Tlingit Myths and Texts

The following myths and texts were collected at Sitka and Wrangell, Alaska, in January, February, March, and April, 1904, at the same time as the material contained in the writer’s paper on the Social Condition, Beliefs, and Linguistic Relationship of the Tlingit Indians published in the Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau.


Myths Recorded in English at Sitka

1. Raven

2. The Big Clam

3. English Version of the Story of the Four Brothers

4. Origin of the Killer Whale

5. Kaka’

6. The Land-Otter Sister

7. The Land-Otter Son

8. The Wolf-Chief’s Son

9. Wolverine-Man

10. The Halibut People

11. Stories of the Monster Devilfish And the Cry-Baby

12. The Woman Who Was Killed by a Clam

13. Root-Stump

14. The Protracted Winter

15. Beaver and Porcupine

16. The Poor Man Who Caught Wonderful Things

17. The Finding of the Blue Paint, and How a Certain Creek Received Its Name

18. Various Adventures Near Cross Sound

19. Kâts!

20. The Unsuccessful Hunters

21. Origin of Iceberg House

22. The Woman Taken Away by the Frog People

23. How the Frogs Honored the Dead

24. The Brant Wives

25. Story of the Puffin

26. Story of the Wain-House People

27. The Alsek River People

28. The Youthful Warrior

29. The First War in the World

30. How Protestant Christianity Was First Heard of at Sitka


Myths Recorded in English at Wrangell

31. Raven

32. Kakê'q!utê

33. Origin of the Onaqadê't

34. A Story of the Onaqadê't

35. Origin of the L!'naxî'daq

36. The Thunders

37. Origin of the Screech Owl

38. Little Felon

39. Origin of the Fern Root and the Ground Hog

40. The Halibut That Divided the Queen Charlotte Islands

41. The Image That Came to Life

42. Djîyî'n

43. The Self-Burning Fire

44. The Giant of Tâ'sna

45. The Woman Who Married a Land Otter

46. The Land-Otters’ Captive

47. The Man Fed From the Sky

48. The Salmon Sack

49. Roots

50. The Mucus Child

51. The Salmon Chief

52. The Jealous Uncle

53. The Man Who Married the Eagle

54. The Brant Wife

55. The Duck Helper

56. The Boy Who Shot the Star

57. The Boy and the Giant

58. The Boy With Arrows on His Head

59. GamnÂ'Tck!

60. The Hîn-taî'c

61. The East and North Winds

62. The Big Beaver

63. Beaver and Porcupine

64. The Man Who Entertained the Bears

65. Mountain Dweller

66. How the Sitka Kksa'd Obtained the Frog

67. Qâq!atcgû'k

68. The Beaver of Killisnoo

69. Story of the Grizzly-Bear Crest of the Te'qoed

70. Story of the Eagle Crest of the Nexa'd

71. Story of the Killer-Whale Crest of the Daql!awe'd

72. Story of the Nanaâ'î Crests

73. Story of the Frog Crest of the Kksa'd of Wrangell

74. Story of the Kâ'gwantân Crests

75. Migration of the Ânaxa'd to Tongass

76. The Woman Who Married the Frog

77. The Girl Who Married the L!al!

78. The Woman Who Married a Tree

79. The Girl Who Married the Fire Spirit

80. Orphan

81. The Dead Basket-Maker

82. The Crying-For Medicine

83. The Runaway Wife

84. The Rejected Lover

85. The Faithless Wife

86. The Woman Who Married the Dead Man

87. The Returned From Spirit Land

88. The Sky Country

89. The Origin of Copper

90. The Man Who Was Abandoned

91. The Shaman Who Went Into the Fire, and the Heron’s Son

92. Mountain Dweller

93. Kâhâ's!, the Strong Man

94. The L!ê'naxî'daq

95. Origin of the Frog Crest Among the Kîksa'd

96. How the Kîksa'd Came to Sitka

97. The Four Brothers

98. The Kksa'd Woman Who Was Turned Into an Owl

99. Moldy-End

100. Moldy-End

101. Qâq!atcgû'k

102. The Sea-Lion Hunt

103. The War in the Spruce Canoe

104. Story of the Kâ'gwantân

105. Story of the Kâ'ck!e Qoan

106. Origin of a Low-Caste Name

The Tobacco Feast

Speeches Delivered at a Feast When a Pole Was Erected for the Dead

Words of Songs Taken in Connection With Graphophone Records