Tlingit mythology has been carried on for generations. Many stories of legends and folktales are still told and are kept sacred. Below are a few well-known myths of the Tlingit tribe.
The Star Shooter
Two best friends, the chief's son and the son of an important man loved to hunt. One day they made hundreds of arrows and took them to the top of a hill. When it was night time, the moon appeared shiny and big but one of the boys called it "ugly". A rainbow appeared and took the boy away leaving the chief's son in confusion. The chief's son shot arrows with his bow at the moon. The arrows connected making a ladder for the boy to climb. The boy climbed and slept on his way. Bushes supplied berries for the boy to eat on his way up to the moon. Once he reached the moon he fell asleep to be awakened by a young girl who told him to follower her to Grandmother's house. The grandma asked why the boy was there and the chief's son explained that he was trying to find his best friend. The grandmother knows of the boy because she had heard him cry and decides to help the boy find his lost friend. She gives him a pine cone, a rose bush, and a devil's club to help escape the moon. When they return home everyone thinks they are dead and arrange a funeral but the younger brother sees them and then the village realizes that they are alive.
Natsilane
Before killer whales existed, there was a sea lion hunter and carver named Natsilane. He marries a chief's daughter of Duke Island. He earn his respect and is accepted to the family. His brother's in law detest him except for the youngest one who admires him. They make a plot to betray him when they go hunting on "big seal hunt day". Natsilane is abandoned and falls asleep but when he awakens, a sea lion which looks human tells him to follow. Natsilane is brought to the sea lion chief ans is asked to heal his son who had a spear to his body. The sea lion is thankful and promises Natsilane great skills and return home. Once at home, Natsilane seeks revenge on his brother's in law. He carves a big black fish that comes to life and swims to sea. He orders the fish to kill the men except for the youngest who later return home alone with the story of a black fish. Soon, everyone think Natsilane was behind it and they eventually become happy and honor him because the black fish would always leave seal for the villagers. Natsilane becomes a legend.
Beaver and Porcupine
They were good friends and the porcupine visited beaver often even though the latter did not appreciate porcupines leaving quills all over. One day beaver took porcupine on his back and went to center of a lake where beaver abandoned the porcupine. The porcupine struggled but sang a song so that the water would freeze and porcupine would walk across the ice home bound. The water eventually turned to ice and the porcupine went home. Another day it was the beaver that climbed on porcupine's back but porcupine went to the top of a tree where beaver was now abandoned. The beaver stood there for a long time wondering how to get down. The creation of the "tree bark" come from the beaver's struggle in Tlingit mythology.
The Poor Man Who Caught Wonderful Things
Fishing was an everyday thing in this big town. A poor man always went fishing with others but he just never caught anything and everyone laughed at him. One day he felt like he caught something but pessimistically thought it was a rock. He held on and a soon a great live abalone came ashore. It was so big that everyone was amazed and wanted it for themselves. It was a valuable catch but the poor man ended up cutting the line. He cried about it every time he thought about what he had done but it would not be the last time he caught something. Another day he felt something had caught on a sponge he had thrown which was covered in his nose blood. When the poor man pulled his tool up, a nest of fish appeared and he filled his canoe with tons of them. The poor man did not cut the line this time. He became a distributor of fish all over his town and became rich. He was given skins, moose, fox, and other gifts in return.
Orrin, Lewis. 1998. "Native Languages of the Americas: Tlingit Legends, Myths, and Stories."Tlingit Legends (Folklore, Myths, and Traditional Indian Stories). Retrieved October 23, 2015.
Swaton, John R. 1909. "Tlingit Myths and Texts." Tlingit Myths and Texts. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
Orrin, Lewis. 1998. "Native Languages of the Americas: Tlingit Legends, Myths, and Stories."Tlingit Legends (Folklore, Myths, and Traditional Indian Stories). Retrieved October 23, 2015.
Swaton, John R. 1909. "Tlingit Myths and Texts." Tlingit Myths and Texts. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
Mythology is really important to the Tlingit tribe. Many of the myths or legends may sound absurd to outsiders but to the Tlingit tribe, these stories have been shared for generations. Each culture has a different belief and Tlingit mythology is proof.
ReplyDeleteIn my culture, there are stories of endless myths that are both interesting and sound preposterous but the point is not for readers to have a laugh. There are stories that my culture has a strong belief in because at some point of time, a person experienced a phenomena but because it happened a long time ago, it became a myth.
Every culture takes its mythology for granted regardless of how untrue it might sound. I believe in the myths that my father has told me because he believed in his father as well, and so on. We all might be living under false ideology but our beliefs define our culture and we take pride in everything we do.