In 1923, Stanley Newton published “The Story of Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa County.” This is part six going back to the beginning of the Sault, in a continuing series about the history of Sault Ste. Marie. Punctuation and grammar have been left intact. – Laurie Davis
He Discovers the Woman
“At first neither saw the other, and the woman, after wandering about for a while, sat down beside a log and fell asleep. Presently the man spied her footsteps in the sand and following them he approached her timidly. He found his voice as he touched her gently on the shoulder and asked: “‘Who art though?” Whence came you?’
“‘My name is Mani,” she replied. Gitchi Manito brought me here, telling me I should find something here I like. I think thou art the promised one.’
“‘I think so too,’ said the man. ‘On what dost thou live?’
“‘I have eaten nothing, for I was looking for thee. But now I feel hungry. Hast thou anything to eat?’
“Straitway the man hurried to collect some roots and herbs that he had found edible. He brought them to the squaw, who devoured them greedily.
“Again the sight moved Manito to pity, and in the twinkling of an eye he built a handsome wigwam for them, with a splendid garden beside it, in which grew many plants and berries, and trees of various kinds. Here they lived happily for many days, and Gitchi Manito came often to converse with them.
“‘Let me warn you against one thing,’ he told them. ‘See, this tree in the middle of the garden is not good, for it was planted here by Matchi Manito, the Spirit of Evil. See how it blossoms, presently it will bear fruits, and they will look very fine and taste very sweet. But do not eat of them, or death shall be thy portion.’
“You may believe that they paid attention to this formidable warning, and they kept the command a long time, even when the blossoms passed and the fruit was ripened. One day, however, when Mani was walking alone in the garden, she heard a friendly and musical voice calling, ‘Mani, why dost thy not eat of this beautiful fruit? It tastes splendidly. Startled, she looked around, but saw no one. She was afraid, and hurried into the house.
The Temptation Comes
“Next day, she went again into the garden, being curious to hear the voice again. When she approached the forbidden tree it sounded: ‘Mani, Mani, taste this splendid fruit, it will gladden the heart!’ And with this a young and handsome Indian came out of the bushes, plucked some fruit and placed it in her hand. ‘Eat,’ he said. It looked so good, and smelled so good, that she promptly ate it up and more with it. The young Indian, who was of course the agent of Matchi Manito, disappeared, and when her husband came soon after, she persuaded him to eat also. But scarcely had he swallowed the fruit she gave him when the silver scales fell off their bodies; only twenty scales remained to each, ten on the fingers and ten on the toes, but these lost their brilliancy. They saw themselves quite uncovered, and were ashamed and withdrew into the bushes.
“Then came the angry Gitchi Manito, and said: ‘Did I not tell you to abstain from the wiles of Matchi Manito? You have disobeyed, and presently death shall come upon you. These poor uncovered physical frames of yours shall perish, but the life that is in you shall live in your children and their descendants. Be gone from my garden!’
“So they went forth in banishment. But Manito loved them and had mercy upon them. He gave the man a bow and some arrows, and showed him how to shoot deer, and told Mani how to prepare the meat of them, and how to make clothing and moccasins of the hides.
They Leave the Garden
“So Mani and her husband left the garden, the many trying his bow and the arrows. Being not yet practiced in their use he shot into the sand, and the arrows went thus deep into the ground.”
Here Oh ta picked up an arrow, thrust it into the earth and withdrew it with his thumb on the shaft, showing to each one there separately how deep the arrow had gone in, saying, “see, so far.” They looked at it carefully and said, “good, now go on.” Oh ta proceeded.
“So Mani’s husband went out to hunt, saw a deer and shot an arrow at it. The animal sank on its knees and died.
“The hunter ran up and drew his arrow from the wound, found it uninjured and placed it in his quiver to be used again. When he brought the deer to his squaw she cut it into pieces and washed them, laying the hide aside for moccasins and clothing. Then she sensed the need of fire, for they could not eat the meat raw as the barbarous Kiristinons of the north do.
“This demand for fire stumped the man for a time, but finally the thought came to him to rub against each other a piece of hardwood and one of softwood, and he soon had a bright fire for his squaw.
Became a Medicine Man
“After that Mani’s husband killed many deer, and soon they had plenty of clothing and bedding, and his squaw built a fine lodge for him. One day when out hunting he found a birchbark book lying under a tree. While he was looking at the book it spoke to him in the pure Ojibway language, instructing him in the use of every plant in the forest and the meadow. Delighted, he put the book in his hunting bag and collected all the plants, roots, flowers and herbs which it pointed out to him. With these he returned to Mani, and found they were all good medicine, good in every accident and sickness of life. So in this way he became a great medicine man, as well as a mighty hunter. The children his wife bore him became great hunters also. He taught them to use the bow, explained to them the medicine book, which never talked to anyone but him, and told them the history of his and Mani’s creation. And through them the true story of the Ojibways has come down to us.”
“What was Mani’s husband’s name, Oh ta?” asked Wabish.
“That was not revealed to us,” replied Oh ta, as he tamped his pipe with a finger and looked very wise. “And anyway, it was the woman who made all the trouble.”
“Who revealed to the Chippewas that Gitchi Manito lived here” inquired Miz ye, The Cat Fish. Miz ye was a captive Sioux boy, a slave, a friend to everybody, and he had the freedom of the village. “ I always thought Gitchi Manito lived at Torch Lake, many days’ journey toward the setting sun,” he said.
“You thought wrong,” replied Oh ta, ‘and I’ll prove it to you. In the first place Manibosho told us about the Great Spirit, when he had recreated the world and the Chippewa nation after the flood. But see here. We know that Gitchi Manito lives now in the great rock temple on Michilimackinac, don’t we?”
“Certainly,” they chorused.
- He Discovers the Woman - October 3, 2026
- Canoes Light and Graceful - September 1, 2026
- Dogs Pulled Heavy Loads - August 2, 2026
