boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 699 



(h) Diving for Fish 



(23 versions: Ne 5.177; Ne 9.239; K 9.155; K 11.153-159; Quin 89; Wasco 269, 288; 



Lil305,30G; Ntl Teit 2.41; NtlTeit3.301; Ntl Hill-Tout 2.577; Sh 628, 739; Kutenai 1 



S; Shoshoni 265; Jicarilla Apache [Goddard] 231; Fox 267; Kickapoo 7; Ponca 



557; Arapaho 113; Micniac 302; Penobscot 52) 



This is by far the most widely distributed type of story in the 

 region outside of the Northwest coast. It appears almost regularly 

 in a highly specialized form, there being a hole in the ice, and a host 

 diving in this hole. Sometimes driftwood is substituted for the ice, 

 or an icy land-otter slide takes its place. On the North Pacific coast 

 the annual simply dives into the water. 



In the Kwakiutl version the Hawk cries, "MesI' mEse' muse'ku mEse'W " A steel- 

 head salmon appears, and he catches it K 9. In another version Fish Hawk puts up 

 four spits in the corner of the house, puts on the Fish Hawk mask, sits on his perch, 

 and catches spring salmon, which are then cut up and roasted. Afterwards the same 

 feat is repeated by Eagle, who catches a porpoise, and by Crane, who has four boxes 

 put down, puts on his Crane mask, stands on the shore, and catches a silver salmon 

 Kll. 



In Newettee 5 and 9 the Kingfisher spears spring salmon. In this tale the attempt 

 is not made by Raven to imitate his host; but iustead of that, he dances, wearing his 

 head-mask, goes underground, and steals the salmon. The Kingfisher incident is 

 repeated in the Kwakiutl version 11, where he puts on his Kingfisher mask, sits down 

 on his perch, and catches a sockeye salmon. 



Among the Quinault, Kingfisher simply sends out his five children to bring salmon, 

 and it may be that this version belongs more strictly with that oi the bathing children 

 discussed before. 



Farther to the south the host dives through a hole in the ice or 

 among driftwood. This form is found among the Wasco, where a 

 fish hawk dives from a stump, jumping into a hole in the ice, coming 

 up again with five different kinds of fish. In the Lillooet version King- 

 fisher makes a hole in the ice and spears fish. In this version, also, 

 Water Ousel dives for salmon spawn, which he boils, the gravel in 

 the river being transformed into spawn. In the Thompson River 

 version Kingfisher dives through a hole in the ice (Ntl Teit 2.41, 

 Ntl Hill-Tout 2.577). This incident has a very wide distribution. 



Kingfisher puts a string of willow bark around his waist and dives through a hole 

 between some driftwood or in an ice-hole Sh 628. In another Shuswap version he 

 dives through a hole in the ice, taking four small sticks along Sh 739. In the Kicka- 

 poo version Kingfisher dives from a tree and gets a fish, Kickapoo 7. This incident 

 is found also in the Kutenai, Shoshoni, Apache, Fox, Ponca, Arapaho, Micmac, and 

 Penobscot versions. 



(i) Miscellaneous Incidents 



(Ntl Teit 2.42; Ntl Hill-Tout 2.576; U 206; Quin 85; Chin 178; Ponca 557; Fox 241, 

 245, 257, 261 [2 forms], 269; Kickapoo 5; Ojibwa [Radin] 14 [3 forms], 15; Ojibwa 

 [Speck] 3 forms 39-42. Micmac [Rand] 302; Penobscot 52; Chippewa [Schoolcraft] 

 43; Arapaho 112 [2 forms], 120; Shoshoni 265; Wichita 2S5; Apache [Goddard] 231; 

 Meacalero Apache [2 forms]; Caddo 88, 94 [3 forms]; Biloxi 49; Cora 202 [2 forms]. 

 See also U 207) 



Besides these typical tales, there are quite a number of scattering 

 tales which do not belong to any of these groups. 



' Boas, Kutenai Tales (Bulletin B9 of the Bureau of A nuricnn Ethnology). 



