Sisiutl

The Sisiutl (Si’sEyuL) is one of the most powerful crests, and mythological creatures in the mythology of the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Squamish, Nuxalkmc and various other Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and figures prominently in their art, dances and songs. Sisiutl is the god of warrior invincibility, a magic war-canoe that can go underground (Winalagalis), and guardian of the house of the sky people.

Sisiutl are frequently depicted as a two headed sea serpent or snake with a humanoid head (and hands) in the middle of the body. All three heads are surmounted by "horns of power" (also seen on thunderbirds).

NWC whalers told of a powerful whaling charm, a black two headed “worm.”

According to Boas the word for sisiutl in Tsimshian is "Laqaqua'sa" [literally "both sides head"] (Boas, "Vocabularies of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian" 1891). The soulcatcher (Haboolm Ksinaalgat) of the northern Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Haida peoples exhibits the same body form, and may derive its form from the sisiutl.

The humanoid central head likely symbolizes Sisiutl’s supernatural shape-shifting powers (most commonly transforming into human form, a self-propelled canoe, or salmon). Sisiutl could also change size from a few centimeters (form of a woodworm), to a span sufficient to block off a bay. As a transformative creature of vast shamanic power, the Sisiutl could travel in and across all boundaries (worlds): land, water, & air. There is a belief among the Coast Salish that Sisiutl employ orca for transportation.

So powerful are Sisiutl, that contact, stepping on one’s slime trail, or even seeing one, was believed to cause sickness or death. According to legend, looking at the sisiutl can turn a person into stone. However, if one kills a Sisiutl, it has healing powers.

Artifacts commonly adorned with Sisiutl include masks, “flying" props, power boards (dance boards), totem poles, clubs, knives, whistles, house beams, button blankets, setee, drums, wooden belts, pectoral ornaments, headdresses, frontlets, feast bowls, and canoe decorations.

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