In a place on Bella Coola River, there used to be a salmon-weir. A chief and his wife lived at this place. One day the wife was cutting salmon on the bank of the river. When she opened the last salmon, she found a small boy in it.
She took him out and washed him in the river. She placed him near by, entered the
house, and said to the people, "Come and see what I have found in my salmon!" She
had a child in her house, which was still in the cradle.
The little boy whom she had found was half as long as her fore-arm. She carried him into
the house, and the people advised her to take good care of him. She nursed him with
her own baby.
When the people were talking in the house, the baby looked around
as though he understood what they were saying. On the following day the people were
surprised to see how much he had grown, and in a few days he was as tall as any
ordinary child. Her own baby also grew up with marvelous rapidity. She gave each of
them one breast. After a few days they were able to walk and to talk.
The two young men were passing by the houses, and looked into the doorways. There
was a house in the centre of this town; there they saw a beautiful girl sitting in the middle
of the house. Her hair was red, and reached down to the floor. She was very white. Her
eyes were large, and as clear as rock crystal. The boy fell in love with the girl. They went
on, but his thoughts were with her.
The Salmon boy said, "I am going to enter this house. You must watch closely what I do,
and imitate me. The Door of this house tries to bite every one who enters." The Door
opened, and the Salmon jumped into the house. Then the Door snapped, but missed
him. When it opened again, the boy jumped into the house. They found a number of
people inside, who invited them to sit down. They spread food before them, but the boy
did not like their food. It had a very strong smell, and looked rather curious. It consisted
of algae that grow on logs that lie in the river.
When the boy did not touch it, one of the men said to him, "Maybe you want to eat those
two children. Take them down to the river and throw them into the water, but do not
look."
The two children arose, and he took them down to the river. Then he threw them into the
water without looking at them. At the place where he had thrown them down, he found a
male and a female Salmon. He took them up to the house and roasted them.
The people told him to preserve the intestines and the bones carefully. After he had
eaten, one of the men told him to carry the intestines and the bones to the same place
where he had thrown the children into the water. He carried them in his hands, and
threw them into the river without looking. When he entered the house, he heard the
children following him. The girl was covering one of her eyes with her hands.
The boy was limping, because he had lost one of his bones. Then the people looked at
the place where the boy had been sitting, and they found the eye, and a bone from the
head of the male salmon. They ordered the boy to throw these into the water. He took
the children and the eye and the bone, and threw them into the river. Then the children
were hale and well.
After a while the youth said to his Salmon brother, "I wish to go to the other house where
I saw the beautiful girl." They went there, and he said to his Salmon brother, "Let us
enter. I should like to see her face well."
They went in. Then the man arose, and spread a caribou blanket for them to sit on, and
the people gave them food. Then he whispered to his brother, "Tell the girl I want to
marry her." The Salmon boy told the girl, who smiled, and said, "He must not marry me.
Whoever marries me must die. I like him, and I do not wish to kill him; but if he wishes to
die, let him marry me.
The woman was the Salmon-berry Bird. After one day she gave birth to a boy, and on
the following day she gave birth to a girl. She was the daughter of the Spring Salmon.
After a while the girl's father said, "Let us launch our canoe, and let us carry the young
man back to his own people." He sent a messenger to call all the people of the village;
and they all made themselves ready, and early the next morning they started in their
canoes. The young man went in the canoe of the Spring Salmon, which was the fastest.
The canoe of the Sock-eye Salmon came next. The people in the canoe of the Calico
Salmon were laughing all the time. They went up the river; and a short distance below
the village of the young man's father they landed, and made fast their canoes. Then they
sent two messengers up the river to see if the people had finished their salmon-weir.
Soon they returned with information that the weir had been finished. Then they sent the
young man and his wife, and they gave them a great many presents for the young man's
father.
The watchman who was stationed at the salmon-weir saw two beautiful salmon entering
the trap. They were actually the canoes of the salmon; but they looked to him like two
salmon. Then the watchman put the traps down over the weir, and he saw a great many
fish entering them. He raised the trap when it was full, and took the fish out.
The young man thought, "I wish he would treat me and my wife carefully", and his wish
came true. The man broke the heads of the other salmon, but he saved the young man
and his wife. Then he carried the fish up to the house, and hung them over a pole.
During the night the young man and his wife resumed their human shape. The youth
entered his father's house. His head was covered with eagle-down. He said to his father, "I am the fish whom you caught yesterday. Do you remember the time when you lost
me? I have lived in the country of the Salmon. The Salmon accompanied me here. They
are staying a little farther down the river. It pleases the Salmon to see the people eating
fish." And, turning to his mother, he continued, "You must be careful when cutting
Salmon.
Never break any of their bones, but preserve them, and throw them into the water." The
two children of the young man had also entered into the salmon-trap. He put some
leaves on the ground, placed red and white cedar-bark over them, and covered them
with eagle-down, and he told his mother to place the Salmon upon these.
As soon as he had given these instructions, the Salmon began to come up the river.
They crossed the weir and entered the traps. They went up the river as far as Stuick,
and the people dried the Salmon according to his instructions. They threw the bones into
the water, and the Salmon returned to life, and went back to their own country, leaving
their meat behind.
The Cohoes Salmon had the slowest canoe, and therefore he was the last to reach the
villages. He gave many presents to the Indians. He gave them many-colored leaves, and
thus caused the leaves of the trees to change color in the autumn.
Now all the Salmon had returned. The Salmon-berry Bird and her children had returned
with them. Then the young man made up his mind to build a small hut, from which he
intended to catch eagles. He used a long pole, to which a noose was attached. The
eagles were baited by means of Salmon. He spread a mat in his little house, and when
he had caught an eagle he pulled out its down.
He accumulated a vast amount of down. Then he went back to his house and asked his
younger brother to accompany him. When they came to the hut which he had used for
catching eagles, he gave the boy a small staff. Then he said to him, "Do not be sorry
when I leave you. I am going to visit the Sun. I am not going to stay away a long time. I
staid long in the country of the Salmon, but I shall not stay long in heaven.
I am going to lie down on this mat. Cover me with this down, and then begin to beat time
with your staff. You will see a large feather flying upward, then stop." The boy obeyed,
and everything happened as he had said.
The boy saw the feather flying in wide circles. When it reached a great height, it began
to soar in large circles, and finally disappeared in the sky. Then the boy cried, and went
back to his mother.
The young man who had ascended to heaven found there a large house. It was the
House of Myths. There he resumed his human shape, and peeped in at the door. Inside
he saw a number of people who were turning their faces toward the wall. They were
sitting on a low platform in the rear of the house. In the right-hand corner of the house he
saw a large fire, and women sitting around it.
He leaned forward and looked into the house. An old woman discovered him, and
beckoned him to come to her. He stepped up to her, and she warned him by signs not to
go to the rear of the house. She said, "Be careful!
The men in the rear of the house intend to harm you." She opened a small box, and
gave him the bladder of a mountain-goat, which contained the cold wind. She told him to
open the bladder if they should attempt to harm him. She said that if he opened it, no fire
could burn him. She told him that the men were going to place him near the fire, in order
to burn him; that one of them would wipe his face, then fire would come forth from the
floor, scorching everything.
The old woman told him everything that the people were going to do. Now the man in the
rear of the house turned round. He was the Sun himself. He was going to try the strength
of the visitor. When he saw the young man, he said to the old woman, "Did anybody
come to visit you? Let the young man come up to me. I wish him to sit down near me." The young man stepped up to the Sun, and as soon as he had sat down, the Sun wiped
his face and looked at the young man (he had turned his face while he was wiping it).
Then the young man felt very hot. He tied his blanket tightly round his body, and opened
the bladder which the woman had given him. Then the cold wind that blows down the
mountains in the winter was liberated, and he felt cool and comfortable. The Sun had not
been able to do him any harm. The old man did not say anything, but looked at his
visitor.
After a while he said, "I wish to show you a little underground house that stands behind
this house." They both rose and went outside. The small house had no door. Access
was had to it by an opening in the centre of the roof, through which a ladder led down to
the floor. Not a breath of air entered this house. It was made of stone. When they had
entered, the Sun made a small fire in the middle of the house; then he climbed up the
ladder and closed the door, leaving his visitor inside. The Sun pulled up the ladder, in
order to make escape impossible. Then the house began to grow very hot.
When the boy felt that he could not stand the heat any longer, he opened the bladder,
and the cold wind came out; snow began to fall on the fire, which was extinguished;
icicles began to form on the roof, and it was cool and comfortable inside. After a while
the Sun said to his four daughters, "Go to the little underground house that stands
behind our house, and sweep it," meaning that they were to remove the remains of the
young man whom he believed to be burned.
They obeyed at once, each being eager to be the first to enter. When they opened the
house, they were much surprised to find icicles hanging down from the roof.
When they were climbing down the ladder, the youth arose and scratched them. The
youngest girl was the last to step down. The girls cried when the youth touched them,
and ran away. The Sun heard their screams, and asked the reason.
He was much surprised and annoyed to hear that the young man was still alive. Then he
devised another way of killing his visitor. He told his daughters to call him into his house.
They went, and the young man re-entered the House of Myths. In the evening he lay
down to sleep.
Then the Sun said to his daughters, "Early tomorrow morning climb the mountain behind
our house. I shall tell the boy to follow you." The girls started while the visitor was still
asleep. The girls climbed up to a small meadow which was near a precipice. They had
taken the form of mountain-goats. When the Sun saw his daughters on the meadow, he
called to his visitor, saying, "See those mountain-goats!" The young man arose when he
saw the mountain-goats.
He wished to kill them. The Sun advised him to walk up the right-hand side of the
mountain, saying that the left-hand side was dangerous. The young man carried his bow
and arrow.
The Sun said, "Do not use your own arrows! Mine are much better." Then they
exchanged arrows, the Sun giving him four arrows of his own. The points of these
arrows were made of coal.
Now the young man began to climb the mountain. When he came up to the goats, he
took one of the arrows, aimed it, and shot. It struck the animals, but fell down without
killing it. The same happened with the other arrows. When he had spent all his arrows,
they rushed up to him from the four sides, intending to kill him. His only way of escape
was in the direction of the precipice. They rushed up to him, and pushed him down the
steep mountain.
He fell headlong, but when he was halfway down he transformed himself into a ball of
bird's down. He alighted gently on a place covered with many stones. There he resumed
the shape of a man, arose, and ran into the house of the Sun to get his own arrows. He
took them, climbed the mountain again, and found the mountain-goats on the same
meadow. He shot them and killed them, and threw them down the precipice; then he
returned. He found the goats at the foot of the precipice, and cut off their feet. He took
them home.
He found the Sun sitting in front of the house. He offered him the feet, saying, "Count
them, and see how many I have killed." The Sun counted them and now he knew that all
his children were dead. Then he cried, "You killed my children!" Then the youth took the bodies of the goats, fitted the feet on, and threw the bodies into
a little river that was running past the place where they had fallen down. Thus they were
restored to life.
He had learned this art in the country of the Salmon. Then he said to the girls, "Now run
to see your father! He is wailing for you." They gave him a new name, saying, "He has
restored us to life." The boy followed them. Then the Sun said, when he entered, "You
shall marry my two eldest daughters."
On the next morning the people arose. Then the Sun said to them, "What shall I do to
my son-in-law?" He called him, and said, "Let us raise the trap of my salmon-weir." They
went up to the river in the Sun's canoe. The water of the river was boiling. The youth
was in the bow of the canoe, while the Sun was steering. He caused the canoe to rock,
intending to throw the young man into the water. The water formed a small cascade,
running down over the weir. He told the young man to walk over the top of the weir in
order to reach the trap.
He did so, walking over the top beam of the weir. When he reached the baskets, the
beam fell over, and he himself fell into the water . The Sun saw him rise twice in the
whirlpool just below the weir. When he did not see him rise again, he turned his canoe,
and thought, "Now the boy has certainly gone to Nuskyakek." The Sun returned to his
house, and said to his daughters, "I lost my son-in-law in the river. I was not able to find
him." Then his daughters were very sad.
When the boy disappeared in the water, he was carried to Nuskyakek; and he resumed
the shape of a salmon while in the water, and as soon as he landed he resumed human
shape and returned to his wife. The Sun saw him coming, and was much surprised. In
the evening they went to sleep. On the following morning the Sun thought, "How can I
kill my son-in-law?" After a while he said to him, " Arise! We will go and split wood for
fuel."
He took his tools. They launched their canoe, and went down the river to the sea. When
they reached there, it was perfectly calm. There were many snags embedded in the mud
in the mouth of the river, some of which were only half submerged. They selected one of
these snags a long distance from the shore, and began to split it. Then the Sun
intentionally dropped his hammer into the water, and thought at the same time, "Do not
fall straight down, but fall sideways, so that he will have much difficulty in finding you." Then he sat down in his canoe, and said, "Oh! I lost my old hammer. I had it at the time
when the Sun was created." He looked down into the water, and did not say a word.
After a while he said to the young man, "Do you know how to dive? Can you get my
hammer? The water is not very deep here."
The young man did not reply. Then the Sun continued, "I will not go back without my
hammer."
Then the boy said, "I know how to dive. If you so wish, I will try to get it." The Sun promised to give him supernatural power if he was able to bring the hammer
back. The youth jumped into the water, and then the Sun ordered the sea to rise, and he
called the cold wind to make the water freeze. It grew so cold that a sheet of ice a
fathom thick was formed at once on top of the sea.
"Now," he thought, "I certainly have killed you!" He left his canoe frozen up in the ice,
and went home. He said to his daughters, "I have lost my son-in-law. He drifted away
when the cold winds began to blow down the mountains. I have also lost my little
hammer."
But when he mentioned his hammer, his daughters knew at once what had happened.
The young man found the hammer, and after he had obtained it he was going to return
to the canoe, but he struck his head against the ice, and was unable to get out. He tried
everywhere to find a crack. Finally he found a very narrow one. He transformed himself
into a fish, and came out of the crack. He jumped about on the ice in the form of a fish,
and finally resumed his own shape.
He went back to the Sun's house, carrying the hammer. The Sun was sitting in front of
the fire, his knees drawn up, and his legs apart. His eyes were closed, and he was
warming himself. The young man took his hammer and threw it right against his
stomach, saying, "Now take better care of your treasures." The young man scolded the Sun, saying, "Now stop trying to kill me. If you try again, I
shall kill you. Do you think I am an ordinary man? You cannot conquer me." The Sun did
not reply.
In the evening he said to his son-in-law, "I hear a bird singing, which I should like very
much to have."
The young man asked, "What bird is it?"
The Sun replied, "I do not know it. Watch it early to-morrow morning." The young man
resolved to catch the bird. Very early in the morning he arose, then he heard the bird
singing outside. He knew at once that it was the ptarmigan. He left the house, and
thought, "I wish you would come down!" Then the bird came down, and when it was
quite near by he shot it. He hit one of its wings, intending to catch it alive.
He waited for the Sun to arise. The bird understood what the young man said, who thus
spoke: "The chief here wishes to see you. Do not be afraid, I am not going to kill you.
The chief has often tried to kill me, but he has been unable to do so.
You do not need to be afraid." The young man continued, "When it is dark I shall tell the
Sun to ask you to sit near him, and when he is asleep I want you to peck out his eyes." When the Sun arose, the youth went into the house carrying the bird, saying, "I have
caught the bird; now I hope you will treat it kindly. It will awaken us when it is time to
arise. When you lie down, let it sit down near you, then it will call you in the morning." In the evening the Sun asked the bird to sit down next to his face. When he was asleep,
the bird pecked out his eyes without his knowing it. Early in the morning he heard the
bird singing. He was going to open his eyes, but he was not able to do so. Then he
called his son, saying, "The bird has blinded me."
The young man jumped up and went to his father-in-law, and said, "Why did you wish for
the bird? Do you think it is good? It is a bad bird. It has pecked out your eyes." He took
the bird and carried it outside, and thanked it for having done as it was bidden. Then the
bird flew away.
When it was time for the Sun to start on his daily course, he said, "I am afraid I might fall,
because I cannot see my way." For four days he staid in his house. He did not eat, he
was very sad. Then his son-in-law made up his mind to cure him. He did not do so
before, because he wanted to punish him for his badness.
He took some water, and said to his father-in-law, "I will try to restore your eyesight." He
threw the water upon his eyes, and at once his eyes were healed and well.
He said, "Now you can see what power I have. The water with which I have washed my
face has the power to heal diseases. While I was in the country of the Salmon, I bathed
in the water in which the old Salmon bathed, in order to regain youth, therefore the water
in which I wash makes everything young and well."
From this time on, the Sun did not try to do any harm to the young man.
Finally he wished to return to his father's village. He left the house, and jumped down
through the hole in heaven. His wife saw him being transformed into a ball of eagledown,
which floated down gently. Then her father told her to climb as quickly as she
could down his eyelashes. She did so, and reached the ground at the same time as her
husband. He met his younger brother, who did not recognize him. He had been in
heaven for one year.
A Bella Coola Legend