A long time ago, a man wandered down the Nass River. When he set up camp, he made rocks of curious shapes. His name was Qa meaning the Raven and he traveled all over the world. At the time, the sea was always high. Qa discovered a rock in the sea and he built a house under the rock. He did this by cutting a hole through it and fitted a lit to it. He put a man in charge of the whole and twice a day he opens the lid and twice each day he closes it. When the whole is open, the water rushes into it and then it's low tide. When the lid is closed, the water rises again and it's high tide.
Tael, a Tlingit chief was carried out to Qa's rock while hunting sea otters. He could not escape the strong current. He through his canoe line over the trees and was carried down by the water into the hole under the rock. He heard a noise, it was the the man putting the lid on the hole. The water began to rise and Tael paddled rapidly until the tide was low where he could get his canoe. Once the tide was high, Tael escaped.
The Origin of the Tides by Katharine Berry Judson
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