284 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [i:tii. ass. 31 



Then the children were much ashamed at what their grandmother 

 had said to them. They wept bitterly, and the mother also was 

 ashamed and wept. The children went to their mother and asked 

 her to leave the village, saying that they wanted to go to see their 

 father's people. Their mother said to them, "'Don't come hack any 

 more, but stay with your father among the Bear people, and bring 

 food to me from time to time, and give animals to your younger 

 uncle." So they went on their way, sorrowful. Their mother 

 was very sad, and their grandfather missed them much. That is 

 the end 



44. Explanation of the Abalone Bow 1 



In olden times there was a great chief of the Raven Clan called 

 Ayagansk. He was a very rich man among his people, and he was 

 a great warrior. He had gained victory in many battles, and he 

 was an excellent hunter. 



One day he called his three companions and asked them to go 

 with him to hunt seals. On the following day they went out in their 

 canoe. They passed around the large island on which the village 

 was situated. The weather was very bad. They had a good-sized 

 canoe, and went on until they came to the foot of a steep clifl'. As 

 soon as they came there, the water all of a sudden began to move 

 up and down. Then a live abalone bow appeared on the water, 

 carved with the figure of a raven, and inlaid with costly abalone 

 shells. Then the hero stretched out his hands and took hold of it 

 at one end. They paddled away. The brave man held on to the 

 how, and the three men paddled away as hard as they could. Then 

 the live bow died, but the green abalone shells were still as beautiful 

 as before. Ayagansk gave a great feast to all the tribes, and he 

 gave away the red wood of the bow, and he proclaimed that no other 

 clan should use the abalone bow as their crest; and so all his relatives 

 after this generation kept the abalone bow, and no other clan have 

 it except the Raven Clan. It is a chief's crest, and they had a song 

 of this bow. The chief of the Raven Clan used it when he was raised 

 to a high position and he took a new name. Not all members of the 

 Raven Clan used this bow. Only one chief in each generation used 

 it at a time. When they take it, they give away many costly coppers, 

 canoes, slaves, and all lands of goods, and then they give out the 

 story where they obtained it first, and thus all the clans understand 

 it. Some of these abalone bows were kept through four or five gen- 

 erations; and they changed them only when the wood was rotten, 

 but the abalone shells were kept. 



