PEOPLE OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 81 



of great energy of character, but naturally has many enemies, among whom are to be 

 reckoned the chiefs of most of the other tribes. One of these, the Nim'-kish chief, to 

 attain a superior position to Na-ka-pun-thim, lately broke up and destroyed a very valu- 

 able "copper," leaving Na-ka-puu-thim in an inferior position till he could obtain and 

 destroy a similarly valuable piece. Not himself having a suitable "copper," the Nîm'- 

 kish chief collected his means to purchase one which was in the possession of a young 

 man of the tribe named Wa-uook. This "copper" had been purchased by Wa-nook's 

 father from "Wa-nook's wife's mother, in order that his son might assume an important 

 place in the tribe as its possessor. The various tribes were assembled at the Fort Rupert 

 village for a potlatch, and after haranguing them, Na-ka-pun-thim publicly offered 1,400 

 blankets for the " copper," but Wa-nook still held back for a higher price. The natives 

 assembled were divided into two parties, and were much excited, calling each other by 

 opprobious names and some encouraging Na-ka-pun-thim, others his adversaries. Mr. Hall 

 describes Na-ka-puu-thim as coming out before the people accompanied by a man 

 hideously dressed and wearing a mask, drawing out and exhibiting a scalp in each 

 hand and saying to his principal rival : " These are enemies of mine whom I have killed, 

 and in a like manner I will crush you." Then, even before he had quite completed the 

 purchase of the " copper," he began to break a large piece from one corner, and as the 

 " copper " in question was undoubtedly more valuable than that previously mutilated by 

 the Nim'-kish chief, he, according to Indian ideas, effected his triumph, changing his 

 name from " Suh-witti" to that above given, and — as is sometimes done — erecting a post in 

 commemoration of the event, on which, in this instance, the " copper " itself was elevated. 



VI. — Traditions, Folklore and Eeligion. 



The traditions and stories of the Kwakiool people appear to centre chiefly about Cape 

 Scott, the north-west extremity of Vancouver Island. Almost every feature of the coast 

 in this vicinity has some tale appended to it. It is the point identified with the appear- 

 ance of their culture-hero and may be assumed to be the site of their earliest home, in so 

 far as this can be ascertained througfi the distorted medium of tradition. The now familiar 

 figure of the culture-hero, is, with these people, as with most others, that about which 

 innumerable stories have been grouped by a natural process of aggregation, the central 

 idea being now scarcely sufficient support for the whole. The name of this hero, like 

 other words in the language, is somewhat changed in the various dialects. After hearing 

 it pronounced by a number of individuals in the northern part of Vancouver Island and 

 on the west coast, I adopted" Kan-ë-a-ke-luh " as the most correct rendering.' The " Na- 

 witti " people use a form more nearly rendered by " Kan-e-a-kwe-a," while neither of these 

 names were known to a Kwâ-wa-ai-nuk Indian, who gave me " Na-la-no-koom-ki-la," ex- 

 plaining it as meaning the "first man." Eev. A. J. Hall writes the name " Kânïkëlâg." 

 All these renderings are very probably derived from the ordinal number " first " given to 

 me as kl-al' a-kl-wa by a Fort Eupert Indian.^ 



' Dr. Franz Boas writes tlie name of the culture-hero " Kanikilak." Science, March, 1887. 



^ One cannot but be struclc, liowever, witli the close resemblance of this word to kanaka, the Hawaiian word 

 for " man." Is it within the bounds of possibility, that the story of the arrival of this culture-hero depends on some 

 historical event x^rhaps connected with the period of remarkable movement and adventurous sea voyages which 

 Fornander shews to have occurred in the Polynesian region, about the eleventh or twelfth centuries of our era? 



Sec. ii, 1887. 11. 



