Mosquito and Woodworm

Mosquito returns home swollen with blood. When Woodworm inquires about its source, Mosquito claims to extract it from trees. Following this advice, Woodworm begins boring into wood, seeking blood. The story suggests that if Mosquito had admitted to feeding on human blood, Woodworm might have targeted humans instead.

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

Origin of Things: The story provides an explanation for the woodworm’s behavior of boring into wood.

Cunning and Deception: The tale involves Mosquito’s deceit, leading Woodworm to act based on false information.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a lesson about the consequences of deception and the importance of truthfulness.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Mosquito and Woodworm lived together.

The latter saw that Mosquito, when he came home, was swelled up with blood that he had eaten.

Woodworm asked him where he obtained it; and he answered, “I get it from the trees. I suck their blood.”

Woodworm then attacked the trees; and this is the reason why woodworms at the present day bore in wood.

They look for blood.

If Mosquito had told Woodworm that he sucked blood from the people, Woodworm would attack and kill man at the present day.

► Continue reading…

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

Bald-Headed Eagle and the Iron Tree

A cannibalistic eagle captures and fattens humans for consumption, using an iron knife to kill them. After losing his knife, he mourns deeply. One day, an iron tree with knife-like branches floats toward him and speaks, offering abundant knives if he vows to stop killing people. The eagle agrees and thereafter eats only fish, becoming the first to possess iron.

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The appearance of the iron tree can be interpreted as a supernatural event guiding the eagle towards a moral transformation.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a lesson on the value of renouncing harmful behaviors and the possibility of redemption.

Sacred Objects: The iron knives provided by the tree hold significant symbolic value, representing the catalyst for the eagle’s transformation.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

Bald-Headed Eagle was a cannibal who hunted people. He kept them in a house, and fattened them to eat them. He killed the people with an iron knife. Once upon a time he lost this knife, and mourned for it as one does for a dead relative. He sang his mourning-song every day. One day he noticed what looked like a tree with many branches floating on the lake and coming towards him. When it came very close, he noticed it was of iron and that all its branches were knives. It spoke to him, saying, “Now you may have many knives; but, before you can have this gift, you must stop killing people.” Eagle promised never to kill any more people. The Tree said, “Henceforth Bald-Headed Eagle shall catfish only. He shall never again eat people.” Now Eagle had plenty of iron and many good knives. Some informants say that he was the first to have iron.

► Continue reading…

Origin of the toad crest of the Katce’de

In a Tlingit village, a destitute young man befriended a toad. One night, a woman led him to the Toad people’s dwelling, where he married the Toad chief’s daughter. The chief gifted him wealth and a large canoe. Returning home, the man rebuilt his uncle’s house and hosted a grand potlatch. Thereafter, his descendants adopted the Toad as their crest.

► Themes of the story

Sacred Objects: The large canoe and the wealth given by the Toad chief can be seen as sacred gifts that facilitate the young man’s transformation.

Cultural Heroes: The young man becomes a foundational figure for his descendants, establishing the Toad crest within his clan.

Moral Lessons: The narrative teaches that kindness and openness to the unknown can lead to unexpected rewards and the elevation of one’s status.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about the Tahltan people

Raven phratry of the Tahltan. There is also a Katce’de clan of the Tahltan, descendants of people who went to the coast, lived there for a time, and then came back again. It seems that these people claim relationship with the Ki’ksede and Ka’tcede clans of the Tlingit, who have the Toad as a crest.

At one time there was a young man in the Tlingit country who was very poor and lived with his mother. His father was still alive. His uncle’s house was rotten and almost falling down, but he was so poor that he had no means of having it rebuilt. He had no friends. He was very sorry because of his poverty, and cried much. One day he saw a little toad, which came and played with him. That night about midnight, when he was asleep, a woman came to his bed and told him to get up. He awoke, and she asked him to come out. He went out with her, not knowing where he was going. At last they came to the door of a strange house, and entered. This was the dwelling of the Toads. Little-Toad came in, for these people were her relatives. The lad was asked quam ob rem cum matertera sua luderet, and then the people tied him up by the legs. Little-Toad said, “That man will be killed when uncle comes home.” Then they heard the sound of a canoe coming; and some said, “Uncle is coming.” He was the Toad chief. The man came in and sat down in his place. He saw the lad hanging by the legs. He asked the people, “Why is that man hanging by the legs?” The Toad mother answered, “Cum puella lusit.” There were many Toad people there. The chief asked the people, “What is this man?” and they answered, “He is a Wolf.” The chief then asked the lad himself what he was; and he answered, “Wolf.”

► Continue reading…

The chief said, “Well, we marry Wolves; there is nothing wrong about that.” He took the lad down, and made him sit down in a good, clean place. Then he brought the little Toad girl and seated her alongside the lad, saying, “Now you are married.” Now he brought a great pile of property of all kinds, and placed it beside them as a present. The lad thought, “How am I going to transport all these things?” The Toad chief heard his thoughts, and therefore gave him a very large canoe. He said, “I know you have been sorrowful for a long time about your uncle’s house. Now you can manage to build a house.” He went off with his wife and the property in the canoe, and reached his own place. He had a great amount of wealth now, and gave a great potlatch, and rebuilt his uncle’s house. The people asked his wife what she was; and she answered, “Ka’tcede.” After this her descendants had the crest of the Toad, and used it.

The Doom of the Katt-a-Quins

The Katt-a-quin family, led by their malevolent chief, terrorized their Tlingit community in ancient times. Their cruelty extended to both people and animals, causing widespread fear and resentment. One day, after sabotaging their neighbors’ berry harvest, the Katt-a-quins were mysteriously transformed into stone as a divine punishment for their misdeeds, serving as an enduring reminder of the consequences of malevolence.

Source:
The Doom of the Katt-a-Quins
– from the aboriginal folk-lore
of Southern Alaska –
by James Deans
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.5, No.18, pp.232-235
July-September, 1892

► Themes of the story

Community and Isolation: The family’s malicious actions lead to their social ostracization, highlighting the dynamics between belonging and estrangement within the tribe.

Conflict with Authority: The Katt-a-quin family’s defiance against communal norms and their disruptive behavior can be seen as a challenge to the established order and leadership within the society.

Moral Lessons: The tale serves as a cautionary story, imparting ethical teachings about the consequences of malevolent behavior and the importance of harmony within the community.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about Tlingit people

Katt-a-quin was a chief among the Tlingit. He lived very long ago, our fathers tell us, so long that no man can count the time by moons nor by snows, but by generations. He was a bad man, the worst that ever lived among our people. Not only were he himself and his wife bad, but the whole family were like him.

They were feared and shunned by every one, even by little children, who would run away screaming when any of the family came near. Nothing seemed to give them so much pleasure as the suffering of other people. Dogs they delighted to torture, and tore their young ones to pieces. Most persons love and fondle a nice, fat little puppy, but not so the Katt-a-quin family; when they got a nice puppy it was soon destroyed by hunger and ill-usage.

► Continue reading…

When the people met their neighbors from above, at Shakes-heit, if Katt-a-quin came there, he generally spoiled the market, and if he could not get what he wanted by fair means, he would take it by force. The people, seeing this, would pack up and leave. So tired had they grown of the family, that the rest of the tribe had decided to make them all leave the village, or, failing in that, endeavor to get clear of them by some other means. But before doing anything of that sort, they were delivered in a way terrible and unthought of. From old versions of the story, it appears that the people had become so disgusted with the family that when they wished to go hunting, or to gather wild fruit, they would strictly conceal their object and the direction of their journey from those whom they disliked.

One morning, while all were staying at Shakes-heit, they made up their minds to go to the large flat where these rocks stand, and lay in a stock of wild fruits for winter use. So in order that none of the Katt-a-quin might come, they all left early and quietly. When the others got up, which was far from early, as they were a lazy lot, and found that they were left alone, they were displeased at not being asked to go along with the others. After a time they all got into a canoe, and went up the river in order to find the rest, which after a while they did, by finding their canoes hauled up on shore.

After this they also landed, and began to pluck berries; but finding that the people who preceded them had got the best of the fruit, they gave up picking in disgust, and were seated on the shore when the others returned, having, as might be expected, plenty of fine fruit. Seeing that the rest had a fine supply, and they themselves nothing but sour, unripe stuff, they asked for a few, which the others gave them; at the same time saying that they should not be so lazy, as they might also have got their share of good ones. After a while, the old fellow demanded more of the best fruit; this the people flatly refused, saying that the late comers ought to go picking for themselves.

Just then a number of the first party, who had gone in another direction, returned with baskets full of nice, large, and ripe fruit. Seeing this, the whole family of the Katt-a-quins went and demanded the whole; this the others refused, saying they had no idea of toiling all day gathering fruit for such a worthless, lazy set as they were. A scuffle began, which ended in the family upsetting all the fruit, and trampling it under foot in the sand, thus destroying the proceeds of a long and hard day’s work.

Seeing all this, the people made a rush, some for their bows and arrows, others arming themselves with whatever came to hand, all determined to wreak vengeance on those who had caused the destruction of their day’s labor, and whom all disliked.

Seeing this turn of affairs, and the determination of the people, the offenders knew that their only safety lay in getting aboard their canoe, and going down the river before the others could follow them. This they did, leaving in their hurry one or two of their children behind them. But a new and terrible retribution awaited them. When they reached the middle, Yehl or Yethel, who had been watching their conduct, turned them in an instant to these stones, and placed them where they now stand, to be an eternal warning to evil-doers. The largest one is Katt-a-quin. The next is his wife, and the small stones in the land and in the water, his children. What is seen is only their bodies; their souls, which can never die, went to Seewuck-cow, there to remain for ages, or until such time as they have made reparation for the evil done while in the body. After this they will ascend to Seewuck-cow, a better land. Such was the doom of the Katt-a-quins. As our fathers told the story to us, said the Tlingit, so I tell it to you.

The Kiksa’di woman who was turned into an owl

A woman named Lqaya’k’s wife mistreats her mother-in-law by placing hot herring milt in her hand. In response, her husband fills a canoe with herring and instructs his wife to retrieve them without assistance. As night falls, her cries transform into owl sounds. Her husband declares she will become an owl, and she flies away, becoming a creature that predicts bad weather and events in other towns.

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

► Themes of the story

Divine Punishment: The woman’s change into an owl. The transformation serves as retribution for her mistreatment of her mother-in-law.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts a lesson on the consequences of disrespecting elders and the ensuing punishment.

Conflict with Authority: The woman’s initial act of defiance against her mother-in-law’s authority leads to her eventual punishment.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

The story was obtained at Sitka.

When this town (Sitka) was first discovered the Kiksa’di were here, and we stayed on this (the north) side. This town (at the northern end) was named Mossy-town. There four men grew up, two of whom were named Lqaya’k and Kacka’lk. They married. Lqaya’k’s mother was named Kacka’lk’s-mother. Lqaya’k’s wife refused to give her mother-in-law herring to eat. After she had refused her twice she put hot milt into her hand. She told [her son], “She put hot milt from a male herring into my hand.” It burned her hand. For this reason her son carried down the canoe. He filled it with herring by means of a herring rake. When [the canoe] was filled, he brought them in. The herring rock is over yonder this side of Big-fort [the hill on which Baranoff’s castle stood]. He brought them in in the evening. He said to his wife, “Go down to it,” and she went down empty handed.

► Continue reading…

Then she shouted up, “Bring down the basket,” but her husband said, “Don’t listen to her.” Night came on. Toward morning the woman began to change her cries. “This way with the basket (kat)”, she said toward morning. Later still she began to say, “Hu, hu, hu, hu.” Her husband said to her, “You can become an owl from this time on.” So she started to fly off. She became an owl. She flew first among the trees. She was heard saying, “Sit in your holes,” after which he (her husband) went outside. He said to her, “You put milt into my mother’s hand. For that you can become an owl. Way back there for you is Owl’s-rock-slide.” This is why it is so. This is why we can always understand it (the owl). It always predicts bad weather. It always tells what is going to happen in other towns.

Orphan

An orphan girl, Saha’n, is adopted to accompany a chief’s daughter but faces challenges due to the daughter’s misfortune. After the chief’s daughter marries unsuccessfully, Saha’n marries her former husband, bringing prosperity through her wisdom and diligence. However, mistreatment of her poorer brothers results in her downfall after her husband’s death, teaching a lasting lesson on the importance of equity among family members.

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

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Saha’n’s journey from poverty to wealth illustrates significant changes in her social status and personal circumstances.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts the importance of treating all family members with equity, regardless of their economic status, highlighting the consequences of neglecting this principle.

Family Dynamics: The interactions between Saha’n and her brothers underscore the complexities within familial relationships, particularly concerning wealth and status.

► 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

An orphan girl in the Tlingit country named Saha’n (Orphan) was adopted by some high-caste people to be a companion to their daughter. She was very fond of going to the creek to get water, and the chief’s daughter always accompanied her. Every time they went, the chief’s daughter would drink water from this creek against the protests of her foster sister, and it made her very unlucky.

When she married into another high-caste family her husband became very poor on account of her and finally abandoned her. Then he married Orphan, who was very bright and knew how to take care of things, and she made him rich. She was quiet and paid a great deal of attention to her husband. The village people were also very much pleased with her, for after her husband married her, they lived off of him.

► Continue reading…

Everything that this girl had was good, her dishes and spoons being all set with abalone shell. She had four adopted brothers, of whom the elder two were rich but the younger two very poor and unlucky. The former she would always treat well because she knew that they were bright and able to take care of things, and she always gave them food in her fine dishes. When she invited her poor brothers her husband would say, “Go and get your dishes now and let your brothers eat off of them,” but she always answered, “No, I don’t want to let them use my good dishes. They might leave the marks of poverty on them.”

After Orphan had lived some time in luxury, however, her husband died, and, as was customary, her husband’s relations took the property all away from her. She became as poor as she had been before. Luck went against her because she had treated her poor brothers so meanly. That is why, nowadays, when a rich person has a poor brother he always treats him just as well as the rich one.

Story of the frog crest of the Kiksa’di of Wrangell

A Stikine Kiksa’di man offended the frog people by kicking a frog, leading them to capture his soul. The frog chief, Frightful-face, revealed that the frogs were of the same Kiksa’di clan and spared him as kin. Upon release, the man’s body revived, and he recounted his ordeal, solidifying the Kiksa’di’s connection to frogs as spiritual kin.

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 man’s encounter with the frog people, who possess the power to capture his soul, highlights interactions with mystical entities.

Divine Punishment: The man’s disrespectful act towards the frog leads to his soul being taken, serving as retribution from higher powers for his transgression.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts a lesson on respecting all creatures and recognizing the interconnectedness of life, especially within one’s own clan.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

A similar story is told by the Ganaxa’di of Tongass.
Myth recorded in English at Wrangell, Alaska, in January-April 1904

A man belonging to the Stikine Kiksa’di kicked a frog over on its back, but as soon as he had done so he lay motionless unable to talk, and they carried his body into the house. This happened at Town-of-the-frogs (Xixtc-xa’yika-an), so named because there are many frogs near by.

The reason why this man lost his senses was because the frogs had taken his soul. They had it tied to a house post, and some of them said, “Let him starve right there where he is tied.” Others said, “No, don’t let him starve there. Feed him and let us see what the chief says.” This chief’s name was Frightful-face (Yaku’ldi). When he at last came in his canoe, they said, “Frightful-face has come.” Then all went down to his canoe to welcome him, and, when he reached his house, they told him the news. They said, “This man disgraced us terribly. He threw one of our women down and kicked her over.”

► Continue reading…

The woman was called Woman-in-the-road (Deyexca’gu). When the chief looked up, he said, “Untie him and bring him here.” Then he said to the man, “We belong to your clan, and it is a shame that you should treat your own people as you have done. We are Kiksa’di, and it is a Kiksa’di youth who has done this. You better go to your own village. You have disgraced yourself as well as us, for this woman belongs to your own clan.”

As soon as he had left the frogs’ house, his body lying at home came to. He had thought all the time that his body also was in the house of the frogs. Then he got up and began to talk. He said, “Something strange has happened to me. The frog people captured me on account of that frog that I kicked over in front of the house the other day. They had tied me to the chief’s house-post, and some wanted to kill me at once, while others wanted to starve me, and still others wanted to wait until their chief, Frightful-face, came home. When the latter at length arrived, they said to him, ‘We have a man in here who has been throwing down one of our women. We have been waiting for you to see what shall be done with him.’ I listened to all they said. Then the frog chief said, ‘Untie him,’ and all minded him. As soon as he had heard about it, he said, ‘See here, young man, what is this you have done? Don’t you know that we belong to your clan and that this woman you have done that to is of the same clan? If it were not for that, we would not let you go. As it is you may go.’”

All of the Kiksa’di were listening to what this man said, and it is because the frog himself said he was a Kiksa’di that they claim the frog.

Beaver and porcupine

A beaver and porcupine, once close friends, trick each other in humorous revenge. The beaver strands the porcupine on a stump in a lake, but the porcupine sings to freeze the water and escapes. Later, the porcupine carries the beaver up a tall tree, leaving him stranded. The beaver’s struggle to descend is said to cause trees’ bark to appear broken.

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

► Themes of the story

Trickster: Both animals engage in cunning tricks to outsmart each other, showcasing the trickster archetype.

Revenge and Justice: The porcupine seeks humorous revenge after being stranded, highlighting themes of retribution.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts lessons on the consequences of deceit and the dynamics of friendship.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

The beaver and the porcupine were great friends and went about everywhere together. The porcupine often visited the beaver’s house, but the latter did not like to have him come because he left quills there. One time, when the porcupine said that he wanted to go out to the beaver’s house, the beaver said, “All right, I will take you out on my back.” He started, but instead of going to his house he took him to a stump in the very middle of the lake. Then he said to him, “This is my house,” left him there, and went ashore.

While the porcupine was upon this stump he began singing a song, “Let it become frozen. Let it become frozen so that I can cross to Wolverine-man’s place.” He meant that he wanted to walk ashore on the ice. So the surface of the lake froze, and he walked home.

► Continue reading…

Some time after this, when the two friends were again playing together, the porcupine said, “You come now. It is my turn to carry you on my back.” Then the beaver got on the porcupine’s back, and the porcupine took him to the top of a very high tree, after which he came down and left him. For a long time the beaver did not know how to get down, but finally he climbed down, and they say that this is what gives the broken appearance to tree bark.

The salmon sack

A poor boy and his mother lived in hardship among unkind villagers on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Denied food, the boy joined a fishing trip and miraculously caught a sack of salmon tails, filling the canoes and providing abundant food for the village. This tale highlights how kindness to the downtrodden often brings fortune, as the boy’s resilience brought prosperity to those who had wronged him.

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 boy’s act of catching the salmon sack transforms the village’s circumstances from scarcity to abundance.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts a lesson about kindness and the potential rewards of treating others with compassion, as the villagers’ previous unkindness is contrasted with the prosperity that follows the boy’s success.

Community and Isolation: The boy and his mother initially experience isolation due to the villagers’ unkindness, but the miraculous catch leads to a renewed sense of community as the abundance is shared among all.

► 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 small boy whose father was dead lived with his mother at the town of A’sna’xk on the Queen Charlotte islands. The other town people were continually bringing in halibut and a salmon called icqe’n, but he and his mother could not get one piece and were very hungry. One day he begged to accompany some people who were going out, and they consented. When he got to the fishing ground, he had a bite and began to pull up his line quickly. As he did so numbers of salmon tails began coming up around, and the people started to put them into the canoe. They did not know what it meant. When he got it up they found that it was a very large sack full of salmon with just their tails sticking out, and they completely filled their canoes, for the salmon extended all about them. Then they carried these ashore and had so many that they began making oil out of some. With this oil and the dried salmon the people of that village had plenty to eat.

► Continue reading…

Years ago it always happened that the poor people to whom others were unkind brought luck to the village. They were so unkind to this boy that they did not give him any halibut, and that is why it was through him that they had plenty to eat.

Origin of the screech owl

A woman in Sitka, known for her secretive method of gathering herring, mistreated her mother-in-law by burning her hand with a hot rock. When discovered by her husband and the villagers, her selfish behavior led to her transformation into a screech owl, an enduring cautionary figure. This tale serves as a moral lesson about selfishness, family respect, and the consequences of one’s actions.

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 woman’s change into a screech owl symbolizes the physical manifestation of her moral failings.

Moral Lessons: The story imparts teachings on the repercussions of selfish behavior and disrespect within familial relationships.

Divine Punishment: The woman’s transformation can be seen as a form of retribution for her transgressions.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tlingit Lore

Learn more about the Tlingit people

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

There was a certain woman at Sitka living with her husband and her husband’s mother. One evening she got hemlock branches, made strings out of red-cedar bark, tied them together, and put them around herself. Then she went out to a flat rock, still called Herring rock, where herring are very abundant, just as the tide was coming over it, and, when the fish collected in the branches, she threw them up on the beach. Every day during the herring season she did the same thing, and after she reached the house she put her apron carefully away until next time. One day her old mother-in-law heard her cooking the herring and said, “What is that you are cooking?” “Oh!” she answered, “a few clams that I have collected.” “Will you give me some?” said the old woman, for she was hungry, but when she reached out her hand for it, her daughter-in-law dropped a hot rock into it and burnt her.

► Continue reading…

When her son came home that evening the old woman told him what had happened. She said, “She was cooking something. I know that it did not smell like clams. When I asked her for some she gave me a hot rock and burnt my hand. I wonder where she got that fish, for I am sure that it was some sort of fish. Immediately after you leave she is off. I don’t know what she does.”

When the man heard that, he and his brother who had been hunting with him started out at once before his wife saw them. The y pretended that they were again going hunting, but they returned immediately to a place where they could watch the village. From there they saw the woman put on her apron of hemlock boughs, go out to the rock, and come home with the herring. As soon as she had gone in they went out themselves and got a canoe load of the fish. Then the woman’s husband went up to the house and said to his wife, “I have a load of herring down there.” So she ran down to the canoe and saw that it was loaded with them. She began shouting up to them, “Bring me down my basket,” for she wanted to carry up the fish in it. The people heard her, but they felt ill-disposed toward her on account of the way she had treated her mother-in-law, so they paid no attention. She kept on shouting louder and louder, and presently her voice became strange. She shouted, “Hade’ wudika’t, wudika’t, wudika’t.” (”This way with the basket (kat)”) She also began hooting like an owl.

As she kept on making this noise her voice seemed to go farther away from the village. The people noticed it but paid no attention. After she had asked for the basket right behind the village, she sounded still more like an owl, and finally she ceased to ask for the basket, and merely hooted (hm, hm). She had become the screech owl. She left them altogether.

Nowadays, when a young girl is very selfish, people say to her, Ah! when you get married, you will put a hot rock into your mother-in-law’s hand, and for punishment you will become an owl.”