When he looked up again he saw approaching, with a waving motion, a dark object which came on until just in front of him, when it stopped, and, standing on the ground, looked at him. This was a raven, and, as soon as it stopped, it raised one of its wings, pushed up its beak, like a mask, to the top of its head, and changed at once into a man. Before he raised his mask Raven had stared at the man, and after it was raised he stared more than ever, moving about from side to side to obtain a better view. At last he said: “What are you? Whence did you come? I have never seen anything like you.” Then Raven looked at Man, and was still more surprised to find that this strange new being was so much like himself in shape.

Then he told Man to walk away a few steps, and in astonishment exclaimed again: “Whence did you come? I have never seen anything like you before.” To this Man replied: “I came from the pea-pod.” And he pointed to the plant from which he came. “Ah!” exclaimed Raven, “I made that vine, but did not know that anything like you would ever come from it. Come with me to the high ground over there; this ground I made later, and it is still soft and thin, but it is thicker and harder there.”

In a short time they came to the higher land, which was firm under their feet. Then Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything. The latter answered that he had taken some soft stuff into him at one of the pools. “Ah!” said Raven, “you drank some water. Now wait for me here.”

Then he drew down the mask over his face, changing again into a bird, and flew far up into the sky where he disappeared. Man waited where he had been left until the fourth day, when Raven returned, bringing four berries in his claws. Pushing up his mask, Raven became a man again and held out two salmonberries and two heathberries, saying, “Here is what I have made for you to eat. I also wish them to be plentiful over the earth. Now eat them.” Man took the berries and placed them in his mouth one after the other and they satisfied his hunger, which had made him feel uncomfortable. Raven then led Man to a small creek near by and left him while he went to the water’s edge and molded a couple of pieces of clay into the form of a pair of mountain sheep, which he held in his hand, and when they became dry he called Man to show him what he had done. Man thought they were very pretty, and Raven told him to close his eyes. As soon as Man’s eyes were closed Raven drew down his mask and waved his wings four times over the images, when they became endowed with life and bounded away as full-grown mountain sheep. Raven then raised his mask and told Man to look. When Man saw the sheep moving away, full of life, he cried out with pleasure. Seeing how pleased Man was, Raven said, “If these animals are numerous, perhaps people will wish very much to get them.” And Man said he thought they would. “Well,” said Raven, “it will be better for them to have their home among the high cliffs, so that every one can not kill them, and there only shall they be found.”

Then Raven made two animals of clay which he endowed with life as before, but as they were dry only in spots when they were given life, they remained brown and white, and so originated the tame reindeer with mottled coat. Man thought these were very handsome, and Raven told him that they would be very scarce. In the same way a pair of wild reindeer were made and permitted to get dry and white only on their bellies, then they were given life; in consequence, to this day the belly of the wild reindeer is the only white part about it. Raven told Man that these animals would be very common, and people would kill many of them.

“You will be very lonely by yourself,” said Raven. “I will make you a companion.” He then went to a spot some distance from where he had made the animals, and, looking now and then at Man, made an image very much like him. Then he fastened a lot of fine water grass on the back of the head for hair, and after the image had dried in his hands, he waived his wings over it as before and a beautiful young woman arose and stood beside Man. “There,” cried Raven, “is a companion for you,” and he led them back to a small knoll near by.

In those days there were no mountains far or near, and the sun never ceased shining brightly; no rain ever fell and no winds blew. When they came to the knoll, Raven showed the pair how to make a bed in the dry moss, and they slept there very warmly; Raven drew down his mask and slept near by in the form of a bird. Waking before the others, Raven went back to the creek and made a pair each of stickle backs, graylings, and blackfish. When these were swimming about in the water, he called Man to see them. When the latter looked at them and saw the sticklebacks swim up the stream with a wriggling motion he was so surprised that he raised his hand suddenly and the fish darted away. Raven then showed him the graylings and told him that they would be found in clear mountain streams, while the sticklebacks would live along the seacoast and that both would be good for food. Next the shrew-mouse was made, Raven saying that it would not be good for food but would enliven the ground and prevent it from seeming barren and cheerless.

In this way Raven continued for several days making birds, fishes, and animals, showing them to Man, and explaining their uses. After this he flew away to the sky and was gone four days, when he returned, bringing back a salmon for the use of Man. Looking about he saw that the ponds and lakes were silent and lonely, so he created many water insects upon their surfaces, and from the same clay he made the beaver and the muskrat to frequent their borders. Then, also, were made flies, mosquitoes, and various other land and water insects, it being explained to Man that these were made to enliven and make cheerful the earth. At that time the mosquito was like the house-fly in its habits and did not bite as it does now. Man was shown the muskrat and told to take its skin for clothing. He was also told that the beavers would live along the streams and build strong houses and that he must follow their example, and like wise that the beavers would be very cunning and only good hunters would be able to take them.

At this time the woman gave birth to a child, and Raven directed Man how to feed and care for it, telling him that it would grow into a man like himself. As soon as the child was born, Raven and Man took it to a creek, rubbed it over with clay, and then returned with it to his stopping place on the knoll. The next morning the child was running about pulling up grass and other plants which Raven had caused to grow near by; on the third day the child became a full-grown man. After this Raven thought that if he did not create something to make men afraid they would destroy everything he had made to inhabit the earth. Then he went to a creek near by, where he formed a bear and gave it life, jumping to one side quickly as the bear stood up and looked fiercely about. Man was then called and told that the bear would be very fierce and would tear him to pieces if he disturbed it. Then were made different kinds of seals, and their names and habits were explained to man. Raven also taught Man to make rawhide lines from sealskin, and snares for deer, but cautioned him to wait until the deer were abundant before he snared any of them.

In time the woman was with child again, and Raven said it would be a girl and they must rub her over with clay as soon as she was born, and that after she was grown she must marry her brother. Then Raven went away to the place of the pea vine, where the first man was found. While he was gone a girl was born and the pair did as they were told, and the next day the girl walked about. On the third day she became a full-grown woman, and was married to the young man as directed by Raven, in order that the earth might be peopled more rapidly.

When Raven reached the pea vine he found three other men had just fallen from the pea pod that gave the first one. These men, like the first, were looking about them in wonder, and Raven led them away in an opposite direction from that in which he had taken the first man, afterward bringing them to firm land close to the sea. Here they stopped, and Raven remained with them a long time, teaching them how to live. He taught them how to make a fire drill and bow from a piece of dry wood and a cord, taking the wood from the bushes and small trees he had caused to grow in hollows and sheltered places on the hillside. He made for each of the men a wife, and also made many plants and birds such as frequent the seacoast, but fewer kinds than he had made in the land where the first man lived. He taught the men to make bows and arrows, spears, nets, and all the implements of the chase and how to use them; also how to capture the seals which had now become plentiful in the sea. After he had taught them how to make kaiaks, he showed them how to build houses of drift logs and bushes covered with earth. Now the three wives of the last men were all pregnant, and Raven went back to the first man, where he found the children were married; then he told Man about all he had done for the people on the seacoast. Looking about here he thought the earth seemed bare; so, while the others slept, he caused birch, spruce, and cottonwood trees to spring up in low places, and then awoke the people, who were much pleased at seeing the trees. After this they were taught how to make fire with the fire drill and to place the spark of tinder in a bunch of dry grass and wave it about until it blazed, then to place dry wood upon it. They were shown how to roast fish on a stick, to make fish traps of splints and willow bark, to dry salmon for winter use, and to make houses.

Raven then went back to the coast men again. When he had gone Man and his son went down to the sea and the son caught a seal which they tried to kill with their hands but could not, until, finally, the son killed it by a blow with his fist. Then the father took off its skin with his hands alone and made it into lines which they dried. With these lines they set snares in the woods for reindeer. When they went to look at these the next morning, they found the cords bitten in two and the snares gone, for in those days reindeer had sharp teeth like dogs.

After thinking for a time the young man made a deep hole in the deer trail and hung in it a heavy stone fastened to the snare so that when it caught a deer the stone would slip down into the hole, drag the deer’s neck down to the ground, and hold it fast. The next morning when they returned they found a deer entangled in the snare. Taking it out they killed and skinned it, carrying the skin home for a bed; some of the flesh was roasted on the fire and found to be very good to eat.

One day Man went out seal hunting along the seashore. He saw many seals, but in each case after he had crept carefully up they would tumble into the water before he could get to them, until only one was left on the rocks; Man crept up to it more carefully than before, but it also escaped. Then he stood up and his breast seemed full of a strange feeling, and the water began to run in drops from his eyes and down his face. He put up his hand and caught some of the drops to look at them and found that they were really water; then, without any wish on his part, loud cries began to break from him and the tears ran down, his face as he went home. When his son saw him coming, he called to his wife and mother to see Man coining along making such a strange noise; when he reached them they were still more surprised to see water running down his face. After he told them the story of his disappointment they were all stricken with the same strange ailment and began to wail with him, and in this way people first learned how to cry. After this the son killed another seal and they made more deer snares from its hide.

When the deer caught this time was brought home, Man told his people to take a splint bone from its foreleg and to drill a hole in the large end. Into this they put some strands of sinew from the deer and sewed skins upon their bodies to keep themselves warm when winter came; for Raven had told them to do this, so that the fresh deerskins dried upon them. Man then showed his son how to make bows and arrows and to tip the latter with points of horn for killing deer; with them the son killed his first deer. After he had cut up this deer he placed its fat on a bush and then fell asleep; when he awoke he was very angry to find that mosquitoes had eaten all of it. Until this time mosquitoes had never bitten people, but Man scolded them for what they had done and said, “Never eat meat again, but eat men,” and since that day mosquitoes have always bitten people.

Where the first man lived there had now grown a large village, for the people did everything as Raven directed them, and as soon as a child was born it was rubbed with clay and so caused to grow to its full stature in three days. One day Raven came back and sat by Man, and they talked of many things. Man asked Raven about the land he had made in the sky. Raven said that he had made a fine land there, whereupon Man asked to be taken to see it. This was agreed to and they started toward the sky where they arrived in a short time. There Man found himself in a beautiful country with a very much better climate than that on earth; but the people who lived there were very small. Their heads reached only to his thigh when they stood beside him. Man looked about as they journeyed and saw many strange animals; also that the country was much finer than the one he had left. Raven told him that this land, with its people and animals, was the first he had made.

The people living here wore handsomely made fur clothing, worked in ornamental patterns, such as people now wear on earth; for Man, on his return, showed his people how to make clothes in this manner, and the patterns have been retained ever since. After a time they came to a large kashim, and went in; a very old man, the first made by Raven in the sky land, came out from his place of honor at the head of the room, opposite the door, and welcomed them, telling the people to bring food for the guest from the lower land, who was his friend. Then boiled flesh of a kind which Man had never eaten before was brought to him.

Raven told him that it was from the mountain sheep and the tame rein deer. After Man had eaten Raven led him on again to show him other things which he had made, and told him not to try to drink from any of the lakes they might pass, for in them he had made animals that would seize and destroy him if he went near.

On the way they came to a dry lake bed in which tall grass was growing thickly. Lying upon the very tips of this grass, which did not bend under its weight, was a large, strange-looking animal, with a long head and six legs. The two hind-legs were unusually large; the fore legs were short, and a small pair extended down from the belly. All over the animal’s body grew fine, thick hair, like that on the shrewmouse, but it was longer about the feet. From the back of the head grew a pair of thick, short horns, which extended forward and curved back at the tips. The animal had small eyes and was of very dark color or blackish.

Raven told Man that when people wished to kill one of these animals they first placed logs on the ground under them, for, if they did not, the animal would sink into the earth when he fell and be lost. In order to kill one of them many people were needed, and when the animal fell on the logs other logs must be thrown over it and held down, while two men took large clubs and beat in its skull between the eyes. Next they came to a round hole in the sky, around the border of which grew a ring of short grass, glowing like fire. This, Raven said, was a star called the Moon-dog (I-gha-lum Ki-mukh-ti). The tops of the grass bordering the hole were gone, and Raven said that his mother had taken some, and he had taken the rest to make the first fire on earth. He added that he had tried to make some of this same kind of grass on the earth but could not.

Man was now told to close his eyes and he would be taken to another place. Raven took him upon his wings and, dropping through the star hole, they floated down for a long time, until at last they entered some thing that seemed to resist their course. Finally they stopped, and Raven said they were standing at the bottom of the sea. Man breathed quite easily there, and Raven told him that the foggy appearance was caused by the water. He said, “I will make some new kinds of animals here; but you must not walk about; you must lie down, and if you become tired you may turn over upon the other side.”

Raven then left Man lying on one side, where he rested for a long time; finally he awoke, but felt very tired, so he tried to turn over, but could not. Then Man thought, “I wish I could turn over;” and in a moment he turned without effort. As he did this he was surprised to see that his body had become covered with long, white hairs and that his fingers had become long claws, but he quickly fell asleep again. He awoke, and turned over and fell asleep three times more. When he awoke the fourth time Raven stood beside him and said, “I have changed you into a white bear. How do you like it?” Man tried to answer, but could not make a sound until the Raven waved his magic wing over him, when he replied that he did not like it, for he would have to live on the sea while his son would be on the shore, and he would feel badly. Then Raven made a stroke with his wings and the bearskin fell from Man and lay empty at one side while he sat up in his original form. Then Raven took one of his tail-feathers, placing it inside the bearskin for a spine, and, after waving his wing over it, a white bear arose. Then they passed on, and ever since white bears have been found on the frozen sea.

Raven asked Man how many times he had turned over, and he answered, “four.” “That was four years,” said Raven, “for you slept there just four years.” They had gone only a short distance beyond this, when they saw a small animal like a shrew-mouse; this was a wi’-lu-gho’-yuk. It is like the shrew that lives on the land, but this one always lives at sea on the ice. When it sees a man it darts at him, and, entering the toe of his boot, crawls all over his body, after which, if he keeps perfectly quiet, it will leave him unharmed and the man will become a successful hunter. In case the man moves even a finger while this animal is on him, it instantly burrows into his flesh and goes directly to his heart, causing death.

Then Raven made the a-mi’-kuk, a large, slimy, leathery-skin animal, with four long, wide-spreading arms. This is a fierce animal, living in the sea, which wraps its arms about a man or a kaiak and drags them under the water; if the man tries to escape from it by leaving his kaiak and getting on the ice it will dart underneath, breaking the ice beneath his feet, and even pursuing him on shore by burrowing through the earth as easily as it swims in the water, so that no one can escape from it when it once pursues him.

Beyond this, they saw two large dark-colored animals, around which swam a smaller one. Raven hurried forward and sat upon the head of the smaller animal, and it became quiet. When Man drew near, Raven showed him two walrus, and said that the animal upon whose head he was borne was a walrus dog (az-i-wu’-gumki-mukh’-ti). This animal, he said, would always go with large herds of walrus and would kill people. It was long and rather slender, covered with black scales which were not too hard to be pierced by a spear. Its head and teeth were somewhat like those of a dog; it had four legs and a long, round tail covered with scales like those on the body; with a stroke of this tail it could kill a man.

Some whales and grampus were seen next. Raven told Man that only good hunters could kill them, and that when one was killed an entire village could feast. Then they saw the sea fox, an animal very much like the red fox, except that it lives in the sea and is so fierce that it kills men. Near this were two sea otters, which is like the land otter, but has much finer fur, tipped with white, and is very scarce, only the best hunters being able to capture it. They passed many kinds of fish and then the shore rose before them, and overhead could be seen the ripples on the surface of the water. “Close your eyes, and hold fast to me,” said Raven. As soon as he had done this, Man found himself standing on the shore near his home, and was very much astonished to see a large village where he had left only a few huts; his wife had become very old and his son was an old man. The people saw him and welcomed him back, making him their headman; he was given the place of honor in the kashim, and there told the people what he had seen and taught the young men many things. The villagers would have given Raven a seat by the old man in the place of honor, but he refused it and chose a seat with the humble people near the entrance. After a time the old man began to wish to see the fine sky land again, but his people tried to induce him to stay with them. He told his children that they must not feel badly at his absence, and then, in company with Raven, he returned to the sky land. The dwarf people welcomed them, and they lived there for a long time, until the villagers on the earth had become very numerous and killed a great many animals. This angered Man and Raven so much that one night they took a long line and a grass basket with which they descended to the earth. Raven caught ten reindeer, which he put into the basket with the old man; then one end of the cord was fastened to the basket and Raven returned to the sky, drawing it up after him. The next evening they took the reindeer and went down close to Man’s village; the deer were then told to break down the first house they came to and destroy the people, for men were becoming too numerous. The reindeer did as they were told and ate up the people with their sharp, wolf-like teeth, after which they returned to the sky; the next night they came back and destroyed another house with its people in the same manner. The villagers had now become much frightened and covered the third house with a mixture of deer fat and berries. When the reindeer tried to destroy this house they filled their mouths with the fat and sour berries, which caused them to run off, shaking their heads so violently that all their long, sharp teeth fell out. Afterward small teeth, such, as reindeer now have, grew in their places, and these animals became harmless.

Man and Raven returned to the sky after the reindeer ran away, Man saying, “If something is not done to stop people from taking so many animals they will continue until they have killed everything you have made. It is better to take away the sun from them so that they will be in the dark and will die.”

To this Raven agreed, saying, “You remain here and I will go and take away the sun.” So he went away and, taking the sun, put it into his skin bag and carried it far away to a part of the sky land where his parents lived, and it became very dark on earth. In his father’s village Raven took to himself a wife from the maidens of the place and lived there, keeping the sun hidden carefully in the bag.

The people on earth were very much frightened when the sun was taken away, and tried to get it back by offering Raven rich presents of food and furs, but without effect. After many trials the people propitiated Raven so that he let them have the light for a short time. Then he would hold up the sun in one hand for two days at a time, so that the people could hunt and get food, after which it would be taken away and all would become dark. After this a long time would pass and it required many offerings before he would let them have light again. This was repeated many times.

Raven had living in this village an older brother who began to feel sorry for the earth people and to think of means by which he could get the sun and return it to its place. After he had thought a long time he pretended to die, and was put away in a grave box, as was customary. As soon as the mourners left his grave he arose and went out a short distance from the village, where he hid his raven mask and coat in a tree; then he went to the spring where the villagers got their water, and waited. In a short time his brother’s wife came for water, and after she had filled her bucket she took up a ladle full of water to drink. As she drank, Raven’s brother, by a magic spell, changed him self into a small leaf, falling into the ladle, and was swallowed with the water. The woman coughed and then hastened home, where she told her husband that she had swallowed some strange thing while drinking at the spring, to which he paid little attention, saying it was probably a small leaf.

Immediately after this the woman became with child, and in a few days gave birth to a boy, who was very lively and crept about at once and in a few days was running about. He cried continually for the sun, and, as the father was very fond of him, he frequently let the child have it for a plaything, but was always careful to take it back again. As soon as the boy began to play out of doors he cried and begged for the sun more than ever. After refusing for a long time, his father let him take the sun again and the boy played with it in the house, and then, when no one was looking, he carried it outside, ran quickly to the tree, put on his raven mask and coat, and flew far away with it. When he was far up from the sky he heard his father crying out to him, “Do not hide the sun. Let it out of the bag to make some light. Do not keep it always dark.” For he feared his son had stolen it to keep it for himself.

Then Raven went home and the Raven boy flew on to the place where the sun belonged. There he tore off the skin covering and put the sun in its place again. From this place he saw a broad path leading far away, which he followed. It led him to the side of a hole surrounded by short grass glowing with light, some of which he plucked. He remembered that his father had called to him not to keep it always dark, but to make it partly dark and partly light. Thinking of this, he caused the sky to revolve, so that it moved around the earth, carrying the sun and stars with it, thus making day and night.

While he was standing close by the edge of the earth, just before sunrise, he stuck into the sky a bunch of the glowing grass that he held in his hand, and it has stayed there ever since, forming the brilliant morning star. Going down to the earth he came at last to the village where the first people lived. There the old people welcomed him, and he told them that Raven had been angry with them and had taken the sun away, but that he had put it back himself so that it would never be moved again.

Among the people who welcomed him was the headman of the sky dwarfs, who had come down with some of his people to live on the earth. Then the people asked him what had become of Man, who had gone up to the sky with Raven. This was the first time the Raven boy had heard of Man, and he tried to fly up to the sky to see him, but found that he could rise only a short distance above the earth. When he found that he could not get back to the sky, he wandered away until he came to a village where lived the children of the other men last born from the pea-vine. There he took a wife and lived a long time, having many children, all of whom became Raven people like himself and were able to fly over the earth, but they gradually lost their magic powers until finally they became ordinary ravens like the birds we see now on the tundras.

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The water finally went away and the seaweeds became trees, shrubs, bushes, and grass. The long seaweeds were the trees and the smaller kinds became the bushes and grass. The grass, however, was in some manner put in various places by a walrus at a later date than the appearance of the trees.

A woman who had lost her husband lived among strangers. As they desired to change the place of their habitation, they resolved to journey to another point of land at a distance. The woman who was depending on charity had become a burden of which they wished to rid themselves. So they put all their belongings into the umiak and when they were on the way they seized the woman and cast her overboard. She struggled to regain the side of the boat, and when she seized it, the other’s cut off her fingers which fell into the water and changed to seals, walrus, whales, and white bears. The woman in her despair, screamed her determination to have revenge for the cruelty perpetrated upon her. The thumb became a walrus, the first finger a seal, and the middle finger a white bear. When the former two animals see a man they try to escape lest they be served as the woman was.

The white bear lives both on the land and in the sea, but when he perceives a man revengeful feelings fill him, and he determines to destroy the person who he thinks mutilated the woman from whose finger he sprang.

Origin of the guillemots

While some children were playing on the level top of a high cliff overhanging the sea, the older children watched the younger ones lest they should fall down the bluff. Below them the sea was covered with ice, and the strip along the shore had not yet loosened to permit the seals to approach. Soon afterward a wide crack opened and the water was filled with seals, but the children did not observe them. The wind was cold, and the children romped in high glee, encouraging each other to greater exertion in their sports and shouted at the top of their voices.

The men saw the seals and hastened to the shore to put their kaiaks into the water to pursue them. At this the children increased their shouts, which frightened the seals till they dived out of sight. One of the men was angry, and exclaimed to the others, “I wish the cliff would topple over and bury those noisy children for scaring the seals.” In a moment the cliff tipped over and the poor children fell among the fragments of huge rocks and stones at the bottom. Here they were changed into guillemots or sea-pigeons, with red feet, and even to this day they thus dwell among the debris at the foot of cliffs next to the water of the sea.

Origin of the raven

The raven was a man, who, while other people were collecting their household property preparatory to removing to another locality, called to them that they had forgotten to bring the lower blanket of deerskin used for a bed. This skin in the Eskimo language is called kak. The man used the word so often that they told him to get it himself. He hurried so much that he was changed into a raven, and now uses that sound for his note. Even to this day when the camp is being removed the raven flies over and shouts “Kak! kak!” or, in other words, “Do not forget the blanket.”

Origin of the quadrangular spots on the loon’s back

A man had two children that he wished might resemble each other. He painted the one (loon) with a white breast and square spots on the back. The other (raven) saw how comical the loon appeared, and laughed so much that the loon became ashamed and escaped to the water, where it always presents its white breast in order to hide the spots of the back which caused so much ridicule. The raven eluded the attempt to be painted in like manner, and stoutly refused to come near.

Origin of the gulls

Some people in a boat desired to go around a point of land which projected far into the water. As the water there was always in a violent commotion under the end of the point which terminated in a high cliff some of the women were requested to walk over the neck of land. One of them got out with her children in order to lighten the boat. She was directed to go over the place, and they promised to wait for her on the other side. The people in the boat had gone so far that their voices, giving the direction, became indistinct. The poor woman became confused and suspected they wanted to desert her. She remained about the cliff, constantly crying the last words she heard. She ultimately changed into a gull, and now shouts only the sound like “go over, goover, over, ove,” etc.

Origin of the hawks

Among the people of a village was a woman who was noted for the shortness of her neck. She was so constantly teased and tormented about it that she often sat for hours on the edge of high places. She changed into a hawk, and now when she sees anyone she immediately exclaims, “Kea! kea! kea! who, who, who was it that cried ‘short neck’?”

Origin of the swallow

Some small children, who were extraordinarily wise, were playing at building toy houses on the edge of a high cliff near the village in which they dwelt. They were envied for their wisdom, and to them was given the name “Zulugagnak” or, like a raven, which was supposed to know all the past and future. While these children were thus amusing themselves they were changed into small birds, which did not forget their last occupation, and even to this day they come to the cliffs, near the camps of the people, and build houses of mud, which they affix to the side of the rock. Even the raven does not molest them, and the Eskimo children love to watch the swallow build his iglugiak of mud.

The hare

The hare was a child who was so ill treated and abused by the other people, because it had long ears, that it went to dwell by itself. When it sees anyone the ears are laid down on the back, for, if it hears the shout of a person, it thinks they are talking of its long ears. It has no tail, because it did not formerly have one.

The wolf

The wolf was a poor woman, who had so many children that she could not find enough for them to eat. They became so gaunt and hungry that they were changed into wolves, constantly roaming over the land seeking food. The cry of the mother may be heard as she strives to console her hungry children, saying that food in plenty will soon be found.

Lice

Lice are supposed to drop from the body of a huge spirit, dwelling in the regions above, who was punished by having these pests constantly torment him. In his rage to free himself the lice dropped down upon the people who condemned him to this punishment.

Origin of mosquitoes

A man had a wife who was negligent and failed to scrape his skin clothing properly when he returned from his expeditious. He endeavored to persuade her to mend her ways and do as a wife should do. She was again directed to remove the accumulated layer of dirt from the man’s coat. She petulantly took the garment and cleaned it in such a slovenly way that when the husband discovered the condition of the coat he took some of the dirt from it and flung it after her. The particles changed into mosquitoes, and now (in spring), when the warm days come and the women have the labor of cleaning clothes to perform, the insects gather around them, and the women are thus reminded of the slovenly wife and what befel her.

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Moreover, the children were awfully clamorous and noisy; so at last the grandfather got tired of it, put the whole family into his boat, and carried them to a small island. He told the dog Ijirqang to come every day and fetch meat. Niviarsiang hung a pair of boots round his neck and he swam across the narrow channel. But Savirqong, instead of giving him meat, filled the boots with heavy stones, which drowned Ijirqang when he attempted to return to the island.

The daughter thought of revenging the death of her husband. She sent the young dogs to her father’s hut and let them gnaw off his feet and hands. In return Savirqong, when Niviarsiang happened to be in his boat, threw her overboard and cut off her fingers when she held to the gunwale. As they fell into the sea they were transformed into seals and whales. At last he allowed her to climb into the boat.

As she feared that her father might think of killing or maiming her children, she ordered the Adlet to go inland, where they became the ancestors of a numerous people. She made a boat for the young dogs, setting up two sticks for masts in the soles of her boots, and sent the puppies across the ocean. She sang: “Angnaijaja. When you arrive there across the ocean yon will make many things giving you joy. Angnaija.” They arrived in the land beyond the sea and became the ancestors of the Europeans.

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