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on-tree), with a long, sharp nose; Large-belly (Law'yaspans ), represented 
with human features; Tree-dweller or Large belly (?)^ with a long, bird- 
like nose; and the Standing-bear (HcBtkuhl-smaih ). 
ORIGIN 
The origin of the Dragon-fly and Large-belly crests is accounted for 
in a myth, which also belongs to the other branches of the house; that of 
the Standing-bear and Tree-dweller is described in the narrative of a war 
expedition against a Tsetsaut (Sekanais) tribe of the interior. These 
traditions, in brief outline, are the following; 
A young unmarried woman of this clan, w^hose name was Yaw’l, broke 
her seclusion taboos, to play with her brothers. Although it was summer- 
time, a deluge of snow covered the ground at night. And when the brothers 
and sister looked outside, they found themselves in a strange country. 
Their house was nearly covered with snow. Huge-belly, a monstrous 
being, appeared from time to time, calling the young taboo-breakers out- 
side, one by one, to cut them open with his long, sharp, glass-like nose, 
and hang their bodies on the rafters of his lodge to smoke and dry like 
split salmon. One of them managed to slay him. The slayer took to 
flight with his sister and remaining brothers. But to little avail. A 
female being of the same kind, Ksemkaigyet, who could draw out her nose 
into a sharp knife, pursued them. As they hid on a tree at the edge of a 
lake, she detected their shadows in the frosty waters, and dived several 
times to capture them, until she was quite frozen. Then they killed her. 
But before she died, she declared, “The people will always suffer from 
my nose.” From her remains were born the mosquitoes and other pests. 
The crests of the Dragon-fly and Large-belly were inherited as a conse- 
quence in the family of the survivors, who belonged to the family of Luus 
and Kyawlugyet, of Qaldo. 
The emblems of Standing-bear and Tree-dweller originated in the 
course of a war expedition against the traditional enemies of the Gitksan, 
the nomadic tribes of the Tsetsaut (Sekanais), of the Groundhog country, 
in the interior. The leaders of this raid belonged to three different tribes 
of the upper Gitksan: Suweeraus, of Qaldo, Neekyap and Kamrangyehle, 
of Kisgagas, and Gutkweenurhs, of Kispayaks. On their way north- 
eastward they discovered and conquered two supernatural beings. One 
of them. Tree-dweller, w'as allotted as a crest to the Wolf participants; 
and another, the White-marten, passed into the hands of the Fireweed 
warrior, Kutweenurhs. Tree-dweller was a human-like giant, living in 
a tree. The warriors became aware of his presence at night, when camping 
under the tree, his abode. Each of the warriors in turn tried to capture 
him, but failed. The outer edge of his left hand was sharp like a knife. 
Suweeraus, the Wolf brave of Qaldo, finally overcame him, thus securing 
him as a crest for his heirs. 
Before reaching the village of the Tsetsaut, one of them fought a 
Grizzly-bear, thrusting his arm into its throat while the others clubbed 
it to death. They made a reinforced armour of its skin. The leader of 
the expedition, Suweeraus, donned it and appeared outside the village of 
iThe carver here combined together two independent crests. This may or may not have been intentional. 
