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

Overview

Qut, called a small bird in Boas’s German account, accepts the young Eagle’s courtship but requires him to settle in her country and hold a giving feast. During his absence hunting for the feast, his uncle Woodpecker courts her and she accepts him instead. The young Eagle returns to his father, while Qut tells Woodpecker to invite the guests. At the winter-solstice gathering she dances and spits into baskets, which immediately fill with berries. This supernatural provision supplies the feast, followed by gifts of mantles.

Thunderbird attends as the sockeye chief’s enslaved attendant and wants Qut for himself. When she approaches their departing canoe with travelling provisions, he seizes her and carries her away. Woodpecker seeks Mink’s help. Both become salmon and let Thunderbird catch them. Through wishes that direct the captor’s decisions, Mink arranges that Woodpecker is cooked and eaten while he himself is placed on a drying rack. Mink repeatedly falls, prompting both his fish body and Woodpecker’s bones to be thrown into the water. The two regain life and carry Qut away as she disposes of them.

Back home, Qut directs the preparation of red pigment from earth collected near Harrison Lake. She subsequently teaches the people at Stseélis to prepare roots in an earth pit with heated stones and later to cook with heated stones in baskets. These are the concluding teaching actions assigned to her in this episode; her berry production, her human relationships and the salmon rescue are all part of the same local narrative. The tale does not identify her with every food-giving bird or with the salmon chief’s infant daughter in the separate origin-of-fire story.

Baskets fill with berries during her danceAbducted from the departing canoeRescued through salmon transformation and revivalTeaches pigment preparation and cooking
01

Origins & earliest records

Boas1895, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas, III.3 Der Specht und der Adler,30–36. The section credits most tales to George Stseélis and his wife without individually assigning every item.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete German narrative30–36, footnote and all original pages read, with collection introduction18–19. Added family members, separate rescues and unresolved transitions remain as narrated.

In the literature

“Dann verschenkte sie viele Mäntel.”
Franz Boas · Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas
III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 3. Der Specht und der Adler, complete pp.30–36 and note; brief exact German prose p.34 · Boas’s German collected narrative witness; no independent Indigenous-language translation claimed

Qut accepts an Eagle son’s courtship and requires him to remain in her country. His Woodpecker uncle then wins her affection. At their feast she provides supernatural food and gifts. Thunderbird, servant of the Sockeye salmon chief, abducts her. Woodpecker and Mink take salmon forms, are captured, and ultimately return to life in water and carry Qut away. Her later role as teacher of red pigment and food preparation is named without reproducing practical protocols.

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; Lower Fraser narrators include George Stseélis and his wife · 1895

    III.3,30–36, complete body and note; all original pages checked. Selected character focus does not merge other regional versions.

  2. 02

    Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 3. Der Specht und der Adler, complete pp.30–36 and note

    Franz Boas; individual Lower Fraser teller not identified for this selected story · 1895

    Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint verified. Complete selected German III3 narrative30–36 and attached footnote read in retained OCR and every original printed page; collection introduction18–19 also inspected.

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 — III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 3. Der Specht und der Adler, complete pp.30–36 and note

Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint verified. Complete selected German III3 narrative30–36 and attached footnote read in retained OCR and every original printed page; collection introduction18–19 also inspected.

  1. Qut accepts an Eagle son’s courtship and requires him to remain in her country. His Woodpecker uncle then wins her affection. At their feast she provides supernatural food and gifts. Thunderbird, servant of the Sockeye salmon chief, abducts her. Woodpecker and Mink take salmon forms, are captured, and ultimately return to life in water and carry Qut away. Her later role as teacher of red pigment and food preparation is named without reproducing practical protocols.

    III. Sagen vom unteren Fraser River; 3. Der Specht und der Adler, complete pp.30–36 and note

No whole book, original performance or independent Indigenous-language translation inspected. Incidental precedingIII2 not claimed as complete; referenced earlier reports not independently read. Practical cultural procedures and chants excluded.

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.

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