Qals (Mink) and the Transformations (Coast Salish)
Qals (Mink) is a major trickster figure in Coast Salish mythology, particularly in the Fraser River region. In the longest and most important story told by George StsE'lis to Franz Boas, Qals shapes the world through his encounters with various flawed ancestors. Mink tricked a chief's daughter into sleeping with him, producing a human boy named T'qulä'tca, who became the ancestor of the Ts'uwä'l people. Qals encountered numerous beings who needed correction: he transformed a toothed-vagina woman named LEqyiles who bit off Mink's hand into stone on the Harrison River; he changed a one-legged ma