488 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS rETH. ann. 32 



commanding them to become such and such birds; and they became 

 birds — horned owls, hawks, crows, and woodpeckers — which dis- 

 appeared in the air. " Now," said the Great Head, " you must work 

 hard. Fit all these other bones together nicely, giving to each body its 

 own bones by putting together as many bodies as you can. While you 

 are doing this, I will go off a long distance and then come back 

 straight over this forest. When I approach you will hear the roar 

 of the wind, and thereupon you must cry out to these bones, 'Arise, 

 or the trees will fall on you.' They will obey you. I will pass over 

 them and go to my home; if you want me again, you may come for 

 me." The young man went to work with great haste and laid together 

 many skeletons. Nearly all the bones were arranged when he heard 

 the deep roar of the wind and knew thereby the Great Head was 

 coming. Then he called out, "Arise, you bones, or the trees will fall 

 on you," ^'"' and as the Great Head swept with an awful noise over the 

 skeletons, all sprang to their feet. The bones of two skeletons were 

 interchanged. One who from the shape of his foot had gone by 

 the name of Sharp-pointed Moccasins had but one of his own feet, 

 while the second man had the other, so both were cripples. One of 

 these men had been enticed from a great distance; he was a man-eater 

 and wished to commence a meal at once, but the young man killed 

 him with a single blow of his club. Among those now restored to 

 life were the nine missing brothers. Each man found whatever he 

 had brought with him and all separated; those who did not Imow 

 where their homes were went with the brothers. Thus, again, after 

 many years the 12 brothers were united. 



lOG. Ongwe Ias ^'"' AND His Brother, Dagwanoentent 



There was a man who had three nephews, and all lived in a lodge 

 which was divided into two parts by a partition. The old man lived 

 in one part and the young men in the other. There was no door be- 

 tween the two rooms; they could talk only through the partition. 

 The old man, however, was an Ongwe las; he was a brother of the 

 Dagwanoenyent who chased the panther and her cubs. 



When the old man went hunting he always started on a run, and 

 one could hear the sound of his going. The young men used to go 

 hunting, too. Whenever the old man came home they could hear 

 him throw down a person's body and cut it up; then they could hear 

 him eating. Afterward he would ask the boys whether they had all 

 returned from hunting, whereupon they would say, " Yes." 



One morning after the old man had gone off the youngest of the 

 three started by himself. At a short distance from the lodge lay a 

 big tree, over which moss had grown everywhere. When he put his 

 knee on this tree to get over it he saw a man who had grown to the 



