CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1911
Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1911
Published September, 1911
W. F. Hall Printing Company
Chicago
[Illustration: Tlingit Indians in Dancing Costume]
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
Especially of Washington and Oregon.
_With 50 full-page illustrations. Small 4to._
_$1.50 net._
MONTANA: "The Land of Shining Mountains."
_Illustrated. Indexed. Square 8vo._
_75 cents net._
A. C. McCLURG & CO., Publishers
PREFACE
Long ago, even before the days of the animal people, the world was
only a great ocean wherein was no land nor any living thing except a
great Bird. The Bird, after a long, long time, flew down to the
surface of the water and dipped his great black wings into the flood.
The earth arose out of the waters. So began the creation. While the
land was still soft, the first man burst from the pod of the beach pea
and looked out upon the endless plain behind him and the gray salt sea
before him. He was the only man. Then Raven appeared to him and the
creation of other beings began. Raven made also animals for food and
clothing. Later, because the earth plain was so bare, he planted trees
and shrubs and grass and set the green things to growing.
With creation by a Great Spirit, there came dangers from evil spirits.
Such spirits carried away the sun and moon, and hung them to the
rafters of the dome-shaped Alaskan huts. The world became cold and
cheerless, and in the Land of Darkness white skins became blackened by
contact with the darkness. So it became necessary to search for the
sun and hang it again in the dome-shaped sky above them. Darkness in
the Land of Long Night was the cause, through magic, of the bitter
winds of winter--winds which came down from the North, bringing with
them ice and cold and snow. This was the work of some Great Spirit
which had loosened the side of the gray cloud-tent under which they
lived, letting in the bitter winds of another world. Spirits blow the
mists over the cold north sea so that canoes lose sight of their
home-land. Spirits also drive the ice floes, with their fishermen, far
over the horizon of ocean, into the still colder North. Spirits govern
the run of the salmon, the catching of whales, and all the life of the
people of the North who wage such a terrific struggle for existence.
So there must needs be those who have power over the evil spirits,
those who by incantations and charms of magic, by ceremonial dancing
in symbolic dress, can control the designs of those who work ever
against these children of the North. Thus there arose the shamans with
all their ceremonies.
The myths in this volume are authentic. The original collections were
made by government ethnologists, by whose permission this compilation
is made. And no effort has been made, in the telling of them, to
change them from the terse directness of the natives. The language of
all Indian tribes is very simple, and to the extent that an effort is
made to put myths and legends into more polished form, to that extent
is their authenticity impaired.
Only the quaintest and purest of the myths have been selected. Many
Alaskan myths are very long and tiresome, rambling from one subject to
another, besides revealing low moral conditions. These have been
omitted, as have also those which deal with the intermarriage of men
and birds, and men and animals. Such myths are better left among
government documents where they can be readily consulted by those
making a special study of the subject. They are hardly suitable for
any collection intended for general reading. The leading myth of the
North, however, the Raven Myth, is given with a fair degree of
completeness. It would not be possible, nor would it be wise, to
attempt a compilation of all the fragments of this extensive myth.
Especial thanks are due to Dr. Franz Boas for the Tsetsaut and
Tsimshian myths, to John R. Swanton for the Tlingit myths, to Edward
Russell Nelson for the Eskimo myths, to Ferdinand Schnitter, and to
others. Thanks are also due for courtesies in securing photographs to
Mr. B. B. Dobbs and particularly to Mr. Clarence L. Andrews, both of
whom have spent many years in Alaska.
K. B. J.
_University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington
July, 1911._
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
The Raven Myth _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 17
The Flood _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 33
The Origin of the Tides _Tsetsaut_ 37
How the Rivers were Formed _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 39
The Origin of Fire _Tlingit_ 40
Duration of Winter _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 41
Raven's Feast _Tlingit_ 42
Creation of the Porcupine _Tlingit_ 44
How Raven Taught the Chilkats _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 45
Raven's Marriage _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 46
Raven and the Seals _Tsimshian_ 51
Raven and Pitch _Tsimshian_ 53
Raven's Dancing Blanket _Tsimshian_ 55
Raven and the Gulls _Tsimshian_ 56
The Land Otter _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 57
Raven and Coot _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 58
Raven and Marmot _Eskimo_ (_Bering Strait_) 59
The Bringing of the Light
by Raven _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 61
Daylight on the Nass River _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 65
The Naming of the Birds _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 67
The Origin of the Winds _Tlingit_ 70
Duration of Life _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 71
Ghost Town _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 72
How Raven Stole the Lake _Haida_ (_Queen Charlotte
Islands_) 73
The Killer Whale _Haida_ 75
Origin of the Chilkat Blanket _Tsimshian_ 77
Origin of Land and People _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 80
Creation of the World _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 81
Origin of Mankind _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 82
The First Woman _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 83
The First Tears _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 85
Origin of the Winds _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 87
Origin of the Wind _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 91
North Wind _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 92
East Wind and North Wind _Tlingit_ 93
Creation of the Killer Whale _Tlingit_ 94
Future Life _Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_) 96
The Land of the Dead _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 97
The Ghost Land _Tlingit_ 100
The Sky Country _Tlingit_ 103
The Lost Light _Eskimo_ (_Port Clarence_) 105
The Chief in the Moon _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 109
The Boy in the Moon _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 110
The Boy in the Moon _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 112
The Meteor(?) _Tsetsaut_ 113
Sleep House _Tlingit_ 114
Cradle Song _Koyukun_ 115
Proverbs _Tsimshian_ 118
How the Fox became Red _Athapascan_ 119
Beaver and Porcupine _Tsimshian_ 120
The Mark of the Marten _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 126
The Wolves and the Deer _Tsimshian_ 127
The Camp Robber _Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_) 129
The Circling of Cranes _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 131
The Last of the Thunderbirds _Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_) 132
How the Kiksadi Clan Came
to Sitka _Tlingit_ 135
Origin of the Grizzly Bear
Crest _Tlingit_ 137
Origin of the Frog Crest _Tlingit_ 138
Origin of the Beaver Crest _Tlingit_ 139
Origin of the Killer Whale
Crest _Tlingit_ 140
The Discontented Grass Plant _Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_) 142
The Wind People _Koryak_ (_Siberia_) 147
Tricks of the Fox _Koryak_ (_Siberia_) 148
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Tlingit Indians in Dancing Costume _Frontispiece_
Reindeer on the Tundra 20
"Raven taught them how to build houses of driftwood and
bushes, covered with earth" 21
"The next morning the baby was a big boy" 24
"The clay became a beautiful girl" 25
Ivory Pipe Stems 28
Kayak Man Casting a Bird Spear 29
Eskimo Woman from Cape Prince of Wales 34
Fur Parkas Worn by Eskimo Women 35
Reflection of Mountain Peaks 38
"So the smoke-hole spirits held Raven until the smoke
blackened his white coat" 39
Pine Falls, Atlin 42
Elk Falls 43
Porcupine 44
"Raven showed the people how to make canoes out of skins" 45
Shoup's Glacier, Valdez 48
Birdseye View of Valdez 49
Masks 52
Dolls 53
Eskimo Boys 58
"Marmot put out the tip of his nose" 59
Ice Hummocks on Bering Sea 62
Snow Shovel, Pick, Rake, and Maul 63
Eskimo in Waterproof Coat Made of Walrus Intestines 66
"Raven said to Grouse, 'You know that Sea-lion is your
grandchild'" 67
Figurehead on Indian Canoe 68
"Raven said to Crow, 'You will make lots of noise. You
will be great talkers'" 69
"Raven said to North Wind, 'Your back is white.'" (On the
Road to Fairbanks) 70
Old Russian Blockhouse, at Sitka 71
"Raven unrolled the lake there. There it lay" 74
"The man-spirit was inside the Skana" 75
A Chilkat Blanket 78
Alaskan Baskets 79
Keystone Canyon 80
The "S" Glacier 81
The Yukon, Taken at Midnight in June 84
Islands in Sitka Sound 85
Tool and Trinket Boxes 88
Spoons and Ladles 89
Skagway River, from Porcupine Hill 92
Middle Lake and Bridge on the '97 Trail 93
Face of Davidson Glacier 96
"The Land of the Dead"--Graveyard at Rasboinsky 97
Perry Island, Bogosloff Group, Newly Risen from the Sea 100
"The end of the Death Trail" 101
Walrus Tusks 106
A Shaman 107
Box Canyon, on White Pass and Yukon Route 110
Near Valdez Narrows 111
Frozen Waterfall 114
"The wind blows over the Yukon" 115
Travellers over the Chilkoot Pass (1891) after the
Discovery of Gold 118
Looking down Cut-off Canyon from below White Pass Summit 119
Dog Team with Record of 412 Miles in 72 Hours 122
Siberian Husky 123
Totem Poles 126
Laplanders Milking Reindeer, near Port Clarence 127
View of Skagway 130
Bering Sea, near Nome 131
View of Eldorado 136
Scene on the White Pass and Yukon Route 137
Alaska Cotton on the Tundra, near Nome 142
A Crested Hat 143
MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ALASKA
THE RAVEN MYTH
_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)
It was in the time when there were no people on the earth plain. The
first man for four days lay coiled up in the pod of the beach pea. On
the fifth day he stretched out his feet and burst the pod. He fell to
the ground and when he stood up he was a full-grown man. Man looked
all around him and then at himself. He moved his hands and arms, his
neck and legs. When he looked back he saw, still hanging to the vine,
the pod of the beach pea, with a hole in the lower end out of which he
had dropped. When he looked about him again, he saw that he was
getting farther from his starting place. The ground seemed to move up
and down under his feet, and it was very soft. After a while he had a
strange feeling in his stomach, so he stooped down to drink some water
from a small pool at his feet. Then he felt better.
When Man looked up again he saw coming toward him, with a fluttering
motion, something dark. He watched the dark thing until it stopped
just in front of him. It was Raven.
As soon as Raven stopped, he raised one of his wings and pushed up his
beak, as though it were a mask, to the top of his head. Thus Raven
changed at once into a man. Raven stared hard at Man, moving from side
to side to see him better.
Raven said, "What are you? Where did you come from? I have never seen
anything like you."
Raven still stared at Man, surprised to find this new thing so much
like himself. He made Man walk around a little, while he perked his
head from side to side to see him better. Then Raven said again, in
astonishment, "Where did you come from? I have never seen anything
like you before."
Man said, "I came from the pea pod." He pointed to the plant from
which he came.
"Ah, I made that vine," said Raven. "But I did not know that anything
like you would come from it. Come with me to the high ground over
there; it is thicker and harder. This ground I made later and it is
soft and thin."
So Man and Raven walked to the higher ground which was firm and hard.
Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything. Man said he had taken some
of the soft stuff from one of the pools.
"Ah, you drank some water," said Raven. "Now wait for me here."
Raven drew down his beak, as though it were a mask, over his face. He
at once became a bird and flew far up into the sky--far out of sight.
Man waited until the fourth day. Then Raven returned bringing four
berries in his claws. He pushed up his beak and so became a man again.
Then he gave to Man two salmon berries and two heath berries, saying,
"Here is something I made for you to eat. I wish them to be plentiful
on the earth. Eat them."
Man put the berries into his mouth, one after the other, and ate them.
Then he felt better. Then Raven left Man near a small creek while he
went to the edge of the water. He took two pieces of clay at the
water's edge, and shaped them like a pair of mountain sheep. He held
them in his hand until they were dry, and then he called Man to come
and see them. Man said they were pretty, so Raven told him to close
his eyes. Man closed his eyes tightly. Then Raven pulled down his
beak-mask, and waved his wings four times over the pieces of clay. At
once they bounded away as full-grown mountain sheep. Raven told Man to
look.
Man was so much pleased that Raven said, "If these animals are
plentiful, perhaps people will try to kill them."
Man said, "Yes."
Then Raven said, "Well, it will be better for them to live among the
steep rocks so every one cannot kill them. There only shall they be
found."
Raven took two more pieces of clay and shaped them like tame reindeer.
He held them in his hand until they were partly dry, then told Man to
look at them. Raven again drew down his beak-mask and waved his wings
four times over them. Thus they became alive, but as they were only
dry in spots while Raven held them, therefore they remained brown and
white, with mottled coat. Raven told Man these tame reindeer would be
very few in number.
Again Raven took two pieces of clay and shaped them like the caribou
or wild reindeer. But he held them in his hands only a little while so
that only the bellies of the reindeer became dry and white. Then Raven
drew down his beak-mask, and waved his wings over them, and they
bounded away. But because only their bellies were dry and white while
Raven held them, therefore the wild reindeer is brown except its white
belly.
Raven said to Man, "These animals will be very common. People will
kill many of them."
[Illustration: Reindeer on the Tundra
_Photograph by B. B. Dobbs_]
[Illustration: "Raven taught them how to build houses of driftwood
and bushes, covered with earth"]
Thus Raven began to create the animals.
Raven said one day to Man, "You are lonely by yourself. I will make
you a companion." He went to some white clay at a spot distant from
the clay of which he had made animals, and made of the clay a figure
almost like Man. Raven kept looking at Man while he shaped the figure.
Then he took fine water grass from the creek and fastened it on the
back of the head for hair. When the clay was shaped, Raven drew down
his beak-mask and waved his wings over it. The clay became a beautiful
girl. The girl was white and fair because Raven let the clay dry
entirely before he waved his wings over it.
Raven took the girl to Man. "There is a companion for you," he said.
Now in the days of the first people on the earth plain, there were no
mountains far or near. No rain ever fell and there were no winds. The
sun shone always very brightly.
Then Raven showed the first people on the earth plain how to sleep
warmly in the dry moss when they were tired. Raven himself drew down
his beak-mask and went to sleep like a bird.
When Raven awakened, he went back to the creek. Here he made two
sticklebacks, two graylings, and two blackfish. When these were
swimming about in the water, he called Man to see them. Man raised
his hand in surprise and the sticklebacks darted away. Raven told him
the graylings would be found in clear mountain streams, while the
sticklebacks would live along the coast, and that both would be good
for food.
Raven next made the shrewmouse. He said, "The shrewmouse will not be
good for food. It will prevent the earth plain from looking bare and
cheerless."
In this way Raven was busy several days, making birds and fishes and
animals. He showed each of them to Man and explained what they were
good for. Then Raven flew into the sky, far, far away, and was gone
four days. When he came back he brought a salmon to Man.
But Raven noticed that the ponds and lakes were silent and lonely, so
he made water bugs to flit upon the surface of the water. He also made
the beaver and the muskrat to live around the borders of the ponds.
Raven told Man that the beavers would live along the streams and build
strong houses, so Man must build a strong house also. Raven said the
beavers would be very cunning and only good hunters could catch them.
He also told Man how to catch the muskrat and how to use its skin for
clothing.
Raven also made flies and mosquitoes and other insects to make the
earth plain more cheerful. At first mosquitoes were like flies; they
did not bite. One day Man killed a deer. After he had cut it up and
placed the fat on a bush, he fell asleep. When he awoke he found the
mosquitoes had eaten all of it. Then Man was very angry and scolded
the mosquitoes. He said, "Never eat meat again. Eat men." Before that
mosquitoes never bit people.
When the first baby came on the earth plain, Raven rubbed it all over
with white clay. He told Man it would grow into a man like himself.
The next morning the baby was a big boy. He ran around pulling up
grass and flowers that Raven had planted. By the third day the baby
was a full-grown man.
Then another baby was born on the earth plain. She was rubbed over
with the white clay. The next day the baby was a big girl, walking
around. On the third day she was a full-grown woman.
Now Raven began to be afraid that men would kill all the creatures he
had made. He was afraid they would kill them for food and clothing.
Therefore Raven went to a creek nearby. He took white clay and shaped
it like a bear. Then he waved his wings over it, and the clay became a
bear. But Raven jumped very quickly to one side when the bear became
alive because it looked fiercely around and growled. Then Raven showed
the bear to Man and told him to be careful. He said the bear was very
fierce and would tear him to pieces if he disturbed it.
Then Raven made the seals, and taught Man how to catch them. He also
taught Man how to make strong lines from sealskin, and snares for the
deer.
Then Raven went away to the place of the pea vine.
When he reached the pea vine he found three other men had just fallen
from the same pod that Man had fallen from. These men were looking
about them in wonder. Raven led them away from the pea vine, but in a
different direction from the first man. He brought them close to the
sea. Raven stayed with these three men a long time. He taught them how
to take wood from the bushes and small trees he planted in hollows and
sheltered places, and to make a fire drill, and also a bow. He made
many more plants and birds which like the seacoast, but he did not
make so many as in the land where Man lived. He taught these men how
to make bows and arrows, spears and nets, and how to use them; and
also how to capture the seals, which were now plentiful in the sea.
Then he taught them how to make kayaks, and how to build houses of
drift logs and of bushes, covered with earth. Then he made wives for
these men, and went back to Man.
[Illustration: "The next morning the baby was a big boy"
_Copyrighted by F. H. Nowell_]
[Illustration: "The clay became a beautiful girl"
_Courtesy "Alaska-Yukon Magazine"_]
When Raven reached the land where Man lived, he thought the earth
plain still looked bare. So, while the others slept, Raven planted
birch and spruce and cottonwood trees to grow in the low places. Then
he woke up the people, who were pleased with the trees.
Then Raven taught Man how to make fire with the fire drill, and to
place the spark of tinder in a bunch of dry grass and to wave it about
until it blazed, and then to put dry wood upon it. He showed them how
to roast fish on a stick, and how to make fish traps of splints and
willow bark, and how to dry salmon for winter use.
Where Man lived there was now a large village because the people did
everything as Raven told them, and therefore all the babies grew up in
three days. One day Raven came back and sat down by Man by the creek
and they talked of many things. Man asked Raven about the skyland. Man
wanted to see the skyland which Raven had made. Therefore Raven took
Man to the land in the sky.
Man found that the skyland was a very beautiful country, and that it
had a much better climate than his land. But the people who lived
there were very small. Their heads did not reach to Man's hips. The
people wore fur clothing, with beautiful patterns, such as people on
earth now wear, because Man showed his people how to make them. In the
lakes were strange animals which would have killed Man if he had tried
to drink of the water. In a dry lake bed, thickly covered with tall
grass, Man saw a wonderful animal resting upon the tips of the
grasses. It had a long head and six legs. It had fine, thick hair, and
on the back of the head were two thick, short horns which bent forward
and then curved back at the tips. Raven told Man it took many people
to kill this animal.
Then they came to a round hole in the sky and around the edge of the
hole was short grass, glowing like fire. Raven said, "This is the star
called the moon-dog." Some of the grass had been pulled up. Raven said
he had taken some to start the first fire on earth.
Then Raven said to Man, "Shut your eyes. I will take you to another
country." Man climbed upon Raven's back and they dropped down through
the star hole. They floated a long, long time through the air, then
they floated through something else. When they stopped Raven saw he
was at the bottom of the sea. Man could breathe there, but it seemed
foggy. Raven said that was the appearance of the water. Then Raven
said, "I want to make some new animals here; but you must not walk
about. You lie down and if you get tired, turn over on the other
side."
Man went to sleep lying on one side, and slept a long while. When he
waked up, he wanted to turn over, but he could not. Then Man thought,
"I wish I could turn over," and at once he turned. As he turned, he
was surprised to see that his body was covered with long, white hairs;
and his fingers were long claws. Then he went to sleep again. This he
did three times more. Then when he woke up, Raven stood by him. Raven
said, "I have changed you into a white bear. How do you like it?" Man
could not make a sound until Raven waved his wings over him. Then he
said he did not like it; if he was a bear he would have to live on the
sea, while his son lived on land; so Man should feel badly. Then Raven
struck the white skin with his wings and it fell off. So Man became
himself again. But Raven took the empty bearskin, and placed one of
his own tail feathers inside it for a spine. Then he waved his wing
over it, and a white bear arose. Ever since then white bears have been
found on the frozen sea.
Raven said, "How many times did you turn over?"
Man said, "Four."
Raven said, "You slept just four years."
Then Raven made other animals. He made the a-mi-kuk, a large, slimy
animal, with thick skin, and with four long, wide-spreading arms. This
is a fierce animal and lives in the sea. It wraps its four long arms
around a man or a kayak and drags it under the water. A man cannot
escape it. If he climbs out of his kayak on the ice, the a-mi-kuk
will dart underneath and break the ice. If Man runs away on shore, the
a-mi-kuk pursues him by burrowing through the earth. No man can escape
from it when once it pursues him.
Then Raven showed Man the walrus, and the dog walrus, with head and
teeth like a dog. It always swam with large herds of walrus and with a
stroke of its tail could kill a man. He showed him whales and the
grampus. Raven told Man that only good hunters could kill a whale, but
when one was killed an entire village could feast on it. He showed him
also the sea fox, which is so fierce it kills men; and the sea otter,
which is like the land otter but has finer fur, tipped with white, and
other fishes and animals as they rose to the surface of the water.
Then Raven said, "Close your eyes. Hold fast to me."
Then Man found himself on the shore near his home. The village was
very large. His wife was very old and his son was an old man. The
people gave him place of honor in the kashim, and made him their
headsman. So Man taught the young men many things.
Now Man wanted again to see the skyland, so Raven and Man went up
among the dwarf people and lived there a long time. But on earth the
village grew very large; the men killed many animals.
[Illustration: Ivory Pipe Stems
_From photograph loaned by the Smithsonian Institution_]
[Illustration: Kayak Man Casting a Bird Spear
_From drawing loaned by the Smithsonian Institution_]
Now in those days, the sun shone always very brightly. No rain ever
fell and no winds blew.
Man and Raven were angry because the people killed many animals. They
took a long line and a grass basket, one night, and caught ten
reindeer which they put into the basket. Now in those days reindeer
had sharp teeth, like dogs. The next night Raven took the reindeer and
let them down on the earth close to Man's village. Raven said, "Break
down the first house you see and kill the people. Men are becoming too
many." The reindeer did as Raven commanded. They stamped on the house
and broke it down. They ate up the people with their sharp, wolf-like
teeth. The next night, Raven let the reindeer down; again they broke
down a house and ate up the people with their sharp teeth.
The village people were much frightened. The third night they covered
the third house with a mixture of deer fat and berries. On the third
night when the reindeer began to tear down the third house, their
mouths were filled with the fat and sour berries. Then the reindeer
ran away, shaking their heads so violently that all their long, sharp
teeth fell out. Ever since then reindeer have had small teeth and
cannot harm people.
After the reindeer ran away, Raven and Man returned to the skyland.
Man said, "If the people do not stop killing so many animals, they
will kill everything you have made. It would be better to take the sun
away from them. Then it will be dark and people will die."
Raven said, "That is right. You stay here. I will go and take away the
sun."
So Raven went away and took the sun out of the sky. He put it in a
skin bag and carried it far away, to a distant part of the skyland.
Then it became dark on earth.
The people on earth were frightened when the sun vanished. They
offered Raven presents of food and furs if he would bring back the
sun. Raven said, "No." After a while Raven felt sorry for them, so he
let them have a little light. He held up the sun in one hand for two
days so people could hunt and secure food. Then he put the sun in the
skin bag again and the earth was dark. Then, after a long time, when
the people made him many gifts, he would let them have a little light
again.
Now Raven had a brother living in the village. He was sorry for the
earth people. So Raven's brother thought a long time. Then he died.
The people put him in a grave box and had a burial feast. Then they
left the grave box. At once Raven's brother slipped out of the box
and went away from the village. He hid his raven mask and coat in a
tree. Soon Raven's wife came for water. When she took up a dipperful
to drink, Raven's brother, by magic, became a small leaf. He fell into
the water and Raven's wife swallowed him. . . . .
When Raven-Boy was born he grew very rapidly. He was running about
when he was only a few days old. He cried for the sun which was in the
skin bag, hanging on the rafters. Raven was fond of the boy so he let
him play with the sun; yet he was afraid Raven-Boy would lose the sun,
so he watched him. When Raven-Boy began to play out of doors, he cried
and begged for the sun. Raven said, "No." Then Raven-Boy cried more
than ever. At last Raven gave him the sun in the house. Raven-Boy
played with it a long while. When no one was looking, he ran quickly
out of the house. He ran to the tree, put on his raven mask and coat,
and flew far away with the sun in the skin bag. When Raven-Boy was far
up in the sky, he heard Raven call, "Do not hide the sun. Let it out
of the bag. Do not keep it always dark." Raven thought the boy had
stolen it for himself.
Raven-Boy flew to the place where the sun belonged. He tore off the
skin covering and put the sun in its place. Then he saw a broad path
leading far away. He followed it to the side of a hole fringed with
short, bright grass. He remembered that Raven had said, "Do not keep
it always dark," therefore he made the sky turn, with all the stars
and the sun. Thus it is now sometimes dark and sometimes light.
Raven-Boy picked some of the short, bright grass by the edge of the
sky hole and stuck it into the sky. This is the morning star.
Raven-Boy went down to the earth. The people were glad to see him.
They said, "What has become of Man who went into the skyland with
Raven?" Now this was the first time that Raven-Boy had heard of Man.
He started to fly up into the sky, but he could get only a small
distance above the earth. When he found he could not get back to the
sky, Raven-Boy wandered to the second village, where lived the men who
had come from the pod of the beach pea. Raven-Boy there married a wife
and he had many children. But the children could not fly to the sky.
They had lost the magic power. Therefore the ravens now flutter over
the tundras like other birds.
THE FLOOD
_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)
Long, long ago, in the days of the animal people,
Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass became angry. He said, "Let rain pour down
all over the world. Let people die of starvation." At once it became
so stormy people could not get food, so they began to starve. Their
canoes were also broken up, their houses fell in upon them, and they
suffered very much. Then Nas-ca-ki-yel, Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass,
asked for his jointed dance hat. When he put it on water began pouring
out of the top of it. It is from Raven that the Indians obtained this
kind of a hat.
When the water rose to the house floor, Raven and his mother climbed
upon the lowest retaining timber. This house we are speaking of,
although it looked like a house to them, was really part of the world.
It had eight rows of retaining timbers.
When Raven and his mother climbed to a higher timber, the people of
the world were climbing into the hills. Then Raven and his mother
climbed to the fourth timber; by that time the water was half-way up
the mountains. When the house was nearly full of water, Raven's mother
got into the skin of a cax. To this very day Tlingits do not eat the
cax because it was Raven's mother. Then Raven got into the skin of a
white bird with copper-colored bill. Now the cax is a diver and stayed
upon the surface of the water. But Raven flew to the very highest
cloud and hung there by his bill. But his tail was in the water.
After Raven had hung in the cloud for days and days--nobody knows how
long--he pulled his bill out and prayed to fall on a piece of kelp. He
thought the water had gone down. When Raven fell upon the kelp and
flew away he found the waters just half-way down the mountains.
Raven flew around until he met a shark, which had been swimming around
with a long stick. Raven took the stick and climbed down it as a
ladder to the bottom of the ocean. But Raven had set Eagle to watch
the tide.
Raven wandered around the bottom of the ocean until he came to an old
woman. He said to her, "How cold I am after eating those sea urchins."
He repeated this over and over again.
[Illustration: Eskimo Woman from Cape Prince of Wales
_Copyrighted by F. H. Nowell_]
[Illustration: Fur Parkas Worn by Eskimo Women
_Copyrighted by F. H. Nowell_]
At last the woman said, "What low tide is this Raven talking
about?"[1] Raven did not answer. The woman kept repeating, "What
low tide are you talking about?"
[1] In these Northern myths, questions and answers have no
relation to each other. Such speeches are regarded as magic
sayings.
Then Raven became angry. He said, "I will stick these sea urchins into
you if you don't keep quiet." At last he did so.
Then the woman began singing, "Don't, Raven! The tide will go down if
you don't stop."
But the water was receding, as Raven had told it to, in his magic
words. Raven asked Eagle, who was watching the tide, "How far down is
the tide now?"
"The tide is as far down as half a man."
"How far down is the tide?" he asked again.
"The tide is very low," said Eagle.
Then the old woman started her magic song again.
Raven said, "Let it get dry all around the world."
After a while, Eagle said, "The tide is very low now. You can hardly
see any water."
Raven said, "Let it get still drier."
At last everything was dry. This is the lowest tide there ever was.
All the salmon, and whales, and seals lay on the sands because the
water was so low. Then the people killed them for food. They had
enough food to last them a long time.
When the tide began to rise again, the people were frightened. They
feared there would be another flood, so they carried their food back a
long distance.
Afterward Raven returned to Nass River and found that people there
had not changed their ways. They were dancing and feasting. They asked
Raven to join them.
THE ORIGIN OF THE TIDES
_Tsetsaut_
A long time ago, a man wandered down the Nass River. Wherever he
camped, he made rocks of curious shapes. Now his name was Qa, the
Raven. The Tlingit call him Yel.
Qa wandered all over the world. At last he travelled westward. Now at
that time the sea was always high.
In the middle of the world Qa discovered a rock in the sea. He built a
house under the rock. Then he made a hole through it and through the
earth and fitted a lid to it. Raven put a man in charge of the hole.
Twice a day he opens the lid and twice each day he closes it. When the
hole is open the water rushes down through it into the depths; then it
is ebb tide. When he closes the lid, the water rises again; then it is
flood tide.
Once upon a time, Tael, a Tlingit chief, while hunting sea otters was
carried out to Qa's rock by the tide. The current was so strong he
could not escape. When Tael was drawn toward the rock, he saw a few
small trees growing on it. Tael threw his canoe line over one of the
trees. Thus he escaped being carried down by the water into the hole
under the rock. After some time he heard a noise. The man was putting
the lid on the hole. Then the water began to rise. Tael paddled
rapidly away. He paddled away until the tide began to ebb again. Then
he fastened his canoe to a large stone nearby, and waited until flood
tide came again. Thus Tael escaped.
[Illustration: Reflection of Mountain Peaks]
[Illustration: "So the smoke-hole spirits held Raven until the smoke
blackened his white coat"]
HOW THE RIVERS WERE FORMED
_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)
Petrel was the first person created by Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass. He
was keeper of the fresh water. No one else might touch it. Now the
spring he owned was on a rocky island called Dekino, Fort-far-out,
where the well may still be seen. Raven stole a great mouthful of
water, but as he flew over the country drops spilled out of his beak.
These drops made the rivers: the Nass, Skeena, Stikine, and Chilkat.
Raven said, "The water that I drop down upon the earth, here and
there, will whirl all the time. There will be plenty of water, but it
will not flood the world."
Now before this time, Raven was pure white. But when he stole the
water from Petrel he tried to fly out of the smoke hole. Petrel cried,
"Spirits of the smoke hole, hold him fast." So the smoke-hole spirits
held Raven until the smoke blackened his white coat.
THE ORIGIN OF FIRE
_Tlingit_
Long ago, in the days of the animal people, Raven saw a fire far out
at sea. He tied a piece of pitch to Chicken Hawk's bill. He said, "Go
out to the fire, touch it with the pitchwood, and bring it back."
Chicken Hawk did so. The fire stuck to the pitchwood and he brought it
back to Raven. Then Raven put the fire into the rock and into the red
cedar. Then he said, "Thus shall you get your fire--from this rock and
from this red cedar." The tribes did as he told them.
DURATION OF WINTER
_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)
Once Raven went to Ground-hog's house for the winter. Now Ground-hogs
go into their holes in September. At home they live like people.
People to them are animals.
So Raven spent the winter with Ground-hog and became very tired of it.
But he could not get out. Ground-hog enjoyed himself, but Raven acted
like a prisoner. Raven kept shouting, "Winter comes on. Winter comes
on." Raven thought that Ground-hog had power to shorten the winter.
Now at that time, Ground-hog had to stay in his hole for six months;
at that time, Ground-hog had six toes, one for each month of winter.
Then Raven pulled one toe off each foot, so that the winter would be
shorter. That is why the Ground-hog now has but five toes.
RAVEN'S FEAST
_Tlingit_
Raven's mother died, so he gave a great feast, but first he went to
the Ground-hog people to get food. Now 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. He said, "There is going to be
a world snowslide." Ground-hog chief answered, "Well, nobody in this
town knows about it."
In the spring when the snowslides did come, the Ground-hogs threw out
all their green herbs, and their roots from their burrows.
Therefore Raven said to the people, "I am going to have a feast. I am
going to invite the whole world." Raven was going to invite every one
because he had heard that the Gonaqadet had a Chilkat blanket and a
Chilkat hat and he wanted to see them.[2] First he invited the
Gonaqadet and afterward the other chiefs of all the tribes in the
world. At the right time they came.
[2] See myth, "Origin of the Chilkat Blanket."
[Illustration: Pine Falls, Atlin]
[Illustration: Elk Falls
_Photograph by C. L. Andrews_]
When the Gonaqadet came in he had on his Chilkat hat with many crowns
and his Chilkat blanket, but he was surrounded by a fog. Inside of the
house, however, the fog melted away.
Because Raven had this feast, people now have to have feasts. Because
Raven had this burial feast, when a man is going to have a burial
feast he has a many-crowned hat carved on the top of the dead man's
grave post.
CREATION OF THE PORCUPINE
_Tlingit_
Raven went into the woods and set out to make porcupines. For quills
he took pieces of yellow cedar bark. These he set all the way up and
down the porcupine's back so that bears would be afraid of it. That is
why bears never eat porcupines. Raven said to the porcupine, "Whenever
any one comes near you, throw your tail about." That is why people are
afraid to go near a porcupine.
[Illustration: Porcupine]
[Illustration: "Raven showed the people how to make canoes out of
skins"]
HOW RAVEN TAUGHT THE CHILKATS
_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)
Raven taught the Chilkats that there were Athapascan Indians. He went
back into their country. So the Chilkat people to this day make their
money by going there. Raven also taught the Chilkats how to make
secret storehouses outside of their villages, and he taught them how
to put salmon into the storehouses and keep them frozen over winter.
That is how the Chilkats got their name, from _toil_, "storehouse,"
and _xat_, "salmon."
Raven also showed the Chilkats the first seeds of Indian tobacco and
taught them how to plant it. After the tobacco was grown, he dried it
and pounded it up with burned clam shells. The Chilkats made a great
deal of money by trading tobacco with the Athapascans.
Afterward Raven went beyond Copper River to Yukatat. There he showed
the people how to make canoes out of skins.
RAVEN'S MARRIAGE
_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)
After Raven had lived alone a long while, he decided to get married.
It was late in the fall and the birds were flying southward. So Raven
flew away in the path of the geese and birds on their way to
summerland. Raven stopped directly in the path.
Soon Raven saw a young goose coming near. He looked down at his feet
and called, "Who will marry me? I am a very nice man." The goose flew
on.
Soon a black brant passed. Raven looked down at his feet and called,
"Who will marry me? I am a very nice man." The black brant flew on.
Raven looked after her. He said, "What kind of people are these? They
do not even stop to listen."
A duck came near. Raven hid his face and called, "Who will marry me? I
am a very nice man." The duck looked toward him, then flew on. Raven
said, "Ah, I came very near it then. I shall succeed this time."
Soon a whole family of white-front geese came along. There were the
parents, four brothers, and a sister. Raven called out, "Who wants to
marry me? I am a fine hunter. I am young and handsome." The geese
alighted just beyond him. Raven thought, "Now I will get a wife."
Raven saw near him a pretty white stone with a hole in it. He picked
it up, strung it on a long grass stem, and hung it about his neck.
Then he pushed up his beak so that it slid to the top of his head like
a mask; so he became a dark-colored young man. Then he walked up to
the geese. Each of the geese pushed up its bill in the same manner;
they became nice looking people. Raven liked the girl; he gave her the
stone, thus choosing her for his wife, and she hung it about her own
neck. Then all pushed down their bills again and became birds. So they
flew south toward the summerland.
The geese flapped their wings heavily and flew slowly. Raven, on
outspread wing, glided on ahead. The geese looked after him, saying,
"How light and graceful he is!"
When Raven became tired he said, "We had better stop early and look
for a place to sleep." Soon they were all asleep.
The next morning the geese were awake early. They wanted to be off.
Raven was sound asleep. Father Goose wakened him. He said, "We must
make haste. It will snow here soon. We cannot wait."
So the geese flapped their wings and flew slowly and heavily along.
Raven led the others with outspread wings. He was always above or
ahead of the others. They said, "See how light and graceful he is!"
Thus they travelled until they came to the seashore. They feasted upon
the berries on the bushes around it. Soon they were asleep.
Early the next morning the geese made ready to go without breakfast.
Raven was hungry but the geese would not wait. As they flapped their
wings and started, Father Goose said, "We will stop once on the way to
rest; then our next flight will bring us to the other shore." Raven
began to be afraid, but he was ashamed to say so.
The geese flapped their wings slowly and flew steadily, heavily along.
Raven, with outspread wings, glided ahead. After a long time Raven
began to fall behind. His wings ached. The geese flew steadily on.
Raven flapped heavily along, then glided on his outstretched wings.
But he grew more and more tired. He fell farther and farther behind.
At last the geese looked back. Father Goose said, "He must be tired. I
thought he was light and active. We will wait."
[Illustration: Shoup's Glacier, Valdez]
[Illustration: Birdseye View of Valdez]
The geese settled close together in the water. Raven flew slowly
up, gasping for breath. He sank down upon their backs. When Raven had
his breath again, he put his hand on his breast. He said, "I have an
arrow here from an old war. It pains me greatly. That is why I fell
behind."
After resting, the geese rose from the water. They flapped slowly
along. Raven flew with them. After a while, Raven began to fall
behind. He grew more and more tired. At last the geese looked back.
Father Goose said, "He must be tired. We will wait." So the geese sank
down together in the water, while Raven flew slowly up to them and
sank down upon their backs.
Raven said, "I have an arrowhead which pierced my heart in an old war.
That is why I fell behind." Raven's wife put her hand on his breast.
She could feel it beating like a hammer; she said she could not feel
an arrowhead.
So the geese rose again from the water. They flapped slowly along. But
Raven's wings were very tired. Before long he fell behind again. Again
the geese waited for him.
Then the Geese Brothers began to talk among themselves. They said, "We
do not believe he has an arrowhead in his heart. How could he live?"
Now this last time when they rested, they could see the far-off shore.
Father Goose said to Raven, "We will not wait for you again. We will
not rest again until we reach the shore."
So the geese rose from the water and flapped slowly along. Raven's
wings seemed very heavy. The geese flew nearer and nearer the shore;
but Raven flew nearer and nearer the waves. As he came close to the
water he shrieked to his wife, "Leave me the white stone. Throw the
white stone back to me." It was a magic stone. Thus Raven cried. Then
he sank down into the water, but the geese had reached the land.
Raven tried to rise from the water. His wings would not spread. Raven
drifted back and forth with the waves. The white caps of the surf
buried him. Only once in a while could he get his beak above the water
to breathe. Then a great wave cast him on the shore. Then he struggled
up the beach. He reached some bushes where he pushed up his beak. Thus
he became a small, dark-colored man. Then he took off his raven coat
and mask. He hung them on a bush to dry. Raven made a fire drill out
of dry wood and made a fire. Thus he dried himself.
RAVEN AND THE SEALS
_Tsimshian_
As Raven travelled along, he came to a house where a man lived near
the edge of the water. Raven said to him, "I will be your friend."
The man said, "That is good."
Now the beach in front of the house was full of seals. Raven ate them
all during two nights. He ate all the seals in front of the house.
Then he was hungry again.
Raven killed the man. Then he used his canoe and harpoon. Raven used
those. He speared four seals. Then he returned to the shore. He took
the seals out of the canoe and began cutting wood. Then he built a
fire and placed stones in it in order to heat them. Afterward he put
the seals on a pile of hot stones. He cooked the four seals and
covered them with skunk cabbage leaves.
Raven then raised the cover and took out a seal. He ate it. Then he
stretched out his hand and took another seal.
Now there was Stump sitting nearby. Raven held the seal in his hands
and said to the stump, "Don't you envy me, Stump?" Then he went into
the woods. At once Stump arose and sat down on the hole in which the
seals were steaming. The seals were right under Stump. Then Raven
returned, carrying leaves of skunk cabbage. When he saw Stump sitting
on his seals, he cried. He was much troubled because he was hungry.
Then he took a stick and dug the ground. He cried all the time he was
digging. He found a little bit of meat and ate that. But he could not
do anything. He cried all the time because he was so hungry.
[Illustration: Masks
_From drawing loaned by the Smithsonian Institution_]
[Illustration: Dolls
_From drawing loaned by the Smithsonian Institution_]
RAVEN AND PITCH
_Tsimshian_
Raven went travelling through the woods until he came to the house of
Little Pitch. Little Pitch was rich, and invited him in. When Raven
had eaten enough, he slept. When he awakened, he said they would go to
catch halibut.
Little Pitch was willing, but said, "It is not good for me to be out
after sunrise. I must return while it is still chilly. I shall have
enough by that time."
Raven said, "I shall do whatever you say, Chief."
Little Pitch said, "Well!"
Then they started for the fishing place. They fished all night. When
the sun rose Little Pitch wanted to go ashore.
Raven said, "I enjoy the fishing. Lie down in the bow of the canoe and
cover yourself with a mat."
Little Pitch did so. After a while Raven called, "Little Pitch!"
He answered, "Heh!"
After a while Raven called again, "Little Pitch!"
He answered again in a loud voice.
Again after some time, Raven called again, "Little Pitch!"
Then Little Pitch's answer was very weak because the sun was getting
warm.
Now Raven hauled up his line and paddled home. He pretended to paddle
hard, but he only put his paddles into the water edgewise. Again he
called, "Little Pitch!"
"Heh!" Little Pitch replied, but his voice was very weak. The sun was
getting still hotter. Then Raven knew that Little Pitch was melting.
Behold! Pitch came out and ran over the halibut in the boat. Therefore
the halibut is black on one side.
Then Raven took the pitch and mended his boat with it.
RAVEN'S DANCING BLANKET
_Tsimshian_
One day Raven put on the shaman's blanket of his grandfather. Then he
went away; he strayed off. He was very poor and he tore his dancing
blanket. Then he caught ravens. He used anything to kill the ravens.
Then he took the skins of the ravens and tied them together. Then he
walked about in them, dressed very well.