576 KEPORT — 1892. 



conduct of his wife, kills her and the monster ; it is the blood of the fisb 

 that causes the deluge ; and i'ntldh escapes by climbing to the top of a 

 tree. The scene is localised as the Kootenay River, near A'qTcdm (Fort 

 Steele). 



In another variant the ' giant ' is a ' lake animal,' and i'ntldh stops the 

 deluge by placing his tail in the water, the flood ceasing to rise when it 

 had reached the last row of spots on his tail. Hence the spotted tail of 

 the chicken-hawk. 



Flsli swallows Bear. — Long ago there was in the Kootenay River, near 

 A'qk'am (Fort Steele) a huge fish. One day this fish swallowed the black 

 bear {ni'pko), who had been an Indian (?). The bear remained in the 

 belly of the fish about two months, when he was vomited out. The bear 

 lost all his hairs, which, falling to the ground, became Kootenay Indians. 

 The big fish is finally killed by the bird called ydma'kpdtl, a species of 

 woodpecker. 



ANIMAL TALES. 



The folklore of the Kootenays consists mainly in animal tales. Fol- 

 lowing is a sketch of the principal characters and their actions : — 



Animals. 



Bear (black).— Given above. 



Bear (grizzly). — Appears frequently in tales ; is often deceived by the 

 coyote, who induces him to attempt to cross a creek on a log, and when 

 the bear is half-way over shakes the log, causing him to fall into the 

 water and be drowned. Then the coyote boils the grizzly in his kettle, 

 which tumbles over, and the coyote, getting angry, throws the whole intO' 

 the river. In another tale the grizzly (tld'utld) is killed by the spirits. 



Beaver (si'nd). — Appears in tale with turtle. Throws turtle into river. 

 Beaver grease is a dainty of frequent mention in the stories. 



Buffalo (ni'tltsik). — Appears often in tales with the coyote. Asks the 

 coyote to smoke his (buffalo's) pipe, which he does, and gets his mouth 

 burned in consequence. Buffalo-skulls (inhabited by spirits) lying on the 

 prairie are often mentioned in the tales. 



Caribou (na'aane). — Appears in tales with the coyote or the wolf. Is 

 killed by the coyote, and in another tale by the tomtit. 



Chipmunk. — Two species of chipmunk appear in the tales. The one 

 called k'o'tcdtc is killed by the owl and the frog, who put him into ' sour 

 dough.' The other, known as nd'mtldEt, appears as an unimportant per- 

 sonage in the tale in which the toad and eagle take part. 



Coyote (ski'nkfds). — The coyote is the chief figure in Kootenay mytho- 

 logy. His principal exploits and adventures are as follows : — He sets 

 out with the chicken-hawk to find the sun, gets angry, and shoots an 

 arrow at the sun, thereby starting the first prairie fire ; kills the caribou, 

 the owl, the white-tailed deer, the grizzly, the cricket, the moose, &e. He 

 is thrown into the fire by the chicken-hawk and gets his coat singed. 

 Smokes the buffalo's pipe and gets his mouth burned. Quarrels with his 

 wife, the dog, and kills her. Is represented as carrying his younger 

 brother, the cricket, about with him. The cricket has a broken leg, 

 and one day the coyote breaks his own leg to be like him. The cricket 

 tries to injure the coyote, who finally kills him. After being for a long 

 time supreme amongst the animals the coyote is beaten and killed by the 



