Really Early Days in Squamish

I can't remember how it came about that Serena and I had teamed up to write an early history of Squamish, a town nestled at the end of Howe Sound, an hour's drive north of Vancouver, British Columbia. Before we had chanced upon this opportunity, I had not been all that interested in the really early days and was amazed by the rendition of the struggles for survival of the Squamish Indians.

In the beginning there was water everywhere. There was no land at all. The Great Spirit determined to make land appear. Soon mountaintops seemed to grow out of the sea. They grew and grew until their heads reached the clouds and then they thrust their heads up into the clouds. In Squamish there are only two places to look: straight down Howe Sound and straight up to the tops of the mountains.

After that the Great Spirit made the lakes and rivers, and after that trees and animals appeared.

"And then," said Uncle Joe, a friendly old-as-the-hills Indian, who spun the most captivating yarns you've ever heard, "Ka'la'na', the first man, was made.

Serena and I were fascinated for we had known Uncle Joe from the time that we were little gaffers and he'd taught us how to fish and we'd never twigged to the notion that Uncle Joe knew far more than he let on. I now realized that when we were little he told us things that were appropriate, now that we had grown up and were in university already, he was telling us what really mattered.

"The Great Spirit bestowed upon Ka'la'na three things," said Uncle Joe. He provided him with a wife, a chisel and a salmon trap."

The amazing thing was that the story sounded almost like the first books of the Old Testament.

"At the time, Ka'la'na' entered his declining years," said Uncle Joe, "the people had become very wicked. The Great Spirit was sorely vexed."

"The Great Spirit made the waters rise above the tops of the highest mountains and all the people were drowned except one man and one woman, Cheat-u'muh, the first born of Ka'la'na and his wife. Cheat-u'muh and his wife settled on the top of a high mountain until the waters descended and they were able to descend to the valley.

Salmon came up the Squamish River in plentiful numbers. Many children were born to the couple. However, after Cheat-u'muh's death, the people became wicked again. To teach them another lesson, the Great Spirit sent a snowstorm.