Sacred Texts Native American Northwest Index Previous Next
[Told by Moses]
There was a large town. A chief was its master. He was the commander of all the men. His child was a noble prince. The child did not eat, but made bows and arrows all the time. Now the salmon arrived. Then the chief said to his people, "Catch salmon and dry them." The people did so. They dried many salmon. Then the prince took one salmon. He put it on the sand, and gave it to an eagle to eat. One eagle came, and then another one, and they ate
the salmon. Many eagles did so. They ate all the salmon, and then they flew away again. The prince pulled out their feathers and gathered them. Then he was glad, and the eagles also were glad. The prince made arrows; he made many boxes full of them. He used the feathers of the eagles for making his arrows, fastening them to the shaft, and therefore his arrows were very swift. He gave salmon to many eagles. When the salmon were at an end, he stopped.
The prince did not eat. He only made arrows. Now it came to be winter. For about three months the Indians ate only dried salmon and berries mixed with grease and elderberries and currants. They
ate all kinds of berries. Now the salmon was all used up. They did not give any salmon to the prince. When the salmon was almost all used up, the great chief felt sad. He said to his great slave, "Go out and order the people to move." The great slave ran out, crying, "Move, great tribe!" The people did so. They moved in the morning. They left the chief's son and his little grandmother, and one little slave, who was still quite small. He was weak. There was no salmon. They only left him his boxes filled with arrows. But his mother buried a clam shell in which she had placed some fire and one-half of a large spring salmon. Then she told the little grandmother where she had hidden the fire and the salmon.
Now the people went aboard and moved away. Only the prince and his little grandmother and the little slave were left. They had no
food. Then the little old woman took the coal and made a fire. They did not eat for a whole day, and for a long time they had no food. Then the prince went out. Early in the morning he sat outside. It was low water. Then an eagle was screeching on the beach. The prince called his little slave: "See why the eagle is screeching on the beach." The slave ran down and came to the place where the eagle was sitting. When he was near by, the eagle flew away and, behold, a little trout was lying on the sand. Then the little slave shouted, telling the prince, "A little trout, my dear, lies on the beach." Thus spoke the little slave. Then the prince said, "Take it." The little slave carried it up, and the prince ordered him to roast it. The slave roasted it,
and when it was done, he and the little old person ate it. The prince did not eat anything. Only the old person and the slave ate it.
Night came and morning came; then the prince went out again. Again he heard the eagles screeching on the beach. He sent down his little slave, who found a bullhead (sculpin). Then he told the prince, who ordered him to take it up. The little slave took it, and they roasted it. They did so for many days, and the eagles gave them trout and sculpin. Then they had enough to eat.
One morning the prince went out again, and he saw two eagles sitting on the beach screeching. He sent his little slate, who went
down. He looked, and, behold, there was a salmon. Then he shouted and said, "There is a large salmon, my dear!" And the prince said, "Take it." The little slave said twice, "I can not take it." The prince went down himself and carried it up. They did so several days, finding salmon on the beach. They dried them.
Another morning the prince went out again, and, behold, there were three eagles. They made much noise. The little slave went down, and, behold, there was a large spring salmon. Again the little slave said he could not carry it, and the prince went down himself. He took it up, and the little old person, his little grandmother, split it. They did so many days. They dried spring salmon. They had very many now.
Another morning the prince went out again. The eagles had given them all kinds of fish, and their houses were full of dried salmon. The slave was quite large when all the salmon was gone.
One morning the prince went out again, and, behold, he saw an eagle far out on the water. He sent his slave down. The little slave had grown to be a little stronger. Behold, there was a large halibut. The little slave shouted, "There is a large halibut, my dear!" The prince said, "Take it"; but the little slave replied, "I can not carry it." The prince went down himself and dragged it up. The little grandmother split it, and they were satisfied. They did so for many
days, and dried many halibut. Another house was full of dried halibut. Now they had caught all the salmon and all the halibut.
One morning the little prince went out again, and looked out. Behold, there were quite a number of eagles. He sent his little slave down. The slave went down, and when he came there, behold, there was a large seal. Then the little slave shouted twice, "There is a seal on the beach!" Again the prince went down. He took the seal and dragged it up to the house. He split it. Then they put the fat into a box and dried the meat. They did not take the bones. They did so many days, and filled another house.
Another morning the prince went out again and looked down. Behold, there were many eagles. Then the little slave went down
again. He was now quite strong, because he had much to eat. When he got there, behold, there was a large porpoise. The little slave shouted twice. Then the prince went down and dragged it up to the house. They cut it and put the meat away. They filled another house.
Thus the eagles returned the food that the prince had given to them in the summer. The eagles reciprocated. They pitied the prince because he had pitied them in summer. The eagles were glad, and therefore they fed the prince.
One morning the prince went out, and, behold, there were many eagles. He sent the little slave down, and when he went down and reached there, behold, there was a large sealion. Again the little slave
told him. He shouted twice and told him. The prince heard it and went down, and, behold, there was a large sealion. Then he returned. He twisted cedar twigs and tied the sealions to the shore. When the tide rose, they drifted ashore, and when the water fell, they lay on the beach. Then they cut them. The sealions were very large and had much fat and much meat. They did this for many days. Then they had a great plenty.
Now the people of his father, who had left him, were dying. One morning the prince went out again, and there were very many eagles; not merely a few. There were a great many eagles on the water. They were flying ashore with a great whale. It lay there. Two nights and two days passed, and there lay another great whale. Then they cut it. (In olden times the Indians chopped the blubber of
whales with stone axes in the same way that we chop wood.) Then they chopped the blubber of the whale. Then the blubber came out where they bit it with the ax. Hohoho! They had a great deal, because the whale was very large. The eagles gave the prince and the little grandmother and the slave four whales.
Now the people of his father, who had left him, were dying. The eagles had finished giving food to the prince, and his houses were all full. The grease covered the sea in front of his house. Then the prince shot a gull. He skinned it and put on its skin. He took a piece of seal, not a large piece, and flew away. He went up above to see his, father's tribe who had left him. He flew a long time, and,
behold, he saw a canoe coming. The gull flew over the canoe, in which there were a number of men. Then the gull dropped the slice of seal into the canoe, and one of the hunters took it. It was very strange that a gull should drop a piece of dried seal into the canoe. They returned and landed. Then they told what had happened. The chief said to the man and to the slaves, "Go and look for my son." They left after he had told them. In the morning the man and some slaves started in a canoe. They paddled, and arrived at a point of land in front of the old village, Behold, the water ahead of them was covered with grease. It came from the place where they had left the prince. The man and the slaves paddled on. They went ashore at the place where the prince was staying. Behold, they had done a great deal. The houses were full of salmon and spring salmon
and halibut and seals and porpoises and sealions and whales. Then they were much astonished. The slaves stretched out their hands and dipped up the grease from the surface of the water. Then they ate it.
The prince did not tell them to land, but after a while they landed. Then they ate salmon, and they ate spring salmon and halibut and seal and porpoise and whale. Now the prince said, "Don't take anything home." Thus he spoke to the man and to the slaves. "Eat as much as you want, and then leave. Don't tell at home what you have seen." But one slave hid two pieces under his skin shirt.
He dropped two pieces of seal in there because he thought of his child. The prince did not give the man and the slaves food. Then
he sent them back. Then they reached the town from which they had started.
The prince had said to them, "Tell them that I am dead, and do not say that I have plenty to eat." The man and the slaves landed a little before dark. They went up to the houses and entered the chief's house. The chief asked, "Is my son still alive?" And the man replied, "I think he has been dead for a long time." The slaves and their families were living in one corner of the chief's house. Now they lay down. Then the slave took out a slice of seal meat and gave it to his wife, and he gave another one to his young child. The child ate it, but it did not chew it, and swallowed it at one gulp. The piece of seal choked the child. It almost died, because the seal meat was choking
it. The child's mother put her hand into its mouth, trying to pull out the piece of seal, but she could not reach it. Her hand was too short. Then she cried. Now the chief's wife rose and went to the crying woman. She asked her, "Why do you cry?" The slave's wife replied, "My child is choking. We do not know what is obstructing its breath." Then the chieftainess put her hand into the mouth of the child. Her fingers were long. Her hand reached down, and she felt the slice of seal. Then she took it out. Then she knew what it was. Behold, it was seal meat. Then she told the chief, and he asked, "Where did that come from?" He saw that it was boiled seal meat, therefore he asked. Then they told him that the old town was full of the meat of trout and salmon and spring salmon and halibut and seals
and porpoises and sealions and whales; that there were four whales, and that the water was covered with grease. They said that the town was full of provisions. Then the chief and the chieftainess and all the princes' uncles could not sleep. One of his uncles had two daughters who were exceedingly pretty.
Early in the morning the chief said, "Order the people to return to the place where we left the prince." He did so on account of the information he had received. Then they arrived, and behold, they saw grease covering the water. Then one of the prince's uncles dressed up his two daughters. Then boards were put across the middle of the canoe, and the children were placed on them. He thought, "My nephew shall marry my daughters." Many canoes were approaching
the land. Then the prince went out. He did not allow them to land. He took one box out and opened it. He took a bow and arrows out of it and shot at the canoes. He did not desire them to come, because they had deserted him. Therefore he was very angry. But finally the people landed and went up. They made little sheds, and he gave food to his father and mother. He pitied them, therefore he did so. When they were approaching the shore one woman stretched out her hands to eat the grease that she saw on the water. Therefore the prince, the chief's son, was ashamed. He did not marry her, but he married only the younger one.
The people went ashore. Then the prince invited them into his
house. The people went in and he gave them meat of trout and salmon and spring salmon and halibut and seals and porpoises and sealions and whales. He gave them to eat. Then his father's people were very glad, and the people gave the prince elk skins and all kinds of goods, canoes, and slaves.
Now the prince came to be a great chief. He had four houses full of elk skins, many slaves, and many canoes. He was a great chief. When his father died, he gave a potlatch. He invited all the people in, and gave away many elk skins and slaves, because his father had been a great chief. After he had given this potlatch his mother died. Then be gave another potlatch. Again he invited all the people,
and gave them elk skins and slaves and canoes. He became a great chief, because he fed the eagles, and the eagles had pitied him. Therefore he became a great chief. His name was Little-eagle.