Story The Legend of Qwalina

PLEASE READ: So on Friday I went to an Aboriginal Awareness assembly, a story teller told my school a story that sent chills down everyones spine. I'm gonna do my best to write the story from what I remember. Although I am trying to fit a 20 minute presentation into a story, I think I wrote it well. Please note, this is an actual legend from the Canadian Coast Salish Aboriginal tribes. Also note that I listened to this story in the dark of an auditorium, inside an audience of over 500 people, and the story teller used a drum and enhanced speech make things intense/scary. Also note that this story may be frightening to younger readers.

Coast Salish Mask of Qwalina

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The Legend of Qwalina
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The story starts, when a young girl named Qwalina was born, the daughter of a chief. Life was normal for Qwalina, but she had a problem. Her land would always curl into a fist. She would try and uncurl her hand but the muscles would always pull it back into a fist. Luckily for her, her father was a chief. The chief called upon the greatest healers in the land. Qwalina was treated with the best medicine, and got attention from the best doctors. And then something extraordinary happened. Her hand uncurled, and stayed that way.
But it was a matter of days before the muscles in her hand curled up once more. And after seeing the best medicines fail, the healer told Qwalina that there was nothing they could do. Qwalina would have to live her life with only one good hand. She felt sad, and depressed. She knew life was going to be tough for her. But the worst was yet to come.

She started going to school, and her problems went from bad, to worse. The children at the school would see her hand, and laugh. They mercilessly teased and pointed at something that was different from them. It was some kind of instinct, to make fun of something that was different from the majority. Qwalina tried to hide her hand, she would keep it in her sleeve, or hide it behind her back. But the children still taunted. By the time Qwalina was thirteen years old, the teasing hadn't stopped.

Qwalina decided she had enough. She was sick of the laughing and pointing at school. She started to hate the kids there. And she did what she thought was her only option.
She ran away. Deep into the forest, and she never came out.

The children decided to make it a game, to go into the forest and look for Qwalina, so they could tease her just a little bit more. But Qwalina adapted. She trained herself to sleep in the day, hidden from sight. She would only come out at night. But some of the older kids who could stay up late, would search for her after dark.
But Qwalina changed some more, she found an old black cloak. It was probably left by a hunter, but she wore it. And no one could see her moving amongst the trees at night. But she still had one weakness. The children could still listen for her, since she stepped on twigs and leaves as she moved. But Qwalina changed even more. She discovered a forest sound that she could mimic with her lips. And she could make it loud enough to cover up the sound of her moving. Whenever she moved, she would make a high pitched whistling sound, like the wind blowing through the trees. (Notice on the mask how her lips are pursed)
And then Qwalina was completely hidden. And then, some of the children who went looking for her at night.
Never came back.

Parents who wanted to keep their children would tell them before bed, that if they ever heard a whistling sound in the forest after dark, run. For Qwalina roamed the woods seeking for children. It was never known what happened to the kids, they just never came back.
Years passed, no one had searched for Qwalina in a very long time. But a son of a chief was born. A strong, powerful, brave young man. He boasted about his strength to his friends. He talked about how he was going to be chief one day. But one of his friends had enough of his boasting, and said "You think you are the bravest, you say you are the toughest. Prove it. Do something no one else can do."
The young man thought about this, and decided "You are right, I will do something brave. I will find the woman in the old legend. And I will bring back a lock of her hair."

They settled on this challenge. The young man set out at night, in search of Qwalina. He ventured to the deepest, darkest part of the forest. He found a creek, and walked up it, hoping for a sign that Qwalina was somewhere close. And while walking up the creek, he felt like something was watching him. He turned towards the forest and saw a dark figure moving amongst the trees.
And he chased it. He chased the figure for a long time, his knife in hand, ready to take a lock of hair. But the figure was faster then him. He had to stop to take a breath. He had lost sight of the figure.
Now he was alone and afraid. And that's when he heard it.

The high pitched whistle echoed around him. It was at that moment he remembered that before he went to bed at night, his father would always tell him that if he heard that sound in the forest after dark, run.
It was Qwalina.

And he never came back.

 

yas.
But remember I didn't make this, it's a legend told to me by a Coast Salish story teller.

 

I'm scared of ur backyard now ;-;

 

Dude u have no idea, the guy who told me this did it in a dark audotirum, he paused at intense parts and used a buffalo skin drum to make things more intense.
The part before the guy gets grabbed, a video came on the overhead screen, almost like a small theatre.
The video showed a forest at night, and a dark shape moving between the trees.

 

Creepypastas keep me up at night ;-;
But @potatopotpie always saves me with warm penguin hugs <3

 

Penguin hugs are always the best

 

It's an aboriginal name.

 

Ask @potatopotpie for a warm penguin hug

 

me too!