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An old man called XE'nda, and many people,
were hunting caribou but they
could not kill any. They were starving, and became weak. XE'nda went
hunting one day, although he could hardly walk. He came on a long trail
of fresh caribou tracks, and followed it. After a while he came to where
a number of snowshoe tracks followed behind the caribou. He saw where
the caribou had begun to jump, and the people had run after them. Soon
he came on a dead caribou, then on another and another. He thought some
of the people had killed them. He pressed on, and soon heard talking,
and then saw a number of strange people beside some dead caribou. They
called out in the Kaska language, "A man is coming!" and then invited
him to come nearer. He asked them who had killed the game. They answered
that they had. They lighted a fire, and cooked and ate the two caribou there. They said to XE'nda, "Your snowshoes are too narrow. You cannot run fast with them, and the caribou get away. If you use snowshoes like those we have, you will be able to travel between and get game." They showed their snowshoes to XE'nda, and further told him he could have all the caribou they had killed. XE'nda thought he must have slept; and when he woke up, the fire was out, and two caribou skins were lying there. He looked for tracks, and saw only wolf tracks. XE'nda returned to camp, and on the way came to the caribou carcasses he had first seen. He cut out some meat and took it along. He told the people that he had killed caribou, and the people went out at once to carry in the meat. When they got to the carcasses, they saw that the caribou had been killed by wolves, and they knew that the wolves had helped XE'nda. After this, the people made snowshoes like those the wolves had shown to XE'nda, and they obtained more game. In this way did the Tahltan learn how to make the shovel- nosed showshoes they now use; and this is why snowshoes of this kind are called "wolf snowshoes." -Teit, James A. "Tahltan Tales." Journal of American Folklore, vol. 32, p. 250. |
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