The Eagle Crest

: ALASKAN STORIES
: Indian Legends Retold

It is well known that there is a certain clan which claims the Eagle

for its crest or totem, and this is how it happened.



There was once a very poor man, so poor that he could not even get

enough to eat. He was always cruising around in a small canoe, trying

to catch a few little fish with which to keep himself alive. One day

he caught nothing, and as he had brought no food with him in the boat

he became
ery hungry.



Early in the morning, as he lay on the shore, he heard a voice but

could not tell where it came from. The voice said: "I have come after

you." The man looked all around him, but saw only a young Eagle

perched upon the branch of a tree. Then the voice said quite plainly:

"My grandfather has sent me to get you." This time the Eagle looked

to him like a real person, and he followed it into the woods.



The trail led to a fine large house high up on a cliff, and inside

there was plenty of good food. There were also mats to sit upon and

all the comforts to be found in good houses. The Eagles treated the

poor man well, and since he was wretched and despised among his own

people, he wanted to stay with them always. He married one of the

Eagle women and became one of them.



Now the mother and brothers of this man were just as poor and

contemptible as he had been, and he pitied them, now that he himself

was well off. Whenever he saw his brother out fishing, he would leave

some fish where the other could find it. The brother was astonished at

his luck and could not account for it.



One night his mother had a dream. She dreamed that a large fish might

be found upon a certain point of land, and when they went there, the

fish was where she had dreamed she saw it. Soon afterward she dreamed

that they must camp on a certain spot, where they would find much

food. While they camped there, they all saw an Eagle bring a fish

ashore, after which he sat upon a branch not far from them, and

exclaimed: "Do not be afraid; it is I!"



Such is the origin of the Eagle clan, which is now a large one and

respected of all the people.



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