A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Six hunters discover that a squirrel has taken provisions from their fir-branch shelter. They catch it and burn its tail. The next morning the men and their dogs are trapped in a deep pit. When one dog is killed for food, it appears alive at the rim. Five men follow its example by entering the fire, but the chief’s son remains below, waiting. The appearances on the rim do not establish a safe means of escape: the rest of the story explicitly calls these companions dead.
A mouse leads the survivor to a house occupied by an old woman identified as Squirrel. She explains that he would have died had he joined the others and tells him to follow a narrow path rather than the broad one when he awakens. The next morning he finds himself in the forest beside his companions’ bones, takes the prescribed path and reaches home. The narrator does not explicitly identify the old woman as the same individual whose tail the men burned.
The villagers respond by killing squirrels, sparing only one female. This survivor weeps and announces that the town will burn after four days. The prediction comes true, with the young chief’s house alone spared. The account juxtaposes assistance from an animal woman with destructive retaliation between human and squirrel communities. It does not make the spared hunter responsible for the later collective slaughter or turn every squirrel into a single undifferentiated antagonist.
The complete German text, Die sechs Jäger, occupies pp. 304–305 of Boas’s 1895 Indianische Sagen. The closing attribution explicitly assigns stories 15–18 to Matthias of Metlakatla, with the place printed in Boas’s transcription. This is story 18 in that series. Its later English rendering is story 59 in the 1916 collection, where it is an inserted Boas account rather than a text newly recorded by Henry W. Tate. The teller’s name thus comes from the earlier publication, not an assumption based on the 1916 book’s overall title.
Origins & earliest records
Franz Boas, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas (Berlin: A. Asher & Co., 1895), a collected reprint of earlier journal installments. The preface describes recordings mediated variously through Chinook Jargon and direct translation from Indigenous languages; it does not specify one method for every story.
Records & interpretation
Complete German story 18, Die sechs Jäger, pp. 304–305; matching complete English story 59, pp. 345, in Boas’s 1916 Tsimshian Mythology. Original scans and edition title inspected.
In the literature
“Deine Genossen sind jetzt alle todt.”
XXIII. Sagen der Tsimschian; 18. Die sechs Jäger, complete pp.304–305; brief exact German prose p.305 · Boas’s German collected narrative witness; no independent Tsimshian-language translation claimed
Six hunters burn a Squirrel for taking their food, then wake with their dogs in a pit. A killed dog seems to appear alive above it, and five men jump into the fire. The remaining chief’s son waits. Mouse guides him to an old Squirrel woman, who explains that the companions are dead. He finds their bones and returns by the narrow route. The villagers kill all squirrels but one female, whose warning is followed by destruction of the village by fire; only his house survives.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas
Tsimshian section, story 18, Die sechs Jäger, complete pp. 304–305.
- 02
Tsimshian Mythology
Inserted story 59, complete pp. 345; printed earlier-source reference checked against the matching German text.
- 03
Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas — XXIII. Sagen der Tsimschian; 18. Die sechs Jäger, complete pp.304–305
Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint checked; original304–305 complete selected story and attribution visually read. Physical PDF317–318 correspond to304–305; late-volume inserted leaves change earlier offset.
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 — XXIII. Sagen der Tsimschian; 18. Die sechs Jäger, complete pp.304–305
Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,1895, actual title imprint checked; original304–305 complete selected story and attribution visually read. Physical PDF317–318 correspond to304–305; late-volume inserted leaves change earlier offset.
- Six hunters burn a Squirrel for taking their food, then wake with their dogs in a pit. A killed dog seems to appear alive above it, and five men jump into the fire. The remaining chief’s son waits. Mouse guides him to an old Squirrel woman, who explains that the companions are dead. He finds their bones and returns by the narrow route. The villagers kill all squirrels but one female, whose warning is followed by destruction of the village by fire; only his house survives.
XXIII. Sagen der Tsimschian; 18. Die sechs Jäger, complete pp.304–305
No whole book, oral performance or independent Tsimshian translation claimed. Cultural procedures and practical treatment protocols excluded; adjacent narratives not presumed fully read.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textBoas 1895 original German editionResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Primary textBoas 1916 English renderingResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.