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

Overview

Gather On The Water is a young prince of G’it-q!a’°da whose initiation begins with human organizers hiding him in a tree dwelling. Tate’s account distinguishes their public claim that a supernatural being has taken him from the subsequent arrival of an actual supernatural visitor within the story. The visitor teaches him a form of man-eating that exceeds the dancers’ control and gives him flight. Terrible whistles and repeated cries announce his descents on the settlement.

The other dancers assemble to restrain him. Their first effort succeeds only briefly: after they cease watching, he discards his cedar-bark bonds and bear-skin garment and returns to the tree. The village relocates, but his attacks continue elsewhere. At a Nass River mountain he tries to roast a fish; a supernatural being rejects this ordinary food and sends him back to his former place. The source does not provide a separate personal name or a secure independent identity for this visitor.

A second capture brings another attempt to remove his power. He subsequently sits on a shore rock that floats with the rising tide and grounds again when the water falls. When the assembled people try to kill him, his supernatural power frees him. Afterwards he still kills, but the account explicitly says he no longer eats his victims. He remains in the tree for many years, until his voice ceases after two generations. No final corpse, successful killing or complete recovery is reported.

This is a narrated supernatural transformation recorded by Henry W. Tate and edited by Boas. Its violent claims about named dance companies are not treated as independent verification of historical practice or as descriptions of all Tsimshian people. The neighboring story 63 is separately marked as an earlier Boas translation and ends with a hunter’s recovery; that different ending is not silently imported into Gather On The Water’s account.

Flight between tree and villageWhistling signals supernatural presenceBreaks imposed restraintsRock floats beneath himSupernatural helper prevents his deathFinal voice ceases after two generations
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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 62, The Cannibal, complete pp. 350–353; 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 62, The Cannibal, complete pp. 350–353; 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: The CannibalResearch 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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