The discovery of metal by a captive woman

A woman, captured by the Eskimo, escapes with her child. After a long journey, she encounters a vast herd of caribou, from which she secures meat. Leaving her greedy child behind, she continues alone and discovers a hill of metal. She collects some and later shares its location with strangers, believed to be Europeans, introducing them to metal. The stone markers she erected to retrace her path reportedly grew large over time.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Quest: The woman’s journey to escape captivity and her subsequent travels in search of sustenance and safety represent a quest.

Origin of Things: The story provides an explanation for the origin of metal possession among certain people, attributing it to the woman’s discovery.

Cultural Heroes: The woman serves as a foundational figure who brings the knowledge of metal to others, significantly impacting their society.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

This myth is briefly given by Samuel Hearne (A Journey from Prince of Wales’ Port in Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean, London, 1795), in reference to the copper mines near Coppermine River which he visited in 1771, Petitot secured this myth at Cold Lake in 1881 with the interesting additional incident of the woman gradually sinking into the mountain. This conclusion of the story was also given by the informant from whom text 13 was secured. He added that the shallow place crossed by the woman was caused by the body of a giant who fell there in a combat.

Once a woman was stolen by the Eskimo. After she had lived with them for some time and had a child, she went away, taking it with her. She went a long distance killing birds and rabbits for food. The child was very greedy often eating everything up away from its mother. After a time they came to a large lake where she sat and cried. While she was sitting there she saw a wolf walking through the water. She wondered how he was able to cross the lake. He came up to her and licked the tears from her eyes. She soon got up and broke off two sticks. “I want to see how deep the water is,” she said to herself. She waded far out into the lake but the water was only a little below her knees. Finally, she could not see the land behind her. It grew dark but she continued to wade until morning. Toward evening of the next day, there was something behind that looked like land. “The Eskimo must be following me,” she thought. Ahead of her there also seemed to be land. When she came close to the shore, whatever it was behind her was also approaching. She walked very fast; the water was always at the same depth. When she came to the land, she found that it was a vast herd of caribou that was following her. She had only an awl with her but tying it to a stick she sat with it by the trail. As they came by her, she speared them. There were so many of them that they looked like land. They continued passing her until the trail was worn down so deep that only their horns stuck up. When she had killed a large number, she began drying the meat so that she could carry it with her. “I am going to leave that greedy boy behind,” she said to herself. “I will make some soup for him, in a paunch.”

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“My son, wait here for me, I am going to carry the meat to the top of the hill,” she said to him. She started away without him. When she came to the top of the first hill she looked back and saw that he was still sitting there, eating. She went on to the top of another hill and from there she could still see him eating. The woman walked along alone. When it was night she saw a fire toward which she continued walking. She walked on for many days and nights. Every night she could see the fire. When she came to it, she found it was metal. She gathered up the best pieces and placed them in her blanket and carried them with her. As she went back she piled stones on top of each other on the tops of all the hills, so that she would know the way if she wished to return. Finally, she came to some kind of people whom she did not know. When they saw that she had metal they asked her where she got it. “Very far away, in that direction, there is one hill of nothing else. It was there that I found it.” “Take us to it,” they said to her. She went with these people who are believed to have been Frenchmen [any European except an Englishman]. Ever after, they knew about metal and were the only people who possessed it. The stones which she placed one above the other were always to be seen after that. They say the stones have now grown to be very large.

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Raised-by-His-Grandmother

An old woman discovers a crying infant under a caribou chip and decides to raise him. The boy, often requesting young caribou feet, faces denial from others. He then exhibits mystical abilities, providing food and transforming into a caribou to supply meat for his grandmother. This tale, “Raised-by-His-Grandmother,” originates from the Chipewyan people and highlights themes of transformation and resourcefulness.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Sacred Spaces: The narrative includes significant locations, such as the place where the boy is found and the area abundant with caribou, which hold spiritual importance.

Healers and Cures: The boy’s actions provide sustenance and survival for his grandmother, acting as a form of healing and support.

Ancestral Spirits: The boy’s origin and abilities may suggest a connection to ancestral or spiritual entities, influencing the present.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Dr. Lowie secured the tale here given in much the same form at Lake Athabaska. Petitot gives four versions two of which he secured at Great Slave Lake, one from a Chipewyan, and one from a Yellow Knife in 1863. The third version was secured at Lake Athabaska in 1859 and the fourth one from a Caribou Eater of Hudson Bay and Churchhill River. In these versions from Petitot, Raised-by-his-grandmother is a person of great power who comes to relieve the natives to whom the caribou migrations have ceased. He restores the caribou on the condition of being given the tips of their tongues as tribute and when the tribute fails, he leaves them. He is ever after invoked as the deity in charge of caribou. According to one version, he joins the musk ox and to another the bear. Evidently then, this myth is related to a caribou hunting ceremony which, judging from their almost complete reliance on that animal for food, was probably the most important of their ceremonies.

An old woman heard a little child crying. After she had looked for him some time she discovered him sitting under a caribou chip. As he was a very little child she put him in her mitten, carried him home, and undertook to raise him. Whenever caribou were killed, and his grandmother went out after meat, the boy asked her to bring him the feet of the young caribou. One time when she went out after meat, the boy sat and waited for her return. When he saw her coming, he began calling to her, “Grandmother, the feet, the feet.” “Grandson,” his grandmother said, “the feet are not for you. You are not the only child. ‘He is always asking for young caribou feet. This time he shall not have them,’ they said about you.” “Let them all freeze, let them freeze,” he said. “What will your uncles do, if you say that?” his grandmother asked. “’May they find the last poor bear, the last poor bear,’ you may say,” he said. Then he told his grandmother when they moved camp, “Do not take me along.” “What will we do? We shall die for want of meat,” she said. “No, we will not die,” the boy replied.

When the people had all moved away, the boy went back to the campsites and pulled away the partly burned sticks from the fireplaces. After a while, he came to the deserted camp of his uncles where he found the partly burned feet and hoofs of the caribou. “It looks like partly burned hoofs right here,” the boy said to his grandmother. “Grandmother, carry me over in that direction.” She took him on her back and carried him. When she had gone a long way she put him down to rest. “Grandmother, sit there and fish in that small slough.” “There are not any fish there, grandson,” she replied. “Yes, there are,” he said. The old woman then cut a hole through the ice and let down a hook into the water of the small slough. She immediately pulled out a large trout. “Put the hook in again,” the boy said. When she put the hook down again, she pulled out a jackfish. “That is enough,” the boy said. “We will camp not far from here.” She made a shelter of spruce boughs in which they lived for some time.

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“Make snowshoes for me,” the boy said one day to his grandmother. She made him small round snowshoes. Then he asked her to make him some arrows. When she made them he wanted her to dress him. As soon as she had done so, he said, “Put on my snowshoes. I am going outside a little way to play.” When he had been gone some time his grandmother went out to look for him. She followed his tracks for some distance and then came where his snowshoes, his arrows, and his poor little clothes were lying. From that place there was only a line of caribou tracks. His grandmother turned back, crying, and saying to herself, “My little grandson has left me and become a caribou.” When she got back to her camp, she sat far into the night waiting for him and crying. She heard something outside and later heard a noise again. “What can it be,” she thought. It was Raised-by-his-grandmother who came into the house and said, “Take off my belt.” As his grandmother loosened it, many caribou tongues fell out. “We will go after them tomorrow,” he said. “Where I went, there were many caribou.”

The next day, as his grandmother was carrying him along, the boy pointed the way saying, “It is over there.” When they came to the top of a hill near a large lake she saw something lying on the ice. “There they are,” the boy said. As they were walking along together on the lake, he said, “That young caribou, the farthest one that lies dead over there, laughed too much at me. Roast its head for me.” She saw that he had killed many caribou. While he was playing with them, he bit their tongues and killed them all. They camped there by the shore of the lake, where the old woman dressed the caribou and brought them into the camp. “I am going to play with the head you roasted for me, grandmother,” the boy said. He took it out-of-doors to play with, and the magpies ate it up.

After a while, without his grandmother’s knowledge, the boy went to the place where those who had left them had camped. He found where they had scraped the snow from the ice to fish. All the people had frozen except his uncles who had found a bear. The uncles found the tracks of a young caribou on the ice and the spruce with which he had cleared it of snow. “Perhaps it was not just a caribou that did it,” the uncles said to each other. “May be it was the small child we left behind which mother was carrying.” They followed the tracks of the caribou until they came to a big lake. There they found where he had walked along with small round snowshoes. These tracks led them to the place where Raised-by-his-grandmother was living with her. They had much meat there.

The Monster Bird

Two young men embark on a journey, initially using geese to pull their canoe. After consuming the geese, they receive sustenance and guidance from wolves, who warn them not to retrieve arrows stuck in trees. Ignoring this advice, one man climbs a tree after his arrow, leading him to ascend into the sky. There, he encounters an old woman and her two daughters, who deceive and entrap him underground. Wolves eventually rescue him, providing enchanted arrows and further counsel for his journey.

Source:
Chipewyan Texts
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 1
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Quest: The young men undertake a journey with uncertain outcomes, seeking sustenance and adventure.

Forbidden Knowledge: Despite warnings from the wolves, one young man seeks to retrieve an arrow from a tree, leading to unforeseen consequences.

Journey to the Otherworld: The protagonist undergoes a significant change by ascending to the sky, entering a new realm, and facing challenges that alter his understanding and circumstances.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Petitot, Emile (Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-Ouest, Paris, 1886) secured a version of this myth from a native of Great Slave Lake which differs in the beginning in telling of the father of the two young men who sent them out to hunt and in the omission at the end of the capture of the young man and his second imprisonment in the nest. He also includes a myth recorded by Faraud in 1859 of very different import in which the same characters, both human and supernatural appear. Dr. Lowie’s version obtained at Fort Chipewyan is exactly parallel except that giants first befriended them instead of wolves and that the burning of the nest is omitted.

In the beginning, two young men secured some geese and tied them to their canoe so that they might be drawn through the water by them. The young men lay down in the canoe, saying to the geese, “Take us wherever your land may be.” When they stood up, they found the geese full grown. As they were without food, they killed them, built a fire, and cooked and ate them, and when they had finished their meal, continued their journey.

After they had gone a long distance, they again found themselves without food. Some wolves came to them and fed them with fat and pemmican. “Do not eat it all,” the wolves warned them, “leave some to eat in the morning after you have slept.” The wolves also gave them arrows but cautioned them as to their use and said, “If you should shoot grouse, after a time, and the arrow sticks up in a tree, do not climb up to get it.” The young men resumed their journey. After a time, one of them shot grouse and his arrow fell rather high on a tree. Not heeding the warning of the wolves, he said to his companion, “I am going to get it.” “No,” said the other, “the wolves told us not to do that.” Thinking the arrow was not very high, he stood on something and reached toward it. The arrow moved still further out of his reach and the young man involuntarily ascended toward the sky after it.

The one who had ascended to the sky traveled alone until he came where a tipi stood. He found an old woman there who blackened his face with a coal. He heard two girls laughing in the brush behind the house.

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When they came in, they said, “Mother, what sort of a bad animal has come here?” They laughed at him a long time, and then went out again into the brush. The old woman immediately washed his face and combed his hair. Soon he heard the girls talking again, saying, “We will go in again and laugh at that thing which came.” As soon as they came in each said, “I would like to have that man. I will marry him.” That night, one lay down on either side of him. After a time, when the man woke up, he found he was under the ground and could not move. In the morning, he heard the family going away. He heard the two girls laughing as they started; but the old woman was crying, and saying to herself, “They have done that way to many nice men who have come to me.” Not long after that he heard some wolves coming to the campsite. “What has happened?” one of them said, “There is the smell of a live man.” One of the wolves, named Ebedaholtihe, was addressed, “There is a man under the ground. We will take him out. Go and get the partly chewed bone we left behind the old camp.” The man heard someone tapping with a spear on the ground as he ran along. Soon he heard the same sounds as the wolf returned. They tried to dig with the rib which he had brought, but it broke. “Get something else,” he heard him say. He went again and brought the leg bone of a moose which has the two side bones and dew claws. That did not break and with it they soon dug the man out. Then he found it was the wolves who had done all this.

The wolves then gave him two arrows and directions for their use. “This arrow is female,” one of them said, “and this one is male. If when you hunt, a cow moose runs away into the brush, you must shoot this female arrow toward the place. But if a bull moose runs into the brush, shoot in that direction with the male arrow. When you have killed a moose, take the intestines and tie them back and forth on a tree. Then you must tell one of the girls that you have left a rope with which she shall carry the moose. If her rope breaks and she begins to curse we will attend to her should we hear her saying, ‘mean wolf’.”

Then the man went on, following the tracks of the women. When he came close to them, he began to hunt. Seeing where a cow moose had run into the brush, he shot the female arrow. Where a bull moose had run in, he shot the male arrow. He found that each of his arrows had killed a moose. He then went where the people had camped and said to the two girls, “Go and get the moose I have killed.” To one of the girls whose name was Weasel-vermin he said, “You need not take a rope with you, for I have left one for you.” He told the other girl called Mice-vermin, to take a rope. The girls started for the moose, the man following along with them. When they came near the place where the moose were lying, he said to Weasel-vermin, “You get the one that is over there.” He found that each of the girls was accustomed to carry an entire moose on her back at one time. Weasel-vermin found that he meant the intestines when he told her that he left a rope hanging in the tree for her. When she attempted to carry the moose whole with it, the rope began to break. She began to curse and finally said, “mean wolf.” Immediately, he heard her running in a circle and shouting. When he came to the place, he found only some human hair lying there, and the marks on the snow where the body had been dragged away. He ran immediately to the other girl and pulled her clothes off. Mice ran under the snow. He found that she was a mouse and the other girl a weasel. After that, she became a person and married the man. The man lived there with his mother-in-law.

He remained there for considerable time. He killed many moose but did not know what became of the skins of the moose which he killed. His mother-in-law had dressed just one of them. After a time, she said to him, “Your relatives are lonesome and I do not like that. There is a hole through the sky here ahead of us. Let us go there.” When they came to the place, she wrapped the man in the one moose hide she had dressed. He found that she had made rope of the other hides. With the rope she lowered the man. “When you feel yourself touching the ground,” she told him, “you must untie the rope and pull it several times.” After a time, he thought he felt the ground under him. He crawled out of the hide, pulled the rope repeatedly, and it disappeared toward the sky. When he looked about he was astonished to find that he was not yet on the ground but on the nest of the flying things which feed upon people. Human bones were lying about. A young one of the birds was sitting there. He took a liking to the man and said to him, “I usually eat people but you shall live. Sit here under my wings.” The bird was so large that a person could hide under it. Soon it spoke to him again, saying, “After a while, it will be dark as if it were night. It will be my mother coming. When it becomes light again, my father will come.” After a short time it grew dark, and the mother bird lit there. She said to the young one, “I smell a human odor coming from you.” “Oh, its the human remains lying there which you brought,” the young one told its mother. “No, it is not. It is the odor of a living person, which I smell coming from you,” the mother replied. When she had found the man, the young one said, “You shall not do anything to him, he will live. If you kill him you must kill me too.”

After a time it became light again and the father bird arrived. He said the same things to the young one and received the same replies. On account of that the man was allowed to live. When they had both gone off again, the young one said to the man, “I am going to put my wings on you. You shall fly across.” The man found that the nest was on an island and that there were rapids on either side in the large stream flowing there. The bird put the wings on the man saying to him, “Fly around here until you are sure you can fly across.” The man flew about the nest a little way until he felt certain he could fly across the stream. “Do not put my wings right on the ground, lean them against a tree,” the young bird told him. “On your way home, do not travel at night. Even if you think you have not far to go, lie down wherever night overtakes you.”

Then the man flew across from the nest, took off the wings, and leaned them against a tree. From there he started toward the place where his relatives used to live. He came where a beaver had his house and commenced to dig it out. After a time, it became dark without his knowing it. “The house is not far away. I will not sleep here since it is so close by,” he said to himself and started on although it was dark. As he walked along, he carried his spear with which he had been chiseling for the beaver. Suddenly, he felt himself being taken up into the air without visible cause. He found that Hotelbale, the bird monster, had taken him away. When he had been carried a long distance, above a high rock he was thrown down upon it. Catching the top of the rock with the spear, he jumped over it and saved himself. Again, he was caught and carried away. When he was thrown again upon a sharp rock, he placed the end of his spear against it and jumped over it. He found that this rock was covered on both sides with dried human blood where the people had been killed. He was carried, still alive, to the young bird. When the young one saw him it said, “This is my grandchild, that I love. This is the one I said you must not kill. If you kill it, you must kill me too.” For that reason he was not killed. “You shall remain here,” the young one said to him, and he lived there with him.

When he had been there some little time, he began to think how he might kill them. They slept only in the daytime. He placed a quantity of hay and small brush on the tree under the nest. When there was much of it there, the old one said, “Grandson, why are you doing that?” “Oh, I am playing with it,” he replied. After some time he spoke to the old bird, “Grandfather, let me have your firedrill. I want to play with it.” He addressed Hotelbale, as grandfather. He was given the firedrill. Then when they were asleep, during the day, he set the brush and hay on fire and burned the nest with them in it. They lay with their wings all burned. Taking a club he struck the old birds on the crowns of their heads and killed them, but he let the young one live, rubbing the burned portions of its wings away. He said to it, “If you had been the only one, I would not have done it; but your parents have killed many of my relatives.”

After that, there were no such monsters but the young one was still alive. Someone has recently heard from the west that it has grown again.

A man who has knowledge of magic does not get killed.

The adventures of a mouse

A mouse, weary from traveling along the ocean shore, swims for ten days and nights before finding a piece of floating bark to rest upon. After drifting asleep, he awakens to find himself near a house where two girls are playing. The mouse sneaks into their cache, steals dried whitefish and oil, but as he carries his loot along the bank, he slips, and the falling fish fatally crush him.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Quest: The mouse embarks on a journey across the ocean, facing challenges and seeking sustenance, embodying the quest motif.

Conflict with Nature: The mouse’s struggle against the vast ocean and its search for survival depict a conflict with natural forces.

Tragic Flaw: The mouse’s overconfidence or lack of caution leads to its demise when it falls and is crushed by the dried fish, illustrating a fatal flaw.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

A mouse was going along on the shore of the ocean, and at last he became tired and swam in the ocean a night and a day, and at length he became exhausted. Ten days and nights (passed), and he saw a piece of bark floating on the water. He climbed up upon it, and went to sleep, and I know not how many days it was that he was asleep. And then he awoke. The bark was bumping against the shore with him. He looked up at the land, and saw a house above him. There were two girls playing, and he went ashore and went toward them. Now, they were making a little house, and suddenly he ran out in the shape of a Mouse. Those girls caught sight of him; and one girl seized a stick and struck at him, but she missed him; and he hid, and ran toward the house.

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And he looked and saw a cache, and climbed up upon the ladder (a notched stick), and went in and got some dried whitefish and oil, and came down, and carried them away from the house, and took them to the bank. He kept going along the bank, and missed his footing and fell down; and the dried fish fell on him, and he died.

The grand-daughter and the beads

An old woman and her granddaughter lived together, fishing year-round. One day, the girl discovered beads at an abandoned village site, which her grandmother identified as belonging to the girl’s grandfather. After adorning her granddaughter with the beads, the grandmother instructed her to offer them to a man who approached, saying “U’kgo yu’go.” The man accepted the beads and, in return, provided them with a sled full of provisions, enriching their lives.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Ancestral Spirits: The discovery of the ornament from the ancestral village connects the girl and her grandmother to their forebears, highlighting the influence of ancestors on the present.

Sacred Objects: The ornament (beads) holds significant value, serving as a link to their heritage and playing a crucial role in the narrative.

Echoes of the Past: The remnants of the old village and the ancestral beads influence the present, demonstrating how past events and objects can shape current realities.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was an old woman who had a grandchild, a girl; and they lived together, and fished in front of their house, the year round. There they lived. They had a fine place. The girl grew to be quite large, and worked with her grandmother. She was old enough to work, and her grandmother was grateful. Now, there came a time when her grandmother said, “My grandchild, go and look down the river!” So she went down the river from the house. There she walked along the bank; and there she saw where houses had been, no one knows how long since. She went down where it appeared that a house had been. She took a little stick and went poking around with it. “What’s this?” thought she, and she was glad. She ran back to her grandmother. She ran into the house.

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“Grandma,” she said, “how pretty this is!” “Why, why!” she said. “Why, my grandchild!” she said, “that was where your grandfather’s village was long ago. It used to be his,” she said. Then she bathed her, and combed her hair, and dressed her in fine clothes, and that bright ornament hung upon her hair. “My grandchild,” she said, “go get some water.” So she took her pails and went to the water-hole. She dipped one full of water and the other half full, when she thought she heard something. She listened, and (it was) some one coming from below. She took a good look.

There was a big sled with dogs, — three of them. (The man) stopped in front of her and spoke, and said, “U’kgo yu’go.” But the girl did not understand him, and he went away, and she took up her pails and went up. She went in to her grandmother. “Grandma,” she said, “a man came to me with a big sled and dogs, and said, ‘U’kgo yu’go’ to me.” And her grandmother said, “Why, why! It is the beads only that he was saying that he wanted. My grandchild,” she said, “go take off the curtain. Let’s make the fire!” she said. So she went out and took off the curtain. She threw down the wood and made the fire, and her grandmother put on the pot, and they put their meal into it and cooked it; and the poor old woman said, “Come, my grandchild! that’s all, put on the curtain.” So she put on the curtain, and they ate their meal and went to bed. They woke up in the morning; and the grandmother said, “My grandchild, go and get some more water. Now, if you see a man, if he says ‘U’kgo yu’go’ to you, give him (the beads).” She went to the waterhole, and saw the man again. He came up to her, and his sled was full of things; and the man spoke, and said, “U’kgo yu’go.” She gave him (the beads), and he ran off. The girl ran up to her grandmother. “Grandma,” said she, “hurry!” And they took the sled up, and put the contents into the house, — oil and fat; and they became rich. She was glad, that poor old grandmother, because she was thankful. And there they lived.

The old woman and the singing fish

An elderly woman lives alone, diligently fishing and preparing for winter. One evening, she hears singing and, hoping for company, readies herself to meet a visitor. Upon investigation, she discovers the source of the song is a small fish. Disappointed, she returns home, eats, feels lonely, and eventually weeps in the woods.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Community and Isolation: The old woman’s solitary life and her reaction to the singing indicate themes of isolation and the desire for companionship.

Sacred Spaces: The pond or location where the fish appears may have spiritual or mystical significance.

Mystical Creatures: If the singing fish is a legendary being rather than just a magical event.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Few stories contain so many of the details of the monotonous everyday life of an old Indian woman in so short a compass as this one does. It gets its point to the Indian in the haste with which she makes ready to see a man.

There was once an old woman. She worked on alone, and in the summer she fished with a net, and (so) had plenty of fish. She cut them and hung them up and dried them, and put them into a cache, a grass cache which she had. Now she had plenty of food, and, having plenty of food, she was glad. It came on winter, and she did her cooking. She cooked only the bones, even though she had plenty of food. “I shall be short in the winter,” thought she. Once in a while only, she made ice-cream (vwa’nkgyuk). This she ate occasionally.

Now, once at dusk she took off the curtain from the smoke-hole and made the fire, and she put the pot upon (or against) the fire, and cooked (her food) and dished it up. “Now, then,” thought she, “that’s all. I will put on the curtain and go to bed.” So she threw her fire out at the smoke-hole, and went out to it. She went up and put on the curtain. She went to the door and stood still, as if she expected to hear something.

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She listened carefully, and thrust her fingers into her ears and drew them out again, to better her hearing. Then she heard. She heard some one singing, and ran in at her door. She thrust her hand under the shelf for the wash-bowl. She poured water into it, and washed her face and combed her hair, and finished her toilet. She reached out and got her bag, and took out the clothing that was in it, and put on a fish-skin parka and went out again. Presently some one sang; and she went in and took her place on the shelf, and busied herself spinning sinew thread on her fingers. Just a little while she sat there. Then she went out again. Again she listened. From the same place came the sound of singing. Then the old woman thought, “I don’t believe it’s a man.” She went downstream from the house. She looked down also at the edge of the water, and saw a little fish. It sang as it swam around. She caught up a stick and threw it out upon the bank, and went back and entered the house. She staid there a little while, and went out again. Everything was quiet. “It must have been a man,” she thought. She went in again and ate something. She sucked in some ice-cream, and felt lonesome. She cried, and went into the woods.

The Fish-Hawks

Two brothers venture out to hunt. The younger brother encounters a young woman and takes her as his wife. The elder brother, desiring her, sends the younger on a perilous quest to a distant mountain. There, he confronts and kills a family of Fish-Hawks. Upon returning, he discovers his brother has taken his wife, leading him to kill his brother and reclaim her.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Authority: The younger brother challenges his elder brother’s authority and desires.

Cunning and Deception: The elder brother deceives the younger by sending him on a dangerous quest.

Revenge and Justice: The younger brother seeks retribution against his elder brother for his deceit.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

From Tanana

There were two brothers who went out to hunt; and the younger found a nice young girl, and asked her to be his wife. She said, “Yes, I will go with you.” Then they went home-, and his brother said, “I will take your wife away from you.” He answered, “No, you will not. I want her for my wife.” “Well,” said he, “if you want her, go a long way off, and you will find a high mountain.” And he said, “Yes, I will go, because I want my wife.” So he went away, and came to the mountain, and went up the mountain, and came to a tree that had a big nest on it; and when he climbed up to it, he saw a little girl and a little boy in the nest. He killed the boy, and asked the girl where her mother was, and her father. She said, “My mother and father have gone out to hunt.” And he said to the little girl, “I will not kill you, but I will ask you what time your father and your mother are coming back.”

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She said, “It will rain when my mother comes, and it will snow when my father comes.” And he said, “Now I will hide;” and she said, “I think that when my father comes, he will kill you.” It was the Fish-Hawk and his wife. When her mother came, she cried, “Oh, where is your little brother?” and the little girl said to her mother, “He fell down and killed himself. “— “Oh,” she said, “who, who? Where is my dear little boy?” And while she was crying, the youth killed her; and after a while the father came, and he said, “Where is your mother?” The little girl said, “She has not come back yet,” and he was very angry. And the young man killed him, and the little girl too; and afterward he went home and asked his brother for his wife, but his brother refused; so he killed his brother and took his wife, and was very happy because he had her to live with him again.

The Raven woman

In a village by a river, a Raven woman befriends a young girl who offers her hospitality and fine clothes. An old Raven man, living in the communal kashime, becomes enamored with the Raven woman. After being rejected by the household, he takes her away to a distant mountain, where they build a home and prosper. A young man later joins them, becoming their adopted son, and eventually brings a wife to live with them.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The Raven man takes the Raven woman as his wife, suggesting elements of romantic bonds and potential challenges within their relationship.

Journey to the Otherworld: The couple’s departure to a distant place and the establishment of a new home can be interpreted as a venture into an unfamiliar or symbolic realm.

Family Dynamics: The introduction of a young man who becomes their son and brings a woman to live with them touches upon themes of familial relationships and structures.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Once there was a Raven woman walking along by a river; and she came to a big village, and found a young girl, who asked her to her house and gave her something to eat. In the same village there lived a rich man; and when the people were hungry, they went to him, and he gave them whatever they needed. The young woman went to him and got some fine clothes for the Raven woman. In the same village there lived an old Raven man, who had no house, and staid in the kashime all the time. One night he said to himself, “I should like to go into the house where the Raven woman lives:” so he went in there, and took the Raven woman for his wife. And the next morning, when the people in the house got up, they saw the Raven man, and told him to leave the house.

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He began to cry, and to say, “I like this woman very much. Why do they tell me to go out?” Then he went out sadly, and went to the kashime. The next night he went into the same house, and took the woman outside, and they went far away together; and when they reached the foot of a high mountain, they made a house and caught plenty of fish.

One day they saw a young man coming; and he said to them, “I will be your son;” and they agreed, and he worked for them. After a while he went away; and when he came back, he brought a woman with him, and they lived there always.

The little girls and the mink

Three young girls encounter a mink who warns them of an approaching danger—a big man. Frightened, they seek refuge with their grandmother, who advises them to flee into the woods. When the big man arrives and questions the mink about the girls’ whereabouts, the mink remains silent and eventually escapes into the forest.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The Mink exhibits cunning behavior, a hallmark of the trickster archetype.

Conflict with Authority: The big man’s threat to the Mink introduces a power struggle.

Family Dynamics: The little girls’ relationship with their grandmother highlights familial bonds.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There were three little girls who lived in a little house. One of them saw a Mink coming. The Mink said, “Girls, there is a big man coming;” and these little girls were afraid, and ran into the house and told their grandmother; and their grandmother said, “Girls, run into the woods!” So they ran into the woods; and the big man came up and said, “Mink, where are the girls?” and the Mink did not answer. And the big man said, “Mink, I will kill you!” and the Mink ran into the woods.

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The old woman has spring-fever

An elderly woman, feeling the stirrings of spring, wishes aloud for goose gizzards to eat. As she voices her desire, she accidentally falls through her home’s smoke-hole into a bowl of water she had left on the floor and drowns. This story highlights the unexpected consequences of idle wishes and the unpredictability of fate.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The woman’s interaction with the natural elements—observing the geese and the changing season—sets the stage for her accidental death, highlighting the delicate balance between humans and their environment.

Tragic Flaw: The woman’s deep sigh and expressed longing lead to her accidental fall, suggesting that her desires or inattentiveness contribute to her fate.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a cautionary message about the consequences of unguarded desires and the importance of mindfulness in one’s actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was once an old woman who lived by herself. One day she washed her hair; and she left the water on the floor and went outside, and saw that it was spring. She went up on the top of her house, and saw the geese coming, and she sighed deeply. She saw another flock coming; and she said, “I wish that I had some goose gizzards to eat!” and as she said this, she fell through the smoke-hole into the bowl of water that she had left on the floor, and was drowned.

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