A woman was sitting in the doorway of her tent. Her long hair was hanging down over her face. A young man wished to see her face. When he inquired why she kept her hair down, she said that the sun hurt her eyes. At the same time she put her arms around him, holding him fast. He had to carry her wherever he went. After walking a long distance, he built a fire, and stood so near the fire, that her back blistered. Then her arms relaxed, and the youth cut off her hair. He saw that she had no eyes, no nose, no mouth, and looked like a skeleton. He threw her into a pond, and there she became a toad.1
A man had two daughters and one son. During the maturity ceremonies of the elder daughter, she was secluded. The father discovered his son in the tent of the girl, and killed him by driving a sharp point of deer antler into his ear. On the following morning the boy was found dead. The body was put into a canoe, covered with shells and beads, and was deposited in a cave. At this time the girl asked for her dress and for her comb, and disappeared in the cave where the body of her brother had been put by. The Fox, the Hawk, and the Eagle tried to bring her back, but they succeeded only in taking hold of her cape. The father did not tell what had happened.
Three days after this the Vulture lost his daughter. He asked the chief for power to restore his daughter to life. The chief replied, "You voted at the council that people should not live forever. This decision cannot be changed because the sorrow has come to one of you yourselves."
A Skunk was travelling along. He found Badger, who, being afraid of Skunk, pretended to be dead. Skunk tied his feet and put him on his shoulder. While they were travelling along, Skunk said, "The only thing I am afraid of is whistling." Soon Badger whistled, which scared Skunk so much that he dropped him and the pack of valuable goods that he was carrying. Badger untied his feet, took the pack, and ran home. One day when the people were gambling, Skunk appeared. Badger was betting the goods which he had taken away from Skunk. All of a sudden Skunk overcame the gamblers by his scent, and ran away with the stakes.
An old woman and her grandson lived near a river. The grandson wished to cross the river, and called the Deer to take him across. Finally an old buck allowed him to mount his back, and carried him across. While they were in the water, the boy cut the throat of the buck with a flint knife and killed him.4
The old woman skinned the buck. Five wolves took the scent of the meat, and came intending to steal it. The old woman dressed a piece of rotten wood in skins, and made it look like the boy. Then she wished herself, her grandson, and the meat to be carried to a ledge on the face of a cliff. This cliff is pointed out close to the Okanagan River, near Oroville, Wash. When the wolves arrived, they attacked the tent, but found that what they believed was a boy was only rotten wood. They were unable to reach the ledge. They tried to jump up, but soon wearied. Then they begged for some of the meat. The grandmother told the boy to wrap a hot stone in some suet. He threw it down into the mouth of one of the wolves, and thus killed him. Thus all were killed except the youngest. When he caught the hot stone, he could not swallow it, and the fat burned the sides of his mouth. Therefore wolves have dark marks at the side of the mouth.5
The grandmother and the boy continued to live on the ledge. Finally the boy had used up all his arrows, and had no feathers to make new ones. In order to obtain feathers, he caused the golden eagle and the eagle Sinaken to quarrel by telling one that the other one claimed to be swifter and stronger than he. The two eagles fought, and the boy gathered their feathers. He told his grandmother that he would join the people who were going to make war on the sky.6 He was transformed into a chickadee.
Once upon a time it rained until all the fires on earth were extinguished. The animals held a council and decided to make war against the sky in order to bring back the fire. In spring the people began, and tried to shoot their arrows up to the sky. Coyote tried first, but did not succeed. Finally the Chickadee succeeded in reaching the sky. He continued to shoot, making a chain of arrows, by means of which the animals climbed up. The last to climb was the Grizzly-Bear, who, on account of his weight, broke off the arrows, and could not join the other animals.7
1 It is said that certain portions of a toad's body, when eaten, will cause death or produce warts.
2 BBAE 59 : 303.
3 BBAE 59 : 305.
4 BBAE 59 : 304.
5 RBAE 31 : 680.
6 BBAE 59 : 288.
7 BBAE 59 : 288; RBAE 31 : 864.
