33 
The sick could entreat the help of the sun manido in other ways. A 
man who had been ailing for a long time might pitch his wigwam toward 
the east, walk four times sunwise around the fire, then, standing at the 
entrance, pray to the sun manido for healing and throw a little tobacco 
into the flames. Or a seer (kusabindugeyu 1 ) might warn him that his 
malady arose from failure to obey the instructions of his personal manido 
or guardian spirit, and advise him, on the first day of the new moon in 
the manido month ( manidogizis , about February), to face the setting sun, 
naked, and pray for healing. Jim Nanibush did this when he was a young 
man, the Indians state, and through the blessing he then received from 
the sun attained to his present old age. 
The myth that purports to account for the origin of the white dog 
sacrifice runs as follows: 
u .hunter who had been, forbidden (by his guardian spirit?) to travel at 
night once failed to reach his camp before darkness closed in upon him. In the 
stillness of the night he heard a wind coming towards him, and before he could 
guard himself a mighty eagle carried him up into the air. Far below he saw the 
light of his fire, but the eagle carried him aloft to its nest. He clutched his 
weapons and killed the bird as soon as they landed, then killed the eaglets in the 
nest. Now he looked around for a way of escape from the rocky ledge on which 
he stood. Above was an unscaleable cliff ; in front a sheer precipice with trees 
far below that looked no taller than grass. He cut open the eagle, drew its skin 
over him and rolled over the precipice. Down he fell at a tremendous speed, now 
whirling through space, now bouncing against the projecting rocks. Presently he 
lost consciousness. 
Now grandmother moon had warned her brother, the sun, that one of their 
grandchildren was in dire peril, and the sun went to his rescue. After a time the 
Indian regained consciousness. He realized that he was no longer falling, but 
lying still. His heart leaped violently, then became quiet again. He was dazed, 
but felt no pain. Wonderingly he blinked his eyes, as though he were returning 
to life from the dead. He felt himself in the hands of some mysterious power 
that comforted him, like a child in his mother’s arms; and deep contentment awoke 
in his heart as his eyes rested on a wigwam. He sat up, rose to his feet, and with 
no feeling of pain approached the wigwam. A voice from within called 4 Enter, 
my grandson’; and as he entered he said to the stately old woman he found inside 
4 Yes, grandmother, I have corned Then grandmother moon prepared for him a 
feast, to which she invited her brother, the sun, and two other manidos. Presently 
the sun entered, and joyfully said to the Indian 4 My grandson, you shall join us 
in our feast.’ Two other manidos followed him, one from the north, the other from 
the south; the manido from the north was a monstrous bird larger than any the 
Indian had ever seen, and with a bill that appeared to be of white feldspar 
( meshkosh ). They took their places for the feast, grandmother moon in the east, 
the sun in the west, and the other two manid.os in the north and south. Huge pots 
of steaming meat were brought into the wigwam; some the moon rejected, some 
she retained. While they were eating the Indian discovered that the meat was 
the flesh of a white dog. 
As soon as the feast had ended the sun said to the Indian, 4 My grandson, you 
shall return home at noon.’ So he returned to his home, after a lapse of many 
years, when his wife had become quite old. 
The dog is the favourite meal of the sun and the moon” (Mary Sugedub). 
It is from the Great Spirit, of course, that the sun and moon derive 
their power of giving light. The Parry Islanders explain the actual 
origin of the two luminaries by a trifling myth, which would be unimportant 
1 See p. 60. 
