# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 11/Issue 40/Traditions of the Tillamook Indians

TRADITIONS OF THE TILLAMOOK INDIANS.
The following traditions were collected during the summer of 1890, when I visited the Siletz Indian Reservation for the Bureau of American Ethnology in order to gather information on the Salishaw languages of Oregon. The Tillamook Indians are the most southern branch of the Coast Salish. They live on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and are separated from their more northern kinsmen by tribes speaking Chinookian languages. Their language is spoken in two dialects, the Siletz and the Tillamook proper. It was first described and classified by Horatio Hale in the Publications of the Wilkes Expedition. The name Tillamook, by which the tribe is best known, is of Chinook origin. It means the people of Nekelim. The latter name means the place Elim, or, in the Cathlamet dialect, the place Kelim. The initial t of Tillamook is the plural article, the terminal ook the Chinook plural ending—uks. The dialect differs from the northern dialects in its peculiar phonetics. It has lost almost entirely the labials which, so far as I am aware, occur in a few names of places only. The culture of the Tillamook seems to have differed quite considerably from that of the northern Coast Salish, and has evidently been influenced by the culture of the tribes of northern California. This influence is also manifested in the traditions of the tribe, which will be found on the following pages.
I. THE THUNDER-BIRD.
Once upon a time there was a man who lived at Slab Creek. One day he went up the creek to spear salmon. When he started out the sun was shining, but soon dark clouds came up and it began to thunder and to rain. Then it cleared up again, but soon a new shower came on and he was unable to secure a single fish. He became angry and said, "What is that great thing that always darkens the water and prevents me from seeing the fish?" He went on and came to a tall spruce-tree in which a large hole had been burned by lightning. He looked into it and discovered a little boy. When he looked closer he saw the boy coming out. As soon as he had stepped out of the hole he began to grow, and soon reached a height taller than the spruce-tree ; his skin was covered with feathers. Then he said, ‘"Now you see how tall I am. Don't look at me; I am the one whom you have scolded."
Then the speaker, who was no other than the Thunderer, took the man's salmon spear and blanket. He leaned the spear against the ​tree and hung the blanket on to it. He took the man under his armpits and flew with him towards the sky. When they reached a considerable height the man almost fell from under the Thunderer's armpits, and the latter descended again and allowed him to regain his strength. He thought: "Where shall I put him in order to prevent his falling down?" He said, "When we reach a great height, close your eyes, so that the strong wind which prevails up there will do you no harm." Then he flew up again and ascended in large circles. Each flapping of his wings was a peal of thunder, and when the noise ceased the man knew that they had arrived at the Thunderer's home and he opened his eyes. On the following day the Thunderer told him to go and catch salmon. The man went to the beach but did not see any salmon, while many whales were swimming about. Then he went back to the house and said, "I do not see any salmon, but many whales are swimming about."
"Those are the fish I was speaking of," replied the Thunderer. "They are our food. Catch a few!" The man replied, "They are too large, and I cannot catch them."
They went out and the man saw that the people were catching whales in the same way as he was accustomed to catch salmon. The Thunderer told him to stand aside, as he himself was preparing to catch whales. He caught the largest one and carried it up to a large cave which was near by, and when he had deposited it there the whale flapped its tail and jumped about, violently shaking the mountain, so that it was impossible to stand upon it.
One day the man went up the river and saw many fish swimming in it. He thought, "I am tired of whale meat and wish I could have some fish." He went back to the house and spoke to the Thunderer, "Grandfather, I have found many fish, and I want to catch them." He made a fish spear, which he showed to the Thunderer. The latter looked at it, but found it so small that he was hardly able to feel it. It slipped under his finger-nail, and he was unable to find it again. The man said, "How large are your nails! they are just like the crack of a log," and the old grandfather laughed.
The man made a new spear and went fishing salmon. Before he went the old man said, "Don't catch more than you are able to eat. You may take four or five." "I cannot even eat one." Then the grandfather laughed again and said, "If I should eat one hundred I should not have enough."
The man went out, caught one salmon, and brought it home. He was going to split it, but was unable to find a knife small enough for cutting the fish.
Then the Thunderer split a rock, as he thought, into very small pieces, but the smallest of these was so large that the man was ​unable to lift it. Then the Thunderer broke it into still smaller pieces, and said, "I fear I have spoilt it, for it has become dust so fine that I cannot take hold of it." The man went out, but even then the smallest piece was so large that he was unable to lift it. After the Thunderer had broken it again and the man had selected the smallest piece, he said, "It is still too large, but I think I must try to make use of it. Then the Thunderer told him how to cut the fish. He followed his commands and cut the fish, as the people of the Thunderer were accustomed to do.
He roasted it and ate it, but was unable to eat all. Then his grandfather laughed and said, "Put it aside and go to sleep. When you awake you will be able to eat more." When the man awoke and wanted to continue to eat the fish it was gone. It had returned to the river from which he had taken it. He took his spear and went down the river to catch another salmon. There he saw one half of a fish swimming about. It was the one he had been eating. He caught it, roasted it, and finished eating it. The next day he caught another fish, and when he had eaten half of it and went to sleep he tied the rest to a pole in order to prevent its returning to the river. But when he awoke he found that it had returned to the river. He had burned one side of the head of this salmon, and the next day on going to the river he saw the same salmon swimming about. It had taken some grass into its mouth and covered one side of its face, as it was ashamed to show how badly it was burned. The Thunderer said, "Don't burn the salmon when you roast them, for they do not like it. They might take revenge upon you."
The next day the Thunderer again went whaling, and the man asked him to be allowed to accompany him, as he wished to witness the spectacle. The Thunderer granted his request, but when he came home in the evening he found that the man was badly hurt. He had been unable to stand on his feet when the whale was shaking the mountain, and was hurt by falling trees and stones. But on the following day he asked once more to be allowed to accompany the Thunderer. He tied himself to a tree, but when the Thunderer came back in the evening to fetch him he found him again badly hurt, as he had been knocked about by the swinging trees.
Meanwhile the relatives of the man had been searching for him for over a year. They had gone up Slab Creek, where they found his spear and blanket leaning against a large spruce-tree. They did not know what had become of him. They believed him to be dead, and his wife mourned for him.
One day while he was staying with the Thunderer he thought of his wives and children and longed to return. He said to himself: ​"Oh, my children, are you still alive? There is no one to provide for you, and I am afraid you are dead." The Thunderer knew his thoughts and said, "Do not worry, your wives are quite well. One of them has married again. I will take you back to-morrow." What the Thunderer called the next day was actually the next year.
The following day he took him under his armpits and put him back at the foot of the spruce-tree, from where he had taken him, and then flew back home. The, man believed that he had been away only four days, but it had been four years. He did not go to his house, but stayed in the woods near by. There his son found him. He asked the boy, "Who are you? is your father at home?" The boy replied, believing him to be a stranger, "No, I have no father; he was lost four years ago. For a long time they looked for him, and finally they found his clothes and his salmon spear." Then the man said, "I am your father. The Thunderer took me up to the sky, and I have returned." Then he inquired after his wives, and the boy replied, "Mother is well, and all my brothers have grown up and are also well. Your other wife has married again, but mother remained true to you." Then the man sent him to call his wife. The boy ran home and said, "Mother! father is in the woods." His mother did not believe him, and whipped him for speaking about his father. Then the boy went out crying. He said to his father, "Mother did not believe me." The man gave him a piece of whale meat and said, "Take this to your mother; I brought it from where I have been." The boy obeyed, and took the whale meat to his mother, who said, "I will go with you, but if he is not your father I shall beat you." She accompanied her son and found her husband. He returned with her into the house, and she invited the whole tribe. The man danced and became a great shaman. For ten days he danced, and the people feasted. Then he told them where he had been and what he had seen, and said that whenever they wanted to have a whale he would get one.
After some time the Thunderer came back and took him up once more and he stayed for ten years with him. Then he came home and lived with his people.
One day he went elk-hunting, and came to a small lake, where he found a small canoe. When crossing the lake he heard a voice calling him from out of the water, and on looking down he saw a hole in the bottom, and a human being in it, which called him. He jumped overboard, went to the bottom of the lake and stayed with the supernatural being for ten years. Then the latter sent him out in company of the beaver to gather some skunk-cabbage. They followed a trail and came to a parting of the roads. The man did not know where they were going. Then the beaver asked him: ​"Do you know where we are going? This trail is Nestucka River, which we are now descending." They followed the trail to its end, where they found a large cave, from which the man emerged to the open air, while the beaver returned to the lake. At the entrance of the cave the man flung down two skunk-cabbages which he had found, and ascended the mountain. Ever since that time two stems of skunk-cabbage have been growing at the entrance of the cave.
His two sons found him on the summit of the rock. They took him home and invited the whole tribe. He danced and became the greatest shaman among his people. When a person died he was able to bring back his soul and restore him to life
2. THE JOURNEY ACROSS THE OCEAN.
Once upon a time there were many people standing on the beach. They saw what they thought to be a whale drifting by, and many birds sitting on its back. Then five brothers launched their canoe and went out to tow the whale to the beach. When they had been gone a little while and approached nearer the floating object, one of the men said: "That is no whale," but the others did not believe him. They went on, and when they were near by they saw that it was no whale, but a canoe covered with whale skin on which birds were sitting. People from the other side of the ocean, the LXuina′ē, were in it. When they saw this, they turned back as quickly as possible. The people from the other side of the ocean pursued them. The brothers had just time to reach the beach, when the other canoe overtook them. One of the five men jumped ashore, but the pursuers caused the water to draw back from the beach, and thus drew the canoe out into the sea. They took the four brothers who had remained in the canoe and began to return to their own country. They hunted whales while crossing the ocean, but whenever they were unsuccessful they cut pieces of flesh from the men whom they had captured and used it for bait. Finally nothing but their bones remained. Three of the brothers died, but the last, although nothing but his bones remained, was still alive.
The man who had escaped ran up to the house calling, "The men from the other side of the ocean have taken my brothers!" He went to the top of Bald Mountain, at the mouth of Salmon River, where he stayed twenty days fasting. Then he dreamed of his brothers. After this he returned to the village and asked all the people to accompany him across the ocean to see what had become of his brothers.
They fitted out their largest canoe and started out the next morning. At nightfall they stopped far out at sea. The mountains of their home had disappeared from their view. Early in the morning ​they travelled on and stopped again at night-time. Thus they travelled for many days, steering towards sunset. Finally they saw the land at the other side of the ocean. They found a kind of wood which they did not know. It looked like reed, but was as tall as a tree. They went ashore, and the man who had escaped from the canoe said: "I will go alone and look for my brothers." He went along the beach and finally found a house. He waited until the following morning, and then he saw smoke rising from the roof. He opened the door a little way and peeped into the room. He saw a few old blankets. There was no living person to be seen. Cautiously he entered, and saw that something was stirring under the blankets. He was frightened and was about to fly, but he took heart and looked more closely. He found the bones of his brothers under the blankets. They said, "Have you come, brother? You cannot help us now. We cannot move, and you cannot restore us to our former lives. But let us take revenge upon these people. Take some of them back with you across the ocean. Every day their women go out to gather skunk-cabbage. Two go in each canoe, and when they return they will all come ashore and carry the skunk-cabbage up to the house. One only will stay in her canoe. She is the chief's daughter. Her garments are covered with dentalia." The man left the house, returned to the canoe, and told his people what he had seen and heard. On the following day they hid in the woods. The women returned from gathering skunk-cabbage, and one girl only remained in the canoe. Then they launched their canoe, bailed it out, ran up to the girl, captured her and left the shore. They put her in the bottom of the canoe. She said, "Treat me well. I shall not attempt to run away." They returned across the ocean, travelling in the daytime and resting at night. They had been unable to take along the men whom the LXuin′ē had captured, as they were nothing but bones, which would have brought ill-luck to their canoe. On the third day at nightfall they began to see the mountains at the mouth of Salmon River, and on the fourth day, at the time of sunset, they reached their village. There the man married the daughter of the LXuin′ē chief.
After a short time she was with child. She used to go out to the beach, look towards sunset and say, "Where the sun sets is my father's house." Every day she did the same thing. One night the people went out to see what she was doing. They did not find her at the place where she was accustomed to sit, and on coming toward the spot they saw her walking down the river on the surface of the water. She reached the sea and went over breakers and over waves back to her father's house. They were unable to bring her back.
After she had arrived at her father's house she gave birth to ​a boy. When he began to grow up, he made a bow and arrow and shot birds. One day his mother told him that his father was a chief in a village on the other side of the ocean. She said, "I came back before you were born. I was pregnant with you for ten months. It may be that your father will come here some day to look for me. If you should ever see a man who does not belong to this side of the ocean, think that he is your father. Ask him where he comes from, and treat him kindly."
After a number of years the man asked his people to accompany him once more across the ocean. He wished to look for his wife. He filled his canoe with precious skins and blankets and started on his journey.
On arriving on the other side he concealed his canoe in the woods, left his people in charge of it, and went alone to look for his wife. He hid behind a hill under some bushes, where he was able to see all that was going on, while he himself was invisible. Finally he saw a boy coming, who was playing with his bow and arrows. The boy tried his strength, shooting as far as he could, and then gathering up his arrows. One arrow fell close to the man, who took it up. The boy ran after the arrow, and thus found his father. He asked, "To what tribe do you belong? You do not belong here." The man replied, "I belong to the other side of the ocean." Then the boy said, "Mother told me that she had carried me for ten months when she came here. She told me that if I should see a stranger I should treat him well, because he might be my father." Then the man was glad and said, "I am your father." He said to the boy, "Go home and tell your mother I am here. Is your grandfather at home?" "No; they have gone whaling," replied the boy. He returned to the house and found his mother sitting in company of many other women. He stepped up to her and whispered in her ear, "I found father; he wants to see you," and ran out of the house again. In order to avoid suspicion, the woman did not stir until midnight, when all the other women were sleeping, and then went out to see her husband. She said, "Have your people come with you?" He said, "Yes; they are waiting for me in the canoe."
She said, "Call them; I will give them to eat." At first they were afraid lest her father might kill them. But she reassured them, and called them in. Finally they concealed their bows and arrows and knives under their blankets and entered the house. After they had eaten, the woman's father returned, and when he saw the strangers he grew angry, but his daughter took him out of the house, and told him, "This is my husband. I love him. You shall not murder him. They are going to give you many fine presents." Then they became good friends. The strangers gave him many ​skins and blankets and dentalia. After a while they returned home, accompanied by the woman and her son. Her father gave her beautiful clothing and many dentalia to take with her.
3. THE SIX TRAVELLERS.
Once upon a time there lived six men who wanted to travel in their canoe all over the world. They reached the lightning-door, which opened and closed with great rapidity and force. They went ashore, and one of them tried to pass through the door. He succeeded in jumping through it without being hurt. He found himself in a house, where he saw two blind women, who had a plentiful supply of whale meat. He took some of it and threw it out of the door. The first piece he threw passed through it, but the second was caught by the closing door. Then he watched his opportunity and jumped out of the house, when the door opened. It closed so rapidly that it cut off half of his back. He did.not know what to do. But when he came to the canoe one of his companions said, "Let us put some mud on, which will heal it." They did so, and travelled on across the ocean.
In mid-ocean they saw a sea-otter swimming about. One of the men shot it, but it sank before they were able to reach it. After they had travelled for a long time they reached the opposite shore and saw a large village. When the people saw them coming, they rushed down to the shore, led by their chief, who threatened to attack the strangers. They asked, "Why do you wish to attack us? We did you no harm." He replied, "Yes, you did: you shot my dog." The men replied, "We shot no dog; where did you lose it?" The chief answered, "I sent it across the sea to hunt elk, and you shot it in mid-ocean." The men replied, "We shot no dog, only a sea-otter, which sank before we could reach it."
Then the chief said, "That was my dog." The men stated that they had not known it to be the chief's dog, and offered two slaves to make good the loss. Then they were received kindly by the chief, who showed them a cave in which they were to dwell. There was an opening to it on each side.
Early in the morning the chief sent his people into the house to kill the strangers before they awoke. The breath of his people was so hot that the house became very warm and almost stifled the men, who did not know how to escape. Finally one of the men called the bear to help them, but he was unable to assist them. Then he called the beaver, but to no better effect. He called the deer, which was also unable to help them. At last they called the raccoon, who began to sing, and suddenly a stream of water sprung forth from the wall of the cave, and all the people who had come into the house to ​kill the strangers were drowned. Then the chief thought of another way of getting rid of the men. He invited them to a game of hoops. He placed all his people in a row, he himself standing at the head. The strangers stood opposite, headed by the raccoon. Then the chief rolled the hoop, hoping that it would kill the strangers. It was made of lightning. The raccoon succeeded in stopping it with his pole.
Then the raccoon rolled back the lightning hoop, and it killed all the chief's people and the chief himself; only a little girl and a boy who had been left at home escaped. They grew up, and from them sprang all the water animals.
The six men launched their canoe, and continued their travels. After a while they saw a house. They landed, and went to see who lived in it. They found no one there, and were about to continue their travels, when one of the men remembered having seen a large supply of fish in the house. They returned and sat down near the fire. All of a sudden a basket filled with fish fell down from the loft. The chief said, "Put it back; maybe the people will return very soon, and they certainly would pursue us if they should find that we had stolen their fish." Then they put them back. After a while another basketful of fish fell down close to their feet. The chief said, "Let us eat of the fish, for we are hungry." After they had eaten, the men intended to carry baskets of fish down to their canoe. The chief took one basket and said, "I will take these fish; they are very good." At once he felt his hair pulled by invisible hands, and he was thrown down and his basket taken from him. He thought his people had done so, but on looking back he saw them still seated near the fire. Then he thought he had stumbled and fallen, the basket being very heavy. He took it up again, but as soon as he had turned towards the door he was thrown down once more and thoroughly beaten. His people had now finished eating. Each of them took a basket and turned towards the door. There they were thrown down at once and beaten by invisible hands. The baskets were taken away from them. Then they knew that the house was the abode of the shadows.
Then they left and travelled on for a long time. Their supply of provisions began to give out. They came to a country where the people had no mouths. They offered them a little of the fish they had left, but saw that the people merely smelled it and then threw it away. The chief of the travellers was surprised to see the mouthless people. He touched their faces in order to investigate if they had teeth, and when he found that they had teeth under the skin he ​resolved to cut open their faces. He took a stone, sharpened his knife, and opened the face of one of them. He told him to wash the wound he had made, and then to eat fish. After he had made a mouth for this one, all the others came to him, and asked him to do them the same favor. They paid him with fish and whale meat. He enjoyed this occupation, and made sport of the people, cutting some of the mouths so that they stretched from one ear to the other; others he slashed from nose to chin. Finally they left this place and travelled on.
After they had travelled for a long time they came to a house, which they entered. They met two old women, but did not see any provisions in the house. The chief wondered what they lived on, but the old women did not take any notice of the strangers. They made a large fire and put stones into it, talking among themselves, and the men did not understand what they said. The chief of the travellers looked about the house, and all of a sudden he saw that their canoe had been transferred to the top of the roof. He did not know how it came there. He told his companions to throw grass on the fire, so that the smoke should fill the house, and to take the canoe down as quietly as possible. He alone continued to stay in the house, and pretended to talk with his companions. Soon the men succeeded in launching their canoe, then the chief ran down to the beach, jumped aboard, and they paddled away as fast as they could. When the old women found that their victims had escaped they began to cry, and said, "Our good dinner has run away." They were cannibals.
The men travelled on, and one night after dark they heard singing and dancing on the beach. They went ashore, and asked whether they might stay in the village over night. They were invited to a house in which a shaman performed his dance. The latter disliked the arrival of the strangers, and forbade them to enter his house. Then the chief of the travellers grew angry. He went down to the beach with his men; they took their bows and arrows, returned to the house, and demanded to be admitted. He threatened to kill the whole tribe if they denied them admittance to the house. The shaman did not allow them to enter, and when the chief attacked the house he made him faint before he reached the door. His men poured water over his head, but were unable to restore him to life. Then the shaman said: "If you will give me two slaves, I will cure him." They promised to give him the slaves, and he cured the chief. They gave him the slaves, but then they killed him, entered the house, took away a large part of his property, and took three men and two women as slaves.
They travelled on, but the people whose shaman they had killed ​pursued them in ten canoes. Before they were able to overtake the travellers the latter reached a village where a powerful shaman lived, whom the chief of the travellers hired. He told them that the other shaman whom they had killed had returned to life and was pursuing them. Early the following morning the pursuers reached the village. The shaman whom the travellers had hired asked them to stay in the house while he stayed at the door waiting for their enemy. He kept his supernatural powers in a bag of sea-otter skin, which he opened as soon as the enemies came. When they saw the contents of the bag they fell down dead.
Then the men wished to return home; they turned their canoe, and began their homeward journey. After a while they arrived at a huge rock, on which they found a large amount of driftwood. They made a fire on the beach and fell asleep. When they were fast asleep the rock began to shake, and they discovered that they were camping on the house of the Killer Whale. After a short time the monster came forth from under the rock and began to devour the travellers. The chief jumped into a fissure of the rock, where the monster was unable to reach him, and stayed there until it had returned to its house. When it entered its abode, the rock was shaking violently. In the daytime a great many sea-lions came to the rock to bask on the beach and on the driftwood. As the chief was very skilful in hunting sea-lions, having learned that craft from his father, he killed two sea-lions and one seal with his arrows. He put them into his canoe, made a sail out of his blankets, and started home. He had hardly gone when the monster came out of its house. It saw the remains of its subjects, and intended to kill the man who had murdered them. It chased him, but he began to sing and to conjure the wind. When the monster had almost reached him, the wind began to blow stronger and stronger, and drove the canoe forward, so that the chief was able to escape the Killer Whale. When he reached land near his village, and was crossing the bar, his people saw him coming. He was obliged to lower his sail, as the wind was blowing a gale. His people perceived that he had some difficulty in crossing the bar, and one of their largest canoes went out to assist him. When they approached him the Killer Whale had almost reached the chief's canoe; therefore, in order to escape the monster, he hoisted his sail and succeeded in entering the river. The large canoe, which was managed by twenty people, was unable to escape, and they were devoured by the monster. The canoe was upset. The women were standing on the beach, and saw the canoe being upset and the monster returning to its home. The chief was very sad at having lost so many of his people and thought of revenge. [{nop}} ​He went to Salmon River and hired a powerful shaman, whom he asked to break the rock under which the Killer Whale lived. All the people who lived on his river accompanied him when he went out to the rock.
They had four canoes lashed together and covered with a platform of planks, on which the shaman was dancing. When they approached the rock, the shaman ordered the people to hide their faces and to turn backward. They turned the canoes, and the shaman began his incantations, singing, "Throw up! throw up! throw up!" The rock began to shake, and finally jumped’ out of the water, and falling, killed the monster. The latter, however, had two young ones, which stayed at the bottom of the sea and were not hurt by the falling masses. After the rock had settled down, they returned to it and continued to live there.
A year had elapsed; the people did not know that the young ones were still alive. One day they went out hunting seals and sea-lions. When they came to the rock, the two Killer Whales came out and devoured all the people; only the chief’s son escaped by hiding under the bailer of one of the canoes. Peeping out from it, he saw one of the monsters swallow his father. He cried for fear, and pushed his canoe out into the sea, hoping to make his escape. He had no paddles, and drifted about helplessly. After a while some people who had remained in the village saw the canoe drifting by, and went out to secure it. They found the chief's son, who was so badly frightened that he was hardly able to speak. When he had recovered he told them what had happened.
4. XÎ′LGŌ.
There was an old woman named Xî′lgō, and an old man who lived far up Nestucka River, The old man lived a little farther up than the woman. He had no wife, and she had no husband. The old woman said, "I will go and try to find some children." She went down to the shore and sat down near a small lake, where she knew children used to go bathing. While she sat there waiting, two brothers and their sister came to the shore and began to play. After a while they took a bath, returned to the shore, and fell asleep. Then Xî′lgō, who carried a basket on her back, took one of the boys first, the girl next, and finally the other boy, threw them into her basket, and carried them away. After a while the boy who lay in the bottom of the basket, and whose name was Taxuxcā, awoke, and, on finding where he was, scratched a hole in the bottom of the basket, through which he escaped. He ran away, and for fear jumped into the sea, where he has lived ever since that time.
Xî′lgō did not notice his escape. When she reached home, she ​took the children out of the basket. They awoke, and did not know where they were. She led them into her house, and gave them a place to sleep. On the following morning she said, "If you wish anything to eat, you must go to an old man who lives farther up the river, and who has a salmon-trap which is full every morning; there are both small and large fish in it." The children went, and saw the old man roasting salmon which he had fastened in a split stick and placed near the fire. He asked them what they wanted, "Do you want to eat salmon?" and they replied, "Yes, we are hungry, and we came here to eat. Xî′lgō sent us here."
When they had eaten, they said to the old man, "Tell us something," and he told them a tale and gave them many instructions. Then they returned. They found the old woman near the fire, where she was heating stones. She asked the children, "Did the old man tell you a story?" and they replied, "Yes; he told us many a tale, and gave us many instructions." Then she took the stones off the fire, placed skunk-cabbage leaves on top of the stones, and covered them with grass. When the skunk-cabbage was done, she ate it. Then she said, "You must go to the old man to-morrow morning and take him some skunk-cabbage; he will give you salmon in return." The children obeyed, and took some skunk-cabbage to him; he gave them salmon in return, and told them stories. When the children returned, Xî′lgō asked them, "Did he tell you stories?" When she heard that the old man had done so, she became angry, took her knife, and said, "I will kill him." She went and lay down with the old man. After a while she returned and said, "I have killed him." Then the children thought, "Where shall we get anything to eat if the old man is dead?"
Xî′lgō sang all the afternoon until late in the evening. On the following day she rose early and went out to get some skunk-cabbage. She returned before the children awoke and cooked it. She told them to take some of it to the old man. They thought, "Didn't she kill him yesterday? She told us that he was dead." Xî′lgō knew their thoughts at once, and said, "Where would you find anything to eat if I had killed him?"
Then the children went and found him roasting salmon as usual. He gave them some to eat, and when they were done he told them a story. On their return, Xî′lgō asked at once, "Did he tell you stories?" "Yes," they replied, "he told us a story." Then the old woman grew very angry. She took a long knife and said she would kill the old man. First they heard them talking for a long time. Then it became quiet. Again Xî′lgō lay down with the old man. Before going back she pulled her hair over her face, then she went back singing, "I have killed him; I have killed the old man. He spoke evil of me."
​Early the next morning she rose and went out to get some skunk-cabbage. She returned before the children were awake, and cooked it. She told the children to take some of it to the old man. They thought, "Did n’t she kill him yesterday? She told us she had done so." Xî′lgō knew their thoughts at once, and said, "Where would you find anything to eat if I had killed him?" Then the children went and found the old man roasting salmon as usual. He gave them something to eat. Then the children said, "We have enough," and asked him to tell them something. The old man said, ‘"What shall I tell you? She is fooling you; she is fooling you." Then the children thought, "How is she fooling us?" They returned, and Xi′lgō asked them, "What did he tell you? did he tell you stories?" "Yes," they replied, "he told us stories." Xî′lgō began to cry. "And what did he tell you? He has always abused my father." Then she took a knife and went out, saying that she was going to kill the old man. When she left, the children were playing with shells. They arranged them in couples as husbands and wives. They saw her leaving, and they thought, "Did she say she was going to kill the old man? We will go and see what she is doing, and how she is fooling us." They took the shells along, except one couple, and followed her to the house of the old man. They heard the old couple whispering together. They went to a chink in the wall, through which they peeped, and they saw them lying down and talking. Xî′lgō cried at once, "How that tickles! I feel some one is looking at me." She wanted to jump up, but the old man said, "Oh, don’t be in a hurry."
The children ran away at once. When Xî′lgō came back to her home, she did not find them. She saw only one pair of shells, which they had left. Then she said, "When you have grown up, you shall live as husband and wife."
The children went on and came to Clatsop, where they built a house. When the house was completed, the boy said to the girl, "Stay in that corner of the house, and I will stay in the one diagonally opposite." At night, when he was asleep, he heard the girl saying, "It is dripping here." Then the boy said, "Put your bed in the other far corner." The girl did so, and after a short time she said, "It is dripping here." Then the boy said, "Move your bed a little more this way, to the middle of the long side of the house." After a short time she said again, "It is dripping here," and he told her, "Come here to this side." After a short time the girl said again, "It is dripping here," and then he called her, and they lay down together. In due time she gave birth to a boy, The father and his son used to sleep on the roof of the house.
After a while Xîl′gō began to pursue the children, the old man ​following her. One day, when the young mother had gone picking berries, Xî′lgō reached Columbia River, at a place opposite to where the house stood. She saw the man and the boy sleeping on the roof. She called them to take her across. The man did not hear her, and finally she became angry and said, "I wish you were dead." Then she returned homeward.
The man died, blood pouring from his mouth. At the time of sunset the boy awoke and began to cry. By this time his mother returned, and heard her child crying. She called her husband. "Don't you hear our child crying? Come take him down." As he did not stir, she went up to the roof and saw the blood. She turned the body over and found that her brother was dead. Then she took her son on her back, crying, "What shall I do?" She thought, "I will set fire to the house and burn myself." She gave her boy to a woman who lived close by, set fire to the house at one corner, and jumped into the flames.
After the fire had burned down, the woman who had taken care of the boy went and took a bone of the wrist of the woman and one rib of the man. She made a ball of the former and a bat of the latter for the boy to play with. She kept them at home until he was able to walk.
One day, when he was playing with his ball, he happened to hit a girl who was standing by. She cried and said, "You have made me sick with your mother’s and father’s bones." Then the boy thought, "Are these my father’s and mother’s bones?" Crying, he went into the house of the woman who took care of him, and said, "A girl abused me, saying that those were my mother’s and father’s bones." Then the woman became very angry, and whipped the girl until she began to cry. She cried so long that her nose became thin and pointed. The boy grew up, always thinking of his father and mother. He asked the old woman, "Who has killed my father and mother?"’ She said, "They who killed them live very far off, but if you want to go there I will help you." He wished to go, and the woman said, "A girl must go with you."
They selected a girl, and gave her a fine sea-otter skin to wear. The woman said, "Try to walk underground." She did so, assuming the shape of a mole. Then she told the boy, "Try to fly." He put a feather under his arm and flew away in the shape of an eagle. Then the two went to find Xî′lgō.
When they were gone he told the girl, "When we reach a town I will fly in front of the houses, and the people will come forth, then you must go underground and steal all the dentalia you can get hold of." When they came to a village he assumed the shape of an eagle. The people were all assembled in one house. One ​man who happened to go out saw the eagle, and called the people, saying, "See what is coming there!" They rushed out, and among them was an old woman, who was no other than Xî′lgō. Meanwhile, the girl had assumed the shape of a mole, who had gained access to the houses by passing underground. She stole all the dentalia she could lay her hands on. When Xî′lgō came out of the house, the eagle rushed down and took her up. Her hat fell down when he lifted her up, but he took her out to the ocean, where he tore her to pieces.
Then he joined the girl again, and they travelled on. Soon they came to another town. Again the people rushed out of the house in order to see the eagle, and last of all there came an old woman, who was no other than Xî′lgō. The young man was surprised to see her still alive. He took her, carried her far out into the ocean, and tore her to pieces. When he took her up, her hat fell down.
He returned and met the girl, and they travelled on and met the Blue Jay, who asked them, ‘"What are you going to do with the old woman?" The young man replied, "I want to kill her. Do you know how I can accomplish it?" The Blue Jay did not reply, and they left him. After a while they came to a town, and again the people came out to see the eagle, and last among them an old woman, who was no-other than Xî′lgō. Once more he took her up and tore her to pieces far out in the ocean, and her hat fell to the ground as he lifted her up. He returned and met the girl, and when they were travelling on they again met the Blue Jay, who asked them what they were going to do with the old woman. The young man replied, "I want to kill her.” Then the Blue Jay said, "You must not take her body, but take her hat. You will find a small, long thing in the top of her hat. That is her heart. You must tear that and throw it into the sea, then she will be dead." He followed this advice, and thus succeeded in killing the old woman.
In every town where they had been the girl had obtained dentalia, which they divided among themselves and returned home.
Frans Boas.
* ↑ In Indian names, vowels have their continental values. x==ch in German Bach; X, palatal x; L broad, dorsal l, similar to tl.
* ↑ The game of hoops is played between two parties, each man holding a spear, with which he tries to stop the hoop rolled by the opposite party.