boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 743 



several children. Indoors the Bears take off their skins and are people. After some 

 time he wishes to go home, and the Bear Woman allows him to go Tin. 



The same story is told to account for the origin of the grizzly-bear 

 crest of the Te'qoadi. 



A man of this family reaches a bear's den and is thrown in by the male. The She- 

 Bear digs a hole in the ground and conceals him. When the Bear inquires for him, 

 the She-Bear says that he has not thrown anything in. The male becomes angry and 

 leaves her. The She-Bear marries the man, and they have children. The man's 

 brothers search for him, and keep taboos in order to be successful. The She-Bear 

 feels their approach and makes them pass by. She is unable to turn aside the 

 youngest one, whose dogs find the den. The man goes out, calls his dog, and tells 

 his brother not to do any harm to the Bear. In May, when the bears leave their 

 dens, the She-Bear allows him to go home T\b. 

 The version Sk& belongs to Masset. 



A hunter of the Eagle Clan named Gats is unsuccessful. He has two dogs. One 

 day he sees a bear, which carries him to his den. The She-Bear hides him between 

 her legs. The Bear goes hunting, and on his return asks his wife what became of the 

 man. She says that he only brought his belt. She marries the man. The dogs 

 return to the village. The people follow them, discover the He-Bear, and kill him. 

 The man and the She-Bear have a child. Finally he is homesick, and his wife allows 

 him to return Sk6. 



In the Skidegate version it is told that a man goes out hunting with dogs. The 

 dogs find a grizzly bear, which throws him into its den. He is thrown against the 

 She-Bear's breast. She puts him into a hole, leaving only his cape outside. When 

 the male Bear comes in, she says that he has thrown in only the cape, which she has 

 torn to pieces. The male Bear goes hunting, carrying a large basket. His wife lets 

 out his thread of life, which runs out irregularly. When the thread jerks, she pulls 

 up a plank and hides the man under it. The Bear returns, carrying a few crabs in his 

 basket. He does not know why he has not been more successful. On the following 

 day the same happens, and the woman cuts the thread of life. She marries the man, 

 and explains to him how the He-Bear used to hunt. The following day the man goes 

 out with the basket, reaches a lake, swims to a shoal in the middle, and fills his basket 

 with crabs. They have two sons. The man then hunts hair-seals. Later on the 

 man prepares to go away, and she gives him instructions Ska. 



The following part deals with the events after the man's return 

 home. I begin again with the Nass version. 



The She-Bear tends the man's human child and makes friends with his first wife. 

 The children of the She-Bear were left in the mountains. In spring women go gather- 

 ing berries. While the human women pick them in bags, Grizzly Bear eats them. 

 When at home, she vomits them into dishes. The people are afraid to eat them. A 

 man makes a salmon weir. Grizzly Bear carries the fish from the weir to her father- 

 in-law. One morning a youth finds the weir empty because the Grizzly Bear has 

 emptied it. He scolds her, calling her ''Drop-Jaw," and saying that she feeds people 

 with dung. The She-Bear becomes enraged and kills him. Then she remembers 

 her two children and returns to the mountains. She forbids her husband to follow 

 her. He disobeys, and she kills him N 200. 



In all the other versions the reason of the Bear's leaving is the 

 infidelity of her husband. The closing incident in the Nass version, 

 as well as in the others, is evidently related to the discovery of the 

 infidelity, which will be found treated on p. 780. 



Before Katsl's return the She-Bear forbade him to talk to his former wife, saying 

 that if he should smile at her his bear children would become sick. She asks him 



