Copper beaver (Tate’s account)

Overview

After displaced Eagle-clan travellers lose relatives to a supernatural halibut, a prince wanders inland in grief. At a lake he sees a large beaver with copper eyes, ears, teeth and claws. Its tail strikes the water with a thunder-like sound. He returns to tell his companions, and they go to the lake together the next morning.

At first the water is quiet. Then the visitors hear drumming and a mourning song before the copper-featured beaver appears. They decide to kill it because they want its copper. After days spent breaking the dam, the falling water brings the animal out; they kill and skin it and remove the copper parts. The account does not turn this into a benevolent gift freely offered by the beaver.

The party adopts the beaver as its crest. Tate’s narrative then explains the Beaver Hat as retained within the family and worn by the head chief LEg’e°x at a great potlatch, with four leading men associated with the clans holding it. This is the source’s specific account of hereditary distinction, not permission for anyone to use the design. A footnote cites a separate letter from Tate explaining the beaver’s brief mourning-song wording. The profile records the published description without claiming to have heard its performance.

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 41, Explanation of the Beaver Hat, complete pp. 270–272, including Tate-letter footnote on p. 272; 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 41, Explanation of the Beaver Hat, complete pp. 270–272, including Tate-letter footnote on p. 272; 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: Copper beaver (Tate’s account)Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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