Mosquito Totem Pole
Native Tribes have handed down the legend of the mosquito in their oral history for years. It is said that the Mosquito arose from transformed remains of chopped up cannibal beings and it continues to love blood.
The Tligint tribe told the story of a giant that used to catch and eat humans. The council come together and a plan as made to kill the giant out of fear that none of the tribe would survive if they didn't. One of the men of the tribe then pretended to be dead and the giant found him. He took him to his home and laid him by the fire then went off to get firewood to use to cook the human. During this time the man found the giants knife and when the giant's son came home he grabbed him and threatened to kill him if he did not tell him where his father's heart was. The son told the human his father's heart was in his left heal. When the giant came back, the human stabbed him in the heal. The giant dropped to the ground and died. Although he was dead, the giant said "Through I'm dead, though you killed me, I'm going to keep on eating you and all the humans in the world forever!" The man said that is what you think and cut up the giant and threw him into the fire. The man tossed the ash into the air and each piece turned into a mosquito. He then heard the giant say he would eat him till the end of time and felt a sting from a mosquito bite.
This legend of how the mosquito came to be is an example of how connected the Native People are with the environment.
The Tligint tribe told the story of a giant that used to catch and eat humans. The council come together and a plan as made to kill the giant out of fear that none of the tribe would survive if they didn't. One of the men of the tribe then pretended to be dead and the giant found him. He took him to his home and laid him by the fire then went off to get firewood to use to cook the human. During this time the man found the giants knife and when the giant's son came home he grabbed him and threatened to kill him if he did not tell him where his father's heart was. The son told the human his father's heart was in his left heal. When the giant came back, the human stabbed him in the heal. The giant dropped to the ground and died. Although he was dead, the giant said "Through I'm dead, though you killed me, I'm going to keep on eating you and all the humans in the world forever!" The man said that is what you think and cut up the giant and threw him into the fire. The man tossed the ash into the air and each piece turned into a mosquito. He then heard the giant say he would eat him till the end of time and felt a sting from a mosquito bite.
This legend of how the mosquito came to be is an example of how connected the Native People are with the environment.
"Strong Boy supports the grizzly bear above him. The grizzly, which symbolizes bravery, holds a mosquito as a warning that all is not easy "(Port of Seattle 2009). |