Creek Woman
Haida · deity · mythic primordial · Recorded classification
Female; deity-class founding ancestress of the Eagle moiety and matron of fresh water and salmon. The prompt's 'Property Woman/Djila'qons' conflates two distinct figures: Property Woman (a forest wealth-spirit also known among the Tlingit) is separate from Djila'qons the Eagle ancestress; this entry covers Djila'qons. Portrait masks of Dzila'qons are a recognized Haida regalia subject.
Domains
- rivers and creeks
- salmon runs
- lineage and ancestry
Powers
- control the salmon runs from the heads of rivers
- Bring the founding Eagle-moiety people in canoes
Sources
- Djila'qons, also called Creek Woman, is the ancestress of the Haida Eagle moiety; she lives at the heads of rivers and controls the salmon runs, and was the only being able to approach Foam Woman.: Swanton, John R. Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida, AMNH Memoirs 8, 1905. (secondary); Haida Gwaii Museum, 'Haida Supernatural World' exhibition. (secondary)