Stories of the Monster Devilfish and the Cry-Baby

In this story, a group of people camped to dry salmon, unaware of a devilfish lurking nearby. The fish destroyed their camp and swept everything into the sea. The hunters sought revenge, tracking the devilfish and ultimately killing it. Meanwhile, a boy who constantly cried was fed “blackberries” by a land-otter-man, which turned out to be poisonous creatures. These creatures consumed the boy’s flesh, and after a special broth was given, they were expelled, leaving only his skin.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The narrative centers on a community’s encounter with a formidable devilfish that devastates their camp, highlighting the challenges humans face against natural forces.

Revenge and Justice: In response to the destruction, the hunters embark on a mission to track and kill the devilfish, seeking retribution for their lost community members.

Supernatural Beings: The tale features interactions with extraordinary entities, including the devilfish and a land-otter-man, reflecting the rich presence of supernatural elements in Tlingit folklore.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

Many people once went to a certain camp to dry salmon. They did not know that a big devilfish lived under a steep cliff not very far from this place. In olden times, besides using hooks, they caught salmon by means of traps (cal), and when the trap was full, they would take out the fish and hang them on drying frames. When these people had many fish on the frames, they took off their covers, so that the red color shone out on the ocean very distinctly.

A man and his two brothers living at this camp were fond of hunting, and one day, when very many salmon were on the frames, they started out. While they were gone the devilfish saw the glow on the water from the red salmon, threw his tentacles around the camp and swept every vestige of it into the sea.

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In those times a hunter washed in urine before going out hunting and was then sure to kill something, but on that day everything the hunters speared got away. When they returned to the camp, they saw many pieces of canoes drifting about the bay. Then they were very sad on account of the loss of their friends, but they did not know what had destroyed them.

After they had remained there for four days, they told the youngest to climb to the top of a high hill and watch them. Then the eldest told his other brother to cut four young spruce trees, and he sharpened these, making two for himself and two for his brother. Early in the morning they loaded their canoe with rocks and prepared to meet the dangerous animal. They went out in front of the high cliff and began throwing rocks down there, the elder saying to his youngest brother, “Look down.”

After a while they saw the large devilfish coming up right under them. Then they took the sharpened sticks and began to pierce its flesh. The youngest watched all that happened. When their canoe was broken up, they climbed on top of the devilfish and continued running the sticks into it until it died. When that happened it carried them down along with it.

Then the youngest brother started off to find some settlement, and when he came to one, the people set out at once to look for his brothers. Finally they discovered the place to which the devilfish had floated, along with the hunters and their canoe. But it did not get the salmon it had destroyed so many people for. Then the people gave a death feast and all cut their hair off short.

In the town to which these people belonged once lived a little boy who was always crying. His parents tried to rear him properly, yet he cried, cried all the time. Finally his father shouted out, “Come this way Djinakaxwa’tsa [the name of some man that had been captured by land otters]. Pull this boy away, for he cries too much.” Toward evening he repeated the same words, and this time a land-otter-man behind the house shouted out stutteringly, “Bring my grandchild here and let him eat galkadaxa’ku to keep him quiet.” So the little boy was taken away and given what appeared to him to be blackberries.

Two days afterward they began searching for him, and they finally found him far up in the woods. When they brought him down he had a big belly and did not cry as loudly as he had before, so they thought that something was wrong. Then they boiled some dried salmon and gave him broth made from it. The heat of this broth expelled all of the small creatures that had been given him to eat under the appearance of blackberries. Spiders began running out of his mouth, cars, nose, eyes, and buttocks. His insides were filled with them, and they had eaten out all of his flesh. When these were expelled, nothing was left but the skin which they threw away.

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The halibut people

In a coastal village, the chief’s daughter slips on halibut slime and curses it, sparking a chain of events. She is taken by halibut people and killed. Her brothers devise a daring plan to avenge her, leading to an undersea adventure where one impersonates her and slays the halibut chief. Later, an encounter with a magical duck ends tragically, transforming them into eternally crying ducks.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The chief’s daughter is taken by the halibut people and killed, leading to her brothers’ transformative journey to avenge her.

Underworld Journey: The brothers venture into the underwater realm of the halibut people to retrieve their sister and seek vengeance.

Revenge and Justice: The brothers’ quest to avenge their sister’s death by infiltrating the halibut people’s domain and killing their chief highlights themes of retribution and the restoration of familial honor.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There was a very long town where people were fishing for halibut. One evening the daughter of the chief, whose house was in the middle of the place, went down on the beach to cut up halibut, and slipped on some halibut slime. She used bad words to it.

A few days afterward many canoe-loads of people came to get this girl in marriage, and she started off with them. But, although they appeared to her like human beings, they were really the halibut people. As soon as they had left the village they went around a point, landed, and went up into the woods after spruce gum and pitch. They brought down a great quantity of this, heated a rock in the fire and spread pitch all over it. When it was melted they seated the woman upon it. The two brothers of this girl searched along shore for her continually, and finally they discovered where she was; but she was dead.

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Then they felt very sad on her account and asked each other, “What shall we do about her?” They thought of all kinds of schemes, and at last hit upon a plan. Then they went home, filled a bladder full of blood, and went out to the halibut fishing ground. The elder brother let his younger brother down on a line, but before he got far he lost his breath and had to be pulled up. So the elder brother prepared himself. He put on his sister’s dress, took his knife and the bladder full of blood, and got safely to the bottom. When he arrived there he found himself in front of a house. Some one came out to look and then said to the chief inside, “Has your wife come out to see you?” They thought it was the dead woman. So the halibut chief said, “Tell her to come in,” and he married her.

At this time the friends of the young man were vainly endeavoring to catch halibut, and he could see their hooks. Instead of coming into the houses these would fall around on the outside. They tried all kinds of hooks of native manufacture, but the only one that succeeded was Raven-backbone-hook (Yel-tu’daqe), which came right in through the smoke hole.

After a while the halibut chief said, “Let us go and take a sweat bath.” [Frater autem puellae mortuae semper secum portabat vesicam cruore plenam, quo ungebat extrema vestem qua indutus erat, ut rhombum deciperet, dicens, “Mensibus affectus sum; noli mihi appropinquare.”] [But the brother of the dead girl always carried with him a bladder full of blood, with which he anointed the hem of his garment, in order to deceive the heron, saying, “I have been afflicted for months; do not come near me.]

That night, as soon as the halibut chief was asleep, the man took his knife, cut the chief’s head off and ran outside with it. Everybody in the town was asleep. Then he jerked on his brother’s line, and his brother pulled him up along with the head.

After that they paddled along shore for some time, and on the way the elder brother kept shooting at ducks with his arrows. Finally he hit one and took it into the canoe. It was shivering, and his brother said, “Look at this little duck. It is dying of cold. I wish you were by my father’s camp fire.” On account of these bad words the canoe went straight down into the ocean.

Arrived at the bottom, they saw a long town, and some one said, “Get out of the canoe and come up.” Then the duck led them up into the house of his grandfather, the killer whale — for the killer whale is grandfather to the duck — and a big fire was built for them. Then they seated the brothers close to this and said, “Do you think it is only your father who has a big fire?” After they were so badly burned that their heads were made to turn backward with the heat, they were thrown outside. There they became the ducks called Always-crying-around-[the-bay] (Yikaga’xe). You can hear them crying almost anytime when you are in camp. They never got back to their friends.

Wolverine-Man

In this tale, a hunter, adhering to traditional customs of preparation, encounters Wolverine-man, a mythical figure who teaches him a transformative hunting method involving a unique trap called “Never-lasting-over-night.” The trap ensures abundant success, enabling the hunter to achieve wealth and fame by sharing the innovation. Interwoven with moral lessons and mystical elements, the story reflects the cultural significance of skill, preparation, and respect for nature’s rules.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Magic and Enchantment: The hunter’s encounter with Wolverine-man introduces him to a supernatural being who imparts mystical knowledge, particularly the creation of the “Never-lasting-over-night” trap, which ensures hunting success.

Moral Lessons: The story emphasizes the importance of adhering to traditional customs and respecting the guidance of mystical beings. The hunter’s success is attributed to his compliance with the rituals and teachings provided by Wolverine-man.

Transformation: Through his experiences and the knowledge gained from Wolverine-man, the hunter undergoes a transformation from an ordinary individual to a renowned and wealthy figure within his community, highlighting personal growth and the acquisition of wisdom.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There were people living in a certain town on the mainland. In olden times the people did not use guns. They hunted with bows and arrows, and horn spears, and it was very hard work to use them. So, when they were going hunting, they had to fast and wash their heads in urine. That is why in all of these stories — which I am telling you just as they were told in the olden times — food was very scarce and hard to get. Success depended on what things were used and how people prepared themselves.

One day a certain man at this place began preparing himself by washing his head in urine, and the following morning he dressed and started up the valley carrying his horn spear. At the head of this valley he saw a flock of mountain sheep, but he could not get at them, so he camped over night. In the morning he saw that a wolverine (nusk) was among these sheep killing them off.

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Next evening he reached the top of the mountain and started into the brush to camp, but came to a house with the door wide open for him. On the inside hung pieces of fat from all kinds of animals the wolverine had killed. He wanted to go in very much, but instead he sat down in the brush near by and waited.

Presently a man came along carrying a pack. This was Wolverine-man (Nu’sgu-qa). He said, “My trader, you are here. Why don’t you step inside?” Then they entered, and Wolverine-man took off his clothes and began wringing them out just like a human being. Then he heated some hot rocks, took his half basket, chopped up the bones of a ground hog and put these into it along with the cooking stones. Then he said to the man, “Give me that kandala’x. Give me that kaxa’kaok.” These were his own words which he was teaching to this man, and they mean, “Give me my dish. Give me my little spoon.” So, when one went up to the top of this mountain in olden times he called his dishes and spoons by those names.

Then Wolverine-man placed the food before his guest, but, when the latter was about to take some, Wolverine-man said something that sounded strange to him. He said, “There he is picking it up. There he is going to eat it.” It sounded strange. Then he kept on talking: “He is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone.” He did not want the man to eat the small bones at the joint [the knee-pan or the ankle and wrist bones] and it was from Wolverine-man that people learned not to eat these. He said, “I am not saying this to you because I hate you. If anybody swallows these, the weather is not clear on top of the mountain. It is always foggy, and one can kill nothing. This is why I am telling you.” Meanwhile the people in the camps hunted every day for this man but in vain.

By and by Wolverine-man said to him, “Go around to the other side of the mountain and sit down where the ground-hogs’ places are.” He went there every day, but always came home without anything. Wolverine-man, however, brought him a great load every time. Finally Wolverine-man told him to go and cut off two small limbs with his ax. People generally carried a stone ax when off hunting. With these he made a trap for him and named it Never-lasting-over-night (Lanka’kixe). It was so named because it was certain to catch.

When they went up next day, Wolverine-man said, “I am going this way. Do not set your trap until you see a large ground hog going into a hole. Set it there.” Soon after he left Wolverine-man he saw a big ground hog going into its hole. He set up his trap there, stood near, and watched. Soon he heard the crack of his trap falling.

He set it up many times, and each time he caught one. He killed four that day. That is why the trap is called Never-lasting-over-night. From that time on he increased the size of his catch every day, while Wolverine-man did not catch much. When he got home with all his ground hogs Wolverine-man lay down by the fire and began singing, “What I would have killed has all gone over to a lazy man’s side.”

Next morning, when they again started off to hunt, Wolverine-man, instead of continuing on his usual route, came back to see what his companion was doing. Then he climbed into a tree to watch him, began to play around in the tree, and afterwards suddenly fell down. He wanted to deceive the trapper. This tree is a small bushy one called sax, and it is Wolverine-man’s wife with which he had really been cohabiting. The man, however, observed what he was doing, and returned home at once, upon which Wolverine-man became so ashamed that he lay down and covered himself with ashes.

After that Wolverine-man told his guest to lie down and cover himself up. Then he took his urinal full of urine, with two white rocks in it, to another place. He was going to bathe to purify himself from his wife. After he had purified himself, he came home, put grease into the fire and began to motion toward his face and to blow with his mouth. Then he took a wooden comb and began to comb his hair. The man had covered his head with the blanket but was watching through a hole.

Now the man arose and said to Wolverine-man, “I am going home to my children.” Then Wolverine-man told him not to say where he had been but to keep him in remembrance by means of the trap. He had stayed with Wolverine-man more than a month, and, when he went down, he had a big pack of skins.

Then he began to distribute these to all his friends, telling them that he had discovered a place where there were lots of things, and that he had a trap which never failed to kill ground hogs and other animals if set on the mountain over night. When he explained to the people how to set up this trap, a man named Coward (Qatxa’n) said, “I will go along with you.” This time they did not go way up to the place where Wolverine-man had helped him but into one of the lower valleys where there were many ground hogs. There they constructed a house out of dry sticks and began trapping. Coward had understood him to say that he caught ground hogs by whittling up sticks near the hole. That was what he was doing every day, until finally his companion said, “What do you do by the holes that you do not catch anything?” He said, “Why, I have already cut up two big sticks by the holes.” Then the other answered, “That is not right. You have to cut and make a trap with which to trap the ground hog.”

After that this man thought he would do the same thing to the tree he had seen Wolverine-man do, but he fell to the ground and was barely able to crawl home. When he thought he had enough skim, he started to pack up and return. The trap was very valuable at that time because it was new, and anyone borrowing it paid a great deal. So he became wealthy by means of it. He went to every other town to let people know about it. They would invite him to a place, feast him, and ask him for it. He became very wealthy.

The Wolf-Chief’s son

A young boy saved his starving family with the help of a mysterious animal that turned out to be a wolf-chief’s son. After the wolf left due to mistreatment, the boy sought it out, receiving magical gifts from the wolf-chief. Using these gifts, he hunted efficiently, revived his town, and became a renowned healer, gaining wealth and fame through his miraculous abilities.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative features a mysterious animal that assists the boy, later revealed to be the son of a wolf-chief, highlighting interactions between humans and supernatural entities.

Transformation: The boy’s journey from a struggling youth to a renowned healer and provider for his community illustrates significant personal and societal transformation.

Sacred Objects: The magical gifts bestowed upon the boy by the wolf-chief serve as sacred objects, enabling him to hunt efficiently and perform miraculous healings, symbolizing the power of bestowed artifacts.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

Famine visited a certain town, and many people died of starvation. There was a young boy there who always went around with bow and arrows. One day, as he was hunting about, he came across a little animal that looked like a dog and put it under his blanket. He brought it to his mother, and his mother washed it for him. Then he took the red paint left by his dead uncles, spit upon the dog and threw paint on so that it would stick to its hair and face.

When he took the dog into the woods, it would bring him all kinds of birds, such as grouse, which he carried home to his family. They cooked these in a basket pot. Afterward he brought the animal down, washed it, and put more paint upon its legs and head. This enabled him to trace it when he was out hunting.

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One day after he had traced it for some distance, he found it had killed a small mountain sheep, and, when he came down, he gave it the fat part. With the meat so obtained he began to take good care of his mother and his friends. He had not yet found out whether the animal was really a dog.

The next time they went hunting they came across a large flock of sheep, and he sent the dog right up to them. It killed all of them, and he cut the best one open for it. Then he took down the rest of the sheep and dressed them. What the animal was killing was keeping some of his friends alive.

One time the husband of a sister came to him and said, “I wish to borrow your animal. It is doing great things in this place.” So he brought the little dog from the house he had made for it, painted its face and feet, and said to his brother-in-law, “When you kill the first one cut it open quickly and let him have it. That is the way I always do.” Then this brother-in law took up the little dog, and, when they came to a flock of sheep, it went straight among them, killing them and throwing them down one after another. But, after he had cut one open, he took out the entrails, threw them into the dog’s face, and said, “Dogs always eat the insides of animals, not the good part.” The dog, however, instead of eating it, ran straight up between the mountains, yelping.

Now when his brother-in-law brought the sheep down, the man asked him, “Where is the little dog?” And he said “It ran away from me.” That was the report he brought down. Then the owner of the dog called his sister to him and said, “Tell me truly what he did with the little dog. I did not want to let it go at first because I knew people would do that thing to it.” His sister said, “He threw the entrails to it to eat. That is why it ran off.”

Then the youth felt very sad on account of his little animal and prepared to follow it. His brother-in-law showed him the place between the mountains where the dog had gone up, and he went up in that direction until he came to its footprints and saw the red paint he had put upon it. This animal was really the wolf-chief’s son who had been sent to help him, and, because the man put red upon its head and feet, a wolf can now be told by the red on its feet and around its mouth.

After he had followed the trail for a long distance he came to a lake with a long town on the opposite side. There he heard a great noise made by people playing. It was a very large lake, so he thought, “I wonder how I can get over there.” Just then he saw smoke coming out from under his feet. Then a door swung open, and he was told to enter. An old woman lived there called Woman-always-wondering (Luwat-uwadi’gi-canaku), who said to him, “Grandchild, why are you here?” He answered “I came across a young dog which helped me, but it is lost, and I come to find where it went.” Then the woman answered, “Its people live right across there. It is a wolf-chief’s son. That is its father’s town over there where they are making a noise.” So the old woman instructed him.

Then he wondered and said to himself, “How can I get across?” But the old woman spoke out, saying, “My little canoe is just below here.” He said to himself, “It might turn over with me.” Then the old woman answered, “Take it down. Before you get in shake it and it will become large.” Then she continued: “Get inside of the boat and stretch yourself on the bottom, but do not paddle it. Instead wish continually to come in front of that place.”

He did as she directed and landed upon the other side. Then he got out, made the canoe small and put it into his pocket, after which he went up among the boys who were playing about, and watched them. They were playing with a round, twisted thing called gitcxanaga’t (rainbow). Then some one directed him to the wolf-chief’s house at the farther end of the village. An evening fire, such as people used to make in olden times, was burning there, and, creeping in behind the other people, the man saw his little wolf playing about near it in front of his father.

Then the wolf chief said, “There is some human being looking in here. Clear away from before his face.” Upon this the little wolf ran right up to him, smelt of him, and knew him at once. The wolf chief said, “I feel well disposed toward you. I let my son live among you because your uncles and friends were starving, and now I am very much pleased that you have come here after him.” By and by he said, “I think I will not let him go back with you, but I will do something else to help you.” He was happy at the way the man had painted up his son. Now he did not appear like a wolf but like a human being. The chief said, “Take out the fish-hawk’s quill that is hanging on the wall and give it to him in place of my son.” Then he was instructed how to use it. “Whenever a bear meets you,” he said, “hold the quill straight toward it and it will fly out of your hand.” He also took out a thing that was tied up like a blanket and gave it to him, at the same time giving him instructions. “One side,” he said, “is for sickness. If you put this on a sick person it will make him well. If anyone hates you, put the other side on him and it will kill him. After they have agreed to pay you for treating him put the other side on to cure him.”

Then the chief said, “You see that thing that the boys are playing with? That belongs to me. Whenever one sees it in the evening it means bad weather; whenever one sees it in the morning it means good weather.” So he spoke to him.

Then they put something else into his mouth and said to him, “Take this, for you have a long journey to make.” He was gone up there probably two years, but he thought it was only two nights.

At the time when he came within sight of his town he met a bear. He held the quill out toward it as he had been instructed and suddenly let it go. It hit the bear in the heart. Still closer to his town he came upon a flock of sheep on the mountain, and sent his quill at them. When he reached them, he found all dead, and, after he had cut them all open, he found the quill stuck into the heart of the last. He took a little meat for his own use and covered up the rest.

Corning to the town, he found no one in it. All had been destroyed. Then he felt very sad, and, taking his blanket out, laid the side of it that would save people, upon their bodies, and they all came to life. After that he asked all of them to go hunting with him, but he kept the quill hidden away so that they would not bother him as they had before. When they came to a big flock of mountain sheep, he let his quill go at them so quickly that they could not see it. Then he went up, looked the dead sheep over, and immediately cut out the quill. All his friends were surprised at what had happened. After they had gotten down, those who were not his close friends came to him and gave payment for the meat.

The people he restored to life after they had been dead for very many years had very deep set eyes and did not got well at once.

After that he went to a town where the people were all well and killed some of them with his blanket. Then he went to the other people in that place and said, “How are your friends? Are they dead?” “Yes.” “Well I know a way of making them well.” He went up to them again with his blanket and brought them back to life. They were perfectly well.

This man went around everywhere doing the same thing and became very famous. Whenever one was sick in any place they came after him and offered him a certain amount for his services, so that he became the richest man of his time.

The land-otter son

A famine in Sitka drives a couple to fish at Redoubt Bay, where they struggle to survive. The wife believes their drowned son, now a land-otter-man, aids them by providing devilfish for bait and helping catch abundant halibut and seals. Despite bonding, the son ultimately vanishes during a canoe journey. The parents recount the miraculous events to their community, memorializing the fishing site as Saki’-i’di.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative centers on the couple’s son, who, after drowning, transforms into a land-otter-man—a supernatural entity in Tlingit mythology.

Family Dynamics: The enduring bond between the parents and their transformed son is evident. Despite his metamorphosis, the son aids his struggling parents, highlighting themes of familial loyalty and love.

Loss and Renewal: The parents experience profound loss with their son’s drowning. His return as a land-otter-man brings a form of renewal, offering them hope and sustenance during a time of famine.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There was a great famine at Sitka, and all the people went halibut fishing. Then a certain man went with his wife to the mouth of Redoubt bay. He had prepared barks some time before, and, when they got to this place, they made a house out of them. They fished there for a long time, but caught no more than one or two halibut a week. By the end of two months they had little to live on except shellfish and other things picked up at low tide.

One evening they caught a small halibut at their fishing ground. They cooked a piece of it and put the rest on the drying frame in the brush house the man had constructed outside.

Next day they heard a noise there as if something were being thrown down and moved about.

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The woman said, “What can that be?” Then her husband went out and was astonished to see two medium-sized devilfish lying there. He wondered how they had gotten up from the beach. Then he went in and said, “Wife (dja), I am in luck. There are two large devilfish out there. I do not know who brought them. Tomorrow morning we will take them and see if we can not catch some halibut. The person who brought them here is very kind, for I have been hunting everywhere vainly for bait.” The woman sat down and considered. She said, “Do you know who brought them here?” He said, “No.” Then she said, “I will tell you who brought them here. Don’t you remember that my son was drowned a year ago, and no one has seen anything of him since? It must be he, who has taken pity on us because he sees how poor we are. I will call his name if I hear anyone whistle tomorrow or any other night, for I know it is my son.” So the woman spoke.

In the morning they went out with these devilfish and caught two halibut. Evening came on. After they had reached home and it was dark, they began to cook some halibut. Just as the woman was putting some into the pot a person whistled behind the house. Then she said, “We have longed for you, my dear son. Come in. Don’t whistle around us. We have been wishing for you for the last year, so do not be afraid. It is only your father and I. Come in.” Then it whistled again. The man went to the door, opened it, and said, “Come in, my son, I think you have come to help us because we are very poorly off here. The door is open. Come right in.” So the father said. And without their seeing him enter, all of a sudden he was seated opposite them with his hands over his face. Then they spoke to him, saying, “Is it you, my son?” He only whistled [by drawing in his breath]. That was the way he spoke to them. Toward midnight he began to speak. The father said, “Is it you, my son?” The land-otter-man (ku’cta-qa) said, “Yes.” He motioned to them that there was something outside which he had brought for them. It was some more devilfish. He said, “In the morning we will go out.” The woman gave him a pillow and two blankets for the night, and he slept on the other side of the fire.

So early in the morning that it was yet dark he took his father by the feet and shook him, saying, “Get up. We will go out.” He told him to take his fishing line, and they carried down the canoe. Then the land-otter-man stepped in and his father followed. His father gave him a paddle. The canoe went flying out to the halibut ground. It was his son’s strength that took them there so quickly. Then the land-otter-man suddenly stopped the canoe. He took the line and baited a hook with one devilfish tentacle. He baited all of the hooks and lowered them. Then he tied the end of the line to the seat. He said to his father, “Put the blanket over you. Do not watch me.” His father did so but observed him through a hole in the blanket. The land-otter-man, without causing any motion in the canoe, jumped overboard, went down the line, and put the largest halibut that he could find on their hooks. When he came in he shook the canoe and his father pretended to wake up. He gave the line to his father who began to pull up. Very many big halibut began to come up, which he clubbed and threw into the canoe as fast as he could. Then he turned the canoe around and started for home. The canoe was full.

On the way the land-otter-man was in the bow holding a spear. After he had held it there for a long time he threw it. His father could not see that he had thrown it at a large seal. He brought it close to the canoe, gave it one blow to kill it and threw it into the canoe. When they came ashore it was almost daybreak. Then, motioning to his father that the raven might call before he reached shelter, he ran straight up into the woods.

Now the man’s wife came down and began cutting up the halibut. By the time they had it all into the house it was dark. The same evening, before they knew it, he was with them again. Then the man took some pieces of raw halibut, cut them into bits and placed them before him. He turned his back on them and ate very fast. He could eat only raw food.

About a week later they told their son not to go into the woods at night but to stay with them. So he did. When he wanted to go fishing he would awaken his father while it was still dark, and they would start off. Each time they brought in a load of seal, halibut, and all sorts of things. They began to have great quantities of provisions.

After that they began to see his body plainly, His mouth was round; and long hair had grown down over his back to his buttocks. He took nothing from his father and mother but raw food.

Some time after they began to pack up to come to Sitka. He now talked to them like a human being and always stayed with them. He helped load their canoe, and his father gave him a paddle. Then they set out, the land-otter-man in the bow, his father in the stern, and his mother between. When they came to Poverotni point (Kaodjixiti-qa), the woman saw the shadow of her son’s arms moving, his hands which held the paddle being invisible. She said to her husband, “What is the matter with my son? He does not seem to be paddling. I can see only his shadow now.” So she moved forward to see whether he was asleep or had fallen into the water. Her son was not there. The blanket he had had around his knees was there, but he was gone. She said to her husband, “Your son is gone again,” and he replied, “I can not do anything more. He is gone. How can I bring him back?” So they went on to Sitka.

When they came to Sitka, they reported all that had happened. The father said, “My son helped us. Just as we got around the point he disappeared out of the canoe.” So his friends gave a feast for him. His father’s name was Saki’, and the place where they fished for halibut is now called Saki’-i’di.

The land-otter sister

A man and his family struggled to survive by gathering food and crafting with primitive tools. Unknown to him, his drowned sister, now living among the mystical land otters, secretly aided them by providing provisions. Her otter-children helped fish and transport goods, but a misunderstanding nearly severed their bond. Ultimately, the man prospered with their help, though the mystical helpers vanished, leaving only their memory.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative involves land otters with mystical qualities, including the man’s sister who has transformed into a land otter and her otter-children who assist the family.

Family Dynamics: Central to the story is the relationship between the man and his sister, who, despite her transformation, aids her brother’s family, highlighting familial bonds and responsibilities.

Transformation: The sister’s change into a land otter and the temporary transformation of the man’s children, who begin to grow tails, underscore themes of physical and possibly spiritual change.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

A man set out from Sitka to a certain camp with his children in order to dry halibut, for in those days that was how they had to get their food. It was spring time. Then, too, they had stone axes and used small half baskets for pots in which to do cooking. His wife and children spent all of their time digging clams, cockles, and other shellfish down on the beach and in laying them aside for future use. The Man, meantime, was hewing out a canoe with his stone ax. They had a hard time, for they had nothing to live on except the things picked up at low tide.

Many years before this man’s sister had been drowned, but so long a time had passed that he had forgotten her. She, however, had been taken by the land otters and was married among them, having many children.

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From around a neighboring point she was watching him. Her children were all working to collect a quantity of food.

After this the woman’s husband told her to take a lot of food to her brother. All the land-otter-people are called “Point people” (Qatkwedi’); they have plenty of halibut, seal, etc. So she began packing these things up to take them to her brother. In front of his dwelling house her brother had a house made of branches, and one evening he heard someone come in front of his house and seem to lay down a heavy pack there. Then the person said, “The place where you are stopping is wonderfully far from us.” He went out and saw a woman but did not know who she was because her arms were grown to her breast and her mouth was thrown open with her upper lip drawn up under her nose. But the woman could see how he felt, so she said to him, “It is I. I am your sister who lives a short distance away around this point.” Then she brought the basket into her brother’s house and said to him, “Take the things out of the basket, for I have to return before the raven calls.”

Next evening she came back with another full basket. This time she said, “You have three nephews who will come over and help you get halibut and other things.” So the little otters came to their uncle. From their waist up they looked like human beings; below they were otters, and they had tails. Their mother came with them and began to take her brother’s children on her lap saying, “Little tail (Lit katsku’), little tail growing down.” As she sang tails began to grow down from them. Then their father looked at them, became angry, and said, “What are you doing to my children anyway?” Immediately she slapped them on the buttocks and said, “Up goes the little tail, up into the buttocks (tu’denatsi yeq),” and the tails went up into their buttocks.

After his nephews had stayed with him for some time the man said within himself, “I have no devilfish for bait,” and the same evening the young fellows were gone after it. Although it was high tide many devilfish were found in front of his house. The young otters called good weather bad and bad weather good.

One day they went out with their uncle to fish, and, when he put his line down with the buoy on it, the little otters all jumped into the water. They went down on the line and put on the hook the biggest halibut they could find. After they had brought in the canoe loaded twice their uncle had an abundance of provisions.

In the evening the otters had worked so hard that they fell asleep on the opposite side of the fire with their tails close to the blaze. Then their uncle said to them, “Your handy little tails are beginning to burn.” On account of those words all became angry and left him, going back to their father. Then the man’s sister came to him and asked what he had said to his nephews. He said, “I simply told them that their clothes were beginning to bum on them.” So the otters’ father tried to explain it, saying to them: “Your uncle did not mean anything when he said your clothes were beginning to burn. He wanted only to save your clothes. Now go back and stay with him.” So they got over their displeasure and went back.

All that time the man was working upon his canoe. He said within himself, “I wonder how my canoe can be gotten down.” Next morning his nephews went up, put their tails under it, and pulled it down. When they got it to their uncle’s house, he loaded the canoe and started home with them, but quite near his town he missed them out of the canoe. Then all the people there wondered where he could have gotten a canoe load of such things as he had. He gave everything to his friends. Then his wife said to the people, “Something came to help us. We have seen my husband’s sister who was drowned long ago, and that is the way we got help.”

Afterward he went back to the place where he had received assistance but saw nothing of those who had helped him. He hunted all about the place from which his sister used to come but found nothing except land-otter holes. He became discouraged and gave up searching.

Kaka’

Kaka’s story intertwines with the supernatural as land otters rescue him and reveal his transformation caused by a sinew through his ear. Taken on a journey in their skate-like canoe, he disobeys warnings and later becomes entangled in mystical events. Abandoned by the otters but imbued with their spirits, Kaka’ is rescued, emerging as a powerful shaman connected to these spiritual beings.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Kaka’ undergoes a profound change, becoming a land otter due to a sinew placed through his ear by his wife. This physical transformation is central to the narrative.

Supernatural Beings: The land otters play a significant role, rescuing Kaka’ and guiding him through mystical experiences. Their interactions highlight the influence of supernatural entities in the tale.

Underworld Journey: Kaka’s voyage with the land otters, including his experiences among kelp stems and his eventual return, symbolizes a journey into and out of an otherworldly realm, akin to an underworld journey.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

When Kaka’ was taken south, either to Cape Ommaney or farther, a woman came to him and said, “I am in the same fix as you. We are both saved by the land otters.” [So interpreters persist in speaking of the capture of a human being by anthropomorphic animals or other supernatural beings.] That is how he found out what had happened to him. The woman also said, “I am your friend, and I have two land-otter husbands who will take you to your home.” Then she called him to her and began to look over his hair. Finally she said, “Your wife has put the sinew from a land-otter’s tail through your ear. That is what has caused you to become a land otter.”

Then they took down what looked to him like a canoe, but really it was a skate. The skate is the land-otter’s canoe.

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When they set out, they put him into the canoe, laid a woven mat over him and said, “You must not look up again.” He did look up, however, after a time and found himself tangled among the kelp stems. These land otters were going to become his spirits.

On their journey they started to cross a bay called Ken to an island called Telnu’, and, as daylight was coming on, they began to be afraid that the raven would call and kill them before they reached the other side. It was almost daylight when they came to land, so they ran off at once among the bushes and rocks, leaving Kaka’ to pull up the canoe. This was hard work, and while he was at it the skin was all worn from his lower arm, so he knew that it was a skate.

Some people traveling in a canoe saw his shadow there and tried hard to make him out clearly, but in vain. They did not want to have him turn into a land otter, so they said, “Kaka’, you have already turned into a ground hog.”

By and by one of his friends heard him singing in the midst of a thick fog at a place near the southern end of Baranoff island on the outside. Each time he ended his song with the words, “Let the log drift landward with me.” Then it would drift shoreward with him. Meanwhile he was lying on the log head down with blood running out of his nose and mouth and all kinds of sea birds were feeding on him. It was his spirits that made him that way. The real land otters had left him, but they had come to him again as spirits.

Now the people sang a song on shore that could be heard where Kaka was floating, but, although they heard the noise of a shaman’s beating sticks, they could not get at him. Then the friend who had first found him went ashore and fasted two days, after which he went out and saw Kaka’ lying on his back on the log. He was as well as when he had left Sitka. Then his friend brought him ashore, but the land-otter spirits remained with him, and he became a great shaman.

Origin of the killer whale

Natsalane’, of the Tsague’di, created killer whales, attempting various woods before succeeding with yellow cedar. He commanded them to hunt sea creatures but avoid harming humans. Killer whales, capable of going ashore, captured a woman after her husband stole their provisions. Following her disappearance, the husband sought her in the killer-whale village, aided by sharks. This led to a fierce battle between sharks and killer whales, with the woman’s fate unknown.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Creation: Natsalane’ crafts the first killer whales, detailing their origins.

Supernatural Beings: The narrative features killer whales with human-like abilities, such as making campfires and capturing humans.

Conflict with Nature: The tale depicts a man’s encounter with the killer whales, leading to his wife’s abduction and his subsequent pursuit.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

A man named Natsalane’, belonging to the Tsague’di (Seal people), made killer whales. He first tried to carve them out of red cedar, then out of hemlock, then out of all other kinds of wood in succession. He took each set of figures to the beach and tried to make them swim out, but instead they floated up on the surface. Last of all he tried yellow cedar, and was successful.

He made these of different sorts. On one he marked white lines with Indian chalk from the corners of its mouth back to its head. He said, “This is going to be the white-mouthed killer whale.” When he first put them into the water he headed them up the inlet, telling them that whenever they went up to the heads of the bays they were to hunt for seal, halibut, and all other things under the sea; but he told them not to hurt a human being.

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When you are going up the bay, people will say to you, “Give us something to eat.” Before this people did not know what the killer whale is.

Another thing people did not know was that the killer whale could go ashore and camp. One time a man married a high-caste woman and went up to the head of a certain bay with her, because he knew that the killer whales always went there. On the way they saw a camp fire blazing upon the shore. There were killer whales encamped here, but he thought they were human beings and landed to see them. When they got close in, he jumped into the water to urinate. All at once the killer-whale chief said, “I feel people’s looks. Go outside and look on the beach.” But, when they saw him urinating, they started off, leaving their camp just as it was, jumped into the water, and swam away.

Then he went up to the camp with his wife, and they saw all kinds of food there. His wife said, “It is lucky that we came across this;” and after awhile the man said, “Let us cook some, my wife.” Then the woman took her cooking basket and put some water into it. Presently she said, “Way out there is a canoe coming.” It was a black canoe. She said, “We better leave this alone until the canoe comes so that we can invite them to eat with us.” Her husband said, “All right.” By and by his wife said, “What is the matter? To my eyes it does not appear like a canoe. It is too black.” It was really a young killer whale, under which the other killer whales were swimming to make it appear like a canoe. When the supposed canoe reached land, the whales rushed ashore, seized the woman, who had concealed herself behind her husband, and carried her down to the sea. They took her away because her husband had taken their provisions. This time, when the killer whales rose again, instead of appearing like only one canoe, they came up out of the water thick everywhere and began to swim down the bay very fast. Meanwhile the husband went down to his canoe, got in, and paddled after them along the shore. But, when they came to a high cliff where the water went down deep, all the whales suddenly dived out of sight.

Now the man climbed to the top of this cliff, fastened a bough to his head and another slim spruce bough around his waist, filled the space inside of his shirt with rocks, and jumped into the ocean at the spot where his wife had disappeared, falling upon a smooth, mossy place on the bottom. When he awoke, he arose, looked about, and saw a long town near by. He entered the last house, which proved to belong to the chief of the shark people.

In this house he saw a man with a crooked mouth peeping out at him from behind a post. A long time before, when he had been fishing, a shark had cut his line and carried off the hook, and it was this hook that now peeped out at him. It said, “Master, it is I. When your line broke, they took me down here and have made me a slave.”

Then he said to the shark chief, “Is there any news in this town?” and he replied, “Nothing especial in our town, but right across from us is the killer-whales’ town, and recently we heard that a woman had been captured there and is now married to the killer whale chief.” Then the shark chief continued: “The killer-whale chief has a slave, who is always chopping wood back in the forest with a stone ax. When you come to him, say within yourself, ‘I wish your stone ax would break.’ Wish it continually.” So the shark instructed him.

Then he went over to the killer-whale town, and, when the slave’s ax did break, he went up to him and said, “I will help you to fix that stone ax if you will tell me where my wife is.” So he began to fix it in place for him. It was the only stone ax in the killer-whale tribe. Then the slave said, “I always bring wood down and make a fire in the evening, after which my master sends me for water. When you see me going after water, come to the door and wait there for me. As soon as I come in I am going to push over the fire. At the same time I am going to empty the water into it so as to make a quantity of steam. Then rush in and carry out your wife.”

The man followed these directions and started away with his wife. Then his halibut hook shouted, “This way, my master, this way.” So he ran toward the shark people’s town, and they pursued him. Now the killer whales attacked the shark people because they said that the sharks had instructed him what to do, and they killed many sharks.

In return the sharks began to make themselves strong. They were going out again to fight the killer whales. They went to some rocks and began sharpening their teeth. Then they began the battle, and whenever the killer whales approached, the sharks would run against their bellies and rip them open, letting out their entrails. The whole bay was full of killer whales and sharks. What happened to the woman is not told.

When the killer-whale tribe start north the seals say, “Here comes another battle. Here come the warriors.” They say this because the killer whales are always after seals. Killer whales are of different kinds, and the one that always swims ahead is the red killer whale, called “killer-whale-spear” (Kit-wusa’ni). It was so named by the man who made these animals because he shaped it long and slender. The Tsague’di, to which this man belonged, are a branch of the Daqlawe’di; therefore the Daqlawe’di are the only people who make the killer whale their emblem.

On their way to us the first killer whales came into a bay called Kotse’l, after Tsel, the first man who came to that bay. They encamped at its head and the day after began digging into the cliff. The land there is not very high, so they were soon through, laid skids down, and carried their canoes across. Some people watched them. The killer whales always used to cross at the place where they laid down these skids, and now people cross there. It is called Killer-whale-crossing place (Kitgu’ni), but is now overgrown with trees and underbrush. [This place is said to be on the north arm of Tenakee bay, where a canal has been projected to enable boats to reach Huna more easily.]

The story of the four brothers

Four brothers, led by Kacka’lk, and their dog pursued a barking dog into the sky and encountered trials. They revived each other using red paint and a rattle after falling off cliffs and battling a one-legged man, a two-headed bear, and other beings. The youngest brother, Lqaya’k, became thunder due to misbehavior, while their sister hid in Mount Edgecumbe. Their adventures explain cultural artifacts and myths.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Quest: The brothers embark on a journey into the sky, pursuing a barking dog, leading them to various challenges and adventures.

Trials and Tribulations: Throughout their journey, they face numerous obstacles, including descending a steep cliff, reviving each other after fatal falls, and confronting formidable beings like a one-legged man and a two-headed bear.

Transformation: The youngest brother, Lqaya’k, undergoes a significant change by becoming thunder due to his misbehavior, illustrating a transformation theme.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Story told by Dekina’ku. According to some, the story begins with the birth of five children from a dog father.
Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There were four brothers who owned a dog of an Athapascan variety called dzi. [Lakitcane’, the father of these boys, is said to have lived near the site of the Presbyterian school at Sitka and to have used the “blarney stone,” so called, as a grindstone.] They had one sister. One day the dog began barking at something. Then Kacka’lk, the eldest brother, put red paint inside of his blanket, took his rattle, and followed. The other brothers went with him. They pursued it up, up into the sky. The dog kept on barking, and they did not know what it was going to do. It was chasing a cloud.

When they got to the other side of the world they came out on the edge of a very steep cliff. They did not know what to do. The dog, however, went right down the cliff, and they saw the cloud still going on ahead. Now these brothers had had nothing to eat and were very hungry. They saw the dog coming up from far below bringing the tail of a salmon. After a while they saw it run back.

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Then they said to one another, “What shall we do? We might as well go down also.” But, when Lqaya’k, the youngest brother, started he was smashed in pieces. The two next fared in the same way. Kacka’lk, however, braced his stick against the wall behind him and reached the bottom in safety. Then he put the bones of each of his brothers together, rubbed red paint on them, and shook his rattle over them, and they came to life.

Starting on again around this world, they came to a creek full of salmon. This was where the dog had been before. When they got down to it they saw a man coming up the creek. He was a large man with but one leg and had a kind of spear in his hand with which he was spearing all the salmon. They watched him from between the limbs of a large, dead tree. When he got through hooking the salmon, he put all on two strings, one of which hung out of each corner of his mouth. Then he carried them down.

Then Lqaya’k said to his brothers, “Let us devise some plan for getting the salmon spear.” So he seized a salmon, brought it ashore and skinned it. First Kacka’lk tried to get inside of it but failed. When Lqaya’k made the attempt, however, he swam off at once, and, if one of his brothers came near him, he swam away. Then the other brothers sat up in the dead tree, Kacka’lk at the top.

When the big man came up again after salmon, Lqaya’k swam close up to him, and he said, “Oh! my salmon. It is a fine salmon.” But, when he made a motion toward it with his spear, it swam back into deep water. Finally it swam up close, and the big man speared it easily. Then Lqaya’k went to the tail of the fish, cut the string which fastened the big man’s spear point to the shaft and swam off with the point. Upon this the big man pulled his shaft up, looked at it and said, “My spear is gone.” Then he went downstream. In the meantime Lqaya’k came ashore, got out of the fish, came up to his usual station on the lowest limb of the tree, and sat down there. They had him sit below because he talked so much, and because he was the most precipitate.

That night the one-legged man did not sleep at all on account of his lost spear. He was using it in working for the bear people. When he came up next morning he had a quill in his hands which would tell him things. He took this about among the trees, and, when he came to that on which the brothers were sitting, it bent straight down. Then he cried, “Bring my spear this way.” Although he saw no one, he knew that there were people there who had it. Then he came to the bottom of the tree, seized Lqaya’k and tore him in pieces. So he served the next two brothers. But Kacka’lk had his dog, which he was able to make small, concealed under his coat and, after his brothers were torn up, he let it go, and it tore the big man all to pieces. Because he had his red paint, rattle, and dog he cared for nothing. Now he put the red paint on his brothers’ bodies and shook the rattle over them so that they came to life.

Next morning they got into the same tree again. Then they saw a man with two heads placed one over another coming up the stream. It was the bear chief. He hooked a great many salmon and put them, on pieces of string on each side of his mouth. Next evening a little old man came up. Lqaya’k came down and asked, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I have come up after salmon.” But he could hook none at all, so Lqaya’k caught a lot for him. Then Lqaya’k asked him: “What does that double-head that came up here do?” The old man said, “I will tell you about it.” So they said to him: “Now we want you to tell the truth about this? What does he really do when he gets home with his salmon? We will get you more salmon if you tell us truly.” And the old man answered: “When he gets home with a load of salmon, he leaves it down by the river. Then he takes off his skin coat and hangs it up.” This is what he told them.

The next time the two-heads came up and began to throw salmon ashore, it said all at once, “I feel people’s looks” [meaning “I feel that people’s looks are on me.”] As soon as he came opposite the place where they were sitting, Kacka’lk threw his dog right upon him. It caught this big bear by the neck and killed him. Every time thereafter, when the little old man came up, they questioned him about the people in the place he came from.

At last they caught a lot of salmon and prepared to descend. Then Kacka’lk put on the bearskin, placed his brothers under his arms inside of it, took strings of salmon as the bear had done, and started on. When he came in front of the houses he acted just like the two-headed man. First he entered the two-headed man’s house and shook his skin, whereupon his brothers and the dog passed behind the screens in the rear of the house and hid themselves. After that he began fixing his salmon, and, when he was through, took off his coat, and hung it up in the manner that had been described to him.

Toward evening a great deal of noise was heard outside, made over some object. Lqaya’k very much wanted to go out and look, but they tried to prevent him. Finally he did go out and began to play with the object, whereupon the players rolled it on him and cut him in two. After that the two brothers next older went out and were cut in two in the same manner. After this Kacka’lk sent his dog out. He seized the object, shook it and made it fly to the tops of the mountains, where it made the curved shapes the mountains have today. Then it rolled right back again. When it rolled back, the dog became very angry, seized it a second time, shook it hard, and threw it so high that it went clear around the sun. It made the halo of light seen there. Then Kacka’lk took his brothers’ bodies, pieced them together, put red paint upon them and shook his rattle over them. They came to life again. Then he took the dog, made it small, and put it under his arm; and they started off. Since that time people have had the kind of spear (dina’) above referred to. The brothers started on with it, and, whenever they were hungry, they got food with it. They always kept together.

After a while they came across some Athapascan Indians called Worm-eating people (Wun-xa qoan). These were so named because, when they killed game, they let worms feed upon it, and, when the worms had become big enough, they ate them through holes in the middle of their foreheads which served them as mouths. Lqaya’k wanted to be among these Athapascans, because they had bows and arrows and wore quills attached to their hair. They used their bows and arrows to shoot caribou, and, when they were pursuing this animal, they used to eat snow.

After Lqaya’k had obtained his bow and arrows they came out at a certain place, probably the Stikine river, and stayed among some people who were whipping one another for strength, in the sea. Every morning they went into the water with them.

At that time they thought that Lqaya’k was going with his sister, and they put some spruce gum around the place where she slept. Then they found the spruce gum on him and called him all sorts of names when they came from bathing. They called him Messenger-with-pitch-on-his-thigh (Naqa’ni qacguqo), the messenger being a brother-in-law of the people of the clan giving a feast. They named him so because they were very much ashamed. This is why people have ever since been very watchful about their sisters. Because he had been fooling with his sister, when Lqaya’k went out, his brothers said to him, “You do not behave yourself. Go somewhere else. You can be a thunder (hel).” They said to him, “Ha’agun kadi’.” [It is said that no one knows what these words mean.]

This is why, when thunder is heard, people always say, “You gummy thigh.” It is because Lqaya’k became a thunder. Their sister was ashamed. She went down into Mount Edgecumbe (Lux) through the crater.

Because the thunder is a man, when the thunder is heard far out at sea, people blow up into the air through their hands and say, “Let it drive the sickness away,” or “Let it go far northward.” The other brothers started across the Stikine and became rocks there.

The big clam

This tale from Tenakee Inlet recounts two mythic events. In the bay named Where-sweetness-killed-a-person, a man, Tsel, was swallowed by a halibut while wading across to join girls picking strawberries, giving the area its name. Nearby, a giant clam that devoured canoes was slain by Raven’s clever plan, leaving the place known as Clam-slide, where the remnants foster abundant growth.

Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: The giant clam and the halibut that swallowed Tsel are mythical creatures central to the narrative.

Cunning and Deception: Raven employs cunning to devise a plan that ultimately leads to the clam’s demise.

Origin of Things: The story explains the origins of place names like Where-sweetness-killed-a-person and Clam-slide, linking them to the events described.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

At the farther end of Tenakee inlet (Ti’nage) is a little bay called Where-sweetness-killed-a-person (Gatlqo’wageya). One summer there were many people encamped there drying salmon, and among them many lively young people. One day some girls took a canoe and crossed the bay to a strawberry patch on the other side. Afterwards a man named Tsel went down into the water to wade over to them but was swallowed by a halibut. So they named the place Kotse’l after this man.

Near this inlet is a high cliff in front of which a big clam formerly lived. It used to stick its head (lit. penis) high up out of the water. It always had its valves open, and if a canoe passed that way, it would close them on it (lit. shut its mouth on it), and the canoe was gone.

► Continue reading…

Raven heard of this clam, and he instructed a little mink to call to it, “Stick out your head and let us see you,” (ili’l-anaxda’x tsaga’x dusti’n), while the people stood ready above with sharpened sticks. But, instead of speaking as it was told, the mink said, “Raven made clam” (Yel dje’aosiniyi gal). Finally the mink said plainly as he had been directed, “Stick your head out of the water and let us see you,” and it began to put out its head. He said, “A little more.” When it was well out, all the people seized their sticks and plunged them into it, cutting the ligament which held the valves together so that they sprang apart. Then the whole bay began to smell badly from it. On the rock slide back of the place where this clam used to run out its head all sorts of things now grow. It is called Clam-slide (Yes-kade’).