Yuri E.Berezkin
AMERINDIAN MYTHOLOGY with parallels in the Old World
Classification and Areal Distribution of Motifs. The Analytical Catalogue
4. The Bird Nester sensu stricto. .19.40.41.43.46.48.-.50.59.61.-.64.66.68.70.
Person climbs up the tree to get eggs or nestlings from the bird's nest. Another person remains on the ground. They quarrel (if not otherwise: the second one makes the first one unable to descend). See motifs K1, K2A, K3
A.
Australia.
(Djaber Djaber; Djauan).
Arctic.
(Seward Peninsul and Bering Strait Inupiaq; North Alaskan Inupiaq).
Subarctic.
Dogrib [old Owl marries a man who has adult daughter; asks her to get feathers from owl's nest; she turns into owl; stepmother puts on her clothes, changes her face, comes to her husband; he pulls off her hair, discovers an old woman, kills her; young woman refuses to become human again]: Norman 1990: 159-161; Kaska: Teit 1917a, no.17 [old woman asks her daughter to get owl-feathers; daughter is afraid to turn into owl but still climbs a tree; becomes an owl; old woman puts on her clothes, takes her appearance, wants to marry her two husbands; tells she is still young but walks slow; they recognize andf kill her; young woman refuses to become human again because husbands have killed her mother], 19 [man goes to procure feathers from eagle's nest on a cliff; asks his wife low him on a rope; Lynx orders her to go the end of the rope, abducts her; she drops feathers along the way as a sign; Mother-Eagle carries the man down on her back; shows him the direction where his wife is; wife tells her husband to sham he is her brother; they kill Lynx]: 462-463, 464-465; Tutchone [girl has two husbands; her mother asks her to get nestlings from owl's nest; she turns into owl, her hunam body falls to the ground; her mother puts on her skin and clothes, comes to her husbands; her own old husband discovers the truth, kills her]: McClelland 1987: 300.
Coast-Plateau.
(Chilcotin; Shuswap; Thompson; Lillooet; Sechelt; Snohomish; Skagit; Puget Sound; Cowlitz; Sanpoil; Coeur d'Alene; Upper Cowlitz; Western Sahaptin; Yakima; Chinook; Alsea; Coos; Takelma; Yurok; Wiyot; Karok; Shasta; Klamath; Modoc).
Plains.
(Sarsi; Blackfoot; Assiniboin; Teton; Omaha, Ponca; Arapaho; Kiowa-Apache); Kiowa [the older brother descends the younger on a rope to get nestlings from eagle's nest on a cliff; rope breaks; father tells people to go away not to see how his son dies; eagles make the lad their son; the grown up nestling descends the lad to the ground, lives with him in his tipee; warns about enemies' attack; the lad becomes the chief]: Parsons 1929, no.27: 57-59.
California.
(Pomo; Wappo; Wintu; Luiseno); Kawaiisu [man climbs a cliff to reach an eagle's nest, cannot climb back; becomes thin; mother eagle brings him rabbits; whenm the nestlings grow bigger, they descend him to the ground; he returns home]: Zigmond 1980, no.51: 171-172.
Great Basin.
(Ute).
Great Southwest.
(Navajo; Jicarilla; Apache; Zuni; Tewa); Ipai [old woman tells her two sons about eagle's nest on a high rock; the younger brother sees snakes that guard eaglets, descends; the older brings two eaglets; both want the white eaglet; the older is compelled to take the black one; eaglets die on the way home; the woman revives their spirits; brothers quarrel again; she give black and white feathers to both]: DuBois 1906: 148-149; Serrano [see motif J4A; girl is impregnated by Sun, bears twin boys; tells them that there is a mountain with eagles; they turn into thistle-down, ascend to the nest, brings two young eagles; quarrel who takes the bigger nestling; go home, birds die on the way; mother revives them]: Benedict 1926, no.3: 2-7; Mohave [as in Ipai; both brothers turns into snakes to climb the rock; the younger pretends to be unable to reach the nest; the older ealet is more valuable than the younger one; at home the younger brother again takes the older eaglet]: Kroeber 1972, no.18: 100-102; Maricopa [girl is impregnated by Gopher {who inserted his penis when she sat on the ground?}; twin sons are born; animals bring wood, claiming paternity, she accepts only Gopher's; one baby kills quail while she is away; she throws the game away thinking it left by animals; finally eats it realizing the twins will provide food; makes bows for them; they hunt larger and larger small-game, turning back in fear each time, but killing them; kill a deer, sing to make it small, and carry it home; their mother brings the deer to life and lets it run off; the twins follow; the woman transforms herself into a post, the boys are about to shoot it, when she reveals herself; the twins go to capture eaglets; circle the mountain, bearing the eagle nest; the younger gathers fallen feathers; the older deprives him of them; the younger transforms himself into a snake and attempts to climb the nest; falls down; the older transforms himself into cotton and floats up; returns with two eaglets; the younger takes the dull-colored eaglet in modesty; they are thirsty as they journey home; their mother succors them with rain, but it kills the eaglets; they bury them and destroy their bows in sorrow, are angry with their mother; she thrusts an arrow in the ground and pulls out the eaglets alive; mother tells them of arrow reeds in the east; twins try their new arrows against Coyote; go for reeds at the ocean bottom; the younger dives but fails to get them; the older dives, finds there a path guarded by four beaver, who let him pass; he gets two reeds, returns; mother makes flutes of the reeds by pointing them at the cardinal directions; has them play these at dawn; two girls hear the sound and journey north to seek it; are stopped by various men-animals; each one claims to have made the sound, fails to reproduce it, is mocked by the sisters; when the girls reach the twins' home, the mother obliterates the door-way; finally, invites them to enter; is watchful of her sons; the younger twin magically causes her to sleep, makes love to the younger sister; the older sister makes insects to provoke the older twin, fails; girls start to return home; the younger twin wants to accompany them, the older agrees to follow them; they leave a life token: two arrows in the ground supporting beads will break; girls are playing with dice in their house; twins enter by the smoke hole, sit beside them; girls' father hears them laugh; decides to kill twins, gets the aid of Coyote and Hawk; Coyote goes to kill them, but makes friends; Hawk flies through the smoke hole and clubs twins
to death; the younger sister is about to give birth, her father says he will kill a baby boy; the older sister disguises it as a girl; the child climbs a tree, the old man discovers its sex; attempts to roast his grandson, but he escapes; shoots arrows, which fall and kill the old man; his mother and aunt inform him that his grandfather was responsible for slaying the twins, his father and uncle; he decides to see his grandmother; the boy and his grandmother try to follow the uncle, fail; boy decides to become a comet, old woman becomes the morning star]: Spier 1933: 417-419 in Bahr 1998: 39-41.
Guiana.
(Pemon; Wapishana; Trio; Wayapi).
Western Amazonia.
.
Western Amazonia.
(Mai Huna; Napo; Shuar; Aguaruna); [one man lures another into a tree hollow; man turns into tree-frog]; Mai Huna [hero lures his wife's brother; to get honey]: Bellier 1991, no.4c: 184-185; Kofan [Chiga transforms a pine into parrot, puts into a tree hollow; sends another man to get it; he falls into the hollow, remains there, turns into toad]: Califano, Gonzalo 1995, no.25: 79-80; Napo [to get tucan nestlings]: Mercier 1979: 195; Achual [Master of monkeys gives luck to unlucky hunter; his wife's brothers envy his luck; when they go to hunt, he climbs a tree to catch parrots, inserts his hand into tree hollow, cannot take it back, turns into tree frog]: Mowitz 1975: 41-49.
NW Amazonia.
(Karijona; Andoque; Yucuna; Macuna; Barasana, Hugh-Jones 1979: 291; Tucuna).
Central Amazonia.
See motif K1D (Rio Branco; Surui; Parintintin).
Eastern Amazonia.
(Tenetehara).
Montana.
(Machiguenga; Cashibo; Cashinahua).
Bolivia-Guapore.
(Harakmbet; Tacana; Moseten; Chiriguano).
Southern Amazonia.
(Kamaiura; Waura; Trumai; Kalapalo; Nambikwara).
Eastern Brazil.
(Suya; Cayapo; Apinaye; Crenye; Ramkokamekra; Craho; Shavante; Sherente).