Now every evening the maidens came down to dance on the beach. It was a broad beach. No one ever came to that end of the lake. They danced under the stars, when the air was still, and they sang their songs. So the young man watched them.
Now they came again, and the young man rushed among them; rushed among them as they danced when the air was quiet, and seized the most beautiful sister. Then the maidens sprang into the basket, and the young man caught the maiden, and held the basket edge with one hand. Then they fell to the earth together, and the maiden was grieved.
The maiden said, “We are seven sisters. We live in the Sky Land. Often you see us when you look into the sky. But at this season, when the air is still and the lake is quiet, we come here to dance in the starlight.” She said also, “I cannot marry you until you come and live with me in the Sky Land.”
So the young man went into the Sky Land with her. Everything there happened just as one wished it.
We know this is true, because even today the seven sisters are in the sky. Six are clearly seen, but the seventh sits back in the shadow with her husband.
THE STAR HUNTERS
Chilcotin
There were once three young men who spent most of their time with their two dogs in hunting. They lived with their grandmother. When they came in from hunting, they gave meat to her.
One day the hunters were gone all day without finding anything. In the evening, for a joke, one of them gave grandmother a piece of punk, saying, “Here is some caribou liver for you,” but when she put it into her mouth, lo, it was punk wood! She was angry.
Now the next day, when the young men were out hunting, grandmother heated a bear’s foot in the fire, and danced about the camp and sang her song. So she turned them by this magic into stars, and they lived up in Sky Land.