# Kushtaka > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kushtaka > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kushtaka.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushtaka > Source revision: 1335446274 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Shapeshifters in Tlingit folklore}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=August 2008}} {{rewrite|date=April 2018}} {{primary|date=September 2024}} }} '''Kóoshdaa káa''' or '''Kushtaka''' ([lit.](/source/literal_translation) "land otter man") are [myth](/source/myth)ical shape-shifting creatures found in the [folklore](/source/folklore) of the [Tlingit](/source/Tlingit_people) peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America.{{cite journal |last1=Ortega-Borchardt |first1=José Ángel |last2=Gallo-Reynoso |first2=Juan Pablo |last3=Llamas-Romo |first3=Alexandra |date=2024 |title=Breve recuento histórico de las nutrias de río |journal=Therya Ixmana |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=83–86 |doi=10.12933/therya_ixmana-24-493}} == Description == They are similar to the 'Watsa of the Tsimshian people, [Nat'ina](/source/Nat'ina) of the [Dena'ina](/source/Dena'ina_people) Alaska Native peoples of South Central Alaska, and the [Urayuli](/source/Urayuli) of the [Yup'ik](/source/Yup'ik) in Western Alaska.{{cn|date=September 2024}} Physically, Kóoshdaa káa are [shape-shifter](/source/Shapeshifting)s capable of assuming human form, the form of an [otter](/source/otter) and potentially other forms. In some accounts, a Kóoshdaa káa is able to assume the form of any species of otter; in others, only one. Accounts of their behaviour seem to conflict with one another. In some stories, Kóoshdaa káa are cruel creatures who take delight in tricking poor Tlingit sailors to their deaths. In others, they are friendly and helpful, frequently saving the lost from death by freezing. In many stories, the Kóoshdaa káa save the lost individual by distracting them with curiously otter-like [illusion](/source/illusion)s of their family and friends as they transform their subject into a fellow Kóoshdaa káa, thus allowing them to survive in the cold. Naturally, this is counted a mixed blessing. However, Kóoshdaa káa legends are not always pleasant. In some legends it is said the Kóoshdaa káa will imitate the cries of a baby or the screams of a woman to lure victims to the [river](/source/river). Once there, the Kóoshdaa káa either kills the person and tears them to shreds or will turn them into another Kóoshdaa káa. {{cn|date=September 2024}} Legends have it Kóoshdaa káa can be warded off through copper, urine, dogs, and in some stories, fire.{{cn|date=September 2024}} Since the Kóoshdaa káa mainly preys on small children, it has been thought by some that it was used by Tlingit mothers to keep their children from wandering close to the [ocean](/source/ocean) by themselves.{{cn|date=September 2024}} It is also said that the Kóoshda káa emit a high pitched, three part whistle in the pattern of low-high-low.{{cn|date=September 2024}} == In modern literature == Kóoshdaa káa appear in [Pamela Rae Huteson](/source/Pamela_Rae_Huteson)'s ''Legends in Wood: Stories of the Totems'' in the legend 'War with the Land Otter Men', as well as [Pamela Rae Huteson](/source/Pamela_Rae_Huteson)'s ''Transformation Masks'' with the 'Kooshdakhaa Den'; and [Garth Stein](/source/Garth_Stein)'s ''Raven Stole the Moon''. [Harry D. Colp](/source/Harry_D._Colp) describes a miner's encounter with the Kóoshdaa káa at [Thomas Bay](/source/Thomas_Bay) in the short story "The Strangest Story Ever Told."{{cite book|last=Colp|first=Harry D.|title=The Strangest Story Ever Told|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCs6tjcb6osC|year=1953|publisher=Exposition Press|isbn=9781578330829}} It is also the subject of the Alaskan-set horror novel ''Kushtaka'' by David Pierdomenico.{{cite book|last=Pierdomenico|first=David|title=Kushtaka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMshrgEACAAJ|date=15 February 2015|publisher=Dap Publishing|isbn=978-0-692-38046-8}} Kóoshdaa káas also appear in [William Giraldi](/source/William_Giraldi)'s novel ''Hold the Dark'' (2015). The second book of [Ann McCaffrey](/source/Ann_McCaffrey)'s science-fiction [The Twins of Petaybee series](/source/Anne_McCaffrey_bibliography), ''Maelstrom'', features a species of shape-changing deep-sea otter that refer to themselves as Kóoshdaa káa.{{cite book|last1=McCaffrey|first1=Anne|last2=Scarborough|first2=Elizabeth Ann|title=Maelstrom: Book Two of The Twins of Petaybee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjK_4rcqrlEC&pg=PT129|date=26 December 2006|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-345-49736-9|pages=129–}} The Kóoshdaa káa is the main antagonist in the Bill Schweigert novel ''The Beast of Barcroft'' (2015).{{cite book|last=Schweigart|first=Bill|title=The Beast of Barcroft|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d77TBwAAQBAJ|date=17 November 2015|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8041-8136-5|chapter=25}} They are also depicted in the book ''Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural'' by Mary Giraudo Beck.{{Cite book|last=Beck|first=Mary Giraudo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MHCCQAAQBAJ|title=Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural|date=2003|publisher=Graphic Arts Books|isbn=978-0-88240-971-9}} The short story "Kushtuka" by Mathilda Zeller, features the eponymous creature as a shapeshifter who assumes the image of the protagonist. The story is featured in the collection "[Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology](/source/Never_Whistle_at_Night%3A_An_Indigenous_Dark_Fiction_Anthology)" published in 2023.{{Cite book |title=Never whistle at night: an Indigenous dark fiction anthology |date=2023 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0-593-46846-3 |editor-last=Hawk |editor-first=Shane |edition=1st |location=New York |editor-last2=Van Alst |editor-first2=Theodore C.}} == In television == The Kóoshdaa káa is investigated in the 2015 [Discovery Channel](/source/Discovery_Channel) series [Missing in Alaska](/source/Missing_in_Alaska) in episode 10 "Shapeshifters from the River".{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5435660/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1 | title=Missing in Alaska (TV Series 2015– ) - Episode list - IMDb | website=[IMDb](/source/IMDb) }}{{Unreliable source|date=September 2024|certain=y|reason=[WP:IMDB](/source/WP%3AIMDB)}} The Kóoshdaa káa is investigated in the 2014 series [Alaska Monsters](/source/Alaska_Monsters) in episode 3 "The Otterman".{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4165012/?ref_=ttep_ep3 | title=Alaska Monsters (TV Series 2014– ) - Episode list - IMDb | website=[IMDb](/source/IMDb) }}{{Unreliable source|date=September 2024|certain=y|reason=[WP:IMDB](/source/WP%3AIMDB)}} ==References== Category:Folklore of Alaska Category:Fictional otters Category:Legendary creatures of the Indigenous peoples of North America Category:Legendary mammals Category:Monsters Category:Shapeshifters Category:Therianthropes Category:Tlingit mythology Category:Water spirits --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kushtaka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushtaka) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushtaka?action=history)). 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