A recent post here included a sketchy presentation of
one Kokopelli, trickster of Native American legend. Vee commented that it is
interesting that legends among native peoples often bear similarities one to
another, though tribal differences and locations are evident. This is a subject
area in which I am not well-versed, but it got me to thinking about my own
limited experiences.
When I was a sophomore in college, my roommate
was Bill Demmert,* a Tlingit from Craig, Alaska. After considerable time had
passed, and after the basketball season was over (Bill was on the basketball team) we
found ourselves comfortable enough with one another to be able to share some of
our thoughts. After the lessons were completed in the evening, and before we
extinguished the lights for the night, we would simply sit and perhaps munch on
the seaweed which Bill carefully doled out from his stash. It was in this
setting that he would relate his family history and the legends of his people.
Fascinating.
One tale that I recall specifically was that of
the kooshdaakaa. The kooshdaakaa were the shape-shifting land otter people of
Southeast Alaska. I was informed that the Tlingit people were very reluctant to
talk about these creatures, but I was privileged to hear a bit about them. It
seems that one of the goals of the kooshdaakaa was to steal the souls of other
people, and failing that, they might on occasion kill a victim outright. To the
Tlingit, loss of the soul was a big deal, indeed, for this deprived the victim
of his chance at reincarnation, and hence his hope of eternal life. This
behooves one to be exceedingly cautious as he goes about his daily living. Do
not have an encounter with kooshdaakaa!
In keeping with Vee’s line of thought, I
recalled that over the years I have read various stories involving
shape-shifters in other locales and among other peoples. At one stage of my
life I “got hooked” on Tony Hillerman’s stories set in the American Southwest
primarily involving the Navajo people, as well as the Hopi and the Yaqui to some
extent. One of his books was entitled Skinwalkers. Skinwalkers, or
yee naaldlooshii to the Navajo, were witches with the power to assume
animal forms, and even, in some cases, the forms of other people. Hillerman’s
last book prior to his death was The Shape Shifters, and again we find the theme
of creatures that assume various forms.
Shape-shifters have made an appearance in many
novels, and movies and television shows over the past decades. It is highly
likely that if you participate at all in popular culture you have encountered
these creatures, and hence you may fill in the rest of the story from your own
memory.
*Demmert. had a very distinguished career. You may read a bit about it here.
William G. Demmert, Jr. 1934 - 2010 RIP
