Native American (Ojibwa)

BOKWEWA
OR
THE HUMPBACK from the ojibwa

Native American (Ojibwa)

Although physically deformed, Bokwewa is gifted in supernatural ways and has a very generous and loving spirit. When his brother goes after his wife’s kidnapper, Bokwewa warns him to resist temptations that will divert him. He doesn’t obey and Bokwewa attempts to rescue him. Good for discussion on benevolence and self-sacrifice versus temptation and vanity.

Key Words: North America; Native American; Ojibwa; physical deformity; supernatural gifts; generous spirit; self-indulgence; temptation

“Bokwewa, or The Humpback from the Odjibwa.” Originally published in 1956 by Michigan State University Press. Schoolcraft, H.R. Schoolcraft’s Indian Legends: Algic Researches. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1956. pp. 84-86.

Bokwewa and his brother lived in a secluded part of the country. They were considered as Manitoes, who had assumed mortal shapes. Bokwewa was the most gifted in supernatural endowments, although he was deformed in person (a humpback). His brother partook more of the nature of the present race of beings. They lived retired from the world, and undisturbed by its cares, and passed their time in contentment and happiness.

Bokwewa, owing to his deformity, was very domestic in his habits, and gave his attention to household affairs. He instructed his brother in the manner of pursuing game, and made him acquainted with all the accomplishments of a sagacious and expert hunter. His brother possessed a fine form, and an active and robust constitution; and felt a disposition to show himself off among men. He was restive in his seclusion, and showed a fondness for visiting remote places.

One day he told his brother that he was going to leave him; that he wished to visit the habitations of men, and procure a wife. Bokwewa objected to his going; but his brother overruled all that he said, and he finally departed on his travels. He traveled a long time. At length he fell in with the footsteps of men. They were moving by encampments, for he saw several places where they had encamped. It was in the winter. He came to a place where one of their number had died. They had placed the corpse on a scaffold. He went to it and took it down. He saw that it was the corpse of a beautiful young woman. "She shall be my wife!" he exclaimed.

He took her up, and placing her on his back, returned to his brother. "Brother," he said, "cannot you restore her to life? Oh, do me that favor!" Bokwewa said he would try. He performed numerous ceremonies, and at last succeeded in restoring her to life. They lived very happily for some time. Bokwewa was extremely kind to his brother, and did everything to render his life happy. Being deformed and crippled, he always remained at home, while his brother went out to hunt. And it was by following his directions, which were those of a skillful hunter, that he always succeeded in returning with a good store of meat.

One day he had gone out as usual, and Bokwewa was sitting in his lodge, on the opposite side of his brother's wife, when a tall, fine young man entered, and immediately took the woman by the hand and drew her to the door. She resisted and called on Bokwewa, who jumped up to her assistance. But their joint resistance was unavailing; the man succeeded in carrying her away. In the scuffle, Bokwewa had his humpback much bruised on the stones near the door. He crawled into the lodge and wept very sorely, for he knew that it was a powerful Manito who had taken the woman.

When his brother returned he related all to him exactly as it had happened. He would not taste food for several days. Sometimes he would fall to weeping for a long time, and appeared almost beside himself. At last he said he would go in search of her. Bokwewa tried to dissuade him from it, but he insisted.

"Well!" said he, "since you are bent on going, listen to my advice. You will have to go south. It is a long distance to the residence of your captive wife, and there are so many charms and temptations in the way, I am afraid you will be led astray by them, and forget your errand. For the people whom you will see in that country do nothing but amuse themselves. They are very idle, gay, and effeminate, and I am fearful they will lead you astray. Your journey is beset with difficulties. I will mention one or two things, which you must be on your guard against. In the course of your journey, you will come to a large grapevine lying across your way. You must not even taste its fruit, for it is poisonous. Step over it. It is a snake. You will next come to something that looks like bear's fat, transparent and tremulous. Don't taste it, or you will be overcome by the pleasures of those people. It is frog's eggs. These are snares laid by the way for you."

He said he would follow the advice, and bid farewell to his brother. After traveling a long time, he came to the enchanted grapevine. It looked so tempting, he forgot his brother's advice and tasted the fruit. He went on till he came to the frog's eggs. The substance so much resembled bear's fat that he tasted it. He still went on. At length he came to a very extensive plain. As he emerged from the forest the sun was setting, and cast its scarlet and golden shades over all the plain. The air was perfectly calm, and the whole prospect had the air of an enchanted land. The most inviting fruits and flowers spread out before the eye. At a distance he beheld a large village, filled with people without number, and as he drew near he saw women beating corn in silver mortars. When they saw him approaching, they cried out, "Bokwewa's brother has come to see us." Throngs of men and women, gaily dressed, came out to meet him. He was soon overcome by their flatteries and pleasures, and he was not long afterward seen beating corn with their women (the strongest proof of effeminacy), although his wife, for whom he had mourned so much, was in that Indian metropolis.

Meantime Bokwewa waited patiently for the return of his brother. At length, after the lapse of several years, he set out in search of him, and arrived in safety among the luxurious people of the South. He met with the same allurements on the road, and the same flattering reception that his brother did. But he was above all temptations. The pleasures he saw had no other effect upon him than to make him regret the weakness of mind of those who were led away by them. He shed tears of pity to see that his brother had laid aside the arms of a hunter, and was seen beating corn with the women.

He ascertained where his brother's wife remained. After deliberating some time, he went to the river where she usually came to draw water. He there changed himself into one of those hair-snakes which are sometimes seen in running water. When she came down, he spoke to her, saying, "Take me up; I am Bokwewa." She then scooped him out and went home. In a short time the Manito who had taken her away asked her for water to drink. The lodge in which they lived was partitioned. He occupied a secret place, and was never seen by any one but the woman. She handed him the water containing the hair-snake, which he drank, with the snake, and soon after was a dead Manito.

Bokwewa then resumed his former shape. He went to his brother, and used every means to reclaim him. But he would not listen. He was so much taken up with the pleasures and dissipations into which he had fallen, that he refused to give them up, although Bokwewa, with tears, tried to convince him of his foolishness, and to show him that those pleasures could not endure for a long time. Finding that he was past reclaiming, Bokwewa left him, and disappeared forever.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE AND THE CLAMBAKE

Native American (Wampanoag)

The story of the big white wale and how the Wampanoag people came to appreciate the circle of life.

Key Words: North America; Native American; nature; stewardship; thanksgiving

“The Circle of Life and the Clambake.” Bruchac, Joseph. Native Plant Stories. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing, ©1995. pp. 21-24.
"Used with the permission of Fulcrum Publishing
http://www.fulcrum-books.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=5407 Excerpted with permission from 'Native Plant Stories' by Joseph Bruchac and Michael Caduto, Fulcrum Publishing, 1-800-992-2908."

Everything in life is a circle. Everything is alive—the animals, the birds, the plants of Earth and the plants of the seas, the water, the air and the stones—and everything must be respected. All things are part of Earth, which gives us everything we need. When we take from Earth, we must give back in return. The Medicine Circle is the source of our strength.

So the Wampanoag people explain the way they have been instructed by the Creator. For untold centuries, the Wampanoag, the People of First Light, have lived along the southeastern coast of Massachusetts. And their traditions and stories relate to that circle of life which human beings must strive to maintain.

One of the heroes of the Wampanoag is a giant whose name is Maushop. Some sav he lived there on the narrow land now called Cape Cod even before the Wampanoags arrived. He was not alone, for there were other beings there with him. One of his friends was a giant frog which was his closest companion.

Maushop's life was a good one. He swam in the waters of Popponesset Bay. He made great fires on the sandy beach to cook whales and other sea creatures, and when he emp-tied the sand into the sea from his great moccasins he made the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

The Wampanoag became the friends of Maushop and he enjoyed helping them. When they wanted to cook or keep themselves warm, he would carry great loads of wood on his back for their fires. When they were hungry he would drive whales onto the shore so that the people did not have to hunt for food. He was so good to the people that they be-came lazy.

Then Kehtean, the Great Spirit, spoke to Maushop.

"It is good that you care for your younger brothers," Kehtean said, "but it is not right that you do everything for them. They are like little children when you care for all their needs. They must take responsibility for their own lives or they will never grow. If they do not care for themselves, how can they care for the rest of Creation? Their circle will not be strong."

"It is true," Maushop said. Then he said good-bye to the People of First Light. His small friends watched him from the cliffs at Gay Head as he waded into the bay, which was greenish brown with rockweed, and swam away toward the west. As he swam, Kehtean, the Creator, transformed him into a great white whale. Maushop's friend, the giant frog, came to the cliffs, filled with sorrow at the loss of his friend. Kehtean took pity on the giant frog and changed him into a huge stone, which still sits there at Gay Head, looking out to sea. That stone reminds the Wampanoag that Kehtean cares for all things and that the decisions of the Great Mystery are made for the good of all.

Without their friend to help them, the Wampanoag wondered how they would survive. They soon found, how-ever, that when they worked for themselves, everything that they needed was there. One of those ways of survival which makes use of all that is around them—Earth, the plants, the animals and the water—is called by them Appanaug. It is a word which means "seafood cooking," and, because it is a special part of the circle, it is done to honor someone or to mark the change of the seasons.

With thanks in their hearts and with care, they wade into the shallow waters of Popponesset Bay and collect some of the Rock People, old round stones which have been smoothed by the tide. They find a place in the forest which feels right, and there they make a circle and dig a shallow, round hole in the earth. The stones are then placed in that hole, and the shape of the stone and the shape of that hole remind the Wampanoag of the Medicine Circle of all life.

Dry wood is gathered from the forest. No living trees are used. That way they clear the forest floor and make use of another gift given them by Kehtean.

When the next morning comes, they gather quahog clams from the bottom of the bay and sickissuog clams from the shore when the tide is low. Then, from the shallow water, they gather great loads of a seaweed called rockweed. The rockweed is covered with chambers filled with gas, and the body of the plant contains a great deal of salt water. When the fire for the clambake has burned down to ashes and the Rock People are glowing with heat, that rockweed is piled on top of the stones. Steam begins to rise as the salt water in the plants boils, and the clams, along with lobsters and corn, are piled onto the rockweed and then covered with more armfuls of seaweed. The Appanaug is part of the great Medicine Circle of life, one of the gifts of the Great Spirit. So, as the food cooks, the people say prayers of thanksgiving to remember all the gifts they have been given. It is the way it was done long ago and it is still done that way today.

The Hopis and the famine

Native American (Hopi)

As a result of his wife’s infidelity, a young rain priest puts a famine on the land. When the rain priest returns to the desolate land he is merciful and generous, feeding and teaching them. When it is time for him to leave again the priests stay with the Hopis to intervene supernaturally for the people.

Key Words: North America; Native American; Hopi; famine; infidelity

“The Hopis and the Famine.” Tedlock, Dennis (translated by Dennis Tedlock by permission of University of Nebraska Press). Finding the Center: The Art of the Zuni Storyteller, 2nd edition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, ©1999. pp. 29-54.
Used with the permission of Professor Dennis Tedlock and University of Nebraska Press. www.nebraskapress.unl.edu