99. Moldy-end

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99. MOLDY-END ^a

The KîksA'dî used to live at Daxê't, where they dried salmon. After they had gotten through drying it they tied it up there. So he (a small boy) was baiting a snare for sea gulls. When he came into the house afterward he was very hungry. "Mother, I am hungry. Give me some dried salmon." So she, gave him a piece of dried salmon which had begun to mold on the corner. Then he said, "You always give me moldy-cornered ones." They always began tying up from the corner of the house. He spoke to the dried salmon. Just then some one shouted out, "There is a sea gull in your snare." So he ran down to it. He ran out into the water to his snare. When he got out into the midst of the water he looked as if he were pulled down into it. Then all of the drying salmon ran down to him. Now

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the people were hunting for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was not known what had happened to him. The salmon, however, began feeling very high. They began to rush about at the mouth of the creek. It was the salmon people that had done it. Then the salmon people went out to sea with him. They went seaward with him toward their homes. To him it looked as if they were in a canoe. A chief among these salmon had made him his son. The sea gull that he had followed out went along with him. Then he stayed with them in the salmon people's town. He was among them for one year. Well out from that town fish eggs were heaped up. He began to take up and swallow some of them without asking anybody. Then the people shouted out, "Moldy-end is eating the town-people's dung." At that time they gave him the name. Afterward he discovered that the salmon tribe had saved him. Then he went to lie down and remained in that position. In the morning his father said, "What did they say to you, my son?" He went out and spoke. "Take him up to Amusement creek. Put his hands around the necks

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of the sand-hill cranes at the mouth of it." There he saw two sand. hill cranes jumping up and down, facing each other, at the mouth of the creek. All creatures, such as brants, could be heard making a noise down in this creek. This is why it was called Amusement creek. Where was it that he had been feeling badly? It all got out of him.

The salmon people all knew the salmon month had come up here which was their month for returning. They always spawn up here among us. At once they started back with him. They started up this way. Then the cohoes people broke their canoe. This is why the cohoes come up last. The L!ûk!nAxA'dî were going to have the cohoes as an emblem, and this is why the L!ûk!nAxA'dî are also very slow people. At once all started, dog salmon and humpbacks. They started up this way with Lively-frog-in-pond (the boy's name). The big salmon people started up thither. Very soon the salmon tribe came to the "sît." It is this sît which gives scars to whichever one happens to get caught

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in it. After all got through, the people looking could see a cloud far down on the horizon which appeared like a canoe. In the evening they went ashore to camp. They dug holes in the ground and made flat sticks to stick into the ground. The salmon tribe always does that way. Then the salmon people would throw hot rocks upon one another. Their bodies vibrated with the heat. It is that that leaves scars on the skin of the salmon. It was Lively-frog-in-pond that let people know what the salmon people do to one another.

At once they started hitherward up this coast. The salmon tribe came against the herring tribe. In the canoes of the salmon tribe one stood up. He said to them, "When did your cheek-flesh ever fill a man?" The others stood by one another. The herring tribe said in reply, "We fed them before you. Our eggs are our cheek-flesh. When will the space around your backbone not be dirty?" ^a The salmon tribe started off for the outside coasts of these islands. When

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they got outside of them the salmon chief said, "To what creek are you going?" Having held a conference, the salmon people named their choices. The humpbacks said, "We will go to Saliva creek," but the one among them who had taken the man, mentioned Daxê't. The salmon people called it Right-to-the-town. Then they came in sight of the mouth of the creek. They called the point Floating point, and the smoke house that was there a fort. It looked like that in the eyes of the salmon people. The salmon called human beings "seal-children's dog salmon." When they first came into the mouth of the creek the people sharpened poles for them to fall on when they jumped. Then the boys always said, "Upon my father's." At once one jumped upon it, where before they had not killed any. At that they (the people) were very happy.

Now they saw his father plainly coming down from far up the creek. They said to him (the boy), "Stand up." He jumped up. "Very fine," said his mother. His mother called him a fine salmon.

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[paragraph continues] After that the salmon swam up the creek. The women who were cutting salmon were always seated by Daxê't with their backs downstream. The salmon, however, were always rushing about down in the creek. The salmon tribe shouted about those who were cutting. When they were partly through drying the salmon people said to him, "Go to your mother." His mother was cutting salmon on the beach. The canoe floated below her on the back current. So be floated there with his head sticking out from under it. Then she called her husband's attention to it. "A fine salmon is floating here with its head out." His father took up a hook, for he did not know that it was his son. It swam out from him. He never expected [to see] his son again. One year had passed since he had disappeared. At once he swam out in front of his father. When he had hooked it he pulled it out on a sandy bar. He bit it on the head in order to keep it fresh. Then he threw it to his wife. "Cut it up. We will cook it," [he said]. So she put the salmon down to cut it up in the usual manner.

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The Tlingit obtained copper in ancient times. A chain of twisted copper was around the young man's neck, for be had gone into the water with it on. After she had tried to cut around his neck for a while, and found that she could not, she looked at her knife. There were bits of copper on her knife. Then she called out to her husband, "Come here." So they began to examine it. It was the copper chain that used to hang around his son's neck. Anciently the people used to have a fine woven basket called lît!. As soon as he knew this he threw it into such a basket. [He spit upon it] and blew on eagle's down. Then he put the basket enclosing the salmon on the roof of the house. Toward morning there was a noise inside of it. His (the boy's) spirit began to work inside of it. At daybreak he went up to look at it, and a large man lay where the salmon had been.

They took their things out of all of the houses. When they brought what had been a salmon inside a man went out and spoke to the many

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[paragraph continues] KîksA'dî. "Let all the people go with their heads down." So it was given out. They brought up salt and devil's clubs. As soon as they had drunk it down in accordance with his directions they vomited. The devil's club and sea water were vomited out. Toward evening the shaman bathed. Below this town is a little pond named Beating-time-for-shaman lake because he also bathed in that. In the evening his spirits really came to him, and blood kept running out of his mouth. The sea gull for which he had gone out came to be his spirit. Then he showed them all things that were to be done to the salmon down in the creek. ^a "Cut them into four pieces," he said. He called [the tabus] Adêyâ' ("That's the way"). After that his spirits said to him, "Tie up a raft over there on the edge of Noisy-waterfall." He was testing his spirits to see how strong they were. This waterfall comes down a long distance. The KîksA'dî began to get on the raft, which

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his spirits named Sea-lion raft. At once he said "Go." He began blowing on the raft. One man was not courageous enough to go down into the waterfall, and when the raft went down he seized the bough of a tree at the edge of the fall. Then it went under. It was gone for one night.

Next morning the noise of shamans' sticks was heard at the mouth of the creek. The raft came up from underneath. Meanwhile the one that had saved himself came among his friends and told them that the KîksA'dî were all destroyed. Therefore the women were all weeping. When the shaman saw them he spoke. His spirits said that the people were not hurt at all. Nor were their clothes even torn. This is why a KîksA'dî is very brave. The man who jumped out, however, was very much ashamed. Then they brought the people up from [the place where they had come out].

Now the spirits worked in him, and he sang for another land otter so that the people could see his strength. He sent out his clothes-man to a point that could be seen below. "Take a spear" [he said]. He went to it. He saw nothing, and stayed there that night. Then he

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came back. When it was day he (the shaman) said, "Take me down there." He said, "Go around the point below here." He said to his clothes-man, "Be brave." Then he spit on the end of the spear. He spoke to get strength. When he got up after speaking and threw it over the point he hit the land otter in the tail. Now the shaman sent for it [and said], "Take it round there." The land otter lay stiff. The spear was stuck into the end of its tail. This is why even now the people call that place Point-thrown-across. He put the shadow of his paddle against an island below this. He was going to cut off the tongue of the land otter upon it (the shadow). This is why they named the island Divided-by-motion-of-paddle. ^a He fasted eight days on the island, when he cut off the land-otter tongue. Afterward he came up, and they were going to start home from that place. He lived for more than a hundred years. His spirits were of such strength that he lived so long that he could just turn about in one place.

Footnotes

301:a This is the Sitka version of the story.

304:a An exchange of taunts.

308:a That is, the tabus.

310:a By a mere motion of his paddle he cut off the land otter's tongue.