[Algonquiana] Legend

[David Costa]

Probably every Algonquian group had its little people legends — in Miami-Illinois, their word for little people is páyiihsa, which has cognates in Meskwaki and Potawatomi. They’re a kind of malevolent dwarf who live by rivers and terrorize travelers. They definitely have mouths, tho, since they speak normally. Jacob Dunn described them as a “small supernatural who is supposed to guide departed spirits to the ‘happy hunting ground’”. Albert Gatschet went into more detail and said of them, “walk on top of water. could be tracked on a rock. Live on the ground, in the air; there are only two of them and they are twins (tchikamwáki). They are ½ men, ½ bears, being the product mother human [sic], father a bear.” Gatschet also said “there are only two dwarfs, and they have many stories about them. Swim around in water, rivers, timber – are naked, and of the male sex only. They always stay together. Story how they came into existence. There was a woman whose husband was away for a whole day whenever he was hunting. She then went to a cave or hollow tree slanting up where a bear lived. From this union originated two babies, and these were the pá-issa or dwarfs.”

If you’re interested, the main Peoria story that was recorded about páyiihsaki is included in the “New Voices for Old Words” volume I edited for the University of Nebraska Press and which came out last year.

best,

Dave Costa 


> On Jun 3, 2016, at 6:36 AM, Bousquet Marie-Pierre <marie-pierre.bousquet at umontreal.ca> wrote:
> 
> Kwe kakina, hi everyone,
> 
> I am looking for documentation about specific little people. There are different kind of little people among the Algonquins: memegweshik, Anishinabeshishak, Nadoweshishak. I am looking for stories about little people who smell the food to get fed. They come during the night and you know they came because the food has no flavour. One of my informants told me they have no bums and apparently no mouth. I would like to know if someone has heard of that legend.
> 
> Kitci mikwetc, many thanks,
> ———————————
> Marie-Pierre Bousquet PhD
> Directrice du Programme en études autochtones<https://www.facebook.com/pea.udem>
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> Université de Montréal
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> marie-pierre.bousquet at umontreal.ca<mailto:marie-pierre.bousquet at umontreal.ca>
> www.graaq.ca<http://www.graaq.ca/>
> 
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