Atsentma’, or the Meat-Mother

When they came near, they saw all kinds of animals running about in the lodge and playing, just as he had seen them. They now believed, and went ‘back and told the other people. The woman had given birth to all kinds of animals. The first-born was a mouse, and therefore mice are now very small. The next-born was a chipmunk, and thus each child born was larger than the preceding. The last-horn was the moose, and therefore he is very large.

Now the woman made a great blanket, like a huge moose-skin, and stretched it flat over the country. She tied one corner to Level Mountain [a long mountain-ridge or plateau north of Telegraph Creek, Stikine River], one corner to Dease Mountain [a mountain near Dease Lake], one corner to Tsextca’z Mountain [a mountain in the Tlepan district, south of Stikine River], and one corner to Atixza’ Mountain [a mountain on the south side of Stikine River, also known as Glacier and Sand Mountain]. She then called all her children, and told them to jump on the blanket one by one and run around. The blanket was springy, and moved up and down. Moose ran only a short distance when he was thrown off. Caribou ran much farther before bouncing off. Only Mountain-Sheep was able to run all round the blanket without being thrown off. Therefore the sheep is now the best runner of all the animals. He never tires and never falls down, and he can go in steep places anywhere. Having learned how each of her children could run, the woman now scattered her children over the country, assigning to each the locality best suited for him as habitat. The sheep and goat, being the surest-footed, were put in the most difficult country.

Then she told each one of her children what he should eat. She told Moose that he should browse on willows, and Caribou that he should eat moss. Now the woman, having finished her task, travelled north and disappeared. She never returned to the people. She lives now in the far north; and when people see the aurora, they say, “Atsentma’ is throwing fire [or burning sticks] out of her house.” Her name is Atsentma’, which means “meat-mother” [also “game-mother”]. She still controls the movements of her children, the animals, here on earth.

Meat-Mother and the caribou and moose

The Meat-Mother watches her children the game, and also the people. When people do not follow the taboos, and do not treat animals rightly, the latter tell their mother; and she punishes the people by taking the game away for a while, or by making it wild, and then the people starve. When she sees good people starving for want of game, she sends game to them, and they are made happy. This accounts for the great migrations of caribou. Sometimes Meat-Mother takes the caribou back, and keeps them with her for a year or two, because of something bad that people have done in some place. Then people have hard work hunting, and often starve. Then she takes pity on them, and tells the caribou to migrate there again. The caribou are her favorite children. The Moose children are the most apt to tell their mother of any disrespect shown them: therefore people have to be very careful as to how they treat moose.

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