Mountain Goat (sxwtl’i7) and the Origin of Huckleberry (st’xalqw)

The Sinixt story tells about the mountain goats planting a huckleberry bush and eating the berries before surprising everyone in a race they were discounted from. They started off running together in a group and fell behind, when they approach a cliff they ran straight down the rock face were in sole position at the beginning of the race. Eagle and her sisters then followed the mountain goats to high elevations and build their nests while the original huckleberry bush spread to feed the whole region.

-Read more about the Sinixt and the original retelling of the story accessible from here

The mountain goat (oreamnos americanus) is endemic to North America and is a subalpine and alpine species noted as a sure-footed climber often seen on cliffs and ice. Their range extends from the Rocky Mountains through the Cascade Range as far as southern Yukon and Alaska. The mountain goat is not in the goat (Capra) line, instead belonging to the bovidae family, closer to the likes of muskox or Himalyan yak. Their ancestors probably crossed the Bering Land Bridge after splitting from their relatives.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_goat