155 
ancestress also bore the name of Skawah, and her supernatural experiences 
were the same as for the Sky clan above. Kweeyaihl and his family of 
Kispayaks are its only representatives among the Gitksan; and Nees- 
tarhawk, of Kitsalas, among the Skeena River Tsimsyan. 
(c) K third branch of the Sky clan is that to which belong Ksrarom- 
larhse, of Gitsegyukla; Leelebeks, of Kispayaks, and Ksrarom-larh®, of 
Hagwelget, From the inclusion among its crests of the Finback-whale, 
it discloses seacoast affiliations. 
(d) The Wild-rice clan (Git’anrasrh). The phratric status of this 
clan is very peculiar; it is indeed, quite unique. It belongs as much to 
the Wolf as to the Fireweed phratry. Some of its crests, the Grizzly, 
the Cormorant, and Sharp-nose (Dzarauh-rhlaw ), normally belong to 
members of the Wolf phratry. They consider themselves related to the 
Wolves, and are called to assist their Wolf relatives in potlatches. And 
it seems that they do not intermarry with them.^ Its members are: 
QjbI and Hrkyadet, of Kispayaks; Weegyet, of Anlarasemdserh, a tribal 
village no longer in existence, but formerly situated a short distance below 
Kisgagas; and some other families among the Babines, of the interior. 
(e) Weegyet, of Gitsegyukla, heads a family in the Fireweed phratry 
which stands all by itself. Its small size precludes the use for it of the 
term clan. It consists of the households of Weegyet and Tseebesse, at 
Gitsegyukla; Tseegwee^ of Hazelton; and another of its members at Git- 
winlkul. Its origin is traced back to a clan of the Eagle phratry, that to 
which Qawq, of Kitwanga, belongs; the cause for its passage from the 
Eagle to the Fireweed phratry — a most exceptional occurrence — ^is remem- 
bered to this day fSee The Poles of Weegyet, at Gitsegyukla ). The crests 
of Weegyet are largely those which his ancestors owned when they were 
still members of the Eagle phratry. 
Clans of the Wolf Phkatry 
(a) The Prairie clan (Larhwiyip) is the largest and most powerful 
Wolf clan among the Gitksan. There is also a branch of it on Nass river. 
Its origin is traced back to the headwaters of Stikine river; and the remote 
ancestors were Tahltan — an Athapascan nomadic people, of the interior 
plateaux, to the north. The Prairie clan is supposed, according to its tradi- 
tions, to have joined a band of Tlingit fugitives at Na’a (now Port Chester), 
Alaska, and to have migrated southwards with them. Some members of 
the party settled among the Nisrae, on Nass river;® others moved down the 
coast and joined the Tsimsyan;^ and those that were to become Gitksan 
travelled from the upper Nass south to the Skeena. The Gitksan members 
of this clan are: Malee and Nees-laranows, of Gitwinlkul, whose group is 
called “People-of-the-foothill-trail”; their first ancestor on the Skeena 
was Ka-ugwait; Spawrh, of Gitenmaks (Hazelton); Hrleem-larhse and 
Hrsarhgyaw, of Kispayaks; and Gwarh-skysek and Sqabse, also of Kis- 
payaks. Gwarh-skyjEk, like Hrleem-larhje, descends from the house of 
‘Some doubt still prevails as to this. 
’Otherwise known as Isaac Tans. 
’Their leader now is Skateen, of Gitlarhdamks. 
♦Nees-laranows, the head-chief of the Gitiicn tribe. 
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