Traditions of the L!a'L!asiqwEla.
(Recorded by George Hunt.)
Now I will tell you a story about the ancestors of Those-who-throw-away, a clan of the Sea-Dwellers. It is said that the village of the ancestors of Those-who-throwaway was at River-in-Front. Their chief was Raven-Sound-in-House, and his princess was Hâ'da-Woman; and he had for his attendants Smell-of-Canoe and Staying-in-Canoe, and Expert-Canoe-Calker; and Hâ'da-Woman and Winter-Dance-Woman were friends.
They would all the time walk down to the beach at the other side of the point of the village. Hâ'da-Woman had two dogs; and she had a grandmother, an old woman. Chief Raven-Sound-in-House was really proud; and his tribe were happy on account of the number of the tribe; and it is said Hâ'da-Woman and Winter-Dance-Woman did not follow their tribe when they invited one another. One fine day when it was low water, Winter-Dance-Woman asked Hâ'da-Woman to go to the other side of the point of the village. Hâ'da-Woman got ready at once, and the friends went down to the beach. They were going to dig clams on the beach. Winter-Dance-Woman went ahead, and Hâ'da-Woman followed her.
Now, Winter-Dance-Woman saw some sea-urchins, and
she picked up four of them. When she had just taken the four sea-urchins, Hâ'da-Woman came up to her. Then Winter-Dance-Woman spoke, and said, "O Hâ'da-Woman! Now do eat these sea-eggs, for they are really good." Thus she said to her. Hâ'da-Woman replied to her, and said, "O Winter-Dance-Woman! Don't say that, for I do not wish to be seen eating sea-eggs." Thus she said to her. Then Winter-Dance-Woman spoke again, and said, "Oh, I am not going to talk about you, for you really desire to eat the sea-eggs." Thus she said to her.
Then Hâ'da-Woman believed what the one who was wiser than she said. She broke the sea-eggs and ate them. Winter-Dance-Woman was just watching her. After she had eaten two, Winter-Dance-Woman spoke, and said, "K*âx, k*âx, k*âx, she is eating on the rocks, she is eating on the rocks, she is eating on the rocks, the princess of Raven-Sound-in-House!" Thus she said. Hâ'da-Woman tried to forbid her to act in this manner; but she only shouted louder, saying "K*âx, k*âx, k*âx, she is eating on the rocks, she is eating on the rocks, she is eating on the rocks, this princess of Raven-Sound-in-House!" Hâ'da-Woman tried in vain to take her four arm-rings, and said, "O Winter-Dance-Woman! I will pay you with these my four arm-rings if you will not talk about my eating sea-eggs." Thus she said to her. Winter-Dance-Woman just went up a small hill, turned towards the village, and said again, "K*âx, k*âx, k*âx, mâ'wawô, mâ'wawô, mâ'wawô, she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks, she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks, she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks, this princess of Raven-Sound-in-House!" Thus she said.
Now she was heard by the people in the village, and the tribe understood her. Then Winter-Dance-Woman ran and went home; and as soon as she arrived at the house of Raven-Sound-in-House, she said to him, "K*âx, k*âx, k*âx, mâ'wawô, mâ'wawô, mâ'wawô; she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks, she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks, she is eating sea-eggs on the rocks the princess of Raven-Sound-in-House!" Then Raven-Sound-in-House spoke, and said, "Let us move, let us move, let us move, let us move, you, my younger brothers;" and at once his tribe pulled down the roof-boards of their houses, and they loaded them on their canoes; and as soon as they were all on board, Raven-Sound-in-House put out the fires in the houses, and they started. They were going to a good beach, the name of which is Kelp-Place.
Now they said that Raven-Sound-in-House did not know that his mother had gone and buried a burning slow-match (made of) fern-root. The old woman had put it into a clam-shell.
Raven-Sound-in-House and his tribe began to build houses at Kelp-Place. In the evening Hâ'da-Woman, with her two dogs, came home. Then she saw that the village site was quite bare (without a house). Then she gathered together old mats to make a roof for her little house. She was hard up for something to start a fire, for all the fires on the ground were extinguished, and her dogs were hungry. Then they scratched the old fireplaces, and there it is said one of the dogs found buried under the floor of the house a burning slow-match made of fern-root. Hâ'da-Woman took it at once, and she started a fire with it. Now she began to have a
fire in this manner. Then she worked at her house, and she also went to dig shell-fish for her food.
When she had finished, she felt downcast. Her two dogs were lying down on the ground, and Hâ'da-Woman tried to speak to them. She said, "Oh, you dog, I wish you were a man, that I might send you for what I want to get, I mean cedar-twigs to make a fish-trap." Then the dog spoke. "What do you think I am? Am I not a man? Will I not go and get them?" Thus he said to her. Then, it is said, the dog went out of the house, and Hâ'da-Woman spoke to the other dog. She said to him, "O dog! I wish you were a man, that I might send you to go and get spruce-root to tie my fish-trap that I am going to make." Thus she said. Immediately the dog answered, and said, "Oh, what do you think I am? Am I not a man?" Thus he said, and went out of the house.
It was not long before the two dogs came and entered the house, carrying on their backs cedar-twigs and the spruce-roots which they had gone to get, and they put them down on the floor of the house. Immediately Hâ'da-Woman took the cedar-twigs and put them on the fire, and she took the tongs and stripped the bark off the cedar-twigs. As soon as the bark of the twigs was off, she split the spruce-roots; and when the roots were split, she at once wove a basket. She made a fish-trap. It did not take long before she had finished two fish-traps; and she plaited a rope out of the bark of the cedar-twigs for an anchor-line for her fish-traps.
Now it was evening; and in the morning, when day came again, she arose early. Immediately Hâ'da-Woman carried the two fish-traps in her hands. She carried them down to the rocks. She was going to the point of land. Then she sent the two dogs to go and get some mussels. The speaking dogs went at once, and it was not long before the dogs came back, bringing many mussels. Hâ'da-Woman took the mussels at once and broke them to pieces, and threw them into the fish-traps. Then she threw one of the traps into the water; and she said, "I want to obtain Wealthiest in this trap." Thus said Hâ'da-Woman. Then she took the other fish-trap and threw it into the water, and said, "O fish-trap! I want you to catch the prince of Wealthiest." Thus she said. The fish-traps had not been under water long when she pulled them up again. They were really full of kelp-fish. Then Hâ'da-Woman spoke, and said, "Why did you come, for, working on this rock I did not want to catch you. I am trying to catch Wealthiest on this rock." Thus she said, while she poured the kelp-fish out on the rock.
Then she again threw the fish-trap into the water, and said, "Now you will catch Wealthiest." Thus she said to it. Then she pulled up also the other fish-trap, and it is said it was full of really large kelp-fish; and Hâ'da-Woman at once said what she had said before. Then she also said, "O you! I don't want to catch you, working on this rock. I want to catch the prince of Wealthiest on this rock." Thus she said. Then she poured them
out on the rock. Then she threw the fish-trap again into the water, and said, "That is what I wish for. It is that you catch Wealthiest." Thus she said to it.
Then she pulled up the basket-trap again, and it was full of kelp-fish. Then Hâ'da-Woman said, "O you! I am not working for you on this rock. I am trying to catch the prince of Wealthiest on the rock." Thus she said while she poured them out. Then she threw the fish-trap into the water again, and again she pulled it up. Then she saw a really handsome man sitting in the fish-trap; and a little small box was at one end in the fish-trap, and a little house was put down in the other corner of the fish-trap. As soon as Hâ'da-Woman saw the handsome man, she spoke, and said to him, "Are you Wealthiest, whom I am trying to catch in my fish-trap?" Thus she said to him. The handsome man replied to her at once, and said on his part, "O you! I am the prince of Chief Wealthiest. I will have you for my wife." Thus he said to her. Hâ'da-Woman spoke at once, and said, "Thank you, my dear! I am poor now. Come, and let us go up from the beach." Thus she said.
Then the handsome man took the little box and the little house out of the fish-trap, and he carried them. The name of the place where Hâ'da-Woman caught the prince of Wealthiest is Having-Fish-Traps. As soon as the handsome man came up to the high-water mark, he put down his little box, and he took off the cover of the box, and he took out of it a little small whale, and he put it down at the foot of the bushes; and he took out another whale also; and as soon as he had put it down
on the beach, the two whales became large. Then the handsome man spoke, and said, "This food is given to me by my father." Thus he said to her. Then Hâ'da-Woman spoke, and said, "Oh, my dear, welcome! Let us go to my house." Thus she said to him. Then they went up from the beach, and they entered the house covered with old mats. As soon as he saw the house of Hâ'da-Woman, he spoke, and said, "Let us go and clear from bushes (a place) ten fathoms in length and ten fathoms in breadth." Thus he said to her, and went out of the house made of old mats. Then Hâ'da-Woman and the handsome man began to work together; and it did not take them long before they finished working. Then the handsome man took the small house and put it down on the ground in the middle of [their work] the place they had cleared. As soon as he had put the small house on the ground, it became large, and the large house had a snapping door. Then he took (out of the box) all kinds of things to eat, and grease-dishes.
Then his house was finished, and the prince of Wealthiest really had Hâ'da-Woman for his wife. As soon as they were husband and wife, Hâ'da-Woman spoke to her two dogs in the evening. She said, "Go on, howl! and this is what you shall say. 'Howl! for the tribe of this my mother.' Thus you will say," she said to them. Immediately the dogs howled. Then night came; and in the morning, when day came, Hâ'da-Woman heard the sound as though
really many people were talking. Then she arose and went out of her house. As soon as she had gone out of the door of her house, she saw four large houses north of her house; and she turned her face southward from the house, and she saw four large houses. They were really full of men and their wives. The house of Hâ'da-Woman was in the middle of the village. Hâ'da-Woman did not know where these many tribes came from. Immediately the many tribes felt happy. They visited each other, and they began to carve the two large whales. The many tribes treated the prince of Wealthiest as their chief.
When Hâ'da-Woman had carved the whales, she saw a sea-gull woman flying along, and Hâ'da-Woman spoke to her while she was flying, saying, "O Daylight-Receptacle! I wish you were a person, that I might send something on your back to my grandmother." Thus she said to her. Immediately the Sea-Gull-Woman replied, and said to her, "Am I not a person? Go on, and send something [to me] on my back." Thus said Daylight-Receptacle to her. Hâ'da-Woman at once made a package of whale-blubber, and hung it on the back of Daylight-Receptacle; and Hâ'da-Woman said to her, "O Daylight-Receptacle! I send this blubber to the old woman who will be seen by you crying on the beach. Then report to her that I am well, and also that I have this Copper-Maker for my husband." Thus she said to her.
Then Daylight-Receptacle flew away, and went northward to River-in-Front. It was not long before she saw an old woman mending her blanket, and she was crying. Then Daylight-Receptacle sat down by her side, and repeated the word (that was sent) to the old woman; and she gave the blubber to her. The old woman began to eat of the package at once.
Some of the grandchildren of Raven-Sound-in-House were playing on the beach at the place where the old woman was sitting. At this place the children saw her biting a piece of what was sent to her. Then the old woman was asked by the children what she was doing, for the old woman was chewing something after she had bitten the blanket that she was mending. The old woman just went home to the house of Raven-Sound-in-House, and she just sat down in a corner of the house, for the tribe of Raven-Sound-in-House were really hungry. Then the old woman was watched by the children while she put the end of the blubber through the blanket she was mending. She pretended to bite what she was mending. Then the children saw that the old woman was chewing some food, and they went and told Raven-Sound-in-House. Raven-Sound-in-House went at once and questioned the old woman. Then the old woman got really angry at Raven-Sound-in-House, and she threw the blubber at him. Then Raven-Sound-in-House said, "Ah! where did you get this piece of blubber?" Thus he said to her. Then the old woman spoke, and said, "Oh, you ugly one! The sea at the place where Hâ'da-Woman stays smells (of blubber); and it is said that she has Copper-Maker,
the prince of Wealthiest, for her husband." Thus she said to him.
Raven-Sound-in-House at once made a request of his three attendants, Smell-of-Canoe, Staying-in-Canoe, and Expert-Canoe-Calker, and said, "Let us go in our canoe to Place-without-Landing to get some mussels." Thus he said to them. Immediately they got ready and went aboard the canoe that was anchored out at sea. He was going to get mussels, for he knew that Hâ'da-Woman desired mussels. Therefore he wished to go for mussels, for he was going to make up with his princess. He was wearing a bear-skin blanket. Now they arrived at Place-without-Landing, and they quickly gathered the mussels. As soon as they had done so, they came paddling along, and went to River-in-Front.
Hâ'da-Woman and her husband were sitting on the summer seat outside of their house when Raven-Sound-in-House came in sight. Hâ'da-Woman recognized him at once, and she spoke to her husband, and requested that they should go into the house because her father was coming. Thus she said to him. Therefore Copper-Maker and his wife at once went into the house, and they barred the door of the house. Then Raven-Sound-in-House arrived at the beach of the house, and went up from the beach. He knocked at the door of the large house, and said, "O Hâ'da-Woman! open the door, my dear! I have brought some mussels for you from Place-without-Landing." Thus he said to her. It was not long
before Copper-Maker opened the door of the house, and he saw his father-in-law wearing the bear-skin blanket.
Then Copper-Maker invited them in, and gave Raven-Sound-in-House and his three attendants the dried edge of some red cod to eat. Then Hâ'da-Woman took a small grease-dish with a bowl as large as the thumb of a man; and Hâ'da-Woman whispered under the small grease-dish, and said, "O grease-dish! keep full." Thus she said to it. Then Hâ'da-Woman put the small grease-dish and the dried edge of red cod before her father. Raven-Sound-in-House spoke at once to his three attendants, and said, "Oh, you Smell-of-Canoe, and you Staying-in-Canoe, and you also Expert-Canoe-Calker! don't dip your food in this whale-oil, that I may eat alone for a while." Now the little grease-dish was full, and in vain he dipped into the whale-oil. The whale-oil never decreased. Then Raven-Sound-in-House put really much whale-oil on what he was eating, and he did not know that the whale-oil was going right through him (and out) at his anus. The floor of the house was just overflowing with whale-oil where he was sitting. Afterwards he broke wind. Then Raven-Sound-in-House said, "Oh, my new bear-skin blanket creaks!" Thus he said to them. Then Hâ'da-Woman became ashamed of her father, and he was driven out of the house. That is the end.