The Indians say that once upon a time, many thousand of snows ago, he was a giant spider, but a wicked manitou tossed him into the fire one day where he shriveled up to his present size. The bad manitou thought him dead but when the fire burned low he escaped and flew away with a live coal in his mouth which he carries to this day. Since he could not be revenged on the manitou he takes his vengeance out on man.
Arachne, fair mortal, at Minerva’s fateful touch shrank and shriveled into a spider.
The student of Indian myths will be impressed before he carries his researches very far, with the likeness of many of these legends to the mythologies of the old world.
These Indians, the Kootznahoos, claim to have come from over the seas. They deny any relation with the Tlingits. They were the first Indians to distill hoochinoo, which carries more fight and warwhoop to the drop than any other liquor known. It is made from a mash of yeast and molasses, thickened with a little flour. They were great fighters and murdered the traders as soon as the Russians left. In 1869 Commander Mead shelled the village and took Kitchnatti prisoner. He was taken to Mare Island, California, and confined for a year. The tribe now numbers only five hundred souls. They are a peaceable people and follow fishing for a livelihood. Many of them are employed in the fish factory on the island. Kitchnatti is still the recognized chief, and is very proud of his position. He meets all the steamers coming in and is delighted to meet the officers of the vessels, all of whom are kind to him. He is quite vain in his dress, wearing a silk hat, long coat, black pantaloons and slippers. He also sports a cane, which is a sheathed sword. He claims descent from ancestry as old as “yonder granite mountain” which stands across the strait. His state dress consists of a crown made of goat horns and a tunic made of red felt trimmed with fur. Over his door he has posted his escutcheon, which some one has translated for him into English. It reads, “By the governor’s permission and the company’s commission I am made the Grand Tyhee of this entire illabee.”
On a green slope stands a Greek church, established by the Russian government. The priest lives in a tiny cottage next door.