162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 39 



when they invited people to the feast for these houses, they first gave 

 away the slaves they had been buying. The L!uk!nAXA'di felt very 

 badly at this, because — Flathead slaves not being esteemed very 

 highly — this amounted to more than they liad given away. Then 

 war broke out between the two families, and the L!idv!nAXA'di were 

 badly defeated, losing many people. After that the people whose 

 friends had been enslaved, purchased, and given away felt so badly 

 that they also made war on the GanAxte'di with no better result. 



One of the GanAxteMi chiefs was named Yel-xak. In those times 

 people were afraid of a high-caste person who was rich, strong, and 

 brave and did not want to have anything to do with liim. This man's 

 father-in-law was a iJuklnAXA'di chief at Laxayi'k named Big Raven 

 (Yel-Len). Then Yel-xak told his slaves to take food and tobacco to 

 his father-in-law througli the interior by Alsek river, and he did so. 

 When he arrived, the chief said to him, "What did you come for?" 

 ''Your daughter has sent me with some tobacco." Big Raven was 

 very fond of tobacco. Before the slave started on this errand his 

 master had said to him, "Be sure to notice every word he says when 

 you give him the tobacco." Then the slave took away from the 

 tobacco the cottonwood leaves and a fme piece of moose hide in which 

 it was wrapped. As soon as he saw the leaves Big Raven said, "I feel 

 as though I had seen Chilkat now tliat I have seen these cottonwood 

 leaves. Cliilkat is a respectable i)lace. A lot of respectable peojile 

 live there. They are so good that they give food even to the people 

 that were going to fight them." This Big Raven was a shaman and 

 a very rich one. 



When the slave returned to Cliilkat and told his master w hat Big 

 Raven had said, they held a council the same evening in Cku'wu-yel's 

 house. Whale Ikhisc, and Yel-xak said to his slave, " Now you tell these 

 people what that father-in-law of mine has said to you." And the 

 slave said, "As soon as he saw me, he said, '^^^u^t are you doing here?' 

 and I told him that his daughter had sent me to him with tobacco. 

 After he had uncovered tlie tobacco and had seen tiie leaves he said, 

 'They are sucli respectable people in Chilkat that they feed even the 

 people who had come to fight them.' That was what Big Raven 

 said." Then Yel-xak said, "I wonder if he thinks he has gotten even 

 with me for tlie L!uk!nAXA'di I killed on Land-otter point. I wonder 

 whether he thinks he has gotten even with me for having killed all 

 those at AnAk!-nu." He thought that Big Raven was a coward and 

 was going to make peace. Then he moved about very proudly, while 

 the visitors from other places watched him closely, and everything 

 that he said or did was reported to Big Raven. 



A man among the L!uk!nAXA'di, named Cadisi'ktc, was bathing in 

 order to acquire strength to kill the GanAxte'di. Then the L!uk!- 

 nAXA'di pounded on Big Raven's house to have his spirits come 



