NANABUSH AND THE BULRUSH
The
usual stillness of the marsh was disturbed by a most unusual sound--twanggg, twanggg,
twanggg... it was Nanabush, holding his bowstring in his mouth and striking it to make
musical sounds as he walked along. Suddenly, he stopped. What was that in the
distance? It appeared to be a large number of people dancing along the edge of the
lake. They were all wearing feathers in their hair. He hurried toward them,
curious about why they were dancing there, and rather put out about not being invited to
join the dance! As he neared the shore, he discovered that they were not people
after all, but bulrushes as they swayed gracefully to and fro in the breeze, all moving in
the same direction at the same time. How he enjoyed the sight! Closer and
closer he crept, until he stood right beside the tallest bulrush. "Please," he
asked politely, "Would you allow me to join your dance?" The tall bulrush
looked him over carefully and replied, "No! You could never keep up with us. We
stop only when the wind calms down, and that never lasts long. Our dancing simply never
ends."
"Oh, I can keep up--truly I can! Let me show you; let
me try!" pleaded Nanabush. Well aware of Nanabush and his tricks, the bulrush decided
this was a good chance to trick him. "I'm afraid not," he said. "You never
do anything right! You don't know how to dance as we do." "Please! I
promise to do exactly as you say. Just show me what to do." begged Nanabush.
After much arguing, the bulrush appeared to relent.
"All right. I'll give you a chance to dance with us, but only one chance! You must
listen to what I tell you." he cautioned. "First, take the bulrush and fasten it
in your hair. Dance right beside me, and don't stop unless the wind calms down."
Nanabush listened attentively, nodding his agreement and
shuffling his feet in his anxiety to begin. Whoosh--the wind began to blow and the dance
as underway. Nanabush felt wonderful, swaying this way and that way. The pace
increased as the wind blew harder. faster and faster he swayed, bending so low that he
almost touched the water. All day and all night, Nanabush and the bulrushes danced.
Many days and nights they danced. Nanabush became very tired and longed for a
break! "I wonder if I might have a short rest?" he asked.
"Be strong, Nanabush!" The tall
bulrush told him. "I warned you that we never stop dancing!". "Oh,
it's not that I'm tired," said Nanabush, "I just want to stop for a
while."
"You promised to listen to me," said
the bulrush, "So keep on dancing. Don't stop!" So, Nanabush
continued to dance. On and on he danced, swaying in the wind, until three days and three
nights passed.
"Nanabush, you're doing well. You're
keeping up with us. How are you enjoying it?" asked the bulrush. Nanabush was
so tired, he couldn't even answer. He stopped dancing and glared at the
bulrushes. Angrily, he tore the bulrush from his hair and threw it as far as he
could. "I am tired!" he shouted, "I'm tired of dancing an I'm tired
of listening to you! I'm quitting!" Off he went to find something to eat.
Now, unknown to Nanabush, the bulrushes had accomplished their trick on him. It
hadn't been three days and nights he had danced, but three years!
When Nanabush found out, he was furious! "From this
day on," he declared angrily, "you will grow only in wet, marshy places along
the shores of rivers and lakes!" And so it has ever been; bulrushes growing only
along lakes and rivers, dancing in the wind.
THE
LEGEND OF INDIAN SUMMER
Long ago,
Nanabush and his brother, Pee-Pauk-A-Wis, decided to run a great race. From
the start, as always Nanabush was easily outdistancing his brother. All summer
long he ran northward. Wherever Nanabush's moccasins touched, flowers sprang
up and the land was at peace with the sky. Pee-Pauk-A-Wis dashed by his
brother, followed by winds of fury. Nanabush, realizing he had been tricked,
jumped to his feet and at once overtook his brother, bringing him sunny, warm
weather, which has become known as Indian Summer. It is said that whenever the
weather changes quickly, Nanabush and his brother are again running their
race.
HOW
NANABUSH CREATED THE WORLD
One
winter day, Nanabush's brother was out hunting alone. When he did
not come home in the evening, Nanabush thought that perhaps he had lost his
way in the woods. The next day the young brothers still had not
returned, and Nanabush became worried. So he set out to try and find
him. He had often warned his brother never to return home across
the ice which covered the lake, but rather to walk around the shoreline on
solid ground. He now began to fear that his brother had forgotten his
warning and that he had been pulled through the ice by the Serpent People and
drowned in the icy water below.
Nanabush searched everywhere, but
not a trace of his brother could he find. He knew that the worst must
have happened: the Serpent People had drowned his brother as he had
feared. He set out again, this time to find the Serpents and punish
them. Now the Serpent People were very cunning, and kept
themselves across the frozen rivers for days, and weeks, and months.
Before he knew it, Spring had come. One day, just as he was approaching
a steep hill, he heard a peculiar booming sound. 'What can that be?' he
asked himself. 'I must climb the hill and find out.
When he reached the top, he saw a
little lake in the valley below, and there, sunning themselves on the shore,
were two Serpents. The booming noise came from the pounding of their
giant hearts. Quietly but swiftly, Nanabush drew his bow and shot an arrow at
each Serpent. Though he hit them both, they were still very much alive,
for they slithered into the water in the twinkling of an eye and disappeared.
Then a strange thing happened. The water in the little lake began to
rise. It rose steadily, soon flooding the whole valley. 'Oho!'
exclaimed Nanabush. 'The Serpents know I am hunting them. They are
going to try and drown me.
He climbed the tallest pine tree
on the hill, but the water, which by this time had covered the hill, was
lapping at his heels. He climbed as quickly as he could, and before long
was at the very top of the tree. The water kept on rising and soon
reached the level of his chin, but then, strangely, the water began to go down
again. It went down as quickly as it had risen, and when it had receded
to its old level Nanabush climbed down out of the pine tree. 'They
nearly drowned me,' said Nanabush, catching his breath. 'I shall have to
be careful, or next time those evil Serpents will certainly kill me.'
He then chopped down a number of
trees and made a giant raft, which he left on the top of the hill.
Wondering what he should do next, he wandered away through the woods again.
He had walked for nearly an hour when suddenly he stopped. He thought he
could hear a woman crying. he crept on cautiously, and cam to a clearing
where an old woman was sitting on a log and, just as he had imagined, she was
crying. 'Why are you crying, old woman?' 'Ah, a sad thing has
happened. That wicked man, Nanabush, has wounded my brothers with his
arrows.' Nanabush knew at once that the old woman was a Serpent Woman in
disguise. He also realized that she did not know who he was.
Smiling to himself, he exclaimed, 'That Nanabush must be a rascal! But
tell me, what are you going to do?' 'I am gathering herbs to heal
their wounds,' she replied. 'I am also gathering basswood bark. We
shall watch the string and stretch it around the base of the hill. We
shall watch the string and if it vibrates, we shall know Nanabush tripped over
it. He is hiding somewhere on the hill.'
'Where do the Serpent People
live?' he asked next. 'All you have to do is follow this path to
the lake,' replied the old woman, pointing the way. 'When you get to the
lake, walk right into it. A short distance in, you will find a door. The
Serpent People are inside.' Without saying another word, Nanabush slew
the wicked old Serpent Woman and dressed himself in her clothes. He
followed the path to the lake and found the door. He opened it and found
himself inside a huge lodge - the home of the Serpent People.
Walking along quickly, he soon
came upon the two Serpents whom he had wounded, with his arrows still in their
bodies. The Serpents were guarded by a group of fierce animals, and
Nanabush discovered that one of the Serpents he had wounded was the Chief of
all Serpents. However, the fierce animals thought Nanabush was the old
woman, and let him pass. In another corner, he say the body of his
brother, who had indeed been drowned by the Serpents. In a flash of
anger, Nanabush leaped forward and pushed the arrows deeper into the bodies of
the two Serpents, killing them instantly. 'Now I have avenged my
brother's death!' he shouted. And, before the fierce guardian animals
had time to realize what had happened, Nanabush slipped out of the Serpent
lodge and raced back to the shore of the lake, running as fast as he could.
When the guardian animals realized
what had happened they roared with rage and summoned the rest of the Serpent
People, who immediately caused the water in the lake to rise again. But
Nanabush heard the movement of the water as it began to rise, and he ran
toward the hill where he had hidden his giant raft. As he ran he called
loudly to his friends, the birds and animals. 'Come with me, my
friends!' he shouted. 'Come to my raft on the hill. The water is
rising again, and this time you will drown unless you come with me.'
The birds and animals answered his
call not a moment too soon. Just as they reached the giant raft and
climbed safely aboard, the water rose over the crest of the hill and set the
raft afloat. In a few more minutes the whole world was covered by the
surging water. There was not a single thing to be seen on the top of the
water except Nanabush and the birds and animals on the raft. Even
the highest hills were now lost from sight. Nanabush and the birds and
animals floated aimlessly on the raft for many days and nights. At first
Nanabush thought the water would go down again, but after they had been on the
raft a full month he realized that the old world was submerged forever beneath
the water and that the wicked Serpent People had drowned with it. Nanabush
himself would have to find a way to create a new one.
'Loon!' he called, when he had
decided what he should do. 'You are an excellent swimmer. Dive
down and bring me a lump of mud in your bill.' The loon dived into the
water and was gone a long time. Presently, he returned. 'I
couldn't reach the old world,' he reported sadly. 'It was too far down.'
'Beaver!' called out
Nanabush, 'you are a good diver. You try next.' The beaver dived
in an was gone much longer than the loon had been, but he too failed to reach
the bottom of the water.
'Muskrat!' exclaimed
Nanabush, 'you must try for us.' The muskrat dived in and was gone for
so long that they were certain he had drowned. Just as they were giving
him up for lost, he suddenly appeared on the surface, motionless, floating
around as if he were indeed dead. Nanabush pulled the muskrat onto the
raft and revived him. He noticed that the little animal was holding one
paw tightly closed. He pried it open - and there were a few tiny, wet
particles of sand. The muskrat had reached the old world after all!
Nanabush took the grains of sand
and dried them carefully. He fashioned them into a tiny globe, on which
he breathed lightly. Then he planted the globe gently on the water
beside the raft, and commanded it to grow. The little ball began to
revolve and spin on the water, and soon it started to grow in size.
Within a few minutes, it had grown large enough to hold two ants which
Nanabush placed on it. The ants made the globe spin faster an grow
bigger. In no time at all, it had grown large enough to hold two mice.
Thus it was that the little ball grew and grew. At last, when the moose
- the largest of all animals - had climbed onto it and disappeared from sight,
Nanabush commanded the globe to stop growing. He himself stepped onto
it, and said:
'Here is the new world - a home
for all the birds and animals.' And that, so the Ojibwa story tellers
say, is how Nanabush created the world in which we live today.
The Adventures of Nanabush:
Ojibway Indian Stories. Told by Sam Snake, Chief Elijah, Yellowhead,
Alder York, David Simcoe and Annie King.
NANABUSH
AND THE GIANT BEAVER
There
came a time, the Ojibway story tellers say, when Nanabush was at war with
Waub-Ameek, the Giant Beaver. Just why they began to quarrel no one really
knows, but the fact remains that for many months Nanabush pursued Waub-Ameek
all through the north country. He followed his trail from lake to lake, down
rushing rivers and across the swampy marshlands. Waub-Ameek was a magician
too, and Nanabush soon discovered that he was just as cunning and tireless as
he was.
Now at the time of our story took place,
Nanabush was living with his grandmother, Nokomis. In spite of her age, she
was quite able to keep up with the pace set by her grandson, but finally even
the two of them become discouraged. They had followed the trail right to the
great inland body of water we now know as Lake Superior, and there the trail
had petered out. They stood and gazed out over the rippling blue waters, as
sad as they could be, for Waub-Ameek had disappeared without a trace.
They had been traveling for so long that they
were both very, very tired, and so they decided to build a wigwam and rest.
They gathered the poles and stitched them together great sheets of birch bark,
and soon were living comfortably in their new home. They spent the next few
days fishing and basking in the warm sun.
They had been in their new home about a week
when it suddenly occurred to Nanabush that the level of the water in the lake
was rising. He noticed that the rocks along the water’s edge, which had been
quite visible when they had first arrived, were now several inches under
water. ‘This is strange thing.’ he said
when he mentioned the matter to Nokomis, ‘I must find out what is causing
the water to rise.’
He began to walk along the shore of the lake,
toward the eastern end where the lake narrows at the approach to Lake Huron.
As he reached the narrows, Nanabush looked ahead - and stood in shock still in
surprise! For there, ahead of him, was a freshly built dam of giant
proportions, stretching right across the narrows.
‘Aha!’ Nanabush exclaimed. ‘So that is
why the water has been rising. Waub-Ameek has built a giant dam. Well, well
soon fix that!’ He took one more look at
the long pile of sticks and rocks and mud which was holding back the waters of
Lake Superior, and then ran back to his grandmother.
‘Nokomis.’ he shouted. ‘I’ve found the
trail of Waub-Ameek again! He’s damned up the waters at the head of the
lake, and I know he must be hiding somewhere nearby. I want you to sit on his
dam and wait for him to appear. I shall walk around the lake, and when I find
him. I’ll drive him toward you. It may take several days, but you must keep
your eyes open. As soon as he knows we’ve found his trail again, he’ll try
to escape, so do not let yourself fall asleep.’
Nokomis ran to the dam, taking up a position
where she was able to see far down into the waters, while Nanabush began his
journey around the shore of the lake. In a few minutes he disappeared from
sight and Nokomis kept her watch as the hours slowly rolled by. The sun moved
down toward the west and finally disappeared. The hours of darkness stretched
out, and Nokomis thought they would never end, but the sun finally appeared
again in the east, and slowly mounted in the sky. Nokomis began to feel
sleepy, but forced herself to stay awake. The sun set for the second time, and
the old woman wondered how she would be able to keep awake for the second
night. Without knowing it, her head began to nod.
Suddenly she sat bolt upright. She heard a
sound of quite slashing. She jumped to her feet and ran along the top of the
dam and there, ahead of her was the giant form of Waub-Ameek. She raced toward
him as he just looked up, he had recognized her, and turn to dive back down
into the water, but Nokomis nimble fingers were too quick for him and she
managed to grab his broad, flat tail and hold on to it tightly.
Waub-Ameek struggled mightily, but he could not
shake off the fingers of old Nokomis. He flailed the water with all his might,
but no avail. He could not escape. Nokomis called aloud to Nanabush, but there
were no sounds in the night save the splashing of Waub-Ameek. She called and
called again, but her grandson was probably many miles away. She clung on
tightly to Waub - Ameek’s tail, hoping against hope that Nanabush would
appear and help pull the giant beaver out onto the land.
Now Waub-Ameek, as we have said, was very
cunning. It did not take him long to realize that, although Nokomis had a firm
hold on his tail, the old woman did not have the strength to pull him out of
the water. He thought for a moment, and a plan of escape came into his mind.
He twisted his body around and with his teeth and fore paws, began to burrow a
hole through the great dam he had built.
It was hard and unpleasant work, but he kept at
it doggedly. The hours passed, and in the east, the first faint streaks of
light appeared. Then suddenly, there was a loud gurgling noise and the great
dam quivered. Waub-Ameek had burrowed right through his dam! The
gurgle became louder and louder and turned into a roar. The dam began to
tremble, and then shook violently. One instant more and the dam gave away.
With a mighty roar the waters rushed through the hole, carrying with them the
mass of sticks, great lumps of clay, and mud and boulders.
Fortunately, Nokomis realized what was
happening and despite her weariness, stepped back out of danger. As she did
Waub-Ameek gave a mighty tug and wrenched his tail from her hands. In an
instant, he was free again, and swam far down beneath the surface of the
water, where he was carried along by the mighty current.
When the sun rose, Nokomis, feeling sadder than
she had for many a day, looked up, vainly hoping that she might catch a
glimpse of Waub-Ameek. The Giant Beaver was now several miles away, but
Nokomis beheld a wondrous sight. There, in front of her, in the narrows
between the tow lakes, the large mass of sticks and clay and mud and boulders
had come to rest. They formed a maze of islands, stretching out for miles,
further than the eye can see in the narrow channel between Lake Huron and Lake
Superior. This chain of islands that came from the great dam of Waub-Ameek is
called the Thirty Thousand Islands.
Poor Nokomis stood, cold and tired in the early
morning light, staring at the amazing sight, and did not hear Nanabush
approach her. He was panting as though he had ran a great distance. He saw in
an instant what happened.
‘Poor Nokomis.’ he said tenderly, ’Do not
worry. No one could hope to hold the tail of Waub-Ameek alone day after day. I
was still searching for him when I saw the waters of the lake suddenly drop. I
knew what must have happened. Now you must have some sleep and then we will
take up the trail of the Giant Beaver again.’
Nanabush and his grandmother never did catch up
with Waub-Ameek again. They found signs of him here and there, and the trail
led them along the Great Lake. They followed the shoreline, past Lake Huron
and Lake St. Clair, past Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. They traveled further
east then they had ever traveled before, following the mighty St. Lawrence
River to its mouth, right to the Atlantic Ocean itself. They stood on the sea
shore, and looked out to the east, over the rolling waves of the water that
seemed to have no other shore. They were about to turn around and trace their
way to their home in the north country when they heard a shout, a shout that
seemed like a cry of a triumph. They looked out over the ocean once again, and
there, far out of sea, they saw the head of Waub-Ameek, bobbing above the
waves.
Nanabush laughed. He cupped his hands over his
mouth and shouted: ‘Come back, Waub-Ameek, come back! You are too cunning
for me to catch. Let us make peace and let us be friends. I want to have you
as a friend.’
And so Waub-Ameek returned to the north country
and became the friend of Nanabush and old Nokomis. In his own way, Waub-Ameek
created the beaver we know today, and taught them how to make dams such as the
one he had mad at the narrows between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, though of
course on a much smaller scale.
The Adventures of Nanabush:
Ojibway Indian Stories. Told by Sam Snake, Chief Elijah, Yellowhead,
Alder York, David Simcoe and Annie King.