Texts of the North American Indian

Writings of E.S. Curtis
Excerpts from "The North American Indian" Set #254, Vol. 8

WHITE SEAL

Eagle and his four brothers, Jay, Kite, Hawk, and Beaver, all good men, lived on the upper river. They decided to go on a journey down-stream. After paddling a long way they saw a white seal asleep on a rocky island, and, determine to capture it, they let the canoe drift close to the rock. Then Eagle threw his spear into the sleeping seal, which immediately dived into the water and swam rapidly down-stream, dragging the canoe with her. Eagle soon became alarmed and suggested that Beaver come forward and cut the rope with his teeth, but when the latter attempted to do this, his teeth broke and fell into the river. Hawk was then called upon to cut the rope with his sharp claws, but he preferred to use his beak, and as he pecked away, the beak broke and dropped overboard.

The Kite experienced the same misfortune. "You ought to be the one to cut this rope," they told Eagle. "You are great and you have good claws." "All right," he said; "hold the rope and I will cut it." But when he set his claws into the rope and pulled, they fell into the water. It was now left for Jay to try his strength, and Eagled called on him. "How can I cut it?" he demanded. "Take your topknot," said Eagle. So he took the topknot, which was Jay's war-club, and struck at the rope, but the topknot flew from his hand and sank in the water. Jay then began to cry: "Whenever anything happens, you always want me to join in and help. That thing I have lost is very important." The five were now without means of cutting the rope. Suddenly they found themselves enveloped in fog, and when this rolled away, land was in sight.

A woman sat on the bank, and just in front of her they say everything they had lost -- teeth, beaks, claws feathers, line and spear. This was White Seal, whom they had attempted to kill. Their boat came to land of itself, and they said to one another, "Who is going to claim those things?" Beaver was selected. He got out and walked along the edge of the steep bank, but slipped and fell back into the water. He crawled out, and the woman called, "What is the matter?" "Sister, I want these things; they belong to us," Beaver said. "I am no sister of yours," she said. "Oh, I made a mistake, I meant to say niece," said Beaver. "No, I am not your niece," she replied. In vain Beaver tried to gain her favor by claiming relationship to her in other ways; she would not admit it. "Go back and tell Eagle that if he will call me wife I will return these things to you," said she. So Beaver went back and reported what she had said, and Eagle declared, "All right, I want another wife: I will be her husband." Beaver gathered up the things he and his friends had lost, and returned to the canoe. "After you get your teeth and claws and beaks and feathers on, come back and I will have your meal ready," the woman told him.

The five put on their lost members, and got ready to go to the meal. Approaching the house, they went in, and there saw all sorts of strange things. For fuel she was burning human bones. Her huckleberries were human eyes; and instead of roots, roasted and mashed, she placed before them human brains. She offered them also a number of human hands, and now even Eagle began to be frightened. Some of the bones on the fire were fresh and made a bad smoke, and the room was so filled with the smoke and the smell that the five could hardly breathe. Eagle went outside on a pretext and got some long, hollow, dry straws, one of which each of the five put into his mouth and down through his intestines. The meal was now ready, and they began to eat, taking everything White Seal offered, and all she had, but it simply passed through the straws. When the smoke became very dense, Eagle covered his four brothers with his wings, and put his own head beneath them. In this way he saved their lives. Soon he heard a voice saying, "Come forward, Iu'h'tílili, and swallow all this smoke." The sound of deep inhalation could be heard, and in a short time the smoke had disappeared. Somebody was heard to say: "I do not know what kind of up-river people these are. I think they are still alive."

Then, after an interval of silence, some one said, "I was sent to call you people to our house, to eat with us." "All right," said Eagle; "we are not much for eating, and we have just eaten, but we will go with you." This person was squirrel woman. They went with her, and were given real food -- salmon, meat, roots, and berries. Squirrel wanted Eagle to call her wife, so he married her and he and his brothers lived there five days, when some one came and said, "To-morrow we are going to build a large sweat-lodge, and we want you to come and sweat with us." Said Eagle, "We do not understand this sweating, but we can try it."

So the next morning they went to the sweat-lodge, which was all ready. It was made of stone. They were told to go in, and, after they had entered, a large stone was placed over the doorway, then another and another, until there were five. Soon they began to grow warm, and a little later it was unbearably hot. Eagle asked, "What shall we do now?" said Beaver, "I will roll over and we will have a little pond." He did so, and the ground became damp. Again he turned over, and the ground was wet. After he had rolled over five times there was a pool of water in the middle of the sweat-lodge, and the five took refuge in it. Their enemies, who sat inside the sweat-lodge around the edge, thought that they must now be dead. Eagle threw a small stone into the heat. It burst, and the women said, "That must be Jay's heart that burst." Eagle threw another stone, and another, until the women counted until five explosions had been heard, when they said, "That makes five, and they are all dead. Let us take them out." They called to those outside and the stones were removed from the entrance. Jay sat at the front, beside the doorway and when the last stone was taken away he leaped out, holding his topknot in his hand. Two of the women had strings of human bones in their ears, and these two Jay pursued and killed.

Then in five days Duck woman announced a diving contest. Eagle said they did not know much about diving, but they would go, and his brother, Jay, would try and see what he could do. Eagle took the coarse grass from the bottom of their canoe and spread it over the drift-logs at the landing. First duck dived to show how it was done. Then both Jay and Duck dived together, but Jay swam to the driftwood and put his beak up through the grass so that he could breathe. At last, when Duck could remain under no longer, she came to the surface, and Eagle and his brothers laughed at her for giving up so soon. By that Jay knew he could come up, so he swam out and came to the surface and with his topknot killed Duck, then came ashore and killed two more women, who were wearing necklaces of human bones taken from men whom they had devoured.

Five days later a person from another village announced a contest of pole-climbing. Eagle made medicine and caused a crack to wind spirally up the pole. Woodpecker woman climbed first. Jay began to go up, holding his topknot, and as Woodpecker climbed higher and higher, Jay tried to catch up with her and killed her, but he found that when he went to one side she climbed to the other. After a while, however, she had to stop to rest, and Jay went on, holding to the crack, and killed her. Woodpecker fell, and Jay came down, jumped to the ground, and set out in pursuit f the women, of whom he killed two.

The next day there came another messenger, who said, "There is a young girl with some dogs, and she wishes you to come." Eagle replied, "We do not like these gatherings where there are dogs, for we might be bitten, but anyway we will come." The next morning they went, and at the place they found a number of grizzly-bears in a circle, fighting among themselves. When Eagle came close, they forgot to harm him and his friends, and his power made them quiet as dogs. He went among the grizzly-bears, picked up a cub and carried it round, and each of his brothers did the same. They carried them to the house of the girl who owned the grizzly-bears, and dropped them inside. As soon as they left, the animals resumed their fighting and the five stepped aside and waited to see what the people would do. Soon some one came out and asked them to take the cubs back again. "That is what you said you wanted, and we brought them to you," replied Eagle. "Yes, but we do not want them any more, so you had better carry them back," was the answer. Eagle then took the lead and the five carried the cubs back. The people now began to be astonished and to think that these five must possess great supernatural power.

Next day they were invited to a bone-gambling game. Eagle said, "We do not like to play that game, but we can go." There were two great gamblers in this village, Jack-rabbit and Crawfish. The five went to the game and found a great gathering of people. The playing began. Jack-rabbit was holding the bones and swaying from side to side as he threw them up into his nose. Eagle sat watching him and made the motion to the side which he guessed had the bones, and Jack-rabbit's nose spread open and the bones fell out. When Crawfish had the bones and Eagle guessed, all but two of the claws flew off, and the bones could not be kept concealed. Now the five had the advantage, and they soon won the game.

But soon another messenger came, saying that on the morrow there would be another game, and Eagle said they would go and play. The game was to throw a great cottonwood tree into the air and let it fall on the belly of the contestant, the winner to be he who was not crushed. Eagle asked his companions, "Which of you is capable of playing this game?" Beaver said that he was good for it, and when Eagle demanded proof of his skill, Beaver outlined his plan, and Eagle consented to let him represent the party. When they reached the place on the next day, there was a still larger crowd assembled. Grizzly-bear lay down on her back, and the tree was thrown into the air, roots and all, and when it descended it crushed her flat. Then Beaver lay down. He had prepared himself by eating a quantity of sticks. Their opponents threw a large cedar into the air; it struck Beaver's belly, bounded back into the air, and fell on its side some distance away, splintered into a thousand pieces. And once more Jay gave his war-cry and killed two of the women.

Five days later there was to be a wood-eating contest. Each side was to take half of the island. Beaver said this also was his game, and the women had Muskrat try to win the contest for them. Just before sunset began. About the middle of the night Muskrat, having eaten about half of her portion, burst, but Beaver continued until he had eaten all of his part. At sunrise the friends of Muskrat, having lost, were pursued by Jay, and two of them were killed.

Next they received a challenge to a contest of walking on a rope. The five went down to the river at the place where the rope was stretched from bank to bank, over rapids, so that it hung down into the rough water and swung as the waves struck it. During the night Eagle had asked which would walk the rope, and Jay had said that he was capable of doing it. They found two of their enemies on the rope practicing. Eagle said to Jay: "This is hard. What is your plan?" One contestant was to start from each bank, the two meeting in the middle. Jay said, "When we get to the middle I shall have this topknot ready and knock her into the river." "Good!" said Eagle. Jay and the other started out, one from each end, and when both reached the middle, one was seen by the watchers to tumble off into the river and go drifting down. The other remained on the rope dancing and hopping about, but the people did not know which one it was. When the winner returned to the shore, he was seen to be Jay, and he chased the people with his topknot, but he could not catch any of them.

The five brothers from up the river were invited to wrestle with Mountain-lion. Eagle asked which one was good for that contest, but it seemed that no one felt strong for that kind of game, and Eagle said that he himself would undertake it. He told his companions that he would try to carry Mountain-lion into the air, and if he did so and pieces of his flesh dropped, they should put them into cold water. He commanded Hawk and Kite to watch the contest and to listen closely. Borrowing the claws of Hawk and Kite, he tied them to his legs, and dressed himself in an armor of five mountain-sheep horns. Mountain-lion weighted herself down with five stone mortars. The contest began at the top of a bluff. Mountain-lion was getting the better, when Eagle carried her into the air, going higher and higher until they were out of sight. When, after a long time, neither reappeared, it was assumed that Eagle was beaten, and the daughter of Mountain-lion made a slave of Jay. In the meantime Eagle was carrying Mountain-lion upward to his own people, where he could get help. For three nights they went upward. Two ravens, two Owls, two Vultures, two Buzzards, a Hawk, and a Ground-owl, lived above. Mountain-lion and Eagle were worn by fighting and hunger. Hawk sat at night holding a torch ; his hair was tied in front in a long bang. Eagle, down below, was calling to his friends, but they did not hear. The second call Hawk heard faintly. and the third a little more plainly; the fourth time the voice was recognized, and the fifth time the words were distinguished: "I am nearly dead, Hawk!" This so shocked Hawk that he dropped the torch, and the others, left in the darkness, cried, "What is the matter?" There was no answer, and a new torch was lighted. By this time Hawk had recovered his sense, and said, "Our chief is coming from below, and he is nearly dead." They dressed for fighting and dropped down to meet their brother, and when they came to the fighters, still struggling, they killed Mountain-lion. The two Ravens put their wings together and on them carried Eagle upward to their home. He was very thin. Raven set about curing him. A small platform was made, a pole raised, and they sang until Eagle was as well as ever. This required ten nights.

Beaver, Hawk, and Kite had gone, as soon as the wrestlers disappeared in the air, to that half of the people who were good, and among whom Eagle had taken a wife immediately after the contest of smoke. After Eagle had fully recovered he went down and sat on a rock near the village. Jay was still working as a slave and had become blind. Carrying water, he would run into a tree or a house or a rock. When Eagle saw this, he stopped Jay and asked, "In what house are you a prisoner, brother?" "Oh," cried Jay, "I have had enough of this teasing. I have heard long ago that my brother Eagle is dead, and you are mocking me with his voice." "No, I am really Eagle," and he took a feather from his head, wet it, and drew it across Jay's eyes, and instantly they were opened again. "When you take this water to the house, what do they usually say to you?" he inquired. "Before I walk in I ask them to take the water from me and set it where it should be," replied Jay. Said Eagle: "Go in just as you have been doing, but order them to take the water from your hands." Jay added: "Sometimes they make me bring it in and set it down." "If they do so this time, take the vessel and throw it upon your masters. Tell them that Eagle is back and alive." All this was done, and Jay took his top knot and killed many of the people. Then the five companions, having proved the superiority of their power, got into their canoe and returned to Hláda'hût, the place which they had left so long before.

EDWARD S. CURTIS