Robin and Blue-Jay (Chinook)

folktale · United States · North American

Blue Jay and Robin, two brothers, were hungry. Blue Jay called a large fish (the sleeper) to come ashore through trickery and speared it. When they returned home, Robin asked for the tail, breast, and head, making Blue Jay angry. He said that the Q!tĂȘĂȘ'nse (a supernatural monster) would eat the fish instead. Robin cried and left. Blue Jay softened and called his brother back, giving him all the choice parts. Later, Blue Jay dreamed that people were sending for him to cure a sick person. Blue Jay and Robin journeyed to cure a duck who was choking, receiving payment of a lake's worth of roots. N

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