152 BUEEAU or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 39 



for a pet? That is a horrible thing to have for a pet." But her 

 daii<i;hter only cried. 



Now, the people got ready to kill this thing, and they tried in 

 every way to induce the girl to come away from her house. Her 

 mother told her that her uncle's wife wanted her help, but, although 

 she was very fond of her, that was not sufficient to get her out. 

 Next morning she said to the big worm, "Son, I have had a very bad 

 dream." After they had begged her to come out day after day she 

 finally came. "Mother," she said, "get me my new marten robe." 

 Then she tied a rope around her waist as a ])elt and came out singing 

 a song she had been composing ever since they first began to beg her: 

 "I have come out at last. You have begged me to come out. I 

 have come out at last, you have begged me so hard, but it is just 

 like begging me to die. My coming out from my pet is going to cause 

 death." As she sang she cried, and the song made the ])eople feel 

 very badly. Then she heard a great uproar and said to her uncle's 

 wife, "They are killing my son at last." "No," said her uncle's 

 wife, "it is a dog fight." "No, they are killhig him." They had 

 quite a time killing the worm, and when she heard that it was dead 

 she sang, "They got me away from you, my son. It isn't my fault. 

 I had to leave you. They have killed you at last. They have killed 

 you. But you will be heard of all over the world. Although I am 

 blamed for bringing you up, you will be claimed by a great clan and 

 be looked up to as something great." And to this day, when that 

 clan is feasting, they start her four songs. This clan is the GfinAxte'dt. 

 Then she went to her father and said, "Let that pet of mine be burned 

 like the body of a human being. Let the whole town cut wood for 

 it." So they did, and it burned just like coal oil. 



Another of this woman's songs was, "You will be a story for the 

 time coming. You will be told of." This is where the GanAxte'dl 

 come from. No one outside of them can use this worm. Wlrat 

 causes so many wars is the fact that there are very many people 

 having nothing who claim something. The GauAxte'di also own 

 Black-skin. They represent him on poles with the sea-lions' intes- 

 tines around his head. 



The girl's father felt very badly that she should care for so ugly 

 a creature, but to please her and make her feel better, he gave a 

 feast along with tobacco and said, "If my daughter had had any- 

 thing else for a pet, I would have taken good care of it, too, but I 

 feared that it would injure the village later on, so I had to have it 

 killed." 



In the town where this occurred a man named S!awA'n became a 

 shaman. He told the people to leave and go somewhere else because 

 spirits were saying in him, "If you stay in this village, you will all 



