Indian Legends of Vancouver Island | Page 3

find ourselves among a hundred isles. Each one is wooded to the water's edge, which often the trees overspread with outstretched boughs. Entranced, we paddle on until we leave behind all trace of ocean swell, and if the tide be low so that old sea-soaked snags are seen upon the shore, and boulders thick with barnacles and varied coloured sea-weeds in shades of brown and red, and here and there great clusters of blue mussel shells, these all, if the water be calm and undisturbed by wind, are mirrored on the surface of the stream, forming pictures most rare and beautiful. Thus for hours with ever fresh delight we thread the calm passage-ways between those isles. Beachlets of white sand and powdered shells are found where ocean swells at times may reach. On these we stroll and gather abalone shells and empty sea eggs and other relics up-thrown by winter storms. At evening we may reach a sheltered nook where years ago Indians built a little shelter in which to sit and watch the sun descend into the western sea. Perhaps we may conjure up the Indian's thought, who built that little shelter, and night on night in glorious summer time, squatted and watched the sun go down.
Such is the setting for the following tales. Amid such scenes as these, the Indians lived and died.
[Illustration: A WEST COAST INDIAN WEARING THE KUT-SACK]

THE SUMMER HOME OF THE SESHAHTS
There is an island larger than the rest, called Ho-moh-ah, where once the tribe of Seshahts made their summer home. It lies well out to sea, and on the sheltered side the Seshahts lived. The chief of the tribe was Shewish. His house was large, so large that when he called his people to a great potlatch, they all could find within its walls an ample space to feast and dance. His house like all the old time dwellings was built on simple lines, the three great roof-logs each of single trees, upheld by posts of ample girth. The sides and roof of wide-split cedar boards were adzed to lie close, and fastened into place by twisted cedar rope. Within, on either side was raised a wooden platform two feet high. This platform and a portion of the floor adjoining it in sections was partitioned off by screens of cedar mats. Each section was the home of such as claimed close kinship with the chief. The centre of the lodge for its whole length was common to all who lived therein. The people cooked their food upon the common fire, the smoke of which curled up and found an exit through the smoke hole in the roof. The section tenanted by the family of Shewish lay furthest from the door. No feature except one marked it as different from the homes of lesser men. A pictographic painting--the Coat of Arms of the great family of Shewish hung upon the wall. The picture told in graphic form how came the name of Shewish to be famed among the hunters of the whale. It also told the legend of the THUNDER BIRDS.
[Illustration: HAND ADZE MADE AND USED BY INDIANS OF BARKLEY SOUND]

THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS
NAMES OCCURRING IN "THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS"
Kulakula is the [1]Chinook word for Bird.
Tee-tse-kin or Tootooch is the name given by the Barkley Sound Indians to the Thunder Bird, a mighty supernatural bird in Indian mythology.
Howchulis, the land of the Howchucklesahts, is better known by the name Uchucklesit, a safe harbour on the west side of the Alberni Canal at its junction with Barkley Sound. Uchucklesit is now the centre of an important fishing industry.
Quawteaht, is a great personage in Indian mythology, a beneficent being, and considered by many to be the progenitor of their race.
[1] CHINOOK, is a jargon or trade language still used on the coast of British Columbia both by the white men in conversing with the Indians, also by the latter when talking to members of a tribe speaking a different dialect. Chinook is a combination of English, French and Indian words.
THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS
The figure at the base of the pictographic painting represents the mammoth whale upon whose back the whole creation rests. Above the whale are seen the head and wings of the giant Kulakula the Tee-tse-kin the Thunder Bird which dwells aloft. When he flaps his wings or even moves a quill the thunder peals. When he blinks his eyes the lightning strikes. Upon his back a lake of large dimensions lies, from which the water pours in thunder storms. He is the lone survivor of four great Thunder Birds which dwelt upon the mountains of Uchucklesit. These mighty birds sustained themselves on whales, which they would carry to the mountain peaks, where Indians say, the bones of many whales