Sutlej’, told by Ahousaht voices

Ahousaht account that differs greatly from what was reported in the press daughter.” bombed with multiple ‘Maggie Sutlej’

Captain J.W. Pike sailed the HMS Devastation toAhousaht territory to demand the surrender of Cap-cha and his warriors. Instead, he found the Matilda Inlet village deserted.At the Herbert Inlet village they found “a large body of Indians in their fighting paint,” wrote Horsfield.

According to Jacobson, it was the initial bombing at Maaqtusiis that caught the Ahousahts off guard. Most hid in the forest, however, there were dozens of people killed. When the crew of the Sutlej rowed ashore to what is now the front beach at Ahousaht, they found the lifeless body of a young woman lying in the sand. Her body partially covered the little girl she was shielding from the gunfire.

The toddler was pulled from beneath her mother’s body and given to Captain Denman and his wife.

“She was given the name Maggie Sutlej. I guess you could say she was a trophy,” said Quamiina.

Little Maggie Sutlej became a symbol for what those aboard the gunboats did to Ahousaht, he stated.

Quamiina knows that the gunboats went on to attack moreAhousaht villages in their search for Cap-cha and his men, but after the initial assault on Maaqtusiis, the Ahousahts were prepared and had time to hide. There were fewAhousaht casualties after the initial attack.

In the final attack at White Pine Cove on October 7, 1864, the gunboats found Cap-cha and some of his men. Cap-cha managed to escape with some buckshot in his shoulder. Some of his warriors were captured and taken to Victoria to stand trial for the murders of the Kingfisher crew.

After reporting to Captain Denman, the gunboats went back toAhousaht territory, this time with Denman at the helm

Warriors put on trial after Canada showed aggression against Ahousaht.”

According to Horsfield, the navy took 11 prisoners, including Cap-cha’s wife and child. In his 2003 book ‘Living on the Edge’, lateAhousaht Tyee Ha’wilth Earl Maquinna George wrote that the chief’s child was Kitlamuxin (later to become head of the Keitlah family).

In due time theAhousahts stood trial, accused of murdering the crew of the Kingfisher. They were eventually acquitted and released, not because they were found innocent or justified in their actions, but because they were not Christians.

Tried in the Supreme Court in Victoria, B.C., Chief Justice David Cameron acquitted them on the grounds that he could not accept evidence from non-Christians.

“These people do not believe in the existence of a Supreme Being and therefore they are not competent to take an oath,” he stated.

Ahousaht saw the battle as a victory.

“They had not given up their chief to the white man; they had lost houses, canoes and iktas (things), but these they could and would build again; some of their number were taken prisoner, but were afterwards returned to them…therefore they claimed a big victory over the man-of-war and big guns,” wrote FatherAugustin Brabant in his memoirs, a 19th century missionary who served for many years in Hesquiaht.

Did Maggie Sutlej really die at sea?

So, who was Maggie Sutlej? IfAhousaht historians knew her real name, they haven’t shared it. But they know she came from the Charlie family ofAhousaht.According to Quamiina, the late John Charlie’s grandmother would have been a sister to Maggie.

David Frank II also knows the history and said Maggie came from the Charlie/Hunter/ Frank families. The present-day Franks of Ahousaht changed their surnames from Hunter.

“John Charlie used to tell us we should change our names back to Hunter,” said Frank, who is anotherAhousaht historian.

“She (Maggie) came from Kelsmaht.” where the boat had landed or how Maggie escaped. She eventually learned the local language, married and had children. She taught her children both languages she knew.

Kelsmaht is located on Vargas Island, across from Tofino. They amalgamated withAhousaht in the 1950s.

Quamiina knows that his own grandmother, Nellie Bishop, descended from an aunt of Maggie Sutlej.

Several decades later people from Ahousaht went to work in the Fraser Valley picking hops.As they worked, they spoke theirAhousaht language to one another.

According to Frank, they were approached by people from Washington state who told them that they used to hear their mother and grandmother speak that same language.

“She said she was a Hunter,” they told the Ahousahts.

David Frank Sr, 1901 – 1985, was Dave Frank’s father. David Sr. had an uncle named Charlie.

“They (American relatives) really wanted him (Charlie) to move down to the states –they had an orchard there in recognition of their mother and grandmother,” said Frank.

Devastation and the Sutlej territory to demand and his warriors.

Cap-cha, but he anything wrong, so or give up his war- of the Sutlej. They set about bombing nineAhousaht villages and encampments over several days.

“Through all the bombing and firing, there was lots of damage and loss of life,” said Jacobson. “One was a young mother who died protecting her little

Just over 100 years later in 1967, John Jacobson, anAhousaht historian, Second World War veteran and artist, took part in a celebration recognizing Canada’s 100th anniversary.According to Quamiina, his uncle John Jacobson, or Kamiina as he preferred to be called, presented carved totem poles to George Pearkes, the lieutenant governor of British Columbia. He was joined by otherAhousaht elders, one being David Frank Senior.

“At the same time he gave them cannon balls or unexploded shots from the Sutlej from when they had bombarded Muuyahi whereAhousaht had an encampment,” said Quamiina. “Giving back the cannon balls was a way of saying we are here even

According to the history books, Maggie was dressed in the finest clothes and spoilt by all around her. They say she died less than two years after her abduction, or adoption as the history books call it. The story is Maggie died aboard the Sutlej as it sailed off SouthAmerica and she was buried at sea. Her name is inscribed on a memorial marker along with other Sutlej sailors who died at sea. The marker is in an old cemetery in downtown Victoria on Quadra Street.

ButAhousaht historians know that there is much more to the story than what has been documented.

“You just have to look at her picture and you can see a sad girl,” said Quamiina. “We believe that because she was so unhappy, she was put ashore in Washington State.”

According to Frank, Maggie Sutlej managed to escape the boat while it was in Washington State. He doesn’t know

It seemed they wanted a connection with their grandmother’s family to live nearby, but Charlie never did move.

“My father used to get Christmas gifts every year from the family,” said Frank, adding that he would love to go down there and find them, but he doesn’t know where to look.

“I imagine they go by the Hunter name,” said Frank.

In recent years, Frank’s nephew accompanied relatives taking part in Canoe Journeys, hosted by a Washington State tribe. He was in his boat which had the name Frank-Hunter painted on the cabin.

“The people came and asked them about the name and said they were family,” said Frank.

“It would be good to find them and connect with them,” he added.

“There’s family there, that exists today. They come from Maggie,” said Quamiina.