swANTONi HAIDA TEXTS AND MYTHS 377 



Wars between thk Stikine and Sitka Tltngit 



[Told by liichard oi" the Middlo-giti'ns] 



The nephew of Ceks lived at Sitka for the sake of some woman. He 

 was killed there. Then all the Stikine people went to Sitka to tight. 

 At that time they had a pitched battle there, and they destroyed many 

 Sitka people. After that the Sitka people also started out to war. 



At that time the eulachon were running- into the Stikine, After 

 the}- had tilled the ground with holes the}" went out to get stones. 

 They did not have the right kind of stones there. The}^ had only 

 whetstones. And, when they came from it, a man passed out bv them 

 to get some. His name was Daol.^ Then he gave them the following- 

 prediction: "They will kill me [and my family] when the tide is on 

 the ebb, and 1 shall never come back." 



As soon as the tide was out they went out to tight. The warriors 

 came upon him at the place where he was gathering stones. Then 

 they took him into the war chiefs canoe. He had left his gun behind. 

 The}' then made fun of him by telling him to do various things. 



While they were talking to him the warriors (his friends) came into 

 the bay. They asked him then: "" One-who-is-al ways-mentioned, are 

 you still alive r" "Yes," he said. He also asked: "Did you bring 

 my gun? Did you bring my knife?" "Yes." "Give them to me." 

 They then got his things to him. 



\Mien he ^^ut on his cartridge box some one shouted: "Ixia'+i," 

 One- who-is-al ways-mentioned has his weapons in his hands." Then, 

 forgetting himself, he shot. Straightway they all shot. And he also 

 said that he pulled out his knife and kept striking them as he moved 

 forward. They then destroyed the Sitka people. They stabbed those 

 who there escaped to the woods. They said that two young fellows 

 then came from watching for their enemies. They took them into 

 Ceks's canoe. 



They then went away. On the next day they collected heads. 

 Some of them got twelve. Others got ten. The heads were drying 

 in the sunshine, looking like clothes drying on a line and bellying in 

 the wind. Then Ceks, having called the people together, told them to 

 stop fighting. He toUl them that they had destroyed the Sitka people. 



By and by they let the two youths that they had enslaved go. They 

 then ripped open the scams in a little, old, 3-fathom canoe. In it they 

 started otf. They also gave them a small paddle. They thought then 

 that they would drown. In the summer after that they heard that 

 they had escaped. 



