Once in the far north there lived
a Manitou whose name was Ojeeg, or the fisher.
He and his wife and one son lived on the shore of
a lake and were very happy together.
In that country there was never any
spring or summer, and the snow lay deep on the ground
all the year round. But this did not daunt the
fisher.
He went forth every day and always
brought back plenty of game.
The son wished to be a great hunter
like his father, so he often took his bow and arrows
and went out to kill birds. But he nearly always
returned with benumbed hands and crying with cold.
One day, as he was returning, feeling
very discouraged and ready to cry, he noticed a red
squirrel on the top of a tree. As he reached
for his arrows to shoot him, the squirrel spoke:
“Put away your arrows and listen
to me. I see you go forth each day and always
return nearly frozen and with never a bird. Now,
if you will do as I tell you, we shall have summer
all the time instead of the snow. Then I shall
have plenty to eat, and you may kill all the birds
you wish. When you go home, you must cry and
sob. When your mother asks you what is the matter,
do not answer, but throw away your bow and arrow and
cry harder than ever. Do not eat any supper,
and when your father comes home, he will ask your
mother what is the matter with you. She will
say that she does not know, that you only sob and cry,
and will not speak. When he asks you to give
the reason of your sorrow, tell him that you want
summer to come. Coax him to get it for you.
He will say it is a very hard thing to do, but will
promise to try. Now remember all this and do
as I tell you.”
As the squirrel finished speaking,
he disappeared, and the son returned home. Everything
happened as the little squirrel had said, and when
the son asked his father to get summer for him, Ojeeg
replied, “My son, this is a hard task you have
given me. But I love you and so shall try for
your sake. It may cost me my life, but I shall
do my best.”
Then he called together all his friends,
and they had a feast. A bear was killed and
roasted, and they arranged to meet on Thursday to begin
their journey.
When the day came, they all gathered;
there was the otter, the beaver, the lynx, and the
wolverine. Ojeeg said good-bye to his wife and
son, and the party set out. For twenty days
they travelled through the snow, and at last came
to the foot of a mountain. The animals were all
very tired by this time, all but Ojeeg. He was
a nimble little animal and used to long journeys.
As they began to go up the mountain,
they noticed footprints and marks of blood, as if
some hunter had gone before them with an animal he
had killed.
“Let us follow these tracks,”
said the fisherman, “and see if we can get something
to eat.”
When they reached the top of the mountain,
they noticed a small lodge.
“Now be very careful and do
not laugh at anything we see,” said Ojeeg.
They knocked at the door, and it was
opened by a very strange man. He had a huge
head, big, strong teeth, and no arms. He invited
them to come in and eat. There was meat cooking
in a wooden pot on the fire. The man lifted it
off when they were not looking, and gave them all
something to eat. They wondered how he could
do this, and how he had killed the animal, but they
soon learned the secret. He was a Manitou!
As they were eating, the otter began
to laugh at the strange movements of the Manitou,
who, hearing a noise, turned quickly and threw himself
on the otter. He was going to smother him, as
this was his way of killing animals. But the
otter managed to wriggle from under him, and escaped
out of the door.
The rest remained there for the night.
When they were going in the morning, the Manitou
told them what path to take and what to do when they
reached the right spot. They thanked him and
started on again.
For twenty more days they travelled,
and then they reached another mountain. They
climbed to the top of this, and they knew by certain
signs it was the spot the Manitou had described.
So they seated themselves in a circle and filled
their pipes. They pointed to the sky, the four
winds, and the earth; then they began to smoke.
As they looked up at the sky they were silent with
awe, for they were on such a high mountain that the
sky seemed only a few yards off. They then prepared
themselves, and Ojeeg told the otter to have the first
trial at making a hole in the sky. With a grin
the otter consented. He made a spring, but fell
down the side of the hill. The snow was moist,
so he slid all the way to the bottom. When he
had picked himself up, he said, “This is the
last time I shall make such a jump; I am going home,”
and away he went. The beaver had the next turn,
but did no better, The lynx had no better luck.
Then came the turn of the wolverine.
“Now,” said Ojeeg to him,
“I am going to depend on you; you are brave
and will try again and again.”
So the wolverine took a jump, and
the first time nearly reached the sky; the second
time he cracked it, and the third time he made a hole
and crawled in. Ojeeg nimbly followed, and they
found themselves on a beautiful, green plain.
Lovely shade trees grew at some distance, and among
the trees were rivers and lakes. On the water
floated all kinds of water-fowl. Then they noticed
long lodges. They were empty, except for a great
many cages filled with beautiful birds. The spirits
who lived in these lodges were wandering among the
trees. As Ojeeg noticed the birds, he remembered
his son. He quickly opened the doors of the
cages, and the birds rushed out. They flew through
the air and down through the opening in the sky.
The warm winds, that always blow in
that heavenly place, followed the birds down through
the opening and began to melt the snows of the north.
Then the guardian spirits noticed what was happening,
and ran with great shouts to the spot where all were
escaping. But Spring and Summer had nearly gone.
They struck a great blow and cut Summer in two, so
that only part of it reached the earth. The wolverine
heard the noise and raced for the hole, getting through
before they could close it. But the fisher was
farther away and could not reach the hole in time.
The spirits closed up the opening and turned to catch
him. He ran over the plains to the north, going
so fast that he gained the trees before they could
catch him. He quickly climbed the largest one,
and they began to shoot at him with their arrows.
There was only one place in the fisher’s
body where he could be hurt, a spot near
the tip of his tail; so the spirits kept shooting a
long time before an arrow struck that spot. At
last one did, and he fell to the ground. As
it was now nearly night, the spirits went back to
their lodges and left him there alone. He stretched
out his limbs and said:
“I have kept my promise to my
son, though it has cost me my life. But I shall
always be remembered by the natives of the earth, and
I am happy to think of the good I have sent them.
From now on they will have different seasons, and
eight to ten moons without snow.”
In the morning they found him lying
dead with the arrow through his tail, and to this
day he may be seen in the northern sky.