It looked like a huge animal. Its face was fire. Fire came from its
mouth and also from its back. Flames of fire shot from its paws. The
Thing, moving backward, thundered through the air.
In the olden times, these monsters came often. Now they have not been
seen for a long time.
SLEEP HOUSE
_Tlingit_
Once a Huna man and his wife were paddling along in a canoe, about
midnight, in search of seals. The man kept hearing a noise around his
head like that made by a bird. At last he hit the thing with his hand
and knocked it into the canoe. It was shaped like a bird, only with
eyelids hanging far over, and its name was Ta, Sleep. He gave the bird
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. All the
poles in it were carved to look like this bird. After that the man got
very tired without being able to sleep. At last he ran away into the
forest.
[Illustration: Frozen Waterfall]
[Illustration: "The wind blows over the Yukon"
_Photograph by C. L. Andrews_]
CRADLE SONG[4]
_Koyukun_
[4] Transcribed by J. A. Dall.
"The wind blows over the Yukon,
My husband hunts the deer on the Koyukun Mountains.
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one.
"There is no wood for the fire.
The stone axe is broken, my husband carries the other.
Where is the sun-warmth? Hid in the dam of the beaver, waiting
the spring-time?
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not!
"Look not for ukali, old woman.
Long since the cache was emptied, and the crow does not light on
the ridge pole!
Long since my husband departed. Why does he wait in the mountains?
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, softly.
"Where is my own?
Does he lie starving on the hillside? Why does he linger?
Comes he not soon I will seek him among the mountains.
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, sleep.
"The crow has come, laughing,
His beak is red, his eyes glisten, the false one.
'Thanks for a good meal to Kuskokala the shaman.
On the sharp mountain quietly lies your husband.'
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not!
"'Twenty deer's tongues tied to the pack on his shoulders;
Not a tongue in his mouth to call to his wife with.
Wolves, foxes, and ravens are tearing and fighting for morsels.
Tough and hard are the sinews; not so the child in your bosom?'
Ahmi, Ahmi, sleep, little one, wake not!
"Over the mountain slowly staggers the hunter.
Two bucks' thighs on his shoulders, with bladders of fat between them.
Twenty deer's tongues in his belt. Go, gather wood, old woman!
Off flew the crow,--liar, cheat, and deceiver!
Wake, little sleeper, wake, and call to your father!
"He brings you backfat, marrow, and venison fresh from the mountain.
Tired and worn, he has carved a toy of the deer's horn,
While he was sitting and waiting long for the deer on the hillside.
Wake and see the crow, hiding himself from the arrow!
Wake, little one, wake, for here is your father!"
PROVERBS
_Tsimshian_
A deer, although toothless, may accomplish something.[5]
[5] Deceptive appearances.
He is just now sleeping on a deerskin.[6]
[6] Comfort now but trouble ahead.
He wants to die with all his teeth in his head.[7]
[7] Too reckless to live to old age.
You think Nass River is always calm.[8]
[8] Foolhardiness of those who think everything favorable to
them. The mouth of the Nass is very rough.
You mistake the corner of the house for the door.[9]
[9] A gross blunder.
What will you eat when the snow is on the north side of the trees?[10]
[10] Improvidence. At the end of winter food is always scarce.
[Illustration: Travellers over the Chilkoot Pass (1891) after the
Discovery of Gold
_Copyright, 1898, by E. A. Hegg_]
[Illustration: Looking Down Cut-off Canyon from below White Pass
Summit]
HOW THE FOX BECAME RED
_Athapascan_
Once Fox, when very hungry, was travelling through the country. All at
once he saw a goose with many goslings. Fox ran after them. As he ran
he sang,
"I shall have your tender breasts before I go to sleep;
I shall have your tender breasts before I go to sleep."
As Fox ran toward them, the geese came to water and plunged in. Fox
followed slowly along the edge of the water. When he saw he could not
get the geese, Fox became so angry he turned red all over--all except
the tip of his tail.
BEAVER AND PORCUPINE
_Tsimshian_
Now Beaver was the friend of Porcupine. Much they loved each other.
Then Beaver invited Porcupine to his house on the large lake. There in
the very middle of the lake was the house of Beaver. Now Beaver, on
his part, liked the water, but Porcupine had no way to go from the
shore to the lake, because he knew not how to swim. Therefore feared
Porcupine that he should die should his stomach be filled with water,
because he knew not how to swim. Therefore this did Beaver: from the
lake to the land he went for Porcupine. Only twice rose Beaver above
the water, going to where Porcupine was sitting on the shore.
Then said Beaver to Porcupine, "I carry you. Fast hold my neck."
Porcupine was afraid. He said to Beaver, "I might die."
"You shall not die." Thus said the Beaver to the Porcupine.
Then went up Porcupine to the back of Beaver.
Beaver said, "Fast hold my neck."
Thus did Porcupine. Then swam Beaver out on the water. But not long
did he swim. Beaver dived. Then much troubled was Porcupine because he
knew not how to swim. Now the Beavers really own the country of the
water, but among the mountains is the country of Porcupine.
Twice rose Beaver above the water. Then reached he the middle of the
great lake where floated his home. But much troubled was Porcupine,
lest he die in the water. Then they entered the house of Beaver. Then
they ate. Now this for food had the Beaver: sticks were the food for
his feast. Then really troubled was the Porcupine, there to eat
sticks. Yet Porcupine ate the stick.
Well, then one day, said Beaver to Porcupine: "Friend, now we play."
Then said Beaver how he would play: "I carry you. Four times I emerge
from the water."
"Surely I die." Thus said the heart of Porcupine. Yet he agreed.
Beaver said, "Fast hold to my neck. Lie close against the nape of my
neck."
Then was ready the heart of Porcupine to die. Then dived Beaver. Yet
first struck he the water with his tail. Thus he first splashed water
into the face of Porcupine. Then dived Beaver. Long was he under
water. Then a little dead was Porcupine. His stomach was full of
water. Three times the Beaver rose from the water. Then only once more
remained. Then again dived Beaver. Almost dead was Porcupine. Then
with him he returned. From lake to land he took him.
Then Porcupine went back to his tribe. When again he reached his
tribe, to his house he invited the people. Then into the house of
Porcupine went the invited ones. Then he told them what Beaver had
done in his great house on the lake. He told the people what Beaver,
who had invited him, had done. He said, "Almost dead was I through my
friend."
Then said his people, "Good! You also invite him. Also play with him."
This did Porcupine. He also invited Beaver, his friend. To the house
of Beaver did he send. Then came Beaver into the valley. Up he went.
Then came he to the house of Porcupine. Then this did Porcupine: when
Beaver entered into the house, Porcupine struck on the fireplace with
his own tail. Then it burnt. Then Beaver made a song:
"In the middle burnt the tail of little Porcupine, pa!
In the middle burnt the tail of little Porcupine."
[Illustration: Dog Team with Record of 412 Miles in 72 Hours
_Copyrighted by B. B. Dobbs_]
[Illustration: Siberian Husky
_Courtesy "Alaska-Yukon Magazine"_]
Then ran Porcupine around in front of Beaver to play with his friend.
Now when this was finished, what did the Porcupine? He got food for
the Beaver to eat. Then this did the Porcupine: bark of a tree and
leaves of a tree did he give him for a feast. Then, on his part,
Beaver was afraid to eat. Then this said the Porcupine to his great
friend, Beaver: "Eat fast, friend. Eat fast, friend." Then so did the
Beaver.
Then said Porcupine, "Friend,"--thus said he to Beaver--"to-morrow
morning we play, you and I. There stands a tree on a grassy slope.
There is my playground."
Then they slept. But Porcupine sang,
"Now along the edge I walk . . . out falls my shooting star."
Then spoke Porcupine to the sky, and the sky did so. Clear became the
sky. The ground was ice in the morning.
Now again Porcupine invited the people to a feast for great Beaver.
Then Porcupine said, "We play, friend. There stands my playground."
Now very sharp was the cold. The ground was ice. Where water ran down,
slippery was it with ice. But Beaver followed Porcupine. Then again
was Beaver troubled. Always slippery were his hands, but long were the
claws of Porcupine. Then Porcupine returned to see great Beaver. Then
said Porcupine, "Come, do it, friend." Thus said Porcupine to great
Beaver. But the Beaver could not cross, because icy was the mountain.
Then this did the Porcupine: he took the hands of Beaver, then across
he led him. Thus across he got. Porcupine was going to play with
Beaver, just as he also did once. So they reached the place where
stood the tree.
"Good! Go up!" Thus said Porcupine to Beaver. Then much troubled was
Beaver. He was afraid.
"Well! See!" Thus said Porcupine. So Porcupine went up first. Up he
went to the very top. Then he let go the top of the tree. As soon as
he dropped, this he said, while coming down:
"An-de-be-laq! An-de-be-laq!"
Then he dropped on a stone, but arose. Not dead was he!
Then said Porcupine to Beaver, "See, friend! It is not hard."
Then up on the tree carried he Beaver. He said, "Fast hold to my
neck." And very fast he held to the neck of Porcupine. Then when
Porcupine reached near the top of the tree, he put Beaver on a branch.
Then greatly afraid was Beaver for his hands were not good for holding
fast to a tree. Only a Porcupine knows that, because long are his
claws.
Then thus said Porcupine: "Really hold fast, friend. I go down
first." The Beaver did so. All around the branch were his hands. Then
Porcupine let go the tree. Into space he went. Again he said,
"An-de-be-laq! An-de-be-laq!"
Then once more he dropped on the stones, but not dead was he!
Much troubled was the heart of great Beaver, in holding the branch.
Much troubled was he at falling. Then about the foot of the tree ran
Porcupine. Then up he looked to where was his friend. Thus said
Porcupine: "Go on, friend. It is not hard. Look at me. Not dead am I
because I fell!"
Then Beaver let go the branch. Thus said Beaver as he fell,
"Loop! Lo-op!"[11]
[11] "Stone! Stone!"
Then Beaver struck the rocks. He lay on his back. He was dead.
THE MARK OF THE MARTEN
_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)
Long ago a hungry marten went to an Indian camp. The Indians around
the camp fire were eating salmon. Marten sat still and watched them.
He was hungry and he watched this Indian and then that. Then an Indian
threw at him a piece of red salmon. It struck Marten on the breast and
the reddish mark is there, even to this day.
[Illustration: Totem Poles
_Copyrighted by F. H. Nowell_]
[Illustration: Laplanders Milking Reindeer, near Port Clarence]
THE WOLVES AND THE DEER
_Tsimshian_
Now the Wolves had a feast on a prairie at the mouth of Skeena River.
Then invited the Wolves to the feast all the Deer chiefs. At once came
the invited Deer. At once they sat down on the prairie face to face
with the Wolves.
Then said the Wolves to the Deer, "Laugh ye on the other side."
"No," thus said the Deer to the Wolves, "ye first laugh."
"Well," said the Wolves at once, "then we will laugh. _Ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha!_ Go on, ye also. Ye also, on the other side, laugh."
"Well," said the Deer. Then they laughed, "_Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm!_ Again
also ye must laugh."
"Well." At once again laughed the Wolves: "_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_"
At once the Deer were much afraid when they saw the great teeth of the
Wolves. Then again said also the Wolves, "Go on! Laugh again, ye on
the other side. Keep not your mouths closed when ye laugh. Not so
does any one laugh. Open wide your mouths when ye laugh." Thus said
the Wolves. "Now, laugh ye!"
At once then laughed the Deer: "_Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!_" Thus laughed
the Deer, opening their mouths. But they had no teeth. Then the Wolves
saw that the Deer had no teeth. At once they attacked them. At once
the Wolves bit them all over. At once they ate the Deer. Only a few
escaped. Therefore now are the Deer afraid of Wolves.
THE CAMP ROBBER[12]
_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)
[12] The camp robber is the slate-colored Alaskan jay,
troublesome for its habit of stealing food from the camps.
Now in the days of the animal people, the camp robber was a medicine
man. One time the people had nothing to eat, so they asked the
medicine man to find food for them. Therefore for six nights the men
dreamed of a way to find food. The camp robber was the sixth man. He
dreamed on the sixth night. Then he called all the people together and
told them to bring their snares with them. He took all the snares,
make a pack of them, and put them on his back. But the people heaped
up the snow in a great pile. Around this snow pile the camp robber
walked, chanting and singing "By and by meat will come." Thus he sang.
Then the camp robber reached into the snow and pulled out a caribou's
head by the horns. This was not a real caribou; it was the spirit
caribou. So the camp robber painted the horns and tail red and sent it
back into the snow heap. The next day a great herd of caribou came.
The one with red horns and tails was among them.
That is why an Indian never kills a camp robber when he steals food.
He lets him go because he helped to find food for them in the days of
the animal people, when the camp robber was a medicine man.
[Illustration: View of Skagway
_Photograph by C. L. Andrews_]
[Illustration: Bering Sea, near Nome]
THE CIRCLING OF CRANES
_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)
One day in the autumn, long, long ago, the cranes were preparing to go
southward. As they gathered in a great flock, they saw a beautiful
girl standing alone near the village. The cranes wanted to take her
with them. They gathered about and lifted her on their outspread
wings. So they carried her into the air and far away. Now when the
cranes were taking her up into the air, they circled below her closely
so she could not fall. They also cried in loud, hoarse voices so that
people could not hear her call for help. Therefore the cranes always
circle about in autumn when preparing to fly southward, and utter loud
hoarse cries.
THE LAST OF THE THUNDERBIRDS
_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)
Long, long ago there were many thunderbirds living in the mountains,
but at last there were only two left. These birds made their home on
the round top of a mountain overlooking the Yukon. They hollowed out a
great basin on the summit for a nest, and from the rocky rims they
could look down upon a village upon the river bank.
From this perch the thunderbirds, looking like a black cloud, would
soar away, bringing back to their young a reindeer in their talons.
Sometimes with a great noise like thunder they swooped down upon a
fisherman in his kayak and carried him away. The man would be eaten by
the young birds, and the kayak broken to bits in the nest. Every fall
the young birds flew away into the northland, but the old birds
remained in the nest. They had carried away so many fishermen that
only the most daring would go out on the great river.
One day when a fisherman went to look at his traps, he cautioned his
wife not to leave the house for fear of the thunderbirds. During the
morning, she needed fresh water and started for the river. A noise
like thunder filled the air, a black shadow fell over her, and a
thunderbird darted down upon her.
When the fisherman returned to his house, people of the village told
him of the thunderbird. He made no answer. He took his bow and
quiverful of war arrows and started for the mountain. When he reached
the rim of the great nest, he looked in. The old birds were away. The
nest was full of young eagles with fiery, shining eyes and shrill
cries. The hunter fitted a war arrow, the string twanged, and the
arrow killed a young thunderbird. So the hunter killed them all.
The hunter hid behind a great rock near the nest. When the old birds
came home, the thunder of their wings was heard even across the great
river; their cries of rage frightened the villagers on the river's
bank. The mother bird swooped down upon the hunter beside the rock.
Quickly he fitted a war arrow, the string twanged, and the arrow bit
deep into her throat. Then the mother bird, flapping her wings so that
the hills shook, flew away to the northland.
The father bird circled overhead and then swooped down upon the
hunter. He crouched below the rocks and the thunderbird's great talons
caught only the rock. The hunter fitted a war arrow in his bow, the
string twanged, and the heavy war arrow bit deep under his great wing.
Spreading his wings like a black cloud in the sky, the thunderbird
flew away to the northland.
HOW THE KIKSADI CLAN CAME TO SITKA
_Tlingit_
Long ago, when we were first born, people hated us. Then the Sky
People brought war upon us. They destroyed us completely. One woman
saved herself; she hid in a hole which she dug under a log.
Afterward various people came to her. "I wonder who can tell me about
things," she said. Grizzly Bear came near her.
"What can you do?" she asked.
"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?" said a voice.
"What can you do?"
"My father in the sun peeps out through the clouds--the mottled
clouds."
So the woman married the child of the sun. He lowered down from the
sky a great fort to protect the woman and her children. When the enemy
saw that, they came back. The father said, "When the enemy get too
strong, put your minds on me." So when the enemy became too strong,
the woman and her children put their minds on Grandfather Sun. He
peeped out through the clouds upon the enemy. It quickly became
smoking hot. The sea water out there boiled. The enemy ran down
quickly into the water and were all destroyed. Then the water stopped
boiling. The grandchildren of Sun stayed inside their fort.
[Illustration: View of Eldorado]
[Illustration: Scene on the White Pass and Yukon Route]
ORIGIN OF THE GRIZZLY BEAR CREST
_Tlingit_
A long time ago when some of the Kagwantan clan were catching herring
at Town-at-mouth-of-lake, a bear came to the place where they were
fishing. The bear reached down through the smoke hole and stole the
herring they were drying. Then people said; "Who is this thief that is
stealing our fish?" Because they said that, the grizzly bear killed
all of them. Then the Kagwantan seized their spears and set out to
kill the bears nearby. When they found them, the bears were lying in
holes they had dug out for themselves. The people said to them, "Come
out here. We will fight it out." So the bears came out and the people
killed them. They took the skins from the heads of the bears and
preserved them. That is how the Kagwantan came to use the grizzly bear
crest.
ORIGIN OF THE FROG CREST
_Tlingit_
Long ago, a man and his wife were crossing a large bay near Sitka when
it became very foggy. They could not even see the water around their
canoe. Then, in the thick fog, they heard singing. The song was:
We picked up a man;
We picked up a man;
You picked up a man.
They captured a man;
They captured a man;
You've captured a man.
The voice was so strong they could hear it re√ęcho among the mountains.
As the fog rose, the song came nearer and nearer. At last they saw the
voice came from a wee little frog.
The man said: "This frog is mine. I shall claim it."
His wife said, "No, it is mine. I shall claim it."
Thus they argued. At last the man let his wife take the frog.
The woman took it ashore, treating it just like a child. She took it
up into the woods, put it down by a lake, and left it there. That is
why the Kiksadi clan at Sitka claim the frog as their totem.
ORIGIN OF THE BEAVER CREST
_Tlingit_
A young beaver was captured, long ago, by a family of the Decitan. It
was well cared for, but it became angry and began to make songs.
Afterward the beaver's master went through the woods to a creek and
found there two salmon-spear handles, beautifully carved. They were at
the foot of a big tree. He took them home and when the beaver saw them
he said, "That is my work."
After a while, something offended the beaver again. He began to sing
just like a human being. Then he seized a spear and threw it through
his master's chest. So his master was killed. The beaver thumped its
tail on the ground and the house fell into the ground. The beaver had
dug a great hollow under the house. It is from this story that the
Decitan clan claim the beaver as their totem and have the beaver
crest. They also have songs composed by the beaver.
ORIGIN OF THE KILLER WHALE CREST
_Tlingit_
A long time ago there was a man named Natsiane who always quarrelled
with his wife. One day his brothers-in-law took him to an island far
out at sea and left him there.
Natsiane began to think, "What can I do?" As he sat there thinking, he
whittled two killer whales out of cottonwood bark. He put them into
the water and shouted as the shamans do. They looked as if they were
swimming but when they came to the surface, they were only cottonwood
bark.
Natsiane made two more whales out of alder. He tried to put the spirit
of his clan into them. As he put them in the water, he whistled four
times like a spirit, "_Whu, whu, whu, whu_." When they floated to the
surface they were only alder wood. Then he tried hemlock, then red
cedar. Afterward he tried yellow cedar. These whales swam right away
like large killer whales. They swam out a long distance. When they
came back they turned into wood.
Then Natsiane made holes in their dorsal fins, seized one of them
with each hand, and let the killer whales tow him out to sea. He said
to them, "If you see my brothers-in-law in canoes, you are to upset
them." After the whales had towed Natsiane to sea for some distance,
they returned to the island. They became wood again.
The next time Natsiane saw his brothers-in-law in their canoes, he put
the spirit of his clan into the killer whales. Then they overturned
the canoes and broke them to bits. They killed the people in them.
After that Natsiane said to his killer whales, "You are not to injure
people again. You must be kind to them."
So these two killer whales became the canoes of the spirits. Shamans
are lucky if they can get the spirit canoes.
It is through this story that the Daqlawe clan have the killer whale
crest.
THE DISCONTENTED GRASS PLANT
_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)
Near the village of Pastolik, at the mouth of the Yukon, grows a tall,
slender grass which the women weave into baskets and mats.
A grass-stalk which had almost been pulled up by the women became much
frightened. He wished he were something else. Close to him was a bunch
of herbs, living peacefully and quietly. Grass said, "I wish I were an
Herb." At once it became an Herb, and lived peacefully.
One day the women came back with sharp-pointed picks, made from the
antlers of the reindeer. They began to dig up the herbs and to eat
some of the roots. Again Grass was frightened. He saw a small creeping
plant nearby, very small and obscure. Grass said, "I wish I were a
Creeping Plant." At once he became a small Creeping Plant.
The women came back again and tore up much of the small creeping
plant. Grass became much worried. He said, "I wish I were that small
Tuber-plant there." At once he became a plant having a tuberous root.
[Illustration: Alaska Cotton on the Tundra, near Nome
_Courtesy "Alaska-Yukon Magazine"_]
[Illustration: A Crested Hat
_Copyrighted by Case and Draper_]
Soon a small tundra mouse came creeping through the grass, and began
nibbling at one of the tubers nearby. Grass thought, "I will not be
safe until I become a Mouse." At once Grass became Mouse.
He felt quite free as Mouse, and ran around over the tundra, nibbling
at roots. Sometimes he would sit up on his hind legs and look about
him. While travelling along, Mouse saw a great white Thing coming
toward him. Sometimes it dropped to the ground, and after eating
something would fly on. As it came near, Mouse saw it was a great
white owl. Owl saw Mouse and darted down upon it, but Mouse slipped
into a hole nearby and Owl flew away.