October 1, 1886.] 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



351 



INDIAN MYTHS ABOUT NIGHT. 



By " Stella Occidens." 



XDIAN folk-lore contains many curious myths 

 with regard to night, which differ according to 

 the imaginative powers of each tribe. Some 

 of those here dailt with have been touched on 

 in preceding papers. But in point of fact, 

 such stories present themselves in many dif- 

 ferent forms. 



Among the Algonquins, night is supposed to be a deep 

 and mighty river leading to caverns of darkness, whereas 

 the Dacotah tribes imagine that it is a silver lake leading to 

 the abodes of the blest. The Ottawa tribes believe that 

 night concKils by a veil of darkness a deep chasm which 

 sepai-ates the known from the unknown regions ; and among 

 the Iroquois night is a dark river, guarded by a wicked 

 magician and serpents. In the Hiawatha legends Long- 

 fellow describes it as 



the black pitch-water 



Lighted by the shimmeriDg moonlight. 



The Zuni and Oraibi myths are quite unlike the above, as 

 it was a firm belief among these tribes that at one time the 

 earth was always covered by darkness. The Zuni traditions 

 are jealously guarded by the priests, and read aloud every 

 four years in their presence. During a recitation which 

 occurred in February 1881, the following absti-acts were 

 made from memory by Mr. Frank H. Gushing. Although 

 gi'eatly condensed, they were pronounced correct by one of 

 the above-mentioned priests. 



The account begins with the following characteristic 

 words : — '• In the days when all was new, when men lived 

 in the four caverns of the lower regions. In the lowermost 

 one of these, men first came to know of theii- existence. It 

 was dark : as men increased they began to crowd one 

 another, and were very unhappy." After awhile the 

 " Holder of the Paths of Life," the Sun-father, created two 

 children, whom he sent on earth for the good of men. He 

 gave them a bow (A-mi-to-lan-ne, the Rainbow) and an 

 arrow (Wi-lo-lo-a-ne, Lightning) and a shield of network, 

 in the centre of which was a magic knife. The children 

 were borne down upon the shield net into the caverns 

 where all men dwelt. They listened to the prayers of the 

 priests, and, building a ladder to the roof of the first cave, 

 they widened the hole through which they had come with 

 their magic knife. Later on, men were led into the third 

 cavern, which was still larger, " and like twilight, for 

 the light of the sun himself sifted down through the open- 

 ing." To these poor childi-en of the dark, the opening 

 seemed like a blazing sun. As time went on, men multi- 

 plied as before, and once more prayed for light, and on 

 account of these prayers they at last saw the " light of their 

 father, the sun." * 



There is a great resemblance in this myth to the Oraibi 

 myth. The philosoplier of Oi-aibi tells us that when people 

 ascended by means of the magical tree, which constituted 

 the ladder from the lower world to this, they found the 

 firmament (the ceiling of this world) low down upon the 

 earth I the floor of this world). Mateito, one of their gods, 

 raised the firmament on his shoulders, to where it is now 

 seen. Still the world was dark, and the people murmured. 

 Mateito said, " Bring me seven maidens. Bring me seven 

 baskets of cotton-bolls." He taught them how to weave a 

 wonderful fabric, which floated away on the breeze, and 

 became the moon and stars. The people still grumbled 



* "Bureau of Ethnology," Smithsonian Institute, p. 13, 1881. 

 (Zoni Fetishes and Customs.) 



because it was cold, so Mateito, sending for buffalo robes, 

 wove a wonderful fabric, which the storm king carried 

 into the sky, and it became the sun.* 



The comparison of night to caverns of darkness also 

 occurs in a Micmac legend, concerning Glooksap, who 

 sailed through them in his canoe. 



" Now, having made a canoe, the Master (Glooksap) with 

 Marten and Dame Bear, went upon a mighty river. As 

 the story says, it wa.s broad and beautiful at first, and they 

 sailed down towards its mouth. Then they came to great 

 clifls. which gathered round, and closed over them. But 

 the river ran on beneath these, and ever on, far under- 

 ground, deeper and deeper in the earth, till it dashed head- 

 long into i-apids, among rocks, ravines, and under cataracts, 

 which were so horrible that death seemed to come and go 

 with every plunge of the canoe. And the waters grew 

 narrower and the current more dreadful, and fear came 

 upon ilarteu and the woman, so that they died. But the 

 Master sat with silent soul, though he s;ing the .songs of 

 magic. So they passed into the night, but came forth 

 again into the sunlight, and there was a lonely wigwam on 

 the bank, into which he bore Marten and the grandmother, 

 saying, " Numchahse ! " (which means " Arise 1 ") and lo ! 

 they arose, and deemed they had only slept. Glooksap had 

 now gained the greatest power.f 



The Algonquins Ijelieve that night is a mighty river, and 

 that Manabozho, the Great White One, sailed across it, in 

 pursuit of a wicked magician who had slain his grandfather.;]; 

 This magician lived on the opposite side of the Great Lake, 

 and his wigwam was guarded by a shining !Manito and 

 fiery serpents. The Manito was the Great Misshikabikib, 

 the prince of serpents, and the great power of evil. After 

 .a desperate struggle Maubozho conquered him, and returned 

 home in triumph. Almost the s;vnie account is given of 

 Hiawatha in the Iroquois legends. He, likewise, de'ter- 

 mines to revenge the death of his grandfather. He sailed 

 away towards the west, and soon he saw the fiery serpents, 

 '• breathing fiery fogs," so that none could pass them. 

 Hiawatha destroyed these serpents with his bow and 

 arrows (thunder and lightning). He then smeared the sides 

 of his canoe with oil, so that he might pass the black pitch- 

 water. 



Westward thus fared iHiawatha, 



Toward the realm of Megissogwon, 



Toward the land of the Pearl- Feather. 



The magician is overcome by the mighty Hiawatha after 

 a fearful struggle, and then returned — 



Homeward, through the black pitch-water, 



With a shout, a song of triumph. § 



An Ottawa legend relates the adventures of five young 

 hunters and a boy about ten years of age, called loscoda. 

 They determined to visit the sun and moon. After they 

 had wandered for many days through many lands, and 

 were footsore and weary, they at last saw the spirits 

 Sheshegwun. They were soon overtaken by the darkness, 

 and asked for shelter at a large building on the borders of a 

 mighty plain. Here dwelt a Manito, who gave them 

 shelter, and Hkewise very good advice when they told 



* " Bureau of Ethnology," Smithsonian Institute, p. 26, 1880. t 



f I.eland, •' Algonquin Legends," p. 61. A comparison might be 

 made between the above myth and that of the fish-god Dagon, 

 " who swam nightly through subterranean waters to appear east- 

 ward again at daj break, where he strikes down the oppressor, who 

 has held him in bondage." Fiske, " Jlvths and Jlvthmakers, ' 

 pp. 19, 24. 



J Brinton, " Myths of the New World," p. 173. 



§ Schoolcraft, "Hiawatha Legends," p. 21. This story was 

 related to Schoolcraft in 1882 by the Chippewas of Lake Superior. 



