Tag: 05. Transformation

Physical, emotional, or spiritual changes

Root-Stump

In a town plagued by mysterious abductions, a supernatural force carried off all the men and women, leaving only two women behind. One conceived a son, Root-stump, through root-juice. Gifted with extraordinary powers, Root-stump grew rapidly, defeating the airborne abductor and a malevolent canoe-maker who preyed on others. His heroic actions restored balance, embodying the mystical cautionary tale about root-juice’s potency.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Root-Stump’s conception from root-juice and his rapid growth highlight themes of extraordinary change and development.

Supernatural Beings: The tale features mystical entities, including the airborne abductor and the malevolent canoe-maker, emphasizing interactions with otherworldly forces.

Moral Lessons: The story serves as a cautionary tale about the potency of root-juice, warning women against swallowing its sap to prevent unintended consequences.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

There was a certain town in which many people were dying of sickness, but those who felt well used to play shinney on the beach every day.

Then something came down through the air and one of them seized it and was dragged up from the ground. Another person grasped his feet, endeavoring to pull him back, but he, too, was carried up and another and another until there were ten. All of these were taken up out of sight.

The next day the same thing came down a second time, and ten more were carried off. This happened every day until all the men in the town were gone. Next it came to a woman, and all the women were carried away in the same manner except two.

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These two women now walked along the beach calling for help. They did not know whither their friends had gone. And every day they went up into the forest after roots.

One day, after they had gone up into the woods, one of these women began swallowing root-juice, and it formed a child in her. This was born and proved to be a boy. After he had grown a little larger, his mother named him Root-stump (Xat-cugu’lki). This is what helped her. All the men who used to chop canoes away from town had also disappeared.

The child grew very rapidly and repeatedly asked his mother, “Where have all my friends gone?” She said to him, “We do not know. They kept going up into the air.” When he was a little larger he began to test himself. He would go up to a tree, seize a limb, and. try to stretch himself. Then roots would run out from him in every direction because his mother had named him to have that sort of strength. [The exact words of the story-teller]

His mother said to him, “Look out when you go down on the beach to play, because those who do so go up into the air and you will also go up. So look out.” Then he ran down to the beach and began playing. All at once the thing came down. He seized it, and immediately roots grew out from him into the ground in every direction. So he pulled down the thing that was killing his people, and it broke into small pieces.

There was another being in the woods who always chopped and made noises to entice people to him in order to kill them. He was in the habit of killing people by asking them to get into his canoe, when he knocked out a thwart so that it closed in upon them. He was the one who had killed the canoe-makers. Root-stump once found this man engaged in making a canoe, and the man asked him to jump inside. Root-stump knew what he was about, however, and jumped out too quickly. Then Root-stump was so angry that he seized the canoe-maker and beat his brains out. He broke up the canoe and piled it on top of him.

This boy grew up into a very fine man. He brought in all kinds of things for his mother. If he were hunting mountain sheep and came to a chasm or other similar place, he would cross it by sticking his roots into the ground on the other side.

This is why they say to a woman who works with roots, “Do not swallow the sap. You might have a baby from it.”

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The halibut people

In a coastal village, the chief’s daughter slips on halibut slime and curses it, sparking a chain of events. She is taken by halibut people and killed. Her brothers devise a daring plan to avenge her, leading to an undersea adventure where one impersonates her and slays the halibut chief. Later, an encounter with a magical duck ends tragically, transforming them into eternally crying ducks.

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 chief’s daughter is taken by the halibut people and killed, leading to her brothers’ transformative journey to avenge her.

Underworld Journey: The brothers venture into the underwater realm of the halibut people to retrieve their sister and seek vengeance.

Revenge and Justice: The brothers’ quest to avenge their sister’s death by infiltrating the halibut people’s domain and killing their chief highlights themes of retribution and the restoration of familial honor.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

There was a very long town where people were fishing for halibut. One evening the daughter of the chief, whose house was in the middle of the place, went down on the beach to cut up halibut, and slipped on some halibut slime. She used bad words to it.

A few days afterward many canoe-loads of people came to get this girl in marriage, and she started off with them. But, although they appeared to her like human beings, they were really the halibut people. As soon as they had left the village they went around a point, landed, and went up into the woods after spruce gum and pitch. They brought down a great quantity of this, heated a rock in the fire and spread pitch all over it. When it was melted they seated the woman upon it. The two brothers of this girl searched along shore for her continually, and finally they discovered where she was; but she was dead.

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Then they felt very sad on her account and asked each other, “What shall we do about her?” They thought of all kinds of schemes, and at last hit upon a plan. Then they went home, filled a bladder full of blood, and went out to the halibut fishing ground. The elder brother let his younger brother down on a line, but before he got far he lost his breath and had to be pulled up. So the elder brother prepared himself. He put on his sister’s dress, took his knife and the bladder full of blood, and got safely to the bottom. When he arrived there he found himself in front of a house. Some one came out to look and then said to the chief inside, “Has your wife come out to see you?” They thought it was the dead woman. So the halibut chief said, “Tell her to come in,” and he married her.

At this time the friends of the young man were vainly endeavoring to catch halibut, and he could see their hooks. Instead of coming into the houses these would fall around on the outside. They tried all kinds of hooks of native manufacture, but the only one that succeeded was Raven-backbone-hook (Yel-tu’daqe), which came right in through the smoke hole.

After a while the halibut chief said, “Let us go and take a sweat bath.” [Frater autem puellae mortuae semper secum portabat vesicam cruore plenam, quo ungebat extrema vestem qua indutus erat, ut rhombum deciperet, dicens, “Mensibus affectus sum; noli mihi appropinquare.”] [But the brother of the dead girl always carried with him a bladder full of blood, with which he anointed the hem of his garment, in order to deceive the heron, saying, “I have been afflicted for months; do not come near me.]

That night, as soon as the halibut chief was asleep, the man took his knife, cut the chief’s head off and ran outside with it. Everybody in the town was asleep. Then he jerked on his brother’s line, and his brother pulled him up along with the head.

After that they paddled along shore for some time, and on the way the elder brother kept shooting at ducks with his arrows. Finally he hit one and took it into the canoe. It was shivering, and his brother said, “Look at this little duck. It is dying of cold. I wish you were by my father’s camp fire.” On account of these bad words the canoe went straight down into the ocean.

Arrived at the bottom, they saw a long town, and some one said, “Get out of the canoe and come up.” Then the duck led them up into the house of his grandfather, the killer whale — for the killer whale is grandfather to the duck — and a big fire was built for them. Then they seated the brothers close to this and said, “Do you think it is only your father who has a big fire?” After they were so badly burned that their heads were made to turn backward with the heat, they were thrown outside. There they became the ducks called Always-crying-around-[the-bay] (Yikaga’xe). You can hear them crying almost anytime when you are in camp. They never got back to their friends.

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Wolverine-Man

In this tale, a hunter, adhering to traditional customs of preparation, encounters Wolverine-man, a mythical figure who teaches him a transformative hunting method involving a unique trap called “Never-lasting-over-night.” The trap ensures abundant success, enabling the hunter to achieve wealth and fame by sharing the innovation. Interwoven with moral lessons and mystical elements, the story reflects the cultural significance of skill, preparation, and respect for nature’s rules.

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

► Themes of the story

Magic and Enchantment: The hunter’s encounter with Wolverine-man introduces him to a supernatural being who imparts mystical knowledge, particularly the creation of the “Never-lasting-over-night” trap, which ensures hunting success.

Moral Lessons: The story emphasizes the importance of adhering to traditional customs and respecting the guidance of mystical beings. The hunter’s success is attributed to his compliance with the rituals and teachings provided by Wolverine-man.

Transformation: Through his experiences and the knowledge gained from Wolverine-man, the hunter undergoes a transformation from an ordinary individual to a renowned and wealthy figure within his community, highlighting personal growth and the acquisition of wisdom.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

There were people living in a certain town on the mainland. In olden times the people did not use guns. They hunted with bows and arrows, and horn spears, and it was very hard work to use them. So, when they were going hunting, they had to fast and wash their heads in urine. That is why in all of these stories — which I am telling you just as they were told in the olden times — food was very scarce and hard to get. Success depended on what things were used and how people prepared themselves.

One day a certain man at this place began preparing himself by washing his head in urine, and the following morning he dressed and started up the valley carrying his horn spear. At the head of this valley he saw a flock of mountain sheep, but he could not get at them, so he camped over night. In the morning he saw that a wolverine (nusk) was among these sheep killing them off.

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Next evening he reached the top of the mountain and started into the brush to camp, but came to a house with the door wide open for him. On the inside hung pieces of fat from all kinds of animals the wolverine had killed. He wanted to go in very much, but instead he sat down in the brush near by and waited.

Presently a man came along carrying a pack. This was Wolverine-man (Nu’sgu-qa). He said, “My trader, you are here. Why don’t you step inside?” Then they entered, and Wolverine-man took off his clothes and began wringing them out just like a human being. Then he heated some hot rocks, took his half basket, chopped up the bones of a ground hog and put these into it along with the cooking stones. Then he said to the man, “Give me that kandala’x. Give me that kaxa’kaok.” These were his own words which he was teaching to this man, and they mean, “Give me my dish. Give me my little spoon.” So, when one went up to the top of this mountain in olden times he called his dishes and spoons by those names.

Then Wolverine-man placed the food before his guest, but, when the latter was about to take some, Wolverine-man said something that sounded strange to him. He said, “There he is picking it up. There he is going to eat it.” It sounded strange. Then he kept on talking: “He is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the small bones. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone. He is getting closer to the small brother of the big bone.” He did not want the man to eat the small bones at the joint [the knee-pan or the ankle and wrist bones] and it was from Wolverine-man that people learned not to eat these. He said, “I am not saying this to you because I hate you. If anybody swallows these, the weather is not clear on top of the mountain. It is always foggy, and one can kill nothing. This is why I am telling you.” Meanwhile the people in the camps hunted every day for this man but in vain.

By and by Wolverine-man said to him, “Go around to the other side of the mountain and sit down where the ground-hogs’ places are.” He went there every day, but always came home without anything. Wolverine-man, however, brought him a great load every time. Finally Wolverine-man told him to go and cut off two small limbs with his ax. People generally carried a stone ax when off hunting. With these he made a trap for him and named it Never-lasting-over-night (Lanka’kixe). It was so named because it was certain to catch.

When they went up next day, Wolverine-man said, “I am going this way. Do not set your trap until you see a large ground hog going into a hole. Set it there.” Soon after he left Wolverine-man he saw a big ground hog going into its hole. He set up his trap there, stood near, and watched. Soon he heard the crack of his trap falling.

He set it up many times, and each time he caught one. He killed four that day. That is why the trap is called Never-lasting-over-night. From that time on he increased the size of his catch every day, while Wolverine-man did not catch much. When he got home with all his ground hogs Wolverine-man lay down by the fire and began singing, “What I would have killed has all gone over to a lazy man’s side.”

Next morning, when they again started off to hunt, Wolverine-man, instead of continuing on his usual route, came back to see what his companion was doing. Then he climbed into a tree to watch him, began to play around in the tree, and afterwards suddenly fell down. He wanted to deceive the trapper. This tree is a small bushy one called sax, and it is Wolverine-man’s wife with which he had really been cohabiting. The man, however, observed what he was doing, and returned home at once, upon which Wolverine-man became so ashamed that he lay down and covered himself with ashes.

After that Wolverine-man told his guest to lie down and cover himself up. Then he took his urinal full of urine, with two white rocks in it, to another place. He was going to bathe to purify himself from his wife. After he had purified himself, he came home, put grease into the fire and began to motion toward his face and to blow with his mouth. Then he took a wooden comb and began to comb his hair. The man had covered his head with the blanket but was watching through a hole.

Now the man arose and said to Wolverine-man, “I am going home to my children.” Then Wolverine-man told him not to say where he had been but to keep him in remembrance by means of the trap. He had stayed with Wolverine-man more than a month, and, when he went down, he had a big pack of skins.

Then he began to distribute these to all his friends, telling them that he had discovered a place where there were lots of things, and that he had a trap which never failed to kill ground hogs and other animals if set on the mountain over night. When he explained to the people how to set up this trap, a man named Coward (Qatxa’n) said, “I will go along with you.” This time they did not go way up to the place where Wolverine-man had helped him but into one of the lower valleys where there were many ground hogs. There they constructed a house out of dry sticks and began trapping. Coward had understood him to say that he caught ground hogs by whittling up sticks near the hole. That was what he was doing every day, until finally his companion said, “What do you do by the holes that you do not catch anything?” He said, “Why, I have already cut up two big sticks by the holes.” Then the other answered, “That is not right. You have to cut and make a trap with which to trap the ground hog.”

After that this man thought he would do the same thing to the tree he had seen Wolverine-man do, but he fell to the ground and was barely able to crawl home. When he thought he had enough skim, he started to pack up and return. The trap was very valuable at that time because it was new, and anyone borrowing it paid a great deal. So he became wealthy by means of it. He went to every other town to let people know about it. They would invite him to a place, feast him, and ask him for it. He became very wealthy.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Wolf-Chief’s son

A young boy saved his starving family with the help of a mysterious animal that turned out to be a wolf-chief’s son. After the wolf left due to mistreatment, the boy sought it out, receiving magical gifts from the wolf-chief. Using these gifts, he hunted efficiently, revived his town, and became a renowned healer, gaining wealth and fame through his miraculous abilities.

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 features a mysterious animal that assists the boy, later revealed to be the son of a wolf-chief, highlighting interactions between humans and supernatural entities.

Transformation: The boy’s journey from a struggling youth to a renowned healer and provider for his community illustrates significant personal and societal transformation.

Sacred Objects: The magical gifts bestowed upon the boy by the wolf-chief serve as sacred objects, enabling him to hunt efficiently and perform miraculous healings, symbolizing the power of bestowed artifacts.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

Famine visited a certain town, and many people died of starvation. There was a young boy there who always went around with bow and arrows. One day, as he was hunting about, he came across a little animal that looked like a dog and put it under his blanket. He brought it to his mother, and his mother washed it for him. Then he took the red paint left by his dead uncles, spit upon the dog and threw paint on so that it would stick to its hair and face.

When he took the dog into the woods, it would bring him all kinds of birds, such as grouse, which he carried home to his family. They cooked these in a basket pot. Afterward he brought the animal down, washed it, and put more paint upon its legs and head. This enabled him to trace it when he was out hunting.

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One day after he had traced it for some distance, he found it had killed a small mountain sheep, and, when he came down, he gave it the fat part. With the meat so obtained he began to take good care of his mother and his friends. He had not yet found out whether the animal was really a dog.

The next time they went hunting they came across a large flock of sheep, and he sent the dog right up to them. It killed all of them, and he cut the best one open for it. Then he took down the rest of the sheep and dressed them. What the animal was killing was keeping some of his friends alive.

One time the husband of a sister came to him and said, “I wish to borrow your animal. It is doing great things in this place.” So he brought the little dog from the house he had made for it, painted its face and feet, and said to his brother-in-law, “When you kill the first one cut it open quickly and let him have it. That is the way I always do.” Then this brother-in law took up the little dog, and, when they came to a flock of sheep, it went straight among them, killing them and throwing them down one after another. But, after he had cut one open, he took out the entrails, threw them into the dog’s face, and said, “Dogs always eat the insides of animals, not the good part.” The dog, however, instead of eating it, ran straight up between the mountains, yelping.

Now when his brother-in-law brought the sheep down, the man asked him, “Where is the little dog?” And he said “It ran away from me.” That was the report he brought down. Then the owner of the dog called his sister to him and said, “Tell me truly what he did with the little dog. I did not want to let it go at first because I knew people would do that thing to it.” His sister said, “He threw the entrails to it to eat. That is why it ran off.”

Then the youth felt very sad on account of his little animal and prepared to follow it. His brother-in-law showed him the place between the mountains where the dog had gone up, and he went up in that direction until he came to its footprints and saw the red paint he had put upon it. This animal was really the wolf-chief’s son who had been sent to help him, and, because the man put red upon its head and feet, a wolf can now be told by the red on its feet and around its mouth.

After he had followed the trail for a long distance he came to a lake with a long town on the opposite side. There he heard a great noise made by people playing. It was a very large lake, so he thought, “I wonder how I can get over there.” Just then he saw smoke coming out from under his feet. Then a door swung open, and he was told to enter. An old woman lived there called Woman-always-wondering (Luwat-uwadi’gi-canaku), who said to him, “Grandchild, why are you here?” He answered “I came across a young dog which helped me, but it is lost, and I come to find where it went.” Then the woman answered, “Its people live right across there. It is a wolf-chief’s son. That is its father’s town over there where they are making a noise.” So the old woman instructed him.

Then he wondered and said to himself, “How can I get across?” But the old woman spoke out, saying, “My little canoe is just below here.” He said to himself, “It might turn over with me.” Then the old woman answered, “Take it down. Before you get in shake it and it will become large.” Then she continued: “Get inside of the boat and stretch yourself on the bottom, but do not paddle it. Instead wish continually to come in front of that place.”

He did as she directed and landed upon the other side. Then he got out, made the canoe small and put it into his pocket, after which he went up among the boys who were playing about, and watched them. They were playing with a round, twisted thing called gitcxanaga’t (rainbow). Then some one directed him to the wolf-chief’s house at the farther end of the village. An evening fire, such as people used to make in olden times, was burning there, and, creeping in behind the other people, the man saw his little wolf playing about near it in front of his father.

Then the wolf chief said, “There is some human being looking in here. Clear away from before his face.” Upon this the little wolf ran right up to him, smelt of him, and knew him at once. The wolf chief said, “I feel well disposed toward you. I let my son live among you because your uncles and friends were starving, and now I am very much pleased that you have come here after him.” By and by he said, “I think I will not let him go back with you, but I will do something else to help you.” He was happy at the way the man had painted up his son. Now he did not appear like a wolf but like a human being. The chief said, “Take out the fish-hawk’s quill that is hanging on the wall and give it to him in place of my son.” Then he was instructed how to use it. “Whenever a bear meets you,” he said, “hold the quill straight toward it and it will fly out of your hand.” He also took out a thing that was tied up like a blanket and gave it to him, at the same time giving him instructions. “One side,” he said, “is for sickness. If you put this on a sick person it will make him well. If anyone hates you, put the other side on him and it will kill him. After they have agreed to pay you for treating him put the other side on to cure him.”

Then the chief said, “You see that thing that the boys are playing with? That belongs to me. Whenever one sees it in the evening it means bad weather; whenever one sees it in the morning it means good weather.” So he spoke to him.

Then they put something else into his mouth and said to him, “Take this, for you have a long journey to make.” He was gone up there probably two years, but he thought it was only two nights.

At the time when he came within sight of his town he met a bear. He held the quill out toward it as he had been instructed and suddenly let it go. It hit the bear in the heart. Still closer to his town he came upon a flock of sheep on the mountain, and sent his quill at them. When he reached them, he found all dead, and, after he had cut them all open, he found the quill stuck into the heart of the last. He took a little meat for his own use and covered up the rest.

Corning to the town, he found no one in it. All had been destroyed. Then he felt very sad, and, taking his blanket out, laid the side of it that would save people, upon their bodies, and they all came to life. After that he asked all of them to go hunting with him, but he kept the quill hidden away so that they would not bother him as they had before. When they came to a big flock of mountain sheep, he let his quill go at them so quickly that they could not see it. Then he went up, looked the dead sheep over, and immediately cut out the quill. All his friends were surprised at what had happened. After they had gotten down, those who were not his close friends came to him and gave payment for the meat.

The people he restored to life after they had been dead for very many years had very deep set eyes and did not got well at once.

After that he went to a town where the people were all well and killed some of them with his blanket. Then he went to the other people in that place and said, “How are your friends? Are they dead?” “Yes.” “Well I know a way of making them well.” He went up to them again with his blanket and brought them back to life. They were perfectly well.

This man went around everywhere doing the same thing and became very famous. Whenever one was sick in any place they came after him and offered him a certain amount for his services, so that he became the richest man of his time.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The land-otter sister

A man and his family struggled to survive by gathering food and crafting with primitive tools. Unknown to him, his drowned sister, now living among the mystical land otters, secretly aided them by providing provisions. Her otter-children helped fish and transport goods, but a misunderstanding nearly severed their bond. Ultimately, the man prospered with their help, though the mystical helpers vanished, leaving only their memory.

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 land otters with mystical qualities, including the man’s sister who has transformed into a land otter and her otter-children who assist the family.

Family Dynamics: Central to the story is the relationship between the man and his sister, who, despite her transformation, aids her brother’s family, highlighting familial bonds and responsibilities.

Transformation: The sister’s change into a land otter and the temporary transformation of the man’s children, who begin to grow tails, underscore themes of physical and possibly spiritual change.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A man set out from Sitka to a certain camp with his children in order to dry halibut, for in those days that was how they had to get their food. It was spring time. Then, too, they had stone axes and used small half baskets for pots in which to do cooking. His wife and children spent all of their time digging clams, cockles, and other shellfish down on the beach and in laying them aside for future use. The Man, meantime, was hewing out a canoe with his stone ax. They had a hard time, for they had nothing to live on except the things picked up at low tide.

Many years before this man’s sister had been drowned, but so long a time had passed that he had forgotten her. She, however, had been taken by the land otters and was married among them, having many children.

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From around a neighboring point she was watching him. Her children were all working to collect a quantity of food.

After this the woman’s husband told her to take a lot of food to her brother. All the land-otter-people are called “Point people” (Qatkwedi’); they have plenty of halibut, seal, etc. So she began packing these things up to take them to her brother. In front of his dwelling house her brother had a house made of branches, and one evening he heard someone come in front of his house and seem to lay down a heavy pack there. Then the person said, “The place where you are stopping is wonderfully far from us.” He went out and saw a woman but did not know who she was because her arms were grown to her breast and her mouth was thrown open with her upper lip drawn up under her nose. But the woman could see how he felt, so she said to him, “It is I. I am your sister who lives a short distance away around this point.” Then she brought the basket into her brother’s house and said to him, “Take the things out of the basket, for I have to return before the raven calls.”

Next evening she came back with another full basket. This time she said, “You have three nephews who will come over and help you get halibut and other things.” So the little otters came to their uncle. From their waist up they looked like human beings; below they were otters, and they had tails. Their mother came with them and began to take her brother’s children on her lap saying, “Little tail (Lit katsku’), little tail growing down.” As she sang tails began to grow down from them. Then their father looked at them, became angry, and said, “What are you doing to my children anyway?” Immediately she slapped them on the buttocks and said, “Up goes the little tail, up into the buttocks (tu’denatsi yeq),” and the tails went up into their buttocks.

After his nephews had stayed with him for some time the man said within himself, “I have no devilfish for bait,” and the same evening the young fellows were gone after it. Although it was high tide many devilfish were found in front of his house. The young otters called good weather bad and bad weather good.

One day they went out with their uncle to fish, and, when he put his line down with the buoy on it, the little otters all jumped into the water. They went down on the line and put on the hook the biggest halibut they could find. After they had brought in the canoe loaded twice their uncle had an abundance of provisions.

In the evening the otters had worked so hard that they fell asleep on the opposite side of the fire with their tails close to the blaze. Then their uncle said to them, “Your handy little tails are beginning to burn.” On account of those words all became angry and left him, going back to their father. Then the man’s sister came to him and asked what he had said to his nephews. He said, “I simply told them that their clothes were beginning to bum on them.” So the otters’ father tried to explain it, saying to them: “Your uncle did not mean anything when he said your clothes were beginning to burn. He wanted only to save your clothes. Now go back and stay with him.” So they got over their displeasure and went back.

All that time the man was working upon his canoe. He said within himself, “I wonder how my canoe can be gotten down.” Next morning his nephews went up, put their tails under it, and pulled it down. When they got it to their uncle’s house, he loaded the canoe and started home with them, but quite near his town he missed them out of the canoe. Then all the people there wondered where he could have gotten a canoe load of such things as he had. He gave everything to his friends. Then his wife said to the people, “Something came to help us. We have seen my husband’s sister who was drowned long ago, and that is the way we got help.”

Afterward he went back to the place where he had received assistance but saw nothing of those who had helped him. He hunted all about the place from which his sister used to come but found nothing except land-otter holes. He became discouraged and gave up searching.

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Kaka’

Kaka’s story intertwines with the supernatural as land otters rescue him and reveal his transformation caused by a sinew through his ear. Taken on a journey in their skate-like canoe, he disobeys warnings and later becomes entangled in mystical events. Abandoned by the otters but imbued with their spirits, Kaka’ is rescued, emerging as a powerful shaman connected to these spiritual beings.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Kaka’ undergoes a profound change, becoming a land otter due to a sinew placed through his ear by his wife. This physical transformation is central to the narrative.

Supernatural Beings: The land otters play a significant role, rescuing Kaka’ and guiding him through mystical experiences. Their interactions highlight the influence of supernatural entities in the tale.

Underworld Journey: Kaka’s voyage with the land otters, including his experiences among kelp stems and his eventual return, symbolizes a journey into and out of an otherworldly realm, akin to an underworld journey.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

When Kaka’ was taken south, either to Cape Ommaney or farther, a woman came to him and said, “I am in the same fix as you. We are both saved by the land otters.” [So interpreters persist in speaking of the capture of a human being by anthropomorphic animals or other supernatural beings.] That is how he found out what had happened to him. The woman also said, “I am your friend, and I have two land-otter husbands who will take you to your home.” Then she called him to her and began to look over his hair. Finally she said, “Your wife has put the sinew from a land-otter’s tail through your ear. That is what has caused you to become a land otter.”

Then they took down what looked to him like a canoe, but really it was a skate. The skate is the land-otter’s canoe.

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When they set out, they put him into the canoe, laid a woven mat over him and said, “You must not look up again.” He did look up, however, after a time and found himself tangled among the kelp stems. These land otters were going to become his spirits.

On their journey they started to cross a bay called Ken to an island called Telnu’, and, as daylight was coming on, they began to be afraid that the raven would call and kill them before they reached the other side. It was almost daylight when they came to land, so they ran off at once among the bushes and rocks, leaving Kaka’ to pull up the canoe. This was hard work, and while he was at it the skin was all worn from his lower arm, so he knew that it was a skate.

Some people traveling in a canoe saw his shadow there and tried hard to make him out clearly, but in vain. They did not want to have him turn into a land otter, so they said, “Kaka’, you have already turned into a ground hog.”

By and by one of his friends heard him singing in the midst of a thick fog at a place near the southern end of Baranoff island on the outside. Each time he ended his song with the words, “Let the log drift landward with me.” Then it would drift shoreward with him. Meanwhile he was lying on the log head down with blood running out of his nose and mouth and all kinds of sea birds were feeding on him. It was his spirits that made him that way. The real land otters had left him, but they had come to him again as spirits.

Now the people sang a song on shore that could be heard where Kaka was floating, but, although they heard the noise of a shaman’s beating sticks, they could not get at him. Then the friend who had first found him went ashore and fasted two days, after which he went out and saw Kaka’ lying on his back on the log. He was as well as when he had left Sitka. Then his friend brought him ashore, but the land-otter spirits remained with him, and he became a great shaman.

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The story of the four brothers

Four brothers, led by Kacka’lk, and their dog pursued a barking dog into the sky and encountered trials. They revived each other using red paint and a rattle after falling off cliffs and battling a one-legged man, a two-headed bear, and other beings. The youngest brother, Lqaya’k, became thunder due to misbehavior, while their sister hid in Mount Edgecumbe. Their adventures explain cultural artifacts and myths.

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

► Themes of the story

Quest: The brothers embark on a journey into the sky, pursuing a barking dog, leading them to various challenges and adventures.

Trials and Tribulations: Throughout their journey, they face numerous obstacles, including descending a steep cliff, reviving each other after fatal falls, and confronting formidable beings like a one-legged man and a two-headed bear.

Transformation: The youngest brother, Lqaya’k, undergoes a significant change by becoming thunder due to his misbehavior, illustrating a transformation theme.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Story told by Dekina’ku. According to some, the story begins with the birth of five children from a dog father.
Myth recorded in English at Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

There were four brothers who owned a dog of an Athapascan variety called dzi. [Lakitcane’, the father of these boys, is said to have lived near the site of the Presbyterian school at Sitka and to have used the “blarney stone,” so called, as a grindstone.] They had one sister. One day the dog began barking at something. Then Kacka’lk, the eldest brother, put red paint inside of his blanket, took his rattle, and followed. The other brothers went with him. They pursued it up, up into the sky. The dog kept on barking, and they did not know what it was going to do. It was chasing a cloud.

When they got to the other side of the world they came out on the edge of a very steep cliff. They did not know what to do. The dog, however, went right down the cliff, and they saw the cloud still going on ahead. Now these brothers had had nothing to eat and were very hungry. They saw the dog coming up from far below bringing the tail of a salmon. After a while they saw it run back.

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Then they said to one another, “What shall we do? We might as well go down also.” But, when Lqaya’k, the youngest brother, started he was smashed in pieces. The two next fared in the same way. Kacka’lk, however, braced his stick against the wall behind him and reached the bottom in safety. Then he put the bones of each of his brothers together, rubbed red paint on them, and shook his rattle over them, and they came to life.

Starting on again around this world, they came to a creek full of salmon. This was where the dog had been before. When they got down to it they saw a man coming up the creek. He was a large man with but one leg and had a kind of spear in his hand with which he was spearing all the salmon. They watched him from between the limbs of a large, dead tree. When he got through hooking the salmon, he put all on two strings, one of which hung out of each corner of his mouth. Then he carried them down.

Then Lqaya’k said to his brothers, “Let us devise some plan for getting the salmon spear.” So he seized a salmon, brought it ashore and skinned it. First Kacka’lk tried to get inside of it but failed. When Lqaya’k made the attempt, however, he swam off at once, and, if one of his brothers came near him, he swam away. Then the other brothers sat up in the dead tree, Kacka’lk at the top.

When the big man came up again after salmon, Lqaya’k swam close up to him, and he said, “Oh! my salmon. It is a fine salmon.” But, when he made a motion toward it with his spear, it swam back into deep water. Finally it swam up close, and the big man speared it easily. Then Lqaya’k went to the tail of the fish, cut the string which fastened the big man’s spear point to the shaft and swam off with the point. Upon this the big man pulled his shaft up, looked at it and said, “My spear is gone.” Then he went downstream. In the meantime Lqaya’k came ashore, got out of the fish, came up to his usual station on the lowest limb of the tree, and sat down there. They had him sit below because he talked so much, and because he was the most precipitate.

That night the one-legged man did not sleep at all on account of his lost spear. He was using it in working for the bear people. When he came up next morning he had a quill in his hands which would tell him things. He took this about among the trees, and, when he came to that on which the brothers were sitting, it bent straight down. Then he cried, “Bring my spear this way.” Although he saw no one, he knew that there were people there who had it. Then he came to the bottom of the tree, seized Lqaya’k and tore him in pieces. So he served the next two brothers. But Kacka’lk had his dog, which he was able to make small, concealed under his coat and, after his brothers were torn up, he let it go, and it tore the big man all to pieces. Because he had his red paint, rattle, and dog he cared for nothing. Now he put the red paint on his brothers’ bodies and shook the rattle over them so that they came to life.

Next morning they got into the same tree again. Then they saw a man with two heads placed one over another coming up the stream. It was the bear chief. He hooked a great many salmon and put them, on pieces of string on each side of his mouth. Next evening a little old man came up. Lqaya’k came down and asked, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I have come up after salmon.” But he could hook none at all, so Lqaya’k caught a lot for him. Then Lqaya’k asked him: “What does that double-head that came up here do?” The old man said, “I will tell you about it.” So they said to him: “Now we want you to tell the truth about this? What does he really do when he gets home with his salmon? We will get you more salmon if you tell us truly.” And the old man answered: “When he gets home with a load of salmon, he leaves it down by the river. Then he takes off his skin coat and hangs it up.” This is what he told them.

The next time the two-heads came up and began to throw salmon ashore, it said all at once, “I feel people’s looks” [meaning “I feel that people’s looks are on me.”] As soon as he came opposite the place where they were sitting, Kacka’lk threw his dog right upon him. It caught this big bear by the neck and killed him. Every time thereafter, when the little old man came up, they questioned him about the people in the place he came from.

At last they caught a lot of salmon and prepared to descend. Then Kacka’lk put on the bearskin, placed his brothers under his arms inside of it, took strings of salmon as the bear had done, and started on. When he came in front of the houses he acted just like the two-headed man. First he entered the two-headed man’s house and shook his skin, whereupon his brothers and the dog passed behind the screens in the rear of the house and hid themselves. After that he began fixing his salmon, and, when he was through, took off his coat, and hung it up in the manner that had been described to him.

Toward evening a great deal of noise was heard outside, made over some object. Lqaya’k very much wanted to go out and look, but they tried to prevent him. Finally he did go out and began to play with the object, whereupon the players rolled it on him and cut him in two. After that the two brothers next older went out and were cut in two in the same manner. After this Kacka’lk sent his dog out. He seized the object, shook it and made it fly to the tops of the mountains, where it made the curved shapes the mountains have today. Then it rolled right back again. When it rolled back, the dog became very angry, seized it a second time, shook it hard, and threw it so high that it went clear around the sun. It made the halo of light seen there. Then Kacka’lk took his brothers’ bodies, pieced them together, put red paint upon them and shook his rattle over them. They came to life again. Then he took the dog, made it small, and put it under his arm; and they started off. Since that time people have had the kind of spear (dina’) above referred to. The brothers started on with it, and, whenever they were hungry, they got food with it. They always kept together.

After a while they came across some Athapascan Indians called Worm-eating people (Wun-xa qoan). These were so named because, when they killed game, they let worms feed upon it, and, when the worms had become big enough, they ate them through holes in the middle of their foreheads which served them as mouths. Lqaya’k wanted to be among these Athapascans, because they had bows and arrows and wore quills attached to their hair. They used their bows and arrows to shoot caribou, and, when they were pursuing this animal, they used to eat snow.

After Lqaya’k had obtained his bow and arrows they came out at a certain place, probably the Stikine river, and stayed among some people who were whipping one another for strength, in the sea. Every morning they went into the water with them.

At that time they thought that Lqaya’k was going with his sister, and they put some spruce gum around the place where she slept. Then they found the spruce gum on him and called him all sorts of names when they came from bathing. They called him Messenger-with-pitch-on-his-thigh (Naqa’ni qacguqo), the messenger being a brother-in-law of the people of the clan giving a feast. They named him so because they were very much ashamed. This is why people have ever since been very watchful about their sisters. Because he had been fooling with his sister, when Lqaya’k went out, his brothers said to him, “You do not behave yourself. Go somewhere else. You can be a thunder (hel).” They said to him, “Ha’agun kadi’.” [It is said that no one knows what these words mean.]

This is why, when thunder is heard, people always say, “You gummy thigh.” It is because Lqaya’k became a thunder. Their sister was ashamed. She went down into Mount Edgecumbe (Lux) through the crater.

Because the thunder is a man, when the thunder is heard far out at sea, people blow up into the air through their hands and say, “Let it drive the sickness away,” or “Let it go far northward.” The other brothers started across the Stikine and became rocks there.

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The Red-Bud Tree

Four young princes, curious about the mysterious Red-Bud Tree, visited it during different seasons. The eldest saw it bare in early spring, the second with red buds, the third covered in green leaves, and the youngest adorned with bean-pods. They argued over its appearance, but the king explained they had all seen the same tree, illustrating how perspectives change with time.

Source: 
More Jataka Tales 
by Ellen C. Babbit 
The Century Co., New York, 1922

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The tree undergoes physical changes throughout the seasons—bare branches, red buds, green leaves, and bean pods—symbolizing the natural cycles of transformation.

Moral Lessons: The princes learn that their individual observations are part of a larger, complete picture, teaching them about the value of perspective and the importance of considering different viewpoints before drawing conclusions.

Illusion vs. Reality: Each prince’s perception of the tree is limited to a single season, leading them to different conclusions about its true nature. This highlights the theme of distinguishing between appearance and the complete reality, emphasizing that understanding the full truth requires seeing beyond initial impressions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Jataka Tales

Once upon a time four young princes heard a story about a certain wonderful tree, called the Red-Bud Tree. No one of them had ever seen a Red-Bud Tree, and each prince wished to be the first to see one. So the eldest prince asked the driver of the king’s chariot to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew.

It was still very early in the spring and the tree had no leaves, nor buds. It was black and bare like a dead tree. The prince could not understand why this was called a Red-Bud Tree, but he asked no questions.

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Later in the spring, the next son went with the driver of the king’s chariot to see the Red-Bud Tree. At this time it was covered with red buds.

The tree was all covered with green leaves when the third son went into the woods a little later to see it. He asked no questions about it, but he could see no reason for calling it the Red-Bud Tree.

Some time after this the youngest prince begged to be taken to see the Red-Bud Tree. By this time it was covered with little bean-pods.

When he came back from the woods he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing, crying, “I have seen the Red-Bud Tree.”

“So have I,” said the eldest prince. “It did not look like much of a tree to me,” said he; “it looked like a dead tree. It was black and bare.”

“What makes you say that?” said the second son. “The tree has hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is called the Red-Bud Tree.”

The third prince said: “Red buds, did you say? Why do you say it has red buds? It is covered with green leaves.”

The prince who had seen the tree last laughed at his brothers, saying: “I have just seen that tree, and it is not like a dead tree. It has neither red buds nor green leaves on it. It is covered with little bean-pods.”

The king heard them and waited until they stopped talking. Then he said: “My sons, you have all four seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year.”

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The Elephant Girly-Face

An elephant named Girly-face, known for his gentle nature, is influenced by robbers’ cruel words overheard at night, turning violent and uncontrollable. The king’s wise man deduces the cause and suggests exposing Girly-face to kind and virtuous conversations. This approach restores Girly-face’s gentle behavior, illustrating how the company we keep and the words we hear profoundly shape our actions and character.

Source: 
Jataka Tales 
by Ellen C. Babbit 
The Century Co., New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Girly-face undergoes a significant behavioral change, first becoming violent after hearing the robbers and then returning to gentleness through exposure to positive influences.

Moral Lessons: The narrative illustrates the impact of external influences on one’s character and the importance of surrounding oneself with virtuous company.

Cunning and Deception: The robbers’ deceitful discussions serve as a catalyst for Girly-face’s initial transformation, highlighting how deceptive words can lead to negative outcomes

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Jataka Tales

Once upon a time a king had an Elephant named Girly-face. The Elephant was called Girly-face because he was so gentle and good and looked so kind. “Girly-face never hurts anybody,” the keeper of the Elephants often said.

Now one night some robbers came into the courtyard and sat on the ground just outside the stall where Girly-face slept. The talk of the robbers awoke Girly-face.

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“This is the way to break into a house,” they said. “Once inside the house kill any one who wakens. A robber must not be afraid to kill. A robber must be cruel and have no pity. He must never be good, even for a moment.”

Girly-face said to himself, “Those men are teaching me how I should act. I will be cruel. I will show no pity. I will not be good–not even for a moment.”

So the next morning when the keeper came to feed Girly-face he picked him up in his trunk and threw the poor keeper to the ground, killing him.

Another keeper ran to see what the trouble was, and Girly-face killed him, too.

For days and days Girly-face was so ugly that no one dared go near. The food was left for him, but no man would go near him.

By and by the king heard of this and sent one of his wise men to find out what ailed Girly-face.

The wise man had known Girly-face a long time. He looked the Elephant over carefully and could find nothing that seemed to be the matter.

He thought at last, “Girly-face must have heard some bad men talking. Have there been any bad men talking about here?” asked the wise man.

“Yes,” one of the keepers said, “a band of robbers were caught here a few weeks ago. They had met in the yard to talk over their plans. They were talking together near the stall where Girly-face sleeps.”

So the wise man went back to the king. Said he, “I think Girly-face has been listening to bad talk. If you will send some good men to talk where Girly-face can hear them I think he will be a good Elephant once more.”

So that night the king sent a company of the best men to be found to sit and talk near the stall where Girly-face lived. They said to one another, “It is wrong to hurt any one. It is wrong to kill. Every one should be gentle and good.”

“Now those men are teaching me,” thought Girly-face. “I must be gentle and good. I must hurt no one. I must not kill any one.” And from that time on Girly-face was tame and as good as ever an Elephant could be.

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The Land of Darkness

A woman trapped in an abusive marriage uses magic to escape, embarking on a perilous journey that leads her to a mysterious land of darkness. There, she builds a new life with a strange man, amasses wealth, and later returns to her village. Though briefly reconciled with her first husband, his old ways resurface, prompting her to leave forever, leaving her son enriched and empowered.

Source: 
The Eskimo about Bering Strait 
by Edward William Nelson 
[Smithsonian Institution] 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Eighteenth Annual Report 
Washington, 1900

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes significant changes, both in her circumstances and personal growth, as she escapes her abusive marriage and builds a new life.

Quest: Her journey to the mysterious land of darkness represents a quest for freedom and self-discovery.

Conflict with Authority: The story highlights her struggle against the oppressive control of her jealous husband.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from Sledge Island

Very long ago there lived on Aziak (Sledge) island a man with his wife and little son. The husband loved his wife very much, but was so jealous of her that frequently without cause he treated her very badly.

After a time the wife became so unhappy that she preferred to die rather than live with him longer. Going to her mother, who lived near by, she related all her troubles.

The old woman listened to the complaints and then told her daughter to take a sealskin and rub it with the excrement of three ptarmigans and three foxes; then to fill a wooden dish with food and with her child upon her back to go and meet her husband, and perhaps all might be well with her.

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Doing as she was directed, she went down to the shore to meet her husband. When he came within hearing, however, he began to scold and abuse her as usual, telling her to go home at once and he would give her a beating as soon as he got there. When the poor woman heard this she ran to the edge of a low bluff overhanging the sea, and as her husband drew his kaiak upon the shore she cast her sealskin into the water and leaped after it. Her husband saw this with alarm, and ran quickly to the top of a hill to see what had become of his wife. He saw her sitting upon the extended sealskin, which was supported at each corner by a bladder, floating rapidly away from the shore, for when the woman leaped into the sea, the sealskin she threw in had suddenly opened out and a float appeared at each corner. This caught her upon its surface and held her up safely. Very soon after she began to float away a storm arose and night shut her from her husband’s sight, and he went home scolding angrily, blaming every one but himself for his loss.

On and on floated the woman, seated on the magic sealskin, and for several days no land could be seen. She used all her food, but still she floated on until it became unbroken night. After a time she became so exhausted that she fell asleep, and was awakened by several sharp shocks and could hear the waves breaking on a pebbly shore. Realizing this, she began to try to save herself; so she stepped from the seal skin and was greatly pleased to find herself standing on a beach made up of small rounded objects, into which her feet sank ankle deep at every step.

These round objects made her curious, so she stopped and picked up two handfuls of them, putting them in her food dish, after which she went slowly on into the deep blackness. Before she had gone far she came to a house, and, feeling along its side, found the entrance and went in. The passageway was dimly lighted by an oil lamp, showing many deerskins piled on one side, and on the other were pieces of flesh and bags of whale and seal oil. When she entered the house there were two oil lamps burning, one on each side of the room, but no one was at home. Over one of the lamps hung a piece of seal fat, and over the other a piece of reindeer fat, from which the oil dropped and fed the flames, and in one corner of the room was a deerskin bed.

She entered and sat down, waiting for what would come to her. At last there was a noise in the entrance way, and a man said, “I smell strange people.” Then the man came into the room, frightening the woman very badly, for his face and hands were coal black. He said nothing, but crossed the room to his bed, where, after stripping the upper part of his body, he took a tub of water and washed himself. The woman was relieved to see that his chest was as white as her own. While sitting here she saw a dish of some cooked flesh suddenly placed inside the door by an unseen person, from which the man helped his guest and then took his own meal. When they had done eating he asked her how she came there, and she told him her story. He told her not to feel badly, and went out and brought in a number of deer skins, telling her to make clothing from them for herself and her child, for she had kept her child safely upon her back all the time. When she told him that she had no needle, he brought her one of copper, which pleased her very much, for until then she had never seen any but bone needles.

For some time they lived thus, until at last the man told her that as they were living alone it would be better for her to become his wife, to which she agreed. The husband then told her not to go outside the house, and they lived quietly together.

While her little boy was playing about one day, he cried out suddenly with delight, and when the woman looked at him she saw that he had spilled the things which she had put in her dish when she stepped on the shore. Examining them, she found they were large, handsome, blue beads. [Beads of this kind are still highly prized by the Eskimo of this coast.]

In time she gave birth to a fine boy, of which her husband was very fond, telling her to be very careful of him. In this way they lived for several years, and in time the boy she had brought with her became a youth. His foster father made him a bow and arrows, and when the boy had killed some birds with them he was allowed to accompany him when hunting. One day the boy killed and brought home two hares, which, like all the animals and birds in this country, were coal black. They were skinned and left outside, and shortly after, freshly cooked and steaming, they were placed just inside the door in a wooden dish, as was always done with their food. The woman noticed for the first time that when the dish was pushed inside the door it was held by two hands.

This remained in her mind until she became suspicious that her husband was not faithful to her. Finally he saw that something troubled her; he asked what it was, and she told him. After sitting and thinking for a short time he asked her if she did not wish to go back to her friends, to which she replied that there was no use in wishing for any thing that she could not do. So he said, “Well, listen to my story, I am from Unalaklit, where I had a handsome wife whom I loved, but who had a very bad temper, which troubled me so much that I lost heart and was in despair, and from being a good and successful hunter I could no longer succeed. One day I was paddling in my kaiak far out at sea, filled with heavy thoughts, when a great storm broke upon me and I was unable to return to the shore. The high wind forced my kaiak through the water so fiercely that at last I lost consciousness and remembered no more until I found myself lying bruised and lame upon the shore where you, too, were cast. Beside me was a dish of food, of which I ate, and feeling strengthened, I arose, thinking that the food must have been placed there by some one, and started to search for the people, but could find no one. While my wants were still supplied with food every time I became hungry, the thick dark ness hid everything from me; but I could find no people, and when my eyes became accustomed to the unbroken darkness, so that I could see a little, I built this house and since then I have lived here, being cared for by the inua who, as you have seen, serves my food. This inua usually takes the form of a large jelly fish, and although I go hunting it is this being that secures my game for me. I became accustomed to the darkness after a time, but the exposure to the continual blackness has made my face and hands as you see? and that is the reason why I told you not to go outside.”

Her husband then told her to follow him, and he led her into the entrance way of the storeroom, which was full of furs, and then he opened a door into another room full of tine furs of the rarest kinds. He then told her to take the ear tips from these skins and put them into her dish with the, beads she had found on the shore, and she did so. Then the man said, “You wish to see your old home and I also wish to see my friends, and we will part. Take your boy upon your back, shut your eyes, and take four steps.” She did as he told her, and so soon as she had opened her eyes she was obliged to close them, for they were dazzled by the bright sunshine about her. When her eyes became used to the light, she looked about and was greatly surprised to see her old home close by. She went at once to her mother’s storehouse and placed in it her wooden dish containing the beads and ear tips she had brought with her. Then she entered the house and was received with great joy, and the news of her return quickly spread through the village. Very soon her former husband came in and she saw with pity that his eyes were red and inflamed from constant weeping for her. He asked her to forgive him for being so harsh, and promised if she would return to him as his wife that he would always treat her kindly. When she had considered this for a long time she finally consented, and for a time she lived happily with him. At length, however, his old habits returned and his wife became unhappy.

Her son became a young man and his mother showed him the beads she had brought from the land of darkness, and also a great pile of rich furs, for every ear tip she had brought back with her had now become a full-size skin. These she gave to her son and then went away and was never seen again by her people. Her son afterward became a headman of the village from his success as a hunter and the wealth of furs and beads given him by his mother.

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