»bZ TSIMSHIAM MYTHOLOGY [eth. axn. 31 



A Hare Indian story recorded by Petitot is probably related to 

 the Haida tale. 



Two sisters have been carried away by a giant, and live among the Dog people. 

 Their brother searches for them; and when he finds them, the women run away 

 with him and leave their Dog children. When they awake, they find themselves 

 on top of a steep mountain. They go to sleep again, and the brother flattens out the 

 country. On the following day, on awaking, they find themselves on a small desolate 

 island. The brother creates a road that leads to the shore 7.207. 



60. The Land Otter 



(2 versions: Ts 345; 1 K 10.249. See also Tl 28, Tl 87, Tl 4.288, M 523, M 536.— Tl 29, 

 Tl 187, M 653.— Tl 5.322, Kai 251.— Tl 30; Tl 188; Tl 4.272; Kai 253; M 517; M 545; 

 M 601 ; Sk lit; Sk 269. See also M 448; Kai 254) 



Stories of people who are drowned and taken away by the land 

 otters are very common among the Tlingit and Masset, but occur also 

 among the Tsimshian and Kwakiutl. In these tales the life of the 

 land otters is described; and many of them hinge on the point, that, 

 if a traveler accepts the food of the otters or follows their call, he is 

 lost and can never return. 



A man and his sister capsize. He swims ashore and sees a fire that seems to move 

 away when he approaches, lie starts a fire of his own. The Land Otters arrive in 

 their canoe. He throws the paddles into the fire and they turn into minks. At the 

 same time the people disappear and the canoe turns into a log of driftwood. Later 

 on his sister's ghost appears and feeds hini. The man is on his guard, and is rescued 

 by his friends Ts 345. 



Quite analogous is a Kwakiutl story which tells first how a woman 

 is induced to eat the Wood Man's food and is thus captured by him. 



A hunter reaches the Wood Man's house. He is warned by the captured woman. 

 He throws the food and paddles of visitors into the fire. The food becomes rotten 

 wood, the paddles become minks. The canoe becomes a skate; the people, land 

 otters. Eventually he is rescued K 10.249. 



There are many other tales dealing with encounters with land- 

 otters, but the themes show great variation. In our series the 

 essential idea underlies the story of the princess who married a land- 

 otter, which has been discussed on p. 751. 



61. The Deluge (p. .346) 



Some hunters go to a lake. The waters of the lake rise and overflow into Skeena 

 River. A whale appears and goes down again. The following year two brothers try 

 to get supernatural power at this lake. The elder one steps into the water and sinks 

 to the bottom. The lake rises again, and the whale emerges. The younger brother 

 remains on shore. The man who has gone into the lake is taken into a house. Light- 

 ning and a grizzly bear appear, and he is given various supernatural gifts— a thunder- 

 bird, a grizzly-bear box, living eyes (the hail), a monster called Mouth At Each End, 

 a codfish. He comes ashore with these gifts and finds his brother starved to death. 

 Martens have eaten his body. He restores him to life, and the younger brother also 

 becomes a shaman. The martens that have eaten him are in his body, and a vessel 

 of blood is his supernatural power. On account of the great power of the elder brother, 

 the supernatural beings try tokillhim. Finally two hermaphrodites 2 overcome him. 



i Identical with Ts 5.290. : Probably homosexuals are meant. 





