564 ay REPORT—1899, 
annoying curiosity of the rest of the tribe ; but before he had gone far 
Beaver found his trail, and led the people after him. They overtook him 
at nightfall, whereupon he climbed a high tree. ‘Well,’ said Beaver, ‘he 
cannot get away from us now. Let us camp round the tree, then when he 
descends in the morning we will ask him again to show us his wonderful 
blanket.’ 
They made their camp at the foot of the tree, and felt sure he could 
not get away without their knowledge. But before the night was half 
over the young Shaman called his magic powers into play and caused them 
all to fall into a deep sleep. Beaver, who was watching, felt the sleep 
stealing upon his senses, and resisted the spell for a long time ; but the 
Shaman was too powerful for him, and he, like the rest, at length fell into 
profound slumber. As soon as Beaver and his party were asleep, the 
young Shaman descended from the tree and continued his flight. It was 
late the next day before they all awoke from their magic sleep, and they 
were scarcely surprised to find that the young man had gone. But Beaver 
had no intention of being beaten in this way, and encouraged them to 
take up the trail and follow him again. ‘They travelled fast, and overtook 
him just about nightfall. Again he hid himself in a high tree, and again 
they encamped at its foot, determined not to give way to sleep this time. 
But one by one they all dropped off to sleep, again being wholly unable to 
resist the Shaman’s power, with the exception of Beaver. This time he 
was proof against the spell of the Shaman, who presently began to 
descend the tree. As he reached the ground he saw that Beaver was 
wide awake and watching him. From this he perceived that he must 
give way, as the medicine of Beaver was stronger than his own. He 
therefore presented Beaver with the wonderful blanket, and went his way. 
Beaver now carefully examined the blanket, and found it to be covered 
with pictures of all kinds of utensils and weapons. These pictures repre- 
sented the originals of all the articles used by the Indians, with the 
exception of the fish spears which had been given to the Thompson Indians 
by their culture hero, Benign Face. 
Beaver now cut the blanket up into pieces according to the patterns 
of the paintings upon it, so that each piece represented in outline the 
form of some tool, or utensil, or weapon. From these patterns, under the 
instruction of Beaver, the people are said to have made everything they 
had in use in the way of weapons or tools when the whites first came in 
contact with them. Throughout this adventure Beaver had worna human 
form, but after he had taught the Indians how to make useful things for 
themselves from the patterns on the magic blanket, the young Shaman 
transformed him into an animal, under which guise he is still recognised 
by the wise Indians. Thus did the Shaman revenge himself upon his 
adversary. But this act did not satisfy him for the loss of his blanket 
and power; he would revenge himself also upon the people for whose 
sake Beaver had won the blanket from him. Up to this time they had 
not returned home, but when Beaver was transformed into an animal 
they began to think of doing so. 
Koakoé'la, or Husband root Myth. 
They had, however, no sooner started than the young Shaman caused 
them to become bewildered and lose their way and each other. They wan- 
dered about looking for the path and each other for days, and though they 
all got back eventually, with the exception of one woman, they suffered many 
a 
