Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths Thirty-Second Annual...

There was a grandmother living with her granddaughter. They had a skin of some kind for their blanket, the hair of which had largely worn off. Suddenly they found that the skin had become alive24a and was angry, and with all their might they ran for their lives. They heard the skin coming in fierce pursuit and it seemed very near to them. Then the grandmother began to sing, saying in her song, “My granddaughter and I are running our best for life; my granddaughter and I are running our best for life.” At the end of the song she could scarcely hear the sound of the animate skin following them. Not long afterward she heard it more plainly, but then they were near home. When they reached the lodge, the animate skin was so near it almost caught them. When they jumped through the door the skin clawed at them, scratching their backs, but they got in. The skin was a bear. The old woman and her granddaughter were chipmunks. Chipmunks now have stripes on their backs as the result of the scratches received by the two mentioned above.