Post by blackcrowheart on Apr 14, 2008 11:51:47 GMT -5
Gamnâ'tck!Î - Tlingit
Gamnâ'tck!Î killed a seal, skinned it, and threw the skin and meat to his
wife to wash. While she was washing them in the sea she saw some killer
whales coming landward. By and by the meat she was washing drifted out from
her and she waded after it. She went out until the water reached her hips.
Then she suddenly felt some one pull her and she disappeared under water. It
was the killer-whale people who thus took her into their canoe.
After that Gamnâ'tck!Î felt very badly and thought to himself, "How can I
get my wife back? How can I look for her under the water?" He could not
sleep all night, and early in the morning he thought, "I wonder if I
couldn't raise this water so as to go under it." In the morning, therefore,
before he had eaten he took his red and black paints, went down to the
water, raised the edge of it just as if he were raising a blanket, and
walked under. He walked on farther and farther. It was just like walking on
land.
By and by he came to a village full of very pale people who went about with
their heads down. He found out that they were the red cod people. He wanted
to make friends of them, so, thinking that they looked very white, he
painted them all red--men, women, and children. That is how these fishes got
their color. After that he asked them if they had seen his wife, but they
said that they had seen no one, so he went on. Presently he came to another
village and asked the people there the same question to which he received
the very same answer. Those were the halibut people. In each village they
gave him something to eat.
After he had 'left the halibut people Gamnâ'tck!Î traveled for several days
before he came to another town. By and by, however, he perceived smoke far
ahead of him, and, going toward it, he saw that it was from a fort. Inside
of this fort was a large house which he immediately entered, but the people
there did not seem to care to see strangers and would not talk to him. These
were also very pale people, so to please them he took out his black paint
and painted all of them with it. Then they felt well disposed toward him and
were willing to talk. "Can you tell me what clan has my wife?" he said. At
first they said that they did not know, but afterward one replied, "There is
a strange woman in that town across there." Then this person pointed the
village out, and Gamnâ'tck!Î felt pleased to know where his wife was. The
people he had come among were the sharks, and those whose village they
showed him were the killer whales.
Then the shark chief said, "Every time we have had a fight we have beaten
them." The shark people also said to him, "The killer-whale chief has a
slave. Every morning the slave goes out after water. Go to the creek and
tell him what to do when he comes in. Tell him to bring the water in and
hand it to the chief over the fire. As he does so he must drop it, and,
while the house is full of steam, pick up your wife and run out with her.
The chief has married her. Then come over here with her. They will run after
you, but, if you can get away, come right across." The shark people had
always been jealous of the killer whales because they had this woman.
While the shark people were telling him what to do, a strange, bony-looking
person kept jumping up from behind the boxes. He wondered what made him act
so queerly and began to feel uneasy about it, but, when the bony person saw
him looking at him in a strange manner, he said, "Why! don't you know me. I
am that halibut hook (nAxu) that the sharks once took away from you. My name
is Lgudj���î' (the name of an island)."
Just after that the man started for the killer-whale town and sat down by
the creek. When the slave came out after water, he asked him to help him,
saying, "I hear that my wife is with this chief." "Yes," the slave answered,
"if she were a man, they would have kept her for a slave like myself. Since
she is a woman, the chief has married her, and she is living very well. I
will help you as much as I can. She wants to return to you. Now watch and I
will do what you tell me to do. I will spill this water on the fire."
After that he took Gamnâ'tck!Î to the door and showed him where his wife
sat. Then the slave walked in with the water while he stood outside
watching. He watched his wife through a crack and saw that she appeared very
much cast down. As soon as the fire was put out and the house filled with
steam he ran in, seized his wife, and started off with her.
Then, when the slave thought that he had gotten a long distance away, he
shouted, "Some one has taken the woman away." The chief looked around, and
sure enough his wife was gone. Going outside, they saw that this man had
almost reached the shark fort, and they saw him enter it.
As soon as he got there, the shark people began to dress themselves for war.
They were noisy and acted as though they were very hungry, so that
Gamnâ'tck!Î became frightened. The halibut hook came to him, however, and
told him not to be frightened, because the killer whales were coming over.
All at once the fort began moving up and down. Whenever the killer whales
tried to enter, the fort killed them by moving up and down and cutting off
their heads. The slaughter was so great that the few survivors were
frightened and went back. Two or three days later the killer whales came
again with like result.
After this the shark people said to Gamnâ'tck!Î, "You better not start out I
right away. Stay here a while with us. They might be lying in wait for you.
Since we have fought for you so much, it is better that you should get to
your home safely." Gamnâ'tck!Î did so, and some time later they said, "Go
straight along by the way you came, and you will find your way out easily."
He did this and reached his home in safety.
Footnotes:
Evidently a version of the Tsimshian Story of Gunxnaxs���îmgy���êt
Abstract:
Gamnâ'tck!Î - Tlingit
The hero obtains the favor of the red-cod people by painting them red and of
the shark people by painting them black.
Tlingit Myths and Texts, by John R. Swanton; Smithsonian Institution; Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 39; Washington, Government Printing Office;
[1909] and is now in the public domain.
Gamnâ'tck!Î killed a seal, skinned it, and threw the skin and meat to his
wife to wash. While she was washing them in the sea she saw some killer
whales coming landward. By and by the meat she was washing drifted out from
her and she waded after it. She went out until the water reached her hips.
Then she suddenly felt some one pull her and she disappeared under water. It
was the killer-whale people who thus took her into their canoe.
After that Gamnâ'tck!Î felt very badly and thought to himself, "How can I
get my wife back? How can I look for her under the water?" He could not
sleep all night, and early in the morning he thought, "I wonder if I
couldn't raise this water so as to go under it." In the morning, therefore,
before he had eaten he took his red and black paints, went down to the
water, raised the edge of it just as if he were raising a blanket, and
walked under. He walked on farther and farther. It was just like walking on
land.
By and by he came to a village full of very pale people who went about with
their heads down. He found out that they were the red cod people. He wanted
to make friends of them, so, thinking that they looked very white, he
painted them all red--men, women, and children. That is how these fishes got
their color. After that he asked them if they had seen his wife, but they
said that they had seen no one, so he went on. Presently he came to another
village and asked the people there the same question to which he received
the very same answer. Those were the halibut people. In each village they
gave him something to eat.
After he had 'left the halibut people Gamnâ'tck!Î traveled for several days
before he came to another town. By and by, however, he perceived smoke far
ahead of him, and, going toward it, he saw that it was from a fort. Inside
of this fort was a large house which he immediately entered, but the people
there did not seem to care to see strangers and would not talk to him. These
were also very pale people, so to please them he took out his black paint
and painted all of them with it. Then they felt well disposed toward him and
were willing to talk. "Can you tell me what clan has my wife?" he said. At
first they said that they did not know, but afterward one replied, "There is
a strange woman in that town across there." Then this person pointed the
village out, and Gamnâ'tck!Î felt pleased to know where his wife was. The
people he had come among were the sharks, and those whose village they
showed him were the killer whales.
Then the shark chief said, "Every time we have had a fight we have beaten
them." The shark people also said to him, "The killer-whale chief has a
slave. Every morning the slave goes out after water. Go to the creek and
tell him what to do when he comes in. Tell him to bring the water in and
hand it to the chief over the fire. As he does so he must drop it, and,
while the house is full of steam, pick up your wife and run out with her.
The chief has married her. Then come over here with her. They will run after
you, but, if you can get away, come right across." The shark people had
always been jealous of the killer whales because they had this woman.
While the shark people were telling him what to do, a strange, bony-looking
person kept jumping up from behind the boxes. He wondered what made him act
so queerly and began to feel uneasy about it, but, when the bony person saw
him looking at him in a strange manner, he said, "Why! don't you know me. I
am that halibut hook (nAxu) that the sharks once took away from you. My name
is Lgudj���î' (the name of an island)."
Just after that the man started for the killer-whale town and sat down by
the creek. When the slave came out after water, he asked him to help him,
saying, "I hear that my wife is with this chief." "Yes," the slave answered,
"if she were a man, they would have kept her for a slave like myself. Since
she is a woman, the chief has married her, and she is living very well. I
will help you as much as I can. She wants to return to you. Now watch and I
will do what you tell me to do. I will spill this water on the fire."
After that he took Gamnâ'tck!Î to the door and showed him where his wife
sat. Then the slave walked in with the water while he stood outside
watching. He watched his wife through a crack and saw that she appeared very
much cast down. As soon as the fire was put out and the house filled with
steam he ran in, seized his wife, and started off with her.
Then, when the slave thought that he had gotten a long distance away, he
shouted, "Some one has taken the woman away." The chief looked around, and
sure enough his wife was gone. Going outside, they saw that this man had
almost reached the shark fort, and they saw him enter it.
As soon as he got there, the shark people began to dress themselves for war.
They were noisy and acted as though they were very hungry, so that
Gamnâ'tck!Î became frightened. The halibut hook came to him, however, and
told him not to be frightened, because the killer whales were coming over.
All at once the fort began moving up and down. Whenever the killer whales
tried to enter, the fort killed them by moving up and down and cutting off
their heads. The slaughter was so great that the few survivors were
frightened and went back. Two or three days later the killer whales came
again with like result.
After this the shark people said to Gamnâ'tck!Î, "You better not start out I
right away. Stay here a while with us. They might be lying in wait for you.
Since we have fought for you so much, it is better that you should get to
your home safely." Gamnâ'tck!Î did so, and some time later they said, "Go
straight along by the way you came, and you will find your way out easily."
He did this and reached his home in safety.
Footnotes:
Evidently a version of the Tsimshian Story of Gunxnaxs���îmgy���êt
Abstract:
Gamnâ'tck!Î - Tlingit
The hero obtains the favor of the red-cod people by painting them red and of
the shark people by painting them black.
Tlingit Myths and Texts, by John R. Swanton; Smithsonian Institution; Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 39; Washington, Government Printing Office;
[1909] and is now in the public domain.