M97A. A woman asks trees. (.43.)

A woman asks trees of different species a question about her appearance and gives trees various properties depending on the answer.

Katlamet, tillamook.

The coast is the Plateau. Katlamet [Malinovka and Yagodka (Salmon-berry) sisters; the first has five daughters, the second has sons; sisters go for berries, Malinovka looks for Yagodka in her head, wants to eat her; Berry warns sons, that they should run if she is eaten; the youngest sees Malinovka throwing Berries into the fire; the brothers invite Malinovka's children to play in the steam room, suffocate them with heat; arrange the corpses as if alive and smiling; running through the underground year; Malinovka first asks the dog where the children have run, then finds a way; The crane carries the brothers across the river; stretches his legs like a bridge; when Malinovka steps into the bottleneck, throws it into the water; the crow pecks out her genitals; she comes to life, paints her belly with blood; asks different trees if she likes coloring; Willow, Poplar, Fir, Tuya they say no; Alder, Cedar, Spruce, two types of Maple, yes; it makes the wood of the former useless, the latter valuable]: Boas 1901a, No. 15:118-128; tillamook [two young women (Yonger Wild Women) they are angry that they have no husbands; they paint their faces, ask various trees if they are good; fir praises them, for this they tell her to be slim, women will weave beautiful baskets from her roots; Poplar replies that women are ugly, for which they make it useless; etc., the beneficial properties of various trees are determined by their answers to women; then they also asked herbs, soil, stones, etc.] : Jacobs, Jacobs 1959, No. 41:148-150