Am’ala’ (Tate’s account)

Overview

Am’ala’ is the youngest of a chief’s four nephews. His brothers mock his dirtiness and apparent idleness while practising to become strong, unaware that he bathes secretly at night and sleeps late because of it. A radiant supernatural stranger meets him in distress, cleans him with leaves and gives him increasing strength. Repeatedly he uproots larger trees; finally the helper refuses his request for yet more power.

At an intercommunity contest the three older brothers are defeated, one fatally. Am’ala’ kills their three opponents together and then wins a larger battle. His uncle must compensate the other communities and loses his wealth. The people depart, leaving Am’ala’ with an enslaved attendant who hunts ducks and collects their oil. Supernatural strength has brought victory but also social isolation and an enormous cost to his family.

Animals, trees and birds challenge him in turn and lose. These include the powerful Xa’l and a lightning-throwing Thunderbird. Finally a mountain wrestles him, offering its life and endurance if he wins. When his back bends under its weight, the attendant strengthens him with duck oil. Am’ala’ breaks the mountain into the rocks and sandbar at Sandy Shore and acquires its lasting power.

Messengers then take him southwest across the sea to an island chief whose chest has borne the pole supporting the turning world since its beginning. The sick chief asks Am’ala’ to replace him because he now possesses both the stranger’s strength and the mountain’s. Am’ala’ gives part of his life to his attendant, who must continue tending his back with duck oil. The old chief and his people depart. The ending says that the oil is running low and that the world will end when its new supporter dies.

Tate renders the name as Very Dirty, but Boas’s footnote explicitly questions that translation and supplies a differently transcribed smoke-hole word for comparison. The familiar English epithet therefore belongs to this edition’s contested rendering, not a confidently settled etymology.

Moses’s brief Smoke-hole account in Boas’s 1902 Nass collection supplies a distinct earlier printed witness to the name. Its hero gains extraordinary strength by sleeping at the edge of the smoke hole and carries whole uprooted trees as firewood. The text labels him Am’ala’ and translates the name as Smoke-hole. This supports a source-specific comparison with the later editorial dispute, while its compact episode contains neither Tate’s contests nor his world-supporting ending.

Origins & earliest records

Franz Boas, Tsimshian Mythology, based on texts recorded by Henry W. Tate, published in 1916 in the Bureau of American Ethnology’s thirty-first report for 1909–1910. Boas translated Tate’s free interlinear English renderings of his Tsimshian texts. The preface notes Tate’s editorial choices and some influence from published collections; the 1916 volume omits the original-language text.

Records & interpretation

Story 9, Am’ala’ (Very Dirty), complete pp. 116–121, including Boas’s name-translation footnote and the world-ending condition; preface pp. 31–32.

In the literature

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Tsimshian Mythology

   Henry W. Tate, recorder; Franz Boas, translator and editor · 1916

   Story 9, Am’ala’ (Very Dirty), complete pp. 116–121, including Boas’s name-translation footnote and the world-ending condition; preface pp. 31–32.

2. 02

   Tsimshian Texts: Nass River Dialect

   Moses, teller; Franz Boas, recorder and translator · 1902

   Smoke-hole, complete p.116; Am’ala’ heading and translated name. Distinct from Tate’s longer narrative.

3. 03

   Tsimshian Mythology — 9. Am’ala’ (Very Dirty), complete pp.116–121

   Henry W.Tate, recorder; Franz Boas, translator and editor · 1916

   Washington: Government Printing Office,1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,1909–1910. Complete selected English narrative(s) and attached technical footnotes read in retained OCR. Original selected opening/identity/ending pages visually checked. Preface31–32 translation provenance independently inspected. Comparative chapters not included in this reading claim.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: Story 9, Am’ala’ (Very Dirty), complete pp. 116–121, including Boas’s name-translation footnote and the world-ending condition; preface pp. 31–32.Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary textBoas 1902 original Nass River collectionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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