TS'EK'ITS'A KWNJA'


			TS'EK'ITS'A KWNJA'
		as told by Wassily Petruska
Wassily Petruska told the story of a woman who lived at Telida with her younger brother who liked to snare ground squirrels. She is an example of how tough and resourceful people used to be.
	Ts'ek'its'a was a woman who lived at Telida with her brother. She went up Todzolno' (McKinley Fork or Swift Fork on the current maps) to the foothills. She went without any matches, rifle, bow or dogs. All she carried was a knife and some smoldering birch punk for making a fire. Her younger brother left, going downriver in a canoe. When he got back to Telida they told him she had left for the mountains by herself. She was catching a lot of squirrels. She also roasted them over the fire to eat. After eating she lay down to sleep by the fire. The sun went down and it got dark. While she was sleeping she suddenly became aware that something had come up and standing near her by the fire. There was only a little fire still burning. She took some of the dry grass she was sleeping on and carefully reached out to where there was still a little fire. When it flared up she thrust it into the long belly hair of the animal standing by the fire. They still tell the story about what happened. The "one to be afraid of" (grizzly bear) took off running. Way over there she saw it run into the timber, still burning in the dark., (Dinak'i Ch'its'utozre-3 1973:8-10).