Kushtaka

The Kóoshdaa káa, also known as the Kushtaka or "land otter man," is a prominent shape-shifting entity found in the folklore of the Tlingit peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, bearing similarities to the 'Watsa, Nat'ina, and Urayuli of neighboring Alaskan tribes. Capable of assuming human form, the appearance of an otter, or various other species, these creatures are described through conflicting accounts as either malevolent tricksters who lure sailors to their deaths or benevolent spirits who save the lost from freezing by transforming them into fellow otters. While this transformation is often seen as a mixed blessing that allows for survival in the cold, other legends depict the Kóoshdaa káa as predatory beings that mimic the screams of women or the cries of infants to draw victims toward the water where they are either shredded or forcibly converted.

Often used by mothers as a cautionary figure to prevent children from wandering near the dangerous ocean, the creature is said to emit a distinct, high-pitched, three-part whistle in a low-high-low pattern and can be warded off through the use of copper, fire, dogs, or urine.