is at that chief’s house.” “Which chief’s house?” said her father. “The
chief that lives up on the hill.” Then her father said, “What makes
you say that, child? Your mother has been dead for some time.” Then he
took her hand and said pityingly, “Poor child, your mother is dead.”
He began to cry as he held the child’s hand and then said, “I will go
and see the place where I put her.” So he got another to accompany him,
and they brought the box down. It felt very light. When he opened it
it was empty. Then he thought to himself, “I am going to make certain
of this.” About midnight he saw a fire at the chief’s house. Then he
climbed up on top of it, looked down through the smoke hole, and saw
his wife sitting there playing with the chief’s son. She looked very
happy.
When the man got home he said to himself, “What can I do?” He thought,
“How can I become a wizard?” So he did everything to turn himself into
a wizard. He went among the graves, and played with the bodies and
bones, but could not become a wizard. Then he went out to an island in
front of the village and played with the bones of the dead people that
were there. Finally he got hold of two shoulder blades with which he
fanned and rubbed himself and all at once he fainted. Then he thought
he would try working them like wings, and sure enough he began flying
along very rapidly. Now he determined to go to the place where his wife
was living.
First the man went up into the woods, procured very hard limbs and
began to split them. He made the points very sharp. Then he stuck them
into grease and burned it off in order to harden them. He took these
along with him and crawled up on top of the house. Then he flew down
through the smoke hole. He bewitched everyone in the house so that all
slept soundly, passed into the rear bedroom, and stuck the sticks into
the hearts of his wife and her lover so that they died.
Early next morning, when the slaves got up as usual to wait upon the
young people, they were kept waiting so long that they were surprised.
They thought that they were sleeping very late. Finally they went to
see what was the matter and saw them lying in each others’ arms with
the blood flowing from their mouths. The news was soon all over the
village.
Early that same morning the woman’s former husband took his gambling
sticks and came out to gamble. He pretended that he knew nothing about
what had happened. When persons came to gamble with him he shouted
out as people do when they are gambling, “These are the sharp sticks.
These are the sharp sticks.” People wondered why he said it, and much
whispering went on while they gambled. The man looked very happy.
86. THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED THE DEAD MAN
A woman belonging to the cohoes people (ʟǃūˊkᴀnᴀ-cā), whose father was
a chief, was kept very pure and had a girl accompany her always. One
day, as she was going out with her servant, she tripped over something
and on looking at it found that it was a skull. She said, “Who can the
bad person be who has brought skulls near my father’s house in the
place where I was going to walk?” She kicked the skull to one side and
walked straight back into the house, for she was frightened.
The same night this girl thought she dreamed that two boys came to
her. They were two chiefs’ sons who were dead, and it was the skull of
the elder that she had kicked out of the way. It was really no dream,
as she at first thought, and she married the elder youth. These two
chiefs’ sons had met with some accident together, and so they always
traveled in company.
Next morning the chief said, “What is wrong with my daughter? She
isn’t up yet.” Then he called the servant girl to go and awaken her.
So the girl ran to look, saw the young men there, and told the girl’s
mother that she was married. “Well,” said the mother, “whom can she
have married? She did not know anybody.” After that the girl and the
young men rose and came down to the fire to have something to eat. Her
husband looked to her like a fine young man, but everyone else could
see that he was a skull. They were very much frightened.
At that time the people there had very little food, and presently the
girl’s husband said to her, “Has your father a small canoe?” “Yes,”
she said, “he has a small canoe.” “Ask him for it and for spears and
arrows.” Then the girl said to her mother, “Mother, he is asking for
a small canoe. They want to go hunting.” Her mother humored her, for
she was afraid she would go off with that man. But when they looked
for the canoe it was already missing. Afterward the young men acted in
the house just as if they were in canoes, going through the motions of
paddling, spearing seals, etc., and the girl was ashamed of them. In
the evening they said to each other, “Let us camp.” The people of the
village could not see what they did or hear what they said, but the
girl could, and she felt very uneasy. Then they pulled off the painted
boards from her father’s house and began to cook. After that she saw
them act as though they were coming back bringing a load of dead seals,
etc. To the people it seemed as if they were still in the house.
Presently the girl called to her mother saying, “Mother, they are in
already. They want some one to go down and bring the things up from
the canoe.” Then her mother said to the people, “There is a canoe down
on the beach, and they want you to go down and bring up what they have
killed.” It was late in the evening, and, sure enough, when the people
went, they found the canoe loaded with all kinds of fishes, with seals
and sea lions. Then the chief gave the head man of each family a seal
and fed the entire village with the food which they had brought in.
After that the people had plenty of ground hogs, mountain sheep, etc.,
with which these two men provided them.
The two men began to come to life and were beginning to look like
living beings. It was then that people found out who they were. When
they got up in the morning they could be seen very plainly, so the
chief got some marten robes and put them upon his son-in-law and his
son-in-law’s brother. They were both very industrious.
In that same house was a girl who became very angry with the younger
brother, after she saw who they were, because he paid no attention to
anyone but his brother’s wife. She marked the place where he used to
sit with human blood, and as he sat on this blood eating he dropped
over dead. The other lived for some time afterward, and the girl who
had destroyed his brother tried to draw his attention to herself also;
but he was too fond of his wife to think of her in the least. Then she
marked his seat with blood, and he in turn dropped over dead.
87. THE RETURNED FROM SPIRIT LAND
The wife of a young man who had recently married, died, and he was very
sad. His father was a chief, and both he and the parents of the girl
were still living. The young couple had been married for so short a
time that they had no children.
The night that his wife died the young man remained awake all night
unable to sleep, and the second night it was the same. Next morning he
thought that he would walk out, but finally concluded to wait until
after his wife’s body had been buried. The body was taken away late
that afternoon, and early next morning he put on his leggings and his
other fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night.
Daylight dawned upon him still walking. After going through the woods
for a long distance he came to a very large valley. There had been a
creek there which was now dried up. Then he heard voices, which sounded
as though they were a long way off. Where he was traveling the trees
were very thick.
Finally the youth saw light through the trees and presently came out on
a wide, flat stone lying on the edge of a lake. All this time he had
been walking in the death road. On the other side of this lake there
were houses and people were moving around there. So he shouted out to
them, “Come over and get me,” but they did not seem to hear him. Upon
the lake a little canoe was going about with one man in it, and all
about it was grassy. It looked very nice.
After the man had shouted for a long time without receiving any
response and had become tired, he finally whispered to himself, “Why is
it that they do not hear me?” Immediately a person on the opposite side
of the lake said, “Somebody is shouting.” When he whispered, they heard
him. “A person has come up (dāq āˊwagut) from dreamland,” the voice
continued. “Let some one go out and bring him over.” They carried him
across, and, as soon as he got there, he saw his wife. He saw that she
had been crying, and he raised his hands and looked at her. He was very
happy to see her once again. Finally the people asked him to sit down
in the house, and, when he did so, they began to give him something to
eat. He felt hungry, but his wife said, “Don’t eat that. If you eat
that you will never get back.” So he did not eat it.
After that his wife said to him, “You better not stay here long. Let us
go right away.” So they were taken back in the same canoe. It is called
Ghost’s-canoe (Sǃî’gî-qāˊwu-yāˊgu), and is the only one on that lake.
And they landed on the flat rock where he had first stood calling. It
is called Ghost’s-rock (Sǃî’gî-qāˊwu-tēˊỵi), and is at the very end of
the trail. Then they started down the road in which he had gone up. It
took them the same length of time to descend it, and the second night
they reached the youth’s house.
Then the young man made his wife stay outside and he went in and said
to his father, “I have brought my wife back.” “Well,” said his father,
“why don’t you bring her in?” They laid down a nice mat with fur robes
on top of it at the place where they were to sit. Then the young man
went out to get his wife. When the door opened to let them in, however,
the people in the house saw him only. But finally, when he came close,
they saw a deep shadow following him. He told his wife to sit down,
and, when she did so, they put a marten-skin robe upon her, which hung
about the shadow just as though it were a person sitting there. When
she ate they saw only her arms and the spoon moving up and down but not
the shadow of her hands. It looked strange to the people.
After that the young couple always went about together. Wherever the
young man went the shadow could be seen following him. He would not go
into the bedroom at the rear of the house, but ordered them to prepare
a bed just where they were sitting. Then they did so, for they were
very glad to have him back.
During the day the woman was very quiet, but all night long the two
could be heard playing. At that time the people could hear her voice
very plainly. The young man’s father at first felt strange in his son’s
presence, but after a while he would joke with his daughter-in-law,
saying, “You better get up now after having kept people awake all
night playing.” Then they could hear the shadow laugh, and recognized
that it was the dead woman’s voice. To what the chief said the woman’s
brothers-in-law would add, “Yes, get her out, for she has kept us
awake.”
The nephew of the father of this girl had been in love with her before
she died, although she did not care for him, and he was jealous when he
found that her husband had brought her back. One night she was telling
her husband that she was going to show herself as she used to be and
not like a shadow and that she was going to remain so permanently.
Her father’s nephew had covered himself up at the head of the bed and
heard everything. Her husband was very glad to hear this, but, while
they were playing together afterward, the man who was listening to them
thought that he would lift the curtain they had around them. The moment
that he did so, however, the people in the house heard a rattling of
bones. That instant the woman’s husband died, and the ghosts of both of
them went back to Ghost Land.
88. THE SKY COUNTRY
A certain man’s wife was taken away from him, and he longed so much for
her that he thought he would follow her along the beach. He was half
crazy. When he went out and thought he was walking along the beach, he
was in reality in a wide trail which ran through the woods. As he went
on he saw where people had been camping, and from the dentalia shells
left by these people he made a beautiful necklace. For a long time he
wandered on with his head bent down, and, when he looked up suddenly,
he saw smoke ahead. He walked toward it very fast. When he came close
he saw a woman tanning a skin. He showed her the necklace he had made
and said, “I will give you this string if you will tell me where my
wife is.” The woman answered, “She is over there at the next camp.”
So he finally reached her, and he remained with her for a long time,
thinking that he was among his brothers-in-law.
The people of the village where this man was staying, however, hated
him and wanted to burn him to death. After they had kindled the fire
and were dragging him toward it he said, “Oh! how happy I am. I want to
die. I would rather you killed me right away than be as I have been.”
When they heard that they stopped and began pulling him toward the
water instead. But he said that he was afraid of water, and, as they
dragged him along, he struggled hard and seized everything about him.
At last, when they did throw him in, he came up again in the middle of
the lake and looked at them. Then one of the people said, “See him. He
is out there looking at us.” The man laughed at them, saying, “Don’t
you know that all of the waters are my work? How foolish you were to
put me into the water just where I like to be.” He said this because he
was a good swimmer and there was a great deal of rain in his country.
Afterward he stayed in the water all the time he was there.
All this while the man had really been up in the sky, and now he wanted
to get down. So he and his wife started back together and came to a
house where lived a certain woman. She was really the spider and the
house her web. Then this woman put them into a web and began to lower
them to the earth. Before they started she said to them, “When you
get caught on anything jerk backward and forward until the web comes
loose.” The things she thought they might get stuck upon were the
clouds. In this way the man and his wife reached the earth safely, and
afterward the web was drawn up. Then they lived happily again as they
had been living before the woman was taken away.
TEXTS[128]
89. THE ORIGIN OF COPPER[129]
A chief lived in the middle of a very long town. His daughter was
fond of picking berries. Once she went for berries with her father’s
slaves, and while picking far up in the woods she stepped upon some
grizzly-bear’s dung. “They always leave things under people’s feet,
those wide anuses,” she said. When they wanted to go down her basket
broke, and her father’s slaves picked up the berries and put them back
for her. Very close to her father’s house it broke again. Then one said
to her, “Now pick them up yourself.” While she was putting them in a
man came to her whirling a stick in his hand. “Let me marry you,” he
said to her. Then he started off with her. He went up toward the woods
with her and passed under two logs. These things which looked like logs
were mountains.
An kułayᴀˊtǃ dîgīˊỵīga aˊya u ānqāˊwo.
Town was long in the middle of it was lived a chief.
Dusīˊ qokǃīˊtǃ akucîtᴀˊn. Qokǃīˊtǃ ān
His daughter berries liked to pick. For berries with them
ūˊat duīˊc guxqǃᵘ tîn. Akāˊyan kaoʟ̣îỵᴀˊsǃ
she went her father’s slaves with. On it she stepped
yux̣ūˊtsǃ hāˊʟǃî yudāˊqqǃ qokǃīˊtǃê. Yē
the grizzly bear’s dung way up in the woods while berrying. So
aỵaˊosîqa yūx̣ūˊtsǃ hāˊʟǃî, “Tsǃᴀs qaˊqǃosi ỵidêˊ
she said to the grizzly bear’s dung, “Always feet down to
hᴀs aʟīˊʟǃ toq qᴀkᵘ.” Ātxêˊqdê hᴀs aỵᴀˊ daāˊdawe
they want, anuses wide!” Down they when wanting to go
ỵˊaołikǃūts dukᴀˊgu. Duīˊc guxqǃūˊtcawe 252-5
roke down her basket. Her father’s slaves it was
ỵᴀsahēˊx akāˊdê dudjiỵîˊs. ʟᴀxdêˊ
were picking up and putting on to it for her. Very close to
yāˊduīc nełixᴀˊn- qǃawe tsǃu ỵaˊolikǃūts. Tcǃuʟeˊ
her father into his house it was again it broke. Then
yē aỵaˊosîqa “Tcǃa waeˊtc dēˊ
so he (i. e., one) said to her “Now you right now
ỵᴀsahaˊ.” Akāˊdê tcǃa ʟēˊ nᴀˊxawe de ᴀt
pick it up.” On to it right by herself it was at once things
aˊna doxᴀˊnt ūˊwagut yuqāˊ wᴀsǃ-ya
she was putting in to her came a man a stick
acakᴀˊnᴀłỵên. “Iqâcaˊ” ʟe
was whirling in his hand. “Let me marry you”, then
yūˊᴀciaˊosîqa. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcīˊn g̣oneˊ uwaᴀˊt. 252-10
what he said to her. Then with her starting he went.
Dᴀq datcūˊn ᴀsiyuˊ dēx xao taỵinᴀˊx ᴀcīˊn ỵāˊwaᴀt.
Up toward the woods it was two logs under with her went.
Xᴀtc cāˊayu xao yᴀx ᴀc tuwāˊỵatî.
These mountains were logs like her looked to.
The people missed this woman. For that the people were called together,
and they searched everywhere for her. It was the grizzly bear to
which the high-caste woman had spoken angrily that married her. The
grizzly-bear people kept going after salmon. After they had gone her
husband went out after wet wood. She, however, always collected dry
wood. When they came up from the salmon place they threw off their
coats. They shook them. Something in these like grease would burn in
the soaked wood. The woman’s dry wood, however, always went out. It was
not long before they did something to the high-caste woman on account
of it.
Duītēˊx qoỵaˊodūˊwaci yucawᴀˊt yūˊantqenītc. Yên
For her searched the woman the people. [Every] where
yuˊqodūciawa duiteˊqǃ yug̣āˊ wuduwatᴀˊn. Xᴀtc
having searched for her for that the people were called. This
x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî ᴀsiyuˊ ᴀcūˊwaca
grizzly bear tribe it was that married her
yuaˊxkǃᴀnya-kaˊoʟ̣îgᴀdî yuānỵêˊdî. Xāt g̣ā
what-angrily-had-spoken-to the high-caste girl. Salmon for
naᴀdîˊ naᴀˊttc yux̣ūˊtsǃ qoaˊnîˊ. Yuxāˊt g̣a
going always went the grizzly bear tribe. The salmon for
naᴀˊdî itīˊqǃawe hīn tākᵘcāgê
when they had gone after they had left wet wood
yᴀdanēˊnutc. Hoˊ qoˊa tsǃᴀs x̣ūk
he (her husband) always went after. She, however, only dry wood
ᴀʟīˊqǃanutc. Kē ag̣aᴀˊdînawe xāt āˊni dᴀx 253-5
always got. Up when they came salmon place from
qākǃudᴀˊsǃ kāxkîˊnde duˊqêtcnutc. Kᴀdukîˊksînutc.
their coats off they always threw. They always shook them.
Atūtxīˊnawe ʟe ex yêx ᴀt akug̣āˊntc
From into it (clothing) then grease like something would burn
yūˊcaq xōqǃᵘ. Doaỵēˊ qoˊa aweˊ tsǃᴀs
the soaked wood among. Hers, however, that thing only
kułkīˊstc yūˊx̣ūk yūˊcāwat. Akāˊqǃawe ʟēł unałᴀˊ
always went out the dry wood the woman. For it was not was long
wâsaˊ odusniyîˊ yuānyêˊtqǃᵘ.
what (or something) they did to the high-caste woman.
When they went out again, the woman saw smoke right under her foot. A
grandmother mouse was coming out from under a little hill. It was that
which was going to help her. “Come in, grandchild,” she said, “These
are very dangerous animals you are among. The grizzly-bear people have
carried you away.” She told her the truth. Then she gave her advice.
“Over there is your father’s home.” So next morning when they were gone
after salmon she started running in the opposite direction. When they
came home at midday the grizzly-bear people missed her. The woman’s
dress had rotted up there. After she had crossed one mountain she
glanced behind her. It looked dark with grizzly bears. When they gained
on her she began crying for her life. She came out on the edge of a
lake. In the middle of this big lake a canoe was floating wearing a
dance hat. It said to her, “Run this way into the water.” Then she ran
into the water toward it. She was pulled in, and it went up with her
into the sun.
Tsǃu ᴀnaāˊdawe tsǃu hᴀs wuāˊt g̣ᴀˊng̣a
Again when they were going again they went for firewood
tcǃa yāˊdoqǃosî ỵêdêˊ aˊwe aositīˊn yucāˊwᴀttc 253-10
right her foot under that thing saw the woman
sǃēq. Yūˊgutc kîtūˊnᴀx nacuˊ
smoke. The little hill out from under was coming out
qᴀg̣ᴀˊqqocā-nᴀkǃ ᴀsiyuˊ ᴀcigāˊ wusuˊ.
a grandmother-mouse. It was that for her would help.
“Nēł gu tcxᴀnkǃ. ʟēł niyaˊ kucîgᴀnēˊx
“Into the house come grandchild. Not easy what saved you
ᴀt iỵᴀˊdawe, xūtsǃ qoaˊni aweˊ īˊusinēˊx.”
things around you grizzly bear people it was saved you.”
ᴀcīˊn qonāˊxdaq akaˊwanîk. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcukāˊwadjᴀ.
To her right she told it. Then she gave her advice.
“Yūˊdo ỵīīˊc ānîˊ.” Ayᴀˊxawe tcǃu
“Over there your father’s home.” Like it it was then
tsǃutāˊt xāt g̣a naadêˊ, g̣onayeˊ
in the morning salmon after when they were going started
āˊdawe ᴀdakᴀˊdīnawe yūt
when they went in exactly the opposite direction away
wudjix̣īˊx̣. Yīˊgîỵî ke aāˊdawe duitēˊx qoyaˊoduwacî
she ran. At midday up when they came for her they searched
X̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnitc. Yāqǃ kē uwaʟǃᴀˊk duʟǃāˊke
grizzly bear tribe. At this place up had rotted her dress
yucāˊwᴀt. De ʟēqǃ cā kᴀnᴀˊx ỵawucîx̣īˊawe qox
the woman’s. Now one mountain across when she had run back
awuʟ̣îgêˊn duîˊtdê. ʟē qag̣êˊt yᴀx g̣âˊawe yatîˊ
she looked behind her. Then it was dark like as if it was
duîˊt x̣ūtsǃ qoaˊnî. ᴀckāˊ yᴀx 254-5
to her grizzly bear tribe. On her like
ỵāg̣āāˊdawe ciaỵidēˊkdag̣āˊx.
when they were gaining she began to cry for life.
ᴀkǃayaxêˊ dāk udjix̣īˊx̣. Yūˊa ʟen ᴀˊdî
On the edge of a lake out she ran. The lake big of it
gīyīg̣ēˊt gwâyuˊ łix̣āˊc yūˊyākᵘ
in the middle was was floating a canoe
cᴀdakūˊqǃ ᴀcaˊ. “Hāˊnde hīnt
a dance hat with high crown on its head. This way into the water
icîˊx̣” yuaciaˊosîqa. ʟe akāˊde hīnt
you run”, what it said to her. Then to it into the water
wudjix̣īˊx̣. Yāx wuduwaỵēˊq. Tcǃuʟeˊ ᴀcīˊn
she ran. From it they pulled her in. Then with her
dekīˊt wudzîxᴀˊq g̣ᴀgāˊn tūt.
far up it came to go sun into.
The sun’s sons had married a cannibal.[130] Whomsoever they married
never lasted long before they killed her. Now, however, they liked
the one they had just married. To make way for her they killed the
cannibal. They killed her over a Tsimshian town. They chopped her into
very fine pieces. This is why there came to be so many cannibals there.
They could see the Tsimshian town. When the sun got straight up over
her father’s town they said, “Here is your father’s town.” Very soon
they had a child. Their father’s canoe, a grizzly-bear canoe, stood at
the end of this town. The canoe could hear. They loaded it with things.
They put grease inside of it for their father-in-law. Then it walked
away with them. After it had walked on for a long time it would stop
suddenly. This was because it was hungry, and they would then break
up a box of grease in front of the bow. They came in front of their
father-in-law’s house. Then she recognized her father’s house, and
went up in front of it. Then her brother came into the house and said,
“My sister has come and is outside.” But his mother beat him because
he claimed to see his sister who had been long dead. His mother went
out. It was indeed true, and they were coming ashore. They did not see
them (her husbands), however, for they were like streaks of moonlight.
Now, after they had brought all their things up, one went out and said,
“There is nothing there.” The wife said, “That moonlight down there is
they. Tell them to come up.” So people went to tell them. They came
up. Then the sunbeams lay alongside of the woman in streaks, and their
little son in front of them was also like a sunbeam. After they were
seated inside of the house they began to appear as if coming out of a
fog. “Eat something, my daughter,” said the chief. Then a very young
man ran to get water for them. But her husband took a fish-hawk’s quill
out, and put this into it. If it bent over on account of the wet the
man had not behaved himself. After they had examined everyone she sent
her little brother, and her little brother always brought water for
them. When her brother went away she took her husband’s bucket for the
water herself. But after she had been twice a man near the water seized
her hand. And, when she brought it into the house and set it close
beside her husbands, they put the fish-hawk’s quill into it. This time,
after her hand had been caught, the quill bent over with slime. Then
they started to get up to go outside, away from her. She would catch
first one and then the other, but her hands passed right through them.
Then they ceased to see them. Their canoe, however, ran about on the
lake.
Łuqᴀnāˊ ᴀsiyuˊ hᴀs āˊwaca yūˊg̣ᴀgān ỵêˊtqǃî. Hᴀs
Cannibal it was they married the sun’s sons. They
ᴀˊg̣acān ʟēˊłsdjî hᴀs ułsāˊkᵘ. ʟē 254-10
when they married never they lasted long. Then
sadjᴀˊqx. Ỵīdᴀˊtî āˊỵî qoˊaawe
they always killed [them.] Now it was, however,
ctūˊgas aˊodîca. Aˊya aq
they liked [the one] they started to marry. To make
dᴀˊxawe hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq yūˊłūqᴀnaˊ. Tsǃūtsx̣ᴀˊn āˊnî
way for her they killed the cannibal. Tsimshian town
kînāˊqǃ ayuˊ hᴀs āˊwadjᴀq. Tcǃaỵēˊguskî wucdᴀˊx
on top of it was they killed. Very small apart