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The Porpoise Crest of the Tcucanedi [archive]

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The Porpoise Crest of the Tcucanedi

The people of this clan owned a salmon fishing place at Point Carolus near Dundas Bay in Icy Straits. This stream was called Tcucanhi'ni (river of the reeds or grass). A certain chief was camped near Kuknuwuh (box fort). His son went hunting in his canoe and shot a porpoise. He managed to get it into the canoe. When he came home he called his father to see. People had seen porpoise before but no one had ever killed one. Five men carried it into the house and the people came to see it. They wondered at it and asked what it was called. One man said, "Let's call it tcitc." Thus this clan got the porpoise crest.

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