In the
beginning, there were just the forest and the sea; no people and no animals.
Then Glooskap came. Where this wondrous giant was born and when, none can tell,
but he and his brother Malsum came from somewhere in the Sky to the part of
North America nearest the rising sun. There, anchoring his canoe, he turned it
into a granite island covered with spruce and pine. He called the island
Uktamkoo. (the land we know today as Newfoundland) This, in the beginning, was
Glooskap's lodge.
The Great Chief Glooskap looked and lived like
an ordinary man except that he was twice as tall, twice as strong, and
possessed great magic. He was never sick, never married, never grew old, and
never died. He had a magic belt which gave him great power, and he used this
power only for good. Malsum, his twin brother, also great of stature, had the
head of a wolf and the body of an Indian. Malsum knew magic too, but he used
his power for evil.
As Glooskap set about his work, the air was
fragrant with balsam and the tang of the sea.
First, out of the rocks, he made the Little
People; the fairies, or Megumoowesoos. These were small hairy creatures who
dwelt among the rocks and made such wonderful music on the flute that all who
heard it were bewitched.
From amongst the Megumoowesoos, Glooskap chose a
servant, Marten, who was like a younger brother to him. Next Glooskap made men.
Taking up his great bow, he shot arrows into the trunks of ash trees. Out of
the trees stepped men and women. They were a strong and graceful people with
light brown skins and shining black hair. Glooskap called them the Wabanaki,
which means "those who live where the day breaks."
In time, the Wabanaki left Uktamkoo and divided
into separate tribes and are today a part of the great Algonquin nation, but in
the old days, only the Micmacs, Malicetes, Penobscots and Passamaquoddies,
living in the eastern woodlands of Canada and the United States, were
Glooskap's People.
Gazing upon his handiwork, Glooskap was pleased
and his shout of triumph made the tall pines bend like grass.
He told the people he was their Great Chief and
would rule them with love and justice. He taught them how to build birch bark
wigwams and canoes, how to make weirs for catching fish, and how to identify
plants useful in medicine. He taught them the names of all the Stars, who were
his brothers.
Then, from among them, he chose an elderly woman
whom he called Noogumee, or Grandmother, (a term of respect amongst Indians for
any elderly female.) Noogumee was the Great Chief's housekeeper all her
days.
Now, finally, out of rocks and clay, Glooskap
made the animals: Miko the squirrel, Team the moose, Mooin the bear, and many,
many others. Malsum looked on enviously, thinking he too should have had a hand
in creation. But he had not been given that power. He whispered an evil charm,
and the remainder of the clay in Glooskap's hands twisted and fell to the
ground in the form of a strange animal. This animal was not beaver, not badger,
not wolverine, but something of all three, and capable of taking any of these
forms he chose.
"His name is Lox!" said Malsum
triumphantly.
"So be it," said Glooskap. "Let
Lox live amongst us in peace, so long as he remains a friend." Yet he
resolved to watch Lox closely, for he could read the heart and knew that Lox
had Malsum's evil in him.
Now Glooskap had made the animals all very
large, most of them larger and stronger than man. Lox, the trouble maker, at
once saw his chance to make mischief.
He went in his wolverine body to Team the moose
and admired his fine antlers, which reached up to the top of the tallest pine
tree. "If you should ever meet a man," said Lox, "you could toss
him on your horns up to the top of the world."
Now Team, who was just a little bit stupid, went
at once to Glooskap and said, "Please, Master, give me a man, so I can
toss him on my horns up to the top of the world!"
"I should say not!" cried Glooskap,
and touched Team with his hand. The moose was suddenly the size he is
today.
Then Lox went in his badger form to the squirrel
and said, "With that magnificent tail of yours, Miko, you could smash down
every lodge in the village."
"So I could," said Miko proudly, and
with his great tail he swept the nearest wigwam right off the ground. But the
Great Chief was near. He caught Miko up in his hand and stroked the squirrel's
back until he was as small as he is today.
"From now on," said his Master,
"you will live in trees and keep your tail where it belongs." And
since that time Miko the squirrel has carried his bushy tail on his back.
Next, Lox put on his beaver shape and went to
Mooin the bear, who was hardly any bigger than he is today, but had a much
larger throat.
"Mooin," said Lox slyly,
"supposing you met a man, what would you do to him?" The bear
scratched his head thoughtfully. "Eat him," he said at last, with a
grin. " I'd swallow him whole!" And having said this, Mooin felt his
throat begin to shrink.
"From now on," said Glooskap sternly,
"you may swallow only very small creatures." And today the bear, big
as he is, eats only small animals, fish and wild berries.
Now the Great Chief was greatly annoyed at the
way his animals were behaving, and wondered if he should have made them. He
summoned them all and gave them a solemn warning:
"I have made you man's equal, but you wish
to be his master. Take care, or he may become yours!"
This did not worry the troublemaker Lox, who
only resolved to be more cunning in the future. He knew very well that Malsum
was jealous of Glooskap and wished to be lord of the Indians himself. He also
knew that both brothers had magic powers and that neither could be killed
except in one certain way.
What that way was, each kept secret from all but
the Stars, whom they trusted. Each sometimes talked in the starlight to the
people of the Sky.
"Little does Malsum know," said
Glooskap to the Stars, "that I can never be killed except by the blow of a
flowering rush." And not far off, Malsum boasted to those same Stars,
"I am quite safe from Glooskap's power. I can do any thing I like, for
nothing can harm me but the roots of a flowering fern."
Now, alas, Lox was hidden close by and overheard
both secrets. Seeing how he might turn this to his own advantage, he went to
Malsum and said with a knowing smile, "What will you give me, Malsum, if I
tell you Glooskap's secret?"
"Anything you like," cried Malsum.
"Quick, tell me!"
"Nothing can hurt Glooskap save a flowering
rush," said the traitor. "Now give me a pair of wings, like the
pigeon, so I can fly."
But Malsum laughed instead.
"What need has a beaver of wings?" And
kicking the troublemaker aside, he sped off to find a flowering rush. Lox
picked himself up furiously and hurried to Glooscap.
"Master!" he cried, "Malsum knows
your secret and is about to kill you. If you would save yourself, know that
only a fern root can destroy him!"
Glooskap snatched up the nearest fern, root and
all, and just in time: his evil brother was upon him, shouting his war cry. All
of the animals (who were angry at Glooskap for reducing their size and power)
cheered Malsum, but the Indians were afraid for their Master.
Glooskap braced his feet against a cliff, and
Malsum paused. For a moment, the two crouched face to face, waiting for the
moment to strike. Then the wolf-like Malsum lunged at Glooskap's head. Twisting
his body aside, the Great Chief flung his weapon. It went swift to its target,
and Malsum leapt back, but too late. The fern root pierced his envious heart,
and he died.
Now the Indians rejoiced, and the animals crept
sullenly away. Only Lox came to Glooskap, impudently.
"I'll have my reward now, Master," he
said, "a pair of wings, like the pigeon's."
"Faithless creature!" Glooskap
thundered, knowing full well who had betrayed him, "I made no such
bargain. Be gone!" And he hurled stone after stone at the fleeing Lox.
Where the stones fell (in Minas Basin) they turned into islands and are there
still. And the banished Lox roams the world to this day, appealing to the evil
in men's hearts and making trouble wherever he goes.
Now Glooskap called his people around him and
said, "I made the animals to be man's friends, but they have acted with
selfishness and treachery. Hereafter, they shall be your servants and provide
you with food and clothing."
Then he showed the men how to make bows and
arrows and stone tipped spears, and how to use them. He also showed the women
how to scrape hides and turn them into clothing.
"Now you have power over even the largest
wild creatures," he said. "Yet I charge you to use this power gently.
If you take more game than you need for food and clothing, or kill for the
pleasure of killing, then you will be visited by a pitiless giant named Famine,
and when he comes among men, they suffer hunger and die."
The people readily promised to obey Glooskap in
this, as in all things. But now, to their dismay, they saw Marten launch the
Master's canoe and Noogumee entering it with Glooskap's household goods.
Glooskap was leaving them!
"I must dwell now in a separate
place," said the Great Chief, "so that you, my people, will learn to
stand alone, and become brave and resourceful. Nevertheless, I shall never be
far from you, and whoever seeks me diligently in time of trouble will find
me."
Then, waving farewell to his sorrowful Wabanaki,
Glooskap set off for the mainland. Rounding the southern tip of what is now
Nova Scotia, the Great Chief paddled up the Bay of Fundy.
In the distance, where the Bay narrows and the
great tides of Fundy rush into Minas Basin, Glooskap saw a long purple headland
.It looked like a moose swimming, with clouds for antlers, and he headed his
canoe in that direction.
Landing, he gazed at the slope of red sandstone,
with its groves of green trees at the summit, and admired the amethysts
encircling its base like a string of purple beads.
"Here I shall build my lodge," said
Glooskap, and he named the place Blomidon.
Glooskap dwelt on Blomidon a very long time, and
during that time did many wonderful things for his People.
from Archives of BLUE PANTHER
