[28] Qꜝā′g̣awa-i was the name of an islet near Ninstints and of the supernatural being who lived under it. He went about in the form of a killer whale with five fins. [↑]
[29] Though not specifically stated, there are probably a number of stones here into which these people were supposed to be turned. [↑]
[30] Intended as a polite request for help. [↑]
[31] Tcꜝā′ał, or Old Gold Harbor, as it is sometimes called, was the most important town on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte islands, and stood on the northern side of a southern entrance to Skidegate channel. This southern entrance is the Tcꜝā′ał inlet referred to. [↑]
[32] The canoe passage through Spit point. [↑]
[33] A name given to the sculpin (qꜝāl) on account of its spines. This episode accounts for the shallows on the north side of Cumshewa inlet. [↑]
[34] My interpreter said he had always heard this episode treated differently—in the way in which it is told in the second version of the story. [↑]
[35] Skedans is one of the few towns prominent in Haida story that have been occupied in recent times. It stood on a tongue of land at the northeastern end of Louise island. The name is a white corruption of the chief’s name. By the people themselves it was called Qꜝō′na, or Grizzly-bear town. Seaward from the site are several islands and reefs, of which Island-that-wheels-around-with-the-current (Dalgā′-iłgałgîñ) is the closest in and Farthest-one-out (Ga-ig̣oqꜝā′-idjūsg̣as) the outermost. ↑ [a] [b] [c] [d] [e]
[36] See [introduction to notes]. [↑]
[37] The exact meaning of the archaic words used here (xa′u-ū łî′ñgîñgwañ) has been forgotten, but this is the idea involved. [↑]