ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 577 



fox, who takes his place. Among the services rendered by the coyote to 

 the Indians was the appeasing of the spirit of the mountains, who became 

 angry and killed all those who started to hunt in his domains. In return 

 for this benefit he was giv^en a wife from the tribe, and from that time to 

 this the Indians have been allowed to hunt in peace. 



Deer. — The white-tailed deer (tcu'plcd) is killed by the coyote. The 

 young deer are cheated in a race by the frogs. 



Dog. — The dog (ad'Etltsin) appears as the wife of the coyote, who kills 

 her in a fit of anger. 



Fox. — The fox (nd'^hEyu) is often represented as carrying a root- 

 basket. Scares the skunk by whistling ; kills the wolf and restores him 

 to life again ; induces the wolf to try to beat the shadow of the sun ; kills 

 the coyote, and becomes chief of all the animals. 



Moose (nets' 7id'pJcu). — The male moose {nets' nd'-plcu) is killed by the 

 coyote, and the female moose (tld'wo) by the tomtit. 



Mountain Lion. — The mountain lion (sud'E) is feared by many of the 

 other animals, especially by the skunk, whom he at last killed. 



Babbit. — The rabbit {gl'anu'qtlu'm'nd'), with the snow-bird (niskd'Et), 

 kills the female moose and brings some of the meat to the frog. 



Shunk. — The skunk (nd'aas) is represented as a very clever animal, 

 and is associated often with the fox. He carries a root-basket, and is 

 afraid only of something that whistles ; is scared by the fox's whistling 

 and runs oE, but afterwards tries to kill the fox ; is finally killed by the 

 mountain- lion. 



Squirrel. — The squirrel {t'a'Jcdts) appears a few times, and in one of 

 the tales is killed by the spirits. 



Wolf. — The wolf {Icd'qkin) appears often in the tales. Kills the tomtit 

 and the caribou. Is occasionally carried by the coyote ; is killed by the 

 fox and brought to life again ; wagers the fox that he can outrun the 

 shadow of the sun, but fails to do so ; and a long quarrel with the fox 

 results. 



Birds. 



Duck. — Some ducks (gid'qtld) are seen by the coyote on a little lake ; 

 by-a,nd-by they rise up, and the lake dries up. The coyote afterwards pulls 

 out some of the ducks' feathers, so that they cannot fly too high. 



Eagle. — The eagle (gid'k'dnu'kildt) appears in a tale along with the 

 toad and hawks. Is found sitting on a tree by a star, and is killed by 

 the latter. 



Goose. — The goose (kdau'tlok') is represented in one tale as a child 

 eating dirt. 



Grouse. — The ' fool-hen ' (ktd'wdts) has a large family of young ones : 

 these are stolen by the coyote, who puts them in his sack. They escape, 

 however, by scratching holes in it. The ' ruifed grouse ' {t'd'nkuts) takes 

 the place of the ' fool-hen ' in another tale. 



Hawks. — The male chicken-hawk (i'ntldk, Accipiter Cooperi) is a very 

 important character in these tales. He is the companion of the coyote in 

 the search for the sun ; in a fit of anger he thi-ows the coyote into the fire. 

 He is the hero of the deluge, which is indirectly caused by the infidehty 

 of his wife, sukpe'kd, whom, in one version of the story, he kills. 

 Associated with him, sometimes, is a young hawk (gt'dkd'tldk). His wife 

 is a small grey bird called sukpe'kd. It was her amours with the giant 

 ydwo'Evek that brought on the deluge. 



