swANToN] HAIDA TEXTS AND MYTHS 161) 



One day he gave ten .slaves to the eldest. To the next he also gave 

 ten slaves. He gave ten apieee to all eight. He made a row of 

 houses for them, all sewed together with cedar linil)s. On the house 

 front of the eldest lie put the figure of a thunder) )ird. On that of 

 the next one he put the rigure of a sculpin. On that of the next he 

 put the tigure of a rainbow. On that of the next he put the figure of 

 a killer whale. On that of the next he put the figure of a human 

 being. On that of the next one he figured stars. On that of the next 

 he put the figure of a cormorant. On that of the next he put the 

 figure of a sea gull. To the eldest brother he gave a spear box. 

 Along with it he gave an arrow box. He gave to all eight of them in 

 the same wa}^ Then he put two marten-skin blankets around each of 

 their two sisters. 



He sat in front of his grandchildren's town and called for them. 

 Then the}' picked up their weapons and practised fighting each other. 

 H}' and by one was shot. Then the elder sister went out and sucked 

 the arrow out of him. The younger sister went thither, spit on her 

 palms, and rubbed them on him. Immediately he was fighting among 

 the ten. Both [of the women] walked about among them. They 

 tried particularly to shoot them. Instead of penetrating, the weapons 

 rebounded from the blankets. That was wh\' he gave the blankets to 

 them. Thus they turned out good [warriors], and he had them cease 

 fighting. 



One day he began to let his grandchildren's town down. He pulled 

 apart the heavy floor planks, looked down, and saw the houses of Met- 

 lakahtla and [the site of] QIado' among human !)eings. At midnight 

 he let down the house of the eldest. When it struck the ground there 

 was a sound of rattling planks. From the town of Metlakahtla one 

 cried '' Wri-a-ri-ri-a, ghosts are settling down'\ So he heard some one 

 cry. He let down two of them. He let down three. 



The youngest received the following directions from his grandfather: 

 "■ When you run away because they are too much for you put a wooden 

 wedge having a drawing on it into the fire for me. Say to it ' Tell my 

 grandfather.*'"" 



All that time the Metlakahtla people shouted "" Wa-ri-a-a-ri, ghosts 

 are coming down." Eight had come down. It was wonderful to see 

 smoke rolling from them in the daylight. In front of the town people 

 walked about in crowds. They wore feathers in their hair. They 

 longed much to see them. Then they sent a slave across in a canoe 

 for live coals. They told him to go into the middle house, which had 

 the figure of a thunder-bird on it. 



He landed in front and shoved his coals into the fire. To his sur- 

 prise he recognized Ga'oax there cooking parts of an animal. It was 

 she whose sons they had killed. From rear to front gambling was in 

 progress. Those watching the gambling stood about in crowds. He 



