Gluscabi and the Game Animals - Abenaki Long ago Gluscabi decided he would do some hunting. He took his bow and arrows and went into the woods. But all the animals said to each other, "Ah-hah, here comes Gluscabe. He is hunting us. Let us hide from him. So they hid and Gluscabi could not find them. He was not pleased. We went home to the little lodge near the big water where he lived with Grandmother Woodchuck. "Grandmother," he said, "Make a game bag for me." So Grandmother Woodchuck took caribou hair and made him a game bag. She wove it together tight and strong, and it was a fine game bag. But when she gave it to Gluscabi, he looked at it and then threw it down. "This is not good enough," he said. So then Grandmother Woodchuck took deer hair. She wove a larger and finer game bag and gave it to him. But Gluscabi looked at it and threw it down. "This is not good enough, Grandmother," he said. Now Grandmother Woodchuck took moose hair and wove him a very fine game bag indeed. It was large and strong, and she took porcupine quills which she flattened with her teeth, and she wove a design into the game bag to make it even more attractive. But Gluscabi looked at this game bag, too, and threw it down. "Grandmother," he said. "This is not good enough." "Eh, Gluscabi," said Grandmother Woodchuck, "how can I please you? What kind of game bag do you want?" Then Gluscabi smiled. "Ah, Grandmother," he said, "make one out of woodchuck hair." So Grandmother Woodchuck pulled all of the hair from her belly. To this day you will see that all woodchucks still have no hair there. Then she wove it into a game bag. Now this game bag was magical. No matter how much you put into it, there would still be room for more. And Gluscabi took this game bag and smiled. "Oleohneh, Grandmother," he said. "I thank you." Now Gluscabi went back into the woods and walked until he came to a large clearing. Then he called out as loudly as he could, "All you animals, listen to me. A terrible thing is going to happen. The sun is going to go out. The world is going to end and everything is going to be destroyed." When the animals heard that, they became frightened. They came to the clearing where Gluscabi stood with his magic game bag. "Gluscabi," they said, "What can we do? The world is going to be destroyed. How can we survive?" Gluscabi smiled. "My friends," he said, "just climb into my game bag. Then you will be safe in there when the world is destroyed." So all of the animals went into his game bag. The rabbits and the squirrels went in, and the game bag stretched to hold them. The raccoons and the foxes went in, and the game bag stretched larger still. The deer went in and the caribou went in. The bears went in and the moose went in, and the game bag stretched to hold them all. Soon all the animals in the world were in Gluscabi's game bag. Then Gluscabi tied the top of the game bag, laughed, slung it over his shoulder and went home. "Grandmother," he said, "now we no longer have to go out and walk around looking for food. Whenever we want anything to eat we can just reach into my game bag." "Oh, Gluscabi," she said, "why must you always do things this way? You cannot keep all of the game animals in a bag. They will sicken and die. There will be none left for our children and our children's children. It is also right that is should be difficult to hunt them. Then you will grow stronger trying to avoid being caught. Then things will be in the right balance." "Kaamoji, Grandmother," said Gluscabi, "That is so." So he picked up his game bag and went back to the clearing. He opened it up. "All you animals," he called, "You can come out now. Everything is all right. The world was destroyed, but I put it back together again." Then all of the animals came out of the magic game bag. They went back into the woods, and they are still there today because Gluscabi heard what his Grandmother Woodchuck had to say. Taken from the book Keepers of the Earth From the Archives of Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.