A young woman marries a mysterious man who is actually a dog in human form. After giving birth to seven puppies, she is abandoned by her family. The puppies transform into children when alone, and the mother eventually burns their dog skins, making the transformation permanent. The children grow rapidly and become successful hunters due to their keen sense of smell inherited from their canine heritage.
Source:
Kaska Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.30, No.118, pp. 427-473
October-December, 1917
► Themes of the story
Supernatural Beings: The husband in the story possesses the ability to transform between human and dog forms, indicating interactions with beings beyond the ordinary.
Family Dynamics: The tale explores complex relationships within the family, including the mother’s reaction to her daughter’s unconventional offspring and the interactions among the siblings.
Cunning and Deception: The mother employs clever tactics to uncover the truth about her children’s transformations and the inappropriate relationship between her youngest son and his sister.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Kaska people
The narrator said that he thought this story may have come from the Tahltan to the Kaska some time ago, as both tribes have the story localized in the Tahltan country.
A family consisting of parents and daughter lived together. They had an old dog who always lay at the entrance of the lodge. Whenever the girl went outside, she had to step over the dog. One day they moved camp, and as usual put a pack on the dog. When they reached the camping-place, the dog was missing. The parents sent the girl back to look for him. She met a good-looking man accompanied by a dog carrying a pack. He asked her where she was going, and she told him she was looking for their dog, who had gone astray with his pack. He answered, “This must be your missing dog. I found him, and am bringing him along.” The girl, becoming fascinated with the man, ran off with him, and camped in a different place. The man hunted, and always obtained plenty of game. He told his wife, “When you throw away bones, never throw them far.” The woman noticed that when her husband hunted, she always heard barking where he was. She asked him about this, and he answered that he knew nothing of the barking. She also noticed that the bones she threw out were always eaten up or gone in the morning.
► Continue reading…
One night she pretended to sleep, and watched. Her husband arose, and soon afterwards she heard something eating the bones outside. She looked, and saw that it was an old dog. She now knew that her husband was a dog or dog-man, and, taking a club, she struck the old dog on the head and killed him. She then went back to her parents and told them she had been living with a man, and that she was pregnant. Her mother, thinking she would have a nice baby, prepared for it by making a fine marten-skin robe, and a nice bed for the baby to be born in. The girl gave birth to seven pups; and her mother became so angry and disgusted, that she snatched away the robe, took away all the food and everything in the lodge, and left the place. Her father and all the people also deserted her.
The girl lived by picking berries. When their mother was away gathering food, the pups turned into children and played together. There were six boys and a girl, and the girl always watched while the others played. The mother noticed, when she came home, that the brush on the floor of the lodge was disturbed and turned over, as if children had been playing; and she thought it strange that dogs should do this. She picked up some rags and made them roughly to resemble clothes, which she stuck up within view of the lodge one day when she was out. The girl watched this, thinking it was her mother. The latter crept around behind, seized the dog-skins the children had discarded, and threw them into the fire. The girl, however, managed to get on part of her skin, and thus remained half dog. Later the mother managed to get the rest of her skin, and she then became like her brothers.
The dogs were now really children, and they grew up fast. The young men hunted, and always brought back plenty of game. They had the power of scenting game, as dogs do, and therefore were very successful in hunting.
Now, the mother was suspicious that one of her sons slept with his sister, and she determined to find out which one it was. She smeared pitch all round where her daughter slept, and next morning she noticed the side of her youngest son marked with pitch. She was sorry about this, and began to travel with her family. When about to cross the Stikine River in the Tahltan country, she said to the girl, “Look at your brothers bathing in the river down below! “As soon as she looked, all were changed to stone, including the mother. Some were ashore at the time, and some were in the river. All of them are now rocks to be seen at this place.
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Dreamtime Whispers 