Dokos, Wima and Klak

Overview

Near the end of the Olelbis narrative, Dokos, Wima Loimis and Klak Loimis are brought to the upper gathering. Olelbis offers to treat their teeth as he has those of other first people. Wima refuses because she fears she could no longer eat; Klak follows her sister’s example. Dokos then refuses as well, declaring anger toward his sisters for rejecting the offer.

Dokos says he will join people against the sisters whenever they bite or injure them. His hostility expands beyond the two: he intends to harm every living thing and wants no friends. Wima and Klak now offer to accept treatment, but the opportunity is not restored. Olelbis sends Dokos to become flint, Klak to become a rattlesnake and Wima to become a grizzly bear, each in a named place from which they will spread.

The ensuing speech gives all three a cost. People will use Dokos to kill the dangerous animals; Klak’s body can become food for buzzards. Flint itself is not invulnerable or eternally triumphant: after it has served its users, they can break it against a rock, ending its existence. This is a specifically related sibling group in the narrative, with the moral dispute and reciprocal dangers preserved rather than a generic list of hostile animals.

Origins & earliest records

Jeremiah Curtin’s Creation Myths of Primitive America (1898), opening Wintu narrative Olelbis. His provenance notes describe the California collecting context; this chapter does not name its individual teller. Curtin states that an earlier version appeared in The Sun on29March1896.

Records & interpretation

Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48, read through the final disposition of the first people; notes490–493 also read. Complete concluding teeth/refusal episode45–48. Curtin’s comparative theories are not treated as established origins.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Creation Myths of Primitive America in Relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind

   Jeremiah Curtin · 1898

   Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48; Complete concluding teeth/refusal episode45–48. Notes486–493 for collection, prior publication and editorial interpretation.

Family, evolution & connections

Dokos, Wima and Klak — Curtin’s sibling group

Mutually explicit sibling statements, pp. 45–47.

Three sibling branches, with no ancestor node. The grouping root is not a parent. No birth parents or ages are given. The characters’ transformed mineral and animal identities belong to this source’s narrative, not zoological phylogeny.

References

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

1. Primary textCurtin1898: complete opening Wintu narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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