142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull, 39 



not smart, for a smart man, when he loses a very Httle of his property, 

 thmks of it and next time tries to do better. One time he and his 

 wife went away in a canoe and upset. His wife was drowned, but 

 he was captured by the land otters who named him Tiits!ldigu'L, and 

 he has strength like that of a shaman among them. When anyone is 

 drowned by the upsetting of his canoe, they say ' ' Tuts !idigu'L has him." 



One time four boys went out hunting from Klawak with l)ow and 

 arrows. They saw some black ducks and shot at them, hat the ducks 

 kept swimming out to sea, drawing them on. Far out the canoe 

 upset. They hunted for the l)oys for days and days, l)ut could not 

 find them. Then some property was given to a shaman named Tuxsta', 

 who sent his spirit after them to the point on the beach from which 

 they had set out. Then the shaman said, "The spirits of the boys 

 seem to have taken the road to the land-otters' dens." Therefore 

 they kept on until tliey saw the boys upon a point of land, but, as 

 soon as the latter saw them, they ran into the dens of the land otter. 

 Then the town chief said, "Let the whole town gather pitchwood and 

 burn up the land-otter dens." So all of the people went thither in 

 their canoes, made fires at the mouths of the dens and killed the land 

 otters as soon as they came out. All perished but a few, who said, 

 "It is Tuts!idigu'L's fault that they have burned up our housesa nd 

 our food." Then Tuts!idigu'L jumped into the sea from the other 

 side of the point with the boys all around him, so that they could 

 not be found. 



After this the shaman said, ''The land otters are going to make 

 war upon the peoj^le here," and soon after they did so. The peo])le 

 attacked them in return and they warred for some time. Many 

 people fell dowm suddenly and were taken sick, while others were in- 

 jured by having limbs of trees fall upon their heads. The shaman 

 said that these mishaps were really effects of the land-otters' arrows, 

 made of the shells of the spider crab. The people were also suffering 

 from boils and pimples all over their bodies, and he said that these 

 were produced by the poisonous shells. So many were dying that 

 all became frightened. Whenever anyone went out hunting or fish- 

 ing he would be troubled with boils and itching places and have to 

 return. The shaman's spirits, which the land otters could see, were 

 the only things they feared. 



Finally the shaman saw that there were two white land otters, and 

 he said, "If you can get hold of those you will be all right." Then 

 a canoe with four men started off, and the shaman sang with them 

 telling them that his spirits were going along also to look after them. 

 He said, "You will be lucky. You will get them. As soon as you get 

 them put feathers on their heads." So they went away and camped 



