654 SENECA FICTION, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth. ann. 32 



liiG. The Okigin of the Porcupine People oit Clan ^'^ 



In ancient times, it is said, a people dwelling in a certain country, 

 having become very numerous, decided to divide into ecjual parts 

 their hunting grounds and the game animals living on them. This 

 division of lands took place at a jjublic assembly. 



It was solemnly agreed that all persons sliould respect th? bound- 

 ary marks separating their own lands from those of their neigbbors; 

 that no person should cross such boundary lines for the purpose of 

 hunting game animals; and that any person violating this agreement 

 would be guilty of trespass. The part assigned to every family 

 {ohwdjchira) was, indeed, very large, being considered sufficiently 

 extensive to provide sustenance for tiiat family. It was still further 

 agreed that when the trespass sbouhl be discovered the aggrieved 

 people might, after learning all the facts in' the case, exterminate 

 the family of the transgressor, unless a suitable expiatory recompense 

 were offered and accepted from such clan and family. This compact 

 was solemnly kept for nuiny years and the several contracting clans 

 or peoples lived in great harmony. 



There came a day, however, when a hunter from one of these 

 neighboring clans deliberately violated the compact of his clan with 

 their neighbors by crossing the boundary line into the territory of 

 an adjoining people and there killing some game animal. His act, 

 which was soon discovered, led to a long and bloody war between 

 the two families, resulting in the virtual extermination of the clan 

 of the offender. 



Only one man escaped the vengeance of the offended family. He 

 saved himself by flight from his home and succeeded in avoiding 

 his pursuers by dropping into a deep cavern in a rocky cliff far from 

 his land. Having passed through the entrance of the cavern, the man 

 saw that the passage led to a very large open space, which he found 

 to be well lighted. In the center of a spacious field he saw a lodge, 

 which attracted his attention. While watching for some sign of life 

 in the lodge, he was gratified to see a woman emerge therefrom and 

 then reenter. 



Going back into the passageway to the cavern, the man kept a close 

 watch on the lodge. In a short time another woman came out, fol- 

 lowed by the woman he had first seen. The two walked splay-footed 

 toward the place where the fugitive had concealed himself. On reach- 

 ing the opening of the cavern they stopped, and one said to the other : 

 " Let us go back home, for I smell the smoke of a fire." Thereupon 

 the two started back down from the entrance. So they quickly re- 

 turned to the lodge and at once reentered it. Shortly afterward a 

 man came out of the lodge. He shook himself as a dog shakes him- 

 self after coming up out of the water, and it seemed to the fugitive 



