Character guide

Unknown Narrator

major

Also known as mine, yourself, myself, You, yours

This unnamed first-person presence moves through coastal villages, steamers, and campfires, always asking the second question that opens a legend. The tension is one of belonging: the narrator claims kinship with the tellers, yet stands outside the world being described, translating it for readers who may never understand. That position matters because every story in the collection passes through this voice, shaping what is preserved and what is softened.

Chief Capilano

major

Also known as the late Chief Capilano, Chief, Capilano, the first Capilano

Capilano stands at the center of the Deer Lake legend, a hunter whose skill with the spear is unmatched along the Fraser. His flaw is obsession: when the magic weapon returns to him through a giant seal's carcass, he spends the rest of his life searching for the hidden river the creature traveled, a channel even Indian eyes have never seen. His restless pursuit gives the early legends their gravity, tying personal loss to the land's secrets.

The Great Tyee

supporting

Also known as the great Tyee, Tyee, Great Tyee

In the Legend of the Island of Dead Men, this greatest of southern chiefs watches his warriors fall until only a conference can save them. He is brave to the point of recklessness, mounting an exposed rock while a thousand weapons aim at his heart, and his gesture of parley becomes the pivot on which the battle turns. His presence gives the war story its human face and its moral weight.

Pauline Johnson

major

Also known as Miss Johnson, Miss Pauline Johnson

Johnson appears in her own book as the frame and the conscience behind it, an invalid whose friends collected her later works so the legends could reach print. She is a traveler who ran strange rivers and camped in unfrequented places, yet her deepest loyalty is to the coast tribes who called her 'one of us.' Her presence matters because the collection is as much her act of gratitude as it is a record of the stories.

Prince Arthur

minor

Also known as Arthur, the Prince

A visiting royal figure who appears in a legend about a Mohawk chief.

Sagalie Tyee

supporting

Also known as the Sagalie Tyee, Tyee, O Sagalie Tyee

In Squamish cosmology the Sagalie Tyee is the benevolent power who planned the ultimate triumph of good over evil, hiding a cursed stone where no foot follows and raising merciful men into the Cathedral Trees. The tension in the legends is whether His children will remember His preference for kindness over bravery or wealth. His presence gives the collection its theological spine, framing every tale as evidence of a moral order.

Shak-shak

minor

A legendary figure or spirit associated with a specific story, possibly a trickster.

Napoleon

minor

Also known as Napoleon Bonaparte, Bonaparte

The historical French emperor, referenced in a Squamish legend as a parallel figure.

Tenas Tyee

minor

Also known as the Tenas Tyee

A lesser chief or spirit, often contrasted with the Great Tyee in stories.

Ulka

minor

Also known as young Ulka

A young character in a legend, possibly a maiden or youth involved in a tale.

Yaada

minor

Also known as Then Yaada

A female character in a legend, possibly a mother or wise woman.

Tulameen

supporting

Also known as the Tulameen, the handsome young Tulameen

Tulameen is the grieving widower of the legend that explains why the Tulameen River's murmur sounds like a girl's laughter and sobbing. After his young wife's death he abandons his tribe and country, declaring his heart buried in the river, and his farewell war-song becomes the canyon's eternal voice. His loss gives the early legends their tenderest note, tying geography to inconsolable love.

Onwanonsyshon

minor

A named character in a legend, possibly a chief or spirit.

The Four Men

minor

Also known as His Four Men

Mystical figures representing the deity in a creation legend.

Chief Johnson

minor

Also known as Chief

A Mohawk chief who interacts with Prince Arthur in a historical anecdote.

Klootchman

minor

Also known as Dear old klootchman

An elderly Indigenous woman who appears in a legend as a wise figure.

Maarda

minor

A named female character in a legend, possibly a spirit or maiden.

Salt-Chuck Oluk

minor

Also known as the Salt-Chuck Oluk, the great salt-chuck oluk

A mythical sea creature or spirit of the ocean in Squamish lore.