24. The Chief Who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck[1]

In olden times, long ago, the people of this coast used to marry animals, birds, frogs, snails, mice, and so on. So it happened with one great chief. His village was at the northwest side of Nīen Island, and his tribe consisted of many people. He had no wife. His people assembled several times, and tried to find a woman to be his wife. Then the chief said to them, ‘If you bring me a woman of the Robin tribe, I will marry her; and if you will bring me a woman of the Sawbill Ducks, I will marry her.”

Then the people of his tribe had a great meeting to talk over these matters. Some of his wise men took counsel, and chose hunters to search for the two women whom the chief wanted to marry. Therefore the hunters fasted; and after their fasting, some went up the mountains, and others went out to sea.

Those who went up the mountains reached a large plain, where they saw a large village, and they went toward it. When they came near, they saw young people walking up and down on the street. They seemed very happy, and they were good to look at. They were young men and young women. When they saw the hunters coming to their village, some young men ran in and told the people and also their chief, who invited the strangers into his house. They spread mats at the side of the chief’s large fire, and immediately they sat down.

Then some one touched the side of one of the hunters. It was the Mouse Woman. She said, “Do you know whose village this is?” He said, “No.” Then the Mouse Woman said, “His is the village of Robin, and this is the house of their chief. He has a beautiful daughter, whom her father will let you have to be your chief’s wife if you promise him to take good care of her.” After Mouse Woman had spoken, she went away.

Now, the chief said to his attendants, “Get ready for these men who have come to visit us. Prepare good food for them.” Then his men roasted a good dried spring salmon, put it into a dish, and placed it before the hunters, who ate of it. After that they gave them fat meat of mountain goats and all kinds of fresh berries. Late in the evening, after they had eaten, the head men of the hunters said to the chief, “You are a great chief, and we are glad to see the riches in your great house. We have come from very far to visit you; for we have heard of the fame of your wealth, which we see now, and part of which we have tasted. Our poor chief has sent, us to you, for he wants to have your daughter to marry her. We will honor her, and she shall be the greatest chieftainess in our village and among all the Tsimshian tribes. We shall do all we can for her.”

After he had spoken, the chief of Robin’s attendants spoke: “Indeed, chief, my chief heard what you said to him. Tomorrow he will invite his tribe, and will tell his people what you ask for, and the day after tomorrow they will decide.” Two days passed, and then the people of the village assembled. Their chief said to the visitors, ‘Friends, [ I am glad that you have come here, and that you want to take my daughter to be your chief’s wife. My wise men and all my people have decided that you shall take her to your chief. I understand that you promise to take good care of her, which I hope you will do. I [wish that my daughter and the young chief might come to visit me in the winter to get provisions. At present I send her with you empty-handed. That is what my people desire and what they have decided in this matter. At present I just give her two small root baskets—one filled with fresh meat and fat, and the other filled with various kinds of fresh? berries.”

The hunters started homeward. They did not know the way, but the young Robin Woman led them. They walked down, and passed many mountains and many valleys and rivers. They traveled on many days; and they reached home late in the fall, bringing with them a beautiful young woman.

The young chief was very glad to see the beautiful young woman. The hunters gave the girl to him to be his wife. So the chief received her. He loved her very much.

The head man of the hunters opened one of the small root baskets and took out the fresh meat and fat. He put it on the mats which were spread in front of the chief and his new wife, and the meat and fat filled one end of the house. Then the head hunter took the other root basket and took out the various ripe berries, which he put into a cedar box. When the chief saw these things, he was very glad, and invited his whole tribe in. After the people had eaten, they said to their chief, “O chief! you ought to invite in all the tribes to show them your new wife, and they shall be happy with you.”

The chief consented, and sent his messengers to all the different tribes around his village, asking the chiefs of the different tribes to assemble in his village two days later to take part in the wedding feast.

All the chiefs had a very happy time, at the end of which they went to their own homes in their canoes, which were loaded with meat and fat and all kinds of berries. They were all talking about the young princess who was now the wife of the young chief.

Now we will turn to the other woman, the Sawbill-Duck Woman. I said before that. some hunters went in their canoes; and as they went along the seashore, when they came around the point, they saw a young woman walking along the sandy beach. Her braided hair

was hanging down her back, and was ornamented with beautiful white shells.

The head man of the hunters wanted to go and take her for their chief to be his wife. So they went ashore. The head man went toward her and sat down with her on the beach. The man told her that his chief wanted her to marry him. Then the Sawbill- Duck Woman consented. He took her to the canoe, and they went home, where they arrived a few days before the other hunters came.

The chief was still waiting until the others came home. He waited for a long while, and finally those who had taken Princess Robin came home. Then the young chief loved the Robin Woman more, for she was more beautiful than the Sawbill-Duck Woman.

After the chief had given his great feast, he kept the two women as his wives, but he loved the Princess Robin most. Now, winter-time came, and food began to be scarce. Then the young Robin Woman remembered her father’s words which he had spoken to the hunters when they took her away.

One night she said to her husband, ‘My dear, I remember my father’s words which he said before your messengers took me from his house. He said that he wanted you to send two large canoes to him in midwinter to bring down winter provisions, and I will go with these men if you should send them.”

The chief acceded to her request. On the following day he called the young men of his tribe and sent them to go with his wife. In the morning they started in two large canoes. They went to the Skeena River. The ice was very hard on the river. The young woman guided them on their way. Soon they came to the end of the ice on Skeena River; and the hearts of the young men failed them when they saw the hard ice on the river. Then the princess stood up in the bow of the canoe, and sang her spring song. At once the ice began to melt in front of the canoe as far as they could see.

Then the young men took courage and went on. Soon they reached the end of the opening in the ice; and the Robin Woman stood again in the bow of the first canoe and sang with her beautiful voice as the robin sings in the springtime, and the ice melted away in front of the two large canoes. They went on, and the Robin Woman continued to sing.

Therefore the people say nowadays that as soon as the robin sings the first time in spring, the ice begins to melt. They say that the bird’s singing over the ice causes it to melt.

They went on many days, and finally reached a beautiful town. There were four rows of houses there, and every row was full of houses, and the chief’s house was in the middle of the first row. It was a very large house. The village was very beautiful, and all the people in the village looked very fine.

As soon as they reached there, the Robin chief invited the strangers who came to the town with his young daughter, and the chief was much pleased to see her come; and when all the young men were seated on one side of his large house, the chief first gave them cooked fresh spring salmon to eat, and then fresh salmonberries and. all other kinds of fresh berries.

After the meal the princess called the young men who came with her from her husband’s town, and led them to one side of her father’s house. There she opened the door of a large room and showed them snow and ice, which filled the inside of the large room. Then she took them to the other side of the house, opened the door of a large room, went in, and all her companions followed her. There she showed them a large hill full of salmonberry bushes and all kinds of berries around that beautiful hill. There were all kinds of wild flowers budding on the green grass, and all kinds of birds were singing on the flowers. The hummingbirds went in rapid flight among the flowers. Then the princess took them to the rear of the house and showed them a large beautiful river. The river was full of all kinds of salmon. So the people said that the house of Chief Robin had winter on one side, and summer on the other.

On the following day the chief invited all his people into his large house. After the feast he began to speak, and said to his people, “My dear people, you all know that my daughter has come up to me from her husband’s, for their provisions are gone, for they used them in the winter. Therefore my beloved daughter took her husband’s people to come with her for food. Therefore I want you, my great tribe, to bring her fresh spring salmon, fresh ripe berries—salmonberries, blueberries, and all other kinds of berries—also mountain-goat meat and fat and the soft fat of grizzly bears.”.

On the following morning the birds were ready before day-dawn. Very early in the morning Chief Robin stood on the roof of his large house and began to sing to call his people. Then they all flew out to gather food; and before noon they came home one by one, bringing meat and fat of mountain goats, grizzly-bear meat and fat, salmonberries and blueberries, and all kinds of food. At dusk all the Robins had come back into the house of their chief.

Then the chief said to his tribe that he would send his daughter back to her husband the following morning, with all the provisions that had been brought to his house. When the morning came, he stood on the top of his house to call the people, and sang as robins sing. So his people assembled, loaded the two canoes with all kinds of food, so that the two canoes were full of all kinds of provisions. Then the two canoes started down the river. The young princess was in the first canoe, and she did as before. She was standing in the bow, and sang her song, and the ice of the river melted away before them.

Early the following morning they reached Nīen village. Then the whole tribe of the chief, the husband of Robin, came down to unload the two canoes which were full of all kinds of meat and fresh ripe berries, of fat, and of fresh fish of all kinds. They unloaded the two canoes; and the chief invited all his people into his house, and gave them food until they were satisfied.

Then the chief said to his people, “My dear people, I want to invite all the Tsimshian tribes, and give them some of this food; for they are starving, and famine is on the river.” His tribe consented, and on the following morning a canoe manned by many young men and one prince, a nephew of the chief, went out as messengers to every tribe to invite the chiefs and their people.

When they had visited each tribe, they came back to their chief with happy hearts. On the following day all the guests entered, and the tribes sat down by themselves with their chiefs. When they were all in, the chief said, ‘Bring your boiled fresh spring-salmon, put it into a wooden dish, and place it before the chiefs.” So his attendants did what he had said. They passed wooden spoons and horn spoons about to all the chiefs and their people, and they placed in front of the guests wooden dishes filled with fresh boiled salmon. Then all the guests wondered to see the fresh spring salmon, and they ate it all.[1]

After they had eaten fresh spring salmon, the chief said, “Bring the fresh ripe salmonberries,” and his attendants brought in many new boxes filled with fresh ripe salmonberries mixed with fat of the grizzly bear. Again the guests were much astonished. They put the food into the wooden dishes, and passed about mountain-sheep horn spoons. Soon the guests tasted the nice fresh ripe salmonberries, and the young men told the story about Chief Robin’s house and village. They said that the house was a marvelous one; that there was winter on one side, and midsummer on the other side. They continued, “We saw all varieties of birds and of flowers.”

Soon after they had told their story, the guests went home, and all their canoes were loaded with some of the food. They were all merry. On the following day the chief invited the chiefs of the tribes with their wives and people, as he had done before. When all the guests were in, he repeated the same words that he had said a few days before. He spoke to his attendants, and said, “Bring in the fresh meat and fat.” They did so. They brought in a box. They poured water into the box, and put red-hot stones into it until the water began to boil. Then they put the meat over the hot stones and covered the boxes to keep the steam in.

After the chiefs and their wives had eaten the meat and the soup, they gave them blueberries and many different kinds of berries.

Before they finished eating, the young men outside the chief’s house shouted. and said, “There are two canoes coming around the point!”

Now, we must remember the Sawbill-Duck Woman. As soon as the Robin Woman came back from her father with provisions, and the Sawbill-Duck Woman saw how many different kinds of food the Robin Woman had brought to her husband, she went all alone to her father for food. She arrived at her father’s house, and told her father what the father of Robin had done for his daughter how many different kinds of food she had brought down to her husband. Therefore the father of Sawbill- Duck Woman assembled his whole tribe and informed them of what his daughter had said about her husband, and how the Robin Woman had given to her husband, the chief, many kinds of food. Then the wise men of his people said, “Let us also go and bring to our chief’s daughter many kinds of food!”

They all agreed, and on the following morning they went, and from noon on until the evening they came home one by one. Some brought whales; others, sea lions, seals, halibut, and all kinds of fish. They carved the whale blubber, the sea-lion blubber, and the seal blubber.

On the following day they took down two large canoes and loaded them with all kinds of blubber—blubber of whales, sea lions, seals— and with all kinds of fishes. After they had filled the two canoes, they tied them together and put a wide plank across them. The Sawbill-Duck Woman sat down on it. Then the two large canoes went on fast. They took a little rest on one of the islands, and the Sawbill-Duck Woman looked at the beach. Behold! a large pile of mussels was hanging on a rock yonder. She went ashore and took off a large pile of mussels, and placed it by her side on the plank.

Now, these two canoes went on toward the chief’s town. They came there about the time when the great feast given by the chief to all the tribes of the Tsimshian was ended. The chiefs and the people were all happy.

While they were still feasting, some one came in and said that two canoes were coming up around the point, and all the guests were silent. Then another man came in and said that the other wife of the chief was coming from her father’s house with two large canoes full of something. So the chief ordered his attendants to go down and see what the woman brought home with her.

Quickly they went down to the beach and saw the large cluster of mussels by the side of the Sawbill-Duck Woman on the plank where she was sitting. When the men saw the large cluster of mussels by her side, they went back quickly to the chief’s house before all the guests had gone out. The chief of the feast asked, “What did she bring home with her?” The men who had gone down told him that she had brought home a large pile of mussels.

Then the chief became very angry; and he was ashamed, for in his house were all the chiefs and head men of the Tsimshian tribes. They were all silent. At last the chief of the feast said to his attendants, “Go down to the canoes and capsize them!” So a number of his young men went down and turned over the two canoes, which were filled with all kinds of fish and animals.

Then the Sawbill-Duck Woman flew out to sea, and the young men who had capsized the two large canoes saw the blubber of whales floating on the water, and also blubber of sea lion, of seals, and of all kinds of fishes. They ran back to the chief quickly and told him of what had happened. They said, “These two canoes are full of the richest food -blubber of whales, sea lions, and seals, and of all kinds of fish.”

Therefore the chief said, “Gather the whale blubber and the blubber of sea lions and seals, and bring it in! We will give it to all the chiefs here. And also take up all the fishes, and we will give them to the head men of all the tribes, that they may take them home for their wives and their children.”

Therefore the young men went down again quickly to bring in the blubber; but, behold! it had been transformed into rocks and large round bowlders. These are still on the beach at the end of Prince Rupert Town.

The young men went back to the chief and told him that the canoes and their load had been transformed into rocks and bowlders on the beach; and now the chief was still more ashamed, and he was very angry. All the chiefs went out from the feast. They were amazed to see the rocks and bowlders on the beach, and every one went home full of joy.