The Alaska Tlingit, where did we come from? Our migrations, legends, totems, customs, and taboos 9781552129470

Table of contents :
Frontmatter
Title
Copyright
Attributions
Table of Contents
Dedication
Tribute
Foreword
Ancestral Pedigree Chart for WIlliam Lewis Paul Sr.
Partial Pedigree Chart for William Lewis Paul Sr.
List of Pictures
1 - Hlane-Gitʼ, Tidal People Where Did We Come From? The Rain Board Suk-X̱een
The Rain-Board Suk-Xeen
2 - Tlingits! Where did we come from?
3 - Branches
4 - Gunnah-Kuh-Date: An Animal of Good Fortune
5 - Sheesh-Gow the Warrior Invokes the Law; License to Run a Boat?
License to Run a Boat?
6 - Like GitʼDíksh; Guh-gahn-yeetʼ Travels
Guh-gahn-yeetʼ Travels
7 - Love Divides a Nation
8 - The-Girl-Who-Nursed-the-Woodworm
9 - The Day-shee-ton Tribe and the Beaver; the Day-shee-ton move to Ahn-goon
The Day-shee-ton Beaver
The Day-shee-ton Move to Ahn-goon
10 - Stronger than Goliath
11 - Shun-koo-kady Tribe Migrate Down Ee-yukʼ-heen
12 - The GunneX̱-quon Tribe Migrate; More Travels
More Travels
13 - GunneX̱-quon Find a White Woman
14 - The GunneX̱-quon Travel On
15 - The GunneX̱-quon of the Te-quedy Become Dah-gistinnah
16 - Raven is Born Again; Gun-nookʼ; Kah-wul-kuh Escapes Koosh-dah-kah
Gun-Nookʼ
* * *
Kah-wuhl-kuh Escapes Koosh-dah-kah
17 - Travel Tales; NuX̱-uddy Tribe of Nah-ah
The NuX̱-uddy Tribe of Nah-ah
18 - Eagle Becomes a Crest
19 - Keet is Created
20 - The Kikʼs-uddy and the Gahn-nuX̱-uddy; Shaksh Raven Pole; The Flood
Shaksh Raven Pole
The Flood
21 - A Woman Drives Them Again
22 - We the People of Hit-Klane; The Dtah-koo Hit-klane; The Yun-yady Become Kuh-yashki-diton; Slavery; E-joukʼ
The Dtah-koo Hit-klane
The Yun-yady Become Kuh-yashki-diton
Slavery
E- Joukʼ
23 - The Moldy Shoulder
24 - A Raven Totem is Erected and a Price is Paid; Thirty Years for a Hat; The Challenge
Thirty Years for a Hat
The Challenge
25 - A Chapter of Tragedies; The First Christmas Murder
The First Christmas Murder
26 - Anuski (Russians) Meet Shaksh III
27 - Trouble at Sitka, Ahnuski and Kikʼs-uddy
28 - Kikʼs-Uddy Tribe of Sheetʼkuh
29 - Some Raven Legends Common to Sheetʼkah and Shtukʼheen
30 - The Kochʼuddy
31 - The Kog-Wahn-Ton Nation is Born
32 - The Kog-wahn-ton Elevate Djahk (Eagle); The Purchase of Absolute Right of the Eagle Emblem
The Purchase of Absolute Right of the Eagle Emblem
The Tsimshian Story
* * *
* * *
* * * * *
33 - Only One Hit-Klane
34 - Conclusion
Postlude - The Wrangell Potlatch of 1940 (F. L. Paul)
Pictures
Appendix 1 - Face Paintings
Appendix 2 - Clans, Tribes, Houses
A
C
D
E
G
H
K
N
R
S
T
W
X̱
Y
Z
Appendix 3 - Names and Organizations
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
W
X̱
Y
Z
Appendix 4 - Glossary
A
C
D
E
G
H
I
K
N
O
Q
S
T
U
W
X̱
Y
Z
Appendix 5 - Gazetteer
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X̱
Y
Z
Appendix 6 - Significant Dates in the Life of Shquindy
Appendix 7 - Sources
Appendix 8 - Bibliography
Biography

Citation preview

THE ALASKA TLINGIT WHERE DID WE COME FROM? OUR MIGRATIONS,LEGENDS,TOTEMS, CUSTOMSAND TABOOS

By WILLIAM LEWISPAUL (aka Shquindy TEE-HIT-TON)

Order this book online at www.trafford.com or email [email protected] Most Trafford titles are also available at major online book retailers.

© Copyright 2011 William Lewis Paul (aka Shquindy TEE-HIT-TON). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author. Print information available on the last page. ISBN: 978-1-5521-2947-0 (sc)

Trafford rev. 08/16/2017

~T(9f,';9,(q.

www.trafford.com

North America & international toll-free: I 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada) fax: 812 355 4082

By William Lewis Paul (Shquindy) Illustrations by Frances Lackey Paul (Keet-dahk) Photographs by William L. Paul, Jr. (Tsu-tf_oog-eesh) Cover by Ben Paul (Kunutf_-nasti) Photo Technical Assistance by Michael Murdock Technical Assistance by Lee and Michael Murdock Edited by Frances Paul DeGermain (Shah-nah-tS,ee)

Cover illustration is the Tlingit's conception of Rain Splash, taken from the border of the famous

Suk-Keen(Rain Screen) in Yai Hit (Whale House) in the "Eternal City" i.e. Klowk'ahn, Alaska Copyright 12 February 1991 by Frances Paul DeGermain (Shah-nah-tS,ee)

3

Table of Contents Dedication Tribute Foreword List of Pictures 1- Hlane-Git', Tidal People Where Did We Come From? The Rain Board Suk-tf_een 2 - Tlingits! 3 - Branches 4 - Gunnah-Kuh-Date: An Animal of Good Fortune 5 - Sheesh-Gow the Warrior Invokes the Law; License to Run a Boat? 6 - Like Git'Diksh; Guh-gahn-yeet' Travels 7 - Love Divides a Nation 8 - The-Girl-Who-Nursed-the-Woodworm 9 - The Day-shee-ton Tribe and the Beaver; the Day-shee-ton move to Ahn-goon 10 - Stronger than Goliath 11 - Shun-koo-kady Tribe Migrate Down Ee-yuk'heen 12 The Gunnetf_-quon Tribe Migrate; More Travels 13 - Gunnetf_-quon Find a White Woman 14 - The Gunnetf_-quon Travel On 15 - The Gunnetf_-quon of the Te-Quedy Become Dah-gistinnah 16 - Raven is Born Again; Gun-nook'; Kah-wul-kuh EscapesKoosh-dah-kah 17 - Travel Tales; Nutf_-uddy Tribe of Nah-ah 18 - Eagle Becomes a Crest 19 - Keet is Created 20 -The Kik's-uddy and the Gahn-nuK_-uddy; Shaksh Raven Pole; The Flood 21-A Woman Drives Them Again 22 - We the People of Hit-Klane; 23 - The Moldy Shoulder 24 -A Raven Totem is Erected and a Price is Paid; Thirty Years for a Hat; The Challenge 25 -A Chapter of Tragedies; The First Christmas Murder 26 -Anuski (Russians)Meet Shaksh Ill 27 - Trouble at Sitka, Ahnuski and Kik's-uddy 28 - Kik's-Uddy Tribe of Sheet'kuh 29 - Some Raven Legends Common to Sheet'kah and Shtuk'heen 30 - The Koch'uddy 31-The Kog-Wahn-Ton Nation is Born 32 - The Kog-wahn-ton Elevate Djahk (Eagle); The Purchase of Absolute Right of the Eagle Emblem 33 - Only One Hit-Klane Postlude Appendix 1- Face Paintings Appendix 2 - Clans, Tribes, Houses Appendix 3 - Names and Organizations Appendix 4 - Glossary Appendix 5 - Gazetteer Appendix 6 - Significant Dates in the Life of Shquindy Appendix 7 - Sources Appendix 8 - Bibliography

4

5 6 9 13 16 19 23 28 32 36 48 52 58 61 69 76 84 87 90 92 101 105 112 117 121 125 135 142 150 156 161 171 176 190 197 205 214 221 273 284 288 298 302 315 320 322

Dedication We dedicate these stories of the migrations of Tlingit Tribes together with their myths and legends to the Tlingit peoples. Western society through the centuries has been entranced by the exploits of the Greek heroes as recorded by Homer in his Odyssey. Our stories, perhaps, will in like manner bring fresh pride in our Tlingit peoples and thereby enhance our self-identity and self-esteem. This thought was the motivation within my Father in his life-long curiosity of his identity and thus compelled him to share them with the public.

Yei ah weh. (So be it!) Frances Paul DeGermain

Shah-nah-cS.,ee Nahn-ya-ahyi Fred Paul

Kudunake Nahn-ya-ahyi

5

Tribute By Frederick Paul Presented at the dedication of the William Paul Sr. Building on the campus of the Ketchikan Community College November 3, 1978 I want to give a perspective to William Lewis Paul, the man we are honoring today, a frame of reference from whence he came so that we can understand this complicated man from his viewpoint. You see, he was born five years before Wounded Knee. After completing his formal education at Sitka Training School, Carlisle Indian School, Banks Business College, San Francisco Theological Seminary (1 year) and Whitworth College, he worked in the bonding, insurance and banking businesses. At the same time he continued his studies by taking law at the LaSalle Extension University. He was for five years tenor soloist at the First Presbyterian Church in Portland, OR. Actually, he came back to Alaska in 1920 to make enough money in a summer's fishing to go to New York City to study voice - perhaps on to a musical career. But back to his frame of reference, he found, in 1920, huge Social injustices against his people: •

No right to vote

•

No right to attend public schools

•

No mother's pensions

•

No old age assistance

•

No right to the Pioneer's Home

•

No right to a hook-off

•

Fish traps gobbling up all the fish

And so he found himself caught up in the political and legal World. He took the bar exam in 1920 and was admitted to practice law. He felt strongly that the first obligation of a lawyer, the real challenge to the ingenuity of a lawyer, was to find a legal, lawful, non-violent avenue for the correction of these social mischiefs, which unless corrected, would lead to violence. In 1922, his tribal uncle, Charlie Jones, father to his sister-in-law Mathilda, who is with us here today - was arrested for voting, and his mother, Tillie Paul Tamaree, for aiding and abetting Charlie to vote. To put it melodramatically, in 1977 the two of them and their lawyer were the enemies of organized society. They were arrested by a U.S. Marshall; arraigned before a U.S. Commissioner; indicted by a U.S. Grand Jury; tried by a U. S. Petit Jury before a U.S. District Judge, simply because they were

6

Natives. In his first term in the territorial legislature, the mother's pension came up for a vote then only white mothers with dependent children were eligible. He moved to enlarge eligibility to include all mothers. He lost by a vote of 15 to 1. He gave an impassioned speech, the thrust of which was that unless eligibility was expanded, he would bring a lawsuit to outlaw

fil!.aid

to

ill! dependent

mothers. Why? Because the only

means that Natives mothers, widowed or abandoned by their "husbands", had to support themselves and their children was prostitution. On a vote to reconsider his motion to enlarge eligibility, he prevailed - 16 to 0. Other stories include the salvage of Saxman's square mile town site and the re-establishment of schools at various villages. But his greatest fight was for Indian land rights. He began it in 1925. He got formal Indian support in 1929 when his beloved Alaska Native Brotherhood endorsed the idea which, however, was not endorsed by business or government in Alaska. As a matter of fact, in the congressional campaign of 1932, one issue was that this grotesque thought that Indians had land rights was a fraud, a criminal fraud. Later, through many conversations with Alaska's Delegate Anthony Dimond, William Lewis Paul convinced him that the Indians at least should have the right to petition the Court of Claims to prove what, if any, claims they might have in their land. Thus was born the Jurisdictional Act of 1935. A claim was initiated for the loss of timber rights in the 1902 establishment of the Tongass National Forest. The Indians lost the fish fight in 1942-1945 by not appealing the award from the Court of Claims. The Indians had claimed an exclusive right of fishery, but it fizzled into nothing. The Alaska governor and the Secretary of the Interior sponsored a bill in Congress to put the value of stumpage as of 1902 when the Tongass National Forest was created. The award was $7,500,000 and the Tlingit and Haida Central Council was created to handle the money. In the meantime, federal grand juries investigated this fraudulent, in a sense, crooked, idea of Native rights, sponsored by unlearned United States attorneys. In 1966, it was to William Lewis Paul that Charlie Edwardsen Jr. turned for the North Slope Eskimos, to begin his fourth major fight for Native land rights and, of course, what a magnificent result: 40 million acres and a billion dollars. But not for William Lewis Paul! Just as the Federal Field Committee found that Natives of Alaska owned all of Alaska, and because Congress awarded only 10 per cent to the Natives, he thought that another injustice had been committed

by the Congress on the original

Americans, and so he fought the ultimate conclusion, even urging President Nixon to veto the settlement. You see, from his frame of reference, it was wrong, wrong, wrong. Finally in the nostalgic realm, a surprise; part of the story of the Alaska flag. He wrote the law making the flag official. It is poetic; it is prophetic; it is lovely, here it is:

7

"CH30,SLA 1927": 'Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Territory of Alaska that the winning design of the flag contest held in 1927 by the American Legion, Department of Alaska, in the public, private and Native schools of the territory, be and the same is hereby adopted as the official flag of Alaska. 'That the design of the official flag is eight gold stars in a field of blue so selected for its simplicity, its originality, and its symbolism. The blue, one of our national colors, typifies the evening sky, the blue of the sea and of mountain lakes, and of wild flowers that grow in Alaskan soil; the gold being significant of the wealth that lies hidden in Alaska's hills and streams. 'The stars, seven of which form the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, the most conspicuous constellation in the northern sky, contains the stars which form the 'Dipper', including the 'pointers' which point toward the eighth star in the flag: Polaris, the North Star, the ever constant star for the mariner, the explorer, hunter, trapper, prospector, woodsman, and the surveyor. For Alaska the northern most star in the galaxy of stars, and which at some future time will take its place as the Forty-Ninth Star in our national emblem. 'That the governor shall cause the original design to be properly encased and placed in the Alaska historical museum, and that due credit be given to Bennie Benson, aged thirteen years, a student in the seventh grade of the mission territorial school near Seward, Alaska, the designer of the flag herein described and adopted as the official flag of Alaska. Approved May 2, 1927'

8

Foreword By Frances Paul DeGermain, Shah-nah-tS,eeNahn-ya-ahyi This book was written by William Lewis Paul, Shquindy. He was my Father, born May 7, 1885, died March 4, 1977, age 91. He was ahn-yuddy of the Tee-hit-ton Tribe, Raven Clan, Shgut'quon Federation of Wrangell of the Tlingit Nation of Alaska. He was a controversial man, both loved and hated. Although he seemed to have a single-minded pursuit of franchise, freedom, education, civil and equal rights for our people, that was not entirely so, for he did not ignore the raping of Alaska's resources by the white man. He was an environmentalist before it was fashionable. Nor did he ignore the history of his people. (Many files attest to these facts, letters which I did not turn over to the University of Washington Special Archives.) My brother Bill's final thesis for his Juris Prudence Doctorate in Law degree developed the aboriginal ownership of Alaska. Also In the early 1940 Bill took many pictures of Natives, habitats, canneries, and artifacts. These too, I am able to draw on. This book is about the migrations of the Tlingit people interspersed with legends, stories from the Native perspective, how various tribes developed, branched, and acquired new names and identities. The period covered was hundreds of years. William Paul never stopped studying and learning. First as a student at the Sitka Industrial and Training School where his Mother, Matilda (Tillie) Paul Tamaree (Kah-thli-yudt

Tee-hit-ton)

(1860/1952) worked after being widowed, then at Carlisle Indian Industrial School (at age 14), and course at Banks Business College (where he learned Pitman shorthand, alas - because those notes are not transcribed!) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had a football scholarship to the Dickinson Law School, but couldn't attend. (His Mother called him home because she was ill.) Then he entered Whitworth College (then in Tacoma, Washington) and graduated In 1909; one year at San Francisco Theological Seminary at San Anselmo, California, and finally a law course with LaSalle Extension University. On 6 Feb. 1972, Whitworth College awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws in recognition for his work among his people. He had five years of Latin, three years of Greek, and one year of Hebrew, plus "southern" Tlingit. In 1961 he was elected the first "Grand President Emeritus, ANB". On Nov. 15, 1978, the William Paul Sr. Building on the campus of the Ketchikan Community College of the University of Alaska was dedicated. On Nov. 12, 1999, the Grand Camp Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood honored him with Resolution 99-05 acknowledging his work on behalf of his people. By 1920, when William returned to Alaska, his Mother had serious doubts about the wisdom of the missionaries (for whom she had been an interpreter since she was 15) that the "old" ways were evil, and should be repressed. 9

She and her second husband William

Baptiste Tamaree (Sheesh-gow Kuh-yashki-diton)

(1861/1959) who's spoken English was poor, helped my Father considerably in his task of revitalizing his Native language which he had to do to talk to his people. As a child, Tillie had punished him when she caught him speaking it (thanks to the influence of the missionaries). With the help of Tillie and William, he soon was able to speak with the "Old Ones". When he recognized that if he were going to write down all these "impossible" Native words, he decided to learn how ethnologists coped with "new" unwritten languages, and he studied that. His caste - Ahn-yuddy - coupled with his education put him in an unique position to use the information

he garnered in seeking out and questioning the "Old Ones". Many of these stories Kah-th!i-yudt and Sheesh-gow told him. Both Tillie and William had spent their childhood around the campfires in the winter listening to the epics of Raven before the White man came to disrupt aboriginal life. I ran into other names of people with whom he talked also, and listed them in the appendix. This is the result. This is the book. In the summer of 1976, my Father was 90 years old. His mind was still clear, but his body had begun to fail, his heart was complaining, prostate cancer had been diagnosed, and although he had surgery, he was not well. Before he died, I edited the manuscript three times, read to and discussed with him each rewrite, trying to cover all bases that I didn't understand, trying to get a reasonable interpretation and spelling of the Tlingit words. Dr. Erna Gunther, Director of the Burke Museum with the University of Washington, read the manuscript and offered to do the final editing. Her reason was "This is oral history at its best!" But she was ill too, and had to give up. My Father died suddenly on 4 March 1977. The manuscript lay in limbo until I retired from The Boeing Co. Since then, I have edited it several times more, wishing I had been able to do so while he lived, especially since I caught hints of other stories still untold.

I wish to acknowledge and thank Tom Dalton, Duk-dain-ton, and Vi Dalton Cote, Kasa-was-K,ee Duk-dain-ton, Yeihl Clan, for their assistance in checking the glossary.

I see that I neglected to tell you all of William's Native names. They are: Kuh-kwan "He-WhoCommands-the-North-Wind

or Frost"; Shquindy "Impossible-to-be-Dishonorable";

Dtow-kak'

refers to Raven's feather; Ah-nuh-eesh, the father of Ah-nuh, "The-Sturdy-Oak", literally "on the land""; Shish-a/m, refers to the proud walk of a raven, and K,ah-dei-eesh, meaning unknown. My Mother, Frances Lackey Paul has two names Keet-dahk and Tlingit-sah-yee. She had been adopted by the Nahn-ya-ahyi twice! Yei ah-weh. (So be it!)

10

AncestralPedigreeChart for William Lewis Paul Sr.

White Man, no data Louis PAUL(Pyreau) aka Yeihl-eenug' DUKHLA-WEDY Tongass,AK B: Abt. 1857 D: 12 Dec. 1886 Wolf Clan

-

William Lewis PAULaka Shquindy TEE-HIT-TON B: 7 May 1885 D: 4 Mar 1977 RavenClan

Yah-shoodt GAHNNUK_UDDY Tongass,AK B: Abt. 1810 D: Abt. 1875 RavenClan

I

Noos-Ahl!DUHKLA-WEDY Tongass,AK B: Abt. 1847 D: Unknown Wolf Clan

I-

Shah-nah-2{.ee DUKHLA-WEDY Tongass,AK B&D unknown Wolf Clan

-

Matilda KINNONPAUL TAMAREE aka Kah-thli-yudt TEE-HIT-TON B: Abt. 1860 D: 20 Aug. 1952 RavenClan

11

James KINNONaka William WALLACE Probably Scotland B&D unknown, White Man

Kuh-gunnah KOG-WAHN-TON Sitka, AK B&D unknown Wolf /Eagle Clan

Kut-2{.ooK_ TEE-HIT-TON Wrangell, AK B: unknown D: Abt. 1864 RavenClan

~

Kah-kuh-dee-yudt TEE-HIT-TON B&D unknown RavenClan

Partial Pedigree Chart for William Lewis Paul Sr. Kut-K_ooK_ TEE-HIT·TON Wrangell, AK B: unknown D: Abt. 1864 Raven Clan

William Baptiste TAMAREEaka Sheesh-gowKUH-YASHKI-DITON B: About 1859 D:31 Dec 1955 Wolf Clan

-

James KINNONaka William WALLACE Probably Scotland B&:Dunknown, White Man

Matilda KINNONPAUL TAMAREEaka Kah-thli-yudt TEE-HIT-TON B: About 1860 D: 20 Aug. 1952 Raven Clan

-

Louis PAUL(Pyreau) aka Yeihl-eenug' DUKHLA-WEDY Tongass,AK B: About 1857 D: 12 Dec. 1886 Wolf Clan

I Frances LACKEYPAULaka Kee-dahk Tlingit-sow-yee NAHN-YA-AHYI B: 12 Dec 1889 D: 15 May 1970 Wolf Clan

(Virginia) lone STARR B: 11 Aug 1918 D: 12 Dec 2000

--

William Lewis PAULaka Shquindy TEE-HIT-TON B: 7 May 1885 D: 4 Mar 1977 Raven Clan

I

I

William Lackey PAUL aka Tsu-K_oog-eesh NAHN-YA-AHYI B: 2 Feb 1911 D: 20 June 1974 Wolf Clan

L. Frederick PAULaka Kudanake NAHN-YA-AHYI B: 26 Jan 1914 D: 28 April 1994 Wolf Clan

Benjamin S. PAULaka Kunu-K_nastiTEE-HIT-TON B: 24 July 1951 Raven Clan

12

Louis Francis PAULaka Huy-ash TEE-HIT-TON B: 10 Jan 1887 D: 18 Dec 1952 Raven Clan

I Frances Paul DeGERMAIN aka Shah-naK_-ee NAHN-YA-AHYI B: 14 April 1924 Wolf Clan

List of Pictures Drawings by Frances Lackey Paul, Keet-dahk Photos by William Lackey Paul, Tsa-K_oog-eesh Photo Technical Assistant, Michael Murdock Raindrop from border of Rain Screen, Yai Hit, Klowk'ahn; front cover, (1) William Lewis Paul plays football at Whitworth College, (back cover) William Lewis Paul holding the Tee-hit-ton Crest Hat; his brother Louis; (Postlude)(230) Beaver Ceremonial Blanket, Dentalium Shells; John Wallace and family, Wm.'s half uncle (231) Beaver Design ceremonial hats, two (232) Chiefs who gave last old-time Koo-eeK, Klowk'ahn (233) Chilkat Blanket, Raven Clansman with Eagle Clan wife, Pattern Board; Keet design, photo by Martha Sheldon (234) Day-shee-ton chief, Peter Dick in Beaver Coat and hat (235) Day-shee-ton double raven (236) Dook'duhl (Blackskin) House Post, Yai Hit; Old Blackskin Pole, Shaksh Isl. (237)

Eagle Carving on Wall, home of Willie Peters, K/owk'ahn (238) Girl-Who-Nursed-the-Woodworm,

modern pole (239)

Gunnah-kuh-date' hat poles, Wrangell (240) Nass-shuh-kee-yehl/Creator Raven, Governor's Mansion, Juneau (241) Gun-nook' hat design (242)

13

Keet-ls-Alive, Wall painting (16,19); helmet of Kathlian, d. 7-12-1942; typical war club (243) Keet Button Blanket, Nahn-ya-ahyi, owned by Shah-nah-Kee (Postlude) (244) Koch'uddy Flying Frog Pole; Button Blanket, Wrangell Potlatch, 1940; Mrs. Fannie Friday (245) Kog-wahn-ton Ceremonial Dancing Shirt, owned by Alex Andrews (246) Kog-wahn-ton Eagle Hats, two (247) Kog-wahn-ton Wolf Dancing Shirt, worn by Sah-ton-ees, Frank Price Sr. (248) Koosh-dah-kah or "Trust No Man" (249) Kudeh-ex' Koo-tee-yah (Shame Totem) erected against Kik's-uddy, Shaksh Isl. (250)

Menu from AK Steamship Co. advertising Wrangell Potlatch, 1940 (251) Nah-tsehl-hla-ney Pole, Creation of Keet (252) Nahn-ya-ahyi ~oats (Bear) Totem and Hat, Keet design (253) Nahn-ya-ahyi Canoe, Bow and Stern design drawing, burned in 1952 (254) Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl

(Box-of-Daylight) Pole, Shaksh Isl. (255)

Petrographs on Shaksh Isl. (256) Rain Screen from Yai Hit, Klowk'ahn (257) Raven Hat which triggered 30 years war, Hlook-nuK-uddy (258) Raven and Sculpin Pole; Sculpin Hat (259) Shah-dtook'kah Totem, Shaksh Isl. (260) Shaksh Ill who met Ahnuski (Russians); Bear painting and carving on front panel of Shark House

on Shaksh Isl. (261) 14

ShakshVI house interior - two views, Goosh-tS_een, by Schallarer (262) ShakshVII arriving for Potlatch, 1940 (Postlude); Shaksh VI arriving at Shaksh Isl. (263) Shaksh Isl. 1940 (264) ShakshVII wearing Keet Chilkat Blanket acquired by marriage about 15 generation ago, Potlatch, 1940 (265) Snail House front which burned in 1944 in Hoonah, Duk-dain-ton, replaced Steam launch and house built by Sheesh-gow(267)

Tee-hit-ton Crest hat (268) Tinnah, Copper Shield (269) Thunderbird Wall Board, Woosh-kee-ton Hit, Faucett House (270) Woodworm Feast Dish and House pole, Yai Hit, Klowk'ahn (271)

tS_oots (Grizzly Bear) Ceremonial Regalia, mask and shirt (272)

15

(266)

1 - Hlane-Git', Tidal People Where Did We Come From? The Rain Board Suk-Xeen "R" stands for Raven; "W" stands for Wolf Our "Old Ones" told us that one group of our ancestors came from the south and journeyed north along the coastal shores of the North American continent. They were probably the first to be called Hlane-Git' - hlane meaning tidal, git' a Tsimshian word meaning people - People of the Tides. I was amazed when I was told that we were not always Kik's-uddy Tlingits, but that in the beginning we were a part of the Tsimshian-speaking people who were domiciled at Git'sees/ Git'shees. Our historians are unable to tell us why we left our settled communities between the

Skeena and the Nass Rivers, or how and when we acquired a different language. It is said to have been "woman trouble", and considering the fact that women were really the ruling force in our society, that could have been true. It was certainly the case in several similar instances. My group of the Git'shees left their abodes to settle first on Wales Island in Portland Inlet east of Cape Fox, the "54-40 or Fight" border campaign cry of President James K. Polk uttered by Senator William Allen. The politicians wanted to settle the border between Canada and Alaska. How long they stayed there is not known. That my ancestors were not satisfied is not surprising. They were still too close to the Nass River if the cause of migration was "woman trouble"

and too far from areas abundant in food. They did stay long enough to build

permanent abodes, great houses with spreading roofs like the wings of a brood bird. In the center of the house was a circle of gravel on which to build fires, surrounded by steps - more like platforms - each step eight to ten feet wide. Sometimes the risers were decorated with a fantastic being. The greatest of these houses had eight such landings. Although I heard of one house which had ten. Immense! The Native builders estimated the weight and stress entirely by the eye - and intuition. They chose trees for the corner posts to sustain the weight of the great beams that ran the length of the house and then cut or burned away what they calculated to be excessive. Can this be the logical explanation for the hollowing out of posts and beams? Then they rolled the great crossbeams up high enough to be dropped into the grooves on the tops of the corner posts. To do all this work without tools of iron, using only stone axes and hammers, and fire, must excite the admiration even of our generation. These great houses had but one partition - in the back where the headman had his private abode with his family and those items he wanted under his personal control. The entrance was

16

a round hole large enough for easy access. This board or partition (~een) was decorated with figures especially claimed by the tribe. The "rain-board" of the Yai Hit (Whale House) of Klukwan is noteworthy. When you realize that Klukwan is not in the rainy belt of Southeast Alaska, you would naturally ask, "How does it happen that a 'rain-board' should be used there?" The answer is just as interesting as the painting.

The Rain-BoardSuk-Xeen A very long time ago, before the white man appeared, there was a chief of the Gahn-nuK,-tedy Tribe (R) of Klowk'ahn by the name of K'een who was very rich and owned many slaves. Homeward bound from a journey to the south, he was overtaken by a very heavy rainstorm, to his great annoyance. He was the premier chief of that country, a land that seems to have been settled and ruled first by tribes of the Raven Clan. All Tlingit know well that the Thunderbird, ruler of rain, thunder, and lightening, sits on the tops of mountains at night. When he blinks his eyes, there is lightning; when he flaps his ponderous wings, there is thunder! To shame the god of rain, K'een sacrificed a slave. Thunderbird was not shamed but he reacted to make things even by giving K'een an iron log. (Guh-yaze is a drift log out of which an iron spike protrudes. The Tlingit believed the iron spike grew out of such a log). The next day it rained harder than ever, so K'een sacrificed another slave. In return, the Lord of Thunder gave a whale to this chief of the Gahn-nuK,-tedy. Still it rained, more than ever, so K'een sacrificed still another slave. This time, Thunderbird gave K'een a yuxch (sea otter), but didn't stop the rain. The next day Thunderbird offered K'een a tahn (sea lion). K'een refused it because he felt it was beneath his dignity to accept such a common gift. No Tlingit ahn-kah-woo (man-of-the-town) valued a Tahn. Looking about him K'een said, "Why not rain its self?" And so he appropriated see-oow (rain). He made a rain board for the back of his Yai Hit. Edging this board were many small figures representing the back splash of raindrops. They are alive, have eyes and ears and intelligence at least enough to find any hole in the tent through which they can drop right into your eye. The main figure of the wallboard is a mysterious monster called Gunnah-kuh-date. This thing is benevolent and can bring good luck to the one who sees it and pulls out some of the hair on its back. The eyes around the board are space fillers, for the Tlingit hates a vacuum. The last of the lordly chiefs, Yeihl-K,ahk (Raven's Skeleton), told me that the rain screen was built by Kate-tsu (W), the same architect who built the house. The screen was painted by Shkay-dli-kah (R), a son

17

of Chief Shaksh IV of the Nahn-ya-ahyi (W), to whom K'een (R) paid ten slaves and fifty dressed moose skins; he also paid many blankets to Kah-jis-doo-u?5..ch (R), a Kik's-uddy chief of Wrangell who carved the house posts.

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2 - Tlingits ! Where did we come from? Nobody really knows. Many persons with long degrees are very sure they know, and come to us to prove their theories. They return to tell the world that they do not know, or else - while presenting no evidence, they allege that their theories are confirmed. I am one of these Tlingits who are without historical beginning. In my student days, I was awed by the doctors of this and that, so I too, repeated what they told me; that Natives were heathen; that their customs and ways of life were wicked and uncivilized; that their traditions of history were myths, mere fairy tales to be forgotten, the quicker the better. I tried to shut my ears to recollections of conversations among our Old Ones who were living more in the past than in the present. How little I understood that words make a lasting impression on the mind of a child! Nor did I understand why, when nothing supplied by my white teachers could give a satisfactory explanation of some event, the words of our Tlingit historians would return to me while I was meditating in the darkness of the night. I remembered hearing that we came from the north, from the east, from the south, but not from the west, talking a language or languages now lost in antiquity. By the advent of the white man we were talking one language, which the newcomers called "Tlingit" because they thought this was our word for people. Actually this word is one clue to our origin, for it comes from the Natives of the Nass River in Northern British Columbia. They are known as Nass-kah. This special tribe came from the Interior down the Nass (River) to which was added the Tlingit word Kah (man), Nass-kah. At the northern part of Portland Canal they became associated with

Tsimshian-speaking Natives. These people were migrating northerly. There is evidence in the name Hlane-git. Git' is a Tsimshian word meaning "people". The Tsimshians put Git' as a prefix git'/an, git'shees, git'ka'hlac. Hlane refers to where the people lived "on the tidal areas" or

"after the tide has gone down". We Tlingits came to the tidal beaches first, while other people were still traveling west along the coastal range or living in the upper reaches of heen yik (rivers) and ah (lakes). To us, rivers were avenues of allurement that beckoned with fingers of mystery, pushing a variety of choice food to us at our weakest moment - the end of a long, cold winter. "There must be more, plenty more, where these fish come from!" Thus we became the People of Tidal Areas; changing part of our language as the need arose, preserving carefully our personal names by handing them to the children of our tribes and by

19

naming the new country with the names of our ancestral homes, another New York, New Amsterdam, perhaps. Where did we come from? The old stories indicate that our ancestors migrated northward, then down rivers. Several groups went down large rivers, the Hin-heen (Skeena); the Shtuk'heen (Stikine); the Dtah-koo (Taku); the Ahl-sake (Alsek) that plunged through the Canadian mountains and finally flattened out into Dry Bay; and the Djihl-kaht (Chilkat). This last river got its name from the boxes (djihl) filled with gaht (silver salmon) that were buried deep in the cold, cold river bank for winter use. (On the eastern side of Haines Peninsula there were no such ice boxes and so that side was called Djihl-goot (goat meaning "no" cold boxes). These people were pioneers in the truest sense in their quest for a better living. They rode down the rivers on floats made of logs tied together with thongs, through gorges whose rushing waters seized the rafts with such force the people could only wonder what worse lay beyond. No one knows how these groups acquired their language; undoubtedly they began with a basic one. Running through the two clans and all of the tribes are similar myths, customs, habits, forms of artistic expression and taboo. Since one hly-gaas (taboo) concerned the rule of marriage - no one may marry another of the same clan under penalty of death - it is important to define the word clan. Among the Tlingits and Haidas, there are two clans. A clan, whether of the Yeihl (Raven Totem) or its opposite, §_ooch (Wolf Totem), is composed of many tribes or units of government. It is at this point

white ethnologists became confused. The Canadian Haida Nation has two clans, Yeihl (Raven) and cf.oats (Grizzly Bear). But the Haida use the Yeihl emblem to designate the Bear Clan and the cf.oats emblem to designate the Raven Clan, just the opposite from the Tlingit style. This twisting of emblems is another puzzle that will remain unsolved, for among the Haidas, the Raven is an Eagle and the Eagle is a Raven, just opposite to the Tlingit! To label the Clan of a Haida pole correctly, you have to look at figures below the top one. The Tlingit also has two Clans, the Raven (Yeihl) and the Wolf (§_ooch), except for the Unuk River tribe of the Raven clan. This tribe is the exception to the usual Tlingit rule. It is small in number, domiciled at the mouth of the Djin-heen (Unuk River) at the northern end of Behm Canal and had for its emblem the Eagle (Djahk). This is a puzzle that I have not been able to solve.

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The unit of government is another matter. Several hundred years ago, when Raven Clan people migrated from the Nass River, they were one unit, a tribe, Git'shees by name. Distance and geography compelled each group that separated itself from the older unit to be autonomous and politically integrated. New tribes were formed amoeba-like just by separating, like strawberry plants. Each village could cut the root itself. The Tlingit-speaking Natives were truly democratic. There were no wars of conquest as such and no elections; no chief as the white man knows that word. There were only leaders, or more literally, The-Man-Who-Stands-inFront (uh-shahdy-hun-kah). He became as near a chief as a person can be whose only authority is based upon respect. In these later days, White Government is forcing Native groups to elect leaders. Too often these new leaders do not have the respect that sustained the original chief. We do have a housemaster, hit-zahty. He is always the premier uncle; that is, the brother of the mother through whom alone the clan and tribal line can be maintained. In the tribal house, the father is a privileged guest without authority over his children. This right belongs to the mother's brother. The unbroken law was that there is only one clan to each tribe, although there are many tribes in each clan. Since marriage had to be extra-clan, there would be two clans in each winter village. At tribal hunting grounds, there would be only one clan with the father/husband as a guest. During one of the migrations that occurred hundreds of years ago, the main body of Athabascans pushed their way northward behind the coastal range. As they came to the big rivers, groups would split from the main body and migrate seaward. Each group was composed of tribes of both Raven and Wolf Clans. One such group journeyed down the Shtuk'heen, camping for a decade or a generation along the upper reaches of this river. During the march, a great glacier that spanned the Shtuk'heen stopped a splinter group with its two clans. How were they to pass this barrier? The rushing waters twisted and turned sideways into the swirling, churning abyss, the snarling waters poured forth from its lower reaches. "We cannot go under the glacier. We dare not cross over. So here we remain, for we will not go back." But the pressure that started this migration was still there; whether it was hunger, a stronger tribe, or a driving feud followed by rash promises, no one knows. Then it was that two old women whose names were Oo-osh-tusty and Koo-wah-sik~ said, "We have lived our lives. In a few days we will die anyway. We will go underneath the glacier and find out ifthere is a safe passagefor our people. Let the young men stay and watch!"

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So they made ready as for a last journey. They put on their ceremonial robes, tied their hair in a bunch and added long hemlock branches. One woman's branch was attached to stand straight up so that she would be warned if the ceiling were too low, the other woman's branches were to stick out to the right and to the left to warn if the passage narrowed on either side. Then they composed a song. While the people gathered to watch them depart on this most perilous journey, they sang their song and then disappeared into the black hole in the glacier. A mile below, they emerged safely. It was safe to go forward under the glacier! When the tribes arrived upon the lower river, one group made its camp on the outer sand. They became known as Dukhla-wedy, Outer-Sand-People. Later when migrations began again, the

Dukhla-wedy were the first to leave. Not one of this tribe stayed. Their descendants are as far north as the Djihl-kaht (Chilkat), and as far south as the Dtun-gash (Tongass). Legend has it that the Git'lan of the Tsimshian-speaking Natives belong to the group who came down the

Shtuk'heen and under the ice. When the people left the British Columbia side from the inlet that is now called Long Channel, they were called Git'shees. When they came to a small island about twenty two miles north of Ketchikan they founded a town on an island called Kik's. Hence they became known as Kik's-

uddy (belonging to Kik's). After a time, when the population grew too large, a group journeyed northward to what is now called Spacious Bay. Here there was ample room with plenty of food close at hand. Since these travelers were now on the gahn-nuK_(outside), they became Gahn-nuK_-uddy.It is well to remember this tribe - Gahn-nuK_-uddy- because they grew to be very large.

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3- Branches A time came when "woman trouble" was to disrupt the placid history of the Kik's-uddy. All women of a clan are "sisters", and as in all families, there are quarrels - perhaps over protocol, "who is the greatest ahn-yuddy (high caste)?" There is no strife more bitter than a family feud. Some say it was the control of the House, evidenced by the privilege of placing the last board covering the smoke hole. Whatever! But the strife was so bitter that a young insurgent group moved out of Snail House. The days were getting shorter and rain was ever threatening, so the men built a temporary house with yellow cedar bark (tee-hit) for the roof and sides. From this, the movers became known as Tee-hit-ton (my tribe). Although we were now two houses, we remained socially Kik's-uddy. We might move together, but we are separate in our tribal government. The early whites thought that when they came to a winter village that there was one tribal government with one head chief in authority over the whole village. Not so. There are always two clans - one Raven, the other Wolf. How else could there be marriages? Usually though, there were more than two tribes. Sometimes there could be as many as nine autonomous and integrated tribes who came together into one village during the winter months. So it was at Wrangell, where my tribe located in the winter. By actual occupation the Tlingits of the Shtuk'heen tribes owned an area running on the northwest from Cape Fanshaw on the mainland, to Point Caamano on the southeast nineteen miles from Ketchikan, then following Behm Canal to Chickamin River (excepting the Unuk River) and Woewodski, Zarembo, Kashevarof, and Etolin Islands. It covered Portage and Totem Bays on Kupreanof Island to Prince of Wales Island with Point Baker, Point Colpoys and Red, Lake and Salmon Bays down to Thorne Bay, back to Caamano Point and up the Stikine River to Canada. In this particular winter village, the dominant land-owning group was of the Raven ( Yeihl) Clan, but the political leaders were of the Wolf Clan. For mutual defense they merged under the leadership of the chief of the Nahn-ya-ahyi Tribe. The Raven tribes went by the name of Hlainady (All-on-One-Side); those of the Wolf were called Goo-nate-kuh-ahyi (Other-Side-People).

This latter Clan had other "top totems" besides Wolf, such as Keet (Killer whale), K_oots(Grizzly Bear), and Djahk (Eagle). Raven Clan tribes stemmed from the Kik's-uddy, of which the Tee-hit-ton and Koch'uddy are branches. Upon occasion these branches would merge again with the Kik's-uddy. The Kahz-K_aquedy (Kahz being a place name) and the Tahl-quedy (named after the Great Mountain that

towered above them called Tahl-koo-nuK_-goo-shaw [the-Mountain-that-Saved-Mankind]) were later migrants of Haida origin.

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The legend is that at the time of the Great Flood, people who could reach the top of this mountain with their dogs, the grizzly bear, and mountain goats were saved. Early missionaries built on the Tlingit's story of the flood to authenticate their story of Noah. The difference is that the Tlingits believed that there were other mountains that "saved mankind" besides Tah/-koonut{_-goo-shaw (now called Devil's Thumb), such as Sei-kook-hla-aha

on the Shtuk'heen, and a

mountain across from Pt. Retreat, near Juneau. Another group that branched from those at Spacious Bay became known as Gahn-nut{.-tedy, a tribe of the Raven Clan. I will tell more about this tribe later. The pattern of exploration is illustrated by the migration of the Te-quedy, a Wolf Clan. At the dawn of our history, they lived on the Nass River north of Prince Rupert in a town called Git'ahn-doo. Where they came from initially, no one knows. When they migrated, each group

took a separate course. The Tongass Te-quedy, whose antecedents were at Klawock on Prince of Wales Island, became known by the Tlingits as Tahn-dah-quon from an island formerly called Tahn because of all the sea lions living there.

There is evidence that the Te-quedy went northwesterly from Ketchikan, entered Ernest Sound and stopped to visit another Wolf clan tribe known as the Nahn-ya-ahyi (Upper-Living-People). They left one of their young men, Djoon-owk, an orphan, who was given the personal name of Goosh-tS_een.He later became famous as the general who led the Shgut'quon Tribes to victory

over the Git'kahla (Tsimshian) in a battle c.1700 where it is said that ten thousand men were slain. The Tsimshian chief's name - Wee-shaksh - was bestowed on this orphaned chief. I will tell you about him later, for thereby hangs a great story of how this orphan Djoon-owk "Little Dream" laid the foundation of the first United Nations, and demonstrated a battle tactic, the same that was used by the great Napoleon. The Te-quedy, I believe, were the first explorers and left their petroglyphs wherever they camped. Some of those places still bear the names they were given by the Te-quedy. There are now antecedents of the Tongass Te-quedy at Moira Sound. On digging deeper, we find that before they migrated from Klawock, they journeyed south, around Cape Chacon and then back up to Moira Sound. Here a man named Kla-wah got discouraged and decided to go back from whence he came. From this action, the area became known as Klawock. Moira Sound had everything the Tlingit needed. What wasn't there could be reached by easy stages, say twenty miles per day: Towk'ahni "Winter Village" at Old Metlakatla to Dah-suh-tS_aok "Cat Island", to Kuh-dowk'goo-tS_ah (now Tongass Island), to the Nass River. What is now New Metlakatla was formerly a Te-quedy town founded by Koo-cheesh, my Mother's Uncle (White

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men had named it Port Chester before it became New Metlakatla!). Figuring thirty-five years to a generation, it would be five generations ago, or about 1800. Young people of that time liked Towk'ahni where a sawmill now stands. It had a fine beach, good water, and safe harbor. It wasn't long before they began to stay longer. As the older generation grew older, they too stayed until the time came when Towk'ahni became their principal town. In those days, boundary lines marking out the areas claimed by adjoining tribes were by consensus and protected with respect. Our present generation has only vague knowledge about these boundaries. We have been taught by white teachers, public officials, and immigrants who stressed that all land purchased from Russia belonged to the United States. {I remember back in the first decade, an imported group of fishermen from San Francisco pushed into our long-held family fish streams and declared "This is gov'ment land". With such arrogance, they would get away with it. We didn't understand, and after a while we believed them.) I have never clearly understood that while the Wolf Clan people did the exploring (and hence were the first in all areas), why is it that the greater part of the land is owned by tribes of the Raven Clan? This fact would have made a lot of trouble in the settlement of the Alaska Indian Land Claims in 1971, if payment had been made strictly on the ownership basis. The Wolf Clan tribes would have gotten almost nothing. At the Chickamin River, a distance of five days for communication by canoe, a group of Nahnya-ahyi (Wolf Clan) was in actual occupation. This branch group was called tSlhl-quon "Foam

People" because the ripple at the mouth of the Chickamin River produces foam "Klhl". Their crest pictured the foam of the sea that bubbles and churns before drifting silently away. In the course of time, the tribal authority of the Nahn-ya-ahyi diminished until it vanished as peacefully. The Foam People began to feel crowded by the Te-quedy who had moved to Towk'ahni and built great community houses and totem poles. Against them, the Klhl-quon were helpless and so they appealed to "home" at the Shtuk'heen for help. A war was going on between the tSlhl-quon and the Tahn-dah-quon, as the Te-quedy now at Towk'ahni (Winter Village) was called. In a previous time, when the powerful Shaksh (of the Shtuk'heen) summoned the warriors of the K_ihl-quon,they had not even responded. Now it was

different. Now the situation was reversed. The K_ihl-quon wanted help to fight the Te-quedy Tahn-dah-quon.

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Shaksh reaction was typical and illustrates how new, autonomous tribes were created. The Shtuk'heen at Willow Town (Kah-zehl-ahn or Old Wrangell) was called into Council, and the appeal of the Foam People was considered. The final speech was by Shaksh: "The KJhf-quon are blood of our blood. They came from the same place as we of the Goo-nate-

kuh-ahyi (Other-Side-People), but when we sent them word to join us in our wars, they failed to answer; nor did they send an explanation for their failure. They have acted as if they did not belong. "It is my opinion that they are an independent people and they have created for themselves a separate place among the family of nations. Let it be. We will not make war upon the people of

Tahn. Yei-ah-weh. (That is the way it is.)" Shaksh was teaching the Foam People a lesson! Choosing a time when their enemies were away at the Nass trading for their winter's food, the

tSJhf-quonraided the empty village and burned it. When the Tahn-dah-quon returned, they found their village destroyed. Because winter was at hand, they moved back to Dah-suh-K_aok "Sand-All-Around",

now called Cat Island, which had formerly been a way station.

Strange to say, the Tahn-dah-quon put up with the inconvenience of no water on the island, and built a very substantial town with great community houses and totem poles. Although Cat Island had been abandoned as a home for the Tahn-dah-quon for many years, a few totems still remain. No houses are standing, but there are fire pits and walls of the floor levels. It appears that the Tahn-dah-quon lived on Dah-suh-K_aokfor one generation, but began building better houses on Cotton Tree Island, which was closer to the Nass River. When the United States Army came to take possession of the land following the purchase from Russia, they traded with the Tahn people. The Treasury Department

established a customs

house with a man named Bond in charge. When the Army officers asked who these Indian people were, they received the answer, "We are Tahn-dah-quon", so they named the island Tongass. (My Father belonged to Tongass.) Yun-tshee-neewas the leader of the K_ootsand Keet tribes. The Te-quedy of Tahn were in truth a roving people, a Hlane (tidal) people. They left their marks from British Columbia to Copper River, even into Prince William Sound - everywhere they went - in the form of petroglyphs. Their totems were K_oots(Bear), Keet (Killer Whale), Doohl (Crane) and Gunnah-kuh-date. The last is a supernatural creature thought to be from the sea. Although it looks like a whale, it has the ability to change into a huge house. It has long hair and brings a

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man good luck, provided he has enough nerve to jump on its back should it emerge from the water near his canoe and pull out some of its hair! Some have done this deed, legend says.

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4 - Gunnah-Kuh-Date: An Animal of Good Fortune "Before the Raven caws" is not just a figure of speech. To violate this taboo is to court the most hideous punishment or even the most horrible death. The pretense and hypocrisy of one greedy woman was revealed and the most mythical creature in the folklore of the Tlingit was created when this law was broken. Once upon a time there was a chief's wife who treated her beautiful daughter as a preferred servant - born for the purpose of glorifying

her mother.

When the girl was married, the

husband, as was the custom, came to live with her family. This avaricious mother heaped contempt and abuse on the husband to the great sorrow of her daughter. The young man, ever patient, went about his business and labored in the traditional

way from the earliest dawn to

the setting of the sun. On one occasion as he sat beside a lake resting from hunting, he saw a hideous monster come up from the bottom of the lake. The young man baited his wooden hook, thinking to capture the creature. It easily and quickly broke his line and took the fine "lunch" offered. Not to be stopped, the young man cut down a cedar tree that stood at the edge of the lake. He split the center part open and, using wooden wedges, propped it open. He ran his line through the split and baited his hook. This time, when the mystical creature took the hook, the young man yanked the monster into the jaws of the cedar tree, jerked out the sticks, catching the unknown creature. It struggled but could not get free. Finally it died. He dragged it ashore to examine it. The creature was covered with coarse black hair, had two black flukes on its back, a mouth full of long, shark-like teeth, and claws that seemed to be sheathed in copper. Without

severing the claws or the

head, he skinned and dressed the skin. He put it on, and to his surprise and astonishment,

it

took him into the lake and under the waters to a palace more sumptuous and magnificent imaginable. Could it be the home of this supernatural creature whose skin he was wearing? He looked around carefully, and then returned to the shore. At the edge of the wood, he hid his great coat with its hideous head, and went home. He said nothing about his wonderful experience. Time did not mitigate the calumny of his mother-in-law. The winter lasted too long. A famine came upon the town. The young man thought

of his

supernatural coat. Early one morning, while it was yet very dark, he arose and said to his wife, "If I don't come back before the cry of the Raven, don't expect me, because that will be a sign that something has happened."

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He went to the hiding place, took the coat and put it on. He entered the lake, swam to the outlet and down to the sea. He caught a big king salmon which he laid on the sand in front of his father-in-law's house. When he returned, he told his wife about his adventure, what he had done, and ordered her to say nothing. His mother-in-law was the first to see the salmon. She took it into the house and had it cooked. There was enough for everyone to eat. The next morning there was another salmon! She began to feel that in some manner, she was responsible for this bounty. The more she thought the more certain she was that the credit belonged to her. She declared that she was an lcht, and began to act like one. She ordered her husband (who was very proud of her) to make

her a hat and an apron trimmed with puffin beaks, such as an Jcht wears. The third morning, a large halibut lay before her house; the fourth morning, two halibut; the next day, it was a seal; then two seals. Next there was a sea lion, then two sea lions! She became the most important person in town because she was keeping the people from starving. Her lazy son-in-law slept all day long, without shame while all others were busy working to preserve the bounty provided by her spirits. She looked at her daughter's husband ever despising him, and said that if it weren't for her, he would be dead. When on the following morning, a great whale lay in front of her house, she sneered at the young man, "Why don't you go out and bring back two whales?" A remark intended to show her scorn. As he left his wife soon after midnight, he said, "If the Raven cries before I return, don't expect me, for something will have happened." Then he departed. That night, his wife had a presentiment that danger attended her man, and so she lay with wakeful eyes. Time passed, still he did not return. At last, she heard the early morning caw of the Raven, the caw that heralds death to all creatures not in their customary abodes. She remembered his words. In the morning a great cry arose, for on the beach lay two whales, but in between them was the most hideous creature never before seen by mankind. Whales the people knew, but this creature with a fearful wrinkled head, long ears, coarse skin, a huge mouth guarded by thick lips and teeth white and sharp! What was it that looked like a whale, had the tail of a rat, with claws that seemed to be sheathed in copper? There appeared to be a set of hands that were human. These hands held the upper and lower jaws as if to pry them apart wide enough to escape through.

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The people stood about in awe. On hearing the noise from the beach, the girl, with a foreboding increased by the long absence of her husband, suspected what was amiss. She donned the robes of her station and slowly directed her feet to the beach. As she came closer, she knew, her heart knew that this ugly creature was her husband. Through her sobs she cried, "My husband! My husband!" The mother-in-law, who in her arrogance and stupidity felt she should explain, said, "That is one of my Yokes (control spirits)". The people drew back leaving the girl to face her mother. The daughter cried, "You have denounced my husband and declared that your spirits were bringing this food to us. Why is your spirit dead? Do the spirits of an lcht ever die? Does it take more than this to show the people that you are lying to them?" She asked the men about her to help her take her husband to the lake and bury him. Her mother went into her house and soon after died from shame. The people recognized the truth about their actual benefactor when they saw the hut the young man had built by the lake. They showed their respect to the widow by their attentions and silence. She would go to the lake and sit for hours at a time, thinking only of the happy times that they had spent together. One day, as she sat mourning her loss, she saw the waters of the lake ripple. Something was moving beneath. As she watched, she saw the creature she had buried rise up! It spoke to her. "I have come for you. Do not be afraid. Get on my back." Was this creature her husband returned? She was not afraid and obeyed him. He carried her to the beautiful home under the lake where they lived ever after. Their daughters went to live at the head of streams and fed those streams with life-giving food from their breasts. The people named the creature Gunnah-kuh-date. This mythical giver of good fortune appears in various shapes. It can look like a fierce monster, or a painted house front, or a whale, but the people know that it is kind and would never harm anyone. It makes no fuss when it breaks the surface of water, and then slowly sinks from view. Blessed is the person who recognizes it and seizes his opportunity. It is said that numbers of our Tlingit people have seen it and have had the courage to leap on its back and to pull out some of its hair. They have had good fortune attend them thereafter.

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One such person was a famous chief of the Shgut'quon by the name of Shees-tah-ahk whose fine house and great riches were witnessed by people still living. This story is a favorite of carvers. There is a fine example on the Haida House in the park seven miles west of Ketchikan. The totem in front of the Governor's house in Juneau is wrongly called the "Witch Pole". It is really a Gunnah-kuh-date

pole.

One of the house posts in the famous Yai Hit in in Klowk'ahn records this same story. Still another is the grave totem on Shaksh Island in Wrangell. It was replicated for the Koo-eetS, in 1940. The earlier pole had two cavities into which the ashes of the mother and father of the new Shaksh VII were placed.

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5 - Sheesh-Gowthe Warrior Invokes the Law; License to Run a Boat? "I can protect your rights against the white man, but who is going to protect you against other Natives?" said the Federal Land Agent at Ketchikan, Alaska, when Sheesh-gow (my step-father) applied for recognition of his family rights at Dee-gah-di-yeh "Salmon Bay" on north Prince of Wales Island. "Never you mind Native. I fix Native. You take care white man. We got-em laws, just us. Jennalations, jennalations, we keep'm laws. No trouble 'till white man come. Now laws all gone and trouble come to Native. That's why I ask'm you, you make white man respec me, what I got. Can't choo do dat?" That summer four seine boats from neighboring tribes at Klawock came to Salmon Bay, as was their custom for several years past, and began fishing. When Sheesh-gow saw them, he told his wife, Kah-thli-yudt "The-Esteemed-One" to prepare a feast. "I go to invite those Klawock-quon". She knew what he meant for she too had been trained in the Old Ways. She marshaled her help together, two teenage daughters and a son, and prepared the feast as directed by her husband. That evening twenty-four guests presented themselves at this home that had been bustling with work all day long. First the host, then the hostess and the son greeted them. There was no restraint because they were all personal friends. The fire was burning brightly in the two rooms that had been thrown into one. As the men seated themselves, the young man prepared the Tlingit substitute for ice cream - soapberries from up the river are put into a bowl to which is added a bit of water, then stirred vigorously. When pinkish foam begins to form, sugar is added. When the foam becomes thick enough to float a tablespoon, it is ready to serve. A large helping of soapberries was placed before each group of men. Each man was given a spoon to serve himself. He would take a bit and close his mouth with a snap. Each snap seemed to say "Um, Um!" then he would smile at his neighbor. It is the traditional way a feast is opened among the Tlingits of olden times. This "first course" is eaten slowly for it is the most filling mess of nothing imaginable. The two daughters and Huh-yash "Something-Bitter", the son of the host, were seated with the men. The table was loaded down with great quantities of the most luscious venison crisply roasted to a tasty brown, and covered with gravy made from the rich juices that ooze out of the venison while cooking. There were two hindquarters for the twenty-nine persons about this table. For side dishes, there was goose-tongue, finer and more tender than lettuce or spinach,

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stem-like green onions, plentiful at this time of year in this wild country frequented by the geese as they fly north each year; and ut'hlay, a fine, tasty chowder with just enough fresh salmon to give it that wild taste which no restaurant in the "States" is ever able to duplicate. After soup and roast venison came the most delicious dried sock-eye salmon roasted in a quick fire, oil still dripping, skin soft and easy to tear. Long strips were put in front of each group to be dipped into the sahk (eulachon) oil that comes now only from the Nass River. In due time, when all were surfeited, each person leaned back to await the speeches which Tlingit custom demands. As each man was moved by his spirit, he arose and thanked the host and hostess, always ending with the words, "That is the way in which I am thankful", spoken in Tlingit. "Yei-ah-weh shtoo ga hut da tee", he said with a laugh as he sat down. Good feeling and fellowship prevailed. When there were no more guests to speak, Sheesh-gow arose and addressed his guests in Tlingit: "My good friends, how wonderful are my inner spirits because you are here. All of you are known to us. Some of you are closely related from a long time back. Some of you were students at Sheet'kah (Sitka) when my wife was teacher there. Now that you have come to our land, your presence reminds us of the many happy times which we all have had in the days that are now past. "You see at this table about all that is left of the great tribe that owned this place. There is really only one family of us left since our ahn-kah-woo (leader) left here after the death of his wife. That is why we have come. There was nobody else to claim this land of our grandfathers. We heard that white men were making full use of the red salmon that was so plentiful here, and it grieved us to think that friends and relatives of the people who are the true owners were, out of respect for us, not doing like the white man. It made our innermost parts feel so good when we learned that you Tlingit people of Klawock were making this long trip to our place. "Even though we were made glad, you know how it is when the ghosts of our departed uncles and grandfathers seem to stand before us asking us what are we going to do about the lands which they handed down to us. It is not the same even though you are here. While we are so few, while we feel so weak, even though we might fail to push back the Goon-yah-quon (foreigners) who are swarming over our country, perhaps it will be like Git'diksh (here the speaker looked down at his daughter to his left and stroked her hair), perhaps it will be like Git'diksh for here are the girls, there is the mother, and there is the son.

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"Now the fishing season has just started and soon the boats of the foreigners will come, but with you here, I will not be alone. You and I will take our share. We will not be pushed aside. Next winter, I will be glad when I realize that you, my own relations in Klawock, are enjoying your homes because of the rich bounty that God has given to this place that we call Dee-gah-di-yeh ! "That is the way I am made happy." The party was ended and the guests went out to their boats. During the night three of the boats pulled up anchor and departed. The next morning, without having seen any fish, the last boat made a set and with more or less defiance, the men took in their empty seine. As soon as the net was aboard, that boat left the bay. Blowing a "good-by" whistle, it went at full speed, stern down close to the water, obviously for a long trip. None of them returned.

Licenseto Run a Boat? Sheesh-gow, chief of the Kuh-yashki-diton could not read or write although he could sign his

name. He knew the Tlingit name of every point of land, of every bay, every island and mountain of his ancestors. He had hunted throughout the length and breadth thereof, covering it all either in a canoe or with his steam launch. But with a steam launch, the government said that he had to have a license to pilot his little boat. The examination for the license was going badly. The inspector said William Tamaree didn't know the country. "Why don't you ask me the Indian name? He got a name. Everything got Indian name". Sheeshgow blurted out in despair as he saw the inspector's lips form to speak a refusal.

"All right, what is the Indian name of this place?" pointing to the middle of Whitney Island near Cape Fanshaw. "His name is tf_atz-woo-doo-wah-djuk-gi-ye. You know one time, there was a town there? You know that?" Sheesh-gow asked. The inspector said, "No". "My goodness. You doan know nothin, huh?" and the audience laughed, glad to see the tables turned.

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"One time, all hands go across this water for picking berries, everybody except one young man. He got mad about something with his sweetheart. She go. Everybody go. By an by, he thinking about his girl an he get scared. Maybe he lost her. So he make up his mind to go across. "He take off his clothes and tie 'em on top his head and he start swimming. When he come about middle that water, shark come. Kill him. So people call that place, 'Love-Killed-Him'. That is what that long word mean. If I love my mother, I say 'koo-si-K_un',that mean I like to be near her. That's why we say 'K,un'- close. Animals, when they love a she one, they got reason. They want childs. That's the way God make them. That one we call 'K,it'. This young man, he want to marry this girl so he start to swim across and shark kill him, we call it 'djuk'. Now you know." Amidst the smiles and goodwill of the bystanders, this young chief by his appeal to a fairminded inspector, got his license to pilot a steam launch, the first issued to an unlettered Native in Alaska. This is the same boat on which Sheesh-gow escorted Franz Boas, 1859-1942, famous anthropologist, ethnologist and teacher, around Tlingit country to visit ancient villages.

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6 - Like Git'Diksh; Guh-gahn-yeet' Travels What was it that caused those boats to leave so abruptly? It was the word Git'diksh said so innocently and smoothly by this man schooled in the art of Tlingit speaking and history. Those fishermen were welcome, yes, but they knew they had to leave or perhaps a totem pole would be erected to publish their shame. Git'diksh!

History does not record the cause of the war. It might have been anything, an accidental death for which only the death of one of equal rank could atone, or a war of envy, or something that had given offence. Whatever, war began between the Git'diksh and the Git'ahn-doo (People of Ahn-doo) situated almost in sight of each other.

The Git'diksh was decisively defeated. Only the master Nah-goo-woo, his sister, and his niece survived. It was then that this prince of the realm, as our word "ahn-kah-woo"

might be

translated, said to himself, "If there be a man who is skilled in foretelling and planning, may he come forward now!" He searched, even unto the camp of his enemy where he found a man whose name was Ahnda-wooc/'sah-nuk (Little-Old-Man-Who-Understands-Trouble). He was one of the first creatures

made by Creator Raven Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. In some manner, the defeated chief excited the sympathy of Ahn-da-wooc/'sah-nuk who gave him not only good advice, but also an instrument of war that had supernatural power. To this wise man from the camp of his enemy, the chief said: "Ahn-da-wooc/'sah-nuk, you may have a home with me always". (To this day, a Tlingit

desiring peace with an enemy will open the doors of his home. If the enemy accepts, peace is assured). The Little-Old-Man asked for and received that wood so rare to dwellers of southeast Alaska, the Alaska maple. From it he carved a war hat shaped like a wolf's head with snarling, bared teeth. The chief was to put on this hat whenever he went to war. Next Little-Old-Man took a branch of a crab apple tree and made a bow. He made an arrow named tchu-nate that could talk and would obey orders. Ahn-da-woocl'sah-nuk showed the chief of the Git'diksh how to manage these implements of

war. "You are never to shoot this arrow at that group of people", he said, pointing, "they are my very own family. You are to put on the Wolf hat and go down toward the salt water dancing while your niece beats the drum and your sister sings this war song".

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Little-Old-Man taught them the essential rhythm and motions of the dance - the niece to beat the drum (dum-dum-dum-de-dum;

dum-dum-dum-de-dum) with an ever increasing tempo,

hands rising as the sound accelerated, feet stamping in unison, body swaying; the sister to shriek her shrill song while the chief, starting from a low crouch, first leading with one shoulder, then with the other, thrust forward his face made hideous with war paint, baring his teeth, and wearing the fierce Wolf hat, was to leap four times over the big rock fronting his wrecked house. Then Little-Old-Man vanished. In the midst of darkness the three made ready. The hat was donned, the bow and arrow prepared and drawn. The chief whispered the order to the arrow Tchu-nate "Fly to the heart of the chief of the Git'ahn-doo." With fervent prayer, he loosed the talking arrow and watched it until it was lost

to sight on its way toward the village of his now complacent enemy. The next morning in the village of Git'ahn-doo, their great chief was found dead. When his body was examined, they found a small arrow had pierced his heart. How did such an arrow get there? The chief had been lying in his bed covered with furs. The door to his compartment was not in a direct line with the bed. The outer door was some eighty feet away and had been closed. The wise men of the village were called together for consultation. Blankets of the tribe's own weaving and other valuables were presented to them. No one could give the answer. The people then called upon Ahn-da-woocl'sah-nuk. They handed him the arrow. He spoke to it and from his hand it flew upward and outward with the cry "Nah-goo-woo, it is." Thus did its mouth speak. Now the people knew the arrow had come from the chief of Git'diksh. Again Git'ahn-doo prepared for war. Four great war canoes were made ready and manned with ten men to a side, each with his paddle, the chief in the stern of one holding a great paddle. At the bow of each canoe were seated two steersmen to assist the man in the stern. They could see the smoke still rising from the town of the Git'diksh as they turned their prows toward the village of their enemy. As the canoes got under way with every man paddling in unison, they resembled a pod of killer whales moving to battle. When Nah-goo-woo saw them coming, he donned his Wolf war hat and together with his sister and niece awaited the attack. There were only the three of them and yet they dared to fight! He waited until the first canoe had come close and then let fly Tchu-nate. It pierced the men in the canoe one after another and then flew back to its master. He shot again. The arrow pierced

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each man in the second canoe. Again it flew back to Nah-goo-woo. The third time the arrow destroyed the warriors in the third canoe. Nah-goo-woo and his women were elated. He felt that he had killed his enemies by his own skill

and forgot the warning of Little-Old-Man; forgot his instructions and directed Tchu-nate to kill the warriors in the fourth canoe, the canoe carrying the nephews of his benefactor! For this disobedience, Ahn-da-woocl'sah-nuk directed the arrow to kill Nah-goo-woo. At this point in the story, there is some conflict among our historians. Some say that the sister, donning the Wolf hat of the chief, took his place with the bow and arrow, all the time singing in her high, shrill, piercing voice the war song, and defending the house of Git'diksh while her daughter continued to beat the drum as Little-Old-Man had taught her. I prefer what other historians say, that upon the death of Nah-goo-woo, his sister and her daughter fled; that they ran into the forest, the mother leading her young daughter, not knowing whither they went. Behind them they could see the smoke still rising from their Big House while in front of them was the endless forest. And there was no man to protect or to comfort them. She prayed. Every nation and every tribe knows that there is a spiritual power that controls the affairs of the world. When power is exerted, we are made aware of it by some sign. In the Tlingit language, that sign is the word "woo-soo" and always signifies that the message comes from a supernatural source. The mother and daughter started wandering about while the mother sang the refrain, "Who will marry my daughter so that he can help me?" After a time, a sleek young man with a beautiful, willowy body moving quickly and gracefully appeared before her and asked: "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook? (How will I do)?" He awaited her answer.

The mother answered with a question, "What can you do?" He replied, "I have a pungent odor about me that can destroy anything." She shook her head, as she said, "No, you will not do". When he turned and departed, she saw that he was a mink.

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The mother continued her journey, leading her young daughter by the hand, singing her song, "Who will marry my daughter so that he can help me?" Another young man appeared and said, "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?" She asked him, "What can you do?" He replied, "I am strong and fast. I roam the woods and live among its rivers. Although I live amongst dangerous enemies, no one can harm me. So it will be with my wife." She then answered, "No, you will not do. I need far more than you have to offer." With that, he turned away and she saw that he was a marten. She continued on her way, her refrain now almost a wail, "Who will marry my daughter so that he can help me?" A well-knit, muscular man appeared before her. He was white and looked so clean. He was different from the others because he had a perfectly white beard, his headdress was so fancy and he was so very graceful. She favored him at once. He spoke to her and said, "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?" The mother looked him over and thought, "This is the man." But as he reported his virtues, she became doubtful. "I am a fast runner. I live on the top of the highest mountains. I can jump. When my feet hit even the smallest peak, they never slip. I am courageous and when I fight, I always butt my enemy out of my way." "No", the mother said, "I am afraid you will not do. That is not enough. I am in serious trouble. My people were destroyed and only my daughter and I are left, and if my daughter should die without children, our family will be no more. No, you will not do." When the dandy departed, she saw that he was a mountain goat. Once more she took up her refrain, "Who will marry my daughter? Who will marry my daughter so that he can help me?" Then came a man so quietly but swiftly and stood before her. He said, "I am the best provider in this land. If your daughter comes with me, she will never hunger. I have been tried many times in battle and I always win as I can show you right now."

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He looked about him and saw the handsome white dandy who had just boasted that he was a champion fighter. He raced over to the mountain goat and in one swift movement, slashed its throat. He proudly brought the carcass back, laid it at her feet and looked up at her with great confidence. But the mother replied, "No, you will not do. It is not to be". When this young man departed, she saw that he was a wolf. She continued her journey, more tired than ever. She sang her song, "Who will marry my daughter? Who will marry my daughter?" It seemed to her that the world was full of fine looking young men, but none with the qualities to fit her task. So they journeyed on and on, along the beaches, through the woods, always singing, "Who will marry my daughter?" Then a small young man appeared before her. He sat himself down at once instead of standing before her as the others had. He sat even before she could ask him to sit. From this position he said in a low voice. "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?" The mother gave her usual reply, "What can you do?" The young man answered, "You can see that I am only a small man. That is what all the people think. But although this is a dangerous country, nobody harms me because they are afraid of me. No matter who it is that is in front of me, I have no fear. I walk right up to them. They always turn away or go around me. I am sure your daughter will be happy with me." She replied to him, "This is not good enough. I must have more than that. No, you will not do." He turned away and she saw that he was a frog. And so the Tlingit people learned about frogs. Although they are small, nothing harms them. When a man is walking through the swamps, he will always avoid the frog. If he picks one up, he will put it down again. If he destroys it, he will always be sorry for that bit of unwarranted cruelty and he does not do it again. Now here came a fine, big, handsome man. "Surely this must be the man", she said to herself. He was so tall and handsome. He walked so proudly and his coat was so shiny and of such fine quality. He must be a chief even now. This powerful person said, "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook." She asked him, "What can you do?" It was the same old question, for she didn't intend to accept a man for her daughter without hearing from the man himself what his qualities were.

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The young man said, "I am big," and here he dropped both arms with hands away from his body and palms outward, "and strong and powerful. Nothing is able to stand up against me. In the woods, I can run faster than a wolf. If things are in my way, I push them over. I am not quarrelsome, and I don't look for trouble nor do I bother people unless they bother me first. Everybody knows that I have power. When I roar the earth trembles." He stopped and peered at her and tried to estimate the strength of his case. She favored this young man and might have accepted him except that he said too much. That last bit "when I roar the earth trembles" put fear into her heart. "He will frighten my daughter. He won't do even if I never find anybody else", she thought. "No. I am afraid you won't do. You won't do," she told him. As the young man departed, she saw that he was a bear. Even as he walked away, she admired him. She almost called him back, but she held her peace. As she journeyed on, she kept thinking - "That last young man was so fine, so big and strong. I wonder if I made a mistake". Because of her divided mind, she didn't sing her song with the same surety as before. "Who will marry my daughter? Who will marry my daughter?" A young man came before her so swiftly he seemed to fly. A moment ago nobody was there. Now, he was sitting upon the limb of a nearby tree. He spoke to her in a very sweet and melodious voice. "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?"

and turned his head to look at her first with one eye and then with the

other. It seemed as if he could see only with one eye at a time. He acted like a bird. The mother spoke to him and said, "What can you do?" He answered her, "Ah, I am a beautiful singer", and began to sing her the most melodious song that she had ever heard. She enjoyed it. For a long time she let him sing, almost forgetting the purpose of his coming. The young man, feeling sure that his suit was secure, sang one song after another. But when the mother shook her head slowly and said, "No, you will not do", he turned about and seemed to fly away. Then she saw that he was a mountain warbler, zahz, as the Tlingit calls this bird. The next young man who answered the mother's invitation was by far the finest looking man who had applied. Up until now, it seemed that the strength of each case, by the applicant himself, turned upon his good looks. In this case, he was universally acclaimed "The Beautiful One". He was so good looking that nobody was jealous of him. He was simply out of their class.

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He came with heart full of pride knowing that nobody but a very foolish mother could possibly refuse him, and so he came with great confidence and said, "How will I do?" The mother looked him over and saw the great pride oozing out of him and recognized that his only claim for consideration was the beauty of his appearance. So without wasting time, she said, "No, you will not do." "Why, how can this be? Do you know what you are doing?" "My daughter and I have been through a war. It is my opinion that you were not made for war. I cannot trust my daughter to you. I am very sorry, noble prince of this realm." When he heard her, he seemed to shake his fine clothes. It could even be said that he ruffled them to smooth out the wrinkles. He looked up and down and then departed without moving his arms or legs. He just spread out his arms and floated away. The mother recognized him from what her grandfather had told her. He was Gai-ny, the beautiful one. It might seem as if the woman's quest for a suitable husband would never end. She was planning to build a nation, one that would restore her beloved homeland that had been destroyed by her enemies. The spirits of her brothers, her uncles, and her nephews were crying out for revenge. It could only be accomplished through this young girl whose children alone could revive the names that seemed to be in the air without a place to rest. The days passed, but the mother continued her quest and sang her song, "Who will marry my daughter so that he can help me? Who will marry my daughter?" A young man appeared before her and said, "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?" To this she replied, "What can you do?" He answered in a rather high, staccato voice, "I am the smartest person in all this country. No matter how smart another person might be, I am still more so. That is the way I make my living and keep myself from harm. I know what others are thinking. If you will give me your daughter in marriage, she will have a fine home with plenty to eat, and no harm will come to her." "No, you will not do," said the mother. When he departed, she saw that he was a fox. Many more young men appeared, but none of them suited her. Would she ever find a man worthy of her daughter, a man who could be the father of sons and daughters who could restore the power of her family?

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Another day was ending, and still she sang her song, "Who will marry my daughter so that he could help me! Who will marry my daughter?" Still another day was ending and in the twilight, clouds were gathering. As she narrowed her eyes, the better to keep out the glare of the setting sun that shown gloriously over the waters and streaked the sky with the softening rays of the reddening light, she became aware that the light seemed brighter, and nearer. She felt as if some presence was close to her. She stopped and heard a voice say, "Wah-suk'i-shah-gook?" She could not see this person yet, so she looked around and said to the voice "What can you do?", and waited in wondering silence. Then she saw him. He seemed to be the very center of the light itself as he looked steadfastly at her and smiled as he said: "My father is Guh-gahn, the Sun itself. Whatever I propose, I perform. When I turn my face, it is day. When I hide myself, it is night. I am never discouraged. What I do, I do as quickly as light. No matter how dark it might become on this earth, in my home the weather and the day are fine because I am there. If you will give me your daughter's hand in marriage, I will take her to the land of my Father, the bright and glorious Sun, and there we will build a home. To my children I will impart a portion of my unquenchable spirit. Yeah, even more will I give. They will be known as the grandchildren of the Sun. So, again I ask you, will I do?"

During this speech she heard the words "woo-soo" and she knew that here was her future. She replied, "You are the man who shall marry my daughter!" She had made her decision. "Make ready then, for I will take you to the land of Guh-gahn and there we will make our home," said this child of Guh-gahn, or as he is known amongst the Tlingit-speaking people Guhgahn-yeet'. A heavy, dense cloud rolled about them. Guh-gahn-yeet' said to the women, "You must not think of this earth or of anything on it, but

keep your thoughts on the place where we are going". The cloud engulfed them and they started up from the earth as if in a canoe. The mother looked down and saw her Great House still smoldering and thought, "I am glad to go, but very sorry to leave my home." Instantly, the three of them were back at the point from which they started. Guh-gahn-yeet' said, "We will try again, but you must not think of this earth. Think only of the place where I am taking you". Again they were lifted up and started on their journey. Again the woman could not keep her mind from her home, and again all three of them were back at the starting point.

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This provoked Guh-gahn-yeet'. He twisted a limb from a nearby tree, and into the cavity thus created, he stuffed the mother and said, "Hence-forth, you will be called Ahs-guh-too-yik'shaw (The-Woman-in-the-Tree). Whenever you hear anything, you will repeat it. When you finish, the tree farthest from you will repeat the same sound that will become as one who is traveling. People will call you 'Echo'. Yei ah-weh." In this way, our scientists have discovered the reason for the phenomenon, and their reasoning pleases them and us. When we hear an echo, we know it is "The-Woman-in-the-Tree". Guh-

gahn-yeet' turned from the tree and gathered up his young wife. The cloud engulfed them and without mishap they reached the land of the Sun. In due time, they were blessed with eight children, seven boys and one girl. In the land of the Sun, our imagination pictures something that could be paradise, sunshine, warmth, flowers, rain only in the night, green grass, winding brooks, food in varied forms according to one's experience and desire. Among the Tlingit, it would be food as it comes in season - fish for drying, rich, oily sahk (eulachon), yahw (herring), dtah (king-salmon), sweet mountain berries, soap berries, high bush cranberries, blueberries and crab apples all to be preserved in seal oil; deer meat, the flesh and oil of the young seal; many other kinds of food dear to the taste of the Tlingit. Here it was prepared by the Child-of-the-Sun. Guh-gahn-yeet' Travels

There came a time when it was necessary for Guh-gahn-yeet' to leave his mortal wife. He prepared quantities of food. He told her to make many baskets small enough to fit her fingers, into which they packed each kind of food ready for the day when it would be needed. Then he departed. The children grew in this happy land. One day, they came to their mother and asked, "Mother, who are we?" But she dismissed them with the answer, "Go about your playing and don't bother with such questions." The years passed. Several times the same scene was repeated. Finally the time came when the spokesman for the children said, "My mother, we must know who we are, where we came from, who our people are, and why we are alone." The mother knew the moment was coming to answer, but she said, "The time is not yet." More years passed. Again the children came to their mother and said, "Mother, we want to return to the land of our uncles and grandfathers." 44

But she replied, "No, you are not ready. Go about your playing." This scene was repeated in several succeeding years, until the day came when the spokesman said, "My mother, we are going to return to Git'diksh." Then she knew that the time for their departure had come. She told Guh-gahn, the father of her husband, that they wished to go to their own home. He agreed that his grandchildren should return to the land of their uncles. Some of our historians say that ever since, the Tlingit has loved his own country and for that country he will leave even such a pleasant land as that of the sun. Guh-gahn then had prepared models of everything they would need - a Great House with a

painted front, and all sorts of food. He gave the women marten skin robes and bracelets. He gave the sons thick skin armor and weapons of war. These things were put into the tiny baskets she made. Just before they were to be transported to the land of Git'diksh, Guh-gahn said to his daughterin-law, "You are going back to Earth-land to fight. Whenever the trouble is too great and you need help, think of me, and I will help." With that, they were borne back to Git'diksh in a great cloud. As soon as they reached their old village, the miniature models expanded into full size. At first the young men worked only at night rebuilding their fort, because they were afraid of their powerful enemy. Travelers in canoes passing by the abandoned village saw movement on the shore and reported it to the chief of the Git'ahn-doo, but he and others who heard the reports merely said, "You are seeing the spirits of those who were killed, that is all". Meanwhile, the seven young men, their mother and sister, worked feverishly to complete the fort. The nearer they came to completion, the more impatient the young men became. Finally the young people could restrain themselves no longer. They began to work in the daytime. Then the scouts of their enemy reported to the chief of the Git'ahn-doo that the descendants of Nah-goo-woo had returned.

The chief of the Git'ahn-doo said, "We must destroy our enemy before they get too strong. We must destroy them utterly. Get the war canoes ready. We start at once." As they approached Git'diksh, the young men espied the war party. The fort was not yet enclosed. The odds were fearful, but they had no choice. Their mother stood behind them. The girl, already beating upon her drum the rhythm from before that her mother had taught her,

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stood behind, quite close. The young men, dressed in thick skin armor prepared by Guh-gahn, walked across the long beach fronting the house into the water to meet the enemy as far from their unfinished fort as possible. The battle was joined. The pressure of the enemy numbers pushed them back. As they retreated, the sister came closer, beating a steady tattoo on the drum, and shrieking the only curses that are known to the Tlingit, telling the enemy that their mothers and other ancestors were all the things most abhorred by these people - nook-zati (witches), crooked-backed children of slaves and epithets of like nature. The mother had forgotten the promise of Guh-gahn. Three of the boys were now down. Those who could still stand would soon be overcome, although they fought as if life were no longer a matter of concern to them. Death would be sweet if only they could kill one more of the hated enemy! Then it was that the mother remembered. This must be the very time for which Guh-gahn had promised. She called on him to keep it. "Oosh-geh-geh! Oosh-geh-gehl" she began,

"Oh, that it might be true, Would that it were true! Help us, 0 Sun, Help us! Help my sons to avenge their uncles! Help the children of Git'diksh". Instantly, there came a sound that was swift and penetrating. Both the boys and the enemy heard it. With the force of a physical blow, the rays of the sun struck the canoes of the enemy and split them with a tremendous cracking sound. The great war canoes were broken in two! Guh-gahn, the powerful father of her husband, had intervened. That is how the Tlingit people

know that if they appeal to their fathers, they will receive help. Who is there that can stand against such a power? The enemy knew that a supernatural force had intervened. The boys knew it. The women knew it. Beating her drum with increased tempo, the girl ran like a terrier toward the enemy. The boys fought like new men; those who were badly wounded got up. The enemy hesitated, turned, and ran. But where? Their canoes were split asunder and lay wrecked on the beach. Those who didn't drown were killed. So it was that all the men of Git'ahn-doo perished. Git'diksh became a great nation once more, and although this is a story of the Tsimshian-

speaking people, all Tlingits are taught the meaning of Git'diksh. That is why those modern Natives of Klawock departed from Salmon Bay. They left Dee-gah-di-yeh to Kah-thli-yudt, the

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future of whose tribe was assured because she had two daughters and a son to rebuild the walls of Git'diksh. There is an original totem pole carved by Joe Williams Thomas for the Koo-eeti_of 1940 on

Shaksh Island. The top figure is the mother; the second figure with the rays of the sun around her head is the daughter.

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7 - Love Divides a Nation Where did we, the Tlingit people, come from? How can anybody know except by guess! If our climate were not so wet, or if the Native had known how to mummify his dead, or if the soil were only deeper so that archaeologists could dig and uncover successive town sites with tell-tale artifacts, if, if, ... alas, it is not so. We have to depend upon the legends of our "Old Ones", whose feats of memory kept increasing as they tell the story of ancestors, reciting the names of leaders and their wives even several hundreds of years in the past. That is how we learned of the people who were cast upon the smaller islands west of Tahn (renamed the Anguilla Islands for a Spanish navigator). In this very area, some people are called Towk'ah-nedy (People-of-the-Winter-Side), and some kept the name Gahn-nuti_-uddy. Their

one-ness with each other is never forgotten by the historians of each generation. During migrations names were left behind. Tlingit geographical names are all over the lower end of the West Coast of Tahn where now only the Haida with their totally different language is domiciled. In this area are such Tlingit names as Kling-ahn, Sowk'ahn, Howk'ahn, and Kahig'ahny. Even today at the mouth of the Nass River, the people are called Nis-kah, thus

preserving the record of common ancestry through the use of the Tlingit word for man - kah. I believe that there are two other reasons for aboriginal migration besides "slighted" honor lack of food (or crowding) and just plain "to see the other side of the mountain". There has been much guessing as to why groups left rich lands to take a forward march. The motives that pushed these early Natives from one area to another were just as good or just as bad as any other traveler's. It could have been a feud over a woman, a lover who could not wait to fall heir to his uncle's widow, his blood kindled by the power of a glance or a furtive smile from her who knew that he would become her lawful husband when his uncle departed this life. That is how it was among the Dukhla-wedy - those Outer-Sand-People who came down the Shtuk'heen under the glacier. They fought among themselves from early morning until noon,

when the tide pushed them from their battleground onto the sand spit that joined the two sections of their town called Toots'ti_unk "Grassy Town" when the tide was low. The men were forced to take time to review the consequences of their anger that until then was too hot and reckless to be concerned with consequences.

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He knew he was playing with fire, this lover did, every time he crossed the sand spit that separated the two portions of Toots'K_unk,their ancient village. That is the reason he said to his young nephew, "If ever I do not return before dawn, you will know that something has happened to me". His uncle's wife, this Lorelei of the Raven Clan, blinded by her heart's desire, thought no one suspected her other love life. She went about her daily duties silently in the Native style while her thoughts traveled across the sand spit pondering how her allurements might prevail. It was hard to cross the sand spit in secret. Besides they all lived together in the Great House except during the times when the taboo against uncleanness forced the women into the outside shelters until they were purified. So it happened that she began to give forth a peculiar odor, a stench outside the experience of any one. Hastily her outside abode was prepared, and within it she passed her days and nights. But she did not recover within the usual time. Why should she, when she lived each day only that the night might come, when she removed the rotting clam concealed on her person? Then she and her lover would float away, their bodies entwined by the physical and spiritual merger of their love, until the morning caw of the Raven would warn them that these moments of ecstasy were over and the lover must be gone or be ready to accept a terrible fate! Out of the love the husband bore his wife, he watched over her, concerned about this sickness, heretofore unknown to man. As time went on, he began to think that all was not as it seemed. The husband decided to prepare a walk of clean sand, "full of clam shells", he said to himself. He worked all day bringing loads of this sand from the beach for a path to the sick-house of his ailing wife. That night the tribal nephew went to keep his rendezvous. Though it was dark, he saw the new path full of white shells and he knew what could happen. He thought of turning back, but she was waiting for him. He put one foot on the new sand and shifted his weight. Nothing happened. He took another step, nothing happened. At the place of the next step, a shell was not pure white. When he shifted his weight, it cracked with the sound of lightening. He stood balanced, not moving his foot from the broken shell, every nerve taut and muscles tense, head turned aside and ears reaching out until they seemed to touch the Great House. Nothing happened. So he stretched his arms sideways for a better balance and moved on to his sweetheart. He did well. He broke only three or four shells, "Not enough to tell that somebody was here", he thought. He waited at the door listening for quite a time before entering her room where he found her wide-awake and waiting. The next morning the caw of the Raven sounded, dawn came and the full light of day spread over the village of the Dukhla-wedy, but the lover had not returned. His young nephew feared the worst and determined to find out

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what had happened. He crossed the gravel spit to the Great House of the Killer Whale people. When he entered the doorway, all eyes were upon him, but no one saw the boy even flick his glance toward the central crossbeam of the house from which hung his uncle's severed head. As he walked forward he said, "Our fire has gone out. Will you not give me some of your fire?" He received no answer. Nonetheless, he advanced to the central fire pit and knelt directly under the dripping head. One drop of blood struck the middle of his instep, but the boy did not move except to push his dry stick into the blaze. He held it steady until it caught. All about him hung the silence of death for everyone knew what was about to happen - the only question was "How soon?" When his stick was burning strongly, he pulled it out and addressed himself to the Master of the House. "Goo-nuhl-cheesh" (thank you). He walked slowly toward the door without a glance upward or to the right or to the left. As he walked, he waved his burning stick back and forth to keep the fire alive until he was through the doorway. Then he gave full release to the emotions pent up within his breast. Casting the stick aside, he ran waving his arms back across the gravel spit, screaming "Uhh-kahk-wuh-doo-wuh-juk.

(My

uncle has been killed!)" It mattered not that his uncle had been killed for what the Anglo-Saxon call a violation of the "unwritten law". A greater law had been broken. A life had been taken. None would rest until another life had evened the score. No fight was more bitter. Brother against brother, all the fierce lust for battle burned in every breast, the fires fanned on the one side by the sanctity of the home and on the other side by the law of revenge. They battled until the flooding tide put an end to the bloody scene in Grassy Town, as the bay is still called. With the ebb of the tide no one of this tribe had a mind to renew the struggle, nor could anyone remain where daily he would be reminded of these events. Without a spoken command from anyone, and with one accord, the entire tribe of the Killer Whale totem of Dukhla-wedy loaded their canoes with all their goods possible. They came together in the center of the bay as if drawn by a strong magnet. Each canoe was concerned with itself alone, and although little space separated each vessel from its neighbor, it could have been a mile. Paddles lifted and fell in unison as each canoe moved away. Silently, grimly, they left, without a backward glance at the battlefield still bloody with fraternal strife. Thus it was that the People-of-the-Outer-Sand left a homeland rich in everything to sustain a Native's life; fish and game, deer, mink, marten, bear, clams, cockles, seaweed, wild celery, salmon berries, blueberries, low-bush cranberries, red huckleberries, herring, and much more.

so

Some went northward to Ahn-goon, some to Klowk'ahn, some to Yas-kuh, some to Klaik'ahn, some to the Haida country, and some toward the Nass. The tribe of the opposite clan remained and so the district became the land of the Tee-hit-ton by default.

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8 -The-Girl-Who-Nursed-the-Woodworm Most people through the centuries are taught who they are while they are very young. I was taught that I am a Tee-hit-ton of the Raven Clan. I also learned that other tribes around me had been as one with my tribe many, many years ago. I was traveling in a seine boat named William A. Kelly skippered by a man from the northern village of Klowk'ahn (The Town-That-Always-Was). By marriages between the families of the great overlords of the north and those of equal rank in the powerful Federation of the Shgut'quon (which included my ancestors), we were closely related, a relationship made closer

since the skipper had married into the family of my cousins, the Tee-nady, also of the Raven Clan. We were thirty miles from our destination. Approaching the grave of an Indian shaman that marked the narrows at Hecate Island, we began talking about the people of the village. I remarked, merely for the purpose of making conversation, that the women of Klawock were full-breasted, more so than those usually found in other places. "Don't you know the reason, Shquindy?" He addressed me by my Tlingit name because he was of the opposite clan and could not use the familiar Chah-kah allowed persons of the same clan. He didn't wait for me to answer, but went on. "It was just about here," said he, pointing to the Anguilla Islands about fifteen miles away and coming into sight. We were passing the gravesite of the lcht Skow/, so we paused in our conversation to pay our respects to his spirit by throwing a piece of bread into the waters fronting the totem that marked Grave Island. Tobacco would have been better, but lacking that we used what we had. The bread disappeared, sucked into the depths by the whirling, gurgling current that rushed by, impelled by the ebb of the tide. "It was just about there", he resumed "an ancestor of the women you speak of nursed a tiny woodworm until it got so big that the people had to destroy it. It was eating all the food from their storage boxes. Listen awhile and I will tell it to you". The fifty-foot, gas-powered boat was rolling slightly from side to side. The bow rose up a bit and the stern sat closer to the waters as if to move its rump from the ghost of the lcht because we had fed it common bread instead of the traditional tobacco. "The tribe which claims the story is called Towk'ah-nedy" (People-On-The-Winter-Side), a Raven Clan, he continued, "but they are really Gahn-nuK,-uddy (Outside-Living-People) who long ago came from the Nass. The Kik's-uddy owners of the famous Raven totem pole at Wrangell are

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also the same, just as you, although you are called Tee-hit-ton (People-of-the-Cedar-BarkHouse). "These Gahn-nuK-uddy had come to Anguilla Island and established a town called Kah-kuK-doooo 'On-the-Point-They-Dwell'. They built great community houses in the usual manner. Each

unit of the family had its own assigned place. In the back across the entire house, the master lived with his immediate family. His room was separated from the main part by a huge backboard 'Keen' with the usual large round hole for an entrance. The screen was painted with the symbols belonging to his tribe. "The Master of this particular House had a daughter who was just approaching womanhood and so she was always attended, never alone. One day when she was helping to bring in some wood, she found a small woodworm, dlook-K She was curious. She picked it up and took it to her own private room, provided for her according to the custom of our people when girls are this age. She wrapped it in a blanket and talked to it as to a pet. "It refused to eat the food she offered. 'Perhaps it is too young,' she said to herself. She knew that her time was approaching. She knew she was born to marry and to be a mother. She felt the emotions of expectation within her, those mysterious, emotional waves of feeling within her body that she didn't understand. She washed herself and rubbed her breasts, part of the ritual common to girls of her age. There before her was her child. That is what it was! It was her child! In keeping with her imagination, and to see what would happen, she uncovered her left breast and pushed the mouth of the little woodworm against it. The tiny creature seemed to know. It moved, so she pressed the nipple and held the worm as she had seen mothers do. It put its mouth around the nipple and sucked. The girl loved the feeling that came over her. "She felt guilty and knew that she must not say anything to her mother. So she hid her pet, the baby of her imagination. She talked to it and fed it, but before she went out among her family she would smooth away the happiness that was in her face when she fondled the woodworm. "Time went on and she continued to love and nurture her pet. She sang to it, a song that nobody understood: 'Hhesi yuh-oo, es ge

A mouth it has, hasn't it?

Djuh yahh guh-nuh.

Right here, now sit.'

"Her breasts grew larger and larger because the woodworm needed more and more milk. She was a lovely young maid, with the quiet charm of the Native, obedient and graceful.

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"'She seems to be in a trance, enraptured with her own thoughts', the people said. Her mother noticed her form changing rapidly to that of a young woman, but she was not concerned because it was time. "The pet, however, grew larger and larger until the girl could not supply it with enough food. So she began to take food from the boxes reserved for winter use. The woodworm continued to grow until there was no room in the small compartment. She dug a hole in the floor to provide space, and kept enlarging the tunnel until it extended half way under the village. That is how big the woodworm grew. "After the first song, she composed another: 'It has a little mouth already, Here I want you to sit. 'It has a little mouth already, Here I want you to sit'. "She would coo to it and rock it, all in the seclusion of her compartment, both hands around its small head: 'It has a mouth already, Sit right here, sit right here.' "She would rock it and hum

'00-00-00

1 ,

eyes closed, hands on its face, fondling its neck and

throat. How she loved it! She wouldn't leave it except to eat. "Her conduct, however, was such that her mother finally became suspicious. Alarmed, she spied on her daughter and saw the hideous monster. She told the girl's father and her brother, the girl's uncle. "The uncle called the people together. They had already discovered that food from their boxes was missing, precious oil, berries, and dried salmon for winter use. With shame he confessed to them the cause. 'The boxes are empty. We must destroy this thing that my sister's daughter has kept secretly, before it can destroy us. Now is the time'. "The mother urged her daughter to 'go and play with the other girls or visit your k/owg' (the mother's sister or other female member of the tribe). But the girl would leave her room for only the shortest time. She knew that evil was being planned against her baby, but her mother kept urging her, until finally she acquiesced. 54

"On that day, the girl put on her new marten skin robe, as if for a feast, and came out from her compartment singing and dancing with the slow methodic rhythms and swing that is both a funeral song, and a waltz: 'Is it not true That I am going, For death it is That I am going. 'Is it not true That I have dreamed? With this my child, Ah-ah-a-yoo.' "As if by arrangement, no sooner did she appear through her doorway, twisting her body first this way and that in the dance, a sound was heard as an accompanying beat of a drum from someone in the Great House catching up the cadence of the girl's song. Young, dreamy, dressed as a chief's daughter, she danced silently in her moccasins, thrusting forward one rounded shoulder alternately with the other, singing: 'Is it not true That I am going? 'Is it for death That I have dreamed, That I have dreamed?'

"She knew, this child-mother knew, that her life was so tied up with the wood worm that she would die with it. Thus sang the girl of the Gahn-nutS_-tuh-shaw. "She heard the noise behind her as the people took their places for the attack, her maternal uncles at the head and her father's relatives at the tail. She suffered with her child and slowly sank into the sand as she whispered, 'Oh-0-0-0! They are killing my child'. "When all was quiet she knew that her child was dead. As she turned her steps back toward the Great House, she composed and sang another song: 'They took me from you, my son, I was not free to stay.

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'They have killed you, my son, I could not tell them nay. Condemned I am, for raising you, I meant no harm to them or you. When the future sings of the past, Fame will come to you and me. 'For great will be your likeness, my child, When your emblem is cherished at last.1 "Then she went to her father and said, 'Let my son's body be burned as is the custom of our people. Let the whole town make ready a bier for the burning'. "This was done. The body burned as if it had been made of oil. "At the funeral, the girl composed and sang yet another song: 'My pet, my child will be proclaimed, My pet will live in great stories, In tales of this glorious time, For thus will my child live on And be forever the pride of my heart.' "The girl continued to mourn and would not be comforted. She sang over and over her songs as she relived with remorse her conduct that led to the death of her child until she died of grief. "The tribe of her mother was overcome with humiliation at the unnatural love of the daughter for a mere animal creature, a shame multiplied by their abhorrence of the hideous monster it had become. They gave no heed to the prophecy of the girl. Soon the major portion of the tribe departed, traveling slowly away. They went north, south, east, and west. You can find them among the Dtun-gash and the Shgut'quon. "Some of the tribe did not rest until they reached the banks of the beautiful Chilkat River where they founded Klowk'ahn (The Town-That-Always-Was). By this time the woodworm had ceased to be a monster. Everywhere Gahn-nuK_-uddy are the custodians of the wood worm Koo-tee-yah (totem). It is the symbol of that great family of the Raven Clan. "Wherever they are, by whatever name they are called, they prize their ancestry. Their women are known as the Gahn-nuK_-tuh-shaw, whose ancestor fondled the woodworm and who,

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though she died of a broken heart, left a heritage of song and love for generations of descendants from these People-from-the-Outside. "To commemorate this event and to proclaim the part taken by her family, the girl's tribe had one of the four house posts carved for the Yai Hit (Whale House) in Klowk'ahn. The large upper figure represents the girl holding her 'baby' to her breast with both hands. Her ears are formed with two other woodworms. The lower figures are that of a crane holding a frog in its mouth. These creatures live in trees and are emblems of the Raven Clan. The girl's father's tribe has the right to show its tail because that was the part his tribe attacked." As we journeyed on past Klaik'ahn (Town-that-Was-to-be), my relative from the Djihl-kaht said, "That was the village where all this happened. You believe me? You want more proof? Then look at their women, all of them like the Girl-Who-Nursed-The-Wood-Worm." Sure enough, as I searched my memory while he called the roll, I realized that they were indeed worthy descendants of the Girl-Who-Nursed-The-Woodworm.

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9 - The Day-shee-ton Tribe and the Beaver; the Day-shee-ton move to Ahn-goon The women of the Gahn-nuti_-uddy traveled with their husbands southward, some went with the Dukhla-wedy of the Killer Whale crest and some went with the Te-quedy of the Grizzly Bear crest. Many of the latter settled on Moira Sound, moving to the Winter Village across the channel at the proper time. They became known as Tahn-dah-quon. When that town was burned by the ti,ihl-quon (Foam People), they moved from the arid Dah-suh-ti_aok' (Sand-AllAround, now Cat Island) to Cottonwood Island (renamed Tongass Island by the white man after the Tahn-dah-quon). Sometimes these Te-quedy cum Tahn-dah-quon are called "Tongassquon".

They were a proud and warlike people, careful to marry only their peers from distant lands. They were the first to see a sailing ship and they advertised it by erecting the likeness of the ship upon a totem pole, a "trademark" which under Tlingit law could not be infringed upon without paying a penalty. In like manner, because they were the first to see a white man, they erected a totem pole to commemorate this fact. Much effort has been made to make it appear that this totem honored Abraham Lincoln out of gratitude for being freed from bondage. It is a romantic tale without foundation. The owners of the pole deny it. My Mother, who lived at Tongass in 1880 with her Tongass husband, denied it. To confirm such a tale would be to say that the Te-quedy Tribe, a Wolf Clan, were marrying slaves of the Raven Clan! Those of the Gahn-nuti_-uddy who continued northward did not stop until they came to the land of the Djih/-kaht, a name that derives from the custom of the people to preserve the rich king and coho salmon in djihl (boxes filled with ice) and moored at the river's edge. The Anglo-Saxon has modified Djihl-kaht to Chilkat. All Tlingits domiciled along that river are called Djihl-kahtquon, or Chilkats.

This great tribe of the Raven Clan was the first of the Tlingits to come to the Chilkat country. They became the overlords of the entire area and defended it with fierce bravery. When they had evidence that the Hudson's Bay Company was encroaching on their territory to the northward, they sent a war party inland three hundred miles and destroyed Fort Selkirk. They were not about to resign or share their role of middleman of that country and to levy tribute on all trade that passed from tidewater to inland. Land suitable for a village is not plentiful around Klowk'ahn, and so, when the great houses were filled to over-flowing, some of the people moved downstream to establish a new house. These people became known as the Day-shee-ton, and their house was called Day-shee-ton-hit

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"House-at-the-End-of-the-Road". Ravens were carved onto the house posts to show the world what clan they belonged to. The modern name of this place is Haines. Again the group divided. Some traveled southward, down Lynn Canal and Chatham Strait until they reached Kowk'gee-yi {Basket Bay, which name is a literal translation of the Tlingit). They stayed long enough to build a great town and to acquire a special claim to the Beaver that is sometimes called the "Killisnoo Beaver". The Day-shee-tonBeaver

In these modern times, the reasons for a tribe long ago to leave one place and go to another seem inadequate. The abandonment of a location built up by tremendous labor amidst surroundings and natural resources that are bountiful for a new location does not seem logical. All we can do is to accept the fact that people once lived for many generations in a town such as Killisnoo in Basket Bay, a few miles from Angoon. In all respects, their life was normal. The capture of a baby beaver was not out of ordinary, though the rest of the beaver colony had been killed. The baby beaver was small, cute, and harmless. There was nothing about it that made it different from any other beaver. It went about its beaver business and had free use of the chief's house where it was allowed to roam inside and out according to the needs and calls of its beaver nature. The fact that it acted more or less like a human being was not surprising and was explained by its environment. It lived among humans. Nobody perceived that the beaver had a dual life. It would go toward the nearby lake where it disappeared. Once there, it carved salmon spears. One day, it forgot to hide these spears but left them where some townsmen found them. These beautiful spears would have been a credit to any carver skilled in his art. The townsmen took the spears to town and made a great effort to find the carver. They asked the best carvers, but received only denials. When the inquiries were made in the chief's house, the beaver was present. It thought everybody should be able to recognize the fact that it was the carver. It moped about the crowd, dragging its heavy paddleshaped tail behind. Finally, the beaver spoke and said, "I carved those spears." Nobody was surprised to hear the beaver talking like a person, because in those days animals could talk like people. But to claim that he had carved the spears was preposterous, and everybody laughed. The beaver became very angry, and so he asked for a spear. When it was given him, he stepped back, and as he balanced it, he sang a song that is even now the property of the Day-shee-ton. He threw the spear at the chief, hitting him in the chest and killing him. Everybody stood stunned.

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The beaver ran outside and made for the den that he had dug under the town. Nobody realized that the den existed or how extensive it was. When the beaver got to the entrance, he turned abruptly, faced his pursuers, raised his broad tail and brought it down with a mighty blow right over the enormous den. The whole town collapsed. Because of this incident, the Day-shee-ton of Kowk'gee-yi say that this particular beaver is theirs. To advertise their claim, they placed it on their totem poles. Other tribes of the Raven Clan are not prohibited from claiming or using a beaver so long as they do not call it Day-shee-ton or Killisnoo. If a person wishes to use this beaver, he may do so if he has a relationship with this tribe. The famous Kik's-uddy pole at Wrangell has a Day-sheeton beaver at the base of it. The man in whose honor the pole was erected was the grandson of

a Day-shee-ton. There was another pole in Wrangell topped by a NuK,-uddy beaver that stood in front of the house belonging to Yahn-duh-kin-yeihl (Flying Raven). This beaver has no connection with the Day-shee-ton beaver. Flying Raven was erected to show that the owner's father was of the NutS,uddy tribe of the Nah-ah. Most of this totem pole is now in the Alaska State Museum. The only

part missing is the beaver which was so rotted that it could not be saved. The Day-shee-ton Move to Ahn-goon

Possibly the catastrophe at Basket Bay caused the people to move some thirty miles across the channel to Ahn-goon. Whatever! In the course of time, history finds them established here with a road across the peninsula, as the name of the town indicates. They built another Day-sheeton-hit

after the manner of their house at Haines, and began the task of creating an

independent name for themselves by erecting another Raven pole, Koo-tee-yeihl. Even to Raven brothers, the totem may not be used lightly. The owners of the first Day-sheeton-hit sent word to the builders that they must not copy the Raven they left behind. The

message went back that they were building a new Raven totem, no copy, as was their right. To prove their boast, tradition saysthey dedicated the new pole by sacrificing twenty slaves. It was a great price, one sufficient to stop any further foolish words about retribution. Tlingit law requires the expenditure of a like price by whoever feels aggrieved enough to oppose a claim. Their position was now secure. In all their wanderings, they had not forgotten their place of origin nor their stories. In each heart, as in all the Tlingit-speaking people, there burned a fierce pride of ancestry and heraldry. They spent their lives accumulating and expending their wealth in a manner to bring honor to their names and to defend that honor from any stain of shame.

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10 - Stronger than Goliath There is great pride of ancestry among the Tlingit who call themselves Hlai-nedy (People-onthe-One-Side). When they started their migration from a small town a few miles north of Prince Rupert, they took with them their clan emblem, the Raven. They divided and each division cherished its common heritage and told and retold stories of the homeland - Raven who created the world and guarded the Sun, Moon, and Stars in his palace in the upper firmament; Scamp Raven, his grandson, who stole these lights for all mankind (and himself) who had been groping in total darkness in the lower firmament. These migrations happened so long ago that many tribes of the Hlai-nedy have forgotten that they stemmed from the "People-of-the-Git'shees". Unique experiences happening along the way to some families gave that family a sort of copyright so it could say, "This is mine alone" i.e. the double-headed Raven, the two-dorsal finned Killer Whale, or the Woodworm Mother. One such group, the Towk'ah-nedy (Winter-Side-People,) settled thirty miles north of the village of Klawock, and built a Great House that they called Tug-jik'ahn (Snail House) in memory of their ancestral town of Git'shees. The white man calls this town "Tuxekan". In the course of time, two local events distinguished them from other Hlai-nedy and marked them as coming from Tug-jik'ahn. On both occasions, food was the compelling cause of action. To get enough food was a tremendous task. Physical strength was essential to leadership. To achieve this strength, young men followed a regimen that was common to all the Hlane-git. The leader had to be strong enough to tear a sea lion in two with his bare hands. In this long ago time, people had nothing else for weapons. Since they had no way of measuring the strength required, they consulted their shaman. He told them that their champion had to be strong enough to twist a certain size jack pine tree that stood in the swamp not far from their village, and to break a limb off the trunk of a nearby tree. The young men, led by the nephew of the chief, even in the middle of the winter would go down to the beach and sit in the salt water made even colder by floating ice, until their bodies turned blue. Blackskin, another nephew of the great Chief Shkuh-guhl-wate alone seemed to be unaware of the single-mindedness of the community. Thus begins the legend. At feasts even to this day, an orator will arise when the spirit moves him and begin in much the same way orators of old did and with much the same gestures. He will enumerate the particular

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relationship that he bears to everyone present. Since his address would often become very extended, he first gains the good will of each group in this way. "My father's people! (Now all the opposite side is bound to him.) My older brothers! (All the older men of his mother's tribe are included.) My younger brothers! (He is honoring his younger brothers and making them feel the importance to which he has raised them.) My sisters! (This is the only group that he would be permitted to marry, and he reminds them in this subtle way as if to say, 'You are my sweethearts'). I, too, share in the good fellowship that prevails tonight. "I am reminded that in the ancient village of Tug-jik'ahn there lived a man of the highest caste (the orator here is exaggerating to stir up the easy pride of his audience who know the story so well that each one feels that he himself is the hero) who was called Guhl-wate. He was a nephew of the Great Shkuh-guhl-wate, a prince of the land of the Towk'ah-nedy. This nephew, strong and proud, was the pride of the village, the favored one for the task that was before the people. "When the young men went to exercise to gain strength, they were led by Guhl-wate who would swagger down to the beach. With a great show, he would lead them through the prescribed ritual of sitting in the cold salt water amidst the blocks of ice that covered the surface until all their bodies turned blue. On coming out of the water, he and the others would whip themselves with a branch from a crab apple tree to restore circulation, the result of which was to fortify muscle and spirit to meet the tests set by the Jcht. "It was the custom. All the young men followed it except one, whose name was Keish-kah-day but called Blackskin (Dook'duhl). He was another nephew - shameful to say - of the same old, great Shkuh-guhl-wate. He alone seemed unaware of the obsession of the entire community. To make matters worse, he was so repulsive with filth and stench that the people called him still another nickname Uh-kuh/-hah-zee (The-Place-Where-Vomit-ls-Left).

He was a strange

man, big and strong, this other nephew of a brilliant chief, who in the natural course of events could be the next chief. Why didn't he act like one? Even children could heap abuse on him without his showing resentment. The consensus was that he was a coward - craven, worthless, despised. No one showed him kindness - except the elder of his uncle's wives." The orator continued. "The competition

among the young men for the acquisition of the

greatest strength and become the hero was joined with a more practical ambition. Whenever a man should become strong enough to pass the two tests (thus fulfilling the requirements of the lcht), the entire village would declare a gala day and prepare for a great hunt. The young men

would journey to the Island of the Sea-lion, and the hero would then kill enough of those great animals to supply the village with food in abundance for the time of scarcity.

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"As the men passed Blackskin early in the morning on their way to the proving grounds, some would kick him as if to make room for their feet. They repeated this performance on their return, remarking with derision, 'Perhaps Kuhl-hah-zee will twist the tree and break the limb! Ooooo!' But the craven would only pull his bark mat blanket higher over his head and jackknife his body made even more repulsive by the heat from the fireplace. He was indeed Uh-kuh/-hah-

zee! "After the long winter's evening had come, when the people had finished their several duties and gone to bed, each in his own place asleep, Blackskin would rise and quietly slip down to the salt water where he followed the routine that made men strong. It was his secret. In his own heart, he knew that he was the one who would be the benefactor of his people. This was the reason he was willing to take the insults even from children. Night after night he endured the regimen of training. He would test his strength on the pine tree and the limb in the required way. Afterwards he would go home. Because it was so cold, he would take a stick to push back the charcoal and embers from the fireplace, lie down where the sand was still warm, curl up and go to sleep. Here he would be when the men left every morning to start their program of training. "Since he felt so sure that nobody knew what he was doing, you can imagine his surprise when he heard someone whistle at him while he was sitting in the cold salt water. His heart almost stopped beating! He turned his head to hear better, hoping that he was mistaken. He strained his eyes and finally saw someone on the beach. He walked slowly shoreward. When he got quite close, he saw that indeed, there was somebody there. "The unknown man said, 'Come to me at once!' The manner and the words were those used for battle, not at all polite. The man continued, 'My name is Strength. I have been sent to help you. Do not tell anyone about me'. The way he spoke could only have come from a supernatural source. "So Blackskin went ashore. The stranger seized him and threw him down hard to the beach. Strength said, 'You are not strong enough yet. Go and sit some more!' whereupon, he vanished. Blackskin resumed his training. "Four more mornings Strength wrestled with Blackskin. Each morning Blackskin felt himself grow stronger. On the fourth morning, when Blackskin was about to win, Strength said, 'Stop! You are ready now. Test your power by twisting the jack pine tree, then pull out the stubby limb. Untwist the tree and smooth it until it looks as before. Urinate into the socket of the tree and put the limb back. It will freeze into position and nobody will be the wiser.' A heavy fog rolled in from the ocean and Strength disappeared into it.

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"Blackskin followed the instructions given him, after which he hastened back to his bed on the fireplace. He curled up and went into a profound sleep. "The next morning, Guhl-wate, with his usual pomposity, led the procession down to the training grounds. The men sat in the cold salt water. After a while, they waded back to shallow water. Some of the sturdier men whipped each other with crab apple whips. When they were finished, they all stood in deference to their ahn-yuddy who would be the first to try to twist the tree. "Bracing his sturdy legs, he grasped the trunk with his hands well apart, and twisted. The trunk moved! It spiraled around! The men shouted, 'Guhl-wate has twisted the tree!' "Guhl-wate knew that he had not, but pride prevented his telling his companions that

somebody else had done it before him. But who? With misgiving in his heart, he went to the tree. He took a firm hold of the short, stubby limb and with a great show of strength he jerked the limb off. He held the limb aloft and then waved it about in triumph amid the acclaim of the men. "Guhl-wate was their champion! He would tear the sea lions in two! The people would have

food enough and to spare. "At once, they all rushed back to town to spread the news and to plan the trip for which they had worked. Guhl-wate with great pride, directed the preparations for the hunt. As for Blackskin, he lay curled up in the ashes of the fireplace, dirty, repulsive, an object of scorn, not resisting the scoffs and the kicks which the small boys heaped on him. "Blackskin knew that he had to be a member of the hunting party, but how? He asked permission to go along 'just to bail out the canoe'. He got a brutal 'No'. The young men jeered and shouted at him for all to hear. "'Why not put Kuhl-hah-zee in the bow of the canoe? He is a great and mighty hunter. He will tear the sea lions in two. He it was who twisted the tree and broke the limb!' "Blackskin went for advice to his only friend, the elder of his uncle's wives. She tied the head piece around his top hair into a knot, and said, 'Go, get ready, and get aboard.' He painted his face red and went down to the great canoe lying at the edge of the beach and tried to get aboard, only to be pushed away. He called out 'Let me go with you - just to bail out the canoe', but again he was refused. The hunters took their places, ten on each side, Guhl-wate in his place at the bow. Excitement was high among the people who watched and shouted, 'goo-day' (Let's go!).

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"Together, twenty paddles dug into the water. The canoe started to move away. At this moment, Blackskin stepped into the water, grasped the tailpiece of the canoe between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it back. When he grabbed the side to leap in, the men nearest him struck his fingers with their paddles, to no effect. He used just enough of his mighty, hidden strength to roll himself over the gunwale into the vessel. As soon as he got in, he resumed his humble demeanor and took the place usually occupied by the bailer. No one had noticed the ease with which he had pulled the canoe back to the beach against the thrust of twenty paddles.

"Guhl-wate stood in the bow as was fit and proper for the man who would be the first to leap ashore and tear the sea lions in two. The paddlers bent their backs, moved their arms, flipping their paddles in unison under the eye of the steersman, all in perfect rhythm. The graceful cedar vessel leaped and surged with every stroke toward the Island of the Sea Lions. "What could have been the thoughts of Guhl-wate who showed no sign of fear as the canoe approached the rocks where the sea lions haul themselves out of the ocean? Watching his chance on the upsurge of the waves, Guhl-wate leaped ashore, and planted his feet firmly on the slippery rock. He moved easily and quickly to the nearest sea lion, a small one, and dashed its head against the rocks, killing it. That was the first one. The great ones, those that are called

tS_adt-k'uh-ahyi(Men-of-the-Island), were higher up. These giants of the ocean sat, not moving their bodies except to twist their huge and graceful necks, trying to make out what was disturbing their colony. "The ocean swells came roaring in and dashed against the cliff, spending themselves with a greater roar as the waters fell back. The paddlers backed the canoe away to prevent its being carried onto the rock. At a safe distance, the men waited and watched their champion, Shkuh-

guhl-wate (to use his full name) move toward the tS_adt-k'uh-ahyi,those great animals who are so conscious of their power and strength that they are not afraid of man. Guhl-wate reached one, stooped down and stretched out his arms to seize its flippers to tear it in two. The huge creature flipped his tail, connected with Guhl-wate and slammed him against the rocks. That was that. "With one accord, the men in the canoe half rose from their seats then fell back. Their young chief and hero was dead. This was not supposed to happen. They had no plan. In the stunned silence that followed, Dook'duhl stood up, adjusted his headband, and spoke as one having authority, 'It was I who twisted the tree. It was I who broke the limb. Move the canoe closer to the rock.' "From his humble place in the stern, he strode forward, parting the men with his hands, not stopping to step over the seats, but stalking through them, cracking each seat with his mighty,

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striding legs. 'Move the canoe closer'. Again he ordered the paddlers. He took his place at the bow. Taking advantage of the momentum of the onrushing wave, he leaped ashore. The paddlers backed the great canoe away to escape the cavern that follows each wave. "Dook'duhl moved directly to the sea lion that had killed Guhl-wate, grasped it by its flippers

and ripped it in two. (The totem poles show Dook'duhl doing this.) When he had killed enough, he pulled out their teeth with his fingers. Much later, when he got home, he trimmed a dancing hat with them. The hat and imitations of it are called 'Sea-Lion-Tooth Hat'. "Such is the contrariness of mankind! The men did not rejoice when Dook'duhl was able to make their trip a success.They just sat. As Dook'duhL's blood became hot with the excitement of success, the temperatures of those in the canoe became cold. When the steersman dug his paddle into the water and gave a sideways leverage to turn the canoe, it required no spoken word for the men on one side to paddle backwards while the men on the other side paddled forward. They silently pulled away and went home. "Dook'duhl was so engrossed with his success that he did not realize they had gone until they

were far away. He sat down on the rock and stared at the departing canoe. He knew what the trouble was and he knew that he was probably more to blame than the men who had deserted him. He ripped out the intestines of one of the giant sea lions and made himself a headband. Then he covered his head with his bark mat. He was very tired. He relaxed and soon went to sleep. "Suddenly he awakened with the feeling that somebody had spoken to him. He threw off his mat and looked about, but he could see no one. There was a black duck swimming about, but Dook'duhl didn't see how the words could have come from the duck, so he covered his head

again. But this time, he peeked through a hole. Again the voice said to him 'ee-yee-gah tf.ut woo soo' (I have been sent by a supernatural being for you,) (woo soo indicates the supernatural). It

did come from the black duck. Quickly he threw off his covering and said, 'I see you now'. "The duck said to him, 'I am sent for you. Get on my back and keep your eyes closed'. Dook'duhl did as he was told. Finally the duck said 'Now open your eyes.' He opened them and

found himself in the house of the sea lions. It was a fine house. These sea lions lived and acted like human beings. There were a large number of adult persons standing about in the attitude of mourning. In the center of the room lay a sick looking young man. Dook'duhl saw a bone spearhead protruding from his side and he thought, 'Why don't they pull that spearhead out so the boy can get relief?' At once, a man in a nearby group spoke to the Head Man. 'This newcomer claims to be an lcht and says he can cure your son'.

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"Dook'duhl spoke quickly, 'I am not a shaman. I do not claim to be a shaman. I do not claim that

I can cure the young man.' The room became quiet again. Nobody moved. All stood as they were. "After a while, Dook'duhl started examining the room, but his eyes would revert to the boy lying in pain on the floor. He thought 'They could pull out that bone spearhead for one thing'. At once the man spoke out again! 'That newcomer has said again that he can cure the boy'. "The Master then spoke to Dook'duhl. 'The young man is my son. He is very sick and none of our doctors seem able to help him. If you can cure him, I will give you anything that you might want, even the bag that contains the shoreward winds'. "Dook'duhl said again, 'I do not claim to be a shaman, but if you will let me, I will try to help'.

He asked for hot seawater. After it was brought to him, he knelt beside the boy, took a firm hold of the spearhead, gave it a sharp twist and yanked it out. Pus gushed forth. Immediately the boy felt relief. Dook'duhl washed the wound with hot salt water. In a short time, the boy felt well enough to sit up. The Master was very grateful and told Dook'duhl that he could have the bag that held the shoreward wind. "The next day, these new friends parted with sorrow. Dook'duhl was put into the bag, an inflated sea lion stomach. As he was being tied in, he was told to sing a song 'Hah-day, yun-day! Hah-day, yun-day!' "This way, shoreward" and to think only of where he wished to land and

warned not to think of where he had been or he would find himself back amongst them. The bag was placed on the water and was soon wafting and bouncing towards the shore. At first, he sang the song and concentrated on a sandy beach near his home, but after a time he thought 'What fine people I was among'. Instantly he was back among them. "They said, 'You did not obey us. We will give you one more chance', and repeated the arrangements of the day before. This time, Dook'duhl did not let his thoughts wander. In the middle of the night, he landed near his village of Tug-jik'ahn. He got out and hid the bag in the woods. "Meanwhile, the men in the canoe had not given a thought of how they would be received at home without the body of their champion, without his logical successor, without any sea lions. When they arrived, the entire village knew from their manner that something was wrong. The people gathered above the high tide mark and waited until the men got out of the canoe. After the steersman told their story, there was much murmuring. "The elder of the old chief's wives demanded to know why they had left their chief's body on the rocks, exposed, perhaps to be eaten by birds or beasts. 'And this young man, why did you

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leave him? He is the most valuable man we have. He has power enough to keep all of us in food. Go back! Go back! Get him and bring your chief's body so that we can bury it with respect'. She would not let them stay. "When they got back to Sea Lion Rock, they found the body of Guhl-wate and put it into their canoe. They could not find Dook'duhl so they loaded sea lion carcassesand returned home. "When they got back, Dook'duhl was there. They were afraid for they had deserted him and had seen his strength. They gathered in silence while he addressed them: '"You remember, it is plain to see, how you treated me in the past. I can see that now you are ashamed that you left me, and that you are afraid that I will seek revenge. Yet it is always in my mind that you are my people. It would be well for us to put everything away, for I too bear much blame. By my actions, I invited the harsh treatment that you gave me. let it be remembered, however, from what has happened, that you must always show respect to every person, no matter how lowly. Do not be guided entirely by what shows on the surface'. "'Yei-ah-weh' and so it will always be".

Here our orator sat down, his story over. Keish-kah-day is best known by his first nickname, Dook'duhl (Blackskin). His second nickname, Uh-kuh/-hah-zee (shortened to Kuh/-hah-zee) is no longer a term of scorn - since it was purified

by the wisdom and strength of this Tlingit hero. With the advent of Christian missionaries, the saying has arisen that Blackskin was "stronger than Goliath", and indeed, he was. One of the four house posts made for the "new" Yai Hit in Klowk'ahn tells this story. The head at the base is symbolical of the rock upon which the sea lions congregated. The head of Dook'duhl is ornamented with human hair and the sea lion intestines. The protruding tongue of

the sea lion, because it had been torn in two, portrays death.

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11 - Shun-koo-kady Tribe Migrate Down Ee-yuk'heen Sometimes I think we are related to the Indians of Mexico in language and art because of the similarity of words, e.g. their word for "town" and ours is the same, "ahn". Both have certain sounds that the white man never seems able to master, i.e. the first sound in "Tlingit" is not "ti" or a "kl" or a thl". But we have settled for "ti" although 11thl 11 or "hi" is closer. Some of the words and customs of the Hebrew language are even closer. For instance, their word for man is our word for father "eesh"! Their word for woman "eeshaw" is like our word "shaw". Their law of marriage, too, is similar and yet so different from all other nations. In the story of Ruth1, Boaz admits that he is not the "next in line" for marriage with Ruth, meaning that there is another man more closely related to Ruth's deceased husband. Again, the question asked of Jesus supposes that seven brothers in succession married a woman and leads up to the question "In heaven, whose wife is she?" That is the way it is with the Tlingit among brothers. Our story of the creation is close enough to make me believe that it could have come from the same source. My readers would believe too if they could divest themselves of their notion that our Great Creator Raven Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl was a figment of our imagination. Once there was an upper and a lower firmament on which people could walk - just as the word "firmament" indicates. There was a Great Spirit who kept the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, and the world was in total darkness; man was created first but our Great Spirit saw "that it was not good for man to live alone", and so he created woman. We should not dismiss as a mere happenstance the true nature of life - woman is the important factor in human society, not man. Our society is matrilineal. The Tlingit acknowledges this fact: children belong to the mother; she must not marry either her own clan brother or her tribal brother. She must seek her husband from the opposite clan. But since physical strength and objectivity are required to rear boys, the Tlingit decrees that the mother's brother should rear them. Widows must be taken care of, and so the Tlingit adopted a scheme that worked: to wit, when the husband dies his nearest eligible brother or nephew takes his place and marries the widow. He takes the property of the deceased man "to raise up seed" for her family, just as the Hebrews provided. The word for widow is hit-zah-ti-shaw-wut

(woman-without-a-leader). In the ordinary course of

events, with this marriage custom, the woman often would be much older than the nephew 1

The Bible, Ruth 4:1

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and so would be a wife in name only. The Tlingit provided for this event. The first wife would select a second, a young woman of her own clan. The old age of the widow would be no problem and at the same time the future of the tribe would be secured. In days past, the taboo of intra-clan marriage was enforced. I remember my Mother telling me of a young woman who had violated this law and how her "master" took her out on a short journey from which she did not return. The Tlingit had an escape similar to the "cities of refuge" of the Hebrew. The culprits could flee to another village to some "uncle" of the same clan as the husband's. In one case that came to my personal observation, the man married his clan sister, and fled from Angoon to Wrangell where my tribal uncle protected them. Just the same, the stigma of "marrying" one's own "sister" is not forgotten though never spoken of. The clan system is not the same as the tribal system. It runs through all who speak the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages. It is a blood relationship carried perhaps to the extreme and may not be fair to fathers, but it makes for peace and harmony even more so than the AngloSaxon "male world" through whose wall of misery it has taken women centuries to crack. Take such a people as the Shun-koo-kady of the Wolf Clan. They traveled north along the coastal range, then down the various rivers that gave evidence that the hlane waters were rich in food. Although some splinter bands took longer to reach tidal waters than others, they never forgot that they were related. This knowledge makes for peace. When I was planning a visit to Kake, I asked my Mother how I should address the people. She answered, "You must start your speech "uK_sonny hus" (my Father's people), because they are of the Shun-koo-kady. The migration of this particular tribe started west from the Nass. Some groups returned to the Interior country and then came down again. Where one of the important avenues for the return trip was located is variously stated. Some said via Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay, but since the principal character in the story had to reach the "interior", the stream in Bartlett Cove seems improbable. We know that the great explorer K_ut-gah-wate, a Shun-koo-kady, was in the vicinity of Ee-yuk'heen (Copper River). It seems more likely that this is the river by which a Tlingit fled seeking and finding peace of mind in revealing to the people he encountered "tricks of the trade" which had been discovered by the hlane people. In the course of time, people sometimes do forget from whence they came, sooner in the absence of a written record. The new names of old places create autonomy of their own.

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In their travels down the Copper River, the Shun-koo-kady would stop a while and build houses. When their numbers increased, part of them would move on. One band stopped at a place where there was a lot of grass, and thus became known as the Tchoo-kun-ady Tribe. It was in this Grassy Town that a small event occurred that has influenced thousands of people. Kah-kek'tee had gone hunting for seal many times and was so skillful that he became known as

"Mighty Hunter". On the occasion of which I speak, he had a companion. This trip, so far as anybody knew, was just another expedition on which Mighty Hunter had become famous. But as day after day passed and they got no game, they decided "just a little longer we will hunt". Night came and another day and yet another night. They needed to sleep but they couldn't. They sat in their canoe looking until their looking became a painful stare. A bird seemed to be flitting about although Kah-kek'tee couldn't see it, only hear it buzzing "Ts.Ts.Ts.Ts."The sound annoyed him. "It must be that bird that is keeping me awake", he thought. He raised his paddle and struck at the sound. He hit something and it dropped into the canoe. It was the bird Tuh. He picked it up and looked at it. Its eyes hung down and were swollen. Blood was running down the side of its face. The steersman was still sitting bolt upright in his place. Mighty Hunter called to him, but got no answer. Kah-kek'tee reached forward with his paddle, placed it against the back of the man and pushed. His companion fell forward. He had been sitting upright, but now he was dead. His eyes hung low and were swollen; blood was running down the side of his face. He looked like the bird lying on the bottom of the canoe. From this, Mighty Hunter knew that "sleep has killed him" because he had killed Tuh. There was nothing for Kah-kek'tee to do but to return to camp. This he did with a heavy heart. He drew near to his destination. Although it was nearly noon, there was no movement on shore. He beached the canoe in front of his house and slowly walked up, all the while searching for some sign of life - but, no people, no children, no dogs. He went into his house. His whole household was there, motionless. Their eyes were open, hung low and were swollen; blood was running down the side of their faces. The fireplace was cold and cheerless and held only a few burnt sticks. He heard the sound of a mouse scurrying about the edge of the walls. It left its shelter and moved closer, then stopped all hunched up and stared at him before running away. Mighty Hunter went out. It was the same all over town. Everybody had the same appearance, the same look of that one dead in the canoe. He realized that he had killed them all, every one. This is how the saying began among the Tlingit, "Sleep killed them" when parents seek to teach their children that sometimes sleep is to be feared.

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Kah-kek'tee went back to his own house and dressed as if for death. He put on his marten skin

robe and his metal ornaments, abalone shell earrings, took up his bone knife, his snowshoes, his painted drum, and his bone trap. He tied his forelock with ermine thongs. He went down to his canoe and shoved off, drifting for a while. He didn't know where to go. He didn't care, just to get away and go somewhere, anywhere. He sat for a time, and then he dipped his paddle into the water and went. Opinions differ among our historians as to the location of the village from which Mighty Hunter was now departing. Those historians who preferred the Bartlett Cove stream egress place it about seventy five miles from Juneau, at the eastern entrance to Glacier Bay, and say the name of the village was Kah-ahn-noo-woo (Grouse Fort). I prefer to follow the authorities who place the village on or near Ee-yuk'heen (Copper River), at a place called Tchoo-kun-ahn because the topography fits with the rest of the story. Mighty Hunter didn't care where he went and the Copper River was handy. "I am alone", he said, and started paddling up the river. After paddling for a while, he began to see signs of human life. He went ashore and watched from a place where he could not be seen. There were people, but strange. They dressed different. They acted different, and they talked a strange language. They were spearing eulachon (sahk), a thin, narrow fish that is sometimes called "candle fish" because it is so oily. During the day, these men caught only a very few fish. "What strange people", Kah-kek'tee thought. "Why don't they build a trap and catch sahk in abundance?" He waited until the goo-nah-nah (foreigners) had departed from the riverbank, then he set about building a box-like trap, because of its shape called "seals-head". In a short while, he caught a large quantity of sahk and piled them where the men had been fishing. Then he went back to his hiding place nearby where he could watch. When the men came to their fishing spot, spears in hand, prepared to fish, they saw this great heap of sahk! They exclaimed, stood still, shocked, and looked about them. "Some supernatural power has done this for us", they whispered to each other. Manna from heaven! No less miraculous to them. They silently withdrew and ran swiftly back to their village to spread the news. Quickly, the people gathered and followed the men back to the river to witness the miracle.

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At last their shaman, the man whose business it is to deal with the supernatural, said, "A human being has done this. We must bring him to us. How shall it be done?" The eternal bait for man! The chief commanded his two beautiful daughters to remain on the riverbank and to make friends with the stranger. The people departed taking the fish with them. The girls were not at all unwilling because this unknown man was the desire and focus of the entire village. They remained all night, waiting. Next morning early, Mighty Hunter came back carrying another huge quantity of sahk. When he saw the young women, he went over to them and stood before them, just looking. No one spoke, they because it wasn't their place to, he because he didn't know their language. He continued to look as the air became electric with this contact of man and women. Daylight came, and with it the people. This time, Kah-kek'tee did not hide. When they departed, he went with them. At the village the girls were given in marriage to this stranger who could perform miracles and had brought them such great and good fortune. Mighty Hunter found them to be a most primitive people who were living in a land of plenty but who were so inept that they barely got enough to keep alive even though they worked hard continuously. He became their inspired leader and taught them things that were commonplace in his old village. He taught them how to catch the salmon hidden in the shallow muddy waters of the Eeyuk'heen by hooking them. The technique was to slide their fish poles along the bottom of the

river until they felt the smooth back of the salmon brushing against it; then to take that sure, easy motion of pulling the pole inward until the hook pierced the back of the salmon. When the salmon was caught, the hook, held by a thong, would come loose from the pole, and the salmon easily pulled ashore. He taught them how to build the seal's head trap for sahk; how to scrape the sweet inner bark of the hemlock tree and to preserve it in the rich, heavy oil of the sahk; also to mix berries with this oil. He dug for them the sweet root of the buttercup (tsate), and another root he called s'in. He killed the seal that came up the river, dried the meat and preserved it in its own oil. He built traps to be placed at the entrance of groundhog (s'ugeidee) dens when they moved into Groundhog Valley. Soon there was more than enough food for each family. The year of plenty had arrived for the Goo-nah-nah, by which name the Athabaskan is still called by the Tlingit. These people, however, had one thing that the Tlingit did not have and yet greatly prized copper (ee-yuk') nuggets that they pounded into a shield called tinnah.

After awhile Mighty

Hunter became restless, and longed to return to his own country. Time and work had dimmed

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the memory of his unwitting crime and his remorse concerning the tragedy that he believed he had brought to his village. He was successful and the people he led had become rich under his leadership. He told his father-in-law that he wished to return to his home for a visit. Since he was determined to go, the chief ordered a select party to accompany him and to take with them presents of fur, food, and tinnah. We can only imagine how long they journeyed down the river, and how. Our historians do not tell us that. When next we find the party, they were opposite the land of the Tchoo-kun-ady (Grass-Town-People). Kah-kek'tee led his group to a place opposite his main village, not to the scene of his misfortune. He could see his people, so he shouted to them, "Come over and get us!" His people recognized him as Mighty Hunter who had disappeared from one of their hunting camps, "Dead", they thought, "from drowning long ago. This must be the land-otter man he was turned into. The strangers with him must be others of his spirit world". If they had not been so sure that he had died, perhaps they would have acted differently. But they knew what tradition required them to do, so they said, "Go away. Go away. It is we who on your account have cut the tongues of land otters. Depart from us and go to those who have prepared for you." The Goo-nah-nah asked Mighty Hunter, "What are they saying to you?" Mighty Hunter replied, "They are telling us to go that way" (pointing). He was ashamed to tell them why, so he added, "I think because we will fare better at the old village". The group stood in disorganized fashion for a while, tired after their long and hard trip, and wondering how far it was to the next village. Then, with one accord, they grabbed the tops of their skin sacks and swung the loads onto their shoulders. As they did this, the tinnah clanked against each other. The Tchoo-kun-ady heard the sound and realized that these were not ghosts but real persons because that sound could only come from ee-yuk'. So they shouted, "Mighty Hunter, is that really you? Wait! Wait! We are coming over after you." They were too late. Kah-kek'tee and his party had already turned and with loads of wealth upon their backs, disappeared down the great Ee-yuk'heen. To this very day the Tlingit says, "Tchosh-kee-kah-duhh, goo-nah-nah hus a kow-wa nah, Tchookun-ady". (Tchoo-kun-ady order foreigners bringing good fortune away from their doorstep).

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Even today, the Grass-Town-People do not forget the misfortune

inherited from their

forebears. (That is also one reason why other tribes always expect the Tchoo-kun-ady to be poor.) Kah-kek'tee went on downstream until he came to the main body of the Shun-koo-kady (Wolf

Clan) and their opposite, the Hlook-nuK_-uddy (Raven Clan). Here he was welcomed. There was an exchange of goods - enough to satisfy the needs and the vanity of all. Some historians say that when the Goo-nah-nah arrived, the Shun-koo-kady rushed down to the canoes and helped themselves without asking or bargaining, simply appropriating what they wanted. But that then they gave to the Goo-nah-nah whatever each thought the goods to be worth; and also that in each case the Goo-nah-nah were satisfied because of the high value the exchanged article had in their upper country. If that is what happened, it would be consistent with the Tlingit character. In the olden days, when a Tlingit took something, he would give more in return and the greater would be his renown. After staying a reasonable time with his Tlingit-speaking brothers and sisters, Mighty Hunter went back to his adopted people. Although they were never willing to join the ocean-living Tlingit, each year they would make the journey to trade tinnah and other goods for oceanproduced food. The Tlingits were not much different from the later white traders for they exacted several skins of marten or beaver for their small cakes of dried and pressed seaweed. By these trading journeys too, the Tlingit learned the Goo-nah-nah dance that is still used at state dinners and feasts. When they wish to pay high respect to their guests, the Master giving the feast will say, "We will now perform the Goo-nah-nah dance for you". During the performance they sing the original words of the songs, although the meaning is mostly lost. The words still remembered are sung by rote to testify to the truth of this history.

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12 - The GunneX.-quonTribe Migrate; More Travels It was in the late spring, the sky was clear, and the days were longer, when a woman of the Raven Clan and I looked toward the north and saw the Great Mountain, Shah-klen, now called Mt. St. Elias. "This is our Mother, that mountain", she said. "When we left our home on the Copper River we went there. That is how we came to own the house that is called Shah-hit (Mountain House). We didn't always live here. Come, and I will tell you about our hard times. The story is long, so I think I will end it at the place where the little black ducks were created. They belong to us, too. We came down the Ee-yuk'heen, but before that we know our people were traveling northward. Some of us continued northward and then went down the Yukon River. "We know where we come from by our stories. The white man calls them legends, we know them as Klauk', history told to us by the Old Ones of each generation. "Our imaginations have been stirred and we like to think that each of our tribes migrated from choice. But just as likely as not, they were driven from their former homes by stronger emotions or forces, or by the failure of the food supply. Sometimes internal feuds started a migration that was just as hazardous as that of Columbus. This is the reason the GunneK,-quon of the Raven Clan came to be in Yakutat and became the owners." Here she paused, and I started to meditate. The dawn of written history found thousands of us, but today there are only hundreds. We know of five migrations in modern times: 1. Shaksh Ill persuaded the people of Kah-zehl-ahn (Willow town) to move to new Wrangell, about 1806/7. 2. A Tsimshian colony in British Columbia moved in 1887 to New Metlakatla after the British Court told them that they did not own "one inch of ground. 3. About 1911 the three Haida villages of Howk'ahn, K/ing-ahn and Sowk'ahn moved to Hydaburg. 4. In 1920 the remnants of Tahn-dah-quon moved to Ketchikan from Tongass Island and the NuK,-uddy from Cape Fox to Saxman. 5. The Kah-K,oos-hit-ahn and the Tee-nady tribes moved from Shah-kan to Klawock, a distance of seventy miles. (Date unknown).

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The twentieth century reason for leaving hearth and home was food. There is no written history to make tracing the migrations of early days possible. In both cases the groups that were traveling were of the Raven Clan. One group came down the Ee-yuk'heen and the other went north from Git'shees in Work Channel, B.C. Their dominion extended from Cape Fox throughout the Alaskan Panhandle up the Shtuk'heen one hundred seventy five miles to the upper canyon. Here the Koch'uddy and the Tee-hit-ton had a joint village called Koo2{_day-noo. They continued up the Dtah-koo and over the divide into Ahn-klen country and down the Yukon River a ways, then up the Djihl-kaht Valley far into the Fort Selkirk country three hundred miles away, down the Ahl-se2{.River into Yakutat and the Gulf of Alaska, including the mouth of Ee-yuk'heen where they joined Raven Clan tribes of the "interior". At this point the Tlingit language ceases. In the beginning these different tribes and bands were of one clan only, the Raven Clan, and so they called themselves the Hlai-nedy (The-People-All-On-One-Side). They obeyed the law of marriage. The spouse had to be of the opposite clan and was generally called Te-quedy or Shun-koo-kady. Tribes under this opposite clan had various totems, i.e. the Te-quedy had the 2{.oots(Bear); the Dukhla-wedy had the Keet (Killer-whale); the Yun-yady had the §.ooch (Wolf) and the 2{.oots(Bear); the Kog-wahn-ton had the §.ooch (Wolf), and later the Djahk (Eagle). All these branch tribes were described as Goo-nate-kuh-ahyi (Other-side-People). My friend continued with her tale. "One of the Raven groups, perhaps ten generations ago, lived on the Copper River across from the present town of Chitina. They were called Gunne2{.-quonfrom their town. The Tlingits in the lower area called them Ee-yuk'quon (Copper River People), since changed to E-yak. So long as Chief Shuh-gow-eesh lived, the people of Gunne2{.went about their business. Shuh-gow-eesh was the custodian of the big Moose-horn Spoon (Dlee-nate-shuhl), the great Copper Shield (Tinnah), and the Great Dish (Zi!f,). Possession of these treasures was the prerogative of the Master of the tribe. "The time came when Shuh-gow-eesh died. The younger nephew, with a spark of aggressive leadership, laid claim to the insignia of power. Unfortunately for him, public opinion favored the older nephew. The younger one, chagrinned at his loss of face and without thought of consequences, surrendered himself to his anger and shame, rushed forth and started his followers on a thoughtless, unplanned journey.

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"It was a strange migration. Men called their sisters and their children, but not their wives and their own children - they being of the opposite clan. This angry group was of the Raven Clan. They spoke the Tlingit language, strongly tinged with that of the Athabaskan. This language is enough different from the modern Tlingit that remembrance of it is fast dying out in Yakutat, their present habitat. "They planned no further than to get away from the area that kept vivid the shame, keen disappointment

and defeat. Somewhere, anywhere they would go, even to that Great

Mountain (Shah-k/en)which heretofore had fenced them in. Grabbing up what they could and burning with a rage that conquered fears of the unknown, their defeat symbolized by the and Dlee-nate-shuh/ whose images would burn the deeper, memory and lack of the Tinnah, Zi?S., they plodded toward Shah-klen.

"Shah-klen looked so near. It proved to be so far! "A heavy fog came down upon them but they pushed on, trying to reach the foot of the Great Mountain and hoping to see land suitable for a new home. They divided into two groups and tried to keep contact by calling 'wu-hu-wu-hu-wu-hu',

a sound made by slapping the hand

against the mouth while making a hooting sound. A turn here and a turn there for easier walking and suddenly there was no more communication. "Each group realized that they had lost touch with each other. Ever afterward, they would say, 'It was through the fog that we became lost from each other; but the rest of us, we were all the more determined to reach the foot of Shah-klen'. In the distance they thought they saw a rabbit-shaped figure and used that for a guide but somehow they never got any closer. Finally, they realized that what they thought was a marker, was Shah-klen itself. "The hills were many and all the landmarks looked alike. Always there was another hill just a little higher and the leaders would say, 'When we get to the top of that next hill, we will be at the top'. One group of about twenty that had pushed ahead, thought to wait for the others but finally their own necessities forced them to journey on. "Near the Great Mountain, when food was almost gone, they came to a place where there were a great many groundhogs (s'ahtf.).These they killed with clubs. Now they had food and skins. This place is remembered as the 'Valley of the Groundhogs'. "They were surrounded by immensities - trees, ascending hills, great canyons, giant forms, endless space! With deep misgivings, they huddled together, all willing to die rather than to return and face the scene of their shame.

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"The glacier (sit')! They felt they were facing death. They donned ceremonial robes and for five days went through ritualistic songs and dances. They composed a song about the departure from the village of the Tinnah, the Zi& and the Dlee-nate-shuh/. They sang it in unison as they left the camp, the women singing in their high wailing soprano, the men in dance step, pushing their way over the glacier. "When they came to the point where 'the glacier stood across', they could see a great expanse, Nah-tlay (far) - space without end, land fading where sky and world meet. This was the home of Gooz, where fog, cloud, and waters meet, the perpetual dwelling place of the horizon people. (Gooz-kee-quon was to be the name applied to the white man because he came from the

horizon.) "The vastness lay below them. 'What is that? (pointing). It looks so blue!' said one to another. It was a new color, not the blue of the sky, not that of the lake, but of gray and jade. They called it 'zoo'.

"What could it be? Something new? Something strange? "They decided it was a good omen. They said, 'A blessing has fallen upon us.' So they journeyed on, down through the unbroken forests, over steep rocks, around forbidding cliffs, across roaring creeks, through dismal swamps, seeing only the gray sky, guided only by the memory of what they had seen when they were on top of the Great Mountain, until they came in sight of the sea. When at last they tread upon the sands, they tasted the ocean and said, 'This water is salty'. From that time on, they called the ocean 'A-ihl'- salt. "They had crossed 'The River of Copper' from beneath the Great Mountain. They had journeyed to a river almost as large as the Copper. They were the first to cross Shah-klen. Here in this pleasant land, where river and ocean met, they stopped and rested. Because winter was approaching, they built a house which they called Shah-hit (Mountain House). "Here also they built a town. Why not stay? So they did. The years passed, and as they grew older a new worry began within them, small at first and not spoken, but a gnawing worry nevertheless, a worry that could not be driven out even by the tightening of belts. 'No one of the Raven Clan can marry another person of the Raven Clan on penalty of death because they are brothers and sisters'. "So, there were no marriages in this new village and no babies. At last the elders spoke out to their chief in council. Long and serious were the meetings as they pondered the problem. The solution stood ever before them, in plain sight, a solution easy and simple, but difficult to voice.

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"More years passed and their horrible fate drew closer. All the elders grunted approval on hearing the Master say, 'Our young men shall marry their sisters' - to translate his words literally, 'shall take unto himself a woman'. The "sister" could possibly not be a blood sister (which under the law, was of strictest hly-gaas' {taboo} but a cousin perhaps, of the same clan.) "They still drew back, but as time marched on and their women were obviously getting past the age, each man began to say to himself 'When I am the last one, what will become of me?' "In his imagination, he saw himself not so much sick, old, and helpless, but alone. That was it! Alone! He remembered scenes of former happiness, the areas of home, loved ones, children, women, houses, salmon streams, berries, traps! All, all gone, now silent as death.' "In the evening that followed, the people were held in longer silences, sitting, just sitting by their camp fires, moody, backs hunched, arms over knees, just sitting; always conscious of the escape through the door marked 'hly-gaas' 'It isn't done'. "The Master spoke to his council: 'It is known to you what hardships we have passed through. There is no way for us to return. The years have gone and we have no children because we have no wives. Soon we will perish. It may be that this law was not made for these times. Think well on these things. Yei-ah-weh. (That is the way it is)'. "Then he summoned the women and spoke to them: 'The time has come when we must save ourselves. There must be children so that our names will be preserved. There are none here but brothers. Therefore it is my command that no woman shall resist, but that each one of you tonight shall welcome whatever brother comes unto you in order that you shall conceive a child. It will be more to your shame, however, if you do not know the father of your child for these men will come in darkness of the night, and so shall depart. Therefore, I direct that you shall secretly place a mark upon the man who visits you so that in the morning you alone will know the one who came unto you in the night.' "And it was so. "In the morning each woman knew her man; although no man knew that he was so marked, not even the great chief who had so wisely planned their salvation. That is how this tribe broke its law of marriage within itself without shame. "No one spoke of this happening although it was in the hearts of all. It was good that their future would be saved and that there would be children to preserve their names and the name of Shah-klen.

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"The morning hours passed and it looked as though nothing out of the ordinary routine had taken place. The men built fires and everybody went about their work as usual. However, each woman was slyly looking for the sign or mark of the night's adventure that she might know the father of her child-to-be. Each woman was glad knowing that there was planted within her the fulfillment of her being. "'We were made for this', each one said. And yet they had a horror, a deeply ingrained horror of a connection between a man and a woman with the same parents. "The fact is, the Tlingit has no word for 'cousin'. Even the command of their resourceful Master could not allay her conscience if actually the man who came in the darkness was born of the same father and mother as his hostess ( Woosh-kik'ee-yun). Happily for these women, all but one escaped the calamity of marrying a blood brother. "This one had waited that night in quiet anticipation for the consummation of the chief's command. With anxious heart, she waited as the night crept on. The stillness of the supernatural held the village in its grip. She knew someone would come, but who? Without breaking the quiet of the night, he came, and she, without sound, moved over and welcomed him and loved him until they heard the early caw of the Raven. He silently crept away, but not before she had fastened a patch of white ermine fur to the back of his head. "As the morning grew spacious, there was much silent laughter and even giggling among the women as each looked and recognized the one who had visited her. All except one woman who had marked her man with the patch of ermine fur, for this man was her very own brother born of their very same father and mother. Her horror was uncontrollable. Her shame mounted with the consciousness of her child-to-be until she felt that she stood naked before the world. She moved silently away, quickly, to hide from the thousand million eyes that she felt were looking at her knowing what she strove to hide. But wherever she went, her shame went with her until she was completely overcome by the horror of her defilement. She ran to the riverbank and plunged into its waters to perish. "Her brother saw her and understood the reason. He too plunged into the water to perish with her. Some blessed power, however, moved with pity for those two, turned them into little black ducks with a white patch of feathers on the back of their heads right where the bit of ermine fur had been tied. These little black ducks now swim about our towns and villages unafraid of people, completely oblivious to any stares and always together. Some call these ducks 'scoters'. They remind you that this story is true". Here my friend ended her story.

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Mankind seems to suffer more before an event. After he crosses a bridge, he wonders why he allowed himself to suffer. So it was with these people of Chitina ! Several young men wandered west looking for a source of food. They came back and reported that they had found blood on the ice. It appeared as if someone had been skinning seal. The chief directed them to return and investigate. The volunteers traveled west and found that two These people great canoes had landed behind them. The first landed at the river Kah-hly-etS_.

Kog-wahn-ton even to this day; the other canoe load was called became known as Kah-h/y-etS_ Cheesh-quedy. The people in both canoes were members of the same tribe but landed separately because they too became separated in a dense fog. These new people spoke the Tlingit language but were of the "opposite side", so that once again the taboo of marriage could be observed. More Travels

Before the Athabascans left GunnetS_ they were one band but then divided in two. One group went down the Copper River and gradually moved eastward. The other group emerged one hundred twenty five miles to the east at Icy Bay. Both groups traveled toward each other in this round-about way. They met at Kah-ton-ah (now called Katalla), where K_ut-gah-wate,the Te-

quedy/Shun-koo-kady chief was living. During the time the two sections of Athabascans were apart, a strong Wolf Clan tribe had come from the ocean (nobody now knows from whence) and had taken possession of the area from Kah-ton-ah to Johnson's Creek east of Yowk'dei-yee (now called Yakataga). K_ut-gah-wate named this Wolf Clan Guhl-yetS_ Kog-wahn-ton - a Kog-

wahn-ton tribe from the Guhl-yetS_-heen. The second section of this Wolf Clan tribe arrived later - they also had been separated by a dense fog. Possibly in their former abode they had been one tribe, but when they got to Kah-

ton-ah, they built their own house and called themselves Cheesh-quedy,an indication that they considered themselves slightly different, although they admit to being of the same Wolf Clan as

Kog-wahn-ton. the Guhl-yetS_ A Raven Clan tribe from Chitina while still known as GunnetS_-quon, had also come down the river in two sections, joined at Kah-ton-ah and moved eastward with K_ut-gah-wate. At the dawn of history, these three tribes {GunnetS_-quon, Cheesh-quedy and Guhl-yetS_ Kog-

wahn-ton) were in actual possession of the area from Copper Riverto Yakutat Bay, a distance of one hundred seventy five miles. Their Raven kin, the Hlook-nuK_-uddy,had preceded them as far

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as Dry Bay. It was from this Coho-quon tribe that Baranof got the pilots who guided his ships into Norfolk Bay when he located Sitka. When the Gunne2S,-quon{"The-People-Who-Were-Saved") reached the Copper River, they found the Aleuts from the West in possession and thus began their wars. In the first battle, the Only a few escaped. These few fled eastward. One man hid Aleuts defeated the Gunne;s_-quon. deep in a cave on an island, where he died. The elements must have been suitable for the preservation of his body because many years later a white man discovered the body and named the place "Mummy Island". The Gunne2S,-quon who escaped lived only for revenge. When they felt strong enough, they renewed the war. As they were about to lose again, another band of Athabascans came down the Copper River and joined them. The Aleuts were defeated this time, but the war continued. During Baranof's time, the Yakutats, as he called them, with ten canoe loads of warriors, attacked the town on Nuchek Island in Prince Williams Sound. This time the Aleuts won because the Russians had cannon!

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13 - GunneX.-quonFind a White Woman The urge to move again came to the people of Shah-hit. But first they decided to send the same five brothers who had explored before to see what changes they might discover in the land of their uncles on the Ee-yuk'heen. Perhaps they might now obtain the prized Raven dish, or even some Tinnah. Since copper was found nowhere else, these Tinnah were very valuable. A single one of any size was worth ten slaves. Their very usefulness made the possession a great mark of distinction. The messengers vied with each other in speed, resting little, and sleeping even less. They ascended the passes over the Great Mountain and through the Valley-of-the-Groundhogs. At last they came to the village of their uncles located across Chitina. They were welcomed and for a time seemed to forget that they had come on a mission. They became a part of the old village. After a while, they took their leave to return home, taking with them only Tinnah. One was so large that it was cut in two. Even then, it was a heavy load. When the young men got back, everybody made ready for another migration southward along the'edge of the sea. The young men, still acting as scouts to choose the best path, saw in the distance a strange thing. They hurried on. The object proved to be something like nothing they had ever seen before. They would not go near until their leader arrived. The thing lay near the water's edge. It had a shape, and poles were sticking out from it. They examined it and found that it was made of wood, but how they knew not. Then they climbed upon it. It had floors and steps and different rooms. Everything was still. The Leader came to a big room, and there sitting in a rocking chair was a woman. Her skin was like g/ate (snow) and her hair was like the setting sun. She sat quietly. The Master too, spoke no word but made a complete inspection of her appearance and surroundings. Then he motioned to her to follow him out and down onto the beach where his people had built a great fire and were making camp. It was a long time later, after the woman had learned the Tlingit language that she told them that there had been two white men saved also. Before the Gunneti_-quon came, the men had gone to look for help for they knew that somewhere to the west there were other white men. Nothing more was heard about them. The young men soon lost their awe of the ship, for that was what it was, a sailing ship washed up on the beach, and they began to unload everything moveable. They took long black sticks off the ship, black sticks made of some metal with a hole through one end and the other end made of wood. These they piled to one side. They found small barrels filled with fine, black sand with

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no gravel or coarse grains. What to do with this black sand? Well, there was the fire. The sand seemed good for nothing else, they thought, so they carried the barrels toward the fire. When the silent woman saw what they were doing, she became like a crazy person. She screamed at them, waved her arms, and ran away from the fire in greatest alarm. When the men who were carrying the barrels stopped, she became quiet. One man got some water and began pouring it into a barrel and then she smiled and nodded her head. So they poured more and more water into the barrels until all the "sand" was soggy. The people from GunneK., later called Kwashki-quon, had in their hands guns and powder but lost them because they and the white woman could not communicate. They poured water on the powder and pounded the gun barrels into spears. The white woman accepted her fate and married a noble Tlingit named Kut-Kah of Yakutat where their descendants live today. The travelers continued southward until they came to what is now called Malaspina Glacier. To learn what lay beyond, the great leader, Kut-gah-wate, no longer strong in body, sent the same five scouts on ahead. While they were camped on the beach, another group of people, also traveling south but from a different starting point passed them. This group, later known as Kogwahn-ton, was a branch of the Shun-koo-kady, a Wolf clan. You will hear more of the Kogwahn-ton later.

The five scouts paddled their new skin boats past the great Glacier, across the Great Bay, and on into Yowk'daht. They found people living there. The owners were a tribe of the Raven Clan called Heen-yedy, a branch of the far spread Gahn-nuK-uddy, and who still claim Yes Bay in Behm Canal as their homeport. The scouts were welcomed and served sahk (eulachon), k'a-gun (a tough, bonny fish about five inches long), and kwashk (pink-fleshed salmon), a delight to everybody. After the scouts returned and reported their discoveries, the travelers continued on. They entered Yakutat Bay and called it Hla-Kah-yik' because it was next to the glacier. When they arrived at Yowk'daht, they were welcomed, although this welcome soon wore out because of food shortages. But with their great Tinnah, they bought Kwashki-heen and became the owners of the Yakutat country. Henceforth they were known as the Kwashki-quon. Igor Purtoff, a trader under Baranof, made a treaty benefiting both sides: the Russians to have a place to build a warehouse and the Kwashki-quon to be provided with guns and powder.

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Other important historical events were transpiring while the GunneK_-quonwas traveling across the face of the Gulf of Alaska besides finding the ship and white woman. The active chief was Shah-dah who later was in command when the Russians were driven out of the country in

1805. The band had gone past the place called Kowk'gee-yi (Basket Bay). This is the place (so legend tells us) where Scamp Raven, the grandson of the Raven-above-the-Nass, was traveling with his wife on his way to Yowk'dei-yee and wanted to beach his small canoe but there was no entry area. He headed for shore in spite of the great waves and surf that crashed in from the ocean. The waves drenched the canoe even while they lifted it onto the beach, and frightened Scamp Raven's wife. She berated him bitterly until finally he lost his temper and threw his wife's basket ashore where the contents spilled. He threw his stuff ashore too. Even now, you can see the basket, the boards and planking, and other things that he had planned to use on his stop over. Because of the drenching they got, Scamp Raven commanded that never again was the ocean to disturb any canoe that sought to land there. Yei ah weh. Raven called it Yowk'dei-yee (Roadway-for-Canoes). It is the only place for a distance of 150 miles where the landing is calm. The leader Shah-dah married the daughter of Yeihl-K_ahkof Skowk'ahn and had a son by her. The son's name was Kahn-ki-d'ah and he had a daughter named Kai-dji-nah who had a daughter named Shkik whose daughter was Kah-dahl'ge. Her daughter was Neech-yahn-is-aht who is known in Yakutat as Maggie Adams, the daughter of the pioneer trail blazer Jack Dalton by his common-law Native wife. The Tlingit people know their history and they consider ancestors very important.

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14-The GunneX.-quonTravel On The word "Djihl-kaht"

(Chilkat) is a unique word. It has no duplicate except at Kah-ton-ah

(Katalla) as will be explained later. It describes a local situation near Haines, Alaska. In order to preserve food, the Djihl-kaht-quon (a Raven Clan tribe) placed a box filled with ice (djih/) on the riverbank into which they packed salmon (gaht). On that side of the Haines Peninsula is the Djihl-kaht. On the other side of the peninsula, the people did not preserve salmon this way

because their river is too short. So we have Djihl-goot with no ice-filled box to preserve salmon. The area originally belonged to a Wolf Clan tribe of Tlingits known as Kuh-ye'gadi. It had four great houses, 1) Shah-hit (Mountain-People), 2) Tuh-hli-hit (House-That-Rolls), 3) Koosh-dah-hit (Land-Otter-House), and 4) Sa'gah-hit (Arrow-House). The chief of this group was Yayi-nah-klen (Big-Whetstone). His younger brother, Quhl-kehl-tch had married a Koo-yady and sired four sons. The younger brother, while collecting material for his brother's feast, had a boat accident in which all were lost except a man named Ta'ka. In the settlement, Yayi-nah-klen gave Djihl-goot to the Hlu-kahK-uddy (Raven) whose chief was Kuhushka. Since no price was paid for its return, the Point Tribe, Hlu-kahK-uddy, became the

owners. This tribe is a branch of the Shtuk'heen-quon (Wolf clan) that had migrated because of woman trouble. The claim is made that Keti-du-su-wi II of a Raven Clan tribe, was the first man to invite guests from distant lands when he gave a feast for his invalid daughter Kik-yaw'u-duhl-tsex. Since she was of a Wolf Clan tribe, she could and did marry a "Point tribes-man" named Sda-doo-ahn. This was the situation when Kut-gah-wate, of the Te-quedy from the Nass, visited these Djihlgoot people on his way to Klowk'ahn, twenty miles up the river.

As he journeyed thence, he had time to see and to enjoy this remarkable country - a splendid and placid river teeming with several kinds of fish with the season such as herring, some pink salmon, and lastly, coho salmon. The Djih/-goot-quon has food from the river even as late as February of each year. Kut-gah-wate was so enchanted with this river, that, when he saw the beautiful country surrounding this river, he could give it no higher praise than to say, "It is just like Djih/-kaht. Hereafter, the area will be called Djihl-kaht". And so it is to this day! Kut-gah-wate

led his party south on Lynn Canal, then west on Icy Strait and around Cape

Spencer northwesterly until he reached Yowk'daht, then on to Kah-ton-ah (Katalla) northwest of Kayak Island. Here he met Athabascans who were moving easterly. On getting acquainted with them, he was astonished that they had no taboo of marriage; brothers could marry sisters, as it appeared to his eyes since they seemed to be of one clan. So he taught the people that it was evil. His

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personality was such that he could and did divide them into two Clans and established the rule that a spouse must come from the opposite Clan. ti_ut-gah-wate with his band of Grizzly Bear people was unique in another way. On leaving his

original domicile on the Nass River he journeyed past what is now Ketchikan on into Ernest Sound and stopped at a Nahn-ya-ahyi village called Too-guh-gwuhl-ahn.

There he visited his

fellow clansman whose name was Snook (shortened from Yuk-ah-yus-snook, "Bring-HimHither"). Among the travelers was a young boy named Djoon-owk "Little-Dream". There was something about Djoon-owk's eyes that caused Snook to ask ti_ut-gah-wate to leave the boy. Since he was an orphan, it was easily arranged. Snook at once began treating the boy as if he were a blood nephew, a son of his sister. It made

his natural nephews jealous. Snook saw this and so he gave a feast to elevate the boy. He had two slaves bathe Djoon-owk, put a marten skin robe on him, presented him with the two slaves, and gave him a new name "Goosh-ti_een" (The Dorsal-fin-of-a-Killer-Whale). This happened ten generations ago. When Goosh-ti_een grew to manhood, he became chief when Snook died. This foreign Native, now the successor of Chief Snook, was the leader of the Shtuk'heen-quon when they were attacked by a war party of Tsimshians, the Git'kahla, Git'lan, Git'sheesh, and some say the Nasskah tribes. The Tsimshians believe the battle happened about 1700.

The battle was fought on Ahn-yuddy ti_'aht' (Farm Island) at the mouth of the Shtuk'heen. Before the battle, Goosh-ti_een called a council of the nine tribes that later formed the Shgut'quon Federation. He instructed them that when the Tsimshians attacked, his tribe - the Nahn-ya-ahyi and his associate tribes, the Kuh-yashki-diton and the Zik-nuti_-uddy (Black-Bear People - all three were of the Hit-klane on the Taku and had migrated southeasterly until they came to Shtuk'heen country) - were to receive the brunt of the attack. They would retreat slowly

allowing the Tsimshians to think that they were forced to give way. When they were pushed to the brink of the gulch on that island, these three tribes were to move to the flanks of the gulch. At a signal the other tribes of the Shgut'quon were to attack the rear of the Tsimshian forces. That is the way it was done. A brilliant victory was achieved by strategy equal to that of Hannibal or Napoleon. It was said that ten thousand Tsimshians were killed in that battle. Their chief had wanted to conquer the Shgut'quon, whose fame and power had excited his envy, causing him to embark on this fatal journey. Ten thousand dead! [If you think this is an exaggeration, consider the historical fact that "By daybreak on Monday the 25th of April, (1847) ... about 2,000 (Savages),justly thinking that the place

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could make but a feeble resistance

2

"

surrounded the fort at Wrangell. Other facts

unknown to Bancroft's sources, would have noted that since the Natives merely wanted Hudson's Bay Co. to quit certain abuses, the 2,000 Natives who surrounded his "fort" were warriors of only two of the nine tribes at Wrangell. The "fort" was not a fort at all, but a warehouse located on a small island with no water supply and hence was not considered dangerous by the war chief of the Shgut'quon.] As a victory prize, Goosh-tS,een was given the name of Wee-shakshby the Tsimshian chief whose life, with other chiefs, was spared. After a month of entertainment, these chiefs were given two big war canoes with supplies, manned by slaves, and sent home. At this time, both nations made a solemn treaty that there would be no more wars between them, a pledge that was kept except for one incident. The name "Wee-shaksh", after the style of the Tlingits, was shortened to "Shaksh". Since that time to this - 1940 - there has been a succession of seven Shaksh. (Since then, there has been another Shaksh-VIII.)

2

Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Alaska (A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1886}, 558.

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15 - The GunneX.-quon of the Te-quedy Become Dah-gistinnah The Te-quedy continued their journey on the smooth waters of Blake Channel. They were not in a hurry and so when a dense fog settled down on them, they went ashore on the north bank. There they stayed, some say for a night, others say for several days. When they moved on they came to a very narrow channel that was called "Tuk-seet". When they tell the story, they say, "We were lost in the fog at Tuk-seet and from that time we were called Dah-qistinnah but our emblems are still the Grizzly Bear Q{oots)and the Wolf (Gooch)". They continued on until they came to Endicott Arm. Finding it unoccupied, with signs of good hunting, they took possession. When the hunting season was over, they joined three other tribes at Klowk'ahn for the winter. In the spring, some people stayed and some continued on to about ninety miles up the Chilkat River. When the travelers came upon the Alsek River, they journeyed down it to a delta that spread out into a shallow place now called Dry Bay, fifty miles west of Yakutat. There they built a town. When a neighboring tribe asked them who they were, they said, "We are Shun-koo-kady of the §.ooch Clan", which was their oldest name and as they are known today. Athabaskan Natives were in Yakutat long enough to speak Tlingit. They had traveled on the beach along the Gulf of Alaska until they came to the glacier named after Alejandro Malaspina who had been in Yakutat Bay in 1791. William Healey Dall (1845-1927, American naturalist) thought this was a plateau, but the Natives knew better and so they called it "Hla-ti_ah-yik" (Near-a-Glacier) in the Athabaskan language. By the time these two migrating groups met from opposite directions, the westward group had already divided into several other groups, and although called by different names, they knew of their common origin. The advance guard traveling southward had gone past Dry Bay and was in possession of HI-tu-ah (Not-a-Lake), now called Lituya Bay. More of the group continued to Glacier Bay where there were other great houses of Tlingits. The newcomers had to build their house back of the others and hence were named Duk-dain-ton. This tribe is now domiciled at Hoonah. The second wave of migrants remained south of Yakutat and was called Hlook-nutS_-uddy (aka Coho-quon). The third wave acquired the present site of Yakutat and was named Kwashki-quon

because they bought a salmon stream near there that was called Kwashki-heen (Humpy Creek). Somewhere along the line of march, the Duk-dain-ton

women adopted the tern as their

emblem; and hence, these women are called "tern women" which corresponds to the term "crow-women" of the Kik's-shaw. At a feast I asked the Mayor of Hoonah, "Who runs this town anyway?" He said, "Wait and see". 90

I saw the women all dressed in their Alaska Native Sisterhood uniforms gathered together, fluttering around each other, quite like a flock of tern. Suddenly their leader hit an inflated bag so that it went off with a loud bang like a shotgun. Instantly, all the women fluttered up waving their arms and hands and making that peculiar noise like terns, starting with a crescendo and decreasing rapidly until all was quiet - exactly as if they were a flock of terns. Then my host said, "See. Do you see now who runs this town?" And indeed, that was the truth for all the women of this town were "tern women". The area from Hoonah to Yakutat is like a melting pot where the migrations from the south and west mix. Considerable local knowledge is needed to sort out who is who. On one occasion, I asked one of the men in Yakutat, "Who are you?" He answered with great pride, "I am Tahn-yuh-duk Te-quedy", by which I was supposed to know that his roots stemmed from the ocean side of Prince of Wales Island. Very likely, he was descended from Te-quedy who journeyed west with K,ut-gah-wate. The second group of Te-quedy that had settled on Endicott River and wintered at Klowk'ahn sent a branch to Dry Bay. On the way they had an experience that affected them very materially. One of their women, Kash-tin-ah, was in the lead followed closely by her uncle Kuhchane and a man named Kah-katy with another woman. Near the path they all saw a feather

that was about four feet long. They stopped and one said, "This must have come from a Thunderbird. Now Thunderbird belongs to us!". Nobody has ever seen a Thunderbird, but from that feather it must be a great big bird indeed and very strong. Kash-tin-ah was very brave. She stepped on the feather. It exploded and both she and the feather disappeared in a great cloud. Sometime later Kuh-chane claimed Thunderbird said to him in a dream, "I have your niece" and so Kuh-chane composed a song to tell the world that Thunderbird belongs to his tribe of Tequedy. Later, they painted a wallboard to commemorate the event and tell the story. It is now

in the Alaska State Museum. The drawing that we are portraying is one belonging to a related tribe through marriage. The central figure is a thunderbird holding a whale; notice the perfect balance of the board. It was sold at auction at Sotheby's on 23 May 1995, for $233,500.00.

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16 - Raven is Born Again; Gun-nook'; Kah-wul-kuh Escapes Koosh-dah-kah Science has effectually destroyed our faith in the traditions and explanations of our ancestors, but what have we gained, or for that matter, what has the world gained? It merely substitutes uncertainty for certainty. Is it too hard to believe that every living thing in this world was free to change its ways or form of life; or that every living or inanimate thing has a spirit that could exert its power either by its own volition or the volition of another? Could it not be that the Tlingit's account is correct although the means by which the result was accomplished might need modification? Take the case of light. Are the Tlingits wrong when their historians say that there was a time when earth was in darkness? We Tlingit had a story of creation before the white man came to Alaska to "civilize" us and to enrich himself. We think the Tlingit tradition is entitled to as much credence as that which is set forth in the Bible. In our story we could use almost the same language as: "In the beginning ... the earth was without form, and void; ... and darkness was upon the face of the deep ... And God said, 'Let there be light: and there was light."

3

Somehow light was brought to the world for mankind. Tlingit tradition is that the grandson of Creator Raven who lived "above the Nass" brought it from the upper firmament. "Once upon a time" would be a good way to begin, "the daughter of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl sat on the beach mourning because of the successive deaths of her sons. Crane (doohl), one of the earliest of created beings, came by and said to her 'Wah-suh i-woo nee? I K,ondy K,ut woo soo.' (What is the matter with you? I have been sent by a supernatural power to help you.) "She was just as surprised as Balaam was when the ass on which he was riding spoke to him, and she answered just as naturally: 'My uncle has killed all my sons and I don't know what to do'. "Doohl told her that he knew all about her sorrows and then added, 'If you will follow my

instructions, you will have a son who could not be destroyed by your uncle. He will grow up and will do much good'.

3

King James Bible, Genesis 1:1,2,4

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"She said that she was willing to hear his advice. Dooh/ said, 'Go to the mouth of that creek. At the edge of the lowest low tide, you will find a small, round, white stone. Heat it. While it is hot, swallow it. You will bear a child'. "And it was so. The child was born of a rock. His first name was not Raven, but Eech-owg' (Little Rock). Because he was tough like a rock, he was not hurt when a great tree fell on him in an 'accident'; nor destroyed when his Great Uncle pushed him into a canoe filled with scalding hot water to spread it - by 'accident'. When the boy had been in the hot water long enough to be cooked, his Great Uncle opened the red cedar log. Eech-owg' got out, stretched his arms, shivered a bit and then said, 'I don't know why it is that I am so cold. I can't seem to get warm.' "No Tlingit made wise by the experience of past centuries would question that Raven was a man, or that he was born of a round white stone, or of a hemlock needle, or was once a white bird. The fact that he is black now merely proves that he is black now; whereas before that he might have been white." Gun-Nook'

Long ago, there was no fresh water in the world except that which was guarded by one man whose name was Gun-nook'. He was the oldest living creature of those created by Nass-shuhkee-yeihl. Gun-nook's home was on a rock called Day-kee-noo (Hazy Island) far out on the ocean

south of Coronation Island. His home surrounded the well that contained the only fresh water on earth. Day-kee-noo is west of the Tlingit village of Klawock where lived the descendants of the Tug-jik'ah (Snail-House) of the Towk'ah-nedy (Winter-Side-People) of the Gahn-nuK_-uddy

Hit, Raven Clan. At Day-kee-noo, the well with its most precious water can still be seen - precious water that was guarded by Gun-nook'. The rock walls are as straight and smooth as glass. At each end, the rocks slant but are parallel to each other. The cover that was shoved aside by Scamp Raven when he stole the water is where he left it. Fresh water! Who can live without it? And yet, here in this world man was without it. Scamp Raven had had plenty of fresh water when he lived in the upper firmament with his grandfather, Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. Now he was on earth and had to beg water from creatures he came upon or he had to search for pools of rain water trapped in shallow hollows. He didn't like it. So Scamp Raven, the friend of man (and of himself) still dressed in his white suit, paddled out to call upon Gun-nook'. When he approached the island, Gun-nook' greeted him. Raven, perhaps because of his guilty purpose, began arguing as to which of them was the older. Raven said he

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was older (meaning - therefore, the wiser). Gun-nook' replied that he was older than Raven. Soon tiring of the silly argument, Gun-nook' put on his Fog Hat (Gooz-zouhh). At once they were covered by heavy fog. Gun-nook' then called to Raven, "If you are older, find your way ashore." Scamp Raven paddled and paddled, it seemed for hours. Shame meant nothing to him, to be mortified did. He kept thinking,"What will people think of me? I must get out of here! I will get out of here!" So he kept on paddling and thinking. "Gun-nook~ Gun-nook', where are you? You must be somewhere here". Finally, he said, "Gun-nook', my brother-in-law, I was mistaken. I can see now that you are older and wiser than I". Gun-nook' took off his Fog Hat. Instantly the sun shone brightly and the waters became clear.

Behold, there was Gun-nook' sitting in his canoe only three feet away from the frantically paddling and lost Scamp Raven. "Now that we are friends again, come to my house and get rested", Gun-nook' said. Raven had gained admission to the far-out fort under whose roof was hidden the only fresh water in the world! Now, how to get the water! But Gun-nook' was vigilant. He kept watch by day, and his dog kept watch by night. Raven finally thought of a scheme that might work. He got up in the night, gathered the dog's du-haatl (dung) and put it on Gun-nook's side of the bed so he would roll on it when he turned

over. Early in the morning, Gun-nook' woke up. He smelled and felt the mess and said, "eehh, how did this stuff get on me?" Raven pretended to awaken and asked, "What is the matter?" When Gun-nook' told him, Raven suggested, "Why don't you go down to the salt water and wash yourself?" Gun-nook' went down to the shore and began scrubbing. As soon as he left, Raven jumped out

of bed, ran to the well, and shoved aside the cover. He swallowed as much of the water as he could and then filled his mouth. (When you go to the well, you will see that it is only half-full.) But Gun-nook' felt something was wrong, so he quit scrubbing and started back to his house and his well. Raven saw him coming, took one last gulp, filled his beak, and started his flight to escape through the smoke hole. Gun-nook' was too late! So he shouted "Gun-kuh-ya-gi, guhl shaht! ("Spirit-of-the-Smoke-Hole", grab him!)"

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At once the Spirit-of-the-Smoke-Hole grabbed Raven's feet just as he was escaping. Raven could neither go out nor go back even though he flapped his wings with all the vigor he could muster. With grim determination, Gun-nook' built a big fire out of spruce pitch. Black smoke soon billowed up towards the smoke hole enveloping Raven until all his feathers were covered. This is the reason why Raven is black today. Then Raven was allowed to escape. He flew east with the precious fresh water in his beak. As he flew, drops of water dribbled out, creating small rivers and lakes on the arid earth. Raven flew on and on over the whole world. When a bigger splotch fell, it became the Nass River. In like manner, he created the Djin-heen (Unuk), the Shtuk'heen, the Dtah-koo, the Djihl-kaht, the Ahl-set{_,the Ee-yuk'heen, the Yukon, and all the other rivers and lakes of the world.

*** How the Tlingit's knowledge was discovered and acquired was by a slow process, some knowledge came only through serious and difficult labor. More of it came to him through revelations; and even then, bit by bit, as he could receive it. Unfortunately, many of our traditions have been destroyed or suppressed because the earliest Christian missionaries and teachers were more inspired by zeal to "civilize" and "save" us than to try to understand our "strange" customs and "stranger" history. These well-meaning people put totems into the category of idols, forbidden by the First Commandment, and so several dozen of our finest examples were destroyed. Our story of the flood was affirmatively declared to be the same flood narrated in the Bible. Only the part that told of the flood was noticed by missionaries, possibly because the Tlingit story as told by different tribes situated in different districts in Southeastern Alaska would say: "That is the mountain that saved my ancestors", a conflict with the Biblical tale that said only Noah and his ark were saved on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey. There are stories that show how a tradition developed. Take the case of Keet (Killer-whale). We are taught that a man by the name of Nah-tseh/-hla-neh created the first pod of Keet. His name has been handed down from generation to generation. His figure has been carved on poles lest we forget. Such a record may be seen on a totem pole on Shaksh Island at Wrangell. When Keet were first created, they could understand their master, a Tlingit-speaking man. They exhibited many of the impulses of people, hate, love, desire, and revenge. On one occasion, a pod of Keet went ashore on the flats about a dozen miles from Wrangell (although some historians place the locale quite a distance away), and camped. The Keet had not finished

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cooking their evening meal when one of them felt that "something" was looking at them. He gave the alarm forthwith and they all plunged into the ocean and fled. A Tlingit of the Dukh/a-wedy tribe was traveling with his wife and had the urge to urinate. When he saw the light of a campfire, he went ashore. He relieved himself before he approached the camp. The Keet smelled the odor of urine and since they are sensitive to uric acid, they fled. The man came closer to the camp and helped himself to food, wondering why nobody was there. The camp looked fresh; the fire was still burning. There was food, but nobody to eat it. Since he was not familiar with the peculiarities of Keet, he thought it was a camp of Koosh-dah-kah (Land-Otter-Men). At the risk of spoiling this story about Keet, I will interpolate an explanation of the Koosh-dahkah, because it is one of the superstitions that are owned in common by all Tlingits, no matter

by what route they came to salt water. In many ways, the Koosh-dah (shortened name) has certain habits of a human. His habitat is a beach devoid of sand, just rocks so he can slide from his den into salt water. He is just as much at home, in fact more so, in water as on land. When a Tlingit is thrown into the sea, it is said the land otter saves his life, but from that time the human takes on a wild nature. He looks like a human but he runs with a supernatural speed. He comes and goes like a ghost. Perhaps I should call him a ghost and then maybe you would be more inclined to believe what our historians told us. To return to the story of Keet, the test is the same for Keet as for Koosh-dah-kah - uric acid both are extremely sensitive to it. The man called his wife to come, and she too, had some food. She went to the creek and noticed a canoe approaching, so she squatted down to watch it. She called to her husband, "There is a canoe coming this way!" Her husband came but stopped when he saw the canoe. He said, "There is something queer about that canoe. It is too black. I wonder what it is?" So he stood, just watching. The canoe came rushing toward them with great speed. (That is the way with Keet. The Tlingit call them warriors, and indeed, they are.) After they abandoned their camp, they reconnoitered and made a plan of attack against these intruders. They selected one of their numbers. The rest got under him raising his body up until he looked like a canoe. Then they attacked. When they got near to the creek, they dashed up to the woman, seized her, and rushed away before her husband could do anything. He got into his canoe and started in pursuit. The fleet of Keet disappeared close to a high bluff. When he came to the same spot, he could see nothing. He tied a branch of spruce wood about 96

his head, put stones in his clothes so that he would sink, and jumped into the water at the very point where he saw his wife disappear. Down he went, down until he reached the bottom. He was unconscious for a time. When he roused, he found he was near the town of Sharks (the kind the Tlingit calls "Tooz" which has rows of very fine teeth). This shark is the hereditary enemy of Keet. Between them, many bloody battles have been fought wherein thousands of soldiers have been killed. The Tlingit walked into Shark Town and there he saw a man with a crooked mouth, at least he looked like a man. He asked, "Who are you?" He asked it this way because the crooked man didn't act like a free man but like a slave. The man replied, "I am that hook you lost, don't you remember? A shark came and cut your line. Since then I have been the slave of the Shark people". The Tlingit then asked with an innocent air, "Has there been anything new happening around here?" The Slave replied, "Nothing, my master, nothing in this village. But over there (pointing) are the Keet'quon. We heard they captured a Tlingit-Shah recently and are holding her to be the wife of

their chief. If you want to recapture her, when you get near them, wait until you see a Tlingit who has been a slave for a long time. He will tell you what to do. He comes out of their town for supplies. He carries a valuable tool, an axe. If you will wish very hard, it will break". Here the Tlingit reveals his belief in the power of Mind-Over-Matter.

It is the basis of the

system of shamanism that is practiced. Some writers have been confused the two institutions: "icht" or shaman, and Nook-zati or witch - the practice of witchcraft and shamanism. Among

the Tlingit, they are not related. The Tlingit went toward Keet-quon. When he got near, he waited and watched until he saw the slave come out with his axe and begin to chop wood. The husband concentrated on making the axe break, "Gosh goosh ge. (Oh that it might!)". He had faith that he could break the axe with the power of his mind. Here we have evidence of the power that was used by the Tlingit to break the axe in the hands of the slave of the Keet-quon. Our historians say that it was successful. When the slave saw his broken axe, he was terrified and puzzled. He dared not return because there was nothing more precious than an axe. So it was with relief that he heard a voice say, "I can fix that axe for you, but you will have to do what I tell you". The slave answered, "All right".

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The Tlingit told him that the woman recently captured was his wife and he had come for her. The slave proposed a plan for her recapture. He offered to return to the Great House with a large pail of water that he would upset on the fire. A great cloud of steam would arise; the man should rush in, seize his wife, and get out before the Keet could react. The Tlingit agreed to the plan and so he repaired the axe. The slave returned with his water bucket, pretended to stumble, and spilled the water into the fire. A great cloud of steam arose. The man rushed in, seized his wife, and escaped to Shark Town. The slave fled also. The Killer Whales, in formation, attacked Shark Town. There was great slaughter on both sides, for sharks are warriors too. During the melee, the Tlingit, his wife, and the slave escaped and returned to the surface of the earth. Because of this incident, the Dukh/a-wedy (Outer-SandPeople) claims a peculiar and unique right to the Keet as their principal crest. The belief in the power of faith goes back hundreds of years. Sometimes wars were fought over a hundred miles apart. People are known to have been killed between two Shaman engaged therein. In one of the last fights, after such a battle, people still living saw Shquindy of Wrangell with his face swollen just as if he had been in close physical battle. Similar incidents occurred in the famous feud between the Shgut'quon of Wrangell and the Kog-wahn-ton of Sitka. The Shgut'quon had gone to Sitka without Shaksh but didn't feel strong

enough to make a frontal attack. Yet they didn't care to return home without killing somebody who was important. So they hid behind Indian River Point - the very site of the Kik's-uddy fort made famous by the fight with Baranof when that great Russian escaped by leaving his coat behind. The Shgut'quon icht took charge. He tied two bones together in the form of a cross. The Shgut'quon warriors huddled close together. With a silence like death, they concentrated on

drawing one certain man of the enemy to them. The chosen one was the nephew of an important chief. The icht reached forward with his cross and drew the spirit of the young man toward himself - again and again, everybody watching his movements and wishing hard. This young man seldom went hunting. He was proud of his caste and acted like a crown prince, which indeed, he was. To the amazement of his household, because everybody knew the Shgut'quon were about, he said, "I am going out hunting toward Indian River". The people said

"Don't go. It is dangerous". Nobody could stop him. Soon, the Shgut'quon saw the young man approaching in his small canoe, paddling vigorously. The shaman told his group to wait until he was close. Singing loudly, the young man reached the mouth of the river, but while he was still out of range, one of the young warriors, in his

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desire to be the one to make the kill, lost control, shot and missed. The young Kog-wahn-ton changed course and headed for an island in Jamestown Bay. He gained the beach, run toward the woods almost reaching it when an unlucky shot (for him) killed him. I have not seen men like Shquindy mentioned above after a mental fight with an enemy three hundred miles away. But relatives very close to me represent that they had, and since I have respect for my witnesses, I accept their statements and report it now as worthy of credence.

Kah-wuh/-kuhEscapesKoosh-dah-kah Many times a Tlingit has lived through the experience of being captured, escaping, and living to tell a tale. Such a person was Kah-wuhl-kuh, Kik's-uddy Tribe, Raven Clan. The locale is fixed in upper Lynn Canal in Djihl-kaht country.

Kah-wuhl-kuh went out hunting alone in his canoe. Down channel a ways his canoe capsized but he escaped with his dog to a nearby island. He had been properly schooled and knew about the danger of capture by Koosh-dah-kahand so he took precautions. He found a cave nearby for shelter. At the entrance, he placed his paddle, saying to himself, "If

Koosh-dah-kahcome for me, they will pretend to be people. Since they are not, when they pass by my paddle they will pay no attention to it. Therefore I will know who or what comes and if it is Koosh-dah-kah, I will stay in this cave. But when my brothers come, they will notice the paddle and will exclaim about it. Then I will come out and be saved". The storm continued to rage. Kah-wuhl-kuh was without food so he killed his dog and skinned it, but kept the head intact. When he went out, he planned to throw the skin and head of his dog over his own head and about his shoulders. That is how he planned to greet his visitors. He knew the Koosh-dah-kahwould not be long in coming for him but that they are afraid of dogs. He heard people coming along the beach. They called his name and told him to come out. He could hear them talking with each other. They seemed to be having a feast. He could hear tearing of dried fish and blankets. But he heard no comments about the paddle, so he did not respond. In the morning, he knew it was the Koosh-dah-kah.What had sounded like tearing of fish and blankets was only of the skin of flounder. On another occasion, he saw visitors coming in their canoe. He felt sure that they were his brothers but he hesitated. The canoe landed in front of his cave. The men got out and began to unload the canoe. Later he discovered that the canoe was really a large skate which is what

Koosh-dah-kah use for a canoe. Kah-wuhl-kuh's caution caused him to clothe himself with his dog's skin and head before he ran down to the beach. When they saw him, the Koosh-dahfled.

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Soon after when Kah-wuhl-kuh had a fire near his cave, a canoe arrived with visitors who came up to the fire. He seated them in proper order but he was suspicious about their reality and so to test them, he handed each one a bowl of urine. He had been taught that Koosh-dah-kah would turn away, gross bad manners! Since these visitors did so he knew they were not human.

Kah-wuhl-kuh kept his mind strong because he had faith that his people would come for him. One day, he heard somebody walking along the beach. He saw men searching at the top of the tidemark looking for something, his body - he afterwards learned. Then one of them shouted, "Look! He is near here. This is his paddle". Kah-wuhl-kuh knew that these were his people, so he came forth. He went home with them, and from him the Tlingit learned more about Koosh-dah-kah. There is a small totem on the main street of Juneau that represents this event. The top figure is the dog, the second one is Kah-wuhl-kuh, and the bottom figure is the spirit of the stumps among which he lived while awaiting his relatives.

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17 - Travel Tales; NuX.-uddyTribe of Nah-ah We came from the north, from the south, from the east, but not from the west. Our historians told us so. We believe them because we respect them. Our totems tell as much. There we find the truth even though the beginning is shrouded in mystery. What of Gooch (Wolf)? Yeihl (Raven)? K,oots (Grizzly Bear)? Keet (Killer-Whale)? Djohk (Eagle)? And other sub crests that are the special property of each tribe. But just when we are sure that we have learned something, an exception appears. Take for instance, Keet. Keet is a principal totem of tribes of the Wolf Clan such as Dukhlo-wedy (Outer-Sand-People), Kuh-yoshki-diton

(People-Who-Live-on-Posts-Above-Things),

Nohn-ya-ohyi

(Upward-Living-

People), and Kog-wahn-ton. These tribes came from the north down the middle rivers. Yet Keet is also a principal totem of the Nut{,-uddy (sometimes called the "Noh-ah" tribe after the name of their town now called Loring, twenty two miles west and north of Ketchikan), a peculiar tribe who are of the Raven Clan but who claim the Eagle for their top totem. As related earlier, the Dukhlo-wedy came down the Shtuk'heen when a glacier still spanned it. But from whence did they come before that on their journey "through the tall grass that bit their legs"? Who knows? What language did they speak? Where and when did they conform to the Tlingit taboo of marriage? The most plausible story is as follows: when the Te-quedy left Git'diksh on the Nass River on their long journey to Ee-yuk-heen (Copper River), part of them remained (perhaps even most of them) and later migrated up the Djin-heen (Unuk River) and across to the head waters of the Shtuk'heen. Another part of this group moved down that river and camped. At this point, they

acquired the name of Dukhlo-wedy. The tribe who camped north of them acquired the name of Nohn-yo-ahyi. When the Dukhlo-wedy left, some members remained behind.

It is very puzzling. It would be easier if we just began our history where we found it in modern times. But the matter of integrity has to be dealt with. Tlingit totem poles one hundred fifty miles up the Hin-heen (Skeena River) at Kis-poy-ok are called Wul-na-yok (To-Swim-through-aHole). That explains the hole at the bottom of the totem pole surrounded by figures of several people. Other tribes at Kit-wan-go have chiefs with Tlingit names although their memory of the Tlingit language is gone. The town of Git'rhotin on the Nass River is really Git'yot-heen which means People-of-the-Salmon-Stream. The area around Behm Canal (Ketchikan) and Cape Fox seems to have been the boiling point for incessant wars from which groups of people from Tlingit tribes migrated looking for peace. Although they carried their Tlingit language and names with them, they gradually became absorbed into newer localities and forgot everything except their Tlingit names for people and totem poles.

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That would explain the migrations of the Dukhla-wedy. From our own Tlingit historians and our personal knowledge of the association of Dukh/a-wedy with Te-quedy, we are convinced that they are the same people. My own Father was one, and with acceptance of the story that they migrated up the Unuk River (although it could have been the Nass) and over to the Shtuk'heen or even the lskut River, I can understand how this tribe could have come down the Shtuk'heen. Although they acquired a new name, they were still Te-quedy. "Shtuk'heen" is commonly interpreted to mean "Ice River" because of the story that the Dukh/awedy explored under the glacier that spanned the river when they were migrating to salt water.

It is not the proper translation. The name comes from the character of the swift waters that pour through some places and stirs up the river to a dirty, muddy color - "shtuk"'. Raven Clan tribes had a village one hundred seventy five miles up the river just below the upper canyon where the water is very swift. At the south end of this canyon, one has to have local knowledge to pass through safely. If the stone that warns of the danger of that river (Teh-K,ah-igoon) is half covered, it is safe to travel through, but if it is covered, one cannot continue.

After the Dukhla-wedy had braved the terrors of the glacier and had reached salt water, they acquired other crests; the greatest of these being Keet. When they moved on, branching out in every direction, even among the Haida, the different groups continued their pride in the Keet crest, a crest not to be confused with a similar emblem of other tribes. The Nu!S,-uddy Tribe of Nah-ah

In the course of these stories, I have accounted for three top totems: Wolf, Raven, and Killer Whale. It should be remembered that there are only two Clans among the Tlingit and the Haida-speaking Natives. On the side of the Raven, there is no division or competitor with that bird. He is the very top, so that all tribes in the Raven Clan are Hlai-nedy (on-one-side). Tlingit describes all others as Goo-nate-kuh-ahyi

(People-on-the-Opposite-Side).

In the

beginning, this side had one basic totem, Wolf. For various reasons, tribes of this clan edified the eagle and made it equal - though they never forgot that the Wolf is the older crest. I must confess that as I trace the lines of certain tribes, I have a strong temptation to state the fact and then to note an exception. But I haven't named an exception to an exception ad infinitum because that would be just too much. It is like the game of chess where every piece has its rule of movement; and yet there is a union or an organization that controls all and keeps the game orderly. We would call the NuK,-uddy the knight of our Tlingit game of chess, for it is the one tribe that disobeys all the rules of other Tlingits. They are Raven, they are Eagle, they are Killer Whale, they are Beaver! They seem to be what they please.

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History finds them owning the mouth of the Djin-heen (Unuk River), Nah-ah (Loring), and Boca de Quadra. From this last they became known as "Cape Fox Indians" because they are so near to Cape Fox. The NuK_-uddyis Tlingit and their crest is the Eagle. Yet they are no more related to the other Eagle crest people of the Tlingit than they are to the Eagle crest of the United States, or to "Washin'ton-quon". Their behavior indicates that they are an intrusion of Goo-nah-nah (Athabascan) who reached salt water by way of the Djin-heen and succeeded in establishing themselves. They later acquired Nah-ah, the land along Tongass Narrows, and then a long jump to Boca de Quadra. Upon reaching tidal waters they acquired the Eagle crest, either by marriage or by battle, more likely the latter. Another confusion of totems clarified by this theory is the beaver crest which the NuK_-uddy claim. The Beaver is a sub-totem on the Raven side; and yet, no Raven Clan tribe questions the right of this Eagle Clan tribe to own it. They had to have acquired it as they did the Eagle - by marriage or battle. When the NuK_-uddymigrated to the mouth of the Unuk River, Tlingit surrounded them. To the south of them were the K_ihl-quon(Foam-People, Wolf Clan) of the Chickamin River and to the southwest were the Kik's-uddy of the Raven Clan. Both tribes were part of the Shgut'quon Federation. The NuK_-uddyfurnished consorts to these neighbors. This theory also explains the brutality with which they pursued other Goo-nah-nah whenever they encountered them. Their relentless pursuit was not exhibited toward the Tlingit tribes. The brutality showed a bitterness that could only be explained by the memory of a long feud. On one occasion, quite a large family of Goo-nah-nah {Tsets-a-ut as the Tsimshian called them) met the NuK_-uddy.They mingled with apparent friendliness and yet all the men and some of the women were killed. If the NuK_-uddywere acting in revenge, this cruelty could be understood.

Goo-nah-nah were without crests and often migrated down the Djin-heen from the Interior rather than down the Shtuk'heen. They also followed the same freedom of marriage as the

NuK_-uddy. Even though the NuK_-uddy acquired all these totems, they remained what they were, foreigners, who since they were tied to neither Clan of the Tlingit, could and did marry into either Raven or Wolf Clan tribes. This is the most reasonable explanation of this peculiar tribe that has baffled all ethnologists. Lt.G. T. Emmons once asked me to make a study of this tribe that disobeyed the marriage taboo. This is my conclusion.

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Among the Tlingit of this district, the Eagle was below the Wolf, yet among the Nu~-uddy, the Eagle is a top totem. That is one reason I believe that they acquired that totem from the Eagle Clan of the Tsimshian. They also tell the same story about their Eagle and how it became their crest.

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18 - Eagle Becomes a Crest In my younger days, I did not believe our ancient stories, partly because there were so many supernatural features in them. Yet I had no trouble accepting the authenticity of stories that came from the Bible that I now see to be just as fantastic. We too had a fish greater than a whale that gave his miraculous skin to save a town from starvation. We too had a whale that swallowed Raven and then drifted ashore to feed his people. Our Raven did not feed "Elijah under the juniper tree" but brought food and water to his creatures. We too had a bear that was a benefactor to mankind, not a monitor to punish boys disrespectful to a righteous baldhead. These miracles have occurred to a grateful people. They have been faithfully handed down from one generation to the next. They inspired a man to save a nation. The events occurred in the great city of Git'kahla of the Tsimshian-speaking people whose crest was the tS,oots(Grizzly Bear). Times were good and natural resources abundant. The great chief had little need to command his numerous nephews or his slaves to gather the silver salmon to be preserved for winter use. The weather was good, too good for boys. The chief's young son felt no compulsion to capture food for a winter that was so far away. He preferred to hunt with his bow and arrow or to fix arrows. He discovered that if he attached two feathers to the shaft it would shoot straighter, and the best feathers were from an eagle. Even a chief's son has to work when he becomes old enough, and so he was ordered to help capture salmon in the shallow places of the small river and carry them back to the Great House. Once when the boy saw an eagle feather, he dropped his salmon on the nice, soft, sandy beach, picked the feather up and ran away. He stayed away too long. While he was gone, an eagle came and feasted on the salmon. Before it flew away it left some feathers. When the boy returned he found the feathers and surmised that this was a good way to get more. After that, on many occasions he dropped a fish with the same good results. Everybody observed that the boy was spending his summer feeding the eagles; much more time than he spent helping to gather the winter's supply of fish. Great efforts are made to gather enough food to carry a community over into the next spring. But who can predict the seasons? The masters of the houses and the Great Leader looked with anxious eyes at the sky and all wondered if their food would last for such a prolonged winter. They must economize. The Great Leader felt that his own son should be punished for the way he had wasted the past summer feeding eagles and making arrows.

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Under the Tsimshian system, as well as the Tlingit, children belong to the mother and cannot be disciplined except by her brothers. The father did not dare lay his hand on his own children. Food was diminishing rapidly, but the winter continued in its unwonted severity. The father called his brothers-in-law and reminded them of the boy's misbehavior and said, "I believe that food should be prepared for him and just as he is about to eat, it should be taken away with the remark, 'This is the boy who thought so little of winter that he would rather feed the eagles. Let the eagles feed him now."' The uncles agreed to do this. But even when faced by famine, boys are always boys. On this evening, he came rushing into the Great House, hungry, active, buoyant, loud-mouthed, and sat in his place. He didn't notice the extra quietness that surrounded him. Food was passed and placed in front of each one, dried fish for dipping into sahk, the fine, tasty, rich butter-like fish oil that comes only from the eulachon (sahk). When it came to his turn to take his share of roasted salmon, he reached out his hand but his uncle moved the food past him and said, "This is the boy who fed the eagles all last summer. Let the eagles feed him now". The boy said nothing, nor did he cry. He got up and went out. After all, he was not too hungry. When the time came, he went to bed like the rest of the household. He saw that there would be no food for him with this uncle, so he went to the next uncle and had the same experience. He knew that he was being punished. He went on to the third uncle, and there this uncle greeted him with "Oh, this is the boy who feeds the eagles!" By now he was really hungry. It was the third day! The next morning he went to the fourth uncle. This uncle said to him, "Come to me, my nephew. I know how you have been treated. I, too, was asked to punish you, but I am not willing. Come to me and this uncle's wife will give you to eat." Here the boy stayed and shared with this youngest uncle the food that they had. All might have been well if the winter had not continued. But as the food diminished until there really wasn't enough, the kind uncle's conduct angered the father more so because he knew he had no power to stop it. Too soon the food would be gone. Something had to be done. The Great Chief said, "We will leave as soon as we can pack, tomorrow or the next day. Get ready". When everybody was ready to go, the Great Chief said to the boy's grandmother, "You are to remain here with your grandson and this young slave. You must realize that you are too old now, without food, we cannot save you anyway. Your time has come. You will remain here with

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the boy. Perhaps he will learn how precious salmon is even when it appears to be so plentiful. Besides, he has his bow and arrows." As the people crowded toward their canoes, the youngest uncle's wife said to the grandmother, "I have buried a dried fish and some sahk oil by that house post. It isn't much, but it is half of what we have." The tribe went toward the Nass River with hope while the boy, his slave and grandmother remained behind feeling sure that their days were ending. They ate some of the dried fish and

sahk oil. The boy went out with his slave and sat on a log, and sat, and sat, and sat. There was food for only one day more. High in the sky, an eagle circled. The boy, for want of something better to do, watched it circle spiraling downward. It seemed to be headed for the point of sand that jutted into the small river almost at the spot where he had fed the eagles last summer. "Why would an eagle act like that?" he thought as he watched it swoop down to the river and then alight on the sand spit. It walked about in the strange way eagles have. Then it flew up, screamed its piercing cry, circled and alighted again. "Go down to the point and see what that eagle is doing", the young man ordered his slave who didn't like to go alone but went anyway. When he got close, the eagle flew upward and hovered. As it made no threat, the slave ran closer and saw a fair-sized trout on the beach. He turned to his master shouting, "There is a trout here!" When he grabbed it the eagle flew away. The slave brought the trout to his master. Together they took it into the empty Great House to the grandmother who was crouching close to the small fire trying to keep warm. She glanced at them, but made no other movement. They came to her and showed the trout. She took and cleaned it and then roasted it on a tseek (spit). The slave put wood on the fire for more heat while the old woman turned and turned the trout over the fire. Soon the roasting began and the oil began to drip, as each drop of trout oil fell on the fire it would blaze in a flash and sputter. It looked good to those hungry boys, but when it was ready to eat, her grandson refused, insisting that she and the slave eat all of it. The young man was now the chief of this House, and just to watch his dependents eat their first meal gave him an inner glow of pride, satisfaction enough. "The eagle fed us", he said. "Perhaps the eagles know what has happened", said his grandmother.

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They went to bed. The old woman slept promptly. The new chief supported his head on his hand, resting his elbow on the floor while he watched the fire glowing its dull red and the smoke slowly ascend its eerie way upward to escape through the hole in the roof. In the morning, the household stirred and ate the last bit of food that the grandmother prepared. After that the boys went outside down to the water. The new chief scanned the skies wondering if the eagles would return. In the far distance, he saw a tiny speck and he said to his slave, "I think that is an eagle. Perhaps it will come to us again." They both watched it flying along in their direction. When it was directly overhead, they saw it circle and spiral downward just as it had done the day before. The little slave ran to the sand spit. When he was quite close, the eagle flew up, hovered, and flew away. He had left a fatcheeked, spiny bullhead. The slave picked it up and brought it to the House. The next day, daring to hope, the boys watched again. It had happened twice. Would it happen again? This time, they saw several eagles performing the same way as they came near the sand spit. The young slave ran down, and this time he found a silver salmon so heavy that several eagles had to have brought it. He dragged it to the House where the little old grandmother took charge. She cut it up and cleaned it showing the boys how to prepare it for drying, slicing it with her shell knife until the flesh was thin enough for good drying. Each day, the eagles brought more food: salmon, halibut, then seal, sea lion, and finally a whale! More than the castoffs could eat, even more than they could dry. They filled each of the empty houses with food according to its kind. The boys tied the sea lions and the whales to the beach with rope that they made out of cedar bark and wool. The grandmother directed the boys in the work of cutting the animals open until the shoreline reeked with gore and the oil oozed out covering the bay with grease. Here was plenty! As the boy looked over the huge quantity of food brought by the eagles, he thought of his people."I wonder how they are getting along. I must see". He shot a sea gull. After skinning it carefully, he donned the feathers, head, and wings like a coat. He took some boiled seal meat and flew toward the Nass looking for his people. After a while he saw a lot of canoes with people in them fishing. Above them, sea gulls were soaring and hovering. He had a purpose and so he flew close to the canoes, peering into the faces of the occupants. They were his people and he could see that they were starving. No one had any fish. He didn't care what happened to any of them except for his youngest uncle and his family. He continued searching until he found a canoe that had a slave belonging to his uncle. Into this canoe, he dropped the seal meat.

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The slave picked it up and saw that it was food that the sea gull dropped. Supernatural! He took it, returned to his master, and told what had happened. The Great Chief soon summoned them. After he heard the story, he told them to be prepared to follow the sea gull when next it appeared. "Perhaps it will lead us to food". The next day the great sea gull returned. After dropping another piece of seal meat, it flew away. This time, the slaves followed. The sea gull seemed to be guiding them. Down the river they paddled with their feeble arms until they lost it, but they saw it disappear in the direction of their old town. So they continued in that direction and when they arrived at the old village, they went ashore. The young man and his slave, vigorous and strong - not at all as expected greeted them. The slaves went into the Great Houses and saw that they were full of dried fish, seal, sea lions, and oil. On the beach were four great whales. They were fed, stayed four days and then were allowed to go. As they were about to depart, the boy told them that they could take nothing with them - to tell nobody that he was alive and had plenty to eat "because I am the boy who preferred to feed the eagles, remember?" One of the slaves, however, had a wife with a young child and for this child he hid some seal meat. When they got back, they were afraid to disobey the young Master, and so they reported that they found nothing except bones around the old village. Later the slave gave the seal meat to his wife. Although she was terribly hungry, she chewed the meat only to soften it, and then put it into the mouth of her child. The little one, realizing that here was food, sucked it hard and swallowed the lump of meat too quickly - and choked on it. His mother stuck her hand into his mouth and tried to pull out the meat with her fingers, but she couldn't reach it. All the time the child was struggling frantically for breath. The Chief's wife heard the commotion and went to see. She put her hand with her longer fingers into the child's mouth and hooked out the lump. She looked at it and saw that it was boiled seal meat. She took it to her husband who summoned the mother and asked her where she got it. The story was soon told. In the morning, the Chief said, "We will return to our old village. Perhaps my son will have mercy upon us". When they rounded the last point, the young man saw the fleet of canoes. He took his bow and arrows tipped with eagle feathers and walked to the sand spit. When they were within hailing

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distance, he forbade them to land. He spoke to the Chief and said, "I am the boy who preferred to feed salmon to eagles". The canoes floated with paddles at ease while the people waited for their Chief to speak. The youngest uncle's wife dipped her fingers into the salt water and then put them - now greasy with oil that floated on top - into her mouth. Others saw her expression of delight and soon all the people, young and old, were greedily seeking to satisfy their hunger in the same way. When the boy saw this, he said to his youngest uncle, "Come ashore. I will help just you. I was refused food and you gave me to eat. The rest of you will have to pay." They all came ashore. The boy became very rich. The oldest uncle had two beautiful unmarried daughters. These he and their mother preened and dressed with the hope that the young Chief would favor one or both with marriage. Since they were of the opposite clan, they were eligible and willing to be a wife of the young Chief. But the young man chose the daughter of his kind uncle's wife. After the custom of his people, he gave her parents many presents from the heaps of barter goods given him for food; slaves, canoes, abalone shells, tinnah, mink, marten, sea otter, and elk skins, dancing blankets, horn spoons, and necklaces of Killer Whale teeth. At the marriage feast, the young man gave great gifts to all the opposite side; food and goods to each person according to his importance until everybody was content. At the feast each "big person" made his speech of thanks. When they finished, the young man thanked them for honoring him. Then he told of the events that saved him, his grandmother, and his slave after everyone had departed. "little did I know when I fed the eagles last summer, that they would be the means of saving my people. From this time on, my tribe will put the eagle in the top place of honor". Henceforth this tribe of Git'kahlac became known as the Eagle Tribe. Its fame grew and spread abroad until everybody, the Tlingit and the Haida, acknowledged their supremacy in its claim to honor the Eagle. How the Nutf_-uddyacquired an equal right to use the Eagle, we don't know. But since there is no enmity between them and the Git'kahla, the acquisition must have been peaceful; perhaps through the marriage of some great chief with the daughter of the Nutf_-uddywho bore a muchdesired son. Perhaps the son asked for the emblem. For it is the law among the Hit'klane that a child may use the totem of the father and of the grandfather.

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The so-called "Killisnoo Beaver" is on the Kik's-uddy Raven pole. The tribe was telling the world that they were children of the tribe that owned that crest.

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19 - Keet is Created There is no uncertainty about the cosmos of the Tlingit as there is among the Anglo-Saxon, and it gives me a glorious feeling to hear our historians relate the true explanation of things. For example, what scientist can explain how the Killer Whale originated? The Tlingit knows to a certainty, and can show you the place where it all happened. It was on the western shore of Duke Island (Yik-i) (they will tell you), south of Annette Island and about thirty miles south of Ketchikan, due west of Cape Fox, that it happened. On the long, rocky beach near the north side of the narrow entrance, there is a salt-water lagoon at half tide but which is covered at higher stages of the tide. Close at hand, there are rocks that formerly dammed the entrance to make a considerable depth in the lagoon at all times. The rocks were placed there by a goo-nah-nah (Athabascan) who came to salt water from the interior via the Djin-heen (Unuk River) to avoid the fierce tribes who controlled the Shtuk'heen.

Since you should know the evidence that authenticates the following story, I relate the description of the lagoon and point to those rocks as monuments to verify the events that transpired there. As for the competency of this form of proof, you can turn to Holy Writ, the fourth chapter of the Book of Joshua (which name could easily be Tlingit - dja (only) and shu-ah (leader) - Dja-shu-ah!) for precedence. It tells how the Hebrew Nation walked across the River Jordan that Jehovah had stopped to allow the Israelites to cross on dry land. To celebrate this event, they gathered twelve stones from its bed and erected a monument. We erect our totem poles to remind succeeding generations of certain events. There are totem poles on Shaksh Island in the town of Wrangell that illustrate the fact that there is no consistency in reading a story. One pole is read from the bottom up. Some poles start from the middle. Still others are read from the top down. Sometimes more than one story is represented by the figures on the pole. The pole commemorating our story is in that category. The lowest figure is called Heen-tsak-yahn-duh'kin

(Flying-Under-the-Water) and refers to an

icht who lived near the Djin-heen and whose story is unrelated to the figures above it. The

second, third, and fourth figures up represent the Keet story. The second figure is the first killer whale to be created; the third figure is the creator - Nah-tsehl-hla-neh - the Goo-nah-nah who made it; and the fourth figure is the sea lion boy who was made sick by the spear in his side. The figures above the boy are unrelated to the rest of the pole and were put there because the carver didn't want to put a sea gull on top! A young man named Nah-tsehl-hla-neh of the Dukhla-wedy Tribe, Wolf Clan, married a girl of the Towk'ah-nedy Tribe, Raven Clan, and went to live with her relatives on Duke Island. He was

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a fine young man, but he made himself objectionable by continually bragging about how he could excel every skill of his seven brothers-in-law. In fact, he boasted that there wasn't anything that he could not do better than anyone else. The brothers-in-law finally got sick of his boasting. One brother said, "Can you climb up that small rock island out there (pointing southwest where a tiny speck could be seen)? It is tS_ad-duk-gay-gi("Island-that-is-Outside" - now called Double West Rock) where only sea lions and birds that love the ocean dwell." "I can climb any place with my special snowshoes", bragged Nah-tseh/-hla-neh. "Prove it!" shouted the brothers. Immediately they began preparations to go out to the rock. As soon as the contest became known, there was great excitement among the people. Some took sides with the brothers, others with the sister's husband. The young men entered the canoe and started the journey. As the canoe drew near the rock,

Nah-tseh/-hla-neh put on his famous snowshoes that had four mountain goat horns attached to them and took his place in the bow. He looked at the rock covered with kelp, calculating its steep sides made even more smooth and slippery by years of sea lions sliding into the sea. The ocean waves roared and crashed against the cliff then fell back with an even greater roar. As the waters receded, they formed a suction that could have pulled the canoe into the whirling water if the brothers had not prevented it. The men held off the canoe until the most favorable moment. They allowed the waves to carry them almost to touch the rock so that Nah-tseh/-h/a-

neh, aided by the forward surge of the canoe, could jump across the gap and land. He clamped his sharp, strong snowshoes onto the rock and stood firm while the waters fell back. Helped by the backstroke of the brothers, the canoe drew away. Nah-tsehl-h/a-neh climbed slowly at first, then with more confidence, to the top. He raised his arm aloft in a dramatic sign of victory. The situation had now changed. The boaster had won! In doing so, he had put his brothers-inlaw to shame. In their humiliation, they forgot the tie that binds together brothers to a sister's husband, a tie that is the strongest known in Tlingit law. With one accord, they turned and paddled away, leaving Nah-tseh/-hla-neh marooned upon the rock. When they got home, they told a story that he had slipped and fallen and was bashed to his death by the waves. No one doubted the truth of this tale.

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With dismay Nah-tsehl-h/a-neh watched them leave. Yet he made no sign. He expected to die. The rock is not visible from any land. Besides, who would rescue him? He sat down on the rock, tied his blanket around himself as the Mainland People ( Yun-yady) were want to do, and went to sleep. He was awakened by a voice that said "/ ye gah woo-soo (For you I have been sent by a supernatural power.)" Nah-tseh/-h/a-neh knew at once that some powerful spirit had intervened. He looked about him

but the only sign of life he could see was a common sea gull. "Surely that sea gull could not have been the one who spoke", he thought. He covered his head again, but this time he peeked through a hole in the blanket. Again he heard the voice say, "/ ye gah woo-soo". It was the sea gull! He was told to follow. He went with the bird to the other side of the rock where he saw an open door. They entered the passage and continued down it until they came to a very large room. It was the House of the Sea lion. Nah-tsehl-hla-neh looked about him and knew that the people were in trouble. In a clear place in the center lay a young man in great pain. All the solemn-faced lchts who were gathered together nearby were doing nothing, just waiting for the boy to die, it seemed to him. Nah-tsehl-h/a-neh could see a spearhead sticking in the boy's side where some hunter had

struck him. He thought, "Why don't they pull out that spearhead and give the boy a chance to live?" One of the shaman spoke up and said to the Great Chief, "This shaman claims that he can cure your son". Nah-tseh/-hla-neh became frightened and spoke quickly, "I am not a shaman. I do not claim to

have the power to cure your son". The silence resumed. After a bit, the great Sea Lion Chief said, "They have all failed. Will you try? If you succeed, anything you want, you shall have, even one of those bags that contains the winds". The young man looked at the big bags made of seal stomachs, one of which contained the shoreward wind, but he said nothing. The eyes of the Chief, however, had followed his glance and so the Chief said, "That bag will be yours". Nah-tseh/-h/a-neh went up to the ahn-yuddy (high caste person), took a firm hold of the

spearhead, twisted and at the same time yanked it out. Immediately a green discharge burst

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from the wound. Relief was instant for the young prince. Nah-tseh/-h/a-neh washed the wound with seawater and bound it. The boy sat up. The great Chief of the Sea Lions was grateful. He ordered the bag containing the shoreward wind to be given to Nah-tseh/-hla-neh. In due time, the young man was ready to return to his home. He climbed into the bag, after being instructed that he must concentrate on landing at a definite spot near his town, and warned that he must not, for a single instant, think about this rock and its people. He selected a fine, sandy beach close to his wife's village. They shoved him off. Soon he felt himself titillating upon the water as he was blown over the waves by the southwest wind. After a while, he grew used to the motion of the waves and secure in the knowledge that his life was going to be saved. As a result, he relaxed his concentration and thought, "How fine those Sea Lion People are! How lucky I was that they found me." Faster than I can tell you, he was back in their midst. The Men-of-the-Islands, as Sea Lions are sometimes called, opened the windbag and let him out for a rest. They reproached him thusly, "You should not have thought of us. That is why you are back. We will start you again but this time you must keep your mind upon your home." Once more he was placed inside the bag. Again he tied himself in. Shortly he was out upon the ocean being blown along by the fierce southwest wind. This time, he kept his thoughts steadfast upon the beach. After a while he felt himself bumping on the shore. He untied the bladder and saw that he was not far from his home at the very place he had chosen. He hid in the nearby bushes until night came. When everybody was asleep, he went to the back of his house, crept to the side of his wife, and whispered to her, "It is I, your husband. A supernatural power rescued me from the island where your brothers deserted me. Bring me my tools, especially my adze. Do not tell anybody that I have returned". She obeyed him quietly. He took the tools and went eastward to what is now called Southwest Cove and there made the saltwater lake that I described heretofore. He piled rocks at the narrow entrance, filled in the spaces with brush and mud in the same manner as a beaver in order to dam up ocean water that flowed in with the tide. Nah-tsehl-hla-neh

cut a long slender limb from a nearby hemlock tree. With his adze, he

fashioned a large head on a sleek body and attached an elongated dorsal fin on it. When he had

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finished, he talked to it and gave it instructions on how to behave. Then he pushed it into the water. It jumped once and then sank. It was too heavy. Then he selected a piece of spruce wood (shee-yee) and shaped it the same way, but it wouldn't dive at all. It was too light! He tried red cedar (hlaJS,)but it too refused to dive. Finally he tried yellow cedar (K_aki).It was perfect. When he threw it into the lake, it dove with a graceful curve and a "chuhh"; rose up, and dove again, over and over, and just as Keet do to this very day. Nah-tsehl-h/a-neh kept talking to it, telling it to travel around and around the lake. Finally it began to breathe. He named his creature "Keet". That is how Killer Whale was created. The proof of this creation is the fact that the flesh of Keet and the wood of yellow cedar burn alike, with the same crackling sound. Nah-tseh/-h/a-neh called Keet ashore. Then he made others; different kinds too; killer whales

with the white lines from the corners of the mouth to the head; and killer whale spear - painted red, and long and slender. This one is named Keet-woo-sahni (killer whale spear) because it always swims ahead of the others. He now watched the ocean. When he saw his brothers-in-law coming in their canoe, he summoned his new creatures. He talked to them, and pointed out the canoe. They were to attack and destroy it and the men therein, and then they were to return to him. The Keet formed a platoon and in military formation raced towards the canoe. Leading the pod was Keet-woo-sahni, the spearhead. The brothers made desperate efforts to escape. They had never had to fight such creatures before. They had no adequate weapons for defense and were overcome. The Keet returned to their master. Before Nah-tsehl-hla-neh

freed them, he commanded thusly: "Hereafter you are never to

attack any human being, and you are to leave their canoes alone". That is the reason why these warriors - larger than canoes, swifter than anything that swims, fiercer than sharks, braver than the bravest, destroyers of huge whales - never attack a canoe or any boat propelled by man. I have been in canoes and dories with Keet all about, leaping, playing, frolicking, plunging, able to sink me with an easy sideswipe, but never was I in danger. It was a long time before anyone told me the reason. Ever since this adventure, the Dukh/a-wedy has claimed Keet as their principal totem. Other tribes such as Tsa-quedy and Duk-dain-ton, closely allied, can make the same claim. This is the tale of Nah-tsehl-hla-neh.

The face on the tail of Keet means, "Because my brothers-in-law

deserted me, I made you to kill them, but after this you are never again to kill any human."

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20 - The Kik's-uddy and the Gahn-nuX.-uddy;Shaksh Raven Pole; The Flood Where did we come from? There is one conclusion we all agree on: we came from the north, the south, and the east, but not from the west, to make a common pattern. Several years ago, when I was visiting William Beynon, a member of the Niska Tribe, Tsimshian Nation, in Prince Rupert, he told me that his Native name was Gush-K,een, only he pronounced it "Goosh-K,ine" (rhymes with mine). I said to him, "That is the name of my head chief. Where did you get it?" He answered, "I know it is. We got it from the same place your chief got his. We too, are descendants of Hit-klane, for we too came down the Dtah-koo, and journeyed south. Our group continued to travel until we joined the Tsimshian-speaking people. We lost our former language, but we preserved our names and our stories. We remember and sing the song composed by the two pioneers who journeyed under the ice barrier on the Stikine". As he related his short story, I thought how complex was the movement of the people of this country. Here is a tribe of Tlingit origin, now considered wholly Tsimshian; yet they remember that they came from the north, once spoke Tlingit, but retained only the old names. Perhaps some of our historians knew why the Git'shees tribe branched and why part of them lost their identity. The cause might have been a search for food or for adventure, or to forget the scene of a bitter and bloody fight between brothers. Whatever! We know only that the Git'shees left their homeland near the Nass River and stopped at Wales Island at the south

entrance to Portland Canal where they built a town and lived for a long time in peace and harmony. Then trouble arose among them. My ancestors moved out of Raven House, built themselves a shelter of cedar bark, and became known as Tee-hit-ton ("People-of-the-Cedar-Bark-House"). Some Git'shees continued onward through Behm Canal. When they settled on the shores of the Bay of Kik's and multiplied, they became known as Kik's-uddy. Soon there wasn't enough land for everyone, so part of them moved a few miles north where they found a fine, sandy beach. The people who moved became known as Gahn-nuK, ("Outside-Living-People"); hence - the Gahn-nuK,-uddy Tribe.

These two divisions became the parent tribes of the Raven Clan from which all other Raven Clan tribes derive. The Raven Clan tribes that moved south from Copper River are different. Nothing is simple.

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From here on it is harder to trace the various migrations of the branches from Git'shees for after they went through the bottle-neck they scattered everywhere. Some branch tribes even came to believe that they were the "original" people wherever they found themselves. That is why some of the Gahn-nuK,-uddy believe that they are indigenous to the West Coast of Prince of Wales Island, and point to certain place names to prove it without realizing that they brought these names from the Nass. That is how the names of places became mingled together among their stories. Why, for example, do the Tlingit-speaking people attribute the origin of their greatest folk hero to the Nass?They even call him Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl ("The Raven-Who-Lives-at-the-Head-of-the-Nass" or "The-Raven-Who-Lives-Over-the-Nass") for Raven had a house in the Upper Firmament. This greatest of mythological characters is called the Creator Raven to distinguish him from his nephew who, on his reincarnation, was also his grandson but whom I call Scamp Raven because of his mischief-loving nature which often worked to the advantage of the human race (and himself!). In his home in the Upper Firmament Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl kept and guarded the Great Light, the Moon, and the Stars ... and "darkness covered the face of the earth". At that time, there were no women in the world, only men. In the Upper Firmament there were two women, one of whom was the sister of the Great Raven whose daughter became the mother of Scamp Raven by swallowing a round white stone. As Scamp Raven walked in darkness along the shores near Cape Fox, searching for food, he realized more than ever that the creatures on the earth needed light. He knew that his uncle the Great Nass Raven had Sun, Moon, and Stars, so he determined to acquire the Great Light by fair means or foul.

Shaksh Raven Pole The story of his great achievement is recorded partially on what is known as the Shaksh Pole at Wrangell. For the record, every Tlingit knows that it is not a Shaksh pole. It was erected by Shaksh VI (Nahn-ya-ahyi Tribe, Wolf Clan of the Shgut'quon Federation of the Tlingit Nation) in

honor of his son Tahn-uhh-g' who was of the tribe and clan of his mother, a Raven of the KahzK,a-quedy Nah.

The pole is topped by the great Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl and advertises the fact that this figure is the property of all Hlai-nedy tribes although an effort is being made to show that one of the tribes, the Gahn-nuK,-uddy of K/owk'ahn, has a superior right. However, at this stage of development the claim of premiership was still restricted to the north. Nobody has ever questioned the ownership of the Kik's-uddy to the Kahl-teen Raven of Wrangell on the Pole of

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the Flying Raven; now decayed but which formerly stood across the bay on the land of the Teehit-ton.

The so-called Shaksh Pole is beautiful from every standpoint. It unfolds the principal story of Tlingit mythology - the story of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl, Creator of the Universe. The Tlingit story begins, "Darkness covered the face of the earth and over it all, in the firmament that was above the earth, Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl brooded". He is at the top of his pole to show his supreme authority in the universe. He wears a hat on which there is a top piece woven in circular sections called "Shu-kee-ut" ("The-Thing-Above-theHead").

The Flood We Tlingits had a flood. Our historians tell us it came because Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl became angry with some of his creatures and caused water to pour forth from the top piece of his hat until the earth was covered. All creatures were destroyed except those that could climb above the rising waters with dogs to keep at bay any ferocious animals - such as grizzly bears and mountain goats also seeking to escape the flood. That is the way the Nahn-ya-ahyi Tribe of the Shgut'quon headed by their Ahn-kah-woo, got its crest - the K.oots (Grizzly Bear) which is on the top of a pole in front of Shark House (K_ut-goo-hit) on Shaksh Island at Wrangell. A grizzly bear and a mountain goat had also seen the mountain and had climbed ahead of the people up the great mountain Sei-kook-hla-aha

on the

Shtuk'heen during that period of danger. The mountain stands near the boundary line between

Canada and Alaska. To commemorate this event, the Nahn-ya-ahyi

kept a bearskin with the

original coppery claws (they claim), although the bearskin is replaced when it gets too old. Not far away is another mountain (now called Devil's Thumb) that received its Tlingit name at the same time - Tahl-koo-nuK_-goo-shaw ("Saved-by-a-Mountain").

On top of both of these

mountains there is a coil of rope made of cedar bark, such as the Tlingits us~d at that time. Also there is a wall of stone that the refugees rested behind. Those of you who are skeptical of this story can make a personal inspection. The climb is not hard, some nine thousand feet, the last thousand feet of which is almost perpendicular, but not impossible, and there is the proof! One can do wonders climbing with a mountain goat butting one over the hard places. Down through the ages these mountains have been famous among us as the Saviors of Mankind. One of the stories from the past relates an event about the great Shaksh, who, when on a raid, captured a man from one of the tribes at the present village of Kake. He was bound, put on the bottom of their war canoe, and covered with a mat.

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On the return journey the man asked, "Have you come to where you can see the Great Mountain Tah/?" The answer was "Yes". before I die?" "Then may I have one last look at Tahl-koo-nutS.,-goo-shaw The mat was taken off and he gazed at the Great Mountain. Then he sang a song, a song that is still sung to this very day. I have seen the Great Mountain, I have seen the Great Mountain, The Mountain that saved mankind. I have seen the Great Mountain. My Face has seen what has lighted The earth of mankind, and What has brightened? The heart of man, Only the heart of man.

Tahl-koo-nutS.,-goo-shaw 0 blessed Mountain that saved mankind. It matters not, for it is sweet To me, who is about to die. Now that I have seen you, 0 Savior of mankind.

0 Tahl-koo-nutS.,-goo-shaw.

Shaksh was so pleased that he released the singer. This act further strengthened the bonds of friendship between Shgut'quon and Kee-yuk (Kake).

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21-A Woman Drives Them Again The complete story of the migrations of the Tlingit speaking people is hidden even from us who were reared amongst them. The trouble is that we were born too late and so we became possessed by the teachers and preachers who saw only the evil in our culture, forgetting that good lives on and evil dies. Those Christian forerunners of Anglo-Saxon civilization had an irresistible desire to impregnate Native Alaskans with their own culture that had been handed down to them through the centuries - until it was in their very blood and bone. Their ambition was to remake the Hlane-git in one generation! Witchcraft! How that idea shook Europe and the New Colonies into a savagery that is not equaled by the worst of our Tlingit world! Are you surprised because forsooth, in almost the same breath with which a Tlingit has abjured his "old customs" and accepted Christianity, he has been known to say, "But, my brother was seen last night flying across the waters to the grave yard." It was because of this prejudice against "old customs" that so much of our Tlingit life was a closed book to me but which would open at times when some incident revealed a dramatic scene of our past. On one occasion, when I was at Haines, a woman of the older civilization said to me in her own language, "You are the outside shell of us". She meant that her tribe was descended from the

Shtuk'heen. I discovered that she was of a tribe of the Raven Clan called Hlu-kahK-uddy ("Belong-to-thePoint") after a certain point of land. But what were they doing at Haines two hundred miles from that point in Duncan Canal that is about thirty miles west of Wrangell? They were of the people of Tahl. Several generations ago, their ancestors had a village in Thomas Bay, in the shadow of the Great Mountain Tahl. After a terrible slide destroyed the village and many people, some of those who escaped took refuge on the west shore of Duncan Canal in a smaller bay now called "Little Duncan". Because a point is like a nose, it is called by the same word "hlu", hence these people became Hlu-kahK-uddy. The power of female attraction is known throughout all life. The magnetism of sex sends its inviting messages as far as the eye can see and farther still. It destroys the inhibitions that sometimes lead to life and sometimes to death.

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So it was that a young man of this tribe looked across the sand spit and saw Wooch-K,e-yuK.,a patrician woman of the Nahn-ya-ahyi, the wife of his uncle. He became enamored of her. She would become his wife by the law of succession when his uncle died. She knew it as well as he did. But could they wait? Since he had the right of entrance to his uncle's house, he went there often. Their eyes met; occasionally he had to touch her hand. As her eyes passed his, or remained averted in a too-studied manner, the message of desire flashed between them. Having tasted the sweetness of their love messages, their eagerness increased until the day when the husband left on some business of his own. "Tonight I will be alone." And "tonight" it was. The adventure with its intoxicating dangers was successfully climaxed and for the moment, their cups of joy were filled. "We will visit no more", they whispered as the young man crept away. Alas, that was not the way it was. His mind dwelt continually on his sweetheart. Desire filled her breast until she cared not, so long as she could lose herself in his embrace. On the second visit, the lover took thought to warn his younger nephew. "If you do not see me back here, look for me in my uncle's house". He made the trip in the darkness of the night and found her waiting for him with arms reaching to pull him closer. Again and again, he made the journey. Eachtime when they parted, they would say, "This must be the last". The fires of love were feeding on the blood of youth. She was in his blood; he was in hers. His uncle became aware that all was not as it should be in his house. A look or a glance of his wife, even an innocent word, told him that she was not faithful; but it was beneath his dignity to spy. He told his family that on his next trip - hunting, trapping, whatever it was that called him away - he would be gone for half a month. He was not deceived at his wife's joy even as she said petulantly, "You are always going away". Hardly had the chief gone when she sent a message to her lover to come and he came. In the very early morning before the call of the Raven, and to the surprise of everyone, the chief returned, pounded on the door for entrance, and gave loud orders, "Everyone, get up! We are moving".

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He took his stand in the doorway, the only exit to the house. The household roused up. Behind the ornate screen in the chief's quarters, the lovers started up also. For the lover there was no escape unless he could hide. There was one place - a large box usually used for winter food storage. Into this box he climbed. The woman tied it up as before. The house nephews of the chief carried everything out to the beach. With studied care, they didn't touch the box until everything else was removed. Finally, it was the only box left. One of the nephews hefted it and said, "This thing feels like a person is in it." Koosh-teg (also known as Dja-K_eg)hoisted it onto his shoulders and started the long trip over the gravel beach to the canoe at the water's edge. The second nephew, Tug-tah, carrying a war club, walked alongside him. The commotion had awakened the entire village and everyone - including the household of the young man in the box - had gathered to watch the silent, glum, war-like procession. Everybody knew what was about to happen, but no one made a move to avert it. Events have to travel to a finish. Koosh-teg, who carried the box in which all knew to be the lover of the chief's wife, plodded

along methodically until he came close to the great canoe. With a sudden twist of his shoulders he gave the box an initial momentum and dropped it on top of a sharp rock. The violent impact broke the box. The sides fell away, and there, exposed to view of all, crouched the lover - his arms clasped around his knees on which his head rested, his eyes darting from one person to another. Before he could move, the other nephew raised his war club and with a swift stroke smashed the head of the lover, killing him instantly. There was no question of right or wrong. It was the law. Equally inevitable was the result. With the lone cry "My uncle has been killed", the house nephews of the lover rushed into battle to avenge his death. They fought until the rising tide put an end to the carnage. The remaining members of the lover's family loaded their canoes and journeyed away, hating the scene of their fratricide, traveling as far as possible from reminders of their sorrow and strife, never to return. They finally came to the Djihl-kaht country. There they found homes - these members of the Raven Clan - at what is now Haines. They taught their children that they belong to the people of Tahl, of those who are called Shtuk'heen; and say with the joy of a sweet morsel, "You are my outer shell" a phrase brimming with symbolic meaning that should be clear to any race of people.

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Among themselves they say with an impish smile "Nahn-ya-ahyi-shaw-woo, Kleihl cum do day (The women of the Nahn-ya-ahyi are unsurpassed in womanly attraction)". And where is the male of the Raven Clan who would say them "Nay"?

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22 -

We the People of Hit-Klane; The Dtah-koo Hit-klane; The Yun-yadyBecome Kuhyashki-diton;Slavery; E-jouk'

There might have been a war of conquest among the Tlingit, if so, I never heard of it. Our world was large. When space got too crowded, we would move. If any of us came to a country occupied by the opposite clan, we were welcomed as Kahn-ni-yun (brothers-in-law). As I read the histories of the world, I have wondered why times of peace are so scarce and yet the idea of peace so generally desired. The answer must be one that is abhorred; namely, that the natural state of mankind is war. It is the rule everywhere else! It is the law of the jungle, big birds eat little birds - or the eggs, and big fish eat little fish. Couldn't it also be the Law of Man? Many will say, "The exception to this rule is the United States". But is it? The white man clung to the fruits of an arbitrary resolution of several strong nations, called "The Law of Discovery" by which the lands of the New World belong to the exploring nation that saw it first! To this law is often added, the "Law of the Sword" by which the strong claim the right to take without paying. The United States was more refined in its sovereignty of Alaska. In S.E.Alaska it took seventeen million acres of timber worth over $600 million and gave the Native owners $7.5 million, no land, no fishing rights. Chief Justice John Marshall denounced the basic principle of this procedure as "immoral". Our historians tell us that the Tlingits were continually at war, though seldom were these wars between tribes of the same clan. Two such exceptions come to mind: the Hlook-nuK-uddy against the Gahn-nuK-tedy over a crest hat, and the Kog-wahn-ton versus the Kuh-yashki-diton. This last was a war that involved a Sitka tribe with a Wrangell tribe, but drew in several other tribes because the fury of the Sitka group wreaked itself on innocent bystanders of the Shgut'quon Federation. These wars were not of conquest. They were of honor and pride.

Without war, a preciously guarded emblem could become the symbol of another tribe, and great areas of land could pass from one power to another. I will illustrate. The Dtah-koo Hit-klane

There was no house that sent its children farther or wider than Hit-klane (Big-House). It stood at the mouth of the Taku River and was built by the Yun-yady (Wolf/Keet crest). What does that word mean? If you were traveling along the shore and the captain should say "Yun-day", he would mean "shore ward". Yun-yady is also known as Shun-koo-kady and Sidt-quedy from the glaciers around them.

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There are other facts that confuse besides names that refer to the same thing, or even overlap. The migrations of the descendants of Hit-klane will illustrate. Our historians tell us that there was a battle in Hit-klane that exhausted its people. With one accord, the survivors packed their property into their different canoes, each family in their own canoe. All the canoes came to a central point. Quiet with remorse, each person blaming someone else, but knowing in his own heart that he had a share in the blame, they gathered around together. Some poet among them composed a song. He sang it to himself first. It was not long, only a few lines. He repeated it. The third time, he gave it out, line by line, recitative style, holding his paddle in his hand and pointing upward, then to his right, then to his left, gesturing again while the sang before they dispersed: "We the people of Hit-klane, We are going away. Scattered and shattered by war, Our beloved Great House, Never to see it again." Historians have elaborated on it to include the story of the tragedy. Though many generations have passed, the descendants of these people still sing and live it again, suffering as if they were the original people. I heard Mrs. Virginia Inman do this at the Wrangell Potlatch in 1940. She put a lot of feeling into her rendition; no doubt because she, too, during nearly all of her married life, was separated from her tribe: 'We all lived together in Dtah-koo;

We had trouble among ourselves. We fought with each other 'Till the time it parted us. We boarded our canoes, And sang of our separation. That is why so precious it is, Though five hundred years have past. Still we are the people of Dtah-koo, The people of the great mainland shore.

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"We are scattered far and wide. By many names we are known, Nahn-ya-ayhi, Kuh-yashki-diton, Dukhla-wedy, Tsa-quedy, Sidt-quedy.

Still we cry, we weep, we rejoice. With heavy hearts, we sit in our great canoes, We cry as we turn away from the land we love, And promise that we will always remember We came from Hit-klane on the shore Of our beloved Dtah-koo. "The women danced, the women sang! We heard someone moaning, 'Water! Water!' It sounded so like a human voice. We went and there we saw the pass was dry, On the sand the great warriors were dying, As they moaned 'Water! water!' We used our spruce hats to carry them water. We poured it down their open throats. And saw them revive and found that They were our very own emblems "The soldiers of the ocean, The great and noble Keet." After the farewell song was finished, all the canoes started moving outward. As the river widened, they separated, some went right, some went left, and some went down the middle. When they came to the mouth of Taku Inlet they confirmed their separation; some turned northward and headed up the channel; some followed the mainland shore southward and some crossed to Admiralty Island. The group that followed the shore of Admiralty Island continued down it until they came to what they called Gei-kel (Big-Bay), about ten miles north of Point Hugh, which point is about fifty miles south of Juneau. The group that took the mainland shore southward continued until they came to Snettisham Inlet. Here all but three canoes turned in. Five miles up the inlet they came to Sweetwater Bay. They settled and found their name Sidt-quedy (Glacier-people) was apt. They later migrated to the west shore of Douglas Island across from Juneau and are now called the Taku Tribe, a rather

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loose name but good enough to allow them to keep their identity. Those who continued south acquired other names. Three canoes kept on until they came to Holkham Bay where the master of one canoe said to the others, "We are going in here for water. Wait for us". They did not come back. They liked the country so well that they stayed and built a town on the point that divided Tracy Arm from Sumdum Inlet. The word Sumdum is the white man's corruption of the Tlingit word Zow-dahn ("Spread-Like-Crab-Legs"). The other two canoes drifted and waited about three hours. When the water seekers did not return, they said, "Goo-day" ("Let us go now"). They journeyed southward many miles, passing through Wrangell Narrows, down the west coast of Zarembo Island until they came to a place with a very fine beach into which a large creek emptied. They were in what is now Tee-hit-ton country - eight miles from Dee-gah-di-yeh (Salmon Bay) and twelve miles from Red Bay. The Tee-hit-ton was one of the important divisions of the Shgut'quon Federation whose dominion extended from Caamano Point nineteen miles

Southeast from Ketchikan, following Behm Canal to Chickamin River (excepting the Unuk River); Woewodski, Zarembo, Kashevarof, and Etolin Islands. It went to Cape Fanshaw on the mainland to Portage and Totem Bays on Kupreanof Island to Prince of Wales Island with Point Baker, Colpoys Point, Red Bay, Lake Bay and Salmon Bay south to Thorne Bay, back to Caamano Point and up the Stikine River to Canada. The Shgut'quon had their winter village in those early days at Chu-kas-ahn, now called Mill Creek, seven miles from Wrangell. The tribe that stopped at the west shore of Zarembo Island, being of the Wolf Clan, naturally inter-married with Raven Clan tribes at Salmon Bay ten miles to the south. The tribal ground of the Tee-hit-ton was very rich. Among their several streams was one where millions of pink salmon entered each year. In my youth, I could literally walk across a spawning stream on the backs of salmon. The salmon there were so plentiful that the Tlingit never thought of spearing them one at a time. Moor a canoe at night on the edge of low water and in the morning, it would be full of fish. Another method used was to drive sharp-pointed sticks into the narrow channels of the creek on which the salmon impaled themselves. The stumps of these sticks can be seen there, even to this day. The Yun-yadyBecome Kuh-yashki-diton

It is not surprising that the canoe loaded with migrants from Hit-klane moved to this most wonderful salmon stream - called Oota-heen by the Tlingit. Extra-large salmon spawned in its

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creeks, and furs were abundant. There was a long flat beach, just the sort of place the Tlingit liked for his home site. But the ground was very soggy and sometimes big tides covered it. So when they built their houses they put them on stilts or piles. That is how the Yun-yady people of the Wolf Clan became known as Kuh-yashki-diton ("The-People-Who-Live-on-PostsAbove-Things"). They married, reared families, worked, traded, and acquired slaves; they became rich and powerful. This fact, however, inspired newcomers to greater efforts to become the equal of or superior to them. One of the most successful of the Kuh-yashki-diton was a man named Sahn-nuk-ah whose principal totem was the Wolf of the Yun-yady. He was a direct descendant of the Hit-klane and so was closely associated with the Nahn-ya-ahyi. His tribe was entitled by rank to be of those "who stood before the face of the Nahn-ya-ahyi", that war-like group that was later to spearhead the formation of the Shgut'quon into the federation that made them so powerful.

Sahn-nuk-ah was ambitious for power and riches. As he acquired wealth and became stronger, he began to look about for means of increasing his prestige. To the east dwelt the older and more famous tS,uns,chief of the Dukhla-wedy. His totem also was the Wolf. In addition, his tribe owned the Keet, the sign of which he had fastened to the pinnacle of his house. This sign, named Keet-kuh-wahl ("Killer-Whale-with-a-Hole"), was a large representation of the dorsal fin on the Keet. The fin had a hole in the center, near the top, to represent its blowhole. The fringe was of human hair. Its place was above the gable, proud, unique, always reminding the world that Keet belonged to the Dukhla-wedy.

K_unslived with his tribe at a place now called Grassy Lake - Toots-K_unk- the first deep bay east of Yah-k/ah-ah (Lake Bay). At the entrance to Grassy Lake, there is a spot that separates into an island at high tide. Here was located the house of K_uns.Here also lived his young daughter, now of marriageable age, the fame of whose beauty and charm had gone through the land.

Sahn-nuk-ah coveted these two, the Keet pinnacle and the beautiful princess. He laid his plans accordingly. He did not foresee any great difficulty about the girl. She was of an age to be married and for this girls are born. Sahn-nuk-ah paid a ceremonial visit to Grassy Lake, taking with him a great store of wealth. He presented this bounty to the girl's father in overwhelming quantity, so huge that tS,unscould not match it. The marriage was arranged and the princess returned with Sahn-

nuk-ah to Oota-heen as his wife. Now, to acquire the second and more difficult treasure - the Keet-kuh-wah/. Totems are jealously guarded and none may use them except in accordance with strict protocol.

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The days grew into weeks, the weeks into months, even a year, then two years, and yet Sahn-

nuk-ah made no journey to visit his father-in-law and his brothers-in-law. This absence could not help but create talk and conjecture, for the towns were only twenty miles apart. The silence and continued absence annoyed the lordly K_uns. "Any word from my daughter?" every day he would ask. It was with great relief then that word passed quickly among the Dukhla-wedy that a canoe was approaching and that it contained Sahn-nuk-ah, as indeed it did. He beached his great, war canoe in front of the town. Many of the young men rushed down for the unloading. The wife went to her father's Great House and everybody waited for the visiting chief to appear. He did not come. The hours stretched into the night, and still he did not come. In the morning, Chief K_unssaid to his daughter, "Go down to your husband and ask my brother why he does not come to my House". She went to her husband and addressed him thusly, "My father wishes to know what it is that you want that prevents you from coming to his House?" "Do you really wish to know?" he replied. "Yes. I am sure that he will give it to you, whatever it is." "I want from your father the painted board, Keet-kuh-wahl, on the pinnacle of his Great House." She returned at once to her father with the message. When he heard it, K_unswas greatly relieved and spoke quickly, "Why, of course." He was always welcome to it. Why did he not speak of it sooner? The cunning Sahn-nuk-ah had planted firmly a sense of obligation in the breast of the great Chief K_uns. The Keet-kuh-wahl was lowered with utmost ceremony while the people sang a song that has now been forgotten. It was delivered to Sahn-nuk-ah who immediately recovered from his illness. There are many Keet totems owned by the various divisions of the Shun-koo-kady, but only the

Dukhla-wedy used it for their main totem, and only this one painted board exists, which the great Chief K_unsgave to his son-in-law of the Kuh-yashki-diton. This painted board, fringed with human hair, is to be seen today at Wrangell in K_ut-goo-hit (Shark-House) on Shaksh Island, which is sometimes incorrectly called Hit-Klane (Big-House). It was a gift of the last K_uns,Chief

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of the Kuh-yashki-diton. Sheesh-gow (my step-father) said the present board is the third since the original - each one fringed with human hair. Every lock is a mute witness to the manumission of some person held in honorable slavery by the tribe. I have used the word "honorable" slavery to distinguish this class of slaves, whose indenture was not strict and who was not subject to a careless sentence of death but rather held for ransom. The painted Keetkuh-wahl

was regarded with such great honor by the Kuh-yashki-diton

that it was never

exhibited, except for great pay, or to offer a public insult in the Tlingit way for injured feelings caused by some other tribe. It was a peculiar custom indeed, but by means of this ceremony of public insult the offended chief's great wealth would be emphasized and his feeling of injured honor appeased. The Keetkuh-wahl was always used as a part of the record of the ceremony. Its essential characteristic

was the freeing of another Tlingit held in technical slavery. About 1972, there was a fire and the Keet-kuh-wah/ burned.

Slavery The Tlingit owned two kinds of slaves in ancient times. Tribes at war might capture a man or woman who would then be taken back home. Relatives must redeem such a person, or forever afterwards the historians of all tribes would chronicle all members of the slave's tribe with the taint of slavery. Even if the slave died or ran away, the name stayed and would have to be redeemed or lost forever. This class of slave was well treated and often times would become a part of the family holding him. Anyone who caused injury - even if by accident, might be included in the foregoing class of slaves. E-Jouk'

Some time ago in the 1890's, several boys were playing on the beach near Shark House (Wrangell), throwing flat stones backwards over their heads to see which boy could throw the farthest. One of these boys, E-jouk' by name, of the Nass-tedy, threw a stone and hit the son of Chief Shaksh of the Nahn-ya-ahyi, on the head. The tribes are related; both were descendants of Hit-Klane. The boy died. The Chief blamed Ejouk', and made demands on his tribe for damages. The Nass-tedy paid no attention to his

demands. By this time, Native customs were breaking down - with the advent of preachers, teachers, and the bureaucrats. In the meantime, knowing the penalty of Native law, E-jouk' had run to a kinsman to appeal to him, "Save me. Pay Shaksh what he demands. I will do anything. I will work all my life until you are paid back. But pay for me or he will hold me for a slave".

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The kinsman, Sheesh-gow by name, of the Kuh-yashki-diton answered, "We free now. We American. No more slaves". But the young boy only begged the harder, for Shaksh was still a terrible man in the tradition of his greater ancestors. At last Sheesh-gow responded to the boy's pleading, went to the Chief and offered him four hundred dollars, which was accepted Tlingit style. The incident was closed so far as Shaksh was concerned. £-jouk' went to live with Sheesh-gow who made demand on the boy's tribe for the return of the money. Their reply was to charge Sheesh-gow with maintaining slavery against the new law of the land. The U. S. Marshal made an investigation. Sheesh-gow defended himself by explaining the situation. "No. I got no slave. This my 'lation.

He have trouble with Shaksh 'cause he hurt Shaksh son. I pay for his trouble". The boy was running around without restraint and seemed to be just like any other boy playing in the community. So, the Marshal closed his investigation. But the boy knew that he was not like other boys. He knew, as did his kinsman, that he was not free. Many years later, all of thirty, the boy's tribal uncle said to me, "I know that we owe your people for £-jouk' and some day we intend to pay". (They never did, FPO) I had been in total ignorance of the incident, but not he. He knew the ancient stigma, and it rankled. The new has overtaken the old, but the old lives on in the breasts even unto this generation. The second kind of slavery was the slave captured from "down south". These men and women were captured in raids which Northern Natives, not necessarily Tlingit, made on the Natives of lower British Columbia or Puget Sound. The raiders traveled in their great red cedar war canoes and made the name of the Tlingit and Haida feared. This class of slave was called "Dtow-yaht".

On them was practiced the severest cruelty as well

as the greatest kindness. A chief's wealth was measured in terms of slaves. Sometimes such a slave was killed just for display, as in the practice of placing a slave or two in the bottom of the hole in which great house posts were to be dropped. The place in the social order of slaves, and their descendants within the present generation, is illustrated in an incident that happened at Douglas not too many years ago. It was during the times when the Shgut'quon and the Sitka Kog-wahn-ton were still carrying on their bitter feud, secretly to be sure, nevertheless vindictively. A man of the Shgut'quon, named Goonah-owk,

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was marked for death and he knew it. He was a brave man, fighting for his life, or he would not have gone to the house of his enemy for the visit that public opinion required. The master of the house spoke to Goonah-owk, and said, "Do you know who you are?" "Yes", was the answer, "my mother once told me that on the occasion when a Great House was to be built, just before one of the corner posts was lowered, my ancestor made a speech saying 'In the years to come, whenever people come to visit this house, they will mention my name in memory of the sacrifice I made for the honor, and the post will be mentioned with my name"'. He didn't say in so many words that his ancestor was of the class put down into the posthole, but his host so understood. At once his host sent a messenger to his nephews who had surrounded the house waiting to kill the man who had gone in alone, saying, "Tell my nephews not to do anything. The man has cut his own face". And so Goonah-owk went out of that house in safety - a free man - "gfayt-touk-kah"

- but the

memory of it lives forever. No matter how many feasts a Tlingit gives, the stigma remains until that particular debt is paid. A debt is kept alive by another device. The creditor (shall we call him) becomes the owner of the debtor's name. Names belong to the tribe and clan and are carefully scrutinized for the honor of the tribe. This custom accounts occasionally for the appearance in one tribe of a name that formerly belonged to a different tribe. All "high caste" Tlingits are instructed in this protocol. To illustrate: on one occasion, a young man from Sheet'kah went to Ahn-goon with his big canoe loaded down with riches for a marriage feast. As he was landing, he heard a boy called by a name belonging to his tribe. How could that be? The young man inquired how the name came to be possessed by the opposite clan. He was told that, "It was not redeemed". The young man gave his canoe-load of riches to the holder of the name and returned to Sheet'kah without his bride. Some Tlingits find the adjustment to the white man's standards-of-value very hard. One young man who carries such an inherited rank lived in a nearby town. He needed a small job done and hired another man who happened to be "high caste" to do it. This person felt the situation, and was ashamed to think that he who carried the name of a great chief should be working for one who in olden days might have been his slave, and so he began talking about how great his ancestors were.

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The employer got the inference and, taking out a silver dollar, he flipped it into the air and said, "There are no more high caste people. The man who has this (again flipping the coin) - he is the one who is high caste. That is why you are working for me". It was for the preferred class of slaves that the "ceremony" of freeing the slave was used. The Keet-kuh-wahl, made to represent the Killer Whale's fin, is surrounded by locks of hair - more

than one hundred - each representing a freed slave, manumission, a dramatized insult that was endured by the slave because through it liberty and freedom were purchased. On such an occasion, the Master would say to his wife, "I am going down to the water's edge. After a time, if I seem to stay away too long, you will know that I have a reason. When you see that the entire town is watching me squatting down there, send this man (naming the slave) to me with this stick (Djut-ah) with which I can clean myself, and the Kee-kuh-wahl." The Chief's instructions would be followed. After a time, everybody would know that something was going on and they would gather along the water's edge to watch. When all had gathered, the wife called the slave and instructed him to take the Djut-ah and the Keet board to his Master. The slave would go with misgivings; glad that he was to be freed; sorry that he would still carry the stigma of slavery, but filled with the determination that even after he was freed he would pay the price of his liberty and thus have his honor restored. Then in the sight of the entire population, he would make the long trek to his master - still squatting at the water's edge, and say, "My Master's wife commanded me to deliver into your hand this Djut-ah". Then the Master would command him to place his left hand on the Keet-kuh-wahl, and to intone very loudly for everybody to hear: "Djah!

(Hear ye!)

Glayt-touk-kah,

(Heretofore held for ransom,)

Hhut woosh yahh.

(I have been made free.)"

A lock of the freed slave's hair would then be added to the display already adorning the Keetkuh-wahl, and the Chief's honor would be satisfied.

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23 - The Moldy Shoulder The Kik's-uddy of the Raven Clan at the time of this story was occupying the outside reaches of the island called "Shee" (Baranof Island). They had been established here for a long time and had possession by actual occupation of nearly all of the west coast of the island. Their principal town was Dah-kate, about seven miles west of Sitka. Here occurred an event that is identified by the very name of the town. If more proof of the location is wanted, you can see it in the behavior of the Kik's-shaw as they sit in an awkward fashion, knees together pointing to the left as they crouch by the river's edge, body almost at right angles, cutting the salmon that remains partly in the water. The women of the south sit facing the creek in which the salmon lie and cut the fish in an easy and natural manner. These southern women have not yet learned that salmon are like people; that they talk with each other, experience anger and joy, laugh while they slyly maneuver as close as possible to the women squatting at the edge of the stream. They are laughing for the same reason that the human male laughs after having peeked at such forbidden fruit. The Kik'sshaw learned from the rescued person, as I will relate, why the salmon laughed. They sit with

knees together and twist their bodies to cut the fish. The locus of the second story is at Calder Bay south of Point Baker at Tahn-kah by the Tee-nady of the Raven Clan. In all other respects, that story is identical with the one I shall narrate except the victim of the snare was a small duck instead of a sea gull. The historian told me the story as he stood on the edge of the bowl hewn out of marble through which the river flowed. The adventure of a chief's son named Auk'tsa-tseen of the Kik's-uddy is about to begin. The names are the same whether you follow the northern or the southern story. Auk'tsa-tseen said to his mother, "I am very hungry. Give me something to eat!" She gave him a

piece of dried salmon, the shoulder part. He looked at it and flipped it away, angry, because he saw a bit of mold. "Why do you give me this old piece of moldy fish?" Just then he heard his playmates yell, "A sea gull is caught in your snare". Auk'tsa-tseen forgot all about his hunger and rushed back to his snare. He saw it being towed

away by the sea gull. He plunged into the water to rescue it. As he approached, the bird struggled harder and pulled the snare faster and faster just out of the boy's reach into deeper water. The water reached his waist, his armpits, and then his neck. All the while, his arm stretched toward the gull. Even as the other boys watched him, Auk'tsa-tseen disappeared.

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The playmates immediately gave the alarm. His father, mother, and relatives, everyone rushed to the shore. "Perhaps he will re-appear. Perhaps he is on the bottom where he disappeared. Perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps." The hopes of the parents alternated with despair as they stood on the bank. Finally, with heavy tread, they turned their feet homeward. All the mother had left was her thought, "He is gone. My son, my beautiful son, so young, so strong, who just a few moments ago was scolding me for giving him the moldy shoulder of that dried salmon. Now he is gone. Gone!" The boy himself did not realize it but he had entered into an entirely new world. He thought he had stepped into a hole. Nothing was different except that a great crowd of silent people surrounded him - at least they looked like people. They were drawn up like an army. Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to move forward. On each side were rows and rows of people silently chewing something; at least their jaws were moving. Only in front of him was space and in that direction he was moved although nobody touched him. Time passed. They floated forward in unbroken ranks - marching he knew not whither, hour by hour, into the night and then the day; another night and another day. Still another night and day, until the boy thought he would faint for food. "Why don't they give me something to eat?" he thought. Something prevented his speaking out. Perhaps it was the very silence of the people about him. Nobody seemed to notice him. In his desperate hunger, he saw that they were walking on fish eggs and he wondered why nobody was eating them. There were acres and acres of them. "We eat them at home. I wonder why they don't eat these eggs", he said to himself. He made up his mind to eat the stuff on the ground. He watched his chance and walked with his hands by his knees ready to scoop up this food that nobody else seemed to want. When he thought nobody was looking, he bent his knees slightly and scooped up a handful and slyly carried it to his mouth just as if he were wiping his nose and pushed it into his mouth, then dropped his hand as if nothing had happened. It felt so good. He let the juices slip down his throat to his aching stomach. Almost at the same instant, he heard a loud shout. "Shun-yuk-klah has eaten our dung! Shun-yuk-klah has eaten our dung!" Auk'tsa-tseen now has

a new name.

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This proud young ahn-yuddy who had thrown away a piece of dried fish merely because it was a little moldy, now had eaten the waste from the bodies of the salmon - for that is who these people were, salmon. Eating their own waste was an action abhorred by the Salmon themselves. This is the lesson in human conduct that proud young boys of the Tlingit-speaking people are taught - to receive and handle food with respect or "you will be like Shun-yuk-klah who refused good, dried salmon and then ate what the fish themselves despised". Five years passed, some say, during which time Shun-yuk-klah lived as the son of their chief. He became one of them. As far as the boy could see, the Salmon lived just as the Tlingit lived. When they traveled, they entered canoes, both big and little, but they all went together. Finally, they stopped at a stream named Kah-too-kah-si-goo

"Man's-Feelings-Are-Made-

Happy". At this place all manner of life gathered and were managed by the river's-mouth crane, which by its habit of bowing to each other seemed to be dancing. Brant and geese also gathered there. "Where is the sickness inside?" as the Tlingit ask, for everybody was happy. "No sickness inside". Time passed quickly at this place of good feeling. Feasts and dances followed each other in endless succession until the boy had about forgotten his own people. After a while, without a spoken command, all the Salmon began preparing for a great trip. "We are going to our home", they said. The Salmon knew it was the time to return to their creeks, each salmon to its own spawning stream. The boy was told that he would see his own dear father and mother. The great caravan had gone but a short distance when they met another great crowd of people. These people were having the greatest jollification, leaping, running to and fro, and scampering about each other, twisting and turning. Though headed in a common direction, they were in no hurry. It was early April as we now reckon time. As the two parties approached each other, the playful group sang out, "You are too late. We have given of our milk". "When did the meat in your cheeks ever save a man?" the Salmon Chief asked.

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He meant that the herring, which is the first species of fish to spawn, have very little meat in their cheeks, as compared with salmon. Thusly he turned the jibe of the herring that were proud that they had spawned before the others, by twitting them with the one weakness according to the salmon standards of beauty. The herring replied, "Our eggs are indeed the meat of our cheeks". They continued to twirl and jump, to twist and leap, all the while moving forward. There is a reason for everything salmon and other fish do. We Tlingit people realize that when other forms of life move about, they pass through danger too, and are frightened. They adopt tactics to preserve the life of their kind. Nobody doubts this in geese, for to the most casual observer, it is obvious that every flock of geese has its sentinel. So it is with salmon. As the schools move steadily forward to their destination, at a slight untoward movement, they will move away from the banks. If the danger continues to threaten, they will move out farther or take themselves off. No scientist has yet discovered why salmon "jump". Ichthyologists would have us believe that it is to soften the roe for spawning. That could apply to the female salmon. But what of the male, does milt need to soften too? The Tlingit learned from the experience of this boy that the salmon that jump from time to time are advance scouts or guides to keep them on course. They note the state of the weather, so they know whether to hurry or not. They observe the "forts" (as they call the different points) of the enemy. They check the guide markers on the way. It is by this intelligence that the salmon finds his own stream or creek. Some streams have nothing but sockeye; others only dog salmon; others only coho; some only humpback, but some have mixed fish - except sockeye which will not enter a stream that does not have a lake at the head. How the sockeye know this has not been discovered. Take a long river like the Shtuk'heen, the sockeye will pass stream after stream by the dozen until they come to Tahl-tan Lake. It was this instinct occurring during the migration which told the chief that conditions were right. "Here is where we divide. Each of you is to go to your home stream". At this point, before the disbursement, "mixed fish", that is, fish of several species can be caught. A few yards further on, each species separates itself from the others and sets a different course to reach its own destination.

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When the Tlingit tells the story, he says, "I am going to the Shtuk'heen or I am going to Ahn-ahn or I am going to Dtah-koo, Djihl-kaht, Ahl-sake, or See-tuk". Little sockeye that take three to make one "ordinary" salmon are not found anywhere else except at Necker Bay near Wrangell. Then again, there is the long, slim sockeye at Shu-tas-ah; a larger slim one is at Little Rocky Bay; big humpies here, and wide fat ones there - like at Ahnahn. Each fish knows his own place.

In our story, the boy's crowd said, "We are going to Dah-kate", for that was their parent stream. After a time, the boy's group entered Dah-kate, (if you follow the northern story; or Calder, if you follow the southern story). Each of these creeks is rather small and fronted by long flats. Until the fish are ripe and ready to spawn, they go up and out with the tide, usually staying where the water is just deep enough to cover their backs. Sometimes they rush hither and yon with just enough water to cover their eyes, and sometimes leap. Many would leap onto the sharpened points of sticks driven into the ground by the people. When the boy's group approached the area where the creek empties out of the uplands, the salmon could see the women squatting at the water's edge, cutting fish. The women were a happy crowd - working, talking, and laughing among themselves, telling stories and cracking jokes. Sometimes they would recount a racy incident or an intimate experience that was really funny, for they were alone. The men would be in the upper creek where it was easier to capture the salmon. The salmon said to the boy, "There is your mother and up there is your father. You must go near them. He will spear you, but you must not be afraid. It will hurt only for an instant". But the boy was afraid. He wanted to remain with his friends who were having a great deal of fun peeking. They would lie out where the water was fairly deep and then all together, they would move towards the women, though keeping at a safe distance. At a favorable moment, they would rush in and away and laugh and laugh; the more fun, because at that time the women did not realize that salmon are like people. The salmon were constantly moving, almost in unison, first to the far side of the creek, then back as they would try to see how close they could approach the women squatting on the beach facing them; sans petticoats, sans panties, all unconscious of the salacious feast which the Salmon Tribe was enjoying. "Go in, go closer," they kept telling the boy. "There is your mother". But he was afraid. He too, was enjoying the fun and so delayed until the time came when the salmon knew they had to go on.

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To take a good look at his mother, the boy salmon leaped into the air near her. She saw him and called to her husband, "This is one, the best. Look, my husband, see if you can spear this fine salmon". The boy moved out to mid-stream. "Don't be afraid. It won't hurt, and after you are caught, you will feel so fine. Go near, and let your father spear you", they kept telling him. He moved in close to the bank where his own father speared him, pulled him to shore and hit him on the nose. His father said to his mother, "This is a fine salmon. Cut it up for cooking fresh". He meant that she was to cut it differently than for drying. She laid the salmon on the sand, put her hand under its gill and began to cut its neck with her knife made from a large mussel, not so good at best. Her knife slid back and forth without cutting. "That's odd", she thought, and looked at her knife. She saw a streak of copper on its edge, and so she looked closer at the fish lying before her. There, on its neck, she saw the glint of copper. It was the very neckband that her son was wearing when he was lost! She shrieked, "My son! My son!" Her husband and the others rushed to her. Sure enough, it was the same neckband. "This proves that the Salmon Tribe captured our son. That is why he disappeared". There was no doubt. The Tlingit chief ordered the salmon to be placed upon a mat of cedar bark and then on the cross beams in the Big House. lchts were called in, women to sing special songs, and drummers to drum, all part of the ceremony to restore the human form and life to the boy, for they were all agreed that it was he. During the night, the boy began to regain his human shape. At first, there was only the noise of something from him. Then voices were heard, but everybody knew that the boy was still unconscious. Unknown to the people, spirits were struggling to be the control spirit even though it was for the young man to choose which he favored. So it came about that he selected for his spirits ("Yakes"), first the sea gull, which had led him into captivity; then a waterfall. When he regained his human condition, the young man taught his people about salmon life. He told them that salmon are like people; that they have laws; that they talk; and have reasons for doing things just like human beings.

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Shun-yuk-klah went down among the women and told them to observe how the salmon behaved; how the men-of-the-sea crowded each other trying to get closer and still closer. They all would rush in, then rush away, making a noise that to everybody who has witnessed such behavior, sounds exactly like laughter. "Listen to them", Shun-yuk-klah said. "They have looked at you and they are laughing about what they see. You must no longer sit that way". That is the reason why the women of the north sit with knees together pointed away from the salmon stream when they cut fish. Through the migrations of these people, they never lost sight of the fact that something must be left for the next generation. Indeed, it was this concern for the "next generation" that was the cause of the battles around Yakutat in which the Tlingit defeated the Russians and drove them out never to return. You can imagine the surprise of the Tlingit-speaking people of Yakutat when they were told that they had been "conquered", and that their lands had been "sold" by the very Russians whom they drove out in 1805 because they would not save anything for the "next generation".

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24-A Raven Totem is Erected and a Price is Paid; Thirty Years for a Hat; The Challenge The sin of arrogance was and is just as strong among the Tlingit as it is among "civilized" mankind today. Domineering Ahn-kah-woos (Men-of-the-Town) would sometimes issue orders not to do this or that even to those who have an inherent right. On one occasion a group of the Djihl-kaht-quon

moved down the Djih/-kaht Heen and built

themselves a house at the end of the road near Haines. Their kinsman at Klowk'ahn called it Day-shee-ton-hit

(End-of-the-Road-House), and the inhabitants, Day-shee-ton. Thus a tribe,

originally Gahn-nuK_-uddy, acquired a new name, retaining of course, their right to the Raven Totem. No Day-shee-ton forgets that he was and is a Gahn-nuK_-uddy, and was of those who migrated in the first instance from the Nass. In time, a group of these people moved on in search of food and arrived at Kowk'gee-yi (Basket Bay), south of Tenakee Inlet. There they built a Great House and began preparations for its dedication and the erection of a Raven Totem pole. When the chief back in Day-shee-ton-hit heard about it, he sent word to them that they were not to erect a copy of his Raven pole. The branch Day-shee-ton chief answered, "We are not erecting a copy of your Raven Totem pole. We are erecting an original totem as is our right by way of inheritance". He proceeded with his preparations. At the Feast of Dedication, these proud Tlingits sacrificed twenty slaves. The behavior of Dtow-yaht

(usually Flathead Native slaves from Puget Sound) was past

understanding. They were never abused with corporal punishment, but always hanging over their heads was the possibility of sacrifice as a demonstration of pride by their owner. There was no religious connotation connected with the ceremony of sacrifice. The implication in the sacrifice was that the Master was so rich that a few slaves, more or less, meant nothing to him. Dtow-yaht very seldom ran away although there was plenty of opportunity. They were often

sent on hunting expeditions alone or accompanied by only one free man. Their canoes would be loaded with valuable goods and food. It might even be that the slave was gathering supplies for the erection of a Great House at the dedication of which he himself would be the very slave scheduled to sit at the bottom of the hole and crushed when the corner post was lowered into position. Still these slaves would return to their Tlingit masters. It was this custom that the Tlingit chief at Basket Bay resorted to when he declared his independence.

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All the tribes of Southeastern Alaska would know of his reply to the chief. 11D0 you wish to talk to me about this Raven Totem? Then you kill twenty slaves and make yourself equal to me or forever keep your peace". That was the meaning of those twenty deaths. By this act he also gave his former tribal master an out, a chance to save his face, very important to the Tlingit. The Haines chief would say (as he actually did), "I told my nephew not to put up a copy of our Raven Totem". The new chief answered that he was not erecting a copy, but an original totem and proved it by killing twenty slaves. The use of all ceremonials was a matter of right and governed by set customs. Sometimes, however, the natural arrogance of someone, as in the case of the Day-shee-ton, would try to override this inherent right. It would create a situation where recriminations first on one side and then on the other might result in a war between closely related families of the same tribe. In a sense, this is what led to the war at the turn of the nineteenth century between the Kik's-

uddy of Sitka and Alexander Baranof - a war that has been flagrantly misrepresented by the Slavic and "other" white historians. Just why the white-skinned world should assume that the Russians told the truth, and nothing but the truth about their experiences at Sitka and Yakutat is not apparent to me.

ThirtyYearsfor a Hat When I mentioned the troubles that could come from man's arrogance, I had in mind the terrible war between two tribes of the Raven Clan, the Hlook-nuti,-uddy aka Coho-quon and the

Gahn-nutS,-tedy.Our historians say it lasted thirty years. The two tribes had an equal right to display the Raven crest. Indeed, the right of the Hlook-nutS,-uddycame to them when an ancestor of the great Yeihl-ti,ahk(Raven's-Bones) married the daughter of the Hlook-nutS,-uddy chief at Yakutat. Yeihl-ti,ahkhimself was of the Gahn-nutS,-tedytribe that now disputed the right Could they have forgotten? of the H/ook-nutS,-uddy. The eastward migrating GunnetS,-quonof Copper River is now called Hlook-nutS,-uddybecause Tlingit is the language they now speak. They know that they once were "interior Natives". While the two tribes mentioned above were both of the Raven Clan, each knew itself to be different as this was well illustrated by a near war in 1895.

The Hlook-nutS,-uddywere the pilots of Baranof and guided his ships into the area of Sitka despite the "thousand islands" that defend that bay. It also explains how the Hlook-nutS,-uddy

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came to occupy the ground between the resident tribes at Sitka; namely the Kog-wahn-ton and the Kik's-uddy. The middle section was the only place open and available. The H/ook-nutS,-uddywere erecting a frog totem. During an interval when the builders were away, the Kik's-uddy mutilated the frog - their way of showing that the Hlook-nuti_-uddyhad no right to this emblem. Although both tribes were of the Raven Clan, the Kik's-uddy felt especially proprietary of the frog. The situation became tense. Bloodshed was averted only by the intervention of John Brady, Governor of Alaska, assisted by the missionaries of the nearby Presbyterian Church; the personal intervention of Mrs. Newman of the Gahn-nutS_-tedy from

Klowk'ahn and the appeals of Kah-thli-yudt (Matilda Paul) of the Tee-hit-ton of Wrangell. These two women made the final appeal to Kay-teach, the leader of the Hlook-nuti_-uddy. When all else failed, Mrs. Newman said to Kah-thli-yudt, "Let us go once more and you tell Kay-

teach about the poor little girl who told the great Assyrian general that Elijah could cure his leprosy".

Kah-thli-yudt went once more to see Kay-teach whose pride and history told him that he must make the Kik's-uddy pay for this insult. At first, he seemed just as stubborn as ever, but the two women kept pleading with him to forgive and to make peace. Finally, Kay-teach said, addressing Kah-thli-yudt, "You don't know me, but I know you. You are my sister. I come from Shtuk'heen too. You are descended from Goo-glow and I come from his brother Gook'shu also known as Kudanake. I am nothing to you, and yet you have come to me in my trouble. I know I can't take any of these things with me when I die. You have come to talk to me on a dark, stormy night and over a rough road. I thank you and I will do as you ask".

The Challenge Before they went to Sitka, the Hlook-nuti_-uddy(Raven Clan) moved to Glacier Bay and were neighbors to the Shun-koo-kedy (Wolf Clan) of which the Kog-wahn-ton was also a member. "There should be some way to let these new people know that they are not our equal", thought

Shkoo-woo-yeihl "Tail-lessRaven", a chief of the Gahn-nuti_-tedy. There was a way. He would invite the Kog-wahn-ton to a great feast and would display a Raven Hat thus showing his eminence over all who claimed the right to wear the Raven insignia especially the Hlook-nutS_-uddy. He called upon his lcht for advice. This man spoke in the allegorical manner of all who predict the future.

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Knowing what was in the mind of Shkoo-woo-yeihl, he said, "A certain tree fell toward Glacier Bay. What is the matter with those we have invited?" To give the feast even more importance, Shkoo-woo-yeihl proposed to dedicate a new and beautiful ceremonial Raven hat. He would use the ceremonial language to tell the world that they, the Gahn-nutS,-tedy,were pre-eminent over all the Hlai-nedy and that they had the first and best right to use this emblem. Indeed, they claimed that Raven himself said that he was a

Gahn-nutS,-tedy.In fact, to make this assertion was the real reason the arrogant Shkoo-wooyeihl was giving the feast. When the hat was proudly exhibited to the assembled guests, the lcht whose name was Shkay-

dli-kah said, "There are arrows piercing the hat. I fear what the blood coming from the mouth means". Would the great Shkoo-woo-yeihl be warned that he was playing with fire and that the blood seen by his lcht presaged thirty years of war for a hat? If he felt any misgiving, it didn't show. So the feast went on. Great quantities of wealth had been collected by the efforts of his entire tribe to present to the opposite side - the Kog-wahn-ton. There should have been, but was not, sufficient to overwhelm those upstarts from the north who dared to claim equality with the proudest of the proud Ravens of the Gahn-nutS,-tedyof Djihl-kaht-quon. According to custom, guests of honor at a feast (called a potlatch by the white man) were the tribes of the clan opposite the host. They were the ones to whom presents were distributed. People of the same totemic emblem, such as the host's tribe, might attend but not in the capacity of guest. Thus, Hlook-nutS,-uddywere present in the role of wife or husband of the Kog-

wahn-ton, the guests of honor. These Hlook-nutS,-uddywitnessed the insult, and on the return journey they also carved a new Raven hat. Here you can see the underlying social philosophy of the Tlingit people. Insult must match insult. If goods are destroyed, stigma attaches to the one who starts the war of property if he fails to match the the actions of his "enemy". The Gahn-nutS,-tedy- a Raven Clan, gave a feast to their opposite, the Kog-wahn-ton - a Wolf Clan - and a Raven hat was elevated above all other Raven hats. So the Hlook-nutS,-uddy- a Raven Clan, must also elevate a Raven hat at a feast given to the Kog-wahn-ton to match the insult given their crest by the Gahn-nutS,-tedy. In another example of "catch-up", in my Mother's lifetime when she was a child of about six, a group of people of her tribe formed a party to go from Wrangell enroute to the Nass River. They got to a little boat harbor named Ke-tS,ect-yuh-day,just below Cape Fox. When they landed, a Tongass Te-quedy chief (Wolf Clan) was already there. This chief was the brother-in-

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law of a Shtuk'heen Kik's-uddy (Raven Clan) man named Kuh-yuh-gah. Some time previously this Te-quedy chief was carrying his wife across a stream, and just for the fun of it, he dropped her -

some joke! That made her brother very angry. At this stop Kuh-yuh-gah saw his brother-in-law. He went back to his canoe, grabbed his sawed-off shotgun, walked back and shot his brotherin-law. That ended the proposed trip to the Nass. The Shtuk'heen-quon hurried back to their Great House because they all knew that the Tequedy would send out a war party forthwith to exact a life of equal rank. When the Te-quedy

couldn't find a Kik's-uddy chief, they turned to Tee-hit-ton country. They knew where a Tee-hitton chief usually camped - near Snow Pass not far from a town called Teh-ah-i-goon-uy-zak

(Rocks-in-Front-of-Its-Stream town). As this chief watched the approaching canoe, he said to his wife, "I wonder what the matter is. They paddle like they are angry". Sure enough, when they got near and without warning, they shot him as he sat in his canoe. His Haida wife was so frightened that she upset their canoe and was drowned. Later the Te-quedy paid damages for her death, but they considered the death of her husband as merely equalizing the previous death. But the "catch-up" was not done in the matter of the Raven hats. At the next feast, given by the Hlook-nuK_-uddy, Chief Koo-nay donned his new Raven hat made of that most precious metal -

Copper. The object upon which Raven appeared to be feasting was also made of copper. Here the studied words of insult were spoken in the form of questions and answers. "From what place is it that this Raven hat has come?" "It has been to Djih/-kaht". "What was it that it ate there?" "Dried salmon skins". Then dried salmon skins were thrown toward the guests - followed, however, by presents wonderful enough to satisfy the most covetous. The name of a guest was called with the words "You-wok djee day" as the gift was held up. The one called would answer "Hah-day", and a

valuable present would be handed to the recipient with a contemptuous flip. The intent was that the words spoken and the manner of giving would be repeated to the Gahn-nuK_-tedy of Djihl-kaht to give the idea that they were being spat upon by the Hlook-nuK_-uddy. Faggots on

the fire!

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The news went quickly to the village on the Chilkat River. That proudest of proud chiefs, Yeihl-

K_ahkII (Raven's-Bones), now chief of the Gahn-nu?S_-tedy, at once began to prepare a return insult. A new Great House was built, and at the Feast of Dedication the most valuable slaves were freed - not the worthless kind, Dtow-yahts from Puget Sound, but the unredeemed freedmen from tribes of this very district: Day-shee-ton, Tchoo-kun-ady, Hlai-nedy, and others. Those who aspired to an equal fame with the Ravens of the Djihl-kahts must now kill, so sorely had the second blast hurt them. In the first exchange of violence, the Hlook-nu?S_-uddy were badly defeated and lost their new Raven hat. Were they ready to quit? Chief Yeih/-K_ahksent his messenger to find out their temper. He returned with the news that the H/ook-nu?S_-uddy meant to continue the war. Accordingly, the went on with their training for battle. young men of the Gahn-nu?S_-tedy was Shah-di-siktch (HeadIn the second phase of the war, the leader of the Hlook-nu?S_-uddy Tied-About). His hat was adorned with a mouse (Kuh-dseen). For a weapon, he had a big iron nail (guh-yaze). The Tlingit thought iron was a growth from the drift logs that they found on the beaches. Because the rust looked like black sand, with which they were familiar, they called iron "guh-yaze". Shah-di-siktch sharpened this nail so that it could easily penetrate the sea lion hide shields used in those days.

lcht, said, "I can see a Raven drifting back and forth in the When consulted, the Hlook-nu?S_-uddy Djihl-kaht-heen. It keeps drifting back and forth". Did anyone know for sure what this Native oracle meant? If there was a doubt, was it sufficient to quench the war fever? Since both sides were Raven, surely the Shaman meant the enemy! started toward the Djih/-kaht, collecting members of Again the warriors of the Hlook-nu?S_-uddy their tribe who were in neighboring towns until they formed a large host - for this was to be a formidable raid. They were attacking the foremost tribe of warriors in their known world on their own grounds. It is not possible to make a secret attack upon the Djihl-kaht people. Their town was situated twenty-two miles from the river's mouth with no place to hide. Then too, the attack had been well advertised. who bore gifts to Shah-di-siktch of the Hlook-nu?S_-uddy, To the messenger of the Gahn-nu?S_-tedy this answer was returned to the lordly Yeihl-K_ahk. "His is a wonderful family who sends food to those who are about to do battle against him".

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The names of the leaders of the combat were also known. So when he went out from his village with his war party to meet the invaders, Chief Yeih/-tS._ahk said, "Which of you is that man called

Shah-di-siktch whose brave words have been delivered to me?" As Shah-di-siktch stepped ashore in advance of his men, Yeihl-tS._ahk continued loudly so that all could hear him. "Where is that Mouse-Hat going?" Drums were beaten, songs were sung, both sides waited in respectful array while personal combat was offered between the two leaders. The Gahn-nutS._-tedy believed that no one lived who could defeat their champion armed as he was with a great spear pointed with the horn of a mountain goat. The Hlook-nutS._-uddy watched their leader advancing with the certain knowledge that he had the superior weapon and that with equal courage their champion must surely win. The two chiefs met. Yeihl-tS._ahk delivered the first blow. His mountain goat point glanced off the shield of sea lion hide. Before he could recover, Shah-di-siktch countered with his iron pointed spear. It penetrated his opponent's armor and pierced his heart. Down went the invincible Yeihl-tS._ahk, mortally wounded, into the swift flowing waters of the

Djihl-kaht Heen. Consternation seized the followers of Yeihl-tS._ahk. The warriors of the HlooknutS._-uddy rushed forward to the attack, driving the Gahn-nutS._-tedy into the hills beyond the village. The invaders captured a life size totem called "Ahn-kah-kwai" ("Man-of-the-Town")". Having accomplished their purpose, the Hlook-nutS._-uddy retreated. The body of the great Yeihl-

tS._ahk was left in the river where it had been caught on a log and was pushed back and forth by the current of the mighty Djihl-kaht-heen. The people now understood what the lcht meant when he said, "I see a Raven drifting back and forth in the Djihl-kaht". The prestige of the shaman was greatly enhanced. In due course the fever of war abated, the results being about equal on each side. The strong, silent force of their common totemic emblem continued to work and to push aside the desire for personal revenge. So it was that the Hlook-nutS._-uddy were disposed to accept the return of their own Raven hat, lost in the first phase of the war, in exchange for the totem captured by them in the second. It takes many years of hard work to acquire enough goods to prepare for a Koo-eetS._ to dedicate a new house, or a new ceremonial hat. These two bitter encounters probably took place many years apart.

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Shah-di-siktch had had enough of war. He ordered that never again would the hat that had caused so much bloodshed be worn - on penalty of death. Time went on. The women of the tribe planned a feast. The chief did not object but he was deep in remorse. On the day of the feast, rumors floated about that the hat would be worn. But by whom? After the feast began, the chief was told that the hat was being worn. Shah-di-siktch angered, took his war club up and rushed to the feast. When he entered, he saw the hat on the head of his young grandchild. His anger vanished as he clasped his dearest possession - his grandson - to his breast.

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2 5 - A Chapter of Tragedies; The First Christmas Murder It seems so easy for white people to answer the question of where the Tlingit came from. The Russians called us "koloshes" because they saw that our women wore labrets, all the people were of one color, talked but one language, and had common law that seemed to be identical; hence, we must be one nation, that is, one tribe. Here I should remind you again of definitions: namely, the word "tribe" describes a unit of government whereas the word "clan" refers to blood relationship in our matrilineal society. Ethnologists use the word "moiety"

to show that there were two groups in the clan

relationship. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines "moiety" as "A part; a fraction of a thing." Present day Natives - as well as the whites - mix up the usage of "tribe, clan, sub-clan, moiety, phratry, sib, lineage and house". I believe the words "phratry" and "moiety" are confusing and unnecessary and should be eliminated. Another nomenclature that adds to the confusion is the use of the word Chief. To the white man, who judges by appearances, the Tlingit-speaking people are one "tribe"; but when he goes amongst them he cannot find any one person who could be termed a "chief". So the white man says, "They had no central political body to govern the entire Tlingit people" 4 as indeed, they did not. A study of the Tlingit would show that they were still in the earliest form of human association although farther advanced than the Eskimo. They had no "law", if you mean a physical compulsion behind their law. Hence, they had no person to whom the word "Chief" could truly be applied. The Tlingit word is "leader", or "the-man-who-goes-before", or "master". The only power such a leader has is "respect". In fact, respect is the controlling element that ruled the people. Nobody had to obey. An example of how a new tribe is born is that of the ;gh/-quon whose separation from the Shgut'quon Federation was amoeba-like. They moved to the K_ihl-heen (Chickamin River) east of

the Djin-heen (Unuk River) and quit contact with the Shtuk'heen at Kah-zehl-ahn (Willow Town) eighteen miles southeast of Wrangell. There came a time when they were at war with the Tequedy at Port Chester and then it was that they remembered that they were of the Shgut'quon

Federation. They appealed to Chief Shaksh, for help which was rejected by Shaksh. I used the word "amoeba-like". We know that is how the Kik's-uddy Tribe, Raven Clan, of Sheet'kah (Sitka) evolved. The west side of Baranof Island was a part of the hunting grounds of

the Shtuk'heen Kik's-uddy. On one occasion, when near Sheet'kah, the Kik's-uddy chief gave two Kik's-shaw as wives to two young Kog-wahn-tons 4

U.S.Court of Claims Case No. 50385,47,900, p.35

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(Wolf Clan) in marriage. That was the

beginning. The Shtuk'heen Kik's-uddy never exercised authority over the children of these unions, although for many years intermarriage

between them and the Kog-wahn-ton

continued. It stopped only because of an unfortunate family feud that encompassed the Kogwahn-ton Tribe of Sheet'kah and the Shtuk'heen-quon of Wrangell in the early 1800's.

The Tlingit people distinguished among their tribes and made no mistakes. In a common village like Kah-zeh/-ahn (Old Wrangell or Willow Town), where nine tribes lived, in feuds that occurred when death must be exacted in retaliation, the avenging tribe never killed the wrong tribesman. The autonomy of each tribe in our common villages is something the white man never understood. Take for instance, three "incidents" that come to my mind: one at Sitka in January 1869, another at Wrangell in December of 1869, and a third at Angoon in 1881. A Chilkat chief by the name of Shkay-dli-keh of the Gahn-nuK-tedy (Raven) had gone to Sitka to visit his wife's tribal relatives. Of course, his brothers-in-law were bound to do honor to the husband of their "sister" by the strongest social law among the Tlingit. In addition, since this husband was the chief of one of the premier tribes in all Southeastern Alaska, his wife's relatives went all out to do him honor. Their exertions were reflected in the great esteem shown him by General Jefferson C. Davis (not the Davis of Civil War fame), the ranking military officer of the United States Army. The chief was invited by the general to a sumptuous dinner at "Baranof's Castle". Whiskey was served, although in violation of Federal Law, and the basis of firm and good public relations was laid, so the general thought. As the chief departed, General Davis gave him two bottles of American whiskey. You can imagine what that did to a man who had already been puffed up by his brothers-in-law. Shkay-dli-kah "felt that he was not only every inch a chief, but as good and great a man as any

who claimed possession of his country. On reaching the foot of the castle stairs, attired in a cast-off army uniform, with a bottle in each hand, he stalked majestically across the part of the parade ground reserved for officers and was challenged by the sentry. Refusing to turn back, he was kicked as he passed by. Now a kick to a Chilkat chief, and especially to one who dons the United States uniform, has just dined with the general in command, and has a bottle of whiskey in each hand, is a sore indignity. With the aid of one Sitka Jack, he wrested the rifle from the soldier's grasp, and entered the Indian village close at hand. "The guard was at once turned out, and 'ordered', writes Davis in his report of January 5, 1869, to follow him into the village and arrest him and his party. (The general had now discarded his coat of host and was a stern military commander who had just violated the law by giving 151

whiskey to an Indian). Shkay-dli-keh resisted by opening fire upon the guard. The guard returned it, but finding the Indians too strong for them, retreated back into the garrison. (And so) I thought it prudent to order a strong guard out for the night, and to take no further action until morning, as the night was very dark, thus giving them time to reflect. "I called the principal Sitka chiefs together, and they disclaimed any participation in the affair ... I then demanded the surrender of the Djihl-kaht chief, who, after considerable delay and some show of fight on the part of about fifty of his warriors (actually his in-laws) gave himself up. A few minutes' talk with him sufficed to convince me that he was bent on war, and I would have had to fight but for the Sitkas refusing to join in his design". The truth is that Shkay-dli-kah was alone and without any authority over the Natives about him. General Davis didn't know that, and he presumed that Shkay-dli-kah could command a dangerous force. In the general's report, it appears that he was misled by his own misconceptions of the tribal government of the Tlingits. "A party of eight Kake Indians were at the Sitka village, and one of them was shot by a sentinel while attempting to 'escape' from the village in a canoe, contrary to orders and an understanding with the peaceable portion of the Indians. The parties thus attempting to escape were run down by small boats from the U.S.S.Saginaw and the revenue cutter Reliance and brought back ... After Shkay-d/i-kah was set at liberty, it is reported that (the Kakes)tried to get him to join them in a general fight against the whites. From the best information I can get, he declined to do so. They then left for their homes (some one hundred fifty miles from Sitka) and enroute murdered Meager and Walker in the most brutal manner".

5

Then came punishment administered by the general who had started the chain of events by unlawfully giving whiskey to a Native of the Gahn-nutf_-tedyfrom which it followed that Natives who were foreign to this tribe lost a man killed by a sentry. General Davis, again a military man concerned with results that he could justify by his own reports, sent in a gunboat to the area of the Kake-quon where it bombarded three towns. He made no effort to find the guilty Natives and no chance was given for them to explain why the two innocent white men were killed. So we have it that the killing of Natives by the military was justified but the killing of two white men were murders for which many innocent Natives were killed and their property destroyed.

5

Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Alaska (A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1886), 611.

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The First ChristmasMurder The Wrangell case was similar. The soldier's report, approved by the same General Davis, states that the Native bit off the finger of the wife of the quartermaster sergeant, that the man was finally arrested, tried by court marshal and hanged. The Native story, however, as told by my Mother to Winifred Williams, in part says: "It was Christmas Eve and the Captain (actually Lt. Borrows) wishing to celebrate the event, invited 'come one, come all' to the second floor. Many soldiers were present, also many Indians, but no white women. The music played and the captain led the Indian wife of lsteen out to the floor to dance. She had been to Victoria, could talk English, dressed in style and knew the white man's quadrille that she learned at the fort in Victoria. All were amazed at how well she danced. "Pretty soon another soldier asked Chuwan's wife to dance. She was a pretty Indian girl, had never been anywhere and was dressed like other Indians and was wearing moccasins. She stepped out with the soldier and tried to dance. Everybody laughed at her, especially the white 'chiefs'. Kchok-seen's husband, Chuwan, got very angry and ashamed that everybody should be laughing at his wife. She was of the Raven clan. "So he stepped onto the dance floor and pulled her away from the white soldier and pushed her down the stairs. She rolled over and over to the bottom, screaming. The sergeant's wife rushed into the hall and took the woman into her room. Before she could close the door, Chuwan got there and demanded his wife so he could take her home where nobody would laugh at her. "He pulled at the door and it opened wider. The white woman stepped forward and in trying to push him away, she stuck her little finger in his mouth. Chuwan bit it off. Now, it was the white woman's turn to scream. "The soldiers rushed down the stairs and saw the blood pouring down her arm for she was holding her hand up. The captain ordered the soldiers to shoot the Indian. This they did, shooting Chuwan through the heart and his brother lsteen through the arm. He later died. "A fellow tribesman, Scut-oo of the K,ok-ady Tribe (one of the nine tribes at Wrangell) hearing of the death of his brother, dressed up in his war clothes and started toward the barracks. On meeting the owner of Smith's Trading Post, he said, 'Here is a white man. Why not kill him. They are of the same tribe'. And ups and shoots Smith".

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The reaction of the American commander was to order the chiefs of the nine tribes to surrender Scut-oo who had escaped into the woods. When they could not do so, the commander bombarded the Indian Village. My Mother was made to lie on the floor and the cannon balls passed over her head without harm to her. The weakness of the Indian Chiefs' situation was the fact that they were not chiefs in the American conception, but merely "leaders" to those who chose to follow with no penalty for refusing. This lack of authority of a Native Chief, even over his own tribe, has led the United States Court of Claims to sav6: "The Tlingit Indians as of 1867 had no chief or other political body to govern them as an (entire) group. The Russianson at least two occasions had appointed a head chief for all the Tlingit, but these appointments had not changed the established customs of the Indians which featured many highly developed rights such as rights to authority, possession, and prestige ... The Tlingit Indians as a whole though occupying one contiguous stretch of coast of the mainland and the adjoining islands, and though unified by common customs, family ties, trade, ceremonials, and the consciousness of their oneness; nevertheless had not established by 1867 any political body to govern the entire Tlingit people". This conclusion of the Court led it to say: "The term 'tribe' is frequently employed to describe the entire Tlingit people, as well as the Haidas as a whole ... As so variously applied, it has been used loosely and in an inexact sense. There were no political divisions of these Indians to which the term 'tribe' can be technically applied". The Russiansmerely recognized the local situation for what it was; but by reporting a spurious ceremony that the Natives didn't understand, they made it appear that the Natives knowingly became subjects of the RussianTsar. We take the following from the report of the chief of the Foreign Law section of the Library of Congress wherein the Russians made the head chief of Wrangell, the head chief of all Tlingits: "To have more order among the independent natives living in the neighborhood of the Russian colonies and to acquire all possible influence the Company created a title of the 'toion' (chief) of all the Tlingits, which has been approved by the Sovereign on December 6, 1842. This title was bestowed upon the petition of the Company's general administration to Mikhail Kukhan (Goosh-K,een), the personal name of the Wrangell chief of the Nahn-ya-ahyi), 6

a baptized Tlingit who by descent belongs to the most

U.S.Court of Claims Case 50385,47,900, & Supreme Court Case #43

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prominent of this tribe. An election of a principal 'toion' took place at Stikine in 1862 with the approval of the colonial management". All the Russians did was to use their own symbols. They went through the form, surrounded by tribesmen totally ignorant of what was being said and done; ipso facto the Russians claimed they were the acknowledged masters by submission. The flag, raised on a tree at Yakutat, and the gift of a medal to the Native chief proved, so Baranof wrote, that the Yakutats had submitted to the "great white Father". Later, when Baranof asked the chief for the medal, the chief replied that he had traded it to the Djihl-kahts. The retreat of the Kik's-uddy from Indian River in 1804 was called a conquest of all the Tlingits from Chilkat to Cape Fox. However, the Kik's-uddy only did what General Washington did at the Battle of Long Island. The allegation by Baranof that "some of the Koloshes remained friendly" was true only because the "some" owned no land at Sitka, hence, were not involved. The occupation of "Castle Hill" by Baranof did not come from conquest but from the fact that the Kik's-uddy couldn't get a big cannon up that steep hill. They could mount it at their fort at Indian River a mile away - which they did. An interesting story of the aftermath that has not been told by Baranof comes to us from the historians of the Sheet'kah-quon. After the battle at Indian River, the Kik's-uddy traveled through the woods to escape from the cannon of the gunboats. After much hardship, they reached salt water at Hanus Bay and then moved to what is now called Point Craven on Chichagof Island - Point Craven being the outer point of Sitkoh Bay. All the Tlingit tribes boycotted the Russians and found good markets with other traders. Baranof was going broke. He went to the "friendly" Koloshes who remained at Sitka (Kog-wahn-

ton and Hlook-nutS_-uddy tribes) and asked them how he could get the Kik's-uddy to call off the boycott. The Kog-wahn-ton of Angoon were the brothers-in-law of the Kik's-uddy. The use of mediators was a method familiar to the Tlingits. It was their method, too. It worked; a story that I will relate later.

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26 -Anuski {Russians) Meet Shaksh III The procedure of the Russiansin Southeast Alaska was always the same. They would come into an area, ask permission to land, and make a treaty of commerce. Something of the spirit of Baranof shows in his words: "It is to be hoped that the fruits of the discoveries of the Russian navigators may not be enjoyed by European or other companies, depriving us of our hard-earned advantages. I trrst that God in his justice will allow us to enjoy the fruits of our enterprise ... I .. have been able to add something to the vast dominion of his Imperial Majesty". Sheesh-gow repeated this story to me in 1945. He was eighty-four years old and still in good

health and memory. "Hei, Shquindy, I tell you about Noo-shi (Russians),how they come to us right here in Lang-gun". (This the Tlingit way of pronouncing 'I' and 'r'.) "I got this from Ee-ty-nuk-eesh, a Tee-hit-ton married to Dtow-ka(S_-eeshmother, and from Wungun, my uncle, and from Kah-tuk-goo. My first wife belong to Tahl-quedy tribe. I young man

that time and she old already long ago. "You know Noo-shi", he continued in Tlingit interspersed with broken English, "they trade everywhere. They have four mast ships. When they come, they anchor at Dtah-ka-wook ('Wideback' - the roadstead before the modern town of Wrangell). They captain say to Indian who come close, 'Where you chief?' This where we learn word chief. Chief sit in stern of canoe, don't paddle or steer. Another man do that. "The Captain say, 'Where you chief?' "The answer come from every canoe, 'here,' 'here', 'here', 'here'. Whoever sit in back of canoe. In those day many chiefs everywhere. Only at Wrangell, we have few chiefs. That time, Noo-shi anchor in harbor right here. We call 'em that place '(S_aok-djin-a-owk' (Bone-of-Hand-LittleLake). That time, man who live there, his name Kah-ch-Kun.Tlingit call this bay Kah-ch-(S_un-aouk (Kah-ch, nearby lake). People who live there live at 'Old Town' (Kah-zehl-ahn).

"Before this, first Tlingit who see Russian canoe go back to Kah-zehl-ahn (Willow-town) eighteen miles away. When he got near, he give alarm, 'Hay---------------'. This sound called 'ah/lax'. When he got close the people cry, "'Wah su ut woo ni? (What has happened?)'

"He answer 'un-suh-yei-yi ut Kah-ch-Xun-a-ouk uh/ tsis, Gwuh/ gooz-za-saw-xer hah woo hoox

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(A mysterious thing at Kah-ch place is anchor. Perhaps from horizon our wealth has come.) The Tlingit everywhere had the belief that someday people from beyond the horizon would come to them and bring good fortune. The appearance of this "mysterious thing" reminded them of other old story. "Messenger come in small canoe we use every day. Big war canoe we keep on beach cover with mats. We own lots small canoe that time. All hands come together at Kunk's Creek, now Eleven Mile Point. From there they see big strange thing. When all canoes come near, man on ship say 'Where you chief?' "Finally man think of Shaksh and point back up channel to Willow-town. Shaksh, he important, he refuse to go to ship. Then it was that Noo-shi move into Etolin Harbor. They cautious, but they let down one boatload with lot of things like food and guns and come ashore. Noo-shi take one gun, put black sand in, then more sand, shoot it off. Distant raven jump up as if frightened and drop dead. The bird was brought in and people think it killed by noise of gun. "Then Noo-shi cook rice in pot. He take lid off put molasses in. He put finger into mess, then into mouth, show it taste good. He offer some to Indians, but they refuse because they think it poison. One man, Kuh-yashki-diton

(The tribe of the narrator) get mad, stick finger into

molasses and into his mouth. Everyone watch to see what happen. 'How is it?' someone ask. "He say, 'It is good. How sweet it is!' "Then they offer rice, but Tlingit think it worms (woon). They refuse to eat woon. Noo-shi take spoon and eat. One of Tlingit, also in anger at dare (so it seem), stick spoon into food and eat. He say, 'Ya-g'e ut ~a es ge yuh ("Good for food it is"). Try it. Nothing happen to us. (Hus du ut ~ah-yi es ge yei). ("It is their food, isn't it?")'. White people come from beyond horizon, so it

seem, and so, they call 'gooz-kee-quon'. "Captain of ship make Tlingit understand he want to talk to chief who stay in Old-Town; but he afraid to sail his ship up unknown, winding channel. He ask people tell Shaksh to come to him. he draw he pride about him and say, 'Shaksh obey order of no man'. "When they tell Shaksh 111, He point to war canoes on beach, 'Man them. Bring this stranger to me', he order. "So big war canoes - two hundred fifty - ten men each side, twenty men one canoe, put into water and they paddle to right here where Noo-shi sailors fasten ropes to them. Anchors raised. These sailors interest to us, they dress, actions, everything.

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"Tlingit paddle fast, tow great Noo-shi ship behind. Here Old Town. Here island. Here rock. Here Snake Creek. Island called Gihl-a-noo-woo. It shape like grindstone. When water start to shoal, Captain order anchors drop. He make anchor. "Next day, Captain say he ready to see head chief? Ke-duh-neig was Shaksh Ill (c.1806). He dress up in ceremony clothes. A canoe is pushed down to water edge, Shaksh Ill enter. Only his own free men allowed to man canoe. Occasion too important to put this honor on slave. All other canoes follow. "Captain order chair put for Shaksh and his man. Such person, attendant upon chief, called 'true man'. All other Tlingit in canoes armed and watch, ready to attack ship if anything go wrong. After that, things for trade brought out by visitors. Chief say to his true-man. "'They travel here to sell things.' "The true-man go to side of ship and repeat these words to people in canoes, adding 'They have everything, food, clothing, things for sale'. "Nothing was bought on first trip by Shaksh.Captain say, 'I have artist here. Sit for you picture.' "The picture, now hang in Shark House on Shaksh Island at Wrangell. Shaksh wear cape of sea otter fur, sea otter coat underneath, and ceremonial hat. His pipe carved from stone. All his clothes made by Tlingit. "The Captain ask him 'How many people in you town?'

"Shakshanswer, 'I don't know how big my town'. "Captain held up book,' Can we count you people?'

"Shakshsay, 'Ah'. "They lower life boat with one man in. He count those in canoes. Women together on shore. He count them from water. Captain surprised by number. He say five thousand people no children. After that Captain give gifts to Chief, and Shakshsay, 'Tomorrow we sell!' "All go ashore. "Next morning they pack all furs in canoes, go out to Noo-shi ship. Shaksh go aboard and sell first. Afterwards others follow, one at a time come aboard and sell, while Shaksh sit on deck and watch.

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"Take many days to finish trading. When all finished, Captain tell Chief, 'I go now. My ship loaded with sea otter'. "They plenty sea otter those days. Captain say, 'In one year, I come back to this place"'. Sheesh-gow say, "He return in one year as he say. That is how Tlingit know for sure they really

people beyond horizon, from another land. "After first trip of Noo-shi, people begin to talk of moving to place closer to trade. They give many feasts where many speeches made. "Shaksh say, 'We too far away. It is best we move'.

"In every way, he persuade people to move. 'Our candle fish and oil from mouth of Shtuk'heen far away. This lake of Koch' large, let us move'. "Not all move now. Shaksh move first. He build house in center, on peninsula made island by high tide. "To Tahl-quedy, he say, 'My fellow townsmen, take whatever place you wish'. "They choose point on right of entrance now called Shus-tak Point. "Tee-hit-ton choose place next to them, center of peninsula (hha-goon). "Koch'uddy take land around small creek they name Koch'.

"Next come Kok-ady, then Kuh-yashki-diton, then Kik's-uddy. Soon all good land gone. That why Kahz-Ka-quedy build on what now mill site. Dukhla-wedy take place where powerhouse now.

"When Noo-shi come back, Captain ask let him build fort ashore. Shaksh give part of his land, a place on inner point across from his house called Shark-House. You can see that from house posts inside, they got shark on them. "Noo-shi build they fort, but never finish. They call it Fort Dionysius. Before long, Noo-shi go

away for good. They give key to one of Shaksh' man. Kuh-sah-dah his name, because his wife Ga-ah, a Koch'uddy, had child by white man. Kuh-sah-dah give key to Shaksh. Key in Alaska

Museum now. "When American soldiers come, they officer ask Shaksh where he put his buildings. All good land taken by Tlingit, so Shaksh point to hill, 'Take that'. That is how government get place

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where post office and courthouse." (Since this time, the portrait of Shaksh Ill seems to have disappeared from Shark House on Shaksh Island)

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27 - Trouble at Sitka, Ahnuski and Kik's-uddy I was not surprised at an observation by Petr Tikhmenief in a footnote in Bancroft's Alaska with regard to an account from Captain Sturgis of the Caroline: "It is not possible that the (early) writers intended to tell the truth". Tikhmenief further quotes from Sturgis the cause of the first war of the Kik's-uddy with the Russiansat Old Sitka thusly: "In the year 1799, the Russians (30 Russians and 700 or 800 Aleuts from Kadiak and Unalaska) built a strong fort contrary to the wishes of the natives, who had conducted themselves in a peaceable manner. The Russians did not adopt the same conciliarly conduct (but) pursued the most sanguinary course toward these people, some of whom were massacred, and others sent into captivity to Kadiak Island. Stimulated for revenge by the loss of friends and relatives, and finding their stores of wealth, and almost of subsistence, seized by strangers settled amongst them contrary to their wishes, the natives formed a plan to attack the fort, and either to exterminate their oppressors at a blow or perish in the attempt.

*** Previous to this, the ship Jenny, of Boston, had been at Norfolk Sound (Sitka) where seven of the men deserted and took refuge with the Russians. The natives knew this, and willing to make a just distinction

between those whom they considered as

commercial friends and arbitrary oppressors, they sent a message requesting the Americans to make a friendly visit at their village. Six of them accepted the invitation; the other was out with a party of Kadiak Natives hunting. When they arrived at the village, the Indians communicated to them their design and requested their assistance. This they declined giving and were then assured that no injury should be offered to them, but were at the same time informed that they would be detained at the village to prevent information being given to the Russians". The first contact was with the Kwashki-quon, the predominant Raven Clan tribe that owned the Yakutat country. A trading post was established on Kahn-tuh-ahk, (called Khantaak Island after a "treaty", as the Russians have called this agreement) was concluded. The Russians did not keep their end of the agreement, according to my ancient historians, because, so Baranof said, "I wanted to see if you were going to be honest with me in carrying out your part of the treaty". The fact remains that the Russians got into Yakutat by treaty.

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No writer has stated the cause of the first "war" in 1802, at St. Michael. The cruelties enumerated by Sturgis were concealed by Baranof and others. The first treaty that Baranof made with the Kik's-uddy protected the Russians and brought them great profit. But as the colony got stronger, the Russians began to act like the overlords of the Kik's-uddy. The 800 Aleut hunters who arrived later, swarmed everywhere, and while sea otter were plentiful, it didn't matter. But when sea otter became scarce, the Russiansdrew a line, roughly speaking, at the present site of Sitka south of which Baranof told the Kik's-uddy, they could not hunt. Shkoo-woo-yeihl ("Tailless Raven"), the head chief of the Gahn-nutS_-tedy and the uncle of Kathlian (c.1802) then planned a battle and was successful in destroying the Russian structures

and in driving the surviving Russiansand Aleuts away. Kathlian was not present in this battle, a circumstance that led to the second battle in 1804 two years later. Kathlian and his Kog-wahn-ton father, Yess-yut, had gone to Klowk'ahn, home of his father,

about two hundred miles from Sitka. The first information that Kathlian received was given to him by a man named Kah-kah, who, wishing to be insulting, said, "Is it true that the Kik's-uddy wash the qwuss (chamber pots) of the Ahnooshi?" To this Kath/ian replied, "Did I come for this?" and in anger ordered his goods put back into his canoe. Kath/ion's father said to him,"/ hli (Don't do it)".

But Kathlian headed for Sitka raging under the lashing contempt of neighboring tribes. He was also offended because his uncle Shkoo-woo-yeihl had not considered it important enough to wait for his presence before making peace with the Russians. The conduct of the Russians is explained thusly: "If natives already occupied the most convenient sites, Baranof was permitted to form settlements at the same point provided he obtained their consent by purchase and by making presents". There was to be no war of conquest. All writers have testified that at first "the Sitkans were friendly", but nobody has distinguished the different reasons for it. Later "a bitter hostility arose against the Russians *

* * caused

partly by the custom of the Russian traders of taking the native women, as they had done among the defenseless Aleuts". This is not likely. It does not affect the tribe because the women still belong to the tribe, and any child would belong also. Marriage established the relationship of brother-in-law, the closest and strongest tie known to the Tlingit. Baranof knew this fact, for in his first dealing with the 162

I

t

Kik's-uddy, he solicited their friendship by informing them that many of his men had married

Tlingit women in Yakutat. This was known to the Kik's-uddy, since one of the Raven tribes near Sitka was formerly of Yakutat. "The Hoonah, the Chilkats, the Kakes, the others of the quons of the Tlingit people taunted the Sitkas with being slaves of the Russians". What the Russians chose not to understand was that the Kolosh who taunted the "Sitkas" were not the owners of the area, but were truly foreigners as the Tlingit word "Goon-yah-quon" means. They were there just as much on sufferance as the Russians.That is why they took no part in the hostilities and so were considered "friendly". It seems that the pattern of extermination of sea otter was established by the Russians first among the Aleutian Islands; then at Yakutat; at Cross Sound; at Sitka; south even as far as Sea Otter Sound east of Warren Island. After the first battle with the Kik's-uddy, Baranof bought the land between the area known as "Castle Hill" and the Indian Village. The second war was incited by Kath/ion to redeem "the cut on his own face". A Russian man was found wandering about far from home. His face was painted, he was made to eat beyond his capacity, made to dance, and then sent homeward. He never arrived because he died on the way. Baranof demanded pay for the death of the Russian and punishment for the man who painted his face. Kath/ion refused. An examination of the Russian's account of the battle can only be explained by repeating the words of Sturgis, "It is not possible that the writer intended to tell the truth". The fourteen houses were not on the Hill as stated by Lisianski - but a quarter of a mile west of it. It is physically impossible for eight hundred people to live in Kath/ion's fort on Castle Hill as alleged by the same writer. The dimensions are approximately one hundred fifty feet by seventy feet. I have been tempted to use Bancroft's account of the second battle because it fires one's imagination. You can see the two groups of armed forces landing on the short beach below Kath/ion's Hill; one group lead by the brave merchant Baranof, and the other by Lt. Arbusof;

each ranging upward on opposite sides of the Hill. Then, the fierce hand to hand fighting; the break in the ranks of the timid Aleut forces; Baranof and Arbusof pushing and shouting to their men trying to climb the "kekoor" with its steep sides of forty-five degrees. Then, the retreat in which Baranof was wounded, and the successful withdrawal with only ten dead and twenty-six wounded.

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The truth is that there was no such battle at Kath/ion's Hill. The fight took place almost one mile east of that Hill. Factually, when Baranof was defied by Kath/ion, he ordered the Neva to bombard the Kik'suddy Fort on what is now Castle Hill. Lisianski was not able to elevate his cannon enough to

reach the fort, nor could he move his ship away from shore, because the islands were too close. So the Russianswere stymied. Baranof wanted that hill, for it commanded the entire area. He had offered to buy it when he purchased the site of his warehouse and been refused. Now he resorted to strategy. He offered Kath/ion a big cannon, but no powder. Kathlian thought he knew where he could get powder and so he agreed. Kathlian was also unable to get the cannon up that steep hill. That is why he abandoned the Hill and moved to the fort at the mouth of Indian River where the ground was almost at sea level. There he mounted his precious cannon, almost one mile from Castle Hill. Kathlian and his two nephews went for powder somewhere west of Sitka, probably to Angoon.

On their return, Kathlian disembarked west of Sitka and went overland to his fort at the mouth of Kaz-dah-heen {Indian River). He instructed his nephews not to continue their journey until it was dark. But with the bravado of youth, they scooted behind the Russian warships and were almost out of range when they were discovered. The Russians opened fire. The young men returned the fire. A spark fell from one of the guns into the open barrels of powder. That was the cause of the explosion and not the "lucky" shot of the warship. This site of the Tlingit fort was just as unfavorable to the Russiansas the fort on the Hill because there was a very long beach in front of it and the warships could not get within range. The cannon of the Neva were transferred to the smaller vessel Caroline. Even so, the cannon were still out of range. After continued bombardment, the Russianslanded and made an assault. Then they discovered that the continued silence of the Kik's-uddy was not due to the effectiveness of the bombardment but to lack of powder. The Tlingit had nothing for weapons but short spears with which they counter-charged and put the Russians to flight. Baranof was with his troops but was dressed like an ordinary sailor. He ran with them, but was wounded. At one point, the Kik'suddy had hold of him, but he jerked free and was pulled into the waiting boat only a few yards

from the warriors. They learned later they had captured Baranof. The second attack was a repetition of the first.

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On the third day, the Russians came ashore carrying a white flag. The Kik's-uddy did not know what a white flag meant. Perhaps it was something supernatural because the men carrying it came ashore after their recent terrible defeats, walking with the assurance of conquerors, as though nothing could injure them. They were carrying a big, white flag. That was it, the big white flag! The Kik's-uddy abandoned their fort. The Russians call this a victory, and perhaps it was. They won possession of a bit of ground at the mouth of Indian River in Chatham Strait, but there was no conquest. The plan of battle was almost exactly like the battle of Bunker Hill: two attacks wherein the enemy was repulsed. At the third attack, the Americans retreated and abandoned their position because they ran out of powder. There was no conquest. (At the next American battle on Long Island the Americans again were repulsed. Washington took to his ships, boats, perhaps even canoes, and crossed a body of water that could have been called "Chatham" - were the battle in Alaska!) The fort at Kootz-noo-hoo belonged to a totally different tribe and was not built by Kathlian as recorded by Bancroft. In the course of years, the Russians learned enough about the curious inter-mixture of various tribes so that they persuaded themselves that they were victims of a general conspiracy that extended from Yakutat to the Queen Charlotte Island. "Mr. Kuskoff

* * * found

that the chiefs

of the Queen Charlotte Island, Stikine, Kake, and some other places met at Kootz-noo-hoo, where they formed a binding agreement to destroy the Russians' forts". Such an alliance was impossible; the more so when one realizes that there were language barriers as well as tribal ones. There was one large canoe load of Haidas from Kasa-ahn who were trading at Sitka at the time of the fight. This is the basis for the stories that even the Haidas were in the "conspiracy" to destroy the Russians. The so-called victory of Baranof was very expensive to him because all trading between the Koloshes and the Russians ceased due to a sort of sympathetic strike on the part of the "brothers-in-law"

and fellow clansmen of the Kik's-uddy. He asked the chief of the Kook'hit-ton

("Box-House-People") what he should do to make peace. They told him that he would have to send very desirable and expensive presents to Kathlian as a sign that he, Baranof, wanted to make peace. Kathlian sent back word from Sitkoh Bay where he had established his village that he would not trust "white man's peace on paper". They had tried it and it was no good. There had to be a "Tlingit" peace.

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Baranof agreed and both sides appointed "goo-wuh-kahn". (This word means 'deer' and is used for the ambassador in peace negotiations. It reminds both sides that the ambassador is peaceful and easily alarmed and so the parties must be very careful in all their dealings.) Baranof made the required gifts and the Ceremony of Peace was performed. He submitted to having his face painted according to the Tlingit custom. Both sides did their part in their own places. As a final act, Baranof was required to sit on a long knife placed across a dish. This was to show that he truly wanted peace. After this ceremony the Kik's-uddy moved from Sitkoh Bay to about seventeen miles west of Sitka and took up a site that could not be subject to bombardment by the Russianwar vessels. The story that Baranof made all of Sitka "out of bounds" to the Koloshes cannot be confirmed. Viewed from the Tlingit standpoint, their decision to build a town where they could not be easily attacked was very reasonable and not necessarily due to a prohibition by Baranof. After the treaty of 1805, many of the Kik's-uddy remained hostile and continued to refuse all dealings with the Russians. No terms of any treaty have ever been revealed by the Russians. This treaty, as the Tlingit remember it, was merely a treaty of peace. It was the same kind of treaty various tribes made with each other at the end of the numerous wars that broke out from time to time. Usually the number and the importance of deaths were compiled. Payment was made to make up the difference and to satisfy the side that was behind in deaths. If a peace was concluded without such balancing of accounts, aggrieved parties looked to those who had concluded the peace to satisfy the houses whose claims were unsatisfied. The "Fourth battle for Southeastern Alaska" occurred about the 7th of June 1818, when the ship Bordelais arrived off the northwest side of Prince of Wales Island in Sea Otter Sound, just east of Warren Island. Leontii Andreanovich Hagemeister, who had succeeded Baranof, had contracted with a Frenchman named deRoquefeuil to hunt for sea otter here and had rented him thirty bidarkas manned by Aleut serfs. One condition, among others, was that for every Aleut hunter lost by the Frenchman, he would pay an indemnity of 350 rubles (about $90.00). Shortly after arriving at Sea Otter Sound, the Russians reported that the "Kaigani" (Haidas) attacked the Frenchman and his hunters, and drove them off with a loss of 47 Aleuts, of whom 19 were killed, many wounded. Twenty-five escaped but were picked up by boats, while the Kaigani lost only one killed.

No further attempt was made by the Russians to confirm their claim of ownership over this area.

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Hagemeister made a settlement with deRoquefeuil and gave him additional bidarkas and Aleuts with hunting privileges along the coast of California. It is not likely that it was the Haidas who drove the Russians out because they did not claim, nor did they occupy, any land north of Klawock River about fifty miles south of Sea Otter Sound. then The Tlingit owners of the area were the Towk-ah-nedy, Raven Clan, called Gahn-nutS._-uddy, domiciled at TutS.,-ikan, about ten miles east of Sea Otter Sound. They might have had a town on the Anguilla Islands, Kah-kutS.,-doo-oo(The-Place-That-Will-Always-Be), the site of the famous Woodworm and Blackskin stories. Another reason why the Russians believed that there was a general conspiracy among the Tlingits was that the Kik's-uddy are Raven, too. However, there was no governmental connection between these two Raven Clan tribes. The word "Kaigani" comes from the name of the town "Kah-eeyg-ah-ni", a Tlingit word that means "Town-On-The-Beach" located on the southern tip of Dall Island. The Haidas, whose other towns were farther from the coast, now occupied this town. The white traders knew of

Kaigani and so they called all the Natives of this southern district "Kaigani". In a recent decision of the U. S. Court of Claims, it is stated that Russia secured Southeastern Alaska by conquest because it was known that Russia came to barter and trade. Russia proclaimed its sovereignty only in its letters to the Tzar. From a letter by Baranof: "Misfortune attended Baranof's enterprise from its inception (to travel from Kenai to Yakutat). On the 2nd of May, while weathering at Cape Suckling on the coast opposite Kayak (near Katella), thirty of the canoes, containing two men each, were swallowed by the heavy seas into which even a moderate breeze raises these shallow waters ... (on) further indications of storm ... when at last we reached the sandy beach, exhausted from continued paddling, we threw ourselves upon the sand overshadowed by dense forests. No sooner had we closed our eyes, than the dreaded war cry of the Kolash (Tlingits) brought us again to our feet. The greatest consternation prevailed among the naturally timid Aleuts, who were filled with such dread of the well-known enemy as to think it useless to make resistance. Many of them rushed into the forest, into the very hands of their assailants, instead of launching their canoes and putting to sea ... What saved us from total destruction was the intervening darkness ... After an unequal contest, lasting over an hour, the Kolash retired to the woods ... By shouting to them in the Aleutian tongue, we succeeded in gathering the survivors ... and before morning departed from the inhospitable beach, leaving thirteen canoes ... The rising sun showed us the sloops in the offing, and we lost no time in seeking their welcome protection.

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Baranof's letter ends here. Continued from a letter by Bancroft: Baranof pressed forward, travelling along the coast, chiefly at night, and daring to camp only on prominent points, where there was least danger of surprise. At last, on the 25th (of May 1799), the expedition entered the sheltered basin of Norfolk, or Sitka Sound ... The landing was accomplished at a point still known as Old Sitka, about six miles north of the present town of that name. A large crowd of natives had assembled to watch the movements of the newcomers. A Sitkan chief, Katleut, or Katlean ... approached Baranof and demanded to know his intentions ... Baranof replied in a lengthy harangue, reciting the long stereotyped European falsehood, that the emperor of all the Russias,who was the lord of that country, had sent him to establish a settlement for trade, and to assure his new subjects of his fatherly care and protection. At the same time he asked for the grant of a small piece of ground for the erection of buildings, and for which he offered to pay in beads and other trading goods. The barter was concluded, and Katleut even asserted that he could force the others into agreement". This is the sort of evidence on which the Court of Claims says the Russiansconquered the Tlingit Tribes. Perhaps more to the point to show that the Court's conclusion was not based on recorded facts is this comment from the battle of the Yakutats with the Russians in 1805. I quote from one of the oldest of the Tlingit historians of that area.

Sheesh-gownow says: "Baranof did not keep his promise. When he come here, our chief accuse him. Baranof answer, 'That is true. I did not sell you guns and powder because I want to see if you keep you promise'. "The Russians already put they fort near the point. That place now An-kow Creek, its mouth, salty and rough. We call that place 'Yowk'daht' (short for Woosh-ket-woodzi-dut mean 'to roll back and forth from the tide and wind'). The Bay called 'Hla-K,ah-sik'(Neara-Glacier). Yowk'daht really small stream across village, close to Russianfort. "Point Carrow used to be Tuh-yiK,-nuk.Russian fort up farther at Cow Bay (K,ahs-gei-yi). They two lakes, lower one called An-kow, shape like goose fly away, and upper lake called Koo-dzi-tee-yee-ah because it 'locked'. Russians bar it and that action cause trouble.

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"Out in bay is Krutoi Island (Goo-auk) where man name Tuh-noot5._ of Yakutat find broken (Muddyskiff on beach and salvage nails, very precious. People at point called Hlu-?5..adi Water-People, Wolf Clan). who "Two tribes live at Yakutat that time, Kwashiki-quon, Raven clan and us, Hlu-?5..adi are Te-quedy. We own Humpy Creek across Knight Island. Shah-dah then head chief of

Te-quedy. "Man who lead fight Tuh-noot5._ (white man call him Tuh-nook). He down below Te-

quedy, his tribe own Situk River. "Dah-wahl-heen had gate and Russian make us pay to pass on river or else we have to portage. That way Russians now and then capture our women. When they get through with them, they push them into river. Russians make women chew pitch gum and pay five cents a day, usually in trade.

"Tuh-noot5._ uncle is shaman. This uncle die so Native don't bury his body, but nephew want to bury he uncle like Russian. That how Russian find out he build coffin with copper nails. They accuse him of stealing nails from fort so they put him in jail. He learn Russian language. After he come out, he stay with them. They plenty sea otters in bay. "When Russians settle in Yakutat, they welcome because they have iron. Chief Shah-

dah welcome them. Russians treat chief good. They was another town long way from there called Noos-choo-daht, about five miles from fort. Only rich people allowed to go through gate I Dtah'wahl'. Russians capture boys and send to Tahl-na (Tanana) where they digged 'tsuhlk' (ground-hog).

"Tuh-noot5._ know Russian commander. He name Shah-nix-dah. Tuh-noot5._ go fishing with that Russian. He go with no clothes and Russiantell him he catch cold. "When Tuh-noot5._ think he strong enough and half Russiansfishing, he go see Shah-nix-

dah. He only Native allowed to go in fort. There one Native with him, but Tuh-noot5._ leave him with outside guard to watch him, and say, 'I holler 'hu! hu!', you jump on guard. has knife, "Outside man ask guard for axe to help him. Shah-nix-dah lie down. Tuh-noot5._

dja xun ut (the near thing). When he jump commander, lying down, first blow hit snuff this was. Tuh-noot5._ escape, box. Shah-nix-doh jump up grab his pistol, holding Tuh-noot5._ run out of fort. Outside Native already kill guard. Commander come out to kill with he pistol. When Shah-nix-dah come out, he pass Tuh-nooK, who kill him.

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"Tuh-nooK_ command Natives outside to talk Russian. He kill guard outside gate and one

on dock. He dress in Russian guard clothes and wait for Russians to come back from fishing. They kill Russians as they come back. They were three crews. Then rest of Natives go to Russian fort. They take everything away. They leave women inside fort and burn it with women and children. "Only Russians at lighthouse escape. Other man that escape is guard at gate but he die. Bones found later. No Native killed. Russians never come back. "Later same people try to re-build fort but chief go there and refuse them. Aleuts (we call them 'anna'ut') and Nuchek people fight second time. One of our canoes was §.ooch yowk'

(Wolf Boat). Leader was K_ut-gah-wate, Tahn-yuh-duk

Te-quedy. They three

canoes in party. K_ut-gah-wate not know they Russian at narrow place. Russian had large bore gun and he destroy one canoe load of Natives.

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28 - Kik's-Uddy Tribe of Sheet'kuh The most baffling words to define in the study of the Tlingit linguistic groups are "clan" and "tribe". The words belong to the white man. The Tlingit has no corresponding Native term. If we could keep Webster's New International Dictionary's definition as loose as he puts it, it would embrace the Tlingit's idea too: "Tribe, a social group comprising a series of families, clans, or generations, descending from the same ancestor, together with slaves, dependants, adopted strangers, etc., as the twelve tribes of Israel descended from the twelve sons of Jacob. Anthropologists generally treat the tribe as a putatively consanguineous group, primitively comprising several exogamous clans which it united under one political head, or chief, and often with a special tribal worship distinct from the specific clan cults ... Although the idea of consanguinity persists, the tribe, as it expands, depends more and more on common social and political institutions, and less on actual kinship, according to A.B.Keane". (Emphasis supplied.) From the Roman word Tribus, comes "Tribe", one of the three groups into which the Roman military were originally divided. The Romans were a military nation. Their armies had ranks, officers, and commanders. A Tlingit tribe has a leader, or a chief, not a perfect way to describe a tribe, but after all, this is a "white man" word. It works. The white man word "clan" expresses many of the attributes of the Tlingit unit of government and is defined thusly (by Webster's): "A social group all the members of which are of common descent traced only in one line, the father's or the mother's, and do not intermarry. The clan differs from family in that relationship is determined only in one line". The Tlingits are matrilineal - meaning descent is traced through the mother. Her tribe consists of her grandmother, her mother, herself and her siblings, her children (sons too) but only the children of her daughters. The children of her sons belong to his wife who is of the opposite clan. Her husband is of her opposite clan also. Webster enlarges on what would be correct for the Tlingit's unit of government by saying: "(the clan differs) from the tribe in that, where the clan system prevails, the clan comprises several tribes the members of each of which may marry only outside of his own clan (cf. exogamy)".

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This is a close definition of a Tlingit clan. It is made up of several tribes each member of which runs on to the end of time through the mother so that her female descendants (as do the son's but not the son's children) always "belong" to the Mother's clan. However, a clan does not have a "chief". A.B.Keane, in Webster's International Dictionary, is very realistic: "In the clan system descent was probably at first reckoned only through the female line; consequently uterine ties alone constituted kinship, the father not being regarded as related even to his own children, and not considered as a member of the family." (Emphasis supplied). With this difference, that the fathers are not disregarded except in the sense that they have no authority over the children. That belongs to the mother's brother. The Tlingit have no word that defines a unit of government. Their word "Nah" comes nearest, but we must understand that while the person speaking might have in mind the Nah unit in the vicinity, it could embrace all units known by a common name. The Kik's-uddy for example, has houses in Wrangell and Sitka. Thus, if some one in Wrangell should ask me, "What 'Nah' do you belong to?" I would answer "Kik's-uddy" by which token he might say, "Oh, yes. I belong to the same 'Nah'. 11 Although he is of the Kik's-uddy domiciled in Sitka. With the limitations above noted, I shall continue to use the word "tribe" as meaning a unit of government. There is no sanction exercised over the members of the tribe by its (nominal) head. That is one of our difficulties. In a recent court action, the Federal government, in trying to limit the right of these people to claim land under the theory of tribal ownership as first defined by Chief Justice John Marshall, asked this question, "Who is your chief?" The Court revealed its first misconception. A chief is a ruler. He is said to become one by inheritance or consensus. In any case, the chief exercises leadership and so our translators have to say the nearest equivalent.

"Ah du suh i ahn-kah-woo?" (Who is your leader?) What is the poor Tlingit to say? Every rich man among them is an "ahn-kah-woo". Should the interpreter used the word "Zah-ty" (master), he would come closer to the idea in the mind of the government's attorney. However, there is no such thing as a "master" among the free Tlingit. Only a slave or a child has a "master". An uncle (mother's brother) is the "master" of his nephew, but he loses that (except socially) when the nephew reaches maturity.

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With all these limitations, why is the Tlingit compelled to reduce his language to its "nearest equivalent" by the Federal Government and then be bound by it? The government's attorney might ask, "What relation is your father's brother to you?" To which I would reply, "none". He is uK,sonny, which means only that he is my father's brother.

Enough of this. However, forceful Tlingit chiefs were not without personal ambition. In one of the last Koo-eeK, (calling together) at Wrangell, the guests were Nahn-ya-ahyi and Kuh-yashki-diton, two distinct units of government but closely related by blood and history. When each spoke of the other, he would say, "Uhh yuh-kah-woo"

(one who stands before my face, that is to say "my equal") as

both stem from Hit-klane of Taku River fame. As a part of the ceremony, the Nahn-ya-ahyi, led by Shaksh, sang the first song. Protocol required that the Kuh-yashki-diton sing next and that would be the end. But Shaksh wanted to show his pre-eminence and so he started another song, a distinct violation of strict etiquette. The two groups arrayed in dancing regalia, were standing on opposite sides of the great community house. When the second song started, everybody knew that an insult had been given. Each group reacted according to tradition. The Kuh-yashki-diton, with their knees bent began stamping, moving their feet rapidly, leaders yelling to tribes-men who were carrying short clubs. All were shouting "Hoo-00-00-00, Hoo-00-00-00, Hoo-00-0000" and following the rhythms of the leaders, pushing there way slowly but inevitably toward each other. They would meet in the center of the house. A few more feet and a battle would be fought with blood and violence. Old Lady Julia Yowdat (Kuh-daysh-kuh-hadt),

a sort of "mother-in-Israel", a power in the Tee-

hit-ton Tribe, and her nephew Yuh-koog', began looking for the Raven hat. If brought between

the striving parties it would act like the mace in parliament, for the Raven symbolized the common fatherhood of the angry parties. The Raven hat was in a box under a pile of goods and time was too short to get it. With a remarkable quickness of mind, Old Julia shouted, "Caw, Caw" in imitation of the Raven. At once, the parties came to themselves and became quiet. They remembered that they were in the house of their fathers whose emblem was Raven, and they were shamed that a woman had to make the appeal which reminded them that they were a diminishing people. How then do we get chiefs or leaders? How do we get rid of them? Since leadership comes by consensus, only the ablest man could become chief and he was accorded this position only so long as he merited it. About 1942 in Wrangell, at the hearing for the Tee-hit-ton vs U.S. Indian Land Suit case, an incident occurred that was not understood by the U. S. Attorney, but that marked the passing of one chief and the "elevation of another".

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About sixty years before this, the mother of the tribe said, "We must have a leader" and so she called the people to a council. In the formal speeches that followed, the leading woman related the necessity confronting the tribe. This mother was the sister of Chief Gush-Kwho had recently died. She announced, "This young man (a nephew) will be our leader". And so he was accorded the new name of Gush-K.,hereditary in this tribe. This man did not live long. Once again, the "Mother-in-Israel" gave a feast. The mother this time was Old Lady Julia (Yowdat) as she came to be called. She bestowed the name Gush-Kaka Nick Cashon the younger brother of the deceased chief. When the session of the Court hearing the land suit was about over, Old Lady Julia stepped down to the floor and addressed the Tlingit people sitting there. She said, "I know that we are too old to carry the load of our Tribe, and you can see that my brother who has been Gush-Kfor so long, is sick and not fit for the duties of his name. So, I am telling you who are here that it is time for another one to take his place. I will be glad if my brother (looking straight at Shquindy who was leading the fight to preserve the land in question) will take his place. That is the way it is". She had formally relinquished the title for her sick brother, realizing that the place and the power had long before passed to the very one she had now indicated. That is the way that William Lewis Paul, Shquindy added "aka Gush-K_"and became chief of the

Tee-hit-ton Nah. FPD) This discussion about the meaning of a word is important because of the misconception of the tribal governments of the Tlingit, especially as it related to the Kik's-uddy of Sitka. You can see how it could easily have happened that in the quarrel about the land and trade with the Russians, some tribes took no part in the fight. It was not because they were "friendly" or "unfriendly" to the Russians. It has frequently happened that battles have been fought in the very center of some village, but only the houses of the tribes at war were attacked and with only the members of the warring tribes fighting. Next door all remained at peace. It was not their quarrel or war. By all the tests, the Kik's-uddy of Sheet'kah are a part of the Git'shees who left the Nass, journeyed around Behm Canal, and took possession of extensive lands along the Shtuk'heen having a village even at "Little Canyon", about nine miles north of Telegraph, B.C. These people have the same totems, stories, lore, and names; but the Sheet'kah group does not have a clear

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record of their migrations and so they have localized around Sheet'kah some of the legends attributable to the Nass area. The historians of the Sheet'kah Kik's-uddy can tell of their migration from the Nass, but they skip the intervening history, taking it up only after they arrived in the area where the Russians found them. Appleton's Guide Book to Alaska, published in 1893 or 1894, says that, in the beginning, two Kik's-shah of Wrangell married two brothers of the Kog-wahn-ton. From this union, the two Kik's-shaw of the Shgut'quon

became the ancestors of the Kik's-uddy of Sheet-kah. That

common heritage explains why the totems and names of Kik's-uddy of Sheet-kah and of Kik'suddy of Shtuk'heen are the very same.

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29 - Some Raven Legends Common to Sheet'kah and Shtuk'heen The Kik's-uddy tribes of Sheet'kah and Shtuk'heen have Raven as their premier totem. It is not surprising that they relate his adventures in almost identical language. The entire Tlingitspeaking people own in common the story of the creation and agree that the overlord was named Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl (Raven-Who-Lives-Above-the-Nass). He is generally accepted as being the Creator Raven, but there is little foundation in the lore of these people for the title of creator! When the stories begin, the world had already been created and Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl was in the upper firmament and in control. There was another Raven who is often confused with the Creator Raven.This second Raven was a benevolent scamp, a sort of Robin Hood, robbing those who had, in order to give to those who had not, all the while taking good care of himself. I call him Scamp Raven. He seemed to be like the ravens that now inhabit these parts, and yet he was also a person. He could talk any language whether that of man, bird, beast, or fish. It was no trouble for him to fly to the sky and pass into the upper firmament; or to walk the earth like a man; or to descend into the deep waters and visit the cities of shark, keet, sculpin, or others as suited his pleasure. When wishing to appear as a man, he would take off his wings and feather coat and hang them up on some convenient post. He would slip his beak to his chin. When wishing to become a bird again, he would put his feathers on. No matter what his difficulties, he surmounted them. Should he fail, however, he always had a good reason, and his explanation always reflected credit upon himself. Even his present color - black - does not shame him; although everybody knows that once upon a time Raven was a white bird and his change of color was a penalty imposed upon him to let the world know that he had been caught stealing. One of the benefits Scamp Raven brought to us was fire. He persuaded a duck to fly to the land of the setting sun that is the repository of fire, as all mankind knows. The duck had a beautiful long beak which kept getting shorter and shorter and brighter and brighter by the heat and the fire he was carrying in it. Every time the duck faltered, Scamp Raven would encourage it by saying, "Just a little ways more", pointing indefinitely beyond the beyond until shore was reached. Scamp Raven and mankind got fire and the duck got a nice, short, red beak. What better proof does anyone need? But who was before Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl? Who was Scamp Raven's father? Who was his first mother? Scamp Raven undertook to steal the Great Light, the Moon, and the Stars. To do this deed, he was born again as the son of the daughter of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. But where did he

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come from before the daughter of the Creator Raven swallowed the hemlock needle? Who then was the wife of the Great Raven? In the course of centuries our historians have lost the answers to the foregoing questions. Somewhere along the way, life began. How? Who is there to say that a Power did not create it? That explanation would be a lot more reasonable than merely to say "It happened!" The Deist with a bold candor explains the miracle called life by saying "God created life". While the Theist with no qualms of conscience says, "God created man!" The Hlane-git has informed us that the "first being" (who seems always to have been) was Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. He was the custodian of the Great Light, the Moon, and the Stars, and

lived in the firmament that was above the earth. He created man and had a grandson who after a while turned selected men into women - and much else. The Tlingit would have us believe that behind and through everything there is an intelligence that controls. This power he calls "yake".

To help Creator Raven rule the world, he created Dloog. The Heron (who is not to be confused with the Sand Hill Crane - "doohl") thus became the first of the lower beings. Others were created to attend Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. Among these were Ahn-da-wooc/'sah-nuk (Little-Old-Man-Who-Understands-Trouble)

and Hlu-wat-uwadj'gikan

("The-Man-from-Whom-

Nothing-ls-Hid") who could solve all puzzles and answer all questions, to act as aides. These two men were said to be "The-Men-Who-Stand-Near-at-All-Times".

It is a position higher

than a slave or servant, lower than a free person but considered a position of great honor. Since Scamp Raven was in evidence, and his many activities of harmless deviltry were known to their world, the Tlingit had to account for him. In his first birth he is said to have been born the son of "The-Man-Who-Was-Begotten-Above" - Keet-kowsi-teeyee-kah. Our historians differ on this point. I use the phrase "said to have been born". Creator Raven created mankind and possibly two women: a wife for himself called G'eense-hanoa in Haida, and Keet-shoo-gun-see, his daughter. After Scamp Raven was born, he discovered how Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl created woman. On an obscure island was a tree whose fruit were the genital organs of women. Only Creator Raven had access to this island called "Goose-kah-di". Scamp Raven discovered this island and went there. He picked the "fruit" thereof, and took them back to mankind. He selected certain men on whom he slapped the "fruit" to appropriate places - thus creating womankind. He slapped

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the last of the stolen fruit on himself. If you will notice how Raven walks, you will see that he walks like the Tlingit woman of old. The Greeks believed that there was a Supreme Being called Zeus who sat upon Mount Olympus and exercised power. This god was not like Jehovah because in their theology they allowed him to do things that were out of character with Jehovah. However, Zeus and Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl are similar. There is no evidence that the Tlingit considered Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl in a same religious concept as Zeus was to the Greeks. Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl was called other names that some writers decided had religious significance, but that only shows the presence of a poor interpreter. For example, one of his titles is "Kah-shuh-goon" which has been interpreted as "my creator"; whereas it only means "my ancestor". Another title is "Uhh-kee-nah-yagi"

and means "The-Spirit-That-ls-Above-Me". "Uhh-kee-nah-

yagi" does not and never has exercised any power over mankind. Having set the world in

motion, Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl then lost all power to hold and control that which he wanted to keep from his creatures. That is why the Great Light, the Moon, and the Stars could be stolen from him. He did not know that the child of his daughter was not conceived in the usual manner but was simply the reincarnation of his nephew for the purpose of gaining admittance to Great House in the firmament above the earth. He was warned by "The-Man-From-Whom-Nothing-ls-Hid" who said to Nass-shuh-kee-yeih/, "I don't like the looks of that young fellow. He has eyes like Raven's. He is a child in everything except his eyes. They are old and sly and move like Raven's". When Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl was making the planet Earth firm in the atmosphere, he had trouble suspending it, so he devised the same plan the Greeks did with the exception that he put a woman under the earth instead of a man. He called her "Hah-yee-shahn-ouk" (The-Little-OldWoman-Beneath-Us) and commanded her to hold up Earth. The Tlingit has never questioned the part women play in carrying the burdens of the world. This Little-Old-Woman, however, demanded that she have assistance in supporting her burden and so Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl gave her the foreleg of a beaver. If you are familiar with the unique strength of the beaver's foreleg, you can understand the wisdom of his choice. Sometimes though, The-Little-Old-Woman gets tired and has to change her position. She gives a heave or a jump and shakes the world. That is why we have earthquakes. Sometimes though, the quake is merely because she has to cough. She is still there patiently doing her duty.

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On the Raven totem pole in Wrangell, she is the bottom figure with a stick across her breast that represents the foreleg of the beaver. The latter part of her name "shahn-ouk" means "to be pitied" - an apt interpretation for one who must carry the burden of the Earth for all eternity and a day. After God "created the heaven and the earth ... darkness was upon the face of the earth ... And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters ... And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so." That is the way it was in the cosmology of the Tlingit, except that they did not ascribe it to their Great Raven, Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. He lived in the upper firmament in a Great House. Wise men and servants surrounded him. He kept his daughter under constant guard with him. And there also, he kept the Great Lights - each in a separate box. The idea of an all-powerful Jehovah, like the whole of Christianity, was new to the Tlingit. To make it harder, the missionaries talked nothing but English and funneled the gospel through an interpreter. Could the first converts ever appreciate the beautiful picture of Jesus, "the loving shepherd" hunting for a lost sheep when the interpreter

had to use the term "mountain

sheep"? No animal is more wild or self-reliant. Likewise, missionaries grasped the Tlingit's story of the flood to prove the verity of the Bible and all that was contained therein. On one occasion, when our premier missionary, the Rev. Mr. S. Hall Young, was reading the story of the Flood, he said, "And it rained forty days and forty nights, and the waters covered the face of the earth". My Mother, then a girl of seventeen years, was the interpreter, standing in the accustomed place next to the preacher. She remained silent. Rev. Young, thinking that she did not hear the passage, repeated it. But still the girl was silent. He turned to her and said, "Tillie, didn't you hear what I read? 'And it rained forty days and forty nights, and the waters covered the face of the earth.' What is the matter?" "Mr. Young, it has rained more than forty days and forty nights here and the waters never covered the face of the earth. If I tell them this story, they will not believe it." There are similarities between Bible stories and Tlingit lore. We are impressed by the fact that Noah sent Raven to make the first survey on the status of the flood. Tlingits understood why

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Raven did not return. When that sly bird found that the tops of the mountains had thrust their peaks through the waters, he "staked" his claim to ownership while Eagle was roosting inside the Ark, only omitting that land the Ark perched on. That is the reason Eagle clan tribes could take only what was left - the little bit of ground that was under the Ark. Since then, Raven Clan Tribes have given their brothers-in-law other areas to keep them happy. Other similarities appeared to convince the Tlingit that it was proper that their lives should be governed by the Bible and that Jehovah it was that "sent Raven to feed Elijah in the wilderness". Take the story of Ruth and Boaz, which I have discussed previously with regard to our marriage customs. Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law, had a closer unnamed relative than Boaz who had to relinquish his prior right in order for him to marry Ruth. Boaz had also to pay Ruth "to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance". All of this in the land of "Cay-nah-ahn" as the Tlingit would say, which means "The Land of Kaynah". The evidence piles up. The Tlingit knew about "Ka-suh-ahn" the land of beauty - the sands of whose beach are so fine and smooth and intermingled with variegated jewels that flash like winking eyes no matter where you might look. Ka-suh-ay, that wonderful picture of nature drawn by a supernatural artist beyond any power to describe becomes "Ka-suh-ahn" or as the white man spells it, "Kasaan". Then why not "Kay-nah-ahn," the land of Kay-nah? The evidence piles up. The Tlingit word for father is "eesh" while the Hebrew word "eesh" means "man" and, hence, could mean "father". The Hebrew word for woman is "eeshah". The Tlingit word "shah" means "mountain", and so he calls woman "shah-wut", the base of the mountain. What a significant metaphor to describe woman! Where this evidence leads, who can say! The nephew, Raven, had a common name, "Yeih/11 , which by interpretation means, "Raven". He lived and moved about during the time when the world was without form and void. It was a time when the waters covered the face of the earth. While he was engaged in this aimless wandering, he saw Sculpin or Bullhead, to use his common name, poke his head out of the water and heard him say, "Come down to this ball of kelp and visit with us in the undersea world". So Raven flew down to the ball of kelp that was about eighteen inches in diameter and split it in two with his beak. When the ball opened, he saw a ladder leading downward. Raven descended this to the bottom of the ocean where he met Sculpin. They walked until they came to the City

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of Whales. Raven saw a totem pole, which the Tlingit call Koo-tee-yah (Something-That-lsMade). When he returned to his world above the ocean, he made his own totem pole. He put himself on top, then the body of Sculpin with a split tail, then a bearded face, and finally Whale. It was the record of his adventure: his invitation from Sculpin to visit in the undersea world, his landing on the ball of kelp, splitting it open with his beak (that explains the cleft in Sculpin's tail), then descending to the floor of the ocean where he changed his appearance to that of a man by dropping his beak to his chin for a beard, and his visit to the City of Whales. This story comes from the Haida. I have a small totem pole representing this event carved by my Haida great grandfather Edenshaw, many of whose descendants still live in Massett, B.C. Following the flood, land appeared; but there was no tide because Yah-keez-koo-kay-ouk (SheWho-Commands-the-Tide) refused to straighten her legs. As long as she kept her legs drawn up close to her body, the tide could not ebb. Raven went to the cave where she had shut herself and opened the door. There, ostentatiously, he began eating sea urchins that he had obtained when he visited the City of Whales. He asked her to let the tide ebb. She refused. Yeihl said to her, "If you won't do as I tell you, I will jab your buttocks with the sharp needles of

this sea urchin". He asked her again and then again. When she refused the fourth time, he moved in close and made as if to jab her. In her fright she cried out, "I will lower the tide". Raven sent his servant Get-tza-nook (mink) to see how far the tide was receding while Yahkeez-koo-ouk was stretching her legs.

Mink called, "It is now half a man, Kah-shoo-woo". So Raven said to the woman, "Lower yet". Mink said, "It is down a full man." Raven said, "Lower yet. All the way." Finally Mink said, "It is out more than a man."

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All the beaches were now covered with seafood and so Raven commanded Yah-keez-koo-ouk, "After this, you are to raise and lower the tidal waters twice each day during all the months and years that are to come". That is the reason why the world has a tidal system - the old woman contracts and straightens her legs as Yeihl commanded. Those of us who are trying to preserve the ancient records find all too often that it is difficult to get records that have not been influenced by the new civilization. Even from sources that seemed careful. Maybe it is the lack of competent interpreters and translators of the "old" civilization. Sometimes it is the pride of the narrator himself. Some of these difficulties are illustrated in the foregoing story as told by an original source to Frederica de Laguna (late of Bryn Mawr) and Kay Birket-Smith in their study of the £yak People of Copper River (1940) wherein we find the following modern version of this Tlingit story. "Crow (the narrator means Raven) walk long ways. He saw a sea-egg (sea urchin) in the water. He jumped into the water. Cannot get it finally. At that time, it was high tide all the time. Old girl kept the tide up. He came to house. He said, 'Jesus Christ, I am cold! I got too many seaeggs'. "The old lady said, 'Where you get it?' wwhere I got it. Nothing doing!' He put the sea-eggs on her bottom and rubbed it. "The old lady she cry like hell. 'Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Tide going out', she say. "He go outside. Look at tide. It going out all right. He leave her there. "Don't touch (her) no more". There are a number of other stories that are substantially the same among the £yaks as among the Tlingit. Where did these stories originate? Dr.deLaguna and Birket-Smith think they were brought north by the Tee-hit-ton (my tribe!), a Raven clan that she discovered in this ancient village of £yak, a tribe that they identify as having come from the Wrangell district. That could be. Neither do they nor any other writer explain the Tlingit word "Ee-yuk'' which means "copper", and the fact that the Tlingit calls the Copper River "Ee-yuk-heen''. Identical stories are told showing that the Tlingit must have obtained their stories from a common source before they began their migration down the various rivers. Stories are found of the "creation", the "flood", the "theft of the stars, moon, and the sun" and the "creation of man" all the way down the Yukon River.

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All the stories of the creation begin alike - Darkness was everywhere. All mankind performed their tasks in darkness. Man hunted animals prowling about for food and clothing. Scamp Raven said to himself, "Why should it be so dark when I know that my great uncle has the Great Lights?" He conceived the idea to get into his uncle's house and find the way to steal the Great Lights. He flew to the entrance of the upper firmament, and went through it. He took off his Raven coat with its wings, laid it close by, and wandered about until he came near to the Great Raven House called Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl after Creator Raven himself. It was a massive structure - the forerunner in design of the communal houses later used by the Tlingit people. There was a smoke hole over the central fireplace of sand. Surrounding the fireplace were eight levels of platform. (The Great House at Kah-zehl-ahn [Old Wrangell], for instance, had ten). He changed himself into a hemlock needle, and dropped into a certain pool of water. When the daughter of Creator Raven came to the pool early on the following morning, her attendant first examined its surface. Keet-sho-gun-see sat and dreamed, playing with her quill. The hemlock needle drifted toward her quill. She pushed it away and put her quill deeper into the water. But the needle moved toward the quill so fast and sure that it seemed to be alive. Again she pushed it away and sucked quickly to get her drink. In that brief moment, this animated needle found its way into the quill and was swallowed unnoticed by the young woman. The water tasted so fine. She stood up, smoothed out her garment and went back to the Great House. When she entered the doorway, Hlu-wat-uwadj'gikan

(Wise-Man-from-Whom-Nothing-ls-

Long-Hid) applied his usual test with the feather to see if her conduct had been above reproach. But the feather wouldn't stay still. It kept rising and weaving back and forth. Although he was suspicious, he said nothing, because he knew she was under constant guard. In the course of time it became known that the daughter of Creator Raven was with child. It was very mysterious because the only time anything out of her usual routine had occurred was when a hemlock needle had persistently tried to get into her drinking water. The Great Raven ordered a large hole to be dug outside in preparation for the birth of his expected grandson, and had it lined with sphagnum moss. This is how the Tlingit learned that sphagnum moss, rich in iodine, is useful. Childbirth among our people was entirely free from septicemia. In the usual time the child was born - the grandson of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl. From the beginning, the child's eyes were old, furtive, sly, shifty, and darted from side to side. The people called him Raven. He was unusual - too old, too precocious. He grew so fast. Nass-shuh-kee-yeih/ had a

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basket made and cut in half to hold him. This is how the Tlingit learned to make baskets for their babies. Some people say that the theft of the "Great Lights" was a part of the plan of Creator Raven. That is not hard to believe, because we are told that he called his wise men together and asked them about this child that seemed so old. Hlu-wat-uwadj'gikan

said, "His eyes are the eyes of Raven. That child will not look at you

because his spirit is old". (The nephew of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl, whose capacity for trickery and deceit became so well known that the word for falsehood was his very name.) Soon, nothing satisfied the child. His eyes would glance upward to the three boxes of light hanging on the wall while he fretted and whimpered upon the floor. His attendants gave him one thing after another for amusement with no effect. He began to cry. Some who heard him said his crying sounded like "kook! Koo-oo-ook!" (the Tlingit word for "box"). They thought it partly because he kept pointing to the precious boxes. But the Wise-Man-from-Whom-Nothing-ls-Long-Hid said, "That cry sounds like '"Caw! caw!' to me. He sounds like Raven!" But Nass-Ravenwas very proud of his precocious man-child, his first grandson. So he finally said, "Give him what he wants!" The Box of Stars was given to the boy who immediately became quiet. He seemed to know that something precious was inside. He rolled the box around, thumping and bumping it. When no one was looking, he slipped the catch. At once the lid burst open. The stars escaped, streamed up and out through the smoke hole, soared into the heavens and distributed themselves where you can see them even unto this day. The Great Chief was now warned. Those Raven eyes that twisted and turned purple and iridescent were always averted from the direct gaze of the watchers! Why? More and more the Wise-Man-from-Whom-Nothing-ls-Long-Hid looked and watched. If he could only look straight into the child's eyes, the Wise-Man felt that he could tell if the child were really Raven. He walked around, carelessly it seemed, always maneuvering to get a direct look at the child's eyes. Just as often, the child found an excuse for turning and twisting and looking elsewhere. It was a contest! Not for long was little Scamp Raven satisfied. He had work to do. The next box was the Moon! He burst into tears. His roars of anger filled the room. "Koo-oak! The box! The box!" it sounded like to his fond mother. She repeated the words to his grandfather.

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But the Wise-Man warned them, "Don't give him the box. Those eyes are the eyes of Raven. Don't give him the box!" The insistent cries of the angry baby overcame the reluctance of the Great Chief. "Give him the box!" he ordered. It was done. Scamp Raven became quiet immediately. He opened the box and took out the bright ball, round and shining. He played with it as he sat with his feet apart on the floor. He tapped it lightly on top so it would roll. He played with the ball of pale moonlight with all the studied innocence of his persevering, tricky nature. Finally, when everybody was off guard, Scamp Raven rolled the Moon directly under the smoke hole. He gave it a swift punch upward. It went straight up. Someone shouted. Everybody looked and saw the boy reaching for it, trying to catch it. He missed, but struck it and gave it still another impulse that drove it still more swiftly toward the smoke hole. How great was the love of the grandfather that he could forgive his grandson the loss of his precious Moon! Ever since this time the grandson of a Tlingit has the right to use the totem of his grandfather. No one dared to reprove the child. Indeed, he seemed to be without blame even though he had lost two of the most precious boxes of light. The ball had slipped from his hands! It had to be an accident that in reaching for it, he hit it upward all the harder. After a time, everyone became reconciled to the situation. There was one more task to be performed - the greatest of all - but Raven knew that he was suspected. He must go slowly until all was forgotten. Time went on. The clever fellow, however, was not too quiet. He gave off the feeling of being restless. He whined sometimes, and occasionally he would look at that last box. The Little Raven brooded and began an endless moaning. He didn't yell or scream this time just kept up his endless moaning until it seemed certain that he was sick. He ate listlessly. Wise men were summoned. They surrounded him and tried all the arts they knew - in vain. It seemed as if the boy would die. "Do something", the Great Chief ordered. "Try giving him that last box. Perhaps that will cure him".

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So their greatest possession was taken from the wall and laid beside him. At first the child did not respond. After awhile he put out his hand and touched the box, but with only a casual glance in its direction. They were all watching him and he wanted them to think that he didn't care. The lchts were worried at his lack of interest and one of them pushed the box closer to him. Others struck it so that it sounded like a drum. Soon little Scamp Raven stopped moaning and began beating the Box of the Sun in imitation of his attendants. When he heard the sound that he himself had made, he began to take interest. Here was something new! So the people relaxed in the belief that he would get well. The grandson of Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl knew that the supreme test had come. This Light, which is called "guh-gahn", was something that was too precious to be thrown into the sky of the upper firmament. It was Raven's plan to keep it for occasional use in the lower firmament. That meant that he had to run away with it, instead of throwing it up the smoke hole as he had done with the Moon and the Stars. He began directing his game toward the doorway of the House. At least that would be different. He kept away from the area of the smoke hole, so the guards would not be alarmed. There was a guard always at the door, but he grew accustomed to seeing the little boy with the box romping nearby and so he became less vigilant. For four days Raven played and bided his time. On the evening of the fourth day, the little schemer rolled the box toward the door, closer, always a little closer. A quick glance around assured him that everyone was dozing. He followed the box to the door where he slipped it under his garment and started running. He did not intend to make a sound, but he could not control his Raven nature. As he went through the door, he uttered a triumphant "Caw! Caw!" The alarm was given. At once Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl reacted and shouted his orders. All the host of the Over-Sky-Peoplegave chase. The boy after all, was only a child, and too little to run fast. But he was still Raven, and in his panic he fell back on his Raven way of running. He seemed to be hopping, making great leaps by putting down one foot right after the other, followed by a long leap, and waving his free arm as if it were a wing - not a true run. He stretched out his neck and pushed with his feet in great awkward leaps, striving to get to the hole near where he had hidden his Raven coat. They chased him over hill and vale through woods and over rocks. Raven running for his life and to keep the priceless Great Light; the Sky-People to capture and perhaps to kill him on orders from the Great Chief. Just as capture seemed certain, Raven reached the hole, seized his Raven coat and leaped through without stopping to put it on. As he fell, he got his coat over himself and he felt the

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motion of his wings take control. He breathed a sigh of relief and triumph, clutched the precious Box of Sunlight closer and floated down to earth - passing through the smoke of many villages. Smoke that man now calls clouds. He landed near the Nass River. He was hungry and thirsty. Through the darkness he could hear the voices of people fishing for sahk. He called out, "Give me some fresh water to drink!" "Fresh water! Hah !" cried the Frog People in their peculiar and hoarse way. "Give this stranger some of our precious water? Hah !" Raven called again, "I'm hungry. Give me some of your sahk, or I will break daylight upon you!" This was just too much for the fisher folk. One of them said, "Who is this that threatens us? Does he think that he is Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl that he can break daylight upon us?" At this taunt Scamp Raven opened his coat just a wee, little bit; a flash of light shot forth like lightning. It illuminated the whole river, revealing the tiny canoes, each with its own fisherman. Nothing like this had ever happened before and in the greatest alarm the occupants each seized his fur coat and leaped into the river. That is why we have the different kinds of game animals, for each man became the kind of being whose fur he used for his coat; fur seal, mink, marten, wolverine, bear, land otter, ermine, and all the rest. With the refusal and flight of these people Raven became so angry that he dashed the Sun Box down upon the rocks breaking it. The Sun roared up into its place in the sky, a blessing to mankind, and a reminder that Scamp Raven was the benefactor who used his devious tricks for the world's greater good fortune and happiness. On the totem pole created to tell the story, Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl is standing upon his box of power. On his breast is a frog that has no special significance in the Raven story; but is placed there to show that the one in whose honor the pole was erected had a right to use the frog as an emblem. The frog in this connection has a story of its own - quite a long one, too. Under the box is Scamp Raven with the figure of a man between his wings to show that he had the power to change his form into that of a man whenever the occasion arises. Below Scamp Raven is his second mother, Keet-shoo-gun-see.

At the bottom is Hah-yee-hahn-osuk (Little-

Old-Woman-Who-ls-Beneath-Us). Across her breast is the foreleg of the beaver that she uses to help carry the weight of the world.

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Scamp Raven did not get his sahk. So he continued to walk the beach near Cape Fox hoping to find something to eat. His hunger began to be more than he thought he could stand. Yet he continued on, with that swaying walk so peculiar even to our present ravens, and to our old time Tlingit women. In the distance he thought he saw Seagull dive into the shallow water near the beach, and come up with a herring that it promptly swallowed. Raven decided to get that herring. Close by he saw Doohl (Sand Hill Crane) standing in the shallow water. Raven went over to Kehitl-yudee (Sea Gull) and said, "Did you see me talking with Crane? He told me that you were nothing but a short, fat descendant of a witch and that he was coming over here to kick you. When he does, present your chest to him because that is the strongest part of you, only he doesn't know it. I am giving you this advice because I am your friend. See him looking at you? He is afraid I am telling you what he said, but don't you be afraid". With that Raven walked back to Doohl. To Doohl, Raven said, "You saw me talking with Sea Gull? It is really terrible what things he said about you. I don't like to repeat them, but I feel I must because I am your friend. He said he is coming over to kick you. If he does, his weakest point is his chest. Kick him hard there and you will win. See him, how he is acting? You had better go now." For just at that moment Sea Gull flew a few feet toward Doohl intending to swim. Raven went near to Sea Gull. Just then, Dooh/ had to move his legs to rest them. So Raven said to Sea Gull, "See? I told you so. You had better not wait, but fly at him before he gets set". Sea Gull leaped and flew at Crane who then rushed toward Sea Gull. Crane aimed a kick at the breast of Sea Gull. He, remembering Raven's advice, puffed out his chest. Contact was immediate and vigorous, and, of course, the herring popped out of Sea Gull's mouth. Raven grabbed it and made off with it. Sea Gull and Crane realized that Scamp Raven had duped them. That is the reason the Tlingit say, "Perhaps Yeihl has been talking with Kehitl-yudee and Dooh/!" to describe a sly plot. Scamp Raven continued his journey along the seashore. He stole a salmon from some people. While he was sleeping by a warm fire, the injured parties punished him by taking his gizzard. They took it and kicked it around the ground. Raven tried to recapture it but whenever he got close, someone would kick it away. Finally they tired, and Raven recovered his gizzard. This is the reason why Raven's gizzard is so big, dirty looking, and covered with sand.

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He had a friend during these times - Sculpin or bullhead as he is commonly called. But Raven was so hungry that even the ties of friendship could not stop his trying to kill his friend for food. He seized Sculpin just back of his head and squeezed as hard as he could, so hard in fact, that Sculpin got that peculiar shape it has now - a big head over a body that tapers down almost to a point. But Sculpin slipped through Raven's fingers and escaped. (Was this the first "squeeze play" following the first "ball game" with Raven's gizzard for a ball?) The Tlingit knew long before the white man, that salmon always return to its parent stream, and they know the reason. When Raven made the salmon streams he wanted to be sure that salmon in each stream would return. So he put a daughter of Gunnah-kuh-date at the head of each stream. There they lie, always young and beautiful, each with her full young breast resting upon the smooth sand. Out of each breast flows a perpetual stream of life-giving fluid without which the salmon would surely die. No wonder the salmon return! There might be some demonstrable truth in this story. At least I thought so, when reading the report of Dr. C. H. Gilbert, the fish expert employed by the United States Bureau of Fisheries, who after several years' experimentation, declared that the early, first run of salmon are male.

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30-The Koch'uddy Once when I was visiting in Klawock and talking with one of their best historians about a tribe from Kee-yuk (Kake), I said, "I would like to know the history of that family". He said, "Don't you know? They are the same family as yours. Once when you had moved your village, there was not enough room for another house and so this family moved just around the point. There was plenty of wide grass, so they were called 'People-Who-Live-on-the-GrassyPlace - the Sowk'tee-nedy

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In the town of Wrangell, there is a small tribe called Koch'uddy. At feasts, when they come in dancing, they always associate with Kik's-uddy and Tee-hit-ton. Could it be that they are the same people? When I was in Kee-yuk (The-Town-That-Never-Sleeps), I heard their oldest historian talking about Scamp Raven. He was saying, "Yeihl was very hungry (as usual) when he came to a town not far from Cape Fox. When he entered the town, he asked for something to eat. "The people took one look at him - fat and sleek. They scoffed at him. 'Why don't you go out there (pointing)? There are lots of halibut and easy enough for you to catch.' "But Yeihl is lazy and wants others to feed him! He went under the water and began stealing the bait off the halibut hooks of the fishermen. He did it so cleverly that the people couldn't understand why they were losing their bait without catching any fish. He would get his fill, return to the town and then he would swagger about and speculate with the people as to why they were losing their bait. "After a while Yeihl got careless. One of the fishermen got the point of his hook under the upper half of Raven's beak. When he felt that he had hooked something, he kept the pressure steady and pulled evenly, gradually increasing his strength. Raven was caught! He struggled hard, twisting and turning. He tried to come up faster than the man was pulling the line in, but the man knew his business and kept the line taut. As Raven neared the surface, he gave one last desperate pull, using his wings like paddles and succeeded in getting under the canoe. He turned on his back and clamped his feet against the bottom of the canoe. Now he had a purchase. The fisherman pulled and pulled with all his strength. He knew that 'something strange' (kuh-si-yei-yi-ut) was on his hook. Suddenly he felt it give. He pulled his hook up quickly. Indeed, there was a strange thing on it. He didn't realize that he had the upper half of Raven's beak! "He showed it to his partner and said, 'I wonder what this is?' They both returned to town.

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"Raven made off to the shore and went into the woods. He made himself a false nose of spruce pitch, and then he went to town. He went to the house at the end of the road, and spoke to the people. '"I hear that some mysterious thing was caught by one of the fishermen yesterday and nobody knows what it is.' '"May I see it?' "'It is in the next house.' "Raven entered the next house and went through the same performance, receiving the same reply, until he got to the very last house where he was told that the 'kuh-si-yei-yi-ut' was there. When he asked to see it, they gave it to him. He held it close to his eyes and said that it was too dark, and moved closer and still closer to the fire. He kept twisting his head looking and examining the mysterious thing. All the time, he was moving his false nose closer to the fire until it melted. Raven kept his head turned away, and when he saw his chance, he threw the false nose into the fire, slapped his beak back into place and with a 'caw' sprang into the air and flew through the smoke hole." When our historian finished with his story, I said to him. "We have the same story among the Shgut'quon, and one of our composers made a song that is famous everywhere. Perhaps you

know it, too. "It was the time when a young man, Yeihl-goo-K,oo (Raven's Slave) by name, was in love with a very beautiful woman of the Nahn-ya-ahyi family, the wife of Chief Kah-duh-shan. While both were under the influence of liquor, they fought and Yeih/-goo-K,oo bit off the end of her nose. In his remorse, he composed this song: 'Dahl yutS,woo-da-tseen, shi yeihl, Ha yee-day woo-goo'din. Ah-gah goo-sheh, Dao h/oo kee woo-doo-dzi-yaik? Ah-gah ahn nuhh yah wuh goat duh hloo-woo-gah, Ash djeet doo-tee, ahn gahnt woo-di-kin. Uh-yuhh ahn suh-nee. Dao goodji-yah-kah-woo, Ahn gahnt woo-di-kin. Wah-suh yoo-hli titk da ya,

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Oja Now ga duh nuh, Uh too nut{_neetch nuk-guh-goot.

*** 'Unlimited was his strength that Raven, So under the sea went he. It was then, was it not, His nose upward was it pulled? After that through the town for his nose did he search. When given to him, out did he fly. In like manner might you perform On one of the opposite clan. With it outside you might fly, But intoxicated with liquor, Through this for nothing do I wander."' When I had related the Shgut'quon story to him, my historian answered in Tlingit, "Yes. He was telling his sweetheart of the opposite clan that she could twist and turn in imitation of the Raven for she, too, had lost her nose but because of intoxicating liquor, she now has nothing to wander for." "Perhaps", said he, "you would like to hear the story of the Koch'uddy?" but without waiting for my reply he continued. "We, your people. We too, come across from Nass long, long ago through your land (of Wrangell). "There are Koch'uddy at Wrangell and Kake too. The earliest white historians took a late incident in their migration and began their history in Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island, in front of which there is an island called Koch'. It was at least two generations after the main tribe had reached the area called 'Tahn-zuh-dah' where the salmon tasted like that of our beloved Nass'. "Finally, they came to a salmon stream in an unknown and nameless bay which we will call Koch', said their leader. There the salmon were so sweet that they were reminded of the other

place from years long past. Before the Master gave the word to settle at Koch', they had traveled the same journey, had the same experiences and history and the same houses and ceremonies as the Kik's-uddy and the Tee-hit-ton had. They are all one family. "Where, though, was this beloved homeland of the Koch'uddy? What was the standard for sweet-tasting salmon that they had to equal before they could settle down? When they left the

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Nass, they were Git'shees and already known as Hlane-git, the Tidal People. As they journeyed northward, they said to themselves and to others, 'Hlane-git oo-hahn. (We are Tlingit. We are Tidal People.)' "The great bands of Kik's-uddy and Tee-hit-ton settled on lands that met their needs and tastes. Their holdings spread straight across the Alaska Panhandle, from Point Baker through Etolin and Wrangell Islands, and the main shore. It was not far from Point Baker northward to Pybus Bay if you go through Rocky Pass, as the Koch'uddy probably did. At Gambier Bay they thought they had a place which suited them. The waters were protected, the forests abounded with game and fowl, and streams were teeming with five or more varieties of salmon, but the leader was not satisfied. '"The salmon does not have the sweet taste of the Nass. We will continue on', he said. From this place they journeyed southward, past Point Gardner, across Chatham Strait to Gut Bay on the lower east shore of Shee, the island re-named 'Baranof' by latecomers. "Gut Bay is still remembered for its wonderful red salmon; but it did not meet the standard of the Koch'uddy leader. They pushed on, again pulling up their roots until they journeyed back almost to their former abode where they stopped to rest. "Chance caused them to stop in what is now called Little Pybus Bay. As they lay to in their canoes, they noticed a reef running down to the water behind into which flowed a salmon stream. They remembered their ancient history - it said there was a place on the Nass that had such a formation as this. A good sign! So they tasted the meat of the salmon from this stream. It was sweet 'like the salmon of the Nass'. The Master gave the word - 'Here we will stop'. "The slaves were landed first. Then the song leader composed a song to sing before they stepped from their canoes. This song is still remembered and sung by the Koch'uddy when they come onto the dance floor with their brother tribes. "To this new home, they gave the names which they had carried from their homeland. The reef became Duk-ahna-heen (From-It-the-Water). Keta salmon from the creek behind it, they called Keta-kuh-woo-heen (Keto-Salmon-ls-In-This-Water). The island fronting the bay became Koch'.

This group that had separated itself from its main band of migrating Raven clansmen became Koch'uddy (Belonging-to-Koch'), even as the days before the trouble that caused them to leave

the Nass. "Behind the reef, to guard the salmon stream, they built a huge house which they name 'Kooteez-hit' (The-Hunting-House), and a second house named Kahk-hit (House-in-the-Valley). They

carved the Salmon-Hat-with-Abalone-Shells and exhibited it at a feast of dedication. The hat is

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topped with cylinders woven of spruce root which are called 'Shu-kee-ut' meaning 'SomethingAbove-the-Head'. "The hat is faced with an animal symbol called 'Koon' which maybe was a ground-hog. Our historians are unable to say. This hat is precious. Hair of custodians never cut until he die then one lock is cut, rolled, tied, and put on hat. Then a song is sung. "The number locks of hair show how many custodians the hat has." The story of the Koch'uddy does not end here for there are more of this tribe "in the Interior" than along the tidal waters. By "Interior" is meant the headwaters of the Shtuk'heen whose principal post office is Telegraph, B.C. These "Interior" Koch'uddy spread to Ahn-klen (Atlin, a word that means "Big Lake"), and then down the Yukon River. In each locale, the Koch'uddy adopt the language of the district. At Telegraph, it is Athabascan, which the Tlingit call Goo-nah-nah (foreigner). At Ahn-klen, the language is mostly Tlingit. Down the Yukon, again it is Athabaskan. Whatever their language, they all know that they are Koch'uddy of the Tlingit speaking people. The Koch'uddy would go back and forth in season from their new homes to their older ones near Kah-zehl-ahn about eighteen miles southeast of Wrangell because they never abandoned their older villages. They had houses where they hunt, others where they fish, and still others where they collect berries. For this last occupation, no place was quite so good as Shtuk'heen. The farthest village at "Little Canyon", about nine miles north of Telegraph, was shared by the Kik's-uddy and the Tee-hit-ton.

The Koch'uddy also had a town called "Klak-heeny" (Plentiful-Berry-Stream) on the Shtuk'heen. One day a woman of the tribe and her daughter went out to pick tinx (bearberry). They had been warned that the Tahl-dah-quon (Haida original tribe) was on the warpath seeking to capture careless ones of the Shgut'quon, and they must not stray far from the main camp. A young woman, Uh-jit, however, wandered away and was captured. Although the girl's father, Kah-jihl-kah, of the Kuh-yashki-diton did his best to recover her, he was not successful.

The captors took the girl to Kah-nadhl, a village of the Dukhla-wedy (Wolf Clan) who had not migrated south when the main band went under the glacier that spanned the Shtuk'heen. Their village was on the Hah-kli-ny, a river that empties into the Shtuk'heen. There Uh-jit was taken in marriage by a young man of the Tahl-ton. Although she had been captured, she was not a slave, yet she was not free. She had eight children, four sons (Ne-uk, Soo-ny, Tah-wooz, Kitch-ig), and four daughters (Toon, Duhl-tin, Kens-ga~ Kuh-yah-ni-shah-

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wut). I mention these names because children of that tribe exist with these names even now. Names are very precious and as the tribes get smaller, children receive additional names in the effort to keep the names alive. Because of this, I have five names: Kuh-kwan (He-Who-Commands-the-North-Wind,

or Frost);

Shquindy (Impossible-to-Be-Dishonorable) and the name of an lcht; Shis-hahn - refers to the

proud walk of the Raven; Dtow-kak - refers to Raven's feathers; and Ah-nuh-eesh - the father of Ah-nuh, a famous man whose name has such a meaning as "the sturdy oak" but literally "On-

the-Land". An ancient belief of the Tlingit is that the souls of the departed often return to earth in some child. Very slight proof is required to prove reincarnation. In my case, the great Shquindy had a lock of white hair near the center of his head. When I was born with this very

distinctive birthmark, everybody knew that Shquindy had returned! Uh-jit's Koch'uddy sons and daughters knew nothing about the lower country, not even where

the Shtuk'heen flowed. After a time, curiosity prompted them to ask their mother, "Where does the Shtuk'heen go?" She decided to take her children to visit her tribe. So they set forth in a canoe to visit the land of her mother. Traveling down the river, they came to a cliff shaped like a horseshoe. The river is very shallow except close to the cliff. As they were passing at this point, one of the boys, Kitch-ig' (LittleFrog) said to his mother, "What is that on your back?" When she turned, he saw that it was a frog. He took it off, and put it on some floating kelp, saying "Here will you be". From that, this place was called "Glug'us-dah" which is the Tahi-ton word for "Sitting-on-Kelp". The Tlingit word is "Sook-kut-ah". Because of the kelp, Uh-jit knew that they were not far from salt water, and so they sang a song that is remembered and sung to this very day: "Gihl suh yuh-kuh

"Cliff it was on

NuX yun-day shoosh duh c{_ach.

Near shoreward was it pulled.

Ee-shahn, way-di-c{_ixj."

To be pitied is that frog."

They drifted down to a place called Sahk-kai (Eulachon Point) near Shaksh Island. When they got there, the children asked Uh-jit, "Where are our tribal friends? (Goo-soo hah-kony?)"

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A group of Tlingits going in the opposite direction called to them: "What tribe are you? (Dah kuh Nah suh wuh eh?)" Uh-jit answered, "We are Koch'uddy. (Koch'uddy oo-hahn)." Then she said to her children.

"There are your tribal friends. (Yoo doo i Xony)". Then they sang a song, "Dah-suh hah Xood ah wuh goot, Uh-jit. ("What is it comes among us, Uh-jit?")" She is a famous mother of all the Koch'uddy. Every generation has preserved this

name.

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31-The Kog-Wahn-Ton Nation is Born In the early days, life was easier. When the Shun-koo-kady came down the Copper River and named the turbulent stream "Ee-yuk'heen" they had already divided into two groups. The division had come because of the need for more room than the shores by the river afforded. The second group moved onto ground that was covered with grass, hence they were called "Tchoo-kun-ady".

As the families multiplied, "uncles" who had qualities of leadership would

build additional houses. This was essential - quality of leadership. At times, there would be two head chiefs, neither would do anything without the support of the other. These branch tribes built themselves a town on Glacier Bay at the very point that marks the pass from Icy Strait. The Tlingit name of the town was descriptive - Kah-kun-noowoo (Fort-atthe-Pass), now called Pt. Gustavus by geographers and Strawberry Point by the locals. Here houses were built: Ahn-igy-yah-hit

(On-the-Beach-Side-House), Kook'hit (Box-House); Djahk-

koody-hit (Eagle's-Nest-House), Djahk-hit (Eagle-House) and §_ooch-hit (Wolf-House).

It was a fine place for every purpose. Clear vistas in all directions so that no enemy could attack unawares. Plenty of game: bear, mountain goat and sheep, salmon of all kinds, besides other fish, and game birds. The ground was level and dry with wood not too far away. Up until now, the chief emblem of the group was §_ooch (Wolf). Even while the business of living was running along smoothly and according to plan, the leaders of these war-like people were aware of the uncertainties of life. So they trained their young men according to the custom. One of the principal exercises was to sit in the cold salt water of Glacier Bay made colder by the immense glaciers that gave the area its name. No wood was carried over from one day to the next. Every morning, at the break of day, uncles would give nephews a peremptory order to "Get up". None dared hesitate. It is the nature of young men to race, forming teams to compete with each other even amongst tribal brothers. One team from Ahn-igy-yah-hit kept losing no matter how hard they tried. The leader finally said to his companions, "Let us hide a part of our cut each day and on the last day, we will challenge the others that this last race will be for the championship. Whoever wins on this day will be the champion no matter what the past record might show." According to plan the challenge was made and accepted. The spirit of competition was keen. Everything now depended on this day's contest. In almost no time whatsoever, the tricky team was back with a big load of wood and by the time the other team returned, the first team had a great fire roaring. The other team knew that they had been tricked even though they could not prove it. They were angry and instead of building their own fire, they dropped their wood and

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attacked the center fire of Ahn-igy-yah-hit,

kicked the logs about and scattered them

everywhere until the Great House posts began to burn. Up to this time, the uncles had not interfered. They were willing to let the contest get rough, but burning the Great House was too much. So they ordered the contest to stop. Henceforth, this house was called "Kowa-gahni-hit (The-House-That-Burned)", shortened to Kog-wahn-ton. Their crest was Djahk (Eagle). At this time, Gooch (Wolf) was the premier crest of the Shun-koo-kady, Djahk was a sub-totem. The Kog-wahn-ton were aggressive and war-like. They refused to be second to anybody. In working out their ambitions, they elevated Djahk to be equal to §.ooch. As this tribe became more numerous, they migrated to form other tribal units at Sitka, Angoon, Hoonah, and Chilkat, carrying with them their pride and their claim to the highest honors. They were so successful in their campaign that when people talk about the side opposite the Raven, they usually say "Eagle Clan" instead of Wolf Clan. The Kog-wahn-ton spread as far west as Katalla and Yakutat, to Hoonah and Klukwan, and to Angoon and Sitka. The claim of premiership was not confined to just the one house. Other houses of the Shunkoo-kady, some of whom were so closely related that the distinction is hard to see, shared it.

At a later time, Yah-quon, whose house was at Angoon, became the premier chief of the Kogwahn-ton. He lived in the time when men rekindled the flame of revenge for unsatisfied deaths.

It is said that Yah-quon was reared to avenge the unsatisfied deaths of the Kog-wahn-ton in the bloody battle with the Shgut'quon at the island called Ahn-yuddy at the mouth of the Shtuk'heen. His opportunity came when three large canoe loads of Shgut'quon were invited to

Sitka to make peace. While they were dancing the peace dance, they were set upon. Only two women escaped death. It is notable that a map showing the holdings of the various tribes indicates almost all of Southeastern Alaska from Cape Fox to Katalla is owned by tribes of the Raven Clan. This is a stretch about two hundred miles northwesterly and about one hundred miles wide. All of Baranof, Admiralty, and Chichagof Islands, all the mainland shore and even up the Taku River, including the Ahn-klen (Atlin) country in British Columbia; almost all of Icy Strait to Cape Spencer and thence to the Copper River is Raven Clan with only small patches held by the opposite clan. There has to be a reason. Actually, there are several reasons. Usually tribes of the Raven Clan were the first to migrate westward. When tribes of the Wolf Clan preceded them, these later tribes let their spouses of the Raven Clan take the land out of love. (If you know the Tlingit men and how they cater to

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their wives, you might realize how likely this is the true reason). Then there is abandonment by the opposite side. It is true that the Dukhla-wedy abandoned a large area on north Prince of Wales Island. In other places Wolf /Bear tribes gave the land in settlement of indemnity payments. Two tribes then domiciled in Behm Canal about thirty miles from Ketchikan, seemed to be the most aggressive claimants - Kik's-uddy and Gahn-nuK_-uddy. These two tribes seem to be the mothers of all the tribes in Southeastern Alaska except the Raven Clan tribes who went down the Copper River and then westerly upon reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Copper River to Cape Spencer, almost five hundred miles, is owned by Raven Clan tribes and their ownership continues northeasterly on Icy Strait from Cape Spencer, and southeasterly from Cape Spencer to Cape Ommaney for one hundred fifty miles. The greatest tribe in the upper half of Southeastern Alaska was of the Raven Clan, Gahn-nuK_tedy whose capitol was Klowk'ahn. They owned most of the land in the Chilkat Valley basin.

Interference by the British at Fort Selkirk three hundred miles north caused a war party of this tribe to march on and to destroy the British Fort. The powerful tribe of the Kog-wahn-ton (a branch of the Shun-koo-kady tribe), strong in four towns (Hoonah, Sitka, Angoon, and Klukwan) owned almost no land - just that on which their houses were built. Other branches of the Shun-koo-kady tribe did own land. Marriages and intermarriages continued between the Shgut'quon Raven Clan tribes and the Wolf Clan tribes of Sitka until about 1832 when a war broke out between the Shgut'quon and the Kog-wahn-ton. A young Shgut'quon named Wan-g'i planned this war to avenge himself on his uncle Wun-gun who had literally "cut his face". Wan-g'i had displeased or perhaps even shamed his uncle thoughtlessly under circumstances

that the young man had forgotten but which were still deeply resented by the uncle, a Kuhyashki-diton chief of the Shgut'quon Federation. On an occasion of a great feast, Wun-gun

called Wan-g'i to the center stage. Wan-g'i thought he was to be honored and went out gladly. Instead, Wun-gun, using a big mussel shell (yeez), cut a great gash across his face. Wan-g'i left home and journeyed to his relatives in Sitka determined to get revenge. In

furtherance of his plan, he made love to the wife of Kuh-heen-oug', a prominent Kog-wahn-ton, and persuaded her to elope with him. They paddled first to Dee-gah-di-yet (Salmon Bay) and then to Yah-klah-ah (Lake Bay), neutral ground owned by the Tee-hit-ton who were friendly to the young man's tribe.

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One morning early, Wan-g'i, his woman, and his brother got into a small canoe to go seal hunting in the quiet waters of Oota-heen (Whale Pass).They journeyed on the very swift outgoing tide. When they came to the first rapids where the grade was about thirty percent, they prepared to rope the canoe down, thinking it safer to walk. The woman saw her husband in the woods beckoning to her. She said to Wan-g'i, "I am afraid you might lose the gun if something should happen to the canoe. Let me carry it past the rapids for you". Wan-g'i gave her his precious muzzle-loader and the two men went about lowering the canoe.

The woman went directly to her husband and gave him the gun. When Wan-g'i and his brother got the canoe down to the lower lake level, Kuh-heen-oug' shot the brother. Wan-g'i leaped into the water, dove, and came up in the kelp on the edge of the opposite bank. Kuh-heen-oug' saw him and shot him too. Kuh-heen-oug' now started home. He stopped at Kake. When he was asked if he had had any

luck hunting, he answered, "Nothing much. We only got a couple of halibut". At Kah-zehl-ahn, Shaksh of the Nahn-ya-ahyi Nah visited Wun-gun and told him to kill a Kogwahn-ton to even up the score. He figured that Wan-g'i was entitled to be killed for stealing Kuh-heen-oug's wife, but not the brother. So Wun-gun sent a war party toward Sitka.

In a narrow channel not far from Sitka, a Kog-wahn-ton and his wife were passing very close to the shore when the woman said to her husband, "Isn't it wonderful that we have journeyed this far and are almost home. Yet no enemy has seen us?" Just then the "enemy" shot them both. That was a mistake. Now the Kuh-yashki-diton were one ahead and gave the Kog-wahn-ton the excuse for further killings. This led to a sad page in Tlingit history. There were many marriages between the Kog-wahn-ton and Raven Clan tribes of the Shgut'quon before this incident. The great grandfather of the most noted Kog-wahn-ton chief

of "modern" times, Anna-koots, was a Tee-hit-ton by the name of Kah-gunnah-ah. My own Mother's grandfather was a Kog-wahn-ton. My great uncle, an lcht by the name of Shquindy, was married to a Kog-wahn-ton woman and their descendants live in Sitka to this day. My stepfather's grand uncle was a Kog-wahn-ton but that did not save him from death at the Sitka massacre. Chief Yah-nuK-na-huh called Kog-wahn-ton warriors from Hoonah, Angoon, and Klukwan (only Klukwan failed to respond) and planned to defeat the Shtuk'heen tribe on their own grounds. In

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spite of their wealth, they had the use of only one big war canoe. Its name was Chat/-yowk (Halibut canoe) and belonged to Hoonah. On a small island near the battle site, they intercepted a Tee-hit-ton by the name of Yun-tundjeet and his wife. They were stripped, shamed, violated, and then released. Meanwhile, the

uncle, who had not been captured, fled in his canoe. As soon as he came near Wrangell, he gave the warning yodel "ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho",

made by slapping the hand over the

mouth while shouting. The Shtuk'heen and the tribes involved in the previous 11incident" were warned. The Sitkans did not know the terrain and the tides around Wrangell, so they stopped at Ahnyuddy Island. The Shgut'quon swarmed over the island and began shooting at the Kog-wahn11

ton. When they saw Yah-nut{_-na-huh in his canoe tied to the shore by a painter", they began

shooting at it. They succeeded in cutting the rope and the canoe began to drift toward the Shtuk'heens. When his three nephews saw that, they each in turn, leaped into the water,

wrapped their legs around the bow and tried to pull it away. Only the mouth and nose were visible. Each was killed. The canoe kept drifting. When it got to the Shtuk'heens they pulled it ashore. The chief leaped out and walked to a flat place where he was surrounded. He held in his hands a great muzzleloader gun - actually a small cannon. He started dancing, turning about pointing the gun first at this one and then at another without shooting. As he danced, he said 11 Kut ayah' Yah-nut{_-nahuh (I am Yah-nut{.-na-huh)". Finally, Chief Shaksh shot and killed him, but by refusing to

surrender, Yah-nut{_-na-huh's name was not "captured". Nineteen men were captured. They were placed in a circle. Each man was asked, "Why are you doing this?" Each one said, "We came to visit." "Without your women and children?" Then he was smashed in the head with a war club. The nineteenth man of high caste was set free, placed in a canoe manned by slaves, and sent to Kake. From there he returned to Sitka. It was to avenge this battle that Chief Yah-quon of the Kog-wahn-ton was reared, and cruelly did he plot it. When the peace party (traveling with women and children) got to Kake, midway to Sitka, they were informed by Una-tee'ee, grandfather of Frank L. Booth of the Koch'uddy Nah, that the Kog-wahn-ton were planning to murder the Shgut'quon. Two of the culprit tribes, Kuh-yashkiditon and Nahn-ya-ahyi, associated tribes, turned back.

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The Tee-hit-ton, Koch'uddy, and Kahz-tf_a-quedy,all of the Raven Clan, went on. They were not apprehensive because they had not been party to the initial "incident". One young man said, "I am not afraid." And so they went to their death. Only two women survived. After the massacre, the story is that the bodies were thrown on the beach at the base of Castle Hill. A remark was made. "Let Raven eat them". It was in retaliation for what the Shgut'quon were reported to have said at the Ahn-yuddy Island battle "Let the wolves devour them". This bit of gossip has fanned the feud ever since. Clandestine killings by each side continued for at least forty years. It flared vigorously at Juneau where men of all tribes concerned went to work in the newly discovered gold fields. Since the massacre at Sitka, three formal peace treaties have been made. Each has been broken by the Kog-wahn-ton because basically no treaty can be made among equals unless the deaths are equal or indemnity paid to equalize them. That is why in the treaty of 1919 when Goonaowk returned from Sitka, Sheesh-gow asked him "Where are the sticks?" Goona-owk had not

demanded them. So there really was no peace. The missing link is at Sitka. The unsatisfied families are there. They must be paid by those who made the peace with the Shgut'quon. Up to now, it has not been done. In wars between tribes, the score of the dead is notated by a bundle of sticks, each one representing a death. The Goona-owk failed to demand the sticks. Some years later, a very prominent Kog-wahn-ton of Hoonah had a monument of marble shaped like a grizzly bear and marked with the name "Yah-quon'' shipped from Seattle to Hoonah. He sent a notice to the Sitka Kog-wahn-ton to get it and to erect it. The Sitka group, being concerned to keep the peace as a breach thereof would injure the Alaska Native Brotherhood,

a fraternal

organization

promoted

by graduates or ex-students of the

Presbyterian School in Sitka, refused to cooperate. And so the promoter of the project got his brother to convey the monument to the Union Oil Dock fronting the Indian Village. It lay for many months until it was taken ashore. The monument, surrounded by debris, now lies in obscure neglect in a front yard. A valiant effort has been made to create a real peace between these strong tribes, but the stories are told and then feelings are revived. Each side recalls the bitterness of spirit for causes of which each feels the blame is not "ours" but "theirs". There has to be a satisfaction.

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In the case of indemnity claimed by the Kog-wahn-ton from the Kik's-uddy for deaths inflicted by the Russians in the Kathlian fight in 1804, owing to the heavy expense entailed by the change in their town site, the Kik's-uddy were unable to pay enough. As a token they delivered a stone as a symbol of their debt. It was understood at the time, that when the Kik's-uddy paid, the stone (called Yow-te'yi) would be returned. Since no payment was ever made, the Kog-wahn-ton claim an interest in the Kik'suddy land as a pledge. Even at this late date some "bad" feeling is stirred up by this condition.

There is nothing the Kik's-uddy can do about it so long as they don't pay. A serious effort was made by the elders of the Shgut'quon and the Kog-wahn-ton to make peace in 1919. The Shgut'quon are unable to find out why the Kog-wahn-ton continue to refer to the name of "the only man who escaped the Wrangell Massacre", this in face of one condition of the treaty that reference was never to be made by either party to any of the events now sought to be forgotten. It could only mean that some Kog-wahn-ton has not been satisfied by those who negotiated the peace. The Kog-wahn-ton Tribe reached for its majority and to give a new importance to its crest, the Djahk. Not the Djahk owned by all the Shun-koo-kady, but a special one that will be the topic of

the next chapter. An occasion occurred when Christian Natives of Kake (Tlingit) visited the Christian Natives of Hydaburg (Haida) and held joint gospel meetings under the auspices of the Salvation Army. Part of the joy was the calling out of each prominent person by his Native name, to which he or she would respond "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord". At the top of the list of this good fellowship the leader of the Kake group was called out by his name "Koots'shan", the caller forgetting that this very name had been the cause of bitter feuding. One side claimed that it was captured from the Haida and not redeemed; the other side claimed that it had been stolen. Good feeling was again restored, but that Native was the only person called by his English name during the week. In the olden days there would have been war. Today it only leads to a conscious and determined effort to forbear. There is a bit of elemental justice underlying the common law of the Tlingit. Perhaps this is the reason why entire families, and even villages of the people who are called "Tse-tsa-ut" by the Tsimshians and "Goo-nah-nah" by the Tlingit, were exterminated under what appears to have (Na-ah) along about 1850. been the most treacherous circumstances by the Nu?S_-uddy

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Every tribe knows who has not been avenged. In times past, each person looked forward to making even the score in blood or by the receipt of indemnity.

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32 -The Kog-wahn-ton Elevate Djahk (Eagle); The Purchase of Absolute Right of the Eagle Emblem The elevation of Djahk to be a top totem is so recent, even though it happened before the advent of white settlers; it is worthwhile to record a carefully written account of it from the pen of an educated Kog-wahn-ton of the Chilkat branch, Louis Shotridge by name. At the time he wrote the article, he was the assistant to J. Alden Mason, Ph D., and curator of the American Section of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. It was printed in the Museum Journal of December 1928, and with their kind permission I am able to use the article. It shows one way, although there are other ways, in which figures on totem poles can be made chief of the Dukhla-wedy, by important. For example, the acquisition of the Keet from cS_uns, Chief Sahn-nuk-ah of the Kuh-yashki-diton, by gift, has been related. So much of the article by Louis Shotridge as is pertinent follows. "From the time that Tlingit history first records their settlement in Alaska, the people have existed as two great bodies. One moiety (tribe) is known as Hlai-nady while the other is called

Shun-koo-kady Te-quedy throughout the whole region, and they refer to each other as Kla-daynah (One-Side-Nation). " ... With the development of culture, clans became classified ... hence the creation of objects called totems ... became necessary. The immediate presence of the raven, whale, beaver, eagle, bear, wolf, and other denizens of the forest and sea of the region, and the Tlingit's knowledge of their peculiarities, explain the prominent part they play in the mythology and arts of the people. It is by this system of picture writing in graphic and plastic arts that the history of my people has been preserved and transmitted through centuries. "So here they are. I hope to live to see (he didn't) the day when these old things will help to bring the true character of their makers into the white man's light. "The popular Raven appears also among nearly every important division but usually in an unobtrusive manner corresponding to the means by which it was acquired. It is a common trait of human nature for every man to have the feeling of being a great chief in his own house; and, whatever its nature, probably his account of the origin of his possession resounded only within his own walls. But it was the general attitude of the people that counted for most in determining the soundness of a claim to ownership of an important crest. Such were the conditions under which the Hlai-nady emblem grew into popularity."

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(Note - My investigations since Shotridge published this article, however, show that the Raven was the emblem of the first emigrants from the Nass area and that all Raven Clan tribes trace their origins to the common source, except the Hlook-nutS._-uddy. They came down the Copper River and then went south while the Git'shees progenitors of the Kik's-uddy and the Gahn-nutS._tedy went north along the tidal waters from the Nass. WLP.) "The Eagle emblem, however, was established (by the Kog-wahn-ton) in a more sensible and peaceful manner in spite of the fact that at the beginning its owners appeared with an aggressive attitude, and the Eagle to the last was honored on account of the history of the establishment. "In rewriting the following legend as told me by my grandfather, except in expressions where obsolete forms of English have to be employed, I use freely words that convey more clearly the interpretation of the Tlingit thought.

The Purchaseof Absolute Right of the EagleEmblem "My Grandson! You ask me to tell you by what means the Eagle became the object of our pride. I cannot blame you for not knowing the main source of this pride because I know that your family was always modest and refrained from telling you at an early age anything which might cause you to have a feeling of superiority over your fellow men, but you have now grown to manhood and it is time for you to know why you bear the name Stu-wu-kay. "In truth, from the beginning the Eagle ranked high in the esteem of our party. But once ambitious men began, what was there to hinder them? The Eagle was put on a hat in one town and perhaps on a ceremonial staff in another, each assuming its right to ownership, a right that had derived its origin from a myth of an ancestor who fed the eagles when distressed by famine.

The TsimshianStory "But you yourself have learned, lad, that an important object cannot be acquired merely by feeding fish to the birds. Thus the Shun-koo-kady went on, very much contented with their idea of virtue, although well aware that the Tsimshian Te-quedy were then claiming their own Eagle as the most important object in their land. "In the meantime your own ancestor, You-wok, grew to manhood. The man, indeed, was one born for a purpose and he never failed in his mission, possibly he was one who would now be spoken of as lucky. Even while a youth the goddess of fortune was constantly by his fire. It seems there was nothing that this man could not have; all sources of riches yielded to his

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bidding. Why was this man successful? It is said that it was the rule of his early manhood to serve his fellow men and his generosity was limited only by his physical strength and ability. "Thus You-wok became a man of wealth at an early age. But for a time he did not know what to do with his great amount of property. It was not then as it is now (1915) when there are candy, gold teeth, neckties, and whiskey for which money can be spent freely. A foolish young man now should not wonder why he followed a dog train in life, he has nothing and merely looks for a bone that someone may cast away. "It was generally expected that the young chief would use his great wealth in placing himself in a high station in life. He consulted men of sound reasoning and they all advised him according to the current customs of that time.

*** "One early dawn, in his sleeping chamber, You-wok talked to his wife. Possibly the woman complained of being kept awake by her restless husband and they were heard to say: "'What can be in your mind-vision to cause you to be so sleepless?' "'It was the Eagle. It seemed to take a firm hold on my mind and as much as I tried I could not sleep after it entered there.' '"What sort of an eagle should so take a grip on your foolish brain? You have been dreaming of the poor old bird that we once helped in landing his salmon. "The woman knew well the working power of her husband's mind and that he was not the kind to be wasting thoughts on a fish eagle but, like most cherished young wives, she wished to make fun of her beloved husband. "That morning, before the first meal of the day, the local council of the Shun-koo-kady sat by the morning fire of You-wok, nodding their old heads up and down as a sign of their approval of the plan which the young chief laid before them. After a long silence an elder spoke up: '"You have spoken that which is now fixed in your mind; who is there to change it and tell the outcome of it? But the goddess of fortune is always known to be present wherever a noble mind forms the destiny of man. Therefore, You-wok, go and follow that which your true mind dictates and may this same goddess of fortune smile on you in your undertaking.' "The question of the Eagle emblem was ever uppermost in the minds of the councilmen; hence, the elder spoke their unanimous approval.

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"Our party, at that time, was residing at Clay Point (now called Strawberry Point), the first settlement of the northern division of the Shun-koo-kady, on the shores of Icy Strait and it was from that place that You-wok put his canoe in the water and paddled away to the land of the Tsimshian in northern British Columbia. No, indeed, he was not alone. It is by custom that only the main canoe of an important party is mentioned. The young chief required two great canoes merely to carry the property that he took along to offer in exchange for the right to the Eagle. Yes, there were many other canoes. They say it was something like a great war party. "So on paddled the Shun-koo-kady braves as each stroke drew them nearer to the object of their desire. The party made a pause at this and at that town and in each a wish for their speed to success was expressed. I think it was from among the Tongass division of our party that an important person was taken aboard and it is said that this was the man who performed the office of interpreter between the Tlingit and the Tsimshian people. "Ku-haed-gu', the great Tsimshian Te-quedy chief, resided at Git'gahtl, the old town near the

mouth of the Hin-heen (Skeena River) where our ancestors resided for so many generations. In the hands of this man lay the fate of the Shun-koo-kady Eagle. '"It may be that Ku-haed-gu' himself does not know that we now have made the Eagle an object of importance in our land, or possibly the man is well informed concerning the former relationships of his people and ours, for there has been no record of an adverse attitude on the part of the Tsimshian toward the free use of the object.' Such were the thoughts of our men as their party approached the land of the Tsimshian. "The Tsimshian Te-quedy are a people between the Tsimshian proper and the Tlingit. Love for a fair woman has always been responsible for a man's being half of that people and half of this. Such was the origin of our friends here and, regardless of the power of the Te-quedy proper who made their first settlement at Tongass that this division had increased. And, through intermarrying with their immediate neighbors, the Tsimshian had developed into something like an independent nation. Who is there to rebuke such a state of affairs? There is at this moment sufficient evidence for the belief that another nation, made up of persons who are half Europeans and half Tlingit, is to come forth owing to careless affection. Such is the destiny of the true Tlingit. "From time unknown it had been the custom of a party, on an important mission, to halt at the approach to its destination and prepare itself for a reception. Thus, the sun being yet high above the horizon when the Shun-koo-kady party arrived at the approach to Git'gahtl, a camp for the night was called for. By a great fire that evening, each man spoke forth that which he had formed in his own mind and from all these thoughts was arranged an oration to be delivered in introducing the mission of the party.

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"The daily life was well begun when the arrival of the Tlingit party was noted at Git'gahtl. There was confusion - this house and that were thrown open and from within, the inmates rushed forth as in response to a call of alarm. Meanwhile, in the manner of a peace party at the end of a great war, the arrivals lay afloat in the presence of the crowds of people that gathered in front of the town. All at once the clamor of excitement was hushed, and a voice was heard. "'Which of our friends have thus journeyed hither to honour us with this unexpected visit?' "In answer to the inquiry the spokesman of the visitors spoke: 'From Clay Point Fort, these thy descendants have journeyed to thy presence.' "And then the speaker continued and delivered his well-rehearsed speech. "Words came from the shores. 'Behold, my lad, I am no longer young and my own grandfather was even older than I am now when he recited to me this old story and I forget even important things. Hence, I can repeat only the important parts of the speech that was given there.' '"My grandfather Ku-haed-gu', the speaker began. '"Thy grandfather would listen to thy words', a voice answered. '"What is foremost in a man's mind when he realizes when confronted with a duty which no man could avoid, that he had reached the limit of his knowledge of life? Through want of a plain path he is confused. Indeed, a man in such a position is once more an infant who cries out for his wants, he may cry for that which is good to the taste. He looks to someone whom he knows to supply these wants, and he is made happy through affection. It is in like manner, with the feeling of an infant that thy grandson You-wok has come to thy presence; he craves not that which is good to the taste but that which is the desire of a man.

*** '"The purpose of the Shun-koo-kady's journey thither was no trifling matter; there was not a town in which this could remain unknown. Therefore, even the youths at Git'gahtl understood the meaning of the speech. During the brief silence that followed there were messengers who rushed here and there, apparently delivering some whispered opinions. "'Thou nobleman, thy grandfather has heard thy noble thought.' And there the speaker turned his face and called out some names.

*****

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'"Indeed, we have been honored by the visit of the noble. Go thither! Let these, your friends come to the warmth of our fires, they must be fatigued by their long journey'. "In response to the call, a group of young men came forward, and the baggage of the visitors was immediately carried away to different houses. But there were two canoes, each bearing a full load, well manned and still afloat beyond reach. After the other canoes were emptied and pushed aside, You-wok stepped ashore and, empty-handed, was led to the Great House of Kuhaed-gu'.

"On the upper dais of the great room stood our ancestor You-wok. And there before him, within those walls, was a little world of wonder. The Eagle appeared on all sides; the great bird was carved, in various characters, on the house pillars, the house screens, the retaining timbers, and on many chests. Here was, indeed, the House of the Eagles. For a moment Youwok felt sad, not because of disappointment, but because he thought of the comparison

between this display and the style in which the object was shown at his own home. He thought of the original Eagle of his ancestors that had been borne through so many changes of life; how small it seemed now! Then he was aroused by another thought. Insignificant as it might seem, this piece had been a cause of the foundation of his party. "From his seat at the rear of the huge fire rose Ku-haed-gu', the great chief. Who is there to imitate the manner of such a noble? Like a peaceful flow of a mighty river his words were spoken and these could not be turned back. They say the man was not of great stature. The corners of his noble forehead were like bays and a great beard hung down upon his chest. What a character! I often wonder why our men never wore such a sign of distinction. I, myself, unconsciously pluck out the hairs as soon as one appears upon my chin. With open arms he pointed to the seat he had just vacated and spoke. '"My grandson, welcome to the house of thy grandfathers. And here is thy seat. Who is there to sit in the Eagle House with more grace than thou?' "Then You-wok was surprised; this was in truth a turn of affairs contrary to that for which he was prepared and there remained no way in which to offer his well-rehearsed speech of presentation. He had planned to offer his own 'presents' first, but he was beaten in this. After he was seated, You-wok, in a confused manner, spoke: "'In thy house, my grandfather, there is plenty and thou shouldst wish for nothing more. Yet I bring to thy hands some things, not because thou art in need of these things but because they are products of my own land. In those canoes yonder, my grandfather, are pieces of fur that may add more to thy comfort and there are also men (slaves) whom I, personally, have trained to attend to thy wants'.

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"On that great face, which was lifted high and moved about as if to make certain that all those present had heard, was a broad smile when Ku-haed-gu' spoke his acceptance: '"In truth, my grandson, when a man is at my age he looks only for that which offers him more comfort. Ha! And thou has brought me these things? Indeed, thou hast come in an opportune moment; henceforth, I shall feel secure against man's pity when I take the seat of the aged.' "Again the lord of the town looked about and called the names of his chosen men. " ....

'Go, fetch these things that my grandson has brought me.'

"When the things were carried in, there were bundles of various sizes, of fur of the sea otter, beaver, marten, fox, and ermine. There were also bundles of moose hides and behind this great pile of property, stood, in order, a well selected group of young slaves; they say there were one man (twenty) in number. "In those days the exchanging of important things was done in a respectful manner. A man of high character was never known to name or set a price upon his skill or labour and it was according to his own sense of honour, too, that a man expressed his thanks. But now, if the iron dollars are not sufficient in number, we cannot get that which we desire. "A year, perhaps, had now passed when our party called together people from other towns to celebrate the dedication of the new Eagle House at Clay Point Fort. The last ceremony was then drawing to a close, each of our men had sung his song (offer of contribution), and it was about dawn of the next day when You-wok stood by the great pile of his own property. On his head was placed the new Eagle Hat - the same one there before you. In concluding his speech, before the distribution of the main offering among the guest party, personal names were bestowed on those members in whom all hopes of progress were then centered; names to commemorate important events which had occurred in our affairs. At last the spokesman announced the new name for the young chief: '"Henceforth this man shall be no longer You-wok but he shall be called Sit-u-wu-kah (AstuteMan), Te-quedy! Naeh-adi! Nees-adi! Yun-yady! and Tchoo-kun-ady! - original clans. In your firm grasp is now the object of your desire. Who is there to dispute your claim to its ownership when ye bear forth into life the Eagle? Before we raise our heads in pride it is proper that we give honour to the noble mind that is the source of one's pride. We have learned that where even a crafty mind fails, a generous mind succeeds. Surely there never was a decision made with more wisdom than that of this man when he decided to clear away the feeling of embarrassment.

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"'Now, my lad, I have conveyed to your mind the source of our pride and you bear that same name, the mention of which brings back to the mind of a true man the history of its origin. Many men bore this name before you - noble men, indeed, who did honour to it. And when I hear about your journeys to the far corners of the strange world, I would, only in silence, invoke some unseen power to grant you successand bear the name clear of disgrace and shame!'" This is the end of the article by Louis Shotridge. It tells how and why the Eagle is a top figure, equal to the Wolf of the Kog-wahn-ton. There is recognition of the desire of the Kog-wahn-ton to make the Eagle pre-eminent on the par of the Raven Clan, but that is only on the surface. If that should happen, we would have to put the spotlight on this one tribe in the circus of many rings in which each action is the most important in its own ring. While our lips pay high tribute to the Eagle, we know that the Eagle is a newcomer among the honored figures of the Shun-koo-kady and that their first emblem is the Wolf. Nor can we ignore the presence of others of the Goo-nate-kuh-ahyi, by which word all of those opposite to the Raven are called. These we call by their own names, the Dukhla-wedy, whose joy and pride is in the war-like Keet, a being swifter than all others and who, when traveling in well regimented ranks, drive all forms of life out of the sea because they are so fierce and feared so greatly, whose dorsal fin cuts the surface of the water and became the prototype for the first submarine. This Killer of the Deep harms no man or boat without just cause but in effect, tells all other creatures that they are his oyster. Nor can we subordinate that most numerous tribe known as Te-quedy, whose pre-eminent totem is the Grizzly Bear; however much "uK, Kahnny'', as Louis Shotridge could be called, has tried to make it appear while he was edifying the Eagle and its subjects from the Kowa-gahnihit (House-That-Burned) formerly known as "The-House-at-the-Very-Front-of-the-Town".

As

other noted writers have said, the Eagle was considered the principal totem "in the North", and the Wolf "in the South". But we cannot exclude the courageous and intelligent Grizzly (K,oots). If any person were bold enough to say "the Eagle is the top totem" or "the Grizzly is the top totem", a well-informed Tlingit would disagree because the occasion often determines the "top totem". So that even the Kog-wahn-ton might tell him with vigor that the Killer Whale is his most peculiar property and entitled to the highest honors. The only figure among the Tlingits that is acclaimed premier honors by all is the Raven. He is truly the top. Not even can Nass-shuh-kee-yeihl displace this Raven - scamp of this world who performed all the mischief therein but who brought all the good things and the essentials of life

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to this world. No matter on what part of the totem pole this tricky bird is placed he becomes the main figure, no matter who else is there.

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33 - Only One Hit-Klane Tlingit tribes are like strawberry plants. While new plants are continually being born, each is connected with the parent plant by a strong cord. Although it can become severed, it is still a strawberry plant giving forth fruit like its parent plant. Take the case of the Shun-koo-kady. They had not migrated to the mouth of Ee-yuk'heen (Copper River) before a new plant called Tchoo-kun-ady emerged. By the time the Shun-kookady got to the mouth of Glacier Bay, the Tchoo-kun-ady had become a strong nation, and had

to build many houses to shelter themselves. At first there were only additional houses. Then these new houses became units. When a house chose to move, others went along if they wished. As they moved about, the root that gave each house birth was severed and thus a new autonomous tribal government was born. That is the way the Woosh-kee-ton (Houses-Together) was born. likewise the Ahn-igi-gee-yahhit (The-Beach-Side-House) became the Kowa-gahni-hit (The-House-That-Burned), a name that

was shortened to Kog-wahn-ton. It had branched into several tribes with the runner roots not quite completely severed when the white man "discovered" them. One such house was Kook'hit (Box-House). By the time the Russianscame to Sitka, this house was big and strong enough so that the Tlingits were calling it a tribe, "Kook'hit-ton" (Box-HousePeople). Baranof appealed to them to persuade the Kik's-uddy to make peace with him. The Russians were quick to learn about the customs of the Tlingits. When Baranof dealt with the Tlingit, he used their forms and customs. To gain his end in this case, he even let his face be painted by his peace ambassador. So we have the strongest of reasons for assuming that Baranof knew why some tribes were friendly and some were not! While superficially it seems that many tribes came down the various rivers to settle in Southeast Alaska, actually they came from one fountain of people who had already developed a clan and a tribal system. That is the only explanation for the similarity of the Raven Clan tribes that came down the Eeyuk'heen, and the Raven Clan tribes that journeyed west along the tidal waters north of the

Nass. Many generations passed before these divisions were joined; and yet, their stories (klauk'), their customs, and their laws are all the same.

This is also true of the Wolf Clan. Though the Shun-koo-kady came down the Ee-yuk'heen, numerous tribes trace their origin to Hit-klane (The-Big-House) on the Dtah-koo. People call themselves "Yun-yady" (Main-Land-People). The word "Yun" also means "hemlock". When

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traveling in canoes, if the Master should say "yun-day", he meant "shoreward". However, all Tlingits know that the Yun-yady and the Shun-koo-kady are the same people in everything, including the dictum to obey the law of marriage. The Raven Clan tribes were known as "Hlai-nedy" (The-People-On-One-Side) or "Kla-day-nah" (The-Nation-On-One-Side). The Wolf clan tribes were known as "Goo-nate-kuh-ahyi"

(The-

Other-Side-People). They are also called "§.ooch-kun-ahyi" (The-Wolf-Side-People). These were the principal emblems when the travelers first reached tidal waters. As they went along, they acquired other important emblems, such as K,oots (Grizzly Bear) and Keet (Killer Whale), but not in the same way. Because these emblems were acquired later, they

do not have the same importance as §.ooch (Wolf). One of the most progressive tribes of Tlingit plainly was following the tidal waters westerly. They were of the Wolf Clan and also owned the Eagle as an emblem. These restless people went northwesterly as far as Katalla, perhaps farther, and left their imprint wherever they went. Most of the petroglyphs that have so much puzzled anthropologists were probably made by the Te-quedy. This band was fierce in war and were fierce adventurers. They journeyed in great war canoes that could go anywhere. Contemporaneous with the Te-quedy, other bands of Tlingit came down the Dtah-koo. They, too, had the Wolf for their chief emblem. They built a town at the mouth of the Dtah-koo. They stayed for a long enough time to build a Great House - "Hit-Klane"

as the Tlingit would say. It

had eight platforms built of boards hewn out of timber in the most laborious manner since they had nothing but stone axes and fire to work with. Each stair riser might be decorated with a painting. This House must have been fully eighty feet long, perhaps longer, probably sixty feet wide, and at least thirty feet to the pinnacle of the roof. As usual, the Master lived in the back behind a partition. Throughout the House, each family had its own place, marked off with personal boxes and baskets. A fire pit was in the center of the floor with a smoke hole directly above in the roof. In the morning the uncle would give his nephews a peremptory order to "get up now and get some wood". If the weather were bitter cold - so much better, young men would be trained to become braver, tougher, and stronger. They would rush out and bring back a big pile of wood for the fire. Then they would run, stark naked, down to plunge into the cold, freezing water to sit. They thought that this action would give them strength and endurance. (Could this dependence on cold, salt water to increase strength have contributed to the demise of many tribes? Could it have been used as a cure for the fevers brought by the white man? Pneumonia would result and then death.) When they came out, these tough-minded young men would whip each other with crab apple branches. If blood came, so much the better.

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Then the young men, still naked, ran up to the great fire to rub and dry themselves. By this time, the entire household would be up and stirring, preparing breakfasts for these vigorous young men. Nobody saw their nakedness until the missionaries came. Tribal and house names were often descriptive, i.e. the tribes that stopped in Snettisham became known as the Sidt-quedy (The-Glacier-People) and the Zik-nutS_-uddy (The-Black-BearPeople). The people who stopped at Sumdum were close enough at all times so that they were included. Those who continued southward acquired new names. Another group journeyed up the Shtuk'heen. From the circumstance that they had to camp "above" another tribe that already had established a site there, they were called the Nahn-ya-

ahyi (People-on-the-Upper-Side). This tribe continued on until it came to a place where Wrangell Narrows joins Frederick Sound just across from Petersburg. They built a town that they named "Ahnishta-gow?{' because thousands of that black duck "Gow{' used to nest there. There used to be so many ducks that the sound was like a thousand loudspeakers. From this tribe, others branched off. One such band journeyed to the southern shore of Woewodski Island and built a town in the cove that is now called the Olympic Mine (Yeihl-suh-sahny-huh). This town was the headquarters of the great chief Gush-tS_een (ab.1680-1740) who became

Shaksh I when the Shgut'quon defeated the Nis-kah and acquired the name Wee-shaksh,later shortened to Shaksh.The name itself refers to the dorsal fin of the Killer Whale. The list of masters of this group included such famous statesmen and warriors as Gook-nah-

woo (The-Dead-Slave), a name first given because he was so rich and owned so many slaves that he didn't hesitate to kill one or as many as he thought an occasion required; Goo-glow (The-Wonderful-One); Gush-tS_een (The-Dorsal-Fin-of-a-Killer-Whale); tS_uda-neig; and Guk-shoo. These leaders and warriors evolved into what seems to have been the only Federation of Independent Tribes in Southeastern Alaska - the Shgut'quon, whose capital was called Kah-zehl-

ahn (Willow-town, or Old Wrangell). Later they moved to present day Wrangell better to carry on trade with the Ahnuski (Russians). These Wolf Clan people from the north moved among the Tee-hit-ton and became a part of them by marriage. Towns spread from Pt. Baker east and south at such places as Red and Salmon Bays, Whale Pass, Lake and Grassy Bays, Coffman's Cove, Eagle Creek, Kashevarof and Zaremba Islands. I have used the white man's names because the Tlingit names are so difficult. It is a pity though, to change our name such as Had-Ko (Among-the-Islands) to Kashevarof Island. Perhaps if we should compare the disbursement to a crab (zow-dahn), a name that they gave to one of their new houses, we could better visualize the migrations.

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Some of the Hit-Klane-quon turned right, others turned left. That is why we find some of them at Kee-yuk (Kake), shortened from "hl-keek" meaning "sleepless", a description well suited to the character of these people so much feared by their enemies and admired by their friends. Even our United States officials refused to go among them without the aid of a war vessel. The first group who settled there came to be known as "Tsah-quedy" (The-Seal-People), a tribute to their supremacy as hunters. They held the ground from Windham Bay to Cape Fanshaw, from thence, a line running through Portage Bay to Little Totem Bay on Sumner Strait - a land where their possession was joined with associate Raven Tribes. Others of Hit-klane did not turn into Kake but continued into Chatham Strait; and followed the shoreline of Kuiu Island to Tebenkof Bay where they made contact with their cousins, the Te-

quedy and the Dukhla-wedy, who had journeyed northward from the Nass. Of all the tribes on the Wolf Clan side, only two groups remain to this day and these made claim to what is now Affleck Canal and Port Beauclerc. On the Tebenkof Bay side, tribes of the Raven Clan held sway. Of these, the dominant tribe was the Su-ok-too-tutS,(Slept-Among-the-Grass). Inquiry shows that they too, are of the Git'shees people. Some would have it that the Dukhla-wedy moved away from this area because of wars with the fierce Kog-wahn-ton from the north. They journeyed to Klawock; thence to the east coast of Dall Island; thence to the southeast tip of Prince of Wales Island; on to Moira Sound, to Towk-

ahni (Metlakatla), to Oah-suh-tS_aok (Cat Island), to Kuh-dowk-goo-tS,ah(Cotton Tree Island, now (Wing-Like, Ketchikan). Tongass Island), then to Gitch-tS_an During their migrations, they always built a house and named it "Yays-kuh" to remind them of their sojourn on Forrester Island. When the Te-quedy and the Dukhla-wedy (Wolf) groups withdrew, the Raven tribe Su-ok-too-

tutS,became the undisputed owners of Tebenkof Bay. They found spouses in the Hit-klane-quon who became known as the Nass-tedy people and the undisputed owners of Lower Kuiu Island. Migrants from the south came first and gave names to the country. Newer comers got their names in that way. One of these names is the Nass, itself. A short distance south of Tuxekan

(Tug-jik'ahn, Snail-House-Town), we are told that Scamp Raven was determined to create another Nass River. After several attempts he failed, so perhaps in derision, he called his puny result "Little Nass Lake" (Nass-owk'ah). Some light can be shed upon the question of "Why do the Tlingit groups change their abodes?" In this case, a passing canoe, whose curiosity was aroused by the death-like pall that hung over

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the village in Tebenkof Bay, stopped and found all the inhabitants dead except one woman and her little daughter - all victims of the small pox brought by the white traders. They were rescued and taken to Klawock where Tee-ah-ga-hedt, Chief of the Tee-nady, took charge of them. When the little girl became of age, she was married and reared a very large family that has now become completely identified with this town. In the course of another generation, it could well happen that all trace of their aboriginal domicile could be lost. This happened to families such as the Yaklanas and the Stastas - Haidas who joined the Nahn-ya-ahyi and the Kahz-!i_a-quedy of the Shgut'quon. They have been so thoroughly assimilated that there is no trace of them left in those tribes. All that remains to remind their descendants of their Haida origin is the Eagle on top of a Raven totem pole. That is a Haida custom. One of the most conspicuous instances is the migration of a tribe of Haida from a place called "Kahz" to the Shtuk'heen. For this reason they were called Kahz-!i_a-quedy who's most famous

chief, Kah-duh-shan, is the principal storyteller in the works of John R. Swanton entitled Tlingit Myths and Texts published in 1909. This trick of transposing the Eagle and the Raven crests confuses even the Haida and Tlingit. The Reverend Mr. Samuel Girard Davis, a direct descendant of the famous Stephen Girard (a banker in Chicago), told me of his leaving home when he was very young. He had been a companion of Jack London when they were both members of the original Coxey's Army. He had returned home but a short time when a party of Shgut'quon came and set up camp on the opposite shore. Samuel's uncle told him to "Go over and invite your brothers-in-law to come to this house and be my guests at a feast tonight." Samuel knew that he was of the Haida Raven Clan, but he did not know that it corresponds to the Tlingit Wolf Clan and so he invited what he thought was the opposite clan, the Tlingit Raven. That evening, when the guests filed in to partake of the feast, the uncle at first was surprised, then amazed to see his own tribesmen as guests. They were surprised too. The uncle looked at the culprit, got his explanation and when all was explained, everybody had a good laugh on Samuel. "What can you expect of a white man?"

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34 - Conclusion Where did the Tlingit nation come from? Who are they? This question has been asked by everybody. When the first white man came to the coast of Southeastern Alaska and British Columbia, he asked, "Who are these people?" and answered himself from what was before his eyes to declare, "They are Indians". Others said viewing the people north of Yakutat said, "These people look like Japanese, therefore they are Japanese!" Another person upon viewing the same people declared that because some of them look Chinese, that of course, they are from Mongolia. Or, at least Mongoloids who must have come from Asia in dugouts or wrecked ships across the Bering Sea or who walked across when land still bridged the two continents. To prove any declaration, anything that appeared extraneous would be disregarded. The answer that was acceptable was that which suited the prejudices of the declarer. He would dig up numerous artifacts of Inuit or Aleut life to prove his point. But what of the coastal people? One of the difficult facts that puzzles me is that there seems to be no culture comparable to the Tlingit between Southeastern Alaska and Mexico! Have my Tlingit-Haida people, here in Alaska, had a culture as advanced as the Aztecs? Sort of the "kidney" of valuable, mineral-bearing rock in a mass of unrelated rock - to use a geological term! The most that I can do is to examine the claims of others as I have narrated in the preceding pages and to take into account what other students have adduced. The Tlingit historians say that in the last stages of their migrations, they came from the north down various streams and rivers that cut the coastal ranges, and before that, they came from the south. We believe that it would be a serious mistake to assume that the Tlingit came from Asia and simply dropped off in Southeastern Alaska. Even assuming that you agree with me - that the Tlingit came down the large rivers that form the passes through the coastal range - what is the explanation for the evidences of Tlingit

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habitation on the west shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands (not Tlingit country) where streams are still called by their Tlingit names - many of which end with the word heen (water)? Question/comment from Frances Paul DeGermain: there has been some thoughts about subjecting Native Americans to a gigantic DNA survey. It would be interesting to see if all these Native Americans have a common source! I wonder if it will ever happen!

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Postlude The Last "Calling Together" The Wrangell Potlatch of 1940 By Frances Lackey Paul (Keet-dahk, Tlingit-sah-yee NAHN-YA-AHYI} Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, - Ho, Hof Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, - Ho, Hof

Tom toms beat in Wrangell all the month of May 1940. The Natives were practicing for the Wrangell Potlatch to be held on June 3rd and 4th. So long have the Tlingits of this district been "civilized" that only the old, old people have any knowledge of the traditional songs and dances. Indeed, the "ceremonial" Tlingit language has been mostly lost. At first, they distrusted their fading memories and arthritic knees, but the spell of the tom tom was alluring and stimulating, and gradually the colorful past of the Shtuk'heen-quon, before the advent of the white man, emerged. The occasion of the celebration was the completion of one of the most interesting projects undertaken by the U. S. Forestry Department through its Civilian Conservation Corps facilities. When B. Frank Heintzleman, Regional Forester, made the announcement that his department was considering the rehabilitation of totem poles in Southeastern Alaska, the Wrangell Civic Club (mostly white men) immediately wrote to him suggesting that Wrangell had possibilities in that line. The result has been the acquisition of Shaksh Island in the inner bay at Wrangell and the erection thereon of an exhibition house in the style of the original Indian Community House to be known as the Hit-klane (Big-House), together with a number of totem poles. (The prototype of the new community house was the Nahn-ya-ahyi Shark House in Old Wrangell.) The mortuary columns in front of Big House were too badly decayed to make restoration possible, so entirely new copies were made. Now, two years later, Gunnah-kuh-date, with a somewhat enlarged hat, again gazes impassively over the heads of the curious tourist. The Nahn-ya-ahyi Bear again looks down to watch the people follow his footprints up Devil's Thumb

to escape the Great Flood. Inside the Community House are the four heavily carved corner posts from the old Shark House in Old Town. They are in a fair state of preservation though the marks of the axe that a former Shaksh wielded when he split off portions of the design to present to Potlatch guests in days

gone by, are plain. Two entirely new poles, original designs of the chief carver on the project, Joe Williams Thomas (Djuksh), have been erected. Totem carving need not be a lost art. The poles are single, red

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cedar trees of fifty and sixty feet high respectively; with the figures carved in high relief in modern style and painted in colors that closely approximate the old Tlingit pigments, but with greater preservative qualities. The three types of poles erected by the Tlingits on the Island are: the mortuary pole with an opening in the back to receive the ashes of the dead; the elaborately carved story pole; and the shame pole. Of the two original story poles that Joe Williams Thomas carved, one is called Shah-dtook-kah (Shooting-Man), the name of the main character in the second story. The figure on the bottom of this pole represents the story of Gunnah-kuh-date (see #4).

Shah-dtook-kah, an orphan, and his grandmother were deserted at the summer village at Walker Cove in Behm Canal by their relatives. The chief's older wife felt sorry for them, so she hid some food such as dried clams, fish, and meat. The old woman built a small cedar hut to live in and made a bow and arrow for Shah-dtook-kah. He quickly learned to shoot small birds, later squirrels and other small game for his grandmother to roast. On these they managed quite well. While Shah-dtook-kah was hunting one day, he had the good fortune to shoot a little bird through the tongue. This is part of the ritual for becoming a shaman and as a consequence, he was endowed with super-natural power. He was seized with a fit of involuntary shaking and his

yake (control spirit) spoke to him. "The things that live in the wood and brush, to you they will come." And it was so. Deer, bear, mountain goats and sheep, all came and dropped dead before his house. He and his grandmother never again felt hunger. The second figure is the boy as an lcht with long matted hair and closed eyes holding his rattle and wearing his apron. The third figure is the grandmother. She is holding an lcht's drum on which the artist has carved a traditional raven design. The fourth figure is a bear that stands for the animals that died in front of Shah-dtook-kah, killed by his yake. Whenever this story is told there is a song sung at this point which may be translated: "To him they went, to this shaman, The things that travel, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah!"

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Over the bear is a figure of a young woman and above her is a frog. The young woman was walking in the forest one day, when she encountered what she thought was a young man, although in reality he was a frog. She responded to his advances and went with him to his home under the lake. She stayed there two years, and had two children. After this she grew homesick and decided that her children must visit her people. So she said to them, "Go and visit your grandfather. His house stands in the middle of the village." The two little frogs went to the village, hopped up to the door, and knocked. They were denied entrance. So they went home. When the grandfather was told about these visitors, he thought, and then said, "If they come again, let them in. They may know something about my daughter." The next day, when the little frogs appeared they were treated like people. When they approached their grandfather, he smoothed his fur robe and they hopped on it. He took them to his bosom and talked with them and then let them go. But he had them followed and they were seen to go under the lake. In the morning messengers were sent to the edge of the lake to give this invitation: "Thus saith your father, 'Oh my daughter, come with your husband and your children to visit me."' Then the messengers left. The next day, the daughter, dressed in her marten skin robe and walking in her own proper persona, her husband and two children coming as the frogs they were, (although to her, they were proper people) came. When the party entered the house, cedar mats were laid for them to sit upon. Food was offered. The daughter took hers, but directed the food for her family to be burned in the fire. As it was being consumed by fire, the people heard the peculiar frog gurgle, showing that the frogs were eating. So Tlingits learned that when food is burned, spirits are being nourished. Before the guests departed, the girl's mother was able to tie a spruce string to her robe. They were followed to the same lake where again they disappeared. The grandfather called a council, and they decided to drain the lake in an effort to recapture the young woman. The people dug a ditch and let the water run out of the lake. When it was half drained, a house appeared - the frog's house. It was very beautiful. The people captured the girl and killed her husband and her children. Not long afterward the girl, overcome by grief, followed her family to death.

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Since then the woman's descendants - Kik's-shah, Gahn-nutS_-tuh-shah, Tee-nady-shah,and Tee-

hit-ton-shah-woo - have claimed the frog as an emblem. The small frog on the pole represents the two frog children. The top two figures represent the story of Git'diksh (#6). The third type, the "shame" totem, is seldom seen. It is the representation of three realistically carved frogs placed side-by-side on a log. The frog was never an emblem of the Nahn-ya-ahyi (Shaksh') tribe, but belonged to the Kik's-

uddy. The story goes that in times long gone three Kik's-uddy women fell in love with slaves belonging to Shaksh, married them and reared families of children. Though under Tlingit law these children should belong to their Kik's-uddy mothers, due to the peculiar circumstances, they were compelled to follow the social status of their fathers. They would be slaves until redeemed by their Kik's-uddy relatives.

Shaksh at length grew tired of supporting these extra people and demanded from the Kik'suddy chief a substantial payment. This he was unwilling to do. Shaksh then resorted to the little used expedient of erecting a "shame" totem. He placed the Kik's-uddy emblem, the frog, upon a pole in front of his house. There it must stay until the Kik'suddy redeem the women and children or compel him by force to take it down. This incident illustrates the independence of the several chiefs forming a Village Federation and the lack of central authority. The Kik's-uddy family chose never to redeem the women and children. Finally the pole fell down from old age. That the Kik's-uddy of Wrangell allowed such a pole to be restored and placed again in position, even by white people, is a revelation of the philosophy of the transition period in Tlingit civilization. It shows the ingrained respect of the elders for their tribal law, the indifference and the erosion of the respect of those involved for the culture (as of 1940). (Since then, I have been told the pole has fallen down. FPO) Only one of the old poles was found in good enough state of preservation to leave upon the Island. It portrays the story of "Black Skin", a Tlingit hero who became so strong that he split a sea lion in two with his bare hands (# 10).

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The designer of the new poles, Joe Williams Thomas, Djuksh, says he has enough stories in his head to make at least three more original poles. The completion of such a noteworthy project naturally called for something unusual in the way of a celebration. Wrangell rose nobly to the occasion. Under the joint sponsorship of the Forestry Department, the Office of Indian Affairs, the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, and the citizens of Wrangell in general, the Wrangell Potlatch scheme was initiated. Cooperation by the steamship and railroad companies was secured with the advantage of national advertising. The beautiful Sidney Laurence painting "Off to the Potlatch" was used to add color and romance to the publicity. The idea seemed to grow of its own momentum and Wrangell found that it had a colorful, unique historical pageant to offer visitors as a possible annual affair, one that could be developed to a great ethnological event. The Native portion of the population was perhaps the most reluctant to enter upon the project because, better than the white people, they knew the history of potlatches - the years of preparation and accumulation of wealth necessary before an old-time potlatch was presented. They were aware of their own poverty and that practically all the tribal regalia - hats, blankets, and dancing sticks - regalia that is so necessary for the proper rendition of their dances has vanished, sold to collectors, traded for whiskey, disparaged by missionaries or burned in fires. They knew of all the unique Tlingit customs and implications that are a closed book to white people, and yet were remembered among themselves and would have to be brought to life by this re-creation of their old tribal ceremonies. They knew that their young people had been taught to despise and to be ashamed of their old customs. They wondered whether they could secure more than superficial cooperation from the younger generation. They knew that many Natives had died because of white man's diseases and it would be hard to come up with enough performers to make a worthy show. They knew that many times white men make promises that for reasons of their own they fail to perform. Yet, knowing all this and more, the elderly Native men and women of Wrangell, a mere handful, had the courage and cooperative spirit to undertake and organize their share of the Potlatch ceremonies. The people of Kake, closely allied to the Shtuk'heen, were invited to assist in exemplifying the tribal ritual.

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The most important ceremonial planned was the elevation of Kudanake (Charlie Jones) to his hereditary position as head of the Nahn-ya-ahyi and war chief of the Shgut'quon Federation, and to take the hereditary name of Shaksh. Some people in Wrangell remember the day when old Shaksh VI called the people together to make a formal announcement that he and his family had conferred and had decided to discard their Tlingit way of living and to adopt the white man's style; in particular the white man's law of property and inheritance. In accordance with this plan, he had made a will, leaving his property, which was in reality all communal property of the Nahn-ya-ahyi Tribe, to his wife as her personal inheritance in trust to descend through her to their son. This decision disinherited Charlie Jones and several other

nephews of their share of tribal

property.

The white

bureaucrats at the time hailed this decision as a wise and a great step in advancement for Shaksh. Jones accepted the decree of his uncle and upon his death even refused to take the

name of Shaksh, although urged to do so by the heads of the Wrangell tribes. Fortunate for Charlie Jones that he had made such a decision! In the troublesome twenties, when the Natives of Alaska were struggling to establish their citizenship and their right to the franchise, Charlie Jones was arrested on the criminal charge of illegal voting. His attorney, William Paul, was able to secure his freedom by showing that by his own affirmative act he had abandoned his tribal customs, severed his tribal relationship and qualified as a citizen under the Act of February 8, 1887. Now, twenty-four

years after the death of old Shaksh VI, his nephew (and successor by Tlingit

law) was elevated to the chieftain-ship of the Nahn-ya-ahyi and the Wrangell Federation at the suggestion of white people; especially those connected with government agencies! The new Shaksh, behind his impassive exterior, was well aware of the irony of the situation. Although the Nahn-ya-ahyi had been reduced to less than a dozen people and other Wrangell tribes were equally decimated, the name Shaksh was a grand old name and carries with it the inheritance of a powerful and colorful past. Kudanake was the seventh in succession to carry this name acquired from the Tsimshians at the

time of their defeat in the historic battle with Shtuk'heen. But the history of the Nahn-ya-ahyi goes much farther back than that. In appearance and habits of life, the new Shaksh was every inch a chief worthy of the name. In olden times, many speeches would be given; heroic epics would be told again. Contests with dancing, eating, and various exhibitions of prowess would be performed. It was impossible for Natives to exemplify in the space of two days all the ceremonials of an old time potlatch, lasting 226

not less than a week, possibly a month. Native dancing is strenuous exercise and the same group had to perform all the dances. Among those demonstrated was the arrival of guests in a canoe singing the song that accompanies such an arrival and the dance and song of welcome on the beach by the hosts in a pelting Alaskan rain! The words of the song of welcome are Tsimshian and now have no meaning to the Tlingit. For the dance, the large crest hats are worn. The crowds that sought shelter inside the Community House filled it almost to capacity so that there was space for only a few dancers. The scene was unforgettable. It gave the spectators only an inkling of the barbaric splendor of the past where a thousand Natives would congregate in a huge house. Women singers sat in serried ranks on the ascending levels of the house, dressed in dark blankets with red facings, light flashing on the button and abalone shell trimmings while the men danced in their fantastic costumes around a central fire. Here the new chief made a short speech of welcome. "Thank you, my friends, for coming to this occasion in response to my invitation. It is as though a great light had burst through the darkness to see you here. Thank you again for coming." His words were followed by the chief's traditional song of welcome and a dance in which eagle down was scattered from the hat he wore. Anyone on which down settled were supposed to have good luck. The rest of the dances were given in the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall that was large enough to accommodate all the guests. In olden times these would have been danced by the guest group and the host group alternately, but under the circumstances all the dances had to be given by the same people. The entrance onto the dancing floor is a very important part of the ceremonies. Each person comes in separately and acts out the character or animal he represents, Bear, Wolf, Shark, Halibut, Raven, and so on; while the seated chorus of women sing syllables in a weird unmelodic chant to the beat of the tom tom. After all the dancers are on the floor, the song proper begins. The song leader shouting out each line in advance like the old-fashioned preceptor lined out the psalm tunes in New England meetinghouses. The songs are not long, often taking less time than the entrance. In former times, the song leaders would have received large presents from the host chief at the conclusion of the songs, each presentation nicely gauged according to the importance of the song leader.

227

The second afternoon the so-called women's dances were held. The traditional costume for the women was the button blanket and long, dangling ear pieces made from wild goats' hair ornamented with bright bits of metal and shell. When each song begins, at the signal of the leader, the women rise in their places and begin a peculiar swaying movement of the whole body and the head that is much harder than it looks and calculated to take off pounds of avoirdupois. The movement should be concerted and is the same for all songs. The singing is led by men who carry staffs to beat upon the floor to assist the drummers. These staffs are prized possessions, carved and bearing as a top piece the totem of the man's family. Again, there are individual song leaders who line out the song of their choice. In connection with these songs many traditional bits of ceremonial are demonstrated, such as the awarding of her button blanket to a young girl with a special song in her honor. In this case, my daughter Frances received her name of Shah-nah-K,ee, thus making her Ahn-yuddy or high caste; the adoption of people into his family by the chief and given traditional family names. I myself received a new name of Tlingit-sah-yee. I had been adopted years before and given the name Keet-dahk. Bolts of calico were torn into pieces as gifts to all the guests of the opposite clan.

Included in these ceremonials was the investiture of Governor Gruening with the name and crest hat of Gush-K, Chief of the Tee-hit-ton family of the Raven Clan, a ceremonial begun in Juneau last Christmas. Late that afternoon the Natives demonstrated the stick gambling game, a passion with the old time Tlingit, where a whole season's catch of sea otter skins might be gambled away before leaving the beach. Many a man has risen from several days session with the sticks to find himself stripped of all his possessions, even his wives. Again the beat of the drum and the peculiar rhythm of the singers - Ha, ha, ha tee, yah! It contributed greatly to the excitement and intoxication of the game. In the evening, the Kake visitors sang some of the songs of the Peace Dance. This is a long dance, and songs made especially for the occasion may be interpolated among the traditional songs. For instance, at this time a dancer dressed in the headdress and wings of Raven gave a very realistic imitation of the antics of Raven. A song was called for in honor of a Kik's-uddy woman, whereupon a Kik's-shah (woman of Kik's) among the dancers advanced to the front row and gave what amounted to a solo number.

228

Later at a break in the dance, the leaders of the visiting party made complimentary speeches to their hosts. Those who had been especially honored in the songs of the Peace Dance, gave gifts of money to the guest dancers. It is worthy to be called the "Last Calling Together" by a nobleman who went about doing good with dignity.

229

Louis Francis Paul, Hay-ash, early 1942

;

Wm. L. Paul, Shquindy, holding Tee-hit-ton hat with the Shee-kee-ut (top stock) as it was within Kah-thli-yudt's memory. It has since disappeared.

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230

Beaver ceremonial blanket of dentalium shells, privately owned in Hydaburg. Tsu-K,oog-eesh photo.

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231

Two beaver design ceremonial hats of the type usually worn by women. Both hats have a lavish border of abalone shells ad sea lion wiskers. The hat was not mounted for wearing and is privately owned in Hydaburg.

This hat is carved of wood. It is round and has a fall of ermine down the back of the dancer wearing it. The open top is filled with eagle down to flutter onto guests who received good fortune. It is now in the U/PA museum.

232

Two chiefs who gave the last Koo-eeK_ in Klowk'ahn during the fall of 1901, Yeihl-K_ahx GahnnuK_-tedyon right, Yeihl-goo-K_oo Gahn-nuK_-tedyon left. Winter and Pond photo.

233

Chilkat blanket, tf_ootsheld by Jack David, Raven Clan, and his Eagle Clan wife wearing a Keet blanket. Photo by Marth Sheldon, Haines.

Typical Chilkat blanket pattern board. Tsu-tf_oog-eeshphoto.

234

Peter Dick of Angoon {1945), Day-shee-ton chief wearing beaver coat and hat. Tsu-K,oog-eesh photo.

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Old Black-skin pole from Old Wrangell. Unfinished drawing by Keet-dahk.

Dook-duhl is seen tearing Tahn (Sea Lion) in two.

Tahn has his tongue hanging out, indicating death.

This head symbolizes death.

No. 2. Dook'duh/ K_ahs,house post from Yai Hit, Whale house, Klowk'ahn Keet-dahk drawing.

237

Carved eagle in home of Willie Peters (1945), Tsu-Xoog-eesh photo.

238

Modern (1940) pole at Klawock. Lowest figure is Woman-WhoNursed-the-Woodworm. Figure above is Dook'duhl, Stronger-ThanGoliath. Note the square base of the pole. Tsu-~oog-eesh photo.

239

Gunnah-kuh-date, Keet-dahk drawing.

Old totem replaced in 1940.

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