Part 4

The man said, "Why did you throw stones at my canoe? You have broken it. Now go get cedar withes in the woods and mend it."

So the men mended the broken canoe. When they had finished, the man said, "Turn your backs to the water. Cover your heads with your fur robes. Don't look until I call you." They all did as he told them. They heard the canoe grate on the beach as it was hauled down into the water. Then the man said, "Look now."

They looked and there was the canoe in the water. But when the canoe came to the second breaker, it went under. When it came to the surface, behold!--there was no canoe. There was a Skana--a killer whale. The man-spirit was inside the Skana.

ORIGIN OF THE CHILKAT BLANKET[3]

_Tsimshian_

[3] Although the patterns of the Chilkat blankets vary, nearly all of them show, in symbolic weaving, the bear with his heart between his eyes, Gonaqadet the sea spirit, the boy, and the father of the chief's daughter. In some of them also, the raven and the thunderbird figure. Only the Indians can really interpret the various weavings, and their interpretations vary.

In the days of the animal people, long, long ago, all the animals were divided into different tribes. In those days also, animals could take off their furry skins; then they looked just like people.

Now in those days long ago, a group of women once went out to search for wild celery in the early spring. They found it growing here and there, and spent all day gathering it. Then they tied it in bundles and started home with it on their backs.

Now among these women was the daughter of a chief. She picked twigs as she followed in the trail in the evening light, and then slipped into the footprints of a brown bear. The jolt loosened her pack. She stopped to readjust her bundle of celery. She said sharp words about bears. Then she hastened on to rejoin her companions who were already lost in the dusk.

Suddenly the chief's daughter heard footsteps behind her. A handsome young man joined her. Soon he asked her to be his wife. The chief's daughter consented, so she went home with him. They walked far, far into the woods until they came to Bear village. Then the chief's daughter knew that her lover belonged to the Bear tribe.

After a while the chief's daughter became unhappy. She wanted to go back to her father's home, but the Bear tribe watched her so she could not escape.

One day chief's daughter reached the shore. Out on the water she saw a fisherman in a boat, and she called to him to rescue her. The fisherman touched his canoe with his killing club and in one bound it sprang to the shore, just as the Bear and some of his tribe appeared. The fisherman began to fight Bear, but he could not kill him. Then the chief's daughter told him to strike Bear between the eyes, because his heart was there. So Bear was killed.

The fisherman took the chief's daughter in his canoe. But behold!--he was no fisherman at all. It was Gonaqadet, the spirit of the sea. So the woman married Gonaqadet, who was very kind to her.

After a long while, the chief's daughter became unhappy again. She wanted her son to be trained by her people, as the custom was. Then Gonaqadet permitted her to return to earth with the boy, but he made her promise that she would weave him a blanket telling of her life and his courtship. So the woman returned to earth from the sea. Then she wove for Gonaqadet the blanket. This was the first Chilkat blanket.

Now one day Yel, the Raven, wandering along the seashore, entered a great cavern under the sea. There he found Gonaqadet, wearing a beautiful Chilkat blanket. Gonaqadet welcomed Raven, and offered him food. He placed food before him in two long carved platters. After Raven had feasted, Gonaqadet taught him many dances and gave him a copy of the blanket pattern. Then Raven taught the people how to weave the blankets, but he taught the Tsimshian tribe first. Afterward the Chilkats learned how to weave them.

ORIGIN OF LAND AND PEOPLE

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

In the beginning there was water over all the earth. There were no people. It was very cold. The water was covered with ice, and the ice pieces ground together, making long ridges and hummocks.

Then a man came from the other side of the great water and stopped on the ice hills. He took for his wife a wolf. Then their children grew up. Each pair spoke a different language from that of their parents, or from that of their brothers and sisters. So each pair went out in a different direction and built houses on the ice hills. Then the snow melted and ran down the hillsides. It scooped out ravines and river beds and made the earth. Thus the earth was made and the people. That is why so many different languages are spoken.

CREATION OF THE WORLD

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, water flowed all over the world. There was one family and they made a big raft. Then they put animals on the raft.

Now there was no land but all water, so the people wanted to make a world. The man tied a cord around a beaver and sent him down to find the bottom of the water. But the beaver got only half-way and drowned. Then the man tied a string around a muskrat and sent him down. Muskrat drowned, but he reached the bottom and got a little mud on his hands. Then the man took the mud out of the muskrat's hands into his palm. He let it dry and then crumbled it to dust. Then he blew the dust out of his palm all over the waters. This made the world.

ORIGIN OF MANKIND

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Long, long ago, a man and a woman came down from the sky and landed on one of the Diomede Islands. They lived there a long while, but they had no children. At last one day the man took some walrus ivory, and from this he carved five dolls, just like people. Then he took some wood and made from it five more dolls. Then, one night, when all were finished, he set them off to one side, all ten in a row. The next morning the dolls had become people. The ivory dolls became men, therefore they are brave and hardy; but the wooden dolls became women, therefore they are soft and timid. From these ten dolls came all the people of the Diomede Islands.

THE FIRST WOMAN

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

Long, long ago there were many men living in the northland, but there was no woman among them. Far away in the southland lived one woman. At last one of the young men in the northland travelled south to the home of the woman and married her. He thought, "I have a wife, while the son of the headsman has none."

Now the son of the headsman had also started to travel to the home of the woman in the southland. He stood in the passage to the house and heard the husband talking to himself. So he waited until all the people were asleep. Then the son of the headsman crept into the house and began to drag the woman away. He caught her by her shoulders.

Then the husband was awakened. He ran to the passage and caught the woman by her feet. So the men pulled until they pulled the woman in two. The son of the headsman carried the upper part of her body to the north. Then they began to carve wood to make each woman complete. Thus there were now two women.

The woman in the south was a good dancer; but she could not do fine needlework in sewing the furs, because her hands were wooden. The woman in the north was a poor dancer, because her feet were wooden, but she could sew with fine stitches in the furs. So all the women of the north are skilful with their hands, and all the women of the south are good dancers, even to this day. Thus you may know that the tale is true.

THE FIRST TEARS

_Eskimo_ (_Bering Straits_)

One day Man hunted for seals along the seashore. Many seals were there, but as Man crept carefully up to them, they slipped into the water. At last only one seal was left on the rocks. Man crept up to it carefully, but just as he was about to catch the seal, it slipped into the water.

Then Man stood up. His breast was full of a strange feeling. Water began to drop from his eyes. He put up his hand and caught the drops; thus he saw that they were really water. Then loud cries came from his breast and more water came out of his eyes. Now Man's son saw him coming. He called to his wife that Man was making a strange noise. So they went down to the seashore. They were surprised to see water coming out of his eyes. Then Man told them he had tried to catch seals. He had crept carefully up, but they slipped into the water. Thus all the seals had escaped. Then water began to come out of the eyes of the son and his wife. Loud cries came from their breasts. In this way people first learned to cry. Afterward, Man and his son killed a seal; then they made snares for more seals from its skin.

ORIGIN OF THE WINDS

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

A long time ago a man and his wife had no children. So one night the man went out of the house to find a solitary tree that grew on the tundra. First he saw a long track of bright light, like that made by the moon shining on the snow. It led across the tundra. So far, far along the trail of bright light travelled the man until he saw a beautiful tree, all alone, shining in the bright light. He took out his hunting knife, cut off part of the trunk, and went home again over the bright trail.

When the man reached home, he carved a boy doll from the wood and his wife made fur clothes for it. Then the man carved little wood dishes from the scraps of wood. The wife set the doll on the bench opposite the entrance, in the place of honor. She placed before it food and water.

That night, when all was dark, they heard low whistling sounds. The woman said, "Do you hear that? It was the doll." When they made a light, they saw that the doll had eaten the food and drunk the water. They saw that its eyes moved.

In the morning, the doll was gone. The man and his wife could not find it, but they saw the tracks of the boy doll leading away from the door. The tracks followed the direction of the trail of light which the man had followed the night before. So the man and his wife went into the house.

But Doll followed the bright path until he came to the edge of day, where the sky comes down to the earth. There were holes in the sky wall covered with gut-skin.

In the east, Doll saw the gut-skin cover over the hole in the sky wall bulging inward. Doll stopped and said, "It is very quiet in here. I think a little wind will make it better." Doll drew his knife and cut the cover loose about the edge of the hole. A strong wind blew through, bringing with it a live reindeer. Looking through the hole, Doll saw another world, just like the earth. Then he drew the cover loosely over the hole, and said to East Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Doll walked along the sky wall to another opening at the southeast. The gut-skin cover bulged inward. Then Doll cut the cover loose at the edges, and a great gale swept in. It brought reindeer, trees, and bushes. Then Doll fastened the cover lightly and said, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Then Doll came to a hole in the south, and the gut-skin cover bulged inward. He cut the edges loose and a hot wind rushed in. It brought rain, and spray from the great salt sea which lay beyond the sky hole on that side. Then Doll closed the opening lightly and said to South Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Doll walked along the sky wall to the west. There he saw another opening, covered by gut-skin. So he cut the edges loose, and West Wind swept in, bringing with him rain, with sleet and spray from the gray ocean. Then Doll fastened the edges of the gut-skin loosely, and said to West Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

So Doll passed along the sky wall to the northwest. When he cut the edges of the gut-skin covering, a blast of cold wind rushed in, bringing snow and ice. Doll became cold; he almost froze. Therefore Doll closed the hole quickly, saying, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Again Doll went along the sky wall to the north, but it became so cold he had to leave it. So he went toward the centre of the earth, away from the sky wall, until he saw the opening to the north. Then he went to the hole in the sky wall, but so great was the cold that Doll feared to cut the strings. He waited. Then he cut the strings quickly. The terrible North Wind swept in, bringing with him great masses of snow and ice. North Wind strewed the snow and ice all over the earth plain. Then Doll closed the hole very quickly, yet he fastened it loosely. He said to North Wind, "Sometimes blow hard, sometimes lightly. Sometimes do not blow at all."

Then Doll travelled into the midst of the earth plain. He looked up and saw the sky arch, resting upon long, slender poles, like a tepee, but of beautiful blue material. Then Doll went back to the village where he was made.

ORIGIN OF THE WIND

_Athapascan_ (_Upper Yukon_)

A long time ago, when all were men, there was no wind. Now Bear used to go about with a bag on his back. The animal people wanted to know what was in the bag. Many times they asked Bear but he would not tell them. One day Bear fell asleep with the bag on his back. Then a man saw him asleep. The man cut the bag and found the wind in it. Therefore the wind escaped and has never since been caught.

NORTH WIND

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

After Raven left the Land Otters, he came to Taku. There North Wind lived in a cliff at the mouth of the inlet. Raven stayed there with him.

Now North Wind is very proud and shines all over with what the Indians think are icicles. So the Indians never say anything against North Wind, no matter how long it blows, because the spirits give it power. Years ago people thought that there were spirits in all the large cliffs upon the islands and would pray to those cliffs. This was because Raven once lived in this cliff with North Wind.

EAST WIND AND NORTH WIND

_Tlingit_

A high-caste man married first the daughter of East Wind. When he heard of the pretty daughter of North Wind he married her also. He took her back to the village where his first wife lived.

Then people said to the daughter of East Wind, "There is a pretty woman here. Her clothes sparkle all over. They make a tingling noise."

The daughter of East Wind was very jealous. She made the east wind to blow. It began to grow warm and cloudy. Then the daughter of North Wind lost all her sparkling clothing. The icicles and the frost melted away. Then the daughter of North Wind was no longer beautiful.

CREATION OF THE KILLER WHALE

_Tlingit_

A man named Natsayane, belonging to the Seal People, made the killer whales. He first tried to carve them out of red cedar, then out of the hemlock, and then out of all other kinds of woods. He took each set of figures to the beach and tried to make them swim; but they only floated on the surface. Last of all he tried yellow cedar. Then the killer whales swam.

Natsayane on one marked white lines from the corners of its mouth back to its head. He said, "This is going to be the white-mouthed killer whale."

When Natsayane put them into the water, he said, "Go up into the inlets. Go up into the head of the bays. Hunt for seal, for halibut, and for things under the sea. Do not hurt human beings." Before this people did not know what a killer whale was.

When the Killer whale tribe start north, the Seal People say, "Here comes another battle. Here come the warriors." They say this because the killer whales are always after seals. The killer whale which always swims ahead is the red killer whale, called the "killer whale spear" because it is long and slender.

FUTURE LIFE

_Tlingit_ (_Wrangell_)

After Raven had created people, a man died. Raven came into his house and saw his wife and children weeping around him. Raven raised with both hands the blanket of the dead man and held it over his body. So he brought him back to life.

Now Raven and the man both told the woman there was no death. She would not believe them. Then Raven said to her, "Lie down and go to sleep."

When the woman slept she saw a wide trail. There were many people on it and many fierce animals. Good people had to pass this trail in order to live again. At the end of the trail there was a broad river, and a canoe came to her from the other side. When she crossed the river, people came to her. They said, "You had better go back. We are not in a good place. We are hungry here and can get no water to drink. We are cold."

That is why people burn the bodies of the dead and place food in the fire for them to eat. If they were not burned their spirits would be cold. That is why food and drink are given to them at the feast of the dead.

THE LAND OF THE DEAD

_Eskimo_ (_Lower Yukon_)

A young woman on the Lower Yukon died. When she died she went to sleep for a while. Then some one shook her arm and said, "Get up. Do not sleep. You are dead." Then she saw she was in her grave box and the shade of her grandfather was shaking her. Then she went with her grandfather back to the village, but the country she knew had disappeared. In its place was a strange village which reached as far as the eye could see.

As she entered the village, the old man told her to go into one of the houses. As soon as she entered it, a woman picked up a stick of wood and raised it to strike her. The woman said, "What do you want here?"

So the young woman ran out, crying to her grandfather. He said, "This is the village of the dog shades. Now you see how living dogs feel when beaten by people."

They came to another village. Here she saw a man lying on the ground with grass growing up through his joints. He could move, but he could not rise. The grandfather said this shade was punished for pulling up and chewing grass stems when he was on earth. Then the grandfather suddenly disappeared.

The girl followed a trail to another village, but she came to a swift river. This river was made up of the tears of people who on earth weep for the dead. When the girl saw she could not cross the river, she began to weep. At once a mass of straw floated down the river to her. Upon this, as a bridge, she crossed the stream. Before she reached the village the shades smelled her. They crowded around her, saying, "Who is she? Where does she come from?" They looked for the totem marks on her clothing.

Some one said, "Where is she? Where is she?" and her grandfather came toward her. He led her into a house nearby and there was her grandmother. The old woman asked her if she were thirsty. The girl looked about and saw only one water vessel made like those of her own village. This had in it their own Yukon water. It had been given them at the festival of the dead by the girl's father. The other tubs had only the water of the village of the shades. The old woman gave the girl a piece of deer fat. This, too, had been given at the festival of the dead. Then the grandmother explained that the guide had been the grandfather because the last person thought of by a dying person hurries away to show the road to the new shade. Thoughts are heard in the land of the shades.

THE GHOST LAND

_Tlingit_

The young wife of a chief's son died and the young man was so sorrowful he could not sleep. Early one morning he put on his fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night. He went through the woods a long distance, and then to a valley. The trees were very thick, but he could hear voices far away. At last he saw light through the trees and then came to a wide, flat stone on the edge of a lake.

Now all the time this young man had been walking in the Death Trail. He saw houses and people on the other side of the lake. He could see them moving around. So he shouted, "Come over and get me." But they did not seem to hear him. Upon the lake a little canoe was being paddled about by one man, and all the shore was grassy. The chief's son shouted a long while but no one answered him. At last he whispered to himself, "Why don't they hear me?"

At once a person across the lake said, "Some one is shouting." When he whispered, they heard him.

The voice said also, "Some one has come up from Dreamland. Go and bring him over."

When the chief's son reached the other side of the lake, he saw his wife. He was very happy to see her again. People asked him to sit down. They gave him something to eat, but his wife said, "Don't eat that. If you eat that you will never get back." So he did not eat it.

Then his wife said, "You had better not stay here long. Let us go right away." So they were taken back in the same canoe. It is called Ghost's Canoe and it is the only one on that lake. They landed at the broad, flat rock where the chief's son had stood calling. It is called Ghost's Rock, and is at the very end of the Death Trail. Then they started down the trail, through the valley and through the thick woods. The second night they reached the chief's house.

The chief's son told his wife to stay outside. He went in and said to his father, "I have brought my wife back."

The chief said, "Why don't you bring her in?"

The chief laid down a nice mat with fur robes on it for the young wife. The young man went out to get his wife, but when he came in, with her, they could see only him. When he came very close, they saw a deep shadow following him. When his wife sat down and they put a marten skin robe around her, it hung about the shadow just as if a person were sitting there. When she ate, they saw only the spoon moving up and down, but not the shadow of her hands. It looked very strange to them.

Afterward the chief's son died and the ghosts of both of them went back to Ghost Land.

THE SKY COUNTRY

_Tlingit_

Long ago, a man's wife was stolen from him. He cared for her so much he thought he would follow her. So he began to walk. He thought he was walking along the beach, but he was following a wide trail through the woods. He walked on for a long time with his head bent down, until he saw smoke ahead. When he came near he saw a woman tanning a skin. He showed her a necklace he had made. He said, "I will give you this string if you will tell me where my wife is."

The woman said, "She is over at the next camp."

So he at last reached his wife and stayed there a long time.

Now the people of this village wanted to kill him. They kindled a fire and began to drag him to it. He said, "Oh, how glad I am! I want to die." Then they stopped and began to drag him toward the water. The man said he was afraid of water, so they threw him in. He came up in the middle of the lake.

People said, "See him. He is looking at us."