The Wolf and Wolverine

A Wolverine provides beavers to his Wolf wife but secretly visits a Wildcat, arousing her suspicions. The Wolf trails him to a riverside tipi, discovers the affair, and cleverly lures the Wildcat into a boiling pot, killing her as revenge. The Wolverine mourns his loss, finds new hunting grounds, and returns home, where he and his wife live in renewed harmony and abundance.

Source:
Athabascan Myths
by Frank Russell
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.13, No.48, pp. 11-18
January-March, 1900

► Themes of the story

Revenge and Justice: The Wolf enacts retribution by tricking and killing the Wildcat to restore marital honor.

Cunning and Deception: The Wolf uses deceit to lure the Wildcat into the boiling kettle.

Forbidden Love: The illicit relationship between the Wolverine and the Wildcat defies marital bonds.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Gwichʼin Lore

Learn more about the Gwichʼin (Loucheux) people

There was once a Wolverine who married a Wolf, and for some time he was very faithful in providing beaver for food. In the course of time he stayed longer upon his hunting trips, and brought home fewer beaver for his wife to cook. She reproached him for this and he said that he had to go farther for beaver now, that was why he was detained so long. His wife thought there was surely something wrong and decided to watch him. One day, as he set out on his hunting trip in his canoe, she followed along the river bank under cover of the forest. At length she saw her husband go ashore with a beaver which he had killed, and with which he entered a tipi that stood by the riverside. When he went away again, the wife went into the camp and saw a Wildcat sitting before the kettle in which the beaver was cooking.

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She saw that her husband had been unfaithful, and determined to kill the Wildcat. She told the Cat to look into the kettle and she would see herself there; when the Wildcat looked into the kettle the Wolf pushed her in, so that her face was burned so severely that death resulted. The Wolf then dragged the Wildcat to the top of the bank overlooking the landing-place, and hid herself in the adjoining bushes. Her husband came back with more beavers, and as he came up the bank he said to the Wildcat which he saw above him, “Are you waiting for me? What are you laughing at me for?” for the shrivelled and grinning head appeared to be laughing. But when he saw that the Cat was dead, he exclaimed, “Ah, that is what the trouble is,” and he began to weep. He stayed a long time at the camp, and finally carried the Wildcat away into the forest. At last he started for home, and his wife ran back in time to be at work carrying wood when he arrived. The Wolverine asked, “Why is there no fire?” “I have been out all day gathering wood,” replied his wife; “why are you back so soon today?” “Because I have found a new place where there are plenty of beaver,” said the Wolverine. But he was very sad and unhappy for some time afterward. “Why are you so different lately?” asked the Wolf. But he would not tell her, and hunted very faithfully and brought home many beavers, so that they lived very contentedly together ever afterward.

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The children of the dog

A solitary huntress shelters in the mountains, visited nightly by a mysterious lover who soon reveals himself as a dog hunting porcupines. When she kills him after discovering his true form, she later gives birth to two male and one female dog-children. Her villagers abandon her, yet her pups, able to shed their skins and become children, thrive—ultimately proving their worth and reconnecting with the tribe.

Source:
Traditions of the Ts’ets’a’ut
by Franz Boas
The American Folklore Society
Journal of American Folklore
Vol.9, No.35, pp. 257-268
October-December, 1896
Vol.10, No.36, pp. 35-48
January-March, 1897

► Themes of the story

Transformation: Central to the story are the shapeshifting elements: the dog transforming into a man, and the children switching between human and dog forms.

Supernatural Beings: The dog-lover and the children who can change their shape clearly indicate interaction with beings beyond the natural world.

Forbidden Love: The mysterious conception and the birth of dog-children prompt rejection from the community, suggesting a transgressive or taboo relationship.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tsetsaut Lore

Learn more about the Tsetsaut people

Once upon a time there was a woman who went every night hunting porcupines. During the daytime she hunted marmots. While out on the mountains she built a shelter of branches. One night, when she had gone to sleep, a young man entered her hut He looked just like her lover, and she thought he had followed her. In the morning she boiled some of the porcupine meat and both partook of it, and in the evening the young man went out to hunt porcupines. As soon as he had left the hut, he put on his blanket and appeared in his true shape. He was one of the dogs of the village. He crawled into the dens of the porcupines and caught a great number. Then he took off his blanket and reappeared in the shape of a man. For three nights he stayed with the woman. During the daytime he went hunting marmots, and he never went out without bringing back a vast amount of game.

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Then he ate of the food that the woman had cooked and they went to bed. In the third night he arose about midnight. He had assumed his true shape, and ate the meat and gnawed the bones of the marmots and of the porcupines. The woman awoke by the noise and saw a large dog eating their provisions. She turned to the man, intending to awake him, but there was nobody to be seen. Then she took a club and killed the dog. Early in the morning she made a bundle of the remaining dried meat and returned to her village. She did not tell any one of what had happened. But soon she felt that she was with child, and when this came to be known nobody knew who had been her lover. After two months she was about to be confined. The women of the village assembled to assist her, but what was their terror when she gave birth first to two male dogs, then to a female dog! They all fled, even her mother. Only her brother’s sister remained with her. The women told the people what had happened, and all the inhabitants of the village resolved to desert her. They packed their belongings and left the place. Only the young woman and her pups remained.

They grew up rapidly. Every day their mother went gathering food for them. As soon as she left the hut, the pups took off their skins, and played about in the shape of children. They had nice, light skins. When they saw their mother approaching, they put on their skins, resumed the shape of dogs, and lay in the ashes of the fireplace. One day their mother did not go very far. She heard voices of children near her hut. They seemed to be playing and singing. Cautiously she approached the hut, walking noiselessly over the snow; but the children had seen her coming, and put on their blankets before she was able to come near. On the following day she went up the mountains, and there she pushed her staff into the ground and hung her blanket of marmot skins over it Again she approached the hut cautiously. When she came near, she saw two boys and one girl playing around. The latter went to look from time to time, and returned on seeing the staff that was covered with the blanket. She said to her brothers: “Mother is still out gathering wood.” Then the mother jumped into the hut. On one side of the fireplace were two dog-skins; on the other there was one. She took the first two, and threw them into the fire. Before she was able to take the last, the girl had run into the house, put it on, and was transformed into a dog. Then the boys sat down in a corner of the house, crying for their skins. Their mother gave them blankets made of marmot skins. She made garments and snow-shoes, bows and arrows, and the boys began hunting squirrels. When they came to be larger they hunted larger animals, and the bitch accompanied them. She was a very good hunter. They had such a vast supply of game that they did not know what to do with it. Their house was quite filled with supplies.

The people, however, who had left the woman were unsuccessful in hunting, and were almost starving. They returned to their old hunting-ground, and were surprised to find the woman still alive, and to see the two young men.

One day the two hunters went out to hunt mountain goats. Their dog accompanied them. Then a goat attacked the dog, gored it, and threw it down the side of the mountain.

Later on the two young men married women of the tribe. Once upon a time they went hunting, accompanied by seven men. They hunted mountain goats near the sources of Tcunaq River. They killed a whole herd. Only one kid escaped by climbing a high, precipitous rock. There it stood, crying pitifully. The men of the party wanted to return, but the two brothers were so eager to kill the poor kid that they began the dangerous ascent of the steep rock. They had no pity. Then the rock began to grow and carried them up so high that there was no possibility of return. They succeeded in reaching a cleft. There they sat close together warming each other, but after three days one of the brothers died. On the following day the men of the tribe went to the cliff and shouted to the brothers, but there was no reply. The other one had died also. When they turned away to rejoin their tribe, on looking at the rock they saw blood flowing down from the place where the brothers had died, and also from the retreat of the kid. The blood may be seen on the rock up to this day.

Brother and sister

Four brothers and their sister, orphaned, journeyed to the Tcu’nax River’s headwaters to hunt mountain goats. The eldest brother and sister developed a forbidden affection, leading the other brothers to bind and abandon them. The pair escaped, gained supernatural powers, and transformed into mountain goats, creating natural landmarks. Later, their transformed family encountered their remorseful brothers.

► Themes of the story

Creation: The brother creates natural features, such as a bridge, caves, and the sea, shaping the world’s landscape.

Forbidden Love: The narrative centers on a romantic relationship between the brother and sister, which leads to their ostracism.

Divine Intervention: The brother’s supernatural powers suggest influence beyond the mortal realm, affecting both nature and people.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tsetsaut Lore

Learn more about the Tsetsaut people

Once upon a time there were four brothers and a sister whose parents had died. One day they went up Tcu’nax River until they reached its headwaters, which are called xaga. There they stayed hunting the mountain goat. The eldest of the brothers had fallen in love with his sister, who returned his affection. Then the other brothers grew ashamed. They tied the two together with cedar-withes, so that the man’s head was between the feet of the woman, while her head was between the man’s feet, and thus left them. The eldest brother, however, was so strong that he tore apart his bonds, and liberated himself and his sister. He found a cave, which they used as a dwelling-place. After some time his sister gave birth to a boy. One day, when she left the house, she saw many mountain goats grazing on the hill opposite.

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She ran back into the cave, and called her brother: “Come and look at the mountain goats.” He went out and looked at them. On this, they fell dead and rolled down the mountain towards the cave. He had attained supernatural powers. His gaze killed whomever and whatever he looked at. Then he said to his wife: “Go and gather stones, with which to skin the goats.” She went down to the river, and gathered many thin pebbles. When she had brought them to the cave, her husband was not satisfied with them. He himself went to the river, and found many new stone knives and axes. These he carried to the cave, and he and his wife began to skin the goats. But they did not cut open their bellies and strip off the skin, as it is the custom to do; they cut the feet, and skinned them as we do martens. In this manner he skinned one buck, a she goat, and a kid, and father, mother, and son put on their skins. Then the father said: “Now I will go down the river and build houses for our use.” He started, and after he had gone some distance he made a natural bridge across the river, and many caves in the sides of the mountains. Then he said to his wife: “Now I will make the sea. The ocean shall be in the west, the land shall be in the east.” Thus the sea was created. And he continued: “I will make a hole, so that the water of the sea may run down through it and come back again. Then there will be ebb-tide and flood-tide.” But his wife asked him: “Do not make the hole here, for men are living near by, and the hole might swallow them. Make it far away in midocean.”

Henceforth they lived under the bridge. One day many Ts’ets’a’ut went up the river to see what had become of the brother and sister who had been left. Among the travellers were the brothers of the couple. When they approached the headwaters of the river, they saw the natural bridge, and the caves which they had not seen before. The kid was frolicking under the bridge, and every one of its steps made a deep impression in the rock. It was scared when it saw the people and jumped back into the cave in which it was living. The people saw a glaring light coming forth from the cave. Then the mother came out, to see what had frightened the kid. She saw the people sitting on their knees, and wondering at the marvellous changes that had taken place on the river. She went back and told her husband what she had seen. He said: “Among these people are our brothers who bound us. Let us kill them!” His wife did not reply. Then he stepped out of the cave, and when he looked at the people they all died. One woman only had hidden herself. She was saved. The natural bridge where these events took place is called Tseneniaga.

Then the husband and his wife separated. She went up the river. When she arrived at its source, she made a rock resembling her in shape. It may be seen up to this day. It looks like a woman carrying a babe on her back. She went on to the headwaters of Nass River, where she continues to live on the bank of a lake up to this day.

The man went down the river, and wherever he camped he made rocks of curious shape as marks of his presence. Now his name was Qa, the raven. The Tlingit call him Yel. Among others he made two rocks which look like men with arms. One of these has fallen over, while the other one is still standing. Its name is Suql (the same in Tlingit). He wandered all through the world. Finally he travelled westward.

At that time the sea was always high. In the middle of the world he discovered a rock in the sea. He built a house under the rock, made a hole through the earth, and a lid which fitted it. He put a man in charge of the hole, who opened the lid twice a day and twice a day closed it. When the hole is open, the water rushes down through it into the depth, and it is ebb; when the lid is put on, the water rises again, and it is flood. Ta’el, a Tlingit chief, when hunting sea otters, was taken out to the rock by the tide. The current was so strong that there was no possibility of escape. When he was drawn towards the rock, he saw a few small trees growing on it. He managed to throw his canoe-line over one of the trees and thus succeeded in escaping from the whirlpool. After some time he heard a noise which was produced by the closing of the hole. Then the water began to rise, and he paddled away as fast as he could. Before the ebb began, he pulled his canoe on to a rock, and when the flood set in again continued his homeward journey. Finally he reached his home in safety.

How Raven stole the rich man’s daughter

In a village of mud houses, a wealthy man had a beautiful daughter who refused all suitors. One day, while berry-picking with other girls, their canoes mysteriously drifted across the river. A Raven man offered to ferry them back, but after assisting the others, he abducted the rich man’s daughter. She cleverly escaped by tying his rope to a tree and returned home safely. Subsequently, the villagers transformed into animals.

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: The Raven man embodies the trickster archetype, using cunning to deceive the village girls and abduct the rich man’s daughter.

Forbidden Love: The Raven man’s desire for the rich man’s daughter, despite social and personal barriers, reflects a pursuit of forbidden love.

Conflict with Authority: The Raven man’s actions challenge societal norms and the authority of the rich man, leading to significant consequences.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Koyukon Lore

Learn more about Koyukon people

There was a big village where the people lived in mud houses; and in the village there lived a rich man who had a big house with a skin tied to a pole on top of the house, because he was a very rich man. He had a wife and one daughter. In the middle of the village there was a big kashime; and every evening the men of the village went into the kashime, and their wives brought them fish and meat and ice-cream; and after they had eaten, their wives took the wooden bowls away and went to their own houses, and the old men and the boys all went to sleep in the kashime. Early in the morning the young boys would go to get wood for the kashime, and afterwards they would have breakfast.

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Sometimes the rich man would hunt for deer, and would kill plenty of deer with his arrows and bow, and would feed all the people. Now, his daughter was a fine girl, and she did not wish to get married to anybody. And all the young boys liked her, and every one got fire-wood for her, and tried to go into her father’s house to visit her; but she did not care for them, and threw all their dry wood over the bank. They all tried for her, but they could not get her. One summer the girls of the village took their canoes and went to get berries, and the rich man’s daughter went with them in her canoe. They all stopped at the foot of a mountain, and left their canoes, and went up on the mountain to get berries. When the Raven man heard that the girls had gone to get berries, he took his canoe and went after them, and found their canoes drawn up on the shore, and took them over to the other side of the river. When the girls came down from the mountain, they found that their canoes were gone; and they said, “Oh, my! our canoes are on the other side of the river: the wind did it.” Then they saw the Raven man paddling past them; and they called to him, and said, “Bring our canoes over to us!” But he said, “No, I will take you across in my canoe.” So the girls said, “Yes;” and he took over first one, and then another. Then the rich man’s daughter said, “Take me over!” but he said, “By and by.” So after he had taken all the others over, he took the rich man’s daughter into his canoe, but he went off down the river with her. And she cried, because she did not like the Raven man. So he went on down the river with her; and she cried all day long, because she did not like him. And he said to her, “Don’t cry! I will not hurt you, I am a good man.” But she said, “I don’t like you: you tell lies all the time.” The next day the girl said, “I want to go into the woods for a little while.” So the Raven man said, “Yes;” and he tied a long rope to her, because he thought she might run away, and he held the end of it while she went into the woods. Then she untied the rope, and tied it to a tree and ran away. The Raven man called to her, but there was no answer; and he pulled upon the rope, but it did not give; and he pulled it hard, and the tree broke off. Then he ran up into the woods, looking for her; but she was on the way home, and got there first. Afterward he went home too; and his grandmother asked him, “Where have you been?” and he said, “I have been in the woods.” But his grandmother said, “I hear that you took the rich man’s daughter off down the river. Don’t do that again, because you are not a rich man, to take that girl for your wife.” And after that, all the people turned into animals.

(Another version) There was a big village where a great many people lived. And they had only one kashime, and in this village there lived a Raven man. There was a girl, too, who did not want to get married. All the young men wanted her, but she did not care for any of them. It came summertime, and all the women went to get berries, and this girl went with them. After they had gone, the Raven got up and put on his little dog-skin parka and boots, and went out of the kashime, and went looking around, and found a canoe laid up. He took it down and looked at it, and found that it was made of fish-skin. He put it in the water and got into it, and found the place where the girls had gone to get berries. He saw their canoes drawn up on the shore, and took them all across the river, and then went off down the river again. In the afternoon he came up again; and by that time the women were coming back, down the mountain. “Oh, my!” said one of them, “our canoes are all on the other side of the river. How shall we get across?” Then they saw the Raven coming up the river in his canoe; and they all called out to him, “Oh, my dear grandfather! please, will you bring our canoes over for us?” But the Raven said, “No, I can’t do that, because it will be too much work. I’ll tell you what I will do. I will take you all over, one at a time.” So they all said, “Yes,” and he took them all over except that beautiful girl. “Come on!” said -he, “and I will take you over, too.” So she got into his canoe; but, instead of taking her across, he went off down the river with her; and she screamed, because she didn’t like him. He went on about twenty days, and one day the girl said that she would like to take a walk on the shore. So the Raven said she might; and he went ashore and took a big dogharness out of his canoe, and tied a long rope to it, and put it on the girl, and told her to go ahead. So she went up the bank, into the brush, and found a big stump, and took off the dog-harness and put it on the stump, and went off a little way. “Come on!” said the Raven-, and the Stump said, “By and by, I am not ready yet.” And after a while the Raven pulled on the rope, and hauled the big Stump out to the bank; and he became angry and went up on the bank, looking through the brush. Pretty soon he came back, and saw the girl sitting in the canoe; and he said, “Come on, come and get me!” But the girl said, “I don’t like you.” And the Raven said, “If you won’t take me, give me my arrows and my bow.” But she broke them in pieces, and threw them into the water, and paddled away home. Then the Raven began to cry, because he had no canoe to go home in; and he made his way home walking on the beach, and reached the village in about twenty days, very ill and sore, and went to his grandmother’s house. “Where have you been?” said his grandmother. “I don’t know,” said he. He was sick one day and one night, and the next morning he died. His grandmother wailed for him, and all the women wailed, too, and that night all the people made songs. But some of them made bad songs, and the Raven made trouble for them. In the morning, when it grew light, the Raven flew away, and afterward all the men and women flew away, too.

The woman stolen by the Duci’ne

A Duci’ne man abducts a woman and takes her to his homeland through a perilous canyon. She bears two children who later return to her people, sharing knowledge of the Duci’ne. Following this union, the Duci’ne cease killing intruders, instead turning them away to protect their territory.

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

Forbidden Love: The union between the woman and the Duci’ne man represents a romantic connection defying societal or cultural boundaries.

Cultural Heroes: The children, born from this union, act as foundational figures by bridging two cultures, sharing knowledge, and fostering peace between their mother’s people and the Duci’ne.

Transformation: The narrative showcases a transformation in the Duci’ne’s behavior—from hostile protectors of their territory to a more tolerant group—indicating a significant change in their societal norms.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

A Duci’ne man stole a woman, and took her to his country. After travelling many days, they came to a canyon, through which they passed. The Duci’ne people had their home at the other end. No strangers ever went through this canyon and returned, for the Duci’ne killed them.

The woman bore two children. Both of them came to live among the people, whom they told all about the country and habits of their father’s people. Their mother never returned from the Duci’ne country.

After this marriage, the Duci’ne did not kill any more people; and any who travelled into the canyon near their country were turned back, and not killed. The Duci’ne kept watchers at the canyon to prevent people going through.

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The Water-Being as a lover

A man discovers his wife’s affair with a water-being from a nearby lake. Suspicious of her frequent absences and adornments, he disguises himself as her, lures the water-being, and kills him. He then cooks the creature’s flesh and serves it to his wife, revealing the truth mid-meal. Overcome with guilt and horror, she becomes ill, leading to her demise.

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: The woman’s secret affair with a supernatural entity defies societal and marital norms.

Cunning and Deception: The husband’s use of disguise and trickery to uncover and punish the affair showcases themes of wit and deceit.

Revenge and Justice: The husband’s actions represent a form of retribution for his wife’s betrayal.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Sub-Arctic Region
  - Tahltan Lore

Learn more about Tahltan people

A man had a wife who fell in love with a water-being who lived in a lake near their camp. The husband noticed that his wife was always sick and could do little work. When she went for fire-wood, she brought only a little. Yet every day she painted her face and combed her hair as young girls do. He became suspicious; and one day, instead of going hunting, he watched her. She went to the edge of the lake, where the roots of a stump extended into the water. Here she gave a signal. The water-being looked up in the middle of the lake, disappeared again, and came to the tree, where he made love to the woman. Afterwards she went home lame. The next day the man asked his wife to bring in some meat of the game that he had killed; but she protested, claiming to be too sick. Finally she went. Then the man painted and dressed himself to resemble his wife, went to the tree at the lake, and gave the signal.

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The water-being came out of the lake and embraced the man, who at once stabbed and killed him. He cut off his large privates and carried them home. He boiled them with pieces of fat and other meat. When his wife returned, he said, “I am sure you must be tired and hungry. I have cooked something nice for you.” When she had been eating a short time, he remarked, “Women now eat their lovers’ privates.” She looked, and recognized a piece of the meat, and at once became very sick. Her husband killed her and cut off her head. He then returned to where the other people lived, and told them what had happened.

Second version. A man’s wife always went to the shores of a certain lake to gather roots, and brought back hardly any. She would not go to any other place. Her husband became suspicious. She complained of being sick and lame. One day he told her he was going hunting, but instead sat down on a hill above the lake and watched. His wife came along; and when she reached the shores of the lake, she began to sing a love-song. A water-being came out and played with her. The husband told her he would go the next day and gather the roots, as she was sick and not able to gather much. He disguised himself. When he sang a love-song as his wife had done, the water-being came out. The man cut off his privates with a knife which he had concealed in his bosom. He boiled them, and gave them to his wife to eat. When she saw what she had been eating, she vomited, and afterwards, through shame, committed suicide.

The rejected lover

A young man, in love with his cousin, faces rejection as she resists their union due to familial tensions and her secret affections. Humiliated and despondent, he encounters a magical loon that transforms his fate, guiding him to a distant village where he marries a chief’s daughter. Despite initial happiness, jealousy and betrayal lead to the couple’s separation, ending tragically in mystical retribution.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: The young man’s love for his cousin is met with familial opposition and societal disapproval, highlighting the challenges of pursuing a relationship that defies accepted norms.

Transformation: The protagonist undergoes significant changes, both emotionally and through the influence of the magical loon, which alters his destiny and leads him to a new life.

Love and Betrayal: After achieving initial happiness, the young man’s life is disrupted by jealousy and betrayal, culminating in a tragic separation and mystical retribution.

► 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

Somewhere to the north lived a chief who had a daughter and a nephew who was in love with this daughter. In olden times when a man married a woman with a marriageable daughter he married the daughter as well, so the youth wanted to marry this chief’s wife in order to get her daughter. The boy’s father was chief of a certain clan. When he found that he could not get this woman by himself the young man told his mother, and his mother worked hard for him. They carried in slaves and goods of all kinds to the chief. Still the chief would not consent, for he wanted his daughter to marry some great chief from outside. He would not let anyone in the village have her. It was really the girl, however, that had induced her father not to give his consent. She must have been in love with somebody else or her father would not have spoken in that way.

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The boy’s father had him ornamented with abalone shell, in his ears and all over his shirt, but, just as soon as he came in decorated in this way, along with his mother, the girl would jump up, raise her marten robe in front of her face, run to meet them before, they sat down and say to him, “You may be decorated with all kinds of valuable shells, but I will not have you.” The boy and her mother were hurt at this. At first the girl liked her cousin well enough, but, when she found that he had made hard feelings between her parents, she began to feel unkindly toward him. Probably her father hated the boy because his wife was willing to marry him.

One day the girl felt lonely and asked her cousin to go up with her to get spruce bark to eat. The girl took along her little servant girl and the boy his little servant boy. So they went up back of the town until they came to a place where there were only spruces with open grassy spots between. The girl sat down on one of these latter and her cousin took the bark off for her. He was very good to her, and tried to humor her in every way, but by and by she said to him, “Pull off your marten robe and put it into that pond close by.” The boy did so, saying, “Did you think I could not do that? I have plenty of marten robes.” Then the girl spoke again saying, “Pull off all of your hair.” He began to do so, and, when it was all pulled out, she said, “All right.” Then she said, “Take all those shells from your ears and face and throw them away.” The boy began to feel disturbed (lit. strange) about what she was saying to him, but he did so. As soon as he had finished, however, the girl and her servant ran home.

Now the boy did not dare to return, because he had nothing to wear, his marten robe being wet and his shells lost in the grass. So he took some moss wide enough to cover his shoulders and body and lay down upon a point at the edge of the woods. He felt very badly and cried hard as he lay there. When he looked up he saw a loon swimming about in the sea. By and by he looked up again and he again saw the loon in the same place. Every now and then it uttered a cry. Finally, as he was lying with his head down, he heard some one say to him, “I have come after you.” He looked up again but saw nothing except that loon. The fourth time this happened he kept watch, for he thought that it was the loon, and he saw a man coming to him. Before this person, who was in fact the loon, could say anything the boy exclaimed, “I have seen you.” Then the loon said, “Come along with me. Get on my back and shut your eyes tight.”

Then the man did as this loon directed, and the latter dived down into the sea with him and came up quite a distance out. “Look up,” it said. The youth did so and found himself some distance out on the water. The hair was growing again upon his head. Then the loon told him to close his eyes a second time, went out still farther, and told him to reopen them. He was out a very long distance. Then the boy thought, “What is he taking me out here for?” When he opened his eyes for the third time he could see a village, and the loon said to him, “You see that village. The chief there has a lovely daughter whom you, are to marry.” After he had come up to the shore with him he, showed him this chief’s house and said, “You are to marry the daughter of the chief who owns that house.” Then the loon handed him the shells for his ears and his marten robe, which looked as nice as ever.

At night the youth went to the chief’s house, passed in to where his daughter was, and said, “Chief’s daughter, I have been told that I am not good enough to marry you.” But the girl liked him very much and married him at once.

When news came to this girl’s father, who was the Calm, that his child was married, he did not say anything, for she had been brought up very well, and she was to marry whomsoever she pleased.

So the man stayed there very many years, but at last he wanted to return to his father’s people. The chief took down his own canoe for his daughter and son-in-law, and they put all kinds of food into it. The people disliked to see them go, and the chief told his daughter to be good to her husband. The canoe that they had was a bear canoe, and everywhere they camped they had to take very good care of it. Before they set out the chief said to his daughter, “Don’t let anybody whatever give you water. Let your husband always bring it and give it to you. He gave her a quill to drink water out of and a very small basket for her cup. Then the girl said to her husband, “You must let alone those girls you used to go with and those you were in love with. You are not to speak to them.”

When they came to his father’s town all were glad to see the youth, for they had been looking for him everywhere. While they were there he always brought the water for his wife to drink as he had been told. One day, however, as he was going for water, his former sweetheart, who was angry with him because he would follow his wife around and pay no attention to her, ran through the woods to him, seized him and spoke to him. He, however, pulled himself away and would not answer her. When the girl put her quill into the water this time, however, the water was slimy. Before it had been pure and would drip like raindrops. At once she said, “I must leave you,” and, although he begged her hard to stay, she got up and walked out. He tried to stop her but in vain. Every time he seized her his hands passed right through her. Then she began walking right out on the surface of the sea and he followed her. She said “Go back,” but he kept on until they were a long distance out. Then she said, “Go back or I will look at you.” So she turned around and looked at him, and he went straight down into the ocean.

Raven (Part 9)

A young woman, admired for her beauty, married Man-that-eats-the-leavings, a lowly but skilled hunter, without her family’s consent. Discovering his forgotten inheritance of a copper canoe and a grand house, he transformed their lives with wealth and status. Her mother, initially enraged, was appeased with gifts, leading to reconciliation. This tale highlights the transformative power of character and fortune in unexpected unions.

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’s life changes dramatically from poverty to wealth upon discovering his inheritance.

Forbidden Love: The woman marries without her family’s consent, highlighting societal challenges.

Sacred Objects: The copper canoe and other inherited items possess significant power and symbolism.

► 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

Afterward they bathed the girl to take all the devilfish off of her, and put fine clothing on her. Her face was very pretty, so that all the neighboring chiefs wanted to marry her. In olden times a good looking woman was considered high-caste, for they knew she would marry well, and a good looking woman among the high-caste people was considered very high.

Among those who wanted to marry this girl was Man-that-eats-the-leavings. He lived in a brush house at a place where garbage was thrown out. He was a fine shot, however, and one day he went to a lake behind the town where a loon was swimming about and shot it. When the arrow struck it gave forth a sound like a bell and swam right up to the shore. Then he went down to it and found, instead of a loon, a canoe made out of copper.

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This was, in fact, the grizzly-bear canoe that had belonged to his grandfather. It had long since been forgotten. Next he found a piece of a painted house front (qen) and shook it, upon which a grand house stood there with four horizontal house timbers, and he lined the inside of this house with copper-plates made out of the copper canoe. Then he married the chief’s daughter without her father’s consent and took her to his house.

By and by the chief’s daughter was missed, and they hunted for her through all of the houses, but they did not look into the old brush house, for they thought she would never go there. They thought that she might have gone back to the rocks again, and they dug up all of the large rocks to look underneath them. Finally, however, they saw her going into the brush house and told her parents, and her parents felt very badly on her account. All got out spears to kill her husband, but her mother said, “I am going there to see her first.” So she went down in great anger, but found the door already open for her, and, when she went in, each side of the house shone so brightly that she could hardly keep her eyes open. She saw that the house was full of very nice things, so she said to her daughter, “Daughter, are you married?” “Yes, mother, I am married.” Her mother had intended to take her home and have her husband killed, but instead she put the fire out and sat in the ashes, as was customary in the case of a woman whose daughter married without her consent. It meant that she wanted property. And before she had sat there very long, her new son-in-law handed out eight bright copper plates and sent her home, and she told her husband all that she had seen. Then they laid their spears aside, and the following morning they saw a beautifully painted house standing where the brush house had been. Now the chief invited his daughter and her husband to a feast. The servants that were sent with the invitation were finely dressed. When they got there, they said to the girl, “We are sent after you by your father; he wants you to come to a feast, you and your husband.” They did so, and, after food had been served, he gave his son-in-law eight slaves, one for every copper plate his wife had received. And to this day, when a girl runs off with some one, and her people find he is all right, they do all they can for her.

Kats

Kats, a Ka’gwantan hunter from Sitka, married a female bear who sheltered him after a hunt. Living with her, he fathered cubs and discovered bears shed their skins indoors to appear human. Returning to his people, he secretly provided for his bear family. However, breaking his wife’s warnings, he touched his child, prompting his bear family to kill him. Their offspring caused chaos before being eradicated by the Sitka people. This tale explains the taboo against eating grizzly bear meat.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: Kats’s union with a bear defies natural and societal norms, highlighting the complexities and consequences of such relationships.

Transformation: The story explores physical and metaphorical changes, as bears shed their skins to become human-like indoors, and Kats transitions between human and animal worlds.

Divine Punishment: Kats’s disregard for his bear wife’s warnings leads to his demise, illustrating retribution from higher powers for 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 Sitka, Alaska
January-April 1904

Kats belonged to the Ka’gwantan and lived at Sitka. One day he went hunting with dogs, and, while his dogs ran on after a male bear, this bear’s wife took him into her den, concealed him from her husband, and married him. He had several children by her. Indoors the bears take off their skin coats and are just like human beings.

By and by he wanted to go back to his people, but before he started she told him not to smile at or touch his Indian wife or take up either of his children.

After his return, he would go out for seal, sea lions, and other animals which he carried up into an inlet where his bear wife was awaiting him.

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Then the cubs would come down, pull the canoe ashore violently, take out the game and throw it from one to another up to their mother. On account of the roughness of these cubs it came to be a saying in Sitka, “If you think you are brave, be steersman for Kats.”

One day Kats pitied one of his children and took it up. The next time he went up the inlet, however, the cubs seized him and threw him from one to another up to their mother, and so killed him. Then they scattered all over the world and are said to have been killed in various places.

What is thought to have been the last of these was killed at White Stone Narrows. When some people were encamped there a girl spoke angrily about Kats’s child, and it came upon them, killing all except a few who escaped in their canoes, and this woman, whom it carried off alive, making her groan with pain. One man tried to kill it but did not cut farther than its hair. Finally all the Indians together killed it with their spears and knives. [Because a human being married among the grizzly bears, people will not eat grizzly-bear meat]

The Sun and the Moon

A coastal village tale recounts a boy’s forbidden love for his sister, leading her to escape into the sky as the moon, pursued by him as the sun, causing eclipses. Their father, consumed by despair, turned malevolent, spreading disease and consuming both the dead and living. Shamans eventually subdued him, inspiring burial traditions that bind the deceased to prevent possession by evil spirits.

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

► Themes of the story

Forbidden Love: The brother’s prohibited affection for his sister initiates the central conflict.

Transformation: The siblings’ metamorphosis into the sun and the moon, and the father’s change into a malevolent being.

Supernatural Beings: The involvement of shamans and the father’s transformation into an evil spirit highlight interactions with supernatural entities.

► From the same Region or People

North America
- Arctic Region
  - Inuit/Eskimo Lore

Learn more about Inuit peoples

from St. Michael

In a coast village once lived a man and his wife who had two children, a girl and a boy. When these children grew large enough, so that the boy could turn over the gravel stone, he became in love with his sister. Being constantly importuned by the boy his sister finally, to avoid him, floated away into the sky and became the moon. The boy has pursued her ever since, becoming the sun, and sometimes overtakes and embraces her, thus causing an eclipse of the moon. After his children had gone their father became very gloomy and hated his kind, going about the earth scattering disease and death among mankind, and the victims of disease became his food, until he became so evil that his desire could not be satisfied in this way, so he killed and ate people who were well.

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Through fear of this being people threw the bodies of their dead just outside the village that he might be fed without injuring the living. Whenever he came about the bodies would disappear during the night. Finally he became so bad that all the most powerful shamans joined together and, by using their magic powers, were enabled to capture and bind him hand and foot, so that he was no longer able to wander about doing mischief. Although bound and unable to move about, he has still the power to introduce disease and afflict mankind. To prevent evil spirits from wandering and taking possession of dead bodies and thus giving them a fictitious animation for evil purposes, and in memory of the binding of this evil one, the dead are no longer thrown out, but are tied hand and foot in the position in which the demon was bound and placed in the grave box.