S^wS] LEGENDS 749 



beings which are full of the highest potency of evil orenda. You 

 must go out to hunt for any Ivind of game animals, it may be. It is 

 possible for you to kill them, it is true, for you are not susceptible to 

 the influence.of evil orenda." So the nephew started out to hunt. 

 He remarked to himself: "I wonder whether what my uncle said is 

 true, indeed. I will begin with raccoons." 



As he went along he saw a standing tree greatly scarred with claw 

 marks. Climbing this tree he found a nest of raccoons. From this 

 he pulled out a raccoon, which he thi"ew down; then taking out 

 another raccoon he threw it also to the gi'ound, and then another 

 and another. Finally he said : " I do think these will do." He now 

 descended fi'om the tree, and when he reached the ground he said: 

 " I am, perhaps, strong enough to carry these bodies home on my 

 back by means of the forehead strap." So he set to work jjacking 

 the bodies into a bundle, by laying down his forehead strap and 

 placing the bodies of the raccoons on it and then binding the ends 

 of the strap around them in such manner as to make a closely bound 

 bundle. When he had completed this task he took up the pack and 

 placed it on his back in such wise that he carried it by means of the 

 forehead strap, as was the custom at that time. Then he started for 

 home. With the bundle on his back he reached his home. Casting 

 the bundle down indoors, he said : " Oh, my uncle ! dress these, if you 

 will." 



Then, truly, the old man set to work dressing the raccoons, ex- 

 claiming: "77o', my nephew! All has happened for good. Ever 

 since j'ou were small I have been attending to you. As you were 

 growing up I took care of you and I pitied you. Now, in turn, you 

 have grown to manhood. So it is, I have been accustomed to think 

 that this would come to pass. Now these bodies lie here as a ful- 

 fillment of my hopes ; so I am very thankful." 



Then the old man skinned the raccoons, and when he had com- 

 pleted his task he said, delightedly: "With these skins I will make 

 for myself a robe. You must go to hunt again. These things are 

 to be cooked in only one way ; they must be cooked by being boiled 

 down." He told this to the two wives of his nephew, asking them 

 whether that was not the right way of cooking raccoons. Then the 

 two women, arising, proceeded to dress the raccoons. AVhen they 

 had dressed them they set the kettle over the fire and started the 

 raccoon meat to cooking. When it was cooked it was indeed boiled 

 down in the manner suggested by the old man. Then the two women 

 placed the meat on bark trays, and all began to eat. The old man 

 kept on saying: "//o', I am thankful, thankful, thankful." 



The next morning Doiidanegen again went forth to hunt. As he 

 traveled through the forest he finally came to a tree all over the out- 

 side of which he saw many daw marks. Hence he decided to climb 



