Download the full version of the ebook at ebookname.

com

Complex Network Analysis in Python Recognize

Construct Visualize Analyze Interpret 1st Edition
Dmitry Zinoviev

https://ebookname.com/product/complex-network-analysis-in-
python-recognize-construct-visualize-analyze-interpret-1st-
edition-dmitry-zinoviev/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookname.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Data Science Essentials in Python Collect Organize Explore

Predict Value 1st Edition Dmitry Zinoviev

https://ebookname.com/product/data-science-essentials-in-python-
collect-organize-explore-predict-value-1st-edition-dmitry-zinoviev/

ebookname.com

Instant data intensive apps with pandas how to manipulate

visualize and analyze your data with pandas Hauck

https://ebookname.com/product/instant-data-intensive-apps-with-pandas-
how-to-manipulate-visualize-and-analyze-your-data-with-pandas-hauck/

ebookname.com

Programming Skills for Data Science Start Writing Code to

Wrangle Analyze and Visualize Data with R 1st Edition
Michael Freeman
https://ebookname.com/product/programming-skills-for-data-science-
start-writing-code-to-wrangle-analyze-and-visualize-data-with-r-1st-
edition-michael-freeman/
ebookname.com

DirectX 8 and Visual Basic Development Keith Sink

https://ebookname.com/product/directx-8-and-visual-basic-development-
keith-sink/

ebookname.com
The Myth of American Diplomacy National Identity and U S
Foreign Policy Walter L. Hixson

https://ebookname.com/product/the-myth-of-american-diplomacy-national-
identity-and-u-s-foreign-policy-walter-l-hixson/

ebookname.com

Immigration Dialectic Imagining Community Economy and

Nation 1st Edition Harald Bauder

https://ebookname.com/product/immigration-dialectic-imagining-
community-economy-and-nation-1st-edition-harald-bauder/

ebookname.com

The Correspondence of Christian Gottfried Krause A Music

Lover in the Age of Sensibility 1st Edition Darrell M.
Berg
https://ebookname.com/product/the-correspondence-of-christian-
gottfried-krause-a-music-lover-in-the-age-of-sensibility-1st-edition-
darrell-m-berg/
ebookname.com

Pompeii in the public imagination from its rediscovery to

today 1st Edition Shelley Hales

https://ebookname.com/product/pompeii-in-the-public-imagination-from-
its-rediscovery-to-today-1st-edition-shelley-hales/

ebookname.com

From Mutual Observation to Propaganda War Premodern

Revolts in Their Transnational Representations 1. Aufl.
Edition Malte Griesse (Editor)
https://ebookname.com/product/from-mutual-observation-to-propaganda-
war-premodern-revolts-in-their-transnational-representations-1-aufl-
edition-malte-griesse-editor/
ebookname.com
Gender The Key Concepts 1st Edition Mary Evans

https://ebookname.com/product/gender-the-key-concepts-1st-edition-
mary-evans/

ebookname.com
 Early Praise for Complex Network Analysis in Python

This book is an excellent read for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals
of complex network analysis with a focus on application. The case studies cover
a variety of topics and help readers link concepts to applications, providing readers
with a clear, well-structured, hands-on experience that deepens their understand-
ing of the concepts without requiring Python programming experience.
➤ Kate Li, PhD
Associate Professor, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University

As a social scientist interested in network analysis but having limited knowledge

of Python, I found the book very useful. The author explains technical problems
in a way that is easy to understand for non–computer scientists. It is a great in-
troduction for those interested in network analysis seeking to apply the method
in their research.
➤ Weiqi Zhang
Associate Professor of Government, Suffolk University

Complex Network Analysis in Python is a thorough introduction to the tools and

techniques needed for complex network analysis. Real-world case studies
demonstrate how one can easily use powerful Python packages to analyze large
networks and derive meaningful analytic insights.
➤ Mike Lin
Senior Software Engineer, Fugue, Inc.
Having a deep understanding of complex network analysis is hard; however, this
book will help you learn the basics to start mastering the skills you need to analyze
complex networks, not only at a conceptual level, but also at a practical level, by
putting the theory into action using the Python programming language.
➤ Jose Arturo Mora
Head of Information Technology and Innovation, BNN Mexico

Complex networks have diverse applications in various fields, including health

care, social networks, and machine learning. I found this book to be an excellent
and comprehensive resource guide for researchers, students, and professionals
interested in applying complex networks.
➤ Rajesh Kumar Pandey
Graduate Student, IIT Hyderabad
 Complex Network Analysis in Python
Recognize → Construct → Visualize → Analyze → Interpret

Dmitry Zinoviev

The Pragmatic Bookshelf

Raleigh, North Carolina
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products
are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and The Pragmatic
Programmers, LLC was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in
initial capital letters or in all capitals. The Pragmatic Starter Kit, The Pragmatic Programmer,
Pragmatic Programming, Pragmatic Bookshelf, PragProg and the linking g device are trade-
marks of The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.
Every precaution was taken in the preparation of this book. However, the publisher assumes
no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages that may result from the use of
information (including program listings) contained herein.
Our Pragmatic books, screencasts, and audio books can help you and your team create
better software and have more fun. Visit us at https://pragprog.com.

The team that produced this book includes:

Publisher: Andy Hunt
VP of Operations: Janet Furlow
Managing Editor: Brian MacDonald
Supervising Editor: Jacquelyn Carter
Development Editor: Adaobi Obi Tulton
Copy Editor: Nicole Abramowitz
Indexing: Potomac Indexing, LLC
Layout: Gilson Graphics

For sales, volume licensing, and support, please contact support@pragprog.com.

For international rights, please contact rights@pragprog.com.

Copyright © 2018 The Pragmatic Programmers, LLC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior consent of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN-13: 978-1-68050-269-5
Encoded using the finest acid-free high-entropy binary digits.
Book version: P1.0—January 2018
 To my beautiful and most intelligent wife,
Anna, and to our children: graceful ballerina,
Eugenia, and romantic gamer, Roman.
 Contents

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

1. The Art of Seeing Networks . . . . . . . . . 1

Know Thy Networks 2
Enter Complex Network Analysis 5
Draw Your First Network with Paper and Pencil 6

Part I — Elementary Networks and Tools

2. Surveying the Tools of the Craft . . . . . . . . 11
Do Not Weave Your Own Networks 11
Glance at iGraph 12
Appreciate the Power of graph-tool 13
Accept NetworkX 15
Keep in Mind NetworKit 15
Compare the Toolkits 16

3. Introducing NetworkX . . . . . . . . . . 17
Construct a Simple Network with NetworkX 17
Add Attributes 23
Visualize a Network with Matplotlib 25
Share and Preserve Networks 29

4. Introducing Gephi . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Worth 1,000 Words 31
Import and Modify a Simple Network with Gephi 32
Explore the Network 34
Sketch the Network 36
 Contents • viii

Prepare a Presentation-Quality Image 38

Combine Gephi and NetworkX 40

5. Case Study: Constructing a Network of Wikipedia Pages . . 41

Get the Data, Build the Network 42
Eliminate Duplicates 45
Truncate the Network 46
Explore the Network 47

Part II — Networks Based on Explicit Relationships

6. Understanding Social Networks . . . . . . . . 53
Understand Egocentric and Sociocentric Networks 53
Recognize Communication Networks 61
Appreciate Synthetic Networks 63
Distinguish Strong and Weak Ties 66

7. Mastering Advanced Network Construction . . . . . 69

Create Networks from Adjacency and Incidence Matrices 69
Work with Edge Lists and Node Dictionaries 76
Generate Synthetic Networks 78
Slice Weighted Networks 79

8. Measuring Networks . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Start with Global Measures 83
Explore Neighborhoods 84
Think in Terms of Paths 88
Choose the Right Centralities 92
Estimate Network Uniformity Through Assortativity 97

9. Case Study: Panama Papers . . . . . . . . 101

Create a Network of Entities and Officers 101
Draw the Network 104
Analyze the Network 105
Build a “Panama” Network with Pandas 108

Part III — Networks Based on Co-Occurrences

10. Constructing Semantic and Product Networks . . . . 115
Semantic Networks 116
Product Networks 120
 Contents • ix

11. Unearthing the Network Structure . . . . . . . 125

Locate Isolates 125
Split Networks into Connected Components 126
Separate Cores, Shells, Coronas, and Crusts 129
Extract Cliques 131
Recognize Clique Communities 134
Outline Modularity-Based Communities 136
Perform Blockmodeling 138
Name Extracted Blocks 139

12. Case Study: Performing Cultural Domain Analysis . . . 141

Get the Terms 142
Build the Term Network 146
Slice the Network 147
Extract and Name Term Communities 148
Interpret the Results 150

13. Case Study: Going from Products to Projects . . . . 153

Read Data 153
Analyze the Networks 155
Name the Components 157

Part IV — Unleashing Similarity

14. Similarity-Based Networks . . . . . . . . . 163
Understand Similarity 163
Choose the Right Distance 167

15. Harnessing Bipartite Networks . . . . . . . . 175

Work with Bipartite Networks Directly 176
Project Bipartite Networks 178
Compute Generalized Similarity 181

16. Case Study: Building a Network of Trauma Types . . . 185

Embark on Psychological Trauma 185
Read the Data, Build a Bipartite Network 186
Build Four Weighted Networks 188
Plot and Compare the Networks 191
 Contents •x

Part V — When Order Makes a Difference

17. Directed Networks . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Discover Asymmetric Relationships 197
Explore Directed Networks 199
Apply Topological Sort to Directed Acyclic Graphs 203
Master “toposort” 204

A1. Network Construction, Five Ways . . . . . . . 209

Pure Python 209
iGraph 210
graph-tool 211
NetworkX 212
NetworKit 212

A2. NetworkX 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
 Acknowledgments
This book would not be possible without my editor, Adaobi Obi Tulton. She had
the courage to learn the dark inner secrets of complex network analysis and
guided me through the minefields of manuscript preparation, from the fuzzy
ideas at the onset to this very book in flesh and blood. Thank you, Adaobi.

I am grateful to my reviewers (in alphabetical order): Cody Buntain (University

of Maryland), Remy Cazabet (Lyon University), Mark Chu-Carroll (Imagen
Technologies), Raphaël Fournier-S’niehotta (CÉDRIC), Michael Lin (Fugue
Inc.), Jason Montojo (University of Toronto), Jose Arturo Mora (EY, BNN
Mexico), Prasham Ojha (University of Koblenz-Landau), Talha Oz (George
Mason University), and Rajesh Kumar Pandey (Gade Autonomous Systems).
Your reviews were indispensable. They profoundly affected the book’s style,
structure, and usability. Thank you, my reviewers.

My wife, Anna; my children, Eugenia and Roman; and my friends and col-
leagues from Suffolk University provided much-needed emotional support.
Writing a book is a quest. It feels good to be well supported. Thank you, my
supporters.

Last but not least, the early readers of the beta book provided the errata
requests. Errare humanum est, but the book is better without errors. Thank
you, my early readers.

report erratum • discuss

Thou wilt set forth at once because the journey is far and lasts for many hours; but
the hours on the velvet spaces are the hours of the gods, and we may not say what
time such an hour may be if reckoned in mortal years.
➤ Lord Dunsany, Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist

Preface
In science, technology, and mathematics, a network is a system of intercon-
nected objects. Complex network analysis (CNA) is a discipline of exploring
quantitative relationships in the networks with non-trivial, irregular structure.
The actual nature of the networks (social, semantic, transportation, commu-
nication, economic, and the like) doesn’t matter, as long as their organization
doesn’t reveal any specific patterns. This book was inspired by a decade of
CNA practice and research.

Being a professor of mathematics and computer science at Suffolk University

in Boston, I have experimented with complex networks of various sizes, pur-
poses, and origins. I developed my first CNA software in an ad hoc manner
in the C language—the language venerable yet ill-suited for CNA projects.
The price of explicit memory management, cumbersome file input/output,
and lack of advanced built-in data structures (such as maps and lists) was
simply too high to justify a further commitment to C. At the moment I realized
that there were affordable alternatives to C that did not require low-level
programming (such as Pajek [NMB11] and Mathematica1), off I went.

Both systems that I mentioned had significant restrictions. Mathematica was

proprietary (and, frankly, quite costly). My inner open source advocate
demanded that I cease and desist using it, especially given that earlier versions
of Mathematica didn’t provide dedicated CNA support and failed to handle
big networks. Pajek was proprietary, too, and not programmable. It took a
joint effort of my inner open source advocate and inner programmer to push
it to the periphery. (I still occasionally use Pajek, and I believe it’s a great
system for solving non-recurring problems.)

I felt delighted when, in search of open source, free, scalable, reliable, and
programmable CNA software, I ran into NetworkX, a Python library still in its
infancy. For the next several years, it became my tool of choice when it came
to CNA simulation, analysis, or visualization.

1. www.wolfram.com/mathematica

report erratum • discuss

 Preface • xiv

About the Reader

This book is intended for graduate and undergraduate students, complex
data analysis (CNA) or social network analysis (SNA) instructors, and CNA/SNA
researchers and practitioners. The book assumes that you have some back-
ground in computer programming—namely, in Python programming. It expects
from you no more than common sense knowledge of complex networks. The
intention is to build up your CNA programming skills and at the same time
educate you about the elements of CNA itself. If you’re an experienced Python
programmer, you can devote more attention to the CNA techniques. On the
contrary, if you’re a network analyst with less than an excellent background
in Python programming, your plan should be to move slowly through the dark
woods of data frames and list comprehensions and use your CNA intuition
to grasp programming concepts.

About the Book

This book covers construction, exploration, analysis, and visualization of
complex networks using NetworkX (a Python library), as well as several other
Python modules, and Gephi, an interactive environment for network analysts.
The book is not an introduction to Python. I assume that you already know
the language, at least at the level of a freshman programming course.

The book consists of five parts, each covering specific aspects of complex
networks. Each part comes with one or more detailed case studies.

Part I presents an overview of the main Python CNA modules: NetworkX, iGraph,
graph-tool, and networkit. It then goes over the construction of very simple net-
works both programmatically (using NetworkX) and interactively (in Gephi), and
it concludes by presenting a network of Wikipedia pages related to complex
networks.

In Part II, you’ll look into networks based on explicit relationships (such as
social networks and communication networks). This part addresses advanced
network construction and measurement techniques. The capstone case study
—a network of “Panama papers”—illustrates possible money-laundering pat-
terns in Central Asia.

Networks based on spatial and temporal co-occurrences—such as semantic

and product networks—are the subject of Part III. The third part also explores
macroscopic and mesoscopic complex network structure. It paves the way to
network-based cultural domain analysis and a marketing study of Sephora
cosmetic products.

report erratum • discuss

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
outside the cave, and after a while a great crowd seemed to be
collected. The imprisoned ones heard the chief of the assembly say:
“All who heard the call have come. 323 Now we want to know who will
roll the stone away?” Birds came and pecked at it in vain; they could
do nothing. Then the smaller animals scratched at it. One after
another failed. At last a wolf came forward, saying, “I can pull the
stone away; I am the man to do it.” Pushing his long claws under it,
he pulled and pulled, until at length he exerted so much strength
that his hold gave way and he fell over on his back. Then the deer
tried with his long horns to raise the stone. All tried, every one in his
own way, from the smallest to the largest animal (for all were
present that had heard the call), except the she-bear; she sat at a
short distance with her little family around her, consisting of three
young cubs. When all the rest had failed, she said, [367]“Well, I will
try.” Walking up slowly and majestically to the blocking stone, she
examined the scratches made by the other animals until she made
up her mind how to act, and then she very quickly got the stone
away. Then peeping in, she saw a Porcupine and a human being,
whereupon she hurried away from the opening as though she was
greatly frightened. As the other animals looked in, they, too, took to
their heels until they were far enough away to make sure of escape;
then they waited to see what was to take place.

The Porcupine, coming out, told them not to be frightened. Said she,
“We are very poor, my grandson and I.” She told them further how
he came there and that her stock of food was exhausted, adding,
“Many of you are well able to care for him, so I want you to take
charge of my grandson.” All, even the birds, announced their
willingness to do so. “Now,” she continued, “I want to know what
you will give him to eat, and when I make up my mind that my
grandson can live on the food that any one of you can supply, I will
give him to that one. To my faithful friends, the birds, I give thanks;
you may go, for I do not think my grandson could live on anything
you could give him.”

All had brought specimens of what they could furnish and had laid
them before the Porcupine. The wolf, coming forward, laid down
what he had. The Porcupine examined it and then asked, “What
would you do in case of danger?” “Of course we should run,” the
wolf replied, thereupon running off to show her, and then coming
back. “No, my grandson can not go with you; he could not run fast
enough.” The deer came forward with the most suitable food, but
when the Porcupine asked, “What would you do in case of danger?”
the deer ran off at such speed that his horns could be heard rattling
through the woods. Last of all the old bear came forward, saying:
“You have all failed. Though I have a large family of my own, I will
take the boy and will feed him as I feed my cubs, on blackberries,
chestnuts, and fruit.” When asked what she would do in danger,
going back to her little cubs, she gave them the sign of danger, at
which they all crouched down beside a log while she lay at their side
watching. She said: “That is what I do, and thus we lie still until I
think the danger is past. I know where the berries grow in
abundance, and I will take them there. I know also where my winter
quarters will be; there my cubs will get nourishment by sucking my
fat paws.” The Porcupine then said: “You are the one to care for my
grandchild. I wish you to take good care of him. I am now going for
food.” The boy never saw the Porcupine again. The child thought the
bear took him by the hand, and that she was like a human being,
and that they were all like real people.

She led the boy and the cubs to the place where the berries and
chestnuts were abundant. They played as they went along. The
[368]young bears became very fond of the boy. When the old mother
bear was lying asleep in the sun, and they were at play, the cubs
would pull the boy’s nails to make them long like theirs, and they
tried to teach him how to climb and run up the trees as they did. At
last he was almost equal to them in skill in these exercises, his nails
having grown long and sharp.

One day the old bear woke up and could not see the boy. At last she
saw him high up in a tree a long way off. Then she scolded her cubs
and was angry with them, and made the boy’s nails as they
originally were. So the many days of summer passed. The cubs and
the boy were great friends and they had him sleep between them
and their mother.

When winter came, the old bear said, “It is time to go to our winter
quarters”; so she took them to a tall, hollow tree, into which they all
climbed, finding therein a comfortable place. Here they remained;
and the boy thought they had plenty of room. He and the cubs
played together and were very happy. The old bear slept most of the
time, but when she heard a sound she would awake instantly and
would say, “You must keep very still; there is a hunter near.” In the
tree was an opening from which she had an outlook. Soon after the
warning they would see a man coming toward the tree. Then the
boy thought he saw the mother bear, putting her paw into her
pocket, draw out an object that had two prongs. As the hunter
approached she would thrust this out through the hole, moving it to
and fro until he passed; then she would draw it in again.

All went well until one day toward spring, when the fatal moment
came. The mother bear heard a hunter approaching again and,
although they all kept very still, she said, addressing the child: “I
think our time has come; our separation is near; you can remain
here, but we must go, for we are bears, but you are a human being.
They will take you out and care for you.” Then the child and the cubs
saw the hunter coming. She put out her two-pronged bough but
could do nothing; all her magic power was gone. When the hunter
came up, seeing the claw marks on the bark of the tree, he
concluded there must be bears within. The old bear knew all was
over, so she said to the eldest of her cubs, “You must go first and
the others must follow.” At this the eldest climbed up and out, and at
that instant the boy heard the twang of the bowstring and impact of
the arrow, and as he watched the little bear it seemed to throw off a
burden, which fell to the ground, while the little bear itself 324 went
straight on without stopping. Then the other little bears followed,
one and all sharing the fate of the first; each time one emerged the
boy heard the same sounds and saw the burden fall, but as he saw
the little bears still running on, he was not frightened. Then the old
bear said: “Now, I have to go. You must be good and obedient and
all [369]will be well with you”; then she went out. He heard the same
sounds as before and saw her drop on the ground; knowing she was
killed, he began to scream. The hunter, hearing him, was astonished.
Then, remembering having heard that a child had been lost, he
though it might be the child in this tree. So he set to work to get the
boy out, and soon succeeded in doing so. He found the child naked
and unable to speak a word, having forgotten how to talk. Skinning
the largest cub, the hunter made leggings for the child from the
skin. The boy was grieved to see his companions dead and cut up,
but he could not speak to let his rescuer know how dear they were
to him. The hunter took the boy to his father, who was overjoyed to
see his child again. Ever afterward he kept the boy near himself, and
in the future all was well.

[Contents]

67. Genonsgwa
An old woman, the eldest of her people, lived in the forest with two
grandchildren, a boy and a girl. One day while the old woman was
away a female Genonsgwa came into the lodge and picked up the
younger child, the girl. After speaking kindly to her, saying that she
was a good little thing, she swallowed her. Then she began to talk to
the boy, telling him how well he looked, and that he was wholesome,
but she did not kill him. Sitting on the bed, she told the boy that if
he would get on her back, she would take him out to find his
grandmother. After climbing on her back, he soon became
frightened, whereupon he grasped her so tightly that he became
fastened to her back so that he could not get off, though he tried
hard to do so. The Genonsgwa, rising, went in a direction different
from that in which his grandmother had gone. The boy told her of
her mistake, but she said, “Oh! we shall come to the place where
she is.” The Genonsgwa went very far into the woods. The boy
began to cry for his grandmother, and cried so hard that the
Genonsgwa told him to get off her back; she did not like to hear him
cry, she said, but as she wanted to eat him, he did not get off; in
fact, he could not do so. Fortunately, the Genonsgwa could neither
get her hands around to pull him off, nor turn her head to bite him.
She could not get at him in any way. Knowing this, the boy clung to
the middle of her back, realizing that she would eat him up if he
slipped down. They traveled on thus for many days.

When the grandmother came back to her lodge and found that the
boy and the girl were not there, she became very uneasy. She
searched for them but found no trace of either. After a while, finding
the tracks of the Genonsgwa around the lodge, she guessed what
the trouble was. The old woman followed the trail of the
Genonsgwa, saying that she was bound to get her grandchildren
back. [370]
Genonsgwa tried to get the boy off by rubbing him against a hickory
tree. The boy said, “Oh! I like that. Rub harder!” At this she stopped
rubbing him against the tree and went on. The grandmother
followed in the form of a Whirlwind, whereupon Genonsgwa said to
the boy, “Your grandmother is coming as a Whirlwind, and she will
strike and kill us both.” The boy was silent. Looking for refuge, she
found a hiding place in a deep ravine, in which she dug a hole, and
going in, covered herself with the earth which slipped down from
above. The two heard Dagwanoenyent, the grandmother, coming.
“Now,” Genonsgwa said, “you can hear your grandmother coming.”
The Dagwanoenyent rushed over the place where they lay hidden.
The boy shouted to his grandmother, who, hearing him, changed her
course, coming straight back to the place they were in. She blew off
the earth from the hiding place, so that Genonsgwa became just
visible above the surface. Then the grandmother asked the boy
whether he was there. He answered, “Yes.” The Genonsgwa lay still,
whispering to the boy, “Be quiet! Your grandmother will see us.” The
grandmother then called the boy by name, “Dagwanoenyentgowa, 325
get off Genonsgwa’s back.” Having done so, he went a short distance
from the cliff. Then the old woman hurled rocks at the Genonsgwa,
and after breaking all her clothes of rock, killed her.

The old woman now went toward home with her grandson. On the
path she said: “Never allow yourself to be treated this way again.
Never allow yourself to be maltreated by anyone. You can master all
those Genonsgwashonon, 326 if you will only use your power, for you,
too, are a Dagwanoenyentgowa.” The old woman remained at home
a few days with her grandson. Meanwhile some of the Genonsgwa’s
people found the trail of the Genonsgwa woman, which they
followed until they came to the place where her stone clothes were
rent, and she was killed. When they asked of it, the spirit of the
Genonsgwa told how she had been killed and how her coat had
been rent.
The headman of the Genonsgwa now resolved to muster a large
company of their people and kill the old woman,
Dagwanoenyentgowa. While they were preparing for this, the old
woman found out their plans when she was out on her journeys and
said to her grandson, “We must go to get your sister out of the belly
of the Genonsgwa woman, for she is sitting there crying for me all
the time.” So they set out for home, and when they reached the
place where the Genonsgwa woman lay dead, the grandmother,
having built a small fire, began to burn tobacco on it for her
granddaughter, saying, “This is what we like; this is what we like.”
They burned perhaps half a pouch full of tobacco, meanwhile
fanning the smoke toward the Genonsgwa woman all the time, and
saying: “This is [371]what we like. Do you come out of Genonsgwa’s
belly.” There was no sign yet of her granddaughter. She had not yet
come forth. At last the old woman said to her grandson: “We must
have more help. You have a great many relatives—uncles, aunts,
and cousins. We must call them here.” Thereupon the old woman,
Dagwanoenyentgowa, called repeatedly. They came one by one.
Soon there was a great number of them. Having broken up and
removed all the clothes of the Genonsgwa, they threw them away,
leaving the dead body naked. Then the old woman, building a fire at
Genonsgwa’s head, burned tobacco on it. All the Dagwanoenyent
people walked around the fire, each throwing tobacco on it and
saying, “This is what we like.” After each one had gone around once
and had thrown tobacco into the fire once, the young girl started up
in the Genonsgwa’s belly, and panting for breath, walked out, saying,
“How long have I been here?” They gave her more tobacco smoke,
which she inhaled until she gained full strength. Then all went home,
the old woman and her two grandchildren to her own lodge, and the
other Dagwanoenyents each to his or her lodge.

After they had been home a while a Genonsgwa came to the old
woman’s lodge, who talked pleasantly, inquiring how they were.
Having found out that they were only three in number, the
Genonsgwa went back home, thinking it would be a small work to
kill them all. After the Genonsgwa went away the old woman said:
“We are in trouble now. There is a great number of these
Genonsgwa people leagued against us. They are assembled
somewhere, not far away. When this struggle commences we do not
know whether we shall be able to come home here again or not.” As
soon as she had finished talking with her grandchildren, the old
woman, going out, called, “Dagwanoenyents!” The girl, not knowing
what that meant, asked her grandmother, who said: “I am calling
your relations to help us. You are a Dagwanoenyent, too.” The
Dagwanoenyents came one by one. When all had come, there were
60 besides the old woman and her two grandchildren.
Dagwanoenyentgowa now said: “Each one must have a stone to
strike with, just heavy enough to handle with ease.” When they had
gathered stones the Genonsgwa began to come, thousands upon
thousands in number. The Dagwanoenyents were frightened when
they saw them, but the old woman who led them said: “We must
separate and attack them singly. Have faith to kill each one with but
one blow, and you will do it. You must keep the stones in your
hands. Be firm and retreat slowly in different directions.” The
Dagwanoenyents took her advice. Whenever they had a chance,
they struck and killed a Genonsgwa, retreating all the time and
killing the Genonsgwa for a long distance. The old woman then told
all her people to go up a high mountain toward the south, ahead
[372]of them, fighting as they went. She continued: “When we all
reach the top, we shall go down a short distance on the other side.
The Genonsgwa will come to the top and we shall strike them. One
lot of us must strike from the east, and the other from the west side,
and we must get behind them and drive them forward into the great
ravine on the south side of the mountain, where a river runs by.
There they will all perish.” The Genonsgwa came to the mountain
top, where there was a large clear space. Looking around on every
side, they saw nothing of the Dagwanoenyents, hence they thought
the Dagwanoenyents had gone for food. They had not stood there
long, however, when they heard the sound of the wind below them
on both sides of the mountain. The noise grew louder and louder,
until presently the Dagwanoenyents struck them on both sides, and
uniting in their rear, fell upon them from behind also. So terrible
were the attack and the power of the Dagwanoenyents, that they
tore all the trees out by the roots and swept the earth off the top of
the mountain, hurling the rocks and trees and Genonsgwa into the
ravine and river below. The Genonsgwa were piled upon one another
like the rocks on the banks and in the bed of the river. The
Dagwanoenyents were now dancing on the mountain top, and the
old woman said: “We have hurled the Genonsgwa down there and
we would better finish them. Half of you go along the ridge running
south from this mountain east of the river, and the other half along
the western ridge, and blow all the trees and stones and earth into
the great ravine.” They did this, and when they came together they
had stripped the mountain spurs naked. Meanwhile the river forced
everything to the end of the ravine, where it piled up the débris of
fallen trees in a great dam, so that the river became a lake on the
south side of the mountain. This lake is called Hadiqsadon
genonsgwa ganyudae; that is, the grave of the Genonsgwashonon,
or Genonsgwa people.

[Contents]

68. Hinon, Hohawaqk 327 and His Grandmother

There was a very poor little old woman, who lived in the woods. She
was so destitute that she was nothing but skin and bones. She dwelt
in a smoky little lodge and cried all the time, both day and night. Her
robe of skins was so old and dirty that one could not tell without
difficulty of what material it was made. She had seven daughters, six
of whom were carried off one after another by hostile people, while
the seventh died.

The daughter who died had been buried some time when one night
the old woman heard crying at the grave. Going to the grave with a
torch, she found there a naked baby. The child had crawled up out
of the grave through a hole in the earth. Wrapping the baby in her
[373]blanket, the old woman took it home. She did not know, she did
not even suspect, that her daughter was with child when she died.

The little boy grew very rapidly. When he was of good size the old
woman came home one day from gathering wood but could not find
him. That night it stormed, with thunder and lightning raging. In the
morning the child returned to her. His grandmother asked, “Where
have you been, my grandson?” “Grandmother,” said he, “I have been
with my father; he took me to his home.” “Who is your father?”
“Hinon is my father; he took me home first, then we came back and
were all about here last night.” The old woman asked, “Was my
daughter, your mother, in the grave?” “Yes,” said the boy, “and Hinon
used to come to see my mother.” The old woman believed what he
said.

As the boy grew he used to make a noise like that of thunder, and
whenever Hinon came to the neighborhood he would go out and
thunder, thus helping his father, for he was Hinon Hohawaqk, the
son of Hinon.

Some time after this the boy asked his grandmother where his six
aunts were, and the grandmother answered: “There are an old
woman and her son, whose lodge is far away; they live by playing
dice and betting. Your aunts went one by one with a company of
people, and played dice (plum pits); being beaten, their heads were
cut off. Many men and women have gone to the same place and
have lost their heads.” Hinon Hohawaqk answered, “I will go, too,
and will kill that woman and her son.” The old woman tried to keep
him home, but he would not remain with her. He told her to make
two pairs of moccasins for him. He was very ragged and dirty, so she
made the moccasins and got him the skin of a flying-squirrel for a
pouch.

Setting off toward the west, soon he came to a great opening where
there was a large bark lodge with a pole in front of it, and on the
pole a skin robe. He saw boys playing ball in the opening, and going
on a side path, he heard a great noise. After a while the people saw
him, whereupon one of them said, “I do not know where that boy
comes from.” The old people were betting and the boys were playing
ball. Soon an old man came up to Hinon Hohawaqk and gave him a
club; he played so well that the old man came again, saying, “We
want you to play dice; all the people will bet on you.” A bowl was
placed on an elk skin lying under the pole. The woman and her son
were there and the other people stood around. Hinon Hohawaqk
answered, “I do not know how to play the game.” The old man
replied, “We will risk our heads on you;” so he followed the old man.
He saw a white stone bowl as smooth as glass. The old woman was
sitting there on the elk skin, ready to play, and Hinon Hohawaqk
knelt down beside the bowl. She said, “You [374]play first.” “No,”
answered he, “you play first.” So she took out her dice, which were
round and made from plum stones, and blowing on them, cast them
into the bowl, which she shook, at the same time calling out, “Game!
game!” The dice flew up into the air, all becoming crows and cawing
as they went out of sight. After a while they came down, still
cawing, and resumed the form of plum stones as they settled in the
bowl. The old woman had three plays to make a count of seventeen.
She threw three times but got nothing. Then Hinon Hohawaqk in
order to win took dice out of his pouch of flying-squirrel skin. The
old woman wanted him to use her dice, but he would not touch
them. Placing his dice in the bowl, he shook, whereupon the dice,
becoming ducks, flew upward. They went very high, and all the
people heard them as they rose; when they touched the bowl again
they were plum stones, and scored 10. Then Hinon Hohawaqk shook
the bowl again, calling, “Game! game!” while the old woman called
out, “No game!” Back came the dice, scoring another 10. He cast the
third time and scored 10 more. He had won. Then he called the
people to see him cut off the heads of the old woman and her son.
“No,” said the old woman, “you must play again. Here is my son; you
must play ball with him, and if he loses we shall both forfeit our
heads.” At this Hinon Hohawaqk asked the old man what he thought.
The people, seeing how skillful he was, said “Play!” whereupon he
went to the ball-ground, ragged and looking poor. There were but
two playing, one on each side. Hinon Hohawaqk jumped, knocking
the club far out of his opponent’s hand. Then the old woman’s son
ran for his club, but before he could get it back Hinon Hohawaqk had
sent the ball through the goal posts. This was repeated seven times
and Hinon Hohawaqk won the game. “Now,” said he to all the
people, “you can have the heads of the old woman and her son.”
The two heads were cut off, and the boys played with the old
woman’s head over the whole field.

“Now,” said Hinon Hohawaqk; “I am going to bring my grandmother

to this place, and we must all come here to stay and have this long
dwelling in which to live.” All went home to their lodges, and as the
Son of Thunder went, he sang praises of himself, and his
grandmother heard him on his way. He told her what he had done,
saying, “We must all go there and live in that fine dwelling and field.”
She prepared provisions and they went. It took them a long time to
reach the place. All the other people having reached there also, they
built dwellings around the field. When all had settled down, Hinon
Hohawaqk called them to the council lodge to have a dance. After
they had finished the dance, all went to their homes. Putting away
her old blanket, the grandmother began to dress. Having put on the
clothes left by the old woman who lost her [375]head, soon she
looked like a young woman and lived happily. After a time Hinon
Hohawaqk went off with Hinon, his father, with whom he stayed all
winter.

In the spring the old woman was uneasy in her mind. She heard
thunder in the west, and soon afterward her grandson came to the
lodge. She was very glad to see him. “Where have you been?” she
asked. He answered: “At the great mountain far off in the west. I
have been with my father helping the nations and protecting men.”
After that he remained with his grandmother all summer. Once in a
while he would go away when it began to storm but would come
back again when the turbulence of the weather ceased.

He lived a long time in this way, until at last he said to his

grandmother: “I have an uncle living in the west; some witch stole
him from you. I must go to find him.” So he went to the west to
search for his uncle. He went on till he came to a lodge in which he
saw a woman sitting by a fire, with her head resting on her hands.
She would not answer when he asked where his uncle was. Soon
afterward he went out, and taking his war club from his pouch, he
knocked her on the head, killing her. When he had killed the woman
he went out and walked all around the lodge, mourning and looking
for his uncle. At last he heard the moaning of a man. He looked into
the trees, for he could not see any one on the ground, but could not
find him. Soon he came to a large slippery-elm tree, the great roots
of which held down a man, his head coming out between two roots
on one side and his feet between two on the other side, while the
tree stood just on the middle of his body. He was calling to his
nephew to give him a smoke. The latter answered: “Oh, poor uncle!
how badly off you are. Oh, poor uncle! I will give you a smoke very
soon.” Then he kicked over the tree, saying, “Rise, uncle!” at which
the uncle rose, well. Taking out his pouch, Hinon Hohawaqk gave
the old man a smoke, which pleased and strengthened the uncle
very much. He told his nephew how the woman had beguiled him to
go with her, pretending that she wanted to marry him. When she
had him at her lodge, however, she ate him, putting his bones under
the elm tree. Then both the uncle and the nephew went home to the
long lodge. The old grandmother was surprised and glad to see
them.

All lived happily in their home till one day when the Son of Thunder
went off in a storm. When it was over he brought home a wife. After
that, when he went away in a storm his wife was uneasy, not
knowing where he was, for her husband had brought her home on
his back such a long distance in the storm. In due time she gave
birth to a son. When the boy was large enough to run about, the old
man, the uncle of the Son of Thunder, whose bones had lain under
the elm tree, began to teach him, and soon he was able to make
[376]a noise like thunder. One day the boy followed his mother out of
the lodge. They had a small dog, and as the boy was running after
his mother, somebody seized him and rushed away; but the dog ran
after him, and, contriving to seize his feet, pulled off his moccasins,
which he carried home. This was the first indication the woman had
that her boy was gone. Hinon Hohawaqk was off with a storm at the
time, and when he came home his wife asked whether he had taken
the boy. “No,” said he. “Oh! he is lost,” cried she. “Oh, no! he is all
right,” said Hinon Hohawaqk; “he has many relations around the
world—uncles and cousins.” The boy stayed away all winter. One day
when the winter was over he came home with his father. Then Hinon
Hohawaqk said to the people of his family, “We must all move away
and live with my father.” The old woman said, “No, we can not go; it
is so far and I am so old.” “I will carry you there in a little while,”
said the grandson. Thereupon Hinon Hohawaqk began to thunder,
and lightnings flew around. The lodge was torn to pieces and blazed
up in flames. All the rocks and lodges in the opening were broken to
pieces. Hinon Hohawaqk and all of his people rose in the air. The
east wind began to blow, bearing them to lofty mountains in the
west, where they found old grandfather Hinon. All live there in the
caves of the rocks to this day.

[Contents]

69. Hagowanen and Otʻhegwenhda 328

At Hetgen Tgastende 329 lived a man named Hagowanen, who

possessed potent orenda (magic power), and who belonged to the
Donyonda people. One day he set out to hunt. In his canoe he sailed
across a broad lake in front of his lodge, and then, leaving his canoe
on the other side, he traveled five days toward the west. Then he
collected wood and made a camp.

On the first day of his hunting he killed five bears and deer, which he
brought into his camp, saying, “What bad luck I have had today!” On
the second day he killed 10 bears and 12 deer and brought them
home and skinned and roasted them to dry the meat of the 15 bears
and 18 deer which he had killed, finishing the work before daylight.
The next morning he said, “I must go after more meat.” That day he
killed 24 deer and 20 bears and brought them into camp, and
skinned them and finished roasting the meat precisely at midnight.
Then he said, “I think I have enough now.” Putting all the meat into
one heap, he tied it up with bark ropes. Then he shook the package,
saying, “I want you to be small,” at which it shrank into a small
package, which he hung in his belt. In the same way be made the
skins into similar bundles, which he hung to his belt, and then set
out for home.

When Hagowanen reached the lake he could not find his canoe; he
looked everywhere, but he could see nothing of it. At last, he
[377]saw on the shore a man whose name was Handjoias. 330 When
they met, this man asked, “What have you lost?” “My canoe,”
answered Hagowanen. “Well, the man who lives on that island
yonder was here yesterday, and he took your canoe,” replied
Handjoias. “Who is the man on the island?” said Hagowanen. “He is
one of the Ganyaqden 331 people,” was the answer. “How am I to get
my canoe back?” inquired Hagowanen. “Give me what meat you
have, and I will get it for you,” said Handjoias. “What am I to eat if I
do that?” replied Hagowanen. “I will do better, I will bring the canoe.
Take your meat home, and roast it, keeping half and putting the
other half outside of the door of the lodge for me,” declared
Handjoias. “Very well,” answered Hagowanen. Handjoias, who
himself had taken the canoe to the island, now brought it back,
saying: “That man on the island is a very ugly fellow. He almost
killed me.” Getting into his canoe, Hagowanen sailed home; on
arriving he drew up his canoe safely on the rocks. Then he untied
and threw down the bundle of meat, which in a moment regained its
natural size. The meat he piled up inside of the lodge, and tanned
the skins, but he never paid Handjoias for bringing back the canoe.

After a time a woman of the Hongak (Wild Goose) people came to

Hagowanen’s lodge, bringing a basket of marriage bread, and
saying, “My mother has sent me to Hagowanen to ask him to take
me to wife.” Hagowanen hung his head a while thinking, and mused,
“I suppose nothing ill-starred will come of this.” Then, looking at her,
he said, “It is well; I am willing to do what your mother wants me to
do.” On hearing this reply the woman was glad. She placed the
basket of nuptial corn bread before him. In accepting it he said: “I
am thankful. For many years I have not tasted bread which was
made by a woman.” So he ate some of the bread, whereupon they
became husband and wife.

At the end of the first year the Hongak woman bore a son to
Hagowanen, and so she did every year until at last they had ten
sons, whom they named in their order from the eldest to the
youngest, as follows: (a) Tgwendahenh Niononeoden; 332 (b)
Hononhwaes; (c) Haniodaqses; (d) Hagondes; (e) Dahsihdes; (f)
Dahsinongwadon; (g) Daheqdes; (h) Oeqdowanen; (i)
Donoengwenhden; and (j) Otʻhegwenhda.

They lived together for some time at Hetgen Tgastende, until one
morning when Hagowanen, who was sitting on a stone outside the
lodge with drooping head, said to himself: “Well, I have many
children now. I did not think that woman would have so many. I
must go home again.” So he rose, and going aboard his canoe,
sailed away across Ganyodaeowanen (“The Big Lake”). After a while
his wife, missing him, said, “Where is my husband?” She looked out
and around everywhere but could not find him. The eldest son was
then a youth and the youngest a lively little boy. [378]

One day the eldest said, “I am going to look for my father, and see
where he is.” The mother rejoined, “You will get lost on the way.”
“Oh, no! I will not get lost,” he replied. At this the mother continued,
“Then you may go.” So he set out, traveling northward. While going
across a rocky place he found a trail. “This looks just like my father’s
trail,” said he, following it. Soon he came to a cross-trail, and after
examining it, he said: “I wonder where this path comes from and
where it goes. Well, when I return, I shall find out.” Not far from the
cross-trail he came to a lodge, and as the trail led up to it, he
entered. Looking around, he saw an old man in the southeast corner
of the room; another in the southwest; a third, in the northwest;
and a fourth, in the northeast. All sat smoking. The youth looked for
his father, saying, “He must be here somewhere.” The first old man,
raising his head, looked at him and asked: “Well, my grandson, what
are you doing here? Come this way, if you want to see your father. I
will show him to you; he is right here.” On the youth approaching,
the old man took him by the hair, and bending his head forward over
a bark bowl, cut it off, saying: “I am glad that a young game animal
has come. It must be good eating, as it is just the right age.” So
saying, he began to quarter the body.

After the people at Hetgen Tgastende had waited for some time
without tidings of the eldest brother, Hononhwaes, the second son of
the Hongak woman, said, “I want to follow my elder brother.” “Oh,
my son!” said the mother, “do not go away; something evil has
befallen your brother.” “I must go,” said the boy; “I can not resist the
desire. I must see my brother and father.” So he began to prepare
for the journey, putting on a hunting shirt, leggings, and moccasins
of buckskin, and taking his bow and arrows. His mother cried all the
time, but she could not stop him from going. He went northward, as
his brother had done, going over the same trail, until he arrived at
the cross-trail and the lodge, where he saw the four old men
smoking in the four corners of the room. He of the northwest corner
spoke, saying, “My grandson, do you want to see your father? Come
here and you shall see him.” He went forward and, looking into a
large bark bowl half full of water, he saw the faces of his father and
brother. As he was gazing on them, the old man cut off his head
also, rejoicing as before.

Nine of the Hongak brothers went, one after another, in search of

their father and brothers, and all were killed by the four old men in
the same lodge. At last the tenth and youngest, Othegwenhda, who
was still small and young, said to his mother, “I should like to follow
my brothers.” “Oh, my son!” said the mother, “you must not go.
There are four brothers, old men, living on the road, who are called
Hadiiades (Blacksnakes). They have great magic [379]power.” “But,”
said he, “I must go. I want to see my brothers very much.” “You will
never see them,” she replied. “They are dead.” “Well, can not I kill
the old men?” he said. “Maybe you can,” she replied, “if you take my
orenda (magic power) with you.” “Well, mother,” said Otʻhegwenhda,
“give me your magic power. I want to kill these men.” “I will go and
bring my magic power, my son,” said his mother. Thereupon the
Hongak woman went westward to a rough and rocky place, where
she got a small figurine of slate rock, about half the length of her
little finger, with which she returned to her home. When she had
reached home the boy was ready to start. He had armed himself
with a bow of hickory and arrows of red willow pointed with wasp
stings. “Here,” said the mother, “I will tell you what to do. Gird on a
belt and put this fetish in it.” He placed the fetish between his
buckskin belt and his body. “You are now ready,” said the mother.
“Now you can do what you like. You can change yourself to
whatever form you please.”

Otʻhegwenhda, going northward as his brothers had done, found a

fresh trail looking as if made only a few minutes before. “This must
be my father’s trail,” thought he; “perhaps I will find him
somewhere.” After a while he came to the cross-trail running east
and west; he stood thinking whence it came and whither it led. “I
will see,” said he. Going toward the east, he soon reached a wide
opening in the forest, near the end of which was a cloud of dust
moving in his direction. “I will hurry back,” thought he, “or
something may happen to me.” The moment he turned back the
great dust cloud approached very quickly, and when it touched him,
from weakness he fell to the ground. Soon after this he heard a
noise, and, looking up, saw a person with long legs, rushing on
toward him. Springing to his feet, the youth climbed a tree; and then
he shot his wasp-sting pointed arrows, thus killing the stranger in
the cloud of dust. This stranger was a Djieien (Spider).

Now Otʻhegwenhda went eastward again, and another cloud of dust

rushed against him, but he got outside of it, and after the cloud had
passed, he hastened westward to the point where the trails crossed.
Thence, going northward, he soon reached the lodge where the four
old brothers, Hadiiades (Blacksnakes), sat smoking. After standing
outside a while, he found a crack in the lodge; peeping in, he saw
the four old men in the four corners, at which he soliloquized: “I
wonder whether these are the men of whom my mother spoke. I will
kill them if I can, and if I can not, I will burn the lodge.” Taking out
the fetish, he placed it on his head, whereupon it stood up, and he
said, “I am going to ask you a question; I want you to tell me what
to do; I want to kill these old men.” The fetish answered: “If you
want to kill them, you must get on that high rock and call [380]out, ‘I,
Otʻhegwenhda, am on this high rock.’ You will find very sharp flint
stones up there; take a handful of these and throw them this way,
saying, ‘I want it to be hot.’ This is your only course to succeed.” As
Otʻhegwenhda put back the fetish in his belt, he heard the old men
talking. “It seems Otʻhegwenhda is about here,” said the old man in
the northwest corner to the one in the southeast. “Oh!” replied the
other, “I thought you said all that family were killed.” Then the old
man in the southwest remarked, “It was my opinion that one was
left.” “Well, I think they are all gone except the old woman Hongak,”
said the old man in the northeast. “Well,” added the old man in the
northwest, “it seems to me that Otʻhegwenhda is lurking around
here somewhere.” “If you think so, you should look for him,” replied
the old man of the southwest. “Yes, I must look to see if I can find
him,” rejoined the man of the northwest. Otʻhegwenhda, leaping on
the lodge, sat with his feet hanging through the smoke-hole. The old
man looked everywhere but could not see him.
Otʻhegwenhda with his bow and arrows now shot down through the
smoke-hole at each of the four old men, the arrows piercing their
bodies deeply, but the old men were not hurt; they did not even
know that they were hit. Leaping off the lodge and landing about
forty rods away, Otʻhegwenhda went into the rock, whence he called
out, “My name is Otʻhegwenhda.” As he stood there a while one of
the old men said: “My back is sore. It feels as though my bones
were broken.” Picking up a handful of sharp fragments of flint,
Otʻhegwenhda threw them at the lodge, saying, “I want you to be
red hot and burn up these old men and their lodge.” The flint went
straight to the lodge, a few pieces flying beyond. Those that struck
the lodge set it on fire, and those that fell beyond set the forest on
fire. Everything was blazing in and around the lodge. Then the boy
threw another handful of flints, saying, “I want you to cut these old
men’s heads off,” whereupon the flints pierced their necks, causing
their heads to fall off.

Otʻhegwenhda stood on the rock, watching the fire burn until

nothing but coals remained. Suddenly he heard an explosion—a
Dagwanoenyent flew toward him, knocking him off the rock; then
rising high in the air, it went straight west. Quickly springing to his
feet and looking up, the boy saw the Dagwanoenyent going higher
and higher. Soon he heard a crash as it struck the Blue (Sky), 333
after which it came rushing down again, soon reaching the earth.
Thereupon the youth crushed its head with a white flint.

Otʻhegwenhda now searched all through the coals with a pointed

stick, but he found nothing but fire. At the northwestern corner of
the burnt heap he found a trail leading toward the northwest, and
following this, he came to an opening in the forest where he saw a
[381]cloud of dust rushing toward him. Swerving aside into the
woods, he peeped out from some sheltering shrubbery; presently
the cloud stopped at the edge of the woods. Then he saw a Djieien
(Spider) 6 feet tall. “Oh! I thought,” said Djieien, “somebody was on
the trail. It must be my master fooling me. I thought he was here
and had found some more of the Hongak family.” The Djieien,
turning back, ran as fast as he could, Otʻhegwenhda following
closely until Djieien reached the lodge, which was slightly sunken
into the ground. When the Djieien went into the lodge
Otʻhegwenhda listened outside. Soon he heard crying within and
thought that the sound resembled that of his father’s voice, and that
his father must be in there. Then he took out the fetish, which came
to life, and stood up; he asked of it, “How am I to kill the Djieien
who lives in here?” The fetish answered: “Go to that tree just west
of here, and climbing high upon it, call out, ‘I am Otʻhegwenhda,
and more powerful than anything under the Blue (Sky). I can kill any
kind of game (ganyo) on earth.’ When you have spoken, cut a limb
from the tree and throw it with the command to split the Spider’s
heart in two (the heart was in the ground under the lodge). When
Djieien is killed, you can come down and see your father before
burning the lodge.” Otʻhegwenhda did as directed by the fetish. He
cut off a limb of the tree, and spat on it; straightway it became alive,
and he cast it toward the lodge, saying, “Split Djieien’s heart in two.”
The limb went under the lodge to the place where the heart was
hidden, and the instant its heart was split Djieien stretched out,
saying, “This is the end of me,” and died. The boy heard the words
and laughed. Then he slipped down, and entering the lodge, said: “I
must go in to see my father. I heard him cry, so he must be inside.”
So saying, he went in. There Djieien lay dead in the middle of the
room. Under the couch was someone nearly dead. On raising the
couch, he found his father in a dying condition with the flesh gone
from his legs and arms. Otʻhegwenhda exclaimed, “Oh, my father!
you must go home; my mother wishes to see you.” Hagowanen
whispered (he had lost his voice), “My son, you will die if you come
in here.” “Oh, no!” answered the boy; “there is no danger now.”
Putting the fetish on his hand, he asked it, “What shall be done with
my father?” The fetish answered: “He is only a skeleton now. Spit on
your hands and rub the spittle all over him, and flesh shall come on
his bones again.” Otʻhegwenhda did this, and his father became as
well as ever, whereupon he said: “Now, I have become
Sʻhodieonskon. I have heard old people say that when
Sʻhodieonskon dies he comes to life again immediately.” The boy
laughed, and Hagowanen added, “Let us go home.” “You go, but I
must find my brothers,” replied the youth. [382]

When Hagowanen reached home, his wife, looking at him, began to

cry: “Oh! my dear son, I wish you were here. I think I have seen
something mysterious.” Hagowanen asked, “Why do you talk so?”
She cried the more, and he added: “Why do you cry? Are you sorry
that I have returned?” “No, but you are not alive,” she said. “Oh,
yes! I am,” he replied. “No; I can not believe that you are,” and,
thinking he was a ghost, she drove him out to the rocks, where he
sat down.

After his father had gone Otʻhegwenhda burned Djieien’s lodge.

When nothing but coals were left, something shot up out of them,
and flying westward, it finally alighted on the plain, becoming a
Dowisdowi (Sandpiper). “That is the way I do, and that is why I
claimed, ‘I can kill anybody,’ ” said the boy. Going around the edge of
the clearing on the eastern side, he found a broad trail on which he
traveled for half a day, until he came to a cross-trail leading from
north to south. He stood at the four corners made by the trails, and
putting the fetish on his hand said, “You are the one I need.” “What
do you wish?” asked the fetish. “I wish you to tell me what I am to
do now.” “If you go to the foot of that pine tree,” answered the
fetish, “you shall find a bark bowl, beyond the tree a medicine
spring, on the other side of the spring, a plant. Dig up this plant, put
it into the bowl, which you shall fill with water from the spring, and
then at this spot where the trails intersect, dig a hole, and in it put
the bowl with the plant standing in the water. This done, step aside
and see what will happen. Now, be quick!” Hurrying to the pine tree
which grew in the northwest between the northern and western
trails, Otʻhegwenhda found the spring, and farther on, the plant
awéaundagon (in full bloom), with bright red blossoms. He did as
directed, putting the bowl with the plant therein in the ground at the
crossing of the trails; then stepping aside, he watched and listened.
Presently he heard a noise in the forest like that made by a heavy
wind from the north. Nearer and nearer it came, accompanied with a
great cloud of dust. Nothing could be distinguished until the cloud
stopped at the crossing. Then, in the middle of the cloud he saw the
skeleton of Djainosgowa standing near the bowl. The skeleton,
walking up to the plant, ate one of its red blossoms. Though it had
no stomach, no place to hide the blossom, it nevertheless vanished,
at which the boy wondered greatly, saying: “It is nothing but bones.
Where does the food go?” Presently, the skeleton growing sick,
jumped around until it fell to pieces—arms, legs, head, ribs, all the
bones falling apart. Now Otʻhegwenhda laughed, standing in his
hiding place. But before he had stopped laughing he heard the
rushing of another wind from the south; after it came a cloud of
dust, which stopped at the [383]crossing, and he saw the skeleton of
Tsodiqgwadon near the bowl. This also, going straight to the plant,
ate a blossom. In a moment it began to shake all over; soon it fell to
pieces, becoming a pile of bones. Soon the sound of a third wind
was heard approaching from the east with a great cloud of dust.
This came rushing on until it stopped at the crossing. In the middle
of the cloud was the skeleton of Ganiagwaihegowa, which ate a
blossom, after doing which it began to tremble and to become
disjointed until, finally, it was a mere heap of bones, like the other
three.

Taking out the fetish again, Otʻhegwenhda asked it, “Is the work all
finished now?” “Yes,” said the fetish; “all the trails are clear. Now you
can go to the end of the southern trail. Perhaps you may find your
brother there. If you do, treat him as you did your father.”
Immediately he started toward the south. When he reached the end
of the trail, he could see nothing; but he searched until at last he
found a rock with an opening in it. Entering this opening, he went
down into the ground, looking around very closely. It was dark, and
he thought, “There may be more skeletons here, but I must go on.”
At last he came to a room. There was no fire in it; only plenty of
light. He saw also another room, on entering which he found three
of his brothers—the eldest and the two next to him. The eldest
called out: “Oh, my brother! are you here? You would better run
away. The skeleton will come soon.” “Oh! I will kill it,” he said. “My
brother, I do not think you can live if you stay here,” the elder
brother continued. “I have come to take you away,” answered
Otʻhegwenhda. “We can not walk,” answered the three brothers;
“the skeleton has eaten our flesh.” On looking at them, he saw that
their limbs were bare bones. After he had rubbed them with his
spittle, they were covered with flesh as before, and his brothers
were well and strong again. Thereupon he said: “I want you to start
home now. I will go to find our other brothers.”

The three brothers now went home. When their mother saw them,
she began to cry, thinking they were ghosts, and, seizing a club, she
drove them out. They found their father, who was very glad to see
them, and they sat down on the rocks with him.

Otʻhegwenhda, now returning to the crossing, went along the

eastern trail to the end. There he saw nothing and wondered
whence Ganiagwaihegowa came. At last he noticed an opening in
the ground, and, entering it, he went down. It was very dark within.
“There must be a skeleton here,” thought he, looking around. Going
farther, he came to a room in which was abundant light from rotten
wood all around. Farther on he came to a second room, in which
were three of his brothers too weak to move, all their flesh having
been eaten away. Having brought flesh to their limbs by means of
his spittle, he [384]sent them home. Their mother, thinking that they
were ghosts, cried; then she drove them out to the rocks, where
they found their father and brothers.

Otʻhegwenhda now went along the northern trail until he came to a

small opening, where he stopped a moment. At this time a whirlwind
came straight upon him, causing him to run to the shelter of a great
maple tree near by. In a short time he heard the sound of a blow on
the other side of the tree. Looking toward the spot, he saw an Onwi
(Winged Snake) lying dead, for coming in the whirlwind, it had
struck the tree and in this way had been killed. The boy now went to
the edge of the opening, where he heard the noise caused by a
second great whirlwind. “I shall die this time surely,” thought he, as
he saw a multitude of winged snakes borne by the whirlwind. Again
as he stood behind a tree, they rushed far beyond. Thereupon he
ran to the other side of the opening. Presently the whirlwind of
snakes 334 came back; this time he lay down on the roots, on the
opposite side of the tree, until the snakes rushed by and far away.
Now, putting the fetish on his hand, it stood up alive; he asked,
“What am I to do with these snakes that are chasing me?” “Oh!
make a large fire across their trail,” was the reply. Gathering boughs
and sticks into a great pile, he set fire to the western end of it,
saying to the wind, “Oh, my grandfather! send a breeze on the
western end of this pile.” His grandfather heard him, and soon there
was a mighty fire. When well kindled, he said, “Let the breeze be
still.” Immediately it died out. Very soon the snakes came on again in
the whirlwind, and rushing into the fire, every one was killed.

Now free, Otʻhegwenhda hurried along the northern trail again until
he came to a second one leading toward the northeast. Once more
taking out the fetish, he asked, “Which way shall I go?” “North,” was
the answer. So he went on. Soon he saw a trail going toward the
northwest, but he kept straight on his own trail to the end. At first
he saw nothing there, but after a long search he found an opening
near a birch tree which stood at the end of the trail. On entering, he
came to a room in which an old man sat smoking. “What can that
old man be doing,” thought he. Presently the old man straightened
up, saying: “I am weak this morning. It seems to me somebody is
around here. I thought the man who guarded the opening said the
Hongak family were all dead.” Raising his head, the old man looked,
and as he looked, his eyes seemed to stand out from his head. At
length he saw the boy, to whom he said: “My nephew, I am glad you
have come to visit me. I am going to try whether I can find what
luck (or orenda) you have. So saying, he shook a rattle made of
Dagwanoenyent, saying sáwa. [385]“No,” said Otʻhegwenhda, “I will
try your orenda or magic power.” “Oh, no! I will try first,” said the old
man, whose name was Dewaqsentʻhwûs (Flea). Thereupon they
disputed until they came to blows. Throwing down the rattle, the old
man struck the boy with one hand. Immediately the old man’s arm
fell off; he struck with the other hand, whereupon the other arm fell
off. Then he kicked at the youth with one leg, and that broke off; he
kicked with the other leg, which likewise dropped off. The old man
was now merely head and body. The arms and the legs tried to get
back into their places, but Otʻhegwenhda rushed around to push
them away, and shot an arrow through the old man. Immediately
the arrow, taking root, became a small tree. Though fastened to the
earth, the old man tried to bite Otʻhegwenhda, but the moment he
did so, his head flew off. The boy pounded the body to bits. Jumping
and dancing around, he said, “Oh! my uncle is all in pieces.” In the
old man’s lodge he found a second room, in which were the last
three of his brothers, who were as weak and wretched as were the
others. These he cured in like manner and sent home. Their mother
drove them out of the lodge, whence they went and sat down on the
rocks with their father and six brothers.
After his brothers had gone home Otʻhegwenhda, taking out the
fetish, asked it, “Is there anything on the northeastern trail?” “Not
much. Still you will save some people, if you go there,” was the
reply. “Is there trouble in the northwest?” the youth asked. “Yes; but
not very much,” was the answer. Keeping on to the end of the
northwestern trail, Otʻhegwenhda found a lodge without a door, at
which he thought, “How can I get into this lodge?” Peeping through
a crack, he saw within an old woman of the Onweaunt people, who
was singing, “Otʻhegwenhda is coming, Otʻhegwenhda is coming.”
“Well, she knows I am here,” thought the boy. Presently, saying, “I
will go out and play,” she went into a small but very deep lake, called
Dyunyudenodes, also Dedyoendjongoqden, 335 going way down into
the water. After a while her tail appeared moving around in a circle
on the water. As the lake was very small she was near the shore.
The boy saw on the tail two small objects like fins, which in rubbing
against each other made music. After the old woman had played a
while, she started to come out. Seeing the boy, she said, “My
grandson, do not kill me; I never killed any of your people.” “If you
give me something, I won’t kill you,” answered the boy. “Well, I will
give you one of these points on my tail;” and taking off one, she
said, “Keep this; it is good to find out your luck with.” “What shall I
do when I want to use it?” asked the youth. “Put it under your head
when you go to sleep; you will have a dream, and the dream will tell
you what you want to know,” she replied. [386]

Now the boy went home with the old woman. On entering her lodge
and looking around, he saw an opening in the ground; going
through this, he found a great many people almost dead. To these
he said, “My friends, I have come to help you, so you may live a
little longer.” Having spat on his hands, he rubbed each one of them,
whereupon all were well straightway, and went out into the open air.
He asked all where they came from and told them what direction to
take to go home. One said, “I came from Hetgen Tgastende.” There
were ten with him; they were Donyonda people. “Go toward the
southwest for five days,” the youth told him. Another said, “We came
from Gawenogowanenne.” “Go westward five days’ journey,” he
ordered. Twenty followed him; they were Teqdoon people. A third
person said, “We came from Dyoenhdanódes;” these were Díhdih
people. 336 “Go toward the northeast,” he directed them. A fourth
person said, “We live in Dyonondadenyon; 337 our chief’s name is
Honigonowanen.” These were Djoqgweani 338 people. Otʻhegwenhda
said: “I must go to pay you a visit. You have twenty days’ journey
before you.”

All went home. When they were gone, Otʻhegwenhda went back to
the old woman, whom he asked, “Why did you shut up these
people?” “I did not shut them up,” she replied. “Well, they were in
your lodge,” he continued. “Yes, but my husband, who is a man-
eater, did it,” she responded. “Does he live here? What is his name?”
he asked. “He lives on another trail,” she replied; “his name is
Dewaqsentʻhwûs (the Weeper, or Flea).” The boy, laughing, asked,
“Was that old man your husband? Oh! I killed him some time ago.”
“Are you sure?” “Yes,” he said. “Well, then I am glad. I never liked
him. Your people are safe now, for you killed the man who always
hunted them.” The boy said, “I will let you live this time, but I will
kill you if you ever chase my people.”

Otʻhegwenhda now went on the northeastern trail until he came to a

lodge in which he heard singing in a very low voice: “The youngest
son of Hongak is going all over the world. We wish he would come
to visit us.” Then the song ceased, and a woman’s voice said, “I feel
worse this morning.” “Let us go out and play and feel well,”
answered the man’s voice. Coming out, with the boy following them,
they went to some white flints as large as a lodge. Picking up one of
these stones, the woman threw it into the air. It fell on her head but
did not hurt her a bit. Then she threw it to the man who, having
caught it, threw it back. Thus they played some time until the
woman said, “Let us go home.” “Very well,” answered the man.
Otʻhegwenhda hurried on before them. After they had entered the
lodge, the man said: “It seems as though some one were here. I will
go and look outside.” On going out and finding the boy, he said, “My
grandson, what are you doing here?” [387]The youth replied, “I have
come just to visit you.” “Come inside then,” was the response.
“Otʻhegwenhda has come,” said the man to his wife, who turned,
saying: “My grandson, I am glad you have come. We have been
waiting for a long time to see you. Now we will tell you why we wish
you to be powerful. We know that you have killed the man-eater,
Dewaqsentʻhwûs, and the skeletons of Tsodiqgwadon and
Ganiagwaihegowa. There are many people under our lodge and we
want you to free them.” At one corner of the room was an opening
through which the boy passed into a second very large room, in
which he found a multitude of people without flesh and almost dead.
He rubbed them with spittle, thus curing them, after which he
brought them out. “Now,” said he, “you are all free and need have
no further fear, for the evil people are all dead.” He then asked all
where they came from. One party, the Djoñiaik people, said they
came from Diogegas he Tgawenonde (Hickory Point). “You go
southward fifty days,” he told them; and they went. The second
party, the Gaisgense people, said they came from Gendowane (Great
Meadow). “You go toward the southeast,” he told them. A third
party, the Djagwiu people, said they came from Gahadowane (Great
Forest). “You go toward the southeast,” he told them. A fourth party,
the Ogenhwan people, said they came from Diodonhwendjíagon
(Broken Land). A fifth party, the Gwaqgwa people, said they came
from Hehdon dyóondaien (Juneberry Tree Grove). “Go directly
westward a day and a half,” was the command. A sixth party, the
Guro 339 people, said that they came from Nitgendasédyea (Beyond
the Narrow Opening). “You travel toward the south five days’
journey,” he said. Three were left who did not remember at first