694 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eih.anx. 31 



In another Tlingit version the incident of the loss of the labret is 

 omitted, and only the killing of the husband is referred to. 



Raven goes to visit the chief of the Seals. He assumes the shape of a woman and 

 transforms a mink into a child. The chief's son marries her. The man goes out hunting, 

 and on returning washes himself in the house. One day when he goes out, Raven 

 pinches the child and makes it cry. The man hears it and returns at once. The 

 woman remarks that this is an evil omen. At night she presses Mink on his mouth 

 and suffocates him; then she cries and wants him buried behind a point of land. 

 She wails at the grave. Another man wants to marry her, and sees her sitting by the 

 body and pecking it. Then the people catch Raven, smoke him, and make him black 

 Tl 5. 



The Tsimshian version told in our present collection differs in type 

 from all the preceding ones. It seems quite possible that the version 

 is fragmentary. 



Raven sees a canoe with four hunters, assumes the form of a woman, and is taken 

 aboard. She carries a child which is crying. She says the child cries because it wants 

 gisox. The men give her seal. When they are asleep, Raven eats all their game. On 

 the following morning the chief sees that Raven looks like a man. They recognize 

 him, and the child turns into a crow Ts. (Compare No. 33, p. 702.) 



(32) TXA.'mSEM IMITATES CHIEF SEAL (BUNGLING HOST, 1 p. 90) 



The tale of the Trickster who .visits his friends, is treated by them 

 in a magical way, and tries to return the hospitality, is one of the 

 most widely spread themes among the North American Indians. 

 There are a number of distinct types of these tales, each of which 

 shows a characteristic distribution. Perhaps the most widely spread 

 type of these tales is the one in which it is described how the host 

 takes a part of his own body, which he cuts out or pulls out, or obtains 

 in some other manner, and which he uses for treating his visitor. 

 On the North Pacific coast this type occurs particularly in the form 

 of the seal or bear heating his hands in front of the fire, and letting 

 oil drip out of them into a dish; and in the other one, in which a bird, 

 generally the kingfisher or a related water bird, strikes his ankle 

 with a stone, and takes out a salmon egg, which he proceeds to boil, 

 thus preparing a dish for his guest. In other parts of the continent 



i Including the stories of Txii'msEm imitating Chief Kingfisher and Thrush (p. 91). The following 

 additional literature has been utilized in the discussion of this theme: 



Wishram and Wasco: E. Sapir, Wishram Texts (Publications of the American Ethnological Society, vol. 

 n), Leyden, Brill, 1909— Takelma: Edward Sapir, Takelma Texts ( University of Pmnsylvania, The 

 Museum Publications, vol. n, p. 51).— Shoshoni: E. H. Lowie, The Northern Shoshone (Anthropological 

 Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. n).— TJte: A. L. Kroeber, Cte Tales (Journal 

 of American Folk-Lore , vol. xrv).— Hopi: H. R. Voth, Traditions of the Hopi ( Field Columbia 

 Anthropological Series, vol. vm).— Navaho: Washington Matthews, Navaho Legends (Memoirs of the 

 American Folk-Lnre Society, vol. v).— Apache: P. E. Goddard, Jicarilla Apache Texts (Anthropological 

 Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol.vm); Mescalero Apache (personal communication 

 from Dr. Goddard).— Apache: Frank Russell, " Myths of the Jicarilla Apaches" (Journal of American 

 Folk-Lore, vol. XI, 1898).— Wichita: G. A. Dorsey, Mythology of the Wichita (Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington, Publication 21).— Caddo: G. A. Dorsey, Traditions of the Caddo (ibid., Publication J,l).~ 

 Pawnee: G. A. Dorsey, Traditions of the Skldi Pawnee (Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, vol. 

 vm).— Biloxi: J. Owen Dorsey, Two Biloxi Tales (Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. vi).— Yuchi: 



