Legend
Legends are often used to explain how natural resources came to be. In this legend, the Klallam explain the history of Lake Nahkeeta.
Many years have passed since Nahkeeta, a beautiful maiden, lived in the northern foothills of what are now known as the Olympic Mountains. Nahkeeta was a gentle girl, greatly loved by her people. She was as pretty and as graceful as the maidenhair ferns that grew in the forest. Her voice was as cheerful and musical as the sounds of the little stream that flowed from under the waterfall not far from her home.
Her people were canoe Indians. They got most of their food from the saltwater, very little from hunting. In the summer, after the salmon had been dried and stored for winter, the women gathered berries near the edge of the forest. In the autumn, the women went to openings in the forest to gather currants and roots and tiger lily bulbs. They almost never went into the deep woods.
One autumn day, Nahkeeta was gathering roots with her mother and sisters. She wandered into the deep woods, enjoying the carpets of ferns, the moss-wrapped logs and moss-draped trees, and the yellow-green light that shimmered through the forest.
After a while, she realized that she had wandered far. When she turned round to go back, she realized she was lost. She called to her mother and sisters, but she knew that her voice was lost in the bigness and tallness of the forest. She knew her family would be able to hear only the murmur of the mountain streams. She tried to retrace her steps. Slowly, the yellow-green sunlight of the forest faded. Darkness came. Nahkeeta struggled on, often climbing over fallen logs and getting tangled in the vines and ferns and small trees that grew from the old moss-covered trunks. At last, too weary and frightened to go further, she dropped down on the moss beside a log and fell asleep.
Next morning her people searched for her. "Nahkeeta! Nahkeeta!" they called, again and again and again. There was no answer but the song of the wind in the treetops and the murmur of the mountain streams.
For three days her people looked for her. On the fourth day someone stumbled over a moss-covered log. Beside it, in a pool of blood, lay Nahkeetas body. Some wild beast had torn it.
Grief filled the hearts of Nahkeeta's people as they buried her body in a valley in the forest. For days, mournful chants and the sad wailing of women filled the air. The people's sorrow was so great that the Spirit Chief's heart was touched. One morning when the people arose, they were surprised to see a beautiful little lake, its blue-green waters surrounded by white-barked alders. The lake covered the place where Nahkeeta was buried.
The Indians called the little lake Nahkeeta. They said that every autumn the birds hovered over the lake and called, "Nahkeeta, Nahkeeta!" The only answer was a ripple over the water.
Today the lake is known as Lake Sutherland, because the first white man to see it was John Sutherland. Nahkeeta has been forgotten, except by a few old grandmothers of her tribe.
How Well Did You Read and Understand the Story?
Hint: When you are asked to describe part of a text, your goal is to create a mental picture for your reader. Use colorful words and lots of details.
1. Name three ways the Klallam got food.
2. Why did Nahkeeta wander into the deep woods?
3. How did Nahkeeta die?
4. Discuss why the people named the lake Nahkeeta. Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.
5. Describe the feelings the people in the story have for Nahkeeta. Support your answer with the text.
6. Select a passage from the text that painted a clear image in your mind. How did the section help you visualize the story?
7. What do you think is the purpose of this legend? Use specific clues from the text to support your answer.
8. The Spirit Chief took pity on the grieving people and created a beautiful lake for them. List five adjectives that best describe the Spirit Chief's character.
9. What are two lessons you can learn from this story? What in the story taught you the lessons you wrote about?
10. Lake Nahkeeta was renamed Lake Sutherland, after the first white settler to see it. Do you think this happened often? What makes you think this way?