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Overview

Nine brothers disappear one after another while hunting. Each kills a white she-bear and subsequently enters a village where a young woman sends him to the chief’s house. There the apparently hospitable residents replace his weapons with plant stalks. When ordered to hunt a grizzly the next morning, his weapons fail, he dies and the chief hangs up his divided body.

The youngest brother also shoots the white bear, but when he touches her belly she becomes a beautiful woman and speaks to him. She later appears in the village house, explains the weapon substitution and gives him her two pups, Red and Spots. Her instructions allow him to keep his weapons and call on the dogs when his strength fails. They become huge, defeat the attacking bears and shrink again when petted.

The woman directs him to take the dead chief’s heart and uses it to revive each of his nine brothers. She marries the youngest hunter, accompanies him home and continues helping his hunting. Her role changes from the apparent intermediary in the older brothers’ fatal visits to the younger brother’s protector; the text does not supply a separate backstory explaining that change.

In the final episode the couple confront a cave-dwelling woman who threatens to eat them. Red and Spots kill her body before she can summon her helpers, but her severed head remains alive. After returning home, the dogs die, followed by the hunter. White-Bear Woman carries all three bodies to her own home. No revival follows in the text, and the narrative does not explicitly identify the cause of these last deaths.

Bear becomes a human-looking womanReveals the animal village’s deceptionOwns size-changing dogsRevives hunters with the chief’s heartSurvives the story’s final losses
01

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.

02

Records & interpretation

Story 16, The Hunters, complete pp. 145–152, including the final cave confrontation and deaths; preface pp. 31–32.

In the literature

“The young woman always followed him wherever he went”
Henry W.Tate; Franz Boas · Tsimshian Mythology
16. The Hunters, complete pp.145–152; brief prose p.151 · Franz Boas, based on Henry W.Tate’s free interlinear rendering, Preface31

After the deaths of nine brothers in the grizzly-bear village, their youngest brother meets a white she-bear who transforms into a woman. She guides him and supplies Red and Spots, then restores his brothers after the conflict. He marries White-Bear Woman and returns home with the restored family. She accompanies his later encounter with a separate cannibal shaman woman. At the close the dogs and husband die, and she carries their bodies to her own home; no final restoration is narrated.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Tsimshian Mythology

    Henry W. Tate, recorder; Franz Boas, translator and editor · 1916

    Story 16, The Hunters, complete pp. 145–152, including the final cave confrontation and deaths; preface pp. 31–32.

  2. 02

    Tsimshian Mythology — 16. The Hunters, complete pp.145–152

    Henry W.Tate, recorder; Franz Boas, translator and editor · 1916

    Washington: Government Printing Office,1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,1909–1910. Complete selected English narrative16 and attached technical footnotes independently read. Original selected transformation148, conflict150, marriage151 and ending152 visually checked. Preface31–32 translation provenance previously independently inspected; comparative chapters not included in this reading claim.

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 — 16. The Hunters, complete pp.145–152

Washington: Government Printing Office,1916; Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology,1909–1910. Complete selected English narrative16 and attached technical footnotes independently read. Original selected transformation148, conflict150, marriage151 and ending152 visually checked. Preface31–32 translation provenance previously independently inspected; comparative chapters not included in this reading claim.

  1. After the deaths of nine brothers in the grizzly-bear village, their youngest brother meets a white she-bear who transforms into a woman. She guides him and supplies Red and Spots, then restores his brothers after the conflict. He marries White-Bear Woman and returns home with the restored family. She accompanies his later encounter with a separate cannibal shaman woman. At the close the dogs and husband die, and she carries their bodies to her own home; no final restoration is narrated.

    16. The Hunters, complete pp.145–152

No whole volume, comparative-note coverage, independent Tsimshian translation or universal resurrection claim. No transformation formulas, restoration procedure, songs or ritual instructions reproduced.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: The HuntersResearch 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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