Tradition of the G*â'p!ênoxu.
(Recorded by George Hunt.)
Hâ'dahô was camping on the beach at the place Sea-Otter-Cove,--he who was the harpooneer of the chief of the ancestors of the Divided tribe. The steersman of Hâ'dahô was Unsurpassed; and in the middle of the canoe was sitting the prince of the chief, whose name was Moon-in-Sky. In the morning, when the harpooneer wakened his crew, it was very fine weather. Immediately they arose and carried their hunting-canoe down to the beach. Then they steered for Right-Distance. They were going to hunt sea-otters there.
They had not gone far out when it began to be foggy. They did not know where they had come from. However, many sea-otters were seen by them sleeping on the water, and also many laughing geese. As soon as the harpooneer tried to get close to the sea-otters, the geese would fly up and flap their wings over the sea-otters, thus driving them away. Therefore Hâ'dahô became angry. Then Hâ'dahô spoke, and said to the geese, "Oh, you little
ones who eat any kind of food! probably your good food is the reason that you make so much mischief, you without ancestors, for you eat only seaweed and sand on the sea." Immediately the geese disappeared.
Then the fog was really thick. Hâ'dahô did not know which way they were going. Then Hâ'dahô heard the sound of paddling. Immediately he told his crew. Then he saw a canoe paddling along, and approaching the place where they were lying. As soon as they were near, Hâ'dahô discerned three persons, all men, in the little canoe. They came paddling straight to the canoe of Hâ'dahô, and they took hold of it. Then the one who was sitting in the bow spoke, and said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! I have been sent by Chief Returning-in-One-Day to invite you and your crew (to come)." Thus said the man, whose hair was tied over his eyes. However, the hair of the three men was done up in the same way. Hâ'dahô was really thankful for the words of the man. He said at once, "Go on, paddle! that we may follow you paddling." Thus said Hâ'dahô to the three men. The messenger, who was sitting in the bow of the canoe, pushed off Hâ'dahô's canoe, and paddled off, and Hâ'dahô also paddled.
The had not been paddling long, when they saw many houses in Blubber-cutting-Bay; and at once, when they saw Hâ'dahô's canoe coming in sight, many people made a great noise. Then the messengers of Returning-in-One-Day landed in the middle of the village site; and as soon as the canoe of Hâ'dahô also landed, a tall man arose outside, and began to speak. He said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! In behalf of my chief here, Returning-in-One-Day, I invite you to come." Thus said the tall man. As soon as he
stopped speaking, the young man went down to the beach and went to meet them. Immediately the canoe was carried up by the young men. Then it was put down on the ground near the door of the. house of Chief Returning-in-One-Day. Then Hâ'dahô stepped out of his canoe, and was called into the house of Returning-in-One-Day.
As soon as Hâ'dahô had entered, he saw the chief sitting in the rear of the house. Immediately Hâ'dahô was led (to a seat). He was asked to go and sit down in the right-hand corner of the house. As soon as Hâ'dahô and his crew had sat down, the tall man began to speak, and said, "Go on, get the dried halibut for them to eat!" Thus he said. At once two young men opened a box and took out four pieces of dried halibut. Immediately they broke it and put it into a dish; and a grease-box was taken, and some grease was dipped out of it into a grease-dish, and it was put before Hâ'dahô and his crew. Immediately Hâ'dahô and his crew began to eat. Hâ'dahô had just begun to eat, then the Talkative-Geese also got ready, and the White-Geese and the Laughing-Geese. Those were the ones who had their hair tied up. They were the waiters of Chief Returning-in-One-Day.
Then the Talkative-Geese opened a box and took out cakes of salal-berries, and the White-Geese and Laughing-Geese took dishes and put water into them. Then they broke the berry-cake and put it into the water in the dishes, and the small Geese squeezed the berry-cakes. After they had finished squeezing them, the White-Geese took grease and poured it over the berries. Then they put it before Hâ'dahô and his crew, and Hâ'dahô at once began to eat the berries.
As soon as Hâ'dahô had begun to eat the berries, the
little Geese, the White-Geese, and the Laughing-Geese got ready again. They opened a box and took out clover-roots. Then the Laughing-Geese took stones and put them on the fire of the house, and the White-Geese took cooking-boxes and put them down by the fire. The stones had not been on the fire long before they got red-hot. Immediately the small Geese took tongs and picked up the red-hot stones and put them into the cooking-box. As soon as the cooking-box was half full of red-hot stones, they stopped putting them into it, and they took clover-roots and put them into the water. Then they took them out of the water again and put them on the stones in the steaming-box. Then the steaming-box was full, and they poured water on it. Then they covered it up, and it was not long before they uncovered it. Then they put the clover-roots in the dishes. Then the White-Geese took grease and poured it on the clover-roots. Then they put them before Hâ'dahô and his crew, and immediately Hâ'dahô and his crew began to eat.
Then the little Geese opened another box and took out cinquefoil-roots, and the White-Geese put stones on the fire in the house. The stones had not been on the fire long before they were red-hot. Then the Laughing-Geese took the tongs and picked up the stones and put them into a cooking-box; and as soon as the cooking-box was half full of stones, the little Geese took the cinquefoil-root, dipped it into water, then they took it out of the water again, and placed it on the stones in the cooking-box. As soon as the cooking-box was full of cinquefoil-roots, they poured water in it and covered them up; and they had not been on the stones long before they were done. Then they took the cover off and put them in a dish. Then they poured grease on them, and put them
in front of Hâ'dahô and his crew. Immediately they began to eat.
As soon as Hâ'dahô began to eat, the tall man--the Crane--sat up and began to speak. He said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! look at my food. These various kinds of food that are inside can never be finished. This our chief, Returning-in-On e-Day, gives some of the various kinds of food to you, friend Hâ'dahô. These various kinds of food cannot be finished. Now, you shall not tell where you obtained them." Thus said Crane.
Then he asked the little Geese and their friends to take a little of each kind that was in the boxes. Then the attendants took of all the kinds of food. One clover-root, and one cinquefoil-root, and one piece of the edge of various kinds of berry-cakes, were taken, and also grease that was in the grease-box; and then they brought it out to him, and all the various kinds of food were put into a small basket. As soon as they had finished, the attendant--namely, Crane--spoke, and said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! now go home. Now you shall take the boxes of our tribes to put them into your house; and you shall take one clover-root and put it into the bottom of a box, and it will at once fill it," thus said Crane to Hâ'dahô; "and also this cinquefoil-root, you will also do the same with it; and also these berry-cakes, put them flat in the bottom of a box; and everything that is in this small basket, part of our provisions. As soon as you put it in a box, it will be full at once, for this is what increases when something is taken from it, and cannot conic to an end from one end of the year [day] to the other; even if you should try for ten winters to use up what you have
secured, it will never decrease. Now I will warn you. Do take care, and don't tell where you got the various kinds of food!" Thus he said.
Then one of the attendants of Returning-in-One-Day, Laughing-Geese, spoke, and said, "O friend Hâ'dahô, go on, look at our food on the water! We do not eat what you mentioned as our food, seaweed and sand; our only food on the water is good food." Thus he said. Immediately Hâ'dahô guessed that these were the Laughing-Geese that were scolded by him on the sea. The Laughing-Geese continued to speak, and said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! we shall be glad if you should desire to have us for your dances. This is our chief, the one who is sitting in the rear of the house. His name is Only-One-speaking and Swan-Dancer and Returning-in-One-Day and Going-to-and-fro-in-the-World-in-One-Day. He is the one to whom you common people refer as the Swan, this our chief Returning-in-One-Day; and I am the one to whom you refer as Laughing-Geese. It would be good if you use me in your dance. My name is Place-where-Property-meets and From-Whom-Property-falls-down-in-the-World, and I have the throwers' dance in the winter dance, and I have the name To-Whom-Everybody-goes." Thus said Laughing-Geese to Hâ'dahô.
As soon as he finished speaking, the houses disappeared; and as soon as the houses disappeared, all kinds of birds flew up,--swans, large geese, and (?) geese, and brant geese, and laughing geese, and little geese, and cranes, and all the different kinds of birds. Hâ'dahô and his crew were just out of their minds; and as soon as all the birds had passed, Hâ'dahô and his crew recovered their senses. Then he spoke, and said, "Let us go home, and let us wait (and see) if anything will happen." Thus he said. Immediately they got ready and loaded their canoe with
the various kinds of food. Then they started paddling, and went to their camping-place at Sea-Otter-Cove.
As soon as they arrived there, they just hurried to load their canoe with their cargo; and they started again, for they were really about to go home to Trees-on-Rock, for that was the real village of the ancestors of the Divided tribe. When they arrived there, Hâ'dahô at once unloaded his cargo. Then they were called by Moon-in-Sky, the chief of the ancestors of the Divided tribe. Hâ'dahô arose at once, and entered the house of the one who had invited him in. Immediately the wife of Moon-in-Sky took some food. They were fed twice by the chief. As soon as they had finished eating, Moon-in-Sky spoke, and said, "O children! go on, and report to me what happened while you were on the water." Thus said Moon-in-Sky to them. Hâ'dahô spoke at once, and said, "O chief! we really had a hard time in the fog, and so we never reached the island Right-Distance. In vain I tried to go. Immediately I lost my way in the fog. We were just drifting about on the sea, and we drifted ashore in Long Bay, and we never began to hunt. I just came home." Thus said Hâ'dahô to Moon-in-Sky. Then the chief began to feel sorry on account of what he had said; and Moon-in-Sky wished to kill Hâ'dahô because he had not brought any game. Then Moon-in-Sky sent Hâ'dahô home to his house.
As soon as Hâ'dahô arrived in his house, he sent Unsurpassed to go and borrow one box from each fire in the houses, and the people were surprised that Unsurpassed should borrow so many boxes. Now Unsurpassed
was carrying the boxes; and as soon as all the boxes were in the house, Hâ'dahô took the small baskets and opened them. Then he took out one piece of clover-root and put it in the bottom of a box. Then he put the cover on it, and immediately the box was full. Then Hâ'dahô also took cinquefoil-root and put it in the bottom of another large box. He put on the cover, and at once it also was full. He kept on doing the same thing with other boxes. Then Hâ'dahô felt glad, for he had not believed what the Crane had told him when he said that the various kinds of food would increase as soon as he put them into boxes. Now the various kinds of food were all in the boxes, and they were all full of food.
Then Hâ'dahô called the carver, whose name was Beam-Carrier, to carve a house-dish in the form of a man's skull with open mouth, and also a house-dish in the form of a man's bladder. Hâ'dahô said that he obtained these from the chief of the birds. He meant Returning-in-One-Day. Soon Beam-Carrier finished his carving. Beam-Carrier was the first carver of the Divided tribe, therefore his carver's name was Head-Carver. Immediately Hâ'dahô sent Unsurpassed to call the ancestors of the Divided tribe; and it was not long after Unsurpassed had called them before the guests all came in. Immediately Hâ'dahô asked Unsurpassed to take the two dishes and put them down near the fire in the house. Then he took many stones and put them on the fire of the house. Then he also took empty grease-boxes and placed them close to the fire. Then he opened the box containing clover-roots and took them out. One root was not taken out. Then he put the cover on again. He put the roots into the water. When the stones were
red-hot, Hâ'dahô took the tongs, picked up the red-hot stones, and put them in the grease-box; and when the box was half full of red-hot stones, Unsurpassed took the clover-roots and put them on. Then they poured water on,, and covered the box with an old mat. They only imitated what the little Geese and the Laughing-Geese had done when Unsurpassed was invited in at Blubber-cutting-Bay by all the birds.
Now the feast was ended, for they had all tasted the various kinds of food. Then the chief, Moon-in-Sky, began to speak, and said, "Now these house-dishes are mine." Thus he said. Immediately Hâ'dahô began to speak, and said, "O chief, Moon-in-Sky! now it will be yours when I finish giving a feast to you, chief, and to our tribe here." Thus said Hâ'dahô to Moon-in-Sky. Hâ'dahô always gave feasts. Then Unsurpassed felt badly on account of Hâ'dahô's doings, who was the only one to give feasts always. Then Hâ'dahô gave a feast again. After he had finished, Moon-in-Sky spoke, and said, "O friend Hâ'dahô! go on, tell me where you got these different kinds of food." Thus he said. Immediately Unsurpassed spoke, and said, "O Moon-in-Sky! I'll tell you. These different kinds of food came from the Swan." Thus he said. Immediately all the different kinds of food disappeared. That is the end.