Wolverine and the skunk

It is said that, once there was a meeting of all the animals.  Among all of the animals assembled, there were bison, skunk, bear and beaver.  Those who played ball with a rock, I suppose.  No doubt the skunk ran here and there among the players.  When it passed close to Wolverine, the latter said without malice: « Phew!  It gives out a detestable smell. »

Certainly, a skunk does not smell very nice and again less so when it squirts its jet.  These words hurt the skunk deeply.

Winter came, the animals found themselves scattered each to their own side.  The skunk and Wolverine, but the latter knew that the skunk would come and find him.  Even though winter was well advanced, the skunk was still very annoyed and still wanted to see Wolverine.  The other animals called Wolverine, our great brother.

The skunk devoured all of its companions up to the last.  I can assure you that it became larger and larger; finally it was enormous.

During this time, Wolverine assembled his friends, the weasel and the bison, finally, the whole world.  All converged to a place where the river was clear despite the winter cold.  The friends built a cabin.

For its part, the weasel explored round about.  Having seen a road, she plunged under the snow, and approached a place where someone had passed.  In this way, it captured the smell of the skunk.  Then, it returned, told Wolverine that it had seen traces of the skunk during its outing.

A little while later, the skunk stood on top of the mountain. Wolverine and his friends saw his reflection in the clear water of the river, as though it was a mirror.  The skunk came down the mountain and came close to Wolverine.

The skunk turned its back and walked backwards, while the Wolverine attentively watched the water in one of the holes it had made.  (One does that when a beaver is in its lodge because the water is agitated when it gets out; Wolverine did the same thing to catch beaver.)

While Wolverine was sitting there watching the water, the skunk continued to walk backwards and approached him. « Do you see me?  Asked the skunk.  No, Wolverine replied.  Do not move, I am busy watching the water.  Watch me all the same. »

It must be said that Wolverine had made two holes in the ice.  After making the first hole, Wolverine made the second hole at a distance equal to the length of the skunk (no one thought that the wolverine could dive in). « You could always glance at me, the skunk insisted. »

But Wolverine remained seated looking at his water hole.

As incredible as that might seem, Wolverine finished by glancing at the skunk.  Immediately, it turned its back and squirted its perfume to spray the face.  But just in time, Wolverine dove into the water hole.

The skunk turned rapidly to face her adversary and Wolverine used the time to get out and bite its behind.  In this way, it blocked the anal glands, striving to hold on until the arrival of others to whom it had signalled to come and help.  Its young brothers killed the skunk with blows from lances, cutting it into small pieces.  This is why today the skunk is small.  If they had not done that, it would still have been very large.

This adventure had unsettled Wolverine so much, that he lost consciousness. « Who will cure him?  Bison or Weasel?  Bison. »

Then, it let its musk fall on the muzzle of Wolverine, and he regained a little of his senses.  He was blind and smelled very strong.  His sole desire now was to go and soak in the sea.

Wolverine asked his brothers to cover his head and point him towards the place where he could find the sea.  They did that and Wolverine went on his way.  Even when evening came, they could still hear him walking.

At the place from which he left, there were no trees.  In his blind walk in the direction of the sea, Wolverine bumped into a tree.  « What tree are you?  Me, I am a black spruce. »  Once again, he bumped into a tree.  « What tree are you?  I am a firtree, the one that grows near the sea. »

Wolverine knew that it was not much further to the sea and continued his route by running.  Once again, he bumped into a tree that was said to be an aspen and grew close to the coast.  There he punished the tree by beating it.  Wolverine took some branches of the firtree and whipped the tree, until it had marks all over the bark.  It is thus that the aspen carries the marks ever since Wolverine whipped it like that.  A little further on, he bumped into a birch tree; he took it in his hands and twisted it.  Previously there, trees held themselves straight.

He continued to walk until he bumped into something else that he asked for its identity.  « I am one of the bushes that is found on the sea shore. »

Wolverine continued until he sensed something particular under his feet.  « Who are you?  I am driftwood that the sea continually deposits on the beaches »

Wolverine continued walking until he sensed he was deep into something.  « What is your name?  I am called sea sand. »

Finally, he sensed he was penetrating into something that said that it was the sea.  After this discovery, he raised his head and his mouth.  He tore into little pieces what was covering his head, decreeing that people should name them marine algae (seaweed).

Who is Wolverine?

He is a character who is a thief and an illusionist, a player of tricks well known to the Ilnuatsh.  He is a character at the same time pretentious, greedy and clumsy.  Nevertheless, by his endless buffoonery, he has left us some lessons.

Wolverine is an animal that one does not kill to eat, since it smells too bad.  This smell was transmitted to him during body to body contact with a monster, a sort of giant skunk.

Wolverine is ferocious despite its small size.  It can attack a caribou or a moose. It can remove the bait from a trap without the trap taking him and even attacks the food supply depot that is hidden.  When it sprays an animal or a trap it can no longer be used, it must be discarded.  Wolverines have often been hunted, so well that they almost do not exist today.

The adventures of Wolverine are numerous.  The legend today is that which puts Wolverine into contact with a giant skunk that gave him his smell and modified his appearance a little.  In effect, since this adventure, Wolverine has a mark on its head resembling a band, without doubt similar to that which its friends had put over its eyes.

This misadventure allowed Wolverine to know the species of tree that grow inside the territory right down to the sea.  In effect, Wolverine left a location where there were no trees, traversed the forest and arrived at the sea.

This legend speaks of a time when animals spoke like humans.  This giant skunk had been a predator of humans, it had to be eliminated.