[Told by Isaac, of the Łi′elᴀñ qē′awai family.]
Îłdī′nī lived at End-of-trail town. [14] All of his friends also lived
there. And he went out to fish. And, the wind blowing from the shore,
he was blown away. He was unable to get to land. He was blown about in
the sea all day. And while he was being blown about evening came upon
him. He was also blown about during the night. And morning again dawned
upon him. He did not see land. And he was again blown about all day.
But the wind did not blow hard. Therefore he did not capsize. While he
was being blown about evening again came upon him. He was again blown
about all night. He was blown about for a long time. And morning again
dawned upon him. During all that time he saw no land.
Then Îłdī′nī sang because he wanted the wind to become fair. And he
stood in the canoe. He began to sing: “Lake (i.e., Ocean) spirit, calm
the waves for me. Get close to me, my Power. My heart is tired. Make
the sea very calm for me, ye hō yē hō′ lō!” etc. [15] While he was
still being blown about evening came upon him. And again morning dawned
upon him. Although it was foggy in the morning the wind was not strong.
He floated about at random. Every evening shut down foggy. And he was
unable to stand up. His legs were weak, because he had been long in the
canoe. Then he again sang the same song. And morning came again. He
could see no land. And, while it was still foggy evening came upon him.
All that time the wind was not strong. Again morning dawned upon him.
Then he floated near to land. He remained floating there. He did not
get off for his legs were bent together. During all that time they did
not see him. Although he was very near where people lived they did not
see him.
Then he saw a child playing about, one not grown but big enough to
talk. And the child did not see him for his canoe was floating close to
a rock. Then Îłdī′nī called to the child because he wished them to know
about him. And, when he called, the child was afraid to go to him.
After it had been afraid for some time [Îłdī′nī] said: “I am Îłdī′nī.”
It was a male child. And it went out to him. And it came and stood near
him. And he said to it: “My name is Îłdī′nī.” “Now you, too, say
‘Îłdī′nī,’” said he to it. And the child said “Îłdī′nī,” but said it
wrong because it did not yet know how to talk very well. He pronounced
his name again. And the child also pronounced his name. It said it
right. And the child started away from him.
Then it turned away from him. It began saying, “Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī,
Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī.” It was afraid of forgetting his
[name]. And when it got some distance away it forgot his name again.
Then it returned to him. And, when it came to him he again told it his
name. “Say ‘Îłdī′nī’,” said Îłdī′nī to this child. And the child in
turn said so. And again it said it right. Then, as it went away from
him, it began repeating his name. “Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī,” it began
saying. While it was saying “Îłdī′nī” it entered the house. That time
it did not forget the name.
And, even while opening the door, it kept repeating “Îłdī′nī.” The
child said to its grandfather: “Grandfather, find Îłdī′nī; grandfather,
find Îłdī′nī.” And it led its grandfather to the place from whence it
had come. They came to where he floated. The wife was also with them.
And, being at once much troubled at the sight of him, they quickly got
into his canoe. They came in front of their house with him.
When they got out they wanted to take him up to the house quickly. Then
he showed them his legs. He also showed them that he was unable to
stand. He merely made signs with his fingers. He did not know their
language. And the man ran up for his mat. And, when he brought it down,
they placed him upon the mat. Then they carried him into the house.
They placed him near the fire.
Then they put warm things upon him. And they also warmed him at the
fire. They also put warm things on his head. They also warmed water for
his legs. And, when the water became warmed a little, the woman began
putting it upon his legs. At the same time the man also kept warm
things on his head. And, as he sat there, he tried to straighten his
legs a little. They became well. They stopped putting hot water on
them.
And, when he asked for a stick, they gave it to him. And, after they
gave it to him, he raised himself up. He tried to go outside. And,
after he had sat outside for a while, he came back again with the help
of his stick. They did not give him food because they saw that
something was the matter with him. Although they had not seen him
before they saw that he was a chief.
Then they warmed water for him. They also cooked food for him. And,
when the water was warm, she put a great deal of grease into it, and
they set it before him. She also gave him a spoon. This is how the
ancient people did. And after he had drunk the broth she also set food
before him. She let him eat grease with it. And after he was through
eating she put another kind of food before him. When she saw that he
ate his food as if he were well she gave him another kind of food.
And he (the husband) saw that he had become well, and he said to his
wife: “When the wind is fair we will go with him to the town.” It was
evening. And they did not sleep during the night because they wanted to
go to the town with him. But the chief slept soundly. And while he
slept they put their things on the beach. They also launched their
canoe. And they put their things into the canoe. They did not live far
from the town. And when he awoke they told him they were going away
with him.
Then the woman went in their canoe. The man went with him in his canoe.
They came to the town with him. And the people were astonished at them.
Before that they had one canoe. And when [they saw] that they had two
they were surprised at them. They were a great crowd waiting outside
for them. Then they saw another person sitting in their [canoe].
And when they came ashore the whole town went to them, for they had
never seen him before. They came with him to the Stikine town. They
quickly took him into the house. And the house was full of Stikine
people, men, women, and children. They were surprised to see him.
Although they had never seen him before, they saw that he was a chief.
And now the one who came to the town with him said to the crowd: “When
my grandchild went out to play it found this person. It went to play.
After it had been gone for a while it came in. Then, as it opened the
door, it came in saying ‘Îłdī′nī, Îłdī′nī. Grandfather, Îłdī′nī found,’
it said. So we went to see him. And we took him into the house. He was
unable to stand. His legs were bent together. And we carried him up in
a mat to the house. We worked over him all day [to make him well]. And
after he did stand up he went outside with the help of a cane. Then we
gave him food. When he got well we came this way with him. I came
hither with him because I did not want to remain alone with him in an
uninhabited place,” [16] he said.
While they were telling about him the people observed that he was
feeling of his skin with his teeth. And they told one another about
what he did. Then the chiefs of the Stikine people said: “Taste the
chief’s blood.” Then one felt of his skin with his teeth. And when he
lifted his head he said: “The chief’s blood is salt.” Then the chiefs
of the Stikine people were very much astonished. Then they knew that he
had been blown about for a very long time. And the town people went
outside. Then they knew what had happened to him, but they did not know
whence he had come.
And they began to care for him. He was there for many years. And he
remained there always. He did not go back, because he did not know
where his town was. He had four children. Two were boys and two were
girls. And all the time he was at the Stikine he wept for his children.
But he did not weep for his wife. [17] And the one who had found him
made him his friend (i.e., took him into his family and clan).
And after he had lived there for a long time he came to understand
their language. After he had wept for a while he sang a crying song. He
began the following crying song: 𝄆 “Hēg̣ōnōnē′ ʟa′gwaiyē djū′qoqołtēdj.
𝄇 Ha gūsē′, ha gūsē′ łē′nī gîta′nī hagūsē′.” [18] And he joined that
tribe. Then he told them that he had belonged to the Fish-eggs and they
all gave themselves to him because they saw that he was a chief. And
his friends, the Fish-eggs, lost him.
And by and by his friends heard that he was a chief of the Stikine. In
old times people did not go to other places. They fastened a feather to
the end of a stick, and they raised it. If the feather was not moved by
the wind they went out. [19] Therefore his people did not learn about
him quickly. But afterward they heard about him. And when he knew that
his friends had heard about him he sent down the songs for his friends.
By and by, when they heard his [songs], his friends were very glad.
“Although I want to go to you, there is no way to do so. I am very well
off. But there I was not happy. My friends, the women and men of the
Fish-eggs, are very numerous.” [20] Then his friends ceased to be sad
for him, because they knew he was happy. But his wife was married to
another man, for they had thought that he was dead.
This is the end.
The almost complete absence of a mythic element in this story suggests
that it may be founded on fact. At least it must have been used to
explain a relationship supposed to exist between the Fish-eggs, a
branch of the great Stᴀ′stas family of Masset, which belonged to the
Eagle clan, and some family among the Stikine Indians.