840 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [bth. ANN. 31 



she returns, she looks filthy, her clothing ragged, although she herself thought that 

 she was beautiful; she smells of the beach; her husband does not enter with her; a 

 boy is born in her parents' house; he is a good shot T16J. 



Her brother meets her, reports her arrival, but is not believed. When the people 

 go out, the husbands of the young woman are invisible to them. They appear like 

 moonlight or like sunbeams. When they enter, they seem to step out of a fog. Here 

 follows the story of the faithlessness of the wife (husband) of the supernatural beings 

 (see p. 780) and their departure. In punishment the Sun's sons send poverty to 

 their wife and her children. One of the children eventually finds the canoe of his 

 father, which is copper, and by means of which he becomes rich Tl</. 



The version T1& tells of the boy's visit to his father, who gives him 

 his gifts. This becomes necessary, because the boy was not born 

 when his mother returned to her father's house. The form recalls 

 the tale of visits across the sea and the invitations tendered by 

 supernatural beings to people in distress. 



The boy goes out with his friends, shoots a cormorant, which induces them to follow 

 it out to sea. It becomes foggy; they fasten the canoe to a snag, and some one calls 

 the boy to his father's house. He loses consciousness, and finds himself in a beautiful 

 house on the mainland. His father names him CAmgige'tk. The boy is surprised 

 that the father never inquires for his mother. He gives him abalone shells, sharks' 

 teeth, and a club, which, when put down, will fight for him and kill animals. The 

 door of the house opens, and he is back in his canoe. He tells his friends who inquire 

 that he has been on top of the snag. He reaches home. Only his mother knows what 

 has happened Tib. The boy has four friends Ts 1. 



The other versions continue as follows: The people are starving, and he goes hunt- 

 ing with them ; his mother gives him the otter club, bow and arrows; he kills seals and 

 fills a canoe; when he comes back, the people make fun of his mother because they do 

 not believe that her son has been successful ; he returns, relieves the people ; his mother 

 gives a potlatch and names her son Ts 1. He elopes with his uncle's daughter 

 Ts 1 [marries his uncle's daughter Ski]. He makes copper plate out of his canoe, 

 which he uses as marriage gifts Ts 1 [in Tib he obtains much food during a famine; 

 then follows a story of the Giant Crab]. 



(c) The Woman Carried Away by the Killer Whales 



(13 versions: Ts 1.171; Ts 4.275; Ts 5.299; Tla 26; Tic 215; Ma 495; Ska 245; Sk6 

 338; Hai 6.71; BC 5.259; Ri MS; Na 5.55; Se 52) 



A white sea otter appears in front of the village Ts 1, Ski [Metlakahtla Ts 4, Ts 5; 

 at Masset Ska; between two towns Ma; ' a sea otter appears near Metlakahtla Hai 6]. 

 The youth's mother-in-law asks him to shoot it Ts 1 [wife Hai 6] in tip of tail Ma, 

 Sk6, Hai 6. He hits the sea otter in the tip of the tail Ska, 2 Se [he goes with four 

 friends and kills it Ts 1]; [Wa'walis spears a sea otter Ri MS]. There is some blood 

 at the tip of the tail Ts 4 [a drop of blood on the skin Ts 1; husband tells his 

 wife not to let blood soil it when skinning it Skfc; he skins it Ska; he skins ; t, there 

 is blood on the fur Ri MS; the mother-in-law skins it Ma]. [A harpooneer invites 

 friends to a seal feast Na 5.] The woman washes the skin, which drifts seaward; 

 she follows it into deep water Ts 1, Ts 4, Ts 5, Ma, Ska, Ski, Hai 6 [he gives her 

 several skins to wash, because they are bloody; she carries the skins on a rope Ri MS; 

 GAmna'tcklt gives his wife skin and meat of seal to wash, the meat drifts out to sea 



i The introduction to the story tells of a boy banished with his grandmother, who becomes successful 

 and marries h is uncle's daughter. 



2 This is part of the story He Who Gets Supernatural Power From His Little Finger. The beginning is 

 not related to the tale here discussed. 



