32. The Prince Who Was Deserted

Once upon a time there was a great town of the G·id-wul-g·â’dz tribe between Metlakahtla and Port Simpson, where there is a great sandbar in front of Kumałgo. There was a great chief there, and his four brothers-in-law. He had an only son. The prince did not eat, but was only chewing dried kidney fat. He was sitting on top of his father’s house, and made arrows all the time. He did so every day; and when the humpback salmon arrived in the rivers, his father’s people went everywhere to catch salmon, and dried them for winter use. The prince and his little slave also went to the little rivers in the great bay, and caught many humpback salmon and took them home. They unloaded the canoe on the sandbar in front of the village, and in the morning the eagles would gather and eat all the humpback salmon. He did so the whole summer; and when the eagles were fat, their feathers dropped out on the sandbar, and the prince sent down his little slave to gather the eagle feathers. The little slave went down and brought to his young master the eagle feathers, and the prince was very glad. He liked to feed the eagles with the salmon, beeause he wanted their feathers. He made many boxes full of arrows; and he used the eagle feathers, which he fastened to the shaft, so that the arrows were very swift.

Now the salmon-run was over. Summer had passed, and winter came, and the people had used up all their salmon, and all the different kinds of food were nearly gone. Then the prince’s father, the chief, was much displeased with his son because he had fed the eagles in the summer during the salmon-run. Therefore the great chief sent his wife to his four brothers-in-law. He gave them this advice: “Let none of my sons’ uncles take pity on him when he comes to their house, starving and hungry, for he has always been feeding the eagles during the past summer. Let the eagles feed him now!” Thus spoke the chief to his wife. Therefore his wife went to her eldest brother’s house, and she told him what her husband had said. Then her eldest brother said, ’T will do so.” She went to her second brother and told him what her husband had said. She went into the house of the third and fourth brothers and told them the same.

Every morning during this hard winter the great chief said to his own nephews, “Wake up and make a fire!” Then all the people in his house arose, and would sit around the fire. They ate little food, but his son was sitting there just chewing a little fat which he held in his mouth. His parents did not give him even a little food, because his father was angry.

One day the prince felt sad on account of what his father and mother were doing to him. Almost every morning his father said to him, “My son, go and feed the eagles with your salmon!” The young man was always crying. Therefore he went to his eldest uncle’s house. As soon as he entered, his uncle said to his young men, “Spread the mats by the side of the fire!” They did so. “Now let my nephew sit on them!’ He said to his wife, “Now feed my nephew!” So his wife took a nice dried salmon, roasted it by the fire, cut it, put it into a wooden dish, and the young men placed the dish before the prince. Then his uncle arose from his seat; and when the young prince stretched his hand toward the dish to take the roasted salmon, the chief took the dish with the roasted salmon away from him, and said, “Oh, let those eagles that you fed last summer feed you now!” Then he ate it with his wife. Therefore the young man was very much ashamed on account of what his eldest uncle had done to him, He went out crying and sad.

On the following day he went to his second uncle’s house; and as soon as he entered, his uncle said to his young men, ‘Spread the mats alongside of the fire!” They did so. His wife roasted a salmon, cut it and put it into a dish, and placed it in front of her nephew; but before the prince could take the salmon, his uncle took it away from him, and said, ‘Oho! this one who fed the eagles shall not eat this good salmon.’ He ate it with his wife. Then the prince was very much ashamed, and went out crying.

On the following morning he went to his third uncle’s house, sat down on one side of the fire, and his uncle’s wife roasted a dried salmon. After she had cut it, she put it into a wooden dish and placed it in front of the young man; but before he could take the dish, his uncle took it away, and said, ‘Oho! this one who fed the eagles shall not eat this good salmon.’ Then the boy went out crying bitterly. He lay down on his bed and cried the whole night.

The following morning he went to his youngest uncle’s house. As soon as he entered, his youngest uncle said to his men, “Spread the mats alongside of the fire!” They did as he had ordered them. His youngest uncle was crying with his wife while his nephew was sitting there. When they stopped crying, he said to his nephew, “I have heard what these bad men have done to you. Your mother came here the other day, and told us that your father wanted us to treat you badly. That is the reason why they ill-treated you; but I do not want to treat you that way.” After he had spoken thus. he asked his wife to roast a salmon. She roasted it and placed it in front of him: but he did not take it at once, because he thought they would take it away from him. But his uncle said, ‘Eat the salmon, my dear nephew!” So he took it and ate, and they gave him many kinds of food. At midnight he went home well satisfied.

Early the next morning his father said to his slave, “Go out and order the people to move up to Nass River!” Then the great slave ran out and shouted, “Move away tomorrow, great tribe!’ The people made ready to move, and on the following morning they left the chief’s son by order of the great chief. His youngest uncle’s wife left one dried spring salmon and a bucket of crabapples and his little slave with him. They also left all his boxes of arrows with him, and some fire and half a small bucketful of grease. Now his people started and went to Nass River.

When all the people had gone away, the prince gathered some old boards and pieces of cedar bark. With these he built a small house. He gave the little slave a little salmon and crabapples mixed with grease. Early every morning he went out and made more arrows, and would sit outside the house.

The tide was very low, and then he saw an eagle that screeched on the beach. He called his little slave. “Go down to the beach and see why the eagle is screeching there!” So the slave went down to where the eagle was sitting; and when he reached the place, the eagle flew away. Behold! a trout lay on the beach. Then he shouted with all his might, and said, “There is a trout here, my dear!” So the prince said, “Take it up!” The slave carried it up to the prince, who ordered him to roast it. The slave roasted it; and when it was done, he said to his little slave, “Eat it all!’ The slave did so.

Early the next morning the prince went out again and saw many eagles that were screeching on the beach. He sent his slave down. The slave ran down, and, behold! a large bullhead was lying on the sand. He shouted again, and said, ‘There is a large bullhead here, my dear!” The prince said, “Bring it up here!” The slave took it up, and they steamed it in a hole in the ground. The little slave ate of it, but the prince did not eat any.

For several days the eagle gave them trout and bullheads. which they dried. Then they had enough to eat. One morning he went out again, and he saw many eagles come down on the beach, where they were screeching. He sent his little slave down. He ran down again to look, and, behold! a silver salmon was on the sand. Again he shouted, and said, “There is a silver salmon, my dear!” The prince ordered him to take it, and he carried it up. The prince cut it and roasted it and ate a little. They did so for several days, and they dried the salmon.

On the following day the prince went out again, and he heard the eagles screaming on the beach. He sent his little slave down. The slave ran down, and, behold! a large spring salmon was on the sand. The slave shouted, and said, “There is a large spring salmon!’ The prince said, “Take it, take it!” So the slave took it up. It was very heavy; and when he was halfway up, the prince went down to help him carry it. The prince split it and dried it. They did so for many days, and his house was full of dried fish.

Another morning he went out, as usual. Behold! there were many eagles down on the beach. He sent his slave down, and, behold! there was a great halibut on the sand. The slave shouted, and said, “There is a large halibut here, my dear!’ The prince said, “Take it!” but he could not drag it along. When he told the prince that he could not drag it, the prince himself went down, and he dragged it up. He cut it and dried it.

Another morning the prince went out. and he heard the eagles screeching on the beach. There were a great many eagles there. So he sent down his slave; and when the slave came, he saw a seal. Then the slave shouted, “Here is a great seal on the beach, my dear!” The prince said, “Take it!’ The slave could not carry it, and so the prince went down and dragged the seal up to his camp. He cut it and dried it. Now one house was full of all kinds of fish. Because the prince had fed the eagles the past summer, they now gave him this food. They did so many days, and every day a seal was on the beach. He dried them all.

One morning the prince went out, and, behold! there were many eagles down on the beach. He sent his slave down; and when he came there, behold! a large sea lion was there. He shouted with all his might, “Here is a great sea lion, my dear!” and when the prince heard that there was a sea lion, he went into the woods, took cedar twigs, twisted them, and joined them together; and when he had thus made a rope, he went down and tied the large sea lion to the shore; and when the tide rose, he and his slave hauled it up on shore; and when the tide turned, it was on the beach. The prince carved it and dried it. Now one house was full of dried seal meat, and he had another house full of sea-lion meat. The sea lions are very large and have much meat and fat. They did so many days, and two houses were full of sea-lion meat and fat.

Now the people who had left him were dying of starvation on Nass River; for no olachen had come, and they had no food.

Another morning the prince went out again, and there was a great number of eagles far out on the water. They were flying ashore with a great whale, and they landed there. Therefore the prince and his slave went into the woods and took many cedar twigs, which they twisted the whole day long. They tied the great whale to the shore. On the following day they cut the blubber and carried it into a large house. They filled three houses with it, because the whale was very large. They did so several days. Now they had ten great whales. They had cut six whales, and four remained on the beach.

The prince went out, walking around the whole village. All the houses were full of blubber. He was thinking of his uncle who had pitied him while he was hungry. Therefore he called a gull and asked it to let him have its skin. So the gull lent him its skin. He put it on and took a small piece of boiled seal meat and flew away to Nass River. When he arrived there, he saw many canoes trying to catch olachen with their bag nets, but they could not catch many. The prince flew over the canoes, trying to find one of his relatives among the canoes. At last he discovered his father’s slaves in one of the canoes. He flew over it.

A slave-woman was sitting in the stern. while her husband and others were managing the nets. The gull was flying over her head, and dropped down “a piece of seal meat to her. The slave-woman took it and put it into her glove, and she then saw the gull fly away down river until she lost sight of it.

In the evening, when the fishermen came home, and when all the people were in bed (the slave families live in one corner), the slave-woman told her husband that the gull dropped a piece of half-dried seal meat to the place where she was sitting in the canoe. Therefore the man had a little of the seal. She also had a little, and gave the greater piece to her child. The child was glad to get the seal, and swallowed it and choked. The child almost died because he swallowed it whole; and the child’s mother put her fingers into the child’s mouth, trying to take the piece of seal meat that was choking the child, but she could not do so, because she had short fingers. Therefore the chieftainess inquired what was the matter with the child. The slave said, “We do not know.’ The chieftainess said, ‘Bring the child here to the light of the fire, so that I may know!” They did so, and she said, “Something obstructs its breath.” Therefore the chieftamess put her long fingers into its mouth, and she felt something. She took out the piece of boiled seal meat. Behold! there was a piece of seal meat. Then she asked the slaves where they had gotten it, and she told her husband the chief about it. Therefore the chief asked the slaves where they had obtained the dried seal meat, and the mother of the child told the chief how the gull had dropped the piece of seal meat into the canoe while they were out fishing. The chief asked, furthermore, “Where did the gull go after it had dropped the seal into the canoe?” and the slave-woman said, “It went straight down river.”

Therefore the great chief said, “Call all the wise men, and I will ask them what they think.” So the great. slave called all the old men to the chief’s house. He asked for their opinion, and they said, “We believe that your son must have been successful.’ Therefore the chief wanted to send a canoe on the next day to look for him. On the following morning they started, and before evening they arrived in front of Port Simpson. Behold! the surface of the water was covered with grease. They paddled along, and when they came to the place where they had left the prince, they went ashore. Behold! they saw a great many bones on the beach; and the sand smelled of grease in front of the old village; and the houses were full of dried salmon, halibut, dried seals, sea lions, whale blubber; and four great. whales were on the beach. They were surprised, and wondered on account of all the prince had done.

When the prince saw the canoe coming to his town, he went out, and would not allow them to come ashore; but they asked him to take pity on them. So after a little while they landed. Then they ate dried salmon, dried halibut, dried seal meat, dried sea-lion meat, and whale blubber; and when they all had had enough, the prince ordered them, and said, ‘Don’t tell my father that I have plenty to eat! Tell him that I died long ago; but I want you to stay here two days and eat as much as you can, but don’t take anything home with you. Tell my youngest uncle that I want him to come home soon. I will give him one great whale that is lying here on the beach; but I don’t want my father and my mother here, nor my three elder uncles, who made fun of me at the time of the famine, nor any of my father’s people: but I want all the different tribes to buy my provisions which you see in all these houses.”

Then he sent them back; and when they arrived at home on Nass River, the slaves landed in the evening. They went up to the house of their master. The chief asked them, “Is my son still alive?” They replied, “Yes, he is still alive;’? and the slaves said furthermore, “Your son, whom you deserted there, has plenty to eat. There is no room for all the meat and fat, for the dried trout, salmon, spring salmon, seal, sea lion, and dried halibut. Many houses are full of whale blubber, and all the houses are full of meat and of fish as well, and four great whales are on the shore, and a great many boxes are full of grease, and the whole surface of the water is covered with grease. The prince has succeeded in getting all these provisions, and he does not want to see you or his mother, only his youngest uncle. He asked him to come down to him, and he will give him one great whale. He does not want his three elder uncles and all your people, but he ordered me to tell all the different tribes to buy his provisions.”

Then the chief and his wife could not sleep that night. Early the following morning the chief said to his great slave, ‘Order the people

to return to our old town where we deserted our prince. Then we will ask him to take pity on us, lest we die of starvation.” Therefore the great slave ran out and cried, ‘Return to the old town, great tribe! Move by tomorrow, for our great prince has plenty to eat in our old village.”

Early the following morning the chief and all his brothers-in-law and all his people moved, and returned from Nass River to the old village at Sandbar Town.

Then the eldest uncle dressed up his two daughters. He placed them on a box in his canoe, for he thought his nephew would marry them. All the people paddled as hard as they could; and when they arrived in front of Port Simpson, behold! they saw that grease covered the water; and one of the young women stretched out her hand and dipped her fingers into the grease and ate it. The youngest uncle was behind the other canoes.

One day about noon the prince saw a great. many canoes approaching. Then he went out and asked them, “Where do you come from?” They replied, “Your father and all your uncles are here, and your father’s people.” Again he asked them, ‘Who told you to come?” and they all remained silent. Again he said, “Don’t come ashore, or I shall shoot you with my arrows! Get away from here and leave me alone to starve!” Then all the people pleaded with him, and he took pity on them. He asked them again, “Where is my beloved youngest uncle?” They replied that he was far behind.

The prince did not allow them to land until his youngest. uncle came. All the canoes anchored in front of the old village. It was late in the evening when the youngest uncle came. He landed, but the prince refused to let the others come ashore until the following morning. He pointed out one of the great whales, and gave it to his youngest uncle, who gave his beautiful daughter to his nephew to be his wife.

On the following morning the prince went out and called the people ashore. When the canoe of his eldest uncle was near the shore, the two girls dipped their bands into the water to eat the grease that was floating on it. Therefore the prince was very much ashamed. He did not want to see them. He cut one of the whales, and gave one-half to his father, and one-half to his eldest uncle. He cut another one, and gave one-half to his second uncle, and one-half to his third uncle. Then he opened his storehouse of blubber, and gave one piece of blubber to each man and each woman, and he gave small pieces to the children. He invited them to come to his house to his marriage. He loved his wife very much.

On the following day all the tribes came to buy provisions. They bought them with elk skins: and some chiefs of various tribes bought them with slaves, canoes, and costly abalone shells, and with many hundred score of dried raccoon skins, sea-otter skins, marten skins, dancing-blankets, and all kinds of goods. When he was richer than all the chiefs, he invited the chiefs of all the tribes and made a great potlatch and took his new name, Hâsdii, which means “craving food.” He gave away many elk skins, slaves, marten blankets, dancing-blankets, horn spoons, abalone shells, and rings of killer-whale teeth, and he became a great chief among the Tsimshian, and his wealth increased more and more.

Again he gave a great feast and invited all the chiefs, more than he had done before. When all the chiefs were in his house, he took ten costly coppers, ten large canoes, fourscore and ten slaves, elk skins, twenty score of sea-otter garments, marten garments, dancing-blankets, and many horn spoons and horn dippers, and many costly abalone shells, and earrings of killer- whale teeth, and many boxes of grease and crabapples mixed with grease, and all kinds of provisions. Before he gave away all of this, he took one of the costly coppers. They placed it on his chest, and he took his new name, Deserted One. After that they proclaimed his new name. Then he took the costly coppers and gave one to each chief, and he gave away the rest of his goods. All the princes of the various tribes received gifts from him, and all the chieftainesses received horn spoons and horn dippers, costly abalone shells, car-ornaments of killer-whale teeth, and so on. And as long as he lived, the eagles gave him whales, sea otters, sea lions, seals, spring salmon, halibut, and all kinds of fresh fish. His fame spread all over the country in those days. and he became greater and greater until his life ended.