Indians of North America -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Folklore; Modoc Indians -- Religion; Modoc mythology
Tskel said: “I am glad you came. My brother is so full of mischief that
I can’t go visiting. I hunt, but many deer get away from me and die in
the woods.”
“Gäk can track deer,” said Kaiutois; “he always finds ours.”
Tskel said: “I will go and tell him where I killed a deer yesterday;
maybe he can find it.”
Tcûskai wanted to go, but Tskel told him to stay at home, that they
would come back as soon as they found the deer.
Gäk tracked the deer and found it among brush and fallen trees. He
called to Tskel: “Here it is!”
They skinned the deer. It was as fresh as if just killed. They made a
fire and cooked some of the meat, then they started for home.
Tskel asked Kaiutois if he would let Gäk stay with him a while.
Kaiutois said: “Your brother is bad; he would tease him. My brothers
never meddle with him; your brother might make him mad and he would
kill you.”
Tcûskai ran out to meet them. He asked: “Did old Gäk find that deer?”
Tskel scolded him, told him not to talk so much.
At that time people softened deerskins by soaking them in water and
then chewing them. Old man Kéwe lived near Tskel’s, and he always
chewed skins for him. Tskel gave Gäk the skin for finding the deer, and
Kéwe chewed it for him.
The next day Kaiutois said: “We must go home now.” While they were
getting ready, Tcûskai stole Gäk’s fire-drill. He took it to a muddy
place, stuck it in the ground, and tried to break it.
Gäk fell backwards, blood came out of his mouth, and he died.
The Kaiutois brothers were scared, they didn’t know what to do. They
didn’t know what had made Gäk die.
Tskel looked in Gäk’s quiver and saw that the fire-drill was gone; then
he went to look for Tcûskai. He found him at the spring, trying to
catch fish with Gäk’s fire-drill. Tskel caught hold of his brother,
dragged him along, threw him into the house and pounded him till he
killed him. Then he asked the brothers how Gäk could be brought to
life. They didn’t know.
Tskel said: “If Gäk comes back to life, my brother will live again; but
if he stays dead, my brother will stay dead. I never taught him to
treat people this way.”
Tskel had red paint that was boiled; he gave it to the youngest brother
and told him to paint Gäk’s fire-drill over, make it nice and red. When
that was done, he laid the fire-drill on Gäk’s head.
After a long time, the drill brought Gäk to life; then he sang to the
earth and wind, and tried to cure himself. When Tskel saw that Gäk was
alive, he stepped five times over Tcûskai’s body. Then Tcûskai jumped
up, and said: “Oh, I’ve slept a long time.”
The five brothers and Gäk went home, and Tskel took a deerskin to old
man Kéwe, to have him chew it soft. When he came back, he said to
Tcûskai: “Stay in the house. Don’t go to old man Kéwe and bother him.”
Tcûskai thought: “I wonder why Tskel don’t want me to go to Kéwe’s
house.” As soon as he had a chance, he slipped out and went there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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