“And,” concluded the Story Teller, as we paddled lazily along, drinking in the mystic beauty of a starlit Northern night, “to me and my people the Sun, Moon, Sky and Rainbow are emblems the Almighty One has put in the heavens to show that the Red Men shall increase and prosper and people the earth for as long as the sun and moon shall shine.”
The Great Peace Dance
A spring day in Alaska! Since early dawn we had paddled swiftly along in a world wrapped in a blue haze. On our right tall fir trees rose mistily from the shore. On our left the faint line of lofty mountain ranges melted into the blue grey of a cloudless sky. The seagulls spiraled high overhead, then, swooping low, were lost in the white-capped waves. The tang of the sea filled our nostrils and the rising wind whipped the spray in our faces and sent the blood tingling through our veins.
We rounded a jutting point and came in sight of the deserted village of Kasaan. Lofty totem poles were etched against the sky. Some leaned drunkenly toward decaying lodges half buried in underbrush.
Gun used by Hydahs in the Last Big Fight with the Tsimpseans
“Here was fought the last great battle between the Tsimpseans and Hydahs,” said the Story Teller. “My mother has many times told me the tale as it was told to her by her grandfather, who took a Hydah maiden for his wife. She was a blood relation of Chief Skowel, he who was greatest of all the Hydah chiefs.”
The rain had begun to fall, so we landed and as we cooked our breakfast over the campfire he told me the story.
“You must know that some of my people came from far to the southward and settled near the Stikine River many, many moons ago. There the Hydahs came seeking safety from their enemies, the Tsimpseans. The streams were full of fish. There were deer in the forest and game was plentiful. They settled there and became rich and had many elaidi (slaves). [[15]]