73. Grisly Bear's Grandchild; or, Spetlamu'lax.
(Nkamtci'nEmux.)
(cont.)...in a basket for the purpose of throwing it over the children to make them tame.1 She looked into the house and saw them playing. The girl was very much like her mother in countenance. When the two were close together, she threw the medicine at them; but it only fell on the boy, who at once assumed human form, while the girl ran away transformed into a dog.2
Now Grisly Bear asked the boy who he was, and he told her the whole story. She treated him very kindly, and taught him how to make and use bow and arrows, with which he began to shoot chipmunks, squirrels, grouse, and woodpeckers. Wherever he went, the dog followed him; but he did not know that it was his sister. Whenever he shot anything, the dog would run ahead, catch it, and eat it. So he became very much annoyed, and told his grandmother of the dog’s actions. She said, “Never mind. Let it eat every thing you shoot. Do not be angry with it.” But she never told him that it was his sister. One day he shot a willow grouse, and the dog ran ahead and ate it. He became angry, and hit the dog severely on the head with his arrow. It ran away howling, and said, “Why do you treat me thus? I am your sister, yet you have no pity on me, but try to kill me.” Then the dog assumed human form and the lad recognized his sister. He was very sorry, and ran after her, wishing to talk kindly to her and to embrace her; but she ran away from him. He followed her weeping, and saying, “Oh, sister! Oh, my I younger sister! Come back, sister! I love you, my younger sister!” But she paid no attention, and ran on, while he followed her. She ran over plains, then over knolls and hills, then over low mountains and high mountains until she reached the clouds. She travelled through cloud land until she reached the sky, where she remained.3
Her brother followed her, and at last found himself in the upper world, where he searched for her in vain. One day, while wandering around aimlessly, he happened to see old wood chips. He said to himself, -People must live here.' As he went on, he saw fresher chips, and stumps of trees showing the marks of chisels, and at last he arrived at a place where many people had been encamped. Not far from there he saw a conical lodge,and, on entering, found an old man crouching near the fire in the centre of the lodge.
1 Some add: and w give them human form, (or they were half hear, half fish.
2 Some say: its original form, partly rash, partly bear: others say, it became a chickadee.
3 Some relate this part of :he story differently. They say he followed her a long distance. crying, until she disappeared to the clouds. Then he returned. and reproached his grandmother for not telling him mat the dog was his sister. His grandmother had liven him directions that if he shut at a bird on a tree. and the arrow missed its marl and stuck in the tree, he was not to go after it, if it was beyond his reach. One day he fired foot arrows at a red-headed woodpecker, and all of them stuck in the trunk of the tree. He thought is was too bad to lose so many arrows. He climbed for ;hem, and coached the lower arrow, on which he put his foot, intending to pail out the top arrow first. As he put out his hand to seize it, he found it suddenly moved beyond his reach. Then he put his foot on the acct arrow, but found he still could not reach the top arrow, which had moved again farther up. Thus 6e kept on climbing, the arrow going before him, until he reached the sky or upper world. There he searched for his sister. The rest of the story is the same. It Seems that all the arrows kept moving, one always being above him. sad. the tree continuing to brow, he thus walked on as arrow ladder to the sky.
