The Devil at the Dance
By Laurie Leclair
Lottie Marsden, a citizen of Chippewas of Rama First Nation, was an early ethnographer. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ms. Marsden gathered hundreds of tales, eventually relaying them to the anthropologist, George Edward Laidlaw. The stories were published by the Department of Education between the years 1915 and 1918.
Ms. Marsden remembered one story, which she called “The Old Couple Visited by the Devil”.
“This story was told to me some years ago. There is an Indian village on the Georgian Bay, and the Indians living there are not Christians. They do not believe in heaven or hell,” she told Laidlaw. But for one elderly couple, that all changed on a mild winter night when all the younger folks were at a community dance. Hearing noise outside and believing that revellers were returning from the hall, the old man went outside to see. He saw a young man walking toward him, but rather than the patter of footsteps, the sound of hoof beats rang through the silence of the evening. Sensing an evil presence, the old man went inside and relayed what he had just witnessed to his wife and the pair, petrified by fear, could only sit and wait for the man to enter the house.
Lottie continued the story:
“He was a stranger. They didn’t know who he was. He seemed to know all their business. He said to them, ‘You are not to the dance?’ They were surprised that he knew everything that went on in the village. He said to them, ‘I haven’t known you for a long time.’ The old lady was sitting behind the stove. She didn’t like to look at him….”
The old woman soon realized that the young stranger was the Devil. The Devil pulled up a chair and sat down close to her. Here he remained for a long time, offering the couple expensive gifts, which they refused to take. He soon tired of their company and said ,“I can’t beat you.” He left but promised, “I will come back again sometime.”
And he did return, in several different places and incarnations. Anishinabek Nation Southeast Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief James “JimBob” Marsden tells a story about this Devil taking part in the dancing at Alderville First Nation’s old hall, around harvest time.
“He was well-dressed and seemed to fit in and enjoy the night until someone noticed he had hooves,” wrote Marsden.
Presumably angered by being discovered, the creature left the hall and began to chase a couple who were riding down the road in a horse and buggy. But growing bored with the pursuit, he finally ran past them and disappeared down a side road.
This Devil got around. From Alderville, he also made a stop at a dance in Aamjiwnaang First Nation. According to Chief Christopher Plain, this time, the creature’s tail, which peaked out from his suit coat, gave him away. When he appeared in Kahnawake, Rose-Anne Morris recalls, he still was dressed in a top hat and fine clothing, but like the Georgian Bay visit, only came to judge and would do no harm if the person was perceived as kind or good.
Finally, there are still people around who remember a visitation in Wiikwemkoong, except he wasn’t a stranger. Bruno Henry recalls being told a story of two cousins who were walking down a lane, 30-40 years ago, when they saw the brother of a community member just sitting on the stone wall of some old ruins. The three men chatted then parted ways. Back home it happened that the gentleman’s sister was visiting the home of one of the cousins’ sisters. They mentioned that they had ran into the man. Surprised, the sister replied, “You couldn’t have. He has been firefighting up north all week and not expected back for at least another two weeks.”
Similar stories are also part of Métis, Mexican, Acadian and French-Canadian cultures. Sometimes, as in the Mexican version, they are used as cautionary tales to wily daughters who might slip out to a dance without parental permission. In a French-Canadian version, participating in a sacrilegious activity, such as playing poker on a Sunday, was enough to summon a visit from the Hoofed Stranger.
But at this time of year, it pays to be cautious, and as we head out on twilight walks through the woods or to attend a harvest dance, we would do well to behave and remember Ms. Marsden’s story and the Devil’s promise, “I will come back again sometime.”