Note 344 — LEGENDS (continued 2)

Early in the night the women came to the camp of the men but did not sleep with them, returning to their own camp instead. In the morning the women went to their home on the shore of the lake. When they arrived there their mother asked them, “What husband has the most orenda?” They answered unanimously, “Okteondon.” When the men awoke in the morning they saw the shore of the lake lined with great crowds of people, who were expecting the return of the women with their husbands. When ready to start, Okteondon said to the three men, “We will now go to the women, but you must be very cautious and must not look up at the people.” Then the four men started from their camp on the ice for the shore. When they had gone but a short distance, three of them heard a voice singing, Gwăʼʹ wăʼonĕñioñʹdĭʼ, which means, “Lo! It is raining bones.” These words were heard a second time, sounding nearer; then suddenly the men heard a swift rushing sound, and a mass of dry bones swept rustling past them on the ice.344 Okteondon steadied his remaining friends with the curt remark, “One of us has looked up.” At that moment all the people on the shore suddenly disappeared, with the exception of the old woman [Kahenchitahonk], a noted witch, the mother of the girls who were bringing home their husbands. She walked back and forth along the shore, singing: “Okteondon is my son-in-law. Okteondon is my son-in-law.” When Okteondon and his two remaining companions reached the shore, the old woman, after inviting the men to follow her, started for her home. Having arrived there, she said, “I am going to see whether my daughters have prepared something to eat; so you wait here until I return.” Now the lodge of the old woman was built of ice. So while she was away, Okteondon, taking a small bundle of sticks, said, “Let these burn!” Straightway the pile of sticks became large and took fire, burning so briskly as to give out great heat. Then Okteondon said to the two men: “The old woman will bring food for us to eat, but you two must not eat it. I alone will eat it, for it will not hurt me.” So saying, he made a hole through the ice into which he thrust a reed. In a short time the old woman returned, saying: “Son-in-law, I have brought you a small quantity of something to eat. It is the custom, you know, to eat only a little after a long journey.” Taking the bark bowl, Okteondon ate all the food, which ran through the reed into the ground. This food was hominy (snow) and bloodsuckers (clouds). In a short time the old woman returned with another bowl, saying: “I have brought more for you to eat. This is hominy cooked with maple sugar” (it was wild flint that floats on water). Now the lodge of the old woman was becoming full of holes from the heat of the fire, whereupon she exclaimed, “Whuʼ! My son-in-law has spoiled my lodge. Let us go to the lodge of my daughter.” Going thither, they found something good to eat (i.e., food which was not the product of the arts of sorcery).