Haida texts and myths

by Unknown

Then he went in and told his wife, and she said to her father: “Father, he hunted in vain for the canoe. He says there is only an old one there.” “That is it.” Then she went to it with her husband. She kicked it on the edges and [said]: “Go seaward, father’s canoe.” At once it was floating there. It went of itself either way. The carving on the bow paddled. Then he told it to come near. It came before him.

And he had his daughter take along all kinds of food. There was a great quantity of it. He sent five slaves to take care of the canoe. He had five boxes of berries and grease put in for the canoe. And he said to his daughter: “My child, when it is hungry it will point its bow backward. Then let your husband throw one box at its face.”

Then they started. He sat high in the bow with his wife, and the bow carving paddled the canoe. After it had gone along for some time the canoe turned its bow back. Then they pulled out one of the boxes of grease and berries, and he threw it at its face. Again it went on. After it had gone along for a while the canoe turned its bow back again, and again he threw the grease and berries at its face with a spoon. Then the canoe again went on.[17]

After they had gone on a while longer they saw the town. The whole town was alight with fires. They wanted to see the daughter of Many-ledges. They asked: “Who is it?” “It is He-who-got-supernatural-power-from-his-little-finger coming with his wife.”

And they came down in a great crowd to the shore opposite. He came ashore, and they took the food off. Then the five canoe slaves went back. They took along the three boxes of berries and grease which were left for the canoe.

Then his wife sat among the things, and he went up to the house and told his mother to call her up. Immediately his mother went down. She saw nothing there. There was only a cloud among the boxes. Then she went up and said to her son: “I saw nothing there. Only a cloud was there resting upon the things.” He said to his mother: “That is she.”

Again she went down, and she called her up. The cloud came up after her. The cloud went near the place where her husband sat. They wanted to see her. A great crowd awaited her. By and by he said to his wife: “Take off your hat.” Then she told her husband to take it off, and he took it off. He put it behind himself. There the cloud lay. A wonderful creature sat where it had been. She was pretty, like a daughter of the supernatural beings. The ones they had wanted him to marry looked in at her and wept as they did so.

And, after he had had his wife for a while, a whitish sea otter came [[245]]swimming in front of the town. After they had shot at it for a while he also launched his canoe. He shot at it with his arrows. He shot it in the end of the tail.[18] After it had flopped about there for some time he got it into his canoe. He came home. Then he skinned it.

There were spots of blood upon it. On account of these his wife washed it. After she had done this for a while she slipped seaward upon it. When the water was as high as her knees a killer whale went away with her blowing. She was stuck between its fins. Killer whales went out to sea with her in a crowd.

He got into a canoe and went after his wife. They disappeared under the water in front of him. Then he came back and went crying around the town. By and by he questioned an old man who lived at one end of the town. “What supernatural being is it that took away my wife?” he asked of him. “Supernatural-being-always-in-the-cradle took your wife away.”