And, like the cathedral trees, the lure once lived, a human soul,
but in this instance it was a soul depraved, not sanctified. The
Indian belief is very beautiful concerning the results of good and
evil in the human body. The Sagalie Tyee [God] has His own way
of immortalizing each. People who are wilfully evil, who have no
kindness in their hearts, who are bloodthirsty, cruel, vengeful,
unsympathetic, the Sagalie Tyee turns to solid stone that will
harbor no growth, even that of moss or lichen, for these stones
contain no moisture, just as their wicked hearts lacked the milk of
human kindness. The one famed exception, wherein a good man was
transformed into stone, was in the instance of Siwash Rock, but as
the Indian tells you of it he smiles with gratification as he calls
your attention to the tiny tree cresting that imperial monument.
He says the tree was always there to show the nations that the good
in this man's heart kept on growing even when his body had ceased
to be. On the other hand, the Sagalie Tyee transforms the kindly
people, the humane, sympathetic, charitable, loving people into
trees, so that after death they may go on forever benefiting all
mankind; they may yield fruit, give shade and shelter, afford
unending service to the living by their usefulness as building
material and as firewood. Their saps and gums, their fibres, their
leaves, their blossoms, enrich, nourish, and sustain the human form;
no evil is produced by trees--all, all is goodness, is hearty, is
helpfulness and growth. They give refuge to the birds, they give
music to the winds, and from them are carved the bows and arrows,
the canoes and paddles, bowls, spoons, and baskets. Their service
to mankind is priceless; the Indian that tells you this tale will
enumerate all these attributes and virtues of the trees. No
wonder the Sagalie Tyee chose them to be the abode of souls good
and great.