Breath-fed Frog (Tate’s account)

Overview

In the Nalq cycle, four brothers reach an inviting lake bordered by grass and flowers. A kindly-seeming woman gives them food, warm bedding and assurances of safety. Nalq remains watchful. At night she uses cedar bark on the end of a pole to collect moisture from the sleeping visitors’ breath. Sparks issue from her mouth, dwindling as she falls deeply asleep.

Nalq collects her breath in the same way and substitutes it for the guests’ breath. In the morning she calls from the shore four times, and a large Frog rises from the lake. She announces that she is feeding it the four young men, then throws the bark-bearing pole into its open mouth. The Frog swallows it and returns below. What it actually receives is her own breath.

The hostess develops pain, recognises that she has brought misfortune on herself and dies as her breathing fails. The brothers later find earlier victims’ bodies, and Nalq restores them with the plume. He identifies the lake Frog as her supernatural power. The account gives no subsequent attack, destruction or departure of the Frog itself; the victory directly ends the woman’s predation, without inventing a battle against the lake animal.

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 11, complete Nalq cycle pp. 125–131; specifically the lake-hostess and Frog episode, pp. 128–130, including restoration of earlier victims; 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 11, complete Nalq cycle pp. 125–131; specifically the lake-hostess and Frog episode, pp. 128–130, including restoration of earlier victims; preface pp. 31–32.

2. 02

   Tsimshian Mythology — 11. The Story of Nalq, complete pp.125–131; Frog encounter pp.128–130

   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 11, complete Nalq cycle pp. 125–131; specifically the lake-hostess and Frog episode, pp. 128–130, including restoration of earlier victims; preface pp. 31–32.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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