OF THE ODAHWAH INDIANS. 123 



■wasting it, they cooked or roasted and devoured the animal themselves, 

 singing, dancing, and beating the drum during the feast. 



The following are a few fragments of Indian legends. Although 

 they do not appear to have had any distinct notion of the creation, 

 still their idea of the dignity of human nature seems to have been 

 higher than that entertained by those ancient and modern philosophers 

 who would have us believe that the lowest state of barbarism was the 

 primitive condition of man ; that the first human beings sprung, in the 

 condition of mere animals, from the earth, going about upon their . 

 hands and feet: mute, filthy, acorn-eating savages, until from constant 

 fighting, scratching and what not, they learned to stand erect, and 

 walked upon their feet. So far from there having been any such 

 notion among the Odahwahs, Ojibways and their neighbors, tradition 

 told them that the first human beings came from above, which is cer- 

 tainly not altogether at variance with the Bible doctrine regarding the 

 origin of man. 



As regards the flood, the stor}^ runs as follows : A celebrated demi- 

 god came to reside with men for some time. He is styled Nanah- 

 boozho, and possessed the power of doing wonders. In the course of 

 his stay with men, he one time fixed his winter-quarters near a certain 

 lake ; hut he was not long there before he became aware that malig- 

 nant monsters dwelt in the lake. He therefore carefully cautioned his 

 favorite son, Wolf, not to go upon the ice lest some misfortune hap- 

 pen to him ; but told him always to come by land when returning from 

 his hunting rounds. The young Wolf acted for some time upon the 

 advice of his sire, until one evening as he was returning from the 

 chase, he reached the margin of the fatal lake, directly opposite his 

 father's camp ; and being much fatigued and hungry, and it being 

 very late in the evening, he thought it would be too much trouble, and 

 take too long to go round by land, so after a few moments hesitation 

 he ventured upon the ice and made for the opposite shores ; but when 

 he got about half way, he heard a rumbling noise and the ice began to 

 be elevated in different parts of the lake. The young hunter being 

 terrified, ran for his life ; but before he reached the land, death over- 

 took him amid the broken fragments of ice, and he found his grave 

 beneath the waters. 



The father being deeply grieved for the loss of his favorite son, 

 vowed vengeance upon the destroyers of his life, and determined to 

 watch for a favorable opportunity during the hot days of the ensuing 

 summer, when the cruel monsters would emerge occasionalh^ from 

 their dismal abode in the deep to come and enjoy the sunshine upon 



