The Transformer is a pre-eminent spirit-being in many traditions of the
indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of
North America and among some Interior peoples in the same part of the continent. Often appearing as more than one being, and seen in the plural as Transformers, the name of this/these being(s) varies from people to people, though all
Coast Salish
The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coa ...
names are similar:
*In
Squamish, the name is Xáays and in their tradition there were not one Transformer, but more than one, referred to as the Transformer Brothers.
*In
Halkomelem
Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...
, the name is Xaːls; see
X̲áːytem.
*in
Lummi
The Lummi ( ; Lummi: ''Xwlemi'' ; also known as Lhaq'temish (), or ''People of the Sea''), governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group. They are based in the coastal area of the Pacific N ...
, the name of the Transformer is Xelas, sometimes Xeʼlas
The name of one of the Transformers in
Kwakʼwala is Q!aʼneqe lak, who married the daughter of a chief of the
ʼNamgis at the village of
Whulk at the mouth of the
Nimpkish River; the chief, ''Gwaʼ nalalis'', was later transformed by ''Q!aʼneqe lak'' into the Nimpkish River.
BC Names/GeoBC entry "Whulk (Former First Nation village)"
/ref>
See also
*Coyote in mythology
Coyote is a mythological character common to many cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America, based on the coyote (''Canis latrans'') animal. This character is usually male and is generally anthropomorphic, although he may have some c ...
References
Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of North America
Coast Salish culture
{{NorthAm-myth-stub