According to the house history, provided by Haida Laas – Graham Richard: Over two centuries ago a Haida leader of Yáadaas, a Kuusdek Eagle clan, set out with family and friends in three canoes to round the southern end of Prince of Wales Island. As the sleek canoes went traveling along Xyuu southeast wind suddenly came up and struck them, driving them on to the island’s southern shore and destroying the canoes.
The Yáadaas clan leader demanded that Xyuu pay for his offense, telling him there would be no problem if he left three whales on the beach by the following morning. Because the wind failed to make retribution for the destroyed canoes, the leader instead took one of Xyuu’s Tlingit names as compensation, Son-I-hat.
After the first Son-I-hat passed on, his nephew Kóyongxung, born in 1829, took and carried the name. The new hereditary leader of the Yáadaas Eagles had at least three children including Tákimash, Xakhú, and Shidla aówa kinás. His family derived its wealth of houses, monumental poles, gold, and slaves by transporting furs from around the northern Gulf of Alaska and Kodiak Island to California. This involved extensive business with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Lax Kw’alaams. In addition, Son-I-Hat carved silver and gold.
The Yáadaas clan leader demanded that Xyuu pay for his offense, telling him there would be no problem if he left three whales on the beach by the following morning. Because the wind failed to make retribution for the destroyed canoes, the leader instead took one of Xyuu’s Tlingit names as compensation, Son-I-hat.
After the first Son-I-hat passed on, his nephew Kóyongxung, born in 1829, took and carried the name. The new hereditary leader of the Yáadaas Eagles had at least three children including Tákimash, Xakhú, and Shidla aówa kinás. His family derived its wealth of houses, monumental poles, gold, and slaves by transporting furs from around the northern Gulf of Alaska and Kodiak Island to California. This involved extensive business with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Lax Kw’alaams. In addition, Son-I-Hat carved silver and gold.