ORIGIN OF THE BEAVER CREST
Tlingit
A YOUNG beaver was captured, long ago, by a family of the Decitan. It was well cared for, but it became angry and began to make songs. Afterward the beaver’s master went through the woods to a creek and found there two salmon-spear handles, beautifully carved. They were at the foot of a big tree. He took them home and when the beaver saw them he said, “That is my work.”
After a while, something offended the beaver again. He began to sing just like a human being. Then he seized a spear and threw it through his master’s chest. So his master was killed. The beaver thumped its tail on the ground and the house fell into the ground. The beaver had dug a great hollow under the house. It is from this story that the Decitan clan claim the beaver as their totem and have the beaver crest. They also have songs composed by the beaver.
ORIGIN OF THE KILLER WHALE CREST
Tlingit
A LONG time ago there was a man named Natsiane who always quarrelled with his wife. One day his brothers-in-law took him to an island far out at sea and left him there.
Natsiane began to think, “What can I do?” As he sat there thinking, he whittled two killer whales out of cottonwood bark. He put them into the water and shouted as the shamans do. They looked as if they were swimming but when they came to the surface, they were only cottonwood bark.