A4 - Sunday, October 30, 1983 - North Shore News strictly personal by Bob Hunter Indians have fun I’VE JUST FINISHED reading a fabulous book, long since out of print, loaned by a friend in Alert Bay, George Hunt, called Smoke From Their Fires, The Life of A Kwakiutl Chief, by Clellan S. Ford. Published in 194], it is the first-person record of the life of Charles James Nowell, a high-ranking member of Kwakiutl society born. in 1870, at a time when the Native cultures around the upper end of Vancouver Island had still scarcely had any contact, on a daily basis, with white men. The story of Charley’s life is remarkable in no small measure because it is a vivid reminder of what a tiny historical toe-hold European culture has on this West Coast that we like to think of as ‘‘ours.”’ The Spanish explorer Juan Perez may have anchored near the entrance to Nootka Sound in 1774 (four years before James Cook actually landed) but the life of the coastal natives carried on pretty much as it had for thousands of years until this century, when the churches and government combined forces to try to eradicate ‘*heathen’’ culture. At the time of Charley Nowell’s birth, the Kwakiutl religion and social order was quite intact. The potlatch, which was the centrepiece of Kwakiutl -society’s unique economic order, had sull not been banned. Anybody who takes the time to study the potiatch discovers that there was a system which was neither communism not capitalism, yet which guaranteed that no person in the tribe would go hungry while still preserving the prestige of the rich. Com- passion was served but so was pride. There is one anecdote that stands out brilliantly among the many jewels in Smoke From Their Fires. Somewhere around the turn of the century, Charley wound up with some Nootka Indians at an exposition in St. Louis, where they were asked to perform the equivalent of a ‘‘winter ceremonial,’’ a ritual perfor- mance almost never witness- ed outside of the tribal longhouses. They decided to put on a terrific show. They’d met an African pygmy whom they brought into their plot. His task was to disappear at just the mght moment when one of the Indians, introduced as a cannibal, pretended to go mad with the lust for human flesh. In preparation, Charley's group of actors cooked a sheep and stuffed it with a tube of blood. While perfor- ming a dance in which the pygmy took part, the mad- dened ‘‘cannibal’’ fell upon the little African fellow and with some clever sleight-of- hand made it appear that he had bitten the pygmy’s neck open, causing him to bleed, and proceeded to rip his car- cass apart in front of some 20,000 totally horrified spec- tators, spewing blood and bones and bits of meat in SCHOOL WORKERS Peck okays wage hike WEST VANCOUVER School District employees have had a three per cent wage increase approved by Compensation Stabihzabon Commissioner [Ed Peck Phe Contract, which covers hon teaching employees represented by the West Van couver Municipal Employecs Association, is retroactive to January of this year “Perhaps happy isnt the Setting it straight IN A report oof May KO L9H 4 The News ctroncousty listed Bruce Graham Flanagan $O4 269 West 4th Street, North Vancouser, as having receis ed 8 comsaction Toemarhooy Giinking driving charges dn Yanct Mi quittedd of Planagan was ay mpaired dosing and comsicted of refusing te supply a breath sample We repict any (SC oe eo resulting fron our errs tight word, but we are con tent woth the deamon, says Hugh bandsay, president of the WVMEA Peck'’s decision marks the end of oan “easy set oof negotiations between West Van school board and the cinployces. sitys LE ridsay with the agreement on a new COntFACE Coming after only four mectings The other component oof the Wes Neate ouvest Municipal bamployecs Assocnation the mann tpal workers continues without a 1IYRY Contract Because West Nancouses has aligned aiselh with other Cocater Van oourcr areca cities avd) cpeadtn rpabitecs cote baatecer tehatronms tre Contra tt WA be decided fem ttye rrscrrtne pean cripbhoyecs until agreement os teached van crthec area prismvantty ce Vancowees every direction. Was the performance suc- cessful? Police descended on the scene en masse and there was talk of hanging the can- nibal. Not content with hav- ing freaked everyone out, the West Coast Indians perform- ed a second dance in which they ‘‘brought the pygmy back to life,’’ leaving the ex- position visitors (and the police) in a state of utter baf- flement. Charges which were about to be laid were stayed. It was great theatre. When Charley got back to Alert Bay, he had a lot of fun tell- ing how he’d put on the rubes in St. Louis. The moral of the story? : Well, the Indians didn’t ALWAYS lose, you know. Mark one up for the Coast. Would-be thieves come up empty TWO MEN armed with clubs attempted a robbery Thurs- day but didn’t get far. The two accosted a 30-year-old North Vancouver man in the 100-block of West Fourth Street at 2 a.m. Thursday, wielding wooden clubs and demanding that he turn over his wallet. He did. The robbers check- ed it. It was empty. The would-be victim got his wallet thrown back at him and was hit on the leg by one of the men but escaped other- wise unharmed. The Tree Man Dave China Trew work done properly your hones appwarance enhance your life style and increase the value of your votre property bi 25 years oan the | tree bustness on the North Shore f toatht oa firs 1) Whiptonve Nave tepulotiet: ton cpaahty Irae wo#tkh ITM Hienisarcds ol clmats Fon tree rermowal topping ommanmental presaninyg seasonal main tenanmee oon other special sed tres work call me for cam elt ations My pores are omepartitics fats ball wiscired aoe? free esttnaates are qlacthy qhoer. Pove China, TREE EXPERTS 922-2200 Toeston whens yous call leave arms sage ane | owtll all was bark as sont 8 prommilrhe POZOL PAO