Salishan traditional folktales derive from the oral narratives of the tribe that has inhabited Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia, Canada.
An old woman and her grandson lived near a river. The grandson wished to cross the river, and called the Deer to take him across. Finally, an old buck allowed him to mount his back, and carried him across. While they were in the water, the boy cut the throat of the buck with a flint knife and killed him. The old woman skinned the buck. Five wolves took the scent of the meat, and came intending to steal it. The old woman dressed a piece of rotten wood in skins, and made it look like the boy. Then she wished herself, her grandson, and the meat to be carried to a ledge on the face of a cliff. This cliff is pointed out close to the Okanagon River, near Oroville, Wash. When the wolves arrived, they attacked the tent, but found that what they believed was a boy was only rotten wood. They were unable to reach the ledge. They tried to jump up, but soon wearied. Then they begged for some of the meat. The grandmother told the boy to wrap a hot stone in some suet. He threw it down into the mouth of one of the wolves, and thus killed him. Thus, all were killed except the youngest. When he caught the hot stone, he could not swallow it, and the fat burned the sides of his mouth. Therefore, wolves have dark marks at the side of the mouth.
The grandmother and the boy continued to live on the ledge. Finally, the boy had used up all his arrows, and had no feathers to make new ones. In order to obtain feathers, he caused the golden eagle and the eagle Sinaken to quarrel by telling one that the other one claimed to be swifter and stronger than he. The two eagles fought, and the boy gathered their feathers. He told his grandmother that he would join the people who were going to make war on the sky.
He was transformed into a chickadee.
In this story we see again the power of the wise old woman to protect and nurture the life of the young. The wolves come after her family and she only needs to set her intention and “wish” them away. But moving to the ledge doesn’t stop the relentless wolves who continue to track them. It is a liminal space, between this world and the next. A place where magic can occur. She tells her grandson to place a hot stone in suet for their demise.
In the Salishan tradition, stories are considered to share truth and knowledge as passed down from the elders. These stories are considered mythic – existing before the teller and providing essential knowledge. Many Salishan stories contain shapeshifting humans. Animals are also depicted in their art. While I was unable to find the symbolism of the deer, wolf, eagle and, chickadee; it is said that the chickadee is a very positive animal for most Native American tribes.
In this story the wise old woman saves her grandson who goes on to have his own hero’s journey joining those making war on the sky. What that means is still unclear, yet we trust his transformation to the chickadee brings both freedom and empowerment.
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Folk-Tales of Salishan and Sahaptin Tribes, collected by James A. Teit, et al. (Lancaster, PA: American Folk-lore Society, 1917).