boas] COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY 823 



of the cedar tree. He skins it, and hides the skin in a forked tree. Then he makes 

 killer whales out of cedar at the end of the town. He puts fins on them, kicks them 

 into the water, and they become porpoises. Then he makes ten killer whales out of 

 hemlock wood. They are unsatisfactory, and become another kind of porpoise. He 

 makes ten killer whales of yew wood and paints them with white stripes and white 

 bellies. They catch red cod, spring salmon, and halibut. With these he is satisfied 

 Sk 283.' He hides in a cave. At night he goes into his house and gets his tools. He 

 carves a raven-fin, a noisy fin, and a killer whale of spruce wood, throws them 

 into the water, and tells them to blow. He tries the same with hemlock wood. Next 

 he tries yellow cedar, and finally yew. The killer whale made of it comes up far 

 away, and he is satisfied M 388. The version Tl 150 ends with the return of the man. 

 He does not take revenge. In a Tlingit version it is told that NateiUne' begins to 

 carve killer whales out of cottonwood bark while he is on the rock on which he was 

 deserted. He shouts, but they are not transformed. He tries alder wood, hemlock, 

 red cedar, and finally yellow cedar. They swim out for a long distance, but are finally 

 transformed into wood. He makes holes in the dorsal fins, and they become alive 

 again Tl 230. 



On the following day the brothers-in-law go hunting. Asdi-wa'l sends the killer 

 whales to upset their canoes. They split the canoe of the oldest brother and kill him. 

 They break the canoes of the others nearer to the shore, and they escape with some 

 difficulty Ts 1.141. He tells the killer whales to upset the canoes of his brothers-in- 

 law, but to save the youngest one. They do so, but two of the killer whales accom- 

 pany the canoe of the youngest brother and take it home safely Ts 5.289. The killer 

 whales break the canoes of the brothers-in-law N 229. He orders the killer whales 

 to kill all the people when they are out fishing. He instructs his youngest brother-in- 

 law to wear a feather in his hair, and he tells the killer whales to save him. After 

 this he gives names to the killer whales, and tells them to settle in various places 

 Sk 284. Go'ttca tells the killer whales to leave the lower jaw of a whale in front of 

 the town every morning. After having done so, they return to Go'ttca. He tells them 

 to take a whole whale, then ten whales, to the town. The killer whales take him 

 back to the Sea Lion chief. The revenge is here omitted M 390. The man sends the 

 killer whales to upset the canoes of his brothers-in-law. After this be tells them not 

 to injure human beings any more Tl 231. 



The idea that animals or canoes are carved of different kinds of 

 wood, until finally the appropriate kind of wood is found, occurs hi 

 a considerable number of stories that are not related to the group 

 here discussed. The other idea — namely, that an animal is made of 

 wood in order to take revenge on an enemy — occurs also in other 

 combinations. 



A story wh ; ch is identical with Tl 230 is as follows: NatsAUne' of the Tsague'di 

 (Seal People) makes killer whales of red cedar, hemlock, and other kinds of wood. 

 They do not swim. He is successful when he uses yellow cedar. He marks them 

 with different designs. Some he paints with white lines from the corners of the 

 mouth to the back of the head. He tells them to hunt seal at the heads of bays, and 

 not to hurt human beings. The people ask them for food. The name of this man is 

 the same as that of the hero of the story quoted before Tl 25. 



The making of animals or canoes of various kinds of wood occurs 

 in the following tales: 



After the Snails have abducted a girl (see p. 749), her brothers follow her. They find 

 her at the bottom of a deep valley. In order to go down, they carve an eagle, first of 

 red cedar, then of spruce, and then of yellow cedar, and finally of different kinds of 



