262 TKIBES AND DIALECTS OF CONNECTICUT Ieth. ann. 43 



an analogy here between the bird and the fairies, one which is carried 

 through several Algonkian mythologies. Thus we have in Mohegan 

 the lady slipper {Cypripedium) known as "whippoorwill's slipper." 

 It bears the same fanciful name in the Wabanaki dialects, 

 wi"pula'ks8ns, "whippoorwill's moccasin," while in the distant New 

 Jersey Delaware dialect it was also "whippoorwill's shoe." ■* Imagi- 

 nation is no doubt responsible for the association of the whippoorwill 

 and the elves in Mohegan, the name and fancy finally being taken 

 by the colonists. The name ma'k'i's, "little boy," is not cognate 

 with the corresponding names for elves in other northern Algonkian 

 languages, though the fairy-lore is much the same among practically 

 all the tribes from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico. In Wabanaki 

 we have wna'game's'u (Penobscot), manogama's (St. Francis Abe- 

 naki, which Rasles gives as wanangmeswak, "revenants"), 

 wigala'demu'tc (Micmac), denoting creatures with attributes very 

 similar to those just described. A similar concept is well distributed 

 north of the St. Lawrence, bearing the name memegwe'ju among the 

 Montagnais and me''megwe''si among the northern Ojibwa.^ 



Ghosts or wandering spirits (dji''bai) arc believed to be round 

 about. Besides indulging in many mystifying capers, such as 

 appearing suddenly before people at night and making peculiar and 

 terrifying noises, they are thought to take vengeance on their enemies 

 and help their friends on earth in various ways. It is, however, hard 

 to separate the Indian from the European elements in such tales. 



The will-o'-the-wisp is called g'ackatcaqg. The Indians believe it 

 to be caused by spirits who are traveling about with lights. They 

 are greatly feared, and are thought to be more numei'ous at certain 

 places and at particular times of the year. We encounter in this 

 another common Algonkian concept in the association of the disem- 

 bodied soul with the apparition of a spot of light. Here are given 

 some short anecdotes: 



"One dark, stormy night a woman was coming down the long hill 

 toward Two Bridges, having been up to New London. Looking 

 across the swamp to the opposite slope she beheld a light approach- 

 ing in her direction. Wlien they drew near to one another the 

 woman saw that the light was suspended in the center of a person's 

 stomach as though in a frame. There was no shadow cast, and yet 

 the outline of the person could be distinguished as it surrounded 

 the light. The woman was badly frightened and ran all the way 

 home. 



"Another time Tantaquidgeon was riding home, and when he was 

 passing the same swamp two dogs dashed from the bushes, and 

 from their mouths they breathed fire. They ran alongside, blowing 



< Informfition from Dr. John W. ITarshbetgei, University of Pennsylvania. 



• Memoir 71, Geological Survey ol Canada, Anthropological Series No. 9 (1915), p. 82. 



