(Ktnnifiintcft 



why the Great Spirit had made it, but he could 



not remember the account. I inquired among 



many Indians, feeling that I should at last learn 



a happy legend concerning it, but in vain. One 



night, however, by my camp-fire, I dreamed that 



some Alaska Indians told me this legend : — 



Long, long ago, Kinnikinick was a small tree 



with brown berries and broad leaves which 



dropped to the ground in autumn. One year a 



great snow came while the leaves were still on, 



and all trees were flattened upon the ground by 



the weight of the clinging snow. All broad-leaved 



trees except Kinnikinick died. When the snow 



melted, Kinnikinick was still alive, but pressed 



out upon the ground, crushed so that it could not 



rise. It started to grow, however, and spread out 



its limbs on the surface very like a root growth. 



The Great Spirit was so pleased with Kinniki- 



nick's efforts that he decided to let it live on in 



its new form, and also that he would send it to 



colonize many places where it had never been. 



He changed its berries from brown to red, so 



that the birds could see its fruit and scatter its 



seeds far and wide. Its leaves were reduced in 



179 



