A Wabanaki Legend
There was in the Old Time a great rogue named Badger. The Wabanaki storytellers, who talk of men as though they were animals and animals as though they were men, sometimes spoke of Badger as a man and sometimes as an animal. It was agreed, however, that he had something of Lox in him--Lox, you remember, who was the son of Evil and who sometimes took on the form of a badger. And that is how this Indian known as Badger got his name.
Now this fearless and impudent rascal lived a carefree life on the labor of others, having no time from merrymaking to spend on hunting. In time, however, his neighbors grew tired of supporting him. One summer when food was scarce, the Chief of Badger's tribe said to him:
Badger Brigade
North & West
Valley of the Sun
Miguel Robidoux
The badger's skill at digging has led to folk beliefs that the animal's paws give good luck in childbirth. The Pueblo people consider the badger great healers and believe them to be intimately connected to their shamans.The American badger ranges over the greater part of the western and central United States as well as northern Mexico and southern Canada. Like the Eurasian badgers it is a powerful digger, but some of its behaviors differ from those of its relatives.Unless it is courting or rearing young, the American badger lives apart from others of its kind. It hunts, wanders and sleeps in temporary burrows within a given territory, often inhabiting holes excavated by other animals and sometimes even sharing space with the original tenants. Because of their fidelity and gentle nature, badgers are seen by some as a symbol of love and loyalty.
