3G8 REPORT— 1902. 



the lake lies. They had taken with them a stout ste'qim (rope). They 

 got out to the middle of the lake, and the man who sought to visit 

 the Slalakum tied the rope about his body and jumped into the water, 

 bidding the other pay out the slack as he descended. He cai'ried a big 

 stone with him, and this caused him to sink quickly. When he had been 

 down a good while the other grew impatient and pulled up the rope, at 

 the bottom of which he was horritied to see the skeleton of his com- 

 panion. He had been devoured piecemeal by the lish of the lake. Greatly 

 frightened, the survivor hurriedly packed up the skeleton, and made his 

 way home again as fast as he could. Deterred by the shocking fate of 

 this man no one thereafter sought to pay a second visit to the Slalakums 

 of ' Cultus ' Lake. 



Myth of the KwdkwciU'tsa, or ' Blanliet-heating ^ 



In the very early days of Tcil'Qe'uk history the people were once 

 suffering greatly from famine. Leaving the women and children at home 

 the men went down towards the mouth of the river to seek for salmon. 

 When they had gone some miles down the stream they made a dam or 

 weir, and were successful in taking a few salmon. One of the lads with 

 the men then wanted to run back and tell his mother. But this the men 

 would not allow ; they were determined to abandon the starving women 

 and children. But of this the lad disapproved, and determined to let his 

 mother know. So he slyly took some salmon eggs and bound them to 

 his leg by means of a piece of bark. He next began to run after 

 butterflies, and he followed one till he got out of the men's sight, and 

 then made straight for home. On reaching there he straightway told 

 his mother what had happened, and what the men intended doing. The 

 mother called together the other women and communicated to them what 

 she had learnt from her son. Upon hearing of the selfishness of their 

 husbands they became greatly enraged, and all took pieces of bark and 

 beat the couches of their husbands with them. They do this kind of thing 

 only when they are very angry. The action has apparently some occult 

 import, the nature of which I could not gather. After this they took 

 the blankets, paint-boxes, and feathers of their husbands, and started off 

 to seek them. As they approached their husbands' camp —ever since named 

 hwakwalV tsa-=-''\>%aXv[\^^ blankets,' in memory of the incident — they beat 

 the blankets of their husbands with sticks, and with loud voices invoked 

 QEQa'ls to transform their husbands and never let them come home again. 

 Presently the men heard the din the women were making, and seeing their 

 feathers floating towards them on the air, one said : ' Something is 

 going to happen ; I see my feather in the air.' ' And I mine,' said another. 

 Each man then saw his paint-feather floating towards him. They then 

 called upon the painter to quickly paint them. He complied with their 

 request, and hurrying at his task, painted one as a wild goose, another as 

 the white-headed eagle, and another as the woodpecker, and others as 

 something else. Meanwhile the angry wives were drawing near. The 

 painter no longer stopped to mix his colours, but painted the remainder of 

 the men some all black and some all white. The women were now upon 

 them ; and QEQa'ls, in response to their prayer, transformed the painted 

 men into birds. They all flew off, and came together again on the Eraser 

 near the Indian village of Oha'mon. Here they met with Sk'lau', the 

 Beaver, who told them of the land of the Salmon people, and promised 



