Chapter II: Part 2

Now he saw a good shaman's blanket like the one he had before. He tore his raven's blanket. He took the dancing blanket that hung before him. Behold! it was not a shaman's blanket. It was only the lichens on a tree. Now he saw it was only lichens. He sat down and wept. He took his old raven's blanket and tied it together. Then once more he went on, weeping with hunger.

RAVEN AND THE GULLS

_Tsimshian_

Raven did another thing. He induced the olachen to come to Nass River. He said to them, "Go up on both sides of the river." They did so. Then Raven's canoe was quite full of fish. He had not used his rake, but the whole shoal of olachen jumped into his canoe.

Then he camped at Crab-apple place. He clapped on the top of the stone. Then very slippery became the top of that stone that the olachen should not be lost. He put olachen on spits to roast them.

Raven called, "Little Gull!"

Then many gulls came. They ate all the olachen of Raven. They said, "_Qana, qana, qana, qana!_" They talked much while they ate all the olachen of Raven.

Then Raven was sad. Therefore he took the gulls and threw them into the fireplace. So the tips of their wings have been black, ever since that day.

THE LAND OTTER

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Raven said to Land Otter, "You will live in the water just as well as on land."

Raven and Land Otter were good friends, so they went halibut-fishing together. Land Otter was a good fisherman. Raven said to Land Otter, "You will always have your house on a point where there are breezes from all sides. Whenever a canoe with people capsizes, you will save the people and make them your friends." That is how the Land Otter Man was created: because Raven told this to Land Otter.

If people who are taken away by Land Otters are brought back by their friends, they become shamans. It was through the Land Otters that shamans were first known. Shamans, by means of Land Otter spirits, can see each other, even though others cannot.

RAVEN AND COOT

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, Raven wanted all the birds to look well, so he painted them. Raven painted Coot last. Then Coot began to paint Raven, who wanted many bright colors. So Coot painted Raven with bright colors with one hand, but in the other hand he hid charcoal. When Raven looked away, Coot quickly blackened all the bright colors with charcoal. Then Raven was angry and he chased Coot. But Coot ran too quickly, so Raven threw white mud at him,--white mud which spattered over Coot. Therefore Coot had white spots on his head and back. But Coot flew away and left Raven all black.

RAVEN AND MARMOT

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Once Raven was flying over a reef near the seashore, near seabirds that were perched on the rocks. Seabirds cried to him, "Oh, you offal-eater! Oh, you carrion-eater! Oh, you black one!" Raven turned and flew far away crying, "_Qaq! qaq! qaq!_" He flew far away across the great water until he came to a mountain on the other side.

Raven saw just in front of him the hole of Marmot. Then Raven stood by the door watching, until Marmot came home, bringing food. But Marmot could not enter his hole because Raven stood in the way. Marmot asked Raven to stand to one side. Raven said, "No. They called me 'carrion-eater.' Now I will show them I am not. I will eat you."

Marmot said, "All right; but I have heard that you are a very fine dancer. Now, if you will dance, I will sing. Then you can eat me, but let me see you dance before you eat me."

Raven agreed to dance. Then Marmot sang,

"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance!
Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, how well you dance!"

Raven danced. Then they stopped to rest.

Marmot said, "I like your dancing. Now I will sing again, so shut your eyes and dance your best."

So Raven shut his eyes and danced clumsily around. Marmot sang,

"Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a graceful dancer!
Oh, Raven, Raven, Raven, what a fool you are!"

Because Marmot, with a quick run, had darted between Raven's legs and was safe in his hole.

When Marmot was safe in his hole, he put out the tip of his nose and mocked Raven. He said, "_Chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik, chi-kik-kik!_ You are the greatest fool I ever saw. What a comical figure you cut when dancing! I could hardly keep from laughing. Just look at me--see how fat I am. Don't you wish you could eat me?"

Raven, in a rage, flew far away.

THE BRINGING OF THE LIGHT BY RAVEN

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

In the first days, the sun and moon were in the sky. Then the sun and moon were taken away and people had only the light of the stars. Even the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the light.

Now there was an orphan boy in the village who sat with the humble people over the entrance way of the kashim. He was despised by every one. When the magic of the shamans failed to bring back the sun and moon into the sky the boy mocked them. He said, "What fine shamans you must be. You cannot bring back the light, but I can." Then the shamans were angry and beat that boy and drove him out of the kashim. Now this boy was like any other boy until he put on a raven coat he had. Then he became Raven.

Now the boy went to his aunt's house. He told her the shamans had failed to bring back the light, and they had beaten him when he mocked them. The boy said, "Where are the sun and moon?"

The aunt said, "I do not know."

The boy said, "I am sure you know. Look what a finely sewed coat you wear. You could not sew it that way if you did not know where the light is."

Thus they argued.

Then the aunt said, "If you wish to find the light, go far to the south. Go on snowshoes. You will know the place when you get there."

The boy put on his snowshoes and set off toward the south. Many days he travelled and the darkness was always the same. When he had gone a very long way he saw far in front of him a ray of light. Then the boy hurried on. As he went farther the light showed again, plainer than before. Then it vanished for a time. Thus it kept appearing and vanishing.

At last the boy came to a large hill. One side was brightly lighted; the other side was black as night. Close to the hill was a hut. A man was shovelling snow from in front of it. The man tossed the snow high in the air; then the light could not be seen until the snow fell. Then the man tossed the snow again. So the light kept appearing and disappearing. Close to the house was a large ball of fire.

The boy stopped and began to plan how to steal the ball of light.

Then the boy walked up to the man. He said, "Why do you throw up the snow? It hides the light from our village."

The man said, "I am not hiding the light. I am cleaning away the snow. Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The boy said, "It is so dark at our village I do not want to stay there. I came here to live with you."

"All the time?" asked the man.

"Yes," said the boy.

The man said, "All right. Come into the house with me." Then he dropped his shovel on the ground. He stooped down to lead the way through the underground passage into the house. He let the curtain fall in front of the door as he passed, because he thought the boy was close beside him.

Then the boy caught up the ball of light. He put it in the turned-up flap of his fur coat. Then he picked up the shovel and ran away toward the north. He ran until his feet were tired. Then he put on his raven coat and flew away. He flew rapidly to the north. Raven could hear the man shriek behind him. The man was pursuing him. But Raven flew faster. Then the man cried, "Keep the light; but give me my shovel."

Raven said, "No, you cannot have your shovel. You made our village dark." So Raven flew faster.

Now as Raven flew, he broke off a little piece of the light. This made day. Then he went on a long time in darkness, until he broke off another piece of light. Thus it was day again. So as Raven flew to the village he broke off the pieces of light. When Raven reached the kashim of his own village he threw away the last piece. He went into the kashim and said to the shamans, "I have brought back the light. It will be light and then dark, so as to make day and night."

After this Raven went out upon the ice because his home was on the seacoast. Then a great wind arose, and the ice drifted with him across the sea to the land on the other side.

Thus Raven brought back the light. It is night and day, as he said it would be. But sometimes the nights are very long because Raven travelled a long way without throwing away a piece of the light.

DAYLIGHT ON THE NASS RIVER

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

When Raven had grown quite large he walked down the bank of the Nass River one day, until he heard the noise people were making in the darkness as they fished for olachen. Now all the people in the world lived at one place on the Nass River. They had heard that Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass had something called "daylight." They were afraid of it and talked about it a great deal.

Raven shouted to the fishermen, "Why do you make so much noise? If you make so much noise I will bring the daylight here."

Eight canoe-loads of people were fishing there. They said, "You are not Nas-ca-ki-yel. You are not Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass. How can you have the daylight?" They kept on making much noise.

Then Raven opened the box and daylight shot over the world like lightning. They made still more noise. So Raven opened the box wide and there was daylight everywhere.

Then the people were frightened. Some ran into the woods and some jumped into the water. Those that had clothes of fur seal skins jumped into the water; they became seals. Those which had clothing of bear skins, marten skins, and wolf skins, ran into the woods and turned into grizzly bears, martens, and wolves.

THE NAMING OF THE BIRDS

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Now Raven went around among the birds, teaching them. He said to Grouse, "You are to live in a place where it is wintry. You will always live in a place high up so you will have plenty of breezes." Then Raven gave Grouse four white pebbles. He said, "You will never starve so long as you have these four pebbles."

Raven also said to Grouse, "You know that Sea-lion is your grandchild. You must get four more pebbles and give them to him." That is why the sea-lion has four large pebbles. It throws these at hunters. If one strikes a person, it kills him. From this story it is known that Grouse and Sea-lion understand each other.

Raven said to Ptarmigan, "You will be the maker of snowshoes. You will know how to travel in snow." It was from these birds that the Athapascans learned how to make snowshoes, and how to put the lacings on.

Raven came next to Wild Canary, that lives all the year around in the Tlingit country. He said, "You will be head among the very small birds. You are not to live on the same food as human beings. Keep away from them."

Then Raven said to Robin, "You will make people happy by your whistle. You will be a good whistler."

Then Raven said to Kun, the Flicker, "You will be chief among the birds of your size. You will not be found in all places. You will seldom be seen."

Raven said to Lugan, a bird that lives far out on the ocean, "You will seldom be seen near shore. You will live on lonely rocks, far out on the ocean."

When Raven came to Snipes, he said, "You will always go in flocks. You will never go out alone." Therefore we always see snipes in flocks.

Raven said to Asq-aca-tci, a small bird with yellow-green plumage, "You will always go in flocks. You will always be on the tree tops. That is where your food is."

Raven said to a very small bird, Kotlai, the size of a butterfly, "You will be liked. You will be seen only to give good luck. People will hear your voice, but seldom see you."

Then to Blue-jay Raven said, "You will have very fine clothes. You will be a good talker. People will take colors from your clothes."

Then Raven said to Xunkaha, "You will never be seen unless the north wind is going to blow." That is what the name Xunkaha means.

To Crow, Raven said, "You will make lots of noise. You will be great talkers." That is why, when you hear one crow, you hear a lot of others right afterward.

Raven said to Gusyiadul, "You will be seen only when warm weather is coming. Never come near except when warm weather is coming."

To Humming-bird Raven said, "People will enjoy seeing you. If a person sees you once, he will want to see you again."

Raven said to Eagle, "You will be very powerful and above all birds. Your eyesight will be very good. It will be easy for you to get what you want." Then Raven put talons on the eagle and said they would be useful to him.

Thus Raven taught all the birds.

THE ORIGIN OF THE WINDS

_Tlingit_

Now Raven went off to a certain place and created West Wind. Raven said to it, "You shall be my son's daughter. No matter how hard you blow, you shall hurt nobody."

Raven also made South Wind. When South Wind climbs on top of a rock it never ceases to blow.

Raven made North Wind and on top of a mountain he made a house for it with ice hanging down the sides. Then he went in and said to North Wind, "Your back is white." That is why mountains are white with snow.

DURATION OF LIFE

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass tried to make human beings, at the same time, out of a rock and out of a leaf. But he created human beings out of the leaf first. Then Raven showed a leaf to people. He said, "You see this leaf. You are to be like it. When it falls off the branch and rots there is nothing left of it."

That is why there is death in the world. If men had come from the hard rocks there would be no death. Years ago, when people were getting old, they would say, "It is unlucky that we did not come from the rock. We are made from leaves; therefore we must die."

GHOST TOWN

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

Once Raven came to a large town which was deserted. Every one seemed to have died. Raven entered the largest house, but he felt some one continually pushing him away. Yet he saw no one there. It was a ghost house. The place was called Ghost Town.

Raven then loaded a canoe with provisions from the empty houses and started to paddle away. He did not notice that a long rope was fastened to the stern of the canoe and to a tree on the shore. When Raven had paddled the length of the rope, the canoe was pulled right back to the beach. All the provisions were carried back to the houses. Yet Raven could see no one. Then a ghost dropped a large stone on Raven's foot. This made him very lame.

HOW RAVEN STOLE THE LAKE

_Haida_ (_Queen Charlotte Islands_)

After Raven had made the crows black because they had eaten his salmon--crows had always been white before that, they say--he met some people with feathers on their heads and gambling-stick bags on their backs. They said, "What is the matter?"

Raven said, "Oh, my father and mother are dead."

Then they started home with him. These were the Beavers, they say. They were going out to gamble, but turned back on account of him.

The next morning they put their gambling-stick bags upon their backs and started off again. Raven flew around behind a screen. Lo, a lake lay there! In a creek flowing from it was a fish trap. The fish trap was so full of salmon it looked as if some one were shaking it. There were plenty of salmon in it and in the lake were very small canoes passing each other. Several points of land were red with cranberries.

Raven pulled out the fish trap, folded it together, and laid it down at the edge of the lake. Then he rolled it up with the lake and house, put them under his arm, and pulled himself up into a tree that stood close by. They were not heavy for his arm. He had rolled the lake up just as though it were a blanket. Raven sat in the tree half-way up.

After a while some one came. His house and the lake were not there. After he had looked about him for some time, he looked up. Lo, there sat Raven with their property!

Then the Beavers went quickly to that tree. They began cutting it with their teeth. When it began to fall, Raven went to another one. When that began to fall, he went to another. After the Beavers had cut down many trees in this way, they gave it up. They then travelled about for a long time, they say. After a long time, they found a lake and settled down on it.

Then after Raven had travelled around for a while with the lake, he came to a large open place. He unrolled the lake there. There it lay. He did not let the fish trap or the house go. He kept them to teach the Seaward (mainland) people and the Shoreward (Queen Charlotte Islands) people, they say.

THE KILLER WHALE

_Haida_

A long time ago, a canoe-load of Indians were out seal-hunting. The weather was calm and the sea was smooth. Then a killer whale kept near the canoe and the young men threw stones at it. They hit the fin of the killer whale with several stones. Then the whale went to the beach. Soon the men in the canoe saw a smoke rising from the beach. They went to see who was there. When they reached the shore, there was not the Skana, the killer whale, but a man cooking some food.

The man said, "Why did you throw stones at my canoe? You have broken it. Now go get cedar withes in the woods and mend it."

So the men mended the broken canoe. When they had finished, the man said, "Turn your backs to the water. Cover your heads with your fur robes. Don't look until I call you." They all did as he told them. They heard the canoe grate on the beach as it was hauled down into the water. Then the man said, "Look now."

They looked and there was the canoe in the water. But when the canoe came to the second breaker, it went under. When it came to the surface, behold!--there was no canoe. There was a Skana--a killer whale. The man-spirit was inside the Skana.

ORIGIN OF THE CHILKAT BLANKET[3]

_Tsimshian_

[3] Although the patterns of the Chilkat blankets vary, nearly
all of them show, in symbolic weaving, the bear with his heart
between his eyes, Gonaqadet the sea spirit, the boy, and the
father of the chief's daughter. In some of them also, the raven
and the thunderbird figure. Only the Indians can really
interpret the various weavings, and their interpretations vary.

In the days of the animal people, long, long ago, all the animals were divided into different tribes. In those days also, animals could take off their furry skins; then they looked just like people.

Now in those days long ago, a group of women once went out to search for wild celery in the early spring. They found it growing here and there, and spent all day gathering it. Then they tied it in bundles and started home with it on their backs.

Now among these women was the daughter of a chief. She picked twigs as she followed in the trail in the evening light, and then slipped into the footprints of a brown bear. The jolt loosened her pack. She stopped to readjust her bundle of celery. She said sharp words about bears. Then she hastened on to rejoin her companions who were already lost in the dusk.

Suddenly the chief's daughter heard footsteps behind her. A handsome young man joined her. Soon he asked her to be his wife. The chief's daughter consented, so she went home with him. They walked far, far into the woods until they came to Bear village. Then the chief's daughter knew that her lover belonged to the Bear tribe.

After a while the chief's daughter became unhappy. She wanted to go back to her father's home, but the Bear tribe watched her so she could not escape.

One day chief's daughter reached the shore. Out on the water she saw a fisherman in a boat, and she called to him to rescue her. The fisherman touched his canoe with his killing club and in one bound it sprang to the shore, just as the Bear and some of his tribe appeared. The fisherman began to fight Bear, but he could not kill him. Then the chief's daughter told him to strike Bear between the eyes, because his heart was there. So Bear was killed.

The fisherman took the chief's daughter in his canoe. But behold!--he was no fisherman at all. It was Gonaqadet, the spirit of the sea. So the woman married Gonaqadet, who was very kind to her.

After a long while, the chief's daughter became unhappy again. She wanted her son to be trained by her people, as the custom was. Then Gonaqadet permitted her to return to earth with the boy, but he made her promise that she would weave him a blanket telling of her life and his courtship. So the woman returned to earth from the sea. Then she wove for Gonaqadet the blanket. This was the first Chilkat blanket.

Now one day Yel, the Raven, wandering along the seashore, entered a great cavern under the sea. There he found Gonaqadet, wearing a beautiful Chilkat blanket. Gonaqadet welcomed Raven, and offered him food. He placed food before him in two long carved platters. After Raven had feasted, Gonaqadet taught him many dances and gave him a copy of the blanket pattern. Then Raven taught the people how to weave the blankets, but he taught the Tsimshian tribe first. Afterward the Chilkats learned how to weave them.

ORIGIN OF LAND AND PEOPLE

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

In the beginning there was water over all the earth. There were no people. It was very cold. The water was covered with ice, and the ice pieces ground together, making long ridges and hummocks.

Then a man came from the other side of the great water and stopped on the ice hills. He took for his wife a wolf. Then their children grew up. Each pair spoke a different language from that of their parents, or from that of their brothers and sisters. So each pair went out in a different direction and built houses on the ice hills. Then the snow melted and ran down the hillsides. It scooped out ravines and river beds and made the earth. Thus the earth was made and the people. That is why so many different languages are spoken.

CREATION OF THE WORLD

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, water flowed all over the world. There was one family and they made a big raft. Then they put animals on the raft.

Now there was no land but all water, so the people wanted to make a world. The man tied a cord around a beaver and sent him down to find the bottom of the water. But the beaver got only half-way and drowned. Then the man tied a string around a muskrat and sent him down. Muskrat drowned, but he reached the bottom and got a little mud on his hands. Then the man took the mud out of the muskrat's hands into his palm. He let it dry and then crumbled it to dust. Then he blew the dust out of his palm all over the waters. This made the world.

ORIGIN OF MANKIND

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Long, long ago, a man and a woman came down from the sky and landed on one of the Diomede Islands. They lived there a long while, but they had no children. At last one day the man took some walrus ivory, and from this he carved five dolls, just like people. Then he took some wood and made from it five more dolls. Then, one night, when all were finished, he set them off to one side, all ten in a row. The next morning the dolls had become people. The ivory dolls became men, therefore they are brave and hardy; but the wooden dolls became women, therefore they are soft and timid. From these ten dolls came all the people of the Diomede Islands.

THE FIRST WOMAN

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Long, long ago there were many men living in the northland, but there was no woman among them. Far away in the southland lived one woman. At last one of the young men in the northland travelled south to the home of the woman and married her. He thought, "I have a wife, while the son of the headsman has none."

Now the son of the headsman had also started to travel to the home of the woman in the southland. He stood in the passage to the house and heard the husband talking to himself. So he waited until all the people were asleep. Then the son of the headsman crept into the house and began to drag the woman away. He caught her by her shoulders.

Then the husband was awakened. He ran to the passage and caught the woman by her feet. So the men pulled until they pulled the woman in two. The son of the headsman carried the upper part of her body to the north. Then they began to carve wood to make each woman complete. Thus there were now two women.

The woman in the south was a good dancer; but she could not do fine needlework in sewing the furs, because her hands were wooden. The woman in the north was a poor dancer, because her feet were wooden, but she could sew with fine stitches in the furs. So all the women of the north are skilful with their hands, and all the women of the south are good dancers, even to this day. Thus you may know that the tale is true.

THE FIRST TEARS

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

One day Man hunted for seals along the seashore. Many seals were there, but as Man crept carefully up to them, they slipped into the water. At last only one seal was left on the rocks. Man crept up to it carefully, but just as he was about to catch the seal, it slipped into the water.

Then Man stood up. His breast was full of a strange feeling. Water began to drop from his eyes. He put up his hand and caught the drops; thus he saw that they were really water. Then loud cries came from his breast and more water came out of his eyes. Now Man's son saw him coming. He called to his wife that Man was making a strange noise. So they went down to the seashore. They were surprised to see water coming out of his eyes. Then Man told them he had tried to catch seals. He had crept carefully up, but they slipped into the water. Thus all the seals had escaped. Then water began to come out of the eyes of the son and his wife. Loud cries came from their breasts. In this way people first learned to cry. Afterward, Man and his son killed a seal; then they made snares for more seals from its skin.

ORIGIN OF THE WINDS

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

A long time ago a man and his wife had no children. So one night the man went out of the house to find a solitary tree that grew on the tundra. First he saw a long track of bright light, like that made by the moon shining on the snow. It led across the tundra. So far, far along the trail of bright light travelled the man until he saw a beautiful tree, all alone, shining in the bright light. He took out his hunting knife, cut off part of the trunk, and went home again over the bright trail.

When the man reached home, he carved a boy doll from the wood and his wife made fur clothes for it. Then the man carved little wood dishes from the scraps of wood. The wife set the doll on the bench opposite the entrance, in the place of honor. She placed before it food and water.

That night, when all was dark, they heard low whistling sounds. The woman said, "Do you hear that? It was the doll." When they made a light, they saw that the doll had eaten the food and drunk the water. They saw that its eyes moved.

In the morning, the doll was gone. The man and his wife could not find it, but they saw the tracks of the boy doll leading away from the door. The tracks followed the direction of the trail of light which the man had followed the night before. So the man and his wife went into the house.

But Doll followed the bright path until he came to the edge of day, where the sky comes down to the earth. There were holes in the sky wall covered with gut-skin.

In the east, Doll saw the gut-skin cover over the hole in the sky wall bulging inward. Doll stopped and said, "It is very quiet in here. I think a little wind will make it better." Doll drew his knife and cut the cover loose about the edge of the hole. A strong wind blew through, bringing with it a live reindeer. Looking through the hole, Doll saw another world, just like the earth. Then he drew the cover loosely over the hole, and said to East Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Doll walked along the sky wall to another opening at the southeast. The gut-skin cover bulged inward. Then Doll cut the cover loose at the edges, and a great gale swept in. It brought reindeer, trees, and bushes. Then Doll fastened the cover lightly and said, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Then Doll came to a hole in the south, and the gut-skin cover bulged inward. He cut the edges loose and a hot wind rushed in. It brought rain, and spray from the great salt sea which lay beyond the sky hole on that side. Then Doll closed the opening lightly and said to South Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Doll walked along the sky wall to the west. There he saw another opening, covered by gut-skin. So he cut the edges loose, and West Wind swept in, bringing with him rain, with sleet and spray from the gray ocean. Then Doll fastened the edges of the gut-skin loosely, and said to West Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

So Doll passed along the sky wall to the northwest. When he cut the edges of the gut-skin covering, a blast of cold wind rushed in, bringing snow and ice. Doll became cold; he almost froze. Therefore Doll closed the hole quickly, saying, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Again Doll went along the sky wall to the north, but it became so cold he had to leave it. So he went toward the centre of the earth, away from the sky wall, until he saw the opening to the north. Then he went to the hole in the sky wall, but so great was the cold that Doll feared to cut the strings. He waited. Then he cut the strings quickly. The terrible North Wind swept in, bringing with him great masses of snow and ice. North Wind strewed the snow and ice all over the earth plain. Then Doll closed the hole very quickly, yet he fastened it loosely. He said to North Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Then Doll travelled into the midst of the earth plain. He looked up and saw the sky arch, resting upon long, slender poles, like a tepee, but of beautiful blue material. Then Doll went back to the village where he was made.

ORIGIN OF THE WIND

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, when all were men, there was no wind. Now Bear used to go about with a bag on his back. The animal people wanted to know what was in the bag. Many times they asked Bear but he would not tell them. One day Bear fell asleep with the bag on his back. Then a man saw him asleep. The man cut the bag and found the wind in it. Therefore the wind escaped and has never since been caught.

NORTH WIND

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

After Raven left the Land Otters, he came to Taku. There North Wind lived in a cliff at the mouth of the inlet. Raven stayed there with him.

Now North Wind is very proud and shines all over with what the Indians think are icicles. So the Indians never say anything against North Wind, no matter how long it blows, because the spirits give it power. Years ago people thought that there were spirits in all the large cliffs upon the islands and would pray to those cliffs. This was because Raven once lived in this cliff with North Wind.

EAST WIND AND NORTH WIND

_Tlingit_

A high-caste man married first the daughter of East Wind. When he heard of the pretty daughter of North Wind he married her also. He took her back to the village where his first wife lived.

Then people said to the daughter of East Wind, "There is a pretty woman here. Her clothes sparkle all over. They make a tingling noise."

The daughter of East Wind was very jealous. She made the east wind to blow. It began to grow warm and cloudy. Then the daughter of North Wind lost all her sparkling clothing. The icicles and the frost melted away. Then the daughter of North Wind was no longer beautiful.

CREATION OF THE KILLER WHALE

_Tlingit_

A man named Natsayane, belonging to the Seal People, made the killer whales. He first tried to carve them out of red cedar, then out of the hemlock, and then out of all other kinds of woods. He took each set of figures to the beach and tried to make them swim; but they only floated on the surface. Last of all he tried yellow cedar. Then the killer whales swam.

Natsayane on one marked white lines from the corners of its mouth back to its head. He said, "This is going to be the white-mouthed killer whale."

When Natsayane put them into the water, he said, "Go up into the inlets. Go up into the head of the bays. Hunt for seal, for halibut, and for things under the sea. Do not hurt human beings." Before this people did not know what a killer whale was.

When the Killer whale tribe start north, the Seal People say, "Here comes another battle. Here come the warriors." They say this because the killer whales are always after seals. The killer whale which always swims ahead is the red killer whale, called the "killer whale spear" because it is long and slender.

FUTURE LIFE

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

After Raven had created people, a man died. Raven came into his house and saw his wife and children weeping around him. Raven raised with both hands the blanket of the dead man and held it over his body. So he brought him back to life.

Now Raven and the man both told the woman there was no death. She would not believe them. Then Raven said to her, "Lie down and go to sleep."

When the woman slept she saw a wide trail. There were many people on it and many fierce animals. Good people had to pass this trail in order to live again. At the end of the trail there was a broad river, and a canoe came to her from the other side. When she crossed the river, people came to her. They said, "You had better go back. We are not in a good place. We are hungry here and can get no water to drink. We are cold."

That is why people burn the bodies of the dead and place food in the fire for them to eat. If they were not burned their spirits would be cold. That is why food and drink are given to them at the feast of the dead.

THE LAND OF THE DEAD

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

A young woman on the Lower Yukon died. When she died she went to sleep for a while. Then some one shook her arm and said, "Get up. Do not sleep. You are dead." Then she saw she was in her grave box and the shade of her grandfather was shaking her. Then she went with her grandfather back to the village, but the country she knew had disappeared. In its place was a strange village which reached as far as the eye could see.

As she entered the village, the old man told her to go into one of the houses. As soon as she entered it, a woman picked up a stick of wood and raised it to strike her. The woman said, "What do you want here?"

So the young woman ran out, crying to her grandfather. He said, "This is the village of the dog shades. Now you see how living dogs feel when beaten by people."

They came to another village. Here she saw a man lying on the ground with grass growing up through his joints. He could move, but he could not rise. The grandfather said this shade was punished for pulling up and chewing grass stems when he was on earth. Then the grandfather suddenly disappeared.

The girl followed a trail to another village, but she came to a swift river. This river was made up of the tears of people who on earth weep for the dead. When the girl saw she could not cross the river, she began to weep. At once a mass of straw floated down the river to her. Upon this, as a bridge, she crossed the stream. Before she reached the village the shades smelled her. They crowded around her, saying, "Who is she? Where does she come from?" They looked for the totem marks on her clothing.

Some one said, "Where is she? Where is she?" and her grandfather came toward her. He led her into a house nearby and there was her grandmother. The old woman asked her if she were thirsty. The girl looked about and saw only one water vessel made like those of her own village. This had in it their own Yukon water. It had been given them at the festival of the dead by the girl's father. The other tubs had only the water of the village of the shades. The old woman gave the girl a piece of deer fat. This, too, had been given at the festival of the dead. Then the grandmother explained that the guide had been the grandfather because the last person thought of by a dying person hurries away to show the road to the new shade. Thoughts are heard in the land of the shades.

THE GHOST LAND

_Tlingit_

The young wife of a chief's son died and the young man was so sorrowful he could not sleep. Early one morning he put on his fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night. He went through the woods a long distance, and then to a valley. The trees were very thick, but he could hear voices far away. At last he saw light through the trees and then came to a wide, flat stone on the edge of a lake.

Now all the time this young man had been walking in the Death Trail. He saw houses and people on the other side of the lake. He could see them moving around. So he shouted, "Come over and get me." But they did not seem to hear him. Upon the lake a little canoe was being paddled about by one man, and all the shore was grassy. The chief's son shouted a long while but no one answered him. At last he whispered to himself, "Why don't they hear me?"

At once a person across the lake said, "Some one is shouting." When he whispered, they heard him.

The voice said also, "Some one has come up from Dreamland. Go and bring him over."

When the chief's son reached the other side of the lake, he saw his wife. He was very happy to see her again. People asked him to sit down. They gave him something to eat, but his wife said, "Don't eat that. If you eat that you will never get back." So he did not eat it.

Then his wife said, "You had 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 and it is the only one on that lake. They landed at the broad, flat rock where the chief's son had stood calling. It is called Ghost's Rock, and is at the very end of the Death Trail. Then they started down the trail, through the valley and through the thick woods. The second night they reached the chief's house.

The chief's son told his wife to stay outside. He went in and said to his father, "I have brought my wife back."

The chief said, "Why don't you bring her in?"

The chief laid down a nice mat with fur robes on it for the young wife. The young man went out to get his wife, but when he came in, with her, they could see only him. When he came very close, they saw a deep shadow following him. When his wife sat down and they put a marten skin robe around her, it hung about the shadow just as if a person were sitting there. When she ate, they saw only the spoon moving up and down, but not the shadow of her hands. It looked very strange to them.

Afterward the chief's son died and the ghosts of both of them went back to Ghost Land.

THE SKY COUNTRY

_Tlingit_

Long ago, a man's wife was stolen from him. He cared for her so much he thought he would follow her. So he began to walk. He thought he was walking along the beach, but he was following a wide trail through the woods. He walked on for a long time with his head bent down, until he saw smoke ahead. When he came near he saw a woman tanning a skin. He showed her a necklace he had made. He said, "I will give you this string if you will tell me where my wife is."

The woman said, "She is over at the next camp."

So he at last reached his wife and stayed there a long time.

Now the people of this village wanted to kill him. They kindled a fire and began to drag him to it. He said, "Oh, how glad I am! I want to die." Then they stopped and began to drag him toward the water. The man said he was afraid of water, so they threw him in. He came up in the middle of the lake.

People said, "See him. He is looking at us."

The man laughed. He said, "The water is just where I like to be." He said this because he was a good swimmer and there was much rain in his country. He stayed in the water all the time he remained in that country.

Now all this while the man and his wife had really been in the sky. Now they wanted to get down. They started back to the house of a certain woman. She was the spider. The house was her web. The woman put them into a web and began to lower them to the earth. Before they started, the woman said, "If you get caught on anything, jerk backward and forward until the web comes loose." She thought they might get caught on the edges of the clouds. So the man and his wife reached the earth safely and the web was drawn up into the sky.

THE LOST LIGHT

_Eskimo_ (_Port Clarence_)

Once upon a time, all the people were together in a singing house. While they were dancing the sun disappeared. No one knew where it had gone. Because it was so dark, people could not go hunting and soon their provisions were exhausted. Then they told the women to mend their clothing carefully and to make as many boots as possible. These they put into bags. Then the people set out to search for the sun.

They followed the seacoast. They travelled so far they wore out their boots, so they put on new boots from their bags. Yet it was dark all the time.

After many days they came to a country where were many, many seals and walrus and deer. The language of the people was different from their own. After a while they learned to talk it a little. They asked these people where to find the sun.

These people said that the sun was far off. Before they came to the sun's country they would come to five places. This was the first place. But in the fourth place beyond there lived a woman who kept both the sun and moon in her house.

So they went on. It was very cold and they ran as fast as they could because it was so cold. Then their food gave out. But they reached a country where there was plenty to eat. Here the people spoke a strange language. After a while they learned to talk it a little. These people told them that at the third place they reached they would find a woman who kept the sun and moon in her house.

The people ran on. They ran because it was so very cold. Then when their food was gone, they reached another country where there was plenty of food. The language of the people was different from their own. But after a while they learned to understand it a little. These people said that at the second place which they would reach lived a woman named Itudluqpiaq who had both sun and moon in her house, but it was doubtful if they would be able to get them.

Then they went on again. They had to run as fast as they could to keep warm. It was very cold. When their food was almost gone, they reached the country of the dwarfs. It was a country with plenty of food, walrus and seal and deer. The dwarfs tried to run away when they saw the large men coming. But the people caught them. The dwarfs said that at the next place lived the woman Itudluqpiaq who had both sun and moon.

As the people ran on from the country of the dwarfs, they found ice and driftwood in their way. They kicked it all aside. At that time the people were very strong and able to lift heavy stones.

After they had run a long way, they saw a singing house. When they came near, they went very slowly because they were afraid. At last one of the men tied his jacket around his waist and his trousers around his knees. Then he crept cautiously through the entrance and put his head through the door at the bottom of the floor. He saw a young woman, Itudluqpiaq, sitting in the middle of the house toward the rear. Her father was sitting in the middle of the house on the right-hand side and her mother on the left-hand side. At the back of the house, in the right-hand corner on the rafter, hung a large ball; in the left-hand corner a small ball.

The man whispered, "Itudluqpiaq, we came to ask you for some light."

The mother said, "Give them the small ball."

The man refused the small ball. He asked for the large one. Then Itudluqpiaq took it down and gave it a kick. It fell right into the entrance hole.

The people took the ball and ran outside. Then they tore the ball to pieces and the daylight came out of it.

It was not so warm at once, but it grew warmer day after day. If they had taken the small ball it would have been light, but it would have remained cold. The small ball was the moon.

THE CHIEF IN THE MOON

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Far away in the moon lives a great chief and shamans with strong magic visit him there. A long time ago a shaman went to visit the great chief. He flew like a bird up as high as the sky because of his magic. The sky was a land just like the earth, only the grass was long, and grew downward toward the earth. And the grass was filled with snow. When the wind blows up in the sky it rustles the long grass stems, hanging downward, and loosens the snow. When the wind blows the snow loose in the sky, it falls down upon the earth from the long grass stems, and men call it a snowstorm.

Up in the sky, among the grass, are many small, round lakes. At night these shine and men call them stars.

But the Malemut tribes say that the north wind is the breath of a giant. When he builds a snow house and the snow flies from his shovel, then there is a snowstorm upon earth.

THE BOY IN THE MOON

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a village on the great river, lived four brothers and a sister. There was also a small boy who was a great friend of his sister. The brothers were hunters and in the fall hunted at sea, but after the Bladder-feast was over they went to the mountains and hunted reindeer. But the boy was lazy.

Now the boy fell in love with the girl. One day the girl took up a dish of meat and berries and went out of the house. There she saw a ladder leading up into the sky, with a line hanging down by the side of it. Taking hold of the line, the girl climbed the ladder going up into the sky. Then her brothers saw her and began at once to scold the boy.

The boy caught up his sealskin trousers. Being in a hurry, he thrust his right leg into them and drew a deerskin sock upon the other foot as he ran outside the house. There he saw the girl, far, far up in the sky, and he began to climb the ladder to her. But the girl floated far away, the boy following her.

Now the girl became the sun and the boy the moon. Ever he pursues her but never overtakes her. When the sun sinks in the west, the moon rises in the east, but always too late. The moon has no food, and sometimes almost fades away. Then the sun reaches out the dish of meat and berries and the moon becomes fat again.

THE BOY IN THE MOON

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)