Fights between the Tsimshian and Haida and among the northern Haida
Reading edition
[Told by Richard of the Middle-gîtî′ns.]
Some one shouted, and I went out. They were throwing stones at each other. They gave each other a thorough stoning. By and by they stopped. And some time afterward a gun went off. Some one shouted: “They killed so-and-so.” Some time after that another gun went off. Another was shot. Then it stopped for a while. When evening came they began to shoot at us. All through the night they shot at the Skidegate people. During all that time they shouted out [the name of the person shot]. I was then without a gun, and I borrowed one. I held it and two cartridge boxes. They shot at the sail houses on the beach in which we lived. There was nothing behind which we could shelter ourselves. Then I dug a hole for myself in the sand and lay in it.
I then shot at some one who lay behind a log and was shooting, back from the sea. I shot off his hat. When I shot at him again I shot his gun away from him. He then ran away.
A hill lay behind us, from which they were shooting at us. I also began to shoot at those. They also ran away. After they had shot at us for five nights they stopped for a while.
They then shot much at us from Laqꜝalā′m. There was no gun in my canoe. After that they again shot at us. We then fled. During all that time the Tsimshian pursued us. That was a great disaster, though the story of it sounds well enough. They pursued us far out to sea. I was in my wife’s canoe.
When they got far out at sea they returned. They enslaved very many of the Skidegate people.
And on the next day they stood crying in front of ʟꜝg̣a′odana-i. The Pebble-town people did not cry, however, because all of them escaped. Fifty canoe loads were destroyed. The weather was bad. And, while they lay there, the one who had quarreled with me came to me and pulled up his canoe alongside of ours. He then made peace with me. He gave me whisky. And, after we had sent food through the fire to those who had been unable to escape, we spent the night in our canoes. We remained awake. We were afraid. We thought that they might pursue us again.
Some time afterward Gudiqā′yiñao’s father came back. They had been unable to get away from Port Simpson house, whence they came. Before he could ask for blood money the Gîtî′ns’-servants came there, with paddles on their shoulders. They said that they had come to go to war for him.
They then quickly pulled toward them. They shot the man in the stern, so that he fell over into the water, after which they closed with the canoes. When they ran into them to fight they upset them. They then even struck them in the sea. Gî′tg̣ax̣ī′lîña killed three people at that time. The Tsimshian had killed his wife, of whom he was very fond. Four persons were in the canoe. They also destroyed two canoe loads which were farther off.
After they had watched for a while longer [they saw] three more canoes sailing along. They killed all the people in those. They took the heads of them all. After they had watched for some time longer two canoes came with sockeyes. They went out also to those people and killed them. On that day they destroyed seven canoes. On that day they killed twenty-eight people. They enslaved one brave man of the Tsimshian.
The Masset people were then happy. They went off singing songs of victory. And they came to Masset singing songs of victory, for they had made accounts even. But the Skidegate people did not come out even.
They at once began fighting again. Wherever they met they killed one another. They killed each other during many years. They did not make peace with one another. Some are still bad to one another.
For ten days and nights they fought in the town. No one had a fire. No one had water. When the chiefs’ wives, thinking that they would not touch them, went for water the Ya′gun-gîtîna′-i smashed their buckets with stones, and they returned. At the end of ten days the Ya′gun-gîtîna′-i suggested making peace. They then stopped shooting at the house.
They then started to dance. After they had been for two days in the woods, they were called toward the house. They came then and stood in a line in front of the house. They had their guns ready. Presently the Ya′gun-gîtîna′-i stood in lines opposite. They struck each other with their guns. They struck each other with their knives.
Then Tcꜝā′nut married his uncle’s wife, and they made him take his uncle’s place. And, when he kept staying away from his wife, the Middle-gîtî′ns talked roughly to him. After they had spoken to him for a while they told him to leave the house.
They went to get it. After they had been four days away they came home. My father carved the grave post at once. It was finished. He then raised it, and the potlatch was over. He gave away four hundred blankets, and slaves with them. They gave my father slaves and twenty blankets for carving the grave post.
After that Tcꜝā′nut quarreled with his younger brother. He asked him then why he had not evened accounts at the time when they killed his uncle. And his younger brother made him ashamed. On that night he shot one of the Cod-people through the smoke hole. Again they shot each other. After two days had passed they stopped fighting. And they gave a lot of property for [the one killed]. They made them feel good then.
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