A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The hunter lives with a sister at the edge of a lakeside village. Prospective brides accompany the sister to meet his return; anyone claiming to see him must identify the material of his strap or sled line. Answers such as rawhide expose the pretenders. At home his removed moccasins become visible, although the man himself remains unseen to them.

A girl called Oochigeaskw has been burned and scarred by her elder sister. She makes clothes from birch bark and wears her father’s old moccasins to attempt the test despite public ridicule. She identifies a rainbow as the hunter’s sled line and the Milky Way as his bowstring. The sister accepts her account, bathes away her scars, restores her hair and gives her wedding clothing. The hunter welcomes her as his wife.

Leland’s presentation visibly combines evidence: the chapter is labelled Mi’kmaq, but notes distinguish its moose-associated hero and rainbow wording from Passamaquoddy material. A separate account credited to Tomah Josephs concerns a child whose recovered vision is tested by identifying comparable celestial equipment. It is not the same abused-girl marriage story.

Rand’s longer tale XII, The Invisible Boy: Team’ and Oochigeaskw, credits Susan Barss, recorded at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in winter 1848 and translated in May 1869. Team’ has a moose-associated protective power and can himself take moose form. In this version Oochigeaskw recognizes his rainbow shoulder strap; her second sister is less cruel than the eldest and honestly admits she cannot see him. After the wedding, the couple have a son. His aunt warns that a moose leg bone must not be broken before Team’ returns from hunting. The child breaks it while playing, and the women find Team’ with a corresponding broken leg. He sends his wife and child back to her father.

Team’ tells his sister that recovery is impossible and asks her to kill him. After she obeys he lies as a moose, which she prepares; its head skin becomes a bag that must remain in her care for his protection to continue. The bag guides her safely away from a visiting Kookwés and past two enormous sleeping serpent-magicians. In a village she leaves it hidden while she goes out. An old woman discovers it, grasps a man’s hair and releases an armed, painted man. He kills both women in the lodge and attacks people outside. His sister recognizes him and appeals to him, but he rebukes her failure to care for him and strikes her down. The narrative ends there, without reconciliation or an explicit statement that she dies. This continuation is retained as the Barss–Rand witness rather than grafted onto Leland’s preferred marriage ending.

Usually invisible to prospective bridesCelestial objects serve as hunting equipmentMarriage follows demonstrated perception
01

Origins & earliest records

The located publication is Leland’s 1884 chapter The Invisible One. Its editorial notes acknowledge differing community versions and the author’s decisions about where the narrative properly ends. The volume does not justify assigning one modern pan-Wabanaki personal name to this composite presentation.

02

Records & interpretation

The full marriage narrative and the adjoining Josephs comparison were read. Leland’s solar-deity, Cupid-and-Psyche and Cinderella theories are excluded as unproved derivations. The girl’s recovery is a tale event, not evidence that the hunter’s appearance or cult was uniform across the communities compared. Rand’s complete101–109 continuation and named teller/date note were read through the final attack; its longer ending is distinct from Leland’s composite version.

In the literature

“she bathed her, and as she washed all the scars disappeared from face and body.”
Charles Godfrey Leland · The Algonquin Legends of New England
The Invisible One; complete selected prose episode and specifically described attached commentary · Leland English collector/reteller; exact individual source qualifications retained

Only his sister sees the invisible hunter until the abused youngest girl truthfully describes the celestial sled-string and bow-string. The sister removes the girl’s scars, restores her hair and dresses her as a bride; the hunter recognizes her and she becomes his wife. Leland’s solar-myth/Cinderella/Norse-source theories are editorial comparisons, not verified origins. Main Mi’kmaq narrative narrator is not individually named in the inspected text.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Algonquin Legends of New England

    Charles Godfrey Leland · 1884

    The Invisible One; complete main marriage narrative and immediately following T. Josephs comparison; later appended song is a separately collected fragment.

  2. 02

    Legends of the Micmacs

    Silas Tertius Rand; edited by Helen L. Webster; tale told by Susan Barss · 1894

    Complete XII, The Invisible Boy: Team’ and Oochigeaskw, pp.101–109. Closing note gives Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, winter1848; translationMay1869.

  3. 03

    The Algonquin Legends of New England — The Invisible One

    Charles Godfrey Leland; individual teller boundaries in attestations · 1884

    The Algonquin Legends of New England, original work1884; selected Gutenberg6803 plain transcription lacks a printed imprint/page sequence in inspected frontmatter, exact print impression and printed pages unidentified. Full author Preface and Authorities independently read.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

The Algonquin Legends of New England

The Algonquin Legends of New England, original work1884; selected Gutenberg6803 plain transcription lacks a printed imprint/page sequence in inspected frontmatter, exact print impression and printed pages unidentified. Full author Preface and Authorities independently read.

  1. Only his sister sees the invisible hunter until the abused youngest girl truthfully describes the celestial sled-string and bow-string. The sister removes the girl’s scars, restores her hair and dresses her as a bride; the hunter recognizes her and she becomes his wife. Leland’s solar-myth/Cinderella/Norse-source theories are editorial comparisons, not verified origins. Main Mi’kmaq narrative narrator is not individually named in the inspected text.

    The Invisible One; complete selected prose episode and specifically described attached commentary

  2. The separate Passamaquoddy comparison already has a hunter, wife and boy whose regained vision his mother tests with celestial equipment questions and a beaver on the sled. This is a different household and verification episode, not a newly inserted child or sequel in the preceding marriage narrative.

    The Invisible One, immediately following T.Josephs blind-child comparison in prose note

No whole collection/introduction, independent audio transcript or separately cited European source reviewed. Editorial diffusion theories and racial/civilizational hierarchies not endorsed. Only this reproduced comparison inspected, not a separate original manuscript or complete Passamaquoddy narrative; no validated chronology or diffusion claim.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textLeland: complete located narrative and contributor notesResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Primary textRand1894: Susan Barss’s complete Invisible BoyResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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