Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
“This is the first time my father and brothers have ever been out of
the house.”
“Tell them to come in,” said Góshgoise. She told them, but they
wouldn’t come; they were afraid.
Old Tsmuk asked: “Can I live if I come in?” His voice trembled. “If you
will put that thing away, I will come.” Old woman Tsmuk told him that
the stranger had put his spear under his arm. Then Tsmuk said: “Ask the
stranger if he has come for my daughter.”
“I have come for her,” said Góshgoise.
Then the old woman asked: “Where will you stay?”
“I won’t stay here; my old grandmother is far away in the north. I will
take my wife to that place.”
When old man Tsmuk came in, Góshgoise put lightning above his head, and
it shot through the house and up to the sky. He did this to let his
grandmother know that he was at the end of his journey. Then he gave
the spear to his father-in-law to pay him for his daughter. Since that
time old Tsmuk has had short lightning.
Tsmuk took hold of Góshgoise’s hand, called him son-in-law, and began
to cry because he had nothing to give him. Tsmuk and his family were
naked; they had no beads or blankets.
“Why do you cry?” asked his wife. (She was a powerful old woman; she
could do anything.) When he told her, she said: “There is an island off
in the water; my brother lives there. You can go to that island and get
shells for our son-in-law. I will make you an elk-skin canoe.” She cut
an elk-skin into four pieces; one piece was for the bottom of the
canoe, one for the top and one for each side. “This canoe is strong,”
said she. “Don’t be afraid, and don’t think of anything bad. If a storm
comes, it will go around the canoe.”
Tsmuk and his younger son got into the canoe; the old woman raised a
strong wind behind it, and the canoe flew over the water. When it was
going very fast, old Tsmuk thought: “What would happen if a storm
came?” That minute a terrible whirlwind struck the canoe and drove it
back to the shore.
Then the water was calm. The old woman felt badly; she knew Tsmuk had
thought of a storm. She told him again not to think of anything, not to
be afraid, then she made a strong wind behind the canoe, and that time
it reached the island.
“What did you come for?” asked the brother-in-law.
“A man has come for my sister,” said Tsmuk’s son. “My father has
nothing to give him.”
The uncle brought beautiful shells and beads. As he loaded them into
the canoe, the canoe grew larger and larger, till Tsmuk had as many
shells and beads as he wanted.
The day that Tsmuk started for the island, his daughter had a little
girl. After fasting, Góshgoise wanted to go to his own home, for he was
hungry. He was a great hunter, but he couldn’t hunt in Tsmuk’s country,
and he couldn’t eat what the Tsmuk people ate.
“You mustn’t go,” said his mother-in-law; “you must wait for the
canoe.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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