The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems Part 48

[1] _Kay-oshk_ is the Ojibway name for the sea-gull.

[2] _Gitchee_--great,--_Gumee_--sea or lake,--Lake Superior; also often called _Ochipwe Gitchee Gumee_, Great lake (or sea) of the Ojibways.

[3] _Ne-me-Shomis_--my grandfather. "In the days of my grandfather" is the Ojibway's preface to all his traditions and legends.

[4] _Waub_--white--_O-jeeg_--fisher, (a furred animal). White Fisher was the name of a noted Ojibway chief who lived on the south sh.o.r.e of Lake Superior many years ago. Schoolcraft married one of his descendants.

[5] _Ma-kwa_ or _mush-kwa_--the bear.

[6] The _Te-ke-nah-gun_ is a board upon one side of which a sort of basket is fastened or woven with thongs of skin or strips of cloth. In this the babe is placed and the mother carries it on her back. In the wigwam the _tekenagun_ is often suspended by a cord to the lodge-poles and the mother swings her babe in it.

[7] _Wabose_ (or _Wabos_)-the rabbit. _Penay_, the pheasant. At certain seasons the pheasant drums with his wings.

[8] _Kaug_, the porcupine. _Kenew_, the war-eagle.

[9] _Ka-be-bon-ik-ka_ is the G.o.d of storms, thunder, lightning, etc. His home is on Thunder-Cap at Thunder-Bay, Lake Superior. By his magic the giant that lies on the mountain was turned to stone. He always sends warnings before he finally sends the severe cold of winter, in order to give all creatures time to prepare for it.

[10] _Kewaydin_ or _Kewaytin_, is the North wind or North-west wind.

[11] _Algonkin_ is the general name applied to all tribes that speak the Ojibway language or dialects of it.

[12] This is the favorite "love-broth" of the Ojibway squaws. The warrior who drinks it immediately falls desperately in love with the woman who gives it to him. Various tricks are devised to conceal the nature of the "medicine" and to induce the warrior to drink it; but when it is mixed with a liberal quant.i.ty of "fire-water" it is considered irresistible.

[13] Translation:

Woe-is-me! Woe-is-me!

Great Spirit, behold me!

Look, Father; have pity upon me!

Woe-is-me! Woe-is-me!

[14] Snow-storms from the North-west.

[15] The Ojibways, like the Dakotas, call the _Via Lactea_ (Milky Way) the Pathway of the Spirits.

[16] _s.h.i.+nge-bis_, the diver, is the only water-fowl that remains about Lake Superior all winter.

[17] _Waub-ese_--the white swan.

[18] _Pe-boan_, Winter, is represented as an old man with long white hair and beard.

[19] _Segun_ is Spring (or Summer). This beautiful allegory has been "done into verse" by Longfellow in _Hiawatha_. Longfellow evidently took his version from Schoolcraft. I took mine originally from the lips of _Pah-go-nay-gie-s.h.i.+ek_--"Hole-in-the-day"--(the elder) in his day head-chief of the Ojibways. I afterward submitted it to _Gitche Shabash-Konk_, head-chief of the _Misse-sah-ga-e-gun_--(Mille Lacs band of Ojibways), who p.r.o.nounced it correct.

"Hole-in-the-day," although sanctioned by years of unchallenged use, is a bad translation of _Pah-go-nay-gie-s.h.i.+ek_, which means a _clear spot in the sky_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLE-IN-THE-DAY. _From an original photograph in the author's possession._]

He was a very intelligent man; had been in Was.h.i.+ngton several times on business connected with his people, and was always shrewd enough to look out for himself in all his treaties and transactions with the Government. He stood six feet two inches in his moccasins, was well-proportioned, and had a remarkably fine face. He had a nickname--_Que-we-zanc_--(Little Boy) by which he was familiarly called by his people.

The Pillagers--_Nah-kand-tway-we-nin-ni-wak_--who live about Leech Lake (_Kah-sah-gah-squah-g-me-c.o.c.k_) were opposed to _Pa-go-nay-gie-s.h.i.+ek_, but he compelled them through fear to recognize him as Head-Chief. At the time of the "Sioux outbreak" in 1862 "Hole-in-the-day" for a time apparently meditated an alliance with the _Po-ah-nuck_ (Dakotas) and war upon the whites. The Pillagers and some other bands urged him strongly to this course, and his supremacy as head-chief was threatened unless he complied. Messengers from the Dakotas were undoubtedly received by him, and he, for a time at least, led the Dakotas to believe that their hereditary enemies, the Ojibways, would bury the hatchet and join them in a war of extermination against the whites. "Hole-in-the-day," with a band of his warriors, appeared opposite Fort Ripley (situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River between Little Falls and Crow Wing), and a.s.sumed a threatening att.i.tude toward the fort, then garrisoned by volunteer troops. The soldiers were drawn up on the right bank and "Hole-in-the-day" and his warriors on the left. A little speech-making settled the matter for the time being and very soon thereafter a new treaty was made with "Hole-in-the-day" and his head men, by which their friends.h.i.+p and allegiance were secured to the whites. It was claimed by the Pillagers that "Hole-in-the-day" seized the occasion to profit personally in his negotiations with the agents of the Government.

In 1867 "Hole-in-the-day" took "another wife." He married Helen McCarty, a white woman, in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., and took her to his home at Gull Lake (_Ka-ga-ya-skunc-c.o.c.k_) literally, _plenty of little gulls_.

She bore him a son who is known as Joseph H. Woodbury, and now (1891) resides in the city of Minneapolis. His marriage with a white woman increased the hatred of the Pillagers, and they shot him from ambush and killed him near _Ninge-ta-we-de-gua-yonk_--Crow Wing--on the 27th day of June, 1868.

At the time of his death, "Hole-in-the-day" was only thirty-seven years old but had been recognized as Head-Chief for a long time. He could speak some English, and was far above the average of white men in native shrewdness and intelligence. He was thoroughly posted in the traditions and legends of his people.

The Ojibways have for many years been cursed by contact with the worst elements of the whites, and seem to have adopted the vices rather than the virtues of civilization. I once spoke of this to "Hole-in-the-day."

His reply was terse and truthful--"_Madge tche-mo-ko-mon, madge a-nische-nabe: menoge tche-mo-ko-mon, meno a-nische-nabe_.--Bad white men, bad Indians: good white men, good Indians."

[20] _Nah_--look, see. _Nashke_--behold.

[21] _Kee-zis_--the sun,--the father of life. _Waubunong_--or _Waub-o-nong_--is the White Land or Land of Light,--the Sun-rise, the East.

[22] The Bridge of Stars spans the vast sea of the skies, and the sun and moon walk over on it.

[23] The _Miscodeed_ is a small white flower with a pink border. It is the earliest blooming wild flower on the sh.o.r.es of Lake Superior, and belongs to the crocus family.

[24] The _Ne-be-naw-baigs_, are Water-spirits; they dwell in caverns in the depths of the lake, and in some respects resemble the _Unktehee_ of the Dakotas.

[25] _Ogema_, Chief,--_Oge-ma-kwa_--female Chief. Among the Algonkin tribes women are sometimes made chiefs. _Net-no-kwa_, who adopted Tanner as her son, was _Oge-ma-kwa_ of a band of Ottawas. See _John Tanner's Narrative_, p. 36.

[26] The "Bridge of Souls" leads from the earth over dark and stormy waters to the spirit-land. The "Dark River" seems to have been a part of the superst.i.tions of all nations.

[27] The _Jossakeeds_ of the Ojibways are soothsayers who are able, by the aid of spirits, to read the past as well as the future.

FINIS