The Myths and Legends of the First Peoples of the Americas
Native Americans said that a hungry beaver named Wishpoosh is the origin of many tribes beavers for these feasts because the beavers living near a Native American community were considered friends of that community When the fur traders came to North America Native Americans attitudes toward beavers began to change The traders offered goods to the Native Americans in exchange for beaver furs the Native Americans captured The more pelts captured the more goods the Native Americans received Although the Native Americans had survived for many years without the kinds of goods the 6 The Myths and Legends of the First Peoples of the Americas
white traders brought they soon grew dependent on the goods The need to capture beavers in order to obtain the goods they wanted and needed sometimes led to violent confrontations with other Native Americans and with white people One legend about a great beaver named Wishpoosh was told by Native Americans of the mid Columbia River region of the Pacific Northwest It had two purposes to explain a great flood the Native Americans believed had once taken place and to explain the origins of the tribes The Legend of Wishpoosh takes place in what is now Washington state Pacific Northwest Indian Legends 7
in the region Many of the locations mentioned in the legend can be found on a map of present-day Washington state An Overwhelming Appetite Long ago when the world was very young no people lived on earth Only the Watetash the animal people roamed the land One of the Watetash was an enormous king beaver who went by the name of Wishpoosh Wishpoosh resided in Lake Keechelus high in the snow capped Cascade Mountains Wishpoosh was a very destructive beaver He had a great appetite and ate absolutely everything that came his way Soon he had eaten all the smaller creatures in the lovely mountain lake as well as those that lived on the shore Then he began devouring all the trees and the plants that surrounded the lake 8 The Myths and Legends of the First Peoples of the Americas
Kittitas Washington lies beneath the Cascade Mountains Pacific Northwest Indian Legends 9
