# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 11/Issue 41/Traditions of the Tillamook Indians

TRADITIONS OF THE TILLAMOOK INDIANS.
II.
5. THE PANTHERS AND THE WOLVES.
There were five wolves who lived on one side of the river, and on the other side of the river lived five panthers who had a wildcat for their servant. It was his duty to look after the fire while they went out hunting. Whenever his masters had left the house in order to hunt, he climbed up the vine-maples that stood near the house, and jumped from tree to tree. He stole pieces of grease out of the boxes and ate them on the trees. Therefore the wood of the vine-maple is oily when it burns.
When he got tired of playing about he returned to the house to look after the fire, which, however, had meanwhile gone out. Then he crossed the river and stole fire from the wolves, who had each a fire burning in their house. He took one of these and returned home. When he came to the river he did not know how to carry the fire across. First he put it on his head, but the fire burnt him. Finally he put it on the tip of his tail and so carried it across. He had hardly reached the house and started a new fire when the panthers returned, each carrying what he had shot.
When the wolves returned, and found that one of their fires had been stolen, they said, "Who has stolen our fire? We will kill him."
The panthers heard what had happened, and said to the wildcat, "Certainly you have done it. Why did you allow our fire to go out?" He replied, "No, I kept a large fire all day." Then the panthers sent the wildcat to see what the wolves were doing. He returned saying, "One of the wolves is just about to swim across the river." After a little while they sent him again, and he returned, saying, "Now he is in the middle of the river;" and when he had been sent the third time he came back, saying: "He has reached the bank of the river." Then the panthers gave the wildcat a knife, and covered him with a dish, saying, "When we call, you jump forth from under the dish and stab the wolf." Soon the latter came, and they fought for a long time. When they grew tired and feared to succumb, they called for the wildcat, who jumped forth, danced about, and sang, "Where shall I stab him? In his toe-nail or in his finger-nail?’" The panther cried, "If you dance any longer, he will kill me. Stab him in his lap." He obeyed and killed the wolf.
After a while another wolf came over to see what had become of his brother. Again the panthers covered the wildcat with a dish, and when they were unable to withstand the wolf any longer they ​called him. He jumped forth and stabbed the wolf. Then the third wolf went down to the water and called to his brother to come across.
The panthers cried, "Come across and we will show them to you. We will give you some flesh," meaning that of the wolves. The third wolf swam across, and fought with the panthers, and he, too, was killed by the wildcat. The fourth wolf shared the same fate. When the fifth one got ready to swim across, the blue jay told him not to go, because the panthers had killed all his brothers, and they would kill him, too." Then he ran away into the woods.
6. THE PANTHER.
Once upon a time there was a panther who was a great hunter. He lived in his house all alone. Every time he came back from hunting he found that his fire had gone out, and he wished to have a companion. He took a flint arrow-head which had been broken, wrapped it in leaves, and put it aside, saying, "I wish you were a man who would look after my fire."
On the following day he went hunting, and when he returned he noticed that the arrow-head did not lie in the same position in which he had left it. Then he wished again it would change into a man. On the following day he went hunting, and did not return until the following morning. Again he found that the arrow-head had changed its place, and he thought, "I am sure it will become a man."
On the following day he went hunting. At night he returned, carrying a deer on his shoulder. He threw it down at the side of the door, and on entering the house he saw an extremely homely person with a large head, sitting near the fire. Then he was afraid. The person said, "Why are you afraid? My name is Tcatc'ē′wiqsō. You yourself have wished for me."
Then the panther went to look for his arrow-head and found it was gone. Now he believed that the stranger was the arrow-head which had assumed the shape of a man. After this the two lived together and Tcatc'ē′wiqsō looked after the fire. One day a girl came by who carried a basket full of roots. Tcatc'ē′wiqsō asked her to come in, took away her basket, and concealed her under the roots which she had brought. He wished to marry her. When the panther came back he saw the roots which the girl had carried, and asked Tcatc'ē′wiqsō where he had obtained them. The latter replied, "There are plenty of roots near here, and I dug them myself when you were out hunting." He boiled them and gave some to the panther and to the four wildcats that had come home with him.
Whenever the panther was out Tcatc'ē′wiqsō greased his hair in order to make it soft, and put on his best clothes to please the girl. ​The girl wished to escape from the place where Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had concealed her, as she did not like him. She pulled one hair from her head and tied it around one of the roots, hoping the men would find it. Tecatc'ē′wiqsō boiled the roots and gave them to the panther when he returned at night. He ate of it and soon found the hair. He said, "There is a woman’s hair." "No," said Tcatc'ē′wiqsō; "it is a hair of my head. If it is pulled, it grows very long." The panthers, the wildcats, and Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had quite long hair, but even the longest was only half as long as the one found among the roots.
After supper the panther and the wildcats played about the house, the cats hiding, and the panther running after them. Whenever they went near the roots Tcatc'ē′wiqsō cried, "Don't go near there, else you will spoil my roots."
The panther grew suspicious and told one of the wildcats to peep under the roots when running about. Then he found the girl. The panther resolved to take her from Tcatc'ē′wiqsō. The next day he went hunting again and killed an elk. When returning at night he pretended to have hurt his foot. He said to Tcatc'ē′wiqsō, "I have hurt my foot and have been unable to bring home the elk's head. Will you please go and fetch it?" Before returning, however, he had bewitched the elk's head, and ordered it to roll down the hill whenever Tcatc'ē′wiqsō had carried it up. Tcatc'ē′wiqsō went out, loaded the elk head on his shoulder, and turned homeward. As soon as he had climbed the first hill the elk head rolled down, and he had to go and carry it up again; but all his endeavors were to no purpose, the elk head rolled down as often as he had carried it up. Finally he grew impatient, and was about to return home, when the head said, "Tcatc'ē′wiqsō! my eyes are fat and good to eat." Then he resolved to try once more, but met with no better success, and finally he gave it up and went home. When he arrived he found that the panther had gone, and taken the girl with him.
The panther had ordered the wildcats to stay at home and to detain Tcatc'ē′wiqsō. One of them said, "Tcatc'ē′wiqsō, they have taken your wife from you." When he heard this he was very angry and cried, ‘"I will eat you when I catch you." He jumped towards one of the wildcats, intending to bite it, but it had made its escape and Tcatc'ē′wiqsō bit only dirt. He tried to catch another one, but with no better results. Then the cats ran away, and he was unable to catch them. He followed them, dancing while he was running. Then he said, "I want to make the distance shorter." He took up the trail which he was following and pulled it, hoping to shorten by this means the distance between himself and the fugitives; but although he thought he had the trail in his hands, he did not hold anything. The wildcats teased and detained him continually, but ​finally he succeeded in catching and killing them. Then he caught the panther also. He killed him and took away the woman. When they passed by the body of the wildcats and of the panther, she took up their blood, taking care not to leave any on the ground, and put it into her basket, and when they came to a river she told Tcatc'ē′wiqsō to go and fetch some fuel. When he had gone she took the basket, threw all the blood into the river, and the panther and the wildcats came to life at once and swam ashore. They spoke to the woman and said, "Do you love your husband? He is ugly and nobody can understand him. The only thing he can say is 'lam.' We will throw him into the river and kill him."
But she would not permit them to do so. She travelled on with her husband and took him to her father, the East Wind. Her father resolved at once to kill him. He made a large fire and threw stones into it. When they were red-hot he carried them into his sweat-house, covered the entrance with skins, and went in there to sweat. After a short while he came out of the house, and the stones were found to be as cold as ice. Then he asked Tcatc'ē′wiqsō to go into the sweat-house. He threw stones into the fire, and when they were red-hot they were put into the sweat-house. Tcatc'ē′wiqsō entered it, and they closed it. After a while he cried: "Open the door, it is too hot for me!" But they kept it closed. Soon they heard a noise like the cracking of heated stones, and when they opened the door they found the sweat-lodge full of flint. The East Wind was glad to have obtained a plentiful supply of material for arrow-heads.
7. THE ASCENT TO HEAVEN.
Once upon a time there was a man who had two sons. One day he went out hunting and did not return. His elder son went in search of him, and soon discovered in the woods his headless body. In vain he searched for the missing head; he was unable to find it. Then he came to know that the people in heaven had killed his father, and he resolved to take revenge. He stayed in the forest for six days making arrows. Then he returned to his younger brother and told him that he had resolved to ascend to heaven in order to avenge the death of his father. His younger brother, whose name was QäxäaLcī′ya [= whose mother is a dog], resolved to accompany him. One half of his body was like that of a dog. They took their arrows and made themselves ready. They went into the woods to the place where the elder brother had found his father's body. The latter began to shoot his arrows towards the sky, but they fell down and did not reach the heavenly vault.
Then he asked his younger brother to shoot, and his arrows struck the sky. He continued shooting, each arrow hitting the notch ​of the preceding one. Thus he made a chain which soon began to approach the earth. When it reached half way from heaven to earth he asked his elder brother to help him, and both continued shooting until the chain of arrows touched the ground. Then they commenced to climb up. Before starting, the younger brother had warned the elder one not to look back, as else the arrows would break asunder and would fall to the ground. When he climbed up his tongue hung out like that of a dog. They sang while climbing up. Finally they reached heaven and found a trail, which they followed in order to search for their father's head. After a while they saw two women gathering fern-roots. In doing so they were performing a dance with their digging-sticks. Then the brothers hid behind a few bushes, and the younger one sent his soul [life] to the women. It ran about near them in the shape of a weasel. They tried to hit it with their sticks, but it dodged. When the young man's soul had seen what the women were doing, it returned to its owner. Then the young men stepped forth from their hiding-place and accosted the women. They asked, "Where is your canoe?" They replied, "We keep our canoe on the water. We never haul it ashore, and when we want to go aboard we jump into it." The young men next asked, "For whom are you digging roots here?" They replied, "A great shaman has been dancing for ten days. This is the last day of his performance, and the roots will be used in the concluding feast." They asked, "How do you distribute the roots?" They told them where they commenced, and that they gave everybody roots, except to the grubs who inhabited one house of the village. They also asked, "Do your eyes water on account of the smoke in your house?" The women replied that their eyes never watered. Upon their further questions, they told them that they were the chief's wives, and that they slept the one at his right side, the other at his left side, and they told their names. Then the young men killed the two women, took their roots, and put on their clothing. Then they went to the place where the canoe of the women was, and they jumped aboard. The elder brother touched the water with his feet, while the younger one jumped right into the canoe. They paddled towards the village and halted a short distance from the beach. Then they jumped ashore, the elder brother first. Again he touched the water with his feet. Then the chief, who was watching her, cried, "You have not been true to me!" He ran for his bow and arrow and was about to kill his supposed wife, but he was restrained by his people. He had arranged that so long as his wives remained true to him they should be able to jump from the canoe to the shore without touching the water, but that as soon as they were unfaithful they should be unable to do so. The younger ​brother cleared the distance without any difficulty. They entered the house and began preparing the roots. The younger brother was placing them in the smoke over the fire. While thus engaged he looked up and saw his father’s head hanging from the roof of the house. Then tears streamed down his cheeks. When the people observed this they said, "What is the matter with our women today? Now her eyes water, although the smoke never affected her before this." The youth said, "The smoke made my eyes water," and the people were satisfied with this reply. When they were distributing the roots they gave some to the grubs, and the chief shouted, "Certainly my wives must have done something bad today. They are making mistake after mistake!’" While they were moving about distributing the roots, they had great difficulty in hiding their knives. At first they tried to carry them under their arms, but, since they were visible there, they hid them in their clothing. When they were moving about a man named Qä′tcLa discovered the younger brother's knife, and their identity had nearly been disclosed. In the evening they lay down with the chief, one at his right side, the other at his left. When he was asleep they arose quietly and went down to the beach. They cut holes in the bottoms of all the canoes and then crept back stealthily to the chief's bed. Here the younger brother took his knife and severed the chief's head from his trunk. Then they climbed up to the roof, took their father's head, and made their escape. The people could not pursue them, because their canoes were all leaky.
They reached the place where the bodies of the two women whom they had killed were lying. They exchanged their clothes and washed the bodies in the river. Then the women resurrected. They married them and made their way back to the chain of arrows. They climbed down and then took the chain of arrows down. They went to the place where their father's body was lying. They put its head in place and washed it in the water of the river. Then their father came to life. They made him dance and sing, but when he moved, his head fell down again. They tried to tie it on with various kinds of plants. Finally they used bast of the cedar, which held it in place. Ever since that time their father has had a red head. He became the woodpecker.
8. THE TRAVELLERS.
Once upon a time there was a man and a woman. They had six children,—five boys and one girl. The children started to travel all over the world to play ball with the various tribes. As soon as they reached a village, they challenged the people and induced them to stake their daughters on the game. One of their number was the ​hummingbird. He was very swift, and therefore they won all the girls, whom they married. But they stayed nowhere more than one night. They always promised to return at an early day, but they did not intend to keep their word.
One day they met a man who asked them where they were going. They told him that they were playing ball in all the villages, and that they married the girls of the villages; they added that they deserted them after one night. The man went on to the next village in order to warn the people, who manned a boat and came across the river, intending to attack the brothers. But the latter caused the canoe to capsize in mid-river.
They travelled on and reached another village. Again they played at ball and won. But the people did not wish to surrender their girls to them. They invited them to a feast which was spread in a large house. They hired the bat, who, as soon as the brothers and their sister had entered, closed up all the chinks. Then the people transformed the house into a rock. The girl observed the transformation. She looked up and saw a little_hole in the roof. She assumed the shape of the crane and flew away, leaving her brothers.
She returned towards her native village, and passed all the places where her brothers had played ball. There she found their children, and the nearer she approached her native country the older she found the children to be. She addressed them, singing, "Anaxaguā′xogua anē′a!" Finally she reached the house of her parents. Her mother was making a garment, which she was painting. The girl told her what had happened, but the old woman did not seem to pay any attention. At last, when she had finished the garment, she said to her daughter, "If I had accompanied you, that would not have happened. You did not know how to take care of your brothers." She put on the new garment, and they started in search of the lost brothers. The old woman was singing while they were walking along. When they reached the villages where the brothers had tarried on their outward journey, they found that their children were grown up. The girl was furious on account of the loss of her brothers, and upturned all the houses in these villages, but her mother asked her to desist. She said, "Wait until we reach the house in which your brothers are held captive." They travelled on, and the old woman saw all her grandchildren. Finally they reached the rock in which the brothers were imprisoned. Then the old woman upturned it by the power of her magic. Thus the young men were set free. The broken rock may still be seen at the mouth of the river.
9. THE CROW AND THE THUNDERBIRD.
In the beginning of the world the crow had the voice of the thunderbird, and the thunderbird had the voice of the crow. The latter proposed to the former to exchange their voices. The crow agreed, but demanded that the thunderbird should give her the low water into the bargain, because his voice was so much stronger than that of the thunderbird. He needed the low water in order to catch crabs and mussels on the beach. The thunderbird agreed and made the waters of the sea recede a long distance. Then the crow saw all the monsters of the deep, which frightened him. He asked the thunderbird not to let the waters recede so far. For that reason the waters do not recede very far during the ebb tide. If the crow had not been frightened, they would recede very much farther.
10. As'ai′yahaL.
As'ai′yahaL lived far up the country. Along time ago he travelled all over the world. He came down the river and arrived at Natā′hts. There he gathered clams and mussels; he made a fire and roasted them. When he opened them he found that there were two animals in each shell. After he had roasted them he began to eat, and found very soon that he had enough. He grew very angry and said, "Henceforth there shall be only one animal in each shell."
He travelled on and came to Tillamook. There he found an enormous bay at the mouth of the river. Cum vero trans flumen mulierem peractis mensibus lavari videret, cum ea coire voluit. Itaque penem quem propter incredibilem longitudinem humeris circumdatum portabat, in aquam ex consilio projecit ut mulierem attingeret. Quo facto primoris penis vaginam ejus intravit. Forte multa alga minuente æstu adversum penem deferebatur qui tritu assiduo tandem discissus sit. Extrema pars secundo flumine delata in pæninsulam longam angustumque quz hodie Tillamook nominatur mutata est. As'ai′yahaL penem reliquum volutum ex humeris suspendit.
Then he went up the river and crossed it near its headwaters, as he had no canoe and was unable to cross it where it was deep. He met a number of women who were digging roots. He asked, "What are you doing there?" They replied, "We are digging roots." He said, "I do not like that." He took the roots away and sent them to Clatsop, and ever since that time there have been no roots at Tillamook, while at Clatsop they are very plentiful. He descended to the beach and said, "Henceforth you shall gather clams at ebb tide. When the water rises you shall carry them home, and you shall quarrel about them." It happened as he said. He gave the women the Tillamook language.
​He went on and came to a river which was full of salmon, who were clapping their hands (fins). He took one of them, threw it ashore, stepped on it and flattened it. It became a flounder, and ever since that time flounders have been plentiful in Tillamook River, while there have been no salmon.
He went on and came to a place where an old woman was living. A pretty girl was living with her. As'ai′yahaL qui cum ea coire vellet fore sperabat ut ea in morbum incideret. Quod quidem haud multo post factum est. Then the people asked for a shaman. He pretended to be a powerful shaman, and the people asked him to cure the girl. He promised to do so. On entering the house he sent everybody away except two old blind women who were to assist him. He sat down close to the sick girl and began his incantation. Postquam ei petenti anus duæ et eum et puellam pellibus alcis contexerunt, cum ea coibat. Sed mulieres, sono insolito audito, statim intellegebant exclamabantque: Attat! Quidnam ille agit? Respondebat puella eum se sanare. Cum autem mulieres manus arripere conarentur ut eum abstraherent, penem ejus comprehenderunt qui tamen e manibus elapsus est. Then he jumped up and ran out of the house, carrying the elkskins and crying: "Sicine mihi pro puella vitiata pelles alcis donant!"
Penem volutum ex humeris suspendit. Then he went on and came to two women, who were carrying gamass. He wished to eat some roots, and asked, "What are you carrying there?" They replied, "We are carrying gamass roots." He asked them to give him some. They complied and gave him some roots. He liked them very much and wanted some more, but the women did not give him any more. He went on and said, "I will frighten them, and they will give me more." He cut off his membrum virile, and cut it into three pieces, which he transformed into dogs. Then he approached the women from another side, carrying his dogs. As soon as he came near the women the dogs wanted to creep under their clothes. He said, "What do you carry there?" They replied, "We carry gamass roots." He asked them for some, and they complied with his request. He left them and again approached them from another side and in another shape, accompanied by his three dogs, which again wanted to creep under the women's clothes. Then the women thought, "It is As'ai′yahaL. He is cheating us," and they thought of playing him a trick. After a while a man approached them again with three dogs, and asked them what they were carrying, and they replied, "Gamass roots." He asked them for some, and they gave him what they were carrying in their baskets. They told him not to open the baskets until he should reach a place where it was perfectly calm. He followed their directions and carried the ​basket to a place which was well sheltered. He sat down under dense bushes, opened the baskets, intending to eat the gamass roots, but when he opened them a swarm of bumble bees flew out and stung him all over his body. Then he grew angry and resolved to kill the women who had played him the trick. He pursued them, killed them, and took away all the roots which they carried. Then he went down the river and destroyed all the gamass roots he found on his way.
Finally he reached a small river which was full of salmon. He thought, "I am hungry, I will catch some salmon." He caught one and fastened it in a split stick, and roasted it over the fire. While it was roasting he lay down, covered his eyes with his left hand, and patted his breast with his right hand, humming a song. When he looked up he found the salmon dancing to his song. Then he lay down again, patted his breast, covered his eyes, and continued to sing. When he looked up the salmon was gone. Then he got angry and thought, "How foolishly I have behaved! I am very hungry and have nothing to eat."
He rose and went down to Clatsop, where he found salmon. He caught one and threw it ashore. It flopped its tail. He transfixed it with a stick, but it still flopped its tail. Then he took some sand, put it on its eyes and face, and thus killed it. He said, "When my children come to be grown up, they shall kill salmon in the same way by putting sand on their eyes." Therefore the Clatsop kill the salmon by putting sand on their eyes. Then he made a large fire, intending to roast his salmon. After having eaten, he wanted to cross Columbia River. As he had no canoe he went up the river, and when he came to a shallow place he tried to ford it; he took his blankets under his arms. When As'ai′yahaL began to ford the river and found the water very deep and cold, he thought he would deceive the people. He kicked a rock up so that it fell into the river, where it still stands, while he himself disappeared. The rock is pointed out as As'ai′yahaL} turned into stone. But he himself travelled on. After having crossed the river he felt very cold, and lay down with his back upward basking in the sun. He fell asleep. Thus he was found by five panthers, who tied up his hair and fastened ugly things to his head. When he awoke he was thirsty, and went at once to a brook to drink. When he bent down to the water he saw his own image and became frightened, thinking it was the image of some enemy who wanted to kill him, and ran away. He ran a whole day, until he was too tired to run any longer. Then he went to touch his head, and discovered what had happened. "Oh!" he said, "am I frightened at myself? Who may have done that to me?" But he was not quite sure whether he had actually been frightened by his ​own image. He went to the brook and shook his head to see if the image shook its head, too. When he discovered that it did shake its head, he was sure that he had run away from himself. Then he set out to find the man who had played him the trick. After a while he came to the five panthers. They were fast asleep. He pulled their ears long and tied their hair up. He said: "Henceforth you shall be panthers and not men." When they awoke they were all so frightened at seeing their own images that they ran up the mountains into the woods.
He travelled on and met a boy, who appeared to be three years old, sleeping quietly, his hand covering his face. As'ai′yahaL thought, "I will kill that boy." He intended to lift his hand in order to strike him, but was unable to lift it. Then he wanted to strike him with a stick, but was unable to lift his arm. He tried to throw a stone, but was unable to lift it; neither could he lift a club with which he wanted to break the boy's head. The latter slept on quietly. When As'ai′yahaL was tired out by his attempts to kill the boy, the latter turned round and suddenly became a very strong man, who said, "Who is doing this? I will kill him. Tell me my name instantly or I will kill you." As'ai′yahaL said quickly, "Your name is Arrow." "No," said the boy. As'ai′yahaL said, "Your name is Four Arrows." "No," said the boy, "that is my brother's name." As'ai′yahaL cried, "Your name is Taxä′ha." "Yes," said the boy, "that is my name," and he took As'ai′yahaL to his house and made him his slave. He prided himself at having As'ai′yahaL for a slave. He kept him for some time and finally set him free.
As'ai′yahaL travelled on and came to another place, where he found three old women. He had been warned not to go near this place, as the women were said to be cannibals. He, however, desired to visit them, and going there he carried a large stone along, so heavy that he was hardly able to lift it. When he met the women he threw the stone right among them, and one of them jumped at it and tried to devour it. It was too large and it stuck in her mouth. Then he walked down to the women, transformed them into rocks, and said, ‘Henceforth you shall not be cannibals, but stones, and remain here as long as the world lasts. Children shall play here, and you shall not be able to do them harm, People shall camp here when they travel up and down the river, and you shall protect them." They were transformed into rocks with large' caves in which travellers camp.
He travelled on and came to a house in which he saw people lying around the fire. He asked them, ‘"What is the matter? Are you sick?" "No," they replied; "we are starving. The East Wind wants to kill us. The river, sea, and beach are frozen over, and we ​cannot get any food." Then he said, "Can't you make the wind stop, so that you may obtain food?" Then he went out of the house and down to the river, which was completely frozen over. It was so slippery that he was hardly able to stand on the ice. He went up the river to meet the East Wind and to conquer him. While he went on, mucus flew out of his nose and froze at once, because it was so cold. When he came near the house of the East Wind, he took up some pieces of ice, which he threw into the river, saying, "Henceforth it shall not be as cold as it is now. Winter shall be a little cold, but not very much so. You shall become herring." The ice was at once transformed into herrings. Every piece became a herring and swam down the river.
As'ai′yahaL went on and finally arrived at the house of the East Wind. He entered, sat down, and whistled. His whole face was covered with frozen mucus. He did not go near the fire, and his whole body was trembling with cold. He said, however, "I feel so warm I cannot go near the fire. I am perspiring," and he told the East Wind that he came from a house where they were drying herrings. The East Wind said, "Don't say so. It is winter now. There will be no herring for a long time to come." As'ai′yahaL replied, "Don't you believe me? There are plenty of herrings outside." He went out and took an icicle, which he warmed at the fire. "Look how quickly it boils," he said to the East Wind, while actually the ice was melting. Thus he made the East Wind believe that he held a herring in his hand. Then the East Wind ceased to blow, the ice began to melt, and the people had plenty of food.
Up to that time it had been winter all through the year, but As'ai′yahaL made summer and winter alternate.
Then he went back to the people whom he had helped. "Rise and catch herring, and when you have enough tell your wives to pick berries, and you may hunt elk and deer." Then they rose and did as he had told them, and they lived happy lives.
He travelled on, and came to a place on the seacoast, where he saw a stranded whale, but he had no knife to cut it with. Near by there was a house from which a little smoke was rising. He entered and saw two men sitting one on each side of the fire. One of them was NctālE′qsEn (flint nose), the other TaLE′qtEn (copper for making arrow-points). He thought, "I wish they would fight." As soon as he had thought so, they began to fight. Whenever NctālE′qsEn hit TaLE′qtEn's nose the latter was bent in; and when TaLE′qtEn hit NctālE′qs{asc|E}}n's nose, chips of flint would fly from it.
Then As'ai′yahaL picked up the fragments and said, ‘"Stop fighting; there is a large whale on the beach." He picked out three good flint knives, and went out to cut the blubber of the whale. He ​travelled on and met an old woman who carried a basket of gamass. He asked, "Where are you going?" She replied, "I am carrying this, gamass to the old men in that house." As'ai′yahaL replied, "That is good; they are just now engaged carving a whale." Then the old woman ran down to the shore as fast as she could, sharpening her knife. She wanted to have some of the whale meat, too.
As'ai′yahaL travelled on and came to a river, where he sat down on a rock near the water. After awhile he saw two women paddling down the river in a canoe. He thought, "I will transform myself into a baby." He did so, and when the girls came down the river they heard the baby crying, and found it lying in a cradle on the rock, They said to each other, "There is a deserted child," and the oldest one continued, "Let me take it." She took it up and the child began to cry harder than before. He wanted to be taken by the younger girl. Then the younger one took it up, and all at once it stopped crying. His arms were tied up; he cried again until his arms were untied, and then he commenced once more to cry, and did not stop until the younger one had taken him close to her.
Then he began to play with her coat and ceased crying. The girl said to the older one: "Iste infans certe ineptus est. Nam vestibus sublatis me aspicit." The older one replied: "Don't mind that. It is an infant who does not know anything." So she did not mind him. Ile autem genitalia eius diu conspecta arripuit. Then the girl cried, "Oh, certainly, he is As'ai′yahaL." She threw the cradle into the river. It did not even touch the water, but flew to the opposite bank of the river, where As'ai′yahaL stood laughing. Clamavit vulvam ejus anui consimilem esse.
As'ai′yahaL was carrying a quiver filled with arrows. Whenever he desired to amuse himself, he took the arrows out of his quiver, broke them to pieces, and threw them down. At once they were transformed into men, who began to sing and dance. On the following morning, when he opened his quiver, they all resumed the shape of arrows and jumped into the quiver.
He came to a place called NtsEä′nixil, on Siletz River. There he transformed himself, his wife and his child, into rocks, which are seen up to this day. The head of the man and the breasts of the woman are easily recognized. He is standing between the two other rocks. His life returned to the country of the salmon, of which he is the master.
​The Yaquina tell that As'ai′yahaL transformed himself into a dry tree at Yaquina Bay, and that his life returned from there to the salmon country. The Alsea and Yaquina, when passing this tree, shot an arrow at it. It is quite full of arrows.
As'ai′yahaL made all the rocks, rivers, and cascades while travelling all over the world. Finally he returned to the country of the salmon, whence he came.
The Siletz, a subdivision of the Tillamook, call him Tsaai′yahaL.
11. THE MAN WHO FOUND THE DENTALIA.
There was an old man who lived at Nestucka. He had five sons and several daughters. One of his sons went up the river fishing salmon, and he saw a small fish carrying something white under his belly. He looked at it attentively, but was unable to discover what it was. Finally he caught the fish and saw that he carried a dentalium shell under his belly. He took part of his blanket and wrapped the fish in it, and buried it under a tree. Then he thought, "As I have found something wonderful, I will fast for ten days."
He went home and did not eat anything that his mother offered him, and went to bed. On the following day, when he continued to fast, his father and mother asked him, "Are you sick?" But he did not reply. After five days he went up the river to see what had become of the salmon. He unearthed it, and found that there were several dentalia shells under its belly. He wrapped it up once more, buried it again, and returned home. After fasting ten days more, he went again to look after the fish. He unearthed it, and found a great many dentalia shells in his blanket. The salmon itself had disappeared. He carried some of the shells home. He said to his mother, "Make threads of sinews." She obeyed, and after she had made a strong rope he took it and went to the place where he had buried the salmon, and made a large bundle of dentalia shells. He carried it home, opened it, and the people saw it was full of shells, and henceforth he was a rich man.
12. THE MAN WHO FOUND THE FLINT KNIFE.
Once upon a time there lived a man at Slab Creek (Nasqēuwi′n). When fishing near the headwaters of the river he saw two salmon playing in the water. When they touched each other, they made a noise like that of falling metal. He tried to catch them, and finally succeeded in getting one of them. When he threw the fish ashore, he found that he had cut his hand, and saw that it was no salmon that he had caught, but a flint knife. The second salmon he found to be a stone hammer. He took both of them home and concealed ​them in his house. Then a severe winter ensued. It was raining and snowing continually, and the people were unable to procure food. Nobody knew what was the cause of the bad weather.
One day the wife of the man who had found the flint knife discovered it under his bed. She said, "I wish they had put this knife into the mouth of the man who found it, then we should enjoy good weather again." Her husband replied, "I wish they would put it into your mouth! Where did you find it? It belongs to me." She excused herself, saying that she did not know that he had found it. After a short time, however, she took her children, left her husband, and went back to her brothers, who were very bad men, and who had killed many people. When she arrived there she said, "I found a stone knife in our house, and I said to my husband, 'I wish it were in the mouth of the man who found it.' Then my husband grew angry." The brothers made themselves ready to go to their brother-in-law's house. While travelling up the river they were almost frozen to death. The river was full of ice; it was snowing, and a cold east wind was blowing. When the man saw his brothers-in-law coming, he made a large fire of fir-bark, of which he had a plentiful supply in his house. The brothers did not go near the fire, but remained at the other side of the house, and warmed themselves at another fire which they had made for themselves. When they were warm, the man asked them, "What wind was blowing when you came here? Was it east wind or west wind?" Then one of the brothers jumped up and asked him, "What kind of wind do you make, you who made all the bad weather?" Then all the other brothers jumped up also. Two of them took hold of his legs and two of his arms; they tore his clothes from him and held him near the fire, so that his back split open like that of a salmon. When they had done so, one of the brothers looked out toward the sea and saw the sun coming forth. They held him close to the fire until he was dead, and then searched for the flint knife and the hammer. They found them under his pillow. Then they threw both of them into the fire, where they burned them. They took their sister's property out of the house and set fire to it; then it became fine weather, and it remained so all the winter.
Their sister stayed with them, and they provided for her. Her son began to grow up. One day, when he walked in the sun near the house, she told him that his father had perished at the hands of his uncles. When the boy heard this he thought of avenging his father's death.
​One day the oldest uncle said to him, "Come, I will lie down in the sun; you shall pull out the hairs of my beard." The boy obeyed, sharpened his knife, and began pulling out his uncle's beard. When he had cleaned his chin, he began pulling out the hairs under the chin, and while he was doing so his uncle fell asleep. Then the boy pushed up his chin a little higher, cut his throat, and cut off his head. He put it between the legs of his dead uncle. Then he covered the body with branches and went away never to return.
13. TXÄXÄ′ (=THE WARRIOR).
There lived a man in Nestucka who used to rise early every morning. One day when he came down to the beach he saw a large whale stranded. He ran back to the house to call the people, crying, "Don't sleep any longer. I have found a whale; let us carve it." They jumped up, but were unable to reach the whale, as the flood tide was coming in, and they were obliged to wait for low water. While they stood on the beach a man with his five sons from Natā′hts, named Txäxä′, came and asked the man who had found the whale, "Will you allow me and my sons to cut off a bit of the tail for our dinner?" The man did not reply, because he did not wish them to share in the whale. Then the old man got angry and said to his sons, "Let us go back. We will take the whale along."
They turned around, and all at once the whale began to swim along the beach, following them. Then the Nestucka ran after them, and asked the old man, "Please don’t do that; share the whale with us." They, however, would not listen, but went on.
The old man asked his guardian spirit where the whale would go ashore, The spirit replied, "It will strand at the place where you will find a large log of driftwood." And when they came to Natā′hts they saw a large log on the shore. There they stopped, and on the following morning the man climbed up a small hill to look out. He saw the whale lying on the beach. He went back to the camp and told his sons that the whale had stranded; then they began to cut it up. They invited all the Neā′lim, Tillamook, and Natā′hts to join them. After this, whenever a whale was seen off the shore, he sent out his guardian spirit (his supernatural power), who caught the whale as a net would catch it, and through this means he caused all the whales to strand on his beach, and at no other place.
Once the Natā′hts challenged the Tillamook to a game of ball, the prize being a whale. The Tillamook accepted the challenge, as they ​never had a chance to get whale meat. They staked stores of roots and berries against the whale. When they were playing the old man put on his sea-otter cap and stood behind the players. He had painted his face red, white, and blue, and he talked as loud as he could the whole day, making the ball afraid of him. Therefore it never came near him, and the Tillamook were unable to win the game. They were beaten and lost their stake. When they were beaten Txäxä′ made them a present of whale meat. The following year they played again, and the Tillamook were beaten once more. Then they began to fight, and in the struggle Txäxä′ was killed. The people began to cry when they saw that Txäxä′ was killed. They put him into a canoe, which was paddled by six men, and went down the river. They came to the house where his mother was roasting clams, while his father was sitting idly by the fire. The people cried, "Your son has been shot through the heart."
The old man saw them coming, but he did not stir. He asked his wife, "Are the clams soon done?"
Now the canoe arrived, the men jumped ashore, and went up to the old man and said, "Your son has been killed." The old man merely turned his head and said, "Come up here and eat clams with us." Then the man who carried the message said, "The old man does not mind at all that his son has been killed. He invites us to eat clams with him." They went up, and, when they were eating, the old man joked with them and was very merry. When they had finished eating he said, "Let us go down and look at the body."
They went down; the old man shook his son and asked, "What is the matter, Paint-face? Three colors are on your face. Arise and purify the inside of your body." Then the dead one awoke, opened his eyes, and asked, "Is the tide coming in?" The old man replied, "No; it is still ebb-tide." Txäxä′ replied, "Then I am dead. If it had been flood tide I should have returned to life." Then his father said, "Take him to Red-water Creek (Tanlō wunā′is = looking red), and call all the people from both sides of the river. Take this kettle and a small stick." When all had assembled he told them to stand on both sides of the river, and ordered two men to make a dam across the water. He told them, "He shall lie down. Then you must sing and beat time on the kettle. He will rise and vomit into it, and you must pour what he has vomited into the water where it is deepest."
They did as he had ordered. When they began to sing and to beat time, Txäxä′ arose and vomited blood into the kettle. They threw it into the water where it was deepest, opened the dam, and let it run down the river. The kettle was quite full of blood. Twice ​he vomited and filled the kettle with blood. Then he took the arrow-point that had killed him out of his mouth, and was as well as before.
The people returned to the village, and now he caused a heavy thunderstorm to rise, which split the trees of the forest and killed many of the Tillamook. Then he sent some of his people to the village of the Tillamook and challenged them to another game of ball. The latter were singing and dancing because they believed they had killed Txäxä′. After they had been challenged again, they sent two old men to see what the Natā′hts were doing. When these messengers arrived at Natā′hts, they saw Txäxä′ practising with his ball. At first they would not believe their own eyes. But when approaching nearer, they saw that their enemy was still alive. They returned to Tillamook and said: "Are you not ashamed to dance and sing? He whom you killed is alive and playing ball." Then the people took off their fine garments and threw them into the fire.
Franz Boas.
* ↑ Another informant called the persons represented by the three rocks Tk'a, the first man, his wife and child. He added that Tk'a knew all the thoughts and plans of men, and that for this reason they must refrain from bad thoughts. When they give away or waste berries, Tk'a feels annoyed, and sends a dry year in which berries are scarce.
* ↑ Flint (or obsidian?) is highly valued by the Siletz, and whoever possessed a piece was considered a rich man. It is believed that the finding of a piece of flint produces bad weather, therefore if a man found a piece in winter he left it in the woods, and did not take it home until warm weather had set in.
* ↑ The Tillamook are in the habit of pulling out the hairs of the beard as they appear.
* ↑ This man is said to be the same as the one who was taken up to the sky by the thunderbird,