Sketches From Oldest America 



&quot; Ongootkoot &quot; of the first grade. Such births of 

 spirits, desirous of entering the world as human 

 beings, it is said, have continued down until com 

 paratively recent times. These earth-born spirits had 

 the reputation of being men with charmed lives who 

 could not be killed. 



&quot; Kownalia &quot; was such an one. His descendants 

 will often relate how, when just born, he began 

 talking with the people, conversing like an adult. 

 At one time while visiting further North, he and a 

 number of men ventured on thin ice; the ice broke 

 and all were precipitated into the water. &quot; Kow 

 nalia,&quot; stepping on the backs of the struggling men, 

 walked to the shore uninjured, while all the others 

 perished. 



The claims for &quot;Ungmana,&quot; another &quot;Ongoot 

 koot &quot; of the first grade, were that he could lay his 

 abdomen open, then, placing fuel inside, set the mass 

 on fire, the people being allowed to witness the 

 blaze and smoke. He would then remove the 

 charred mass, and on closing the wound there would 

 be no sign left of an injury having been inflicted. 



These &quot; Ongootkoots &quot; have undoubtedly rendered 

 a service to their people in the past by acting as their 

 historians in preserving their traditions; they have 



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