Thursday, February 28, 2019

Reading Notes - Blackfoot: The Wolf Man, Extra Credit

 
·      ­A man had two wives and took care of them, fed them, etc.
o   The two wives were not good at taking care of their home
·      The man decided to move his home away from the main camp in order to teach his wives how to improve 
·      He would sit at the top of a butte on a buffalo skull to observe the buffalo and check for enemies
·      The women were not happy with their isolation and so they decided to kill their husband so that they could return to the main camp
·      They dug a hole where he usually sits and attempted to hide it
·      The man went to sit on the skull, which was placed on the sticks covering the hole, and he fell through
o   The man did not die, but he was hurt and thought he was going to die of hunger
·      The women returned to the big came and told everyone that their husband was dead
·       A wolf passes by and spots the man in the hole
o   The wolf then calls to other wolves and coyotes, badgers, and kit-foxes
·      The wolf decides that they would dig him out and make him their brother and that he would live with the big wolves
·      The wolves took the man to an old blind wolf who had amazing power
o   He gave the man hands that look like those of a wolf
·      People would usually make holes in the buffalo enclosure and set traps at the holes so that any predators that would crawl in would be killed and then skinned
·      When all of the wolves went to enter the enclosure, the wolf man said that he would spring all the traps so that they could enter safely
·      It worked and they kept repeating the process, until one day they entered and only found a skinny, sick bull
·      The wolf man cried out upon seeing the bull and exclaimed that they gave them bad food
·      The people decided to leave a nice piece of meat out, which attracted the wolf man
o   they surrounded the wolf man and discovered his identity
·      It is then that the truth is discovered, and the women are given to the punishing society
o   The women were never seen again


Grey Wolf. Source: Wikipedia.

Bibliography: This story is part of the Blackfoot unit and can be found here. Story source: Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

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