[Told by Job Moody of the Witch people.]
Mouse-woman adopted him. [563] Presently, after she had lived at
Skidegate for a while, supernatural powers began to try him. After some
time he began to be a shaman. By and by he became a real shaman.
Then he prepared to dance upon the surface of the ocean. He was going
out after whales. Then they began to observe the regulations. [564]
[They did so for] five nights. The old people were afraid to let it
become ten nights. If the number of nights were even, they said his
supernatural power would be spoiled. For that reason they said they
wanted it uneven. When some said there were ten nights, and some, too,
said there were nine, the supernatural power came through him.
Then he asked them for his name. “What kind of supernatural being am
I?” he said. Then they guessed at his name. By and by an old man said:
“Great shaman, you are
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea.” [565]
Then he jumped up and ran around the fire four times. And he named
himself as follows: “I am he, grandson. I am he.”
While he was speaking through him he said to him: “How many whales are
there going to be?” He said to him: “One floats at Point-tꜝā′łᴀs.”
[566] And he said to him, “One is floating below Ku′nga-i.” [567] Then
he (the shaman) looked there and the whale floated there. Then he sent
a person thither. He saw nothing. Only coots floated there. And, since
he did not find it there, he (the shaman) again looked, and it was
still floating there. Then he became angry, because he (the spirit)
kept fooling him.
Now he put tobacco into his mouth. After it he put in calcined shells.
Then he went down to the house of
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea. And he
entered his house. And
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea said to
him: “Big-tail, bring that box of mine to me.” Then he put his box
before him. They sat at either end.
Then he took out a dancing hat with sea gulls carved upon it. And at
the very edges of the box Big-tail stopped him as he held it. And he
asked Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea:
“What will happen when one sings for it?” [568] And he said to him:
“There will be two whales.” Then he absolutely refused it.
And he reached his hand into the box for another one. When he took that
out he also seized that. “What will happen when you sing for it?”
“There will be two whales.” That, too, he refused.
Then Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea became
angry. Now he said to him: “This he also refuses. What can you do,
Big-tail? I will destroy you with a strong current of water.” And he
said to him: “Let it flow at me. Human beings will laugh at you.”
And, when they talked well to each other again, he took another out.
While they yet held this one between them, he saw it was a chief’s
dancing headdress with the carving of a hawk upon it. [569] And he
reached right into the box for it. And they held it between them in the
box.
Then he again asked him: “What will happen when one sings for it?” And
he said to him: “There will be ten whales.” He also refused that. While
they held the dancing hat between them, some handsome persons with
curly hair over their foreheads and large eyes kept coming out from
behind the screens and going back again. He wanted them and pointed at
them. “Let those persons sing.” And he refused to give them away. All
that time he also held the dance hat. By and by he let him have [these
along with] the headdress. Then they struck the two persons on the nose
and pushed them out.
In that house he learned how to tie on the strings of the headdress.
When he had finished learning how the flicker feathers were going to be
placed upon it, he went away from him again.
Then he imitated the headdress. And, when it was finished, he danced
with it on. And he began to say: “The sea otter will come floating.”
And he said: “One is floating on the seaward side of Sqai′yas.” [570]
Then they went to get it. It was really floating there. As he had seen
already, blood was running out of its nose. After that, as he sat in
the house, he told them where another one was floating. And when they
went there it was really so.
Afterward they kept on being found in this way. When one was out in a
good place where currents met, he did not count whether there were
fifteen, twenty, or ten. [571] Then he said if they would give him and
his mother some of them, he would always have them found floating in
this way.
Then they began finding whales in the place where he had told them
there were whales, although they had not found them. They now found
them, although he did not say [again] that they were there. [572] They
ceased getting sea otter.
Afterward, when he had acted as a shaman does for a while, he said: “I
wonder what is going on in the house of
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea. I wonder
why a drum sounds.” Then he chewed tobacco and said he would go down
and see. And he fell asleep. After he had slept for a while, tcōxō′xō
(noise of waking up) [was heard], [573] and he called to his wife. He
had married a woman he owned (i.e., a slave). “Middle, [574] help me to
sit up.” Then she pulled him up.
And, after he had sat there looking unhappy for a while, he said:
“Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea is going
to give a feast. The drum sounded because they are practicing songs. He
is going to invite all the supernatural beings. I will go down again
and look on.”
Some time after that his drum sounded again, he said, and he went down
to him again. Then he entered his door, and
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea said to
him, “Big-tail, I am going to invite the supernatural beings to a
feast. Come and sit near me so that we may both look on.” Invitation
had already been sent out.
After some time had passed, they began to come in. At that time he put
Big-tail in his armpit. The killer whales came in through the doorway.
The ends of their dorsal fins touched the roof of the house. And, where
they were to sit, they came out of their skins and sat.
After they had continued to come in in this way for a while, a certain
one who had to cramp his fins to enter came in and sat down.
After that the house creaked. A strong current flowed in through the
doorway. In it a great amount of seaweed was mingled. Through the
doorway there also came a black cloud. Rain blew on their faces. All
the supernatural beings held their heads down. Some time afterward a
small being stood up where it had been. He wore a four-crowned dancing
hat. And he began to ask them: “What will you do with human beings? Are
you going to save the human beings?” Then there were again black
showers. Snow also fell about the house. And he again stood in his
place. And he again asked them what was going to be done with the human
beings. Then there were again black clouds. Hailstones also flew about
the house and into their faces. Again the supernatural beings held
their heads down. And he stood up in place of these and went in where
he was to sit. Nothing happened. That was South-east, they say. [575]
During that time
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea held him in
his armpit. He let him look at the supernatural beings. But the
supernatural beings did not know it.
As before the house began to shake. Presently the feet of someone
appeared coming in through the doorway. After some time had passed he
stepped in, and the house shook. Then the supernatural beings said:
“A”. He took a step with the other foot. Something with large, broad
eyelids entered. Nothing happened.
Some time after that something came along making a rattling noise. By
and by she came in with a crowd of female servants. Djila′qons [576] it
was who came in among them. She had her eyebrows painted with red
paint. They entered. Something about her sounded like a rattle.
Big-tail kept his eyes upon her all the time.
But Woman-sitting-and-smelling [577] walked in before her. After having
sat there for a while she raised herself up. She began to talk to
Djila′qons. She asked her why she had painted her eyebrows red, and
Djila′qons answered: “I had it done on your account.” Then she turned
toward the wall and wiped it off. And she turned toward the fire and
sat down.
Some time after they say that Pestilence [578] came in. His canoe was
like a white man’s vessel. Sparks flew out of it. They went through the
house. For that reason the supernatural beings were afraid. The things
that came out of it are what cause sickness. The supernatural beings
feared they would strike them. He refused to enter. He went back.
Then the nephew of
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea went out
and said: “You are not the only one who has supernatural power. I have
supernatural power. My uncle also has supernatural power. So you better
not come in.” Then he (the nephew) entered, and, when he untied a
little something against the roof of the house, which was like a hollow
tube closed with knots at both ends, Pestilence’s canoe was quickly
turned about. Then he said he would enter. “I will go in.” Presently he
entered. Nothing happened. [They say it was Tidal-wave [579] who owned
that.] All that time a space was left vacant in the rear of the house.
No one sat there. By and by the one who came in first sang. And, after
he had finished singing, he acted with a mask on from behind the screen
they had stretched across. After he had acted with the mask on for a
while, it split crosswise [580] on his face, and snow came out of it in
a broad sheet. Then it fell first by the vacant seat. After that it
fell in front of the chief’s house. And after that his face also split
vertically.[580] Out of the split the same substance fell. That was
property, they say.
Big-tail was guessing. “I guess it is he on whom we live [for whom the
vacant space is left]. It is for The-one-below.” [581]
The next one who came in also started to sing. Afterward he also came
out from behind the screen wearing a mask. After they had sung a
“Power-song” for him a while and put words into it, his face also split
open. Something white and broad fell down around the house in front of
the chiefs. Again it fell first by the vacant seat. When they put words
into it again it split vertically. Then it again fell first by the
vacant seat. After that it fell in front of the chiefs.
All the supernatural beings did the same thing. Sometimes one stood up
with his fins on. In that way the sleight-of-hand performances went on.
After some time had passed
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea also began
to dance. Then he made a good speech to the supernatural beings, after
which he also sang. When he had got through singing he, too, came out
wearing a big mask. He also wore a big fin. When they put words into
the power song his mask also split. Out of that, too, something white
fell. Some fell first by the vacant seat. Then they stopped singing the
power song.
There was a great pile of property for those in the house. Before they
entered their provisions came rolling in before them through the door.
They had two [boxes] or, if chiefs, four. Now they began to eat. It was
a whale. And they cut it around and around right from its head and
stretched it around in front of the supernatural beings. They spliced
another to that also, and then they all began to eat. [582] After all
had eaten for some time they stopped. All the big beings went off.
Then Big-tail also went to Skidegate. After he had performed for a time
in the same way as formerly, and, when they were starving, all began
giving him the food they had saved up. Cranberries, wild crabapples,
sīg̣ā′n, [583] roots put up in cakes, [584] berries put up in cakes, and
grease, they gave him. They gave these quietly to him while he slept.
There was also a quantity of Indian tobacco with them.
And, after he had slept for a while, he spoke again in the same way as
formerly, “Tcōxō′.”[573] Then he got up carefully and gave away all off
of the top into the fire. [585] Then he also spilled out fresh water
around the fire. He gave these to
Supernatural-being-at-whose-voice-the-ravens-sit-on-the-sea. After that
he ate all of it. That night he performed.
And next day he said: “Go out to hunt.” Then they found a whale floated
ashore near by. And on account of that the Skidegate people ceased
being hungry.
Some time later Supernatural-being-people-always-go-to begged him to
accompany him. “Big-tail, go with me to see my elder brother.” And he
did not know where he wanted him to go. Then he went with him as he
requested. Then he launched a square canoe, he put Big-tail inside of
his clothing, and they started off.
They went, went, went for a while, after which they came in sight of
something white in the ocean like a mountain, and he let him look out
at it. He said to him: “Big-tail, there is the house of my elder
brother,” whereupon a strong wind arose, and they returned. They barely
got home safe.
Then they dried themselves around the fire in the house of
Supernatural-being-people-always-go-to. They talked with one another
about it. He was among them. Then he said to him: “Big-tail, when
another good day comes, come to go with me again.”
Some time afterward he went to his town again. And, when he entered, he
asked him: “Big-tail, will you go with me again?” “Yes,” he said to
him. At once they started off again. After they had paddled seaward for
a while he said his house had again come in sight. He let him look out.
In truth his great white house appeared at intervals over the waves.
And again a strong wind arose from the house. It drove them back again.
And, when they again got into the house, he called to him: “Big-tail,
do not go with me again. My elder brother refuses to let you see the
inside of his house. That is why the wind is high for us. Do not go
with me again.” That was the only one among the supernatural beings
whose house he was unable to see. His name was “Chief.” [586]
Some time after he got back Yä′yū [587] spoke through him. He made
things happen by speaking through him. Four whales floated about. He
did the same thing to him as the neighboring supernatural being had
done. “Let me go, for I want to see why a drum sounds in the house of
Supernatural-being-looking-landward (another name for Yä′yū).”
Then he lay down. He lay there for a while and entered his house. Then
some persons, with their fins together, stirred up soapberries in
something made of great boards painted on the outside, they used to
say.[587] They looked like Peninsula-point [588] soapberries, yet they
were different. Now he came home.
He spoke through him for a while longer. Then he became lame. And,
after he had sat in the house for a while, he said: “Let me go down to
see why a drum is sounding in the house of
Supernatural-being-looking-landward.” Then he chewed tobacco, lay down,
and continued there for a while.
Now, when he entered his house, Supernatural-being-looking-landward
said to him: “I am glad to see you, Big-tail.” In those words he said
he was glad to see him. At this time they raised up the stuff they were
stirring up with a stick, and it stuck to it. Before he had eaten of
that he went up, and, when he awoke, he said: “Why did I come away so
soon? I ought to have eaten whale tongue with them.”
After he had sat there for another space of time, he said: “I wonder
why a drum has been sounding in the house of
Supernatural-being-looking-landward. Let me go down again.”
Then he chewed tobacco, and, while he lay there, he got into his house.
Even while he was in the doorway he called to him: “Wait, Big-tail, you
better not go up from me. I will invite the supernatural beings.”
Immediately he invited the people. They came in at once. When all got
in he began to dance before them. They who came in wore fins. He
dressed himself up and came in, and lay down in the rear of the house,
wearing a full killer-whale suit. His fins touched the roof of the
house. Then he came out of it, and, as he held it in his hands, he
said: “Real dorsal fin. Real dorsal fin. What human beings call in a
common way a dorsal fin (łg̣ᴀn). Real dorsal fin.” After he had stood
around a while, he said: “Human beings keep saying this about me. They
keep saying that I used to be a human being.” [589] All in the house
laughed at him. It was as if things moved the house.
Now they began eating what they had stirred up. They say they were
whales’ tongues. Now, when this was over, the coast between Skidegate
inlet and House-point [590] was strewn with whale jaws which had
floated ashore. The things they ate in the house of
Supernatural-being-looking-landward really floated ashore.
A long time after that they again began to starve. And there was
nothing to eat at Skidegate. Then they took him to Da′x̣ua [591], and
they lived there with him. And they were starving there. Then they
gathered edible fern stumps right behind them. Those they ate. They
hunted outward and inward. [592] Sometimes one found the body of a
coot. They ate all these things.
One time he performed all night. Then
Supernatural-being-looking-landward said to him: “Big-tail, have them
stop making the little supernatural women living along the shore cry.
[593] Say that I will give the human beings something.”
And next day he repeated it to the people. “Let no one go anywhere.
Supernatural-being-looking-landward says he will give some food to the
human beings.” But still they all went out to look for food again up
and down the inlet.
That night he again sang a song for himself. In the night the wind blew
in from the sea. At daybreak he stopped singing. The day after that one
went out very early. Astonishing! He came in and he said, “Get up
quickly. It lies near Eagle-rock. [594] Astonishing!” All moved at
once. He did not eat of it because he was a shaman. Now they were
saved. They stopped starving.
At that time the slaves at Skidegate starved to death. Then a man of
the Seaward-sqoā′ładas set snares at ʟā′stᴀlañ [595] for cormorants.
His slaves alone did not die. Then one tried to set snares near him,
and he refused to have him there. He obeyed and went off. He was named
Gū′stas. He killed people by means of witchcraft. That is why they did
what he told them to.
After another long space of time had elapsed, Welcome-point’s[567] son
spoke through him. He put words into his song inside of his father’s
house. He sang to get his father’s things he had promised. He was
unsuccessful. He sang for the spring salmon his father owns. He was
unable to get them. His father was stingy.
Now an old man in the house said: “The chief’s son would do it if he
could. Even I will put out a few sea-eggs.” The first time he promised
not the least thing happened. Because the old man said he would put out
a little, they had more sea-eggs than they needed in Skidegate inlet.
Some time after this people went to Skedans, and he wanted to go with
them; and he went. And he arrived there with them. And the day after
they went to ʟi′nsū, [596] and he went with them. Then they landed at
Kꜝū′dᴀsʟꜝxa, [597] and he crept ashore. Then he lay in the sunshine.
Then they said to him: “Hurry, Big-tail, and come.” And he entered the
house of Ku′ndjîgit. [598] “Is it you, Big-tail?” And he said it was,
and he was glad to see him. And now he saw the inside of his house. He
saw whale tails lying piled one over another in all four corners. He
was proud of the inside of his house. He had the most whales of all the
supernatural beings. That is why he showed it to him. He did not speak
through him.
This story is one of the most important for an understanding of
shamanism among the Haida. The word used for “tail” here is applied to
the tail of a fish or whale, and the word for “big,” qō′na, also
involves the idea of great power.