18S7.] 425 [Boas. 



tions of great importance, as both evidently refer to tlie killing of the old 

 sua and the origin of the new one. 



Visits to the Sun, or to the deity which lives in heaven, are frequent in 

 the folk-lore of all these tribes. The Kwakiutl, for instance, tell of a 

 chief 's son who ascended to heaven and married the deity's daughter. 

 Their son was the Eaven. 



The fact that the same mythical beings are known to a great number of 

 tribes shows that the folk lore and myths of the tribes of the north- west 

 coast have spread from one tribe to another. The raven legend seems to 

 have belonged to the Tliugit and their neighbors, but traces of it are found 

 far south. On the other hand, the sun legend seems to have originated 

 with tribes of Salish lineage ; but parts of this tradition are at the present 

 time told by their northern neighbors, and faint traces are even found 

 among the Tsimpshian and the Tlingit. 



A number of spirits occur in the folk-lore of most of the tribes of North- 

 west America. One of these is the Tsonokoa, who is evidently a mythi- 

 cal form of the grizzly bear. She is a woman living on high mountains, 

 or, in some instances, in heaven. She visits the villages in order to steal 

 fish, which she puts into a basket that she carries on her back. One tra- 

 dition says that a man wounded and pursued her. At last he arrived at 

 her house in heaven. He was called in in order to cure her, and did so by 

 extricating the arrows, which none of her companions were able to see. 

 In reward she gave him her daughter, the wate;^- of life, and the fire of 

 death, and on his return he became a mighty chief. Another spirit, which 

 is known from Komoks to Bilqula, is Komokoa, a water spirit, the 

 father of the seals. Many legends tell of men who visited him, or of his 

 visits to villages where he married a woman and became the ancestor 

 of certain gentes. The Sisiutl, a double-headed snake, is known to all 

 tribes from Puget Sound and Cape Flattery to the northern tribes of 

 the Kwakiutl. It is the emblem of many gentes, and its most remark- 

 able quality is that it can assume the shape of any fish or snake. 



I have to say a few words about the dances, particularly the cannibal 

 dances, of these tribes. The legend ascribes the origin of the latter 

 to a spirit, Baqbakualanusiuae. This being lived in the forest. Once 

 a man came to visit him, and when the spirit was about to devour him, he 

 made his escape, Baqbakualanusiuae pursuing him. When the spirit had 

 almost reached him, he threw a stone behind him, which was transformed 

 into a large mountain. The pursuer had to go all around it, but again 

 he approached. Then he poured out a little fishoil which he chanced to 

 carry. It was transformed into a lake. Again the spirit approached, and 

 now he threw down his comb, wliich was transformed into a forest of 

 young trees. He reached his house, and locked the door. When the 

 spirit arrived, he gave him a vessel filled with dog's blood, and said, 

 "Come in. This is my son's blood. You may eat him. " But when the 

 spirit accepted the invitation, he threw him into a pit, which he filled with 

 fire, and thus killed him. His ashes were transformed into mosquitoes. 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXIV. 126. 3b. PRINTED DEC. 7, 1887. 



