YA/Juvenile mythological quest novel about Pacific Northwest Native American kid

[Jason]

I am looking for a juvenile/YA novel that I used to take out of the library in the early 1980s. I suspect it was published in the 1960s or 1970s. It didn't seem super-new in the 1980s, but also didn't seem old-fashioned. The book was in English and presumably published in the USA or Canada.

If I remember correctly, it is about a Pacific Northwest Native American boy who has adventures with mythological villains, including basket woman/ogress/witch and a giant who has a castle-like home full of traps and hazards, including a bed made of spikes. Towards the beginning he is lost in the woods and collecting beautiful stones; I think one of the stones turns out to be a charm or useful later in the story.

I'm not sure if it is a retelling of a traditional folktale, or an invented story using traditional mythology

It has very nice illustrations—delicately-colored and fairly detailed.

I can't find anything like this in the small town library where I used to take the book out every summer. No luck searching what I could think of on WorldCat, Google, or lists of Pacific Northwest books.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Bump.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jason, still looking or did you find it?

[Jason]

@Lobstergirl I’m still looking!! Do you also remember this book?

[Memp]

Kind of a long shot, but this reminds me of Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer. It's about a young Native American boy called Younger Brother / Dawn Boy / Little Singer, who wants to become a medicine man like his uncle. There are various myths/legends incorporated throughout the book and the boy finds evidence of them in the natural world. It's told in a gentle style and has a few beautiful illustrations.

The main "conflict" of the book is when Younger Brother takes on a quest to travel to the Pacific Ocean to retrieve a basket of water for a special ritual. As a medicine man in-training, he does collect various stones and other objects/artifacts that have significance to him religiously (and which later figure as a part of the story).

[Jason]

@Memp No, that’s not the book I was looking for. But I appreciate you mentioning it and now I want to read that one, too!

[Capn]

Anything here? Been adding to it, but admittedly, I don't recognize it (am also interested in your book!):

Middle Grade and YA Books with Native American Protags
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I don't suppose you could recall the specific First Nations clan or band it involved? :( Coast Salish, or Haida, Cowichan, etc.

I created this list recently as well (again, not confident I caught it at all, but maybe an author seems familiar to you):

20th Century Juvenile Fiction set in BC
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Jason]

@Capn No, I don’t see it on those lists. (Nice lists, though!) If I had to guess on gut feeing I’d say Coast Salish, but I know I don’t know.

[Capn]

I just found a book I'm going to need to read but haven't yet that might fit the bill:

Ghost Paddle: A Northwest Coast Indian Tale
Houston apparently illustrated it himself. If it sounds familiar, you can flip through it on OpenLibrary here: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL72998...

EDIT: Aww, I don't think it's your book. I just read it online. There are references to mythology, but no supernatural element, just warring tribes and a quest for peace. Good read, nice illustrations, but not your book, I don't think. :(
(I also don't think it's Eagle Mask: A West Coast Indian Tale either, but I haven't read it - also on OpenLibrary)

Kiviok's Magic Journey: An Eskimo Legend at an outside chance, but it's not the setting you describe:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17998...
It has an ogre, an evil raven, and a wife who is/was a snow goose. And sea witches under the sea.

[Jason]

@Capn sorry somehow I missed your last reply! No, none of those are my book, but I'd like to take a look at Eagle Mask and Kiviok's Magic Journey!

[Kris]

Ebay has a few photos of illustrations inside Eagle Mask: A West Coast Indian Tale by James A. Houston. Click the down "V" arrows to view all the images.

- https://www.ebay.com/itm/234502674059
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/284800937052

[Jason]

@Kris Thanks! Can't say I love those illustrations, but definitely interesting to see.