Katharine Berry Judson

“ The clouds are large bags of water, owned by two old women who push them across the sky. The thunder is their voice and the lightning their torch. When water leaks out of the seams of the bags, it rains on earth. If a spark of lightning falls upon anyone, he has to go to the Ghost Land. ”

“ Afraid of Nothing is a great warrior. She visits the earth now and then; but when she does, her visits cause sickness and death.
Under the world where she lives is the House of the Sun. Our own earth is an island swimming in the ocean. ”

“ Whenever it threatens to snow or rain, Moon builds a house and enters it. White men call it a halo. The cirrus clouds are the smoke of his pipe, and he always holds his pipe in his hand. You can see it in the moon today, and the basket which he uses as a hat. ”

“ Chipmunk knew that if he set fire to the magic tree near Spence's Bridge, the world would become light again, so he set fire to the roots, and kept poking the ashes away with a stick that the wind might fan the flames. When the tree fell, the earth became light. ”

“ Before Sun traded for the boy's robe of birds' plumage, he was pale, and his light was like the light of the moon. Therefore people could look at him. Now he became bright and dazzling as he is today, because of his bright robe. People can no longer look at him. ”

“ These towns lie in numberless inlets, near the water, just as the Haida towns on earth do.
When food or grease is put into the fire in the family of a man who has just died, it comes to him at once; therefore he is not hungry. And if his family sing songs loudly when he dies, then he enters Ghost Land proudly, with his head up. It gives him a good name in that country. But if they do not, then he enters Ghost Land with his head hanging down, and people do not think so much of him. When a man enters Ghost Land there is always a dance given in his honor. ”

“ Moon would grow larger for a while, and then remember Sun's anger, and fade away again, until she was only a strip. She does so even today. That is why Moon is so pale, and why she keeps changing as she does. ”

“ Now when Sun saw what was happening to the people of the Earth World, he rushed up the trail, and said, "Why do you do so? Do you think it is good that there should be no people on the Earth World?"
Sun took the half-burned torches and put them out. Then he pushed Mink right out of the Sky Land, saying, "Go right down to the Earth World again. You shall be mink and men shall hunt you." ”

“ One day Beaver said to Porcupine, "Tomorrow we will travel into the mountains where there is much food." They packed their blankets and boxes and all their things and traveled into the mountains, where they camped. The next morning Beaver said, "There is much food here in the mountains. I am going hunting."
When Beaver had gone some distance, he stopped and called to Porcupine far, far away:
"Hereafter you shall be a common porcupine. You shall always live in the mountains. You shall never again live with Beaver nor eat his food. Neither shall you ever live in a good country." ”

“ Eastern Eskimo⁠⁠ NO MAN can ever go into the Sky Land until he is dead; so all the people say. The sky that we see is a hard, blue stone, built up over the earth just as the igloo is built with snow, rounding, over the Eskimo family. ”

“ Wolf offered. "What can you do?" asked Raven.
"I snap at people if I am alone. When the pack is with me, I devour them," said Wolf.
"You are too bad-tempered," said Raven.
Then Elk offered. "I can crash through the forests," said Elk. Raven refused him.
"What can you do?" asked Raven of Deer and Porpoise. They were cousins.
"I can pull out any skunk cabbage with my teeth," said Deer. Porpoise said, "I will always eat clean things. I always eat herring." That is why, when Deer swims to an island, Porpoise always swims with him.
So Raven consented. He let Porpoise marry his sister. ”

“ Earth is never alone now, because she can always see Sun.
When people came, Old Man taught them how to spear fish and shoot deer with bows and arrows, how to cook the meat and dress the skins. Old Man taught people all they know. ”

“ When the council met, Big Turtle said that because the island had been made for the woman, there should be more light. Someone said that a light hung in the sky would be well. Then Small Turtle at once answered, "If I could climb into the sky, I could gather together some of the lightning, and make a ball of it." Big Turtle said, "Oh, yes. Try to climb up. You have great power."
At once Small Turtle made medicine, and soon there was a great storm. A cloud full of lightning rolled down towards the council, with a great noise. ”

“ Black Bear brothers said, "There is yet one country where the people are bad. They were too strong for us. You go to that country and stop the sun so they will all be burned up." Thus they spoke to Tsuntia.
Tsuntia said, "If I go there and stop the sun, all the people in the world will be burned up and everything on earth besides."
The brothers would not believe this, so Tsuntia commanded the sun to stand still. Then the earth became so hot it was scorched. The tops of the trees began to smoke. The Black Bear brothers were overcome with the heat, and they began to be afraid. ”

“ WOLVERENE AND BRANT
Eastern Eskimo⁠⁠ WOLVERENE once called all the birds together. He said, "Do you not know that I am your brother? Come to me and I will dress you in feathers." So he dressed them all up in feathers, and made wings for himself. He said, "Now, brothers, let us fly."
Brant said to Wolverene, "You must not look below when we are flying over a point of land, when you hear a noise below. Take a turn when we take a turn." ”

“ There are few references to large lakes or rivers, which is characteristic, for even the Indian names of rivers apply to localities on the river, not to the entire river itself. And in the myths of British North America, especially on the western coast, there are many legends involving cannibalism—an element entirely lacking in the myths of the United States, whether east or west. Even Alaskan myths practically omit that subject, while in the Old Southwest—New Mexico and Arizona—one finds myths of rare beauty and charm of imagery. ”

“ People should have some of it." Therefore Raven planned to get the daylight.
One night he placed thorn branches on the trail between Sea Gull's house and the place where his canoe was fastened. Then he ran to Sea Gull, shouting, "Your canoe has gone adrift! Your canoe has gone adrift!" Sea Gull heard Raven and rushed out of the house in haste. He did not even put on his moccasins; he ran in his bare feet and stepped on the thorns. Then Sea Gull screamed, "Ah-ah!" just as sea gulls do now. He shouted to Raven, "Get my canoe! Save my canoe!" Then he went back to his house. He was much excited. ”

“ The middle one is our own world, the earth. Above it are two upper worlds, one the home of Afraid of Nothing, and the one below that is the House of the Sun. Below our earth are two lower worlds. The first is the Ghost Land; the second is the home of those who die a second time.
The upper heaven, which is the home of "Our Woman," or Afraid of Nothing, as others call her, is a prairie without any trees upon it. In order to reach it, one must pass through the House of the Sun; though some people say that the sky is rent and one must pass through the great hole to reach the upper world. ”

“ Soon Eagle came and stood for a while over the smoke hole. The uncle exclaimed, "Danger! We are in danger! We must have a council at once!"
So they called a council of all the animals. The young man sent around saying, "Come, for there is danger!" They all came at once. The old man stood at the door of his house. Some of the animals he would not allow to enter. He said to Deer, to Bear, and to Wolf, "I do not want you at this council. You can run too fast." Only the animals that could not run fast were allowed to form a council. Turtle came, and Otter and Skunk and Porcupine and others. ”

“ Haida⁠⁠ WHEN North's son wanted to marry Southeast's daughter, there was no wind. He spoke to his mother. He spoke also to his father: "I want to marry Southeast's daughter." North said to his son, "What will you wear when the weather is bad?" Southeast was such a dreary, rainy wind that North did not want his son to marry the daughter. The son said, "Oh, that's all right. Give me something to wear when it rains." North said, "I have nothing for it. But marry her." ”

“ At last Grizzly Bear became tired. He said, "Let's have it dark half the time, and light half the time." Coyote agreed. He said, "Hereafter it shall be light from the time that the sun prepares to follow the trail through the Sky Land until he reaches the edge of the Darkening Land. The rest of the time shall be night. Thus every day shall Sun travel. When he leaves the Earth Plain, the darkness shall follow him."
After a while, Grizzly Bear said, "I do not like the length of the year. Winter is far too short. ”

“ She opened her mouth and spat out a few grains of earth that fell on Big Turtle's shell. Old Toad was done for, too.
Small Turtle at once began to rub the earth around the edge of Big Turtle's shell. It began to grow into an island. The animals were looking on as it grew. Then the island became large enough for the woman to live on, so she stepped onto the earth. The island grew larger and larger, until it became as large as the world is today.
When an earthquake occurs, it is because Big Turtle moves his foot. Sometimes he gets tired. ”

“ Haida⁠⁠ BEFORE the days of the grandfathers there was nothing but water. All was water, except a single reef. Here lived the supernatural beings. They were much crowded. They all lay heaped together. Then Raven flew all about trying to get a footing, but he could alight nowhere.
Then Raven looked at the sky. It was solid. It was very beautiful and Raven was fascinated by it. He said, "I'll go up there," so he ran his beak into the sky and climbed up. ”

“ The house of Afraid of Nothing stands in the far east. A strong wind blows always toward it across the open prairie so that everything rolls to her house; but immediately around the house it is quite calm. ”

“ Men forgot their games and women the beading of the moccasin, while children listened intently, as the story tellers of the camp related, with dramatic gestures, stories of the Days of the Grandfathers, in the beginning of the Newness of Things. Nothing was too large or too small to come within the bounds of their beliefs, or within the play of their fancy. ”

“ Ant said, "Well, if I do, I shall come to life again in a few hours."
Spider said, "I think it would be better if people died properly, else the world will soon become over-crowded. If so many people come to earth and none die, soon people will starve." ”

“ When Raven entered his house, Owner-of-the-Fire said to him, "Come and sit here, chief." Raven said, to him, "Will the chief give me fire?"
Owner-of-the-Fire gave fire to Raven, as he had been desired, and when he gave it to him, he put it in a stone tray. A cover was over it.
Raven went away with it. After he had gone up to the shore, Raven put a fragment of live coal into a cedar standing there. Because he put fire into the cedar, when people want to start a fire they use a drill of cedar, because fire comes from it. ”

“ Because when the Moon performs religious ceremonies, she paints her face black.
The Mother of Flowers lives also in the House of Sun. Every spring she sends all the new young flowers down to the earth.
There are four brothers who live in the House of Sun. They are always busy in carving and painting. They taught men to make boxes, to build houses, to carve wood, and to paint. They also taught him to hunt, and they made fish for him to catch.
The Daughter of Sun invented the art of working cedar bark. ”

“ They swam around to Big Turtle and asked him what to do with the woman on their backs. Big Turtle at once sent a runner with a moccasin to the animals, so they came at once for a great council. The council talked a long while. Then someone stood up and asked about the tree. He said perhaps divers might go down and get just a little earth from its roots, if they knew where it had sunk. Big Turtle said, "Yes. If we can get earth, perhaps we might make an island for this woman." ”

“ Just as Sun turned, a humming sound arose on the other side — Hm-hm-mmmmmmmm, it sounded. Mosquitoes came out from inside the moss. These were small ones, like ashes. What Sun had come to was a Mosquito town.
Then they bit that man. He ran very fast, but he kept his large Mosquito. When he got far from the lake, he knew they were following him for that. Then he tore it in pieces and threw it about. He said, "You will bite even the last generation of people."
Because Sun tore it in pieces, the big mosquitoes came to be in the world. ”

“ Only a man and his mother and his sister were saved. Before the fire there were many people on earth. Then the young man fell out with his father, and they became enemies. The young man had heard that all the world was to be burned, but his father did not believe it. ”