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How The Sun Was Stolen [archive]
This article has been archived from the Chehalis Tribal Newsletter
for educational purposes. The legend is only available in .PDF format which is hard for some of our users to read, so we have reproduced it here in
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How The Sun Was Stolen
Once upon a time, there lived
a chief who kept the sun in a box.
When his daughter went to gather
berries, she carried the box along
and opened it a little so that she
was able to see. When she had
filled her basket, she carried the
box home to her father.
The people in other countries
were very poor. They held a council
in which they deliberated how they
might obtain the sun. Finally they
decided to send Kali-qoo to the
chief to steal the sun.
When he reached the country,
he assumed the shape of an old
slave. The people found him and
took him home to their chief. Blue
Jay lived in the house of the latter.
He said "Oh, that used to be my
father's slave. He lost him one
day. His grandfather had been
my father's slave." The people
believed him and gave him to Blue
Jay.
When the chief's daughter
went picking berries; they took
him along to paddle the canoe.
He was a very good oarsman, and
Blue Jay said, "That is Tsi sti saatq,
he was a very good oarsman." And
they believed him. When they were
traveling along, the slave began
to say "Tses, tses, tses." The Blue
Jay said to his brother Robin, "He
always spoke so when he carried me
about when I was a little boy." But
the Robin did not remember. And
Blue Jay said, "Oh, you are good
for nothing,. You are older than I am
and you do not remember him."
Finally they arrived at the berry
patch and the girl opened the box a
little. As soon as the sun appeared,
the slave jumped up, seized the
box and opened it. And it became
daylight. He ran away and they were
unable to catch him. The people
almost killed Blue Jay because his
lies had been the cause of their
losing the sun.
Kali-qoo took the sun home to
his chief, who gave it to the people
saying, "Henceforth, we will all
enjoy the sun and not one man alone
shall have it."
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