Description
The Legend of the Mimigwesseos is a collection of brief stories told by Cree Elder Adam Ballantyne from Pelican Narrows in northeastern Saskatchewan during the 1930s. This set of traditional storytelling is recounted in the first person making the reader feel a direct connection to the Elder. The storyteller explains the significance of the Mimigwesseos or the little people. These little people posses healing powers and they live in rock caves near bodies of water. Adam Ballantyne explains that he has heard many stories about the little people and their interactions with people. In one story he recounts how his wife's grandfather often travelled by canoe down the Saskatchewan River and when he approached a cliff he heard someone talking inside the rock. When he checked his fishing nets, he found that someone had taken the fish and torn the nets. On this occasion, the fisherman saw the little people in a tiny stone canoe nearby. Adam Ballantyne tells of other encounters between humans and the little people. From these stories, the reader learns about the characteristics and healing powers of the Mimigwesseos. This is an important collection of stories from the Woodland Cree of northeastern Saskatchewan. Prentice G. Downes collected these stories in the late 1930s. The daughter of the collector illustrates this text with a series of woodcuts reproduced in black and white. A brief introduction about the storyteller and the collector is provided.