870 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [bth.ann.31 



A man kills the sea monster Wa'sgo, skins it, and puts on the skin. In this form he 

 is able to catch whales and other sea animals Tl 166; M 614, 624 ; Sk 283; Hai 6.60. 

 The same story is told of a brown eagle Kai 249 ; of a halibut Sk 196; of a fish M 366; 

 of a sea lion M 657. A woman enters the skin of a surf scoter and goes fishing Sk 78. 

 In other cases the hero borrows a skin from the animals: from a mouse Sk 266; an 

 eagle Sk 279, Tl 204, 209; M 514. (See also Tl 101.) Tales of the skin-shifter have 

 been enumerated on p. 606, No. 66. 



She Who Has A Labret Ox One Side (N. p. 18S) 



A scabby slave-girl appears on the street of a village. A prince marries her. When 

 his mother feeds her, she puts into the empty dish a scab, which is transformed into 

 an abalone shell. In the evening the girl's mother, Evening Sky, comes and annul mees 

 that her people will come and give the prince much property. Next day they arrive. 

 The prince and his people go inland to trade. His wife is angry because he does not 

 take her along. She bathes the awkward brother of the prince, gives him red paint, 

 and sends him to the inlanders to trade for weasel skins. He becomes beautiful and 

 rich, and she marries him. Her mother comes again and brings much property, 

 which she gives to her new husband. 



The marriage with the awkward man who is made beautiful is 

 somewhat similar to the marriage of Tsauda to the lame girl whom 

 he cures (see p. 855). 



The Squirrel (N, p. 211) 



This story accounts for the origin of the power of a shaman, and it 

 is similar in character to the story of Great Shaman (p. 859; see 

 also No. 61, p. 862). The single incidents, however, are quite dis- 

 tinctive. 



A young man has killed many squirrels. One day he sees a white squirrel climbing 

 a spruce tree. He goes around the tree to get a shot, and finds that the squirrel i> 

 the daughter of the chief of the Sqtiirrels. He is called into the house. The chief 

 asks him to burn the meat and bones of the squirrels which he has killed, and thus 

 to restore the Squirrel people to life. In return he promises to make the hunter a 

 shaman, and gives him a dance and a song. After some time the youth's dried-up 

 body is found on the tree. It is taken to his father's house and placed on a mat. and 

 during the mourning-ceremony he revives. The squirrel meat is burned and the 

 youth becomes a great shaman. 



Tsegtj'ksk u (N, p. 231) 



A shaman has a carved squirrel, which comes to life and kills all the people of a 

 village except TsEgu'ksk 11 . He lies down on a painted board in a canoe, sings, sacri- 

 fices, and is taken down to the bottom of the sea, where he receives a box in 'lie fi irm 

 of a killer whale and a magical club. The box, by his orders, becomes a live whale, 

 which breaks the ice and takes away all the women of his enemy's village when 

 they come down to get water. Eventually the club and the box kill all these 

 people. The Haida make war on the Xass River villages and kill TsEgu'ksk 11 . His 

 head is cut off and taken along, but it swims back to the body and joins it, and 

 TsEgu'ksk" revives. He is invited to a feast. He knows that he is to be poisoned, 

 and tells his friends to take out his intestines when he seems to be dead, and to replace 

 them with those of a dog. This is done, and he revives. Another time he capsizes 



