RACCOON PLAYS A TRICK UPON THE PEOPLE HE VISITS

COSMOGONY

5. RACCOON PLAYS A TRICK UPON THE PEOPLE HE VISITS

One

time

Raccoon went on

^a journey to see the differentcountries of the world

and

the people that lived in them.

One

evening he arrived ⁱⁿ a village of a very strange people, that is, they

seemed

123398—39 i

40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

[Boll.125 strange because as he passed along the road

everybody

stood staring athim.

The men

^leftwhatever they were doing to stareat him,

and

the

women

held their

mouths

wide open. Children ran before

him and

behind him. This

made Raccoon

feel very uncomfortable,

and

he did not

know what

to

make

of himself.

He had

never thought he

was

such a curious creature as to bring forth so

much

curiosity.

Raccoon

wished to get out of this as soon as hecould,

and

so walked

up

to agroup of

men and

said to them,

"How

do

you

do,

my

friends,

where

does₃^Tour chief live? I

come from

another country,

and

I

am

oneof the leading

men

of

my

^{people, so if I could} seeyour chief

and

talk with him,

my

^chief

would

be very

much

pleased. Besides, too,

you

^see I

am

a traveler

and

I

want

something to eat

and

a place to rest."

The men motioned

to

Raccoon

to follow them,

which

he did.

Oh, but the people did

crowd

around

Raccoon

as he followed after the

men

leading

him

to the chief's lodge!

The

chief

came

out

from

his lodge to see

what

all this

commotion

of the people meant.

He

had

not gone far

when

lie

met

the

men who

were leading Raccoon,

and

they told

him who

the stranger was.

"Get away!

Let

him

pass by!" shouted the chief to the crowds as he

went

forward to

meet

Raccoon.

You must have

seen

Raccoon

smile

when

he is

happy and

feeling good. Well, that

was

the

way

hesmiled

when

he

and

the chiefshook hands.

The

chief took

Raccoon

with

him

to his

wigwam. When

they got in, they sat

down

together

on

a mat.

The

chief's wife put food before Raccoon,

which

he ate heartily.

When

he

was done

eating the chief filled a pipe, lighted it, and gave it to

Raccoon

to smoke.

Then Raccoon began

to talk.

"I

am my

^chief's

^head

councilor," he began.

"He

sent

me

to travel

among

the nations of the world,

and

see the differentkinds of people.

My

^chief

wants me

^{toseeallthechiefs}

^and

^theircouncilmen.

He

^willbe pleased

when

he hears that I

have

seen you.

Now

^{I wish}

to

know

if I

may

^see

your

councilmen so I

may

talk with them. If possible, Ishouldlike tosee

them

tomorrow, because

you know

I

have

a longjourney

and

I

must

be

on

rrry

way

^ifI

am

to seeallthe countries

and

their people."

"Yes," replied the chief with a nod.

"You may

see

my

council-

men,

butIcan'tcall

them

togethertomorrow. Ican sendtherunners

tomorrow

to tell the councilmen to meet,

and

4 days

from

that time theywill

come

together.

That

isourcustom."

"All right," said Raccoon, "I will wait 4 days. I

have

one

more

word

to say,

and

thatis, in

my

country thecouncilmen assemble with

no

clothing

on them

but their breechclouts

and

moccasins.

But

they paint themselvesin their favorite colors

and have

fine eagle feathers in their hair.

Now

^if your councilmen will

come

to the council

Jones]

ETHNOGRAPHY OF FOX

INDIANS

41

dressed in thatway, I should be veryglad to see them, so I can

com-

pare

them

with our councilmen,

and

see if your

men

are as

handsome

asours. Tell

them

to leave their blankets at

home,

too."

"I will do everything

you

asked," replied the chief.

"You

can

livehere in

my

^lodge, visit the peoplein

my

village,

and come and

go

whenever you

wish."

"Allright,"saidRaccoon,nodding

and

smiling at the

same

time.

The

chief

was

pleasedto

have Raccoon

ask

him what

hedid, because he felt that there were

no

finer looking

men anywhere

than were his councilors.

In the

meanwhile Raccoon went from

lodge to lodge

and saw

the people as they lived, but the people were curious to

know why

he spent the greater part of his time in the woods.

They

could not understand

what

this great traveler

and

councilman could be doing there all alone.

The

fourth

day came and

thecouncilmen assembledin alarge

round wigwam,

exactly like one of our flag-reed lodges.

The

chief

and

the councilors sat in a circle in the lodge

and

waited for the arrival of Raccoon.

When

they

began

to think he

was

not going to come, the chief

went

out to look for him, thinking perhaps he

was

over in his lodge

and

did not

know

the council

had

met.

On

^his

way

over to his lodge thechief

met Raccoon coming

outof thewoods,

and

at once told

him

that thecouncilmen were assembled

and

werewaitingforhim.

Raccoon knew

all thewhile that the council

had met and

waitedin the woods,

knowing

that they

would grow

impatient over his delay

and

that the chief

would

surely

come

out to look for him.

And

it

pleased

Raccoon

to feel that it turned out as he wished.

Now

^he

would have

achance to speakto thechiefallalonewith

no

onearound tohear

what

hesaid.

Raccoon began

in a whisper, "I

have some

very important things to tell

you and your

council. I do not

want

these people standing

around

the council lodge to hear

what

I say.

So

don't

you

think it

would

be a

good

thing to close the entranceway

when we have

entered

and

alsotheopeninginthetopofthe lodge? "

"Yes," replied the chief. "I think it

would

be a good thing to close those openings."

Then

the

two walked

in

and

seated

them-

selves side

by

side ina circle.

The

chief did not ask

why Raccoon had come

into the council lodge with his blanket about

him when

he

had

asked that the coun-

cilorsshould leavetheirsat

home. The

chief

and some

ofthecouncil-

men

noticed that there

was

somethingunder Raccoon'sblanketwhich he tookcare toconceal, but theysaidnothingto

Raccoon

about these things.

The

councilmen wererising inturnto

make

a shortspeech

and

then to shake

Raccoon by

the

hand

as a sign that they

welcomed

him.

42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

^[Bull.125

All the while the

men smoking

were filling the lodge full of tobacco smoke.

The men

continued

smoking and

there

was no

opening for the

smoke

to go out.

By ^and by

the clouds of

smoke became

so thick that even

men who

sat next to each other could no longer see each ^other.

Then Raccoon

quietly loosened the folds of his blanket

and

letout slowly the bees

from

a hive

which

he

had

hiddenin the blanket.

He

could hardly restrain

from

laughing right out loud

when

he began to hear the

men

slapping themselves

on

their

naked

bodies.

Then

turning the whole hive loose, he slipped out of the lodge.

Then

he closed it

more

securely than ever

and

hurried away.

He

left the

men

slapping themselves

and

it

was

not ^until

Raccoon had

gone far

away

thatthey^couldstandit

no

longer.

They

broke outofthelodge, but

Raccoon was

not there with them.

The

chief

and

the council-

men now knew why

it

was

that

Raccoon was

so anxiousto

have them

leavetheirblankets at

home and

closethe lodge

up

tight.

When Raccoon had come

to a hiding place to rest he

had

a very

good

laugh all to himself. This is

how Raccoon

once fooled a chief

and

^his councilmen.