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Overview
Sas lives at Saskewil with his wife and two beautiful daughters. Travelers face a succession of deadly obstacles, including a crushing tree, bears and snakes, poisoned hospitality, a killing gaze and knives suspended above their bed. Sas repeatedly pretends infirmity and welcomes Tulchuherris as son-in-law while planning his death. When an apparent success proves false, he turns his boast into an apology. The daughters become Tulchuherris’s wives; Sas calls the destroyed bears, snakes and Supchit his children.
His final challenge is a tree-bending game in which a climber may be thrown into the sky. Tulchuherris jumps clear of Sas’s strongest attempts and finally bends the tree with Sas at its top. A tremendous crash marks his splitting. Voices speak from above: the larger part becomes Sas, the sun, and the smaller Chanahl, the moon. Though Sas says that he is dead, the narrative continues with his transformed speech and appointed existence.
Tulchuherris gives the sun a red fox-skin band, fire-drill, arrow-straightener, red cheek color, white roots, shells and a porcupine quiver. The moon receives white quartz and a cycle of aging, dying and returning young. At Olelpanti, Olelbis explicitly acknowledges Sas as his son and confirms his east-to-west course. Sas must warm himself in the eastern fire and carry a glowing staff, using manzanita in summer. His porcupine quiver protects him from grizzly children beside the road.
The concluding instructions include a brief rest at a tobacco tree and a plunge into the western water. Sas must travel continually and alone, even though he has a father in the upper world. The moon is produced by division of this earlier figure, not described here as an independently born sibling. Curtin’s identification of the pursuing bears with clouds is an interpretation accompanying the narrative, not an additional named family.
Origins & earliest records
Wintu narrative Tulchuherris in Jeremiah Curtin’s Creation Myths of Primitive America (1898). California collection; the chapter does not identify an individual narrator.
Records & interpretation
Complete Tulchuherris pp. 121–160, including Sas’s final instructions from Olelbis, and complete note pp. 503–505 read. Collector interpretations of lightning, the earth and European parallels are distinguished from narrated actions.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Creation Myths of Primitive America in Relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind
Complete Tulchuherris121–160; selected passages 124–160; note503–505; collection provenance486–487.
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 textCurtin1898: complete TulchuherrisResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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