Traditions of the Thompson River Indians (cont.)
The Cannibal then said to Kua'lum, "Take my son-in-law to spear salmon103 tomorrow." They went to the river. The lad was about to spear a salmon, but the man said, "That is not a salmon. Don't spear it!" In a little while a fish came along with a man's head and hair,104 and Kua’lum said, "Spear that. It is a salmon." The lad did so, and was carried, spear and all, into the water, where he disappeared. Now Kua’lum went home satisfied that the lad was dead. But shortly afterwards he reappeared, carrying the monster, and threw it, much to the terror of the others, into the underground lodge.105
Next morning the Coyote and the Cannibal had a trial of their respective powers. They had four trials, -- one of fire, one of water, one of wind, and one of ice and cold. The Coyote sang, and the fire leaped up so that it caught the roof of the house; but the Cannibal lay down on his back, and the fire went out. The Cannibal also tried fire, but the Coyote put it out. The Coyote then changed his song, and tried water; but their powers over the water were also equal. Then they tried wind, but with the same result.
At last the Coyote changed his song and brought cold and ice. The Cannibal and Kua'lum could not meet this. They, their daughter, and all the people of the village, were frozen to death; moreover, all the houses and the village site became covered with ice. The Coyote and his son then departed for home, having thus taken their revenge.106
[Nkamtci’nemux.]
The Black Bear invited107 the Coyote to her underground lodge. He went the next morning, and on arriving was kindly treated by the Bear. She gave him berries and other food to eat, which was very acceptable to him, as he was almost famishing. Before long the Black Bear put more wood on the fire, and placed a dish108 down by the side of the fire. Then she held her hands, fingers turned downward, in front of the blaze. Before long melted fat commenced to drip from her finger-tips into the dish below, which in a short time became quite full. She took the dish and placed it in front of the Coyote, asking him to partake of the fat, which he did, eating as much as he was able. After finishing his repast, the Coyote said that he would now go home. At the same time he invited the Black Bear to his house on the morrow, when he said he would return her dish, which in the mean time he would borrow so as to take home the rest of the fat for his wife. In due course the Black Bear arrived at the Coyote's house, where she was treated to some offal which the Coyote had found, but which he told her was fresh, as he had been out hunting and had just brought it in. After a while the Coyote told his wife to stir the fire, because he wanted to get some fat to give to his guest. He then set the dish down close to the fire, and holding up his paws in front of the blaze, exactly as the Black Bear had done, he awaited results. As there was no sign of any fat coming, he placed his paws still nearer to the flame, and held them there until they commenced to shrivel and curl up with the heat, and still there were no signs of any grease dripping down. His paws had now almost shrunk up109 into a ball. He was unable to endure the pain any longer, withdrew his hands from the fire, and ran around the house, howling with pain. The Black Bear then said to him, "What a fool you are! You poor fellow! Watch me how I do it." She then held up her paws in front of the fire, as she had done on the previous day, and before long the dish was full of grease. She then made the Coyote a present of the grease, and told him never to try and do what was beyond his power.
Some time afterwards the Coyote felt hungry and thought he would pay a visit to Tsala’s,110 who lived in an underground lodge some little distance away. Upon entering, Tsala’s treated him kindly, telling him that he would go and get some fresh fish for him to eat. He went outside, took a withe from some neighboring bushes, and went down to the river, where he made a small hole in the ice, and commenced to dive for fish. The Coyote, meanwhile, watched all his movements from the top of the ladder. Before long, Tsala’s had caught a goodly number of fish, which he strung on the withe, and, returning home, cooked some of them for the Coyote, who soon ate his fill. On leaving, the Coyote invited Tsala's to visit him at his house on the morrow. Accordingly, the next day, Tsala’ s repaired to the Coyote's house, where he was offered old meat; but, unlike the Black Bear, he was not fond of such food. Therefore the Coyote proposed to go and get some fresh fish for him. The Coyote left the house, took a withe, and after making a hole in the ice put his head down the hole in order to look for the fish before diving. But in trying to get his head out again he found that he could not. Wondering at his long absence, Tsala’s went to look for his friend, and found him with his head stuck down in the ice-hole. He pulled him out, more dead than alive, and, addressing him, said, "Poor fellow! Why should you make yourself worse off than you already are? You are very foolish to try to do things that are beyond your powers. Now look at me!" Tsala’s then put his head down in the bole and soon commenced to toss plenty of fish out on the ice. He made a present of them to the Coyote, and went home, leaving the Coyote.
