IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.8 If IIIIM iiiii^ 2.2 III— "" IIIIM ill 1.8 14 II 1.6 y] <^ /2 t Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ,\ iV ^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Hue filmAs A des taux de rAduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, ii est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaira. Les diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE STORY TELLER. From a Carving by W. S. Phillips. TOTEM TALES Indian Stories Indian Told GATHERED IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BT W. s. Phillips FULLY ILLUSTRATED BY THF. AUTHOR. CHICAGO: STAR PUBLISHING CO. 1896 H* COPYRIQHTBD 1896, BY W. S. PHILLIPS. All Rights Reserved. DEDICATION. There are two wee tots of few summers not far from wliore I write who have listened to the taU»s of the Talking Pine with silent interest and wonderment. Their eyes grow big, and bigger as they listen to the wonderful doings of the strange characters of which I write, and when the story is finished they climb up in my lap and two tiny heads covered with curls, tlmt shine like the flecks of gold among the mountain river sands, nestle close to me and baby arms circle round my neck. They snuggle close to me, awed, half believ- ing that it is all real, but so interested in the fair^' folk that they want "just one more story," and I must not deny it. May their baby sweetness never grow less, and may their "Tah-mah-na-wis" be always ready to protect them on their journey through the life allotted to mor- tals, which is, after all, only a grown-up arrangement of the Talking Pine tales, that they now love to hear and half believe. lii 201935 mimmm Iv DEDICATION. To these two, then— to little Laura, the one with the curls of gold, and to her baby brother, little Elden— this volume is lovingly dedicated, with the best wishes ^' THE AUTHOR. PREFACE, I , The stories contained in this little volume under the title of "Totem Tales" are the result of careful study and research among various tribes of Indians of the Northwestern Pacific Coast. The Indian peculiarity of narration is kept as nearly as possible, consistent with an understandable transla- tion from the native tongue into English. The Indian names are all spelled phonetically, nec- essarily, so they should be pronounced as they are writ- ten — by the wounds represented. The stories constitute the embodiment of the Indian mytho-religious beliefs, and, as they are gathered from several tribes, they will sometimes clash as to the doings or looks of some of the characters, and in some cases the same character is mentioned by a different name, arising from the dif- ferent tribal languages. The general idea of the white people seems to be that Indians believe in one supreme being, or "Great Spirit," which corresponds to the God of our Bible. This is not the case at all, for their religion is a v vl PREFACE. mixture of Tah-mah-na-\vis, or magic; Skal-lal-a-toots, or fairies, and Too-muck, or devils, the evil spirits, coupled with a vast legendary lore of a purely mythical nature — fairy stories, in fact — of which "Totem Tales" constitute a part. They are a very superstitious people and have signs, charms, and incantations for everything. Magic plays an important part in every Indian's everyday life and is interwoven with his doings and those of his ances- tors and of the magic personages described in the legends, as, for example, "Spe-ow." Some of the stories contained in this volume were told to the author by the side of the campfire in the great forest of the far Northwest, others were obtained from "squaw men" who had married into the tribe and were familiar with the tales, others were gathered from men of long residence in the Northwest, who had hoard them from the old Indian story-tellers, characters who are fast vanishing with civilization. Cold type utterly fails to reveal the interest and fas- cination of these weird and simple tales as heard from the lips of some old and wrinkled member of the tribe, a trained story-teller, while crouched by the side of a blaze in the open air. His eyes shine with interest in his own story, and he - -—- ; ; itiyr itif ■»m>»«i mmmimm> PREFACE. VU a»> acts as much of it as he can, posturing, gesticulating, talking with his hands as much as with his mouth, and the musical gutturals of the Indian tongue adding greatly to the story value of the tale. The giant pines rise up and up from the circle of the light until they are lost in the blackness that is only intensified by the blaze. The shadows flit about as the fire flickers, and it is not long until every Indian in the circle of listeners imagines he can see demons and fairies in the nooks of every bush and peeping from behind the giant trees, and they are in precisely the same state of mind that children are who listen to, a.:\ 1 believe, the frightful ghost stories told them by sonio old woman. It is another phase of voo-dooism, a dealing in magic and magic personages, and every legend has been called into being by the thirst of the human mind to know the origin of things which it does not compre- hend. The legends account for the presence of mountains and other natural objects, the beginning, or creation, of animals, birds, etc., and the reason for the world being as it is to-day. At this late date it is difficult to separate the Bible stories told by missionaries, years ago, to the Indians, viil PREFACE. and which have since drifted into legendary lore twisted to fit the Indian view, and worn almost unrec- ognizable by many repetitions, from that part which is purely legendary and of Indian origin. This the author has endeavored to do, using time and patience, listening to the same story from different sources, until the Totem Tales embody the pure Indian stories which are told around the winter night story- fire in the lodges of the Northwest. With these words of explanation I launch these "Talking Pine" tales on the troubled sea of public opin- ion, with the hope that they will as greatly interest the young readers into whose hands they may chance to fall as they interested a group of little folks in one of our Western cities the first time I told them of "Spe-ow" and had to go away leaving them dancing on the lawn and calling, "More! more! tell us more." W. 8. P. ■ W Wi ajMi i ij l^tiHW^JI CREDIT MENTION. For efficient aid in procnring the material for "Totem Tales" I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Costello, of Seattle, Wash., a fellow "crank on Indians" who tramped the great woods in company with me and jotted down the notes while my pencil was busy with sketches. Together we drew the stories, or many of them," from the people we met on this trip. Mr. Ed. Grant, a personal friend and former resi- dent of the Northwest, has also given me many inside points on the mysterious Kloo-Kwallie dance which have filled out my own knowledge of this ceremony. His graphic recitals of the everyday habits of the Quin- ault tribe have also helped to a truer insight of the wild men, and he got his knowledge from five years' resi- dence with them. I'hree of the stories, namely, "The Wind Dance," "The Kain Song," and "Kloo-Kwallie, the Medicine Dance," were first printed as they appear here in the * CREDIT MENTION. "Forest and Stream" of New York, and seemed to have had at least some interested readers; in fact, their comments started me on th3 idea of grouping these legends in book form. ^ t' h THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. The Talking Pine 19 Song of the Waters 24 Dance of the Wind 35 Ka-lie-hete, the Chief of the Demons 41 Birth of Sliamson • ^1 The Deeds of Yelth ^^ Wee-nat-chee, the Rainbow ^^ Cawk, the Beaver's Daughter 78 Quaw-te-aht, the Changer 91 Thp Great Waters 99 The Crow Children 108 Kit-ai-na-o, the Stone Mother 114 The Rain Song 124 Of Wah-wah-hoo, the Frog 130 Kloo-Kwallie, the Medicine Dance 146 About the River Falls 157 Tale of the Demons 166 Magic of the Evil Eye 175 Concerning a Hunter and a Bear '. 189 Doak-a-Batl, the Maker 194 Birth of the Sun 204 Spe-ow and the Spider 212 Ta-ko-mah, the Mountain 223 The Bear Mother 241 Yelth and the Butterfly 242 Klale Tah-mah-na-wls 257 Reading of the Totem Pole 269 Carving of the Medicine Rattle 280 Skamson, the Thunderer 285 The Sing-Gamble 294 The Tab-mab-na-wlB of S'doaks 302 Xi lii'iTmrnirr-iiihim ILLUSTRATIONS. The Story Teller Frontispiece. A bioping Beach for the Canoos to Come Against 20 Where the Children May Waie 21 The Talking Pine 22 T'solo on the Lake 22 T'solo and the Talking Pine 25 Wee-wye-kee 26 Al-ki-cheek Shells 26 Mowitch, the Deer 26 Tzum-pish, the Trout 26 The Rocks Try to Hold Me 27 The Mountain Sheep 29 The Ferns and the Pool 30 To Them I Have Given Many Drinks 31 Skall-lal-a-toots 37 Moccasin 38 The Night Bird 42 The Path That S'noqualm, the Moon, Made 43 Ka-ke-hete 45 Balck 45 Ka-ke-hete on the River 46 The Wind Fought Ka-ke-hete a Great Battle 47 Carving of Ka-ke-hete 49 Skal-lal-aye Musk 49 Too-lux 52 Quoots-hoi 52 Too-lux Caught a Little Whale 53 The Whale— Haida Drawing 55 The Little Whale— Haida Drawing 56 xiU xiv ILLUSTRATIONS. But Too-lux Cut the Wbale Across the Back 67 Yelth Made Love to the Eagle's Daughter til Yelth 63 Ravens 63 Yelth Flew Out of the Smoke Hole 64 Yelth Flew wi'th the Fire 65 Looked Down at the Great Mountains 69 Chee-chee-watah * 70 Chee-watum YO Gave Chethl a Magic Bear Skin 71 White Water Flower 73 Left Her Body Lying on the Floor 74 Made Magic Medicine 75 The Keeper of the Dead 76 Cawk Goes with the Chief of the Sea Gulls 79 T'sing, the Beaver 81 A Lodge of Pish Skins 82 Killed Him and Cut Oft His Head 83 Tipsu-Koshoo. the Seal ; 84 He Cut Her Fingers Oft 85 Called to Her Totem, Hootza 88 Hootza, the Wolf 89 Quaw-te-aht 92 A Little Boy Crying 93 Ohee-chee-'watah 95 Threw His Knife at the Man 97 Made Magic to Call the Sah-ha-le Tah-m"^ na-wis 101 A Salmon Spear 10? . Made Cedar Bark Ropes 104 G'Klobet Loaded His Biggest Canoe 105 The Other Canoes Drifted Away 106 They Answered with the Voices of Crows 109 Left Them by the Canoe Ill And So Jt Was He Carved the Totem Pole 112 The Crow 113 She Laughed at the Child of Skoolt-ka 115 Skoolt-ka Had Only One Child 117 The Tribe of Hootza Met in Council ,. 11$ ILLUSTRATIONS. XV The Tribe of Hoot-za Ran to Her Lodge 119 The Stone Woman 122 Sat and Smoked My Pipe 125 Flowers and Grasses j *126 The Pines Danced the Wind Dance 127 The Great Chief 131 Smolied the Peace Pipe 132 Wah-wah-hoo 133 Carried Her into the Forest 135 The Eagle Circled High 137 T'set-shin, the Snake 138 The Squirrel Watched 139 The Tribe of the Mosquitoes 139 The Wolves Smelled the Ground 140 Plunged Off into the Whirlpool 141 The Chief of the Fishes Took Him 142 White Men Call Her the Will-o-the-Wisn 143 Spud-tee-dock 147 They Looked Like Black Shadows 149 Held S'doaks with His Back Close to the Fire 151 With These He Scourged Himself 152 The Medicine Lodge , 153 S'doaks Fell Down 155 Medicine Pipe 155 A Sheet of Hurrying, Singing Water xuS The River Falls , 159 The Demon Fought a Great Fight 161 No Swimmer Could Live Here 163 The Story Pipe 167 A Big Demon Who Was the Worst One 168 The Big Demon Made a Good Talk 169 The Ground Cracked Open 171 The Great River 172 His Tail Was Broken 173 The Evil Eye 177 A Medicine Man 179 A Too-muck 179 Charm Mask 180 zvi ILLUSTRATIONS. Medicine Bag 180 A Baby of a Smiling Face 181 Found Her with Touats at the Spring 185 The Grouse 187 Touats 187 Indian Drawing on Robe 188 Touats and Hoots Fought a Great Fight 189 Hoots, the Bear 191 Doak-a-batl 195 T'shumin, the Canoe Chopper 196 He Wove a Willow Weir 197 A Medicine Man Dancing 199 Enapoo, the Muskrat ,. . 200 Left Three Big Traclis '. . 201 Found His Brother Occupying His Place 205 The Moon Boy 208 The Sun Brother 209 Spe-ow 214 The Moon Chief Found Him in the Trap 215 Ki-ki, the Blue Jay 217 Spe-ow Threw Up the Sun 218 S'noqualm Fell to the Ground 219 S'noqualm 220 The Tyee Spider 221 Spe-ow Kicked the Bluff Over 222 The Mountain, Takomah 225 Hia-qua 227 He Went Away at the Coming of Night 229 The Black Lake and the Tah-mah-na-wis Rocks 230 The Elkhorn Pick 231 He Started to Climb Out 232 The Wind Threw Him Over the Rocks 233 Smoked and Had Many Thoughts 237 An Old Woman by the Lodge Door 239 The Spotted Water Bird 242 Indian Carving of the Bear Mother 243 The Women Made Fun of Hoots 245 Hoots Carried Away the Chief's Daughter 247 Hf ILLUSTRATIONS. zvii 180 181 185 187 187 188 189 191 195 196 197 199 200 201 205 208 209 , 214 215 217 218 219 220 , 221 . 222 , 226 . 227 . 229 230 . 231 . 232 . 233 . 237 . 239 . 242 . 243 . 245 . 247 Killed Hoots, the Bear 249 Hoots Knows Where Good Eating Is 253 They Searched for Homes for the Tribes of Men 256 Tah-mah-na-wis Wolf Masks 258 The Klale Tah-mah-na-wis Dance 259 Tah-mah-na-wis Masks 262 A Skall-lal-a-toot 263 Tah-mah-na-wis Masks 265 The Dancers Sat Down 206 The Thunder Bird Mask 261 The Great Totem Pole 271 The Lodge of the Dead Man 274 I Brought the Great Pole from the Canoe 275 this Is the Tale 278 The Medicine Rattle 281 Medicine Rattle 283 Indian Drawing of Skamson 286 The Flight of Skamson 287 Indian Drawings of Skamson 289, 290, 291 War Club 291 Where the White Men Live by the Lake 292 Indian Drawings of Skamson 293 Gamble Sticks 296 Made a Motion to That Side 297 The Fire Had Burned Low 299 S'doaks 303 S'doaks, Listen! 305 Knife 307 I Am Tah-mah-na-wis 308 Ki-ki Told Him to Rest by the River 309 Mink Dragging a Blue Jay 312 RnBOMESsmlL, f) AJi away in the unmapped West, close to the edge of the last chain of hills that mark the rim of the land, is the Lake of the Mountains. The Lake of the Mountains is very deep and very blue, and it is pure and sweet, for it is cradled in the mountain valley, and the great peaks are painted in it, upside down, by the Skal-lal-a-toots, as they always paint things in the water. To know the Lake of the Mountains is to love it for its beauty and its songs. The opal armoured trout and the bronzy bass are there and the burnished gleam of the lusty salmon is not strange to its waters. All these things the Indians have known for many moons. They know that the blue woods wL ch hover about shelter all kinds of wild things, so they have camped for many, many summers on the shore of the 19 20 TOTEM TALES. Lake of the Mountains, and always at the same place, which is on a point that puts out into the lake and makes a sheltered cove with a sandy beach, where the canoes can come against the shore, and where the children may wade in the water. Just back of the landing, on the top of the small A SLOPING BEACH FOR THE3 CANOES TO COME AGAINST. riin dancing tliey will sing and dance the wind dance just as long as they can get the wind to help them with the music. They love to swing and to sway with the wind that conies from the sea to help them sing, and you know the pines cannot sing alone and they always sleep when 1 lie wind goes away. I came to the foot of the Talking Pine so he could talk as he danced, and he told me why the pines dance the wind dance, and sing always when the wind is in the Southwest. This the Talking Pine said ab( ut the wind dance: "Many, many years ago, before I was born, or my father, or my father's father was born, when the wind was still a little boy, there were many strange and hori'ible creatures in the world, and they were always at war. "Far away to the Southwest lived an old Skall-lal- a-toot that the wind loved to play tricks on. "This Skall-lal-a-toot had a daughter about the same age as the wind, and the wind loved the little one for her winning ways and pretty face, for, you know, they are all this way. DANCE OF THE WIND. 87 "The old Skall-lal-a-toot loved his daughter very much, too, and hated the wind because he was always traveling and playing tricks, and had a bad temper. "When the wind got old enough to marry he went to this girl and wanted her to go away with him to his lodge. "She was willing, but the old Skall-lal-a-toot was very angry and hid his daughter. SKALL-LAL-A-TOOTS. "Now, you know the wind can make himself very small and invisible, so he came in the night and took the Skall-lal-a-toot's daughter in his arms and started away across the big water to take her to his lodge. "Soon the old Skail-lal-a-toot missed his daughter and went to find the wind and get his daughter back, and at the same time to punish the wind for the trick he had played on him. "After r long journey he overtook the wind, and while the wind slept he took his daughter and then 38 TOTEM TALES. struck the wiutl so hard ou the head that he was like a dead man for a long time. "Then the old Skall-lal-a-toot took his daughter and started for home again. "When the wind woke up he was pelton in his head — crazy, the white men call it — and could not remember anything, and had lost the power to change himself back to his visible shape again, so now you can only hear him sing, but can never see him. "After a lotig time the wind remembered that the Skall-lal-a-toofs daughter was with him, and he thought she had been stolen, so he went to look for her. "The wind was very strong in his body, because he was wrong in his head, and he very fast and goi very angry when he thought of the old Skall-lal-a-toot, and at last he over- took the old man with his daughter and fought him a great battle away out over the big water. "Soon the old Skall-lal-a-toot was forced to drop his daughter and take care of himself, and when the father let go «f her the girl fell d»wn into the water and was drowned. "Then the Tah-mah-na-wis took 1 Moccasin. traveled up *ky, so the wind could see her always. ■HHF DANCE OF THE WIND. 89 was like ghter and on in his could not to change 3 now you hira. ^membered r was with a stolen, so Q his body, »ad, and he y when he ast he over- fought him r. I to drop his 1 when the ;o the water ) in the sky, "The white men call her the Moon, but they do not know why her face is white like the face of a drowned person, or why you can always see the ghost of the moon in the water when you look, on a moonlight night. "That is because she was drowned in the big water, and now she must always stay there until the wind finds her, and the wind is crazy and does not know her face, but travels ahvays and looks for his wife and sings to call her from the woods. "The wund thinks the pines know where his wife is, and he is always sinking to them to tell him; then he gets crazy again and thinks she is with him, and he goes away laughing and singing. "The wind loves to dance and to sing, and the pines always help the poor fellow, and he tells them many things that he sees in his travels. "lie is not always crazy, and then he moans ana cries for his wife, and looks everywhere, but soon he gets crazy again and sings and shrieks, and rushes along hioking for the old Skall-lal-a-to)t. "The Tah-mah-na-wis changed the wicked old Skall- lal-a-toot irto the sun and put him in the sky, and now he is always running away from his daughter and she is always following him." Ih u 40 TOTEM TALES. This the Talking Pine told me as he danced the wind dance and sung the wind song. "I would sleep now, T'i olo, the wanderer," said the Pine when the wind Wc-.i*" . , y. "When there is more to tell you I will let you know by a message and you will come then, T solo, the wanderer, and we will see more." . t) ■ i'. lill §WI\ need the said the •e is more and you e will see HE canoe made a long line of shining water across the Lake of +iie Mountains, and Esick, the pad- dle, whispered to the Skall-lal-a- toots that live in the water, as I rent along toward the path that Snoqualm, the moon, jputs on the still water. You can never come up to this path because Sno- [aalm moves it away just as fast as the canoe travels, ind he stops it when you stop, but he does not bring it nearer. When the canoe came against the sand that is in front^ *^f where the Wise One stands it made no noise md I thought the great Pine was sleeping, he was so still, but he spoke and his voice was small like the roice of a man talking a long ways across the wate^* )r a man talking in the night when Polikely Kula- fvula, the owl, is flying, and he said, "T'solo, the wan- 41 i 42 TOTEM TALES. derer, you are late to-niglit, and for that we can only have a short talk. Tliere is a tale of Ka-ke-hete, chief of all the demons, that fits the night well, and we will have this, the tale of Ka-ke-hete." "That is well, Wise One, for I would know of Ka- THE NIGHT BIRD. ke-hete, the chief of demons, so when I hear his whistle I may know what to do. Talk, and say the tale, Wisest of Pines." Then the Pine began, and his voice was small and full of sleep. can only ete, chief i we will ►w of Ka- I hear his nd say the i small and a a a KA-KE-HETE, THE CHIEF OF DEMONS. 45 "A long time ago Ka-ke-liete, Chief of the Too- muck, was making a journey. For many days he trav- eled in his canoe, and he journeyed with the water toward the council of waters, and this was on a river that is named Samumpsh. " '•When he had traveled for as many days as the fingers of one hand and two more the wind saw him. "By this time he was on the great water and there was no laud close, so the wind, who is al- ways at war with Ka-ke-hete, sung a war song and ran over the water. "Ka-ke-hete saw the wind coming and tried hard to reach the shore of an island, but Esick, the paddle, was slow, and the travel of the canoe was like the travel of a tired child, and so the wind caught Ka-ke-hete and fought him there in his cauoe. "Soon Ka-ke-hete fell out of the canoe and had to swim, and the wind thought he was dead of the water and went away singing. Ka-ke-hete. "Ka-ke-hete did not die, but swam to the Esick. island and hid there in the woods for a long time. 46 TOTEM TALES. "Wlieu lie saw any cbildreii playing in the sand down by the water, then Ka-ke-hete ran down and car- ried them into the woods and ate them up. "Now, this made the people very angry and very sad, and they came together in a great council and c ««r 'i« .../-«—- "^ nil 111 A ^ J'Jujrtm KA-KE-HETE ON THE RIVER. said, 'This thing in the woods must be killed, so it cannot eat our children,' so they went into the woods to hunt and kill Ka-ke-hete, but they found only an otter, for Ka-ke-hete had seen them coming and by his magic had changed his form to that of an otter. KA-KB-HBTE, THE CHIEF OF DEMONS. 49 and so they did uot kill biiu, for the people kuew tliat au otter was not big enough to eat children. "When the people all went back to their lodges Ka- ke-hete changed himself back to his own form, and at nigh-t went down to the beach and stole a canoe. "With this canoe he paddled away from the island and went on his jour- ney, and so he got away. "Now 3'ou may hear his voice at night in the woods, and it is not the voice of Hoots, the brown bear, nor the voice of Itswoot, the black bear, nor the voice of Puss-puss, the cougar, nor the voice of ''"""hel''*"''" Hootza, the r/'df, but it sounds like all of these \ uices, and it sounds like the war song of the wind, but it is not any of these. "It is like the voices of the dead people who are at Stickeen, the land of Shadows, and it makes you fold on your back, and your hair lay away from your head. "It is the voice of Ka-ke-hete, the chief of the demons, who calls his tribe and sings for the little Mm% Skal-lal-aye Mask. f'i {;o TOTEM TALES. i I' ' I i I! Sk{ilMal-j«-t(M>tH who livt* ovorywhere and who make iiMich mischief. "When you hear this sound at uij^ht, tlu'U drop your lodj^e curtain and see that the y;reat Skall-lal-aye mask hauf^s on the lodj^e pole over your head, so that Ka-ke-hete will {40 by and not rais*^ the lodge curtain. "And this is the tale of Ka-k( e, the Tyee of all demons." So said the Talking Pine. "It was a g(»od tale, Wise One, and I will hang up the mask in my lodge an r > a sa o tn 03 > O 67 BIRTH OF SKAMSON. 69 A nd so I journeyed to my lodge again and left the Wise One to sleep out his sleep, for he is old, and those who are old must sleep much and are not like young folks, whose eyes are bright and whose feet are like the feet of a deer. ^ i I I a I I ^r-i ELL mo, Wise One, of the deeds of Yeltb, tbe Kfiven," I said to the Talk- ing Pine, as I came and sat by bis feet. "You would know of tbe deeds of tbe Black One, Yeltb, tbe Kaven?" be asked. "Yes, Wise One, tbe story of tbe Are; tell me of this, and bow it came about." "Listen tlien, T'solo, tbe wanderer, for it is well to know of the lire, and bow it came. "Yeltb, tbe Kaven, is a good spirit and has done manv deeds, so many that I cannot tell vou of all of tbeni. Nobody knows of all that Yeltb has done, for be has lived a long, long time, and is always doing deeds. "But of tbe fire: T know tbe tale and will tell of it and of tbe sun, tbe moon, tbe stars, and of tbe fresh 60 I YBLTH MADE LOVE TO THE EAGLE'S DAUOHTBR. THE DEEDS OF YELTH. 63 Yelth. water, which Yelth, the Kaven, got from the eagle and gave to men. "It is like this: "When times were young and people did not have all the things in the world that they do now, the great Gray Eagle was a mighty chief and was keeper of the fire, the sun, the moou, the stars, and the fresh water. "He was the enemy of men and guarded all these things well that men did not get them for their own use. "Now, Yelth was a friend to men and was always doing good deeds for them, and for this reason he Avas hated by the Eagle, who was his uncle, "The Eagle had a pretty daugh- ter, and Yelth made love to the girl, and so got into the lodge of his uncle, the Eagle, and looked around to see what the Eagle had that would be arood for the use of men. "At this time the Raven was not a black bird, as he is now, but was a fine young man, who was changed by the magic of his enemies into the shape Ravens. «4 TOTEM TALES. I of a bird, and he was very wise himself in all the ways of magic, and so the Eagle's daughter loved him. "Soon Yelth found the sun, the moon, the stars, the fire, and the fresh water, and he deserted his sweetheart and stole all these things from his unole, YELTH FLEW OUT OF THE SMOKE HOLE. and, putting on his magic bird skin, tiew out of the smoke hole in the lodge with them. "As soon as he got outside he hung the sun up in the air, and putting on his magic bird skin again, soon reached an island in the great water, where he rested until it was night. .' 4' •* rs » ^ ^ n H 65 l! t THE DEEDS OF YELTH. 67 "Now, wheu the darkuess «'{une lie eould not see how to travel, so he scattered the stars about in the sky and hung up the moon, so he eould have light, and left them there for the use of men. "When he found he could see to travel by this light he took the fresh water and the fire and started for his oAvn lodge. Soon he dro|)ned the water and it fell to the ground, and now there are lakes and rivers in the land, and men have good water to drink. "With the fire he journeyed on, and soon all the stick burned up, and the smoke made his body black, and his bill burned until he had to drop the fire, and it fell in the rocks and in the trees, and it is still there, for you may get fire by rubbing two sticks together, and you muy get it by striking two rocks together, too. "And so that is the coming of fire. When 3'ou come again, T'solo, the wanderer, I will tell yon ino?«o of the deeds of Yeltli, but not now, so Klook-vah." ! i) Ml HE sun was j)aiiitin;i, the Western sky with bi'i}»ht patches of ^ohl and rose when I lij^hted n»y pipe and }»ot into my canoe to journey across tlie Lake of tlie Mountains and hold a talk with my friend, the Talkinj; Pine. The pisht, pisht, of the eddy lovin}>- paddle made sweet sounds and sunji; soft lullahys as T journeyed across the silent lake and looked down at the jjjn'al mountains that are in the bottiun, like silent «»ray ••hosts, and in time I came to the beach of yellow sand which is just where the Wise One lives. "Kla-how-ya, T'solo, the one who wonders," said the Pine, "it is a ^otn] nijjjht, a ni}:;ht of many colors in the sky, and tomorrow the rain will come, ami then all the pines will slnj; the rain song and dance the rain dance, for the wise one, Skamson, the great Thun- 68 WBE-NAT-CHEE. THE RAINBOW. 69 derbird, has sent me word, and lie lias said that Wee- natchee, the Rainbow, will come with the rain to- morrow. "Know you, T'solo, wanderer, know you the tale of Wee-natehee?" LOOKED DOWN AT THE GREAT MOUNTAINS. "No, Wise One," I answered, "I do not know the tale of Wee-natchee, the Kainbow. Know you the tale, Ka-ki-i-sil-mah, Wisest of Pines?" t;; If 1 1 i > !n ■ ';U it it <>i\\ 70 TOTEM TALES. "Yea, I know the tale. Light your pipe again, T'solo, for it is burned out and the smell of blue Chinoos smoke is a good smell when tales are to be told. Make your pipe full of Chinoos, T'solo, and when the white man's fire stick makes the bowl % red with fire and the smoke comes well, I will tell you the tale, T'solo." "It is well, and I listen, Wise One." "Then it is this way," answered the Talking Pine, "v^iah-ah-ah Ahn-n-n-cutty, so long ago that I have no memory, T'solo, the wanderer, there was a great chief who was the head of many tribes and a wise man. Chee-chee-watah. "This man's name was Chee- ^J wat-um, the one who stjiys at '^^ home. "He was wise in the ways of men and wise in the ways of the Tah-nmh-na-wis, and of magic, and so many people came to see him for his wisdom. Now, Chee-wat-um, Chee-watum. ' mm >i!: GAVE CHETIIL A MAGIC DEAR SKIN. 71 WEE-NAT-CHEE, THE RAINBOW. 73 the wise one, had a daughter who was fair and fresh as the first white water flower of the lake that blos- soms in the frog moon, and was wise in the ways of men, for she was born with teeth, and as you know, T'solo, she had lived before, else she would have been born the same as other children — without teeth. "This girl was loved more than all else by her father and was named by him the Humming Bird, Ohee-chee- watah. "Now, among ()thers who came to White Water Flower, eouucil with fhe-wat-uui was a youug warrior, who was Chethl, the Lightning, because of his quick ways. "Wlion f'liethl saw fMiee-chee-watah ho said in his own thoughts, 'This girl shall be my wife, for she Ims a fair face and much wisd b. «> O^ I f* .^. TOTEM TALES. was falling and stood by one of the tribe of the pines to wait until the rain went away. "While he stood there he saw a man who was stand- ing still and throwing his hands about in the air over his head very fast, and try- ing to keep the rain from failing on him in this way. "When Quaw-te-aht saw this he thought this man was very foolish, and he said to him, 'Why do you do this?' " 'That is the way to keep the rain from falling on you,' said the man. " 'You are foolish, and for your foolish ways, I will change your form,' said Quaw-te-aht, the changer. 'Go and be always in the form of Chee-chee-watah, the Humming Bird, and throw your arms fast for the rest of your life.' "And so by the magic of Quaw-te-aht the man was changed into the form of the little bird that makes a Quaw-te-aht. A LITTLE BOY CRYING. QUAW-TE-AHT, THH CHANGER. 95 noise with bis wiugs, Chee-cliee-watiih, and now you will always see him when the rain has just gone, or when the tears of Hnoqualuj, the moon, fall at the com- ing of Polikely, the night, all because of his foolish Avaj^s when he was a man. "Now, since this was done, no Indian is afraid of the rain, and does not care if it falls on him, because he remembers the Humming Bird, Chee-chee-watah. "After the rain went away, Quaw-te-aht went on through the woodj and came to a little boy who was sent by his mother to pick a basket of Shot-o-lil- ies, the Huckleberry, and this little boy was crying, *Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!' because he was not a brave boy and was thinking of the Brown Bear, Hoots, who lived in the woods. "So Quaw-te-aht said, *Why do you cry?' "'Because I am afraid of Hoots, the Brown Bear, and think he will come and eat me,' answered the boy. " 'Now because you are not a brave boy, and because Chee-chee-watah. I 96 TOTEM TALES. you cry always, I will change you from a boy to the form of a bird,' said Quaw-te-abt, the changer, and so by his magic the boy was changed into a dove, and is now in the woods and always crying, *Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!' just as he did when he was a boy, and very much afraid of Hoots, the bear. "So, if boys do not want to be change WANDEKEK, jon have seen the mark of the waters on the inonntain tops many times in your journeys, but do you know how the waters got there?" asked the Talking IMne, when I had !;Mt down by his feet, and tlie smell of the ('hlnoos was in the air. I thought heavy thoughts on this, but I could not think how the waters had left their marks on the top of the hills, vet I knew thev had, for I had seen the sign in many lands, so I said, "No, Wise One, I do not know how the sign of the great waters came to be on the tops of the mountains, but it is good wisdom ans and the rain came for many, many days, and the rivers were full of water and tluMi overHowed. "(I'klobet, the silent one, saw these thiufis and he made maj^ic medicine to call the Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis, and then he said, 'Why do the rivers rise while the rain still falls? Soon there will be water (m all the laud. What shall I do for meat?' "TIk'u the Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis said this talk, 'Listen, (I'klobet, the silent one. V These men are evil men and they forget the ' Sah-ha-le Tah-umh-na-wis, the great Tyee, and see only Ka-ke-hete, who is the chief of evil deeds. Because of this, the thunderbird, Skam-son, shakes his wings and the rain falls. Xow you who are (I'klobet, the silent one, are not like these men, for you rail Sah-ha-le Tal- iiah-na-wis, the chief of all, and for this you shall be t(dd what to do. (Jo and get your largest canoe, and put all of your spear« (D I; I' i 104 TOTEM TALES. II and nets in it. Put your mats and your bear robes, and all your fine furs in, and plenty of meat and Kam- as. Put your wife and all your children in, and leave room for a rope of cedar bark that shall reach half as far as a boy can walk in one sun. Then get in your canoe and wait.' 'The great water will rise and como up over the U iHM MAKING CEDAR BARK ROPES. land, and then it will come up to the top of the moun- tains. Wlien it comes up to the top of the highest mountain, then tie your rope to the highest rock and wait again. The waters will come up over the top of THE GREAT WATERS. 105 the highest mountain and up until you have no more rope, and then it will stop and go back again until there is no water but the rivers and the great water as it is now. I have spoken.' "And then the Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis went away. O'KLOBET LOADED HIS BIGGEST CANOE. "So then CJ'klobet, the silent one, did all these thi'gH that the Tah-niah-na-wis had told him and waited, and still Skam-son, the thunderbird, shook his Avings for the rain to fall until it came to the top of the mountain and then G'klobet tied his rope. If 106 TOTEM TALES. "When the other people saw what O'klobet, the si- lent one, was doing, they loaded their canoes and made cedar bark ropes, too, and when the water came to the top of the mountain they tied their ropes to the rock, too, and as the water »qme up they all let rope THE OTHER CANOES DRIFTED AWAY. out until they had no more left, and then the canoes broke loose and floated away, all but G'klobet, who had much rope, and whose canoe did not break loose, but staid there and came down by the top of the moun- THE GREAT WATERS. 107 tain, ami so (r'klobet ^ot back to his home again when the Avaters went away. "But the canoes that broke loose drifted away, and came down in other places, and so all the tribes of men came from these, and because they were scat- tered, and because they saw that Ka-ke-hete, the chief of the demons, could not stop the water from rising, they became better men and talked with Sah-h>i-le Tah-mali-na-wis, and became wise. "And so that was how the water left the sign on the mountain tops, and how the men came to be all over the land." S() said the Talking Pine, the Wise One, as I sat by his feet and watched the smoke of the Chinoos blow away with the wind, there by the Lake of the Mountains. O-NIGIIT we will have the tale of the Crow Childreu, T'solo, the wau- derer," said the Talking Pine, when I had pulled the anoe up ou the sand and sat ^;^^"^^ -■'/'. 'i ^^'-^.^v ^^w.^^m^^'myx^. ryj ^ '^\ / ...^^ y ^ ^/ ^y:J /^ •V'^'x;^ HmiNiiii :.-y f-r/'.- THE TRIBE OF HOOT-ZA UAN TO HER LODGE. 119 KIT-SI-NA-0, THE STONE MOTHER. 121 by and she laughed at it, and made fun because it was a weak child, and did not run like her children did. "Then the child began to cry, and Skoolt-ka came and heari^ the words of Kit-si-nao. Then her heart was heavy because of this, and she sat and mourned a long time, so long that her Tah-mah-na-wis, IToot-za, the wolf, came and said, *Why do you weep?' " *I weep because my thoughts are heavy with the words of Kit-si-nao,' said Skoolt-ka. " *And what are the words of Kit-si-nao, give me the talk,' said Hoot-za, the wolf, and then Skoolt-ka gave him the talk of Kit-si-nao this way : "*Ho! Ho! You are the little one! You do not run. Your feet are tender, and the stones hurt you. You must ride on the back of your mother. You have no brothers and no sisters and you are always by your mother's door. Why do you not play with the other children? Because you are afraid. Ho! Ho! You are the little one.' "When Hoot-za, the wolf, heard of this talk, he was angry, and called all of the tribe of the wolves and they came and sat in a council, and Hoot-za, the chief, told them of the words of Kit-si-nao and asked what should be done. "The tribe of Hoot-za then thought deeply, as the 122 TOTEM TALES. i; council pipe was smoked, and then it was decided tliat Kit-si-nao must be punished for her bad deed of laugh- ing at a little weak child, so the wolves ran to her lodge and killed and ate all the children of Kit-sl-njio, the crow mother, because of her bad deeds. THE STONE WOMAN. "Then Kit-si-nao was very sad and went up on the mountain where you saw hor and wept all the rest of her days for her children who were gone. "As she sat there, Colesick, the keeper of the dead, came and changed her into stone, and left her there, KIT-SI-NA-0, THE STONE MOTHER. 123 as a warning to all people not to laugh at those who are small and weak, and that is why you saw Kit-si- nao, the stone mother, sitting there weeping on the mountain-side by the big water. "Now, T'solo, the wanderer, the moon makes a short shadow, and soon Spe-ow will open the daylight box and your paddle is tired from laying in the canoe. Come again when Polikely, the night, is young, and we will have other tales that it is well to know." So then I left the Talking Pine, and went to my lodge to wait until another time, and to think about Kit-si-nao, the stone mother, and her deeds. r i] 31 1 HE Talking Pine nodded in friendly greeting as I got out of the canoe and came up to my usual place at the foot of the great tree: "Klahowya, T'solo, the ^/anderer, it is well that you came to-day, for to-day the pines will sing the rain song, and you shall sing with us, for it is a good song and one to know." "So be it, \Yise One, 1 will learn the rain song, that I may know it when I am in other lands. It is a good song to know when the air is dry, and you can get no water for your throat. I will learn the rain song of you. Wise One." "Come, T'solo, the wanderer, and sit at my feet, where I can spread my arms over you and keep the rain away. "Now when the wind comes all the pines will sing 124 THE RAIN SONG. 126 the wind song and dance the wind dance before they sing the rain song. You know, my friend T'solo, that the wind must always come to help the pines sing, so be not impatient to hear the rain song until the wind can help us." So I sat down by the feet of the Talking Piuc, and SAT AND SMOKED MY PIPE. smoked my pipe and waited for the coming of the wind to see the wind dance, and hear the rain song. Soon the wind came slowly out of the Southwest and the pines began to sing and the wind sang with them. At first, so so'tly Tcould scarce hear it, and I t J 126 TOTEM TALES. asked the Talking Pine, "Do you sing, Wise One?" "Yea, listen," answered he. Then I heard the wind song, for it had gathered strength as all the pines began to sing, and I could hear it verj-^ plainly. Then the pines all began to dance and to swing their long arms in time with the song, and to sway and sing until they were all mad with the dance, and 1 thought they would fall. The song was wild and mournful, as it always is, and they sing it in the lan- guage of the pines, so one must know their talk to learn the words they sing. I heard them calling the rain to come out from behind the clouds and sing with them. Then the Flowers and Grasses. rain rodP doWU with the wind, and some rested on the pines, but most of it went on down and sung with the flowers and the grass; for the rain, you know, is restless and cannot stay long in one place. The pines all love the rain and always sing the rain a 3 a a > O H O ^2 a a > o 127 THE RAIN SONG. 129 song when they see it coming in the clouds, so it will stop and sing with them. For a long time the pines and the rain sung to- gether, then the rain Tvent away, and the wind went with it, and the pines were left all alone. The wind, you know, is never tired, and travels all the time, so the pines always call the wind to help them dance, and they always go to sleep when the wind goes away, and the sun wraps his warm blanket around them. . "It was a good dance," said the Talking Pine, when they had finished and the Avind had gone. "Come again, T'solo, the wanderer, and I will show you other things, and sing other songs, but now I sleep." Then I got in my canoe and crossed the Lake of the Mountains, and left the Talking Pine to sleep out his sleep until another time. 1'SOLO, wanderer, it is a good night for a tale; Snoqualni makes a path on the water, and the Slial-lal-a-toots put his picture in the lake. Wah-wah- hoo, the frog, sings for his wife among the rushes and the night people call from the shadows of the pines with many voices. It i? a night for a tale that has no blood in it, for the smell cV blood in the mind is not a good smell with the riii of a night such as this. It is a smell for daytime and stories of war, not for times of peace and the full leaf of trees. "There is a story that goes with the night well, and it is a good tale to know, for it tells of the folly of the young and how it is better to listen to the word of those who are old, and who, by their age, have learned much wisdom. Wisdom is a good thing and it is only the old who are wise, for they are full of years. "To-night, then, we will hear of Wah-wah-hoo, the 130 WAH-WAH-HOO. THE FROG. 131 little singer who lives ainonj^ the riishcH over there in the lake." This, then, the great Wise One told me about the frog, and how he came to be a frog, and you will re- member that the frog is a little man, and not kill him when you see him, for some day he will be changed back to his proper shape again, and there will be no more frogs. It is this way: "A long, long time ago, so long that the oldest man can- not remember, there was a great chief, who was the rul- er of everything. "This man was the king of all men, and all birds, and all animals and ruled the world and all in it except an- other chief, whose name was Klack-a-mass, and who was always nt war with the great chief. "After many years these two got tired of so much war and held a great council talk, for they were In- dians, and Indians always have a council when there is an important question to decide. The Great Chief. i: 132 TOTEM TALES. "This council lasted for many days, and before it was dom^, the two chiefs had agreed not to have any more wars. "Then they smoked the great peace pipe and blew the smoke to the four winds, so the world would know SMOKED THE PEACE F.PB. they were at peace, and there would not be any more fighting. "Now Klack-a-mass had a daughter whose name was Kla-klack-hah, the woman who talks, and the a WAH-WAH-HOO. THE FROG. 133 (A great chief had a son whose name was Wah-wah-hoo, the singer. "When the peace pipe had been smoked at the great council, Klack-a-mass thought it would be well for his daughter lo become the wife of Wah-wah-hoo, and thus make the two tribes blood relations and stop any fighting for all times. "The great chief thought that would be well, too, so it was all arranjied for the young folks to get Wah-wah-hoo. married, without say- ing anything to them about it. "After the council was over they were told that on a certain day they must got married, and thus make the tribes blood relations, as the Indians say. "Kla-klack-hah thought it was all right and was willing to marry Wah-wah-hoo, but Wah-wah-hoo was very sad, and did not sing his songs any more, for he 134 TOTEM TALES. •i! :i had long loved a girl of his oAvn tribe named Hah-hah, the one with the bright eyes. "When Wah-wah-hoo told the news to Hah-hah, she too was sad, for she loved Wah-wah-hoo dearly, a'' * they had planned to be married when the salmon ber- ries were ripe again, which is in the middle of the summer. "They talked and made all kinds of plans to escape the fate that would be theirs if the Tyee insisted on the mariage of Wah-wah-hoo and Kla-klack-hah, but all these plans were thrown away again because they C( uld not be carried out. "Closer and closer came the time when W^ah-wah- hoo must leave Hah-hah, and go with Kla-klack-hah, and soon there was only one day more. "Then the lovers met in a dell in the forest to say good-bye and part forever. "Ilah-hah came with her linest dress of tanned and beaded doeskin on, and wore all her ornaments of Hiaqua shells, and over her shoulders she threw a beautiful shawl of woven cedar bark. "Her hair hung in thick glossy braids and her eyes shone bright. 11 er cheeks were red and soft, l(k»> the skin of a peach, and her smile was all sunshine to Wah-wah-l]a)o. i, ii I 'I WAH-WAH-HOO, THE FROG. 186 il I "For a long time they sat and talked there among the bright fiovers that grew in the dell, and then Wah- wah-hoo said, 'Let us go away in the woods, far away to some other land and live, and forget this place we live in, and ;forget Kla- k 1 a c k-h a h. We will find another land and live there always a n d be happy.' "II a h-h a h thought for a time and then she said, *Y e s,' an d W a h - w a h- hoo stood up then and took her in his arms and carried her into the forest. "For manv dnvs thev traveled, and at last came to a ^'' \x^ Carried her into the forest. I 136 TOTEM TALES. great river and a sunny country tliat was close to the mountaii 'fl'^re we will stop and build a lodge,' aaid Wah-wah-h^ nd we will be safe and can live liappy always.' "So Wali-wah-hoo built a lodge of poles and cedar bark and fashioned a canoe out of a cedar log, with fire and the stone hatchet, T'shum-in, and built spears and traps to catch the wild birds and animals for food. "Ilah-hah wove nets out of the roots of the hemlock tree for Wah-wah-hoo to catch fish with, and she made mats of rushes to carpet the lodge, and blankets of the soft cedar bark to sleep on, and they lived in peace and happiness. "Now the groat Tyee and all the rest of the tribe at home did not know that the young people were gone, so when the wedding day for Wah-wah-hoo and Kla- klack-hah came around, all the people came to the place dressed in their brightest robes and ready for a great merry making. "Kla-klack-hah wore her wedding robes of beaded doeskin, trimmed with bright feathers and had her hair braided in long braids. "A great feast was made ready and all the people waited the coming of Wah-wah-hoo to claim his bride. "The time passed, and though the people waited un- WAH-WAH-HOO, THE PROG. 137 til the sun went down, VVah-wali-boo never came, for he was with Hah-hah then, hurrying away through the great forest. "When the sun went down Klack-a-mass, who was Kla-klack-hah's father, grew very angry at the way his daughter had been treated, and sent for the llyas Tyee to find why Wah-wah-hoo did not come. "The Tyee oamt^, and wlien Klack-a-mass told him the trouble, ordered runners to seek for Waliwah-hoo and bring him to the feast at once. "All night the run- ners sought and at sunrise they rei)orted that Wah-wah-hoo was gone. The Eagle circled high. "Now they looked for ITah-hah, and she too was gone. Then the Tyee knew they had tied and would not come unless they were caught, and he grew very angry at his son, who dared to disobey the word of the great chief, his father. "Then he called a council of all the animals, and birds, and lishes, and told them of the doings of his son. 138 TOTEM TALES. "To the Eagle he said, 'Fly high and watch for Wah- wah-hoo, and do not let him pass.' "To the fishes he said, 'See that they do not go by you on the waters.' "He told the chief of the wolves to smell them out. "The sea gull, the snake, the squirrel, and the chief of the mosquitos were all told to see that the lovers did not pass, and all the other wild things were told to watch that the runaways did not hide. "Then the council broke up and the ani- mals began to look everywhere, and it seemed that Wah- wah-hoo and Ilah- hah must soon be captured and brougui back. "T'set-shin, the snake, wriggled through the grass and among the tangle of the berry patches to find them. "Tyee Eula-kula, the great bald eagle, circled high in the air, and looked down over the hills. "The fishes swam the waters and looked for the canoe of Wah-wah-hoo. T'set-shin, the Snake. WAH-WAH-HOO, THE FROG. 139 "The squirrels vvatebed among the trees as they ran up and down seeking nuts and pine cones. "T'kope kula-kula, the sea gull, watched on the sea. "The chief of the wolves smelled the ground and soon found the lovers, but he re- membered that Wah-wah-hoo had once saved his life when he had been caught fast in a trap, so he told all the tribe of wolves not to say where the lovers were. ^'"' Sft"'"*! watched. "The chief of the mosquitos found them too, but s^x^---^ — Hah-hah had saved his life once and he, too, told all his tribe to disperse and not say 'where the young folks had gone. "Now Ki-ki, the blue jaj', ^1' who is chief of all the »kall- lal-a-toots, the fairies of the woods, you know, told all his people to hide the runa- ways, for he was the friend of Wah-wah-hoo, and so The Tribe of the Mosquitos. 140 TOTEM TALES. the Skall-lal-a-toots worked to hide them, and to send the animals to looking in other places. "So the animals looked for many days and did not find Wah-wah-hoo and liah-hah, and they still lived in the lodic to kill each other, al- ways, winter or summer, day or night, they made each his cultas medicine. "After many, many moons, they fought a great bat- tle and the air was black with their breath. "The ground shook with their light, and their roars were like the roar of the great water where the waves come against the sand. "They breathed fire and threw great mountain rocks at one au()ther until the people were frightened and ran away. "After umny suns the fighting stopped and Hi(» peo- I»le came back again, but the beautiful vaUey of the grejit river was all changed. "The grass was dead, the trees were withered, and the great bridge was gone. "In the place where the bridge had been was only a heap of broken and jagged rocks, and over these the river roared and boiled in anger as it hurried on to the sea. "No man could pass this i)lace in his canoe, no swim- mer could live here f(»r the time of three breaths among the whirljxMds, and ever after the great river 5? O E4 n o d r o <5 a w m ABOUT THE RIVER FALLS. 165 must fret and groan over the rocks of the broken bridge. "Far down under the water could be seen the trees that had stood on the bridge, and the Sah-ha-le Tah- mah-na-wis has made them to be stone trees, so that they will always be there, and show where the bridge used to stand a long time ago. "And this is how Turn-chuck, the falls in the great river, came to be there, and why they will always be there, for the water to sing a war song with as it goes to the sea. "I am tired with dancing and talking now, T'solo, and would sleep. Come again when the night is young and I will tell you of a great battle of the demons, that was fought by the bauks of this same river before Ka- ke-hete was chief of all the demon tribe. It is a good story." "So be it, Wise One," I answered, "we will have the demon tale sometime, and now I go to my lodge and wish you a good sleep." Then I went with a lazy paddle across the Lake of the Mountains, and slept until the sun came up over the great mountains from the country of Spe-ow. i^ UEKE was a time, Siah Ahnn-n-cut- ty, the time of the long ago, when the mountains smoked and fire was in the air, T'solo, the wanderer, and of that time there is a tale that we will know this night." Thus spoke the Talking Pine when I lit the Chinoos in the story pipe and the blue smoke came free. "My ears listen for the tale. Wise One, and the night comes fast, so speak, and we will know the tale," I answered. "It is well; this shall be the tale of the demons this way, T'solo: "In the time when the mountains burned there were | no people in the land except the demon people. the tribe of Ka-ke-hete, and they had thoughts only for fighting and for evil ways. 166 TALE OP THE DEMONS. 167 "There was a place not far from the place where the river falls were made, the place where I told you of the stone bridge, T'solo, and this place was a great lake like the Lake of the Mountains, but much larger. "Here was the town of the demons and here they built their lodges along the water. "Then demons all had long tails, which were very strong, and these they used in battle and they always were fighting. THE STORY PIPE. "There was a big demon, who was the worst one, and was the Tyee. "This one Avas very strong and had much magic and evil thoughts, but he was wise in many ways, and many times he sat still and thought of other things tlian fighting while he smoked his Chinoos. "Now this wise demon saw all his tribe fighting, al- ways among themselves, and he said, 'This is not wise, for sometime thej v>ill all kill each other, and there 168 TOTEM TALES. ! IB ii will be no demons left. It is better to live in peace and have no more fighting.* "Once in twelve moons all the tribe came together and held a big council, and at one of these councils the demon Tyee made a good talk on the evil of all A BIO DEMON WHO WAS THE WORST ONE. this fighting and doing other unwise things that they did. "This kind of pow-wow coming from the chief of the tribe was something that the demons could not under- stand and they thought he meant evil for them, and H a a a o H O > o > a o o o ^ 169 TALE OF THE DEMONS. Ill SO would uot be a y;<)od chief any louger, so all the whole tribe of deinouH j»;ot up to fight the chief to kill him for his ways and this kind of talk. "Now the chief knew that he could not fight the whole tribe, so he ran away to save himself, and all the demons ran after him. THE GROUND CRACKED OPEN. "When he came to the mountains that stood by the side of the lake he struck the ground a mighty blow with his tail, and the ground cracked open, so that the water came rushing in. 172 TOTEM TALES. "Some of the demous bad already got over before tbe water came iu tbe open phu-e in tbe ground, and others were caught and drowned, and some couhl not get across. "The ones that got across still ran after tbe chief of all the demons, and so he struck the ground again. THE GREAT RIVER. and again it cracked and tbe water rushed in from tbe lake. Tbe first few demons got over, but the water caught many more this time and they were swept away. TALE OP THE DEMONS. m "Again tho chief of tlie demons wtriick the ground, and this time it Hi)lit clear across the big mountains and down to the great waters, and through this craclc the water rushed and roared, and made a big river tlmt is the river of the tails as 1 told you, and is the Oregon, when the white men say the name, and the place of the cracks is called *The Dalles,' in the talk of Squintum, the white man. "T h e river carried away the lake and it took the bodies of all the demons clear awav to the big water where the sun falls, and now you can see their bones sometimes when the wind makes the great water dig them out of the sand there by the edge of it. "Now when the demon His tail was broken. chief got away and sat down to breathe, he found that the last blow had brok- en his tail and that it was useless. "So then he leaped across the place of the cracks, 174 TOTEM TALES. i and weut homo, for there were uo more (lemons to fie;ht, "'ill so be did not care about his tail. *F7'om this family of demons there came all the de- mons ;;f the tribe of Ka-ke-hete and tliey were taught not to fight among their own liind, so they did not need i tail, aiMi now no demon has one, and they only work evil deeds on others, and are ruled ty Ka- ke-hete, who iw the whistler. "So chis is (he .story of the demons, and how the great river came, and it is a good tale, T'solo." When the tale was finished I took Esick, the pad- dle, and went to the canoe to go to my lodge. As the canoe left the sand the Talking Pine called after me and said, "Come to-morrow, T'solo, and we will have other tales, and shall know much wisdom. Klook-wah, til-la-cum." And so T journeyed away to my lodge by the Lake of the Mounta^Ko, and thought of these thing.s, and how the ri\er came. e>jjst O-NIGHT we will know of the Evil Eye, T'solo, the wanderer," said the jj-reat Talkin«^ Pine, as I came to my place by his feet. "It is well. Wise One, tell the tale of the Evil Eye while I listen, Ka-ki-i-sil-mah." So then the tale was told, and it is like this: "Know you, T'solo, the wanderer, that the Evil Eye is an evil thing-, and that it works evil magic on those who look upon it, and he who has this has also an evil mind and will do you hurt. "Now if you make enemies with one who has this Evil Eye, then he can work his magic spells and do you great hurt if once you look on his face. This he may not choose to do at the time you look into his eyes, but may do it a long time after, and when he is not near you. 176 176 TOTEM TALES. P! :f- "This power he has so strong, T'solo, that if you are four days journey by canoe away from where he is, he of the evi! eye can yet work his niagie and do you harm. "If a man is under tlie spell of the evil eye, T'solo, then he is pelton, crazy, you know, or his feet do not go as he wants them to, because he cannot make them step like other people can because of the spell. Or he may walk and talk as other men, and then fall down upon the grov nd and roll there and his eyes stare and see nothing, and foam comes from his mouth, because of the evil magic. "Now in sickness the Ta-mah-na-wis men know what to do, because they can work spells and ftud what kind of animal is gnawi»jg at the sick part and then by charms they can drive this animal of sickness away, and make the sick man well, but when a man has lo(jked on the Evil Eye, T'solo, the wanderer, then there is nothing to do for him, because no magic, nor medicine, nor charm is strong enough to break the spell of the Evil Eye. "The Mid-wiu-uie men can do good deeds with medi- cine, T'solo, for they can bring back the life of a dead man from Stickeen, the land of shadows, if they make strong medicine and good charms against Cole-sick, the keeper of the dead, and this 1 know, for I have seen it done. 'N THE EVIL EYE. 177 MAGIC OF THE EVIL EYE. 179 "With the sijell of the evil eye it is not so. There is no medicine and no charm that will break this spell, and so the man who has looked on the Evil Eye is no longer a man, but a man's body, which is mem-loose, dead, and is in the koe]>inf!; of a Too-muck, a demon of evil who is there by the magic of the Evil Eye, and who is the slave of Ka- ke-hete, chief of all the demons, ami must do as he says with the man's body. "Now when a child is small, T'solo, the charm of the Evil Eye can not hurt it, so there is a way to know when II mail has got an evil eye, and It is this way. "When a baby comes to the lodge, strap it on a smooth board of cedar wood, and then fasten a hanging strap to the board ho the child may be hung up on a peg in the lodge pole and be ^ xoo-murk. out of the reach of the Skal-lal-a-toots and always be easy to find. "Then a rattle must be hung up in front and the A Medicine Man. ■ 1 ■ 180 TOTEM TALES. rattlers must be magic rattlers from the medicine lodge. "Now when a visitor comes in say to him, 'See, I have a strong baby who is always of a smiling face, and laughs at the sound of the rattle.' "The visitor will walk over to see the baby and there hangs the rattle and this he will shake to see if the baby always laughs at it. If the baby laughs then the visitor has good magic, but if the baby cries, it is because of the evil it looks upon in the eye of the stranger, and it is well to get the visitor outside of the lodge curtain. "That is the way to find the Evil Eye, T'hoIo, and it can work no spell as long as it is in Hie same lodge where the baby is, but be very careful that you do not look upon tin* fnce of such a man after he leaves the lodge, for then the spell Medicine »ag. is on and evil will come unless .you always sleep with a Skal-lal-aye mask hung to the lodge pole over your Charm Mas'i. A UAUY OF A SMILING FACE. X81 J MAGIC OF THE EVIL EYE. 188 head, to work the evil away and keep it outside of the lodge curtain. "There is a charm to carry in your medicine bag that is a protection against the magic of the Evil Eye too, T'solo, the wanderer, but I do not know what this charm is, and you must give two beaverskins to the Mid-win-nie man to give it to you. "So remember, T'solo, wanderer, do not look on the face of a man who has the Evil Eye if you would walk straight and never be a pelton Siawash, a crazy man." This the Talking Pine said of the Evil Eye, as I sat there, and when he was finished 1 got in the canim and journeyed back to my lodge by the Lake of the Moun- tains, to think heavy thoughts about the evil ways of these things. m i I \ \y NCE there was a fjreat hunter who was Touats," said the Talking Pine, when I aslced him for a story. "Now this man Touats was a great rogue, as well as a great hunter, and he did some deeds that a good hunter should not do, because a good hunter loves the wild things, and is of a broad mind, and a keen eje, and is a good man to the world. But this man Touats was not a good man, for he did not do good deeds. "This is why: "Once he traveled a long distance to see the great chief of all the tribe of Hoots, the bear, and came to his lodge. "Hoots, the bear, was not at home, but his wife told Touats, the hunter, to come in and wait, and soon the bear would come back. So Touats went in and began 184 FOUND HER WITH TOUATS AT THE SPRING. ® ® IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) (/ / <" WJ'.x. 1.0 j50 " I.I 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -^ 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ ,\ « \\ 9) V ^> <^ Q.^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '4- k "%^ A. .1 t &? CONCERNING A HUNTER AND A BEAR. 187 to talk to the wife of Hoots, the bear, and made love to her, but she did not like Touats, the hunter, and when Hoots came back she told him of the way Touats had talked to her. "This made Hoots very an- gry and he drove the hunter away. The hunter did not go very far, but waited in the The Grouse. woods uutil he saw the bear go on a journey and then he came back to the lodge of Hoots and again made love to his wife. "This time she was not angry with the hunter, but listened to bis songs for a long thue, and then Touats went away before the bear came back. "When Hoots came back he found his wife very much confused and afraid of him, so he suspected that Touats, the hunter, had been back, and told his wife that she no longer loved him, but^ that she had heard the songs of Touats. "This she denied, though she knew it was so. Hoots, the bear, still was not satisfied that she had told him the truth, a I'd watched her go for wood and water for Touats. 188 TOTEM TALES. the lodge, and found that she Avas gone a long time, so he tied a magic cord to her robe, and when she did not come back, he followed this cord and found her Avith Touats, the hunter, at a spring. "Now Hoots was very angry, and to punish his wife fii'/iiH '?t INDIAN DRAWING ON ROBE OP THE HUNTER AND THE BEAR. for her bad ways he told her he would change her into a grouse, and so iie did, and now she sits in the forest and mourns all the time because of her bad deeds. "Then he said to Touats, the hunter, 'You have stol en my wife and made my lodge fire cold. You are like !,'».^V» TOUATS AND HOOTS FOUGHT A GREAT FIGHT. 189 ' mmm HOOTS, THE BEAR— HAIDA INDIAN DRAWING, 191 figures on the paws «re Bupposed tp represent tfte Huijter «»» ki SPB-OW AND THE SPIDER 217 to a hole in the sky, and climbed out into another countrj^, which was much like this world is now. "Spe-ow did not know what might happen to him, or whom he might meet in such a strange country as this was, and thought he had better look around a bit. "So he changed himself into a beaver and went into a swamp that was close by, to wait and see what might happen. "While he was traveling through the swamp in the shape of a beaver poor Spe- ow got caught in a trap and was held fast until the moon chief, who is S'noqualm, came and found him. "Now S'noqualm thought he had caught a nice, fat bea- ver when he found Spe-ow, so he took his club and killed Spe-ow's beaver body, and took it to his lodge, where he skinned it, and stretched the hide over a bent wil- low stick to dry, and hung the body up in his lodge to wait until he should want some beaver soup. "Though his beaver body was dead, Spe-ow was still alive, and he thought he would wait and see what the moon chief would do next. Kl-kl, the Blue Jay. I 218 TOTEM TALES. "While Spe-ow waited, the chief of the spiders came into the lodge of S'noqualm and by their talk Spe-ow found that it was he who had lowered the rope down from the sky to the earth, where Spe-ow found it. "By and by S'noqualm and the spider went out of the lodge and S'noqualm soon came back carrying the Sun, the stars, and the box that held the daylight. These he put on a shelf and again went out. Spe- ow thought that was a good chance to make his world bright, so ht made himself come to life again, and changed himself back to his proper shape. Then he took the Sun and put it un- spe-ow threw up the Sun. ^ev his arm. The stars he put under the other arm, and took the box that was full of daylight in his hands. "Then he ran for the hole in the sky, calling to his grandmother, Ki-ki, the blue jay, to follow him. On the way he pulled up three great pine trees, which by his magic he made small like little bushes. With all these SPE-OW AND THE SPIDER. 219 things he started down the rope with Ki-ki, but he was in such a great hurry that he dropped the stars and they scattered all about and stuck to the sky, and there you will see them to-night. "Spe-ow reached the ground safely with the other things, and at once opened the daylight box and threw the Sun up in the air, and there was the first day on earth. "Then he started the pine trees to growing, and soon they covered the whole land like they do in that country now. "When S'noqualm found that some one had stolen the Sun, and the stars, he was very angry, and went to the hole in the sky and looked down. There he saw Spe- ow at work planting the trees, and saw the Sun high up in the air, where Spe-ow. had thrown it, so he started to climb down and get them back again. "He only climbed a little way when the rope broke and S'noqualm fell down to the ground, and Spe-ow, by his magic, changed S'noqualm and the rope into S'noqualm fell to the Ground. TOTEM TALES. stone, and you can see them there to-day, not far from the mountains, and in the great pile of rocks is a face that is the face of S'noqualra, the moon chief. "Now the moon chief, being dead, made the sky dark, and there was no moon any more until the great Tah-mah-na-wis saw that it was missing and changed the daughter of a wicked old SkalMal-a-toot into the moon and put her in the sky country. She is still there to make the night light. "When the spider chief found that his rope was broken and gone, he called his tribe of ;3piders together, and let them down to look for his lost rope. You can see the spider people even now on warm summer days sailing along on their little ropes that break loose from the sky and let them fall, too. "They can never find the chief spider's rope, because it was turned to stone by the magic of Spe-ow. "When Spe-ow got evcything to suit him he threw the Sun up into the air every day, and it fell in the great water every night. Then Spe-ow Avould shut the S'noqualm. SPE-OW AND THE SPIDER. 221 daylight box and make night, so no one could see him, and go and bring the Sun back. "When he got back he would open the daylight box to make it morning again, and throw the Sun up in the air. "This he does to this day. "Now Spe-ow throws the Sun just the same distance every day, but in the winter, wiien the rains are heavy and the snow deep in. the moun- tains, the rivers are flooded and it takes Spe-ow longer to travel from his lodge to get the Sun, so the nights are long in the winter. "People don't care for this, be- cause they can't work so well in the winter anyhow, and like to^ sleep more. "In the summer time the weath- '^''^ "^^^^ ^p"'"- er is warm and Spe-ow don't have so much trouble in traveling, so he gets back to open the daylight box sooner and the days are a good deal longer, so people can do more work then. "Only once has Spe-ow ever been seen by men, and that was many years ago. "A party of Indians were camping on Ca-mah-no 222 TOTEM TALES. island one time, and Spe-ow came upon the bluff above them. He was covered with a curious light like you see in rotten wood sometimes, and when the Indians saw him he was so angry that he kicked half of the island over on the Indian camp and buried it, and so only one man escaped, and he told the story of how Spe-ow looked. "Now all Indians who pass by the place in their canoes mourn ^ and cry for the dead ^^-^ ones, who lie under the water there. "This, then, is the story of Spe-ow, who lives over across the mountains and is keep- er of the Sun." So said the Wise One, the great Talking Pine, who lives by the Lake of the Mountains, in the land of T'set-se-la-litz, the country of the sundown. Spe-ow kicked the Bluff over. HEN I sat by the feet of the Talking Pine the next time, the sun was just falling down behind the great waters, and there were long shad- ows on the Lake of the Moun- tains. The water was red, like the blood that comes from the throat of a killed deer, and there was yellow on the water, too, yellow like Pil-chickamin, the gold that Squintuni, the white man, always seeks. There was blue in the shadow of the pines and blue in the sky where the night was coming; but the moun- tain, Takomah, the one that feeds, was white and cold over the head of the pines, all vvhite and blue, and very cold, save the top, and this was red, the red of the sal- mon berry, the red that a great fire paints on the sky at night. It was a good sight, and I watched it tUere, so high 224 TOTEM TALES. and grand, and all alune above all the little mountains that reach only to the snow. As I sat there my thoughts went far away to other lands, and other mountains, and my body sat still. Then the Talking Pine spoke, and then spoke again be- fore I heard him, and this was his speech: "Know you, T'solo, the wanderer, the tale of the great white mountain yonder, Takomah, the white one that feeds, the great chief of the tribe of the moun- tains?" His voice was far away, like a voice in the sleep country, where one goes at night, sometimes, when his body is asleep on the mats in the lodge. "No,Wise One," I answered, "I do not know the tale of the great white one yonder, but I see him, once there with his feet on all the tribe of the mountains and his head so high that the olouds can only climb half wav. and again I see lun* in the Lake of the Mountains, standing on his heud like the pines that are painted there by the water Skall-lal-a-toots. Tell me this tale of Takomah, Wise One, while I listen and we smell the smell of Chinoos burning in the pipe." "Now-itka, oke-oke klosh; yes, that is good," said the Great Pine, and then he began the tale this way: "This tale is a tale of warning, T'solo, and it tells that it is better to take what we have without grum- o d H > o ",lW!il' ■ " TA-KO-MAH. THE MOUNTAIN. 227 bling, and so have a good heart, than to want that which we have not, and so not sleep well at night for our thoughts. "It is the tale of the old man who wished much Hia- qua, the shell money, and so was taught a great les- son by Tah-mah-na-wis. This is the way: "Very many summers ago, when my grand- father's grandfather was only so big as a little flower busli, there lived here by the foot of Takomah an old man, a great hunter and fish- erman, and one who thought the shell money, Hia-qua, the best of all things, and this he wanted. "Always the old man thought how to get more Ilia-qua, and in this he was like the white 1 1 man, Squintum, who lives across the moun- Hia-qua. tains. "Always this man talked to Tah-mah-na-wis, and al- ways he said the same thing, 'Where can I get Uia- qua?' "Tah-mah-na-wis is wise and knows it is not well for men to have a great deal of money; no matter if it is the red man and his Hia-ciua, or if it is Squiutum and his gold, it is the same, and it makes men hungry for evil deeds, so the great Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis >'i 22S TOTEM TALES. did not give to this old inau the magic that would bring Ilia-qna, for he knew ninch llia-qua would let Ka-ke-hete, the chief of demons, into the man's mind "The old man sat and looked at Takomah as y(/' ' • at it now, and it was white and cold, and it seeuitMl to know of how this man's great greed for Ilia-qua made him take even the lip and nose jewels of polished Ilia- qua from starving women when meat was scarce, and give them tough and dry scraps of Moos-moos, the elk, in return. "Now the Tah-mah-na-wis of this old man was Moos- moos, the elk, and one day as he hunted on the side of the white one, Takomah, the old man got very tired and sat down to rest, and as he sat there without any thoughts but rest, he heard the voice of his Tah-mul?- na-wis. Moos-moos, the elk, and it whispered magic in his ear. "This magic told him where to find much Ilia-qua, so much that he could be the richest of all men and be a Ilyas-Tyee, a great chief. "This place was on the top of Takomah, the white one that feeds. "When this man knew of the place he w'^' li back to his lodge and said to his wife, 'I am goiu^ (.n a long hunt,' and then he went away at the coonng of night. TA-KO-MAH. THE MOUNTAIN. 229 "The next night he made his bed just below the snow of the niGiiutain, and when the sun came up it found him on the top. "He looked down and there he saw a great valley HE Wt;\T AWAY AT THE COMING OP NIGHT. in the top of Takomah and all was white with snow but one place in the middle. "This place was a deep hole in the black rocks and in the bottom of it was a lake of black water. "At one end of the lake were three large rocks, and y 230 TOTEM TALES. .■i^ they were Tab-mah-na-wis rocks, for one was shaped lik»' V ^-a^mon's head, the next Was like a Kamas root, and 1 st was like the head of his own totem. Moos- moos, tile elk. "Now when he saw this, he knew where the Hia-qua THE BLACK LAKE AND THE TAH-MAH-NA-WIS ROCKS. was, so he took his pick of elkhorn and began to dig at the foot of the rock that was like the head of Moos- moos. "When the pick made a sound against the rock the first time he struck with it, many otters came out of I mmm TA-KO-MAH. THE MOUNTAIN. 231 the black lake and sat in a circle, and he counted as many as the lingers of both hands and three more. "The otters watched hira, and at the blow of the pick that counted their number, all the otters struck the ground at the same time with their tails. "This the man did not pay any attention to, but worked on, and when the sun was just falling into the great water, he turned over a piece of rock and there lay many strings of Hia-qua. "There were many, many strings, so many that he could not reach the bottom with his arm. "lie would be a rich man and a great Tyee, because no one else had so much Ilia-qua as chis. "The otters moved back, knowing ho was a child of the Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis. "When he had looked long on the Hia-qua and he was sure he had all this for his own, then he put the strings over his shoulder, one after another, until he The Elkhorn Pick. 1 232 TOTEM TALES. could not walk with luoro. ami started to climb back aud go to his lodge. "Not one string did he hang on the Tah-mah-na-wis of the Salmon, or of the Kamas, or the Elk, not one, but started away. HE STARTED TO CLIMD OUT. "The otters plunged back into the black lake again and began to make the water foam and roar, and this they did until a great storm came and Tootah, the Thunder, came, and Skamson, the Thunderbird. "Now everybody knows that Colesnass makes hard Bmmtmam^maim THE WIND THREW HIM OVER THE ROCKS. 233 I i TA-KO-MAH. THE MOUNTAIN. 235 snows in the mountains, but tliis time Huli-lui-le Tali- mah-na-wis was angry with the man who loved llia- qua, and so he helped Colesnass and Tootah to make a very hard storm and he called to the wind to come. "The wind came and danced around and around, and took the man and threw him over the rocks and the snow, but he still held to his llia-qua and would not let it go. "Too-tah, the thunder, roared, and the wind made things black and made much noise, and there was an- other noise, that was the great anger of the Tah-mah- na-Avis, and then came the voice of Ka-ke-hete, the demon, and the small voices of all his tribe. "All these things said Ilia-qua! Ilia-qua! and they laughed at the old man and made him afraid, but he still held to his treasure, and tried to go on. "The air grew darker and very hot, and much smoke came and water ran down the mountain. The wind danced and threw the old man about over the rocks and the snow banks, and the tribe of Ka-ke-hete laughed and yelled Tlia-qua! ITia-qua! Hia-qua! "Then the old man lost his way and did not know which path to take to go to his own lodge. "Now this man thought to make the anger of the 236 TOTEM TALES. Sah-lia-le Tah-mali-iia-wis to go away, so he dropped one string of his llia-qua. "Just think, T'soh), wanderer, so small was this old man's mind that he only gave one string of all his treasures to the great Sal-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis! "The storm grew harder and the air was hot like the breath of the fire, and all the tribe of the demons laughed louder, and great noises came on the wind, and everytliing said llia-qua! llia-qua! Ilia-qua! "String by string the old man tlirew away his shell mono}' until the last was gone, when he lay down and went to the sleep country. "It seemed a long sleep, but in time he woke up and found he was on the spot where he had camped the night before he climbed to the top of Takomah. "lie was very hungry and so dug some Kamas roots and ate them, and then he smoked and had many thoughts. "As he sat there smoking he was huloimie, different, from the man who climbed the great mountain. He was not cut on the rocks where the wind had thrown liim, and he was not sore like a man who has fallen down many times, only stifl', and when he moved, his joints made a noise like a lazy paddle on the edge of the canoe. TA-KO-MAH. THE MOUNTAIN. 237 "J lis hair was long- and wliito autl was like the wil- low roots that tang;le together in the wet sand. "Tah-mah-na-wis, thought the old man. Now he looked along the side of the great white mountain and it was changed too. New rocks were there that he had SMOKED AND HAD MANY THOUGHTS. never seen before, and in places where many trees had been there was only clean, white snow now. "Rut most of all, he was much changed in his thoughts and was restful in his mind, for he no longer wanted Eia-qua, and riches had no charm for him. 238 TOTEM TALES. "Takoiiah, tli? great white one, looked down on him and was like a brother, and all the world was glad. "He had never wakened on a morning that was calmer, and never had Takomah shone so bright and with so many colors. "He put away his pipe and traveled down the ^ ^e of Takomah, but all was new and strange to hii v all was changed. "When the sun painted the top of Takomah as it paints it now, he came to the foot of the mountain and there was his own lodge, and before the lodge curtain sat an old woman who was singing a low-toned chant, and when he looked close, he saw that this old woman was his wife. "She told him he had been gone many moons, she did not know how many, and all this time she had traded Kamas root and totem plants and now she had much Ilia-qua. "This old man's mind was not for Hia-qua now, and he was glad to be at his own lodge and at peace. "He gave whatever he had, Flia-qua and good words alike to all, and the men of all tribes came to him for his counsel, how to spear salmon, how to catch game, or how to counsel best w^itb Tah-mab-na-wis, '••^--■immm TA-KO-MAH, THE MOUNTAIN. 88» "So from this tliinj; the old man became a wise meili- cine man, and was much loved by all for his wisdom and good deeds, because of his trip to Takomah. "Then there came a time when he journej^ed to Stickeen, the land of the shadows, and his body sat by AN OLD WOMAN BY THE LODGE DOOR. the lodge fire alone, and so ended the old man who once loved Hia-qua more than life." "It is a good tale. Wise One," I answered, "and well to know, for it shows that wisdom is better than all the gold of Squintum, the white man, who lives across ■1 240 TOTEM TALES. 'i: the mountains, and who tears up the trees and the grass and builds many great stone lodges all at one piiioe, that he may make Mah-kook, and by this trading get much gold. And now I leave you, Wise One, for the stars say there is not much time left for sleep." T Vt'as u uiglit to sit still and smoke, aud not to talk mucli. The Lake of the Mountains was talking a little talk to the sand and whispering to the willows that hung down and dabbled in its waters and over the water the faint song of the Skall-lal-a-toots came, for they were playing among the tall brown water grass that grew at the end of the lake where Eua-poo, the iiiuskrat, builds his lodge. T'zum chuck kula-kula, the spotted water bird, dived ar"k. fishes, and every tii le he got one he came to the top of the water and 1; iighed like a man who is crazy, pelton, you know. This bird is a Loon, in the talk of Squintum, the white man, who lives across the moun- tains, and it is a strange bird, for ft can sink down in the water and no man can see it come up again; it is of the tribe of Ka-ke heto, and is a demon. 241 242 TOTEM TALES. For a long time I sat by the foot of the Talking Pine, and smoked but did not speak, then the Wise One said, "What are j'our thoughts, T'solo, the wanderer, that yon sit down like Wah-wah-hoo, the frog, and say no word?" "I have thoughts of the carving that I saw once on a journey'. Wise One, the carving of the Bear Mother." "Do you know the tale, T'solo?" "No, Wise One, I have only looked on the carving, but from this sight I know the tale is a good tale. Do you know the story, Ka-ki-i- sil-mah, wisest of Pines?" "Yes, I know the tale." "Then speak. Wise One, and my ears are open." "Tt is the story of the Bear Mother, this way, T'solo: "There was once a woman who was the daughter of a groat chief, and who was very proud. "One time in the moon when little birds learn to fly, this woman wont with many other women of the tribe of T'hlingits, to gather shot-a-lilies, the huckleberries The Spotted Water Bird. INDIAN CARVING OF THE DEAR MOTHER. 248 THE BEAR MOTHER. 246 that grow in the woods, and which the Indians pat into cakes and dry for the time of Colesnass, the winter. "Hoots, the brown bear, came to 2"ather berries, too, and the women all made fun of him, because of his THE WOMEN MADE PUN OP HOOTS. heavy shape, and his slow ways, and the chiefs daugh- ter made more fun than any. "Now Hoots, the bear, got very angry and killed all of the women except the chiefs daughter, and her he carried aw .ly to his lodge and made her his wife. 246 TOTEM TALES. "For a long time Hoots, the bear, kept the chiefs daughter in his lodge, and she came to be like the bears, too, then a baby was born, and this baby grew to be the head chief of all the tribe of Hoots, the brown bear. "Then a party of the tribe of Thlingits came through the woods hunting for meat, and killed Hoots, the bear, whose eyes were old, and they were going to kill his wife, but she called out to them, and they saw that she was not a bear, but a woman, and they took her back to their lodges. "In time she told ^he tale and so everyone came to know it, and it was cut in the totem poles, and carv- ings were made that are carvings of the Bear Mother and the baby that was half man and half bear. "When she came back to the tribe of the T'hlingits, the woman married a man of the tribe, and they took the bear for their totem, and so from them came all the people that have the bear for their totem now. "So this is the story of the Bear Mother that you saw in the carving there on your journey, T'solo, the wanderer. "Now it is time for men to sleep, T'solo, and you must be in your lodge if you will see the sun come over the mountains in the morning." HOOTS CARRIED AWAY THE CHIEF'S DAUGHTER. 247 O a o o H 09 M U THE BEAR MOTHER. 261 So I left the Talking Pine and journeyed to my lodge across the Lake of the Mountains, and on the way I saw T'sing, the beaver, who struck the water twice with his tail to tell his tribe that a canoe was on the water, and then he sunk down to the bottom of the lake and ran to his lodge among the rushes and the white water flowers. w (In the Chinook Language.) lAH Ahn-n-n-cutty, mitlite Yelth, yahka klale kula-kula. Okeoke sia- wash mamuke konaway ictas sia- wash tieka, pe konce iskum konaway siawash mamuke, yahka klatawah spose klap cahr konaway siawash mit- lite skookum illahee. Hoots tumtum klosh, pe eomtox cahr hiyu skookum muckamuck ictas mitlite. Copo Yelth klatawah yahka tenas kula-kula, pe konce mesika klatawah siah, yahka tenas kula-kula nanage cahr yahka Hoots mamuke copo illahee pe wawa copo Yelth, 'Cahr mitlite yahka Hoots, yowah skookum illahee pe skookum muckamuck,' pe Yelth closh nanage copo (»keoko illahee. Okeoke skookum illahee, pe yowah Yolth lolo ict siawash. Konce chaco 252 HOOTS KNOWS WHERE3 GOOD BATING IS. 253 r . iTia'wfg a w w'*!''"* *"' ' "i -" ""- >"" ^i^:,^mm mmm YELTH AND THE BUTTERFLY. 255 copo ict ill.aheo kwonesum kabk-ivab, yowah lolo ict siawasli, pe wake lalie halo siawash mit.lite copo cultas illahoe. "Okeoke ict ictas Yelth mamukp siah ahn-n-n-cutty, pe yalika bias skookuni Tab-mah-na-wis kula-kula, iiab?" TKANSLATION OF YELTH AND THE BUTTEUFLY.* Long ago lived Yelth, the black bird. Ho made (or jjjot) all things that Indians want, and when he got all men made, he traveled (supposing) to find where all Indians could live (in a) good country. Hoots (the brown bear) knows (or has) good thoughts and knows where good eating is. With Yelth traveled the little butterfly, and when they (had) traveled far the butterfly saw where Hoots (the bear), (had) dug in the ground, and he said to *To read the translation verbatim as nearly as it is possible to Q^t* press it in EngUsb, leave out tbe words enclosed in pareDtbesiPi ir !» SS! T is« TOTEM TALES. Yelth, "Where lives Hoots, ther^ (is) good land and good eating" and Yeltli looked well on this land. That was (a) good lard and there Yelth carried one Siawash (tribe). Wnen (the}') came to one (more) land like this, then? he (Yelth) carried one (more) THEY SEARCHED FOR HOMES FOR THE TRIBES OP MEN. Siawash (tribe) and soon no Siawash-(es) lived in bad countries. This (is) one thing (that) Yelth did (a) long, long time ago, and he (is a) good magic (working) bird. Don't you think so? 1 \ IV^A^ ^ ^ ^^^ ^" "'-^ lodge by the Lake of >«^i ^l^p Moimtaius the wind called to me as it hurried by and said this message from the Talking Pine: "Come to-night, T'solo, the wan- derer, when the face of Sno-qualm shows over the snow of the moimtnins, for there is to be a Klale Tah-mah- na-wis, and it is to be here by my feet. . "It is a good sight and may not be seen again in the time of men, for Sqnintum, the white man, says the Klale Tah-mah-na-wis must stop, and Squintum is as the grass blades for numbers, while the red man is Aveaker each year, like a willow that can get no water." So said the Talking Pine by message brought by the wind. I sat and thought on this while the Chinoos burned, S87 258 TOTEM TALES. and when there was no more, I called to the wind and gave him this message for my friend, the Wise One: "Say to Ka-ki-i-sil-mah, the Wise One, who stands alone; say that T'solo, the wanderer, will come to- night when the face of Sno- (jualai makes liglit on the snow of the mountains, and we will see the sight of the Tah-mah-na-wls Wolf Mask. Klale Tah-nuili-na-wis. It is well, and now the grass dies for want of light, be- cause of your shadow on it." So then the wind went away and I waited for the face of Sno-qualm to come over the mountains. When the little night bird* without feat tiers began to fly after bugs and Polikely Kula- kula began to call for his wife from the limb of the dead pine, I got in the canoe and journeyed to where my Tah-mah-na-wls Wolf Mask. fl'iiMul slailds "You are in giKxl time," said the Wise One, "for I hear the sound of many paddles and soon the red men •The Bat, a Pi r > r a H > X I I > •3 >■ n a an 1 KLALE-TAH-MAH-NA-WIS. 261 will build the dancing fire, and we will see the magic dance, the Klale Tah-niah-na-wis, that is part a secret that nobody knows but the red men who are of the black magic totem." And so I sat and waited until the red men came. Soon many canoes were drawn up on the sand and many men came around in the open place by the teet of my friend, the Wise One. A fire was made and the smoke went up and hid the top of the Talking Pine with its blackness and the night was bright with firelight. Then many men sat where the light would shine on them and some went out in the darkness, and from these we soon heard a chant. "That is the song of Klale Tah-mah-na-wis, the Black Magic," said tlie Wise One, "and soon we will see the dance, for they are ready to begin." Then came a strange sight. One man came running up by the fire, then another, and still others, until there were as many as all the fingers of both hands and that many more, and some of them Avere very strange, for they were painted with bright paints and had no blankets on. Eut'b of these was led by another man who wore 262 TOTEM TALES. I Tah-mah-na-wis his robes and held a louj; slrinj; of skin and to this a painted man was tied. The painted men each wore a mask and made strange noises, so I said to the Wise One, "W'liy is tliis, and wliat does it mean, Wise One?" "It is Klale Tal»-mali-na-wis, the Bhick Magic, and eacli man who is ])ainted is to Mask. '^**' ^ '^'^*^ '•^ '^^ animal in the dance, and all will be made members of the clan of Rlack Magic before the dance is done, and that part we cannot see, for it is secret and no man may look npon it if he is not of the Black Magic clan too, so when this time comes you must get in your canoe and go to your lodge or the red men may kill you, for they re pelton with the dance, and do not know what they do." So said the Talking Pine. Now I looked close and; listened, and so I heard the! voice of Ki-ki, the blue jay, ^ ^'^*^'*\e land, and I have looked on strange men, Wise One, and I am weary. My paddle, Esick, is tired of traveling, and my canoe is heavy from being so long in the water. "I have seen many strange things, and have looked on strange totem poles, which I do not know the read- ing of. One of these I have here in the canoe. Wise One, and I will set it in your sight that you may read the tales that are cut upon it." Then I went to the canoe and carried the great to- 269 270 TOTEM TALES. tern pole up where the Wise One could look on the carvings and read the stories for me as I smoked. When the Wise Pine saw the carvings he said, "This came from some one who was a Uiada, and of the tribe of Hoots, the great brown bear, for he is carved at the top and is the totem of the owner of the house that this pole stood by. "This you may know because of the ears of the bear which are carved to look like the ears of Hoots, though the body is more of a man's body, and has hands and feet like a man. This is so because the Indians say that the great chief of the bears is a man who has the head of a bear, and so they carve him that way for the totem of the bear. "Now you see, the figure of Hoots, the bear, sits on three rings carved on the pole. This means that the man who owned this pole was rich and had given three feasts and dances to all the rest who w^ere of his tribe, and so you see it cut there that no man may forget it. "Below the rings I see the great Gray Eagle, and this carving means Tah-mah-na-wis and is good medicine for the owner and all his household and no man knows what it is but the owner. ''Then I see Yelth, the r^ven, and In bin mouth he THE QREAT TOTEI.M POLE, m I Hi 5 I! READING or THE TOTEM POLE. 273 holds tb ,' moon wliich Le stole from the eagle, his uucle, and he holds the dish of fresh water between his feet. Now this carving is the story I told you once here when the chinoos burned and Sno-qualm, the moon, climbed up the sky, and it is cut there that men may not forget the deeds of Yelth, who got these things for the use of men. "Under the carving of Yelth is the story of Touats, the hunter, and Hoots, the bear, cut in the pole, and by the feet of Touats are two otter heads to show who he is. This tale I told you, too, a long time ago, and now you see it carved in the totem pole of a man of the bear totem, Ix'cause all men of this totem know the story and it is cut there that their children may rem! it and not forget the tale. "Next is the carving of T'sing, the beaver, and this you may know by his teeth, for they are always cut like the teeth of T'sing. Now this is the totem of the man's wife who lived in the house, and it is cut there that the woman may not forget her own peo.ih', who are of the beaver totem, and so her children may know to what tribe their mother belonged. "So now, \Yanderer, you know the reading of the carved pole that you got in your journey, and I know by seeing it that you have been to the North, by the I III 274 TOTEM TALES. home of Colesnass, the winter, for this pole was carved by a man who was of the tribe of the lliadas, who live by the great water, far away toward the cold coun- try. Where did you get the pole. Wanderer?" "I was on my journey in the canoe, Wise One, and as THE LODGE OF TIIE DEAD MAN. T paddled along by an island in the great water that i8 far «way toward the cold country of the North, I S!aw thin |M>1<' standing among the pines. T went to the shore, for I had thoughts that there wer^ people near it and I went there. if' I td o I a c 3 £ o O >• '^ o 275 i 11 READING OF THE TOTEM POLE. 277 "There was the pole and a lodge that the wind and the rain had torn and broken, so no one could live there, but there were no people. "Then T read the signs, and this I found: There had been a family living here by the pole, and they had built this lodge. There was a man and his wife and one small child who had lived in the lodge, but who were dead, memaloose, for I saw their bones there, all white in the sun, because they had journeyed to the land of the Stickeen many moons ago. There was a canoe there, all split by the sun so that small pines grew up through the cracks, and on the head of the canoe was cut the totem of Hoots, the bear, so I knew that it was a man of the bear clan who had built the lodge. "I knew that the man was rich, because many blank- ets and many robes were piled up in the lodge, but they were rotten from the wet. As I read the signs and walked around I found this medicine rattle hung up in the lodge, and it is carved with things that I do not know, so I will leave it in your sight that you may know what is cut on it and tell me when I come again. "Then I went to this totem pole, and put my hand against it and it fell down, for it was so old that the 178 TOTEM TALES. wet had rotted it at the ground and made it ready to break. "When it fell I carried it to the canoe and brought it here that we might read the story of the man whose bones were there in the sun, and who had been dead for many moons, for his bones were white like the arms of a dead pine." "You are good in read- ing signs, T'solo, and have told the story of the THIS IS THE TALR. ^^pj^^J ^^ ^ ^ Your eyes are keen and you sec small things. Go now to your lodge and come again on another night, and then I will read the carvings on the medicine rattle, for they tell strange things." READING OP THE TOTEM POLE. 279 So then I put the great totem pole back in th'? canoe and went across the Lake of the Mountains to my lodge, and there I set the carved pole in the ground, as it stood by the lodge of the dead man in the coun- try of the lliadas, far to the North. u T IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 12.8 3.2 I4£ '^ m 1.4 IIM 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation £: ,\ ^> V % .V . <3 \ 6^ .<^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 i W ^ "^^ % ^ i/l '^ % I 3 <\ 6^ (^1^\/'/^^ OP T.^ IJEN I went again to the Talking Pine he told me the story of the carving on the medicine rattle that I brought from the lodge of the dead man in the Iliada country, where I got the great totem pole that stands by my lodge. This the Wise One said of the rattle: "This rattle is of the Mid-win-nie clan, T'solo, and so I know that the dead man whose bones you saw was of the medicine clan, for no other can use a rattle like this, and it is for driving away Skall-lal-a-toots from the medicine lodge, and has many totems cut on it. "Tills one at the end is the head of Yelth, the raven, and you see the stick in his mouth that he us id to carry the fire on to the lodges of men, as I told you a long time ago. The head of Yelth is cut on the rattle, 280 i u I fl a D n CARVING OF THE MEDICINE RATTLE. 283 because it is a sign of good, and is a good totem. "The breast of Yelth is made like tlie breast of the sparrow hawk, and the head of the sparrow hawk is where the tail of Yelth should be, and in the hawk's mouth is a carving of Wah-wah-hoo, the frog. "Now that is because the hawk is a medicine bird, and it carries Wah-wah-hoo, the frog, to the medicine men so they may get medicine for working evil from the head of the frog, because he had evil thoughts when he was changed from Wah- wah-hoo, the man, to the shape of the frog, and now these evil thoughts are still in the head of the frog, in the shape of medicine, which those of the Mid-win-nie clan take for the working of evil spells. "On the top of the l-attle I see Ka-ke-hete, Medicine the chief of demons, and a girl who is in the ^*"*^- form of Ki-ki, the blue jay. "Now you see there is a frog again going from the mouth of Ka-ke-hete to the mouth of the girl, and this means that Ka-ke-hete is talking a lie to the girl and it is a lie abort the blue jay, Ki-ki, and means evil for the girl to be seen listening to the talk of Ka-ke- hete, for he is the chief of demons. "The whole rattle is the carving of the raven, Yelth, 284 TOTEM TALES. who is the totem of all the Hiada tribes, and is for good medicine, and you must hang it to your lodge pole for a charm against evil things. "That is the reading of the medicine rattle, T'solo." So when the Wise One was finished I took the rattle and went to my lodge across the Lake of the Moun- tains, and hung it there for a charm against evil spir- its that travel in the niuht. i^t'^^^^t^m The ThU/h^ER^K- HEN the canoe grated on the sand and I came up from the Lake of the Mountains the next time, the great Talking Pine was silent until I spoke. "Do you sleep, Wise One?" I asked as I took ray accustomed seat ready to listen to the tales. "A-he, Snugwillimie T'solo," he answered, "I sleep the sleep of the old, for I am weary of the dancing and of play. To-night the sky is clouded and the water is black with shadows so that you cannot see the mountains that the Skall-lal-a-toots paint, for they paint only when there is red in the sky at evening, and when there is blue in the sky in day. "To-night is a night of rain, and soon Skamson, the great thunderbird, will flap his wings and then you 285 286 TOTEM TALES. will hear Tootah, the thunder, sing his war song, and you will see Chethl, the lightning, who is the glance of the thunderbird's eye. "Tell me of the thunderbird, Skamson, and of his deeds. Wise One, for this I do not know, and have heard only the story of how he was born there by the great river. "It is a good night for the tale of Skamson, and I will tell you of him, T'solo, the wanderer, if you listen well. It is like this: "You know the tale of how he came to be, so of that I will not speak, but will only tell of his deeds as they were told to me by S'doaks, the Twana medicine man. "Now Skamson, the thunderbird, is a man who is in the shape of a bird, and is the keeper of Chethl, the Indian Drawing of Slcamson. \ I ! THB FLIGHT OF SKAMSON. 287 SKAM-SON, THE THUNDERER. 289 lightning, and the keeper of the medicine plants, for he makes the rain and so makes all the medicine plants to grow. "Skamson eats nothing but whales, and these he does not have near his home, which is on top of a high mountain, where he sits wrapped in his robe of clouds. "Because he eats whales he must go to the great water to get them when he is hungry, and that is why we have rain, this way: "When Skamson feels hunger then he makes magic and many clouds come in the sky, so that Skamson may fly to the great water behind them and not be seen by men. "By and by the clouds cover all tne sky, had when the thunderbird, Skamson, starts on his journey and Indian Drawing of Skamson, 290 TOTEM TALES. flies like a bird, witli liis eyes looking straight ahead and his great wings flapping, then yon hear the war song of Tootah, the thnnder, for that is the flapping of the wings of Skamson. * "Sometime.4 as he tmvelw io the great water Skamson looks down through the clouds and Chethl, the lightning, throws; a piece of fire down to the ground to make a hole in the clouds, so that Skam- son may see through, for Chethl is keep- Indiaii drawing of er of the eyes of Skamson, the thun- skamson. derbirdy and lives in the head of Skamson. "When the thunderbird gets to the great water and sees a whale, then Chethl throws fire down again and I /K kills it for food for Skamson, and sometimes this fire hits a man by mistake and kills him, as it does the whale. "After the whale is dead then Skamson takes it with his feet and flies to a high mountain to eat it, and then the rain does not fall any more, and Tootah, the thunder, is still. "Now there is an island in the great water far to the North, in the country of the Haidas, and on this island Indian drawing of Slianison. SKAM-«ON, THE THUNDERER. 291 «i \ is a hi}»'h nKmntuin and there ar<» many boiuv, there, for that is the phiee where SUanisou lias eai ii many whales. "Skamson is a very large bird- man, fox an Indian of the Twana tribe saw him rest on a high moun- Ji tain once, and this Indian tied one y^ \^^\ of the feathers of Skamson's wing J ^. to a tree, so that when the great y \ thunderbird flew away the feadiermdian arawing of skamson. was pulled out, and when it laid on the ground it was the length of fifty canoes, and so it was very large. "This feather was made into medicine and is in the medicine bags of the tribe of theTwanas to this |n day, for it is strong medicine and works aV^ good. "Skamson, the thunderbird, is a great trav- eler, and so the men who live across the moun- tains by the land of Squintum, the white man, know of his deeds, too, and have him pictured on the robes in the medicine lodge of many tribes, and these picture robes you may see among many tribes, even so far a.' five great lakes that stand close together in the country of Squin- tum, the white man, and where now no Indians live. War Club. ^|) 292 TOTEM TALES. in because of the white man, who lives all over the land there by the lakes. "But one time long ago many tribes lived by these lakes before Squintum came, and these tribes all knew of Skamson and had his picture painted on the robes. f^J^>r WHERE THE WHITE MEN LIVE BY THE LAKE. "Here the Indians cut the carving of Skamson on their war clubs to give them luck in hunting, because he is a Tah-mah-na-wis spirit, and they cut the carv- ing on the canoe stem that it may find good fishing SKAM-SON, THE THUNDERER. for them, and they paint it on their h)dges, and tat- too it on their arms, because of its magic. "And this, then, is the tale of Skamson, the great thunderbird, as it was told to me by S'doaks, the medicine man. "Now it is time to journey to your lodge, T'solo, the wanderer, for Skamson has started on his way to the great water, and soon the rain will fall, and I hear the war song of Too-tah, the thunder. X \ > ]\ "You must have good eyes to see y^ \ / y\, Indian drawing of Skamson. Indian drawing of Skamson. to-night, T'solo, else you will miss your way across the Lake of the Mountains, for darkness hangs thick over the water. "Now Klook-wah, tillicum, and come again, for I must sing the rain song and dance the wind dance, and have no time for talk." So then I left the Wise One, and journeyed to my lodge across the Lake of the Mountains, and as the door curtain fell behind me, I heard the war song of Too-tah, the thunder, and then rain began to faU. Indian drawing of Skamson. -GAMBLE ^^ S I sat in tlie door of my lodge by the ^Jk Lake of the Mountains, I looked ^r^l toward the great Talking Pine, and ■ saw the light of a fire flare up, and * make his great limbs shine in the dark, so that I wondered what was happening there. Soon I heard voices, faint and far away, as they came over the lake, and these voices were the voices of men who sang a wild chant which I could not hear the words of. After I sat and listened for some time I got Esick, the paddle, and went down to the canoe, for I wondered what deeds were being done there by the foot of Kp-ki-i-sil-mah, the Wise One. Slowly I paddled along, and by and bj'e the canoe went softly against the yellow sand, and I left it there while I went up to see why the fire burned. 294 THE SING-GAMBLE. 295 "Kla-how-ya, T'solo, the wanderer," said the Wise One, "you come at a good time, for now you will see the gamblers, and hear the song that gamblers sing, and it is a wild song to hear, for the men play a wild game to-night. Sit niiere you can see, and watch these red men play away their belongings, for they are crazy with the gambler's craze and will not stop until they have lost all they own." So then I sat still and watched the game and the gamblers until Sno-qualm, the moon, made short shad- ows, and these things I saw there: A fire had been built to give light for the game, an! on each side of it were six men, who sang a wild chant and beat with sticks on a hollow drum log. One man had two short sticks that could be cov- ered by your hand, and all the bark had been peeled from one, while a ring of green had been left around the center of the other. These were gamble sticks, and the game was to guess which hand held the ring stick. Each side had ten short sticks of cedar, which lay on the ground in front of them, and besides these three long sticks had been cut for keeping the count. When they were ready to play, then one man took the two gamble sticks, one in each hand, and covered them so no one could see them, then he swung his 296 TOTEM TALES. hands crosswise before him, as he knelt there by the fire, and changed the sticljs quickly from one hand to the other. Soon one of the other side thought he knew which hand held the ring stick, and he made a motion to that side. Then the gamble song stopped and the man who held the gamble sticks put both hands out in front, and opened them wide ti^ show both sticks. The guesser had missed, and so he threw across to the other side one of the short sticks of cedar, which was one count, and the winners -^tuck this stick in the ground to show their count of points. Then the game began over, and the gamble chant was sung again like this: "A-ah-o-lilly-ahn-ah-ha! A-ah-o-lilly-ahn-ah- ha!" Then, when one thought he knew which liand held the ring stick again, he made a motion and the sticks were shown as before. This time he guessed it, and so the man who had held the sticks threw a count stick OA'er to the one who had guessed right, and then threw the gamble sticks across too, and his side became the Gamble Sticks. THE SING-GAMBLE. 297 guessers until they wou and got the gamble sticks back again. For a long time they did this way, and when one side had got ten of the count sticks stuck in the ground they took them all down and put a large one up, to MADE A MOTION TO THAT SIDE. mean ten counts, and when one side got three of these larger count sticks up they won the game and took all the things that the gamble was for, and left the others who had lost them. These things I saw the winners take away with TOTEM TALES. them: Three canoes, a white man's watch that can tell the time, some good blankets, some pieces of T'kope chicka-min, that the white man, Squintum, calls dollars, and some robes and moccasins, and these were lost by the other side in the play of the sing-gamble. "You have seen the gamblers and heard their song, T'solo, the wanderer, and now listen: "These men think to get something for nothing, and that no man may do honestly, and he who does this has in his mind Ka-ke-hete, the chief of demons, and he is evil, or he is pelton, not right in his thoughts, and so is not a good man to know. Remember, T'solo, what you have seen to-night, and do not sit by the sing-gam- ble fire and listen to the sing-gamble song, lest it be- witch you and you get hungry for gold, like Squin- tum, the white man, across the mountains, who is never satisfied, and always cries for more gold. "It is better to know of good hunting, and where many salmon swim, and to have wisdom in the ways of medicine and of magic, than it is to know too much of the ways of Squintum, the white man, who is like the gamblers you saw to-night, in his thoughts." The fire had burned low and red and I sat there looking into it, and thinking heavy thoughts on the words of the Talking Pine, and as I thought it came [t can jes of I, calls were |ble. song, A THE FIRE HAD BURNED LOW. THE SING-GAMBLE. 301 into my mind that the Pine was old, and had much wisdom, and that his words were heavy words, spoken with a single, straight tongue, so I said, "It is well, Wise One, and your words are good words to remem- ber, and from this time I will look on the sing-gamble no more lest I get hungry for the gold, like the white man, Squintum, and so let Ka-ke-hete come into my mind. And now I would sleep, and will go to my lodge. Klook-wah, Wise One." And so I got in the canoe and crossed back to my lodge again, and left the fire to burn out. OULD you know of tuc Tah-mali-na- wis of S'doaks, T'solo?" aske/1 the Talking Pine, as I lighted my pipe and sat down at his feet to hear the tales. "Tell the story, Wise One, for I would know of S'doaks and of the tribe of the Twanas," I answered. And then the Wise One, Ka-ki-i-sil-mah, the great Talking Pine, told me this tale: "When the great medicine man, S'doaks, the son of Yelth, the raven, was only a small lad, he was a good trailer and a good hunter, and was very wise for one so young. "His eyes were keen and his mind wao clear to tell what he saw, and his judgment was the judgment of a man full grown. 302 ! THE TAH-MAH-NA-WIS OF S'DOAKS. 808 'TNTow in the tribe of tlie Twaiias tliere was an old Mid-win-nie man who was very wise, and who was Itswoot, the bear, and whose nose was keen to smell tliinj;s out, and this man saw S'doaks and saw his wisdom. "So one time at the council, Itswoot, the bear, said to Yelth, the father of S'doaks, l>ly originated with one of the Columbia River tribes who were called Chinook Indians. Sah-ha-le (Sah-hay-le). — Chinook word meaning up above. Used in connection with Tah-raah-na-wis to mean the Deity. S'amumpsh (S'mum-psh). — Name of a river in the State of Wash- ington called Sam-mam-ish, by the whites. From the Allied Tribes. P'doaks (S'ss-doaks). — Hiada language. A man's name. Shot-o-lil-ie (Shot-o-lily).— Chinook word. Name of the Huckle- berry. Siah (Si-ah).— Chinook word. Far away, a long distance. "Slab Ahncutty," a long timf. ago; "Siah yowah, away over there. Siah-ahncutty (Siah-ahn-cutty).— Chinook jargon meaning in the time past. licngth of time is indicated by drawing out the 322 TOTEM TALES. . \ words £,llgh*ly for a week or so ago, longer for two or three months, and very long for the time before men can remember. Siawash (Si- wash).— A name among the whites applied to any In- dian of the west coast irrespective of his tribe. Generally meaning the canoe Indians of Puget Sound and the islands of the Northwest. Skall-lal-aye (Skall-lal-a).— Allied tribes. A name for any charm against the Skall-lal-a-toots or fairy folk. Skailalatoot (Skal-lal-a-toot). — A fairy. The unseen and unknot u causes that produce strange noises in the woods. Night voices of unknown origin. The makers of mischief. Originated with one of the six tribes who combined under Chief Sealth, or Seattle as the whites pronounce it. These allied tribes were the Moxliepush, D'wampsch, Black River, Shillshole, Lake and T'suc-cuc-cub, the latter being the tribe to which Sealth properly belongeu. Many words contained in "Totem Tales" are from this group of dialects and are spokeii c* as the Allied Tribes when mentioned. Skamson (Skam-sun). — Hiada language. Name of the Thunder- biid. This mythical character is also called Ka-ka-itch, Tu- tutsh, T'hlu-Kluts and Hah-ness, each being a different tribal name for the same personage. Sko-ko-mish (Sko-ko-msh).— Name of a river emptying into Hood's Canal, Wash.; also name of the Twana tribe of Indians living on its banks and who belong to the Selish or flathead group or family of North American aborigines. Skoolt-ka (Skule-t-kah).- -Woman's name from the Hiada lan- guage. Snoqualm (Snow-quallm).— The moon. Originated probably with the Snoqualmie tribe. Snugwillimie (Snug-will-li-mie).— Quinault language. Used to mean friend, but used by an Indian only to mean an Inoian friend, a white friend being eithar "Tillacum" or "Squintrm." Spe-ow (Spee-ow). — A mythical personage whose deeds as told in the legends make hi^ occupy the position of a Creator. Lep- • end of Speow and the Spider is very common among the co? f tribes of the Northwe.st, and "an he obtained wilh slight varia- tions from a dozen or more different sources. VOCABULARY AND HISTORICAL APPEMDIX. 323 Spud-te-dock (Spudt-tea-dock).— Twana tribe. A protecting spirit wlio was sometimes represented or personified by a wooden image that was set up in the ground by the medicine man and by him appealed to for v»'.3dom in deep questions. This is the nearest approach to an idol that can be traced among the coast tribes, and while the figure was consulted for knowledge it can hardly be said that this was done in a religious way, but more after the form of voo-doo-ism, the conjure work that is found among all savage tribes. This spirit was merely made in efllgy and this figure consulted and argued with to give the medicine man knowledge of secrets that he was in- terested in. Squinlum (Squind-tum).— A white man. Word of unknown ori- gin. Probably from the Allied Tribes, though «-, may be of Quinault origin. Stickeen (Stick-keen).— The country where tile dead people live again. Origin unknown. Sweat Lodge.— A lodge built for the purpose of taking a sweat or a steam bath. This is done by heating stones and dropp.. g them into a wooden trough containing water until steam is generated and th^ one who is taking the bath perspires freely. It is the Indian turkish bath and is used a great deal in sick- ness among them. Tah-mah-na-wis (Taw-maw-na-wiss).— A name applied to anythiBg the Indians cannot understand. A protecting or guardian spirit if used another way. Any thing of a magic nature. Name of the Deity. A Tah-mah-na-wi i man is a doctor, priest, conjurer, and fortune- ifc'ler, a dealej in magic and a maker and destroyer of charms "or good md evil, all in the same personage. "Sah-ha-le Tah-mah-na-wis," the Great Spirit; "Yah-ka Tah-mah-na-wis," a personal guardian spirit; "Tah-mah-na-wis ictas," objects of magic or containing magic properties. "Klale Tah-mah-na-wis," the name of the secret society of Black Magic. Anything too deep for the grasp of the Indian mind is charged to "Tah-mah-na-wis," and ends there, no attempt being made to find out "why." 324 TOTEM TALES. T'hlingits (Thling-gits).— Name of a tribe of Ind^.ans north of Puget Sound. Ti^rritory they occupy runs into tlie Panhandle of Alaska. Tillacum (TiU-ia; —Chinook word for friend. Tipsu koshoo (Tip-. o-sho). — Chinook word meaning water pig, applied to the hair or harbor seal. T'komah (Ti-ko-ma).— A name from the allied tribes applied to any high snow covered peak. Adopted by the whites and used to mean Mount Ranier, called by some people erroneously as Mt. Tacoma. The Indian name for this mountain means "the one that feeds." T'kope-mowitch (To-kope-mow-wltch). — The Chinook word mean- ing white goat or white deer. T'kope (Ti-kope).— White. Chinook word for the color. "T'kope kula-kula," the sea gull. Too-lux (Tu-Iux).— Name of the south wind. Tribal origin not known. Word belongs to some one of the Selish dialects. Too-muck (Too-muck). — A name applied to all the demons of In- dian mythology. Chinook word. Too-tah (Too-taw). — Name of the thunder. Origin unknown. Totem (Totem). — A charm against evil. — A protector. This word is found in universal use among all Indian tribes of Central North America and means the same with all. Origin unknown. Totem Pole.— A carved pole of yellow or Alaska cedar, usually. In no sense an idol. The figures on these poles are symbolic and rarely intended as a portrait of the object represented, though they always have some feature that makes their identity plain, as the ears in the figure for the bear, the teeth in the beaver, the tail in the shark and the whale, the teeth and nose in the wolf, etc. The carvings are family history, tribal history, legendary lore and records of various happenings of a far- reaching character. The carving is done by a few carvers in each tribe, the Hiadas being the most expert and the most lavish in designing. Some of these poles are very large and cost a great deal of time and patience in the manufacture, and are priceless in the estimation of their owners. There are still many things connected with them that are wholly unknown VOCABULARY AND HISTORICAL APPENDIX. 325 to the whites and which will likely always remain more or less of a mystery. Close connection and resemblance has been found to exist among the carvings of the totem pole, the monoliths of Yucatan, and the Egyptian stone records, and some points have even been found in common with the idols of the Sandwich Islands and the fetishes among the savages of Africa. All of these things belong more or less to the dark ages before man kept a record of events, and will go down the path of time as profound a mystery as when they first dawned on the horizon of thought and came within the realm of the scholar. They will always be silent records of a vanished people. Touats (Tow-at-ss).— Hiada language. A man's name. The name of the mythical hunter who figures in the story of the "Huiiter and the Bear." T'schumin (Ti-schum-min).— The instrument used in making ca- noes. Name from the allied tribes. T'set-la-lits (Tee-set-see-lay-litz).— From the T'suc-cuc-cub dia- lect and first used to designate the first settlement on the shore of Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Wash., the site of the pres- ent city of Seattle. T'set-shin (Ti-set-shin).— The snake. Origin unknown, but prob- ably from the allied tribes. T'sing (T'sd-sing). — Hiada word. The name of the beaver. T'solo (T'ss-solo). — Prom the allied tribes, meaning lost one, wild, wanderer. Tumchuck (Tum-chuck).— Chinook word, meaning falling water. Applied to any water fall or white rapid in a river. Also name of a swift mountain stream in State of Washington. Twana (T-wan-nab). — Name of a tribe of the Selish family of In- dians living on the Sko-ko-mish River. Also called Sko-ko- mish Indians. Tyee (Tie-ee). — From the Chinook jargon. A chief or head man of a tribe or family. T'zura (T'ss-zum). — Chinook word meaning any object that is painted, printed, written or otherwise marked with color, thus "T'zum-pish." a spotted fish, the trout; "T'zum-papah," a printed or written paper; "T'zum-sail," a painted picture. TOTEM TALES. Wah-wah-hoo (Wah-wah-who).— The frog. Origin unknown, but probably from the Snoqualmie tribe. Wee-nat-chee (We-natch-chee).— The rainbow. This name origi- nates east of the Cascade range of mountains, but with what particular tribe is unknown. Probably with the Yahkimahs. * Wee-wye-kee (Wee-why-key). — The Indian name of Princess An- geline, one of the daughters of Chief Sealth and a member of the T'suc-cuc-cub tribe who lived around Elliott Bay, Wash. Yelth (Yelth).— From the Hiada tribe who live on Queen Char- lotte's Island, B. C. The name for the raven, who is one of the mythical characters with this tribe and considered the benefactor of man. NOTE.— Where the letter T' is followed by the apostrophe, as above, the sound of the T is "tiss," as nearly as it can be written, thus makir^ a syllable of itself, as Tiss-so-low, for T'solo. There are many sounds in the Indian tongues that English ha3 no equivalent for, so they must be represented by the EngMsh sound or letter coming nearest. * This character has died since the writing of the above, and leaves many mourners among the early settlers of Puget Sound. She was a noted character and the mascot of the city of Seattle, because in early days she was instrumental in saving the city from Indian massacre. See History of the State of Washington. i