Coos Texts, 1913

Chemawa Indian 501Awl I:. Chemawa, Oregon it, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CONTRIBUTIONS TO ,1. ANTHROPOLOGY Edited by FRANZ BOAS 97b, by GF, ? 6 /V1I 4- VOLUME I coos TEXTS BY LEO J. FRACHTENBERG II W~EAS NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS LEYDEN E. J. BRILL, LIMITED 1913 Pierce Library Eastern Oregon University 1410 LAvenue La Grande, OiR 97S50 E co INTRODUCTION . ALPHABET CREATION MYTHS . i. Arrow Young Men (The C 2. The Crow (and the Thundi 3. The Ascent to Heaven 4. The Stealing of Fire and V 5. The Origin of Death . 6. The Flood ...... 7. Origin of the Coos People 8. The Girls and the Stars 9. The Fire-Wind . MISCELLANEOUS 'VALES Io. The Woman who married 1 I I. Spider- Old-Wonman I2. The Giant Woman (First N 13. The Giant Woman (Second 14. The Giant Women (Third I. The Girl and her Pet I6. The Five Grizzly-Bears 17. The Five Shadows iS. Night-Rainbow and Grizzly i9. The Pelican People. a- TALES COLLECTED BY HARRY E 20. The Battle in the Air . 21. The Long Night . 22. The Underground People. 23. The Country of the Souls. 24. The Revenge of the Sky F 25. The Woman who married I Printed by E. J. BRILL, LEYDEN (Holland). CONTENTS. Page INTRODUCTION ALPHABET 3 CREATION MYTHS . I. Arrow Young Men (The Creation of the World) ... .... r 5 2. The Crow (and the Thunder-Bird) ..... 2I 3. The Ascent to Heaven ... .. 4. The Stealing of Fire and Water . 39 5. The Origin of Death .. .. ... .. 43 6. The Flood .............. 45 7. Origin of the Coos People ........ 49 I 8. The Girls and the Stars ... 5 1 9. The Fire-Wind .. ......... 53 MISCELLANEOUS TALES . ** * 55 i0. '1'he Woman who married the Seal . .. 55 i . Spider- Old-Womnan. -. 59 I 2. The Giant Woman (First Version) . 7 1 13. The Giant Woman (Second Version). 77 14. The Giant Women (Third Version) . 83 I5. The Girl and her Pet ........ ..... ... 85 i6. The Five Grizzly-Bears ....... 9 I 17. The Five Shadows. ..... ... 105 i8. Night-Rainbow and Grizzly Bear .. I II i9. The Pelican People . ....... 1 27 alt TALES COLLECTED I3Y HARRY HULL ST. CLAIR, '33 20. The Battle in the Air ........ 133 21. The Long Night . I35 22. The Underground People . 135 23. The Country of the Souls. '39 24. The Revenge of the Sky People . I49 25. The Woman who married the Merman . '.57 DEN (Holland). [v] AL. i E VI 26. The Woman who married the Wolf . i63 27. The Woman who married the Dog .i67 28. The Woman who married the Bear .17 29. '1'he Womnen who married the Beaver .1.... I73 30. The Woman who became a Bear .ii 3i. Eagle-Womian.1 .83 32. The Man who married the Bird .8......... i87 VOCABULARY . 19I INT] TIHE texts contained two different collections collected by me in the pices of the Bureau ol informant was Jim Buc Acme, Lane County, 0 the only member of th and can relate coherentl of the by-gone generat were collected by Mr. summer of 1903. His Buchanan and Tom H present on the Siletz R( Owing to the fact tl Buchanan were not as the other traditions, they of narration and in clear texts are abundant in ob cases especially in doub or to the identity of ti been comparatively easy original definiteness, I linguistic considerations) narrated, leaving the in ing to the good judgm( As might have been of writing down the I I-COL. UNIV. CONTRIB. ANTHROP. Chemawa Indian schoow Chernawa Oregon i63 i67 171 * I73 I8I I83 187 .. ..... I9I ..... INTRODUCTION. TIIE texts contained in the present volume represent two different collections. The first nineteen myths were collected by me in the summer of i909, under the aus- pices of the Bureau of American Ethnology. My sole informant was Jim Buchanan, a Coos Indian, living in Acme, Lane County, Oregon. He is at the present time the only member of the Coos tribe who still remembers and can relate coherently some of the myths and traditions of the by-gone generations. The texts numbered 20-32 were collected by Mr. Harry Hull St. Clair, 2d, in the summer of I903. His informants, I understand, were Jim Buchanan and Tom Hollis, the latter of whom lives at present on the Siletz Reservation, in the State of Oregon. Owing to the fact that a few texts obtained from Jim Buchanan were not as vivid in his memory as some of the other traditions, they will be found lacking in continuity of narration and in clearness of description. Some of these texts are abundant in obscure passages. We are in certain cases especially in doubt as to the performer of an action or to the identity of the speaker. While it might have been comparatively easy to restore to these passages their original definiteness, I thought it advisable (mainly from linguistic considerations) to let them stand as they were narrated, leaving the interpretation of the intended mean- ing to the good judgment of the reader. As might have been expected, Mr. St. Clair's system of writing down the Indian texts is quite different from I-COL. UNIV. CONTRIB. ANTHROP. - VOL. 1. -I 2 the one adopted by me. I did not, however, on the whole, encounter any difficulties in transcribing his phonetic system in accordance with my own. Only in a few cases were the discrepancies so great as to necessitate a distinct treat- ment. These cases either cover words and phrases not Like a in German familiar to me through my own texts, or they represent Like c in he/mnet. Like i in it. expressions which, in my judgment, may have been mis- z .... heard, and consequently mis-spelled, by Mr. St. Clair. Like o in German Like it in German All such passages are printed in this work in Italics, and r/ ... Like a in ca%. are accompanied in most cases by footnotes, in which I (I . Like ea in great. Z .... endeavor to show the original expression that may have Like re in teem. () . Like o in rosc. been intended by the narrator. Section numbers referred ii ... Like oa in too. to in the footnotes are those in my grammar of the Coos C' . Long c with an i-ti language, in "Handbook of Long o with a u-tir American Indian Languages" l}. ./. Vowels of very sho (Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 40, Part 2). As in German Tei/i HARTLEY HALL, ,, i /': Superior vowels inc COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Obscure vowel. June, i910. Like i in island. an Like ou in mouth. Diphthong e+u. Ca' . Velar k. q-. .. Same as preceding, Velar spirant prodi sounds like weak x7.... Like ch in German A, .L . As in English, sona A.! . .. Like k, with very k ..k . .. Palatized g. k-..... Palatized k. Ak ! . IPalatized explosive x .... Palatized c/. a', . As in English, surd /./ . .. Like t, with very gi Aspirated A. S. ... As in English. c. .... Like s/h in English di . ... Like j in English ii, ts . As in English sits. t e . Like chi in English I 3 t, however, on the whole, ribing his phonetic system )nly in a few cases were ecessitate a distinct treat- ALPHATIET. r words and phrases not texts, or they a. , . Like a in German Mann. represent c. Like c in el/mnet. 2nt, may have been mis- i . Like i in it. lled, by Mr. St. Clair. Like o in German AMord. this work in Italics, and ... Like u in German Fr1c/it. a. Like by footnotes, a in car. in which I Like ca in great. ........ xpression that may have Like ce in tecni. Section numbers referred O. Like o in rose. a. Like ny grammar of the Coos oj in too. Long c with an i-tinge.. rican Indian Langtuages" Long o with a u-tinge.. Bulletin 40, Part 2). i, . Vowels of very short quantities. a. As in German Zdhl/en. I,, i/ .,Superior vowels indicated only by the position of the mouth. Obscure vowel. a,......Like i in island. oi in mouth. ..Like C+11. .tDiphthong q . Velar k. q. Same as preceding, with very great stress of explosion. spirant produced..Velar way back in the palate, which often sounds like weak r. x. Like chz in German Bach/. , . As in English, sonants and surds difficult to distinguish. k! .. Like k, with very great stress of explosion. .. Palatized g. k . Palatized k. k-! . Palatized explosive k. Palatized chZ. .c dz, t.A.. As in English, surds and sonants difficult to distinguish. t, with very great.!........Like stress of explosion. A. .1.Aspirated s As in English. c. Like si in English s/iC. j in English jgCe...Like s . As in English sits. tc......Like c/h in English char-c/. 4 Is!, tc! . Samne as preceding, but with very great stress of explosion. b, p.....As in English, surds and sonants difficult to distinguish. Like.p p, with very great stress of explosion. 1, mn, i. As in English. n. n. ..... Vocalized CREATI 1, in, Ti. .Very long. Spirant....... lateral. .... Sonant lateral pronounced very much like dl. i. ARROW YOUNG MEN (1 Surd.. lateral pronounced very mnuch like /I. great stress of explosion. L!. .... Same as preceding, with very Two young men were t Glottal. catch. middle of their journey, ... Velar. aspiration. ... Palatal. aspiration. would it be if we two sho ih, y, 7v . As in English. about it?' - 'It would b accent. ... Stress. answered the other one. ... Accent. with an interrogative intonation. soot here." They had fi' they stopped and dropped Mi'L-A ARROM~ Y6XWd' lIE tcaini'y1a.

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