656 SENECA FICnON, LEGENDS, AND MYTHS [eth.ann.22 



his camp. These visitors brought their wives along to see the new- 

 comers. They were greatly surprised to find that the wife and the 

 children spoke a strange language, which was not understood by 

 any of the visitors, although easily comprehended by the husband. 

 At last one of the visitors asked : " Of what clan are you? " directing 

 his question to the wife of the host. The host replied for her : " She 

 is of the Porcupine clan of the Wan'dat tribe. I am of the Wah'dat 

 tribe, too." After a long silence one of the visitors said : " How did 

 you receive such a name ? " The host replied, " The Porcupines 

 gave me that name." Then the visitors exclaimed: "We have found 

 a new people, who are called Wan'dat, and we must love them as 

 we do our own peoples and tribes. Let us greet them as our friends." 



From this time the family of the Porcupine clan of the Wan'dat 

 had many friends and before a long time had passed they had 

 become very numerous. The children of the women were called 

 the Porcupine people. Their numbers made them powerful and 

 influential. They were well fed and strong physically. They were 

 fine hunters, knowing well v'liere to find game of all kinds, where 

 to gather nuts of all edible kinds and various kinds of lierries and 

 small fruits, and they knew also just where the wild pigeons had 

 their roosts. 



They noted the whereabouts of these places, and when the season 

 was fully come their leaders and chiefs would call to their people in 

 a loud voice : " Come ! Let us go to feed ourselves abundantly where 

 the wild pigeons have now prepared their roosts for the purpose 

 of breeding." At this time the wild pigeons were so numerous that 

 many flocks stretched over large tracts of territory, darkening the 

 liglit of the sun and making with their wings a loud rushing sound 

 resembling that of an approaching tornado. Giving heed to the call 

 of their leaders, the people would make the necessary preparations 

 to go to the roosts of the wild pigeons. Having reached the desig- 

 nated place, the people quickly put up temporary camps and then 

 went out at once to kill the squabs, which they brought to their lodges 

 to broil and eat with boiled corn bread and corn soup. All were 

 delighted with the bounty of nature — the gift of the Master of Life. 



Having thus spent part of the summer killing wild pigeons, 

 after the birds had departed, a leader among the people would say : 

 " Oh ! friends, cousins, and kindred, the deer have gone in this 

 direction and are now fat and in good condition to be killed for food 

 and for their skins. Let us then decamp now and go to the place 

 where they may be found. Up and let us be going. Let us lose no 

 time in delay." So leaving the grounds of the pigeon roost early in 

 the autumn, they would journey to the lands where the deer were 

 accustomed to feed and to raise their young. There thev would erect 



