Raven warned the villagers not to seek salmon, but their hunger led them to send four boys to fish. On their return, a red-painted man predicted the deaths of the canoe’s occupants, blaming the shaman’s spirits. The prophecy unfolded tragically, with the steersman surviving briefly to recount the events before also dying. The shaman then performed a ritual and succumbed, sealing the mysterious and ominous tale.
Source:
Tlingit Myths and Texts
by John R. Swanton
[Smithsonian Institution]
Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 39
Washington, 1909
► Themes of the story
Prophecy and Fate: The red-painted man’s prediction of the boys’ deaths underscores the inevitability of fate and the power of prophecy in the story.
Divine Intervention: Raven’s initial warning and the subsequent supernatural events suggest the influence of higher powers in mortal affairs.
Forbidden Quest: The villagers’ decision to seek salmon despite Raven’s warning represents a transgression against prohibitions, leading to dire consequences.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Tlingit people
Myth recorded in English at Wrangell, Alaska, in January-April 1904
Now all the people were very happy because the salmon were running, but before they had left the town Raven came to them and said, “Don’t leave the town. Stay right here. Don’t go to any of the salmon creeks.” They were very hungry for salmon, however, and said to four boys, “Go to the salmon creek close by and get some salmon for the village.” So they went there and filled their canoe.
This salmon stream runs down into a sort of lake, and, while they were upon this paddling homeward, they heard some one calling to them. Presently a man came down through the woods and shouted, “Stay where you are, and I will tell you something.” Looking at this man, they saw that he was naked and painted red all over.
► Continue reading…
He said, “When you have gone a short distance, the fellow sitting in the bow will fall over. When you have gone a little farther, the next will do the same. A little farther still the next one will fall over. You fellow in the stern will reach home and tell the news. It is through the shaman’s own spirits that he is killed.”
They could not understand this last saying for the shaman had been alive when they left, but all things happened just as the man had predicted. After they had gone a short distance the man in the bow fell over with blood pouring out of his mouth. The same thing happened to the next two. When the steersman reached town with the three bodies they asked him what was the matter, but he said, “Do not ask me any questions. Give me something to eat quickly.” So they gave him some food, and, after he had finished eating, he said, “As we were paddling along from the creek with our salmon, a man came out of the woods saying, ‘Stay where you are and I will tell you something.’ So we stopped, and he went on, ‘When you get a short distance from here, the man in the bow will drop over, a little farther the next one and a little farther the next one. There will be three. It is what the shaman sees that kills him.’ It has happened just as he said. And he said to me, ‘The fellow in the stern will got home and have something to eat. Just as soon as he has eaten he will drop over.’” And so it happened. Just as soon as he had told the story he dropped over dead. Then the shaman asked for his apron, hat, and necklace as if he were going to doctor some one. As soon as he had dressed, he turned himself around three or four times, as the shamans used to do when they were dying. Afterward blood began to flow from his mouth, and he died.
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