swANTON] HAIDA TPDXTS AND MYTHS 187 



After they reached tlieic he j^avc the iniin (o liis wife, who liid him 

 between her h'^s. 



Th(> lu'jir went huntiiio- aoaiii. When he retui-ntnl he asked his wife, 

 " W'liat became of the man wliom I caughtr' She replied, "I think 

 you did not bi'ino- u inan: you only brought his belt. Here it is." 



Every time when the he-bear went hunting- she took the man out of • 

 his hidini^plac(>. and he became her lover. The two dog's had returned 

 to the village. The ]ieople followed them, discovered the bear, and 

 killed him. Then the she-bear married the man.. They had a child. 



One day (rats recalled his friends, and he asked iiis wife to let him 

 return to his owmi village. She agreed and said: ""I am going hunt- 

 ing all the time, I will go and give food to my child."" Then Gilts 

 I'eturned to his own village, wliere he had left a wife. But ])efore he 

 returned the bear told him not to look at his foi'mer wife, else she would 

 kill him. 



One day the man went hunting with his two sons. On the hills he 

 met the bear, lie went to meet her, and gave her some food. The 

 people Avere afraid to accompany him on his visit to the 1)ear. When 

 she saw him approaching she raised her ears and was glad to see him. 



One day he went to a pond to fetch some water. While doing so 

 he met his former wife and smiled at her. Then he went hunting and 

 caught many seals. In the evening he went up the hill to meet the 

 she-bear. Then her ears were turned forward like those of an angr}^ 

 bear. She jumped into the water before the man had reached the 

 shore, attacked him, and killed him and his two sons. 



Like the preceding, this story is compound, there being in reality three distinct 

 tales. The first and longest is that to which the title properly belongs, and the 

 main theme, the story of the person abandoned to die who was supernaturally helped 

 and became a great chief. It is popular from Yakutat bay to the Columbia river. 

 The second part, the story of the man who married a grizzly bear, was appended 

 because the hero is said to have belonged to the same town as the principal char- 

 acter in the first part. It is a favorite Tsimshian story, and is referred to for the 

 origin of the secret societies. Another Aversion, obtained by Professor Boas from 

 Charlie Edenshaw, chief of the StA^stas, is appended. The concluding section, tell- 

 ing how the woodpecker obtained its brilliant plumage, seems to be altogether out 

 of i)lace here, but my informant asserted that it was always told in this connection 

 at Skedans. It is the only part of the story luanifestly Haida. 



'There were many towns in Metlakahtla narrows, but this is Qa^Ioqa^Ii, said to have 

 been the name given to Metlakahtla projier, where the modern town stands. 



•^ That is, the town chief. 



^ .Milt is probably what the word q!aMji refers to. It was said to be "white 

 stuff found in some salmon instead of roe." The translation of k!6^sgul as "heart" 

 is somewhat doubtful. 



* The dog dug up a salmon creek. 



* It is difficult to follow the old man's descriptions, Imt the accompanying diagram 

 shows how my interpreter illustrated the construction of this fish trap to me. 



The trap is seen to be triangular with the apex pointing upstream. The two 

 sides of the triangle next this apex form the trap proper or gi'g'awai (a). The 



