Myths of the Modocs

by Jeremiah Curtin

KAI AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW

Old Ko-a-lák-ak-a, who told this myth, did not know who Natanatas was, but she thought that he represented Wind. He could cause a storm, and when a storm was raging, by wishing hard he could quell it. Natanatas gave his son-in-law what he thought to be impossible tasks.—The giving of tasks to a new son-in-law is a feature in many Indian myths, and also in Aryan myths.