[Told by John Jimison]

Characters
GÉHA – Wind

NYAGWAIHE — The Ancient of Bears

IN a cabin at the edge of a village lived a grandmother and her grandson. The grandmother was old and the grandson was young and they were so poor that they ate scraps given them by their neighbors.

Once, when a hunting party was starting off, the little boy followed it. The hunters traveled five days, then camped and built a bark hut.

The boy was too young to hunt; he went out with the men but never killed anything. They called him OTHWÉNSAWÉNHDE from the part of a deer they threw out for him to eat–”the small liver by the side of the large one.”

When the hunters were ready to start for home, they agreed to leave the boy, not letting him know that they were going; they wanted to travel fast.

One day when he came back to the hut, the boy found only the pile of hair left from the skins they had dressed. The men had taken everything and gone. The child didn’t know the way home.

That night he slept on the pile of hair; the next morning be found the chin bone of a deer and getting out the marrow ate it. When it was night again, he heard somebody coming; the door opened, and a man said, “Well, OTHWÉNSAWÉNHDE, you think you are going to die, but you are not. Get your knife and put it on the stump outside the door, and in the morning go and bring it in. You must hunt, to-morrow.” The stranger, who was GÉHA (Wind), went away.

The boy had an old basswood knife; he carried it out and put it on the stump. Early in the morning he went to the stump and there he found a new knife. He took his bow and arrow and knife and went into the woods. He saw a deer, ran after it, overtook it and killed it with his knife. Then he threw his bow and arrow away and afterward when hunting used his knife. He killed large game and had plenty of meat.

One night he heard somebody coming, then a man pushed open the door, and said, calling him by name, “I am here to tell you that NYAGWAIHE is coming to kill you. To-night put your knife on the stump outside, get it in the morning and go to the top of the tall elm tree at the end of the hut; hide in the branches and wait. NYAGWAIHE will climb the tree and look over into the hut to see if you are there. When he is coming down backwards, stick your knife into a small white spot in his right hind foot; he will fall to the ground, dead. Then pile up wood around the body and burn it.”

GÉHA went out.

The boy put his knife on the stump and in the morning the old knife was gone and a larger and longer knife was in its place. He picked up the knife and climbing the tree hid in the branches. Just at daybreak he heard a terrible roar, and right away NYAGWAIHE was climbing the tree. When he got to the top, he looked into the smoke-hole of the hut, and said, “There is a fire; the boy must be there,” and he started down the tree.

The boy saw the white spot and stuck his knife into it; NYAGWAIHE fell to the ground, dead.

That night, just as the boy was going to sleep, he heard somebody coming. GÉHA opened the door, and said, “I came to tell you that those hunters who left you here are starving. Ten days from now they will come back to the hut. You must be kind to them. Don’t feel proud or boast of your swiftness. You felt proud, that is why NYAGWAIHE came to destroy you, “Don’t say that there is no one who can outrun you, When they come tell them to help themselves to the meat you have dried. When they are ready to go home, go with them; tell every man to take as much meat as he can carry. Put your knife on the stump.”

GÉHA went away. The boy put his knife, which was made of basswood, on the stump. In the morning the knife was shorter and smaller.

During the next nine days the boy killed many deer, The tenth day he stayed in the hut, watching and listening. At midday the hunters came. When they saw how much; meat the boy had, they asked forgiveness. He told them to eat as much meat as they wanted, then take as much home as each man could carry.

They took half of the meat. The boy packed up the other half, shook it till it was as light a pack as any one of the men was carrying, then started on behind them.

When they got back to the village, the boy went to his grandmother’s house and threw down his pack. That minute it came to its natural size.

“Oh,” cried his grandmother, “I am happy now. The hunters said you were lost in the woods. But you are back and have brought plenty of meat.”

“Go, grandmother,” said the boy, “and ask all the women to come and get as much meat as they can carry away.”

The women came and carried away many loads of meat, but the meat in the house wasn’t diminished. There seemed to be as much as before any was taken.

Now a chief in the East challenged the chief of the village to run a race; whichever side was beaten all the men on that side would lose their lives.

The chief called the people together to decide on a runner. The boy said, “I will run with the man you choose and you can decide which is the better runner.”

The chief was pleased. He chose a man and the two stood apart. Other men also volunteered to run. The chief raised his hand, then dropped it, and the runners started, that minute the boy was out of sight, then off at the end of the opening a small dark object was seen. The other runner was only half way across the opening when the boy was back at the starting place. Then he began to boast that nobody could outrun him; he forgot GÉHA’s warning.

There was a valley that went across the world; that valley was to be the race course. At the edge of the world was a rock that stood up like the trunk of a huge tree. The rock was white flint and it shone brightly; there was no other rock like it. The runner who reached the rock was to bring back a chip of it. The runner for the challenging chief was tall and thin. At midday the sign was given and the runners started–the boy ran on the ground, his opponent ran in the air.

The boy used his full power and soon came back with a piece of the stone in his hand. After a long time the other runner came–the challenging chief and his men lost their heads.

The boy was proud and boastful. That night, just as he was falling asleep, he heard somebody coming. The door opened and a man said, “Come out, I want to talk to you.”

He went out.

“I challenge you to a foot race,” said the man. “You must wager the heads of all the people of the village, except yourself, against my head. I have no people. We will start at daylight and run till the sun reaches the middle of the Blue.”

“Very well,” said the boy.

The man disappeared. The boy told his grandmother what had happened and she started off to notify the people that their heads had been put up as a wager. While she was gone GÉHA came to the boy, and said, “I warned you not to boast and told you what would happen if you did. Now you must do your best or you will be beaten. You must help yourself. I am going home.”

The people assembled and the challenger came. Just as the sun rose, word was given and the runners started. As the challenger ran he threw up so much dirt that the boy was thrown back, and he fell. The people couldn’t see the runner; but off in the distance was a NYAGWAIHE.

As the boy fell, GÉHA was there, and said, “Get up and start! Help yourself and I’ll help you.”

The boy ran to the first knoll, looked but didn’t see his opponent, reached the second knoll and saw him on a knoll far ahead, then saw him on the fourth knoll. Now a Whirlwind took the boy up and, like a flash of lightning, put him at the runner’s heels. He called out, “Hurry, or I’ll overtake you!”

The runner used all his strength and soon was out of sight.

Again a Whirlwind picked up the boy and put him at the heels of his opponent. He shot twice and called out, “Do your best or I’ll beat you!”

The runner couldn’t get out of sight, he was losing strength.

Again a Whirlwind came and as it picked the boy up a voice said, out of the cloud, “This is the last time I’ll help you.”

Whirlwind put the boy down at his opponent’s heels; the runner, now in his real form, the form of a NYAGWAIHE, said, “You have overtaken me and won the race.”

Exactly at midday the boy cut off the Bear’s head, and taking it started for home. When over three hills he was tired; he hung the head on the limb of a tree and taking the tongue went on. He went over two other hills and was tired; he hung the tongue on the limb of a tree and went on over other hills and knolls. When he reached home and told the people that he had killed his opponent, they said, “We will go and see the body.”

“You’ll find it over the tenth hill. I tried to bring back the head, but seven hills from here I was tired and I hung it on the limb of a tree. I took the tongue, but when I came to the fifth hill I was tired and I hung the tongue on the limb of a tree.”

It took a long time for the people to get to the first hill. When they had traveled five Summers and five Winters, they came to a hill. On the top of the hill was a tree, and on the tree was the tongue of the NYAGWAIHE. The ground around the tree was trampled down; thousands of wild beasts had been there and tried to get the tongue, the men looked at it and went on.

When they had traveled two more Summers and two more Winters they came to the seventh hill and found a skull, all that was left of the head. The ground around the tree was trampled down: thousands of wild beasts had been there and tried to get the head.

They traveled three Summers and three Winters, then reached the tenth hill. For a great distance around the ground had been made bare and hard by the trampling of wild beasts.

The place where NYAGWAIHE fell had become a deer-lick, not a bone or a trace of the body was left.

The men were ten years going home. The boy aided by GÉHA had made the journey between sunrise and midday.

Seneca Indian Myths, by Jeremiah Curtin; New York; E.P. Dutton & Company [1922] and is now in the public domain.

Character
GÉHA – Wind

A PARTY of Senecas went hunting. When they had killed many deer and were ready to go home, they didn’t know what to do with a little boy whose father and mother had died while they had been in the forest.

The hunters had so much meat they couldn’t carry the boy and he couldn’t walk so far. At last they decided to leave him in the cabin, leaving plenty of wood and meat.

The child cried bitterly and begged to go, but they left him.

When the hunters reached home and the report went around that the child had been left in the woods, every one thought it would die.

After some days the chief sent a man to see if the child was alive.

As soon as the messenger was outside of the village, he changed himself into a bear.

The little boy kept a fire, cooked meat, and lived. One cold night he began to cry; the meat was almost gone and the wood was burned up. While crying he heard some one come to the door. After making a noise, as if shaking A snow, a man said, “Little boy, you think you are going I o die, you are not. I am going to take care of you. The chief has sent a man to see if you are alive, but he will not be here for a long time. I will be your friend. When you want me think of me and I will come.”

The man went away and the boy fell asleep. In the morning he found a pile of wood at the door, and on a low limb of a tree hung a piece of deer meat. Now he was happy; he built a fire and cooked some of the meat.

The next night the man came again; he stopped at the door, and shook his feet, as if shaking off snow, but he didn’t go in. He called to the boy, and said, “The man who is coming won’t help you; he has taken the form of a bear. He will be here at midday, to-morrow. In the morning you will find, between the roots of the old stump near the door, a rusty knife. Sharpen it and kill the bear. When you hear him coming, run to the spring where the tall hemlock stands, and climb the tree; the bear will follow you. Slip down on the other side and as he is coming down stab him in the forefoot.”

The boy did as the voice told him. When he had killed the bear, he went back to the cabin. The next night the stranger came to the door, and said, “My friend, men are coming for you. Go home with them, they will be good to you. The chief will adopt you and you will become the swiftest runner living, but don’t be proud and boast of your power. I am your friend but you will never see me. I am the one who is called GÉHA (Wind). If you are in trouble think of me and I will help you. When the men come they will ask about the messenger the chief sent, you will say, ‘I haven’t seen a man, but one morning a strong wind went through the woods.’”

The next day four men came with food for the boy. They saw that he had wood and meat, but no bow or arrow. He went home with the men and the chief had him brought to his own house, for the child’s relatives were all dead.

The chief said, “You will be my grandson and live with me.” When they gave the boy a bow and arrows, he asked for a club.

“What do you want of a club?” asked the chief.

“To kill deer.”

The chief had a club made for him. He chased deer, overtook them hit them on the head and killed them. He killed bird’s before they could fly away. GÉHA had told him he would be the swiftest runner living and he always had that in mind. When he saw boys running he laughed, and thought, “That running is nothing. I can run faster than any boy living.”

One night some one struck on the door near the boy’s bed and a man called out, “Who is in here?”

“I am,” answered the boy.

“Well, I challenge you to run a race with me. You think you are the swiftest runner in the world. We will start from the second mountain and run from sunrise till sundown.”

In the morning the boy asked the chief, whom he called Grandfather,” if in the night he had heard some one talking outside.

“I did not,” answered the chief.

“Well, a man came and challenged me to run a race,”

“I don’t think it was a man,” said the chief; “it must have been a beast and I am afraid you will get killed.”

“I’ve been challenged, and I must go,” said the boy. “I must be ready the third morning from this.”

He made ten pairs of moccasins, put flint in his arrows, and parched corn to eat. On the third morning he started, When near the appointed place he saw a dark mass. At first he didn’t know what it was, but when daylight came he saw it was a great bear.

When the sun appeared, the bear said, “Now, we’ll start.”

He leaped across the valley and on to the first mountain; where he struck the ground sank. He leaped from mountain to mountain, but the boy had to run through the valleys.

At midday the bear was ahead and the boy thought, am lost. I wish my friend GÉHA would come.”

That minute GÉHA came as a whirlwind and carried the boy far ahead of the bear. As GÉHA traveled he threw down trees and that delayed the bear for it had to jump over them.

At last the bear’s strength gave out and he called to the boy that he might have his life.

The boy killed the bear, then he burned tobacco to friend GÉHA and asked to be taken home, GÉHA carried him in a whirlwind and put him down in front of the chief’s house. “I have come, Grandfather,” said the boy, “I have killed bear. You must send men to bring it home.”

The chief sent eight men. They were twenty days going and twenty returning, the boy wasn’t half a day, for GÉHA had carried him over the woods and under the clouds.

Seneca Indian Myths, by Jeremiah Curtin; New York; E.P. Dutton & Company [1922] and is now in the public domain.

Two Santa Ana girls went to Haniashte (other side of river) to pick beans. They saw geese coming flying. The girls got to the bean fields. They were gray with geese picking beans. The girls stood watching them. They said, “They are picking all the beans.” One of the geese saw the two girls. She sang,

Come over here,
There are white beans here.

One of the girls said, “Just hear them! They talk the Santa Ana language.” Again the goose sang–

Come over here,
Some white beans here,
Come over here, Maria.

The geese were jumping around picking beans as fast as they could. One of the girls said, “Call loud, and see if they will fly away and not pick all our beans.” So the other called to the geese: “That’s enough. Leave some for us. We have come to pick, too.” The geese all flew away. The girls said, “They got frightened. They understood. They are people like us and talk our language. We better go, maybe they are something dangerous.” They went home to Santa Ana. They told their mother, “We went to Haniashte to pick beans and the geese were picking them. They were people and they talked Santa Ana. They sang–

Come over here, Maria,
There are white beans here.

“When we heard them talking our language we ran away and we came home.” “That’s right, my dears. Don’t go there, any more. They might be dangerous people and take you away. Once they took a girl away!” So the girls never went there any more.

Tales of the Cochiti Indians, by Ruth Benedict; U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin no. 98; US Government Printing Office; [1931] and is now in the public domain

Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg are sort of magical little beings, something like the Leprechauns of Ireland, who appear to certain people at certain times in certain places in many Native communities.

Little People: Geow-Lud-Mo-Sis-Eg
By Pat Paul

In many native communities you will always find a person or two who could tell either a personal story or would know someone who has met or made some kind of a contact with the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg.

Some people say that the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg represent some kind of an omen, either good or bad, that can happen to the person who sees them. They can scare the wits out of some people while others don’t get too excited over seeing them.

A lot of this fear is based on a person’s kind of upbringing or personal convictions. If you happen to be a superstitious kind of a person who has always followed a strict and narrow order of spiritual leaning, the appearance of the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg could touch-off a shade of apprehension or intimidation which in turn could transform to negative outcomes.

These negative outcomes could possibly lead to kind of personal imbalance or disharmony, because you unconsciously allow negativity to seep in. Whereas if the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg should appear to a person who is positive, open-minded, receptive and less spiritually constricted, the results could be rewarding.

In other words, it all depends on the state-of-mind of the person who sees them. Fear of them could stir negative impulses, while openness and acceptance could work out quite pleasantly for a person.

SOME DOCUMENTATION
Back in the 1950s there was a book written by an author named Edmond Wilson called ‘Apologies to the Iroquois’, which explained some of the myths and legends of the Iroquois concerning these little beings. In that book, Mr Wilson talks about the existence of at least two tribes of these little creatures who live among the Iroquois, namely with the Tuscaroras of the New York State. The book talks about the tribe of Healers and Tricksters. Apparently the Healer tribe can do some super marvellous things for a person who may be stricken or inflicted with some kind of physical ailment, sickness or such things as open flesh wounds, skin disorders or other visible bodily malfunctions.

The Healers reportedly are able to correct these malfunctions and disorders quite easily just by a person’s request and a gift of tobacco to them.

On the other hand, the tribe of Tricksters do their thing by playing pranks and tricks on people. They would often do their tricks in the middle of the night just to make a person’s hair stand on end. Little tricks like thumping on the side of your camp or canoe, braiding horse manes, tying up clothes on the clothes line, or a stone thrown into the still waters where you are quietly fishing might be the types of tricks the Tricksters would play on people. Little games such as these would be the harmless variety of mischievous activities that could be expected of the Tricksters.

They, like the Healers, can be appeased with a small gift of tobacco placed on the ground near or where the pranks are taking place. The tricks will then stop immediately after the giving of the tobacco.

Among the Maliseet people, the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg are often seen beside or near water places like river banks, marshy grounds, brooksides or lakeshores. It’s been said also that domestic animals such as cows and horses become attracted to them. Their mischief would entail very fine braiding of strands of hair on the tails of the domestic animals. So barns and stables would be some of the areas where they can appear or show their workmanship.

Some people who fear the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg and fall victim to tricks or pranks can become very fearful or openly shaken when the little creatures make their appearance to them and many times unpleasant events result. But others have experienced personal healings, good health and good fortune following their contact.

For some reason the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg don’t seem to make their appearance as frequently in these modern 1994 times as they used to in the early part of this century. For instance, in researching this article only the elders relate stories of having seen their braiding workmanship. One particular elder who is seventy-plus talks about the time when his family was visited by them.

In that case the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg left these fine, rounded, braids on his mother’s clothes on the clothesline, which he and his brother unbraided to remove from the line. Later sightings have since been rumoured but not confirmed with the exception of the following.

THE STEP AND TUNNEL
Some elders at Tobique recall their old swimming hole ‘mus-kum-odesk’ where they used to swim, play and frolic. Mus-kum-odesk is a solid rock and ledge area of the reserve where this strange rock design is located.

Right in the middle of this huge rock-ledge formation is an 18″ x 18″ block section that is missing as if a person had taken a saw or some kind of a cutter to carve out and remove it, leaving a step-like or a seat-like formation remaining there that the swimmers used to play around for years.

Directly under the ‘step’ or ‘seat’ is a tunnel-like opening, or a small 18″ diameter hole that goes – god knows where, and is always very black and spooky inside. No one, as I recall, ever explored the tunnel for fear of the ob-o-dum-kin (a reputed legendary or mythical water creature), or the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg. Some say that both, the step and the tunnel, are creations of the Little People who are reputed to be always around water areas, such as swimming holes, near lakes, rivers, brooks, etc., much like the famous Leprechauns of Ireland.

In 1953 through to 1959 two hydroelectric dams were constructed in the Tobique area and many places where Native people often frequented were flooded over, including the step and the tunnel locations. No pictures exist, to my knowledge, showing this unique area that once used to mystify so many people. The step and tunnel also have never been thoroughly researched nor has adequate explanation of their origin, except for the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg angle.

RAIN FIRE
One elder who now has passed away looked out of his back window and saw about three of these Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg having a ‘good old time’ around a fireplace area in the back of his house. But the eerie part of this tale is that it was well after midnight and it was pouring ‘cats and dogs’ in a summer rainstorm and the Little People’s fire was apparently not one bit affected by the tons of water coming down on it. The elder said he sort of got a chilly feeling as he and his wife looked at this unusual scene, but left things be and went to bed pondering on what they just had witnessed. This apparently was one true sighting.

VISITATION
Another strange event that took place in the same house as referred to above, was the visitation of these Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg to a lady living there. In this case, the lady happened to look out of the front door window one cloudy evening and saw four little folks, three boys and one girl, dressed ever so neatly with the girl in a yellow blouse, walking up the driveway towards the house. The lady of the house wondered what all of this was about and became very curious. The main entrance to the house normally is through the back door, and she assumed that the little guys were headed for the back door as she saw them disappearing around the corner. She then went to the back door to see where these four little creatures would be going. As she opened the door, two childlike little people were out there in the yard, jumping for joy, with their arms just a flying and swinging.

Due to her deafness, the woman couldn’t tell if the little ones were making any sounds as they jumped.

For a moment she said she turned to call her husband and the little ones just vanished. Next she saw them walking down the front driveway heading back to their camp. She did however caution them to be careful of speeding cars as they crossed the road in front of the house. The woman has been deaf since the 1960s, but is still able to speak perfectly. She watched them as they crossed the road and disappear down towards a hollow area and on to the river. Some young people died soon after, she said.

In conclusion therefore, there is ample evidence that these little beings are around Native communities in New Brunswick as well as other Native places in the continent. As indicated earlier, a person’s lot could be well rewarded in one situation, while the opposite or negative outcomes could result in another. It all depends on the attitude or the spirit taken when one sees the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg.

If you happen to see one one day, be on the positive side and the Geow-lud-mo-sis-eg will reward you for it.

Some geese were picking up corn on the fields south of Cochiti (site of old Cochiti village, Ushuk). When they had enough they started to dance. The chief goose sang–

Goose, goose, I came flying from the north,
I found some corn,
I ate it,
My stomach got filled up, got filled up!

Then they flew off. One of the geese said, “Let us go farther up west.” So they went. When they got to the place, they found there a field of white shells (beads), and they began to pick them up. One of them named Maria was very slow.

They sang, “Maria, Maria, all over this place are many white shells.” She caught up with them, but the rest had already had enough to eat. “You’re good for nothing, you’re too slow picking up white shells.” They were afraid for fear the owner of the shells might come, and they made her hurry. “Soon he’ll come into his field and he might kill us all. Hurry Maria!” They all cried to Maria, “Are you ready?” “Yes.” They all flew up. Then came a crane and started to pick the shells up. “I shall go pick up white shells,” he said. So he went to pick up the shells. He had swallowed just one when the owner of the field came and killed him.

Tales of the Cochiti Indians, by Ruth Benedict; U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin no. 98; US Government Printing Office; [1931] and is now in the public domain