compiled by Ruth Ludwin, University of Washington, Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences
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First Nations and Native American stories that could be about Cascadia megathrust earthquakes
compiled by Ruth Ludwin, University of Washington, Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences |
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| Tillamook Material |
Then the speaker, who was no other than the Thunderer, took the man's salmon spear and blanket. He leaned the spear against the tree and hung the blanket on to it. He took the man under his armpits and flew with him towards the sky. When they reached a considerable height the man almost fell from under the Thunderer's armpits, and the latter descended again and allowed him to regain his strength. He thought: "Where shall I put him in order to prevent his falling down?" He said, "When we reach a great height, close your eyes, so that the strong wind which prevails up there will do you no harm." Then he flew up again and ascended in large circles. Each flapping of his wings was a peal of thunder, and when the noise ceased the man knew that they had arrived at the Thunderer's home and he opened his eyes. On the following day the Thunderer told him to go and catch salmon. The man went to the beach but did not see any salmon, while many whales were swimming about. Then he went back to the house and said, "I do not see any salmon, but many whales are swimming about."
"Those are the fish I was speaking of," replied the Thunderer. "They are our food. Catch a few!" The man replied, "They are too large, and I cannot catch them."
They went out and the man saw that the people were catching whales in the same way as he was accustomed to catch salmon. The Thunderer told him to stand aside, as he himself was preparing to catch whales. He caught the largest one and carried it up to a large cave which was near by, and when he had deposited it there the whale flapped its tail and jumped about, violently shaking the mountain, so that it was impossible to stand upon it.
One day the man went up the river and saw many fish swimming it it. He thought, "I am tired of whale meat and wish I could have some fish." He went back to the house and spoke to the Thunderer, "Grandfather, I have found many fish, and I want to catch them." He made a fish spear, which he showed to the Thunderer. The latter looked at it, but found it so small that he was hardly able to feel it. It slipped under his fingernail and he was unable to find it again. The man said, "How large are your nails! They are just like the crack of a log," and the old grandfather laughed.
The man made a new spear and went fishing salmon. Before he went the old man said, "Don't catch more than you are able to eat. You may take four of five.""I cannot even eat one." Then the grandfather laughed and said, "If I should eat one hundred I should not have enough."
The man went out, caught one salmon, and brought it home. He was going to split it, but was unable to find knife small enough for cutting the fish.
Then the Thunderer split a rock, as he thought, into very small pieces, but the smallest of these was so large that the man was unable to lift it. Then the Thunderer broke it into still smaller pieces and said, "I fear I have spoilt it, for it has become dust so fine that I cannot take hold of it." The man went out, but even then the smallest piece was so large that he was unable to lift it. After the Thunderer had broken it again and the man had selected the smallest piece, he said, "It is still too large, but I think I must try to make use of it. Then the Thunderer told him how to cut the fish. He followed his commands and cut the fish, as the people of the Thunderer were accustomed to do.
He roasted it and ate it, but was unable to eat all. Then his grandfather laughed and said, "Put it aside and go to sleep. When you awake you will be able to eat more." When the man awoke and wanted to continue to eat the fish it was gone. It had returned to the river from which he had taken it. He took his spear and went down the river to catch another salmon. There he saw one half of a fish swimming about. It was the one he had been eating. He caught it, roasted it, and finished eating it. The next day he caught another fish, and when he had eaten half of it and went to sleep he tied the rest to a pole in order to prevent its returning to the river. But when he awoke he found it had returned to the river. He had burned one side of the head of this salmon, and the next day on going to the river he saw the same salmon swimming about. It had taken some grass into its mouth and covered one side of its face, as it was ashamed to show how badly it was burned. The Thunderer said, "Don't burn the salmon when you roast them, for they do not like it. They might take revenge upon you."
The next day the Thunderer again went whaling, and the man asked him to be allowed to accompany him, as he wished to witness the spectacle. The Thunderer granted his request, but when he came home in the evening he found that the man was badly hurt. He had been unable to stand on his feet when the whale was shaking the mountain, and was hurt by falling trees and stones. But on the following day he asked once more to be allowed to accompany the Thunderer. He tied himself to a tree, but when the Thunderer came back in the evening to fetch him he found him again badly hurt, as he had been knocked about by the swinging trees.
Meanwhile the relatives of the man had been searching for him for over a year. They had gone up Slab Creek, where they found his spear and blanket leaning against a large spruce tree. They did not know what had become of him. They believed him to be dead, and his wife mourned for him.
One day while he was staying with the Thunderer he thought of his wives and children and longed to return. He said to himself: "Oh, my children, as you still alive? There is no one to provide for you, and I am afraid you are dead." The Thunderer knew his thoughts and said, "Do not worry, your wives are quite well. One of them has married again. I will take you back tomorrow." What the Thunderer called the next day was actually the next year.
The following day he took him under his armpits and put him back at the foot of the spruce tree from where he had taken him, and then flew back home. The man believed that he had been away only four days, but it had been four years. He did not go to his house, but stayed in the woods nearby. There his son found him. He asked the boy, "Who are you? Is your father at home?" The boy replied, believing him to be a stranged, "No, I have no father; he was lost four years ago. For a long time they looked for him, and finally they found his clothes and his slamon spear." Then the man said, "I am your father. The Thunderer took me up to the sky, nad I have returned." Then he inquired after his wives, and the boy replied, "Mother is well and all my brothers have grown up and are also well. Your other wife has married again, but Mother remained true to you." Then the man sent him to call his wife. The boy ran home and said, "Mother! Father is in the woods!" His mother did not believe him and whipped him for speaking about his father. Then the boy went out crying. He said to his father, "Mother did not believe me." The man gave him a piece of whale meat and said, "Take this to your mother; I brought it from where I have been." The boy obeyed, and took the whale meat to his mother, who said, "I will go with you, but if he is not your father, I shall beat you." She accompanied her son and found her husband. He returned with her into the house, and she invited the whole tribe. The man danced and became a great shaman. For ten days he danced, and the people feasted. Then he told them where he had been and what he had seen, and said that whenever they wanted to have a whale he would get one.
After some time the Thunderer came back and took him up once more and he stayed for 10 years with him. Then he came home and lived with his people.
One day he went elk-hunting, and came to a small lake, where he found a small canoe. When crossing the lake he heard a voice calling him from out of the water, and on looking down he saw a hole in the bottom, and a human being in it which called him. He jumped overboard, went to the bottom of the lake, and stayed with the supernatural being for 10 years. Then the latter sent him out in company of the beaver to gather some skunk-cabbage. They followed a trail and came to a parting of the roads. The man did not know where they were going. Then the beaver asked him, "Do you know where we are going? This trail is Nestuka River, which we are now descending." They followed the trail to its end, where they found a large cave, from which the man emerged to the open air, while the beaver returned to the lake. At the entrance of the cave the man flung down two skunk- cabbages which he had found, and ascended the mountain. Ever since that time two stems of skunk-cabbage have been growing at the entrance of the cave.
His two sons found him on the summit of the rock. They took him home and invited the whole tribe. He danced and became the greatest shaman among his people. When a person died he was able to bring back his soul and restore him to life."
...The six men launched their canoe, and continued their travels. After a while they saw a house. They landed, and went to see who lived in it. They found no one there, and were about to continue their travels, when one of the men remembered having seen a large supply of fish in the house. The returned and sat down near the fire. All of a sudden the basket filled with fish fell down from the loft. The chief said, "Put it back; maybe the people will return very soon, and they certainly would pursue us if they should find that we had stolen their fish." Then they put them back. After a while another basketful of fish fell down close to their feet. The chief said, "Let us eat of the fish, for we are hungry." After they had eaten, the men intended to carry baskets of fish down to their canoe. The chief took one basket and said, "I will take these fish; they are very good." At once he felt his hair pulled by invisible hands, and he was thrown down and his basket taken from him. He thought his people had done so, but on looking back he saw them still seated near the fire. Then he thought he had stumbled and fallen, the basket being very heavy. He took it up again, but as soon as he had turned towards the door he was thrown down once more and thoroughly beaten. His people had now finished eating. Each of them took a basket and turned toward the door. There they were thrown down at once and beaten by invisible hands. The baskets were taken away from them. Then they knew that the house was the abode of the shadows.
... Then the men wished to return home; they turned their canoe, and began their homeward journey. After a while they arrived at a huge rock, on which they found a large amount of driftwood. They made a fire on the beach and fell asleep. When they were fast asleep the rock began to shake, and they discovered that they were camping on the house of the Killer Whale. After a short time the monster came forth from under the rock and began to devour the travellers. The chief jumped into a fissure of the rock, where the monster was unable to reach him, and stayed there until it had returned to its house. When it entered its abode, the rock was shaking violently. In the daytime a great many sea lions came to the rock to back on the beach and on the driftwood. As the chief was very skillful in hunting sea-lions, having learned that craft from his father, he killed two sea-lions and one seal with his arrows. HE put them into his canoe, made a sail out of his blankets, and started home. He had hardly gone when the monster came out of his house. It saw the remains of its subjects, and intended to kill the man who had murdered them. It chased him, but he began to sing and to conjure the wind. When the monster had almost reached him, the wind began to blow stronger and stronger, and drove the canoe forward, so that the chief was able to escape the Killer Whale. When he reached land near his village, and was crossing the bar, his people saw him coming. He was obliged to lower his sail, as the wind was blowing a gale. His people perceived that he had some difficulty in crossing the bar, and one of their largest canoes went out to assist him. When they approached him the Killer Whale had almost reached the chief's canoe; therefore, in order to escape the monster, he hoisted his sail and succeeded in entering the river. The large canoe, which was managed by twenty people, was unable to escape, and they were devoured by the monster. The canoe was upset. The women were standing on the beach, and saw the canoe being upset and the monster returning to its home. The chief was very sad at having lost so many of his people and thought of revenge.
He went to Salmon River and hired a powerful shaman, whom he asked to break the rock under which the Killer Whale lived. All the people who lived on his river accompanied him when he went out to the rock.
They had four canoes lashed together and covered with a platform of planks, on which the shaman was dancing. When they approached the rock, the shaman ordered the people to hide their faces and to turn backward. They turned their canoes, and the shaman began his incantations, singing, "Throw up! throw up! throw up!" The rock began to shake, and finally jumped out of the water, and falling, killed the monster. The latter, however, had two young ones, which stayed at the bottom of the sea and were not hurt by the falling masses. After the rock had settled down, they returned to it and continued to live there.
A year had elapsed; the people did not know that the young ones were still alive. One day they went out hunting seals and sea-lions. When they came to the rock, the two Killer Whales came out and devoured all the people; only the chief's son escaped by hiding under the bailer of one of the canoes. Peeping out from it, he saw one of the monsters swallow his father. He cried for fear, and pushed his canoe out into the sea, hoping to make his escape. He had no paddles, and drifted about helplessly. After a while, some people who had remained in the village saw the canoe drifting by, and went out to secure it. They found their chief's son, who was so badly frightened that he was hardly able to speak. When he was recovered he told them what had happened.
p. ix
"The stories in the Tillamook literature were classified by the natives as belonging to one or the other of three successive time levels. The earliest is the myth age. The next is the age of transformation, when South Wind made the world over as it is known today. The third is the period of true happenings - or rather the era of relatively recent history from the point of view of the Tillamooks, because all the stories describe what these people believe truly occurred. Stories ascribed to the third era follow the epoch of transformation and usually receive assignment to a time before the nineteenth century. The stories are printed in the sequence of eras indicated. Stories of the third period will be observed to be as mythological in many features as the tales which are dated as of myth-age occurrence. Indeed the boundaries between the three periods appear to be tenuous to us, but very likely they were much less if at all tenuous to a Tillamook. He regarded several actors of the myth age as living on into the third period when things were much as they are today. To be sure, Ice, Rain, and various animal beings who were present in the myth age were not persons during subsequent epochs. But Wild Woman, South Wind, and others, who even in the myth age lacked animal characteristics, were though of as living in the third period which includes the very recent past."
FROM THE MYTH AGE
p.59 (Wild Woman, 15, [3])... [dog catches a whale] ...That whale swam like the dickens because it hurt where the dog had grabbed him. The old woman became frightened. The canoe was getting tipsy. She said, "Let go of that whale Kashelweet! We will be tipped over! Turn him loose! Turn him loose!" The dog did not want to let go of that whale. Water came in the canoe and she was so frightened she kept telling the dog to let it go. Finally he did that
The people became very frightened. They ceased digging those fern roots. They moved away from that spot down onto the sand hill. The men would go up there in the wintertime and fish steelhead in the river. Once in a while they would see a human hand sticking up out of the water. Whenever that happened they would go home because all of the fish would disappear when that happened.
That is all. They claim that that big root was perhaps a snake.