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Wesakaychak the Fly


One day Wesakaychak was walking in the woods and he was hungry. He couldn't find anything to eat. There was a lake near by, so Wesakaychak decided to go to the lake. As he was making his way to the lake he stumbled upon a carcass of a moose, "It must have been wolves that killed it", Wesakaychak thought. There was no meat on the bones and the flies were the only ones left there.

Oh Wesakaychak was really hungry looking at the bones. He thought to himself "If I was a fly, I wouldn't have to eat much and I'd be full". He looked at the flies, and then he decided he was going to do it. He asked the fly "Little brother, I'm hungry, can I turn into a fly, so I can eat? It's been so long since I ate and I'm really hungry". The fly looked at Wesakaychak, "Hmmm...no. If I let you turn into a fly, what trouble will you get into", said the fly. Wesakaychak was hungry. Finally the fly softened up, because Wesakaychak sounded so pitiful.

The fly let Wesakaychak turn into a fly, so he could eat. After Wesakaychak turned into a fly he began to eat, and it didn't take long for him to get full. Wesakaychak was happy that he was a fly, because he could fly, and boy could he fly fast.

Wesakaychak started to fool around and he thought "I'm the best fly that ever was. I can fly better and faster then the other flies, and I've only been a fly for a short time". He flew through the eye socket and out the other socket. He was fooling around, and as he was going to fly in through the neck part of the skull. Only the head of his little fly body made it in when he suddenly turned back into a man.

Now his head was stuck in the skull of the moose. The flies looked at Wesakaychak, and they didn't say anything to each other. They thought to themselves that Wesakaychak was always fooling around. Wesakaychak tried to pull the moose skull from his head but he couldn't. He went to the lake and got it wet and then tried again to pull it off of his head. He tried and tried, but he couldn't do it, it was really stuck.

Wesakaychak heard some children laughing that were swimming near by. "Oh no, I don't want anybody to see me they will laugh at me", he thought. He decided to swim across the lake. "When I get there I will try take this skull off my head", he thought. So he jumped in and started swimming across.

The children saw him swimming, so they got into their canoes and went after him. They started shooting arrows at him and shouting "It's a moose, it's a moose!" They knew it wasn't a moose, only one person would do something like that and it had to be Wesakaychak. The kids were having fun and laughing. Wesakaychak wasn't having any fun at all, he was yelling "It's me Wesakaychak, I'm not a moose!"

There were some people on the shore and they heard the children's shouts. Then they saw the children and and a moose skull floating on the water really fast. "That has to be Wesakaychak", they thought. When Wesakaychak got to the other side he climbed out of the water. "It is him, we were right", the people said, and they laughed. Oh was Wesakaychak ever embarassed. As he got out of the water he stepped onto a rock and slipped. Wesakaychak banged his head and the moose skull cracked in half and fell off of his head.

Wesakaychak looked at the people laughing, even the children were laughing. Wesakaychak ran into the woods.

Story Teller: Marlene Highway
Date: March 2, 2000

 
Ayas Story - Mary Cook Dene Stories Muhikunistikwan*
Othapachikew Pelican Narrows Story The Bear Trail* Wesakichak and the Ducks
Wesuhkichak the Medicine Man* Wihtiko Heartbeat* Wesakaychak the Fly Witiko and the Little Person
Witigo and the Two Women The Last Time a Witiko was seen on the Reindeer River

* These stories are from Lac La Ronge Indian Band Education Branch Curriculum Resource Unit and are available with many others for purchase in booklet form.

Write: Lac la Ronge Indian Band Education, Box 480, La Ronge, SK. S0J 1L0