Atcecq kills a bad man

In a time of famine, a young boy named Atcecq visits a notorious old man known for his cruelty. Despite warnings, Atcecq seeks food from the old man, who attempts to intimidate him. After consuming the offered fish without harm, the old man challenges Atcecq to a display of supernatural power. Atcecq cleverly turns the old man’s power against him, causing his death. This act liberates the community, allowing them to access the lake’s fish and end their starvation.

Source:
The Beaver Indians
by Pliny Earle Goddard
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 4
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Atcecq employs cunning and wit to outsmart the malevolent old man, a hallmark of the trickster archetype.

Conflict with Authority: Atcecq challenges the old man’s oppressive dominance, ultimately overthrowing his tyrannical rule.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts ethical teachings, emphasizing the triumph of good over evil and the value of intelligence in overcoming adversity.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Dane-zaa Lore

Learn more about the Dane-zaa people

One time when they were starving they started to move toward a lake where they knew there were fish. A bad old man was known to live there but they thought he was away from home. When they came to the place they found he was still living there. Then that small boy said he would visit his grandfather, meaning the old man. His friends advised him against it, but he replied that since he was starving and suffering much he would visit him nevertheless. The others tried hard to stop him but he set out to pay the visit. When he arrived the old man asked why he came. “I came to you, grandfather, because I am starving,” the boy replied. “Well, you will not live long,” the old man said, “go back or I will kill you.”

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“You do not talk as other people do, grandfather,” the boy said. “Well, cook him some fish,” he told his wife. The boy ate the fish when it was set before him. “What kind of a person are you who eat the fish I give you and still live? You are Atcecq,” the old man said. “Why do you say that? I ate what you gave me and I am happy,” the boy replied.

“Cook for him again,” he said, and his wife did so. “No person ever did this way with me before, but let us use supernatural power on each other,” the old man said. “What am I to do, that you speak that way?” the boy asked. “You have eaten much of my food,” the old man replied. “You do something to me first, grandfather,” the boy said. The old man made a large frog sit on his palm and told the boy to take it. “Now you do something to me,” the old man said. “Yes, grandfather, but what do I know, that you should say that to me?” the boy asked. “You swallowed a small frog and how is it that it did not bother you?” the old man asked. “What sort of a person am I that you should say that?” the boy asked again. The old man swallowed it and he could hardly breathe.

When Atcecq started back the old man said that since he had done that to him, he would know how to cure him. He sent his wife to bring the boy back that he might cure him. When the boy saw the sorrowful looking old woman coming after him he told her that he was not yet old enough to marry and that her husband might keep her. He turned back and came to the old man who was still breathing. When the boy began to sing over him the frog closed the old man’s mouth and he died.

The boy then ran back to his friends who asked how it happened he was still alive. “My grandfather was very kind. He is not a mean man. He fed me well and I ate what he gave me,” the boy replied. They knew the old man was mean and they were afraid of him.

Atcecq killed him and the people were very much pleased. They moved camp to the place where the fish were and many people were saved from starving.

The old man had many wives for he had taken the wives of the men he had killed. They took these women away. Many people were glad because of what Atcecq had done.

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Big Bird story

A widow named Big Bird seeks a wealthy husband for her daughter. One day, her son spots a magnificently dressed stranger by the river. Big Bird welcomes him, but after he requests the removal of their dog during dinner, she discovers the dog dead with peculiar three-toed footprints nearby. Suspecting the stranger, she insists he remove his shoes, revealing he has only three toes. The stranger persuades Big Bird’s daughter to accompany him upstream. During the journey, rain washes away his disguise, exposing him as a crow. The daughter cleverly ties his tail to the canoe and escapes, returning safely to her family.

Source:
The Fireside Stories of the Chippwyans
by James Mackintosh Bell
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.16, No.61, pp. 73-84
April-June, 1903

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The stranger uses deception, disguising himself to appear as a suitable husband, embodying the trickster archetype.

Cunning and Deception: The story revolves around the stranger’s deceit and the daughter’s cleverness in uncovering his true nature and planning her escape.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts lessons about the dangers of deception and the importance of discernment in choosing companions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

Big Bird was a widow of a famous chief who lived with her son and beautiful daughter on the banks of a large stream. Her great ambition was to secure a rich husband for her daughter, suitable to her birth. So she told her little boy to go to the bank of the river, and to watch unceasingly to see if he could discover anybody passing suitable for a son-in-law. One day the boy ran to his mother, and with a face beaming with joy told her there was somebody passing, whom he at least would like for a brother-in-law. Big Bird was delighted and immediately took some bark, and went down to the river to meet the expected bridegroom, whom she was pleased to see was magnificently dressed in a white skin costume covered with shell-like beads.

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Walking before him, she put pieces of bark on the ground all the way to her camp for him to step on. There she and her daughter, having prepared a meal of unusual splendor, set it before their guest. It happened there was an old dog in the camp, and the man said he could not eat until the animal was removed. Big Bird, wishing to show her new son-in-law every hospitality, complied with his request, and, taking the dog out, killed him, and left him in the bush. The man then ate his supper, and they all went to sleep.

Next morning Big Bird got up to make a fire, but, finding no wood in the tepee, went out to get some, and was surprised to see the dog lying with his eyes removed, with his flesh pecked all over, and with the footprints of a three-toed animal all around him. On going back to the camp, she told them all to take off their shoes to see who had only three toes. They all did so, save the stranger who told her that it was a thing he never did. However, Big Bird kept begging him to remove them, telling him she had a pair of new moccasins for him, which would exactly match his handsome costume. Evidently his vanity was at last touched, and he consented, and, while taking them off, said “kinno, kinno” (look! look!) and quickly put them on again. The boy then called out, “He has only three toes.” The stranger denied this, and said, “I did it so quickly that you imagine I have only three toes, but you are mistaken.”

After breakfast he told his wife that he wanted to go for his clothes which were at his camp some distance up stream, and that he wished her to accompany him. Thinking her husband’s conduct rather strange, she at first objected, but, on hearing of the numerous gewgaws at his camp, at last consented to go. So they got into their canoe, and started off, the man sitting in the bow, and the woman in the stern. They had not proceeded far up stream, when rain began to fall heavily, and the girl soon noticed that the rain was washing the shining white stuff off her husband’s back, and then black feathers began to appear. “Ah,” she thought to herself, “I have married a crow.” When he was not looking, she tied his tail, now grown to visible proportions, to the bar of the canoe, whereat he turned around, and asked her what she was doing. She replied, “Your coat is so fine I am working with the beads.” “Oh,” said he, “I see I have married an industrious wife,” and resumed his paddling. She then tried to find an excuse to make her escape, and told him that the point they were just passing was a famous locality for wild duck eggs, and that she would like to go ashore and hunt some for his supper. He readily consented, and as soon as she got ashore, she ran up the bank, and disappeared into the forest. The crow tried to get out to follow her; but as his tail was tied to the canoe, this was impossible, and he contented himself with calling out after her, “Caw, caw; once more I have tricked you people.” He then leisurely proceeded to untie his tail, and flew off ready for another escapade.

The Crow

A man decides to paint all white birds in different colors. The crow, originally white, refuses to be painted but is forcibly turned entirely black as punishment for his conceit. In retaliation, the crow hoards deer, causing the people to starve. Eventually, a truce is reached: the people can hunt deer again, provided they leave the liver and internal fat for the crow.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale explains the origin of the crow’s black color and the cultural practice of leaving certain parts of the deer for the crow.

Trickster: The crow embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning and retaliation against the humans.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts lessons about humility, respect for nature, and the consequences of actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

A large band of Indians were living along a lake. All kinds of white birds came there. A man called out to them, “I shall paint you with different colors, it does not look well for all of you to look alike!” He left the white wavy as it was, painted the loon black and white, and so gave a different color to each species. At last came the crow, who was quite white. “I’ll spot you like the loon,” said the man. But the crow protested strongly, saying he did not want his clothes painted at all. But the Indians caught him, and the painter blackened him all over, saying, “You are too conceited, I’ll blacken you.” All the other birds and the Indians ran away. The crow tried to catch them, but only managed to get hold of the blackbird. The crow said, “You, at least, shall be of the same color as myself,” and rubbed his paint all over the blackbird.

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The crow continued to be angry. He started first south, then northwards to the Barren Grounds, and built a fence to prevent the deer from coming to the Indians. The painter bade different birds scour the country for deer, but they returned without having found a trace of them. A long time after, the night-owl, perching on a tree, saw the crow coming from the south. The crow was seated on a pine; he wore a necklace of deer’s eyeballs. The people said, “The crow is getting deer away from us.” The crow laughed, and said, “You made me black, you are looking black from starvation now.” The bird-painter bade the night-owl watch the crow’s movements. He saw the crow fly first south, then return and go in the opposite direction to the Barren Grounds until he disappeared between two big mountains. All the Indians started after him. They found a big enclosure with two gates between the rocks. Several animals were sent to get through these entrances, but the crow beat them back with a club. The wolves tried first, then the lynx attempted to crawl through, putting in his nose, but the crow dealt him a blow that flattened his nose to its present shape. Then two white foxes were sent. They got through the first door, and the crow, instead of hitting them, only broke his own gate. The foxes got through the second door. Then the deer began to sally forth. The night-owl was watching them and cried out, “They are coming as plentiful as maggots!” There were so many that they trampled down the track so as to become invisible, they could only be heard coming. The crow wept at the loss of his game, but by his medicine he made the skins of the escaping deer so hard that weapons could not pass through them, so the Indians continued to starve. At length, the crow said, “You played me a fine trick, but I played you one also by making you starve. But from tomorrow on you shall be able to chase the deer again, only leave me the liver and the inside fat.” The people promised to do so as long as he lived. Then their young hunters went out and got plenty of meat. The Indians still leave the guts and fat for the crows to feed on.

Betsune-Yenecan

An old woman discovers a tiny, talking baby in the forest and raises him. When hunters deny the child a specific deer part, he vows to make them starve. He ensures his uncles’ prosperity while others face scarcity. Guiding his grandmother, he provides abundant food through his unique abilities, showcasing themes of respect and the consequences of underestimating others.

Source:
Chipewyan Tales
by Robert Harry Lowie
The American Museum of Natural History – Anthropological Papers
Volume X, Part 3
New York, 1912

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Authority: Betsune-Yenecan faces disrespect from the hunters, leading him to assert his power and teach them a lesson, reflecting a challenge to established authority.

Sacred Objects: The use of hooks and other items in the story may hold symbolic significance, representing tools that bridge the natural and supernatural realms.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts lessons on respect and the consequences of underestimating others, emphasizing the importance of humility and reverence for all beings.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Chipewyan Lore

Learn more about the Chipewyan people

The meaning of the name is “His-grandmother-raised-him”

Many Indians were camping together. One evening they heard a little baby crying in the brush. A number of young girls ran thither, but as they approached the noise ceased. Not long after, the crying was heard again. This occurred three times. The fourth time an old woman went to see what was the matter. Again she heard the sound as if it came from directly in front of her. She found some deer dung. Scratching it up, she found a baby about eight inches long. She picked it up, and it began speaking to her. The old woman had sons who had gone off hunting. When they returned, the baby asked one of them for the front leg of the smallest deer slain by them. It was given to him, and he fed on that. Another time they killed plenty of deer. Betsune-yenecan again requested his grandmother to ask for the leg of the smallest deer, but the men refused, saying they wanted it for their own children, and offered him some other part.

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When the old woman returned without the leg, Betsune-yenecan was very angry. “Because I am small they insult me, but I will make them starve.” The other people heard what he said and were angry. They said, “We’ll see whether the little boy can make us starve.” They went away. The grandmother stayed with the child.

Betsune-yenecan told the old woman to cut plenty of pine branches, to put the ends in the fireplace of each abandoned lodge, and to let him know as soon as the tips of the sticks were burnt. After a while she called him. In his uncles’ lodges the sticks were burnt in deer hoof shape, in the other lodges they were burnt round (?). “This means that my uncles will always have deer, while the other people will starve.” He started off with his grandmother, who was afraid of starving. Betsune-yenecan said to her. “There need be no fear of starvation, just do as I tell you.” She carried him on her back. They got to a muddy little lake. “Stop and fish here,” he said. “Why, there is nothing here but worms.” “Take me down and I’ll drop my hooks.” Some animal with a white covering came to the hook. It was a gigantic jackfish. Then Betsune-yenecan told her to lower the hook, and she caught a black trout. “That’s enough,” said the boy, “there won’t be any more now. Build a brush lodge here, dry the fish, make grease, and we’ll camp here.” The old woman did as she was bidden. Betsune-yenecan went out. She thought he was only playing, but at noon he was not yet back. She saw his snowshoe tracks leading to the brush. Then she began to bemoan his loss and was afraid that all alone she should starve. But in the evening she heard a noise, and he came in covered with ice. “I think, you have fallen into the ice.” “No, take off my belt.” Inside his coat there were plenty of deer tongue tips. He had killed the deer by biting off the tips of their tongues, and what seemed to be ice on him was only the foam from their mouths. The next morning he said, “Let us go where I have killed the deer. The first one we see you will dry and pound for me; gather the grease but don’t eat any yourself.” It was a little bit of a deer, which was lying on the lake. Betsune-yenecan bade his grandmother build a shelter. She dried the deer meat, of which they had plenty.

Then the boy went to see his uncles. He got to where they were, but concealed himself. By a lake he saw their hooks set for jackfish. He took off his snowshoes, turned himself into a deer, and scratched around near the hooks. Only his two uncles were alive, subsisting on fish and bear meat; the other Indians had perished. They noticed the deer. “It is odd that that little deer is continually scratching around where our hooks are.” Then one of them said, “That was a queer boy that our mother found; perhaps he is a medicine-man and has turned into a deer to laugh at us. We had better track him.” They got to a clump of pines; there the deer tracks ceased, and snowshoe tracks began. The men followed them until they got to a lake, where they saw a spruce tree lodge. They found their mother having plenty of meat and fat. The little fellow was there, so small that he could hardly be seen. After the arrival of her sons, the old woman soon fell sick and died. The boy turned into a deer again and disappeared towards the Barren Grounds. Before leaving he said, “As long as you and your children live, you will always tell a tale about me.”

The old woman has spring-fever

An elderly woman, feeling the stirrings of spring, wishes aloud for goose gizzards to eat. As she voices her desire, she accidentally falls through her home’s smoke-hole into a bowl of water she had left on the floor and drowns. This story highlights the unexpected consequences of idle wishes and the unpredictability of fate.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Conflict with Nature: The woman’s interaction with the natural elements—observing the geese and the changing season—sets the stage for her accidental death, highlighting the delicate balance between humans and their environment.

Tragic Flaw: The woman’s deep sigh and expressed longing lead to her accidental fall, suggesting that her desires or inattentiveness contribute to her fate.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a cautionary message about the consequences of unguarded desires and the importance of mindfulness in one’s actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was once an old woman who lived by herself. One day she washed her hair; and she left the water on the floor and went outside, and saw that it was spring. She went up on the top of her house, and saw the geese coming, and she sighed deeply. She saw another flock coming; and she said, “I wish that I had some goose gizzards to eat!” and as she said this, she fell through the smoke-hole into the bowl of water that she had left on the floor, and was drowned.

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Children and giantess

A giantess deceives children into her garments, intending to cook them. A bird aids their escape, replacing them with sticks and stones. Upon discovering the ruse, the giantess attempts to capture them but overexerts herself and bursts, releasing various fish and human bones. The children transform into birds and find her dwelling filled with human remains.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Cunning and Deception: The children, with the bird’s assistance, use cunning to escape and deceive the giantess.

Conflict with Nature: The children face a natural threat in the form of the giantess and must navigate their environment to escape her.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts lessons about the dangers of trusting strangers and the value of cleverness in overcoming threats.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

Some boys and girls were playing on the ice. “Hark!” said one of them; and they heard an old woman singing in the bushes. Soon she came in sight, and they saw that she was very large. She told them that she had plenty of nice things in her house, and that if they would wait for her, she would go and get them for them. They said that they would; and to make sure, she put all the boys into her parka and tied it up, and then took off her breeches and put the girls into them and tied them up, and went away. When she had gone, a little Bird came and sat on. the outside of the parka, and told the boys that the old woman had lied to them. One of them told the Bird that he had some fine paint, and that if he would let them out, he would paint him in beautiful colors.

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So the Bird pulled at the string until he had untied it, and the boys came out and filled the parka with sticks and tied it up again. Then they let the girls out, and filled the breeches with stones and tied them up again; and then they all got upon the Bird’s back, and he carried them to a distance, and they all sat down to see what would happen. Soon they saw the old woman coming back, followed by her slut. She had a large wooden bowl and a spoon; and she was singing, “Now I shall have some nice brain-soup!” When she came near the parka, she called out, “Here are the nice things that I promised you!” and then she took her knife and slit the parka open, but found nothing but sticks inside. Then she went to the breeches and cut them open; but her knife struck the rocks, which dulled it. One of the boys laughed so loudly that she heard him; but the ice had now melted, and there was a stream between them. So the boys mocked her, and told her that if she should drink the water up, she could get them. She put her mouth down and drank in one place, and the water went down a little. Then she drank in another place, and it went down still more. Then she drank in another place, and it all disappeared, so that she might have got them; but the effort proved too much for her, and she burst open; and out of her came white whales, ling, pike and all kinds of fish, men’s bones, and other things. The children were changed to birds and flew to her house, where they saw a great many bones of men and boys and girls.

How Raven enticed a man away from his home

Raven, lacking food, discovers fat floating in a river and traces it to a man’s home. After befriending the man and his wife, Raven convinces the man to journey to his village, promising abundant skins. Mid-journey, Raven deceives the man into retrieving a forgotten knife, then flies back to the man’s home to feast. The man, realizing the betrayal, returns home exhausted to find his family in destitution, leading him to kill both his wife and Raven in despair.

Source:
Ten’a Texts and Tales
(from Anvik, Alaska)
by John W. Chapman
The American Ethnological Society
Publications, Volume 6 (ed. Franz Boas)
E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1914

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Raven embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning to deceive the man.

Good vs. Evil: The story portrays the struggle between the man’s innocence and Raven’s malevolence.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts a lesson about the dangers of trusting deceptive individuals.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

The Raven was paddling along. He had no food, and was not expecting to see anybody. So all summer long he kept on his way up the river. Now he paddled through some bubbles, but he did not look at them or think anything about them. But as he paddled along, he saw a large one between himself and the shore; and as he was passing it, he looked at it. He examined it, and it was fat. So he took it and smelled of it, and began to think about it. “What can this be?” thought he. “Suppose I eat it!” So he ate some of it. It seemed sweet to him. He smeared his parka with the rest of it, and his canoe also, and went on. By and by he saw a house up on the bank. Below the place, deer-bones had been thrown over the bank. Below the bones there was a great quantity of fat.

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“This is where it came from, then,” thought he. He got out at the place. There he saw only one house, but a great many caches. There were also many deer-bones lying outside the house. So he went in. There was a woman there, alone. She stared at him. Then she said, “I didn’t suppose there was anybody else around here;” and the Raven said, “I, too, thought that there might be no one here.” Then she offered him meat; but the Raven said, “I don’t care for meat, I get tired of it: fish is the only thing that I care for.” She gave him some fish, and he ate it. Soon her husband returned. “Cousin,” said he, “I didn’t suppose there was any one in this neighborhood.” “Neither did I think that there was any one here,” said the Raven. Then said the man, “Won’t you stop with us?” — “No,” said the Raven, “for I have a wife, and children too. Come with me to my village tomorrow,” said he. “I believe that there are more skins at my village than there are at your village,” said he. “Part of them shall be yours.” The man did not care to go, but the Raven urged him. “Come,” said he, “come, hurry up! Come along with me!” So at length they started out. As the man was going along in the lead, the Raven pulled out his knife and thrust it into the ground. So they kept on, going back from the river. As they were going along in the back country, the Raven cried out, “I have forgotten my knife!” And he said to the man, “Cousin, go and get it for me. I will give you a marten and an otter and a beaver for your trouble, if you will.” “No,” said he, “get it yourself!” — “All right,” said he, “I will go and get it, and you keep on till you get to my village; and when you get there, have a good feed.” So the Raven went back; and when he was out of sight, he took to his wings. “K’gak!” said he. Then he flew to the village and gorged himself with everything that was in sight.

The man went on for four days. As he went along in the day-time, he saw nothing whatever, and he was hungry. Then he thought, “I wonder if it is true! I believe that Raven was lying.” Meanwhile his strength was gone, and he wanted water, so he went back. A great many days he crept along, exhausted. Finally he dragged himself to a spot above his house, and lay down and slept. He awoke, and looked at the place. There was nothing, — no food or meat. He went to the door of his house. Some one was crying inside. He went in. His wife had on an old, ragged parka, and there were two children with her. “So, then!” said he. “So, then, did you have any children while I lived with you? The Raven is to blame for this!” And he killed her and the Raven too. Then he went out. “Better that I should go somewhere,” he thought. “Soon I shall be dead and gone,” said he. So he went into the mountains. He had no food, and saw no deer. At length his strength gave out. Then he crawled to the side of a river and went to sleep. He awoke and listened. Below him some one was coming, and he called out. Whoever it was, was eating. “What’s making that noise?” said they. “It sounds like a hawk. Let’s leave some food for it!” So they put out some food, and went on, up the river. Again the man went to sleep. He awoke; and near him there was plenty of food, and fat also. He gathered it up thankfully, and ate it, having turned into a hawk.

(Another version) A man and his wife lived together in a house in the woods. The man was a great hunter of deer. He filled his cache with the skins, and he and his wife lived entirely upon the meat. Every year the man would go off hunting, and come back with great loads of meat and skins. Once, after he had returned from hunting, as he was sitting in the house with his wife, they heard some one coming, and brushing the snow off his boots at the door. Presently the mat which hung in the doorway was pushed aside; and in came the Raven, stamping his feet, and congratulating himself upon having reached shelter. The hunter looked up and greeted him. “Well, friend, so you have come?” said he. “Yes,” said the Raven, “and I am glad enough to get to a place to pass the night, for I am all tired out.” The woman gave him a bowl of deer-meat, saying, “This is the only thing we have to eat. Will you have some?” The Raven took it, but he did not seem to relish it very much; and finally he said, “We have so much of this to eat at our village, that I do not care very much about it. Do you have to go far for your deer?”

The hunter told him that in former years the deer used to be plenty, but that lately he had been obliged to go a long way to find them. Upon this, the visitor proposed that he should go with him to his village, where they were so thick that one could get them by going just a short distance from the house. At first the man objected; but finally he consented, and they started out together. When they had gone a long way, and had come into a country that was unknown to the hunter, one day, as they were nearing the place where they were to make camp, the Raven suddenly exclaimed, “There! I left my knife at the last place where we made a fire. I must go back and get it. You go on and make camp, and I will come back and follow your tracks and find you.” So they separated, and the hunter went on; but the Raven had no sooner got out of his sight than he lifted up his face and called for snow. Then there came a great storm, which covered up the trail, and the hunter was left alone in a country that was unknown to him. He waited for the Raven, but he did not return. Then he began to wander around, trying to find some landmark by which he could locate himself; but, although he spent the whole winter in this manner, he only became more confused as to his whereabouts. So he wandered around until the ice began to melt in the spring. Then he came to a stream, which he followed up until it led him to a gorge, heading up towards the mountains. As he went up this gorge, he began to make a song, weeping over his misfortunes, and crying, “The Raven, he is a liar!” As he went along, he found that the backs of his hands were changing, and becoming scaly, and that they were becoming feathered also. Beside this, the tears running down his cheeks made furrows, which took on a stain, and at last he found himself turning into a hawk. Sitting on a crag and wheeling in the air above the stream, he heard the sound of voices, and soon saw a party of men coming in canoes. They passed him, and went on up the river without noticing him. Afterwards he heard the voices of another party. This was led by an old man, who called out to those following him that he saw a hawk, and told them to throw out some scraps of food for it. He also found that they had left food on the rocks as they passed along. When the first party returned from their hunt, they had nothing in their canoes; but when the other party returned, their canoes were loaded down, so that they had to put poles across them to transport the meat.

The hunter and the Duci’ne

A hunter, wary of the Duci’ne—a group of malevolent, semi-cannibalistic beings with shamanistic powers—prepares his family for potential danger. One day, after observing a peculiar fog, he devises a plan to confront the Duci’ne. Through cunning and persistence, he ultimately defeats one of these beings, ensuring his family’s safety.

Source:
Tahltan Tales
by James A. Teit
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.32, No.124, pp.198-250
April-June, 1917
Vol.34, No.133, pp.223-253
July-September, 1921
Vol.34, No.134, pp.335-356
October-December, 1921

► Themes of the story

Cunning and Deception: Both the hunter and the Duci’ne employ tactics of stealth and surprise, using deception to gain the upper hand.

Trials and Tribulations: The hunter undergoes a series of challenges in his efforts to defeat the resilient Duci’ne, testing his perseverance and ingenuity.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts lessons on vigilance, the importance of preparedness, and the consequences of underestimating one’s adversaries.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Duci’ne or Duce’na are a kind of wild people, partly cannibal, of wicked disposition, believed to inhabit the country, especially to the east. They wear clothes, and look like people. They often sing and dance as they go along. They possess great shamanistic power, and, when hunting in the mountains, conceal themselves in a cloud of down, so that people cannot see them. At a distance the down looks to people just like fog. They are said to cat only the ribs of game they kill. They are good hunters and travellers. At the present day the name is used as a common designation for the Cree Indians.

A man went with his family to trap marmots. He thought Duci’ne people were near. Therefore he told his wife to build the door of their house in the form of a passage, with a recess on one side where a person could hide.

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He said, “If you see a fog travelling on the mountains on a clear day, you may be sure that it is a Duci’ne man.” One clear day after this the man was hunting sheep. He killed one, and brought it home to camp. His wife told him that she had seen the fog that day: so at dusk he asked her to hide with the children in the woods near by, while he would wait in camp. He kept up a large fire, and laid the body of the sheep alongside the fire, and covered it with blankets. About midnight the fire had burned down a little. Then he heard a sound as of some one approaching, and he hid in the recess near the door. Soon a man holding bow and arrows entered, and, seeing what seemed to be a man asleep near the fire, he discharged an arrow into the sheep. At the same moment when he lifted his arms to shoot his bow, the man from the recess shot an arrow into his body below the arm. The Duci’ne ran out, making a noise like a bird flying, and disappeared. The man went out and called on his helper, the snow. Then snow began to fall, and covered the ground. Early in the morning he called his wife and children to camp, and told them he was going after the wounded man. He followed his tracks to a lake, where he came to the Duci’ne in the water, and a loon sucking his wound to heal it. He called on the man to spare him. The man refused, and shot him again; and his body sank in a deep part of the lake. Next morning he saw the Duci’ne afloat again, and the loon sucking his wounds. He shot him again, and this time cut off his head. He put his body in the water at one end of the lake, and his head at the other. The next morning the parts had come together, and the loon was attending to him as before. The man shot him again, and cut his body into small pieces. He carried them around, putting them here and there in different lakes and streams some distance apart. In this way he managed to kill him for good and all.

The man who fooled the cannibal giant

A man argues that giants are foolish and decides to prove it. He stands naked and motionless on a trail frequented by giants. A giant approaches, inspects him thoroughly, but, puzzled by his stillness, concludes he isn’t prey and leaves. The man then returns home, demonstrating that giants can be easily deceived. This story highlights the perceived simplicity of giants in Tahltan folklore.

► Themes of the story

Mythical Creatures: The story features a giant, a mythical being common in various cultural tales.

Cunning and Deception: The man’s strategy involves deceiving the giant by remaining motionless, highlighting the use of wit to achieve his goal.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts a lesson about the power of intelligence and cunning over brute strength, teaching that even formidable adversaries can be overcome with wit.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Some men were disputing as to the powers of cannibals and giants. One of them maintained that giants were not clever. They had mosquito brains: therefore they could easily be deceived. He claimed that giants and cannibals and mosquitoes were all related, parts of the same flesh. They all had the same instinctive desire to attack, kill, and eat people; but nevertheless they were all foolish. This man said he would show the others how foolish giants really were. He would try them. He stripped off all his clothes, and stood naked near a trail that giants frequented, in an open place, where people could see a long way. A giant saw him, and came stealthily towards him. The man stood perfectly rigid and motionless. The giant came up and felt of him, saying to himself, “He is just like game.” He smelled of his mouth, privates, and anus. He smelled of him all over. He lifted his eyelids, and opened his mouth.

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He said again, “He is just like game, but he does not act like game. It is funny that he should be here now. Not long ago there was nothing standing here.” He wondered. He went away some distance and watched the man, but the man never moved. He went farther away and watched. Then he came back and examined the man again. At last he made up his mind that the object could not be game, and departed. When the giant was out of sight, the man put on his clothes and went home. This is why, if a hunter sees game at a distance lying or standing and motionless, he is sometimes deceived, and mistakes the game for something else. When one does this, other people joke him or make fun of him by saying, “You are just the same as a giant,” or “You have mosquito brains.”

The man who became a marmot

A lazy young man is abandoned by his community during a marmot-trapping expedition. Struggling alone, he encounters a woman carrying a baby and, after a series of events, marries her. She helps him become a successful trapper but warns him not to harm young marmots. Disobeying her, he kills them, leading to her departure and the loss of all his gains. He then finds himself living among marmots, experiencing their world until spring arrives.

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The marmot woman deceives the young man by appearing as a human, leading to significant events in the story.

Conflict with Nature: The young man’s actions against the marmots and his subsequent integration into their world highlight a struggle and eventual union with natural forces.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts teachings about laziness, disobedience, and the consequences of one’s actions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Once a party of people were trapping marmots at a creek a little south or southwest of the head of Raspberry Creek. Among them was a lad who was very lazy. The people were angry with him because he would not do any work: therefore they made up their minds to desert him. They left the camp and all their traps behind. For several days the lad tried to trap marmots, but he did not catch any, and in a short time he was starving. One day he heard a baby cry; and when he went to look, he saw a woman going along carrying a baby on her back. He ran up behind her and snatched the baby away. He ran with it into the lodge and closed the door. The woman ran after him; and when she could not enter, she went around the lodge crying, and singing:

I want back my baby, young man!
I want to enter your lodge.
Give me back my baby, young man!

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At intervals in the singing she whistled (as marmots do). He did not know that they were marmots, and, taking pity, he invited her into the lodge and married her. She said to him, “There is something wrong with you that you are so lazy. Strip off your clothes, so that I may see.” When he had taken off his clothes, she struck him sharply over the stomach, and at once he vomited lice. She said, “Tomorrow morning you must go trapping. Set all your brothers’ traps. From now on you will have good luck.” Now his traps were full of marmots every day, and soon his lodge was full of meat and skins. She said to him every morning when he went out, “If young marmots come to you and run over your feet, don’t kill them!” One day he thought, “Why does my wife tell me this? I shall kill them, and she will never know.” He struck the young marmots with a stick, and threw them into the bottom of his large game-bag. He put other marmots on top and filled the bag. As soon as he entered the lodge, his wife said to him, “Why did you kill my children? I told you not to kill them. Now I shall leave you.” He tried to hold her; but she slipped through his arms, and went out of the lodge with her baby. All the marmot-meat and all the skins became alive, whistled, and ran out of the lodge. He followed his wife in a dazed state, and at last found himself in a large house. This was the home of the marmots underneath the rocks of the mountains. He staid there all winter, but it seemed to him the same as one night. In April the marmots heard the snow-slides, and said, “That is thunder, and a sign of spring.” They came out of their houses. Soon after this the lad’s brothers came there to trap. They found no sign of their lazy brother, and no traps. They made new traps, but could not catch anything. Two of the brothers were sleeping with their wives. One of them saw a very large black-colored marmot almost as large as a man, and set a special trap for it, but he could not catch it. Then the other brother tried, but with like result. The young marmots always went out first, and, seeing the trap, came in and reported to the big ones. Then the big black marmot went out and sprang the trap. Now the third brother, who slept near his wife under separate cover, accused his elder brothers of having brought upon themselves bad luck by not regarding the winter taboos. He said he would try to catch the big marmot, as he was keeping all the taboos required in marmot-trapping. Now, the young marmot could see no trap because the hunter was keeping the taboos, and told the big marmots that all was safe. The big black marmot then went out without hesitation, and was caught in the trap. The brother brought it to camp, and gave it to the women to skin. They had made a cut down the skin of the belly and along one arm, and were making the cut on the other arm, when the knife struck something hard at the wrist. They looked, and found a copper bracelet there. They called their husbands, who at once recognized it as the bracelet worn by their brother. They said, “He has changed into a marmot.” They ordered the women to camp by themselves out of hearing while they tried to bring it to life again. They wrapped the body in down and new mats, and put it on a scaffold in a tree. They camped four days and nights at the foot of the tree without eating or drinking. On the fourth night they heard a faint sound of singing from the scaffold, and, on uncovering the body, they found that part of their brother’s head had come out of the marmot-skin. They covered him up again, and camped another four nights. Then they heard loud singing from the tree, which sounded like that of a shaman. They uncovered the body, and found that he had come out of the marmot-skin down to the knees. They covered him up again; and before daybreak on the following morning he had recovered his natural form, and was singing like a shaman. He sang:

You will find out what we think in the mountain.

He staid with his brothers, and told them all about the Marmot people,—how they lived, about their customs, and about the trapper’s taboos. He became a shaman, and the marmot was his guardian.