166 



Inasmuch 



Chiefs Seba 

 sha and 

 Shakes 



Giat-kahtla 

 Tribe 



engaged in thrilling songs of praise to God, made 

 up, but a few years ago, the fiendish assemblage at 

 Fort Simpson.&quot; 1 



Other notable accessions were those of two 

 chiefs, Sebasha and Shakes. The latter came to 

 the opening of the church &quot;in a monster canoe, 

 accompanied by nearly one hundred of his tribe 

 .... a large Bible was presented to him, one of a 

 number which had been given by the Society to be 

 presented to such as might be considered worthy of 

 the gift. It lay long in his treasure-chest before 

 he learnt to appreciate its value, but at length the 

 true light illumined his dark heart, and he re 

 nounced heathenism, and was baptized into the 

 Church of Christ.&quot; 



&quot;The heathenism of the Giat-kahtla tribe, of 

 which both Sebasha and Shakes were chiefs in 

 succession, was of the darkest and fiercest char 

 acter. A native teacher, who was a half-breed, 

 had been sent to this tribe, but he returned shortly 

 after and informed us that he could not remain 

 there longer, owing to the vile practices which 

 were carried on nightly in the camp. The flesh 

 of dogs and corpses was torn and devoured by the 

 medicine men in a cannibalisitc manner, and even 

 mouthfuls of flesh torn from the arms and 

 shoulders of men and women when passing 

 through the camp. The overbearing character 

 of the Giat-kahtla chiefs is illustrated by an 

 incident recorded of one of Sebasha s predecessors. 

 This chief was seated in front of his lodge one day 

 in the early spring, when food was scarce. One of 



