82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bri,L.29 



her .she m:id(> a motion outward from herself and from side to side 

 across her nose.'" They then tied the mouths of their dogs. 



Then they called them to come down from the tree. And, when 

 the}^ came down, the ])ear licked her friends. The}^ then led them 

 home, and they liked the house. They gave them somethino- raw to 

 eat. They did not speak. But after the cubs had played about for a 

 while the dogs killed them. And the sorrow of their mother for 

 their death killed her. 



After they had killed bears for some time one of them went to see 

 his deadfall. It had fallen upon some creature like a human being, 

 and he had copper on his back. He brought it home. 



After that a certain person went from the town. He entered Salmon- 

 point's house. When the supernatural ])eings went past they let 

 themselves float into the house and ate all his food. Because he was 

 old they were not afraid of him. 



Then his nephew ^^ found a bullhead, skinned it, and dried the skin. 

 And one day, when the supernatural beings came b}^, he called to them 

 to come. On account of it his uncle became angry with him. All the 

 more he called them. By and by some turned thither. He placed 

 himself in the doorway. He made his needles stand up and, when 

 the supernatural beings floated in, he cut them. When they went 

 out he did the same thing again. The supernatural beings were afraid 

 of him. 



One day he went to the house of Heaven-holder.^'' And [Heaven- 

 holder] said to him: "Human beings will ask me for pleasant 

 weather." 



Now the Head-of -creek woman of Skidegate creek had spoken as 

 follows: "1 will remember you. After the Food-giving-town people 

 are all gone they shall become numerous again," she said. 



There they cut down a cedar. They split it up and carried it out 

 of the woods. Then they began to make a flsh trap. And when 

 they had finished it they named it " Small-hole-in-the-ground flsh 

 trap." [The maker of this] gave the fish trap to his son. His wife 

 belonged to the Giti'ns and he (the son) was the first of the Big-house 

 people. 



The people of the Raven clan owm the thunder.''*' Therefore, when 

 one of the Raven clan is about to die, it thunders. 



This is the end. 



This story consists of a number of mythic or half mythic episodes detailing supposed 

 early doings of a Haida family which used to occxipy the east shore of Moresby 

 island, between Sividegate inlet and Cumshewa point. Skidegate creek runs through 

 the middle of their territory and was their most important stream. This fact 

 accounts for the prominence of the Creek-woman of Skidegate creek in the legends. 

 Food-giving town (Daiyii^) was on Shingle bay, on the south side of Skidegate inlet. 

 In 1901 there were said to be but four survivors of the family, although the Haida 

 declared they had formerly been a large and prominent division, and they them- 

 selves claim that their chief was town chief of Sqe'na. 



