Although it had not yet seen her through the thick branches of the trees, she knew that it was already following her scent. Soon it would fly down below the branches and follow her trail. She knew she would not be able to outrun it, and she feared for her life and the life of her baby. But she still was able to think fast. If the Flying Head was coming down for her, she would escape by going up. With her baby on her back, the woman quickly ran to a big pine tree. She leaped up to grab a branch above her head, pulled herself and her baby up into the tree, and began to climb.
No sooner had she reached a high branch than the Flying Head came into view below. Flying along close to the ground, it sniffed madly through the leaves of the forest floor. Doing her best to be quiet, the woman watched from above as the Flying Head got closer and closer. Soon it was directly below her. Its face to the ground, the Flying Head quickly worked its way around the base of the tree. Her scent ended at the bottom of the tree, and the Flying Head was now confused. It never thought of looking up. It seemed as if it might give up and go in pursuit of easier prey.
But just as the Flying Head was about to move on, the woman's small child reached out for a pine cone on a nearby branch, pulling it loose. The cone, though, was too big for the child's tiny hand. It fell down, hitting several tree limbs on the way down, and struck the monster right on top of its head. The Flying Head immediately looked up. When it spotted the woman and her child, the monster let out an ear-piercing scream.
"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! !"
Like an arrow from a bow, the Flying Head shot up toward the woman. The woman thought they were about to be devoured. But in its fury, the head flew so fast that Bam! it smashed into a giant tree limb, knocking itself unconscious.
As the monster fell to the ground below with a great thump, the woman quickly climbed down the tree and ran toward her lodge as fast as she could, her baby still strapped to her back But the woman knew it wouldn't be long before the Flying Head was back on her trail.
Sure enough, all too soon, she heard its cry once again.
"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! !"
Hearing its screams and the sound of breaking branches and rustling leaves grow closer and closer, the woman looked around. There was only one thing she could try now. She turned off the trail and entered a patch of thick brush and briars.
"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! !"
The Flying Head screamed as it saw the woman picking her way through the brambles. Picking up speed, it crashed into the thick brush —only to find its hair completely tangled in the maze of branches and prickly briars. As it struggled to free itself, the Flying Head's hair became more and more tangled. Seeing this, the woman turned and ran as fast as she could toward her lodge. Totally exhausted, she finally reached the place in the forest where their longhouse stood in a small clearing.
"Wu?" she called.
But no one answered. She looked inside. Her husband had not yet returned from hunting. She looked back toward the forest. Seeing nothing following her, she breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Flying Head was no longer after her.
Entering her lodge, the woman put her baby down beside the fire. Then she sat for a time with her eyes closed, catching her breath. They were alive. They had escaped the monster.
As her breath slowed and she became calm, she realized how hungry she was. Having dropped the berries in the forest, she looked around the lodge for something that she and her baby could eat. Since her husband had not yet returned from hunting, all that she could find was a handful of chestnuts. Sitting down in the center of her lodge, she took a stick and stirred the still-burning coals of her fire. Dropping the handful of chestnuts among the coals, she watched them carefully.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, the Flying Head had freed itself and was back on the woman's trail. It followed her scent through the forest until it reached the small clearing where her lodge stood. Then the hungry monster flew up onto the roof and looked down into the lodge through the smoke hole.
Unaware of the danger above her, the woman gently reached in among the coals. She pulled out one of the now roasted chestnuts, which looked like a blackened glowing coal. Breaking it open, she put it into her mouth.
Looking down from the smoke hole above, the Flying Head was astonished.
"What is this?" it thought. "Fire is good to eat? I must try some!"
Swooping down through the smoke hole, the Flying Head knocked the woman aside. It scooped up all of the glowing coals in its huge paws and greedily gulped them down.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHWEEEEEEEEEE! !!!!!!" It screamed as the hot coals burned the inside of its mouth.
With gusts of smoke flowing from its mouth, the Flying Head shot up and out of the smoke hole. Away it flew, never to be seen again. So it was that the Flying Head was defeated by its own greed.
THE FLYING HEAD (SENECA)
The Flying Head is a monster sometimes equated with the whirlwind or the tornado. Telling of such creatures, "somewhere out there in the forest/' was one way to keep children relatively close to home. Like all monsters, this one has a weakness — its insatiable appetite. The Flying Head, or Dagwaynonyent, as it is called in Seneca, is also often described as not being very bright. The brave woman of this story escapes because of her own determination and the monster's greed.
Sources:
Iroquois Folk Lore, by William M. Beauchamp (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1965; reissue of 1922 edition).
Legends of the Longhoude, by Jesse J. Cornplanter (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1938).
Seneca Myths and Folk Tales, by Arthur C. Parker (Buffalo, N.Y.: Buffalo Historical Society, 1923).
UGLY
FACE
On a cold and windy night during the winter moon, almost everyone in the Mohawk village of Kahnesatake was asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Blue Sky and his mother, Looking Far. Since his father had left for a hunting trip three days before, Blue Sky had disobeyed his mother more and more. On the first day, shortly after his father had left, Blue Sky had refused to help his mother with the firewood. On the second day, Blue Sky and several of his friends had journeyed far from the village without Looking Far's permission, returning well past dark. Now it was very late on the third night, and Blue Sky refused to go to sleep.
"My son, for the last time, will you please come to bed?" Looking Far said, trying not to wake the others in the longhouse.
"I'm old enough to stay up as late as I want," Blue Sky responded from the place where he sat by the fire pit in the middle of the longhouse.
"Why have you continued to disobey me?" Looking Far asked in an angry voice.
His back toward his mother, Blue Sky did not even answer her.
"My son, if you continue to act this way I will have to tell Ugly Face," Blue Sky's mother said, now very angry. Outside, the wind began to blow even harder.
Dropping his stick into the fire, Blue Sky slowly turned the side of his face toward his mother.
"Who is this Ugly Face?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Ugly Face is a monster so terrible that anyone who sees his face never lives to tell anyone about it."
As Looking Far spoke, a sudden gust of wind slipped threw the cracks in the elm bark shingles. Chilling Blue Sky's bare back, the wind caused the fire to dance madly.
"I don't believe it," Blue Sky responded as he reached for his bearskin robe. "Who told you about this monster?"
"My mother told me once when I was really bad. Ugly Face comes closer whenever children disobey their parents."
"That story doesn't scare me." Blue Sky turned away and placed another piece of wood on the fire.
"I'm warning you. If you don't listen to me and come to bed, I swear I will tell Ugly Face," Looking Far persisted.
"You are the one with the ugly face," Blue Sky said. Then he laughed.
Looking Far got up from the bedrack, wrapped a long fur around her body, and walked to the eastern door of the longhouse.
'Ugly Face! There is a ve
ry bad child in this longhouse. His name is Blue Sky!" she shouted out into the night.
Blue Sky paid no attention. Instead, he picked up another long stick and began poking at the fire once again. As his mother walked by, Blue Sky hit her on the back of her leg with the stick.
"Stop bothering me. Go back to bed," he said in a defiant voice.
Looking Far's face became dark with anger. She walked once again toward the long-house door. She took a deep breath, thrust the doorskin aside, and leaned out.
"Ugly Face! This is Looking Far. I am Blue Sky's mother! He is getting ready for you to come and take him away from here forever!" she yelled.
A freezing wind suddenly blew snow through the open door.
"Be quiet, Mother," Blue Sky said, without even looking around. "There is no such being as Ugly Face. You are not frightening me."
Walking up behind him, Looking Far quickly grabbed hold of Blue Sky's arm and lifted him to his feet. By now, several people in the longhouse had been awakened by all the commotion.
"Let go of me!" Blue Sky yelled.
Looking Far paid no attention. Still holding onto his arm, she walked toward the eastern door of the longhouse for the third time. Dragging his feet, kicking and striking at his mother with his free hand, Blue Sky struggled the whole way. Lifting up the thick skin covering the door, his mother pushed him out of the lodge. Off balance, Blue Sky stumbled forward, falling into a huge snowbank.
"Ugly Face! Come and get him!" she called, the cold air stinging her face. Turning around, she walked back into the lodge, the heavy doorskin falling closed behind her.
"What is wrong, my sister?" one of Blue Sky's uncles asked as she walked back toward her bedrack.
"It is Blue Sky. He just won't listen to me," Looking Far responded with tears in her eyes.
"If being thrown out into the snow didn't work, I could talk with him when he comes back in," said his uncle.
"That would be good. Thank you."
Blue Sky's mother looked toward the door. Surely he would come back into the lodge soon. She went over and placed some more wood on the fire while keeping her eyes on the door. There was still no sign of her disobedient son.
Looking Far walked back over to the door of the longhouse and looked out into the darkness. The wind was no longer blowing. All was very quiet. The moonlight that shone down onto the snow showed where Blue Sky's footprints led to the snowbank and ended. No tracks led back to the door. There were no other tracks to be seen.
"Blue Sky, where are you?" she cried into the night. But there was no response.
Blue Sky was never seen again.
UGLY FACE (MOHAWK)
Ugly Face, who is called Akon:wara' in Mohawk, is a monster so terrible that no one who sees him ever lives to describe him. Disobedient Mohawk children are still sometimes threatened with Ugly Face. A contemporary telling of this story exists in Mohawk in which the little boy has been spoiled by watching too much television and no longer believes in traditional stories. He defies his grandmother when she threatens him with this monster. The results are just the same as in our telling, set in a longhouse of long ago.
Sources:
Unpublished oral tradition: told by Chief Phil Tarbell of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation.
Published version in bilingual Mohawk/English by Mae Montour inKanien'Keha' Okara' shon:'A (Mohawk Stories), Bull. 427, New York State Museum, Albany, N.Y., 1976.
THE
CHENOO
Long ago, during the Moon of Falling Leaves, a woman and her two brothers traveled to the north to set up a hunting camp. Hoping to bring back enough furs and meat for the winter, they went far away from their village, much farther than anyone had gone in a long time.
During the first two days after making camp the hunting was very good. Each day the two brothers would go hunting. The sister, whose name was Nolka, would stay behind to tend their camp and prepare any game caught the day before. On the third day, however, while out hunting, the brothers came across a very large set of footprints. Those footprints were over two feet long and ten feet apart. Kneeling down, Awasos, the older of the two brothers, carefully inspected each track.
"Great-grandfather told me of a creature that makes tracks like this. It is called a Chenoo." Awasos lifted his head to scan the forest around them.
"Yes, I remember," answered Kasko, Awasos's younger brother. "He said they were giant cannibals with sharp teeth and hearts made of ice. Consuming the spirit of a human being makes them stronger."
Looking closer at the tracks, the two men realized the huge footprints were headed in the direction of their camp.
"We must return and check on our sister," said Awasos. Both men began to run back toward camp.
Meanwhile, back at camp, unaware of any danger, Nolka was busy cleaning an elk hide. Several yards away, in a large fire pit, a pile of rocks was being heated up for her brothers' evening sweat lodge.
Having finished the hide, Nolka slowly stood up to add more wood to the fire. As she did so, she heard a sudden sound of breaking branches. She turned and looked up. There stood a huge Chenoo. Its large gray body was covered with pine pitch and leaves, and it wore a necklace of human skulls. Its legs and arms were as thick as tree stumps. Its open mouth revealed a sharp set of teeth, and its eyes were darker than a starless night. The Chenoo raised its arms, preparing to grasp Nolka in its long, bony fingers.
Knowing there was nowhere to hide, Nolka thought quickly.
"Grandfather!" she said with a smile. "Where have you been?"
"GRANDFATHER?" the Chenoo growled. It stopped in its tracks and looked confused. No human being had ever dared to speak to it this way before.
"Yes, Grandfather. I have been waiting here all day for you. Don't you even remember me?" Nolka said. There was a long pause. Nolka did her best to appear calm.
"GRANDDAUGHTER?!" roared the Chenoo. " I HAVE A GRANDDAUGHTER? ! "
"Yes, of course you do. I have been preparing this sweat lodge for you all day," Nolka said, motioning toward the large pile of rocks glowing in the fire. She hoped to delay the Chenoo from trying to eat her until her brothers returned from hunting. So far the plan was working.
"Grandfather, please come into the lodge," she said, lifting up the door flap.
"THANK YOU, GRANDDAUGHTER," the Chenoo rumbled as it walked over to the sweat lodge and bent down. Crawling in on its hands and knees, the giant squeezed through the door. Sitting down, his legs around the fire pit, the Chenoo filled the entire lodge.
Walking over to the fire, Nolka picked up a large forked stick and carried one hot rock after another and began placing them in the center of the lodge. She was just pulling another rock out of the fire when she heard someone coming.
"Sister, what are you doing?" called Awasos as he and Kasko, both completely out of breath, came running into the clearing.
"We saw huge tracks headed toward our camp," Kasko said. "We were afraid that you — "
Nolka held up a hand to her mouth, and her brothers stopped talking. She looked over toward the lodge.
"Our grandfather has finally arrived!" Nolka said. "Come and greet him." Then she picked up another glowing rock. As she walked over to the lodge, her brothers, totally confused, followed her.
"Grandfather, your grandsons have returned to greet you," said Nolka to the Chenoo, through the door of the lodge.
"GRANDSONS? I HAVE GRANDSONS?" roared the Chenoo. Looking into the lodge, Awasos and Kasko could not believe it. There sat the very same monster whose tracks they had seen headed toward camp.
"HELLO, MY GRANDSONS!" the Chenoo rumbled.
"Oh, ah, yes. Hello, grandfather . . . it is good to see you," Kasko said, after being nudged in the ribs by Nolka.
" THIS LODGE FEELS GOOD. BRING ME MORE ROCKS!"
"Yes, Grandfather," Kasko said.
The two men and their sister piled one glowing rock after another in the center of the lodge. Then, after placing a large birch-bark bucket full of water just inside
the door of the lodge, they closed the flap. Moments later, a loud hissing sound came from inside the lodge as the Chenoo began to pour water on the rocks.
"Now is our chance to make a run for it," Nolka whispered to her brothers. The three of them began to quietly sneak out of camp. But they had not moved quickly enough.
" MORE ROCKS! BRING ME MORE ROCKS! OPEN THE DOOR!" roared the Chenoo.
Nolka ran over and swung open the flap of the lodge. Awasos and Kasko proceeded to bring in four more loads of rocks. Then, after the fourth load, the flap to the lodge was again closed. As soon as the door was closed, the sound of hissing steam came again from within the lodge. And just as before, just when they began to sneak away, the Chenoo shouted for them again.
" OPEN THE DOOR. MORE ROCKS, MORE WATER!"
"Yes, Grandfather. We are coming!"
Quickly Awasos and Kasko brought more rocks as Nolka ran to a nearby stream to refill the birch-bark bucket. When they opened the door to the lodge, huge gusts of steam flowed out so thickly that the only thing in the lodge they could see was the Chenoo's huge arm as it reached out to grab the freshly filled bucket of water.
Closing the flap again, all three siblings agreed it was no use trying to run. The Chenoo would only call for them again. And sure enough, it did.
" OPEN THE DOOR. MORE ROCKS. MORE WATER."
This time, they brought in every rock from the fire, even the rocks from the fire circle. They hoped the heat would be so great that the Chenoo would pass out. Standing by the lodge, they listened closely. But, to their surprise, as the hissing sound of the water hitting the rocks got louder and louder, the Chenoo began to sing.
When the Chenoo Howls Page 2