Tradition of the DEna'x*da?xu.
(Dictated by Charlie Wilson, 1900.)
It was when the Thunder-Bird clan lived at G*iô'x. They had many children. Then Scabby-Body had scabs all over his body, and his father felt badly on account of his scabby child. Then he called his tribe into (his house). His tribe came. They all came in with the women and children, and entered the house. Then Cedar-Dancer spoke, and said, "Welcome, tribe!" thus he said, "that you have come quickly, following my word, for it would not be good if you were infected in the way my son is, for his body is scabby. He has a bad sickness. Therefore I wish that we leave him, and that we go far away, all of us, with our women and our children."
Then he sat down with his child. He felt lonely. He felt really lonely. Then Scab spoke, and said to his father, "Don't long for me. I shall go to the other side of the beach." Then the child Scab started and went to the other side of the beach. He went to a river. He waded across, and went straight to the place where the dead sisters of his father were (buried in) boxes on the point of land. Then he took needles (of an evergreen tree) and put them in the fold of his shirt. Then he started and went into the water at the mouth of the river. He went straight down to the mouth of the river. Then he turned round to the right side, carrying in the fold of his shirt the needles, and he wished: "You shall be steelhead salmon." He said so, and put the needles into the water at the mouth of the river. Then he turned back, and went again to the dead sisters of his father. Then he carried more needles in the fold of his shirt and went again to the mouth of the river. He turned around to the right side and threw the needles into the water. Scab said, "You shall be silver salmon." Then he went back again to the dead sisters of his father, and carried in the fold of his shirt needles which were on the ground on Then he started running, and went to his father. "Arise he said to his father, "let us go to the other side of the beach." Thus said Scab to his father. Then the father arose from the ground. "Important is your speech, child," said he, and arose to go to the place to which his son had referred, where he should go with him. They started and went to the river. Immediately they began to build a house on the bank of the river. Very many salmon came to the mouth of the river. Then the father felt glad on account of what his son had done. Then Scab made a request. "Make a spear," thus said Seal), "that you may go on and split and roast, and that I may in the mean time spear the salmon."--"Go
Night came. Then they slept in the house. In the morning he (Scab) arose. Then he looked at what they had obtained from the river. "Oh," he said, "what has become of what we obtained from the river? There is nothing there now." Thus said Scab to his father. "But important is your word, child," said the father. Then the father arose. "Don't talk about it," said Scab to his father. "You go now and spear salmon, and I will cut salmon, and I will roast them after you go spearing." "Go ahead," said the father. The father began to spear, and the child began to cut and roast the salmon. He had not been doing so long when the house was full. Then they got tired. Then they had obtained much from the river. When they finished working on the ground, night came. It was evening. Then Scab spoke, and said, "Do look, and make a bow and four arrows."--"I shall [go on and] do what you refer to, master." Then the father made what his son had referred to. Then he finished. Scab was really glad, for the bow that his father had made was very good. Now, it had been night for a long time. The night was light. Then Scab said to his father, "Sleep now." Thus said Scab to his father. "Let me do so, master," said the father. "Don't speak loud," said Scab to his father. "I shall just pinch your foot if I should see anything."--"Indeed, do so, master," said the father. "Go on, sleep, don't feel uneasy," said Scab. "I shall not go far away. I shall be here on this side of our house."--"All right, my dear," said the father. Then the father went to sleep. Then Scab and his father slept. Then (Scab) was half awake, and he was about to get up in the morning. Then, when it was morning, he arose, also his father. Then he made a fire on the ground in his house and ate. After he had eaten, he sat down on the ground in his house. Then Scab got ready; he finished. Scab had his face blackened, and put on his head a ring of red cedar-bark, and he put a neck-ring, around his neck; then Then Scab started. He went up the bank of the river. Then he went into the woods and walked inland. He had not been going long when he discovered a trail. Then he saw a pond [of water], and he sat down on the ground. He was adorned around the neck, he had a ring on his head, he was feathered, and his face was blackened. He had not been sitting on the ground long when, behold! a little Dzô'noq!wa girl came walking along. "Oh," said Scab to the little Dzô'noq!wa woman, "for whom do you draw water?" Thus he said to the little Dzô'noq!wa woman, for she was carrying a bucket. "Oh," said that little Dzô'noq!wa woman, "I fetch water for father." Thus she said. "Why?" said Scab. "What is the cause of his feeling ill?"--"I do not know what ails him," said the little Dzô'noq!wa woman. "[Go on,] listen," said Scab. "[Do not] say that a strong shaman came here, and that he sits on the ground by the side of this water." Then said the father of the child,--namely, of the Dzô'noq!wa,--(speaking) to his child, "[For] what may we have to pay him, mistress?" Thus said the Dzô'noq!wa to his little daughter. Then the little Dzô'noq!wa woman went out, and she came to Scab. The little Dzô'noq!wa woman did not take care of her bucket, for the word of the man who was sitting on the ground by the water was now important to her. The little Dzô'noq!wa woman said, "[For] what may father have to pay you?"--" I will not take any of the things in your house."--["And so what shall I not have of the things that may be in your house?"]
Then he chewed hellebore and entered the house. The little Dzô'noq!wa woman went ahead, and Scab followed. He jumped in and blew out saliva on both sides of the house, on account of the double-headed serpent which was darting out its tongues on each side of the door of the house. Then Scab stood by the fireplace of the Dzô'noq!wa, turned around to the right, and started to the rear, where the Dzô'noq!wa was lying. Not all the Dzô'noq!wa could see him, on account of their number in the house. Then he sat down on the floor away from the fire of the Dzô'noq!wa, and he felt with his right hand of the chest of the Dzô'noq!wa. He felt his arrow. "Ah, ah!" he said (to himself), "this one has stolen your supplies of salmon." Then he felt his arrow, and was glad because he felt his arrow. He felt all his four arrows which he had shot in the house on the bank of the river. Then Scab began to speak. "Now I have treated you three times," thus said Scab to the Dzô'noq!wa, "and so I will do once (more) when you arise. Now you will be really strong."--"Just go on, supernatural one, take care of what you are doing in the house." Then Scab applied his mouth again to the chest of the Dzô'noq!wa; and Scab kept on tormenting him, for he knew now that the Dzô'noq!wa would be well. Then he applied his mouth to the chest of the Dzô'noq!wa, and he took hold of his arrow with his teeth. Then he pushed it, and then pulled it. Scab pushed his arrow to and fro. Therefore the Dzô'noq!wa groaned for pain, because (Scab) was tormenting the Dzô'noq!wa when he pushed his arrow to and fro. Then Scab thought that he would now get his arrow. "Now, take care, my, dear!" said Scab to the Dzô'noq!wa. "Now I shall really begin, so that you may be well quickly." Thus said Scab to the Dzô'noq!wa. "Your word is true, my, dear," said the Dzô'noq!wa. Then Scab went around on the floor of the house again, singing his sacred song: then he sat down again on the place in the house where he had been sitting before. He took (hold of) his arrow with his teeth and pulled it out. "Now Then the Dzô'noq!wa arose. "[For] what should I say?" Thus said the Dzô'noq!wa. "For did not I get by luck what our friend here has done? Now come, (you) whom I obtained by good luck; but did (you) not restore me to life?" Thus said the Dzô'noq!wa to the number of his fellows in the house. Then the Dzô'noq!wa began to speak again. "But do I not start with you, friend?" Thus said the Dzô'noq!wa to Scab. "Now you shall be the owner of my house, on account of what you have done to me, you who restored me to life; and you shall have my daughter for your wife. Just select my most beloved daughter; and you shall have my water, because it has no equal; this my water is called the water of life. Take care, son-in-law!" Thus said the Dzô'noq!wa to Scab. "Take good care of my daughter, and this box of your wife shall (also) go." Then the Dzô'noq!wa stopped speaking, and Scab arose and began to express his thanks for the words of the Dzô'noq!wa. Thank you for what you have done to me. That is why I have done so on the ground, endeavoring to get supernatural power. Now I really have for supernatural treasure the qualities of your house, and why should you feel uneasy in vain on account of your child? I shall not hurt her." Thus said Scab to his father-in-law. "Now go on, arise," said the Dzô'noq!wa to Scab, "and carry on your back one of the boxes of your wife." The box stood on the floor in the middle of the house. Then Scab arose and went to get it. Scab tried to lift the box, but he was not able to do so. Scab was altogether too weak for the box of his wife. Scab was not strong enough for the box. Then the Dzô'noq!wa began Then Scab entered the house. What should be the matter with his father? There were only bones lying there. Behold, he was dead! It had not seemed to Scab that he had been away long; but, behold! it had been four years--what Scab had been doing [on the ground]. Then Scab wept. He cried really on account of his father, for it seemed there was no way to revive him, on account of what he had done inland, because Scab had thought that he would get a wife quickly because there was no one to take care of him and his father. Therefore Scab felt sorry, for now his wife had come in vain. Then Scab told his wife, "Pity this (your) father-in-law, who evidently has been dead [since] a long time." Thus said Scab to his wife. "Look at this," said Scab to his wife, "this is it." The wife could not see, for that is the way a Dzô'noq!wa should be. The Dzô'noq!was have no way to see (well), for their eyes are deep-set. "This is it," he said, and took the hand of his wife. Then he made her feel the bones. "Oh," said the Dzô'noq!wa, his wife, "that is why you cried when we first entered your house. Don't cry!" she said to her husband; "let us sit down on the floor, that our house may come,--the one that comes from my father." Then they sat down on the floor, and she tapped repeatedly on her box. Scab did not know that the time Then the father was glad on account of what his son had done when he obtained a supernatural treasure. "Thank you, child, for indeed I had good luck, in that you came and favored your slave here, and that you obtained supernatural treasures, child." Then the child and the father-in-law were glad because they had a good house. For one year he lived in the house at that place; then Scab felt downcast. Very early in the morning Scab arose and went down to the beach. It was very low tide. Then Scab stood on the beach, and he saw some one Then Scab discovered no one sailing along. They were just paddling about to no purpose. Behold! Seals were paddling about." Head ashore, that I may go aboard," (said Scab.) "What do you want to go for?" said the Seals to Scab. "I want to marry the daughter of our chief."--"Maybe you can [only] not do it. Maybe you cannot cling to us, for we do not often emerge (come up to breathe)." Then the Seals left. There were two seals. Again somebody came paddling about. They went quite close to the shore to Scab. "Ah, head ashore, that I may go aboard."--"Stop," said the Land-Otters, "perhaps you cannot do it. Perhaps you cannot hold on to us, for we are not quiet, we go about quickly. There is nothing that we do not do. We roll about on the sea." Then the Land-Otters left. Then Scab tried to give up, and tried to go home. Again he looked seaward. Then he saw somebody out at sea. Again Scab shouted, "Ah, head ashore that I may go aboard." They came and tried quickly to come ashore. They came almost to Scab. "What do you want, my dear?" said the Harlequin-Duck (female). There Then they began to dive. They dived for a longtime under the mountain. Scab's mind was strong, for he did not disobey the words of his friends. Then they emerged on the other side of the large mountain. Immediately Scab saw a brightness. "Do you not see that brightness?" said the Ducks to Scab. "I do," said Scab. "That is where we are going to," said the Ducks. "Let us go
Then they deliberated what to do for their friend. "Ya!" said one of the Ducks. "This is my plan for what our friend shall do later on, because from time to time our chief needs fire-wood. Let us go on," said the Ducks, "let us go on to the head of the bay." Then they swam, and went on to the head of the bay. Then they discovered good fire-wood. The fire-wood was alder. It was really dry. The fire-wood was good to be chopped across in three pieces. "Let us put our friend in this hole at the end of the fire-wood." Then Scab entered the end of the fire-wood. Then the Ducks finished what they had planned for their friend. Then the Ducks towed out the fire-wood, which was now the hiding-place of Scab. They towed it to the beach at the door of our chief. It was just beginning to be ebb-tide, and the fire-wood was left dry on the beach,--right on the beach of our chief. The Ducks watched it when the fire-wood was lying on the beach. Then the Ducks dived on the beach, watching (to see) if the hiding-place of their friend should drift away. Then day came, and our chief rose early and went down to his beach. Our chief went back again and took his axe, and he came back. "That is very good firewood," said our chief. Then he began to chop the firewood, the hiding-place of Scab. Then he carried the fire-wood on his shoulder into his house. Then he carried another piece of fire-wood. The fire-wood was chopped into three pieces. Then he carried another one on his shoulder: that was the hiding-place of Scab, that one piece of fire-wood. Last came the place where Scab was. He put it down from his shoulder in the house, near the door. Then Scab was inside the fire-wood. He continued to be in it. Then he lay down with the girl. She was very glad because they were married. Then the married couple played together. Then her father awoke from hearing that they were playing together. "My dear," said the father, "you ought to drive away this one, child!" thus said the "You are foolish," said the daughter of our chief. "I thought you said that I should have this one for my husband."--"Do get up," said the woman to her husband. "Very important is what our daughter says." Then our chief arose and made a fire. The fire in the house was burning. "Arise, slaves!" said our chief. Then they arose and spread mats in the rear of the house; then he called his daughter and her husband. Then the married couple arose; and they were sitting in the house for a long time, in the rear of the house, when our chief spoke. "Welcome!" said our chief to Scab. "I thought beforehand that it was you, Scab," said our chief, "because you were desired by all of us, the (whole) number in the house. Evidently you are not an ordinary man, because not one man ever reached my house; therefore I think you are not an ordinary man. Only take care of your marriage." Thus said our chief to Scab. Then Scab began to speak. "Thank you for what you have said," said Scab to our chief. "I am a good man, I do not fail in what I wish to do." Then Scab staid a long time at his place. Then Scab became downcast, and he was really downcast. The daughter of our chief asked, "What is the cause of your being downcast?" Thus said his wife. "Don't deny it, if you should desire Then his wife got ready, and put on what she (used to) have on as her means of flying. Then she went out with her husband. "Only cling to my back," said his wife. Then she began to fly. She was going to see her father-in-law. For a long time the child of our chief went along flying. Then she saw his house. "Is that your house," said the daughter of our chief. "That's it," said Scab. Then she soared downward, going to the house of her husband. She arrived there. Then she entered and looked about in the house, and what should there be? They were all dead. The father of Scab, and his daughter-in-law the little Dzô'noq!wa woman. Then Scab spoke. "Don't be this way in the house," said Scab to his father. "I have again obtained supernatural power," said Scab to his father. "Important is your word, child," said the father of Scab. "[But] again he has supernatural power, that child!" said the father of Scab. Go on, let me know quickly what kind of supernatural power you have, child." Then Scab spoke. "I have been far away." Thus said Scab to his father. I was above our world. I have obtained for my wife the daughter of our chief above. It is as though I were more than natural. Therefore I say this,--I am more than natural, because we just came flying along from her house, coming towards our house here." Then the little Dzô'noq!wa woman was jealous when she saw his second wife; but the little Dzô'noq!wa woman did not speak about doing anything, and the daughter of our chief did not speak about doing anything. Then the Dzô'noq!wa woman began first in the house. She showed the second wife what kind she was,--that she was also not a common person. Then the little Dzô'noq!wa woman Then our lady said that she was tired of the little Dzô'noq!wa woman. They had been flying around the house for a long time, going to and fro in the house, flying to and fro. Then they sat still and came to their senses in the house. Scab and his father just enjoyed looking at the doings of his (Scab's) wives. Then they finished in the house. Then our lady, the daughter of our chief, spoke. "Behold, really you are not an ordinary person." Thus said our lady to the little Dzô'noq!wa woman. "I know that you are not an ordinary person." Thus said our lady. Then she was glad, and she was very friendly with the second wife. They gave to eat to their father-in-law and to their husband. Scab did not love the little Dzô'noq!wa woman much. He loved the daughter of our chief. He had a dislike for the little Dzô'noq!wa woman. Now they had been in
