Storytelling: The Storyteller (Week 10)

Symbol of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) People

“Come, children.  Gather around.”

           Though his eyes were closed, he could hear the pitter-patter of little feet scurrying around the room.  When he opened his eyes, most of the children had flocked to him.  Only a two stragglers were left slowly toddling their way toward him.  He waited patiently as all the young ones got situated.  The other children fidgeted habitually, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.  Finally, the children quieted down and made an attempt to sit still.  He was ready to tell his story.

           “How many of you know the story of our people’s greatest citizen?”

           A few children darted their eyes around their peers, hoping to see if anyone knew the answer to his question.  One of the older children, a girl of about twelve, raised her hand.  When he looked at the girl, she answered him.

           “Um, was he a warrior?”  The storyteller looked at the child and smiled.

           “No, my dear, he was not.”

           “Oh! Oh! Oh!  It must have been a medicine man!”  This response came from an excited boy of seven.  He was rocking back and forth and bouncing a bit with excitement.

           “No, child.  This citizen was no medicine man.”  The boy’s face fell slightly when he heard this.

           “Was the citizen a great chief or a leader?”  The storyteller shook his head.

           “The citizen was neither chief nor leader.  No, this great citizen was something much more than chief or medicine man or warrior.  This citizen, this man, was clever.”

           A few of the children made noises of indignation.  One even protested that there was nothing better or nobler than a warrior.  The storyteller just shook his head at the child.

           “This citizen is the reason why we are able to survive throughout the winter.  Even though he is long dead, it is because of him that we are able to get through every winter.  His name was Shingebis, and he was a fisherman.”

           “But how can a fisherman save us when a warrior cannot?  How is the fisherman a better citizen?”

           “Because, child, this fisherman in particular defeated the North Wind when no other person, warrior or otherwise, was able to.  It used to be that this time of the year, when the winds turn icy and the ground turns hard, we would flee this area for one that was more accommodating.  We would have to leave all that we had built and take only what we could carry.  Shingebis changed this.  He and a few fellow fisherman stayed back while everyone else left for the winter.  These fisherman stayed as long as they could and caught as much fish as they possibly could before the North Wind drove them off.  Only Shingebis stayed behind.  His companions warned him not to stay, but he refused to give in to the North Wind.

           “Several times, the North Wind tried to drive him out and to freeze him.  It even tore away at his dwelling.  But Shingebis realized something very important.  Heat made the North Wind shrink.  Shingebis waited until the North Wind tried to sneak into his dwelling again and weakened him with the fire.  The two grappled for a long time.  The North Wind almost won.  The fight ended up outside of Shingebis’ dwelling, where the cold ran free and there was no fire.  Shingebis had to think quickly, before the North Wind regained its strength.  He suddenly had an idea.  When the North Wind came toward him again, he did not move away.  Instead, he lunged forward and wrapped himself around the North Wind.  The two struggled like this for many minutes.  Eventually, though, Shingebis saw the fruits of his labor.  The North Wind was shrinking from exertion and Shingebis’ body heat.”

“Wait, are you saying that Shingebis hugged him death?”  This made the old man laugh lightly.

“No, young one.  Not to death.  We still experience the North Wind today.  But now the North Wind retreats for us and we can now stand him more than we could before.  That is why we no longer have to move around with the seasons.  It is why we can have permanent dwellings and villages.”

A few of the children oohed and awed.  Others looked at him, as if they wanted more.  The storyteller just shook his head.  

“I will have another story for you tomorrow.”

Author's Note:
I wrote my story about the section from American Indian Fairy Tales unit called Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind. The entire unit uses the story of Iagoo, the storyteller, as a frame work for the smaller tales. I found that particularly interesting, so I chose to use that for my own story as well and explore it a little more. I also really enjoyed the story about the North Wind, so I wanted to incorporate that a bit as well. I stuck pretty close to the original story, but I summarized it more. I wanted to do a retelling of that too, but the word count would have been outrageous for the assignment.

American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).