Moldy-End (Wrangell version)

The story tells of a boy named Lively-frog-in-pond who, after disrespecting moldy salmon, is taken by the salmon people to their village. There, he experiences hunger and learns the consequences of his actions. A woman advises him on proper behavior, leading to his eventual return home. The tale emphasizes respect for food and the interconnectedness of humans and nature.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Lively-frog-in-pond undergoes a significant change in perspective and behavior after his experience with the salmon people.

Divine Punishment: His disrespect towards the salmon leads to his capture by the salmon people, serving as a form of retribution.

Conflict with Nature: Lively-frog-in-pond’s initial disrespect towards the salmon and his subsequent ordeal highlight a struggle between humans and natural forces.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The Sitka Kiksa’di have a salmon stream called Daxe’t and the father of Lively-frog-in-pond went there to camp. The boy was playing on the beach. Afterward Lively-frog-in-pond caught sea gulls by means of bait. Then lie was hungry, and went into the house. He cried for something to eat. He asked for a piece of dry salmon, and they gave him a piece of dry salmon that was half moldy.

He said, “Why did you give me a piece that is half moldy?” Then he threw it into the corner of the house. Again he went to pull in a sea gull. When the sea gull swam out from him he waded out and fell into a hole. He was nowhere to be seen.

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Now his father missed him and said, “Where is my child?” He said this to his wife. Then they got up. They looked outside. They called to him, “Lively-frog-in-pond, where are you?” They looked everywhere. They called to everything. Then they went to the place where he had baited his traps, and saw his tracks leading into the water. They wept, saying, “What has become of you, my son?” The man waded out, crying, looking for his son. Then they did not sleep looking for their son. They hunted everywhere for him. Next morning they went into the water and along the shore. They had not eaten anything since their son was lost. They hunted for him all summer. After they had hunted for him for months they gave up looking.

Lively-frog-in-pond had been captured by the salmon people, however, who swam out with him. They looked to him like human beings. Then they came to the salmon people’s village with him. He pouted all the time because he was always hungry. Then the salmon people said, “Let us go with him to Amusement creek.” So they went with him to the creek. They put his arms around the necks of sand-hill cranes at the creek’s mouth.

Afterward he was always hungry. But when he began to take some eggs from among those on the beach, they shouted, “Moldy-end is eating eggs along the beach of the town,” and he felt badly.

Next door to the place where he lived the people were always dancing. After awhile he looked into the house where they were dancing, and his face was all over fish eggs. It was the herring people dancing for joy. One woman called him aside and said to him, “Do you remember when you said something against the salmon people? That is why they have captured you.” She said to him, “Do you know the creek over there? When you are hungry roast salmon from it in the fire and eat them there. After you have eaten, put all your leavings into the water and your roasting sticks also, in order to wash the leavings off.” When he was hungry he did just the way he had been told. When he was very hungry again he went to get another salmon. He ate it. Just as he had been told, he put his leavings into the water. He washed off his roasting stick. That evening, however, the eye of the salmon people’s chief was sore. He cried with it, and did not sleep. Then the woman said to him, “Do you know where you cooked? Perhaps you left the eye there.” He found it, and when he had obeyed her directions the eye was cured.

After this the woman said to him, “They are going to start home with you.” Then all of the salmon people started home with him. Afterward, while the salmon people were swimming along, they spoke of the sit, of which they were frightened. By and by they came in sight of the sit. It opened and shut. When the salmon went through it, some of them would be cut in two. Now they passed through. They saw canoes [of the herring people] coming to meet them. “We have done all of our work before you” — “When will your cheek-flesh save the person that eats it?” “Our eggs are our cheek-flesh.”

Then the salmon gathered together. They said to one another, Where are you going?” and some said, “We to the Stikine,” others, ‘To Chilkat,” others, “To Taku,” others, “To Nass,” others, “To Alsek.” They mentioned all of these rivers. After that the canoe came to the mouth of the river. They said, “Stand up in the canoe and see where we are.” Then one stood up in the canoe to look around. The salmon would say, “Is the fort ready?” and one would go up to look. What they called a fort was a salmon trap. Every time he came back he said, “It will soon be ready.” By and by he said it was ready. Then the salmon people went thither. The salmon people entered the creek. They were very happy. The evening after, they went to surround the fort. All the salmon went up in the creek in two schools. Then his mother, who was cutting down on the beach, saw Lively-frog-in-pond. He thought he was going to his mother. Then his mother called to his father to come and spear him. He swam close to her. Then she called out to him again, “A fine salmon is swimming around here.” So his father speared him. He lost consciousness. Afterward the man said to his wife, “Cut it to use it fresh.” But when she was trying to cut off its head it seemed hard for her to use her knife, and she saw the copper that had been about her son’s neck. Then she cried out, “This is my little son. He must have been captured by the salmon people. Here is the copper ring that was around his neck.” Now she took out a mat with feathers inside of it. She laid the mat down and put the feathers around the salmon. After that she put the mat on top of the house. In the house, however, they kept singing shamans’ songs for him.

In the middle of the night something shook on top of the house. Looking at his son, the man saw that he had become a human being about his head. When he looked at him again, he saw that he had become a human being still farther down. Then he looked at him again. He was become entirely human. After that they heard a spirit talking to him. The spirit inside of him said, “I am Moldy-end-of-salmon. It is I.” “It is I,” said another spirit inside of him, “It is I, Sand-hill-crane-at-the-mouth-of-Amusement-creek.” Another spirit in him said, “It is I, Sit spirit.” And the woman that had helped him also became his spirit, saying, “It is I, Woman spirit.” Another one said inside of him, “It is I, Herring spirit.” Then another one spoke inside of him, saying, “It is I, Salmon-people’s-canoe spirit, I.”

After that his father came to him, and the shaman said, “Clean everything in the house thoroughly.” Again he said, “The young women must never live in this house but in another.” He also said, “Put clean sand around the fireplace inside. Never let a woman look at me.” The spirit was singing in him. Then he went into a trance, wrapped in a mat. He was brought into the house. There they put eagle down upon his mouth. He sang in the house, walking around the fire. Then his spirit asked to have a rattle made for him. He also said an apron should be made for him. So his rattle was made like the sus [a water bird], abut his apron was designed like the sit. His drum was painted with the sand-hill crane. Afterward his bone necklace was made of pieces like salmon and herring. Then the spirit inside of him danced. He saw the salmon very plainly as if they were people about him. Then he would talk with the salmon people, and he became a very wonderful shaman. His friends learned to obey him absolutely. Whatever he foretold came to pass. He told them that there was going to be a death before it happened. If a person was going to be saved it happened according to his prediction. If he told them to go hunting in a canoe and informed them what they were going to get, they got it.

Then he said, “Do not take me to town right away, but in the middle of winter.” They did so. They stayed therewith him. They took him to the town in the very middle of winter. Then the town people were very anxious to go out to see him. He said that a fine man would be sick very soon, and they believed him. So a good man did fall sick, and they paid him to treat him. Then he became rich. The people of his town said, “Let whoever is going to look on, fast.” All the town people fasted because they wanted to see what he would do. Then he would act like the salmon, the herring, the sand-hill crane, and the sit. They were surprised to see all the things he did. The young women, however, did not look at him. When be was going to eat, he ate only those things which his spirit had purified for him, and, when he was going to drink water, the spirit also made that clean for him. He ate only after his spirit had said, “You will eat this, my master.” He did all things as his spirit directed him.

He did not eat anything fresh. He was not married. Whatever the spirit told him to do, he did. For that reason he lived a long time. And although he lived to be very old his head did not become white. This is all.

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Moldy-End (Sitka version)

A boy from the Kiksa’adi clan, feeling neglected after receiving moldy salmon, sets a snare for sea gulls. Upon checking his snare, he is pulled into the water and taken by the salmon people, who adopt him. After a year, he returns home, sharing insights into salmon behavior and earning the nickname “Moldy-End.”

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 boy undergoes a significant change, both physically by entering the salmon people’s world and mentally through the experiences he gains during his time there.

Underworld Journey: The boy’s descent into the realm of the salmon people parallels a journey into an underworld or another realm beyond the human experience.

Harmony with Nature: The tale emphasizes the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world, highlighting the importance of understanding and living in harmony with nature.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

The Kiksa’di used to live at Daxe’t, where they dried salmon. After they had gotten through drying it they tied it up there. So he (a small boy) was baiting a snare for sea gulls. When he came into the house afterward he was very hungry. “Mother, I am hungry. Give me some dried salmon.” So she gave him a piece of dried salmon which had begun to mold on the corner. Then he said, “You always give me moldy-cornered ones.” They always began tying up from the corner of the house. He spoke to the dried salmon. Just then some one shouted out, “There is a sea gull in your snare.” So he ran down to it. He ran out into the water to his snare. When he got out into the midst of the water he looked as if he were pulled down into it. Then all of the drying salmon ran down to him. Now the people were hunting for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t known what had happened to him.

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The salmon, however, began feeling very high. They began to rush about at the mouth of the creek. It was the salmon people that had done it. Then the salmon people went out to sea with him. They went seaward with him toward their homes. To him it looked as if they were in a canoe. A chief among these salmon had made him his son. The sea gull that he had followed out went along with him. Then he stayed with them in the salmon people’s town. He was among them for one year. Well out from that town fish eggs were heaped up. He began to take up and swallow some of them without asking anybody. Then the people shouted out, “Moldy-end is eating the town-people’s dung.” At that time they gave him the name. Afterward he discovered that the salmon tribe had saved him. Then he went to lie down and remained in that position. In the morning his father said, “What did they say to you, my son?” He went out and spoke. “Take him up to Amusement creek. Put his hands around the necks of the sand-hill cranes at the mouth of it.” There he saw two sandhill cranes jumping up and down, facing each other, at the mouth of the creek. All creatures, such as brants, could be heard making a noise down in this creek. This is why it was called Amusement creek. Where was it that he had been feeling badly? It all got out of him.

The salmon people all knew the salmon month had come up here which was their month for returning. They always spawn up here among us. At once they started back with him. They started up this way. Then the cohoes people broke their canoe. This is why the cohoes come up last. The luknaxa’di were going to have the cohoes as an emblem, and this is why the luknaxa’di are also very slow people. At once all started, dog salmon and humpbacks. They started up this way with Lively-frog-in-pond (the boy’s name). The big salmon people started up thither. Very soon the salmon tribe came to the “sit.” It is this sit which gives scars to whichever one happens to get caught in it. After all got through, the people looking could see a cloud far down on the horizon which appeared like a canoe. In the evening they went ashore to camp. They dug holes in the ground and made flat sticks to stick into the ground. The salmon tribe always does that way. Then the salmon people would throw hot rocks upon one another. Their bodies vibrated with the heat. It is that that leaves scars on the skin of the salmon. It was Lively-frog-in-pond that let people know what the salmon people do to one another.

At once they started hitherward up this coast. The salmon tribe came against the herring tribe. In the canoes of the salmon tribe one stood up. He said to them, “When did your cheek-flesh ever fill a man?” The others stood by one another. The herring tribe said in reply, “We fed them before you. Our eggs are our cheek-flesh. When will the space around your backbone not be dirty?” [an exchange of taunts] The salmon tribe started off for the outside coasts of these islands. When they got outside of them the salmon chief said, “To what creek are you going?” Having held a conference, the salmon people named their choices. The humpbacks said, “We will go to Saliva creek,” but the one among them who had taken the man, mentioned Daxe’t. The salmon people called it Right-to-the-town. Then they came in sight of the mouth of the creek. They called the point Floating point, and the smoke house that was there a fort. It looked like that in the eyes of the salmon people. The salmon called human beings “seal-children’s dog salmon.” When they first came into the mouth of the creek the people sharpened poles for them to fall on when they jumped. Then the boys always said, “Upon my father’s.” At once one jumped upon it, where before they had not killed any. At that they (the people) were very happy.

Now they saw his father plainly coming down from far up the creek. They said to him (the boy), “Stand up.” He jumped up. “Very fine,” said his mother. His mother called him a fine salmon. After that the salmon swam up the creek. The women who were cutting salmon were always seated by Daxe’t with their backs downstream. The salmon, however, were always rushing about down in the creek. The salmon tribe shouted about those who were cutting. When they were partly through drying the salmon people said to him, “Go to your mother.” His mother was cutting salmon on the beach. The canoe floated below her on the back current. So be floated there with his head sticking out from under it. Then she called her husband’s attention to it. “A fine salmon is floating here with its head out.” His father took up a hook, for he did not know that it was his son. It swam out from him. He never expected [to see] his son again. One year had passed since he had disappeared. At once he swam out in front of his father. When he had hooked it he pulled it out on a sandy bar. He bit it on the head in order to keep it fresh. Then he threw it to his wife. “Cut it up. We will cook it,” [he said]. So she put the salmon down to cut it up in the usual manner.

The Tlingit obtained copper in ancient times. A chain of twisted copper was around the young man’s neck, for be had gone into the water with it on. After she had tried to cut around his neck for a while, and found that she could not, she looked at her knife. There were bits of copper on her knife. Then she called out to her husband, “Come here.” So they began to examine it. It was the copper chain that used to hang around his son’s neck. Anciently the people used to have a fine woven basket called lit. As soon as he knew this he threw it into such a basket. [He spit upon it] and blew on eagle’s down. Then he put the basket enclosing the salmon on the roof of the house. Toward morning there was a noise inside of it. His (the boy’s) spirit began to work inside of it. At daybreak he went up to look at it, and a large man lay where the salmon had been.

They took their things out of all of the houses. When they brought what had been a salmon inside a man went out and spoke to the many Kiksa’di. “Let all the people go with their heads down.” So it was given out. They brought up salt and devil’s clubs. As soon as they had drunk it down in accordance with his directions they vomited. The devil’s club and sea water were vomited out. Toward evening the shaman bathed. Below this town is a little pond named Beating-time-for-shaman lake because he also bathed in that. In the evening his spirits really came to him, and blood kept running out of his mouth. The sea gull for which he had gone out came to be his spirit. Then he showed them all things that were to be done to the salmon down in the creek [that is, the tabus]. “Cut them into four pieces,” he said. He called [the tabus] Adeya’ (“That’s the way”). After that his spirits said to him, “Tie up a raft over there on the edge of Noisy-waterfall.” He was testing his spirits to see how strong they were. This waterfall comes down a long distance. The Kiksa’di began to get on the raft, which his spirits named Sea-lion raft. At once he said “Go.” He began blowing on the raft. One man was not courageous enough to go down into the waterfall, and when the raft went down he seized the bough of a tree at the edge of the fall. Then it went under. It was gone for one night.

Next morning the noise of shamans’ sticks was heard at the mouth of the creek. The raft came up from underneath. Meanwhile the one that had saved himself came among his friends and told them that the Kiksa’di were all destroyed. Therefore the women were all weeping. When the shaman saw them he spoke. His spirits said that the people were not hurt at all. Nor were their clothes even torn. This is why a Kiksa’di is very brave. The man who jumped out, however, was very much ashamed. Then they brought the people up from [the place where they had come out].

Now the spirits worked in him, and he sang for another land otter so that the people could see his strength. He sent out his clothes-man to a point that could be seen below. “Take a spear” [he said]. He went to it. He saw nothing, and stayed there that night. Then he came back. When it was day he (the shaman) said, “Take me down there.” He said, “Go around the point below here.” He said to his clothes-man, “Be brave.” Then he spit on the end of the spear. He spoke to get strength. When he got up after speaking and threw it over the point he hit the land otter in the tail. Now the shaman sent for it [and said], “Take it round there.” The land otter lay stiff. The spear was stuck into the end of its tail. This is why even now the people call that place Point-thrown-across. He put the shadow of his paddle against an island below this. He was going to cut off the tongue of the land otter upon it (the shadow). This is why they named the island Divided-by-motion-of-paddle. [By a mere motion of his paddle he cut off the land otter’s tongue.] He fasted eight days on the island, when he cut off the land-otter tongue. Afterward he came up, and they were going to start home from that place. He lived for more than a hundred years. His spirits were of such strength that he lived so long that he could just turn about in one place.

The Kiksa’di woman who was turned into an owl

A woman named Lqaya’k’s wife mistreats her mother-in-law by placing hot herring milt in her hand. In response, her husband fills a canoe with herring and instructs his wife to retrieve them without assistance. As night falls, her cries transform into owl sounds. Her husband declares she will become an owl, and she flies away, becoming a creature that predicts bad weather and events in other towns.

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

► Themes of the story

Divine Punishment: The woman’s change into an owl. The transformation serves as retribution for her mistreatment of her mother-in-law.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts a lesson on the consequences of disrespecting elders and the ensuing punishment.

Conflict with Authority: The woman’s initial act of defiance against her mother-in-law’s authority leads to her eventual punishment.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

When this town (Sitka) was first discovered the Kiksa’di were here, and we stayed on this (the north) side. This town (at the northern end) was named Mossy-town. There four men grew up, two of whom were named Lqaya’k and Kacka’lk. They married. Lqaya’k’s mother was named Kacka’lk’s-mother. Lqaya’k’s wife refused to give her mother-in-law herring to eat. After she had refused her twice she put hot milt into her hand. She told [her son], “She put hot milt from a male herring into my hand.” It burned her hand. For this reason her son carried down the canoe. He filled it with herring by means of a herring rake. When [the canoe] was filled, he brought them in. The herring rock is over yonder this side of Big-fort [the hill on which Baranoff’s castle stood]. He brought them in in the evening. He said to his wife, “Go down to it,” and she went down empty handed.

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Then she shouted up, “Bring down the basket,” but her husband said, “Don’t listen to her.” Night came on. Toward morning the woman began to change her cries. “This way with the basket (kat)”, she said toward morning. Later still she began to say, “Hu, hu, hu, hu.” Her husband said to her, “You can become an owl from this time on.” So she started to fly off. She became an owl. She flew first among the trees. She was heard saying, “Sit in your holes,” after which he (her husband) went outside. He said to her, “You put milt into my mother’s hand. For that you can become an owl. Way back there for you is Owl’s-rock-slide.” This is why it is so. This is why we can always understand it (the owl). It always predicts bad weather. It always tells what is going to happen in other towns.

The four brothers

A malevolent shaman named Gone’tqasa’xdukaq resides in a cave, impervious to harm. To defeat him, villagers marry their sister to him and later extract information from her about his vulnerability—his heart is in his hand. They shoot his hand, killing him, and claim his red-snapper coat. Subsequently, Lqaya’k dons the coat and chases a creature into the sky, creating the Milky Way.

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

► Themes of the story

Sacrifice: The sister sacrifices her well-being by marrying the shaman to aid her brothers’ plan.

Creation: The story explains the origin of the Milky Way, bringing order to the cosmos through the brothers’ actions.

Family Dynamics: The plot revolves around the collaboration and sacrifices within a family to overcome a common adversary.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

Another being that hated us was a shaman, who used to live in a cave. His name was Gone’tqasa’xdukaq. They could do nothing to him, so they gave their sister to him in marriage. He always slept with his back to the fire, and a spirit watched at his door. Finally a plot was made regarding him, and the people prepared for him. They prepared boxes full of bows and arrows for him, and there came to be plenty of them. When they came to him they pulled their sister into the canoe. He (the shaman) always wore a red-snapper coat. When he was pursuing them, he kept jumping so (accompanied by gesture). While he was chasing them they shot at him. They kept asking their sister, “Where is your husband’s heart?” She said, “I still love my husband’s heart.” After a time she told them where her husband’s heart was. “Shoot him in the middle of his hand. His heart is there.”

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Then they killed him outside of Ring island. They carried him to Ring island. They took the red-snapper coat off from him. It was for this coat that they had killed their brother-in-law.

After that Lqaya’k put it on and went after large animals. He chased something from below named Kacka’lk. [An error. Kacka’lk was Lqaya’k’s elder brother.] He chased it far up out into the sky. They are Lqaya’k’s footprints which are there [that is, the Milky Way].

How the Kiksa’di came to Sitka

The Kiksa’adi clan faced annihilation by the Sky-people, leaving only one woman who hid beneath a log. She encountered various beings, ultimately marrying the Sun’s son. They had five children and lived in a fort. When enemies attacked, the brothers invoked their grandfather, the Sun, who scorched the invaders by peeking through the clouds, boiling the sea, and destroying them. The brothers remained safe within their fort.

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

► Themes of the story

Creation: The narrative explains the origin of the Kiksa’di people in Sitka.

Divine Intervention: The sun deity assists the protagonist and their offspring in overcoming adversaries.

Revenge and Justice: The destruction of the enemies by invoking the sun’s power serves as retribution for their earlier aggression.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

When we were first born people hated us. And after that some beings named Sky-people brought war upon us. They destroyed us completely. A woman saved herself. And right here at Qantu’lki she dug a hole under a log to conceal herself from the enemy. Various creatures came out in f rout of her. “I wonder who can tell me about things,” she said. Grizzly bear came out near her. She said, “What can you do?” “Whenever I catch a man I slap my paws down upon him.” The woman said, “That is nothing.” Some one in the sun spoke to her. “How am I?” it said. “What can you do?” Then he said, “My father in the sun peeps out through the clouds, through the mottled clouds.” That was the one that married her. Then she began to have children. There were five of them, including one woman. After that he lowered down a big fort on them. They grew up inside of it. And when the enemy saw that they were inside of it they started to come.

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One [of the brothers], named Coward, was quarrelsome. Another was named Lqaya’k and another Kacka’lk, and to all of them he gave directions. “When they get stronger than you put your minds on me.” So, when the enemy became too strong for them, they put their minds on their father (grandfather), the sun. He peeped out on the enemy. It was smoking hot. The sea water out here boiled. The [hostile] people ran down quickly into the water. They were all destroyed. Then it stopped [boiling] out on the water. The brothers stayed inside of their fort.

Origin of the frog crest among the Kiksa’di

A couple camping in Gaya’ bay hears a mysterious song. Investigating, they discover a small frog producing the melody. The husband gives the frog to his wife, and they bring it back to Sitka. This event leads to the Kiksa’di clan adopting the frog as their crest, symbolizing the origin of their association with the frog.

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

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale explains the origin of the frog crest among the Kiksa’di clan.

Mythical Creatures: The frog, producing a mysterious song, plays a central role in the story.

Sacred Objects: The frog becomes a symbol of significance for the Kiksa’di clan.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

A married couple went from Sitka into Gaya’ bay, and camped at Ga’xgu-an. They were there for perhaps a month. One morning they started out hunting. Then they heard a song on Gaya’ bay. They listened. They did not hear plainly. [The man’s] wife said to him, “Do you hear it?” He said, “I hear the thing making a noise over there.” “Turn toward it,” they said. They went toward it and saw it. It was a little frog which the man let float down to his wife in the stern. He said, “It is for you.” So they brought it to Sitka. This is how the little frog’s song came to be known, and this is why the Kiksa’di claim the frog.

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The le’naxi’daq

A man discovers a woman, the le’naxi’daq, floating in a lake with her children. He brings one child home, but during the night, it removes the eyes of the villagers. A woman, after giving birth, encounters this child and kills it with her cane. She then declares herself the new le’naxi’daq, wandering the beach while nursing her child and consuming mussels.

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 le’naxi’daq is a mysterious entity with malevolent powers, interacting with humans in a supernatural manner.

Transformation: The woman who kills the le’naxi’daq’s child undergoes a transformation, assuming the identity and role of the le’naxi’daq herself.

Loss and Renewal: The community experiences loss through the actions of the le’naxi’daq’s child, but there is a sense of renewal as the woman takes on a new role.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

See story “Origin of le’naxi’daq“. This is the equivalent of Skil dja’adai, or “Property Woman,” among the Haida.

This story was obtained at Sitka.

A man at Auk went out on the lake after firewood. On the way round it be saw a woman floating about. Her hair was long. Looking at her for some time, he saw that her little ones were with her. He took one of the children home. When it became dark they went to sleep. It was the child of the le’naxi’daq, and that night it went through the town picking out people’s eyes. Toward morning a certain woman bore a child. In the morning, when she was getting up, this [the le’naxi’daq’s child] came into her into the house. The small boy had a big belly full of eyes. He had taken out the eyes of all the people. That woman to whom the small boy came had a cane. He kept pointing at her eyes. Then she pushed him away with the cane. When he had done it twice, she pushed it into him. He was all full of eyes. After she had killed him the woman went through the houses. Then she began to dress herself up. She took her child up on her back to start wandering. She said, “I am going to be the le’naxi’daq.” When she came down on the beach she kept eating mussels. She put the shells inside of one another. As she walks along she nurses her little child.

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Ka’hasi, the strong man

Ka’hasi, a poor and ridiculed man, secretly bathed at night to gain strength. One night, he encountered a being named Strength who empowered him. The next day, Ka’hasi astonished his peers by breaking a tree branch they used to test their power. Later, during a sea lion hunt, he displayed extraordinary strength, earning respect and admiration from his community.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Ka’hasi undergoes a profound change from a weak, mocked individual to a figure of great strength and respect.

Divine Intervention: His newfound strength is bestowed upon him by a supernatural being named Strength, who emerges from the water to aid him.

Cultural Heroes: Through his transformation and subsequent feats, Ka’hasi becomes a revered figure, embodying qualities admired by his community.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

Among some people bathing for strength was a man named Kaha’si. He was very poor. The people bathed continually in preparation for war. He, however, was very miserable. When the others came out of the water they always laughed at him. He kept urinating in his sleep. He was always turned over on one side. It was when all were asleep that he went down to the water. When he got very cold he came ashore and went to sleep. And when daylight was coming on he threw his urine under him. Then it always ran out from under him. They kept bathing for strength in war. His friends used to whip each other in the water with boughs. They tried their strength on a big tree having a dead branch growing out from it which they called the tree-penis. And when they ran ashore out of the water they always kicked him (Kaha’si) out of their way. “When will this man break off the tree-penis?” [they said].

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The man went into the water the last time he was going to enter it. At that very time he heard some one down in it from whom he was going to get his strength. Strength was his name. Then the person came out behind him. He had a large head covered with curly hair. He held boughs. “Now,” he (Strength) said to him, “come up to me.” Then he went to him. He knocked him into the water. Twice he called him. At once he whipped him hard. “I am Strength. I come to help you,” he said to him. “Break off the thing the people are trying their strength on. Put it back again along with some urine.” Then he ran therein the night. His friends did not know it. After day had begun to dawn his friends ran thither. It was not known that he had broken it off. Why had it never been broken off before? The very first one now broke it off. Then they inquired, “Who broke off the tree-penis?” and people said, “It was Kaha’si who broke it off.” They laughed at him because [they thought] he was not strong. Then they started off with the strength they had waited for. At that time [the Indians] had no fighting ammunition. This is why they always bathed for ammunition, sitting in the water. The strong men had nothing at all with which to kill the sea lions. At once the head man said as follows, “Take him also.” They said, “Take him there.” They had nothing with which to kill the sea lions. Then they told him that they would take him along. They said, “Take Kaha’si there.” It was at that time that they gave him his proper name. They took him out to the sea-lion island. Then he caught up two sea lions. The one on the left he threw upon a flat rock, but the one on the right he tore in pieces. All kinds of strength came to the poor man to help him, and his friends never beat him afterward. He never put on clothes in time of war. His strength continued for a long time. It came to be known even down to this day. People always use his strength with which to surprise other people, and they always imitate his strength [that is, it is used as a crest and imitated at feasts]. This is all.

Mountain Dweller

A chief’s two daughters consume tallow reserved for guests, leading to their mother’s reprimand. Ashamed, the sisters flee into the forest, encountering a mouse that guides them to its grandmother’s dwelling. There, they receive sustenance and shelter. This narrative underscores themes of hospitality, familial bonds, and the consequences of actions.

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 mouse and its grandmother represent otherworldly entities that assist the sisters, indicating interactions with supernatural beings.

Conflict with Authority: The sisters’ departure can be seen as a response to their mother’s authority and the societal expectations placed upon them.

Journey to the Otherworld: Their venture into the deep woods and encounter with mystical beings symbolizes a journey into an unknown or otherworldly realm.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

A chief was living with his two children in the middle of a long town. People were always visiting him, and he kept tallow stored away for strangers. By and by a big canoe came to him, and [the peoples’] things were taken up. [The children’s] grandmother had charge of the tallow. She always had things stored away for strangers. Then she would give these to her grandchildren. Afterward the old woman would say, “The old shaggy dog took it away from me.”

After that he invited the foreign people up. He ordered the tallow in the big box to be brought for them. Now there was nothing inside of the big box. The foreign people, however, were all seated. It was thought that his children had done it. They had invited them for the food that was all eaten up.

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This is why people say even now, “They came to invite for the food that was gone.” It was entirely empty, and great was the shame that the chief felt. Afterward he questioned his children. Their dishes had hair on them. There was a dish apiece, which always lay by them. Then their mother came in to them. “Did you do this?” she said. When they kept on crying, she raised the face of the older girl. She scratched her daughter’s cheek, and also that of the younger one. She scratched on both of their cheeks because they ate up the tallow for which [her husband] had invited strangers. When the people went to bed that night the girls made a hole under the boards. Then they put the hairy dishes in their places. Afterward they went back into a hollow tree.

Next morning [their mother] said, “I wonder where they have gone.” She said to them, “Get up now.” Then the long dishes moved [as she pulled at the covers]. It was the dishes they had put in their places. They, however, had dug a hole underneath and were gone. Then their mother came out from behind the screens. No one knew whither they had gone. Afterward they went straight up into the woods. And after they had started [the people] rushed up to hunt for them, but they hid themselves. The younger kept saying to the elder, “Let us make some kind of noise for our mother.” She answered, “How does the inside of your cheeks feel?” She kept saying to her younger sister, “Oh! we can not do it. She said to us, ‘Let Mountain Dweller marry both of you.’ I know what she was saying to us.”

For this reason they went far up into the woods. They wandered along, aimlessly crying. The younger sister wanted her elder sister to go back to the place from which they had started, but she did not want her mother to see her down there. After they had gone a long distance they saw a small mouse running across a log. The mouse went into a little hill. Then her younger sister said, “Grandmother mouse, people have seen you.” So said her younger sister. “Put me quickly across this log,” said the little mouse. “My grandmother says ‘Call them into the house.’” On account of that it had run out. Then the door flew open. They [entered and] sat down. [The story is very much condensed here. The mouse’s “grandmother” had sent it to invite them in. The mouse asks to be put over the log because the entrance to her grandmother’s house was on the other side. “On account of that she had run out” refers to the mouse’s first appearance.] “Why did you come?” she said to them. After they had been seated for some time she pushed something between her teeth, and got something out. It was a piece of dried fish. She shook it. It was now a spring salmon taken from between her teeth, and they placed it by the fire. She set it before them, and they consumed it. She took a cranberry out from between her teeth. She placed it before them, and they consumed that. After they had eaten she said again, “Why did you come, my little grandchildren?” and the elder replied, “My mother said we could not marry Mountain Dweller.” “He is a very difficult person to get near. Go now, my little grandchildren.” Then she told them what to do. “Crushing-mountain is before the place, granddaughters, and also the fighting dogs (cak).” She also said, “Kelps float together in front of it. Take your knife and a whetstone with you,” she said. After she had instructed them they started out. When they had gone along for some time they saw the fighting dogs. They throw a piece of dried fish bone to them, and the dogs began to divide it. Again they went forward. Before they had gone far they came upon kelps floating together. They threw moss between. Then they passed through. After that they saw Crushing-mountain. (Just the way people tell this I am telling you, my opposite clansman.) They threw a whetstone between these. They went through. Now they saw the camp. They came to the house door.

Mountain Dweller’s mother was at home. Nothing could be seen inside of this house, there was so much fat. They were told they could not get into Mountain Dweller’s house. That is why they went there. After they had been seated for some time they were given something to eat. By and by the hunter brought in a load of food. He asked his mother, “What are those people that have come to you doing?” “They came to marry you because it was said that they could not.” So Mountain Dweller married both of them.

After they had been there for some time he started off. He said to his wives, “My mother does not let the person that stays with me last long.” For this reason they kept sticks in their hands while he was away from them. Sometime afterward their mother-in-law put aside of mountain sheep into the fire. She stood it up on end. Then it caught fire. This was the way she killed her son’s wives. After that they kept watch on her. When it was burning she pushed it toward her son’s wives. Then they pushed it back upon her, and killed her. They pulled her body outside and put something over it. They let it stand out of the ground a very little.

Meanwhile her son was away. When he arrived he was carrying a big mountain sheep. Then he asked for his mother. “She did to us just as you said. We threw it over upon her. We pulled her outside.” He said to them, “What you have done to her is well. My mother would not let a person who lived with me last long.” After that he collected sides of mountain sheep, inside fat, and tallow.

After many years had passed Mountain Dweller said to his wives, “Wouldn’t you like to go home?” “Yes,” said they. [The elder] said to him, “My mother said we could not marry you. That is why we came to find you.” “Weave some baskets,” he said. So they wove them. “Weave two that you can just put on your thumbs” [he said]. They were going to start. There were many mountains between. After they had put many canoe loads of things inside of the baskets he put them both on his thumb, and they started along with them. They were gone for a very few days.

When they were going along with him he seemed to be changed suddenly. Mountain Dweller began to shine from within. By and by they sighted their father’s town. The town was long. In the evening they came in front of the house. He had the small baskets on his thumb. Then they wished that their little brother might run out to them. They called him to them. The people had already given a mourning feast for them there. A year was now past. For this reason he ran into the house. Then he said to his mother, “My sisters have come and are outside.” At this she became angry with her young son, who had longed for his sisters. “You lie,” she said to him. At once he went back to them, crying. When he came into the house again he said to his mother, “They are there. It is well that you go out to them.” “Take a piece off of their marten blankets and bring it here,” she said. So he told them. (The way I am telling you is the way people always tell old stories.) Then he brought it into the house. At that time his mother started out. She looked. Her children were really there. “Come into the house,” she said. So they came into the house to her. Afterward the elder girl told her mother about the baskets. Mountain Dweller having shaken the baskets, she said, “There are big baskets outside. Let them be brought in.” Then two persons went out. The baskets were too heavy for them. More went out. All the men in the house tried to bring them in. When they could not, Mountain Dweller rose to get the baskets. Although they were unable to get them, Mountain Dweller put the baskets on his third finger. Inside was fat from the inside of a mountain sheep. Because her mother had scratched the inside of her daughters’ cheeks, [the elder girl] invited the people for nothing but fat. The things in the baskets were too much for them. The baskets in which these things were contained were called World-renowned-baskets.

The shaman who went into the fire, and the heron’s son

A young boy, mistreated by his uncle’s wife, retreats into the wilderness, guided by a spirit. He creates nests along a creek and undergoes a transformation, gaining shamanic powers. His concerned uncle searches for him and eventually finds him in a cave. The boy instructs his uncle on how to handle his spiritual journeys, emphasizing the importance of rescuing him from the fire during rituals.

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 protagonist undergoes a significant change, becoming a shaman with spiritual powers.

Trials and Tribulations: The boy faces challenges, including mistreatment by his uncle’s wife and the hardships of his spiritual journey.

Sacred Spaces: The cave and the nests he creates serve as significant spiritual locations in his transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

A little boy’s friends were all gone. His uncle was a great hunter, and the little boy was always going around far up in the woods with bow and arrows. He was growing bigger. He also went out with his uncle. His uncle went about everywhere to kill things. He always brought plenty of game down from the mountains.

One time he again went hunting. At that time the inside of the house was full of the sides of mountain sheep, on racks. His uncle’s wife bated her husband’s little nephew very much. When she went outside for a moment, he broke off a little piece of fat from the sides of mountain sheep hanging on the rack, to put inside of his cheek. Although there was so much he broke off only so much. Then his uncle’s wife looked all around. The end piece was not there.

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“Is it you that has done this?” she said to her husband’s little nephew. He cried and said, “No.” Then she put her hand inside of his cheek. “Why don’t you go up on the mountain?” [she said.] She scratched the inside of his cheek. Blood ran out of his mouth. While crying he pulled his uncle’s box toward him. He took his uncle’s whetstone out of it. Meanwhile his uncle was far away.

Then he started off into the woods, carrying the whetstone, and came out to a creek. He came out on a sandy bank, pounded (or scooped) it out like a salmon, and made a nest beside the water. He stayed upon it overnight. His dream was like this. He was told, “Let it swim down into the water.” It was his spirit that told him to do this.

When his uncle came down he missed him. He asked his wife, “Where is my nephew?” She answered. “He went up that way with his bow and arrows.”

When [the boy] got up farther he made another nest. This man was named “For-little-slave.” He made eight nests. Now his spirit helper began to come to him on the last. At that time he took his whetstone down into the creek, and it swam up in it. Then he lost his senses and went right up against the cliff. He stayed up there against the cliff. Everything came to bear him there-sea gulls, eagles, etc. When his spirits left him they would always be destroyed — the eagles, sea gulls, all of them.

Now, his uncle hunted for him. After he had been out for eight days he discovered the nest his nephew had made by the creek. He saw all the nests his nephew had camped in. His uncle looked into the creek. The salmon was swimming there, and be camped under the nest. Afterward he listened. In the morning he heard the beating made by shamans’ sticks. He heard it just in the middle of the cliff. Then he came up underneath it. Before he thought that [his nephew] had seen him, his nephew spoke to him: “You came under me, the wrong way, uncle.” The uncle pitied his nephew very much. “Come up by this corner,” said his nephew. Ever afterward he was named, “For-little-slave.” then his uncle asked him, “What caused you to do this?” He did not say that his uncle’s wife had scratched the inside of his cheek. Instead be said to his Uncle: “Cave spirits told me to come here.” This was a big cave, bigger than a house.

Then his spirits came to him while his uncle was with him. They went inside, and his uncle beat time for him. Then be told his uncle to remember this: “When the spirit Nixa’ runs into the fire with me, do not let me burn up. While I am getting small throw me into a basket.” That was the way he did with him. It ran into the fire with him, and he threw him into the basket. Then he always came to life inside of the basket. He became a big man again.

That same evening he sent out his uncle to call, “This way those that can sing.” Then the cliff could hardly be seen for the mountain sheep that came down to look into the cave. When they were seated there, he whirled about his bow and arrows and all the mountain sheep were destroyed. The inside of the cave was full of them. Now, he said to his uncle: “Take off the hides.” He was singing for great Nixa’. When the spirit came out of him he reminded his uncle, “When it runs into the fire with me, don’t forget to take me out and put me into the basket.”

After all of the sheeps’ sides were covered up be sent him for his wife. He came up with his wife into the cave. Then he said to his uncle: Take the half-basket in which we cook. “Mash up the inside fat for your wife.” His spirits took out the woman’s bottom part from her. For this reason the woman never got full eating the mountain-sheep fat. She could not taste the fat. He put her in this condition because she had scratched the inside of his cheek.

By and by be said to his uncle: “Make your mind courageous when Nixa’ comes in.” In the evening he told his uncle to go out and call. The cliffs could hardly be seen. Grizzly bears came in front of the house to the door of the cave. They extended far up in lines. Then his uncle started the song for the spirit. They kept coming inside. Suddenly a grizzly bear came in. It was as if eagle down were tied around its ears. At that [the uncle’s] wife became scared and broke in two. He did this to her because she had scratched on the inside of his cheek on account of the fat. His spirit also ran into the fire with him. While his uncle stood in fear of the grizzly bear, For-little-slave burned up in the fire.

At that the cave creaked, and every animal ran into its skin. The things they were drying did so. They did so because the shaman had burned up. So the shaman and his uncle also were finally burned up.