English

Long ago, in the days when dangerous giant animals roamed the land, a giant wolverine set up pointed stakes at the bottom of a big hill called Hodoòdzoo. When people slid down, the stakes pierced and killed them.

Yamǫǫ̀zha traveled to Hodoòdzoo and he saw the wolverine’s stakes at the bottom of the hill. He slid down slowly and stopped before he reached the stakes. Then Yamǫǫ̀zha made his nose bleed and spread the blood on his caribou skin shirt. He placed the shirt over the stake to make it look as though he’d been pierced through the heart.

When the wolverine came, he found Yamǫǫ̀zha lying still. Thinking he was dead, the wolverine placed him in his big birch bark basket and carried him home. When he got home, the wolverine’s family built a fire in their den. Yamǫǫ̀zha could see they were getting ready to cook him.

The wolverine’s son saw that Yamǫǫ̀zha had one eye open. He told his father that Yamǫǫ̀zha was alive and looking at them. The wolverine didn’t believe him. The wolverine’s wife passed the wolverine his big stone knife to cut up Yamǫǫ̀zha. Seeing this, Yamǫǫ̀zha quickly reached into the fire and grabbed a burning log. He hit wolverine and his wife on the head and they fell over dead.

The wolverine’s children ran outside and climbed up a nearby spruce tree. The son begged Yamǫǫ̀zha not to kill him. He promised not to eat people anymore and so Yamǫǫ̀zha beat only his feet, making them flat and wide like wolverines’ feet are today.

This is how Yamǫǫ̀zha made Hodoòdzoo safe for the people again. To this day Tłı̨chǫ slide down Hodoòdzoo to predict their future. If they slide straight it is said they will live a long and healthy life.