Tales of the Ancestors

Author Name: Hitakonanu Lakhk

"Nanabush came, and the Creator had commanded him to bring the boy back to life. So he built a lodge and covered it, lit a fire, gathered twelve stones, and heated them until they glowed red. Nanabush placed the boy's body in the lodge with the hot stones and closed the door. The stones glowed intensely in the darkness, and Nanabush poured water over them, releasing a large amount of steam that invoked the power of the Creator and the spirits to assist him. And as if the stones were the boy's body, and the fire was his inner fire, and the water his blood, and the steam his breath, the Holy Spirit was present. The Guardian Grandmother returned the boy's spirit to his body, and he was brought back to life once more, sound and healthy."