Tales of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson River) — Part 1
Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices.
Part one — the premiere of a new shelf. Eight tales of the Nlaka'pamux (Thompson River) people of British Columbia, from Traditions of the Thompson River Indians (1898), the collection James Teit made and Franz Boas introduced — heard in Teit's English, read as printed. In The Dog and the Girl, a chief's daughter who refused every suitor takes a dog's children into the hills, and at dawn finds them throwing off their dogskins to play as children. In The Sun and his Daughter, a suitor wins the Sun's daughter, and when she comes home late and unbidden her father turns her into the travelling sun, and her children into sun-dogs. The Chipmunk keeps the great log burning against the Grizzly Bear and carries the stripes on his back for it — told twice over, as Teit prints both the Grizzly and the Black Bear versions. In the Ants' tale, a brother carried under the ground learns from a falling tear that his brother above is searching for him. The Beaver lets himself be shot for the Eagle's sake, and the clam-shell of fire falls into the lodge, and fire goes out over the whole country. A boy, an Elk, and two forbidden boxes — one of fire, one of water — give the world its lakes, rivers, and fire in every wood. The Mosquito's lie about sucking blood from the tree-tops is why the Thunder strikes trees to this day. And the deer once leapt from mountain-top to mountain-top, until a woman's thrown breech-clout brought them down to a moderate jump. The episode opens and closes with its theme, Love 2, heard also briefly between the stories.
Chapters:
0:41 — The Dog and the Girl
6:37 — The Sun and his Daughter
9:41 — Story of the Chipmunk and the Grizzly Bear — and The Black Bear and the Chipmunk
11:32 — Story of the Ants and the Two Brothers
16:36 — The Beaver and the Eagle; or, the Origin of Fire
19:00 — Story of Fire and Water
20:54 — The Mosquito and the Thunder
22:14 — Origin of the Deer
Ten more of the book's tales stand excluded by name after a full reading: Story of the Bush-Tailed Rat · The Ball · The Coyote's Daughters and their Dogs · Origin of Fire, Another Version · Battle of the Birds · The Marten and the Fisher · The Hare and the Grizzly Bears · Story of Aq · The Raven · The Coyote and his Guests. Three stand held for a later ruling and are not read here: The Hot and the Cold Winds · Story of the Otter · The Skunk and the Badger. One clean tale stands on the bench for a later part: Story of the Lad who Caught the Wind. The two Lillooet tales Teit appends are a different people's and are not read on this shelf. No claim of completeness for the book is made.
From Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia by James Teit, with an introduction by Franz Boas (Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, Vol. VI, 1898), public domain — Teit's English text, read as printed. Narrated by Silas. Theme: Love 2.
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