16. The Hunters

There were ten princes who went out hunting. When they arrived at their camping-place, they built a hut. Their wives accompanied them. Only the youngest brother had no wife.

After they had finished their hut, the eldest brother went alone to hunt porcupine; and when he was a short way off from the camp, behold! he saw a large, fat porcupine coming toward him. He clubbed it, tied its hind legs, and hung it on a tree.

He went on and climbed a rock. When he reached the top, behold! there was a white she-bear. He went up to her and shot her with his arrow; and when the man saw that the bear was dead, he went on to the top of the mountain a little higher up, desirous of seeing the other side. He did so; and when he reached the top, he looked down on the other side of the steep mountain. There he saw a village at the foot of the mountain, and smoke rising from it.

He slid down the ice on his snowshoes, and came to the side of the first house. He looked through a knot-hole, and, behold! a young woman was alone in that house. She looked at the man and smiled at him. She said, “Come in, my dear!”

Then the people in the next house questioned her, and asked, “Did any one come to see you?” and she replied, “Yes, it is so.’ His last house belonged to a chief. Then the chief said to the woman, “Send him to me, that I may give him to eat.” Then the woman said to the young man, “Go to the chief’s house, for he invites you in!” Therefore he went; and when he entered, a crowd of young men came to meet him at the door. They took all his weapons and examined them, and they made him sit down on one side of the large fire.

Then the chief ordered his attendants to prepare food for him, and they did so. They gave him rich, fat food; and while he was eating, the young men brought in all the weapons which they had taken from him.

When it was late in the evening, the chief gave him some fur blankets—marten blankets and raccoon blankets—and the hunter] slept soundly.

Early the following morning somebody shouted, “The grizzly bears are coming down on the other side of the river!” Therefore the chief said, “Let the good hunters go and kill them!” Then the hunter took all his weapons and went across the river, and he took his first quartz arrow to shoot the grizzly bear, but his bow broke. Then he took his spear, but his spear broke. Then the great grizzly bear came to him and killed him right there.

Then the chief whose guest he had been the night before cut him in two and hung him up in one corner in the front of his house.

Now, the second brother set out to search for his elder brother, who had been lost a few days previous. He took all his weapons, hung his quiver over his side, took his spear over his shoulder, and his good bow, and started. After he had left the camp a little while, behold! there was a large fat porcupine which met him on his way. He clubbed the porcupine, tied its hind legs, and hung it on a tree, as his elder brother had done before.

He went a little farther; and when he reached the top of the rock, he saw a very fine white she-bear feeding on the green grass before him. He crept up to her secretly and shot her. The bear fell on the green grass. He went up to her, and wanted to see the top of the mountain a little above him. When he reached the top of the mountain, he looked down on the other side, and saw the smoke rising in a large village at the foot of the steep mountain.

Then he slid down on his snowshoes; and when he came to the side of the first house, he went around and looked through a knot-hole; and the woman inside looked at him, smiled at him, and invited him in.

Again the people next door, in the house of the chief, asked the woman, “Did any one come to you?” and she replied “Yes.” Therefore the chief said, “Let him come to be my guest!” and so the young woman sent him to the chief’s house.

As soon as he came in, he saw a crowd of young people, who met him at the door. They took away all his weapons, and some led him to one side of the chief’s great fire. They made him sit on a grizzly-bear skin which was spread there. Then the chief said to his attendants, “Feed my friend with rich food!” and his attendants prepared food and did what the chief had told them. They served him with rich food, and during the meal the young men brought his weapons in. Then the chief ordered his servants to lend him a blanket for the night. Then they all went to bed, and the man slept soundly.

Early the next morning a shout was heard outside. ‘Behold! grizzly bears are coming down yonder!” Therefore the chief said, “Let the hunters go and kill them for me!’ The young man made himself ready and started. He went toward the grizzly bear, and took his first quartz arrow and shot it, but his arrow broke. He took another one out of his quiver; and as he tried to shoot, his bow broke. He threw it away, took his spear, and when he attacked the bear the point of the spear broke. Therefore the grizzly bear caught hold of him and killed him right there; and the chief took him into his house, cut him in two, and hung him in the corner with his elder brother.

Then the third brother set out to search for his elder brother. He took all his weapons; and when he was a little way off, he saw a large fat porcupine. He clubbed it and hung it on a tree. Then he went a little farther on, and there he saw a fine white she-bear and shot her; and when the bear lay on the grass, the man went on and took up his arrow with which he had shot the she-bear. He went to the top of the mountain, as his two brothers had done before him, and looked down on the other side of the mountain. There he saw the large village on the other side of the mountain. He slid down on his snowshoes, and soon reached the side of the first house. He went around and looked through the knot-hole, and saw a beautiful young woman sitting alone in the house. She saw him and smiled, and invited him to come in. As soon as he was inside, the chief in the next house asked the young woman, “Did any one come to you?” She answered, “Yes, somebody came.’ Therefore the chief said, “Send him to me, I will feed him with rich food.’ So the woman sent him to the chief’s house. He went, and crowds of young men met him at the door. They smiled at him and took all his weapons from him, and some led him to one side of the house, where a grizzly-bear skin had been spread out, and they made him sit on it. Then the chief ordered his attendants to feed him with rich food. They did so; and while the meal was being served, the young men who had taken away his weapons brought them back to him. Then the chief said to his servants, “Lend him a blanket for tonight.”. They

did so.

The next morning a shout was heard. Behold! a grizzly bear is coming down the river. Therefore the chief said, “Let the hunters go and kill it for me!’ Then the young man made himself ready, went across and met the grizzly bear, and shot it with his good arrow, but it broke. He took another one out of his quiver; and when he intended to shoot again, his bow broke. He threw it away and took up his spear; and while he attacked it, his spear broke also. Therefore the grizzly bear came to him and killed him. The chief took him and cut him in two, and hung him up with the two other brothers in the corner of his house.

Thus the rest of the brothers set out one at a time. They all met the same dangers, and all their widows were left in the camp. Only the youngest brother now remained. He was crying for the loss of his nine brothers; and when the days of his mourning were over, he prepared to start, but the nine widows did not want to let him go, because their husbands had all been lost: but the young man insisted on going. He wanted to see what had happened to his nine brothers who had been lost, and all the widows were weeping.

The young man also wept bitterly, and he said, “Why did not one of my brothers go in another direction? They all went in the same direction.” And he lifted up his voice and wept bitterly, and all the widows wept with him. Then the young man said to his sisters-in-law, “I shall come back again, and [ I shall take you down home when I come back from there.”

Then he set out, and took all his good, strong weapons. He put. on his hunting-garment, and took food with him. When he had gone some distance from the camp, he met a large, fat porcupine; but this young man went another way, thinking that he would not touch the porcupine, and he thought, ‘Maybe my nine brothers met it on their way.”

After he had gone a little farther, he saw a fine white she-bear feeding on the green grass. He went to her and shot her, and she fell down dead. The young man rolled the bear over, and saw the beautiful white fur on her belly, and he touched it with his hand, and said, “What makes your belly so big?”

Then the she-bear was all of a sudden transformed into a beautiful young woman, and she laughed when the young man touched her with his hand. She said. “Your brothers did not do what you have done to me, therefore they were all slain by the chief in the grizzly-bear village yonder.”

The young man staid with her; and the pretty woman said, “You may go down to the grizzly-bear town, and I will tell you what to do.” After the woman had said so, she vanished from his sight.

Then the young man went to the top of the mountain; and when he reached up there, he looked down on the other side and saw a large town at the foot of the steep mountain. He slid down over the ice, and arrived at the side of the first house at the end of the large town. He went around and looked through a knot-hole, and, behold! the same woman was alone in there. She looked at the young man and smiled, and beckoned to him, and he staid with her.

She said to him, ‘The chief will invite you in, but do not eat much, as your nine brothers have done; and do not allow them to take your weapons away from you, for they always exchanged your brothers’ weapons for dried stalks. Let them not have any of your weapons. Early tomorrow morning the grizzly bear will come down, and the chief will send you to kill it. When you have killed it, the whole village will fight against you, but I will help you. Because your brothers’ weapons were exchanged for stalks of plants, their arrows and their spears broke easily. Now, I shall let you have my two dogs to help you when you are tired.” With this she handed him her two pups, and said, ‘Put them in your garment. When you are out of breath, throw the two pups on the ground, and say, ‘Grow up quickly, Red, and fight!’ and then throw down the other one, and say, “Grow up quickly, Spots!”

After the woman had finished speaking, the chief in the house next door asked, “Did any one come to you?” The woman did not answer him at once, as she had done before, because she loved the young man much. The young man embraced her and kissed her many times. After that the chief asked again, ‘Did any one come to you?” and the young woman replied quickly, ‘Yes, he is coming.”” Then the chief said, “Send him over to my house, that I I may feed him on rich, fat food.”

Then the man went; and when he came to the door of the chief’s house, a great crowd of young men met him. They acted very kindly toward him, and wanted to take his weapons from him, but, he refused to let them have them. They led him to one side of the large house, and a grizzly-bear skin was spread by the side of the large fire. He sat down there, but nobody took his weapons away from him. Then the chief ordered his attendants to prepare food, and they did so; but the young man refused to eat, and said, “I just finished my dinner before I came sliding down the mountain, therefore I am very thankful for your kindness;” but the chief compelled him to eat. Therefore the young man took a little. Late at night they went to bed and slept. The young man was on the alert, and kept his weapons in readiness.

Before he went to sleep, he looked at one corner in the front of the house, and saw his nine brothers hanging there, cut in two, and his heart was filled with sorrow. Therefore he could not sleep soundly at night.

Before it was midnight he perceived that some one came to the place where he was lying, trying to steal his weapons; but he held them in his hand, and coughed to let them know that he was not asleep. Many tried in the same way, but before daylight came they were all asleep. When day began to dawn, not a sound was to be heard; and when the sun rose high, a soft voice was heard outside, saying, “Behold! the grizzly bear is coming down on the other side of the river.” Then the chief said, “Let the hunter kill it for me!” Then the young man, who had kept ready, set out at once. He crossed the river, went right up to the great grizzly bear, and killed it. Then another grizzly bear came along, and he killed it also. A third one came along, and he killed it. Then two came together, and he killed both of them. Four came together, and he killed them. Then all the grizzly bears pressed the young man hard, but he stood firmly, fighting against them.

Finally lis quiver was empty. Then he took his spear, and killed them with it, and many grizzly bears covered the ground. Now he was very tired. He had forgotten all about the two pups that. he had. When he was almost ready to faint, he remembered the two pups. He took one out, threw it on the ground, and said, “Grow up quickly, Red!” and then he threw down the other one, and said, “Grow up quickly, Spots!” and the two pups became giant dogs.

Now, the two large dogs were stronger than the grizzly bears, and killed as many as they could while the hunter was lying on the ground, for he was weary and needed a rest. The two giant dogs killed all the grizzly bears. When the two dogs also were tired out and the young man had recovered his strength, he went to the place where the two giant dogs were, and he petted them, as his sweetheart had advised him to do when she gave him the two pups.

While the young man was petting them, the two dogs became smaller and smaller until they had regained their former size. Then he put them back in the belt of his garment. He went across to the village, while the place where he had been was covered with grizzly bears.

The young woman came down and met him on the way. They went to the chief’s house; and when they entered, they saw Chief Grizzly Bear lying dead there. The young woman said, “Now cut him open and take out his heart, and I shall wave it over the bodies of your nine brothers. Then they shall come back to life.’ Thus spoke the young woman. He did as she had said. He took out the heart and gave it to her. Then she waved it over the body of the eldest one four times. Then the eldest brother came back to life. He rubbed his eyes just as though he were waking from sleep. Then she went to the second one, and the second brother came back to life, as his eldest brother had done before; and so with all the others.

When they had all come back to life, the youngest one said, “Now go down to our camp and bring your wives here.” So the nine men went to their camp, and the wives were very glad to see them come back.

On the following day they started for the grizzly-bear village. The youngest brother had married White-Bear Woman, and he divided among his brothers the bears which he had killed. After they had dried the meat and the grizzly-bear skins, they were ready to move, and on the following day they packed all their belongings to go home. They started and went right to their home.

When they reached their own home safely, the eldest brother invited all his people, and told them then* story—-how they had met dangers at the village of the grizzly bear, and how their youngest brother had delivered them from the hands of the cruel animals that had destroyed them, and how this youngest brother had married the beautiful woman who had helped him from the hands of those who had deceived them. Then the youngest brother brought down his beautiful wife to his own house.

The young woman always followed him wherever he went, and the young man was successful in everything he did, on account of the help of the Bear Woman. He killed the strongest animals of all kinds, for his two dogs were stronger than any kind of animal.

Once upon a time this young man who had married the White-Bear Woman heard of a shaman woman who was killing all the hunters who passed her den. Therefore he set out with his wife to visit her. When they reached the cave in which the supernatural woman lived, she came out and invited them to visit her den; and when they went in, she made them sit on one side of her fire on a broad board. As soon as the young people were seated, they saw a number of dead people hanging on poles in the corners of the house. Then the supernatural woman said, “I shall have your wife for my dinner today, and tomorrow [ I shall eat yet.”) The young man replied, ‘I shall have your head, and I shall put it on a long pole. I shall feed your flesh to my two dogs.’ With this he threw his two dogs on the ground, and his wife said, ‘Grow up quickly, Red, and you, Spots!” Then the two dogs shook their bodies and grew up to be large dogs. Then the young man said, “Attack her and bite her neck and eat her flesh!” The two dogs rushed at her so quickly that she had no time to call up her own supernatural helpers. They bit her neck, bit off her head, and the two dogs ate her flesh, but her head was still alive. The young man took it and put it on a pole, which he placed upright in the mouth of her den. Then the young woman took her two dogs, petted them, and they became smaller and smaller until they were of the same size as before.

They went to their own house, and when they arrived there, the pups were dead. Then the young man died also. The woman took her husband’s body and her two dead dogs and carried them to her own home. That is the end.