The returned from Spirit Land

A grieving young man, mourning his recently deceased wife, embarks on a mystical journey to the afterlife. There, he reunites with her and resists the temptations of the spirit realm. Together, they return to the living world, but she exists only as a shadow. Their happiness ends when a jealous relative disrupts their bond, causing their spirits to reunite permanently in Ghost Land.

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

► Themes of the story

Underworld Journey: The protagonist ventures into the afterlife to reunite with his deceased wife, embodying a journey into a realm beyond the living.

Love and Betrayal: The deep bond between the young man and his wife is central to the narrative, and their reunion is ultimately disrupted by a jealous relative’s actions.

Resurrection: The wife’s return to the living world, albeit as a shadow, symbolizes a form of resurrection, highlighting themes of life, death, and the possibility of 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

The wife of a young man, who had recently married, died, and he was very sad. His father was a chief, and both he and the parents of the girl were still living. The young couple had been married for so short a time that they had no children.

The night that his wife died the young man remained awake all night unable to sleep, and the second night it was the same. Next morning he thought that he would walk out, but finally concluded to wait until after his wife’s body had been buried. The body was taken away late that afternoon, and early next morning he put on his leggings and his other fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night. Daylight dawned upon him still walking. After going through the woods for a long distance he came to a very large valley.

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There had been a creek there which was now dried up. Then he heard voices, which sounded as though they were a long way off. Where he was traveling the trees were very thick.

Finally the youth saw light through the trees and presently came out on a wide, flat stone lying on the edge of a lake. All this time he had been walking in the death road. On the other side of this lake there were houses and people were moving around there. So he shouted out to them, “Come over and get me,” but they did not seem to hear him. Upon the lake a little canoe was going about with one man in it, and all about it was grassy. It looked very nice.

After the man had shouted for a long time without receiving any response and had become tired, he finally whispered to himself, “Why is it that they do not hear me?” Immediately a person on the opposite side of the lake said, “Somebody is shouting.” When he whispered, they heard him. “A person has come up (daq a’wagut) from dreamland,” the voice continued. “Let some one go out and bring him over.” They carried him across, and, as soon as he got there, he saw his wife. He saw that she had been crying, and he raised his hands and looked at her. He was very happy to see her once again. Finally the people asked him to sit down in the house, and, when he did so, they began to give him something to eat. He felt hungry, but his wife said, “Don’t eat that. If you eat that you will never get back.” So he did not eat it.

After that his wife said to him, “You better not stay here long. Let us go right away.” So they were taken back in the same canoe. It is called Ghost’s-canoe (Si’gi-qa’wu-ya’gu), and is the only one on that lake. And they landed on the flat rock where he had first stood calling. It is called Ghost’s-rock (Si’gi-qa’wu-te’yi), and is at the very end of the trail. Then they started down the road in which he had gone up. It took them the same length of time to descend it, and the second night they reached the youth’s house.

Then the young man made his wife stay outside and he went in and said to his father, “I have brought my wife back.” “Well,” said his father, “why don’t you bring her in?” they laid down a nice mat with fur robes on top of it at the place where they were to sit. Then the young man went out to get his wife. When the door opened to let them in, however, the people in the house saw him only. But finally, when he came close, they saw a deep shadow following him. He told his wife to sit down, and, when she did so, they put a marten-skin robe upon her, which hung about the shadow just as though it were a person sitting there. When she ate they saw only her arms and the spoon moving up and down but not the shadow of her hands. It looked strange to the people.

After that the young couple always went about together. Wherever the young man went the shadow could be seen following him. He would not go into the bedroom at the rear of the house, but ordered them to prepare a bed just where they were sitting. Then they did so, for they were very glad to have him back.

During the day the woman was very quiet, but all night long the two could be heard playing. At that time the people could hear her voice very plainly. The young man’s father at first felt strange in his son’s presence, but after a while he would joke with his daughter-in-law, saying, “You better get up now after having kept people awake all night playing.” Then they could hear the shadow laugh, and recognized that it was the dead woman’s voice. To what the chief said the woman’s brothers-in-law would add, “Yes, get her out, for she has kept us awake.”

The nephew of the father of this girl had been in love with her before she died, although she did not care for him, and he was jealous when he found that her husband had brought her back. One night she was telling her husband that she was going to show herself as she used to be and not like a shadow and that she was going to remain so permanently. Her father’s nephew had covered himself up at the head of the bed and heard everything. Her husband was very glad to hear this, but, while they were playing together afterward, the man who was listening to them thought that he would lift the curtain they had around them. The moment that he did so, however, the people in the house heard a rattling of bones. That instant the woman’s husband died, and the ghosts of both of them went back to Ghost Land.

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The woman who married the dead man

A Cohoes chief’s daughter, known for her purity, encounters a skull, unknowingly triggering an encounter with two deceased chiefs’ sons. She marries the elder, and they provide miraculous sustenance for her village, bringing abundance. Gradually regaining human form, their identities are revealed. However, jealousy leads a girl to poison them with blood markings, resulting in their tragic deaths, leaving a legacy of sacrifice and transformation.

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

► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative involves the chief’s daughter marrying the spirit of a deceased chief’s son, highlighting interactions between mortals and supernatural entities.

Transformation: The deceased sons gradually regain human form, symbolizing physical and spiritual changes central to the story.

Sacrifice: The tragic deaths of the spirit beings, resulting from jealousy and betrayal, underscore themes of loss and the consequences of human actions.

► 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 woman belonging to the cohoes people (lu’kana-ca), whose father was a chief, was kept very pure and had a girl accompany her always. One day, as she was going out with her servant, she tripped over something and on looking at it found that it was a skull. She said, “Who can the bad person be who has brought skulls near my father’s house in the place where I was going to walk?” She kicked the skull to one side and walked straight back into the house, for she was frightened. The same night this girl thought she dreamed that two boys came to her. They were two chiefs’ sons who were dead, and it was the skull of the elder that she had kicked out of the way. It was really no dream, as she at first thought, and she married the elder youth. These two chiefs’ sons had met with some accident together, and so they always traveled in company.

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Next morning the chief said, “What is wrong with my daughter? She isn’t up yet.” Then he called the servant girl to go and awaken her. So the girl ran to look, saw the young men there, and told the girl’s mother that she was married. “Well,” said the mother, “whom can she have married? She did not know anybody.” After that the girl and the young men rose and came down to the fire to have something to eat. Her husband looked to her like a fine young man, but everyone else could see that he was a skull. They were very much frightened.

At that time the people there had very little food, and presently the girl’s husband said to her, “Has your father a small canoe?” “Yes,” she said, “he has a small canoe.” “Ask him for it and for spears and arrows.” Then the girl said to her mother, “Mother, he is asking for a small canoe. They want to go hunting.” Her mother humored her, for she was afraid she would go off with that man. But when they looked for the canoe it was already missing. Afterward the young men acted in the house just as if they were in canoes, going through the motions of paddling, spearing seals, etc., and the girl was ashamed of them. In the evening they said to each other, “Let us camp.” The people of the village could not see what they did or hear what they said, but the girl could, and she felt very uneasy. Then they pulled off the painted boards from her father’s house and began to cook. After that, she saw them act as though they were coming back bringing a load of dead seals, etc. To the people it seemed as if they were still in the house.

Presently the girl called to her mother saying, “Mother, they are in already. They want some one to go down and bring the things up from the canoe.” Then her mother said to the people, “There is a canoe down on the beach, and they want you to go down and bring up what they have killed.” It was late in the evening, and, sure enough, when the people went, they found the canoe loaded with all kinds of fishes, with seals and sea lions. Then the chief gave the head man of each family a seal and fed the entire village with the food which they had brought in. After that the people had plenty of ground hogs, mountain sheep, etc., with which these two men provided them.

The two men began to come to life and were beginning to look like living beings. It was then that people found out who they were. When they got up in the morning they could be seen very plainly, so the chief got some marten robes and put them upon his son-in-law and his son-in-law’s brother. They were both very industrious.

In that same house was a girl who became very angry with the younger brother, after she saw who they were, because he paid no attention to anyone but his brother’s wife. She marked the place where he used to sit with human blood, and as he sat on this blood eating he dropped over dead. The other lived for some time afterward, and the girl who had destroyed his brother tried to draw his attention to herself also; but he was too fond of his wife to think of her in the least. Then she marked his seat with blood, and he in turn dropped over dead.

The faithless wife

A man from the Anqa’kitan at Killisnoo loses his wife, who requests not to be buried. Secretly alive, she is taken by the chief’s son, her lover. When her young daughter discovers the affair, the husband uncovers the deception. Seeking vengeance, he transforms into a wizard, murders his wife and her lover, and conceals his actions while taunting the village during a gambling game.

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

► Themes of the story

Love and Betrayal: The wife’s deceit and affair with the chief’s son exemplify themes of infidelity and treachery.

Revenge and Justice: The husband’s transformation into a wizard to exact vengeance on his unfaithful wife and her lover highlights retribution and the pursuit of justice.

Transformation: The husband’s metamorphosis into a wizard signifies a profound change driven by emotional turmoil and the desire for revenge.

► 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 of the Anqa’kitan at Killisnoo lost his wife. When she was dying she said to her husband, “When I die, don’t bury me. Keep me out of the ground.” Bodies of common people used to be put into the ground for a little while before they were burned, those of high-caste persons being put into a house. So, when she died, instead of burying her, he placed her body up on a high place.

This woman knew, however, that she was not going to die. She spoke as she did because she was in love with the son of the chief. The chief’s son was also in love with her, and, when he knew that she was put away, he went there at midnight when her husband was asleep, took her out, and carried her to his own house where he kept her in the bedroom at the rear. The chief was so fond of his son that he did everything the latter asked of him.

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This was the only house in that town that had a fire in it at midnight, and the people wondered what was the matter. The chief had his slaves get breakfast for the young couple before others were up.

The man whose wife had left him had a little girl whom he would humor very much, and she was in the habit of roaming from house to house throughout the village. One morning very early he said to the little girl, “Run out and get some fire.” As the chief’s house was the only one in which she could see smoke, she ran there after some, and, as soon as she entered, saw her mother sitting with the chief’s son. As soon as her mother saw her she hid her face, but the girl watched her closely. She walked directly out with the fire, however, without speaking.

When the little girl reached home with it she said, “Father, my mother is at that chief’s house.” “Which chief’s house?” said her father. “The chief that lives up on the hill.” Then her father said, “What makes you say that, child? Your mother has been dead for sometime.” Then he took her hand and said pityingly, “Poor child, your mother is dead.” He began to cry as he held the child’s hand and then said, “I will go and see the place where I put her.” So he got another to accompany him, and they brought the box down. It felt very light. When he opened it, it was empty. Then he thought to himself, “I am going to make certain of this.” About midnight he saw a fire at the chief’s house. Then he climbed up on top of it, looked down through the smoke hole, and saw his wife sitting there playing with the chief’s son. She looked very happy.

When the man got home he said to himself, “What can I do?” He thought, “How can I become a wizard?” So he did everything to turn himself into a wizard. He went among the graves, and played with the bodies and bones, but could not become a wizard. Then he went out to an island in front of the village and played with the bones of the dead people that were there. Finally he got hold of two shoulder blades with which he fanned and rubbed himself and all at once he fainted. Then he thought he would try working them like wings, and sure, enough he began flying along very rapidly. Now he determined to go to the place where his wife was living.

First the man went up into the woods, procured very hard limbs and began to split them. He made the points very sharp. Then he stuck them into grease and burned it off in order to harden them. He took these along with him and crawled up on top of the house. Then he flew down through the smoke hole. He bewitched everyone in the house so that all slept soundly, passed into the rear bedroom, and stuck the sticks into the hearts of his wife and her lover so that they died.

Early next morning, when the slaves got up as usual to wait upon the young people, they were kept waiting so long that they were surprised. They thought that they were sleeping very late. Finally they went to see what was the matter and saw them lying in each others’ arms with the blood flowing from their mouths. The news was soon all over the village.

Early that same morning the woman’s former husband took his gambling sticks and came out to gamble. He pretended that he knew nothing about what had happened. When persons came to gamble with him he shouted out as people do when they are gambling, “These are the sharp sticks. These are the sharp sticks.” People wondered why he said it, and much whispering went on while they gambled. The man looked very happy.

The rejected lover

A young man, in love with his cousin, faces rejection as she resists their union due to familial tensions and her secret affections. Humiliated and despondent, he encounters a magical loon that transforms his fate, guiding him to a distant village where he marries a chief’s daughter. Despite initial happiness, jealousy and betrayal lead to the couple’s separation, ending tragically in mystical retribution.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: The young man’s love for his cousin is met with familial opposition and societal disapproval, highlighting the challenges of pursuing a relationship that defies accepted norms.

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes significant changes, both emotionally and through the influence of the magical loon, which alters his destiny and leads him to a new life.

Love and Betrayal: After achieving initial happiness, the young man’s life is disrupted by jealousy and betrayal, culminating in a tragic separation and mystical retribution.

► 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

Somewhere to the north lived a chief who had a daughter and a nephew who was in love with this daughter. In olden times when a man married a woman with a marriageable daughter he married the daughter as well, so the youth wanted to marry this chief’s wife in order to get her daughter. The boy’s father was chief of a certain clan. When he found that he could not get this woman by himself the young man told his mother, and his mother worked hard for him. They carried in slaves and goods of all kinds to the chief. Still the chief would not consent, for he wanted his daughter to marry some great chief from outside. He would not let anyone in the village have her. It was really the girl, however, that had induced her father not to give his consent. She must have been in love with somebody else or her father would not have spoken in that way.

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The boy’s father had him ornamented with abalone shell, in his ears and all over his shirt, but, just as soon as he came in decorated in this way, along with his mother, the girl would jump up, raise her marten robe in front of her face, run to meet them before, they sat down and say to him, “You may be decorated with all kinds of valuable shells, but I will not have you.” The boy and her mother were hurt at this. At first the girl liked her cousin well enough, but, when she found that he had made hard feelings between her parents, she began to feel unkindly toward him. Probably her father hated the boy because his wife was willing to marry him.

One day the girl felt lonely and asked her cousin to go up with her to get spruce bark to eat. The girl took along her little servant girl and the boy his little servant boy. So they went up back of the town until they came to a place where there were only spruces with open grassy spots between. The girl sat down on one of these latter and her cousin took the bark off for her. He was very good to her, and tried to humor her in every way, but by and by she said to him, “Pull off your marten robe and put it into that pond close by.” The boy did so, saying, “Did you think I could not do that? I have plenty of marten robes.” Then the girl spoke again saying, “Pull off all of your hair.” He began to do so, and, when it was all pulled out, she said, “All right.” Then she said, “Take all those shells from your ears and face and throw them away.” The boy began to feel disturbed (lit. strange) about what she was saying to him, but he did so. As soon as he had finished, however, the girl and her servant ran home.

Now the boy did not dare to return, because he had nothing to wear, his marten robe being wet and his shells lost in the grass. So he took some moss wide enough to cover his shoulders and body and lay down upon a point at the edge of the woods. He felt very badly and cried hard as he lay there. When he looked up he saw a loon swimming about in the sea. By and by he looked up again and he again saw the loon in the same place. Every now and then it uttered a cry. Finally, as he was lying with his head down, he heard some one say to him, “I have come after you.” He looked up again but saw nothing except that loon. The fourth time this happened he kept watch, for he thought that it was the loon, and he saw a man coming to him. Before this person, who was in fact the loon, could say anything the boy exclaimed, “I have seen you.” Then the loon said, “Come along with me. Get on my back and shut your eyes tight.”

Then the man did as this loon directed, and the latter dived down into the sea with him and came up quite a distance out. “Look up,” it said. The youth did so and found himself some distance out on the water. The hair was growing again upon his head. Then the loon told him to close his eyes a second time, went out still farther, and told him to reopen them. He was out a very long distance. Then the boy thought, “What is he taking me out here for?” When he opened his eyes for the third time he could see a village, and the loon said to him, “You see that village. The chief there has a lovely daughter whom you, are to marry.” After he had come up to the shore with him he, showed him this chief’s house and said, “You are to marry the daughter of the chief who owns that house.” Then the loon handed him the shells for his ears and his marten robe, which looked as nice as ever.

At night the youth went to the chief’s house, passed in to where his daughter was, and said, “Chief’s daughter, I have been told that I am not good enough to marry you.” But the girl liked him very much and married him at once.

When news came to this girl’s father, who was the Calm, that his child was married, he did not say anything, for she had been brought up very well, and she was to marry whomsoever she pleased.

So the man stayed there very many years, but at last he wanted to return to his father’s people. The chief took down his own canoe for his daughter and son-in-law, and they put all kinds of food into it. The people disliked to see them go, and the chief told his daughter to be good to her husband. The canoe that they had was a bear canoe, and everywhere they camped they had to take very good care of it. Before they set out the chief said to his daughter, “Don’t let anybody whatever give you water. Let your husband always bring it and give it to you. He gave her a quill to drink water out of and a very small basket for her cup. Then the girl said to her husband, “You must let alone those girls you used to go with and those you were in love with. You are not to speak to them.”

When they came to his father’s town all were glad to see the youth, for they had been looking for him everywhere. While they were there he always brought the water for his wife to drink as he had been told. One day, however, as he was going for water, his former sweetheart, who was angry with him because he would follow his wife around and pay no attention to her, ran through the woods to him, seized him and spoke to him. He, however, pulled himself away and would not answer her. When the girl put her quill into the water this time, however, the water was slimy. Before it had been pure and would drip like raindrops. At once she said, “I must leave you,” and, although he begged her hard to stay, she got up and walked out. He tried to stop her but in vain. Every time he seized her his hands passed right through her. Then she began walking right out on the surface of the sea and he followed her. She said “Go back,” but he kept on until they were a long distance out. Then she said, “Go back or I will look at you.” So she turned around and looked at him, and he went straight down into the ocean.

The runaway wife

A Haida youth, eager to marry his cousin to inherit his uncle’s position, faced repeated rejection when she continually fled. Seeking help, he consulted a mystical, oversized woman who provided him with a ritual involving land otters and an eagle’s tail. Though the ritual worked and his wife returned, he spurned her for another, leaving her heartbroken despite compensating her with property and slaves.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Knowledge: The young man seeks out a mystical woman who provides him with a ritual to win back his wife, involving esoteric practices and supernatural elements.

Cunning and Deception: The youth employs the ritual, a form of cunning, to manipulate his wife’s actions and compel her return, despite her repeated attempts to leave.

Love and Betrayal: The narrative centers on the young man’s desire to marry his cousin, her continual fleeing, and his ultimate rejection of her after using the ritual to bring her back, highlighting themes of unrequited love and betrayal.

► 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 youth among the Haida was determined to marry his uncle’s daughter, because his uncle was a very old man and he wanted to take his place. But, after he had given a great deal of property for the girl and taken her, she ran away. He followed her and induced her to come back, but before long she ran away again, and she kept on acting this way for a long time. Finally the young man heard of a very large woman who knew of medicines to get anybody with whom one was in love. When he came to her village her people treated him very kindly, asking him to come up and eat with them. After they had fed him and his companions they made a large fire on top of the retaining timbers for the woman to take her purifying bath. She had a little girl to wait upon her when she bathed, and she was so large that this girl could bathe only one leg at a time.

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After she had finished bathing, the large woman came out and gave the youth an eagle’s tail across which ran a single streak of red paint. Then she said, “Right around the point from your father’s village you will see land otters running up from the water. As soon as the white one among them steps up on the beach, raise your eagle’s tail and see whether she will stand still. If she stands still and does not run away go right past without touching her. Then you may know that you will get your wife and that she will never leave you again; otherwise she will never come back. When you get to the village, that woman you are having a hard time with will come directly to you.”

The young man did as this woman had told him, and, sure enough, when he reached the village his wife was very anxious to see him. She tried to fight against the inclination, but finally she had to go. When she entered, however, her husband refused to take her back. Instead he went to another village along with his father and married somebody else. His first wife took all this hardly, and, when they returned, came to him to demand property. Then the young man gave heir some of his own and some of his father’s property and some slaves so that she would not bother his new wife. At the same time the girl felt very badly. Not a day passed but she cried to think that the husband who had formerly thought so much of her now had another wife.

The crying-for medicine

Floating (Nalxa’c), a skilled hunter from Wrangell, sought to regain power and punish his wife, Axtci’k, who had abandoned him. After discovering a mysterious bear entering an inaccessible cliff, he crafted a rope and basket to retrieve a magical substance with his slave’s help. This “Crying-for medicine” granted him great power, attracting Axtci’k back. However, Floating, intent on making her suffer, refused her return, ensuring she witnessed his newfound wealth and influence.

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

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Floating employs cunning and resourcefulness to obtain the magical substance, demonstrating trickster qualities.

Forbidden Knowledge: The pursuit and acquisition of the mysterious “Crying-for medicine” involve seeking hidden or restricted truths.

Revenge and Justice: Floating’s actions are driven by a desire for retribution against his wife, Axtci’k, who had abandoned him, highlighting themes of revenge and justice.

► 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 Kasqague’di named Floating (Nalxa’c), living at Wrangell, had a wife called Axtci’k who kept running away from him. He was a great hunter and hunted continually among the mountains of Bradfield canal accompanied by his slave. One day, as they were pulling along in a canoe while the dogs ran on shore, they heard the dogs barking at a certain place. They landed and ran thither. Then they saw the dogs lying on the ground with saliva dropping from their mouths, while a small bear ran along some distance off. The hunter saw this bear climb up the side of a cliff and was about to pursue it when he suddenly lost all of his strength and lay there just like his dogs. He watched the bear, however, and saw it go into a hole in the very middle of the cliff. Then he said, “That is not a bear. It could not have climbed up there and have gone into that cliff had it been one. It must be something else.”

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Floating thought a great deal of his wife and was suffering much because she had now been gone from him for eight months.

When he saw this bear go into the inaccessible hole in the cliff, he went back to town and made a very large, strong rope out of roots and a cedar-bark basket large enough to hold one person. With these he went back again to the cliff and climbed to a position above the hole the bear had entered. Then he tied a rope around his slave’s waist, and another to the basket and put the slave inside. He was going to lower him down to the hole.

Now the man said to his slave, “When I get you to the mouth of the hole, shake this basket very hard so that I may know it.” He gave him a little wooden dipper and said, “Dip that into the hole and see what you get out.” Then he lowered the slave. When the latter put his dipper into the hole it came out filled with ants. Then the slave screamed, but his master said, “I will let you drop if you don’t hold up. Put that dipper in again and see what you bring out. The slave did so and brought out little frogs. All these were to be used with the medicine he was to get out last. The third time he put the dipper in he got blue flies. Then he put it in the fourth time to get the medicine, and sure enough on the end of it, when it came out, there was some stuff that looked like tallow and had a pleasant odor.

After that, Floating pulled up his slave, and when he reached the top he had fainted and looked as though he was dead, but he soon came to. Then Floating took one of each kind of creature, mashed them up along with the white stuff, and put all into the shaft of an eagle feather. The medicine he thus made is called Crying-for medicine. When Floating wanted to kill any bear, mountain goat, or other animal, all he had to do was to shake it in the air and whatever he wanted would come down to him.

After this Floating went back to his village, where his wife also was, and the news of his return spread everywhere. It was early in winter. Then his wife was entirely unable to stay away from him, and ran to his door very early in the morning. They let her inside, but her husband would not allow her to come any nearer to him. She begged very hard to be allowed to come back, but he had already suffered so much on her account that he was determined that she should suffer in her turn. The harder she begged the more determined he was that she should not come back. He never took her back, and she suffered a great deal, especially when she found that he had become very rich and could have any woman in the village that he wanted. It was because of this medicine that she was so anxious to get back to him, and it was because he wanted to make her suffer that he was so anxious to get it. None except people of the Raven clan use this medicine. Even now, when a girl is so much in love as to be crazy over it, it is said, “They must have used the Crying-for medicine on her.”

The dead basket-maker

A widower cherished his late wife’s unfinished basket, keeping it above his bed as a symbol of grief. After remarrying, the basket mysteriously fell onto his head during a playful moment with his new wife. Despite efforts to remove it, the basket spoke, reproaching him. Freed just in time, he burned it, severing its haunting connection to his sorrow and guilt.

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

► Themes of the story

Ancestral Spirits: The deceased wife’s unfinished basket embodies her lingering presence, influencing events from beyond the grave.

Forbidden Knowledge: The husband’s attachment to the basket and his subsequent remarriage lead to unforeseen consequences, suggesting that some remnants of the past are best left undisturbed.

Transformation through Love: The husband’s journey from mourning to remarriage, and the supernatural intervention, highlight the complexities of moving forward while honoring past relationships.

► 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 woman at Klawak was just finishing a basket when she died. She had not yet cut off the tops. Then her husband took the basket and put it up under the roof over his bed. He thought a great deal of it because it was his wife’s last work. Sometimes he would take it down, press it against his heart and weep as he held it there. He wept all the time. After this man had been a widower a long time he married again. One evening, when he was sitting on the bed playing with his new wife, the basket fell right over his head. He tried to pull it off, and his wife laughed, not knowing why it had been up there. When he was unable to pull it away his wife also tried, but it stuck tight around his neck. He became frightened and worked very hard at it. Suddenly the basket said to him, “Yes, pull me off of your head. Why don’t you press me against your heart again?” it last if they had not cut the strings the basket would have choked him to death. Then he put it farther back and in the morning threw it into the fire.

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Orphan

An orphan girl, Saha’n, is adopted to accompany a chief’s daughter but faces challenges due to the daughter’s misfortune. After the chief’s daughter marries unsuccessfully, Saha’n marries her former husband, bringing prosperity through her wisdom and diligence. However, mistreatment of her poorer brothers results in her downfall after her husband’s death, teaching a lasting lesson on the importance of equity among family members.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Saha’n’s journey from poverty to wealth illustrates significant changes in her social status and personal circumstances.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts the importance of treating all family members with equity, regardless of their economic status, highlighting the consequences of neglecting this principle.

Family Dynamics: The interactions between Saha’n and her brothers underscore the complexities within familial relationships, particularly concerning wealth and status.

► 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

An orphan girl in the Tlingit country named Saha’n (Orphan) was adopted by some high-caste people to be a companion to their daughter. She was very fond of going to the creek to get water, and the chief’s daughter always accompanied her. Every time they went, the chief’s daughter would drink water from this creek against the protests of her foster sister, and it made her very unlucky.

When she married into another high-caste family her husband became very poor on account of her and finally abandoned her. Then he married Orphan, who was very bright and knew how to take care of things, and she made him rich. She was quiet and paid a great deal of attention to her husband. The village people were also very much pleased with her, for after her husband married her, they lived off of him.

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Everything that this girl had was good, her dishes and spoons being all set with abalone shell. She had four adopted brothers, of whom the elder two were rich but the younger two very poor and unlucky. The former she would always treat well because she knew that they were bright and able to take care of things, and she always gave them food in her fine dishes. When she invited her poor brothers her husband would say, “Go and get your dishes now and let your brothers eat off of them,” but she always answered, “No, I don’t want to let them use my good dishes. They might leave the marks of poverty on them.”

After Orphan had lived some time in luxury, however, her husband died, and, as was customary, her husband’s relations took the property all away from her. She became as poor as she had been before. Luck went against her because she had treated her poor brothers so meanly. That is why, nowadays, when a rich person has a poor brother he always treats him just as well as the rich one.

The girl who married the Fire Spirit

A chief’s daughter, desired by many, angers the Fire Spirit after cursing a spark from her fire. She disappears and later reemerges, married to the Fire Spirit, living between the mortal world and the spirit realm. An attempt to bind her to mortal life triggers her husband’s wrath, leading her to leave him forever. She remains single, marked by her mystical experience.

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

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The Fire Spirit directly influences the mortal realm by taking the chief’s daughter as his wife after she disrespects the fire.

Forbidden Knowledge: The daughter’s interactions with the Fire Spirit grant her experiences beyond the mortal realm, exposing her to hidden truths and the consequences of engaging with supernatural forces.

Transformation: The daughter’s life undergoes significant changes due to her relationship with the Fire Spirit, affecting her status, relationships, and personal choices.

► 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 chief’s daughter whom all of the high-caste men wanted to marry. One day, as she sat close to the fire, a spark came out on her clothing and she said something bad to the fire, pointing her hand at it with fingers extended.

That night the girl was missing and couldn’t be found anywhere. They searched all of the villages and all of the houses in all of the villages where those people lived who had wanted to marry her, but in vain.

Then they employed shamans from their own and all the surrounding towns to tell where she was. Finally the chief was told of a shaman in a village a very long way off, and he went to consult him.

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The shaman said to him, “How is it that my spirits talk of nothing but your fire? Your daughter might have said something to the fire that displeased the spirits of the fire. Let your fire go out as soon as you are through preparing food and have the rest of your village people extinguish theirs. Do so for a long time.” All of this time, the parents were mourning for their daughter.

Then the chief sent through all the village to ask his people to let their fires go out, and they obeyed him. This went on for some time without result, but one day the girl came up from the fireplace from between the rocks on which the logs were placed. The Fire Spirit (Ga’ntu ye’gi) had taken her as his wife. Then the girl told her parents that her husband had pitied them, and after that she stayed with them most of the time. Every now and then she would be missing, for she was very fond of her spirit husband, but she would not stay long. She went into the fire to eat, and before she went directed them to let the fire go out after a time in order to bring her back.

One day, when she had not been away for a long time, she was eating in her father’s house. For the last dish they gave her soapberries. Her father’s nephew, who was in love with her and who was encouraged by her mother in hopes that she might be kept from going away again, was stirring them. When she put her spoon into the dish he seized it. At the same moment the firewood began to whistle, as it does when the fire spirit is talking, and the girl understood what it meant. Then she seemed frightened, and said to her mother and the boy, “He wants meat once.” All that the girl had to do when she wanted to see her husband was to think of him and she would immediately be at his side. They never saw her going into the fire. Therefore, as soon as she said this she disappeared, and they did not know what had happened. Then, however, her spirit husband hurt her in some way so as to make her scream, though the people could not guess the cause, and next day she appeared in her father’s house once more, looking very sad, for she had left her husband; and now she stayed with her father all the time.

After that her father’s nephew kept trying to get her to marry him, but she would have nothing to do with him. Before she had liked him, but after she had been abused by the Fire Spirit on account of what he had done, she did not care for him and remained single all the rest of her life.

The woman who married a tree

In a village, a virtuous girl mysteriously gives birth after dreaming of a handsome man. Her fast-growing child begins crying incessantly for its father. When the villagers summon both humans and mystical tree-dwellers to identify him, the child chooses an old, humble man named Kasa’l over high-caste figures. Acknowledged as the father, Kasa’l marries the girl, resolving the mystery and blending human and supernatural worlds.

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: This theme is central as the story involves mysterious and otherworldly events, such as a girl dreaming of a handsome man and inexplicably giving birth. The supernatural is personified through the enigmatic figure Kasa’l, whose connection to both the human and spirit world makes him a pivotal character.

Transformation: The story explores transformation on multiple levels: the emotional growth of the girl as she navigates her unique experience, the profound change in her life when she becomes a mother, and the societal shift when Kasa’l is revealed as the father. It delves into the transformative power of dreams and the symbolic merging of human and mystical realms.

Love and Betrayal: This theme manifests in the emotional bond formed under unusual circumstances. The girl’s love for her child compels her to uncover the truth about its father. There’s an underlying sense of betrayal when reality doesn’t align with expectations, as Kasa’l’s true nature and the mysterious origins of the child come to light.

► 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

An old spruce tree stood at the end of a certain village. In this same village a high-caste girl dreamed for several nights in succession that she was married to a fine-looking man, and by and by she gave birth to a boy baby. As she was a very virtuous girl, people wondered how she had come by it.

The child grew very fast, and soon began to talk. One day it began calling for its father. It would not stop, although they tried to humor it in every way.

Then people wondered whom it was calling, so the boy’s grandfather invited all the men of that village and of the surrounding villages to come to his house to see if the child would be able to recognize its father.

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When this proved fruitless he invited the people who inhabit trees to come in, and as soon as they entered and sat down, the child stopped crying and began crawling around the circle, looking at each person. Then the people said, “We will see where that fatherless child is going.”

At the very end of the line toward the door sat an old man, and the child crawled right past the high-caste tree people toward him. As it did so, the others nudged one another, saying, “Look at Kasa’l.” They said this because the girl had had nothing to do with the high-caste tree people, but with this poor old man. The child, however, crawled right up to him, climbed into his lap and said, “Papa.” At once the old man married the girl.