ON THE NORTH-WESTEUN TRIBES OF CANADA. 557 



When the members of the tribe were reduced in numbers the Nisk'a' 

 began to claim Portland Inlet as their territory, and ' Chief Mountain ' 

 monopolised the right of trading .with the Ts'Ets'a'ut. Since that time 

 they have been called his slaves. 



These reports on the former locatioii of the tribe are corroborated by the 

 fact that all their legends are localised either on Tcu'naq River, which seems 

 to have been their principal haunt, or on Portland Inlet, and on rivers 

 and lakes of the peninsula between Portland Inlet and Behm Channel. 



I learned the following particulars in regard to their history. 



According to the statements of Levi, they lived in olden times much 

 more frequently on Behm Channel than on Portland Inlet. At that 

 lime they were on friendly terms with the Sa'nak'oan (Ssanghakon, 

 Krause) of Boca de Quadra. The chief of the latter was their friend, and 

 some of their number were in the habit of staying with the Sa'nak-oan. 

 After his death the Sa'nak-oan intended to kill the Ts'Ets'a'ut, and to en- 

 slave the women and children. The chief's nephews, however, informed 

 them of this plan, and from that time they hunted more frequently around 

 Portland Inlet. They then fell in, for the first time, with the Nisk-a' on 

 Portland Inlet. The names of men whom they met there were K"aya'q, 

 Guna'q, and Gyitqo'n. 



Three friends of the deceased chief of the Sa'nak-oan, whose names 

 were Walk-En, Tlaqo'ns, and Qutk-a', resolved to pursue the Ts'Ets'a'ut, 

 whose chief at that time was K"'acgueta', a member of the Laqskl'yek 

 clan. Tlaqo'ns and Qutk-a' wei-e brothers, and the last-named had 

 married a K'utlk-oa'n svoman. This tribe lived, at that time, on Revilla 

 Gigedo Island, while nowadays they have joined the Sta'kink-oan. They 

 are called by the Niska' Gyitqa'el. These three men followed the 

 Ts'Ets'a'ut. They found that they had made friends with the Nisk-a', and 

 that most of them were hunting south of Nass River, near the village op- 

 posite Greenville, while some had gone to Observatory Inlet. They did not 

 dare to follow them into the country of the Nisk-a', and turned back. 

 They returned to Boca de Quadra, and went to a place which was owned 

 by K-asa'qs, the chief of an eagle clan of the Sa'nak-oan. They call this 

 place K-a'itl, while the Ts'Ets'a'ut call the river which empties there 

 Atqatqaga.' This is the most southern of three rivers emptying in 

 Quadra Bay. The middle one is called Nugufega', the most northern one 

 Tsetliega' in the Ts'Ets'a'ut language. In the following autumn the 

 Ts'Ets'a'ut returned to the mouth of Atqatqaga', and fell in with the 

 Sa'nak-oan. The latter invited them to come down to the place wliere 

 their fish was stored, which they proposed to exchange for skins. There 

 were three Laq.ski'yek men, three Laqkyebo' women, and fourteen 

 children in the party. They had three guns among them. Levi's uncle 

 was one of the party. It was raining, and as soon as they reached the 

 camp the Ts'Ets'a'ut placed their guns over the fire in order to dry them. 

 The Sa'nak-oan had loaded their guns outside. They had two lonw funs 

 and one short one. A Tongass woman, who was married to one of the 

 Sa'nak-oan, was friendly to the Ts'Ets'a'ut, as were all the members of her 

 tribe, and she cried all the time in order to warn them, but they did not 

 understand what she meant. In order to provoke a quarrel Tlaqo'ns, who 

 owned the short gun, asked one of the Ts'Ets'a'ut if he thought thiit the 

 gun would kill a bear. The Ts'Ets'a'ut thought it was too small. Then 

 Tlaqo'ns took the guns of the Ts'Ets'a'ut, which were small-bore, from the 

 drying frame, and, under pretence of examining them, placed them out 



