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Title: Wawenock Myth Texts from Maine - Forty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American - Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, - 1925-26, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1928, - pages 165-198
Author: Speck, Frank G.
Language: English
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WAWENOCK MYTH TEXTS FROM MAINE
BY
FRANK G. SPECK
The texts are published with the permission of the Division
of Anthropology, National Museum of Canada
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 169
Phonetic note 178
Gluskα̨be´ the Transformer 180
Gluskα̨be´ creates himself and competes with the Creator 180
The Turtle insults the chief of the Birds; Gluskα̨be´ helps him
to escape; mountains are created; and again Turtle escapes
by getting his captors to throw him into the water, but is
finally killed 181
Gluskα̨be´ becomes angry with the birch tree and marks it
for life 185
Gluskα̨be´ the Transformer (free translation) 186
How a hunter encountered Bmule´, visited his country and
obtained a boon 190
How a hunter encountered Bmule´, visited his country and
obtained a boon (free translation) 193
The origin and use of wampum 195
The origin and use of wampum (free translation) 196
Wawenock drinking song 197
Index 821
ILLUSTRATION
PLATE 13. François Neptune, the last speaker of the Wawenock
dialect 169
[Illustration:
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT
PLATE 13
FRANÇOIS NEPTUNE, THE LAST SPEAKER OF WAWENOCK (1912)]
WAWENOCK MYTH TEXTS FROM MAINE
By FRANK G. SPECK
INTRODUCTION
It is one of the laments of ethnology that the smaller tribes of the
northern coast of New England faded from the scene of history before we
were able to grasp the content of their languages and culture. At this
late day practically all have dwindled below the power of retaining
the memory of their own institutions--their link with the past.
Nevertheless, some few groups along the coast have maintained existence
in one form or another down to the present. In regions somewhat more
remote, the tribes of the Wabanaki group, hovering within the shelter
of the northeastern wilderness, successfully struggled through the
trials of the transition period, preserved their oral inheritance, and
even, to a considerable degree, the practices of their early culture.
Here on native soil still dwell the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy. On the
western and southern boundaries of Maine the Wabanaki bands escaped
extinction only by fleeing to Canada, where their descendants now
live at the village of St. Francis. Of the tribal names included in
this group, however, one in particular, the Wawenock, has long been
reckoned among the obsolete, though several times the suggestion had
appeared in print that the Indians residing at Becancour, Province of
Quebec, might be its survivors. In 1912 my interest in possibilities of
the sort culminated in the intention to follow up this source myself.
The results were extremely gratifying, for during the winter’s visit
traces were uncovered of those eternal values of native language and
tradition, which happily were still preserved in the memory of François
Neptune (pl. 13), one of the Wawenock men. My object in the following
pages is to present part of the literary material obtained from him, to
which I have prefixed a sketch of the tribe’s history.
The proper name of the tribe is, however, _Wali·na´kiak_, “People of
the Bay country.”[1] The term is current among the Wawenock survivors
of to-day, as well as among their neighbors and former allies, the
affiliated tribes originally from southern Maine, which now constitute
the St. Francis Abenaki.
[1] J. A. Maurault, Histoire des Abenakis, Quebec, 1866, p. VII, gives
Wolinak as the native name of Becancour, offering his idea of its
meaning as “river which makes many detours.”
Notwithstanding the fact that we have nowhere any definite information
on the exact boundaries of the Wawenock in their old home, it is
evident from Penobscot sources that the Wawenock territory began where
the Penobscot family claims[2] ended, a short distance west of the
waters of Penobscot Bay. This would give the Wawenock the environs of
St. George’s Harbor and River, and all the intervening coast as far as
the mouth of Kennebec River, since the latter is mentioned as their
western boundary. A difficulty confronts us, however, when we try to
determine how far northward into the interior the Wawenock claims
extended. From geographical considerations, since the region which is
typical of the coast extends inland about 30 or 40 miles, we might
infer that the hunting grounds of the tribe extended at least as far.
The additional fact that the Penobscot territory spread out westward
as we go toward the interior, and that they knew the Norridgewock
and Aroosaguntacook as their immediate western neighbors, would then
leave the general tract from the headwaters of St. Georges, Medomac,
Damariscotta and Sheepscot Rivers and Togus Stream, all east of the
Kennebec River, and southward to the coast, to be regarded as Wawenock
territory. The Wawenock have been already definitely assigned to the
Sheepscot and Pemaquid,[3] which would seem to have been at about
the center of their habitat. That their territory was also known as
Sagadahock (Sαŋkəde´łαk, Penobscot) is shown by a statement giving
different local names to parts of the Kennebec River--names which
corresponded more or less to the names of local bands--as follows:
“Aransoak, Orantsoak,[4] Kennebec River from the lake (Moosehead Lake)
to Norridgewock. Below Skowhegan it was called Canebas or Kenebas[5] to
Merrymeeting Bay, thence to the sea, Sagadahock.”[6]
[2] These were the Penobscot families of Mitchell (Lobster) and Susup
(Crab), who held the immediate shores and surroundings of Penobscot Bay.
[3] Maine Historical Society Collections, Vol. IV, p. 96, 1858. “The
Abnaquies occupied country between Penobscot Bay and Piscataquis River
and were divided into four principal tribes, viz, (1) the Sokokis
on the Saco River, (2) the Anasagunticook on the Androscoggin, (3)
the Carribas or Kenabes on the Kennebec, (4) the Wawenocks on the
Sheepscot, Pemaquid, etc.”
[4] Norridgewock, Nalα´djəwak, “Rapids up the river” (Penobscot);
Nawαdzwa´ki (St. Francis Abenaki); Nawi´·djəwak (Malecite), Nashwaak
River, N. B.; and also what may be evidently another form of the
name Newichewanock in New Hampshire. The proper name for the band is
Nalαdjwa´kiak (Penobscot), Nawαdzəwakia´k (St. Francis). A. E. Kendall
(Travels through the Northern Parts of the United States in 1807-8,
Vol. III, N. Y., 1809) gives the term as “Nanrantawacs” (p. 52), which
he says implies “still water between two places at which the current
is rapid.” J. D. Prince (Some Passamaquoddy Documents, Annals New York
Academy of Science, XI, no. 15, 1898, p. 376) translates nanrantsouack
as “stretch of still water.”
[5] Kwun·i·begᵂ “Long water” (Penobscot). The form of the proper name
would be Kwun·i·begwiak “people of the long water,” but we do not
encounter this in the documents. Maurault (op. cit., p. IV and 89) has
an interesting and very probable opinion on this term. He suggests as
an origin Kanibesek, “qui conduit au lac,” chaque année au temps de
la grande chasse de l’hiver les Canibas se rendaient en grande nombre
au “lac à l’original” (Moosehead Lake) en suivant la rivière Kénébec.
C’est pour cela qu’ils appelaient cette rivière “le chemin qui conduit
au lac.”
[6] Sαŋkəde´łak, “where the river flows out” (Penobscot). See also
Father Rasles (Jesuit Relations, 1716-27, vol. 67, p. 197), Sankderank.
Kendall, who traveled this country in 1807 (E. A. Kendall, op. cit.,
pp. 143-144), gives the same names Schunkadarunk and Zaughe’darankiac
and translates them correctly as “mouth of the river” and “people of
the mouth of the river.” Maurault (op. cit., p. 77) differs from others
in giving the form “‘sakkadaguk’ à l’endroit où le terrain est plat et
uni.” The proper name Sαŋkədeławiak, “people of where the river flows
out,” is known among the Penobscot to-day and has been frequently used
by authors in referring to Indians at the mouth of the Kennebec and
Androscoggin Rivers, or better, as Kendall states, to “the people of
the common mouth of Kennebec and Amariscoggin, that is the Sagahoc of
the early colonists.” (Kendall, op. cit., vol. III, p. 144.)
Bearing upon this is the fact that part of the St. Francis band
residing near Durham, Province of Quebec, until recently preserved the
local name kwən·a·´mwiak, “long point people.” This has been thought
to be possibly connected with the term just given. Joseph Laurent[7]
assigns the same name (Kwanahômoik) to Durham and gives the meaning
“where the turn of the river makes a long point.” It is evidently,
however, a later name acquired by these St. Francis families after they
had settled at Durham.
[7] New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues, Quebec, 1884, p. 210.
In ancient times the tribes on the coast of Maine extended into the
interior, but were more or less locally identified with the mouths of
the rivers and the large bays. The Wawenock were then located southwest
of the Penobscot, whose proper territory on the coast only surrounded
Penobscot Bay. According to tradition among the Penobscot, their
nearest relatives, the Wawenock, as we shall henceforth call them on
preferred authority,[8] are definitely remembered as Wα̨li·´naki·ak,
“People of the bay country,” because they were located on the shores
and in the country back of what is now known as Sagadahoc. This
country lies southwest of Penobscot Bay and includes a number of
smaller bays from St. George’s Bay, in Knox County, westward to the
mouth of the Kennebec River, embracing Lincoln and part of Sagadahoc
Counties. The Penobscot also refer to the inhabitants of this region
as Sα̨ŋkədeła´wiak, “People of the mouth of the river” (Sagadahoc),
the term being evidently another name for the Wawenock. At the present
time, not having held any contact with the Wawenock since their removal
to Canada early in the eighteenth century, they know the tribe only
by name. There is some evidence, however, in one of the family names,
Neptune, which occurs among both the Penobscot and Wawenock, that
during this period some of the latter may have joined the Penobscot or
vice versa.
[8] Various spellings for the tribal name have been given at different
times by different authors, occasionally even in the same work. Among
these occur such forms as Weweenock, Wewoonock, Wewenock, Wewonock;
the differences being evidently due to illegible handwriting in the
manuscripts and to the usual whims of orthography.
From these sources we can derive a fairly definite idea of the Wawenock
habitat and also two of the tribal synonyms.[9] Sagadahoc seems to have
been a commonly used designation for both the country and people.
[9] It seems a bit strange in passing along over the literature of
this region to note that Maurault, who seems to have known Wabanaki
history and ethnology very well, did not mention anything of the
term Wawenock in his chapter on the establishment of the Abenaki at
Becancour. (Maurault, op. cit., chap. 7.) He does, however, say that
the Indians at Becancour were Abenaki and Sokokis who came previously
from Damisokantik, which term he correctly derives from Namesokântsik,
“place where there are many fish,” later changed to Megantic, the
present name of a large lake near the Canadian boundary. It may be
remarked that tradition supports this assertion, for the Wawenock
informant, François Neptune, says that his grandmother knew that some
of her people came from there, and that the families at Becancour
formerly had hunting grounds there.
In the matter of the first European contact with the tribe it is
probable that Captain Waymouth in 1609, when he encountered the Indians
while riding at anchor off the coast of Maine, in what is now thought
to be George’s Harbor, encountered men of the Wawenock. The chances
are, however, about even that they were Wawenock or Penobscot. We may
assume in either case, nevertheless, that some of the descriptions,
which the scribe of the expedition, James Rosier, left us, refer to the
Wawenock, because subsequently during his sojourn in the neighborhood
he met a great many natives, concerning some of whom he has given
considerable information.[10]
[10] A True Relation of the Voyage of Captain George Waymouth (1609),
By James Rosier, p. 67 et seq. (Early English and French Voyages
(1534-1608) in Original Narratives of Early American History.)
Subsequent historical literature contains nothing, so far as I could
find, until about a century later when the Wabanaki tribes of Maine
had become hostile to the English colonists in Massachusetts. Father
Rasles, the Jesuit missionary who took charge of a mission in 1690,
founded at Norridgewock several years before, mentions the tribe as the
Warinakiens.[11] An estimate for this year states that the Sheepscot
(a local name for the Wawenock) had 150 men and the Pemaquid 100.[12]
The Wawenock were one of the tribes to be represented in the mission
at Norridgewock, which was some 50 miles from the heart of their
country.[13] During this period the Wawenock appear to have gradually
drifted northward toward the interior, probably in order to associate
more closely with the Christian proselytes of the Norridgewock and
Aroosaguntacook.[14]
[11] Mass. Hist. Soc. Colls., 2d ser., Vol. VIII, p. 263 (1819).
[12] New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1866, p. 9.
[13] Rasles, in a letter to his brother written at Norridgewock in 1723
(Jesuit Relations, 1716-1727, vol. 67, pp. 183-195), speaks of a tribe
of “Amalingans,” who evidently lived near the sea, whom he converted.
Is it possible that he meant the “Warinakiens”?
[14] That the Indians at the mouth of Kennebec River were not always on
the best of terms with the bands up river appears from a reference in
Jesuit Relations for 1652, quoted by Maurault (op. cit., p. 8), saying
that the latter had been on the point of declaring war on them.
Mention is made of a withdrawal of some of the Indians in 1713
to Becancour, Province of Quebec, which probably refers to the
Wawenock.[15] Another notice, dated 1717, gives under the name of
Wawenock, a total of 15 men; the same source stating that in 1726 those
at “Sheepcut” numbered 3 and at “Pemaquid” 10.[16]
[15] Handbook of American Indians, Bull. 30, Bur. Amer. Ethn., part 1,
p. 881.
[16] New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1866, p. 9.
As regards the mission at Norridgewock, Father Rasles was accused
of attaching the tribes so warmly to the French cause that they soon
became regarded as dangerous enemies of the English colonists. In 1724
an expedition was sent against the Norridgewock, which resulted in the
destruction of their village, the dispersion of the tribe, and the
death of Rasles.[17]
[17] Handbook of American Indians, Bull. 30, Bur. Amer. Ethn., part 2,
p. 83.
Much has been written, both by English and French historians, showing
that Father Rasles was murdered and mutilated by the English in this
unfortunate massacre,[18] but another version of the affair is related
by the Wawenock informant. In this it is claimed that Rasles secretly
betrayed the mission to the English.[19]
[18] The original account of this event is by Father de la Chasse,
Quebec, 1724, cf. Jesuit Relations, 1716-1727, vol. 67, pp. 231-238.
Maurault (op. cit., pp. 403-404) also gives an account of the same
based on Charlevoix, Histoire Général de la Nouvelle France, vol. iv,
pp. 120-121, and Bancroft, History of the United States, vol. ii, p.
122, and Chiètien Le Clercq, “First Establishment of the Faith in New
France,” translated by J. G. Shea, New York, 1881.
[19] The legend runs as follows: When the English came to Norridgewock
the French priest sold the Indians to the English. The English gave him
a bag of gold and they promised that he should not be killed when the
attack was made. On that day he called the Indians into the church,
but one of the old women (the Malecite call her Pukdji´nskwes·) warned
them not to go, as she had had a presentiment of trouble. Her folks
ridiculed her, saying that she was silly with old age. When they had
gathered in the church the English attacked and the old woman was the
only one to escape, taking with her her grandchild on a cradle board
and swimming Kennebec River. The rest of the people were killed. During
the massacre one of the Indians tomahawked or shot Rasles in revenge.
The same story, strange to say, is well known among the Penobscot and
the Malecite. Among the Penobscot there are supposed descendants of
this grandchild, whose name was Bámzi·, according to an historical
legend.
After this unfortunate event the Wawenock who still dwelt there moved
from Norridgewock with their relatives, the Aroosaguntacook[20] allies,
who became known thereafter as the St. Francis Abenaki. The Wawenock
never became so thoroughly incorporated with the St. Francis Indians as
to lose their identity as did the other bands from southern Maine. They
did, however, share in the general term Abenaki, and were designated in
later accounts as the Abenaki of Becancour.
[20] The original form of this term is alsiga´ntαgwi·ak, for which the
following three meanings, depending upon the translation of the first
two syllables, have been assigned by different authorities. The Indians
of St. Francis, the Aroosaguntacook themselves, suggest in explanation
(1) “people of the river abounding in grass,” deriving the first part
of the term from a´lsiàl, “river grasses,” and -gan, “abundance of,”
and (2) “people of the river abounding in shells,” from als, “mollusk
shell.” The related Penobscot generally render the name (3) “people of
the empty house river,” taking alsigan to mean “empty house.” There
seems to be on etymological grounds about equal reason for all the
suggestions, so far as can be shown. Different writers, according to
their extent of knowledge or opinion on the matter, have favored one or
the other of these interpretations. For instance, Maurault (op. cit.,
pp. 272-273 and p. VII) inclines to interpretation (1). Prof. J. D.
Prince (American Anthropologist, n. s. Vol. IV, p. 17 (1902)) favors
the third, and quotes Gill (Notes sur les Vieux Manuscrits Abenakis,
Montreal, 1866, p. 13) as showing the same opinion. The second
interpretation receives favor from Joseph Laurent (Lola), “New Familiar
Abenakis and English Dialogues,” Quebec, 1884, p. 206.
According to their own traditions of the removal,[21] the Wawenock
informant says, they reached the St. Lawrence River opposite the mouth
of St. Maurice River, having probably come down the St. Francis River
from the south. The place is known in Wawenock as Noda´wαŋgαŋk, “Place
of the dance.”[22] The exiles, who were of course obliged to recognize
the territorial hunting rights of the Algonquin proprietors,[23] are
said to have asked if they could hunt with them. In response, it is
claimed, the Algonquin gave the Abenaki a concession extending 2
leagues above Three Rivers, down to the St. Lawrence to the mouth of
a river on the south side where there is an island called Mαtasu̹´, a
corruption of the name of the Seigneur Montesson who held the title
to it.[24] There the Wawenock separated from the Abenaki allies and
located on what is now Becancour River. Maurault[25] says that in
the move of 1679 the Sokoki (Sako´ki·ak “Saco River people”) in part
settled at Becancour.[26]
[21] Maurault (op. cit., p. 284) states that the Indians first began
their settlement at Becancour as early as 1680.
[22] Our informant, François Neptune, says that the site is near the
railroad bridge at Three Rivers.
[23] Maurault (op. cit., pp. 109-112) speaks of friendly relations
existing between the Algonquins and the Wabanaki tribes as early as
1613.
[24] Maurault (op. cit., p. 290) mentions the same and has something to
say about the identity of the owner of the name.
[25] Op. cit., p. 174.
[26] Kendall (op. cit., pp. 143-144) also states that Sakokiak settled
at Becancour.
They evidently played a considerable part in the Indian wars that
devastated southern Maine at this time, and in 1726, when the first
serious attempt was made by the Massachusetts government to secure
peace, the Wawenock receive frequent mention in the records of the
proceedings. At the treaty of Falmouth, Casco Bay, in 1726, before Gov.
W. Dummer, of Massachusetts, “Wenemovet answered that they had full
power to act for them (the Norridgewock) and for the Wewenocks and for
the ‘Arresuguntenocks’ and (St.) François.”[27]
[27] Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th ser., Vol. V, 353 (1861).
In speaking of Governor Dummer’s treaty, the “Norridgwocks, St.
François, and Wowenock Indians” are again mentioned as being in Canada,
whither the bulk of the allies must have moved by this year (1726).[28]
Also Loron,[29] a Penobscot chief, explained to the Governor how he
was entitled to make peace for the “Norrigwock, St. François, and
Wowenocks,” who were not present at the treaty, by reason of having
received a wampum belt from them empowering the Penobscot to speak
in their behalf.[30] Loron also said that the Norridgewock Indians
were scattered among the “Arresaguntecook” Wewonock or St. François
tribes.[31] It is interesting to observe the names of some of the
native treaty delegates in these accounts because some of them have
survived in the tribe until the present day, as we shall see later.
They also have some ethnological value. It seems that, owing to the
absence of some of the tribes from the occasion of the first treaty in
1726, it became necessary to hold another the following year to ratify
it. Accordingly in the conference of that year (1727) held again at
Falmouth, the following sachems subscribed to the ratification of the
treaty made through the Penobscot in the year preceding. “Toxeus,[32]
Sagamore of Nerridgawock, Ausummowett,[33] Sagamore of Arresaguntacook,
Woosszurraboonet,[34] Sagamore of Wowenock” are mentioned.[35] Later
again we learn of “Memmadgeen and Woosszaurraboonet, Captains and
Councillors, two of the chiefs of the Wowenock Tribe and delegated by
them, accompanied by Auwemmonett, the chief sachem’s son, Wenerramett,
Paterramett,[36] Saawerramet, Quinoise,[37] chiefs and others of
the said tribe of Wowenock.” The conference was attended by “40
Nerridgawocks and 15 Wawenocks.”[38] The fact that these tribal groups
were fairly independent politically is shown by their desire to have
“separate seals of the treaty,” one for each tribe. Some more Wawenock
personal names were given by Quinoise, one of the above-mentioned
delegates, when he enumerated Indians whom he knew held some English
captives. They were Wauhaway, Acteon, Omborowess, Maneerhowhaw, Pier,
Sungehaugundo, some of whom were St. François, some Wawenocks and some
Scattacooks (from Connecticut).[39]
[28] Ibid., p. 365.
[29] This is from the French Laurent, its Indian form being Lola among
the St. Francis and Penobscot, where it is still a family surname.
[30] Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th ser., Vol. V (1861), pp. 386, 387.
[31] Ibid., p. 390.
[32] Toxus (Taksu´s) was until lately represented among the family
patronyms of the St. Francis people.
[33] This name may be the same as Wasámemet, Wasawánemet, which still
survives as a family name at St. Francis, where it is thought to mean,
“He talks against some one.”
[34] For a supposition as to the later identity of the name among the
Wawenock themselves, see p. 176 of this paper.
[35] Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. III (1853), p. 411.
[36] See also p. 176.
[37] Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. III (1853), p. 412. Possibly
the French rendering of Kwun·a´wαs, “Long Hair,” a personal name
in Penobscot mythology (F. G. Speck, Penobscot Transformer Tests,
International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 1, no. 3, 1918, p.
188).
[38] Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. III (1853), p. 413.
[39] Ibid., p. 440. Among these names, Acteon for Attean (Etienne),
Omborowess for Amblowess (Ambroise), and Pier for Piel (Pierre) are
recognizable as present day Wabanaki family names. The name Omborowess
was a Wawenock patronym. (See p. 176.)
But the peace did not last long and war again broke out between the
English and Wabanaki tribes. Another treaty was consummated at Falmouth
in 1749. In this compact, which finally brought an end to the Indian
troubles in southern Maine, the “Arresuguntoocooks and Weweenocks” were
represented by “Sawwaramet, Aussaado, Waannunga, Sauquish, Wareedeon,
Wawawnunka.”[40] From this time on the Abenaki relinquished their
attempts to retain their claims in Maine and retired to Canada, where
the Wawenock came into possession of land at Becancour on Becancour
River, while the Norridgewock and Aroosaguntacook, together with
survivors of the other smaller tribes, settled permanently about 30
miles away at St. Francis, on St. Francis River. Maurault in 1866[41]
asserted that only 10 families remained at Becancour, though they were
of purer blood than the Abenaki at St. Francis. He says that in 1708
the Indians at Becancour numbered 500, having come from Lake Megantic,
with others from the Androscoggin and Chaudiere Rivers. The number
probably included Sokoki who had joined them in 1679 (see p. 173).
[40] Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. IV, p. 164 (1856).
[41] Maurault, op. cit., pp. 288 and 294.
Although the Indians forming the St. Francis village and the Wawenock
had many interests in common they remained independent of each other,
not only in dialect but in political respects, in having their own
reservations, chiefs, and administration, both religious and civil. The
same conditions hold to-day. At St. Francis the Wawenock from Becancour
are regarded as friendly strangers.
This brings us down to recent times. Politically the Wawenock have now
about lost their name, being known in occasional reports as the Abenaki
of Becancour. In 1910 they numbered 26,[42] including absentees, upon
their reservation of 135⅔ acres. Most of them have scattered, some
having gone to the French towns, while I encountered several families
who have migrated to Lake St. John and live with the Montagnais as
hunters and trappers.[43]
[42] In 1914 when I visited them they numbered 23.
[43] In traveling among the Montagnais of the Province of Quebec I have
encountered some of the dispersed Wawenock families and descendants
from whom the following information was secured.
In about 1870 Charles Neptune and his sister of Becancour, in company
with some Abenaki from St. Francis (Aimable Gille, Obomsawin family),
and relatives, came to Lake St. John by way of Chicoutimi. They
migrated to Metabetchouan by canoe from Chicoutimi, and settled near
the Hudson Bay Co.’s post, long since abandoned. Here they appropriated
hunting territories with the permission of the Montagnais. Charles
Neptune died in 1907. He spoke the Wawenock language. Six sons and
three daughters survived him, his wife having been a Canadian. Their
descendants are now living among the Montagnais at Lake St. John, under
the family names of Neptune, du Chêne, and Phillippe. Another Wawenock
from Becancour, Louis Philip, lives at Lake St. John. His father came
from Lake Megantic on the border between Maine and the Province of
Quebec. He was probably the last Wawenock to have been born in Maine.
Philip has descendants at Lake St. John. He knows a few words and
expressions which indicate the dialect of his father to have been
really Wawenock. Of the 23 Wawenock descendants at Lake St. John, as
enumerated by Noah Neptune in 1915, none know anything distinctive of
their ancestral language or customs.
Again on the lower St. Lawrence there are Wawenock descendants. At
Tadousac and Chicoutimi, the Nicola families have become admitted to
land rights with the Montagnais of these places. At Escoumains is
another named Jacques. Four children of old Joseph Nicola who migrated
many years ago from Trois Rivières, and settled also at Chicoutimi,
also have numerous offspring by either Montagnais or Canadian wives.
Possibly these emigrants came to the Saguenay with the ancestors of the
Gille, Neptune, and Phillippe families at Lake St. John. At Tadousac,
Joseph Nicolar remembered the text of a Wawenock song which his father
used to sing. This is given with the other texts in this paper (see p.
197).
I should add, that with few exceptions among the older people, these
Wawenock descendants have become so merged either with the Canadian or
the Montagnais that they know almost nothing of their own people. In
the family names, however, we can see the survival of influences which
began in Maine when the ancestors of the Wawenock were close to the
Penobscot with whom they have some family names in common.
The following are the family names of the tribe. Some are still in
existence (marked *); others have recently become extinct.
Pabi·welə mα´t “He is thought small.” The family name
of the grandmother of François Neptune,
our informant. This name may be the
original of “Paterramett” mentioned
in the treaty of 1727 (cf. p. 174).
*Metsałabα̨lα´t “Lost his Breath” (?) This name is undoubtedly
the original of “Wooszurraboonet” of 1727
(cf. p. 174).
Sogαla´n “It rains.”
Sezawegwu´n “Feather in the hair.”
Mekwas·α´k “Red stain.”
Abələwe´s· French “Ambroise.” The same as
“Omborowess” in 1727 (cf. p. 175).
*Obä̦´ French, (St.) Urbain.
*Neptα´n Neptune, doubtful origin. This is also
a Penobscot family name.
*Nicola´ Nicholas, also a Penobscot family name.
So far as can be said at present the material culture of the Wawenock
was practically identical with that of the Penobscot and St. Francis
Abenaki. Not much of this is preserved by the survivors at the present
day. The tribe, however, still keeps its organization under a chief.
In the traditions of the Wabanaki Confederacy, as far as we know them,
the Wawenock are not mentioned, though they had been represented in the
alliance at an earlier time.
As for social organization no knowledge is preserved of the family
hunting territories, for it seems that at Becancour hunting has
not been a practicable occupation for several generations. Neither
dances nor ceremonies have been performed within the memory of the
old people, so we only have the names of several dances which are
remembered through tradition. The term alnαk`hadi´·n denotes the
common dance (Penobscot alnαba´gan) performed as a part of the
marriage ceremony which, like that of the Penobscot, is proposed by
means of wampum. Several strings of wampum, which were given to the
parents of his grandmother by her husband when he proposed marriage,
were fortunately obtained from François Neptune. Nawadəwe´·, “song
and dance” (Penobscot, Nawa´dəwe), was a war dance in which the men
carried tomahawks, and skogogwəga´n, “snake dance,” was similar to the
Penobscot ma`tagi´posi·, “moving in a serpentine manner.”
In the field of folk lore, medicinal lore and shamanism much still
remains to be done with the informant. The culture hero and transformer
Gluskα̨be´, “the Deceiver,” is the same as that of the Penobscot, and
shares generally the same characteristics. A comparative study of the
transformer (Gluskap) cycle in Wabanaki mythology is being prepared by
the writer, so it does not seem essential to refer just now to cognate
elements in the mythology of the other tribes of the group.
Within the last generation the Wawenock dialect has gone completely
out of use. Most of the survivors are half-breeds and speak French.
The only person I found who knows the dialect is François Neptune,
supposedly a full blood, in his sixties (1914), the oldest man at
Becancour, whose acquaintance I had the good fortune to make in 1914
during a trip of reconnaissance among the Abenaki in company with Mr.
Henry Masta of this tribe.[44] Neptune’s interest in his dialect, which
he knew to be on the verge of extinction, made work with him quite
easy, although the state of his health prevented our doing more at
the time. The following few myths in text will, I think, enable us to
form some idea of its intermediate position between Penobscot and St.
Francis Abenaki when more of the texts already collected in both of
these dialects are published.[45] It seems hardly necessary to remark
that, in the scanty material on this region so far available in print,
there exists absolutely nothing in the Wawenock dialect.
[44] It might be added that Mr. Masta has given considerable time to
the study of his people, and he is quite satisfied as to the identity
of the Abenaki of Becancour with the Wawenock of early Maine history.
[45] Comparative linguistic and mythological material in Penobscot,
which the Wawenock most closely resembles may be found in the writer’s
“Penobscot Transformer Texts,” International Journal of American
Linguistics, vol. I, no. 3, 1918, while Doctor Michelson has given
the position of Penobscot among the eastern Algonkian dialects in his
Preliminary Report on the Linguistic Classification of Algonquian
Tribes, Twenty-eighth Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn., 1913, pp. 280-288.
PHONETIC NOTE
Although closely related with the Penobscot and the St. Francis
dialects, Wawenock has some distinctive qualities of its own. The list
of sounds is as follows:
p, b, m are normal as in English.
n, l alveolar-dental in position.
ł alveolar-dental lateral surd.
t, d alveolar-dentals, somewhat indeterminate in quality.
k, g medial palatals, indeterminate in quality. k`ᵂ is k followed
by aspiration and lip closure; gᵂ also occurs.[46]
tc affricative medial surd.
dj affricative medial sonant.
s, z in position same as in English, indeterminate in sonant
quality.
ŋ palatal nasal, like _ng_ of English _sing_.
h, w, y as in English.
a, i, o, u normal, medium length.
e open, as _e_ in English _met_.
ε long, between _e_ and _ä_, as in North German _bär_.
i· long closed vowel like English _ee_.
ᴐ longer than _o_, almost like _au_ in English _taut_.
α short _a_, like _u_ of English _but_.
ə short obscure vowel of uncertain quality.
, denotes nasalized vowels (α̨, ą, ǫ́).
` denotes aspiration following sound.
· denotes lengthened vowel or consonant.
´ primary stress.
` secondary stress.
[46] This results from the loss of a vowel.
Two stop consonants coming together have a slight vocalic pause,
sometimes amounting to _ə_, between them.
The vowels _e_, _i_, _a_, _o_, _u_ before stops have a tendency to show
a slight aspiration following them. This quality, however, is hardly
noticeable in Wawenock in comparison with Penobscot or Malecite.
Where words differ in spelling in different places it is because they
were recorded as they were pronounced each time.
Wawenock appears to have been intermediate dialectically as well
as geographically between Penobscot and St. Francis Abenaki
(Aroosaguntacook and Norridgewock). In phonetic make-up it has the
predominating _e_, ε, vowel where in St. Francis _a_ and in Penobscot
_e_ occurs, though resembling Penobscot more. Wawenock Gluskα̨bε,
St. Francis Gulskα̨ba´, Penobscot Gluskα̨´be; Wawenock be·´nαm, St.
Francis p`ha´nαm, Penobscot p`he´nαm. “woman.” The dental quality
of the alveolar consonants (_n_, _t_, _d_, _l_) is something of an
individuality to Wawenock. It is totally foreign to Penobscot and the
dialects eastward, while the St. Francis pronunciation shows it in
_t_, _d_, and the affricatives. Wawenock, like St. Francis Abenaki, has
the final syllable stress. Like St. Francis it also lacks the distinct
aspiration following vowels preceding stops and affricatives so
noticeable in Penobscot. Syntactically Wawenock uses more independent
word forms than Penobscot but it is not quite so analytic as the
St. Francis dialect. In vocabulary Wawenock employs some nouns and
verbs which are found in Penobscot and not in St. Francis and vice
versa--perhaps more of the former. Modal and adverbial forms are more
like those of St. Francis. There is nothing in grammar, so far as I
could ascertain, that is really distinct from both the two related
dialects; consequently the intermediate position of the dialect seems
well established. Its intermediate complexion has led to an anomalous
classification among the Indians themselves. The Penobscot associate
Wawenock with the St. Francis dialect, while the latter reciprocate by
classing it with Penobscot. As a final consideration it might be added
that intercourse with the St. Francis people has been too irregular
to have influenced the idiom in recent years, hence the intermediary
characteristics of the dialect seem genuine properties, not of a kind
acquired since the migration of the tribe from its old home in Maine.
GLUSKΑ̨BΕ´ THE TRANSFORMER
A
GLUSKα̨Bε´ CREATES HIMSELF AND COMPETES WITH THE CREATOR
yuwe´dji· mαdjα̨be´gəsit` Gluskα̨bε´ nenawa´ debe´ldak
From this is the beginning Gluskabe. Then he “The Owner”[47]
wa`wali·bα̨de ntami·senα̨bal` ni·nawayu´ ki· peyαnα´k
when he made first man then now of earth left over,
gi·zi·hα̨´t yuli´l senα̨ba´l` ni·wudji·´ nitci·husi´n
when he made this man from that he created himself
Gluskα̨bε´ yu· ki· peyαnα̨·zi´k ki·yu´ gi´zi·begi·hadα̨zu`
Gluskabe this earth left over this earth which had been sprinkled,
ni·wet·e´k mliksαnα´o ni·waida´ Gluskα̨bε´
that is why he was so strong so well Gluskabe
kizi·n’əgwi·tciwəli·hozu´ negani·´ ubα´bmα̨dabi`n
was able to form himself; then he moved about in a sitting position;
ni·debelda´k` umαlhi·nawα´·n ni·udi·łα´n “tαni·´
then “The Owner” was astonished; then he said, “How
wəda´t·e yugədayi´n” ni·udi·´łəgun “a´ida`
happened now here you be?” Then he said, “Well!
ni·´wədji· nidji·hosi´n ki·´yu peyαnəmα´n nta´mi·
because I formed myself from this earth left over from first
se´nα̨bε gizi·h´at” ni·udi·´łəgun debe´ldamli·dji`l`
man that you made.” Then he was told his “Owner,”
“gamα´dj´i· kəmαlhintato´`” udi·´łəgul “nəmαlhi·´ntato`
“Very you are wonderful.” He was told “I am wonderful
e´ligizi·begihalihα`n.” nega´ ni·udi·łα̨gu´n “nəgadji·´
because you sprinkled me.” Then he was told “Accordingly
kiuse´nena` nikwα̨bi·´” ni·we´dji· mαndji·hi·di´t
we shall roam about now.” So they left
ni·wəda´kwαŋk·i·`na wadjuwa´l` ni·gizi· uski·´dji·we`
then they went up hill a mountain, then after they reached the top
wadjo´k nebla´ tα̨ławe·´ ubma´tawᴐ̹·bina`
of the mountain while so they gazed about open eyed
tani·´lαnawage` owewi·wαniwi·´ ni·una´mi·tona` nəbəs·a´l`
so far round about they could see lakes,
si·bua´l` si·biwi·´ abazi·a´l` məsi·´wi el`ka´mige`k ki·
rivers, and trees all how the land lay, the earth.
ni·dəbe´lda`k udi·´łαn “ki·nayu´ eli·mαlhi·´ntatowα̨`
Then “The Owner” said, “Behold here how wonderful is my work,
msi·´wi ngi·zi·dəhα̨´damən[48] pe´mkamige`k sobe´k`ᵂ
all I created by my wish of mind the existing world, ocean,
si·bua´l` si·bui·nəbə´s·a`l`”[49] ni·udi·´łαn Gluskα̨ba´l`
rivers, river lakes.” Then he said to Gluskabe,
“ki·aba´ nəgədli·´bəgwatu´n?” ni·udli·hα̨zi·teməgu´n
“What might you have caused to be created?” Then finally he replied
yuli´l Gluska·ba´l` “nda´ba nindli·´bəgwa tawu`n[50]
this Gluskabe, “Can not I cause anything to be created
ni·nawa´ ke´gwi·ba gizi·uli·´tawu`n” ni·udi·´łan
yet something perhaps I can make?” Then he said,
“a´ida ngizi·hα̨ba´ kə´səlαmsα`n.” ni·debelda´k udi·´łαn.
“Well! I can make him perhaps the wind.” Then “The Owner” said,
“nega´ wuli·hya´ tanegədli·´bəgwatu`n si·biwi·´ ta´ni·gədotsani·`n.”
“Then make it what you can do even according to your power.”
negeła´ ni·uli·ha´n gəsəlαmsαnu´l` madje´lαmsα´n
Then surely then he made him the wind. The wind rose
ni·gwi·kwaskwaiwi·´ aləmi·gəslαmsα´n ni·askwa´ eləmi·gəslamsα´k
then sufficiently the wind coming up and then so hard it blew
ni·abazi·a´k aləmi·α̨bə´djəgelke` elαmso´genα̨`. ni·debe´ldak
then the trees torn out by the roots blew over. Then “The Owner”
udi·´łαn Gluskα̨ba´l` “teba´t` gizi·nami·tu´n elsani·a´n
said to Gluskabe “Enough! I have seen how powerful you are
tet·a´tci· eli·bəgwatəwα̨´n.” ni·dəbe´ldak udi·damə´n “nega´ni·a
and now what you can do.” Then “The Owner” said, “Now, I
α̨zi·daiwi·´ noli·ha´n kəzəlαmsα´n” negeła´ ni·mα´djegəslαmsα`n
in return I will make him the wind.” Then surely the wind rose
α̨zi·daiwi·´ ni·edudlαmsα´k alni·gelnα´ kwi·hi·di·`t` ni·ga
in return then it blew so (?) then
ni·edudlαmsα´k ni·wədu´kskα̨dəbelαmsoge`n wa
it blew so then it blew his hair all tangled up on his head that
Gluskα̨bε´ ni·gadawi·´ e´nawiptα`ŋk`ᵂ wədəpkwana´l` nimzi·wi·´
Gluskabe then he wanted to smoothe it down his head of hair then all
me´tlαmsα`n ni·nda´tαmα wədəpkwana´l` nimsi·´wi· me´tlαmsα`n
it blew off, then not his head of hair all it blew off
ni·t·a´tci· ume´tα̨begəzi´n notlo´kα̨ga`n.
and now ends my story.
[47] The “Owner” of the Universe, synonymous with God.
[48] A common concept among the Indians; freely “by wishing a thing
into existence.”
[49] Or si·bi·wi·´ nəbə´s·a`l` “also lakes.”
[50] Denoting more “to make complete.”
B
THE TURTLE INSULTS THE CHIEF OF THE BIRDS; GLUSKABE HELPS HIM
TO ESCAPE; MOUNTAINS ARE CREATED; AND AGAIN TURTLE ESCAPES BY
GETTING HIS CAPTORS TO THROW HIM INTO THE WATER, BUT IS FINALLY
KILLED
Negawa´ida pemi·zo·bek`ᵂke´t Gluskα̨be´ ni·uni·´łαn
So well then as he wandered by the ocean Gluskabe then he killed
podeba´l` ni·ugizi·nłα´n podeba´l` ni·unα̨dji·´ wa´wαndokewα`n
a whale; then when he had killed the whale then he went to inform
wusa´si·za`l` toləba´ ni·udi·´łαnα “naba´tci·eli·` podebε´”
his uncle turtle, then he told him “Great fortune! killed a whale.”
ni·wusasi·za´l` udi·´łəgun “negateci´ gα̨djip`tonenα̨´ podebaiya´.”
Then his uncle he was told “and now we will go and get it whale meat.”
negeła´ ni·unα̨dji·na´ ni·wədlosenα´ sobegu´k` ni·bayα̨hα̨di·´t
So then they went; then they came to the ocean; when they arrived
wabodebe´ls·ik ni·wədnαmna´ kesi´tcweldamohodi·`t
where the whale lay then they took as much as they wished;
ni·gizi·´wikwu`nəmohodi·`t ni·bla´ pali·wi·´ obunəmona´
then when they took it for a while to one side they put it
ni·wadoləba´ edudji·´wehemα̨`t si·psa` ges·i·k·i·gi·´t msi·´wi·
then that turtle called them together the birds various kinds all
wski·tkami´k`ᵂ negan·i·´ sα̨khedəwoldihi·di·´t ne´bəgwatci´
in the world; then they came flying then on account of it
nαn·e´mkami·gi·pode·` si·bi·wi·´ wəda´s·ot·ekawα̨wα`l` ki·sosa´l`
the ground shook and fairly covering up by flocking the sun
ni·ubedji·´dəwuldenα̨ msi·wi·´ ni·umi·tsoldi´n taneba`
then they all came flying all they all ate since
wik`ᵂhαbαlαŋk ni·wa´ gəl·u´[51] sαŋgəma´ ni·yu´
they were invited to the feast then that eagle chief and here
wawi·wuni·wi·´ i·yu´ ebita´ida toləbε·´ ni·´wa toləbε·´
near around here where he sat then turtle that turtle
wikwu´nəmən unəs·ekwa´k`ᵂ ni·wətəmi·´ktci·es·α`n kəl·uwa´l` yu´lil
took his knife then cut off his rear the eagle this
sαŋgəma´l`. ni·wa´ sαŋgəma´ ndawawαma´ls·wi·` gizi·təmi·´kətci·azamα`k
chief. Then chief did not feel it when his rear was cut off
ni·yuli´l et·ak·αŋgotci·´l` kepti´n[52] ni·udi·łα´n sαŋgəma´l`
then this his second chief captain then said to the chief,
“ni·aweni´ eli·hogowα´n kəmaməs·ani´ pəna´lgebəna`” ni·
“And who has done so to you belittling you we are all insulted.” Then
umoskwe´ldamənα̨` ni·ugi´zəlomana` toləba´l`
they all became angry then they planned what to do to turtle
wedjinłαhα̨di·´t ni·gistε·´ tα̨ ławe·´ unaskasi·nα̨´ negawα´
so as to kill him and then accordingly they attacked him and that
toləbε·´ ni·wikwunα´n yuhi·´ awi·p`hona´ ni·udα̨ba´sahozi´n
turtle then he took these feathers and fanned himself
ebəgwa´tc i·da´k “nαləgwa´ wədα̨´bas·ehwana`l`,[53] nαləgwa´
on account of it said “wing his fan wing
wədα̨´basehwa`nal`” ni·yu´ nαləgwa´ wədα̨ba´s·ehwa´nak ni·wa´
his fan!” Then (with) wing he fanned himself then that
Gluskα̨bε´ udi·łα´n wuza´si·zal` “kəba´lalokε·` eli·tα̨ławei·´
Gluskabe said to his uncle “you have done wrongly so doing
a´ida təmi´k·ətci·as·a´t sαŋgəma´ nide´bəne` kənαskα´ŋgen·enα̨`”
well, cutting his rear off the chief and soon they will attack us.”
ni·udi·´łαn “ni·dji·na´wa dani·` kədlada´kanena`?” ni·udi·´łαn
Then he said, “On account of it what shall we do?” Then he said
pla wa´ses·enolitu`n yu abaz·i´k.” ni·geła´
“In the meantime I will build a nest here in the tree.” Accordingly
uwəli·tu´n wazəs·e´ ni·udi·łα´n yuli´l wuza´si·zal`
he built a nest. Then he said to this his uncle
“tcespi·gwᴐ̹·dawε·´” ni·geła´ toləbε·´ ogwa´gwedji·spi·gwᴐ̹dawε·`
“You shin up.” Forthwith turtle tried to shin up
ni·ndate´gəne` ugizi·spi·gwᴐ̹´dawα`n ni·udi·´damən “madji·łε·´
and he was not able to shin up, then he said, “Dull
gwagwα´nhekasi·α`n´.” ni·wa´ Gluakα̨bε´ ni·wəni·malwenα´n
are my heel claws.” Then Gluskabe took hold of him
toləba´l` ni·wədebake´n wa´zəs·ə´k ni·gi·zi·waz·əs·e´k
turtle and tossed him into the nest and when he was in the nest
ebi·hi·di´t ni·ubedji·´dα̨ławe`i· bagi·damə´n nəbi·´
they sat down, then he felt like to void water,
ni·do´ləbε udi·`damən “a´ida! eli·gadawi·´bagi·da`k
that turtle he said, “Lo! how am I going to void
nəbi·´?” ni·udi·´łəgul` Gluskα̨ba´l` “pα̨´·zi·djikətci·ewi·`
water?” Then he was told Gluskabe “Lean your rear
waz·əs·e´k.” ni·geła´ ali·mi·tcəwα´n nəbi·´ amək·ai·wi.
from the nest.” Accordingly he urinated water running down below.
ni·we´wᴐ̹la`n yugi´k nope`´sawe`n·owa`k ni· ke´ptin
Then they discovered it these warriors. Then the captain
elα̨bi·´t spəmə´k ni·una´mi·hα`·n toləba´l` wazəs·e´k ni·wedji·´
looking up also saw the turtle in the nest, so then
pi·´bmamα`·k ni·wəzα´·ŋkhelədji·ni·łα`n ni·yu´ udi·damə´n
he shot an arrow then he made him fall down and out. Then here he said,
“madji·djᴐ·´s wələ´·mk·i·`tc” madjidjᴐ̹´s wələ´mk·i·`tc”
“Bad stooping coward Bad stooping coward.”
ni·ye´nəma to´ləbε pa´gəs·i`k ki·k nit·e udeli·wα̨ni·ła´n
Then there turtle falling on the ground right away disappeared.
ni·gwi´·lawasoldi`n ni·nda mskaᴐ̹wi·´ ni·wa´ gepti´n
Then they all searched for him but not could find him. Then the captain
pabmi·gwi·lawαs·i´t ni·una´mi·tun se´ski·dju´ we´lαmkat·e`k
went about hunting him still and saw a bark basket upside down
ni·uda´kskamən ni·uməskawαna´ toləba´l` ni·´ga
and he kicked it over and found turtle. Then
təpəloma´n nit·a´tci· eləmi·gi·zloma´n wedji·´
he held a trial (over turtle) and at once it was decided that
metci·ne´t`. ni·gepti´n udi·damə´n “tanedji·nawa´
he should die. Then the captain said, “How then
kdli·hα̨´nenα̨`?” ni·wa´ eta´k·ozi·t ni·udi·damə´n
shall we do with you?” Then second chief said,
“kzəgu´sktahα̨`n·α̨dji·`” ni·wa toləbε·´ wədi·damə´n “nda´ ni·a
“We will cut him to pieces.” Then turtle said, “Not me
ni·łəgowα´n.” ni·udi·damənα´ “negatci·´ kəme´t`kasesαn·enα̨`.”
it will kill.” Then they said “Then will we burn him.”
ni·udi·damə´n mi·´na toləbε·´ “nda ni·n ni·łəgowα´n”
Then he said again turtle, “Not me it will kill.”
ni·udi·daməna´ “nəgatci·´ ba´skədji·balα`n” ni·wa´ toləbε·´
Then they said “Then will drown him.” Then that turtle
udi·damə´n mi·´na “ni·n ni·łəgu´n” nega´t·e
said again, “Me will be killed.” Immediately
we´dji·ni·mi`p`hamα`k` ni·´l·αnasi´n aida´ nəbə´s·i·zak ni·wedji·´
they grabbed him to kill him. Well! in a little lake that is why
α̨bodji·gelkε·´t·ek yuki·´ edudna´s·imα`k[54]w wa toləbε·´
it is torn and furrowed this earth where they dragged him that turtle
malα´mit·e yu nəbəs·ə´k ni·wədjau´paken·α̨`
at last here in the pond. Then they threw him into the water.
ni·wədali·mi·´ ele·dji·ni·gədałα´n ni·yu´ onəs·ε·bε·nəmə´n
Then he sank back down and belly up. Then here he riled it up with his paws
nəbi·´ ni·gizi·´ pα̨´gowi·az·əs·ko` ni·wədji·´ nodα̨´dəbewi`n
the water; then after it became real muddy so he poked his head out
nəbi´k· ni·ugα̨´galowe`n “oho< >u· ki·ləwᴐ̹,wα´n kəda´k·i·wα̨`
of the water. Then he cried out “Oho< >u you all your land
kəni·łəgonα̨´ ni·´ni·a` ndak·i·´ ndαn·i·łəgowα´n” ni·si·´psak
kills you but I my land does not kill me!” Then the ducks
nnoda´wαnα̨` kedwi·tci·ba´gətces·i·`t toləbε´· nega´t·e
heard him his noise of screeching turtle. Then at once
ugwi·ldasoldi·nα̨´ yu´gik nope´usewi·`n·owak ni· məgəna´n owa´
they rushed for him these warriors Then they chose that
aweni·´ netα̨wikα̨mogwi`t` nimskawa´n məde´wełê` ni·uga´mkolitawα`n
one who was expert diver they found. The loon dove down for him
yulil` ni·´səda eli·gamogwi´t nsəde´waiyε·´ ni·uməskawα´n
this one second time as he dove the third time then he found
toləba´l` ni·wədji·´kpana`sehi·di`t malami·´ ki·k
the turtle. Thereupon they threw him ashore at last upon the ground
nega´ wa´ səgwαsk`taha´n toləbε´ ni·ume´tα̨begəs·i`n
then that one they knocked him dead turtle. Then here ends
ndatlo´kα̨ga`n.
my story.
[51] Given as “eagle” by Neptune, but, in Penobscot, Newell Lyon
identified this with the extinct “auk.”
[52] A secondary chief, from English “captain.”
[53] In a monotonous singsong tone.
[54] This accounts for the mountain ridges and valleys of to-day.
C
ni·gawa Gluskα̨bε´ wedji·mαdjełα´nt sobegu´k ni·wuno´sotəg-
And then that Gluskabe went away to the ocean then he followed
wetekamə´n malαmi·´ ktci·dαba´kwαni·ganα´k[55] ni·wedji·´
a river up at last to the great divide. Thence
kalapα̨´welα`nt mozu´l` ni·wa´ mu·s mα̨djełα´nt man·´i·wi·
he started up a moose and that moose started off among
si´·bui·ku`k teka´ Pan·awᴐ̹·´mp`skao`k lagwewi·´ ni·wewᴐ̹la´n
the rivers in direction of Penobscot River Valley toward. Then she knew
Pukədji´nskwes´u`[56] ni·gi·zi·we´dolamα`k[57] owa´ a´ida
Pukedjinskwessu and she could sense it. That one well
məde´olənuskwe´ ni·ugadawi·´gak`hi·`ki·hα`n Gluskα̨ba´l` ni·
sorceress. Then she wanted to tease Gluskabe. Then
ugadawi·´kəlapα̨´wəla`n mozu´l` wadji·´ndagi·zi·nlα`ŋk`ᵂ˙ ni·wa´
she wanted to start up the moose so that not he could kill it. That
Gluskα̨bε´ wε·wedəhamα´n yuli´l Pukədji´nskwes·uwal`
Gluskabe knew her this Pudedjisdwessu
e´li·gak`hi·ki·hogo`t ni·udli·´dəhamα`n “e´begwatcinatci.`
how she was teasing him, then he thought “on account of it not also
kəna´mi·hi·` yu pemi·łα´” ni·geła´ ni·wa´ uba´bmi·gwil-
you will see me here passing by.” Accordingly that searched all
awᴐ̹bi`n Pukədji´nskwes·u´ tani·ba´weni·` udli·nami·hα´n
about to see him Pudedjinskessu how if anybody she could see.
ni·ge´nəwαnda` wi·´bi·wi· unami·tu´n eli·´dji·lakwəs·inli·`t
But not except she saw how the tracks
udαŋəma´ pemsege´k niα̨lawi·´ uno´sawα̨p`tasi`n
of his snowshoes on the ledge. For a long time she followed the tracks
neganowa´ Gluskα̨ba´l` wəsε·´smi·wαni·halα̨·l` wzami·´wi·tc wudli·´dəhamgun
then that Gluskabe she lost his tracks because it was willed
ni·´ wedjinda´ p`skαŋgo´k ni·wa´ Gluskα̨bε´ madα̨bełα´nt
that not she could find him. Then that Gluskabe went down
si·bu´k ni·wanami·hα´n mozu´l` yu´lil noso´kawα`nt
to the river. Then he saw the moose this he was following.
ni·ubi·bmα´n ni·a´ida ni·ugi·bi·łα´n mozu´l` ni·gi·zi·´
Then he shot it well then it fell moose then after
eləmi·giptes·i´k ni·udlo´s·α`n ne´ga ubəs·i·halα´n
he fell and lay down then he went and he skinned it
ni·gi·zi·´p`si·halα´nt gi·zi·´p`kwedji·łα´nt ni·u-
and after he had skinned it when he had taken out then
la´gəzi·α`l`. uge´dnəmə`n ni·udla´kewαn ude´miza`l` ni·´yu
his intestines he took then he threw them to his dog and here
edeli·`nłamα`k mu·s ni· muzi·´kətci·` lewi·tα̨zu´ si·bi·wi·´
where he was killed moose that moose buttocks is called and
yu el`ta´gi·hazi`k wula´gəzi·a`l` wa mu·s nit·e
here as it stretched out his intestines that moose right away
li·wᴐ̹·bi·gα`k tet·atci·dji·´ eska´mi· wᴐ̹·bi·gα´n tagagi·wi`·
became white and now forever white until
metka´mi·gegε`. ndatlokαŋga´n tagα´gα̨begəsi`·t nimsi·wi·´.
at the end. My story as far as it goes all.
[55] Said by the informant to have been the ridge dividing the waters
flowing into the St. Lawrence from those flowing southward into the
Atlantic.
[56] A mythical character common to the Malecite, Passamaquoddy,
Penobscot, and Wawenock. She is described as having a figure like a
“jug,” who lives alone in the remote forests.
[57] A common concept among the Wabanaki, “to know a thing by
intuition.”
D
GLUSKABE BECOMES ANGRY AT THE BIRCH TREE AND MARKS IT FOR LIFE
wᴐ̹·´wi·git notlo`´kαŋga`n wa Gluskα̨bε´ ni·gani·yu´
Here camps my story that Gluskabe also here
babmi·zobe´k`ᵂke`t ni·metcełε·´ uda´lnola`k`ᵂ[58]
wandering by the ocean then started out with his man’s boat
ni·gizi·´yume`t`- kak ·wudu·´l` ni·udli·´dəhα̨zi`n
and when he had worn it out his canoe then he thought
pla nda´təwoli`n ni·geła´ ni·ugwi·lauhα´n maskwe´muzi·a`l`
for awhile, I will build a canoe and so he searched for a birch tree
wela´k`ᵂəseli·´t ni·ugi´ptahα´n ni·gi·zi·´gi·bi·lα´nt
straight one then he cut it down and when he had felled it
waba·´zi´· ne´ləwε·´ uzəli·gi·`tahogu´l` awαkα̨dji·´
that tree almost it nearly fell on him hardly
ugi·zi·´wədji·´bulowα´n ni·udli·dəhαmα´n “nda´tci·mi·na`
he could escape. Then he thought “Never again
kəni·l`ke´u!” nip`skα̨´təgwα`n wikwənəmə´n ni·uses·əm`hα´n
you will kill!” (anybody) That branch he took and he switched it
yuli´l maskwε´muzi·a´l` ni´t·e eli·dji·la´kwus·i`k wəs·əse´mhiga`n
this birch tree at once over its entire length it was switched
tet·a´tci·dji·` eska´mi· wewi´nαŋgwa`t kweni·´ pmauzwi·´n·owi·`kek
and now forever it is known while people are living
ski·tkami´k`ᵂ ni·umetα̨begəzi´n notlo`kαŋga´n.
on the earth. And there ends my story.
[58] Some kind of a hollowed-out canoe.
GLUSKΑ̨BΕ THE TRANSFORMER
FREE TRANSLATION
A
Here begins Gluskabe. When the Owner made the first man then when
the first man was made Gluskabe created himself out of the left-over
material, out of this earth left over, this earth sprinkled.[59] That
is why Gluskabe was so strong. Well, this Gluskabe was able to create
himself. Then he moved about in a sitting position. Upon seeing this
the Owner was astonished and he said, “How happened you to be here?”
and Gluskabe told him, “Well, because I formed myself from the waste
pieces of earth out of which you made the first man.” Then the Owner
told him, “You are indeed a very wonderful man.” And Gluskabe answered,
“I am a wonderful man, because you sprinkled me, and on account of
being so near to you.” Then Owner said to him, “So, then, you and I
shall roam about from now on.” Accordingly, they started out. They went
up a hill, they went up a mountain, and when they got on top of the
mountain, when they began to gaze all around with open eyes, so great
a distance around could they see the lakes, the rivers, and the trees,
and all the lay of the land of the country. Then the Owner said, “Look
at this; behold such is my wonderful work, all created by my wish of
mine. The earth, the water, the ocean, the rivers, the basins, the
lakes.” Then he said to Gluskabe, “What might you have brought into
existence?” Then he answered him, this Gluskabe. “I can not bring a
thing into existence, but, then, one thing maybe I can accomplish.”
Then he said, “Well, I could perhaps do one thing, make the wind.” Then
said the Owner, “Well, then, make it; whatever you can do, according to
how powerful you are.” Then, accordingly, he made the wind. It began to
blow. Then it increased so strong, the rising wind, and then it blew
harder until those trees were torn out by the roots and blown over.
Then said the Owner to Gluskabe, “That is enough; I have seen your
power, even what you can do.” Then said the Owner, “Now, I for my part.
I will make a wind.” Then, accordingly, it commenced to blow in return.
Then it blew so hard that they could not hold on where they were
standing(?); and it blew so hard that the hair on the head of Gluskabe
became all tangled up. Then when he tried to smooth it out, the hair of
his head, all of it blew off and the head of hair that he had was all
blown off by the wind. That is the end of this story.
[59] The Owner here corresponds to the Creator. The sprinkling
evidently refers to the Roman Catholic idea of holy water.
B
Well, then, as he wandered along the shore of the ocean, Gluskabe
killed a whale and when he had killed the whale he went to inform his
uncle, the Turtle. Then he said to him, “Great luck! Killed a whale.”
So he told his uncle, “And also we will go and get it, the whale meat.”
So accordingly they went, went to the ocean; and when they arrived
there where the whale lay they took as much of it as they wanted; and
when they had taken it they placed it to one side for a while and that
Turtle called together the birds, as many kinds as there were in all
the world, and they came along flying in droves. On account of their
number the ground fairly shook and, moreover, they fairly covered up
the sun by their numbers. Then they all came flying together and ate
because they were invited to the feast. Then the Eagle was the chief
of the birds, and close by here where he sat was the Turtle. Then that
Turtle took out his knife and he cut the buttocks off from the Eagle,
this chief. Even then the chief did not feel that his buttocks had
been cut off. Then this man, the second chief, a captain, said to his
chief, “Who then has done such a deed to you, belittling you? We are
all insulted.” Then they all became angry and they laid a plan what
to do to the Turtle so as to kill him. Thereupon, immediately they
(prepared to) attack him. Then the Turtle took the feathers of the bird
and fanned himself, for which he said, “Wing is his fan, wing is his
fan,” because he was using a wing as a fan. Then Gluskabe said to his
uncle, “By so doing you have done wrong, indeed, cutting the buttocks
of the chief. For soon they will attack us.” Then he said, “On account
of it, what shall we do?” So he said, “In the meanwhile I will build
a nest in this tree.” Then Gluskabe built a nest and he said to his
uncle, “You shin up the tree.” Then the Turtle tried to shin up, but he
was not able to do it; not able to shin up; so he said, “Dull are my
heel claws.” Then Gluskabe took hold of him, the Turtle, and he tossed
him up into the nest. And when they were in the nest they sat down to
pass off water. Then the Turtle said, “How am I going to urinate up
here?” Then Gluskabe said to him, “Extend your buttocks over the edge
of the nest.” Then, accordingly, Turtle urinated water, which ran down
below. Now the warriors discovered it (where Gluskabe and his uncle
were hiding) and their captain looked up and he saw Turtle in the
nest. Thereupon, he shot an arrow at him and brought him down. Then he
said, “Bad stooping coward, bad stooping coward.” But where the Turtle
fell on the ground there he disappeared, and they made a search for
him but could not find him. And the captain hunted all about. Soon he
saw a bark vessel upside down. Then he kicked it over, and found the
Turtle. Thereupon they held a council over him and it was decided that
he should die. Then said the captain, “What, then, shall we do with
you?” The second chief spoke and said, “We shall have to cut him up in
pieces.” Then said the Turtle, “Not me; that will not kill me.” Then
he said (the captain), “Then we shall burn him up.” Then again said
the Turtle, “Not me; that will not kill me.” Then they all said, “Then
we shall drown him.” Then that Turtle said again, “That will kill me.”
Immediately they grabbed him to kill him. Well, in a little lake they
were going to throw him. From the place where they dragged him the
earth was torn up and furrowed, where they hauled him. But at last,
here in the lake, they threw him into the water, that Turtle; then he
sank, his back down and belly up, like a dead animal. But he riled up
the water with his paws, and then when it was all muddy he poked his
head out of his shell from the water and then he cried out, “Oh ho!
as for you all, your earth kills you, but as for me my land does not
kill me.” Then the birds heard him, that Turtle, by the noise of his
screeching, and they rushed upon him, these warriors, and they chose
one that was an expert diver. They selected the loon. Then this one
dove down for him. When he had done this the second and the third time
he found the Turtle. And thereupon they threw him ashore out upon the
ground, and they knocked him dead, the Turtle, and that is the end of
my story.
C
Then Gluskabe went away from there to the ocean. And he followed a
river up as far as the great divide (the frontier between New England
and Canada). There he started up a moose and this moose started to
make away among the rivers in the direction of Penobscot Valley.
Pukdjinskwessu knew that he was coming, for she could sense it, being
a magic woman. Then she wanted to plague Gluskabe, for she wanted to
scare away from him the moose so that he could not kill him. But that
Gluskabe knew it, that Pukdjinskwessu, how she wanted to plague him.
So he thought, “On account of this, you will not see me passing by.”
Accordingly, that Pukdjinskwessu wandered all about to see if she could
find out whether anyone had gone by. But she could see nothing except
how the tracks of his snowshoes were left on the bare ledge. For a
long time she followed the tracks, but at last she lost the tracks of
Gluskabe, because he commanded, in his mind, that she could not find
him. Then Gluskabe went down to a river, and he saw the very moose
he was following; and he shot at it, and there it fell, the moose.
And while he was falling he went up and skinned it, and after he had
skinned it he took out its intestines. Then he threw them to his dog.
He threw them where the moose was killed. That is now called “moose
buttocks” by the people. And as the intestines of that moose were
stretched out there they showed white underneath the water. And even,
now and forever until the end of the world, they will be white.[60]
That is as far as my story goes.
[60] Neptune stated that Gluskabe threw the moose’s head to a place
which became known as “Musα̨dáp,” “Moosehead,” but he did not know
where this was. This is also the native name of Moosehead Lake, which
may have been the place indicated in the story. (Cf. Jos. Laurent, New
Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues, Quebec, 1884, p. 216, and
Maurault, op. cit. p. IV.) Gov. Newell Lyon, of the Penobscot tribe,
added that this is probably the upper end of Islesboro (formerly Long
Island) in Penobscot Bay. This still has the name We·ni·α̨ŋgánik “Has
a head” in the Malecite language, probably having been named by some
Malecite. At Castine Head, where the lighthouse is now, is a place
called Madə´ŋgαmαs, “Old homely snowshoe.” The Indians claim that this
is where Pukdjinskwessu gave up her chase, the same story occurring
in the Penobscot. In several large crevices in the ledge here are the
marks of two snowshoes, one a regular one, the other a woman’s shoe,
short and round.
D
Here comes my story of that Gluskabe. Then wandering about the ocean he
started in a canoe and when he had worn this out, his canoe, he thought
“I shall stop until I build another canoe.” And accordingly he looked
for a birch tree, a straight one. Then he cut it down, and when it fell
down, that tree, apparently it nearly fell upon him. He had difficulty
in being able to run away from under it. So he thought, “Never again
will you fall on and kill anybody.” That big branch he took hold of
it and switched this birch tree right away along its whole length. He
kept on switching it and now it will forever be marked while there are
people living in the world. This is the end of my story.[61]
[61] The “eyes” in the bark of the white birch are the blisters caused
by Gluskabe’s switching. Such an explanation is very common in northern
and northeastern Algonkian mythology. (_Cf._ S. T. Rand, Legends of the
Micmacs, p. 67, and F. G. Speck, Myths and Folk-Lore of the Temiskaming
Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Memoir Anth., Series No. 8, Geological
Survey of Canada, p. 83.)
HOW A HUNTER ENCOUNTERED BMULE´, VISITED HIS COUNTRY, AND OBTAINED A
BOON
Ni·ga´ be·səgwəda´ alnα̨bα´ ki·wadi·eli´n nda´tαmα ke´gwi
And once a man went hunting not anything
nami·təwi´ ni·gayu´ pe´mose`t si·bu´k` ni´obe´dji·gada`dusəmi`n
he could see and soon he came to a river then he grew thirsty
nspi·wi.´ bawadji·´ α̨dabi´t ni·yu·´ gi·zi·´ abi·´t`
at the same time because of it he sat down and here after he sat
ni·yu·´ ugada´wəs·əmi`n ni·gełα´ ni·´yu. udli·´dαpsidoda`mən
here he was going to drink and so here here stooped down
yunəbi´k lagwi·wi·` ni·yu·´ nəbi·´k wəda´li·na`mi·hαn
here water toward and here in the water there he saw
aweni´li´l` eləwe´gwi·na` pmauzəwi·´n´u`k li·´nαŋgᵂzu` ndaganowa´
somebody like really a human being resembling but not that
wᴐ·we´lmα̨wi·a`l` aweni·wa´ ke´nəwagi·zi·` una´ nodaməna`l
he knew him who that but that he had heard of him
ni·aweni·´ eli·gi´t` sak`hi·wa´ bmulε·´ negani·´ wudji·am`ki´n
that one was like behold Bmule´. Then he got up
ni· wənα̨´djigαntłα̨zin u`wa alnα̨be´ ni·gi·zi·´gα̨tłα̨zi`t`
then he went and hid himself that man and after he hid
ni·yu·´ dα̨´dəbi·nawα`n yuli´l wi·dα̨ba`l`[62] dαni·dji·´wədla`dake`n
then as he noticed him this his friend what was he going to do
ni·gewa´ bmulε´ ni·wədji·´pənα̨dawe`n i·yu·´ abazi·´k ni·gat·e·´
then that. Bmule´ Then he climbed here in a tree at once
eli·nawα´nt` yuli´l` alnα̨ba´l` eli·taləs·əmi·´t` yu· si·bu´k
it appeared like this man as he saw lying here in the river
ni·agəma´ egəmα´t·atci·` α̨si·dai·wi´ ogado´`səmi`n ni·yu´
that one where he also in his turn he was going to drink, then
wi·zα̨wi·´mani·`m[63] ge·´lada`k ni·wikwənəmə´n ni·yu´k·i·`k
his gold in his mouth and he took it out and here on the ground
ubᴐ´nəmən ni·wa´lnα̨bε`´ gi·zi·ne´mitα̨ŋk`ᵂ ei·gadənə´k
he lay it then that man when he saw it where he hid it
i·yuwədo´nαk ni·yuwədli·dəhα̨zi´n nα̨dji·´kəmodənα´n ni·geła´
here in his mouth and he thought to go and steal it. So accordingly
ni·yu´ mα̨djegᵂzi`n walnα̨bε´ abαk·skadai·wi·` wadji·nda´
then he started to crawl that man flat on his belly so that not
wewᴐ̹·lα´ŋk`ᵂ yuli´l` wi·dα̨ba´l` ni·gαn·i·´ gi·zi·be´sudji·wi·`
he would know it this his friend then when he had come near
pedji·gwəzi·´t ni·gi·gi·mi·wi·´ uwikwənəmə´n wi·zα̨wi´mani·`
coming crawling slyly he took it the gold.
ni·wa´gizəs·əmi·`t wabmulε·´ elα̨bi´t ni· ndα`tαmα̨` unami·´towα`n
Then when he had drunk that Bmule´ looking there not, he saw it
wi·zα̨´wimani·`m ni·yu´ ga´dagi`dəhα̨zi´n ni·wədli·´dəhŋzi`n
his gold. Then he began to think about it and he concluded.
“eli·kəmo´dənamα`k`.” ni·ganəwowa´ bmulε´ məde´oləno ogwa´
“So it is stolen from me.” And then that Bmule´ was a magician it was said
ni·gan·i·´. yu´t·e ni· no´ləmi·wi·` udli·´gelosi`n ni·udi·damə´n
and then right there that abroad he spoke aloud and he said,
“ni·dα̨bε´ kmi·´li·n·əba ni· nəwi·zα̨wi·´mani·`m ki·yandaba´ ke´gwi·
“My friend, give me, do, that my gold you can not anything
kdla´wakek·towα´n ni· ni·a´ pma´uzowαŋa`n. ni`· si·bi·wi·
you make use of it that mine life. Now also
ndaba´ nzi´p`ki·ngi·zi·tcani·ła`n`tamα̨`. a´yagα`ntedji·´ nabi·´wi·
can not I very long can stop anywhere. Pray unless that soon
mi·li·ane´ ni·mi·li·ane´ kule´ləməgwawi`n nəwedji·´
you give it to me and if you give it to me you will have good luck for that
kəməs·e´ltodji·` mani·´ medji·mi·wi·´ αnda´ nadi·e´ləwαŋga`n
you will have an abundance money always not hunting
kəne`´nodahαmə`.” ni·udi·łəgu´n yuli´l` a´lnα̨ba`l` “ni·
you will lack.” Then he was told this man “Now
gədα̨´ badji·`mi·l·α`n kəwi·zawi·´mani·`m ni·genowa´ moza´k
I will give you back your gold but then don’t
pa´tcwuli·k·a`tc” ni·udi·łəgu´n “nda`ba´ keba´tcwəl·o`
cheat me.” And he was told “Can not cheat you
ni·gα̨de´kse´gəzi·yanε` ni·ga´ a´ida tes·α̨dewα npəs·kwanə`k`
if not you are afraid of me and well mount upon my back
ni·gəzα̨´ŋgəlα̨badji`n pi·´t·adji· kəse´łα̨bənα`.” ni·geła´ walnαbε´
and hold tight for exceedingly we will go fast.” Forthwith that man
udes·α̨dawa´n ubə´s·kwanə`k yuli´l` bmula´l` ni´·wa
mounted his back of this Bmule´. Then
umα̨´djełα`n ktci·´mədeolənu` ni·gα̨da´k e´dudji·ełα`nt`
he went away the great magician even so traveling
wabmulε·´ pek·i·´lα̨begwa`si·məgi·` ni·gi·´zi· met`ki·wi´k wa´
that Bmule´ could rise in the air. Then when to the end there
obe´djiłα`n i·yu´ ede´li·bezwo`got bmulaiki·´ li·wi·tα̨zu´.
he came here there he brought him to Bmule´’s country as it is called.
ktaha´n·dwi· mədeolənowa`k ai·yi·di·´t ma´ǫwi· baskwε·´
Great magic shamans are there together just at noon.
payα̨di·´t yugi´k mədeolənowa´k ma´ǫwi· gau´ldowak
They came these shamans together they slept.
ni·yuli´l` bmula´l` pεzwogo´t ni´t·e yuk·i´k
Then this Bmule´ bringing him right there to this country
ubu´nəgu`n ni·ude´łəgu`l “yudala´di·eli·` təmakwa´k
he was put down and it was said to him, “Here hunt beavers
si·bi·wi·´ wunəgi·gwa´k ni·kwi·wi·zα̨dji´n wi·biwi·´
also otters so hurry and get ready just
ngedα´mkip·o`de[64] kda´tcwi· ayi·´n ni·gi·za´di·eli·ane`
at one o’clock you must stay and after you have hunted
ni·gəbəs·i·ha´dasi`n nabawi·´ ni·t·atci·´ ko´lα̨bekhα̨da`mən
you skin them quickly and then at once bundle them up well
kəmade´gənoma`k ni·ni·ebla´ tek·a´ ndatcwi·´l·os·e` nda´ba
your hides until then there I must go it will not be
sipki·wi·´ ni·dji·nəbaya´n esmadji·´ to`k·u´ldewi·a`k ktci·mədeolənowa´k
long time and I will come before will they wake up great shamans
nədji·´kəmαdja`ləlα´n mi·na´ wa´dənαla`n” ni·geła´ ni·gat·e´
so I will carry you back again (to) where I got you.” Accordingly at once
wa yuli´l`. wi·dα̨ba´l` ela´gəki·mgo`t ni·wi· hwi·zα̨dji´n
that this his friend as he was told then he hurried
ni·gat·e´ nunadi·e´ləwα̨mα`n wunəgi·gwa´ si·bi·wi·´ təma`kwa´
and at once then he hunted and packed them otters also beavers.
ni·gi·zi·ni·łα̨ni·´ kipke´`tαhα`nt ni·yu´ bə´s·i·hada`s·i·łαn
After he had killed he cut off some meat and then he skinned them
nabi·nαŋgwa´t ki·ni·´ eli·wi·za`ke´k ni·ga´ wᴐ̹·lαbek·hα̨da´mən
quickly it seemed very much he hurried and then he bundled them up well
umadegənoma´ ni·gi·zi·´ ki·zα̨dji·´t eli·dəhαzi·´t “ki·zi·ε´t·o´
his hides and after he was ready he thought, “It is after
nahən´i·´ nəgwədα´mki·p·ode·` α̨gełαt·e´.” ni·ga´nowa
now about one o’clock surely.” And then he
wədli·dəhα̨zi´n “ni·dα̨bε´ nowa´neləmu`k`ᵂ” ni·ganowanda´
thought, “my friend said what was true.” And then not
tαnetu´l`. la´k`ᵂhε·ki·` wedji·bayα`nt yuli´l` wi·dα̨ba´l`
did not know how far he came from this his friend
wəs·a´mi·wi·`tc nd´at·egəne` ki·zi·djanabi·wi·` wa ayagαnt·e´
because also not he could stop that since
we´dji·wi·` mε·łαntde´ spəmə´k` sala´k·i·wi·` ni· unodamə´n
always traveling in the air. Suddenly then he heard
saŋkhi·mαmα´ntkami·`gip·ode`k eli·dəhα̨zit ebəgwatcε·t·o´
coming out earth trembling, thinking on account of it
gadi·me´t`kami·ge` e´dudji·sαk·pa`tαŋgwa`k saki·´yulil`
the world was about to end so much it was noisy, but behold this
wi·dα̨ba´l` sαŋkhe´łα̨li`t ni·ga´t·e pedji·´gədahi·t wa bmulε·´
his friend coming along out and then came jumping that Bmule´.
ni·udi·´damən wa a´ida bmulε·´ “nabawi·´ tes·i·´gədahi`n nbə´skwanα`k
Then said that well Bmule´ “Quickly jump upon my back
gi·zi·na`´ni mədeolənowa´k amku´ldowa`k.” ni·geła´ ni·wa´
it is already time the shamans wake up.” Accordingly then he
udes·i·´gədahi´n pə´s·kwanα`k. yuli´l wi·dα̨ba´l` sε·wi·yu´
jumped upon his back this his friend with here
umadegənoma´ tαnławe´i· ki·za´di·eli·`t ni·wa´ omα̨´djełαn
his hides as much as he had hunted. Then he started off
bmulε·´ ni·t·atci·´ tα̨ławe´i· e´dudji·łα`nt pek·i·wi·´bi·wi·`
Bmule´ and then like so fast going only just
lαmbi·gwa´hasi·de` ni·gi·zi·´ obesogu´n wa´də nogo`tα`p ntami·´
he imagined it then after he warmed up his belly and his head first
neni·gan·i·´ gi·zi·be´swogo´t ni·udi·´łəgun “nd´atci. mi·na´
there as formerly when he brought him then he was told “Not ever again
kəne`na´mi·hodi·`p·əna` kenowadji·´ kədaskami·´ wule´ləməgwewin
we will see each other but also you forever will have good fortune
nəwedji·´ kwenα̨´wəzi·a`n” ni·t·atci·´ notlo´`kαŋga`n ume´tα̨begəs·i`n.
and so you will live long.” And here my story is ended.
[62] Used in a somewhat humorous sense.
[63] Lit. “yellow money,” mani´, “money” borrowed during early English
contact.
[64] Literally “once move (sun)” referring to division of portions of
the day.
HOW A HUNTER ENCOUNTERED BMULE´, VISITED HIS COUNTRY AND OBTAINED A
BOON[65]
FREE TRANSLATION
Once there was a man who went hunting but he could not find anything.
Soon he came to a river and as he had become thirsty, he sat down and
after he had sat down, he was about to drink. While he stooped down
toward the water, there in the water he saw some one’s reflection
really resembling a human being, but one whom he did not know but of
whom he had heard. Behold he was like Bmulε´, and at once the man got
up and hid himself and after he had hidden, he watched to see what
the other, his friend Bmulε´, would do. Then he climbed into a tree.
Then the other, whose reflection he had seen in the water while lying
on his face, that one in his turn was about to come down and drink.
He had a piece of gold in his mouth and he took it out and laid it
on the ground. Then the man, when he saw where Bmulε´ had hidden it
after taking it from his mouth, thought that he would go and steal it.
Accordingly, the man started to crawl flat on his belly so that his
friend would not see him, and when he came near, crawling slyly along,
he took the gold.
[65] A St. Francis Abenaki tale, given by C. G. Leland and J. D. Prince
(Kuloskap The Master, New York 1902, p. 236), rather closely follows
this narrative, though in the St. Francis story “P’mula” gives magic
eye-rings of a snake to the hunter.
Pəmu´la seems to be known locally among the western Wabanaki. To the
St. Francis Abenaki he is a bird-like monster which flies from one end
of the world to the other in one day. He can hear the merest mention
of his name if anyone calls him. (Cf. Maurault, op. cit., p. 574.) In
Penobscot mythology, Pəmu´le, “Comes flying,” is believed to heed the
appeal of men. Once a year he flies across the sky, propelling himself
with bull-roarers, giving three cries; one at the horizon; one at the
zenith, and one at the other horizon. He may be stopped by an ascending
column of smoke and will then grant supplications for aid.
The concept is interesting as an element of religious and social
fabric among related western Algonkian. Among the Algonquin and
Ojibwa of Ontario, the creature is known under the name Pa·´guk`
(Timiskaming) (cf. F. G. Speck, Myths and Folk-Lore of the Timiskaming,
Algonquin, and Timagami Ojibwa, Memoir 70, Anthropological Series No.
9, Geological Survey of Canada, 1915, p. 22) and Pa·´gαk (Timagami)
(ibid., p. 81). The beliefs regarding him are similar to those of
the Wabanaki; though the Timagami believe his appearance to be an
omen of death. With the Menomini “Paˣkaˣ is a flying skeleton ...
corresponding to the western Ojibway Pägûk” (A. B. Skinner, Social Life
and Ceremonial Bundles of the Menomini Indians, Anthropological Papers
of the American Museum of Natural History (1913), Vol. XIII, pt. 1, p.
83).
On the northern plains, however, among the Plains Ojibwa, “Pägûk, a
skeleton being with glaring eyes which is sometimes seen flitting
through the air,” is the dream patron of a cannibal cult (Windigokan),
the members of which perform in a mask costume and blow on whistles.
The functions of the society are to heal disease and to exorcise
demons. Taboo associations have become centered about the society. (A.
B. Skinner, Political Organization, Cults, and Ceremonies of the Plains
Ojibway and Plains Cree Indians, ibid., Vol. XI, Part VI, pp. 500-505.)
The Plains Cree had the same society (Skinner, ibid., p. 528-529) and
so do the Assiniboine (R. H. Lowie, The Assiniboine, ibid., Vol. IV,
Part I (1909), pp. 62-66), who also designate the dance by a cognate
term Wiᵂtgō´gax. This series of cases makes me feel that we have here
a case of more recent elaboration from a common Algonkian idea, the
result of a tendency toward socialization on the Plains, where the
cannibal cult evolving out of the flying-head conception has taken on
the characteristics of the crazy dance of the Arapaho, Gros Ventre and
the others of this region.
Then when Bmulε´ had finished drinking, returning for his gold, behold
he could not find it and, thinking about it, he reached a conclusion.
“So it is evidently stolen from me.” Now that Bmulε´ was a sorcerer,
and so right there he spoke aloud into the air and said, “My friend,
please do give me back that, my gold, for you can not make any use of
it. That is my life. Moreover, I can not stay long in any one place.
Pray do give it back to me quickly and if you give it to me you will
have good luck, for that you will always have an abundance of money
and you will not lack in hunting.” Then the man spoke to him and said,
“Then I will give you back your gold, but then don’t cheat me.” And
he, Bmulε´, said, “I can not cheat you. If you are afraid of me so
now mount upon my back and hold tight to me for very fast we shall
go.” Accordingly the man mounted upon the back of Bmulε´ and the great
magician started off traveling so fast, because that Bmulε´ could even
rise in the air, and then they came to the end where he brought him,
Bmulε´’s country, as it is called. Great magicians lived there. Just at
noon time these magicians assembled at that place and slept together.
Then this Bmulε´ bringing him right to this country put him down and
said to him, “Here you may hunt beavers and otters. So hurry and get
ready. Just until 1 o’clock you can stay, and after you have hunted,
skin your game quickly and bundle up your hides. Until then I must
go somewheres. It shall not be for a long time and I shall come back
before the great magicians wake up, and carry you back again to the
place where I got you.” Accordingly at once the man did as his friend
told him and he hurried on with it and he hunted beavers and otters and
after he had killed them he cut off some meat and skinned them, quickly
he proceeded with haste and then bundled up his hides, and after he was
ready he thought to himself, “It must now be about 1 o’clock surely.”
And he thought again, “My friend said what was true.” But he did not
know how far his friend had to come from, forasmuch as he could not
stop anywhere since he was always traveling in the air. Suddenly then a
great trembling he heard arise from the earth and he thought on account
of so much disturbance that the world was about to come to an end. But
behold it was this his friend coming along. Then Bmulε´ came bounding
up and Bmulε´ said, “Quickly jump upon my back, it is already time for
the magicians to wake up.” Accordingly then the man jumped upon his
friend’s back with his hides that he had secured, and Bmulε´ started
off going so fast that one could only imagine it. Then he brought him
to where he had been formerly. After he had warmed up his belly and his
head, he said, “Never again will we see each other, but nevertheless
you will forever have good fortune and besides you will live long.” And
here my story is ended.
THE ORIGIN AND USE OF WAMPUM
Tanławe´i· aida´ dane´dudji· bodawa´zi·mα`k`ᵂ ni·nawa´
Accordingly well then whenever they held a council then there
utai·nα̨´ məde´olinowa`k ni·dαni·´ εkwαmpsa·´nəhi·di·t yu´gi·k
there were shamans and how according as they were strong these
məde´olinowa·`k ni·uda´li wewełα´n aweni·´ mliksani·da´
shamans there they were known who is powerful.
ni·gizi·´ bodawazi·mα´k` ni·ubə´s·kwəletαmαnα` ni·udαm`hadi´n
And after they councilled then they lighted up their pipes and all smoked.
ni·wa´ ktci· məde´olinu` gesta´ p`kwudetαmα´nt ni·wᴐ̹·bα̨´bi·
And this great shaman each time he drew upon his pipe this wampum
so´gahazo` wudji·´ wudonα´k[66] w·ᴐ̹bi·gα´k ni·wa´ məde´olinu`
fell out from his mouth (if) they are white then that shaman
tebα̨´bwi·wi·` edutsani·`t ni·wα̨·bα̨bi´m ebas·i·wi·´ wᴐ̹·bi·´gən
medium so powerful this his wampum half white
si·bi·wi·´ ebas·i·wi·´ elwe´mkwi·gə`n ni·wa´ nodas·ani´t
and half reddish then this least powerful
məde´olinu´ neləwε·´ mkazewi·gə´n wᴐ̹·bα̨bi´n ni·nawa´
shaman almost blackish the wampum. And then
yugi·´k məde´olinowa`k tanyu´gədji· sekᴐ·´sidji·`k ni·gi·gədji´
of these shamans how this one will win the other ones
peme´ltodetci·` wᴐ̹bα̨bi·´ ki·zi·wədα´mhadi·hi·di·da`
having the most wampum after they have all smoked
məde´olinuwa`k ni·tα̨´ławe`i· kadawi·´ wələs·tα̨wα̨`di·hi·di·de`
shamans. Then whenever they want to make a treaty
yugi·´k ni·zᴐ·k·ami·´gəsowa`k ni·wətambe´nkek·tona` wᴐ̹·bα̨bi·´
these two nations then they exchange in payment wampum
ni·l·α´mpskahα̨zu` kədəgwabi·zu´n ni·dalα´mpskəhα̨zu` ni·zno´l
beads worked into a belt designed into two
wəldji·a´l` eli·danławei´ gi·zi·´wələ`s·tawα̨`dəhi·di`t nda´tαma
hands meaning as they have agreed to the treaty no (more)
mαdα̨be´k`ᵂ nda´tci· gadona´ldi·wi·a`k ni·askami·wi·` ni·a´tci·
fighting and not hunting one another forever And that
nimsi·wi·´.
is all.
[66] The narrator added that some old woman would catch the beads in a
receptacle as they fell from the magician’s mouth.
THE ORIGIN AND USE OF WAMPUM
FREE TRANSLATION
Accordingly, then, whenever they held a council there were shamans
there. And according to their strength among these shamans it was
known who was the most powerful. After they held their council they
lighted their pipes and smoked. In the case of an exceedingly great
shaman every time he drew upon his pipe, wampum fell from his mouth.
If the wampum was white, then it denoted that the shaman was of medium
power. If the wampum was half white and half reddish it denoted the
least powerful shaman. But if, in the case of a shaman, his wampum was
almost black, then he would win over these shamans, the others who
had the most wampum, after the shamans had smoked their pipes. And so
whenever these two nations wanted to make a treaty they gave wampum
to each other as a payment, the beads woven into a belt designed with
two hands, meaning that they had agreed to the treaty and would fight
no more and forever would not hunt one another down again. And that is
all.
WAWENOCK DRINKING SONG
In the following text, obtained at Tadousac from Joseph Nicolar, a
Wawenock descendant affiliated with the Montagnais, we have a type of
song common among the Penobscot and the other Wabanaki tribes and known
as “Lonesome songs.” Owing to his unfamiliarity with the language the
informant has used some forms which are not very clear.
ni· tα̨ be si·´s tαn wedo sa´n
My little friend whence comest thou,
net·e´ tala´gwi· wi·´ gwe nǫ´ da nǫ´
In that direction “Long town”?[67]
ni· tα̨ be si·´s tαn wedo sa´n
My little friend whence comest thou,
di· wa´ di· no´ pαm se´ gwe nǫ´ da nǫ´
Lonesome(?) ledge “Long town”?
ni· tα̨ be si·´s a we´li· si·´s
My little friend his little navel
ni· tα̨ be si·´s kαmi·´li·ti·n
My little friend give me some
bu tai´ a li·p san bet gwe nǫ´ da nǫ´
Bottle fill up please “Long town” (?)
di·wa´di· ta´ wi· wi·´ gwe nǫ´ da nǫ´
Lonesome “Long town” (?)
[67] For the want of a better explanation it seems that the song refers
to some place called “Long Town” (gwenodana´, “long-town”), probably in
Canada. The expression gwe nǫ da nǫ may, however, be a verse ending
having a value similar to Kuwenodinu, “It is long O,” occurring in a
Passamaquoddy song recorded by Professor Prince. (Cf. The Morphology
of the Passamaquoddy Language of Maine, Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society, Vol. LIII, No. 213 (1914), pp. 115-116-117.) In
still another Passamaquoddy song given by Leland and Prince (Kuloskap,
The Master, pp. 308-309), there is an untranslated stanza ending
anigowanotenu. These independent occurrences of the burden in question
seem to attest to its antiquity in the Northeast.
INDEX
=Abenaki Indians=
retirement of, to Canada =43=: 175.
territory occupied by =43=: 170.
_See also_ =Abnakis=; =Abnaquies=.
=Abenaki of Becancour=, a synonym of Wawenock =43=: 173.
=Abnaquies=
tribes composing =43=: 170.
=Anasagunticook=, location of =43=: 170.
=Apoosaguntacook=
mention of =43=: 170.
original form and meaning of the name =43=: 173.
=Ausummowett=, sagamore of Aroosaguntacook =43=: 174.
=Becancour=
Indians residing at =43=: 169.
native name for =43=: 169.
origin of Indians at =43=: 171.
=Birch Tree=
myth concerning =43=: 189.
=Bmulé=
myth concerning =43=: 193 _sq._
various conceptions of =43=: 193.
=Cannibal Cult=, of the Plains Ojibwa =43=: 193.
=Carribas=, location of =43=: 170.
=Conference at Falmouth= =43=: 174 _sq._
=Crazy Dance=
reference to =43=: 193.
=Culture Hero=
myths concerning =43=: 180-189.
of the Wawenock =43=: 177.
=Dances=
traditional, of the Wawenock =43=: 177.
=Dress=
of ball players, myth concerning =43=: 157.
=Dummor, _Gov._ W.,= treaty made by =43=: 174.
=Falmouth=, conference at =43=: 174 _sq._
=Gluscap=
the culture hero =43=: 177.
=God=
Wawenock synonym for =43=: 180.
=Hunter=
the, myth of =43=: 193 _sq._
=Jacques Family=, mention of =43=: 176.
=Kennebec=, forms of the name, with meanings =43=: 170.
=Lake St. John=, Wawenock descendants at =43=: 176.
=Legends=
of Norridgewock mission =43=: 173.
=Loron=
a Penobscot chief =43=: 174.
origin of the name =43=: 174.
=Marriage=
customs, Wawenock =43=: 177.
=Masta, Henry=, information furnished by =43=: 177.
=Memmadgeen=, a Wawenock chief =43=: 174.
=Moose=
myth concerning =43=: 188 _sq._
=Moosehead Lake=, native name of =43=: 189.
=Names, Personal=
of the Wawenock =43=: 175.
=Neptune, François=, informant, mention of =43=: 171, 173, 177.
=Neptune Family=, information concerning =43=: 176.
=New England Tribes=
extinction of =43=: 168.
=Nicola Family=, information concerning =43=: 176.
=Norridgewock Indians=
expedition sent against =43=: 172.
forms of the name, with meanings =43=: 170.
mention of =43=: 170.
mission among the =43=: 172.
political independence of =43=: 175.
=Ojibwa, Plains=, cannibal cult of the =43=: 193.
=Passamaquoddy Indians=
present home of the =43=: 169.
=Paterramett=, a Wawenock at Falmouth conference =43=: 174.
=Penobscot Families=, territory held by =43=: 170.
=Penobscot Indians=
peace made by, for absent tribes =43=: 174.
possible union of, with Wawenock =43=: 171.
present home of =43=: 169.
=Penobscot Language=
material on, reference to =43=: 177.
=Philip Family=, information concerning =43=: 176.
=Phonetic Notes= =43=: 178, 179.
=Quinoise=
a Wawenock at Falmouth Conference =43=: 174.
possible origin of the name =43=: 174.
=Rasles, _Father_ Sebastian=
account of death of =43=: 172 _sq._
=Rosier, James=, Indians described by =43=: 172.
=Saawerramet=, a Wawenock at Falmouth Conference =43=: 174.
=Sachems=, list of, signing Falmouth treaty =43=: 174.
=Sagadahock=
forms of the name with meanings =43=: 170.
the territory of the Wawenock =43=: 170.
use of the word =43=: 171.
=St. Francis Abenaki=
origin of the term =43=: 173.
tribes constituting =43=: 169.
=St. Francis Indians=, independent of the Wawenock =43=: 175.
=St. Lawrence River=, Wawenock descendants on =43=: 176.
=Sheepscot=, local name for Wawenock =43=: 172.
=Sokokis=, location of =43=: 170, 173.
=Toxeus=, sagamore of Norridgewock =43=: 174.
=Transformer=
myths concerning =43=: 180-189.
=Treaty=
of Falmouth =43=: 174.
=Turtle=
myths and lore concerning =43=: 187 _sq._
=Wabanaki Group=
present status of =43=: 169.
treaty of, with the English =43=: 175.
=Wampum=
myth concerning =43=: 196.
=Warinakiens=, a synonym for Wawenock =43=: 172.
=Wawenock Tribe=
dialect of, now obsolete =43=: 177.
family names of =43=: 176.
gradual drift of =43=: 172.
habitat of =43=: 170 _sq._
history of =43=: 171-175.
location of =43=: 170.
loss of the name =43=: 175.
material culture of =43=: 176.
meaning of the name =43=: 169, 171.
part taken by, in Indian wars =43=: 174.
political independence of =43=: 175.
population of =43=: 175.
present survivors of =43=: 169.
proper name of =43=: 169.
removal of, to Becancour River =43=: 173.
settlement of, on Becancour River =43=: 175.
social organization of =43=: 176.
synonyms for =43=: 171.
=Waymouth=, _Captain_ ----, reference to =43=: 171.
=Wenerramett=, a Wawenock at Falmouth Conference =43=: 174.
=Woosszurraboonet=, sagamore of Wawenock =43=: 174.
[Transcriber’s Note:
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Wawenock Myth Texts from Maine - Forty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American - Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, - 1925-26, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1928, - pages 165-198" ***
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