Origin of the Medicine Man
Passamaquoddy
The Medicine Man is Glooscap, the Good-Spirit.
Legend has it that the father of Glooscap is a being who lives
under a great waterfall beneath the earth. His face is half-red,
and he has a single all- seeing eye. He can give to anyone
coming to him the medicine he desires. Glooscap is still busy
sharpening his arrows off in a distant place, preparing sometime
to return toearth and make war.
Passamaquoddies tell all of their old stories as
truth. But of other stories, they speak of them as "what they
hear," or hearsay.
This is a legend of long, long ago about a
Passamaquoddy Indian woman who travelled constantly back and
forth and through the woods. From every bush she came to, she
bit off a twig, and from one of these she became pregnant.
Bigger and bigger she grew, until at last she could not travel,
but she built a wigwam near the mouth of a fresh-running stream.
In the night, the woman gave birth to a child.
She thought at first that she should kill the child. Finally,
she decided to make a bark canoe in which she placed her child.
She set it adrift and let it float down the stream. Though the
water was rough in places, the child was not harmed, or even
wet.
The canoe floated to an Indian village, where it
became stranded on the sandy shore near a group of wigwams. One
of the women found the baby and brought it to her home. Every
morning thereafter, it seemed that a baby of the village died.
The villagers did not know what was the matter with their
babies.
A neighbour noticed how the rescued child
toddled off to the river every night and returned shortly after.
She wondered if this could have anything to do with the death of
so many babies. Then she saw the child return to its wigwam with
a small tongue, roast it, and eat it. Then it lay down to sleep
all night.
On the next morning, a report circulated that
another child had died. Then the Indian woman was certain she
knew who the killer was. She alerted the parents of the dead
child and found that the child's tongue had been removed, and
the child had bled to death.
Tribal deliberations were held to decide what
should be done with the murderer. Some said, cut up the person
and throw him into the river. Others said, burn the fragments;
this they did after much consultation. They burned the fragments
of the wayward child, until nothing but its ashes remained.
Naturally, everyone understood the child was
dead. But that night it came back to camp again with a small
tongue, which it roasted and ate. The next morning another child
was found to have died in the night. The weird child was found
sleeping in its usual place, just as before its cremation. He
said to everyone that he would never kill any more children, and
that now he had become a big boy, in fact.
The big boy announced he would take one of his
bones out of his side. This he started to do, and all of his
bones spilled out of his body at the same time. He closed his
eyes by drawing his fingers over his eyelids, hiding his eyes.
He could not move without bones and he began to grow very fat.
He surprised the Passamaquoddies by becoming a
great Medicine Man. Anything they desired within reason, he
granted. Later, however, his tribe moved away from their old
camp. Before they left, they built a fine wigwam for the
Medicine Man. So accustomed had they become to call upon his
powers that they still returned to make their requests. His
tribal members asked him for medicine of all kinds. When he
granted their wishes, he asked them, "Turn me over and you will
find your medicine beneath me."
A young man came and wished to have the love of
a woman, so he asked for a love potion. The Medicine Man said,
"Turn me over." The young man turned over the conjurer and found
an herb. "You must not give this away or throw it away," said
the old man. The young Passamaquoddy went back to his own
wigwam.
Soon he was aware that all the young women
followed him in the camp, at all times. In fact, he longed to be
alone for a change. He did not like to be chased by the women.
At last when he became too troubled by the tribal women, he
returned to the Medicine Man and gave back the herbal love
portion. The young Passamaquoddy left without it.
Another young man went to the conjurer for help.
The Medicine Man asked, "What is it you want?" This man said, "I
want to live as long as the world shall stand."
"Your request is a hard one to consider, but I
will do my best to answer it," replied the Medicine Man. "Now
turn me over," and underneath his body was an herb. He said, "Go
to a place that is bare of everything, so bare it is destitute
of all vegetation, and just stand there." The Medicine Man
pointed out this direction for the young man.
The young man went according to the Medicine
Man's instructions, but looking back at the conjurer, the
standing man saw branches and twigs sprouting all over his own
body. He had been changed into a cedar tree, to stand there
forever--useless to everyone.
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