A man, his wife, and mother-in-law fled rising floodwaters by ascending a mountain. As waters continued to rise, they placed their children into hollowed trees sealed with pitch. After the flood receded, the children emerged, found the land covered in seaweed, and struggled to survive. Eventually, they became the ancestors of the Ts’ets’a’ut people.
Source:
Traditions of the Ts’ets’a’ut
by Franz Boas
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.9, No.35, pp. 257-268
October-December, 1896
Vol.10, No.36, pp. 35-48
January-March, 1897
► Themes of the story
Sacrifice: The parents’ decision to place their children in hollowed trees, sacrificing their own lives to ensure their offspring’s survival.
Mythical Creatures: The mention of eagle and wolf clans may symbolize totemic or ancestral connections to these creatures.
Sacred Objects: The hollowed trees serve as protective vessels, almost sacred in their role of preserving life during the flood.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Tsetsaut people
Once upon a time a man, his wife, and his mother-in-law went up the mountains to hunt marmots. When they had reached the higher parts of a hill, they saw the waters rising. They climbed higher and higher, but the waters rose steadily. All the people fled up the mountains. Finally, when the water was about to reach them, they resolved to inclose their children in hollow trees, hoping that there they might be safe until the waters would retreat. They hollowed out two trees, in one of which they placed the children of the eagle clan, while in the other one they placed the children of the wolf clan. They gave them an ample supply of food, and then closed up the trees with wooden covers, which they caulked with pitch. The water continued to rise, and all the people were drowned.
► Continue reading…
The children who were inclosed in the trees heard the waves breaking in the branches and felt the swaying of the trees. Finally, the trees were entirely covered by water. After a few days the water began to retreat. Again the trees were swaying. The children heard the waves breaking, first in the highest branches, then farther down, and finally everything was quiet. They went to sleep, and when they awoke one of the boys opened the hole. They saw that the water had disappeared, but the branches were still dripping. The ground was wet and soggy, and everything was covered with seaweeds. Then the children came forth from the trees, but the ground was so wet that they were unable to start a fire, so that many died of cold. Finally the ground dried up. They made a fire, which they fed with their supplies of mountain-goat tallow. They married, and became the ancestors of the Ts’ets’a’ut.
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Dreamtime Whispers 