382 USES OF PLANTS BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS [xerH. ann. 44 
washed ashore. One day when doing this she had a strange feeling 
as though the wind were blowing underneath her clothing. She 
looked around her but saw no signs of anyone. After a while she 
went home. 
As soon as she entered the house her mother saw that she looked 
troubled and bewildered. Her mother asked, ‘* Did you see anyone ? 
Did anyone speak to you?” The girl replied, “I saw no one and 
heard no one speak to me.” After a time the mother noticed that the 
girl was pregnant and questioned her again but the girl replied as 
before, that she had seen no one. The only thing strange to her was 
the sensation of the wind blowing about her which she had described 
to her mother. When the time came for her to be delivered there was 
a sound as of an explosion and the girl disappeared, leaving abso- 
lutely no trace. The old woman threw herself on the ground and 
wailed because her daughter had disappeared. She searched every- 
where but could find no trace of her. Finally, in looking among the 
leaves, she saw a drop of blood on a leaf. She picked it up carefully 
and put it beside her pillow. After a while, as she lay there, she 
thought she heard some one shivering and breathing near her head. 
She lay still, not knowing what to do. She heard the breathing near 
her head constantly. As she lay there wondering what it could be 
she heard a sound like that of a human being. She said, “I guess I 
am going to be blessed.” * As she lay there a voice spoke and said, 
“ Grandmother, get up and build a fire. I am freezing.” The old 
woman arose and looked around, and there beside her lay a little boy. 
She took him up and caressed him. She got up and made a fire to 
warm him, and behold the child was Winabojo. All the spirits that 
roam the earth were frightened at the birth of Winabojo, for they 
knew his power. Throughout his human life he was a mysterious 
being with miraculous powers. He grew rapidly in strength and 
soon began to help his grandmother. He dug potatoes and brought 
fish and berries for her. 
One day, when he had grown to be almost a man, he asked his 
erandmother what was the largest fish in the lake. She replied, 
“Why do you ask? It is not good for you to know. There is a 
large fish that lives over by that ledge of rock, but it is very powerful 
and would do great harm to you.” Winabojo asked, “Could the 
ereat fish be killed?” His grandmother replied, “No; for he lives 
below the rocks and no one could get down there to kill him.” 
Winabojo began to think about this and he made up his mind that 
he would learn to fight so that he could kill the great fish. He got 
some wood and began to make bows and arrows. Then he asked his 
“This phrase is commonly used to designate a supernatural visitation or other direct 
evidence of supernatural favor. 
