MYTHOLOGY OF THE THOMPSON RIVER INDIANS
THE following collection of myths of the Thompson Indians has been in my hands for quite a number of years. Their publication has been delayed because it seemed desirable, on account of the large amount of mythological material brought together by the Jesup Expedition, to devote a whole volume and a complete discussion to this subject. Unfortunately this has not been possible; and it has been necessary to scatter the material in a number of publications, and much of it remains still unpublished. For this reason the present series is given without a detailed comparison, which would have to be repeated and expanded when the references to the unpublished material should become available. It is hoped that after publication of the original data, the general discussion can be given in the final volume of this series. Part of the material here referred to has been published in Vol. II of the "Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology" (Franz Boas, "Kwakiutl Tales"). The discussion of the folkloristic and mythological contents of this volume must also be given in connection with that of the rest of the mythological material from the same area.
I have classified the traditions collected by Mr. Teit according to their contents. The line of demarcation between the various groups is, of course, not to be taken as definite. The animal tales contain many incidents of transformation and origins, and some of the human hero-stories do not differ in their fundamental character from the animal stories. The ancestor stories of Spuzzum are clearly an expression of the influence of the family legends of the coast. Tales of this type seem to be confined to the village of Spuzzum, which lies near to the villages of the Delta tribes. The semi-historical tales refer partly to personal supernatural experiences, partly to the assimilation of the Nooksak tribe by the Delta tribes. In the group "Tales adopted from the Coast Tribes" I have combined those that differ in type from the Thompson tales and have close analogues among the tribes of the Gulf of Georgia. The Mink and Skaiya'm legends have been recorded from the Fraser Delta; also the tale of "Burned-Themselves," which, however, has no close analogue in other parts of the coast of British Columbia. The tale "Made-her-sit-down- on-a-Seat " is well known over a large part of the coast of southern British Columbia.
The traditions recorded in the first part of this collection are all fromthe canyon of Fraser River (Uta'mqt), and, when not otherwise stated, belong to the upper part of the canyon. The traditions recorded in the second part are all from Nicola Valley (Tcawa'xamux) unless otherwise stated.
The tales from European sources are curious and interesting. Analogous modifications of European folk-tales occur in the interior, but hardly at all on the coast.
F RANZBOAS.
New York, July, 1911TOP
