Potawatomi Legends

Once Raccoon was walking along the bank of a stream looking for something to eat. He was very hungry, but he found nothing.

One time that well known brave, Snapping Turtle, became angry. All the people wondered why he acted so strangely. “Snapping Turtle is very cranky,” said the other turtles, “Something must be in the air.”

Once two Indian boys lived with their grandmother in a wigwam. One day the boys went hunting to get some meat for their grandmother. While they were gone, a stranger came and asked for them and waited for their return.

Long ago, when the Potawatomi still lived on the ocean in the east and close to their grandfathers, the Delaware, a old man had a dream that something extraordinary would grow in his garden which was in a clearing he had made nearby.

There once was a Potawatomi man who had a large family. One of his sons, Waoniska, was old enough to fast but had not yet done so. He said to the boy, “Why don’t you fast?”

Once there was a poor orphan who was not well brought up. He was respected by no one and never got invited to feasts or ceremonies. Despite this, he managed to get married and went hunting by himself on foot or with his canoe.

There were once six men who spent a lot of time together. They agreed that they all wanted to go and visit the Sun, so they had a feast and called the tribe together and told them of their plan.

After man was created, he was lonely, so the Creator gave him a sister to keep him company. The man dreamed that five spirits would visit his sister and want to marry her.

There is a place that is far, far away and it is nowhere near earth and it is so far away that nobody can travel there from earth. This place is kind of like the North Pole because it is always winter time. There is a man that lives on this land and his name is Wisaka. Wisaka used to live on earth with his younger brother.

Earthmaker made the world with trees and fields, with rivers, lakes, and springs, and with hills and valleys. It was beautiful. However, there weren’t any humans, and so one day he decided to make some.