Cahkâpês (Chahkabesh) is the boy hero of the James Bay Cree sacred stories: small, brave, and impulsive, an orphan raised by his patient elder sister after monstrous beings killed their parents. Despite his tiny size he overcomes huge adversaries, and in his most famous adventures he snares the sun on its path, darkening the world until the snare is cut, and is finally drawn up by the moon, where Cree tradition says his figure can still be seen. Versions of his cycle were recorded at Rupert House and Fort Albany by Alanson Skinner in 1911 and from Swampy and Moose Cree tellers by C. Douglas Ellis in the 1950s and 1960s; the same hero is known to the neighbouring Innu and Naskapi as Tshakapesh.
Domains
the moon
hunting
Powers
to snare the sun on its path and darken the world
to overcome monstrous adversaries far larger than himself
to dwell in the moon, where his figure can still be seen
Sources
Skinner, Alanson. Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 9, pt. 1. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1911.
Ellis, C. Douglas, ed. âtalôhkâna nêsta tipâcimôwina / Cree Legends and Narratives from the West Coast of James Bay. Publications of the Algonquian Text Society. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1995.