FRACHTENBEKG] ALSEA TEXTS AND MYTHS 13 



a part in the creation as is assigned to the Culture Hero. Thus, to 

 Coyote is attributed the creation of the various tribes, and he is 

 also responsible for the naming of the several families that compose 

 the animal kingdom. Furthermore, the removal of the many mon- 

 sters and vicious beings that infest the land is accomplished not only 

 by S'u'ku, but also by the Five Brothers, provided we assume the 

 myth dealing with their exploits to be an Alsea tradition and not 

 consciously taken from Salish mythology. These Five Brothers, 

 traveling from place to place, also impart to mankind the knowledge 

 of several useful arts, after which they disappear in the sky in the 

 form of Thunders. Through its partial dissociation of the Culture 

 Hero from the Trickster, on the one hand, and through the presence 

 of a group of Transformers on the other, Alsea mythology assumes 

 signal importance, for it represents the mythology of that area of 

 the Northwest which has been influenced jointly and in the same 

 degree by the folklore of the tribes of California and of those of the 

 N6rth Pacific coast and of the Northwestern Plateaus. Alsea 

 mythology may be said to mark the gradual transition from the 

 folklore of the South to the mythology of the North. Under north- 

 ern influence the complete and strict dissociation of the Culture 

 Hero from the Trickster (of California mythology) changes into a 

 loose dualism between these two characters who, as we go farther 

 north, become totally unified, while the multiple number of the 

 Transformers of the North diminishes here to five and finally dwin- 

 dles down to on'e in the folklore of the South (Coos, Takelma, Maidu). 

 The lack of sufficient material from the tribes to the east of the 

 Coast and Cascade Ranges does not permit of the formulation of 

 any sweeping conclusions concerning the concordance between 

 Alsea folklore and, their own. With the exception of Nez Perce 

 myths, published by Doctor Spinden, and the traditions collected 

 by myself among the Molala and Kalapuya Indians, not yet pub- 

 lished, practically nothing is available from that region. However, 

 the material on hand would tend to show that there are practically 

 no important points of difference between the folklore of these two 

 regions. Alsea mythology seems to differ from the folklore of the 

 tribes to the immediate east in so far only as it lacks the Imperson- 

 ator stories so characteristic of Molala and Kalapuya mythology. 

 Another, though secondary, point of difference has been observed 

 in the absence from Alsea mythology of elements of European folk- 

 lore. In this connection it may be noted that the .influence of the 

 Jesuit missionaries did not seem to extend to the tribes of the coast, 

 being confuied to the tribes inhabiting the area between the Coast 

 Range and the Rocky Mountains. 



