Cape Breton's Magazine

thing. And finally the Turtle, he had to say something. And he opened his mouth, and luckily he fell in a pond! And these two young Geese told their leader about it. He said, "Our little friend dropped down." Oh. a long story how the leader gave them particular old dickens for bringing anything with them. "Now," he said, "we'll have to go back and pick him up. Or find out how he made out." So they came back and settled on this lake. Oh, stories like that. God! I can remember some of them, but I could never begin to tell that the way he used to tell them. He'd make that story last all evening, till we'd go to sleep, me and my broth? ers.... Or sometimes, when he'd see we were getting too sleepy--"I will tell you about it next time we get sleepy," or "next time we turn in." There's a lot more to that story. And then I don't know whether it's a real story he thinks up, rest of it--think it up the next day, I guess. All the weird hap? penings. Some of the great stories. And about Kluskap. I guess most of it was all damn lies. They (are) just Restaurants • Seafood • Crafts Visit our newly expanded premises. Enjoy delicious food and the breathtaking view of St. Ann's Bay. Full menu selection offered. (Visa, Master Card, American Express accepted) Open 11 a.m.toll p.m. Fully Licensed Trans Canada Highway at St. Ann's, Exit 11, Cabot Trail 295-3100 Since 1914 H. H. Marshall Limited Corporate Head Office Halifax, N.S. 3731 Macintosh Street B3K5N5 • WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS OF PERIODICALS & BOOKS' BRANCH OFFICES CHARLOTTETOWN ST. JOHN'S SYDNEY H. H. Marshall LIMITED, 103 York St., Sydney (539-3220) DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOMED "H. H. MARSHALL LIMITED TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE MANY PEOPLE WE SERVE. IT HAS GIVEN US OUR VALUED HERITAGE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO AN EXCITING FUTURE." what priests--(they were) the ones that made up this Kluskap. I guess Kluskap was quite a smart man. 'Cause I read some? wheres- -I'm like old Will Rogers--all I know is what I read in the papers!... But I've often heard--well, my grandfather, he'd tell us not to believe all those foolish stories about Kluskap... about Five Islands and all that. He said, "The French made them up." It was only when I read this--Jesuit priests--Jesuit missionaries, when they first came over, tried to convert the Mic? mac . They had to write to headquarters in French. He said, "The Micmacs are the hardest people to convert to Christianity. Each time we tell them anything about Je? sus- -they had a teacher whose teaching was so much like Jesus' teaching. And he did miracles like Jesus did. And brought the dead back to life. And made the blind see, and all that." He said, "Almost the same as the teachings of Jesus." So headquarters in France told them to make a liar out of Kluskap. Tell them it was all fairy tales and that nobody can do that. And so they added more on to what Kluskap used to teach. Finally got to a point where the Micmac word for a real good liar: Ke- luskapewin. "You're like Kluskap," or "You look like Kluskap." That means you're tell? ing lies. Keluskapewit. "He's a liar." "He looks like Kluskap," or "He talks like Kluskap." It was a priest that (did that). He went out and Christianized the Micmac. They say that Jesus was the only teacher that taught anything like that or could do anything like that. Not Kluskap. But, too bad they didn't find out origi? nally just what kind of a man Kluskap was. Must be something like Zoroaster.... And then, all the strange tales about the Cold, as if it would be something like a Jack Frost. How this person was in a wig? wam, how he got so cold--even his fire wouldn't burn right. And this Cold, in sort of a human form, would come to the door, and keep looking in, looking in. He knew that if his fire ever went out, that he'd come in, and that he'd freeze to death. But oh, that story's--long, long tale about this, how he got the best of-- how he kept (out)--well, I'd call him Jack Frost. (Ruth Whitehead: What is he called in Micmac?) Tkey. Just another word for cold. Tkey ne'apa'sit Ka'qniktuk. The Cold was peeking in the door. Ah, I forgot the --Kimamit. iCima/nit--peeking. Ketu' mnaqne- wa'lit. He was peeking to see if I was getting any weaker. I was getting cold? er.... Oh, a long tale. All evening's tale about how he got the best of that Cold, kept the Cold from coming in. And even about Thunder, that he was around in human forms. Yes, about Thunder. Weti- wajijik. Our ancestors, rolling stones, or