PREFACE 



The following collection of Tsimshian myths was recorded during 

 the last twelve years by Mr. Henry W. Tate, of Port Simpson, British 

 Columbia, in Tsimshian, his native language. Mr. Tate died in April, 

 1914. The translation of the tales as here presented was made by 

 me, based on a free interlinear rendering by Mr. Tate. 



A comparison of the form of the tales with those recorded by me 

 on Nass River and on a number of points on the lower Skeena River 

 shows very clearly that Mr. Tate felt it incumbent upon himself 

 to omit some of those traits of the myths of his people that seem 

 inappropriate to us, and there is no doubt that in this respect the 

 tales do not quite express the old type of Tsimshian traditions. A 

 few of the tales also bear evidence of the fact that Mr. Tate had read 

 part of the collection of tales from the Kwakiutl published by myself 

 hi conjunction with Mr. George Hunt. 1 A few others indicate his 

 familiarity with my collection of tales from Nass River. At the time 

 when I received these tales I called his attention at once to the 

 necessity of keeping strictly to the form in which the traditions are 

 told by the Tsimshian; and by far the greater part of the tales bear 

 internal evidence of being a faithful record of the form in which the 

 traditions are transmitted among the people. 



Christian influences are evidently very strong among all tribes of 

 northern British Columbia, and a study of the collection of tales 

 recorded by Doctor Swanton among the Haida and Tlingit 2 shows 

 also very clearly that the coarseness of their tales has been very 

 much toned down. It is necessary to bear these facts hi mind in 

 comparative studies based on the material presented here and on 

 that recorded by Doctor Swanton. I have also had the personal 

 experience that informants were reluctant to express themselves 

 freely in the traditional form, being impressed by the restrictions of 

 what we call proper and improper. 



The collection here presented evidently contains the bulk of the 

 important traditions of the Tsimshian. A small number of these 

 were recorded by me in 1S8>S, and published in my collections of 

 myths from the North Pacific coast. 2 We have from the same 

 linguistic group a collection of Nass River tales. 2 One of the tales 

 of Mr. Tate's series was published by me with text in the Zeitschrift 

 fur Ethnologie • Another group of these tales was published with 

 text in the Publications of the American Ethnological Society. 



1 Publications of the Jcsup North Pacific Fi/ikI:Iioii, o.l in (]H(l2and 1905). 

 * See Bibliography on pp. 39 ct stq. 



