# The Two Sisters explained — Legends of Vancouver

> Chapter companion for Legends of Vancouver by E. Pauline Johnson.

## What happens

The chapter recounts the Indigenous legend of 'The Two Sisters' (known to settlers as 'The Lions of Vancouver'), in which a great Tyee's two daughters, coming of age, request that their father invite their hostile northern enemies to their coming-of-age feast. The Tyee agrees, the feast becomes a great peace, and the Sagalie Tyee transforms the sisters into the twin mountain peaks as eternal guardians of peace and brotherhood.

## Themes in this chapter

### Peace and Reconciliation

The central theme of the chapter: the two sisters' request transforms enmity into lasting brotherhood, ending war between tribes.

### Motherhood and Feminine Power

The sisters are honored for their potential to mother future warriors, and their agency brings about peace, elevating their status to immortal guardians.

### Nature and Landscape as Sacred

The twin peaks are sacred embodiments of the sisters, standing as eternal symbols of peace and the divine presence in the natural world.

## Character check-ins

### The Great Tyee

The powerful chief who hosts a peace feast in honor of his daughters, setting aside war to celebrate their womanhood.

### Sagalie Tyee

The divine figure who makes the two sisters immortal, setting them as the twin peaks to guard peace and brotherhood.

### Chief Capilano

The narrator who tells the legend of the Two Sisters to Miss Johnson, recalling the story with deep cultural reverence.

### Pauline Johnson

The listener and recorder of the legend, who observes the peaks and learns their Indigenous meaning from Chief Capilano.

## Key lines

> placed in a high seat, an exalted position, for is she not marriageable? And does not marriage mean motherhood? And does not motherhood mean a vaster nation of brave sons and of gentle daughters, who, in their turn, will give us sons and daughters of their own?

A young woman is honored at her coming-of-age because she can become a mother, and motherhood ensures the growth and continuation of the tribe.

_Explains the cultural value placed on women's fertility and the future of the nation._

> ‘Will you, for our sakes, invite the great northern hostile tribe⁠—the tribe you war upon⁠—to this, our feast?’ they asked fearlessly.

The two sisters bravely ask their father to invite their enemies to the celebration.

_Shows the sisters' courage and desire for peace._

> Then the Sagalie Tyee smiled on His Indian children: ‘I will make these young-eyed maidens immortal,’ He said. In the cup of His hands He lifted the chief’s two daughters and set them forever in a high place, for they had borne two offspring⁠—Peace and Brotherhood⁠—each of which is now a great Tyee ruling this land.

The divine being transforms the sisters into the twin mountain peaks as eternal symbols of peace and brotherhood.

_Climax of the legend, explaining the origin of the Lions of Vancouver._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/legends_of_vancouver_se/chapters/the-two-sisters
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/legends_of_vancouver_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/legends_of_vancouver_se/chapters