Legends of Vancouver · Chapter
The Grey Archway explained
The narrator encounters an old tillicum on a steamer who tells the legend of Yaada, a Haida maiden who must choose between a wealthy old medicine-man and a poor young fisherman named Ulka.
What happens
The narrator encounters an old tillicum on a steamer who tells the legend of Yaada, a Haida maiden who must choose between a wealthy old medicine-man and a poor young fisherman named Ulka. She proposes a stone-throwing contest to judge their worth. The medicine-man uses magic to open the Grey Archway, but then uses evil magic to cause Ulka's stone to kill Yaada's mother. Yaada accuses the medicine-man, and she and Ulka leap into the sea, becoming two silvery fish that still swim together.
Themes in this chapter
Motherhood and Feminine Power
The story centers on Yaada's mother and her influence, and the tillicum explains that women are the future mothers of the tribe, held in high regard.
Morality and Ethical Conduct
The contest is meant to reveal the inner hearts of the two men, and the medicine-man's evil magic is condemned by the tribe.
Sacrifice and Heroism
Yaada and Ulka sacrifice themselves by leaping into the sea after her mother's death, becoming fish that swim together forever.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator, who is addressed as 'one of us' by the tillicum, listens to the legend of Yaada and the Grey Archway.
- Yaada
The loveliest daughter of the Haida tribe, who proposes a contest between the medicine-man and Ulka to prove their worth.
- Ulka
A young, handsome, poor fisherman who loves Yaada and competes for her hand, but is sabotaged by the medicine-man's evil magic.
- Klootchman
Yaada's mother, who sits apart and dreams, hoping her daughter will choose the best man, and is killed by the stone thrown by Ulka.
- Sagalie Tyee
Implored by Yaada to help judge between the two men through the stone-throwing contest.
Key passages
“An Indian rarely uses the word 'love,' and when he does it expresses every quality, every attribute, every intensity, emotion, and passion embraced in those four little letters.”
The word 'love' is seldom spoken by Indigenous people, but when used, it encompasses all forms of deep emotion and connection.
Highlights the cultural significance and depth of the term 'love' in the context of the story.
“Women are the future mothers of the tribe, and we of the Pacific Coast hold such in high regard, in great reverence.”
Women are honored as the bearers of future generations and are deeply respected in Pacific Coast tribes.
Emphasizes the central theme of motherhood and feminine power.
“My feet shall walk no more upon this island, With its great, Grey Archway. My mother sleeps forever on this island... My feet must follow hers beyond this island.”
Yaada chants that she can no longer stay on the island where her mother died, and she must follow her spirit.
Shows Yaada's grief and determination to join her mother in death.