Traditions of the Thompson River Indians (cont.)
Notes.
36. It is also said that he talked (principally) in the Shuswap language, and in a peculiar tone of voice (many of the, other animals in these myths are represented as talking in peculiar tones of voice). It is not known whether the Coyote talked in Shuswap just for sake of imitation, or whether that was his natural language. In telling stories connected with the Coyote, when they come to the part where the Coyote speaks, the Nkamtci'nemux (who are all more or less familiar with the Shuswap language) put that language into his mouth. The rest of the Nlaka'pamux generally make him speak Nlaka'pamux.
37. Some say the Coyote escaped in a canoe with some other people, and that the canoe of the Nzuke'ski Indians broke loose from him, and drifted ashore near the mountains of that name.
38. No particular place is mentioned, and the narrators cannot tell whether it was the lower or upper part of Thompson River, or whether in Nlaka'pamux or Shuswap territory. They say it was somewhere not far away from Spences Bridge.
39. Some of the Indians say that at one time the Coyote was alone, being the only man on earth. This is said to have been in or about the beginning of the "speta'kl" period. Others say that it was after the Flood.
40. Probably quartz.
41. Some Indians say the Teal Duck and the Mallard Duck, still others say the Swan and the Loon.
42. Some of the Nkamtci'nemux say he transformed his excrement into an eagle.
43. The meaning of this word is "raised" or "lifted up." The verb nli'ksema is applied to raising the trigger of a gun, to lifting the eyelids, etc. Some of the Nkamtci'nemux, in telling this story, assert that the Coyote lifted his eyelids and looked up, and each time he did so the tree grew taller. Nli'ksentem was the eldest son of the Coyote, and was noted for his great magical powers, and for his success as a hunter.
44. The Indians believe there are three worlds, viz., the one we live in; the upper one, which Nli'ksentem visited; and the lower one, inhabited by the Ant people. The sky is the ground of the upper worId.
45. A plant which grows abundantly in the mountains of the Nlaka'pamux country, the root of which is much used as food by the Indians. It is a species of Claytonia called tatu'en by the Indians.
46. The birch-bark vessels consisted of all kinds of bark utensils used by the Indians, such as cups, baskets, etc., as well as miniature canoes. Nli'ksentem was attacked by the combs and the birch-bark vessels, just as he had been by the awls, etc., in the other houses, and upon leaving cursed them in the same manner, condemning them to be the eternal servants of man.
47. Some say he first saw some old wood chippings, then fresher ones, and then at last the camp.
48. The full version of this passage is as follows: Deinde alter: "Ego vero" inquit "pudenda ejus olfacio." Nli'ksentem therefore felt insulted. He took hold of one woman by her legs and threw her amongst some spruce and black pine trees, saying, " You shall be a fool hen, and shall be so foolish that women and children will catch you with a stick and a twine noose at one end." The other woman he threw among some rotten logs between willow and alder trees, and cursed her, saying, "You shall be a ruffed grouse; et si quando pruris stipite alis ipso gravida fies."
Some Indians, in telling this part of the story, say that Nli'ksentem took the rotten wood out of the woman's hand, and placed therein, in place of it, his penis, whereupon the woman exclaimed, "I smell a man's privates!" Others say that he caught hold of the women, broke their arms, and then threw them in the bushes.
