Tag Archives: Myths

Pitch-Dress Ogress

Posted on October 5, 2019 by

This story was first posted in April 2013. I’ve added a little more material from that first post. Nuusgili (or nuusgili) is a Hanis and Milluk word that has been translated variously as ‘giantess’ or ‘ogress’. There is not much in the … Continue reading →

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Wild Beings of the Wood

Posted on October 3, 2019 by

This was first published 2/4/13. The eshon (rhymes with the English word ‘ashen’) was a dangerous entity that lurked in lonely places in the hills.  They are distinct from the Giant People/Forest people written about yesterday, as they are not regarded as malevolent. … Continue reading →

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The Forest People

Posted on October 2, 2019 by

First published February 2, 2013. I’ve edited it slightly. Legends of giant hairy humanoids are told around the world. The Oregon coast has its own traditions. Our ‘bigfoot’ is not exactly identical to the popular modern legends. They do agree … Continue reading →

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Shuutlits (Forest Fires) and the Willanch Monster

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

This was first posted October 13 2015. I’ve edited a little from the original. For millennia, coastal Oregon Indian people often set fires to manage the landscape to encourage the growth of desired plants– annually in camas and tarweed (Madia) fields, and … Continue reading →

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A Nursery tale in Hanis?

Posted on May 28, 2019 by

Annie Peterson told to Jacobs this very short (only 10 lines long) ‘story’ that he recorded on page 9 of notebook 99. It doesn’t seem to be a part of a longer story, just an odd stand alone story. So … Continue reading →

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A Trickster fragment

Posted on March 26, 2019 by

When Melville Jacobs worked with Annie Peterson in 1933 and 1934, he got a long saga of five generations of tricksters (which was printed in his “Coos Myth Texts” printed by University of Washington Press in 1940). She also told … Continue reading →

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“Stealing of Fire and Water”

Posted on April 23, 2018 by

Many tribes in the west have stories about how the First People had to acquire fire from a person or village of persons who held the only fire. Often, but not always, the hero is Coyote or another Trickster. There … Continue reading →

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