Nalq and his siblings (Tate’s account)

Overview

At Prairie Town on the upper Skeena River, a heavenly chief sends a beautiful plume against a noisy settlement. People stick together as they grasp it and one another; it lifts them into the sky and drops them to their deaths. A woman who has recently given birth remains behind. Her mucus becomes Nalq, while a grindstone, crabapple branch, feather and shell kept against her body become Little Grindstone, Little Crabapple Tree, Little Feather and the girl Knife Hand.

The children repeat the noisy play and are caught by the plume. Little Grindstone becomes a rock and Little Crabapple Tree roots himself in the ground, but even these forms eventually rise. Knife Hand climbs her brothers, cuts above the plume with her sharpened hand and frees them. Using the captured plume she revives them. The siblings then assemble the dead villagers’ bones, and Nalq restores their bodies and breath. The narrative explains bodily differences through mismatched bones during this restoration.

The brothers leave after their mother scolds them; Knife Hand stays with her. On their journey they escape a blind man’s net. Little Feather kills a raccoon that proves to be a woman’s granddaughter, then saves his brothers from her closing, overheated house by changing into down, escaping through the smoke hole and reviving the raccoon. Later Nalq defeats a dangerous lakeside hostess by substituting her own breath for theirs in what she feeds her supernatural Frog, then revives her previous victims.

A closing mountain passage crushes the first three brothers. Little Feather passes through in flight, retrieves their bodies and restores them with the plume. Finally the brothers marry daughters of the four winds. Nalq’s mucus becomes ice with the north wind; Little Grindstone blows water into rain with the south; East’s efforts to uproot Little Crabapple Tree produce whirlwinds; West blows gently so as not to fall behind swift Little Feather. The brothers remain helpers of the winds.

The captured plume changes from a means of communal destruction to an instrument shared in repeated rescues. Knife Hand’s decisive first rescue and Little Feather’s later rescues are distinct from Nalq’s actions; treating the cycle as the achievement of its title character alone would erase the siblings’ different powers.

A related but differently organized Nisga’a narrative appears in Boas’s 1902 Nass River collection as Rotten-feathers. Its six children arise from three wooden wedges, a grindstone, a knife and mucus. Little-knife frees the others from the sky’s pull, while the eldest wood-born brother retains the feather and receives the title name. Chief Mountain’s separately credited continuation makes this brother restore the fallen villagers’ bones to life and later acquire the name Labret. These roles differ from Tate’s allocation of restoration to Nalq and his siblings. The 1902 account is a comparative regional witness, not an alternative name for every member of Tate’s family.

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 11, The Story of Nalq, complete pp. 125–131, including village restoration, journey ordeals and four wind marriages. Printed title on p. 125 visually checked against OCR; preface pp. 31–32.

In the literature

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 11, The Story of Nalq, complete pp. 125–131, including village restoration, journey ordeals and four wind marriages. Printed title on p. 125 visually checked against OCR; preface pp. 31–32.

2. 02

   Tsimshian Texts: Nass River Dialect

   Franz Boas; continuation told by Chief Mountain · 1902

   Rotten-feathers pp.94–101, with separately attributed continuation pp.234–235. Complete English passages read; unnamed teller in first section.

3. 03

   Tsimshian Mythology — 11. The Story of Nalq, complete pp.125–131

   Henry W.Tate, recorder; Franz Boas, translator and editor · 1916

   Washington: Government Printing Office,1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,1909–1910. Complete selected English narrative(s) and attached technical footnotes read in retained OCR. Original selected opening/identity/ending pages visually checked. Preface31–32 translation provenance independently inspected. Comparative chapters not included in this reading claim.

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.

References

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

1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: Story 11, The Story of Nalq, complete pp. 125–131, including village restoration, journey ordeals and four wind marriages. Printed title on p. 125 visually checked against OCR; preface pp. 31–32.Research access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary textBoas 1902 original Nass River collectionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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