The Chemawa American, March 20, 1929, Image 1

OREGON STATE LIBRARY
MAR 2 2 1929
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OREGON
COLLECT«)#
CHEMAWAi
(AMERICAN
P r in t e d a t C h e m a w a , O re g o n , a n d D e v o te d to th e In te r e s ts o f In d ia n E d u c a tio n
sWMHMitmnimHHinniiHiMMiiflnnMiiiitimiiM^
W ednesday, M arch 20, 1929
Zol. X X X
No. 21
I......... -..—-
TWICE-TOLD IN D IA N LEGENDS
and, quietly and unobserved, drifted down the Niag­
ara toward the falls. Another moment and she
would be dashed to pieces below. Bidding farewell to
the world, and with a prayer on her lips to the all-
T h e M yth of T h e S moking P in e
When the chief, Asonimo, who presided over the powerful spirit, she awaited her awful doom as the
tribe of Indians that dwelt on the banks of the Bomba- little canoe plunged over the edge of the thundering
hook, was struck dead by a thunderbolt the people of his Niagara.
As she was about to be swallowed by the waters the
tribe buried him near the bank of that stream. And
thunder
god, Heno, saw her and caught her in his
there, today, near Hallowol, Maine, over the spot of
his grave stands the smoking pine. This is the story arms. Then he brought her safely into a cave behind
the falls, where he gUarded her and cared for her un­
the Indians tell of the origin of this tree:
When the first white men came to inhabit this land til she married one of his own sons.
From that time on, with the help of Heno, she be­
they found the Indians, a strong and sturdy race,
came
the protectress and guardian over her people,
inhabiting this new country. To them the whiteman
warning
them of approaching dangers, and giving
brought vice and disease, and soon the Indians’ native
strength and vitality began to ebb. They grew feeble, them council and advice. Once, when pestilence and
lost their former hardihood and vigor, and were soon famine threatened her people, she bade them leave
unable to cppe with the more powerful stranger in the their homes and depart to other lands. As soon as
they were gone a great serpent appeared, which had
land.
Chief Asonimo saw this and warned his people that come to poison the waters and" to devour the people.
the Great Spirit had spoken their fate, which was to The god, Heno, saw the monster and slew him with
be that of destruction. He counseled them not to a thunderbolt. As the huge serpent floated down the
join in strife with the white man, b u tto call him into stream its body folded, and this told of its body caused
the waters to be deflected into the Horseshoe falls to
council and to smoke with him the pipe of peace.
“ Iam soon to die, ’ ’ added the old chief, | ‘and where be seen to this day on the Niagara.
The god, Heno, now took all of his children up to
my body lies there shall rise a great pine which shall,
heaven,,
and whenever he thunders in the clouds above
forever smoke as a token of eternal peace between the
the
echo
is heard in the waters of the Niagara Falls
red and white people.”
The following interesting Indian legends are from
the pen of Celia K. Husik:
The prophecy of the old chieftain was fulfilled; The
compact of peace between the Indians and the English'
wa§, juude and soon thereafter Chief Asonimo died,
struck by a thunderbolt. Then it wasTfi^t his Tnbes-
men decided to leave the land and move on westward.
On visiting their beloved Chief Asonimo’s grave to bid
him a last farewell, they beheld, with awe and wonder,
the complete fulfillment of his prophecy. There stood
a beautiful pine tree from whose leaves and branches a
haze of smoky mist Was constantly rising. Hence it is
that from that day on this tree has been called the
Smoking Pine.
A L egend
of
N ia g a r a
Once upon a time a young Indian maiden was
about to be given in marriage to an Indian chief.
The girl detested the man, and, rather than marry
him, she preferred death. On the very day of the
wedding, she seized an opportunity, entered a canoe,
below.
T h e F ir s t F ir e
Following is a legend of Indians of the Klamath tribe:
Once" upon a time, when the animals and birds were
like human beings, they had to eat their food without
it being cooked. One day a little robin caught some­
thing. which she saw flying in the air and took it to
her mother. It was a burnt leaf that came from a fire
many miles away. Of course the old people knew
that there must be fire some place, so they sent the
humming-bird and dove to look for the fire. The
dove came back first without finding the fire.
When the humming-bird came back she brought the
news of what she had found out about the fire. The
coyote was chosen to take spme others with him and
steal some fire.: He got the black snake to sneak in
and steal some while he was attracting the owner’s at-
( Continued on page 4)