Traditions of the Thompson River Indians (cont.)
180. The Upper Lillooet version of the acquisition of fire is that it was stolen by two men who went to a house near the salt water, in which the people lived who possessed it. They dammed a creek which flowed near the house, thus flooding it, and putting the people in a state of confusion.
181. Some say that the Beaver put fire into all wood and trees which grow near his haunts, whilst the Eagle put it into the trees which grow in high or distant parts of the country, away from the watercourses and lakes.
Compare Fraser Delta, p. 42, Tillamook.
182. In this version the Beaver was not shot, but speared with a beaver-spear.
183. See Story of Ntcî'mka, note 263.
184. Some say they went inside of a beaver and eagle skin respectively.
185. A mysterious person; anything composed of mystery, or having powers above the ordinary, and which cannot be readily understood or imitated.
186. Wooden boxes were never used by the Upper Nlaka'pamux, but were known to the Uta'mqt, and used by them to some extent. Probably they copied them from the S'a'tcinko or Qauitcin Indians of lower Fraser River.
187. Some say also the people.
188. Compare the legends of the liberation of the sun (F. Boas, Sagen, etc. p. 360, No. 147).
189. Some Indians tell that he said his brothers had been killed while attacking a fortified house.
190. Some say that he made them lie down. Full version : He took them each one and pointed out with his finger on their bodies where their husbands had been wounded. He pointed first to the brow, then successively to the nose, the mouth, the chin, the breast, the navel. Deinde cum digitum ad partes genitales intenderet atque adeo eas tangeret dixit se prurire.
191. Sluq, a large basket with a lid.
192. Some Nlak·a'pamux'o'e and Nkamtci'nemux say that he was found about a year afterwards, having drifted ashore, and, when the lid was opened, was found to be alive and well. He afterwards travelled around the country. Some Nkamtci’nemux say that he was set adrift on Thompson River, and that he drifted ashore a few miles below Spences Bridge.
Compare Comox, p. 72 ; Kwakiutl, p. 158.
193. Some say that the Skunk and brothers were first attacked by a party of northern Shuswap, but unsuccessfully, and that afterwards they made up their minds to make reprisals.
194. According to this story, it would seem that the Skunk was the creator of the yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa). The Indians state that he was the first person to use the bark of this tree when on the warpath, and that since then the Indian war-parties always used it. They also state that it makes comparatively but little ash, that the ashes are light and easily scattered, and that it is difficult for any one to tell by appearances how long since the fire was used. The yellow pine is one of the commonest trees which are found in the Nkamtci'nemux and lower Shuswap countries.
195. This Lake and the cliff are called Tcexpa'tkwetn, both by the Nkamtci’nemux and the Shuswap, and are situated close to Marble Canyon. Some Indians, in telling the story, say that the lake was there before, but that when the Skunk discharged his secretion on his brothers, some of it floated over the lake and changed the color of its waters.
196. In narrating this story, some of the Indians say that the lake had only water of three colors, -yellow, blue, and red ; also that the colors in the water were easily distinguishable until about ten years ago, when some Indians placed trout in the Lake. Since the trout have become numerous, they say that these colors have gradually disappeared. Both the Nkamtci'nemux and the Shuswap fish the water for trout nowadays.
