Seneca myths and folk tales

An old man had a house far back in the woods, a long ways from any village. It stood in the midst of a good hunting ground. The old man always welcomed any hunting party and provided them with all the utensils necessary for curing their meats and tanning their pelts. It seemed however, that the place was haunted by an evil spirit that delighted to inflict those who tarried there with very bad dreams, and sometimes it killed them by sucking out their blood like a weasel.

One time, so it is said, a man and his wife and child went to this hunting ground and went to the lodge of Taiiani Gowa, the old man of the solitudes, to ask for shelter. Now when he called there was no answer and so he entered and found Taiiani Gowa dead in a bark coffin. This coffin had been prepared long before and Taiiani Gowa having a premonition of coming death had crawled in his box and died; so the man said.

Now it was nightfall and the man lay down beside his wife and baby to pass the night. Toward the hour of midnight the woman was awakened by a sound of gnawing,—cautiously she looked about and sliding out her hand on the floor felt a warm pool of blood. Quickly she realized what had occurred. The old man was dead but his evil spirit was making him conform to its vampire appetite. It was chewing off the face of her husband. But she did not scream, instead she said carefully, “Husband, our child wishes water, you are too sleepy to care for her while I go for some, so I will take her with me, give her a drink and soon return.” With these words she arose and went out carrying a bowl with her. She ran to the spring, dropped the bowl and then ran toward home as fast as her strength gave her ability for running. “Unless I hasten,” she thought, “the tcĭs´gä will overtake and devour me. I heard him go back to his coffin, but his hunger will soon return and he will come for us, and finding us missing, will pursue us. Oh my baby, we must hurry!”

An echo of a loud cry sounded through the silent forest and the woman caught the words, “She has deceived me!” Then she knew that the tcĭs´gä had started on her track. She heard him at the spring, so she used all her speed to escape him, but presently she heard a growling close behind her and heard him exclaim, “Ah you cannot escape me!” Unloosening her skirt she flung it on a swinging branch and hurrying on, hear the tcĭs´gä crying, “Ah now I have you!” Then he tore the garment into shreds and found out his mistake. So then he ran screaming on. When he had neared her again she threw her blanket upon a log and ran on. The tcĭs´gä stopped and whooped because he was very angry. Then he chewed up the blanket but finding no blood rushed on after his victim, only to be delayed again and again by the same trick. After a time she had stripped herself and her baby of all their clothing and she was nearly exhausted, with the tcĭs´gä close upon her; then she heard the sound of drumming across a little valley and crying “Goweⁿ‘” she ran on. The sentinel outside the long house heard her cry and gathering a number of warriors about him, ran at full speed toward the cry of distress. Each warrior bore a flaming torch the lights of which confused the pursuing tcĭs´gä and gave hope to the woman. Throwing their robes about her the warriors carried her to the long house where after reviving her from her faint, they heard her story. Then said the chief, “If her story is true we must keep the lights burning and dance till morning for the tcĭs´gä may return and kill us all; on the morrow we will send a party to examine the lodge of Taiiani Gowa and find out what the trouble is.” So the dance continued all night and in the morning a party headed by the chief went to the lodge of Taiiani Gowa and found the dead man in his coffin and the husband with his face chewed clean to the skull. Then the chief stepped to the side of the coffin and said, “We have come to make a great ceremony. We will bind up your box and then have our ceremony.” The warriors bound up the coffin with their strongest ropes and piled it high with brush and logs. Then a torch was applied and the coffin was surrounded by flames. The old man could not escape although he threatened terrible results for he could not pass outside of the flames. So his head burst and a white rabbit ran forth into the underbrush, eluding all the arrows of the warriors and escaping. Then did the people prove that Tiaiiani Gowa was a wizard and discover the form of his evil spirit. Likewise they knew why his guests became sick. He was a bad spirit.