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.

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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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The Hin-Tayi’ci

The hin-tayi’ci, a halibut-like fish with many legs, defended its territory near Sitka against various sea creatures, guided by the visions of a Kiksa’di shaman. It bravely fought killer whales, devilfish, monster halibut, and finally a colossal crab. Despite its prowess, the hin-tayi’ci succumbed to the crab in a dramatic battle. The victorious crab and killer whales honored the hin-tayi’ci, carrying its body away in song.

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

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The hin-tayi’ci engages in battles with killer whales, devilfish, monster halibut, and a colossal crab, representing struggles against natural forces or creatures.

Cultural Heroes: The hin-tayi’ci’s bravery and defense of its territory may symbolize foundational figures who shape societies, reflecting the values and beliefs of the Tlingit people.

Loss and Renewal: The hin-tayi’ci’s eventual defeat and the subsequent honoring of its body by the victorious crab and killer whales suggest cycles of destruction and rebirth, highlighting themes of respect and continuity in 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

There is a fish, called hin-tayi’ci, which is shaped like a halibut but has very many “legs.”

Early one spring a Kiksa’di shaman at Sitka named Face-of-mountain (Ca’daq) began singing, and the people did not know why. Another morning he got up very early and began to sing again, while the spirits talked to him. Then all of the Kiksa’di also rose. When his possession was over the shaman said to them, “Take the canoe down and let us start off.” They did so, placing the shaman in the bow under a mat, and, as they went along, his spirits talked under it.

Finally they came to a deep bay in front of Sitka and the spirits said, “This is the place,” so they started shoreward.

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When they came to a spot just beyond a steep cliff which runs down precipitously into the sea, the spirits said, “Here is the place where we are to land.” Then the shaman went up from the canoe and sat in a hollow on top of a rock, while all watched him. By and by his spirit said that the people must do likewise, so they found similar places and seated themselves there.

Now the shaman seemed to be watching for something, so all of the people looked in the same direction, and suddenly they saw a school of killer whales coming along, making noises like yelping dogs. The people wondered what was the matter and looked closely. Finally right out from the cliff they saw something very black and shiny. It was the hin-tayi’ci, and, when a killer whale ran up against it, he would be cut in two. The killer whales fought very hard, but, when they were through, only three remained, who went off barking like dogs. After that the hin-tayi’ci came up in front of the place where the men were sitting and made a great noise. They wondered at this and were frightened, but the shaman understood it and said to them, “It is saying ‘Don’t feel badly for me if I should get killed. I should not have fought those people, but I had to do it, for they, were coming here to eat all of my food.”’

Now the people went home, but, after some time had passed, the shaman asked them to take the canoe down once more and go out again. They did so willingly, for they were anxious to see what more would happen. The shaman had learned that all the killer-whale people were going against the hin-tayi’ci and that the sculpin (weq) had come to him saying, “The people are coming after you again.” So the people went to their former station, and presently the hin-tayi’ci came out of his hole and began jumping about on top of the water like a salmon. It was very quick and very large. When it saw the great crowd of killer whales coming on, it went out to meet them and killed all except the killer-whale chief and two others, which it allowed to escape. Then it again jumped up and down in front of the people, making a great noise, and the shaman told them it said, “I am tired. If they come right back with the same number of people, I shall be killed. It will be my fault. I should not have killed them.”

Then the people went home and remained there quite a time. At length, however, the shaman’s spirits told him that the sculpin had again come to the hin-tayi’ci to say that people were coming to kill him. So he told his friends about it, and they went to the same place. As they sat there watching, they saw a smoke arising far in the distance. It was the killer whales blowing. There were still more of them this time, but, as before, the hin-tayi’ci destroyed all except three. Again it told the people that it expected to be killed next time.

Now the shaman was very anxious to know what would be the outcome of all this, so he went back to his village and waited impatiently for another fight to take place. Finally the sculpin went to the hin-tayi’ci once more and said, “They are gathering more men for you, stronger men this time. They are getting the devilfish people to fight you.” When the shaman learned of it through his spirits he told his people, and they went out to the cliff. Again they saw something coming from a distance very rapidly, making the water boil. Just as the devilfishes reached the hole of the hin-tayi’ci, the latter jumped through the largest of them, after which it killed all of the others and all of the killer whales but three. It was easier for him this time because there were fewer killer whales.

Next time the sculpin came to the hin-tayi’ci it said “All of the monster halibut are being gathered to fight with you.” So the people went over once more and sat in their accustomed places. They saw the largest halibut go up toward the hin-tayi’ci’s hole with open mouth ready to swallow it, but, as before, the hin-tayi’ci jumped through and through it, and killed all of its antagonists except three killer whales. Where they fought the water was covered with blood, and after every battle the hin-tayi’ci would come out and say that next time it expected to be killed.

Now, however, a very long time passed before the shaman heard anything, and he began to think that they had given up fighting. But-finally his spirit came to him once more to say that the sculpin had been to the hin-tayi’ci. The sculpin had said to it, “They are coming after you again. They have gathered all of the big crabs to kill you.” Then the hin-tayi’ci answered, “Those are the ones that are going to get me.” So the shaman went out with his friends and watched from their former stations.

Presently the watching people saw the killer whales approach with a big crab in advance of them. Its body was under water, but its legs stuck out, and the water seemed to boil as it swam forward. Then the hin-tayi’ci came out and said to the shaman, “They will get me this time. It is my own fault. I am sure that I can not kill that big person with the shell.” Then the hin-tayi’ci went back into its hole, and the crab ran up against the opening so it was unable to get out. So the hin-tayi’ci said, “How is it that you do not allow me to come out when you have come here to fight me? Let me come out so that you can get me. I have killed enough of you deep-water people to come out now. Stand away a little and let me come.”

The hin-tayi’ci wanted to see where the joints on the crab’s claws were situated, and, as soon as the crab moved to one side, it went against one of them and cut it off. With its remaining claw, however, the crab seized it, lifted it into the air, and killed it in sight of everyone. After that it placed the body on the back of the chief killer whale, and the crab and the killer whales sang together as they went away with its body. As they went they kept close to the surface of the water.

Gamna’tcki

Gamna’tcki’s wife is abducted by killer whales while washing seal meat. Grieving, he ventures underwater, seeking help from aquatic villages, including red cod, halibut, and shark people. Aided by a shark chief and a slave, he rescues his wife by creating a diversion. The sharks defend him from pursuing killer whales, ensuring his safe return home, marking his journey with clever strategy and alliances.

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: Gamna’tcki ventures beneath the sea, entering the realms of various aquatic beings, to rescue his abducted wife.

Quest: His journey is a determined pursuit to retrieve his wife, involving challenges and the assistance of underwater communities.

Cunning and Deception: The rescue plan involves a clever ruse with the killer whale chief’s slave, creating a diversion to facilitate the escape.

► 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

Gamna’tcki killed a seal, skinned it, and threw the skin and meat to his wife to wash. While she was washing them in the sea she saw some killer whales coming landward. By and by the meat she was washing drifted out from her and she waded after it. She went out until the water reached her hips. Then she suddenly felt some one pull her and she disappeared under water. It was the killer-whale people who thus took her into their canoe. After that Gamna’tcki felt very badly and thought to himself, “How can I get my wife back? How can I look for her under the water?” He could not sleep all night, and early in the morning he thought, “I wonder if I couldn’t raise this water so as to go under it.” In the morning, therefore, before he had eaten he took his red and black paints, went down to the water, raised the edge of it just as if he were raising a blanket, and walked under. He walked on farther and farther. It was just like walking on land.

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By and by he came to a village full of very pale people who went about with their heads down. He found out that they were the red cod people. He wanted to make friends of them, so, thinking that they looked very white, he painted them all red — men, women, and children. That is how these fishes got their color. After that he asked them if they had seen his wife, but they said that they had seen no one, so he went on. Presently he came to another village and asked the people there the same question to which he received the very same answer. Those were the halibut people. In each village they gave him something to eat.

After he had left the halibut people Gamna’tcki traveled for several days before he came to another town. By and by, however, he perceived smoke far ahead of him, and, going toward it, he saw that it was from a fort. Inside of this fort was a large house which he immediately entered, but the people there did not seem to care to see strangers and would not talk to him. These were also very pale people, so to please them he took out his black paint and painted all of them with it. Then they felt well disposed toward him and were willing to talk. “Can you tell me what clan has my wife?” he said. At first they said that they did not know, but afterward one replied, “There is a strange woman in that town across there.” Then this person pointed the village out, and Gamna’tcki felt pleased to know where his wife was. The people he had come among were the sharks, and those whose village they showed him were the killer whales.

Then the shark chief said, “Every time we have had a fight we have beaten them.” The shark people also said to him, “The killer-whale chief has a slave. Every morning the slave goes out after water. Go to the creek and tell him what to do when he comes in. Tell him to bring the water in and hand it to the chief over the fire. As he does so he must drop it, and, while the house is full of steam, pick up your wife and run out with her. The chief has married her. Then come over here with her. They will run after you, but, if you can get away, come right across.” The shark people had always been jealous of the killer whales because they had this woman.

While the shark people were telling him what to do, a strange, bony-looking person kept jumping up from behind the boxes. He wondered what made him act so queerly and began to feel uneasy about it, but, when the bony person saw him looking at him in a strange manner, he said, “Why! don’t you know me? I am that halibut hook (naxu) that the sharks once took away from you. My name is Lgudji’ (the name of an island).”

Just after that the man started for the killer-whale town and sat down by the creek. When the slave came out after water, he asked him to help him, saying, “I hear that my wife is with this chief.” “Yes,” the slave answered, “if she were a man, they would have kept her for a slave like myself. Since she is a woman, the chief has married her, and she is living very well. I will help you as much as I can. She wants to return to you. Now watch and I will do what you tell me to do. I will spill this water on the fire.”

After that he took Gamna’tcki to the door and showed him where his wife sat. Then the slave walked in with the water while he stood outside watching. He watched his wife through a crack and saw that she appeared very much cast down. As soon as the fire was put out and the house filled with steam he ran in, seized his wife, and started off with her.

Then, when the slave thought that he had gotten a long distance away, he shouted, “Some one has taken the woman away.” The chief looked around, and sure enough his wife was gone. Going outside, they saw that this man had almost reached the shark fort, and they saw him enter it.

As soon as he got there, the shark people began to dress themselves for war. They were noisy and acted as though they were very hungry, so that Gamna’tcki became frightened. The halibut hook came to him, however, and told him not to be frightened, because the killer whales were coming over. All at once the fort began moving up and down. Whenever the killer whales tried to enter, the fort killed them by moving up and down and cutting off their heads. The slaughter was so great that the few survivors were frightened and went back. Two or three days later the killer whales came again with like result.

After this the shark people said to Gamna’tcki, “You better not start out right away. Stay here a while with us. They might be lying in wait for you. Since we have fought for you so much, it is better that you should get to your home safely.” Gamna’tcki did so, and some time later they said, “Go straight along by the way you came, and you will find your way out easily.” He did this and reached his home in safety.

The boy with arrows on his head

The story recounts Watsihi’tci, a child with arrow points on his head, who killed his mother and became a malevolent figure, terrorizing hunters and villagers. His uncle, prepared for his attacks, finally wounded him fatally. Though Watsihi’tci begged for mercy, his uncle killed him, avenging countless victims. The ashes of his burned body became the gnats that now torment humanity.

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 protagonist, Watsihi’tci, possesses supernatural characteristics, notably the sharp arrow points on his head, distinguishing him from ordinary humans.

Revenge and Justice: After Watsihi’tci kills numerous villagers, his uncle seeks retribution, ultimately killing him to avenge the victims and restore peace.

Transformation: Following his death, Watsihi’tci’s ashes transform into gnats, symbolizing a change from a malevolent being to a persistent nuisance in the natural world.

► 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 chief’s daughter married her father’s nephew and had a child by him who was named Watsihi’tci. He was not exactly a human being, for he had sharp arrow points on his head. When his mother began petting him and using endearing terms to him, he said to her, “Don’t pet me. I am no baby.” And he ran the arrow points on his head into his mother’s breast and killed her. Afterward he ran off into the woods and became a very bad person, killing everybody who went off hunting or after wood.

At that time his mother’s brother was out on the mountains hunting along with his children. He knew that his nephew was killing people, so he made his house very strong to keep him out. He also set around bundles of dry straw shaped like human beings, and he even prepared a hole in the mountains as a place of refuge.

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How his nephew found out where he lived is not known, but one day he suddenly walked right in. His uncle was sitting behind a bundle of straw in the rear of the house, while his wife and children were in the hole he had made in the mountain. The boy always had his arrows and spears, the points of which were obsidian (in), ready to use, but instead of aiming at his uncle he pointed his arrow at a bundle of straw opposite. While he was doing so his uncle shot him under the left arm, and he was so badly hurt that he left his spear and ran out.

As his assisting spirit this boy had a bird called gusiadu’li of about the size of a robin. This spirit now doctored him and took out of him all of the poison his uncle had put on the end of his arrow. But, while he was doing this, his uncle tracked him by the marks of blood until he came to the place where the boy lived. When he entered that place his nephew said, “Don’t kill me, uncle. I have made a hole in the ground over there and have filled it with goods. You may have them if you do not kill me. If you let me go now I will never kill another person.” In spite of all his protestations, however, his uncle killed him for having destroyed so many of the town people and for having forced him to live back among the mountains. Then he burned his nephew’s body and went home with all of his family, leaving the ashes where they lay. These ashes were driven about by the wind and became the minute gnats that torment people.