Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/530

 1 82 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

unhappy. Several months later she bore seven pups. She told her mother to kill them, but her mother was kind toward them, and made a little shelter for them. They began to grow, and at night the old dog sometimes came to them. After a time, the woman be- gan to take interest in them, and sometimes played with them. When they were big enough to run, the old dog came and took them away. When the woman went to see them in the morning, they were gone. She saw the large dog's tracks, and several little ones, and followed them a distance. She was sad, and cried. She came back to her mother, and said : " Mother, make me seven pairs of moccasins. I am going to follow the little ones, searching for them." Her mother made seven pairs of moccasins, and she started out, tracking them all the way. Finally, in the distance, she saw a tent. The youngest one came to her, and said : " Mother, father wants you to go back. We are going home ; you cannot come." She said : " No. Wherever you go, I go." She took the little one, and carried him to the tent. She entered, and saw a young man, who, however, took no notice of her. He gave her a little meat and drink, which did not grow less however much she ate. She tied the little pup to her belt with a string. Next morning, she was left alone, and the tent was gone. She followed and again came to them. Four times this happened in the same way ; but the fourth time the tracks stopped. She looked up, and there she saw seven pups (Manootox- tcioo) ; they were stars (the Pleiades). 1

xrx.

Seven men were on the warpath. As they went along, they found a young woman who lived alone, in a solitary tent. These seven men were brothers. They remained with her and called her sister. They hunted and killed much game. The girl made seven buffalo robes for her seven brothers. She embroidered them all with porcupine quills ; and she embroidered moccasins also. She worked very much for her brothers, and they were very kind to her and loved her very much. Six of the brothers used to go out hunt- ing, and the youngest, who was only a boy, always stayed with his sister. When his brothers returned with game, he always ran to meet them and welcome them. Once the brothers went hunting again. The boy was outside, a little way from the tent where his

1 Arapaho. An almost universal myth in western British America and among all Eskimo tribes. Cf. Boas, Indianische Sagen der Nord Pacifischen Kiiste Amerikd's, pp. 25, 93, 114, 132, 263 ; Krause, Die Tlinkit Indianer, p. 269; Peti- tot, Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-Ouest, p. 314 ; Rink, Tales and Tradi- tions of the Eskimo, p. 471 ; ~Boa.s, foztmal of American Folk-Lore, ii. p. 124, and elsewhere in Eskimo collections ; Chilcotin ; J. Teit, op. cit. p. 62.

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