Courtesy Mrs. F. J. Hunt
“We came in sight of the deserted village of Kasaan”
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“See how the totem poles in front of Chief Skowel’s lodge rise high above all the others! That tells how big a chief he was. In his lodge was danced the great peace dance which ended the long war between the Hydahs and the Tsimpseans.
“Farther back than my grandfather’s father can remember the Hydahs and the Tsimpseans had made war upon each other. They made raids at night and the maidens and young braves taken prisoners were treated as slaves. Every time a chief became sick or died, a totem pole was raised, or a potlatch given, some of these slaves were killed and their bodies thrown on the beach to be eaten by the crows. The number of holes in the ears of a chief told how many potlatches he had given.
“One day the Hydahs looked and saw that the water was black with canoes. The Tsimpseans were coming to make war upon them. Twenty young Hydah braves got into two big canoes and went to meet them. They offered to make peace with them. But the Tsimpseans had long looked with longing eyes on their rich hunting grounds, and refused.
“The Tsimpseans had seven canoes and over a hundred men. But the Hydahs had two guns which they had traded many furs for from the Pale Faces far to the Northward at Sheet-kah (Sitka). They shot off the guns and the noise was like the roar of thunder. Their enemies leaped backward in terror. Their canoes were overturned and so many were killed that the water was red with blood.
“They called upon Sha-nung-et-lag-e-das (God) but he heard them not.
“So the Tsimpseans surrendered and Chief Skowel gave a great peace dance. The two tribes were drawn up facing each other. Then a young brave from each side advanced and choosing one of his former foes carried him off to his side. He was not allowed to walk throughout the long ceremony and was treated with the greatest honor. This was to show that they would now treat each other as brothers and freely visit each other’s camp fires.