Story of the eagle crest of the Nexa’di

A poor Nexa’di man, struggling to find food, encounters a young eagle that leads him to the eagle people’s home. There, he finds hospitality, marries an eagle woman, and becomes a skilled fisher and hunter. He secretly provides for his family, who dream of his aid. Ultimately, he reveals his transformation, explaining his bond with the eagles, shaping the Nexa’di clan’s connection to them.

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 by becoming an eagle, which alters his life and abilities.

Supernatural Beings: The man’s interaction with the eagle people, who possess human traits and live in a mystical realm, highlights this theme.

Cultural Heroes: The protagonist’s experiences and subsequent revelations shape the identity and traditions of the Nexa’di clan, marking him as a foundational figure in their culture.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

There was a very poor Nexa’di man who did not know how to provide himself with food, so he lived off of others. He was always cruising around in a small canoe, getting small bullheads and flounders. One time he went out just for the day. He did not take any food along and therefore became very hungry. Early next morning something said to him, “I have come after you.” He heard the voice but could not see anything.

Finally, however, he stepped out from the place where he had been sitting and saw a young eagle perched upon a branch. The man was wearing an old ground-hog blanket full of holes, so he lay down again and put his eye to one of these. Then the eagle came very close to him and, taking the blanket down, he said to it, “I have seen you now.” Immediately the eagle looked like a human being and said, “My grandfather has sent me for you.”

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The poor man followed this eagle right up to the woods and they came upon a large trail there over which the eagle led him. By and by they came to some steps which led up to a house situated high up. He followed his guide inside of this and found it very clean and nice there. Everything was just like the houses of human beings, and mats were strewn round upon the floor. Then they gave him all kinds of fine fish and game to eat, and he wanted to stay among them forever. He was very poor among his own people, but these eagles treated him well. He married one of the eagle women and remained there for a long time.

After he married, this man’s brothers-in-law gave him a coat and named it, as they put it on him, Camping-under-water-for-twodays (Dex-hin-ta’de-uxe’). Before they put it on they warmed it. This coat was so named because, when an eagle gets hold of a seal, the seal is so strong that it will swim around with the eagle attached to it, and the longest time the eagle can stand this is two days. Now the poor man was an eagle himself, and he learned from the eagles how to catch fish. He thought all the time that he was spearing them, but in reality he was catching them in his talons. He became a great fisher and hunter.

The mother and brothers of this poor man were just as poor as he had been, and, when he saw his brother out fishing, he would leave some fish where he could find it. His brother thought that he was very lucky. Finally his mother dreamed that some one said, “It is I, mother, who provides for you all of this fish and meat,” and afterward they would dream that he said to them, “I have left a fish (or seal) on such and such a point. Go there and get it.” When they did so, sure enough it was there. Sometimes he would say in his mother’s dream, “We are going off camping. You must go there and camp near by.” They did so and dried a lot of fish which he had gotten for them.

In another dream he said, “I have married one of the eagle women. I can not come among you any more.”

One time, when they were out camping, they saw an eagle working very hard to bring ashore a load of fish. After it had done so, the eagle sat up on a branch and said, “It is I.” It told them its name, which was the name of the missing man. It is because a friend of theirs was once among the eagle people that the Nexa’di claim the eagle. This clan is now scattered everywhere.

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Story of the grizzly-bear crest of the Te’qoedi

A Te’qoedi man was captured by a male bear and hidden in its den by the bear’s wife, who later married him. Despite his family searching for him, only his youngest brother discovered the truth. The man eventually returned to his village but maintained ties with his bear family, feeding the cubs he had with the bear. This angered his human wife, and eventually, the bear cubs killed him. This tale explains the Te’qoedi’s connection to grizzly bears.

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 tale involves a man marrying a bear, highlighting interactions between humans and supernatural or animal beings.

Family Dynamics: The man’s relationships with his human family, bear wife, and their offspring underscore complex familial interactions.

Transformation: The narrative explores the man’s integration into the bear’s world and his adaptation to a new life, reflecting themes of change and transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A man belonging to the Te’qoedi went hunting on Unuk (Dju’nax) river, and came to a bear’s den. While he was examining it the male bear threw him inside. Then the bear’s wife dug a hole in the ground and concealed him there.

When the male bear came in he said, “Where is that man that I threw inhere?” “I haven’t seen anyone. You haven’t thrown anybody inhere.” “I did. I threw a man in here.” The male bear became angry at her denials and left her, upon which the man married this bear and had children by her, although he had a family at home.

Meanwhile the man’s four brothers looked for him continually, keeping away from their wives so as to find him, but in vain. They could see his tracks in the snow, but they could not discover where they led to.

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They suspected the truth, because other hunters had also been captured there by animals, and the shamans told them that this had happened to him. As soon as they left the town with their dogs, however, the she-bear could feel it and made them pass by.

But the youngest boy had not searched. Finally he started off too, and the bear felt that he was coming, but she found that she could not make him turn aside and said to her husband, “Well! we are caught.” The dogs scented him, and, when he looked out, there was his own dog barking. He called to it by its name, Man-for-the-mountains (Ca’yis-xwa). Then his brother knew what was the matter and came to the mouth of the den with his spears, determined to bring back his brother alive or dead. When the man saw his youngest brother outside he said, “Stand right there. Don’t do any harm. I am here. Although I am with this wild animal, I am living well. Don’t worry about me any more.”

When he was first taken into this den it looked like a den and nothing more, but that night he thought that he was in a fine house with people all about eating supper, and his wife looked to him like a human being.

In May, when the bears were about to leave their dens, his wife said, “Now you can go to your village. Take good care of your little ones. Don’t go near your wife. Don’t look toward her even.” So he went to the place where his brothers were living and said, “Tell my wife not to come near me for a while. She must have pity on me. Ask her to stay away.” Then he began to go off hunting. He had luck from his bear wife, and killing seals was nothing to him. One day, while he was out, he saw some bear cubs coming toward him and presently found that they were his little ones. Then he gave them all the seals he had killed. He fed them every day. When his younger brother went hunting with him and the cubs came running toward the canoe, he would say, “Don’t be frightened. Those are your children” (meaning “your brother’s children”).

By and by his human wife came to him. She was angry with him and said, “Why do your children starve on my hands? What are you doing feeding cubs instead of my little ones?” After that, though he did not dare to say a word to his wife, he began feeding her children. He thought, “I wonder what will happen to me now for feeding the little ones.”

Presently he went hunting again and again took some seals to his cubs. As he was going toward them he noticed that they did not act the same as usual. They lay flat on the ground with their ears erect. Then he landed, but, when he got near them, they killed him. It is on account of this story that the Te’qoedi claim the grizzly bear.

The beaver of Killisnoo

A small beaver, kept as a pet by the De’citan family, displayed remarkable intelligence, cleanliness, and even a knack for composing songs. After taking offense, it astonished its masters by singing like a human and fatally attacking one with a spear. The beaver’s actions, including undermining the earth beneath their house, led to its legendary status. The De’citan honor this tale through their beaver hat and songs.

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 beaver displays human-like characteristics, such as singing and using tools, indicating a transformation beyond its animal nature.

Trickster: The beaver’s cunning behavior, including undermining the earth beneath the house and deceiving its masters, aligns with the trickster archetype.

Supernatural Beings: The beaver’s extraordinary abilities and actions suggest it possesses supernatural qualities beyond that of a typical animal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

Some people belonging to the De’citan family captured a small beaver, and, as it was cunning and very clean, they kept it as a pet. By and by, however, although it was well cared for, it took offense at something and began to compose songs.

Afterward one of the beaver’s masters went through the woods to a certain salmon creek and found two salmon-spear handles, beautifully worked, standing at the foot of a big tree. He carried these home, and, as soon as they were brought into the house, the beaver said, “That is my make.”

Then something was said that offended it again. Upon this the beaver began to sing just like a human being and surprised the people very much. While it was doing this it seized a spear and threw it straight through its master’s chest, killing him instantly.

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Then it threw its tail down upon the ground and the earth on which that house stood dropped in. They found out afterward that the beaver had been digging out the earth under the camp so as to make a great hollow. It is from this story that the De’citan claim the beaver and have the beaver hat. They also have songs composed by the beaver.

Qaqatcgu’k

Qaqatcgu’k, a skilled hunter of Sitka, faced a transformative journey after hearing seals speak, leading him to abandon hunting. Forced by his family’s hunger, he ventured out again, only to become stranded at sea for months. Surviving on a remote rock, he returned to find his wives’ fates altered. His elder wife mourned him, while the younger remarried. Reunited, he shared his harrowing tale and rewarded those honoring his memory.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Qaqatcgu’k undergoes significant personal change after overhearing seals speak, leading him to abandon hunting—a central aspect of his identity.

Trials and Tribulations: His journey is marked by hardships, including being stranded at sea for months and surviving on a remote rock, testing his resilience and determination.

Family Dynamics: The narrative explores complex family relationships, highlighting his elder wife’s mourning and the younger wife’s remarriage during his absence, and the subsequent impact upon his return.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

One of the Sitka Kiksa’di, a man named Qaqatcgu’k, was very fond of hunting and could use his spear very accurately. He had two wives and several children, to whom he always brought home a fur seal. One time he heard a little fur seal crying continually, and he heard one of the others say to it, “Take care of that baby. Feed it. Qaqatcgu’k comes here hunting.” Then Qaqatcgu’k was frightened and said to his companions, “Let us go back.” So they went back and told the people in town what had happened. Then Qaqatcgu’k broke up his canoe, his paddles, and his spears, and burnt them, saying, “I will never go out hunting again.” So he remained at home for a long time.

One day, however, when a crowd of people were eating fur-seal meat, his little ones looked on hungrily. He pitied them so much that he did not know what to do.

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Then he said to his wife, “Go to your brother and ask him to loan me his canoe and spears.” Then he started off again, but, although there were many seals about, he could not get one. A young seal in particular he tried very hard to get. He kept chasing it farther and farther out to sea. At last he said to his men, “Let us go back. I can not get anything.” When they started paddling, however, a light breeze was blowing out from Sitka, and, although they worked vigorously the shore seemed to get more and more distant. Finally all became tired, threw their paddles into the canoe, and lay down to sleep, letting themselves drift farther and farther out.

After a very long time they came to a rock crowded with sea lions, fur seals, and sea otters, which seemed very tame. They clubbed numbers of them. Fresh water they obtained from a wild celery which has hollow stalks full of water. They built a house out of dry bushes, cooked the flesh of the sea animals and lived thus until August.

At last they wanted to start home again, so they made ropes of sea-lion hide, dried four sea-lion stomachs to carry along as floats, and filled a fifth with water. In the bottom of their canoe they put numbers of sea-lion bristles and loaded the rest of it down with valuable furs. They also cooked a lot of dried and fresh meat for the journey. Then they started off, guiding themselves by the sun, which they knew came up right behind Sitka in summer. When the sun set, they anchored by means of their hide lines and put the four sea-lion stomachs around their canoe to float it in case of storms. They did this every day.

Finally, after many days were past, they saw what they thought was a sea gull, but it always stayed in one place, and at last they discovered that it was a mountain. Then they felt brave and worked harder, and it became bigger and bigger. They did not know what mountain it was but said, “If we get to that place we can reach the village.” After a while they saw another mountain farther back and then knew that the first was Mount Edgecumbe and the second Verstovaia (Qane’sdi-ca). By and by they reached the mountain and drew their canoe up in a little bay under it, which they named Place-where-canoe-rested. After two days they started on again. Then they said, “Everyone has now gone to the salmon creeks.” By and by they came to Sitka village and had no more than done so before the Wind began to blow very hard. They must have been on the rock seven months. As they had anticipated, they found Sitka empty, and started for the salmon creek, Daxe’t.

All of the village people were then at Daxe’t drying salmon, and both of Qaqatcgu’k’s wives were with them. The younger had already remarried, but the elder sat near the point every day and cried for him. They had held a death feast for him and had set up a post. They were burning food and clothing for him.

That day, after the old wife had sat crying for some time, she looked up and saw a canoe with three men in it coming toward her. As she wept she looked up at it every now and then. When it got very close she suddenly stopped crying and thought to herself, “There is a fellow in that canoe that paddles just like my husband.” It made her feel sad. But, when it was still nearer, she said, “That is he and his brothers who went with him. Nobody ever paddled so much like him.” Then she got up and walked toward the house.

Then her husband, who thought a great deal of her, stood up and said, “That is my wife.” He looked again and was certain of it. Then he said to his brothers, “That is my wife. She must have been sitting there, crying.”

When the woman reached her house she said, “There is a canoe coming and I am sure that one of the men in it is my husband. Go out and look.” Then all went out, and saw that it was indeed he, and began to shout his name, announcing that he had come back. When he at length landed, he asked first for his wives, and they said, “The younger is married again, but the elder has been grieving her life away.” He asked whether his children were all alive and they said they were. Then they brought up his furs and other property from the canoe, and he began telling how he had happened to stay away so long. He told them how hard they had tried to get back, and how he had thought of his wife and children worrying at home, how they lived upon the large rock, how they provided themselves with water and meat, and how many valuable furs they could have gotten had they had bigger canoes. He told them how the seals, fur seals, sea otter, and sea lions were so tame that they looked at them like human beings, and how numerous they were. He also told them what a dreadful thing it is to be out at sea without knowing where one is or which way to go home, that it is like being in the inside of a bucket. When it was cloudy they did not know where the sun rose or set. He said that that was a valuable rock out there, and that wherever one looked or stepped lay sea-lion bristles. He also told the people how much surprised they were at having fine weather out at sea and at having it become stormy as soon as they got to the village. He told how they camped in their canoe, how they fixed it for the night, and everything else connected with their journey. He said that he dreamed all the time of being with his people, and that he used to wake up and tell his brothers that his old wife and all of his children were well. He always had had bad dreams about the younger wife, however, probably because she was married again. He had also composed a song about his dreams, which he sang to them. In this song he said, “Here I am lost and yet I dream I am at home with my people. I have no hope of seeing them, and yet I see them in my dreams.”

When he heard that the people had had a feast for him, he said, “Which of you gave a feast for me?” Then they pointed to a certain man and answered, “There is the principal one who gave a feast for you.” They pointed to others and said, “That one gave so much for you and that one so much.” He gave all of them valuable skins for what they had done.

How the Sitka Kiksa’di obtained the frog

A man and his wife, lost in fog while canoeing in a bay, hear a powerful, echoing song. As the fog lifts, they trace the haunting melody to a tiny frog. Disputing ownership, the man relents, and the wife ceremonially leaves the frog by a lake. This event marks the origin of the Sitka Kiksa’di people, who honor the frog as significant to their lineage.

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: It narrates the origin of the Kiksa’di clan’s association with the frog, explaining a cultural practice.

Supernatural Beings: The frog’s powerful, echoing song and its significant role suggest a supernatural element influencing mortal affairs.

Cultural Heroes: The man and his wife serve as foundational figures whose actions lead to the establishment of a significant clan symbol.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A man and his wife were crossing the mouth of a big bay named le’yaq, when it became so foggy that they could not even see the water around their canoe and stopped where they were. Then, quite a distance away in the thick fog, they heard singing, and it continued for so long a time that they learned the song by heart. The words of this song are:

We picked up a man; you picked up a man
They captured a man; you’ve captured a man.

The voice was so powerful that they could hear it reecho among all the mountains.

When the fog began to rise so that they could look under it a little they heard the song coming nearer and nearer.

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They looked about and finally saw that it came from a very little frog. To make sure of it they paddled along for some time in the direction it was taking. Then the man said, “This frog is going to be mine. I am going to claim it,” and his wife answered, “No, it is going to be mine. I am going to claim it.” But, after they had disputed for some time, the man finally let it go to his wife.

Then the woman took it ashore, treating it like a child, carried it up to the woods, put it down by a lake and left it there. From that time on, her people have been Kiksa’di. That is how the Sitka Kiksa’di came to claim the frog.

Mountain Dweller

Two sisters, punished by their mother for eating between meals, flee to the wilderness, where they encounter Mountain Dweller, a mythical hunter. Despite warnings, curiosity leads to their temporary death, but they are revived. After a transformative stay, they return to their village with magical abundance.

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 sisters undergo a significant change after their encounter with Mountain Dweller, experiencing death and revival, leading to personal growth and a new perspective.

Forbidden Knowledge: Despite being warned, the elder sister’s curiosity leads her to uncover forbidden information, resulting in dire consequences.

Supernatural Beings: The narrative involves interactions with Mountain Dweller, a mythical hunter, and a bad woman behind the curtain, both representing supernatural elements.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

Years ago young women were not allowed to eat between meals. Two sisters belonging to a high family once did this, and, when their mother found it out, she was very angry. She pulled the elder girl toward her, abused her shamefully, and scratched the inside of her mouth all over in pulling out the tallow she had eaten. She said, “What do you mean, especially you, you big girl? It is not right that you should eat anything between meals. What do you mean?” The younger sister was still quite little, therefore nothing was done to her, but she was offended at the treatment her elder sister had received.

Finally the mother said, “You are so fond of eating you better marry Mountain Dweller (Caqanayi’).” This being lived upon the mountains and was a great hunter.

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That evening the sisters ran off into the woods. Next morning, when her daughters did not appear, their mother thought that they had stayed in bed and called to them, “Isn’t it time you were getting out of bed?” By and by, however, she found that they were gone, and the people began searching for them. Their mother would go from one place to another where they had been playing, but nobody saw anything of them for seven days.

Meanwhile, although they were suffering with hunger, the girls went farther and farther into the woods. When they got very far up among the mountains they heard somebody chopping wood, and the elder sister said to herself, “I wonder if that isn’t the man mother was talking about?” Coming closer, they discovered a man with his face painted red. He looked up, saw the girls, and said, “What are you poor girls doing way back here?” Then the elder answered, “Mother abused us. That is why we left our home. She abused us because we ate some tallow. She said, ‘You are so fond of eating tallow you better go and marry Mountain Dweller.’”

Then Mountain Dweller, for it was he, invited them into his house, and they found it very grand. Another house near by was full of all kinds of meat drying. Seeing that they looked hungry, he gave them some food. Next morning early, when he was getting ready to hunt, he said to them, “Do you see that curtain over there?” In one part of the house a large skin curtain was hanging. “A very bad woman lives behind that. Don’t peep at her.”

At their father’s village all the people were now mourning for them, and all of their relations had their hair cut and their faces painted black.

The elder sister was now married to Mountain Dweller, the younger being still a little girl. After a while the former became curious to see the bad woman her husband had told her not to look at, so she peeped at her through a hole. At once the bad woman seemed to feel that some one was looking at her, threw up her hands, and screamed. Then both of the girls fell over dead.

By and by Mountain Dweller came home from the hunt, saw them, and knew what had happened. Then he went over to the bad woman and killed her. After that he put eagle down upon the girls’ bodies and walked around them several times, shaking his rattle. In that way they were restored to life.

After the girls had lived there for a long time, Mountain Dweller said, “Don’t you wish you might see your father and mother again?” The younger said, “Yes,” and the elder also wished it. After that Mountain Dweller hunted a great deal to prepare a quantity of meat for his father-in-law. He said to his wife, “Make a little basket, just big enough to put your finger into.” When it was done, he shook it and made it very large. Then he put all kinds of meat and tallow and sacks of grease into this basket. He shook it again and made it small with all of the meat inside.

When the girls came to their father’s house their little brother ran out, saw them, and went in again crying, “Mother, my sisters are out there.” But his mother became angry and said, “Why do you say that? Your sisters have been dead a long time, and yet you say that they are out there.” But the boy screamed, “Those are my sisters. Don’t I know them?” “Well! let me see the hair from their marten-skin robes.” In those times none but high-caste people such as these wore marten skins, so when he came in again bringing pieces from their robes she and her husband and all her relations went out. There she saw both of her daughters. “My daughters,” she cried, and wept with happiness. All in the village ran to see them and were very happy.

Next day the elder girl said to her mother, “Mother, there is a basket a little way back there in the woods. Send after it and have it brought down.” All the people went out to it, but returned saying, “It is such a large basket that all the people in the village can’t bring it in.” Then the girl went up herself, and it became small so that she brought it home easily. As soon as she had gotten it into the house and had set it down, it became large once more. Then she began to unpack it, and the house was filled with all sorts of meats. They feasted on these, and the village people were satisfied and felt very happy. Their mother, however, took too much grease on top of everything else. On going to bed, she drank some very cold water which hardened the grease so that her stomach broke in two.

Nowadays it is a fortunate man that hears Mountain Dweller’s axe or sees where he has been chopping. The basket obtained from him at this time is called Mother-basket (Kakula), and is used by the Ganaxte’di as an emblem.

The man who entertained the bears

A man of the Raven clan, feeling desolate after losing his loved ones, sought solace by venturing into the forest, intending to let bears kill him. Instead, he invited them to a feast. The bears came, led by a wise chief who later revealed they shared his sorrow. This encounter inspired rituals of respect for grizzlies and traditions of reconciliation through feasts, even with adversaries.

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 profound emotional change, shifting from desolation and a desire for death to finding purpose and connection through his encounter with the bears.

Supernatural Beings: The bears, particularly the wise chief with white-tipped fur, are portrayed with anthropomorphic qualities, engaging in human-like rituals and communication, indicating their supernatural significance.

Ritual and Initiation: The man’s invitation to the bears and the subsequent feast symbolize a ritualistic practice, fostering reconciliation and respect between humans and grizzlies, reflecting cultural initiation into new traditions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A man belonging to the Raven clan living in a very large town had lost all of his friends, and he felt sad to think that he was left alone. He began to consider how he could leave that place without undergoing hardships. First he thought of paddling away, but he said to himself, “If I paddle away to another village and the people there see that I am alone, they may think that I have run away from my own village, from having been accused of witchcraft or on account of some other disgraceful thing.” He did not feel like killing himself, so he thought that he would go off into the forest. While this man was traveling along in the woods the thought occurred to him to go to the bears and let the bears kill him. The village was at the mouth of a large salmon creek, so he went over to that early in the morning until he found a bear trail and lay down across the end of it.

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He thought that when the bears came out along this trail they would find and kill him. By and by, as he lay there, he heard the bushes breaking and saw a large number of grizzly bears coming along. The largest bear led, and the tips of his hairs were white. Then the man became frightened. He did not want to die a hard death and imagined himself being torn to pieces among the bears. So, when the leading bear came up to him, he said to it, “I have come to invite you to a feast.” At that the bear’s fur stood straight up, and the man thought that it was all over with him, but he spoke again saying, “I have come to invite you to a feast, but, if you are going to kill me, I am willing to die. I am alone. I have lost all of my property, my children, and my wife.”

As soon as he had said this, the leading bear turned about and whined to the bears that were following. Then he started back and the rest followed him. Afterward the man got up and walked toward his village very fast. He imagined that the biggest bear had told his people to go back because they were invited to a feast.

When he got home he began to clean up. The old sand around the fireplace he took away and replaced with clean sand. Then he went for a load of wood. When he told the other people in that village, however, they were all very much frightened, and said to him, “What made you do such a thing?” After that the man took off his shirt, and painted himself up, putting stripes of red across his upper arm muscles, a stripe over his heart, and another across the upper part of his chest.

Very early in the morning, after he had thus prepared, he stood outside of the door looking for them. Finally he saw them at the mouth of the creek, coming along with the same big bear in front. When the other village people saw them, however, they were so terrified that they shut themselves in their houses, but he stood still to receive them. Then he brought them into the house and gave them seats, placing the chief in the middle at the rear of the house and the rest around him. First he served them large trays of cranberries preserved in grease. The large bear seemed to say something to his companions, and as soon as he began to eat the rest started. They watched him and did whatever he did. The host followed that up with other kinds of food, and, after they were through, the large bear seemed to talk to him for a very long time. The man thought that he was delivering a speech, for he would look up at the smoke hole every now and then and act as though talking. When he finished he started out and the rest followed. As they went out each in turn licked the paint from their host’s arm and breast.

The day after all this happened the smallest bear came back, as it appeared to the man, in human form, and spoke to him in Tlingit. He had been a human being who was captured and adopted by the bears. This person asked the man if he understood their chief, and he said, “No.” “He was telling you,” the bear replied, “that he is in the same condition as you. He has lost all of his friends. He had heard of you before he saw you. He told you to think of him when you are mourning for your lost ones.”

When the man asked this person why he had not told him what was said the day before, he replied that he was not allowed to speak his native language while the chief was around. It was on account of this adventure that the old people, when they killed a grizzly bear, would paint a cross on its skin. Also, when they gave a feast, no matter if a person were their enemy, they would invite him and become friends just as this man did to the bears, which are yet great foes to man.

Beaver and porcupine

A beaver and porcupine, once close friends, trick each other in humorous revenge. The beaver strands the porcupine on a stump in a lake, but the porcupine sings to freeze the water and escapes. Later, the porcupine carries the beaver up a tall tree, leaving him stranded. The beaver’s struggle to descend is said to cause trees’ bark to appear broken.

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

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Both animals engage in cunning tricks to outsmart each other, showcasing the trickster archetype.

Revenge and Justice: The porcupine seeks humorous revenge after being stranded, highlighting themes of retribution.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts lessons on the consequences of deceit and the dynamics of friendship.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

The beaver and the porcupine were great friends and went about everywhere together. The porcupine often visited the beaver’s house, but the latter did not like to have him come because he left quills there. One time, when the porcupine said that he wanted to go out to the beaver’s house, the beaver said, “All right, I will take you out on my back.” He started, but instead of going to his house he took him to a stump in the very middle of the lake. Then he said to him, “This is my house,” left him there, and went ashore.

While the porcupine was upon this stump he began singing a song, “Let it become frozen. Let it become frozen so that I can cross to Wolverine-man’s place.” He meant that he wanted to walk ashore on the ice. So the surface of the lake froze, and he walked home.

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Some time after this, when the two friends were again playing together, the porcupine said, “You come now. It is my turn to carry you on my back.” Then the beaver got on the porcupine’s back, and the porcupine took him to the top of a very high tree, after which he came down and left him. For a long time the beaver did not know how to get down, but finally he climbed down, and they say that this is what gives the broken appearance to tree bark.

The big beaver

In a forest, people drained a lake teeming with beavers, killing all but one large beaver that escaped. Later, they heard a woman singing near the drained lake, lamenting the destruction. She warned of their fate: all the beaver hunters drowned on their journey back, with some bodies never recovered, believed to have been taken by the large beaver in vengeance.

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 villagers face retribution for their actions against nature, suggesting a higher power’s involvement in enforcing moral consequences.

Conflict with Nature: The humans’ exploitation of the beavers leads to a fatal confrontation, highlighting the perils of disrupting natural harmony.

Supernatural Beings: The large beaver exhibits extraordinary abilities, such as causing the hunters’ deaths, indicating its supernatural nature.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

At a certain place far back in the forest was a large lake in which were many beaver houses. One time some people found this lake and dug a trench out of it in order to drain it. Then they broke up the beavers’ houses so that the beavers began to swim down through the trench.

As they floated along the people killed them, all except one very large beaver, which they knew must have been there on account of its fresh tracks. They looked into all of the beaver houses they had broken up, but could not find it. It must have gotten out at the very start and made its escape into the woods.

Quite a while after this had been done, the people who had killed the beavers walked up to the place where the lake had been.

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When they got close to the place where they had let it out they heard a woman singing in a beautiful voice: “Why didn’t you ask one another to stop, my brothers? You begged yourselves to go off, my brothers.” She sang thus because all of those who had destroyed the beavers were to die. She was sitting on a part of the broken dam. So, on the way back to their village, all of these people were drowned and only a few bodies were recovered. Those whose bodies were not found had been captured by the big beaver.

The East and North winds

A high-caste man married East-wind’s daughter but left her for North-wind’s daughter, a beautiful woman adorned with frost-like garments. He brought his new wife to the first wife’s village, sparking jealousy. In retaliation, East-wind’s daughter brought warm weather, melting the frost that made North-wind’s daughter beautiful. Stripped of her adornments, the second wife’s charm faded, highlighting the fleeting nature of beauty and rivalry.

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 North-wind’s daughter’s beauty, represented by frost and icicles, melts away due to the East-wind’s daughter’s actions, symbolizing the transient nature of physical appearance.

Conflict with Nature: The rivalry between the East-wind and North-wind daughters represents struggles among natural elements.

Supernatural Beings: The characters are personifications of natural elements (East-wind and North-wind), reflecting the interaction between humans and supernatural forces in mythology.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A high-caste man married the daughter of East-wind (Sa’naxet). After a time he heard of a very pretty high-caste girl, the daughter of North-wind (Xun), so he left his first wife, came north, and married her. Then he took her back to the village where his first wife lived.

Now the people said to his first wife, “There is a very pretty woman here. Her clothes are, very valuable and sparkle all over. They make a noise like bells.” East-wind’s daughter was at once jealous and said, “I will soon be able to fix that pretty girl you boys are talking about.” Quite a while afterward it began to grow cloudy and warm, and sure enough the daughter of North-wind lost all of her beautiful clothing. It was icicles and frost that were so pretty, and when she lost these she lost her beauty with them.

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