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Overview
Tate’s story begins with a successful Metlakahtla hunter whose frequent expeditions leave his wife at home. At a lake she meets an attractive stranger, who becomes her lover. The returning husband learns of the affair from her maid, and his companions kill the visitor. They discover a garment ornamented with cloven feet, an armor with animal ears and a wolf-tail hat. Wise men identify the dead lover as a prince of the Wolves. The husband retains the body and clothing, and the account explicitly says he continues to love his wife, through whom he has gained these valuable crests.
The wolf prince’s mother mourns around the village at night, recalling her son’s ability to eat a whole deer and demanding his clothing and body. The inhabitants construct a double-walled fort. Wolves surround it and gnaw through the outer wall while the people defend themselves with stones. The human prince refuses to surrender the remains. Instead he acknowledges his mistake in killing the visitor, calls him his brother, and promises to preserve the clothing, take his name and give a feast.
The mother responds with mourning songs for the garments and accepts the human as her son and successor to the dead prince’s standing among the animals. The wolves depart. At a public feast the hunter distributes property, displays the inherited clothing and takes the name Ate The Whole Deer. The Wolf Mother thereafter helps his hunting. When his human parents have died, she brings him to her house, presents him to an assembly of animals and gives him her two daughters as wives. The printed kin terms shift between son and brother; the narrative is not used to impose a tidier genealogy than its wording supports.
After the Wolf Mother’s death, the daughters continue hunting with their husband. They catch animals he misses and later detect nearby game by smell. Years afterwards he returns to his human village so hairy that his people initially fail to recognize him. His cousin welcomes the family; the two wives receive fine garments and provide fresh meat for communal feasts. They eventually settle there and bear eighteen children in twin pairs, all skilled hunters, girls as well as boys.
Before his death the father asks the children not to injure his human people and not to leave human spouses by returning to their other home. Most marry locally; only two return to the wolf homeland. The narrator connects this ending with wolves’ fear of human beings. This is a particular kinship and crest narrative, not biological evidence for human-wolf descent or a universal explanation of animal behavior.
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 53, The Prince and Prince Wolf, complete pp. 317–322; preface pp. 31–32.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
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Tsimshian Mythology
Story 53, The Prince and Prince Wolf, complete pp. 317–322; 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.
- Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: The Prince and Prince WolfResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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