Galaíwa Mouse
Káwhas Blackbird
Leméis Thunder
Mówas Sléwis South Wind
Tániäs Sléwis North Wind
Tcûskai Weasel
Tskel Mink
Tcûskai and Tskel lived together on North Wind Mountain (east of
Klamath marsh). Tskel thought it was time to have a wife. He knew there
were women off in the north, so he said to Tcûskai: “Go to Sycan and
get two women.” When Tcûskai got to the place, the women were digging
roots. He snatched their caps and ran home with them. All the women
followed him. In that old time this was one way of getting a wife. A
man stole something a woman was wearing; then she knew he wanted her,
and she followed him home.
When Tcûskai brought so many caps, Tskel was angry. He said: “Why do
you always make trouble? I sent you for two women, and you have brought
a great many. What will you do now?”
Tcûskai kept two of the caps and threw the other ones away. When the
women came, they picked up their caps and went home; only two women
stayed. After a while each woman had a little boy. They rubbed the
children with ashes, and they grew fast.
As soon as the boys could run around and play, they began to quarrel.
Tcûskai made them arrows to shoot birds and squirrels with; after that,
when they got angry, they shot at each other. Then Tcûskai made them
arrows with poisoned points, and one day when they were fighting, they
killed each other.
Tcûskai stayed in the house, but he knew what had happened; he always
knew everything. Tskel was away hunting for deer. As soon as he came
home, he looked around for his boys; when he found that the two boys
were dead, he called Tcûskai and they burned the bodies. Then Tskel
said to his brother: “I want you to travel in the mountains and swim in
the ponds. After that you can go south and cut off Mówas Sléwis’ head.”
Tcûskai wanted to go north.
Tskel said: “If Tániäs Sléwis should put out his head, you would die.
He would cover everything with ice, and you would freeze to death.”
“I can go north as well as you can,” said Tcûskai. “I don’t want to go
south; you can go there.”
“Go north if you want to,” said Tskel. “It won’t be my fault if you are
killed.”
They went to all the high mountains and swam in the swimming pools,
then Tcûskai went to Tániäs Sléwis’ home, and his brother went south to
Mówas Sléwis’ home.
When Tcûskai got near Tániäs Sléwis’ house, he rolled himself up tight
in his blanket, but as soon as Tániäs Sléwis stuck his head out to see
who was around, Tcûskai died. Wind and cold cut through his body and
killed him. When Tániäs Sléwis drew his head in, Tcûskai came to life.
Tskel was at Mówas Sléwis’ place, but he saw Tcûskai and knew what was
happening. Mówas Sléwis put his head out, Tskel cut it off, skinned it,
and made himself a cap of the skin. Tskel had his emi [8] in his hand.
Nothing in the world could break that knife, but whatever it was thrown
at broke—Tskel made it that way by thinking hard. As soon as he had cut
off Mówas Sléwis’ head, he went north to help his brother. When he got
to Tániäs Sléwis’ house, he put Tcûskai under his blanket, and watched
for Sléwis to put his head out. Tskel could endure the cold, for he had
on the cap made of the skin of Mówas Sléwis’ head.
As soon as Tániäs Sléwis put his head out, Tskel cut it off. Now both
Mówas Sléwis and Tániäs Sléwis were killed, and that is why it is not
as cold in winter, or as hot in summer as it used to be. Their bodies
are dead, but their spirits are alive. The wind that blows from the
south is Mówas Sléwis’ spirit, and the wind that comes from the north
is Tániäs Sléwis’ spirit.
Tskel skinned Tániäs Sléwis’ head, and now he had two caps.
When they got home Tcûskai wanted the cap made of Tániäs Sléwis’ head,
for whenever he put it on he could freeze people to death, but Tskel
wouldn’t give it to him. He was afraid that Tcûskai wasn’t strong
enough to wear it; that it would freeze him to death.
Tskel said: “The five Leméis brothers are bad men; they kill people and
eat them. Their house is in a deep place, and there are great rocks
around it. The tallest tree in the world wouldn’t reach to the bottom
of the house. Our sister, who married Kaiutois lives there with her
husband and his five brothers; we will go and visit her.”
Gäk and Káwhas went with Tcûskai and Tskel. When they came to the house
the men were off hunting; only old Leméis and his wife and daughter and
Kaiutois’ wife were at home. Tskel had on the cap made of Tániäs
Sléwis’ head. The minute he went into the house ice was everywhere. Old
Leméis and his wife were terribly scared; they thought somebody had
come who was stronger than they were. They wanted to get away as soon
as they could, but the ladder was covered with ice, and they kept
slipping back into the house. At last they got out.
Kaiutois’ wife and children were warm. Tskel made it so, for she was
his sister.
Old Leméis’ daughter was meaner than her brothers. The belt around her
waist was made of men’s bones; she killed men by making them put on
that belt. As soon as the belt was around a man’s waist, the bones
pressed together until they cut him in two. She handed the belt to
Tskel and told him to put it on.
He said: “I will put on your belt, if you will put on my cap first.”
She put the cap on. It pressed her head and almost froze her to death,
but she snatched it off and ran out of the house. She was scared.
Outside old Leméis and his wife were crying with cold. The eldest of
the five brothers came with two men in his belt. His father said:
“There is somebody in our house who is stronger than we are.”
“There is nobody in the world stronger than I am,” said the young man.
“I will kill the man who is in there.” He put one foot on the ladder,
but sprang back and began to scream.
The second brother came with dead men in his belt. He said he was the
strongest person in the world, but the minute he put one foot on the
ladder, he sprang back, crying with cold.
The third brother put his foot on the second rung of the ladder, then
he turned back. He roared terribly; he tried to frighten Tskel, but
Tskel wasn’t afraid.
The fourth brother came with four dead men in his belt; one was kin to
Tskel. He went down four rungs of the ladder, then sprang back; the
dead man who was kin to Tskel slipped out of his belt and fell inside.
Tskel made that so by thinking. Then he brought the dead man to life.
When the youngest and strongest one of the brothers came, he got down
the ladder into the house, but he was out as soon as he was in. Just at
sundown Kaiutois came with a deer on his back. Tskel took his cap off
and Tcûskai put on his cap made of South Wind’s head. Right away all
the ice was gone.
Now the Leméis brothers came inside. They built a big fire and heated
rocks, put the rocks in a basket of water, and boiled pieces of the men
they had brought home. Kaiutois roasted deer meat and gave it to his
brothers-in-law. Gäk and Káwhas ate the meat old Leméis gave them. That
is why crows and blackbirds eat any dead thing they can find.
After eating, everybody lay down. The five Leméis brothers lay in a
row; they were watching, for they wanted to kill Tskel.
Káwhas had bright eyes; when he was asleep the Leméis brothers thought
he was awake. Tskel made the five brothers go to sleep. They had long
hair and Tskel tied one brother’s hair to another’s, till he had the
five tied together. He did this so that when they woke up each one
would think that his brother was pulling his hair, and all of them
would get to fighting. Tcûskai, Tskel, Gäk, Káwhas, Kaiutois and his
wife went outside. Tskel hired Galaíwa to fill all the holes in the
house with pitch and pile pitch wood up around it; when that was done
he set fire to the place.
When the house began to burn, the five brothers sprang up; that made
their hair pull and they began to fight one another with their long
flint knives. Soon they were all dead. Their bodies were burned up, but
their hearts flew out of the fire. Tcûskai and Tskel were watching, and
as soon as a heart came out they pushed it back into the fire. They did
this till each heart burst and the spirit came out and went away. Four
of the hearts were destroyed, but the heart of the youngest and
strongest brother got away from Tskel. It went up to the sky and became
Leméis. Leméis is up there yet; we hear him when he travels around.
Klamath Indians think that Thunder is a little fellow with very long
hair.