Meaning

A mythical part-otter, part-human shapeshifter, in Tlingit and Tsimshian folklore, sometimes represented as tricksters and at other times as helpful beings who save (and turn) drowning victims..

Example Sentences

Written by a non-native scholar, this book contains nine Tlingit and Haida tales concerned with shamans and kushtakas. Land otters were fearful hybrid beings of the spirit world. Able to live on land and in water, they had the special mission of ...

Ordinarily they can't be seen at all, but sometimes kushtakas reveal themselves in elusive shadowy forms; sometimes they are only heard; sometimes the contaminated victim experiences their reality in the furriness of his own arms and legs ...

If a body could not be recovered and cremated, a drowning victim might become a kushtaka, a half-man, half-otter changeling that occupies the realm between life and death.

I learned that kushtakas “saved” drowned people by transforming them into their own kind. Most of the stories told of drowning victims who used their newly acquired supernatural powers to help their living relatives. That seemed pretty benign.

Word Forms

• kushtaka
• kushtakas

Related Words

When Should You Use Kushtaka?

Use kushtaka when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions