The Wolf-Dog

A hunter raised a wolf as a dog, and together they successfully hunted game. When the hunter’s brother-in-law borrowed the wolf-dog but failed to feed it properly, the wolf returned to its pack. The hunter sought the wolf and was given a magical feather by the Wolf chief. This feather, when pointed at game, would kill multiple animals in succession, ensuring the hunter’s continued success.

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

Conflict with Nature: The hunter utilizes the wolf’s natural instincts to hunt game, highlighting the relationship and tension between humans and the natural world.

Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts a lesson about respect and proper treatment of animals, emphasizing that mistreatment can lead to loss and consequences.

Sacred Objects: The golden-eagle feather given to the hunter by the Wolf chief serves as a powerful artifact with mystical significance, aiding in hunting.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Tahltan people


Once a man caught a young wolf, and raised him as a dog. He took good care of him, and gave him the best of meat to eat. When he went out hunting, and saw sheep or caribou, he showed them to his wolf-dog, who chased them to the bottom of the hills, where he killed them one after another. The man followed him, and opened and skinned the animals as fast as possible. The wolf lay down some distance away, waiting to be fed. As soon as the man cut up an animal, he gave some of the best meat and fat to the wolf. Thus, through the aid of his dog, the hunter always had an abundance of meat on hand. The people found out how the hunter obtained so much game, and were jealous of him. One day his brother-in-law asked him for the loan of his dog. He agreed, on condition that, as soon as he killed game, he would be careful to feed some of the best parts of each animal to the dog. They found a herd of sheep, and wolf killed them all.

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When the man opened them up, he offered some of the entrails to the wolf, saying, “Here, dog, are some entrails. Dogs eat entrails, and you are a dog.” The wolf moved farther away, and looked at the man; then he moved still farther away, and looked again. The man called him; but he paid no attention to him, and left. The man went home and told the wolf’s owner what had happened. The latter at once arose, and said, “I must follow him.” After going a long way, he caught up with the wolf, and called him, but the wolf kept on. At last he came to the house of the Wolf people, and entered. It was a long-lodge made of brush, and within were many people. The Wolf chief was sitting there, and he recognized his Wolf-dog sitting next to him. The chief said, “Come in and sit down, and tell me why you have come here!” The man said, “I have come to get back my friend.” The chief answered, “He cannot go back with you. He is my nephew, and you did not treat him well.” The hunter said, “It was my brother-in-law, and not I; for myself, I always treated him well.” The chief said, “Well, if some one of you does wrong, it is just the same as if you yourself had done wrong.” This is why now, in hunting, when one person does wrong, it brings bad luck on all. The man was sorry that the chief would not consent to the return of the Wolf-dog. The chief said, “My nephew cannot return to you; but I will help you, as you yourself have always treated him well.” He brought out a large feather from a golden-eagle’s wing, saying, “This is what we Wolves use as bow and arrows. I will give you this: it is just as good for you as my nephew, or even better.” The man hesitated at first, but at last believed what the chief said, and accepted the present. The chief directed him: “Point this feather at game, and it will leave your hand and enter the body of the game next to you; pass through, and go on to the next, until all are killed that are there together. Watch the last one killed, for the arrow will be sticking in it. Push the nock of the arrow, and it will come out through the animal’s mouth. Then wipe and wash and dry it before using it again.” After leaving the Wolf people, the man saw some sheep, and thought he would try the feather on them.

The arrow worked in every detail as said, and killed them all. The hunter used it as long as he lived, following all the directions he had received from the Wolf chief, and thus had all the meat he could use. Because wing-feathers of the golden eagle were used for killing game, some Indians consider them lucky for procuring game, feathering their arrows with them, or wearing them on their heads, one feather on each side, when approaching game.


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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.

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

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

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.

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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.

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

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

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.”

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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.


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Origin of the killer-whale crest of the Nanaa’i

The Nanaa’i clan’s killer-whale crest originates from a Tagish man who, after being abandoned on a treacherous rock by his brothers-in-law, was rescued by Seal people. He healed a wounded seal and, in gratitude, they sent him home in a magical bladder. Upon his return, he transformed into a killer whale, leading his descendants to adopt the killer-whale crest.

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

Quest: The man’s journey to climb the unscalable rock and his subsequent adventures represent a quest for survival and knowledge.

Sacred Objects: The bladder provided by the Seal people serves as a mystical artifact that facilitates his return home.

Cultural Heroes: The Tagish man’s experiences and the resulting adoption of the killer-whale crest contribute to the cultural identity of the Nanaa’i clan.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tahltan people


Nanaa’i is a clan of the Wolf phratry among both the Tlingit and Tahltan. The Tahltan Nanaa’i are a branch of the Tlingit clan of the same name.

A Tagish man of the Wolf phratry went to Kake Island in the Tlingit country, and married there. Near the place where he lived was a rock which was submerged when the flood-tides were very high. It had steep sides, which became very icy in the winter; and no one could climb up to the top of this rock. A sea-lion was often seen lying on the top of the rock, and the people always wondered how he got there. The people talked about this impossible feat of climbing the rock, and the Tagish man said he thought he could accomplish it. He was used to climbing steep mountains, unlike the Tlingit of the coast. His brothers-in-law laughed at his claim that he could climb the rock; and this resulted in hot words, and a declaration by the Tagish man that he would try the feat.

He had four brothers-in-law, one of whom was friendly to him, while the others were antagonistic. The Tagish man made snowshoes and put ice-creepers of goat’s-horn on them. His brothers-in-law took him off to the rock in a canoe. When they were alongside, he sprang out on the ice and ascended to the top without much difficulty.

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His brothers-in-law were angry because he had accomplished the feat, and said, “Let him stay there!” One brother wanted to take him off; but the others refused, and they left him to perish.

The Tagish man covered himself with a bark blanket and some grass, and lay down, expecting to die. There was just space enough on top of the rock for a man to lie. It was very cold weather, and the tide was coming up and would cover the rock. Several times he looked through a hole in his covering, but saw nothing. The last time he looked, he saw a man ascending the rock. The man came to him, and said, “Shaman, come with me!” The Tagish man arose and followed him, not noticing which way he went. At last they entered, as through a door, a house where there were many people. These people were Seal people. One of them was lying sick. He had been speared by a Tlingit. The Tagish man saw at once what ailed the sick man, but the Seal people did not know that he had a spear-head in his flesh. The Seal people had many dried and blown-up bladders hanging up in their house. They were of various sizes; and the Seal people told him that, if he should cure their friend, they would give him a small one to take him home. He looked at them, and thought that the largest one would be best for him. Now the Tagish man felt the barb in the sick man, and moved it so that it became loose; but he did not try to pull it out. The Seal people knew what he thought, and offered him the largest bladder if he should completely cure their friend. Now he acted like a shaman, pulled out the barb and hid it. The sick man at once felt better. He arose, walked about, and ate. The people were pleased.

Now they put the Tagish man into the bladder and tied its mouth. They told him that he must think only of the place where he was going, for otherwise he would come back to his starting-point. They said, “When you hear a grating-noise, you will know that you are at the shore. Then open the bladder and come out, tie it up again, and set it adrift. It will come back here.” He started, but thought of the place he had left, and came back. He heard a grating-noise, came out, and found that he was at the place he had left. The people told him again, “If you want to get home, you must concentrate your thoughts on your place and people, the object of your desire.” The same thing happened again. The third time he managed to keep his thoughts steadfast on his home, and soon reached the shore. He sent the bladder back, and then went to his house.

It was in the middle of the night; and all the people were sleeping except his wife, who was crying. When she saw him, she told him that her brothers had informed her that he had fallen off the cliff and been drowned before they could render him assistance. He asked her to tell no one that he had returned. Taking all his tools, he went into the woods and lived alone. He made a model of a killer-whale out of balsam-wood, and tried it in the water. It would not work right or sink properly. He tried all the trees, but they acted in the same way. Then he tried cypress, which was nearly right. At last he tried cedar, which did well. When he put it into the water, it dived, and came up a long way off. He tested it several times, and it acted well. He told it to kill seals. It did so. He told it to kill whales, and it did that also. Now he said, “You will soon be a killer-whale. I made you for killing. By and by you will kill people. You will attack the canoes in a narrow channel.”

Spring-time came, and a number of people left in canoes to gather fish-eggs and seaweed. He sent the killer-whale out to attack them in the narrow channel. He told it to kill all the people except his one brother-in-law. The killer broke all the canoes to pieces; and the people were all drowned, including the three brothers-in-law. The friendly brother-in-law was spared, and floated ashore on a large broken piece of canoe. The Tagish man now had his revenge. Now he said to the killer-whale, “I will free you, and henceforth you will be a real killer-whale, but you must not kill people again; and when you kill seals or other animals, and the people ask you to let them have some meat, you must give them some.” Thus, when the Tlingit see a killer-whale killing something, they say to it, “Give us some meat!” and then it lets some pieces float up to the surface, and the people catch them.

Now, after a time, the Tagish man made a totem-pole representing the killer-whale, and showed it to the people. At the same time he danced, and told his story. Thus the Wolf phratry obtained this crest. The right to use it belongs to them. The Nanaa’i clan of the Wolf phratry wanted to possess the crest. They gave a great potlatch, and killed many slaves. The other Wolf clans tried to beat them, but could not do so. The Nanaa’i gave a greater potlatch, and killed more slaves; and thus the crest became theirs, and remains in their possession today.


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

Origin of the frog crest among the Kiksa’di

A couple camping in Gaya’ bay hears a mysterious song. Investigating, they discover a small frog producing the melody. The husband gives the frog to his wife, and they bring it back to Sitka. This event leads to the Kiksa’di clan adopting the frog as their crest, symbolizing the origin of their association with the frog.

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


► Themes of the story

Origin of Things: The tale explains the origin of the frog crest among the Kiksa’di clan.

Mythical Creatures: The frog, producing a mysterious song, plays a central role in the story.

Sacred Objects: The frog becomes a symbol of significance for the Kiksa’di clan.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people


The story was obtained at Sitka.

A married couple went from Sitka into Gaya’ bay, and camped at Ga’xgu-an. They were there for perhaps a month. One morning they started out hunting. Then they heard a song on Gaya’ bay. They listened. They did not hear plainly. [The man’s] wife said to him, “Do you hear it?” He said, “I hear the thing making a noise over there.” “Turn toward it,” they said. They went toward it and saw it. It was a little frog which the man let float down to his wife in the stern. He said, “It is for you.” So they brought it to Sitka. This is how the little frog’s song came to be known, and this is why the Kiksa’di claim the frog.

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Story of the Nanyaa’yi crests

The Nanyaa’yi of the Stikine River claim the grizzly bear as their emblem, rooted in a flood legend where a bear and mountain goat accompanied them to safety. They preserved and honored bear skins, hosting ceremonies that included costly gifts and the naming of children. Renowned for their association with the grizzly bear, they composed songs and traditions around it, though they value the mountain goat less significantly.

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 narrative describes how the Nanyaa’yi people, accompanied by a grizzly bear and a mountain goat during a flood, undergo a significant change. Their interaction with these animals leads to the adoption of the grizzly bear as a central emblem, symbolizing a transformative event in their cultural identity.

Sacred Objects: The preserved grizzly bear skin, maintained meticulously over generations, serves as a sacred object imbued with deep symbolic significance. It is central to ceremonies and traditions, highlighting the importance of sacred artifacts in cultural practices.

Cultural Heroes: The Nanyaa’yi clan, particularly the head chiefs known as Shakes, are portrayed as cultural heroes. Their stewardship of the grizzly bear emblem and the associated ceremonies reinforce their status and influence within the community, embodying the traits of foundational figures who shape societal values and traditions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people


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

At the time of the flood the Nanyaa’yi were climbing a mountain on the Stikine river, called Seku’qle-ca, and a grizzly bear and a mountain goat went along with them. Whenever the people stopped, these two animals stopped also, and whenever they moved on the animals moved on. Finally they killed the bear and preserved its skin with the claws, teeth, and so forth, intact. They kept it for years after the flood, and, as soon as it went to pieces, they replaced it with another, and that with still another up to the present time. This is why they claim the grizzly bear.

During the times when this bear skin has been shown thousands of dollars worth of slaves and furs have been given away. Shakes (Ceks), head chiefs of this clan, would go up to a row of slaves and slap each one, upon which the slave would either have to be killed or sent home.

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This is why they gave great names to their children. They were very proud of owning this bear and did all kinds of things toward it. That is why all Alaska speaks of the Nanyaa’yi as the chief ones owning the grizzly bear. Very many songs were composed concerning it, with words such as these, “Come here, you bear, the highest bear of all bears.”

They also have the head of the mountain goat, but they do not value it as highly.


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The thunders

A high-caste girl stepped on a snail, triggering a series of events leading to her mysterious disappearance. Her four brothers found her trapped on a cliff entwined with a giant snail. Using yellow cedar wings, they rescued her but abandoned their village in shame, becoming the Thunders. They provided for their starving village before ascending to the sky, where they are revered as powerful beings by the Taqestina’.

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 four brothers transform into the Thunders, embodying natural forces like thunder and lightning.

Conflict with Nature: The narrative begins with the sister’s encounter with a snail, leading to her entrapment and the subsequent events involving natural elements.

Sacred Objects: The brothers’ creation of wings from yellow cedar, a material with cultural significance, plays a crucial role in their transformation and rescue mission.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people


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

A high-caste girl who had four brothers went out of the house one morning and stepped on a snail. Then she said. “Oh! this nasty thing. There isn’t a time when I go out but that snail is around this house.” The evening after a youth of about her own age came to the girl, and she went off with him.

When the people found that she had disappeared they searched for her everywhere. They did not know what had become of her. Her brothers also hunted everywhere, but for a long time without result. Some distance behind the village was a high, vertical cliff without a tree or a bush on it, and half way up they at last saw their sister with a very large snail coiled around her. They ran about underneath and called to her to throw herself down, but she could not. She was stuck there.

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After this the four brothers tried to find some way of flying. They tried one kind of wood after another and also bone for wings but in vain. After they had flown for a short distance they always dropped down again. Finally they employed yellow cedar. The first time they used it they got half way up to the place where their sister was, but the second time they reached her and dragged her down, leaving the snail still there.

But the four brothers now left their own village, because they said that their sister had disgraced them, and they became the Thunders. When they wove their wings you hear the thunder, and, when they wink, you see the lightning.

At the time when these brothers first went away the people at their father’s village were starving, so they flew out over the ocean, caught a whale and brought it to the town that it might be found next morning. So nowadays people claim that the Thunder is powerful and can get anything, because they know that it was powerful at that time. After the famine was over they left the world below, went to the sky to live, and have never been seen since.

The, Taqestina’ claim the Thunder, because those brothers belonged to that family.


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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

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.


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

The Wolf-Chief’s son

A young boy saved his starving family with the help of a mysterious animal that turned out to be a wolf-chief’s son. After the wolf left due to mistreatment, the boy sought it out, receiving magical gifts from the wolf-chief. Using these gifts, he hunted efficiently, revived his town, and became a renowned healer, gaining wealth and fame through his miraculous abilities.

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


► Themes of the story

Supernatural Beings: The narrative features a mysterious animal that assists the boy, later revealed to be the son of a wolf-chief, highlighting interactions between humans and supernatural entities.

Transformation: The boy’s journey from a struggling youth to a renowned healer and provider for his community illustrates significant personal and societal transformation.

Sacred Objects: The magical gifts bestowed upon the boy by the wolf-chief serve as sacred objects, enabling him to hunt efficiently and perform miraculous healings, symbolizing the power of bestowed artifacts.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Tlingit people


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

Famine visited a certain town, and many people died of starvation. There was a young boy there who always went around with bow and arrows. One day, as he was hunting about, he came across a little animal that looked like a dog and put it under his blanket. He brought it to his mother, and his mother washed it for him. Then he took the red paint left by his dead uncles, spit upon the dog and threw paint on so that it would stick to its hair and face.

When he took the dog into the woods, it would bring him all kinds of birds, such as grouse, which he carried home to his family. They cooked these in a basket pot. Afterward he brought the animal down, washed it, and put more paint upon its legs and head. This enabled him to trace it when he was out hunting.

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One day after he had traced it for some distance, he found it had killed a small mountain sheep, and, when he came down, he gave it the fat part. With the meat so obtained he began to take good care of his mother and his friends. He had not yet found out whether the animal was really a dog.

The next time they went hunting they came across a large flock of sheep, and he sent the dog right up to them. It killed all of them, and he cut the best one open for it. Then he took down the rest of the sheep and dressed them. What the animal was killing was keeping some of his friends alive.

One time the husband of a sister came to him and said, “I wish to borrow your animal. It is doing great things in this place.” So he brought the little dog from the house he had made for it, painted its face and feet, and said to his brother-in-law, “When you kill the first one cut it open quickly and let him have it. That is the way I always do.” Then this brother-in law took up the little dog, and, when they came to a flock of sheep, it went straight among them, killing them and throwing them down one after another. But, after he had cut one open, he took out the entrails, threw them into the dog’s face, and said, “Dogs always eat the insides of animals, not the good part.” The dog, however, instead of eating it, ran straight up between the mountains, yelping.

Now when his brother-in-law brought the sheep down, the man asked him, “Where is the little dog?” And he said “It ran away from me.” That was the report he brought down. Then the owner of the dog called his sister to him and said, “Tell me truly what he did with the little dog. I did not want to let it go at first because I knew people would do that thing to it.” His sister said, “He threw the entrails to it to eat. That is why it ran off.”

Then the youth felt very sad on account of his little animal and prepared to follow it. His brother-in-law showed him the place between the mountains where the dog had gone up, and he went up in that direction until he came to its footprints and saw the red paint he had put upon it. This animal was really the wolf-chief’s son who had been sent to help him, and, because the man put red upon its head and feet, a wolf can now be told by the red on its feet and around its mouth.

After he had followed the trail for a long distance he came to a lake with a long town on the opposite side. There he heard a great noise made by people playing. It was a very large lake, so he thought, “I wonder how I can get over there.” Just then he saw smoke coming out from under his feet. Then a door swung open, and he was told to enter. An old woman lived there called Woman-always-wondering (Luwat-uwadi’gi-canaku), who said to him, “Grandchild, why are you here?” He answered “I came across a young dog which helped me, but it is lost, and I come to find where it went.” Then the woman answered, “Its people live right across there. It is a wolf-chief’s son. That is its father’s town over there where they are making a noise.” So the old woman instructed him.

Then he wondered and said to himself, “How can I get across?” But the old woman spoke out, saying, “My little canoe is just below here.” He said to himself, “It might turn over with me.” Then the old woman answered, “Take it down. Before you get in shake it and it will become large.” Then she continued: “Get inside of the boat and stretch yourself on the bottom, but do not paddle it. Instead wish continually to come in front of that place.”

He did as she directed and landed upon the other side. Then he got out, made the canoe small and put it into his pocket, after which he went up among the boys who were playing about, and watched them. They were playing with a round, twisted thing called gitcxanaga’t (rainbow). Then some one directed him to the wolf-chief’s house at the farther end of the village. An evening fire, such as people used to make in olden times, was burning there, and, creeping in behind the other people, the man saw his little wolf playing about near it in front of his father.

Then the wolf chief said, “There is some human being looking in here. Clear away from before his face.” Upon this the little wolf ran right up to him, smelt of him, and knew him at once. The wolf chief said, “I feel well disposed toward you. I let my son live among you because your uncles and friends were starving, and now I am very much pleased that you have come here after him.” By and by he said, “I think I will not let him go back with you, but I will do something else to help you.” He was happy at the way the man had painted up his son. Now he did not appear like a wolf but like a human being. The chief said, “Take out the fish-hawk’s quill that is hanging on the wall and give it to him in place of my son.” Then he was instructed how to use it. “Whenever a bear meets you,” he said, “hold the quill straight toward it and it will fly out of your hand.” He also took out a thing that was tied up like a blanket and gave it to him, at the same time giving him instructions. “One side,” he said, “is for sickness. If you put this on a sick person it will make him well. If anyone hates you, put the other side on him and it will kill him. After they have agreed to pay you for treating him put the other side on to cure him.”

Then the chief said, “You see that thing that the boys are playing with? That belongs to me. Whenever one sees it in the evening it means bad weather; whenever one sees it in the morning it means good weather.” So he spoke to him.

Then they put something else into his mouth and said to him, “Take this, for you have a long journey to make.” He was gone up there probably two years, but he thought it was only two nights.

At the time when he came within sight of his town he met a bear. He held the quill out toward it as he had been instructed and suddenly let it go. It hit the bear in the heart. Still closer to his town he came upon a flock of sheep on the mountain, and sent his quill at them. When he reached them, he found all dead, and, after he had cut them all open, he found the quill stuck into the heart of the last. He took a little meat for his own use and covered up the rest.

Corning to the town, he found no one in it. All had been destroyed. Then he felt very sad, and, taking his blanket out, laid the side of it that would save people, upon their bodies, and they all came to life. After that he asked all of them to go hunting with him, but he kept the quill hidden away so that they would not bother him as they had before. When they came to a big flock of mountain sheep, he let his quill go at them so quickly that they could not see it. Then he went up, looked the dead sheep over, and immediately cut out the quill. All his friends were surprised at what had happened. After they had gotten down, those who were not his close friends came to him and gave payment for the meat.

The people he restored to life after they had been dead for very many years had very deep set eyes and did not got well at once.

After that he went to a town where the people were all well and killed some of them with his blanket. Then he went to the other people in that place and said, “How are your friends? Are they dead?” “Yes.” “Well I know a way of making them well.” He went up to them again with his blanket and brought them back to life. They were perfectly well.

This man went around everywhere doing the same thing and became very famous. Whenever one was sick in any place they came after him and offered him a certain amount for his services, so that he became the richest man of his time.


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Origin of winds

A childless couple in a Lower Yukon village creates a doll from a tree trunk found on a path of light. The doll comes to life, eats, and departs, traveling to the sky’s edge. It uncovers wind portals influencing weather, regulating their effects. Returning to the village, the doll fosters community ties, living for generations. After its death, it inspires mask-wearing traditions and the creation of dolls for children.

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

Creation: The tale explains the origin of the winds, detailing how a doll brought them into existence by unsealing a portal at the sky’s edge.

Supernatural Beings: The doll, animated from a carved tree trunk, exhibits life and agency beyond natural human capabilities, engaging with elements of the supernatural.

Sacred Objects: The doll itself serves as a sacred object, its creation and actions leading to significant changes in the world, such as the introduction of winds and the inspiration for cultural traditions like mask-wearing and doll-making.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Inuit peoples


The path of light mentioned in this tale from the Lower Yukon is the galaxy, which figures in numerous Eskimo myths.

In a village on the Lower Yukon lived a man and his wife who had no children. After a long time the woman spoke to her husband one day and said, “I can not understand why we have no children; can you!” To which the husband replied that he could not. She then told her husband to go on the tundra to a solitary tree that grew there and bring back a part of its trunk and make a doll from it.

The man went out of the house and saw a long track of bright light, like that made by the moon shining on the snow, leading oft across the tundra in the direction he must take. Along this path of light he traveled far away until he saw before him a beautiful object shining in the bright light. Going up to it, he found that it was the tree for which he came in search. The tree was small, so he took his hunting knife, cut oft a part of its trunk and carried the fragment home.

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When he returned he sat down and carved from the wood an image of a small boy, for which his wife made a couple of suits of fur clothing in which she dressed it. Directed by his wife, the man then carved a set of toy dishes from the wood, but said he could see no use for all this trouble, as it would make them no better oft than they were before. To this his wife replied that before they had nothing but themselves to talk about, but the doll would give them amusement and a subject of conversation. She then deposited the doll in the place of honor on the bench opposite the entrance, with the toy dishes full of food and water before it.

When the couple had gone to bed that night and the room was very dark they heard several low whistling sounds. The woman shook her husband, saying, “Do you hear that? It was the doll,” to which he agreed. They got up at once, and, making a light, saw that the doll had eaten the food and drank the water, and they could see its eyes move. The woman caught it up with delight and fondled and played with it for a long time. When she became tired it was put back on the bench and they went to bed again.

In the morning, when the couple got up, they found the doll was gone. They looked for it about the house, but could find no trace of it, and, going outside, found its tracks leading away from the door. These tracks passed from the door along the bank of a small creek until a little outside the village, where they ended, as the doll had walked from this place on the path of light upon which the man had gone to find the tree.

The man and his wife followed no farther, but went home. Doll had traveled on along the bright path until he came to the edge of day, where the sky comes down to the earth and walls in the light. Close to where he was, in the east, he saw a gut-skin cover fastened over the hole in the sky Avail, which was bulging inward apparently owing to some, strong force on the other side. The doll stopped and said, “It is very quiet in here. I think a little wind will make it better.” So he drew his knife and cut the cover loose about the edge of the hole, and a strong wind blew through, every now and then bringing with it a live reindeer. Looking through the hole, Doll saw beyond the wall another world like the earth. He drew the cover over the hole again and bade the wind not to blow too hard, but he said “Sometimes blow hard, sometimes light, and sometimes do not blow at all.”

Then he walked along the sky wall until he came to another opening at the southeast, which was covered, and the covering pressed inward like the first. When he cut this cover loose the force of the gale swept in, bringing reindeer, trees, and bushes. Closing the hole again, he bade it do as he had told the first one, and passed on. In a short time he came to a hole in the south, and when the cover was cut a hot wind came rushing in, accompanied by rain and the spray from the great sea lying beyond the sky hole on that side.

Doll closed this opening and instructed it as before, and passed on to the west. There he saw another opening, and as soon as the cover was cut the wind brought in a heavy rainstorm, with sleet and spray, from the ocean. This opening was also closed, with the same instructions, and he passed on to the northwest, where he found another opening. When the cover to this was cut away a blast of cold wind came rushing in, bringing in snow and ice, so that he was chilled to the bone and half frozen, and he hastened to close it, as he had the others. Again he went along the sky wall to the north, the cold becoming so great that he was obliged to leave it and make a circuit, going back to it where he saw the opening. There the cold was so intense that he hesitated for some time, but finally cut the cover away. At once a fearful blast rushed in, carrying great masses of snow and ice, strewing it all over the earth plain. He closed the hole very quickly, and having admonished it as usual, traveled on until he came to the middle of the earth plain.

When he reached there he looked up and saw the sky arching over head, supported by long, slender poles, arranged like those of a conical lodge, but made of some beautiful material unknown to him. Turning again, he traveled far away, until he reached the village whence he had started. There he circled once completely around the place, and then entered one after the other of the houses, going to his own home last of all. This he did that the people should become his friends, and care for him in case his parents should die.

After this Doll lived in the village for a very long time. When his foster parents died he was taken by other people, and so lived for many generations, until finally he died. From him people learned the custom of wearing masks, and since his death parents have been accustomed to make dolls for their children in imitation of the people who made the one of which I have told.


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