Traditions of the Thompson River Indians (cont.)
Such criticism must, however, be applied most sparingly, because the plausibility of our theory may induce us to reject evidence on account of its incongruity with the theory. It seems, however, justifiable to suggest to collectors of myths the desirability of paying particular attention to the motives ascribed to the culture hero and to investigate if his character is that of a pure egotist in other regions and among other tribes than those mentioned before. If this should prove to be the case, I should be inclined to consider the theory that has been suggested here as well established.
The traditions of the Thompson River Indians, as recorded by Mr. Teit, show a peculiar development of the transformer myths. There are at least four distinct personages who may be considered as culture heroes or transformers. The most important one among them is the Coyote, around whom a great many traditions cluster. In his case the peculiar mixture of characteristics described on the preceding pages is very marked. He is a being of great power; he performed many feats in consequence of which the world assumed its present shape. A great many local features of the country inhabited by the Thompson River Indians originated through his agency. In many of his actions he appears as the trickster, and all his methods are based on sly cunning. The series of Coyote legends of this tribe resembles very much the Coyote tales with which we arc familiar from a number of points on the western plateaus of our continent and I do not doubt that they belong to this series. In all these tales he appears as a transformer and a culture hero, but he is not moved by the desire of benefiting mankind; he accomplishes all transformations of the world in the pursuit of his own ends.
The second series of transformer myths refer to the three brothers Qoa'qLqaL. I do not think that we can interpret the differentiation of transformers in the legends of the Thompson River Indians as due to the developing desire of differentiating the altruistic and egotistic side of this being, because the tales of the Qoa'qLqaL do not by any means bring out an altruistic point of view more clearly than those of the Coyote. It seems much more likely that the latter group of legends are simply new traditions introduced from the lower course of Fraser River. A comparison between these tales and the Xäls legends of the tribes who live at the delta of Fraser River and on southeastern Vancouver Island show that these two series are practically identical, except that the Xäls series is very much mote elaborate10.
It is not so easy to explain the origin of the legend of the transformer Kokw?'la. This being is the son of the hog-fennel (Peuccdanum) a plant which plays a most important part in the ceremonials of the tribes of lower Fraser River, but which, so far as I am aware, is not personified to any extent among them. I have not found any analogon of this legend among the neighboring tribes.
The fourth transformer is called "The Old Man," but it does not seem that there are many elaborate myths referring to him. The whole concept of the Old Man is so much like that of the Kootenay and Blackfeet, that I am rather inclined to consider these groups of tales as having a common origin. In order to establish this point, it will be necessary to investigate the transformer tales of the Shuswap and Okanagan, which are, however, only imperfectly known.
If the Qo?'qLqaL legends and those of the Old Man are really of foreign origin, the numerous instances of contests between these beings may be explained very naturally as a result of comparisons of their powers. Numerous examples of this kind are known from the mediaeval epics, in which the heroes of most heterogeneous groups of legends arc made to struggle against each other. This is the leading idea of the tradition of the " Rosengarten," in which all the heroes of the old German tales appear, and compete against each other.
This theory is, however, acceptable only if we can prove that the tales of the Thompson River Indians really contain foreign elements. It may be well to discuss at least one of their legends rather fully with a view of establishing this important point. I select the Coyote tradition for this purpose.
We will begin our analysis with the story of NLi'ksEntEm (p. 21). It is not certain that the beginning of the story, in which it is told how the Coyote made boys out of clay, gum, and stone, has any analogy among the neighboring tribes. It is true that among the coast tribes a myth occurs in which the gum is presented as a man who is made to melt in the sun; but it occurs in entirely different connections, and it is doubtful if this incident in the Coyote tradition is directly related to the corresponding tale of the coast. The latter refers to the attempt of the Raven to obtain gum. He induces the gum-man to go fishing with him. He exposes him to the hot sun until he is melted.
