swANTON] TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS 89 



After leaving the land otters Raven appeared at Taku. There is 

 a cliff at the mouth of that inlet called WAs!As!e' where the North 

 Wind used to live, and Raven staj^ed there v/ith him. The North 

 Wind was very proud and shone all over with what the Indians 

 thought were icicles. So the Indians never say anything against the 

 North Wind, however long it blows, because it has spirits (i.e., power). 

 Years ago i)eople thought that there were spirits m all the large cliffs 

 upon the islands, and they would pray to those cliffs. They had 

 this feeling toward them because Raven once lived in this cliff' with 

 the North Wind. 



Raven observed certain regulations very strictly when he was 

 among the rivers he had created. He told people never to mention 

 anything that lives in the sea by its right name while they were there, 

 ])ut to call a seal a rabbit, for instance, and so with the other animals. 

 This was to keep them from meeting with misfortune among the 

 rapids. Formerly the Indians were very strict with their children 

 when they went up the rivers, but nowadays all that has been for- 

 gotten. 



After this Raven went to Chilkat and entered a sweat house along 

 with the chief of the killer whales who tried to roast him. Raven, how- 

 ever, had a piece of ice near him and every now and then put part of 

 it into his mouth. Then he would tell the killer whale that he felt 

 chilly and make him feel ashamed. ''If I did not belong to the 

 GanAxte'di family," said Raven, "I could not have stood that sweat 

 house." For this reason the Ganvoite'di now claim the raven as an 

 emblem and think they have more right to it than anybody else. 



It was from Raven that people found out there are Athapascan 

 Indians. He went back into their country. So the Chilkat people 

 to this day make their money by going thither. He also showed the 

 Chilkat peoj^le how to make tell, secret storehouses maintained some 

 distance out of toA\ai, and he taught them how to put salmon into 

 these and keep them frozen there over winter. So the Chilkat peo- 

 ple got their name fi'om tcit, "storehouse," and xat, "salmon." 



Raven also showed the Chilkat people the fir«t seeds of the Indian 

 tobacco and taught them how to plant it. After it was grown up, 

 he dried it, gathered clam shells, roasted them until they were very 

 soft, and pounded them up with the tobacco. They used to chew 

 this, and it was so good that it is surprising they gave it up. They 

 made a great deal of money at Chilkat by trading with this among 

 the interior Indians, but nowadaj^s it is no longer planted. 



Then Raven went to a river beyond Copper river called LAxayi'k" 

 and told the people that they were to make canoes out of skins. 



a This is an error, LAxayi'k being a general term for tlie Yakutat country and people. 



