, thirty large whales, and a good deal of tobacco, that he might do by the way those necessary things, eat and smoke, he departed for the residence of the sun. After a very long journey and a long absence, he returned, bringing with him the glorious orb, which ever since has lighted the earth, in some countries, for a portion of the hours of each day, and, in other countries, for a part of the days of each year. When he returned, he found to his great joy that his children had remained obedient; had eaten only of the white fruit; and were therefore, as yet, beyond the reach of disease and death. So he left them again, to go on another distant expedition. He saw that the great luminary he had given the world lighted it only for a part of the hours of each