Black-Bear family of Part Summer (Tate’s account)

Overview

Part Summer, a chief’s daughter from G’its!Emgalon, slips on black-bear dung while picking berries and angrily insults it. Her basket strap repeatedly breaks, delaying her until her companions leave. Two young men offer assistance but bring her to a strange village. Mouse Woman identifies the Black-Bear household and explains why the girl has been brought there. She also distinguishes its deceptive human-remains dishes from the real salmon and berries the princess may eat.

Part Summer marries the chief’s elder son. Bear men fish and Bear women gather berries, returning each evening. An absent male bear is described as having broken his fishing line; after several days he returns dejected. The narrator links this absence with a human hunter having killed a bear near a stream. The household also discusses torn carrying straps when female bears are late. Human hunting and the Bears’ domestic experience intersect without being explained as a simple final death for every animal.

As winter approaches, the chief asks each family to choose a den. Part Summer rejects places easily accessible to her youngest brother’s dogs, Red and Spots, and chooses a difficult mountain location. Questions about her brothers’ accumulated hunting preparations cause corresponding groups of Bears to weep, anticipating how many will be killed. The first three brothers later obtain the numbers foretold. The youngest instead follows his dogs towards his missing sister’s den.

The dogs recognise Part Summer and wag their tails while barking at her Bear husband. A snowball marked by her fingers encourages her brother to finish the hard climb. She gives birth to twin cubs and entrusts them to him. The husband then dies at the den; beforehand he has taught her mourning songs and instructions concerning his body and skin. The text allows him continuing sensation when the drying skin creaks, rather than treating it as an inert trophy.

The princess and children return to her human family. The boys grow quickly and identify mountain clouds as their Bear grandfather’s smoke, directing hunters towards bears. Their grandmother later disparages their ancestry after they accidentally knock her down. Ashamed, the children ask to leave for their father’s people. Their mother permits it, requesting future food for herself and game for their youngest uncle. The story ends with separation and grief, not a permanent reconciliation between the two households.

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 43, The Story of Part Summer, complete pp. 278–284; preface pp. 31–32.

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 43, The Story of Part Summer, complete pp. 278–284; preface pp. 31–32.

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.

References

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

1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: Black-Bear family of Part Summer (Tate’s account)Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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