July 15, 1793. (Day 69).
“At five this morning we were again in motion, and passing along a river, we at length forded it...The old man went onward by himself, in the hope of falling in with the people, whom he expected to meet in the course of the day. At eleven we came up with him, and the natives whom he expected, consisting of five men, and part of their families. They received us with great kindness, and examined us with the most minute attention. They must, however, have been told that we were white, as our faces no longer indicated that distinguishing complexion.”
“They called themselves Neguia Dinais, and were come in a different direction from us, but were now going the same way, to the Anah-yoe Tesse or River (sic), and appeared to be very much satisfied with our having joined them. They presented us with some fish which they had just taken in the adjoining lake.”
Fellow travellers heading west on the very busy Grease Trails.
Picture 1. Grease Trail sign.
“Here I expected that our guides, like their predecessors, would have quitted us, but, on the contrary, they expressed themselves to be so happy, in our company, and that of their friends, that they voluntarily, and with great cheerfulness proceeded to pass another night with us.”
This the first real “social” event of their journey so far. To share in their food, to feel safe and welcome, and even just to sit among other people and families must have been an absolute joy for these men after the last 68 grueling days of discomfort and ceaseless work with very little but annoying insects for company.
“We all sat down on a very pleasant green spot, and were no sooner seated, than our guide and one of the party prepared to engage in play. They had each a bundle of about fifty small sticks, neatly polished, of the size of a quill, and five inches long; a certain number of these sticks had red lines around them...
Mackenzie camped with them this night, at the Tanya Lakes, known as Taintezli or Tanyez Tezdli in the Ulkatcho dialect. It was (is) an important gathering site along the Nuxalk-Dakelh Grease Trail. The large camping grounds west of Tanya Lakes was also at the fork of the grease trails to Kimsquit and Bella Coola Valley. Many families would camp here to catch and dry fish, when the spring salmon and steelhead arrived to spawn. These gatherings were also important social times, where many games and competitons held.
Picture 2. Google Earth Image of Tanya Lakes, BC. Top of image is North.
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