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

Overview

Bird Garment is the named champion in the first half of Tate’s giant-devilfish story. Other killer-whale clans have lost their warriors while cutting arms from the monster. The Raven-clan chief modestly calls his own relatives weak but urges them to make the attempt, then summons Bird Garment by name. The warrior jumps three times before diving and returns with one of the great arms.

He repeats the assault, bringing up another arm, and rests on the surface exhausted but unwounded. A third dive lasts so long that the waiting whales believe he has died. He finally emerges carrying another arm in his mouth, and the assembled whales celebrate. He tells them only two arms remain and asks them to accompany him. With their help he reaches the monster’s heart, and the attackers bring up its body.

The story gives his clan precedence among the killer whales after this victory. Hunters on the shore see the struggle and understand the whales’ speech. Bird Garment is himself a whale, with Raven denoting clan affiliation; he is not a bird in a whale costume. The raven that kills the monster’s offspring in the second episode is a separate bird and is not identified as Bird Garment.

Raven-clan killer whaleThree successful solitary divesReturns exhausted but unhurtLeads a collective final assaultDistinct from the later raven victor
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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.

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Records & interpretation

Story 13, The Giant Devilfish, complete pp. 135–138, both connected episodes and closing raven-call explanation; comparative note p. 739 and preface pp. 31–32 also read.

In the literature

“The body of this great Killer Whale was not hurt by the monster.”
Henry W.Tate; Franz Boas · Tsimshian Mythology
13. The Giant Devilfish, complete pp.135–138; Bird Garment pp.136–137; brief prose p.137 · Franz Boas, based on Henry W.Tate’s free interlinear rendering, Preface31

Bird Garment, a Raven-clan Killer-Whale warrior, follows attacks in which earlier clans lose their fighters. He returns alive from successive dives, cuts off three monster arms and becomes tired without being wounded. He requests help for the final descent; the surviving Whales join him and bring up the monster’s body. His clan gains precedence. A second, later Devilfish conflict is carried out by Birds and Raven, not a stated second exploit by Bird Garment.

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 13, The Giant Devilfish, complete pp. 135–138, both connected episodes and closing raven-call explanation; comparative note p. 739 and preface pp. 31–32 also read.

  2. 02

    Tsimshian Mythology — 13. The Giant Devilfish, complete pp.135–138; Bird Garment pp.136–137

    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.

Tsimshian Mythology — 13. The Giant Devilfish, complete pp.135–138; Bird Garment pp.136–137

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.

  1. Bird Garment, a Raven-clan Killer-Whale warrior, follows attacks in which earlier clans lose their fighters. He returns alive from successive dives, cuts off three monster arms and becomes tired without being wounded. He requests help for the final descent; the surviving Whales join him and bring up the monster’s body. His clan gains precedence. A second, later Devilfish conflict is carried out by Birds and Raven, not a stated second exploit by Bird Garment.

    13. The Giant Devilfish, complete pp.135–138; Bird Garment pp.136–137

No whole volume or independent Tsimshian translation claimed; no songs, prayers, net-making procedures, food processing or ritual preparation reproduced.

References

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

  1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: complete two-part giant-devilfish storyResearch 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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