74. Story of the Kâ'gwAntân Crests

74. STORY OF THE KÂ'GWANTÂN CRESTS

A man belonging to the Kâ'gwAntân was out camping, and saw a wolf coming toward him, showing its teeth as though it were laughing. On looking more closely, he saw that it had a bone stuck between its teeth. Then he took the bone out and said, "Now you must show me what makes you so lucky." The wolf turned right round and walked away, but next night the man dreamed he had come to a very fine town. It was the wolf town, and the wolf he had befriended came to him and told him something to make him lucky, saying, "I am your friend." He was grateful for what the man had done to him. Since then the Kâ'gwAntân have used the wolf.

Another time when some Kâ'gwAntân were getting herring at Town-at-mouth-of-lake (L!uq!â'ceîk-ân), a bear came to the place where they were, reached down through the smoke hole and took away the herring they were drying. Then the people said, "Who is this thief that is stealing all the fish?" For that he killed all of them. Then the Kâ'gwAntân seized their spears and set out to kill the bears in that neighborhood. When they discovered those bears they were lying in holes they had dug for themselves, and the people said to them, "Come out here and let us fight it out." Then the bears did so, and the people killed them. They took the skins from the heads of the bears and preserved them. The bears so killed were Kâts!'s children. This is how the Kâ'gwAntân came to use the grizzly bear.