Stories of the Cahto Tribe
Description of Man Eater
(This is a line-by-line translation (within the limits of English readability)
She brings it to her home.
She eats up its hands while it's still alive.
She eats up both its hands.
She eats up its foot.
She eats up its other foot.
She takes out both of its eyes.
She eats up its large and small intestines.
She eats up its liver and heart.
She eats up its lungs.
She eats up its head, they say.
She builds a fire on it, they say.
She puts rocks on the fireplace, they say.
She builds the fire on a flat stone in the rocks.
It blazes up, they say.
She disembowels it, they say.
She eats it up, they say.
She eats up its liver, they say.
She eats up its lungs, they say.
She eats up its heart, they say.
She cut it up.
She put it on a flat rock.
She buried it.
She threw it in the rocks.
It is cooked.
She brought it back out.
She dried it, they say.
She put it up (on platform to dry), they say.
There is much fat, they say.
It is dry.
She makes a pile of it in an open-work burden basket
She put it away, they say.
That is why she always hunts us.
Because we have a lot of fat.
Her foot is like a Grizzly Bear's.
Her hand is like a human's.
Her teeth are like dog teeth.
Her head is like a human's.
She carries arrowheads in her pocket, they say.
Her eyes glow red, they say
Chintaah-Naashtbaats, her hair is long.
Her ears are like a dog's, her ears are like that, they say.
Professor Goddard's Translation
She brings her game to her home and eats it alive. She eats both its hands and then both feet. She digs out both its eyes. She eats its small intestines, its liver, and its heart. She eats its liver and head. She builds a fire on a flat rock. She throws down the carcass after she has disemboweled it. She covers it up on the flat rock until it is cooked. She uncovers it. She puts it up on a drying frame. There is much fat. When it is dry she puts it in burden-baskets. She piles it up. She puts it away.
That is why she always hunts for us. It is because we are fat. Her foot is like a grizzly's. Her hand is human. Her teeth are like a dog's. Her head is like a man's. She carries arrowheads in her blanket folds. Her eyes gleam. Her hair is long. Her ears are like a dog's.
(Based on Cahto oral traditions and beliefs)
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