Salmon
Nez Perce · numen · Nez Perce traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Salmon (nacóx) are the First Salmon whose release Coyote secured by breaking the dam that penned them downstream, so opening the runs that ascend the Snake, Clearwater, and Salmon rivers each season. The event founds the fisheries and the observances surrounding the first catch that are central to Nez Perce life. Sources differ on the identity of the beings who kept the dam before Coyote broke it.
Domains
- rivers
- subsistence fishing
Powers
- ascends the rivers each season
Epithets
- nacóx — chinook salmonHaruo Aoki, Nez Perce Dictionary (1994) (primary)
Relations
- ally: CoyoteLiberated by Coyote and granted to the people.Ella E. Clark, Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest (1953) (secondary)
Sources
- Coyote breaks the dam holding back the salmon and looses the runs up the rivers, founding the Nez Perce fisheries.: Ella E. Clark, Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest (University of California Press, 1953) (secondary); Archie Phinney, Nez Percé Texts (1934) (primary)