328 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO 



SO often repeated (accoinpaDied with the aet of the wolverene snip- 

 ping oft' th(^ lieads of the birds) tliat the loon ojjeued one eye and saw 

 the headless ducks kicking. The loon ran to the water and exclaimed, 

 ''Our brother lias killed us! " The wolverene ran after the loon but the 

 loon dived under the water and came up a distance off and cried out, 

 "A ho ho ho ho ho ho!" The wolverene screamed, "Hold your tongue, 

 you red-eyed fowl." The wolverene returned to where the ducks had 

 been killed; plucked their feathers off and cleaned tliem; put them 

 into a large kettle and boiled them. 



While attending to the cooking lie saw a whisky-jack (Us' ka tcon)- 

 {Perisoreus cnnaflensis) flying about. The wolverene took a firebrand 

 and threw it at the bird, exclaiming, "You will be telling on me, you 

 long-tongued bird ! " The jay flew away and told the Indians that 

 "Our brother (wolverene) has killed a lot of ducks and has them 

 cooked," adding, "I think he is sleeping. I'll show you where he is if 

 you will come." The Indians reidied, "We will go, for we are very 

 hungry." They went and found tlie wolverene asleep alongside the pot. 

 The Indians ate all of the meat of the ducks. After they had finished 

 the meat they put the bones back into the kettle and went away. The 

 wolverene awakened after a time, took his dish and said to himself, 

 "Now, I shall have my dinner." He poured all the broth into his dish 

 and found nothing but the bones remaining. In his surprise he said, 

 "Surely, I have been sleeping a long time; the meat is all boiled away." 

 The jay told him that he had told the Indians. The wolverene said, 

 "Why did you tellf you stupid bird; I was keeping a nice piece of fat 

 for you.' You will not, now, get it for your impudence." 



The deer and the squirrel. — A reindeer called all the mammals and 

 birds together and announced that he would give names to all of them. 

 When he came to name the squirrel he inquired of the little creature 

 what name it would prefer. The squirrel replied that it would like to 

 have the same name as the black bear. The reindeer smiled and in- 

 formed the squirrel that it was too small to have the name of the bear. 

 The squirrel began to cry and wept so long that his lower eyelids 

 became white. 



The young man who went to live with the deer. — A young man one 

 morning told his old father that he had dreamed the night before that 

 a deer had asked him to come and live with them. The old father re- 

 plied, "That is a good sign; you will kill many deer after that dream." 

 The young man went away to hunt, and while out he saw a large herd 

 of deer. A young doe from the band ran up toward him, and he was 

 about to fire at her when she said to him, " Do not fire, for my father 

 has sent me to you. Please put up your arrows." She came nearer 

 and informed lum that her father had sent her to ask him to come and 

 live with the deer forever. 



iTlie jay is well knowu to be particularly fond of fat of any kind, hence the tempting morsel with- 

 held was a source for future redection. 



