The unsophisticated aboriginal of British Columbia is almost a memory
of the past. He leaves no permanent monument, no ruins of former
greatness. His original habitation has long given place to the frame
house of sawn timber, and with the exception of the carvings in black
slate made by the Hydah Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and
the stone hammers, spear and arrow points, fashioned in the days
before the coming of the white man, the mementos of his sojourn in
British Columbia are only relics in wood, bark or reeds.
In the Alberni District of Vancouver Island there are two tribes
of Indians, the Seshaht and the Opitchesaht. During the winter
season the Seshahts live in a village which occupies a beautiful
and commanding site on the west bank of the Somass River.
Some thirty years ago when I first knew the Seshahts, they still
celebrated the great Lokwana dance or wolf ritual on the occasion
of an important potlatch, and I remember well the din made by the
blowing of horns, the shaking of rattles, and the beating of sticks
on the roof boards of Big Tom's great potlatch house, when the
Indians sighted the suppositional wolves on the river bank opposite
the Village.
In those days we were permitted to attend the potlatches and witness
the animal and other dances, among which were the "Panther," "Red
Headed Woodpecker," "Wild Swan" and the "Sawbill Duck." Generally
we were welcome at the festivals, provided we did not laugh or
show sign of any feeling save that of grave interest. Among my
Indian acquaintances of those days was Ka-coop-et, better known in
the district as Mr. Bill. Bill is a fine type of Seshaht, quite
intelligent and with a fund of humour. Having made friends, he told
me in a mixture of broken English and Chinook some of the old folk
lore of his tribe. Of these stories I have selected for publication
"How Shewish Became a Great Whale Hunter" and "The Finding of the
Tsomass." This latter story as I present it, is a composite of three
versions of the same tale, as received, by Gilbert Malcolm Sproat
about the year 1862; by myself from "Bill" in 1896, and by Charles A.
Cox, Indian Agent, resident at Alberni, from an old Indian called
Ka-kay-un, in September 1921. Ka-kay-un credits his great great
grandfather with being the father of the two young Indians who with
the slave See-na-ulth discovered the valley now known as Alberni,
while "Bill" gave the credit to the sons of "Wick-in-in-ish."
The framework for "The Legend of Eut-le-ten," was related to me by
Rev. M. Swartout in the year 1897. Mr. Swartout was a missionary to
the West Coast Indian tribes. He spoke the language of the natives
fluently, and took great pains to get the story with as much accuracy
as possible. A few years later, Mr. Swartout was drowned during a
heavy storm while crossing in an open boat from the islands in
Barkley Sound to Ucluelet.
In the making of the stories into English, I have worked in what
knowledge I have of the customs and habits of the West Coast Indians
of Vancouver Island. In a few instances, due to a lack of refinement
of thought in the original stories, I have taken some license in
their transcription. The legends indicate the poetry that lies hidden
in the folk lore of the British Columbia Coast Indian tribes. For
place names and other valuable information I am indebted to the
kindness of Mr. Cox. The illustrations are original and are the work
of Mr. J. Semeyn of Victoria.
ALFRED CARMICHAEL,
Victoria, B.C.