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

Overview

The final inhabited village on the prince’s long northwestward journey belongs to an old chief who knows the traveller’s purpose. The prince has reached successive settlements in a sparrow skin supplied earlier by an unnamed supernatural being at a bathing pool. Each village gives him an estimate of the remaining distance. At the last village the chief welcomes both the prince and his hidden companions, feeds them, and explains that beyond this corner of heaven there is air rather than further land.

The host identifies the way across: the prince must keep his sparrow garment while the chief wears a hummingbird garment. Chief Hummingbird flies first, leading him under the clouds to Gutginsa’s aerial island, which initially appears only as large as a finger. He asks its owner to lend the living arrow until the prince’s revenge is accomplished. The owner agrees, and the two birds return to the waiting companions that evening. Hummingbird also says that he has received the offerings made throughout their journey.

His help continues after obtaining the weapon. He explains its dangerous life, its required concealment, and the need to find an experienced warrior through patient questioning. He then directs the prince to fly ahead of the returning canoe in his sparrow garment, resting on its bow when tired. This brings the party home in four days instead of the year a normal canoe journey would require. The story subsequently follows the weapon’s destructive career and final return to its distant owner.

The unnamed giver of the sparrow skin and the named Hummingbird chief perform different acts at different stages. The printed narrative does not identify them as one being. Likewise, the chief’s bird garment enables this particular journey; it does not establish a general doctrine that every hummingbird is a disguised chief or that the prince’s maternal Wolf Clan is a biological animal population.

Chief at the last inhabited villageWears a hummingbird garmentGuides flight to an aerial islandReceives travellers’ offeringsMediates a temporary loanTeaches conditions of safe keeping
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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 52, Story of the Wolf Clan, complete pp. 306–316; 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 52, Story of the Wolf Clan, complete pp. 306–316; 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: Story of the Wolf ClanResearch 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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