boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 641 



the principal idea in the Raven cycle is his voraciousness. Neither 

 are any of the culture-hero traits retained by Mink. 



It seems plausible, therefore, that the opening of the Raven and 

 the Mink tales is essentially a deluge myth which has been elaborated 

 in different directions, but presents in all these tales the beginning 

 of the present world. The loss of the deluge element hi the Raven 

 tales of the Tsimshian and Newettee (Type III) may be due to the 

 occurrence of other deluge legends among these tribes: the deluge 

 legend 1.243 of the Tsimshian, the Mink tale of the Newettee. Among 

 the Newettee, the Mink tale not only contains the element of the 

 destruction of the world by fire, but refers also to that of all vege- 

 tation, which is brought up by diving animals in the same way as the 

 new earth is created after the deluge among the eastern tribes 5.173, 

 9.223. In the Tsimshian deluge legend also stress is laid on the 

 destruction of all vegetation. These incidents emphasize the close 

 relation between the Mmk tale and the deluge legend. 



It would seem thus that the Raven mythologies of the area from 

 northern Vancouver Island to Alaska open with varying types of 

 elaboration of the mythological concept that in the beginning the 

 world was covered by water, and that Raven began his activities 

 after the waters had subsided, or that he caused the water to subside. 

 Among the Tlingit the elaboration of this incident is based on the 

 jealous-uncle story. Among the Tsimshian the true deluge story 

 remains apart from the Raven story; and we recognize the deluge idea 

 only in the general setting of the beginning of the tale. The Haida 

 form is a mixture of the Tlingit and the Tsimshian forms. The Mink 

 tale of the southern tribes gives also clear evidence showing that 

 the beginning of our world was believed to be the destruction of an 

 older one, first by fire, and then by water. 



Raven's Adventures 



(l) 1 origin of daylight 



(Northern Form) 



(29 versions: Ts 60; Ts5.276; Na 10; N621,36; Tla3; T1681, 82; T14.261; T15.311; 

 Tit 117; Kai 8.238; M6 308; Ska 116; Hai 6.25; 2 H 5.232; Hap 884; BC 63; BC 5.241; 

 Ria 5.208; Ri6 5.209; Nu 5.105; Nu ap 888; Car 126; 3 Chil 14; Kodiak 85; 4 Ten'a 

 304; Anvik 9; 5 Esk Nelson 461). 



The world was dark [and when the sky was clear, there would be a little light from 

 the stars Ts]. Raven [felt sorry for man Tli] thought he himself could not get food Ts. 

 [The first daylight that had been obtained was not right BC 5.] 



i Numbers in parentheses refer to corresponding numbers in list of incidents, pp. 507 ct seq. 

 i Stated by Deans to be a Tsimshian or Nass legend, containing, however, Haida names (see also Hai 

 Dawson 1.151 B). 

 ' Father Morice, Three Carrier Myths ( Transactions of the Canadian Institute, v). 

 * F. A. Golder, Tales from Kodiak Island (Journal of American Folk-Lore, xvi). 

 A fuller account of the Ten'a version from Anvik has been published in Chapman 2, pp. 22, 109. 

 50633°— 31 eth— 16 41 



