91 
caused it to smile or laugh, brought to it pleasure or pain. Shadows 
(■ udjibbom ) from the world around, especially shadows of animals, visited 
it continually; and its own shadow, attached to its body by only slender 
bonds, wandered far and wide over the earth, gathering experience and 
knowledge. During this early period of its existence the baby needed 
special protection lest its soul and shadow should permanently dissociate 
themselves and its body waste away and die. No one should carelessly 
push aside its hammock, or throw hats and other objects on the cradle in 
which it lay. No one should ask it questions, although parents and friends 
might explain everything around it and give it instruction and warning. 
“A few hours after Adam King’s baby was bom some one said to it ‘Where 
have you come from’? The baby answered ‘From far away’. But the Great Spirit 
saw that this baby was born with too much power and he caused it to die. So you 
must never ask questions of a baby ” (Pegahmagabow) . 
A father, when hunting, should kill his quarry outright, for if he 
merely wounded it, the sensitive shadow of his baby might suffer in 
sympathy with the animal’s shadow. Because such a misfortune was not 
always avoidable the Parry Islanders contrived definite remedies for the 
baby, a decoction of Princess Pine, or of groundhog bones crushed in 
water. 
Many other things might disturb a baby’s soul or shadow: 
"I left home to work in the woods soon after one of my children was born, and 
the 'baby cried so constantly that my wife called in an old uncle who was a mede. 
He asked the baby’s soul ‘Why do you cry all the time?’ The soul answered ‘I want 
to see my father.’ The old man told it that I was working many miles away, but 
that I would return in a few weeks and bring it clothes and other things. The baby 
seemed satisfied then, for it ceased crying and gave no further trouble ” (Jonas King). 
To protect her baby still further every mother attached to its cradle 
various appendages, of which the following are typical: 
Bones of duck, turtle deer, etc., in order that the shadows of these animals 
might be attracted to the baby, teach it their habits, and cause it to grow up into a 
good hunter. 
A shoulder blade of the snapping turtle, to keep away snakes, since this turtle 
is thought to eat snakes. 
A wooden hoop with cross-lacing of string or thongs like a spider’s web, to check 
colds and other maladies from reaching the baby, just as a spider’s web traps insects. 
A tiny bow and arrow, and a war-clu'b, which the baby’s shadow could use 
against any evil spirits it encountered in its wanderings. They helped the child, too, 
to become a brave warrior. 
To a girl’s cradle, miniature moccasins, so that she might become a skilful 
moccasin-maker; and to the bow of her cradle, otter’s kidneys strung like beads, and 
the tip of an otter’s tail threaded lengthwise, to make her strong and healthy. 
The baby’s umbilical cord concealed in a beaded bag. This -was tied to the bow 
of the cradle, for if buried in the ground or burned in a fire the baby might search 
for it in those places. When the child began to walk the cord was buried iuside a 
hollow stump. Today some of the Parry Islanders conceal it in a garden among 
the roots of apple or other fruit trees, in order that the child may develop into a 
farmer and take good care of his orchard. 
Objects to amuse the baby and keep its shadow occupied; e.g., shells, especially 
such as seemed to echo the waves when placed to the ear, and a deer-leg that moved 
the toes whenever the baby pulled the muscle. 
So weak did they consider the bonds uniting the shadow, soul, and 
body of a young baby that the Parry Islanders refrained from spreading 
4294-7 
