SWANTON] TLINGIT MYTHS AND TEXTS 171 



I will give a feast and invite this GonaqAcle't to it." They all told 

 him to do so if he thought he could get his nephews back thereby. 



Then they talked this whole matter over in the chief's house, and 

 the chief said, "Who will go to invite this GonaqAde't?" And many 

 of the brave young men answered, "I will; I will," so that he got a 

 canoe load very quickly. After that the chief said, "Which one of 

 my brothers-in-law will go to invite him?" "I will," answered one 

 of them who was also brave. Then all got into the canoe, traveled 

 that night and encamped just before dawn on a sandy beach close to 

 the GonaqAde't's cliff. About noon they put on their best dancing 

 clothes and paddled to the cliff. Then the chief's brother-in- 

 law arose in the canoe and shouted out as loudly as he could, "The 

 great chief has invited the GonaqAde't to a feast." He repeated 

 these words four times, and the fourth time he did so the water began 

 to act as on the night when the chief's nephews had been lost. The 

 foam became very thick finally, and the cliff' opened, revealing at 

 some distance a very long town. They were invited to come nearer, 

 and, although they thought that the cliff w^ould close upon them, 

 they did so. There were many men about this town, and out of one 

 large house came the chief (the GonaqAde't), who said, "Our song 

 leader is out after wood. Therefore, my father's people, you will 

 have to stay out there quite a while. We must wait for our song 

 leader." Then the GonaqAde't said, "A long time since I heard that 

 I was going to be invited to a feast by that great chief." While he 

 was so speaking there came people into the town with a load of wood, 

 antl they knew that it was the song leader himself. The GonaqAde't's 

 people were now so impatient that all rushed down to the song 

 leader's canoe and carried it up bodily. Then the streets became 

 empty, because everyone had gone in to dress, and in a little while 

 they came down on the beach again and danced for the people in the 

 canoes. 



As soon as this was over the visitors asked to come ashore, and 

 immediately their canoe with everyone inside was carried up to the 

 house of the chief. One of the visitors was sent to all the houses in 

 the town to invite them to the chief's house, and there they gave 

 them Indian tobacco and watched very closely to see what they 

 would do with it. They seemed very fond of it. 



After this tobacco feast was over the GonaqAde't said, "Let us 

 have a dance for these people who have come to invite us. Let us 

 make them happy." They went away and dressed, and that evening 

 they had a dance for their visitors. Then the GonaqAde't said, 

 "These people that come to invite me have to fast.""^ Early next 

 morning, therefore, the GonaqAde't sat up in bed and said to the 

 people in the house, ' ' Make a fire and let us feed these people who have 



oSee Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ameriuan Ethnology, p. •140. 



