Violet Antone tells the story of Kalkalihl, a cannibal ogress who roamed the North Shore mountains. Part of an ongoing series: Squamish words. Daniel Pi photo
KELLY MCMANUS, North Shore Outlook, March 2009
Violet Antone heard the story of Kalkalilh, the cannibal woman, when she was 6 years old. She listened carefully as her aunty told her the Coast Salish legend.
Kalkalilh (sounds like Kaw-ka-leye) is “this big lady that comes out in the mountains every single night. She comes out to get children who are late and then she puts pitch in their eyes and she eats them.”
The Norgate student says that until she was 7 years old, she made sure to be in bed before 7 p.m. every night, just in case Kalkalilh was on the prowl.
Several Salish cultures tell stories about a giant ogress who snatches kids in the night. The Squamish tale features the ogress who lived in the Coast Mountains. She hunted stubborn children, tossed them into the basket on her back and roasted them on her fire. One night T’it’ki?ctn (sounds like Ti-kin-tin) the young carver was home with some hungry kids – their parents had gone to a potlach, but there was no food for the young ones to eat.
Kalkalilh tricked the kids into leaving the house, offering pieces of cedar bark that looked like smoked salmon. Then she scooped up T’it’ki?ctn and some of the smaller kids and made for the mountains. T’it’ki?ctn, being an excellent carver, cut a hole in the back of Kalkalilh’s basket so that the tiniest kids could escape. Then, once back at the ogress’ hut, T’it’ki?ctn helped the remaining kids outsmart their captor. First they shut their eyes tight so she couldn’t blind them with pitch, and then they pushed her into the fire.
In some versions, Kalkalilh offers salmon berry shoots – Tsa7tskay (sounds like Sas-skies).
Latash, a Squamish educator in the district, reads the story of Kalkalilh and other Squamish tales with aboriginal students in the North Vancouver public schools.
“Do you remember what I was sharing with you guys about Kalkalilh and our people?” he asks a guided reading class at Queen Mary elementary, around the same week that Violet’s class discusses the legend at Norgate elementary.
“They don’t mention it in here, but when Kalkalilh was burning up, the sparks came off her body … that’s what became mosquitoes.”
The mosquitoes channel Kalkalilh’s ravenous nature: “That’s why they eat you… and come out at night, when the sun goes down, the mosquitoes come out.”
Latash has a joke to go with the story. He shares it with a mischievous grin: “Kalkalilh always says ‘don’t be afraid to try someone new.’”
In the next installment of Squamish words, students at Westview elementary talk about Tsa7tskay, a local spring delicacy.
Read more in the SQUAMISH WORDS series, an ongoing series about the cultural renaissance and the educational programs in North and West Vancouver’s Squamish Nation.
Schayilhn: little salmon people. Queen Mary elementary hosts thousands of salmon eggs this spring and Squamish Nation students shared a blessing to help protect the little fish.
Tribal Journeys. There may be only 12 fluent speakers left of the Squamish tongue, but the Squamish Nation is in the upswell of a powerful revival of language, culture and identity.
In other stories, Squamish Nation students and educators share words and stories from a language in revival: Sasskies for lunch; The story of Eagle.
