boas] DESCRIPTION OF THE TSIMSHIAN 415 



Of a similar type is the story of Deserted One (225 et seq., Boas 

 4.300), called in the Nass dialect Little Eagle (N 169), who obtains 

 his name (and evidently also his Eagle crest, although this is not 

 stated) from the eagles whom he feeds. 



In the story of the Princess and the Mouse, the second husband of 

 the Princess, a Haida, is taught by her Mouse children the Mouse 

 dance, which is then learned by all the Haida tribes. Nothing indi- 

 cates here that the dance is confined to one clan (232 et seq.). 



A woman who has married a Bear returns with her Bear children, 

 but eventually they are sent home to the Bears, after having been 

 asked to give success in hunting to their uncles (284). 



The acquisition of crests through adventures of an individual is 

 also described in the story of Asdilda and Dl°ks (260 et seq.). A 

 princess who survives the destruction of her village hears the mourn- 

 ing-song of the being who had annihilated her people; she sees 

 another being named Dzila'°gans, who carries a cane with a live frog 

 and a live person on the frog at the lower end, a live eagle at the 

 upper end, and wearing a spruce-root hat painted green. On her 

 travels she sees a blanket glittering like stars (266), a supernatural 

 halibut, and a supernatural eagle. All of these become her crests, 

 which are transmitted to he/ children. 



When the Eagle Clan escaped from Alaska, they had as their crest 

 a carved stone eagle, which was lost on their travels (270). Later 

 they met a supernatural halibut that killed some of their people; 

 then later on a beaver with copper eyes, copper ears, teeth, and claws, . 

 whose mourning-song they learned (272). 



The man who catches the live abalone bow with the design of the 

 Raven takes it for his crest (284). 



Here belongs also the story of G'it-na-gun-a'ks, of the four men 

 who are taken down to the house of Na-gun-a'ks and receive from 

 him their crests. It is interesting to note that three of these men 

 were G - ispawadwE'da, one an Eagle (287). The crests given to the 

 former are the house carving, consisting of two killer whales with 

 noses joined together (it is called Dash Against Each Other), and 

 another house carving, representing green seaweed, a killer whale hat 

 covered with horns, a seaweed blanket, and a copper canoe. The 

 crests given by Na-gun-a'ks to the Eagle Clan are Na-gun-a'ks's hat, 

 representing a sea-apple hat with a human figure in the center and a 

 box inlaid with abalone shell (288-289). 



The tale of the Grizzly Bear, who is treated kindly by a chief and 

 in return gives him his clan privileges, belongs here also (292 etseq.). 

 The crest here described (296) is a Bear mask with abalone shells for 

 ears, eyes, and teeth, or, as more fully described on 294, a Grizzly- 

 Bear hat, red leggings, and a bow, a Mountain-Goat hat, one dish 

 carved in the shape of a frog, one in the shape of a mountain spring. 



