| Glooscap,
having conquered the Kewawkqu', a race of giants and magicians, and
the Medeclin, who were cunning sorcerers, and Pamola, a wicked spirit
of the night, besides hosts of friends, goblins, cannibals, and witches,
felt himself great indeed, and boasted to a woman that there was nothing
left for him to subdue. |
| But
the woman laughed and said: " Are you quite sure, Master? There is still
one who remains unconquered, and nothing can overcome him." |
| In
some surprise Gloocap inquired the name of this mighty one. |
| "
He is called Wasis," replied the woman, " but I strongly advise you to have
no dealings with him." |
| Wasis
was only a baby, who sat on the floor sucking a piece of maple sugar and
crooning a little song to himself. Now Glooscap had never married and
was ignorant of how children are managed, but with perfect confidence
he smiled at the baby and asked it to come to him. The baby smiled back
but never moved, whereupond Glooscap imitated a beautiful birdsong. Wasis,
however, paid no attention and went on sucking his maple sugar. Unaccustomed
to such treatment, Glooscap lashed himself into a rage and in terrible
and threatening accents ordered Wasis to come to him at once. But Wasis
burst into dire howls, which quite drowned the god's thundering, and would
not budge for any threats. |
| Glooscap,
thoroughly aroused, summoned all his magical resources. He recited the
most terrible spells, the most dreadful incantations . He sang the songs
which raised the dead, and those which send the devil scurrying to the
nethermost depths. But Wasis merely smiled and looked a trifle bored.
|
| At
last Glooscap rushed from the hut in despair, while Wasis, sitting on
the floor, cried, "Goo, goo!" And to this day the Indian say that when
a baby says "Goo," he remembers the time when he conquered mighty Glooscap.
|
| (
the Iroquois know the Dancers- which we call the Pleiades- return again
each year to mark the celebration of the Midwinter Ceremonies) This is
one of the many stories of Plediaes |
| Long
ago in an earlier sacred time, and a Iroquois long house settlement near
the great river, many families worked together gathering the forest and
garden foods during late summer. Eight boys who were very close friends
went off together each evening after their work was done to dance and drum.
They had grown up together and were almost like brothers in their passion
for sharing time together. They wanted to form their own medicine society,
similar to the ones their elders belonged to, and they worked to fashion
and Iroquois water drum, elm bark rattles, and a snapping turtle rattle.
Meeting in their remote clearing on a hill away from the village, no one
could hear them, nor did anyone realize what they were doing. If the adults
had been aware of the boys' seriousness, they might have cautioned them
not to copy the sacred ceremonies. |
| Winter
set in and most evening the boys continued to meet together in their sacred
clearing. They drummed and sang and danced, and talked of taking a journey
together. They asked their parents for extra food to bring on these evening
encounters, but winter rations were slim and no food could be spared
beyond the one meal a day. |
| The
eighth boys continued to dance and sing with growing strength, although
they grew increasingly slim and light. One cold, clear winter night the
sound of their music grew so powerful it reached the village, and the
people became alarmed. The growing boys had been given freedom and encouragement
to gather and develop their skills, but now they sounded supernatural.
The parents and others from the village made their way to the distant campfire
on the hill where the music was throbbing. They were amazed to see the
boys dancing skyward, high above the flames of their campfire, circling
and climbing even higher into the Sky World. They called out to them, but
the boys could not hear them. The smallest boy paused to look back, and
he became a shooting star. The remaining seven boys danced even higher
into the sky, where they continue to dance today, circling the Sky World.
|
graphic by Silverhawk |
|
