Chapter XVI: Part 16

From the town one went to sell a copper worth ten slaves called “Upsetter-of-the-town.” And, when they were on their way back, there was a great smoke at the town, and they ventured guesses about it. One said that the town was being burned. Another said that some kind of clam was being put into the fire.

When they got close in front of the town of Łgīła-a′la, [650] they were pushing one [prisoner] down to the beach. His name was Letting-go-of-each-other. The Inlet people [651] had burned the town. The war chief was called Burnt-forest. [652]

And, when they saw them coming, they chased them seaward. And they paddled toward Cape Ball to escape. Then they got near it and fastened the copper to the paddle. And, when they held it up high, they tried to catch them all the harder. Then they upset themselves and swam downward. Chief Points-meeting-in-the-water and chief Going-after-property were drowned at the bottom. Afterward Burnt-forest dove after the copper and recovered it neatly.

Then they (the people who were drowned) went and sat in front of Chief’s [653] house. They begged him for a flood. He asked them to come in. They refused. The warriors started home and camped beyond Raven creek. [654] The weather was calm. Toward evening two tidal waves rolled in out of the ocean. The first one came in and broke. The canoes with their skids even drifted away. The last one even washed away the trees by their roots. Half of the warriors were lost. And he (Burnt-forest) escaped along with his copper into the woods and carried it off on his back.

Then, by washing away the front of Tow hill, [655] the waves washed dentalium shells to the surface. The Inlet [people] dug them. They paddled north [656] with them to sell them for slaves. They bought slaves.

After that, when they quarreled with one of Those-born-at-House-point, he would say in answer: “Well! Inlet people ceased moving their own bucket handles because my uncles drowned themselves.” The Inlet people had plenty of slaves.

And a man of Those-born-at-House-point made figures of the supernatural beings on his house. The ends of the roof poles had images of human beings on them face up. This house was washed away five times. Then he named himself Chief-who-renews-his-property.

[The following short story, obtained by Professor Boas from Charlie Edenshaw, chief of the Stᴀ′stas at Masset, is added for purposes of comparison and as containing supplementary material.]

After the deluge, Naēku′n was the first place to emerge from the waters. People were holding a council to determine which way to go. While they were still deliberating a two-faced man came and asked them why they could not make up their minds, and told them which way to go.

At that time the Raven traveled all over the earth, and one day he found a cockle which was being thrown about by the waves. He heard a noise inside the shell. He went near to see what it was. He hid near by and discovered many children in the cockleshell. He opened it and found many people. Then he made towns. One of these he called Yaku lanas, another one Kuna lanas, and he gave all the families of the Haida their names. On the beach he made a town, Tas lanas; and in the woods he made one which he called Sʟeng lanas (“rear part of the house”). [657]

My informant, who is now chief of Those-born-at-House-point, began by saying that when the flood raised by Raven’s uncle subsided a woman was sitting upon House-point (i.e., Nekoon or Rose spit). This woman had four teats, each of which was owned by one of the Raven families of House-point, the Eggs of Skî′tg̣ao Rear-town people, Point-town people, Those-born-at-House-point. After her people had begun to increase they pulled grass over themselves, began to twirl one stick upon another to light fires and, since they had no canoes, floated their fishing lines off from the great spit. The story-teller probably intended these particulars to be included as part of his relation. I also have a Masset version of that part of the story which deals with the war at House-point.

HOW THE SEAWARD-SQOĀ′ŁADAS OBTAINED THE NAMES OF THEIR GAMBLING STICKS

[Told by Walter McGregor of the Sealion-town people]

His father was a chief in Sealion-town. [658] His name was Poor-chief’s-son. [659] One time his father was going to have a potlatch. Then his father went to invite the Tsimshian. While he was gone, Gasî′na-ᴀ′ndju [660] began to gamble. After he had gambled for some time, he lost all of his father’s property. Then he put a bladder full of grease into his gambling-stick bag. And he put it on his back and went away.

After he had traveled for a while, he went in [661] at White-rocks. As he went he ate all kinds of leaves. [662] Presently he wanted to defecate, and he defecated at a rotten stump. And after that he again went about eating leaves. After he had gone along for a while, he passed over the bones of two human beings upon which moss was growing.

And, after he had gone on a while longer, he came to where two streams flowed down from Djū′tcꜝîtga, [663] near which lay the fresh bones of two persons. One stream was red. The other was blue. Djū′tcꜝîtga’s manure made it red, they say, and his medicine made it blue. Those who drank from the red one died there.

Then he took the grease out of his bladder, and he greased his insides. Then he put his head into the blue one. After he had drunk for a while, he lost consciousness. When he came to himself he was standing in front of a big house with a two-headed house pole. And they told him to come in. At once he entered.

The chief [664] in the house said to him: “News of you has come, grandson. You gambled away all of your father’s potlatch property.” Then the chief had a small box brought to him, and he took a hawk feather out of it. Then he put it into the corner of his (the youth’s) eye. After he had twisted it around there for a while, he pulled it out and took out blood [665] and moss from it.

After he had finished both he said to him “Let me see your gambling sticks,” and he gave them to him. He squeezed them. Then blood[665] came out. And, after he had touched his lips to his hands, he cut around the middle of one of them with his finger nail. It was red. And he said to him: “Its name shall be Coming-out-ten-times.” And, after he had touched his lips to his hands again, he cut around on another of them near the end. The end of it was red. Then he said: “Its name shall be Sticking-into-the-clouds.”

As soon as he brought out his gambling sticks to him, he named them. He continued to name them: “Thing-always-carried-along,” “Always-running-off,” “Bloody-nose,” “Shaking-his-head-as-he-goes-along,” “Common-one,” “Rattling-bone,” “Elderberry-roots,” and “Russet-backed-thrush” (?). [666]

Large canoes were piled up in the corner of his house. That meant that the Tsimshian had come during his absence. And two young fellows who looked transparent were in his house. He said that one should go with him. “This one will go with you. He will take away your djîl when you gamble first. [667] Do not choose the fine cedar bark out of which smoke comes. Take that that has no smoke. After you have counted seven, take the one out of which smoke comes. Then begin with ‘Coming-out-ten-times.’” After he had got through telling this to him, he said to him: “Go home.” Lo! he awoke.

Then he went out at the same place where he had started in. Below the stump from which he had defecated lay a sea otter. He looked at the sea. The sea otter was drifting shoreward. Then he went down to it, took it, and dried it. And he went from there to Sealion-town.

When he had almost reached it, he came to some dogs fighting with each other for a gambling-stick bag which lay on the left side of the place where the broad, red trail came out. The dogs fought for the fat which was in it. And he looked into it. A small copper was in it. He took it, and he came home.

And he came to the ten canoes of the Tsimshian who had arrived. He went in to his mother and ate as usual. He also drank water.

Next day gambling began. He went out and staked the sea otter. They tried to get ahead of one another in playing for it. The Tsimshian wanted to gamble with him. Then one came to gamble with him. The Tsimshian handled the sticks first. And he did not take the one which smoked. After he had counted seven he took the one which smoked. He got the djîl.

Then he took up “Coming-out-ten-times” as they had told him. [They said] “He is losing as he always does.” Then he handled the sticks. He counted ten. He had “Sticking-into-the-clouds” and this one [besides his blank] left. [668] With them he won. He stopped missing it. He handled the sticks. Then he held the blank over his shoulder. He took it away. [669] They did not see it.

He won every single thing from the Tsimshian. After he had all of their property he also won their canoes. By and by a little old man behind the crowd of his opponents, who had just bathed and had the right side of his face marked with paint, wanted to gamble with him. And, after they had staked property, the Tsimshian handled the sticks. Smoke came out of both heaps of cedar bark. Then he selected that which smoked the most. He got one of those with many marks. [670] And he handled them again. He took the one with the smaller smoke. Again he got one of those with many marks. It was a good day for him (the Tsimshian). That was why he (Gasî′na-ᴀ′ndju) could not see his djîl. He was the only one who beat him.

Then his father’s potlatch was over. They gave the Tsimshian their canoes. Then he had the breast of his son tattooed. He had the figure of a cormorant put on him. He had its neck run through him. He had its wings laid on each side of his shoulders. He had its beak put on his breast. On his back he had its tail put. He was the only Raven who had the cormorant for a crest. No one had it that way afterward. The Tsimshian went home.

He had his father’s house pole made like Djū′tcꜝîtga’s. At that time he named the house “Two-headed-house.” The Seaward-Sqoā′ładas own the gambling-stick names.

All Haida families do not have distinctive family myths as is the case among the Kwakiutl and Bella Coola. Some, however, have stories telling how they obtained the right to certain names, crests, etc., and the following is one of that number. It explains the origin of the names employed by the Seaward-Sqoā′ładas, a Raven family of Skidegate inlet, for the sticks in their gambling sets, and at the same time how the Sealion-town people, an Eagle family, obtained the right to a certain style of house pole with two heads. One of the old Kaisun houses, Na-qā′dji-stîns, “Two-headed-house,” was named from a pole of this kind which stood in front of it.

HOW ONE OF THE STASA′OS-LĀ′NAS BECAME WEALTHY

[Told by Walter McGregor of the Sealion-town people.]

His name was Sqî′lg̣aᴀlᴀn. [671] His wife belonged to the Seaward-sqoā′ładas, and her name was A′łg̣a-sīwa′t. They were camping at Djiłū′.

And, when the tide was low, he went seaward. He heard some puppies yelping. He looked for them. He could not find them. Then he began to eat medicine. After he had eaten medicine for a while, he went seaward again. Again he heard the puppies yelping.

After he had gone toward the place where they were yelping the yelping sounded behind him. After he had done this for a while he found two small pups among some stones lying in a pool of salt water. Then he pick them up and stood up planks on edge for them around a hollow between the roots of a tree behind the house. And he had them live there. He hid them. He named one of them Found and the other Helper. He fed them secretly.

When they became larger they went into the water early one morning. They came shoreward together. They had a tomcod in their mouths. They gave it to him. He said he had gone out to look for it very early. And he brought it into the house.

Again they swam seaward. They brought in a red cod in their mouths. When they started off again they brought back a halibut in their mouths. When they became larger they brought in a piece bitten out of a whale. All that time he said he had found the things. When he had a quantity of food he carried the whale to his brothers-in-law [672] at Skidegate as a gift.

They were nearly starved at Skidegate when he came and gave them what he had. The day after he arrived he went for firewood. When he brought it in the food was all gone. He wished to eat some salmon eggs put up in bladders which his mother-in-law owned. She did not give them to him. At that time he kept repeating: “I guess there will be plenty in the dogs’ house.” Then his mother-in-law said: “I wonder what sort of dogs have grease all over their house.” His mother-in-law was stingy.

Next day he again came in from getting wood and said the same thing as before. And his mother-in-law again said: “I wonder what sort of dogs have grease all over their house.”

Next day he started for Djiłū′, and his mother-in-law went with him. After they had gone along for a while they came to a porpoise floating about, and his mother-in-law wanted it. He paid no attention to her. After they had gone on for a while longer, they came to a hair seal floating about. His mother-in-law also wanted that. He paid no attention to her.

After they had gone on for a while from there, they came to pieces bitten out of a whale floating about. Those his mother-in-law also wanted, and he said: “Nasty! that is my dogs’ manure.” And after they had gone on for another space of time, they came to a jaw good on both sides. Then he cut off two pieces from it and took them in.

Now he landed at Djiłū′, and he would let his mother-in-law eat nothing but fat food. When his mother-in-law went down to get sea eggs he spilt whale grease around before her upon the sea eggs. He also spilt whale grease around in the water. He was killing his mother-in-law with mental weariness. [673]

Then the dogs brought in two whales apiece. He (each) had one laid between his ears and one laid near his tail.

His wife became two-faced (i.e., treacherous) to him. She discovered that the dogs always went out at daybreak. Then she allowed urine and blue hellebore to rot together.

One day, when the dogs were coming in together, she put hot stones into this mixture. And, when it was boiling, she poured it into the ocean. At once the wind raised big waves. There was no place where the dogs could come ashore. The dogs carried some islands out to sea in trying to scramble up them. One is called Sea-eggs, the other G̣agu′n.

Then they swam southward. He watched them from the shore. They tried to climb ashore on the south side of the entrance of Skidegate channel. [674] But they only made marks with their claws on the rocks instead. They could not do it. Then they swam away. On that account they call this place “Where-dogs-tried-to-crawl-up-and-slid-back.” Then they swam together to the channel.[674] They lie in front of Da′x̣ua. [675] They call them “The Dogs.” [676]

He had many whales. He filled up “Whale-creek.” He bent boxes for them, and he put the whale grease into them. By selling these he became a chief. [677]

Compare “The story of those who were abandoned at Stasqa′os.”

STORIES OF THE PITCH-PEOPLE

[Told by Walter McGregor, of the Sealion-town people]

Some persons went out hunting from Songs-of-victory town. [678] And one of them put on the skin of a hair seal and lay on a reef. Then some went hunting from Food-steamer’s [679] town. One of them speared the hair seal lying on the reef with his bone spear. But a human being screamed.

They used to put on the skin of a hair seal, lie on a reef and make the cry of a hair seal, and, when a hair seal came up, one sitting behind him speared it. They speared him (the man) while he was doing that way. Then they went off in terror.

And then they began fighting with one another. The Songs-of-victory people went out first, and they killed Food-steamer’s wife with arrows. Then they fought continually with one another. At that time they killed each other off.

Falling-tide was a brave man among the people of Songs-of-victory town. One time, when he got back from fighting, he threw his kelp fish line into the fire. Then he occupied a fort. At that time he had nothing to eat. He spoiled himself. [680] After that they also killed him, and only the town of Kaisun was left.

One day they stretched out a black-cod fishing line upon the beach in front of Kaisun with the intention of seeing how far down the house of The-one-in-the-sea was. But, when they went out fishing, they never came back. Then that town was also gone. [681]

They used to go fishing at night, because they said that the black cod came to the surface of the sea during the night.

Before this, when the town people were still there, a child refused to touch some black cod. And, after he had cried for a while, something moving burning coals about called him through the doorway; [682] “Come here, my child; grandmother has some roots mixed with grease which she put away for you.”

Then his parents told him to go out, and he went thither. It stretched its arm in to him into the house, and the child said: “Horrors, [683] something with large, cold hands grasped me.” Then it said: “Grandfather has just come in from fishing. I have been washing gills. That is why he says my hands are cold.”

Then his parents again told him to go out, and he went out to it. It threw him into a basket made of twisted boughs. Then the child cried, and they went out to look at him. He was crying within the earth.

Then they began to dig. They dug after the sound of his crying in the earth. By and by they dug out the tail of the marten he wore as a blanket. There are now ditches in that place.

The chief’s children in the town of Kaisun went on a picnic. They had a picnic behind Narrow-cave. [684] Then all went out of the cave from the town chief’s daughter. Some of them went to drink water. Part of them went after food. Some of them also went to get fallen limbs [for firewood].

Then she thought “I wish these rocks would fall upon me,” and toward her they fell. Then she heard them talking and weeping outside. And, after she had also cried for a while, she started a fire. Then she felt sleepy and slept. She awoke. A man lay back to the fire on the opposite side. That was Narrow-cave, they say.

Then he looked at her, and he asked her: “Say! noble woman, [685] what sort of things have they put into your ears?” And the child said to him: “They drove sharp knots into them and put mountain sheep wool into them.” Then he took sharp knots out of a little box he used as a pillow. Now Narrow-cave laid his head on some planks for her, and she pushed them into his ears. “Wa wa wa wa wa, it hurts too much.” Then she at once stopped. And, when he asked her to do it again, she again had him put his head on the plank. It hurt him, but still she drove it into his ear. His buttocks moved a while, and then he was dead.

Then she again cried for a while. She heard the noise of some teeth at work and presently saw light through a small hole. Then she put some grease around it, and the next day it got larger. Every morning the hole was larger, until she came out. It was Mouse who nibbled through the rock.

Then she was ashamed to come out, and, when it was evening, she came and stood in front of her father’s house. And one of her father’s slaves said she was standing outside. They told him he lied. They whipped him for it.

Then her father’s nephew went out to look for her. She was really standing there. And her father brought out moose hides for her. She came in upon them. They laid down moose hides for her in the rear of the house. She came in and sat there.

Then her father called in the people. She recounted in the house the things that had happened. When she had finished she became as one who falls asleep. They guessed that she had gone into his (Narrow-cave’s) house to live.

One moonlight night they (the children) went to Tcꜝixodᴀ′ñqꜝēt [686] to play. And two persons came to a boy who was walking far behind, took him off with them, and led him to a fine house.

Then they asked each other: “What shall we give him to eat?” “Give him the fat of bullheads’ heads.” And they gave him food. In the night he awoke. He was lying upon some large roots. And in the morning he heard them say: “There are fine [weather] clouds.” Then they went fishing, and, when it was evening, they built a large fire. He saw them put their tails into the fire, and it was quenched. And next day, after they had gone out fishing, he ran away.

Then they came after him. And he climbed up into a tree standing by a pond in the open ground. They hunted for him. Then he moved on the tree, and they jumped into the pond after his shadow.

Then they saw him sitting up there, and they called to him to come down. “Probably, [687] drop down upon my knees.” And they could not get him. They left him.

Then he started off. He came in to his parents. He came in after having been lost, and his mother gave him a ground-hog blanket to wear.

Then he went out to play with the others one day, and something said to him from among the woods: “Probably is proud of his ground-hog blanket. He does not care for me as he moves about.” He did not act differently on account of this. [688] Those who took him away were the Land-otter people.

The Pitch-people (Qꜝās lā′nas) occupied much of the northwestern coast of Moresby island between Tas-oo harbor and Kaisun, but, when the Sealion-town people moved to the west coast, they seem to have driven the Pitch-people out of their northern towns. They were always looked upon as an uncultivated branch of Haida, and are said not to have possessed any crests. Later they intermarried with the Cumshewa people. Some of the Cumshewa people claim descent from them, but none of the true Pitch-people are in existence. The relationship of their culture to that of the other Haida would be an interesting problem for archeologists. The following stories regarding these people were obtained from a man of the Sealion-town people who supplanted them.

HOW A RED FEATHER PULLED UP SOME PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF GU′NWA

[Told by Walter McGregor of the Sealion-town people]

The town children were knocking a woody excrescence [689] back and forth. After they had played for a while they began saying “Haskwä′.” [690] The niece of the town chief was menstruant for the first time. She sat behind the screens. [691]

After they had played for a while a red feather floated along in the air above them. By and by a child seized the feather. His hand stuck to it. Something pulled him up. And one seized him by the feet. When he was also pulled up another grasped his feet in turn. After this had gone on for a while all the people in the town were pulled up.

Then the one who was menstruant did not hear them talking in the house. She was surprised, and looked toward the door. There was no one in the house. Then she went outside. There were no people about the town. Then she went into the houses. She saw that they were all empty.

Then she began to walk about weeping. She put her belt on. Then she blew her nose and wiped it on her shoulder. And she put shavings her brothers had been playing with inside of her blanket. Feathers and wild crab apple wood, pieces of cedar bark, [692] and mud from her brothers’ footprints she put into her blanket.

By and by, without having been married, she became pregnant. Soon she gave birth. Again she became pregnant. Again she bore a boy. After this had gone on for some time, the youngest came out with medicine in his mouth. He had a blue hole in his cheek. With a girl they were ten.

And she started to rear them. She brought home all kinds of food that was in the town. She gave this to her children to eat. Very soon they grew up. They began playing about the house.

By and by one of them asked their mother: “Say! mother, what town lies here empty?” And his mother said to him: “Why! my child, your uncles’ town lies here empty.” Then she began telling the story. “The children of this town used to go out playing skîtqꜝ′ā′-ig̣adañ. Then a red feather floated around above them. I sat behind the planks. There I discovered that the town lay empty, and I was the only one left. There I bore you.” Like this she spoke to them.

Then they asked their mother what was called “skîtqꜝā′-ig̣adᴀñ.” Then she said to them: “They smoothed the surface of a woody excrescence, and they played with it here.”

Then they went to get one. They worked it, and, after they had finished it, they played about on the floor planks of the house with it. While they were still playing daylight came. And next day they also played outside. The feather again floated about above them. Their mother told them not to take hold of the feather.

After they had played for a while the eldest, who was heedless, seized the feather. His hand stuck to it. When he was pulled up he turned into mucus. After it had been stretched out five times the end was pulled up. Another one seized it. He became a shaving. After he had been stretched out five times he, too, was pulled away.

Another one grasped it. He became a feather. After something had pulled him up five times he also left the ground. Another one seized it. He became a strip of cedar bark. After something had pulled him up five times he also left the ground. And again one seized it. He became mud. After he had been stretched out five times he left the ground. And another seized it. The same thing happened to him; and after this had gone on for a while they were nearly all gone.

Then again one seized it. He became a wild crab-apple tree. He was strong. And, while he was being stretched up, his sister went around him. She sharpened her hands. “Make yourself strong; [be] a man,” she said to her brother. When he had but one root left his sister climbed quickly up upon him. After she had reached the feather, and had cut at it for a while, she cut it down. A string of them fell down.

He who had medicine in his mouth stood over his elder brothers. Upon his elder brothers he spit medicine. Then they got up. And the bones of those in the town who had been first pulled up lay around in a heap. He also spit medicine upon them. They also got up, and the town became inhabited.

They played with the feather. They went around the town with it. By and by it began to snow. Then they rubbed the feather on the fronts of the houses of the town, and the snow was gone. [693] After they had done so for a while the snow surmounted the house.

After some time a blue jay dropped a ripe elderberry through the smoke hole. By and by they went out through the smoke hole. They went to see Bill-of-heaven. [694]

After they had gone along for a while, they came to a djo′lgi [695] walking around. Then he who was full of mischief tore the animal in pieces and threw them about. After they had gone on some distance from there, they came to a woman living in a big house. Her labret was large. When she began to give them something to eat the woman asked them: “Was my child playing over there when you passed?” And one said to her: “No, only a djo′lgi played there. We tore it in pieces, and we threw it around.” “Alas! my child,” said the woman. “Door, shut yourself.” Xō-ō, it sounded.

Then he who knew the medicine became a cinder, and he let himself go through the smoke hole. When he got outside, “Smoke hole, shut yourself” [she said]. That also sounded Xō-ō. Then he ran quickly to the place where they had torn up the djo′lgi and, gathering up the pieces, put them together and spit medicine upon them. The djo′lgi shook itself, and started for the house with him.

The djo′lgi tapped upon the door. “Grandmother, here I am.” And when she had said “Door, unlock yourself; smoke hole, open yourself,” so it happened. Then she began giving them food. She gave them all kinds of good food to eat. That was Cliff’s house, they say. She is the djo′lgi’s grandmother.

And they stayed all night in her house, and next day she again gave them something to eat. Then they started off. After they had traveled for a while, they came to where another woman lived. And, after she had given them food, they stayed in her house all night as well.

And, after he who was full of mischief saw that the woman was asleep, he went to her daughter who lay behind the screen. And he put her belt around himself. After he had lain for a while with her her mother saw him. Then she took out the man’s heart and swallowed it. [696] Then he put her belt around her, went from her, and lay down.

Next morning, after she had given them something to eat there, she called her daughter. She paid no attention to her, and she went to her. She lay dead. Then she began to weep. She composed a crying song, “My daughter I mistook.” Then they left her.

After they had gone on for a while they came to where a big thing stood. When they pushed it down it fell upon two of them. Seven escaped and went off.

After they had gone on for a long space of time they came to a small dog lying in the trail. One jumped over it. Right above it it seized him with its teeth. Another jumped over it. He was treated in the same way. It killed three and four escaped.

After they had gone on for a while longer they came to the edge of the sky. It shut down many times. Then they ran under. Two of them were cut in two and two escaped. They, however, saw Bill-of-heaven.

Gunwa being one of the Nass towns, this story would appear to be an importation. It is paralleled, however, by a Masset myth, the scene of which is laid in a Haida town.

HOW ONE WAS HELPED BY A LITTLE WOLF

[Told by Tom Stevens, chief of Those-born-at-House-point.]

A certain person was a good hunter with dogs. He also knew other kinds of hunting, but still he could not get anything. They were starving at the town. And one time, when he went to hunt, he landed below a mountain. And when he started up some wolves ran away from him out of a cave near the water. In the place they had left a small wolf rose up. Then he tried to catch it, and the wolf tried to fight him. Then he said to it “I adopt you,” and it stopped fighting.

Then he put it into a bag he had and went home with it, and he hid it in a dry place near the town. After that he dreamed that it talked to him. It said to him: “Go with me. Put me off under a great mountain where there are grizzly bears and sit below. Then I will climb up from you toward the mountain and, when a big grizzly bear rolls down, cut it up. And, when another one comes down, split it open, but do not touch it.”

At once he took it away and put it off under a mountain. Then he went up, and, while he sat beneath, a big grizzly bear came rolling down. While he was cutting it up another came rolling down, and he split it open.

Immediately afterward the small, wet wolf came down. It yelped for joy. It shook itself and went inside the one that was split open. At once it made a noise chewing it. It ate it, even to the bones. Although it was so big it consumed it all. Only its skin lay there.

Then he put the parts into the canoe and brought them to the town. And they bought them of him. When they were gone he took it (the wolf) off again. They kept buying from him.

When his property was fully sufficient his brother-in-law borrowed it. Then he gave him directions. “Cut up the one that rolls down first, but the last one that rolls down only cut open.” Then he gave it to him in the sack in which he kept it.

Then he started with it and put it off beneath the mountain. Soon after it had gone up a grizzly bear rolled down, and he cut it up. Afterward another one rolled down, and he cut that up also. Then the wolf came down. After it had walked about for a while it began to howl. Then it started away, so that he was unable to catch it. It went along on a light fall of snow.

And, when he got home and he (the owner) asked for it, he told him it got away. He handed him only the empty bag.

At once he bought hide trousers. He also bought moccasins. Immediately he started off. He put the hides into a sack. Then he landed where he used to put it (the wolf) off and followed its tracks. He followed its footprints upon the snow lying on the ground.

Now, as he went, went, went, he spent many nights. He wore out his moccasins and threw them away. All the while he followed his son’s footprints upon the snow. He went and went, and, when his moccasins and trousers were almost used up, he heard many people talking and came to the end of a town.

Then he hid himself near the creek, and, when one came after water, he smelt him. Then he saw him and shouted to him: “So-and-so’s father has come after him.” At once they ran to get him. His son came in the lead. They were like human beings. Then he called to his father. He led him into the house in the middle. The son of the chief among the wolf people had helped him. The house had a house pole.

Then they gave him food. They steamed fresh salmon for him, and, when they set it before him, his son told him he better eat. Then he ate. And, after they had fed him for a while, they brought the hind quarter of a grizzly bear, already cooked, out of a corner. Then they cut off slices from it and gave them to him to eat.

He kept picking them up, but still they remained there. They set the whole of it before him with the slices on top. He did not consume it. It is called: “That-which-is-not-consumed.”

After he had been there for a while they steamed in the ground deer bones with lichens [697] on them. And next day they began to give them to him to eat. Then he did not pick them up, but he said to his father: “Eat them, father.” He was afraid to eat them because they were bones. Then he picked one up. But, when he touched it to his lips, it was soft.

Every morning they went after salmon. They put on their skins. Then they came home and brought three or four salmon on the backs of each. They shook themselves, took off their skins, and hung them up.

Presently he told his son that he wanted to go away. Then they brought out a sack and put grizzly-bear fat into it. When the bottom of it was covered they put in mountain-goat fat. There was a layer of that also. After that they put in deer fat, as well as moose fat. They put in meat of all the mainland animals.

After it was filled, and they had laced it up they gave him a cane. It was so large he did not think he could carry it. And, when he started to put it on his back, his son said to him: “Push yourself up from the ground with your cane.” Then he did as directed. He got up easily.

Then he gave other directions to his father. “You will travel four nights. When you camp for the night stick the cane into the ground and in the morning go in the direction toward which it points. Stick the cane into the ground where you come out. After you have taken those things out of the sack, take that over also and lay it near the cane. Those things are only lent you.”

At once he set out. And, when evening came, he stuck the cane into the ground. But the cane pointed in the direction from which he had come, and he went toward it. And, when evening again came, he stuck the cane in, and in the morning the cane was again pointing backward; and again he followed it.

After he had camped four nights he came out. And he stuck in the cane at the edge of the woods. And, while they were again in a starving condition, he came home. They were unable to bring out his sack. And, when a crowd took hold of it, they got it off [the canoe], and, after they had taken the best parts of all kinds of animals out of it, he took the sack back to the cane and laid it near by.

Then they also began to buy that. With what he got in exchange he became a chief. [698] With what he got in exchange he also potlatched. After two nights had passed he went to see the place where he had left the sack. He saw that they had taken it away.

Since wolves are not found upon the Queen Charlotte islands, this is necessarily a mainland story, probably Tsimshian.

GUNANASÎ′MGÎT

[Told by Jackson, late chief of Skidegate.]

A certain woman of the upper class, whose father was a chief, was squeamish about stepping on the dung of grizzly bears. They went with her to pick berries, and then she started back. At that time her basket strap broke. Now her basket upset. It upset four times.

In the evening, when her basket upset for the last time, two good-looking fellows came to her and asked her to go with them. The two persons begged her to go, and they said to her: “A little way inland are berries.”

Then she went back with them. And she said: “Where are they?” They said to the woman: “A little farther inland.” Now it was evening. And they led her into a big town. Now they led her into a big house in the middle of the town which had a painting on the front. A woman who was half rock sat in the corner of the house.

When they gave her something to eat [this woman said]: “When you eat it, eat only the shadow. [699] Only eat the cranberries they give you to eat. Drink nothing but water. Do not eat the black, round things they give you to eat. I have been eating them. That is why I am here. I am half rock. When you go to defecate dig deeply into the ground. Cover it over.”

Now she went to defecate as directed. And, when she went to defecate, she laid copper bracelets on top and copper wire. She finished. Now, after she was gone, a man went and looked at the place. He saw copper wire and bracelets. Then the man shouted. A crowd of people looked at it. Truly that was why she did not want to step on dung. Now she became used to [her surroundings].

Now all in the town went out to fish for salmon. Afterward the woman went after wood. Those who went after salmon came back making a noise. Then the woman put wood on the fire. Those who had gone after salmon came in. Now those who went after salmon shook themselves. The fire was quenched. Next day they again went after salmon. Then the half-rock woman said to her: “Take knots.” The woman did so. Now they came back again with noise. She put knots on the fire. They came in. Again they began shaking themselves. Then the fire was not quenched. Now her husband’s mind was good toward her.

Then the woman began to dislike the place. Now they went out again to get salmon. Then she told the woman who was half rock that she wanted to go away. And she thought that that was good.

Then she gave her a comb. She also gave her some hairs. She also gave her some hair oil. She also gave her a whetstone. While they were out after salmon she started off.

Now she heard them pursuing her. They came near her. Then she stuck the comb into the ground. And she looked back. She saw great masses of fallen trees. Now those behind her had trouble in getting through. While they were getting through with difficulty she got a long distance away.

Again they got near her. She also laid the hair on the ground. Again she looked back. There was a great amount of brush there. Now they again had trouble behind that. Again she got a long distance away from them.

Now the pursuers again came near her. She also poured out the hair oil. And she looked back. There was a large lake there. They had to skirt its edges. Again the woman ran hard.

Now they came near her again. She stuck the whetstone [into the ground]. And the woman looked back. There was a great cliff there. They could not climb over it. And she came out of the woods near the sea.

There one sat in a canoe seaward from her. The woman wanted to get in with him. The chief wore a large hat. Upon the hat birds flew around in a flock. His name was Sag̣adila′ʻo. “Let me get in with you. My father will give you ten coppers,” said the woman, trying to persuade the chief.

Now the chief struck the edge of his canoe with his club. It came in front of the woman. The woman got in. He struck the edges of his canoe. Now it floated out at sea again.

Then the grizzly bears came out in a crowd. Close to them the wolves also came out in a crowd. He struck the edges of his canoe. The canoe bit off the heads of the grizzly bears. It also bit off the heads of the wolves. He destroyed them all.

Now he let the woman look into his hair. She picked frogs out of his hair. She was afraid to kill them with her teeth. So she bit upon her finger-nails. [700]

Now he went home with his canoe full of hair seal. He came to his wife, who was in front of the house. And his wife came to meet him. His wife was glad that he had married another wife. The woman’s name (i.e., his first wife’s name) was Ła′g̣ał-djat. Now he brought her to the house.

He went to hunt again next day, and he gave the following directions to his [new] wife: “When she eats do not steal a look at her. One always makes her choke by doing so.” But still she stole a look at her when she ate. And she saw her swallow a whole hair seal. She saw her spit out the bones toward the door. Then she caused her to choke by looking at her. For that she killed the woman. Ła′g̣ał-djat did it.

While her corpse was still lying in the house, Sag̣adila′ʻo came home. Sag̣adila′ʻo saw his wife’s dead body. Now Sag̣adila′ʻo also killed his older wife. He cut her in two. Then he put a whetstone between the two parts. They ground themselves into nothing. Then he awoke the woman. He married her again.

Now she had a child by him. It was a boy. He kept putting his feet on his (the boy’s) feet. By pulling he made him grow up. Now he came to maturity. He made him a small canoe like his own, and he also made a club for him like his own. When he played with it in the salt-water ponds it picked up small bull-heads with its teeth.

Then the woman came to dislike the place. And she went to her own place with her boy. So he came to his own country. And her son married his uncle’s daughter. Then he began to hunt. The name of the town was Qꜝadō′. [701]

Now, after he had been hunting for some time, a white sea otter came swimming about in front of the town. And he launched his canoe. He shot it in the tip of the tail. Then his wife skinned it, and he told her not to let any blood get on it. So she did not leave any blood on it.

Now his wife asked for it. He gave it to his wife. The woman washed it in the sea water. She put it into the sea. Then it slipped off seaward from her. She took a step after it. It again slipped down from her. She took another step after it.

Now she got stuck between the two dorsal fins of a killer whale. It swam away with her. Then her husband launched his canoe. He went after the killer whale. He paddled hard after it. Now he went far off into the Nass after it. Then his wife disappeared under the water in front of Killer-whale-always-blowing. [702]

Then he went back. And he came to Qꜝadō′. He kept blue hellebore until it had rotted. He also saved urine. And he also saved the blood of those menstruating for the first time. And he saved the blood of [any] menstruant women. He put them into a box.

Then he started off. He [came to the place] where his wife had passed in. Then he took twisted cedar limbs, a gimlet, and a whetstone. Where his wife had passed in he came to a kelp with two heads. He went into the water there upon the kelp. Marten remained upon the water behind him.

Now he came upon a broad trail. He started along. He came to Lᴀ′mas. [703] Then he came to some women digging wild-clover roots. The women said: “I smell Nanasî′mgît.” One of the women said so. Then the other one said: “I also smell him.” Now he went to one of them and opened her eyes. “My eyes are opened. My eyes are opened.” She said that because she felt happy. Then he opened the eyes of the other. Then, for the first time, he learned his name.

Now the women asked him what he came for. “I am looking for my wife whom they carried away from me.” “They passed right by here with your wife. Isnē′g̣ał’s [704] son married your wife. The one who married her is named ‘Gîtgidᴀ′mtcꜝēx.’ When you come to the town be on the watch. A supernatural heron lives at the end of the town. He is always watching. He is always repairing a canoe.”

Then he started. He came to the end of the town. Now the heron discovered him. And the heron cried out. So he put the twisted cedar limbs, the gimlet, and the whetstone into his hands. And he put him into his armpit.

Now the town people came to see what terrible thing had happened. They asked him: “Old man, why do you say that?” “My sight deceived me. That is why I shouted.” And they went away from him.

Then he let him out from his armpit. [He said]: “The one who married your wife lives in the middle house in the town, and to-morrow two slaves are going for dead hemlocks standing behind the house. One of the slaves is named Raven. One is named Crow. They are going to steam the fin to put it on your wife.”

In the evening he started from him to the town. He looked into the house where his wife was, in which there were retaining timbers. [705] And he saw his wife sitting near her husband. He returned to the old man. And he spent the night in his house.

Next day he went behind the town. He came to where the dead hemlocks stood. He sat down there. Now two slaves came there. Then he went inside of the dead hemlock. Then they started to chop down the firewood. And he bit off the end of the stone wedge. They began to cry. One of the slaves said: “My master will talk to me as he usually does.”

Now Gunanasî′mgît came out of the firewood. He took the end of the stone wedge out of his mouth. It became as it had been before. Then he cut down their firewood for them. He chopped it up for them.

Then they said to him: “When evening comes they are going to steam your wife’s fin in the ground. We are going out after water. Now, when evening approaches, stand in front of the house. After we have gone back and forth with water for a while, we will let you in. After we have brought water a while we will let ourselves fall with the water into the bottom of the house excavation. While we turn the water into steam in the fire, pick up your wife.”

As soon as evening came he stood in front of the house. At once they let him in. They went for water. Now the stones became red hot. Then they had her fins ready. They had a stone box in readiness on the side toward the door.

Now they went after water again, and the last to come in fell down with the water. A big stream ran into the fire. Then a great steam arose. And he ran over for his wife. He took her up in his arms. Then he ran back with her.

[The house pole had three heads. Their voices sounded an alarm. They say they were always watching.] [706]

Then they found out that she was gone, and they went after her, all the people in the town. Fast-rainbow-trout pursued him above. Marten pursued him below. [707] The two slaves ran in advance. Now they almost caught him, when one slave let himself fall. He let his belly swell up. Then Mouse [708] gnawed through his belly.

Again they pursued him. When they had nearly caught him again the other slave let himself fall. Then Weasel [709] burst his belly with his teeth.