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Title: Tlingit myths and texts
Compiler: John Reed Swanton
Release date: June 14, 2026 [eBook #78871]
Language: English
Original publication: Washington DC: Govt. print. off., 1909
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS ***
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
This book includes many accented characters with specific meanings.
These will display using Unicode combining diacriticals. Some examples
of how these will appear on this device:
ī i with a bar over it.
ᴀ and ʟ Small capitol A and L.
x̣, ỵ, ʟ̣ x, y and small capitol L with a dot under them.
ł l with a cross bar through it.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of the story or song.
Tlingit transcriptions have been moved and consolidated to follow the
corresponding paragraph. This has some impact on the pagination. Line
numbers in the Tlingit have been renumbered to _page_-_line number_ to
allow for matching with external references. Line numbers appear at the
right of the line.
The interlinear transcriptions of the Tlingit have been replicated
with the English translation appearing directly under the original
Tlingit. Due to differences in how the combining diacriticals
display this spacing may not render correctly on every device. Phrase
boundaries are delimited by at least two spaces on each side.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 39
TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS
RECORDED BY
JOHN R. SWANTON
[Illustration]
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1909
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY,
_Washington, D. C., May 20, 1908_.
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith for your consideration the
manuscript of Tlingit Myths and Texts, by Dr. John R. Swanton, with
the recommendation that it be published in this Bureau’s series of
Bulletins.
Yours, respectfully,
W. H. HOLMES, _Chief_.
The SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
_Washington, D. C._
CONTENTS
Page
Phonetic Key VIII
Introduction 1
Myths Recorded in English at Sitka 3
1. Raven 3
2. The Big Clam 21
3. English Version of the Story of the Four Brothers 22
4. Origin of the Killer Whale 25
5. Kᴀkaˊ 28
6. The Land-otter Sister 29
7. The Land-otter Son 30
8. The Wolf-chief’s Son 33
9. Wolverine-man 36
10. The Halibut People 38
11. Stories of the Monster Devilfish and the Cry-baby 40
12. The Woman who was Killed by a Clam 41
13. Root-stump 41
14. The Protracted Winter 43
15. Beaver and Porcupine 43
16. The Poor Man who Caught Wonderful Things 45
17. The Finding of the Blue Paint, and How a Certain Creek
Received its Name 46
18. Various Adventures near Cross Sound 47
19. Kātsǃ 49
20. The Unsuccessful Hunters 50
21. Origin of Iceberg House 52
22. The Woman Taken Away by the Frog People 53
23. How the Frogs Honored the Dead 54
24. The Brant Wives 55
25. Story of the Puffin 57
26. Story of the Wain-house People 58
27. The Alsek River People 64
28. The Youthful Warrior 69
29. The First War in the World 72
30. How Protestant Christianity was First Heard Of at Sitka 79
Myths Recorded in English at Wrangell 80
31. Raven 80
32. Kakēˊqǃᵘtê 154
33. Origin of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt 165
34. A Story of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt 170
35. Origin of the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq 173
36. The Thunders 175
37. Origin of the Screech Owl 176
38. Little Felon 177
39. Origin of the Fern Root and the Ground Hog 180
40. The Halibut that Divided the Queen Charlotte Islands 180
41. The Image that Came to Life 181
42. Djīyīˊn 182
43. The Self-burning Fire 186
44. The Giant of Tāˊsna 187
45. The Woman who Married a Land Otter 187
46. The Land-otters’ Captive 188
47. The Man Fed from the Sky 189
48. The Salmon Sack 192
49. Roots 192
50. The Mucus Child 194
51. The Salmon Chief 196
52. The Jealous Uncle 198
53. The Man who Married the Eagle 203
54. The Brant Wife 206
55. The Duck Helper 208
56. The Boy who Shot the Star 209
57. The Boy and the Giant 212
58. The Boy with Arrows on his Head 214
59. Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî 215
60. The Hīn-taỵīˊcî 217
61. The East and North Winds 219
62. The Big Beaver 219
63. Beaver and Porcupine 220
64. The Man who Entertained the Bears 220
65. Mountain Dweller 222
66. How the Sitka Kîksᴀˊdî Obtained the Frog 224
67. Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk 225
68. The Beaver of Killisnoo 227
69. Story of the Grizzly-bear Crest of the Teˊqoedî 228
70. Story of the Eagle Crest of the Nexᴀˊdî 229
71. Story of the Killer-whale Crest of the Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî 230
72. Story of the Nanỵaāˊỵî Crests 231
73. Story of the Frog Crest of the Kîksᴀˊdî of Wrangell 232
74. Story of the Kāˊgwᴀntān Crests 233
75. Migration of the G̣ānᴀxᴀˊdî to Tongass 233
76. The Woman who Married the Frog 236
77. The Girl who Married the ʟǃᴀʟǃ 237
78. The Woman who Married a Tree 238
79. The Girl who Married the Fire Spirit 239
80. Orphan 240
81. The Dead Basket-maker 240
82. The Crying-for Medicine 241
83. The Runaway Wife 242
84. The Rejected Lover 243
85. The Faithless Wife 245
86. The Woman who Married the Dead Man 247
87. The Returned from Spirit Land 249
88. The Sky Country 250
Texts 252
89. The Origin of Copper 252
90. The Man who was Abandoned 262
91. The Shaman who Went into the Fire, and the Heron’s Son 267
92. Mountain Dweller 280
93. Kāhāˊsǃî, the Strong Man 289
94. The ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq 292
95. Origin of the Frog Crest among the Kîksᴀˊdî 294
96. How the Kîksᴀˊdî Came to Sitka 295
97. The Four Brothers 297
98. The Kîksᴀˊdî Woman who was Turned into an Owl 299
99. Moldy-end 301
100. Moldy-end (Wrangell version) 311
101. Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk 321
102. The Sea-lion Hunt 324
103. The War in the Spruce Canoe 325
104. Story of the Kāˊgwᴀntān 326
105. Story of the Kâˊckǃe qoan 347
106. Origin of a Low-caste Name 369
The Tobacco Feast 372
Speeches Delivered at a Feast when a Pole was Erected for the
Dead 374
Words of Songs Taken in connection with Graphophone Records 390
Abstracts of Myths 416
Myths recorded in English at Sitka 416
Myths recorded in English at Wrangell 429
PHONETIC KEY
ā a longer and shorter forms of the Continental _a_, like _a_ in
_far_
â as in _fall_
ᴀ as in _final_; a close approximation to _u_ in _cut_
ē e longer and shorter forms of the Continental _e_, like _a_ in
_fate_
ê as in _bell_
ī i longer and shorter forms of the Continental _i_, like _ee_ in
_street_
î as in _hit_
ō o longer and shorter forms of English _o_, as in _flow_
ū as in _rule_
u as in _put_
ᵘ ᵒ barely formed _o_ and _u_ sounds; rather qualities of the
preceding consonant sounds than independent vowels
q the velar _k_, not found in English
g̣ the velar _g_ corresponding to the preceding, not found in
English
ỵ a sound similar to but deeper than the preceding, pronounced
by the younger Indians almost like English _y_
x the velar spirant, pronounced like Spanish _j_ or German _ch_
x̣ the palatal spirant, often mistaken for _h_
c like English _sh_ in _short_
dz as in _adze_
ts as in _sits_
dj like English _j_ and _dg_ in _judge_
tc like English _ch_ in _church_
ʟ not found in English, but resembling a rapid pronunciation of
_t_ and _l_, or of _k_ and _l_
ʟ̣ not found in English, but resembling a rapid pronunciation of
_d_ and _l_
ł a spirant belonging to the same series as the preceding; not
found in English though often represented by _thl_ or _hl_
t, d, n, s, k, g, h, w, y approximate the sounds for which they stand
in English though the agreement is by no means absolute
tǃ, sǃ, tsǃ, tcǃ, ʟǃ, kǃ, qǃ are similar to _t_, _s_, _ts_, _tc_, _ʟ_,
_k_, _q_, but are accompanied by a catch in the breath which
sometimes gives the impression of a pause, and sometimes
sounds like a sharp click
kˊǃ when _kǃ_ is pronounced very far forward in the mouth it is
sometimes set off in this way, but the distinction between
the two sounds is by no means clear
Labials are found only in a few words of foreign origin
TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS
Recorded by
JOHN R. SWANTON
INTRODUCTION
The following myths and texts were collected at Sitka and Wrangell,
Alaska, in January, February, March, and April, 1904, at the same
time as the material contained in the writer’s paper on the Social
Condition, Beliefs, and Linguistic Relationship of the Tlingit Indians
published in the Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau. For further
information regarding these people the reader is referred to that
paper, to Krause’s Tlinkit Indianer (Jena, 1885), Emmons’ Basketry of
the Tlingit Indians, Niblack’s Coast Indians of Southern Alaska and
Northern British Columbia, Dall’s Alaska and its Resources, Boas’s
Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas (Berlin,
1895), and the same writer in the Fifth Report of the Committee
Appointed by the British Association for the Advancement of Science,
to Investigate the Northwestern Tribes of Canada, and the two special
reports on Alaska for the censuses of 1880 and 1890. Most of the
ethnologic information contained in the works of Veniaminoff and other
early writers is incorporated into the work of Krause.
Stories 7, 19, 94, 101, 102, and 103 were related by the writer’s
Sitka interpreter, Don Cameron, of the Chilkat Kāˊgwᴀntān; stories
96 and 97 by Katlian, chief of the Kîksᴀˊdî; story 105 by a Yakutat
man, Qǃāˊdᴀstin; and all the other Sitka stories, including the texts
numbered 89–93, 95, 98, 99, and 104—by an old man of the Box-house
people, named Dekināˊkǃᵘ. From Katishan, chief of the Kasqǃagueˊdî of
Wrangell, were obtained stories 31, 32, 33, 38, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70,
71, 72, 73, 74, 100, 106, and the potlatch speeches. Stories 34, 35,
42, 50, 52, 53, 54, 57, 64, and 75 were related by an old Kake man
named Kᴀsāˊnkǃ, and the remaining Wrangell tales by Katishan’s mother.
The last mentioned has lived for a considerable time among the whites
at Victoria, but with one exception her stories appear to have been
influenced little by the fact. Her son has been a church member and
shows a moralizing tendency; at the same time he was considered the
best speaker at feasts in past times, and is supposed to have a better
knowledge of the myths than anyone else in Wrangell. Dekināˊkǃᵘ of
Sitka is also a church member but his stories appear to be entirely
after the ancient patterns.
MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT SITKA
1. RAVEN[1]
No one knows just how the story of Raven really begins, so each
starts from the point where he does know it. Here it was always begun
in this way. Raven was first called Kit-kaˊositiyi-qā-yīt (“Son of
Kit-kaˊositiyi-qā”). When his son was born, Kit-kaˊositiyi-qā tried to
instruct him and train him in every way and, after he grew up, told him
he would give him strength to make a world. After trying in all sorts
of ways Raven finally succeeded. Then there was no light in this world,
but it was told him that far up the Nass was a large house in which
some one kept light just for himself.
Raven thought over all kinds of plans for getting this light into the
world and finally he hit on a good one. The rich man living there had a
daughter, and he thought, “I will make myself very small and drop into
the water in the form of a small piece of dirt.” The girl swallowed
this dirt and became pregnant. When her time was completed, they made
a hole for her, as was customary, in which she was to bring forth, and
lined it with rich furs of all sorts. But the child did not wish to
be born on those fine things. Then its grandfather felt sad and said,
“What do you think it would be best to put into that hole? Shall we put
in moss?” So they put moss inside and the baby was born on it. Its eyes
were very bright and moved around rapidly.
Round bundles of varying shapes and sizes hung about on the walls of
the house. When the child became a little larger it crawled around back
of the people weeping continually, and as it cried it pointed to the
bundles. This lasted many days. Then its grandfather said, “Give my
grandchild what he is crying for. Give him that one hanging on the end.
That is the bag of stars.” So the child played with this, rolling it
about on the floor back of the people, until suddenly he let it go up
through the smoke hole. It went straight up into the sky and the stars
scattered out of it, arranging themselves as you now see them. That was
what he went there for.
Some time after this he began crying again, and he cried so much that
it was thought he would die. Then his grandfather said, “Untie the next
one and give it to him.” He played and played with it around behind his
mother. After a while he let that go up through the smoke hole also,
and there was the big moon.
Now just one thing more remained, the box that held the daylight, and
he cried for that. His eyes turned around and showed different colors,
and the people began thinking that he must be something other than
an ordinary baby. But it always happens that a grandfather loves his
grandchild just as he does his own daughter, so the grandfather said,
“Untie the last thing and give it to him.” His grandfather felt very
sad when he gave this to him. When the child had this in his hands,
he uttered the raven cry, “G̣ā,” and flew out with it through the
smoke hole. Then the person from whom he had stolen it said, “That old
manuring raven has gotten all of my things.”
Journeying on, Raven was told of another place, where a man had an
everlasting spring of water. This man was named Petrel (G̣ᴀnūˊk). Raven
wanted this water because there was none to drink in this world, but
Petrel always slept by his spring, and he had a cover over it so as
to keep it all to himself. Then Raven came in and said to him, “My
brother-in-law, I have just come to see you. How are you?” He told
Petrel of all kinds of things that were happening outside, trying to
induce him to go out to look at them, but Petrel was too smart for him
and refused.
When night came, Raven said, “I am going to sleep with you,
brother-in-law.” So they went to bed, and toward morning Raven heard
Petrel sleeping very soundly. Then he went outside, took some dog
manure and put it around Petrel’s buttocks. When it was beginning
to grow light, he said, “Wake up, wake up, wake up, brother-in-law,
you have defecated all over your clothes.” Petrel got up, looked at
himself, and thought it was true, so he took his blankets and went
outside. Then Raven went over to Petrel’s spring, took off the cover
and began drinking. After he had drunk up almost all of the water,
Petrel came in and saw him. Then Raven flew straight up, crying “G̣ā.”
Before he got through the smoke hole, however, Petrel said, “My
spirits up the smoke hole, catch him.” So Raven stuck there, and
Petrel put pitchwood on the fire under him so as to make a quantity
of smoke. Raven was white before that time, but the smoke made him of
the color you find him to-day. Still he did not drop the water. When
the smoke-hole spirits let him go, he flew around the nearest point
and rubbed himself all over so as to clear off as much of the soot as
possible.
This happened somewhere about the Nass, and afterwards he started up
this way. First he let some water fall from his mouth and made the
Nass. By and by he spit more out and made the Stikine. Next he spit out
Taku river, then Chilkat, then Alsek, and all the other large rivers.
The small drops that came out of his mouth made the small salmon creeks.
After this Raven went on again and came to a large town where were
people who had never seen daylight. They were out catching eulachon in
the darkness when he came to the bank opposite, and he asked them to
take him across but they would not. Then he said to them, “If you don’t
come over I will have daylight break on you.” But they answered, “Where
are you from? Do you come from far up the Nass where lives the man who
has daylight?” At this Raven opened his box just a little and shed so
great a light on them that they were nearly thrown down. He shut it
quickly, but they quarreled with him so much across the creek that he
became angry and opened the box completely, when the sun flew up into
the sky. Then those people who had sea-otter or fur-seal skins, or the
skins of any other sea animals, went into the ocean, while those who
had land-otter, bear, or marten skins, or the skins of any other land
animals, went into the woods [becoming the animals whose skins they
wore].
Raven came to another place where a crowd of boys were throwing fat
at one another. When they hit him with a piece he swallowed it. After
a while he took dog’s manure and threw at the boys who became scared,
ran away, and threw more fat at him. He consumed all in this way, and
started on again.
After a while he came to an abandoned camp where lay a piece of jade
(sǃū) half buried in the ground, on which some design had been pecked.
This he dug up. Far out in the bay he saw a large spring salmon
jumping about and wanted to get it but did not know how. Then he stuck
his stone into the ground and put eagle down upon the head designed
thereon. The next time the salmon jumped, he said, “See here, spring
salmon jumping out there, do you know what this green stone is saying
to you? It is saying, ‘You thing with dirty, filthy back, you thing
with dirty, filthy gills, come ashore here.’”
Raven suddenly wanted to defecate and started off. Just then the big
spring salmon also started to come ashore, so Raven said, “Just wait,
my friend, don’t come ashore yet for I have some business to attend
to.” So the salmon went out again. Afterward Raven took a piece of
wild celery (yāˊnaet), and, when the salmon did come ashore, he struck
it with this and killed it. Because Raven made this jade talk to the
salmon, people have since made stone axes, picks, and spears out of it.
Then Raven, carrying along the spring salmon, got all kinds of birds,
little and big, as his servants. When he came to a good place to cook
his fish he said to all of them, “Here, you young fellows, go after
skunk cabbage. We will bury this in the ground and roast it.” After
they had brought it down, however, he said, “I don’t want any of that.
My wife has defecated all over that, and I will not use it. Go back and
pass over two mountains.” While they were gone, Raven put all of the
salmon except one fat piece cut from around the “navel”[2] which is
usually cooked separately, into the skunk cabbage and buried it in the
fire. Before they returned, he dug this up and ate it, after which he
put the bones back into the fire and covered them up.
When the birds at last came back he said to them, “I have been across
two mountains myself. Now it is time to dig it up. Dig it out.” Then
all crowded around the fire and dug, but, when they got it up, there
was nothing there but bones.
By and by the birds dressed one another in different ways so that they
might be named from their dress. They tied the hair of the blue jay
up high with a string, and they added a long tail to the tsǃēg̣ēnîˊ,
another crested bird. Then they named one another. Raven let out the
tsǃēg̣ēnîˊ and told him that when the salmon comes he must call its
slime unclean and stay high up until the salmon are all gone.[3]
Now Raven started off with the piece of salmon belly and came to a
place where Bear and his wife lived. He entered and said, “My aunt’s
son, is this you?” The piece of salmon he had buried behind a little
point. Then Bear told him to sit down and said, “I will roast some dry
salmon for you.” So he began to roast it. After it was done, he set
a dish close to the fire and slit the back of his hands with a knife
so as to let grease run out for Raven to eat on his salmon. After he
had fixed the salmon, he cut a piece of flesh out from in front of his
thighs and put it into the dish. That is why bears are not fat in that
place.
Now Raven wanted to give a dinner to Bear in return, so he, too, took
out a piece of fish, roasted it, set out the dish Bear had used, close
to the fire and slit up the back of his hand, thinking that grease
would run out of it. But instead nothing but white bubbles came forth.
Although he knew he could not do it, he tried in every way.
Then Raven asked Bear, “Do you know of any halibut fishing ground out
here?” He said “No.” Raven said, “Why! what is the use of staying here
by this salt water, if you do not know of any fishing ground? I know
a good fishing ground right out here called Just-on-the-edge-of-kelp
(Gīˊckǃîcuwᴀnyîˊ). There are always halibut swimming there, mouth up,
ready for the hook.”
By and by Raven got the piece of fish he had hidden behind the point
and went out to the bank in company with Bear and Cormorant. Cormorant
sat in the bow, Bear in the middle, and, because he knew where the
fishing ground was, Raven steered. When they arrived Raven stopped
the canoe all at once. He said to them, “Do you see that mountain,
Wasǃēˊtî-cā?[4] When you sight that mountain, that is where you want
to fish.” After this Raven began to fill the canoe with halibut. So
Bear asked him, “What do you use for bait anyhow, my friend?” [Corvus
respondit, “Testium cute ad escam praeparandam utor.” Ursus aiebat
corvo, “Licetne uti meis quoque?” Sed corvus dixit, “Noli id facere,
ne forte sint graviter attriti.” Paulo post ursus aegre ferens aiebat,
“Abscide eos.” Tum corvus cultellum acuens aiebat, “Pone eos extrema in
sede.” Postea corvus eos praecidit, at ursus gemens proripuit circum
scapham et moriens incidit in undas extremo cum gemitu.]
After a while Raven said to Cormorant, “There is a louse coming down
on the side of your head. Come here. Let me take it off.” When he came
close to him, he picked it off. Then he said, “Open your mouth so that
I can put it on your tongue.” When he did open his mouth, however,
Raven reached far back and pulled his tongue out. He did this because
he did not want Cormorant to tell about what he had done. He told
Cormorant to speak, but Cormorant made only a gabbling noise. “That is
how young fellows ought to speak,” said Raven. Then Raven towed the
dead body of the bear behind the point and carried it ashore there.
Afterwards he went to Bear’s wife and began to take out his halibut. He
said to the female bear, “My father’s sister, cut out all the stomachs
of the halibut and roast them.” So she went down on the beach to cut
them out. While she was working on the rest of the halibut, he cooked
the stomachs and filled them with hot rocks. Then he went down and said
to her, “You better come up. I have cooked all those stomachs for you.
You better wash your hands, come up, and eat.” After that Cormorant
came in and tried to tell what had happened but made only a gabbling
sound. Raven said to the bear, “Do you know what that fellow is talking
about? He is saying that there were lots of halibut out where we
fished. Every time we tried to get a canoe load they almost turned us
over.” When she was about to eat he said, “People never chew what I
get. They always swallow it whole.” Before she began she asked Raven
where her husband was, and Raven said, “Somehow or other he caught
nothing, so we landed him behind the point. He is cutting alders to
make alder hooks. He is sitting there yet.”
After the bear had swallowed all of the food she began to feel uneasy
in her stomach, and Raven said to Cormorant, “Run outside quickly and
get her some water.” Then she drank a great quantity of water, and the
things in her stomach began to boil harder and harder. Said Raven, “Run
out Cormorant.” He did so, and Raven ran after him. Then the female
bear ran about inside the house grabbing at everything and finally fell
dead. Then Raven skinned the female bear, after which he went around
the point and did the same thing to the male. While he was busy there
Cormorant came near him, but he said, “Keep away, you small Cormorant,”
and struck him on the buttocks with his hand saying, “Go out and stay
on those rocks.” Ever since then the cormorants have been there. Raven
stayed in that place until he had consumed both of the bears.
Starting on again, Raven came to a place where many people were
encamped fishing. They used nothing but fat for bait. He entered a
house and asked what they used for bait. They said “Fat.” Then he said,
“Let me see you put enough on your hooks for bait,” and he noticed
carefully how they baited and handled their hooks. The next time they
went out, he walked off behind a point and went under water to get this
bait. Now they got bites and pulled up quickly, but there was nothing
on their hooks. This continued for a long time. The next time they went
out they felt the thing again, but one man among them who knew just
how fish bite, jerked at the right moment and felt that he had caught
something. The line went around in the water very fast. They pulled
away, however, until they got Raven under the canoe, and he kicked
against it very hard. All at once his nose came off, and they pulled it
up. When they landed, they took it to the chief’s house and said, “We
have caught a wonderful thing. It must be the nose of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt.”
So they took it, put eagle down on it, and hung it up on the wall.
After that, Raven came ashore at the place where he had been in the
habit of going down, got a lot of spruce gum and made a new nose out of
it. Then he drew a root hat down over his face and went to the town.
Beginning at the nearer end he went through the houses saying “I wonder
in what house are the people who caught that G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s nose.” After
he had gone halfway, he entered the chief’s house and inquired, “Do you
know where are the people who caught that G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s nose?” They
answered, “There it is on the wall.” Then he said, “Bring it here. Let
me examine it.” So they gave it to him. “This is great,” he said, and
he put up his hat to examine it. “Why,” said he, “this house is dark.
You ought to take off the smoke-hole cover. Let some one run up and
take it off so that I can see.” But, as soon as they removed it, he put
the nose in its place, cried “G̣ā,” and flew away. They did not find
out who he was.
Going thence, Raven saw a number of deer walking around on the beach,
with a great deal of fat hanging out through their noses. As he passed
one of these, he said, “Brother, you better blow your nose. Lots of
dirt is hanging out of it.” When the deer would not do this, Raven came
close to him, wiped his nose and threw the fat by his own side. Calling
out, “Just for the Raven,” he swallowed it.
Now Raven formed a certain plan. He got a small canoe and began
paddling along the beach saying, “I wonder who is able to go along
with me.” Mink came down and said, “How am I?” and Raven said, “What
with?” (i. e., What can you do?). Said Mink, “When I go to camp with my
friends, I make a bad smell in their noses. With that.” But Raven said,
“I guess not. You might make a hole in my canoe,” so he went along
farther. The various animals and birds would come down and say, “How
am I?” but he did not even listen. After some time Deer ran down to
him, saying, “How am I?” Then he answered, “Come this way, ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî,
come this way ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî.” He called him ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî because he never
got angry. Finally Raven came ashore and said to Deer, “Don’t hurt
yourself, ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî.” By and by Raven said “Not very far from here my
father has been making a canoe. Let us go there and look at it.”
Then Raven brought him to a large valley. He took very many pieces of
dried wild celery and laid them across the valley, covering them with
moss. Said Raven, “ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî, watch me, ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî, watch me.” Repeating
this over and over he went straight across on it, for he is light.
Afterwards he said to Deer, “ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî, now you come and try it. It
will not break,” and he crossed once more. “You better try it now,” he
said. “Come on over.” Deer did so, but, as he was on the way, he broke
through the bridge and smashed his head to pieces at the bottom. Then
Raven went down, walked all over him, and said to himself, “I wonder
where I better start, at the root of his tail, at the eyes, or at the
heart.” Finally he began at his anus, skinning as he went along. He ate
very fast.
When he started on from this place, he began crying, “ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî-ī-ī,
ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî-ī-ī,” and the fowls asked him, “What has become of your
friend, ᴀxkwᴀˊʟǃî?” “Some one has taken him and pounded him on the
rocks, and I have been walking around and hopping around since he died.”
By and by he came to a certain cliff and saw a door in it swing open.
He got behind a point quickly, for he knew that here lived the woman
who has charge of the falling and rising of the tide. Far out Raven
saw some kelp, and, going out to this, he climbed down on it to the
bottom of the sea and gathered up a number of small sea urchins (nīsǃ)
which were lying about there. He brought these ashore and began eating,
making a great gulping noise as he did so. Meanwhile the woman inside
of the cliff kept mocking him saying, “During what tide did he get
those things?”
While Raven was eating Mink came along, and Raven said, “Come here.
Come here.” Then he went on eating. And the woman again said, “On what
tide did you get those sea urchins you are making so much noise about?”
“That is not your business,” answered Raven. “Keep quiet or I will
stick them all over your buttocks.” Finally Raven became angry, seized
the knife he was cutting up the sea urchins with and slit up the front
of the cliff out of which she spoke. Then he ran in, knocked her down
and began sticking the spines into her buttocks. “Stop, Raven, stop,”
she cried, “the tide will begin to go down.” So he said to his servant,
Mink, “Run outside and see how far down the tide has gone.” Mink ran
out and said, “It is just beginning to go down.” The next time he came
in he said, “The tide is still farther down.” The third time he said,
“The tide is lower yet. It has uncovered everything on the beach.” Then
Raven said to the old woman, “Are you going to let the tide rise and
fall again regularly through the months and years?” She answered “Yes.”
Because Raven did this while he was making the world, nowadays, when a
woman gets old and can not do much more work, there are spots all over
her buttocks.
After the tide had gone down very far he and his servant went out. He
said to Mink, “The thing that will be your food from now on is the sea
urchin (nīsǃ). You will live on it.” The tide now goes up and down
because he treated this woman so.
Now Raven started on from this place crying, “My wife, my wifeǃ” Coming
to some trees, he saw a lot of gum on one of them and said to it, “Why!
you are just like me. You are in the same state.” For he thought the
tree was crying.
After this he got a canoe and began paddling along. By and by Petrel
met him in another canoe. So he brought his canoe alongside and said,
“Is this you, my brother-in-law? Where are you from?” He answered,
“I am from over there.” Then Raven began to question him about the
events in this world, asking him how long ago they happened, etc. He
said, “When were you born? How long have you been living?” And Petrel
answered, “I have been living ever since the great liver came up from
under the earth. I have been living that long.” So said Petrel. “Why!
that is but a few minutes ago,” said Raven. Then Petrel began to get
angry and said to Raven, “When were you born?” “I was born before this
world was known.” “That is just a little while back.”
They talked back and forth until they became very angry. Then Petrel
pushed Raven’s canoe away from him and put on his hat called fog-hat
(qog̣āˊsǃ sǃāx̣ᵘ) so that Raven could not see where he was. The world
was round for him [in the fog]. At last he shouted, “My brother-in-law,
Petrel, you are older than I am. You have lived longer than I.” Petrel
also took water from the sea and sprinkled it in the air so that it
fell through the fog as very fine rain. Said Raven, “Î, î.” He did not
like it at all. After Petrel had fooled him for some time, he took
off Fog-hat and found Raven close beside him, pulling about in all
directions. Then Raven said to Petrel, “Brother-in-law, you better let
that hat go into this world.” So he let it go. That is why we always
know, when we see fog coming out of an open space in the woods and
going right back again, that there will be good weather.
Leaving this place, Raven came to another where he saw something
floating not far from shore, though it never came any nearer. He
assembled all kinds of fowl. Toward evening he looked at the object and
saw that it resembled fire. So he told a chicken hawk (kᴀǃkᵘ) which had
a very long bill to fly out to it, saying, “Be very brave. If you get
some of that fire, do not let go of it.” The chicken hawk reached the
place, seized some fire and started back as fast as it could fly, but
by the time it got the fire to Raven its bill was burned off. That is
why its bill is short. Then Raven took some red cedar, and some white
stones called nēqǃ which are found on the beach, and he put fire into
them so that it could be found ever afterward all over the world.
After he had finished distributing the fire he started on again and
came to a town where there were many people. He saw what looked like a
large animal far off on the ocean with fowl all over the top of it. He
wondered very much what it was and at last thought of a way of finding
out. He said to one of his friends, “Go up and cut a cane for me.” Then
he carved this cane so as to resemble two tentacles of a devil fish. He
said, “No matter how far off a thing is, this cane will always reach
it.”
Afterward he went to the middle of the town and said, “I am going to
give a feast. My mother is dead, and I am going to beat the drums
this evening. I want all of the people to come in and see me.” In the
evening he assembled all of the people, and they began to beat drums.
Then he held the cane in his hands and moved it around horizontally,
testing it. He kept saying “Up, up, up.”[5] He said, “I have never
given any feast for my mother, and it is time I did it, but I have
nothing with which to give a feast. Therefore I made this cane, and I
am going to give a feast for my mother with this wonderful thing.”
Then he got the people all down on the beach and extended his cane
toward the mysterious object until it reached it. And he began to
draw it in little by little, saying to the people, “Sing stronger all
the time.”[6] When it struck land, a wave burst it open. It was an
everlasting house, containing everything that was to be in the waters
of the world. He told the people to carry up fish and they did so. If
one had a canoe, he filled it; if he had a box, he filled that; and
those that had canoes also boiled eulachon in them. Since then they
have known how to boil them. With all of these things Raven gave the
feast for his mother.
After this was over he thought up a plot against the killer whales and
sent an invitation to them. Then he told each of his people to make a
cane that would reach very much above his head. So, when the killer
whales came in and inquired, “What do the people use those canes for
that extend up over their heads?”, he replied, “They stick them down
into their heads.” They asked him several times, and he replied each
time in the same way. After a while one of the whales said, “Suppose
we try it.” Raven was glad to hear that and said, “All right, we will
try it with you people, but the people I have invited must not look
when I put a cane into anyone’s head.” Then he went away and whittled a
number of sticks until they were very sharp. After that he laid all of
the killer whales on the beach at short distances apart, and again he
told them not to look up while he was showing one how it was done. Then
he took a hammer or maul and drove his sticks into the necks of these
whales one after the other so that they died. But the last one happened
to look up, saw what was being done, and jumped into the ocean.
[7][Now Raven and another person started to boil out the killer whales’
grease, and the other man had more than he. So Raven dreamed a dream
which informed him that a lot of people were coming to fight with him,
and, when such people really did make their appearance, he told his
companion to run out. After he had done so, Raven quickly drank all the
latter’s grease. By and by, however, the man returned, threw Raven into
a grease box, and shut him in, and started to tie it up with a strong
rope. Then Raven called out, “My brother, do not tie the box up very
strongly. Tie it with a piece of straw such as our forefathers used to
use.” The man did so, after which he took the box up on a high cliff
and kicked it over. Then Raven, breaking the straw, flew out, crying
“G̣ā.” When he got to the other side of the point, he alighted and
began wiping himself.]
Next he came to a large whale blowing along out at sea, and noticed
that every time it came up, its mouth was wide open. Then Raven took
a knife and something with which to make fire. When the whale came
up again he flew into its mouth and sat down at the farther end of
its stomach. Near the place where he had entered he saw something
that looked like an old woman. It was the whale’s uvula (ᴀnūˊtǃayî).
When the whale came up, it made a big noise, the uvula went to one
side and the herring and other fish it lived on poured right in. Then
Raven began eating all these things that the whale had swallowed, and,
presently, he made a fire to cook the fat of the whale itself that hung
inside. Last of all he ate the heart. As soon as he cut out this, the
whale threw itself about in the water and soon floated up dead. Raven
felt this and said, “I wish it would float up on a good sandy beach.”
After he had wished this many times, the whale began to drift along,
and it finally floated ashore on a long sandy beach.
After a while some young fellows who were always shooting about in this
neighborhood with their bows and arrows, heard a voice on the beach
say, “I wonder who will make a hole on the top so that he can be my
friend.” The boys ran home to the town and reported, “We heard a queer
noise. Something floated ashore not far from this place, and a person
inside said, ‘I wish that somebody would make a hole above me so that
he can be my friend.’” Then the people assembled around the whale and
heard Raven’s words very clearly. They began to cut a hole just over
the place these came from and presently they heard some one inside say,
“Xōnēˊ-ē.” When the hole was large enough, Raven flew straight up out
of it until he was lost to sight. And they said to him, “Fly to any
place where you would like to go.” After that they cut the whale up and
in course of time came to the spot where Raven had lighted his fire to
make oil.
Meanwhile Raven flew back of their camp to a large dead tree that had
crumbled into fine pieces and began rubbing on it to dry himself. When
he thought that the people were through making oil, he dressed himself
up well and repaired to the town. There he said to the people, “Was
anything heard in that tcǃān (his word for whale)?” and one answered,
“Yes, a queer noise was heard inside of the whale.” “I wonder what it
was,” said Raven.
After their food was all prepared Raven said to the people, “Long ago,
when a sound was heard inside of a tcǃān, all the people moved out of
their town so as not to be killed. All who remained were destroyed. So
you better move from this town.” Then all of the people said, “All of
us better move from this town rather than be destroyed.” So they went
off leaving all of their things, and Raven promptly took possession of
them.
Raven once went to a certain place outside of here (Sitka) in his
canoe. It was calm there, but he began rocking the canoe up and down
with his feet until he had made a great many waves. Therefore there are
many waves there now even when it is calm outside, and a canoe going in
thither always gets lost.
By and by Raven came to a sea gull standing at the mouth of a creek and
said to it, “What are you sitting in this way for? How do you call your
new month?” “Yᴀdāqǃoˊł,”[8] replied the sea gull. Raven was questioning
him in this way because he saw many herring out at sea. So he said, “I
don’t believe at all what you say. Fly out and see if you can bring in
a herring.” This is why, until the present time, people have differed
in their opinions concerning the months and have disputed with one
another.
After they had quarreled over it for a long time, the gull became
angry, flew out to sea, and brought back a big herring. He lighted near
Raven and laid the herring beside him, but, when Raven tried to get
it, he gulped it down. In another direction from the sea gull Raven
saw a large heron and went over to it. He said to the heron, “Sea gull
is calling you Big-long-legs-always-walking-upon-the-beach.” Then,
although the heron did not reply, he went back to the sea gull and
said, “Do you know what that heron is saying about you? He says that
you have a big stomach and get your red eyes by sitting on the beach
always looking out on the ocean for something to eat.” Then he went
back to the heron and said to it, “When I meet a man of my own size, I
always kick him just below the stomach. That fellow is talking too much
about you. Go over, and I will help you thrash him.” So the heron went
over toward the sea gull, and, when he came close to it, Raven said,
“Kick him just under his stomach.” He did so, and the big herring came
out. Then Raven swallowed it quickly saying, “Just for the Raven.”
Going on again, Raven came to a canoe in which were some people lying
asleep along with a big salmon which he took away. When the people
awoke, they saw the trail where he had dragged it off, and they
followed him. They found him lying asleep by the fire after having
eaten the salmon. Seeing his gizzard hanging out at his buttocks, they
twisted it off, ran home with it and used it as a shinny ball; this is
why no human being now has a gizzard.
The people knew it was Raven’s gizzard, so they liked to show it
about, and they knocked it around so much that it grew large by the
accumulation of sand. But Raven did not like losing his gizzard. He was
cold without it and had to get close to the fire. When he came to the
place where they were playing with it, he said, “Let it come this way.”
No sooner had they gotten it near him, however, than they knocked it
away again. After a while it reached him, and he seized it and ran off,
with all the boys after him. As he ran he washed it in water and tried
to fit it back in place. It was too hot from much knocking about, and
he had to remove it again. He washed it again but did not get all of
the sand off. That is why the raven’s gizzard is big and looks as if it
had not been washed.
Next Raven came to a town where lived a man called Fog (or
Cloud)-on-the-Salmon (Xāˊtkᴀ-kog̣āˊsǃî). He wanted to marry this man’s
daughter because he always had plenty of salmon. He had charge of that
place. So he married her, and they dried quantities of salmon, after
which they filled many animal stomachs with salmon eggs. Then he loaded
his canoe and started home. He put all of the fish eggs into the bow.
On the way it became stormy, and they could not make much headway, so
he became tired and threw his paddles into the bow, exclaiming to his
wife, “Now you paddleǃ” Then the salmon eggs shouted out, “It is very
hard to be in stomachs. Hand the paddles here and let me pull.” So the
salmon eggs did, and, when they reached home, Raven took all of them
and dumped them overboard. But the dried salmon he carried up. That is
why people now use dried salmon and do not care much for salmon eggs.
Journeying on, Raven came to a seal sitting on the edge of a rock, and
he wanted to get it, but the seal jumped into the ocean. Then he said,
“Yâkǃōctǃᴀˊʟǃ,” because he was so sorry about it. Farther on he came to
a town and went behind it to watch. After a while a man came out, took
a little club from a certain place where he kept it in concealment, and
said to it, “My little club, do you see that seal out there? Go and
get it.” So it went out and brought the little seal ashore. The club
was hanging to its neck. Then the man took it up and said, “My little
club, you have done well,” after which he put it back in its place and
returned to the town. Raven saw where it was kept, but first he went to
the town and spoke kindly to the owner of it. In the night, however,
when every one was asleep, he went back to the club, carried it behind
a point and said to it, “See here, my little club, you see that seal
out in the water. Go and get it.” But the club would not go because it
did not know him. After he had tried to get it to go for some time, he
became angry and said to it, “Little club, don’t you see that seal out
there?” He kept striking it against a rock until he broke it in pieces.
Coming to a large bay, Raven talked to it in order to make it into Nass
(i. e., he wanted to make it just like the Nass), but, when the tide
was out great numbers of clams on the flats made so much noise shooting
up at him that his voice was drowned, and he could not succeed. He
tried to put all kinds of berries there but in vain. After many
attempts, he gave it up and went away saying, “I tried to make you into
Nass, but you would not let me. So you can be called Skᴀnᴀˊx” (the name
of a place to the southward of Sitka).
Two brothers started to cross the Stikine river, but Raven saw them and
said, “Be stones there.” So they became stones.[9]
Starting on, he came to the ground-hog people on the mainland. His
mother had died some time before this, and, as he had no provisions
with which to give a feast, he came to the ground hogs to get some.
The ground-hog people know when slides descend from the mountains, and
they know that spring is then near at hand, so they throw all of their
winter food out of their burrows. Raven wanted them to do this, so he
said, “There is going to be a world snow slide.” But the ground-hog
chief answered, “Well! nobody in this town knows about it.” Toward
spring, however, the slide really took place, and the ground hogs then
threw all of their green herbs, roots, etc., outside to him.
[Postea corvus in litus descendit cum quidam eum certiorem faceret de
quattuor mulieribus, quae essent in insula, maturitatem adipiscentes.
Deinde conatus est muliebria genitalia conficere e cortice lini
arboris, et cum adveniret mediam in viam, quae in insulam perducebat,
simile nomine eam nuncupavit; sed res male processerunt. Cortex
edidit vocem argutam at ille, ira incensus, in undas eum proiecit.
Eodem modo tentavit tabaci folia et alias res, sed inutile erat.
Postremo processit in insulam, cui nomen erat muliebribus genitalibus
(G̣ânqǃāˊtê). Eius comes vir quidem nomine Ignavus (Qǃᴀtxāˊn) erat.
Corvus autem aiebat ignavo, “Etiam si aliquid minime pavorem tibi
iniicit, percute scapham.” Mox ignavus scapham quassabat atque
exclamavit, “Iam luna adest.” Paene corvum in undas proiecit, qui,
etsi ipse hortatus cum erat ut id faceret, aegre tulit. Corvus omnia
genitalia, quae in insula erant, colligens, complevit scapham.
Disponens ea locis in aequis, praeparvit dare propter ea convivium
escis porci.]
After this he said to the people, “Make ear pendants because I am going
to invite the whole world.” He was going to invite everyone because he
had heard that the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt had a Chilkat blanket and a hat, and he
wanted to see them. First he invited the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt and afterwards the
other chiefs of all the tribes in the world. At the appointed time they
began to come in. When the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt came in he had on his hat with
many crowns and his blanket but was surrounded by a fog. Inside of the
house, however, he appeared in his true form. It is from this feast of
Raven’s that people now like to attend feasts. It is also from this
that, when a man is going to have a feast, he has a many-crowned hat
carved on top of the dead man’s grave post (kūtīˊyᴀ).
Raven made a woman under the earth to have charge of the rise and fall
of the tides.[10] One time he wanted to learn about everything under
the ocean and had this woman raise the water so that he could go there.
He had it rise very slowly so that the people had time to load their
canoes and get into them. When the tide had lifted them up between the
mountains they could see bears and other wild animals walking around
on the still unsubmerged tops. Many of the bears swam out to them, and
at that time those who had their dogs had good protection. Some people
walled the tops of the mountains about and tied their canoes inside.
They could not take much wood up with them. Sometimes hunters see the
rocks they piled up there, and at such times it begins to grow foggy.
That was a very dangerous time. The people who survived could see trees
swept up roots and all by the rush of waters, and large devilfish and
other creatures were carried up by it.
When the tide began to fall, all the people followed it down, but the
trees were gone and they had nothing to use as firewood, so they were
destroyed by the cold. When Raven came back from under the earth, if
he saw a fish left on top of a mountain or in a creek, he said, “Stay
right there and become a stone.” So it became a stone. If he saw any
person coming down, he would say, “Turn to a stone just where you are,”
and it did so.
After that the sea went down so far that it was dry everywhere. Then
Raven went about picking up the smallest fish, as bull heads and tom
cod, which he strung on a stick, while a friend who was with him at
this time, named Cᴀkǃᴀˊkᵘ,[11] took large creatures like whales. With
the grease he boiled out, Cᴀkǃᴀˊkᵘ filled an entire house, while Raven
filled only a small bladder.
Raven stayed with Cᴀkǃᴀˊkᵘ and one night had a dream. He said to his
friend, “I dreamed that a great enemy came and attacked us.” Then he
had all the fowls assemble and come to fight, so that his dream might
be fulfilled. As soon as Raven had told his dream, Cᴀkǃᴀˊkᵘ went down
and saw the birds. Then Raven went into the house and began drinking up
his grease. But the man came back, saw what Raven was doing, and threw
him into a grease box, which he started to tie up with a strong rope.
Raven, however, called out, “My brother, do not tie me up with a strong
rope, but take a straw such as our forefathers used to employ.” He did
so. Then Raven drank up all the grease in the box, and, when the man
took him up on a high cliff and kicked him off, he came out easily and
flew away crying “G̣ā.”
One time Raven assembled all the birds in preparation for a feast
and had the bears in the rear of his house as guests. All the
birds had canes and helped him sing. As he sang along Raven would
say quietly, “Do you think one of you could fly into the anus of
a bear?” Then he would start another song and end it by saying in
much the same language, “One of you ought to fly up into that hole”
(i. e., anus). He kept taunting the birds with their inability to
do this, so, when the bears started out, the wren (wuˊłnᴀxwūˊckᴀq,
“bird-that-can-go-through-a-hole”) flew up into the anus of one of them
and came out with his intestines. Before it had pulled them far out
the bear fell dead. Then Raven chased all of the small birds away, sat
down, and began eating.
Raven never got full because he had eaten the black spots off of his
own toes. He learned about this after having inquired everywhere for
some way of bringing such a state about. Then he wandered through all
the world in search of things to eat.
After all the human beings had been destroyed Raven made new ones out
of leaves. Because he made this new generation, people know that he
must have changed all of the first people who had survived the flood,
into stones. Since human beings were made from leaves people always die
off rapidly in the fall of the year when flowers and leaves are falling.
At the time when he made this world, Raven made a devilfish
digging-stick and went around to all created things (shellfish
apparently) saying, “Are you going to hurt human beings? Say now either
yes or no.” Those that said “No” he passed by; those that said “Yes” he
rooted up. He said to the people, “When the tide goes out, your food
will be there. When the tide comes in, your food will be in the woods,”
indicating bear and other forest animals.
In Raven’s time the butts of ferns (kǃwᴀłx) were already cooked, but,
after some women had brought several of these in, Raven broke a stick
over the fern roots. Therefore they became green like this stick. He
also broke the roots up into many layers one above another.
Devilfish were very fat then, and the people used to make grease out of
them, but, when Raven came to a place where they were making he said,
“Give me a piece of that hard thing.” That is why its fatness left it.
[Corvus appellavit saxum, quod erat tectum algis, “Pudenda, ubi
crescunt crines.” Nepotes patris eius rogaverunt, “Esne capillatus?” Et
ille respondit, “Sane, pudenda mea pilis vestita sunt.” At modo habebat
in mente copias algarum, quae protegebant saxum in quo sedebat.]
One time Raven invited all the tribes of little people and laid down
bear skins for them to sit on. After they had come in and reached
the bear skins, they shouted to one another, “Here is a swampy, open
space.” That was the name they gave to those places on the skins from
which the hair had fallen out. By and by Raven seized the bear skins
and shook them over the fire, when all the little people flew into the
eyes of the human beings. He said, “You shall be pupils in people’s
eyes,” and ever since human beings have had them.
Now he went on from this place and camped by himself. There he saw a
large sculpin trying to get ashore below him, and he said to it, “My
uncle’s son, come ashore here. Come way up. One time, when you and I
were going along in our uncle’s canoe we fell into the water. So come
up a little farther.” Raven was very hungry, and, when the sculpin came
ashore, he seized it by its big, broad tail intending to eat it. But it
slipped through his fingers. This happened many times, and each time
the sculpin’s tail became smaller. That is why it is so slender to-day.
Then Raven said to it, “From now on you shall be named sculpin (wēqǃ).”
Raven had a blanket which kept blowing out from him, so he threw it
into the water and let it float away. Then he obtained a wife, and, as
he was traveling along with her, he said, “There is going to be a great
southwest wind. We better stop here for a little while. I expect my
blanket ashore here.” After a while it came in. Then his wife said to
him, “Take your blanket ashore and throw it on some branches.” He did
so and it became _Rebis bracteosum_ (Tlingit, cāx). When they went on
farther the sea became so rough that his wife was frightened, and told
him to put ashore some of the fat with which his canoe was loaded. He
did this, but was so angry with his wife for having asked him, that he
said to her, “You better put ashore your sewing basket,” and so she
did.[12]
Then he left his wife and went along by himself. He assembled very many
young birds, and, when he camped told them to go after cātǃkǃ, the term
he at that time applied to drinking water.
Afterwards he came to a certain place and started to make a
salmon creek. He said, “This woman shall be at the head of this
creek.” The woman he spoke of had long teats, so he called her
Woman-with-long-teats-floating-around (Hīn-cᴀkxēˊnaỵî), saying, “When
the salmon come to the creeks, they shall all go up to see her.” That
is why salmon run up the creeks.
After this he went into the woods and set out to make the porcupine.
For quills he took pieces of yellow cedar bark, which he set all the
way up and down its back so that bears would be afraid of it. This is
why bears never eat porcupines. He said to the porcupine, “Whenever
anyone comes near you, throw your tail about.” This is why people are
afraid of it when it does so.
Now Raven went off to a certain place and made the west wind, naming it
Qǃāxōˊ. He said to it, “You shall be my son’s daughter. No matter how
hard you blow you shall hurt nobody.”
He took up a piece of red salmon and said to it, “If anyone is not
strong enough to paddle home he shall take up this fish and blow behind
him.”
Raven is a grandchild of the mouse (kułēˊłtᴀǃnî). That is why a mouse
can never get enough to eat.
Raven also made the south wind (sāˊnaxet). When the south wind climbs
on top of a rock it never ceases to blow.
He made the north wind (x̣ūn), and on top of a mountain he made a house
for it with something like ice hanging down on the sides. Then he went
in and said to it, “Your buttocks are white.” This is why the mountains
are white with snow.
He made all the different races, as the Haida and the Tsimshian.
They are human beings like the Tlingit, but he made their languages
different.
He also made the dog. It was at first a human being and did everything
Raven wanted done, but he was too quick with everything, so Raven took
him by the neck and pushed him down, saying, “You are nothing but a
dog. You shall have four legs.”
One time Raven came to a certain thing called fat-on-the-sea
(ỵīkᴀtāỵîˊ), which stuck out of the ocean. He kept saying to it, “Get
down a little,” so it kept going under the surface. But every time it
came up he took his paddle and cut part off. It did this seven times,
but, when he spoke to it the eighth time, it went down out of sight,
and he never saw it again.
As he was traveling along in another place, a wild celery came out,
became angry with Raven, and said, “You are always wandering around for
things to eat.” Then he named it wild celery (yāˊnaet) and said to it,
“You shall stay there, and people shall eat you.”
Once he passed a large tree and saw something up in it called cᴀxdᴀˊq.
Raven called out “Cᴀxdᴀˊq,” and it shouted back, “You Raven.” They
called back and forth to each other for some time.
[Advenit in alium locum et alligavit aliquid circum caput ostrei, quod
protrudebat ex arena. Appellavit idem ʟdas-qēˊt (viri pudenda).]
SUPPLEMENTARY TO STORY 1
Near a bay not far from Kōtsǃēˊʟǃ there used to be a sea-water pond in
which lived a beaver. Raven very much wanted to get at this beaver and
kill it, so he dug two trenches in order to drain the lake at low tide.
After the water had run out through them, and the beaver had become
visible at the bottom, he let down a kind of hook and pulled it up.
Raven had tried every sort of thing as a post under this earth. Last
of all he caught this beaver and made the post out of the bone of its
foreleg [which is very solid]. That is why the world is now standing.
Old-woman-underneath (Haỵicāˊnakǃᵘ) attends to this post, but, when she
is hungry, the earth shakes. Then people put grease into the fire and
it goes to her.
After he had killed the beaver Raven killed also a big whale and got
his people to tow it to the place where the beaver had formerly lived.
He got four large canoes full of people to tow it up the rapids in one
of the canals he had then made. After they had labored for many days,
they became tired, and he said to them, “Take it easy.” Finally he
himself became tired and said, “Turn into stone.” All did so, and to
this day you can see a large island there shaped like a whale and a
string of four smaller islands extending out from one end of it.
Raven named several places in this neighborhood. One was Qāgᵘᴀntoqaˊ,
(A-hidden-person); another Tsētkǃ (Little Ladder). He named an island
outside, Łatǃᴀˊn. Still another was called Łᴀqoˊx̣ᴀsǃ, after the name
of a small canoe, because one of these was passing at the time.
Between two mountain peaks just eastward of Sitka is a hollow
filled with trees supposed to resemble boys, so the place is called
Kǃêsāˊnî-āˊỵaodihaỵiỵa, Where-is-a-big-crowd-of-boys. Raven appointed
this as the place from which the sun would turn back north. A point
on the coast just north of Sitka was called by him Kǃoˊłacᴀtqǃaˊ,
Point-holding-things-back, because when a canoe passes it coming
toward Sitka it can not go fast (i. e., it does not seem to get by
this rapidly). Just north of this is a kind of bay which Raven called
Kᴀˊdᴀłᴀtc-x̣ᴀkᵘ, Noisy-beach.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cf. story 31.
[2] Perhaps the anal opening.
[3] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of Bureau of American Ethnology_,
p. 455.
[4] Perhaps Mount St Elias.
[5] A song goes with this.
[6] A song goes with this also.
[7] This paragraph is perhaps misplaced, the incident being confounded
with another on page 17.
[8] This name does not occur in the list given by this same man
(_Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, p.
426.) He said it was the eighth month and according to his list the
eighth month is March, which he calls Hīn taˊnᴀx kayāˊnî dīˊsî, “Month
when things under the sea begin to grow.”
[9] Possibly the heroes of story 3. See also story 31.
[10] This appears to be retrospective. Cf. p. 9.
[11] Said to be a kind of bird. Kǃᴀkᵘ alone would mean “chicken hawk.”
[12] This is evidently told to account for certain peculiarly shaped
rocks.
2. THE BIG CLAM
At the farther end of Tenakee inlet (Tǃīˊnag̣e) is a little bay called
Where-sweetness-killed-a-person (Gᴀtłqōˊwag̣eya). One summer there were
many people encamped there drying salmon, and among them many lively
young people. One day some girls took a canoe and crossed the bay to
a strawberry patch on the other side. Afterwards a man named Tsǃēʟǃ
went down into the water to wade over to them but was swallowed by a
halibut. So they named the place Kotsǃēˊʟǃ after this man.
Near this inlet is a high cliff in front of which a big clam formerly
lived. It used to stick its head (lit. penis) high up out of the water.
It always had its valves open, and if a canoe passed that way, it would
close them on it (lit. shut its mouth on it), and the canoe was gone.
Raven heard of this clam, and he instructed a little mink to call to
it, “Stick out your head and let us see you,” (īłiˊł-ᴀnᴀxdāˊx tsǃᴀg̣āˊx
dustīˊn), while the people stood ready above with sharpened sticks.
But, instead of speaking as it was told, the mink said, “Raven made
clam” (Yēł djeˊaosîniỵî g̣āʟǃ). Finally the mink said plainly as he had
been directed, “Stick your head out of the water and let us see you,”
and it began to put out its head. He said, “A little more.” When it was
well out, all the people seized their sticks and plunged them into it,
cutting the ligament which held the valves together so that they sprang
apart. Then the whole bay began to smell badly from it. On the rock
slide back of the place where this clans used to run out its head all
sorts of things now grow. It is called Clam-slide (Yēs-kādêˊ).
3. ENGLISH VERSION OF THE STORY OF THE FOUR BROTHERS[13]
There were four brothers who owned a dog of an Athapascan variety
called dzī.[14] They had one sister. One day the dog began barking at
something. Then Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, the eldest brother, put red paint inside
of his blanket, took his rattle, and followed. The other brothers went
with him. They pursued it up, up, up, into the sky. The dog kept on
barking, and they did not know what it was going to do. It was chasing
a cloud.
When they got to the other side of the world they came out on the edge
of a very steep cliff. They did not know what to do. The dog, however,
went right down the cliff, and they saw the cloud still going on
ahead. Now these brothers had had nothing to eat and were very hungry.
Presently they saw the dog coming up from far below bringing the tail
of a salmon. After a while they saw it run back.
Then they said to one another, “What shall we do? We might as well go
down also.” But, when Łqǃayāˊkǃ, the youngest brother, started he was
smashed in pieces. The two next fared in the same way. Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ,
however, braced his stick against the wall behind him and reached
the bottom in safety. Then he put the bones of each of his brothers
together, rubbed red paint on them, and shook his rattle over them, and
they came to life.
Starting on again around this world, they came to a creek full of
salmon. This was where the dog had been before. When they got down to
it they saw a man coming up the creek. He was a large man with but one
leg and had a kind of spear in his hand with which he was spearing
all the salmon. They watched him from between the limbs of a large,
dead tree. When he got through hooking the salmon, he put all on two
strings, one of which hung out of each corner of his mouth. Then he
carried them down.
Then Łqǃayāˊkǃ said to his brothers, “Let us devise some plan for
getting the salmon spear.” So he seized a salmon, brought it ashore and
skinned it. First Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ tried to get inside of it but failed. When
Łqǃayāˊkǃ made the attempt, however, he swam off at once, and, if one
of his brothers came near him, he swam away. Then the other brothers
sat up in the dead tree, Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ at the top.
When the big man came up again after salmon, Łqǃayāˊkǃ swam close up to
him, and he said, “Oh! my salmon. It is a fine salmon.” But, when he
made a motion toward it with his spear, it swam back into deep water.
Finally it swam up close, and the big man speared it easily. Then
Łqǃayāˊkǃ went to the tail of the fish, cut the string which fastened
the big man’s spear point to the shaft and swam off with the point.
Upon this the big man pulled his shaft up, looked at it and said, “My
spear is gone.” Then he went downstream. In the meantime Łqǃayāˊkǃ came
ashore, got out of the fish, came up to his usual station on the lowest
limb of the tree, and sat down there. They had him sit below because he
talked so much, and because he was the most precipitate.
That night the one-legged man did not sleep at all on account of his
lost spear. He was using it in working for the bear people. When he
came up next morning he had a quill in his hands which would tell him
things. He took this about among the trees, and, when he came to that
on which the brothers were sitting, it bent straight down. Then he
cried, “Bring my spear this way.” Although he saw no one, he knew that
there were people there who had it. Then he came to the bottom of the
tree, seized Łqǃayāˊkǃ and tore him in pieces. So he served the next
two brothers. But Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ had his dog, which he was able to make
small, concealed under his coat and, after his brothers were torn up,
he let it go, and it tore the big man all to pieces. Because he had his
red paint, rattle, and dog he cared for nothing. Now he put the red
paint on his brothers’ bodies and shook the rattle over them so that
they came to life.
Next morning they got into the same tree again. Then they saw a man
with two heads placed one over another coming up the stream. It was
the bear chief. He hooked a great many salmon and put them on pieces
of string on each side of his mouth. Next evening a little old man
came up. Łqǃayāˊkǃ came down and asked, “What are you doing here?” He
said, “I have come up after salmon.” But he could hook none at all, so
Łqǃayāˊkǃ caught a lot for him. Then Łqǃayāˊkǃ asked him: “What does
that double-head that came up here do?” The old man said, “I will tell
you about it.” So they said to him: “Now we want you to tell the truth
about this? What does he really do when he gets home with his salmon?
We will get you more salmon if you tell us truly.” And the old man
answered: “When he gets home with a load of salmon, he leaves it down
by the river. Then he takes off his skin coat and hangs it up.” This is
what he told them.
The next time the two heads came up and began to throw salmon ashore,
it said all at once, “I feel people’s looks.”[15] As soon as he came
opposite the place where they were sitting, Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ threw his dog
right upon him. It caught this big bear by the neck and killed him.
Every time thereafter, when the little old man came up, they questioned
him about the people in the place he came from.
At last they caught a lot of salmon and prepared to descend. Then
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ put on the bear skin, placed his brothers under his arms
inside of it, took strings of salmon as the bear had done, and
started on. When he came in front of the houses he acted just like the
two-headed man. First he entered the two-headed man’s house and shook
his skin, whereupon his brothers and the dog passed behind the screens
in the rear of the house and hid themselves. After that he began fixing
his salmon, and, when he was through, took off his coat and hung it up
in the manner that had been described to him.
Toward evening a great deal of noise was heard outside, made over
some object. Łqǃayāˊkǃ very much wanted to go out and look, but they
tried to prevent him. Finally he did go out and began to play with the
object, whereupon the players rolled it on him and cut him in two.
After that the two brothers next older went out and were cut in two in
the same manner. After this Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ sent his dog out. He seized the
object, shook it and made it fly to the tops of the mountains, where it
made the curved shapes the mountains have to-day. Then it rolled right
back again. When it rolled back, the dog became very angry, seized it
a second time, shook it hard, and threw it so high that it went clear
around the sun. It made the halo of light seen there. Then Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ
took his brothers’ bodies, pieced them together, put red paint upon
them and shook his rattle over them. They came to life again. Then he
took the dog, made it small, and put it under his arm; and they started
off. Since that time people have had the kind of spear (dīnaˊ) above
referred to. The brothers started on with it, and, whenever they were
hungry, they got food with it. They always kept together.
After a while they came across some Athapascan Indians called
Worm-eating people (Wūn-xa qoan). These were so named because, when
they killed game, they let worms feed upon it, and, when the worms
had become big enough, they ate them through holes in the middle of
their foreheads which served them as mouths. Łqǃayāˊkǃ wanted to be
among these Athapascans, because they had bows and arrows and wore
quills attached to their hair. They used their bows and arrows to shoot
caribou, and, when they were pursuing this animal, they used to eat
snow.
After Łqǃayāˊkǃ had obtained his bow and arrows they came out at a
certain place, probably the Stikine river, and stayed among some people
who were whipping one another for strength, in the sea. Every morning
they went into the water with them.
At that time they thought that Łqǃayāˊkǃ was going with his sister, and
they put some spruce gum around the place where she slept. Then they
found the spruce gum on him and called him all sorts of names when they
came from bathing. They called him Messenger-with-pitch-on-his-thigh
(Naqāˊnî qǃᴀcgūˊqǃo), the messenger being a brother-in-law of the
people of the clan giving a feast. They named him so because they
were very much ashamed. This is why people have ever since been very
watchful about their sisters. Because he had been fooling with his
sister, when Łqǃayāˊkǃ went out, his brothers said to him, “You do not
behave yourself. Go somewhere else. You can be a thunder (hēʟǃ).” They
said to him, “Hāˊagun kādîˊ.”[16]
This is why, when thunder is heard, people always say, “You gummy
thigh.” It is because Łqǃayāˊkǃ became a thunder. Their sister was
ashamed. She went down into Mount Edgecumbe (ʟǃux̣) through the crater.
Because the thunder is a man, when the thunder is heard far out at sea,
people blow up into the air through their hands and say, “Let it drive
the sickness away,” or “Let it go far northward.” The other brothers
started across the Stikine and became rocks there.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] This story was told by Dekināˊkǃᵘ. According to some, the story
begins with the birth of five children from a dog father. See stories
97 and 31 (pp. 99–106).
[14] Łᴀkîtcᴀneˊ, the father of these boys, is said to have lived near
the site of the Presbyterian school at Sitka and to have used the
“blarney stone,” so called, as a grindstone.
[15] Meaning “I feel that people’s looks are on me.”
[16] It is said that no one knows what these words mean.
4. ORIGIN OF THE KILLER WHALE[17]
A man named Nātsᴀłᴀneˊ, belonging to the Tsagueˊdî (Seal people), made
killer whales. He first tried to carve them out of red cedar, then out
of hemlock, then out of all other kinds of wood in succession. He took
each set of figures to the beach and tried to make them swim out, but
instead they floated up on the surface. Last of all he tried yellow
cedar, and was successful.
He made these of different sorts. On one he marked white lines with
Indian chalk from the corners of its mouth back to its head. He said,
“This is going to be the white-mouthed killer whale.” When he first
put them into the water he headed them up the inlet, telling them that
whenever they went up to the heads of the bays they were to hunt for
seal, halibut, and all other things under the sea; but he told them not
to hurt a human being. When you are going up the bay, people will say
to you, “Give us something to eat.” Before this people did not know
what the killer whale is.
* * * * *
Another thing people did not know was that the killer whale could go
ashore and camp. One time a man married a high-caste woman and went up
to the head of a certain bay with her, because he knew that the killer
whales always went there. On the way they saw a camp fire blazing upon
the shore. There were killer whales encamped here, but he thought they
were human beings and landed to see them. When they got close in, he
jumped into the water to urinate. All at once the killer-whale chief
said, “I feel people’s looks. Go outside and look on the beach.” But,
when they saw him urinating, they started off, leaving their camp just
as it was, jumped into the water, and swam away.
Then he went up to the camp with his wife, and they saw all kinds of
food there. His wife said, “It is lucky that we came across this;” and
after a while the man said, “Let us cook some, my wife.” Then the woman
took her cooking basket and put some water into it. Presently she said,
“Way out there is a canoe coming.” It was a black canoe. She said, “We
better leave this alone until the canoe comes so that we can invite
them to eat with us.” Her husband said, “All right.” By and by his wife
said, “What is the matter? To my eyes it does not appear like a canoe.
It is too black.” It was really a young killer whale, under which the
other killer whales were swimming to make it appear like a canoe. When
the supposed canoe reached land, the whales rushed ashore, seized the
woman, who had concealed herself behind her husband, and carried her
down to the sea. They took her away because her husband had taken their
provisions. This time, when the killer whales rose again, instead of
appearing like only one canoe, they came up out of the water thick
everywhere and began to swim down the bay very fast. Meanwhile the
husband went down to his canoe, got in, and paddled after them along
the shore. But, when they came to a high cliff where the water went
down deep, all the whales suddenly dived out of sight.
Now the man climbed to the top of this cliff, fastened a bough to his
head and another slim spruce bough around his waist, filled the space
inside of his shirt with rocks, and jumped into the ocean at the spot
where his wife had disappeared, falling upon a smooth, mossy place on
the bottom. When he awoke, he arose, looked about, and saw a long town
near by. He entered the last house, which proved to belong to the chief
of the shark people.
In this house he saw a man with a crooked mouth peeping out at him from
behind a post. A long time before, when he had been fishing, a shark
had cut his line and carried off the hook, and it was this hook that
now peeped out at him. It said, “Master, it is I. When your line broke,
they took me down here and have made me a slave.”
Then he said to the shark chief, “Is there any news in this town?” and
he replied, “Nothing especial in our town, but right across from us is
the killer-whales’ town, and recently we heard that a woman had been
captured there and is now married to the killer-whale chief.” Then
the shark chief continued: “The killer-whale chief has a slave who is
always chopping wood back in the forest with a stone ax. When you come
to him, say within yourself, ‘I wish your stone ax would break.’ Wish
it continually.” So the shark instructed him.
Then he went over to the killer-whale town, and, when the slave’s ax
did break, he went up to him and said, “I will help you to fix that
stone ax if you will tell me where my wife is.” So he began to fix it
in place for him. It was the only stone ax in the killer-whale tribe.
Then the slave said, “I always bring wood down and make a fire in the
evening, after which my master sends me for water. When you see me
going after water, come to the door and wait there for me. As soon as I
come in I am going to push over the fire. At the same time I am going
to empty the water into it so as to make a quantity of steam. Then rush
in and carry out your wife.”
The man followed these directions and started away with his wife. Then
his halibut hook shouted, “This way, my master, this way.” So he ran
toward the shark people’s town, and they pursued him. Now the killer
whales attacked the shark people because they said that the sharks had
instructed him what to do, and they killed many sharks.
In return the sharks began to make themselves strong. They were going
out again to fight the killer whales. They went to some rocks and began
sharpening their teeth. Then they began the battle, and whenever the
killer whales approached, the sharks would run against their bellies
and rip them open, letting out their entrails. The whole bay was full
of killer whales and sharks. What happened to the woman is not told.
* * * * *
When the killer-whale tribe start north the seals say, “Here comes
another battle. Here come the warriors.” They say this because the
killer whales are always after seals. Killer whales are of different
kinds, and the one that always swims ahead is the red killer whale,
called “killer-whale-spear” (Kīt-wusāˊnî). It was so named by the man
who made these animals because he shaped it long and slender. The
Tsagueˊdî, to which this man belonged, are a branch of the Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî;
therefore the Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî are the only people who make the killer whale
their emblem.[18]
On their way to us the first killer whales came into a bay called
Kotsǃēˊʟǃ, after Tsǃēʟǃ, the first man who came to that bay. They
encamped at its head and the day after began digging into the cliff.
The land there is not very high, so they were soon through, laid
skids down, and carried their canoes across. Some people watched
them. The killer whales always used to cross at the place where they
laid down these skids, and now people cross there. It is called
Killer-whale-crossing place (Kītgūˊnî), but is now overgrown with trees
and underbrush.
[This place is said to be on the north arm of Tenakee bay, where a
canal has been projected to enable boats to reach Huna more easily.]
FOOTNOTES:
[17] See stories 59 and 71.
[18] The Wūˊckitan must, however, be added.
5. KAKAˊ[19]
When Kᴀkaˊ was taken south, either to Cape Ommaney or farther, a
woman came to him and said, “I am in the same fix as you. We are both
saved[20] by the land otters.” That is how he found out what had
happened to him. The woman also said, “I am your friend, and I have two
land-otter husbands who will take you to your home.” Then she called
him to her and began to look over his hair. Finally she said, “Your
wife has put the sinew from a land-otter’s tail through your ear. That
is what has caused you to become a land otter.”
Then they took down what looked to him like a canoe, but really it was
a skate. The skate is the land-otter’s canoe. When they set out, they
put him into the canoe, laid a woven mat over him and said, “You must
not look up again.” He did look up, however, after a time and found
himself tangled among the kelp stems. These land otters were going to
become his spirits.
On their journey they started to cross a bay called Kēn to an island
called Tēłnuˊ, and, as daylight was coming on, they began to be afraid
that the raven would call and kill them before they reached the other
side. It was almost daylight when they came to land, so they ran off at
once among the bushes and rocks, leaving Kᴀkaˊ to pull up the canoe.
This was hard work, and while he was at it the skin was all worn from
his lower arm, so he knew that it was a skate.
Some people traveling in a canoe saw his shadow there and tried hard to
make him out clearly, but in vain. They did not want to have him turn
into a land otter, so they said, “Kᴀkaˊ, you have already turned into a
ground hog.”
By and by one of his friends heard him singing in the midst of a thick
fog at a place near the southern end of Baranoff island on the outside.
Each time he ended his song with the words, “Let the log drift landward
with me.” Then it would drift shoreward with him. Meanwhile he was
lying on the log head down with blood running out of his nose and mouth
and all kinds of sea birds were feeding on him. It was his spirits that
made him that way. The real land otters had left him, but they had come
to him again as spirits.
Now the people sang a song on shore that could be heard where Kᴀkaˊ
was floating, but, although they heard the noise of a shaman’s beating
sticks, they could not get at him. Then the friend who had first found
him went ashore and fasted two days, after which he went out and saw
Kᴀkaˊ lying on his back on the log. He was as well as when he had left
Sitka. Then his friend brought him ashore, but the land-otter spirits
remained with him, and he became a great shaman.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] See story 31, pp. 87–88.
[20] So interpreters persist in speaking of the capture of a human
being by anthropomorphic animals or other supernatural beings.
6. THE LAND-OTTER SISTER[21]
A man set out from Sitka to a certain camp with his children in order
to dry halibut, for in those days that was how they had to get their
food. It was spring time. Then, too, they had stone axes and used small
half baskets for pots in which to do cooking. His wife and children
spent all of their time digging clams, cockles, and other shellfish
down on the beach and in laying them aside for future use. The man,
meantime, was hewing out a canoe with his stone ax. They had a hard
time, for they had nothing to live on except the things picked up at
low tide.
Many years before this man’s sister had been drowned, but so long a
time had passed that he had forgotten her. She, however, had been taken
by the land otters and was married among them, having many children.
From around a neighboring point she was watching him. Her children were
all working to collect a quantity of food.
After this the woman’s husband told her to take a lot of food to
her brother. All the land-otter-people are called “Point people”
(Qǃātkwedîˊ); they have plenty of halibut, seal, etc. So she began
packing these things up to take them to her brother. In front of his
dwelling house her brother had a house made of branches, and one
evening he heard someone come in front of his house and seem to lay
down a heavy pack there. Then the person said, “The place where you are
stopping is wonderfully far from us.” He went out and saw a woman but
did not know who she was because her arms were grown to her breast and
her mouth was thrown open with her upper lip drawn up under her nose.
But the woman could see how he felt, so she said to him, “It is I. I am
your sister who lives a short distance away around this point.” Then
she brought the basket into her brother’s house and said to him, “Take
the things out of the basket, for I have to return before the raven
calls.”
Next evening she came back with another full basket. This time she
said, “You have three nephews who will come over and help you get
halibut and other things.” So the little otters came to their uncle.
From their waist up they looked like human beings; below they were
otters, and they had tails. Their mother came with them and began to
take her brother’s children on her lap saying, “Little tail (ʟǃīt
kǃᴀtskǃuˊ), little tail growing down.” As she sang tails began to
grow down from them. Then their father looked at them, became angry,
and said, “What are you doing to my children anyway?” Immediately she
slapped them on the buttocks and said, “Up goes the little tail, up
into the buttocks (tūˊdenᴀtsî yēq),” and the tails went up into their
buttocks.
After his nephews had stayed with him for some time the man said within
himself, “I have no devilfish for bait,” and the same evening the young
fellows were gone after it. Although it was high tide many devilfish
were found in front of his house. The young otters called good weather
bad and bad weather good.
One day they went out with their uncle to fish, and, when he put his
line down with the buoy on it, the little otters all jumped into the
water. They went down on the line and put on the hook the biggest
halibut they could find. After they had brought in the canoe loaded
twice their uncle had an abundance of provisions.
In the evening the otters had worked so hard that they fell asleep on
the opposite side of the fire with their tails close to the blaze. Then
their uncle said to them, “Your handy little tails are beginning to
burn.” On account of those words all became angry and left him, going
back to their father. Then the man’s sister came to him and asked what
he had said to his nephews. He said, “I simply told them that their
clothes were beginning to burn on them.” So the otters’ father tried
to explain it, saying to them: “Your uncle did not mean anything when
he said your clothes were beginning to burn. He wanted only to save
your clothes. Now go back and stay with him.” So they got over their
displeasure and went back.
All that time the man was working upon his canoe. He said within
himself, “I wonder how my canoe can be gotten down.” Next morning his
nephews went up, put their tails under it, and pulled it down. When
they got it to their uncle’s house, he loaded the canoe and started
home with them, but quite near his town he missed them out of the
canoe. Then all the people there wondered where he could have gotten a
canoe load of such things as he had. He gave everything to his friends.
Then his wife said to the people, “Something came to help us. We have
seen my husband’s sister who was drowned long ago, and that is the way
we got help.”
Afterward he went back to the place where he had received assistance
but saw nothing of those who had helped him. He hunted all about the
place from which his sister used to come but found nothing except
land-otter holes. He became discouraged and gave up searching.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] See story 45.
7. THE LAND-OTTER SON
There was a great famine at Sitka, and all the people went halibut
fishing. Then a certain man went with his wife to the mouth of Redoubt
bay. He had prepared barks some time before, and, when they got to this
place, they made a house out of them. They fished there for a long
time, but caught no more than one or two halibut a week. By the end of
two months they had little to live on except shellfish and other things
picked up at low tide.
One evening they caught a small halibut at their fishing ground. They
cooked a piece of it and put the rest on the drying frame in the brush
house the man had constructed outside.
Next day they heard a noise there as if something were being thrown
down and moved about. The woman said, “What can that be?” Then her
husband went out and was astonished to see two medium-sized devilfish
lying there. He wondered how they had gotten up from the beach. Then
he went in and said, “Wife (dja), I am in luck. There are two large
devilfish out there. I do not know who brought them. To-morrow morning
we will take them and see if we can not catch some halibut. The person
who brought them here is very kind, for I have been hunting everywhere
vainly for bait.” The woman sat down and considered. She said, “Do you
know who brought them here?” He said, “No.” Then she said, “I will tell
you who brought them here. Don’t you remember that my son was drowned a
year ago, and no one has seen anything of him since? It must be he, who
has taken pity on us because he sees how poor we are. I will call his
name if I hear anyone whistle to-morrow or any other night, for I know
it is my son.” So the woman spoke.
In the morning they went out with these devilfish and caught two
halibut. Evening came on. After they had reached home and it was dark,
they began to cook some halibut. Just as the woman was putting some
into the pot a person whistled behind the house. Then she said, “We
have longed for you, my dear son. Come in. Don’t whistle around us.
We have been wishing for you for the last year, so do not be afraid.
It is only your father and I. Come in.” Then it whistled again. The
man went to the door, opened it, and said, “Come in, my son, I think
you have come to help us because we are very poorly off here. The door
is open. Come right in.” So the father said. And without their seeing
him enter, all of a sudden he was seated opposite them with his hands
over his face. Then they spoke to him, saying, “Is it you, my son?” He
only whistled [by drawing in his breath]. That was the way he spoke to
them. Toward midnight he began to speak. The father said, “Is it you,
my son?” The land-otter-man (kūˊcta-qa) said, “Yes.” He motioned to
them that there was something outside which he had brought for them. It
was some more devilfish. He said, “In the morning we will go out.” The
woman gave him a pillow and two blankets for the night, and he slept on
the other side of the fire.
So early in the morning that it was yet dark he took his father by
the feet and shook him, saying, “Get up. We will go out.” He told him
to take his fishing line, and they carried down the canoe. Then the
land-otter-man stepped in and his father followed. His father gave him
a paddle. The canoe went flying out to the halibut ground. It was his
son’s strength that took them there so quickly. Then the land-otter-man
suddenly stopped the canoe. He took the line and baited a hook with one
devilfish tentacle. He baited all of the hooks and lowered them. Then
he tied the end of the line to the seat. He said to his father, “Put
the blanket over you. Do not watch me.” His father did so but observed
him through a hole in the blanket. The land-otter-man, without causing
any motion in the canoe, jumped overboard, went down the line, and put
the largest halibut that he could find on their hooks. When he came in
he shook the canoe and his father pretended to wake up. He gave the
line to his father who began to pull up. Very many big halibut began to
come up, which he clubbed and threw into the canoe as fast as he could.
Then he turned the canoe around and started for home. The canoe was
full.
On the way the land-otter-man was in the bow holding a spear. After he
had held it there for a long time he threw it. His father could not
see that he had thrown it at a large seal. He brought it close to the
canoe, gave it one blow to kill it and threw it into the canoe. When
they came ashore it was almost daybreak. Then, motioning to his father
that the raven might call before he reached shelter, he ran straight up
into the woods.
Now the man’s wife came down and began cutting up the halibut. By the
time they had it all into the house it was dark. The same evening,
before they knew it, he was with them again. Then the man took some
pieces of raw halibut, cut them into bits and placed them before him.
He turned his back on them and ate very fast. He could eat only raw
food.
About a week later they told their son not to go into the woods at
night but to stay with them. So he did. When he wanted to go fishing he
would awaken his father while it was still dark, and they would start
off. Each time they brought in a load of seal, halibut, and all sorts
of things. They began to have great quantities of provisions.
After that they began to see his body plainly. His mouth was round, and
long hair had grown down over his back to his buttocks. He took nothing
from his father and mother but raw food.
Some time after they began to pack up to come to Sitka. He now talked
to them like a human being and always stayed with them. He helped load
their canoe, and his father gave him a paddle. Then they set out, the
land-otter-man in the bow, his father in the stern, and his mother
between. When they came to Poverotni point (Kaodjîxîtî-qǃa), the woman
saw the shadow of her son’s arms moving, his hands which held the
paddle being invisible. She said to her husband, “What is the matter
with my son? He does not seem to be paddling. I can see only his shadow
now.” So she moved forward to see whether he was asleep or had fallen
into the water. Her son was not there. The blanket he had had around
his knees was there, but he was gone. She said to her husband, “Your
son is gone again,” and he replied, “I can not do anything more. He is
gone. How can I bring him back?” So they went on to Sitka.
When they came to Sitka, they reported all that had happened. The
father said, “My son helped us. Just as we got around the point he
disappeared out of the canoe.” So his friends gave a feast for him. His
father’s name was Sᴀkīˊ, and the place where they fished for halibut is
now called Sᴀkīˊ-īˊdî.
8. THE WOLF-CHIEF’S SON
Famine visited a certain town, and many people died of starvation.
There was a young boy there who always went around with bow and arrows.
One day, as he was hunting about, he came across a little animal that
looked like a dog and put it under his blanket. He brought it to his
mother, and his mother washed it for him. Then he took the red paint
left by his dead uncles, spit upon the dog and threw paint on so that
it would stick to its hair and face. When he took the dog into the
woods, it would bring him all kinds of birds, such as grouse, which
he carried home to his family. They cooked these in a basket pot.
Afterward he brought the animal down, washed it, and put more paint
upon its legs and head. This enabled him to trace it when he was out
hunting.
One day after he had traced it for some distance, he found it had
killed a small mountain sheep, and, when he came down, he gave it the
fat part. With the meat so obtained he began to take good care of his
mother and his friends. He had not yet found out whether the animal was
really a dog.
The next time they went hunting they came across a large flock of
sheep, and he sent the dog right up to them. It killed all of them,
and he cut the best one open for it. Then he took down the rest of the
sheep and dressed them. What the animal was killing was keeping some of
his friends alive.
One time the husband of a sister came to him and said, “I wish to
borrow your animal. It is doing great things in this place.” So he
brought the little dog from the house he had made for it, painted its
face and feet, and said to his brother-in-law, “When you kill the first
one cut it open quickly and let him have it. That is the way I always
do.” Then this brother-in-law took up the little dog, and, when they
came to a flock of sheep, it went straight among them, killing them and
throwing them down one after another. But, after he had cut one open,
he took out the entrails, threw them into the dog’s face, and said,
“Dogs always eat the insides of animals, not the good part.” The dog,
however, instead of eating it, ran straight up between the mountains,
yelping.
Now when his brother-in-law brought the sheep down, the man asked him,
“Where is the little dog?” And he said, “It ran away from me.” That was
the report he brought down. Then the owner of the dog called his sister
to him and said, “Tell me truly what he did with the little dog. I did
not want to let it go at first because I knew people would do that
thing to it.” His sister said, “He threw the entrails to it to eat.
That is why it ran off.”
Then the youth felt very sad on account of his little animal and
prepared to follow it. His brother-in-law showed him the place between
the mountains where the dog had gone up, and he went up in that
direction until he came to its footprints and saw the red paint he had
put upon it. This animal was really the wolf-chief’s son who had been
sent to help him, and, because the man put red upon its head and feet,
a wolf can now be told by the red on its feet and around its mouth.
After he had followed the trail for a long distance he came to a lake
with a long town on the opposite side. There he heard a great noise
made by people playing. It was a very large lake, so he thought,
“I wonder how I can get over there.” Just then he saw smoke coming
out from under his feet. Then a door swung open, and he was told
to enter. An old woman lived there called Woman-always-wondering
(Łūwat-uwadjīˊgî-cānᴀˊkǃᵘ), who said to him, “Grandchild, why are you
here?” He answered “I came across a young dog which helped me, but it
is lost, and I come to find where it went.” Then the woman answered,
“Its people live right across there. It is a wolf-chief’s son. That is
its father’s town over there where they are making a noise.” So the old
woman instructed him.
Then he wondered and said to himself, “How can I get across?” But the
old woman spoke out, saying, “My little canoe is just below here.”
He said to himself, “It might turn over with me.” Then the old woman
answered, “Take it down. Before you get in shake it and it will become
large.” Then she continued: “Get inside of the boat and stretch
yourself on the bottom, but do not paddle it. Instead wish continually
to come in front of that place.”
He did as she directed and landed upon the other side. Then he got out,
made the canoe small and put it into his pocket, after which he went
up among the boys who were playing about, and watched them. They were
playing with a round, twisted thing called gîtcxᴀnag̣āˊt (rainbow).
Then some one directed him to the wolf-chief’s house at the farther end
of the village. An evening fire, such as people used to make in olden
times, was burning there, and, creeping in behind the other people, the
man saw his little wolf playing about near it in front of his father.
Then the wolf chief said, “There is some human being looking in here.
Clear away from before his face.” Upon this the little wolf ran right
up to him, smelt of him, and knew him at once. The wolf chief said,
“I feel well disposed toward you. I let my son live among you because
your uncles and friends were starving, and now I am very much pleased
that you have come here after him.” By and by he said, “I think I will
not let him go back with you, but I will do something else to help
you.” He was happy at the way the man had painted up his son. Now he
did not appear like a wolf but like a human being. The chief said,
“Take out the fish-hawk’s quill that is hanging on the wall and give
it to him in place of my son.” Then he was instructed how to use it.
“Whenever a bear meets you,” he said, “hold the quill straight toward
it and it will fly out of your hand.” He also took out a thing that was
tied up like a blanket and gave it to him, at the same time giving him
instructions. “One side,” he said, “is for sickness. If you put this on
a sick person it will make him well. If anyone hates you, put the other
side on him and it will kill him. After they have agreed to pay you for
treating him put the other side on to cure him.”
Then the chief said, “You see that thing that the boys are playing
with? That belongs to me. Whenever one sees it in the evening it
means bad weather; whenever one sees it in the morning it means good
weather.” So he spoke to him.
Then they put something else into his mouth and said to him, “Take
this, for you have a long journey to make.” He was gone up there
probably two years, but he thought it was only two nights.
At the time when he came within sight of his town he met a bear. He
held the quill out toward it as he had been instructed and suddenly
let it go. It hit the bear in the heart. Still closer to his town he
came upon a flock of sheep on the mountain, and sent his quill at them.
When he reached them, he found all dead, and, after he had cut them all
open, he found the quill stuck into the heart of the last. He took a
little meat for his own use and covered up the rest.
Coming to the town, he found no one in it. All had been destroyed. Then
he felt very sad, and, taking his blanket out, laid the side of it that
would save people, upon their bodies, and they all came to life. After
that he asked all of them to go hunting with him, but he kept the quill
hidden away so that they would not bother him as they had before. When
they came to a big flock of mountain sheep, he let his quill go at them
so quickly that they could not see it. Then he went up, looked the dead
sheep over, and immediately cut out the quill. All his friends were
surprised at what had happened. After they had gotten down, those who
were not his close friends came to him and gave payment for the meat.
The people he restored to life after they had been dead for very many
years had very deep set eyes and did not get well at once.
After that he went to a town where the people were all well and killed
some of them with his blanket. Then he went to the other people in that
place and said, “How are your friends? Are they dead?” “Yes.” “Well
I know a way of making them well.” He went up to them again with his
blanket and brought them back to life. They were perfectly well.
This man went around everywhere doing the same thing and became very
famous. Whenever one was sick in any place they came after him and
offered him a certain amount for his services, so that he became the
richest man of his time.
9. WOLVERINE-MAN
There were people living in a certain town on the mainland. You know
that in olden times the people did not use guns. They hunted with bows
and arrows, and horn spears, and it was very hard work to use them. So,
when they were going hunting, they had to fast and wash their heads in
urine. That is why in all of these stories—which I am telling you just
as they were told in the olden times—food was very scarce and hard to
get. Success depended on what things were used and how people prepared
themselves.
One day a certain man at this place began preparing himself by washing
his head in urine, and the following morning he dressed and started up
the valley carrying his horn spear. At the head of this valley he saw
a flock of mountain sheep, but he could not get at them, so he camped
over night. In the morning he saw that a wolverine (nūsk) was among
these sheep killing them off.
Next evening he reached the top of the mountain and started into the
brush to camp, but came to a house with the door wide open for him. On
the inside hung pieces of fat from all kinds of animals the wolverine
had killed. He wanted to go in very much, but instead he sat down in
the brush near by and waited.
Presently a man came along carrying a pack. This was Wolverine-man
(Nūˊsgu-qa). He said, “My trader, you are here. Why don’t you step
inside?” Then they entered, and Wolverine-man took off his clothes and
began wringing them out just like a human being. Then he heated some
hot rocks, took his half-basket, chopped up the bones of a ground hog
and put these into it along with the cooking stones. Then he said to
the man, “Give me that kᴀndᴀʟāˊx. Give me that kǃᴀx̣ᴀˊkaok.” These were
his own words which he was teaching to this man, and they mean, “Give
me my dish. Give me my little spoon.” So, when one went up to the top
of this mountain in olden times he called his dishes and spoons by
those names.
Then Wolverine-man placed the food before his guest, but, when the
latter was about to take some, Wolverine-man said something that
sounded strange to him. He said, “There he is picking it up. There he
is going to eat it.” It sounded strange. Then he kept on talking: “He
is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the small
bones. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone. He
is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone.” He did not
want the man to eat the small bones at the joint,[22] and it was from
Wolverine-man that people learned not to eat these. He said, “I am not
saying this to you because I hate you. If anybody swallows these, the
weather is not clear on top of the mountain. It is always foggy, and
one can kill nothing. This is why I am telling you.” Meanwhile the
people in the camps hunted every day for this man but in vain.
By and by Wolverine-man said to him, “Go around to the other side of
the mountain and sit down where the ground-hogs’ places are.” He went
there every day, but always came home without anything. Wolverine-man,
however, brought him a great load every time. Finally Wolverine-man
told him to go and cut off two small limbs with his ax. People
generally carried a stone ax when off hunting. With these he made a
trap for him and named it Never-lasting-over-night (Łankāˊkǃîxē). It
was so named because it was certain to catch.
When they went up next day, Wolverine-man said, “I am going this way.
Do not set your trap until you see a large ground hog going into a
hole. Set it there.” Soon after he left Wolverine-man he saw a big
ground hog going into its hole. He set up his trap there, stood near,
and watched. Soon he heard the crack of his trap falling. He set it up
many times, and each time he caught one. He killed four that day. That
is why the trap is called Never-lasting-over-night. From that time on
he increased the size of his catch every day, while Wolverine-man did
not catch much. When he got home with all his ground hogs Wolverine-man
lay down by the fire and began singing, “What I would have killed has
all gone over to a lazy man’s side.”
Next morning, when they again started off to hunt, Wolverine-man,
instead of continuing on his usual route, came back to see what his
companion was doing. Then he climbed into a tree to watch him, began to
play around in the tree, and afterwards suddenly fell down. He wanted
to deceive the trapper. This tree is a small bushy one called sǃᴀx, and
it is Wolverine-man’s wife with which he had really been cohabiting.
The man, however, observed what he was doing, and returned home at
once, upon which Wolverine-man became so ashamed that he lay down and
covered himself with ashes.
After that Wolverine-man told his guest to lie down and cover himself
up. Then he took his urinal full of urine, with two white rocks in
it, to another place. He was going to bathe to purify himself from his
wife. After he had purified himself, he came home, put grease into the
fire and began to motion toward his face and to blow with his mouth.
Then he took a wooden comb and began to comb his hair. The man had
covered his head with the blanket but was watching through a hole.
Now the man arose and said to Wolverine-man, “I am going home to my
children.” Then Wolverine-man told him not to say where he had been but
to keep him in remembrance by means of the trap. He had stayed with
Wolverine-man more than a month, and, when he went down, he had a big
pack of skins.
Then he began to distribute these to all his friends, telling them that
he had discovered a place where there were lots of things, and that he
had a trap which never failed to kill ground hogs and other animals if
set on the mountain over night. When he explained to the people how
to set up this trap, a man named Coward (Qǃᴀtxāˊn) said, “I will go
along with you.” This time they did not go way up to the place where
Wolverine-man had helped him but into one of the lower valleys where
there were many ground hogs. There they constructed a house out of dry
sticks and began trapping. Coward had understood him to say that he
caught ground hogs by whittling up sticks near the hole. That was what
he was doing every day, until finally his companion said, “What do you
do by the holes that you do not catch anything?” He said, “Why, I have
already cut up two big sticks by the holes.” Then the other answered,
“That is not right. You have to cut and make a trap with which to trap
the ground hog.”
After that this man thought he would do the same thing to the tree he
had seen Wolverine-man do, but he fell to the ground and was barely
able to crawl home. When he thought he had enough skins, he started to
pack up and return. The trap was very valuable at that time because
it was new, and anyone borrowing it paid a great deal. So he became
wealthy by means of it. He went to every other town to let people know
about it. They would invite him to a place, feast him, and ask him for
it. He became very wealthy.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] The knee-pan or the ankle and wrist bones.
10. THE HALIBUT PEOPLE
There was a very long town where people were fishing for halibut. One
evening the daughter of the chief, whose house was in the middle of the
place, went down on the beach to cut up halibut, and slipped on some
halibut slime. She used bad words to it.
A few days afterward many canoe loads of people came to get this girl
in marriage, and she started off with them. But, although they appeared
to her like human beings, they were really the halibut people. As soon
as they had left the village they went around a point, landed, and
went up into the woods after spruce gum and pitch. They brought down
a great quantity of this, heated a rock in the fire and spread pitch
all over it. When it was melted they seated the woman upon it. The two
brothers of this girl searched along shore for her continually, and
finally they discovered where she was; but she was dead.
Then they felt very sad on her account and asked each other, “What
shall we do about her?” They thought of all kinds of schemes, and at
last hit upon a plan. Then they went home, filled a bladder full of
blood, and went out to the halibut fishing ground. The elder brother
let his younger brother down on a line, but before he got far he lost
his breath and had to be pulled up. So the elder brother prepared
himself. He put on his sister’s dress, took his knife and the bladder
full of blood, and got safely to the bottom. When he arrived there he
found himself in front of a house. Some one came out to look and then
said to the chief inside, “Has your wife come out to see you?” They
thought it was the dead woman. So the halibut chief said, “Tell her to
come in,” and he married her.
At this time the friends of the young man were vainly endeavoring to
catch halibut, and he could see their hooks. Instead of coming into the
houses these would fall around on the outside. They tried all kinds
of hooks of native manufacture, but the only one that succeeded was
Raven-backbone-hook (Yēł-tūˊdᴀqǃê), which came right in through the
smoke hole.
After a while the halibut chief said, “Let us go and take a sweat
bath.” [Frater autem puellae mortuae semper secum portabat vesicam
cruore plenam, quo ungebat extrema vestem qua indutus erat, ut rhombum
deciperet, dicens, “Mensibus affectus sum; noli mihi appropinquare.”]
That night, as soon as the halibut chief was asleep, the man took his
knife, cut the chief’s head off and ran outside with it. Everybody in
the town was asleep. Then he jerked on his brother’s line, and his
brother pulled him up along with the head.
After that they paddled along shore for some time, and on the way the
elder brother kept shooting at ducks with his arrows. Finally he hit
one and took it into the canoe. It was shivering, and his brother said,
“Look at this little duck. It is dying of cold. I wish you were by
my father’s camp fire.” On account of these bad words the canoe went
straight down into the ocean.
Arrived at the bottom, they saw a long town, and some one said,
“Get out of the canoe and come up.” Then the duck led them up into
the house of his grandfather, the killer whale—for the killer whale
is grandfather to the duck—and a big fire was built for them. Then
they seated the brothers close to this and said, “Do you think
it is only your father who has a big fire?” After they were so
badly burned that their heads were made to turn backward with the
heat, they were thrown outside. There they became the ducks called
Always-crying-around-[the-bay] (Ỵīkᴀg̣āˊxe). You can hear them crying
almost any time when you are in camp. They never got back to their
friends.
11. STORIES OF THE MONSTER DEVILFISH[23] AND THE CRY-BABY[24]
Many people once went to a certain camp to dry salmon. They did not
know that a big devilfish lived under a steep cliff not very far from
this place. In olden times, besides using hooks, they caught salmon by
means of traps (cᴀł), and when the trap was full, they would take out
the fish and hang them on drying frames. When these people had many
fish on the frames, they took off their covers so that the red color
shone out on the ocean very distinctly.
A man and his two brothers living at this camp were fond of hunting,
and one day, when very many salmon were on the frames, they started
out. While they were gone the devilfish saw the glow on the water from
the red salmon, threw his tentacles around the camp and swept every
vestige of it into the sea. In those times a hunter washed in urine
before going out hunting and was then sure to kill something, but on
that day everything the hunters speared got away. When they returned to
the camp, they saw many pieces of canoes drifting about the bay. Then
they were very sad on account of the loss of their friends, but they
did not know what had destroyed them.
After they had remained there for four days, they told the youngest to
climb to the top of a high hill and watch them. Then the eldest told
his other brother to cut four young spruce trees, and he sharpened
these, making two for himself and two for his brother. Early in the
morning they loaded their canoe with rocks and prepared to meet the
dangerous animal. They went out in front of the high cliff and began
throwing rocks down there, the elder saying to his youngest brother,
“Look down.”
After a while they saw the large devilfish coming up right under them.
Then they took the sharpened sticks and began to pierce its flesh. The
youngest watched all that happened. When their canoe was broken up,
they climbed on top of the devilfish and continued running the sticks
into it until it died. When that happened it carried them down along
with it.
Then the youngest brother started off to find some settlement, and when
he came to one, the people set out at once to look for his brothers.
Finally they discovered the place to which the devilfish had floated,
along with the hunters and their canoe. But it did not get the salmon
it had destroyed so many people for. Then the people gave a death feast
and all cut their hair off short.
In the town to which these people belonged once lived a little boy
who was always crying. His parents tried to rear him properly, yet
he cried, cried, cried all the time. Finally his father shouted out,
“Come this way Djînᴀkᴀx̣wᴀˊtsǃa.[25] Pull this boy away, for he cries
too much.” Toward evening he repeated the same words, and this time a
land-otter-man behind the house shouted out stutteringly, “Bring my
grandchild here and let him eat gᴀłkᴀdax̣ᴀˊkǃᵘ to keep him quiet.” So
the little boy was taken away and given what appeared to him to be
blackberries.
Two days afterward they began searching for him, and they finally
found him far up in the woods. When they brought him down he had a
big belly and did not cry as loudly as he had before, so they thought
that something was wrong. Then they boiled some dried salmon and gave
him broth made from it. The heat of this broth expelled all of the
small creatures that had been given him to eat under the appearance of
blackberries. Spiders began running out of his mouth, ears, nose, eyes,
and buttocks. His insides were filled with them, and they had eaten out
all of his flesh. When these were expelled, nothing was left but the
skin which they threw away.
FOOTNOTES:
[23] See pp. 150–151, story 31.
[24] See p. 145, story 31.
[25] The name of some man that had been captured by land otters.
12. THE WOMAN WHO WAS KILLED BY A CLAM
There was a famine at a certain town and many people had to depend on
shellfish, so the women went down to the beach at low tide every day
to gather them. One time a chief’s daughter went down and reached far
under a rock to find some clams. Then a large bivalve called xīt closed
upon her hand, holding her prisoner. Presently the tide began to rise,
and, when it had almost reached her, she began singing a song about
herself. She kept on singing until the tide passed right over her. Then
all felt sad and held a feast for her at which they put food, blankets,
and other things into the water.
13. ROOT-STUMP[26]
There was a certain town in which many people were dying of sickness,
but those who felt well used to play shinney on the beach every day.
Then something came down through the air and one of them seized it
and was dragged up from the ground. Another person grasped his feet,
endeavoring to pull him back, but he, too, was carried up and another
and another until there were ten. All of these were taken up out of
sight.
The next day the same thing came down a second time, and ten more were
carried off. This happened every day until all the men in the town
were gone. Next it came to a woman, and all the women were carried away
in the same manner except two.
These two women now walked along the beach calling for help. They did
not know whither their friends had gone. And every day they went up
into the forest after roots.
One day, after they had gone up into the woods, one of these women
began swallowing root-juice, and it formed a child in her. This was
born and proved to be a boy. After he had grown a little larger, his
mother named him Root-stump (Xᴀt-cūgūˊʟkǃî). This is what helped her.
All the men who used to chop canoes away from town had also disappeared.
The child grew very rapidly and repeatedly asked his mother, “Where
have all my friends gone?” She said to him, “We do not know. They kept
going up into the air.” When he was a little larger he began to test
himself. He would go up to a tree, seize a limb, and try to stretch
himself. Then roots would run out from him in every direction because
his mother had named him to have that sort of strength.[27]
His mother said to him, “Look out when you go down on the beach to
play, because those who do so go up into the air and you will also go
up. So look out.” Then he ran down to the beach and began playing. All
at once the thing came down. He seized it, and immediately roots grew
out from him into the ground in every direction. So he pulled down the
thing that was killing his people, and it broke into small pieces.
There was another being in the woods who always chopped and made noises
to entice people to him in order to kill them. He was in the habit of
killing people by asking them to get into his canoe, when he knocked
out a thwart so that it closed in upon them. He was the one who had
killed the canoe makers. Root-stump once found this man engaged in
making a canoe, and the man asked him to jump inside. Root-stump knew
what he was about, however, and jumped out too quickly. Then Root-stump
was so angry that he seized the canoe-maker and beat his brains out. He
broke up the canoe and piled it on top of him.
This boy grew up into a very fine man. He brought in all kinds of
things for his mother. If he were hunting mountain sheep and came to a
chasm or other similar place, he would cross it by sticking his roots
into the ground on the other side.
This is why they say even at the present time to a woman who works with
roots, “Do not swallow the sap. You might have a baby from it.”
FOOTNOTES:
[26] See story 49.
[27] The exact words of the story-teller.
14. THE PROTRACTED WINTER
One time some boys pulled a piece of drifting seaweed out of the water
on one side of their canoe and put it in again on the other. It was
almost summer then, but, for having done this, winter came on again and
snow was piled high in front of the houses so that people began to be
in want of food. One day, however, a blue jay perched on the edge of a
smoke hole, with elderberries in its mouth, and cried, “Kîłnᴀˊxe.” This
was the name of a neighboring town. So the people took all the cedar
bark they had prepared to make houses out of and went to Kîłnᴀˊxe where
they found that it was already summer and the berries were ripe. Only
about their own town was it still winter. This happened just beyond the
town of Wrangell.
I tell you this story to show how particular people used to be in olden
times about things, for it was only a piece of seaweed that brought
winter on.
15. BEAVER AND PORCUPINE[28]
A porcupine and a beaver were once very close friends.[29] They
traveled about everywhere and reported to each other all that happened.
The bear is very much afraid of the porcupine, but he hates the beaver.
Wherever the beaver has a dam the bear breaks it up so as to let the
water down, catches the beaver and eats him. But he is afraid of the
porcupine’s sharp quills, so the porcupine sometimes stayed in the
beaver’s house, which is always dry inside.
When the lake began falling, they knew it was caused by the bear, and
the porcupine would go out to reconnoiter. Then he would come back and
say to his friend, “Do not go out. I will go out first.” Then the bear
would be afraid of the porcupine’s sharp quills and go away, after
which all the beavers began repairing their dam while the porcupine
acted as guard.
By and by the porcupine said to the beaver, “I am hungry. I want to
go to my own place.” Porcupine got his food from the bark and sap of
trees, so he told the beaver to go up a tree with him, but the beaver
could not climb. Then the porcupine told him to stay below while he
went up to eat. Soon they saw the bear coming, and the beaver said,
“Partner (xōˊne), what shall I do? The bear is getting near.” Then the
porcupine slid down quickly and said, “Lay your head close to my back.”
In that way he got the beaver to the top of the tree. But, after a
while, the porcupine left him, and the beaver did not know how to climb
down. He began to beg the porcupine in every way to let him down, but
in vain. After quite a while, however, the squirrel, another friend of
the beaver, came to him and helped him down, while the porcupine was
off in a hole in the rocks with a number of other porcupines.
By and by the porcupine went back and saw his friend swimming in the
lake. The beaver asked him down to the lake and then said, “Partner,
let us go out to the middle of the lake. Just put your head on the back
of my head and you will not get wet at all.” Because these two friends
fell out, people now become friends, and, after they have loved each
other for a while, fall out. Then the porcupine did as he was directed,
the beaver told him to hold on tight, and they started. The beaver
would flap his tail on the water and dive down for some distance, come
to the surface, flap his tail, and go down again; and he repeated the
performance until he came to an island in the center of the lake. Then
he put the porcupine ashore and went flapping away from him in the same
manner.
Now the little porcupine wandered around the whole island, not knowing
how to get off. He climbed a tree, came down again, and climbed
another, and so on. But the wolverine lived on the mainland near by, so
after a while he began to sing for the wolverine (nūsk) “Nū-u-sguē-eˊ,
Nū-u-sguē-eˊ, Nū-u-sguē-eˊ.” He called all the animals on the mainland,
but he called the wolverine especially, because he wanted the north
wind to blow so that it would freeze.[30]
Then the wolverine called out, “What is the matter with you?” So he at
last sang a song about himself, saying that he wanted to go home badly.
After he had sung this the whole sea froze over, and the porcupine ran
across it to his home. This is why they were going to be friends no
longer.
Then the porcupine made friends with the ground hog and they stayed up
between the mountains where they could see people whenever they started
up hunting. One day a man started out, and when they saw him, the
porcupine began singing, “Up to the land of ground hog. Up to the land
of ground hog.” The man heard him. That is why people know that the
porcupine sings about the ground hog.
After this the man began trapping ground hogs for food and caught a
small ground hog. He took it home and skinned it. Then he took off
the head and heated some stones in order to cook it. When he was just
about to put it into the steaming box the head sang plainly, “Poor
little head, my poor little head, how am I going to fill him?” The man
was frightened, and, instead of eating, he went to his traps in the
morning, took them up (lit. “threw them off”) and came home.
Next morning he reported everything to his friends, saying, “I killed
a ground hog, skinned it and started to cook the head. Then it said to
me, ‘Poor little head.’” After that he went out to see his bear traps.
While he was endeavoring to tighten the release of one of these, the
dead fall came down and struck him in the neck, making his head fly
off. When he had been absent for two days they searched for him and
found him in his own trap. This was what the ground hog had predicted
when it said, “My poor little head.” They took his body down to the
beach, beat the drums for him, and had a feast on the ground hogs and
other animals he had trapped.
FOOTNOTES:
[28] See story 63.
[29] Wutcyᴀqāˊwu, signifying friendship between people regardless of
relationship.
[30] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, p. 453.
16. THE POOR MAN WHO CAUGHT WONDERFUL THINGS
There was a long town from which all the people used to go out fishing
for halibut and other large fish every day. In those times, before bone
was used, they made hooks of two pieces of spruce from young trees,
sharpened the point and hardened it in the fire. For lines they dried
slender kelp stems.
A very poor man living at one end of the town fished among the others,
but did not catch anything. While they were having a good time fishing
he remained perfectly quiet, and they kept laughing at him. One day,
when he pulled at his line, it acted as if it were fast to something.
He thought it had caught upon a rock and pulled it about in the
endeavor to free it. All at once it began to come slowly up, and,
although every one laughed at him, he held on.
After he had brought it close to the canoe, he looked down and saw that
it was a great live abalone caught in the flesh. Its color shone out of
the water. As it ascended it was so big that all the canoes seemed to
come inside of it, and it shone in every one’s face. Then some people
who wanted to take this valuable thing away from him, said, “Cut the
line. It is a great thing that you have caught. You better let it go.”
After a while he became tired of the people’s talk, so he cut his line.
Then it began to go down very slowly, shining all over.
Then others came to him and said, “You did not do the right thing.
It is a very valuable thing you let go.” He said, “Has it sunk?” So
nowadays, when a person has lost a valuable thing, they say to him, “Is
it an abalone that has sunk?” (Dêˊca guˊnxa ak we wutǃaˊqǃ) Whenever he
thought about this he cried at the riches he had let go.
Another time they went out fishing, and he was with them. He had a
sponge in his hand, and taking a piece of flesh out of his nose inside
so as to make it bleed, he filled the sponge with blood and let it down
into the ocean. When he began to pull up his hook, it was again fast.
He pulled it up slowly, for it was very heavy. It was another valuable
thing, the nest of a fish called îcqēˊn. Then he filled his canoe with
these fishes, called the other canoes to him and filled them. After
that he stood up in his canoe and said, “The abalone has not been
drowned from me yet. I still have it.” He distributed these fishes
all over the town and began to get rich from the property he received.
People gave him all kinds of skins—moose, caribou, fox, etc. He had
great stores of riches from having caught the abalone and the nest of
fishes.
17. THE FINDING OF THE BLUE PAINT, AND HOW A CERTAIN CREEK RECEIVED ITS
NAME
At Sitka lived four brothers who were very fond of hunting. In those
days people liked to hunt about the straits north of Sitka for fur
seals, sea otters, etc. One day, while they were out, they were forced
to take refuge from a storm at a place near Mount Edgecumbe, called
Town-on-the-inside-of-blue-paint-point (Nex̣îˊntaiataqǃ-ān), and while
hunting about this place during their long stay they discovered a
rocky cave or overhanging cliff from which soft blue stuff continually
dropped. The youngest said, “I have discovered a valuable thing which
will be used for painting and for everything carved.”
After they had been there for a long time the weather became fine and
the sea smooth. Now in olden times people knew that everything was
dangerous. When the brothers were about to start, they said, “We will
take some off now to carry home.” So they knocked off a big piece,
rolled it up among their clothes and hid it away. But the canoe had
scarcely started before the sea began to get rough. When they were some
way out they headed for an island outside of Edgecumbe which they had
to pass. Then the eldest, who was steering, began to compose a song
about the course he was taking: “Which way shall I steer the canoe,
straight out into the ocean or straight on to the shore?” The youngest
said, “There is no way of getting home. Would it not be better to throw
this blue paint into the water? Then we can get ashore.” So the eldest
brother put in the next verse as follows: “Which way shall we steer,
straight in or not? Shall we not throw this blue paint into the water?
If not how shall we be saved?” Then he exclaimed, “Bring the blue stuff
here and tie it to my head, and I will be drowned with it so that
things shall eat me up with it.”
They were not drowned, however, and reached shore in safety, so people
still speak of their bravery in not throwing the blue paint overboard.
To this day they say that, if you take anything from there, the weather
will be stormy, and people are still afraid to do it, but take the risk
because the thing obtained is valuable.
For a long time after the brothers reached shore with this blue paint
the weather was bad and great rollers came sweeping in out of the
ocean. No one could go to sea after halibut.
At that time some people were camping a short distance north of Sitka,
and one day two women went from there with their children to dig clams.
They came into a small inlet and made their camp. Then the women began
bringing up shellfish, which they afterwards boiled to get the insides
out, ran small sticks through them, and hung them up to dry for their
children. One day they went down on the beach as usual, leaving their
babies in camp, and the smallest began crying. Then a child somewhat
larger shouted, “The baby is crying. The baby is crying.” Its mother
said, “Bury one of those cockles in the fire and cook it for her,”
but the little boy understood his mother to say, “Dig a hole for your
little sister in the fire and put her into it.” So the little boy began
to pull the fire apart and to make a hole in the middle of it. He
tried to knock his little sister into this hole but she kept getting
up again, so he shouted, “She keeps trying to get away from me.” After
a while he became too strong for his little sister, put her in, and
covered her over.
When his mother came up, she said, “Little son, where is your little
sister?” “I have buried her in the fire. She is there.” So after that
they named the stream Creek-where-a-person-was-burned (Kᴀˊxsîgᴀnîhīn).
18. VARIOUS ADVENTURES NEAR CROSS SOUND
There is a place in the neighborhood of Cross sound called
Kǃudēˊs-qǃaỵîk, which people used to frequent in olden times to hunt,
catch halibut, and so on. People were then in the habit of traveling
from camp to camp a great deal. One time a man and his wife went out to
get cedar bark off from some trees, and the man went quite a distance
up into the woods from his wife with his stone ax and tree climber.
This tree-climber was an apparatus composed of ropes, with a board for
the climber to stand on. But, while he was high up in a tree, the board
slipped from under the man’s feet, and the rope held him tight to the
tree by his neck so that he died. Since he did not come back, his wife
went home and reported that he was missing. Then they hunted for him
everywhere, and finally a man found him hanging from the tree dead. The
dead man was brother of a chief. So they took the board that had fallen
from under his feet home, laid it across the neck of a slave and killed
him to be revenged on the board. They kept the board and exhibited it
at feasts. Afterward people were called for the death feast.
People continued going to the different bays hunting, and one day a
canoe with two men in it anchored close by a cliff. While they were
there one of them saw two huge devilfish arms moving across the bay.
They ran ashore and hid under a rock, letting the arms pass over them,
while the devilfish took the canoe into its hole under water.
Then the men started up the hill. On their way home they saw in a small
creek what appeared to be a little halibut, but on coming closer they
found that it was only a white rock which had that appearance.
After they had reached home and had reported what had happened, all the
people began to chop at a log. Then they started a big fire and began
to burn it. But, when it was half burned, they put out the fire by
throwing hot water upon it. They were going to take it to the devilfish
hole and drown it there. So they took it over to that place and let it
down, but never saw it again.
Later four other men went hunting by canoe one autumn to a place called
Wᴀtᴀsǃāˊx, where they encamped. By and by one of the party, on going to
his traps, found a big land otter in one of them. He took the bough of
a tree, twisted it around the land otter’s neck, and carried it home.
He did not know what it was. As he dragged it home it went bouncing
along behind him and at every bounce something whistled behind him.
Arrived at camp he began to skin it. Then he said to his brothers, “Go
and get your pot ready to cook it,” but, when they began to cut it up
to put it in, something whistled. “That is just what I heard on the
way,” he said.
After the pot had boiled and they had begun eating, something began
to whistle in a tree near by and threw a rock down. They threw one
back and soon rocks were flying back and forth. It was a great thing
to fool with. By and by the men said, “You might cut our faces,” so,
instead of throwing rocks, they seized long cones and threw these back
and forth all night. Toward morning the being in the tree, which was a
land-otter-man, began to hit people, and they on their part had become
very tired. Finally they tried to get him down by lighting a fire under
the tree where he was sitting. When it was burning well, all suddenly
shouted, and he fell into it. Then they threw the fire over him, and he
burned up. But when they started for the beach to go home, all wriggled
from side to side and acted as if they were crazy; and when anyone went
to that place afterward he would act in the same manner.
These men lived at a place called Person-petrified (Cᴀkdahᴀnaˊ), and
when they came home, it was told them, “A woman and her child have been
lost from this place.” This woman had been attacked by some strange
man, whom she also killed with the pole which was used to take off
cedar bark. At that time many persons had disappeared, and the people
were wearied out looking for them. Now, however, they were determined
to find the murderers, so all got into one canoe and started along the
coast. After a time the high waves compelled them to encamp, and all
went up into the woods to hunt through them for a beach. Then they came
to a house made of driftwood, where the murderers lived. They went
to each end where the main stringer protruded, lifted it off of its
supporting posts and let it fall on the occupants. Those who tried to
get out between the logs they killed. Then they set the ruined house on
fire and burned it with all it contained; and they broke up the canoe
belonging to those people.
Close by lived a shaman related to the same people. His spirits told
him that there was a mountain near by where flint could be obtained.
His spirits had so much strength that he went right to that place
and broke it off. In those days every time a shaman cut an animal’s
tongue he had more strength, so, when his strength was all combined, it
amounted to considerable.
At that time the people did not have any flint, but, after the spirit
discovered it, all knew where it was to be found, and they have since
brought it from there.
19. KĀTSǃ[31]
Kātsǃ belonged to the Kāˊgwᴀntān and lived at Sitka. One day he went
hunting with dogs, and, while his dogs ran on after a male bear, this
bear’s wife took him into her den, concealed him from her husband, and
married him. He had several children by her. Indoors the bears take off
their skin coats and are just like human beings.
By and by he wanted to go back to his people, but before he started she
told him not to smile at or touch his Indian wife or take up either of
his children. After his return, he would go out for seal, sea lions,
and other animals which he carried up into an inlet where his bear wife
was awaiting him. Then the cubs would come down, pull the canoe ashore
violently, take out the game and throw it from one to another up to
their mother. On account of the roughness of these cubs it came to be a
saying in Sitka, “If you think you are brave, be steersman for Kātsǃ.”
One day Kātsǃ pitied one of his children and took it up. The next
time he went up the inlet, however, the cubs seized him and threw
him from one to another up to their mother, and so killed him. Then
they scattered all over the world and are said to have been killed in
various places.
What is thought to have been the last of these was killed at White
Stone Narrows. When some people were encamped there a girl spoke
angrily about Kātsǃ’s child, and it came upon them, killing all except
a few who escaped in their canoes, and this woman, whom it carried off
alive, making her groan with pain. One man tried to kill it but did not
cut farther than its hair. Finally all the Indians together killed it
with their spears and knives.[32]
FOOTNOTES:
[31] See story 69; also Boas, Indianische Sagen von der
Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas, p. 328.
[32] Because a human being married among the grizzly bears, people will
not eat grizzly-bear meat.
20. THE UNSUCCESSFUL HUNTERS
Two persons very fond of hunting were in the habit of washing in
urine, as was usual in old times when one wanted something very much.
Then they went to a sea-lion rock, and one of them threw his spear
at a sea lion but the point broke off the handle. The animal was the
sea-lion-chief’s son. Afterwards the man who had done it was drowned,
but his companion reached the sea-lion rock in safety. He looked about
for his friend, but could not see him, so he went up on top of the
rock, lay down, and, pulling the grass over himself, fell asleep. While
he was asleep and dreaming, some one came to him and said, “I come to
help you.” He awoke, but there was nothing visible except nesting birds
flying about the island. Then he again fell asleep, and again he heard
some one come to him and say, “I come to help you. The place you have
drifted upon is a house. When you hear the noise of a shaman’s beating
sticks, go straight to the door of the place from which it comes.”
Soon he heard the noise of the sticks, as the man had forewarned him,
just a little below the place where he was lying. He stepped forward
quietly, and lo! he came to the door of a fine, large house. Inside
of this he saw those who were beating the sticks and a man lying sick
“with pneumonia,” out of whom the string of the spear hung. Then he
crept in quietly, hiding behind the people, and said within himself,
“If it were I, I would push that spear in a little farther, twist it
to one side and pull it out.” Upon this everybody said, “Make way for
him. This shaman says he can take the spear out by twisting it and then
pulling out.” He said to himself, “I guess I can do it,” so he let them
have their way. Then he came out in the middle of the house, pulled
his blanket about himself, used his hand like a rattle and ran around
the fire just like a shaman. When he went to the spear and moved it a
little, the sick man cried out. After that he let it alone for a while.
He wished very much that they would give him in payment a large animal
stomach which was hanging on a post. So the man’s father said, “Pay it
to him.”
Now he tied his blanket tightly about himself and said, “Bring in
some water.” Then he ran around the sick man again, and, when he came
to where the spear was, he summoned all his strength, pushed it in a
little, turned it round slightly and pulled it out. At once he pushed
it into the water in the customary manner and blew eagle down upon it,
when all of the white matter came out of the wound and the sick man got
his breath. After that he hid the spear quickly from the eyes of the
people.
When he went out, the man who had first come to his assistance came
again. This was the puffin (xîk). It said, “Take that big stomach, get
inside, and go home in it. After you get inside do not think of this
place again.” He did as the puffin had directed, but, when he was
within a short distance of the shore, he thought of the place where he
had been and immediately floated back to the island. The second time
the skin carried him right ashore. Then he got out, went home to his
friends and reported everything that had happened.
* * * * *
Another canoe also set out to hunt in much the same way. After the
people had gone on for a very long time unsuccessfully, they came upon
a great seal standing out of the water, and one of the hunters speared
it. It was nothing but an old log drifting about which had appeared
to him like a seal. That night they anchored their canoe in front of
a steep cliff not far from this place and prepared to spend the night
there. By and by they heard a skate flopping along on the water near
by, whereupon the steersman took his spear and struck it on one side of
the belly. Then the skate swam right down into the ocean.
This skate was a slave of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt who lived under that same
cliff, and when the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt heard him groaning under the house
steps where he always stayed, he said to one of his other slaves, “Get
up and find what he is groaning about.” Then the skate said, “There is
a canoe outside here. The people in that canoe have done something to
me.”
Then the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt awoke all his slaves’ nephews and said, “Bring
that canoe in here.”
Presently the man in the bow of the canoe awoke and looked about.
Their canoe was on top of the inside partitions of a house. He took
something and poked his steersman quietly to awaken him, for he saw
that something was wrong.
Early in the morning the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt awoke and said to his nephews,
“Make a big fire.” Then he exclaimed angrily, “It is of no use to
bother poor slaves. Why did they want to kill that slave?”
Meanwhile the friends of these people were searching for them
everywhere.
Then the chief told them to come forward, saying to them, “You will now
be judged.” One could not see the part of the house near the door, it
was so crowded with the nephews and friends of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt (i. e.,
all kinds of fishes and marine animals) dressed in every style. They
said to them, “To what tribe do you belong?” and the bow man replied,
“We are of the Kᴀtagwᴀˊdî family.” Then the chief said, “If one is
going to visit a person, he should enter his house in a polite manner
and not destroy anybody. Let them wash their hands. Give them food and
dress them up well. I am a Kᴀtagwᴀˊdî myself, so you are my friends.”
Then they fixed them up well, dressing them and combing their hair. But
at home the people were beating drums, because they thought these men
were dead.
Then the chief said to them, “When you build a house, name it Rock
House (Tᴀ hît). It is a good thing that we use each other’s emblems.”
Afterward the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people loaded their canoe, combed their
hair with cottonwood boughs so that it smelt good, and let them go home.
And when they first reached home they were dressed so finely that the
people did not know them. The chief said to his friends, “A great
living thing saved us. He gave us a thing to go by which shall be our
emblem, namely, that whenever we build a house we shall call it Rock
House.”
21. ORIGIN OF ICEBERG HOUSE[33]
A man and his wife were living at a certain fort. At that time some
disease came into the world and destroyed all of their uncles, fathers,
and friends. Then the man thought within himself, “I ought to give some
sort of feast to my dead friends,” and he began to gather berries.
One day a quantity of ice floated up on the beach below him. He took
this up piece by piece and put it into the house, treating the pieces
as his guests. He poured a great deal of oil into the fire to make it
blaze. Then he took dishes, put berries into them, and placed these
in front of the pieces of ice to show that he was sorry for the dead
people, and desired to give some one a feast. After he had given to
them, the ice gave forth a kind of squeak as if the pieces were talking
to him, though he could not make out what was said. It is from this
squeak that the people now know that he invited them, and it is from
this circumstance also that, when ice drifts down upon a person in
a canoe, he talks to it and gives it tobacco, calling it “My son’s
daughter” or “My son’s wife.” This is ahead of the Tcūkᴀneˊdî (i. e.,
the beginning of the Tcūkᴀneˊdî clan). Therefore they own Iceberg
House.[34]
Afterwards this man went out again. He said to himself, “I will invite
anyone out on the sea that hears me.” After he had gotten well out in
his canoe he shouted, “Everybody this way. Everybody this way,” just
as though he were calling guests, and immediately crowds of the bear
tribe, thinking they were the ones invited, began coming down between
the mountains.
When he saw these animals coming, the man told his wife to be
courageous, but for himself he said he did not care whether he lived or
died, because all of his friends were dead. When the bear people began
to come in, he told them to go up to the rear end of the house, saying,
“It is your brother-in-law’s seat you are going to sit down in” (i.
e., that was where he formerly sat). His wife was somewhat frightened,
but he talked to them as if they were his own people. As he called out
the names of the dead men who had held those seats they would say in
turn, “Hadeˊ (present),” and he would pass a dish up to the speaker.
After they were through eating the chief of the bear tribe said to his
friends very plainly, “Do not leave this man friendless, but go to him
every one of you and show your respect.” So they told the man to lie
down in front of them, and before they left they licked him, meaning
that thereby they licked his sorrow away. They said, “This is because
you feel lonely.” Then the bears started off.
At that time men from some other town came near, watched the big
animals come out and heard the man speak to them as if they were his
own friends, but they were afraid to go near.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] See story 64.
[34] This man can not have belonged to the Tcūkᴀneˊdî himself, because
the ice he invited must be of the opposite clan, but his wife may have
been. He perhaps belonged to the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān.
22. THE WOMAN TAKEN AWAY BY THE FROG PEOPLE[35]
There was a large town in the Yakutat country not very far back of
which lay a big lake very full of frogs. In the middle of the lake was
a swampy patch on which many frogs used to sit.
One day the town chief’s daughter talked badly to the frogs. She
took one up and made fun of it, saying, “There are so many of these
creatures, I wonder if they do things like human beings. I wonder if
men and women cohabit among them.”
When she went out of doors that night, a young man came to her and
said, “May I marry you?” She had rejected very many men, but she wanted
to marry this one right away. Pointing toward the lake he said, “My
father’s house is right up here,” and the girl replied, “How fine it
looks!” When they went up to it, it seemed as though a door was opened
for them, but in reality the edge of the lake had been raised. They
walked under. So many young people were there that she did not think of
home again.
Meanwhile her friends missed her and hunted for her everywhere. Finally
they gave her up, and her father had the drums beaten for a death
feast. They cut their hair and blackened their faces.
Next spring a man who was about to go hunting came to the lake to bathe
himself with urine. When he was done, he threw the urine among a number
of frogs sitting there and they jumped into the water. When he was
bathing next day he saw all the frogs sitting together in the middle of
the lake with the missing woman among them. He dressed as quickly as
possible, ran home to the girl’s father, and said, “I saw your daughter
sitting in the middle of the pond in company with a lot of frogs.”
So her father and mother went up that evening with a number of other
people, saw, and recognized her.
After that they took all kinds of things to make the frog tribe feel
good so that they would let the woman return to her parents, but in
vain. By and by her father determined upon a plan and called all of his
friends together. Then he told them to dig trenches out from the lake
in order to drain it. From the lake the frog chief could see how the
people had determined, and he told his tribe all about it. The frog
people call the mud around a lake their laid-up food.
After the people had worked away for some time, the trench was
completed and the lake began draining away fast. The frogs asked the
woman to tell her people to have pity on them and not destroy all, but
the people killed none because they wanted only the girl. Then the
water flowed out, carrying numbers of frogs which scattered in every
direction. All the frog tribe then talked poorly about themselves, and
the frog chief, who had talked of letting her go before, now had her
dressed up and their own odor, which they called “sweet perfumery,” was
put upon her. After a while she came down the trench half out of water
with her frog husband beside her. They pulled her out and let the frog
go.
When anyone spoke to this woman, she made a popping noise “Hu,” such
as a frog makes, but after some time she came to her senses. She
explained, “It was the Kîkcaˊ (i. e., Kîksᴀˊdî women) that floated down
with me,” meaning that all the frog women and men had drifted away.
The woman could not eat at all, though they tried everything. After a
while they hung her over a pole, and the black mud she had eaten when
she was among the frogs came out of her, but, as soon as it was all
out, she died. Because this woman was taken away by the frog tribe at
that place, the frogs there can understand human beings very well when
they talk to them. It was a Kîksᴀˊdî woman who was taken off by the
frogs, and so those people can almost understand them. They also have
songs from the frogs, frog personal names, and the frog emblem. All the
people know about them.
FOOTNOTES:
[35] See story 76. This myth is more often localized at Wrangell, and
the woman’s name is said to have been Qałtsîˊxkǃî.
23. HOW THE FROGS HONORED THE DEAD
One time, when they were afraid of being attacked, all of the Kîksᴀˊdî
and Kāˊgwᴀntān encamped on Kᴀnᴀsqǃēˊ (St. Lazaria island). There are
two parts to this island separated at high tide, and the Kîksᴀˊdî
encamped upon one, while the Kāgwᴀntān lived upon the other. On the
same island there is also a small salt-water pond at the bottom of
which was a creature called ʟǃīn, and, being pressed for food on
account of their fear of the enemy, the allies often tried to bail out
this pond when the tide left it, to get at the sea animal.
While the people were there, a chief of the Kāˊgwᴀntān died, and, after
he had been in the house among his friends for eight days, one of his
friends said to the Kîksᴀˊdî, “Take care of his dead body.” All the
Kāˊgwᴀntān chiefs marry Kîkcaˊ (Kîksᴀˊdî women). But the real frog
tribe thought they were the ones who were summoned, because they are
also Kîkcaˊ.
Then all the Kîksᴀˊdî made ready to go ashore to burn his dead body.
They chopped much wood and made a fire, while all of the Kîksᴀˊdî and
Kāˊgwᴀntān stood around it, and everyone felt badly. All at once a big
frog, as long as the hand and wrist, jumped out from the place where
the fire was and began making a noise. All looked at it. It had come
out because the frogs were the ones to whom the Kāˊgwᴀntān had spoken.
After that it jumped into the fire and burned up.
Then all the people tied themselves up (gᴀˊxᴀnî) (i. e., tied their
blankets around their waists, as they did when they were engaged in
lifting the sun[36]) out of respect to the chief. All felt very badly
about the dead man, and one person said, “It will not be like draining
out the ʟǃīn lake (ʟǃīn āˊya). Let us go to war.” So they captured
slaves and killed them for the dead man, and, when they put food into
the fire for him, they also named the frog that it might receive some
as well.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, p. 430.
24. THE BRANT WIVES[37]
A Kîksᴀˊdî youth lived with his father in a long town. When he was well
grown, he went about in the woods hunting with bow and arrows. One time
he came close to a lake and heard the voices of girls. When he got
nearer he saw two girls bathing there. Then he skirted the shore toward
them, and, when he was very close, discovered two coats just back of
the place where they were. These were really the girls’ skins. He took
them up, and they began talking to him, saying, “Give us those skins.”
But he said, “I want to marry both of you.” So he married both of them
and took them to his father’s house.
Both of this man’s wives used to look over his hair to pick out the
lice. When spring was coming on and the brants were coming from the
south, the girls sat on top of the house with him and kept saying,
“There comes my uncle’s canoe. There comes my father’s canoe.” They
were beginning to get homesick, and they asked their husband if he
would let them go home. When the brants began coming, one would say,
“Those are my friends coming up. I am going to ask them to give me
something to eat.” So, when they were above the house, she said, “Give
me something to eat,” and down came green herbs one after another.
When it was time for the brants to start back south, both of the girls
had become tired. They wanted to go home. They knew when it was time
for their father’s canoe to pass over, and just before it was due they
told their husband to go up into the woods after something. When he
came down, his wives were gone. He said to his father, “Do you know
where they went?” but he answered, “No.”
Then the young man said, “I will start down on foot to the place
whither I think they have gone.” So he set out, and after he had gone
on for some time, he heard people making a noise. It was the brant
tribe in camp. On this journey he took a bag full of arrows with
mussel-shell points, and bows. For this reason, when he came back of
the place where they were, and they caught sight of him, they were
afraid and flew away. Then he went down to the place where they had
been sitting and found all kinds of green herbs such as brants live on.
After this the girls said to their father, “Let us camp a little way
off. He has been with us for some time, and we have gotten his heat.
Therefore let us camp near by so that he can come to us and be taken
along.” But their father answered, “When he comes behind us again and
camps, say to him, ‘Our fathers[38] do not like to see your bows and
arrows. Get rid of them.’” They came to him and repeated these words,
but he said, “I do not take them in order to do harm to your fathers
but to get game for myself. I wish you would tell them that I want to
go along, too.” So they told him to come down, and, when he did so, his
father-in-law said, “Bring out the best coat. I want to put it on my
son-in-law.”
After that his wives said to him, “We are going to start along with
you. When we set out do not think about going back and do not look
down.” Then they put a woven mat over him and started. After they had
gone on for some distance the man wanted to urinate and dropped down
from among them on the smooth grass. The brants did not want to leave
him, and they followed. It was quite close to their real camping place.
The brant tribe was so large that he felt as if he were in his own
father’s house. They would play all the evening, and he felt very happy
among them.
When they arrived at their real home, this man took off his bag of bows
and arrows and hid it back in the woods so that they could not see
it. In the same town were fowls of all kinds—brants, swans, herons,
etc.—and by and by war arose over a woman, between the brant tribe and
the heron tribe. They went outside and started to fight. The swan tribe
was between, trying to make peace. When they came out to fight for the
second time, the brant tribe was pretty well destroyed by the heron
people’s long, pick-like bills. It was from the herons that the Indians
learned how to make picks. This is also the reason why the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî
use the swan as their crest, for they are very slow, and the Kîksᴀˊdî
use the brant as their emblem because they are very lively.
Then the brant chief said to his son-in-law, “Your wives’ friends are
almost destroyed. Could you do anything with your bows and arrows to
help them?” You could not see whether these were brants or people. They
looked just like people to him. When he ran among them to help his
wives’ friends, he killed numbers at each shot and made them flee away
from him. The heron tribe was so scared that they sent out word they
would make peace. So messengers were sent back and forth, and the heron
chief was taken up among the brants while the brant chief was taken
up among the herons.[39] They renamed the heron with his own name and
the brant with his own name. In making peace they had a great deal of
sport and all sorts of dances. From that time on the heron has known
how to dance, and one always sees him dancing by the creeks. Then the
birds began to lay up herbs and all kinds of things that grow along the
beach, for their journey north.
Meanwhile the man’s people had already given a feast for him, and he
never returned to his father. He became as one of the brants. That is
why in olden times, when brants were flying along, the people would ask
them for food.
FOOTNOTES:
[37] See story 54.
[38] Meaning their father and his brothers.
[39] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, p. 451.
25. STORY OF THE PUFFIN
There is a place called G̣ānᴀxaˊ and a creek close by called
G̣ānᴀxaˊ-hīn whither many people used to go to dry salmon and do
other work. One day some women went out from there at low tide to a
neighboring island to dig shellfish. They brought their canoe to a
place where there was a hole in the side of the island, but, when they
endeavored to land, a breaker came in, upset the canoe, and drowned all
of them except one. In former times, when this woman went by in her
father’s canoe, she used to think the birds here looked pretty and was
in the habit of saying, “I wish I could sit among those birds.” These
birds were the ones that saved her. They felt so happy at having gotten
her that they flew about all the time.
Meanwhile drums were beaten at the town to call people to the death
feast, for they thought that she was drowned.
One time a canoe from the village containing her father happened to
pass this place, and they said to him, “Look among those birds. Your
daughter is sitting there.”
The puffin chief had ordered the łᴀgwâˊtcǃ, a bird which lives on the
outer islands and is the puffin’s slave, to braid the woman’s hair, and
she always sat on the edge of the cliff.
Her father was very rich, so he filled many canoes with sea-otter,
beaver, and marten skins for the birds to settle on when they flew out.
When they reached the place, however, he could not see his daughter,
for they had taken her inside. Then he became angry. They carried all
sorts of things out there but in vain.
At last, about four days afterward, the girl’s mother thought of the
white hair that had belonged to her grandfather. In the morning she
said to her husband, “We have that old hair in a box. What can we do
with it? We ought to try a stratagem with it. Suppose we put boards on
the canoes, spread the hair all over them, and take it out.” They did
this, and, when they got to the cliff where their daughter used to be,
they saw her sitting on the edge with her hair hanging over. They went
close in. Then all the birds flew out to them, and each stuck a white
hair in its head where you may see it at this day. The girl, however,
remained where she was.
Then these birds flew in to the puffin chief and told him about the
hair. They thought a great deal of it. Therefore the chief told them to
carry the girl back to her father. But before she went he said to her,
“If you are ever tired of staying with your father, come back to us.”
At that time she had a nose just like one of these birds, because she
had wanted to be one of them.
The sea gull is also the slave of the puffin. Therefore the Huna people
say that when anyone goes to that place it calls his name, because it
was the slave of the puffin at the time when this woman was there.
Because some of their people were drowned at that island, all of the
Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān claim it. Later they built a house which they named after
it.
26. STORY OF THE WAIN-HOUSE PEOPLE
People came to a fort to live and began to kill bears, ground hogs,
porcupines, mountain sheep, etc., with spears, and bows and arrows,
laying the meat up in the fort. After they had killed some of these
animals they would cut off their heads, set them up on sticks, and
begin to sing for them.
There was a young man among them who had been put into a
mountain-sheep’s skin instead of a cradle as soon as he was born. When
he grew older he was able to follow the mountain sheep to places where
no one else could get, so he killed more than the others. He would also
play and dance around the heads after they had been cut off and say, “I
wish my head were cut off, too.” Then people sang about it. Meanwhile
the sheep were getting tired of losing so many of their number.
One day all the people went up to a mountain to hunt, and, finding a
flock of sheep, began to chase them to a certain place where they could
bunch all together. Suddenly this youth became separated from the other
people, and on the very top of the mountain was met by a fine-looking
man who shone all over and had a long white beard. This man led him
through a door into what he at first thought was a house, but it was
really the inside of the mountain. All at once it looked very strange
to him. Piles of horns lay about everywhere.
Meanwhile all of his friends had missed him and were hunting about,
but had to go home without him. They thought he was gone forever. They
hunted for him every day and found his horn spear stuck into the ground
at a certain place near the top of the mountain, but nothing more.
After searching everywhere in vain they became discouraged and beat the
drums for him.
Meanwhile the mountain sheep tried to fit a pair of horns on the young
man’s head. They heated these first in the fire, and tried to put them
on, when it seemed to him as if the insides of his head were all coming
out.
The people kept up their search for him, however, and about a year
afterward a man climbed up on the same mountain to hunt sheep. Above
him he saw a big flock, and he heard a noise as though some one were
shouting or talking there. Then he went straight down, for he knew that
it was the person who had been lost, and he knew that the mountain
sheep had captured him. Pointing this mountain out to the people, he
said to them, “It is he, for I know his voice.” So all the people
started up.
Now the sheep could see whenever the Indians set out to hunt for the
person they had taken, and they said to him, “There come your friends.
If you will tell them to throw away their weapons, we will let you
go to them.” So he said to his friends, “If you will lay down your
hunting weapons, I will tell you what these mountain sheep say to me.”
Afterward he said, “They say that I am being punished because you are
destroying them too much, and, when you have killed them, you take the
heads and put them on sticks.” Although he was among the mountain sheep
he retained his own language. He said besides, “The mountain-sheep
chief tells me to say to you that you must hang up the sheep skins
with their heads toward the mountain and the rising sun and put eagle
feathers upon them. They tell me to say, ‘Do not put our heads on
sticks. Grizzly-bears’ heads are the only ones you should treat that
way—not ours.’” One could not see or hear this man unless he were
specially purified by bathing in urine. Afterward the sheep went right
into the mountain with him to the place where they have their homes.
Now they tried in every way to recover him, and finally came out with
dogs. Then the mountain sheep said to him, “You can go among your
friends after a while, but now you may talk to them from the top of a
little cliff.” So his friends came up underneath this, and he talked
down to them. By and by the sheep again changed their minds regarding
him, and one day he said to his friends, “This is the last time I shall
come to see you. If you are going to begin a war on my account, try it
in the fall. Then they always come down into the thick timber below the
glacier, and you can come up there with dogs.”
In the autumn, therefore, they prepared to kill the sheep. The people
were told to put the sheep heads toward the rising sun and throw their
skins about anywhere without drying, for they thought that this would
make the mountain sheep let their friend go.
Then the mountain-sheep chief said to the man, “They are going to let
you go now, because all of your fathers are suffering very much from
not having their skins well dried.”
The mountain sheep could easily see when all of his friends started out
to fight for him, and they got him ready to send down to them. Then
they said, “Now you will be allowed to start down to them.” When they
got down far enough the dogs which were coming up in front met the
flock he was standing among. Then they took off his mountain-sheep skin
and put it aside, leaving him in human form, and he chased all the dogs
away from them.
He stood in the midst of the flock of sheep, and all the people stood
below. Then he said to his friends, “Do not kill any more mountain
sheep, for they will now let me go among you.” So they broke all of the
shafts of the spears they had used in fighting the mountain sheep and
threw them away.
When he came down he smelt like the things that grow on the tops of
cottonwood trees (dōxkwāˊnkǃ). They brought him into the house and he
saw the mountain-sheep skins lying about there at random. Then he said,
“They let me come among you again that I might have you dampen these,
hang them up, and dry them thoroughly.” After they had worked upon the
skins for some time they put red paint upon them and eagle down. The
man who had come down from among the sheep told his people to say this
to the skins while they were doing so: “We will put your skins in just
the position in which they came off from the flesh.”
In the morning all of the houses shook. Every piece of flesh that had
come off of the mountain sheep was in its place in the skins, and,
when the man who had come back to them opened the door, they came down
from the drying racks and marched off. But they had been so long among
the Indians that just before they reached the highest mountain where
they belonged they lost their way and became scattered over all the
mountains. Because the mountain sheep once saved (or captured) a man,
they have beards and look in other respects like human beings.
After this the mountain sheep sent a spirit called Ỵīx̣âˊ
(A-very-young-man (or -yēk)) to the man who had been rescued, to be
his strength (yēk). There was great rejoicing among his friends when
this spirit began to manifest itself in him, and all commenced to sing
for him. At the command of this spirit he had them make him a pair
of snowshoes with which his spirit could take him around the fire, a
shaman’s mask, and bows and arrows.
Then they came with him to Fort-by-small-lake (Ākǃᵘ Nū), just west of
Juneau,[40] and built a big house for him with inside rooms (tǃāqǃ),
corner and middle posts, the last mentioned being carved to represent
the Great Dipper (Yᴀxtêˊ). At that time the shaman fasted for four days
and Yᴀxtêˊ (the constellation) appeared to him. So from that house the
people were called Yᴀxtêˊ-hît-tan (Wain-House people).
The mountain-sheep tribe gave this man the name of Skōwadᴀˊł, and he
was also called Cᴀxtcāˊtc (Long-toothed-humpback). When his spirit was
about to work in him, two porcupine bladders were blown up and hung in
the house, and, when the spirit arrived, all stood up in the customary
way. Then he put on his mask and his snowshoes, which were thrown down
on the floor for him, and carried his bow and arrows in his hand.
Although he could not see through this mask, he climbed up on the walls
of the inside rooms and ran around there backward. While there he shot
at a bladder and the arrow passed straight through it.
When the shaman’s spirits left him he said, “You people are going to
see a wonderful gift. It is coming to such and such a place.” In the
morning they went out with a dog and armed with spears, and before they
got far away the dog began to bark at a bear. Then the animal ran under
a log, and all climbed on top of the log prepared to spear it. The
shaman had said, “Something is going to happen to one of you,” and sure
enough the first man that speared this bear fell down before it and was
caught and killed. Then the others quickly speared the bear through and
through and killed it.
Meanwhile a spirit came to the shaman, who had remained at home,
saying, “Your friend has been killed by a bear.” They brought the bear
and the dead man’s body down at once and laid the body before him in
the middle of the house. Then the shaman took some of the red paint
with which they had brought the mountain sheep to life and put it on
the body after which he began running around it. The third time he did
this the dead man sat up. The shaman always had such strength.
Some time afterward he again began testing his spirits, because they
were going south to war, and, when they left him, he told his people
that they would destroy an entire town.
When he was walking around in the woods a raven fell in front of him,
and on getting back to the house he said to his clothes man, “I am
in luck.” He told some one to return with him, and they found the
raven still with life in it. Then he said to his friends, “I will set
up all these things.” So he took sticks and set them all round the
raven. “Before I cut it,” he said, “I will let the wings flap over
it. This will be (i. e., represent) your enemies. Before I cut it I
will cause it to kill all of your enemies. The raven will have so much
strength.” When they tested him[41] the spirit said, “All people on
sticks,” meaning that it wanted all of their foes to fall on sticks and
be destroyed when they fought. Then they prepared, saying, “We will
start.” The shaman said, “At the moment when we arrive a man is going
to chop down a tree in front of us.”
Toward morning they came close to the fort, all prepared for fighting.
After they had surrounded it a man came out with a stone ax and climbed
up a tree to chop off limbs. Then they shot him with arrows, unnoticed
by the fort people, so that he fell down dead. But a little while
afterward the fort people said, “Where is that man who climbed the tree
a short time ago. He is not there now.” At once they rushed together on
both sides, and all those in the fort were destroyed just as the shaman
had predicted. Then they returned to their own fort, which was also
known as Eulachon-trap fort (Cāł nū).
Another time five women went around the island where they had their
fort, after mussels, and came to a reef on the outer side. They left
their canoe untied and it floated away. Then the tide began to come up.
They stood up on the reef with their hands in the air, singing death
songs for themselves, for they knew they were about to die. After that
the reef was called Woman reef (Cā qǃāˊtǃagu), on account of the women
who were destroyed there.
A year after this some people went across from the fort to a lake
into which salmon run, and were surprised on encountering people.
They thought it was some war party from very far south and beat a
precipitate retreat to the fort. Then the people in the fort saw a big
canoe all covered with abalone shell come out from this place and make
straight toward them. When it had come close in, the chief questioned
these strangers and learned that they were on a friendly visit from
Yakutat. It took the strength of all the people to bring up this canoe.
Then they made the fort chief a present of land-otter skins, marten
skins, skins of all kinds. This was the custom in olden times, a slave
being generally given back.
The chief at this place had a nephew named Yêtx̣âˊ who was very fond
of gambling. The fourth day that the visitors were in town the chief’s
nephew was away from home, and the fire went out. Then he acted as
though he were crazy. He went down to the valuable canoe of the
visitors, broke off the stern piece for firewood, and threw it indoors
so that the abalone shells fell off of it.
Next morning, when the man that owned the canoe got up, he saw that his
stern piece was missing, and that burnt abalone shells were lying by
the fire. He called to his companions, “Get up and let us be gone. Push
the canoe down and load it quickly.” He had a number of copper plates
and other property which he had not yet unpacked, and, after he had
gotten a little distance from the fort, he landed and took these out.
Then he went right back in front of the fort to destroy them on account
of the injury he had received. When these people came opposite they
took out a copper plate, struck it on the edge of the canoe so as to
make it sound and threw it into the sea. They threw away four. Then the
fort chief also took four coppers, flung them on the wall of the fort
and threw them into the ocean.
[I have explained to you before where this copper came from. It came
from the Copper river. Probably this rich man came several times before
the fort. Coppers were valued according to their height when they were
first made, some at four slaves and some at six.][42]
When the Yakutat man came before this fort again, his copper plates
were all gone, and he began to use cedar bark. His people would tie
a rock on each piece and throw it into the water. Meanwhile the fort
chief put his canoe on the walls of the fort and began to put Indian
beads, caribou skins, moose skins, and other articles into it. Since
these ʟǃenēˊdî have the dog salmon for their emblem, the chief’s sister
began acting like one when it is shaking out its eggs. She pretended
to be shaking out riches in the same way, and, while she did so, they
threw the canoe over the edge of the fort, and all the good things
spilled out. The man from Yakutat was foolish to try to contend with so
wealthy a chief. His name (i. e., the Yakutat man’s) was Kāˊyeswūsâˊt.
They chased him out with riches, and told him to come back again with
more property. A song was composed about this afterward to the effect
that he was simply fooling the people with this yellow cedar bark which
was not real property at all. (See song 43.)
In the same fort a woman gave birth to a boy, who exclaimed as soon as
he was born, “How many things there will be for all the people who are
holding my mother.” In olden times certain women used to hold a woman
who was about to give birth, and they were paid for this service. The
child grew very fast. He was going to be the greatest liar among his
people. After he was grown up and had a family of his own, his mother
died, and he started for Chilkat to invite people to the death feast.
This was before the Russians came.
He said to his children, “Pull away. Pull fast.” He had started off
without any of the property he had intended to take, but on his way
Indian rice hailed into his canoe, and a large box of grease floated
down to him. When he got close to the mouth of Chilkat river he came
in front of a waterfall. He tasted the water of this and found it
very sweet. Then he took all of his buckets and filled them with it
so that they might put this water on the rice when they ate it. As he
was bound for Klukwan, the village farthest up the river, he said to
his children, “Blow on the sail.” They did so and passed right up to
Klukwan. Then he stood up in his canoe and began to talk. They took all
of his stuff up, and in the evening the drums were beaten as a sign
that he was going to give out property.
He began to cry in the customary manner as he beat the drums. Then he
took a piece of bark and put it in front of his eyes, upon which the
tears ran down it in a stream. Afterward he gave out two copper plates
and invited the people to eat what he had brought. Then the people
danced for him in return, and a man came in with something very shiny
on top of his head.[43]
That is all he told when he returned.
FOOTNOTES:
[40] Or on the side toward Sitka.
[41] That is, when the people allowed him to perform before them.
[42] An “aside” by the story-teller.
[43] This last was said to be “the way the story went,” but otherwise
was unexplained.
27. THE ALSEK RIVER PEOPLE
Once there was a famine among the people of Alsek (Ałsēˊx) river. There
were two shamans there, one of whom began singing to bring up eulachon,
while the other sang for strength in order to obtain bears and other
forest animals.
The first shaman’s spirit told him that if he would go down the little
rapids he would see great numbers of eulachon. So he dressed up next
morning and went straight down under the water in a little canoe.
That night the other shaman’s spirits came to him, saying that the
first shaman would remain under water for four nights; that he had gone
into a house where were eulachon, salmon, and other fish and had thrown
the door open.
At the end of four days they hunted all around and found him lying dead
on the beach amid piles of eulachon. As soon as they brought him up,
all the eulachon that were in the ocean started to run up river, and
everyone tried to preserve as many of them as he could.
In the same town were two menstruant women, and the other shaman told
these that there would be a great many land otters about the town that
evening. Just as he had said, at the time when his spirits came to him
that evening, numbers of land-otter-men came through the village. They
could be heard whistling about the town. Finally some one said, “Why is
it that it sounds as if they were all where the two women are?” Sure
enough, they found that the land otters were talking inside of the two
women. The ones that were inside of them were really land-otter-men,
that is, men who had been taken away by the land otters and made like
themselves.
A person would often creep close up to these women to find out
what they were, but every time something spoke out inside, “Do
not sneak around here for I can see you.” They could not get at
them. These land-otter-men had come to the women to turn them into
land-otter-people also.
A menstruant woman is the only thing that will enfeeble the power of a
shaman’s spirit, therefore, although the shaman endeavored to get these
land-otter-men out of the women, his spirits kept turning back. When
the shaman’s spirit came to him next evening, it said that there were
more land-otter-men coming to take away the ones in these women and
the women with them. He told the people to be watchful, because there
was going to be a great disturbance that night. When night came on the
people were all very much frightened at the noises the land-otter-men
made under the houses, and they had great trouble keeping the two women
in their rooms so that they should not be carried off. All the people
helped them, but the land otters were invisible. After that nobody went
out to camp for a long time. Then they said to the two women, “Take
your bloody clothes to different beaches, leave them there, and tell
the land otters that they are too great animals to fight with weak
beings.” In those times whenever a menstruant woman said anything of
that kind it had to be obeyed. So the land otters went off.
The shamans in those times were very strict and strong, and whatever
they saw was true. By and by these shamans said, “Something is going
to happen to that great town there by the lake.” When the things that
had happened in their neighbors’ town regarding the land otters were
reported to the people there, they said, “Are you afraid of those
things that stutter and can not talk like you and I?” By and by two men
started hunting from this place. When they had reached the top of a
neighboring mountain, they looked back and saw a great flood come down
between the mountains and overwhelm their town. This flood was caused
by an avalanche which poured into the lake and filled it up, forcing
the water out. Some human bodies were hanging to the branches of trees.
The men knew this had happened on account of the way they had spoken
of the land otters, and, starting on aimlessly, they came to the town
where the shamans lived.
One of these two shamans had a quantity of oil which he was going to
carry to another town. He wanted to buy skins of kinds different from
those his own people had. When they reached a camping place outside of
the town the man’s spirit told him to go down to the beach at low tide
and carry a hook with him. A shaman’s spirits never liked salt things.
There he saw a very big devilfish under a rock, and his spirit said to
him, “Look out, master, that is a big live devilfish.” As soon as he
had hooked it, he saw what appeared to be two ducks flying toward him
from either side, but they were really the devilfish’s arms. Then his
spirit told him to run up quickly on the bank, and he squatted down
there under a rock, while the devilfish’s tentacles swept over him,
carrying all the forest trees along with them. Two days after this his
spirit told him to set out again.
When this shaman arrived at Kǃᴀkᴀnuwūˊ, where many people lived,
everybody wanted to see him and try his strength, because they had
heard that he was a great shaman. One evening they began trying him.
They threw his mask on his face and it stayed there, covering up his
eyes so that he could not see where he was going. Then, when he ran
around the fire, the people stuck out their feet to trip him, but he
jumped over them every time. This showed how strong his spirits were.
Another time his spirits came to him they built a big fire and he
started around it. Then he threw the fire round upon everyone who was
there and as high up as the ceiling, but the fire hurt nobody. By and
by his clothes man said, “Another spirit is coming to him soon, named
Gutsǃcaxoˊtǃqā.” This spirit had a big knife in his hand with which he
would hit people on the breast. When it came to him, the shaman told
the older people to stand up straight and motionless and not to fear,
for if one got scared he would die. He hit one, and they laid him in a
certain place. Then everyone said, “You better kill that shaman, for
he has slain the best man in the company.” After his spirits had gone
away, however, the shaman went to the body out of which blood was still
flowing and said, “It will be all right,” while his spirits made a
noise. Then the man got up and jumped about. The people looked at the
wounded place, but there was not so much as a scar upon it.
After a while the shaman began trading off his grease to all who wanted
it. One day he said, “Something is about to come up that will be very
dangerous to you people.” It was the moon. When the moon came up it
shone brightly, and the stars were bright, but after a time the moon
began to hide its face from them. That was what he had predicted. The
people, however, thought this was caused by the shaman himself.
Then the leading men and women of the Kāˊgwᴀntān dressed themselves up,
put grease on the fire, and began dancing to dance the moon out. After
awhile it came out just a little, so they felt very happy and danced
still harder. They continued doing so until the whole moon was out. At
the same time people took whatever property they had, held it up and
called the moon for it. They say the moon acts in this way because it
feels poor and lonely, so, when the moon or sun does thus, they act in
this manner. After that the shaman went home and told his fellow shaman
how everyone had tried him in this place. “When I went around the fire,
people put out their feet to make me stumble. They tried me in every
way.”
The shaman left at home was also trying to exert his power. His spirits
were singing inside of him in order to bring salmon into the creeks,
and he told someone to make him a one-barbed hook (dinaˊ). Whenever
the salmon he was after came he was going to use this in order to get
it. When it came up it filled the whole of Alsek river and broke all
the hooks of those who tried to catch it. Then the shaman selected a
small boy and said, “This little boy is going to hook it.” So he gave
him the hook he had had made, and the little boy pulled it up easily.
The shaman’s spirits had killed it. This salmon was so large that all
in that town had a share, and even then it was more than they could
cook for one meal. It was the biggest salmon ever killed. There are two
creeks in that region, and to this day a young boy can easily pull in a
large spring salmon there such as is hard for an adult to manage.
There is a hole near by called Hole-Raven-bored (Yēł-djuwᴀtuˊłia),
because Raven made it long ago. In early times, whenever there was to
be a large run of eulachon or other fish, quantities of rocks came out
of that hole. So people used to go there to look at it.
In one place Alsek river runs under a glacier. People can pass beneath
in their canoes, but, if anyone speaks, while they are under it, the
glacier comes down on them. They say that in those times this glacier
was like an animal, and could hear what was said to it. So, when they
camped just below it, people would say, “Give us some food. We have
need of food.” Then the glacier always came down with a rush and raised
a wave which threw numbers of salmon ashore.
The people were also in the habit of going up some distance above
the glacier to a place called Cānyukᴀˊ after soapberries which grow
there in abundance. The first time they went up they discovered
people who were all naked except about the loins, and there was a
shaman among them who was reputed to have a great deal of strength.
For that reason they tried him. They took mussel shells, clam shells,
and sharp stones and tried to cut his hair, but a single hair on
his head was 3 inches across, so everything broke. This shaman had
many spirits. Some were glacier spirits, called Sītǃ tu kohaˊnî,
Fair-girls-of-the-glacier; others were of the sky tribe called Gūsǃ tu
kohaˊnî, Fair-girls-of-the-sky.
The shaman said that, on their way down, one canoe load of the
down-river people would be drowned as they passed under the glacier;
but the spirits of the shaman below told him about this, and he went up
to see the Athapascan shaman. In those days shamans hated one another
exceedingly. So the Athapascan shaman placed kᴀqǃᴀnaqǃᴀqǃ, something to
destroy all of one’s opponent’s people, before his guest. The latter,
however, all at once saw what it was and went home. Soon after he got
there, the Athapascan shaman died, killed by his rival’s spirits, and
his spirits passed to one of his friends.
The shamans living on Alsek river had a great deal of strength. All
things in the sea and in the forest obeyed them. A rock just south
of Alsek river, named Tᴀˊnᴀku, has within it the spirits of a shaman
called Qātsatîˊ. When a person wanted to kill some animal he placed
things there, and now the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān make a door like it and use it
as an emblem. Near by is a place where many wild onions grow. They were
planted there by Raven.
There is a small river beyond Alsek to which the Alsek River people
once went for slaves. On their second expedition they killed a rich
man, and those people, who were called ʟǃuqǃoedîˊ, built a fort. Among
them was a very brave man, named Łucwâˊk, who conceived the idea of
making the gate very strong, and of having it fastened on the inside so
that it could be opened only wide enough to admit a single person at a
time. Now, when the Alsek River people came up again and tried to enter
the fort through this door, they were clubbed to death one at a time.
By morning there were piles of dead bodies around the door.
Then the survivors begged Łucwâˊk to let them have the bodies of those
who had been wealthy, but he climbed up on the fort and said, “I will
name my fort again. Know that it is Eagle fort. The eagle’s claws are
fastened in the dead bodies, and he can not let go of them. Poor as we
are you always bring war against us, but now it is our turn. We have
done this work, and I can not let one go.” Toward evening, however,
he had all of the bodies thrown outside, and climbed on the top beam
of the fort where he walked about whistling with happiness. Meanwhile
his opponents loaded their canoes with the dead and took them home.
When they burned these, they took all the women they had enslaved in
previous expeditions and threw them also into the flames. Then all
the Eagle people assembled, returned to Eagle fort, burned it, and
destroyed nearly everybody inside. Łucwâˊk’s body was not burned,
because he was a brave man, and brave men do not want to sit close to
the fire in the Ghosts’ home like weaklings.
Another time some Alsek people went visiting at a certain place and
were invited to take sweat baths. But their hosts remained outside,
and, when the Alsek people came out, they killed them. One of their
victims was a man named Sītāˊn, related to the Athapascans. He
protected himself at first by holding a board in front of his face.
Then they said, “Take down the board, Sītāˊn. What we are doing now is
especially for you.” In those times a person used to make some kind of
noise when he went out expecting to be killed. So Sītāˊn uttered this
cry, ran out, and was killed.
After they had collected all of the dead bodies on a board a woman came
crying out of the town. Then they said to her, “Are you really crying?
If you are really crying for the dead bodies, lend us your husband’s
stone ax so that we can cut firewood with which to burn them.” In those
times stone axes were valuable and, when one was broken, people beat
a drum as though somebody had died. It means that this woman was very
sorry indeed for the dead people when she lent her stone ax for this
purpose.
When the Alsek River people heard of this slaughter they were very sad,
but first they started their respective shamans fighting. It was really
the shamans’ spirits that fought. The shaman would stand in one place
and say, “Now we are going to fight.” He would also perform with knives
just as if he were fighting something, though at that time the shamans
were very far apart. Their spirits, however, could see each other
plainly. They would also give the names of those warriors who were to
be killed.
On the next expedition from Alsek against the people who had killed so
many of their friends, they killed the same number on the other side.
That was the way people did in olden times. They kept on fighting until
both sides were even. Therefore they stopped at this point.
28. THE YOUTHFUL WARRIOR
A man belonging to the Wolf clan went hunting with his brothers-in-law.
He wore a black bear-skin coat. They went up a certain creek after
grizzly bears, but one time at camp he climbed a tree with his bear
skin on and was filled with arrows by his companions who mistook him
for an animal. Then he said to them, “I will not say that you filled me
with arrows. I will say that I fell from the tree.” So, when they got
him home, he said, “I fell from a tree.” After he was dead, however,
and his body burned, they found mussel-shell arrow points lying among
his bones.
After this his friends told his sister’s son to go up to the
place where he had been killed. The name of this place is
Creek-with-a-cliff-at-its-mouth (Wᴀtłag̣êˊʟ), and it is near Port
Frederick. When the hunters came into camp with a bear the boy
pretended to be asleep, but really he was looking through a hole in his
blanket. While they were cooking the bear some of them suggested that
they say to this boy, “The bear’s soup is very sweet,” but others did
not wish to. They tried to get the boy to eat some of it, but he would
not. Then they started home with him.
After he had reached home he said to his mother, “Let us go down to
the beach. I want you to look over my hair for lice.” But, when she
got down there with him, he said, “Mother, I want you to tell me truly
what my fathers meant. They said, ‘Wake this young fellow up and let
him drink some of this bear’s soup.’” Then his mother became frightened
and said to him, “Your uncle went to that creek. They shot him full of
arrows there.” When he found that out he chased his mother away.
When he was a few years older he began bathing for strength in winter
time. After people had whipped each other they would go to the shaman
to see what he predicted. This had been going on for some time when
four persons went out of the town to carve things for the shaman. They
were gone so long that late in the winter it was thought they had been
lost, and the shaman was consulted. They laid him in the middle of the
house and tested his spirits in every way to find out what the matter
was. Finally, the shaman got his spirits to take a certain man up to
the sky to see if he could discover the missing men. The man he chose
knew that the young man was preparing to kill some one, so, when he
awoke, he said to him, “Tell the shaman that they are there (i. e.,
in the heaven to which those go who are killed).” And the youth said
to the people, “The persons who destroyed my uncle are the same who
destroyed these. Let us go to war.”
Then they made a war hat for the young man all covered with abalone
shells, and he went out to fight. Every time he went out he conquered,
because he was strong. The missing men, however, got home safely. After
some time the youth came against a fort where lived an old sister of
his father, and this woman shouted down to him during the fight, “I
never thought that that boy would grow into such a powerful man. When I
took away the moss[44] from his cradle he never felt how cold it was.”
So the young man, when he got into the fort, inquired, “Who said that
to me?” “It was your father’s sister who said it.” So he pitied his
father’s sister, pulled off his war hat, and smashed it on the rocks
in front of her, breaking the abalone shells all to pieces. He gave up
fighting, and they made peace.
Some time after this, however, he killed one of his own friends
belonging to another town, and they came over and killed two of his
people in revenge. After that every time the young man ate, he would
say, “I will leave this good part for my enemy,” meaning that he would
feed them on a good war. He always made fun of his enemies because he
was brave. So the people at this place, when they had destroyed all of
his companions, took him captive because he had talked so much. They
would not let him touch the bodies of his friends, and he said to them
at last, “Let me have my friends.” “Will you do this any more?” they
said. “No, I will not set out to war any more. Let me have my friends.”
Then they lowered a canoe into the water with himself and a few others
who had been preserved, and they started home with the bodies. On the
way one of his companions said to him, “I wish you would steer this
canoe well.” “It can not be steered well,” he said, “because there are
so few to paddle it.” Some of the women belonging to his enemies were
in the canoe along with them. When they burned their dead, they put
these women into the fire along with the bodies. Then the man gave up
all idea of fighting. He was the last one left in that clan.
After they had made peace on both sides, a man named Qoxtīˊtc came
there from Prince of Wales island on the way to Chilkat. He went to
the man who used to fight so much and said, “How is Chilkat? Is it a
town?” He answered, “It is a notable town. A man has to be careful
what he does there or he will suffer a great shame.” Then he started
for Klukwan, which he wanted to see very much. He came in sight of
the first village, Yêndēˊstaqǃê, with many people going around in it,
and said to his wife, “Put on your earring [of abalone shell].” The
earring was called Earring-that-can-be-seen-clear-across-the-Nass
(Nāˊskᴀnᴀx-dutīˊn). Then the man also put on his leggings and dressed
up finely, for if one were not dressed up just right he would suffer a
great shame. Afterward he began dancing in his canoe. When he came away
from Chilkat he left his dancing clothes with the people but brought
back a great quantity of presents received for dancing.
A very rich man once started from Chilkat to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ on a visit with
his wife and all of his property.[45] When they approached the town the
people heard his wife singing. She had a very powerful voice. Then they
were frightened and wondered what man was smart enough to reply to this
wealthy visitor. There was a certain poor man who always sat with his
head down, and they kept taunting him, saying, “Will you speak to that
rich man?”
When the visitor came in front of the houses he did not speak to the
men who lived in them but to the dead chiefs who had formerly owned
them. No one replied, for they did not know what to say. After a while,
however, the poor man seized a spear and rushed down to the rich man’s
canoe. Then the people shouted, “There goes Sᴀqayêˊ. He is going to
kill this rich man. Stop him.” When he got right in front of the canoe
they caught him, but he said, “I did not want to kill this rich man,
but I heard people talking so much about him that I pretended to.” His
action had a sarcastic import, because others were so much afraid of
the visitor.
The rich man talked from the canoe for such a long time that they
made a long noise instead of speaking to him, to let him know that he
had talked too long about things that were past. Then they said to
him, “Jump into the water.” This was formerly said to a visitor when
blankets were about to be given away for some dead person, though they
always stood ready to catch him. Afterward they took the man up into a
house, placed a Chilkat blanket under him, and gave him five slaves and
a canoe load of property for his dead friend. When he went home they
returned his visit.
FOOTNOTES:
[44] A piece of moss was placed in the cradle for sanitary purposes.
[45] There seems to be no connection between this part of the story and
that which goes before except that both happened at Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ.
29. THE FIRST WAR IN THE WORLD[46]
A man named Xakuˊtcǃ was very fond of hunting and hunted almost every
day with his brother-in-law, bringing home seal and all sorts of game
which he had speared. There was no money in those days.
It was winter. One morning when he went out he speared a porpoise near
the place where a devilfish lived, and began to skin it there, letting
its blood spread out over the water. He told his steersman to keep a
sharp lookout for the devilfish.
While they were moving along slowly skinning it, they saw the color of
the devilfish coming toward them from under the water. It had its arms
extended upward ready for action.
Xakuˊtcǃ had a big spear ready by his side, while his brother-in-law
began to sharpen his knife and thought to do great things with it. When
the devilfish came up out of the water he jumped into the midst of its
arms along with his knife and was swallowed so quickly that he was able
to do nothing; so his brother-in-law had to fight by himself. After he
had fought with it for a long time he killed it, and it began to sink
with him. The canoe stood up on one end before it went under, and he
climbed up on the thwarts as high as he could go. At last the devilfish
went right under with them, and finally floated up again at a place
called Narrow point (Kułîsaˊo qǃa).
Some one must have witnessed this fight, for they cut the devilfish
open to see if the hunter were there, and found him stowed away snugly
inside of it. That was the man that people often talk about in these
days as Xakuˊtcǃ.[47] He it was who killed the devilfish.
Afterward his spirit came to one of his friends. People now try to get
strength from him because he killed this devilfish. In olden times,
when one killed a great creature, his strength always came to another
person. Then his strength came to a certain person, impelling him to go
to war.
They used to put a light, thin-skinned coat on this person’s back to
try his strength by endeavoring to pull it off, but they were not able
to do so. They would pull this coat as far back as his shoulders, but,
try as hard as they might, they could not get it farther. Then [the
spirit in this shaman] told his name. He said, “I am Xakuˊtcǃ. I have
been swallowed by a devilfish, and I come to you as a spirit (yēk).”
Many people came to see the shaman when he was possessed and to try him
with the coat which no one could pull off. What do you think it was
that held it on his back?
After they had tested all of his spirits they started south to war.
They were always warring with the southern people. They and the
southern people hated each other. When they went down with this shaman
they always enslaved many women and sometimes destroyed a whole town,
all on account of his strength.
There was a brave man among the southern people, called Qǃōg̣aˊ, who
liked to kill people from up this way. One time a little boy they had
captured escaped from the fort where he was. He had a bow and arrows
with him. The brave man discovered where he was, went after him, and
pulled him out from under the log where he was hiding. But meanwhile
the spirits in the canoes of the northern people had seen Qǃōg̣aˊ. Then
Qǃōg̣aˊ took the little boy down on the beach and said to him, “Shoot
me in the eye.” He put an arrow in his bow and took such good aim that
the arrow passed straight through it. The point of this arrow was made
of the large mussel shell. The brave man fell just like a piece of
wood thrown down. The little boy had killed him. Then all ran to the
little boy and took off his head. The chiefs passed his dried scalp
from one to another and wondered at what he had done. They named him
ever after Little-head (Qācāˊkǃᵘ), and the man he killed was called
One-Little-head-killed (X̣ūg̣āˊwadjag̣et). Even now they relate how
Little-head killed the brave man. Then the northern people came around
the fort and destroyed everybody there, some of those in the canoes
being also killed.
After that the southern people started north to war. They had a shaman
among them. On the way they came to a man named Murrelet (Tcǃīt).
When this man was young, he had been trained to run up steep cliffs
by having a mountain-sheep’s hoof tied to his leg or neck, and being
held up to the walls of the house and made to go through the motions
of climbing. They said, “Is this the man they talk about so much who
can run up any mountain?” This is what they said when they were chasing
him. Then they caught him and took him into one of their canoes.
Now the war chief said to his friends, “Let us take him ashore to that
cliff.” So they took him to a place called Bell point (Gao łîtuˊ)
where part of the town of Huna is, to try him there. They said to him,
“Murrelet, go up this cliff.” When he attempted it, however, he fell
back into the canoe. All the people in the canoes laughed at him. They
said, “Oh! you little thing. Why is it that they say you are the best
runner up this way?” After he had fallen back the third time, he said,
“This is not the way I am dressed when I go up a cliff. I always carry
a stone ax, a staff, and a flint, and I always carry along a seal’s
stomach full of grease.” They prepared these things for him and gave
them to him. Then he started up, wearing his claw snowshoes, which
must have been shod with points as strong as the iron ones people have
now. He stepped up a little distance, shook himself, and looked down.
Then he called like the murrelet and went up flying. The warriors were
surprised and said, “Now give him some more things to put on his feet.”
They talked about him in the canoes. They said, “Look! he is up on the
very top of the mountain peeping at us.” Then he lit fires all along
on top of the mountain. All the war canoes went along to another place
where was a sandy beach.
Then they tied all the canoe ropes to the body of Murrelet’s steersman,
intending to use him as an anchor. Murrelet heard him crying and
ran down the mountain toward him. He turned the world over with his
foes.[48] As he came he made a noise like the murrelet. When he got
near he told the man to cry very loudly. Probably this man was his
brother. It is rather hard to say. Then he said, “I am going to cut the
ropes now. Cry harder.” So he cut all of the ropes, and they ran off,
while the war canoes floated away. Afterward, however, the warriors
found where they had drifted to and recovered them.
Then they started for the fort toward which they had originally set out
and captured it.
One high-caste woman they saved and carried south. They took good care
of her on account of her birth. At the time when she was captured she
was pregnant, and her child was born among the southern people. They
also took good care of him; and while he was growing up his mother
would take some of his blood and put it upon his nose to make him brave.
For a long time he was ignorant that they were slaves, until one day a
young fellow kicked his mother in the nose so that it bled. Then they
told him, but he said, “You people know that she is my mother. Why
don’t you take good care of her even if she is a slave?” After that a
spirit possessed him. It was sorrow that made him have this spirit.
Then he ordered them to make a paddle for him, and they made him a big
one. His spirit was so very powerful that he obtained enough blankets
for his services to purchase his mother’s freedom. Afterward he got
ready to come north with his father and mother, and they helped him to
load his canoe. Before he started his father’s people asked him not to
bring war down upon them. No one else went with them because his spirit
was going to guide them.
When they were about to start they put matting over his mother, and,
whenever they were going to encamp, they never went right ashore but
always dropped anchor outside. How it happened they did not know, but
on the way up his mother became pregnant and what was born from her
had strength. This strength was what brought them up. During that
journey the shaman never ate.
When they came to the beach his friends did not know at first who he
was, but his mother related all that had happened. Then his friends
came in and began to help him show his spirits. He was getting other
spirits from the country of the people he was going to war against.
From his wrist up to his elbow he made as many black spots as there
were towns he intended to conquer, and, while all were helping him with
his spirits, the spots one after another began to smoke. His father
told him to remember the place where he had stayed and not destroy it.
So, when the spots burned, the burning stopped at the one at his elbow
which he simply cleaned away with his hand. This meant that he would
extinguish the fire at that point and not fight there.
Then all of his friends prepared themselves and set out to war. They
came straight up to a certain fort without attempting to hide, and the
fort people shouted, “Come on, you Chilkat people.” They had no iron
in those days, but were armed with mussel-shell knives and spears, and
wore round wooden fighting hats. They destroyed all the men at this
fort and enslaved the women and children. Afterward they stood opposite
the fort, took off their war hats and began to scalp all they had
killed. When they got off they put the scalps on sticks and tied them
all around the canoe. They called this, “Shouting out for the scalped
heads” (Kēcayᴀt-dus-huˊktc). They felt very happy over the number of
people they had killed and over the number of slaves they had captured.
There were no white people here then, not even Russians. It was very
close to the time when Raven made us. The people who were doing these
things were Kāˊgwᴀntān. They had started to war from ʟucāˊcakǃî-ān and
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ.
After that all the southern people started north to make war, coming
by the outside passage. The first place they reached while rounding
this island was Murrelet-point fort (Aołî-tcǃīˊtînū). One canoe started
off to spy upon them and was chased ashore but was carried across a
narrow strip of land and so got back. Therefore this place is called
Things-taken-over (Āˊnᴀxgᴀłnaˊ). Then they came right up to the fort,
destroyed it, and captured the women. There must have been a hundred
canoes coming to war. In those days they always used bows and arrows.
A certain woman captured here said, “There is another town up the inlet
from us.” So they started up about evening and, when the tide was
pretty well up, passed through a place where there is a small tide rip.
They caught sight of the town far back inside of this and exclaimed,
“There’s the town.” Then they landed just below it and started up into
the forest in order to surround it. When it became very dark they
began to make noises like birds up in the woods. In the morning they
descended to fight, and the women and children began crying. They
captured all. Meanwhile the tidal rapids began to roar as the tide fell.
One woman among the captives was very old. They asked her what time of
tide to run the rapids, and she said to herself, “It is of no use for
me to live, for all of my friends and brothers are gone. It is just as
well to die as to be enslaved.” So she said to them, “At half tide.”
Then two canoes started down ahead in order to reach some forts said
to lie in another direction. They rushed straight under and were seen
no more. The old woman was drowned with them. So they made a mark
with their blood at the place where these two canoe loads had been
drowned to tell what had happened. It may be seen to-day and looks like
yellowish paint.
Next day the remaining canoes started out when the tide was
high and came to another fort next morning. While they were
around behind this a woman came out. Then they seized her and
ran a spear up into her body from beneath many times until
she dropped dead without speaking. So this fort came to be
called, Fort-where-they-stabbed-up-into-a-woman’s-privates
(Kᴀkǃ-kagūs-wudūˊwatᴀˊqî-nū). Then the people fought with clubs and
bows and arrows until all in the fort were destroyed, and started on to
another. When they made an attack in those days, they never approached
in the daytime but toward morning when everybody was sleeping soundly.
Both sides used wooden helmets and spears.
At this fort the women were always digging a big variety of clam
(called g̣āʟǃ), storing these clams in the fort for food. The fort was
filled with them. So, when the assailants started up the cliff, one
of the men inside struck him with a clam shell just under the war hat
so that he bled profusely. He could not see on account of the blood.
Then the man in the fort took an Indian ax and beat out his brains.
Afterward all in the fort seized clam shells and struck their foes
in the face with them so that they could not come up. They threw so
fast that the canoes were all kept away; so that place is now called
Where-clams-kept-out-the-foes (Xaˊosîxani-g̣āʟǃ). For the same reason
this was the only fort where any people were saved, and on the other
hand many of the enemy were destroyed by the fort people.
Now they left this fort and came to another, landing on a beach near
by, and between them and the fort was what they supposed to be a fresh
water pond. Then one of them called Little-bear-man, because he had
on a bear-skin coat, began to shoot at the fort with arrows. But the
people in the fort shouted to him, “Do not be in such great haste. The
tide runs out from the place where you are.” Then the bear man said,
“The people here say that the tide runs out from this place, but [I
know] that it is a fresh water pond.” Presently the tide began to run
out from it as they had told him, so he chopped some wood, made a fire
and lay by it to wait. After the tide had ebbed they began to fight,
destroyed everybody there, and burned the fort down. Close by the site
of this fort is a place called Porpoise-belly (Tcītcîūˊkǃ).
The warriors thought they were getting much the best of the people up
this way, but really only a few were left to look after the forts, most
being collected elsewhere.
After they had destroyed all the people in four forts they landed on
a long sandy beach to cut off the scalps. When there was no time to
scalp, the heads were carried away until there should be more leisure.
Scalps and slaves were what people fought for, and they dried the
scalps by rubbing them on hot stones or holding them near the fire.
Then they again started north. This raid consumed the whole summer.
Southward of Huna was a fort on a high cliff, called Jealous-man fort
(Caosîtīˊyīqā-nuwuˊ). It was named from the man who encamped there who
was so jealous of his wife that he would let no one else live near
him. When the foes all stopped in front of him, and he could hear them
talking, he began to quarrel with them, saying, “You big round heads,
you want to destroy all of the people up this way.” While they were
talking back at him one of their canoes struck a rock and split in two,
and, after they had rescued the people in it, they began talking about
this circumstance, saying, “If we wait any longer he will quarrel us
over as well.” So they left him and went on north.
The next fort they attacked is called Huna-people’s fort
(Hūˊna-qāwu-nuwuˊ), and it stood just where they were going to turn
south again. Here they had the greatest fight of all, and the fort
people killed many of them. Finally they broke up all the canoes of
these people and started south. At this time they were overloaded with
the slaves they had taken, but they went in to every fort they passed
near and broke up the canoes belonging to it. The last of these forts
was called Fort-that-rapids-run-around (Dātx-xātkᴀnᴀdaˊ-nū). When they
had destroyed all of the canoes there, they said, “Will you people
bring any more wars upon us? You will not dare to fight us again.” They
felt very happy, for they thought that they had destroyed all of the
northern people, and that no more raids would be made upon them.
Most of the northern people, however, were encamped along the coast to
the westward, and, when they heard what had happened, they came from
Yakutat, Alsek river, and other places to ʟucāˊcakǃî-ān. They talked
together for a long time and finally decided upon a plan. All the men
began to sharpen their stone axes, and, when that was finished, they
came to a big tree they had already marked out and began to chop at
it from all sides. This was the biggest tree ever known. While they
worked, the women would come around it wailing and mourning for their
dead friends. It took two days to chop this tree down, and, if anybody
broke his stone ax, they felt very sorry for him and beat the drums as
though some one were dead. Then they cut the tree in two and took a
section off along the whole length where the upper side of the canoe
was to be, and the head workman directed that it be burnt out inside
with fire. So all the people assembled about it to work, and as fast as
it was burnt they took sticks and knocked off the burnt part so as to
burn deeper and to shape it properly when it had been burned enough.
There was one heavy limb that they let stand, merely finishing about
it. This work took them all winter. During the same time they bathed in
the sea and whipped one another in order to be brave in the approaching
war.
Toward spring they got inside of the canoe with their stone axes and
began to smooth it by cutting out the burnt part. Then they began to
give names to the canoe. It was finally called Spruce-canoe (Sīt-yākᵘ).
The thing they left in the middle was the real thing they were going to
kill people with. Finally they finished it by putting in seats.
Now they were only waiting for it to get warmer. In those days there
were special war leaders, and in fighting they wore helmets and greaves
made of common varieties of wood.
There was a shaman among these people named Qāłᴀˊtkǃ belonging to the
Nāsteˊdî. Because they were going to war, all of his people would come
about him to help him capture the souls of the enemy. One time he said
to his clothes man, “Go out for food, and be brave. The head spirit is
going to help you.” So the clothes man went out as directed and the
spirit showed him the biggest halibut in the ocean. For the float to
his line he used the largest sea-lion stomach, and, when he began to
pull it up, it looked as though the whole ocean were flowing into its
mouth. But the shaman told him to be courageous and hold on though the
hook looked like nothing more than a small spot. It did not even move,
for the strength of the spirits killed it, but it was so large that
they had to tow it in below the town. Then all the people who were
going to fight cut the halibut up and began to dry it. There was enough
for all who were going to war and for all the women left at home. When
it was dried they started to pack part away in the canoe. Then they
pushed the canoe down on skids made of the bodies of two women whom
they had captured from the southern people on a previous expedition and
whom they now killed for the purpose. Meanwhile the southern people
thought that they had destroyed all of those at the north and were
scattered everywhere in camps, not taking the trouble to make forts.
Finally all the northern warriors got into the big canoe and they
started south. It took probably ten days to get there. At the first
camp they reached they killed all the men and put the women and
children down on the sharpened limb alive. Of one woman who was saved
they asked where the other people were, and she said that they were
scattered everywhere in camps which she named. After they had destroyed
the second camp they enslaved more women, whom they also put upon
the sharpened limb. As they never took any off, the number on this
increased continually. Then they asked the woman: “Didn’t you expect
any war party to come down here?” She said, “No one expected another
raid down here, so they built no forts.”
The big canoe went around everywhere, killing people, destroying
property, and enslaving women. The women captured at each place told
them where others were to be found, and so they continued from place
to place. They destroyed more of the southern people than were killed
up this way. When they thought that they had killed everybody they
started north, stopping at a certain place to scalp the bodies. Then
they reached home, and everybody felt happy. They not only brought
numbers of slaves but liberated those of their own people who had been
taken south. Since that time people have been freer to camp where they
please, and, although the northern and southern people fought against
each other for a long time, more slaves were taken up this way, so the
northern people did not esteem the southern people very highly. This is
said to have been the very oldest war.
FOOTNOTES:
[46] Cf. the first part of this story with story 11 and story 31, pp.
150–151.
[47] Said to mean “shaggy,” referring to the thick, lumpy hair of the
grizzly bear. The man was probably one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
[48] Meaning that he sent sleep on them to make them sleep harder.
30. HOW PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY WAS FIRST HEARD OF AT SITKA[49]
A man went south from Sitka and returned after two months. When he
came ashore he called all the people to a dance and told them that God
(Dekīˊ-anqāˊwo, Distant-chief) had come down from heaven to help them.
Then all the women made beadwork for their hair and ears. One evening,
when they were through with that, they again began dancing. While the
women danced they would fall flat on their backs. When this happened,
in accordance with directions the man had received below, they brought
up salt water, wet part of each woman’s blanket and flapped it against
her breast to make her come to. This prevented the smallpox from having
any effect upon her. They kept on dancing a whole year.
FOOTNOTES:
[49] It is possible, however, that this was the result of Jesuit
teaching on the upper Skeena.
MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT WRANGELL
31. RAVEN[50]
In olden times only high-caste people knew the story of Raven properly
because only they had time to learn it.
At the beginning of things there was no daylight and the world lay in
blackness. Then there lived in a house at the head of Nass river a
being called Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass (Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł), the principal
deity to whom the Tlingit formerly prayed[51] but whom no one had
seen; and in his house were all kinds of things including sun, moon,
stars, and daylight. He was addressed in prayers as ᴀxcagūˊn, or
ᴀxkînayeˊgî, My Creator, and Wayîgênaˊłxe, Invisible-rich-man. With him
were two old men called Old-man-who-foresees-all-troubles-in-the-world
(Adawūˊlǃ-caˊnakǃᵘ) and He-who-knows-everything-that-happens
(Łiuˊwᴀt-uwadjīˊgî-can). Next to Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł, they prayed to
the latter of these. Under the earth was a third old person,
Old-woman-underneath (Haỵicāˊnakǃᵘ), placed under the world by
Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł.[52] Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł was unmarried and lived alone with
these two men, and yet he had a daughter, a thing no one is able to
explain. Nor do people know what this daughter was. The two old persons
took care of her like servants, and especially they always looked into
the water before she drank to see that it was perfectly clean.
First of all beings Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł created the Heron (Łᴀqǃ) as a very
tall and very wise man and after him the Raven (Yēł), who was also a
very good and very wise man at that time.
Raven came into being in this wise. His first mother had many children,
but they all died young, and she cried over them continually. According
to some, this woman was Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł’s sister and it was Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł
who was doing this because he did not wish her to have any male
children. By and by Heron came to her and said, “What is it that you
are crying about all the time?” She answered, “I am always losing my
children. I can not bring them up.” Then he said, “Go down on the beach
when the tide is lowest, get a small, smooth stone, and put it into the
fire. When it is red hot, swallow it. Do not be afraid.” She said,
“All right.” Then she followed Heron’s directions and gave birth to
Raven. Therefore Raven’s name was really Ītcᴀˊkǃᵘ, the name of a very
hard rock, and he was hence called Tᴀˊqłîkǃ-īc (Hammer-father). This is
why Raven was so tough and could not easily be killed.
Heron and Raven both became servants to Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł, but he thought
more of Raven and made him head man over the world. Then Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł
made some people.
All of the beings Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł had created, however, existed in
darkness, and this existence lasted for a long time, how long is
unknown. But Raven felt very sorry for the few people in darkness and,
at last, he said to himself, “If I were only the son of Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł I
could do almost anything.” So he studied what he should do and decided
upon a plan. He made himself very small, turned himself into a hemlock
needle, and floated upon the water Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł’s daughter was about
to drink. Then she swallowed it and soon after became pregnant.
Although all this was by the will of Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł and although he knew
what was the matter with his daughter, yet he asked her how she had
gotten into that condition. She said, “I drank water, and I felt that I
had swallowed something in it.” Then Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł instructed them to
get moss for his daughter to lie upon, and on that the child was born.
They named him Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł also. Then Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł cut a basket in
two and used half of it for a cradle, and he said that people would do
the same thing in future times, so they have since referred its use to
him.
Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł tried to make human beings out of a rock and out of a
leaf at the same time, but the rock was slow while the leaf was very
quick. Therefore human beings came from the leaf. Then he showed a leaf
to the human beings and said, “You see this leaf. You are to be like
it. When it falls off the branch and rots there is nothing left of it.”
That is why there is death in the world. If men had come from the rock
there would be no death. Years ago people used to say when they were
getting old, “We are unfortunate in not having been made from a rock.
Being made from a leaf, we must die.”
Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł also said, “After people die, if they are not witches,
and do not lie or steal, there is a good place for them to go to.”[53]
Wicked people are to be dogs and such low animals hereafter. The
place for good people is above, and, when one comes up there, he is
asked, “What were you killed for?” or “What was your life in the
world?” The place he went to was governed by his reply. So people used
to say to their children, “Do not lie. Do not steal. For the Maker
(Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł) will see you.”
Some time afterward a man died, and Raven, coming into the house, saw
him there with his wife and children weeping around him. So he raised
the dead man’s blanket with both hands, held it over the body, and
brought him back to life.
After that both Raven and her husband told this woman that there was no
death, but she disbelieved them. Then Raven said to her, “Lie down and
go to sleep.” And, as she slept, she thought she saw a wide trail with
many people upon it and all kinds of fierce animals around. Good people
had to pass along this trail in order to live again. When she came to
the end of the trail there was a great river there, and a canoe came
across to her from the other side of it. She entered this and crossed.
There some people came to her and said, “You better go back. We are not
in a good place. There is starvation here, we are cold, and we get no
water to drink.”
This is why people burn the bodies of the dead and put food into the
fire for them to eat. Burning their bodies makes the dead comfortable.
If they were not burned their spirits would be cold. This is why they
invite all those of the opposite clan as well as the nearest relations
of the dead man’s wife, seating them together in one place, and burn
food in front of them. It is because they think that the dead person
gets all of the property destroyed at the feast and all of the food
then burned up. It is on account of what Raven showed them that they do
so.
Because Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł got it into his mind to wish for daylight in the
world, he had wished for a grandchild through whom it might come. Now,
therefore, although he knew what answer he would receive, he sent for
Łiuˊwᴀt-uwadjīˊgî-can and questioned him to see whether he would answer
right: “Where did this child come from? Whose is it? Can you tell?” And
the other said, “His eyes look like the eyes of Raven.” That is how he
came to get the name Raven.
After a while the baby began to crawl about. His grandfather thought
a great deal of him and let him play with everything in the house.
Everything in the house was his. The Raven began crying for the moon,
until finally they handed it to him and quick as a wink he let it go
up into the sky. After he had obtained everything else, he began to
cry for the box in which daylight was stored. He cried, cried, cried
for a very long time, until he looked as though he were getting very
sick, and finally his grandfather said, “Bring my child here.” So they
handed Raven to his grandfather. Then his grandfather said to him, “My
grandchild, I am giving you the last thing I have in the world.” So he
gave it to him.
Then Raven, who was already quite large, walked down along the bank of
Nass river until he heard the noise people were making as they fished
along the shore for eulachon in the darkness. All the people in the
world then lived at one place at the mouth of the Nass. They had
already heard that Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł had something called “daylight,” which
would some day come into the world, and they used to talk about it a
great deal. They were afraid of it.
Then Raven shouted to the fishermen, “Why do you make so much noise?
If you make so much noise I will break daylight on you.” Eight canoe
loads of people were fishing there. But they answered, “You are
not Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł. How can you have the daylight?”, and the noise
continued. Then Raven opened the box a little and light shot over the
world like lightning. At that they made still more noise. So he opened
the box completely and there was daylight everywhere.
When this daylight burst upon the people they were very much
frightened, and some ran into the water, some into the woods. Those
that had hair-seal or fur-seal skins for clothing ran into the water
and became hair seals and fur seals. Hair seal and fur seal were
formerly only the names of the clothing they had. Those who had skins
called marten skins, black bear skins, grizzly-bear skins, etc., ran
into the woods and turned into such animals.
Petrel (G̣ᴀnūˊk) was one of the first persons created by Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł.
He was keeper of the fresh water, and would let none else touch it. The
spring he owned was on a rocky island outside of Kuiu, called Dekīˊ-nū
(Fort-far-out), where the well may still be seen. Raven stole a great
mouthful of this water and dropped it here and there as he went along.
This is the origin of the great rivers of the world, the Nass, Skeena,
Stikine, Chilkat, and others. He said, “This thing that I drop here
and there will whirl all the time. It will not overflow the world, yet
there will be plenty of water.” Before this time Raven is said to have
been pure white, but, as he was flying up through the smoke hole with
Petrel’s water, the latter said, “Spirits, hold down my smoke hole.” So
they held him until he was turned black by the smoke.
After this Raven saw a fire far out at sea. Tying a piece of pitchwood
to a chicken hawk’s bill, he told him to go out to this fire, touch it
with the pitchwood, and bring it back. When he had brought it to him
Raven put it into the rock and the red cedar saying, “This is how you
are to get your fire, from this rock and this red cedar,” and that is
the way they formerly did.
Thus Raven (Yēł) went about among the natives of Alaska telling them
what to do, but Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł they never saw. Raven showed all the
Tlingit what to do for a living, but he did not get to be such a high
person as Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł, and he taught the people much foolishness.
At that time the world was full of dangerous animals and fish. Raven
also tied up some witches, and so it was through him that the people
believed in witchcraft. Then he told the people that some wild animals
were to be their friends (i. e., their crest animals) to which they
were to talk.
Once he gave a feast and invited persons to it from other places. He
had two slaves after that, named Gîdzag̣ēˊt and Gîdzanūˊqǃu. This is
why the natives here had slaves. It was on account of his example.
There was a man who had no arm, so Raven thought he would be a shaman
and cure him. This is how the Tlingit came to have shamans. After there
was death he showed them how to dance over the body placed in the
middle of the floor.
Raven also taught the people how to make halibut hooks, and went out
fishing with them. He had names for the halibut hooks and talked to
them before he let them down into the sea. That is why the natives do
so now. He also taught them to be very quick when they went out halibut
fishing or they would catch nothing.
He also made different kinds of fish traps and taught the people how
to use them. He made the small variety and a big trap, shaped like a
barrel, for use in the Stikine.
He taught them how to make the seal spear (kᴀt). It has many barbs,
and there are different kinds. One is called tsa-cᴀxîctdzāˊs. It is
provided with some attachment that hits the seal (tsa) upon the head
whenever it comes to the surface, driving its head under water until it
dies, and that is what the name signifies.
Then he showed them how to make a canoe. This he did on the Queen
Charlotte islands. At first the people were afraid to get into it, but
he said, “The canoe is not dangerous. People will seldom get drowned.”
He taught them how to catch a salmon called îcqēˊn, which requires a
different kind of hook from that used for halibut. The place where he
taught people how to get different kinds of shellfish is a beach on the
Queen Charlotte islands called Raven’s beach to this day.
After he was through teaching the people these things, he went under
the ocean, and when he came back, taught them that the sea animals are
not what we think they are, but are like human beings. First he went to
the halibut people. They have a chief who invited him to eat, and had
dried devilfish and other kinds of dried fish brought out. He was well
liked everywhere he went under the sea because he was a very smart man.
After that he went to see the sculpin people, who were very industrious
and had all kinds of things in their houses. The killer-whale people
seemed to live on hair-seal meat, fat, and oil. Their head chief was
named G̣onaqᴀdēˊt, and even to this day the natives say that the sight
of him brings good fortune.
While he was under the ocean he saw some people fishing for halibut,
and he tried to tease them by taking hold of their bait. They, however,
caught him by the bill and pulled him up as far as the bottom of their
canoe, where he braced himself so that they pulled his bill out.
They did not know what this bill was and called it g̣onēˊt-łuwuˊ
(bill-of-something-unknown). Then Raven went from house to house
inquiring for his bill until he came to the house of the chief. Upon
asking for it there, they handed it to him wrapped in eagle down. Then
he put it back into its place and flew off through the smoke hole.
Raven left that town and came to another. There he saw a king salmon
jumping about far out at sea. He got it ashore and killed it. Because
he was able to do everything, the natives did all that he told them.
He was the one who taught all things to the natives, and some of them
still follow his teachings. After that he got all kinds of birds for
his servants. It was through these that people found out he was the
Raven.
Once he went to a certain place and told the people to go and fight
others. He said, “You go there and kill them all, and you will have all
the things in that town.” This was the beginning of war.
After having been down among the fish teaching them, Raven went among
the birds and land animals. He said to the grouse (nukt), “You are to
live in a place where it is wintry, and you will always look out for
a place high up so that you can get plenty of breeze.” Then he handed
the grouse four white pebbles, telling him to swallow them so that they
might become his strength. “You will never starve,” he said, “so long
as you have these four pebbles.” He also said, “You know that Sea-lion
is your grandchild. You must be generous, get four more pebbles and
give them to him.” That is how the sea-lion came to have four large
pebbles. It throws these at hunters, and, if one strikes a person, it
kills him. From this story it is known that the grouse and the sea-lion
can understand each other.
Raven said to the ptarmigan: “You will be the maker of snowshoes. You
will know how to travel in snow.” It was from these birds that the
Athapascans learned how to make snowshoes, and it was from them that
they learned how to put their lacings on.
Next Raven came to the “wild canary” (sǃāsǃ), which is found in the
Tlingit country all the year round, and said: “You will be head among
the very small birds. You are not to live on what human beings eat.
Keep away from them.”
Then he went to the robin and said: “You will make the people happy by
letting them hear your whistle. You will be a good whistler.”
Then he said to the flicker (kūn): “You will be the head one among the
birds next in size. You will not be found in all places. You will be
very seldom seen.”
He said to the ługᴀˊn, a bird that lives far out on the ocean: “You
will live far out on the ocean on lonely rocks. You will be very seldom
seen near shore.”
Then he came to the snipes and said to them: “You will always go in
flocks. You will never go out alone.” Therefore we always see them in
flocks.
He said to the āsqǃacāˊtcî, a small bird with greenish-yellow plumage:
“You will always go in flocks. You will always be on the tops of the
trees. That is where your food is.”
To a very small bird called kotǃaiˊ, about the size of a butterfly, he
said: “You will be a very respectable bird. You will be seen only to
give good luck. People will hear your voice always but never see you.”
Then Raven came to the blue jay and said: “You will have very fine
clothes and be a good talker. People will take patterns (probably
“colors”) from your clothes.”
Then he went to a bird called x̣ūnkᴀhāˊ and said: “You will never be
seen unless the north wind is going to blow.” That is what its name
signifies.
He came to the crows and said: “You will make lots of noise. You will
be great talkers.” That is why, when you hear one crow, you hear a lot
of others right afterward.
He came to a bird called gusǃyiadūˊł and said to it: “You will be seen
only when the warm weather is coming on. Never come near except when
warm weather is coming.”
He came to the humming bird and said: “A person will enjoy seeing you.
If he sees you once, he will want to see you again.”
He said to the eagle: “You will be very powerful and above all birds.
Your eyesight will be very good. What you want will be very easy for
you.” He put talons on the eagle and said that they would be very
useful to him.
And so he went on speaking to all the birds.
Then he said to the land otter: “You will live in the water just as
well as on land.” He and the land otter were good friends, so they
went halibut fishing together. The land otter was a fine fisherman.
Finally he said to the land otter: “You will always have your house on
a point where there is plenty of breeze from either side. Whenever a
canoe capsizes with people in it you will save them and make them your
friends.” The land-otter-man (kūˊcta-qā) originated from Raven telling
this to the land otter. All Alaskans know about the land-otter-man but
very few tell the story of Raven correctly.
If the friends of those who have been taken away by the land otters
get them back, they become shamans, therefore it was through the land
otters that shamans were first known. Shamans can see one another by
means of the land-otter spirits although others can not.
The first man captured (or “saved”) by the land otters was a Kîksᴀˊdî
named Kᴀkaˊ. The land otters kept coming to him in large canoes looking
like his mother or his sister or other dear relation, and pretending
that they had been looking for him for a long time. But they could not
control themselves as well as he, and at such times he would discover
who they were and that their canoe was nothing but a skate. Finally,
when Kᴀkaˊ found that he could not see his friends, he thought that he
might as well give himself up to the land otters. Then they named him
Qōwułkaˊ, a word in the land-otter language now applied to a kind of
fishhook which the halibut are thought to like better than all others.
Nowadays, when a figure of Qōwułkaˊ is made, it is covered with a dog
skin, because it was by means of a dog skin that he frightened the land
otters, and they also hang his apron about with dog bones. The shaman
who is possessed by him dresses in the same manner. From Kᴀkaˊ the
people learned that the land otters affect the minds of those who have
been with them for a long time so as to turn them against their own
friends. They also learned from him that there are shamans among the
land otters, and that the land otters have a language of their own.
For two years Kᴀkaˊ’s friends hunted for him, fasting at the same time
and remaining away from their wives. At the end of this period the
land otters went to an island about 50 miles from Sitka and took Kᴀkaˊ
with them. The land-otter tribe goes to this place every year. Then
an old land-otter-woman called to Kᴀkaˊ: “My nephew, I see that you
are worrying about the people at your home. When you get to the place
whither we are going place yourself astride of the first log you see
lying on the beach and sit there as long as you can.” And her husband
said to him: “Keep your head covered over. Do not look around.” They
gave him this direction because they thought, “If this human being sees
all of our ways and learns all of our habits, we shall die.” On the way
across the land-otter-people sang a song, really a kind of prayer, of
which the words are, “May we get on the current running to the shore.”
The moment they came to land the land-otter-people disappeared and
he did not know what had become of them. They may have run into some
den. Then he ran up the sandy beach and sat on the first log he came
to, as he had been directed. The instant his body touched it he became
unconscious. It was a shaman’s spirit that made him so.
By and by Kᴀkaˊ’s friends, who were at that time hunting for fur seals,
an occupation that carries one far out to sea, suddenly heard the
noise of a shaman’s drum and people beating for him with batons. They
followed the sound seaward until they saw thousands and thousands of
sea birds flying about something floating upon the ocean a mile or two
ahead of them. Arrived there they saw that it was a log with Kᴀkaˊ
lying upon it clothed only in a kelp apron. The people were delighted
to find even his body, and took it into their canoe. He looked very
wild and strange. He did not open his eyes, yet he seemed to know who
had possession of him, and without having his lips stir a voice far
down in his chest said, “It is I my masters.” It was a shaman’s spirit
that said this, and to the present day a shaman’s spirit will call the
shaman’s relations “my masters.”
The old woman that saved him and told him to sit astride of the log was
his spirit and so was her husband. The log was the spirit’s canoe. This
woman and her husband had been captured by the land otters long before,
but Kᴀkaˊ was so strong-minded a fellow that they felt they could do
nothing with him, so they let him go and became his spirits. They could
not turn him into a land otter because he did not believe that land
otters are stronger than human beings.
After the people had brought Kᴀkaˊ to a place just around the point
from their village, he said, “Leave me here for a little while.” So
most of his relations remained with him, while two went home to tell
the people who were there. They were not allowed to keep it from the
women. Then they made a house for him out of devil clubs and he was
left there for two days while the people of the town fasted. They
believed in these spirits as we now believe in God. Before he was
brought home the house and the people in it had to be very clean,
because he would not go where there was filth. After they got him
home they heard the spirit saying far down within him, “It is I,
Old-land-otter-spirit (Kūˊcta-kocaˊnqo-yek).” This was the name of
the old woman who first told him what to do. The next spirit was
The-spirit-that-saves (Qōsîneˊxe-yek). He sang inside of him the same
song that the land otters sang. It was his spirit’s song and has many
words to it.
All the birds that assembled around him when he was floating upon the
sea were also his spirits. Even the wind and waves that first upset
him were his spirits. Everything strange that he had seen at the time
when the land otters got possession of him were his spirits. There
are always sea birds sitting on a floating log, and from Kᴀkaˊ people
learned that these are shamans’ spirits. It is from his experience
that all Alaskans—Tlingit, Haida, even Eskimo and Athapascans—believe
in the land-otter-men (kūˊcta-qa). By means of his spirits Kᴀkaˊ was
able to stand going naked for two years. This story of Kᴀkaˊ is a true
story, and it is from him that the Tlingit believe in shamans’ spirits
(yēk).[54]
After leaving the land otters Raven appeared at Taku. There is a cliff
at the mouth of that inlet called Wᴀsǃᴀsǃeˊ where the North Wind used
to live, and Raven stayed there with him. The North Wind was very proud
and shone all over with what the Indians thought were icicles. So the
Indians never say anything against the North Wind, however long it
blows, because it has spirits (i. e., power). Years ago people thought
that there were spirits in all the large cliffs upon the islands, and
they would pray to those cliffs. They had this feeling toward them
because Raven once lived in this cliff with the North Wind.
Raven observed certain regulations very strictly when he was among the
rivers he had created. He told people never to mention anything that
lives in the sea by its right name while they were there, but to call
a seal a rabbit, for instance, and so with the other animals. This was
to keep them from meeting with misfortune among the rapids. Formerly
the Indians were very strict with their children when they went up the
rivers, but nowadays all that has been forgotten.
After this Raven went to Chilkat and entered a sweat house along with
the chief of the killer whales who tried to roast him. Raven, however,
had a piece of ice near him and every now and then put part of it into
his mouth. Then he would tell the killer whale that he felt chilly and
make him feel ashamed. “If I did not belong to the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî family,”
said Raven, “I could not have stood that sweat house.” For this reason
the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî now claim the raven as an emblem and think they have
more right to it than anybody else.
It was from Raven that people found out there are Athapascan Indians.
He went back into their country. So the Chilkat people to this day make
their money by going thither. He also showed the Chilkat people how to
make tcîł, secret storehouses maintained some distance out of town,
and he taught them how to put salmon into these and keep them frozen
there over winter. So the Chilkat people got their name from tcîł,
“storehouse,” and xāt, “salmon.”
Raven also showed the Chilkat people the first seeds of the Indian
tobacco and taught them how to plant it. After it was grown up, he
dried it, gathered clam shells, roasted them until they were very
soft, and pounded them up with the tobacco. They used to chew this,
and it was so good that it is surprising they gave it up. They made a
great deal of money at Chilkat by trading with this among the interior
Indians, but nowadays it is no longer planted.
* * * * *
Then Raven went to a river beyond Copper river called Łᴀxaỵîˊk[55] and
told the people that they were to make canoes out of skins. There he
found a chief named ᴀyāˊỵî, who had married the daughter of another
chief by whom he had five children, four boys and a girl. His wife
was always making baskets, while ᴀyāˊỵî himself went out camping or
to other villages. He had a long box that he took about everywhere he
went and always had hung overhead. In those days each family tattooed
the hands in some special way. One time, when the chief’s wife was
sitting under this box a drop of blood fell out of it upon her hand.
Her husband was away, so she took the box down and looked into it.
It was full of severed hands, and by the tattoo marks she knew that
they belonged to her uncles. She was very fond of her uncles and cried
continually for them.
After her husband had found her weeping several times he asked, “What
are you always crying about?” and she said, “I am getting tired of
living here. I want to go back to my father and mother.” Then he said,
“We will start back to your father’s place to-morrow.” So next day he
carried her and her children to a place not far from her father’s town
and let them off there telling them to walk across. Then he paddled
home.
Even before she started across, his wife noticed that there was a
heavy fog over her father’s village, and when she got there she found
it vacant. There was nothing in it but dead bodies, and she went
from house to house weeping. Now after her children had thought over
this matter for a while, they skinned some of the bodies and made a
canoe out of them. It was the first of the skin canoes. It was all on
account of ᴀyāˊỵî having murdered the people of that town. They tied
those places on the canoe that had to be made tight, with human hair.
Afterward they took it down to the water and put it in, making a kind
of singing noise as they went. Nowadays these canoes are made of all
kinds of skins, but the hair used is always human hair and they sing
in the same manner when they put them into the water. They also made a
drum out of human skin.
After that all got into the canoe, and they started for their father’s
town, singing as they went, while their mother steered. When they came
in front of it the people said, “There is a canoe coming. We can hear
singing in it, and in the song they are mentioning ᴀyāˊỵî’s name.”
That was all they could hear. The whole town came out to look at the
canoe. Then the eldest son arose in the canoe, mentioned his father’s
name, and said, “Give me my uncle’s hands. If you do not give them to
me I will turn this town of yours upside down.” When he started this
song again he began drumming and the town began to sink. It shook as if
there were an earthquake. Now the people of the town became frightened.
They went to ᴀyāˊỵî and told him he would be killed if he did not let
the hands go. So he gave them up. When the children got these hands
they went away singing the same song. At that the town again began to
sink and carried down all of the people with it. Afterward it resumed
its former position, but it is said that you can see shells all over
the place to this day.
After they had reached their own village Raven said to the eldest boy,
“Get some eagle feathers and put them on the mouths of your uncles and
all the other town people. After you have placed them there blow them
away again. Put their hands in their proper places, and put feathers
over the cuts. As soon as you have blown the feathers away from their
mouths, they will return to life.” He did so, and all the dead people
came to life.
* * * * *
One day Raven saw a whale far out at sea and sat down on the beach to
study how he should bring it ashore. Then he got some pitchwood and
rocks of the kind that was formerly used in making fire, flew out to
the place where he thought the whale would come up, and went into its
open mouth. He made a fire inside of the whale and cooked everything
there. Only he would not touch the heart. When the whale took in many
fish he ate them. Finally he did cut the whale’s heart out and killed
it, after which it began drifting about from place to place. Then he
sang: “Let the one who wants to be high-born like me cut the whale open
and let me out, and he will be as high as I am.” He also sang: “Let
the whale go ashore. Let the whale go ashore on a long sandy beach.”
Finally he heard waves breaking on a sandy beach, and he said again:
“Let the one who wants to be high-born like me cut the whale open and
let me out, and he will be as high as I am.” Suddenly he heard the
voices of children. These children heard his voice, went home and
informed their parents. Then the people all came there and cut the
whale open, and Raven flew off into the woods crying “Qǃoneˊ, qǃoneˊ,
qǃoneˊ.”
Raven stayed up in the woods a long time in order to get the grease and
smell off of his feathers, and, when he came down again, he saw boxes
and boxes of whale grease. Then he made believe he was surprised and
asked the people where they got all of it. They said: “We found a whale
that had come right in here where we could get it easily. So we are
making oil out of it.” Said he: “Did you hear anything inside when it
first came ashore.” “Yes! there was some strange sound in there, and
something flew out calling itself qǃoneˊ.” Then Raven answered, “Years
ago just such a thing as this happened, and all of the people of that
town that heard the noise died. It brings bad luck to hear such a noise
in a whale. You people must leave this right away. Don’t eat any of it.
Leave it here.” Then all of the people believed him and left their oil
there. It became his.[56]
Next Raven went to a place where many sea lions, seals, and porpoises
were lying about. Among these there were a number of children, who
cut pieces of fat from the animals and threw them back and forth. So
he made himself look like a child and, when they threw him a piece
of fat, he ate it. Finally the children missed their fat and said,
“What is becoming of all the fat we were playing with? It is all
disappearing.”[57]
Then Raven came to a large town where everyone appeared to have died.
He entered the largest house, and saw no one inside, yet he could feel
a person continually pushing against him. It was a ghost house, and the
town was called the Town of Ghosts (Qaỵahāỵîˊ ānîˊ). Afterward Raven
loaded a canoe with provisions from the ghosts’ houses and started to
paddle away, but he did not notice that a very long line was fastened
to the stern of the canoe and secured at the other end round a tree.
When he reached the end of this rope the canoe was pulled right back to
the beach, and the goods were all carried up to the house by invisible
hands. One of the ghosts also dropped a very large rock upon his foot,
making him lame.[58]
Next Raven went among the Athapascan Indians of the interior beyond
the place he had reached before. There he saw a giant cannibal called
Cannibal-man. Knowing that this cannibal was very smart he tried to
get the better of him, so he won his confidence and learned that he
was married to the black pine (łᴀł).[59] In the morning the cannibal
bathed. After that the two became very good friends, and the cannibal
said to Raven, “I am going hunting, and I am going to get four animals,
two mountain goats and two ground hogs.” So the cannibal took a hide
rope such as the interior Indians used to make and started. On the
way Raven said to the cannibal, “Where is that man called Tsᴀˊmaya?”
He was another very powerful man. And the cannibal showed him where
Tsᴀˊmaya lived.
Then Raven stayed with Tsᴀˊmaya, and they became good friends also.
The latter lived all by himself at that time, all of his friends
having been killed by Wolverine-man (Nūsgᴀ-qāˊ). So he said to Raven,
“I do not know what to do with him. I would like to kill him.” And
Raven said to him, “Do you see this spear? Go and get a bear skin and
put it around yourself. Put the spear in such a position as to make
him believe he has killed a bear.” Tsᴀˊmaya did so, and by and by
Wolverine-man came along. He was very glad when he saw the bear and
said, “I have another.” Then he picked the bear up, took out the spear
and carried it home. After that he went to gather wood. While he was
gone Raven made himself appear like a common blackbird and in that
form said to Tsᴀˊmaya, “Wolverine-man’s heart is in his foot.” Then he
took the little spear he had concealed in his long hair and gave it
to Tsᴀˊmaya, who speared Wolverine-man in the foot as soon as he came
in. He was hurt badly but ran away from them. When they caught up with
him and told him they were going to kill him, he said, “All right.”
But every time they killed him he came to life again until finally
they burned him. Then, when they were about to pulverize his bones,
the bones spoke up and said to them, “Pulverize my bones and blow them
away. They will always be a bother to you and everybody else. I shall
always remain in the world.” That is where the mosquitoes and gnats
come from.[60]
Afterward Raven came to where a house was floating far out at sea,
called Kǃuˊdatᴀn kahîˊtî. Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł had been keeping it there, and
in it were all kinds of fishes, but Raven did not know how to get at
them. At the same place he also met a monster, called Qǃāˊnᴀxg̣ādaỵiỵê
(which seems to mean “a thing that is in the way”), who had spear like
the arm of a devilfish called, “devilfish-arm spear.” Raven wanted
this, and obtained it by marrying the monster’s daughter. Then he got
into a canoe, paddled out near the house, and speared it. Inside he
heard all kinds of songs sung by different voices. These were the songs
people were to sing in the fishing season. When Raven threw his spear,
it became very long and wrapped itself around the house so firmly that
he was enabled to take his canoe ashore. He had great difficulty,
however, for as he did so he had to sing continually, “I think so, I
think so,” a song known to all of the Raven people. Whenever he stopped
singing, the house went back to the place where it had been at first.
This happened three times and the fourth time he got it in.
After that the door of the house opened, and all kinds of fish came out
of it. He sang, “Some go to Stikine river. Some go to Chilkat river,”
which they immediately did. Then he sang again, “Some go to the small
creeks to provide the poor people.” That is how fish came to be all
over the world.[61]
* * * * *
Now Raven went farther and came to a woman and a little girl all alone.
She was crying and Raven asked her, “What are you crying about?” “I
have lost all of my friends. I am all alone here with my little girl.
The people kept going off hunting or fishing and never come back. What
has happened to them I do not know.” Then Raven said to the girl, “Do
you know the thing with which they make fire?” She said “No,” for they
had kept their fires all night since the other people were gone. Then
Raven showed her how to make fire with the fire drill. He said, “Drill
away until you get a lot of this fine stuff. Then take some and eat it.”
After the girl had done this she became pregnant and gave birth to a
male child whom they called Fire-drill’s son (Tūˊłî-ỵᴀˊdî). Then Raven
said to her, “There is a cold spring back here. Bathe your little one
in it every day, and he will grow up very fast.” To this day they call
that spring Water-that-makes-one-grow. The woman bathed him as directed
and he soon grew up into a man very skilful at work of all kinds.
Finally he asked his mother: “Mother, is this the way you have always
been? Didn’t you have a father, mother, and friends?” But she said, “We
have always been this way.” He was so bright that she would not tell
him. Then the child went on asking, “Whose houses are those? I think
that you had friends who have all died off, and you will not tell me.”
So his grandmother finally told him what had happened.
This boy was a good shot with arrows, but he said, “What can I do? All
the canoes lying here are old and broken.” In the night, however, his
father, Fire-drill, appeared to him in a dream and said, “Take one of
those old canoes up into the woods and cover it with brush. No matter
how old it is. Do it.” The morning after he had done this, he went
there and found a very pretty little canoe with all things in it that
he needed. Then his father appeared to him again, pulled the root of a
burned tree out of the ground and made it into a little dog for him.
He called it G̣ᴀnt (Burnt), and it could scent things from a great
distance. Although small it was as powerful as a bear. He also gave his
son a bow, and arrows pointed with obsidian(?). Finally he gave him a
very powerful club called Qōtᴀcāˊỵî-qǃus.
Now he thought of what his grandmother had told him, took his canoe
down, and prepared to go away. He told his mother that he might be gone
for two days and said, “Take care of this fire drill. Hang it in a safe
place overhead, and, if I am killed, it will fall.” He went along on
the water shooting at birds and suddenly saw a canoe coming toward him.
“There is the thing that has killed all of my mother’s friends,” he
thought. Then he began talking to his dog, his club, and his bow and
arrows, all of which could understand him.
The man coming toward him had only one eye, placed in the middle of
his face and from this fact was called ʟēcᴀwāˊg̣î (Man-with-one-eye).
He was a very big man whose home was in a cliff. Then he said to the
boy, “Is this you, my nephew?” He answered, “It is I.” “Where did you
come from?” “From my uncle’s village.” “Yes, I know you.” The one-eyed
man could read the boy’s thoughts and said to him, “It was not I who
killed your uncles and your mother’s friends. It was the East wind and
the North wind.” He mentioned all of the winds. But the boy knew that
this big man was after him, and he knew what he meant by talking to him
so kindly. Then the big man said, “Let us trade arrows.” “Oh! no, my
arrows are better than yours. They cost a great deal.” One of the boy’s
arrows was named Heart-stopper (Tēqǃ-g̣ōts), because a person’s heart
stopped beating the instant it touched his body. Another was pointed
with porcupine quills, and a third with bark. The big man made the boy
believe that his arrow points were sea-urchin spines, but in reality
they were only the seed vessels of fireweed. This man was a bad shaman.
He held his arrow points up, and said, “Do you see these arrows?” He
could see that the points were all moving. Then the boy said, “It is
wonderful, but my arrows are not like that. They are only good for
shooting birds.” Now the shaman’s object was to get Heart-stopper.
Finally the boy said to the shaman, “Look here, you call yourself my
uncle. That is how you did away with my uncles and my mother’s friends,
is it? You will never make away with me so.” That angered the big man,
and before they knew it both had their arrows in hand, but the boy was
the quicker and killed his antagonist; the dog helped him. Then the boy
took the big man’s tongue out and burned his body. All this time his
mother was worrying about him.
Then he paddled along by the shore and heard some one calling to
him. He thought, “There is another bad man.” So he went to the place
and discovered on a very steep cliff falling sheer into the water an
aperture with red paint around it and devil clubs tied into a ring
hanging close by. Some one inside of this invited him in, and, as he
was very brave and cared for nothing, he went up to the entrance. The
person who lived there was the wife of the man he had killed. She had
seen his canoe passing and thought, “He must have killed my husband.”
So she said, “Your aunt’s husband went across that way.” And the boy
said, “I have seen your husband.” This woman’s name was Knife-hand
(Djîwᴀn-yīsǃ), because she had a knife on each hand. She said to the
boy, “You better come in here and let me give you food before you go
on.” “All right,” he said. So he entered and found her cooking the
parts of a human being. She called the ends of its fingers, “crab
apples,” its eyes, “berries,” etc. When he told her that he did not eat
that sort of food, she at once said, “Well! let us have a fight then.
We will kill each other.” He agreed and she went to a large rock where
he could hear her drawing both hands back and forth to sharpen them.
As soon as she had finished, she threw her hand at him, but he jumped
aside so quickly that it stuck in the spot where he had been sitting,
and, when she drew her hand away, the knife remained there. Then the
boy jumped forward, seized it, and threw it back with such good aim
that it killed her. He also cut her tongue out. He had no more than
finished with her, however, than he noticed that the entrance hole was
growing smaller and smaller. So he made himself small also, crept into
one of the ermine skins he had tied in his hair, and ran out. When he
came home again with his canoe loaded down with seal and deer, his
mother and grandmother were very glad to see him, for they had been
weeping for him and worrying about him ever since he left. Now he told
them not to worry any longer because he had killed the bad people who
destroyed their friends.
Next he said to his mother, “Mother, do not be afraid to tell me. What
was it that killed my uncles when they went back here hunting?” By and
by he went back into the woods to hunt and saw smoke rising a long
distance off. He came to a house and entered. There he saw a very old
woman called Old-mole-woman (Kǃᴀgᴀˊkqōcāˊ-nᴀkᵘ). As soon as she saw the
boy this woman said, “My grandson what is it that you are after?” The
boy felt that she was an honest old woman and said, “I am looking for
the person that killed my uncles and all of my mother’s friends.” Then
she told him to come in and eat. She picked a small piece of salmon
out from between her teeth which at once turned into a whole salmon.
That was the way she got anything she wanted, and it was the only way
she got her food. Then she said to the boy, “Grandson, it is pretty
hard to get at the beings that murdered your uncles. They are the hawks
(kîdjūˊk). You must find their nests, which are very high up, and watch
until the old birds go away, leaving their two young ones.” When he
came to the nest, however, he saw that the old birds were away, so he
went up to the young ones and said to them, “What do you live on?” The
birds showed him numbers of human skulls and other human bones lying
about the base of the tree and said, “That is what we live on.” They
also said, “Our father and our mother always come just at daybreak. You
can not see them because they come in clouds. Our mother comes over the
mountain in a yellow cloud and our father comes in a black cloud.” Then
he said to the birds, “Do not tell about me or I will kill you,” and
they believed he would do it.
Suddenly the boy saw the yellow cloud coming. He distinguished the
mother bird bringing a human body for her children to eat. Then he
killed her and threw her down to the foot of the tree along with the
body she was carrying. After that he saw the black cloud coming and
presently distinguished the father bird. The father bird said to the
young ones, “Where is your mother?” and they answered, “Our mother
dropped the dead body she was bringing and went down after it.” As he
was sitting there talking the boy killed him also and threw his body
down. Then he said to the little birds, “You must never kill people any
more or live on human flesh. I will go and get something for you to eat
until you are strong enough.” So he went out hunting and brought them
a lot of ground hogs, saying to them, “This is what you are to live
upon.” So these birds now live only on ground-hog meat. They do not
live on human flesh any more. They kill their victims with rocks, and
a person who is about to become rich will see them throw one of these.
Then he picks it up and it brings him good luck.
After that he went back to the old woman and told her what he had done,
and she was very happy to learn that these dangerous birds were killed.
He said to her, “I am going back to my mother and grandmother. I and
my dog have obtained a great deal of food for them.” He also gave a
quantity of food to the old woman who had helped him. His mother and
grandmother were very glad when they saw him come back with the skins
of those birds and a quantity of provisions.
Now Fire-drill’s son collected enough food and grease in boxes to last
his mother and grandmother all their lives and said, “Mother, I am
going to leave you forever. I was not put here to be with you always. I
have done what I wanted to do. If what you have hanging overhead falls,
you may know that you will never see me again. But do not worry, for it
is my duty to leave you.” Then he went away.
As he was traveling along from that place, Fire-drill’s son saw some
one ahead of him called Dry-cloud (Gusǃ-x̣ūk). He was able to travel
very fast, and he chased it. As he was running along he came to the
mink people. He ran along again and came to the marten people. Both
kept saying to him, “We want you to be our friend,” but he paid no
attention to them and kept on pursuing Dry-cloud. Then he came to the
wolf people and stayed there.
One of the wolf chiefs thought a great deal of Fire-drill’s son. One
time the wolves began talking about all those things that can run very
fast, and finally they spoke about the mountain goats, how they can
travel about easily among the cliffs, and said that they were going out
to hunt them. When they set out, all ran hard to see who could kill
the first one, but Fire-drill’s son’s dog killed a great number before
anyone could get near them, so many, in fact, that Fire-drill’s son
took only the leaf lard home to show how many he had gotten. Then the
wolves all went up and brought down the dead goats, and they felt very
much ashamed that they, who were noted runners and hunters, had gotten
nothing. They wondered what they could do to get even with Fire-drill’s
son. Then they took a quantity of long stringy vines called
mountain-eel (cayałīˊtǃî), made them into rings and began playing with
them. They would let these roll down the sides of the mountains and
jump through them when they were at full speed. Anyone who got caught
in one of these would be cut in two.
Fire-drill’s son’s wolf friend said to him, however, “My friend, don’t
go near those people that are playing. You do not know anything about
the things they are using. They will kill you.” He answered, “No, I
will not play with them, but let us watch them.” So they went out and
watched them. Then Fire-drill’s son said to his dog, “Now, you play
there and throw it as high as you can.” So the dog played with it and
threw it as high as he could. It was a fine moonlight night, and the
ring rolled right up to the moon, where it became the ring you see
there whenever there is going to be a change in weather.[62] After that
his friend, the wolf chief, said to the rest of the wolves, “You know
that this son of Fire-drill is a wonderful fellow. He can do anything.
Do not try to injure him in any way, but treat him as a friend.”[63]
After that Fire-drill’s son and his wolf friend went off together, and
the wolf said, “Some strange being walks around here. Don’t run after
him or he will take your life.” It was Dry-cloud that he meant. “Don’t
mind me,” said Fire-drill’s son, “I know what he is. I only play with
him. I know that this fellow can’t be killed, and I know that he can
not kill anybody else, but I have to follow him. That was my father’s
advice to me.” So they kept on after Dry-cloud and the wolf had to run
with all his might, but it did not seem to Fire-drill’s son that he was
going rapidly at all. Whenever the wolf got his tail wet in crossing
a stream he was too much tired out to shake it, so he simply yelped
and Fire-drill’s son shook it for him. By and by they saw smoke far
ahead of them and presently came to where an old woman lived alone by
herself. They stayed with her for some time, and could see Dry-cloud
as long as they were there, for he lived in the neighborhood of her
house. Then they helped the old woman and collected a quantity of wood
for her. After that she said to the boy, “Grandson, there is a big fish
over yonder. It killed all of my friends in this town. That is why I
am all alone here.” He went to the place where she said the monster
lived and found a red cod. He said to her, “Grandmother, that is not
a monster fish. It is good to eat.” So he took his bow and arrows and
told his friend to watch him. Then he went to the red cod and killed
it, and, seeing that there were numbers of sharp spines upon it, he
took off its skin and dried it. He said to the wolf: “My friend, do
you know this woman? She is really Daughter-of-the-calm (Kayeˊʟǃî-sī).
She is a very nice, pretty girl.” Afterward Fire-drill’s son married
Daughter-of-the-calm and had a child by her named Łᴀkîtcîneˊ. He gave
this boy his dog and put the red-cod skin upon him as a shirt. Then he
said to his wife: “This is going to be a very bad boy.”[64]
* * * * *
Łᴀkîtcîneˊ lived at Sitka.[65] He had a wife from among human beings,
and every day, while he went out halibut fishing, she dug clams. The
dog, G̣ᴀnt, that his father had given him he renamed Cᴀqǃ. Łᴀkîtcîneˊ
had several children, but he killed all of them. He would take a child
up, pet it, and sing cradle songs to it, and at the same time make
his red-cod spines stick into it so that it died. He also used the
“Blarney stone”[66] as a grindstone, and killed some of his children by
rubbing their faces upon it.
His wife mourned very much for her children, and finally thought of a
way of being revenged upon him. She had a litter of puppies by the dog.
There were originally twelve, but seven died, leaving four male puppies
and one female. These puppies grew up very fast. While the man and his
wife were away fishing and digging clams the puppies played about the
house, and the noise they made sounded just like that of children.
But the female always watched at the door, and when their mother ran
up to stop them all would be lying about on the floor asleep. They
kept getting noisier and noisier, and sounded more and more like
human beings. Finally Łᴀkîtcîneˊ heard it and said to his wife: “Who
are these making so much noise here?” “It is those dogs.” Then she
thought very seriously what she should do with the puppies. The next
time Łᴀkîtcîneˊ was out he heard them still more plainly, and now he
thought that he heard human voices. He came ashore in great anger and
said to his wife: “It is not those dogs that I hear talking.” He was so
dangerous a man that his wife was very much frightened.
After that she formed a plan. So, when her husband went out halibut
fishing the next time, she stuck her digging stick into the ground,
put her blanket around it, and her hat upon the end. Then she ran up
through the woods and hid herself, while the little dog was watching
Łᴀkîtcîneˊ. After that she crept back to the house, which was made
of brush, and in which they were again making a great deal of noise.
Looking inside, she found that the boys were all playing about in human
forms, their dog skins lying a short distance away from them. Then she
quickly ran in upon them, exclaiming, “You must like to be dogs since
you wear dog skins,” grabbed the skins and threw them into the fire.
The little dog that sat outside was the only one that remained in its
original form.
Now, when Łᴀkîtcîneˊ came ashore, and saw the children, he was angry
and felt very much ashamed at having been outwitted. He did not know
how to kill them, for he thought they had more power than he. One,
named Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, was a shaman. He had his grandfather and the one-eyed
man and his wife that his grandfather had killed as his spirits.
Łᴀkîtcîneˊ thought that he would first quarrel with his wife, and, when
he came into the house, he began to throw and kick things about. But,
when he began to beat his wife, the children jumped upon him and fought
with him. They also asked the dog to help them. Together they killed
him.
After these boys were grown up, their mother told them many times of a
certain monster at a place called Kᴀg̣ēˊtǃ, that had been killing many
people. Finally they set out to see it, anchored off the mouth of the
bay, and killed it with spears and arrows. They took the skin from its
head. Then they went throughout Alaska, killing off the monsters of the
sea and land that had troubled people and making others less harmful.
The natives say, if it had not been for those boys, they would be there
yet. They made some of these monsters promise that they would not kill
people. The wolves, which were very destructive in those days, became
less harmful through them. Although people in Alaska are afraid of
wolves, you have not heard of anyone being killed by them.
There was one person called Tcākǃîˊsǃ resembling an eagle, who flew
around and was very powerful. He would say to the bears and other game
animals, “You are going to be killed.” Because he kept warning the
animals, human beings were starving, so the brothers came to him and
made him promise not to injure people or forewarn the other animals.
Afterward the brothers left their mother at that place and went
up to Łāxaỵîˊk, where they had heard of a bad person called
One-legged-man (ʟē-łaqǃocîˊ). His proper name, however, is
Man-that-dries-fish-for-the-eagle (Tcākǃ-qǃēˊdî-ᴀt-qǃᴀn-qā), and he
is very fond of spearing salmon. First the boys came to the prints of
his one foot going up beside the river, and after a while they saw him
coming down toward them spearing salmon. His shirt was the skin of a
brown bear and had strength as well as he.
Afterward Łqǃayāˊkǃ caught a salmon, took all of the meat out, and got
into its skin. Next day, at the time when they knew One-legged-man
was about to come up, Łqǃayāˊkǃ put it on again and laid himself in a
salmon hole in the creek. The big man, who was just coming along, saw a
fine salmon go into the hole and said, “What a fine-looking salmon.” He
thought that he could not get it, but, after he had stood watching it
for a while, it swam up toward him, and he speared it. Just as he was
dragging it ashore, however, Łqǃayāˊkǃ cut the cord to his spear point
with a knife he had taken along and swam back into the water hole. Then
the big man looked at his spear and said to himself, “My fine spear is
gone;” but after he had observed closer he said, “This is not broken.
It is cut. I suppose it is Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s doing.” After that he went on up
the stream while the brothers cooked salmon for their meal.
By a by they saw One-legged-man coming down again carrying a feather
tied on the end of a long stick. He would point this feather at
different trees and then smell of it. Finally he pointed it at the
tree in which Łqǃayāˊkǃ and his brothers were then sitting and said,
“Łqǃayāˊkǃ is in that tree.” Then he spoke out saying, “Give me my
spear.” Łqǃayāˊkǃ kept saying to his brothers, “Shall I go out and
fight him?” But they answered, “No, no, don’t go yet.” He was so
determined, however, that he finally went out and was killed. Then the
other brothers and the dog fell upon this man. After they had set their
dog on him, they killed him. They took his bear-skin shirt off and
burned his body. Łqǃayāˊkǃ had been torn all to pieces, but Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ
put the pieces together, acted around him like a shaman, and brought
him back to life.
Then Łqǃayāˊkǃ went along up to the head of that stream dressed in
One-legged-man’s shirt and acting like him. When he got there he
found the largest two bears that ever lived. These were the wife and
father-in-law of the man they had killed. Łqǃayāˊkǃ threw down one
salmon before the woman and another very bright one before her father
just as One-legged-man had been in the habit of doing. The woman found
out right away that Łqǃayāˊkǃ was not her husband, but she made love
to him and he took her as his wife. His father-in-law also thought a
great deal of him. Every morning Łqǃayāˊkǃ would go off down stream
after salmon just as One-legged-man had done. On these expeditions he
was always accompanied by his dog, which kept chewing on something
continually. He was really chewing those wild peoples’ minds away to
make them tame so that they would not hurt Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s brothers. His
brothers all came to him.
After that they began pursuing Dry-cloud like Fire-drill’s son. Like
him they chased it from one kind of animal to another. They chased it
for months and months until they had followed it far up into the sky
where you can see the tracks of Łqǃayāˊkǃ to this very day (the milky
way). Finally they reached a very cold region in the sky and wanted
to get back, but the clouds gathered so thickly about them that they
could not pass through. Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, therefore, called his spirits to
open a passage. After they had done so his brothers fell through and
were smashed to pieces on the earth. Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, however, had his
spirits make him enter a ptarmigan (qǃēsǃawaˊ), and reached the earth
in safety. Then he shook his rattle over his brothers and brought them
to life.
Before they ascended into the sky the brothers had killed all of
the monsters on Prince of Wales island and elsewhere in Alaska
except one at Wrangell called Kᴀxqoyêˊnduᴀ. When they heard about
this one, they went to He-who-knows-everything-that-happens
(Łiuˊwᴀt-uwadjīˊgî-canᴀˊkᵘ) and said to him, “Grandfather, we want
your canoe. Will you lend it to us?” Its name was Arrow-canoe
(Tcūˊnet-yākᵘ). Then the old man said, “What do you want the canoe for,
grandchildren?” So they told him, and he said, “There is a very bad
thing living there. No one can get to him. Several different kinds of
spirits are to be met before you reach him. They are very dangerous.”
Then he gave them directions, saying, “When the monster is sleeping, he
has his eyes open, but when he is awake he has his eyes closed, and he
is then watching everything. When you see that his eyes are closed, do
not try to kill him. Approach him when his eyes are open. The canoe,”
he said, “is right round there back of my house.” They went to look
for it but saw nothing at that place except an old log covered with
moss. They said to him, “Where is the canoe you were talking about?”
Then the old man came out and threw the moss off, revealing a fine
painted canoe. Another name for this was Canoe-that-travels-in-the-air
(Qᴀxỵīˊxdoxoa), referring to its swiftness. All of the paddles that he
brought out to them were beautifully painted. Then they got into the
canoe and tested it.
Next day they set out and soon came to a point named
Point-that-moves-up-and-down (Yên-yułuˊ-sǃîtᴀˊngî-qǃa). Whenever a
canoe approached it this point would rise, and, as soon as the canoe
attempted to pass under, would fall and smash it. They, however, passed
right underneath, and it did not fall upon them. They killed it by
doing so, theirs being the first canoe that had passed under.
Beyond this they saw a patch of kelp called
Kelps-washed-up-against-one-another-by-the-waves (Wūcxkᴀdutīˊt-gīc),
which closed on those trying to pass, but they shot through as soon as
the kelp parted. Thus they killed the kelp patch, and the kelp piled up
in one place, becoming a kelp-covered rock which may still be seen.
Next they reached Fire-coming-up-out-of-the-sea (Hīnᴀx-qeg̣ᴀˊntc),
which rose out of the ocean quickly and fell back again. When it fell
back they passed over it and killed it.
After that they came to Dogs-of-the-sea (Wūcłᴀdᴀgūˊq-cᴀqǃ), after whom
Łᴀkîtcîneˊ’s dog is said to have been named.[67] These drew to each
side and then ran together upon anyone who tried to pass between.
Arrow-canoe was too quick for them, however, and killed them by running
through in safety. Then they became rocks.
Before the monster’s dwelling were two mountains, called
Mountains-that-divide (Wūˊcqᴀdag̣ᴀt-ca), which formed his doors. These
would separate and come together again. Arrow-canoe passed between when
they were separated and killed them. You can see them now, one on each
side of a salt-water pond, looking as though they had been cut apart.
As soon as they had passed between these they saw the monster, a very
bad shaman called also Shaman-of-the-sea (Hīn-tǃᴀq-îˊxtǃî). He looked
as though his eyes were open, so they threw a rope made of whale
sinew about his neck. Immediately he shook himself and broke it. They
made ropes out of the sinews of all the different monsters they had
killed, but he broke them. All the time they were doing this a little
bird called Old-person (ʟaguqāˊwu),[68] kept coming to their camp and
saying, “My sinews only, my sinews.” So they finally killed this bird,
took out its sinews, and worked them into a very small thread. As soon
as they threw this around the monster’s head it came off. Then they
took off its scalp, which had long hair like that of other shamans, and
the rest of its head turned into a rock at that place. They now had two
principal scalps from the two big monsters they had killed.
When the brothers now returned to the old man and related what had
happened, he felt very good and said, “There would have been no person
living. This monster would have killed them all, if you had not
destroyed it.” Everybody who heard that the monster was dead, was glad,
and did not fear to go to that place any more.
After this they returned to their mother and sister. At that time their
sister had just reached puberty and was shut up in the house with a
mat curtain hung in front of her. So they hung the shaman’s scalp up
in front of the curtain. They also made her drink water through the
leg bones of geese and swans so that she should not touch the drinking
cups. Her mother put a large hat upon her so that she should not look
at anything she was forbidden to see. If one shouted that a canoe
was coming, or that anything else was taking place that she wanted
to witness, she did not dare to look out. Since her time these same
regulations have been observed.
Then they left that place and moved south through the interior. Having
killed off the ocean monsters, they were now going to kill those in
the forest. Besides that, they hunted all of this time, killing bear,
ground hogs, and other animals; but their sister was not allowed to
look at any of them. Among other wild animals they told the wolverine
and wolf that they must not kill human beings but be friendly with
them. They killed ground hogs, mountain sheep, and other animals for
them and told them that that was what they were to live upon.
At one place they saw a smoke far off in the woods and, advancing
toward it, came to the house of a man named He-whose-hands-see
(Djīnqotīˊn). He was so called because he was blind and had his wife
aim his arrows for him. He said to Łqǃayāˊkǃ, “My wife saw a grizzly
bear and told me where it was. She aimed my arrow and I shot at it. I
felt that I had killed it, but she said I had not. My wife has left me
on account of this, and I don’t know where she is or what I am living
on or how I am living without her.” Then Łqǃayāˊkǃ and his brothers
gave him ground-hog skins filled with grease and fat such as the
interior people used to make, also dried meat.
While they were in the interior the brothers also made needles out of
animal bones and threads out of sinew for their sister to use behind
the screen. She worked with porcupine quills and dyed sinews, and it
is through her that the interior women are such fine workers with the
needle.
After they met this man the girl’s brothers asked her to make a small
net for them. This net was patterned after a spider’s web which
Spider-spirit (Qasîstǃaˊn yēk) showed to Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, saying, “You are
to take this as a pattern.” Then they took the old man to the creek and
said, “Do you feel this creek along here?” Putting a long handle on
the net, they said to him again, “Dip this net into the water here. It
is easy. You can feel when a fish gets into it.” They gave him also a
basket their sister had made and said, “When you want to cook the fish,
put it in here together with many hot rocks.” After showing him how to
cook his fish they left him and came to another camp. There another old
man lived who said to them, “Do you see that mountain?” There were two
mountains close together. “A very bad person lives over there named
Long-haired-person (Cᴀkułyᴀˊtǃ).” So, after the brothers had gotten a
great deal of food together for the old man, they left their mother
and sister with him and went out to look for Long-haired-person. After
a while they came upon good, hard trails made by him along which he
had set spears with obsidian points, and presently they saw him coming
along one of these with his long hair dragging on the ground. He had a
bone in his nose and swan’s down around his head and wrists. Then he
said, “Come to my house. I invite you home to eat something. I know
you are there.” He said this although he could not see them. Then the
boys came out to him and called him “brother-in-law,” and he said,
“It is four days since I saw you, my brothers-in-law. Your story is
known everywhere.” This Athapascan shaman’s spirits were telling him
all these things. So he took them home and gave them all the different
kinds of food to which they were accustomed, not treating them as a
wild man would. Then they said to him, “You see the old person that
lives near by. Do not do any harm to him. He is our grandfather. If you
see that old blind fellow down yonder, give him food also. Treat him
like the other.” Presently the shaman said to the brothers, “Let us
make a sweat house.” In olden times people used to talk to each other
in the sweat houses, and the shamans learned a great deal from their
spirits inside of them. That was why the shaman wanted them to go in.
But, when they were inside, and he and Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ had showed each other
their spirits, it was found that Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ’s spirits were the stronger.
Now they returned to their mother and sister and took them to the head
of the Taku river, where they spent some time in hunting. Then they
crossed to this side and, moving along slowly on account of their
sister, they came to a place on the Stikine called in Athapascan
Hᴀkǃîˊts, where they also hunted. Their destination was the Nass.
Coming down along the north bank of the Stikine to find a good place
for their sister to cross, they started to make the passage between
Telegraph and the narrows, one of them taking the dog on his back.
Before the brothers set out, however, their mother covered their sister
up so that she would not look at them until they got over. But when
they were half way across, they started back and it looked to the
mother as if they were drifting downstream. She said to her daughter,
“Daughter, it looks as if your brothers were going to be drowned. They
are already drifting down the river.” Upon that, the girl raised her
covering a little and looked out at them, and immediately they turned
into stone. The pack that one of them was carrying fell off and floated
down a short distance before petrifying, and it may still be seen
there. The dog also turned to rock on its master’s head and the mother
and sister on shore. One of the boys had green and red paints with
him, such as they used to paint their bows and arrows and their faces,
and nowadays you can go there and get it. Years ago people passing
these rocks prayed to them, stuffed pieces of their clothing into the
crevices, and asked the rocks for long life.[69]
Raven was then living just below this place. His smoke may still
be seen there, and they call it Raven’s smoke (Yēł sǃēˊg̣e). When
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ turned into a rock, Raven said, “Where is that shaman that
was going to come to after he had died?” He meant that, while he used
to restore his brothers to life by shaking his rattle over them, he
could not now restore himself; and people now apply these remarks to a
shaman who has not succeeded in saving a person after he has been paid
a great deal for his services. They will say, “Where is that shaman
that could save anybody, but could not save the very person we wanted
saved?” If a shaman were not truthful, they would say, “He is trying
to have Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ’s spirits but will never get them because he is not
truthful like Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ.”[70]
* * * * *
As Raven was traveling along after his encounter with the mother of
Fire-drill’s son, he saw a sculpin on the beach looking at him and hid
from it to see what it would do. Then he saw it swim out on the surface
of the ocean and go down out of sight some distance off. After that he
opened the door of the sea, went to the house of the sculpin, which was
under a large rock, and said to it, “My younger brother, this is you,
is it?” “I am not your younger brother.” “Oh! yes, you are my younger
brother. We were once coming down Nass river in a canoe with our
father and had just reached its mouth when you fell overboard and sank
forever.” Then the sculpin said, “I can not be your younger brother
for I am a very old person.” Said Raven, “I want you to be next to me.
There will be many sculpins, but you shall be the principal one.” So he
placed the sculpin (wēqǃ) in the sky where it may still be seen [as the
Pleiades].[71]
Raven saw a canoe out after halibut and said, “Come ashore and take me
across,” but they paid no attention to him. Then he said, “If you do
not I will put you up in the sky also. I will make an example of you,
too.” Then he held his walking stick out toward the canoe and they
found themselves going up into the sky. That is what you can see in the
sky now. It is called The-halibut-fishers (Dᴀnᴀˊqᵘsǃîkê).[72]
Raven went to another place and determined to invite some people to a
feast, so he invited all the seal people. When each seal came in he
smeared its forehead with pitch, and, as soon as it got warm, the pitch
ran down over the seal’s eyes and blinded it. Then he clubbed it to
death.[73]
He went along again, saw a nice fat deer, and said to it, “My friend
this is you is it?” There was a deep, narrow canyon near by and Raven
laid a rotten stick across it saying, “Let us go across to the other
side upon this,” but the deer said, “No, I can not. It will break with
me and I shall get hurt.” “No, you shall see how I cross it.” So Raven
went over and Deer tried to follow him but fell to the bottom of the
canyon and was crushed to death. Then Raven went down and ate him,
stuffing himself so full that he could scarcely move. He then acted as
though he were very sad and pretended to cry, saying, “My friend, my
friend, he is gone.” He pretended that the wild animals had devoured
him.[74]
After this Raven went to ground-hog’s house for the winter. The ground
hogs go into their holes in September. At home they live like human
beings and to them we are animals just as much. So Raven spent the
winter with one of them and became very sick of it, but he could not
get out. The ground hog enjoyed himself very much, but Raven acted as
if he were in prison and kept shouting to his companion, “Winter comes
on, Winter comes on,” thinking that the ground hog had power to make
the winter pass rapidly. The ground hog had to stay in his hole for
six months, and at that time he had six toes, one for each, but Raven
pulled one of his toes out of each foot in order to shorten the winter.
That is why he has but five nowadays.[75]
Next Raven married the daughter of a chief named Fog-over-the-salmon
(Xāt-ka-qog̣āˊsǃî). It was winter, and they were without food, so Raven
wanted salmon very much. His wife made a large basket and next morning
washed her hands in it. When she got through there was a salmon there.
Both were very glad, and cooked and ate it. Every day afterward she did
the same thing until their house was full of drying salmon. After that,
however, Raven and his wife quarreled, and he hit her on the shoulder
with a piece of dried salmon. Then she ran away from him, but, when he
ran after her and seized her, his hands passed right through her body.
Then she went into the water and disappeared forever, while all of the
salmon she had dried followed her. He could not catch her because she
was the fog (gūsǃ). After that he kept going to his father-in-law to
beg him to have his wife come back, but his father-in-law said, “You
promised me that you would have respect for her and take care of her.
You did not do it, therefore you can not have her back.”[76]
* * * * *
Then Raven had to leave this place, and went on to another town where
he found a widower. He said to this man, “I am in the same fix as you.
My wife also has died.” Raven wanted to marry the daughter of the chief
in that town, so he said, “Of course I have to marry a woman of as
high caste as my first wife. That is the kind I am looking for.” But
Tsᴀgwâˊn (a bird), who was also looking for a high-caste wife, followed
Raven about all the time. He said to the people, “That man is telling
stories around here. His first wife left him because he was cruel to
her.” For this reason they refused to give the girl to him. Then he
said to the chief, “If I had married your daughter you would have had
a great name in the world. You will presently see your daughter take
up with some person who is a nobody, and, when they speak of you in
the world, it will always be as Chief-with-no-name. You may listen to
this Tsᴀgwâˊn if you want to, but you will be sorry for it. He is a man
from whom no good comes. Hereafter this Tsᴀgwâˊn will live far out at
sea. And I will tell you this much, that neither Tsᴀgwâˊn nor myself
will get this woman.” This is why Tsᴀgwâˊn is now always alone. Raven
also said to the chief, “You will soon hear something of this daughter
of yours.” All the high-caste men wanted to marry this woman, but she
would not have them.
Going on again, Raven came to an old man living alone, named Dᴀmnāˊdjî,
and said to him, “Do you know the young daughter of the chief close by
here?” “Yes, I know her.” “Why don’t you try to marry her?” “I can’t
get her. I know I can’t, so I don’t want to try.” Then Raven said, “I
will make a medicine to enable you to get her.” “But I have no slave,”
said the old man; “to get her a man must have slaves.” “Oh!” said
Raven, “you do not have to have a slave to get her. She will take a
liking to you and nobody can help it. She will marry you. Her father
will lose half of his property.” Then he made the old man look young,
got feathers to put into his hair and a marten-skin robe to put over
him so that he appeared very handsome. But Raven said to him, “You are
not going to look like this all of the time. It is only for a day or
so.”
After this the rejuvenated man got into his skin canoe, for this was
well to the north, and paddled over to where the girl lived. He did not
ask her father’s consent but went directly to her, and she immediately
fell in love with him. Although so many had been after her she now
said, “I will marry you. I will go with you even if my father kills me
for it.”
When the chief’s slaves found them in the bedroom at the rear of the
house, they said to the chief, “Your daughter is married.” So her
mother looked in there and found it was true. Then her father said,
“Come out from that room, my daughter.” He had already told his slaves
to lay down valuable furs on the floor for his daughter and her husband
to sit on. He thought if she were already married it was of no use for
him to be angry with her. So the girl came out with her husband, and,
when her father saw him he was very glad, for he liked his looks, and
he was dressed like a high-caste person.
Then the chief related to his son-in-law how a fellow came along
wanting to marry his daughter, and how Tsᴀgwâˊn had come afterward and
told him that he had been cruel to his first wife. Said the chief,
“This man had a wife. His first wife is living yet. I don’t want to
hurt his wife’s feelings.”
After that his son-in-law said, “My father told me to start right out
after him to-day in my canoe.” He was in a hurry to depart because he
was afraid that all of his good clothing would leave him. He said to
his wife, “Take only your blanket to use on the passage, because I have
plenty of furs of every description at home.” So she took nothing but
her marten-skin robe and a fox robe.
As she lay in the canoe, however, with her head resting on his lap
she kept feeling drops of water fall upon her face, and she said many
times, “What is that dripping on my face?” Then he would say, “It must
be the water splashing from my paddle,” but it was really the drippings
that fall from an old man’s eyes when he is very filthy. Her husband
had already become an old man again and had lost his fine clothing, but
she could not see it because her face was turned the other way. When
the woman thought that they were nearly at their destination she raised
herself to look out, glanced at her husband’s face, and saw that he was
an altogether different man. She cried very hard.
After they had arrived at his town the old man went from house to house
asking the people to take pity on him and let him bring his wife to
one of them, because he knew that his own house was not fit for her.
These, however, were some of the people that had wanted to marry this
woman, so they said, “Why don’t you take her to your own fine house?
You wanted her.” Meanwhile she sat on the beach by the canoe, weeping.
Finally the shabby sister of this old man, who was still older than
he, came down to her and said, “See here, you are a high-caste girl.
Everybody says this man is your husband, and you know he is your
husband, so you better come up to the house with me.” Then she saw the
place where he lived, and observed that his bed was worse than that of
one of her father’s slaves. The other people also paid no attention
to her, although they knew who she was, because she had married this
man. They would eat after everybody else was through, and, while he was
eating, the people of the town would make fun of him by shouting out,
“Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s father-in-law and his brothers-in-law are coming to his
grand house to see him.” Then he would run out to see whether it were
so and find that they were making fun of him. Every morning, while he
was breakfasting with his wife, the people fooled him in this way.
Although he had not said so, the father-in-law and the brothers-in-law
of Dᴀmnāˊdjî thought that he was a very high-caste person because
he was dressed so finely. So they got together all their expensive
furs to visit him, and they had one canoe load of slaves, which they
intended to give him, all dressed with green feathers from the heads
of mallard drakes. One morning the people again shouted, “Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s
father-in-law and his brothers-in-law are coming to see him.” Running
out to look this time, he saw canoe after canoe coming, loaded down
deep. Then he did not know what to do. He began to sweep out the house
and begged some boys to help him clean up, but they said, “You clean up
yourself. Those are your people coming.” The people of the place also
began hiding all of their basket-work pots, and buckets.
As they came in, the people in the canoes sang together and all of
them were iridescent with color. They were very proud people. Then the
old man begged the boys to carry up the strangers’ goods, but they
replied as before, “You carry them up yourself. You can do it.” So the
strangers had to bring up their own things into the house and sit about
without anyone telling them where. The old man’s sister was crying all
the time. Then the strangers understood at once what was the matter and
felt very sorry for these old people.
After that the old man kept saying to the boys who came in to look
at his visitors, “One of you go after water,” but they answered, “Go
after water yourself. You can do it.” He tried to borrow a basket for
his guests to eat off of, but they all said, “Use your own basket.
What did you go and get that high-caste girl for? You knew that you
couldn’t afford it. Why didn’t you get a poor person like yourself
instead of a chief’s daughter? Now you may know that it isn’t fun to
get a high-caste person when one is poor.” His brothers-in-law and his
father-in-law felt ashamed at what they heard, and they also felt badly
for him. Then the old woman gave her brother a basket that was unfit
for the chief’s slaves to eat out of, and he ran out to get water for
his guests.
When he got there, however, and was stooping down to fill his basket,
the creek moved back from him and he followed it. It kept doing this
and he kept running after it until he came to the mountain, where it
finally vanished into a house. Running into this, he saw a very old
woman sitting there who said to him, “What are you after? Is there
anything I can do for you?” He said, “There is much that you can do
for me, if you can really do it. My friends are very mean to me. My
father-in-law and the other relations of my wife have all come to my
place to visit me. I married a very high-caste woman, and the people
of my place seem to be very mean about it. I am very poor and have
nothing with which to entertain them.” He told all of his troubles to
her from the beginning, and, when he was through, she said, “Is that
all?” “Yes, that is all.” Then the woman brushed back his hair several
times with her hand, and lo! he had a head of beautiful hair, while his
ragged clothes changed into valuable ones. He was handsomer and better
clothed than at the time when he first obtained his wife. The old woman
that brought him luck is called ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq-that-lives-in-the-water
(Hīntᴀk-ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq). The old basket he had also turned into a very
large beautiful basket. Then she said to him, “There is a spring back
in the corner. Go there and uncover it and dip that basket as far down
as you can reach.” He did so and, when he drew it out, it was full of
dentalia.
Now Dᴀmnāˊdjî returned home very quickly, but nobody recognized him at
first except his wife and those who had seen him when he went to get
her. Afterward he gave water to his guests, and they could see dentalia
shells at the bottom. The house was now filled with spectators, and
those who had made fun of him were very much ashamed of themselves.
After he had given them water, he gave them handfuls of dentalia,
for which his father-in-law and his brothers-in-law gave him slaves,
valuable furs, and other property. So he became very rich and was
chief of that town. That is why the Indians do the same now. If a
brother-in-law gives them the least thing they return much more than
its value.
Now he had a big house built, and everything that he said had to be
done. The people that formerly made fun of him were like slaves to him.
He also gave great feasts, inviting people from many villages. But,
after he had become very great among them, he was too hard upon the
people of his town. His wife was prouder than when she was with her
father and if boys or anyone else displeased her they were put to death.
As they were now very proud and had plenty of people to work for them,
the husband and wife spent much time sitting on the roof of their house
looking about. One spring the woman saw a flock of swans (g̣oqł) coming
from the southeast, and said, “Oh! there is a high-caste person among
those birds that I was going to marry.” Another time they went up,
and a flock of geese (tǃāwᴀˊq) came along. Then she again said to her
husband, “Oh! there is the high-caste person I was going to marry.”
By and by some sand-hill cranes (dūł) flew past, and she repeated the
same words. But, when the brants (qên) came over, and she spoke these
words, they at once flew down to her and carried her off with them.
Her husband ran after the brants underneath as fast as he could, and
every now and then some of her clothing fell down, but he was unable to
overtake her.
When the birds finally let this woman drop, she was naked and all of
her hair even was gone. Then she got up and walked along the beach
crying, and she made a kind of apron for herself out of leaves.
Continuing on along the beach, she came upon a red snapper head,
which she picked up. She wandered on aimlessly, not knowing what to
do, because she was very sad at the thought of her fine home and
her husband. Presently she saw smoke ahead of her and arrived at a
house where was an old woman. She opened the door, and the old woman
said, “Come in.” Then she said to the old woman, “Let us cook this
red snapper head.” “Yes, let us cook it,” said the latter. After they
had eaten it, the old woman said to her, “Go along the beach and try
to find something else.” So she went out and found a sculpin (wēqǃ).
Then she came back to the house and cooked that, but, while they
were eating, she heard many boys shouting, and she thought they were
laughing at her because she was naked. She looked around but saw no
one. Then the old woman said to her, “Take it (the food) out to that
hole.” She went outside with the tray and saw an underground sweathouse
out of which many hands protruded. This was the place from which the
shouting came. She handed the tray down and it was soon handed up again
with two fine fox skins in it. Then the old woman said to her, “Make
your clothing out of these furs,” and so she did.
After she had put the skins on, this old woman said, “Your father and
mother live a short distance away along this beach. You better go to
them. They are living at a salmon creek.” So the girl went on and soon
saw her father and mother in a canoe far out where her father was
catching salmon. But, when she ran down toward the canoe to meet them,
her father said to his wife, “Here comes a fox.” As he was looking for
something with which to kill it, she ran back into the woods.
Then she felt very badly, and returned to the old woman crying. “Did
you see your father?” said the latter. “Yes.” “What did he say to you?”
“He took me for a fox. He was going to kill me.” Then the old woman
said, “Yes, what else do you think you are? You have already turned
into a fox. Now go back to your father and let him kill you.”
The woman went to the same place again and saw her father still closer
to the shore; and she heard him say, “Here comes that big fox again.”
Then she ran right up to him, saying to herself, “Let him kill me,”
and he did so. Years ago all the high-caste people wore bracelets and
necklaces, and each family had its own way of fixing them. Now, as this
woman was skinning the fox, she felt something around its foreleg.
She looked at it and found something like her daughter’s bracelet.
Afterward she also cut around the neck and found her daughter’s
necklace. Then she told her husband to come and look saying, “Here on
this fox are our daughter’s necklace and bracelet.” So they cried over
the fox and said, “Something must have made her turn into a fox.” They
knew how this fox ran toward them instead of going away.
Now they took the body of the fox, placed it upon a very nice mat, and
laid another over it. They put eagle’s down, which was always kept in
bags ready for use, on the body, crying above it all the time. They
also began fasting, and all of her brothers and relations in that
village fasted with them. All cleaned up their houses and talked to
their Creator (Cagūˊn). One midnight, after they had fasted for many
days, they felt the house shaking, and they heard a noise in the place
where the body lay. Then the father and mother felt very happy. The
mother went there with a light and saw that her daughter was in her own
proper shape, acting like a shaman. Then the woman named the spirits in
her. The first she mentioned was the swan spirit, the next the goose
spirit, the next the sand-hill-crane spirit, the next the brant spirit.
Another spirit was the red-snapper head spirit which called itself
Spirit-with-a-labret-in-its-chin (Tūts-ya-ūˊwu-yēk), and another the
fox spirit (Nāg̣ᴀsǃeˊ koyēˊk). Now the father and mother of this woman
were very happy, but her husband lost all of his wealth and became poor
again.[77]
* * * * *
Raven went to another place and turned himself into a woman. Then
she thought within herself, “Whose daughter shall I say I am?” She
saw a sea gull sitting out on a high rock and thought she would call
that her father. Years ago a chief would always pick out a high
place in the village on which to sit in the morning, and when Raven
saw the sea gull she thought within herself, “I am Tᴀcᴀkītūᴀˊn’s
(Sitter-on-a-high-cliff’s) daughter.” A canoe came along filled with
killer whales returning to their own village, and she married one
of them. When they got near the town, some one on the beach called
to them, “Where is that canoe coming from?” and one replied, “We
have been after a wife and we have her.” “Which chief’s daughter is
that?” they inquired, because in olden times people never went for any
woman by canoe except the daughter of a chief. “It is Tᴀcᴀkītūᴀˊn’s
daughter,” said they. “It is Cudāˊxduxōˊ’s (Barked-hemlock’s)
daughter.” All of the killer whales believed this.
After that, the killer whales began to notice that their food was
disappearing very rapidly, although they were always out fishing and
hunting and had had their house piled full of boxes of grease. They
said, “What is wrong? What has become of all the grease and fat in
these boxes?” They could not find out for a long time. Raven wore a
labret at that time set with abalone shell which was formerly very
valuable, and it is from him that high-caste people afterward used
these. After some time they found this labret in one of the boxes
of grease and said, “Just look at this labret in here.” Then Raven
exclaimed, “Ih! my labret, that is always the way with my labret.
Whenever it feels like doing so, it will leave my lip and go off
anywhere.”
By and by Raven said, “I wonder what is wrong that I have such bad
dreams. I dreamt that all the people of this village were asleep, and
my husband went to sleep and never woke up. My dreams always come true.
Whatever I dream surely happens.” Late the next night she got a stick,
sharpened the ends, and killed her husband; and early in the morning
they heard her crying, “My husband, Cāwᴀˊt-kaʟᴀˊqdagê’s father.” Years
ago, before the white laws came in force, when a chief used these words
in his speech, people knew that he had a grudge against some one and
was going to murder him. The killer whales, however, did not know what
she meant.
Then Raven told the people that her husband had said, “Take me and
place me quite a distance from the town.” They did so, and she said,
“When you hear me cry, I don’t want any of you to pass the place where
I am mourning. Tie up the fingers of my right hand. Allow me to eat
with my left hand only. You people must also wait upon me. You must
bring me everything I eat. Also paint my face black.” She being the
widow, they had to do everything just as she told them, and these are
the regulations people have observed up to the present time. When they
heard her crying around the spot where her husband’s body had been
laid, no one dared go near, and to this day those who go by a house
where people are mourning have to be very quiet. Nor do they pass it at
all unless they are compelled to.
Raven stayed there mourning for a long time, but she was really eating
the killer-whale’s body. After she had remained by it for a very
long time, she would come home chewing gum, but, when the husband’s
relations asked her for a piece, she would say, “No, no one can chew
this gum but Macaˊ,” which was the name she gave to herself.
She lived there for a long time, continually crying out of doors, but
she was really crying for joy because she intended to kill all of the
killer whales.
While sitting outside one day a kēkǃᵘ (a small sea gull with black head
and white body) flew past, and Raven said, “Here comes the man I made
white.” By and by she saw another, called kuʟêˊta, also white, and
repeated the same words. Then some swans came along far up in the sky,
and she said the same thing about them. The killer whales heard all
this and said, “Since you have made them white, can’t you make us white
also?” “It will hurt you to be made white,” said Raven. “Those people
that came along were made white because they were brave.” Then she
sharpened the same hardwood stick with which she had killed her husband
and told all of the killers to lie in a row. She began pounding this
into their ears, and so killed all of them but the last. This looked
up in time to see what she was doing and rushed into the sea saying,
“Raven has finished us sure enough” (Qothagᴀˊsînīˊyēł). Raven remained
there for some time eating the whales she had killed.
The reason why there are so many cowards among men nowadays is because
Raven, being a man, made himself into a woman at that time. The people
that live single all their lives are such as came from Raven at that
period. This is also why thieves are great talkers and, when they have
gotten into trouble, have a way of getting out, and why some women are
bad and deceive their husbands; for Raven said that his husband had
wanted to be buried a long way from town, and they believed him. This
is why the Tlingit used to be very careful of the way they spoke and
even of the way they walked when in public.[78]
After that Raven came to a fish-hawk (kūnackᴀnỵēˊt) and exclaiming,
“Oh! my friend” entered its house, where was a great quantity of food.
He felt very happy at the sight, and said to the bird, “I will stay
with you all winter.” Then he stayed so long that the hawk began to get
tired of him, because Raven would not work. When he saw that the bird
was getting weary of him he would say, “The time for me to work hasn’t
come yet. When I work you will have plenty of rest. You will not have
to do a thing. This beach will be covered with all kinds of fish, and
you will be tired of preparing them.” So the hawk would think of what
Raven was going to do for him, forget everything else, and work all the
harder to supply him with food while Raven stayed in the house. Raven
would also talk to him, saying, “I remember to have seen you long ago.
You were very high-caste. I remember it very well.” In that way he made
the hawk forget for a time all the bad feelings he had had toward him.
But finally the little hawk determined to go away, and he left Raven
there alone.[79]
Then Raven went to another industrious bird, called hīnỵîkłēˊx̣î, a
fishing bird living along the river. He called him “brother-in-law,”
and was invited to have something to eat, but next morning the bird
left him for he knew that he was a lazy fellow.[80]
After that Raven came to the goose people, and married a woman among
them. By and by they said to him, “We are going to leave for other
countries. I don’t think you can stand the journey.” “Oh! yes,” said
Raven, “I think I can stand the journey. If you can, I can.” So they
set out, and, when Raven became tired, his wife flew along under him
to hold him up. Finally they came to camp and began going out on the
beaches to dig roots. Raven helped them, but he did not like the goose
life nor the food they ate, so he commenced to get very lean. One day
he killed a goose and began cooking it apart by himself, but they
discovered him and said, “He is a man-eater.” So they left him.[81]
Raven went to another place, and they said to him, “There will soon
be a great feast here,” and they asked him to make a totem pole. He
finished it, and, when they put it up, they had a big dance. The people
who gave this were of the Wolf clan, so he danced with one of the two
Raven parties. Afterward he made a long speech to the host. Then they
danced again, and Raven held a spear in his hands. This meant that he
was going to invite to a feast next, and was done that they might give
him more than the others. So nowadays some are in earnest in doing this
while others go through the performance and leave without keeping it in
mind. Raven was the person who first had those dances and speeches.
While they were engaged in the last dance the opposite company of
Ravens danced very hard and showed fight by crossing the line which
is always set between. For this reason Raven would not go to the next
feast, to be confronted by these people. They sent after him many
times, and when they finally became tired of sending, began the feast
without him. Then he told his slave to go over and see if they were
already eating, and on his return he said, “They are having a grand
time. They are eating a great quantity of food.” “Take me there,”
said Raven to his slaves. So they went along with him, one on each
side. When he came there he saw that they were having a grand time
distributing boxes of food to all the head chiefs, and he said to a
slave, “Ask them where this chief shall sit.” He did so, but they went
on with their feast without paying the slightest attention to him. Then
Raven made his slave ask again, “Where shall this chief sit? Where
shall this chief sit?” and again they paid no attention, although he
shouted so that all in the house could hear him. When the people left
he was still standing around, so his slaves said to him, “Why were you
so particular? We could have had a great deal to eat.” After all were
gone Raven ate the leavings.
So nowadays, when a person wants more than anyone else and makes
people send for him again and again, they go on with the feast, lest
those of the opposite party think that the host cares more for this
one person than for all the rest of them and leave his house. That is
why they paid no attention to Raven when he did come. One reason why
Raven stayed away was that he thought he would make them come after
him several times because he had promised to give a feast in return.
Nowadays a person who is going to give a feast acts in the same way,
and people know by it what he intends.
The following winter Raven gave his feast. This was at Alsek river,
and you can still see his house there with the boxes inside [a rock
hollowed out like a cave with other rocks inside of it]. When they came
in sight of that the Indians would pray to it.
As soon as his guests came, Raven went down to meet them with his bow
and arrows. That is why people now go down with their guns. He had
so much respect for his guests that he had all of his relations act
as servants, washing their hands and waiting on them while they ate.
Therefore the natives now act just so when they invite people from
other towns. Raven taught that all who came after should do just as he
had done. He also prepared chewing tobacco for his guests.
Then he began building his house, and, when the frame, consisting of
four uprights and two crosspieces, was completed, he and his friends
danced the first dance. In this dance people sing funeral songs.
Eight songs, or one song with eight verses, are used at this time,
following a certain regular sequence and, if one that does not know the
song starts it and begins with the wrong verse, it is looked on as a
disgrace to his people. The guests danced, wearing their masks, hats,
emblem coats, and other festal paraphernalia. After that he distributed
his property, the people that had invited him before and the leading
chiefs obtaining most of it.[82]
After this Raven returned to the place where he was born and found
the box which had held the sun, moon, and stars, and which now
contained his mother, still hanging up in the house of Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł.
Then he went out with his bow and arrows and shot a whale (yāˊî).
It floated ashore on the beach and every day he saw all kinds of
sea birds sitting upon it, but he did not like the looks of any of
them. Finally, however, he shot a bird called cāx and a large bird
which was very pretty and had a bill that looked like copper. Then he
went to Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł’s house, took down the box which contained his
mother,[84] and liberated the flickers (kūn) which she always kept
under her arms. When Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł saw that, he said, “All those pretty
things of mine are gone.” They knew that Raven had done this, so they
called him into the house, and Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł asked him if it was indeed
he. He said, “Yes.” Then Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł said, “Go and fell that tree
standing over there,” for he wanted the tree to kill him. But when the
tree fell upon Raven it could not kill him because he was made of rock.
Finding him still alive, Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł called him in the following day
and said, “Go and clean out that canoe.” It was a canoe just being
made, and when Raven got into it to clean it out it closed upon him.
Then he simply extended his elbows and broke the canoe after which he
smashed it up for firewood. All this Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł saw, and again sent
for him. He came in, and they put into the fire a large copper kettle
made like a box, filled it with water, and put heated stones into it.
Then they told him to get in, and they covered it over in order to
kill him. Raven, however, again changed himself into a rock, and, when
they thought he was cooked to pieces and looked inside, they saw that
he was still there. Then they told him to come out.
Now Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł was very angry and said, “Let rain pour down all
over the world, and let people die of starvation.” Then it became so
wet and stormy that people could not get food and began to starve.
Their canoes were also broken up, their houses fell in on them, and
they suffered terribly. Now Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł asked for his jointed dance
hat and when he put it on, water began pouring out of the very top of
it. It is from Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł that the Indians obtained this kind of
hat. When the water rose so as to cover the house floor, Raven and
his mother got upon the lowest retaining timber. This house we are
talking of, although it looked like a house to them, was really part of
the world. It had eight rows of retaining timbers, and, as the water
came up, Raven and his mother climbed to a higher one. At the same
time the people of the world were climbing up into the hills. When
the waters reached the fourth retaining timber they were half way up
the mountains. When the house was nearly full of water, Raven had his
mother get into the skin of the cāx he had killed, while he got into
the skin of the white bird with copper-colored bill, and to this very
day Tlingit do not eat the cāx because it was Raven’s mother. The cāx,
which is a great diver, now stayed on the surface of the water, but
Raven himself flew to the very highest cloud in the sky and hung there
by his bill.[85]
After Raven had hung to this cloud for days and days, nobody knows how
long, he pulled his bill out and prayed to fall upon a piece of kelp,
for he thought that the water had gone down. He did so, and, flying
off, found the waters just half way down the mountains.
Then he traveled along again and came to a shark which had a long stick
it had been swimming around with. He took this, stuck it straight
down into the sea and used it as a ladder on which to descend under
the ocean. Arrived at the bottom, he gathered up some sea urchins and
started along with them.
By and by Raven came to a place where an old woman lived and said
to her, “How cold I am after eating those sea urchins.” As she paid
no attention to him, he repeated it over and over for a long time.
At last she said, “What low tide is this Raven talking about?” He
did not answer, and presently she said again, “What low tide are you
talking about?” After she had asked him this question many times Raven
became very angry and said, “I will stick these sea-urchin shells into
your body if you don’t keep quiet.” At last he did so, and she began
singing, “Don’t, Raven, the tide will go down if you don’t stop.” At
the same time Raven kept asking Eagle, whom he had set to watch the
tide, “How far down is the tide now?” “The tide is down as far as half
a man.” By and by he asked again, “How far down is the tide?” “The
tide is very low,” said Eagle. Then the old woman would start her song
again. “Let it get dry all around the world,” said Raven to Eagle. By
and by Eagle said, “The tide is very, very low now. You can see hardly
any water.” “Let it get still drier,” said Raven. Finally everything
became dry, and this was the lowest tide that there ever was. All kinds
of salmon, whales, seals, and other sea creatures lay round on the sand
flats where the people that were saved could get them. They had enough
from that ebb tide to supply them for a long, long time. When the tide
began to rise again all the people watched it, fearing that there would
be another flood, and they carried their food a long distance back,
praying for it to stop.
Quite a while before this flood took place the shamans had predicted
it, and those who worked from that time on collecting food were saved
while the others were destroyed.
After the flood Raven stayed in a town of considerable size. A man
there, named Cᴀqǃᵘkǃᵘ, collected all kinds of big sea animals, as
whales and seals, at the time of this great ebb and made a great
quantity of grease out of them, while Raven collected only small fishes
like cod and red cod and obtained but a few stomachs full of oil. He
would eat this up as fast as he made it, but his companion worked hard
so as to have a large quantity on hand.
By and by Raven said to Cᴀqǃᵘkǃᵘ, “My uncle, I had a bad dream last
night. I dreamt that there was war here and that we were all killed.
You must be on the watch.” After that Raven said to the birds, “You
must make a lot of noise now.” They did so and Cᴀqǃᵘkǃᵘ, thinking
warriors were coming to kill him, ran out of the house. At once Raven
began carrying off the boxes of grease to a certain place in the woods.
Just as he was at work on the last of these the people of the house
came back, pushed him into it, and tied him up, but he made a hole with
his bill and escaped. Then he went to the place where he had hidden the
boxes and stayed there for a year, until he had eaten everything up.
Next Raven returned to Nass river and found that the people there had
not changed their ways. They were dancing and feasting and invited him
to join them.
By and by he came to where war was going on between two different
parties, and he said to them, “Make carved fighting hats, greaves, and
war coats to protect your bodies.” The name of one village was Gîtǃîˊkc
and the warring families were the Gînᴀxdâˊyîkc (or Gîtgîcᴀłk) and the
Gîtᴀnduˊ. The people of Gîtǃîˊkc were getting the worst of it. There
were only three of them left—the chief, his sister, and his sister’s
daughter. So the chief began sending to all the villages for an aged
man who was very smart and knew the old stories. Whenever he brought
in an old man, however, the latter would talk of what good food he had
been eating and what a high family he belonged to, or tell what a wild
life he had led when he was young, all which had no interest for the
chief. He thought if he could find an old man that would tell him just
the old story he wanted, he would pay him well. Finally he found that
among his enemies was Old-man-who-foresees-all-troubles-in-the-world,
the one spoken of at the beginning of this story, and he sent for him
without letting the rest of his enemies know about it.
After a while he heard this old man coming along, talking very loud,
like a brave person, and he thought, “This is the old man from whom I
am going to hear the story.” Then the old man said, “Chief, if you are
pleased with the story I am about to tell you, let me know how long I
shall stay in your house, and, if you are not pleased, let me go at
once.” After that he told him all about the brave people that had lived
in times gone by, and said, “Always speak very highly of your enemies.
If you speak slightingly of them they will get above you. If you speak
to them in a nice manner, you will be able to stand alone. If you speak
to your enemies kindly, they will say, ‘Let us give ourselves up to
him.’” Then the chief said to the old man, “You shall stay with me a
long time,” so he stayed there, and next day they waited on him, giving
him water to wash his hands and face and food to eat.
After that the old man sent for a piece of Alaska maple (qǃāłqǃēˊ)
and made a war hat out of it carved to resemble a wolf. Then he said,
“Isn’t there a wolf skin around here somewhere?” So they killed a wolf,
skinned it entire along with the claws and teeth and put the dancing
hat inside to fill out the head. He sent for another piece of hard wood
from a tree called sᴀks and made an arrow out of it. He burned black
lines around the shaft of this arrow like those on gambling sticks.
Then he said to the chief, “Your sister shall sing the war song for
you, and your sister’s daughter shall beat the drum. Put the wolf on
while the song is being sung and go down toward that beach just below
the house. Jump over that rock four times.” There was a big rock upon
the beach just below the house. As he gave these directions the old
man made his voice sound as though he were making war. He began to
excite the chief. “My nephews,” he continued, “are out in the canoe
farthest from the beach. Be careful how you use your arrow. Do not
point it toward that canoe.” When the old man was about to leave him
he handed him the arrow and a bow and said, “Put on your war clothes
about midnight. Then stand in front of your house and pretend that you
are going to shoot. Stand with the arrow pointed toward your enemies’
village and say to the arrow just before you let it go, ‘I am shooting
you to kill the chief of my enemies.’ Then let the arrow go.” After
that the old man left, saying that that was all he intended to tell him.
The chief did everything just as he had been directed. At midnight
he put on his war clothes and said to his sister, “You start the war
song, and let my niece go to the drum.” Then he took the position the
old man had told him and shot the arrow saying, “Lodge in the heart
of my enemies’ chief.” He shot, and in the morning the people of that
village saw that the chief was dead. They thought that he had died
of heart disease, but, when they examined his body, they found the
small arrow sticking into his heart. Then they cut this out and began
asking one another, “Where has this arrow come from? What tribe does it
belong to?” So they sent for the old man who had made it and, as he was
examining it, he said, “I wonder to what place this belongs.” Just then
it flew out of his hand, and he said, “Run out and see what it is going
to say.” So all ran outside, and the arrow flew up and down in the
sky saying “Nuˊx̣gayu.” This is the Tsimshian name of an animal, but
the old man made it indicate by that the village from which it came.
After that it went across to their enemies’ town. Now, when they saw
this, they got into their canoes and went over to fight. As soon as the
canoes had gotten around his house the chief said, “I am not afraid to
be killed by you, because I know that you are all from a high family.”
Then he again had his sister sing the war song and his niece beat the
drum, and he acted as the old man had directed him. Just before he
came out he threw out ashes which looked like smoke and concealed his
movements. In the midst of this he came out and shot the arrow toward
their canoes, which passed through every man in four of them. Then it
came back to him, and he shot it through four more canoe loads. Those
who were left went home.
The day after this still more came to fight him with like result, but
the next time he made a mistake, shot toward the canoe which contained
the old man’s relations, and killed all of them. Then the arrow flew
back to the old man, who sent it at the chief for whom he had made it,
and killed him.
Now the chief’s sister put on her brother’s war clothes, while her
daughter sang the song and drummed. With the arrow which had traveled
back to her, she began killing off her enemies just as her brother
had done. So the people made fun of the old man, saying, “I thought
you said you had killed that chief.” “I did kill him.” “Well! if you
killed the chief, who is it that is killing our friends?” Still he kept
assuring them that he had killed the chief. Then they started over once
more. But, this time, when the woman had shot and was running back into
the house, they saw by the apron she wore that it was a woman, and the
canoes started shoreward, the people exclaiming, “It is a woman. It is
a woman.” When all had landed, and she saw that they were coming after
her, she and her daughter escaped out of the rear of the house and ran
up into the woods. From the top of the mountain there she glanced back
and said to her daughter, “Look at your uncle’s house. It is burning.”
They could see the fire and smoke coming from it. Then they felt very
sad and composed songs which the Indians sing to this very day. They
cried so hard that they fell asleep. After that they went farther into
the forest crying, and the mother said as she wept, “I wonder whom I
can get to marry my daughter so that he can help me.”
By and by Mink came to the woman and said, “What is the matter with me?
Will not I do for your daughter?” “What do you do for a living?” she
asked him. “I have a smell that kills everything.” Then the woman went
straight on without paying the least attention to him. Next Marten came
along. To this woman they appeared as human beings. And Marten said,
“What is the matter with me?” “What can you do for a living?” He said
he was a very fast runner and could get anything he wanted, but she
rejected him. Then she went on again singing as before, “Who will marry
my daughter in order to help me?” Next came Mountain-goat. “What is the
matter with me?” “What do you do for a living?” “I can kill anything
with my horns. I live far up among the bluffs where nothing can harm
me.” He did not please her, and she went on past. Then Wolf came,
saying, “What is the matter with me? Can not I get your daughter?”
“What do you do for a living?” “I am a fast runner. I can kill anything
I want. I have plenty to eat.” He did not suit her, and she passed by
him, but he was so determined that he met her again with a mountain
goat in his mouth. She went right by, however, and came to a lake where
she repeated the same words. At that place she met a very fine-looking
young man, Frog. “What do you do for a living?” she asked, and he did
not tell her what he did but said, “Although I am small very few people
like me. Even the big animals are scared of me.” After him Grizzly Bear
asked, “What is the matter with me?” “What do you do for a living?”
“Don’t you see how large I am? I am a very powerful fellow.” He showed
her his strength and what teeth he had, and said that he was very quick
and active, but she refused to have him, and went on. Then she met the
Wild Canary (sǃāsǃ). “What do you do for a living?” she said. “I am a
fine singer.” She went on and met another bird, called Tsǃīnîg̣ēˊnî,
and asked, “What do you do for a living?” “Don’t you see that I am
a very handsome fellow. All the women want to marry me.” Then she
went along and met Fox, who said, “What is the matter with me?” “What
do you do for a living?” she asked. She noticed that he was dressed
very warmly in very beautiful clothing. “I can run and get anything I
want,” he said. “I have plenty to eat.” He did not suit her, and she
went right by. After a while there came Lynx (g̣āk), who replied to
her question by saying, “I am a traveler and get all kinds of birds to
eat.” Next she met Wolverine (Nūsk) which answered, “I am a good hunter
and I kill all kinds of animals.”
After that she went along sadly, repeating as usual, “Who will marry
my daughter so that he can help me?” Then she saw a man who shone all
over, standing on top of a mountain. She came very close to him, and
he said, “What is the matter with me?” “What do you do for a living?”
“I move about as quick as thought. Wherever I want to go, there I am
at once. My father is the sun.” She said, “Let us see him then.” So he
spoke to the sun. It was a cloudy day, but, when he spoke to it, the
sun appeared and it became very warm. “All right,” she said, “you can
have my daughter for your wife.”
After that the man took a limb from a tree and said to his
mother-in-law, “You shall be this limb.” He put her inside and
shoved the limb back. Then he said to her, “The world will call you
‘Woman-of-the-forest’ (Ās-gutuˊỵîk-cā). You will mock everybody that
shouts or whistles. When they hear you they will know what it is.” So
she became the echo.
After this a spherical cloud came down and rolled up with them. As the
cloud was going up, the man said to his wife, “Don’t look at it. Keep
your face hidden.” When he told her to open her eyes again she saw that
she was in a beautiful place with flowers all about. It was his house.
It was a grassy country and there were all kinds of fruits about the
place.
There this woman had eight children, seven boys and a girl. She was
very much afraid of everything, and that is why women are so to-day.
Then they built for these children a small house with a painted front,
put up forty boxes of every kind of fruit and berry, also dried
salmon, grease, and other kinds of food, and stored the house with
them. They had bracelets and a marten-skin robe made for the girl, and
her grandfather said to her, “You are going to be very quarrelsome.
While quarreling you will always examine your bracelets.” Then their
grandfather prepared war clothes for the boys and said, “You are now
going down to fight.” He also gave them a painted wooden wedge and
said, “Keep this with you all the time. When you are fighting and see
that your enemies are too strong for you, and you are getting beaten,
put this wedge into the fire. While putting it into the fire, say
this: ‘Grandfather, our enemies are beating us?’” Then they were all
placed, together with their house and its contents, in the spherical
cloud and set down on the site of Gîtǃîˊkc. As soon as it landed, the
little house grew to be a big house with painted front, and the boxes
of berries, salmon, and other provisions were all big painted boxes.
Everything had been made small so as to come down without being seen.
Then the children of the sun were all very happy, and made so much
noise that their enemies, who were out on the river fishing for
eulachon, heard then and said, “Those are the bones of the Gîtǃîˊkc
people that are making so much racket.” As soon, however, as they found
that their enemies’ village was repeopled they started off in their
canoes to make war upon them. They were so numerous that the children
of the sun found they were going to be beaten and put their wedge into
the fire. Then the sun came out fiercely, and many of the enemy became
so hot that they jumped into the ocean. The ocean was so hot that they
died there, while those upon land, becoming too blinded to fight, were
also killed.[86]
Therefore nowadays people do the same thing. When they fight and a good
man of high caste is killed, his friends do not come to their opponents
as though they were angry. They use good words to them, and thereby
induce a man of equally high rank on the other side to come out and be
killed by them. If they went there talking meanly they would not get
him to come out. The woman who was saved remembered how her brother
and all of her relations had been killed. Therefore she took good care
in selecting a husband for her daughter, because she felt if she did
so she would get all of her relatives back. That is why the Indians of
good family took such good care of a daughter in old times. They knew
that if she married well she would be a help to the family.
* * * * *
When the inhabitants of that town became very numerous the daughter of
the chief there used to go out berrying. One day, while she was out
after berries, she stepped into the manure of a grizzly bear and said,
“That nasty thing is right in the way.” Then the grizzly bear came to
her in the form of a fine-looking man, and she went off with him but
they thought that a grizzly bear had killed her. Now the grizzly-bear
people watched her very closely, and, whenever she went out of the den,
they covered up her tracks. This girl had dentalium shells around her
neck, and the bears were very much surprised to find one of these lying
in her tracks every time they covered them over. Early in the morning
the male bears went out after salmon, while their wives gathered
firewood. They always selected wet wood for this, but the girl got
nothing but dry wood, and her fire continually went out. She could
never start a fire with it. One day, however, an old woman called to
her and said, “You are with a different sort of people. You are brought
away from your own people. I got here because the same thing happened
to me. Use wet wood like the rest of the women. Leave that dry wood
alone.” Then she used wet wood and had good fires.
When this girl had lost almost all the dentalia from her clothing she
thought, “What is going to become of me?” But the old woman said to
her, “Do you want to save yourself? Do you want to go back to your
father and mother? This is not a good place where you are. Now,” she
said, “go and get a piece of devil’s club, a thorn from a wild rose
bush, some sand, and a small rock. When you see these bear people
coming after you, throw that devil’s club back of you first. Next throw
the thorn, then the mud, then the sand, then the rock.”
So the woman collected these things and started off on the run, and
after a while she saw the bears coming behind her. When they had gotten
quite close to her she threw back the devil’s club and there came to be
so many devil’s clubs in that spot that the bears could not get through
easily. While they were in the midst of these she got a long distance
off. The next time they got close she threw back the thorn, and rose
bushes covered the country they had to traverse, retarding the bears
again and enabling her to obtain another long lead. Next she threw back
the mud, and the place became so muddy that they had to wade through it
slowly. After that she threw the sand which became a sand bank, and the
bears slid back from it in attempting to cross. Finally she threw back
the rock, and there was a high cliff which it took the bears a long
time to surmount.
Before the bears had overcome this obstacle the girl came out on a
beach and saw a man in front of her in a canoe fishing for halibut. She
said to him, “Come ashore and save me,” but he paid no attention to
her. After she had entreated him for some time he said, “Will you be my
wife if I come to save you?” “Let me get into your canoe, and let us go
out. Then I will talk to you about that.” Finally, when she saw that
the bears were very close to her, she said, “Have pity on me. Come and
save me.” “Will you be my wife, if I come and save you?” “Yes, I will
be your wife.” Upon that he came in very quickly, took her into his
canoe and went out again. He was fishing with a float on the end of his
line, and, when he came back to it, he began pulling his line up. Then
the bears rushed down to the beach and shouted, “Bring us our wife.
That is our wife you have in your canoe. If you don’t bring her to us
we will kill you.” At first he paid no attention, but after a while he
said, “Well! if you think you can kill me, swim out here.” Immediately
they plunged into the water and when she saw them coming the girl was
frightened, but the man said, “Don’t be frightened. My father was of
the Ginᴀxcᴀmgêˊtk.”[87] When the bears got close to the canoe, he put
his club into the sea and it killed them all. Then they went to his
home.
The morning after this, when her husband was about to go out fishing,
he said to the woman, “I have a wife living on the other side of the
house. She is a very bad woman. Don’t look at her while she is eating.”
After her husband got home from fishing he waited on his new wife and
was very kind to her, and, when they were through eating, they went up
to the top of the house to sit. Then she said to him, “I am your wife
now. Anything you know or whatever you have seen you must tell me all
about.” So her husband said, “This wife of mine is a very large clam.
She is very high. Nobody looks at her. You see that there is always
water in the place where she is sitting. Anyone that looks at her falls
into this water and drifts away.” This man lived under ground, but the
girl thought she was in a house because she was as if out of her head.
Her husband caught halibut all of the time to give to his monster wife,
and the girl thought to herself, “How does that thing he feeds so much
eat?” One time, therefore, as soon as the clam began eating, she lay
down, made a hole in her blanket and looked through it at the big clam
eating. She saw that it was a real clam. When the clam saw that she was
looking, it shot out so much water that the house was filled, and the
girl was carried underneath the clam by the current. When her husband
got home, however, and found the girl gone, he said to the clam, “Where
is that girl?” He became very angry with the clam and killed it by
breaking its shell. Then he found the girl’s dead body in the water
under the clam, took it out, put eagle feathers upon it, and restored
it to life. Therefore nowadays eagle feathers are used a great deal at
dances and in making peace.[88]
By and by the man said to his wife, “Do you know that your father lives
a short distance from here? Do you want to go to see your father and
mother?” She was very glad to hear that, and they started off at once,
after loading the canoe down with food, for this being was rich and
had all kinds of things. His canoe was a brown bear, which traveled
of itself but had to be fed at short intervals.[89] Just before they
reached her father’s town, they landed, carried their canoe up and
placed all of the food under a large tree where it would keep dry. Then
the man stayed with it and told his wife to go over to her father’s
house. Her father and mother had thought that she was dead, so they
were very happy to see her. She said to her father, “There is a lot of
food close by here. I have brought it to you.” At that time she looked
very filthy to them and her clothing ragged, though to herself she
appeared beautiful. So her father was very much ashamed of her and gave
her some good clothing. She also smelt to them very strongly of the
beach. Then they went over and brought in all the food, but her husband
did not come with them.[90]
* * * * *
At that time the woman was pregnant, and presently she gave birth to
a boy. He was very smart like his father, though they did not let him
know who his father was. When he grew larger, he was a fine shot with
bow and arrows, bringing in all sorts of small animals, and the other
boys were jealous of him.
One time, when he was out in a canoe with other boys, hunting, he began
shooting at a cormorant (yūq), which kept going farther and farther
out. All of a sudden it became foggy and they could not see their
way, so they fastened their canoe to the end of a drifting log which
was sticking out of the water, and waited. Then some one came to them
and said to the boy, “I am after you. Your father wants you.” At once
the boy lost consciousness, and, when he came to, found himself in a
very fine house on the mainland. The chief living there said, “Do you
know that you are my son?” He also gave him a name, Cᴀmgigêˊtk, and he
thought a great deal of him, but the boy thought it strange that he
never inquired for his mother. Then he gave his son abalone shells and
sharks’ teeth (cᴀxdᴀˊq) as presents. He also made him a club and said
to him, “Whenever you are among wild animals and find there are too
many, put this club down and it will fight for you. When you see seals
or sea lions sitting on the rocks, put it down and it will kill them.”
After this it seemed to the boy as if a door were opened for him, and
he saw the canoe he had left with the boys in it. They said, “What
happened to you? Where have you been?” But he only answered, “Did not
you see me sitting on the very top of this log?” He was so smart that
they believed him. Then they reached home safe and the grandparents
were very glad to see him, but only his mother knew what had
happened. Like his father, the boy was a great hunter and fisherman.
Before he came the people of that town had been starving, but now,
especially since he had obtained the club, they had plenty to eat. His
grandfather’s house was always full of halibut, seal, and sea-lion meat.
Then his grandmother said to him, “Grandson, do not go over in that
direction. None of the village people go there, and those who have
done so never returned.” This, however, only made the boy anxious to
see what was the trouble, so he went there and, killing some seals and
halibut, put them into the water to entice the creature up. Finally he
saw a gigantic crab (sǃa-u) coming up in the sea, so he put his club
into the ocean, and it broke the crab’s shell and killed it. Then he
and his slave pulled the big crab ashore, and he took a load of its
flesh home to his grandparents. His grandparents had worried all the
time he was away, but his mother knew that her son had power over all
kinds of fish, because his father is chief of the sea. Everything in
the sea is under him.
Another time his grandmother said to him, “There is a place over in
this direction where lives a big mussel (yīsǃ). No canoe can pass it
without being chewed up.” So he went to the mussel and killed that.
He took all of its shell home, and the people throughout the village
bought it of him for spears, arrow points, and knives.
At the same time he also brought home a load of cockles, clams, and
other shellfish. In the Tsimshian country the shellfish are fine, and
the mussels are not poisonous as they are here. In April the Alaskans
do not dare to eat shellfish, especially mussels, claiming that they
are poisonous. It is because he killed the big mussel that they are all
poisonous here. Since his time, too, boys and girls have done whatever
their fathers used to do.
After that the boy married and had a son who was very unlike him. His
name was Man-that-eats-the-leavings (Qǃa-īˊtê-cūka-qā), and, when he
grew up, he was worthless. He seemed to see the shellfish, however, and
understood the shellfish language.
* * * * *
At the same time the daughter of the chief in a certain village not far
away went out of doors and slipped on slime which had dropped from a
devilfish hung up in front. She said, “Oh! the dirty thing.” About the
middle of the following night a fine-looking young man came to her,
and she disappeared with him; and the people wondered where she had
gone. This young man was the devilfish, whom she married, and she had
several children by him. Meanwhile, as she was their only child, her
parents were mourning for her continually. After some time had passed,
her parents saw two small devilfishes on the steps of the chief’s
house early in the morning, and the people said to the chief, “What
devilfishes are these here on the steps?” He said, “Throw them down on
the beach.” They did so, but the little devilfishes came right back.
They threw them down again, but the chief said, “If they come up the
third time, leave them alone. Let them do what they will, but watch
them closely.” Then they came right into the chief’s house, and one
climbed into the chief’s lap while the other got into that of his wife.
He said, “My daughter must have gone to live among the devilfishes.” To
see what they would do, he said, “My grandchildren, is this you?” Upon
which they put their tentacles around his neck and began moving about.
Then he gave them some food on long platters, and they acted as though
they were eating from these. Afterward he said, “Take those platters
and follow them along to see where they go.” They did so and saw them
disappear under a large rock just in front of the town. So the people
came back and said to the chief, “They went under that large rock down
there. Your daughter must be under there also.” When the people got up
next morning they saw on the steps the platters they had taken down,
wiped very clean.
Now the chief felt very badly, for he knew what had happened to his
daughter, so he said to the people in his house, “Go down and invite
my daughter, and say, ‘Your father wants you to come to dinner.’” So
they went down and said, “Your father has sent us to invite you, your
children, and your husband to come to dinner at his house.” “We are
coming,” said the woman from under the beach, “so go back. We will be
there soon.” She knew the voices of all of her father’s servants. When
these came back to the chief, he said, “Did you ask her? Did you go
there?” “Yes, we were there.” “What did you say to her?” “We told her
just what you wanted us to say to her. She said that her husband, her
children, and herself would be here soon.”
So the people watched for her, and by and by she came up along with her
devilfish husband and with the two little devilfishes right behind her.
Her marten-skin robe was rotten, all sorts of sea weeds were in her
hair, and she looked badly, although she had formerly been very pretty.
Her father and mother were very sorry. Then they set out food for them
and afterward took the trays down to the place where the little ones
had gone under the rock.
Now the chief invited all of the people into his house, gave them
tobacco to chew, and told them how badly he felt. After they had
talked the matter over for a while they said to him, “You might as
well have all the devilfishes killed. When those small ones are grown
up you do not know what they will do to your house.” So they invited
the devilfishes again, killed the big one, threw the little ones down
on the beach, and kept the girl. By and by, however, the girl said to
her father, “There is going to be a terrible war. All of the devilfish
are assembling. Don’t allow any of the people of your town to sleep at
night. Let them watch.” So, when night came on, they could see large
and small devilfishes coming in through every little crack until the
house got quite full of them, and some people were suffocated by having
the devilfishes cover their mouths. The devilfish that they had killed
was chief among them.
Just then Man-that-eats-the-leavings came to that town, and they told
him what a hard time they were having every night with the devilfish,
so he stayed with them until evening. When they came in this time he
seemed to have control over them, and they ceased bothering the people.
The large devilfishes are called dᴀg̣asāˊ. The small ones, which they
threw down on the beach, are those that the Alaskan Indians see, but
these do not injure anyone now because their grandfather was a human
being.
* * * * *
Afterward they bathed the girl to take all the devilfish off of her,
and put fine clothing on her. Her face was very pretty, so that all the
neighboring chiefs wanted to marry her. In olden times a good looking
woman was considered high-caste, for they knew she would marry well,
and a good looking woman among the high-caste people was considered
very high.
Among those who wanted to marry this girl was
Man-that-eats-the-leavings. He lived in a brush house at a place where
garbage was thrown out. He was a fine shot, however, and one day he
went to a lake behind the town where a loon was swimming about and shot
it. When the arrow struck it gave forth a sound like a bell and swam
right up to the shore. Then he went down to it and found, instead of a
loon, a canoe made out of copper. This was, in fact, the grizzly-bear
canoe that had belonged to his grandfather. It had long since been
forgotten. Next he found a piece of a painted house front (qǃēn) and
shook it, upon which a grand house stood there with four horizontal
house timbers, and he lined the inside of this house with copper plates
made out of the copper canoe. Then he married the chief’s daughter
without her father’s consent and took her to his house.
By and by the chief’s daughter was missed, and they hunted for her
through all of the houses, but they did not look into the old brush
house, for they thought she would never go there. They thought that
she might have gone back to the rocks again, and they dug up all of
the large rocks to look underneath them. Finally, however, they saw
her going into the brush house and told her parents, and her parents
felt very badly on her account. All got out spears to kill her husband,
but her mother said, “I am going there to see her first.” So she went
down in great anger, but found the door already open for her, and, when
she went in, each side of the house shone so brightly that she could
hardly keep her eyes open. She saw that the house was full of very
nice things, so she said to her daughter, “Daughter, are you married?”
“Yes, mother, I am married.” Her mother had intended to take her home
and have her husband killed, but instead she put the fire out and sat
in the ashes, as was customary in the case of a woman whose daughter
married without her consent. It meant that she wanted property. And
before she had sat there very long, her new son-in-law handed out eight
bright copper plates and sent her home, and she told her husband all
that she had seen. Then they laid their spears aside, and the following
morning they saw a beautifully painted house standing where the brush
house had been. Now the chief invited his daughter and her husband to
a feast. The servants that were sent with the invitation were finely
dressed. When they got there, they said to the girl, “We are sent
after you by your father; he wants you to come to a feast, you and
your husband.” They did so, and, after food had been served, he gave
his son-in-law eight slaves, one for every copper plate his wife had
received. And to this day, when a girl runs off with some one, and her
people find he is all right, they do all they can for her.[91]
* * * * *
By and by this chief’s daughter had a little boy who proved to be
very smart and became a great hunter. He used to hunt far up on the
mountains for mountain goats and other animals. One time he fell from
the top of a mountain and lost consciousness, and, when he came to,
he saw many men standing about him in a circle. They had cedar-bark
rings around their heads and necks. Then they said to him, “What kind
of spirit do you want, the Raven Spirit or the Wolf Spirit?” and he
said “The Wolf Spirit.” So they held white rocks over his head, and he
became unconscious. That is how he got the spirit. Then he ran around
screaming, naked except for an apron, while all of the Cliff Spirits
and all of the Forest Spirits sang and pounded on sticks for him. They
also tied up his hair like a wolf’s ears. This is the origin of the
Łuqᴀnaˊ, or secret societies, and the one this man first started is
said to have been the Dog-eaters’ society. He sang a song, too, only
employed nowadays by a high-caste person when he is initiated. It is
called Cīnāˊxłkǃ, and goes this way, “I am above the world. I walk in
high places. There is nobody else after me. I am alone.” Those who
became łuqᴀnaˊs after this were not like him, because he said, “I am
alone. There is nobody after me.” They only imitate him.
There are many kinds of łuqᴀnaˊs. Some are dog-eaters and some pretend
to eat the arms of people. It is previously arranged between the
łuqᴀnaˊ and his father what he is to do and whom he is to injure, and,
after the spirit has come out, the father has to pay a great deal
of money for damages. The łuqᴀnaˊs are always found at feasts, and
high-caste people stand around them. The people who learned from this
boy first are those in the direction of Victoria, and there they think
that a person who has performed many times is very high. It is only
very lately that we Alaskans have had łuqᴀnaˊs. Łuqᴀnaˊ is a Tsimshian
word meaning yēk.[92] When they perform up here, the southern Tlingit
dance Tsimshian dances and the northern Tlingit Athapascan dances.
After this youth had come back to his people from the woods and had
shown them all about the łuqᴀnaˊ, he went to the Queen Charlotte
islands and came to the greatest chief there. Then the people at that
place said to him, “It is terrible the way things have been going on.
We have wizards (nuksǃāˊtî), who kill men in a sly way. There is one
very high-caste person here who has taught himself to be a wizard.” And
they told him this man’s story.
He and his friend were very dissolute young men who wanted very much to
be wizards, and the former begged his slave to tell him what to do. “If
you want to become one very much,” said he, “go down there and sleep
among the driftwood left by the tide. Then you will see what it is.”
They did this, and a very nice looking woman came to them and taught
them witchcraft. This was the mouse (kǃutsǃīˊn). They thought that it
was a fine thing. After a while the woman again appeared to them in a
dream and said, “Would you like to be among the geese and brants?” They
answered “Yes,” one saying, “I will be a goose;” the other, “I will be
a brant.” At once they flew off in those forms. They thought that it
was a fine thing to be wizards, and would spend all their nights going
about that way, never coming in till morning. For that reason the town
people began to suspect that something was wrong with them. Nowadays a
person among the natives who sleeps much is said to be of no account,
for it was through sleep that witchcraft started. They also say that a
wizard has no respect for anything and never speaks to his neighbors.
Finally a certain man began to drink salt water and fast in order to
discover the wizards. He also made a medicine. Then he dreamt about
them, and went to them, telling them everything he knew. The two
young men replied, “Don’t tell about us. If you keep it to yourself
we will pay you ten slaves. We will let you win ten slaves from us in
gambling.” And they did so.
This is the story that the łuqᴀnaˊ man told to his friends when he came
home, and wherever he told it there began to be wizards. Therefore
witchcraft came to Alaska through the sons of ᴀyāˊyî[93] and through
the Haida. They also learned from the Haida that witchcraft may be
imparted by means of berries. When women are gathering these, they do
not pick up the ones that are dropped accidentally, no matter how many
they may be, because that is what witches do.
The shamans say it is this way: A man claims that he sees a large
creek. It is witchcraft. A smaller creek flows into this. It is the
lying creek. Another creek comes into it. It is the stealing creek.
Still another creek comes into it. It is the profligates’ creek. All
these are in witchcraft.
* * * * *
One time Raven came to a place called Cold-town and said to the boys
there, “Let us go shooting with bow and arrows.” He took down his own
canoe and they started out, but presently the canoe upset and the boys
were all drowned. Then he said to them, “You will stay here.” They are
the īkᴀg̣āˊxe, sea birds whose voices can be heard at a long distance.
* * * * *
Next Raven went to Tān-łutūˊ (the southern end of Prince of Wales
island) and saw a man there named Qonᴀłgīˊc.[94] Raven said to him,
“What are you doing here?” “I am a great gambler,” he said. “I love to
gamble.” Said Raven, “You are a gambler but you can not win a thing.
If you eat forty devil’s clubs and fast many days you will become a
great gambler. You will win everything you wish. But why do you want
to learn gambling?” The man said, “I have been gambling steadily and I
can not win anything. A person won from me my wife’s clothing and all
of my food and property. Since I have so disgraced myself, I have left
my town and have come here to die.” Said Raven, “Gambling is not very
good. There will always be hard feelings between gamblers, yet I will
show you how. One of the sticks has a red mark around it. It will be
named nāq (devilfish). You will see the smoke of nāq. When you get the
devilfish, you are lucky. As long as it keeps away from you, you are
unlucky.” Then he said to the man, “Make a house for yourself out of
devil’s clubs first and stay inside while you are fasting. After you
have fasted four days, Greatest Gambler (ᴀłqāˊ-sǃāˊtî) will appear to
you.”
When the man had fasted for three days, living on nothing but devil’s
clubs, he started to look for more. Then he found a devil’s club, as
big around as a large tree, covered with scars, and he took the bark
off in eight different spots. Then he went to sleep and dreamed that a
man came to him. He said, “Do you know that I am Greatest Gambler? You
took the bark off from me in eight spots. It was I standing there.”
Then Greatest Gambler said to him, “When you leave this place, look
around down on the beach and you will find something. When you reach
your own village do the same thing again, and you will find something
else.”
Next morning a real person came to him and said, “I want to see your
gambling sticks.” So he showed them to him, and he gave them their
names. He gave all of them their names at that time. Each stick had
a certain mark. One was named devilfish and the others were called
after other kinds of animals and fish. They are the same to-day among
both Tsimshian and Tlingit.[95] The two principal sticks besides the
devilfish are tuq (a small bright fish found in the sand along shore)
and āncāˊdjî (a small gregarious bird which seems to feed on the tops
of trees).
After Greatest Gambler had showed him how to gamble he prepared to
return to his people. When he was getting ready he looked about upon
the beach and found a sea otter lying there. When he reached the first
place where he had camped on coming away he camped there again and on
looking around as directed found a fur seal. He took off the two skins
there and dried them. It took him a whole day.
When he at last entered the village everybody made fun of him, saying,
“AyâˊoQonᴀłgīˊc” (said to be Haida words meaning “Come and let us
gamble, Qonᴀłgīˊc”). He had made a shirt out of the sea otter and a
blanket out of the fur seal, so they were anxious to gamble in order to
win those things. When they first heard him speak of gambling they made
fun of him, thinking to beat him as before, and the same one who had
before won all of his goods sat down opposite. He was a fine gambler
and therefore very rich. When they started to play, the poor man began
to go through all kinds of performances, jumping up, running about, and
saying funny things to his opponent, so that the latter became confused
and could not do anything. The poor man began winning his goods, and,
when he got tobacco, he would treat the crowd about him with it.
Finally the poor man said, “That is enough. I am through,” but the rich
man answered, “Stay and let us gamble more,” thinking that he would
get all of his goods back. The poor man, however, said he was through
but would be willing to gamble with him the next day, and he left his
opponent sitting there feeling very badly. The same day, however, his
opponent went over to him again and again asked him to gamble. “Oh! let
us wait until to-morrow,” he said, and he spoke kindly to him. Finally
they began again. Whatever words the poor man used toward his opponent
at this time, people use at this day. By and by he said to the chief,
“Let us gamble for food next. I want to feed my people.” Then the rich
man was angry, sat down, and began gambling with him for food. Again
his opponent won everything and said, “That is enough. We have plenty
of time to gamble. We will gamble some other day.” So they stopped,
although the chief would have persevered, and the poor man invited all
of his friends in order to give them the food he had won.
Next day the chief again brought over his gambling sticks, and they
recommenced. Whenever the poor man saw that his luck was turning, he
would jump up, run around the circle of people, who were watching him
closely, run to a little creek near by, wash his hands very clean
and return to gamble. He did that over and over again while he was
gambling. Sometimes he would run off and chew upon a piece of dried
salmon. Then he could see the devilfish smoke much better. This
time they staked slaves, and he won quite a number, after which he
jumped up, saying that he had gambled enough. The chief begged him to
continue, but he said, “No, we have gambled long enough. I will gamble
every day with you if you desire, but this is enough for to-day.”
Next morning they gambled again. A big crowd always followed him to the
gambling place because the way he acted was new to them. He would jump
up, call certain of his lucky sticks by name and say, “Now you come
out.” Before he began gambling he mixed his sticks well together and
said, “The āsqǃancāˊdjî sticks will come out.” So they came out, flew
around and around his head and settled among the other sticks again. He
was the only one who could see them.
By this time the chief opposing him had become fairly crazy. He had
nothing left but his house, his sisters’ children, his wife, and
himself. He wanted to stake his sisters’ children, but his opponent
said that he would not gamble for people. Then the chief caught hold
of him and begged him, and his own friends came to him and said, “Why
don’t you gamble and win those friends of his? You are very foolish not
to.” “I do not want to gamble unless I can win something,” he said.
“What good will those people be to me? I can not do anything with them
after I win them.” “You will have the name of having won them. Remember
what he did to you. He did not have pity on you. When he won your
wife’s clothes did he give them back?” Then the poor man moved a piece
of painted moose hide, called ckǃutǃêˊ, around in front of the chief.
It made him very angry, but he dared not say anything. The chief lost
his nephews, his house, and his wife’s clothes and offered to stake his
wife, but his opponent refused until his cousin said, “Go on and get
everything he has. If you do not want them you can give them back.” So
he won his wife also. Then he put his gambling sticks away, refusing
to gamble for the chief himself, because he knew that there is always
trouble at the bottom of gambling. But his friends said, “If he is
foolish enough to stake himself and his wife, go on and gamble. After
a while he will feel it in his face (i. e., be ashamed).” So he played
once more and won his opponent also.
Then he said, “Since you have staked everything and I have won, I
suppose that this is all. Do you remember how you won everything from
me? You were very hard on me. You even won my wife’s clothing, and you
did not give me anything back. You left me in such a condition that I
could not do a thing to help myself and my wife. You know that I have
won you. You belong to me. You might be my slave, but I will not be
that hard upon you. I have won you and your wife, but I don’t want to
claim you. Take your wife also. She is yours and I don’t want to claim
her either.”
High-caste people did not become gamblers, because they always
remembered this saying. They always told their children that gambling
belonged to lower people and was not work for an honest person. On
account of what happened at that time a gambler will now get crazy over
the game, and think, when he is using the last money in his purse, “I
am going to win it back. I may win it back with the last cent I have.”
So he keeps on and on until he goes through with everything. The whole
town knows that he is going crazy over gambling, but he thinks that
he is doing the right thing. When a gambler wins a lot of things from
anyone nowadays, he remembers Qonᴀłgīˊc and gives some of them back. He
is not as hard on him as the chief was to the poor man.[96]
It is from Qonᴀłgīˊc also that the gambling sticks have different names
and that there are different kinds of nāqs and different sorts of
cīcts. These cīcts are lucky gambling sticks, but the lucky medicine
that a gambler obtains is also called cīct. In order to get it he has
to fast, remain away from his wife, and keep what he is doing secret.
At that time he wishes for whatever he desires. This medicine also
makes a person brave and is used when preparing for some important
action. The name cīct is said to have come from a wolf which had
something stuck between its teeth. When a certain man got this out, the
wolf said, “I will show you my cīct. I will tell you what it is.”
People who cheat have gambling sticks like birds that are able to fly
away, and they keep the names of these sticks to themselves.
It is since the time of this first gambler, too, that people have had
the custom of saying to a gambler, “Why don’t you give a feast with the
food you have won?”
Gamblers claim that when the sticks move in a certain way while they
are gambling, it means death in the family. If they keep the rules of
their cīct it will tell them what animal they are going to kill when
they are out hunting.
* * * * *
After the rich opponent of Qonᴀłgīˊc had lost all of his property,
his wife left him, and he went away from that town. He made a bow and
arrows and wandered about in the forest like a wild animal. Coming down
to the beach at a certain place, he found a fine bay and built his
house upon it. There he began to collect clams and fish which he dried
for himself. He was gone all winter, but in those times the Indians did
not care for foolish people, viewing them as though they were dead, so
his friends did not look for him.
While he lived in that place the chief heard a drum sounding from some
distant place, but he did not take the trouble to see what it was.
Finally he discovered that the noise was caused by a grouse and said
to it, “I see you now. I have been wondering what it was that I heard
so much.” Then he said to the grouse, “You are a great dancer, are you
not?” “Yes, I dance once in a while when I am lonely.” “Come along and
let us have a dance. I am pretty lonely myself.” So that evening he
saw all kinds of birds, which were the grouse’s friends, and they had
a dance. They danced so much that this man forgot all that he had been
grieving about and felt very happy. Therefore people always dance for
one who is mourning, to make him forget it. This is where the first
dance came from.
Then the chief said to the grouse, “How came you to know about
dancing?” “There is a person out on that island who knows a lot about
medicine. He knows how to make medicine for dancing and fighting.” “You
must let me see him,” said the man. The bird answered, “If you want
to see this great medicine-man you must fast to-morrow. This is the
great person who knows all about medicines.” Now, after the chief had
fasted, he went to sleep and dreamed that a man came to him, showed
him a certain leaf on the marsh and said, “Take that leaf and put it
into this sack. Then go down toward the beach. As soon as you get down
you will see an eagle lying there. Take off its claws and feathers,
and, after you have put the leaf in them, draw the cords so as to pull
its talons tight around it. After that go down to where the waves are
coming in, and at the place the tide has left, stoop down, pretend
to pick up something and put it into your sack. That will be the
wave. Then take a feather from the back of the head of an ayahīˊya (a
solitary bird that continually flies about on the beach) and put it
with the rest. You will become a great dancer like that bird. Finally
take this medicine to a point running far out into the ocean where the
wind blows continually. Tie it there to the top of a tree, where it
will always be blowing back and forth.”
The man did as he had been directed, and the day after began to think
of composing a song. On account of the medicine this was not hard for
him. He also felt that he could dance, and began dancing the same
evening. While doing so he was very light upon his feet. He was as if
in a trance, not knowing exactly what he was doing. Then he thought
to himself, “I am going to the next town.” So he went there and began
singing, and it was soon noised about, “A man has come here who is a
great singer. He is going to dance to-night.” Then all the people went
to that house where he was to dance. He danced and taught the women
his songs, which were very sad. He sang about the different clans
[among the Haida], picking out only good clans. So the young women of
those families began to bring him presents, and each thought, “I will
give the most.” They gave him all kinds of things, robes, fur shirts,
blankets, leggings. He was becoming very rich through dancing.
In the same town was the young son of a chief who wanted very much to
learn to dance and said to him, “How did you come to learn to dance?”
He answered, “I have medicine for dancing.” “You must show me how. I
will pay you well. I want very much to learn.” Then he showed him how
to make the medicine. He said, “You have to fast. If you do that you
will learn. Fast to-morrow, and the next day I will take you up to the
woods.” When they went up he said, “After you have learned how to do
this, you must think of composing a song, and you will see that you
will be able to do so at once. You will be so happy over it that you
will feel as though you were making a great fire.” In the morning the
young man sang and found he could compose songs. Then he went up to the
woods and danced all alone by himself. Like the other, he felt light as
if he were in a dream. By and by it was reported all over town, “This
chief’s son can compose fine songs.” He danced for them, and, because
he was a younger person than the other, he danced far better. At this
the youth’s boy friends said to him, “What makes you do such a thing?
It doesn’t look right for you to do it.” They tried to make him believe
he was above dancing, because they were jealous of him. So he went to
the man who had instructed him, and the latter said, “People will do
this (i. e., dance) all over the world. You will soon hear of it. You
and I will not be the only ones doing it. They say this because they
are jealous of you.” The youth had composed so many beautiful songs
that all the girls had fallen in love with him. That was why the other
youths were jealous of him. The first dancer also said to him, “It is
not high-caste people like yourself merely who will compose songs.
Everybody will learn these and compose others. Anybody that composes
songs like this after having made medicine will have his name become
great in the world.”
When this youth had told his father all he had learned, his father
asked all the people of that town to come to his house and repeated
it to them. Then he said, “I do not think it is well for a high-caste
person to compose songs and be a dancer. They say that a person’s name
will become very high and be known everywhere if he composes songs
and becomes a dancer, but a chief’s son’s name is already high, and a
chief’s name is known everywhere. Why should he compose songs and dance
to make it so? It is better that the poorer people should do this and
make their names known in the world.” If the chief had not said this,
people that compose songs and dance would be very scarce among us. It
is because the chief said, “Let it be among the poorer people so that
their names may be known,” that there are so many composers and dancers
among us. For no chief composes or dances without giving away a great
deal of property.
Thus it happens that there are two kinds of dances, a dance for the
chief and his sons and this common or Haida dance (Dekīˊna ᴀʟǃēˊx). In
the latter, women always accompany it with songs, and, if the composer
sings about some good family, members of the latter give him presents.
When the chief is going to dance, he has to be very careful not to say
anything out of the way. He dances wearing a head dress with weasel
skins, a Chilkat blanket, and leggings and carrying a raven rattle.
He is the only one whose voice is heard, and he speaks very quietly.
Meanwhile, until it is time for them to start singing for him, the
people are very quiet and then only high-caste people sing. The Haida
dance, however, is always accompanied by noise. It is rather a dance
for pleasure, while the chief’s dance is more of a ceremony. Although
most of the people who witness it are high-caste, anyone is welcome.
All watch the chief’s actions and listen to his words very closely.
If he makes the least mistake, showing that he has not studied his
words beforehand very well, they have too much respect for him to say
anything to him at that time. Next day, however, after he has found it
out, if he does not take his words back, the people that had heard will
disgrace him by giving away a great deal of property. The Haida dance
was done away with years ago, while the chief’s dance has been given up
only in very recent times.
After this the man that first taught dancing married in that town and
forgot all about the wealth he had lost. This shows that he was not
smart, for a smart man, when he loses a very little of his property,
thinks of it and next time tries to do better. One time he and his
wife went away in a canoe and upset. His wife was drowned, but he was
captured by the land otters who named him Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ, and he has
strength like that of a shaman among them. When anyone is drowned by
the upsetting of his canoe, they say “Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ has him.”
* * * * *
One time four boys went out hunting from Klawak with bow and arrows.
They saw some black ducks and shot at them, but the ducks kept swimming
out to sea, drawing them on. Far out the canoe upset. They hunted for
the boys for days and days, but could not find them. Then some property
was given to a shaman named Tuxstāˊ, who sent his spirit after them to
the point on the beach from which they had set out. Then the shaman
said, “The spirits of the boys seem to have taken the road to the
land-otters’ dens.” Therefore they kept on until they saw the boys upon
a point of land, but, as soon as the latter saw them, they ran into
the dens of the land otter. Then the town chief said, “Let the whole
town gather pitchwood and burn up the land-otter dens.” So all of the
people went thither in their canoes, made fires at the mouths of the
dens and killed the land otters as soon as they came out. All perished
but a few, who said, “It is Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ’s fault that they have burned
up our houses and our food.” Then Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ jumped into the sea from
the other side of the point with the boys all around him, so that they
could not be found.
After this the shaman said, “The land otters are going to make war upon
the people here,” and soon after they did so. The people attacked them
in return and they warred for some time. Many people fell down suddenly
and were taken sick, while others were injured by having limbs of trees
fall upon their heads. The shaman said that these mishaps were really
effects of the land-otters’ arrows, made of the shells of the spider
crab. The people were also suffering from boils and pimples all over
their bodies, and he said that these were produced by the poisonous
shells. So many were dying that all became frightened. Whenever anyone
went out hunting or fishing he would be troubled with boils and itching
places and have to return. The shaman’s spirits, which the land otters
could see, were the only things they feared.
Finally the shaman saw that there were two white land otters, and he
said, “If you can get hold of those you will be all right.” Then a
canoe with four men started off, and the shaman sang with them telling
them that his spirits were going along also to look after them. He
said, “You will be lucky. You will get them. As soon as you get them
put feathers on their heads.” So they went away and camped for the
night. They were unable to sleep, however, on account of the strange
noises about their camp as if people were talking in very low tones.
Still they could not see anything. They would say to one another,
“Do you hear that?” “Yes,” they answered. It was caused by the two
high-caste white land otters who were talking to Tuxstāˊ’s spirits.
Next morning the men arose very early, and the eldest said to the one
next in years, “Get up. I have had a queer dream. I dreamt that we
had a deer and that we were taking our deer to the land-otter den.”
Then one of them answered, “You have had a lucky dream. Let us start
right away.” So they took the canoe down and set out. Going along on
the opposite side of the point on which they had camped, they saw the
two white otters swimming in the water. The shaman’s spirits had been
holding them. Then the men said to them, “Stay there. We have had you
for a long time now.” So the otters remained where they were, and they
caught them and put feathers upon their heads. They were making deer of
them. They took them home to the fort in which they dwelt and carried
them in. All the people danced for them. And that night, after they
had retired, the people dreamt that the land otters were dancing the
peace-making dance. Some of the people said, “They really danct,” but
others replied, “No, they did not dance. We only dreamt it.” Still they
dressed up to dance in return. All were fasting, as was customary when
peace is about to be made. They also fed the land otters and waited
upon them very carefully.
By and by the shaman said that the land otters were coming, so the
people made ready for them. They soaked a very bitter root, called
sǃîkc, in water for a long time. Some said, “They are not coming.
The shaman has made that up,” but others believed him and got ready.
Finally the shaman said, “To-morrow they will be here.” The next
morning it was very foggy and they could not see far out, but they
heard a drum beating. At length the land-otter-people came ashore, and
they helped them carry their things up to the houses. One of these land
otters had two heads, one under the other. It was Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ. All
said, “We depend on Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ.” Then numbers of land otters came
into the house, but, as soon as Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ appeared at the door,
everybody there but the shaman fell down as if dead. The shaman in turn
filled his mouth with the poisonous water they had prepared and spit
it about upon the otters, rendering unconscious all that it touched.
The land otters, however, shouted, “Keep away from Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ. Let
him do his work.” So Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ danced, saying, “Ha, ha, ha.” When
they started a song, the land otters mentioned Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ’s name in
the manner of the Indians. When they were through with their dance, all
of the people woke up, and the land otters also came to. But, when the
human beings got up on their feet, all had vanished including the two
white ones.
Then the village people said to one another, “Did you see the dances?”
“Yes,” they answered. They knew something had happened and did not want
to admit having missed it. “Did you see this Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ?” “Yes.” “How
was he dressed?” “He had two heads and wore a dancing apron. He carried
two large round rattles. As soon as he moved around sideways we all
went to sleep.”
* * * * *
Now all the people were very happy because the salmon were running, but
before they had left the town Raven came to them and said, “Don’t leave
the town. Stay right here. Don’t go to any of the salmon creeks.” They
were very hungry for salmon, however, and said to four boys, “Go to the
salmon creek close by and get some salmon for the village.” So they
went there and filled their canoe.
This salmon stream runs down into a sort of lake, and, while they were
upon this paddling homeward, they heard some one calling to them.
Presently a man came down through the woods and shouted, “Stay where
you are, and I will tell you something.” Looking at this man, they
saw that he was naked and painted red all over. He said, “When you
have gone a short distance, the fellow sitting in the bow will fall
over. When you have gone a little farther, the next will do the same.
A little farther still the next one will fall over. You fellow in the
stern will reach home and tell the news. It is through the shaman’s own
spirits that he is killed.”
They could not understand this last saying for the shaman had been
alive when they left, but all things happened just as the man had
predicted. After they had gone a short distance the man in the bow fell
over with blood pouring out of his mouth. The same thing happened to
the next two. When the steersman reached town with the three bodies
they asked him what was the matter, but he said, “Do not ask me any
questions. Give me something to eat quickly.” So they gave him some
food, and, after he had finished eating, he said, “As we were paddling
along from the creek with our salmon, a man came out of the woods
saying, ‘Stay where you are and I will tell you something.’ So we
stopped, and he went on, ‘When you get a short distance from here, the
man in the bow will drop over, a little farther the next one and a
little farther the next one. There will be three. It is what the shaman
sees that kills him.’ It has happened just as he said. And he said to
me, ‘The fellow in the stern will get home and have something to eat.
Just as soon as he has eaten he will drop over.’” And so it happened.
Just as soon as he had told the story he dropped over dead. Then the
shaman asked for his apron, hat, and necklace as if he were going to
doctor some one. As soon as he had dressed, he turned himself around
three or four times, as the shamans used to do when they were dying.
Afterward blood began to flow from his mouth, and he died.
* * * * *
Now the people of that town were very much frightened, and none of them
went away. They had heard before that the land otters have death and
all kinds of sickness for their bows and arrows, but until then they
had not believed it. Afterward the people began to starve, and the
children especially suffered very much. One child, who must have been
very poor, would cry at night with hunger. After he had been crying for
several nights in this manner the people saw a torch coming toward the
house and heard the bearer of it say, “Come here, grandchild, and I
will feed you on qǃołkᴀdᴀkêˊx̣.” The child did so. This man was named
Man-with-a-burning-hand (Djînakax̣ᴀˊdza), because his hand was always
on fire and what he called qǃołkᴀdᴀkêˊx̣ were ants (wᴀnᴀtuˊx). This
happened at Tᴀˊqdjîk-ān, the old town of the Klawak people.
Now the father and mother of this child looked about for it, weeping
continually. As they were passing a certain cliff, they heard a
child crying there, and, raising a flat rock which appeared to cover
an opening, they saw it lying inside. Then they saw that ants were
crawling out of its nose, eyes, and ears. After that many other
children were brought thither, and their parents said to them, “Look
at this. Man-with-a-burning-hand did this because the child cried
so much. You are always crying too. This will happen to you some
day if you do not stop.” Back of the site of Tᴀˊqdjîk-ān there is a
cliff still called Man-with-a-burning-hand. This story was mostly
for children, and, when a child cried too much, they would say, “Do
not cry so much or Man-with-a-burning-hand will get you.” The story
was known all over Alaska, and the children were very much afraid of
Man-with-a-burning-hand.[97]
* * * * *
In the same town, Tᴀˊqdjîk-ān, lived a chief named G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ belonging
to the Takᵘaneˊdî family. He was bathing in the sea for strength
every day, and the people of his village bathed with him. In the cold
mornings he would rise, run down to the sea, and rush in. Then he would
run up to a good-sized tree and try to pull a limb out of it. He would
afterward go to another and try to twist it from top to bottom. He
wanted to do these things because he was trying to become a killer of
sea lions.
The same chief had a nephew who was thought to be very weak and a great
coward. He would not go into the water, and the people teased him
by pushing him over, when he would not do a thing in return. He was
very slow. The man’s real name was Duktǃūˊʟǃ (Black-skin), but they
nicknamed him ᴀtqahāˊsǃî. His real name may also have been a nickname
originally, applied to him because he was ugly.
At the same time Black-skin was merely feigning weakness, and, though
he continued to lie in bed when the others bathed, at night after all
were asleep, he would steal off and do the same thing himself for hours
and hours. He remained in so long that he had to float to rest his
feet. On coming out he would throw water on the ashes of the fire so
as to make it steam and lay his mat on top. That was the only bed he
had. The people thought that he was a low, dirty fellow, but in reality
he kept himself very pure and would not lie or steal. He did not say
a word when they made fun of him, though he was strong enough to have
done almost anything to them if he had so desired. When they sent him
after big pieces of firewood he acted as if they were very hard to
lift, and they thought he was so lazy that they gave him very little to
eat.
The people went on in this way, bathing every day with their chief,
while Black-skin bathed at night. After they were through, the village
people would make a big fire, take breakfast and then go after wood. As
soon as the people came up, Black-skin moved into a corner and slept
there. One night, while Black-skin was bathing, he heard a whistle that
sounded to him like that of a loon. He thought, “Now that I am seen I
better let myself go.” So he went toward the place where he had heard
it and saw a short, thick-set man standing on the beach clothed in a
bear skin. This man ran down toward him, picked him up, and threw him
down upon the beach. Then he said, “You can’t do it yet. Don’t tell
anyone about me. I am Strength (Łatsīˊn). I have come to help you.”
Toward morning Black-skin came in feeling very happy, for he thought
that he had seen something great. He kept thinking of Strength all the
time. He could not forget him, but he was quieter than ever in his
demeanor. When they were playing in the house he would never pay any
attention, and, if they said mean things to him, he let them go on
unnoticed, although he belonged to the family of the chief. Anything
they wanted they asked him to get, and he got it. In olden times the
boys used to wrestle in the chief’s house while their elders looked on,
and they would try to get him to wrestle also. Sometimes the little
boys would wrestle with him, and he pretended that they pushed him
down. Then they would make fun of him saying, “The idea of a great man
like you being thrown by a child.”
When he went in bathing again, this man felt very happy for he knew
that he had strength. Anything hard to do, when he looked at it,
appeared easy to him. That night he heard the whistle once more. He
looked round and saw the same man, and the man said, “Come over this
way. Come over to me.” Then they seized one another, and as soon as the
short man felt his grip, he said, “Don’t throw me down. Now you have
strength. You are not to go into the water again. Go from here right
to that tree and try to pull the limb out.” So he went to the tree and
pulled it right out. Then he put it back again. After he had done so,
the man told him to go to the other tree. “Twist it right down to the
roots,” he said. So he did. Afterward he untwisted it and made it look
as before.
Just after he got to bed the people started in bathing. As they passed
him the boys would pull his hair saying, “Come on and go in bathing,
too;” but he paid no attention. After they had bathed they went up to
this limb as usual, and G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ pulled it out with ease. Black-skin
lay in bed, listening to the shouting they made. Then G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ ran to
the other tree and twisted it to the very root. When they came home,
they told the story to one another, saying, “G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ pulled out that
limb.” The chief himself felt very proud, and the people of the village
were very happy that he had done so, especially his two wives. Then
they tried to get Black-skin out of bed. They laughed at him, saying,
“Your chief has pulled out the limb. Why couldn’t you? He has also
twisted that tree. You sleep like a chief and let your chief go bathing
in the morning.” They laughed at him, saying, “He is sleeping in the
morning because he has pulled out that limb and twisted that tree.”
They had been bathing in order to hunt sea lions, so the young men
said, “To-morrow we are going after sea lions. I wonder which part of
the canoe Black-skin will sleep in. He is such a powerful fellow.”
And one boy said, “Why this Black-skin will sit in the bow of the
canoe so that he can land first. He will tear the sea lions in two.”
Black-skin listened to all this, but he paid no attention to them. The
whole town was going all day long to see the place where the limb had
been pulled off and the tree twisted down to the root. Those people
almost lived on this sea-lion meat, but it was very scarce and only
powerful people could get it. For this reason they picked out only the
strongest fellows from among those who had been bathing with the chief,
to go after them to the sea-lion island. This island was very slippery
because the sea lions stayed there all of the time and very few could
get up to the place where they were. That is why they went through such
hardships to get at them.
The elder of the chief’s two wives had had pity on Black-skin, and
would do little favors for him on the sly. So Black-skin, after he had
bathed secretly, came to his uncle’s wife and said, “Will you give
me a clean shirt; it doesn’t matter much what it is so long as it is
clean, and something for my hair?” “Are you asked to go?” she said. He
replied, “I am not asked, but I am going.” So she prepared food for
him and put it in as small a package as she could. All prepared and
got into the canoe. Last of all came down Black-skin, and, when they
saw him, they said, “Don’t let him come. Don’t let him come.” Seeing
that he was determined to get in they began pushing the canoe out as
fast as they could. Black-skin then seized the canoe, and they struck
his fingers to make him let go. It sounded like beating upon a board.
And, although all of them were shoving it out, he exerted a very little
of his strength, pulled the canoe back, and jumped in. Then the people
talked very meanly to him, but the chief said, “Oh! let him be. He will
bail out the canoe for us on the way over.” So he sat in the place
where one bails. The uncle might have suspected something after his
nephew had pulled back the canoe, but he did not appear to. As they
went rapidly out they said, “Black-skin came along to tear the sea
lions in two.” They asked him, “How many sea lions shall I skin for
you?” But Black-skin said nothing.
The sea-lion island had very precipitous sides against which great
waves came, so G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ waited until the canoe was lifted upon the
crest of a wave and then jumped ashore. He was a powerful fellow, and
seizing a small sea lion by the tail smashed its head to pieces on the
rocks. Then he thought he would do the same thing to a large one. These
large sea lions are called qǃᴀtǃ-cu-qāˊwu (men-of-the-islands). He went
to the very largest of these and sat astride of its tail, intending to
tear it in two, but the sea lion threw him up into the air, and, when
he came down, he was smashed to pieces on the rocks.
Now, when Black-skin saw what had happened to his uncle, he felt badly.
Then he put his hand into his bundle of clothes, took out and put on
his hair ornament and his shirt, while all watched him, and said, “I
am the man that pulled out that limb, and I am the man that twisted
that tree.” He spoke as high-caste Indians did in those days, and all
listened to him. He said to them, “Take the canoe closer to shore.”
Then he walked forward in the canoe, stepping on the seats which broke
under his weight, precipitating their occupants to the bottom of the
canoe. The young men that were sitting in his way he threw back as
if they had been small birds. Then the people were all frightened,
thinking that he would revenge himself on them for their meanness, but
he jumped ashore where his uncle had gone and walked straight up the
cliff. The small sea lions in his way he killed simply by hitting them
on the head and by stepping on them. He looked only at the big one
that had killed his uncle, for he did not want it to get away. When he
came to it, he seized it and tore it in two. A few of the sea lions
escaped, but he killed most of them and loaded the canoe down. While he
was doing this, however, his companions, who were very much ashamed of
themselves and very much frightened, paddled away and left him. They
said to the people in the town, “It was Black-skin who pulled out the
limb and twisted the tree.” Then the town people were troubled and
said, “Why did you leave him out there? Why didn’t you bring him in?”
Meanwhile Black-skin took out the sea-lion intestines and dried them.
He had nothing to make a fire with and did not know what he should do.
So he lay down and went to sleep, his head covered with his blanket.
Then he heard something that sounded like the beating of sticks.
Suddenly he was awakened by hearing someone say, “I have come after
you.” He looked around, but could not see anything except a black
duck which was swimming about in front of him. Then he saw the black
duck coming toward him and said to it, “I have seen you already.” It
answered, “I am sent after you. Get on my back but keep your eyes
closed tight.” So he did. Then the duck said again, “Now open your
eyes.” He opened them and saw that he was in a fine house. It was the
house of the sea lions. It is through this story that the natives to
the present day say that everything is like a human being. Each has
its “way of living.” Why do fish die on coming out of the water? It is
because they have a “way of living” of their own down there.
Meanwhile the elder wife of the chief, who had helped Black-skin, was
mourning for her husband and nephew. Her husband’s body was still on
that island. The older people were also saying to the people who had
left him, “Why did you do it? A powerful fellow like that is scarce. We
want such a fellow among us.” Then the widow begged the young men to go
back to the island and bring home her nephew and her husband’s body but
the younger wife did not care. Finally some other people did go out.
They saw the body there, but Black-skin was gone. Then they took aboard
the body, loaded the canoe with the bodies of sea lions, and went
home. When they heard of it the wise people all said that something
was wrong. The shamans said that he was not dead and that they would
see him again. They said that he was off with some wild animal. This
troubled the village people a great deal. They felt very badly to think
that he had kept himself so very lowly before the low-caste people, and
they feared that he was suffering somewhere again when he might just as
well have occupied his uncle’s place.
Black-skin, however, continued to stay among the sea lions. They looked
to him like human beings, but he knew who they really were. In the
same house there was a boy crying all the time with pain. The sea-lion
people could not see what ailed him. Black-skin, however, could see
that he had a barbed spear point in his side. Then one of the sea lions
spoke up saying, “That shaman there knows what is the matter. He is
saying, ‘How is it that they can not see the bone in the side of that
child?’” Then Black-skin said, “I am not a shaman, but I can take it
out.” So he cut it out and blood and matter came out with it. Then they
gave him warm water to wash the wound, and, since the young sea lion
belonged to high-caste people, they said to him, “Anything that you
want among us you can have.” So he asked for a box that always hung
overhead. This box was a kind of medicine to bring any kind of wind
wanted. The sea lions would push the box up and down on the water,
calling the wind to it like a dog, whistling and saying, “Come to this
box. Come to this box.” So the natives now whistle for the winds and
call them. Then the sea-lion people told Black-skin to get into it,
and, as soon as he did so, he saw that he was very far out at sea. He
began to call for the wind that blows shoreward, and it carried him
ashore. Then he got out of the box and hung it out on the limb of a
tree in a sheltered place. He did this because the sea-lion people had
told him to take very good care of that box and not go near anything
unclean with it.
Black-skin had now landed only a short distance from his own town, so
he walked home, and his uncle’s wife was very glad to see him, feeling
as if his uncle had come back. The dried sea-lion entrails he wore
around his head. Then he asked all of the town people to come together,
and the people who had been cruel to him were very much ashamed, for
they thought that he had gone for good. He, however, looked very fine.
He eyed his enemies angrily but thought thus, “If I had not made myself
so humble, they might not have treated me that way.” So he overlooked
it. Some of the people that had left him on the sea-lion island were so
frightened that they ran away into the woods. Some of the old people
and the good-hearted people were very glad that he was back, but he
could see that others hung their heads as if they were ashamed. Then he
said, “Some of you know how cruel you were to me. You know well that
you are ashamed of yourselves. But I can see that some of you feel good
because you know that you felt kindly toward me. It will always be the
case that people who are cruel to poor people will be ashamed of it
afterward.” They had thought that he would avenge himself on them, but
he talked to them in a very kindly manner saying, “Do not make fun of
poor people as you did when my uncle was alive.”[98]
* * * * *
After this the people went out hunting and encamped in a place called
Tayuˊkǃnᴀxe. A man went out from here with his brother and little son
one day, and, when they returned, saw that every one had disappeared.
They felt very badly and said, “What is wrong with our village?” Then
they saw that the whole town was covered with devilfish slime and
said, “It is that monster devilfish that has done all this.” People
say that he had seen the red glow of the salmon on the drying frames
outside. Then the two men said to the boy with them, “You must stay
here. We are going off.” So they made a mat house over him and let
him have their blankets. They were wild at the thought of having lost
all their friends. Then they killed a number of porpoises and seals,
went to the devilfish’s place and threw them into the water above him.
After a while they saw that the water was getting frothy around them
with ascending bubbles and presently saw the devilfish coming up. It
looked very white. One of these men was making a noise like the raven;
the other was acting like a dog salmon. All that went on was observed
by the little boy. As soon as the devilfish reached the surface they
jumped upon it with their knives and began slashing it. They cut its
ink bag and all the water became black. The devilfish and the men died.
Soon after this had happened a canoe from another camp came there, saw
this object floating on the sea some distance out from the village, and
thought that it was yet alive; so they hurried to get past it. When
they came ashore the boy told them all that had happened, and they
cried very much at seeing him there alone, for he was their relative.
After this they returned with him to their camp, which was situated
upon an island near by, and told the story there, on which two canoe
loads of people left to look for the devilfish. After they had found it
and had cut it open with their stone axes, they saw the two men still
inside, knife in hand. All the village people that the devilfish had
eaten were also there. Then they took the bodies back to town and had a
death feast.[99]
* * * * *
Later on a chief’s daughter at the place named Qǃᴀqᴀˊx-duūˊ obtained
a wood worm (ʟǃuqǃuˊx) as a pet and fed it on different kinds of oil.
It grew very fast until it reached the length of a fathom. Then she
composed a cradle song for it: “It has a face already. Sit right here.
Sit right here (Kǃesi-yaˊkǃᵘ ᴀˊsgî. Tcǃayāˊkǃ ᴀˊnu).” She sang again,
“It has a mouth already. Sit right here. Sit right here.” They would
hear her singing these words day after day, and she would come out from
her room only to eat. Then her mother said to her, “Stay out here once
in a while. Do not sit back there always.” They wondered what was wrong
with her that she always stayed inside, and at last her mother thought
that she would spy upon her daughter. She looked inside, therefore, and
saw something very large between the boxes. She thought it an awful
monster, but left it alone, because her daughter was fond of it.
Meanwhile the people of the town had been missing oil from their boxes
for some time, for this worm was stealing it. The mother kept saying to
her daughter, “Why don’t you have something else for a pet? That is a
horrible thing to have for a pet.” But her daughter only cried.
Now, the people got ready to kill this thing, and they tried in every
way to induce the girl to come away from her house. Her mother told
her that her uncle’s wife wanted her help, but, although she was very
fond of her, that was not sufficient to get her out. Next morning she
said to the big worm, “Son, I have had a very bad dream.” After they
had begged her to come out day after day she finally came. “Mother,”
she said, “get me my new marten robe.” Then she tied a rope around her
waist as a belt and came out singing a song she had been composing
ever since they first began to beg her: “I have come out at last. You
have begged me to come out. I have come out at last, you have begged
me so hard, but it is just like begging me to die. My coming out from
my pet is going to cause death.” As she sang she cried, and the song
made the people feel very badly. Then she heard a great uproar and said
to her uncle’s wife, “They are killing my son at last.” “No,” said her
uncle’s wife, “it is a dog fight.” “No, they are killing him.” They had
quite a time killing the worm, and when she heard that it was dead she
sang, “They got me away from you, my son. It isn’t my fault. I had to
leave you. They have killed you at last. They have killed you. But you
will be heard of all over the world. Although I am blamed for bringing
you up, you will be claimed by a great clan and be looked up to as
something great.” And to this day, when that clan is feasting, they
start her four songs. This clan is the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî. Then she went to
her father and said, “Let that pet of mine be burned like the body of a
human being. Let the whole town cut wood for it.” So they did, and it
burned just like coal oil.
Another of this woman’s songs was, “You will be a story for the time
coming. You will be told of.” This is where the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî come from.
No one outside of them can use this worm. What causes so many wars
is the fact that there are very many people having nothing who claim
something. The G̣ānᴀxteˊdî also own Black-skin. They represent him on
poles with the sea-lions’ intestines around his head.
The girl’s father felt very badly that she should care for so ugly a
creature, but to please her and make her feel better, he gave a feast
along with tobacco and said, “If my daughter had had anything else for
a pet, I would have taken good care of it, too, but I feared that it
would injure the village later on, so I had to have it killed.”
* * * * *
In the town where this occurred a man named Sǃāwᴀˊn became a shaman.
He told the people to leave and go somewhere else because spirits
were saying in him, “If you stay in this village, you will all die.”
There was so much respect for shamans in those days that people obeyed
everything that they told them to do. By and by his spirit said to the
shaman, “You will be asked to go somewhere, my master. My masters, the
people of the village, do you go away with me?” And the village people
kept saying to him, “Yes, we are going along with you.” Then the spirit
said, “The persons that are going to invite me from here are not human
beings. They are already getting ready to come.”
By and by the canoe came after him. He seemed to know that there was
something about to happen, and said, “Somehow or other you people look
strange.” He put all of his things into small boxes ready to depart.
Then he got in and they covered him with a mat until they reached
their village, when he got up and saw some fine houses. The fronts
were beautifully painted. Among these houses was one with a crowd of
people in front which they tried to make him believe was that where
the sick person lay. His rattle and belt, however, ran up on the shore
ahead of him and entered the proper house, which was in another part of
the town. These people were land otters, and they called him by name,
“Sǃāwᴀˊn, Sǃāwᴀˊn.” They said to him, “All the shamans among us have
been doctoring him, and they can not do a thing. They can not see what
is killing him. That is why we have asked you to come.”
Then the shaman thought within himself, “Who will sing my songs for
me?” but the land otters spoke out, saying, “We can sing your songs.
Don’t be worried.” Inside of this house there hung a breastplate made
out of carved bones, such as a shaman used in his spiritual combats.
The land otters saw that he wanted it and said, “We will pay you that
for curing him.” Then the shaman began to perform. He could see that
the land otter was made sick by an arrow point sticking in its side,
but this was invisible to the land otters. After he had pulled it
out, the sick otter, who belonged to the high-caste people, sat up
immediately and asked for something to eat. The shaman kept the arrow
point, however, because it was made of copper, and copper was very
expensive in those days.
Then one of the land-otter shamans said to him, “I will show you
something about my spirits.” And so he did. He saw some very strange
things. When he was shown one kind of spirit, the land otter said, “You
see that. That is Sickness (Nīkǃ).” What he called Sickness was the
spirit of a clam. These clams look to the spirits like human beings.
That is why the spirits are so strong. He also showed him the Spirit of
the Sea (Dekīˊna yēk), the Spirit of the Land (Dāˊqna-yēk), the Spirit
from Above (Kīyēˊgî), and the Spirit from Below (Hāỵīˊnᴀq-yēk). All
these became the man’s spirits afterward.
Nowadays, when a man wants to become a shaman, he has to cut the tongue
of a land otter and fast for eight days. You can tell a shaman who has
been fasting a great deal because his eyes become very sharp.
After he had shown all of the spirits, they said, “We will take you to
your town any time you want to go.” Then they took him to his own town.
They had to cover him up again.
The people of Sǃāwᴀˊn’s village were always looking for him, and one
day four men in a canoe saw something far out on the shore which looked
very strange. A number of sea gulls were flying around it. Going
closer, they saw the shaman lying there on a long sandy beach, the
gulls around him. They did not know of any sandy bay at that point,
and said that it was the shaman that brought it up there. They then
took him into the canoe and brought him over. He was so thin that
he appeared to have fasted a long time. After they got him home the
spirits began mentioning their names, saying, “I am Spirit of the Sea;
I am Spirit of the Land,” etc. Every time a spirit mentioned his name,
the people would start its songs.
* * * * *
This is the last thing that happened in the Raven story. From this time
on everything is about spirits (yēk) over and over again. Very few
people believed in Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł. Most believed in the spirits. From
the time that these come into the story you hear little about Raven
because people had so much more faith in spirits. You notice that in
every Tlingit town in Alaska there are shamans, and years ago, when a
shaman died, there was always one right after him, and he was always
of the same family. It is through these that the Raven story has been
getting less and less.
FOOTNOTES:
[50] See story 1. Into this story, as will be seen, the writer’s
informant has woven a large portion of the sacred myths of his people.
[51] In another place the writer’s informant admitted that he had
concluded this must be the case, because there were no bad stories
about Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł.
[52] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, p. 454.
[53] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, pp. 460 to 463.
[54] See story 5.
[55] This is an error, Łᴀxaỵîˊk being a general term for the Yakutat
country and people.
[56] The writer’s informant added, “In our days when a person is making
a living dishonestly by lying and stealing he is not told so directly,
but this story is brought up to him and everyone knows what it means.”
[57] “When older people were giving their children advice they would
bring up this part of the story and tell them not to be greedy and
selfish, but honest. They would say they did not want them to be like
Raven, who ate up all his playmates’ fat. When people went about
trading they would also bring up this story to a person who wanted to
make all the profit himself. They would tell him he was like Raven, who
wanted to enjoy everything himself.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[58] “This episode is brought up to a child people desire to make
honest. They say that just as these goods were taken back from Raven,
and he was made to feel shame at having been discovered, a thief will
always be found out. If the child becomes a thief when he grows up,
they tell him that he will be classed among the very lowest no matter
how well born he was. They also tell the little ones that there is a
Creator watching them all the time, just as these ghosts watched. The
Raven could not see them, but they saw him. They say that a person
who does evil things is like a crippled or deformed person, for he
has disgraced his family. They tell them that a person who gets that
low is nobody and that the Creator despises him.” (From the writer’s
informant.)
[59] What immediately follows was probably considered by my informant
too indecent to relate.
[60] “This episode is referred to when a person takes after a bad
father. They say to him, ‘Why do you take after your father? Everybody
knows that you are his child. Can’t you take another road and do better
than he did?’” (From the writer’s informant.)
[61] According to some people this house was drawn ashore at the
Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî village.
[62] See story 3.
[63] “This story is referred to in drawing the moral that one should
never do anything spiteful or try to get ahead of one who knows better.
If he does he will always get the worst of it. This is why in olden
times the Indians looked up to the chiefs and those of high caste,
knowing that they had been brought up and instructed better than
themselves, and never tried to get ahead of them.
“It is also brought up to the people how Fire-drill’s son fed the young
hawks instead of killing them. If a young person is very cruel they say
to him, ‘If the hawk can be made a friend of mankind, why can not you
make friends with your enemies? If you want to be respected do not make
enemies, but friends always.’
“They tell the young people that a bad fellow is always like the
one-eyed man, trying to get advantage of a good person. He is quick
to say whatever comes into his mind, while the good man always thinks
first. Therefore whatever the latter says people know is right. They
ask their children to choose which of the two they would rather
resemble.
“Because the one-eyed man said, ‘I did not kill your uncles or your
mother’s friends,’ a murderer nowadays will never come out and say, ‘I
am the one who killed that man.’ He always tries to make an innocent
person suffer. As the one-eyed man’s wife invited this boy to have
something to eat in Footnote: order to kill him, so a bad person says
whatever he chooses to a good one. But they tell their children, ‘This
will not kill you. They are doing themselves injury instead of you. So
turn and walk away from them.’
“If a poor person has self-respect, he will have good fortune some
time, just as in the case of the two old women to whom Raven brought
fortune.
“The example of Fire-drill’s son is commended because he did not use
his power meanly. He knew that he was very powerful, but when all the
animals tried his power he did not do them any harm. He did not want
to show his strength at once. If he had been a mean man he might have
killed the old woman that lived back in the woods instead of helping
her and getting her food.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[64] Katishan added that once while Fire-drill’s son was chasing
Dry-cloud he was pulled into a village in the sky for some offense and
punished there. Since then people have believed that the stars are
inhabited. They were thought to be towns and the light the reflection
of the sea.
[65] Near the site of the Presbyterian School.
[66] A conspicuous bowlder with flat, smooth top nearly in front of the
Presbyterian Indian School.
[67] In another place, however, Katishan suggested that it might have
been named from łēqǃ, his red-cod blanket. The word cᴀqǃ must be an old
term for dog or some variety of dog.
[68] Probably the wren.
[69] See stories 3 and 97.
[70] “The disobedience of the young woman in looking up contrary to
the directions of her brothers is brought up to girls at that period
in life. This is why they do whatever their mothers tell them at
that time, and do not displease their brothers. They always think of
Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s sister. So this part of the story always taught them to be
obedient.
Anciently we were taught commandments similar to those of the whites.
Don’t look down on a person because he is proud. Don’t look down
on a low-caste person. Don’t steal. Don’t lie.” (From the writer’s
informant.)
[71] “So nowadays, when a person wants people to think he knows a great
deal and says, ‘I am very old,’ they will answer, ‘If Sculpin could not
make Raven believe he was so old and knew so much, neither can you make
us believe it of you. An older person will come along and show you to
the world as the sculpin is seen now.’ So, to-day, when children go out
in the evening, they will say, ‘There is that sculpin up there.’”
[72] “When a child was lazy and disobedient, they told him how the
halibut fishermen got up into the sky for their laziness. Therefore the
children were afraid of being lazy.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[73] “This is brought up to a child to prevent him from being a
murderer in secret, or a coward.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[74] “This episode is brought up when one who was the enemy of a dead
man is seen to act as if he were very sad in the house where his body
lies. People say to one another, ‘He is acting as Raven did when he
killed his friend the deer.’ It is also applied to a person who is
jealous of one who is well brought up and in good circumstances.
When such a person dies he will act like Raven.” (From the writer’s
informant.)
[75] “This episode used to be brought up to girls of 14 or 15 who
wanted to run about to feasts and other festivities without their
mothers or grandmothers. Such girls were told that they were like Raven
when he was imprisoned in the ground-hog hole and wanted to get out.
Those who stayed indoors were respected by everybody. They also likened
Raven to a foolish girl who tries to lead a good girl, Ground-hog,
astray. They told the latter that some injury would result, as happened
to Ground-hog in losing his toes. When a mother saw that her daughter
was willing to listen to a foolish girl, she would say to her,
‘Whatever that foolish girl leads you to will be seen on you as long as
you live.’” (From the writer’s informant.)
[76] “When a young man was about to marry, people would bring this
story up to him and tell him that if he did not take care of his wife
and once forgot himself, he might lose her. If his wife were a good
woman and he treated her right, he would have money and property, but
if he were mean to her, he would lose it. And if he lost his wife and
had been good to her, he could get another easily.” (From the writer’s
informant.)
[77] “As Tsᴀgwâˊn was a mischief maker and followed Raven to tell
what he had done to his wife, so some man will always follow one up
if he doesn’t tell the truth. Formerly, when a man left his wife, a
settlement of property was made and, if a man married again before this
took place, his first wife made trouble for his second. Since no one
wants trouble of this kind, a woman always found out what a man was
like before she married him, just as this woman found out about Raven.
“Since Dᴀmnāˊdjî married a woman of higher family than himself and was
taunted by the town people, nowadays they tell a young man that, if
he marries a girl of higher rank than himself, they will not remain
together long, because she will feel above him and want him to please
her continually, while she does nothing to please him. As Dᴀmnāˊdjî
from being poor became rich suddenly and was very hard on his people
till all of his riches were again taken away from him, they say, ‘When
you become wealthy after having been poor, don’t be proud or your money
will all leave you.’ When a man has had plenty of money all his life
and wastes it foolishly, they say of him, ‘He has fallen from the hands
of the brant. So a young man nowadays saves up a considerable sum of
money before he marries that he may not be made fun of. Perhaps if we
had not had this story among the natives of Alaska we would have had
nothing to go by.
“The fact that Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s wife’s relations did not insult or maltreat
him after they learned how poor he was, shows that they were really
high caste. Had they but recently acquired their wealth they would
have done so. Therefore people say to a person who speaks before he
thinks, ‘Why can’t you be like Dᴀmnāˊdjî’s brothers-in-law? Think
before you speak.’ When the village people were making fun of their
brother-in-law, his wife’s relations might have done anything to them,
for they had wealth in furs and slaves, but they kept quiet because
they had too much respect for their sister to disgrace her husband’s
village people. It was also out of respect for their sister that, when
they found out that all that the poor man had for them to drink was
water, they drank it willingly without saying a word, where a low-caste
person would have grumbled. Therefore people tell a man who has no
respect for his brother-in-law because he is low-caste that he ought to
be like these brothers-in-law of Dᴀmnāˊdjî. Because Dᴀmnāˊdjî was lucky
twice, the people in olden times used to pray for luck continually.
If he wanted to be lucky a poor man lived a very pure life. Those who
do not do what is right never will have luck.” (From the writer’s
informant.)
[78] “This part of the story was referred to when one wished to imply
that a person was trying to make people believe that he was better than
he really was. So nowadays, when a high-caste man wants to marry an
orphan, people find out who her father is, because Raven made believe
her own father was a chief. Some women will go off to a strange place
and say falsely, ‘I am so-and-so’s daughter,’ making people think that
she belongs to a very high family. The same sort of woman will assume
mourning for her husband, and make people believe she is mourning when
she is really thinking what she is going to do and where she is going.
If she finds out she can get her living falsely, she will keep on being
false. That is why Raven told so many stories about her husband’s
death. When a mother sees that her girl is very foolish, she will
say to her, ‘When you marry and become a widow, you will eat up your
husband’s body,’ meaning that, if her husband leaves her any property,
she will use it up foolishly. She also says to her, ‘You are so foolish
now, I believe you will steal after you are married,’ meaning that she
will be foolish with what her husband earns. Then, she says, ‘They will
find you out by finding something of yours in the place where you have
been, and it will be a disgrace to your brothers and your father.’”
(From the writer’s informant.)
[79] “This is the way nowadays with persons who have no respect for
themselves. They go from house to house to be fed by others, and such
persons are greedy, great eaters, and lazy. The people tell their
children that those who lead this kind of life are not respected. A
person who tells the truth is always known because he keeps his word.
When Katishan was a boy, they used to say to him when they could not
make him do anything, ‘You are so lazy that you will be left in some
village alone.’ [It is said that Raven comes along and helps one
abandoned in a village.] This is why the Tlingit tried hard to earn
their living and make things comfortable for themselves.” (From the
writer’s informant.)
[80] “So it is always said, ‘A lazy man will be known wherever he
goes.’ Such a person will go from place to place living on others and
perhaps bringing in a few pails of water or some wood for his food,
but however high-caste he is, he will be looked down upon. Therefore
the little ones were taught to stay in their native place and make
their living there, instead of wandering from town to town. To this
day the high-caste Indians do so and visit in other towns only for a
short time. Then people say ‘Look at so-and-so. He stays in his own
village.’” (From the writer’s informant.)
[81] “Nowadays it is said that although a wicked man may appear very
nice he will soon be found out. Some little act will betray him.” (From
the writer’s informant.)
[82] “So nowadays a man that has invited people previously is paid
first, receiving more than he had given. If he thinks that he has
received more than he ought he gives another feast. When we now look
back at this it looks as though these people were fighting to see which
family was highest.
“When a man has invited people and they are coming in toward the town
he himself remains in the house. Then some of his relations come and
pound on the door and say to him, ‘Why are you staying in the house?
You are acting like a coward. Your enemies are coming.’ So the host
comes out with his bow and arrows, or nowadays his gun, and says,
‘Where are those enemies you were telling me about?’ ‘There they are
out there in that canoe.’ ‘Those are not my enemies. That is a crowd
of women in that canoe. Years ago my relations invited them.’ He calls
them women when his people had invited them twice without a return
invitation. The people that are going to give the feast study what they
are to say before they have it, and they never let outsiders know what
it is. As the visitors’ canoe approached shore they might say, ‘What
is that I see out there?’ Then one would look and reply, ‘That is a
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt.’ They call it a G̣onaqᴀdēˊt because they know that that
party will give a feast and invite them in return.[83] They also have
songs ready to sing at the very beginning of the feast, and, when such
a song is started it shows that the feast will be a big one.” (From the
writer’s informant.)
[83] To see a G̣onaqᴀdēˊt brought wealth to the beholder.
[84] “Some people call this woman Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł’s wife and some his
daughter, but I have always heard that she was his daughter.” (From the
writer’s informant.)
[85] A short version of this part of the story was related to me by
my Sitka interpreter who had obtained it from his wife. According to
this, a man had a wife of whom he was very jealous. People wanted to
get to her and marry her, but he guarded her very closely. Finally a
man reached her and pulled aside her arms, letting free all of the land
animals and sea creatures she had been keeping there. That was why her
husband was so jealous about her. Afterward the husband raised a flood,
but one man heard of it and made a big canoe to which others attached
theirs, and all went up together. He also took two animals of each
species into his canoe. This last is evidently a Christian addition. By
some the jealous husband is said to have been Loon.
[86] Cf. story 96.
[87] Said to be the Tsimshian word for G̣onaqᴀdēˊt.
[88] “Eagle feathers are often referred to nowadays in speeches. Thus
people will say to one who is mourning, ‘You have been cold. Therefore
I bring you these feathers that have been handed down from generation
to generation.’ When peace is about to be made one man is selected
called the ‘deer’ (Qōwakāˊn) because the deer is a very gentle animal.
When a man is so taken he is supposed to be like the deer, and he has
to be very careful what he says. Eagle feathers are put upon his head
because they are highly valued. The songs he starts while dancing are
those sung when the people were preserved from some danger, or at the
time of the flood. He does not sing anything composed in time of war.
They also called the ‘deer’ the ‘sun deer’ (g̣ᴀgāˊn qōwakāˊn), because
the sun is very pleasant to see and never does anybody any harm. Some
called him ‘fort deer’ (Nu qōwakāˊn), because people are safe in a
fort. For this office a high-caste person was always selected.” (From
the writer’s informant.) Cf. _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology_, p. 451.
[89] “I have always wondered what this part of the story means but was
never told. It must have been because we were going to have steamboats.
Every now and then at the present time something happens like things in
the stories. The poor people always had luck in those days, and I have
always wondered what it meant. Years ago, too, we used to hear the old
people say, ‘There will be no slaves. Those that have been slaves are
going to feel themselves above the real high-caste Indians.’ And sure
enough nowadays the people that have come from slaves are very proud,
while the race of nobles is dying out. They are protected by law and
know that nothing harmful can be said to them. We heard of this years
ago.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[90] “Some people are like this nowadays. They are very poor but are so
used to the life that they can not see it, and so used to filth that
they do not notice it.” (From the writer’s informant.)
[91] For another version of this part, see story 89.
[92] Actually it is from the Kwakiutl word ʟūˊkoala. Katishan calls it
Tsimshian because the Tlingit received their secret societies through
them.
[93] See pp. 90–91.
[94] Said to be a Haida name.
[95] It appears from examples that no such uniformity really exists.
[96] In this paragraph are seen the effects of missionary teachings.
[97] See story 11.
[98] Story 93 is another version of this tale.
[99] See story 11 and story 29 (first part).
32. KAKĒˊQǃᵘTÊ[100]
A Huna man named Kakēˊqǃᵘtê and his wife were paddling along in a canoe
about midnight in search of seals, and he kept hearing a noise around
his head like that made by a bird. Finally he hit the creature with his
hand and knocked it into the canoe. It was shaped like a bird, only
with eyelids hanging far over, and its name is Sleep (Tᴀ). He gave this
to his wife saying, “Here, you can keep this for your own.” So she gave
it to her relatives, who built a house called Sleep house (Tᴀ hît). All
the poles in it were carved to resemble this bird.
The man got very tired after that without being able to sleep, until
at last he ran away into the forest. He walked along there, came to a
big glacier, and walked along upon that. After he had traveled for some
time he came across a small creek in which he discovered eulachon. He
roasted some on sticks before the fire. After he had thought over the
problem for a while, he made a small fish trap with a hole in it for
the fish to enter. The trap was soon filled with a multitude of fishes.
Then he took all out, dug a hole in the ground, and placed the fish
there. He was glad to think that he could get something to eat, so he
remained in that place.
One day, while he was roasting fish, he saw eight Athapascans
(G̣oˊnana), and knew from that that he was in the interior. These men
wore nice fur clothing and had their faces painted. Kakēˊqǃᵘtê became
frightened and ran into the woods, leaving his fish roasting by the
fire. Afterward the eight men acted as though they were calling him,
so he climbed up into a tree and watched them. They did not know where
he had gone. Then the men sat down and ate his fish, after which they
stuck a copper-pointed arrow into the ground where each roasting stick
had been. This was the first time a Tlingit had seen copper.
Next day the same men came back. They were dressed much better, and two
nice-looking women were with them. Then they called to him saying, “You
have brought us good luck, so we want you to be our friend. If you will
come and stay with us you can have either of these sisters of ours.” So
he came down from the tree where he had been hiding, went with them,
and married both of their sisters.
Now they took him to the place from which they got their fish and
showed him how they did it. It was by making deadfalls in the water,
in which they caught only one small fish at a time. Kakēˊqǃᵘtê was
surprised to see how hard they worked to get a fish. If a man were
lucky he would get perhaps forty or fifty very small fishes.
Now, Kakēˊqǃᵘtê ordered all in the village to procure young trees that
were very limber and to split them into long pieces. He told them to
whittle these down very smooth, and sat in the middle to show them how.
Then he got some roots and tied the sticks together. The name of this
trap is tǃītx̣. It is shaped like a barrel with the inner entrance just
small enough for the fish to pass through. At the mouth of this trap a
weir is run across the stream.
The whole village worked with him fixing the traps. Finally they cut
posts to fasten them to and placed them at that point in the river
which the tide reaches. When the tide went down they went to look at
them and found them full of eulachon. Before they could never get
enough of these fishes but now there were plenty for the poor, who
formerly could obtain none. Even the old people were cutting and drying
some to put in holes and make oil out of. Some filled twenty boxes with
oil, some thirty. Some boxes of this kind weigh 150 pounds, some 100,
some 50, some 20. Before his time the people of that village could
not sleep, because they had to run down to their traps very often to
look at their deadfalls, but after he came they had a very easy time.
Therefore the whole village was pleased with him, looked upon him as a
very high-caste person, and would do as he told them.
By and by the salmon season came. The people there had copper-pointed
salmon spears (kᴀt) with handles of fine, thin wood, but the water was
so muddy that they could spear only by means of the ripple marks, and
often got but one or two a day. The most that any man obtained was
three.
Kakēˊqǃᵘtê watched and knew that he could help them. He always traveled
around with his wives’ brothers, and wherever they went the people
followed, for they thought that he knew how to get salmon. He inquired
if this were the only way they knew of to catch salmon, and they said,
“Yes, this is the only way except that when they get in a shallow place
we can club them.” One of his brothers-in-law also said to him, “The
only time we can obtain salmon is when they are very old and their
flesh is turning white. Then the water is low, and they go near the
shore where we can see them. We can also get them at that time from the
little creeks that come into the river.” Now Kakēˊqǃᵘtê took the spear
from his brother-in-law and taught him how to feel along the river for
salmon and catch them on the barbs as soon as they were felt. In half
an hour he had six salmon. All the people of the village were looking
on. Then he said to his brother-in-law, “You can feel them very easily.
They are slippery. When you feel anything slippery, do not be in too
great hurry and be careful not to go under the salmon. When you first
put your spear into the water you will feel the ground and you will
raise it up from the ground and move it along. I know how to make a
salmon trap, too. I will show you that to-morrow. To-day we can not do
it.”
Next day the whole village went to work making salmon traps. Again he
asked them to get young trees and split them. All did as he told them.
They made eighteen traps that day. They got roots and split them, and
all worked taking the bark off. The whole village imitated Kakēˊqǃᵘtê,
watching his every movement. Next day they put the traps into the
water, and all were very anxious about them, even the women sitting
along the shore watching. Some of the poor people, who knew that they
would result similarly to the first traps he had made, were so anxious
to see them that they could not sleep. The day before all of the women
sat down to make ropes in the manner he showed them, and each went to
the traps next morning provided with one. When they got there they
found every one of them loaded with salmon. All the people in the town,
old and young, went to see these traps. While they were emptying the
traps and stringing some of the salmon, others would be coming in,
and it made the whole village happy. Then Kakēˊqǃᵘtê distributed the
salmon, for everyone thought that it belonged to him. He gave to the
poor people, who had never before tasted salmon, and he said to the
wealthy, “Don’t feel offended that I give them as much as you for they
need it as much. To-morrow and the day after we will have it.”
At this time of the year they never got any salmon to dry. If one got
a salmon he ate it at once. Only when the salmon was old did they dry
it. Each man had a place where he speared salmon, and no one dared go
there. Those spots were all named. When they got salmon from the traps
they were all rich, and they were glad to have a supply so early in the
season. Before they had these traps they ate every part of the salmon,
all the insides, the heart, etc., but after they had had the traps for
a few days you could see along the beach various parts of the fish, as
the heads, and even some good parts, where they had been thrown away.
After they were through drying their salmon they had enough for a year,
and they stored them all away in boxes.
That fall the Athapascans went up among the valleys for ground hogs,
each man having his own place, where no one else was allowed to
intrude. That day only one came from the very best spots and in the
whole village there were but three. Kakēˊqǃᵘtê watched how they got
them. Ground hogs were valued even by the coast people on account of
the blankets made of their skins. Then he asked them, “Is this the
only way you get your ground-hog meat?” “Yes,” they said, “this is
the only way.” Then he sat right down and began carving some pieces
of wood, while everybody watched him, believing that whatever he did
would succeed. He asked the women to make hide thongs. All sat down to
do it, and with them he made slip-nooses to be placed at the mouths
of the ground-hog burrows. Then he said, “I don’t want anyone to go
over there. Keep away from the traps.” So they did, and the morning
after he went out among his traps accompanied by all of the people. In
each trap was a ground hog, and he gave every man in the village five.
Even when they had killed three, the meat was distributed so that all
had at least a taste of the broth. They remained in this place just
three days, and he killed them off so in that time they had to move to
another. Each valley was claimed by some man, who had a special tree
there on which his dried meat was hung, and every time they moved to a
new valley they left the meat hanging on the limbs of the tree in the
place abandoned.
Then the people started for home, carrying their meat along with them.
They would carry part of it a certain distance and go back for more,
and repeat the process until all was down on the beach. After that he
told them how to prepare their food to keep it over winter. He told
them to get their cooking baskets and cook their meat well. After it
was cooked, he told them to put it on sticks high up in the house and
dry it in the smoke. When it was dried, he asked them to take it down
and put it in oil for the winter. One family would have from four to
six boxes of such dried meat. Before this man came they did not know
how to do that. They ate everything as soon as it was procured, and it
was very hard for them to get enough. Kakēˊqǃᵘtê also saw the women
going after berries and eating them at once. If they kept any very long
they would spoil on their hands. Then he said, “Don’t you know how to
preserve berries for winter?” “No,” they replied. So he showed them
how to dry these and how to cook the different kinds of berries and
preserve them in grease.
Before his time the Athapascans did not know how to put up their winter
food. They would stay on the spot where they had killed a moose until
it was eaten up. That was why they were always in want. The Athapascans
were very wild and did not seem to have any sense. Before Kakēˊqǃᵘtê
came among them these people were always hunting, but now they stayed
in one place and had an easy time. A person went hunting only for
amusement in case he got tired of staying in doors. Before this, too,
they did not have a taste of berries after the berry season. They ate
them on the bushes like the birds. Now, however, they have plenty all
the year round. They used to live in winter on dried salmon and what
meat they could get. If they could get nothing while hunting, many died
of starvation.
When spring came on, Kakēˊqǃᵘtê also showed them a certain tree and
said, “Don’t you know how to take off the bark of this tree and use
it?” They replied that they never knew it could be eaten. So he took
a limb from a hemlock, sharpened it, and showed them how to take off
the hemlock bark. After that he took big mussel shells (yīsǃ) from his
sack and said, “Do you see these. This is the way to take it off.”
After he had obtained quite a pile of bark, he showed them how to eat
it, and they thought that it was very nice, because it was so sweet.
Then he sharpened some large bear bones on a rough rock, gave one to
each woman and said, “Use it as I have used the shell.” Each woman’s
husband or son stripped the bark off of the tree, and the women sat
down with their daughters to help them and separated the good part. He
was teaching the people there to live as do those down on the ocean.
Next Kakēˊqǃᵘtê collected a lot of skunk cabbage, dug a hole in the
ground, and lined it with flints, while all stood about watching him.
Then he made a fire on top of these rocks to heat them, and afterwards
threw a little water upon them, filling up the remainder of the pit
with successive layers of skunk cabbage and hemlock bark. Over all he
spread earth and made a fire above. He left just so much fire on it
all night. All the village people were looking on and getting wood for
him.
Now the people felt very happy to see how well they had gotten through
the winter and that they were learning to put up more food. The younger
people would dance all day. In the morning they were asked to go out
and uncover the hole. He uncovered his own first. It was so savory that
the whole village was scented with it. Then he tasted it, found it
sweet, and asked the rest of the village to taste it. The rumor of its
excellence spread all over town, and so many came to try it that before
he knew it half of his bark was gone. All the people of the village
were burying bark as he had done.
After he had taken the bark out a quantity of water was left, which
they poured into their dishes. Then he put the cooked bark into a dish
and pounded it with a masher. After that he pressed the cakes very
hard and made a hole in one corner of each in order to hang it up. The
cakes dried very quickly. Some cakes they put away dry, and some that
were dried very hard they put into oil. After they had been in oil for
several months he took them out and ate them. They tasted very good. He
also showed how to use those that had been put away dry. He took them
out and boiled some water for them, after which he soaked some in it.
They tasted altogether different from those that had been in the oil.
Next Kakēˊqǃᵘtê showed the people how to put up a certain root (tsǃēt)
found on sand flats and taken before tops come upon it. Geese also live
upon this root. He collected a lot of this and brought it to his wives,
asking them whether they ate it. They said they did not, and when they
had tasted it they found it very sweet. This root tastes like sweet
potatoes. Then the people took their canoes and went to get these roots
for their winter’s food. Each carried a hardwood stick with sharpened
ends. He said, “This is women’s work or for boys and girls. It is
easy. Where I come from the women do that.” After they had dug many
roots he showed them how to dry these. He tied up a bunch of them and
on top another until he had made a long string. Then he hung them up
where they could dry quickly. He cooked them in pots. After the water
is poured off from them they move around as if alive, and for that
reason Tlingit widows do not eat them, fearing that they will make them
nervous. After being cooked in pots they taste just as if fresh.
He also showed them how to put up a root called sǃîn, which he pounded
up and pressed into cakes like the bark. They are soaked like the
others and also eaten with oil. He showed them as well how to kill
seals and prepare their flesh. For the next winter they prepared more
than for the winter preceding. That fall, after the food was all put
away, they went into the interior after furs. He showed them how to
catch animals by means of deadfalls with fat as bait. Before his time
the only way they had gotten their furs was with bow and arrow. They
used to chase bears with dogs and shoot them after hours spent in
pursuit. Now they obtained very many furs and made numbers of blankets
out of them.
After he had shown the Athapascans all these things Kakēˊqǃᵘtê said,
“Now I want to go to my native town.” At first they were not willing
to have him leave, but he asked so persistently that they finally
consented. Before they sent him away, however, they took him away and
obtained some small coppers for him. After that they got everything
ready and set out the following winter. As they paddled on they could
see the places where he had camped during the hard time he had had
after he left his own village. He asked the people to go up with him
along the same trail he had taken through the woods. By that route they
came to Grass Creek (Tcūˊkᴀn-hīn), to the place he had left, but, when
they came down, the people of that village were afraid of them. These
were the Tcūkᴀneˊdî, Kāˊgwᴀntān, Wuckitāˊn, Koskǃēˊdî, Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān,
ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî, and Qǃᴀtǃkaāˊỵî.
By and by one of the Tcūkᴀneˊdî came out right opposite them and said,
“What are you coming here for, you land-otter people? We are not the
people who have been making medicine for you.” When they saw that
those people did not care to receive them they went back through the
woods to the town of the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî. The ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî saw that they
had coppers, and took them away. Then the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî said, “You are
going to be our people.” Each man took a man out of the canoe and said,
“You will be my friend.” That was the way they used to do. They would
take away a person’s goods and then give him just what they wanted
to. The Athapascans were foolish enough to allow it. Afterward the
Tcūkᴀneˊdî felt that they were unlucky in not having taken the visitors
in themselves. Therefore, when a person is unlucky nowadays, they say
of him, “He sent the Athapascans away.” Because they did this the
Tcūkᴀneˊdî are below all other Tlingit families. That was what brought
them bad luck, and that is also how the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî became very rich.
They got a claim on the place where the copper plates come from.
Next spring the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî went right to the mouth of Copper river.
They made a village there at once and called it Kosǃēˊxka. One of
the mountains there they called Tsᴀłxāˊn and another Masǃīˊca. All
along where they went they gave names. A certain creek was called
Nᴀˊgᴀkᵘ-hīn, and they came to a lake which they named Łtūˊa. Then they
went to a river called Ałsēˊx, at the mouth of which they established
a town and named it Kosǃēˊx. Afterward they went to the river from
which the copper came and called it Îq hīˊnî (Copper river). At
Kosǃēˊx they built a house called Tᴀ hît (Sleep house). Then all of
them were ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî, but some, from the fact that they camped on an
island, came to be called Qǃᴀtǃkaāˊỵî (Island people). The Koskǃēˊdî,
originally a part of the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî, used to encamp at a certain
place where they dug the root sǃîn. This root pressed is known as
tǃᴀganîskǃêx, and the Koskǃēˊdî receive their name from this word.[101]
The Koskǃēˊdî built a house and roofed it with moose hide. So they came
to own the Moose house (X̣āsǃ hît).
The wives of the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî were Kāˊgwᴀntān. They (the Kāˊgwᴀntān)
were invited to Chilkat by a chief named Tailless-Raven (Ckūˊwu-yēł).
In the same town they were about to fell a tree to make a totem pole
out of it, and just before they did so Cqēʟ̣aqāˊ, a shaman, interviewed
his spirits. When they struck the tree with an ax he said, “The chip
went toward Huna. How is it that it went toward Huna?” And, when the
tree fell, he said, “It fell toward Huna. How is it that it fell toward
Huna?” This spirit’s name was Ānkᴀx̣wāˊî, and the pole was carved to
resemble him. When it was brought in he said, “How is it that there is
something wrong with these people we have invited? My spirit sees that
there is something wrong with them.” Then they made a raven hat, and
the spirit in the shaman said, “The raven you made has been shot with
an arrow. Many arrows are sticking into its body and blood is coming
from its mouth.”
The people giving the feast gave a great deal of property away to
the Kāˊgwᴀntān. Each man in the family would give so many slaves and
so much in goods. On their way home from this feast the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî
also made a raven, and some time later they went to a feast at the
Kāˊgwᴀntān village of Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ. Close to that place Qǃonēˊ, chief of
the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî, put on the raven hat. Its tail and beak were made of
copper, and the wings were copper plates. It had a copper plate lying
in front of it at which it pecked. ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî also lived among the
Kāˊgwᴀntān in that town, and they said, “Where has that raven been?”
The canoe people answered, “Why! this raven has been at Chilkat.” “What
did it eat at Chilkat?” “All that it ate at Chilkat was salmon skins.”
By salmon skins they meant the furs and hides that had been given away.
Then they took the wings from this raven and the copper he had been
pecking at and threw them ashore for the Kāˊgwᴀntān. They said, “Those
are worth forty slaves.” Before, when the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî (of Chilkat) had
feasted and used their own raven hat, they spoke so highly of it that
the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî had become jealous.
By and by news of what the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî had done reached Chilkat,
and the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî were very angry. They began to build Whale house
(Yāˊî hît). Then they began to buy slaves in all quarters. They bought
some Dēˊcitān, some Tcūˊkᴀnedî, and some ʟǃenēˊdî, and, when they
invited people to the feast for these houses, they first gave away the
slaves they had been buying. The ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî felt very badly at this,
because—Flathead slaves not being esteemed very highly—this amounted
to more than they had given away. Then war broke out between the two
families, and the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî were badly defeated, losing many people.
After that the people whose friends had been enslaved, purchased, and
given away felt so badly that they also made war on the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî
with no better result.
One of the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî chiefs was named Yēł-x̣āk. In those times people
were afraid of a high-caste person who was rich, strong, and brave and
did not want to have anything to do with him. This man’s father-in-law
was a ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî chief at Łaxaỵîˊk named Big Raven (Yēł-Lēn). Then
Yēł-x̣āk told his slaves to take food and tobacco to his father-in-law
through the interior by Alsek river, and he did so. When he arrived,
the chief said to him, “What did you come for?” “Your daughter has
sent me with some tobacco.” Big Raven was very fond of tobacco. Before
the slave started on this errand his master had said to him, “Be sure
to notice every word he says when you give him the tobacco.” Then the
slave took away from the tobacco the cottonwood leaves and a fine piece
of moose hide in which it was wrapped. As soon as he saw the leaves
Big Raven said, “I feel as though I had seen Chilkat now that I have
seen these cottonwood leaves. Chilkat is a respectable place. A lot of
respectable people live there. They are so good that they give food
even to the people that were going to fight them.” This Big Raven was a
shaman and a very rich one.
When the slave returned to Chilkat and told his master what Big Raven
had said, they held a council the same evening in Ckūˊwu-yēł’s house,
Whale house, and Yēł-x̣āk said to his slave, “Now you tell these people
what that father-in-law of mine has said to you.” And the slave said,
“As soon as he saw me, he said, ‘What are you doing here?’ and I told
him that his daughter had sent me to him with tobacco. After he had
uncovered the tobacco and had seen the leaves he said, ‘They are such
respectable people in Chilkat that they feed even the people who had
come to fight them.’ That was what Big Raven said.” Then Yēł-x̣āk said,
“I wonder if he thinks he has gotten even with me for the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî
I killed on Land-otter point. I wonder whether he thinks he has gotten
even with me for having killed all those at Ānᴀkǃ-nū.” He thought that
Big Raven was a coward and was going to make peace. Then he moved about
very proudly, while the visitors from other places watched him closely,
and everything that he said or did was reported to Big Raven.
A man among the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî, named Cādisîˊktc, was bathing in order to
acquire strength to kill the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî. Then the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî pounded
on Big Raven’s house to have his spirits come out. Big Raven said,
“Łᴀˊkua has gotten up already. Łᴀˊkua has looked out now. My masters,
which way is this Łᴀˊkua going to go?” The people said, “What are you
saying, Big Raven? Go wherever you think best.” Then he told them to
pound away on the sticks, and he shouted, “Here, here is the camping
place.” After the spirit had been all over their course it said, “Hō,
hē, the Raven swinging back and forth.”
For Cādisîˊktc’s war hat they made a carving of a monster rat which is
said to live under the mountain Wasǃīˊcā. His spear points they made
out of iron—taken probably from some wreck. They considered themselves
very lucky when they found this iron. They thought that it grew in the
timber and not that it belonged to a ship. This they called G̣ayēˊsǃ
hāˊwu (Log of Iron). G̣ayēˊsǃ was originally the name given to black
mud along the beaches to which people likened iron rust.
Now the war canoes started from Kosǃēˊx for Chilkat, drilling as they
went. When people do this they take out their drums and drill wherever
possible. There are certain songs called “drilling songs.” When the
shaman said, “This is the place where Łᴀˊkua camped,” they camped
there. They thought that it would bring bad luck to go any farther
than to the place where he had camped. When on an expedition the war
chief never looked back in the direction in which they had come. At
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ they stopped long enough to get the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî there.
Those were the people of which so many had been killed by the Chilkat
before. The Kîksᴀˊdî, Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān, and other families also started
with them, and they paid these for their help with copper plates. All
this time the shaman’s spirit sang the same song about “the raven
swinging back and forth.”
At last the warriors reached Chilkat and stood in a row fronting
the river back of the Chilkat fort. Behind all stood Cādisîˊktc.
Then Yēł-x̣āk came out on top of the fort and said, “Where is that
Cādisîˊktc?” So Cādisîˊktc stepped out in front of his party with the
mouse war hat on his head, saying, “Here I am.” Then Yēł-x̣āk said,
“Where has that mouse (kutsǃīˊn) been? What has he been doing?” He
answered, “I have been in that great mountain that belonged to my
mother’s uncle, and I have come out after you.” After this they heard
a drum in the fort, which meant that those people were about to come
out. Then they came out in files, and Yēł-x̣āk and Cādisîˊktc went to
meet each other with their spears. But the Chilkat still had their
spears pointed with bone and mountain-goat horn, and when Yēł-x̣āk
speared Cādisîˊktc he did not seem to hurt him. Cādisîˊktc, however,
speared Yēł-x̣āk through the heart, and his body floated down the
river on which they fought until it struck against a log running out
from the bank. The end of this log moved up and down with the current
and Yēł-x̣āk’s body moved up and down along with it. Then the shaman
said, “Now you see what my spirit has been singing about. That is the
raven moving back and forth. Now you people are going to eat them all
up. Don’t be frightened any more, for you have them all now that you
have gotten him.” At once they began to wade across, while the Chilkat
people, when they saw that their head man was dead, ran past their fort
up into the mountains. At that time the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî took the totem
pole ānkᴀx̣wāˊî. That is what the Chilkat shaman had meant by the chip
flying toward Huna and the tree falling toward it. And this is also why
they had so great faith in spirits at that time.
Ckūˊwu-yēł felt badly for the loss of his totem, so he took the copper
raven he had captured from the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî before and started toward
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ to make peace. His wife’s father was head chief of the
ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî. At this time the war had lasted for a long time, perhaps
five years. Ckūˊwu-yēł composed and sang a song as he went along, as
follows, “Why did you leave the Chilkat river as it flows, you raven?
Why didn’t you take it all into your mouth?” He meant to say, “If you
are so strong, why didn’t you make the river go entirely dry?” The
ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî had gathered many families against him, but the river was
as large as ever.
Just as Ckūˊwu-yēł came to the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî town, a man ran down toward
the canoe, making believe that he was going to kill him, but one of the
Kāˊgwᴀntān caught him and said, “Why do you want to kill that chief?
You are not as high as he.” He said, “It isn’t because I am anxious
to kill him, but because I was always so afraid of him when he was
warring.”[102]
Then they seized Ckūˊwu-yēł to make him a deer and took him into Sleep
house, the house of his father-in-law. When she saw him going in there,
his wife came out of the canoe, carrying the raven hat he had captured.
Eagle down was upon it. So they, in turn, brought out the ānkᴀx̣wāˊî
with eagle down upon it. They also painted the face of the deer and the
face on the corner post representing Sleep. This was because they had
so much respect for this post. The painting of its face was the end of
their troubles.
It was against the deer’s rules to eat devilfish or any kind of fresh
fish, but they thought, “If he still feels badly toward us, he will
refuse to eat it.” So he said to them, “Bring that devilfish here. I
will eat that devilfish.” They did not want him to eat it, but they
wanted to see what he would say. As soon as he asked for it, therefore,
all shouted and put it back from him. They said, “It is so. He has come
to make peace.” Then they danced for him.
After this all of the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî came over and carried away his
father-in-law to be deer on the other side.
They said to Ckūˊwu-yēł, “Have you your canoe ashore with all of your
people in it?” He said, “I have it ashore.” This was their way of
asking whether there would be any more war. Then they would say to the
deer again, “My deer, we are going to camp in a nice sunny place, are
we not; and we are going to come in in a sheltered place where there
are no waves, are we not?” He would say, “Yes, we are going to camp in
a good place.” Then they would say to him, “You are going to sleep well
hereafter, are you not?” And he answered, “Yes.” When they were moving
about, warring people could never sleep well. That is why they said
this to him. By the waves and wind they meant the troubles they had
had, and by saying that they were going to camp in a calm place they
meant that they were not going to war any more.
The opposite deer, taken from Sleep house, was asked similar questions.
If the deer did not have his mind fixed on making peace people knew
it by his songs, therefore they noticed every word he uttered. A
high-caste person was always selected as deer, because through him
there would be a certain peace. The man that came to another village to
be taken up as deer brought food with him on which to feast the people
there. The other side gave a feast in return.
After they had made peace Ckūˊwu-yēł danced on the beach just before he
set out. Łdahīˊn, the owner of Sleep house, danced on the other side.
This is the only way in which people made up with each other after
having been enemies for years. It happened years and years ago, and to
this day those people are friends.
FOOTNOTES:
[100] According to Katishan, he belonged to the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî. But see
story 104.
[101] Probably erroneous. Cf. story 104.
[102] See p. 71.
33. ORIGIN OF THE G̣ONAQADĒˊT
In a village somewhere to the northward a high-caste person had married
a high-caste girl from a neighboring village. His mother-in-law lived
with them, and she disliked her son-in-law very much because he was a
lazy fellow, fond only of gambling. As soon as they were through with
their meal she would say to the slaves, “Let that fire go out at once.”
She did not want her son-in-law to have anything to eat there. Long
after dark the man would come in, and they would hear him eating. Then
his mother-in-law would say, “I suppose my son-in-law has been felling
a tree for me.” Next morning he would go out again very early. His wife
thought it was useless to say anything. The same thing happened every
evening.
When summer came all the people went after salmon, and the gambler
accompanied them. After he had hung up quite a lot of this salmon and
dried it, he took it up into the woods beside a lake and made a house
there out of dry wood. Then he began chopping with his stone ax upon a
big tree which stood a little distance back. It took him a very long
time to bring it down. After he had felled it into the lake he made
wedges out of very hard wood and tied their thick ends with roots to
make them strong. He tried to split the tree along its whole length.
When he had accomplished this he put crosspieces between to hold the
two sections apart. Then he baited his line with salmon, with the
bright part turned out, and let it down between. He had been told that
there was a monster in that lake, and he was going to find out. By and
by he felt his line move, but when he pulled up quickly it broke. The
next time, however, he pulled it up still more rapidly and the creature
followed it to the surface between the two halves of the tree. Then
he pushed the crosspieces out so that the halves of the tree sprang
together and caught its head while he jumped ashore. He stood on a
grassy spot near by to watch. Then the monster struggled hard to get
away, and it was so strong that it kept dragging the tree clear under
water, but at last it died. Now the man spread the cedar apart by means
of his crosspieces, dragged out the monster’s body and examined it. He
saw that it had very sharp, strong teeth and that its claws looked like
copper. Then he skinned it with the claws, etc., entire, dried it very
carefully, got inside, and went into the water. It began to swim away
with him, and it swam down to the monster’s house under the lake, which
was very beautiful.
After this man had come up again, he left his skin in a hole in a
dry tree near by and went home, but did not say a word to anybody
about what he had discovered. When winter came all went back to their
village, and the following spring there was a famine.
One morning the man said to his wife, “I am going away. I will be here
every morning just before the ravens are awake. If you hear a raven
before I get back don’t look for me any more.” Then he again got into
the monster’s skin and swam to his house. He found that from there he
could go out into the sea, so he swam along in the sea, found a king
salmon and brought it back. He took off his skin and left it where he
had put it before. The salmon he carried to town and left on the beach
close to the houses.
Next morning this man’s mother-in-law got up early, went out, and came
upon a salmon. She thought that it had drifted there, so she took it
home. Then she came in and said to her husband, “I have found a fine
big salmon.” They cooked it for all the people in the village and
distributed the food, as was formerly the custom. Next evening her
son-in-law did the very same thing, only he caught two salmon. Then
he went to bed. He told his wife that it was he who was getting these
salmon, but she must not say a word about it.
The third time he brought salmon in and his mother-in-law found them
she considered the matter very deeply. Her son-in-law would sleep all
day, not getting up to eat until it was almost evening. Before this he
had been in the habit of rising very early in order to gamble. When
he got up next day, the old woman said to him, “The idea of starving
people who are sleeping all day. If I did not go around picking up
dead salmon the whole village would be starving.” He listened to what
she said, and afterward he and his wife laughed about it.
Next evening he went out again and caught a very large halibut, which
he also put in front of his mother-in-law’s house. By this time the
woman thought, “I wonder what this is that is bringing me luck. It must
be a spirit. I believe I am going to become the richest person in the
world. That is why this is happening to me.” When she went out this
morning, as was now her custom, and saw the large halibut, she called
to her husband and her slaves to bring it up. She felt very proud.
Then the chief sent word all through the village, “No one is to go out
early in the morning. My wife has had a bad dream.” She had not really
had such a dream, but she told her husband so because she did not want
anybody to get ahead of her. In those days everyone listened to what
the chief said and obeyed him. Next morning the young man got a seal
and laid it down before the houses.
Meanwhile his mother-in-law treated him worse and worse. She said, “I
will never go out again in the morning to find anything. I know that
the people in this village would starve if I did not find things.”
After that she found the seal. Then they singed the hair off, scraped
it in water to make the skin white, and cooked it in the skin. The
chief invited everyone in the village to his house to eat it. He made
speeches and listened to speeches in return which told how his wife
had saved all of them. Her son-in-law lay in bed taking everything in.
Also when a canoe landed in front of the town his mother-in-law would
say, “I suppose my son-in-law has brought in a load of seal,” and he
listened to her as he lay there.
In the middle of that night the old woman pretended that she had
spirits. The spirit in her said, “I am the spirit that finds all this
food for you.” Then she said to her husband, as she lay in bed, “Have a
mask made for me, and let them name it Food-finding-spirit. Have a claw
hat[103] made.” So her husband sent for the best carver in town, and he
made all of the things she had asked for. Her husband had an apron made
for her with puffin beaks all around it.
After that spirits came to her and mentioned what she was going to
find. She rattled her rattle, and her spirits would say that she was
rattling it over the whole village. Her son-in-law lay abed listening.
The whole village believed in her and thought that she was a wonderful
shaman.
The first time the woman went out she found one salmon, the next time
two salmon, the third time a halibut, the fourth time two halibut, and
after that a seal. Now she said her spirits told her that she was going
to find two seals, so, her son-in-law who had heard it, went out the
following night and found the two seals. His wife felt very badly for
him because her mother nagged him continually. She talked more and
more of her spirits all the time, and the high-caste people invited to
their feasts spoke very highly of them. She would sing how high her
spirits were, and the village paid her a great deal of attention. But
she called her son-in-law Sleeping-man. She gave him to eat only a few
scraps left over, and would say to the people, “Leave some scraps there
for Sleeping-man.”
Next morning she found a sea lion which her son-in-law had caught that
night, and again she felt very proud. Her son-in-law kept saying to his
wife, “Always listen for the ravens. If you hear the ravens before I
come you may know that something has happened to me. If you hear one
before I come get right out of bed.” When his mother-in-law invited
all the people for this sea lion the people would say, “It has been
this way from olden times. The chiefs in a village are always lucky.”
Then the woman acted like a shaman and said, “The people of the village
are not to go over that way for wood, but over back of the village.”
Although she had not a single spirit she made the people believe she
had them.
Next morning the son-in-law went out again, caught a whale, and left it
in the usual place. The village people were very much surprised when
the chief’s wife found it, and she was very proud. She filled a large
number of boxes with oil from what was left over after the feast. She
had boxes full of all kinds of food, which the town people were buying.
They looked up to her as to a great lord.
But her son-in-law said to his wife, “Don’t help yourself to any of
that food. Whatever she gives us we will take.” She was treating him
worse every day. The son-in-law also said to his wife, “If you see that
I am dead in the skin I have, which has been bringing us good luck, do
not take me out of it but put me along with the skin in the place where
I used to hide it, and you will get help.”
This went on for a long time, but he thought he would not get another
whale because he had had such a time with the first. Meanwhile his
mother-in-law continued to say spiteful things about him, things to
make the village people laugh at him, and now that she had spirits she
was worse than ever. Quite a long time after this, however, he did
catch two whales and tried to swim ashore with them. He worked all
night over them, and, when he got near the place where he used to leave
things on the beach, the raven called and he died.
When his wife heard the raven’s cry she remembered what he had said,
and began dressing herself, crying as she did so. Still she remained in
doors, knowing that the whole village would go down to see the monster.
Then her mother walked out as usual and saw two whales lying there with
a monster between them. It had two fins on its back, long ears, and a
very long tail. All of the people went down to look at it and said to
one another, “There is a terrible monster there. Come down to look at
it. It is something very strange.” They did not know what it was, but
supposed that it was the old woman’s spirit.
At last, when she heard all this racket going on, the chief’s daughter
started down the steps from the high foundation such as they used to
build on in those days, and she wept very loudly as she descended so
that all the people could hear her. They looked at her and wondered
what was wrong with her, thinking, “What does that high-caste girl
mean by calling the monster her husband?” Nobody would go near, for
they were afraid of the chief, of the chief’s daughter, and of the
monster. But, when the girl had come down, she said to her mother, who
was still looking at the monster, “Where are your spirits now? You are
a story teller. You say that you have spirits when you have not. That
is why this happened to my husband.” Now the interest was so intense
that people had crawled up on the roofs of the houses and on other high
places to look at the monster. As the girl also stood there looking,
she said, “Mother, is this your Food-finding spirit? How is it that
your spirit should die? Spirits all over the world never die. If this
is your spirit make it come to life again.”
Then the girl went close to the monster and said to the village people,
“Some of you that are very clean come and help me.” Her husband had
died in the act of holding the jaws of the monster apart to come
out, one hand on each. When the people saw this they were very much
surprised and said, “He must have been captured by that monster.” From
that time on this monster has been known as the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt.
The people helped to take the woman’s husband and the monster’s skin
up to the edge of the lake and put them into the hollow in the tree.
There they saw the log, broken hammers, and wedges lying about where he
had killed it, and reported to the rest of the people so that everyone
went there to look. But the old woman was so ashamed that she remained
in doors and died. When they found her body blood was coming out of the
mouth.
Every evening after this the dead man’s wife went to the foot of the
tree which contained his body and wept. One evening, however, she
perceived a ripple on the water, and looking up, saw the monster
flopping around in the lake. Then the creature said to her, “Come
here.” It was the voice of her husband. “Get on my back,” it said,
“and hold tight.” She did so, and he swam down to the monster’s former
house. This monster is the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt that brings good luck to those
that see him. His wife also brings good luck to those who see her, and
so do their children, “the Daughters of the Creek,” who live at the
head of every stream.
FOOTNOTES:
[103] A hat imitating the claws of some animal.
34. A STORY OF THE G̣ONAQADĒˊT
The head chief of the people living at the head of Nass river once came
down to the ocean and on his way back tied his canoe to a dead tree
hanging from a cliff. At midnight he felt the canoe shaking very hard.
He jumped up and was terrified to see foam breaking almost over his
canoe. Then he thought of a sea monster, and climbed up to the cliff by
means of the dead tree. His nephews, however, went down with the canoe.
A G̣onaqᴀdēˊt had swallowed them.
Along with this canoe had come down another, which stopped for the
night at a sandy beach right opposite. They had seen the chief’s canoe
there the night before, and, observing next morning that it was gone,
supposed the chief had started on ahead and continued their journey.
They had also felt the motion of the sea, although it was previously
very calm. When they reached home the canoe chief asked whether the
head chief had returned, and they said, “No.” Then he told them how
strangely the sea had acted and how he missed the chief’s canoe and
thought that it had gone on ahead.
After he had remained in the village for five days the canoe chief
began to think seriously about the chief’s absence. Then he got into a
large canoe along with very many people and set out to look for him.
Four men stood up in the canoe continually, one at the bow, one at the
stern, and two in the middle, looking always for the chief from the
time that they left their village. They camped very early that night
and arrived next morning at the dead tree where the chief’s canoe had
been tied. As they passed this place they heard somebody shout, and
the man in the stern, looking up, saw the missing chief standing on
the very top of the cliff. They saw also signs of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt and
knew what had happened. Then they took him in, but he would say nothing
until they had gotten back to the village. There he spoke, saying, “I
did not have time to awaken my sisters’ children. I could not have
saved myself if I had done so. That is why they are gone.” He felt
badly about them.
Then all the people in the village began bathing for strength, sitting
in the water and whipping each other, so that they might kill the
monster. The chief, however, was very quiet, and, when they asked him
what they should do, he told them to do as they pleased. They were
surprised at this. When he saw that they really meant business he was
very silent, and they could see that he was thinking deeply. Finally he
said, “Boys, you better not punish yourselves so much. You are injuring
yourselves, and you are all that I have left now. Let us treat this
monster kindly. Instead of having destroyed my sisters’ children, he
may have taken them to live with him, and, if we were to kill him, we
might kill my sisters’ children as well. Instead I will give a feast
and invite this G̣onaqᴀdēˊt to it.” They all told him to do so if he
thought he could get his nephews back thereby.
Then they talked this whole matter over in the chief’s house, and
the chief said, “Who will go to invite this G̣onaqᴀdēˊt?” And many
of the brave young men answered, “I will; I will,” so that he got a
canoe load very quickly. After that the chief said, “Which one of my
brothers-in-law will go to invite him?” “I will,” answered one of
them who was also brave. Then all got into the canoe, traveled that
night and encamped just before dawn on a sandy beach close to the
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s cliff. About noon they put on their best dancing clothes
and paddled to the cliff. Then the chief’s brother-in-law arose in
the canoe and shouted out as loudly as he could, “The great chief has
invited the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt to a feast.” He repeated these words four
times, and the fourth time he did so the water began to act as on the
night when the chief’s nephews had been lost. The foam became very
thick finally, and the cliff opened, revealing at some distance a very
long town. They were invited to come nearer, and, although they thought
that the cliff would close upon them, they did so. There were many
men about this town, and out of one large house came the chief (the
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt), who said, “Our song leader is out after wood. Therefore,
my father’s people, you will have to stay out there quite a while. We
must wait for our song leader.” Then the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt said, “A long time
since I heard that I was going to be invited to a feast by that great
chief.” While he was so speaking there came people into the town with
a load of wood, and they knew that it was the song leader himself. The
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people were now so impatient that all rushed down to the
song leader’s canoe and carried it up bodily. Then the streets became
empty, because everyone had gone in to dress, and in a little while
they came down on the beach again and danced for the people in the
canoes.
As soon as this was over the visitors asked to come ashore, and
immediately their canoe with everyone inside was carried up to the
house of the chief. One of the visitors was sent to all the houses in
the town to invite them to the chief’s house, and there they gave them
Indian tobacco and watched very closely to see what they would do with
it. They seemed very fond of it.
After this tobacco feast was over the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt said, “Let us have
a dance for these people who have come to invite us. Let us make them
happy.” They went away and dressed, and that evening they had a dance
for their visitors. Then the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt said, “These people that come
to invite me have to fast.”[104] Early next morning, therefore, the
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt sat up in bed and said to the people in the house, “Make
a fire and let us feed these people who have come so far to invite
me.” He sent one of his men through the village to announce that he was
going to have a feast for the people who had come after him. When this
was over, he said to his visitors, “You will stay here with us for four
days.”
Many people had volunteered to go on this expedition, because they
thought that if they were swallowed they would see those who had been
lost before, and they looked for them all of that time, but in vain.
At the close of the fourth day the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt said, “We will start
off very early in the morning.” When they got close to the host’s
village, however, it rained hard, and they thought they would not
be able to dance in it. Seeing that it did not let up, they said to
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt, “Haven’t you a shaman among you! Now is the time to
get help from your shaman. He ought to make it stop raining.” They
employed him, and he made the rain stop by summoning his spirits. All
this time the people who had invited the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt were very silent,
and only he knew what was the matter with them. As they were now very
close to the town, they sent one canoe thither to make it known that
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people were encamped close by, ready to come to the
village. The chief told his people to get a quantity of wood and take
it to those he had invited, because they were to stay there another
day. All in the village were anxious to do this, because they thought
that they would see the chief’s nephews. As they went along they said
to one another that they would look for the chief’s eldest nephew, whom
they expected to see dressed in his dancing clothes. But, when they
arrived at the camp, they were disappointed.
Next morning all of the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people started for the village,
and, when they arrived, they were asked to stop their canoes a few
feet off so that the village people could dance for them. Then the
village people came down close to their canoes and danced. Afterward
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people danced. The G̣onaqᴀdēˊt himself always led,
wearing the same hat with jointed crown.
Next day the village people danced again, and, after they were through,
the chief said that his guests would have to fast. So they fasted all
that day, and very early in the morning the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt got up and
told his people that they must sit up in bed and sing before the raven
called. This they had to be very particular about. Then the village
chief sent to the different houses to announce that the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt and
his people were to eat, and he gave them food that day. They danced
for three days and feasted for the same length of time. The fourth day
the village chief invited the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people in order to give
them property. He gave more to the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt than to all the rest.
That was his last feast. The evening he finished it he felt sad, and
he and all of his people were very quiet because they had not yet seen
his nephews. He said to himself, “I wonder why this G̣onaqᴀdēˊt did
not bring my sisters’ children. That is just what I invited him to the
feast for.”
Soon after this thought had passed through the chief’s mind the
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt called loudly to one of his men, “Bring me my box from over
yonder.” This box was beautifully carved and painted, and it was from
it that the Tsimshian came to know how to carve and paint boxes. Then
he took out a chief’s dancing hat with sea lion bristles and a rattle,
and just as soon as he had done so the chief’s eldest nephew stood
beside him. He put the headdress upon him and gave him the rattle, and
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s people sang songs for him. They sang four songs,
and the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt said, “This hat, this rattle, and these songs are
yours.” The village chief was happy when he saw his nephew.
Then the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt went through the same actions as before. There
had been twenty youths in the chief’s large canoe, and he gave each a
hat, a rattle, and four songs, making them all stand on one side of the
house. Now the village chief felt very happy and was glad that he had
invited the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt to him instead of doing as the village people
had planned.
Next morning, when the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt was preparing to start, it was very
foggy. He and his people left the village singing, and their canoes
went along side by side until they passed out of sight in the fog. They
returned to their own home.
It is from this story that people do not want to hear the raven before
their guests get up. The chief’s headdress with sea lion bristles also
came from the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt, and so it happened that the Nass people wore
it first.
FOOTNOTES:
[104] See _Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology_, p. 440.
35. ORIGIN OF THE LǃÊˊNAXX̣ĪˊDAQ[105]
A boy at Auk (Ākǃᵘ) heard that a woman lived in the lake back of his
village. He heard this so often that he was very anxious to see her.
One day, therefore, he went up to the lake and watched there all day,
but he did not see anything. Next day he did the same thing again, and
late in the afternoon he thought that he would sit down in the high
grass. The sun was shining on the lake, making it look very pretty.
After some time the youth noticed ripples on the water, and, jumping up
to look, saw a beautiful woman come up and begin playing around in it.
After her came up her two babies. Then the man waded out into the lake,
caught one of the babies, rolled it up in his skin coat, and carried it
home.
All that night he had to watch the child very closely, for she kept
trying to get away, but at last he became so sleepy that he rolled the
child up once more and fell asleep.
Now the child got up, dug out the eyes of everybody in that house,
beginning with the man who had captured her, and went from house to
house throughout the entire village doing the same thing.
There was a sick woman in that place for whom they had made a small
house back of her own, and, when this child came in to her, she tried
to make out whose it was. She said to herself that she thought she knew
every child in the village, yet she did not recognize this one. The
child had the people’s eyes rolled up in some leaves. As it sat close
to the fire eating them the woman thought, “What is that child eating?”
She would throw them into the fire and then take them out and eat them.
Finally the woman sat up, looked to see what the child was devouring,
and discovered they were human eyes. After she was through with what
she had the child would go out again after more. The woman watched her
closely.
Now the sick woman felt very sleepy but she did not dare to sleep for,
every time she began to doze off, she felt the child coming toward
her face. She had a little child beside her. Finally the sick woman
determined that she would stay awake, so she placed her walking stick
very close to her, and, as soon as the child came too close, she would
strike it and make it run away. This continued until daylight when the
child disappeared.
Now the woman was surprised to hear no noises about the town and
wondered what was wrong. She thought she would go out to look. First
she went to her own house and saw that all the people there were dead,
with their eyes gouged out, and she saw the same thing in all the other
houses. Then the woman felt very sad. She threw her marten-skin robes
about herself, took a copper plate on each side, placed her baby on
her back and started off. She is the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq, which a person
sees when he is going to become very wealthy. (The ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq is
therefore one of the ʟǃenēdî.)
One time after this a man of the Wolf clan named Heavy Wings
(Kîtcîłdᴀˊłqǃ) was out hunting and heard a child cry somewhere in the
woods. He ran toward the sound very rapidly, but, although the child’s
voice seemed to be very close to him, he could not see what caused
it. Then he stopped by the side of a creek, tore his clothes off, and
bathed in the cold water, rubbing himself down with sand. Afterward he
felt very light and, although the voice had gotten some distance away,
he reached it, and saw a woman with an infant on her back. He pulled
the child off and started to run away with it, but he did not escape
before the woman had given him a severe scratch upon his back with
her long copper finger nails. By and by he came to a tree that hung
out over the edge of a high cliff and ran out to the end of it with
the child in his arms. Then the woman begged very hard for her baby
saying, “Give me my baby.” As she spoke she put her hand inside of her
blanket and handed him a copper. When he still refused to give her
the child she handed him another. Then he gave the child back, and she
said, “That scratch I made on your back will be a long time in healing.
If you give a scab from it to any one of your people who is poor, he
will become very rich. Do not give it to anybody but your very near
relations.”
And so in fact it turned out. The sore did not heal for a long time,
not even after he had become very rich. Everything that he put his hand
to prospered, and the relations to whom he had given scabs became the
richest ones next to him.
FOOTNOTES:
[105] See story 94 and close of story 105.
36. THE THUNDERS
A high-caste girl who had four brothers went out of the house one
morning and stepped on a snail. Then she said “Oh! this nasty thing.
There isn’t a time when I go out but that snail is around this house.”
The evening after a youth of about her own age came to the girl, and
she went off with him.
When the people found that she had disappeared they searched for her
everywhere. They did not know what had become of her. Her brothers also
hunted everywhere, but for a long time without result. Some distance
behind the village was a high, perpendicular cliff without a tree or a
bush on it, and half way up they at last saw their sister with a very
large snail coiled around her. They ran about underneath and called to
her to throw herself down, but she could not. She was stuck there.
After this the four brothers tried to find some way of flying. They
tried one kind of wood after another and also bone for wings but in
vain. After they had flown for a short distance they always dropped
down again. Finally they employed yellow cedar. The first time they
used it they got half way up to the place where their sister was, but
the second time they reached her and dragged her down, leaving the
snail still there.
But the four brothers now left their own village, because they said
that their sister had disgraced them, and they became the Thunders.
When they move their wings you hear the thunder, and, when they wink,
you see the lightning.
At the time when these brothers first went away the people at their
father’s village were starving, so they flew out over the ocean, caught
a whale and brought it to the town that it might be found next morning.
So nowadays people claim that the Thunder is powerful and can get
anything, because they know that it was powerful at that time. After
the famine was over they left the world below, went to the sky to live,
and have never been seen since.
The Taqêstînaˊ claim the Thunder, because those brothers belonged to
that family.
37. ORIGIN OF THE SCREECH OWL[106]
There was a certain woman at Sitka living with her husband and her
husband’s mother. One evening she got hemlock branches, made strings
out of red-cedar bark, tied them together, and put them around herself.
Then she went out to a flat rock, still called Herring rock, where
herring are very abundant, just as the tide was coming over it, and,
when the fish collected in the branches, she threw them up on the
beach. Every day during the herring season she did the same thing, and
after she reached the house she put her apron carefully away until next
time.
One day her old mother-in-law heard her cooking the herring and said,
“What is that you are cooking, my son’s wife?” “Oh!” she answered, “a
few clams that I have collected.” “Will you give me some?” said the old
woman, for she was hungry, but, when she reached out her hand for it,
her daughter-in-law dropped a hot rock into it and burnt her.
When her son came home that evening the old woman told him what had
happened. She said, “She was cooking something. I know that it did not
smell like clams. When I asked her for some she gave me a hot rock and
burnt my hand. I wonder where she got that fish, for I am sure that it
was some sort of fish. Immediately after you leave she is off. I don’t
know what she does.”
When the man heard that, he and his brother who had been hunting with
him started out at once before his wife saw them. They pretended that
they were again going hunting, but they returned immediately to a place
where they could watch the village. From there they saw the woman put
on her apron of hemlock boughs, go out to the rock, and come home
with the herring. As soon as she had gone in they went out themselves
and got a canoe load of the fish. Then the woman’s husband went up
to the house and said to his wife, “I have a load of herring down
there.” So she ran down to the canoe and saw that it was loaded with
them. She began shouting up to them, “Bring me down my basket,” for
she wanted to carry up the fish in it. The people heard her, but they
felt ill-disposed toward her on account of the way she had treated her
mother-in-law, so they paid no attention. She kept on shouting louder
and louder, and presently her voice became strange. She shouted, “Hadeˊ
wudîkāˊt, wudîkāˊt, wudîkāˊt.”[107] She also began hooting like an owl.
As she kept on making this noise her voice seemed to go farther away
from the village. The people noticed it, but paid no attention. After
she had asked for the basket right behind the village, she sounded
still more like an owl, and finally she ceased to ask for the basket,
and merely hooted (hm, hm). She had become the screech owl. She left
them altogether.
Nowadays, when a young girl is very selfish, people say to her, “Ah!
when you get married, you will put a hot rock into your mother-in-law’s
hand, and for punishment you will become an owl.”
FOOTNOTES:
[106] Story 98 is another version.
[107] This way with the basket (kāt).
38. LITTLE FELON
A certain man had a felon (kwêq) on his finger and suffered terribly,
so that he could get no sleep. He did not know what to do for it. One
day somebody said to him, “Hold it under the smoke hole of the house
and get some one to poke it with something very sharp through the smoke
hole. You will find that it will get well.” He did so, and the two eyes
of the felon came right out. Then he wrapped them up and put them away.
Late in the evening he looked at it and saw a little man there about an
inch long. It was the disease from his finger. He took very good care
of this little man and he grew rapidly, soon becoming large enough to
run about. He called the little man Little Felon (Kwêqkǃᵘ).
Little Felon was a very industrious little fellow, always at work, and
he knew how to carve, make canoes, paint, and do other similar things.
When he was working his master could not keep from working himself. He
simply had to work. They thought it was because he had come from the
hand. Little Felon was also a good shot with bow and arrows, and he
was a very fast runner, running races with all the different animals.
Finally he started to run a race with the heron, and everybody said the
heron would prove too much for him. They raced all the way round Prince
of Wales island, and, when they were through, Little Felon said to the
heron, “I have been way back among the mountains of this island, and
there are thirty-three lakes.” The heron answered, “I have been all
along the creeks, and there are fifty creeks.”
By and by a youth said to Little Felon, “There is a girl living with a
certain old woman. She is a very pretty girl and wants to marry, but
she hasn’t seen anybody she likes. Her grandmother has the dried skin
of an animal and she has been making all the young fellows guess the
name of it. Those that guess wrong are put to death. You ought to try
for her.” But Little Felon said to the boy, “I don’t care to marry,
and I don’t want to guess, because I know. You tell her that it is the
skin of a louse. It was crawling upon the woman, and she put it into
a box and fed it until it grew large. Then she killed and skinned it.
You will get her if you tell her. But be careful. That old woman knows
a lot about medicines. When you are going toward her, go with the
wind. Don’t let the wind come from her. Don’t go toward her when the
south wind is blowing. Go toward her when the north wind is blowing.
Nobody goes directly to her. People talk to her from quite a distance.
A person goes to her house only to be put to death. Those persons who
guess stand a great way off to do it. When they don’t guess right they
go to that house and are put to death. She has a large square dish in
which she cooks their bodies.”
After that the boy went toward the old woman’s camp and remained at
some distance from her for a very long time, for the south wind was
blowing continually. She seemed to know that he was there, and said to
her granddaughter, “There is a fellow coming who has been around here
for a very long time. He is the one who is going to marry you.” The
little man had said to the youth he was helping, “Don’t tell about me.
That old woman has all kinds of dangerous things with which to kill
people.”
As soon as the north wind began to blow, Little Felon told him to go
on, so he approached the old woman unnoticed and stood looking at
her for a long time. Finally she looked up, saw him, and said, “Oh!
my grandson, from how far away have you come?” He told her, and she
invited him in to have something to eat. She gave him all kinds of
food. Then, when they were through, she showed him the skin and said,
“What kind of skin is this?” He answered, “That is a louse skin,
grandma.” She looked at him then for some time without speaking.
Finally she said, “Where are you wise from, from your father?” “Oh!”
he said, “from all around.” Then she said “All right, you can marry
my granddaughter. But do you see that place over there? A very large
devilfish lives there. I want you to kill it.”
The youth went back to Little Felon and told him what she had said.
“Oh!” he answered, “there is a monster there. That is the way she gets
rid of boys, is it?” So Little Felon made a hook, went to the place
where the devilfish lived, made it small, and pulled it right out. He
put the stick over his companion’s shoulder and said to him, “Carry it
this way.” The youth did so and, coming to the old woman’s house, he
said, “Is this the devilfish you were talking about?” He threw it down,
and it grew until it became a monster again that filled the entire
house. The old woman felt very badly, and said, “Take it out of this
house and lay it down outside.” He did so, and the moment he picked it
up it grew small again.
Then the old woman said, “Do you see that cliff that goes right down
into the water? A monster rat lives there. If you kill it, you shall
have my granddaughter.” The youth went away again and told Little
Felon about it, who said, “I told you so. I knew that she would give
you a lot of things to do.” So they got their bows and arrows ready,
went to the hole of the monster, and looked in. It was asleep. They
began shooting it. They blinded it first by shooting into its eyes
and then they shot it through the heart. They ran in to it to shoot,
but, as soon as they had wounded it fatally, they rushed out again, and
it followed them. It ran right into the ocean, and they could hear it
splashing the water about it with its tail. It sounded like thunder.
Finally the rat died and drifted ashore.
Then Little Felon told the young man to take it up and carry it to the
old woman, and, as soon as he had grasped it, it was very small and
light. He carried it in to her and said, “Is this the rat you were
talking about?” Then he threw it down, and it filled the house. So she
said, “Take it up and put it outside.”
Now the old woman spoke again. “Way out there in the middle of the
ocean is a sculpin. Go out and fish for it, and you shall get my
granddaughter.” So he and Little Felon went out there and caught the
sculpin, which Little Felon made very small. He threw it into the
bottom of the canoe and left it there. When they reached land the youth
took it up to the old woman and threw it down inside. Lo! it was an
awful monster with great spines.
Now the old woman did not know what to do. She thought, “What kind
of boy is this?” Then she said, “Do you see that point? A very large
crab lives out there. Go and kill it.” When they got out there they
saw the crab floating about on its back. It looked very dangerous.
Little Felon, however, told the crab to get small, and it did so. He
killed it, put it into the canoe, and carried it to the old woman, who
exclaimed, “Oh! he has killed everything that belongs to me.”
Then the old woman said, “Go far out to sea beyond the place where you
got that sculpin. I dropped my bracelet overboard there. Go and get
it.” So he and Little Felon set out. But first they dug a quantity
of clams and removed the shells. They took these out to that place
and threw them around in the water, when all kinds of fish began to
come up. Then Little Felon saw a dogfish coming up and said to it, “A
bracelet was lost over there. Go and get it for me.” He did so, and the
youth took it to the old woman.
Then the old woman was very much surprised and said, “Well! that is
the last.” So she said to her granddaughter, “Come out. Here is your
husband. You must have respect for him always.” So he married her.
After that he went over to Little Felon and asked how much he owed him.
“You don’t owe me anything,” said Little Felon. “You remember that at
the time I was suffering so badly you pricked me through the smoke
hole.” And the youth answered, “Oh! yes, this is the fellow.” Little
Felon (Kwêqkǃᵘ) is a slender fish that swims close to the beach.
After that the young man and his wife always traveled about together,
for he thought a great deal of her. By and by, however, they had a
quarrel and he was cruel to her. So she went away and sat down on
a point, after which she disappeared and he did not know what had
happened to her. He went out on the point and hunted everywhere. He is
a lonely beach snipe, called ayᴀhīỵiỵaˊ, which is often seen hunting
about on the points to-day, and when they see him the Tlingit say,
“There he is looking for his wife.”
39. ORIGIN OF THE FERN ROOT AND THE GROUND HOG[108]
The girls of a certain place were playing house under a cliff back of
their village, and each of them took some kind of food there. Among
them were two very poor little orphans who had no food to bring, so the
elder went home and brought up the bony part of a dry salmon and the
younger a fern root named kǃwᴀłx. Then the older girls took these from
them and threw them away, so that they began to cry very hard.
While the girls were crying, the cliff behind them fell over in front
and imprisoned them all. They began to cry from fright. After that they
began to rub on the cliff the tallow and salmon they had with them, and
the little birds that had also been imprisoned began to peck it off, so
that at length they began to make a hollow in the rock. In course of
time the birds pecked a hole entirely through, and, when it was large
enough, the girls began to crawl out. Finally all of the girls were
taken out except one poor little girl who got stuck half way. The walls
had in reality closed in on her, and they continued to do so until they
had cut her quite in two. Her head became the fern root (kǃwᴀłx) and
her body became a ground hog.
FOOTNOTES:
[108] Evidently fragmentary.
40. THE HALIBUT THAT DIVIDED THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS
Formerly there was but one village on the Queen Charlotte islands
(Dekīˊ qoan āˊnî, Town-far-out). Every day the people used to go out
from this village to fish for halibut, and all were successful except
one man. Though the people all about his canoe were pulling in fish he
caught nothing day after day, and he became angry.
One calm day, however, he had a bite. Pulling at his line he found that
something very strong was attached to it. After he had pulled it up a
short distance it would pull the line away from him, and each time he
let it go for fear of losing it. When he at last got it up, however,
it was only a little halibut about as big as a flounder. He could not
catch anything else.
In the evening, after this man had brought his halibut ashore and had
entered his house, he said, “I have a very small halibut. It might
bring me luck.” His wife took up her knife and went down to it, but
when she saw that diminutive fish she took it by the tail and threw it
up on the beach. Then the halibut, which was still alive, began to
flop up and down faster and faster. Presently the woman saw a larger
halibut lying there. Everybody now watched it, and it kept flopping
and increasing in size until it became as large as a paddle. By and by
it grew to the size of a large piece of red-cedar bark prepared for
roofing, and at length it covered the entire beach. Toward evening it
was a veritable monster, which smashed the whole town in pieces by its
motions. Before that the Queen Charlotte group formed one large solid
body of land, but the halibut broke it into the various portions that
exist to-day. At that same time the people of this single village were
scattered all over the group.
41. THE IMAGE THAT CAME TO LIFE
A young chief on the Queen Charlotte islands married, and soon
afterwards his wife fell ill. Then he sent around everywhere for the
very best shamans. If there were a very fine shaman at a certain
village he would send a canoe there to bring him. None of them could
help her, however, and after she had been sick for a very long time she
died.
Now the young chief felt very badly over the loss of his wife. He went
from place to place after the best carvers in order to have them carve
an image of his wife, but no one could make anything to look like her.
All this time there was a carver in his own village who could carve
much better than all the others. This man met him one day and said,
“You are going from village to village to have wood carved like your
wife’s face, and you can not find anyone to do it, can you? I have seen
your wife a great deal walking along with you. I have never studied her
face with the idea that you might want some one to carve it, but I am
going to try if you will allow me.”
Then the carver went after a piece of red cedar and began working upon
it. When he was through, he went to the young chief and said, “Now
you can come along and look at it.” He had dressed it just as he used
to see the young woman dressed. So the chief went with him, and, when
he got inside, he saw his dead wife sitting there just as she used to
look. This made him very happy, and he took it home. Then he asked the
carver, “What do I owe you for making this?” and he replied, “Do as you
please about it.” The carver had felt sorry to see how this chief was
mourning for his wife, so he said, “It is because I felt badly for you
that I made that. So don’t pay me too much for it.” He paid the carver
very well, however, both in slaves and in goods.
Now the chief dressed this image in his wife’s clothes and her
marten-skin robe. He felt that his wife had come back to him and
treated the image just like her. One day, while he sat mourning very
close to the image, he felt it move. His wife had also been very
fond of him. At first he thought that the movement was only his
imagination, yet he examined it every day, for he thought that at some
time it would come to life. When he ate he always had the image close
to him.
After a while the whole village learned that he had this image and all
came in to see it. Many could not believe that it was not the woman
herself until they had examined it closely.
One day, after the chief had had it for a long, long time, he examined
the body and found it just like that of a human being. Still, although
it was alive, it could not move or speak. Some time later, however, the
image gave forth a sound from its chest like that of crackling wood,
and the man knew that it was ill. When he had some one move it away
from the place where it had been sitting they found a small red-cedar
tree growing there on top of the flooring. They left it until it grew
to be very large, and it is because of this that cedars on the Queen
Charlotte islands are so good. When people up this way look for red
cedars and find a good one they say, “This looks like the baby of the
chief’s wife.”
Every day the image of the young woman grew more like a human being,
and, when they heard the story, people from villages far and near came
in to look at it and at the young cedar tree growing there, at which
they were very much astonished. The woman moved around very little and
never got to talk, but her husband dreamed what she wanted to tell him.
It was through his dreams that he knew she was talking to him.
42. DJĪYĪˊN[109]
While the Tlingit were still living at Klinkwan (Łînqᵒ-ān) a famine
broke out. There was an orphan girl there named Djīyīˊn who was taking
care of herself. Once in a while her father’s sister would help her,
but all were starving, her father’s sister also being poor.
One day some women were going off to dig tsǃēt roots, and this orphan
very much wished to accompany them, but they would not take her. They
said she was dirty and would bring them bad luck. When she laid hold of
the canoe they struck her fingers to make her let go, but she was very
hungry and very persistent, so that her father’s sister finally took
her in. When they encamped that night she did not come back, and they
did not know what she was living on. The women who were angry with her
said, “What is the matter with her? Why doesn’t she come back to eat?”
When they got ready to start home the orphan had not returned, and they
left her there alone. They also threw water on the fire.
The girl’s aunt, however, procured a coal and threw it into the brush
house where they had camped, along with a piece of dried salmon. She
was careful not to let the others see what she was doing. Then she went
back and said to the girl, “Are you coming?” “No,” she replied, “since
they don’t want to take me, I better stay.” Then her aunt said, “I have
put a live coal in that brush house along with a piece of dried salmon.”
As soon as the others had gone away the orphan made a big fire and
cooked her roots and salmon, but she did not feel like eating.
Therefore, instead of doing so, she went away and dug some more roots.
In the evening she went back to her brush house, thinking she could eat
now, but found that she had no appetite. So she lay down and went to
sleep. Early in the morning she was awakened by a great noise which she
found on looking out was made by a flock of brants (qên). She felt so
tired that she lay down again and went to sleep, and, when she awoke
once more, she thought she would set out after more roots. Going down
to the flat where these roots grew, she found it covered with brants
feeding upon them. When they saw her they flew away. Then she began
removing the dead grass from the place where she was going to dig, and
to her surprise came upon several big canoes looking as if they had
been buried there, which were loaded with eulachon oil, dried eulachon,
dried halibut, and dried salmon. She felt very happy. She thought how
lucky it was that she had remained there when all of the village people
were starving.
Now the orphan thought that she would eat something, so she took some
salmon and a bundle of halibut home with her. On roasting a piece of
salmon, however, she found that she could not eat it. She did not know
what had gotten into her that she could not force herself to eat. She
wished that her aunt were with her. Next morning she discovered that
the spirits were keeping food away from her because she was becoming
a shaman. The brants had become her spirits. The brant spirits always
come to Raven people like her. So she became a great shaman and was
possessed by spirits every day, while sea gulls, crows, and all kinds
of sea and woodland birds sang for her. This happened every day. Two or
three times a day she would go to see the buried canoes, but she could
not eat anything, and she gave up digging roots because she had no way
of sharpening her sticks. Meanwhile everyone in the village thought
that she had starved to death.
After some time had passed, the girl wished that some one would come
to her from the village, and the day after a canoe appeared in sight.
This made her very happy, especially when it got close and she found it
contained some people of her acquaintance from the village. She called
them up to her brush house and gave them some food from the canoes, and
they remained there two or three days. They were out hunting for food.
After a while she told them it was time for them to go, and, when they
were on the point of starting, she said, “Do not take a bit of the food
I have given you. Leave it all here. Tell the people of our village
that Djīyīˊn is still living and is doing well. Tell my aunt that she
must try to get here as soon as she can.”
When these people got back to the village and told what had happened to
the orphan, how much food she had and how lucky she had been, all the
town people who had been dying of starvation started off immediately
for the place where she was living. When they came in sight of her
brush house they saw that from the sky right down to it the air was
filled with birds. There were so many that one could not see through
them. They could also hear men and women singing and the shaman
performing, but, when they came close, all of the birds flew away.
As soon as the shaman heard that her people were coming she walked out
to meet them and asked, “Which canoe is my aunt in? Let her land here.”
All of the food in one of her canoes she gave to her aunt. Then she
said, “I want two women to come ashore to help me with my singing.” The
high-caste women in the canoes, who were all painted up, would rise one
after the other, but she would not have them, and finally called two
who were orphans like herself and had been treated very badly by their
own people. All the others then started to come ashore, and she told
them where to camp. She had room enough in her own house only for the
two girls and her aunt.
These high-caste people had brought their slaves with them when they
came to her, and she got them herself in exchange for food. She had
three brush houses built to hold them. She also dressed up the two
little orphans so that they looked very pretty. After a long time the
people left her to return to their own village, and, when another long
period had elapsed, her spirit made the town chief sick, and they hired
her to come and treat him.
This shaman had belonged to a very high-caste family, but they had
died off and left her very poor, and nothing remained of her uncle’s
house except the posts. Grass grew all about inside of it, and when the
shaman was entering the village she saw the posts of her uncle’s house
and felt very sad. She told them to land near by. Then she looked up,
raised an eagle’s tail in one hand, blew upon it, and waved it back and
forth in front of them. The fourth time a fine house stood there. Then
they carried all of her things into this, and she had the slaves she
had procured work for her, while the two orphans she had taken were now
considered high caste.
At that time the sick chief’s daughter also fell sick. Then the spirits
turned all the minds of the chief’s people away from her, and they paid
other shamans in the village. The sick ones, however, continued to get
worse and worse, until they finally remembered that she also was a
shaman and sent for her. When the messenger came one of the orphans
asked, “How much will they pay the shaman?” “Two slaves,” they said.
She thought that this was not enough, and the messenger went back. When
he came again, she again asked, “How much are they going to pay the
shaman?” “Two slaves and some goods.” Then she agreed, and, as soon as
the messenger had left, Djīyīˊn said to the two girls, “Come on. Let us
go.”
As soon as she had arrived at the house she sat down between the two
sick people and worked very hard to cure them. Her spirits could see
immediately what the matter was. This house was crowded with people
except around the fire where the shaman was performing. Then Djīyīˊn
walked around and said, “The witch that is killing you two has not
come.” They sent to all the houses in the village and assembled those
who were there in the house in place of the previous occupants. Djīyīˊn
examined all of them again, and again said, “The witch is not yet
here.” Finally the spirits in her began to say, “The road of the witch
is very clear now. The road of the witch is straight for this house.”
Again they said, “The witch is coming.” By and by they began to hear a
bird whistling in the woods back of the house, and she said, “Yes, hear
her. She is coming.” And when the sound came near the door she said,
“Open the door and let her come in.” So they opened the door, and there
sat a wild canary (sǃāsǃ). Then the shaman told her to sit between the
two sick persons, and she did so. She was making a great deal of noise,
and the shaman said, “Tie her wings back.” Not long afterward the
people heard a great noise like thunder which seemed a great distance
off. Then the shaman said, “Here are her children. They are offended
and are coming in. Stop up all of the holes so that they may not
enter.” The noise grew louder and louder, however, and presently birds
began to fly in right through the boards. At last the house became
so full of them as to be well nigh suffocating, and very many of the
people were injured. Whoever the birds flew against would have a cut or
bruise. All at once the house again became empty, not a bird being left
inside except the one that was tied.
By this time it was morning, the people having sat in that house all
night, and the bird made still more noise. “She is already telling
about it,” said the shaman. “She wants to go to the place where she
has the food and the pieces of hair with which she is bewitching you.”
Finally she left the house, but although they had untied her wings
she walked along ahead of four men instead of flying. She went up
the way she had come down and began scratching at the roots of some
bushes some distance up in the woods. There she came upon the top of a
skull in which were some hair, food, and pieces of clothing arranged
in a certain manner along with different kinds of leaves. She took
these down to the beach and threw them out on the sea in different
directions. Afterward she went back to the house with the four men
still following her.
By and by the bird began making noises again, and the shaman, who alone
could understand her, said that she wanted to leave the place. She
hated to go back to her own place among the other birds because she
knew that they would be ashamed of her, so she asked them to take her
to a town called Close-along-the-beach (Yênqǃasēˊsîtciyî-ān). When they
took down a canoe to carry her off she flew right into it. Then the
shaman said, “When you get her to the place whither she wants to go, go
ashore and put her there, and turn right back.” Then they started on
with her, and after a time she made so much noise that they said, “Let
us put her ashore here. This must be the place.” They did so, and, as
soon as they got close in, the bird flew out upon the beach and started
up it very fast. One man followed her to see where she would go and saw
her pass under a tree with protruding roots. This was the town she had
been talking about.
As soon as the witch put the skull and other things into the water the
chief and his daughter recovered. Before the events narrated in this
story people did not know anything about witchcraft, and the ancients
used to say that it was from this bird that they learned it years ago.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Or better Djūn. Haida versions of the same will be found in
Memoirs Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., VIII, 226, 247. Aqāˊnîqǃēs is said to be
in all probability Kayāˊnîqǃēs (For-the-leaves).
43. THE SELF-BURNING FIRE
One winter the people at a certain place on Copper river were left with
nothing to eat and began dying off. About the middle of that winter
all of the children and some of the adults were dead, and only about
half of the former population remained. When only eight men were left
they said to one another, “Let us leave. Let us walk down this side of
the river.” So they started off down the bank, and, after a long time,
one of them died of cold. They buried[110] him and went on. By and by
another froze to death and was also buried. This kept on until there
were only four. One day three of the remainder succumbed in succession,
the last at evening, leaving but one man from all that village. This
man was very sickly looking, but he felt strong, and when his last
companion fell, he left him lying there and went on rapidly. He thought
he would drop with grief, however, at the loss of his last comrade.
As he was going on quite late in the evening he suddenly heard some one
shout right ahead of him. He followed the voice, which kept on calling
continually. Finally he came to a great fire and stood near it to warm
himself. It was that that had been calling him.
When the man had become thoroughly warmed he was about to start on
again. Suddenly, however, he heard the bushes breaking behind him,
and, looking back, he saw all the men who had frozen to death and all
of the village people standing around the fire. This fire is called
Self-burning Fire (Wᴀyîˊkǃ gᴀˊnî), and it was that that had brought all
of those people to life. From that time on they were able to get their
food very easily at the mouth of the river.
FOOTNOTES:
[110] The words of the narrator, but corpses were usually burned.
44. THE GIANT OF TĀˊSNA
At Tāˊsna, near the mouth of the Yukon (?), was a large village in
which everybody had died except one small boy. His mother was the last
to perish. This boy was very independent, however, remaining in his
mother’s house all the time instead of going around to the other houses
in the place. Every day he went out with his bow and arrows and shot
small birds and squirrels for his sustenance.
On one of these hunting trips, however, he met a very large man with
bushes growing on one side of his face. The big man chased him, and,
being very quick, the boy tried to climb up a tree, but the big man
reached right up after him and pulled him down. Then the big man said,
“I am not going to hurt you. Stand right here.” So he put the boy on a
high place, went some distance away and said, “Take your bow and arrows
and shoot me right here,” pointing at the same time to a spot between
his eyebrows. At first the boy was afraid to do so, and the big man
begged him all that day. Finally, when it was getting dark, he thought,
“Well! I will shoot him. He may kill me if I don’t, and he will kill me
if I do.” The moment he shot the man, however, he saw his mother and
all the village people that had been lost. All had been going to this
big man. That was why the man wanted the boy to shoot him. It brought
all the people back.
[This story is used in potlatch speeches.]
45. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A LAND OTTER[111]
A man at Sitka had three little children who were crying with hunger
because he had nothing to give them. His sister had been captured by
the land otters after having been nearly drowned. Then he said to the
little ones, “You poor children, I wish your aunt were living.” Some
time afterward that same evening he heard a load set down outside,
and going out to look, he saw a very large basket filled with all
kinds of dried meat and fish, and oil. The sister he had been wishing
for had brought it. Then this woman herself came in and said, “I
have brought that for the little ones. I will be right back again. I
live only a short distance from here. We have a village there named
Transparent-village (Kānᴀˊxᴀ-dak-ān). You must come and stay with us.”
The man said that he was making a canoe and had to finish it, but she
replied, “Your nephews are coming over, and they will finish your canoe
for you.”
After the food that his sister had brought him had given out she came
to him again with more and said, “I have come after you now. Bring your
little ones and come along. I see that you are having a hard time with
them.”
So her brother prepared to go. Before he started he got some blue
hellebore (sǃîkc), which he soaked in water to make it very strong and
bitter, and finally his sister’s boys came, fine-looking young men who
were peculiar only in having very long braids of hair hanging down
their backs. In reality these were their tails. He showed them where
his canoe was so that they could go to work on it, and, after they had
completed it roughly, they pulled it down for him.
Then the man started off with his family, and, sure enough, when he
rounded the point what appeared to him like a fine village lay there.
The people came to meet them, but his sister said, “Don’t stay right in
the village. Stay here, a little distance away.”
The people of that place were very good to him and gave him all the
halibut he wanted, but he always had the blue hellebore by him to keep
from being injuriously affected. They were also in the habit of singing
a cradle song for his youngest child which went this way, “The tail is
growing. The tail is growing.” Then he examined the child, and in fact
a tail was really growing upon it, so he chopped it off.
Finally the man’s sister told him that he was staying there a little
too long, and he started back toward his village. As he went he looked
back, and there was nothing to be seen but land-otter holes. Before
they had appeared like painted houses. Then he returned to his own
place with all kinds of food given him by the land otters.
FOOTNOTES:
[111] See story 6.
46. THE LAND-OTTERS’ CAPTIVE
Several persons once went out from Sitka together, when their canoe
upset and all were drowned except a man of the Kîksᴀˊdî. A canoe came
to this man, and he thought that it contained his friends, but they
were really land otters. They started southward with him and kept
going farther and farther, until they had passed clear round the Queen
Charlotte islands. At every place where they stopped they took in a
female land otter. All this time they kept a mat made out of the broad
part of a piece of kelp, over the man they had captured until at length
they arrived at a place they called Rainy-village (Sīˊwu-āˊnî).
At this place the man met an aunt who had been drowned years before and
had become the wife of two land otters. She was dressed in a ground-hog
robe. Then she said to him, “Your aunt’s husbands will save you. You
must come to see me this evening.” When he came his aunt said, “I can’t
leave these people, for I have learned to think a great deal of them.”
Afterward his aunt’s husbands started back with him. They did not camp
until midnight. Their canoe was a skate, and, as soon as they came
ashore, they would turn it over on top of him so that, no matter how
hard he tried to get out, he could not. In making the passage across to
Cape Ommaney they worked very hard, and shortly after they landed they
heard the raven.[112] They could go only a short distance for food.
When they first started back the woman had said to her husbands, “Don’t
leave him where he can be captured again. Take him to a good place.” So
they left him close to Sitka. Then he walked around in the neighborhood
of the town and made the people suffer so much every night that they
could not sleep, and determined to capture him. They fixed a rope in
such a way as to ensnare him, but at first they were unsuccessful.
Finally, however, they placed dog bones in the rope so that they would
stick into his hands, dog bones being the greatest enemies of the land
otters.
Late that night the land-otter-man tore his hands so with these bones
that he sat down and began to scream, and, while he was doing this,
they got the rope around him and captured him. When they got him home
he was at first very wild, but they restored his reason by cutting his
head with dog bones. He was probably not so far gone as most victims.
Then they learned what had happened to him.
After this time, however, he would always eat his meat and fish raw.
Once, when he was among the halibut fishers, they wanted very much
to have him eat some cooked halibut. He was a good halibut fisher,
probably having learned the art from the land otters, though he did
not say so. For a long time the man refused to take any, but at last
consented and the food killed him.
FOOTNOTES:
[112] Supernatural beings who heard the raven call before they came to
land, died.
47. THE MAN FED FROM THE SKY
Dātg̣āˊs, the nephew of a chief at Chilkoot, used to lie all the time
bundled up in a corner made by the retaining timbers. When everybody
else was in bed he would rise and go to the fire. Then he would gather
the coals into a heap in order to warm his blanket over them. The
people of that town were starving, so Dātg̣āˊs would say, as he held
his blanket over the coals, “Would that a piece of dried salmon fell
upon this from the smoke hole.” He did this every night.
One time, as he was standing over the fire without holding his blanket
out, some one called to him, “Dātg̣āˊs, stretch out your blanket
once more.” So he stretched it out and held it there for some time
thinking, “Who is that calling me?” By and by he heard the voice again,
“Dātg̣āˊs, stretch it out farther.” So, though he could not see who was
speaking, he stretched it far out. Then half of a salmon fell upon his
blanket. He took this, cut it into small pieces, and distributed them
among a number of empty boxes that were in the house. At once all of
those boxes were full of salmon.
The uncle of Dātg̣āˊs had two wives, the younger of whom was very good
to him. Although they had to be sparing with their food, when they were
eating salmon she always put a little piece aside for him. The next
evening, after he had eaten his morsel of food and was lying down, he
was called once more by the voice, “Stretch your blanket out again.”
He ran quickly to the smoke hole and spread out his blanket under it,
but nothing came down, so he said, “I think I will wish for something.
I wish that some grease would come down to eat with the salmon.” And
suddenly a sack of grease fell upon his blanket, knocked it away, and
dropped upon the fireplace. He ran with this to the empty grease boxes
and put a spoonful in each, upon which all were immediately filled with
grease. Once more the voice called him, “Dātg̣āˊs, stretch your blanket
out again.” He did so, wishing for a sack of berries, and an animal
stomach filled with them dropped down at once. This time he held his
blanket very firmly so that it would not be carried out of his fingers.
He put a spoonful of berries into each empty berry box, and they were
all filled.
After this he sat down thinking that he would not be summoned again,
but once more the voice came, this time very loudly, “Dātg̣āˊs, stretch
out your blanket.” So he stretched it out, and there came down upon it
a sack of cranberries preserved in grease. He put a spoonful into each
empty box as before and filled them.
Again came the voice, “Dātg̣āˊs, stretch out your blanket.” Then there
came down a piece of venison dried with the fat on. When he had cut
it into many small pieces and distributed these among the boxes they
were at once filled. It was now very late, but the voice called him
once more, “Dātg̣āˊs, stretch out your blanket again.” Then there came
down a cake of dried soapberries which he broke into little pieces,
distributed among the boxes and made those full also.
Next morning the chief’s house was crowded with hungry people begging
for food, and all that the chief could give them was a little tobacco
to chew. He had nothing even for himself. Seeing this, the people began
to go out. Now, Dātg̣āˊs said to his uncle, “Why are all going out
without having had anything to eat?” He was a very quiet fellow who
seldom said anything, and, when he broke out in this manner, his uncle
became very angry with him. “Why do you want those people to stay?” he
said. “What will you give them to eat? If you have so much to say why
don’t you feed them?” “Well,” answered Dātg̣āˊs, “I will feed them.”
His uncle looked at him in surprise. He had seen him acting strangely
at night, and had wondered what he was doing. While they were talking,
the younger wife of his uncle kept looking at him and shaking her head,
because she was afraid that her husband would become angry with him.
His uncle thought that the boy was only talking, so he said, “Feed
them, then.” The boy said, “Call them all in and I will feed them.”
Half of the people had already gone out, but some stood listening to
him as he talked with his uncle, and one of these who stood near the
door called those that had gone out, to return.
When the people were all in, Dātg̣āˊs went to the place where the
salmon used to be packed away, and his uncle thought to himself, “That
fellow is going back there to those empty boxes.” When he returned with
one of them, however, it looked very heavy, and presently he handed out
a salmon to every boy in the room, telling him to roast it at the fire.
So his uncle had nothing more to say.
Next Dātg̣āˊs told some of the boys to get trays, and, after he had
filled them, he set them before the people. Telling them to keep quiet,
he went back again to the place where the boxes were and called for
help. Two more boys went back there and brought forward a box of oil to
eat with their salmon.
After they had eaten these things, he called the boys to go back with
him again and they brought out a box of venison. His uncle kept very
quiet while this was going on, and his younger wife felt very proud.
Next Dātg̣āˊs had them bring out a box of berries[113] preserved in
grease, which he passed around in large dishes. The chief began to
think that his nephew was giving too much at a time of famine, but he
could say nothing. Then preserved high-bush cranberries were served to
the people in large dishes and finally soapberries, which all the boys
stirred.
After this feast everyone left the house, but they soon came back one
by one to buy food, for they had plenty of other property. People that
were dying of starvation were strengthened by the food he gave them.
For one large moose hide he would give two salmon. He asked his uncle’s
younger wife to receive the goods that he was getting in exchange. But,
after he had obtained a great deal of property more than half of the
food was still left.
The chief, his uncle, was quite old at that time, both of his wives
being much younger. He felt very well disposed toward his nephew to
think that he had been so liberal and had kept up his uncle’s name, so
he said to him, “You have done well to me and to my village people.
Had it been another young fellow he would have hidden the food, but
instead you have brought my village people and myself to life. Now take
your choice between my wives. Take whichever you want.”
The young man did not answer at once, but the younger wife knew that he
would choose her, because the elder wife hated him. Finally he said,
“I will take the young woman, for she has been good to me.” Then his
uncle moved to one side and let his nephew take his place. He became
exceedingly wealthy, and was very good to the people of his village and
to his uncle.
FOOTNOTES:
[113] These were the berries called tînx̣.
48. THE SALMON SACK
A small boy whose father was dead lived with his mother at the town
of Āsnᴀˊxkǃ on the Queen Charlotte islands. The other town people
were continually bringing in halibut and a salmon called îcqēˊn, but
he and his mother could not get one piece and were very hungry. One
day he begged to accompany some people who were going out, and they
consented. When he got to the fishing ground he had a bite and began
to pull up his line very rapidly. As he did so numbers of salmon tails
began coming up for some distance around, and the people started to put
them into the canoe. They did not know what it meant. When he got it up
they found that it was a very large sack full of salmon with just their
tails sticking out, and they completely filled their canoes, for the
salmon extended all about them. Then they carried these ashore and had
so many that they began making oil out of some. With this oil and the
dried salmon the people of that village had plenty to eat.
Years ago it always happened that the poor people to whom others were
unkind brought luck to the village. They were so unkind to this boy
that they did not give him any halibut, and that is why it was through
him that they had plenty to eat.
49. ROOTS[114]
A boy was walking along in front of the houses of a very populous
village early one morning when a quill fell right in front of him. The
boy picked it up and started to run away, but it lifted him up into the
air out of sight. After that several other people were missed, and no
one knew what had become of them. Finally, however, they saw another
going up very rapidly, and so discovered what was the matter. Now, the
people watched very closely, and, when another was seen to be taken up,
a man seized him by the legs. He, however, was also lifted into the
air. Then another grasped him, and all of the people of the village
kept on doing this, thinking to break the string, until no one was
left in that town except a woman and her daughter. These two lived at
one end and refused to touch the others.
The mother of this girl was very fond of making spruce-root baskets,
and, when she went after roots, the girl always accompanied her. When
her mother cut off the ends of the roots out in the forest her daughter
would chew them because they were sweet, and swallow the juice, after
which she would spit them out and take more. Finally she got so used
to chewing them that she would chew up fine the roots themselves and
swallow them.
Now, after this had gone on for some time, the girl saw that she was
growing large, and presently she gave birth to a boy baby. While this
child was still very small she bathed him in cold water to make him
strong, and he grew very fast.
When he was partially grown he one day saw the quill which had carried
away the people, picked it up and pulled on it very hard. Then he
noticed that someone was pulling it up. This invisible person tried to
pull him up also, but he was very strong and ran out roots into the
ground in every direction so that he could not be moved. All that he
could see was the quill. He tried hard to find a line fastened to it,
but there was nothing visible except the quill pulling up and down. He
determined to hold on, however, to see what would happen, and at last
he felt something break and the quill come away in his hands.
While Roots continued sitting in the same place a boy came to him
saying, “Where is that quill of mine? Give it to me.” Then Roots
answered, “Well! where are my village people? Give them to me.” “Give
me the quill first,” said the boy. “No, give me back my village people
first, and I will give you the quill.” Then he begged very hard for his
village people, and the boy begged very hard for the quill, until at
last Roots heard the noise of people coming. At that he handed back the
quill and the boy vanished.
The people did not come that day, however, and Roots was uneasy,
feeling that he had been very foolish to give the quill back before his
friends had returned. Next morning early, however, he heard a great
noise as of people moving about, and he jumped out of bed to look. The
houses throughout the village were filled with their former occupants,
who had come back during the night. All were very glad to get back
after their long absence, for where they had been they seemed to have
suffered. All complained of the mean master that they had had, but they
could not tell whether they had been made slaves or not. All were very
good to Roots for having restored them.
Afterward Roots, the full form of whose name is Root-ends (Xᴀt
cugūˊʟkǃî), was known everywhere, and all of the strong people would go
to his village to test him. Among them went a strong rock, called Itcǃ,
who felt that he was very powerful. When they began to contend, Roots
jumped upon Itcǃ first but could not move him. Then Roots looked at
his antagonist and saw that he was half buried in the ground although
a human being. This made Roots angry and he stooped down, picked Itcǃ
up, and threw him down headlong. After he had done so he looked and lo!
there lay only a rock. If it had not been for the numbers of roots that
Roots sent out, however, Itcǃ would have beaten him.
FOOTNOTES:
[114] See story 13.
50. THE MUCUS CHILD
From a certain village the men began to disappear. They would go up
into the woods behind after firewood and never come back. Finally all
the rest of the men went up there together, intending to kill whatever
had been destroying their friends, but they, too, never came back. Then
the women and children began disappearing in the same manner until not
one person remained except a woman and her daughter who refused to go
out.
After that the younger woman walked back and forth in front of the
houses, crying and calling to each of the former house owners. One
day she cried very hard until the mucus ran down from her nose, and,
wiping this off, she threw it down near one of the doors. After a
while she noticed from the corner of her eye that it moved. She looked
at it closely and saw that it was like a bubble. Then she stooped
down to examine it and saw in it a little man. Before the bubble had
disappeared she picked it up and swallowed it and soon discovered that
she was pregnant. In a short time she gave birth to a boy.
This mucus child grew up very fast, and, when he was old enough to
shoot, his mother made him a bow and arrows with which to practise.
When he became somewhat larger he asked his mother, “Mother, why are
these houses empty? Where have the people that occupied them gone?” And
his mother answered, “We had many friends in this village. They would
go after wood and never return. The women and children did the same
thing. They followed their husbands and parents and never returned.”
This boy grew up very fast, and meanwhile he kept thinking to himself,
“I wonder what happened to those people who went up after wood and did
not come back.” After he had become still larger he made himself a
bow and arrow points, and his mother made him a quiver. With these he
ventured a short distance up into the woods. He was afraid to go far.
Finally he thought, “I am going a long distance up into the woods, but
I am not going to say a word about it to my mother.” And so, early in
the morning, he went straight up from the house and, after traveling
for some time, reached a creek of black water which ran out from under
a glacier. There he met a large man who said to him, “Grandson, take
off all of your clothes, get into this creek until the water is up to
your neck, and sit there no matter how cold it is.” The boy did so,
and, after a long time, the big man saw the water shake around him and
thought, “The water is shaking because he has sat in it so long that he
is beginning to get cold.” Then the big man told him to come out, and,
after he had done so, he said, “Go and try to pull up that tree.” This
tree was a short one, and he pulled it up easily by the roots. Then the
big man told him to strike a large round white rock near by to see if
he could smash it, and he did so. The rock was broken in pieces. But
this rock was only a friable one put there on purpose for the boy to
break. Then the big man said to him, “Put on your clothes now and go
home. To-morrow come up again.”
The next day the big man told him to get into the creek again, and,
when he saw him shivering, told him to come out and pull up a still
larger tree. He pulled it up easily. Then he took him to a still larger
rock that looked shiny and hard and told him to strike it. When he did
so the tree went into slivers, but the rock was intact. So he told the
boy to dress, run down home, and come up again very early. This time he
was told to pull up a big crab-apple tree. He succeeded, but, although
it looked easy to him to break the rock, only the tree was shattered.
The fourth time the boy came up very early before daylight. After he
had been in the stream long enough to shiver the big man said, “Run
to that tree standing over there. Try to break that.” It was a wild
maple, but he broke it more easily than the crab apple. The big man was
surprised.
Now the boy knew that he had great strength, and when the big man told
him to try to smash the rock again, the rock flew all about. Then the
big man took off his leggings, his shirt, and his moccasins, which were
beautifully worked with porcupine quills, and put them on the boy.
The moccasins were made to tie to the leggings and the sole of one of
them was a whetstone. Then the man told him that he was Strength and
had come to help him. He showed him a valley and said, “Go right up
that valley, making sure to walk in the middle of it. On one side is
the glacier. As soon as you reach the top of the mountain you will
hear some one calling. You will see a large town there. This village
is where your people went when they disappeared and those are the wolf
people that took them. As soon as they get within your reach hit them
with your club, and if it touches one of them it will kill him. Run up
the hill. If you run down the hill you will be caught. If you become
tired, think of me and you will become stronger.”
Now the boy went up the hill as he had been directed until he reached
the end of the valley, where he heard some one call. He looked down
and saw a very large town. At once people came running toward him,
and he clubbed them. He could see them fall but did not feel his club
strike. He kept on running up the hill, clubbing his pursuers as he
went until he had destroyed all of them. Then he returned to his
benefactor.
When Strength heard what had happened, he said, “Go back, for there
is another village on the other side. Go there and call to them. They
will not see you as quickly as these first. Call to them, ‘Give me my
uncle’s life, my village people’s life.’ If they refuse, tell them that
you are going to strike their village with your club. If they allow you
to have it they will hand you a box.” He gave the boy strict orders not
to strike unless they refused to give him the box of lives.
When the boy came to the first house in this village, he asked for the
lives of his town people, but they said, “We don’t know where they are.
They might be in the next house.” He went to that, and they said the
same thing there. They answered him in the same manner at all of the
houses. By the time he reached the last he was discouraged, thinking
that he had undertaken all of that labor for nothing. He went in there,
however, and said, “Give me my village people’s lives. If you don’t
give them to me, I will strike your village.” This was the town chief’s
house, however, and he said, “Don’t strike our village. I will give you
the lives of your village people.” These people were also wolf people.
Then the wolf chief handed him the box of lives and said, “Take it back
to your village and leave it in each house for four days. At the end of
four days go into the house and see what has happened.”
After this the boy returned to his native village and left the box of
lives four days in the house of his uncle, the chief. Early on the
morning of the day following he heard noises there, jumped up and went
over to it. There were all of his people walking about and looking very
happy. He left the box in every house in town for the prescribed period
until all the absent ones had come to life, and all of their houses
were filled as before. All the time this boy was away among the wolves
his mother and grandmother were worrying about him, but after the
people had been restored they were very happy.
51. THE SALMON CHIEF
A certain fisherman fished for salmon and nothing else. One day, after
he had fished for a long time, he was walking upon the beach and came
upon a salmon left by the tide. He was very glad for he had not been
getting any fish for some time and saw that this was nice and fresh. He
said to himself, “Oh! what a nice meal I shall have.” He had been very
hungry for salmon. But, as he reached down to pick it up, it spoke to
him saying, “No, no, don’t eat me. I am chief of all the salmon. Put
me into the water and let me go out again. You will get lots of salmon
if you let me go.” The man felt very badly to lose it, but he thought
that since it talked to him in this way he would let it go, and he did
so.
Before this happened it had been very stormy, so that the fisherman had
been unable to get anything, but now it became calm, and he went out
fishing and caught many salmon. Next day he went for more, but it was
so stormy at sea that he could not catch any. Then he thought that he
would walk along shore again. He did so, and when he came to the place
where he had found the first salmon he saw another large, fine salmon.
He thought, “Oh! what a fine-looking salmon, and I have to let it go
again.” But the salmon spoke up at once saying, “No, don’t let me go.
Take me home, and you shall have me for your supper. After you have
cooked me do not break any of my bones. Take care of all of them. Take
the bones out of my head and place them in a dish. Then put them under
your pillow and sleep on them to-night.”
This man lived alone with his wife, and they had no children but were
very anxious for them. About midnight the man awoke and, looking under
his pillow, saw two fine-looking boy babies.
The children grew up quite fast, and one of them was very brave, but
the other was a coward and always stayed at home. One day the former
asked his father, “Are you two the only ones who live here?” “That is
all; that is all,” said his father, for he did not want his son to
leave them. After that the boy begged hard to go away, and asked his
father to put up some food for him to take, but at first his father
refused. He begged so hard, however, that after a while his parents
consented and prepared it.
So the boy finally went away, and presently he came to where an
old woman lived. This woman said to him, “My grandson.” “Oh! my
grandmother,” said he. Then she gave him something to eat. She put
something into a very small kettle, and, after it was cooked, she
gave it to him and it tasted very good. Then she looked up at him and
said, “I suppose you thought ‘That old woman who lives back there
is starving.’ I don’t suppose you thought I had anything to eat.”
Afterward the boy said, “Grandmother, why is it that this village looks
so black?” She answered, “There is a monster there which is a human
being and yet not a human being. It has seven heads. It is to be fed
with the chief’s daughter. Otherwise he will murder every one in the
village.” Finally they heard a drum and saw people going along dancing.
They were taking the chief’s daughter to this monster. Then the boy saw
them return without her.[115]
At once the boy started on a run toward the place whither they had
taken this girl and presently came upon her walking toward the monster
very slowly. When she heard some one walking up to her she turned round
and saw the boy. She said, “Where are you going?” Said he, “Where are
you going?” “Oh! my father has given me to this seven-headed monster,
and that is where I am going.” Then the boy said, “Don’t go there. You
better go back with me.” She kept going along closer and closer to the
monster’s place and seemed to go slower and slower.
By and by they saw the man with his seven heads sticking out of the
den. He began to laugh when he saw them and said, “I thought I was
going to have only one girl to eat, but I am also going to have a fat,
plump boy.” The boy answered, “You are going to have me to eat, are
you? You and I will fight first.” Then the monster laughed again and
said to him, “Do you see all of those bones around there?” Human bones
lay all around. “And you think you can fight me.”
After that they began fighting. The boy had a knife made of obsidian
(în). He was very quick and could walk all over his opponent because
the latter was slow and clumsy, so he finally cut off three of the
monster’s heads. Then the boy said, “Let us sit down for a minute and
rest.” They did so, and, after a while the monster said, “I am strong
now, stronger than I have ever been.” But the boy answered, “You had
seven heads and I cut off three, leaving you but four, yet you say that
you are stronger than before. You may be stronger, but you are too
slow.” The girl stood near by looking on. Then they started fighting
once more, and the boy cut off the monster’s four remaining heads for
he was slower than ever.
Now they went home to the boy’s father, and, when he told him what had
happened, his father felt very proud of him. The boy wanted to marry
the chief’s daughter, and, although his people were poor, the chief
consented willingly.
FOOTNOTES:
[115] This portion of the story and that which follows look like a
garbled European myth, such as the story of Perseus and Andromeda, or
that of Hercules and the Hydra.
52. THE JEALOUS UNCLE[116]
A high-caste man had a beautiful wife of whom he was very jealous. He
had also four sisters well married in different villages, all with
sons. One morning the eldest of these sisters said to her husband, “I
want to go to see my brother. I believe he would like to see our son.”
Her husband was willing, because he wanted to see the man himself.
When they arrived there, the woman’s brother pretended that he thought
a great deal of his nephew, but really he did not want to see him for
fear his wife would take a liking to him because he was handsome. He
told the young man, however, that he was going to take him everywhere
with him. His mother felt very happy to think that her brother thought
so much of him and left him there with his uncle.
Immediately after his mother had gone, however, the uncle determined
to make away with him, because his wife seemed to like him. So next
morning he said, “We are going down right away to get some devilfish to
eat. The tide will soon be low enough.” Then the boy prepared himself,
for he was very anxious to go, and they set out. His uncle said, “Walk
right along there,” pointing to a high ridge parallel with the beach.
“Walk ahead, and I will follow you.”
The boy did as he was directed and soon saw something large on the
beach, that kept opening and closing. It was a very large clam. His
uncle told him to get right on top of the ridge to watch it, for it was
the first time he had seen anything of the kind. As the boy was very
anxious to examine it, he got up there and leaned far over. When he did
so, however, the clam opened and remained open, and his uncle pushed
him right down into it. Then the clam closed upon him and killed him.
The boy’s parents soon found out what had happened to their son, and,
although his uncle declared that it was an accident, they knew that he
was jealous and did not believe him.
Some time after this the uncle turned his thoughts to his second
sister’s son who was still handsomer. His wife had seen this youth, and
had told her husband how fine he was. This made him very jealous, and
he sent to this sister, saying that it was about time she sent one of
her sons to help him, for he had no children and needed help. He knew
that the oldest child would be sent, because the next was a girl. So
the boy came, and he threw him down into the big clam like the other.
The uncle was very jealous of his wife because he knew that everyone
fell in love with her on account of her beauty.
After this the uncle sent for the third sister’s child who was older
than the last he had killed, but he would not go for a long time, and
his parents did not ask him to. He was a flighty youth, however, and,
after his uncle had sent for him several times, he thought of his
uncle’s handsome wife and made up his mind to visit them.
All of the time this boy was with him the uncle watched him and his
wife very closely and would not leave the house for a minute. His wife
was very anxious to give him warning, but her husband feared it and
watched her too closely. She made signs to the boy, but he did not
understand them. When his uncle took him down to the beach, he said, “I
must go back to the house after a drink of water.” He thought that his
uncle would wait for him, but instead he followed him right back to the
house. Then the boy said to his uncle’s wife, “Where is the water?” She
pointed it out, but, as her husband stood close by, she could not say
anything more. So they went down to the beach, but, when the youth saw
this clam moving in the distance, he ran by it very quickly, and his
uncle was disappointed. Then they went on farther, and the uncle said
to him, “Do you see that hole down there?” He could see plainly a very
large hole. Then his uncle said, “The devilfish that we want to get for
our supper is in that.” He handed him the stick for getting devilfish
and said, “Hook it. You can get it very easily.” The boy put the end of
his stick into the hole, felt that the fish was there, and hooked it.
Immediately he tried to run off, but his uncle was right behind him,
and pushed him forward so that the devilfish seized him and dragged him
under the rock.
All the time this man was killing his nephews, the youngest, who looked
very much like the first one killed, had been practising. His father
showed him how to make himself look like a very small ball of feathers.
He had the shaman of that village make a bracelet of eagle down for
him inclosing a piece of devil’s club carved by the shaman. Then the
shaman said, “Just as soon as you find that you are in danger turn this
bracelet around on your wrist four times as quickly as you can.” Then
the shaman told him to climb a very high tree, and climbed right after
him, while his father stood watching. The shaman said, “Now turn that
around on your wrist four times as quickly as you can.” He did so, and
just as he finished the shaman pushed him down. Then his father saw
nothing but a ball of eagle down rolling down the tree. As soon as
it reached the ground there stood the boy, and the shaman knew that
everything was all right. He also gave the boy a knife having a handle
carved like devil’s clubs, which he kept in the bosom of his shirt,
tied around his neck.
After this the boy’s friends took him to his uncle and remained with
him for three days. On the fourth day they returned. Then the uncle’s
wife cried continually to think that a boy not fully grown should be
left there to be killed, and his uncle said to her angrily, “What is
it you are always crying about? You are in love again aren’t you?”
Then the boy said aloud so that his uncle could hear, “You are in love
with the right one this time.” At that his uncle became angry and told
him he talked too much. Right away he said, “Come on with me. We will
get a devilfish for our supper.” So the boy prepared himself, and they
started off, while his uncle’s wife came out and watched them, thinking
that he was the last.
As they went along the boy saw the clam, and, before his uncle told
him it was there, he stood still just above it. For a moment he forgot
about his bracelet, but, just as he saw his uncle raise his hands, he
remembered and turned his bracelet about once. When he reached the clam
he turned it for the fourth time and fell into the clam as a ball of
feathers, while his uncle went home, thinking he had disposed of him.
The ball of feathers inside, however, turned back into a boy, and he
cut both sides of the clam and came out.
Then he saw the devilfish-stick his uncle had given him lying there
and thought he would go on and see the devilfish they were to have
had for their supper. When he reached the place and saw the devilfish
sitting outside of its hole he became frightened, yet he thought that
he would try to kill it. Now he went up to the creature and turned his
bracelet around twelve times, wishing that it become small. It did
grow small, and he killed it easily and dragged it home on his stick.
Reaching the house, he pushed the door open and threw it right in front
of his uncle, where it reassumed enormous proportions. Then his uncle
was astonished to see him and began screaming loudly, begging the boy
to take the devilfish out at once. So he took it out and threw it down
upon the beach. Afterward he looked back at it, and it had become the
same big devilfish again.
Now the boy remained with his uncle for a very long time, and his
uncle’s wife thought a great deal of him, while his uncle seemed to do
so too. One day, however, he saw his wife talking to the boy and again
determined to kill him. Then he put something sharp pointed on the
ground, took the nephew up to the top of a very high tree and crawled
up after him. The boy, who knew what was going to happen, began singing
and turning his bracelet round slowly at the same time. Just as he had
turned it for the fourth time his uncle reached him and pushed him
over. When he landed upon the ground, however, there was nothing to be
seen but a ball of eagle down.
His uncle saw this, and, feeling that he could not kill his nephew,
treated him well for a very long time, but watched him closely. His
wife said to the boy, “Your uncle is thinking a great deal because he
can’t kill you.” But all that the boy would answer every time she said
this was, “Only a ball of eagle down.” She did not know what he meant.
One day the uncle thought that he would deceive his wife and nephew, so
he told the latter that he was going back into the woods and started
off. Instead of going away, however, he went back of the house, looked
through a hole at them and listened. Then the boy came to his wife and
sat down close to her, and she said, “Let us run away. I am afraid of
your uncle.” He answered that he would if he could get a canoe, and she
told him of a place where there was a canoe, some distance from the
town. Then the uncle came right in and wanted to kill his wife on the
spot but was so fond of her that he could not. The boy sat perfectly
still, moving his bracelet.
That night the uncle treated his nephew very kindly and began telling
him all kinds of stories, until at last the boy fell asleep. This was
just what he wanted. Then he tied the boy to a board, thinking, “I am
going to get rid of him this time. The feathers will get wet, and he
will be drowned.” So he took him quite a distance out to sea and set
him adrift there. It was very stormy.
The boy, however, floated along for some time and finally came ashore
in safety on a nice sandy beach. The tide was very low. Then he heard
the laughter of some girls who were out digging clams. There were
three of them, and they were sisters. Now the eldest of the girls saw
something moving on the beach and went thither, thinking it was some
dying animal. Instead she saw a handsome youth, who looked right up
at her but said nothing. Said she, “What has happened to you?” But he
would not speak. She called to her sisters, and they ran up. Then the
second sister immediately fell in love with him, but the youngest had
nothing to say. The eldest had formerly been in love with the youth
that was first destroyed, so she said to her second sister, “How much
like my dead lover he looks.” She saw him smile because he knew her,
but he did not know the others, and immediately the eldest began to
cry, saying that that was her lover’s smile only that he was a larger
man. Then the second sister laughed, saying that she was going to untie
him and have him for her husband. The youngest, however, said, “Well!
you two can have him, for I am not going to have a man that can not
talk.” “If he comes out all right after we have untied him,” said the
eldest, “we will both be his wives.” So, the two older girls untied him
and started to raise his head while the youngest ran off to dig clams.
They asked him if he could talk, and he said, “Yes.” As he walked
between the girls, one of them said, “You shall go to my father’s house
with me.” At the time they untied him the eagles were gathering around
to devour him.
Then they took him into their father’s house and their father said,
“Who is that fellow?” “We found him,” said the second, “and we are
going to marry him.” This one was very quick to speak, while the eldest
was slow and quiet. Their father consented, and he married both of the
girls. Then the eldest spoke to her father of how much he resembled her
dead lover, although the boy had not told anything about himself.
Those girls used to go off to hunt and spear salmon just like boys, so
the younger said next morning, “I am going out to spear salmon.” She
brought a salmon home. The day following both girls asked him to go
with them, and he did so. They tried to teach him how to hunt, for he
belonged to such a very high family that he had never learned.
On the way the younger wife acted sulkily toward her elder sister
because she would never leave their husband’s side. So she started
off alone, and her husband was afraid she would go away for good, for
he liked her very much on account of her liveliness. In the evening,
however, she came back with a salmon and said to her sister, “You can
live on love. You stick by your husband and do not go to get anything
to eat.” Then their husband carried the salmon back, and his elder
wife came home slowly. The younger sister cooked the salmon and put it
between herself and her husband. He pulled it along toward his elder
wife, but the other said, “She shall not have any. She is going to
live on love.” Then her husband said that if she would let her sister
have some salmon he would go out and try to get another himself. It
was early in the spring and the salmon were scarce. The younger wife
now felt jealous of her sister because she thought that their husband
thought more of her than of herself, though really the reverse was the
case. He pitied the elder, however, because she had done so much for
him.
When the young man saw that his younger wife was angry toward the
elder, however, he determined to leave them for a time. The younger did
not want to let him go, and begged him hard to remain, but the elder
said nothing, for he had told her his reasons. Finally he told his
younger wife that she must let him go but that he would come back. He
said that she must treat her elder sister well because his cousin (lit.
“elder brother”) had been in love with her. When she asked him what
cousin he meant, he explained that his elder brother had died quite a
while ago and that this girl had been in love with him. After that she
let him set out.
At this time he thought that he would kill his uncle, so he paddled
thither. His uncle saw him, knew what he had come for, and was
frightened. Then the young man went to his uncle’s house, spent the
evening and started away again. About midnight, however, he returned
and told his uncle that he had come to kill him because he had murdered
his brothers and made him himself suffer. Although his uncle begged
hard to be spared, he killed him, and, after telling his uncle’s wife
that he had killed her husband and why he had done so, he returned to
his wives.
FOOTNOTES:
[116] This is expressed in a rather unusual manner, and may have been
modified perhaps by white influences, but the main plot is entirely
native.
53. THE MAN WHO MARRIED THE EAGLE
This is a story of something that happened among the Haida. It is
about a young man there who married a very fine-looking girl. This
girl deceived her husband and went with the son of the town chief, but
her husband found it out and killed him. Since the dead man belonged
to such high-caste people, the girl’s husband was afraid and told
his slave to take him off in his canoe. Before the relatives of the
murdered man found it out and had started in pursuit, he had gotten
some distance away. He and his slave paddled very hard and got way out
into the ocean, and, when at last the man looked up, he found that he
was close to a large rock very far out. Then he jumped ashore, and,
seeing that there were very many seals there, he began clubbing them
forgetful of the fact that he was a fugitive. At last, when he did
look up, he found that his slave had deserted him and was now a long
distance off.
The man camped on the rock that night and next morning studied very
hard what he should do. At last he fixed upon a plan which he proceeded
to carry out. Taking the largest seal he had killed, he skinned it very
carefully so as not to cut through the hide anywhere. Late that night
he got inside, tied the skin together over himself very tightly so that
no water could come in, and set himself adrift. Then he floated along
on the ocean, and at times he felt that he was bumping against rocks,
but he kept quiet and after he had gone for a long time he felt himself
drift ashore upon a beach.
Next morning very early, as he lay there, the man heard an eagle cry
and knew that it was flying toward him. Finally it lighted right on
top of the seal. The eagle seemed to notice, however, that this seal
sounded empty, and instead of trying to eat it, sat still there. By
and by the man took out his knife, cut through the skin right where
the eagle sat and seized its legs. Then he looked up at it through the
hole, and lo! instead of an eagle there was a girl. Then the girl said
to him, “Come up to my father’s house with me.” He agreed, and, when
she had taken him up, he saw a fine house over every bed in which hung
an eagle skin.
After that the young man took the girl for his wife. At that time
one of his brothers-in-law stood up and gave him an eagle-skin coat,
saying, “I have given you a coat as a present. With this coat you can
catch cod easily.” Another brother-in-law got up and said, “I also
give you a coat. With this coat you can easily catch salmon.” Another
got up and said, “I also give you a coat. With this coat you can catch
halibut.” Another got up and said, “I, too, will give you a coat. With
this coat you can catch seal. Always sit on a tree top and look down
at the water. Then the seal will look to you like a very small fish.
It feels like a small fish when you catch it in this coat.” So, all in
the house presented him with different coats. The last of them was a
young black eagle which said, “I give you this coat, and with this coat
you can catch a sea lion.” Then the older eagles made fun of his gift,
saying, “With that young skin you need not think you can catch even the
smallest trout.”
Meanwhile the people in the town this boy had come from had sent his
mother, who was a very old woman, away from the village to starve. He
was at that time very near where she was living, but he did not know it.
After this the young man put on the coat he had received first, went
out in it and caught a cod which he gave to his wife. He put the next
coat on and caught a salmon. When he looked down upon this it appeared
to be very small, and it felt very light while he was carrying it, but
when he got it home it was a very large fish. With the next coat he
caught a very big halibut, and with the next a seal. This seemed very
light to him, but, when he got it home to his father-in-law and his
brothers-in-law, he was surprised at its size. Lastly, he put on the
black eagle skin. He went out and watched, and after a while he saw a
sea lion a long distance out. He went after it and brought it ashore
easily, but, after he had taken it to his father-in-law, he wondered
how he had carried it.
By and by the man felt that his mother was suffering somewhere, and,
going along the beach, he found her living in a little house made of
branches. He asked her what the matter was, and she told him. Then he
said to his mother, “In the morning you will hear some sea gulls. As
soon as that happens, get up and go along the beach. You will find a
large salmon.” The woman did so. In the morning she got up and looked
and a very large salmon lay there. She had to cut it up and carry it to
her brush house in pieces. In the evening her son went to her again and
said, “To-morrow I will get a seal for you. Look for it very early.” So
she awoke very early, found a large seal, and took up its meat.
After that her son went to her again and told her that he had been
captured by the eagles and was living very comfortably among them. He
said that he had a wife who was very good to him and told her not to
worry for he would always look after her. Then he said, “Early next
morning go and look again. I will try to get you a sea lion.” She did
so, and found a very large sea lion upon the beach. She took off the
skin, dried it, preserved the oil, and dried the meat.
Now the man went to his mother once more and said to her, “Next morning
I will get a whale and leave it down here on the beach. Don’t touch it.
A canoe will come from our village and find it. While they are cutting
up the whale don’t go down to them.” It happened just as he had said,
and when this canoe had carried back the news everybody came down from
the village to cut it up.
As the old woman did not go down to look while they were cutting
up this whale, some one said, “Run up to see the old woman.” When
they came there, they found her in a very large brush house in which
salmon, seal, and sea-lion meat were drying. They were surprised to
see how much food she had when they themselves had barely enough. Then
everybody ran up to look at her. They had stripped the whale down,
but had not taken off the pieces. When they left her house to go down
again, the old woman came out and the eagle, which had sat on top of a
tree watching, said to her, “Get away. Get away.” After that one of the
men took a rock and hit her in the face with it.
When the eagle saw what was done to his mother he flew down, seized
the town chief by the top of the head and flew up with him. Then he
came down again far enough for a person to seize the town chief’s legs
and flew round and round the whale. By and by another man caught hold
of the chief and was unable to let go. The eagle flew around a little
higher up until another seized the second man, and so he continued to
do until he had carried up all of the men. Meanwhile the women were in
a great hurry to cut the whale, but the old woman poked it, telling it
to go out, and it went away from them right out to sea. Meanwhile the
eagle rose higher and higher into the air and flew far out over the
ocean, where it dropped all of the men of that place and drowned them.
54. THE BRANT WIFE[117]
A man at G̣onāˊxo in the Łaxaỵîˊk (or Yakutat) country married a brant
woman (qên). One day in spring this woman said to her husband, “Let us
go outside and watch the flocks of geese passing. My father’s canoe
will soon be coming along.” Then they went out and saw a flock of brant
coming. The brant seemed to stop over the woman a little while, and she
called to them saying, “Have you anything for me?” Immediately some
dried tsǃēt fell upon her lap.
Next day she again said to her husband, “I am sure that my father’s
canoe will come along to-day. Let us go outside and sit there.” So they
did. Then they saw the largest flock of brant they had yet observed,
and the woman jumped up, saying, “There is my father’s canoe coming
along.” When the flock got over the place where they were sitting, one
of them made a great noise directly overhead, and her husband thought
that must be his wife’s father. His wife also began making the brant
noise in return, so that her husband became very much frightened. As
soon as she had finished she flew up among the brant people.
Now her husband started off under the flock, and ran for a very long
time until he was thoroughly tired out. Seeing that he was now so far
behind that she could barely see him, his wife said to her father,
“Father, let us camp here.” So her father had them encamp there on a
flat place, and her husband saw it from a high hill. When he came up
with them, he stood around on the flats and would not go near. By and
by a man came out to him and said, “You better come in. We have a place
prepared for you.” So he went in, and found his wife sitting on a mat
in the house with room enough for him beside her. The brants looked to
him just like human beings. Then they cooked for them, and afterward
left the place, taking him with them. When they reached the place where
they were to stay all summer, he saw that they worked very hard to get
food in order to take it back.
Some time afterward the sand-hill cranes (dūł) and the geese (tǃāwᴀˊk)
made war on the brants and killed off many of the latter. At first the
man stood and watched them without taking part, and at last his wife’s
father, who was chief of the brants, said to his daughter, “Daughter,
why is it that your husband will not help us? Doesn’t he see that my
people have all been killed? Ask him to help me.” Then the man made
war aprons, coats, and hats for the brants and for himself, and he
made himself a club. He killed great numbers of sand-hill cranes and
geese, while none of the brants were destroyed. After he had killed
enough of the enemy to make up for the brants that had been destroyed,
his father-in-law told his daughter to say to him that he had killed
enough. “If he kills any more,” he said, “they will want to kill more
of my people.” So all stopped fighting, and they recommenced collecting
food for the return journey. The girl’s father felt very good toward
his son-in-law for saving their lives.
When fall came and the brants were ready to start back their chief
said, “We will not go back the same way we came. We must go another
way.” Then they started. It seemed to the man that they were going in
canoes instead of flying. Late the first evening the chief said, “Now
we will camp out here.” The place that he referred to was a large rock
far out at sea, and they camped upon it. After they had eaten all went
to sleep.
Next morning, however, although the man awoke early, he found himself
lying out on the rock alone. Then he was very sad, and did not know
what he should do. He thought, “How am I to get home from here without
any canoe?” He remained out upon that rock for a long time and thought
that he should never see his friends again. He remained there, in fact,
all winter, living on food that the brants had left him. When spring
came he was more anxious than ever to get home, so much so that he did
not care to eat anything and went for several days without nourishment.
One morning he said to himself, “What is the use of getting up?” And
he lay down again with his blankets over his head. After some time had
passed, he heard something say to him very loudly, “Why are you lying
here? What are you doing out here on this rock?” He threw his blanket
off and looked around but saw nothing except a bird called gusǃyadūˊłî
sitting near by. He lay down again, and again he heard the voice. He
heard it for the third time. Every time the bird was sitting in the
same place. When he again lay down he thought he must be crazy, but on
keeping a lookout he saw the gusǃyadūˊłî run up toward him very fast,
so he said to it quietly, “I have seen you.” Then the bird replied, “I
have come to bring you luck. Get on my back and keep your face buried
in the feathers on the back of my neck.” When he had done this, the
bird started to fly off with him. It said, “Don’t look up. I do not
want you to look up.” The farther it went the more it repeated this
warning, so he tried hard to keep his face concealed. Finally the bird
stopped, and he wondered where they were. “You can open your eyes now,”
said the bird, and when he did so he saw that they were on a big pile
of seaweed drifting around far out at sea. Then the bird told him to
close his eyes again, and by the time it stopped with him once more
he was very tired. Then the bird said again, “Now open your eyes.” He
opened his eyes and recognized the place well as being close to his own
village.
FOOTNOTES:
[117] See story 24.
55. THE DUCK HELPER
All the people in a village called Tāˊsna, “just south of the mouth of
the Yukon,” once died of smallpox with the exception of one woman and
her son. The boy was just old enough to realize what had happened. His
mother kept weeping day after day, and it so distressed her son that
he went off hunting with bow and arrows and did not return until he
thought she was through.
One day he went farther than he realized and on turning about was
puzzled to know where the village lay. He walked for a long time in
different directions trying to find it but in vain. He was lost and
had to camp that night. Next morning he began looking again, and he
looked all day with no better success. On the third morning, after he
had looked about until he was very tired, he caught sight of water
through the trees and, thinking it was the ocean, ran quickly toward
it. When he came up to it, however, he found it was only a lake. He
remained there for some time, living on roots, and afterward continued
his journey. Again he traveled all day and on the following morning he
again saw water through the woods. Now he felt happy once more, but
when he came down to it and looked around, lo! it was the same lake he
had left.
By this time the boy was too tired to walk any more, so he thought,
“Well! I might as well stay right here.” He covered himself up with
moss and went to sleep. Suddenly, however, he was awakened by a voice
saying, “Who is this boy?” He looked around but saw no one. He was
entirely alone. Then he fell asleep again, and again something said,
“Who is this boy?” He thought that he was dreaming, for, when he looked
around, he saw only a black duck far out on the water.
After this the boy said to himself, “Now I am going to sit up and
watch.” So he seated himself against a large bush and, although he
became so sleepy there that his eyes kept closing, he would open them
resolutely and keep on the watch. Finally he got up and went behind the
bush. While his eyes were closed, the boy heard the same voice again,
but he was not quite asleep, so he opened them quickly and saw the
black duck (gāx̣ᵘ) on the beach. Immediately it turned into a man, who
stood looking at him. “What are you doing here?” said the man. Then
the boy told him how he had gotten lost. “All of our village people
died, and my mother cried so that I wanted to get away from her, so I
traveled in the woods alone and became lost. Since that day I have not
been home to see my mother.” Then the man took off his coat, gave it
to the boy, and said, “Put on this coat. As soon as you have done so,
stretch out your arms and keep going like that. Don’t think of me and
don’t think of this lake. Think of your uncle’s house.”
The boy did as he had been told, and it seemed to him that he was
flying along very rapidly far above the trees. For a long time he
thought of nothing else than his uncle’s house and his uncle’s village,
but at length he remembered the lake and lo! he was there once more
with the man standing before him in the same place. Then the man said,
“Didn’t I tell you not to think of me or the lake? Start over again.
Think of nothing but your uncle’s house and the village you are bound
for.” So this time the boy tried very hard, and all at once he came out
back of his uncle’s house, where his mother was waiting and calling for
him. When she recognized him she was very happy.
56. THE BOY WHO SHOT THE STAR
Two very high-caste boys were chums. The father of one was town chief
and had his house in the middle of the village, but the house of the
other boy’s father stood at one end. These boys would go alternately
to each other’s houses and make great quantities of arrows which they
would play with until all were broken up.
One time both of the boys made a great quantity of arrows to see
which could have the more. Just back of their village was a hill on
the top of which was a smooth grassy place claimed by the boys as
their playground, and on a certain fine, moonlight night they started
thither. As they were going along the lesser chief’s son, who was
ahead, said, “Look here, friend. Look at that moon. Don’t you think
that the shape of that moon is the same as that of my mother’s labret
and that the size is the same, too?” The other answered, “Don’t. You
must not talk that way of the moon.” Then suddenly it became very dark
about them and presently the head chief’s son saw a ring about them
just like a rainbow. When it disappeared his companion was gone. He
called and called to him but did not get any answer and did not see
him. He thought, “He must have run up the hill to get away from that
rainbow.” He looked up and saw the moon in the sky. Then he climbed the
hill, and looked about, but his friend was not there. Now he thought,
“Well! the moon must have gone up with him. That circular rainbow must
have been the moon.”
The boy thus left alone sat down and cried, after which he began to
try the bows. He put strings on them one after the other and tried
them, but every one broke. He broke all of his own bows and all of his
chum’s except one which was made of very hard wood. He thought, “Now
I am going to shoot that star next to the moon.” In that spot was a
large and very bright one. He shot an arrow at this star and sat down
to watch, when, sure enough, the star darkened. Now he began shooting
at that star from the big piles of arrows he and his chum had made, and
he was encouraged by seeing that the arrows did not come back. After
he had shot for some time he saw something hanging down very near him,
and, when he shot up another arrow, it stuck to this. The next did
likewise, and at last the chain of arrows reached him. He put a last
one on to complete it.
Now the youth felt badly for the loss of his friend and, lying down
under the arrow chain, he went to sleep. After a while he awoke, found
himself sleeping on that hill, remembered the arrows he had shot away,
and looked up. Instead of the arrows there was a long ladder reaching
right down to him. He arose and looked so as to make sure. Then he
determined to ascend. First, however, he took various kinds of bushes
and stuck them into the knot of hair he wore on his head. He climbed
up his ladder all day and camped at nightfall upon it, resuming his
journey the following morning. When he awoke early on the second
morning his head felt very heavy. Then he seized the salmon berry bush
that was in his hair, pulled it out, and found it was loaded with
berries. After he had eaten the berries off, he stuck the branch back
into his hair and felt very much strengthened. About noon of the same
day he again felt hungry, and again his head was heavy, so he pulled
out a bush from the other side of his head and it was loaded with blue
huckleberries. It was already summer there in the sky. That was why he
was getting berries. When he resumed his journey next morning his head
did not feel heavy until noon. At that time he pulled out the bush at
the back of his head and found it loaded with red huckleberries.
By the time he had reached the top the boy was very tired. He looked
round and saw a large lake. Then he gathered some soft brush and some
moss and lay down to sleep. But, while he slept, some person came to
him and shook him saying, “Get up. I am after you.” He awoke and looked
around but saw no one. Then he rolled over and pretended to go to sleep
again but looked out through his eyelashes. By and by he saw a very
small but handsome girl coming along. Her skin clothes were very clean
and neat, and her leggings were ornamented with porcupine quills. Just
as she reached out to shake him he said, “I have seen you already.”
Now the girl stood still and said, “I have come after you. My
grandmother has sent me to bring you to her house.” So he went with
her, and they came to a very small house in which was an old woman. The
old woman said, “What is it you came way up here after, my grandson?”
and the boy answered, “On account of my playmate who was taken up
hither.” “Oh!” answered the old woman, “he is next door, only a short
distance away. I can hear him crying every day. He is in the moon’s
house.”
Then the old woman began to give him food. She would put her hand up to
her mouth, and a salmon or whatever she was going to give would make
its appearance. After the salmon she gave him berries and then meat,
for she knew that he was hungry from his long journey. After that she
gave him a spruce cone, a rose bush, a piece of devil’s club, and a
small piece of whetstone to take along.
As the boy was going toward the moon’s house with all of these things
he heard his playmate screaming with pain. He had been put up on a high
place near the smoke hole, so, when his rescuer came to it, he climbed
on top, and, reaching down through the smoke hole, pulled him out. He
said, “My friend, come. I am here to help you.” Putting the spruce cone
down where the boy had been, he told it to imitate his cries, and he
and his chum ran away.
After a while, however, the cone dropped from the place where it had
been put, and the people discovered that their captive had escaped.
Then the moon started in pursuit. When the head chief’s son discovered
this, he threw behind them the devil’s club he had received from the
old woman, and a patch of devil’s club arose which the moon had so much
trouble in getting through that they gained rapidly on him. When the
moon again approached, the head chief’s son threw back the rose bushes,
and such a thicket of roses grew there that the moon was again delayed.
When he approached them once more, they threw back the grindstone,
and it became a high cliff from which the moon kept rolling back. It
is on account of this cliff that people can say things about the moon
nowadays with impunity. When the boys reached the old woman’s house
they were very glad to see each other, for before this they had not had
time to speak.
The old woman gave them something to eat, and, when they were through,
she said to the rescuer, “Go and lie down at the place where you lay
when you first came up. Don’t think of anything but the playground you
used to have.” They went there and lay down, but after some time the
boy who had first been captured thought of the old woman’s house and
immediately they found themselves there. Then the old woman said, “Go
back and do not think of me any more. Lie there and think of nothing
but the place where you used to play.” They did so, and, when they
awoke, they were lying on their playground at the foot of the ladder.
As the boys lay in that place they heard a drum beating in the head
chief’s house, where a death feast was being held for them, and the
head chief’s son said, “Let us go,” but the other answered, “No, let
us wait here until that feast is over.” Afterward the boys went down
and watched the people come out with their faces all blackened. They
stood at a corner, but, as this dance is always given in the evening,
they were not seen.
Then the head chief’s son thought, “I wish my younger brother would
come out,” and sure enough, after all of the other people had gone, his
younger brother came out. He called to his brother saying, “Come here.
It is I,” but the child was afraid and ran into the house instead.
Then the child said to his mother, “My brother and his friend are out
here.” “Why do you talk like that?” asked his mother. “Don’t you know
that your brother died some time ago?” And she became very angry. The
child, however, persisted, saying, “I know his voice, and I know him.”
His mother was now very much disturbed, so the boy said, “I am going
to go out and bring in a piece of his shirt.” “Go and do so,” said his
mother. “Then I will believe you.”
When the boy at last brought in a piece of his brother’s shirt his
mother was convinced, and they sent word into all of the houses, first
of all into that of the second boy’s parents, but they kept both with
them so that his parents could come there and rejoice over him. All of
the other people in that village also came to see them.
57. THE BOY AND THE GIANT
At a certain place in the interior lived a manly little boy who was
very fond of hunting. He would take his lunch and go off hunting very
early in the morning and stay all day, bringing home two or three
porcupines in the evening. One morning he started earlier than usual
and came upon a giant as tall as the trees. He was very much frightened
and ran away with the big man in pursuit. As the giant was not a very
fast runner, the boy kept ahead of him until he came to a sort of cave
like a house at the foot of a hill and entered it. When the big man saw
this, he said, “Come here, my grandson.” The boy refused, and the giant
continued his entreaties for a long time. At last the boy consented to
go with him, so the giant said, “Get inside of my shirt. I will carry
you that way.” Then the boy vaulted in there, and they started off.
After they had gone along in this manner for some time, the boy, who
had his head out, saw a very small bird called old-person (ʟᴀgᵘ-qāˊkǃᵘ)
and said, “Grandpa, there is a bird I would like to have.” Then the big
man stopped and let him down, and he shot the bird with an arrow and
put it into his bosom, after which he crawled back into the big man’s
shirt. But now this bird had increased the boy’s weight so much that
the giant could scarcely move along. At every step he took he sank deep
into the moss. When the boy noticed this, he said to himself, “How is
it that, since I picked up this small bird, I have gotten very heavy,
and it is hard for him to walk?” Then he threw the bird away and the
giant walked on again as lightly as before. The boy enjoyed so much
being with this giant that he had forgotten all about his father and
mother. After that they traveled on together until they came to a very
large lake. In it the boy saw beaver houses, and the beaver dam ran
right across it. He thought, “This is a beaver lake. This is the kind
of place my father has told me about.” Then the big man tore a hole
through the top of a beaver house, took all of the beavers out, and
made a fire right back of the lake at which to cook them. They camped
there for several days, living on beaver meat and drying the skins. But
the first evening the giant said, “Keep a look out. If you hear any
noise during the night, wake me up. There is a bigger man than I of
whom I am much afraid.” He also said to the boy, “Sleep some distance
away from me, or I might move against you or throw my leg on you so as
to kill you.”
The second night they encamped there the boy heard the bushes breaking,
and sure enough the second giant came along. He was so tall that his
head was far up above the trees, and they could not see it. This second
giant had been looking for the other for a long time unsuccessfully,
so he rushed upon him, threw him down, and lay on top of him. Then the
boy’s friend cried, “Grandson, take that club of mine out and throw it
at him.” The boy ran to the big man’s bed, took his club, which was
made from the entire skeleton of a beaver, out from under it, and threw
it at the intruder. As soon as he let it go out of his hands it began
chewing at the second giant’s leg, and, as he was unable to feel it,
the club chewed off both his legs. Then the other, who had been almost
smothered, killed him and threw his body into the lake.
After this the boy’s companion had nothing to fear, and wandered from
lake to lake, and the boy was so fond of hunting that he forgot all
about his father and mother. It was now winter time, and that winter
was very severe. From the time the second giant had been killed he had
been doing nothing but killing beaver.
One evening, however, the boy began thinking of his father and his
mother, and was very quiet. Then the big man said, “Why is it that you
are so quiet this evening?” The boy answered, “I have just thought of
my father and mother. I feel lonely (i. e., homesick) for them.” Then
his companion said, “Would you like to go to them?” “I can’t go to them
because I don’t know where they are. I don’t know which way to go to
get to them.” Then the big man said, “All right, you can go,” but the
boy did not know what he meant. Now the big man went to a small tree,
broke it off, trimmed it well for the boy, and said to him, “Take this
along and as soon as you feel that you are lost, let it stand straight
up and fall over. Go in the direction in which it falls. Keep on doing
this until you get to your father’s place.”
At first the boy was afraid to start off alone, but finally he did so.
Whenever he was in doubt about the direction he let the tree fall, and
it led him at last right down to his father’s village, where all were
exceedingly glad to see him.
58. THE BOY WITH ARROWS ON HIS HEAD
A chief’s daughter married her father’s nephew and had a child by him
who was named Wᴀtsǃîhîˊtcî. He was not exactly a human being, for he
had sharp arrow points on his head. When his mother began petting him
and using endearing terms to him, he said to her, “Don’t pet me. I am
no baby.” And he ran the arrow points on his head into his mother’s
breast and killed her. Afterward he ran off into the woods and became a
very bad person, killing everybody who went off hunting or after wood.
At that time his mother’s brother was out on the mountains hunting
along with his children. He knew that his nephew was killing people,
so he made his house very strong to keep him out. He also set around
bundles of dry straw shaped like human beings, and he even prepared a
hole in the mountains as a place of refuge.
How his nephew found out where he lived is not known, but one day he
suddenly walked right in. His uncle was sitting behind a bundle of
straw in the rear of the house, while his wife and children were in
the hole he had made in the mountain. The boy always had his arrows
and spears, the points of which were obsidian (în), ready to use, but
instead of aiming at his uncle he pointed his arrow at a bundle of
straw opposite. While he was doing so his uncle shot him under the left
arm, and he was so badly hurt that he left his spear and ran out.
As his assisting spirit this boy had a bird called gusǃiadūˊłi of about
the size of a robin. This spirit now doctored him and took out of him
all of the poison his uncle had put on the end of his arrow. But, while
he was doing this, his uncle tracked him by the marks of blood until he
came to the place where the boy lived. When he entered that place his
nephew said, “Don’t kill me, uncle. I have made a hole in the ground
over there and have filled it with goods. You may have them if you do
not kill me. If you let me go now I will never kill another person.”
In spite of all his protestations, however, his uncle killed him for
having destroyed so many of the town people and for having forced him
to live back among the mountains. Then he burned his nephew’s body and
went home with all of his family, leaving the ashes where they lay.
These ashes were driven about by the wind and became the minute gnats
that torment people.
59. GAMNĀˊTCKǃÎ[118]
Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî killed a seal, skinned it, and threw the skin and meat to
his wife to wash. While she was washing them in the sea she saw some
killer whales coming landward. By and by the meat she was washing
drifted out from her and she waded after it. She went out until the
water reached her hips. Then she suddenly felt some one pull her and
she disappeared under water. It was the killer-whale people who thus
took her into their canoe.
After that Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî felt very badly and thought to himself, “How can
I get my wife back? How can I look for her under the water?” He could
not sleep all night, and early in the morning he thought, “I wonder
if I couldn’t raise this water so as to go under it.” In the morning,
therefore, before he had eaten he took his red and black paints, went
down to the water, raised the edge of it just as if he were raising a
blanket, and walked under. He walked on farther and farther. It was
just like walking on land.
By and by he came to a village full of very pale people who went about
with their heads down. He found out that they were the red-cod people.
He wanted to make friends of them, so, thinking that they looked very
white, he painted them all red—men, women, and children. That is how
these fishes got their color. After that he asked them if they had
seen his wife, but they said that they had seen no one, so he went on.
Presently he came to another village and asked the people there the
same question to which he received the very same answer. Those were the
halibut people. In each village they gave him something to eat.
After he had left the halibut people Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî traveled for several
days before he came to another town. By and by, however, he perceived
smoke far ahead of him, and, going toward it, he saw that it was from
a fort. Inside of this fort was a large house which he immediately
entered, but the people there did not seem to care to see strangers and
would not talk to him. These were also very pale people, so to please
them he took out his black paint and painted all of them with it. Then
they felt well disposed toward him and were willing to talk. “Can you
tell me what clan has my wife?” he said. At first they said that they
did not know, but afterward one replied, “There is a strange woman in
that town across there.” Then this person pointed the village out, and
Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî felt pleased to know where his wife was. The people he had
come among were the sharks, and those whose village they showed him
were the killer whales.
Then the shark chief said, “Every time we have had a fight we have
beaten them.” The shark people also said to him, “The killer-whale
chief has a slave. Every morning the slave goes out after water. Go to
the creek and tell him what to do when he comes in. Tell him to bring
the water in and hand it to the chief over the fire. As he does so he
must drop it, and, while the house is full of steam, pick up your wife
and run out with her. The chief has married her. Then come over here
with her. They will run after you, but, if you can get away, come right
across.” The shark people had always been jealous of the killer whales
because they had this woman.
While the shark people were telling him what to do, a strange,
bony-looking person kept jumping up from behind the boxes. He wondered
what made him act so queerly and began to feel uneasy about it, but,
when the bony person saw him looking at him in a strange manner, he
said, “Why! don’t you know me? I am that halibut hook (nᴀx̣ᵘ) that the
sharks once took away from you. My name is Łgudjîˊ (the name of an
island).”
Just after that the man started for the killer-whale town and sat down
by the creek. When the slave came out after water, he asked him to help
him, saying, “I hear that my wife is with this chief.” “Yes,” the slave
answered, “if she were a man, they would have kept her for a slave like
myself. Since she is a woman, the chief has married her, and she is
living very well. I will help you as much as I can. She wants to return
to you. Now watch and I will do what you tell me to do. I will spill
this water on the fire.”
After that he took Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî to the door and showed him where his
wife sat. Then the slave walked in with the water while he stood
outside watching. He watched his wife through a crack and saw that she
appeared very much cast down. As soon as the fire was put out and the
house filled with steam he ran in, seized his wife, and started off
with her.
Then, when the slave thought that he had gotten a long distance away,
he shouted, “Some one has taken the woman away.” The chief looked
around, and sure enough his wife was gone. Going outside, they saw that
this man had almost reached the shark fort, and they saw him enter it.
As soon as he got there, the shark people began to dress themselves for
war. They were noisy and acted as though they were very hungry, so that
Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî became frightened. The halibut hook came to him, however,
and told him not to be frightened, because the killer whales were
coming over. All at once the fort began moving up and down. Whenever
the killer whales tried to enter, the fort killed them by moving up and
down and cutting off their heads. The slaughter was so great that the
few survivors were frightened and went back. Two or three days later
the killer whales came again with like result.
After this the shark people said to Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî, “You better not start
out right away. Stay here a while with us. They might be lying in
wait for you. Since we have fought for you so much, it is better that
you should get to your home safely.” Gᴀmnāˊtckǃî did so, and some time
later they said, “Go straight along by the way you came, and you will
find your way out easily.” He did this and reached his home in safety.
FOOTNOTES:
[118] Evidently a version of the Tsimshian story of Gunaxnaxsîmgyêt.
See story 4.
60. THE HĪN-TAỴĪˊCÎ
There is a fish, called hīn-taỵīˊcî, which is shaped like a halibut but
has very many “legs.”
Early one spring a Kîksᴀˊdî shaman at Sitka named Face-of-mountain
(Cāˊdāq) began singing, and the people did not know why. Another
morning he got up very early and began to sing again, while the spirits
talked to him. Then all of the Kîksᴀˊdî also rose. When his possession
was over the shaman said to them, “Take the canoe down and let us start
off.” They did so, placing the shaman in the bow under a mat, and, as
they went along, his spirits talked under it. Finally they came to a
deep bay in front of Sitka and the spirits said, “This is the place,”
so they started shoreward. When they came to a spot just beyond a steep
cliff which runs down precipitously into the sea, the spirits said,
“Here is the place where we are to land.” Then the shaman went up from
the canoe and sat in a hollow on top of a rock, while all watched him.
By and by his spirit said that the people must do likewise, so they
found similar places and seated themselves there.
Now the shaman seemed to be watching for something, so all of the
people looked in the same direction, and suddenly they saw a school
of killer whales coming along, making noises like yelping dogs. The
people wondered what was the matter and looked closely. Finally right
out from the cliff they saw something very black and shiny. It was
the hīn-taỵīˊcî, and, when a killer whale ran up against it, he would
be cut in two. The killer whales fought very hard, but, when they
were through, only three remained, who went off barking like dogs.
After that the hīn-taỵīˊcî came up in front of the place where the
men were sitting and made a great noise. They wondered at this and
were frightened, but the shaman understood it and said to them, “It is
saying ‘Don’t feel badly for me if I should get killed. I should not
have fought those people, but I had to do it, for they were coming here
to eat all of my food.’”
Now the people went home, but, after some time had passed, the shaman
asked them to take the canoe down once more and go out again. They did
so willingly, for they were anxious to see what more would happen.
The shaman had learned that all the killer-whale people were going
against the hīn-taỵīˊcî and that the sculpin (wēqǃ) had come to him
saying, “The people are coming after you again.” So the people went
to their former station, and presently the hīn-taỵīˊcî came out of his
hole and began jumping about on top of the water like a salmon. It
was very quick and very large. When it saw the great crowd of killer
whales coming on, it went out to meet them and killed all except the
killer-whale chief and two others, which it allowed to escape. Then it
again jumped up and down in front of the people, making a great noise,
and the shaman told them it said, “I am tired. If they come right back
with the same number of people, I shall be killed. It will be my fault.
I should not have killed them.”
Then the people went home and remained there quite a time. At length,
however, the shaman’s spirits told him that the sculpin had again come
to the hīn-taỵīˊcî to say that people were coming to kill him. So he
told his friends about it, and they went to the same place. As they sat
there watching, they saw a smoke arising far in the distance. It was
the killer whales blowing. There were still more of them this time,
but, as before, the hīn-taỵīˊcî destroyed all except three. Again it
told the people that it expected to be killed next time.
Now the shaman was very anxious to know what would be the outcome
of all this, so he went back to his village and waited impatiently
for another fight to take place. Finally the sculpin went to the
hīn-taỵīˊcî once more and said, “They are gathering more men for you,
stronger men this time. They are getting the devilfish people to
fight you.” When the shaman learned of it through his spirits he told
his people, and they went out to the cliff. Again they saw something
coming from a distance very rapidly, making the water boil. Just as
the devilfishes reached the hole of the hīn-taỵīˊcî, the latter jumped
through the largest of them, after which it killed all of the others
and all of the killer whales but three. It was easier for him this time
because there were fewer killer whales.
Next time the sculpin came to the hīn-taỵīˊcî it said “All of the
monster halibut are being gathered to fight with you.” So the people
went over once more and sat in their accustomed places. They saw the
largest halibut go up toward the hīn-taỵīˊcî’s hole with open mouth
ready to swallow it, but, as before, the hīn-taỵīˊcî jumped through
and through it, and killed all of its antagonists except three killer
whales. Where they fought the water was covered with blood, and after
every battle the hīn-taỵīˊcî would come out and say that next time it
expected to be killed.
Now, however, a very long time passed before the shaman heard anything,
and he began to think that they had given up fighting. But finally his
spirit came to him once more to say that the sculpin had been to the
hīn-taỵīˊcî. The sculpin had said to it, “They are coming after you
again. They have gathered all of the big crabs to kill you.” Then the
hīn-taỵīˊcî answered, “Those are the ones that are going to get me.”
So the shaman went out with his friends and watched from their former
stations.
Presently the watching people saw the killer whales approach with a
big crab in advance of them. Its body was under water, but its legs
stuck out, and the water seemed to boil as it swam forward. Then the
hīn-taỵīˊcî came out and said to the shaman, “They will get me this
time. It is my own fault. I am sure that I can not kill that big person
with the shell.” Then the hīn-taỵīˊcî went back into its hole, and the
crab ran up against the opening so it was unable to get out. So the
hīn-taỵīˊcî said, “How is it that you do not allow me to come out when
you have come here to fight me? Let me come out so that you can get me.
I have killed enough of you deep-water people to come out now. Stand
away a little and let me come.”
The hīn-taỵīˊcî wanted to see where the joints on the crab’s claws were
situated, and, as soon as the crab moved to one side, it went against
one of them and cut it off. With its remaining claw, however, the crab
seized it, lifted it into the air, and killed it in sight of everyone.
After that it placed the body on the back of the chief killer whale,
and the crab and the killer whales sang together as they went away with
its body. As they went they kept close to the surface of the water.
61. THE EAST AND NORTH WINDS
A high-caste man married the daughter of East-wind (Sāˊnᴀxet). After
a time he heard of a very pretty high-caste girl, the daughter of
North-wind (X̣ūn), so he left his first wife, came north, and married
her. Then he took her back to the village where his first wife lived.
Now the people said to his first wife, “There is a very pretty woman
here. Her clothes are very valuable and sparkle all over. They make a
noise like bells.” East-wind’s daughter was at once jealous and said,
“I will soon be able to fix that pretty girl you boys are talking
about.” Quite a while afterward it began to grow cloudy and warm,
and sure enough the daughter of North-wind lost all of her beautiful
clothing. It was icicles and frost that were so pretty, and when she
lost these she lost her beauty with them.
62. THE BIG BEAVER
At a certain place far back in the forest was a large lake in which
were many beaver houses. One time some people found this lake and dug a
trench out of it in order to drain it. Then they broke up the beavers’
houses so that the beavers began to swim down through the trench. As
they floated along the people killed them, all except one very large
beaver, which they knew must have been there on account of its fresh
tracks. They looked into all of the beaver houses they had broken up,
but could not find it. It must have gotten out at the very start and
made its escape into the woods.
Quite a while after this had been done, the people who had killed the
beavers walked up to the place where the lake had been. When they got
close to the place where they had let it out they heard a woman singing
in a beautiful voice: “Why didn’t you ask one another to stop, my
brothers? You begged yourselves to go off, my brothers.” She sang thus
because all of those who had destroyed the beavers were to die. She
was sitting on a part of the broken dam. So, on the way back to their
village, all of these people were drowned and only a few bodies were
recovered. Those whose bodies were not found had been captured by the
big beaver.
63. BEAVER AND PORCUPINE[119]
The beaver and the porcupine (łᴀkǃᴀˊtc) were great friends and went
about everywhere together. The porcupine often visited the beaver’s
house, but the latter did not like to have him come because he left
quills there. One time, when the porcupine said that he wanted to go
out to the beaver’s house, the beaver said, “All right, I will take you
out on my back.” He started, but instead of going to his house he took
him to a stump in the very middle of the lake. Then he said to him,
“This is my house,” left him there, and went ashore.
While the porcupine was upon this stump he began singing a song,
“Let it become frozen. Let it become frozen so that I can cross to
Wolverine-man’s place.” He meant that he wanted to walk ashore on the
ice. So the surface of the lake froze, and he walked home.
Some time after this, when the two friends were again playing together,
the porcupine said, “You come now. It is my turn to carry you on my
back.” Then the beaver got on the porcupine’s back, and the porcupine
took him to the top of a very high tree, after which he came down and
left him. For a long time the beaver did not know how to get down,
but finally he climbed down, and they say that this is what gives the
broken appearance to tree bark.
FOOTNOTES:
[119] See story 15.
64. THE MAN WHO ENTERTAINED THE BEARS[120]
A man belonging to the Raven clan living in a very large town had lost
all of his friends, and he felt sad to think that he was left alone.
He began to consider how he could leave that place without undergoing
hardships. First he thought of paddling away, but he said to himself,
“If I paddle away to another village and the people there see that I
am alone, they may think that I have run away from my own village,
from having been accused of witchcraft or on account of some other
disgraceful thing.” He did not feel like killing himself, so he thought
that he would go off into the forest.
While this man was traveling along in the woods the thought occurred
to him to go to the bears and let the bears kill him. The village was
at the mouth of a large salmon creek, so he went over to that early in
the morning until he found a bear trail and lay down across the end of
it. He thought that when the bears came out along this trail they would
find and kill him.
By and by, as he lay there, he heard the bushes breaking and saw a
large number of grizzly bears coming along. The largest bear led, and
the tips of his hairs were white. Then the man became frightened. He
did not want to die a hard death and imagined himself being torn to
pieces among the bears. So, when the leading bear came up to him, he
said to it, “I have come to invite you to a feast.” At that the bear’s
fur stood straight up, and the man thought that it was all over with
him, but he spoke again saying, “I have come to invite you to a feast,
but, if you are going to kill me, I am willing to die. I am alone. I
have lost all of my property, my children, and my wife.”
As soon as he had said this the leading bear turned about and whined
to the bears that were following. Then he started back and the rest
followed him. Afterward the man got up and walked toward his village
very fast. He imagined that the biggest bear had told his people to go
back because they were invited to a feast.
When he got home he began to clean up. The old sand around the
fireplace he took away and replaced with clean sand. Then he went for a
load of wood. When he told the other people in that village, however,
they were all very much frightened, and said to him, “What made you
do such a thing?” After that the man took off his shirt, and painted
himself up, putting stripes of red across his upper arm muscles, a
stripe over his heart, and another across the upper part of his chest.
Very early in the morning, after he had thus prepared, he stood outside
of the door looking for them. Finally he saw them at the mouth of the
creek, coming along with the same big bear in front. When the other
village people saw them, however, they were so terrified that they shut
themselves in their houses, but he stood still to receive them. Then he
brought them into the house and gave them seats, placing the chief in
the middle at the rear of the house and the rest around him. First he
served them large trays of cranberries preserved in grease. The large
bear seemed to say something to his companions, and as soon as he began
to eat the rest started. They watched him and did whatever he did. The
host followed that up with other kinds of food, and, after they were
through, the large bear seemed to talk to him for a very long time. The
man thought that he was delivering a speech, for he would look up at
the smoke hole every now and then and act as though talking. When he
finished he started out and the rest followed. As they went out each in
turn licked the paint from their host’s arm and breast.
The day after all this happened the smallest bear came back, as it
appeared to the man, in human form, and spoke to him in Tlingit. He
had been a human being who was captured and adopted by the bears.
This person asked the man if he understood their chief, and he said,
“No.” “He was telling you,” the bear replied, “that he is in the same
condition as you. He has lost all of his friends. He had heard of you
before he saw you. He told you to think of him when you are mourning
for your lost ones.”
When the man asked this person why he had not told him what was said
the day before, he replied that he was not allowed to speak his
native language while the chief was around. It was on account of this
adventure that the old people, when they killed a grizzly bear, would
paint a cross on its skin. Also, when they gave a feast, no matter if a
person were their enemy, they would invite him and become friends just
as this man did to the bears, which are yet great foes to man.
FOOTNOTES:
[120] Cf. story 21.
65. MOUNTAIN DWELLER[121]
Years ago young women were not allowed to eat between meals. Two
sisters belonging to a high family once did this, and, when their
mother found it out, she was very angry. She pulled the elder girl
toward her, abused her shamefully, and scratched the inside of her
mouth all over in pulling out the tallow she had eaten. She said,
“What do you mean, especially you, you big girl? It is not right that
you should eat anything between meals. What do you mean?” The younger
sister was still quite little, therefore nothing was done to her,
but she was offended at the treatment her elder sister had received.
Finally the mother said, “You are so fond of eating you better marry
Mountain Dweller (Cāqᴀnaỵîˊ).” This being lived upon the mountains and
was a great hunter. That evening the sisters ran off into the woods.
Next morning, when her daughters did not appear, their mother thought
that they had stayed in bed and called to them, “Isn’t it time you were
getting out of bed?” By and by, however, she found that they were gone,
and the people began searching for them. Their mother would go from one
place to another where they had been playing, but nobody saw anything
of them for seven days.
Meanwhile, although they were suffering with hunger, the girls went
farther and farther into the woods. When they got very far up among the
mountains they heard somebody chopping wood, and the elder sister said
to herself, “I wonder if that isn’t the man mother was talking about?”
Coming closer, they discovered a man with his face painted red. He
looked up, saw the girls, and said, “What are you poor girls doing way
back here?” Then the elder answered, “Mother abused us. That is why we
left our home. She abused us because we ate some tallow. She said, ‘You
are so fond of eating tallow you better go and marry Mountain Dweller.’”
Then Mountain Dweller, for it was he, invited them into his house, and
they found it very grand. Another house near by was full of all kinds
of meat drying. Seeing that they looked hungry, he gave them some food.
Next morning early, when he was getting ready to hunt, he said to them,
“Do you see that curtain over there?” In one part of the house a large
skin curtain was hanging. “A very bad woman lives behind that. Don’t
peep at her.”
At their father’s village all the people were now mourning for them,
and all of their relations had their hair cut and their faces painted
black.
The elder sister was now married to Mountain Dweller, the younger being
still a little girl. After a while the former became curious to see the
bad woman her husband had told her not to look at, so she peeped at
her through a hole. At once the bad woman seemed to feel that some one
was looking at her, threw up her hands, and screamed. Then both of the
girls fell over dead.
By and by Mountain Dweller came home from the hunt, saw them, and knew
what had happened. Then he went over to the bad woman and killed her.
After that he put eagle down upon the girls’ bodies and walked around
them several times, shaking his rattle. In that way they were restored
to life.
After the girls had lived there for a long time, Mountain Dweller
said, “Don’t you wish you might see your father and mother again?” The
younger said, “Yes,” and the elder also wished it. After that Mountain
Dweller hunted a great deal to prepare a quantity of meat for his
father-in-law. He said to his wife, “Make a little basket, just big
enough to put your finger into.” When it was done, he shook it and made
it very large. Then he put all kinds of meat and tallow and sacks of
grease into this basket. He shook it again and made it small with all
of the meat inside.
When the girls came to their father’s house their little brother ran
out, saw them, and went in again crying, “Mother, my sisters are out
there.” But his mother became angry and said, “Why do you say that?
Your sisters have been dead a long time, and yet you say that they are
out there.” But the boy screamed, “Those are my sisters. Don’t I know
them?” “Well! let me see the hair from their marten-skin robes.” In
those times none but high-caste people such as these wore marten skins,
so when he came in again bringing pieces from their robes she and
her husband and all her relations went out. There she saw both of her
daughters. “My daughters,” she cried, and wept with happiness. All in
the village ran to see them and were very happy.
Next day the elder girl said to her mother, “Mother, there is a basket
a little way back there in the woods. Send after it and have it brought
down.” All the people went out to it, but returned saying, “It is such
a large basket that all the people in the village can’t bring it in.”
Then the girl went up herself, and it became small so that she brought
it home easily. As soon as she had gotten it into the house and had
set it down, it became large once more. Then she began to unpack it,
and the house was filled with all sorts of meats. They feasted on
these, and the village people were satisfied and felt very happy. Their
mother, however, took too much grease on top of everything else. On
going to bed, she drank some very cold water which hardened the grease
so that her stomach broke in two.
Nowadays it is a fortunate man that hears Mountain Dweller’s ax or sees
where he has been chopping. The basket obtained from him at this time
is called Mother-basket (Kᴀkᵘʟa), and is used by the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî as an
emblem.
FOOTNOTES:
[121] For another version see story 92.
66. HOW THE SITKA KÎKSAˊDÎ OBTAINED THE FROG[122]
A man and his wife were crossing the mouth of a big bay named ʟǃēˊyāq,
when it became so foggy that they could not even see the water around
their canoe and stopped where they were. Then, quite a distance away in
the thick fog, they heard singing, and it continued for so long a time
that they learned the song by heart. The words of this song are (first
verse), “We picked up a man; you picked up a man;” (second verse),
“They captured a man; they captured a man; you’ve captured a man.” The
voice was so powerful that they could hear it reecho among all the
mountains.
When the fog began to rise so that they could look under it a little
they heard the song coming nearer and nearer. They looked about and
finally saw that it came from a very little frog. To make sure of it
they paddled along for some time in the direction it was taking. Then
the man said, “This frog is going to be mine. I am going to claim it,”
and his wife answered, “No, it is going to be mine. I am going to claim
it.” But, after they had disputed for some time, the man finally let it
go to his wife.
Then the woman took it ashore, treating it like a child, carried it up
to the woods, put it down by a lake and left it there. From that time
on, her people have been Kîksᴀˊdî. That is how the Sitka Kîksᴀˊdî came
to claim the frog.
FOOTNOTES:
[122] For the Sitka version, see story 95.
67. QĀQǃATCGŪˊK[123]
One of the Sitka Kîksᴀˊdî, a man named Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk, was very fond of
hunting and could use his spear very accurately. He had two wives and
several children, to whom he always brought home a fur seal.
One time he heard a little fur seal crying continually, and he heard
one of the others say to it, “Take care of that baby. Feed it.
Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk comes here hunting.” Then Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk was frightened and
said to his companions, “Let us go back.” So they went back and told
the people in town what had happened. Then Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk broke up his
canoe, his paddles, and his spears, and burnt them, saying, “I will
never go out hunting again.” So he remained at home for a long time.
One day, however, when a crowd of people were eating fur-seal meat,
his little ones looked on hungrily. He pitied them so much that he did
not know what to do. Then he said to his wife, “Go to your brother and
ask him to loan me his canoe and spears.” Then he started off again,
but, although there were many seals about, he could not get one. A
young seal in particular he tried very hard to get. He kept chasing it
farther and farther out to sea. At last he said to his men, “Let us go
back. I can not get anything.” When they started paddling, however,
a light breeze was blowing out from Sitka, and, although they worked
vigorously the shore seemed to get more and more distant. Finally all
became tired, threw their paddles into the canoe, and lay down to
sleep, letting themselves drift farther and farther out.
After a very long time they came to a rock crowded with sea lions, fur
seals, and sea otters, which seemed very tame. They clubbed numbers of
them. Fresh water they obtained from a wild celery (kūqǃ) which has
hollow stalks full of water. They built a house out of dry bushes,
cooked the flesh of the sea animals and lived thus until August.
At last they wanted to start home again, so they made ropes of sea-lion
hide, dried four sea-lion stomachs to carry along as floats, and filled
a fifth with water. In the bottom of their canoe they put numbers of
sea-lion bristles and loaded the rest of it down with valuable furs.
They also cooked a lot of dried and fresh meat for the journey. Then
they started off, guiding themselves by the sun, which they knew came
up right behind Sitka in summer. When the sun set, they anchored by
means of their hide lines and put the four sea-lion stomachs around
their canoe to float it in case of storms. They did this every day.
Finally, after many days were past, they saw what they thought was
a sea gull, but it always stayed in one place, and at last they
discovered that it was a mountain. Then they felt brave and worked
harder, and it became bigger and bigger. They did not know what
mountain it was but said, “If we get to that place we can reach the
village.” After a while they saw another mountain farther back and
then knew that the first was Mount Edgecumbe (ʟǃūx) and the second
Verstovaia (Qanēˊsdî-ca). By and by they reached the mountain and
drew their canoe up in a little bay under it, which they named
Place-where-canoe-rested (Yᴀkᵘ-kusēˊgᴀkᵘ). After two days they started
on again. Then they said, “Everyone has now gone to the salmon creeks.”
By and by they came to Sitka village and had no more than done so
before the wind began to blow very hard. They must have been on the
rock seven months. As they had anticipated, they found Sitka empty, and
started for the salmon creek, Dax̣ēˊt.
All of the village people were then at Dax̣ēˊt drying salmon, and
both of Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk’s wives were with them. The younger had already
remarried, but the elder sat near the point every day and cried for
him. They had held a death feast for him and had set up a post. They
were burning food and clothing for him.
That day, after the old wife had sat crying for some time, she looked
up and saw a canoe with three men in it coming toward her. As she wept
she looked up at it every now and then. When it got very close she
suddenly stopped crying and thought to herself, “There is a fellow in
that canoe that paddles just like my husband.” It made her feel sad.
But, when it was still nearer, she said, “That is he and his brothers
who went with him. Nobody ever paddled so much like him.” Then she got
up and walked toward the house.
Then her husband, who thought a great deal of her, stood up and said,
“That is my wife.” He looked again and was certain of it. Then he said
to his brothers, “That is my wife. She must have been sitting there,
crying.”
When the woman reached her house she said, “There is a canoe coming and
I am sure that one of the men in it is my husband. Go out and look.”
Then all went out, and saw that it was indeed he, and began to shout
his name, announcing that he had come back. When he at length landed,
he asked first for his wives, and they said, “The younger is married
again, but the elder has been grieving her life away.” He asked whether
his children were all alive and they said they were. Then they brought
up his furs and other property from the canoe, and he began telling
how he had happened to stay away so long. He told them how hard they
had tried to get back, and how he had thought of his wife and children
worrying at home, how they lived upon the large rock, how they provided
themselves with water and meat, and how many valuable furs they could
have gotten had they had bigger canoes. He told them how the seals, fur
seals, sea otter, and sea lions were so tame that they looked at them
like human beings, and how numerous they were. He also told them what a
dreadful thing it is to be out at sea without knowing where one is or
which way to go home, that it is like being in the inside of a bucket.
When it was cloudy they did not know where the sun rose or set. He said
that that was a valuable rock out there, and that wherever one looked
or stepped lay sea-lion bristles. He also told the people how much
surprised they were at having fine weather out at sea and at having
it become stormy as soon as they got to the village. He told how they
camped in their canoe, how they fixed it for the night, and everything
else connected with their journey. He said that he dreamed all the time
of being with his people, and that he used to wake up and tell his
brothers that his old wife and all of his children were well. He always
had had bad dreams about the younger wife, however, probably because
she was married again. He had also composed a song about his dreams,
which he sang to them. In this song he said, “Here I am lost and yet I
dream I am at home with my people. I have no hope of seeing them, and
yet I see them in my dreams.”
When he heard that the people had had a feast for him, he said, “Which
of you gave a feast for me?” Then they pointed to a certain man and
answered, “There is the principal one who gave a feast for you.” They
pointed to others and said, “That one gave so much for you and that one
so much.” He gave all of them valuable skins for what they had done.
FOOTNOTES:
[123] Story 101 is a Sitka version.
68. THE BEAVER OF KILLISNOO
Some people belonging to the Dēˊcitān family captured a small beaver,
and, as it was cunning and very clean, they kept it as a pet. By
and by, however, although it was well cared for, it took offense at
something and began to compose songs. Afterward one of the beaver’s
masters went through the woods to a certain salmon creek and found two
salmon-spear handles, beautifully worked, standing at the foot of a big
tree. He carried these home, and, as soon as they were brought into
the house, the beaver said, “That is my make.” Then something was said
that offended it again. Upon this the beaver began to sing just like a
human being and surprised the people very much. While it was doing this
it seized a spear and threw it straight through its master’s chest,
killing him instantly. Then it threw its tail down upon the ground
and the earth on which that house stood dropped in. They found out
afterward that the beaver had been digging out the earth under the camp
so as to make a great hollow. It is from this story that the Dēˊcitān
claim the beaver and have the beaver hat. They also have songs composed
by the beaver.
69. STORY OF THE GRIZZLY-BEAR CREST OF THE TEˊQOEDÎ[124]
A man belonging to the Teˊqoedî went hunting on Unuk (Djūˊnᴀx) river,
and came to a bear’s den. While he was examining it the male bear threw
him inside. Then the bear’s wife dug a hole in the ground and concealed
him there. When the male bear came in he said, “Where is that man that
I threw in here?” “I haven’t seen anyone. You haven’t thrown anybody in
here.” “I did. I threw a man in here.” The male bear became angry at
her denials and left her, upon which the man married this bear and had
children by her, although he had a family at home.
Meanwhile the man’s four brothers looked for him continually, keeping
away from their wives so as to find him, but in vain. They could see
his tracks in the snow, but they could not discover where they led to.
They suspected the truth, because other hunters had also been captured
there by animals, and the shamans told them that this had happened
to him. As soon as they left the town with their dogs, however, the
she-bear could feel it and made them pass by.
But the youngest boy had not searched. Finally he started off too, and
the bear felt that he was coming, but she found that she could not make
him turn aside and said to her husband, “Well! we are caught.” The dogs
scented him, and, when he looked out, there was his own dog barking. He
called to it by its name, Man-for-the-mountains (Cāˊyīsǃ-x̣wa). Then
his brother knew what was the matter and came to the mouth of the den
with his spears, determined to bring back his brother alive or dead.
When the man saw his youngest brother outside he said, “Stand right
there. Don’t do any harm. I am here. Although I am with this wild
animal, I am living well. Don’t worry about me any more.”
When he was first taken into this den it looked like a den and nothing
more, but that night he thought that he was in a fine house with people
all about eating supper, and his wife looked to him like a human being.
In May, when the bears were about to leave their dens, his wife said,
“Now you can go to your village. Take good care of your little ones.
Don’t go near your wife. Don’t look toward her even.” So he went to
the place where his brothers were living and said, “Tell my wife not
to come near me for a while. She must have pity on me. Ask her to stay
away.” Then he began to go off hunting. He had luck from his bear wife,
and killing seals was nothing to him. One day, while he was out, he saw
some bear cubs coming toward him and presently found that they were
his little ones. Then he gave them all the seals he had killed. He fed
them every day. When his younger brother went hunting with him and the
cubs came running toward the canoe, he would say, “Don’t be frightened.
Those are your children” (meaning “your brother’s children”).
By and by his human wife came to him. She was angry with him and said,
“Why do your children starve on my hands? What are you doing feeding
cubs instead of my little ones?” After that, though he did not dare to
say a word to his wife, he began feeding her children. He thought, “I
wonder what will happen to me now for feeding the little ones.”
Presently he went hunting again and again took some seals to his cubs.
As he was going toward them he noticed that they did not act the same
as usual. They lay flat on the ground with their ears erect. Then he
landed, but, when he got near them, they killed him. It is on account
of this story that the Teˊqoedî claim the grizzly bear.
FOOTNOTES:
[124] See story 19.
70. STORY OF THE EAGLE CREST OF THE NEXAˊDÎ
There was a very poor Nexᴀˊdî man who did not know how to provide
himself with food, so he lived off of others. He was always cruising
around in a small canoe, getting small bullheads and flounders. One
time he went out just for the day. He did not take any food along and
therefore became very hungry. Early next morning something said to
him, “I have come after you.” He heard the voice but could not see
anything. Finally, however, he stepped out from the place where he
had been sitting and saw a young eagle perched upon a branch. The man
was wearing an old ground-hog blanket full of holes, so he lay down
again and put his eye to one of these. Then the eagle came very close
to him and, taking the blanket down, he said to it, “I have seen you
now.” Immediately the eagle looked like a human being and said, “My
grandfather has sent me for you.”
The poor man followed this eagle right up to the woods and they came
upon a large trail there over which the eagle led him. By and by
they came to some steps which led up to a house situated high up. He
followed his guide inside of this and found it very clean and nice
there. Everything was just like the houses of human beings, and mats
were strewn round upon the floor. Then they gave him all kinds of fine
fish and game to eat, and he wanted to stay among them forever. He was
very poor among his own people, but these eagles treated him well. He
married one of the eagle women and remained there for a long time.
After he married, this man’s brothers-in-law gave him a coat and
named it, as they put it on him, Camping-under-water-for-two-days
(Dēx-hīn-tāˊdê-uxeˊ). Before they put it on they warmed it. This coat
was so named because, when an eagle gets hold of a seal, the seal is
so strong that it will swim around with the eagle attached to it, and
the longest time the eagle can stand this is two days. Now the poor man
was an eagle himself, and he learned from the eagles how to catch fish.
He thought all the time that he was spearing them, but in reality he
was catching them in his talons. He became a great fisher and hunter.
The mother and brothers of this poor man were just as poor as he had
been, and, when he saw his brother out fishing, he would leave some
fish where he could find it. His brother thought that he was very
lucky. Finally his mother dreamed that some one said, “It is I, mother,
who provides for you all of this fish and meat,” and afterward they
would dream that he said to them, “I have left a fish (or seal) on such
and such a point. Go there and get it.” When they did so, sure enough
it was there. Sometimes he would say in his mother’s dream, “We are
going off camping. You must go there and camp near by.” They did so and
dried a lot of fish which he had gotten for them.
In another dream he said, “I have married one of the eagle women. I can
not come among you any more.”
One time, when they were out camping, they saw an eagle working very
hard to bring ashore a load of fish. After it had done so, the eagle
sat up on a branch and said, “It is I.” It told them its name, which
was the name of the missing man. It is because a friend of theirs was
once among the eagle people that the Nexᴀˊdî claim the eagle. This clan
is now scattered everywhere.
71. STORY OF THE KILLER-WHALE CREST OF THE DAQLǃAWEˊDÎ[125]
There was a man called Natsîłᴀneˊ (the name of a worm that appears on
dried salmon) who was continually quarreling with his wife. He had many
brothers-in-law, who became very much ashamed of this discord but had
to stay around to protect their sister. One day his brothers-in-law
took him to an island far out at sea, named Kᴀtsǃēˊux̣tî, and talked
very kindly to him. But, while he was out of sight upon the island,
they left him. Then he began thinking, “What can I do for myself?”
As he sat there he absent-mindedly whittled killer whales out of
cottonwood bark, which works easily. The two he had made he put into
the water and, as he did so, he shouted aloud as shamans used to do on
such occasions. Then he thought they looked as if they were swimming,
but, when they came up again, they were nothing but bark. After a
while he made two more whales out of alder. He tried to put his clan’s
spirits into them as was often done by shamans, and, as he put them
in, he whistled four times like the spirit, “Whu, whu, whu, whu.” But
they, too, floated up. Now he tried all kinds of wood—hemlock, red
cedar, etc. Finally he tried pieces of yellow cedar, which swam right
away in the form of large killer whales. They swam out for a long
distance, and, when they came back, again turned into wood. Then he
made holes in their dorsal fins, seized one of them with each hand
and had the killer whales take him out to sea. He said, “You see my
brothers-in-law traveling about in canoes. You are to upset them.”
After he had gone out for some distance between the whales they
returned to land and became wood once more. He took them up and put
them in a certain place.
The next time he saw his brothers-in-law coming along in their canoes
he put his spirits into the water again, and they smashed the canoes
and killed those in them. Then Natsîłᴀneˊ said to his killer whales,
“You are not to injure human beings any more. You must be kind to
them.” After that they were the canoes of spirits, and, if shamans are
lucky, they get these spirit canoes. It is through this story that the
Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî claim the killer whale. This clan was scattered everywhere
in Alaska, as well as among the Athapascans, Haida, and Tsimshian.
FOOTNOTES:
[125] See story 4.
72. STORY OF THE NANỴAĀˊỴÎ CRESTS
At the time of the flood the Nanỵaāˊỵî were climbing a mountain on the
Stikine river, called Sēkuˊqłe-ca, and a grizzly bear and a mountain
goat went along with them. Whenever the people stopped, these two
animals stopped also, and whenever they moved on the animals moved on.
Finally they killed the bear and preserved its skin with the claws,
teeth, and so forth, intact. They kept it for years after the flood,
and, as soon as it went to pieces, they replaced it with another, and
that with still another up to the present time. This is why they claim
the grizzly bear. During the times when this bear skin has been shown
thousands of dollars worth of slaves and furs have been given away.
Shakes (Cēks), head chiefs of this clan, would go up to a row of slaves
and slap each one, upon which the slave would either have to be killed
or sent home. This is why they gave great names to their children. They
were very proud of owning this bear and did all kinds of things toward
it. That is why all Alaska speaks of the Nanỵaāˊỵî as the chief ones
owning the grizzly bear. Very many songs were composed concerning it,
with words such as these, “Come here, you bear, the highest bear of all
bears.”
They also have the head of the mountain goat, but they do not value it
as highly.
73. STORY OF THE FROG CREST OF THE KÎKSAˊDÎ OF WRANGELL[126]
A man belonging to the Stikine Kîksᴀˊdî kicked a frog over on its
back, but as soon as he had done so he lay motionless unable to
talk, and they carried his body into the house. This happened at
Town-of-the-frogs (X̣îx̣tcǃ-xāˊyikᴀ-ān), so named because there are
many frogs near by.
The reason why this man lost his senses was because the frogs had taken
his soul. They had it tied to a house post, and some of them said, “Let
him starve right there where he is tied.” Others said, “No, don’t let
him starve there. Feed him and let us see what the chief says.” This
chief’s name was Frightful-face (Yᴀkūˊłdî). When he at last came in his
canoe, they said, “Frightful-face has come.” Then all went down to his
canoe to welcome him, and, when he reached his house, they told him the
news. They said, “This man disgraced us terribly. He threw one of our
women down and kicked her over.” The woman was called Woman-in-the-road
(Deyêxcāˊgᵘ). When the chief looked up, he said, “Untie him and bring
him here.” Then he said to the man, “We belong to your clan, and it is
a shame that you should treat your own people as you have done. We are
Kîksᴀˊdî, and it is a Kîksᴀˊdî youth who has done this. You better go
to your own village. You have disgraced yourself as well as us, for
this woman belongs to your own clan.”
As soon as he had left the frogs’ house, his body lying at home came
to. He had thought all the time that his body also was in the house
of the frogs. Then he got up and began to talk. He said, “Something
strange has happened to me. The frog people captured me on account of
that frog that I kicked over in front of the house the other day. They
had tied me to the chief’s house-post, and some wanted to kill me at
once, while others wanted to starve me, and still others wanted to wait
until their chief, Frightful-face, came home. When the latter at length
arrived, they said to him, ‘We have a man in here who has been throwing
down one of our women. We have been waiting for you to see what shall
be done with him.’ I listened to all they said. Then the frog chief
said, ‘Untie him,’ and all minded him. As soon as he had heard about
it, he said, ‘See here, young man, what is this you have done? Don’t
you know that we belong to your clan and that this woman you have done
that to is of the same clan. If it were not for that, we would not let
you go. As it is you may go.’”
All of the Kîksᴀˊdî were listening to what this man said, and it is
because the frog himself said he was a Kîksᴀ’dî that they claim the
frog.
FOOTNOTES:
[126] A similar story is told by the G̣ānᴀxᴀˊdî of Tongass.
74. STORY OF THE KĀˊGWANTĀN CRESTS
A man belonging to the Kāˊgwᴀntān was out camping, and saw a wolf
coming toward him, showing its teeth as though it were laughing. On
looking more closely, he saw that it had a bone stuck between its
teeth. Then he took the bone out and said, “Now you must show me what
makes you so lucky.” The wolf turned right round and walked away, but
next night the man dreamed he had come to a very fine town. It was
the wolf town, and the wolf he had befriended came to him and told
him something to make him lucky, saying, “I am your friend.” He was
grateful for what the man had done to him. Since then the Kāˊgwᴀntān
have used the wolf.
Another time when some Kāˊgwᴀntān were getting herring at
Town-at-mouth-of-lake (ʟǃuqǃāˊceîk-ān), a bear came to the place where
they were, reached down through the smoke hole and took away the
herring they were drying. Then the people said, “Who is this thief
that is stealing all the fish?” For that he killed all of them. Then
the Kāˊgwᴀntān seized their spears and set out to kill the bears in
that neighborhood. When they discovered those bears they were lying in
holes they had dug for themselves, and the people said to them, “Come
out here and let us fight it out.” Then the bears did so, and the
people killed them. They took the skins from the heads of the bears and
preserved them. The bears so killed were Kātsǃ’s children. This is how
the Kāˊgwᴀntān came to use the grizzly bear.
75. MIGRATION OF THE GĀNAXAˊDÎ TO TONGASS
At Klawak was a man of the Gānᴀxᴀˊdî named Dancer (ʟǃēˊxe) who was very
fond of gambling but unable to win. Finally his wife said, “If you
gamble again we will leave each other. I don’t want to be with you any
more. You are gambling too much.” Her husband said that he would stop,
and for a little while he did so. One day, however, a great game was in
progress far out on the marsh, and his wife missed him. She knew where
he was and felt very badly. In the evening, when he came home, she
found out that he had lost everything in the house. Then she said to
him, “You have been gambling again.” “Yes,” he said. She said nothing
more, thinking it was of no use, until late in the evening. Then the
men that had won their property came after it, and Dancer got up and
showed them where the things were, but his wife did not speak a word.
There was nothing left for her except a blanket and pillow. Finally,
after they were gone, the woman sat down and began to cry. When she
was through she said to him, “The house belonged to you, but you must
go out, for you have gambled with all of my things. If you do not go I
must. I married against the wishes of my people and they will not take
me in if I leave here.” Then her husband said, “Do not feel badly if
you should happen to hear of me,” and he went away.
This man had seven sisters, all of them very well off, but they would
not have anything to do with him. Very early in the morning he went to
their houses and awakened the boys. Without asking the permission of
their mothers he told them to get their bows and arrows quickly and
come along with him. Next morning, after he had walked with them for
some distance, they found a canoe, and he had them all get into it. In
the evening, when their uncle camped with them, the children began to
feel that something was wrong, and some cried, saying that they wanted
to get back to their fathers and mothers. Then he told them that they
would soon come to a fine town, and kept on going farther and farther
away until they reached a place called Sea-lion’s-face (Tān-yedaˊ)
where Tongass now stands. They kept on beyond this until they came to
a large rock some distance out at sea on which were sea otters; these
they clubbed.
Some of the boys were now quite large. Later they came to a long sandy
beach, and their uncle made a house there out of driftwood. He dried
the skins and made that place his permanent residence.
During the second night they spent there, Dancer heard the two dogs he
had brought along, barking. He told his sisters’ children to get out
of bed to see what was the matter. They did so, and, on running out,
discovered a large animal coming along, as big as a black bear. At
first they thought that it was a bear, but it was of a different color,
so they concluded that it was medicine. His nephews shot at it, and the
man picked up their arrows and noticed that there was something like
clay upon them. Everyone pursued the animal and at last they saw it
disappear into a hole in a mountain. Meanwhile Dancer took the clayey
substance from all of the arrows, wrapped it in leaves, and put it into
the bosom of his shirt, giving the arrows back to the boys.
Now, Dancer made the place his town, and continued to live there with
his nephews who were grown up. The stuff he had taken from their
arrows he put behind the barbs of others so that they could use them
in hunting. He also put some of it on their eyebrows, their hair, and
around their mouths. He said it was to make the hair thick in those
places, and sure enough they came to have fine eyebrows, hair, and
mustaches. They became fine-looking men.
When they went out hunting with the medicine arrows he had made, and
shot at a seal, even if the arrow merely came close to the seal without
touching it, the seal would die. That was also a great place for sea
lions, and whenever they saw one of those animals, their uncle would
go out with a fan made from the tail of an eagle, anointed with this
medicine, and wave it toward the sea lion. Then the animal came right
up on the beach, and they clubbed it to death. They had all kinds of
food in their house and were continually drying meat and skins. The
house became so full, in fact, that they had to build a larger one.
By and by their uncle said that he wanted some eagles, and the boys, of
whom there were eleven, went out with their bows and arrows, and each
brought one in. Then each of them had an eagle’s tail fan for himself
such as were formerly used in dancing. They also killed all kinds of
birds and secured plenty of marten skins and weasel skins. Of these
latter the uncle sewed together a marten-skin robe and a weasel-skin
shirt for each boy as well as one for himself.
One time Dancer and his nephews went a long distance beyond their
village and found a box, beautifully carved and painted, lying upon
the beach. They said to one another, “There must be people living over
this way.” At that time they did not know anything about the Tsimshian.
Keeping on farther, they saw still more signs of people, and finally
they came to a Tsimshian town.
Then they returned to their own place, and afterward the uncle felt
that some people whom they knew were coming to see them. These people
were his brothers-in-law, who had been hunting for him continually and
had just started out once more. When their canoe came in sight, Dancer
said, “There is a canoe coming right along there in the direction we
came from.” He had composed some songs while he was there, so he said,
“You boys must dress yourselves to dance for the people in that canoe.”
When the canoe got closer he went outside and shouted, “That canoe
must stay out there. Don’t come in right away.” So the canoe stopped,
and after a while the boys came out and danced for the canoe people
while he sang. The men in the canoe recognized Dancer but not the
boys, who had grown up very quickly into fine-looking men. After that
they invited the canoe people up to the house. They entered, and all
the time they were there kept looking at one another and whispering,
wondering what Dancer had done with their children. But, though they
camped there one night, they did not ask for them.
Next morning, however, just before they got into their canoe, Dancer
said to each man in turn, “This is your boy. This is your boy.”
Upon that his brothers-in-law said to him, “We will be right back to
see you again. We will come and live with you.” Then they went back
to their village, and told the news, and the mothers, who had been
mourning for their children, felt very happy to know that they were
alive. Dancer’s sisters, their husbands, and all their people came over
to him. Dancer and his nephews had been watching for them and counting
the days until they should return. Dancer’s wife had not married again
and was very anxious to see her husband, but he did not look for her.
The boys had drums made out of deer hide, and, as soon as the canoes
arrived, they told them to come close to the beach and they would dance
for them. So the canoes stopped, and they came out and danced for the
canoe people. Dancer’s wife had thought that he would take her in at
once, but he would not have anything to do with her.
Then the people were asked to come in and eat, and they were all fed by
the boys and their uncle. Afterward they built their houses all about
him and made the place their permanent village.
76. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED THE FROG[127]
A certain girl once said something very bad to a frog. Some time
afterward she went up to the woods with her little sister, and suddenly
her little sister lost her. She had met a fine-looking man and had
walked on with him for a long time until they were far off from the
village. When her little sister got home they asked her, “Where is your
sister?” and she said, “I thought that she had gotten back home.” They
searched for the girl everywhere but could not find her. They did not
see her for a long, long time.
The man that this girl had met was really a frog, which she had
married, and she now had two children. To her, however, the frogs
looked like human beings. One day this girl said to her children, “Run
down and see your grandfather and grandmother. Their house is just in
the middle of the village, and you will know it as soon as you see it.”
So the children went down to the house, but, when they entered it, some
one called out, “Look at those little frogs coming into the house.”
Then their grandmother said, “Put them out.” So they were thrown out of
doors.
When the children got back to their mother she said, “Did you see your
grandmother?” and one answered, “I think it was she. We went into a
house,” which they described so that their mother knew at once that it
was the right one, “and some one called out, saying, ‘Look at these
frogs.’ Then some one else said, ‘Throw them out,’ and they did so.”
Then their mother said, “Go back and try to see her again even if they
do throw you out.” So the little frogs went down and entered their
grandmother’s house once more. Again some one called out, “Those little
frogs are in here again.” But this time their grandfather said, “Bring
them here to me. My daughter is missing. These might be her little
ones.” So he held out his fox robe and they laid the little frogs upon
it. The frogs crawled all over his breast and shoulders. Then the frogs
were seated in front of their grandfather and were given cranberries.
They picked them up one by one with the fore foot and put them into
their mouths.
Afterward the frogs started to hop out, and a man followed them with
the dishes of food. They hopped straight up to a lake back of the
village and jumped in. Then, as the chief had already directed them,
the men set the dishes down at the edge and stood watching. Presently
the dishes moved out into the lake and sank. All at once they came up
again and moved back to the same place.
Then these men returned to the chief and reported everything that they
had seen, whereupon he sent them back, saying, “Go back and say, ‘Your
father has invited you to the house.’” They did so. Then they heard a
voice replying, “I can not come.” They reported this to her father, and
he told them to take up her marten-skin robes and her other clothing
and lay them by the lake. After that she came down and along with her
the two high-caste frogs whom she had married. When they had finished
eating, all went back.
Now the girl’s father thought often and deeply how he should get her
back, for he did not know what to do. Finally he said to the village
people, “Make a place where the lake can flow out.” So all of the
people went to work to drain the lake, and the water began flowing out.
When the lake was nearly dry they saw this girl, all covered with frogs
with the exception of her face, start to flow along with them. They
picked her out from the very midst of the frogs and carried her home,
but the frogs followed right after her. The house was quite filled with
them. Then they killed all of the frogs that were upon her body, but as
they did so more climbed up. When they began killing them with human
bones, however, they went away. Afterward the girl remained with her
father, and the frogs did not bother her any more.
FOOTNOTES:
[127] See story 22.
77. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE LǃALǃ
There was a certain Chilkat chief belonging to the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî whose
house stood in the middle of the village. One morning his daughter, a
very lively girl, went out of doors and stepped upon something slimy.
“Ugh,” she said, “those dirty people throw their slops out right where
a person may step into them.” What she stepped on was the skin of a
fish called ʟǃᴀʟǃ, which is taken in Chilkat river.
The girl thought no more about this, but toward midnight a young fellow
appeared to her as if in a dream and said, “I am in love with you,”
whereupon he sat down at the head of her bed. Although the girl had
rejected many suitors, she took a liking to this youth at once and
married him. This was against the will of her father, but she was his
only girl and was very wilful, so he let her have her own way.
The youth was very industrious, working at all times and hauling down
wood for them. From him they learned how to haul wood. It was well on
toward spring, but it was dry, and the ground was frozen hard. Every
day the young fellows in that village played ball, and the girl’s
husband, who was a very powerful fellow, kept throwing the ball farther
and farther up river every time they played. At last they became so
angry that they caught him and tore his clothes off. Then they saw that
his skin was covered with blotches. He was really the ʟǃᴀʟǃ who had
appeared to the girl like a young man. Then they said, “Look at his
body all in blotches. The idea of that girl having such a fellow after
she had refused high-caste people like herself.”
Now the youth continued to sit day after day where his clothes had been
torn off, and although people went to call him every day, saying that
his wife wanted him to come back, he would not answer a word. Finally
his wife went out herself and said, “You better come home,” but he
answered, “Tell your father to tie your house down very firmly and
block up every aperture even to the smoke hole.”
That night the ʟǃᴀʟǃ started off up Chilkat river, and a long time
afterward they noticed that the river was going dry. They wondered what
was causing it, but it was really due to the ʟǃᴀʟǃ, who had grown to be
a monster and was lying right across the stream higher up. Very early
one morning, however, they heard a terrible roar, for the ʟǃᴀʟǃ had
left the place where he had been lying and the ponded water was coming
down. It washed away the entire village except the house belonging to
his wife’s father.
78. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A TREE
An old spruce tree stood at the end of a certain village. In this same
village a high-caste girl dreamed for several nights in succession that
she was married to a fine-looking man, and by and by she gave birth to
a boy baby. As she was a very virtuous girl, people wondered how she
had come by it.
The child grew very fast, and soon began to talk. One day it began
calling for its father. It would not stop, although they tried to humor
it in every way. Then people wondered whom it was calling, so the boy’s
grandfather invited all the men of that village and of the surrounding
villages to come to his house to see if the child would be able to
recognize its father. When this proved fruitless he invited the people
who inhabit trees to come in, and as soon as they entered and sat
down, the child stopped crying and began crawling around the circle,
looking at each person. Then the people said, “We will see where that
fatherless child is going.”
At the very end of the line toward the door sat an old man, and the
child crawled right past the high-caste tree people toward him. As it
did so, the others nudged one another, saying, “Look at Kᴀsᴀˊʟǃ.” They
said this because the girl had had nothing to do with the high-caste
tree people, but with this poor old man. The child, however, crawled
right up to him, climbed into his lap and said, “Papa.” At once the old
man married the girl.
79. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE FIRE SPIRIT
There was a chief’s daughter whom all of the high-caste men wanted to
marry. One day, as she sat close to the fire, a spark came out on her
clothing and she said something bad to the fire, pointing her hand at
it with fingers extended.
That night the girl was missing and could not be found anywhere. They
searched all of the villages and all of the houses in all of the
villages where those people lived who had wanted to marry her, but in
vain. Then they employed shamans from their own and all the surrounding
towns to tell where she was. Finally the chief was told of a shaman in
a village a very long way off, and he went to consult him. The shaman
said to him, “How is it that my spirits talk of nothing but your fire?
Your daughter might have said something to the fire that displeased the
spirits of the fire. Let your fire go out as soon as you are through
preparing food and have the rest of your village people extinguish
theirs. Do so for a long time.” All of this time the parents were
mourning for their daughter.
Then the chief sent through all the village to ask his people to let
their fires go out, and they obeyed him. This went on for some time
without result, but one day the girl came up from the fireplace from
between the rocks on which the logs were placed. The Fire Spirit
(Gᴀˊntu yēˊgî) had taken her as his wife. Then the girl told her
parents that her husband had pitied them, and after that she stayed
with them most of the time. Every now and then she would be missing,
for she was very fond of her spirit husband, but she would not stay
long. She went into the fire to eat, and before she went directed them
to let the fire go out after a time in order to bring her back.
One day, when she had not been away for a long time, she was eating
in her father’s house. For the last dish they gave her soapberries.
Her father’s nephew, who was in love with her and who was encouraged
by her mother in hopes that she might be kept from going away again,
was stirring them. When she put her spoon into the dish he seized it.
At the same moment the firewood began to whistle, as it does when the
fire spirit is talking, and the girl understood what it meant. Then
she seemed frightened, and said to her mother and the boy, “He wants
me at once.” All that the girl had to do when she wanted to see her
husband was to think of him and she would immediately be at his side.
They never saw her going into the fire. Therefore, as soon as she said
this she disappeared, and they did not know what had happened. Then,
however, her spirit husband hurt her in some way so as to make her
scream, though the people could not guess the cause, and next day she
appeared in her father’s house once more, looking very sad, for she had
left her husband; and now she stayed with her father all the time.
After that her father’s nephew kept trying to get her to marry him, but
she would have nothing to do with him. Before she had liked him, but
after she had been abused by the Fire Spirit on account of what he had
done, she did not care for him and remained single all the rest of her
life.
80. ORPHAN
An orphan girl in the Tlingit country named Sᴀhāˊn (Orphan) was adopted
by some high-caste people so that she might be a companion to their
only daughter. She was very fond of going to the creek to get water,
and the chief’s daughter always accompanied her. Every time they went
the chief’s daughter would drink water from this creek against the
protests of her foster sister, and it made her very unlucky. When she
married into another high-caste family her husband became very poor on
account of her and finally abandoned her. Then he married Orphan, who
was very bright and knew how to take care of things, and she made him
rich. She was quiet and paid a great deal of attention to her husband.
The village people were also very much pleased with her, for after her
husband married her, they lived off of him.
Everything that this girl had was good, her dishes and spoons being
all set with abalone shell. She had four adopted brothers, of whom the
older two were rich but the younger two very poor and unlucky. The
former she would always treat well because she knew that they were
bright and able to take care of things, and she always gave them food
in her fine dishes. When she invited her poor brothers her husband
would say, “Go and get your dishes now and let your brothers eat off of
them,” but she always answered, “No, I don’t want to let them use my
good dishes. They might leave the marks of poverty on them.”
After Orphan had lived some time in luxury, however, her husband died,
and, as was customary, her husband’s relations took the property all
away from her. She became as poor as she had been before. Luck went
against her because she had treated her poor brothers so meanly. That
is why, nowadays, when a rich person has a poor brother he always
treats him just as well as the rich one.
81. THE DEAD BASKET-MAKER
A woman at Klawak was just finishing a basket when she died. She had
not yet cut off the tops. Then her husband took the basket and put it
up under the roof over his bed. He thought a great deal of it because
it was his wife’s last work. Sometimes he would take it down, press it
against his heart and weep as he held it there. He wept all the time.
After this man had been a widower a long time he married again. One
evening, when he was sitting on the bed playing with his new wife, the
basket fell right over his head. He tried to pull it off, and his wife
laughed, not knowing why it had been up there. When he was unable to
pull it away his wife also tried, but it stuck tight around his neck.
He became frightened and worked very hard at it. Suddenly the basket
said to him, “Yes, pull me off of your head. Why don’t you press me
against your heart again?” At last if they had not cut the strings the
basket would have choked him to death. Then he put it farther back and
in the morning threw it into the fire.
82. THE CRYING-FOR MEDICINE
One of the Kāsqǃagueˊdî named Floating (Nᴀłx̣āˊc), living at Wrangell,
had a wife called ᴀxtcîˊkǃ who kept running away from him. He was a
great hunter and hunted continually among the mountains of Bradfield
canal accompanied by his slave. One day, as they were pulling along in
a canoe while the dogs ran on shore, they heard the dogs barking at
a certain place. They landed and ran thither. Then they saw the dogs
lying on the ground with saliva dropping from their mouths, while a
small bear ran along some distance off. The hunter saw this bear climb
up the side of a cliff and was about to pursue it when he suddenly
lost all of his strength and lay there just like his dogs. He watched
the bear, however, and saw it go into a hole in the very middle of the
cliff. Then he said, “That is not a bear. It could not have climbed
up there and have gone into that cliff had it been one. It must be
something else.”
Floating thought a great deal of his wife and was suffering much
because she had now been gone from him for eight months.
When he saw this bear go into the inaccessible hole in the cliff, he
went back to town and made a very large, strong rope out of roots and a
cedar-bark basket large enough to hold one person. With these he went
back again to the cliff and climbed to a position above the hole the
bear had entered. Then he tied a rope around his slave’s waist, and
another to the basket and put the slave inside. He was going to lower
him down to the hole.
Now the man said to his slave, “When I get you to the mouth of the
hole, shake this basket very hard so that I may know it.” He gave him
a little wooden dipper and said, “Dip that into the hole and see what
you get out.” Then he lowered the slave. When the latter put his dipper
into the hole it came out filled with ants. Then the slave screamed,
but his master said, “I will let you drop if you don’t hold up. Put
that dipper in again and see what you bring out.” The slave did so and
brought out little frogs. All these were to be used with the medicine
he was to get out last. The third time he put the dipper in he got blue
flies. Then he put it in the fourth time to get the medicine, and sure
enough on the end of it, when it came out, there was some stuff that
looked like tallow and had a pleasant odor.
After that Floating pulled up his slave, and when he reached the top
he had fainted and looked as though he were dead, but he soon came to.
Then Floating took one of each kind of creature, mashed them up along
with the white stuff, and put all into the shaft of an eagle feather.
The medicine he thus made is called Crying-for medicine. When Floating
wanted to kill any bear, mountain goat, or other animal, all he had to
do was to shake it in the air and whatever he wanted would come down to
him.
After this Floating went back to his village, where his wife also was,
and the news of his return spread everywhere. It was early in winter.
Then his wife was entirely unable to stay away from him, and ran to his
door very early in the morning. They let her inside, but her husband
would not allow her to come any nearer to him. She begged very hard to
be allowed to come back, but he had already suffered so much on her
account that he was determined that she should suffer in her turn. The
harder she begged the more determined he was that she should not come
back. He never took her back, and she suffered a great deal, especially
when she found that he had become very rich and could have any woman in
the village that he wanted. It was because of this medicine that she
was so anxious to get back to him, and it was because he wanted to make
her suffer that he was so anxious to get it. None except people of the
Raven clan use this medicine. Even now, when a girl is so much in love
as to be crazy over it, it is said, “They must have used the Crying-for
medicine on her.”
83. THE RUNAWAY WIFE
A high-caste youth among the Haida was determined to marry his uncle’s
daughter, because his uncle was a very old man and he wanted to take
his place. But, after he had given a great deal of property for the
girl and taken her, she ran away. He followed her and induced her to
come back, but before long she ran away again, and she kept on acting
this way for a long time.
Finally the young man heard of a very large woman who knew of medicines
to get anybody with whom one was in love. When he came to her village
her people treated him very kindly, asking him to come up and eat with
them. After they had fed him and his companions they made a large fire
on top of the retaining timbers for the woman to take her purifying
bath. She had a little girl to wait upon her when she bathed, and she
was so large that this girl could bathe only one leg at a time.
After she had finished bathing, the large woman came out and gave the
youth an eagle’s tail across which ran a single streak of red paint.
Then she said, “Right around the point from your father’s village you
will see land otters running up from the water. As soon as the white
one among them steps up on the beach, raise your eagle’s tail and see
whether she will stand still. If she stands still and does not run away
go right past without touching her. Then you may know that you will get
your wife and that she will never leave you again; otherwise she will
never come back. When you get to the village, that woman you are having
a hard time with will come directly to you.”
The young man did as this woman had told him, and, sure enough, when
he reached the village his wife was very anxious to see him. She tried
to fight against the inclination, but finally she had to go. When she
entered, however, her husband, refused to take her back. Instead he
went to another village along with his father and married somebody
else. His first wife took all this hardly, and, when they returned,
came to him to demand property. Then the young man gave her some of his
own and some of his father’s property and some slaves so that she would
not bother his new wife. At the same time the girl felt very badly. Not
a day passed but she cried to think that the husband who had formerly
thought so much of her now had another wife.
84. THE REJECTED LOVER
Somewhere to the north lived a chief who had a daughter and a nephew
who was in love with this daughter. In olden times when a man married
a woman with a marriageable daughter he married the daughter as well,
so the youth wanted to marry this chief’s wife in order to get her
daughter. The boy’s father was chief of a certain clan. When he found
that he could not get this woman by himself the young man told his
mother, and his mother worked hard for him. They carried in slaves and
goods of all kinds to the chief. Still the chief would not consent,
for he wanted his daughter to marry some great chief from outside. He
would not let anyone in the village have her. It was really the girl,
however, that had induced her father not to give his consent. She must
have been in love with somebody else or her father would not have
spoken in that way.
The boy’s father had him ornamented with abalone shell, in his ears and
all over his shirt, but, just as soon as he came in decorated in this
way, along with his mother, the girl would jump up, raise her marten
robe in front of her face, run to meet them before they sat down and
say to him, “You may be decorated with all kinds of valuable shells,
but I will not have you.” The boy and her mother were hurt at this.
At first the girl liked her cousin well enough, but, when she found
that he had made hard feelings between her parents, she began to feel
unkindly toward him. Probably her father hated the boy because his wife
was willing to marry him.
One day the girl felt lonely and asked her cousin to go up with her to
get spruce bark to eat. The girl took along her little servant girl and
the boy his little servant boy. So they went up back of the town until
they came to a place where there were only spruces with open grassy
spots between. The girl sat down on one of these latter and her cousin
took the bark off for her. He was very good to her, and tried to humor
her in every way, but by and by she said to him, “Pull off your marten
robe and put it into that pond close by.” The boy did so, saying, “Did
you think I could not do that? I have plenty of marten robes.” Then the
girl spoke again saying, “Pull off all of your hair.” He began to do
so, and, when it was all pulled out, she said, “All right.” Then she
said, “Take all those shells from your ears and face and throw them
away.” The boy began to feel disturbed (lit. strange) about what she
was saying to him, but he did so. As soon as he had finished, however,
the girl and her servant ran home.
Now the boy did not dare to return, because he had nothing to wear, his
marten robe being wet and his shells lost in the grass. So he took some
moss wide enough to cover his shoulders and body and lay down upon a
point at the edge of the woods. He felt very badly and cried hard as
he lay there. When he looked up he saw a loon swimming about in the
sea. By and by he looked up again and he again saw the loon in the same
place. Every now and then it uttered a cry. Finally, as he was lying
with his head down, he heard some one say to him, “I have come after
you.” He looked up again but saw nothing except that loon. The fourth
time this happened he kept watch, for he thought that it was the loon,
and he saw a man coming to him. Before this person, who was in fact the
loon, could say anything the boy exclaimed, “I have seen you.” Then
the loon said, “Come along with me. Get on my back and shut your eyes
tight.”
Then the man did as this loon directed, and the latter dived down into
the sea with him and came up quite a distance out. “Look up,” it said.
The youth did so and found himself some distance out on the water. The
hair was growing again upon his head. Then the loon told him to close
his eyes a second time, went out still farther, and told him to reopen
them. He was out a very long distance. Then the boy thought, “What
is he taking me out here for?” When he opened his eyes for the third
time he could see a village, and the loon said to him, “You see that
village. The chief there has a lovely daughter whom you are to marry.”
After he had come up to the shore with him he showed him this chief’s
house and said, “You are to marry the daughter of the chief who owns
that house.” Then the loon handed him the shells for his ears and his
marten robe, which looked as nice as ever.
At night the youth went to the chief’s house, passed in to where his
daughter was, and said, “Chief’s daughter, I have been told that I am
not good enough to marry you.” But the girl liked him very much and
married him at once.
When news came to this girl’s father, who was the Calm, that his child
was married, he did not say anything, for she had been brought up very
well, and she was to marry whomsoever she pleased.
So the man stayed there very many years, but at last he wanted to
return to his father’s people. The chief took down his own canoe for
his daughter and son-in-law, and they put all kinds of food into it.
The people disliked to see them go, and the chief told his daughter
to be good to her husband. The canoe that they had was a bear canoe,
and everywhere they camped they had to take very good care of it.
Before they set out the chief said to his daughter, “Don’t let anybody
whatever give you water. Let your husband always bring it and give it
to you.” He gave her a quill to drink water out of and a very small
basket for her cup. Then the girl said to her husband, “You must let
alone those girls you used to go with and those you were in love with.
You are not to speak to them.”
When they came to his father’s town all were glad to see the youth,
for they had been looking for him everywhere. While they were there he
always brought the water for his wife to drink as he had been told. One
day, however, as he was going for water, his former sweetheart, who
was angry with him because he would follow his wife around and pay no
attention to her, ran through the woods to him, seized him and spoke to
him. He, however, pulled himself away and would not answer her. When
the girl put her quill into the water this time, however, the water
was slimy. Before it had been pure and would drip like raindrops. At
once she said, “I must leave you,” and, although he begged her hard
to stay, she got up and walked out. He tried to stop her but in vain.
Every time he seized her his hands passed right through her. Then she
began walking right out on the surface of the sea and he followed her.
She said “Go back,” but he kept on until they were a long distance out.
Then she said, “Go back or I will look at you.” So she turned around
and looked at him, and he went straight down into the ocean.
85. THE FAITHLESS WIFE
A man of the Anqǃaˊkitān at Killisnoo lost his wife. When she was dying
she said to her husband, “When I die, don’t bury me. Keep me out of the
ground.” Bodies of common people used to be put into the ground for
a little while before they were burned, those of high-caste persons
being put into a house. So, when she died, instead of burying her, he
placed her body up on a high place. This woman knew, however, that she
was not going to die. She spoke as she did because she was in love
with the son of the chief. The chief’s son was also in love with her,
and, when he knew that she was put away, he went there at midnight
when her husband was asleep, took her out, and carried her to his own
house where he kept her in the bedroom at the rear. The chief was so
fond of his son that he did everything the latter asked of him. This
was the only house in that town that had a fire in it at midnight, and
the people wondered what was the matter. The chief had his slaves get
breakfast for the young couple before others were up.
The man whose wife had left him had a little girl whom he would humor
very much, and she was in the habit of roaming from house to house
throughout the village. One morning very early he said to the little
girl, “Run out and get some fire.” As the chief’s house was the only
one in which she could see smoke, she ran there after some, and, as
soon as she entered, saw her mother sitting with the chief’s son. As
soon as her mother saw her she hid her face, but the girl watched
her closely. She walked directly out with the fire, however, without
speaking.
When the little girl reached home with it she said, “Father, my mother
is at that chief’s house.” “Which chief’s house?” said her father. “The
chief that lives up on the hill.” Then her father said, “What makes
you say that, child? Your mother has been dead for some time.” Then he
took her hand and said pityingly, “Poor child, your mother is dead.”
He began to cry as he held the child’s hand and then said, “I will go
and see the place where I put her.” So he got another to accompany him,
and they brought the box down. It felt very light. When he opened it
it was empty. Then he thought to himself, “I am going to make certain
of this.” About midnight he saw a fire at the chief’s house. Then he
climbed up on top of it, looked down through the smoke hole, and saw
his wife sitting there playing with the chief’s son. She looked very
happy.
When the man got home he said to himself, “What can I do?” He thought,
“How can I become a wizard?” So he did everything to turn himself into
a wizard. He went among the graves, and played with the bodies and
bones, but could not become a wizard. Then he went out to an island in
front of the village and played with the bones of the dead people that
were there. Finally he got hold of two shoulder blades with which he
fanned and rubbed himself and all at once he fainted. Then he thought
he would try working them like wings, and sure enough he began flying
along very rapidly. Now he determined to go to the place where his wife
was living.
First the man went up into the woods, procured very hard limbs and
began to split them. He made the points very sharp. Then he stuck them
into grease and burned it off in order to harden them. He took these
along with him and crawled up on top of the house. Then he flew down
through the smoke hole. He bewitched everyone in the house so that all
slept soundly, passed into the rear bedroom, and stuck the sticks into
the hearts of his wife and her lover so that they died.
Early next morning, when the slaves got up as usual to wait upon the
young people, they were kept waiting so long that they were surprised.
They thought that they were sleeping very late. Finally they went to
see what was the matter and saw them lying in each others’ arms with
the blood flowing from their mouths. The news was soon all over the
village.
Early that same morning the woman’s former husband took his gambling
sticks and came out to gamble. He pretended that he knew nothing about
what had happened. When persons came to gamble with him he shouted
out as people do when they are gambling, “These are the sharp sticks.
These are the sharp sticks.” People wondered why he said it, and much
whispering went on while they gambled. The man looked very happy.
86. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED THE DEAD MAN
A woman belonging to the cohoes people (ʟǃūˊkᴀnᴀ-cā), whose father was
a chief, was kept very pure and had a girl accompany her always. One
day, as she was going out with her servant, she tripped over something
and on looking at it found that it was a skull. She said, “Who can the
bad person be who has brought skulls near my father’s house in the
place where I was going to walk?” She kicked the skull to one side and
walked straight back into the house, for she was frightened.
The same night this girl thought she dreamed that two boys came to
her. They were two chiefs’ sons who were dead, and it was the skull of
the elder that she had kicked out of the way. It was really no dream,
as she at first thought, and she married the elder youth. These two
chiefs’ sons had met with some accident together, and so they always
traveled in company.
Next morning the chief said, “What is wrong with my daughter? She
isn’t up yet.” Then he called the servant girl to go and awaken her.
So the girl ran to look, saw the young men there, and told the girl’s
mother that she was married. “Well,” said the mother, “whom can she
have married? She did not know anybody.” After that the girl and the
young men rose and came down to the fire to have something to eat. Her
husband looked to her like a fine young man, but everyone else could
see that he was a skull. They were very much frightened.
At that time the people there had very little food, and presently the
girl’s husband said to her, “Has your father a small canoe?” “Yes,”
she said, “he has a small canoe.” “Ask him for it and for spears and
arrows.” Then the girl said to her mother, “Mother, he is asking for
a small canoe. They want to go hunting.” Her mother humored her, for
she was afraid she would go off with that man. But when they looked
for the canoe it was already missing. Afterward the young men acted in
the house just as if they were in canoes, going through the motions of
paddling, spearing seals, etc., and the girl was ashamed of them. In
the evening they said to each other, “Let us camp.” The people of the
village could not see what they did or hear what they said, but the
girl could, and she felt very uneasy. Then they pulled off the painted
boards from her father’s house and began to cook. After that she saw
them act as though they were coming back bringing a load of dead seals,
etc. To the people it seemed as if they were still in the house.
Presently the girl called to her mother saying, “Mother, they are in
already. They want some one to go down and bring the things up from
the canoe.” Then her mother said to the people, “There is a canoe down
on the beach, and they want you to go down and bring up what they have
killed.” It was late in the evening, and, sure enough, when the people
went, they found the canoe loaded with all kinds of fishes, with seals
and sea lions. Then the chief gave the head man of each family a seal
and fed the entire village with the food which they had brought in.
After that the people had plenty of ground hogs, mountain sheep, etc.,
with which these two men provided them.
The two men began to come to life and were beginning to look like
living beings. It was then that people found out who they were. When
they got up in the morning they could be seen very plainly, so the
chief got some marten robes and put them upon his son-in-law and his
son-in-law’s brother. They were both very industrious.
In that same house was a girl who became very angry with the younger
brother, after she saw who they were, because he paid no attention to
anyone but his brother’s wife. She marked the place where he used to
sit with human blood, and as he sat on this blood eating he dropped
over dead. The other lived for some time afterward, and the girl who
had destroyed his brother tried to draw his attention to herself also;
but he was too fond of his wife to think of her in the least. Then she
marked his seat with blood, and he in turn dropped over dead.
87. THE RETURNED FROM SPIRIT LAND
The wife of a young man who had recently married, died, and he was very
sad. His father was a chief, and both he and the parents of the girl
were still living. The young couple had been married for so short a
time that they had no children.
The night that his wife died the young man remained awake all night
unable to sleep, and the second night it was the same. Next morning he
thought that he would walk out, but finally concluded to wait until
after his wife’s body had been buried. The body was taken away late
that afternoon, and early next morning he put on his leggings and his
other fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night.
Daylight dawned upon him still walking. After going through the woods
for a long distance he came to a very large valley. There had been a
creek there which was now dried up. Then he heard voices, which sounded
as though they were a long way off. Where he was traveling the trees
were very thick.
Finally the youth saw light through the trees and presently came out on
a wide, flat stone lying on the edge of a lake. All this time he had
been walking in the death road. On the other side of this lake there
were houses and people were moving around there. So he shouted out to
them, “Come over and get me,” but they did not seem to hear him. Upon
the lake a little canoe was going about with one man in it, and all
about it was grassy. It looked very nice.
After the man had shouted for a long time without receiving any
response and had become tired, he finally whispered to himself, “Why is
it that they do not hear me?” Immediately a person on the opposite side
of the lake said, “Somebody is shouting.” When he whispered, they heard
him. “A person has come up (dāq āˊwagut) from dreamland,” the voice
continued. “Let some one go out and bring him over.” They carried him
across, and, as soon as he got there, he saw his wife. He saw that she
had been crying, and he raised his hands and looked at her. He was very
happy to see her once again. Finally the people asked him to sit down
in the house, and, when he did so, they began to give him something to
eat. He felt hungry, but his wife said, “Don’t eat that. If you eat
that you will never get back.” So he did not eat it.
After that his wife said to him, “You better not stay here long. Let us
go right away.” So they were taken back in the same canoe. It is called
Ghost’s-canoe (Sǃî’gî-qāˊwu-yāˊgu), and is the only one on that lake.
And they landed on the flat rock where he had first stood calling. It
is called Ghost’s-rock (Sǃî’gî-qāˊwu-tēˊỵi), and is at the very end of
the trail. Then they started down the road in which he had gone up. It
took them the same length of time to descend it, and the second night
they reached the youth’s house.
Then the young man made his wife stay outside and he went in and said
to his father, “I have brought my wife back.” “Well,” said his father,
“why don’t you bring her in?” They laid down a nice mat with fur robes
on top of it at the place where they were to sit. Then the young man
went out to get his wife. When the door opened to let them in, however,
the people in the house saw him only. But finally, when he came close,
they saw a deep shadow following him. He told his wife to sit down,
and, when she did so, they put a marten-skin robe upon her, which hung
about the shadow just as though it were a person sitting there. When
she ate they saw only her arms and the spoon moving up and down but not
the shadow of her hands. It looked strange to the people.
After that the young couple always went about together. Wherever the
young man went the shadow could be seen following him. He would not go
into the bedroom at the rear of the house, but ordered them to prepare
a bed just where they were sitting. Then they did so, for they were
very glad to have him back.
During the day the woman was very quiet, but all night long the two
could be heard playing. At that time the people could hear her voice
very plainly. The young man’s father at first felt strange in his son’s
presence, but after a while he would joke with his daughter-in-law,
saying, “You better get up now after having kept people awake all
night playing.” Then they could hear the shadow laugh, and recognized
that it was the dead woman’s voice. To what the chief said the woman’s
brothers-in-law would add, “Yes, get her out, for she has kept us
awake.”
The nephew of the father of this girl had been in love with her before
she died, although she did not care for him, and he was jealous when he
found that her husband had brought her back. One night she was telling
her husband that she was going to show herself as she used to be and
not like a shadow and that she was going to remain so permanently.
Her father’s nephew had covered himself up at the head of the bed and
heard everything. Her husband was very glad to hear this, but, while
they were playing together afterward, the man who was listening to them
thought that he would lift the curtain they had around them. The moment
that he did so, however, the people in the house heard a rattling of
bones. That instant the woman’s husband died, and the ghosts of both of
them went back to Ghost Land.
88. THE SKY COUNTRY
A certain man’s wife was taken away from him, and he longed so much for
her that he thought he would follow her along the beach. He was half
crazy. When he went out and thought he was walking along the beach, he
was in reality in a wide trail which ran through the woods. As he went
on he saw where people had been camping, and from the dentalia shells
left by these people he made a beautiful necklace. For a long time he
wandered on with his head bent down, and, when he looked up suddenly,
he saw smoke ahead. He walked toward it very fast. When he came close
he saw a woman tanning a skin. He showed her the necklace he had made
and said, “I will give you this string if you will tell me where my
wife is.” The woman answered, “She is over there at the next camp.”
So he finally reached her, and he remained with her for a long time,
thinking that he was among his brothers-in-law.
The people of the village where this man was staying, however, hated
him and wanted to burn him to death. After they had kindled the fire
and were dragging him toward it he said, “Oh! how happy I am. I want to
die. I would rather you killed me right away than be as I have been.”
When they heard that they stopped and began pulling him toward the
water instead. But he said that he was afraid of water, and, as they
dragged him along, he struggled hard and seized everything about him.
At last, when they did throw him in, he came up again in the middle of
the lake and looked at them. Then one of the people said, “See him. He
is out there looking at us.” The man laughed at them, saying, “Don’t
you know that all of the waters are my work? How foolish you were to
put me into the water just where I like to be.” He said this because he
was a good swimmer and there was a great deal of rain in his country.
Afterward he stayed in the water all the time he was there.
All this while the man had really been up in the sky, and now he wanted
to get down. So he and his wife started back together and came to a
house where lived a certain woman. She was really the spider and the
house her web. Then this woman put them into a web and began to lower
them to the earth. Before they started she said to them, “When you
get caught on anything jerk backward and forward until the web comes
loose.” The things she thought they might get stuck upon were the
clouds. In this way the man and his wife reached the earth safely, and
afterward the web was drawn up. Then they lived happily again as they
had been living before the woman was taken away.
TEXTS[128]
89. THE ORIGIN OF COPPER[129]
A chief lived in the middle of a very long town. His daughter was
fond of picking berries. Once she went for berries with her father’s
slaves, and while picking far up in the woods she stepped upon some
grizzly-bear’s dung. “They always leave things under people’s feet,
those wide anuses,” she said. When they wanted to go down her basket
broke, and her father’s slaves picked up the berries and put them back
for her. Very close to her father’s house it broke again. Then one said
to her, “Now pick them up yourself.” While she was putting them in a
man came to her whirling a stick in his hand. “Let me marry you,” he
said to her. Then he started off with her. He went up toward the woods
with her and passed under two logs. These things which looked like logs
were mountains.
An kułayᴀˊtǃ dîgīˊỵīga aˊya u ānqāˊwo.
Town was long in the middle of it was lived a chief.
Dusīˊ qokǃīˊtǃ akucîtᴀˊn. Qokǃīˊtǃ ān
His daughter berries liked to pick. For berries with them
ūˊat duīˊc guxqǃᵘ tîn. Akāˊyan kaoʟ̣îỵᴀˊsǃ
she went her father’s slaves with. On it she stepped
yux̣ūˊtsǃ hāˊʟǃî yudāˊqqǃ qokǃīˊtǃê. Yē
the grizzly bear’s dung way up in the woods while berrying. So
aỵaˊosîqa yūx̣ūˊtsǃ hāˊʟǃî, “Tsǃᴀs qaˊqǃosi ỵidêˊ
she said to the grizzly bear’s dung, “Always feet down to
hᴀs aʟīˊʟǃ toq qᴀkᵘ.” Ātxêˊqdê hᴀs aỵᴀˊ daāˊdawe
they want, anuses wide!” Down they when wanting to go
ỵˊaołikǃūts dukᴀˊgu. Duīˊc guxqǃūˊtcawe 252-5
roke down her basket. Her father’s slaves it was
ỵᴀsahēˊx akāˊdê dudjiỵîˊs. ʟᴀxdêˊ
were picking up and putting on to it for her. Very close to
yāˊduīc nełixᴀˊn- qǃawe tsǃu ỵaˊolikǃūts. Tcǃuʟeˊ
her father into his house it was again it broke. Then
yē aỵaˊosîqa “Tcǃa waeˊtc dēˊ
so he (i. e., one) said to her “Now you right now
ỵᴀsahaˊ.” Akāˊdê tcǃa ʟēˊ nᴀˊxawe de ᴀt
pick it up.” On to it right by herself it was at once things
aˊna doxᴀˊnt ūˊwagut yuqāˊ wᴀsǃ-ya
she was putting in to her came a man a stick
acakᴀˊnᴀłỵên. “Iqâcaˊ” ʟe
was whirling in his hand. “Let me marry you”, then
yūˊᴀciaˊosîqa. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcīˊn g̣oneˊ uwaᴀˊt. 252-10
what he said to her. Then with her starting he went.
Dᴀq datcūˊn ᴀsiyuˊ dēx xao taỵinᴀˊx ᴀcīˊn ỵāˊwaᴀt.
Up toward the woods it was two logs under with her went.
Xᴀtc cāˊayu xao yᴀx ᴀc tuwāˊỵatî.
These mountains were logs like her looked to.
The people missed this woman. For that the people were called together,
and they searched everywhere for her. It was the grizzly bear to
which the high-caste woman had spoken angrily that married her. The
grizzly-bear people kept going after salmon. After they had gone her
husband went out after wet wood. She, however, always collected dry
wood. When they came up from the salmon place they threw off their
coats. They shook them. Something in these like grease would burn in
the soaked wood. The woman’s dry wood, however, always went out. It was
not long before they did something to the high-caste woman on account
of it.
Duītēˊx qoỵaˊodūˊwaci yucawᴀˊt yūˊantqenītc. Yên
For her searched the woman the people. [Every] where
yuˊqodūciawa duiteˊqǃ yug̣āˊ wuduwatᴀˊn. Xᴀtc
having searched for her for that the people were called. This
x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî ᴀsiyuˊ ᴀcūˊwaca
grizzly bear tribe it was that married her
yuaˊxkǃᴀnya-kaˊoʟ̣îgᴀdî yuānỵêˊdî. Xāt g̣ā
what-angrily-had-spoken-to the high-caste girl. Salmon for
naᴀdîˊ naᴀˊttc yux̣ūˊtsǃ qoaˊnîˊ. Yuxāˊt g̣a
going always went the grizzly bear tribe. The salmon for
naᴀˊdî itīˊqǃawe hīn tākᵘcāgê
when they had gone after they had left wet wood
yᴀdanēˊnutc. Hoˊ qoˊa tsǃᴀs x̣ūk
he (her husband) always went after. She, however, only dry wood
ᴀʟīˊqǃanutc. Kē ag̣aᴀˊdînawe xāt āˊni dᴀx 253-5
always got. Up when they came salmon place from
qākǃudᴀˊsǃ kāxkîˊnde duˊqêtcnutc. Kᴀdukîˊksînutc.
their coats off they always threw. They always shook them.
Atūtxīˊnawe ʟe ex yêx ᴀt akug̣āˊntc
From into it (clothing) then grease like something would burn
yūˊcaq xōqǃᵘ. Doaỵēˊ qoˊa aweˊ tsǃᴀs
the soaked wood among. Hers, however, that thing only
kułkīˊstc yūˊx̣ūk yūˊcāwat. Akāˊqǃawe ʟēł unałᴀˊ
always went out the dry wood the woman. For it was not was long
wâsaˊ odusniyîˊ yuānyêˊtqǃᵘ.
what (or something) they did to the high-caste woman.
When they went out again, the woman saw smoke right under her foot. A
grandmother mouse was coming out from under a little hill. It was that
which was going to help her. “Come in, grandchild,” she said, “These
are very dangerous animals you are among. The grizzly-bear people have
carried you away.” She told her the truth. Then she gave her advice.
“Over there is your father’s home.” So next morning when they were gone
after salmon she started running in the opposite direction. When they
came home at midday the grizzly-bear people missed her. The woman’s
dress had rotted up there. After she had crossed one mountain she
glanced behind her. It looked dark with grizzly bears. When they gained
on her she began crying for her life. She came out on the edge of a
lake. In the middle of this big lake a canoe was floating wearing a
dance hat. It said to her, “Run this way into the water.” Then she ran
into the water toward it. She was pulled in, and it went up with her
into the sun.
Tsǃu ᴀnaāˊdawe tsǃu hᴀs wuāˊt g̣ᴀˊng̣a
Again when they were going again they went for firewood
tcǃa yāˊdoqǃosî ỵêdêˊ aˊwe aositīˊn yucāˊwᴀttc 253-10
right her foot under that thing saw the woman
sǃēq. Yūˊgutc kîtūˊnᴀx nacuˊ
smoke. The little hill out from under was coming out
qᴀg̣ᴀˊqqocā-nᴀkǃ ᴀsiyuˊ ᴀcigāˊ wusuˊ.
a grandmother-mouse. It was that for her would help.
“Nēł gu tcxᴀnkǃ. ʟēł niyaˊ kucîgᴀnēˊx
“Into the house come grandchild. Not easy what saved you
ᴀt iỵᴀˊdawe, xūtsǃ qoaˊni aweˊ īˊusinēˊx.”
things around you grizzly bear people it was saved you.”
ᴀcīˊn qonāˊxdaq akaˊwanîk. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcukāˊwadjᴀ.
To her right she told it. Then she gave her advice.
“Yūˊdo ỵīīˊc ānîˊ.” Ayᴀˊxawe tcǃu
“Over there your father’s home.” Like it it was then
tsǃutāˊt xāt g̣a naadêˊ, g̣onayeˊ
in the morning salmon after when they were going started
āˊdawe ᴀdakᴀˊdīnawe yūt
when they went in exactly the opposite direction away
wudjix̣īˊx̣. Yīˊgîỵî ke aāˊdawe duitēˊx qoyaˊoduwacî
she ran. At midday up when they came for her they searched
X̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnitc. Yāqǃ kē uwaʟǃᴀˊk duʟǃāˊke
grizzly bear tribe. At this place up had rotted her dress
yucāˊwᴀt. De ʟēqǃ cā kᴀnᴀˊx ỵawucîx̣īˊawe qox
the woman’s. Now one mountain across when she had run back
awuʟ̣îgêˊn duîˊtdê. ʟē qag̣êˊt yᴀx g̣âˊawe yatîˊ
she looked behind her. Then it was dark like as if it was
duîˊt x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî. ᴀckāˊ yᴀx 254-5
to her grizzly bear tribe. On her like
ỵāg̣āāˊdawe ciaỵidēˊkdag̣āˊx.
when they were gaining she began to cry for life.
ᴀkǃayaxêˊ dāk udjix̣īˊx̣. Yūˊa ʟen ᴀˊdî
On the edge of a lake out she ran. The lake big of it
gīyīg̣ēˊt gwâyuˊ łix̣āˊc yūˊyākᵘ
in the middle was was floating a canoe
cᴀdakūˊqǃ ᴀcaˊ. “Hāˊnde hīnt
a dance hat with high crown on its head. This way into the water
icîˊx̣” yuaciaˊosîqa. ʟe akāˊde hīnt
you run”, what it said to her. Then to it into the water
wudjix̣īˊx̣. Yāx wuduwaỵēˊq. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcīˊn
she ran. From it they pulled her in. Then with her
dekīˊt wudzîxᴀˊq g̣ᴀgāˊn tūt.
far up it came to go sun into.
The sun’s sons had married a cannibal.[130] Whomsoever they married
never lasted long before they killed her. Now, however, they liked
the one they had just married. To make way for her they killed the
cannibal. They killed her over a Tsimshian town. They chopped her into
very fine pieces. This is why there came to be so many cannibals there.
They could see the Tsimshian town. When the sun got straight up over
her father’s town they said, “Here is your father’s town.” Very soon
they had a child. Their father’s canoe, a grizzly-bear canoe, stood at
the end of this town. The canoe could hear. They loaded it with things.
They put grease inside of it for their father-in-law. Then it walked
away with them. After it had walked on for a long time it would stop
suddenly. This was because it was hungry, and they would then break
up a box of grease in front of the bow. They came in front of their
father-in-law’s house. Then she recognized her father’s house, and
went up in front of it. Then her brother came into the house and said,
“My sister has come and is outside.” But his mother beat him because
he claimed to see his sister who had been long dead. His mother went
out. It was indeed true, and they were coming ashore. They did not see
them (her husbands), however, for they were like streaks of moonlight.
Now, after they had brought all their things up, one went out and said,
“There is nothing there.” The wife said, “That moonlight down there is
they. Tell them to come up.” So people went to tell them. They came
up. Then the sunbeams lay alongside of the woman in streaks, and their
little son in front of them was also like a sunbeam. After they were
seated inside of the house they began to appear as if coming out of a
fog. “Eat something, my daughter,” said the chief. Then a very young
man ran to get water for them. But her husband took a fish-hawk’s quill
out, and put this into it. If it bent over on account of the wet the
man had not behaved himself. After they had examined everyone she sent
her little brother, and her little brother always brought water for
them. When her brother went away she took her husband’s bucket for the
water herself. But after she had been twice a man near the water seized
her hand. And, when she brought it into the house and set it close
beside her husbands, they put the fish-hawk’s quill into it. This time,
after her hand had been caught, the quill bent over with slime. Then
they started to get up to go outside, away from her. She would catch
first one and then the other, but her hands passed right through them.
Then they ceased to see them. Their canoe, however, ran about on the
lake.
Łuqᴀnāˊ ᴀsiyuˊ hᴀs āˊwaca yūˊg̣ᴀgān ỵêˊtqǃî. Hᴀs
Cannibal it was they married the sun’s sons. They
ᴀˊg̣acān ʟēˊłsdjî hᴀs ułsāˊkᵘ. ʟē 254-10
when they married never they lasted long. Then
sadjᴀˊqx. Ỵīdᴀˊtî āˊỵî qoˊaawe
they always killed [them.] Now it was, however,
ctūˊgas aˊodîca. Aˊya aq
they liked [the one] they started to marry. To make
dᴀˊxawe hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq yūˊłūqᴀnaˊ. Tsǃūtsx̣ᴀˊn āˊnî
way for her they killed the cannibal. Tsimshian town
kînāˊqǃ ayuˊ hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq. Tcǃaỵēˊguskî wucdᴀˊx
on top of it was they killed. Very small apart
awułîsūˊ. ᴀtcaweˊ łuqᴀnaˊ
they chopped her. That is why cannibals
āˊcaỵᴀndihēn. Tsǃūˊtsx̣ᴀn āˊnî ʟe
began to be so many [there]. Tsimshian town then
kǃawêˊłguha. Duīˊc āˊnî akînāˊ wug̣ax̣îˊx̣în
they could see. Her father’s town on top of it when gets
yūˊg̣ᴀgān ye yên dosqêˊtc, “Hē duīˊc
the sun thus there they always said, “Here [is] your father’s
āˊnî.” Wānanīˊsawe ỵēt hᴀs āˊwa-ū.
town.” Very soon baby they had.
Hᴀsdutcukᴀˊtawe ỵiatᴀˊn hᴀsduīˊc
At the end of them (i. e., the town) stood their father’s
yāˊgu x̣ūtsǃ yākᵘ. Qōˊwaᴀxtc yūˊyākᵘ. Āỵîˊs ᴀt
canoe, grizzly bear canoe. Could hear the canoe. For it things
kaˊołiga. Hᴀsduwūˊ xᴀˊndî dᴀnēˊt
they loaded it with. Their father-in-law to grease box
aỵîdeˊ ye wududzîˊnê. Hᴀsduīˊn g̣onayeˊ 255-5
inside it thus they came to put it. With them started
ūwaguˊt. Tcǃākᵘ yāˊnaguˊtîawe qox
it walked away. Long time after it had walked on back
ᴀkūˊdadjītc. Xᴀtc uˊtiyāng̣ahēˊn, aweˊ
it would turn suddenly. This when it would get hungry when
wēˊyākᵘ dᴀnēˊt hᴀs akustǃēˊqǃᴀtc
the canoe grease box they would break up always
ayatǃᴀˊkqǃᵘ. Yūˊyākᵘ āeg̣ayāˊt hᴀs ūˊwaqox
in front of the bow. The canoe below it they went
dūwuˊ. Awusikūˊ duīˊc hîˊtî. ʟe
then his father-in-law. She knew her father’s house. Then
āeg̣ayāˊ dāq ūwaguˊt. Duīˊkǃtcawe
in front of [the house] up she came. Her brother it was
nēłtǃāˊ uwaguˊt “ᴀxʟ̣āˊkǃ gānt ūwaguˊt.”
into the house came [and said] “My sister outside came.”
Akāˊqǃawe dudjāˊq duʟāˊtc tcǃākᵘ qot wudzîgīˊtî
Forwas beat him his mother a long time lost had come to be
duʟ̣āˊkǃᴀtc Wᴀq kaodᴀnigītc. Āˊyux wugūˊt 255-10
his sister eyes he claimed to see with. Out to it went
duʟāˊ. Xᴀtc qǃēˊg̣a ᴀsiyuˊ dᴀˊqde hᴀs
his mother. That truly was so ashore they
dułaˊt. Hᴀs qoˊa ʟēł hᴀs dutīˊn.
were coming in their things. Them, however not they saw.
Xᴀtc dēˊtcǃa ᴀˊsîyu yūˊᴀłdîˊs qǃos yêx
This very thing it was the moon shine (streaks) like
kātuwāˊ(ỵ)ati. Dāq kᴀdudjēˊławe yūˊᴀtłaᴀt
was. Up when they brought all their things
āˊyux āˊwagut. “ʟēł da ᴀt,”
out to them [one] went. “Not there [is] a thing,”
yūˊsiaodudziqa. Ducᴀˊt ye ỵawaqaˊ, “Detcǃaˊaaweˊ
what he said to them. His wife thus said, “That is they
weᴀłdîˊs-qǃos ỵi yêx ỵatîˊ. Yē ỵana-isᴀqa a dāq
that moon shine down like there is. Thus you tell them up
ỵiᴀˊdî.” Ye ỵaˊodudzîqa. Dāq uwaᴀˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ
to come.” Thus they came to tell them. Up they came. Then
g̣ᴀgāˊn qǃōs wᴀˊsâ nēł kᴀx duguˊg̣un
the sun beams how in the house across lay in streaks
yūˊg̣ᴀgan qǃōs yūˊcāwᴀt tuwᴀˊnqǃ hᴀsduỵīˊt kǃᴀtskǃᵘ tsǃu
the sun beams the woman alongside of their son little also
qǃwᴀseỵêˊ ᴀłtsǃuˊ g̣ᴀgāˊn qǃōs yêx ỵatîˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
in front of them, and also sun beams like were. Then
nēłqǃ yên hᴀs qēˊawe tsa wᴀˊsa
at the house there they being seated just then as if
ᴀtūˊnᴀx kês yêˊnᴀx has ỵî yᴀˊxawe ỵasiateˊ 256-5
from into it out from there they being like that was
yuqog̣āˊsǃ. “ᴀtg̣ᴀxāˊ dê ᴀxsīˊkǃᵘ” yūˊỵawaqa
the fog. “Let eat something (imp.) my daughter” what said
yuānqāˊwo. ʟᴀx ckᴀstāˊx̣wâ aweˊ wudjîx̣īˊx̣ hᴀsduqǃoeˊs
the chief. Very was a young man that ran for them
hīˊng̣a. Ax ke āˊwatᴀn kîdjūˊk qîˊnaỵî. ᴀqadêˊ
for water. From it out he took a fish-hawk its quill. Into it
awatsāˊq. Yū yên kāˊwatᴀn xēʟǃ qāx ʟēł
he put it. If it bent over slime on account of not
ckaˊ wuckuˊk yuqāˊ. Cunāỵêˊt yên da yēˊg̣awetsa,
behaved himself the man. Everyone there when they examined,
duīˊkǃ kǃᴀtskǃᵘ kāˊwaqa. Tcǃuʟēˊxdê hīn
her brother little. she sent. Ever since then water
hᴀˊsduqǃoēˊdê āˊwayᴀ hᴀˊsduīkǃ kǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ. Qot 256-10
for them carried their brother little. Entirely
g̣agūˊdawe duīˊkǃ hīn g̣ā aˊwatan qǃīcaˊ
when went away his brother water for she took bucket
duxoˊxqǃᵘ wᴀˊnqǃes. Dᴀˊxda hīˊng̣a gūˊdawe ᴀcdjīˊn
her husbands for. Twice for water when she went her hand
awuˊłîcāt qā hīn qǃēqǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ nēł
caught a man water near (by the). Then into the house
awîˊsīneˊawe duxoˊxqǃᵘ awᴀˊn xᴀˊnqǃ aqadēˊ
when she brought it her husbands close by to into it
uduwatsāˊk kîdjūˊk qǃîˊnaỵî. Tcǃuyūˊ dudjīˊn wudułcādî
they put [it] fish-hawk its quill The time her hand was caught
aweˊ ʟa yūˊyênkāˊwatᴀn xēʟǃqāx. ʟē awēˊ
when then it bent slime from. Then it was
wudînaˊq duxoˊxqǃᵘ wᴀˊng̣ᴀˊndî dunᴀˊq.
started to get up her husbands to go outside from her.
Tsǃuhēˊtǃaawe ag̣acᴀˊttc, ʟe
First one and then the other when she would catch then
atūˊnᴀx wudjᴀˊłtc. Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟēł hᴀs wudustīˊn.
through them [her hands] would go. Then not they saw [them].
Hᴀˊsduyāˊgu qoˊa aweˊ ā kᴀt wudjix̣īˊx̣.
Their canoe, however, lake on ran up.
After that the sun’s children began to wish that filth would kill
their son. This is why poverty always kills a little boy when his
father dies. After her little child had begun to suffer very much they
compelled him to go outside with his mother. She made a house with
branches at the other end of the town. There she stayed with her little
child. She continually bathed her little child inside of the house of
branches, and he grew larger there. People kept throwing the leavings
of food on top of their house. They always called him “This man living
here.” They would laugh at him. Whenever the little boy ran out among
the boys who were playing they said “Uh! Garbage-man.” Now he said to
his mother, “Make a bow and arrows for me.” And, after she had made
them, he went out shooting just at daybreak. He shot all kinds of
things. When he was getting to be a man, he kept going up close by the
lake.
Hᴀsdūỵīˊdî qoˊa aweˊ yēˊᴀt hᴀs aodîcîˊ qahāˊsǃtc
Their son, however, for this they came to wish filth
ỵāqgadjāˊq. ᴀtcaweˊ duīˊc nᴀg̣anāˊn
would kill him. This is why his father when he dies
ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ qǃᴀnᴀskîdēˊtc wudjāˊqtc. ʟax wâˊyu 257-5
a little boy’s poverty always is killed of. Very when
kᴀcūˊsawedê duyêˊtkǃᵘ, duʟāˊ tîn gāˊnîyᴀx
had suffered her little child his mother with outside
kaˊoduʟ̣î-uˊ. Ān tcukᴀˊqǃawe tcāc hît akaˊ
they let him go. Town at the other end of branch house at it
aołîyᴀˊx. Duyêˊtkǃᵒ ᴀˊqǃ ān yē wutîˊ.
she made. Her little child then with it so she stayed.
ᴀˊcutcnutc duyêˊtkǃᵒ yūˊtcāc hît ỵîk.
She always bathed her little child the branch house inside.
Desgwᴀˊtc ʟǃagāˊyan nᴀłgēˊn. Qaqǃaitēˊawe
Now he was getting large. Garbage
dukadêˊq dog̣êˊtcnutc.
on top of him (i. e., his house) they would always throw.
“Yāˊtǃayauwaqāˊ,” yuaweˊ daỵadoqāˊnutc. Uˊx
“This man living here,” was what they always called him. At him
udułcuˊqnutc. Wānanīˊsawe yux wudjix̣īˊx̣ 257-10
they would laugh. As soon as out he ran
yuᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ ᴀckułỵêˊtîxōqǃ. “Tca-īˊ
the little boy among the boys playing. “Oh! you dirty
Qǃaīˊtî-cūyeˊ-qā” ʟa yūˊduwasa. Duʟāˊ ye
garbage-man” then what they called him. His mother thus
aỵaˊosîqa, “Sᴀks ᴀˊxdjîỵîs łayᴀˊx.” aʟeˊ ye
he asked, “Bows and arrows for me make.” Then so
anᴀsnīˊawe tcǃūˊya akᴀˊndagᴀnêaweˊ
when she had made them just then when it was daylight
ānaguˊttc atǃoˊktǃ. Łdakᴀˊt ᴀˊdawe
he always went shooting with them. All things those
atǃoˊktǃînutc. Qāx ỵaqsatīˊyawe desgwaˊtc
he would shoot. Getting to be a man when he was now
yūˊākǃ aỵahêˊtaqguttc.
the lake he always went up close by.
After he had gone up there many times something came up quickly toward
him. Its mouth was red. After it had done so twice he asked his mother,
“What is that, mother?” Then he prepared a new spear. “When it opens
its mouth for you and puts its forefeet up on land run down to it.
It is your father’s canoe.” So he went there and it opened its mouth
for him. His mother had said, “Shoot it in the mouth,” and, when he
had shot it, it was heard to say “G̣a,” like a raven. It was as if
its seats had been all cut off. It was a copper canoe in which were
wide seats. The canoe was nothing but copper and broke entirely up.
Throughout the night he carried it into his house to his mother. No
person knew of it.
Qǃūˊna āˊdaq gūˊtsawe ᴀcỵîs ỵînᴀx ke
Many times inland to it after he had gone for him toward up
qǃēˊwax̣ix̣. Qǃānᴀˊx łatîˊ ᴀłeqǃāˊ. Dᴀxdanīˊn ye
came quickly. It was around mouth was red. Twice so
ᴀc nᴀsnīˊ duʟāˊ qǃēˊwawūsǃ, “Dāˊsayu
him it had done for his mother he asked, “What is that,
aʟeˊ?” Tcuʟeˊ yên aˊosînî ỵīs ʟāk. “Dekīˊ qǃwᴀn
mother?” Then there he prepared spear new. Seaward now
dāq īcīˊq îyᴀˊx qǃaowutǃāˊxe x̣ākᵘ
out you run for you it opens its mouth claws
qâˊdjî gᴀˊłaat. Iīˊc yāguˊ aweˊ. aqǃ 258-5
it puts up on land. Your father his canoe it is. To it
āyᴀˊx dugudēˊawe ᴀcyᴀˊx qǃēˊwatǃāx.
so when he had gone for him it opened its mouth.
“Dułēqǃᴀˊ tcᴀ tǃuˊk.” Tcǃuʟeˊ
“Its (mouth’s) redness right in shoot it.” Then
awutǃūˊguawe ye uduwaᴀˊx “G̣ā” yēł yᴀˊx.
when he had shot it so it was heard to say “G̣a,” raven like.
Ayêˊx caỵaˊoʟ̣ix̣ac yeyᴀˊx aweˊ wūneˊ ayêxakǃāˊwu. Xᴀtc
As if were all cut off like it that it was its seats. It was
ēq yāˊgu ayuˊ yēkᵘdīwuqǃ ayᴀxakǃāwˊo. Xᴀtc tcǃᴀs
a copper canoe that in it were wide seats. It was only
ʟe yēˊtî ēˊqayu, ʟe kāˊwawᴀʟǃ yūˊyākᵘ łdakᴀˊt ā.
then was copper it was and broke up the canoe all did.
Tāt ỵinᴀˊx aweˊ āˊwaya duhîˊtî dê duʟāˊ
Night throughout it was he carried his house to his mother
xᴀˊndî. ʟēł Łīngîˊttc wuskoˊ. 258-10
to. Not Tlingit knew it.
Now he began making a big house out of copper. He would pound out
spears and bracelets under the branches. In those days there was no
iron or copper. He also pounded out copper plates. Then he set them
all round the inside of the house. When they threw garbage upon his
house [they kept calling him] “Pounding-chief.” After he had finished
the house there were plenty of copper plates which he kept pounding
out. When they laughed at him and he ran outside they would say, “Uh!
Garbage-man.” There was a chief’s daughter whom they would let no one
marry. After people from all places had tried to get her he prepared
himself. He dressed himself at night. He took a piece of twisted
copper. He knew where the chief’s daughter slept. He poked the woman
through a hole with this copper roll, and the woman caught hold of it.
She smelt it. She did not know what the copper was, no person in the
world having ever seen copper. Then he called to her saying, “Come
outside,” and she went outside to him. “Go down to my house with me.
With me you shall stay,” he said to her. She did not know whence the
man came. The man that used to be called dirty was only going to the
beach with her. Just before she touched the door it opened inward. The
copper door shone in her face. Whence were all those coppers that stood
around inside of the house? Then he married her in his house.
Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊʟen hîˊtxawe ỵāˊnᴀłyᴀx
Then big one into house it was he was making from
yuīˊq. Yutcāˊctaỵīqǃ adeˊawe āˊtǃᴀqǃanutc
the copper. Under the branches there it was he would pound
ʟāq sᴀkᵘ kīs sᴀkᵘ. ʟēł g̣ayēˊsǃ qōstīˊỵīn qaˊtcu
spears for bracelets for. Not iron there was or
ēq yᴀx ỵatīˊỵī ᴀt. Tînnaˊ yax tsǃu
copper like were things. Copper plates like also
atǃēˊqǃ. ʟe nēł ỵīˊya ᴀcᴀˊkᴀnadjᴀł.
he pounded. Then in the house inside he set them all down.
Tcǃuʟeˊ dokᴀˊt ku-doxēˊtc qǃaīteˊ.
Then on him they always threw garbage.
“Yāˊdatǃᴀˊqǃ-anqāˊwo.” Yên asnīˊ wehîˊt qa
“This pounding rich man.” When he finished the house and
yuˊtînna de cāˊỵadîhēn yūˊnîłqǃ adeˊ
the copper plate of there were plenty in that house at them
ᴀtǃaqǃᴀˊt. Tcǃayeˊ uˊxanᴀx dułcuˊg̣taweˊ, kǃêsāˊnî
he was pounding. So at him when they laughed, little boys
xō yux nacîˊqtc. “Tca-īˊ qǃa-iteˊ-cūˊye-qā.”
among out would run. “Oh! you dirty garbage-man.”
Yūˊansǃatîˊ-si ʟēł dudjîdeˊ yēˊqasadoˊha.
A rich man’s daughter not to her would let anyone have.
Łdakᴀˊt yētx ducāˊqǃaweˊ tcǃuʟeˊ aỵîˊs
All [places] from when they tried to marry then for her
yēn ūˊwani. Hūtc qoˊa tāˊdawe ctāˊde 259-5
there he got ready. He, however, at night himself
yēˊdjîwudîne. Eq kᴀtîˊqǃ aosîteˊ. Ātēˊxya
dressed up. Copper a twist of took. Where she slept
aosîkuˊ yuānỵēˊdê. Tǃaqǃāˊnᴀxawe ᴀtc
he knew the rich man’s daughter. From the hole that
yu-ᴀqłîˊtsᴀqk yucāˊwᴀt yuēˊq-kᴀtîˊqǃtc. Yucawāˊttc
he was pushing with it the woman the copper roll. The woman
aołicāˊt. Aodzînîˊqǃ. ʟēł ag̣aˊ wus-ha
caught it. She smelt it. Not what (for it) it was [she knew]
yuēˊq. ʟēł łīngîˊt-ānēˊqǃ ax dustîˊndjîayuˊ ēq.
the copper. Not in the world of it having ever seen copper.
Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊwaxox, “Hāgu gāˊnqǃa.” Xᴀˊni yux
Then he called her, “Come outside.” To him outside
wugūˊt. “ᴀxhîˊtîỵīdêˊ xāˊnaᴀde. Axᴀniỵeˊ
she went. “Down to my house go with me. With me
îq-gwâteˊ” yūˊaỵaosîqa. Gudᴀxqāˊx 259-10
you are going to stay,” what he said to her. From whence
sayuˊ ūˊwadjî ʟēł yeˊawusku. Yūˊduīqonīˊk
it was he came not she knew. The man they used to call [dirty]
qāx sateỵîˊ, tsǃᴀs yuîˊqtê ayuˊ ᴀcīˊn
come to be the man it was only to the beach that with her
ỵāˊnaᴀt. Tcǃa dudjîˊ cukᴀdaweˊ nēł cūˊdjîxîn,
was going. Just before her in front of into thehouse it flew,
yuēˊq qǃaxāˊt duyêˊt kaodîgᴀˊnaỵîˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
the copper door her face shining in. Then
gutxᴀˊtsayu ʟe nēłỵīˊ caỵaqāˊwadjᴀł
from where was it then down inside the house stood all around
yūˊtînna. Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊwaca duhîˊtîqǃ.
the coppers. Then he married her in his house.
By and by the people began searching for that woman. They missed her
for many days. Two days were passed in searching for her. Then her
father said to a slave, “Search below here.” The slave searched there
for her. When he had looked into the house the slave backed out. It
began shining in his face. Then the woman’s husband from inside the
house said to him, “Come in. Do not tell about my house,” he said. “Say
Garbage-man has married her.” When he came into the house he told about
it. He said, “Garbage-man has married her.” Then they started to rush
out. Her mother cried, “My daughter!” Then they rushed to his door.
They kicked into the house, under the house made of branches. “Dᴀm” it
sounded. It shone out into her face, and they started back from the
house door. Where was their anger against him? Then she became ashamed.
After they got home he sent for his father-in-law, and he put eight
coppers on him because he had married his daughter. Then they threw
the branch house away, letting the copper shine out. But his father
had done this purposely to him in order to help him. So even now, when
a man is poor, something comes to help him. This shows how valuable
copper was at the place where this happened. Even lately a copper plate
used to cost two slaves. It has since become an everlasting thing there
(i. e., it is now used there all the time).
Du-īg̣āˊ qodicīˊ yūˊcawᴀt. Wudūˊdziha
For her they started to hunt that woman. They came to miss her
kǃūˊnỵagīỵî. Kᴀnaxsaˊ dēx oxeˊ ᴀg̣aˊ
for many days. After two [days] were passed for her
ug̣aˊqoduciỵaˊ. Wānanīˊsawe duīˊc gux, yeˊ
while they were hunting. And then her father a slave, thus
aỵaˊosîqa, “Kǃē g̣ênaˊt qeˊcî.” ᴀt kūˊwacî yūˊgux
said to, “Good below here hunt.” Then hunted the slave
doxᴀˊnt. Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊnēł ỵawusaỵeˊawe yūˊgux
for her. Then into the house when he looked the slave
g̣āˊnî qoˊxodjîqᴀq. Duỵêˊt kaˊodigᴀn. Yuhîˊt 260-5
outside backed. His face it started to shine in The house
ỵīˊdᴀx, “Nēł guˊ” yūˊaỵaosîqa yūˊcāwᴀt
from in, “Into the house come,” what said to him the woman’s
xoxtc. “Łîł kīnigīˊq ya axhîˊtî” ʟe yūˊaỵaosîqa.
husband. “Never tell it about my house,” then he said to him.
Yē qoˊa yên aỵaˊosîqa, “Qǃa-īˊtîcuye-qātc uwacaˊ”
So but there he said to him, “Garbage-man married her”
yuqǃwᴀˊnskāniłnîk. Lᴀ nēł wugudīˊawe akaˊwanêk.
tell that. Then into the house when he came he told it.
“Qǃa-īˊîcuye-qātc uwacaˊ” yūˊckᴀłnīk. Tcǃuʟeˊ aweˊ yūx
“Garbage-man married her” he said. Then it was out
hᴀs djuˊdeᴀt. “ᴀxsīˊkǃ” yūˊqǃoyaqa duʟaˊ.
they started to rush. “My daughter” said her mother.
Tcǃuʟeˊ aqǃaˊwułt hᴀs łūˊwaguq. Yūˊtcac-hît 260-10
Then to his door they rushed. The branch house
g̣etłaˊa hît nēł ᴀcukaˊołîtsᴀx. “Dᴀm” yūˊyudowaᴀx.
inside house into they kicked. “Dᴀm” it was heard like.
Duyêˊtayu kaodigᴀˊn. Yuhîˊtỵīanᴀˊq
Her face it was it started to shine in. From the house door
gāˊnīqox hᴀs wuˊdiqêʟǃ. Gūsūˊ aỵîˊs kǃānt wunūˊgu.
back outside they started to go. Where for him anger was.
Tcǃuʟeˊ kāwadīˊqǃ. Nēłdêˊ hᴀs naāˊdawe ag̣āˊ
Then she became ashamed. Home they when went for him
qoqāˊawaqa duwuˊ. Doxᴀˊnt hᴀs āˊdawe
he sent for his father-in-law. To him they when came
nᴀsǃgaducuˊ tînnaˊ ᴀcnāˊỵe aosîˊne ᴀsīˊ
eight coppers on him he put his daughter
awucāˊỵetc. ʟe adadᴀˊxdê caoduʟ̣îg̣êˊtc
because he married. Then from around it they threw away from
yutcāˊc-hît ỵīỵî. Yut kaˊodigᴀn yūˊēq. Qoˊa
the branch house did. Out started to shine the copper. But
duīˊc aweˊ ye ᴀcīˊt taˊoditᴀn duīg̣āˊ
his father that one so to him did it purposely for him
ᴀt nᴀg̣asūˊt. ᴀtcaweˊ ỵiỵidᴀˊde qawu tsǃu
something to help him out. This is why even now a man also
qǃanᴀckîdēˊx nᴀˊxsᴀtīn yug̣āˊayu ᴀt
poor is for him something
yᴀsēˊk. ᴀtcaweˊ hēˊnᴀxa ēq āˊqǃaołitsīn.
comes up and helps out. This is why there copper is expensive.
ᴀqǃ ye ᴀt wuniỵīˊtc. Tcǃuyaˊ ỵîdᴀt xᴀˊng̣āt tsǃu dēx 261-5
At it so thing happened. Even lately too two
gux ckᴀˊteᴀtsinen tînnaˊ. Tcᴀ ʟᴀˊkᵘ
slaves used to cost a copper. Become an everlasting
qoˊdzîtīˊỵī-ᴀtx sîtîˊ ᴀqǃ.
living thing it is there.
FOOTNOTES:
[128] All these stories, with the exception of nos. 100 and 106, were
obtained at Sitka.
[129] Another version is incorporated into story 31.
[130] Łuqᴀnaˊ, probably equivalent to Kwakiutl ʟōˊkoala.
90. THE MAN WHO WAS ABANDONED
People living in a long town were suffering from famine. A certain man
stayed with his uncle, who had two wives. The people were very hungry.
This man was always sleeping, for he was lazy. When their food was all
gone, they started away from the lazy man to camp, but his uncle’s
wife threw some dried fish into a hole beside the house post for him,
while she was walking around back of the fire. Then she said to him, “I
threw a piece of dried fish into the post hole for you.” He would put a
small piece of this into his mouth. When he took it out, he would go to
sleep. He always had his head covered.
Qowauˊwau āntqenîˊ ān qołayᴀˊtqǃ aayaˊ ᴀqǃ
Were living people town in a long where in it
qōˊwaēn. Dukāˊk xᴀnqǃ yēˊỵatî, yuqā. Dᴀxnᴀˊx ỵatîˊ
was a famine. His uncle with he stayed a man. Two were
dukāˊk cᴀt. Yuqāˊ āˊawe yān dēnkūˊwane. Tcǃa lᴀkᵘ
his uncle’s wives. The men those were very hungry. Always
natēˊtc yuqāˊ ūdzîkaˊ. ʟᴀx qāqǃaxᴀˊnt
slept the man, he was lazy. Very to men
acux̣īˊx̣awe naołig̣āˊsǃ dunᴀˊq
when [food] was all gone they started for camp from him
yūˊudzikaỵa-qua. Dīỵīˊnᴀx aa dukāˊk 262-5
the lazy man. Back of the fire it was his uncle’s
caˊttcawe g̣āsǃ-kǃî iteˊdê ᴀt wug̣ēˊqǃ ᴀtqǃēˊcî
wife that post hole down in the something threw dried fish
doqǃēˊs. Tca adêˊ wuckᴀˊt wudiguˊt
for him. Just as there around she started to walk
diyēˊdî. Ayuˊ yeˊ aciaˊosîqa “Eqǃēˊs
at the rear of the fire. When thus she said to him “For you
g̣āsǃ-kǃî ītīˊdî ᴀtqǃēˊci xâg̣ēˊqǃ.” Yēˊkᵘg̣e aweˊ
post hole into dried fish I threw.” A small piece that
wuctūˊdî andatīˊtc. Āx ke ag̣atīˊn
into his mouth he would put. From it out when he took it
tcǃa Lᴀkᵘ natēˊtc. Cᴀnaˊodasǃîˊttc.
all the time he would sleep. He would always cover his head.
Suddenly something said to him, “I am come to help you.” When he looked
there was nothing there. At once he fell asleep. Hunger was overcoming
him. At once he prepared himself for it. What was speaking to him was
a small thing running around him. Its teeth were long. Then he took it
away. He put it among his rags, and fell asleep again. Then he dreamed
that it said to him, “Put me into the water.” When it was getting light
he did so. He went down into the water with it. He kept throwing it
up and down in his hands. Saying, “You came to help me,” he threw it
into the water. Where he threw it in [the water] smoked. And when it
was getting dark he covered his head. When day was beginning to dawn
he heard the cry of the raven below him. A halibut had drifted ashore
there, and the thing that was helping him was at its heart.
Wananīˊsawe duỵîxᴀˊndî yē ỵaˊodudzîqa,
At once down close to him thus something said to him,
“Iīg̣āˊ xᴀt wūsuˊ.” ʟēkǃ gwâˊyᴀł wudaᴀˊt ᴀt 262-10
“For you I come to help.” Not was anything there at it
ᴀłg̣ēˊn. Wananīˊsawe tātc uwadjᴀˊq.
when he looked. At once asleep he fell (or was killed by).
Dadukᴀˊnᴀx yᴀx ỵatîˊ yūłˊāx̣ᵘ. Wananīˊsawe yên
Overcoming him like was the famine. And then there
aỵāˊwayᴀk. Yūˊye-ᴀct-āỵaqa-ᴀt
he got ready for it. What was speaking to him
yekułigāˊỵî-ᴀtaweˊ duyāxᴀˊnt wudjîx̣īˊx̣. Duūˊx
was a small thing which around by him was running. Its teeth
yēkdiyāˊtǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ ax āˊwacāt. Doᴀtsǃīˊʟǃ
were long. Then from it (up) he took it. His rags
tūˊqǃawe aỵāˊwacᴀt. ʟe tātc uwadjᴀˊq. Ye
among he put it. Then asleep he fell. As follows
adjūˊn, “Hīnqǃ qǃwᴀn yên xᴀt cᴀt,”
he dreamt, “In the water (imp.) there me put,”
yu-ᴀct-āˊỵaqa. Ỵaqēnaēˊnî aweˊ ayᴀˊx aˊosîne.
what it said to him. It was getting light when like it he did.
Eg̣e ān ỵēq uwaguˊt. Dudjīˊn 263-5
Inside with it down [to the water] he went. His hands
tāˊqǃawe ke āxêˊtctc. “Xāg̣aˊ
in those up [and down] he threw it always. “For me
iwasuˊ,” yēˊaỵênᴀsqāˊawe hīn nᴀx āwaxēˊtc.
you come to help,” when he said so water into he threw it.
Wuduwasǃᴀˊqawe ᴀt āwaxêˊtciỵa. ʟe yêˊndiỵax
It smoked where he threw it. Then there
x̣înᴀˊ-ᴀˊtî aweˊ canaˊodîsǃît. Tcǃuʟeˊ
it was getting dark when he began to cover his head. Then
aqēˊnaēˊnî tî’nawe āˊwaᴀx yēł sa
it was getting toward daylight when with he heard raven’s cry
duīg̣ayaˊdê. Tcāʟ gwâˊỵa yāˊnᴀx yên aˊosîguq. ᴀtēˊsǃî
below him. Halibut it was ashore there drifted. Its heart
kadeˊqǃ aỵax̣ᴀˊt yūˊ-ᴀcīg̣āˊ-wusūˊwu-ᴀt.
on it was the thing that helped him.
Quickly he built a house. He built a big one. In the morning he went
down to the beach with his helper and let it go. Toward daylight he
again heard the raven’s call at the beach, and he ran down. Then five
seals were floating below him, one behind another. His helper hung
around the neck of the fifth, and he took it off. One could not see
about inside of his house on account of the drippings. His uncles who
had left him, however, were suffering from famine.
Tsǃayuˊkǃawe hît yᴀx djiˊwᴀne. Aʟēˊn aołiyᴀˊx. 263-10
Quickly house he made. A big one he made.
Tsǃutāˊdawe ēq an ỵēq uwaguˊt, ᴀdjiwanᴀˊq
In the morning it was beach with it down he went and let it go
tsǃu. Āx ỵaqēˊga aˊawe tsǃu eq de
also. After that when it was getting daylight again beach at
wudūˊwaᴀx yēł sa. Āˊỵēq wudjix̣īˊx̣. Tcǃuʟeˊ
he heard the raven’s call. Down there he ran. Then
kīdjîˊnawe wudcuˊta kaˊodiha yūˊtsa
five one behind another started to float the seals
duīg̣aỵāˊqǃ. Kidjîˊna łēdᴀˊqǃ adēˊawe qǃayax̣ᴀˊt.
below him. The fifth one’s neck around it hung.
Weˊaciye g̣ānasēˊtc-ᴀt daᴀtxakāˊ awadjᴀˊŁ. ʟēł dutīˊn
Around his neck thing from it he took. Not could be seen
de duhîˊtî aỵî yuqᴀłūˊxtcātc.
his house inside of it on account of the drippings.
Yu acnᴀˊq-wułîg̣āˊsǃî dukāˊk-hᴀs qo
Those from him went his uncle’s, however,
yaēˊn dēn wūˊnî.
suffering from famine were.
Suddenly some mountain sheep came out above him. He let it go among
them. Then all fell down. The inside of his house could not be seen on
account of the great abundance of food.
Wananīˊsawe dukînāˊda kaˊodîkǃîtǃ
At once on top of him (i. e., above him), came out
djᴀˊnwu. Xōˊde adjīˊwanᴀq. ʟē łdakᴀˊt
mountain sheep. Among them he let it go quickly. Then all
dāq kawasūˊs. Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟēł wudutīˊn de
down fell. Then not could be seen
duhîˊtîỵî-ᴀt cāˊỵełahēn 264-5
the things inside of his house [on account of] plenty of
ʟēn.
great.
Now when his uncle thought that he had died he sent some one thither to
burn his body. His slaves that he told to go after him came thither,
and he called the slaves into the house. They came up. He gave them
things to eat, and they remained with him one night. One of these
slaves had a child. Then he said to them, “Do not take away anything.”
The little slave, however, threw a piece inside of something. “Tell
your household that you burned me up.” He left those directions with
them.
Dutuwūˊtc łāˊxawe dukāˊktc adeˊ
When he thought he had died of famine his uncle thither
kokāˊwaqa duīg̣aˊ qᴀg̣āˊx dusqāˊndayu.
told some to go for him in order to burn up [his body].
Dugūˊxqǃo aˊde akāˊwaqa ᴀtxaweˊt doxᴀˊnt uwaqoˊx.
His slaves there he told to go after it to him (they) came.
Wēˊguxqǃ nēłdeˊ awaxōˊx. Dāq aˊosiᴀt. Qǃēx
The slaves into the house he called. Up [they] came. He was
ᴀt tīx. ʟēqǃ ᴀcxᴀˊnî uwaxeˊ.
giving them things to eat. One [night] with him [they] stayed.
Aˊsiwe ỵêˊtkǃwaỵa u yūˊgux. Yēˊsdo-daỵaqa, “Łîˊł 264-10
It was had a child a slave. He said to them, “Nothing
ke aiˊcᴀˊtdjīk qǃwᴀn.” Aᴀˊsiwe ᴀt tūˊde āˊwug̣ēqǃ
away take” (imp.). It was something into threw
yūˊguxkǃutc. “Dekēˊwu tusigᴀˊn
the little slave. “We burned him up
yu-qǃwᴀˊn-ckan-īłnīk-îtsǃāˊtītîn.” Yūˊyên ᴀcukāˊwadja.
tell your household.” That word he left with them.
When they reached home that night the baby began to cry: “Little fat,
Little fat,” the slave’s child began to cry out. There was a great
famine in the town whither the people had moved. Some among them had
died. Then the chief thought about the way the slave’s baby was crying.
He kept crying louder: “Little fat, Little fat,” he cried. His mother
said, “He is crying for the inside of a clam.” But the slave had a
piece of fat on her side for her baby. She sat up with it. Its mouth
was greasy all over. At once she confessed to him. She said to her
master, “He is there. The things that he has are many.”
Tāt ān hᴀs qōˊxawe ke kaˊodigᴀx duỵêˊtkǃᵒ.
At night home they when got out began to cry the baby.
“Tayêˊkǃwe, tayêˊkǃwe,” yūk dag̣āˊx yūˊgux
“Little fat, Little fat,” out started to cry the slave’s
ỵêtkǃᵒ. Qōˊwaēn yūˊān
child. There was a great famine in the town
yūˊ-ᴀt-naołigᴀˊsǃîỵa. ᴀˊxo ałᴀx̣ᵘtǃ. Āˊwe
where the people moved to. Among them some died. This
āˊwaqēt yūanqāˊwutc yu-adêˊq-dag̣ᴀˊxỵa yūˊgux
thought about the chief the way was crying the slave’s
ỵêˊtkǃᵒ. Tsǃᴀs akaˊ ke akᴀnatīˊn.
baby. Only to it up he was adding [he was making it louder].
Yūk dag̣āˊx yūˊgux ỵêˊtkǃᵒ: “Tāˊỵakǃwe,
Out cried in this way the slave’s baby: “Little fat,
tāˊyakǃwe.” Yūk dag̣āˊx yūˊgux ỵêtkǃᵒ.
Little fat.” Out cried the slave’s child.
“G̣aˊʟg̣eỵīˊawe ỵīˊaỵasākᵘ,” duʟāˊ ye
“The inside of a clam it is he is calling for,” his mother so
ỵawaqaˊ. Xᴀtc kîtcyêˊdawe āˊdatīn 265-5
said. But a piece [of fat] on her side had
yūˊguxtc duỵêˊtkǃᵒ qǃēs. Ān caˊodîqe.
the slave her baby for. With it she started to sit up.
Dōˊqǃwᴀ daˊwᴀłîtêtʟǃ. Wananīˊsawe ān yên
Its mouth was greasy all over. At once to him there
akāˊwanîk. Ye ān akāˊwanîk
she told it to him (her master). Thus to him she told
dusǃatīˊ tîn. “Āˊwu ho. Aʟ̣ēˊn ᴀt cāˊỵᴀłahēˊnawe
her master to. “He is there. Many things there are many
dudjīˊ.”
he has.”
Then all started thither. Indeed it was a great quantity of things that
he had. The wife of his uncle who had hated him tried to make herself
look pretty, but when she wiped her face something got inside of the
rag and she cut her face. But the one who had thrown something into the
post hole for him, he thought kindly toward. Then the people moved to
him. He willed, however, that the food should not fill his uncle or his
uncle’s wife. Just where they lay, his uncle and his uncle’s wife were
dead. So he married the other wife that helped him. The food his helper
obtained for him, however, he sold for slaves. The people came to him
to buy everything. Afterward he fixed a little box for the thing that
had helped him. No one ever saw it because it was kept out of sight.
Tcǃuʟeˊ nāqǃ kaˊodowᴀnaˊadê. Tcayᴀˊx gwâˊyu aʟēˊn
Then thither all started. Like it it was great there
ᴀt-caỵᴀˊłahēn g̣wâyūˊ dudjīˊ.
quantity of things it was he had.
ʟ̣ukᴀtctāˊdᴀna ʟēqǃ ᴀtīˊỵia dukāˊk cᴀt
Tried to make herself look pretty one it was his uncle’s wife,
ᴀcakǃāˊne-a. Duˊyeda ᴀłg̣ēˊgu ayuˊ 265-10
the one that had hated him. Her face was wiping when
ᴀtūˊx ᴀt wux̣īˊx̣. Duwᴀckᴀˊ awakǃᴀˊkǃᵘ.
inside of it (rag) something got. Her face she cut.
Wēˊdoqǃes g̣āˊsǃ-kǃî ītīˊdî ᴀt wug̣ēˊqǃêa qoˊa
The one for him post hole into something threw, however,
kǃedēˊn ᴀt tōˊditᴀn. Tcǃuʟeˊ
in a good way something he started to have thought. Then
doxᴀˊnt naołîg̣ᴀˊsǃ yūˊāntqenî. Yudukāˊk qoˊa ye
to him moved the people. His uncle, however, so
ᴀtūˊdîtᴀn, yūˊᴀtxā łqǃēˊa kūˊnᴀx duˊnugu
he started to think of food would not fill him
qa dukāˊk cāt. Tcǃa aˊdê taỵēˊdî aweˊ kaołîtǃîˊk
and his uncle’s wife. Just at it he lay where he was dead
dukāˊk qa dukāˊk cᴀt. Yu-ᴀcīˊt-wudacīˊỵia
his uncle and his uncle’s wife. The one that helped him
dukāˊk cᴀt ʟe āˊwaca.
his uncle’s wife then he married.
Yūˊ-ān-duīg̣āˊ-qowasūˊ-ᴀt qoˊa aweˊ gūx g̣ā awahūˊn.
The food his helper got for him, however, slaves for he sold.
Duīˊtx yᴀx ỵaˊodudzî-ū āntqeniˊ. Yên
From him like came to buy all the stuff the people. There
kudagāˊawe ᴀdakeˊtkǃe aosîneˊ
when he got through a little box for him he fixed
yu-ᴀcīg̣āˊ-wusuwuˊ-ᴀt. ʟēł aduˊtsa ye ustîˊntc
the thing that helped him. Not anyone so ever saw it
tcaqāˊwᴀq wᴀntǃēˊqǃayu.
everyone’s eyes because it was out of sight of.
One day a whale came along, moving up and down, and he let his helper
go at it. In the morning the big whale floated up below on the beach.
When all were busy with the whale he forgot his helper. It was hanging
to the last piece. When they took up the whale he forgot it. And
because he forgot it all of the people were destroyed. This is why
people say to a lazy man even now: “You will be like the man that was
abandoned.” All the things that had been killed came to life. Some ran
into the water and some into the woods. The people were completely
destroyed.
Dekīˊx ỵāỵiêˊndaxun yāˊî. Āˊde 266-5
Way out went along up and down a whale. To it
ᴀtcīˊwanᴀq. Tsǃutāˊtayu eqêg̣ayāˊnᴀx yên
he let this go. In the morning it was below on the beach there
akāˊwaha yuyāˊî Lᴀnqǃ. Tcǃu atāˊt qoỵaˊostāg̣e ayuˊ
floated up the whale big. Then with it all were busy when
yuyāˊî akᴀˊtsiwᴀqǃᴀkᵘ. Yuhūˊtcǃî-āˊỵê daˊde qǃax̣ᴀˊtî.
the whale he forgot it. The last piece to was hanging.
Akᴀˊtsiwaqǃᴀkᵘ dāq kᴀdudjēˊłayu yuyāˊî. Tcǃuʟeˊ akᴀˊ tsa
He forgot it up when they took the whale. Then because
wuqǃag̣ōˊdjayu qot cūˊwax̣ix̣ yūˊantqenî. ᴀtcayuˊ 266-10
he forgot it destroyed were all the people. This is why,
“Yeˊ-ᴀtg̣âku-nᴀq-naołîg̣āˊsǃî wūckāˊdjātê yᴀx qǃwᴀn
“The man they went away from the lazy man like (imp.)
īng̣âˊte.” Yūˊa-inî-ᴀt łdakᴀˊt qox
you will be.” The things killed he had all back [to life]
wuˊdîᴀt. Hīˊndê a ᴀt kāˊwaᴀt qā dᴀˊqdî.
came. Into the water it was some ran and [some] up.
Hūtcǃ łdakᴀˊt qotx cūˊwax̣īx̣ yūˊantqenî.
Finally all destroyed were all the people.
91. THE SHAMAN WHO WENT INTO THE FIRE, AND THE HERON’S SON[131]
A little boy’s friends were all gone. His uncle was a great hunter, and
the little boy was always going around far up in the woods with bow and
arrows. He was growing bigger. He also went out with his uncle. His
uncle went about everywhere to kill things. He always brought plenty of
game down from the mountains.
Ducᴀgūˊnî qotx cūˊwax̣īx̣ yū-ᴀt-kǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ. Dukāˊk
His friends destroyed all were a little boy’s. His uncle,
qoˊa ᴀt sǃatēˊx sîtî. Tcǃaguˊtsᴀ
however, become a great hunter was. Everywhere
naguˊttc yu-ᴀt-kǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ tcūˊnet tîn
was always going around the little boy bow and arrows with
yudāˊq. Desgwᴀˊtc ʟǃagāˊłigê. Ān
way up inthe woods Now he was getting bigger. With him he
wułîg̣āˊsǃ. Qołyēˊs ᴀt wudjāˊq cūt
went out. For a long time things he could kill anywhere
naguˊttc dukāˊk Cāˊỵadadᴀx ỵēq ᴀt
was always going his uncle from the mountains down things
kūdjēˊłtc aʟēˊn.
he always brought plenty.
One time he again went hunting. At that time the inside of the house
was full of the sides of mountain sheep, on racks. His uncle’s wife
hated her husband’s little nephew very much. When she went outside for
a moment, he broke off a little piece of fat from the sides of mountain
sheep hanging on the rack, to put inside of his cheek. Although there
was so much he broke off only so much. Then his uncle’s wife looked all
around. The end piece was not there. “Is it you that has done this?”
she said to her husband’s little nephew. He cried and said, “No.” Then
she put her hand inside of his cheek. “Why don’t you go up on the
mountain?” [she said.] She scratched the inside of his cheek. Blood ran
out of his mouth. While crying he pulled his uncle’s box toward him. He
took his uncle’s whetstone out of it. Meanwhile his uncle was far away.
Wānanīˊsawe wugūˊt tsǃu ᴀt łūn. Yūˊnēł 267-5
At once he went again things to hunt. In the house,
qoˊa ᴀt-kᴀgedīˊtc coałihîˊk yūˊkᴀxỵî.
however sides of mountain sheep it was full of upon a rack.
Hawāˊstaga ᴀcikǃāˊn doxoˊx qeł
[His uncle’s wife] hated him very much her husband’s nephew
kǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ. Gᴀˊnde nagūˊtawe dukāˊk cᴀt
little. Outside when she was going his uncle’s
yāˊkᴀxỵēˊx dîx̣wᴀˊtsǃî ᴀtkageˊdî cūtx
wife on the rack hanging the mountain-sheep sides from it
awaʟīˊqǃ yutayᴀˊkǃ tcǃa dūˊwᴀc
he broke off a little piece of fat just his cheek
tūˊg̣ā. Hagūˊsa ʟᴀx yēˊỵakugāˊỵi ᴀt.
for the inside of. Much very yet he only broke off much. so
ᴀt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn dokāˊk cᴀttc. ʟe gwâyᴀˊł
Looked all around his uncle’s wife. Then not it was
acūˊwua. “Waēˊtc gâwêˊ ge yēˊsînî,” ʟe 267-10
was any there. “You is ? did it,” then
yūˊaỵaosîqa duxoˊx qēł kǃᴀtskǃᵘ. Tcǃa adēˊ
she said to her husband’s nephew little. Just at it
g̣ᴀxyēˊdê aweˊ ye aỵaˊosîqa, “ʟēkǃ.” Tcǃuʟeˊ aˊwᴀc
he was crying when thus he said, “No.” Then his cheek
tūˊdî wūcîˊ doxoˊx qēłkǃ. “Wāˊsᴀł
inside of she put her hand her husband’s nephew’s. “Why not
cāỵadat iguˊt?” Awᴀctuˊ akᴀʟ̣āˊk.
up on the mountain you go?” Inside of his cheek she scratched.
Doqǃēˊnᴀx cî ỵēˊkuwūq. Tcǃa adîˊ g̣ᴀxỵēˊde aweˊ
From his mouth blood ran. Just at it he was crying when
dukāˊk qōˊgu tūt aosīîˊn. Aỵîˊkdᴀx ke
his uncle’s box toward him he pulled. From inside out
āˊwatī dokāˊk ỵaỵīˊnᴀkǃo. Dukāˊk kō uyêˊx.
he took his uncle’s whetstone. His uncle far was away.
Then he started off into the woods, carrying the whetstone, and came
out to a creek. He came out on a sandy bank, pounded (or scooped) it
out like a salmon, and made a nest beside the water. He stayed upon it
overnight. His dream was like this. He was told, “Let it swim down into
the water.” It was his spirit that told him to do this.
When his uncle came down he missed him. He asked his wife, “Where is my
nephew?” She answered. “He went up that way with his bow and arrows.”
ʟe g̣onayeˊ uwaguˊt ᴀtgotūˊdî. Hīn yax 268-5
Then started he went off into the woods. Creek to
hîˊtaq uwaguˊt weyaỵīˊna x̣ᴀkᵘ ka an dak
out he came the whetstone sandy [bank or bar] on with it out
uwaguˊt. Akᴀtǃēˊqǃ xāt yᴀx. Kut awasǃîˊt
became. He pounded it out salmon like. Nest he made
yuhīˊn-yāxqǃ. Akaˊ uwaxeˊ yukuˊt.ˊ Dutcūˊnî
by the water. On it he stayed overnight the nest. His dream
ayuˊ yē ỵatî.ˊ Ye daỵaˊdoqa, “Hīnỵîˊx
it was thus was. So they said to him, “Down in water
nᴀsqǃāˊq.” Xᴀtc duyuyēˊk ᴀseyuˊ ye ᴀcīˊt
the let it swim.” This his spirit was so to him
tūˊditᴀn. Duitīˊqǃ ỵēq uwaguˊt dukāˊk.
started to have him do. After him down came his uncle.
Aqǃewūˊsǃ ducᴀˊt, “Gūsuˊ ho ᴀxqēˊłkǃ.” “Wēˊde 268-10
He asked his wife, “Where is my nephew?” “Up that way
aweˊ tcūˊnēt aˊołiāt.”
it was bow and arrows he took.”
When [the boy] got up farther he made another nest. This man was named
“For-little-slave.” He made eight nests. Now his spirit helper began to
come to him on the last. At that time he took his whetstone down into
the creek, and it swam up in it. Then he lost his senses and went right
up against the cliff. He stayed up there against the cliff. Everything
came to hear him there—sea gulls, eagles, etc. When his spirits left
him they would always be destroyed—the eagles, sea gulls, all of them.
Nāˊnāqǃ ke gūˊtawe tsǃuˊa uwasǃîˊt wekuˊt sᴀkᵘ.
Farther up when he went another he made a nest for.
“Guˊxkǃᵘsᴀkᵘ,” yūˊdowasakᵘ yuqāˊ. Nᴀsǃgaducuˊ awasǃîˊt
“For-little-slave,” was named the man. Eight he made
yukuˊt. Hūtcǃîaỵeˊ kᴀˊqǃawe uxyēˊk
the nests. The last one on it was his spirit
uwatsǃᴀˊq. Tcǃᴀˊtcǃa ag̣āˊawe hīn ỵī
began to come to him. Just then creek down into
yaawatîˊ duyaỵīˊnaỵî. Hīn ỵîkt wuʟ̣îtsîˊs. Tcǃuʟeˊ
he took his whetstone. Creek up in it swam. Then
łstāˊx awudᴀnūˊkᵘ aweˊ yug̣āˊʟǃ ỵêt
senseless he got when the cliff right up against
wudzigîˊt. ᴀx̣ wułix̣āˊtǃ yūˊg̣āʟǃ ya.
he came to go. Right up then he stayed the cliff against.
ᴀˊqǃawe doqǃᴀˊkᴀt wuskēˊntc łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt, kēˊʟ̣adî,
At it to him always came to hear everything, seagull,
tcākǃ. Qotx cūˊnax̣îx̣tc duīˊtx qeyēˊk
eagle. Destroyed they would always be from him his spirit,
g̣aᴀˊtîn, yutcāˊkǃ, kēˊʟ̣adî, łdakᴀˊt
when they would go, the eagle, seagull, all of them
a.
would be destroyed.
Now, his uncle hunted for him. After he had been out for eight days he
discovered the nest his nephew had made by the creek. He saw all the
nests his nephew had camped in. His uncle looked into the creek. The
salmon was swimming there, and he camped under the nest. Afterward he
listened. In the morning he heard the beating made by shamans’ sticks.
He heard it just in the middle of the cliff. Then he came up underneath
it. Before he thought that [his nephew] had seen him, his nephew spoke
to him: “You came under me the wrong way, uncle.” The uncle pitied
his nephew very much. “Come up by this corner,” said his nephew. Ever
afterward he was named, “For-little-slave.” Then his uncle asked him,
“What caused you to do this?” He did not say that his uncle’s wife had
scratched the inside of his cheek. Instead he said to his uncle: “Cave
spirits told me to come here.” This was a big cave, bigger than a house.
Duīg̣āˊ quwacîˊ dukāˊk. Nᴀsǃgaducuˊ uxeˊ 269-5
For him hunted his uncle. Eight days he had been out
aqᴀˊx quuwacīˊ yukuˊt duqēˊłkǃ aˊdjî iteˊ yuhīˊn yāxqǃ.
there he found the nest his nephew made the creek by.
Tcǃuʟeˊ łdakᴀˊt āˊwusitīn yukuˊtqǃ duqēˊłkǃ ᴀx
Then all he saw the nests his nephew there
kēnaxēˊnîỵa. Yuhīˊn ỵîkt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn
he had been camping [going up]. The creek down in looked
dukāˊk. Aỵîˊx uwaqǃᴀˊq yuxāˊt. Āˊuwaxe yukuˊt
his uncle. In it was swimming the salmon. He camped the nest
taỵeˊ. ᴀtxāˊwe qołᴀˊxsǃ. Tsǃutāˊtawe āˊwaᴀx
under. From there he listened. In the morning he heard
xēˊtca kayēˊk. Tcǃa yūˊg̣eʟǃ
beating of shaman’s sticks for spirits. Just the cliff
yakᴀtūˊde aweˊ āˊwaᴀx. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀkǃeỵīˊt 269-10
in the middle of it was he heard. Then underneath it
ūˊwagut. Tcǃuł ᴀc utēˊnx ᴀc wudjîỵīˊayu ᴀcīˊt qǃēˊwatᴀn.
he came. Before him he saw him he thought to him he spoke.
“Qâq ỵēˊnᴀx ᴀxtaỵīˊt īˊỵagut kāk.” Lᴀx wâˊsa
The wrong way along under me you came, uncle.” Very how
awug̣āˊx duqēˊłkǃ hūtc. “He qǃênguˊkcî nᴀˊxo ke guˊ.”
he pitied his nephew he. “This corner from up come.”
Gūxkǃᵒ saguˊtc yē uwasaˊ. Dukāˊktc
Little slave ever since then thus he was named. His uncle
qǃēˊwawūs, “Dātkułāˊnsaỵa yē qēỵanūˊkᵘ.” ʟēł ān
asked him, “What caused you thus to do?” Not to him
akāˊwunīk duwᴀˊctu kaˊoduʟ̣akᵘ yāˊnᴀx. “Āˊwu tatūˊk
he told into his cheek she scratched of his. “There is a cave
yēkqǃîˊtc adêˊ xᴀt kūnaˊ,” yūˊaỵaosîqa dukāˊk aʟēˊn
spirits there me told to go,” he said to his uncle big
tatūˊkâyu hît ỵāˊnᴀx kug̣eˊ.
cave it was house bigger than it was.
Then his spirits came to him while his uncle was with him. They went
inside, and his uncle beat time for him. Then he told his uncle to
remember this: “When the spirit Nīx̣âˊ runs into the fire with me, do
not let me burn up. While I am getting small throw me into a basket.”
That was the way he did with him. It ran into the fire with him, and he
threw him into the basket. Then he always came to life inside of the
basket. He became a big man again.
Tcǃuʟeˊ kāyēˊk wūāˊt dukāˊk tîn.
Then his spirit came to him his uncle with.
Aˊỵi nēł hᴀs āt ᴀc qǃaxēˊtc 270-5
Inside into the house they came him beat with beating sticks for
dukāˊk. Yên ᴀcukāˊwadja dukāˊk. “Gᴀnᴀłtāˊ
his uncle. Then he told to remember his uncle “Into the fire
xān gu g̣acīˊx̣ yuyēˊk Nīx̣âˊ, łîł ʟᴀx ye xᴀt
with me then when runs the spirit Nīx̣âˊ, ever very so me
kugᴀˊndjîq. Tcuyēˊ xᴀt kǃugēˊikǃî qǃwᴀn łītǃ
let burn up. While I am getting small (imp.) basket
tūˊdayu x̣ᴀt nag̣ēˊỵagîqǃt.” Ayᴀˊxawe aosîˊne ᴀcīˊn
into it is me throw.” Like that he did with him
gᴀnᴀłtāˊ dîcîˊx̣ łītǃ tūˊdî ᴀc wug̣ēˊqǃ. ʟe ᴀˊqǃawe
into the fire it ran basket into him he threw. Then at it
qoˊxodaguttc yułīˊtǃ tūqǃ. Aʟēˊn qāx
he always came alive the basket inside of A big man becoming
nᴀstīˊtc.
he always was.
That same evening he sent out his uncle to call, “This way those that
can sing.” Then the cliff could hardly be seen for the mountain sheep
that came down to look into the cave. When they were seated there,
he whirled about his bow and arrows and all the mountain sheep were
destroyed. The inside of the cave was full of them. Now, he said to his
uncle: “Take off the hides.” He was singing for great Nix̣âˊ. When the
spirit came out of him he reminded his uncle, “When it runs into the
fire with me, don’t forget to take me out and put me into the basket.”
ᴀdᴀˊx x̣āˊna-awe qǃēˊg̣a yūˊᴀqǃ aqǃāˊwana 270-10
After that that evening truly outside he sent out
dukāˊk. “Hādeˊwᴀt ᴀt-cīˊỵî.” ʟēˊławe ᴀt
his uncle. “This way those that can sing.” Not things
akaˊodag̣ān yug̣ēˊʟǃ djᴀˊnuwu
could be seen (i. e. hardly be seen) the cliff mountain sheep
yūˊtatūk ỵidêˊ ᴀdołtīnīˊ sᴀkᵘ. Yên
the cave into [came] to look on for. There
qēˊawe dusᴀˊksî yūˊaosînî, ʟa
when they were seated his bow and arrows he whirled, then
qotx cūˊwax̣ix yudjêˊnuwa. Yutatūˊkỵî ʟe
destroyed all were the mountain sheep. Inside the cave then
cāˊwahîk. Dukāˊkawe āˊadjî kāˊwaqa, “Dātx
it was full. His uncle it was to this one he said, “From there
kīˊdᴀsǃîʟ.” Aỵacîˊ Nix̣âˊ ʟēn.
take off the hides.” He was singing for Nix̣âˊ big.
Dutūˊtx ke yîcīˊx̣ dukāˊk yên
From inside of him out came the spirit his uncle there
yuaỵᴀsîqēˊk. “Xān gᴀnᴀłtāˊt îcîˊx̣ni qǃwᴀn
he reminded. “With me into the fire when it runs (imp.)
akᴀˊttse îsaqǃāˊkᵘ āx dāq xᴀt īcāˊdê łītǃ tūˊdê.”
don’t you forget from it out me you take basket in the.”
After all of the sheeps’ sides were covered up he sent him for his
wife. He came up with his wife into the cave. Then he said to his
uncle: “Take the half-basket in which we cook. Mash up the inside fat
for your wife.” His spirits took out the woman’s bottom part from her.
For this reason the woman never got full eating the mountain-sheep fat.
She could not taste the fat. He put her in this condition because she
had scratched the inside of his cheek.
ᴀc nacᴀˊttc yên kudag̣aˊ yūˊtatūk ỵīqǃ yudjêˊnwu
Taking all there were covered up the cave in the sheeps’
kagēˊdî ducᴀˊt g̣a ᴀc kāˊwaqa. Ān ke ūˊwaᴀt
sides his wife for him he sent. With her up he came
ducᴀˊt tatūˊk taỵīˊqǃ. We-akᴀˊt-ᴀt gatūˊsî 271-5
his wife cave in under That-in-it-thing we cook
kᴀgᵘ-tāˊỵî qǃwᴀn tsǃū gatāˊn.
half-basket (imp.) also take.
“Ayîˊk-ᴀˊdî katǃᴀˊqǃ” dukāˊk ye
“What belongs inside (the inside fat) mash up,” his uncle thus
aỵaˊosîqa, “îcᴀˊt qǃēs.” Akǃūˊłî āx āˊwatê
he said to “your wife for.” Bottom part from her took
yūˊcāwᴀt yuqg̣wahēˊỵᴀkᵘ (or duyēˊgî). Ayᴀˊxawe ʟēł ye
the woman his spirits. This is why not so
unᴀˊxtc yucāˊwᴀt, ᴀtaỵîˊ ᴀxaˊ yudjêˊnwu. ʟēł
ever got full the woman, fat eating the mountain sheep. Not
qǃeakutᴀˊnūk yūˊtāî. ᴀqǃāˊqǃ duwᴀctuˊ
she could taste the fat. On account of it his cheek
akawuʟ̣āgūˊtcawe yē ᴀqsayīˊn.
she scratched the inside of thus he got her.
By and by he said to his uncle: “Make your mind courageous when Nix̣âˊ
comes in.” In the evening he told his uncle to go out and call. The
cliffs could hardly be seen. Grizzly bears came in front of the house
to the door of the cave. They extended far up in lines. Then his uncle
started the song for the spirit. They kept coming inside. Suddenly a
grizzly bear came in. It was as if eagle down were tied around its
ears. At that [the uncle’s] wife became scared and broke in two. He did
this to her because she had scratched on the inside of his cheek on
account of the fat. His spirit also ran into the fire with him. While
his uncle stood in fear of the grizzly bear, For-little-slave burned up
in the fire.
Yē adaˊỵaqa dokāˊk, “Îtuwūˊ qǃwᴀn 271-10
Thus he said to his uncle, “Your mind (imp.)
cᴀtǃîˊqǃ Nîx̣âˊ neł guˊtni.” X̣āˊnaawe
make courageous Nîx̣âˊ into house when he comes.” In the evening
yoxᴀˊqǃ akāˊwana dokāˊk. ʟēł aweˊ ᴀt
out he told to go and call his uncle. Not it was thing
akaˊodagan yugēˊʟǃ. X̣ūtsǃ
could be seen (hardly) [up between] the cliffs. Grizzly bears,
hît yᴀt uwaᴀˊt yutatūˊk qǃawuˊł. ʟe
house in front of came the cave at the door of. Then
yukîˊnde sîx̣ᴀˊt ke akāˊwacī
way up in rows they extended up he started a song
yuyēˊk dukāˊktc. Nełdêˊ naāˊt.
[for] the spirit his uncle. Into the house they kept coming.
Tcǃa akᴀˊtǃut kᴀˊqǃawe ye ᴀciaˊosîqa ag̣aˊ
Just when half in when they got thus he told him for it
qonatīˊs. “Nełdêˊ ỵākugwâsaˊ.” Wananīˊsawe
he should look. “Into the house he is going to come.” At once
nēł ỵaˊodzia yux̣ūˊtsǃ. Doguˊk kᴀqǃ
into the house came to be the grizzly bear. His ears around
qǃâʟǃ wuduˊwaduqǃwa yᴀˊxawe ỵatiˊ. Anᴀˊqawe aodilǃᴀˊkᵘ
eagle down was tied like it was. At that became scared
ducᴀˊt. ʟe wūˊcdᴀx wuʟǃīˊqǃ. Yūˊtaỵîqǃāqǃ
his wife. Then apart she broke. The fat about
duwᴀctuˊ akaˊ wuʟ̣agūˊtcawe ye aołiyᴀˊx.
inside her cheek on it she had scratched so he made her.
Gᴀłtāˊt ᴀcīˊn wudjîx̣īˊx̣ duyēˊgî tsǃu. 272-5
Into the fire with him it ran his spirit also.
Awēˊtcǃayu x̣ūtsǃ djiakułxēˊʟǃawe gᴀnᴀłtāˊx
And just then grizzly bear when he was afraid of in the fire
kāwagāˊn Guˊxkǃᵘsᴀkᵘ.
burned up For-little-slave.
At that the cave creaked, and every animal ran into its skin. The
things they were drying did so. They did so because the shaman had
burned up. So the shaman and his uncle also were finally burned up.
Tcǃuʟeˊ aweˊ wucikǃᴀˊʟǃ yutatūˊk, tcǃūˊye qāˊawe
Then it was creaked the cave, and then every being
duduguˊ tūˊde wudjix̣īˊx̣iyᴀ. Yudusx̣ūˊgu-ᴀˊt ayuˊ
his skin into ran. The things they were drying those
yē kawanūˊkᵘ. Yuîˊxtǃ kawagānēˊtcayu yē wudzigēˊt.
like did it. The shaman burned up because so he came to do.
Hūˊtcǃayu ʟe kāˊwagān yuîˊxtǃ qᴀ dukāˊk. 272-10
Finally then burned up the shaman and his uncle.
Now people were disappearing from the town they had left. There were
two wood roads. When anybody went out on one of these roads he never
came back, and a person who went out on the other also, never came
back. When one went away by canoe, he, too, was never seen again. He
did not come home. In a single year there was no one left in that town
except two, a woman and her daughter. After she had thought over their
condition, this woman took her daughter away. She said, “Who will marry
my daughter?” A heron that was walking upon the shore ice spoke to
them, “How am I?” “What can you do?” said the woman. “I can stand upon
the ice when it comes up.” “Come home with us,” said the woman. So the
heron married [the girl], and she became pregnant. She brought forth.
She bore a son. It began to grow large. The heron said to his wife,
“What is the matter with your friends?” and she answered, “When they
went after wood they never came back.”
Xᴀtc yuˊ-āx yēs qowanūˊguỵa ān qoˊa ᴀsiyuˊ
Now from that (town), when they came town however it was
ʟeł ke wudaqāˊt. Dēx ỵᴀtîˊ yugᴀˊng̣adê. Yāˊtǃaỵîtê
not up was left. Two there were the wood roads. In this was
awucix̣îˊ ʟēł ỵek uguˊttc. Łīngîˊt qᴀ
when one went not down he ever came. People and
yāˊtǃaỵîte awugūˊde ʟēł ye dustīˊnto qa
in the other road who went not thus they ever saw again and
awuqōˊxo ʟēł ye dustîˊntc. ʟēł
when one went away by canoe not so he would ever be seen. Not
ānx uqōˊx. Tsǃu ʟēqǃ tāˊgawe ʟēł wudaqāˊt 272-15
home he came. Also in one year not was anyone left
weˊān. Tcǃuʟeˊ dᴀxanᴀˊxawe ā cwudzinēˊx wecāˊwᴀt
in the town. Then two of them saved themselves a woman
yūˊānqǃ yūcāˊwᴀt dusīˊ tîn. Tcᴀł ctaˊyênkᴀx
in the town a woman her daughter with. When about themselves
hᴀs tūndatāˊnawe ān wuāˊt dusīˊ. “Adūˊs gî
they had thought with her she went her daughter “Who ?
qasīˊ g̣acaˊ yūˊawe qǃayaqaˊ.
My daughter. will marry” that is what she said.
Yutǃīˊqǃ cukᴀˊt dāq nahēˊn łᴀqǃ
The shore ice [on the beach] upon shoreward was walking heron
aˊawe hᴀsduīˊt qǃewatᴀˊn. “Wâˊsᴀ xᴀt ỵateˊ, xᴀt.” “Hᴀdāˊtîn
that to them spoke. “How I am I?” “What with
sᴀ,” yūˊaciaosiqa yucāˊwᴀt. “Kᴀnēˊq xān dāq 273-5
?,” what said to it the woman. “The ice with me up
ᴀqg̣atcūˊkun ᴀtūˊ yên xâhantc ān hāˊawe.”
when it comes into it there I always stand this is what with.”
“Hᴀ nēˊłdê hāˊīn naᴀˊdî,” yūˊaciaosîqa yucāˊwᴀttc. ʟe
“Now home with us go,” what said to him the woman. Then
ᴀc uwacaˊ yułᴀˊqǃtc. ʟe duīˊt
her married the heron. Then to him
yêtsǃdjîwahaˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟe kaˊodzîte.
she was going to bring forth. Then indeed it came to be born.
Qā ayuˊ kaˊodzîte. Desgwᴀˊtc
A boy it was came to be born. Now
ỵānᴀłg̣ēˊn. Ye adaˊỵaqa ducᴀˊt yułᴀˊqǃtc,
it commenced to to be big. Thus said to his wife the crane,
“Wâˊsa wūˊnî îxōˊnqǃî.” “ʟe g̣ᴀˊng̣a
“What is the matter with your friends?” “When after wood
awugudî ʟēł ỵēq uguˊttc.” 273-10
they would go not they ever came down.”
After the child had become large he kept taking it to the beach. He
would bathe it amid the ice. Then the little boy began shooting with
arrows. He always took his bow and arrows around. When he killed
anything his father would say of the little boy, “My little son is just
like me.” By and by he said to his wife, “I am going away.” After that
the little boy began to go into the water. He crawled up, when he was
almost killed by it.
Tǃcuʟeˊ ye kawuˊłgeỵî aweˊ tacukāˊdî aksanuˊktc.
Then got big when to the beach they always took him.
Tǃīqǃ tūˊqǃawe ᴀˊcutcnuttc. Desgwᴀˊtc ᴀt
Ice into it he would bathe him. Now things
tǃukt yuᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ. ᴀttcūˊnet
shot with bow and arrows the little boy. Bow and arrows
ᴀnaˊłᴀttc Wug̣ādjāˊg̣e ᴀˊtg̣a qot wugūˊt
he always took around. When he killed for anything away went
hᴀsduīˊc yuᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ.
their (his) father the little boy’s.
“Detcǃaˊ xᴀˊtawe ᴀxỵīˊtkǃ.”
“It is I my little son.” (my little son is just like me).
Yūˊaỵaosîqa ducᴀˊt, “Deỵînᴀˊq koqāguˊt.” Dêsgwᴀˊtc
He said to his wife, “Away from here I am going.” Now
hīnx ye îcx̣îˊx̣tc yuᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ. Tcǃayeˊ dāq
into the water thus always ran the little boy. Just up
g̣acīˊtc ᴀc g̣adjᴀˊqên.
when he crawled him when it almost killed.
Once he started off with his bow and arrows. When he was walking along
the beach [he saw] a hīn-taỵi’cî[132] swimming in a little pond of sea
water. He took it up. It cut his hands with its sharp sides. He reared
it in the little pond. As he was going along with his bow and arrows he
would feed it.
Wananīˊsawe tcūˊnet tîn wugūˊt. Eq
At once bow and arrows with he went. The beach
dugūdeˊawe ākǃᵘ kᴀt wuqǃāˊgî hīntāyīˊcî.
when walking on a little lake on was swimming [a fish].
Āx awacāˊt. Yadudjîˊnawe ʟe wūˊctᴀx 274-5
From it he took it up. His hands then to pieces
uwakǃuˊts awᴀˊnîte. Ākǃᵘ kᴀˊqǃawe
it cut from the sharp sides of it. The little pond within
ỵāˊᴀnᴀswat. Aqǃēˊx ᴀt tīˊqǃnutc tcūnēˊt
he was raising it. There he would feed it his bow and arrows
ag̣aˊłaᴀt g̣anuˊkᵘ.
when he was going with.
One time he said to his mother, “I am going after firewood.” “But your
uncles never came down,” [she said]. In the morning he jumped quickly
out on the floor. He took a stone ax and ran up in one of the roads. In
it there was a finger sticking up, which said to him, “This way with
your finger.” He took hold of it and pulled up the being which was
there. He threw it down on a stone. In the place from which he took it
bones were left where it had been killing. Then he cut off its head
with his stone ax. He took it down to his mother. He threw it into the
house to her and to his grandmother, and they cut the face all up. They
burned its face in the fire along with urine. They treated it just as
they felt like doing. By and by the boy went up to the hīn-taỵīˊcî he
was raising. Before it got longer than himself he shot it in the head.
He took off its skin. Then he put [the skin] on a stump. How sharp were
its edges!
Wananīˊsawe ye aỵaˊosîqa duʟāˊ, “G̣aˊng̣ā
At once thus he said to his mother. “After firewood
naādêˊ.” “Ỵīkāˊk-hᴀs ʟēł ỵî g̣āˊuguttc.” Tsǃutāˊtawe
I am going.” “Your uncles not ever came down.” In the morning on
tǃakᴀˊt wudjîx̣īˊx̣. Tāỵīˊs āˊwacāt. Tcǃuʟeˊ
the floor he jumped quickly. Stone ax he took. Then
ya ʟēqǃ yatīˊỵīỵa ỵîk āˊwe dāq anacîˊk.
in [road] one he was inside of that up he was running.
Yāˊde ỵîk nᴀxawêˊn łîcuˊ qāʟǃēˊq. 274-10
This inside of from was sticking up a finger.
“Hāndêˊ īʟǃēˊq,” yūˊaciaosîqa. ʟe anᴀˊx
“This way your finger,” what it said to him. Then of it
ʟǃakołiˊtsag̣ēˊawe āx ke āˊwaxotǃ. Tᴀkᴀˊtawe
when he took hold from it up he pulled him. On a stone
acaˊołîxotǃ. Yuˊ-āx-kē-awaxoˊtǃeỵa aweˊ qāxagîˊ ye
he threw him. The place he pulled him out from that bones thus
wudzîg̣āˊt adeˊ qoīˊniỵa. Tcǃuʟeˊ qaxᴀseˊ
came to be left where he had been killing. Then his neck
wasǃūˊ yūˊsǃu taỵīˊstc. Yîˊqdê awateˊ duʟāˊx.
he cut off [with] his stone ax. Down he took it to his mother.
ᴀnᴀˊxawe nēł āˊwagîqǃ qᴀ dułīˊłkǃ.
From it into the house he threw it and to his grandmother.
ʟe hᴀs aỵadaˊkahān. Kwᴀs tîn hᴀs
Then they were cutting its face all up. Urine with they
aỵatǃūˊsǃ gᴀˊnᴀłtāqǃ. Adeˊ hᴀs dᴀnūˊguya
were burning his face in the fire. The way they felt
yᴀˊxawe sᴀtānâˊ. Wananīˊsawe tsǃu
like it they were doing it to him. At once again
tcūˊnet aˊołīāt yūˊỵaanᴀˊswᴀt
his bow arrows and he went up with toward the thing he was raising
hīntaỵīˊcî xᴀˊndî. Tsāˊtcǃᴀs dohᴀˊnî yāˊnᴀx
hīntaỵīˊcî to. It was only his own height more than
kołagēˊỵîawe āwatǃuˊk cakīˊnᴀx yūˊỵaanᴀˊswᴀt
was bigger than he shot it in the head the thing he was raising
hīntaỵīˊcî. Cunāỵˊêt dāq āˊwate. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀtgūwuˊn ax 275-5
hīntaỵīˊcî. All its skin off he took. Then stump on
awateˊ. Awᴀˊn ʟᴀx wâˊsa yakǃuˊtsǃ
he put it. On the edge of it very how it was sharp.
When he got home again he jumped quickly out on the floor in the
morning. He took his stone ax along in the next road. When he got far
up he saw a head sticking up in the road. He said, “Up with your eyes,
Kucaqǃēˊtkᵘ.” The head was bent far backward. After he had moved its
head backward he cut it off. The place where he took up this head was
all full of bones. He threw that also down into the house. They rubbed
its face with dung. They did to it as they felt toward it. After that
he kept taking his bow and arrows up. He brought all kinds of things
into the house for his mothers (i. e., his mother and grandmother). The
son of the heron who came to help the woman was doing this. By and by
he asked his mother, “In which direction did my uncles go who went out
by sea and never came home?” She said to him, “They would go this way,
little son.” He went in that direction with his bow and arrows, and
came out above the hole of a devilfish. As he was sitting there ready
for action he looked right down into it. Then he went back for the
hīn-taỵīˊcî coat he had hidden. When he returned he threw a stone down
upon the devilfish. He put on the hīn-taỵīˊcî coat in order to jump
into the midst of the devilfish’s arms. Then he went right into them
very quickly. He moved backward and forward inside of the devilfish’s
arms, and cut them all up into fine pieces with his side. By and by he
cut its color sac in the midst of its arms, and afterward he swam out
of the hole. He was floating outside, and he came ashore and took off
his coat. Then he put it on the stump, and came again to his mother.
The large tentacles floated up below them. He had cut them up into
small pieces. It was that which had destroyed the people.
Ānt gūˊdawe tsǃu tǃāˊkᴀt wudjîx̣īˊx̣.
Home when he got again on the floor he jumped.
Yāˊde wucūˊwu aỵîˊkdê tāˊỵīs āˊwacāt. Yudāˊqedaqe cīˊx̣awe
The next road in stone ax he took. Far up when he got
aositēˊn qācaỵîˊ deỵîˊknᴀx cᴀnacūˊ. “Kîˊndê iwâˊq
he saw a head in the road sticking up. “Up with your eyes,
Kucaqǃēˊtkᵘ.” Yutcǃagᴀˊx̣dê wūdūwaʟǃīˊxe yᴀˊxawe wūnîˊ
Kucaqǃēˊtkᵘ.” Far backward he was bent like it was like
yūqācāˊỵî. ʟe kāx ᴀseˊ wasǃuˊ, gᴀˊx̣ᵘdê yūˊnᴀskīt.
the head. Then off he cut his head, backward when he moved.
Qāxāˊge ayuˊ yē udzîg̣āˊt. Doxᴀˊn awacāˊt 275-10
Bones those so it was all full of. Near him he took up
ᴀcaỵîˊ. Îˊqdê tsǃu nēł āˊwagîqǃ. Hāˊʟǃi tîˊnawe
the head. Down again in the house he threw it. Manure with
ayāˊwatǃus. Ādeˊ adjīˊỵit hᴀs ctᴀnūˊguỵa yᴀx ayūˊ
they rubbed his face. As about him they felt like that
hᴀs adāˊna. ᴀtxaweˊ tcǃuʟeˊ tcūˊnēt ke
they did to him. After it then bow and arrows up
ᴀłᴀˊttc. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt dulaˊ-hᴀs qǃēs nēłdeˊ
he always took. All things his mothers for into the house
ỵaᴀkāgādjᴀˊłtc. Łᴀqǃ duỵīˊdawe yē quwanūˊk
he would always take. Heron his son it was thus was doing
ag̣āˊ wūsuˊ yucaˊ. Wananīˊsa qǃēˊwawūs duʟaˊ,
for him came to help the woman. At once he asked his mother,
“Gūˊnᴀx aˊde wuqoxōˊ sa ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs ʟēˊłxax
“Where (to what side) to it going ? my uncles not ever
āˊwoqox.” “Wēˊde wuqoxōˊawe ỵîˊtkǃī,”
came home.” “This side when they would go on little son,”
yūˊaỵaosîqa. ᴀniyāˊdeawe wūgūˊt tcūnēˊt tîn.
what she said to him. Toward it he went bow and arrows with.
Akînāˊ dak uwaguˊt awᴀˊq-qaˊowułī nāq.
On top out he came the hole devilfish.
Kîˊndaqǃesǃtūˊnawe a ʟeyeˊ aqǃîsǃtūˊt
When he was sitting ready for action then right into it
aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn. Ag̣āˊ qox wudjîx̣īˊx̣ yūˊ-aołîsîˊnî-kǃudᴀˊsǃ
he looked. For it back he went quickly the coat
hīntaỵīˊcî kǃudᴀˊsǃ. Āqoˊx wudagudeˊawe ʟe tᴀ 276-5
he had hidden coat. Back to it when he went then stone
adêˊ dāq awagîˊqǃ. ᴀqǃîˊts cᴀntūˊdî kᴀx
there out he threw. Devilfish’s arms into midst of to
aodîgēˊqǃ yūˊhīntaỵīˊcî kǃudᴀˊsǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ aqǃîˊts
he put on the hīntaỵīˊcî coat. Then tentacles
cᴀntūˊ wudîx̣īˊx̣. Atudaweˊ
into midst of he went quickly. Inside
yawakǃuˊt ʟǃadēˊn qa hēˊde yunāˊq qǃîts
he went backward and forward and here the devilfish’s arms
cᴀntūˊt. Tcǃayēˊ kᵘdayāˊʟǃawe ye akᴀˊnax̣ᴀc
inside of. Very into short pieces so he cut it all up
duwᴀˊntc. Wananīˊsawe aqǃîˊts cᴀˊntu kaxwēˊxê akaˊ
his side. At once its arms in midst of color sac on it
kaˊołîx̣ᴀc. Atcāˊg̣awe awᴀqaˊowū nᴀx dāq uwaqǃᴀˊq. 276-10
he cut. When he killed it, the hole from out he swam.
Atǃekᴀtaweˊ cwuʟ̣îx̣āˊc. X̣ᴀkᵘkāˊ wuguˊt. Kāx kē
Outside of it he was floating. Ashore he came. From on up
awudîtīˊ. ᴀtguwunāˊx aỵāˊwaxetc. Tsǃu tsǃᴀs
he took off his coat. On the stump he put it. Again only
duʟaˊ xᴀnt ūwaguˊt. Hᴀsduīg̣ayāˊt asoîguˊq yuatʟǃeˊg̣e
his mother to he came. Below then floated the tentacles
ʟǃᴀnqǃ. Yēkᵘdayāˊʟǃ yêx ỵaoduʟ̣îx̣ᴀˊc. Detcǃaˊ
large. Into short pieces like he cut it up. That indeed
aˊayu yūˊantqenî qot acułix̣īˊx̣.
it was the people destroyed.
Again he took his bow and arrows. He came across a rat hole. The rat’s
tail was hanging out. He came directly home and, early in the morning
before the raven called, he set out for it. He took his hīntaỵīˊcî
shirt. When he got back he started to put [the shirt] on after he had
sharpened its edges. After he had gotten into it he went up to the
[rat] hole. Then he threw a stone down upon it, making it give forth a
peeping sound, as if the mountain were cracking in two. He swam round
a stone, waiting for it to swim out. When it swam out it ran its nose
against him. It swam past him. It wanted to drop its tail down on him.
Then he floated edge up, and it tried to drop its tail down upon him.
When it dropped its tail down upon him it was cut up into small pieces.
Then it swam up to his side, crying on account of what he had done. He
cut it all up. Afterward he swam ashore. He put his skin back on the
stump. In the morning its head floated in front of them. They cut it up.
ᴀdayuˊ tsǃu tcūˊnet aˊołiāt. Akᴀˊx wuguˊt
It was again bow and arrows he took. Across it he came
kutsǃīˊn awᴀˊq-qaˊowułi. Aʟǃīˊt aˊnᴀx kē aołitsᴀˊq.
rat the hole of. Its tail through it up it stuck.
Tcǃakᴀˊt ānt uwaguˊt. Tcǃu tsǃūtāˊt
Right home he came. Then early in the morning
łiyēˊł duāxdjīˊawe adêˊ g̣oneˊ uwaguˊt. Awaāˊx
before the raven called for it starting he went. He took
dukǃudᴀˊsǃî, hīntaỵīˊcî kǃudᴀˊsǃ. Ayatǃēˊt gudaweˊ kᴀx
his shirt, hīntaỵīˊcî shirt. Back to it when he came on
aoditiˊ, aỵᴀłanēˊsǃawe awᴀˊn. 277-5
he started to put it, when he had sharpened the edges of it.
Atūˊx nagūˊdawe āˊke uwaguˊt yuˊwᴀq-qawūˊł. Tcǃuʟeˊ
Into it when he got up to it he got the hole. Then
teˊawe ᴀdᴀˊqǃ kᴀt āˊwᴀguq
a stone its back on he threw it
ākāˊwasǃūnk yūˊca wᴀˊsî
making it give forth a peeping sound the mountain as if (or how)
wūˊcdᴀx g̣āˊxdag̣ᴀˊdîn. ᴀnᴀˊx yūˊde
apart were cracking. From it out
koˊkwaqǃaqīˊdjayu tcayaˊ tayᴀˊtawe
because it was going to swim right around a stone
cwuʟ̣ix̣āˊc ayaỵīˊqǃ ᴀˊnᴀx dāq qǃᴀˊqnî ỵîs.
he floated himself for him from it out he would swim for.
ᴀˊnᴀx dāk qǃāˊg̣awe duīˊt kǃᴀłūˊwᴀtsǃᴀq.
From it out when he swam against him it put its nose.
ᴀciyāˊnᴀx yāˊwaqǃaq. Duʟǃīˊt ᴀckāˊyᴀnᴀx łaxōˊtǃ. 277-10
Out by him it swam. Its tail down on him he it wanted to drop.
ᴀsiyuˊ ʟa kîˊndawᴀnīn cwuʟ̣ix̣āˊc. Duʟǃīˊt
It was for it then turned up on edge he floated. Its tail
yaỵīˊqǃ ᴀckāˊyanᴀx łaxōˊtǃ. Wūˊcxken duˊłx̣ᴀce
for down on him he wanted it to drop. Short pieces cut off
ayêˊxayu yᴀˊte duʟǃīˊt ᴀckāˊyᴀn yuałxōˊtǃkuᵘ. ᴀkᴀguwuˊ
like it was its tail on him when he dropped it. Short
nastiˊawe aˊkᴀʟyêt wuʟ̣itsîˊs, kᴀdag̣āˊx
when it got up to his side it swam, crying
ᴀcdjīˊỵīt. Łdakᴀˊt ye
on account of what he had done All thus
ᴀckᴀˊnałx̣ᴀc. ᴀtxaweˊ yên uwaqǃᴀˊq. Tsǃu
he was cutting him up. After it then he swam ashore. Again
atguwuˊ nāx awateˊ. Qēˊna aˊawe hᴀˊsduēg̣ayaˊ
a stump on he put it. In the morning it was below them
wułîx̣āˊc ᴀcāˊỵî. Yē has ᴀkᴀˊnᴀx̣ᴀc.
it floated its head. So they were cutting it up.
After two days he pulled down his canoe. Going along for a while,
he came up to the beach in front of a woman sitting in a house. She
had only one eye. “Come up, my nephew. I have stale salmon heads, my
nephew,” she said to him. This person in front of whom he had come
was the real one who had destroyed the canoes. Those were human heads
that she spoke of as stale heads. He did not eat them. He saw what
they were. “I have also fish eggs,” [she said]. Those were human eyes,
and he did not eat of them. He emptied them by the fire. The woman’s
husband, however, was away hunting for human beings. Lastly she got
human ribs, and when he would not eat those she became angry about it.
She threw a shell at him with which she used to kill human beings, but
missed him, for he jumped away quickly. Then he took it up. He hit her
with it in return, and the cannibal wife broke in two. After he had
killed her he pulled her over on the fire. When he blew upon her ashes,
however, they became mosquitoes. This is why mosquitoes eat people.
After he had killed her he went away and met the cannibal man. When he
met him he killed him. He cut off his head and took it to his mother’s
home. There they cut his face all up. They burned his face with dung.
Ayaˊ dēx uxēˊawe yākᵘ ỵēk āˊwacᴀt.
When two [days] were past canoe down he pulled.
Gog̣aqōˊxwayu koqōˊxsawe
When he was going to go off when he had gone for a while
aēg̣ayāˊt uwaqoˊx, hᴀt cāwᴀˊt gâˊyu
down on the beach he came below a woman to
nełtaˊ. Tca ʟēqǃ ỵᴀtîˊ duwāˊq. “Dāq gu
sitting in the house. Only one was her eye. “Up came my
ᴀxqēˊłkǃ. Kǃîˊnkǃawe xāuˊ, ᴀxqēˊłkǃ,” ʟe
nephew. Stale salmon heads it was I have, my nephew,” then
yuˊaciaˊosîqa. Xᴀtc dēcaˊ ho qoˊnᴀx djīdeˊ yākᵘ
what she said to him. This the real one formerly the canoes
nahāˊỵî, ᴀsiweˊ ayeg̣ayāˊt uwaqoˊx. Xᴀtc 278-5
destroyed, it was below her he came by canoe. Those heads
qācāỵēˊ ayuˊ kǃîˊnkǃîx aołiyᴀˊx. ʟēł awuxaˊ.
human were stale heads she made into. Not he ate them.
Aosîtīˊn ᴀˊxsîteỵe ᴀt. “Qᴀhāˊkᵘ tsǃu xā-u.” Xᴀtc
He saw they were things. “Fish eggs too I have.” Those
qāˊwag̣ē ᴀsîyuˊ ʟēł awuxāˊ. ᴀt tsǃu
human eyes were (of which) not he ate. Those things too
gᴀntcǃūˊkǃ yêx akaˊosîx̣a. Doxoˊx qoˊa aweˊ wuyêˊx.
by the fire like he emptied. Her husband however was away.
Detcǃaˊ łīngîˊt g̣a āˊya qocīˊ. Hūtcǃaỵîˊ sᴀˊkawe
It was people for these he was hunting. Last for
aˊodihān łīngîˊt sǃūˊg̣o. Tcaˊtcǃa ᴀˊqoa ᴀłuxāˊawe
she got people’s ribs. When, however, he did not eat
ᴀctūˊn wuteˊ. ᴀˊcqosa īn yīsǃ ᴀc
angry about it she became. She used to kill with shell him
ỵītīˊt āwag̣ēˊqǃ. Āˊỵet kē wudjîg̣ᴀˊn. 278-10
with it she missed. Away from it up he jumped quickly.
ʟe āx āwacāˊt. Tcucyāˊqǃ ᴀc ācaˊoʟ̣itsu. ʟa
Then from it he took it up. In return her he hit with it. Then
wūˊcdᴀq wuʟǃīˊk yucāˊwᴀt xᴀtc qoˊsa xakāˊ cᴀdayuˊ.
apart broke the woman this cannibal’s wife.
Adjāˊg̣awe tcǃuʟeˊ gᴀłqādāˊga awaxoˊtǃ. Akᴀˊʟǃtǃê
When he killed her then on the fire he pulled her. Her ashes,
qoˊa aweˊ tcǃuʟeˊ awułiūˊx̣ āˊwe tāˊqǃax osîteˊ.
however, then he blew when became mosquitoes did.
ᴀtcaweˊ qoˊsaxa tāˊqǃa. ᴀtcāˊg̣awe
This is why eat people mosquitoes. When he killed her
wuqoˊx. ᴀcgēˊt uwaqoˊx weqoˊsaxa qoan. Āˊwadjᴀq
he went away. Meet him came to the cannibal man. He killed him
ᴀcgēˊt qōx. ᴀcaỵīˊ āx āwaʟīˊqǃ. Āndêˊ aỵaˊwaxa
when he met him. His head off he cut. To his home he took it
duʟāˊ-hᴀˊsdjidê. Aỵakāˊwahᴀn. Hāʟǃ tîn hᴀs
to his mother’s. They cut his face all up. Manure with they
aỵāˊwatǃusǃ.
burned [his face].
In olden times when a person finished a story he said, “It’s up to
you.”
ʟāˊgu yên qᴀx duł-nîgîˊn ye qoỵanaqeˊtc,
Old times when with they are through thus they always say,
“Hūtcǃ qêłqᴀˊx.”
“I am out of it.” (or “Up to you.”)
FOOTNOTES:
[131] For another version of the first part of this story, see Emmons,
The Chilkat Blanket, in Memoirs of American Museum of Natural History,
III, 833–834.
[132] See p. 217.
92. MOUNTAIN DWELLER[133]
A chief was living with his two children in the middle of a long town.
People were always visiting him, and he kept tallow stored away for
strangers. By and by a big canoe came to him, and [the peoples’] things
were taken up. [The children’s] grandmother had charge of the tallow.
She always had things stored away for strangers. Then she would give
these to her grandchildren. Afterward the old woman would say, “The old
shaggy dog took it away from me.”
Qōwaūˊayu yuānqāˊwo yūˊān
When was living there the chief the town
qołayêˊtqǃa duỵêˊtqǃî qoˊdzîtî. Dᴀxᴀnᴀˊx ỵᴀtîˊ
in the middle of the long his children he had. Two were
duỵêˊtqǃî. Doxᴀˊnde nahāˊỵe tcǃaʟᴀˊk usᴀˊttc.
his children. To him coming always were always visiting.
G̣onaˊn qoaˊne qǃēs ᴀt yīˊakutcāˊkᵘtc
Different people for things he always had stored away
yutūˊ. Wananīˊsayu doxᴀˊnt uwaqoˊx yūˊyākᵘ ʟēn. Dᴀˊqde
the tallow. At once to him came a canoe big. Up
wuduˊʟ̣îāt. Yudułīˊłkǃdji ye ỵatîˊ 280-5
the things were taken. Their grandmother thus had
yutūˊ. ᴀt ỵiˊyeᴀnetc g̣oˊnān qoaˊnî
the tallow. Things she always had stored away different people
qǃes. ʟayuˊ dodᴀtcxᴀˊnqǃ qǃēx atēˊxnutc.
for. Then to her grandchild for mouths she would give it.
ʟe ye ỵānaqeˊtc yucānᴀˊkǃ, “Hesawâˊk haqǃîˊtstc
Then thus always said the old woman, “The dog shaggy
ᴀxdjīˊtx huyēˊq.”
from me took it away.”
After that he invited the foreign people up. He ordered the tallow in
the big box to be brought for them. Now there was nothing inside of the
big box. The foreign people, however, were all seated. It was thought
that his children had done it. They had invited them for the food that
was all eaten up. This is why people say even now, “They came to invite
for the food that was gone.” It was entirely empty, and great was the
shame that the chief felt. Afterward he questioned his children. Their
dishes had hair on them. There was a dish apiece, which always lay by
them. Then their mother came in to them. “Did you do this?” she said.
When they kept on crying, she raised the face of the older girl. She
scratched her daughter’s cheek, and also that of the younger one. She
scratched on both of their cheeks because they ate up the tallow for
which [her husband] had invited strangers. When the people went to bed
that night the girls made a hole under the boards. Then they put the
hairy dishes in their places. Afterward they went back into a hollow
tree.
Adᴀˊxayu dāq aosîᴀˊt yūˊg̣onan qoaˊnî. Aˊg̣ᴀ
After that up he invited the foreign people. For it
q̣āˊdjî kāˊwaqa yuyênēˊsǃî dakᴀłᴀˊqdê. ʟēkǃ
a person he told [to get] the tallow in the big box. Not
gwâˊỵa łīỵîˊkda ᴀt yūˊyênēˊsǃî. Yuˊg̣onan 280-10
anything inside of it thing the tallow. The foreign
qoaˊnî g̣âˊayu qēn. Dudjīˊ wudūˊwadjî
people, however, were all seated. They thought
duyêˊtqǃitc ye wusîˊne. Aỵîˊx ỵaoduˊdzîxa
his children thus did it. Out of it ate it all up
hᴀˊsdoqǃwa-itēˊ sayuˊ dāq kaˊodudziāt. ᴀtcayuˊ
for their mouths it was up they invited them. This is why
tcǃūˊỵedᴀt ye qǃaỵaˊdoqāˊnutc, “Ỵîqǃaỵitīˊ ỵîs
even now thus they always say, “The food that was gone for
dāq qox duˊdzîāt.” Adᴀˊxayu ʟēł gwâˊyu
up back they came to invite.” After that not it was
łīîˊkdaᴀt. Āˊʟēn kadēˊqǃayu āˊwetǃê yuānqāˊwo.
anything there. Big one was a shame got the chief.
Adᴀˊx aqǃewawūˊsǃ duỵêˊtqǃî. Hᴀsdusǃīˊqǃe ayuˊ
After that he questioned his children. Their dishes it was
yᴀx caodudzîxaˊo. Djᴀsduyᴀˊx dēx ỵatîˊ. ʟākᵘ
had hair on them. Dish apiece for the two there was. Always
hᴀˊsduxᴀˊnî yên ułāˊttc. Hᴀsduʟaˊ hᴀsduxᴀˊnᴀx dāq
by them there he always lay. Their mother to them in
uwaguˊt. “Ỵīhâˊntc ᴀgîˊ, ye ỵīˊsînî.” ʟeyēˊdîayuˊ hᴀs 281-5
came. “You ? so you did.” Kept on they
g̣ᴀˊxsatî ayuˊ ʟēyᴀˊtx aỵāˊwacat cᴀtxēˊa.
cried when up she lifted the face of older girl.
Dusīˊ awᴀctu akᴀ’t ʟ̣ākᵘ tsǃu kîˊkǃia.
Her daughter’s cheek on scratched also the younger one.
Tcǃu dᴀˊxᴀnᴀx aˊyu awᴀctuˊ akāˊwaʟ̣ākᵘ
Then both of them it was on whose cheek she scratched
yūˊtū yᴀx hᴀs aỵaˊowusixaỵēˊtcayu aỵîˊs daq ōsîᴀˊtî
the tallow like they because ate for it up he invited
aˊayu. Tcǃuʟeˊ hᴀs wuxēˊqǃ tāˊdayu tcǃuʟeˊ
it was. Then they went to sleep in the night then
tǃāˊtayīs akāˊwaha. Adᴀˊx qoˊa tcǃuʟeˊ
under the board they made a hole. And then, however, then
yūˊcaodudzîxawu-sǃîˊqǃ cītīˊyên hᴀs aˊoʟ̣iᴀt.
the hairy dishes in their places they put.
Tcǃuʟeˊ yuᴀtǃāˊk as-tūwułīˊ nēł hᴀs uwaᴀˊt. 281-10
Then back of them tree hollow into they went.
Next morning [their mother] said, “I wonder where they have gone.”
She said to them, “Get up now.” Then the long dishes moved [as she
pulled at the covers]. It was the dishes they had put in their places.
They, however, had dug a hole underneath and were gone. Then their
mother came out from behind the screens. No one knew whither they had
gone. Afterward they went straight up into the woods. And after they
had started [the people] rushed up to hunt for them, but they hid
themselves. The younger kept saying to the elder, “Let us make some
kind of noise for our mother.” She answered, “How does the inside of
your cheeks feel?” She kept saying to her younger sister, “Oh! we can
not do it. She said to us, ‘Let Mountain Dweller marry both of you.’ I
know what she was saying to us.”
Adᴀˊxayu ye aỵaˊosîqa, “Ādeˊ hᴀs naadeˊ ỵa-ūˊckî.”
And then so she said, “Where they have gone I wonder.”
Ye hᴀs daỵaˊosîqa, “Ca-idaqêˊde.” Tcǃu
As follows then she said to, “Get up now.” Then
kuwâˊtǃayu nᴀcxêˊntc. Yūˊsǃîqǃ ᴀsiyuˊ
the long dishes moved. The dishes it was
ciyîtīˊyes ᴀˊti u. Hᴀs qo tǃākeˊ hᴀs
in place of themselves things put. They, however, hole they
ᴀcukaˊosîha. Adᴀˊxayu ᴀnᴀˊx dāq uwaguˊt hᴀsduʟāˊ. ʟe
dug under. And then from it out came their mother. Then
gwâᴀˊłdaᴀt ʟēł hᴀs kaˊoste. Adᴀˊxayu ʟe
they were gone. Not they knew where. And then then
dᴀˊqdatcūn g̣onēˊ hᴀs uwaᴀˊt. ʟe g̣onayēˊ
straight up [into the woods] started they went. Then started
hᴀs wuadīˊawe hᴀˊsduīg̣āˊ qociỵîˊ anᴀˊx dāq
they when went for them going to hunt up from it
ỵaˊodîg̣îtc. ʟe hᴀs aˊoʟ̣isîn. Cᴀtxēˊa ye
started to rush. Then they hid themselves. The elder as follows
yên dosqēˊtc ke’kǃîatc, “Duīˊhaxt duāˊx
to always said the younger, “Some kind of noise let us make
dê ᴀxʟāˊ.” “Yē qoỵênaqētc hawâˊsᴀs īˊỵênuk
(imp.) [for] our mother.” “So do you feel how inside of
īwactuˊ?” Yē yênᴀsqēˊtc dukīˊk, 282-5
your cheeks?” So she kept saying to her younger sister,
“Ayēˊtxā haỵāˊwa woqǃ. Cākᴀnāˊītc qǃwᴀn yᴀx
“Oh! we can not do it. ‘Mountain Dweller let like
ỵiỵᴀˊx łacaˊ yuxahādāˊỵaqa. Xosîkūˊxoa aˊda
marry both of you,’ was what she said to us. I know what
hadāˊỵaqaỵa.”
she was saying to us.”
For this reason they went far up into the woods. They wandered along,
aimlessly crying. The younger sister wanted her elder sister to go
back to the place from which they had started, but she did not want
her mother to see her down there. After they had gone a long distance
they saw a small mouse running across a log. The mouse went into a
little hill. Then her younger sister said, “Grandmother mouse, people
have seen you.” So said her younger sister. “Put me quickly across this
log,” said the little mouse. “My grandmother says ‘Call them into the
house.’” On account of that it had run out. Then the door flew open.
They [entered and] sat down.[134] “Why did you come?” she said to them.
After they had been seated for some time she pushed something between
her teeth, and got something out. It was a piece of dried fish. She
shook it. It was now a spring salmon taken from between her teeth, and
they placed it by the fire. She set it before them, and they consumed
it. She took a cranberry out from between her teeth. She placed it
before them, and they consumed that. After they had eaten she said
again, “Why did you come, my little grandchildren?” and the elder
replied, “My mother said we could not marry Mountain Dweller.” “He is
a very difficult person to get near. Go now, my little grandchildren.”
Then she told them what to do. “Crushing-mountain is before the place,
granddaughters, and also the fighting dogs (cᴀkǃ).” She also said,
“Kelps float together in front of it. Take your knife and a whetstone
with you,” she said. After she had instructed them they started out.
When they had gone along for some time they saw the fighting dogs.
They threw a piece of dried fish bone to them, and the dogs began to
divide it. Again they went forward. Before they had gone far they
came upon kelps floating together. They threw moss between. Then they
passed through. After that they saw Crushing-mountain. (Just the way
people tell this I am telling you, my opposite clansman.) They threw a
whetstone between these. They went through. Now they saw the camp. They
came to the house door.
ᴀtcaweˊ ʟe dᴀˊqdatcūn g̣onaỵeˊ hᴀs uwaᴀˊt.
This is why then far up in the woods starting they went.
Tcakugeˊawe ỵāˊsnaᴀ, hᴀs gᴀx-satīˊnutc.
In any direction they were going they were always crying.
Qoˊxde ᴀt kudᴀnaˊ ducᴀˊtx
To go back thing wanted her older sister
tcu-ēˊqdᴀx dukīˊkǃ. Tuˊwuqǃ ho ʟēł
from where they started the younger one. Down there she not
uckuˊ duʟāˊ aỵawutīˊnî. Wāˊyuskoāˊt-saweˊ hᴀs 282-10
wanted her mother to see her. After going a long distance they
aˊosîtēn xao kᴀnᴀˊx ke îcîktc kᴀg̣āˊq ỵêtkǃᵒ.
saw across a log up running mouse a small.
Gūtc tūˊdê nēł ūwaguˊt yukᴀg̣āˊq. Āx
The little hill into inside went the mouse. After it
dukīˊkǃdjē aosîqaˊ, “Kᴀgāˊq kocaˊnᴀkǃ łīngîˊt kotīˊnî
her younger sister said, “Mouse grandmother people seeing
îdaỵēỵatîˊ.” Yūˊỵawaqa dukīˊkǃ “Hałīngîˊtxa
have done to you.” what said, her younger sister, “People
xao kᴀnᴀˊx ke xᴀt djīˊwatᴀn,” yūˊqoỵaqa
the log across up me put quickly,” said
yukᴀg̣āˊq, “Nēłdēˊ hᴀs g̣axoˊx ᴀxłīˊłkǃuỵe
the little mouse. “Into the house them call my grandmother
īdaˊyaqᴀ.” ᴀtxaˊwe āˊyux wudjîx̣īˊx ᴀtxāˊyu hēˊde
says to you.” After that out she ran. After that open
cudjixēˊn yūˊqǃoahāt. Hᴀs wuqeˊ. “Dasᴀˊkᵘcī ỵītucūnaˊ,”
flew the door. They sat down. “What caused you,”
ye hasdudāˊỵaqa. Tcǃākᵘ hᴀs qēˊni dᴀˊxawe
so she said to them. For some time they had sat down after
duˊux qǃāˊde ᴀt wułîtsāˊk. Adᴀˊx dāq akaˊołîhît.
her teeth between something she stuck. From it out she got.
ᴀtqǃēˊcî kᴀqǃēˊłtî. Akāˊwayuk. Gᴀn 283-5
A piece of dried fish it was. She shook it. Fire
awateˊ tǃakîˊkî duˊux qǃāˊdᴀx ᴀdayuˊ.
it was put by spring salmon her teeth between thing taken.
ᴀqǃᴀseỵīˊ aỵaosiîˊn tsǃu hᴀs akǃīˊtǃa. Kax̣wēˊx
Before them she put it also they consumed it. Cranberry
duˊux qǃātx dāq akaˊołihît. Tsǃu hᴀs āwaxāˊ. Yên
her teeth from between out she got. Also they ate it. When
hᴀs ᴀt xāˊawe tsǃu ye aỵaˊosîqa, “Dasaˊ
they things had eaten again so she said, “What
ỵītucūˊna ᴀxdᴀtcxᴀˊnqǃî sāˊnî.”
caused you to come my granddaughters little?”
Yūˊaỵaosîqa, “HᴀCakᴀnāˊîxa
What she said to her, “This Mountain Dweller
yītǃhaỵaoduwawuˊq ᴀxʟāˊtc.”
said we could not marry my mother.”
“Łnīˊỵaỵîucîg̣ᴀnî-xᴀtî-ᴀˊdawe, naiᴀˊt de,
“It is a thing very difficult to get near go now (imp.)
ᴀxdaᴀtcxᴀˊnqǃî sāˊnî.” ᴀtxāˊwe 283-10
my grandchildren little.” After that
ᴀcukāˊwadja. “Wūtckǃîˊtagᴀt-ca aỵînahoˊ
she told her what to do. “Crushing-mountain before it
tcxᴀnkǃ qa wūˊdjx djîtaᴀt-cᴀkǃᵘ tsǃu aỵîˊ a
granddaughters and fighting dogs[135] also there are
tcxᴀnkǃ,” yudāˊỵaqa. “Wudjx cᴀˊtdutît-gīc tsǃu
granddaughters,” she said to them. “Float together kelps also
aỵînaˊ. Ỵīˊłîtaỵi qǃwᴀn tsǃu ỵītcīˊqǃ qa yaỵīˊna,”
before it. Your knife (imp.) also with you and a whetstone,”
ye adaˊỵaqa. ᴀtxaweˊ yên acukāˊwadja.
so she said to them. After it there she instructed them.
G̣onayēˊ hᴀs ūwaᴀˊt. Tcǃākᵘ yā hᴀs naᴀˊti aweˊ hᴀs
Started they went. For some time they were gone when they
aositēˊn yu-wūˊtēx-djitaᴀˊt-cᴀkǃᵘ. Aqǃēˊt aosîg̣îˊqǃ
saw the fighting dogs.[135] To them she threw
sǃāq. Wuct akᴀˊtîn yūˊdînî. Tsǃu
a piece of dry fish bone. They departed together with them. Again
g̣onayēˊ hᴀs ūwaᴀˊt. Łkǃᴀt hᴀs wuᴀˊtdjiayuˊ hᴀs aosîtēˊn
started they went. Before they had gone far they saw
wūdjx-cᴀtag̣ᴀt-gīc. Sǃîˊqǃga qǃāt hᴀs awagîˊqǃ. ʟe
floating together kelps. Moss between they threw. Then
ᴀqǃāˊnᴀx hᴀs ỵāˊwaᴀt. ᴀtxayuˊ hᴀs aosîtēˊn 284-5
through it they went. After that they saw
wūtcxkǃîˊtagᴀt-ca. (Detcaˊ dêk dułînikiỵa-ayaˊ ayᴀˊx ỵīīˊn
Crushing-mountain. This way they tell it like it to you
qokᴀłanīˊk ʟāˊgu ᴀxdakᴀnūˊqǃᵘ.) Yaỵīˊna
I am telling this old story, my opposite phratry. Whetstone
ᴀqǃāˊt hᴀs aosîgîˊqǃ. Anᴀˊx hᴀs ỵāˊwaᴀt. Hᴀs
between it they threw. Through it they went. They
aˊosîtēn yuqoˊu. Ahîˊtyêt hᴀs uwaᴀˊt.
saw the camp. To the house door they came.
Mountain Dweller’s mother was at home. Nothing could be seen inside of
this house, there was so much fat. They were told they could not get
into Mountain Dweller’s house. That is why they went there. After they
had been seated for some time they were given something to eat. By and
by the hunter brought in a load of food. He asked his mother, “What
are those people that have come to you doing?” “They came to marry you
because it was said that they could not.” So Mountain Dweller married
both of them.
Duʟāˊ gwâˊỵa nēł. Aỵiˊ ʟēł dutīˊn
His mother was at home. Inside of it not could be seen
tāˊîtc. Cākᴀnāˊỵî-hîˊtî aỵīˊt hᴀs
on account of the fat. Mountain Dweller’s house into it they
ỵaˊoduwawōˊq. ᴀtcayuˊ hᴀs aỵāˊwaʟ̣aq.
said they could not get. This is why they went there.
Tcǃāk hᴀs qēˊni aweˊ doqǃwēˊ xᴀt 284-10
For some time they had sat down after their mouths to
dutēˊx. Yāndayāˊn weˊᴀt-sǃāˊte. Tcǃuʟeˊ
they fed them. Was bringing in packs the hunter. Then
awawūˊsǃ duʟāˊqǃaỵîx, “Waˊsa qōwanūˊkᵘ qoˊuawe îxᴀˊnt
he asked of his mother, “What are doing the people to you
hᴀs uwaᴀˊt.” “Īỵīˊt hᴀs ỵaˊoduwawōˊq yᴀx hᴀs
they came.” “To you they said you would not marry like they
ỵag̣ēˊłacāˊdahe.” ʟe yᴀx aỵaˊołîca Cākᴀnāˊîtc.
came to marry you.” Both of them [he] married Mountain Dweller.
After they had been there for some time he started off. He said to
his wives, “My mother does not let the person that stays with me last
long.” For this reason they kept sticks in their hands while he was
away from them. Some time afterward their mother-in-law put a side of
mountain sheep into the fire. She stood it up on end. Then it caught
fire. This was the way she killed her son’s wives. After that they kept
watch on her. When it was burning she pushed it toward her son’s wives.
Then they pushed it back upon her, and killed her. They pulled her body
outside and put something over it. They let it stand out of the ground
a very little.
Tcǃākᵘ nᴀstēˊawe ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. Yē
A long time after they had been there he started off. So
aỵaˊosîqa ducᴀˊtqǃîyên “ʟēł ūłtsāˊkᵘ
he said to his wives, “Not let lasts long
yu-ax-ᴀˊnî-yēˊnatītc-qā yuᴀxʟāˊtc.” Ayᴀˊxawe qās
the one that stays with me my mother.” This is why sticks
hᴀsdudji yē wūtîˊ hᴀˊsdunᴀq nᴀgūˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ yāỵīˊna
they had with them them from while he was. Then for some time
ỵᴀˊtî aweˊ gᴀłkāˊdāq awatîˊ yūˊᴀtkagēˊdî.
it was when in the fire she put the side of a mountain sheep
Yêˊnᴀx āˊwᴀtsāq. ᴀt ᴀkāˊwagᴀn. Deˊtcaᴀtc 285-5
Upon end she stood it. Then it caught fire. This was
qosa-īn-ᴀdayuˊ duỵīˊt cᴀˊtqǃîỵên. ᴀtxaweˊ tcˊǃuʟeˊ hᴀs
she killed with her son’s wives. After that then they
ᴀdjīîˊn. ᴀdakāˊwagan. Duỵīˊt cᴀˊtqǃîỵên kādēˊawe
kept watch on her. It was afire. Her son’s wives toward
ke acakaˊołîtᴀq. ʟa yuqāˊsǃtc aỵināˊde kē hᴀs
out she pushed. Then the sticks back on her they
akaˊołix̣ît. Hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq hasdutcāˊn. Gāˊniyu hᴀs
pushed. They killed their mother-in-law. Outside they
āˊwaxotǃ. Akᴀˊt hᴀs kuˊca-kāˊwaxa. Tcǃa yēgug̣ēˊkawe
pulled her. On her they placed something. A very little
koʟǃgutūˊnᴀx wułicuˊ.
from into the ground they let stick.
Meanwhile her son was away. When he arrived he was carrying a big
mountain sheep. Then he asked for his mother. “She did to us just as
you said. We threw it over upon her. We pulled her outside.” He said
to them, “What you have done to her is well. My mother would not let a
person who lived with me last long.” After that he collected sides of
mountain sheep, inside fat, and tallow.
Wuyᴀˊx duỵīˊt. Hāt gūˊdawe aʟēˊn ayuˊ 285-10
Was away her son. There when he got a big one that
ỵāˊnayan yudjêˊnwu. Awawūˊsǃ duʟāˊ.
he was carrying a mountain sheep. He asked for his mother.
“Hᴀtcaˊdê kīˊnîk yᴀxaˊ hāˊwasînî. Dokāˊdî āˊyᴀx
“Just what you told like it she did to us. Over upon her so
kaˊotułîtᴀq. Eˊg̣eyux wutūˊwaxotǃ.” “Ỵakǃeˊ adēˊ
we threw it. Out from inside we pulled her.” “It is good what
ỵīsîˊniỵiỵᴀ,” ʟeyuˊ aỵaˊosîqa. “ᴀxʟaˊ
you did to her,” then he said to them, “My mother
detcǃāˊgawe ᴀxᴀˊnî yēˊtīx łīngîˊt ʟēł ūłtsāˊkᵘ.”
for a long time with me would live a person not lasted long.”
ᴀtxaweˊ wuckāˊdê ye aosîˊnî yuᴀtkagēˊdî 285-15
After that together so he put the sides of mountain sheep
qa yuˊᴀtỵîkᴀˊtî qa yūˊtū sᴀkᵘ.
and the inside fat and the tallow for.
After many years had passed Mountain Dweller said to his wives,
“Wouldn’t you like to go home?” “Yes,” said they. [The elder] said to
him, “My mother said we could not marry you. That is why we came to
find you.” “Weave some baskets,” he said. So they wove them. “Weave two
that you can just put on your thumbs” [he said]. They were going to
start. There were many mountains between. After they had put many canoe
loads of things inside of the baskets he put them both on his thumb,
and they started along with them. They were gone for a very few days.
Cākᴀnāˊỵî qǃūn dukāˊỵên
Mountain Dweller many over them
qołaˊātsawe ye aỵaˊosîqa
there had been years with [them] as follows he said to
ducᴀ tqǃîỵên, “ʟēˊgîł nēł yᴀx ỵītāˊwuāstc?” “Āˊa,”
his wives, “Wouldn’t home like you like to go?” “Yes,”
ʟayūˊ hᴀs aỵaˊosîqa. Ān hᴀs ᴀkāˊwᴀnik,
then they said to him. Him they told
“Aỵīˊt haỵāˊwawōq ᴀxʟāˊtc. ᴀtcayaˊ îkāˊyade
“Said we could not marry you my mother. This is why to find you
wutūˊwaāt.” “Hakᴀˊkᵘ ỵīᴀˊk.” Ayᴀˊxawe hᴀs aāˊk.
we came.” “Some baskets you weave.” Like it they wove.
“Tcǃā ỵiˊyᴀx dēx qǃwᴀn ỵīgucnāˊqǃ ỵiᴀˊk.” 286-5
“Now for you two (imp.) on your thumb you weave.”
Wananīˊsawe aỵīˊde hᴀs āˊwaha yuhᴀsduʟǃēˊq nāqǃ
At once on to it they put their thumb (lit. finger) on
hᴀs-āwaᴀˊgî-ᴀt. G̣onayēˊ hᴀs gugwᴀāˊt. Qǃūn ca
thing they had woven. To start they were going. Many mountains.
saˊyu ᴀniỵaˊ. Ayēˊ
there were before the place they were going to. Inside of it
yên kudagāˊawe yukᴀˊkᵘ qǃūn yākᵘ
there when they had put all things in the basket how many canoe
yîk ᴀˊtî sayuˊ tcǃudēˊxa aweˊ duʟǃēˊq nāx
loads of things there were both of them it was his thumb on
dāq aỵaˊołiᴀt. Tcǃudēˊx ān g̣onēˊ hᴀs uwaᴀˊt.
around he put. Both of them with these started they went.
Tcǃa kǃūn sāˊyu hᴀs uwaxeˊ.
Just a few [days] it was they were gone.
When they were going along with him he seemed to be changed suddenly.
Mountain Dweller began to shine from within. By and by they sighted
their father’s town. The town was long. In the evening they came in
front of the house. He had the small baskets on his thumb. Then they
wished that their little brother might run out to them. They called him
to them. The people had already given a mourning feast for them there.
A year was now past. For this reason he ran into the house. Then he
said to his mother, “My sisters have come and are outside.” At this
she became angry with her young son, who had longed for his sisters.
“You lie,” she said to him. At once he went back to them, crying. When
he came into the house again he said to his mother, “They are there.
It is well that you go out to them.” “Take a piece off of their marten
blankets and bring it here,” she said. So he told them. (The way I am
telling you is the way people always tell old stories.) Then he brought
it into the house. At that time his mother started out. She looked. Her
children were really there. “Come into the house,” she said. So they
came into the house to her. Afterward the elder girl told her mother
about the baskets. Mountain Dweller having shaken the baskets, she
said, “There are big baskets outside. Let them be brought in.” Then two
persons went out. The baskets were too heavy for them. More went out.
All the men in the house tried to bring them in. When they could not,
Mountain Dweller rose to get the baskets. Although they were unable to
get them, Mountain Dweller put the baskets on his third finger. Inside
was fat from the inside of a mountain sheep. Because her mother had
scratched the inside of her daughters’ cheeks, [the elder girl] invited
the people for nothing but fat. The things in the baskets were too much
for them. The baskets in which these things were contained, were called
World-renowned-baskets.
Ān yā hᴀs naᴀˊtî tcǃᴀ qonaỵēˊdê ayuˊ 286-10
With him when they were going suddenly to be changed
yukax̣ᴀˊt. Yucākᴀnāˊyî tūˊnᴀx ᴀx digᴀˊn.
he seemed. Mountain Dweller from inside began to appear shining.
Wananīˊsawe ỵêtx kaodiỵaˊ duī’c āneˊ. Ān
And then they sighted their father’s town. The town
kułayêˊtǃ. X̣āˊnaawe ahîˊt ỵêt hᴀs ūwaᴀˊt.
was long. In the evening the house in front of they came.
Dugūˊc nāˊxawe dāq aỵaˊołiᴀt yukᴀˊkᵘqǃᵘ sāˊnî. Detcǃayeˊ
His thumb on he had the baskets small. This is how
ᴀt hᴀs tūdîtᴀˊn hᴀˊsduīkǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ hᴀˊsduxᴀni yux
things they thought about their little brother to them out
nᴀq g̣acīˊx. Hᴀs āˊwaxōx. Dê hᴀsdu-iteˊ yên
from would run. They called him. Now for them there
yūˊᴀt kāˊwati. Dekᴀˊt qotī’n.
they had already, given a feast. One year was now past.
ᴀtcayuˊ ʟe nełdēˊ wudjix̣īˊx̣. ʟa duʟaˊ
This is why then into the house he ran. Then his mother
ye aỵaˊosîqa, “ᴀxʟ̣āˊkǃ gānt hᴀs ūˊwaᴀt.”
as follows he said to, “My sisters outside they are come.”
ʟeˊawe kǃāndēˊnᴀdana duỵīˊt kǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ deaˊ
For that she became angry with her son young this one who
aołix̣āˊdjî duʟ̣āˊkǃ. “Ckǃaoʟ̣iyêˊł,” yuadaˊỵaqa.
had longed for his sisters. “You lie,” she said to him.
Tcǃᴀ g̣āx-kîˊknᴀxawe adeˊ wuguˊt. Tsǃu
At once crying to them there he went back. Again
nēł gūˊdawe tsǃu akᴀnīˊk duʟāˊ 287-5
into the house when he came again he told it his mother
tîn. “Āˊwu hᴀs. Kǃe āˊyux nᴀˊgu.”
to. “They are there. It is well out to them you go.”
“Hᴀˊsdukǃūˊx̣-ʟǃīdêˊ hāt ałakǃuˊts.”
“Their marten blankets here break a piece off and bring in.”
Akᴀnīˊk. (Deˊtcǃa adeˊ ʟāˊgu kᴀduˊłînîkỵa
He told them. This is the way always they tell old stories
ayᴀˊxaỵa ỵīīˊn kᴀxanīˊk.) Nēł aołicᴀˊt.
like it to you I am telling. Into the house he brought it.
Tcaˊtca ag̣āˊawe tsa adeˊ wudiguˊt duʟāˊ.
At that time for it indeed to it started to go his mother.
Āˊyux aˊoʟ̣îg̣ên. Qǃēˊg̣a duỵêˊtqǃî gwâˊỵa.
Out she looked. Really her children they were.
“Nēˊłỵīa,” yūˊaỵaosîqa.
“Come into the house,” she said to him (the man).
Duxᴀˊnîneł uwaᴀˊt. ᴀtxaweˊ duʟāˊ tîn
Into the house to her they came. After it her mother to
akāˊwanik yukᴀˊkᵘqǃᵘ. Yūˊcakᴀnāˊỵītc 287-10
she (the elder) told about the basket. Mountain Dweller
ᴀcakāˊwayūˊgawe yukᴀˊkᵘqǃᵘ, “Aʟᴀˊnqǃayu gāˊno kᴀkᵘ,
since he had shaken the baskets, “There are big outside baskets,
nēˊłg̣a duładeˊ,” yūˊỵawaqa. Dᴀˊxanᴀxayu
into the house let them be brought,” she said. Two it was
āˊyux āˊwaāt. Tsǃᴀs yên qōˊwᴀxêtc. Tsǃū āˊyux
outside went. Only then they were too heavy for. More out
āwaguˊt. Łdakᴀˊt qāˊdjayu nēłdēˊ hᴀs
went. All men into the house they
aỵahêˊ. Yên qoxēˊdjayu qādᴀsēˊqǃᴀn
wanted to bring them. When they were unable afterwards
wudihāˊn yukᴀˊkᵘqǃᵘdê. Yên yuqoxēˊdjayu
he started to get up for the baskets. There they could not do it
duˊwᴀn-kᴀʟǃēˊq nāx dāq aỵaˊołiᴀt yukᴀˊkᵘqǃᵘ
his third finger on out he put the baskets
Cākᴀnāˊỵītc. Ayūˊgu ᴀ yutāˊî djᴀˊnwu ỵîˊkî.
Mountain Dweller. There was the fat mountain sheep inside of.
Awᴀctūˊ ᴀkaˊ wuʟ̣agūˊdjawe
Inside of their cheeks on them because she had scratched
duʟāˊtc dusīˊ-hᴀs, ᴀtcaweˊ tsǃᴀs atāˊỵia yūˊāntqenî
her mother her daughters’, this is why only the fat people
aỵîˊs wuct ayāˊwaîqǃ. Yuˊkᴀkᵘqǃᵘ ka ᴀˊtî łdakᴀˊt
for it together she invited. The baskets in things all
qa kᴀˊnᴀx aˊyu wutîˊ, yuˊkᴀkᵘqǃᵘ ka ᴀˊtî. 288-5
too much for them were, the baskets in things.
Ha-łīngît āˊnî kᴀˊkᵘqǃwayu.
These world [renowned] baskets were.
FOOTNOTES:
[133] For another version, see story 65.
[134] The story is very much condensed here. The mouse’s “grandmother”
had sent it to invite them in. The mouse asks to be put over the log
because the entrance to her grandmother’s house was on the other side.
“On account of that she had run out” refers to the mouse’s first
appearance.
[135] An unusual word for “dog” occurs here.
93. KĀHĀˊSǃÎ, THE STRONG MAN[137]
Among some people bathing for strength was a man named Kāhāˊsǃî. He was
very poor. The people bathed continually in preparation for war. He,
however, was very miserable. When the others came out of the water they
always laughed at him. He kept urinating in his sleep. He was always
turned over on one side. It was when all were asleep that he went down
to the water. When he got very cold he came ashore and went to sleep.
And when daylight was coming on he threw his urine under him. Then it
always ran out from under him. They kept bathing for strength in war.
His friends used to whip each other in the water with boughs. They
tried their strength on a big tree having a dead branch growing out
from it which they called the tree-penis. And when they ran ashore out
of the water they always kicked him (Kāhāˊsǃî) out of their way. “When
will this man break off the tree-penis?” [they said].
Wudêcuˊdjayu yuqoˊō łatsīˊn kᴀqǃ āˊxoqǃ ayuˊ yēˊỵatî
Bathing the people strength for among that was
qā Kāhāˊsǃî. ʟᴀx qǃanāˊckîdê. Adawūˊʟ kᴀˊqǃayu
a man Kāhāˊsǃî. Very was poor. Fighting for it was
dacūˊtc yūˊāntqenî. Hō qoˊa qǃanackidēˊx sêtêˊ.
always bathing the people. He, however, become very poor was.
Hīn dᴀx dāq ag̣āˊᴀdīnawe qūdūcūˊqtc.
Water from in out when they came they always laughed at him.
Kūłqǃêˊstc. Adawēˊ nateˊtc.
He always urinated in bed. He was always [turned] on his side.
Xᴀtc tcǃuʟeˊ yêˊndî ỵaanaxᴀˊqǃᵒawe tcǃuʟeˊ 289-5
It is then there when all were asleep then
naguˊttc hīˊndî. ʟāx āˊtᴀtc g̣adjᴀˊg̣înawe
he always went down to the water. Very cold when he would get
dāq uguˊttc, natēˊtc. ʟe
ashore he always came and he always slept. Then
ỵaqēnaēˊnî aweˊ ctaỵīˊt akᵘdaxēˊtctc
daylight coming on when underneath himself he always threw his
dukoaˊsi. ᴀtxāˊwe dutāˊỵenᴀx yūt
urine. And then (from at that then) from under him out
kᵘdāˊîtc. Kǃāˊnqā dacūˊtc. Dūxōˊnqǃî
it always ran. They always bathed for strength in war. His friends
kaductᴀˊnîn wucadaxêˊct atqǃayēˊtc hīnqǃ.
each other used to whip with tree boughs in the water.
Yēkᵘʟāˊ ās āˊwua adanᴀˊx yut qāˊwaᴀ
Any kind of big tree it was from it out grew another piece
as-ʟǃēˊłî qāłatsīˊne āˊkdoaq. Tcǃuʟeˊ hīn
tree-penis human strength [they] tried there. Then the water
dᴀx dāq āłunag̣oˊqo aweˊ hēˊdeqekdułx̣īˊtc 289-10
from ashore running when [they] always kicked him
tcūc qǃānādᴀˊx. “Yāqāˊ qoˊa xas ās-ʟǃēˊłî
out of their way. “This man, however, when tree-penis
aqᵒgwałǃīˊqǃ.”
will he break off?”
The man went into the water the last time he was going to enter it.
At that very time he heard some one down in it from whom he was going
to get his strength. Strength was his name. Then the person came out
behind him. He had a large head covered with curly hair. He held
boughs. “Now,” he (Strength) said to him, “come up to me.” Then he went
to him. He knocked him into the water. Twice he called him. At once he
whipped him hard. “I am Strength. I come to help you,” he said to him.
“Break off the thing the people are trying their strength on. Put it
back again along with some urine.” Then he ran there in the night. His
friends did not know it. After day had begun to dawn his friends ran
thither. It was not known that he had broken it off. Why had it never
been broken off before? The very first one now broke it off. Then they
inquired, “Who broke off the tree-penis?” and people said, “It was
Kāhāˊsǃî who broke it off.” They laughed at him because [they thought]
he was not strong. Then they started off with the strength they had
waited for. At that time [the Indians] had no fighting ammunition.
This is why they always bathed for ammunition, sitting in the water.
The strong men had nothing at all with which to kill the sea lions. At
once the head man said as follows, “Take him also.” They said, “Take
him there.” They had nothing with which to kill the sea lions. Then
they told him that they would take him along. They said, “Take Kāhāˊsǃî
there.” It was at that time that they gave him his proper name. They
took him out to the sea-lion island. Then he caught up two sea lions.
The one on the left he threw upon a flat rock, but the one on the right
he tore in pieces. All kinds of strength came to the poor man to help
him, and his friends never beat him afterward. He never put on clothes
in time of war. His strength continued for a long time. It came to be
known even down to this day. People always use his strength with which
to surprise other people, and they always imitate his strength.[138]
Hūˊtcǃîaỵe hīn xēqgwagūˊdi yuqāˊ hīnx
The last time water was going into the man water
ugūˊt. Tcaˊtcǃa ag̣āˊawe āg̣aˊ ỵêk ūˊwaᴀx
he went into. Right then at it down he heard
atūwāˊtx qeg̣oˊxłatsīn adayuˊ
from into it he was going to get his strength that something’s
asᴀˊ ᴀwaᴀˊx. Łatsīˊn yūˊdowasākᵘ. Tcǃuʟeˊ actǃāˊt
voice he heard. Strength was his name. Then back of him
uwaguˊt. Yēˊkᵘge ducᴀˊ wuˊʟ̣ēqǃᴀqǃa yêx ỵateˊ.
it came. Large his head curly like was all over.
Atqǃāyēˊ dutcīˊ. “Hākᵘ de” yūˊaciaosiqa, “Āˊxdjīt 290-5
Tree boughs he held. “Now to” was what he said to him, “To me
gu de. Tcǃuʟeˊ adjīỵīˊt ūwaguˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ hīn
come up.” (imp.) Then to him he came. Then the water
nᴀx ac ᴀqaˊołīxetc. Dᴀxaˊ ᴀc wuxōˊx. Ag̣āˊawe tsa
into him he knocked. Twice him he called. For it then
łatsīˊn dên ᴀc wuxîˊct. “Xāˊdaya Łatsīˊn. Īˊīg̣ā xat
strength with him he whipped. “I am Strength. To you I
wusuˊ,” ye aciaˊosîqa. “Yūˊān
come to help,” so he said to him. “With that
aˊỵadᴀłtsīˊn ᴀt qǃwᴀn nᴀʟǃīˊqǃ
they are trying strength thing (imp.) be breaking off
aỵitīˊt qǃwan ᴀkłałūˊqǃ ān ᴀˊtg̣e iỵatsaˊq.”
in its place (imp.) urine with it put it into it.”
Tāˊdawe adaˊodjîx̣īx̣. Doxōˊnqǃitc ʟēł wuˊsko. Ātx
In the night he ran there. His friends not knew it. After
ỵaqēˊga āˊawe doxōˊnqǃî adēˊ łiwag̣uˊq. 290-10
it was getting daylight when his friends to it ran.
ʟēł wuduskoˊ āwuʟǃīˊqǃî. Gūsuˊ yên
Not it was known it had been broken off. Where there
yuqᵒxêˊtc gî. Dju cuqǃoaˊaỵītcawe ʟē āx
it was never broken off ?. And the first one then from it
wuʟǃēqǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ uduwawūˊsǃ. “Adōˊtsᴀ wuʟǃīˊqǃ ās-ʟǃēˊłî.”
broke off. Then they asked, “Who broke off tree-penis?”
Tcǃuʟeˊ yē ỵaˊodūdzîqa, “Kāhāˊsǃîdjayuˊ
Then thus they came to say to him, “Kāhāˊsǃî it was
wuʟǃīqǃ.” Tca kaodōˊwacūg̣ayu łkūx̣ᴀˊʟǃgītc.
broke it.” Then they laughed at him, that he was not strong.
Adᴀˊxawe ʟē ỵaoduˊdzîqōx łᴀtsīˊn
And then there they came to go with their strength
duỵîg̣aˊ. Gūsūyuˊ ʟēł qǃān-cagūˊn
they waited for. Where wasit (=Then) not fighting ammunition
qāˊdjî āˊg̣a. ᴀdjayuˊ ᴀcagūˊn kᴀˊqǃayu
had at that time. Why the ammunition for it
ducūˊtc. hīn tāˊg̣aqētc. Yūˊłîtsīne-ᴀt
they bathed. Water when they always sat in. The strong men
yūˊtān ʟēˊłᴀtc g̣aduˊʟ̣îdjāg̣e ᴀt qāˊdjî.
the sea lions nothing at all to kill it with thing had.
Wananīˊsawe yułīngîˊt ʟēnīˊtc ye hᴀs
At once the Indians head (or great) as follows they
ỵaˊosiqa, “Hu tsǃu.” Yē ỵaˊodudziqa,
said to “Him too (take). As follows they were saying to him,
“Yên nᴀx duxāˊ.” ʟēˊłᴀtc āx duʟ̣îdjaˊg̣e ᴀt
“There to take him.” Nothing from it for killing thing
qōˊostîˊ yūˊtān. Duīˊn ᴀt wudūˊwaxūn 291-5
they had the sea lions. With him to it they would go
yē ỵaˊodudzîqa. Tcatcǃaāg̣aˊtsa yē
as precedes they said to him. At that very time as follows
ỵaˊodudzîqa, “Yên nax dōxāˊ, Kāhāˊsǃî.”
they were saying to him, “There to take him, Kāhāˊsǃî.”
Ag̣āˊtsa duỵaˊodowasa, Kāhāˊsǃî.
Just at that [time] they gave him his proper name, Kāhāˊsǃî.
Adāˊt ỵaodowaxāˊ yūˊtān qǃāˊtǃî. Tcǃuʟeˊ dēˊxawe
On to it they took him the sea lion island. Then two
acāˊwaʟēq yūˊtān. Yūˊsǃᴀtǃnᴀˊxa
he caught up the sea lions. The left one
ta ỵaqāˊc kᴀt. Cinaxāˊa qoˊa
he threw upon a flat rock. The right one, however,
wūˊcdᴀx āwasǃēˊʟǃ. Qǃᴀnᴀckîdēˊx wusîteˊ yuqāˊ
from together (= apart) he tore. Poor was the man
acaˊ yūłdakᴀˊt-ᴀt yēˊde łatsīˊn duig̣aˊ wūsūˊ. ʟēł 291-10
to him all kinds strength to him came to help. Not
de yuỵaoduʟ̣ᴀˊqᴀk doxōˊnqǃî. ʟēł naᴀˊt
indeed ever beat him afterward his friends. Not clothes
nayēˊduoˊxqǃun adawūˊʟǃyᴀqǃ. Yīwuyāˊtǃ ag̣āˊ ᴀcdjiyēˊ
he ever put on in time of war. A long time for it to him
wuˊtiỵiỵᴀ dułatsīˊne. Tcǃuyaˊỵidᴀt tsǃu
was his strength. Even to this time also
wuduˊdziku. Dułᴀtsīˊnī ᴀtx dułiᴀˊxnutc. Ātc
it came to be known. His strength they always use. This
qoỵadułdjᴀˊtckunutc.
they always use, to surprise other people [with an account of it].
Dutīˊnutc dułᴀtsīˊne.
They always act [like]. his strength.
This is all.
Hūˊtcǃawe.
All.
FOOTNOTES:
[137] For a longer version see story 31, pp. 145–150.
[138] That is, it is used as a crest and imitated at feasts.
94. THE LǃÊˊNAXX̣ĪˊDAQ[139]
A man at Auk went out on the lake after firewood. On the way round it
he saw a woman floating about. Her hair was long. Looking at her for
some time, he saw that her little ones were with her. He took one of
the children home. When it became dark they went to sleep. It was the
child of the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq, and that night it went through the town
picking out people’s eyes. Toward morning a certain woman bore a child.
In the morning, when she was getting up, this [the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq’s
child] came in to her into the house. The small boy had a big belly
full of eyes. He had taken out the eyes of all the people. That woman
to whom the small boy came had a cane. He kept pointing at her eyes.
Then she pushed him away with the cane. When he had done it twice, she
pushed it into him. He was all full of eyes. After she had killed him
the woman went through the houses. Then she began to dress herself up.
She took her child up on her back to start wandering. She said, “I am
going to be the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq.” When she came down on the beach she
kept eating mussels. She put the shells inside of one another. As she
walks along she nurses her little child.
Ākǃᵘqǃayuˊ yē ỵatîˊ qā akadēˊ wuguˊt g̣ᴀˊng̣ā.
At Auk stopping a man out on got for firewood.
Aˊyᴀxde ỵanagudīˊayu aosītīˊn cāwᴀˊt yūˊadīgīgā cwūˊʟ̣īx̣āc.
Around it going was he saw woman one floating.
Dūcaxāwuˊ yekǃuˊʟ̣îyātǃ. Tcǃākᵘ āłtîˊnî aˊya aosītīˊn
Her hair was long. Sometime looking he saw her
yēˊkᵘtsǃîgāˊỵî a. ᴀt ỵᴀˊtqǃî ᴀx āˊwucāt
her little ones were. Children from them he took
nēłdeˊ. Yên qōˊqacg̣ēt ayuˊ
to [his] home. There it got dark of itself there
āwaxēˊqǃᵘ. Xᴀtc ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq 292-5
they went to sleep. It was the Lêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq
ỵêˊtî asiyuˊ tāˊdawe yūˊānqǃᴀtūx ỵāˊwagut qāwaˊq
its child it was he that night through the town was going eyes
āx kē akawadjᴀˊł. Ỵaqēˊgaa yucāˊwᴀt
from them up he took out. When it was getting light a woman
ỵᴀt āˊwa-u. Tsǃūtāˊt ayūˊ ỵacᴀˊndanukᵘ doxᴀˊnqǃᵘ
child had. In the morning then she was getting up to her
nēł ūˊwagut. ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ yēˊqǃołkułige xātc qāˊwag̣e
into the house went. A small boy a big belly this eyes
ᴀsīyuˊ acaˊołīhîk. Łdakᴀˊt yuˊqᵒu qāˊwag̣e ayuˊ
it was was full of. All the people’s eyes these
āx kē akāˊwadjêł. Wutsǃāˊg̣a ᴀcdjīˊ hu yu-cāwᴀˊt
from it up he took them. A cane to her was that woman
ᴀcxᴀˊnīnēł uwaguˊt yu-ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵒ. Duwāˊqde 292-10
into the house to her came the small boy. At her eyes
ỵagacīˊtc. Tcǃuʟeˊ duwutsǃag̣āˊỵītc yūt
was always pointing. Then her cane away
akułtāˊqᴀtcǃ. Dᴀˊxa yēˊnasgīt aqaˊ kaˊo-łītᴀq. Tsǃᴀs
she pushed him. Twice he did it into him she pushed. Only
qawag̣êˊtc caˊołīhîk. Hîˊtqǃî tūx ỵaˊowagut
eyes it was full of. Houses through she was going
yucāwᴀˊt adjāˊq dᴀx. Adᴀˊxayu ctadeˊ
the woman killed it after. And then on to herself
yedjudīˊne. Duỵᴀˊtkǃᵒ āˊwaya tcǃakūˊg̣aỵê
she started to put [clothing]. Her child she took up anywhere
yeˊdî. “ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq xāt gux sateˊ”
to go to. “Lǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq I am going to be,”
yuỵawaqāˊ. Ỵēqg̣agūˊtîn yāk āxāˊnutc.
was what she said. As she came down mussels she always ate.
Wucg̣edîˊ atsūˊnutc yuyāk-nūkǃᵘ. Tcǃa
Inside of one another she put the mussel shells. Also as she
ᴀt ᴀnaguˊttc tcǃaāˊn aqǃaˊ wuāˊîtc
at it walks around at the same time at it always nurses
duỵêˊtkǃᵒ.
her little child (=baby).
FOOTNOTES:
[139] See story 35 and cf. close of story 105. This is the equivalent
of Skîl djâˊadai, or “Property Woman,” among the Haida.
95. ORIGIN OF THE FROG CREST AMONG THE KÎKSAˊDÎ[140]
A married couple went from Sitka into G̣ayaˊ bay, and camped at
G̣ᴀˊxgu-ān. They were there for perhaps a month. One morning they
started out hunting. Then they heard a song on G̣ayaˊ bay. They
listened. They did not hear plainly. [The man’s] wife said to him, “Do
you hear it?” He said, “I hear the thing making a noise over there.”
“Turn toward it,” they said. They went toward it and saw it. It was a
little frog which the man let float down to his wife in the stern. He
said, “It is for you.” So they brought it to Sitka. This is how the
little frog’s song came to be known, and this is why the Kîksᴀˊdî claim
the frog.
Cīˊtǃkᴀ ayuˊ wūcdᴀcāˊỵî
(On the back of Baranoff island) Sitka that married couple
wuqoˊx G̣ayaˊ ỵîˊkdê. G̣ᴀˊxgu-ānqǃ ayuˊ hᴀs ūwaxeˊ.
went G̣ayaˊ (a bay) into. At G̣ᴀxguān there they camped.
Guł ʟax ʟēqǃ dîs hᴀˊsdukā cūˊwᴀx̣īx̣. ʟēqǃ tsǃutāˊt
Probably very one moon on them passed. One morning
ayuˊ ᴀtnatêˊ hᴀs djîˊusîha. Adᴀˊxayu
there hunting for things they set out [along shore]. And then
G̣ayaˊ kādêˊ hᴀs āwaāˊx yucîˊ. Adᴀˊxayu hᴀs
G̣ayaˊ on they heard a song. And then they
kudzīāˊx. ʟēł hᴀs u-ᴀˊxtc kǃēdēˊn. Ducᴀˊttc ye 294-5
came to listen. Not they heard well. His wife so
ỵaˊosîqa, “Ỵīỵaāˊxtc agêˊ” “Heˊde
said to him, “You are hearing it ?” “Over there
tuwaᴀˊxtcī-ᴀt,” ye ỵāˊwaqā xāāˊxtc.” “Akāˊdêyu hᴀs
we hear thing,” so he said, “I hear.” “Toward it” [turn] they
ỵaˊwaqā. Akᴀˊt hᴀs qox ayuˊ hᴀs aosītīˊn. Xᴀtc
were saying. Toward it they went there they saw it. It was
x̣îx̣tcǃîˊkǃ asīyuˊ ducᴀˊt-djî de ayuˊ aołīx̣āˊc. Ye
little frog that his wife to this he let it float. So
ỵawaqāˊ, “Iˊaỵī sᴀkᵘ.” Cīˊtǃkᴀdê ān hᴀs wuqoˊx.
he said, “You for.” To Sitka with it they got.
Yēˊayu x̣îx̣tcǃkǃa cīỵīˊ wududzikuˊ. Kîksᴀˊditc
That is how little frog’s song is known about. Kîksᴀˊdî
aˊtcayu x̣îx̣tcǃ hᴀs aỵahēˊn.
that is why frog they are claiming it.
FOOTNOTES:
[140] See story 66 for a second version.
96. HOW THE KÎKSAˊDÎ CAME TO SITKA[141]
When we were first born people hated us. And after that some beings
named Sky-people brought war upon us. They destroyed us completely. A
woman saved herself. And right here at Qǃāntūˊłkǃî she dug a hole under
a log to conceal herself from the enemy. Various creatures came out
in front of her. “I wonder who can tell me about things,” she said.
Grizzly bear came out near her. She said, “What can you do?” “Whenever
I catch a man I slap my paws down upon him.” The woman said, “That is
nothing.” Some one in the sun spoke to her. “How am I?” it said. “What
can you do?” Then he said, “My father in the sun peeps out through the
clouds, through the mottled clouds.” That was the one that married her.
Then she began to have children. There were five of them, including
one woman. After that he lowered down a big fort on them. They grew up
inside of it. And when the enemy saw that they were inside of it they
started to come. One [of the brothers], named Coward, was quarrelsome.
Another was named Łqǃayāˊkǃ and another Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, and to all of them
he gave directions. “When they get stronger than you put your minds
on me.” So, when the enemy became too strong for them, they put their
minds on their father (grandfather), the sun. He peeped out on the
enemy. It was smoking hot. The sea water out here boiled. The [hostile]
people ran down quickly into the water. They were all destroyed. Then
it stopped [boiling] out on the water. The brothers stayed inside of
their fort.
Ỵaqǃoˊxtustē cūˊgu łīngîˊttc haˊocīkǃān
When we were born first time people hated us
ỵāqǃoˊxtūstî. Adᴀˊx qoˊa ayaˊ Gîtsǃo-qoaˊnî
when we were born. After that, however, Sky-people
yūˊduwasākᵘ ānᴀˊxaỵa yāqǃ xa hāt
by name on account of that to this place war to us
adjīˊusigut. Aˊya qotx hacūˊłīx̣īx̣
brought. This destroyed did to us quickly and completely
aˊya ʟēˊnᴀx ỵātiỵîˊ. Cāˊwᴀt aˊya cwutsīnēˊx.
this the one was. A woman this saved herself.
Aˊa heˊdu Qǃāntūˊłkǃî yūˊduwasākᵘ xao taỵîˊ
And this place right here Qǃāntūˊłkǃî named log under
ayuˊ ax dāq kokaˊodzîha xāˊdjî nᴀx. 295-5
that into it she came to dig a hole the enemy away from.
Doqǃawuˊłk dᴀˊkde wūˊāt. “Adūˊs gî qōn anᴀˊx
In front of her out to they got. “Who (?) about things
dax̣ēˊtkǃᵘ?” X̣ūtsǃ anᴀˊx dāk ūˊwagut. Yē ỵawaqaˊ,
can tell me?” Grizzly bear near her out came. So she said,
“Datîˊn sukᵘcîˊ.” “Hā ᴀxōˊnê qa āx
“With what [can you help]?” “Whenever I get a man I
djitg̣askîˊ tîn kā yuqᴀˊłtǃadjîˊn.” Yucāˊwᴀt ye ỵawaqāˊ,
having him on slap my paws down.” The woman thus said,
“Aˊge aˊdawe.” G̣ᴀgāˊn tūtx
(?) thng is “(That is nothing.)” Sun from into
ᴀˊdayu duīˊt qǃēˊwatᴀn. “Wāˊsᴀs xᴀt ỵatīˊ,”
something is to her spoke. “How I am,”
yuỵawaqāˊ. “Dā tîn sᴀˊkᵘcî.” ʟē ye ỵawaqāˊ, 295-10
it was saying. “What with for?” Then so he said,
“Yūˊg̣ᴀgan tutx a ᴀxīˊc gutsǃtūˊnᴀx
“The sun from into my father through the clouds
gūtsǃqǃāqdīỵēˊnᴀx gᴀˊgî ỵag̣ᴀsēˊn.” Tcāˊtcǃa
through the mottled clouds out (when) he peeps.” That one
āweˊ tsa āˊcuwaca. Ayᴀˊxawe duỵᴀˊtqǃî
it was indeed married her. On account of that her children
qoˊdziti. Kīdjînīˊnᴀx hᴀs wūˊti qa cāˊwᴀt ʟēˊnᴀx.
came to be born. Five of them they were and woman one.
Adᴀˊxawe hᴀˊsdu dākaˊqǃ kaˊoduʟ̣iỵaˊ nū ʟēn.
After that them on he lowered a fort big.
Ag̣ēˊqǃ kē hᴀs uwawᴀˊt. Adᴀˊxawe ag̣ēˊdî hᴀs
Inside of it up they grew. And then inside of it they
g̣āˊdustīn aweˊ hᴀsdudāˊt xā djiūˊdigut. ʟēˊnᴀx
saw them when around them the enemy started to come. One
ye adūˊwasākᵘ Qǃᴀtxāˊn daqānēˊx wuˊsitē. Xāˊỵi yakqǃᵘ
thus named Coward quarrelsome was. Warriors’ canoes
āˊyᴀx aˊołīqᴀˊnqǃ. Ye adūˊwasākᵘ Łqǃayāˊkǃ qa 296-5
over he quarreled. So [one] named Łqǃayāˊkǃ and
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ yēyᴀˊn hᴀsducunqāˊwadja. “Ỵīqāˊnᴀx ya
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ what to do he told them all. “Stronger than you when
ᴀt g̣atīˊnî qǃwᴀn ᴀxiˊg̣a tunaˊidatān.” Adᴀˊxawe hᴀsdu
they are getting (imp.) on me put your mind.” And then them
qāˊnᴀx ỵaᴀˊtgᴀtēˊ ag̣āˊ
more than then they got for it
hᴀs tuˊdîtān hᴀsduīˊc g̣ᴀgāˊn. Gᴀˊgi
they started to remember their father sun. Out
ỵaodziaˊ yuxāˊ kᴀqǃ.
he came to peep the enemy on.
Wudūˊwatsǃᴀq ỵāˊwatǃa. Dîgînaˊ
It smoked was hot. (=it was smoking hot) Out here
hīˊnî qoˊa wuʟ̣iūˊk. Yādāˊqa
[the salt] water, however, boiled. Out from this [land]
Łīngîˊt hīˊndî łūˊwagōqǃ. Qotx cūˊwax̣īx̣. 296-10
Indians into the water ran down. Destroyed were
Hīˊnxō qaˊat tsǃu ʟe
quickly.In (or among) the water out on the whole also then
ỵēỵēˊwutê. Āỵēˊ hᴀs wutîˊ yūnūˊ g̣ê.
stopped. Down in it they were the fort inside of.
FOOTNOTES:
[141] Cf. story 31, pp. 122–126.
97. THE FOUR BROTHERS[142]
Another being that hated us was a shaman, who used to live in a cave.
His name was G̣onēˊtqāsāˊxdukǃāˊqǃ. They could do nothing to him, so
they gave their sister to him in marriage. He always slept with his
back to the fire, and a spirit watched at his door. Finally a plot was
made regarding him, and the people prepared for him. They prepared
boxes full of bows and arrows for him, and there came to be plenty of
them. When they came to him they pulled their sister into the canoe.
He (the shaman) always wore a red-snapper coat. When he was pursuing
them, he kept jumping so (accompanied by gesture). While he was chasing
them they shot at him. They kept asking their sister, “Where is your
husband’s heart?” She said, “I still love my husband’s heart.” After
a time she told them where her husband’s heart was. “Shoot him in
the middle of his hand. His heart is there.” Then they killed him
outside of Ring island. They carried him to Ring island. They took
the red-snapper coat off from him. It was for this coat that they had
killed their brother-in-law.
Tsǃu hāˊcakǃāˊnî-ᴀt taˊowūłtīqǃ
Also something hating us into the place where the cave is
yētīˊỵīn. Yē duwasāˊkᵘ G̣ōnēˊtqāsāˊxdukǃāˊqǃ. ʟēł adêˊ
used to be. Thus his name was gonēˊtqāsāˊxdukǃāˊqǃ. Not to it
hᴀs gunᴀˊxsîniỵa. ᴀtcaweˊ hᴀsduʟ̣āˊkǃ adjīˊt hᴀs
they could do anything. Why their sister to him they
adjīˊwatᴀn. G̣ᴀˊndawe utāˊîtc dudᴀˊqǃanᴀx.
gave her. To the fire he always slept his back near.
Dōˊqǃawuˊłqǃ aweˊ yên udēˊłtc yēk. Wananīˊsawe
At his door that there always watched a spirit. Finally
adāˊ hᴀs tucāˊwatān. Aỵîˊs ᴀt yên 297-5
about him they concocted a plan. For him things there
hᴀs aosîneˊ. Tcūnēˊt
they made ready. Bows and arrows
dāqakūˊqǃ yên hᴀs aosineˊ
cover for (=boxes full of bows and arrows) then they prepared
cāˊỵadihēn. ᴀt hᴀs qūˊxawe yākᵘt hᴀs
began to be plenty. To it they got then into the canoe they
āˊwaxotǃ hᴀsduʟ̣āˊkǃ. Łēqǃ kǃudᴀˊsǃ atūˊx
pulled their sister. Red-snapper coat into it
naguˊttc. Yāhᴀˊsdu ỵag̣atsāˊq ỵūˊawe
he always goes. Them when he was chasing that way (a gesture)
kē îckǃēˊntc. ʟe yāhᴀˊsdu ỵanatsāˊqeawe hᴀs
up he always jumped. Then them while he was chasing they
atǃuˊkt. Hᴀs aqǃonawūˊsǃtc
shot at it (with bows and arrows). They would always ask
hᴀsduʟ̣āˊkǃ, “Gūˊsū ixoˊx tēqǃ.” “Yesuˊ
their sister, “Where your husband’s heart.” “Yet
ỵāxcîgeˊ ᴀxxōˊx tēqǃ.” Wananīˊsawe yên 297-10
I want (=love) my husband’s heart.” After a while there
akāˊwanîk duxoˊx tēqǃ. “Dudjîˊn tāk
she told her husband’s heart. “His hand in the middle of
ỵītǃuˊk. Aˊwu dutēˊqǃ.”
you shoot. There is his heart.”
Kᴀˊtnᴀqǃtīn ỵakᴀˊqǃawe
White-rocks-on-top- of-each-other (Ring island) on the outside of
tsa hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq. Kᴀˊtnᴀqǃtīn
then they killed him. White-rocks-on-top- of-each-other
kᴀnᴀxāˊwe yên hᴀs āˊwaxᴀtc. Aqāˊx kē hᴀs
on there they brought him. Off from him up (off) they
āˊwatiˊ łēqǃ kǃudᴀˊsǃ. Yukǃudᴀˊsǃ kāˊqǃawe hᴀs
took red-snapper coat. The coat for they
āˊwadjᴀq hᴀsdukāˊnî.
killed their brother-in-law.
After that Łqǃayāˊkǃ put it on and went after large animals. He chased
something from below named Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ.[143] He chased it far up out
into the sky. They are Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s footprints which are there.[144]
Adᴀˊxawe Łqǃayāˊkǃ ātūˊx yūˊwugutk kodzîtīˊỵi-ᴀt
And then Łqǃayāˊkǃ into it having gone big animals (things)
kᴀqǃ. Adᴀˊxayu yāˊdiỵīdᴀˊx ᴀt ỵaˊosīnāq. 298-5
for. And then from below here something he was chasing
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ yūˊduwasākᵘ ᴀt. ʟayūˊdekīqǃ kē
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ was named something Far up [into the sky] up
aỵaˊosinᴀq aˊayu dᴀˊkdî wułîcuˊ. Duqǃoˊs-ītēˊ
he chased it this out went in a line. His footprints
Łqǃayāˊkǃ huˊayu.
Łqǃayāˊkǃ it is he, or they are his.
FOOTNOTES:
[142] Part of story told in story 3 and in story 31.
[143] An error. Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ was Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s elder brother.
[144] That is, the milky way.
98. THE KÎKSAˊDÎ WOMAN WHO WAS TURNED INTO AN OWL[145]
When this town (Sitka) was first discovered the Kîksᴀˊdî were here, and
we stayed on this (the north) side. This town (at the northern end)
was named Mossy-town. There four men grew up, two of whom were named
Łqǃayāˊkǃ and Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ. They married. Łqǃayā’kǃˊs mother was named
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ’s-mother. Łqǃayāˊkǃ’s wife refused to give her mother-in-law
herring to eat. After she had refused her twice she put hot milt into
her hand. She told [her son], “She put hot milt from a male herring
into my hand.” It burned her hand. For this reason her son carried down
the canoe. He filled it with herring by means of a herring rake. When
[the canoe] was filled, he brought them in. The herring rock is over
yonder this side of Big-fort.[146] He brought them in in the evening.
He said to his wife, “Go down to it,” and she went down empty handed.
Cūˊguya ʟǃᴀtk wudutǃēˊỵê Kîksᴀˊdî yaqǃeˊ ỵᴀtîˊ
When first this place was found the Kîksᴀˊdî here stayed
qa ūhāˊn ỵāˊnaxᴀqǃ yēˊhaỵêtî. Sǃᴀtc-ānîˊ ye duwasāˊkᵘ
and we on this side we stayed. Mossy-town thus was the name
yāt. ᴀqǃaweˊ uwawᴀˊt dāqǃunīˊnᴀx qa ye
to this [one]. At it grew up four [men] and so
duwasāˊkᵘ Łqǃayāˊkǃ Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ. Hᴀs āˊwaca
[two were] named Łqǃayāˊkǃ [and] Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ. They married
yucāˊwᴀt. Łqǃayāˊkǃ duʟāˊ qodzîteˊ
a woman (= women). Łqǃayāˊkǃ his mother was
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ-ʟā yūˊdowasākᵘ. Łqǃayāˊkǃ ducᴀˊtc 299-5
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ’s mother was named. Łqǃayāˊkǃ his wife
ỵaocîgêˊ yuˊyao dutcāˊn-qǃēˊdî. Dᴀxdahīˊn
refused the herring to her mother-in-law’s mouth. Twice
ye acīˊn nasqaˊ aweˊ acdjîˊn tāqǃ yên āˊwacᴀt
thus to her she said when her hand into there she put it
ỵāˊwatǃaỵe yao-ʟǃēˊłî. Duīˊn akāˊwanīk. “Ỵawᴀˊtǃaỵe
being hot herring milt. To him she told it. “Hot
yao-ʟǃēˊłî aweˊ ᴀxdjīˊn tāqǃ yên āˊwacᴀt.” Ke ūwag̣ᴀˊn
herring milt that my hand into there she put.” Out it burned
dudjīˊn tāqǃ. ᴀtcaweˊ yākᵘ yēqǃāˊwatᴀn duỵīˊt. Yao
her hand in. That is why canoe brought down her son. Herring
acāˊwax̣îʟǃ yuyāˊkᵘ. Yên
he filled with by means of a herring rake the canoe. There
aỵaˊosîqox cahīˊk. Yūˊdo yao tēỵîˊ
he brought them in when it was filled. Over there herring’s rock
yunūˊ ʟēn hāˊna nᴀx ᴀ. Dēx̣āˊna 299-10
the fort (= Big fort) big this side on is. It was evening
ayuˊ yên aỵaˊosîqox. Ducᴀˊt ye aỵaˊosîqa,
when there he brought them in. His wife something he said to,
“Adêˊ naguˊ.” Kᴀłᴀˊtk adeˊ wuguˊt.
“To it go down.” Without anything to it she went.
Then she shouted up, “Bring down the basket,” but her husband said,
“Don’t listen to her.” Night came on. Toward morning the woman began
to change her cries. “This way with the basket (kāt),” she said toward
morning. Later still she began to say, “Hū, hū, hū, ū.” Her husband
said to her, “You can become an owl from this time on.” So she started
to fly off. She became an owl. She flew first among the trees. She was
heard saying, “Sit in your holes,” after which he (her husband) went
outside. He said to her, “You put milt into my mother’s hand. For that
you can become an owl. Way back there for you is Owl’s-rock-slide.”
This is why it is so. This is why we can always understand it (the
owl). It always predicts bad weather. It always tells what is going to
happen in other towns.
Tcǃuʟeˊ adeˊ kē uwaîˊqǃ, “Kāt hāt
Then at it up she shouted, “Shallow basket to here
ỵiêtᴀˊn.” Duxoˊxtc ye ỵaˊosîqa, “Łîˊłqǃa tāt
you bring it down.” Her husband so said, “Not to her
ỵītūctīˊg̣k.” Tāt ỵīntk qohaˊ. Qēqǃēˊde qonahaˊ
you listen.” Night it got. Toward morning it was getting
ʟe cūˊya qǃaˊoditᴀn yucāˊwᴀt.
then entirely began to change her manner of talking the woman.
“Hāndēˊwadi kāt,” qēqǃēˊdî ayuˊ ye
“This way with the basket,” toward morning it was thus
qǃaỵaqaˊ. Qēqǃēˊdî ʟecūˊyᴀx wuduwaᴀˊx,
she said it. Toward morning changing [her voice] she was heard,
“Hū hū hū ū.” Duxoˊxtc ye ỵaosîqaˊ, “Tcǃuʟeˊ 300-5
“Hū hū hū ū.” Her husband thus said to her, “Then
wēˊdᴀx de tsēˊskǃux îˊnaste.” Tcǃuʟeˊ yᴀx
after that owl becoming you can be.” Then off
hoadîqēˊn. Tsēˊskǃᵘx osîteˊ. Ās ayēˊỵatīỵēqǃ
she started to fly. Owl she became. Trees being
axōˊqǃ sǃaˊodjîqax. Ye oduwaaˊx,
among them she first flew. Thus he (or she) heard,
“ᴀˊsguteỵê g̣ayêqêˊ.” Āx āˊyux
“In your holes you sit. After it outside of it (house)
āˊwagut. Yē ỵaodudzîqaˊ, “Āxʟāˊ djīn tāqǃ
he got. So he said to her, “My mother’s hand in
yao-ʟǃēˊłî yên iỵatêˊ. Tcawēˊdᴀx tsēˊskǃᵘx
herring milt there you put. Right from that owl becoming
înasteˊ. Yudāˊg̣o îqāˊde sᴀkᵘ Tsēˊskǃᵘ-qāˊde.” 300-10
you can be. Way back there your slide for Owl’s-rock-slide.”
ᴀtcaweˊ dūwaỵaˊ. Atcayuˊ qǃatūˊwaāˊxtc.
Why it is so. Why we can always understand it (the owl).
Łkūˊckǃᴀ akānîˊknutc. Yūˊnax̣ᴀqǃ wasaˊ
Bad weather it always predicts. in other [towns] what
ᴀtguˊg̣onēỵîˊ ha-îˊn yuakaỵanîˊk.
is going to happen to us it always tells.
FOOTNOTES:
[145] See story 37 for another version.
[146] The hill on which Baranoff’s castle stood.
99. MOLDY-END[147]
The Kîksᴀˊdî used to live at Dax̣ēˊt, where they dried salmon. After
they had gotten through drying it they tied it up there. So he (a small
boy) was baiting a snare for sea gulls. When he came into the house
afterward he was very hungry. “Mother, I am hungry. Give me some dried
salmon.” So she gave him a piece of dried salmon which had begun to
mold on the corner. Then he said, “You always give me moldy-cornered
ones.” They always began tying up from the corner of the house. He
spoke to the dried salmon. Just then some one shouted out, “There
is a sea gull in your snare.” So he ran down to it. He ran out into
the water to his snare. When he got out into the midst of the water
he looked as if he were pulled down into it. Then all of the drying
salmon ran down to him. Now the people were hunting for him, but he
was nowhere to be seen. It was not known what had happened to him. The
salmon, however, began feeling very high. They began to rush about at
the mouth of the creek. It was the salmon people that had done it. Then
the salmon people went out to sea with him. They went seaward with
him toward their homes. To him it looked as if they were in a canoe.
A chief among these salmon had made him his son. The sea gull that he
had followed out went along with him. Then he stayed with them in the
salmon people’s town. He was among them for one year. Well out from
that town fish eggs were heaped up. He began to take up and swallow
some of them without asking anybody. Then the people shouted out,
“Moldy-end is eating the townpeople’s dung.” At that time they gave him
the name. Afterward he discovered that the salmon tribe had saved him.
Then he went to lie down and remained in that position. In the morning
his father said, “What did they say to you, my son?” He went out and
spoke. “Take him up to Amusement creek. Put his hands around the necks
of the sand-hill cranes at the mouth of it.” There he saw two sand-hill
cranes jumping up and down, facing each other, at the mouth of the
creek. All creatures, such as brants, could be heard making a noise
down in this creek. This is why it was called Amusement creek. Where
was it that he had been feeling badly? It all got out of him.
Dax̣ēˊtayu ᴀnaēˊtc Kîksᴀˊdî, xāt
At Dax̣ēˊt it was used to live the Kîksᴀˊdî, [and] salmon
ayēˊsᴀtanēˊnutc. Āˊawe ᴀqǃ yêˊndî ᴀt
always dried there. In that place there things
yaᴀtnaduˊqǃwᴀn yuxāˊt ᴀtqǃēˊcî sᴀkᵘ
they were getting through drying the salmon dried for
dādusāˊxdê. Aˊawe kēˊʟ̣adiyaỵiqǃ
they were tyingit up there So with it for seagulls
yeadāˊna dāˊsǃa, awāˊq dēˊsnaaqnutc.
he was baiting a snare, inside of which they always got.
Acūˊtc nēł gūˊdawe At yan ūwaxāˊ.
From there into the house when he came he was very hungry.
“ᴀʟeˊ xāt yan uwahaˊ. ᴀtqǃēˊcî ᴀxdjīˊt 301-5
“Mother I am hungry. Dried things (i.e., salmon) to me
tê.” ᴀcdjīˊt āˊwate yuᴀtqǃēˊcî. Acêˊnya
give.” To him she gave the dried salmon. On the corner of it
wudîʟāˊx. Ye aỵaˊosîqa yuᴀtqǃēˊcî, “Tsǃᴀs
it had started to mold. So he said of the dried salmon, “Only
cᴀnỵāˊkǃᵘʟāx qaqǃēˊxᴀtexnutc.”
moldy-cornered ones you always give me.”
Yitǃēˊdᴀx dādusāˊnutc.
From the corner of the house they always began to tie it up.
ᴀtqǃēˊcî aỵîˊ yē aỵaˊosîqa. Tcǃuʟeˊ atūˊxawe
The dried salmon to so he spoke. Then from in it
tǃāˊỵaodowaqa, “Edāˊsǃaye awāˊqǃt uwaguˊt
some one shouted out, “Your snare inside of it got
kēˊʟ̣adî.” Tcǃuʟeˊ akudjīˊnawe ādêˊ dak wudjix̣īˊx̣.
a seagull.” Then that is why to it down he ran.
Tcǃuʟeˊ akāˊde hīnx wudjix̣īˊx̣ dudāˊsǃaỵî. 301-10
Then out to it into the water he ran [to] his snare.
Hīˊndî gīỵigēˊdaqx̣ūˊawawe hīˊnde
To the water when he got out in the middle of to the water
wuduwaxōˊtǃ āyᴀˊx wūˊnî yuỵadᴀˊkǃᵘ. Łdakᴀˊt
he was pulled down like it was like the youth. All
yuxāˊt yedānēˊỵî ỵīˊỵîawe dutǃāˊt ʟūwaguˊq.
the salmon those that were drying to him behind ran down.
Qoducīˊ duīg̣aˊ. ʟēł wudustīˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟēł
They were searching for him. Not he was seen. Then not
wuduskuˊ wāˊsa waˊniỵe. Tcǃuʟeˊ yuxāˊt qoˊa ayuˊ
was known what happened to him. Then the salmon, however,
tuwuˊqłîg̣ê. Yuhīˊnwᴀtqǃ wūckᴀˊt
felt very high. At the mouth of the creek around
caoditeˊ. Xᴀtc xāt qoaˊnî tcaˊyu ye usîˊne.
started to rush. This salmon tribe that so did.
Dūīˊn tcǃuʟeˊ dāk ỵāˊwa-a yūˊxāt qoaˊnî.
With him then seaward went the salmon people.
Hᴀsduānêˊdî an dāk hᴀs ūˊwaha. Yākᵘ yêx 302-5
To their homes with him seaward they went. Canoe like
acwagêˊqdayēˊn. Xᴀtc anqāˊwo ᴀsîyuˊ xāt xōˊnᴀx
it looked like in his eyes. This chief it was salmon among
yêtx ᴀcułîyᴀˊx. Tcǃᴀˊtu xᴀˊnu yukēˊʟ̣adî dāk
made him his son. Along with him went the seagull out
acuyāˊadzīhu dekīqǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ ayēˊ wuteˊ āˊxō
he followed seaward. Then there he stayed among them
xāt qoaˊnî ānîˊ. ʟēqǃ tākᵘ dukaiˊantî. Dekīˊqǃ
salmon people’s town. One year he was among them. Way out
ānqǃaˊỵe yūk dix̣wᴀˊsǃ quhāˊkᵘ. Tca qāˊỵatǃen
in the town out started to be heaped eggs. Without asking
nᴀxāˊwe akaˊodikâtc. Tcǃu
anyone he started to take up and swallow them. Then
yūantqenīˊtcayu kē tǃāˊuwaîqǃ, “Āntqenîˊ hāˊʟǃî 302-10
the people shouted out about him, “People’s dung
aỵaxāˊ Cᴀnỵāˊkǃᵘʟāx.” Ag̣āˊayu tsa duyaˊ
is eating Moldy-end.” At that time right him
wuduwasaˊ yusaˊ. Ckᴀ aˊodzîku yuxāˊt
they called by that name. Afterward he came to know the salmon
qoaˊnîtc wusnexeˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ taỵidēˊ wuguˊt
tribe had saved him. Then to lie down he went
tūdīuˊs. Tsǃutāˊdawe ye ỵawaqaˊ duīˊc,
and he stayed there. In the morning thus said his father,
“Wāˊsa īỵaˊo-dudzîqaˊ ᴀxỵīˊt.” Tcǃuʟeˊ yux
“What did they say to you, my son.” Then out
qǃēˊwatān “Qatukᴀˊxsaqa-hīˊnîde ūn yākᵘ ga-īˊtān.
he went and spoke “To Amusement creek by canoe take him up
Āwᴀˊtkᴀ dūˊłî sēˊnᴀx qǃoa’n
At the mouth of it sand-hill cranes around their necks (imp.)
djīˊyayîte.” Ayᴀˊxawe aˊositēn, yên
put his hands.” Just like it he saw there
yūk duwax̣îˊx̣k dēx wucdaỵīˊn yuhīˊn
out they were jumping two toward each other the creek
wᴀtkaˊqǃ. Łdakᴀˊt ᴀˊtawe yaỵîˊk duwaᴀˊxtc
at mouth of. All things down in this could always be heard
yuhīˊn ỵîk qên. ᴀˊtcawe ye duwasāˊkᵘ
the creek down in [and] brants. That is why so it is called
Qatuˊkᴀxsᴀka-hīn. Gusuˊ tūwunūˊguỵīỵî? ʟe
Amusement creek. Where was it he was feeling bad? Then
dutūˊtx qot kaodukǃīˊt.
from into him entirely it all got out.
The salmon people all knew the salmon month had come up here which
was their month for returning. They always spawn up here among us.
At once they started back with him. They started up this way. Then
the cohoes people broke their canoe. This is why the cohoes come up
last. The ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî were going to have the cohoes as an emblem,
and this is why the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî are also very slow people. At once
all started, dog salmon and humpbacks. They started up this way with
Lively-frog-in-pond (the boy’s name). The big salmon people started up
thither. Very soon the salmon tribe came to the “sīt.” It is this sīt
which gives scars to whichever one happens to get caught in it. After
all got through, the people looking could see a cloud far down on the
horizon which appeared like a canoe. In the evening they went ashore
to camp. They dug holes in the ground and made flat sticks to stick
into the ground. The salmon tribe always does that way. Then the salmon
people would throw hot rocks upon one another. Their bodies vibrated
with the heat. It is that that leaves scars on the skin of the salmon.
It was Lively-frog-in-pond that let people know what the salmon people
do to one another.
Tcǃu xāt qoaˊnîtc tsǃū sikuˊ qoˊxde dîs 303-5
Then salmon tribe also knew to return month
yayêˊnqǃ xāt dîˊsîx sateỵîˊ. Yayêˊnqǃ hāgutūˊnᴀxawe
up here salmon month become was. Up here out among us
dāk wushīˊntc yūˊxāt sᴀkᵘ. Wānanīˊsawe
out always swim (i. e., spawn) the salmon for. At once
duīˊn ᴀt wudūˊwax̣ūn. Yāyêˊnde tcǃu kācukᴀˊdawe
with him to it they started back. Up this way then first
ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. Yāyêˊndî ʟǃūkǃ qoaˊnî ᴀˊawe ʟe yᴀx
to it they started. Up this way cohoes people those then up
ỵaˊodudzîtᴀqǃ aỵaguˊ ʟǃūkǃ. ᴀtcaweˊ
they came to break their canoe cohoes. That is why
kāîˊtqǃ tāqawaēˊtc ʟǃūkǃ. ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî 303-10
come up last cohoes. Cohoes-people
cagūˊnaya ʟǃūkǃ. ᴀtcaweˊ
is going as emblem to have cohoes. That is why
tcuỵiāˊt ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî tsǃu łīngîˊt łītcǃīˊỵîᴀq.
those that are here cohoes people also people are very slow.
Wānanīˊsawe ʟēqǃēˊg̣a ᴀt wux̣ūˊn, tīʟǃ, qatcāˊsǃ.
At once at one time they all started, dog salmon, humpback.
De Ākǃᵘtatsīˊn tîˊnayu yêˊndî ᴀt wudūˊwax̣ūn.
Now Lively-[frog]-in-pond with to there they started up.
G̣onaỵēˊ ỵaˊwa-a yêˊndî yuxāˊt qoaˊnî ʟēn.
Started went up to there the salmon people the big.
Wānanīˊsawe atǃēˊt ỵaˊwagu yūsîīˊt yuxāˊt qoaˊnitc.
At once to it came the sîīˊt the salmon tribe.
Aaweˊ yusîīˊt qǃēxqāˊwagaỵîaawe
That is the thing the sîīˊt whichever one just happens to wait in
tīładayēˊnatitc. Āˊnᴀx dᴀq kᴀx
used to get scars on its body. After it shoreward through
dᴀkǃîˊtînawe tcǃuʟeˊ yūˊłīngîˊttc yatîˊnî gūsǃ
they all got then the people can see cloud
ỵīnᴀˊx daq ỵāˊwuguwu aweˊ ʟe yākᵘ
down on the horizon shoreward they came when then canoe
uwāˊnutc. Tcǃuʟeˊ yᴀx dāq wugūˊtc.
it always looks like. Then like ashore they always come.
X̣wēˊkeq duhāˊîtc
A hole in the ground they always dig
tsīk tsǃu dułiᴀˊkanutc. Tcǃaˊyu
and they always make flat sticks to stick in the ground. Like it
xāt qoaˊnî ayuˊ yaqonuˊknutc. Yūˊtayᴀtǃaỵi ỵadeˊ ayuˊ
salmon tribe it is always does. The hot rocks upon those
wucdᴀˊ g̣êtcnutc yuxāˊt qoaˊnî. ᴀduktuˊ 304-5
always threw on each other the salmon people. Their bodies
ūwᴀsǃaxōˊa. Ītīˊawe
moved or vibrated [as skin roasted on hot rocks]. It is that
ayêˊnatitc yūˊxāt xāˊsǃīqǃ.
always leaves [scars on] the salmon on the skin of.
Akǃᵘtatsīˊntcaweˊ qōˊsîku yūˊxāt qoaˊnî adeˊ
Lively-frog it was let know the salmon tribe at it (i. e., how)
wuctadᴀˊnaỵa.
they do to each other.
At once they started hitherward up this coast. The salmon tribe came
against the herring tribe. In the canoes of the salmon tribe one stood
up. He said to them, “When did your cheek-flesh ever fill a man?” The
others stood by one another. The herring tribe said in reply, “We fed
them before you. Our eggs are our cheek-flesh. When will the space
around your backbone not be dirty?”[148] The salmon tribe started off
for the outside coasts of these islands. When they got outside of them
the salmon chief said, “To what creek are you going?” Having held a
conference, the salmon people named their choices. The humpbacks said,
“We will go to Saliva creek,” but the one among them who had taken the
man, mentioned Dax̣ēˊt. The salmon people called it Right-to-the-town.
Then they came in sight of the mouth of the creek. They called the
point Floating point, and the smoke house that was there a fort. It
looked like that in the eyes of the salmon people. The salmon called
human beings “seal-childrenˊs dog salmon.” When they first came into
the mouth of the creek the people sharpened poles for them to fall on
when they jumped. Then the boys always said, “Upon my fatherˊs.” At
once one jumped upon it, where before they had not killed any. At that
they (the people) were very happy.
Wānanīˊsawe āx ᴀt wux̣ūˊn yayiêˊndî gonēˊ ỵāˊwaa.
At once from that started this coast began they went up.
Yuxāˊt qoaˊnî agēˊt ỵāˊwaa yao qoaˊnî. Xāt
The salmon people against came the herring tribe. Salmon
qoaˊnî yagūˊỵîknᴀx wudūˊwahān. Yē hᴀs
tribe from inside their canoes one stood up. Thus they
ỵaˊodudziqa “Ỵīdᴀˊtsqoetc ỵīˊwᴀckaqǃoˊkotc 304-10
said to them “When your cheek-flesh
kaˊosînex.” Yūˊtǃa-hᴀs wūˊtciaxt kᴀstîˊqǃ.
filled (or saved) a man.” Those by each other stood.
Tsǃᴀs tsǃu ye ỵawaqaˊ yao qoaˊnî,
Only also (again) so said in reply the herring tribe,
“Ỵīcukᴀˊt qōˊỵaotuwaʟa. Detcǃaˊ hāwᴀcqaqǃoˊxoawe hāqahāˊgu.
“Before you we fed them. That is our cheek-flesh our eggs.
Ỵidᴀˊtguetc łīỵīkᴀˊdeỵiỵîˊk qołaʟǃīˊx̣?”
What time the space near your backbone will not be dirty?”
G̣onayēˊ ỵawaguˊ xāt qoaˊnî
Started to go off salmon tribe
yaqǃāˊtǃqǃadê. Yaqǃāˊdqǃ tǃikᴀˊt
for the sea outside of these islands. These islands outside
saxīˊx̣awe ye ỵawaqaˊ’ yuxāˊt anqāˊwo, “Dāquhīˊn de
[they] came thus said the salmon chief, “What creek to
sᴀˊỵihan?” Yūˊwuctaỵadaqa xāt qoaˊnî,
are you going?” Having said to each other the salmon tribe,
yūˊtǃa-hīˊnde yūˊqǃaỵadoqa yūˊxāt
to the creeks which [they] had named for themselves the salmon
qoaˊnî, āˊxōx ya hᴀs djîkᴀˊndoᴀq. Tcāsǃ
tribe. Among them they named their choices. The humpback
koyēˊqǃaỵaqa, “Ohāˊn, qoˊa, tcahēˊ Qǃᴀˊtstu-hīn.”
said, “We, however, will go to Saliva creek.”
Qonᴀˊx wēˊłīngîˊt aosîˊnexe aqoˊa Dax̣ēˊt āwasaˊ.
Among the people the Tlingit one saved, however Dax̣ēˊt named.
Wᴀtāˊnỵaỵî xāt qoaˊnîtc yeˊuwasa. Tcǃuʟeˊ 305-5
Right-to-the-town salmon people called it. Then
hīˊnwᴀt ʟēłguha. Yūˊqǃa qoyēˊduwasa
at the mouth of the creek they could see. The point they named
Yułuˊkłîx̣āˊckî-qǃa, tcāˊtcǃᴀs yên wunīỵîˊ, yunūˊ
“The Floating-point,” and now there was ready, the fort
at-qǃān-hîˊtî ayuˊ. Hᴀsduwāˊqǃ yē kudayeˊn yūˊxāt
smoke-house it was. In their eyes so it looked the salmon
qoaˊnîtc. Ye adōˊwasākᵘ yuxāˊt łīngîˊttc
people. Thus called the salmon Tlingit
“tsa-ỵêˊtqǃî-tīˊʟǃî.” Cūˊgu hīn wᴀt deyaîˊn
“seal-child’s-dog-salmon.” When first creek mouth of into
ỵᴀnaēˊnî ʟaganîˊs łuˊgu dusxōˊtǃnutc anāˊx
they were coming poles on point they always sharpened on it
nᴀˊg̣atānt. ᴀtỵêˊtqǃî qoˊa ye 305-10
for them to go on to when they jumped. The boys, however, thus
ūłxēˊsnutc, “ᴀxīˊc āỵîˊnade.” Wananīˊsawe ᴀnāˊx
always say, “My father’s upon.” At once on it
āg̣atᴀˊnîn, tcǃuł āˊdudjaqdjîˊ. ʟᴀx wâˊsa
one jumps, when before they always killed none. Very how
qātuwuˊ sagūˊnutc.
they were always happy.
Now they saw his father plainly coming down from far up the creek. They
said to him (the boy), “Stand up.” He jumped up. “Very fine,” said his
mother. His mother called him a fine salmon. After that the salmon swam
up the creek. The women who were cutting salmon were always seated by
Dax̣ēˊt with their backs downstream. The salmon, however, were always
rushing about down in the creek. The salmon tribe shouted about those
who were cutting. When they were partly through drying the salmon
people said to him, “Go to your mother.” His mother was cutting salmon
on the beach. The canoe floated below her on the back current. So he
floated there with his head sticking out from under it. Then she called
her husband’s attention to it. “A fine salmon is floating here with
its head out.” His father took up a hook, for he did not know that it
was his son. It swam out from him. He never expected [to see] his son
again. One year had passed since he had disappeared. At once he swam
out in front of his father. When he had hooked it he pulled it out on
a sandy bar. He hit it on the head in order to keep it fresh. Then he
threw it to his wife. “Cut it up. We will cook it,” [he said]. So she
put the salmon down to cut it up in the usual manner.
Wananīˊsawe wuduˊdzîtīn qǃēˊg̣a duīˊc yūˊnākî
At once they came to see truly his father from far up
hīn ỵîknᴀˊx ỵanaqoˊxo. “Ckǃeāˊgîtahān,” yūˊỵaodudzîqa.
creek down in coming. “Stand up,” what they said to him.
Ke ūwatᴀn.ˊ “Hᴀʟ̣agwaʟ̣aˊ” ʟa yūˊỵawaqa duʟaˊ.
Up he jumped. “Very fine,” then said his mother.
“Xāt kǃᴀdēˊn,” ʟayūˊ ᴀc ūwasāˊ duʟaˊ. ᴀtxaweˊ
“Salmon fine,” then him named his mother. After that
hīnt uwaqǃᴀˊq xāt. Dax̣ēˊt ỵîkt
up the creek swam salmon. Dax̣ēˊt down in
îxtaỵīˊn yax wusqēˊtc ca
downward [turning their backs] were always seated the women
dᴀx̣ᴀˊcî. Yuxāˊt qoˊa wuckēˊt-cādatīˊtc
cutting. The salmon, however, always rushed around
yuhīˊnỵîqǃ. Xᴀtc yūdᴀx̣acāˊayu dułēˊtcnutc yūˊxāt
down in the creek. About the cutters always shouted the salmon
qoaˊnîtc. Aỵīˊnqǃ yêduqǃâˊnawe tsa ye
tribe. Down there when they were partly through drying now so
ỵaˊodudzîqa, “Îʟāˊxᴀnde nagᵘ de.ˊ” Dᴀx̣ᴀˊc 306-5
they said to him, “To your mother go” (imp.). Was cutting
ēqqǃ duʟaˊ xāt. Yaîˊc kᴀt
on the beach his mother salmon. The back current on (or across)
wułix̣āˊc yūˊyākᵘ duēg̣ayāˊk. ᴀˊtaye nᴀˊxawe
floated the canoe below her. Under it from
dāq cwułîx̣aˊctc. Tcǃuʟeˊ duxoˊx
out (shoreward) he always floated himself. Then her husband
aỵîˊs āˊwaīqǃ. “Akǃᴀxāˊdahe hēˊnᴀx dāq
on account of it she called. “Fine salmon here from here out
cîyêˊłx̣āctc.” Kǃēˊqǃa āˊwacāt duīˊctc. ʟeł ye awuskuˊ
floats his head.” Hook took up his father. Not thus he knew
duỵīˊt sᴀtīỵîˊ. Dekīˊt wuˊʟ̣itsîs dudjînᴀˊq. De ā
his son it was. Seaward it swam from him. Now he
awułîx̣ᴀˊttc duỵīˊt. De tāk dukāˊyᴀn uwatīˊ.
did not expect ever his son. Now one year over him had been.
Wananīˊsawe āˊdāq uwakᴀˊqǃ duīˊcdjiỵīˊqǃ. 306-10
At once out from him he swam in front of his father.
Akǃēqǃawe x̣ᴀkᵘ kā awaxoˊtǃ. ᴀcāˊ
When he hooked it sandy bar on he pulled it. On head of it
awaxêˊtc tūdj sᴀkᵘ. Tcǃuʟeˊ ducᴀˊtdjīt
he hit it fresh in order to keep it. Then to his wife
awaxêˊtc. “Nax̣ᴀˊc. Gux tūsīˊt.” Tcǃuʟeˊ wâˊsa
he threw it. “Cut it up. We will cook it.” Then how
xāt cdjiỵeỵêˊn dustaˊîtc
a salmon is put down to be cut she put it
gux dux̣ᴀˊcî.
when it is going to be cut.
The Tlingit obtained copper in ancient times. A chain of twisted copper
was around the young man’s neck, for he had gone into the water with it
on. After she had tried to cut around his neck for a while, and found
that she could not, she looked at her knife. There were bits of copper
on her knife. Then she called out to her husband, “Come here.” So they
began to examine it. It was the copper chain that used to hang around
his son’s neck. Anciently the people used to have a fine woven basket
called łītǃ. As soon as he knew this he threw it into such a basket.
[He spit upon it] and blew on eagle’s down. Then he put the basket
enclosing the salmon on the roof of the house. Toward morning there was
a noise inside of it. His (the boy’s) spirit began to work inside of
it. At daybreak he went up to look at it, and a large man lay where the
salmon had been.
Tcǃu tcǃākᵘ łīngîˊt tîn kaˊodzîte yuēˊq. Eq
Then anciently Tlingit with came to be the copper. Copper
katîˊqǃayu dusᴀˊ yūˊyatǃᴀqǃᵘ. Ān
twisted chain it was his neck around the young man’s. With it
hīn xō gudīˊn. Tcǃākᵘ asᴀkᴀˊt
water into he had gone Some time around his neck
yuayetēˊgeayu ʟēł ᴀˊcdjî g̣āˊuctî, aỵᴀˊtaoʟ̣îg̣ên
when she had cut not him she could cut, she looked at
dułîˊtaỵe. Eq qǃᴀqǃêˊʟtᴀqog̣âˊyaayuˊ dułîtaˊỵê. Tcǃuʟeˊ
her knife Copper were bits of on her knife. Then
āˊwaīqǃ duxoˊx, “Hāˊgu.” ʟe adāˊ hᴀs
she called her husband, “Come here.” Then that they
ỵaodzīˊa. Duỵīˊt sēˊtkᴀtīnî ēq 307-5
came to examine. His son hung around his neck copper
katîˊqǃ gwâỵaˊ. Tcǃākᵘ qāˊdjî yên unēdjîˊn
chain was. Anciently people there used to have
łītǃ yūˊdowasakᵘ. ᴀt tcułuˊ awuskuˊuawe
[a fine-woven basket] named. As soon as he knew it
wełīˊtǃ tūˊdî āˊwaxetc. Adāˊ awuqǃâˊʟǃ.
the basket inside he threw it. On it he blew eagle’s down.
Yaˊhît kᴀqǃāˊn ke aosîtaˊ yūˊxāt łītǃ tūt.
This house on top of up he put the salmon basket inside of.
Djuqēˊqǃaawe adeˊ kaỵîˊk wudūˊwaa.
Toward morning of it on the inside there was [a noise].
Uˊxyek ūˊwatsᴀq. Qēˊnaā akekᴀˊni
His spirit commenced to work. When daylight came to look at it
ke ūˊwagut. Qā ʟēn gwâˊỵa ᴀt sᴀtāˊn, yūˊxāt 307-10
up he went. Man big it was at it lay the salmon
ỵīˊỵî.
it was.
They took their things out of all of the houses. When they brought what
had been a salmon inside a man went out and spoke to the many Kîksᴀˊdî.
“Let all the people go with their heads down.” So it was given out.
They brought up salt and devil’s clubs. As soon as they had drunk it
down in accordance with his directions they vomited. The devil’s club
and sea water were vomited out. Toward evening the shaman bathed. Below
this town is a little pond named Beating-time-for-shaman lake because
he also bathed in that. In the evening his spirits really came to
him, and blood kept running out of his mouth. The sea gull for which
he had gone out came to be his spirit. Then he showed them all things
that were to be done to the salmon down in the creek.[149] “Cut them
into four pieces,” he said. He called [the tabus] Adēyāˊ (“That’s the
way”). After that his spirits said to him, “Tie up a raft over there
on the edge of Noisy-waterfall.” He was testing his spirits to see
how strong they were. This waterfall comes down a long distance. The
Kîksᴀˊdî began to get on the raft, which his spirits named Sea-lion
raft. At once he said “Go.” He began blowing on the raft. One man was
not courageous enough to go down into the waterfall, and when the raft
went down he seized the bough of a tree at the edge of the fall. Then
it went under. It was gone for one night.
Łdakᴀˊt yūˊhîtqǃ aˊỵidᴀx gāˊniyux ᴀt
All the houses from down in them out of doors things
kaˊoduwadjêł. Ceỵadihēˊn Kîksᴀˊdîᴀqǃ yūˊxāt
they moved. Many Kîksᴀˊdî people the salmon
ỵīˊỵî tcǃuʟeˊ ūn nēł awuadeˊawe yux
what had been then with it into the house when they came out
qā qǃᴀkāwᴀnaˊ: “Ỵîn ducāˊ nag̣āadîˊ
some one he started to speak: “Down their heads let all go with
yūˊāntqēnî.” Yuayūˊ yux awaguˊt. Kē ỵaˊoduwaxa
the people.” That is how out it was given. Up they brought
ēʟǃ qa sǃᴀx̣tǃ. Yēk wududzîguˊt.
salt and devil’s club. A spirit came to be let out.
Tcǃa dōˊqǃwaya yên
Just as soon as they had drunk it up there
donaˊawe wuduʟ̣iqōˊ. Yusǃᴀˊx̣tǃ qa
according to his command they vomited. The devil’s club and
yuēˊʟǃ wuduʟ̣iqōˊ. X̣āˊnade
the sea water were vomited out. Toward evening
ỵāˊqogahaawe wudîcuˊtc yuîˊxtǃ. Aēˊqǃg̣ayā
when it was getting bathed the shaman. Below this place
hoēˊkǃᵘ ye wuduwasāˊkᵘ, 308-5
a little pond thus was named,
Xîˊdja-ēqǃî ataˊodacudjīˊdjayu.
Beating-time-for-shaman lake, because he also bathed in it.
X̣āˊnaawe qǃēˊg̣a kayēˊk wuāˊt. Doqǃēˊnᴀx
At evening truly his spirits came to him. From his mouth
cî tcǃa yūt qǃanᴀsxêˊntc, duīˊyekqǃ
blood far out ran always, his spirits
g̣āg̣aᴀˊtîn. Duyēˊgîx osîteˊ
when they would come to him. Become his spirit was
wēˊdaqa ᴀˊcuỵaodzihowu kēˊʟ̣adî. Ag̣āˊawe āˊqᴀ
that out for he came to go seagull. And then about all things
cukāˊwadja wehīˊn ỵîk xāˊdî adêˊ da gᴀx donēˊỵa.
he showed them, the creek down in salmon what to do with.
“Daqǃūˊn ỵīkᴀˊqǃ wucdᴀˊx g̣atdux̣ᴀˊctc.” Doqǃwayᴀˊx
“Four [pieces] into apart cut it.” From his mouth
ye āwasaˊ, “Adēỵaˊ.” ᴀtxaweˊ ye 308-10
thus it is called “That’s-the-way.” After that thus
aciaˊosîqa duyēˊgî, “Yūˊdo ᴀ Kēs-ᴀˊxdji-hīn ᴀqǃ
said to him his spirit, “Over there Noisy-waterfall at it
g̣adūˊsǃît xānᴀˊsǃ yuqǃāˊswᴀnkᴀqǃ.” Akūʟ̣êˊnxa
tie up a raft on the edge of the fall.” He was testing
ayuˊ duyēˊkqǃî adêˊ łîtsīˊnîỵa. Yᴀx
it was his spirits at it how strong they were. Far
g̣ałēˊ yuqǃāˊs ādeˊ uduwaqǃāˊsîỵa. Kîksᴀˊdî
it is from whence the waterfall there comes down. Kîksᴀˊdî
akᴀˊdî aˊodeha yuxāˊnᴀsǃ. Duyēˊkqǃîtc ye uwasaˊ
on to it started to get the raft. His spirits thus named it
“Tān-xāˊnᴀsǃ.” Wānanīˊsawe akāˊwana. Yuxāˊnᴀsǃ ᴀdᴀˊx
“Sea-lion-raft.” At once he said “Go.” The raft on it
qǃaodîsaˊ. Yūqǃāˊs tūˊde ỵîs yuʟēˊnᴀx qā ʟēł
he started to blow. The waterfall into for the one man not
tuwūˊwîłtsīn. Yūqǃāˊswᴀnx ʟ̣ix̣wᴀˊsǃî ᴀt tǃᴀˊne
was strong. The edge of the waterfall was hanging thing bough
aołicāˊt, yuqǃāstūˊde kᴀt caoʟ̣ixêˊdje ayuˊ
he caught, to the waterfall down into it went entirely when
yuxāˊnᴀsǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ hāỵideˊ wułīg̣āˊsǃ.
the raft. Then down underneath [the earth] it went.
ʟēqǃ uwaxeˊ.
One [night] it was there.
Next morning the noise of shamans’ sticks was heard at the mouth of the
creek. The raft came up from underneath. Meanwhile the one that had
saved himself came among his friends and told them that the Kîksᴀˊdî
were all destroyed. Therefore the women were all weeping. When the
shaman saw them he spoke. His spirits said that the people were not
hurt at all. Nor were their clothes even torn. This is why a Kîksᴀˊdî
is very brave. The man who jumped out, however, was very much ashamed.
Then they brought the people up from [the place where they had come
out].
Tsǃutāˊt hīn wᴀˊtdî akayēˊk wudūˊwaᴀx 309-5
Next morning creek at mouth of noise was heard
ᴀtxēˊtc. Haỵînᴀˊx ke ỵaˊosiqǃut
of beating for a shaman. From underneath up came
yuxāˊnᴀsǃ. Yūcwutsǃîneˊxea duxōˊnqǃî xo
the raft. The one that saved himself his friends among
ỵāˊwugut. Ye ckᴀłnīˊk Kîksᴀˊdî qot
came. So he was telling them the Kîksaˊdî lost
cūˊwax̣īx̣. Cā qoˊa g̣āxsatîˊ. Tcǃayuˊ
were all quickly. Women therefore were all weeping. Like it
îxtǃ waqcīˊỵî ayuˊ yēỵatî. Atcayuˊ ye ỵawaqaˊ.
in shaman’s sight that way it was. This is why so he said.
Duyēˊgî qǃayᴀˊx ʟēł wâˊsa āˊwanî yūˊłīngît. Aˊna
His spirits said not anyhow are hurt the people. Clothes
tsǃu ʟēł akaˊowułsǃeʟǃ. ᴀtcaweˊ Kîksᴀˊdî 309-10
also not they tore. This is why a Kîksᴀˊdî
tuwuˊłîtsīn. Yuqāˊ qoˊa kāˊdēqǃ akāˊx
is very brave. The man, however, was much ashamed from on it
adaˊqt wudjīx̣īˊx̣î. ᴀkāˊx kē ỵaduskuˊx.
out of it jumped. From on it up they brought them.
Now the spirits worked in him, and he sang for another land otter so
that the people could see his strength. He sent out his clothes man to
a point that could be seen below. “Take a spear” [he said]. He went to
it. He saw nothing, and stayed there that night. Then he
came back. When it was day he (the shaman) said, “Take me down there.”
He said, “Go around the point below here.” He said to his clothes man,
“Be brave.” Then he spit on the end of the spear. He spoke to get
strength. When he got up after speaking and threw it over the point
he hit the land otter in the tail. Now the shaman sent for it [and
said], “Take it round there.” The land otter lay stiff. The spear
was stuck into the end of its tail. This is why even now the people
call that place Point-thrown-across. He put the shadow of his paddle
against an island below this. He was going to cut off the tongue of
the land otter upon it (the shadow). This is why they named the island
Divided-by-motion-of-paddle.[150] He fasted eight days on the island,
when he cut off the land-otter tongue. Afterward he came up, and they
were going to start home from that place. He lived for more than a
hundred years. His spirits were of such strength that he lived so long
that he could just turn about in one place.
Uqǃ yēk wūˊāt. Tsǃu kūˊcta aỵāˊwacî dułatsīˊne
There spirits worked in him. Another land otter he sang for
ᴀt yᴀq dostāˊdayu. Aīˊhaiāt łu
his strength something [people] could see. Below it point
wasatīˊnqǃa adêˊ akāˊwana dōxonqāˊwo. “Wusāˊnî g̣ᴀ
could be seen to it he sent out his clothes man. “A spear for
tᴀn.” Aˊya wuquˊx. ʟēł daˊsa awustīˊn. Ā
take.” To it he went down. Not anything he saw. There
ūˊwaxe x̣āˊna. Ax ke uwaqoˊx. Tcǃuqēˊqǃaawe
he stayed that night. From it up he came. When it was daylight,
ye ỵawaqaˊ, “Āˊyā xᴀt wug̣axaˊ.” Yuîˊxtǃ ye
so he said, “Down there me take.” The shaman thus
ỵawaqaˊ, “Yaīˊx̣ nᴀxaˊ uwaqoˊx.” Ye aỵaˊosîqa
said, “This point when below go around.” Thus he said to
doxonqāˊwo, “Îguāyêˊx qǃwᴀn.” Adaˊde qǃᴀstōˊx
his clothes man, “You be brave (imp.)” On it he spit
yuāˊda kūtcǃ. Aołîhîˊk. ʟe
the spear end of. He spoke [to get strength]. Then
uwudagudeˊawe doqǃwayᴀˊx ʟe
when he got up after [saying it] with his mouth then
yūqǃakᴀˊnᴀx kē gwugugoˊawe, yukūˊcta-ʟǃīt 310-5
over the point up when he threw it, the land-otter’s tail
uwagᴀˊsǃ. ʟe akāˊwana yuîˊxtǃîtc, “Āˊnᴀx
he hit. Then sent for it and said the shaman, “Around there
āsaqoˊx dê.” Qasǃ yᴀˊxayu kaˊołîtǃîˊk yukūˊcta.
take it (imp.).” Stiff like lay the land otter.
Yuāˊda duʟǃīˊt dēˊỵax̣ᴀt. ᴀtcaweˊ
The spear its tail stuck in [the end of]. This is why
tcǃūˊỵidᴀdî qāˊwutc ye ỵasaˊkᵘ
even now the people thus call it
Yūqǃakᴀˊnᴀx-ᴀt-ỵaduguˊq. Aīˊhaỵa qǃātǃ doaxāˊỵî
The-Point-across-which-he-threw-it. Below it an island his paddle
ᴀt āˊwatsᴀq āˊya hāỵîˊ. Akᴀˊqǃ ᴀʟǃūˊtǃî
against it he put of it the shadow. On it the tongue of it
āx ᴀqgwax̣ᴀˊc yukūˊcta. ᴀˊtcawe 310-10
from it he was going to cut off the land otter. This is why
ye uduwasaˊ yuqǃāˊtǃ Wucdᴀˊx-aołîx̣īˊdia.
thus they named the island Divided-by-motion-of-paddle.
Nᴀsǃg̣aducuˊ akāˊ qǃēˊwaxe yuqǃāˊtǃ yukūˊcta ʟǃūˊtǃî
Eight [days] on it he fasted the island the land otter tongue
āˊwux̣ᴀcî. ᴀtxaweˊ kē uwaqoˊx. Yūāˊnqǃ de kē
when he cut it. After that up he came. That place now up
nag̣oˊxłag̣āsǃ. ʟēqǃ hᴀˊndît tāk qaacūˊnᴀx
they were going to start home from. One hundred years more than
yē ỵikawaỵāˊtǃ ag̣aˊ qōdzîtīˊỵiỵa.
so they were long for it he came to live.
Wūcduwag̣êˊg̣īn ỵawanuˊktc duyēˊkqǃê
He just turned around in one place, he came so that his spirits
adêˊ łîtsīnîyēˊtcayu ỵāg̣ānaˊ.
then were of such strength when he was dying.
FOOTNOTES:
[147] This is the Sitka version of the story.
[148] An exchange of taunts.
[149] That is, the tabus.
[150] By a mere motion of his paddle he cut off the land otter’s tongue.
100. MOLDY-END[151]
The Sitka Kîksᴀˊdî have a salmon stream called Dax̣ēˊt, and the father
of Lively-frog-in-pond went there to camp. The boy was playing on the
beach. Afterward Lively-frog-in-pond caught sea gulls by means of bait.
Then he was hungry, and went into the house. He cried for something to
eat. He asked for a piece of dry salmon, and they gave him a piece of
dry salmon that was half moldy. He said, “Why did you give me a piece
that is half moldly?” Then he threw it into the corner of the house.
Again he went to pull in a sea gull. When the sea gull swam out from
him he waded out and fell into a hole. He was nowhere to be seen.
YūˊCīˊtǃka a Kîksᴀˊdî āˊỵê hᴀs qoˊsatᴀntcyê ye
The Sitka Kîksᴀˊdî they have a salmon stream thus
dowasāˊkᵘ Dᴀx̣ēˊt. Akǃᵘtatsīˊn īc akōˊ wudzitāˊn.
called Dax̣ēˊt. Lively-frog’s father there came to camp.
Yuỵadᴀˊkǃu qosūˊkǃu īqqǃ. Adᴀˊxayu Ākǃᵘtatsīˊn
The boy was playing on the beach. After it Lively-frog
yukēˊʟ̣adî ᴀsǃnūˊtǃa. Adᴀˊx duīˊt yān uwahaˊ.
sea gulls caught with bait. And then to him hunger was.
Nēłeˊ wugūˊt. ᴀt yāntc wudzîgāˊx.
Into the house he went. Something to eat he cried for.
ᴀtqēˊcî āwaxōˊx. Doqǃwēˊx wuduwatiˊ 311-5
A piece of dry salmon he asked for. His mouth they gave for
yuᴀtqēˊcî, ᴀcuwuˊ wudîʟᴀˊx. Ye ỵawaqaˊ,
a piece of dry salmon half of which was moldy. Thus he said,
“Tsǃᴀs ᴀcuwuˊ wudîʟᴀˊxe a kᵘcēˊgî?”
“Only half moldy is why did you give me?”
Qaqǃēˊx ỵīˊti yūˊde ke awułîdjuˊqǃ. Tsǃu wugūˊt
Corner of house was into it up he threw it. Again he went
yukēˊʟ̣ᴀdi ᴀsnūˊtaỵe de. Adᴀˊx yukēˊʟ̣ᴀdî
the sea gulls he was pulling in to. After it the sea gull
dudjînᴀˊq dāk nᴀkwᴀˊn tcǃuʟeˊ hūtc tsǃu dāk
from him out was swimming then he also out
acuyêˊnᴀskwᴀn. Tcǃuʟeˊ qâkx wukwāˊn dukanᴀˊx qōˊcᴀkᴀn
waded. Then out he waded from him a hole
duwakoˊ. Tsǃu ʟēł dekīˊ awustīˊn.
he fell into. Again not out there he was seen.
Now his father missed him and said, “Where is my child?” He said this
to his wife. Then they got up. They looked outside. They called to
him, “Lively-frog-in-pond, where are you?” They looked everywhere.
They called to everything. Then they went to the place where he had
baited his traps, and saw his tracks leading into the water. They wept,
saying, “What has become of you, my son?” The man waded out, crying,
looking for his son. Then they did not sleep looking for their son.
They hunted everywhere for him. Next morning they went into the water
and along the shore. They had not eaten anything since their son was
lost. They hunted for him all summer. After they had hunted for him for
months they gave up looking.
Adᴀˊx duīˊctc wusīhaˊ ye ỵawaqaˊ, “Gusūˊ 311-10
Then his father missed him thus and said, “Where is
ᴀxỵīˊtkǃ.” Ducᴀˊt ye ᴀdaỵaqaˊ. Adᴀˊx tcǃuʟeˊ hᴀs
my child?” His wife so he spoke to. After it then they
wudînāˊq. Gᴀˊndî hᴀs qotīˊs. Adᴀˊx hᴀs aīˊqǃ
got up. Outside they looked. After it they called to him,
“Ākǃᵘtatsīˊn gusūˊ we ê?” Hᴀs qocīˊ āg̣aˊ.
“Lively-frog, where are you?” They looked everywhere for him.
Tcᴀwaỵîˊqǃ hᴀs aīˊqǃ Adᴀˊx ᴀqǃᵘ ᴀsnūˊtǃaỵê
Then they called to everything. After it at it he had baited
ᴀt hᴀs uwaᴀˊt aqǃoˊs-ītiˊ hᴀs aosîtīˊn tcǃuʟeˊ
there they went his tracks they saw then
hīnx hᴀs akāˊwusîke. Hᴀs g̣ᴀˊxsatê ye hᴀs
into the water they went. They crying thus they
qǃaỵaqaˊ “Wāˊsᴀ īˊwani ᴀxỵīˊtǃ?” Adᴀˊkdage
said to [him] “What has become of you, my son?” Outward
nakwᴀˊn g̣āx tīn duỵīˊtg̣a qutīˊsǃ yuqāˊ. Adᴀˊx
he was wading crying with for his son looking the man. Then
tcūł hᴀs uxêˊqǃᵘ xō hᴀs qucīˊ hᴀsduỵīˊtg̣a.
never they slept while they hunted for their son.
Djᴀłdakᴀˊt ỵēt hᴀs qocīˊ āx 312-5
Everywhere [their] son they hunted for after it
tsǃutāˊt yūhīˊn tāq qā yên tcukaˊ. ʟēł hᴀs
in the morning the water in and along the shore. Not they
ᴀt uxwaˊ tcǃu hᴀsduỵīˊt łqōˊwustīỵî dᴀx. Adᴀˊx
thing ate then their son was lost since. After it
djᴀłdakᴀˊt yukutāˊn hᴀs qocīˊ hᴀsduỵīˊtg̣a. Adᴀˊx dîs
everywhere all summer they hunted for their son. Then months
cūwax̣īˊx̣ ag̣āˊ hᴀs qociỵîˊ ā hᴀs
were all past for him they hunted after which they
aołîx̣āˊtc.
gave up looking.
Lively-frog-in-pond had been captured by the salmon people, however,
who swam out with him. They looked to him like human beings. Then they
came to the salmon people’s village with him. He pouted all the time
because he was always hungry. Then the salmon people said, “Let us go
with him to Amusement creek.” So they went with him to the creek. They
put his arms around the necks of sand-hill cranes at the creek’s mouth.
Adᴀˊxayu Akǃᵘtatsīˊn qoˊa xāt qoaˊnitc ᴀsgīˊyu
After it Lively-frog, however, salmon people were
wusînēˊx. Duīˊn yā ỵᴀnᴀkwᴀˊn tcǃayeˊ 312-10
captured him. With him there were swimming those
łīngîˊt yêx duwag̣eˊ ỵᴀtiˊ. Adᴀˊx duīˊn xāt qoaˊnî
people like his eyes were in. Then with him salmon people’s
ānîˊt ỵāwagūˊ. Adᴀˊx ʟēł tucqēˊnutc tcᴀʟᴀˊkᵘ
to village they got. Then he was pouting all the time because
duīˊt yān uhaˊîtc. Adᴀˊx yūˊxāt qoaˊnî ye
to him hunger was always. Then the salmon people thus
ỵaˊwaqa, “Duīˊn ỵᴀkᵘnᴀˊg̣ahā Kātᴀˊxwᴀxsᴀkᴀ-hīˊnî de.” Adᴀˊx
said, “With him let us go Amusement creek to.” Then
duīˊn ỵᴀkuwuhāˊ yuhīˊndê. Adᴀˊx asēˊnᴀx
with him they went to the creek. Then around neck of
djīˊỵᴀnduwatiˊ yuhīˊn wᴀt dūˊłî.
they put his hands the creek at mouth of sand-hill cranes.
Afterward he was always hungry. But when he began to take some eggs
from among those on the beach, they shouted, “Moldy-end is eating eggs
along the beach of the town,”[152] and he felt badly.
Adᴀˊxawe duīˊt yān uhāˊîtc. Ādᴀˊx yuāˊnig̣ayā
Then to him hunger always was. Then on beach of the town
qᴀhāˊkᵘ cīỵᴀdihēˊn qa ỵᴀtǃēˊnᴀx ᴀkaodicāˊt.
eggs were many and from among them he began to take.
Ketǃāˊn duwaîˊqǃ “Cᴀnyāˊkǃᵘʟāx ān îg̣ayaˊ qᴀhāˊgu
They were shouting, “Moldy-end town along beach of eggs
aỵaxāˊ.” Adᴀˊx dutūˊwu yên ēkᵘ.
is eating.” Then his feelings were bad.
Next door to the place where he lived the people were always dancing.
After a while he looked into the house where they were dancing, and
his face was all over fish eggs. It was the herring people dancing for
joy. One woman called him aside and said to him, “Do you remember when
you said something against the salmon people? That is why they have
captured you.” She said to him, “Do you know the creek over there? When
you are hungry roast salmon from it in the fire and eat them there.
After you have eaten, put all your leavings into the water and your
roasting sticks also, in order to wash the leavings off.” When he was
hungry he did just the way he had been told. When he was very hungry
again he went to get another salmon. He ate it. Just as he had been
told, he put his leavings into the water. He washed off his roasting
stick. That evening, however, the eye of the salmon people’s chief was
sore. He cried with it, and did not sleep. Then the woman said to him,
“Do you know where you cooked? Perhaps you left the eye there.” He
found it, and when he had obeyed her directions the eye was cured.
Atǃūˊk dukîdaˊ kadeˊ ỵᴀg̣asēˊtc ᴀʟǃēˊx.
Next door to the place where he lived always went on dancing.
Anᴀˊx nēł aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn yuˊa 313-5
After that into the house he looked where
ᴀduʟǃēˊxe. Tcǃuʟeˊ duyakîˊk āˊneł awutiỵîˊ
dancing was going on. Then his face inside it was
djᴀłdakᴀˊt duyakîˊk g̣āqǃᵘ wusîˊti. Hᴀdju yao qoaˊnî
all his face fish eggs was. Because herring people
aˊyu ᴀʟᴀˊkᵘ ᴀʟǃēˊx hᴀsdutūwuˊ sîguˊ.
it was for it dancing for it their feelings were happy.
He adᴀˊx ʟēˊnᴀx cāwᴀˊttc wuxōˊx ye ᴀcdaỵaqaˊ
There was there one woman called him thus said to him,
“Îsîkūˊ gî xāt qoaˊnîx
“Do you know ? salmon people
qǃᴀˊnaqeʟ̣îg̣ᴀˊt ᴀ aˊya
when you ever said anything against that is why
iˊusînēx.” Adᴀˊx ye ᴀciaˊosîqa, “Isîkūˊ ge
they captured you.” Then thus she said to him, “Do you know ?
hēx kāˊwadaỵî hīn. Ayîˊk dᴀx xāt nᴀdᴀˊx
that is there creek. Down in it from salmon from at
gᴀnēłtsîˊkx tcǃᴀgūˊqǃsa îīˊx yānhaˊ. 313-10
roast by the fire and eat it to you when there is hunger.
Adᴀˊx yên îxaỵîˊ îˊqǃaite djᴀłdakᴀˊt
Then there after you have eaten your leavings all
hīˊndê yē yunᴀsnīˊk, îtsīˊgî-dāˊa tsǃu
into the water then put your roasting stick also
ᴀdāˊdᴀx yūˊnawusǃk.” Tcǃuʟeˊ duīˊt yān
from on it to wash off the leavings.” Then to him hunger
wuhaỵîˊ tcǃᴀ wāˊsᴀ cūˊkᴀn duwᴀdjāˊ tcǃᴀ ayᴀˊx qōwanūˊkᵘ.
being just how all he was told just like it he did.
Adᴀˊx tsǃu aʟēˊn duīˊt yān uwahaˊ tsǃu wugūˊt
Then again very much to him hunger was again he went
ag̣ᴀˊtag̣êt. Ādᴀˊx awaxaˊ duqǃwaīˊtê.
to get another salmon. Then he ate what he got for his mouth.
Ādeˊ cukduˊ djēsîỵêˊ tcǃᴀ ayêˊx duqǃaīˊtê
There all as he was told right like it his leavings
hīˊndê ye aosîˊnê dutsīˊgî tsǃu ᴀdaˊ
into the water thus he put his roasting stick also from it
wuūˊsǃ. Adᴀˊx x̣āˊna xāt qoaˊnî anqāˊwo
washed. Then in the evening salmon people’s chief
dūˊwaq yanīˊkᵘ. ᴀdjiỵīˊt cdaˊỵᴀduqᴀ. ʟēł
his eye was were sore. On account of it he cried. Not
wutēˊx. Adᴀˊxayu cāˊwᴀt ye ᴀcaˊosîqa, “Isîkūˊ gî 314-5
he slept. Then woman so said to him, “Do you know ?
yūˊa ᴀt gaỵîsīˊỵiỵê? Gwᴀł a kao-ux̣īˊx̣
where things you cooked? Perhaps there you left
yuqāˊwag̣ê.” Adᴀˊx qoˊa ye awūˊsniỵî ît yūˊanqawo
the eye.” Then, however, so having done to the chief
tcǃuʟeˊ wunēˊx duwāˊq.
then was cured his eye.
After this the woman said to him, “They are going to start home with
you.” Then all of the salmon people started home with him. Afterward,
while the salmon people were swimming along, they spoke of the sīt, of
which they were frightened. By and by they came in sight of the sīt. It
opened and shut. When the salmon went through it, some of them would be
cut in two. Now they passed through. They saw canoes [of the herring
people] coming to meet them. “We have done all of our work before you”
[said they. They answered] “When will your cheek-flesh save the person
that eats it?” “Our eggs are our cheek-flesh.”
Adᴀˊx yūˊcāwᴀt ye ᴀciaˊosîqa, “De îānêˊde
Then the woman thus said to him, “Away to your home
îīˊn ke ᴀt g̣ᴀx dux̣ūˊn.” Adᴀˊx djîłdakᴀˊt
with you up they are going to start.” Then all
yūˊxāt qoaˊnî duīˊn ᴀt wux̣ūˊn duānîˊde.
the salmon people with him started to his home.
He-adᴀˊx ye ỵânakwᴀˊn yūˊxāt qoaˊnî
While from this thus were swimming along the salmon people
kᴀdunīˊk sîīˊt hᴀs ᴀkᵘʟ̣îxēˊʟ yūˊxāt qoaˊnî. 314-10
mentioned sîīt they were frightened the salmon people.
Wananīˊsayu wududzîtīˊn yusîīˊt. Wuˊctê yukudînūˊkᵘ.
At last they came to see the sîīt. Together it would close.
Anᴀˊxayu yêˊnaā yūˊxāt. Adᴀˊxayu
Through it would go [to their creeks] the salmon. Then
ᴀˊxoa yūˊxāt kāxdūˊtc. Adᴀˊxayu anᴀˊq
among them the salmon would be cut in two. Then through it
hᴀs wūˊha. Hᴀs aˊosîtēn hᴀsdug̣ēˊdî ỵânaguˊ wēˊyākᵘ.
they came. They saw to meet them were coming the canoes.
“Ỵīˊcukᴀt qōˊya kᴀntuˊłî ʟēł ỵīdᴀˊdî gwedjîˊtc.” “Ỵīˊwᴀctu
“All before you we have all done our work.” “Your cheek
qǃoˊxōtc qog̣āˊxsînēx dēˊdjᴀᴀxaˊ.” “Awᴀctuˊ qǃoˊxo
flesh [when] will save whoever eats it.” “Cheek flesh
ayuˊ hag̣āˊqǃu.” 314-15
are our eggs.”
Then the salmon gathered together. They said to one another, “Where
are you going?” and some said, “We to the Stikine,” others, “To
Chilkat,” others, “To Taku,” others, “To Nass,” others, “To Alsek.”
They mentioned all of these rivers. After that the canoe came to the
mouth of the river. They said, “Stand up in the canoe and see where
we are.” Then one stood up in the canoe to look around. The salmon
would say, “Is the fort ready?” and one would go up to look. What they
called a fort was a salmon trap. Every time he came back he said, “It
will soon be ready.” By and by he said it was ready. Then the salmon
people went thither. The salmon people entered the creek. They were
very happy. The evening after they went to surround the fort. All the
salmon went up in the creek in two schools. Then his mother, who was
cutting down on the beach, saw Lively-frog-in-pond. He thought he was
going to his mother. Then his mother called to his father to come and
spear him. He swam close to her. Then she called out to him again, “A
fine salmon is swimming around here.” So his father speared him. He
lost consciousness. Afterward the man said to his wife, “Cut it to use
it fresh.” But when she was trying to cut off its head it seemed hard
for her to use her knife, and she saw the copper that had been about
her son’s neck. Then she cried out, “This is my little son. He must
have been captured by the salmon people. Here is the copper ring that
was around his neck.” Now she took out a mat with feathers inside of
it. She laid the mat down and put the feathers around the salmon. After
that she put the mat on top of the house. In the house, however, they
kept singing shamans’ songs for him.
Adᴀˊxayu wucxᴀˊnt hᴀs ỵaˊodîgu yūˊxāt. Ye hᴀs
Then together they got the salmon. Thus they
qǃāˊỵaqa, “Gudēˊsa ỵīˊỵᴀkᵘgwaha.” ᴀxōˊa ye
said to each other, “Which way are you going?” Among them thus
ỵawaqaˊ, “Ohāˊn qōˊa Stîqǃhīˊndê,” ᴀxōˊa, “Qōˊa
some said, “We now to the Stikine,” others, “Now
Djîłqāˊtdê,” ᴀxōˊa, “Tǃaqoˊdê,” ᴀxōˊa, “Nāˊsdê,” ᴀxōˊa,
to Chilkat,” others, “To Taku,” others, “To Nass,” others,
“Ałsēˊxdê.” Djîłdakᴀˊt yahīˊn hᴀs awasāˊkᵘ. 315-5
“To Alsek.” All these rivers they mentioned.
Adᴀˊxawe hīn wᴀtt wusǃîx̣īˊx̣ wēˊxāt. Ye
Then river to the mouth of got the salmon. So
qoỵāˊwaqa, “Yākᵘ nᴀx āˊgūx dᴀhāˊnî.”
they said, “Canoe from where [we are] stand up and see.”
Adᴀˊxayu qᴀduˊ ke wutāˊnî ᴀsgēˊyu yākᵘ nᴀx
Then to see out was inside canoe from
wudîhāˊn. Adᴀˊxayu yūˊxāt ye hᴀs ỵânaqēˊtc,
started to stand. Then the salmon thus they would say,
“Yūˊnū ᴀgîˊ ʟēł yên unīˊtc.” Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟēˊnᴀx
“The fort ? not there is ready.” Then one
ᴀkīkᴀˊndî akᴀˊnduqēˊtc. Hᴀdjuˊ yucāˊł ᴀˊsgîyu
to go up to see they told. This a salmon trap was that
yunūˊwu ye hᴀs aỵasāˊkᵘ. Tcǃuʟeˊ qox wudaqǃāˊktc 315-10
a fort thus they called. Then back every time he came
ye ỵânaqēˊtc “Deyêˊndê ỵanᴀnīˊn.” Wananīˊsayu
thus he was always saying “Soon it will be ready.” At last
yên uwanīˊ ye ỵawaqaˊ. Xāt qoaˊnî de yên uwanīˊ.
there was ready so he said. Salmon people thither went.
Tcǃuʟeˊ hīn uwaqǃᴀˊq yūˊxāt. ʟᴀx hᴀsdutuwuˊ
Then creek went in the salmon. Very their minds
yukǃeˊ. He adᴀˊx yux̣āˊna ᴀdadeˊ āˊwaāt
the goodness. After this the evening to surround [they] went
yūnūˊ. Adᴀˊx djîłdakᴀˊt yūˊxāt dēxnayêˊx
the fort. Then all the salmon in two schools
hīnt ỵāˊwaa. Adᴀˊx aîˊt aosîtīˊn duʟāˊ
in the creek went. Then there saw his mother
īg̣edᴀx̣ᴀˊc Akǃᵘtatsīˊn. Adᴀˊx duʟāˊ xᴀˊndî
cutting down on the beach Lively-frog. Then his mother to
ỵānaguˊt dutuwuˊtc. Tcǃuʟeˊ duʟāˊtc tǃaˊỵawaqā 315-15
he was going he thought. Then his mother called to
duīˊctc g̣ᴀtag̣êˊt qᴀˊdju ᴀxᴀˊnt ᴀˊskî ūwaqǃᴀˊq.
his father to come and spear him to her [so] close he swam.
Adᴀˊx tsǃu aîˊt tsǃu ᴀt aỵawaqāˊ, “Akǃêˊ xāt
Then again to him again she called out, “A fine salmon
hēx uwaqǃᴀˊq.” Adᴀˊx qōˊa duīˊctc uwatᴀˊq.
around here swims.” Then, however, his father speared him.
Tcǃuʟeˊ ʟēł ctāx aodanuˊkᵘ
Then not of imself he had consciousness
wudutāˊg̣ê. Adᴀˊx qōˊa ducᴀˊt ye
as soon as he was speared. Then, however, his wife thus
aỵaˊosîqa, “Tūdj sᴀkᵘ nᴀx̣ᴀˊc.” Adᴀˊx qōˊa kāx
he said to, “Fresh [to use] for cut it.” Then, however, off
yᴀx āsaỵaˊʟîqǃ, yêtīˊqǃ dułîˊtaỵî
like she was trying to cut its head to cut off her knife
ᴀt yuỵᴀcîˊqǃēłk dāˊsayu. Aosîtīˊn duỵīˊt 316-5
something the hard for her how was it. She looked her son’s
sî ēq kᴀtîˊqǃî. Tcǃuʟeˊ ke ctǃaỵaˊodîqa, “ᴀxỵīˊtkǃ
neck copper twist. Then out she cried, “My little son
ᴀsgēˊya xāt qoaˊnitc ᴀˊskǃî wusnexêˊn.
this is salmon people by he must have been captured.
Dusēˊt kᴀłīˊnî ēq kᴀtîˊqǃ aˊya ỵāˊtî.” Tcǃuʟeˊ g̣ātc
His neck was around copper ring this is.” Then mat
īˊqg̣e awacᴀˊt qǃoaʟǃᴀtūˊ. Ye aỵaūˊ
down she took with feathers into it. As follows she put
yug̣ātc. Tcǃuʟeˊ yūxāˊt daỵêˊ awaūˊ yuqǃoaˊʟǃ. Adᴀˊx
the mat. Then the salmon around she put the feathers. Then
yuhîˊt ka yên aosîtaˊ yug̣āˊtc. Nēł qoˊa 316-10
the house on there she put the mat. In the house, however
tcᴀʟᴀˊkᵘ îxtǃ cīˊỵê ducîˊ dudāˊqǃ.
always shaman singing his songs for him.
In the middle of the night something shook on top of the house.
Looking at his son, the man saw that he had become a human being about
his head. When he looked at him again, he saw that he had become
a human being still farther down. Then he looked at him again. He
was become entirely human. After that they heard a spirit talking
to him. The spirit inside of him said, “I am Moldy-end-of-salmon.
It is I.” “It is I,” said another spirit inside of him, “It is I,
Sand-hill-crane-at-the-mouth-of-Amusement-creek.” Another spirit in him
said, “It is I, Sīt spirit.” And the woman that had helped him also
became his spirit, saying, “It is I, Woman spirit.” Another one said
inside of him, “It is I, Herring spirit.” Then another one spoke inside
of him, saying, “It is I, Salmon-people’s-canoe spirit, I.”
Adᴀˊx qoˊa adeˊ kaodinêˊt yūˊtāt ỵīn
Then, however, there he was shaking the night middle of
yuhîˊt kādêˊ. Adᴀˊx qoˊa yuqāˊ duỵīˊt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn
the house on top of. Then, however, the man his son looked at
aosîtēˊn ducāˊnᴀx qoˊa tcǃuʟeˊ łīngîˊtx
[and] saw from his head, however, then become a human being
sîtiˊ. Adᴀˊx tsǃu a-îˊt ᴀt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn dāsayuˊ dukᴀtūˊt
he was. Then again at him here he looked how into his
dᴀx dukîˊndî łīngîˊtx sîtiˊ. Adᴀˊx a-îˊt
from farther down become a human being was. Then at him
tsǃu ᴀt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn. Djîłdakᴀˊt łīngîˊtx
again there he looked. The whole thing become a human being
sîtiˊ. Adᴀˊx a-îˊt adeˊ yēk dutuˊ yuqǃayatᴀˊnk.
was. Then at it there spirits in him they heard talking.
Adᴀˊx qoˊa yē qǃaỵaqᴀˊ, “Xᴀtaˊỵa Cᴀnyakǃᵘʟāˊx, ᴀxāt,ˊ”
Then, however, thus it said, “I am Moldy-end, it is I.”
yūqǃỵaqᴀ yuyēˊk dutūˊqǃ. “Xᴀtaˊỵa,” yuqǃaỵaqaˊ
said the spirit inside of him. “It is I,” said
dutūˊqǃ yuyēˊk,
inside of him the spirit,
“Qatukwᴀˊx-sᴀka-hīˊnî-wᴀtkᴀ-dūˊłî, aˊỵa xᴀt.” 317-5
“Sand-hill-crane-at-mouth-of-Amusement-creek, it is I.”
Tsǃu ye ỵawaqaˊ yuyēˊk dutūˊqǃ, “Xᴀˊtaỵa
Again thus said the spirit inside of him. “It is I
Sîīt-koyēˊga xᴀt.” Adᴀˊx yūˊcāwᴀt ᴀcukawudjāˊỵî tsǃu
Sīt spirit I.” Then the woman that had helped him also
duyēˊgîx osîteˊ, “Xᴀtaˊỵa, Cāwᴀˊt-qoyēˊk ᴀˊxᴀt.”
become his spirit was, “It is I, Woman spirit, it is I.”
Adᴀˊx tsǃu dutūˊqǃ ye aỵāˊwaqa, “Xᴀtaˊỵa,
Then again inside of him thus said, “It is I,
yao-qoyēˊk ᴀˊxᴀt.” Adᴀˊx tsǃu a-îˊt tsǃu dutūˊqǃ
Herring spirit, I.” Then another one inside of him
āqǃaodîtaˊ, “Xᴀˊtaỵe Kēˊʟ̣adî-qoyēˊk axᴀˊt.” Adᴀˊx
spoke, saying, “It is I, the Sea-gull spirit I.” Then
tsǃu a-îˊt ye ỵawaqaˊ dutūˊqǃ, “Xᴀtaˊỵa, 317-10
another thus spoke inside of him, “It is I,
Xāt-qoaˊnî-yāˊgu-qoyēˊk, ᴀxᴀˊt.”
Salmon-people’s canoe spirit, I.”
After that his father came to him, and the shaman said, “Clean
everything in the house thoroughly.” Again he said, “The young women
must never live in this house but in another.” He also said, “Put clean
sand around the fireplace inside. Never let a woman look at me.” The
spirit was singing in him. Then he went into a trance, wrapped in a
mat. He was brought into the house. There they put eagle down upon his
mouth. He sang in the house, walking around the fire. Then his spirit
asked to have a rattle made for him. He also said an apron should be
made for him. So his rattle was made like the sǃūsǃ,[153] but his apron
was designed like the sīt. His drum was painted with the sand-hill
crane. Afterward his bone necklace was made of pieces like salmon and
herring. Then the spirit inside of him danced. He saw the salmon very
plainly as if they were people about him. Then he would talk with the
salmon people, and he became a very wonderful shaman. His friends
learned to obey him absolutely. Whatever he foretold came to pass. He
told them that there was going to be a death before it happened. If a
person was going to be saved it happened according to his prediction.
If he told them to go hunting in a canoe and informed them what they
were going to get, they got it.
Adᴀˊx duīˊc duxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt. Yē qǃaỵaqaˊ
Then his father to him came. Thus said to him
yuîˊxtǃ, “Wēˊnēłỵi łdakᴀˊt tcēqǃ āxgᴀˊndî
the shaman, “In inside of the house all things dirty outside
naiūˊsǃ.” Adᴀˊx tsǃu ye qǃaỵaqᴀˊ, “Yīs acaˊ łîł
put.” Then again thus he said, “Young women never
wēˊnełqǃ ye tcᴀg̣ōˊt āhîˊt ỵīqǃ ye hᴀs nᴀgᴀtiˊ.”
in the house thus another house down in so they will be.”
Adᴀˊx tsǃu ye ỵawaqaˊ, “Wēˊnēłye gᴀˊnda
Then again so he said, “Inside the house around the fireplace
kǃêdēˊn naiʟǃēˊwu.” Adᴀˊx tsǃu ye ỵawaqaˊ, 317-15
it is well you put clean sand.” Then again thus he said,
“Łîł cāwᴀˊt xāx ułg̣enêˊq.” ᴀt cî yūˊyēk
“Never woman at me allow to look.” Was singing the spirit
dutuˊ. Adᴀˊx yūˊg̣ātc tūqǃ kaołîtǃîˊk. Adᴀˊx
in him. Then a mat inside of he went into a trance. Then
nēł wuduwacᴀˊt. Nēłqǃ qǃoaʟǃ
inside the house he was brought. At the house eagle down
duqǃweˊ ye duwauˊ. Adᴀˊx ᴀt cîˊ nēłqǃ.
his mouth thus they put on. Then he sang in the house.
Tcǃuʟeˊ gᴀˊnda ỵᴀgūˊt. Adᴀˊx duyēˊgî qǃa yᴀx
Then around the fire he walked. Then his spirit voice like
cecuˊx wuduʟ̣îyᴀˊx dudjiỵîˊs. Tsǃu dukǃêdēˊdî sᴀkᵘ āˊkadjî
rattle to have made for him. Also his apron for him on him
kāˊwaqa. Adᴀˊx ducecūˊxu qoˊa 318-5
he said should be made. Then his rattle however
sǃūsǃ yêx wuduʟ̣îyêˊx dukǃîdeˊdî qoˊa sîīˊt yêx
(a water bird) like was made his apron however sīt like
kᴀndūˊdjîxît. Dugāˊwu dūˊłi yêx kᴀndudjîxîˊt. Adᴀˊx
was designed. His drum sand-hill crane like they painted. Then
dusǃᴀqseˊdî wuduʟ̣îyêˊx xāt yêx qa yao yêx
his bone necklace was made salmon like and herring like
yên duʟ̣îyêˊx. Adᴀˊx aʟǃēˊx yēk dutūˊqǃ. Adᴀˊx
there they made. Then danced spirit inside of him. Then
yuxāˊt ʟᴀx wāˊsᴀ aỵatīˊn uwaỵaˊ tcᴀ duyêˊx
the salmon very who he saw [plainly] was as if around him
łīngîˊt yêx. Adᴀˊx yuxāˊt qoaˊnî tîn yuqǃoˊłaᴀtgînutc. 318-10
people like. Then the salmon people with he would talk.
ʟᴀx wâˊsa qayaˊ qot wuneỵîˊ îxtǃîˊx sitîˊ.
Very how person wonderful become a shaman he was.
Yudoxōˊnqǃî ʟᴀx wâˊsa doqǃwaˊ yêx
His friends very how his mouth like
qodzitiˊ. Tcǃᴀ dāˊsa ᴀkᴀnīˊk tcǃuʟeˊ
came to be (i. e., to obey him) Whatever he told then
ayêˊx yuỵatīˊk. Qokᵘgwanāˊwu tcǃuʟeˊ
like it was. If there were going to be a death then
qōn yuᴀkānîˊk. Qayeˊ
before [it happened] he told them. If a person
qōˊkᵘgwanēxe tcǃuʟeˊ yuᴀkanîˊkk ayêˊx
was going to be saved then the way he told them like it
yūˊỵᴀtīk. Yên cūˊdê naqoˊx yuyukoỵasîqēˊk
it was. When to hunt they went by canoe the way he told them
dāˊsᴀ g̣ᴀx dudjāˊq qōn yuᴀkāˊỵanîkk.
what they were going to kill before he had told them.
Then he said, “Do not take me to town right away, but in the middle
of winter.” They did so. They stayed there with him. They took him to
the town in the very middle of winter. Then the town people were very
anxious to go out to see him. He said that a fine man would be sick
very soon, and they believed him. So a good man did fall sick, and they
paid him to treat him. Then he became rich. The people of his town
said, “Let whoever is going to look on, fast.” All the town people
fasted because they wanted to see what he would do. Then he would act
like the salmon, the herring, the sand-hill crane, and the sīt. They
were surprised to see all the things he did. The young women, however,
did not look at him. When he was going to eat, he ate only those things
which his spirit had purified for him, and, when he was going to drink
water, the spirit also made that clean for him. He ate only after his
spirit had said, “You will eat this, my master.” He did all things as
his spirit directed him. He did not eat anything fresh. He was not
married. Whatever the spirit told him to do, he did. For that reason he
lived a long time. And although he lived to be very old his head did
not become white.
Qa ye qǃaỵaqᴀˊ, “Łîł tcǃa yūk ānx ᴀxīˊn
People thus he said, “Never right out to the town with me
ỵīułg̣āˊsǃî ʟᴀx tāˊguỵīnqǃ tsa.” Ayêˊx
you go but right in the middle of winter so.” Like it
wutiˊ. ʟēł duīˊn naheˊułgᴀstc. ʟᴀx tāˊkᵘỵīn
they did. Not with him they stayed there. Very middle of winter
tsa duīˊn ān aołîgāˊsǃ. Adᴀˊx qoˊa ʟᴀx
indeed with him town they took him to. Then, however, very
yūk dūˊwadjīk yūˊāntqenitc. Adᴀˊx ye
out were anxious to go out to see him the town people. Then so
qǃaỵaqaˊ ʟēˊnᴀx yᴀkǃēˊỵî qa kēkᵘg̣wᴀnīˊkᵘ. ʟᴀx 319-5
he said one was good man would be sick soon. Very
dokǃēˊ ᴀduwahīˊn. Ayᴀˊx wutīˊ ʟēˊnᴀx yukǃēˊỵî qa
they believed him. Like it it was one was good man
wunīˊkǃᵘ. ᴀkᴀˊqǃ wuduwahiˊ āwasêˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ ānqāˊwo
fell sick. To him they paid to treat. Then rich man
wusîtiˊ. Duāntqenîˊ ye aỵaˊosîqa, “Qǃᴀg̣axeỵîˊ adōˊsᴀ
he became. His town people thus said, “Let fast whoever
ᴀt g̣ox łatīˊn.” Tcᴀłdakᴀˊt yuāntqenîˊ qǃexēˊtc
is going to look on.” All the town people would fast
wāˊsa yūk dūˊwadjīk. He-adᴀˊx
how out they wanted to see what he would do. After this
yūˊxāt qa yūˊyao qa yudūˊł qa yusîīˊt
the salmon and the herring and the sand-hill crane and the sīt
tcᴀ wāˊsa kunūguˊn djîłdakᴀˊt wutiˊ. ʟᴀx qaỵaˊ 319-10
just how they would do all he did. Very person
qot wunêˊ djᴀtdakᴀˊt wuctīˊn kᴀdunīˊk. Yuyīˊs
were surprised at all with himself he did. The young
ca qoˊa ʟēł ᴀc ūłtīˊn. Kayūˊ ᴀt
women, however not him saw. When things
gugwaxāˊỵî ʟēł tcǃᴀ kugēˊỵî tsǃᴀs duyēˊgitc
he was going to eat not he did so only (until) his spirit
kǃêdēˊn wūsniỵîˊ tsǃa ᴀt uxwaˊîtc. Qa hīn
clean made for him only things he ate. And water
ᴀguˊx dᴀnaîˊ tsǃu yuyēˊktc kǃêdēˊn
when he was going to drink also the spirit clean
yusînīˊk. Dāˊsᴀỵ duyēˊgîtc ye ỵaosîqaˊ, “Yūtǃᴀˊt
made it for him. When his spirit like said to him, “This
gᴀg̣eˊxa, ᴀxsǃāˊtî.” ᴀg̣aˊ tsᴀ ᴀxēˊx. 319-15
you will eat, my master.” After that only he ate it.
Djᴀłdakᴀˊt-ᴀt tsǃᴀs duyēˊgî qǃᴀqāˊk tsǃᴀˊtsᴀ ᴀqǃayêˊx
All things only his spirit told him only that like it
tsa ye yuᴀsînēˊq. Qa ʟēł ʟ̣îtūˊdjî ᴀt uxuaˊ. Qa
indeed so he did. And not fresh thing he ate. And
ʟēł awucᴀˊ. Tcîłdakᴀˊt yēktc adeˊ daỵaqaỵîˊ
not he was married. Whatever the spirit to him told to
ayêˊx qodzîteˊ. Ỵiwuyāˊtǃ ag̣aˊ kodzitiỵîˊ. Qa
like it he did. A long time on account of it he lived. And
ducᴀxāˊwu ʟēł ʟ̣etîˊx wunîˊ tca āx
his head hair not became white did although after it
wudicîˊn.
he became very old.
This is all.
Hūˊtcǃaya.
This is all.
FOOTNOTES:
[151] Wrangell version.
[152] This has been expurgated by the story-teller. For the proper
wording, see last story.
[153] A water bird.
101. QĀQǃATCGŪˊK[154]
At Sitka were several brothers, the eldest of whom was named
Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk. They were fond of hunting. One morning they went out
among the islands. [Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk] killed nothing. Again he went to
the place where he had been in the habit of going. Then his name was
mentioned among the fur seals. “It is he who is always hunting. Keep
quiet, for he might hear you.” Now when they were going shoreward the
eldest brother said, “Pull ahead quickly, for the wind is beginning
to blow.” Then they became angry. The bow man laid his paddle down in
the canoe. All did the same. Then they began to cover their heads.
The canoe, however, drifted out. It drifted far out for six days and
nights. On the twelfth he awoke to find the canoe drifting ashore. He
saw an island on which were sea lions, seals, fur seals, sea otters,
and sea-lion bristles. All had drifted on to the island. Then they took
their things up. They stayed there one year. When a year and a half was
completed, the man slept, thinking about himself.
Cītǃkāˊqǃayu ye ỵatîˊ wuˊckîkǃîỵên ye
At Sitka living were brothers to each other thus
dowasāˊkᵘ hunxōˊa Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk. Aʟǃūˊn ayuˊ hᴀs
named was the elder Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk. Hunting things that they
akᵘcîtᴀˊn. ʟēqǃ tsǃutāˊtayu qǃāˊtǃqǃî xodêˊ dāk hᴀs
liked. One morning it was islands among at out they
ūwaqoˊx. ʟēł ᴀt utcᴀˊqx. Tsǃu yên uqoˊxtc,
went. Not thing he killed. Again there he always came
tsǃu dāk ūwaqoˊx. Adᴀˊxayu yuqǃūˊn xōˊde wudūwasaˊ.
again out he went. And then the fur seal among he was named.
“Hu ᴀt naqoˊxtcîỵa aỵaˊ. 321-5
“He things always is travelling around after is here.
Cīłkǃᴀˊʟǃ îsaˊ g̣aāˊx. Dāq hᴀs naqoˊx
Keep quiet your voice he might hear.” Ashore they were going
aˊayu yuhunxōˊa ye qǃaỵaqaˊ, “ʟākᵘ
it was then the elder brother thus said to [them], “Pull
aixāˊ ỵāˊndunukᵘ.” ʟē kǃānt hᴀs
ahead quickly the wind is beginning to blow.” Then angry they
ūˊwanukᵘ. Caqahāˊdî yākᵘt āwagoˊq duaxāˊỵê. Łdakᴀˊt
got. The bow man to the canoe pushed his paddle. All
ye hᴀs wudzîgīˊt. Adᴀˊxayu cᴀnaˊ hᴀs
thus they came to do the thing. And then heads they
wuˊdisǃīt. Yūyāˊkᵘ qoˊa ʟē wuˊłix̣āc.
started to cover. The canoe, however, then drifted.
Dekīˊde ʟeducuˊ yᴀˊkaye qa tāt hᴀs wułīx̣āˊc.
Far outward six days and nights they drifted.
Yadjîˊnkāt qa dēx akᴀˊtayu ke aˊodzīgit 321-10
Ten (= the twelfth) and two on that up he came to wake
yên yuˊłitîtk yuyāˊkᵘ. Aosītēˊn qǃātǃkᴀˊqǃᵘ
there was drifting on the shore the canoe. He saw on island
ᴀsiyuˊ tān, tsa, qǃūn, yᴀˊx̣utcǃ, qa tān
it was sea lions, seals, fur seals, sea otters, and sea lions
qǃᴀdadzāˊỵî. Łdakᴀˊt adaˊ aołītᴀˊqǃ yuqǃāˊtǃ dāqǃ.
their bristles. All around it drifted the island on to.
Hᴀs ᴀt qāˊwadjêł. ʟēˊqǃa tākᵘ āyēˊ hᴀs wuteˊ.
They things took all up. One year on it they stayed.
Kᴀndᴀkǃēˊtǃ yuʟēˊqǃ tākᵘ qa acūwuˊ. Wutēˊx yuqāˊ
Was completed the one year and a half. Slept the man
tcuc-ctāˊt.
about himself [thinking].
One morning he awoke with a dream. He dreamed that he had gotten
home.[155] And one morning he said to his younger brothers, “Get up
quickly. Let us head the canoe shoreward at random. The sun always
rises from behind Mount Verstovaia.” So they headed shoreward. When it
became dark they lowered their anchor into the sea in the direction of
the sunrise, and after they had been out for many nights they saw a
sea gull swimming about. It was really Mount Edgecumbe that they saw.
When they got near to it they saw plainly that it was Mount Edgecumbe.
“Head straight for the mountain,” said Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk, and toward
evening they came near it. They named the place where they came in
Canoe-resting-place. There he pounded out the figure of a sea lion so
that people might know he had come ashore at that place. Then they came
to Sitka.
ʟēqǃ tsǃutāˊt ān kē udzîgîˊt dutcūˊnî. Ye
One morning with it up he came to awaken his dream. Thus
atcūˊn qōxagāˊqtc. Adᴀˊxayu ʟēqǃ tsǃutāˊt 322-5
something he dreamed he came home. And then one morning
dukīˊkǃ hᴀs ye aỵaosīqaˊ, “Cāˊidaqêˊdê.
his younger brothers thus he said to, “Get up [quickly].
Yāˊkᵘỵî ᴀt kᴀîłagaˊ. Tcākūgeˊỵî yêˊnde haỵākᵘgwatāˊn.
Canoe things load up. Anywhere to there let us be heading.
G̣ᴀgāˊn Kanēˊsdîca cakīˊnᴀx kē
Sun Cross mountain (Mount Verstovaia) on the mountain up
x̣îx̣tc.” Adᴀˊxayu yên hᴀs ỵāˊwatᴀn. Qōˊka
always rises quickly.” And then there they were heading Dark
wucg̣ēˊdî hᴀsducaỵīˊnaỵî hīnqǃ hᴀs
[when] it got itself their anchor into the water they
anatīˊtc g̣ᴀgāˊn anᴀˊx ke x̣îx̣tcîỵaˊ.
always lowered sun wherefrom it up always rises.
ʟᴀx qǃān hᴀs uxēˊ sayuˊ hᴀs aosītēˊn
Very many [nights] they stayed out it was they saw
kēˊʟ̣adî ỵadjîˊndahēn. Xātc ʟǃux ᴀsiyuˊ hᴀs 322-10
sea gull was swimming. It was Mount Edgecumbe that they
aosītēˊn. Axᴀˊng̣a ya hᴀs gaqōˊxayu hᴀs aosītēˊn
saw. Near to it when they were coming they saw
ʟǃux kǃîdēˊn. “Yucāˊ
Mount [Edgecumbe] plainly (or well) “The mountain
adatcūˊn” yuỵawaqāˊ Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk,
(head) straight at it,” what said Qāqǃᴀtcgūˊk,
“adᴀtcūˊn ỵᴀna-iˊsatᴀn.” Adᴀˊxayu x̣āˊnadê
“straight toward it be heading.” And then toward evening
ᴀnᴀˊx yên hᴀs ūwaqoˊx. Ye hᴀs āˊwasa
near it there they came in. Thus they called
Yākᵘ-qᴀłᴀsegᴀˊkᵘ. Tān a akawatīˊ
Canoe-resting-place. Sea lion he pounded out [a figure of]
ānᴀˊx g̣aduskūˊt hu anᴀˊx yên wuqoxōˊn.
by it that they might know he near it there had come (ashore).
Adᴀˊxawe yaCīˊtǃka de hᴀs wuqōˊx.
And then this Sitka to they got.
When they arrived in front of this town his old wife was weeping
outside. While she was crying she saw the canoe come in front of the
town. She saw the root hat she herself had woven. She started up, and
went into the house. When they came in below the old woman felt happy.
When her husband came up to her he gave away all sorts of things to the
people—sea-lion whiskers, sea-otter skins, fur-seal skins. He shook
hands[156] with his brothers-in-law. Then they said to him, “This long
time the death feast has been held for you.” The young woman, however,
was already married. She mourned much [to think that she had left her
first husband who was now so wealthy].
Yāˊane eg̣aỵāˊqdê ya hᴀs g̣aqōˊxayu tcǃāˊguaỵî
This town below (houses) when they were coming the old [one]
ducᴀˊt g̣ānt ag̣āˊx. Tcǃayeˊ sug̣āxēˊ ayuˊ
his wife outside wept. Just while she was crying it was
aosītēˊn yuyāˊkᵘ ān ēg̣ayaˊdê ỵānaqoˊx. Aosītēˊn 323-5
she saw the canoe town below was coming. She saw
āwuˊāgêˊ xāt sǃāx̣ᵘ. Wudihāˊn
[what] she had woven [spruce] root hat. She started up
nēłdeˊ wuguˊt. Hāt hᴀs ūˊwaqox. Dutuwuˊsigu
into the house she got. To it they came. Felt happy
yucāˊwᴀt cān. Doxoˊx doxᴀˊnqǃ dāq gūˊdayu
the woman old. Her husband to her up when he came
łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt qadjīdēˊ ye aosīˊne tān-qǃᴀdadzāˊỵî,
all things to the people thus he gave away sea-lion whiskers,
yaˊx̣ᵘtcǃ dūguˊ, qǃūn duguˊ. Ān qādjîˊn
sea-otter skins, fur-seal skins. With them (things) hands
aołīʟ̣ēˊkᵘ dokāˊniỵên. Yē daỵaˊdoqᴀ
he shook his brothers-in-law. Thus said to him,
“Detcǃāˊkᵘ īītīˊqǃ yên yuᴀtkāˊwatî.”
“This long time in your place there a feast has been given.”
Yuyīˊsqa qoˊa ayuˊ de udūˊwacā. 323-10
The young woman, however, that already one was married.
Aʟēˊn tuwunūˊk āwatǃēˊ.
Much at it grief (or trouble) she felt.
FOOTNOTES:
[154] Story 67 is a Wrangell version of the same story.
[155] For the song composed by him at this time, see song 5.
[156] This form of greeting is, of course, modern.
102. THE SEA-LION HUNT
A canoe [load of people] came behind the sea lions at Cape Ommaney. And
they camped behind them. In the morning they went out to the sea-lion
island. They sharpened limbs on the ends to make the sea lions sneeze
and pushed them into their noses. In that way they killed off all the
sea lions.
Cī łūtūˊdê yākᵘ
Baranoff to the end of island (i. e., to Cape Ommaney) canoe
wūg̣āˊsǃ tān tǃāˊdê. Adᴀˊxayū ᴀtǃāˊx hᴀs ūwaxēˊ.
got sea lions behind. And then behind it they camped.
Tsǃūtāˊt ayuˊ dāk hᴀs ūwaqoˊx tān qǃāˊtǃê dādêˊ.
In the morning there out they went sea-lion island on.
Cỵī hᴀs ᴀłūˊ kaˊosīxotǃ tān
Limbs they on the ends of them sharpened sea lions
tsǃîˊxᴀỵî sᴀkᵘ. Ayuˊ tūˊde hᴀs akaˊosīgu. Adᴀˊxayu
to make sneeze for. This into they pushed them. And then
yᴀx hᴀs aỵaołīdjᴀˊq yutāˊn.
like [it] they were killing off the sea lions.
103. THE WAR IN THE SPRUCE CANOE[157]
People went to war from Chilkat in a spruce canoe. They drifted down on
the people below, and they came to Dīˊg̣ātiyᴀ. Then they defeated the
Stikine people completely, and afterward they made peace together.
Djîłqāˊt dᴀx sīt yākᵘ ỵîk xā djîˊudigut.
Chilkat from spruce canoe down to fight started down fast.
Ix̣kīˊ qā kǃᴀt wułix̣āˊc. Dīˊg̣ātiyᴀ anᴀˊx yên
Down below people on it drifted. Dīˊg̣ātiyᴀ on it there
ỵawaguˊ. Adᴀxayūˊ hᴀs
they were coming. And then (lit., from it this after) they
Cqǃᴀt qoan caoduwaxêˊtc. Adᴀxayūˊ wuctîˊn
Stikine people beat completely. And then together
ᴀt wuduʟ̣īkǃêˊ.
something (i. e., peace was made.) was made good.
FOOTNOTES:
[157] Probably refers to story 29.
104. STORY OF THE KĀˊGWANTĀN[158]
From X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ went a man of the X̣ᴀkᴀnūˊkedî, who were named from
their town. The people used to go out from there after seals, which,
not having guns at that time, they hunted with long-shanked and
short-shanked hunting spears always kept in the bow. The shank of the
long-shanked spear, which is grasped in throwing, is called cūx. This
manˊs name was Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. On starting off, he went up toward the head
of the bay.
X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊtxayu wuqoˊx yūˊqā X̣ᴀkᴀnūˊkedî yūˊdowasākᵘ
From Xᴀkᴀnuwūˊ went a man “X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ people” named
yūˊāndjayū duʟ̣isāˊkᵘ. Yūˊantqēnî ᴀtxayuˊ wuqoˊx tsa ayuˊ
the town named from. The people from it went seal it was
adāˊyu hᴀs kūˊwaatk. ʟēł ūˊna qōgastīˊtc.
for they worked. Not was a gun.
Āˊda qa wūsāˊnî
Long-shanked hunting spear and short-shanked hunting spear
cūqāˊyênduetc. Yuāˊda
they always placed in the bow. The long hunting spear
ᴀˊttcqēt dusg̣oˊqtc ye duwasāˊkᵘ
what they throw with always thus is named as follows
cūx tsa an dotᴀˊkt. Ye 326-5
cūx (upper part of shaft) seal with it they spear. As follows
dowasāˊkᵘ yuqāˊ Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. Qakēˊqǃᵘtê wuqōˊx.
was named the man Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. Qakēˊqǃᵘtê started off.
G̣eîtāˊx ke ūˊwaqox.
To the head of the bay up he started.
This Qakēˊqǃᵘtê was a great hunter and used to kill all kinds of
things, but now he could get nothing. Then he stopped in a place named
The Bay, and dropped his anchor into the water beside the canoe.
Immediately his steersman went sound asleep, but he could not. By and
by a small thing began flying around his face, and, taking up his
paddle, he knocked it down into the canoe. It made a noise, “Ts, ts.”
ᴀt sǃātēˊx sîtîˊ. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt āˊwadjᴀq.
Things become a great hunter for he was. All things he killed.
Acdjīˊt qāˊwacu adeˊ qᵘg̣wᴀˊniỵa. Łāᴀˊt
To him was in store there he could get nothing. Nothing
udjāˊg̣awe yên caˊoʟ̣ītsîs. Ye
when he could kill there he stopped [in one place]. Thus
dowasāˊkᵘ Yūˊg̣ei. Naˊgoq-nᴀxqǃ hīˊnî
it was named The Bay. From the side of [his canoe] water
āˊwate yuducaỵīˊna. Tātc yᴀx ỵaˊołidjᴀqˊ
was [dropped into] his anchor. Sleep like killed him
duatǃēˊgî. Ho qoˊa aweˊ ʟeł utēˊx. Duyᴀˊx
his steersman. He, however, not slept. His face
ỵādaqêˊntc yēkᵘsîgaˊikǃe-ᴀt. Wānanīˊsawe axāˊ 326-10
began flying around a small thing. At once paddle
ᴀx āˊwatān. Aỵîˊs ỵaduyᴀˊx ỵaodaqēˊnî awe
from it he took up. For it his face it was flying around when
axāˊ ᴀx āˊwatān. Acāˊwaxêtc yākᵘ ỵī
paddle from it he took up. He hit it canoe down into
wudzigīˊt. Ye dowaᴀˊx, “Ts, ts.” Yākᵘ ỵī
it came to fall. As follows it sounded, “Ts, ts.” Canoe into
udzigīˊt.
it came to fall.
Daylight found Qakēˊqǃᵘtê still awake. He took up the bird he had
killed and saw that its eyes were swollen up and hung down over its
face. Blood was on both sides of its mouth. What he had hit was his own
sleep. Then he called to his steersman to awaken him. He did not hear
him. Qakēˊqǃᵘtê took up his spear and pushed his steersman with the end
of it. As he did not answer, he went over to him and found him dead.
Like the sleep bird Qakēˊqǃᵘtê had hit, blood was coming out of his
mouth. Then Qakēˊqǃᵘtê went along sadly toward the town with the body.
[I am now telling you about the very ancient people.]
Tcūł utexēˊ aweˊ qēˊwaa. Qakēˊqǃᵘtê
Then never he having slept when daylight came. Qakēˊqǃᵘtê
qēˊna aˊawe āx aˊosîta. Yūˊacawaxêˊtci-ᴀt
when it got daylight from it he took it up. The thing he hit
yutsîˊtskᵘ dūwāˊq qā yāx dix̣wᴀˊsǃ wudiqǃîˊs
the bird his eyes and face hung down (over) swelled up
duwāˊq kᴀ. Xadjuˊ duyataỵîˊ ᴀsiyuˊ 327-5
his eyes over (on). It was his own sleep that
acāˊwaxêtc. Yāˊdōqǃwa tāqǃ ye ỵatîˊ cî. Tcǃuʟeˊ
he hit. His mouth on both sides thus was blood. Then
acāˊsaqēx doatǃēˊgî. ʟeł acqǃēˊkuᴀx. Wūsāˊne
he tried to awaken his steersman. Not he heard him. His spear
ᴀx āˊwatān, akǃūtctc yūᴀˊqᵘłētsᴀkk doᴀtǃēˊigî.
from it he took up, with the end pushing his steersman.
Tcuł acqǃēˊkuāxaweˊ āˊdāk ūˊwagut
When not he could hear him out to him he went
kaołitǃêˊk gwâỵᴀˊ. Tcǃayuˊ duỵataỵîˊ acāˊwaxêtc
finding him cold (i. e., dead). Just like his sleep he hit
adeˊ ᴀˊtiỵīỵᴀˊ yᴀx ayūˊỵatî. Hᴀsduqǃoatāˊnᴀx cî
to it was like it was. Out from their mouths blood
udūˊwaỵag̣e yᴀx ỵatîˊ. ʟᴀx wâˊsa tūwunūˊk 327-10
came out like was. Very how he was sad
ᴀckᴀˊt ūwaguˊt. Āndeˊ aỵāˊwaxa. ʟᴀx
on with him he came. To the town he was taking him Very
tcǃāˊguaỵî Łīngîˊtawe ỵīˊīn kᴀxanīˊk.
old people are to you I am telling.
When Qakēˊqǃᵘtê came in sight of X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ there was no smoke visible,
and nobody walked outside or came down to meet him as he had expected.
Then he jumped out into the water and went up to his house. The people
of that town were numerous, and it was long. In those days doors were
made of skin hung on the outside, and the women wore labrets. All of
the people there lay dead as they slept just like his steersman. He
went through the houses among their bodies. Because he had knocked down
Sleep not even one small boy was saved, and to this day people have the
saying, “He knocked down the sleeper.” They made a parable of it.
Dāq akaosiỵaˊ duāˊnî X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ. ʟēł sǃīq
Shoreward he caught sight of his town X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ. Not smoke
ᴀ yuāˊn ʟēł tsǃu. ʟē Łīngîˊt gānt wugūˊt
was the town not also. Then people outside would be walking
tcǃuyēˊ qūdjîˊ dutǃāˊyᴀx ūngagūˊt. ʟēł wuˊłna.
then he thought down to him would come. Not it was so.
Tcǃuʟeˊ yākᵘ ỵîdᴀˊx hīˊnî wugūˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ
Then canoe down from the water he got into. Then
doqouwuˊdî wugūˊt. Caỵadihēˊn yūˊāntqēnî, leyāˊtǃ 327-15
to his dwelling he went. Were numerous the people long
yūāˊn. Ag̣āˊyu hît aqǃahāˊdî gāˊnnaxᴀt
the town. At that time house to doors outside
nᴀłg̣ᴀˊqtc tsāstc adaˊk dusx̣ᴀˊttc āg̣ᴀˊ qǃēntǃāˊqǃᴀ
always swinging skin up hung always, and then labrets
dūˊwaūˊwiỵa aweˊ cātc. Tcǃūweˊ doᴀtǃēˊîgî ādeˊ
were wearing it was the women Just like his steersman at it
ỵatiỵîˊ yᴀxaweˊ ỵᴀˊtî yūˊāntqēnî axōˊx ỵāˊnagut
was like it were the people among whom he was going
yuhîˊtqǃ. Tcǃu adēˊ xaqǃūˊỵa aweˊ
through the houses. Just where (at it) they were sleeping there
ayᴀˊx qotx cūˊwax̣ix̣. Tcǃu ʟēˊnᴀx
like it destroyed they had all been quickly. Even one
ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ ʟēł cwusnēˊx kāỵatāˊaỵî caodōˊxeidjī 328-5
little boy not saved himself the sleep he knocked down
tcayuˊ. Tcǃūyedᴀˊt tsǃū ye ᴀtg̣âkūˊ “Ciatāˊỵî
because. Even now also as follows people say “Sleeper
a caodexîˊtc.” ᴀt-kuqedīˊx dułiyēˊx
it was he knocked down.” A sign (or parable) they take it for
tcǃuỵedᴀˊt.
even now.
Fur blankets were not scarce in ancient times, so Qakē’qǃᵘtê took two
marten blankets out of a box and put them around him. He was going
to start away in desperation because he had killed his own sleep.
He also put abalone shell in his ears and piled together the things
they used for snowshoes. In a bag he carried along a bone knife and
a bone trap, tied a weasel skin in his hair, and put a painted drum
on his shoulder such as people used to beat when anybody was dead. He
was going to die with these things. Then he started toward a mountain
named Tsᴀłxāˊn.[159] He took no food with him but put some Indian red
paint in a sack and, when he was ready to start, painted his face
and hair. Then he started toward G̣onāˊxo. For perhaps ten days he
traveled without food, using instead leaf tobacco mixed with calcined
shells. His snowshoes had claws, enabling him to climb cliffs and cross
glaciers. The mountain over which he was passing is called Tsᴀłxāˊn.
Tcǃākᵘ qǃū ʟēł ūdayᴀˊcqên. Kōkᵘ
Anciently blankets [of fur] not were scarce. Box
ỵîdᴀˊx ke ye aosîneˊ dēx kǃūx.
from down in out as follows he took out two marten [skins].
Aodiqǃūˊ Gunxāˊ tsǃu āx
He started to put on (or blanket himself). Abalone also from it
kē ye aosîneˊ. Doguˊkqǃ ye awa-ūˊ,
out as precedes he took. At his ear as precedes he put on,
hūtcǃayuˊ de wutāˊaỵî. Awadjᴀˊq
when finished it was then he could sleep. He killed
duỵatāˊaỵî. Djāˊdjî aoˊxqǃūn ᴀt tsǃū 328-10
his own sleep. Snowshoes they used to have for things also
wudjkāˊ kē ye aosîneˊ ān
on top of each other up as precedes he put with them
gug̣aguˊt tcǃᴀ āˊūn g̣ānāˊwayēˊdî.
when he was going to go where he could die with them.
Tsᴀsgwēˊł sǃāq g̣ātaˊ ᴀt tsǃu atūˊ
(Name of a kind of bag) bone trap some also inside of it
ye ỵatîˊ sǃāq łîˊta tsǃu. G̣onayēˊ
as precedes was bone knife also. Starting
qugwagutnūˊgawe dātc ᴀt wułitcǃîˊn.
when he was going to go weasel thing tied on his head.
Qong̣anāˊn dugwᴀˊłnutc gao ᴀt
When anyone is dead they always beat a drum some
x̣ᴀˊcteayu yēˊnduetc kūˊdūcx̣îttc.
cut thing (skin) used to they always had a painting on it.
Aˊwaỵᴀ yūˊgao tcǃa ān
He carried up [on his shoulder] the drum even with it
nag̣anāˊdayuˊ. Tsᴀłxāˊn yūˊduwasākᵘ yucāˊ guỵaˊ
to die (Cape Fairweather) its name the mountain where
ỵên adeˊ ayuˊ g̣oneˊ ūwaguˊt. Tuwunūˊgayu ʟēł
there to it it was started he went. Since he was sad not
ᴀtxāˊ awucāˊt. Łīngîˊtaỵî łēqǃ ayuˊ ᴀt x̣ᴀˊctî tu
food he took. Indians red paint that some sack inside
ye ỵatîˊ. G̣onayēˊ qᵘgwagaguˊt nūk duyᴀˊqǃ
as precedes was. Starting he was going to go when his face
ye aosîˊnî qa ducāˊkᵘtūqǃ. ᴀtxaweˊ g̣oneˊ
thus he put on it and into his hair. After that starting
ūwaguˊt G̣onāˊxo ỵîˊnade. Guˊłde
he went (town at mouth of Alsek river) toward. Probably
djîˊnkāt ayu qǃaˊowuxê Yūỵānaguˊtî 329-5
ten [days] it was he went without food. In traveling
g̣ᴀˊndjayu ỵanayāˊn. Łīngîˊtaỵî kᴀts tsǃu
leaf tobacco he was carrying. Indians’ mashed shell also
nūˊqǃwayu dułīˊtc tsǃᴀs aayuˊ ᴀt-xāx aołiyᴀˊx.
shell cooked only it was this for food he used.
Yūdudjāˊdjî aˊqoa axāˊkᵘ āˊỵe ỵatî. Tcǃu g̣onaˊ
His snowshoes, however, claws had. Any sort of
cᴀsᴀtᴀˊn ỵēˊnᴀx ān ke guttc qā tcǃu
steep place from below with them up he always went and any
g̣onaˊ ỵateỵîˊ sîtǃ kanᴀˊx tsǃu ān yᴀx gut
kind of is glacier on also with across them went
axāˊgu aỵēˊtîỵītc ayuˊ. Yūˊca qo ye dowasāˊkᵘ
claws always had because. The mountain was named
axōˊx ỵanaguˊt Tsᴀłxāˊn.
through it he was passing [Cape Fairweather.]
By and by Qakēˊqǃᵘtê came out upon a ground-hog place. There was then
no rain, for he was traveling with reference to the clouds which rose
in waves behind Mount Tsᴀłxāˊn. When these clouds come down to the very
foot of the mountain there will be good weather, and people then paddle
far out into the ocean. Seeing an animal go down into the ground-hog
hole, he set up his trap there, and it is from him that people know
how to fix it. He camped near it. When he went to look at it next day
it could not be seen. He took away the thing used to cover the top of
the trap. He had set this trap because he was hungry, and he was very
glad to see that it was down. When he came to examine it, however, he
found that a frog had gotten inside. “This frog pretended that it was
a ground hog,” said Qakēˊqǃᵘtê, and, taking up all of his things, he
went to a bay near by called Canoe bay, hoping to see some people. He
thought that he saw some at Seaweed point, and, being very lonely,
he started down toward them. Then he discovered that they were black
stones that looked like people, and said, “These are small stones which
appear like human beings.”[160] Starting on again toward the head of
Alsek, he traveled for some time and came to its upper course.
Sǃāx āˊni kāˊdāk gūˊdawe, ʟēł sū 329-10
Ground hog place [or town] out on coming, not rain
qōstîˊ. Yūˊcā tsǃu ᴀˊtkanīk. Yugūˊsǃ
was any. The mountain also tells [weather]. The clouds
atǃēˊdî ang̣axêˊtcîn tīt yūˊdjîsîtᴀnk akāˊqǃawe
behind it always lie in waves rising up according to it
ỵanaguˊt. Agucqᴀˊx ag̣āˊ g̣atᴀˊnîn
he was going. About the foot to it when it comes down
qokǃāˊỵîsayu akāˊqǃ adoxāˊ
it means good weather. According to it they
dekīˊdî. ᴀdjayuˊ akāˊỵanaguˊt akāˊdāq
way out pulled to sea. Why he was going on his way out on it
ūˊwagut yūˊsǃāx āˊni. Adeˊ aỵaˊosîta
he came the ground hog place. There (to it) he saw it
aqoˊūwudî. Dudjīˊqǃ ye ỵatīˊỵî sǃāq g̣ātaˊ ākēˊ
go into the hole. To him thus was bone trap it up
asēˊwatî. Dudjīˊîtxawe wᴀˊdutsiku g̣ātaˊ
he set. From him came to be known trap
adēˊỵîdadunaya. Kē ᴀsatīˊawe tcaadēˊnqǃ uaxeˊ.
the way to fix it. Up when it was set close by it he camped.
Qēˊnaāˊawe aqakᴀˊnt ūwaguˊt. Dug̣ātāˊỵî ʟēłgâˊwe
When it became daylight to see it he went. His trap nowhere
saqōˊstî. Aỵanāˊỵe ᴀt nādusēˊtc g̣ātaˊ aỵanāˊtx hēˊde
was. To cover thing was used trap from the top this
yū aosîˊne. Dutuwūˊdjawe ᴀt g̣axāˊt tūˊwatî.
away he took. His mind thing when he would eat he thought.
ᴀdjaweˊ yūˊg̣āta yūˊsǃāx ỵaỵîˊqǃ ye aosîˊne. 330-5
Why the trap the ground hog for something fixed.
ʟāx dūtūwuˊ āweˊ ỵakǃēˊ ł saqōˊstîỵî dug̣ātāˊỵî.
Very he felt when was good when [it] was gone his trap.
X̣îx̣tcǃ gwâˊỵa ayēˊt ūˊwagut. ᴀc ūˊwayêł.
It was a frog down into it went. Him it deceived.
Sǃāx cwuʟ̣iyêˊx yux̣îx̣tcǃ. Ye ỵawaqaˊ
Ground hog it pretended the frog. As follows said
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê, “Sǃāx gâ cʟ̣iyēˊx yax̣îˊx̣tcǃ.”
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê, “Ground hog as pretended itself this frog.”
Łdakᴀˊt wuctye aỵaosîneˊ. Yug̣ēˊyᴀqǃ yên nᴀx ỵēq
All his own he took up. At the bay there to down
ūˊwagut Yākᵘ-dēˊỵîta nᴀx. Łīngîˊt aog̣axsîtēˊnîdawe ye 330-10
he went Canoe bay to. People to see was thus
yukuˊwagutk. Aosîtēˊn yułīngîˊt Łaqǃᴀˊskî-qǃa
why he traveled. He saw people [at] Seaweed point
yūˊdowasākᵘ. ʟaxdeˊ acīˊsᴀłītǃāˊne Łīngîˊt awisteneˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
named. Very he was lonesome people to see. Then
aỵîˊnade g̣oneˊ ūwaguˊt. Yūˊaositēne tēqǃ sāˊnî
down toward them starting he went. What he saw stones little
łīngîˊt yᴀx. ᴀdāˊx wog̣adaˊ tēqǃ satīỵîˊ
people like. After it he had sighted that stones they were
cʟ̣ūʟkǃîˊtîn ye qǃaỵaqaˊ, “Xᴀtc tēqǃ sāˊnî łīngîˊt yᴀx
to himself thus he said, “It is stones small people like
ositēˊn.” Tsǃūˊ yāˊnᴀx dāq ūˊwagut Ałsēˊx
seem.” Again from there toward woods he went Alsek
cāˊkdê. Wāˊyukugūˊtsawe nāˊłaỵî ye 330-15
toward the head of. For traveling quite a way far up so
dāˊqgut.
after he went.
People did not know then that Athapascans lived up there. Although
eulachon ran up this river the people there were starving, as they had
no other way of catching eulachon than by means of hooks. At first
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê remained in the woods, not letting himself be seen by them.
By and by, however, he tied together two eulachon traps (or nets) used
by the Tlingit and called “seal’s-head.” Toward evening he went down to
the place where those Athapascans came up to fish and set the two traps
near by at the edge of the water. Both of them were filled that same
night, and he emptied them where the Athapascans were in the habit of
fishing. There was a large pile.
ʟēł wuduskoˊ g̣onanāˊ
Not was known Athapascan Indians (Strange people)
qostîỵîˊ. Łīngîˊttc ʟēł unałᴀˊ Āłsēˊx cāq
there were. People not far Alsek [from] head of
akᴀˊx wuguˊt G̣onanaˊ. Sāk āˊkē qǃᴀqtc.
upon them he came Athapascans. Eulachon up to it always swam.
Yūˊg̣onᴀna xō ỵaēˊn. Yūˊg̣onᴀna ʟēł
The Athapascans among was starvation. The Athapascans not
tcǃuʟeˊ āwᴀqcīỵīˊqǃ gᴀˊgî wugūˊt.
then into his own eyes (=he saw them) at all he got.
Doskǃêˊqǃt yusāˊk. ʟēłᴀˊtc g̣aduʟ̣îdjāˊg̣e ᴀt qostêˊ.
They hooked the eulachon. Not any to kill it with thing was.
ʟēł g̣ᴀˊgî ūquˊtx. Tcǃa ᴀtgutūˊwu hu. 331-5
Not at all he showed himself. Still was in the woods he.
Wānanīˊsawe aołīsǃîˊt g̣oqtc sāk yaỵīˊ ỵîs.
At once he tied together a net eulachon catching for.
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê ayuˊ ỵēq ūˊwanūk. Tsā caỵîˊ yūˊdowasākᵘ.
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê he was the one doing it. Seal’s head it is called.
Łīngîˊttc aosîkuˊ. Yug̣onanaˊ aˊke ᴀt
Indians know it. The Athapascans up to it things
djîỵaˊ yêˊnde yāx̣îgaāˊtawe āˊỵēq
they come for there when it was getting dark down to it (creek)
uwaguˊt. Dēx aołîsǃîˊt yūˊhīn wᴀnqǃ nᴀx
he went. Two [traps] he fixed the water on the edge of near
aqǃaˊołîᴀt. Tcǃu āg̣atāˊdawe ax ke ᴀqǃaˊołiᴀt. Tcǃu
he set it. That very night from it up he took them. Even
dēˊxa yᴀx caỵaˊołihîk. Yūˊg̣onana adeˊ hᴀs
both like were filled up. The Athapascans where they
îskǃᴀqǃadiˊnudjỵaˊ, adeˊ akaołix̣ēˊsǃ. 331-10
hooked the fish always there (at it) he put them down.
Ye udzîg̣āˊt yūˊsāk.
Thus there came to be a heap of the eulachon.
When the Athapascans came up next morning they exclaimed in
astonishment, “What has done this?” Qakēˊqǃᵘtê did not know that they
were Athapascans, and they did not know him. After that an Athapascan
shaman began performing to discover what was working for them. When
he discovered it he said, “Something has come to help you. Hang all
kinds of food around there.” As he did not eat any of the food they
hung about, they hung there a copper spear. Then they found him. They
also placed the daughter of a chief there so that they could get him
by having him marry her. So he at last went out among them. Now, the
Athapascans took him with them, and he explained the fish trap to them.
This is the way in which they were preserved from starvation, and the
way in which they found out about the trap. When he married the woman
they had given him they put many things upon him—moose skins, marten
skins, beaver skins, and two copper spears valued at two slaves. The
Athapascans paid him for that trap.
Tsǃūtāˊt āˊnᴀx ke ūˊwaat yūˊg̣onana. Kǃūˊʟiyᴀx
In the morning to it up came the Athapascans. Astonished
ỵateˊ yuqǃoˊłaᴀtk, Yūˊg̣onana, “Dāˊsaỵa
were in their manner of talking the Athapascans, “What this
ye djiwaneˊ.” Tsǃu hūtc ʟēł awuskuˊ g̣onanāˊx
thus has done.” Both he not knew become Athapascans
satīỵeˊ, qa hū tsǃu ʟēł wuduskuˊ dātx sᴀ satīˊỵe.
they were and he also not they knew what ? he was.
Îˊxtǃawe ᴀˊxo wu yūˊg̣onana
A shaman it was among them lived (?) the Athapascans
kaˊodudzîᴀt ᴀdāˊx ỵag̣āˊg̣adāt dāˊsayu
came to go around him from it they might find what it was
qāˊqǃᴀxᴀndî yēdjîna. Ye qǃaỵaqaˊ yuîˊxtǃ
to men was working [to bring food] thus said the shaman
yên ᴀqłatīˊnayu ye ỵawaqaˊ “Yē ỵīg̣āˊ ᴀt
there sighting it was so said “Thus for you something
wūsuˊ. Djᴀłdakᴀˊtᴀt āỵēˊnᴀx duuˊ,” Yūˊqǃayaqa. Adeˊ
got to help. Everything down there put,” what he said. There
kᴀx dułx̣wᴀˊsǃî yu-ᴀt-xāˊ qoˊa, ʟēł ᴀt ỵawuˊsa.
on being hung up the food, however, not thing he ate.
Aˊqoa łᴀtwūsāˊawe ēq ʟāq adêˊ
On account of that when he did not eat it copper spear there
kaoduˊʟ̣îx̣wᴀsǃ. Tcᴀˊtcǃa-ag̣āˊawe aˊoduʟ̣îha. Cāwᴀˊt 332-5
they hung up. At that time they found him. Woman
tsǃu aˊodutsînuq ānqāˊwu-si ayuˊ
too they came to place there a chief’s daughter it was
ag̣acāˊdayu anᴀˊx yenᴀˊx duʟ̣āˊqdayu. Tcaˊtcǃa
to marry her on account of it they could get him. Just
akᴀˊqǃāwē tsa qāxōˊ duwaguˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ dê
on account of that indeed among the men he went. Then now
duīˊn tūt āˊwaāt g̣oˊnanātc. Tcǃuʟeˊ gᴀˊgî ye
with them into took him the Athapascans. Then indeed thus
aosîneˊ yug̣oˊqtc qāwᴀqcīˊỵîqǃ. ʟe yᴀx
he explained the fish trap before their eyes. Then so
aỵaˊosîadᴀn yūˊg̣onana yᴀx ỵāsyêˊnałᴀˊx̣ᵘỵē dᴀx. ʟē
he got alive the Athapascans like starvation from. Then
wudūˊwagūk yug̣oˊqtc. ʟē awacāˊdê
they found out [about] the trap. Then on marrying
yuˊg̣onana ānỵêˊdî, qǃūn ᴀt sayuˊ 332-10
the Athapascan of high caste, many things they were
dūnāˊye wududzîˊnî tsîskǃ, kǃūx, sǃᴀgēˊdî, dēx
on him came to be put moose(?) [skins] marten, beaver, two
ēq ʟāq dēx gūx yᴀx qǃᴀduʟ̣îtsīˊn. Yūˊg̣oqtcayu
copper spears, two slaves like were valued. That trap
ye acīˊdjuduwaqēˊ yūˊg̣onanatc.
thus they paid him those Athapascans.
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê spent two years among these people, and afterward they began
to pack up his property in order to accompany him back to his friends,
the Tlingit. All the Athapascans packed up his things for him. Just as
the warm weather was beginning these People-of-the-last-stomach, as
they were called, started with him for his town.
Adᴀˊxawe dēx tāk dōkāˊyan wułiᴀˊt yūˊg̣onana xōqǃ.
And then two years over him passed the Athapascans among.
Yadēˊx tākᵘ cūnax̣īˊx̣awe duīˊn dā
These two years were completed with him things
wududziᴀˊx doxōˊnqǃî xōdeˊ łīngîˊt xōdeˊ.
they came to pack up his friends to among Tlingit to among.
Łdakᴀˊt yūˊg̣onana ayuˊ doᴀˊtê kē kᵘgwayaˊ
All those Athapascans it was his things up packed
dutcīỵîˊs. Duīˊn g̣onayeˊ āˊwaāt doāˊnî.
for him. With him starting went [to] his town.
Kaodītǃᴀˊqǃ āˊxo gūdiỵaˊ,
It began to be hot weather among them starting
Tutxanᴀˊdî ayuˊ Qakēˊqǃᵘtê.
People-of-the- last-stomach it was Qakēˊqǃᵘtê.
There was a stream called Brush creek owned by the Brush-creek people,
who were his friends, so, feeling high, Qakēˊqǃᵘtê led these men
thither. At first the Tlingit did not know who they were walking along
with him, for they had never seen such people, and a great number of
men came along bearing load after load by means of forehead bands. When
he and his companions, carrying packs of moose, beaver, and squirrel
skins, came out on the side of the stream opposite the town, Qakēˊqǃᵘtê
said, “Come over to me in a canoe.” The people had heard about these
Athapascans, although they had not seen them. But after Qakēˊqǃᵘtê had
said, “Come over to me” twice, one ran out toward him from among the
Brush people and said, “Are we splitting land-otter tongues on account
of you? Go on below. Go to the people who are splitting tongues for
you.” The Athapascans asked Qakēˊqǃᵘtê, “What is it that they are
saying to us?” and he answered, “They are sending us away from here.”
That is why people now say, “The Brush people sent the Athapascans away
from the other side.”[161]
Hīn ye duwasāˊkᵘ Tcūkᴀn-hīˊnî, Tcukᴀnedîˊ
Stream thus named Brush creek, the Brush-creek people
hīnîˊx setîˊ dōxōnqǃēˊx sêtîˊ. Adjaweˊ
the stream became was his friends came [to own] was. Why
ciaˊqot wudîˊnî, axodêˊ yaqāˊ cunaguˊt. 333-5
feeling high among [them] these men was leading all.
ʟēł łīngîˊttc wuskuˊ yū-ᴀcīn-ỵāˊnaāt-ᴀt. ʟēł łīngîˊttc
Not Tlingit knew what was walking with him. Not Tlingit
ye ustîˊndjîn. Yān dayāˊn yūˊnaādî ʟēn yāˊna
thus ever saw. Carrying packs those going big number load
yāˊndᴀx duyāˊn. Qāˊqǃanᴀx āˊatsǃu ye duwa-uˊ.
after load carried. Forehead bands also thus they used.
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê tîn naāˊde tsîskǃ yān duyāˊn
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê with those were going moose were carrying packs of
sǃᴀg̣edîˊ tsᴀłkǃ. Yūˊān kikaˊ hīn
beaver, ground squirrel. The town opposite water
kāˊdaq uwaāt. ᴀx duīˊn axcūˊdi
on opposite side of they came. For him “To me
ỵaqoˊx yūˊỵāwaqa Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. Hāˊtcǃa akayēˊk
come over [in canoe]” said Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. Now they had
duᴀˊxdjīn yūˊg̣onana. Daxdahīˊn ye ỵᴀnᴀqaˊ 333-10
heard about those Athapascans. Twice thus he said
“ᴀxcūˊdi ỵaqoˊx.” Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊyux wududjīx̣īˊx̣
“To me come over.” Then out to him one ran
Tcukᴀnedîˊ xōnᴀˊx. ʟe ye ỵaˊodudziqa, “Ōhāˊn
Grass people from among. Then thus they came to say, “We
ag̣eˊ ỵēˊkā ᴀt tūx̣ᴀˊck, tca
? on account of you the ones are splitting tongues these
kūˊcta qoan qǃecāˊnî. Îx̣îˊnadê naiỵaˊ. Ỵikaˊ
land-otter people many. Below here go. For you
ᴀt x̣ᴀckᵒ qoūqǃx̣ᴀˊnde naỵaˊ.” Yūˊg̣onanatc
splitting tongues to the people go.” Those Athapascans
qǃawūˊsǃ Qakēˊqǃᵘtê “Wasēˊyu hadāˊ ye doqaˊ.”
asked Qakēˊqǃᵘtê “What is it to us thus they say.”
“Yāˊtxayu de hākᵘdonaˊ” yūˊaỵaosîqa
“From here away they are sending us,” what he said to
yūˊg̣onana. Atcaweˊ ỵīdᴀˊt ye ᴀtg̣âkūˊ,
those Athapascans. Why now thus they say,
“Tcūckīˊkᴀdᴀˊx g̣onanaˊ akaˊodîna Tcukᴀnedîˊtc.”
“From the other side Athapascans sent away Brush people.”
At once the Athapascans put their packs over their shoulders. It was
as quickly done as if hot water had been thrown among them. The Brush
people sent them away because they were afraid. As they set out they
began making a noise, “Hēˊyē.” They went directly to the place whither
they had been sent, and, crossing a glacier, came to Sand-hill-town.
When the Kāˊgwᴀntān learned that Qakēˊqǃᵘtê had left X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ,
they caught those Athapascans and obtained all of their things. The
G̣ānᴀxteˊdî also came to have dealings with them. Even now these people
stop among them. They never became Tlingit, but they became people
with whom one may trade. Whatever things they had, such as abalones,
the Athapascans gave to them. That is how the Tlingit used to do in
olden times. In exchange the Tlingit gave them every sort of thing to
eat and especially an edible seaweed; but they did not know what to
make of this last. The Athapascans did not know how it was cooked,
and, when hot stones were thrown inside of a basket pot and the pot
began shaking, they took up their bows and arrows to shoot at it. But
the people said, “It is something to be eaten after it has cooled,”
and gave them horn spoons for it. “Where do people go to get this?”
said they, for it suited their taste. “They get it from the very edge
of the water at the lowest tide.” When the Athapascans went back with
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê to their homes they told the Tlingit to bring seaweed up
when they came, so the Tlingit began taking this up to them. A beaver
skin could be bought with one bunch of seaweed. From them were learned
of the flat nose ring and dancing.
ᴀtxaweˊ tcǃuʟeˊ āwāˊxde āˊwaqe yūˊg̣onana
After that then into got (over shoulders) the Athapascans
hᴀsduyāˊnaỵî. ᴀxōˊt yatǃāˊỵî hīn kaˊoduwaxêtcî yêˊxawe
their packs. Among them hot water was thrown like that
wūˊnī. Tcukᴀnedīˊtc qoˊa a ᴀkaˊoʟ̣exēʟǃ. ᴀtcaweˊ ax
it resembled. Brush people, however, were afraid. Why from
hᴀs akāwᴀnaˊ. G̣onayeˊ hᴀs gᵒg̣waaˊde, 334-5
they sent them away. Starting they were going to go,
“Hēˊye,” ye dowaᴀˊxtc ʟākᵘ g̣onayēˊ kᵘgwaᴀˊt
“Hēˊye,” thus it sounded fast starting they were going to go
g̣ānug̣uˊn. Adeˊ hᴀs kaoduwanaˊỵīỵa āweˊ ʟe
when they let them go. Where they sent them there right
ādeˊ g̣oneˊ hᴀs uwaāˊt. Sîtǃkanᴀˊx tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀt
to it started they went. Across a glacier then there
hᴀs ūˊwaāt ʟaocāˊcaki-ān. Wududzikūˊ ax qot
they got Town-on-the-sand-hill. Came to know from it he
wugūdeˊ X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ dᴀx Qakēˊqǃᵘtê Kāˊgwᴀntāntc.
went away X̣ᴀkᴀnuwūˊ from Qakēˊqǃᵘtê Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Kāgwᴀntāndjawēˊ tsa wūcāˊt yūˊg̣onana. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt
Kāˊgwᴀntān indeed caught those Athapascans. All the things
hᴀsdoᴀˊdî ᴀˊxo āˊwaāt. G̣ānᴀxtedīˊtc tsǃu 334-10
their things among them went. The Gānᴀxteˊdî also
tcǃuʟeˊ de hᴀs wududzikuˊ qāxōˊqǃ ỵā hᴀs
then now they came to know them among men they
unaxēˊn tcǃūỵedᴀˊt. ʟē Łīngîˊt hᴀs wustēˊx.
are stopping even now. Then Tlingit they never became.
Tcǃaāˊn qoˊa qaỵaqāˊqǃuwᴀnx sîtîˊ.
But yet, however, men such as can be traded with were.
Tcǃᴀ dāˊsa qāˊdjî, gunxāˊ, hᴀsdudjīdeˊ dadunaˊ g̣oˊnana.
Whatever they had abalones to them gave Athapascans.
Tcǃākᵘ qostīỵea łīngîˊt āˊyu yēkᵘdayēˊn. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt
Anciently were Tlingit that way were. Everything
hᴀsduqǃweˊx dutīˊx łīngîˊt. ᴀtxāˊỵî łākǃᴀˊsk. ʟēł hᴀs
to their mouths they gave Tlingit. Food seaweed not they
āˊwusko adeˊ yuyanēˊgiỵa yūłakǃᴀˊsk. 334-15
knew what to make of this seaweed.
Qᴀˊkᵘtakāˊỵîqᴀqǃ tᴀ akadēˊ wudūwag̣êˊtc
Inside a half-basket pot stones into it they threw
ỵāwatǃāˊỵia. ᴀt saēˊx G̣onanāˊtc qoˊa ʟēł wuskuˊ
hot ones. What cooked it Athapascans, however, not knew
adēˊkdusīỵa. Wudūˊwakîge yᴀx natīˊtc
how it was done. Shaking like was [in cooking]
yuqᴀˊkᵘtākāỵîˊ. Yūˊg̣onanatc tcūnēˊt aỵîˊs hᴀs
the half-basket. The Athapascans arrows for it they
akaˊołidjeł. Ye hᴀs ỵaˊodudzîqa
took up. So they came to say to them
“Dūˊxa-ᴀˊtawe ỵāgasāˊtǃawe.” Tsa cᴀł
“That is something eaten when it is cooled off.” Now spoons
hᴀsdudjīˊt ye wudūˊtsīne łīnēˊt cᴀł.
to them thus they gave dark brown (i. e., horn) spoons.
Hᴀs āˊwawūsǃ “Gudᴀˊx sa ye dadunaᴀˊtaỵa.” 335-5
They asked “From where ? thus do they go and get.”
Łᴀkāg̣āˊsaodînuˊq. “Yên g̣ałēˊn yēˊdadunaᴀˊtawe
It suited their taste. “At low tide something they go and get
cᴀˊnỵādᴀx.” Tsǃu duīˊnāwe qox wudūˊwaᴀt
from the very edge of the tide.” Again with him back they went
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê yūˊg̣onanatc hᴀˊsdu-ānīˊ-dê, akāˊyan hᴀs
Qakēˊqǃᵘtê the Athapascans to their home to bring along they
qoỵaˊosîqa yūˊłᴀkǃᴀsk. Yēˊnᴀx dusnīˊt hᴀsduxᴀˊndê
told them the seaweed. To get it to them
aqᵘgwaᴀˊt nuˊkni ỵîs. Ye du-ūˊ ʟēqǃ
they were going up to get for. Thus they bought one
sǃᴀgēˊdî ʟēqǃ łᴀkǃᴀˊsk. Hᴀsdudjītxāˊwe
beaver [skin] one [piece of] seaweed. From them
wududzîkuˊ łunᴀˊskudawōqǃ qa aʟǃēˊx tsǃu 335-10
they came to know the flat nose ring and to dance also
hᴀˊsdudjītx wuduˊdzîku.
from them came to know.
After this the people were going to build a feast house out of the
wealth the Athapascans had brought them. Every morning before they had
eaten anything they went after large trees for house timbers. They
had nothing with which to chop except stone axes. While it was being
completed the drum was beaten continually. The owner of this house was
named Man-from-himself. Soon it was finished. There were eight main
timbers, and it was completed in one year. After its long stringers
had been put on they danced the house together. There are always eight
songs for this. Then a stomach named x̣eˊca-hīˊnî was soaked in water.
The house was so big that a person who walked in front of it always
appeared small, and, when he entered, one had to speak loudly to be
heard across. This is why it was named Shadow-house.
ᴀtxaweˊ āˊgux dułiyeˊx yuhîˊt qǃᴀdᴀcîˊ
After it they were going to build the house feasting
dakaỵîˊs. Yūˊg̣onana ᴀˊdiỵī tîn āˊyu gux
for it. The Athapascans’ things with it was they
dusgīˊt. Tcǃuł ᴀt doxāˊîdjī
were going to do it. Every morning things always before eating
aweˊ ᴀnaᴀˊttc yūˊhît dāˊîde-de g̣a ās aʟᴀˊnqǃ.
it was they always went the house timbers for trees big.
ʟēł cînaxâˊỵê ayuˊ ᴀtc ᴀt dusxōˊtanutc
Not to chop it was what they had for things at all
tāˊỵīsayu. Tcǃuʟeˊ wuduʟ̣īˊqǃêaweˊ yugaˊo
a stone ax. Then when it was finished the drum
dutᴀˊngînutc. ᴀsǃāˊte ye dowasāˊkᵘ yuhîˊt
was always beaten. The owner of it thus was named the house
Stūwuqāˊ. Wānanīˊsawe yêˊnde ỵāndusnīˊn
Man-from-himself At once to there they began to finish
yūhîˊt. Daedēˊdî nᴀsǃgaducūˊ ỵatîˊ. ᴀg̣āsǃî
the house. The main timbers eight were. Posts to it
tcǃaʟēˊqǃ āntqēnīˊtcayu łayēˊx yūhîˊt.
every one (all together) the people it was built the house.
ʟēqǃ tāˊgwayu duʟ̣îyêˊx. Wānanīˊsa qǃē ke kawasūs
One year it was it was built in. At once all went up
aqᴀˊxỵīdî ag̣āˊawe tcǃᴀ aodūˊwakîtc.
its long stringers at that time they danced the house together.
Nᴀsǃgaducuˊ natīˊtc yūcîˊ. Ỵᴀnīˊawe 336-5
Eight are always the songs. When it was finished
yuhîˊt ʟēn kaˊoduʟ̣ikêł yūᴀtyuwuˊ. Ye
the house big was soaked [for building it] the stomach. Thus
duwasāˊkᵘ yuᴀtyuwuˊ x̣eˊca-hīˊnî. Yūhīˊntcayu
is named the stomach water. The water it is
duʟ̣isāˊkᵘ. Aʟēˊn hîˊtayu yuhîˊt. ᴀtcayuˊ
it gets its name from. A big house is that house. Why
yūˊdîỵīt naguˊttcî qaˊ ye gunaskeˊikǃîtc yūˊhît
below that always walks man thus is always small the house
ye kᵘgeỵīˊtc. Aỵinēˊł-gaguˊdînawe łīngîˊt
thus being large. Inside the house when one comes person’s
sᴀłagāˊonutc. ᴀtcaweˊ ye udūwasāˊkᵘ
voice is always loud [to reach across.] Why thus it is named
Qāỵahāˊỵî-hît.
Shadow-house.
Now all the women began to put fringed ornaments upon their ears in
preparation for the feast. Anciently they wore these and had red paint
upon their heads. After his guests were all seated, the chief put on
the g̣onaqᴀdēˊt dance hat, and, just before the gifts were distributed,
the x̣eˊca-hīˊnî, which was close to the door, was thrown among them.
Then they gave away to the opposite phratry the things they had
received from the Athapascans and their other property. These feasts
were always called qǃaoduwacīˊ. They also called out to whom the slaves
should be given and gave out coppers, which were placed around inside
of the house. After their guests had gone out they danced. The other
side also danced, wearing raven hats, and the feast was over.
Wānanīˊsawe cā ctātqoˊdaci 336-10
At once the women began to put on themselves
gokᵘʟǃēˊnx̣ qagoˊkqǃᵘ
fringed ornaments fastened on their ears
wudînāˊq. tcǃāˊgu łīngîˊtî tcǃāgo
started to prepare for the feast. Old time Tlingit old
ᴀt qaguˊk qaca łēqǃ. Qāˊyu
things on their ears [or] their heads red paint. Those men
qoīqǃe yên qēˊawe cāˊxo dūˊwate yusǃāˊx̣ᵘ
invited there when seated upon his head he put the hat
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt sǃāxᵘ cᴀdakūˊqǃ. Ātxaweˊ
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt hat in sections. Afterward
qǃᴀtǃāˊxt-dusîˊn hīn ye dowasāˊkᵘ X̣eˊca-hīˊnî
placed close to the door water thus named soaked with water
qaxōdēˊt dułîˊtnutc dūwuwēˊt
among the people threw it the gifts
ỵaỵīˊqǃ qāˊdēt. Ye dusniayuˊ yūˊduwuwet
just before they distributed. Thus when they gave away the gifts
G̣oˊnana ᴀˊtî qa qāˊdjīqǃ yetīˊīỵa.
Athapascans’ things and [what] to the men was [in possession].
Qǃaoduwacīˊ yūˊdusaîtc. G̣onētkᴀnaỵîˊdjīt
Feasts they were always named. To the opposite phratry
yēˊdusnītc. Gux qoˊa ayuˊ
gave them. Slaves however those
dułēˊqǃ. Tînnāˊ tsǃu
they called out [whom they should be given to]. coppers also
qāˊdjî nēłỵīˊ caỵakaˊoduwadjᴀł aˊawe qāˊdjīt
had around in the house they set them when to the people
ye uduˊdzînc yuhîˊt ʟēn dātx. Yuqoīˊqǃî yux
thus they gave away the house big around. The guests out
naāˊdawe aodūˊwaʟǃēx. Hēˊnᴀx aˊa 337-5
when they went they danced. The other party it was
caˊowu tsǃu yēł sǃāx̣ᵘ yên
had on heads also raven hats there
aduʟǃēˊxawe hēˊnᴀx aˊa tsǃu ʟe
when they were through dancing the other side it was also then
yeyēˊ wuti.
stopped.
The Athapascans on their way down used to be seen when still far back
from the coast. One time, as they were coming across the glacier,
the chief’s daughter, who was menstruant, said something to make the
glacier angry. In those days a girl menstruant for the first time did
not stay out of the house. They placed something heavy in front of her,
and for five months she was not allowed to talk. This is the period
during which a labret hole was made. It was always done when she was
fasting. This girl said to the glacier, “Would that that glacier were
my fatherˊs,” and during that night it began to grow out over their new
house. It extended itself far out over the town, and the people fled
from it to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ, where they built a new one. The Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān
fled to and established themselves at a place just opposite.
Dusīˊ wuwēˊt yuānqāˊwu sī.
His daughter was menstruant the rich man’s daughter.
Tcǃunakīˊdêaweˊ dutīˊnutc yūˊg̣onana.
Way back in the woods they always saw those Athapascans.
Akᴀˊx yên wuᴀˊdī sîtǃ ᴀx
Across it there coming glacier after it
kǃᴀˊna kaˊoʟ̣ig̣ᴀt yuwēˊtᴀdītc. ʟēł x̣ᴀkāˊỵî
said something to make it angry the menstruant one. Not outside
utēˊxqǃᵘ yuwuweˊdî cāˊwᴀt. Āg̣aˊ dutǃekāˊỵî
stays the menstruant woman. At that time in front of her
ᴀt duoxqǃoˊnutc. ᴀx ᴀt yêx 337-10
something they always put. From it something like it
doxîˊttc. Kīdjîˊn dîˊsayu āg̣aˊ
they always put [something heavy]. Five months it was during
łuqǃēˊdatᴀngînutcỵa. Yūˊcāwat
she was not allowed to talk. The woman
g̣ag̣āwēˊdîn yāˊdoqǃoa
when she is menstruant habitually this is the one’s mouth
gᴀx dutāˊg̣ê. Cawᴀˊt qoˊa ỵāˊqǃagaxētc
they are going to make a hole in. Woman, however, when she fasts
qǃedutāˊqtc. Gāˊnê duīˊn yūx
they always make a hole [in her lip]. Outside with her out
anaāˊdawe ye ỵawaqaˊ, “Ỵîdᴀˊt ᴀxīˊc
when she was going thus she said, “Would that my father
sîtǃīˊx̣ sîtîˊ.” Tcǃuʟeˊ tāt g̣âweˊ
become his glacier it would.” And then one night during
g̣onayeˊ kāˊwaa. Tcǃuʟeˊ duhēˊxwa tcǃaāˊnawe
started it grew out. Then in spite of them still
ʟāgᵘ ỵe kᴀnaēˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ yūˊdᴀłiyexe hît
long house it kept growing down. Then the building house
kᴀˊxawe yekᴀnaēˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ akᴀˊx kāˊwaa
over it was growing down over. Then over it it grew
yūˊān ʟe yux kiqǃ aweˊ ỵakāˊwaa yūsîˊtǃ.
that town then out far it was was growing the glacier.
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊdawe wudikêˊʟǃ yułīngîˊt ʟē wuduʟ̣iyᴀˊx ān
to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ fled those Tlingit then they built a town
sᴀkᵘ. Akekᴀˊt tsǃū aodîkêˊʟǃ Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān 338-5
for. Opposite it also started to flee the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān
sᴀkᵘ.
for.
By and by the people of Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ started to G̣onāˊxo to make war
on the Łuqāˊxᴀdî, because of a Kāˊgwᴀntān woman who had been killed.
They were armed with native picks, war spears, and bows and arrows.
After they had killed their enemies they discovered a woman left
alone in that place, whom they caught for a slave. She was mother of
Chief Qǃayeg̣aˊtqēn. Then she said to them, “For what could you use
me? Up here is the wolf post belonging to my son.” The wolf post had
been hidden when the people fled. Letting the woman go, therefore,
the Kāˊgwᴀntān warriors rushed greedily for the post, and brought it
down. A man whose face had been scratched up by the scratching-sponge
that people used in ancient times before starting to war reached
the post first. His name was Top-spirit, and the name of the next
Fish-that-comes-up-in-front-of-one’s-face-and-shakes. Then they started
back with it but quarreled so much over it that they began to talk
of not allowing anybody to have it. When they were out from shore,
however, the war-leader, whose name was Dancer, stood up wearing
objects representing ears over his face and said, “Who sent out these
warriors? I, a high-caste Kāˊgwᴀntān, am also a brave man.” Then they
started off.
Adᴀˊxawe xāˊdjiudîgut Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ dᴀx G̣onāˊxo dê
And then [they] started to war Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ from G̣onāˊxo to
aweˊ djīˊudigut Łuqāˊxᴀdî xōˊdê. Kāˊgwᴀntān cāˊwᴀt
it was started Łuqāˊxᴀdî to among. Kāˊgwᴀntān woman
wudūˊwadjᴀq aỵāˊqǃayu akaˊoduwanāq. YūˊŁuqāˊxᴀdi ānîˊ
was killed for that they went forth. The Łuqāˊxᴀdi town
Kāˊgwᴀntān kēˊtǃu ayuˊ ān xāˊdjiududzigut
Kāˊgwᴀntān native pick, it was with them came to go to war
tsāg̣ᴀˊʟǃ tcūnēˊt. Hᴀs ᴀtsūˊs duīˊn 338-10
[and] war spears bows and arrows. They killed them
yuKāˊgwᴀntān. Tcǃāˊya āˊnî tīqǃ aweˊ
the Kāˊgwᴀntān. Then alone town (or camp) in it was
wuduˊdzîtīn yucāˊwᴀt. Gūx sᴀkᵘaweˊ wudūˊwacāt
they came to see the woman. A slave for was caught
yūˊcāwᴀt. Xᴀtc yūānqāˊwo duʟāˊ ᴀsiweˊ
the woman. It was the chief his mother was
Qǃayeg̣āˊtqēn-ʟā. ʟe ye aỵaˊosîqa, “Dātx sa
Qǃayegāˊtqēn’s-mother. Then thus she said to them, “For what?
xᴀt gux ỵîˊłayēx” ye ỵawaqaˊ. “G̣êg̣êˊnaho ᴀxỵīˊt g̣āˊsǃî,
me you could use,” she said. “Up here is my son’s post,
g̣ōtc g̣āsǃ.” Tcǃākᵘ xaiakūdjtᴀˊnîn Łīngîˊt. ᴀˊdawe
wolf post.” Anciently liked to go to war Tlingit. At it
dutᴀˊn yūˊg̣otc g̣āsǃ. Wuˊduʟ̣isîˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀt 338-15
[they] had the wolf post. It was hidden. Then there
cukaˊoduwagîqǃ yūˊcāwᴀt yuxāˊttc. Wucdjîsūˊxawe
let go entirely the woman those warriors. Rushing for it greedily
kaˊodudzîᴀt Kāˊgwᴀntāntc yug̣āˊsǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ āx ỵeq
came to go the Kāˊgwᴀntān the post. Then from it down
wuduwatᴀˊn. Tcǃākᵘ ān ducudjīˊn
it was brought. Anciently with it [they] used to bathe
x̣ᴀˊcqǃo. Qāˊxetkᴀt yūˊdutᴀtgîˊnudjīn. Yāˊduya
scratching sponge. On the breast rubbing it up and down. His face
yūˊaosînê yux̣ᴀˊcqǃutc a īłîˊ kaˊołîsǃᴀʟǃ duyaˊ
the one rubbing on the sponge it was scratched up his face
qācuˊkᴀt adāˊt wudjîx̣īˊx̣. Qācukᴀˊt qā ye dowasāˊkᵘ
first to it ran. The first man thus was named
Qāˊka-yēk Qaỵāˊkaoduxāt
Top-spirit Fish-that-comes-up-in-front-of-one’s-face-and-shakes
tsǃu. Tcǃuʟeˊ āˊnawe ᴀt wux̣ūˊn wexāˊ qoˊxdê.
also. Then with it (thing) started the warriors to go back.
Tcǃusūˊg̣oa aweˊ wūcdjideˊ ỵaodudjig̣ēˊye ỵᴀ aˊda
Then to each other that no one would have it about it
qǃaoduʟ̣iāˊt. Dekînaˊ dāq
they were beginning to talk, from the shore out
sᴀx̣īˊx̣awe g̣ēˊnᴀx aˊodihān
when they got quickly from inside it one started to stand up
ᴀt gūˊgu duỵaˊ. Ye qǃaỵaqaˊ 339-5
things [with] like ears [or] his face. Thus said to [them]
yuxāˊ-sǃᴀtî, “Adūˊtsᴀ kāwanāˊỵî xāˊaỵā?” Łēˊni
the war chief, “Who sent out these warriors?” Dancer
yūˊdowasākᵘ yuxāˊ-sǃᴀtî. “Kāˊgwᴀntān ayuˊ ānỵêˊdî xᴀt
was the name of the war chief. “Kāˊgwᴀntān that high caste me
satiỵîˊ tūqǃ, Qǃēˊg̣a qā xᴀt sîtîˊ.” Tcǃuʟeˊ
being into real (i. e., brave) man I am.” Then
ayāˊxt aweˊ ᴀt wux̣ūˊn.
away it was they started off.
At that time there were two canoe loads of Island people going along,
and there was a shaman among them named Wolf-weasel, who had eight
tongues. The Kāˊgwᴀntān shaman tore his canoe apart by pretending to
split the water of its wake. Before they got far out it began to split.
The Kāˊgwᴀntān warriors had already landed at X̣uqǃ creek where this
shaman also went ashore, and they came out behind him. His spirits’
apparel was in a box in the bow.
Qǃᴀtqaāˊỵî dēx yākᵘ ỵîkt. Îxtǃ tsǃū hᴀs duxoˊ
Island people two canoes in. Shaman too them among
tcǃᴀˊtuyᴀx îˊxtǃawe. Hēˊnᴀx ᴀˊa xowuˊ
just as [the others] had a shaman. The others it was among
G̣otcdaˊ yūˊdowasākᵘ. Nᴀsǃgᴀducūˊ ỵᴀtêˊ 339-10
Wolf-weasel was named. Eight were
duᴀˊt ʟǃūˊtǃê. Wūˊcdᴀx āwasǃēˊʟǃ
to him tongues. (or his things tongues). Apart he tore
duyāˊkᵘ īteˊ hīˊnî. Tcuł wuhāˊdjîawe
his canoe by splitting the water. Just before they got far out
wūˊcdax wudîg̣āˊt. Hᴀˊxcte ỵāˊnaᴀˊdawe
apart it started to split. Ashore having already gone
yuxāˊ X̣uqǃ-hīn yūˊdowasākᵘ yēˊnᴀxawe yên uwaqoˊx
warriors X̣uqǃ creek named ashore there came
yuîˊxtǃ dūwa-uˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ yêˊndî
the shamans [warriors] were there. Then to it
ỵānaqoˊxoawe dutǃāˊt awaāˊt yuxāˊ.
while he was coming back of him come the warriors.
Duyēˊk daîdēˊdî cᴀkᴀˊtsa-în.
His spirits’ apparel was in a box in the bow.
When the warriors rushed down upon them they soon destroyed his canoe
men, but the shaman himself flew away by means of his spirits. Even
now people say that a shaman can fly about. After he had flown about a
certain town for some time the people told a menstruant woman to look
at him. She did so, and he fell into a small lake. Then he swam under
a rock, sticking up in it, leaving his buttocks protruding. To the
present time this lake is red. It is his blood.
ʟe dukāˊnᴀx caodīteˊ yuîˊxtǃ. Qotx
Then upon him [they] rushed the shaman. Destroyed
cūduʟ̣îx̣īˊx̣ duỵîˊk qāˊwu. Hu
were all [his men] quickly inside of [the canoe] his men. He,
qoaˊawe tcǃuʟeˊ wudeqēˊn duyēˊkqǃî tūwāˊdᴀx. Tcǃū
however, then flew away his spirits on account of. Even
yîdᴀˊt ye ᴀtgwâˊakᵘ wūckᴀˊt wudîqêˊn yuîˊxtǃ.
now thus people say as follows around flies the shaman.
Tcǃaāˊye ỵᴀˊtiỵi qoˊo xᴀˊnqǃawe ye ỵᴀtîˊ
Like this were people in it (town) thus was
wēˊtᴀtî. Duīˊwᴀq qǃaodūˊwaqa. ʟeł
a menstruant woman. Her eyes they told her to put on him. Not
ugaˊ yuaˊ akᴀˊqǃawe wudzigīˊt 340-5
for it [was big] the lake there he came to fall
akᴀˊnᴀx. Nacūˊta atāˊỵe dᴀ wuqǃāˊk tca
into it. Rock sticking up under it he swam right
tāˊỵe nᴀˊxawe dōqǃaiˊ wacuˊ yuwēˊtatetc duīˊt
from under his buttocks stuck out the menstruant woman at him
awułqenīˊtcayu. Tcǃu ỵīdᴀˊt łēqǃ uyᴀˊx ỵᴀtêˊ yūˊa.
looked it was. Even now red like it is the lake.
Ducīỵīˊtc yēˊsête.
His blood it is.
The sister and aunt of this shaman were enslaved, and the warriors
also carried away his spirit box. Before they had gotten very far off,
however, they stopped, untied the box, and began to handle the things
in it. They took out all of the spirits (i. e., masks, whistles, etc.),
and asked his sister [regarding one of them], “What is its name?” This
was the chief spirit, and had a long switch of hair. “The spirit is
named Hanging-down spirit,” said she. Then the warrior in the bow put
it on saying, “Let me be named Hanging-down spirit.” Immediately he
fell down as if he had been knocked over. He ceased to breathe. Another
put it on. “Let me be named Hanging-down spirit,” he said. All of those
who put this on were destroyed. One, however, stood up, made a noise,
and ran off. To this day his (the shaman’s) spirit has not ceased
killing.
Yuîˊxtǃ duʟ̣āˊkǃ wuduʟ̣īcāˊt. Duʟāˊkǃ tsǃu ān
The shaman his sister was enslaved. His aunt also with her
uduʟ̣īcāˊt. Duīˊkǃ yēk dāˊka-qōˊku
they took captive. Her brother’s spirit cover of box
wududzîỵaˊ yuxāˊtc. Yên nᴀx
came to carry away the warriors. There from
łnᴀłiyēˊqǃ ūn awuᴀˊtdjî aweˊ yên 340-10
not far [going by land] with it they got when there
odudziỵaˊ, qᴀ kaˊoduwakeʟǃaỵīˊ ᴀt kaoduwakǃᴀˊt
they came to rest, and untying it things they meddled with
yuqōˊkᵘ. Yuxāˊtc ke kᴀˊndudjîł yuyēˊk. Akᴀˊqǃ
[in] the box. The warriors out took all the spirits. For it
aduwūˊsǃ duʟ̣āˊkǃ “Wasᴀˊ duwasāˊkᵘ” ʟax yēk
they asked his sister “What is the name?” Very spirit
kînāˊqǃawe ye ỵatîˊ. Akǃᴀtǃūˊdêsᴀtīˊn yutcǃīˊn. “Wāˊsᴀ
head of it was. Was half added on the hair switch. “What
duwasāˊkᵘ yayēˊk,” yūˊỵaodudzîqa yucāˊwᴀt.
is the name of this spirit,” was what they said to this woman.
“Kîˊdᴀxgᴀłcūˊ aweˊ yūˊawasa yuyēˊk.” Xā
“Hanging-down [spirit] it is named the spirit.” The warrior
cᴀkahāˊdidjawe cāx oʟ̣icāˊt. “Xᴀt yēx ᴀt 340-15
in the bow put it on. “Me like it something
nᴀxdusāˊkᵘ Kîdᴀˊxgᴀłcu.”
let me be called Hanging-down Spirit.”
Yūt wuduˊwag̣og̣e yᴀxaweˊ wūˊnî yuqāˊ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
Out (or he had been pushed down) like it was that man. Then
hūtcǃ dudāsēˊgᵘ. Tsǃu g̣oˊnaatc cāx
ended he breathed (or had sense). Also another one on his head
wuʟ̣îcāˊt. “Xāt Kîˊdᴀxgᴀłcu yūˊ-xāt-nᴀx-dusākᵘ.”
put it. “Me Hanging-down spirit let me be named.”
Adᴀˊxayu qot cūˊwax̣īx̣ yuˊᴀt-cāx-yeˊiʟcᴀˊtdjî
And then destroyed were all quickly those putting on his
yēk tcǃīˊne. ʟēˊnᴀx āˊỵîna uwahāˊn ᴀˊłāx
spirit’s switch. One of them up stood making
tîn yut wudjix̣īˊx̣. Tcǃū ỵīdᴀˊt ʟēł qot kē
with a noise away ran. Even now not ever gets
ux̣îˊx̣tc duyēˊgītc duyᴀˊx qoỵawadjāˊg̣ê. 341-5
lost his spirit for him killing off.
After the other warriors had returned to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ, they determined
to erect a house. They were the old Kāˊgwᴀntān who were going to put
it up. So they sharpened the jadite which they used in chopping and
went out. On account of the house timbers the owner of that house
fasted for four days. After they had chopped for one month it was
finished, and the chief went outside and spoke to all the people. In
the morning those of the opposite phratry went out in ten canoes to
push the timbers down. They paddled across singing, and brought all
of them in, and they left them on the beach overnight. In the morning
they were invited for tobacco. There was no white leaf tobacco in those
days. Then mortars were brought out so that the part of the house near
the door was covered with them. The tobacco was chewed, a liquid was
poured over it, and it was mixed with powdered shells. After that the
names of those of the opposite phratry to whom balls of tobacco were
to be given, were called out, for they did not have any pipes at that
time. Those who had received the tobacco prepared to dance, and those
who owned emblem hats, as the raven or the whale, wore them. Now they
started to carry up the house timbers for the first of the houses of
the Kāˊgwᴀntān chiefs. They carved the wolf posts and finished the
entire house in one year. It was named Wolf house from its posts.
Yuxāˊ qoˊa deˊa anîˊde ỵāˊwagu, Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊdî.
The warriors, however, now home went, to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ.
De gux dułiyēˊx yuhîˊt. Tcǃākᵘ aˊỵe
Now they were going to build the house. The old [phratry] of
Kāˊgwᴀntāntcayu gux łayēˊx yuhîˊt. Dog̣ēˊʟǃ
Kāˊgwᴀntān it was were going to build the house. They sharpened
yūˊcᴀnaxaỵe sᴀkᵘ yūˊsǃū qᴀ tāˊỵes
what they used to chop with for the green stone and axes
sᴀkᵘ. Yênīˊawe kaˊoduwag̣āsǃ. Yākᵘ hît daedēˊdī
for. When they were ready they went out. Canoe house timbers
sᴀˊkᵘg̣wa ās sǃāˊte sᴀkᵘ qoˊa aweˊ daqǃūˊn 341-10
for tree owner of for, however, four days
qǃēˊwaxe. ʟēqǃ dîˊsawe aỵāˊnᴀx wudūˊwaxotǃ
fasted. One month it was during it was chopped
yênīˊaweyux qǃēˊwatān. Yuhîˊt
and when it was outside ready he [went and] spoke. The house
sǃāˊti sᴀkᵘ łdakᴀˊt yūˊāntqenīt qǃēˊwatᴀn. Tsǃutāˊdawe
owner for (of) all to the people spoke. In the morning
ᴀt wux̣ūˊn djᴀłdakᴀˊt yūˊāntqenî. Djînkāˊt yākᵘ ᴀt ỵāˊwagᵘ
started off all the people. Ten canoes went
yūˊāntqenî yūˊās anîˊ āx îˊqdî gux
the people the tree place from it down they
dutsuỵaˊ. Ỵēq kaˊoduwadjêł yuhîˊt ʟēn
were going to push them. Down they brought them the house big
dāîdīˊ sᴀkᵘ. Yākᵘ kācīˊỵi kᴀt doxāˊ 341-15
timbers for. Canoes singing on across paddled
yūˊg̣onetkᴀnaỵīˊtc. Ān eg̣ayāˊt doxāˊtcawe
the opposite phratry. The town down to when they brought
ēqqǃ uwaxeˊ. Łdakᴀˊt yūˊāntqenî awaˊ
on the beach they stayed one night. All the people it was
wuduwaīˊqǃ yūˊās axāˊdjî. ʟēł ʟ̣ēt qag̣ᴀˊndjî
were invited the tree those towing. Not white leaf tobacco
qōstîˊ. Dāq kaˊoduwadjêł yūˊtᴀqǃāỵēt. Yuˊqǃotǃāqǃ nᴀx
was. Out they brought the mortars. The door close to
yên wudîg̣ᴀˊt. Yên dutāˊqǃ
there it started to be covered. There it was chewed
wuduʟ̣ełuˊqǃ. Kᴀtsǃ atūˊde nᴀx dutīˊn.
a liquid was poured over it. Powdered shell into it was put.
Kᴀdōnaˊ yūˊwᴀc-ᴀt Łīngîˊt
They called out names the round balls of tobacco Tlingit
ʟᴀˊnqǃîtdjīdîˊ. ʟēł wuduskuˊ sǃᴀqdakīˊt. Qoˊa 342-5
giving them. Not was known about the tobacco pipe. But
yux ᴀnaāˊdawe
out when they were going
ʟǃēx kaˊodūwanᴀ
they called out the names and gave balls away to
yūˊg̣onētqᴀnaˊetc. Yūˊg̣ᴀntc awatᴀˊqǃe
the opposite people (i. e., Eagles). The leaf tobacco those chewed
aaweˊ a ᴀˊqgwaʟǃēˊx. Āʟēˊn cāˊwahîk
those were the ones who were going to dance. Entirely was filled
yūhîˊt. ᴀˊxo-a ᴀtūˊ ducᴀˊ yēł sǃāx̣ᵘ yāˊî
the house. Some among them emblems wore raven hats, whale
sǃāx̣ᵘ. ᴀt sǃātqǃyêˊn qodzîteˊ yūˊᴀtū. De dᴀˊqde
hats. Things owners of used those emblems. Now up
ye gᴀx dusniˊ yūhîˊt daîdedīˊ. Kāˊgwᴀntān
thus they were going to take the house timbers. Kāˊgwᴀntān
cagūˊnayu tcǃākᵘāˊỵî
head of (in remembrance of what they had done) the oldest
ānqāˊqǃuayu hît a gux łayēˊx g̣onētqᴀnāˊỵî.
chiefs it was house it was were going to build the opposite tribe.
Āˊdji kaoduˊwaqā. Yug̣āˊsǃ kᴀxdutīˊt. 342-10
Those (Eagles) told them to do it. The posts they carved.
Yūˊg̣ōtc g̣āˊsǃayu kᴀxdutīˊ qaᴀˊdī sᴀkᵘ.
The wolf post it was they carved their own [possession] for.
Tcǃuʟeˊ wuduʟ̣iyᴀˊx yuhîˊt. ʟēqǃ tāk yᴀnūiˊwanî.
Then as made the house. One year it was finished in.
ʟe ᴀsāyîˊx wusiteˊ G̣ōtc-hît. G̣āsǃ yayēˊ wutiˊ.
Then name was given to it Wolf house. Posts they were on.
When the house was completed a man went to Chilkat to invite the
G̣ānᴀxteˊdî, to Sitka for the Kîksᴀˊdî, and to Killisnoo for
the Dēˊcitān. They were going to invite all of them besides the
Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān into this house. Since then inviting back and forth has
been going on. The guests kept coming out from the nearest point to the
town site to look at the new house. The drums made a great noise there
continually. After they had spent one night close to the town they came
in quickly, dancing and singing. Inside, the town people began to dress
themselves to dance before their guests. They went into the water,
wearing Chilkat and marten-skin blankets. After that the owner of Wolf
house went out and made a speech.
Yenīˊawe Djîłqāˊt dê kōg̣āˊnagudî
When it was finished Chilkat to going after the guests
wugūˊt. Tcǃutǃāˊkᵘ yūG̣ānᴀxteˊdî yūˊdowasākᵘ na
[a man] went. A long time the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî named tribe
ag̣aˊ wuguˊt. Cīˊtǃka qoan tsǃu ag̣āˊ awaguˊt Kîksᴀˊdî,
for it he went. Sitka people also for it he went Kîksᴀˊdî,
X̣utsnūˊwᴀda qoan tsǃu, Dēˊcitān. ʟēqǃ hîˊtayu aˊỵîde
Killisnoo people also, Dēˊcitān. One house was into it
ye qogᴀˊxduīqǃ Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān.
they were going to invite all [including the] Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān.
Tcǃuʟeˊ atxāˊya ye ỵanaguˊt ya łīngîˊt-āˊnî
Then since then thus it has been going on in this world
to qoaˊnî wuctaīˊqǃ. ʟe atǃāˊkᵘłtenîˊ
people invite each other. Then coming out froma point to
ān yaog̣āˊsǃtc yūhîˊt g̣ax dustīˊn. Īˊdayu
town site the house that they may see. Around you
qāˊỵaỵîk duᴀˊxdjînutc yūˊandê ʟǃuwūˊgaoqǃ. Tǃā
always make a big noise in the town the drums. After them
wuduwaxaˊ yuqoīˊqǃê. Tcǃu ʟēqǃ tāt kᴀˊdayu 343-5
they went out the guests. Just one night they stayed
ān tuwᴀnỵīˊt ỵāwagūˊ. Ān eg̣ayāˊdî
town right close to they came. Town below
ỵāˊnᴀsx̣ix̣. Cîkᴀˊt ᴀduʟǃēˊx. Aỵîˊqǃ
they came ashore, quickly. With songs they danced. Inside
ʟākᵘān āỵîˊ qoīˊqǃî ctāt qodiciˊ
the town people guests commenced to dress themselves
aʟǃēˊx ỵîs. Nāx̣ēˊn ᴀnāˊq qa
dancing before for. Chilkat blanket wearing and
kǃūx hīnx wuˊᴀt yuaʟǃēˊxeỵīˊỵî.
marten-skin blanket into the water went the dancers.
Yᴀnīˊỵaniwe yūˊg̣otc hît sǃātêˊ yux
When they were on the shore the wolf house owner of outside
qǃēˊwatān.
went and spoke.
On the point at Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ is a place named Slaves’-valley. Their
slaves always[162] came from far to the south. Then the owner of this
house killed four slaves for his guests, while the next in rank killed
two slaves, and the whole number killed at that time was ten. After
they had killed them they threw their bodies down into this valley.
There two of them came to life, and one, getting up, opened and closed
his fingers to the people sitting on the hill. From that time the place
was named Slaves’-valley by the Kā’gwᴀntān.
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ ᴀˊłukwa ye duwasāˊkᵘ
Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ on the point of thus [is a place] named
Gūx-qǃagᴀˊkǃa. Yūîx̣kīˊdᴀx dusǃnᴀˊxtīn Łīngîˊt 343-10
Slaves’-valley. From far down [south] went Tlingit
āˊawe qaˊdjî ỵaˊnatidjīn. Yūˊhît sǃātīˊdjawe daqǃūˊn
those people they always were. The house owner of was four
uwadjᴀˊq yugūˊx yuqoīˊqǃe dāqǃ. Yūˊqǃāk ỵîˊkde
killed the slaves the guests for. The small valley down in
tcǃuʟeˊ dāk cāˊdutītc. Tsǃu duˊniya deˊa
then out they always threw them. Next [day] was ordered now
dēx gūx āˊwadjᴀq. Djînkāˊt wudūˊwadjᴀq yūˊgūx. Dᴀˊxᴀnᴀx
two slaves killed. Ten were killed slaves. Two
gūˊxawe ᴀqǃ qox wudiᴀˊt yūˊqǃāk tāqǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
slaves there to life started to come the valley in. Then
tcaodᴀnugūˊawe gēˊgwaʟǃiawate
when one of them got up he opened and closed his fingers
yu-dekīˊtnᴀq. Kāˊgwᴀntānqǃē xōˊdê
to those standing on the hill. Kāˊgwᴀntān among
tcǃuāˊtxawe ye dowasāˊkᵘ yūˊʟǃᴀtk Gux-qǃāˊgakǃ.
from that very time thus was named the place Slave-valley.
By and by they began to feed their guests. The people of all this
world were there. The one who had invited them began to dress himself.
Even now this part of the feast is named All-arisen [to attend to the
feast]. They put on their abalone shells, Indian paint, and eagle
feathers on their heads, and the women ear pendants. By and by the
headman was told to start his song. This man always said, “All right,
you are ready, my outside shell.” He wore a blanket which had been kept
laid away in a box and all the other things that his dead predecessor
had worn. His wife also had her blanket secured around her waist. He
always handed out his moose skins to the people. The chief always
distributed for the dead.
ʟēqǃ ānîˊ qoxeˊ aweˊ ỵaoduˊdzîdᴀq
One [day] town they were in when they come to feed
qoīˊqǃê. Łdakᴀˊt yałīˊngît-āˊnî g̣e qoaˊnî ayuˊ 344-5
the guests. All this world inside people it was
ᴀt ỵaˊodîha. Yūʟǃᴀˊtk adᴀˊxayu ctāt kaˊodicî
there were. The town from in began to dress himself
yuˊ-tut-qowaīˊqǃīỵa. “Wudūˊwᴀnāq”
the one who invited the guests. “All got up” [to attend to feast]
ye dowasāˊkᵘ tcǃūỵedᴀˊt. Dasᴀqāˊda
thus is named even now. They put on their things,
gunxaˊ cā qoˊa gokuʟǃēˊnx̣ᵘ qā
abalone shells, the women, however, ear pendants and
łēˊqǃaya qa qǃoaʟǃ qāˊca. Wananiˊsayuˊ
Indian paint and eagle feathers on their heads. All at once
acāde-hānî qǃēˊcukᴀndoqetc.
the head man (at head standing) was told to start his song.
“Gūc waēˊtc dāˊnaỵiti” yūˊỵᴀnaqetc,
“All right, you are ready,” was what he always said
“ᴀxdakᴀnūˊqǃuqǃaỵᴀˊxᴀ.” Yutcǃāˊkᵘ dunāˊwaqǃūu 344-10
“my outside shell.” A long time he had on [a blanket]
ᴀt ỵiˊỵᴀnuaxtc. Ducᴀˊt
always kept laid away in a box. His wife
qoūłsîˊktc. Yūˊᴀsǃātê wūnāˊ
always tied up [her blanket round her waist]. The owner was dead
wuqǃūˊ qoˊa wudaqǃūˊtc. Qāˊdjīt ᴀcuˊāxtc
wore, however, he always wore. To people he always handed out
yutsîˊskǃ wāˊsa ᴀsdjīˊỵakugue. Ayᴀˊxawe
the moose skins what he had. For them (the dead)
udjāˊqtc.
he always killed (i. e., distributed).
After all the blankets had been brought out, they were taken up one
at a time, and the names of those who were to receive called out,
beginning with the guest highest in rank. When one’s name was called
he rose and said, “Hadeˊ” (“This way”). The chief’s property was
sufficient for all of his guests. Whoever had slaves gave them away as
well. When they began to give his property away the giver stood near
the door with a baton in his hand. At that time there were no white
men’s things, the guests being invited for Indian articles only. After
all of his property had been distributed the chief made a speech, and
the people took their things home. In the morning the guests received
all of the dishes, spoons, baskets, etc., and they thanked their host
by leaving a dance. Afterward all of the guests returned to their homes.
Yuqoīˊqǃe xōqǃ dāk qax dudjîˊłînawe
The guests among out after they had taken all
aqdoᴀˊxtc. Yuqoīˊqǃe cāˊde-hānî
they always take up one at a time. The guests head man [among]
duīˊt dułūˊtc. “Hadeˊ” yūˊỵᴀnaqetc.
to him always gave it. “This way” was what he always said.
Djîłdakᴀˊt yuqoīˊqǃe xog̣ūˊ ỵaqāˊwagî doᴀˊtî adūˊsᴀ
All the guests for among was enough his things whoever
gūx dutcīyēˊỵᴀtî yūˊduʟ̣iēk. Tcǃuʟeˊ yāˊqǃatǃāq
slaves has that is given away. Then the door
nᴀx aweˊ yaᴀˊtgaīntc,
from near it was when they started giving his things away
wutsāˊg̣a hᴀˊsdutcīyēˊỵᴀtî yū-hᴀs-ᴀt-īˊnî. ʟēł ʟ̣ēt
a cane had in his hand the one giving them things. Not white
qā ᴀˊti qōˊstî. Tsǃᴀs Łīngîˊt ᴀˊdî aweˊ, aỵîˊs
men’s things were any. Only Tlingit things were for it
wucduīˊqǃanutc. Wānanīˊsawe qǃaˊoduwatān
guests always used to be invited. At once spoke
yuqāˊ ᴀˊdî hūtcǃgîxᴀłiyēˊx. Ān 345-5
the man his things when he was through with all. With them
yux āˊwaāt yūˊhᴀsdułaūqǃu. Tsǃutāˊtawe
out they went their gifts. In the morning
wuduʟ̣ikīˊtc. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt tîn cᴀł
all [their dishes] were given away. All things with spoons,
kᴀkᵘ qᴀ łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt qoīˊqǃedjīt ye dusnītc.
baskets, and everything to the guests thus they gave away.
Qadjīˊt ᴀt kadjīˊławe ʟǃēx wuduˊdzîtǃe
To the people things were given when away dance was left for him
ctog̣āˊdatê. Łdakᴀˊt qox ỵaˊodigu yuqoīqǃe
by way of thanks. All back went the guests
ānīˊdê.
to their homes.
Now all the people lived inside of this big house, Wolf house.
The young fellows were in the habit of racing one another when
they went to cut firewood with their stone axes. They called it
“Stone-ax-taken-in-canoe.” The party that had been beaten became angry,
and when they were eating grease together they pushed the fire over
upon those who had left them behind. Their opponents did the same
thing. They did not have any shirts on. The chiefs, however, were
sitting on top of the retaining timbers and had nothing to do with
this. It was all done by their nephews. This thing never was forgotten,
although now people do not kill one another. They threw fire at one
another. Finally, however, one of the cohoes people, whose house was
behind this, ran down bearing the raven hat, and made a noise like the
raven. “G̣ā,” he said. Because they heard this raven they did not kill
one another.
ᴀtxāˊwe aỵēˊ wudūˊwa-u yuhîˊt ʟēn łdakᴀˊt
After that inside of it lived the house big all
qātc. G̣ōtc-hît yūˊduwasa. Adᴀˊx wūdj kīgîˊ 345-10
the people. Wolf house it was named. After that together
kᴀndugᴀˊsǃtc ᴀt sᴀnāỵîˊ tāỵīˊs tîn. Tcǃuʟeˊ
they always raced things going after native axes with. Then
ye dowasāˊkᵘ Deˊyax tāỵīˊs-āˊwatê. Wānānīˊsawe qātūˊn
thus it was called “Stone-ax-taken-in-canoe.” At once angry
wūtîˊ yūyuduʟ̣îʟǃîˊtkîatc. Wūˊdjkīqǃawe doxāˊnᴀtc yūˊēx
got the canoe left behind. Together always ate the grease
kǃîsāˊnîtc. Wānānīˊsawe yūyuqoˊłî-ʟǃîˊtkia
the young boys. At once the side that left them behind
xōdeˊawe ke ỵakaˊoduʟ̣îtᴀq yūqǃāˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ aỵāˊqǃ
among it was over was pushed the fire. Then in return
ᴀt wūˊnî. ᴀxodêˊ ke aỵakaˊoduʟ̣îtᴀq
something was done like it. Among them over they pushed
yu-łîqǃāˊni-x̣ūtsī. Łēł kǃūdᴀˊsǃ kākᴀˊ.
the burning coals. Not shirts they had on.
Łīngîˊt ʟᴀnqǃ qoˊa tᴀqǃ cakīˊ
Tlingit great ones (= chiefs), however, retaining planks on top
ke uwaqeˊ. ʟēł ᴀx ūˊcî yuanqāˊqǃutc.
up sat. Not touched (= had anything to do with) the chiefs.
Qoˊa tsǃᴀs dux̣āˊqǃuawe ye quwanuˊq. ʟēł qut
But only their nephews thus were doing it. Not ever
qēˊux̣īx̣tc yūadeˊ ᴀt wūnīˊyiỵᴀ. Tcǃūỵedᴀˊt ʟēł
it got lost what happened was like that. Even now not,
qoˊa wudj wududjᴀˊq. Tcǃayāˊ datcūˊnawe wūdj
however, they kill each other. Like it, however, one another
xōdêˊ ỵaoduʟ̣îg̣êˊtc yuqǃāˊn. ʟ̣ǃuknaxāˊdîdjīqǃawe 346-5
among they threw the fire. Cohoes people
ye ỵatîˊ yēł sǃāx̣ᵘ. ᴀtǃāˊt łaāˊ hᴀsduhîˊtî. An
have raven hat. Back of it was their house. With it
āˊỵeq awaguˊt. Akaˊoduwaᴀx yūˊyēł. “G̣ā,” yūˊỵawaqa.
down one went. He made noise of the raven. “G̣ā,” he said.
ᴀtc ʟēł wūdj wududjāˊq yēł akaˊ
That is why not each other (because) they killed raven on it
wudūˊaxētc. ᴀtcaweˊ aỵīˊtx yux
always was heard. That is why from down in [the house] out
wuˊłig̣āsǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ hîtqǃ wuduʟ̣iyêˊx tcǃū ᴀqǃ.
they moved. Then houses they built right there.
This is what caused all the trouble. We are called Burnt-house people,
because the timbers of that house caught fire and were burned, and for
this reason the people moved out of it and built other houses in the
same place. Afterward some of the Burnt-house people moved to this
place (Sitka). Because we are their descendants we are here also. They
continue to be here because we occupy their places.
ᴀtaỵaˊ ᴀt cūˊwᴀnî. Yūˊhît aqᴀˊxyedî
This is what caused all the [trouble]. The house main beams
wułqǃāˊnetc. ᴀˊtcaya Kāˊgwᴀntān yūˊhaduwasākᵘ. 346-10
got on fire. This is why Burnt-house people we are called.
Yuhîˊt qᴀˊxyedî kawugānēˊtc. ᴀdjaweˊ yūx ᴀt
The house beams were burned. This is why out things
kaˊoduwadjêł. Hîtqǃ ye ỵaqāˊwagê Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊqǃ.
they took. Houses (therefore) there are many at Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ.
ᴀtxaweˊ yāˊde aˊołig̣āsǃ.
This is why to this place (i. e., Sitka) some moved.
Kāˊgwᴀntān yāt wudūˊwau. Aỵîdeˊ
Burnt-house people here lived. Their children (or descendants)
qotuˊstiỵīˊdjaỵa yāqǃ ye hāˊỵate ōhāˊn tsǃu. ᴀtcēˊỵa
because we are here thus we are we also. This is why
ỵīdᴀˊt tcǃu ye ỵānaguˊt yāˊỵedᴀt a-ītēˊ
now still thus it goes on [because] now in place of them
qotustēỵīˊtc.
we live.
FOOTNOTES:
[158] Cf. story 32.
[159] At Cape Fairweather.
[160] For songs composed regarding these experiences of Qakēˊqǃᵘtê, see
songs 2 and 3.
[161] Said when one loses a good thing or refuses to take it.
[162] “Usually” would be truer.
105. STORY OF THE KÂˊCKǃE QOAN[163]
Łtᴀxdᴀˊx was dead. He had a valuable copper, and he also had a dish
named Tsǃᴀnᴀtǃūˊkǃ. When he was dead they took his property out. Those
of the house in which these people lived who obtained the dish got into
trouble over it. Whoever had a sister told her to go with him. “Let us
go to some other place,” he said. The people that went away were from
that side of the house from which the dish was taken away. They were
sad on that account. Probably they numbered about forty. They said,
“Let us go straight for that mountain.” Whoever had three brothers took
them along to carry things for him. After that they came out under the
brow of the big mountain. On the way they dressed themselves in their
fine clothing, some in weasel-skin coats, some in marten-skin coats,
and they wore hats also because they wanted to die wearing them. Not
very many came away. Many more stayed up there than came out. When
they got up to the foot of the mountain they came together to talk
over where they should pass through. They came to a place where there
were many ground squirrels, which they clubbed. This is why it became
foggy. They lost one another in it, and some of them disappeared. It
was the fog that they got lost in. Then they let them (those who had
disappeared) go. After that they made good headway toward the place
whither they were bound. There appeared no place to get through. The
mountain seemed to be very close to them.
Łtᴀxdᴀˊx wūnaˊ. Aduˊdji ye ỵᴀtîˊ yutînnaˊ qǃᴀłitsīˊn, qa
Łtᴀxdᴀˊx was dead. His was a copper expensive, and
yusǃîˊqǃ tsǃu duˊdji ye ỵᴀtîˊ Tsǃᴀnᴀtǃūˊkǃ.
the dish also he had [named] Tsǃᴀnᴀtǃūˊkǃ.
Nᴀnāˊawe duᴀˊdi dāq ye uduˊdzînî.
When he was dead his things out they came to take.
Yuqǃᴀłîtsīˊnîỵa yusǃîˊqǃ yuˊᴀ-adjideˊ ᴀnudjîxêˊn ʟēqǃ
Was expensive the dish the [side] that got it one [house]
ᴀnēˊł qoaˊnî ayuˊ aayuˊ adāˊx wuckaˊoduwax̣îʟǃ. Ādūˊsᴀ
in people were those from it got into trouble. Whoever
duʟ̣āˊkǃ qodziteˊ ᴀg̣ātsāˊîtc. “Gudeˊ 347-5
his sister had told her to go with him. “To some place
nᴀx tuāˊde tcᴀgūdeˊsᴀ.” Yuʟēˊqǃ hît ye qo-uˊ ayaˊ
away let us go thither.” The one house people these
akēˊkdᴀx ayuˊ āˊwaāt hēˊnᴀx ādeˊ yên
from one side of that went away on the other side then there
wucxenīˊtc yusǃîˊqǃ. Qā tuwunūˊgᵘ tcayuˊ ye
was taken away the dish. And they were sorry because so
at wunîˊ. Guł daqǃūˊndjînkadīˊnᴀx ayuˊ qōˊwate, ye
they did. Probably about forty those were thus
qǃaỵadoqaˊ, “Tcǃa yūˊca kāˊỵaᴀqg̣aāˊdê.” Adūˊsᴀ
they said, “Right that mountain let us go to.” Whoever
dukīˊk-hᴀs tcǃu nᴀˊsǃgenᴀx tīˊỵî ʟe duˊndayaỵî
his brothers then three were then to carry for him
nᴀstīˊtc. ᴀtxaweˊ dāq nᴀx ānᴀˊx aqǃeỵīˊt 347-10
always took. After that out from from it below it
āˊwaᴀt yūˊca ʟēn. Qā naᴀˊdî kǃîdēˊn yên
they came to the mountain big. And going well there
wuduˊdzînî axōˊa dā kǃudᴀˊsǃ
they prepared [their clothes] among them weasel coats
axōˊa kǃūx-kǃudᴀˊsǃ. ᴀtūˊt
among them marten coats. Wearing them
qong̣ᴀˊnādayu sǃāx̣ᵘ tsǃu. Adᴀˊx sîteˊ wedaˊ
because they wanted to die, hats also. From it was away
ʟēł caỵaˊodaha aỵeˊ wutīˊỵia. Yūˊdᴀq kᴀ caỵadîhēˊn qoˊa
not came away were many. Up there were many more than
āx dāq ūˊwaᴀdîa. Yucāˊqǃaỵītǃ
from it out they started to go. It to the foot of the mountain
aāˊdawe wucdāˊt dunᴀˊq ᴀdaˊyūqǃ ᴀduʟ̣îᴀˊtk
when they got together they came about it began to talk
ᴀnᴀˊx aỵᴀˊkᵘgwaᴀt. Aaweˊ
through what [place] they should go. In the place
wududzîtīˊn ye aokagaỵe tsᴀłk ʟe
they came to find thus were many ground squirrels some of which
acaˊodowaxêct. Aᴀˊsewe qakāˊ kaołîgwᴀˊsǃ. ʟe aqǃᴀweˊ
they clubbed. This is why a fog was made. Then there
tsa wudjîtēˊx aỵaˊoduʟ̣îg̣ên. ʟe gwâyᴀˊł aqōˊstê. 348-5
right each other they missed. Then there was some gone.
Yūˊqog̣āsǃ tūˊqǃwᴀsiyu qot wūˊāt. ʟe de hᴀs
The fog in that it was they got lost. Then now they
wuduʟ̣îʟǃīˊt yuqog̣āˊsǃ tūqǃ qot hᴀs wuadīˊdjayu. ʟe
let them go the fog into lost they because got. Then
adeˊ de wuduʟ̣îtsīˊn ỵāˊnᴀᴀt. ʟēł
where to they made strong headway where theywere going. Not
ᴀnᴀˊx awug̣āˊadiỵᴀ qōstêˊ. Tcǃayuˊ ʟīˊya
through it a place to go there was. Very close to them
ᴀˊsîwe ᴀtx dudjīˊx.
it was it appeared.
By and by they came to the very foot of the mountain. There was no
place where they could get through. But through the northern part of
the mountain passed a glacier, and they went up that way toward the
top. They thought that they were all going to die off when they reached
the top. They did not come to the highest summit of the mountain,
however. Then they put on all of their best clothing for good. They
stayed there perhaps five days. They were now going to start on singing
the song that they had sung when they left home. The morning of the day
after they started away. And they started the song they used to sing up
on Copper river. At that time they wore nose pins. When they were about
to start from that place they put on weasel hats and coats. All mourned
together over the friends they had left behind and over those who had
been lost in the fog. When they were through mourning they arose and
started off.
Wananīˊsawe qǃēˊg̣a yūˊcā kǃīˊỵīt āwaᴀˊt.
At once truly the mountain to the foot of they came.
ʟēł ᴀnᴀˊx awug̣āˊadiỵᴀ qōˊstî. 348-10
Not through it where they could get was.
ʟēkǃ-ỵᴀtīˊỵiỵᴀ koˊsaat ināˊnᴀx a anᴀˊxawe
Where was no way to go through it
sîtǃ wūcuˊ. Anᴀˊxawe ᴀcakīˊ ke
an ice ridge (glacier) went over. That way toward top of it up
āwaᴀˊt. ʟe kᴀkᵘgwanāˊayu yūˊqāttu wuᴀˊtî
they went. Then they were going to die off they thought
ᴀcakīˊ ke ᴀāˊt. ʟēł ʟᴀx ᴀcᴀkīˊ
toward top of the mountain up they went. Not very on top of it
ke āwuāˊt ag̣āˊawe. ʟᴀx qǃēˊg̣a qāˊna-ᴀˊdî-nādeỵeˊ
up they got, however. Very truly all their best things
wuduˊdzînî. Guł kidjîˊngiyu āqoˊuxe. Aweˊ
they put on. Probably for five days they stayed there. Then
ᴀkᴀˊt kaosîdāˊg̣ea cî aweˊ
away from it (each other) they started when they went song that
akᴀˊt g̣onayeˊ ᴀqgwaāˊt. ᴀtx qēˊnaa
on it to start away they were going. After that day it was
tsǃutāˊdawe āx g̣onayeˊ āwaᴀˊt. ʟe kē
next morning from it started they went. Then up
kaodūwacîˊ, Yūˊēq-hēˊnî cākqǃ qāłuˊqǃ yetêˊxqǃun.
they started the song, Copper river up in they used to use.
Tᴀˊqǃxê agaaweˊtsa łūˊnᴀx ke yē kaˊodudzînī.
Nose pins at that time in their noses up thus they wore.
Āx g̣onayeˊ ᴀqᵘgwaᴀˊdi yūdāˊ sǃāx̣ᵘ qa
From it starting they were going the weasel hat and
yukǃudᴀˊsǃ. Ag̣āaweˊtsa qākᴀˊqǃ yᴀx wudjîxêˊn 349-5
coat [they put on]. At that time there like together
tuwunūˊk, yunᴀˊq awaāˊde a qaxōˊnqǃî.
they all mourned, behind these they left friends.
Dadêˊ kaayuˊ qog̣āˊsǃ tuqǃ qot wuadeˊ adadēˊayu. Yên
And about those fog in were lost about them. There
g̣āx dustīˊ aweˊ tsa āx wudūˊwanāq. G̣onayeˊ
mourning was then indeed from it they got up. Starting
āwaᴀˊt.
they went.
The Athapascans did not know about the sea, and they called one another
together. They said, “What is that so very blue?” They said, “Let us
go down to it. We have saved ourselves,” they said. Coming to the
lower end of the glacier, they traveled very fast down to the sea.
They crossed a river boiling out from under the mountain and almost as
large as Copper river. They went down to the sea alongside of the big
river. Afterward they stayed down there at the mouth of that river. The
first thing they did there was to claim the big mountain [as a crest],
because they were the first to pass through it. When winter began to
come on they built a house beside the river. They named it Mountain
house because they had nearly lost their lives on that mountain. This
is why they so named it. They stayed right there in that house, and the
settlement grew into a town.
ʟēł wuduskuˊ yuēˊʟǃ qostiỵiỵeˊ yūˊg̣onanatc. ʟe
Not knew the sea water there was the Athapascans. Then
yᴀtīˊỵi ỵēqǃ wudjxᴀˊndî wūcduxoˊx. Ye
there being there together they called. As follows
wucdāˊỵᴀdoqa, “Dāsayuˊ ʟᴀx ye sǃu yᴀx ỵatîˊ. Kǃe 349-10
they said, “What is it very so blue like is? Well
yên kᴀx dusnūˊkᵘ,” ʟe yūqoyāˊwaqa.
there out to we go,” then they said.
“Dê cwutudzînēˊx,” ye wucdāˊỵᴀdoqa.
“Now we have saved ourselves,” so they said to one another.
Yusîˊtǃqᴀnᴀx ēq nᴀx ayaˊᴀg̣aāˊt ayᴀˊxawe
From the glacier beach [at lower end] on and below it like it
ʟe ʟākᵘ awaāˊt yuēˊʟǃ yāˊxdê. ʟe ᴀkāˊnᴀx
very fast they went the sea water down to. Then across it
ỵāˊwaāt yuhīˊn ʟēn yucaˊ taỵinᴀˊx wuduwaqoˊq,
they got a river large a mountain from underneath was boiling,
ʟēł unałaˊ Ēq-hīˊnî yᴀx qog̣ēˊỵî. ʟe ēʟǃ
not (scarcely) Copperriver like was larger. Then se water
yāˊxe ỵaāˊwaāt wehīˊn ʟēn yāˊxnᴀx. ᴀtxaweˊ ʟe 349-15
down to they came the river big alongside. After it then
āˊỵēq uwateˊ wehīˊn yāx. Tcǃuʟeˊ
down there they stayed the river at mouth of. Then
qaᴀˊdîx wusiteˊ yūˊca ʟēn cuqǃāˊnᴀx ᴀdāˊt
the first thing they did the mountain big (to claim) on it
āˊwuᴀdīˊdjayu. Tāˊkᵘdê. ỵakog̣wahaˊawe
because they were the first who came. Winter when it began to be
hît wuduʟ̣îyᴀˊx yuhīˊn yāxqǃwe wuduʟ̣iyᴀˊxe. Hît
house they made the river alongside they made. House
ỵaˊoduwasa cā hît akāỵîˊx qōnᴀˊx satīỵīˊn.
they named Mountain house about it they nearly lost their lives.
ᴀtcaweˊ ye wūdūwasaˊ. ʟedeˊ tcǃᴀ aỵēˊq
This is why so they named it. There right down in it
uwateˊ. ʟe ānx wusîteˊ.
they stayed. Then town become it was.
Then the Cāˊdᴀdūx[164] grew strong. They were the ones who built
Mountain house. After they had been there ten years one person began
living away from town in order to make the frame of a skin boat.
Cāˊdᴀdūx-hᴀs wułîtsīˊn. Hᴀsdjawēˊ hᴀs 350-5
The Cāˊdᴀdūx (pl.) grew strong. It was they they
awuˊłîyᴀx weCahîˊt. Djîˊnkāt tāk aỵēˊ hᴀs natiˊ
built Mountain house. Ten years in it they were
aweˊ ʟēqǃ atīˊỵia dāk aỵaˊodîhᴀn
when one being (person) out started to live by himself
djᴀqoˊx ᴀtux̣āˊgî ye agoxsᴀnîˊ.
skin boat frame of it so he was going to fix.
A woman named Kǃwâdēˊłtᴀ reared a young sea gull. The sea gull did not
grow large. All at once she did something to it that made it grow as
large as an eagle. It began to grow big. Now it was almost as large as
a house. When it got large she wanted to take it among her playmates.
Her brothers, however, wanted to kill it. When she was playing with it
the sea gull swam out of the mouth of the river. She also disappeared.
She started after it. They used the song that they came out with over
her. The song is a hard one, having all kinds of notes.
Kǃwâdēˊłtᴀ hutcaweˊ aosiwᴀˊt yukēˊʟ̣adi ỵᴀˊtî. ʟēł
Kǃwâdēˊłtᴀ it was she who reared a sea gull young. Not
ułgēˊx kēˊʟ̣adî. Wāˊsᴀqcūˊyu aosîˊnî desgwaˊtc tcākǃ
got big sea gull. What all at once she did already eagle
ayᴀˊx ỵakunᴀłg̣êˊn. Desgwᴀˊtc aʟēˊnx sîtîˊ 350-10
like it it began to be as big as. Already it became large
guł yūˊhît yāˊnᴀx ỵakunᴀłg̣êˊn. Desgwᴀˊtc ʟa łig̣eˊ
almost a house like was as big as. Already then got large
yukēˊʟ̣adî qosūkǃxōˊdê ᴀqsᴀnuˊktc.
the sea gull among her playmates she would always take it.
Duīˊkǃ-hᴀstc qoˊa g̣ᴀdjāˊg̣et hᴀs aỵaheˊ. Ān
Her brothers, however, to kill it they wanted. With it
wuadeˊayu kosîkǃōˊdêtīt ūˊdākuwahoˊ
when she was playing out of the mouth of the river swam
yukēˊʟ̣ᴀdî. Hu tsǃu ʟe ayᴀˊx wūnaˊ ᴀtxaweˊ duīticîỵîˊ
the sea gull. She also then out went afterward after it
kaˊodzîte. Kîtcdāˊcîỵîˊx sîtîˊ
started to go. Beginning song they did
yūˊakᴀt-dāk-āˊwaᴀdî a. Yāˊnᴀx łᴀtsīˊnden yucuˊk
the one they came out with. The song is a hard one
dułxoˊxgunutc.
having all kinds of notes.
Then the man sent off six of his nephews. He told them to go along
shore in the canoe he had made, to search for people. When the weather
was very good they started off. They came down this way to a place
opposite Yakutat. There they discovered eulachon and a fish called
kǃāˊgᴀn. These were in a creek. They put a small net into it to catch
the eulachon, and they put the kǃāˊgᴀn into a small cooking basket
while they were still alive. They offended them, however, by laughing
at them. Just as day broke they started off. When they got out on the
sea there came up a south wind, so that they could not go anywhere.
They came right back to their starting point, and their skin canoe was
broken. One of them went under it and was killed. They stayed there.
Probably they were there for twenty-one days. Then the weather became
fair. Meanwhile they lived upon kǃāˊgᴀn and eulachon. When it was good
weather they again started off.
ʟe dūcūˊnᴀx duqēˊłkǃî-hᴀs ᴀkāˊwᴀna. Qongacīˊt yudjaqoˊx
Then six [of] his nephews he sent. He told them the canoe
ỵît yu-yên-aołîyᴀˊxê łīngîˊtg̣aayuˊ hᴀs qoggwacîˊ.
in the [canoe] he had made for people they should hunt.
ʟᴀx wâ qogukǃēˊsawe g̣onayeˊ hᴀs 351-5
Very when it got to be good weather started they
uwaqoˊx. Hānāˊỵînadêˊ yatǃāˊk ye
went off. Coming down this way they came to a place thus
dowasāˊkᵘ Yāˊkᵘdāt kikᴀˊ. Anᴀˊxawe yên hᴀs uwaqoˊx.
called Yakutat to. After that there they came.
ᴀqǃaweˊ akᴀˊx hᴀs qōwacîˊ wesāˊk
At it in it they discovered eulachon
kǃāˊgᴀn tsǃu. Hīn ỵîkt ỵaˊosîa.
(and a fish called kǃāˊgᴀn) also. Creek down in there were.
Kāt ye hᴀs aosîˊnî yusāˊk an hᴀs
In it thus they put [a small net] eulachon with it them
agustāˊkt. Kᴀkᵘ kᴀˊqǃawe yên hᴀs aołîx̣ᴀˊn
to catch. Small cooking basket into there they put
tcǃu kāˊwusxāˊde yukǃāˊgᴀn. Aaweˊ ᴀxg̣ᴀna hᴀs
still they were alive the kǃāˊgᴀn. This was the thing they
kaoʟ̣îg̣ᴀˊt hᴀs ᴀˊcug̣ōtc. 351-10
said something wrong to [because] they were laughing at it.
Tcǃuyeˊ kotiỵeˊawe hᴀs ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. ʟe
Just as day was breaking they started off. Then
dekīˊdāk hᴀs nᴀqōˊxo aỵaˊodîti dᴀˊqdî
out on the sea they got (when) there came up
kᴀsāˊnᴀx. ʟēł gudēˊsᴀ hᴀs wuqoˊx. Tcǃᴀ
a wind from the south. Not anywhere they went. Right
āˊnᴀx yên hᴀs uwaqoˊx.
back to [their starting point] there they came.
Hᴀsdu-djaqoˊx-ỵago kāwawᴀˊʟǃ. ʟēˊnᴀx yatīˊỵia
Their skin canoe was broken. One of them there was
djaqoˊx taỵēˊx wudzîgīˊt. Wūnaˊ. ʟe ā hᴀs
the skin canoe under went. He was dead. There they
ỵawasîˊkde. Guł ʟeqāˊyegeye qᴀ ʟēqǃ aỵîˊs
stayed. Probably twenty [days] and one for it
wuteˊ. Yāˊqǃawe hᴀsdukāˊ awadāˊq.
they stayed. There on them it became good weather.
Kǃāgᴀˊnawe ᴀkāˊ hᴀs kaˊodzîte qᴀ sāk. Hᴀˊsdukāˊ
Kǃāgᴀˊn it was on it they lived and eulachon. On them
ᴀnadāˊqawe tsǃu g̣oˊna acāˊỵadax dāk hᴀs
when it was good weather again started from there out they
uwaqoˊx.
went.
At that time the people got over to Yakutat. There were many people in
the town, some called Koskǃēˊdî, some ʟǃuqǃoeˊdî, who refused to let
them remain, though they told them truly how they had come out from
behind the mountain. They were there for some time. Then they started
back to their own place. They came again to the place where their canoe
had been broken and remained there for one night. Again they went out.
They spent the night in their canoe. Then they came ashore. When they
reached the foot of the big mountain they were told that a little girl
had been given the name of the woman who followed the sea gull out.
Tcǃaˊ ag̣āˊawe tsǃᴀas aỵāˊwaʟāk Yakᵘdāˊt. Aʟēˊn ānqēˊnî
At that time only they got over to Yakutat. Many people
g̣âˊya ayēˊ ỵatîˊ yūˊān, Koskǃēˊdî yūˊadowasāk,
in it were the town Koskǃēˊdî some were called,
ʟǃūqǃoeˊdî yūˊadowasak. ᴀx hᴀs 352-5
ʟǃūqǃoeˊdî some were called. From it they
kaˊodudjîkǃᴀn djusūˊg̣a. Tcǃa ayêˊx hᴀs ᴀkᴀnīˊk
refused to let them stay there. Right like it they told
yucatǃēˊnᴀx dāk hᴀs wūˊade. Āˊ hᴀsta ās
from behind the mountain out they had come.
tcǃākᵘ ayeˊ hᴀs wutêˊ. Yāˊqǃawe tsǃu qoˊxde hᴀs
Some time there they were. To their place again going they
ᴀt wudix̣ūˊn. Tsǃu weˊᴀqǃ hᴀsduyāˊgo kawuwâˊʟǃ yēˊnᴀxawe
started. Again at it their canoe was broken at it
yên hᴀs uwaqoˊx. ʟēqǃ hᴀs uwaxeˊ. ᴀtxaweˊ
there they came. One [night] they stayed there. From it
tsǃu dāk hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Yākᵘ kā hᴀs uwaxeˊ. ᴀtxaweˊ
again out they went. Canoe on they stayed. After it
tsās ᴀˊnᴀx yên hᴀs uwaqoˊx. ᴀt hᴀs 352-10
(ashore at it) there they came. At it they
qōˊxawe yūˊca ʟēn sēỵîˊ ye hᴀs duīˊn
came (when) the mountain big at the foot of so to them
kᴀdunīˊk yukēˊʟ̣adî dāk ᴀcūˊỵawus hūˊwua de kaỵaˊoduwasa
they told the seagull out followed after her was named
ca ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ.
[another] woman small.
This little girl went out to dig roots and dug up a red thing. The
thing she dug up was quite long. So they made this into a dish like
the one that had been taken away from them. After this dish had been
finished they beat the drums for the girl who had followed out the
sea gull. At that time a song was composed in remembrance of her. The
people remained there one year after the six men had gotten back.
Then the ninth month was beginning to come on. At that time a skin
canoe came in sight from the direction of Copper river. It was bound
southward. The people were called in, and they came ashore there. These
were Kāˊgwᴀntān from the mouth of Copper river. They called them into
the house and gave them food.
Yᴀqǃ xāt łᴀsǃēˊʟǃ wugūˊde yūˊca ᴀt-kǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ
There roots of trees to scratch up went out the little girl
qǃānᴀˊx-yātīˊỵiᴀt ke akaˊosîha. Yeˊawa kuwāˊtǃᴀ
red thing up dug. It was quite long
yū-ke-akaˊosîhaˊỵe-ᴀt. ʟayuˊ yu-qādjīˊtx-
the thing she dug up. Then the thing that was
wudutāˊnea ʟe ayᴀˊxawe wuduʟ̣iyᴀˊx yusǃîˊqǃ.
taken away from them then like it was made the dish.
ᴀtxaweˊ yên wududzîniˊ yusǃîˊqǃ du-itīˊqǃawe gāˊwu
After it there came to be finished the dish for her drums
duwatāˊn wekēˊʟ̣ᴀdî dāk ᴀcūˊỵawus hūˊwu a. ᴀg̣āˊawe
were beaten the sea gull out followed she did. At that time
duīˊt cîỵîˊ kaˊodzîte. ᴀqǃ tsǃu tākᵘ qakāˊyᴀn
for her a song was given. There also year there
uwateˊ yuāˊqo hᴀs wudîqoˊxaỵᴀ. ᴀdᴀˊx
they stayed [after] to the place they got back. After that
yᴀx ỵāˊqogwaha gucuˊk aayuˊ yudîˊs.
like was beginning to come ninth it was the month.
Yāˊqǃawe wududzîtīˊn djaqoˊx yūˊĒq-hīˊnî 353-5
At that time came to be seen skin canoe Copper river
ỵînanᴀˊx. Hāt uwaqoˊx. Āˊwe ʟeỵîˊnde
from the direction of. This way came. Then ashore
wuduwaxōˊx ʟe kāg̣aỵāˊnᴀx yên uwaqoˊx. Xᴀtc
they were called and toward it there they came. These
Kāˊgwᴀntān ᴀˊseyu yuēˊq-hīˊnî wᴀtdᴀˊx a.
Burnt-house people were Copper river from the mouth of were.
Nēłdeˊ wuduwaxoˊx. Hᴀˊsduqǃwēx ᴀt
Into the house they called them. Their mouths things
wudūˊwate.
they put into.
After they had fed them six brothers went hunting with dogs, and the
youngest killed nothing. They always put up a great quantity of food,
and carried it around with them. By and by all rushed after mountain
sheep on top of the mountains. Their brother-in-law also went along
with them. One of them (the youngest) in chasing the mountain sheep
went astray in front of a cliff. It was toward evening. He was shaking
all over. When it was almost evening the mountain sheep rushed toward
him. Their leader went to him and took him on its horns. It ran away
with him and made him stand up on a place to one side. Then the people
started down. They went down without hunting any more. When they got
down on the beach they started home for Yakutat.
Hᴀˊsduqǃwēx ᴀt nᴀdutīˊ weʟeducūˊnᴀx ỵᴀtīỵîˊ
Their mouths things they put into six were
wudjkîkǃîỵêˊn kēʟ tîn hᴀs wuāˊt. Kekǃeaˊawe ʟēł
the brothers dogs with they went. The youngest not
ᴀdudjᴀˊq. Wūˊyên hᴀs aołîdjᴀˊq. 353-10
killed anything. Lots of food they killed [and prepared.]
Wuckēˊt hᴀs udayāˊîtc. Aweˊ
With themselves they always carried it around. And
djêˊnwu hᴀs aˊołîqǃêʟǃ cāyᴀˊqǃ. ʟe
mountain sheep they rushed on top of the mountains. And
nᴀx yatīˊỵî hᴀsdukāˊnî tsǃu hᴀsduīˊn wuāˊt.
from them there was their brother-in-law also with them went.
Aweˊ qâq duwaguˊt gîʟǃ ỵîqǃ djêˊnwu îtqǃ.
And astray one went cliff in front of mountain sheep after.
X̣āˊna ayuˊ ye wūˊnî. Łdakᴀˊt ỵî yeˊkudał kaodînᴀˊt.
Evening that so it was toward. All he was shaking.
ʟᴀx x̣āˊnaawe ᴀˊnᴀx āt łūwag̣uˊq yudjêˊnwu.
Very near evening to him ran toward the mountain sheep.
Yūˊaîtqǃ ye wunīỵîˊ cuˊqǃwaa-iˊdjawe cīˊt cāwax̣îˊtʟ
To those so it was like the leader to him went
ducedînāˊx wułîx̣āˊtǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ aweˊ ᴀcīˊn
[and] on his horns took him. Then it was with him
wudjîx̣īˊx̣ ʟe ʟǃāˊdenỵakᴀˊqǃawe ᴀˊcdjiwanᴀˊq. ᴀtxaweˊ
it ran and at a side place let him stand up. After that
ʟe ỵîˊnde hᴀs wuāˊt. ʟēł ᴀt nᴀtiˊ yᴀx hᴀs ỵaodahūˊn.
then homeward they went. Not things were like they
Ỵēk hᴀs āˊdawe hᴀs ᴀt kāwanaˊ
hunted. Down they came [when] they to it started home
Yakᵘdāˊtdê.
to Yakutat.
Now the six brothers started on a journey for the place whence they had
all come out. Their uncle told them to go back for a copper plate which
was in a valley called Łtaxēˊn, leading down to Copper river. They did
not want to leave it there because it was valuable. When the people
first came out, it took them forty days and nights, but the young men
took only twenty days and nights. They got back among their friends.
When they came among their friends again these wept with them and did
not want them to return. But after they had stayed there for some time
they went to the valley where was the copper plate. Since they had left
their friends no one had been to the valley. The real owner of it, too,
was dead. They reached the opposite side of that valley. When they got
there they saw the copper, which was very long. It also had eyes and
hands. The copper was pointing its hands in the direction whither its
friends had gone. They cut it in two in the middle and took it apart.
Then all six of them carried it. Their friends did not bother them
about it at all. They started back. Again they traveled for twenty
days, and came down to the ocean once more.
ʟe ducūˊnᴀx-hᴀs de yu-wudjkîkǃîỵêˊn ko hᴀs 354-5
Then the six now the brothers they
wuˊdeᴀt yūˊax dāk hᴀs wusdāˊg̣eyedî.
started [to the place] from it out they had come out.
Hᴀsdukāˊktcawe qox hᴀs kāwaqaˊ Ēq-hīˊnî
Their uncle it was to go back them told Copper river
kᴀtqǃatᴀˊn Łtaxēˊn yūˊēq aỵēˊỵatî.
leading into [a valley called Łtaxēˊn] a copper was.
ᴀqᴀˊxayu qǃᴀłatsinīˊtcayu ʟēł hᴀˊsdutu wāˊuc gu hᴀs
Because it was expensive not their minds wanted there they
ᴀtcūˊwunāg̣eˊ. Daqǃūˊn-djîˊnkāt hᴀs uwaxeˊ
should leave it. Forty [days and nights] they camped
cūˊqǃwa dāk hᴀs gᴀsadāˊq. Yūkǃîsāˊnî ʟēqaˊ hᴀs
when first out they came. The young men twenty they
uwaxeˊ. Hᴀs qoˊa ᴀt hᴀs uwaᴀˊt hᴀsduxōˊnqǃî 354-10
camped. They however to it they came their friends
xōt. Ya hᴀs wududjîgêˊ ᴀt hᴀs āt
among. They not wanting them to come away there they got
hᴀsduxōˊnqǃî xō, hᴀsduīˊn g̣ᴀˊxduste. ʟēł qox dê ỵe
their friends among, with them they wept. Not back to so
hᴀs āˊdoha. Tcǃākᵘ ayēˊsnati aweˊ tcǃākᵘ yūˊēq
they wanted. A long time they stayed when far the copper
ayiyeˊyatiỵî cānᴀˊxde hᴀs wuāˊt. Tcǃayuˊ dᴀˊkdê
was to the valley they went. No one out
wuˊsîdag̣êˊa hᴀsduxōˊnqǃî yᴀˊxawe ʟēł ᴀx ỵāˊuguttc
went their friends from the time not from had ever been
yūˊcānᴀx. ᴀtsǃāˊtîỵīỵî tsǃu wūˊna. ᴀt hᴀs
[to] the valley. The real owner of it also was dead. To it they
uwaᴀˊt wecānᴀˊx kīkᴀˊ. ᴀt hᴀs āˊdayu 354-15
came the valley opposite side of. To it they got when
hᴀs aˊosîtēn yūˊēq. Dayēˊkuwāt. Ke
they saw the copper. It was very long Up
kāˊwaa duwāˊq āˊwu dudjīˊn tsǃu. Āˊwu a
it grew (very long) its eyes it had its hands also. The place
yūdōxōˊnqǃî ade wuadeˊya ỵînadeˊawe ke djiułîtsᴀˊq
its friends to it went down toward up pointed its hands
yūˊēq. Aỵîˊn kᴀtǃūˊtqǃawe āx hᴀs āwax̣ᴀˊc. ʟe
the copper. Right down in the middle apart they cut it. Then
hᴀs ᴀkāˊwatī wūˊcdᴀx. Tcǃuʟeˊ ducūˊnᴀx-hᴀs tīỵīˊawe hᴀs
they took it apart. Then all six of them were they
āˊwaya. ʟēł hᴀsdudāˊt ˊᴀt qoˊwustî hᴀˊsduxonqǃetc 355-5
carried. Not to them anything did their friends
tsǃu. ʟe qoˊxde dē hᴀs ᴀt wudîx̣ūˊn. ʟeqāˊ
also. Then back now they started. Twenty [days]
hᴀs ūwaxeˊ tsǃu. ᴀtxaweˊ weēˊʟǃ kᴀqǃ yā hᴀs wuāˊt.
they were again from it the sea to these they got.
At that time all the people started for Yakutat. They started off with
the copper that the six men had brought out. Again they came out to
the place where their canoe had been broken up. They camped there one
night. From there they started across to Yakutat. They came ashore
there. Then the people did not want to have them there. The Koskǃēˊdî
did not want to let them stay. They discovered Duqdanēˊkᵘ (one of
the new arrivals) coming from a small stream called Kâckǃ with some
humpbacks he had speared. When the Koskǃēˊdî saw him coming with a
string of humpbacks they cut the string on which they were hung. They
also broke his spear. Then the people were grieved over what had been
done to him. They called one another together about it and thought it
best to buy the place and pay for it once for all. So they bought the
place. The six brothers were the ones who got it. They bought it for
the copper plate, which was worth ten slaves, and sent the Koskǃēˊdî
away. Afterward things were compared to the six Athapascan brothers
[because they were very fast runners]. They stayed here probably twenty
years. Meanwhile the Koskǃēˊdî and ʟǃuqǃoeˊdî left the place. They were
the only ones there. There were no other Athapascans at that place.
Ag̣āˊawetsa nāqǃ kaˊodowana Yākᵘdāˊt dê. ʟe ᴀt
At that time for they started Yakutat for. Then
wudūˊwax̣ūn. Weˊeq tîˊnawe ᴀt wudūˊwax̣ūn.
they started. The copper with [they] started off.
Weʟēˊducunᴀx qātc dāk uwayāˊỵî ᴀt tîˊnnawe, ʟe
The six men out carried thing with it was; then
wēˊᴀqǃ hᴀˊsduỵi yākᵘ kawuwāˊʟǃîỵa ānᴀˊxawe yên yᴀk 355-10
to where their canoe was broken up thither there out
uwahaˊ tsǃu. ʟēqǃ aqǃ uwaxeˊ. Adᴀˊxawe tsǃu
they came also. One [night] at it they stayed. From it again
dāt ỵawaguˊ Yākᵘdāˊtdê. ᴀnᴀˊx yên yᴀkᵘ uwahaˊ.
across they started to Yakutat. At it there ashore they came.
ʟēł kāt tuwâˊ uckuˊ ayēˊstiỵî. Koskǃedīˊtc āx hᴀs
Not there they would let them stay. Koskǃēˊdî from it them
ỵaˊoduwatsᴀq. Hīn aˊho a ye dowasāˊk Kâckǃ-hīn
wanted to drive. A creek it was thus named Kâckǃ creek
ᴀkǃᵘᴀˊtskǃᵘ ayuˊ Duqdanēˊkᵘ aweˊ wētcāˊsǃ atᴀˊkt
a small one there Duqdanēˊkᵘ it was the humpbacks speared them
aweˊ wududzîtīˊn. ᴀtx ān ye ỵānaguˊtî
those they came to see. From there with them thus he was coming
wetcāˊsǃ qǃᴀkaīˊc gᴀdustīˊnawe weKoskǃedīˊtc 355-15
humpbacks a string of when they saw the Koskǃēˊdî
qǃᴀtūˊda wuduwax̣ᴀˊc yudoxāˊdî. Doāˊdaỵî tsǃu
the string of cut his salmon. His spear also
kaoduwaʟǃīˊqǃ. Aweˊ qātuweˊ ỵanūˊkᵘ yuadeˊ
they broke. Then sorrow they felt about what
wududzînīˊỵīetc. Aˊawe ʟe ᴀdāˊt wūdj
had been done to him. It was then about it together
wudūˊwaxōx. Ỵakǃeˊ wuduˊwāu dê yāt
they called each other. It was good that they bought the place
hᴀsduīˊqǃ yên kᴀ tusagēˊỵî. Wuduwa-uˊ yuʟǃᴀˊtk.
for them and paid for it altogether. They bought the place.
ʟeducūˊnᴀx yetīˊỵî wuckîkǃîỵêˊn hᴀstcayuˊ hᴀs aỵāˊwaʟ̣āq.
The six were brothers those they got it.
Yutînnaˊ djîˊnkāt gux ỵēqǃ ᴀłîtsīˊn āg̣aˊ. Hᴀs 356-5
The copper ten slaves was worth for it. They
āˊwa-u yuʟǃᴀˊtk. YuKoskǃēˊdî ᴀkāˊx hᴀs ᴀkāˊwana.
bought the place. The Koskǃēˊdˊî from it they sent away.
Yᴀx ᴀt gwakūˊnutc g̣â G̣onᴀnaˊ ayuˊ
From this things are always compared to Athapascans those
ʟeducūˊnᴀx ỵatiỵiˊ wuckikǃeỵêˊn. Tcǃākᵘ ᴀkaỵēˊ hᴀs
six were brothers. A long time at it they
wuteˊ guł ʟeqaˊ tākᵘ. Kōskǃēˊdî qᴀ ʟǃuqǃoeˊdî
stayed probably twenty years. Koskǃēˊdî and ʟǃuqǃoeˊdî
āx hᴀs wułig̣āˊsǃ yuʟǃᴀˊtk. Tsǃᴀs hᴀs dê ᴀkaỵēˊ
from it they left the place. Only them to on it
wuteˊ. ʟeł tsǃu dāˊkâ G̣onanāˊ sa akaỵēˊ wutêˊ.
were. Not other on it Athapascans on it were.
One of these brothers slept too much and became lazy. In olden times
people went hunting with dogs. The six went hunting and camped in a
house near a mountain. Afterward they went away from the youngest. One
night while he was sleeping they went away from him hunting, because he
was lazy. They went away to find out what he could do. They camped away
from him for two nights. Meanwhile he slept very soundly. He dreamed
that a man came to him and said, “I come to help you. Come down here by
the salmon creek and vomit.” Immediately he went down to the creek and
vomited four times. While he was vomiting, he vomited up a salmon bone.
“This is what makes you lazy,” he said to him. “This is what you are
eating all the time, the salmon people’s toilet sticks. This is what
makes you lazy.” The one that helped him was the being of the mountain.
The mountain being said, “Come with me this evening.” Immediately he
went with him. When they got far up, the doors into the mountain were
all opened. Then he went down with him inside. There were rooms inside
of the mountain for all things. In the first were grizzly bears, in the
next black bears, in the next mountain sheep. All things were inside.
Yuʟēˊkǃ ỵᴀtīˊỵîỵa wuckikǃîỵêˊn tā-ᴀłîtsǃᴀˊx qa 356-10
One there was [of the] brothers slept too much and
udzîkaˊ. Tcǃākᵘ tsǃᴀs kēʟ tîn ᴀt
came to be lazy. In olden times only dogs with things
āˊwuadēn. Aʟǃūˊn ʟeducūˊnᴀx-hᴀs wuāˊt, aʟǃūˊn
they went after. Hunting six of them went, hunting
cācuhîˊtî ỵīdeˊ. ᴀtxaweˊ yūˊkîkǃîa dog̣ōˊt
a house by a mountain to. After it the youngest away from him
awaāˊt. ᴀʟǃūˊn tcǃu tāˊỵê, ʟēqǃ
they went. Hunting right while he was sleeping one [night]
dog̣ōˊt qūwaxeˊ yuuskaīˊtcayu.
away from him they stayed because he was lazy.
Ādêˊn g̣oskēˊt yaỵîˊs ᴀtcayuˊ dug̣ōˊt
They wanted to find out what he could do this is why away from him
āwaāˊt. Dᴀˊxa dunᴀˊq qoxēˊ.
they went. Two [nights] away from him they camped.
ʟaỵigayeˊdetēx tcǃayuˊ sutāˊỵeayu. Ye adjūˊn qa
Then he slept very soundly was. Thus he dreamed a man
doxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt. ʟe ye aciaˊosîqā, “Îīg̣aˊaya xᴀt
to him came. Then thus he said to him, “For you it is I
wusuˊ.” ᴀtxaweˊ ye ᴀciaˊosîqā, “He ỵêg̣êˊna
come to help.” After that thus it said to him, “Here come down
xāt hīˊnî yāxqǃ xān ỵēq a āˊng̣ēłqo.”
salmon creek by with me down here come [and] vomit.”
Tcǃᴀ ᴀqǃ aỵᴀˊxawe yuhīˊn yāxqǃ îłqoˊ
Right away to it like it the creek by vomited
daqǃūˊndahēn. Wuʟ̣îqōˊ āg̣āˊawetsa ke aoʟ̣îqōˊ yuxāˊt 357-5
four times. He vomited while up he vomited a salmon
sǃāg̣eˊ. “Aayaˊ ᴀt uwāˊtx īdjîkaỵîˊ ᴀˊtaỵa.”
bone. “This thing causing you to be lazy is the thing.”
Ye ᴀcdāˊỵaqa, “Tcǃᴀ ʟᴀkᵘ ānᴀtixaˊ, xāt
Thus he said to him, “This is what you always the salmon
qoaˊnî tcǃîˊtǃaỵi. Ayaˊ ᴀt-uwâˊtxaỵa idzîkaˊ.” Xᴀtc
tribes’ toilet sticks. This thing causing you to be lazy.” This
cāt-wuqoaˊnî ᴀˊseyu ᴀcīˊg̣a wūsūˊ. “Dex̣āˊnaya xān
mountain being was to him helped. “This evening with me
gᴀˊge āt,” yuacaˊosîqa yūˊcāt-wuqoaˊnî.
accompanying come,” said to him the mountain being.
Tcǃayᴀˊxawe ān wuāˊt. Yudîkīˊqǃ ke hᴀs āˊdawe
So right away with it he went. Way up to that up they got when
yūˊca tuheˊde cułaᴀˊt yuqǃaxāˊt. ʟe 357-10
the mountain into were all open the doors. Then
aỵideˊawe ᴀcīˊn nēł ūˊwaᴀt. Aitqǃeˊ aqodᴀxsîteˊ
down into it with him inside he went. Rooms there were
yucātūˊqǃ cukᴀˊt a-īˊt. X̣ūtsǃ aỵîˊ
inside the mountain for everything. Grizzly bears inside it
hūˊa aỵîˊn adeˊ sǃīk, aỵîˊn adeˊ
one was for the next to it black bear, in the next to it
djêˊnwu. Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt aỵīˊ hoaˊ.
mountain sheep. All things inside it were.
After they had stayed away two days his brothers came back for him.
Their brother was not there, and they felt very sorry. They thought
that he was dead. Then they floated down, laying the blame on one
another. When they reached home there were other people in the town.
These were the Teˊqoedî who had come up from Prince of Wales island to
the south.
Dēx hᴀs uxeˊ āˊqo hᴀs wudiᴀˊt
Two [days] they stayed after which they came to him
duxōˊnqǃê xō hᴀs. ʟe gwâˊỵᴀła hᴀsdukīˊkǃ.
his friends among them. Then was not there their brother.
Āʟēˊn tūwunūˊgᵘ. Hᴀs āˊwatǃe ʟe wunaˊ
Very for it they felt sorry. They thought then dead
yūs-ūwadjîˊ. ʟe dāk hᴀs wułîx̣āˊc. Wudjkaˊ
he was. Then down they started floating. On one another
hᴀs ᴀt kᴀs-hēˊx. Hᴀs qōgāˊqgūtx qo-ūˊsaỵa aỵēˊỵati
they things laid. They got home people being were in
yūˊān. Xᴀtc Teqoeˊdî ᴀˊsîyu ᴀt wusîdᴀˊq
the town. These the Teqoeˊdî were thither came up
îx̣kīˊdᴀx Tān-yêtǃᴀˊq dᴀx.
from below (=south) Prince of Wales island from.
The mountain being told the man he had taken how he could find the
holes of grizzly bears in winter. Whatever he wished was killed for him
inside of the mountain. While he was there winter began to come on.
Then spring was coming. [The being] said to him, “Be careful not to use
green fern roots for they are my things. If you are not careful about
it you will kill nothing. Watch for the green fern roots. They grow
wherever there are grizzly bears. The green fern roots will be found
growing below. You will kill more things than your brothers. To-morrow
you go away. I will give you my canoe which is here. In it you will
float out among your friends.” What he called one night was a whole
month. Months kept on and on for him, however. His mind began to be
troubled on account of it.
Aˊᴀcukudjēˊsǃ yug̣îˊʟtu ᴀˊdî ye ᴀcdāˊỵaqa
This mountain being into the cliff there thus told him
x̣ūtsǃ ᴀtaˊỵᴀ kēkg̣etīˊn tākqǃᵘ. Tcǃᴀ dāˊsᴀ 358-5
grizzly bear hole how he could see in winter. Whatever
āx qǃaˊodînuq doqǃēˊs dudjᴀˊq yūˊg̣êʟǃ tūqǃ.
from it he wished for him was killed the mountain inside of.
Dēsgwᴀˊtc tākᵘ yē cunᴀcxêˊn ag̣aˊ ayēˊỵᴀtiỵia.
Already winter so it began to be it is while he was.
Dēsgwᴀˊtc qoˊxde kaˊodîha. “Yūˊtǃᴀtǃ qǃwᴀn
Already back started to be spring. “Be careful now
g̣ᴀłag̣āˊs kǃwᴀłx ᴀx-ᴀˊtî aweˊ,”
not to use green fern roots my things because they are,”
yūᴀciaˊ-osîqa. osîqa. “ᴀkēˊk g̣êłag̣āˊs tsǃu ʟēł
he said to him. “About it be careful not to use also not
ỵitīˊỵa yᴀx ᴀt g̣ag̣edjāˊq ᴀt īcīˊnî. Āg̣aˊ
you are like thing you will kill thing if you touch. For it
kêk g̣etīˊsǃ wekǃwᴀˊłx. Dewaˊ x̣ūtsǃ
for look out the green fern root. Wherever grizzly bear
kᴀtcusǃīˊk ᴀt āỵêˊsawe āˊyᴀx g̣ogwatīˊ. Āˊya 358-10
is there for it like it will be. This
g̣aỵāˊqǃ yᴀx g̣ogwatīˊ wekǃwᴀˊłx. Ỵīhuˊnxō-hᴀs
below like will lie the green fern root. Your brothers
yāˊnᴀx ᴀt g̣ag̣edjāˊq. Seg̣ᴀˊn kᴀx îāˊt. Yūˊdu ᴀ
more than things you will kill. To-morrow away you go. In here
ᴀxyāˊgu itkᴀˊ idjīˊdê qᵘqwᴀtāˊn. Îxōˊnqǃî xodêˊ ān
my canoe is to you I will give. Your friends among with it
dāk êg̣oˊxłax̣āc.” Dîs kawukīˊsǃî ᴀˊsiyu ʟēqǃ
out you will float.” Month was a whole one there was one
tāt yūˊawasa. Hūtc qoˊa dêˊsgiỵā guwaxeˊ.
night he called it. [For] him however nights kept on and on.
Dutūwuˊ ỵakᴀˊndax̣îʟǃ.
His feelings began to be troubled on account of this.
By and by they began to make things ready for him. They dried all kinds
of things for him. Then he started away. [The being] said to him, “It
is well that you come now and see my canoe which you are going to take
among your friends.” He took him thither. It looked like a grizzly
bear. What was there about it like a canoe? “The things you see inside
are this canoe’s food. When it is hungry it will always look back. If
you do not give it anything it will eat you. It gets hungry quickly,”
said the mountain being. “Go on now.”
Wānanīˊsawe duīˊg̣a ᴀt gᴀxdułx̣ūˊn.
At once for him things they started to make ready.
Łdakᴀˊt-yēˊde-ᴀˊdawe duīˊn kᴀdułnēˊsǃ dudjīỵîˊs. ʟe
All kinds of things with him they dried to take for him. Then
ayᴀˊxawe tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. “Kǃe g̣ᴀstīˊn yūˊᴀxyāguˊ
from them then he started. “Good you see my canoe
yuxōˊnqǃî xōdêˊ ān gᴀg̣eqoˊx.” Adeˊ
your friends among with you you are going to take.” There
ᴀcūwaguˊt. X̣ūˊtsǃỵᴀ yᴀˊxayu kaỵax̣ᴀˊt. Gūsuˊ
he took him. Grizzly bear like was it looked. Where was it
yuyāˊkx ᴀxsᴀnēˊgî. “We-iyāˊguwu wusᴀˊgwaỵa 359-5
a canoe it looked like? “The canoe’s food is
yūˊnēł ayuˊ cāˊwahîk. Duīˊt yān wuhaỵīˊawe
inside of that what is full of. To him hunger when there is
qox ᴀqgwᴀłg̣êˊntc. Ł doqǃēˊx ᴀt īˊtexe qoˊa
back he will always look. Not his mouth thing you give however
tcawaaˊ ig̣oxsaxāˊ. Yān ᴀsînūˊk ʟaweˊ,” cāt
he will eat you up. Hungry he gets quickly,” the mountain
wuqoaˊnitcawe ye aosîqaˊ, “Nᴀˊgᵘ dêˊ.”
being thus said. “Go on now.”
It went down the river. They had loaded the canoe with mountain-sheep’s
fat and all kinds of fat. There came a time when it acted as he had
said. It started to turn back. When it began to swim around quickly
he gave it one whole mountain sheep. Already he was close to his
home. When it started ashore with him in front of the town he began
to feed it so that it would not kill any person. His friends ran down
opposite him. They saw their friend who had been long lost. It came
ashore with him a short distance from the town. When he got close
to the shore he took his canoe up quickly, and it became a stone.
Where it had turned around the river became crooked. They called it
River-the-stone-canoe-came-down-through.
ʟe hīˊnîỵîq uwaguˊt. ʟe aỵīˊyên ᴀt
Then down the river it went. So inside of it things
kaˊoduʟ̣îga yūˊyākᵘ djêˊnwu kᴀgedîˊ łdakᴀˊt
they loaded into the canoe mountain sheep’s fat all kinds of
yēˊdî. Tāˊi tcǃaweˊ sǃatīˊtc adeˊ kᴀˊnîk-ỵa yᴀxaweˊ 359-10
fat. There came a time there he said like it
yatîˊ. ᴀt ỵaˊodzia hîˊnxokᴀt qox ỵāˊwusaỵēˊawe
it was. Then starting in the water back when it started to swim
ʟe āˊdak wucīˊx̣tc ʟe ʟēqǃ djêˊnwūksᴀdūˊgawe
then around it turned quickly then one whole mountain sheep
ᴀqǃēˊx ᴀnᴀtīˊtc. Dēsgwᴀˊtc doānîˊ
to it he gave always. Already his home
ỵākunasēˊn. Āneg̣aỵāˊnᴀxawe
he was getting close to. In front of the town
x̣ᴀkᵘkāˊwuho ᴀcīˊn x̣ᴀkᵘkāˊkên nahēˊnî
when it began to swim with him when it began to go at the shore
aweˊ ᴀqǃēˊx ᴀt tīx Łīngîˊt udjāˊqga.
it was he began to feed it person lest it might kill.
Dutǃāˊdê ᴀt kaˊodowaᴀt duxōˊnqǃî. Tcǃākᵘ
Back of him then ran down his friends. Long time ago
qodudzîgīˊdî hᴀsduxōˊnî yêt hᴀs ỵāˊwᴀdᴀ. Ān
came to be lost their friend they saw. Town
cᴀkᴀˊqǃawe ān dāk uwaᴀˊt. Weduyāˊgu ʟe
a short distance from with it ashore he came. His canoe then
ān dāq naᴀˊtî aweˊtsa ctātx nᴀnakaˊodzîx̣īx̣.
town ashore he got close to just as up he took it quickly.
Xᴀtc te ᴀsiyuˊ. Ādeˊ qox ỵᴀseˊtcyᴀ ayᴀˊxawe
This stone was. Where around it turned like it
kaodzîtᴀˊqǃ yuhīˊn. Ye dowasāˊkᵘ
came to be crooked the river. Thus they called it
Tāˊỵākᵘtc-ỵîx-wugūˊdî-hīn.
Stone-canoe-down-came-[through]-river.
Then the man who used to sleep so much was ready to hunt. The man
that had been lazy always went by himself. Just at the head of Kâckǃ
is a glacier. There is a cottonwood tree standing there, rather old
inside. When it is going to be stormy a noise is heard inside of this.
Then people do not cross that glacier. When no noise can be heard
inside then they go up across. The youngest killed more things than
his brothers. He always took around bow and arrows with him. They are
called dīnaˊ. They all went in one canoe up to this glacier where was
the seals’ home. When they came up there, plenty of seals were around
that place. There were plenty of grizzly bears and mountain sheep
alongside of the glacier. The youngest would say to those with him,
“There is a bear hole up there.” Then they made a hunting house in
one place. They took the canoe far up. After that a large piece of
ice fell and raised a swell that carried their canoe off. They were
in want of provisions. Their food was quickly gone. This happened in
the Snow-shoveling moon (November). It was always blowing so that they
could not get home. There was a cliff at that place. Already two months
had passed over them. They could not see a canoe coming from any place,
and they were living by the skill of the man whom the mountain being
had saved.
Yên uwanīˊ weqāˊ gusūˊwu
There the man was all ready for hunting
taᴀłtsǃᴀˊxe. Qa uskāˊỵê ʟēˊnᴀxdê 360-5
who used to sleep so much. Man that was lazy alone
wuckēˊt wudagūˊttc. Kâckǃ cᴀkᴀˊ āỵēˊỵᴀtî sîtǃ
by himself went always. Kâckǃ at the head of is a glacier
ᴀtuwᴀˊnnᴀxnācuˊ yudoˊq tūx ayuˊ
[stands] rather old inside of it a cottonwood tree inside there
sîteˊ. ᴀtuˊ ye aỵag̣oˊxdatīỵî
is. Inside of it thus when it is going to be stormy
ᴀtūˊdî duᴀˊx. ʟēł ᴀkᴀˊnᴀx dāq
inside of it [a noise] is heard. Not across it up
uᴀˊttc. ʟᴀx ła tūˊdê qōłkǃwᴀˊngî aweˊtsa
they ever go. Very not inside can hear any noise it is as if
ᴀkᴀˊnᴀx dāq a ᴀˊttc. Dohuˊnxō-hᴀs yāˊnᴀx ayuˊ
across it up they always go. His brothers more than were
ᴀt uwadjᴀˊq. Tcūˊnet ᴀt ye ᴀnᴀsnīˊtc.
things he killed. Bow and arrows he always took around with him.
Dīnaˊ yūˊdowasakᵘ. Tāˊg̣awe ᴀtāˊk tsa
Dīnaˊ [the bow and arrows] are called. Up at the glacier seal’s
anîˊ dê yāˊkᵘỵī hᴀs wuāˊt. Tcǃuʟeˊ 360-10
home to inside of one canoe they went. Then
dūcūˊnᴀx hᴀs wēˊtsa aˊỵê dāt unaỵēˊqǃawe ke hᴀs
plenty of them the seals were around to that place up they
uwaqoˊx. X̣ūtsǃ djêˊnwu acaỵᴀdîhēˊn
came. Grizzly bear [and] mountain sheep were plenty of
wesîˊtǃ wᴀntuˊ. ʟe ye ỵanᴀsqēˊtc, “Hîtîkināˊqǃ
the glacier alongside of. Then thus he said, “A bear hole
qōˊta-sǃīk duīˊn” ayeˊ ỵᴀnᴀsqēˊtc. ʟe ỵatīˊỵîỵa
is up there with him” so he said. Then in one place
aweˊ cācuˊ hîˊtî hᴀs aołiyᴀˊx. Hᴀsduyāˊgu dāqedāˊq hᴀs
it was hunting house they made. Their canoe far up they
āˊwatᴀn. Awēˊt yux̣āˊʟ yax ᴀcᴀgᴀˊti
took. And when a large piece of ice from it came down
ān dāk qǃaodiyᴀˊq. ᴀqǃᵘłāˊkᵘden hᴀs
with it up came and took canoe away. In want of provisions they
wūˊnî. Hᴀsduwūˊwu hᴀsduqǃaxᴀˊnt cuwax̣īˊx̣.
were. Their food belonging to them was quickly gone.
Qoqahāˊ-dîˊsỵadayu ye hᴀs wūnîˊ. ʟᴀkᵘ
Snow-shoveling moon it was in so they got. Always
waỵaodîtiˊ, ʟēł adeˊ hᴀsduaˊnî hᴀs
it was blowing [so that] not to it their home they
awungaʟ̣āˊgayᴀ. G̣êʟǃx sîtîˊ yuaỵeˊ hᴀs wunîˊỵiỵᴀ.
could get. Cliff there was that they got like.
Dēsgwᴀˊtc dēx dîs hᴀsduīˊk kāˊwakîsǃ. Gūtx
Already two months on them were finished. From anywhere
yākᵘ hᴀs ᴀg̣âˊqsîtīn. Tcaweˊ qākāˊqǃawe hᴀs 361-5
canoe they could see. It was on the man they
wutêˊ wecāˊt wuqoaˊnitc wusnēˊxê.
lived (were) the mountain being had saved.
When they became discouraged they made steps across the glacier. In one
place was a precipice, and they had a hard struggle. They left one of
their brothers in front of the cliff. He had become dizzy. So they left
him. They came among trees after they had left him. He suffered very
much from the cold. They, however, came upon a red-cedar house. They
used a fire drill. Already it smoked. Then the fire came quickly out of
the red cedar, and they sat by the fire without food. Day came without
their brother having died.
Ciêˊx hᴀs tāxt dahāˊ aweˊ yūˊsîtǃ
About themselves they were discouraged when the glacier
yᴀx hᴀs qeˊya kaodzîtǃᴀˊqǃ. ʟe yatīˊỵiỵa aaweˊ hᴀs
across they made steps. In one place they
doqǃanawudāˊq ᴀdawūˊʟ ỵes aosîˊnî. ʟēqǃ
found a precipice and they had a hard struggle. One
ᴀtīˊỵia hᴀsduhuˊnx ag̣ōˊt hᴀs wuāˊt
there was [of them] their brother away from him they went
yūˊg̣îʟ yᴀqǃ. Ākāwałîˊk. ʟe anᴀˊq 361-10
the cliff in front of. He became dizzy. Then from him
hᴀs wuāˊt. Āsqǃ cūˊỵīt hᴀs ūˊwaᴀt anᴀˊq. ᴀqǃaweˊ
they went. The trees among they came from him. There
āt tcianādjᴀˊq. Hᴀs qoˊa łax hît
he suffered very much from cold. They however red cedar house
akᴀˊx hᴀs wuāt. Hᴀs āˊwatuł. Desgwᴀˊtc
upon it they came. They used a fire-drill. Already
yāndusǃᴀˊq. ʟe dāˊk ỵaosîx̣īˊx̣ yūˊłax tūˊnᴀx
it smoked. Then out came quickly the red cedar from into
yūˊqǃān. Hūtcǃ yuwūwūˊ tsǃᴀs yuqǃāˊnawe ᴀgūˊkt ᴀqēˊn. Lēł
the fire. Ended the food only the fire by it sat. Not
āt djudjāˊq yuhᴀsduhuˊnx kᴀx qeˊwaa.
there died their brother but it got daylight.
Now they made fun of their youngest brother. “Where is the being
that helped you? Didn’t you say that you could kill anything?” Then
he became angry at the way they talked about him. He started off
aimlessly. When he started he did just as the mountain being had
directed him. Then he saw their white dog that used to go everywhere
with them. He saw the little dog running up. He looked toward it. He
saw that a mountain sheep was holed in there for the winter. Before he
could believe it he heard the little dog bark. The mountain sheep had
very large horns. He ran his spear into it just once and killed it.
Not knowing what he should do, he squeezed himself in beside it. He
cut open the animal, which was very large. This was the mother of the
bears. He cut off only the fat from around its stomach. It was of the
thickness of two fingers. Then he ran down to his brothers with it.
That made them feel lively and drove away all their hunger. Then they
brought down all of the parts. After they had brought everything down
into the house they started back to hunt for their brother, but the
wolf people had taken him. When the canoe that was hunting for them
came outside they did not have much food left. They let their brother
go, for they could not find him. They started to the town, and they
got home. Then they stayed right where they were because something was
always happening to them.
Hᴀs ᴀkāˊwacūq yuhᴀsdukīˊkǃ. “Gusūˊwu ỵīg̣āˊt
They made fun of their younger brother. “Where is for you
wusūˊwu a. ʟēł ỵîqǃeˊ ułqǃēỵīn ᴀt wudjāˊq.”
helped is. Not did you say any thing you could kill.”
Hᴀsduqǃwaiˊyēt kǃānt uwanuˊk. Tcǃᴀkug̣eˊỵî
The way they talked to him angry he got about it. Aimlessly
yēˊdî ᴀt wux̣ū’n. Ỵāgᴀgūˊt qotīˊsǃ tcayuˊ
off he started. When he started away did just as
catuqāˊwutc adêˊ daỵaqāỵîỵaˊ yᴀˊxawe qōwanūˊkᵘ.
the mountain being there had told him like it he did.
Āweˊ aosîtīˊn hᴀsdukēˊʟ̣î ʟ̣ēt yᴀx hᴀs iteˊ 362-5
And then he saw their dog white like they had
hᴀsduīˊn wuckēˊt wudiᴀˊt. Yūˊkǃeʟkǃ aosîtēˊn kînda
with them around used to go. The little dog he saw toward
ke nacīˊx̣î. ᴀt aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn. Aosîtēˊn ᴀqǃ qōˊdᴀt
up running. To it he looked. He saw there holed in
a djêˊnwu ᴀsiyuˊ Łᴀkǃ wuhīˊnî aweˊ tsǃᴀs adēˊ
a mountain sheep was. Before he could believe it only there
saˊoduwaᴀx. Adeˊ ᴀcaˊ ye kᵘdîʟaˊ
he heard it bark. There on its head thus were very large
ᴀcedîˊ yudjêˊnwu. ʟēˊqǃawe ᴀtūˊdî aosîgūˊ
its horns the mountain sheep. Just once into it he ran
wetsag̣ᴀˊʟǃ. ʟe ᴀc ūwadjᴀˊq. ʟēł adeˊ ūˊnᴀx
the spear. Then it killed it. Not what with it
sîˊniiỵa, atǃᴀˊxkᴀnᴀˊx nēł ckaˊoʟ̣îqǃîqǃ. ᴀt 362-10
he should do, beside it in he squeezed himself. Thing
ʟēn ayuˊ ᴀx ᴀkaołîx̣ᴀˊc. Xᴀtc yetsīˊnet-ʟa ᴀsîyuˊ.
large was open he cut. This mother of the bears it was.
Tsǃᴀs weaỵîˊkîawe ᴀcūˊtx awałîx̣ᴀˊc.
Only the fat around the stomach from around he cut off.
Dēx ʟeł yᴀxyᴀˊx kᴀsîkāˊk. Ān dāk wudjîx̣īˊx̣
Two fingers like it was thick as. With it out he ran
dohōˊnxō-hᴀs xᴀˊndî. ᴀkāˊtxawe qᴀgeˊwatsīn.
his brothers to. It was that made them feel very lively.
ʟeckāˊx hᴀs at wuʟ̣ikêˊʟǃ. Łdakᴀˊta ᴀt hᴀs
Away they drove hunger. All things (=parts) they
ᴀkāˊwadjêł. Yuhîˊt ỵīt yuʟ̣īˊīātxaweˊ
brought down. The house down into after they took everything
qox hᴀs qaodîciˊ hᴀsduhuˊnxō g̣a. G̣ōtc qoaˊnî
back they started to hunt their brother for. Wolf people
ᴀˊsiyu ᴀc wusîˊnēx. De ʟēł ugeỵīˊawe hᴀsduwūˊwu hᴀˊsdu
were him saved. Now not was very much their food them
yā uwaqoˊx hᴀˊsduỵîgaˊ qociỵîˊ. Hᴀs aołîʟīˊt
for came outside of them came hunting. They let go
hᴀsduhuˊnx. Ayeteˊx hᴀs qowucîˊ. Āndeˊa hᴀs
their brother. They could not find him. To the town they
wuāˊt. ʟe ānt hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Hᴀsduīˊn ʟeyēˊqǃde yē hᴀs
went. Then home they came. With them right there thus they
wuqīˊtc ʟᴀkᵘ uxqēˊs-ninīˊdjayu.
stayed always because things were happenning to them.
Afterward they started down in this direction with their
brother-in-law, whose name was Heavy-wings. They started this way and
came out here. He had a daughter. They came to Kᴀstaxēˊxda. Their
daughter was grown up, but no man had ever seen her. Then they were
going to Auk, but could not reach it on account of a storm. Heavy-wings
had many nephews. They had some eulachon grease inside a sea-lion
stomach, which they would throw on the fire whenever they made one.
After that they said something to anger the north wind. On account of
the north wind they had already been there for two months, and the
food in the sea-lion’s stomach that they thought would never be used
up, was quickly consumed. Already only half of a piece of dried fish
was left and the north wind was still blowing hard. They had already
consumed everything. One night, when they went to bed, they could not
sleep for thinking about their condition, but toward morning all except
Heavy-wings fell asleep. When he at last fell asleep he dreamed a man
came to him. It was a fine-looking man that came to him. It was North
Wind that he dreamed of. [The man] said to him, “Give me your daughter.
Then you will see the place you are bound for.” But he did not believe
his dream. In the morning he said, “One does not follow the directions
of a dream.” His wife, however, said, “It is not right to disbelieve
what the dream says.” His wife was angry with him. She said, “Why then
did you tell your dream to me? This is why I am talking to you so.”
Next morning they went down to dig clams, but his nephews kept very
silent as if they were thinking about themselves. When they were about
to go to bed their fire was heard.[165] Four days later he dreamed
North Man came to him again. “Give me your daughter quickly if you want
to see the place whither you are bound.” In the morning he said to his
wife, “Had I not better obey my dream?” and he said to his nephew, “Go
outside and shout, ‘I give my daughter to you.’”
ᴀtxaweˊ yāˊdê hᴀs tūˊwate 363-5
After that this way some started to come
hᴀsdukāˊnî tîn. Kîtcîłdᴀˊłqǃ yūˊdowasakᵘ
their brother-in-law with. Heavy-wings was named
hᴀsdukāˊnî ʟe yāˊdê hᴀs wukoˊ. ʟeyāˊq
their brother-in-law then over this way they started. There
dāk hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Cāˊwᴀt ỵêt āˊwa-u, Kᴀstaxēˊxda-ānt
out they came. Female child he had, to Kᴀstaxēˊxda town
hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Hᴀˊsduỵêˊtkǃo koyēˊkułîg̣e. ʟēł qā ye
they came. Their daughter was large. Not a man so
ustīˊntc. Āˊkǃᵘde ayuˊ ỵāsnaqoˊx. Ā hᴀs
had seen her ever. To Auk it was they were going. There they
ỵāˊwasîk ākêˊnqǃ. Doqēˊłkǃî -hᴀs qodzîteˊ
could not get on account of a storm. His nephews were many
Kîtcîłdᴀˊłqǃ. Tān yuwuỵîˊqǃ yeˊỵatî 363-10
Heavy-wings. Sea lion in the stomach was
sāk-exēˊ ʟacūˊt hᴀs awudaagêˊ gᴀnᴀłkaˊt
eulachon grease completed they made the fire, on the fire
hᴀs ax ōg̣ēˊqtc. ᴀx hᴀs kǃᴀnakōʟ̣îg̣ᴀˊt
they from always threw. After it they said something to anger
yux̣ūˊn. Dēsgwᴀˊtc dēx dîs āỵeˊs ỵᴀtiˊ
the north wind. Already two months for it was
yux̣ūˊn tǃēqǃ. A hᴀs
the north wind on account of. The thing they
tāła x̣āˊdjî yūˊtān yuwuˊ hᴀs
thought never would be all gone the sea lion stomach they
aosîkǃîˊtǃ. Dēsgwᴀˊtc ᴀtqǃēˊcî kîˊkî ᴀt tīˊndjᴀ
consumed quickly. Already piece of dried fish half was left
ʟak aỵaˊodite yux̣ūˊn. Dēsgwᴀˊtc cg̣axᴀˊnx
was still blowing hard the north wind. Already with themselves
hᴀs ᴀt ỵaodzîxaˊ. Ayuˊ yūˊtāt hᴀs xᴀqǃᵘ ʟēł
they things came to consume That night they went to bed not
ciˊaỵide hᴀs wudaxēqǃᵘ. Wānanīˊsawe
for thinking about themselves they could sleep. And then
qeakādeˊawe tādj uwadjᴀˊq Kîtcîłdᴀˊłqǃ qoˊa. Tādj
toward morning asleep they fell Heavy-wings, however. Asleep
wudjag̣ēˊawe ye awadjūˊn ᴀcxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt yuqāˊ.
when he fell thus he dreamed to him came a man.
Ag̣ᴀqaˊ ᴀcxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt. Yux̣ūˊntuwuˊ ᴀsiyuˊ 364-5
A fine-looking man to him came. It was the north wind
ye ỵawadjūˊn. “Îsīˊ ᴀxdjīˊt djîtᴀˊn,”
so he dreamed of. “Your daughter to me give,”
yuᴀcdāˊỵᴀqᴀ. “Ag̣aˊ adeˊ āˊni qox
he said to him. “If so to it place going to
ỵaỵēkg̣êsatīˊn.” ʟēł ᴀqguhīˊn yu-adeˊ-ᴀdjūˊn-ya.
you are going to see.” Not he believed what he dreamed.
Qenaaˊ ye qǃaỵaqaˊ, “ʟēł adeˊ djūn
In the morning thus he said, “Not as a dream
qǃa yᴀˊx yuckuˊ-kᴀʟ̣înīˊgîˊỵa.” Ducᴀˊttc ye
directs (lit. voice) like one goes.” His wife thus
dāˊỵaqa, “ʟēł ayᴀˊxawe qǃaỵiqaˊ ayᴀˊxsatî kᴀt djūn.”
said to him. “Not is right to disbelieve what the dream says.”
Ducᴀˊt aqǃakaocîkǃᴀn yuqāˊtc. “Hadāˊt sᴀˊkᵘsawes xān
His wife was angry with the man. “What for then to me you
kīnīˊk idjūˊnî? ᴀˊtcawe ʟᴀkᵘ idāˊt 364-10
tell your dream? This is why like that to you
qǃaxâˊtᴀn.” Qēˊnaa hᴀˊsdu eg̣ayaˊỵîk hᴀs qowacîˊ
I am talking.” Next morning them down below they went
g̣āʟǃ kāˊha. Duqēˊłkǃ-hᴀs qoˊa uhaˊ
clams to dig. His nephews however dug
kaodîg̣āˊʟǃ. Hᴀs
just as if they were thinking about themselves. [When] they
gᵘgwaxēˊqǃuawe hᴀsdugᴀˊnî duāˊx̣ Daqǃūˊn
were about to go to bed their fire was heard. Four [days]
uxīˊawe tsǃu āˊwadjūn wex̣ūˊn-qāˊayu ᴀcxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt.
after again he dreamed the North man it was to him came.
“Îsīˊ ᴀxdjīˊt djîtᴀˊn āgaˊ ādeˊ yānîˊqoxỵᴀ
“Your daughter to me give quickly if where you are going
yēqg̣êsatīˊn.” Ducᴀˊt ye adāˊỵaqa yuqēˊnaa. “Adeˊ
you shall see.” His wife so he told to in the morning “What
ᴀxᴀdjūˊnî ᴀˊxdê yên ckᴀkᴀsỵāỵîˊ.” Duqēˊłkǃ ye
my dream to me then had I not better obey?” His nephew thus
aỵaˊosîqa, “Yux tǃāˊnīsīqǃ îdjīˊt qāˊdjî wuxâˊtᴀn,”
he said to, “Go outside and shout to you person I give,”
yūˊyênᴀqᴀ.
he said to him.
Then the North Wind came to his daughter. “It is well that I marry
you,” he said to her, and he slept with her. She was willing to cohabit
with him. Then he did so, and it became calm. So they started off.
Afterward the woman told her mother about it. “A fine man keeps coming
to me.” They started to cross the bay. Then this fine man came to her
again. Cruor eius defluebat e rostro in puppim, de qua depletus est.
Undae, ubi effusus erat, semper clarae erant. Now they came ashore.
This is why people keep saying to one another, “Did you give your
daughter to North Wind that you are not afraid of all the weather in
the world?” He came ashore and stayed among the people.
Dusīˊ xᴀnt uwaguˊt, “Yukǃeˊ kᴀcaˊ,”
His daughter to it came, “It is well I marry you,”
yūˊᴀciaosîqa. ʟ ᴀcīˊn wuxēˊqǃ. 365-5
he said to her. Then with her he slept.
ᴀdjîgāˊc kaodjînuˊk. ʟᴀ ʟāˊgᴀc wusîˊnî. ʟe
She was willing to cohabit. Then cohabited he did. Then
kaˊoduwayēʟǃ. ʟē hᴀs ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. ʟe duʟaˊ tîn
it became calm. And they started off. Then her mother to
akāˊwanîk wecāˊwᴀttc. “Āg̣aˊ qǃāˊqǃayu ᴀxxᴀˊnx gut.”
told about it the woman. “Always a fine man to me comes.”
Āˊgude dāk yaˊoʟ̣îᴀt. Yᴀqǃāˊqǃawe tsǃu
Across [the bay] out they started to go. This fine man again
ᴀcxᴀˊnt uwaguˊt. Cᴀkāˊnᴀxawe cî hadeˊ kᴀnāˊda
to her came. From the bow blood into the stern came
agīˊknᴀx kᴀduskūˊx. Hīˊndê āˊyᴀx
out of which it was bailed. In the water just where
kᴀdusxēˊxỵa ʟe kaˊoduwayēʟǃ. ᴀˊnᴀx yên 365-10
they poured it in then it always got clear. Ashore there
hᴀs uwaqoˊx. ᴀtcaweˊ ye ᴀt g̣adułkūˊwun
they came. This is why thus people always say to each other
“Djīˊdᴀgî kādjîỵatᴀˊn
“Did you give your daughter to the wind
Łīngîˊt-āˊnî łᴀkīłx̣ēˊʟǃ?” ᴀt
that you are not afraid of all the weather in the world?” To it
uwaqoˊx aᴀˊq qoaˊnxō ᴀqǃ ye wuteˊ.
he came there among the people at it so was.
That winter the people going for firewood went away forever. When they
were gone, Heavy-wing’s wife’s labret broke and he went after one. He
went along the shore. He kept chopping into things to find the hard
part of the tree. Then he saw a woman digging far down on the beach.
She had a child on her back. He said, “Some one might think I was
fooling with her.” When he came up close to her, he saw that she was
not a woman such as he had been in the habit of seeing. It was the
ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq that he saw. The mussel shells that she threw up always
fitted together.
Tākᵘ tākᵘdjīỵīˊnawe gᴀˊng̣a naadîˊ naᴀˊttc.
Winter when it was toward after firewood going always went.
A-iteˊawe ducᴀˊtdjîỵîs ducᴀˊt qǃēntāˊqǃaỵî kāwawᴀˊʟǃ
At that time for his wife his wife’s labret broke
a-iteỵîˊs āx łayeˊx dawawugūˊt. Aˊawe nīdjx wuguˊt.
for after one he went. Then along the shore he went.
Łdakᴀˊt-ᴀt ke ᴀłxuˊtǃtc g̣ᴀqᵘ
All things up he chopped always the hard part of the tree
sîtīˊỵi ᴀt kᴀqǃ. Akᴀgēˊt aosîtīˊn yucāˊwᴀt yuēˊqǃ
was for it. Way down on it he saw a woman the beach
qokdahaˊ. Ỵêtkǃᵒ dudᴀˊqǃ kā wuaˊ.
was digging on. A child on her back on she had.
“Dukᴀgēˊ xᴀt nᴀxdudjîˊ,” yūˊỵāwaqa. ᴀxᴀˊnde
“Some one might think I was fooling with her,” he said. To her
ỵāg̣āgūˊdawe ʟēł cāˊwᴀt ūˊwatcǃayu
when he came up closer not woman such as
aỵᴀtīˊnîa g̣onᴀyāˊdaỵakāˊx̣ᴀt. Xᴀtc 366-5
he had been in habit of seeing it was like. This
ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq ᴀsiyuˊ aosîtīˊn.
ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq was he saw.
Naqǃa-iteˊ ỵadudᴀˊqǃdê ag̣ēˊtc weyāˊk nūˊqǃu.
Always fitted together that she threw up the mussel shells.
Then he went out after her to the place where she was digging. Without
thinking of anything else he ran to her and caught her. His hands
passed right through her body. He chased her and seized her again.
Again his hands passed through her. When he got close up to the trees
he remembered his earrings. He threw them away. Afterward he chased
her once more. He seized the child on her back, and she immediately
began to cry out. She scratched him in the face. She made great marks
upon him. When he caught her he said within himself, “May I be a rich
man. May all the children that come after me catch you.” But he made
a mistake in speaking, for he said, “Let me burst open with riches.”
After he had chased her a short distance up into the woods she sat down
in front of him. There the woman defecated. When she got up there was
only foam to be seen. Her excrement was very long and white. Then he
took the foam and put it into a piece of paper. He made a box for the
foam. The scabs from his face were called Medicine-to-rub-on-the-body
(Dā-nākᵘ), and he gave it to those of his brothers-in-law who loved
him. Although anything he had was very little it grew to be much, and
he became a rich man.
ʟe dāk ᴀkāˊwaᴀt yūˊ-ᴀt-kaodzîkīˊtiyēˊdî. ʟēł
Then out he went [after her] where she was digging things. Not
yu-ᴀkāˊwudjî axᴀˊndê yagacīˊxawe ᴀkasᴀˊnqǃ
thinking about anything else to her he ran her
āwacāˊt. Tsǃᴀs atūˊnᴀx ỵāˊwadjêł.
he caught. Right through her [his hands] went.
Yāayêˊnᴀs nᴀq āwacāˊt. Tsǃu ᴀtūˊnᴀx
He chased her again [and] caught her. Again through her
ỵāwadjêˊł. De āsdjîseỵīˊde ỵānacīˊx̣îawe 366-10
[his hands] went. Just as close to the trees he was running
ᴀkāˊ dāk seˊwaha duguˊk-kᴀdjāˊcî. Guˊkdᴀx yūˊde
there he remembered his earrings. From his ears away
akaˊodîg̣êtc. ᴀdᴀˊxawe aỵaˊosînāq. Awacāˊt akᴀˊqǃ
he threw them. After that he chased her. He caught on her [back]
yūaỵêˊdî ag̣aweˊtsa kaˊodîg̣āx wēˊcāwᴀt. Gᴀˊxᵘde
her child as soon as started to cry out the woman. In the face
ᴀc ỵawacāt. A-iteˊ kaołisîˊʟǃ. Cūˊqǃwa
him she scratched. On him she made great marks. At that time
ᴀgacāˊt ye awuʟ̣îxēˊsǃ “Anqāˊwox xᴀt
when he caught her so he said within himself “A rich man me
nᴀxsatiˊ qǃwᴀn. Łdakᴀˊt ỵēˊdê” ᴀłxēˊsǃ, “tcǃu axiteˊ
be let. All children,” he said, “still after me
ỵᴀˊditc tsǃu ig̣āˊxłacāt” aweˊ qâq dāq ỵāˊwaqa. Tsǃᴀs
come also will catch you” but wrong he said it. Only
ye aoduʟ̣ixēˊsǃ qâq, “Dāqx xᴀt kᴀxłanāˊłx
thus he said wrongly, “Let me burst open with riches”
qǃwᴀn.” Yūˊdage dāq aỵaāˊt
(imp.). When he had chased her a little way up into the woods
ᴀˊcu kaˊodjiqāk. Xᴀtc awaʟǃîˊʟǃ ᴀsiyuˊ yucāˊwᴀt.
in front of him she sat down. There defecated did the woman.
Ax g̣ᴀdagūˊt xēł ᴀt satīˊn. Yîkᵘłiyāˊtǃ
From it when she got up foam there was seen. Was very long
dohāˊʟǃî ᴀsiyuˊ ʟ̣ēt yᴀx ỵatîˊ. ʟe ᴀt 367-5
her excrement was white like was. Then something
tūˊdê ye aosînêˊ yūˊxēł kuqǃ tūqǃ aỵiˊ ye
into thus he took the foam paper into inside of it thus
āˊwa-u. Yūˊxēł ᴀdāˊka qōkᵘ ʟe aołiyᴀˊx.
he put. The foam for it box then he made.
Dā-nākᵘ yūˊduwasakᵘ yūduyaqǃēˊtcî.
Medicine to rub on his body was called the [scabs] from his face.
ᴀc sîxᴀˊnea dokāˊnîdjīˊdawe ucāˊttc.
Who loved him to his brothers-in-law he gave it.
Tcǃa ye gug̣aikǃeˊ-ᴀˊtawe ʟe aʟēˊnx wusîteˊ. Āʟēˊn
Though it was a little thing then it grew to be large. Very
ānqāˊwux man wusîteˊ.
become rich he did.
Toward the end of winter he started for Yakutat. Before he reached home
they went ashore. The sun was shining. He had his things taken outside.
Then he wanted to sleep, and he lay down beside them. By and by some
children ran against them and the pile fell on top of him. A copper
plate cut through his stomach, and it was all laid open. His sister’s
son, named Xᴀtgāwēˊt, was with him. Right there he burned his uncle’s
body. He gathered together his bones and all of his uncle’s property,
and he took his uncle’s bones to Yakutat. The same thing happened to
his nephew. He also seized the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq. He caught her when going
for an ax handle. But he handled the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq better than his
uncle. He became richer than his uncle had been.[166]
Tākᵘ iteˊ Yākᵘdāˊtdê 367-10
After winter [was beginning to go] to Yakutat
ᴀt wux̣ūˊn. ʟēł aỵā wuʟ̣āq doāˊnî, yᴀx dāq hᴀs
he set out for. Not he got to his home, afterward ashore they
uwaqoˊx. Aodîgāˊn. Gāˊniyux ᴀkāˊwadjêł doᴀˊtî.
came. It was sunshiny. Outside he took his things.
Duīˊt yetāˊwaha. ᴀtaỵīˊqǃ yên cwudzîtaˊ.
To him was desire to sleep. Under it there he laid himself.
ᴀt ỵᴀˊtqǃî ᴀtǃēˊniqǃ łuwag̣uˊq. Dukādêˊ dāk
Some children against it ran. On top of him over
kaodzîkoˊq. Doqǃōˊʟǃ tūˊnᴀx aỵaodîg̣ēˊtc yutîˊnna.
it fell. His stomach through went a copper.
Wuʟ̣îkaˊʟǃe yêˊxayu ỵᴀˊtî. Duʟ̣āˊkǃ ỵᴀˊtî doxᴀˊnî
All opened like it it was. His sister her son with him
yeˊỵati. Duqēˊłkǃ Xᴀtgāwēˊt yūˊdowasākᵘ. Tcǃa ᴀqǃ ke
was. His nephew Xᴀtgāwēˊt was named. Right there up
aosîgᴀˊn dukāˊk. ᴀsǃāg̣êˊ aỵāˊwaxa qᴀ łdakᴀˊt
he burned his uncle. His bones he took and all
dukāˊk ᴀˊdî. Yākᵘdāˊt ỵāˊwaxa dukāˊk sǃāˊgê.
his uncle’s property. Yakutat he took to his uncle’s bones.
ʟēł agowᴀnāˊdî wutiˊ duqēˊłkǃ. Hūtc tsˊu aołîcāˊt
Not different from him was his nephew. He, too, seized
yuʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq. Cînᴀxâˊỵe-sᴀˊkᵘti g̣ā wuˊgudîayuˊ
the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq. An ax handle for when he went
aołîcāˊt. Dukāˊk caỵadāˊxayu ᴀdāˊq wuguˊt 368-5
he caught her. His uncle better than about he went
yuʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq. Dukāˊk yāˊnᴀx ānqāˊwux wusîteˊ.
the ʟǃêˊnᴀxxīˊdᴀq. His uncle more than become rich he was.
FOOTNOTES:
[163] This story was told by a man named Qǃāˊdustin, who belongs to
the same family, and therefore contains some of the peculiarities of
Yakutat speech.
[164] This seems to have been the ancient name of the family.
[165] The fire being a medium of communication between the two worlds.
[166] Cf. stories 35 and 94.
106. ORIGIN OF A LOW-CASTE NAME[167]
There was a certain village in the north from which the people were
fond of going hunting. By and by three men went out, and finally came
to the rocks among which they always hunted. After they reached the
rocks they saw a little boy. Then they took him aboard, thinking it
was strange that he should be there. When they spoke to him he did
not reply. After that they came home. They kept him as their friend.
Whenever they gave him something to eat he ate nothing. Only after
everyone had gone to bed did he eat. Whatever thing he touched would
spill on him. He was whimsical and they could do nothing with him. He
was also lazy. When he was asked to chop wood he broke all of their
stone axes. The axes were then valuable. Then the people who had kept
him were very sorry. When he played with the children he hurt them
badly. Afterward the people who kept him would have to pay for the
injuries. If he made something with a knife he would break it. Right
after a skin shirt had been put upon him it was in rags. If shoes were
put on his feet they were soon in pieces. He drank a great deal of
water. He was a great eater. He was a dirty little fellow. He was a
crybaby. If they gave him anything to take to another place he lost it.
So he made a great deal of trouble for the people.
ᴀǃēqǃ ān ayuˊ ᴀt natīˊ. Hᴀs
One village that there (up north) was. They
ᴀkᵘcîtᴀˊn yūˊān qa-ūˊwu. Wananīˊsayu nᴀsǃginᴀˊx
were fond of hunting the town people. One time three
qā hᴀs wuqoˊx ᴀt nᴀtīˊ. Wananīˊsayu adeˊỵa
men they went by canoe things after. Finally ahead of them
hᴀs naqoˊx yū-hᴀs-aʟǃūˊnutc-ītcqǃ xō. Atxaˊyu
they came to the they always hunted rocks among. After
āt hᴀs uwaqoˊx yuīˊtcqǃ xō daˊsayu ᴀqǃ hᴀs
to them they came by canoe the rocks among where at it they
aosîtīˊn ᴀtkǃᴀˊtskǃᵘ. adᴀˊx yāx hᴀs aosîgūˊt 369-5
saw a little boy. After that aboard they went with him
tcǃa g̣oˊna-ᴀt hᴀs uwadjīˊ. Adᴀˊxayu djag̣êˊg̣a
yet something strange they thought. After that to him
ᴀx hᴀs qǃᴀtāˊn. ʟēł hᴀsduīˊx qēˊcgu. Adᴀˊx
after it they spoke to. Not to them he replied. After that
nēł hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Hᴀsduxōˊnî sᴀkᵘ hᴀs aosînēˊx.
home they came. Their friend for they saved him.
Adᴀˊxayu ᴀqǃēˊx hᴀs ᴀt tēˊxnutc. ʟēł
After that to him they something always gave to eat. Not
hᴀˊsdudjīqǃ ᴀt kūctᴀˊn. Adᴀˊx tsaˊtsǃᴀ
from them anything he ate. After it everybody
ᴀng̣axēˊqǃun tsa hᴀˊsduyatǃēˊqǃ ᴀt xāˊnutc.
when they went to bed then after them things he would eat.
Adᴀˊx tcǃa-dāˊsᴀ ᴀt ūwacīˊ tcǃuʟeˊ
After that whatever thing he would touch then
yᴀx kᴀcxêˊnx. Adᴀˊx tuūˊs ᴀkucitᴀˊn ʟᴀkᵘ 369-10
would spill on himself. After it he would get cranky when
ʟēł tūcqēˊnutc. ʟēł yūkduᴀˊqukᵘ.
not was any reason. Not they could do anything with him.
Udzikāˊ. Adᴀˊx gᴀn axōˊtǃ g̣anuguˊn, tcǃuʟeˊ
He was lazy. After that wood to chop when he was asked, then
taỵīˊs yūaỵaʟǃīˊqǃk. Yūˊtaỵīs qǃᴀłitsīˊn.
stone axes he broke all. The stone axes were valuable.
Adᴀˊx yu-ᴀˊc-wusînēˊxe-qoūˊ wāˊsᴀ hᴀsdutūˊwu
After that those people who saved him how their minds
nīˊknutc. Adᴀˊx yu-ᴀt-ỵᴀˊtqǃî tîn
would be sorry. After that the children with
ᴀckułỵᴀˊdî tcǃuʟeˊ yuqoỵᴀłisǃêˊʟǃk. Adᴀˊx
he would be playing, then he would hurt them badly. After it
yu-ᴀˊc-wusînēˊxe-qoūˊtc tcǃuʟeˊ koỵᴀsᴀgēˊx.
the people that saved him then would have to pay for the cuts.
Tcǃū łîtāˊ ān ᴀt łayēˊxe tcǃuʟeˊ
Then knife with it something he made then
yūˊaỵaʟīqǃk. Adᴀˊx tcǃayeˊsu dunāˊqǃ yen duēˊtc
he would break it. After that right on him these they put
ᴀt dūguˊ kǃudᴀˊsǃ tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀˊqg̣asǃêˊʟǃtc. Adᴀˊx 370-5
some skin shirt then always had in rags. Then
tīł duqǃōˊsî yen duēˊtc tcǃuʟeˊ
shoes his feet these they had on then
ᴀˊqg̣asǃêˊʟǃtc. Hīn ᴀˊłitsǃêx. Qa
he would always have them in pieces. Water he drank a lot of. And
ʟᴀx yaʟᴀˊqᵘku. Dunāˊ ᴀt łīˊtcǃêqᵘkᵘ.
very he was a great eater. He was a dirty little fellow.
Kᴀdîgᴀˊxkᵘ.
He was a crybaby.
Yaᴀˊnᴀtîn ᴀt tcǃuʟeˊ
If they gave him anything to take to another place then
qot ke ᴀg̣îˊqǃtc. Adᴀˊx
he always lost it. After it
kaxīˊʟǃ qadjiˊ ye aỵaūˊ.
he made a lot of trouble for the people.
Then they said of him, “He is really a man of the rocks.” All the town
people agreed to take him back to the place where he had been found.
After he had been brought in it was very rainy. Then the people who had
saved him got into their canoe and carried him back. They put him on
the very same rock from which they had taken him. Then they went back.
They reached home. The world was now calm. The rain also had ceased.
Then the town people were all talking about it. They said to one
another, “What could it have been?” and no one knew. Finally the town
people said, “Don’t you see it was a rock man’s son?”
Adᴀˊx ye dūˊwasa,
After it thus they said of him.
“Itckᴀqāˊwo.” Adᴀˊx djîłdakᴀˊt
“He is really a man of the rocks.” After that all
yūˊāntqenî yē qǃaỵaqaˊ āˊqox yêx duxaˊ. Tcǃu 370-10
the town people thus said back to take him. When
wudusnēˊxe dᴀx tcaʟᴀˊkᵘ īłdjaˊ qᴀsīˊwu yēˊỵati.
they saved him after very rainy it had been.
Adᴀˊx yūˊqoū ᴀc wusînēˊxe djîłdakᴀˊt hᴀs tsǃu
After it the people him that saved all -they again
yūˊyakᵘỵîkx hᴀs wuāˊt āˊqox hᴀs aỵāˊwaxa.
into the canoe they went back with him they went.
Yūīˊtc tsǃaqōˊnᴀx ᴀkāˊx hᴀs āˊwusnuguītc tsǃu
The rock on the very same from on it they had taken him again
ᴀkaˊ yên hᴀs aosinuˊk. Adᴀˊx ᴀnᴀˊq qox hᴀs
on it there they put him. After it from it back they
wudiqoˊx. Adᴀˊx nēł hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Yūˊłīngîtanî
went. After it home they came. The world
kᴀnduwayēˊʟǃ. Yū’siu tsǃu kāwatā’n. Adᴀˊx adaˊ
was now calm. The rain also let up. After it about it
yuqǃᴀˊduʟ̣iᴀtk yūˊan qoū’wutc. Ye
were all talking the town people. Thus
qoqǃāˊỵaqa, “Dasa’yu,” ʟēł
they were asking one another, “What that?” [and] not
wuduskuˊ. Adᴀˊx yuan-qoū’wu ye hᴀs qǃāˊỵaqᴀ,
any one knew. After it the town people thus they said,
“ʟēˊgîł ỵīˊ-sᴀku îtckᴀqāˊwu ỵᴀˊdî ayuˊ.”
“Don’t you see a rock man’s son it is?”
FOOTNOTES:
[167] A Wrangell story.
THE TOBACCO FEAST[168]
If one of the family of the writerˊs informant, the Kasqǃagueˊdî, had
married a Nanỵaāˊỵî woman and she died, the Nanỵaāˊỵî would invite his
people for tobacco. They invited them there to mourn. This feast was
different from the pleasure feasts, when dancing and such things took
place. The people asked them while the dead body was still lying in
the house. Then the other Kasqǃagueˊdî would ask the bereaved man to
deliver a speech. The Nanỵaāˊỵî would be very quiet because they were
mourning. Then he would rise and speak as follows:
“Yes, yes, my grandfathers, we remember you are mourning. We are not
smoking this tobacco for which you have invited us. These long dead
uncles of ours and our mothers are the ones who smoke it. Do not mourn,
my grandfathers. She is not dead. Her aunts are holding her on their
laps. All her fatherˊs brothers are shaking hands with her. Our [dead]
chief has come back because he has seen you mourning. Now, however, he
has wiped away your tears. That is all.”[169]
(“Aˊa ᴀxłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs ᴀdāˊt hatūˊwatī
(“Yes, yes, my grandfathers, about it we remember
ỵītūˊła ỵīcāˊnî. Yaayîˊsǃ haỵīīqǃîsǃēq ʟēł
you are mourning. This [tobacco] you have invited us to smoke not
ohāˊntc aˊỵatūsǃēˊqs. Ya-tcǃākǃᵘ-wūˊnāỵî hakāˊk-hᴀs qa
we we are smoking it. These long dead uncles of ours and
haʟaˊ-hᴀsdjaỵa hᴀs ᴀsǃēˊqsǃ. Łîł ỵītūwuˊ
our mothers are the ones they smoke it. Never your minds
unīˊguq ᴀxłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs. Łēł wūˊna. Duāˊt-hᴀstc
let mourn my grandfathers. Not she is dead. Her aunts
g̣ōc kᴀt îˊsā. He djᴀˊłdakᴀˊt dusᴀˊnî-hᴀstc
have her on their laps. All her father’s brothers
ᴀdjîˊn hᴀs ᴀłʟ̣ēˊkᵘ. Haānqāˊwo ēq uwaguˊt 372-5
hands with her they are shaking. Our chief back has come
ỵīkᴀˊx ỵītūwunīˊgu aosîtīˊn. Haỵīdᴀˊt qoˊa
on you you are mourning he has seen. Now, however,
ỵīˊwᴀq-hīˊnî aołîg̣ōˊ. Yūᴀˊ.”)
your eye water he has wiped away. That is all.”)
One of those giving the feast would now reply:
“I thank you deeply, deeply for the things you have done to these
grandfathers of yours with your words. A person will always take his
shell to a dry place.[170] So you have done to this dead of ours.
All these, your grandfathers, were as if sick. But now you are good
medicine to us. These words of yours have cured us.”
(“Hoˊho gunᴀłtcīˊc ᴀˊskî.
(“I thank you deeply, I thank you very much.
Yā-îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs adeˊ ᴀt qǃēỵatᴀniỵêˊ.
These your grandfathers to things you have done in speech.
Hededjᴀˊ ye ỵatīˊ qā dākᴀnūˊqǃu uwax̣uˊgu yex
It always so is a person his outside shell a dry place like
kᴀdūłx̣īˊt. Aỵīˊsînî yāˊỵīdᴀt wūˊnawuaˊ ỵa-îłaˊāt.
will take to. You have done thus to this dead of ours.
He tcᴀłdakᴀˊt ya-îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs ỵanīˊkᵘ yêx hᴀs
All these these your grandfathers sick like it they
tīˊỵīn. Haỵidᴀˊt qoˊa ākǃeˊ nākᵘ haqǃēˊx ỵītīˊ.
were. But now good medicine to us you are.
Ya-iyaqaỵîˊ haosînēˊx.”) 373-5
These words of yours have cured us.”)
Then they would say to the dead woman:
“Get up from your husbands’ path [so that they may pass out].”
(“Hᴀsduqǃᴀnāˊt kîdāˊn îxōˊxqǃᵘyên.”)
(“From their way get up your husbands.”)
The spirits of the dead of both phratries are supposed to be smoking
while their friends on earth smoke, and they also share the feast.
People of the opposite phratry took care of the dead, because it was
thought men would be wanting in respect to their opposites if members
of their own phratry were invited to do it. For this service the
opposites were well paid.
FOOTNOTES:
[168] Obtained from Katishan at Wrangell.
[169] Immediately following the English translations of the several
speeches on pp. 372–386 are given the corresponding Indian texts
accompanied by interlinear translations.
[170] The opposite clan is spoken of as the “outside shell.”
SPEECHES DELIVERED AT A FEAST WHEN A POLE WAS ERECTED FOR THE DEAD[171]
Some morning just at daylight the chief who is about to erect the pole
and give the feast, no matter how great a chief he is, passes along in
front of the houses of the town, singing mourning songs for the dead.
Then the people know what is wrong and feel badly for him. The memorial
pole seems to bring every recollection of the dead back to him. Now is
the time when the story of Raven is used.
After that the chief stands in a place from which he can be heard all
over the village and calls successively for the different families on
the opposite side, which in this case we will suppose to be Raven. He
mentions the names of the greatest men in the family, always with the
family chief’s name first.
Then he will perhaps speak as follows:
“My father’s brothers, my grandfathers, people that I came from, my
ancestors, my mother’s grandfathers,[172] years ago they say that
this world was without daylight. Then one person knew that there was
daylight with Raven-at-head-of-Nass, and went quickly to his daughter.
When he was born he cried for the daylight his grandfather had. Then
his grandfather gave it to him. At that time his grandchild brought
daylight out upon the poor people he had made in the world. He pitied
them. This is the way with me. Darkness is upon me. My mind is sick.
Therefore I am now begging daylight from you, my grandfathers, my
father’s brothers, people I came from, my ancestors, my mother’s
grandfathers. Can it be that you will give the daylight to me as
Raven-at-head-of-Nass gave it to his grandchild, so that day will dawn
upon me?”[173]
(“Āxsᴀˊnî-hᴀs, ᴀxłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs, ᴀxdākēˊqǃî,
(“My father’s brothers, my grandfathers, my people I came from,
ᴀxdākᴀnūˊqǃu, ᴀxʟaˊ-łīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs, he tcǃāˊkᵘ
my ancestors, my mother’s grandfathers, these years ago
kᴀdunīˊgîn yaˊłīngît-āˊnî kawucg̣ēˊdîn. Adᴀˊx ʟēˊnᴀx
they told us this world was without daylight. Then one
qātc wusikūˊ Nās-cᴀki-yēˊłtcīqǃ ye tīỵīỵêˊ qeˊa.
man knew with Raven-at-head-of-Nass so was daylight.
Adᴀˊxayu ᴀsīˊt cdjiuʟ̣îhāˊ. Adᴀˊx qog̣āstīˊ
Then to his daughter he went quickly. Then when he was born
yuqēˊᴀ dułīˊłkǃ ᴀˊdî aodzîg̣āˊx. Adᴀˊx 375-5
the daylight his grandfather’s things he cried for. Then
ᴀcdjīˊt wuduwᴀtīˊ dułīˊłkǃᵘtc. He adᴀˊx
to him it was given [by] his grandfather. At this time
qᴀnᴀcgîdēˊx sîtīˊỵî aołîyēˊxê łīˊngît-āˊnî to qoaˊnî,
were poor people he had made world into people,
adᴀˊx ᴀkāˊ kǃēwusîāˊ dudᴀtcxᴀˊntc. Icᴀndēˊn
then on them brought daylight his grandchild. Pity
ᴀdāˊ tuwᴀtīˊ. Hē ye xᴀt ỵᴀtīˊ. ᴀxkāˊ
for them felt. This like I am. On me
qokaodjîg̣ēˊt. ᴀˊxtuwu nīkᵘ. He adᴀˊx ỵīdᴀˊt qoˊa de
there is darkness. My mind is sick. So this way however now
ỵiīˊx xoaˊsg̣āx qēᴀˊ ᴀxłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs,
from you I am begging daylight my grandfathers,
ᴀxsᴀˊnî-hᴀs, ᴀxdākēˊqǃî, ᴀxdākᴀnūˊqǃᵘ,
my father’s brothers, my people I came from, my ancestors,
ᴀxʟaˊ-łīˊłkᵘ-hᴀs. Heỵidᴀˊt-ūc ᴀxdjīˊt ỵītīˊ
my mother’s grandfathers. Can it be to me you will give
yūˊqeᴀ, Nās-cᴀkî-yēˊł yᴀx 375-5
the daylight, Raven-at-head-of-Nass as
ỵīn g̣ᴀtīˊ adᴀˊx ᴀxkāˊ qêng̣ᴀāˊ?”)
he gave to [his grandchild] so that on me will be daylight?”)
Then the five opposite families will say, “Yē kᵘg̣watīˊ” (“We will make
it so”).
This speech means that the chief wants the people of those five
families—men, women, and children—to come and raise the pole. By “being
in the dark” he means that the pole is not raised, and he tells them
that they will give him daylight by raising it. After it is raised he
says, “You have brought daylight on me” (“Haỵedᴀˊt ᴀxqāˊ qeỵīˊỵî sī
āˊ”). After this speech all show the greatest respect to this chief and
keep very quiet. They do not allow the children to say anything out of
the way.
The evening of the day when the pole is erected they have a dance. At
Wrangell the Kîksᴀˊdî, Qāˊtcᴀdî, and Tī hît tān danced on one side
and the Kasqǃagueˊdî and Tāłqoeˊdî on the other. The head men of both
of these divisions say, “Now we must give a dance for him.” While the
dancers prepare themselves in another house, the outsiders assemble in
the house to look on. The Raven division that is going to dance last
comes in, dressed and painted, and sits down to wait for the others.
The giver of the feast sits in the rear of the house with his friends
about him. Then the ones that are to dance first come in dancing one
by one, all dressed and painted. As soon as they are through, the
others walk out, dress again, and enter dancing. Each side has two song
leaders, a head song leader and a second song leader, who bear dancing
batons.
All this is done only when a chief or one of his family has died, not
for a common person, and the first side to dance is that to which the
widower, or the widow of the deceased belongs. Sometimes the dance used
to go on all winter. Ordinary living houses for the high caste people
were put up as monuments for the dead and were viewed as such. In that
case no pole was erected to the man’s memory, but his body was placed
in the graveyard. This is why they never built a house in old times
without feasting.
After this dance the widower, or one of the widow’s family, might rise
and speak as follows:
“In the first time took place the flood of Raven-at-head-of-Nass.
What the people went through was pitiful. Their uncles’ houses
and their uncles’ poles all drifted away. At that time, however,
Old-woman-underneath took pity [and made the flood subside]. You were
like this while you were mourning. Your uncles’ houses and your uncles’
memorial poles were flooded over. They drifted away from this world.
But now your grandfathers make it go down like Old-woman-underneath.
Now all of the dead of your grandfathers’ people have gathered your
uncles’ houses and your uncles’ memorial poles together. You were as if
dying with cold from what had happened to you. Your floor planks, too,
were all standing up [from the flood]. But now they have been put down.
A fire has been made of the frog-hat, their great emblem, hoping that
it will make you warm.”[174]
(“Tcǃū cūˊgū Nās-cᴀkî-ỵēˊł qīˊsî kᴀnadaˊ.
(“At the first time Raven-at-head-of-Nass his flood took place.
Īcᴀndēˊn yūˊqō kāwacūˊ. Qā
It was pitiful the people what they went through. Both
kāk-hᴀs hîˊtî łdakᴀˊt yēˊde łîqōˊ qa kāk-hᴀs
their uncles’ houses all away drifted and their uncles’
daqēˊdî łdakᴀˊt yēˊdē łîqōˊ. He adᴀˊx
poles put up for all away drifted. This time at it,
qoaˊ yuHaỵicāˊnᴀkǃᵘ īcᴀndēˊn
however, Old-woman-underneath pity
kadatūˊwati. Heyeˊ îtīˊỵīn îˊtūwu
felt [and made the flood go down]. Like this you were your minds
nīˊgutc. ᴀkᴀˊx ka wudāˊỵîn ikāˊk-hᴀs hîˊtî qa 376-5
were sick. Over were flooded your uncles’ houses and
îkāˊk-hᴀs dakēˊdî. Yałīngîˊt-āˊnî kādeˊ
your uncles’ memorial poles. This world away from
awuskuˊg̣un. Heỵīdᴀˊt qoˊa Haỵicāˊnᴀkǃᵘ yêx wutîˊ
they drifted. So now, however, Old-woman-underneath like are
îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ikāˊỵên aołiłāˊ. Heỵidᴀˊt qoaˊ tcǃākᵘ
your grandfathers make it go down. Now, however, anciently
qotx cūwax̣īˊx̣î îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs wūckāˊnᴀx ye hᴀs aosîneˊ
those destroyed your grandfathers together so they gathered
ikāˊk-hᴀs hîˊtî qā îkāˊk-hᴀs dakēˊdî. Qa
your uncles’ houses and your uncles’ memorial poles. And
āttc ya-iˊnadjᴀg̣ê yêˊx tsǃu îtīˊỵîn
you were dying with cold like also you were
înanīˊỵîtc. Qa yūˊinēłỵī tǃāˊỵî ānᴀˊx
from this that was done to you. And your house flooring from it
ᴀcawuāˊỵîn. Heyîdᴀˊt qoˊa 376-10
was all standing (i. e. floated up). Now, however,
ᴀx hᴀs aỵaˊołiādᴀn. Qǃanēˊ hᴀs
from it they have put them all down right. A fire they
aosîˊnî x̣îx̣tcǃ sǃāx̣ᵘ îcūˊqǃu-gîn-łtāˊt hᴀs awaᴀˊk
have made of frog hat from one great emblem they made
kǃuāˊkcîł iwułtǃāˊq.”)
hoping it would make you warm.”)
After every sentence the chief to whom is given the speech says,
“Hoˊho” (“I thank you from the bottom of my heart”). When they speak of
the crest, he says, “Wēˊtǃa qoˊa” (“That’s the one”), meaning that that
was the crest he wanted to hear of.
The speaker continues:
“We hope that you will be well warmed, and that you will sleep well on
account of what your grandfathers have done for you. This is all.”
(“Gu ākᵘcêdēˊł kǃedēˊn iwutǃāˊq qā kǃêdēˊn
(“There we hope well you will be warmed and well
nᴀg̣etāˊ îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ādeˊ îdāˊqǃ wuādiỵēˊtc.
you sleep, your grandfathers there for you having done.
Aˊa yūˊa.”)
This is all.”)
Then the man who is putting up the pole rises and says:
“I thank you, my grandfathers, for your words. It is as if I had been
in a great flood. My uncles’ houses and my uncles’ poles went drifting
about the world with me. But now your words have made [the flood] go
down from me. My uncles’ houses have drifted ashore and have been left
at a good place. Through your words my uncles’ poles have drifted
ashore at a good place. Your kind words have put down my floor planks.
We have been as if we were cold. But now that you have made a fire for
us with my grandfathers’ emblem we shall be very warm. Thank you for
what you have done. On account of your words we will not mourn any
more. This is all.”
(“Gūnᴀłtcīˊcᴀ, ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs, īỵaqaỵîˊ ādeˊ wutīˊỵiỵê.
(“We thank you, my grandfathers, your words please me.
Tcǃayêˊxawe uwaỵāˊ xān wułqōˊwu yêx tīˊỵîn yā
Just so it was with me was flooded like was these
ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs hîˊtî, qa ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs dākedîˊ xān 377-5
my uncles’ houses, and my uncles’ poles with me
łīngît-āˊnî tūt wułqōˊwu. Ỵīdᴀˊt qoˊa iỵᴀqāỵîˊ
world in were drifting around. But now your words
ᴀxkᴀˊqǃ yên wułîłāˊ. Qā ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs hîˊtî
for me thus have made it go down. And my uncles’ houses
yᴀkǃēˊỵî ỵēnax yên wułix̣āˊc ᴀqǃ kǃêdēˊn
on a good place ashore there have drifted at it well
ỵīx wułāˊ. Qa ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs dakēˊdî
down from it flood has gone. And my uncles’ poles
yᴀkǃēˊỵi ỵēˊnᴀx yên wułixāˊc iỵaqāˊỵîtc. Qā
at a good place ashore there drifted your words. And
ᴀxtoqỵītāˊỵî ỵᴀqaỵêˊtc kǃedēˊn āˊỵî ỵīsîˊnî ỵīỵᴀqaỵîˊtc.
my floor planks well down you put your [kind] words.
Hāsēˊwaᴀtǃî yêx hātīˊỵīỵîn, hānᴀnīˊỵîtc. Heỵidᴀˊt 377-10
We were cold as if we were we have been. But
qoˊa ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ᴀtūˊwu hātcūˊłỵīāgîˊtc
now my grandfathers’ crest you have made a fire for us of
tcᴀʟᴀˊkǃᵘ hāˊkᵘgwatǃā. Gunᴀłtcīˊc ādēˊỵīỵî-dzîgīˊdîỵê.
very we will be warm. Thank you for what you have done.
ʟēł tuˊła īcāˊn hātūˊyēqgwatīˊ ādeˊ ỵīỵᴀqaỵîˊ
Not any more we will mourn, because your words
wutīˊỵiỵētc. Aˊa yūˊa.”)
have been [so kind]. This is all.”)
Now the chief of the Kasqǃagueˊdî, of the opposite division, speaks,
directing his remarks at first, not to the giver of the feast, but to
the opposite Ravens:
“My ancestors, if the other side did not share in your enjoyment it
would not be right. So, if we have said anything to displease you,
please overlook it for the sake of the chief.”
(“ᴀxdākēˊtqǃî tcǃaadeˊ yēn g̣oatīˊỵī sᴀgūwuˊ ʟēł
(“My ancestors, if the other side did not share in this not
g̣āgoˊxcatī. Ła ỵāˊqǃa qowustīˊỵiỵê ỵēsᴀgūˊwu he
it would be right. So if we have said anything to displease you
ᴀtc qǃwᴀn tcᴀdāˊqo yuqǃatᴀˊnksa
this (imp.) please overlook
agēˊdî wutīˊỵî tcᴀadeˊ ỵîˊndî yeˊna-îsᴀˊnî nī qǃwᴀˊn.”)
for the sake of the chief.”) (imp.)
Then he says to the singers:
“Take up your poles. Start a song.”
(“Ỵīwutsǃāˊg̣aỵî ỵīdjīˊk ke ᴀt gᴀx ỵîcîˊ.”)
(“Your poles you take up thing will you sing.”)
After this the second division of dancers goes out, dresses up, and
enters dancing. When the dance is over, the first chief of that
division—of which there are three chiefs, although it contains only two
families—i. e., the chief of the Kasqǃagueˊdî, begins to talk to the
chief of the feast. He says:
“Now wrap your father’s brothers up in good words. Yes, yes, hear my
words just as they come to you.”
(“Dudāˊt cᴀqaỵêˊq qǃwᴀn isᴀˊni-hᴀs.
(“About him wrap good words (imp.) your father’s brothers.
Ā-aˊ hēˊtcᴀ ctūx xᴀt qǃᴀkîgeˊʟ̣îguts 378-5
Yes, yes, now into themselves to me words come
qǃwᴀˊn.”)
let.”)
Then he calls out the name of the chief giving the feast, that of
the chief next under him, and the names of some high-caste women. As
their names are called they answer, “Hē” (“Present”). Then he perhaps
proceeds as follows:
“People killed one another at Gîtǃîˊkc. And the people of Gîtǃîˊkc were
being destroyed. Then only one chief was saved along with his sister
and niece. Now the chief began thinking, ‘I wonder what chief would
know certain things that he could tell me.’ He asked one old man if he
could tell him. Not being suited, he sent for several, who did not suit
him either. By and by he thought of Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles. He
sent for him to have him tell the thing, and he suited him completely.
He stayed with him. At this time he (the old man) made him a helmet and
an arrow, an arrow which could talk. Then the old man was going to show
him what to do. He instructed him: ‘My friends always lie way out there
in their canoes. Never let it go at them.’
“Then he let the arrow go toward his enemies. It struck the chief’s
heart. It killed him. The people did not see where the arrow came
from. Then Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles was sent for. He was
examining it, and it flew out from him. As the arrow flew away it said,
‘Nᴀx̣guyūˊuū.’ So they discovered the chief who owned this arrow. They
set out to war against him. Then he put on his war hat, and his sister
went before him. He went out of doors in a cloud of ashes. He killed
all in four of the enemies’ canoes. Then they went toward him to war
again, but he forgot what the old man had told him. For this reason
the old man killed the chief with his own arrow. At this time the
woman went up to the woods with her daughter. And now the two alone
saved themselves. Now something helped her. The sun’s son married her
daughter, and her daughter had children. There were eight, one of which
was a girl. Then a house was made for them and food and provisions
were put into it. They were let down on Gîtǃîˊkc, their grandfatherˊs
town.[175]
“That is the way your grandfathers have been. There were canoe loads
of trouble around you. Now, however, these grandfathers of yours have
been lowered down like the sun’s children. Your food was burnt through
the trouble you have had. The hard times they had at Gîtǃîˊkc are
the hard times you have been having on account of your troubles. Now
your grandfathers have made war clothes for you. They have done like
Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles. Now your grandfathers have put their
raven hat on your head. They have put all your grandfathers’ emblems
around you like a fort to save you. And your grandfathers who have gone
will seat themselves around you. These, your grandfathers’ people, will
gather around, and they will raise up these emblems to console you. It
has been raining upon you so that you could not find a dry place. Now,
however, your grandfathers have put the raven boards over you. Finally
you are in a dry place. You will sleep well under them, grandchild.
This is all.”
(“HeGîtǃîˊkcîqǃ aweˊ wūc wudūˊwadjᴀq. Adᴀˊxawe
“At this Gîtǃîˊkc it was one another they killed. Then
qotx ỵā hᴀs cundułx̣īˊx̣ he Gîtǃîˊkc qoan. Adᴀˊx
they were getting destroyed these Gîtǃîˊkc people. Then
tcǃu ʟēˊnᴀx āˊwunēx anqāˊwo qā duʟ̣āˊk qa duqēˊłkǃ.
only one was saved a chief, and his sister and his niece.
Adᴀˊxawe ctāˊyu tudîtᴀˊnk yuanqāˊwo yetuwatīˊ āsdōˊsa
Then to himself began thinking the chief ‘I wonder what
ckᴀˊłnîk sǃāˊtî sᴀkᵘ xān ckᴀngałnīˊk. Adᴀˊxawe 379-5
would know chief for to me he could tell.’ Then
āˊwaxōx ʟēˊnᴀx wudīcᴀnîˊ qā duīˊn ckᴀng̣ałnīˊk. Adᴀˊx
he asked one was an old man to him he could tell. Then
ʟēł ᴀcwag̣aˊg̣ā wuctiˊ, adᴀˊx ʟa qǃūninᴀˊx yên wāt sᴀ
not when he suited him, then then for several there to that
āˊwaxōx. ʟēł duwāˊg̣e kǃē wuctīˊ. Wananīˊsayu akᴀˊx
he sent. Not his eyes good were. Finally of him
tuditāˊn ᴀdawuˊʟǃ-cāˊnakǃu. Adᴀˊx āwaxoˊx
he thought Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles. Then he sent for him,
ᴀcīˊn ckᴀngᴀłnīˊgît. Adᴀˊx ʟᴀx
to him he could tell him some things he did not know. Then very
wāˊsa ctuˊg̣a qǃaoditāˊn. Doxwᴀˊnî uwaxeˊ.
much (lit. how) he suited him. With him he stayed.
Headᴀˊx ʟǃaocadāˊdji ỵîs aołiyêˊx qā tcūˊnet, 379-10
At this time a helmet for he made and an arrow,
yūtcūˊnet yu-qǃaỵatᴀˊnk. Adᴀˊx yucanuˊktc du-īˊ kūłguˊktc
an arrow that could talk. Then the old man would show him
ādeˊ qukᵘg̣ᴀnūˊkᵘỵê. Adᴀˊx acukāˊwadja: ‘Xᴀt ᴀxxōˊnqǃî
what to do. Then he instructed him: ‘To me my friends
aweˊ dᴀˊkdê yên cᴀkūstīˊqǃtc. Łîł aỵîˊkde djinᴀˊqxêq
are out there lie. Never toward it let go
qǃwᴀn wetcūˊnet.’
(imp.) the arrow.’
“Adᴀˊx yūtcūˊnet ke aocîduˊk duyanāˊỵî anîˊ kādeˊ.
“Then the arrow up he let go his enemies’ town toward.
Yuanqāˊwo dutēˊqǃ wułīgᴀˊsǃ. Ac uwadjᴀˊq. Adᴀˊx ʟēł yên
The chief his heart it struck. It killed him. Then not where
dutīˊn yūtcūˊnet. Adᴀˊx wudūˊwaxōx 380-5
they saw the arrow. Then was sent for
ᴀˊdawuł-cāˊnᴀkǃᵘ. Adᴀˊx dudjīˊt dustāˊn.
Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles. Then to him was examining.
Dudjidᴀˊx ganᴀˊx ke udîqê’n. Adᴀˊx
From him outside through smoke hole out it flew. Then
yutcūˊnet yūqǃwayatᴀˊnk ‘Nᴀx̣guyūˊu-ū’ yuqǃaỵaqaˊ. Adᴀˊx
the arrow flying away ‘Nᴀx̣guyūˊu-ū’ said. Then
a-īˊt wudūdzîkūˊ yūanqāˊwo tcunēˊtîx sᴀtiỵîˊ.
it was he came to know that chief who had come to have the arrow.
Dudāˊt xā djîududzîgūˊ. Adᴀˊx dułaocadāˊỵê tūˊdê
To him to war they went quickly. Then his war hat into
wugūˊt. Adᴀˊx kᴀnduwahāˊkᵘ duʟ̣āˊktc. Adᴀˊx yux nagūˊt 380-10
he got. Then went before him his sister. Then out went
gunīˊte-dᴀˊndjaỵi tūt yêsēˊn. Adᴀˊxawe daqǃūˊn xaˊỵī yāˊgu
the dust of ashes in he was. Then four enemies’ canoes
ỵîkt kacułix̣īˊx̣. Adᴀˊx tsǃu a-īˊt dudāˊt xā
in he killed all. Then again there to him to war
djiudiguˊt. Adᴀˊx akᴀˊt sēwakᴀˊkᵘ adeˊ yucanᴀˊkᵘtc
they came. Then to him he forgot what the old man
dāỵaqāˊỵiỵê. ᴀtcayuˊ duwadjᴀˊq yuanqāˊwo yucanᴀˊkᵘtc
had told him. This is why killed the chief the old man
tca dutcunēˊdî tîn. Headᴀˊx yucawᴀˊt
indeed his own arrow with. At this time the woman
adᴀˊqde wugūˊt dusīˊ tîn. He deˊtca ye
up to the woods went her daughter with. And now thus
dᴀxnᴀˊx hᴀs cudzînēˊx. Headᴀˊx qoˊa du-īˊg̣ā 380-15
just two they saved themselves. Then, however, for her
ᴀt wusūˊ. Adᴀˊx yug̣ᴀgāˊn ỵīttc uwacaˊ
something was helped by. Then the sun’s son married
dusīˊ. Adᴀˊx duỵᴀˊtqǃî qōdzîteˊ. Nᴀsǃgaducuˊnᴀx
her daughter. Then her children came to be. Eight
wūtīˊ. ʟēˊnᴀx cāwᴀˊtx aositeˊ. Adᴀˊx hᴀˊsdu hîˊtî yên
were they. One a woman was. Then their house there
ūˊwanī aỵīˊ ᴀtxaỵîˊ qa yūˊduwēt. Adᴀˊx
was made into which their food and provisions [went]. Then
hᴀs kᴀnduʟ̣iỵaˊ Gîtǃîˊkcîk hᴀsdułīˊłkǃ-hᴀs ānîˊqǃ.
they were let down on Gîtǃîˊkc at their grandfathers’ town.
Ye āỵatīˊỵîn natīỵēˊt îkāˊk-hᴀs.
So it was have been your grandfathers.
Qotx ᴀc u wułx̣īˊx̣în nātiỵēˊt. Adᴀˊxayu 380-20
Canoe loads of trouble were around you. Then
îkāk-hᴀs ᴀt-ūˊwu idēˊnx aỵaˊosîgᴀn nātīˊỵēttc. He yīdᴀˊt
your uncles’ crests from you burnt are. Now,
qoaˊ de g̣ᴀgāˊn ỵīt yêx hᴀs wudzigīˊt
however, indeed the sun’s children like they were lowered
yā-îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs. Qa iᴀtxāˊỵî iqǃaxᴀˊnxya
these your grandfathers. And your food belonging to you
wusgānîˊn īnanīˊỵîtc.
has been burnt through this trouble you have had.
He yaGîtǃîˊkcîqǃ ỵawusāˊỵi adawuˊł aˊya īkᴀˊqǃ yeỵatiˊ
Those at Gîtǃîˊkc were hard times there to you were
ya-înanīˊỵî yeˊỵati. Adᴀˊx yīdᴀˊt îdjiỵîˊs hᴀs
through your troubles are. Then now for you they
aołiyêˊx īˊłaocadaỵî sᴀkᵘ îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀstc. He
have made your war clothes for your grandfathers. This
Adawuˊʟǃ-cāˊnakǃᵘ yêx hᴀs wudzîgīˊt. Heỵidᴀˊt
Old-man-who-knows-all-troubles like they have come to do.
de îcāˊx hᴀs awatīˊ îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀstc
Now indeed on your head they have put your grandfathers’
hᴀsduyēˊł sǃāx̣ᵘ. He tcᴀ gwaᴀtēˊ îg̣aˊ g̣ᴀnēˊxît dᴀgêˊ
their raven hat. Is it indeed for you to be saved that
nu yêx idāˊqǃ hᴀs aosîniˊ łdakᴀˊt iłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs
fort like around you they put all your grandfather’s
ᴀtūˊwu. Qa ya-dᴀˊqde-wuāˊdê iłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs idāˊqǃ 381-5
emblems. And they that have gone your grandfathers around you
wūˊcte hᴀs gux daqēˊ. Qa ya-îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs ᴀdadê
themselves they will seat. And these your grandfathers around
g̣onayeˊ qwaāˊt ā hᴀs
will begin to gather and they
ᴀcaguˊx saqeˊ. Qa
will raise up these emblems [to console you]. And
inᴀnawuˊtc ikadeˊ kawuˊł qǃāˊsîn.
it has been raining on you so that you could not find a dry place.
Heỵidᴀˊt qoaˊ îłīˊłkǃ-hᴀs qǃēˊnî yēł qǃēn
Now, however, your grandfathers boards raven painted boards
îkāˊ kēˊnduwatᴀn. Hūtcǃ ikadêˊ kawułqǃāˊsî. He
over you have put. Finally for you is a dry place. This
kǃêdēˊn ᴀta-iˊỵīqǃ gᴀg̣eˊtā tcxᴀnkǃ. Aˊa.”)
well under them you will sleep grandchild. This is all.”)
Then the chief giving the feast answers:
“I thank you very much that through these words of yours you have
placed yourselves below me. And I feel that you are sitting very close
to me. What you have said to me is true, my grandfathers. I have been
as if enemies had surrounded me to fight in this place of my uncles.
It is as if my uncles’ town had been burned with me. Now, however,
you have brought help to me like the children of the sun. It was just
as if my uncles’ crests had been burned. But now, since I have heard
you speaking so well of them, it is as if my uncles had come back. My
uncles’ house is like that lowered down at Gîtǃîˊkc. These words of
yours have brought luck to me like the sun’s children. I thank you very
much. I feel that what you have said to me is true. You have put my
grandfathers’ hat, the raven-hat, upon my head, which will save me as
if it were a war shirt. And your crests which you have put around me
like a fort will also save me. It was as if I had been dying here with
cold. But now that my father’s brothers have seated themselves near me,
I shall be warm. It is indeed as if it had been raining on me, but now
that you have put my grandfathers’ boards over me, I shall at last be
dry. It is true that I have not slept. But now I shall soon sleep under
my grandfathers’ boards. This is all.”
(“Hoˊho gunᴀłtcīˊc ałcqîˊntyu yāˊ-idᴀqaỵîˊ
(“I thank you very much that through these words of yours
ᴀxtaỵīˊqǃ ye ciỵīˊdzînī. Qā tūxānūˊkᵘ ᴀx 381-10
me below thus you put yourselves. And I feel me
dāk wuct ỵīdᴀqēyeˊ. ʟa qǃēˊg̣a aweˊ xᴀt
very close to yourself you seat. Then true it is me
daˊya-iqa ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs. He ūwaỵaˊ ᴀˊxdāt
what you said to my grandfathers. This I have been around me
xā djiudîˊgude yᴀx tīˊỵîn
for war had come quickly like I have been
yāᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs nᴀnīˊỵîtc. Heˊtcǃa ayêˊx xān
these my uncles I have been living. It is indeed like it with me
kēndusg̣āˊnîn ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs ānîˊ. Heỵidᴀˊt qoaˊ uwaỵāˊ
has burned my uncles’ town. Now, however, it is
g̣ᴀgāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî yêx xāg̣aˊ ỵīˊwusū.
sun children like for me you have brought help.
He djᴀłdakᴀˊt yᴀx ye wusganîˊ yêx
All these things [are] just as if thus had been burned like
tīˊỵîn ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs ᴀtūˊwu. Heỵidᴀˊt qoˊa uwaỵāˊ qox
it was my uncles’ crest. Now, however, it is back
wudiāˊdi yêx ỵᴀtiˊ ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs 382-5
had come like it is my uncles
ỵî-yu-qǃatᴀˊngîtc. He ūwaỵaˊ Gîtǃîˊkcîqǃ
you have spoken so well of them. This is as if at Gîtǃîˊkc
kᴀˊndułiaỵî hît yêx wutīˊ ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs hîˊtî. He
lowered down house like is my uncles’ house. These
ỵīˊỵᴀqaỵî qoˊa xāg̣aˊ wūsuˊ uwaỵāˊ
words of yours, however, for me have brought luck it is
g̣ᴀgāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî yᴀx. Gunᴀłtcīˊc. Tcǃᴀ ayêˊxawe
the sun children like. I thank you very much. Just like it
yu-qǃwaỵīˊỵî-łiᴀˊtk tūxanūˊk ỵiỵᴀqaỵîˊ. He yāˊᴀxcāˊx
what you have said to me I feel your words. This on my head
ỵīˊtī ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs sǃāx̣ᵘ yēł sǃāx̣ᵘ ᴀtǃēˊqǃ
you have put my grandfathers’ hat, raven hat behind it
ye xᴀt g̣og̣ᴀnēˊx uwaỵāˊ sᴀˊnkēt yêx g̣og̣watīˊ ᴀxkᴀˊqǃ.
thus me will save it is was shut like it will be to me.
Qa yāˊỵīᴀtūˊwu tsǃu ᴀxdāˊqǃ nūx 382-10
And these your emblems also around me as a fort
ỵīłīyᴀˊxe ᴀtēˊqǃ ye xᴀt g̣ag̣wanēˊx. Uwaỵāˊ ātǃtcya
you have put behind it thus me will save. It was cold
hᴀt ỵᴀdjᴀg̣eỵaˊ xᴀt tīˊỵîn. Heỵidᴀˊt qoˊa ya
here were killing I was. Now, however, these
ᴀxsᴀˊnî-hᴀs qotx cūwax̣īˊx̣î ᴀˊxdāqǃ wūct hᴀs
my fathers’ brothers were destroyed to me themselves they
wudaqēỵîˊ xᴀt guˊg̣atǃā. Hēˊtcǃa ayêˊx ᴀt kadêˊ
have seated I will be warm. It is indeed like it on me
kawuˊłqǃāˊsîn. Heỵīdᴀˊt qoˊa ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs qǃēˊnî
it has been raining. Now, however, my grandfathers’ boards
ᴀxkāˊ ke ỵīˊtānî hūtcǃ ᴀxkadeˊ kawuˊłqǃāsi. He
on me up you have put finally over me it will be dry. This
qǃēˊg̣a ʟēł xoatexêˊn. Heỵidᴀˊt qoˊa 383-15
true not I have slept. Now, however,
ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs qǃēˊnî taỵīˊqǃ ᴀxyadeˊ tᴀkᵘgwax̣īˊx̣.
my grandfathers’ boards under for me will soon be sleep.
Aˊa yūˊa.”)
This is all.”)
After this speech the next family on the first side, which perhaps is
the Qāˊtcᴀdî, asks the second division to make another speech. They do
this, because, having been the first to dance, they do not wish to be
selfish. So the speaker of the Tāłqoeˊdî begins, perhaps thus:
“On the Nass a grizzly bear captured a high-caste girl. She was among
the grizzly-bear people. She could not get away. Then she married one
of the grizzly-bear people. Then they went for salmon, but their wives
went after firewood. This woman did not know how to get firewood like
grizzly bears. Then an old woman among the grizzly-bear people called
her aside, and said to her ‘Do you know that the grizzly-bear people
have captured you? They captured you because you were angry with their
tracks. The same thing happened to me. I am a human being who was
captured.’ The old woman said, ‘Get wet wood for firewood.’ After that
she did as she was directed. Then her fire did not go out, and her
husband was fond of her. Now the high-caste woman felt very brave.
“After some time had passed the high-caste girl felt sad. Then the
old woman called her again. She said to her, ‘Are you downhearted?’
After that she gave her some things with which to save herself—a
devil’s-club comb, a wild rosebush comb, sand, mud, and a piece of
rock. With these she ran off to some place where she could be saved.
Then the grizzly-bear people ran after her. When they got near her the
devil’s-club comb became a hill of devil’s club. When they again got
close to her, she threw away the rosebush comb. When they got up to
her again, she threw away the sand. This sand became a big sand hill.
When she saw that they had come close to her again, she threw away the
mud. The last thing was the stone. She threw it away. It became a big
hill. She ran down to the beach. Then, however, the G̣onaqᴀdē’t’s son
came ashore there. He saved her from her pursuers. This man’s name was
Gīnᴀcᴀmgêˊtk.[176]
“In just that way the trouble that you have had has captured you. These
[grandfathers] are the old woman to you, informing you of all things.
You are like the woman. They are like this to you, as if they had
given you the raven hat as she gave her the devil’s-club comb. This
frog-cane they have given you is as if they had given the rosebush and
the mud. Since you have this cane to throw you will be saved. The last
one of all will be the frog-post. So your grandfathers’ emblem will
save you. My uncle that died long ago has come ashore to save you. I
hope you will be saved at once in your grandfathers’ canoe. But we who
are dancing here for you are not really ourselves. It is our long dead
uncles who are dancing here for you. This eagle down will descend among
you from their heads and will save you like good medicine. I hope you
will sleep well in all these feathers. This is all.”
(“Āˊa he Nās ỵîˊqǃawe x̣ūtsǃtc qōsînēˊx ʟēˊnᴀx
(“Now this Nass down on a grizzlybear captured one
anỵêˊdî. Adᴀˊxawe x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî xōqǃᵘ ye
high-caste girl. Then the grizzly bear people among so
wutīˊ. ʟēł adeˊ qon g̣anūˊguyî qōstˊî. Adᴀˊxawe
she was. Not there a thing she could do was. Then was
x̣utsǃ qoaˊnîtc ūwacaˊ. Adᴀˊxawe xāt g̣a
[one of] grizzly bear people she married. Then salmon for
hᴀs naᴀˊttc wex̣ūˊtsǃ qoaˊnî hᴀsducᴀˊtqǃaỵên qoˊa
they went the grizzly bear people their wives however
g̣ᴀn ye hᴀs adanēˊnutc. Adᴀˊx yucāˊwᴀt ʟēł 383-5
firewood so they used to go and get. Then the woman not
ūcgūˊk yux̣ūˊtsǃ qoaˊnîdji yêx g̣ᴀn yeˊdanî.
knew the grizzly bear people like firewood how to get.
Adᴀˊx qoˊa yucānᴀˊkǃᵘ x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî xōqǃ yēỵatiỵî
Then, however, an old woman grizzly bear people among was
yucāˊtkǃᵘ āˊwaxōx. Adᴀˊx qoˊa ye
the little woman called aside. Then, however, thus
ᴀc aˊosîqa, ‘Yîsīkūˊgî x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî
she said to her, ‘Do you know grizzly bear people it was
āˊya īˊusînēx? Hᴀsduīˊqǃ īwunīˊkǃîtc āˊya hᴀs
captured you? Their tracks you were disgusted with was why they
īusînēˊx. Xᴀt tsǃu ye xᴀt wududzinīˊ.
saved you. I too thus to me something happened.
Łîngîˊt ỵīˊỵî āˊỵa xᴀt wududzînēˊx.’ Yucānᴀˊkǃᵘtc
A human being [I] was I came to be captured.’ The old woman
ye daỵaqaˊ, ‘Hīn tᴀk cāˊgî qoˊa gᴀn sᴀkᵘ
thus said, ‘Wet wood, however, firewood for
yeˊdānane.’ Adᴀˊx ᴀqǃayêˊx ye adēˊ wuneˊ. Adᴀˊx 384-5
get.’ Then as directed so there she did. Then
dug̣ᴀˊnî ʟēł ka wułkīˊs. Adᴀˊx duxoˊx tūwuˊ
her fire not went out. Then her husband’s feelings
wukǃêˊ duīˊdê. Adᴀˊx yuanỵêˊdê ʟᴀx
were good over it. Then the high-caste girl very
dutūˊwu wułîtsīˊn.
her feelings were strong (i. e., she felt brave).
“Adᴀˊx tsǃu tcǃākᵘx ostīỵîˊ ʟᴀx tūwuˊ ỵênīˊkᵘ
“Then again quite a while passed very her feelings were sick
yuanỵêˊtqo. Adᴀˊx yucāˊn tsǃu ᴀc wuxōˊx.
the high-caste girl. Then the old woman also her called.
‘He wāˊsa, îtūˊwatī,’ yuᴀciaˊosîqa.
‘This how, you are downhearted,’ what said to her.
‘Îtūˊwu gî ỵanēˊkᵘ’ ayuˊ ᴀciaˊosîqa.
‘Your feelings ? are sick’ is what she said to her.
He ādᴀˊx ᴀcdjīˊt ᴀt uwatīˊ ᴀc gwax sînēˊxe 384-10
After this to her something was to save her
ᴀt sǃᴀxtǃ xēˊdu, qǃonyēˊł-wᴀˊsǃî xēˊdu, qᴀ
some things devil’s club comb, wild rosebush comb, and
ʟǃēˊwu, qᴀ kǃoʟk, qa yayēˊna. Adᴀˊxawe ke wudjîx̣īˊx̣
sand, and mud, and rock. Then away she ran
ᴀc g̣wāx dzînēˊxe ỵēˊdî. He adᴀˊx
where she could save herself to a place. Then
ỵa ᴀc ỵanᴀsᴀˊq yux̣ūˊtsǃ qoaˊnî. Adᴀˊx dukāˊk
were running after her the grizzly bear people. Then near her
ke łunag̣uˊqo yux̣ūˊtsǃ sǃᴀxtǃ xēˊdu
were close to her the grizzly bears devil’s club comb
sǃᴀxtǃ qāˊdî ʟēnx ositiˊ. Adᴀˊx tsǃu dukāˊ
devil’s club hill become big was. Then again to her
ke łunag̣uˊqo qǃonyēˊł-wᴀˊsǃî xēˊdu ke aosîg̣îˊq. 384-15
close they had got rosebush comb away she threw.
Adᴀˊx tsǃu dukāˊ ke łunag̣uˊqo yuʟǃēˊwu ke ᴀkāwᴀg̣îˊqǃ.
Then again to her up when they came the sand up she threw.
A ʟēn ʟǃēˊwu ʟǃaocaˊx wusîteˊ. Adᴀˊx tsǃu
This big sand become sand hill was. Then again
aosîtēˊn dukāˊ ke łunag̣uˊqo tsǃu ke awag̣îˊqǃ
she saw to her close when they got again up she threw
yukǃoˊʟk. Ādᴀˊx wūˊtcǃî ayêˊx wusîtīˊ yuyayēˊna.
the mud. Then the last thing like it was the stone.
Tcǃuʟeˊ ke awag̣îˊqǃ. A ʟēn cāx wusitīˊ. ᴀtǃēˊnᴀx
Then up she threw. A big hill become was. From behind,
qoˊa īq wudjîx̣īˊx̣. Adᴀˊx qoˊa
however, beach she ran down to. Then, however,
yuG̣onaqᴀdēˊt ỵīt ducūˊnᴀx yên ūwaqoˊx. ᴀqǃ 384-20
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt’s son at once there came ashore. There
gugᴀnaỵēˊdᴀx ᴀc wusînēˊx. Yuqāˊ ye dowasāˊkᵘ
from her pursuers her he saved. The man thus was named
Gīnᴀcᴀmgêˊtk.
Gīnᴀcᴀmgêˊtk.
“Heyēˊ aweˊ îtīˊỵīn
“Like this it was you have been
qǃᴀnᴀ ᴀˊ qeỵîłg̣āˊdîn yucāˊwᴀt yêx.
the trouble that has been on you has captured you the woman like.
Heyeˊ āˊwe īwatīˊ yucānᴀˊkǃutc
These [grandfathers] are to you the old woman
cukawadjāˊỵê. Cāwᴀˊt yêx īwatīˊ. Heˊde
informing of all things. This woman like you are. Like this
de idjīˊt hᴀs awatīˊ. Yayēˊł sǃāx̣ᵘ sǃᴀxtǃ
indeed to you they are. This raven hat devil’s-club
xēˊdu yêx hᴀs aosînīˊ. Āyaˊ x̣îx̣tcǃ wutsǃāˊg̣a de
comb like they gave. This frog cane indeed
īdjīˊt hᴀs awatᴀˊn yuqǃonyēˊł-wᴀsǃî yᴀx qa yuˊkoʟkēˊ yêx
to you they gave the rosebush like and the mud like
hᴀs aosînīˊ.
they gave.
Heyūˊ ya īˊỵanᴀsnᴀqnᴀˊnî 385-5
They will not catch you since you have this cane to throw
ᴀtǃēˊqǃ qoˊdêhᴀs gux dᴀāˊt. Hehūˊtcǃî ayêˊx g̣ox satīˊ
behind it they will save you. This last like it will be
yaîłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs g̣āˊsǃî, x̣îx̣tcǃ g̣āsǃ. Atǃēˊqǃ
these your grandfathers’ post, frog post. Behind it
îqǃgwᴀnēˊx îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ᴀtūˊwu. Hēdeˊ îcūˊnᴀx
will save you your grandfathers’ emblem. This ashore for you
yên ūˊwaqox tcǃākᵘ unāˊwu ᴀxkāˊk. Heỵidᴀˊt qoˊa
there came long ago died my uncle. Now, however,
dēˊyāx īˊusîgūt. He duākᵘcêˊł tcǃᵘʟēˊx nīỵîˊs aỵīˊ
ashore he has come for you. I hope forever in it
iunixîˊq îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs yāguˊ. Heyāˊ idᴀˊt
you will be saved your grandfathers’ canoe. Here for you,
qoˊa ᴀtūʟǃēˊxê ʟēł uhāˊn āˊya ᴀtuʟǃēˊx. 385-10
however, we are dancing not we it is we are dancing.
Tcǃākᵘ wunāˊwa akāˊk-hᴀs āˊya ỵaqǃaʟǃēˊx. Heyāˊ
Long ago died our uncles it is who are dancing here. These
hᴀsducāˊ qǃoaˊʟǃî qoˊa ỵīxōˊqǃ yêndî
their heads eagle down, however, among you thither
qǃoaʟǃsīˊs yē ỵig̣oˊx sanēˊx āˊkǃê nākᵘ
eagle feathers will come down thus will save you good medicine
yêx gokatīˊ. Hedjîłdakᴀˊt yaqǃoaˊʟǃtūqǃ gᴀgetāˊ
like will be. All in these feathers you will sleep
gwakᵘcîˊł ye wutīˊq. Aˊa yuˊa.”)
I hope thus will be. This is so.”)
Then the host answers him, after first mentioning the names of all the
Raven families that are dancing, speaking as follows:
“It is indeed true that here with my uncles I have been as if captured.
It is true that I have seen my aunts, and that they have shown me the
way down to the beach. It is true that they are like my grandfathers’
hat. It is true that my aunts have given me the frog-cane as the
devil’s-club comb was given. Now I feel as though I had been saved.
These two emblems of my grandfathers are like a cliff behind which I
shall be saved. Now my long dead fathers have come ashore. I will go
down to them. I will stay with them forever. This is all, my fathers.”
(“Tcǃayᴀˊxawe yêxatīˊỵī tcᴀ gonaᴀˊttc xᴀt
(“Just like it I am some strange animals I
wusnexêˊn ya-ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs 385-15
was captured by these my uncles (i. e., trouble for them)
nanīˊỵîtc. Tcǃayᴀˊxawe xosîtīˊn yā
have done it. Just like it I have come to see
dᴀgᴀnadêˊ wuāˊdê ᴀxāˊt-hᴀs ahᴀs xᴀt cūkawadjaˊ
coming down to (beach) my aunts they me have showed all
yaiˊq. Hēˊtca ayᴀˊx ᴀxdjīˊt hᴀs awatīˊ
this beach. It is true like it to me they are
ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs sǃāx̣ᵘ. Hēˊtca ayᴀˊx gunᴀłtcīˊc
my grandfathers’ hat. It is true like it I thank you
ᴀxāˊt-hᴀs ᴀxdjīˊt hᴀs āwatᴀˊn yux̣îˊx̣tcǃ wutsǃāˊg̣a
my aunts to me they gave the frog cane
yusǃᴀˊxtǃ xēˊdu yᴀxt hᴀs aosīˊnī. Heỵidᴀˊt qoˊa
the devil’s club comb like to they gave. But now
uwaỵāˊ xᴀt wūnēˊxe yᴀxt ᴀxtūwuˊ ỵᴀtīˊ.
it is I had been saved like to my mind is.
Yaᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs hᴀˊsduᴀtūˊwu dēx uwaỵāˊ g̣āʟǃ yêx
These my grandfathers their emblems two it is cliff like
ᴀtǃēˊqǃ iyēˊ xᴀt g̣ogwᴀnēˊx. Heỵidᴀˊt tcǃākᵘ 386-5
behind it so I will be saved. But now long time ago
wūnāˊwu ᴀxīˊc-hᴀs ᴀxcūˊnᴀx yên hᴀs uwaqoˊx. Adeˊ
died my fathers ashore there they came. There
hᴀˊsduỵîx qwagūˊt. Hadeˊ tcǃuʟēˊx hᴀˊsduỵîkqǃ xᴀt
down to them I will go. Now forever down with them I
wūnēˊx. Aˊa yuˊa ᴀxīˊc-hᴀs.”)
am saved. This is so, my fathers.”)
Next the chief of the Tī hît tān might speak as follows:
“Down in the Tsimshian country lived a young high-caste woman who was
captured by a devilfish. The people discovered that she was lost, and
finally they began hunting for her, but they could find her nowhere.
After they had given up looking for her they saw some young devilfish
coming up on the doorstep. They were thrown down from there upon the
beach. Afterward they came back again. Then they left them alone, and
they climbed up into the chief’s lap. From this circumstance he found
out what had happened. He said, ‘My daughter must have been captured by
the devilfish.’ Then he gave food to the devilfishes. When they went
away the food left over was carried down after them and the trays were
set down by the devilfish rock. When he found out that his daughter was
under that rock, he felt very happy.[177]
“So it was with you, my son. It was as if you had been captured by the
devilfishes. Therefore, these your father’s people have come down to
ask you to partake of food with them from under that rock. That is how
your father’s people have gotten you now. Therefore they have taken the
clothes off of you that have been wet by the sea water and which you
can not yourself see. It was so with that woman. She could not see that
her clothes were in that condition. Just so you are now going to be
given clothing from these skins that belonged to your father’s people.
They will make a great fire to warm you out of everything your fathers’
people have claimed.
“This is the way it has been with you. The way your uncles were taken
away from you was just as though you had been captured by devilfishes.
I hope you will be warm this evening and lie down and be comfortable.
Aˊa yuˊa (This is so).”
The chief would answer thus:
“Thank you, my father’s people, for having talked so well of me,
Kîksᴀˊdî, Kasqǃagueˊdî, Tāłqoeˊdî, Tī hît tān, and Qāˊtcᴀdî. It is so.
I have been captured by the devilfishes. This trouble had captured me.
I have been cold under that rock. It was my troubles that made me cold
while there with the devilfishes. But now my father that had died has
sent for me. It is right that he has sent for me, for the tide used to
come over me. With the troubles I have been going through it looked as
though the tide had come over me. Now I thank you that you have saved
me from this place where the tide has been coming over me. It is right.
I have been cold. But now, since you have made a fire with the things
my father’s people claim, I shall be warm. But the words that you have
spoken for me are so warm they will keep me warm always. Aˊa yuˊa.”
Finally they say to the chief of the Qāˊtcᴀdî, “Now you speak a few
words to this descendant of yours.” So the chief of the Qāˊtcᴀdî rises
and says:
“There was a high-caste person at Tᴀˊqdjîk-ān who bathed for strength
every morning. His name was G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ. It was then that he made what
they call ānłuwuˊ. He had a nephew by the name of Duktūˊʟǃ, and this
nephew was bathing for strength in secret. G̣ᴀłwēˊtǃ was very proud
because he was exercising thus, and the people of his village were very
proud with him. They would make fun of the man who bathed in secret,
but he did not say anything to them. Then he heard the voice of his
Strength. While he was in bathing a voice called to him saying, ‘Come
here.’ So he went thither. When he got there, the little man (Strength)
and he wrestled, and Duktūˊʟǃ was thrown down. After he had been thrown
down, Strength said to him, ‘Go again into the water and bathe. I will
come to you once more.’ He heard the voice a second time, and went
ashore, and they again wrestled. Then Duktūˊʟǃ almost threw Strength
down. So Strength said, ‘That is enough. You are already sufficiently
strong.’ Then he went up, pulled the limb out and twisted the tree to
the roots. Afterward he put the limb back and untwisted the tree. Now
he went away and made the people who had been so proud, ashamed of
themselves. This poor man, Duktūˊʟǃ, came to be above the proud people.
“After that they went to the sea-lion island. There he showed his
strength. Then the proud people went away and left him on that island,
but the sea-lion people helped him. They gave him a box with which to
get ashore. With that he got ashore to his uncle’s village. Then he
took his uncle’s place. He owned the whole village. So it was with this
Duktūˊʟǃ.[178]
“As he became very poor by his own will, so it was with you, my son.
Your father’s people that died years ago have come out from the woods
and have given you strength. So it was with you. Your uncles and your
people had left you on the sea-lion island. Now your father’s people
have felt for you and have given you Halibut house (Nāłx hît). They
have given it to you as the sea lions gave the box to the poor man. On
account of this, my son, you will forget that you are mourning. Aˊa
yuˊa.”
Then the host would reply:
“Ho ho, thank you very much, my father’s people. How very good your
words have been to me, Kîksᴀˊdî, Qāˊtcᴀdî, Tī hît tān, Kasqǃagueˊdî,
Tāłqoeˊdî. It is true that I have become poor through mourning for
my uncles. I have been teaching myself what would help me. And so my
father’s people have pitied me. They have brought clubs with which I
can exercise. I have felt as though my uncles had left me in a desolate
place, so much have I been grieving. Now these my father’s people have
acted like the sea-lion people. They have brought me luck. They have
given me that house, Nāłx hît, as the sea lions gave that poor fellow
the box to bring him ashore. Therefore I thank them very much. Through
them I have seen the mainland. In these words you have given me I will
be clothed. Everyone will see your words on me as clothing. They will
always be new. I shall never wear them out. Aˊa yuˊa.”
The dances are followed by the feast and last of all comes the
distribution of property accompanied by more speeches similar to the
above. Then the chief would say:
“Up above here among the upper villages (i. e., toward the north) there
was a certain woman who said something about the brant that brought
her bad luck. Her husband’s name was Dᴀmnāˊdjî. Then the brants flew
away with her. After that she fell from the hands of the brants. From
there she went among the foxes. Going along, she found a codfish head.
She cooked it and gave it to the fox.[179] It is that that I have done
to you. I have invited you for that codfish head. So have pity on me
and eat what I give you, even if it is not good enough.” [The codfish
head is brought in because it was found by a very poor woman who was
starving. The chief humbles himself by using these words.]
Then the people invited to the feast say, “Yes, it will be so. We will
do as you have asked us.”
After that he calls the name of the chief of each Raven clan, as
follows: “Bring me ——’s dish.” “Bring me ——’s dish.” After the chiefs’
dishes those of the poorer people are called for. These dishes have
been brought over in advance from the houses of their owners.
The łuqᴀnaˊ, who is the chief’s nephew, performs early at the time of
this feast and is brought into the feast to eat afterward. Piercings
for labrets were not made at the feast, but many blankets were given
away by the girl’s father when it did occur. The work was done by some
one of the opposite phratry.
When the feast proper was over a kind of show was given, in fact three
of them, one by the family of the giver of the feast and one each by
the two divisions of Ravens. The chief gives his show first and then
the Raven groups in the order in which they had spoken. In one of these
shows a man wearing a mask would come in and some one would say, “My
uncle (a dead relative) has come back to see you. He must have been
captured by a g̣onaqᴀdēˊt, a grizzly bear, or a wolf.” The persons with
these masks on are all supposed to be yēks, (i. e. supernatural beings).
FOOTNOTES:
[171] Obtained from Katishan at Wrangell.
[172] Addressing by these titles the five Raven clans at Wrangell.
[173] See story 32, pp. 82–83.
[174] See story 32, pp. 120–121.
[175] See story 32, pp. 122–126.
[176] See story 32, pp. 126–129.
[177] See story 32, pp. 130–132.
[178] See story 32, pp. 145–150.
[179] See story 32, pp. 109–114.
WORDS OF SONGS TAKEN IN CONNECTION WITH GRAPHOPHONE RECORDS
The language of these songs is so highly metaphorical that they
are often difficult to understand even in the light of the native
explanations, and in some cases the author’s informants were themselves
uncertain with regard to the meaning. Several songs refer to myths and
are explained by them, and there are a few shamans’ songs, but by far
the larger number were composed for feasts or in song contests between
men who were at enmity with each other.
(1) A song about Raven’s travels through the world, used at all kinds
of dances:
Dēł yᴀx wudᴀtsēˊn cēyēˊł. Haỵidēˊ
A big fellow like must have been that raven. Down underneath
wugudīˊn. Ag̣āˊgucî dułuwuˊ ke wududzîyᴀˊq.
he went. At that time his nose up they came to pull.
Agaˊ āntūˊx ỵāwaguˊt dułūˊwug̣a. ᴀcdjīˊt
At that time through the town he went for his nose. To him
dutīˊ ān gānt wudîqîˊn. Ayêˊx
it was [given] with it out of doors he started to fly. Like it
ᴀnsînīˊ dog̣odjiỵᴀqaỵîˊ. Ān gānt
he does now to his (opposite) Wolf phratry. With it outside
wudîqîˊn. Wâˊsa yūłcîtîˊkᵘdaya tcǃᴀ nao
he flew. Why does he not look like himself but whisky
g̣adᴀnᴀˊ. Atūˊnᴀx nīˊtct nᴀˊg̣egut.
ought to drink. After that about the whole beach you can wander.
That Raven must have been a great fellow. He went down under the sea.
Then they pulled up his nose. He went through the town for his nose.
When it was given to him, he started to fly out of doors. He does so
now to his Wolf phratry. He flew out with it. Why! instead of looking
like himself, he looks as if he ought to have a drink of whisky. After
you have done that you can wander about the entire beach.
(2) A song about Qakēˊqǃᵘtê. (See story 104, p. 330.)
Ēˊg̣ê yēq gū’dayu doxōˊnqǃî qotx cūˊwax̣īx̣
The beach down to when he came his friends were all destroyed
ayuˊ ʟe łīngîˊt ye ustīˊntc. Łᴀqǃᴀˊsgî-qǃa
so then [no] person thus he saw. Łᴀqǃᴀˊsg̣î point
tcîg̣edeˊayu aosîtīˊn. “Łił îłatīˊnqǃēq yutēˊqǃ
just inside of he saw. “Never you let me watch the stones
sāˊnî, īîˊx unᴀˊx łîqǃāˊcᴀ.”
little, from me lest it bewitch.”
When he came down to the beach, his friends were all destroyed, so that
he saw no one. He saw something just inside of Łᴀqǃᴀˊsg̣î point. “Do
not let me watch the little stones or I might get bewitched.”
(3) A second song of Qakēˊqǃᵘtê composed when he caught a frog instead
of a ground hog. (See story 104, p. 330.)
Sǃāxêˊx gâ tcucʟ̣îyēˊx
Becoming a ground hog into might have made itself
hedix̣îˊx̣tcǃ, qāˊdjî kᴀng̣ahēˊn.
that frog, or it might have dug a hole under my trap.
That frog might have turned itself into a ground hog, or it might have
dug a hole under my trap.
(4) This was sung by Kᴀkaˊ after he had been brought up from the south
by the land otters (stories 5 and 31). The words below were at the end
of the two parts, and when they were uttered he drifted out to sea or
ashore, as the case might be.
Dᴀˊqdê hāˊde qādeˊ.
Seaward let me drift.
Yêˊnde hāˊde qādeˊ.
Shoreward let me drift.
(5) Song composed by Qaqǃᴀtcgūˊk after his dream on the island.
(Stories 67 and 101.)
Āˊckᴀt aołîx̣āˊdjî qa ye
About himself that thought he had perished the man thus
tcuc nᴀdatcuˊntc. ᴀxānīˊqǃ qoxoag̣ag̣eˊ yu-ᴀxtūˊnatîtc.
dreams. To my home I got is how I always feel.
The man, who thought he had perished, dreams thus about himself. I keep
feeling as if I had gotten home.
(6) Composed about the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî woman (G̣ānᴀˊxta-ca) who reared the
woodworm. (See pp. 151–152.)
Desgwᴀˊtc gî nᴀxāgūˊt, nᴀnaˊ ỵîs nᴀxāˊgut. Desgwᴀˊtc
Already I am going, die to I am going. Already
gî nᴀxāˊdjūn ᴀxỵīˊt.
I have dreamed of my son.
Already I am going, I am going to die. I have dreamed of my son.
(7) A spirit song composed by a shaman called ʟūswᴀˊt belonging to the
Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Ł ᴀnᴀˊx ke qâgudîỵᴀˊ Djîłqāˊt kînāˊnᴀx qoˊa ke
Not through it up I come Chilkat through, however, up
qâgudîˊ. Łxodēˊt kînaˊnᴀx ke g̣aguˊt duỵahāˊỵî āg̣āˊx.
I come. Łxodēˊt through up I will come and cry.
Not having any place to come up through (i. e., shaman to speak
through), I think I will go to Chilkat and come up there.
I will come up through Łxodēˊt and cry.
(8) Composed by a man of the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān named
One-whose-quill-is-disliked (Tǃāwuˊkdūłnuk).
Nᴀxāˊdjūn ceîˊxtǃᴀgî-yēˊgî.
I was dreaming of my spirit under the fireplace.
Îxtǃāˊgî-yeˊgî.
Under-the-fireplace spirit.
I was dreaming of my spirit under the fireplace.
Under-the-fire-place spirit.
(9) Composed by one of the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān named Kāsǃenduᴀˊxtc. These
spirit songs were also used in dancing.
Hīˊnde naixēˊtc dê, îˊx̣denᴀx
Into river you throw him (imp.) down to the mouth
łax̣āˊcî. Watsǃᴀˊs iyēˊłî îxînāˊnᴀx
let him float. Let you raven at the mouth of the river
x̣ᴀˊkut g̣a dusx̣āˊtǃ.
to dry ground drag him up.
Throw him into the river that he may float down. Let the Raven people
at the mouth of the river drag him up.
(10) A song with Athapascan words which came to a shaman named Cūwusēˊn
from an Athapascan spirit—words unintelligible to my informants.
(11) This is a ground-hog song sung while the singer holds up its skin
in front with both hands. Its cry when jumping into its hole is also
imitated.
Cᴀnaˊ isᴀnuˊ dix̣âˊ g̣ēʟǃ ỵît kᴀ tūˊāt.
Wake up that young man [and] cliff up on let us go.
Īdjîg̣ēˊt cukᴀˊt yên cīstāˊitc. Īdjîg̣ēˊt cukᴀˊt
You get anything before you always sleep. You get anything
ᴀtcaweˊ ʟēł ᴀt idjᴀˊqx.
[before] therefore not thing you ever kill.
Wake up that young man and let us go up on the cliff. You always sleep
before you hunt. That is why you never kill anything.
(12) After a bear had been killed its head was set up by the fire and
people dropped grease into the fire in front of it, at the same time
saying “You have come out of the body among us, so you are we.”
Yāx ag̣āˊn dix̣âˊ
In front of him is burning the fire this young man
yux̣ūˊtsǃ adeˊ duᴀxdjînuˊtcỵa, “Whu, whu, whu,”
the grizzly bear thus is always heard to say, “Whu, whu, whu,”
ayuˊ ayᴀˊx daỵadoqāˊnutc.
that like they always talk to it.
The fire is burning in front of this young man. This is what the
grizzly bear is always heard to say: “Whu, whu, whu,” so they always
talk to it.
(13) A Kāˊgwᴀntān cradle song, sung over the child and used also at
feasts. The child itself is supposed to be speaking.
Kǃīỵīˊt łuxwacāˊdīn ᴀxhoˊnxo cᴀt kᴀx.
Around the house I always like to creep my brother’s wife for.
Kᴀˊcde gux deguˊt hēˊdudîkaxēc. Ān
I thought he would jump up and I should be very much ashamed. Town
dāt nᴀxᴀsg̣êˊttc.
around I always tramp.
I like to creep around the house all the time after my brotherˊs
wife.[180] I thought that he would jump up and I should be very much
ashamed. I always tramp about the town [after my brotherˊs wife].
(14) Cradle song for a girl.
Łaˊoxᴀckōxoˊ xᴀt kᴀdēˊxnutc, xᴀt
If I do not take anything I shall always be ashamed, I
kᴀdēˊxnutc. Cākǃu sāˊnî he. Cākǃu sāˊnî
shall always be ashamed. Girls little, listen. Girls little,
he.
listen.
If I do not take anything [to the party], I shall be ashamed, I shall
be ashamed. Little girls, listen. Little girls, listen.
(15) Cradle song for a boy.
Hag̣uˊ qᴀdîcāˊcgî ᴀxhuˊnx ducᴀˊt nᴀq
Now I am certain to marry my brother his wife after
nᴀnāˊnî.
he dies.
I am certain to marry my brotherˊs wife after he dies.[180]
FOOTNOTES:
[180] When a man died and was succeeded by his brother, the latter
married the widow.
(16) A cradle song of unknown authorship. It might be used by anyone.
Tsǃîtskǃ ag̣atǃūˊku kaiti-ỵᴀˊdî qǃēs. Qǃât
Small bird let me shoot my younger brother for. A small trout
ᴀg̣ᴀtag̣eˊ ᴀxʟ̣āˊkǃ qǃēs.
let me spear my sister for.
Let me shoot a small bird for my younger brother. Let me spear a small
trout for my sister.
(17) The song with which Raven was nursed. Both phratries use it.
ᴀhāˊ ᴀhā qǃātǃî-dayēˊdjîỵî. Yēł qǃositeˊ
Aha aha (i. e., here it is) island snipes. Raven tracks
ᴀxōˊx yaołîcuˊ. Yēł qēˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs. Dzᴀnᴀˊ,
among [I] see. Raven’s nephews. Bad smelling fish,
dzᴀnᴀˊ, dzᴀnᴀˊ.
bad smelling fish, bad smelling fish.
Aha, aha, island snipes. Among them I see lots of raven tracks, the
nephews of ravens. Bad-smelling fish, bad-smelling fish, bad-smelling
fish.[181]
FOOTNOTES:
[181] Because ravens lived on them.
(18) Composed by one of the ʟǃenēˊdî named Cukǃusāˊỵî
(Little-lake-up-above), when his people expected others to come with
food to give them a feast. His name was probably derived from Auk lake.
Tcǃa ỵigiỵîˊ tūqǃ qāyᴀˊt kᴀnahāˊntc. Tsu naqᴀtēˊn
Every day in front of my face it always is. Also I sleep
ug̣aˊ ᴀn xałqêˊntc. De iīˊtde sᴀxᵘʟ̣îtǃᴀˊn.
when of them I always think. Indeed for you I long much.
Ctᴀnūˊkᵘ yᴀx xāt uwatīˊ îdaˊyu tutᴀˊnk
Having a sudden sickness like I am about you thinking
diyēˊł.
you Ravens.
It is before my face every day. And when I sleep I always think of you.
I long much for you.
Thinking about you Ravens comes to me like a sudden sickness.
(19) Also composed by Cukǃusāˊỵî on the same occasion as the preceding.
Tukaisînᴀˊt yēˊłî ctᴀnūˊgỵa qōt uwatīˊ
You make me feel Raven as if shaking I were completely
îdaˊyu tutᴀˊnk ʟǃenēˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
about you thinking ʟǃenēˊdî’s children.
You make me feel as if I were shaking, thinking about you, ʟǃenēˊdî’s
children.
(20) Composed by Cukǃusāˊỵî after they had vainly expected a feast for
some time.
Tcǃᴀs xᴀt cēˊgî ᴀnᴀˊq xᴀt qog̣ᴀnāˊ
Only I it is from it I am going to die
yākᵘdunîˊk Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
without seeing [that are talked about] Tᴀˊqǃdentān’s children.
Tsǃu ᴀkᴀˊx g̣ᴀnēˊxt xânuˊkᵘ îsagūwuˊ G̣ānᴀxᴀˊdî
Again I try to make myself well thinking about you G̣ānᴀxᴀˊdî’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tsǃu îdadêˊ g̣āx ctutx
children. Also about you crying into myself
xᴀdatēˊx.
I alway try to stop.
I alone am going to die without having seen Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān’s children.
I try to make myself well again thinking about G̣ānᴀxᴀˊdî’s children. I
keep trying to stop crying about you.
(21) Composed by Kux̣ēˊʟǃ of the ʟǃenēˊdî when they expected people
to give them a feast. There is a little bird called people’s-thoughts
(qātuwuˊ), and a person knows when he sees it that a feast is coming.
Sug̣aᴀˊsgî tug̣asᴀg̣wēˊtc iyēˊłî dîg̣ōˊtc
Always feels happy about you Raven this Wolf [phratry]
qātuwuˊ hāt g̣ᴀdaqêˊnîn. Adūˊsgî
people’s-thoughts toward him when his thoughts fly. I wonder
yēł g̣ux sᴀnēˊx dekīˊyaqǃāqǃ hīˊnî wūtc wuʟ̣îāˊt.
Ravens will save way out there water together are upset on.
Deᴀˊqǃ hᴀs wułîx̣āˊc yuyēˊł.
On it they float the Ravens.
You Raven always feel happy about this Wolf phratry when your thoughts
fly toward him like the bird named people’s-thoughts.
I wonder who can get out and save the Ravens that are upset together
way out there in the seas.
(22) This is called Big-song (Cî-ʟēn) and was used by all the
Kāˊgwᴀntān at feasts after a rich man had died. As they sang all turned
around in the direction of the sun. It was also sung for the Deer in
making peace, when it was ended differently. Originally it is said to
have come from ʟucāˊcakǃî-ān, where it was composed by Dātxaguˊttc
(named from the action of a man carving a wolf post when he steps some
distance away to take a good look at it).
[Introductory words] Ītēˊ qoxdzitīˊỵî qāqǃ ayᴀˊqǃᴀ
After I am living man I am saying like,
Dātxaguˊttc qǃa ỵᴀˊxᴀ ʟucāˊcakǃî-ān dᴀx
Dātxaguˊttc mouth (he used to say) like it Sand-hill town from
cī ᴀ.
song is.
Uhāˊn łīngîˊt-āˊnî tūqǃ hāqłîg̣eˊ.
We world inside of we feel higher than all.
I am now saying just as the man I live after, Dātxaguˊttc, used to say.
This song is from Sand-hill town.
We are the people who feel higher than all others in the world.
(23) A song used at feasts when two of the host’s people dance and one
of each of the two parties invited sings for them.
Kīt-gūˊci-hīnᴀx tcǃa xāt qᴀłix̣āˊc.
In Killer-whale’s-dorsal-fin river right I am floating down.
Da ỵīāˊnî kᴀnᴀˊx yên xᴀt kaiˊłahît
Now your town in front of there I wish you would help me,
Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵêˊtqǃî. Kut xᴀt gox łix̣āˊc.
Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. Away I might drift.
I am floating right down in Killer-whale’s-dorsal-fin river. I wish you
would help me ashore in front of your town, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. I
might drift away.
(24) Composed by a man called Small-lake-underneath (Haỵi-āˊkǃᵘ) about
a drifting log found full of nails, out of which a house was built. It
is used when a feast is about to be given for a dead man, and they have
their blankets tied up to their waists and carry canes.
Wuckēˊt wuʟ̣îx̣āˊcî g̣āỵēˊsǃ xāˊwu yᴀx îdaˊ
Drifting [with] iron nails log like with you
ᴀxtunatīˊtc. ᴀxhuˊnx tcǃaˊya gᴀx łax̣āˊc.
I always compare. My brother just so let him float.
Tcǃᴀnīˊdjt gu łax̣āˊc. Gutsǃ tūˊdî
On a good sandy beach let him float ashore. Clouds into
wux̣īˊx̣î g̣ᴀgāˊn yᴀx idaˊ ᴀxtunatīˊtc ᴀxʟaˊ.
goes sun like around you I compare my mother.
ᴀcgaˊ Łīngît-āˊnî kᴀnᴀcgêˊttc.
That is what world makes always dark.
I always compare you to a drifting log with iron nails in it. Let my
brother float in, in that way. Let him float ashore on a good sandy
beach.
I always compare you, my mother, to the sun passing behind the clouds.
That is what makes the world dark.
(25) A Kāˊgwᴀntān song used at a feast when a slave is to be killed.
Ỵekǃuˊł qodzîtiˊ dîˊnaỵāqāỵîˊ,
Are now backing down on me the people’s words,
łkǃᴀx ucîtīˊỵî naỵaqāỵîˊ.
worthless (people) are people’s words.
The words of people are now backing down on me, the words of worthless
people.
(26) A potlatch song composed by Man-that-obeys (Qǃayᴀˊx-qōˊste) of the
Box-house people.
Qāˊkdê îtūwatiˊ tca kīt katīˊỵî? Yaỵîˊkde
Out you want to come indeed whale killer are? Inside
wudaqēˊnî Yēł ʟēł ᴀcqǃēˊ wukǃâˊs? Tcᴀˊtcǃawa
went Raven not [you know what] he consumed? And indeed
ᴀgwᴀtsāˊs Yēł qǃeˊîqgwakǃâs tcᴀ dikīˊt? Tcǃᴀ
you think Raven you will satisfy now you killer whale? Just
hūtc ciyᴀˊx aodîtᴀˊn doāˊnî. Tcᴀ ʟēˊnᴀx
he with himself turned over his town (the world). And alone
ł âg̣ᴀnēˊx?
how can he save himself?
Why do you want to come out, killer whale? Don’t you know what Raven
did when he went inside of a whale? And do you think you will satisfy
Raven, you killer whale?
He turned this world over with himself. And how can he alone save
himself?
(27) Composed by Nawēˊya, a very old man of the Box-house people, just
before he died, so that it could be used at feasts.
ᴀkᵘceˊ īwakǃeˊgî Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
You must be very good, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
Îỵᴀˊtqǃî kᴀt idjîkǃᴀˊn.
Your children (i. e., opposites) for you have jumped to save.
Qēˊg̣a xᴀt yaˊỵag̣āxe Wuckitāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî. De dāq
Truly she you have pitied Wuckitāˊn children. Now up
nᴀxaguˊt sǃᴀgî-qāˊwu anîˊ dê.
I am going ghost world to.
You must be very good, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. Your children have jumped
to save you.
I am very glad that you took pity on me, Wuckitā’n’s children. Now I am
going up to the ghost world.
(28) Song about the eagle hat, sung at a feast when one is not
satisfied with the property he has obtained. The word given below,
which is the only one, is said to be Tsimshian.
Xēdzicxāgaˊ, Here is the eagle hat.
(29) A similar song about the g̣onaqᴀdēˊt hat. Informant did not know
what the words mean, they being in Tsimshian.
Nᴀg̣ᴀnᴀwâˊ łuqᴀnaˊ hao hao. Łuqᴀnaˊ, however, is evidently ʟōˊkoala,
Kwakiutl name for the winter ceremonial.
(30) This song is used by all the Wolf families, who sing it all
together just as they are coming in to a feast.
Anqāˊwo ỵanaguˊt. Ỵītuwuˊ ỵīcᴀtǃîˊqǃ.
A rich man is coming. Your feelings you keep silent.
[Words repeated at the end] Cîsatêˊ
When it is ended
ye ỵanaqeˊtc “Gānhaˊo hūtcǃ.”
thus they always say “It is all gone.”
There is a rich man coming. Keep silent.
When it is ended, they always say, “It is all gone.”
(31) Composed in the Tsimshian language and used by the Kāˊgwᴀntān at a
great feast.
Gudᴀˊx ganāˊkcia łᴀngīˊkcia agīˊkcia. The last word is said to mean
“stern of canoe.”
(32) Song used like the above.
X̣utsǃnuwūˊ dê tsǃu ye nagᴀˊxduīqǃ. Tca
Hutsnuwu to also thus we are going to to be invited. Very
anỵᴀˊtqǃî nᴀxāˊ.
high-caste people are going to eat.
We are also going to be invited to Killisnoo. High-caste people are
going to eat.
(33) Composed by a Haida living in Sitka, called Naqāˊłi, or popularly
“Haida Charley,” and used when four dance together at a feast.
Wāsāˊkᵘ dêndzîgīˊt ᴀxcᴀgîˊnîỵa. Yēł hīˊnî
I wonder what will do to me my future life. Raven’s river
kîˊna qohâˊn qoˊa g̣ōtc ānîˊ kādêˊ tcǃayuˊ
at head of people, however, Wolf town to right to
łuwaguˊq. Uqaˊtułîtsīˊn
have started to go. I have no hard feelings against
cêqayēˊłî qoˊa ʟēkǃ yên dudzîqāˊ
this Raven tribe, however, not there I said anything
cîG̣ānᴀxteˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Hāndeˊ idjîˊn
these G̣ānᴀxteˊdî’s children. Come here your hands
tcǃînakᴀłaʟ̣ēˊgu.
I will shake.
I wonder what will happen to me in the future. The people at the head
of the Raven’s river have started for the Wolf phratry’s town.
I have no hard feelings against the Raven phratry and I said nothing to
G̣ānᴀxteˊdî’s children. Come here and I will shake your hands.
(34) Song composed by Naqāˊłi (Haida Charley) for four when they are
dancing at a feast.
Dēxtutseˊ Kîksᴀˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî tcǃa akayēˊx tcuc
If two-minded Kîksᴀˊdî’s children just so like it might
gîʟ̣îyēˊx, da îcandêˊ îyēˊłî qoˊa. Nao
something happen, on pity your Raven phratry however. Whisky
yᴀx yā xᴀt kanᴀłcēˊn
like like this I were getting drunk on [thinking of]
ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ānîˊ. Dag̣a g̣ōtˊc sᴀ
my grandfathers’ town. What Wolf [phratry] ?
ᴀxdaunᴀˊx sîdāˊq.
can bring my mind into the right place.
Don’t be double-minded, Kîksᴀˊdî’s children, or something might happen
to you, but have pity on your Raven phratry.
Thinking about my grandfathers’ town is just as if I were getting drunk
with whisky. There is no Wolf phratry (person) that can set my mind
aright.
(35) Composed by Going-across-the-road (Deg̣ᴀhēˊtǃ) who belonged to the
Tǃîˊkᴀna tribe of the X̣ᴀkᴀnūˊkedî.[182]
De sēqǃ qokᴀstūˊqǃᵘ Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
Now on neck I am going to tie it, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
Ag̣aˊ nᴀxatēˊnî yêˊndî xᴀt tu gux ładjāˊq.
So that when I am asleep there I shall know that it is with me.
Yᴀxcîˊ tūwuˊ ỵaqᵘgwatīˊ Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
I wonder if will ever forgive me, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
Tcᴀʟᴀˊkᵘ ᴀxtuwuˊk danᴀˊttc.
Always my feelings are troubled.
I am going to tie it around my neck, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children, so that
when I am asleep I shall know that it is with me.
I wonder if Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children will ever forgive me. My feelings are
always troubled.
FOOTNOTES:
[182] See story 101. Otherwise neither of these is mentioned elsewhere.
(36) Composed by Little-lake-up-above (Cukǃusāˊ-yî) of the ʟǃenēˊdî.
See songs 18–20, above.
Deˊdjî yᴀnūˊgu kātuwuˊ cēyuˊgî îtnᴀˊx kᴀ dunēˊk
Must have been very great that they were telling to me after it is past
ka g̣odjîˊ ỵaqaỵîˊ. Duhūˊtcǃ īn ỵîs wutc yên
Wolf phratry’s words. The last time for with each other
ᴀxdog̣āˊx Kîksᴀˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
let us be very friendly, Kîksᴀˊdî’s children.
The Wolf phratry’s words that they are telling me about must have been
very great.
Let us be friendly with each other for the last time, Kîksᴀˊdî’s
children.
(37) Composed by one of the Kîksᴀˊdî named Dead Raven (Nāwiyēˊł). There
was a second part to this which the writer’s informant had forgotten.
Tcusuˊg̣a iyuqǃâtᴀˊngî tūˊde qoxdzîāˊx
Very attentively what you have said to I listened
Qǃᴀtkaāˊỵî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
Island-people’s children.
I have listened very attentively to your words, Island-people’s
children.
(38) Composed by one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān named Be-careful-of-it
(Kāłg̣āˊs).
Āg̣āˊxa yūt iyᴀˊkǃᵘ xog̣ēˊqtc Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî
No more away your face I will throw Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children
g̣ōtc qǃᴀˊłᴀtsīnî. Daqâˊt kᴀx sa ᴀxtuwᴀˊsîgu
Wolf because you make valuable. What ? do I care about
yēˊłỵi anîˊ? Guł kawusūˊnkᴀx ᴀxtuwâˊsigu
Raven’s town? Only when there is just a little in me I like
yēˊłỵi āˊnî.
Raven’s town.
I will no more throw your faces away, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children, because
you are the ones that make the Wolf phratry valuable.
What do I care about the Raven’s town? I like it only when there is a
very little [whisky] in me.
(39) Composed by one of the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀdî named Nawutsīˊn, probably from
the jerking of cohoes when dying.
Hīn tūˊnᴀx tcǃᴀ ke aỵaxēˊtc g̣ōˊtcỵî
Water from in just as if up he were taking [me] Wolf
anîˊ caheˊ yadiyēˊł. ᴀdaˊ ᴀxāˊ ỵêx
town did to this Raven. Now paddle like
ckug̣wᴀłyēˊx dog̣ōˊtcỵi yāˊgu ᴀdāˊde
he is going to use himself his Wolf phratry’s canoe around it
gᴀx dutīˊn.
so that he will be seen.
This Raven did to the Wolf’s town just as if he were taking me out of
the water.[a]
Now he is going to use himself as a paddle so that he will be seen
around his Wolf phratry’s canoe.
(40) Composed by Kākayēˊk of the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Inuwuˊ g̣edîˊ wuctukaˊodjîtān yᴀg̣odjîˊ,
Your fort inside of wants to put itself this Wolf phratry
Wuckitāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî ag̣ēˊqǃ tsa gᴀx tuxēˊqǃᵘ. Yēł
Wuckitāˊn’s children inside of it so we shall sleep. Raven
yᴀx kogwatīˊ Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Dog̣ōˊdjî
like are going to be Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. His Wolf phratry
tūx yēkgwaguˊttc.
among he is going.
This Wolf phratry wants to put itself inside of your fort, Wuckitāˊn’s
children, so that we can sleep.[183]
The Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children are going to be like Raven. He is going among
the people of his Wolf phratry.
FOOTNOTES:
[183] Complimentary metaphorical terms used toward the opposite phratry.
(41) Composed by Sāxaˊ of the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Xātc xatīˊn yēk nīỵaˊ. Gūˊsǃî
It is I see spirits that will come to me. Cloud
haỵinᴀˊx tcǃa wug̣aāˊt. ᴀxsatîˊ sᴀkᵘ yēł ānîˊ
from down under right they get. My masters for Raven town
kᴀt nᴀg̣aāˊt.
on they will walk.
I can see the spirits that are going to come to me. They will go under
a cloud. They will be my masters who will walk in the Raven town.
(42) Composed by Crying-[wolf] (G̣āˊxe) of the Chilkat Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Wâˊsᴀ ᴀc nᴀsinîˊ ditcāˊkǃ. Duyēˊłî
I wonder what has done to him the eagle. His Raven [phratry]
ᴀcdāˊt kᴀnᴀłỵîˊtctc. Dekīˊqǃ ᴀcdāˊt
around him always flies. In the air around him
kᴀnᴀłduˊʟǃtc łīngîˊt-āˊnî ᴀł yᴀx yēqǃ utcǃᴀˊs
they would fly very quickly world not like he made
dutuwuˊ diyēˊł. Hūtcǃ hᴀsdutuwuˊ diyēˊł
his mind this Raven. Finally their minds this Raven
hᴀsdukīˊdî hᴀsdunᴀˊq yên naguˊ.
their killer whale from them there went.
I wonder what the Eagle has done to him. His Raven phratry always flies
around him. They fly around thickly unlike Raven when he made the world.
[The translation of the last paragraph is uncertain.]
(43) This was sung by New-rich (Yisg̣ānāˊłx), chief of the Auk people,
when he defeated a Yakutat chief in a property contest, as related in
story 26.
Xᴀt kᴀnłîdiˊxasî yūānqāˊwo. Tsǃᴀs tī-sēˊʟǃî
I am very much ashamed of the chief. Only cedar bark
aqǃēˊx aosîᴀˊx. Tînnāˊx
with it he made a pretense. Copper
aołîyᴀˊx. Hāt qox tcǃu
he made it into (i. e., pretended it was). Here back then
ʟadudᴀˊx agîˊ? Łā qǃeducîˊ
will you come ? Never feast
qāˊsǃiỵaỵîk ān?
do you think we have in this part of our town?
I am very much ashamed of the chief. He only made a pretense with cedar
bark. He made it into copper plates. Will you come back here? Do you
think we never have feasts in this town?
(44) Composed by one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān called Yuwâˊkǃᵘ.
Yēˊgî yêx ᴀckādêˊ ỵanaᴀˊt Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî
Spirits like on him coming down Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children
dātuwuˊ. Hātsatîyaˊ Kāˊgwᴀntān
thinking of. Alasǃ (a Haidaword, hadjadiˊa) Kāˊgwᴀntān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî gūsuˊ xān îkgwᴀnāˊwu kaỵaqaỵîˊ
daughters where [is it] with me you were going to die your words
xadēˊs ādushāˊîtc?
you ought to fulfill?
Thinking of you, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children, is just like having spirits
come down upon me.
Alasǃ Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children, why don’t you fulfill your promise that
you were going to die with me?
(45) Composed by For-a-town spirit (Ān-de-yēk) of the ʟǃenēˊdî about
the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān, because when the latter came to Juneau to drink they
did not pay any attention to the Auk people.
Îłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ānîˊ ᴀkya ᴀqǃ ỵîqǃ ᴀkłîgeˊ.
Your grandfather’s town this is not.
ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs ānīˊtc yᴀx ye ỵaˊosite tcᴀ
My grandfather’s town like [rich] thus has made you now
qā gux kǃucāˊnî.
[you] slaves poor.
Ye sukᴀˊtỵa tcuckᴀˊx xᴀłtīˊn adeˊ natīˊtcỵa
So people are treated how I see when are
wunāˊwu qā. Ayaỵideˊ xᴀt kᴀcēˊx. De
dead men. Before it I am drinking. Now
tułᴀtsīˊn ayêˊx ỵīdzîgīˊt Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān
you are very selfish for like it you did Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tcǃᴀ ʟēł iỵᴀˊkuqwaqǃēˊ tcǃā waa
children. But not I will blame you for will
iỵᴀqaỵîˊ. ᴀtc ye cỵīdzînîˊ yāˊdîyēł.
blame your words. That is his own fault this Raven’s.
This is not your grandfather’s town. It is my grandfather’s place that
has made you rich, you poor slaves.
I observe how people are treated after they are dead, and therefore I
drink before I die (i. e., enjoy myself).
What you did was very selfish, Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān’s children. But I will not
blame you for your words. It is this Raven’s fault.
(46) Composed by Nîg̣ōˊt, one of the Taku Yênỵēˊdî. His name is used
also by the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Yēsuˊ xᴀt ỵa-iłidjēˊtc ceyēˊł. Tcǃᴀ g̣oˊnaa g̣ōtc
You now surprise me, you Raven. Another Wolf
ỵîsatīˊnî tcusūˊg̣a kīnāˊqǃ cîˊỵîka ke idjaqᴀˊk.
when you see way up on branch up you want to get.
Dāqâˊtkᴀx sa cxᴀˊdzîxᴀn? Naˊodᴀnᴀ kᴀx cxᴀdzîxᴀˊn.
For what ? do you think I live? To drink whisky I live.
Īcāˊn xᴀt Xēł Teˊqoedî ỵᴀˊtqǃî xᴀt yenaig̣āˊx.
Pity me Foam (a town) Teˊqoedî’s children me have on.
You surprise me, you Raven. When you see a person of the Wolf phratry,
you want to get way up on a branch.
What do you think I live for? I live to drink whisky. Have pity on me,
Foam Teˊqoedî’s children.[184]
FOOTNOTES:
[184] Evidently the Teˊqoedî living at Foam from which the Xēł qoan, or
Foam people, also came.
(47) Composed for and given to Other-water (G̣onahīˊn) of the
Kāˊgwᴀntān, who lived very long ago. He went to Prince of Wales island
to marry a woman named Sǃēłtîˊn. When he was ready to start back,
his father-in-law laid down a row of copper plates for his daughter
to walk down on, and, as she went down, they sang this song and gave
it to the Kāˊgwᴀntān. It is therefore called Sǃēłtîˊn qǃosîyeˊdî,
“Sǃēłtîˊn’s-return-song.”
The words are in Tsimshian and are the following:
Xēłgayuwa hēyuwâˊ hayᴀˊcgīłnaxa, hayuˊwacgīłnᴀxa.
(48) Composed by Tsǃakāˊkǃ, a Dᴀ’qʟǃao-ca, about Kūłtsǃᴀ’xk of the
Koskǃēˊdî.
Qᴀtīˊỵî Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî nᴀq
I am (not having seen) Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî’s children for
xᴀt g̣og̣ᴀnaˊ. Ayᴀˊx ᴀˊkwe îkdᴀˊs ᴀg̣ōˊtx
I am going to die. Like it is nothing if I lose
g̣oxłayēˊxtc. Deˊtcǃᴀ ciyaˊidê dᴀg̣āˊx aweˊ
lots of property. It is only about myself crying it is
ᴀt cīx ᴀxqǃēˊnᴀstītc.
[in] song that comes to me.
I am going to die without seeing Dᴀqʟǃaweˊdî’s children any more. That
is nothing if I lose lots of property.
It is only crying about myself that comes to me in song.
(49) Composed by one of the ʟǃenēˊdî about Juneau when gold was first
found there.
Łîdāˊł ỵe qǃaỵaikāˊq ʟǃenēˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
Do not any more so talk ʟǃenēˊdî’s children.
Łīngît-āˊnî tu qoaˊnî ỵaỵīʟ̣āˊk.
World in people you are ahead of.
Do not talk any more, ʟǃenēˊdˊî’s children. You are ahead of all the
people in the world.
(50) An “Angry song” composed by Sēxdagwēˊtǃ of the ʟǃenēˊdî against
Little Raven (Yēłkǃ), a blind man of Tongass (Tāˊntaqoan), with whom he
was angry.
Dekīˊ tācukādêˊ dāk ᴀciaˊwaᴀdî doˊxonî qāˊỵaqaỵî
Far out on the beach out chased his friends’ words
qǃayeˊnᴀx ye cdî-x̣ēˊtc Yēłkǃ.
because of so threw himself [before my words] Little Raven.
Tcǃuqǃwᴀˊsîg̣a yêˊx ł ctūx danūˊqnutc.
A little numb like not into myself I ever feel.
Łckᴀx kodjîtīˊnî Yēłkǃ xān
Not for himself can see Little Raven to me
qǃᴀk gᴀx duqēˊn.
whose words are always reported.
Just as if a man chased him out on the beach because of some one’s
talking, Little Raven threw himself before my words. I do not feel even
a little numb. That fellow, Little Raven, whose words they are always
reporting to me, can not see anything.
(51) On the same subject as the above and by the same composer.
Yēłkǃ łckᴀˊx ke djîtīˊnî ỵêx g̣uxỵîkỵᴀˊtîx
Little Raven not for yourself out can see like slave’s son
îsatīỵīˊtc xā îqǃāˊỵanūk. Yēn
because you are I hate what you always say. Sea cucumber(?)
qohâˊni yᴀx iyᴀdātˊtsǃîkǃāˊnqǃ qā gux
big like you have spots all over your face and slave
ucỵaˊ ᴀtc xā iqǃaỵanūˊk. Wâseˊʟ
look just like for that I hate to have you talk to me. Why
ł ke citīˊni yeqǃ sǃîˊqǃe yᴀx ʟǃēˊwu
not seeing anything at all into dish like sand
gîłax̣ᴀˊntc Ckᴀx ke djîtīˊnî ỵeqǃ
you always pick up for yourself not seeing into
tcᴀ gux ỵîk ỵᴀˊdî?
you big slave’s son?
Little Raven, I hate what you keep saying, because you are a slave’s
son and can see nothing. I hate to have you talk to me because you have
spots all over your face like a big sea cucumber (?) and look like a
slave. Don’t you know that, because you can not see anything, you big
slave’s son, you keep picking up sand instead of dipping into the dish?
(52) Composed about a certain man by Āndeyēˊk, one of the ʟǃenēˊdî.
Tsǃu Jamestowntc iyāˊwadji ʟǃenēˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tsǃu
Also the Jamestown had punished you ʟǃenēˊdî’s children. Also
naˊiłaʟǃīt dê ỵīqǃᴀłaiyēˊłî. ᴀtc
you put away (imp.) your lying. That is how
ke ỵaiˊłaʟ̣ᴀkqǃu. ᴀxtuwâˊsîgu yāGold creek xᴀt
you get the best of people. I always like this Gold creek me
yaˊỵag̣axeˊ. Tsǃu ᴀt cnᴀx̣ᴀłtīˊtc
to have you pity in. Also I always feel very happy when
yāGold creek xᴀt yaỵag̣āˊxe Kîksᴀˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
this Gold creek me you pity in Kîksᴀˊdî’s children.
The Jamestown[185], has punished you already, ʟenēˊdî’s children. Put
away all of your lying. That is how you get the best of people.
I always like to have you pity me in this Gold creek. I always feel
very happy when you pity me in this Gold creek, Kîksᴀˊdî’s children.
FOOTNOTES:
[185] A former revenue cutter, which probably carried away the man
against whom this was composed and held him in confinement for a time.
(53) Composed by one of the Box-house people called Sāxaˊ, about
another man, Among-the-brant (Qênxoˊ), one of the Kîksᴀˊdî. It was sung
at feasts and in making peace.
Ye wusgīˊt yadîyēˊł tcǃa g̣ōtc
So always does this Raven this very Wolf phratry
qǃasēˊgu āwacāˊt. Yādiyēˊł de ān
the lives of this takes away. This Raven now with it
cỵīkᴀˊt wudîqêˊn. ᴀcīˊx g̣axōˊx g̣ōtc
upon the branch has flown. From him is asking Wolf phratry
ỵᴀqaỵîˊ. Tsǃu duỵaqaˊ yēx ᴀsîˊ ᴀnadjiˊ
words. Also he was saying like it was he thought it was
doxōnîˊ ỵᴀqaỵîˊ. Tsǃu ᴀdjiyeˊt kᴀndᴀnᴀˊttc.
his friend’s words. Also to him it always shakes.
This is the way this Raven always takes the lives of the Wolf phratry.
This Raven has already flown up on the branch with the words of the
Wolf phratry for which the Wolf phratry is asking him.
He thought that it was his friend’s words that the Raven was doing this
with. That always shakes him (i. e., it was really the words of the
Wolf phratry).
(54) Reply of Among-the-brant (Qênxoˊ) to Sāxaˊ.
Qoˊxde gāˊwu tîn wucuxdiỵaˊ
On the way back drum with I compare myself to make peace
îtūwuˊ. Deqǃēˊt cwudîtᴀˊn yēł āˊnî kᴀqǃ.
your mind. Now they are beating it Raven’s town in.
I compare myself to a drum beaten to make peace on the way back. They
are beating it already in the Ravenˊs town.
(55) Composed by Dead-slave (Gux-nawuˊ) about a woman named Poor-orphan
(Kâhântîˊkǃî), who was a very poor girl, but who, when she grew up,
became the richest woman in Wrangell.
Qāˊtcxᴀn-ākǃᵘ ux axłacūˊg̣o cātkǃ
Human-hip (Wrangell) lake in when I used to make fun of girl
yᴀˊtskǃox ỵîsatīˊqǃ. Gutx nao sa îkaˊołîcu.
little you were very small. Where whisky ? did you get.
ʟeł îkudēˊqǃ.
Never you get ashamed.
I used to make fun of this poor little girl at Wrangell when she was
very small.
Where did you get the whisky [that makes you feel so high]? You are
never ashamed.
(56) Composed by Kāłgīˊs, a man of the Sitka Kāˊgwᴀntān, about one of
the Nanỵaāˊỵî named Cugâˊn, before the victory of the Sitka people over
those of Wrangell.
Tcuc ỵaˊodawūʟ ᴀsîˊ niỵᴀtiˊ tcǃᴀ ᴀtsūˊx îˊwana,
May be too fast it is you are right along hurrying you die,
Nanỵaāˊỵî ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tcǃa qā g̣ōdjîˊ
Nanỵaāˊỵî’s children. Still Wolf phratry
gâˊsǃᴀs g̣adustīˊntc.
you ought to have seen first.
You are hurrying to death too fast, Nanỵaāˊỵî’s children. You ought to
have seen your Wolf phratry first.
(57) Composed by Kakayēˊk, a Kāˊgwᴀntān, about his brother’s wife.
His name probably refers to the wolf making a noise that can be heard
a long distance off. The woman is represented as if speaking, and
anticipating being sent away by the whites for drunkenness.
De ᴀgwâytāˊge îg̣odjîˊ ỵᴀstīˊỵî naotc
As if he were beginning your Wolf phratry is whisky
kaˊowułcu. Āyaˊ îsitîˊ Tcūkᴀneˊdî
were drunk on. This is what you are like Grass-people’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
children.
Yādjînahēˊn aỵaỵīdêˊ xᴀt yênaig̣āˊx Kāˊgwᴀntān
I am sent away just before it me have pity on, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
children.
It is just as if I were beginning to get drunk. This is what you are
like, Grass-people’s children.
Have pity on me before I am sent away from here, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
(58) Composed by the woman referred to above, in reply. Her name was
Toxaocîˊ, and she belonged to the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān.
De tułᴀtsīˊn kᴀtỵaˊ ayᴀˊx qǃaỵīqaˊ Kāˊgwᴀntān
It is a very hard thing like it you are saying Kāˊgwᴀntān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî. ᴀxtuwuˊ ʟᴀx ỵᴀnīˊkᵘ. Wuctūˊx nao ye
children. My mind very is sick. One after another whisky thus
xᴀt wusîˊnî. ᴀtc xᴀt
me has been given to. This is why me
yêˊnayîg̣āx Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
you should pity (mourn for) Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
What you are saying about me is very hard, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. I am
very sad.
You (i. e., the man accusing her) have given me one drink of whisky
after another. So you ought to have pity on me, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
(59) Composed by a shaman of the Kāˊgwᴀntān named Kǃᴀgᴀˊnkǃ.
Tcǃᴀ nao kᴀx ᴀsiyāˊgê xᴀt ỵaˊỵīg̣āxēn. Daˊỵidᴀt
Just whisky for it is [that] me you pity. Why not now
tsǃu xᴀt yêˊnaỵîg̣āx Dēˊcitān ỵᴀˊtqǃî?
also me you pity (or love) Dēˊcitān’s children?
It is only on account of whisky that you pity me. Why don’t you also
love me, Dēˊcitān’s children?
(60) Composed by Little Raven (Yēłkǃ), one of the Prince of Wales
Island people (Tāˊnta qoan) about Sēxdagwēˊtǃ of the ʟǃenēˊdî, who
had previously gotten the best of him (see song 50). He speaks
sarcastically.
Yên duwaxēˊtc ceyādiYēłkǃ.
There they have already knocked him down this Little Raven.
Tcuc kᴀnʟ̣îdēˊqǃ ceyādiYēˊłkǃ.
Already he is ashamed this Little Raven.
They have already knocked down this Little Raven. This Little Raven is
already ashamed.
(61) Composed by Under-a-blanket (Kāguntūˊkǃ) of the Wᴀtāneˊdî, part of
the Kîksᴀˊdî, about the son of a ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî named Yēsguˊqtc, whose
brother had been killed in compensation for the killing of her brother.
ᴀxtuwūˊ tîn wūtc udiỵaˊ ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
My mind with his is just the same ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî’s children.
ᴀtc ᴀxtuwūˊtc ke nᴀsxᴀˊn. Dāsᴀˊkᵘcî āg̣aˊ
So I am beginning to love him. I wonder what for it
ᴀnxᴀłg̣êˊntc qē xᴀt g̣ᴀˊsgîdîn. Ỵāˊqǃgwa
I always look I wake up in the morning. There might be a time
ᴀxhuˊnxo-hᴀs qâkxᴀsîtīˊn.
my brothers I might see.
His mind is just like mine, ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî’s children. So that I am
beginning to love him.
I wonder what I always look for when I wake up in the morning. Sometime
I might see my brothers.
(62) Composed by Man-that-is-not-all-right (Qa-uctêˊ) about Princess
Thom (Gadjîˊnt), because when she was very young all sorts of young men
went to her house, filling it as if it were a saloon. Princess Thom was
the own sister of Qǃāˊdustin. (See p. 347.)
Kᴀt-hīˊỵî nao-dakᴀ-hîˊtîỵî ᴀt qa cux̣īˊx̣tc
Even from whisky house (saloon) people get away
îłîkūˊdzî ᴀˊsî yᴀdîyēˊł.
but not from you it is this Raven.
Even from a saloon people get away, but not from you, Raven woman.
(63) Composed by a man named Kātdᴀˊ (Around-a-flat-basket, or
Around-a-woven-oil-presser), whose wife was taken away from him by her
people, who would not let her return.
Tcǃᴀ nūo datūwuˊ yᴀx ł xā ustēˊx, Toqỵeˊdî
Just whisky desire for like never I sleep, Toqỵeˊdî’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
children.
Like one who desires whisky, I never sleep, Toqỵeˊdî’s children.
(64) Composed by Among-the-brant (Qênxoˊ)[186] of the Kîksᴀˊdî, about
Sāxaˊ, when his wife had been taken from him, and he felt very sad. The
last words are said to be in Tsimshian.
Xāqǃ łidzīˊ ỵaᴀxtuwuˊ. Wudjkēˊt xoyāˊîtc
To me is very hard this my mind. Around I were carrying
yāt ᴀxtuwuˊ. Hayuˊ wᴀłg̣āˊk cîndaˊ?
to this my mind. What is the matter with you? [Tsimshian words].
My own mind is very hard to me. It is just as if I were carrying my
mind around.
What is the matter with you?
FOOTNOTES:
[186] This name probably owes its origin to the circumstances recounted
in story 24.
(65) Composed by Sāxaˊ on the same subject as the song next preceding.
A man named Kǃułtǃeˊ-īc, belonging to the Chilkat Kāˊgwᴀntān, ran away
with Sāxaˊ’s wife, but the latter was afterward killed by Kǃułtǃeˊ-īc’s
first wife whom he had abandoned.
Dēsgwᴀˊtc gî g̣êsîtīˊn ke ỵᴀgᴀdîdaˊ
Already you have seen up going to the spirit world
yᴀˊdiyēł. ᴀcdayīˊn āyᴀˊx uwaguˊt doqōdjîˊ.
this Raven. To see her out to her has come her Wolf [phratry].
Nᴀˊna ỵîs aositīˊn dog̣odjîˊ.
Death for she has seen her Wolf [phratry].
You have already seen this Raven going up to the ghost country.
Her Wolf phratry has come out to see her. She has seen her Wolf phratry
for death.
(66) A man named Nūˊsǃnî composed this song and immediately afterward
stabbed several of his friends.
Yēˊkîtckᴀcax̣wēˊqǃ-yēˊgîtc nᴀdatcūˊn
Yēˊkîtckᴀcax̣wēˊqǃ spirit he was dreaming of
yūˊỵa-kuʟ̣înuˊtsk.
always smiling around.
He was dreaming of Yēˊkîtckᴀcax̣wēˊqǃ spirit always smiling around.
(67) Song said to have been sung by Wrangell Indians on the way to
Sitka when they felt sure that they were going to be killed.
Ctᴀqǃhīˊn ỵîx yēˊnᴀłx̣āc dutūˊwu yaˊdîyēł
Stikine down from floating his feelings this Raven
Tī-hît-tāˊnî ỵᴀˊtqǃî dutuwuˊdî.
Bark-house people’s children his feelings [are toward].
Qāqǃᴀsēˊgu dākᴀcuˊ ᴀt uwayaˊ da yututᴀˊnk,
About their lives they do that it is like about thinking,
Tī hît tān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
Bark-house people’s children.
Floating down from the Stikine, the feelings of this Raven are toward
the Bark-house people’s children (i. e., he worries about his family).
He thinks about the lives of the Bark-house people’s children.
(68) Dorsal-fin-of-killer-whale-seen (Guc-dutīˊn), one of the
Nanỵaāˊỵî, almost died when on the way to Victoria, and composed this
song about his old friends.
Yēł ānîˊ ᴀˊkya ᴀdadêˊ xag̣āˊx. ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs
Raven’s town that [not] about I am crying. My grandfather’s
ānîˊ ayaˊ ᴀdadêˊ xᴀg̣āˊx.
town that about it I am crying.
Icāˊn Gucdutīˊn Wᴀktâˊnî qînqǃ
Poor Dorsal-fin-of-killer-whale-seen Victoria before he gets to
gog̣anaˊ.
he will die.
It is not Raven’s town I am crying about. It is my own grandfather’s
town I am crying about.
Poor Dorsal-fin-of-killer-whale-seen will die before he reaches
Victoria.
(69) Although this song is very much older, the words were put in at
the time the people of Sitka killed those of Wrangell. Just before they
started singing, everyone had to raise his paddle and cheer on account
of the scalps. A Nanỵaāˊỵî killed at that time was named Łtcǃūqǃ.
Tsǃu qǃwᴀn na-uˊ wet Ctᴀqǃhīˊn.
Again (imp.) you live at it the Stikine.
Will you live at the Stikine any more?
(70) This is sung by all the Kāˊgwᴀntān when a person’s body is being
burned, the first part during the burning itself and the second part
while the women are dancing around the fire, wearing ear pendants. The
first part is called Nodding-of-heads-to-and-fro (Kītcdacīỵîˊ), and the
only words used are Tînnaˊ sūwuˊ, “There are lots of coppers,” repeated
again and again.
[Second part] ᴀt ācuwaguˊt
To it he has been led
kiwâˊʟēn yᴀˊdᴀ ᴀxqēˊłkǃ.
up to a place where people are killed my nephew.
[Third part] De ᴀcyaỵīˊqǃ hît yên aołiyᴀˊx
Already for him house there have made
dukāˊk-hᴀs.
his uncles.
My nephew has been led up to a place where people [go who have been]
killed.[187]
His uncles have already made a house for him there.
FOOTNOTES:
[187] A special sky realm for those who have died by violence.
(71) A man had all of his friends destroyed by a bear, and was the only
one left in the fort they were then occupying. There he composed this
song. The last words are used because he was going to succeed his uncle.
Iwuxłîdjāˊq ᴀxkāˊk ixōˊnî anỵêˊtīt
I compare you, my uncle, your friends to high caste
ixłîdjᴀˊqᵘ. ᴀxyᴀˊx wuniˊỵî qa cîˊłīngît-āˊnî tūt
I compare you. Like me is like a man this world in
wusg̣axēˊn. Ag̣agucîˊ duāˊn itīˊdî sǃīt
is crying about. At that time his town to have taken out from
wudułwuˊsǃīn.
asked to have.
I compare you, my uncle, to your high-caste friends. A man in the same
state as myself is now wandering about this world, crying. At that time
a man such as that asked to have the things taken out from his place.
(72) Composed by a Chilkat man named Kaoguˊ on the instant when he was
asked to compose a song about a certain man’s mother who had just died.
ʟǃēˊwu kǃēˊnᴀx yên aỵacāˊt duyēˊłi
Sandy beach over on there has taken over his Raven
weditcāˊkǃ. G̣āx ᴀˊsgîde qōt ᴀsihaˊ, Kāˊgwᴀntān
the Eagle. To make anyone cry enough It is, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Yēłtc qoˊa dutūˊtx qonᴀshēˊtc.
children. Raven, however, to her always comes to amuse.
This Eagle has taken his Raven over to a good sandy beach. It is enough
to make one cry, Kîksᴀˊdî’s children. A Raven, however, always comes to
amuse her.
(73) Composed by Other-water (G̣onahīˊn) over a dead man.
Haˊde ᴀt cug̣ᴀˊsî ᴀxtūˊt ᴀsixaˊ
Here a great joy of laughing to me has brought
ᴀxkīˊkǃ. Udēˊ yu-ᴀguˊtqǃūc
my younger brother. Thither if I had known the way they go
g̣onayaˊ adeˊ ᴀn g̣agūˊt duyᴀˊx.
starting thither to him I would go as he [went].
My younger brother has brought me a great joy of laughter.
If I knew the way they go, I would go right to him.
(74) Composed by Joined-together (Wūct-wudūtsuˊ) when all of his
friends went down the rapids at G̣onaxōˊ and were drowned.
Āntǃîkānᴀˊx qogoˊxdîhān tsǃu yāˊtg̣ānỵkîkᴀỵīˊqǃ ᴀt
In front of the will stand up again in the bay there
qoxatîˊsǃnutc yūˊantǃekᴀ.
I always look expecting to see them.
Gāxᵘ koxâˊnîx qǃᴀˊna kowułg̣adīˊn ayᴀˊx xᴀt tunᴀstīˊtc
To the people the Duck tribe saved like it I always compare
ᴀxkīˊkǃ-hᴀs. Haỵīˊqǃ cēˊgîs tcǃaˊya wucxēnīn
my brothers. Down under the earth. right they went
anỵᴀˊtqǃî yᴀx.
the high-caste people like.
I always look expectantly to see some one stand up in front of the town
and in the bay.
I always compare my brothers to the people the Duck tribe saved. They
went right down under the earth like those high-caste people.
(75) Composed by Here-is-a-feather (Tǃaoyāˊtǃ), one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān,
when his brother died. It is used as a mourning and dancing song.
Î-ᴀt-kǃahīˊnî tîn xāt ỵidacîˊ Kāˊgwᴀntān
Your believing things with me your help. Kāˊgwᴀntān’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Deyîˊn dᴀtāˊn xān wudjîxēˊn
children. It is as if with me were turning over
ᴀxłīˊłkǃᵘ-hᴀs hîˊtî. Dāˊg̣o qātc sᴀ xᴀt gᴀx sînēˊx?
my grandfathers’ house. Where person [is] ? me will save?
Help me with your believing, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
It is as if my grandfathers’ house were turning over with me. Where is
the person that will save me?
(76) Composed by Man-for-himself (Stuwᴀ-qaˊ), one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān,
about his wife, who was from Kake. It was originally composed in Haida,
and the Haida words are said to be the following:
Łᴀqīwêˊ gīcîndêˊ hêˊłgugê.
The Tlingit equivalent is given at greater length, as follows:
ʟᴀx ᴀxtēˊqǃtc îsêxᴀˊn Tsagueˊdî ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tcāˊtcǃᴀ
Very my heart I love you from Tsagueˊdî’s children. Only
iīˊn tsa xᴀt goqwᴀnaˊ.
with you indeed I will die.
I love you from my heart, Tsagueˊdî’s children. You are the only one I
will die with.
(77) Composed by Pressing-down (Kᴀstǃāˊk), one of the Tcūˊkᴀn-ca
(Tcūkᴀneˊdî women). Her brothers were drowned and their bodies were not
recovered.
Iqǃaỵîˊ xᴀt ỵawaʟ̣āˊk Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Da icāˊn
Your point me has beaten, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. But pity
xᴀt ye nāˊỵîg̣āx. Dasᴀˊkᵘcî āg̣aˊ ᴀnxᴀłg̣êˊntc
me this you have on. I wonder what for it I always look after
qē xᴀt ᴀsgīˊt. Yāqǃ gâ
when I wake up in the morning. There might be a time when
ᴀxīˊkǃ-hᴀs qâkᴀsîtīˊn.
my brothers I would see.
Your point[188] has beaten me, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children. But take pity on
me.
I wonder what I always look after when I wake up in the morning.
Sometime I might see my brothers.
FOOTNOTES:
[188] Probably where they were drowned.
(78) Composed by Kāqātucūˊtc of the Kāˊgwᴀntān when his father and his
uncle died.
Djîłqāˊt hīn ỵîx ỵᴀkᵘgwasāˊx
Chilkat river down through will come down
îkᴀnēˊk ᴀxkāˊk. Nādadᴀˊx
your sickness (sound of your death) my uncle. From the nations
g̣ᴀdjîxāˊn nādāgawuˊ ᴀxʟāˊ.
has fallen down the nation’s drum, my mother.
Nātūˊtx ke ỵitāˊn ᴀtūˊdenᴀx duᴀˊxtc
From among the nations up you take from among them can be heard
ᴀxʟāˊ.
my mother.
The noise of your death, my uncle, will come down through Chilkat river.
The nation’s drum has fallen down, my mother. Take the drum out from
among the nations so that they can hear my mother.
(79) Composed by a Nanỵaāˊỵî named Kakᴀsguxoˊ, about Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ and
Łqǃayāˊkǃ, referring to the time when they strove to cross the Stikine
and were turned to stone. This is a mourning song, therefore a long
cane is used when it is sung.
ᴀcīˊn gua yên yułītîˊtk dînaỵîˊ ỵaguˊ.
With him goes there (ashore) drifting the nation’s canoe.
ᴀxkāˊk deỵe kᴀndawᴀˊʟǃ. Uqǃ
My uncle already is breaking up (= is dead). Him here
ᴀnᴀˊxłix̣ātc. Ctᴀqǃhīˊn kānᴀˊx dageˊ wukânîˊn
I do not expect any more. Stikine across out waded
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ-hᴀs. Duʟ̣āˊkǃtc ut
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ and his brothers. His sister at him (or them)
aoʟ̣îg̣êˊn. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀqǃ tēx wusiteˊ.
looked. Then at it become stone they were.
The nation’s canoe is drifting ashore with him. My uncle is already
dead. I do not expect him any more.
Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ and his brothers waded out across the Stikine. Their sister
looked at them. Then they turned into stone.[189]
FOOTNOTES:
[189] See story 31, p. 106.
(80) Composed by Man-who-obeys (Qǃayᴀˊx qosteˊ) of the Kāˊgwᴀntān about
his son who was drowned coming down Chilkat river.
Tca tcūc kogᴀsgāˊx diyēł-ānîˊ kadᴀˊx
Already will go away crying this Raven town from on
dig̣ōˊtc. Waeˊtc ᴀgî ᴀcukᴀˊ ỵiłiyᴀˊx
this Wolf (phratry). You ? the future you made
yᴀg̣odjîˊ diyēˊł?
this Wolf phratry this Raven (or you)?
This Wolf phratry will go away crying from the Raven town.
Do you think you made the future for this Wolf phratry, you Raven?
(81) Composed by one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān named Cgwᴀtc, about an uncle who
had died.
ᴀt ᴀˊsîs tuˊnᴀxdataˊntc yałīˊngît-ānîˊ, gūsuˊ gucêˊ łᴀqǃ
I always think about myself this world, but when not
ye ᴀt qōnukᵘỵaˊ. Gudēˊsa uˊnxadjītc ᴀxkāˊk.
thus things they do (= die). Where is I do not know my uncle.
Hāˊdᴀ yēk tatūˊgu ỵītgâˊ yēktc ỵaxēˊtc
Around this world spirits cave down into spirits threw
ᴀxkāˊk.
my uncle.
I always think within myself that there is no place where people do not
die.
I do not know where my uncle is. Probably the spirits threw down my
uncle into the spirits’ cave around this world.
(82) Mourning song composed by Sᴀkwēˊtǃ, a woman of the ʟǃenēˊdî
(ʟǃenēˊdî-ca), about her brother who was drowned.
Sānaxēˊttc gu ᴀdāˊx qoyaˊołîdjᴀg̣ê qā yᴀx
South wind from it (through it) were killed people like
xᴀt gugwatiˊ.
I am.
I am like the people who were killed by the south wind.
(83) Mourning song composed by Sᴀkwēˊtǃ about her drowned brother.
Yisʟᴀˊgucê ug̣āˊ ᴀt wusuwuˊ cāwᴀˊt yᴀx
I wish I were for her [with things] helped woman like
uc xᴀt īˊwatî Tᴀxgwᴀˊstc. Ug̣āˊ wusūˊwu cāˊwᴀt yᴀx
I wish I were Tᴀxgwᴀˊs For her helped woman like
xᴀt nᴀg̣ateˊ ᴀxkāˊk duhîˊtî āˊg̣axsᴀx̣īˊx̣.
I were my uncle’s house I might rebuild.
Aỵīˊqǃgua ỵāwaguˊt g̣ᴀgāˊn deỵīˊ. ᴀtcgâˊ ł yᴀx
Perhaps into it he went sun’s trail. So that not like
wūˊnxᴀda ᴀxīˊkǃ.
I can ever see my brother.
I wish I were like that woman who was helped by Tᴀxgwᴀˊs. If I were
like the woman that he helped, I should rebuild my uncle’s house.
Perhaps my brother went into the sun’s trail so that I can never see
him again.
(84) Tǃaoyāˊdînīk, chief of the Kāˊgwᴀntān, dreamed this song about the
wolf post:
Îtdeˊ tcuc saqᴀˊdîha ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs. Kīāˊg̣ᴀgāˊn hîˊtiqǃ nēł
I will put back my uncles. The sun-world’s houses into
ūqâgūˊt.
I will go.
I will put back my uncles. I will go into the sun-world’s houses.
(85) A song without words, sung by spirits when food is sent to them
through the fire.
(86) Composed since the missionaries came, by a man named Deer-woman
(Cawᴀˊt-qōwakāˊn), at a time when the people were hunting sea otter.
Kī anqāˊwo dā qǃᴀnᴀˊckîde yu-xᴀt-yênᴀskaˊ ᴀxāˊnî
Thou Almighty God pity wilt thou have on me my town
qākᴀˊsatīn.
so I can see.
Almighty God, have pity on me so that I can reach my town.
(87) A peace song composed by a Chilkat man named Kîˊngu (perhaps
Qêˊnxo) after there had been war between his people and the Wuckitāˊn,
and the latter were coming up there to a peace feast.
Uxkēˊ ỵᴀnaqēˊncî ye ỵᴀtîˊ Wuckitāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî?
Why do you talk so thus it is Wuckitāˊn’s children?
Djîłqāˊt ỵek g̣êsatīˊn. Łīngîˊtc agîˊ ye usîˊni
Chilkat to you are going to see. Indians ? thus can make
Wuckitāˊn ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Tcǃᴀ ʟᴀkᵘx aqǃᴀłîtsīˊn.
Wuckitāˊn’s children. From far back they are valued.
Why do you talk so, Wuckitāˊn’s children? You are going to see Chilkat.
A person can not make anyone like Wuckitāˊn’s children. They have been
valued from long ago.
(88) This is sung when peace is being made after a great war. With a
change in the name of the clan mentioned it could be used by anyone.
Iwunaˊ qǃuc Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî ikādēˊ
If you had died Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children for you
cᴀˊnkᴀłx̣ᴀc. Waîˊx sa xᴀˊnisᴀ ikadêˊ
I would have cut my hair. So much I love you for you
ỵᴀnkᴀdatǃūˊtcǃt, Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵêˊtqǃî.
I would have blackened my face, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
If you had died, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children, I would have cut off my hair
for you. I love you so much that I would have blackened my face for
you, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
(89) The singer of this is a Hummingbird Deer (Dᴀwᴀˊtgîya qōˊwakān), so
called because he performs like a hummingbird. Just before he started
this song, the persons who had charge of him turned around four times
with him in the direction the sun takes.
[Words recited] ᴀxsǃāˊtqǃeỵên, ᴀxdakēˊtqǃî.
My masters, my outside box.
Qǃaỵᴀˊxa. Danaeteˊ
I am going to speak like. Started (or joined in with me)
ᴀxsǃāˊtqǃiỵên.
my masters.
[Words sung] Tsǃa kᴀx̣wâˊᴀsgᴀ anᴀˊq akᵘxᴀgūˊt
Very I am feeling lonely away from I am going
ᴀxkāˊk-hᴀs ānîˊ. ᴀtcīˊ ᴀg̣êˊ xatīˊ ᴀxsǃāˊtqǃîỵên.
my uncles’ town. Singing inside I am, my masters.
Tcuc ctāˊdî dᴀg̣āˊxaỵa xātîˊ.
Crying about myself I am.
My masters, my opposite phratry, I am going to speak thus. My masters
joined in with me.
I am feeling very lonely away. I am going to my uncles’ town. I am
singing inside, my masters. I am crying about myself.
(90) A deer song supposed to have been used by the land otters when
they were making peace and afterward by men also.
[Words spoken] Kūˊcta qoan cāˊwu ayuˊ awacāˊ
Land otter people woman of it was married
Yēł. Ag̣aˊayu nākāˊnīx
Raven. At that time a messenger (when wife’s people feasted)
wusiteˊ Yēł. Qōˊwakāˊnt wuc kaˊodîdjêł
became Raven. As deer started to take each other up
kucta qoaˊnî.
land otter people.
[Words sung] Gāˊwa yāˊtǃᴀ. Qǃexetᴀnūˊqǃu. Gāˊwaỵa
A drum here is. Lobster (?) this is. This drum
kut wułîgaˊwu gāˊwa yātǃ. Tcǃuʟeˊ
is very noisy the drum that is here. Then
awułîtsīˊn Yēłtc. “De cîłîgāˊwu gawayāˊg̣ê.” ʟe
beat it very hard Raven. “Now very noisy is this drum.” Then
ᴀnᴀˊx qōcāˊwatǃēx. Xᴀtc akᴀˊxayu. ᴀttc djiuʟ̣îhaˊ
through it he knocked a hole. It was for this there he got
yūˊgao.
the drum.
Raven married a woman of the land-otter people. At that time Raven
became a messenger. The land-otter people began to take one another up
as deer.
Here is a drum. This (i. e., the drum) is a big lobster. This drum is
very noisy. Then Raven beat it very hard. “This drum is very noisy.”
Then he knocked a hole through it. It was to do this to the drum that
he came among those people.
(91) This is called a “half song,” and was composed by a man named
Sāxaˊ, about a deer.
De ᴀxōˊqǃᵘ nēł ỵagūˊt. Ye ᴀc gux
Now among them into the house he has gone. Thus him will
sanēˊx duyēˊłî.
save his Raven.
He has now gone in among them. His Raven phratry will save him.
(92) Composed by Naotsīˊn when peace was made between the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî
and the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
ʟāk ỵîˊxa yēˊłỵī yaguˊ. Dewēˊdu
Fast pull ahead Raven’s canoe. Not very far from here
ỵᴀkǃēˊỵia Yēł yᴀkᵘdēˊỵî. Ayaỵidêˊ
good place (shelter) for Raven’s canoe. For himself
tūkaˊodînᴀt g̣ōtcỵi anîˊ wustīˊn.
he was very much afraid Wolf’s home to see.
Paddle ahead that Raven’s canoe very fast. A sheltered place for the
Raven’s canoe is not very far from here.
He is very much afraid of seeing the Wolf’s home.
(93) Composed by Going-across-the-road (Deg̣āhēˊtǃ), a rich man who was
paid to compose it, one time when the Kaˊgwᴀntān and the Wuckitāˊn made
peace.
Yēł ỵānᴀqoˊx g̣ōtc ānîˊ kādêˊ. Hāˊdᴀ
Raven is coming [by canoe] Wolf’s town going to. Hurrahǃ
ckedjᴀnaihuˊktc. Wuckitāˊnî ỵᴀˊtqǃî yāguˊ kǃehuˊk.
all shout. Wuckitāˊn’s children canoe shout well for.
Raven is coming by canoe to the Wolf’s town.
All shout “Hurrahǃ” Wuckitāˊn’s children. Shout well for the canoe.
(94) This was composed by a ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî man named Łqenaˊ when he was
the only one of his people saved and his enemies wanted to make peace
with him. He danced as a deer, singing this song, and at the end of it
cut in two the man standing next to him. When used as a deer song in
later times, the last words were of course different.
Detcūˊcta kᴀcuˊ tcǃayēˊ nᴀxdzîgīˊt. Tcᴀ xᴀt guceˊ dē
About myself like this I did. Indeed me said to
ł tcūctūˊt ᴀnᴀˊx datīˊ ᴀxtuwūˊ.
not to myself by I would let pass my conscience.
Nānaỵîˊsgucî ᴀxsîtīˊn ducᴀgīˊnîỵa.
Already before his death I saw his ghost.
[Spoken] ᴀtūˊx gwᴀł aosîguˊ Cādᴀsîˊktc āwadjᴀˊq.
Into him as soon as he stabbed Cādᴀsîˊktc he killed.
I did this way regarding myself. I would not let what my conscience
said to me, pass.
Before his death I saw his ghost.
At once he stabbed and killed Cādᴀsîˊktc.
(95) A peace song composed by a Kāˊgwᴀntān man of Chilkat named Nāʟǃīˊc.
Îkayadeˊ yūˊcᴀ qkwag̣ēˊqǃ Kāˊgwᴀntān ỵᴀˊtqǃî.
Toward you the head I am going to nod, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
Îłīˊ iỵᴀqāỵîˊ. ʟâˊxayî[190]
Not so your words. Good-by
iỵaqaỵîˊ yādiyēˊł.
with your words you Raven.
I am going to nod my head toward you, Kāˊgwᴀntān’s children.
Don’t talk like that. Good-by with your words, you Raven.
FOOTNOTES:
[190] ʟâˊxayî is the Klahowya of the Chinook jargon.
(96) Composed by one of the Kāˊgwᴀntān named Kêtłcīˊkǃê, and used in
making peace and at feasts. When the dancers have reached the door,
some one says, “Where is the man?” and they reply, “Up in the woods,”
because the man who is to start the song hides himself just before it
begins.
Łîł ug̣aˊ qetīˊsǃîk iyēˊłî dig̣ōˊtc.
Never after it you look, you Raven your Wolf [phratry].
Tcǃa ʟēx yêˊnᴀx dāq uwaguˊt yᴀdiyēˊł.
Already from there up it has gone, you Raven.
Do not look after your Wolf phratry any more, you Raven. It has already
gone into the woods, you Raven.
(97)[191] Composed by Qāˊuctê, a Kāˊgwᴀntān man, about men who never
keep their word—those who talk much after they have been drinking and
later do not remember what they have said. The Teˊqoedî are referred to
because he married a woman of that family, and they always came to him
when they got drunk.
Ag̣ōˊtdê naˊokᴀt tcuc dadêˊ ctuwūˊk danīˊk,
After you have been drinking whisky you better put away talking
of how well you were brought up,
Teˊqoedî ỵᴀˊtqǃî. Ādutūˊqǃsᴀs yē nᴀtīˊtc
Teˊqoedî’s children. In whose mind thus is it
qāˊdᴀ ᴀn g̣adᴀˊqên?
when you are sober?
After you have been drinking you better stop talking about how well you
were brought up, Teˊqoedî’s children. What one of you thinks about it
when he is sober?
FOOTNOTES:
[191] Songs 97 to 102 were given the writer by his interpreter, Don
Cameron. The rest were obtained from a Sitka Indian of the Box-house
people named Dekināˊkǃᵘ.
(98) Song composed by a man who had been brought up in court before
Judge Tuttle.
Heˊdaho djᴀtc dā îłīˊ îtuwuˊ waᴀˊqwe. Kîksᴀˊdî
About this, Judge, about never your mind disturb. Kîksᴀˊdî’s
ỵᴀˊtqǃî îˊsîte îdjiỵīˊt qǃᴀx dugāˊqǃ.
children you are of you one should be afraid.
Never mind about this, Judge. You are not a child of the Kîksᴀˊdî that
people should be afraid of you.
(99) A love song originally obtained from a Tāgish woman.
Dāt sᴀkᵘ sayuˊ Dayeˊ cāk dᴀx îxᴀˊndî xâgudiỵeˊqǃ.
What for was it Dyea far up from to you I have gone to.
Tsǃᴀs ᴀxnᴀˊq yāx igūˊt g̣ōtʟǃᴀˊtkî qādêˊ.
Only from me on something. you went some other [town] to.
Īitīˊt xodzîg̣āˊx.
For you I am crying.
Why have I come to you to Dyea from far inland only to find that you
have gone away to another town [on a steamer]? Here I am, crying for
you.
(100) A very modern love song.
Djîłdakᴀˊt-ᴀt ʟēxkoˊctu yêx kātīˊỵî my dear boy xᴀt
Everything indifferent to me as if is me
djiwᴀnᴀˊq,
has gone from,
my dear Tommy.
I don’t care about anything since even my dear boy, my dear Tommy, has
gone from me.
(101) A love song composed by a dancer named Sīqǃoēˊt, who belonged to
the Raven phratry. His sweetheart was away when the 4th of July came.
Wâˊsᴀ kᵘcîs xᴀt qogwatiˊ yadjulaiˊa ỵaqēˊg̣a-ēˊnî.
How I wonder I will be this July morning is coming.
ᴀxāˊt-hᴀs ʟēł qoqâtiˊn ʟᴀx yēˊxa gugēˊkǃ ᴀxtūwuˊ.
My aunts not I can see very a weak about it my thoughts.
I wonder what this coming July morning will be like. My mind is very
weak thinking that I shall be unable to see my aunts (i. e., my
sweetheart).[192]
FOOTNOTES:
[192] The term translated “aunts” is used generally for those women of
the opposite clan with whom it was allowable to marry.
(102) Composed by a man named Raven-skin (Yēł-dūguˊ) when his
sweetheart abandoned him.
Yūk doqēˊqǃūc g̣og̣ᴀnaˊ qā g̣odjîˊ
If one had charge of death person (woman) a Wolf
tîn qongᴀnᴀˊ. ʟēx cēł gux sagūˊgîs.
with it would be easy to die. It would be very pleasant.
If one had control of death, it would be very easy to die with a Wolf
woman. It would be very pleasant.
(103) A mourning song belonging to the Kāˊgwᴀntān.
Tcǃa hu dūtuwuˊ ᴀcīˊt ūsîteˊ yadeg̣oˊtc.
Right his mind to him was this man of Wolf [people].
Łîł qǃwᴀn ctu yeˊdaqǃēq.
Never (imp.) blame others.
It is his own fault that this Wolf man got into that condition (i. e.,
died). Do not lay the blame on anybody else.
ABSTRACTS OF MYTHS
MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT SITKA
1. RAVEN
Raven was the son of a man named Kit-kaˊositiyi-qā, who gave him
strength to make the world. After he had made it he obtained the stars,
moon, and daylight from their keeper at the head of Nass by letting
himself be swallowed by the keeper’s daughter and be born of her. He
obtained fresh water by tricking its owner, Petrel. As he was flying
out through the smoke hole, however, Petrel made his smoke-hole spirits
catch him and lighted a fire under him, turning him from white to
black. Raven scattered the fresh water out of his mouth to make rivers
and streams. Because some people who were fishing for eulachon would
not take him across a river, he let the sun forth, and they fled into
the woods or ocean, becoming such animals as the skins they wore had
belonged to. Next Raven stole fat from some boys who were throwing it
back and forth. He found a piece of jade bearing some design, stuck it
into the ground, and pretended to a spring salmon that the object was
calling it names. The salmon came ashore, and Raven killed it. Then he
got the birds to procure him skunk cabbage so that they might eat the
fish, but instead of feeding them, he sent them away a second time and
ate it himself, burying the bones in the ashes. After that the birds
dressed and painted themselves up. Raven came to the Bear, and the
latter fed him on some of his own flesh, a proceeding which Raven tried
to imitate in vain a little later. Then Raven went out fishing with
Bear and Cormorant, killed the former by cutting off a piece of flesh,
and pulled out Cormorant’s tongue so that he could not tell anybody.
Afterward he killed Bear’s wife by inducing her to eat halibut bladders
which he had filled with hot stones. He came to some fishermen and
stole the bait from their hooks, but was finally hooked in the nose
and had to recover his nose disguised as another person. Now he came
to some deer with fat hanging out of their nostrils, pretended that it
was mucus, and obtained it. He started along by canoe, and all of the
animals wanted to accompany him, but he accepted only Deer. Coming to
a deep valley, he laid some dried celery stalks across, covered them
with moss, and induced Deer to try to walk across. Deer did so and was
precipitated to the bottom where he was devoured by Raven. Afterward
Raven began mourning for him. Now he met the old woman who controls
the tide, and forced her to let the tide fall and rise as it does
to-day. At the same time he told Mink to live on sea urchins. Then he
went on crying, “My wife, my wife,” and, when he saw some gum on a
tree, thought that the tree also was mourning. Coming to Petrel again,
he contended with him as to which was the older, but finally Petrel
put on his fog-hat so that Raven was unable to find his way out and
had to admit Petrel was older than he. He induced Petrel to let his
hat “go into the world,” so that when people see fog coming out of an
opening in the woods and going right back, they know it will be good
weather. He obtained fire with the help of a chicken hawk whose bill
was burned off in getting it, and he put the fire into red cedar and
some white stones. Coming to the great house containing all fish, he
brought it ashore by means of a cane carved to resemble the tentacle of
a devilfish, and gave a feast for his dead mother out of part of its
contents. The other fish spread throughout the world. He invited the
killer whales, pretended that he was going to show them how to stick
canes into their necks, and stuck sharp pointed sticks in instead, thus
killing all but one. (When Raven and another person were boiling down
the grease from these killer whales, he stole all from the other man.
Then this man shut him up in a grease box and kicked it off a high
cliff, but Raven had induced him to fasten it with a piece of straw
instead of rope, and immediately flew out.[193]) He flew inside of a
whale, and lived on what it swallowed and its insides. At last he cut
out its heart and killed it. After he had floated ashore the people
cut a hole through and he flew away. Returning to the same place, he
persuaded them that this was a bad portent, so they left the town,
and Raven consumed what they had abandoned. Once Raven went to a calm
place just outside of Sitka and made many waves by rocking his canoe,
since which time it has always been very rough there. Next he set the
heron and sea gull to quarreling in order to obtain a herring which
the former had swallowed. Having stolen a salmon from some people when
they were asleep, they in turn discovered him asleep and wrenched off
his gizzard. He went after it, found them using it as a polo ball,
and recovered it, but ever since the Raven’s gizzard has been big and
dirty. Next he married the daughter of Fog-on-the-salmon, and they
put up many salmon eggs and dried salmon. When it became stormy the
salmon eggs helped him paddle. Afterward he carried up the dried salmon
and dumped the salmon eggs overboard, so that people do not care much
for salmon eggs nowadays. He met a man whose club would go out to sea
and kill seal of itself, stole this club, and tried to make it do the
same thing for him, but it would not, and he broke it in pieces on
the rocks. He tried to make a certain place like Nass, but the clams
shooting upward drowned his voice and he was unsuccessful. He turned
to stone two brothers who had started to cross the Stikine. Coming to
the ground-hog people, he tried to make them believe that the spring
snowslides had begun so that they would throw their surplus food out
of doors, but in vain. He had to wait until spring, when they threw it
all out, and he gave a feast for his mother with it. Before this took
place, however, he obtained the female genital organs from a certain
island and put them in their places. Then he invited everybody in the
world to his feast because he wanted to see a dance hat and Chilkat
blanket which were owned by the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt. Since then people have
liked to attend feasts.
Raven put a woman under the world to attend to the rising and falling
of the tides. Once he wanted to go under the ocean, so he had this
woman raise the waters, and they went up to the tops of the mountains.
They went up slowly, however, so that people had time to load their
canoes. The bears which were walking around on the tops of the
mountains tried to swim out to them, and those who had dogs were then
well protected. Some people walled about the mountain tops and kept
their canoes inside. All who survived were without firewood, however,
and died of cold, except some who were turned to stone by Raven along
with many animals and fishes. Then the sea went down so far that it
was dry everywhere. Raven and another bird-man went about picking
up fishes to boil the grease out of them, but Raven took only small
fishes like sculpins while the other took whales, etc. Raven scared
his companion away and began drinking his grease, but he came back,
put Raven into a grease box, and kicked him off from a high cliff as
had happened before. Raven also escaped in the same manner.[194] One
time Raven invited the bears to a feast, and induced the wren to pull
out the entrails of one of them through his anus and thus kill him.
Raven had become so great an eater from having eaten the black spots
off his toes. After everybody had been destroyed at the time of the
flood, Raven made a new generation out of leaves, and so it happens
that at the time when leaves fall there are many deaths. He made a
devilfish digging-stick and went around to all things on the beaches,
asking them if they were going to hurt human beings. If they said “No,”
he left them; if “Yes,” he rooted them up. In his time fern roots were
already cooked, but he made them green; while devilfish, which were
fat, he made hard. On one occasion he invited all the tribes of little
people, and, when they were seated upon mats, he shook them and the
little people flew into people’s eyes, becoming their pupils. He tried
to capture a sculpin in order to eat it, but it slipped between his
fingers, and its tail became slender as it is to-day. He threw his
blanket upon the sea, let it float ashore, and threw it upon a bush
where it became _Rebis bracteosum_ (cāx). Drinking water he called
cātǃkǃ. He placed a woman at the head of a creek and said that the
salmon should go up to see her. He made the quills of the porcupine out
of yellow cedar bark. He made the west wind, which he placed in a house
on top of a mountain, and decreed that it should hurt nobody. He also
told a person how to obtain strength enough to paddle home by taking up
a piece of red salmon and blowing behind him. Raven made also the south
wind and the north wind. He made all the other native races of people.
The dog was at first a human being, but Raven altered him because he
was too quick. One time Raven came to a thing called fat-on-the-sea.
He made it go under water and come up again, and every time it came up
he cut some of it off with his paddle. The eighth time it went under
for good. At one place a person came out and spoke angrily to Raven,
whereupon he turned him into a wild celery plant. He tied something
around the head of a clam and gave it the same name as a man’s privates.
After having tried every sort of contrivance for supporting the
earth, Raven drained a sea-water pond when the tide was out,
killed a beaver living at the bottom of it, and used its foreleg.
Old-woman-under-the-earth has charge of it. Afterward Raven killed a
big whale and tried to have it towed into the pond where the beaver had
been. Finally he got tired out and turned it into stone along with the
four canoes that were towing it. He gave names to several other places
in this neighborhood.
FOOTNOTES:
[193] An episode which is perhaps misplaced. See p. 418.
[194] See above, p. 417.
2. THE BIG CLAM
In Tenakee inlet is a place named after a person who was swallowed by a
halibut in attempting to wade over to some girls picking berries at a
strawberry patch on the other side. In the same neighborhood is a big
clam which used to swallow canoes. Raven, however, directed a little
mink to call to it to stick its head out, and after it had done so the
people plunged sticks into it and cut in two the ligament for closing
its valves.
3. ENGLISH VERSION OF THE STORY OF THE FOUR BROTHERS
Four brothers owned a dog which pursued a cloud up into the sky, and
they followed it, coming out at the edge of a very steep place on the
other side of the world. Descending this with difficulty they came
upon a one-legged man spearing salmon, and one of them stole his spear
point by concealing himself in a salmon and cutting it off. Next day
the man discovered them and killed three, but the fourth, who had red
paint and a rattle, assisted by his dog, killed him and restored his
brothers to life. After that they killed the bear chief, whose slave
they had already destroyed, and went down to his house, where the most
powerful of them took his place. That evening the people outside played
with a hoop, and the three younger brothers were killed by it. Then
the other brother sent the dog after it, and he threw it far up into
the mountains where it made their curved outlines. The next time he
threw, it went around the sun and made the ring of light seen there.
After that the three brothers were restored to life and all started
off. They came to Athapascan people, who had holes in their faces in
place of mouths, and who fed themselves with worms through these. There
the youngest brother, Łqǃayāˊkǃ, obtained bows and arrows. By and by
they came to some people who were bathing for strength in the sea, and
joined them. At this time they suspected that Łqǃayāˊkǃ was going with
his sister, so they put spruce gum around the place where she slept
and discovered it was true, for which they called him all sorts of
names, and told him to go away from them and become a “thunder.” He
did so, and their sister was so ashamed that she went down into Mount
Edgecumbe. When the thunder is heard nowadays people call upon it to
drive away sickness. The other brothers started across the Stikine and
became rocks there.
4. ORIGIN OF THE KILLER WHALE
The killer whales were made out of yellow cedar by a man of the
Tsagueˊdî after he had tried every other kind of wood in vain.
One time a man and his wife discovered some killer whales camping, and
scared them away. When the man began to take away their provisions,
however, they came back and carried off his wife. The husband followed,
and when he saw them go down into the ocean he jumped in after them.
First he came to a town occupied by the shark people, where he met a
hook he had formerly lost, now become their slave. Directed by the
shark chief, he met the killer-whale chief’s slave chopping wood behind
the town, caused him to break his ax, and mended it for him. Then the
slave stationed him at the door, and as he carried some water into the
house pretended to spill it into the fire. While the house was full of
steam the man seized his wife and ran off. Then the killer whales and
sharks had a great fight and many killer whales were destroyed. When
the killer whales start north the seals say, “Here come the warriors!”
There are several kinds of killer whales. In former times the killer
whales dug through a cliff in the bay Kotsǃēˊʟǃ and carried their
canoes across to the other side on skids. They still cross at this
place every year.
5. KᴀKAˊ
Kᴀkaˊ was taken south from Sitka by the land otters and sent back again
by the husbands of a woman who had been carried off like himself. What
they used as a canoe was a skate, and they kept him covered all the
way. After a time one of his friends heard him singing in the midst of
a fog, but they could not get near him until they had fasted for two
days. Then they found him lying upon a log with blood running out of
his nose and mouth. They brought him home, and he became a great shaman.
6. THE LAND-OTTER SISTER
A man’s sister had been taken away by the land otters and was married
among them. One time, when he was camping by himself making a canoe,
she began bringing him food. Afterward she sent her three children to
help him get bait, catch halibut, and launch his new canoe.
7. THE LAND-OTTER SON
During a famine at Sitka a man’s son, who had been taken by the land
otters, brought him bait and put halibut on his hook when they went
fishing together. On the way back he speared a seal, and afterward they
brought home loads of halibut, seal, etc. At first he went back into
the forest during the day, but after a while he began to stay with them
and day by day his body became plainer. By and by they started back to
town, and as they neared it, their son’s form began to grow indistinct.
When his mother moved forward to look at him he was gone.
8. THE WOLF-CHIEF’S SON
A boy found a little wolf, which killed all kinds of animals for him.
One day he loaned it to his brother-in-law, and the latter did not
treat it right, so it ran away. The boy followed it, and finally came
to a big lake over which he was helped by an old woman, who told him
that his wolf was the son of the town chief in the village opposite.
When he got there he was given a quill that would kill any animal it
was pointed at, and a blanket which healed on one side and killed on
the other. The people in that village were rolling something about
which the chief told him was the rainbow. When he reached home again he
found all dead, but he restored them to life by means of his blanket.
With his two gifts he became wealthy.
9. WOLVERINE-MAN
A man out hunting saw a wolverine killing a herd of mountain sheep, and
presently he came to Wolverine-man’s house, which was full of game.
Wolverine-man taught him various hunting tabus for that region, and
showed him how to make a ground-hog trap. The man also learned that a
small bushy tree called sǃᴀx is Wolverine-man’s wife. When he got home
he explained the trap to his people, and then started off trapping
again with another man who thought he understood how to do it. He who
had been with Wolverine-man soon discovered, however, that this person
thought he had said that the ground hogs were caught by whittling up
sticks in front of their holes.
10. THE HALIBUT PEOPLE
A chief’s daughter stepped on halibut slime and said something that
made the halibut people angry. They came by canoe to get her in
marriage, but as soon as they were out of sight of the town they
fastened her to a rock by means of some pitch, and she died there. By
and by her brothers found her body. Then one of them, disguised as
their sister, went down to the halibut chief and killed him. On their
way home after this one of the brothers shot a duck and said something
offensive to it. For this the killer whale, the duck’s grandfather,
took them down to his house, burned them badly before the fire, and
turned them into a certain species of duck.
11. STORIES OF THE MONSTER DEVILFISH AND THE CRY-BABY
A big devilfish swept all of the occupants of a certain camp into the
sea except three brothers who were out hunting. Then the two elder
brothers killed it with sharpened sticks, although they were themselves
dragged down by it, while their youngest brother traveled to another
place and reported what had happened.
In the same town was a little boy who cried so constantly that his
father called upon a land-otter-man to carry him off. The land-otter
people fed him on what looked like blackberries, but were really
spiders. Two days later his people found him, but when they had
expelled the spiders from his body, nothing was left but his skin.
12. THE WOMAN WHO WAS KILLED BY A CLAM
A woman reached under a rock for clams, and a large bivalve closed upon
her hand and held her. When the tide rose she was drowned.
13. ROOT-STUMP
The people of a certain village were carried up into the sky out of
sight by seizing something which dropped down among them. Those who
were making canoes also disappeared mysteriously. Only a woman and her
daughter were left. Then the daughter swallowed some root sap and gave
birth to a boy called Root-stump. This boy pulled down the thing that
had carried off his people, by running his roots into the earth, and he
killed the man who had destroyed the canoe makers. Afterward he became
a great hunter.
14. THE PROTRACTED WINTER
For treating a piece of seaweed disrespectfully a certain town was
buried deep in snow at the very beginning of summer. The people were in
want until informed by a bird that berries were ripe in a neighboring
town. So they repaired thither and found it midsummer.
15. BEAVER AND PORCUPINE
Porcupine stayed with Beaver to protect him from Bear. By and by
Porcupine went home and Beaver with him, and when Bear approached,
Porcupine carried Beaver up to the very top of the tree and left him.
Finally Squirrel came and helped Beaver down. Then Beaver carried
Porcupine out to an island, from which he escaped only by calling on
Wolverine, who caused the surface of the lake to freeze over. After
that happened, Porcupine went to live with Ground hog. A man caught a
ground hog, but, as he was about to cook its head, the head spoke. He
was scared, stopped trapping ground hogs, and went up to see his bear
dead falls, when one of these fell upon him and killed him.
16. THE POOR MAN WHO CAUGHT WONDERFUL THINGS
A poor man could catch no halibut, although others were very
successful. One day he pulled up a huge abalone, but he became so tired
at what people said to him about it that he let it go again. By and by
he baited his hook with a sponge saturated with blood from his nose and
pulled up a nest in which were multitudes of fishes called îcqēˊn. From
these he became very rich.
17. THE FINDING OF THE BLUE PAINT, AND HOW A CERTAIN CREEK RECEIVED ITS
NAME
Four brothers were forced by a storm to take refuge at a place near
Mount Edgecumbe, and one of them discovered a blue substance out of
which they made paint. When they started back with some of this the
weather became stormy, and one of them suggested it might be best to
throw the blue substance overboard, but the eldest held on and they
reached home safe.
One day some women were gathering shellfish at a place not far from
Sitka. While they were down on the beach the baby belonging to one of
them began crying, and its mother shouted to an older child to give it
something to eat. Misunderstanding her words, the child rolled the baby
into the fire and burned it up. Thereafter the stream at that place was
named Creek-where-a-person-was-burned (Kᴀˊxsîgᴀnîhīn).
18. VARIOUS ADVENTURES NEAR CROSS SOUND
A man collecting cedar bark slipped from his tree climber and was
strangled by it. Afterward the board he had slipped from was always
exhibited at potlatches. Two men belonging to the same place had their
canoe swallowed by a devilfish, and the people of the town sank a great
piece of half-burned wood in the sea over the devilfish hole. It was
never seen afterward [and probably killed the devilfish].
Some hunters killed a land otter, cooked and ate it. They were followed
home by a land-otter-man, who began throwing rocks at them from a tree.
After they said something to it, it threw cones instead. Toward morning
they lighted a fire under the tree and made the land-otter-man fall
into it.
A woman had disappeared from the town these men came from, so everybody
hunted for her. At last they came upon the house of those who had
killed her, which they overthrew and set on fire over the heads of
its occupants. A shaman who belonged to the people they had destroyed
learned from his spirits where there was flint and broke some off by
their help.
19. KĀTSǃ
A Sitka man named Kātsǃ hunted bear, was taken into a bear’s den, and
married a female grizzly bear by which he had several children. When
he went back to his own people his bear wife told him to have nothing
to do with his human wife and children. He went hunting every day, but
took everything to his bear wife and children. One time, however, he
disobeyed her injunctions and was killed by his bear family. Kātsǃ’s
bear children afterward spread over the world and were killed in
various places, the last by the Sitka people in White Stone Narrows.
Before they killed him the bear destroyed an entire camp in which a
girl had said something bad to him.
20. THE UNSUCCESSFUL HUNTERS
A sea-lion hunter speared the sea-lion chief’s son and was drowned, but
his companion reached a rock in safety. He was taken into the sea-lion
chief’s house, cured the chief’s son by pulling out the spear point,
and was sent home inside of a sea-lion stomach.
Two other hunters, along with their canoe, were taken into the house of
the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt because one of them had struck his slave, the skate.
When he learned that they were Kᴀtᴀgwᴀˊdî, however, he sent them home,
and told them to use his emblem, Rock House.
21. ORIGIN OF ICEBERG HOUSE
A man whose friends had all died took some pieces of ice up into the
house and treated them as if he were feasting them, in order to show
respect to his dead friends. Since that time the Grass people have
owned Iceberg House. Afterward he went outside and called aloud as if
he were inviting people to a feast, upon which a multitude of bears
came down, and he feasted them. As they went out they showed their
respect for him by licking him.
22. THE WOMAN TAKEN AWAY BY THE FROG PEOPLE
A woman in the Yakutat country said something which displeased the
frogs, and she was taken away by them. Next spring a man saw her among
the frogs. So the people drained the pond and recovered her. She had
been living on black mud like the frogs, and after her people got
all of this out of her, she died. From this, according to some, the
Kîksᴀˊdî claim the frog crest and names.
23. HOW THE FROGS HONORED THE DEAD
A Kāˊgwᴀntān chief having died, one of his friends called upon the
Kîksᴀˊdî to take care of his body. The frog people, hearing this,
thought that they were meant, and when the corpse was being burnt a big
frog jumped out from the place, made a noise, and then jumped into the
flames. Afterward they captured slaves for the dead man, and, when they
put food into the fire for him, they named the frog as well.
24. THE BRANT WIVES
A Kîksᴀˊdî found two women swimming in a pond, seized their coats, and
compelled them to marry him. They were really brants. When the brants
came north in the spring his wives obtained food from their people, but
when they returned south the wives went with them. The man went after
them, and, although they were at first afraid of his bow and arrows,
they finally let him live with them. When they went north once more,
war broke out between the heron people and the brant people, and the
man killed so many of the former that they made peace.
25. STORY OF THE PUFFIN
A woman used to wish that she might live among the birds on a certain
island. One time, as she and some other women were endeavoring to land
there, they were capsized and all her companions drowned. Some time
afterward her father happened to pass the place and saw his daughter
sitting among the birds. He tried to induce the birds in every way to
give her up, but succeeded only by offering them some white hair that
had belonged to his wife’s grandfather. Each bird put one of these
hairs on its head, and they let the woman go. Because the women who
were drowned there were Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān claim that island.
26. STORY OF THE WAIN-HOUSE PEOPLE
A youth who had been trained to hunt mountain sheep was carried away by
them, and liberated only after his people had made war on the mountain
sheep. Then he taught the people mountain-sheep tabus, and he became
a great shaman. Afterward his people went to Little-lake-fort and
built a big house for him. When the shaman fasted for this, he saw the
Wain, so they carved the posts to represent the Wain and named it Wain
House. Once, after he had had a possession, he sent his friends out
for a grizzly bear. They destroyed it, but it killed the first man who
attacked it, and the shaman restored him to life. Later he performed
about a dead raven to make his people successful in war, and, when they
went out, they destroyed their enemies’ fort completely.
One time some women went to a reef near this town, lost their canoe,
and were drowned in the rising tide.
Another time a wealthy man from Yakutat visited Auk. While he was there
the son of the town chief threw the stern piece of his canoe, which was
covered with abalone shell, into the fire. A property contest followed
between the two chiefs in which the man from Yakutat was worsted.
In the same fort a woman gave birth to the greatest liar among those
people. When his mother died he started for Chilkat to give the people
a death feast, and on his return related the following adventures. He
said that on his way Indian rice hailed down into the canoe, and he
obtained sirup to put on it from a waterfall of sirup. They got up to
Klukwan by blowing on the sail, and when he began crying he put a piece
of bark in front of his face and the tears ran down on it in streams.
27. THE ALSEK RIVER PEOPLE
Two shamans at Alsek river began singing, the one to bring up eulachon,
the other to bring bears and other forest animals. The first succeeded
in starting a run of fish by going down under the river in a little
canoe. After that the land otters tried to carry off two women who were
menstruant, but, with the assistance of the shaman, the people finally
made them desist. Some people in a neighboring town who heard of it
spoke contemptuously of the land otters, and their whole town with the
exception of two men was destroyed by a flood of water from the lake
above them. After this one of the shamans set out for another place.
On the way he hooked an enormous devilfish which swept all the forest
trees in his vicinity into the ocean. When he performed blindfolded at
that town, the people ran out their feet to trip him up, but he jumped
over them. He also stabbed a man and restored him to life. Presently he
predicted an eclipse, and when it came on, the people all danced to
dance the moon out and held out their property to it so that it would
not feel poor.
Meanwhile the other shaman brought an enormous salmon into Alsek river,
and his spirits were so powerful that a small boy sufficed to kill
it. There is a hole in the neighborhood of that place out of which
quantities of rocks used to come when there was to be a great run of
eulachon or other fish. A glacier crosses Alsek in one place, and he
who speaks while passing under it is overwhelmed. When it was asked for
food, it would rush into the water and raise a wave, carrying numbers
of salmon ashore. An Athapascan shaman living far up the river was
visited by several canoe loads of people from below and prophesied that
one canoe load would be lost under the glacier. The down-river shaman
then fought with the Athapascan by means of his spirits and killed him.
There is a rock just south of Alsek river inhabited by the spirits of a
certain shaman, and it is used as a crest by the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān.
The Alsek River people once killed a rich man belonging to some people
who lived on a stream farther north. The next time they went up there
the enemy forced them to enter their fort through a narrow passage
and killed a large number. On their third expedition, however, they
destroyed the fort and all within it. Another time some Alsek people
visited at a place beyond, where they were invited to take sweat baths,
and were killed. Then the Alsek people made their shaman fight the
shaman of the northern people, undertook another raid, and killed a
number equal to those that had been lost.
28. THE YOUTHFUL WARRIOR
A man wearing a bear skin climbed a tree, and was accidentally killed
by his brothers-in-law. Some time later his young nephew heard of
it and bathed for strength. Four men went out to carve things for a
shaman, and the young man was deceived into thinking that they had
been killed by the same persons who had shot his uncle, so he started
out to war. After he had killed a great many people he was induced to
give up fighting by some words uttered by his father’s sister. After
a time he killed one of his own clan from another town and lost some
of his immediate friends in return, so he decided to go to war, but he
was captured and many of his people were killed. Then he promised not
to fight again, so they let him take the bodies of his people home.
Some time afterward a man from Prince of Wales island, on the way to
Chilkat, visited him to inquire about that place. Then his visitor
continued up to Chilkat and brought home great quantities of presents
in payment for dancing.
A rich man started from Chilkat for Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ to obtain property for
a dead friend. He was so high that no one dared speak to him until a
poor man rushed down with a war spear as if he were going to kill him.
This was to shame them for their delay, and they immediately brought
the visitor ashore and paid him for his dead friend.
29. THE FIRST WAR IN THE WORLD
A man named Xakuˊtcǃ killed a large devilfish with his spear, but
perished in doing so. Afterward his spirit came to a man of his clan
who was very powerful. Having tested his spirits, the people started to
war. Just before they reached the fort a brave man there was killed by
a little boy held captive among them. Then they came upon the fort and
destroyed it. Now the southern people started north. On the way they
came to a great climber whom they tried to test by seeing if he could
climb a very steep cliff near Huna. He went up and got away. Afterward
he came down to the place where they were camping and liberated his
steersman to whom they had tied their canoes. The enemy then attacked
a fort and killed all of the people except one woman who was pregnant.
Her they carried south, and she gave birth to a boy, who became a
wealthy shaman, purchased his mother’s freedom, and went north with
her. Then he performed for his own people, and they set out to war and
destroyed many towns, but spared that in which he had formerly lived.
Now the southern people made a great raid, capturing fort after fort.
At the second fort two canoes attempted to pass down through a tideway
at half tide and were destroyed. From another they were driven off
by means of clam shells. In one fort a man was living alone because
he was very jealous of his wife, and while the warriors were talking
to him one of their canoes ran against a rock and split in two, so
they left him. When they had no more space for slaves, the southern
people destroyed the canoes at every fort so that the northern people
could not retaliate. The bulk of the northern people, however, had
been encamped along the coast to the westward. When they heard what
had happened they cut down an enormous spruce, hollowed it out, and
started to war the following spring. The southern people thought that
the northern people could not do anything to them. They were scattered
about in various camps and fell an easy prey to their enemies.
30. HOW PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY WAS FIRST HEARD OF AT SITKA
A man returning to Sitka from the south told his people that
Dekīˊanqāˊwo (God) had come down from Heaven to help them, and the
women dressed up and began dancing. They danced an entire year.
MYTHS RECORDED IN ENGLISH AT WRANGELL
31. RAVEN
[This version of the Raven story contains, besides frequent minor
variations, many episodes not found in the Sitka version, and a number
of stories usually given independently are incorporated into it. Only
the sections that do not occur in the Sitka version are noted at
length.]
Raven’s mother kept losing her children, until Heron told her to
swallow a red-hot pebble. She did so and gave birth to Raven, who was
called from that circumstance Hammer-father. Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł tried to
make human beings out of rock and leaf, but the latter was quicker
and man came from it, so there is death. Then he told them that if
they lived right there would be a good place for them afterward. One
time Raven sent a woman into the other world to convince her that it
existed; so she went along the spirit trail and was ferried across a
river at the end of it to the ghosts’ country. The ghosts told her that
they were hungry, thirsty, and cold, so, when she got back she told
people to send the dead food and to burn their bodies. Raven taught
people to have slaves and shamans, also to make all kinds of hooks,
spears, traps, and canoes. He went under the sea and visited all of the
fish people, teaching men afterward that fish are really human beings.
Then Raven instituted war. Afterward he told the birds what they were
to be like. He told what the land otter would do, especially how it
would capture men. [Here follows the account of Kᴀkaˊ, story 5.] After
this, Raven lived in a cliff near Taku with North Wind, and that is why
people believe that cliffs are inhabited by spirits. He also taught
them the tabus to be used when paddling on the rivers. The killer-whale
chief took him into a sweat house and tried to roast him, but Raven
outwitted him by concealing a piece of ice near by. He taught the
people that there were Athapascans, and he taught the Chilkat people
how to keep salmon frozen in storehouses all winter. He taught them
also about Indian tobacco.
Now Raven went to Łaxaỵîˊk and taught the people there to make skin
canoes. A man in that country killed all of his wife’s people and kept
their hands in a basket in his house. When she found it out the woman
asked to be taken to her own town. Her husband left her there with her
children, and they found everyone dead. Then her children made a canoe
out of skins taken from the bodies, went to their father’s town and
made him give up their uncles’ hands. Afterward they made his town sink
under the sea with everybody in it. Raven instructed the boys how to
restore their uncles to life.
One time Raven came to a town inhabited by ghosts and tried to carry
off their property, but it was taken back by invisible hands. He went
into the interior and lived with two giants successively. He told the
second giant how he might kill Wolverine-man by pretending that he had
been caught in Wolverine-man’s trap. After Wolverine-man had carried
him home Raven continued to instruct the giant, and helped him burn
Wolverine-man’s body, which turned into mosquitoes and gnats.
Coming to another place, Raven found a woman and her daughter living
alone, and he told the latter how to make fire with the fire drill,
and then told her to eat some of the powder that comes from it. She
gave birth to a boy, who was called Fire-drill’s-son. When he grew up
his father, Fire-drill, gave him a dog, a bow and arrows, and a club,
with which he killed Man-with-one-eye, a shaman who had destroyed
the people of his village. Then he came to the wife of this man, who
killed people by throwing her hand, which had a knife fastened to
it, at them, and he destroyed her also. Starting inland, he came to
Old-mole-woman, who fed him with food taken from between her teeth,
and told him where the hawk lived that had carried away his people.
When he reached the place he made the young birds tell him about their
father and mother, who came in clouds, and killed them, after which
he got ground hogs for the young ones and told them not to eat human
beings any more. After that he left enough food with his mother and
grandmother to last them all their lives, and went away from them.
Pursuing something called Dry-cloud, he came among the mink and the
marten people successively, but did not stop until he reached the wolf
people. These became jealous of him and tried to destroy him by getting
him to jump through a hoop which cut a person in two if he failed. His
dog, however, seized it and threw it up to the moon, where it became
the ring that indicates change of weather. Now the man and his friend
among the wolves kept on after Dry-cloud and came to an old woman who
told them that there was a monster fish near by. On looking at it, they
found only a red cod, which Fire-drill’s-son killed. He skinned it and
dried the skin. After that he married Daughter-of-the-calm, and they
had a son named Łᴀkîtcîneˊ, and this man married a woman who had a
litter of puppies by the dog. Afterward she found that they were able
to take off their dog skins and appear in human form, so she surprised
them, gathered together the skins, and burnt them. When Łᴀkîtcîneˊ
saw these children he began to maltreat his wife, and her children
jumped upon him and killed him. Then they went through Alaska, killing
off harmful monsters. One of these, which was like an eagle, used to
forewarn other animals, until they made him promise not to do so.
[Here follows the adventure with the one-legged man told in story 3.]
Afterward Łqǃayāˊkǃ chased Dry-cloud across the sky and made the Milky
Way. Coming to a very cold region in the sky, he wanted to get down,
but the clouds prevented until his eldest brother, Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ, opened
a passage. After that they wanted to kill a monster near Wrangell, so
they borrowed the canoe of He-who-knows-everything-that-happens, and
passed many obstacles in it, thereby rendering them harmless, until
they came to the monster and tried to catch its head in a noose. All
of their nooses broke, however, until they tried one made out of the
sinews of a little bird called old-person. After that they returned
to their mother and sister and went southward with them through the
forest, destroying the forest monsters. Coming to an old blind man
whose wife had left him, they taught him how to catch fish in a net and
how to cook it. They also met an Athapascan shaman with long hair, and
he and Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ compared the relative strengths of their spirits in
the sweat house, Kᴀckǃᴀˊʟkǃ’s proving to be the stronger. So they told
the Athapascan not to harm the people in his neighborhood. Then they
moved south and tried to cross the Stikine, but their sister, who was
menstruant, looked out at them, and they were turned to stone.
One time while Raven was traveling along he came to a sculpin who
claimed to be older than he, so he placed it in the sky where it still
is (the Pleiades). He also sent a canoe load of halibut fishermen
thither. He invited the seal people to a feast, smeared their foreheads
with pitch which ran down over their eyes, and then clubbed them. He
married the daughter of a chief named Fog-over-the-salmon, who obtained
a quantity of salmon for him by simply washing her hands in a basket
filled with water. One time he hit her with a piece of dried salmon,
and she went away, taking all of the salmon with her. He wanted to
marry another high-caste woman, but a bird named tsᴀgwâˊn told the
people how he had treated his first wife and they rejected him. Going
on from there, he turned an old man named Dᴀmnāˊdjî into a handsome
youth, and told him to marry the girl. This man did so, but on the way
home resumed his proper shape. When his wife’s people came to visit
him, he had to receive them in his miserable hovel because no one else
would have anything to do with him. When he went out after water,
however, he came to an old woman at the head of the stream who made
him young again, and gave him a basket full of dentalia through which
he became rich. Some time afterward his wife wished to marry among the
bird people, and at last the brants carried her off, finally dropping
her naked. She came to an old woman and obtained some fox skins. She
was now really a fox, and let herself be killed by her father. On
cutting the fox open, however, they discovered her copper ornaments,
and laid her on top of the house, when she revived and became a great
shaman.
After this Raven changed himself into a woman, and married the
killer-whale chief’s son. She stole their food at night, and when
her labret was discovered in a box of grease, pretended that it had
gone there of its own accord. By and by she killed her husband, and
pretended to mourn over his body while in reality eating him. Raven
pretended he was going to make all of the killer whales white, but
instead of doing so killed and ate them. Then he came to the fish-hawk
and began living upon its food, saying that he was going to bring it
food in return later on. He tried to live with another bird, also,
but the bird left him. He married among the goose people, but they
discovered him eating a goose, so they left him. After this Raven was
invited to a feast, but did not come at once, and they went on without
him. When he did come they paid him no attention, and he had nothing
but leavings. Then Raven gave a feast himself, and instituted the feast
customs.
Now Raven returned to the house of his grandfather, Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł, and
liberated the flickers which had been kept under his mother’s arms. For
this his grandfather tried to kill him by having a tree fall upon him,
and a canoe close in on him, and by putting him into a kettle full of
water over the fire, successively, but in vain, so finally he raised a
great flood. Raven and his mother climbed from one retaining timber to
another in Nās-cᴀˊkî-yēł’s house, which was really the world itself,
and finally flew to the highest cloud in the sky and hung there, while
his mother floated on the water in the skin of a diver. Then he let go
and fell upon a kelp. Next he obtained sea urchins from the bottom of
the sea and deceived the woman who controls the tide, so as to make it
go down. He and another person tried out grease, and the other for a
deceit Raven practised put him inside of a box of grease and kicked him
off of a cliff.
All of the people of a Nass town named Gîtǃîˊkc were killed except
a chief, his sister, and his sister’s daughter. Then the chief got
Old-man-who-foresees-all-troubles-in-the-world to help him. This old
man gave him an arrow which enabled him to kill many of his enemies,
but finally he disobeyed instructions and was himself killed, while his
sister and her daughter fled to the woods. Having offered her daughter
in marriage and refused all of the animals, this woman finally accepted
the sun’s son. Then he put his mother-in-law into a tree where she
became the echo, and took his wife up to the sky. There she had eight
children, who were let down to earth on the town site of Gîtǃîˊkc and
were helped by the sun to destroy all of their enemies.
One time a woman of the same town stepped upon some grizzly-bear
excrement and was carried away by the bear people. Finally she was
helped by an old woman, and ran away. As she went she threw various
articles behind her which obstructed her pursuers, and at last she
was taken into the canoe of a man named Ginᴀxcᴀmgêˊtk who married her
and took her home. Her husband had also for wife a big clam, which
killed the new wife, but was in turn destroyed by her husband, who
also restored her to life. Finally she went back to her father, but
she had really been living under ground all this time and was very
filthy. After a time she gave birth to a boy who was very smart.
When he was out fishing he was taken into his father’s house and
received a magic club which killed of itself. With this he destroyed
a giant crab and a giant mussel which used to kill people. By and by
this boy had a son, who was very different from him and was called
Man-that-eats-the-leavings. At that time the daughter of a chief in
a neighboring village said something about the devilfish for which
she was carried off by them and married to a devilfish man. Presently
her two children came up to visit their grandfather and he learned
what had become of her. Then he invited her and her husband and
children, and killed the husband, keeping her with them. For this
the devilfish made war upon them and suffocated several people, but
Man-that-eats-the-leavings happened along and stopped them. Then
Man-that-eats-the-leavings lived in a brush house on the beach, and the
rest of his story is similar to that of Garbage-man in story 89.
Man-that-eats-the-leavings had a son who was a great hunter. One time,
when he was out hunting, he lost consciousness and, coming to, found
himself surrounded by several men who taught him the secret-society
dances. After a time he went to the Queen Charlotte islands and was
told about two youths who had become wizards by sleeping on the beach
among driftwood. They would be out all night, flying around among the
brants and geese. Finally a man found it out by fasting and drinking
sea water, but they paid him not to tell about them. When he got back
to Alaska the secret-society man told this story, and wherever it was
repeated there began to be wizards.
One time Raven went shooting with some boys, when the canoe was upset
and they were drowned, and he changed them into sea birds.
At the southern end of Prince of Wales island he met a man called
Qonᴀłgīˊc, who had lost everything by gambling, and he enabled him
to meet Greatest Gambler and win. So Qonᴀłgīˊc renewed the game and
got back everything he had lost besides all that his antagonist had
owned. Then his opponent’s wife left him, and he went away and lived by
himself. From a grouse this latter learned of a great medicine-man, who
in turn taught him a medicine which would make him a great dancer. He
went to another town and pleased people so much by his dances and the
songs that he composed that they paid him a great deal of property, and
he became wealthy. After a while he taught a chief’s son, so that he
became a still better dancer, but the boy’s father determined that it
was best to leave this sort of dancing to low-caste people, reserving
the chief’s dance for those of high caste.
The man that first learned about dancing was upset in a canoe and
became a land-otter-man called Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ, who has very great power.
Some time afterward four boys were drawn out to sea after some black
ducks, upset there, and taken into the land-otters’ dens. A shaman
told the people where they were, and they burned out the dens, killing
many otters, but Tūtsǃīdîgūˊʟ escaped with the boys. Now the land
otters made war on human beings, and the bodies of the latter broke out
in pimples and sores which were really caused by the spider-crab-shell
arrows. At last some people came upon two white land otters, which they
carried home and treated as if they were deer (peace ambassadors). Then
the land otters came to the town and danced to make peace.
The people of that place were now very happy, but before they could
leave it Raven came to them and told them not to go away. When four
boys were at last sent, a man came down from the woods and told them
that three would die successively, while the fourth would reach home,
announce that the shaman was to die, and then perish. Everything
happened as he foretold, so that the people were very much frightened
and no longer dared to leave town. A child which cried very much was
carried away by Man-with-a-burning-hand, and when its parents found
it, was lying in a hole in the cliff, and ants were crawling out of
its nose, eyes, and ears. Now follows a much longer version of story
93, below. Instead of being brought home at once from the sea-lion
rock, according to this version the hero was abandoned there and taken
into the house of the sea lions, where he cured a wounded sea lion and
received a box in return which controlled the winds. Inside of this he
drifted ashore. Next follows the story of the monster devilfish (story
11). At Tuxican a girl began to nurse a woodworm, which grew so large
that the people became afraid, induced her to come away from it, and
killed it. Since then her people, the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî, have used it as a
crest. A shaman there named Sǃāwᴀˊn was sent for by the land otters to
cure one of their number, who was carried along concealed under a mat.
When they reached their town they tried to make him think that the sick
person was in another house, but his rattle and belt ran ashore ahead
of him to the right place. Then he cured the sick otter by drawing an
arrow point out of its side; soon afterward the shaman was found lying
upon a sandy beach not far from his own town with gulls flying about
him.
32. KAKĒˊQǃᵘTÊ
This story is partially identical with story 104. A man named
Kakēˊqǃᵘtê went up among the Athapascans and taught them all sorts of
ways of collecting and preserving food. Then he brought them down to
the Grass people, who sent them away, so they came to the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî.
After that the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî settled along the coast above Cross sound.
One time the G̣ānᴀxteˊdî of Chilkat gave a feast and made a raven hat.
The ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî also made a raven out of coppers, and took it to
the Kāˊgwᴀntān when they went to feast them. War followed with the
Chilkat, and at first the ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî were defeated, but, when they
had obtained new spear heads made of iron that had been washed ashore
on some wreckage, they renewed the fight, killed Chief Yēł-x̣āk, and
carried off his carved pole. Then the Chilkat went to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ, and
they made peace.
33. ORIGIN OF THE G̣ONAQADĒˊT
A certain woman disliked her son-in-law very much because he was lazy
and fond of gambling. When the people went to camp he split a tree in
two, spread it apart, and caught a lake monster. He put on its skin
and then began catching fish and sea animals, which he left where his
mother-in-law could find them. She thought she was a shaman, and began
prophesying what animal would be left next. One time the Raven called
just as her son-in-law was coming out of the monster’s skin in front of
the village, and he died, and, when she found who had been bringing in
the animals, his mother-in-law died of shame. After that the man’s wife
had his body and the skin carried back to the edge of the lake. There
he came to life and carried her down into his house at the bottom. He
became the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt, and their children are the women at the head of
the creeks.
34. A STORY OF THE G̣ONAQADĒˊT
A chief accompanied by his nephews anchored in front of a cliff near
the mouth of Nass. During the night all were carried away by the
G̣onaqᴀdēˊt except the chief, who was discovered there and brought
home. At first the people prepared to wage war in retaliation, but the
chief induced them to invite the G̣onaqᴀdēˊt to a feast instead. The
latter came, restored the chief’s nephews, and gave each of them a
headdress, rattle, and songs.
35. ORIGIN OF THE LǃEˊNAXX̣ĪˊDAQ
The first part of this is another version of story 94, while the latter
part is a version of the last episode in story 105.
36. THE THUNDERS
A girl offended a snail and was found next morning on the side of a
high cliff with a big snail coiled about her. Then her brothers made
wings, flew up to her, and brought her down. Afterward they brought
food to the people of that town, and finally they became the Thunders.
37. ORIGIN OF THE SCREECH OWL
A woman at Sitka refused to give her mother-in-law herring, and when
she held out her hand for some, dropped the hot milt of a male herring
into her hand and burned it. When her son came home the old woman told
him. Then the son went out in his canoe, brought in a load of herring,
and told his wife to go down and bring it up. She went down without her
basket, and began calling to them to bring it to her. As they paid no
attention, she kept on calling, and she called all night. Finally her
voice changed to the hooting of an owl, and she also changed into an
owl.
38. LITTLE FELON
A little person came out of the felon on a man’s finger. He was a hard
worker and a fast runner. One time he raced Heron all the way around
Prince of Wales island. A certain woman would give her daughter only
to the person who should guess to what animal a louse skin she had,
belonged. Little Felon helped a young man to guess it and afterward
assisted him to overcome various monster animals the woman sent him
after. Finally he helped him bring up the old woman’s bracelet from
under the ocean. By and by this young man and his wife had a quarrel
and she disappeared. He went hunting for her and became a beach snipe.
39. ORIGIN OF THE FERN ROOT AND THE GROUND HOG
A cliff fell over on some girls, imprisoning all of them. They rubbed
grease on the rocks, and the birds inclosed with them pecked at it and
pecked a hole through. As the last girl was trying to get out through
this aperture the rock closed on her, and her head and breast became
the fern root, but her hinder portion the ground hog.
40. THE HALIBUT THAT DIVIDED THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS
An unsuccessful fisherman on the Queen Charlotte islands finally caught
a small halibut which flopped about on the beach, and at last increased
so in size that it smashed that town to pieces and the Queen Charlotte
islands themselves into numerous fragments.
41. THE IMAGE THAT CAME TO LIFE
A young Haida lost his wife, of whom he was so fond that he had an
image carved to resemble her. He cherished this for a long time, until
it finally came to life, but it neither moved nor spoke much. It gave
birth to a flourishing red cedar, and that is why cedars are so fine on
the Queen Charlotte group.
42. DJĪYĪˊN
An orphan girl named Djīyīˊn was very badly treated. One time she
determined to stay on an island by herself, and while there she became
a shaman and discovered a great quantity of food which made her rich.
By and by the town chief’s daughter fell sick and all kinds of shamans
were summoned to no purpose. Finally they called Djīyīˊn, who found
that the wild canary (sǃāsǃ) had bewitched her. She made this bird find
the charm and throw it into the sea. Then the bird was taken at its own
request to a place some distance from the village, where it disappeared.
43. THE SELF-BURNING FIRE
All of the people of a certain town on Copper river died of starvation
except eight men. These started to walk down to the sea, but fell by
the way one at a time. Then the last man came to a self-burning fire
which warmed him, and all of his friends came to life and assembled
around it.
44. THE GIANT OF TĀˊSNA
A boy whose people had died off met a giant and shot him in the mouth,
bringing them all back.
45. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A LAND OTTER
Another version of story 6, which differs principally in making the man
visit the land-otter town.
46. THE LAND-OTTERS’ CAPTIVE
A Sitka man was captured and carried south by the land otters. There he
met an aunt who had been captured long before, and her husbands brought
him back again. He was now a land-otter-man, and annoyed the people so
much that they captured him and restored him by harsh treatment to his
senses.
47. THE MAN FED FROM THE SKY
During a period of scarcity a chief’s nephew received food through the
smoke hole, with which he filled the empty food boxes and feasted all
of his uncle’s people. Then his uncle gave him his younger wife, who
had been kind to him.
48. THE SALMON SACK
A poor boy went fishing and pulled up a sack filled with multitudes of
salmon.
49. ROOTS
A version of story 13.
50. THE MUCUS CHILD
All of the people of a certain village disappeared except a woman and
her daughter. The latter swallowed some mucus and gave birth to a boy
who grew rapidly. By and by he met a being called Strength, who made
him bathe every day, pull up trees, and break rocks, till he was very
strong. After that he climbed to the top of a mountain, found a town
occupied by wolves, and killed all. He came to another wolf town and
obtained the box of his uncles’ lives. After he had left this in each
house for four days, his people all came to life again.
51. THE SALMON CHIEF
A man came upon a salmon lying on the beach and was about to take it
home, when the salmon spoke to him, telling him to put it into the
sea. He did so and afterward caught many salmon. Another time he met a
salmon in the same place, which told him to eat it and put the bones
of its head under his pillow. In the morning he saw two fine baby boys
there. One always stayed at home, but the other was very energetic and
started away. He came to an old woman who told him about a seven-headed
monster to which they were about to give the chief’s daughter. The boy
killed this monster and married the girl.
52. THE JEALOUS UNCLE
A man was so jealous of his wife that he killed all of his nephews
but one by pushing them inside of the shell of a big clam or into the
hole of a devilfish. The last of the nephews obtained an eagle-down
bracelet which enabled him to turn into a ball of feathers, and with
its assistance destroyed both of the creatures. He also escaped in this
manner when his uncle pushed him off a high tree. Finally his uncle
fastened him on a plank, which he set adrift, but the plank went ashore
where two girls lived, and he married them. One of these had been in
love with the first boy that was killed. By and by the man returned to
his uncle and killed him.
53. THE MAN WHO MARRIED THE EAGLE
The wife of a Haida youth went with the son of the town chief, and
when her husband discovered it he shot him. The slayer, escaping by
canoe, was abandoned by his slave on a small reef. He got inside of a
sea-lion skin, floated ashore, and was found by a girl among the eagle
people, whom he married. All his brothers-in-law gave him eagle skins,
in which he went hunting. After a while he learned that his mother had
been driven out of town, so he carried all kinds of animals to her. One
time he killed a whale and left it in front of her house. The people of
the town he had come from found this and began cutting it up, but he
seized the town chief and carried him, along with the other men in that
village, who were holding on to one another, far out to sea, where he
drowned them.
54. THE BRANT WIFE
This is a version of story 24. It differs mainly in the concluding
portion, according to which the hero was left on a rock far out at sea
and was carried ashore by a sea bird.
55. THE DUCK HELPER
All the people of a certain village died except a woman and her son.
One time the boy went far inland and got lost. He came to a lake and
found a black duck there, which lent him its coat in which to fly home.
56. THE BOY WHO SHOT THE STAR
Two boys were great playmates, but one of them said something that
displeased the moon, and the moon carried him off. Then the other boy
shot an arrow into a star in the sky and kept shooting until he had
made a chain reaching down to the earth. This turned into a ladder on
which he mounted, living on berries borne on branches stuck into his
hair. Arrived in the sky country, he met an old woman who told him
where to go for his friend and how to get him. Then he went to the
moon’s house, pulled his friend out from a place near the smoke hole
where he had been kept, and placed a cone there to imitate his cries.
When the people discovered that their captive was gone, they pursued,
but the boys threw behind them some things that the old woman had
provided, which turned into great obstacles, and escaped to her house.
Afterward, by her direction, they lay down where the second boy had
lain, went to sleep there, and, when they woke up, found themselves on
the earth below.
57. THE BOY AND THE GIANT
A little boy went hunting and came upon a giant with whom he lived for
a long time. As the giant was carrying him along they came upon a very
small bird, which the boy shot and put into the bosom of his shirt.
This bird was so heavy for the giant that he had to throw it away. By
and by another giant attacked the first, and would have killed him, but
the boy threw his friend’s club, made out of a beaver skeleton, at the
intruder, and it chewed off his legs, so that he was easily destroyed.
58. THE BOY WITH ARROWS ON HIS HEAD
A boy was born with sharp arrow points on his head. He was of so evil a
disposition that he killed his own mother and afterward ran about in
the forest, destroying all he met. At last an uncle of his killed him
and burned his body, the ashes of which became minute gnats.
59. GAMNĀˊTCKǃÎ
A somewhat extreme variant of part of story 4. The hero obtains the
favor of the red-cod people by painting them red and of the shark
people by painting them black.
60. THE HĪN-TAỴĪˊCÎ
A shaman took his friends to a place near Sitka and seated them there
facing the sea. Then a large number of killer whales came near and
fought a flat fish with sharp edges, called hīn-taỵīˊcî, which killed
all of them except three. Some time later the shaman took them out
again and the same thing recurred. The killer whales got devilfishes
and a big halibut to assist them successively with like result, but
finally they brought a big crab by which the hīn-taỵīˊcî was destroyed.
61. THE EAST AND NORTH WINDS
A man married the daughter of East Wind, and afterward he married the
daughter of North Wind. Everyone thought the latter was very pretty on
account of her sparkling clothing, but when the east wind began to blow
it disappeared, for it was only frost and icicles.
62. THE BIG BEAVER
Some people drained a beaver lake and killed all of the beaver there
except one very large one. Some time afterward they went up to that
place and heard a woman singing, and on their way down they were all
drowned. Most of them were taken captive by the big beaver.
63. BEAVER AND PORCUPINE
A short version of story 15.
64. THE MAN WHO ENTERTAINED THE BEARS
A man who had lost all of his friends did not care to live, so he lay
down across a grizzly-bear trail. When the bears came down, however,
he invited them to his house to a feast, upon which they went straight
back into the forest. Early next day they came down, and he fed them,
after which they licked the paint from his breast and arm. Next day the
smallest bear came back, told their host that he was a human being who
had been carried off by the bears, and interpreted what the bear chief
had said in his speech the day before.
65. MOUNTAIN DWELLER
Two girls ate between meals, contrary to the tabus, and their mother
scratched the inside of the mouth of the elder and scolded them both.
Among other things she told them that they could not marry Mountain
Dweller. Then the girls ran away, and after wandering for some time,
came to Mountain Dweller, who married them. While they were there their
mother-in-law killed them because they looked at her while she was
eating, but Mountain Dweller killed her in turn and restored them to
life. After that they went to their father’s town, and their husband
accompanied them, carrying a magic basket which contained an enormous
amount of food, and yet was made small enough to be carried on his
thumb. Afterward they killed their mother in revenge.
66. HOW THE SITKA KÎKSAˊDÎ OBTAINED THE FROG
A man and his wife hunting near Sitka heard a frog singing. Both
claimed it at first, but finally the man let his wife have it, and her
people, the Kîksᴀˊdî, have used it ever since.
67. QĀQǃATCGŪˊK
A very successful fur-seal hunter was driven to a rock far out at sea
where there was a great abundance of sea animals. After some months he
and his companions set out on their return, guiding themselves by the
sun. At length they came in sight of the summit of Mount Edgecumbe and
later of Verstovaia. They rested on Kruzof island, and then came to
Dax̣ēˊt, where the people were camping, and were received joyfully. The
elder of his two wives had grieved for him all this time and was the
first to catch sight of him, but the younger had married again and now
felt very much ashamed.
68. THE BEAVER OF KILLISNOO
A beaver was captured by some of the Dēˊcitān, who afterward found two
spears that it had made. Becoming offended, it killed its master with
one of these and then caused the earth on which his house stood to fall
in. It had previously made a great excavation underneath.
69. STORY OF THE GRIZZLY-BEAR CREST OF THE TEˊQOEDÎ
Almost the same as story 19.
70. STORY OF THE EAGLE CREST OF THE NEXAˊDÎ
A poor man out hunting was guided by an eagle to a great house up in
the woods. This was occupied by eagles, and the man was so happy among
them that he married there and remained with them forever. Then his
brothers-in-law gave him an eagle skin with which he caught all kinds
of fish. Some of these he left where his mother and brothers could find
them, and he told them in a dream what had become of him, and that it
was he that was providing them with food. One day they saw him bringing
in some fish, and heard him say, “It is I.”
71. STORY OF THE KILLER-WHALE CREST OF THE DAQLǃAWEˊDÎ
A man quarreled so much with his wife that his brothers became ashamed
of it and left him on an island out at sea. There he whittled out from
various kinds of wood killer whales, to which he endeavored to give
life, and was finally successful with yellow cedar. He sent these out
to upset his brothers-in-law’s canoes and destroy them.
72. STORY OF THE NANỴAĀˊỴÎ CRESTS
At the time of the flood a grizzly bear and a mountain goat accompanied
the Nanỵaāˊỵî as they were climbing a mountain. Since then they have
used those animals as crests.
73. STORY OF THE FROG CREST OF THE KÎKSAˊDÎ OF WRANGELL
A youth kicked a frog over on its back and lost his senses. His body
was taken home, but his soul had been captured by the frogs. He was
tied to a post by them until the chief came home, who upbraided him for
having treated one of his own people, also a Kîksᴀˊdî, in this manner.
Then he let him go, and immediately his body revived. He told his
friends all that had happened to him.
74. STORY OF THE KĀˊGWANTĀN CRESTS
A man removed a bone from the mouth of a wolf and next night dreamed
that he had come to a fine town where the wolf told him something that
would make him lucky.
While members of this clan were out camping, a bear stole some fish by
reaching down through the smoke hole. Then they called it a thief, and
it became so angry that it destroyed all of them. Afterward the people
made war on all of those bears—who were Kātsǃ’s children (see story
19)—and destroyed them.
75. MIGRATION OF THE G̣ĀNAXAˊDÎ TO TONGASS
A man at Klawak lost all of his property in gambling, and his wife left
him. Then he took the sons of his seven sisters and started away by
canoe. Finally they settled at Tongass. While there they saw an animal
that looked like a bear and shot at it, but it was medicine, and a
clayey substance came off on their arrow points, which enabled them to
get plenty of game, and which also caused them to become handsome men.
One time they went farther on and came to a Tsimshian town. After that
a canoe came to them from their friends, and when these found what had
happened to them, all joined them.
76. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED THE FROG
A version of story 22.
77. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE ʟǃᴀʟǃ
A girl said something about a fish called ʟǃᴀʟǃ, and afterward the
fish married her. He was a very good polo player, and one time the
boys became so jealous of him that they knocked him down and made fun
of him. Then the ʟǃᴀʟǃ told his father-in-law to tie down his house
firmly, and went off up stream. There he grew large, lay down across
Chilkat river for a while, and then got up, letting the stream sweep
all of the houses away except that of his father-in-law.
78. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A TREE
The spirit of a spruce tree at one end of a village came to a girl and
married her, and they had a son. One day the child began calling for
its father, and after all the other people had been called in, the tree
people were summoned, and the child recognized an old man near the door
as its parent.
79. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE FIRE SPIRIT
A girl said something to the fire which offended it, so that it carried
her away and married her. After her people had hunted everywhere for
her they kept the fires extinguished as much as possible, and she was
sent back. For some time she kept going back and forth from her husband
to her father and mother, but once her nephew, who was in love with
her, seized a spoon that she was holding and her fire husband treated
her badly on account of it. She never went back to him.
80. ORPHAN
A poor girl was so smart and painstaking that she married a wealthy
man. She became proud, however, and treated her poor adopted brothers
ungenerously. By and by her husband died and his relatives took all of
his property, leaving her as poor as before.
81. THE DEAD BASKET-MAKER
A man used to cry over his dead wife’s incompleted basket. By and by he
married again, and one time, when he was playing with his new wife, the
basket fell from above over his head and almost strangled him, so that
the people were obliged to cut it loose.
82. THE CRYING-FOR MEDICINE
The wife of a certain man kept running away from him. One time when he
was out hunting, he pursued what he thought was a bear and saw it go
into a hole in the side of a cliff. He knew that it was medicine, so
he took his slave up to the top of the cliff and let him down in front
of it, telling him to reach a dipper in and take whatever came out.
With the things so obtained the man compounded a medicine which made
his wife want to come back to him, but he refused to take her. It would
also bring down any animal he wanted, so that he became very wealthy.
83. THE RUNAWAY WIFE
The wife of a Haida youth kept leaving him until he learned from a
certain woman how to make her love him. When she tried to come back,
however, he refused to take her, and married somebody else.
84. THE REJECTED LOVER
A youth was in love with his cousin, but she would have nothing to
do with him. Finally, in order to please her she made him throw away
his clothing and ornaments and pull out all of his hair, after which
she left him. Then a loon came to him and restored his hair by diving
under water with him. It also gave back his clothing and landed him
at another town where he married the daughter of Calm. A long time
afterward they went back to his people. Every day while they were there
he brought his wife water, and she put a quill into it before drinking
to see whether he had been faithful to her. One day the girl he had
formerly been in love with seized his hand, and when his wife tried her
quill the water was slimy. Then she left him and started to walk home
on the surface of the sea. He followed her, but presently she looked
round on him and he went down out of sight.
85. THE FAITHLESS WIFE
The wife of a certain man pretended to die and was put into the grave
box. Then the son of the town chief, with whom she was in love, took
her to his father’s house and married her. One time her little girl
came to that house for fire, saw her, and told her father. Then her
father went to the grave box and saw it was empty, and through the
smoke hole of the chief’s house he saw her playing with the chief’s
son. Then he made himself a wizard by playing with dead men’s bones,
flew to the chief’s house, and ran two sharp-pointed sticks into the
hearts of his wife and her new husband. Next morning he went out
gambling.
86. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED THE DEAD MAN
A girl kicked aside the skull of a dead person, and the following night
two boys came to her and she married one of them. This was the man who
had owned the skull. The two youths stayed there for a long time. When
they hunted they went all through the actions of paddling, spearing,
and camping without ever leaving the house. When they pretended to get
back, however, their canoe would be found on the beach loaded with fish
and seals. They were slowly becoming materialized when another girl
became jealous of them and destroyed them by marking the places where
they sat with human blood.
87. THE RETURNED FROM SPIRIT LAND
After the death of a certain woman her husband, who was very fond of
her, started off aimlessly and came by the spirit road to a lake. He
shouted to the people on the other side to come over and get him, but
they did not hear him until he spoke in a whisper. After he reached
the other side he found his wife and started back with her. At first
nothing could be seen of her but a shadow, but gradually she became
more and more distinct. She was about to resume her proper shape, when
a young man who had been in love with her lifted the curtain which was
stretched around her and her husband, and both went back to ghost land.
88. THE SKY COUNTRY
A man whose wife had died felt so lonely that he set out after her
along the beach. He soon found himself in a wide trail, and met a woman
tanning a skin, who directed him to his wife. The people in the town
where she was staying wanted to burn him, but he made them think he was
more afraid of being thrown into the water, so he saved himself. They
were really in the sky. By and by a spider woman let them down, and
they returned home.
89. THE ORIGIN OF COPPER
A woman was carried away by the grizzly-bear people, escaped, and
impeded her pursuers by throwing small objects behind her which changed
into great obstructions. Finally she was taken up into the sun in a
canoe and married the sun’s sons, who made way for her by killing
their former cannibal wife above a Tsimshian town. Therefore there are
many cannibals among the Tsimshian. At last the woman returned to her
parents in a canoe which was like a live grizzly bear. By and by her
husbands became angry with her and left her. Then she and her child
lived in a brush house covered with filth, at one end of the town. When
he got larger her boy shot something in the lake which proved to be his
fathers’ canoe, and pounded out all kinds of copper objects from the
metal of which it was composed. Then he married the daughter of the
town chief and became a great man.
90. THE MAN WHO WAS ABANDONED
A lazy man was abandoned by his townspeople, who left him nothing
except a piece of dried fish which one of his uncle’s wives dropped
into a post hole. After that a small animal killed all kinds of game
for him, and he became wealthy, while the other people were starving.
By and by some slaves were sent to burn his body and were feasted by
him. They were told not to say anything about him, but one of them
concealed a piece of fat for her child and the cries of the infant over
this food let the truth be discovered. Then they went to him and he
became a great chief. He married the woman who had been good to him,
but killed his uncle’s other wife and her husband.
91. THE SHAMAN WHO WENT INTO THE FIRE, AND THE HERON’S SON
A little boy was so badly treated by his uncle’s wife that he went
off into the woods, made eight nests, like those of the salmon, along
the edge of a stream, and spent as many nights in them. So he became
a shaman and could bring to himself and destroy all kinds of animals
by means of his songs. By and by his uncle searched for him and found
him. A spirit called Nix̣âˊ came to him and took him into the fire,
and he burned down to a very small size, but his uncle, obeying his
directions, took him out, put him into a basket, and so restored him.
Afterward he had his uncle send for his wife, but he took the bottom
part of her away so that what she ate did her no good. By and by a
spirit showed itself in the form of a bear, after the shaman had been
carried into the fire, scaring his uncle’s wife so that she died, while
the uncle forgot to take his nephew out of the fire and let him burn
up. At once all of the animals that had been killed came to life and
ran away.
All the people of the town to which this shaman had belonged
disappeared except a woman and her daughter. The woman called for
something to marry her daughter and was answered by the heron, by
whom the daughter had a son very fond of hunting. One time he found
a fish called hīn-taỵīˊcî swimming in a pool, reared it, and, when
it became as large as himself, killed it and made use of its skin.
After a while he went up on one of the two trails on which his uncles
had disappeared, saw a finger sticking up there, pulled up the being
to which it belonged, and killed it. Then he went along in the other
trail, saw a head, and killed the being to which it belonged. Next he
went along the beach, came upon a monster devilfish, and killed it by
means of his hīn-taỵīˊcî coat. He killed an enormous rat in the same
manner. Then he came to a cannibal woman who offered him human flesh
to eat. When he refused it she threw a mussel shell at him to kill him,
but he jumped aside, threw the shell back, and destroyed her. He put
her body into the fire and the ashes became mosquitoes. Then he met and
killed her cannibal husband.
92. MOUNTAIN DWELLER
Another version of story 65.
93. KĀHĀˊSǃÎ, THE STRONG MAN
In a certain town two persons were bathing for strength in order
to kill sea lions. One of these, the town chief, bathed in public
accompanied by all of the town people, while his nephew bathed during
the night only, and lay in bed all day, pretending that he was a
weakling. Finally a being called Strength came to the latter and made
him so powerful that he was able to accomplish the feats the chief had
set himself, namely, to pull the stump of a branch out of a tree and
twist another tree down to the base. Having done so, however, he put
them into their original positions, and when the chief tried them next
he thought that he had become strong. When they started out for the
sea-lion islands, they let Kāhāˊsǃî go along also, and, while the chief
was killed, Kāhāˊsǃî destroyed two big sea lions, one with each hand.
94. THE LǃÊˊNAXX̣ĪˊDAQ
A man saw a woman and two children floating in Auk lake, and he
captured one of the children and brought it home. During the night
the child gouged out the eyes of all the people living in the village
except one woman, and ate them. This woman killed the child, and taking
on her back her own child, to which she had just given birth, she went
up into the woods and became the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq. As she went along she
ate mussels and fitted the shells together.
95. ORIGIN OF THE FROG CREST AMONG THE KÎKSAˊDÎ
Another version of story 66.
96. HOW THE KÎKSAˊDÎ CAME TO SITKA
When the Kîksᴀˊdî first reached Sitka some people, called Sky-people,
killed all of them except one woman who concealed herself in a cave.
She called for some one to marry her, and, after having refused all the
animals, married the sun’s son. By him she had four boys and a girl,
and their grandfather placed them inside of a fort which he let down on
the site of their former village. Then the enemy came upon them, and
when they were in danger, their grandfather heated the land so hot that
the enemy ran down into the sea. They found that boiling hot also and
were destroyed.
97. THE FOUR BROTHERS
In order to destroy a malevolent shaman four brothers let their sister
marry him, took her back, and got her to tell them the location of
her husband’s heart. They killed him outside of Ring island, Sitka
sound, and took away his red-snapper coat. One of these brothers,
named Łqǃayāˊkǃ, then put this on and used it in the pursuit of large
animals. By and by he pursued an animal up into the sky and his
footprints formed the Milky Way.[195]
FOOTNOTES:
[195] This is part of a longer story of which story 3 is one version
while a second is contained in story 31.
98. THE KÎKSAˊDÎ WOMAN WHO WAS TURNED INTO AN OWL
Another version of story 37.
99. MOLDY-END
A small boy made an angry remark about a piece of moldy salmon and was
carried off by the salmon people to their town. When he became hungry
he began eating the salmon eggs lying upon the beach, but was told
that they were salmon dung. Finding that he was homesick, his salmon
father diverted him by sending him to Amusement creek and placing his
arms around two sand-hill cranes. By and by they started back with him,
and passed through something called sīt which opens and closes, and
scars those salmon which are caught in it. When they camped they made
other scars by throwing hot rocks upon one another, as if cooking. Then
they met the herring tribe, with which they had a verbal contest, and
finally announced what creeks they would enter. The boy’s father went
to Dax̣ēˊt, where the boy let his human father spear him. When his
mother began to cut him open she discovered his copper necklace, and
concluded it was her son. His father put him into a basket and placed
it upon the roof, where his spirit began to work in him, and he turned
back into a man. Then he became a great shaman and told the people what
had happened to him. By and by he tested his spirits by sending a raft
load of his people over a waterfall under the sea. The next morning it
came up with all the people safe. He sent his clothes man to spear land
otter, and, although he had him throw his spear across a point at an
invisible animal, it struck the land otter on the tip of the tail and
killed it. He lived to be more than a hundred.
100. MOLDY-END
Wrangell version of the above story, more detailed in the main portion
but without the last episode.
101. QĀQǃATCGŪˊK
Another version of story 67.
102. THE SEA-LION HUNT
Some hunters killed a large number of sea lions by pushing sharpened
sticks into their noses.
103. THE WAR IN THE SPRUCE CANOE
The Chilkat people once warred against the Stikine in a spruce canoe
and killed numbers of people. (This probably refers to story 29.)
104. STORY OF THE KĀˊGWANTĀN
A noted hunter named Qakēˊqǃᵘtê killed the sleep bird, and along with
it all his own people. Being unable to sleep himself, he wandered
north to the mouth of Alsek river where he tried to trap a ground hog,
but found a frog in his trap instead. He thought he saw some people
but found they were stones. Then he went up the river and came among
the Athapascans, whose good will he obtained by teaching them how to
catch eulachon, thus preserving them from starvation. In spring they
accompanied him back to his own people, bringing loads of furs with
them. They came first to the Grass people, but these were afraid and
sent them away, so they went to the Kāˊgwᴀntān who opened trade with
them and became rich. The Athapascans traded particularly for a kind of
seaweed.
From the wealth thus obtained the Kāˊgwᴀntān built Shadow house, and
had a great feast. By and by the chief’s daughter, who was menstruant,
said something to anger the glacier, and it extended itself over
the town, driving the people to Kᴀqǃᴀnuwūˊ, while the Tǃᴀˊqǃdentān
settled opposite. Later on the people warred with the Łuqāˊxᴀdî of
Alsek river and captured the Wolf post from them. A Łuqāˊxᴀdî shaman
was attacked by some warriors and flew away. He flew around for some
time until a menstruant woman looked at him, making him fall into
a pond. The warriors who had attacked him began to tamper with his
spirit paraphernalia, and all but one of them were destroyed. Then the
Kāˊgwᴀntān erected another house, which they named Wolf house, and
carved its posts like the Wolf post they had captured. They invited
people to the feast from Chilkat, Sitka, and Killisnoo. Slave’s valley
then received its name from some slaves who came to life after having
been killed and thrown down into it, supposedly dead. Afterward two
parties of young people contended with each other going after firewood,
and later on pushed the house fire over on each other until the great
beams caught. As a result of this fight the family scattered, and
some moved to Sitka. From that time, too, they came to be known as
Burnt-house people (Kāˊgwᴀntān).
105. STORY OF THE KÂˊCKǃE QOAN
After the death of an Athapascan chief on Copper river the people of
his house began fighting over the possession of a dish, and those who
lost it determined to emigrate. They set out, and, after losing some
of their people in the mist, crossed the mountains near Mount St.
Elias and came to the sea. While they were living at the mouth of a
large river a little girl reared a sea gull which attained enormous
proportions. When it got large her brothers wanted to kill it, but
it disappeared together with the girl. By and by the chief sent six
brothers alongshore to hunt for other people. They encountered head
winds at one place and lost one of their number, but finally reached
Yakutat. When they got back they heard that the name of the girl who
had reared the sea gull had been given to another. This girl dug up
some thing long and red in the forest out of which a dish was carved
like the one that had been taken away from them. Presently they called
in some Burnt-house people who were coming south from the mouth of
Copper river and entertained them.
After this the six brothers were sent back to Copper river for a
certain copper plate that had been left there, and they went and came
in twenty days each way, half the time it had taken the whole band to
come out. Then the people all set out for Yakutat, where they were at
first received in a hostile manner by the Koskǃēˊdî and ʟǃuqǃoeˊdî
living there, until they purchased a creek from them with the copper
plate and settled upon it. This was Kâckǃ, from which they obtained
their name. By and by the six brothers went hunting, and one of them
became so lazy that the others left him for some time. Then a mountain
being came to him and helped him to become a great hunter. Finally he
sent him home in a canoe which was really a grizzly bear. This bear
turned around to be fed when it was hungry, and that is what made the
turns in the river. After a time the brothers went up to a glacier at
the head of Kâckǃ to hunt, but their canoe was carried away by a swell
raised by falling ice. After waiting in vain for succor, they started
to cross the glacier, but one of them became dizzy and was carried
away by the Wolf people. The others got across and were in a starving
condition, when the youngest discovered a mountain sheep with very
large horns, that was really “the mother of the bears.” After that they
reached home.
By and by the six brothers started south with their brother-in-law.
They tried to cross from Kᴀstaxēˊxda-ān to Auk, but were delayed for
months by storms. Finally Heavy-wings, their brother-in-law, discovered
that this was caused by North Wind, who was in love with his daughter,
and he gave her to him. After that Heavy-wings saw and caught the
ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq and became wealthy, but because he did not use exactly
the right words at that time he was killed by a copper falling upon
him and cutting him open. His nephew also saw the ʟǃêˊnᴀxx̣īˊdᴀq, used
the right words toward it, and became very wealthy.
106. ORIGIN OF A LOW-CASTE NAME
Some people found a rock man’s son on some rocks and adopted him, but
he got them into so much trouble that they carried him back there. Then
the weather, which had been bad, immediately cleared. Since that time a
low-caste person has been called a “man of the rocks.”
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references
in footnotes lead to the corresponding stories.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected
after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and
consultation of external sources. Inconsistencies in the Tlingit have
not been corrected.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a
predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and
inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg 30: Duplicate “the” removed from “So the the otters’ father....”
47: Duplicate “to” removed from “...his wife went out to to get
cedar bark...”
58: “strategem” replaced with “stratagem”
80: “Adawūˊlǃ-caˊnakᵘǃ” replaced with “Adawūˊlǃ-caˊnakǃᵘ”
123: Duplicate “the” removed from “Then he took the the
position....”
131: “husband’s” replaced with “father’s” in “She knew the voices
of all her husband’s servants.”
134: “inititated” replaced with “initiated”
145: “Takʷaneˊdî” replaced with “Takᵘaneˊdî”
Note 98: “tal” replaced with “tale”
Pg 160: “ʟǃūǃkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî” replaced with “ʟǃūkǃnᴀxᴀˊdî”
204: “Meawhile” replaced with “Meanwhile”
255: Duplicate “it” removed from “for it it was”
275: “Kucaqēˊǃtkᵘ” replaced with “Kucaqǃēˊtkᵘ”
338: “x̄ᴀˊaỵā” replaced with “xāˊaỵā”
369: “abroad” replaced with “aboard”
370: “valuble” replaced with “valuable.”
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