At Sea Side lived many people—a big village. Their houses were on the
bank, and, below, the wide beach sloped down to the salt water. Under
the bank the canoes rested on the beach above high-water mark. Beyond
was the sea.
One day the Chief of the village died. He had one son, a big boy just
growing up to be a man. It was winter, and the people had hardly
anything to eat. They looked along the beach for food cast up by the
sea, but they could find nothing. They were hungry, and did not know
what they should do. Mussels and roots were their only food.
One day a hunter said to the men: “Everybody get ready; let us go out
to sea. Perhaps there we may find something to eat; even if we kill
nothing, we can at least gather mussels.”
So all the men got ready, and they started out to sea in two canoes.
After they had gone some distance they came to a small island, and saw
there some sea-lions, and the hunter speared one, and it jumped out to
the water and swam strongly, and then it died and floated on the water.
They dragged it up on the shore near by, and Bluejay said, “We will
boil it here.” So they made a fire there and singed it and cut it up
and boiled it. Then Bluejay said: “Let us eat it here. Let us eat all
of it, and not take any of it home with us.” So these people ate there.
The Raven wished to take home some of the meat to give to persons who
were hungry, and hid a piece in his mat and carried it to the canoe,
but Bluejay ran down and took the meat and threw it into the fire and
burned it. After they had eaten all they wanted, they made ready to go
home. They gathered mussels, large and small. In the evening they came
to the village, and Bluejay called out to his wife, “Stikuá, come and
get your mussels.” There was a noise of many feet as Stikuá and the
other women came running down to get their mussels, and carried them up
to the houses.
The Raven took care of the Chief’s son. That night the boy said to him,
“To-morrow I want to go with you.” Bluejay said: “What are you going to
do? The waves will carry you away. You will be washed away. I was
almost washed away.”
Early the next morning the men made ready to go hunting again. They
went down to the beach and got into the canoes, and the boy also went
down to the beach. He intended to go with them, and as they were
pushing off he tried to get into one of the canoes. Bluejay said to
him: “Go up to the houses. Go up to the houses.” The boy went, as he
had been told, but he felt very sorry, and then Bluejay said, “Quick,
let us leave him.” The people began to paddle.
At length they reached the land where they had been the day before. It
was a rocky island. The hunter went ashore and speared a sea-lion. They
hauled it to the shore and pulled it up on land, and then pulled it up
away from the beach. Bluejay said, “We will eat it all here, or else
our Chief’s son will always be wanting to come with us.” So now they
singed the sea-lion, and cut it up and boiled it there. Then, when what
they were cooking was ready, they ate plenty. The Raven tried to save
one piece of the meat. He tied it in his hair, intending to hide it,
but Bluejay took it out and threw it into the fire and burned it. When
they started home they gathered mussels, and at evening they got home.
Before they landed, Bluejay called out loud, “Come, Stikuá, and get
your mussels.” There was a noise of feet running, and Stikuá and her
children came running to the beach with all the other women. Then they
carried the mussels up to the houses. Bluejay said to the men who had
been with him, “Do not tell the Chief’s son, any of you, for if you do
he will always go with us.”
That night the boy said, “To-morrow I am going with you”; and Bluejay
said to him: “What are you going to do? You may drift away. You may be
overwhelmed by the waves.” The boy said, “I will go with you.”
On the third morning they rose early and went to the beach, and the boy
also went to the beach, and took hold of the side of the canoe to get
in. Bluejay said: “What are you doing here? Go to the houses.” The boy
cried, but he went back. Then Bluejay said to the others, “Quick,
paddle; we will leave him behind.” Then the people paddled away. At
length they arrived at the rock of the sea-lions, and the hunter went
ashore. He speared a large sea-lion, and pretty soon it floated dead on
the water. They pulled it in to the shore and up on the beach, and then
they hauled it up above the beach and singed and cut it up and boiled
it there. When it was done they ate, and Bluejay said: “We will eat it
all. We will not tell any one, for fear that our Chief’s son should
want to come with us.” After all had eaten enough, a little meat was
still left. The Raven tried to hide a piece of it. He tied it to his
leg and put a bandage over it, and said that his leg was broken.
Bluejay burned all the meat that was left over. He said to the Raven,
“I want to see your leg.” He seized the Raven’s leg and untied it, and
found the piece of meat that the Raven had tied to it and burned it.
Towards evening they gathered mussels, and then they went home.
When they were nearly at their home Bluejay called out, “Stikuá, your
mussels.” There was a noise of feet, and Stikuá and the women ran to
the beach. They carried the mussels up from the beach and ate mussels
all night. The boy said, “To-morrow, I think, I shall surely go along
with you.” Bluejay said to him: “What are you going to do? You will
drift away. I should have drifted away twice if I had not caught hold
of the canoe.”
Early the next morning they made themselves ready, and the boy got up
and made himself ready. Then the people hauled their canoes down to the
water and got into them. The boy tried to get into a canoe too, but
Bluejay took hold of him and threw him into the water. He stood in the
water up to his waist. He took hold of the side of the canoe, but
Bluejay hit his hands to make him let go. For a long time he held on,
and cried and cried, but at last he let go and went up to the house.
Then Bluejay and the other people paddled away. After a while they
reached the rock where the sea-lions lived, and the hunter went ashore
and speared a sea-lion, and it jumped into the water and soon floated
there dead. Then they towed it to the beach and pulled it up and singed
it, and cut it up and boiled it. Bluejay said, “We will eat it here.”
They ate for a long time and ate half of it, and then they were
satisfied. They were so full that they went to sleep. After a while
Bluejay awoke and burned all the meat that was left. Towards evening
they gathered mussels and then started home.
When they were near the shore, Bluejay called out to his wife, “Come
and get your mussels, Stikuá,” and they heard the noise of feet running
down to the shore. Then they carried up the mussels from the beach.
That night the boy said, “To-morrow I shall go with you”; and Bluejay
said to him: “What are you going to do? We may be thrown into the water
and you may drown.”
Early the next morning the men made ready to start. The boy also got up
and made himself ready. Then Bluejay and the people hauled the canoes
down to the water and got into them. The boy tried to get into the
canoe, but Bluejay threw him into the water, and they pushed off. The
boy caught hold of the side of the canoe and held it. He stood there in
the water up to his armpits, and tried to get into the canoe, but
Bluejay hit his hands and made him let go. The boy cried and cried.
Bluejay and the people paddled away.
After a little time the boy went up to the beach, feeling very sad, and
trying to think what he should do. At last he went into the house and
took his arrows and started walking along the shore. He walked around a
point, and saw a black eagle, and shot it. He skinned it and tried to
put the skin on his body, but it was too small. It did not reach down
as far as his knees. He took it off and left it there and went on.
After a while he saw another eagle, and he shot it, and it fell down.
Its head was partly white. He skinned it and put the skin on his body,
but it was too small. It reached down only a little below his knees.
Then he took it off and left it lying there, and went on a long way. At
last he saw a bald-headed eagle. He shot it, and it fell down. Then he
skinned it and put the skin on himself. Even this was too small, but it
nearly fitted him. Then he tried to fly. At first he could only fly
downward. He could not rise in the air. He tried again, and this time
he found that he could turn, so he kept on trying, and pretty soon he
could fly well.
Now he flew towards the village, and when he had come near to this
point he smelled smoke, and in that smoke he smelled fat cooking. So
before he got to the village he turned and flew out to sea, following
the smell of the smoke. Pretty soon he came to the rock of the
sea-lions, and there he saw the men of his village. He alit on a tree
far off and watched them, looking down on them below. He saw that they
were cooking, and when the meat was done he saw them eating. When they
had nearly finished eating, he flew towards them, and he thought, “I
wish Bluejay would see me.” Bluejay did see the bird flying, and he
said, “Ha! a bird is coming to get food from us.” The boy flew around
them once, and then again. Five times he circled around them, all the
time coming lower. Bluejay took a piece of meat and threw it out, and
said to the bird, “I give you this to eat; take it.” The bird came
down, and, grasping the piece of meat, flew away. Then Bluejay said,
“Why, that bird has feet just like a person!”
When Bluejay and the people had finished eating they went to sleep.
Again the Raven hid a piece of meat. Towards evening Bluejay awoke, and
then the people ate again, and afterwards Bluejay burned what they had
left. Then they gathered mussels and started to go home. When they were
close to the houses Bluejay called out, “Ah, Stikuá, get your mussels.”
All the women ran down to the beach with a noise of feet, and carried
up the mussels.
When the boy got home he at once lay down. That evening the people
tried to wake him, but he did not rise.
The next morning, as soon as it became day, early, they began to get
ready, and again they hauled their canoes into the water. The Chief’s
son still lay in bed. He did not try to go with them, and they started
off. After a while the sun rose. Then the boy got up. He called
together all the women and children and said to them: “Quick, wash
yourselves. Hurry; don’t be lazy.” They all washed themselves. Then he
said, “Quick, comb your hair.” They did so.
Then he put down a plank on the ground and took a piece of meat from
under his blanket, and said to them, “All your husbands eat a great
deal of this meat every day.” He put two pieces of the meat side by
side on the plank. Then he cut off a piece of the meat and greased the
heads of all the women and the children. Then he pulled out of the
ground the wall planks of the houses and sharpened them. If a wall
plank was wide, he split it. He sharpened all of them. The Raven’s
house was the last house in the village. He did not pull down its
planks. He fastened the planks on the backs of the women, and said to
the women, “Now go to the beach and swim towards the sea, and as you
go, swim five times around that rock and then go out to sea. After this
you shall be killer whales. When you find sea-lions you shall always
kill them, but do not give any of them to stingy people. When you kill
a good whale you shall eat it, but do not give any of it to stingy
people. I shall take these children with me. They shall live on the sea
and be my relations.” Then he began to split sinews; he split a great
many of them. He threw down the sinews that he had split on the stones
where the people used to gather their mussels, and said to the mussels,
“After this when Bluejay and these others go to take up you mussels,
you shall always be tied fast to the rocks.”
Now the women went down to the water’s edge and swam about, and began
slowly to jump out of the water. Five times they swam backward and
forward before the village; then they went seaward, swimming very fast.
They kept on to the island where Bluejay and his fellows were cooking
their food. Bluejay said to the men, “What is this that is coming?” The
men looked at the things that were coming, and saw the women often
jumping out of the water. Five times they swam around that rock, then
they went out to sea. After a while birds came flying after them
towards the sea—birds with red bills, just as if blood were on their
beaks. They kept following one another, many of them. Bluejay said: “Do
you see these birds, how they keep coming? Where do they come from?”
Then the Raven said, “How is it that you do not recognize these as your
children?” Five times the birds flew around the rock, just as the women
had gone around it, and then they flew away out to sea.
When Bluejay and his people were eating the meat that they had killed,
that hunter said: “Quick, let us go home. I am afraid that we have seen
bad spirits. We never before saw anything like this at this rock.” Then
they gathered some mussels, and put in the canoes the meat that was
left and carried it with them. Just at evening they came to the
village, and Bluejay called out, “Ah, Stikuá, come and get your
mussels.” There was no noise of people running. Five times he called to
her, but no one came. It was all still. They went up on the beach, and
then they saw that no one was there, and that the walls of the houses
had disappeared. Then they began to cry, and Bluejay cried too. Some
one said to him, “Be quiet, Bluejay; if you had not been bad, our Chief
would not have done this to us.”
Now they made only one house for all; all lived together. Only the
Raven, who had been kind-hearted, had a house to himself. He often went
along the beach looking for food, and was lucky, for sometimes he found
a sturgeon; or again he went along the beach looking for food and he
found a porpoise. Bluejay often went along the beach trying to find
food, but he was always unlucky, for he found nothing, and often, while
he was looking, suddenly it would begin to hail—big hailstones. Often
he went out to gather mussels and tried to break them off from the
rocks, but he could not do it. They were stuck fast to the stones. So
he gave up and went home. He cried a great deal. Often the Raven looked
for food along the beach and found a seal. The others had nothing to
eat except roots.
Thus these men who had not brought food to their families had now lost
their women and children, their houses had been pulled down and taken
away, and they had nothing to eat. So their Chief punished them for
being stingy.