Indian Legends of Vancouver Island

By Alfred Carmichael

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Indian Legends of Vancouver Island" by Alfred Carmichael. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DigiCat
• Release date: Sep 4, 2022
• ISBN: 8596547230465

Book preview

Alfred Carmichael

Indian Legends of Vancouver Island

EAN 8596547230465

DigiCat, 2022

Contact: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

ILLUSTRATIONS

A PEN PICTURE OF BARKLEY SOUND

THE SUMMER HOME OF THE SESHAHTS

THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS

THE LEGEND OF THE THUNDER BIRDS

HOW SHEWISH BECAME A GREAT WHALE HUNTER

HOW SHEWISH BECAME A GREAT WHALE HUNTER

THE FINDING OF THE TSOMASS

THE FINDING OF THE TSOMASS

THE LEGEND OF EUT-LE-TEN

THE LEGEND OF EUT-LE-TEN

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF EUT-LE-TEN

ILLUSTRATIONS

Table of Contents

The Lone Indian

On Jutting Rocks the Black Klap-Poose, the Shag in Silence Sits

A West Coast Indian Wearing the Kut-sack

A Pictographic Painting--The Coat of Arms of Shewish, Seshaht Chief

The Bark Gives Way and Comes in Strips from off the Trees

We Dance Round our Fires and Sing Again

Next Day E're Mid-day Came They Had Set Sail

Brushing the Hemlock Boughs, he Walked Stealthily

Ka-koop-et

Stone Hammer Used by the Indians of Barkley Sound

He Shot an Arrow Straight Above his Head

Then Eut-le-ten Stood Within the Fire

A PEN PICTURE OF BARKLEY SOUND

Table of Contents

THE ANCIENT HOME OF THE SESHAHTS

To the lone Indian, who slowly paddles his canoe upon the waters of this western sound, each tree of different kind by shade of green and shape of crown is known; the Toh-a-mupt or Sitca spruce with scaley bark and prickly spine; the feathery foliage of the Quilth-kla-mupt, the western hemlock, relieved in spring by the light green of tender shoots. The frond-like branches and aromatic scent betray to him the much-prized Hohm-ess, the giant cedar tree, from which he carves his staunch canoe. These form the woods which sweep from rocky shore to topmost hill.

[Illustration]

Small bays with sandy beaches white with broken clam shells mark the shore, and if across the beach a stream of crystal water rippled to the sea, one Indian lodge or more was sure to be erected on the rising land behind; for Indians always choose to build their homes on sheltered sandy bays where pure fresh water runs, and so in years which are among those past and gone one could not fail to see the blue wood smoke of Indian fires hanging like gauze above the little bays; but most are now deserted and corner posts of old time houses alone are seen, and beds of stinging nettle cover ancient kitchen middens, and spirea and elderberry strive for space where once red strips of salmon hung in the smoke of punk-wood fires, and stillness reigns where once the Indians' mournful song was heard.

Between the bays are rugged rocky points, where, by the constant wash of winter waves the rocks are carved in shapes uncouth and weird--giants in stone, whose heads are crowned with scrubby conifers, upon whose feet the wild seas break, or in the summer time the