As in all stories, there is no place to start but at the beginning, and when I think of retelling the storys of the remarkable Tsetsaut people many events and places with great significance come to mind. Let me state, that with out a doubt I whole heartedly believe that these peoples story, one that has never been recognized widely, is deserving to be told. Although their population didn't skyrocket, and they never invented anything that is used in the modern world today, they left something behind of a unrealistic proportion.
Nothing.
Historians, as hunters of the unknown and seekers of the mystery's buried in the layers of truth and tales, have not allowed 'nothing' to remain uncovered. The community of committed researchers would never let a story so bold remain lingering lifelessly in the shadows. Granted, not many a man have heard of the tales I am prepared to present to you now, but that isn't to say that no one knows about the Tsetsaunt. I would like to add that when I state that this community of Natives left 'nothing' behind, I simply refer to the fact that this group of people was wiped clear off the earth. Not a single human being on this earth consists soully of DNA found in these northern adapted beings. This puzzled me, as I could imagine it puzzling any one of you as well, for the modern day world, the world we know and live in, is built up of multiple states of unity between various cultures and religions. These combinations are formed through intermingling of different races, piecing together people who can have a home built with two different cultures in mind. Throughout the world people are starting to respect and recognize the different religions, cultures and ways of life that surround us because of the way we as a species have formed different breads of human, thus forming vast stages of unity world wide.
In the tales I comunicate to you now, this idea of togetherness is not frequently present. This story is bold, one of unrelenting courage and earth shattering sacrifices, but it is not peaceful or harmonic. These people believed in a religion that united them with the wind, trees, sea and animals, but they did not find fellowship amidst their neighbours. Stories like this one have been told, reformatted, and told again using another set of words. What I've come to tell you is about the bumps in the road to modern civilization that the Tsetsaut faced. The slight moments of triumph flowed by the dreaded dangers of defeat. At points in they're lives men, woman and children faced issues that many Canadians and Americans today, wouldn't even consider a possibility. For the residents of this tribe these battles occurred daily, a battle against the land, a battle against sickness and a battle against their once trusted friends and neighbours dare I call them wars.
'But who really are these great and powerful people of the north?', A question that came to mind in my research. And that's just it, They where not in any means a Great and Powerful civilization, but more a compact and resilient community. Compact because of there shear size, for in the year 1830 the Tsetsaut people faced a population of only 500, and resilient because until the year 1895 they refused to give up.
Past the trials and faults of their existence, there was nothing overly special about these people. Home to them was originally in land, specifically Behm Canal but later they became known as most of a coastal settlement of people, after frequently being pushed from their inland homes to the mouth of the Skeena. On salmon captured from the Skeena river system, and Game hunted in surrounding forests, they fed their families. Totem poles where constructed as a spiritual guide and decorative arts. A final normality was the language they spoke.
Nothing of great significance remains, and they are in no means of high significance in the history texts books. Although their story isn't frequently revisited on the white boards of social studies classrooms, a certain level of respect for the Tsetsa is silently demanded because in the early years of their eventually demise, they found ways to adapt and move. In reality it wasn't until the later years that they became a weaker community.
As a note, I would like to add that all people in this book are fictional, but the facts are real and the situations written did take place.
