Makah Cosmos

          The Makah People have many different folk stories, myths, and legends.  Some of their more important Mythological Figures include, Hohoeapbess also known as the Two Men Who Changed things, they are the brothers of the the sun and the moon who where put on the earth to create animals, people, and the land.  The Raven is known as a cultural hero, it is known as a benevolent animal who helps people but is also known to get into a lot of trouble in most of the stories it appears in.  Lastly the Basket Ogress is a giant monster who catches human children and puts them in their pack and takes them away to eat them. 
           One of the makah ledgends about the two men who changed things is a story about two men: the sun and the moon, who came to change humans into birds and animals, explain how animals and birds came to be on the earth.  They changed their wife into a raven, and another into a crow, and gave them strong beaks to tear apart their food. Another story about the children stolen by the cannibal basket women is very similar to hansel and grettel. The story is about a group of children who went on a camping trip with their parents, they get kidnapped by Basket Ogress and she takes them to her cabin. She starts a fire of coals to prepare to cook the children.  One of the children come up with an idea to push the Basket Ogress into the hot coals so they can run away, they successfully push her into the coals and run back to safety with their parents and tribe.  
          Makah legends, stories, and folk tales were a way to entertain the children and adults around the campsite, and to also extend their culture down the line of generations.  Stay tuned for the next blog post about the birds of the Makah Culture!