THE GWA'NI LEGEND
A LONG TIME AGO WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG AND AND SPIRIT BEINGS WANDERED THE WORLD, GWA' NALALIS THIS FAMILY SETTLED AT XWALKX. A SUPERNATURAL BEING WHO ASKED HIM IF THE WORLD TO BE A MOUNTAIN. HE SAID NO AS MOUNTAINS CRUMBLE AND FALL DOWN. HE ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED TO BE A TREE AND HE SAID NO. CEDAR TREES GET STRUCK BY LIGHTENING. THEN HE ASKED IF HE WANTED TO BE A BOULDER AND HE SAID NO AS THEY MAY CRACK AND CRUMBLE. FINALLY HE ASKED IF HE WANTED TO BE A RIVER . YES, LET ME BE A RIVER AS LONG AS THE DAYS DAWN. SO THE SUPERNATURAL BEING PUT HIS HAND ON GWANALIS FOREHEAD AND PUSHED HIM DOWN AND SAID YOU WILL BE A RIVER FOREVER. YOU WILL BE FULL OF SALMON SO THAT YOUR DESCENDANTS MAY NEVER STARVE.
BY 1792 CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER ENCOUNTERED MAMGIS AT THE GWA'NI RIVER. THEY WERE CALLED NAMGIS AT THE GWA'NI RIVER. THEY WERE CALLED NAMGIS. THE MANGIS WERE FAMILIAR EUROPEAN TRADE GOODS AS THEY HAD WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS ON NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND. THE NAMGIS WERE ONE NATION THAT HAD A LARGE POPULATION OF TO 10,000 FOLKS. THEY WERE ORGANIZED AS FAMILY UNITS EACH SHARING A BIG HOUSE. THE CEREMONIALS AND RITUALS OF THE POTLATCH REGULATED THE MAMGIS SOCIAL LIFE. THE MAMGIS ALWAYS THANKED THE SPIRITS FOR GIVING THEMSELVES UP FOR THEIR USE.
IN THE 1880'S THE FIRST ANGLOS ESTABLISHED A FISH SALTRY AT ALERT BAY. SINCE THAT TIME THE NATIVES HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE NORTH ISLAND. THEIR TRADITIONAL TERRITORY AND RESOURCES HAVE BEEN A VITAL PART OF THEIR ECONOMY. THE POTLATCH WAS A WAY TO COMMEMORATE A MILESTONE IN ONE FAMILY AS THEY PERFORMED DANCES.
AFTER THE ARRIVAL AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS THE THE KWAKWAKA'WAKU ADOPTED THEIR STYLE OF HOUSING. THEIR PLACE TO PERFORM CEREMONY AND RITUAL CHANGED TOO. WITH THE CHANGING WORLD, THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM WAS INSTITUTED SPECIFICALLY FOR CONDUCTING ANCIENT RITES TO KEEP HERITAGE ALIVE.
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