THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE (Quarterly: Editor, Franz Boas), issued by the American Folk-Lore Society, is designed for the collection and publication of the folk-lore and mythology of the American Continent. The subscription price is three dollars per annum. The American Folk-Lore Society was organized January 4, 1888. The Society holds annual meetings, at which reports are received and papers read. The yearly membership fee is three dollars. Members are entitled to receive the Journal of American Folk-Lore. Subscribers to the Journal, or other persons interested in the objects of the Society, are eligible to membership, and are requested to address the Permanent Secretary to that end. A limited number of copies of back volumes (vols. I-XXI, 1888-1903) are now available for sale, and may be obtained at the rate of $2.50 a volume by applying to the Secretary, A. M. Tozzer, Cambridge, Mass. Covers suitable for binding may be had of the publishers at the rate of 30 cents a volume. Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their papers. Owing to a Post-Office regulation it was necessary to count the double number of the Journal (April-September, 1908) as a single number, and to repeat in the last issue of 1908 No. LXXXII, which was printed on the cover of the double number. OFFICERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY (1900) President-John R. Swanton. First Vice-President- F. N. Robinson. Councillors-For three years, H. M. Belden, E. K. Putnam, George A. Dorsey. For two years, R. H. Lowie, P. E. Goddard, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall. For one year, F. A. Golder, H. M. Hurd. Past Presidents, G. L. Kittredge, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, A. L. Kroeber, Roland B. Dixon. Presidents of local branches, F. W. Putnam, R. B. Perry, Charles B. Wilson, Miss Mary A. Owen. Editor of Journal- Franz Boas, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Permanent Secretary- Alfred M. Tozzer, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Treasurer-Eliot W. Remick, 300 Marlborough Street, Boston, Mass. OFFICERS OF LOCAL AND STATE BRANCHES BOSTON. President, F. W. Putnam; First Vice-President, A. M. Tozzer; Second Vice-President, Fitz-Henry Smith; Secretary, Miss Helen Leah Reed; Treasurer, A. R. Tisdale. CAMBRIDGE.-President, R. B. Perry; Vice-President, Mrs. W. S. Scudder; Secretary, Miss Margaret Leavitt; Treasurer, M. L. Fernald. IOWA. President, Charles B. Wilson; Vice-President, George T. Flom; Secretary and Treasurer, Edward K. Putnam, MISSOURI.President, Miss Mary A. Owen; First Vice-President, H. C. Penn; Second Vice-President, C. W. Clarke; Secretary, H. M. Belden; Treasurer, Mrs. L. D. Ames; Director, W. S. Johnson. NORTH DAKOTA.-Secretary, George F. Will. TENNESSEE. Secretary, Henry M. Wiltse. Secretary, Charles Hill-Tout. MEXICO. Secretary, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall. NEW YORK. President, Robert H. Lowie; Vice-President, Joseph Jacobs; Secre tary, Leo J. Frachtenberg; Treasurer, Stansbury Hagar; Executive Committee, Franz Boas, Marshall H. Saville, E. W. Deming. COMUNIDGE, MADS THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE VOL. XXII.-JANUARY-MARCH, 1909. —No. LXXXIII THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ALGONKINS1 BY ROLAND B. DIXON IN attempting to make a comparative study of the myths of the various tribes belonging to the Central and Eastern Algonkins, a serious difficulty presents itself at the outset. This difficulty consists in the fact that the record is very incomplete, for our knowledge of the mythology of most of the tribes considered is far from being thorough, and the character of the information from different tribes is very varied. From some, as the Micmac, Abnaki, Ojibwa, and Fox, a considerable mass and variety of tales are known; but from others, as the Pottawatami, only a small amount of material is at hand, and that wholly relating to the culture-hero. In spite, however, of the inadequacy of the data available at present, results of some interest may be obtained by a careful comparison. Such a comparison may be made in various ways. We may, for example, consider the matter only from the numerical point of view, and determine the proportional number of incidents which the various tribes hold in common, each with each. We may add to this a consideration of the class or type of incident thus shared. Or we may make a special study of a group of incidents, such as those clustering about the culture-hero and his brother. Or, again, we may note the distribution within the. area involved, of certain particular incidents which have wide affiliations elsewhere. All of these methods lead to results which are of value. For purposes of convenience, the Algonkin tribes here discussed may be divided into four geographical groups, -a Western, comprising the western Cree, Saulteaux, Ojibwa, Menomini, Pottawatami, and Fox; a Central, made up of the Mississagua and Ottawa; an Eastern, including the Micmac, Abnaki, and Maliseet; and a Northeastern, including the Nenenot or Nascopi of Labrador and the Montagnais.❜ 1 Address of the retiring President, delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society in Baltimore, December 30, 1908. In this grouping, the term "Ojibwa" includes the portion of the tribe now and for many years resident in the United States, the myth material being mainly that Beginning with the mere numerical comparison, and taking the Western group first, it appears that their mythologies are closely related to one another, each tribe sharing with the other members of the group by far the majority of its myth incidents. The two most closely allied are the Saulteaux and Menomini, each having with the other a larger number of agreements than with any other single tribe. The Cree find their closest affiliation with the Ojibwa, and also have much in common with the Saulteaux-Menomini pair just spoken of. Although the Cree, Saulteaux, and Menomini do not show any very close analogy to the eastern Algonkins, the Ojibwa, on the contrary, does, having a larger number of correspondences with the Micmac than with any single tribe in its own or Western group. Next to this eastern affiliation, however, it shows its closest relations to the Cree and Menomini. The Fox has most in common with the Ojibwa and Menomini, but shows, like the Ojibwa, a notable number of incidents similar to those of the Micmac and Abnaki, in each case a larger number than with either the Cree or Saulteaux. With the tribes of the Central group, the affiliations of these Western tribes are strong, more noticeable with the Mississagua than with the Ottawa. With the Northeastern group, the only one to show any considerable similarity is the Cree. The relations of the members of the Western group to the HuronIroquois may next be considered. The Ojibwa, it will be remembered, were conspicuous in showing the closest approach to the Eastern Algonkins, and they are equally so in the number of agreements which they show with the Iroquoian tribes, showing a somewhat greater degree of similarity with the Iroquois proper than with the Wyandot-Huron. The Fox come next in the number of Iroquoian affiliations, while the Pottawatami present the curious situation of having more in common with the Iroquoian peoples than with the Algonkins taken all together. This seeming anomaly is due, probably, to the fact that the Pottawatami material known to me relates only to the culture-hero. The Central group comprises the Mississagua and Ottawa, and shows, as a whole, strong affiliations with the Western group. Curiously, the Mississagua and Ottawa show less agreement with each other than each does with the Western tribes. Little similarity seems to exist with the Eastern group; the Ottawa, however, having a greater agreement in this case than the Mississagua, although the latter is most closely related to the Ojibwa, whose closest affiliation was with the Micmac. The Cenobtained by Schoolcraft. This is separated - perhaps with but little justification from the Saulteaux, who, while a portion of the same tribe, are the Canadian branch living on reservations to the northeast of Lake Winnipeg. The Mississagua, although again a sub-tribe of the Ojibwa, are treated separately, as they occupied the region east of the Sault, and seem to present enough differences from the other portions of the tribe to warrant individual attention. 3 2 tral group shows nothing in common with the Northeastern. With Iroquoian tribes, the Ottawa presents most incidents in common, and, as might be expected, with the Huron rather than with the Iroquois. The members of the Eastern group — comprising the Micmac, Abnaki, and Maleseet - show a strong agreement among themselves, as might be expected, the Maleseet agreeing rather more closely with the Abnaki than with the Micmac. With the Central group there is little in common, and Micmac and Abnaki do not differ much in the degree of their similarity to the two Central tribes. With the Western group the affiliation is much stronger, and lies almost wholly with the Ojibwa, Menomini, and Fox. There is, moreover, a great difference in respect to this agreement as between the Micmac and Abnaki, the former showing twice as many incidents in common with the Western tribes as the latter. With the Northeastern group no considerable similarities have been noted. The Iroquoian agreements which the tribes of the Eastern group show are, on the whole, somewhat stronger with the Iroquois than with the Wyandot-Huron, and the Micmac has slightly more such common incidents than the Abnaki, as many indeed as it has with the Fox or Menomini of the Western group. The material from the Northeastern tribes is almost wholly from the Nenenot or Nascopi, and this shows a predominant similarity with the Cree and Western group. In considering the affiliations of the various tribes and groups thus far, account has been taken merely of the relationship as shown by the total number of incidents held in common. These incidents are, however, of two classes, - those relating to the culture-hero and having a place in the cycle of tales which cluster about him; and, on the other hand, all other incidents. From the previous merely numerical comparisons, it appeared that the Cree, Saulteaux, Ojibwa, Menomini, and Fox formed a well-marked group, having each with the others a majority of elements in common. Examining now the classes of incidents represented, it appears that primary importance must be given to those incidents relating to the culture-hero, the number of these found in common being larger than those of the other class. In some cases, indeed, they are the only features which show similarity, as for instance between the Cree and Saulteaux, or the Saulteaux and Fox. The results of a study of these incidents may be best discussed by considering each of the various tribes briefly in its relations to the others within and without the group. The Cree thus exhibits a closer agreement in the culture-hero elements with the Saulteaux and Menomini than with the Ojibwa, agreeing least of all in this respect with the Fox. Outside the culture-hero incidents, however, the position is nearly reversed, for with the Ojibwa it shows fourteen common incidents, whereas with the Menomini it has but three, and with the Saulteaux none. With the Fox it shows the same degree of similarity as with the Menomini. Thus Cree resembles the Saulteaux-Menomini most in its culture-hero myths, the Ojibwa most in all others. The Saulteaux shows a close agreement with the Menomini in both culture-hero and other elements, and has the same non-culture-hero incidents in common with it as with the Cree and Ojibwa. With the Fox the only points of contact are those relating to the culture-hero. The Ojibwa has, as just stated, beside the culture-hero incidents, a large number of others in common with the Cree. Its relation to Menomini is similar; but whereas the culture-hero incidents common to Ojibwa and Cree, and Ojibwa and Menomini are for the most part the same, the non-culture-hero elements are almost entirely different in the two cases. With the Fox, there are more non-culture-hero agreements than in those relating to the culturehero, and a considerable number are again different from those in common either with the Cree or the Menomini. In regard to the Menomini, it is only necessary to point out that in so far as the non-culture-hero incidents are concerned, it shows one set with the Cree-SaulteauxOjibwa, but has a wholly different set in common with the Fox. The Fox, lastly, has only culture-hero incidents in common with the Saulteaux, while the non-culture-hero elements it has in common with the Cree-Ojibwa are almost wholly different from those with the Menomini. In their affiliations with the other Algonkin tribes, a number of points may be noted. Cree shows no resemblance to the Ottawa outside the culture-hero class, although with Mississagua it has several such similarities. With the Eastern group it has few not relating to the culture-hero, and a similar condition is found relative to the Northeastern tribes. Saulteaux shows no agreements with the Central group outside the culture-hero class, and with the Eastern group but a single incident. The Ojibwa shows agreement with the Central group in both classes; but it may be noted, that, with one exception, the non-culture-hero elements held in common are different in the case of the Ottawa from that of the Mississagua. It will be remembered that the Ojibwa showed, on merely numerical grounds, very strong resemblances to the Micmac. It appears that these agreements lie almost wholly in the incidents having nothing to do with the culture-hero cycle, and that but few of the latter are found alike in the two tribes. About half of the incidents common to Ojibwa and Micmac appear to be typical Eastern incidents, and do not occur among any other Western tribe. The remainder are found also among either the Central group or the Iroquois, or, in two cases, in one other Western tribe. The Ojibwa similarity to the Eastern group lies thus almost wholly outside the culture-hero class, and to a large extent the common incidents are found among the Western tribes only in the Ojibwa. The Fox is in a somewhat similar position, in that |