âtanôhkân wêskac, pêyak kishê-'iniw ê-itâtanôhkâsot okisisa âyâs kâ-ishinihkâson'ci - The legend of Ayas

Simeon Scott

In this story, there is an old man who doesn't treat his wife properly and his son, Ayas, disapproves. One day, the father tricks his son into coming with him and leaves him on a faraway island with no way to return home. A horned water creature comes to Ayas's rescue but is killed when Ayas doesn't warn him of the approaching storm. Feeling guilty, Ayas meets his grandmother who feeds him and gives him items for the long and dangerous journey back home: a sleeping-skin, a mink-skin, and a pointed stick. Ayas leaves his grandmother and travels into many wigwams on his way home, tricking and killing the people he meets with his grandmother's tools until finally finding his way home to his mother. He discovers, however, that his mother was living idly because his father had found another woman and had a child by her. Therefore, he instructs his mother to build a fire and throws the child into it to kill it, and when it is done, the father comes out and is outraged until he sees his lost son, Ayas, whom he treats very finely now. Ayas, on the other hand, fashions two arrows and kills his father and his second wife and makes them burn in such a way that the father becomes the "Ghost-smokes", and the wife becomes a stone defaced with mud and white moss. Ayas becomes the tamarack alongside the lagoon, used for snow-shoes.

StoryTeller Simeon Scott Community Kashechewan (Fort Albany)
Age/Level cycle 2 Language Swampy Cree (n dialect)
Year Recorded 1956-57 Year Last Edited 2009
Described by Marie-Odile Junker & Doug Ellis
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Teachings
Genre

ê-oshihâkaniwit môso-wayân - Tanning moose-hide

Sophie Gunner

Sophie Gunner describes the many long steps in the process of tanning moose-hide. She also points out the different steps taken by men and women.

StoryTeller Sophie Gunner Community Moose Factory
Age/Level cycle 2 Language Moose Cree (l dialect)
Year Recorded 1964 Year Last Edited 2010
Described by Marie-Odile Junker & Doug Ellis
Topics
Teachings
Genre

ê-oshihâkaniwit wâposh'-wayân - Making rabbit-skin blankets

Sophie Gunner

Sophie Gunner describes the process of making rabbit-skin blankets and the challenge in making large ones. She also talks about other clothes made of rabbit-skin.

StoryTeller Sophie Gunner Community Moose Factory
Age/Level cycle 2 Language Moose Cree (l dialect)
Year Recorded 1964 Year Last Edited 2010
Described by Marie-Odile Junker & Doug Ellis
Topics
Teachings Genre

ê-oshihtâniwahk ashkimaniyâpiy - Making babiche for snow-shoes

Sophie Gunner

Sophie Gunner recalls how she eventually took an interest in netting snow shoes and how her mother taught her all she knew.

StoryTeller Sophie Gunner Community Moose Factory
Age/Level preschool Language Moose Cree (l dialect)
Year Recorded 1964 Year Last Edited 2010
Described by Marie-Odile Junker & Doug Ellis
Topics
Teachings
Genre

ê-washkwayi-cîmânihkâniwahk - Making birch bark canoes

Willie Frenchman

Willie Frenchman explains the process of making a birch-bark canoe.

StoryTeller Willie Frenchman Community Moose Factory
Age/Level preschool Language Moose Cree (l dialect)
Year Recorded 1964 Year Last Edited 2010
Described by Doug Ellis
Topics
Teachings Genre

askiy kâ-âpacihtâniwahk ê-tahkopitâwasonâniwahk - The preparation of moss for babies' diapers

Sophie Gunner

Sophie Gunner describes the fetching of moss for babies' diapers and comments on parents who use cloth exclusively.

StoryTeller Sophie Gunner Community Moose Factory
Age/Level cycle 2 Language Moose Cree (l dialect)
Year Recorded 1964 Year Last Edited 2009
Described by Marie-Odile Junker & Doug Ellis
Topics
Teachings Genre