NELSON] RAVEN CREATION MYTH 459 



answer, but could not make a sound until the Eaven waved his magic 

 wing over him, when he replied that he did not like it, for he would have 

 to live on the sea while his son would be on the shore, and he would 

 feel badly. Then Eaven made a stroke with his wings and the bearskin 

 fell from Man and lay empty at one side while he sat up in his original 

 form. Then Eaven took one of his tail-feathers, placing it inside the 

 bearskin for a spine, and, after waving his wing over it, a white bear 

 arose. Then they passed on, and ever since white bears have been 

 found on the frozen sea. 



Eaven asked Man how many times he had turned over, and he 

 answered, "four." '' That was four years," said Eaven, "for you slept 

 there just four years." They had gone only a short distance beyond 

 this, when they saw a small animal like a shrew-mouse; this was a 

 wi'-lAgho'-yiil: It is like the shrew that lives on the land, but this one 

 always lives at sea on the ice. When it sees a man it darts at him, and, 

 entering the toe of his boot, crawls all over his body, after which, if he 

 keeps perfectly quiet, it will leave him unharmed and the man will 

 become a successful hunter. In case the man moves even a finger 

 while this animal is on him, it instantly burrows into his flesh and 

 goes directly to his heart, causing death. 



Then Eaven made the d-mi'-kul-, a large, slimy, leathery-skin animal, 

 with four long, wide-spreading arms. This is a fierce animal, living 

 in the sea, which wraps its arms about a man or a kaiak and drags 

 them under the water; if the man tries to escape from it by leaving his 

 kaiak and getting on the ice it will dart underneath, breaking the ice 

 beneath his feet, and even pursuing him on shore by burrowing through 

 the earth as easily as it swims in the water, so that no one can escape 

 from it when it once pursues him. 



Beyond this, they saw two large dark-colored animals, around which 

 swam a smaller one. Eaven hurried forward and sat upon the head of 

 the smaller animal, and it became quiet. When Man drew near, Eaven 

 showed him two walrus, and said that the animal upon whose head he 

 was borne was a walrus dog {az-i-ivu'-gihnki-rnuJch'-tl). This animal, 

 he said, would always go with large herds of walrus and would kill 

 people. It was long and rather slender, covered with black scales 

 which were not too hard to be pierced by a spear. Its head and teeth 

 were somewhat like those of a dog; it had four legs and a long, round 

 tail covered with scales like those on the body; wuth a stroke of this 

 tail it could kill a man. 



Some whales and grampus were seen. next. Eaven told Man that 

 only good hunters could kill them, and that when one was killed an 

 entire village could feast. Then they saw the t-mum' Ica'-bvi-d-gd, or sea 

 fox, an animal very much like the red fox, except that it lives in the 

 sea and is so fierce that it kills men. Xear this were two t-mum' tsnV- 

 Jcak or t-mum' pikh-Ulkh'-chi, the sea otter, which is like the land otter, 

 but has much finer fur, tipped with white, and is very scarce, only the 



