boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAX MYTHOLOGY 693 



to eat. At night she steals some, and her labret is found in the box. She excuses 

 herself, saying that her labret is flapping its wings in her lip, as it always does when 

 it wants something that smells bad Skrf. 



Raven assumes the form of a woman, and a chief's son marries her Ma. 



Raven transforms seaweed into a child. She picks up stones, and calls the Killer 

 Whales, who are passing by, to take her along. They are carrying hair-seal in their 

 canoe. She pinches her child so that it cries, and says it wants hair-seal ; they give her 

 some, and when not observed she eats it herself. She throws stones into the sea, and 

 says her child is throwing away the seal meat; every time she does so she pinches her 

 child so that it cries, and she says the child wants more meat. She marries one of 

 the Killer Whales. At midnight the child cries, and she says it wants hair-seal. She 

 pretends to take it outside, but steals hair-seal oil and loses her labret. Winn it is 

 found in the box, she says, "This is how Labret Ileld In Mouth always acts when 

 it wants something Mc. 



Raven takes the form of a woman, and is invited to sit in the rear of a house. The 

 people ask, 'Why are we afraid of the eyes of the chief's child that has come in?" 

 (meaning that she does not show any- bashfulness). She eats a great deal, and is asked 

 to marry the chief's son. On the following day Raven and her husband are given twelve 

 different kinds of food. At night Raven steals whale oil . and on coming back she tells 

 her husband that she has been outside. In the morning Raven and her husband are 

 placed on a mat. The mother-in-law wonders why she eats so much. Raven tells her 

 husband tostay at home; and when she believes she is unobserved, she goes down to 

 the beach and eats berries out of excrements washed ashore. 1 At night she steals oil, 

 and her labret drops into the box. When she comes back, her husband notices that 

 she smells of whale oil. At a feast she refuses to show her mouth because her labret is 

 lost. It is found in the oil-box, and she says, "That is the way the little thing always 

 does when it wants oil.' ' Then she is sent away Mc?. 



All the Haida versions continue here, telling how her true character 

 is discovered. 



When she goes out, her mother-in-law observes that she has a tail. Raven replies, 

 •'This is not the first time that a Tlingit woman has had a tail" Skc/. 



In Ma she replies, "The women of the Tail People family are that way. " However, 

 she is sent away. In Mc she replies, "This is not the first time that Breech Clout 

 women have had tails." 



In Mrf the incident is somewhat modified. She is seen by the people of a town, 

 who ask why she has a peculiar gait. Raven replies, '• Is this the first time you have 

 seen women of the Tail Hanging From The Back family?' ' The incident precedes the 

 labret incident, and I presume has been misplaced by the narrator. 



The Haida version Skd adds another incident at the end. 



Raven tells her husband that people will come to get her. She transforms excre- 

 mentinto people, who melt when they are placed near the fire. Then Raven flies away. 



As stated before, the Tlingit versions conclude with the tale of 

 Raven killing and eating the seal. 



After Raven has been married by the chief's son, she tells her husband that she had 

 a bad dream. At night she kills her husband with a sharp stick. She tells the people 

 that her husband had asked to be buried away from the town. When she goes wailing, 

 she requests the people not to pass by. She asks them to tie up the fingers of her right 

 hand, and tells them to bring her food from time to time. She has her face painted 

 black. When she is sitting by her husband's body wailing, she eats of it. She comes 

 home, apparently chewing gum ; and when asked for it. she says that she alone can eat 

 it T16. 



1 See also p. 773. 



