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

Overview

Muskrat, the grandchild of Tsatl, wants to marry a chief’s daughter but hears her ridicule his appearance. In revenge, he manufactures snowshoes and arrows associated with several other communities. By leaving their varied tracks and weapons around her dwelling, he makes his killing of the woman look like an attack by outside enemies. Her younger sister discovers her body, and the household accepts the false evidence.

After other ritual specialists fail to restore her, Muskrat is summoned. He has anticipated this and prepared escape holes beside a lake. His performance repeatedly approaches the top of the house ladder while pretending that spirits are about to communicate. On the fourth ascent he announces his responsibility for the killing and flees. The story does not present this deceitful performance as a successful cure or establish that spirits spoke to him.

Fox, Hare, Coyote, Wolf and Eagle pursue. Muskrat reaches the lake, and Coyote grabs water plants while believing he has caught him. Moving between the prepared holes, Muskrat continues his confession beyond their reach. The account ends with the pursuers unable to seize him; the murdered woman is not revived. Tsatl is identified as a grandparent in the opening, but no further ancestry or role in the crime is supplied.

Plants misleading tracks and arrowsStages a false restorative performancePrepared lakeside escape holesAvoids capture by animal pursuers
01

Origins & earliest records

Boas1895, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas, Shuswap collection at Kamloops, I no5, Die Moschusratte,11–12. The preface describes an unnamed French-Indigenous intermediary; no individual narrator is supplied here.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete German tale read, with original printed9–13 checked at the relevant boundaries. Narrative transformations and kinship remain source-specific; neither a historical incident nor a universal account of the animal species is asserted.

In the literature

“Die Thiere konnten sie nicht fangen.”
Franz Boas · Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas
I. Shushwap, Kamloops; 5. Die Moschusratte, complete pp.11–12; brief German narrative excerpt p.12 · German witness by Boas; Shushwap recording mediated through an unnamed French-Indigenous intermediary; no independent translation claimed

Tsatl is a grandson whose appearance is mocked by a chief’s daughter. He retaliates by killing her with weapons that misdirect blame toward other groups, then offers false healing and escapes. A pursuit by animals follows; a water plant is mistaken for the fugitive, who is not caught.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas

    Franz Boas; Kamloops Shuswap narrator not individually named · 1895

    I no5, Die Moschusratte,11–12, complete account; preface gives the collection intermediary, not an individual teller name.

  2. 02

    Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — I. Shushwap, Kamloops; 5. Die Moschusratte, complete pp.11–12

    Franz Boas · 1895

    Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895; actual title-page imprint visually checked in retained original microform PDF. German collected narrative, not an independent modern translation.

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.

Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — I. Shushwap, Kamloops; 5. Die Moschusratte, complete pp.11–12

Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895; actual title-page imprint visually checked in retained original microform PDF. German collected narrative, not an independent modern translation.

  1. Tsatl is a grandson whose appearance is mocked by a chief’s daughter. He retaliates by killing her with weapons that misdirect blame toward other groups, then offers false healing and escapes. A pursuit by animals follows; a water plant is mistaken for the fugitive, who is not caught.

    I. Shushwap, Kamloops; 5. Die Moschusratte, complete pp.11–12

No complete book, original performance or original-language transcript inspected; no direct Shushwap-to-German translation claimed. Preface mentions earlier publications that were not separately inspected.

References

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

  1. Primary textOriginal Boas1895 collected volumeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

FT·2763 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑