boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 707 



however, belong to the southern, district. The Kwakiutl tell of both 

 Raven's (K!wek!waxfi'we £ 's) and Mink's pretended death. 



Mink is dying, and the people discuss how he is to be buried. He does not want 

 to be buried on a tree, in the ground, in a cave, but he wants to be put by on an 

 island. He is placed in a box. After four days the women go to the island to pick 

 berries and mourn their chief. They see Mink on the rocks carrying sea eggs in a 

 blanket. He claims to have obtained supernatural power K 9.135. In another 

 version he objects for various reasons to the disposal of his body on a tree, in the 

 ground, or in the sea, and he is put in a box on an island. After three days his 

 tribe bathe, and his sisters go to look for him. They find that the cover of the grave- 

 box is off, and they believe that somebody has done mischief to the grave. Then 

 they see him coming out of the water currying sea egg*, and he claims to have obtained 

 supernatural power K 9.l:'.9. 



The Comox have the same tale Co 5. After Mink has said that he wants to be 

 taken to an island, his body is placed on a pyre. His wife goes into the house of the 

 Raccoon. He is jealous and returns. The same is told by the Kwakiutl of K!we- 

 k!waxa'we £ K 10. The StsEe'lis tell that Mink is buried and revives when he hears 

 that one of his wives has married Sts 5.33. 



In the Chilcotin tale, which will be discussed under No. 41 (below), it is also said 

 that Raven pretends to die, and that a certain girl whom he covets is not to be given 

 to any man from the village, but to one who comes from a distance. He asks to be 

 buried under his canoe. He puts some old salmon under the canoe, and the smell of 

 the rotten salmon convinces the people that he is dead. He escapes to another 

 village, transforms his excrement into a canoe, and visits the village; then he asks for 

 the hand of the girl Chil 17. 



(41) RAVEN BURNS HIS SISTER'S GROINS 



(a) Raven and the Girl 



(14 versions: M6304; Ska 127; Hap 883; BC 90; BC5.243; Ri5.211; Ne5.178; K5.160; 

 K 9.493; K 10.287; K 11.170; Nu 5.108; Co 5.71; Chil 17. See also Loucheux 1 252.) 



This story has been recorded in the area between Comox and Bella- 

 coola, although the brief allusions recorded from the Haida show that 

 it is well known certainly as far as southern Alaska. The Christianized 

 tribes of this area are obviously reluctant to tell the coarse story. 

 Inland it has been recorded among the Chilcotin. In K 5 and Co 5 

 no details are given. 



Raven [K!wek!waxa'we £ K 10, K 11, Ri5; /£ meal Neo] lives [at Qa'logwis K 10, 

 K 11; at Wfkledze Ri 5] [with his wife E'lx'sayugwa K 9, K 11, whose lover is 

 Deer K 11] with his wife, who has a daughter [Sawbill-Duck Woman Ne 5, K 9, K 11 , 

 whose skin is very white BC 5, Ri 5] by another husband. He covets the girl. [In 

 order to get her he pretends to dream that she should bathe K 10, K 11.] [During the 

 night he lies by the fire, goes to the summer seat in the morning, and when the girl 

 comes back from the beach he tells her that he dreamed that he was to get fuel for her. 

 Then she asks him to go for fuel K 11.] He tells her to bathe [she bathes in her room 

 BC 5, Ri 5]. [In order to get the girl, he lets the house become very cold, and then 

 offers to go for fuel BC] Raven goes to the trees and asks them whether they emit 

 sparks when burning. The hemlock sends him inland to the spruce, the spruce to the 

 fir, the fir to the red cedar, the red cedar to the yellow cedar, which says that it sends its 

 sparks beyond the people who sit near the fire K 10. [Hemlock, spruce, yellow cedar 

 K 11; yellow cedar Ri 5; he cuts the bark of each tree, which thereupon answers. 



