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Canku Ota |
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(Many Paths) |
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An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
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August 14, 2004 - Issue 119 |
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Blue Jay and His Companions |
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Quinalt Story |
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One day Gull made a wooden Seal, carving it out of cedar, and burning it until it was black. Then he talked to the Seal, and told it what it was to do; and it dived down into the water and went out to sea. Next day before daylight, the five men started out, and about sunrise came upon a big Seal , and speared it. The Seal dived, and swam to the westward, dragging the canoe after it until they were out of sight of land. The spear man tried to get rid of it, but could not; and when night came they were still rushing westward, and when they waked in the morning they were still going, but not so fast. Not long afterward the line slackened, and they heard something butting against the canoe. Bluejay looked over, and saw a wooden Seal with the harpoon sticking into it just behind the flipper. Then his chief began to scold Bluejay, and said, "I know this is Gull's work. He is angry because we gave him no fat, and because you talked to him so much." Bluejay could only hang his head and say nothing.
Print
and Color Your Own Sea Lion |
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Bluejay
and his chief, with Land Otter, Beaver, and another man, used
to go out Seal hunting together. In the same house with them,
but at the other end, lived Gull, who was a widower with a lot
of children, and he spent most of his time in the woods building
a canoe. Every trip that the five men made, they caught five Seals,
very fat ones; but they gave nothing but the poor, lean parts
to Gull. Bluejay was at the bottom of this, and kept saying that
fat was too good for Gull; and he poked fun at him and sneered
at him whenever he was about. Gull never said a word, but took
what was given him without complaining. 
They
cut the line and began to paddle back, but had no idea where they
were going. Three days and two nights they paddled, and the third
night they all fell asleep from exhaustion. When they waked in the
morning, the canoe was stuck fast and they thought they were ashore,
and one of them, the fifth man, jumped out, but he sank and was
drowned; and, then they saw that they
In
the center of the village was a tall smooth pole which the people
said was Squirrel's pole, which he used for climbing; and they said
that Squirrel would like to have a climbing-match with Bluejay.
Bluejay's master said to him, "Now don't get frightened, but
go in and do your best. You know you can climb well, and if you
are beaten we may all be killed." Then both Squirrel and Bluejay
took sharp bones, so that if one got ahead he could hit the one
behind on the head and they started to climb. All the people crowded
around to see the contest, for the pole was high and the two were
well matched. At last the people saw them reach the top, and saw
one of them strike the other on the head so that he came tumbling
down; and all the people shouted, for they thought it was Bluejay.
But when he reached the ground, they found it was Squirrel who had
lost. So now, since Bluejay had beaten their best climber, they
let him and his companions go.
They
paddled on down the coast, and after some time they rounded a point,
and come upon another village, much like the first. Here Sea Lion
challenged Bluejay to a diving match, and Bluejay found himself
in a difficult position, for he was no diver at all. But his master
turned the canoe over and washed it out, leaving the brush from
the bottom floating about it on the water. Then he told Bluejay
to accept the challenge and dive, but to come up under the brush
and lie there concealed, and not to show himself. So both Bluejay
and Sea Lion dived; and Bluejay came up immediately under the brush,
and floated there where no one could see him. He waited until he
shivered so with the cold that the brush moved with his shaking,
and his master began to be afraid the people would notice it: so
he rocked the canoe and made waves to conceal the motion of the
brush, and no one suspected that Bluejay was hidden there. Now,
they had agreed, that, when the sun had passed from one tree to
another not far off, each was to have the right to hit the other
in the head with a sharp bone. So, when Bluejay saw that the sun
had reached the second tree, he dived down, and found Sea Lion lying
with his head down close to the bottom. Bluejay jabbed him with
the bone before Sea Lion knew what was happening, and Sea Lion came
floating up to the surface. All the people shouted, "Bluejay's
up!" But it turned out to be Sea Lion, while Bluejay went back
under the brush without showing himself There he waited about half
an hour longer, and then came out shouting and laughing, and saying
that he felt splendidly and not tired at all. In that way Sea Lion
was beaten, and the people let Bluejay and his party go on again.
They
paddled on as before until they came to another village, and there
the people challenged the four wanderers to go into a sweat-house
with four of their people and see which could stand the most heat.
So four of the village people went into one corner of the sweat-house,
and the four travelers into the other. Then the door was closed
so that it was pitch dark, and soon it became very hot. But Beaver
and Land Otter began to dig, and in a very short time they had tunneled
to the river. Then all four got into the water and were as comfortable
as could be, while the four men from the village were nearly baked.
When the time was up, Bluejay and his friends came back into the
sweat-house, and when the door was opened they all jumped out. Bluejay
and his friends were as fresh as possible, while the four men from
the village were nearly cooked, and their eyes were all white from
the heat. So, having beaten the people at their own game, they were
allowed to go on, and, paddling as hard as they could, before they
knew it they had rounded another point, and come upon a village
as before. They ran the canoe clear up on the beach and tied it,
and, taking their paddles, went into one of the houses.
The
people immediately challenged the new arrivals to sit up five days
and five nights without sleeping, against four of their own number.
The friends were afraid not to accept, so they started the match.
One party sat on one side of the house and the other on the other.
The men from the village had spears, and when any one of them was
falling asleep, they would prod him with a spear and wake him. They
kept calling out to each other all night, " Are you awake?
Are you still awake? " And they reviled each other constantly.
Bluejay did all the talking for his side, and was hardly quiet a
minute. All the next day they jeered at each other, and so they
did the next night. Bluejay and the spokesman of the other side
kept talking back and forth the whole time. The next day they did
the same thing, and so on the third night; and the fourth day and
the fourth night it was still the same. On that night the men from
the village nearly went to sleep; but Bluejay's men were all right
as yet. Bluejay himself was almost done up; but hismaster would
pull his ears and kept him awake, for Bluejay's master was the best
man of them all. The fifth night the men of the village went to
sleep, and Bluejay's master told Land Otter and Beaver to dig so
that they could get out. They did so, and fetched four pieces of
old wood with phosphorescent spots on them; and they placed the
pieces where they had been sitting, one piece for each man; and
the spots looked like eyes. Then, while the other crowd was still
sleeping, they got out, and, taking everything they could lay their
hands on, they stole away in the canoe. Just before daylight one
of the other four waked, and called Bluejay several times, but got
no answer. So he waked the others, and, taking their spears, they
speared what they thought were their rivals. But when daylight came,
they saw that they had been fooled, and that their spears were sticking
into wood.
There
was great excitement, and the people decided to give chase, and,
making ready their canoes, they started after the fugitives. Along
in the afternoon, Bluejay's master said, "I feel sure some
one is following us," and, looking back, they saw a lot of
canoes in pursuit. Then they paddled with all their might; and Bluejay's
master paddled so hard that at every stroke he broke a paddle, until
he had broken all they had, and they floated helpless. Then the
others turned to Bluejay and said, "You are always talking
about your tamanous. Make use of him now, if you have one, for we
are in a bad fix." But Bluejay could only hang his head, for
he had no tamanous.
The
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest member of the Otariid
(eared seal) family. Males may be up to 325 cm (10-11 ft) in length
and can weigh up to 1,100 kg (2,400 lb). Females are smaller than males,
240-290 cm (7.5-9.5 ft) in length and up to 350 kg (770 lb) in mass.
Males and females are light buff to reddish brown and slightly darker
on the chest and abdomen; naked parts of the skin are black. Wet animals
usually appear darker than dry ones. Pups are about 1 m (3.3 ft) in
length and 16-23 kg (35-50 lb) at birth and grow to about 30-40 kg (65-90
lb) after 6-10 weeks. Pups are dark brown to black until 4 to 6 months
old when they molt to a lighter brown. By the end of their second year,
pups have taken on the same pelage color as adults. 
Steller
sea lion are distributed across the North Pacific Ocean rim from northern
Hokkaido, Japan, through the Kuril Islands, Okhotsk Sea, and Commander
Islands in Russia, the Aleutian Islands, central Bering Sea, and southern
coast of Alaska, and south to the Channel Islands off California. During
the May-to-July breeding season, Steller sea lions congregate at more
that 40 rookeries, where adult males defend territories, pups are born,
and mating takes place. Non-reproductive animals congregate to rest at
more than 200 haul-out sites where little or no breeding takes place.
Sea lions continue to gather at both rookeries and haul-out sites outside
of the breeding season. You can view live video images from haul-out sites
at Benjamin Island, near Juneau, Alaska, or the Chiswell Islands near
Seward, Alaska, through SeeMoreWildlife.com [requires Internet Explorer
5 or higher]. 
Steller
sea lions are opportunistic predators, feeding primarily of a wide variety
of fishes and cephalopods. Prey varies geographically and seasonally.
Some of the more important prey species in Alaska include walleye pollock
(Theragra chalcogramma), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius),
Pacific herring (Clupea harengus), Capelin (Mallotus villosus), Pacific
sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus),
and salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Steller sea lions have been known to prey
on harbor seal, fur seal, ringed seal, and possibly sea otter pups, but
this would represent only a supplemental component to the diet. 
