The Ozette Prairies of Olympic National Park - Natural Resources ...

working in the prairies].
…She could not eat or touch fern roots (t’sikwi’), because she would have pains as if stung by needles,
just like the plant has them. She could not eat or touch a certain species [?] of camas, otherwise she would
have lumps in her belly. She could not eat or touch horsetail roots (tsexaq) for the same reason. She
could not eat or touch fern roots because these travel like a snake inside her body. [Taboo against various
types of berries picked on prairies and elsewhere.] She could not eat or touch wild parsnip (saqwsuda’)
as these would cause in her womb lumps shaped just like carrots. Nor could she touch xa’at’ada (a plant
like camas but smaller and very hard [?]). Nor q’a’abat’s (a long plant 4 inches wide and one-half inch
through [?]), as it will cause lumps in her belly. She could not touch any bird, as otherwise the child
would act just like the eaten or touched bird. She could not eat nor touch any kind of game (deer, elk,
etc.) because the child will act just like the eaten animal. A pregnant woman could not look upon a dying
or dead animal or person, because the child will be dead also. The husband of a pregnant woman is
forbidden to see, touch or eat any of the things forbidden to his wife.
[4:107] Twins. The parents of twins and young twin children had especially stringent taboos, including
camas. The parents of twins could not look at the river or streams or at the ocean. As soon as twins were
born the parents and the children moved away into the woods or prairie to avoid the sight of the ocean
and river, otherwise there wouldn’t be any fish or whales in the water. After eight months all taboos are
expired.
[5:13-15] Orphans and widows. Orphans were allowed to eat anything after the death of their parent,
but the widow or widower could not eat any berries, camas. A woman or man eating berries or camas
then would become dried out and skinny like the dried berries or camas.
[5:22] Webb Jones and Dixon Payne - Religion, worldview, origins.
Thunder and lightning are caused by Thunderbird….Originally he is a man….He has a house in the snow
peaks of the Olympics. Everytime he goes to the sea he puts on his blankets which make him look like
a bird. Upon returning he takes off his clothes and becomes a man again. He looks like an eagle, but is
much larger. His wings are so large that they extend from the top of a tree to the ground and the feathers
are 12 feet long. He causes the thunder by flapping his wings and the lightning by spreading them out.
He can still be seen [and heard] today. One day a woman saw him at Forks Prairie (qet’Layayqwoqw).
Her husband came to see it and got a feather from the tail. This made him a great elk hunter.
[5:23] The fire and how to start one was shown to the people by Q’wati. [This happened in Forks Prairie
area and was the beginning of keeping the prairies open by burning them.]
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