boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 703 



the provisions to the door of the house, a hammer hits his ankle, so that he lias to 

 drop the provisions. He is severely hurt Ts, N6 [when he steals provisions, old 

 wedges which are lying near the fire hit against his ankle, so that he has to drop the 

 provisions; the same happens on the other side of the house, and then in the other 

 houses Sk/; when he drags out a bundle of salmon, he is pulled back from the door 

 and told to sit down; then he takes a berry-box and is beaten with sticks N6; five 

 times he tries lo take salmon roe, but he is pulled back from the door and the me 

 put back Me; twice he tries to take the food, but is compelled to throw it down Mdf; 

 the stern of his canoe is tied to a tree; when he tries to paddle away with the provis- 

 ions, he is pulled back and the food carried into the house; when he persists, a rock 

 is thrown at his foot, so that he is lame T16]. He is thrown out of the house. When 

 people ask him what happened to him. he says he fell down a precipice Tl 5. 



The Chinook tell the same story of Blue jay, who visits the Shadows 

 in the company of Ins sister Io'i. He sees dentalia and blankets lying 

 about, seizes them, and the Shadows cry out that he is seizing their 

 ornaments and their clothing. In punishment the Shadows change 

 his sex and that of his sister Chin 181. 



The Tillamook tell of six travelers who reach the house of the 

 Shadows. A basketful of fish falls down. First they put it back, 

 then they eat it. When they try to carry provisions down to their 

 canoe, their hair is pulled, they are beaten, and the baskets are taken 

 away from them Till 3 1 . 



The Takelma tell a similar incident in their Transformer myth. 

 The Dragonfly (the Transformer) finds a house in which he sees pro- 

 visions. There are no people, only a salmon-spear. When he takes 

 provisions, the spear-shaft fights with him; he breaks it and says that 

 later on spears shall not be people, but objects, Takelma 39. In a 

 Shuswap tale a somewhat similar incident occurs in the house of 

 Hah- and Comb Sh 5.8. 



(35) txa'msem kills deer (p. 88) 



(a) He Kills Deer with a Hammer 



(4 versions: Ts88; N6 63; Mc 336; H 5.233) 



Raven comes to a creek in which humpback salmon are running, and sees a little 

 hut in which live Deer and his wife. He calls the Deer his brother-in-law. One day 

 he requests him to accompany him when cutting wood. They go to a rotten hemlock 

 tree, and the wedges jump out. He asks Deer to hold the wedges, requests him to 

 put his head near by, and then strikes it with the hammer and thus kills him. He 

 goes home, his face blackened, and sings, "Wolves have killed my brother-in-law!" 

 Deer's wife shakes her tail and runs away. He eats all the provisions Ts. 



The version N6 is practically identical with the preceding, only before going home 

 Raven breaks mussel-shells and puts them into the Deer blanket, thus making the 

 Deer's wife believe that, her husband has been killed by enemies. Finally he kills 

 her, too. 



Raven enters the chief's house in Deer Town. He makes himself look young, and 

 calls Deer his brother-in-law. He' asks Deer to accompany him when he goes to chop 

 wood. Then his stone ax flies off the handle and kills the Deer, which he eats Mc. 



To tins group belongs also the Bellabella story, which, however, in 

 its introduction, has certain relationships to the southern Deer story. 



Raven is the first to build a canoe. Deer comes to look, and Raven asks him to sit 

 nearby. Then he inquires, "When are you fattest?" Deerreplies, " When the grass 

 is long." Then he kills him with his hammer H 5. 



