And the evil spirit of the night-air even Bumole,
[Footnote: For an account of Bumole, or Pamola, see the chapter on
Supernatural Beings. Bumole seems to have been the personification
of the night-hawk.] or Pamola, from whom came the gift, swooped down
from the clouds and bore him away to 'Lahmkekqu', the dwelling place of
darkness, and he was no more heard of among men.
As regards the destruction of the giants by Glooskap, it may be
observed that the same tradition exists among the Six Nations. Cusick
tells us that about 1250 years before Columbus discovered America a
powerful tribe called Otne-yar-heh, that is, Stone Giants, who were
ravenous cannibals, overran the country, and nearly exterminated the
inhabitants. These Stone Giants practiced, themselves in rolling on the
sand; by this means their bodies became hard. Then Tas-enyawa-gen, the
Holder of the Heavens, came to earth as a giant, and being made their
chief, led them into a hollow, where he overwhelmed them with rocks.
Only one escaped to the far North. The reader will recognize in these
the Chenoos, or Kewahqu', who cover themselves with pitch and roll on
the ground. But no one can deny that, while that which Cusick narrates
has much in common with the mythology of the Wabanaki, it is much less
like that of the Edda; that Indian grotesqueness has in it greatly
perverted an original: and finally, that it certainly occupies a
position midway between the mythology of the Northeastern Algonquins
and that of the Chippewas, Ottawas, and other Western tribes.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96