A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

An animal council sends Beaver and Woodpecker to obtain salmon and fire from the far western settlement of the sockeye chief. Beaver swims and Woodpecker flies, scouting two houses beside a shared water source. Beaver digs a tunnel to the chief’s house and lies by the water as if dead. The chief’s daughter notices him, and the salmon people debate whether he is pretending. Chum and coho distrust his cleverness and his ability to block their passages. Even when prodded nearly to laughter, he holds still and is carried inside for skinning.

Woodpecker appears outside and draws the people away as they try to catch him. Alone, Beaver rises, takes the fire and the chief’s youngest daughter in her cradle, then escapes through the prepared passage. During their return the pair throw cedar bark from the cradle into waters where salmon thereafter abound. Finally they cast the cradle and infant into the river near Yale, explaining the salmon gathering below the rapids. The child is not said to become their wife, die, or return to her father.

The acquisition of fire does not yet give it to people. Beaver hands it to the beings called ghosts in the German account, and a subsequent mission sends Mink to obtain it from them. That second episode ends with a negotiated exchange for a fire-drill. Thus Beaver and Woodpecker’s taking of fire and Mink’s provision of fire to humans are distinct stages, with different methods and participants.

Beaver feigns deathWoodpecker creates a distractionCedar bark and cradle explain salmon locationsFire initially handed to ghosts
01

Origins & earliest records

Boas1895, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas, III.8, Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers,42–44. The section introduction credits most tales to George Stseélis and his wife without identifying the individual speaker for this item.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected German narrative and original pages read, with18–19 collection introduction. No modern community-wide belief or single pan-regional animal biography inferred.

In the literature

“Im Anfange gab es keine Lachse und kein Feuer.”
Franz Boas · Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas
III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 8. Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers, complete pp.42–44; brief exact German prose p.42 · Boas’s German collected narrative witness; no independent Indigenous-language translation claimed

Beaver and Woodpecker are sent to acquire salmon and fire from the salmon chief. Beaver feigns death while Woodpecker distracts the household. Beaver takes fire and the youngest daughter in her cradle; scattered cradle material and the child explain different salmon concentrations along named waterways. Beaver gives fire to ghosts. Mink later takes their chief’s head, and his grandmother negotiates its return for a fire-making implement, after which people have fire.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas

    Franz Boas; Lower Fraser narrators include George Stseélis and his wife · 1895

    III.8, Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers,42–44. Complete narrative and boundaries, original42–45; collection-level attribution qualified.

  2. 02

    Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 8. Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers, complete pp.42–44

    Franz Boas; individual Lower Fraser teller not identified for this selected story · 1895

    Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint verified. Complete selected German episode(s) and attached notes independently read; original18–19 introduction and40–45 pages inspected.

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.

Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 8. Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers, complete pp.42–44

Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint verified. Complete selected German episode(s) and attached notes independently read; original18–19 introduction and40–45 pages inspected.

  1. Beaver and Woodpecker are sent to acquire salmon and fire from the salmon chief. Beaver feigns death while Woodpecker distracts the household. Beaver takes fire and the youngest daughter in her cradle; scattered cradle material and the child explain different salmon concentrations along named waterways. Beaver gives fire to ghosts. Mink later takes their chief’s head, and his grandmother negotiates its return for a fire-making implement, after which people have fire.

    III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 8. Der Ursprung der Lachse und des Feuers, complete pp.42–44; Complete III8,42–44

No entire volume, original performance or independent Indigenous-language translation inspected. Collection-wide majority attribution is not converted into a definite individual-teller credit. Adjacent III6–7 seen only incidentally, not claimed as new complete coverage.

References

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

  1. Primary textOriginal Boas1895 collected volumeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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