Page:Tlingit Myths and Texts.djvu/76
all these things." So he took sticks and set them all round the raven. " Before I cut it," he said, "I will let the wings flap over it. This will be (i. e., represent) your enemies. Before I cut it I will cause it to kill all of your enemies. The raven will have so much strength." When they tested him[1] the spirit said, " All people on sticks," meaning that it wanted all of their foes to fall on sticks and be destroyed when they fought. Then they prepared, saying, "We will start." The shaman said, "At the moment when we arrive a man is going to chop down a tree in front of us."
Toward morning they came close to the fort, all prepared for fighting. After they had surrounded it a man came out with a stone ax and climbed up a tree to chop off limbs. Then they shot him with arrows, unnoticed by the fort people, so that he fell down dead. But a little while afterward the fort people said, "Where is that man who climbed the tree a short time ago. He is not there now." At once they rushed together on both sides, and all those in the fort were destroyed just as the shaman had predicted. Then they returned to their own fort, which was also known as Eulachon-trap fort (Cal nu).
Another time five women went around the island where they had their fort, after mussels, and came to a reef on the outer side. They left their canoe untied and it floated away. Then the tide began to come up. They stood up on the reef with their hands in the air, singing death songs for themselves, for they knew they were about to die. After that the reef was called Woman reef (Ca qla tlagu), on account of the women who were destroyed there.
A year after this some people went across from the fort to a lake into which salmon run, and were surprised on encountering people. They thought it was some war party from very far south and beat a precipitate retreat to the fort. Then the people in the fort saw a big canoe all covered with abalone shell come out from this place and make straight toward them. When it had come close in, the chief questioned these strangers and learned that they were on a friendly visit from Yakutat. It took the strength of all the people to bring up this canoe. Then they made the fort chief a present of land-otter skins, marten skins, skins of all kinds. This was the custom in olden times, a slave being generally given back.
The chief at this place had a nephew named Yetxa′ who was very fond of gambling. The fourth day that the visitors were in town the chief's nephew was away from home, and the fire went out. Then he acted as though he were crazy. He went down to the valuable canoe of the visitors, broke off the stern piece for firewood, and threw it in doors so that the abalone shells fell off of it.
Next morning, when the man that owned the canoe got up, he saw that his stern piece was missing, and that burnt abalone shells were
- ↑ That is, when the people allowed him to perform before them.