CHAPTER V. 

 TALES. 



Distinct from the myths, which rehite to the gods, supernatural beings, 

 and natural phenomena, are the tales, from which must be gleaned hints 

 regarding the past hunter, warrior, and family life and history of the 

 Iroquois. 



In time of peace, during the long winter evenings, among his group of 

 friends, the returned hunter narrated his achievements, or some famous 

 story-teller told of those days in the past when men and animals could 

 transform themselves at will and hold converse with one another. If 

 musical, the entertainer would relate ingenious fables, with songs intro- 

 duced, to give zest to the narration. 



All these historical traditions, legends of war and hunting, fairy tales, 

 and fables have been handed down through the ages, kindling the en- 

 thusiasm of the marvel-loving listener. 



These story-tellers were gifted with such imaginative powers, and 

 were so free from the trammels of adapting their tales to any standard 

 of possibility, that no easy task lies before the careful student who seeks 

 to detect in them the scaffolding of truth around which so elaborate a 

 superstructure has been reared. 



BOY RESCUED BY A BEAR. 



From their close relations with wild animals Indians' stories of trans- 

 formations of men into beasts and beasts into men are numerous and 

 interesting. In nearly all of these, wherever the bear is introduced he 

 figures as a pattern of benevolence, while many other animals, such as 

 the porcupine, are always presented as noxious. One of these bear 

 stories, as tuld me ou the Cattaraugus Reservation by a grandson of 

 Cornplanter, was as follows: A party of hunters, who were encamped a 

 long distance from home, discovered, as they were preparing to return, 

 that a young boy of their company was missing. After searching vainly 

 for several days they concluded that he had been killed, and sadly de- 

 parted without him. They were no sooner gone, however, than the lost 

 child, in an almost famishing condition, was discovered by a very kind- 

 hearted bear, who reasoned thus: "If I attempt to relieve the child in 

 my present form, he will surely be frightened to death. I will therefore 

 transform myself into a woman and take the boy home with me to become 

 a playmate for my little cubs." The boy was accordingly rescued from 

 starvation, and, living in the same hollow tree with the bear family, fed 



