Storytelling Week 9: Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind

The North Wind, by John Rae (1921)

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It was a tough time for the Fisher Tribe of the Ice: they had wrangled a large batch of fish the month before, but the spirit of the North Wind had become even more intense and the cold over the land prevented anyone from fishing except for Shin-ge-bis. Shin-ge-bis was the best fisherman in the village, as well as a magical shaman and the most intelligent warrior in his village. He had seen the form of the North Wind spirit face to face, and told the spirit in the previous year that he would show his tribe how to survive even the most dire cold that the spirit could muster. However, the spirit did not like to be questioned in his prowess, and he made the cold over the World of Ice slightly more intense every day.
   However, Shin-ge-bis was anticipating that the spirit was watching his tribe suffer, sadistically enjoying that he was able to show his power over them. Shin-ge-bis knew how proud the North Wind was, and so he unveiled his new idea to further enrage the North Wind. He went out into the frozen lake where all the fishermen of the village used to fish (none had been here since it froze completely over), and used a large saw to cut a hole in the ice. Viola! In no time he was able to fish for his village and no one would starve.
   Enraged, the North Wind saw this as a sign of disrespect and called out to Shin-ge-bis as he was setting his wigwam up around the ice-fishing hole, "You dare mock me, little fisherman? I will bring a new blizzard to blow over your fishing hole!" And so a blizzard came, but the snow instead powdered over the wigwam and instead kept Shin-ge-bis out of the wailing wind. Then, as another affront to the spirit, Shin-ge-bis then lit a  fire, which turned into a massive bonfire. Shin-ge-bis knew this was further angering the North Wind, and so he challenged the spirit,"Yoohoo! If you wish to stop me, you must deal with me yourself. Your usual tricks aren't working!" The North Wind then took his man-like form and the two began to wrestle. Despite Shin-ge-bis putting up a admirable struggle, the North Wind threw him against the windward side of the wigwam, and Shin-ge-bis slumped to the ground.
   "I think you're going to need a blow stronger than that to keep me down." Shin-ge-bis boasted, taking out a heavy fur coat and putting it on. The North Wind charged at Shin-ge-bis, riding the waves of his blizzard and slamming Shin-ge-bis against the side of the wigwam. Shin-ge-bis, barely able to stand, murmurs, "Like I said, you'll need to hit me with your best." The North Wind gathered all of his strength and charged Shin-ge-bis, preparing to end it all. But Shin-ge-bis rolled out of the way, allowing the spirit to crash through the wall of the wigwam and into the blazing inferno on the other side. The North Wind spirit yelled in agony and anger, realizing that he had been tricked. As he fled into the Southeast, Summer came to the Land of Ice for the first time ever and Shin-ge-bis saved his village from starvation. Shin-ge-bis also made sure that from then on when the Winter from the North Wind came, the spirit never stayed too long.

Author's Note: I kept most of the narrative points of the original story. However, I made my version into a little bit more of a showdown fight, where Shin-ge-bis had to be more tactical with his decisions. In the original, Shin-ge-bis was more of a natural trickster who was just really clever and managed to beat the North Wind by the exact same method: making him fall into a fire pit. I just wanted to make my rendition more action-based to help keep the reader's attention. I also made the fight between Shin-ge-bis more personal between them, whereas in the original he simply outwitted the North Wind because he thought it would have been fun (even though his village's livelihood was still at stake).

Bibliography: "Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind" from American Indian Fairy Tales, by W.T. Larned
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