East arrived in North America, they could discover
no trace of the Thirteen Nations of Fairy there.
They-and their Treasure Stones-had simply
vanished! Where did they go? When? And why?
There has come down only a single Native Amer-
ican tale describing the eventual disappearance of
the “Shining Ones,” an account of the Nootka
people of Vancouver Island, British Columbia:
“I have this story from my grandfather, and he
had it from his grandfather, who heard it as a small child
from his father’s father.*
“This first grandfather was not a Nootka, nor was
he one of the disgraceful Shalish on the mainland
over there, who were always eating rotten fish. He
was from the place where the Sun is bom, a land
east of the Mountains of the Raven, further east
even than the Blackfoot’s Sea of Grass. He was
very old when he told this story, as old as two
grandfathers nowadays.
“His name was Yo-Rib, and he said his people were called the Yar-On. **
“Here is how the story goes:
‘In the time before I was born, strange canoes
appeared one day on the Big Sea Water. They’re
were many of them, coming on the waves like
leaves on a stream in the autumn. Some were
round as berry bowls and had round sails. Some
were flat and long and wide with square sails. Oth-
ers were tall, with the heads of snakes in front for a
totem and had many paddles. It was a great wonder
in those times.
Out of those canoes came the Shining Ones.
Many of them were smaller than the Yar-Ons, but

24