Tlingit and Haida TraditionHero
Naatsilanéi
Also known as Natsilane, NâtsAlAne'
The Tlingit carver who made the first killer whales from yellow cedar, after other woods failed, and sent them into the sea with the instruction never to harm human beings.
About Naatsilanéi
The carver of killer whales
Swanton's 'Origin of the Killer Whale' (1909) tells how NâtsAlAne', of the Tsague'dî, a branch of the DAqL!awe'dî clan, made the first killer whales. He carves them first from red cedar, then from hemlock and other woods, but each set of figures only floats when put in the water. When he carves them from yellow cedar, they come alive and swim away.
The instruction
He tells the whales that when they go up to the heads of the bays they are to hunt seal, halibut, and everything else under the sea, but never to hurt a human being. He makes them in several kinds, including a white-mouthed killer whale marked with white paint, and names the long, slender red one that swims ahead 'killer-whale-spear'. Swanton notes that because the Tsague'dî are a branch of the DAqL!awe'dî, the DAqL!awe'dî alone use the killer whale as their emblem.
Other tellings
Widely retold versions add that Naatsilanéi was abandoned on a distant rock by jealous brothers-in-law, rescued by the sea lions, and sent his whales to take revenge on the brothers-in-law's canoe. Those episodes are part of other tellings, not the short version Swanton printed, and this entry keeps them distinct.
On parentage: A mortal man of the Tsague'dî, a branch of the DAqL!awe'dî clan.
Key deeds
- Carved the first killer whales, succeeding only with yellow cedar
- Instructed the whales to hunt the sea but never harm people
- Named the killer whale that swims ahead "killer-whale-spear"
Fate
Swanton's text says nothing more of Naatsilanéi after the killer whales are made and named; the rest of that story concerns other killer-whale episodes, and it does not describe his death.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- John R. Swanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 39), story 4, "Origin of the Killer Whale"
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Hero legends were retold for centuries, and the sources often disagree on parentage, deeds and death. This entry follows the best-known versions and notes the main alternatives.