The Man Who Bound Up His Wrinkles (Tate’s account)

Overview

The figure lives on a small island outside Inverness at the Skeena’s mouth and sells elaborately feathered arrows to surrounding chiefs. Princesses have been disappearing from their villages. A final victim meets him in the woods as a handsome young man with tied blond hair and goes with him by canoe, expecting to visit his father’s house. On waking beside him she recognizes the old, wrinkled arrow seller. Her later public account explicitly describes the change of appearance and gives his name as the man who binds his wrinkles behind his head.

He prevents her return and takes her to a grassy rock under the pretext of gathering feathers. Once she is ashore he abandons her, subjects her to threats and humiliation, and calls birds down from the sky. She shelters in a small cave at the water’s edge. After the birds leave, she finds their beautiful feathers and the bones and hand baskets of the previously missing women. The account connects the arrow maker’s valuable materials with these killings rather than presenting the feathers as harmless trade goods.

When he returns four days later to gather feathers, she hides under seaweed, reaches his canoe and escapes. She refuses his renewed assurances and repeats his summons. The heavenly birds descend and devour him. Her survival depends on observation, concealment and reversing an action she has heard, without an invented supernatural helper or a new gift of magical power.

After returning home she recounts the events to the gathered chiefs. She then guides them to the rock, where they recover their daughters’ remains and baskets. Her father retrieves property from the arrow maker’s house and returns the women’s garments, accompanied by feathers, to their families. The final scene honors the survivor and restores mourning and ownership to the community; it does not end merely with the antagonist’s death. No bird species is identified, and the unusual feathers and descent from heaven remain features of this particular narrative.

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 57, The Man Who Bound Up His Wrinkles, complete pp. 339–344; preface pp. 31–32.

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 57, The Man Who Bound Up His Wrinkles, complete pp. 339–344; preface pp. 31–32.

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.

1. Primary textBoas/Tate 1916: The Man Who Bound Up His WrinklesResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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