A cannibal woman and her daughter inhabited an island, luring men to their deaths. The daughter seduced visitors, convincing them to lie beneath her, then used her sharp forearm to slit their throats, after which the pair consumed the bodies. One man, suspecting foul play, visited the island armed with a knife. He reversed the roles, killed the daughter, and fled. The enraged mother pursued him but, exhausted from attacking his fortified shelter, was ultimately slain by the man.
Source:
Tahltan Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.32, No.124, pp.198-250
April-June, 1917
Vol.34, No.133, pp.223-253
July-September, 1921
Vol.34, No.134, pp.335-356
October-December, 1921
► Themes of the story
Cunning and Deception: The protagonist employs cleverness to uncover the women’s plot and defeat them.
Good vs. Evil: The man’s struggle against the malevolent cannibal women.
Revenge and Justice: The man seeks to uncover the truth behind the disappearances and delivers justice by killing the cannibal women.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Tahltan people
A cannibal woman and her daughter lived on an island. When men landed on the island, they were lured by the mother to make love to her daughter. The daughter induced the men to lie underneath her; and then she slit their throats with her fore-arm, which was as sharp as a knife. The two women then ate the men’s bodies. A man who lived on the mainland near by had noticed that no one who went to the island ever came back, and he wondered what became of them. He watched, and saw that they entered a house and never came out. He hid a sharp knife in his clothes and went to the island to investigate. He was called by some one who had a sweet, attractive voice. He followed the sound to the house. There he was met by the old woman, who invited him in, saying, “Come in and see my daughter! I have a fine daughter of great beauty.” He went in, and noticed the old woman sitting some distance away, partly concealed.
► Continue reading…
Presently a very fine-looking young woman came in from the other side of the partition, arrayed in fine garments and nicely painted and combed. She asked him if he cared to lie with her, and he nodded his assent. She told him to follow her to the other room. She asked him to take the lower position. He said, “No, I will not do that, in my country the man always is on the top.” The old woman thought they were taking a long time. She became anxious, and called, “Are you not ready yet?” The young woman answered, “No, he wants to be on the top, he will not go underneath.” Her mother said to her, “It does not matter, you can cut him just the same.” The young woman then agreed, and they lay down. The man quickly cut her throat, and covered her mouth with his other hand, so that she could not make a noise. The old woman asked again, “Are you not through yet?” and the man answered, “No, pretty soon.” When he was sure that the woman was dead, he withdrew his hand and quickly ran out of the house. The old woman was surprised to see him run out, and went to see her daughter. When she found her lying dead in a pool of blood, she gave chase. The man ran to a strong fort in the forest. The old woman, who was in a great hurry, ran straight through the forest, cutting a wide swathe of trees and bushes with the large knives on her fore-arms. When she reached the log fort, she attacked it with her arms, the knives cutting slices out of the logs. As she kept on cutting, she became more and more tired, and the knives more and more dull. When the house was almost cut through, she became so tired and the knives so dull, that she could hardly cut any more. The man then ran out and killed her with his knife.
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