618 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [ETH. ANN. 33 



him, which, however, I do not discuss here, because they diverge from all 

 the other tales, and may in part be due to Christian influences. When 

 Old One migrates, he ordains that the females of man and animals shall 

 bring forth young. He transforms an old man into a fish, and he gives 

 people the use of porcupine quills, eagle feathers, shells, and woodpecker's 

 scalps for ornaments Ntli Teit 3.320 et seq. 



On the whole, I am under the impression that the vague stories 

 relating to Old One are in part expressions of old mythical concepts, 

 in part developed by recent biblical teaching. 



4. Coyote. 



In the traditions of almost all these tribes occur encounters between the 

 Transformer brothers and Coyote, who is the principal Transformer and 

 culture-hero of the tribes of southeastern British Columbia and eastern 

 Washington. Thus the brothers meet the Transformer Coyote, but are 

 : to transform him Ntl Teit 2.44; Nicola Teit 3.316. 



5. The Transformers of the Uta'mqt. 



It is important to note that two characteristic transformations — that of the 

 deer and of the woodpecker — which are parallel to the feats of the Trans- 

 former of northern Vancouver Island and of the coast of Washington are told 

 by the Uta'mqt of a Transformer distinct from the one who performed all the 

 other feats in that area U 226, 227 (see pp. 601 et seq.). 



COMPARISON OF CULTURE-HERO TALES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST 



We may now summarize the results of this analysis, and give a brief 

 characterization of the culture-hero tales of the Northwest coast. 



The most prominent and widely distributed elements of the north- 

 ern Raven myth are the efforts of Raven to still his insatiable hunger 

 and to obtain what is needed for his purposes. The origin tales and 

 many of the other tales of the cycle tell, therefore, how Raven 

 obtains by force or trickery an object that he wants, or compels a 

 person to give up the exclusive control of a privilege. Thus he 

 secures daylight, water, fire, the tides, the olachen, the salmon, the 

 soil, and fair weather. Some tales of this class are explanatory in 

 an incidental way, in so far as some act of Raven or of his antago- 

 nists or companions brings about the conditions that exist now. 

 The crow is black, the cormorant dumb, bullhead's tail thin, on 

 account of such incidents. Most tales of this class, however, are not 

 explanatory. 



Among the numerous tales that are evidently not very popular and 

 have only local importance, many account for modern conditions. 

 They include transformations of dangerous animals (No. 61, p. 57'2> ; 

 transformations of objects into animals, and trifling acts by which ani- 

 mals are given their present form (for instance, Nos. 65-79, p. 573) ; the 

 transformation of men, animals, and objects into stones (Nos. 89-93, 



