Myths of the Modocs

The majority of Americans know who the Modocs are and where they live, for on a time their bravery and so-called treachery gave them widespread notoriety; but for those who do n...

When Isis was old enough to marry, the Mówatwas, a people from the south, brought him a woman named Tókwa (mole). A great many people came with her, for she was a powerful woman...

“Don’t come so near,” said Gáukos. “It is too hot,” and he pushed her away. She came again, and again he pushed her away. In the night when he woke up, she was lying by his side...

The sisters started toward Mlaiksi, and Yaulilik took Cogátkis to Duilas. Cogátkis could watch his sisters, and he could talk with his mother, though the house was a long way off.

Then Kumush named the different kinds of food those people should eat,—catfish, salmon, deer and rabbit. He named more than two hundred different things, and as he named them th...

Wus sent for all the people in the world. Every one came; every one thought: “What will Wus say?” But nobody talked; they all sat still waiting. At last Wus said: “There should...

This is how old age came into our world. If the five brothers had let the old man and his wife alone, they would have stayed in their own country, and there would have been no s...

The Witsduks scattered everywhere, and they will live forever. Wus did this. If Tcutûk had hidden them under the rocks, there would have been no more Witsduks in the world. At t...

He brought the little boy on his back. The old woman cried when she saw him; she rubbed him with ashes, and talked to the earth and mountains, asking them not to hurt him. In th...

“Yes, above here there is a place where the river is shallow. How did you pass the one-legged man’s house? He lives on the road you came over. His house is under the rocks; all...

Old man Tsmuk sent his youngest son to hunt for his sister. When the young man saw her coming, he didn’t know her, she was so beautiful; she was different from what she had been...

Now Wus and Nátcaktcókaskĭt and their five youngest children traveled north toward the end of the world. When they came to a large river Wus saw little fish in the water. “I am...

“Why do you sit there so long?” asked Yahyáhaäs. “I wonder if such a little fellow can wrestle. Come and try.” Yahyáhaäs caught hold of the boy and began to throw him up and pla...

The boy had his belt full of rabbits; he gave them to the man, and said: “Stay here and cook these; don’t go home till it is dark, don’t go till you are sure the old woman can’t...

The white-faced deer went first. They looked so big that Wus was scared; he didn’t touch them. The last to go was a fawn. Wus told him to wait, and when the big ones were out of...

She took five steps and was there. The people were scared. They had never seen Wískäk, for she always stayed at home and sent her daughters to dig. When she found that they were...

The old woman said: “That is always the way it does when a stranger comes; you can creep out backwards.” She made the awl over the door grow long. It stuck in the girl’s head an...

The man took the little boy on his back and started. As soon as he was away from the house, he forgot all that his wife had told him. When he got to the village he stood around...

Now from the different villages, people were moving toward the lava bed country. There was to be a great council. Word had gone out that a new people was coming, that the presen...

The boy didn’t like Kówe now. He felt sorry for his father and mother; he didn’t want to play. He went where the Kówe people were gambling with sticks and watched them. He grew...

Kalaslákkas walked around the swimming place on the mountain; he piled up stones and then sat down to rest. He couldn’t keep his eyes open; he fell asleep and dreamed that the g...

Not far from old Kówe’s house there was a village where all kinds of people lived. They heard Tohós and the Kówes singing and came to see what young girl was dancing. Kówe hid t...

After Tskel killed Gopher, he and Tcûskai went home, but Tskel didn’t want to stay there. He thought about his cousin, Kaiutois. One day he said to Skóŭks: “I am going to see my...

“Keep still,” said Tskel, “and go on till we see Wŏn.” In a little while Tskel saw Wŏn, and, not far from him, a deer. He called to Tcûskai: “Keep still! You mustn’t eat seed; i...

The hill said: “All these things around here belong to the earth; they were made at the same time. This is not a good place for you. Over on the lake, where two little air boys...

The second brother was mad; he snatched his father’s mortar and threw it into the river. The old man chased him and threw the pounder at him; it just missed him. The young man p...

One day, when the eldest Wus brother was hunting, he took his drill out of his quiver to start a fire. He put the drill on the ground and the next minute it was gone; he couldn’...

Djihens thought: “Now I know why she comes home with an empty basket. She comes here to see Wiĕs; she draws him to her with her love song. How nice it sounds!”

The woman was a Skoks, and she came in a whirlwind. As the boy looked, she grew taller and taller. At last her head reached the sky. She screamed a second time. The boy’s eyes w...

For ages the reverence and enthusiasm of primitive men have been given to elemental heroes, and they are given them yet by every tribe which preserves its ancient beliefs and id...