On the shores of the ocean which washes our northwest coast live many
tribes of a hardy, seafaring people. Their houses stand along the beach
just above high-water mark, and behind them the wooded mountains rise
sharply. The waters at their feet yield them the chief share of their
living. The salmon that each year come to the rivers to spawn, the
great shoals of little herrings that visit the beach, the halibut that
lie at the bottom far at sea, the seals, the sea-lions, the porpoises,
and the whales, all provide something towards the tribe’s support. Or,
if for a while all these fail, there are flat-fish on the shoals, clams
in the mud flats, and mussels clinging to the rocks. In the stories
told by this race of seafarers, the incidents have to do with the
common events of their lives, and the scenes are commonly laid on the
water or at the water’s edge. Thus they treat of the hunting of the
sea-lion, of the catching of the salmon, most often of the search for
food.
Most of the stories to be related here are very old, and date from a
period when men and animals were far more closely related than they
seem to be to-day; when, as the tales clearly show, each could
understand the other’s language, and when friendly intercourse between
them was common. Although in recent years all the conditions of the
lives of these people have changed, stories such as these may still be
heard, if one can gain the confidence of the aged men and women who yet
retain this legendary lore. In somewhat different form, the Bluejay
Stories, in the original tongue, may be found in the Chinook Texts,
collected by that eminent ethnologist, Dr. Franz Boas, whose studies of
American tribes have yielded such important and valuable results.