170 THE AVINXEBAGO TRIBE [eth. ann. 37 



My son, never abuse your wife. The women are sacred. If you 

 abuse your wife and make her life miserable, you ■will die early. 

 Our grandmother, the earth, is a woman, and in mistreating your 

 wife you will be mistreating her. Most assuredly will you be abus- 

 ing our grandmother if you act thus. .Ajid as it is she that is taking 

 care of us you will really be killing yourself by such behavior. 



My son, when you keep house, should anyone enter your house, 

 iio matter who it is, be sure to offer him whatever you have m the 

 house. Ally food that you withhold at such a time will most as- 

 suredly become a source of death to you. If you are stingy about 

 giving food the people will kill you on this account. They will 

 poison you. If you hear of a traveler who is visitmg your people 

 and you wish to see him, prepare your table for him and have him 

 sent for. In this manner you mil be acting correctly. It is always 

 good to act correctly and do good, the old people used to say. 



If you see an old, helpless person, help him with whatever you 

 possess. Should you happen to possess a home and you take him 

 there, he might suddenly say abusive things about you during the 

 middle of the meal. You will be strengthened by such words. 

 This same traveler may, on the contrary, give you something that 

 he carries under his arms and which he treasures very highly. If it 

 is an object without a stem,'" keep it to protect your house. If you 

 thus keep it within your house, your home will never be molested 

 by any bad spirits. Nothing will be able to enter your house un- 

 expectedly. Thus you will live. Witches, instead of entering your 

 house, wiU pass aroimd it. If, in addition to possessing this medi- 

 cine, you also fast, your people will be benefited by it greatly. 

 Earthmaker made spu'its up above and some he made to live on 

 this earth; and again some he made to live under the water and 

 some to live in the water; and all these he put in charge of some- 

 thing. Even the small animals that move about this e^rth the 

 creator put in charge of some power. Thus he created them. After- 

 wards he created us human beings and as he had exhausted all the 

 powers to be disposed of we were not in control of anything. Then 

 he made a weed and placed it m our charge. And he said that no 

 matter how powerful are the spirits that exist they would not be 

 able to take this weed from us without giving something in return. 

 He himself, Earthmaker, would not be able to demand it for nothing. 

 So he spoke. This weed was the tobacco plant. Earthmaker said 

 that if we would offer a pipeful of tobacco to him, whatever we should 

 ask of him he would immediately grant. Not only he, but all the 

 spirits created, longed to have some of this tobacco. It is for this 

 reason that when we fast and cry piteously for some spirit to take 

 pity on us, if we give them tobacco they will bless us with those 



'« A. plant without a stem, presumably some root, used for warding off danger. 



