The salmon chief

A fisherman encounters a magical salmon that grants him abundance after he spares its life. Following mystical instructions, the man’s family gains twin sons, one of whom embarks on a heroic journey. Facing a seven-headed monster destined to devour a chief’s daughter, the brave son defeats the creature using wit and skill, earning both honor and the girl’s hand in marriage.

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 fisherman encounters a magical salmon that speaks and grants him abundance, indicating an interaction with a supernatural entity.

Quest: The fisherman’s son embarks on a journey to confront and defeat a seven-headed monster, showcasing the classic quest motif.

Transformation: The fisherman’s act of sparing the salmon leads to a transformation in his family’s fortune, including the miraculous birth of twin sons.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A certain fisherman fished for salmon and nothing else. One day, after he had fished for a long time, he was walking upon the beach and came upon a salmon left by the tide. He was very glad for he had not been getting any fish for some time and saw that this was nice and fresh. He said to himself, “Oh! what a nice meal I shall have.” He had been very hungry for salmon. But, as he reached down to pick it up, it spoke to him saying, “No, no, don’t eat me. I am chief of all the salmon. Put me into the water and let me go out again. You will get lots of salmon if you let me go.” The man felt very badly to lose it, but he thought that since it talked to him in this way he would let it go, and he did so.

Before this happened it had been very stormy, so that the fisherman had been unable to get anything, but now it became calm, and he went out fishing and caught many salmon.

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Next day he went for more, but, it was so stormy at sea that he could not catch any. Then he thought that he would walk along shore again. He did so, and when he came to the place where he had found the first salmon he saw another large, fine salmon. He thought, “Oh! what a fine-looking salmon, and I have to let it go again.” But the salmon spoke up at once saying, “No, don’t let me go. Take me home, and you shall have me for your supper. After you have cooked me do not break any of my bones. Take care of all of them. Take the bones out of my head and place them in a dish. Then put them under your pillow and sleep on them tonight.”

This man lived alone with his wife, and they had no children but were very anxious for them. About midnight the man awoke and, looking under his pillow, saw two fine-looking boy babies.

The children grew up quite fast, and one of them was very brave, but the other was a coward and always stayed at home. One day the former asked his father, “Are you two the only ones who live here?” “That is all; that is all,” said his father, for he did not want his son to leave them. After that the boy begged hard to go away, and asked his father to put up some food for him to take, but at first his father refused. He begged so hard, however, that after a while his parents consented and prepared it.

So the boy finally went away, and presently he came to where an old woman lived. This woman said to him, “My grandson.” “Oh! my grand-mother,” said he. Then she gave him something to eat. She put something into a very small kettle, and, after it was cooked, she gave it to him and it tasted very good. Then she looked up at him and said, “I suppose you thought ‘That old woman who lives back there is starving.’ I don’t suppose you thought I had anything to eat.” Afterward the boy said, “Grandmother, why is it that this village looks so black?” She answered, “There is a monster there which is a human being and yet not a human being. It has seven heads. It is to be fed with the chief’s daughter. Otherwise he will murder every one in the village.” Finally they heard a drum and saw people going along dancing. They were taking the chief’s daughter to this monster. Then the boy saw them return without her. [This portion of the story and that which follows look like a garbled European myth, such as the story of Perseus and Andromeda, or that of Hercules and the Hydra.]

At once the boy started on a run toward the place whither they had taken this girl and presently came upon her walking toward the monster very slowly. When she heard some one walking up to her she turned round and saw the boy. She said, “Where are you going?” Said he, “Where are you going?” “Oh! my father has given me to this seven-headed monster, and that is where I am going.” Then the boy said, “Don’t go there. You better go back with me.” She kept going along closer and closer to the monster’s place and seemed to go slower and slower.

By and by they saw the man with his seven heads sticking out of the den. He began to laugh when he saw them and said, “I thought I was going to have only one girl to eat, but I am also going to have a fat, plump boy.” The boy answered, “You are going to have me to eat, are you? You and I will fight first.” Then the monster laughed again and said to him, “Do you see all of those bones around there.” Human bones lay all around. “And you think you can fight me.”

After that they began fighting. The boy had a knife made of obsidian (in). He was very quick and could walk all over his opponent because the latter was slow and clumsy, so he finally cut off three of the monster’s heads. Then the boy said, “Let us sit down for a minute and rest.” They did so, and, after a while the monster said, “I am strong now, stronger than I have ever been.” But the boy answered, “You had seven heads and I cut off three, leaving you but four, yet you say that you are stronger than before. You may be stronger, but you are too slow.” The girl stood near by looking on. Then they started fighting once more, and the boy cut off the monster’s four remaining heads for he was slower than ever.

Now they went home to the boy’s father, and, when he told him what had happened, his father felt very proud of him. The boy wanted to marry the chief’s daughter, and, although his people were poor, the chief consented willingly.

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Roots

A boy discovers a mysterious quill that lifts him into the air, revealing an unseen force abducting villagers. The last two residents, a woman and her daughter, survive by abstaining. The daughter births a strong boy, Roots, who retrieves the quill and confronts its owner, securing the villagers’ return. Renowned for his strength, Roots defeats challengers, including a living rock, using his deep-rooted resilience.

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 tale features an invisible entity abducting villagers using a mysterious quill, highlighting interactions with otherworldly forces.

Cultural Heroes: The protagonist, Roots, embodies the qualities of a cultural hero by rescuing the villagers and confronting the supernatural being, thereby restoring his community.

Transformation: The narrative includes the miraculous birth of Roots, who grows rapidly and develops extraordinary strength, symbolizing physical and possibly spiritual transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A boy was walking along in front of the houses of a very populous village early one morning when a quill fell right in front of him. The boy picked it up and started to run away, but it lifted him up into the air out of sight.

After that several other people were missed, and no one knew what had become of them. Finally, however, they saw another going up very rapidly, and so discovered what was the matter. Now, the people watched very closely, and, when one was seen to be taken up, a man seized him by the legs. He, however, was also lifted up. Then another grasped him, and all of the people of the village kept on doing this, thinking to break the string, until no one was left in that town except a woman and her daughter. These two lived at one end and refused to touch the others.

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The mother of this girt was very fond of making spruce-root baskets, and, when she went after roots, the girl always accompanied her. When her mother cut off the ends of the roots out in the forest her daughter would chew them because they were sweet, and swallow the juice, after which she would spit them out and take more. Finally she got so used to chewing them that she would chew up fine the roots themselves and swallow them.

Now, after this had gone on for some time, the girl saw that she was growing large, and presently she gave birth to a boy baby. While this child was still very small she bathed him in cold water to make him strong, and he grew very fast.

When he was partially grown he one day saw the quill which had carried away the people, picked it up and pulled on it very hard. Then he noticed that someone was pulling it up. This invisible person tried to pull him up also, but he was very strong and ran out roots into the ground in every direction so that he could not be moved. All that he could see was the quill. He tried hard to find a line fastened to it, but there was nothing visible except the quill pulling up and down. He determined to hold on, however, to see what would happen, and at last he felt something break and the quill come away in his hands.

While Roots continued sitting in the same place a boy came to him saying, “Where is that quill of mine? Give it to me.” Then Roots answered, “Well! where are my village people? Give them to me.” “Give me the quill first,” said the boy. “No, give me back my village people first, and I will give you the quill.” Then he begged very hard for his village people, and the boy begged very hard for the quill, until at last Roots heard the noise of people coming. At that he handed back the quill and the boy vanished.

The people did not come that day, however, and Roots was uneasy, feeling that he had been very foolish to give the quill back before his friends had returned. Next morning early, however, he heard a great noise as of people moving about, and he jumped out of bed to look. The houses throughout the village were filled with their former occupants, who had come back during the night. All were very glad to get back after their long absence, for where they had been they seemed to have suffered. All complained of the mean master that they had had, but they could not tell whether they had been made slaves or not. All were very good to Roots for having restored them.

Afterward Roots, the full form of whose name is Root-ends (Xat cugu’lki), was known everywhere, and all of the strong people would go to his village to test him. Among them went a strong rock, called Itc, who felt that he was very powerful. When they began to contend, Roots jumped upon Itc first but could not move him. Then Roots looked at his antagonist and saw that he was half buried in the ground although a human being. This made Roots angry and he stooped down, picked Itc up, and threw him down headlong. After he had done so he looked and lo! there lay only a rock. If it had not been for the numbers of roots that Roots sent out, however, Itc would have beaten him.

The land-otters’ captive

A man from the Kiksa’di survived a canoe accident and was captured by land otters, who took him on a journey around the Queen Charlotte Islands, eventually reaching Rainy-village. There, he reunited with his drowned aunt, now married to land otters. After being returned near Sitka, he became a disruptive land-otter-man until captured and partially restored to humanity using dog bones. Ultimately, he died after consuming cooked halibut.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes significant changes, both physically and mentally, during his captivity with the land otters, reflecting the theme of transformation.

Supernatural Beings: The land otters in the story possess supernatural qualities, capturing humans and influencing their destinies, which aligns with this theme.

Underworld Journey: The man’s voyage with the land otters to various mystical places, including Rainy-village, symbolizes a journey into unknown or otherworldly realms, fitting this theme.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

Several persons once went out from Sitka together, when their canoe upset and all were drowned except a man of the Kiksa’di. A canoe came to this man, and he thought that it contained his friends, but they were really land otters. They started southward with him and kept going farther and farther, until they had passed clear round the Queen Charlotte islands. At every place where they stopped they took in a female land otter. All this time they kept a mat made out of the broad part of a piece of kelp over the man they had captured until they arrived at a place they called Rainy-village (Si’wu-a’ni). At this place the man met an aunt who had drowned years before and had become the wife of two land otters. She was dressed in a ground-hog robe. She said to him, “Your aunt’s husbands will save you. You must come to see me this evening.” When he came, his aunt said, “I can’t leave these people, for I have learned to think a great deal of them.”

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Afterward his aunt’s husbands started back with him. They did not camp until midnight. Their canoe was a skate, and, as soon as they came ashore, they would turn it over on top of him so that, no matter how hard he tried to get out, he could not. In making the passage across to Cape Ommaney they worked very hard, and shortly after they landed they heard the raven. [Supernatural beings who heard the raven call before they came to land, died.] They could go only a short distance for food.

When they first started back the woman had said to her husbands, “Don’t leave him where he can be captured again. Take him to a good place.” So they left him close to Sitka. Then he walked around in the neighborhood of the town and made the people suffer so much every night that they could not sleep, and determined to capture him. They fixed a rope in such a way as to ensnare him, but at first they were unsuccessful. Finally, however, they placed dog bones in the rope so that they would stick into his hands, dog bones being the greatest enemies of the land otters.

Late that night the land-otter-man tore his hands so with these bones that he sat down and began to scream, and, while he was doing this, they got the rope around him and captured him. When they got him home he was at first very wild, but they restored his reason by cutting his head with dog bones. He was probably not so far gone as most victims. Then they learned what had happened to him.

After this time, however, he would always eat his meat and fish raw. Once, when he was among the halibut fishers, they wanted very much to have him eat some cooked halibut. He was a good halibut fisher, probably having learned the art from the land otters, though he did not say so. For a long time the man refused to take any, but at last consented and the food killed him.

The woman who married a land otter

A man in Sitka, desperate to feed his hungry children, was aided by his sister, who had been captured by land otters. She brought food and invited him to her mysterious village, Transparent-village. Though welcomed, he noticed strange occurrences, such as his child growing a tail. He eventually left, discovering the village was an illusion of land-otter holes, returning with ample provisions.

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 story features land otters with the ability to transform and create illusions, interacting directly with humans.

Illusion vs. Reality: The protagonist perceives a vibrant village, which is later revealed to be an illusion masking land-otter holes, highlighting the deceptive appearances.

Transformation: The man’s child begins to grow a tail, indicating a physical transformation influenced by the supernatural environment.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A man at Sitka had three little children who were crying with hunger because he had nothing to give them. His sister had been captured by the land otters after having been nearly drowned. Then be said to the little ones, “You poor children, I wish your aunt were living.” Some time afterward that same evening he heard a load set down outside, and going out to look, he saw a very large basket filled with all kinds of dried meat and fish, and oil. The sister he had been wishing for had brought it. Then this woman herself came in and said, “I have brought that for the little ones. I will be right back again. I live only a short distance from here. We have a village there named Transparent-village (Kana’xa-dak-an). You must come and stay with us.” The man said that he was making a canoe and had to finish it, but she replied, “Your nephews are coming over, and they will finish your canoe for you.”

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After the food that his sister had brought him had given out she came to him again with more and said, “I have come after you now. Bring your little ones and come along. I see that you are having a hard time with them.”

So her brother prepared to go. Before he started he got some blue hellebore (sikc), which he soaked in water to make it very strong and bitter, and finally his sister’s boys came, fine-looking young men who were peculiar only in having very long braids of hair hanging down their backs. In reality these were their tails. He showed them where his canoe was so that they could go to work on it, and, after they had completed it roughly, they pulled it down for him.

Then the man started off with his family, and, sure enough, when he rounded the point what appeared to him like a fine village lay there. The people came to meet them, but his sister said, “Don’t stay right in the village. Stay here, a little distance away.”

The people of that place were very good to him and gave him all the halibut he wanted, but he always had the blue hellebore by him to keep from being injuriously affected. They were also in the habit of singing a cradle song for his youngest child which went this way, “The tail is growing. The tail is growing.” Then he examined the child, and in fact a tail was really growing upon it, so he chopped it off.

Finally the man’s sister told him that he was staying there a little too long, and he started back toward his village. As he went he looked back, and there was nothing to be seen but land-otter holes. Before they had appeared like painted houses. Then he returned to his own place with all kinds of food given him by the land otters.

The giant of Ta’sna

A young boy, the sole survivor of a village near the Yukon, lived independently, hunting small game for survival. One day, he encountered a large man with bushes on his face, who urged the boy to shoot him with an arrow. Reluctantly, the boy complied, and upon doing so, his deceased mother and the villagers miraculously reappeared, having been trapped by the man.

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 large man with bushes growing on his face represents a supernatural entity influencing the mortal realm.

Transformation: The villagers, including the boy’s mother, are restored to life following the boy’s actions, indicating a significant change from death to life.

Quest: The boy’s journey from isolation to encountering the giant and ultimately restoring his community reflects a quest for survival and reunion.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

At Ta’sna, near the mouth of the Yukon(?), was a large village in which everybody had died except one small boy. His mother was the last to perish.

This boy was very independent, however, remaining in his mother’s house all the time instead of going around to the other houses in the place. Every day he went out with his bow and arrows and shot small birds and squirrels for his sustenance.

On one of these hunting trips, however, he met a very large man with bushes growing on one side of his face. The big man chased him, and, being very quick, the boy climb up a tree, but the big man reached right up after him and pulled him down. Then the big man said, “I am not going to hurt you. Stand right here.”

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So he put the boy on a high place, went some distance away and said, “Take your bow and arrows and shoot me right here,” pointing at the same time to a spot between his eyebrows. At first the boy was afraid to do so, and the big man begged him all that day. Finally, when it was getting dark, he thought, “Well! I will shoot him. He may kill me if I don’t, and he will kill me if I do.” The moment he shot the man, however, he saw his mother and all the village people that had been lost. All had been going to this big man. That was why the man wanted the boy to shoot him. It brought all the people back.

The self-burning fire

During a harsh winter on the Copper River, a village faced starvation, leaving only one man alive after many perished from hunger and cold. As he journeyed alone, grieving his losses, he discovered a mystical “Self-burning Fire” that revived the dead villagers. Together, they thrived, easily finding food at the river’s mouth, marking a miraculous renewal of life and sustenance.

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

► Themes of the story

Rebirth: The villagers are brought back to life by the self-burning fire, symbolizing a cycle of death and renewal.

Supernatural Beings: The mystical fire acts as a supernatural entity with the power to revive the dead.

Loss and Renewal: The community experiences profound loss due to starvation and cold, followed by a miraculous renewal of life and sustenance.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

One winter the people at a certain place on Copper river were left with nothing to eat and began dying off. About the middle of that winter all of the children and some of the adults were dead, and only about half of the former population remained. When only eight men were left they said to one another, “Let us leave. Let us walk down this side of the river.” So they started off down the bank, and, after a long time, one of them died of cold. They buried him and went on. [The words of the narrator, but corpses were usually burned.] By and by another froze to death and was also buried. This kept on until there were only four. One day three of the remainder succumbed in succession, the last at evening, leaving but one man from all that village. This man was very sickly looking, but he felt strong, and when his last companion fell, he left him lying there and went on rapidly. He thought he would drop with grief, however, at the loss of his last comrade.

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As he was going on quite late in the evening he suddenly heard some one shout right ahead of him. He followed the voice, which kept on calling continually. Finally he came to a great fire and stood near it to warm himself. It was that that had been calling him.

When the man had become thoroughly warmed he was about to start on again. Suddenly, however, he heard the bushes breaking behind him, and, looking back, he saw all the men who had frozen to death and all of the village people standing around the fire. This fire is called Self-burning Fire (Wayi’k ga’ni), and it was that that had brought all of those people to life. From that time on they were able to get their food very easily at the mouth of the river.

Djiyi’n

The Tlingit tale of Djiyi’n, an orphan girl, recounts her rise from starvation and neglect to becoming a powerful shaman. Abandoned during a famine, she discovers hidden resources and gains spiritual guidance from birds, including brants. She aids her starving community, acquires wealth and status, and combats witchcraft, eventually demonstrating her extraordinary shamanic abilities. Her story introduces the concept of witchcraft and highlights resilience and transformation.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Djiyi’n undergoes a profound change from a neglected orphan to a revered shaman, highlighting themes of personal growth and empowerment.

Supernatural Beings: Her interactions with spiritual entities and guidance from birds underscore the influence of the supernatural in her journey.

Loss and Renewal: The famine and her abandonment represent loss, while her rise as a shaman symbolizes renewal and hope for her community.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

Djiyi’n – or better Djun. Aqa’niqes is said to be in fact Kaya’niqes (For-the-leaves).
Myth recorded in English at Wrangell, Alaska, in January-April 1904

While the Tlingit were still living at Klinkwan (Linqo-an) a famine broke out. There was an orphan girl there named Djiyi’n who was taking care of herself. Once in a while her father’s sister would help her, but all were starving, her father’s sister also being poor. One day some women were going off to dig tset roots, and this orphan very much wished to accompany them, but they would not take her. They said she was dirty and would bring them bad luck. When she laid hold of the canoe they struck her fingers to make her let go, but she was very hungry and very persistent, so that her father’s sister finally took her in. When they encamped that night she did not come back, and they did not know what she was living on. The women who were angry with her said, “What is the matter with her? Why doesn’t she come back to eat?” When they got ready to start home the orphan had not returned, and they left her there alone. They also threw water on the fire.

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The girl’s aunt, however, procured a coal and threw it into the brush house where they had camped, along with a piece of dried salmon. She was careful not to let the others see what she was doing. Then she went back and said to the girl, “Are you coming?” “No,” she replied, “since they don’t want to take me, I better stay.” Then her aunt said, “I have put a live coal in that brush house along with a piece of dried salmon.”

As soon as the others had gone away the orphan made a big fire and cooked her roots and salmon, but she did not feel like eating. Therefore, instead of doing so, she went away and dug some more roots. In the evening she went back to her brush house, thinking she could eat now, but found that she had no appetite. So she lay down and went to sleep. Early in the morning she was awakened by a great noise which she found on looking out was made by a flock of brants (qen). She felt so tired that she lay down again and went to sleep, and, when she awoke once more, she thought she would set out after more roots. Going down to the flat where these roots grew, she found it covered with brants feeding upon them. When they saw her they flew away. Then she began removing the dead grass from the place where she was going to dig, and to her surprise came upon several big canoes looking as if they had been buried there, which were loaded with eulachon oil, dried eulachon, dried halibut, and dried salmon. She felt very happy. She thought how lucky it was that she had remained there when all of the village people were starving.

Now the orphan thought that she would eat something, so she took some salmon and a bundle of halibut home with her. On roasting a piece of salmon, however, she found that she could not eat it. She did not know what had gotten into her that she could not force herself to eat. She wished that her aunt were with her. Next morning she discovered that the spirits were keeping food away from her because she was becoming a shaman. The brants had become her spirits. The brant spirits always come to Raven people like her.

So she became a great shaman and was possessed by spirits every day, while sea gulls, crows, and all kinds of sea and woodland birds sang for her. This happened every day. Two or three times a day she would go to see the buried canoes, but she could not eat anything, and she gave up digging roots because she had no way of sharpening her sticks. Meanwhile everyone in the village thought that she had starved to death.

After some time had passed, the girl wished that someone would come to her from the village, and the day after a canoe appeared in sight. This made her very happy, especially when it got close and she found it contained some people of her acquaintance from the village. She called them up to her brush house and gave them some food from the canoes, and they remained there two or three days. They were out hunting for food. After a while she told them it was time for them to go, and, when they were on the point of starting, she said, “Do not take a bit of the food I have given you. Leave it all here. Tell the people of our village that Djiyi’n is still living and is doing well. Tell my aunt that she must try to get here as soon as she can.”

When these people got back to the village and told what had happened to the orphan, how much food she had and how lucky she had been, all the town people who had been dying of starvation started off immediately for the place where she was living. When they came in sight of her brush house they saw that from the sky right down to it the air was filled with birds. There were so many that one could not see through them. They could also hear men and women singing and the shaman performing, but, when they came close, all of the birds flew away.

As soon as the shaman heard that her people were coming she walked out to meet them and asked, “Which canoe is my aunt in? Let her land here.” All of the food in one of her canoes she gave to her aunt. Then she said, “I want two women to come ashore to help me with my singing.” The high-caste women in the canoes, who were all painted up, would rise one after the other, but she would not have them, and finally called two who were orphans like herself and had been treated very badly by their own people. All the others then started to come ashore, and she told them where to camp. She had room enough in her own house only for the two girls and her aunt.

These high-caste people had brought their slaves with them when they came to her, and she got them herself in exchange for food. She had three brush houses built to hold them. She also dressed up the two little orphans so that they looked very pretty. After a long time the people left her to return to their own village, and, when another long period had elapsed, her spirit made the town chief sick, and they hired her to come and treat him.

This shaman had belonged to a very high-caste family, but they had died off and left her very poor, and nothing remained of her uncle’s house except the posts. Grass grew all about inside of it, and when the shaman was entering the village she saw the posts of her uncle’s house and felt very sad. She told them to land near by. Then she looked up, raised an eagle’s tail in one hand, blew upon it, and waved it back and forth in front of them. The fourth time a fine house stood there. Then they carried all of her things into this, and she had the slaves she had procured work for her, while the two orphans she had taken were now considered high caste.

At that time the sick chief’s daughter also fell sick. Then the spirits turned all the minds of the chief’s people away from her, and they paid other shamans in the village. The sick ones, however, continued to get worse and worse, until they finally remembered that she also was a shaman and sent for her. When the messenger came one of the orphans asked, “How much will they pay the shaman?” “Two slaves,” they said. She thought that this was not enough, and the messenger went back. When he came again, she again asked, “How much are they going to pay the shaman?” “Two slaves and some goods.” Then she agreed, and, as soon as the messenger had left, Djiyi’n said to the two girls, “Come on. Let us go.”

As soon as she had arrived at the house she sat down between the two sick people and worked very hard to cure them. Her spirits could see immediately what the matter was. This house was crowded with people except around the fire where the shaman was performing. Then Djiyi’n walked around and said, “The witch that is killing you two has not come.” They sent to all the houses in the village and assembled those who were there in the house in place of the previous occupants. Djiyi’n examined all of them again, and again said, “The witch is not yet here.” Finally the spirits in her began to say, “The road of the witch is very clear now. The road of the witch is straight for this house.” Again they said, “The witch is coming.” By and by they began to hear a bird whistling in the woods back of the house, and she said, “Yes, hear her. She is coming.” And when the sound came near the door she said, “Open the door and let her come in.” So they opened the door, and there sat a wild canary (sas). Then the shaman told her to sit between the two sick persons, and she did so. She was making a great deal of noise, and the shaman said, “Tie her wings back.” Not long afterward the people heard a great noise like thunder which seemed a great distance off. Then the shaman said, “Here are her children. They are offended and are coming in. Stop up all of the holes so that they may not enter.” The noise grew louder and louder, however, and presently birds began to fly in right through the boards. At last the house became so full of them as to be well nigh suffocating, and very many of the people were injured. Whoever the birds flew against would have a cut or bruise. All at once the house again became empty, not a bird being left inside except the one that was tied.

By this time it was morning, the people having sat in that house all night, and the bird made still more noise. “She is already telling about it,” said the shaman. “She wants to go to the place where she has the food and the pieces of hair with which she is bewitching you.” Finally she left the house, but although they had untied her wings she walked along ahead of four men instead of flying. She went up the way she had come down and began scratching at the roots of some bushes some distance up in the woods. There she came upon the top of a skull in which were some hair, food, and pieces of clothing arranged in a certain manner along with different kinds of leaves. She took these down to the beach and threw them out on the sea in different directions. Afterward she went back to the house with the four men still following her.

By and by the bird began making noises again, and the shaman, who alone could understand her, said that she wanted to leave the place. She hated to go back to her own place among the other birds because she knew that they would be ashamed of her, so she asked them to take her to a town called Close-along-the-beach (Yenqase-sitciyi-an). When they took down a canoe to carry her off she flew right into it. Then the shaman said, “When you get her to the place whither she wants to go, go ashore and put her there, and turn right back.” Then they started on with her, and after a time she made so much noise that they said, “Let us put her ashore here. This must be the place.” They did so; and, as soon as they got close in, the bird flew out upon the beach and started up it very fast. One man followed her to see where she would go and saw her pass under a tree with protruding roots. This was the town she had been talking about.

As soon as the witch put the skull and other things into the water the chief and his daughter recovered. Before the events narrated in this story people did not know anything about witchcraft, and the ancients used to say that it was from this bird that they learned it years ago.

The image that came to life

A grieving young chief sought the best shamans and carvers after his wife’s death but found solace only when a local carver created an eerily lifelike cedar image of her. Treated as human, the figure eventually came to life but remained silent, communicating through the chief’s dreams. A cedar tree grew beneath it, symbolizing the island’s revered red cedars and their connection to enduring love and loss.

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 carved image of the chief’s deceased wife gradually becomes a living being, symbolizing a physical transformation.

Supernatural Beings: The lifelike image that comes to life embodies elements of the supernatural, bridging the gap between the mortal and spirit worlds.

Loss and Renewal: The chief’s journey from mourning his wife’s death to finding solace in the animated image reflects a cycle of loss and emotional renewal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A young chief on the Queen Charlotte islands married, and soon afterwards his wife fell ill. Then he sent around everywhere for the very best shamans. If there were a very fine shaman at a certain village he would send a canoe there to bring him. None of them could help her, however, and after she had been sick for a very long time she died.

Now the young chief felt very badly over the loss of his wife. He went from place to place after the best carvers in order to have them carve an image of his wife, but no one could make anything to look like her.

All this time there was a carver in his own village who could carve much better than all the others.

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This man met him one day and said, “You are going from village to village to have wood carved like your wife’s face, and you can not find anyone to do it, can you? I have seen your wife a great deal walking along with you. I have never studied her face with the idea that you might want some one to carve it, but I am going to try if you will allow me.”

Then the carver went after a piece of red cedar and began working upon it. When he was through, he went to the young chief and said, “Now you can come along and look at it.” He had dressed it just as he used to see the young woman dressed. So the chief went with him, and, when he got inside, he saw his dead wife sitting there just as she used to look. This made him very happy, and he took it home. Then he asked the carver, “What do I owe you for making this?” and he replied, “Do as you please about it.” The carver had felt sorry to see how this chief was mourning for his wife, so he said, “It is because I felt badly for you that I made that. So don’t pay me too much for it.” He paid the carver very well, however, both in slaves and in goods.

Now the chief dressed this image in his wife’s clothes and her marten-skin robe. He felt that his wife had come back to him and treated the image just like her. One day, while he sat mourning very close to the image, he felt it move. His wife had also been very fond of him. At first he thought that the movement was only his imagination, yet he examined it every day, for lie thought that at some time it would come to life. When lie ate he always had the image close to him.

After a while the whole village learned that he had this image and all came in to see it. Many could not believe that it was not the woman herself until they had examined it closely.

One day, after the chief had had it for a long, long time, he examined the body and found it just like that of a human being. Still, although it was alive, it could not move or speak. Some time later, however, the image gave forth a sound from its chest like that of crackling wood, and the man knew that it was ill. When he had some one move it away from the place where it had been sitting they found a small red-cedar tree growing there on top of the flooring. They left it until it grew to be very large, and it is because of this that cedars on the Queen Charlotte islands are so good. When people up this way look for red cedars and find a good one they say, “This looks like the baby of the chief’s wife.”

Every day the image of the young woman grew more like a human being, and, when they heard the story, people from villages far and near came in to look at it and at the young cedar tree growing there, at which they were very much astonished. The woman moved around very little and never got to talk, but her husband dreamed what she wanted to tell him. It was through his dreams that he knew she was talking to him.

Little Felon

This Tlingit myth narrates the story of a man who, after curing a felon (a painful abscess) on his finger, discovers a tiny man, Little Felon, who emerges from the disease. Little Felon becomes his industrious companion, helping him with incredible tasks, including courting a girl by completing her grandmother’s deadly challenges. Their teamwork triumphs over monsters, but the man ultimately transforms into a bird, endlessly searching for his lost wife.

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 man’s felon transforms into a tiny man, Little Felon, who grows and becomes his industrious companion.

Quest: The man, with Little Felon’s assistance, undertakes challenges set by a girl’s grandmother to win her hand, involving tasks that test their abilities and bravery.

Supernatural Beings: Little Felon, emerging from a disease and possessing extraordinary skills, represents a supernatural entity influencing the man’s life and adventures.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A certain man had a felon (kweq) on his finger and suffered terribly, so that he could get no sleep. He did not know what to do for it. One day somebody said to him, “Hold it under the smoke hole of the house and get some one to poke it with something very sharp through the smoke hole. You will find that it will get well.” He did so, and the two eyes of the felon came right out. Then he wrapped them up and put them away. Late in the evening he looked at it and saw a little man there about an inch long. It was the disease from his finger. He took very good care of this little man and he grew rapidly, soon becoming large enough to run about. He called the little man Little Felon (Kweqku). Little Felon was a very industrious little fellow, always at work, and he knew how to carve, make canoes, paint, and do other similar things. When he was working his master could not keep from working himself. He simply had to work.

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They thought it was because he had come from the hand. Little Felon was also a good shot with bow and arrows, and lie was a very fast runner, running races with all the different animals. Finally he started to run a race with the heron, and everybody said the heron would prove too much for him. They raced all the way round Prince of Wales island, and, when they were through, Little Felon said to the heron, “I have been way back among the mountains of this island, and there are thirty-three lakes.” The heron answered, “I have been all along the creeks, and there are fifty creeks.”

By and by a youth said to Little Felon, “There is a girl living with a certain old woman. She is a very pretty girl and wants to marry, but she hasn’t seen anybody she likes. Her grandmother has the dried skin of an animal and she has been making all the young fellows guess the name of it. Those that guess wrong are put to death. You ought to try for her.” But Little Felon said to the boy, “I don’t care to marry, and I don’t want to guess, because I know. You tell her that it is the skin of a louse. It was crawling upon the woman, and she put it into a box and fed it until it grew large. Then she killed and skinned it. You will get her if you tell her. But be careful. That old woman knows a lot about medicines. When you are going toward her, go with the wind. Don’t let the wind come from her. Don’t go toward her when the south wind is blowing, go toward her when the north wind is blowing. Nobody goes directly to her. People talk to her from quite a distance. A person goes to her house only to be put to death. Those persons who guess stand a great way off to do it. When they don’t guess right they go to that house and are put to death. She has a large square dish in which she cooks their bodies.”

After that the boy went toward the old woman’s camp and remained at some distance from her for a very long time, for the south wind was blowing continually. She seemed to know that he was there, and said to her granddaughter, “There is a fellow coming who has been around here for a very long time. He is the one who is going to marry you.” The little man had said to the youth he was helping, “Don’t tell about me. That old woman has all kinds of dangerous things with which to kill people.”

As soon as the north wind began to blow, Little Felon told him to go on, so he approached the old woman unnoticed and stood looking at her for a long time. Finally she looked up, saw him, and said, “Oh! my grandson, from how far away have you come?” He told her, and she invited him in to have something to eat. She gave him all kinds of food. Then, when they were through, she showed him the skin and said, “What kind of skin is this?” He answered, “That is a louse skin, grandma.” She looked at him then for some time without speaking. Finally she said, “Where are you wise from, from your father?” “Oh!” he said, “from all around.” Then she said “All right, you can marry my granddaughter. But do you see that place over there? A very large devilfish lives there. I want you to kill it.”

The youth went back to Little Felon and told him what she had said. “Oh!” he answered, “there is a monster there. That is the way she gets rid of boys, is it?” So Little Felon made a hook, went to the place where the devilfish lived, made it small, and pulled it right out. He put the stick over his companion’s shoulder and said to him, “Carry it this way.” The youth did so and, coming to the old woman’s house, he said, “Is this the devilfish you were talking about?” He threw it down, and it grew until it became a monster again that filled the entire house. The old woman felt very badly, and said, “Take it out of this house and lay it down outside.” He did so, and the moment he picked it up it grew small again.

Then the old woman said, “Do you see that cliff that goes right down into the water? A monster rat lives there. If you kill it, you shall have my granddaughter.” The youth went away again and told Little Felon about it, who said, “I told you so. I knew that she would give you a lot of things to do.” So they got their bows and arrows ready, went to the hole of the monster, and looked in. It was asleep. They began shooting it. They blinded it first by shooting into its eyes and then they shot it through the heart. They ran in to it to shoot, but, as soon as they had wounded it fatally, they rushed out again, and it followed them. It ran right into the ocean, and they could hear it splashing the water about it with its tail. It sounded like thunder. Finally the rat died and drifted ashore.

Then Little Felon told the young man to take it up and carry it to the old woman, and, as soon as he had grasped it, it was very small and light. He carried it in to her and said, “Is this the rat you were talking about?” Then he threw it down, and it filled the house. So she said, “Take it up and put it outside.”

Now the old woman spoke again. “Way out there in the middle of the ocean is a sculpin. Go out and fish for it, and you shall get my grand-daughter.” So he and Little Felon went out there and caught the sculpin, which Little Felon made very small. He threw it into the bottom of the canoe and left it there. When they reached land the youth took it up to the old woman and threw it down inside. Lo! it was an awful monster with great spines.

Now the old woman did not know what to do. She thought, “What kind of boy is this?” Then she said, “Do you see that point? A very large crab lives out there. Go and kill it.” When they got out there they saw the crab floating about on its back. It looked very dangerous. Little Felon, however, told the crab to get small, and it did so. He killed it, put it into the canoe, and carried it to the old woman, who exclaimed, “Oh! he has killed everything that belongs to me.”

Then the old woman said, “Go far out to sea beyond the place where you got that sculpin. I dropped my bracelet overboard there. Go and get it.” So he and Little Felon set out. But first they dug a quantity of clams and removed the shells. They took these out to that place and threw them around in the water, when all kinds of fish began to come up. Then Little Felon saw a dogfish coming up and said to it, “A bracelet was lost over there. Go and get it for me.” He did so, and the youth took it to the old woman.

Then the old woman was very much surprised and said, “Well! that is the last.” So she said to her granddaughter, “Come out. Here is your husband. You must have respect for him always.” So he married her. After that he went over to Little Felon and asked how much he owed him. “You don’t owe me anything,” said Little Felon. “You remember that at the time I was suffering so badly you pricked me through the smoke hole.” And the youth answered, “Oh! yes, this is the fellow.” Little Felon is a slender fish that swims close to the beach.

After that the young man and his wife always traveled about together, for he thought a, great deal of her. By and by, however, they had a quarrel and he was cruel to her. So she went away and sat down on a point, after which she disappeared and he did not know what had happened to her. He went out on the point and hunted everywhere. He is a lonely beach snipe, called ayahiyiya’, which is often seen hunting about on the points today, and when they see him the Tlingit say, “There he is looking for his wife.”

Origin of the le’naxi’daq

A boy from Auk learns of a mysterious woman in a nearby lake and, after seeing her, abducts one of her children. The child retaliates by blinding and killing the entire village except a sick woman, who narrowly survives. Later, a man named Heavy Wings encounters the woman, receives riches after returning her child, and gains a magical wound that enriches his family.

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 woman residing in a lake and her extraordinary child, highlighting interactions with otherworldly entities.

Divine Punishment: The abduction of the woman’s child leads to a catastrophic retribution, where the child blinds and kills the villagers, illustrating the consequences of transgressing against supernatural forces.

Transformation: The tale concludes with Heavy Wings encountering the woman, returning her child, and receiving riches along with a magical wound, symbolizing a transformative experience that brings prosperity to his family.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

A boy at Auk (A’ku) heard that a woman lived in the lake back of his village. He heard this so often that he was very anxious to see her. One day, therefore, he went up to the lake and watched there all day, but he did not see anything. Next day he did the same thing again, and late in the afternoon he thought that he would sit down in the high grass. The sun was shining on the lake, making it look very pretty.

After some time the youth noticed ripples on the water, and, jumping up to look, saw a beautiful woman come up and begin playing around in it. After her came up her two babies. Then the man waded out into the lake, caught one of the babies, rolled it up in his skin coat, and carried it home. All that night he had to watch the child very closely, for she kept trying to get away, but at last he became so sleepy that he rolled the child up once more and fell asleep.

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Now the child got up, dug out the eyes of everybody in that house, beginning with the man who had captured her, and went from house to house throughout the entire village doing the same thing.

There was a sick woman in that place for whom they had made a small house back of her own, and, when this child came in to her, she tried to make out whose it was. She said to herself that she thought she knew every child in the village, yet she did not recognize this one. The child had the people’s eyes rolled up in some leaves. As it sat close to the fire eating them the woman thought, “What is that child eating?” She would throw them into the fire and then take them out and eat them. Finally the woman sat up, looked to see what the child was devouring, and discovered they were human eyes. After she was through with what she had the child would go out again after more. The woman watched her closely.

Now the sick woman felt very sleepy but she did not dare to sleep for, every time she began to doze off, she felt the child coming toward her face. She had a little child beside her. Finally the sick woman determined that she would stay awake, so she placed her walking stick very close to her, and, as soon as the child came too close, she would strike it and make it run away. This continued until daylight when the child disappeared.

Now the woman was surprised to hear no noises about the town and wondered what was wrong. She thought she would go out to look. First she went to her own house and saw that all the people there were dead, with their eyes gouged out, and she saw the same thing in all the other houses. Then the woman felt very sad. She threw her marten-skin robes about herself, took a copper plate on each side, placed her baby on her back and started off. She is the le’naxi’daq, which a person sees when he is going to become very wealthy. (The le’naxi’daq is therefore one of the lene’di.)

One time after this a man of the Wolf clan named Heavy Wings (Kitcida’lq) was out hunting and heard a child cry somewhere in the woods. He ran toward the sound very rapidly, but, although the child’s voice seemed to be very close to him, he could not see what caused it. Then he stopped by the side of a creek, tore his clothes off, and bathed in the cold water, rubbing himself down with sand. Afterward he felt very light and, although the voice had gotten some distance away, he reached it, and saw a woman with an infant on her back. He pulled the child off and started to run away with it, but he did not escape before the woman had given him a severe scratch upon his back with her long copper finger nails. By and by he came to a tree that hung out over the edge of a high cliff and ran out to the end of it with the child in his arms. Then the woman begged very hard for her baby saying, “Give me my baby.” As she spoke she put her hand inside of her blanket and handed him a copper. When he still refused to give her the child she handed him another. Then he gave the child back, and she said, “That scratch I made on your back will be a long time in healing. If you give a scab from it to any one of your people who is poor, he will become very rich. Do not give it to anybody but your very near relations.”

And so in fact it turned out. The sore did not heal for along time, not even after he had become very rich. Everything that he put his hand to prospered, and the relations to whom he had given scabs became the richest ones next to him.