The Wrangell sentinel., 1947-08-22
ThIingitS Win
 Chiefs Title Through
 War With Niska Tribe

Charlie Jones. who passed away ,n Wrausell on January l6, l9ii. Was the Iast of Wranaell's greal Gue of Shakes. With him died the t.tIe as no heirs were left to sue eed him.
 arangelrs last chief was a man af dignity and regal bearing - -tely iu,h a chief He is well ~e- Hembered by most ol the town's preaent popu.ation who witnessed ceremonies in June, 1910 in when Le assumed his tull title as chies.
 History of the title fs interest iEg. IL was wrested from a NisKa tribe 10 The south in dramatic warfare in which the Tlngits. the aau-yau-yi people is they We're then known, came out victorious. Ii all started back in the dawn of history:
 In the days immediately follow ing the ice age a part of the Nan yan-yi people migrated from their homes on the Taku river. where family discord had caused an er- uption of their peaceful and prim- itiYe lives They came south aua founded a settlement on the fruit ful shores al the mouth of tha Stikine river.
 IL is interesting to picture this migration. Canoe load after canoe load of darkskinned self-eXila as, padding along the wild and rug ged shores of the inland waterway which links tHe Taku with the Stikine. At that time hundreds ofI glaciers still lined the shore. Ev- cry fiord was blocked with ice masses and the thunder of their eyer-changilg faces. as huge bergs broke off from the slowly reced- ing hulk. came to the little band of homeseekers like the reyerbera ton of rolling thunder.
 Locate on Stikine
 What must have been their joy as they entered Wrangell harbOr and beheld the mighty Stikine teeming with salmon; its shores swarming with game.
 Other families came later, but the first settlers and discoverers, the Nan-yan-yi, were always the dominant tribe because tn cyl rusheed on farther up the river to make room for other tribes, the Signahudi and the Kolsadi, so they were in closer contact with the tribes of interior Canada and were in a position to become richer anu acquire greater prestige by their trading with these people.
 As time passed, and their nur bers increased, the Nan-yan-yi re- turned to an island at the mouth Of the Stikine But this was an inhospitable loeation The island, in winter, was Iashed by the bit terly cold 'Stikine,' a wind which. sweeping flown from the glacial country to the north, made life miserable.
 So the Nan-yan-yi again moyen southward along the coast \ few miles south they built a town at Mill Creek, back of Wrangell Is land on the mainland and called it Chugas-an, or Waterfall Town.
 Two brothers, Guk-shu sna Shaddesty were chiefs of th tribe, succeeding each other. Guk shu, who was the elder, quarreled with his brother and his son scared Shaddesty's face. Guk-sI. tried to square accounts with Shaddesty for this outrage by O.. ferng him twenty slaves, but Shaddesty refused the offer. He demanded Chief Guk-shu's grizzly ? bear dancing hat This hat was sacred to the family because II had become the chiefs right 10 wear it when, in the dim past. a grizzly bear had led the people up a mountain to escape the waters of the flood Guk-shu, of coussp. refused. To avoid giving up his hat, and to avert further trouble, he summoned his own immedi tte family and followers together and they once again took to thc;r canoes to find a homesite.
 Find New Home
 Rounding Wrangell Island thoy scanned the shores for a suitable place and came at last to a loca- tira about T. miles below the pres eDt town to a place where willow trees were growing It was a good s'9n II was the only place they say where these trees grew as ttey q d at their ancient home OF the ikine Guk-shu said, Here We will bui our village" He. prr-oral!y. cleared the land ol. p hieh thev built their huts. ana ihen sacrificed forty slaves to save "f" Q" for having participated in such menial labcr. They cailen Il cir new home Kotslitan. or Place "'hnr7 The Willows Grow Ruins of thi- town are still visible. Up