(On Saturday, January 9th, Steve Heinzen told the following story, freely based on one of the Everett story pole legends as recorded by Chief Shelton in the 1920's. It is part of the traditional stories of the Puget Sound, specifically the Snohomish/Skagit people. Look for the figure of the Spider on the pole. In this story, the traditional Trickster figure, which is usually portrayed as Coyote or Raven, is in the form of Fox.)

One day, a long time ago, Fox came across a trout caught in a fish trap. Delighted at his good fortune, he was going to eat it, when it changed before his eyes into a baby. Fox didn't know that this was a trick played on him by Mink, but he did know a good thing when he saw it. It occurred to him that he could raise this baby to become a good hunter who would find food for him and he, Fox, would never have to worry about finding food again.

In time, the foster son grew into a fine young man and a very great hunter, even acquiring two wives which he was able to support with his great skill. Their names were Pigeon and Little Duck. But by now Fox was jealous of his foster son and tried to think of a way to get rid of him and supplant him in the affection of his two wives. Fox consulted with his Inner Voice or Second Sight and it told him to conjure up a black bird that would carry the son away, if Fox could lure him to the top of a tall tree where it would grab him. "Hmmm," retorted Fox, "That's exactly what I was thinking about doing anyway!" Fox, playing on the pride that the son took in his hunting, told the son that a certain black bird sitting in a tall tree, was uncaptureable by any hunter, unless he followed Fox's specific instructions. The son, taken in, followed the instructions that Fox gave him, including the injunction to take off all his clothing and pursue the black bird naked. At a certain point, by a pre-arranged signal from Fox, the black bird plucked the son out of the tree, and flew off with him. Thus, Fox was able to dress in his son's clothing and return to the camp, pretending to be his son. Pigeon was glad to see her husband, but Little Duck said, "Father-in-law, why are you dressed up in your son's clothing?" Fox treated her badly after that.

Fox lived well for some time in his son's place with Pigeon and Little Duck, but the son returned one night from the fourth heaven where he had been taken, as he had great magic of his own, and in secret with the help of Little Duck, who was never taken in by her father-in-law, devised a scheme to get back his wives and get rid of Fox. The son went into the forest and killed an elk and put a spell on it that made its meat turn into wood if Fox carried it over water. Little Duck told her father-in-law about the freshly killed elk in the forest and, even though he was suspicious about Little Duck's sudden cooperation, Fox went to retrieve it. Transporting it in his pack back to camp he had to wade through several streams, and by the time he'd gone through a very wide third stream which was near his camp, the elk meat was now one huge solid log that was going to drown him. He looked up to see in the distance his son scurrying off with the two wives, and only then realized he'd been tricked and while the water swirled all around him and he realized he'd never get the two women back or that easy life and he better do something else, so he decided to consult his Inner Voice or Second Sight and it told him to transform himself into a wood plate, float downstream where two women Mud Hens lived, and get trapped in their fish net. He should have all the food he could eat in that way. "Hmmm," retorted Fox. "That's exactly what I was thinking about doing anyway!"

The ride downstream was quick and the two Mud Hens took in the wood plate and used it to serve up their first meal of the day which was a large steamed salmon. None finer you ever tasted! But it disappeared so quickly, they had to cook another and still they felt they hadn't eaten anything. When this happened a second time, the said, "What kind of a plate is this and they threw it across the camp. At this point Fox turned himself into a little baby that cried and told the two Mud Hens he was their brother and they had to take care of him. The two Mud Hens were skeptical at first, but they saw that it was a baby and they couldn't be sure it was their brother or not, so they wrapped it up and hung it in the tree while they went out each day to gather food in the forest. While they were gone, Fox would climb out of the baby contraption and eat everything he could find.

This life didn't go on too long, because Fox quickly got bored with being a baby and he wanted to move on, so again he consulted his Inner Voice or Second Sight. It told him he should destroy the fish trap of the Mud Hens and let the fish go upstream where he would be greeted by the two women who lived there as a hero who brought fish to others and so be taken care of. "Hmmm," retorted Fox, "That's exactly what I was going to do anyway!" The Inner Voice or Second Sight also told him that he should put a basket over his head in case the two Mud Hens returned while he was destroying the traps so that they couldn't hurt him. "Yes!" replied Fox, "That's exactly what I was going to do anyway!" and immediately put a basket over his head. The Inner Voice or Second Sight also told him that the two women he would meet were witches so that he should be careful with them. To this Fox did not retort or reply, because he knew his own medicine was very powerful and

he could handle any witches. It was a good thing he'd put a basket over his head because just at that very moment, as he was destroying the fish traps and releasing the salmon, the two Mud Hens returned and started to beat him. But the basket protected him and he made his escape upstream

Sure enough he found a small camp where two women, almost starving, greeted him as a hero when the fish came upstream behind him. They gave him every treat and consideration, cooking the fish and looking after his needs. But as luck would have it, after a while, the fish stopped coming upstream, because of course the Mud Hens repaired their traps and things went back to normal. Soon, the women were out of sorts, seeming angry, and began to scold him, then berate him at length. At first, Fox told himself that they could do as they wanted, as he wasn't afraid of their magic, and they would still have to feed him. But, alas, this was not to be the case. For he had not been listening very well to his Inner Voice or Second Sight when it told him about the women. The voice had told him they were BITCHES, not witches! And they did not let him rest or give him any peace of mind, until they had driven him from the camp with their nagging "You worthless good-for-nothing!" "How can you be so lazy!" Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.