200 THE MENOMINI INDIANS [eth.akh.H 



Whatever you may attempt in my name shall come to pass; and 

 whatever you may ask, that will I do.'' 



When MS'nabush had thus spoken to his friends, he got into a canoe 

 and disappeared over the great water toward the rising- sun. 



THE BABBIT AND THE SAW-WHET 



In the following myth the origin of day and night is accounted for, 

 as well as the selection, by various animals and birds, of the particular 

 kinds of food which they now eat. The cause of the bare neck and 

 head of the buzzard is also related, as this bird had an adventure with 

 Ma'nabfisli which was never forgotten. 



One time as Wabus' (the rabbit) was traveling along through the 

 forest, he came to a clearing on the bank of a river, where he saw, 

 perched on a twig, Totoba, the Saw-whet owl. The light was obscure, 

 and the Rabbit could not see very well, so he said to the Saw-whet, 

 " Why do you want it so dark? 1 do not like it, so I will cause it to be 

 daylight." Then the Saw-whet said, " If you are powerful enough, do 

 so. Let us try our powers, and whoever succeeds may decide as he 

 prefers." 



Then the Eabbit and the Owl called together all the birds and the 

 beasts to witness the contest, and when they had assembled the two 

 iuformed them what was to occur. Some of the birds and beasts 

 wanted the Rabbit to succeed, that it might be light; others wished the 

 Saw-whet to win the contest, that it might remain dark. 



Then both the Rabbit and the Saw- whet began, the former repeating 

 rapidly the words "wa'bon, wa'bon" (light, light), while the Owl kept 

 repeating " uni'tipa'qkot, uni'tipa'qkot" (night, night). Should one of 

 them make a mistake and repeat his opponent's word, the erring one 

 would lose. So the Rabbit kept on saying, " wa'bon, wa'bon," and the 

 Saw-whet " uni'tipa'qkot, uni'tipa'qkot," each being watched and urged 

 by his followers; but finally the Owl accidentally repeated after the 

 Rabbit the word " wabon," when he lost and surrendered the contest. 



The Rabbit then decided that it should be light; but he granted that 

 night should have a chance for the benefit of the vanquished. This 

 proving satisfactory, they decided that the various birds and beasts 

 should select the kind of food on which they would thereafter subsist. 



The Rabbit saw Owa'sse (the bear), and asked him what food he 

 would select. The Bear replied, "I will select acorns and fruit as 

 my food." Then the Rabbit asked the Fish-hawk, "Fish-hawk, what 

 will you select as your food ?" The Fish-hawk responded, "I will take 

 that fellow lying in the water, the Sucker." Then the Sucker said, 

 "You may eat me if you are stronger than I, but that we must 

 decide." Then the Sucker swam out into the deepest part of the river 

 and lay on the bottom, where the Fish hawk could not reach him by 

 diving. The Fish-hawk then rose into the air and took such a position 



