Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 12:48:35 GMT -5
Glooskap and His People - Algonquin
In the beginning, there were just the forest and the sea; no people and no
animals. Then Glooskap came. Where this wondrous giant was born and when,
none can tell, but he and his brother Malsum came from somewhere in the Sky
to the part of North America nearest the rising sun. There, anchoring his
canoe, he turned it into a granite island covered with spruce and pine. He
called the island Uktamkoo. (the land we know today as Newfoundland) This,
in the beginning, was Glooskap's lodge.
The Great Chief Glooskap looked and lived like an ordinary man except that
he was twice as tall, twice as strong, and possessed great magic. He was
never sick, never married, never grew old, and never died. He had a magic
belt which gave him great power, and he used this power only for good.
Malsum, his twin brother, also great of stature, had the head of a wolf and
the body of an Indian. Malsum knew magic too, but he used his power for
evil.
As Glooskap set about his work, the air was fragrant with balsam and the
tang of the sea.
First, out of the rocks, he made the Little People; the fairies, or
Megumoowesoos. These were small hairy creatures who dwelt among the rocks
and made such wonderful music on the flute that all who heard it were
bewitched.
From amongst the Megumoowesoos, Glooskap chose a servant, Marten, who was
like a younger brother to him. Next Glooskap made men. Taking up his great
bow, he shot arrows into the trunks of ash trees. Out of the trees stepped
men and women. They were a strong and graceful people with light brown skins
and shining black hair. Glooskap called them the Wabanaki, which means
"those who live where the day breaks."
In time, the Wabanaki left Uktamkoo and divided into separate tribes and are
today a part of the great Algonquin nation, but in the old days, only the
Micmacs, Malicetes, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies, living in the eastern
woodlands of Canada and the United States, were Glooskap's People.
Gazing upon his handiwork, Glooskap was pleased and his shout of triumph
made the tall pines bend like grass.
He told the people he was their Great Chief and would rule them with love
and justice. He taught them how to build birch bark wigwams and canoes, how
to make weirs for catching fish, and how to identify plants useful in
medicine. He taught them the names of all the Stars, who were his brothers.
Then, from among them, he chose an elderly woman whom he called Noogumee, or
grandmother, (a term of respect amongst Indians for any elderly female.)
Noogumee was the Great Chief's housekeeper all her days.
Now, finally, out of rocks and clay, Glooskap made the animals: Miko the
squirrel, Team the moose, Mooin the bear, and many, many others. Malsum
looked on enviously, thinking he too should have had a hand in creation. But
he had not been given that power. He whispered an evil charm, and the
remainder of the clay in Glooskap's hands twisted and fell to the ground in
the form of a strange animal. This animal was not beaver, not badger, not
wolverine, but something of all three, and capable of taking any of these
forms he chose.
"His name is Lox!" said Malsum triumphantly.
"So be it," said Glooskap. "Let Lox live amongst us in peace, so long as he
remains a friend." Yet he resolved to watch Lox closely, for he could read
the heart and knew that Lox had Malsum's evil in him.
Now Glooskap had made the animals all very large, most of them larger and
stronger than man. Lox, the trouble maker, at once saw his chance to make
mischief.
He went in his wolverine body to Team the moose and admired his fine
antlers, which reached up to the top of the tallest pine tree. "If you
should ever meet a man," said Lox, "you could toss him on your horns up to
the top of the world."
Now Team, who was just a little bit stupid, went at once to Glooskap and
said, "Please, Master, give me a man, so I can toss him on my horns up to
the top of the world!"
"I should say not!" cried Glooskap, and touched Team with his hand. The
moose was suddenly the size he is today.
Then Lox went in his badger form to the squirrel and said, "With that
magnificent tail of yours, Miko, you could smash down every lodge in the
village."
"So I could," said Miko proudly, and with his great tail he swept the
nearest wigwam right off the ground. But the Great Chief was near. He caught
Miko up in his hand and stroked the squirrel's back until he was as small as
he is today.
"From now on," said his Master, "you will live in trees and keep your tail
where it belongs." And since that time Miko the squirrel has carried his
bushy tail on his back.
Next, Lox put on his beaver shape and went to Mooin the bear, who was hardly
any bigger than he is today, but had a much larger throat.
"Mooin," said Lox slyly, "supposing you met a man, what would you do to
him?" The bear scratched his head thoughtfully. "Eat him," he said at last,
with a grin. " I'd swallow him whole!" And having said this, Mooin felt his
throat begin to shrink.
"From now on," said Glooskap sternly, "you may swallow only very small
creatures." And today the bear, big as he is, eats only small animals, fish
and wild berries.
Now the Great Chief was greatly annoyed at the way his animals were
behaving, and wondered if he should have made them. He summoned them all and
gave them a solemn warning:
"I have made you man's equal, but you wish to be his master. Take care, or
he may become yours!"
This did not worry the troublemaker Lox, who only resolved to be more
cunning in the future. He knew very well that Malsum was jealous of Glooskap
and wished to be lord of the Indians himself. He also knew that both
brothers had magic powers and that neither could be killed except in one
certain way.
What that way was, each kept secret from all but the Stars, whom they
trusted. Each sometimes talked in the starlight to the people of the Sky.
"Little does Malsum know," said Glooskap to the Stars, "that I can never be
killed except by the blow of a flowering rush." And not far off, Malsum
boasted to those same Stars, "I am quite safe from Glooskap's power. I can
do any thing I like, for nothing can harm me but the roots of a flowering
fern."
Now, alas, Lox was hidden close by and overheard both secrets. Seeing how he
might turn this to his own advantage, he went to Malsum and said with a
knowing smile, "What will you give me, Malsum, if I tell you Glooskap's
secret?"
"Anything you like," cried Malsum. "Quick, tell me!"
"Nothing can hurt Glooskap save a flowering rush," said the traitor. "Now
give me a pair of wings, like the pigeon, so I can fly."
But Malsum laughed instead.
"What need has a beaver of wings?" And kicking the troublemaker aside, he
sped off to find a flowering rush. Lox picked himself up furiously and
hurried to Glooscap.
"Master!" he cried, "Malsum knows your secret and is about to kill you. If
you would save yourself, know that only a fern root can destroy him!"
Glooskap snatched up the nearest fern, root and all, and just in time: his
evil brother was upon him, shouting his war cry. All of the animals (who
were angry at Glooskap for reducing their size and power) cheered Malsum,
but the Indians were afraid for their Master.
Glooskap braced his feet against a cliff, and Malsum paused. For a moment,
the two crouched face to face, waiting for the moment to strike. Then the
wolf-like Malsum lunged at Glooskap's head. Twisting his body aside, the
Great Chief flung his weapon. It went swift to its target, and Malsum leapt
back, but too late. The fern root pierced his envious heart, and he died.
Now the Indians rejoiced, and the animals crept sullenly away. Only Lox came
to Glooskap, impudently.
"I'll have my reward now, Master," he said, "a pair of wings, like the
pigeon's."
"Faithless creature!" Glooskap thundered, knowing full well who had betrayed
him, "I made no such bargain. Be gone!" And he hurled stone after stone at
the fleeing Lox. Where the stones fell (in Minas Basin) they turned into
islands and are there still. And the banished Lox roams the world to this
day, appealing to the evil in men's hearts and making trouble wherever he
goes.
Now Glooskap called his people around him and said, "I made the animals to
be man's friends, but they have acted with selfishness and treachery.
Hereafter, they shall be your servants and provide you with food and
clothing."
Then he showed the men how to make bows and arrows and stone tipped spears,
and how to use them. He also showed the women how to scrape hides and turn
them into clothing.
"Now you have power over even the largest wild creatures," he said. "Yet I
charge you to use this power gently. If you take more game than you need for
food and clothing, or kill for the pleasure of killing, then you will be
visited by a pitiless giant named Famine, and when he comes among men, they
suffer hunger and die."
The people readily promised to obey Glooskap in this, as in all things. But
now, to their dismay, they saw Marten launch the Master's canoe and Noogumee
entering it with Glooskap's household goods. Glooskap was leaving them!
"I must dwell now in a separate place," said the Great Chief, "so that you,
my people, will learn to stand alone, and become brave and resourceful.
Nevertheless, I shall never be far from you, and whoever seeks me diligently
in time of trouble will find me."
Then, waving farewell to his sorrowful Wabanaki, Glooskap set off for the
mainland. Rounding the southern tip of what is now Nova Scotia, the Great
Chief paddled up the Bay of Fundy.
In the distance, where the Bay narrows and the great tides of Fundy rush
into Minas Basin, Glooskap saw a long purple headland .It looked like a
moose swimming, with clouds for antlers, and he headed his canoe in that
direction.
Landing, he gazed at the slope of red sandstone, with its groves of green
trees at the summit, and admired the amethysts encircling its base like a
string of purple beads.
"Here I shall build my lodge," said Glooskap, and he named the place
Blomidon.
Glooskap dwelt on Blomidon a very long time, and during that time did many
wonderful things for his People.
www.earthbow.com/native/algonquin/glooskap.htm
In the beginning, there were just the forest and the sea; no people and no
animals. Then Glooskap came. Where this wondrous giant was born and when,
none can tell, but he and his brother Malsum came from somewhere in the Sky
to the part of North America nearest the rising sun. There, anchoring his
canoe, he turned it into a granite island covered with spruce and pine. He
called the island Uktamkoo. (the land we know today as Newfoundland) This,
in the beginning, was Glooskap's lodge.
The Great Chief Glooskap looked and lived like an ordinary man except that
he was twice as tall, twice as strong, and possessed great magic. He was
never sick, never married, never grew old, and never died. He had a magic
belt which gave him great power, and he used this power only for good.
Malsum, his twin brother, also great of stature, had the head of a wolf and
the body of an Indian. Malsum knew magic too, but he used his power for
evil.
As Glooskap set about his work, the air was fragrant with balsam and the
tang of the sea.
First, out of the rocks, he made the Little People; the fairies, or
Megumoowesoos. These were small hairy creatures who dwelt among the rocks
and made such wonderful music on the flute that all who heard it were
bewitched.
From amongst the Megumoowesoos, Glooskap chose a servant, Marten, who was
like a younger brother to him. Next Glooskap made men. Taking up his great
bow, he shot arrows into the trunks of ash trees. Out of the trees stepped
men and women. They were a strong and graceful people with light brown skins
and shining black hair. Glooskap called them the Wabanaki, which means
"those who live where the day breaks."
In time, the Wabanaki left Uktamkoo and divided into separate tribes and are
today a part of the great Algonquin nation, but in the old days, only the
Micmacs, Malicetes, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies, living in the eastern
woodlands of Canada and the United States, were Glooskap's People.
Gazing upon his handiwork, Glooskap was pleased and his shout of triumph
made the tall pines bend like grass.
He told the people he was their Great Chief and would rule them with love
and justice. He taught them how to build birch bark wigwams and canoes, how
to make weirs for catching fish, and how to identify plants useful in
medicine. He taught them the names of all the Stars, who were his brothers.
Then, from among them, he chose an elderly woman whom he called Noogumee, or
grandmother, (a term of respect amongst Indians for any elderly female.)
Noogumee was the Great Chief's housekeeper all her days.
Now, finally, out of rocks and clay, Glooskap made the animals: Miko the
squirrel, Team the moose, Mooin the bear, and many, many others. Malsum
looked on enviously, thinking he too should have had a hand in creation. But
he had not been given that power. He whispered an evil charm, and the
remainder of the clay in Glooskap's hands twisted and fell to the ground in
the form of a strange animal. This animal was not beaver, not badger, not
wolverine, but something of all three, and capable of taking any of these
forms he chose.
"His name is Lox!" said Malsum triumphantly.
"So be it," said Glooskap. "Let Lox live amongst us in peace, so long as he
remains a friend." Yet he resolved to watch Lox closely, for he could read
the heart and knew that Lox had Malsum's evil in him.
Now Glooskap had made the animals all very large, most of them larger and
stronger than man. Lox, the trouble maker, at once saw his chance to make
mischief.
He went in his wolverine body to Team the moose and admired his fine
antlers, which reached up to the top of the tallest pine tree. "If you
should ever meet a man," said Lox, "you could toss him on your horns up to
the top of the world."
Now Team, who was just a little bit stupid, went at once to Glooskap and
said, "Please, Master, give me a man, so I can toss him on my horns up to
the top of the world!"
"I should say not!" cried Glooskap, and touched Team with his hand. The
moose was suddenly the size he is today.
Then Lox went in his badger form to the squirrel and said, "With that
magnificent tail of yours, Miko, you could smash down every lodge in the
village."
"So I could," said Miko proudly, and with his great tail he swept the
nearest wigwam right off the ground. But the Great Chief was near. He caught
Miko up in his hand and stroked the squirrel's back until he was as small as
he is today.
"From now on," said his Master, "you will live in trees and keep your tail
where it belongs." And since that time Miko the squirrel has carried his
bushy tail on his back.
Next, Lox put on his beaver shape and went to Mooin the bear, who was hardly
any bigger than he is today, but had a much larger throat.
"Mooin," said Lox slyly, "supposing you met a man, what would you do to
him?" The bear scratched his head thoughtfully. "Eat him," he said at last,
with a grin. " I'd swallow him whole!" And having said this, Mooin felt his
throat begin to shrink.
"From now on," said Glooskap sternly, "you may swallow only very small
creatures." And today the bear, big as he is, eats only small animals, fish
and wild berries.
Now the Great Chief was greatly annoyed at the way his animals were
behaving, and wondered if he should have made them. He summoned them all and
gave them a solemn warning:
"I have made you man's equal, but you wish to be his master. Take care, or
he may become yours!"
This did not worry the troublemaker Lox, who only resolved to be more
cunning in the future. He knew very well that Malsum was jealous of Glooskap
and wished to be lord of the Indians himself. He also knew that both
brothers had magic powers and that neither could be killed except in one
certain way.
What that way was, each kept secret from all but the Stars, whom they
trusted. Each sometimes talked in the starlight to the people of the Sky.
"Little does Malsum know," said Glooskap to the Stars, "that I can never be
killed except by the blow of a flowering rush." And not far off, Malsum
boasted to those same Stars, "I am quite safe from Glooskap's power. I can
do any thing I like, for nothing can harm me but the roots of a flowering
fern."
Now, alas, Lox was hidden close by and overheard both secrets. Seeing how he
might turn this to his own advantage, he went to Malsum and said with a
knowing smile, "What will you give me, Malsum, if I tell you Glooskap's
secret?"
"Anything you like," cried Malsum. "Quick, tell me!"
"Nothing can hurt Glooskap save a flowering rush," said the traitor. "Now
give me a pair of wings, like the pigeon, so I can fly."
But Malsum laughed instead.
"What need has a beaver of wings?" And kicking the troublemaker aside, he
sped off to find a flowering rush. Lox picked himself up furiously and
hurried to Glooscap.
"Master!" he cried, "Malsum knows your secret and is about to kill you. If
you would save yourself, know that only a fern root can destroy him!"
Glooskap snatched up the nearest fern, root and all, and just in time: his
evil brother was upon him, shouting his war cry. All of the animals (who
were angry at Glooskap for reducing their size and power) cheered Malsum,
but the Indians were afraid for their Master.
Glooskap braced his feet against a cliff, and Malsum paused. For a moment,
the two crouched face to face, waiting for the moment to strike. Then the
wolf-like Malsum lunged at Glooskap's head. Twisting his body aside, the
Great Chief flung his weapon. It went swift to its target, and Malsum leapt
back, but too late. The fern root pierced his envious heart, and he died.
Now the Indians rejoiced, and the animals crept sullenly away. Only Lox came
to Glooskap, impudently.
"I'll have my reward now, Master," he said, "a pair of wings, like the
pigeon's."
"Faithless creature!" Glooskap thundered, knowing full well who had betrayed
him, "I made no such bargain. Be gone!" And he hurled stone after stone at
the fleeing Lox. Where the stones fell (in Minas Basin) they turned into
islands and are there still. And the banished Lox roams the world to this
day, appealing to the evil in men's hearts and making trouble wherever he
goes.
Now Glooskap called his people around him and said, "I made the animals to
be man's friends, but they have acted with selfishness and treachery.
Hereafter, they shall be your servants and provide you with food and
clothing."
Then he showed the men how to make bows and arrows and stone tipped spears,
and how to use them. He also showed the women how to scrape hides and turn
them into clothing.
"Now you have power over even the largest wild creatures," he said. "Yet I
charge you to use this power gently. If you take more game than you need for
food and clothing, or kill for the pleasure of killing, then you will be
visited by a pitiless giant named Famine, and when he comes among men, they
suffer hunger and die."
The people readily promised to obey Glooskap in this, as in all things. But
now, to their dismay, they saw Marten launch the Master's canoe and Noogumee
entering it with Glooskap's household goods. Glooskap was leaving them!
"I must dwell now in a separate place," said the Great Chief, "so that you,
my people, will learn to stand alone, and become brave and resourceful.
Nevertheless, I shall never be far from you, and whoever seeks me diligently
in time of trouble will find me."
Then, waving farewell to his sorrowful Wabanaki, Glooskap set off for the
mainland. Rounding the southern tip of what is now Nova Scotia, the Great
Chief paddled up the Bay of Fundy.
In the distance, where the Bay narrows and the great tides of Fundy rush
into Minas Basin, Glooskap saw a long purple headland .It looked like a
moose swimming, with clouds for antlers, and he headed his canoe in that
direction.
Landing, he gazed at the slope of red sandstone, with its groves of green
trees at the summit, and admired the amethysts encircling its base like a
string of purple beads.
"Here I shall build my lodge," said Glooskap, and he named the place
Blomidon.
Glooskap dwelt on Blomidon a very long time, and during that time did many
wonderful things for his People.
www.earthbow.com/native/algonquin/glooskap.htm