A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
In Tate’s account of a chief’s two bird wives, the sea-going marriage party finds a young woman on a sandy beach, her braided hair ornamented with white shells. She agrees to marry their chief and reaches Xlen before the hunters bringing Robin Woman. The chief nevertheless favours Robin, whose baskets provide a splendid wedding feast. The two wives belong to different bird households, with different sources of abundance.
When Robin returns from her father with winter provisions, Sawbill-Duck Woman goes alone to seek food from her own father. He consults his community, and its members gather whales, sea lions, seals, halibut and other fish. They fill two canoes with fish and blubber, tie the canoes together, and seat his daughter on a plank across them. During a rest on an island, she collects mussels from a rock and places them beside her on the plank.
The canoes arrive while the chief entertains other communities. His attendants notice the mussels and report that they are her gift, overlooking the rich cargo beneath. Ashamed before his guests, the chief orders both canoes overturned. Sawbill-Duck Woman flies out to sea. Only then do the attendants see the abundant blubber and fish and tell him what they have destroyed.
He now commands them to recover the food for distribution, but the canoes and cargo have become rocks and boulders. The account locates these remains on the beach at the end of Prince Rupert Town. It gives no reconciliation or return of the wife. Her flight and the petrified provisions are explicit; the text does not describe her casting a spoken curse, and the husband’s mistaken judgment should not be converted into proof that her gift was inferior.
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 24, The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck, complete pp. 179–185; preface pp. 31–32.
In the literature
“Then the Sawbill-Duck Woman flew out to sea,”
24. The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck, complete pp.179–185; p.185 · Franz Boas, based on Henry W.Tate’s free interlinear rendering, Preface31
The neglected wife departs after the chief orders her two food-laden canoes overturned. The later transformation of the cargo is narrated separately.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tsimshian Mythology
Story 24, The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck, complete pp. 179–185; preface pp. 31–32.
- 02
Tsimshian Mythology — 24. The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1909–1910. Complete selected narrative 24, pp.179–185. Preface pp.31–32 recording and translation provenance previously read.
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.
Tsimshian Mythology — 24. The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1909–1910. Complete selected narrative 24, pp.179–185. Preface pp.31–32 recording and translation provenance previously read.
- Sawbill-Duck Woman is the chief’s other wife. After Robin Woman returns with provisions, she visits her own father and brings two canoes loaded with seafood and blubber. The chief’s attendants notice only mussels beside her and misreport the cargo. Ashamed before his guests, he orders the canoes capsized. She flies out to sea; when the chief attempts to recover the valuable food, the cargo and canoes have become rocks. The story does not say that she dies or explicitly narrate a curse uttered by her.
24. The Chief who Married the Robin and the Sawbill Duck, complete pp.179–185
No whole-volume claim, independent original-language translation or additional named individual teller. The editor’s comparative note is not an independently inspected Kwakiutl witness; no ritual or song text reproduced.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: Sawbill-Duck Woman (Tate’s account)Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.