158 IQe'sQES KjA lo'l THEIR MYTH. 



tbureau ob' 

 Lethnology 



^ jiiXa/tako, o'mek-ikal iqe'sqes!" Nekct neXa'tako iqe'sqes. A'lta 



turnback, your wife blue-jay I" Not he turned back blue-jay. Now 



2 wiXt a'qxotk qaX o^d'kiiil. Xo'mEqt wiXt. 



again she was ]>iit by that woman. She was deail again. 



Translation. 



There were Blue-Jay and liis elder sister [Ir»'i]. Thelatter went every 

 day digging roots. [Once upon a time J slie said to lier brother: "Make 

 sonie arrows; the ducks, the geese, the tail-ducks always lick my but 

 tocks." "Yes, I Avill do so," said Blue-Jay. The next day she went 

 again digging. Then Blue Jay made the arrows. When he had fin- 

 ished them he went and searched for his elder sister. When he came 

 to the place where lo'i always dug roots he heard her scratching her 

 anus. She looked back, turning her head over her shoulder. Now 

 Blue- Jay spanned his bow and shot her in her buttocks. "Auah, 

 Squint-eye" [she said]. She took away his bow and said : "These here 

 are the birds," and she shot them. She killed a male mallard duck 

 which was very fat. Then she said to her younger brother : "Go home, 

 and when you get home give them the nose ornament to eat, keep for 

 me only a stone and its rope." " I will do so," said Blue-Jay. lo'i had 

 five children. He went home. Now he plucked the duck. He finished 

 plucking it. Now he cut the fat of the duck and tied it to the noses of 

 lo'i's children. He made a fire and said : " Go near the fire. Look into 

 the fire in the middle of the house." Now he put a stone aside; a stone 

 of that size. Now they looked into the fire and the fat became warm. 

 Then they licked it off. lO'i went home. She opened the door and saw 

 her children. Their faces had become flushed by the heat. Then she 

 jumped into the house. The stone [which Blue-Jay had put aside] hit 

 her right on her forehead and she fell down. She lay there a long time; 

 she recovered, arose [and said]: "Anah, Squint-eye, what did I tell 

 you? I told you to give them a little and to keep the stomach for me." 

 Then she took her children away from the fire. Blue- Jay replied: "I 

 thought so; why do you not sj^eak plainly when you speak to me?" 



Another time lo'i said to her brother: "Make me a canoe large 

 enough for one leg." "I will do so," replied Blue- Jay. lo'i said: 

 " When there are no roots here I shall always go to the other side 

 when you have finished the canoe." " I think so," replied Blue- Jay. 

 Early next morning Blue Jay went and hollowed out a piece of cedar 

 wood. He put his leg into the canoe [to measure it and made it just as 

 large as his leg]. He finished the canoe and went to his sister. He 

 said: "I have finished the canoe." They carried it to the water and 

 went to the canoe. When she saw it [and noticed that] it was just large 

 enough for one leg she said: "Anah, Squint-eye, what did I tell you? 

 I told you to make a canoe large enough for one man." Blue-Jay 

 replied: "I thought so; why do you not sj)eak plainly when you speak 

 to me?" On the next day Blue- Jay made a large canoe. It was good, 

 large enough to carry one person. He brought it to his sister. 



