hoffman I ma'nabush and the buzzard 165 



Mii'niibush continued his journey. Looking about him be perceived 

 Pa'skose — the Buzzard — flying bigh in the air. Then said Ma'nabush to 

 himself, "If I could only fly like Pa'skose, how I should enjoy looking 

 down to behold the earth." While thus meditating he moved his arms 

 as if flying, and Pii'skose, seeing him, soared down. Ma'nabush then 

 said to Pa'skose, "I should like to be able to fly as you do; to soar 

 away through the sky and look down upon the earth to see what every- 

 body is doing there.'' 



Pa'skose laughed and replied, "You can not fly, Ma'nabush, even 

 by moving your arms like that. What would you do if you could fly?" 



Ma'nabush responded, saying, "I would then transport myself much 

 quicker than I do in the way I am obliged to travel. Take me up, my 

 brother, and let me see how the earth appears from up in the sky." 



Pa'skose then told Ma'nabush to get upon his back, which he did, 

 and, securely holding on to Pa'skose, the latter Hew far into the air. 

 He flew to the top of a very high mountain peak with precipitous 

 sides, where Ma'nabush alighted to look about. Then Pii'skose flew 

 away, leaving Ma'nabush in a very dangerous place. Mii'niibush 

 looked for some way to descend from the peak, but, finding none, he 

 decided to leap down; so, taking a jump forward to clear the rock, he 

 descended toward the earth like an arrow. 



It happened that Mii'niihusli reached the earth near a camp of his 

 people, but fell into a hollow tree, from which he was unable to extri- 

 cate himself. Here he was held a prisoner for four days, when some 

 women, coming from the camp in search of wood, found the large 

 dead tree in which Mii'niibush happened to be a prisoner. One of the 

 women, on seeing the tree, said, "Here is some dry timber; let us 

 cut it down." Then Mii'niibush, hearing that help was at hand, and 

 desiring to avoid alarming the women by speaking to them, imitated a 

 porcupine by crying, ya he', yii he', yii he', yii lie! The women, think- 

 ing they had discovered a porcupine, immediately set to work to fell 

 the tree; but as Mii'niibush, after the tree had fallen, was afraid they 

 might cut into it again and wound him, he said to the one with the 

 ax, "Cut a small opening into the trunk, and let me show you how 

 many beautiful colored quills I shall give you." The woman did so, 

 being careful not to cut too large an opening; then Mii'niibush again 

 spoke to the woman and told her to take off her skirt and cover the 

 opening in the tree uutil he could put out the quills where she could 

 get them. She took off her skirt and placed it over the opening, wheu 

 Mii'niibush hastily crawled out and ran away laughing. 



Mii'niibush was glad to escape from these women, so he hurried away 

 toward the north where eight other women lived. The first was called 

 Mii'tshiwiqkwa'wis ("she who governs"); the second Ki'skapanuq'klu 

 ("early dawn"]; the third Pa'shapanoq'kiu ("the yellow streak of 

 cloudy vapor of the dawn"); the fourth Kashki'qkapau ("the dark 

 haze at the horizon"); and the eighth was called Osa'wapano'qkiu T 



