374 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSF^UM, 1895. 



was going to roast tlie children. He washed their eyes with urine and 

 took them home to XanX. They Avere all alive again. Then LE'ndE- 

 qoayats'EwaL went back to heaven. 



Of less frequent occurrence is the s^iirit of th esea, Q'o'mrxioa, the 

 protector of the seals, who kills hunters. There are a number of tales 

 relating how he took the ancestor of a tribe to the bottom of the sea 

 and gave him his crest. I will give here a legend of the clan (r*exsEin, 

 of the La'Lasiqoala, which shows how they came into the possession of 

 the Q'o'moqoa carving : 0"meaL, the Raven, the ancestor of the clan 

 G-e'xsEm, had a daughter named Ha/taqa. One day the crow, who was 

 0"meaL's sister, and Ha'taija went down to the beach to gather sea 

 urchins. Soon they had filled their baskets. The crow carried them 

 into the woods, broke the shells, and prepared them. Then she offered 

 some to Ha/taqa, who refused them, for fear of her fiither. The crow, 

 however, promised that he would not tell on her, and prompted Ha'tacja 

 to eat of the sea urchins. She had hardly begun to eat when the crow 

 jumped upon a log of driftwood, shouting, "Qax, qax. qax, qax! 

 HiVtaqa is stealing sea urchins." Ha/taqa asked her, "Please stop, and 

 I will give you my blanket." The crow, however, did not cease shout- 

 ing, although Ha/taqa offered her her bracelets of abalone shells. But 

 already 0"meaL had heard what the crow said. He was enraged, and 

 ordered his tribe to load their canoes and to extinguish the fires. Then 

 he and his whole tribe left Hri/ta({a all alone in the deserted village. 

 Ha/taqa's grandmother, however, had pity upon the girl, and before 

 she left she had hidden some fire in a shell. A dog and a bitch were 

 the only living beings that were left in the village besides Ha'tac^a. 

 As soon as the canoes were out of sight, the dog, by dint of scratching 

 and howling, attracted her attention to the shell. She found the glow- 

 ing embers and started a fire. She built a hut of cedar twigs, in which 

 she lived with her dogs. The following morning she sent them into the 

 woods and ordered them to fetch withes. They obeyed, and Ha'taqa 

 made four fish baskets. At low water she jdaced them on the beach, 

 and at the next tide she found them full of fish. But on looking more 

 closely she discovered a man in pne of them, Aik'a'a'yolisana, the son 

 of Q'o'nioqoa. He came from out of tlie basket, carrying a small 

 box. He said to her, "Carry this small box to your house. I came 

 to marry you." Although the box was small, Ha'taqa was unable 

 to lift it, and he had to carry it himself When he arriv^ed in front of 

 the house, he opened it, and, behold! a whale was in it. Aik-a'a/yoli- 

 sana built a large house and married Ha'tacpx. Then he invited all 

 the tribes and distributed the whale meat. His descendants use his 

 mask (fig. 15), and when it is shown, sing as follows: 



It is a tale ■wliicli came down to us from Ibe beginning of the world. 

 Yon came up, bringing the house ofQ'o'moqoa, you "Growing rich," 

 "Wealth coming ashore," "Covered with wealth," "Mountain of property." 

 "Really great Mountain." It i.s a tale which came down to us I'rom the beginning 

 of the world.' 



See Appendix, ]>age (J73. 



