The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 16

[198] 'They are great mimics.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. ii., p. 13.

Men dance naked; women dressed. A crowd stand in a straight line, and shuffle from right to left without moving the feet from the ground.

_Hearne's Trav._, p. 335. 'The men occasionally howl in imitation of some animal.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 35.

[199] 'They manifest no common respect to the memory of their departed friends, by a long period of mourning, cutting off their hair, and never making use of the property of the deceased.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p.

cxxviii. The death of leading men is attributed to conjuring. They never bury the dead, but leave them, where they die, for wild beasts to devour. _Hearne's Trav._, p. 341. The Chepewyans bury their dead. When mourning for relatives they gash their bodies with knives. _Richardson's Jour._, vol. ii., pp. 21, 22.

[200] 'The Northern Indians seldom attain a great age, though they have few diseases.' _Martin's Brit. Col._, vol. iii., p. 525. For inward complaints, the doctors blow zealously into the r.e.c.t.u.m, or adjacent parts. _Hearne's Trav._, p. 189. The conjurer shuts himself up for days with the patient, without food, and sings over him. _Franklin's Nar._, vol. ii., p. 41. Medicine-men or conjurers are at the same time doctors.

_Hooper's Tuski_, pp. 317, 318. 'The Kutchins practice blood-letting _ad libitum_.' _Jones_, _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 325. 'Their princ.i.p.al maladies are rheumatic pains, the flux, and consumption.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. cxxiv.

[201] According to the report of the Dog-ribs, the Mountain Indians are cannibals, casting lots for victims in time of scarcity. _Simpson's Nar._, p. 188. 'Instances of suicide, by hanging, frequently occur among the women.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 198. During times of starvation, which occur quite frequently, the Slave Indians eat their families. _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 303. 'These people take their names, in the first instance, from their dogs. A young man is the father of a certain dog, but when he is married, and has a son, he styles himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of reproving the dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting. "Are you not ashamed," say they, "to quarrel with your little brother?"' _Franklin's Nar._, vol. ii., pp. 85, 86. 'Whether circ.u.mcision be practiced among them, I cannot pretend to say, but the appearance of it was general among those whom I saw.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 36. Dog-rib Indians, sometimes also called Slaves, 'a name properly meaning 'strangers.' _Gallatin_, in _Am. Arch. Soc. Trans._, vol. ii., p. 19.

[202] 'Order is maintained in the tribe solely by public opinion.'

_Richardson's Jour._, vol. ii., p. 26. The chiefs are now totally without power. _Franklin's Nar._, vol. i., p. 247. 'They are influenced, more or less, by certain principles which conduce to their general benefit.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. cxxv.

[203] 'Many consider a broth, made by means of the dung of the cariboo and the hare, to be a dainty dish.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 324. They 'are lazy, dirty, and sensual,' and extremely uncivilized. 'Their habits and persons are equally disgusting.' _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 62.

'They are a tall, well formed, good-looking race.' _Nicolay's Ogn.

Ter._, p. 154. 'An utter contempt of cleanliness prevailed on all hands, and it was revolting to witness their voracious endeavors to surpa.s.s each other in the gluttonous contest.' _Ind. Life_, p. 156.

[204] The women 'run a wooden pin through their noses.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 287. At their burial ceremonies they smear the face 'with a composition of fish-oil and charcoal.' When conjuring, the chief and his companions 'wore a kind of coronet formed of the inverted claws of the grizzly bear.' _Ind. Life_, pp. 127, 158.

[205] The Tacullies have 'wooden dishes, and other vessels of the rind of the birch and pine trees.' 'Have also other vessels made of small roots or fibres of the cedar or pine tree, closely laced together, which serve them as buckets to put water in.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 292.

[206] 'In the summer season both s.e.xes bathe often; and this is the only time, when the married people wash themselves.' The Tacullies are very fond and very jealous of their wives, 'but to their daughters, they allow every liberty, for the purpose, as they say, of keeping the young men from intercourse with the married women.' _Harmon's Jour._, pp. 289, 292, 293. A father, whose daughter had dishonored him, killed her and himself. _Ind. Life_, 184.

[207] 'The people of every village have a certain extent of country, which they consider their own, and in which they may hunt and fish; but they may not transcend these bounds, without purchasing the privilege of those who claim the land. Mountains and rivers serve them as boundaries.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 298.

[208] Mackenzie, _Voy._, p. 238, found on Fraser River, about lat.i.tude 55, a deserted house, 30 by 20, with three doors, 3 by 3 feet; three fire-places, and beds on either side; behind the beds was a narrow s.p.a.ce, like a manger, somewhat elevated, for keeping fish. 'Their houses are well formed of logs of small trees, b.u.t.tressed up internally, frequently above seventy feet long and fifteen high, but, unlike those of the coast, the roof is of bark; their winter habitations are smaller, and often covered over with gra.s.s and earth; some even dwell in excavations of the ground, which have only an aperture at the top, and serves alike for door and chimney.' _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 154.

[209] 'Quelques peuplades du nord, telles que les Sikanis, enterrent leurs morts.' _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 339. 'The Sicaunies bury, while the Tacullies, burn their dead.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 196.

They 'and the Chimmesyans on the coast, and other tribes speaking their language, burn the dead.' _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 236. See also _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 79, 80; _Ind. Life_, pp. 128, 136; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 362, 363.

[210] They fire guns as a warning to their friends not to invade their sorrow. _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 139.

[211] 'In the winter season, the Carriers often keep their dead in their huts during five or six months, before they will allow them to be burned.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 249.

[212] 'She must frequently put her hands through the flames and lay them upon his bosom, to show her continued devotion.' _Parker's Explor.

Tour_, p. 239. They have a custom of mourning over the grave of the dead; their expressions of grief are generally exceedingly vociferous.

_Ind. Life_, pp. 185, 186.

[213] 'On the end of a pole stuck in front of the lodge.' _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 237.

[214] Women cut off a joint of one of their fingers. Men only cut off their hair close to their heads, but also frequently cut and scratch their faces and arms. _Harmon's Jour._, p. 182. With some sharp instrument they 'force back the flesh beyond the first joint, which they immediately amputate.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 148.

[215] 'The men are completely dest.i.tute of beard, and both men and women, are intensely ugly.' _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p.

320. 'They reminded me of the ideal North American Indian I had read of but never seen.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 239. Distinguished from all other tribes for the frankness and candor of their demeanor, and bold countenances. _Simpson's Nar._, p. 100. 'Males are of the average hight of Europeans, and well-formed, with regular features, high foreheads, and lighter complexions than those of the other red Indians. The women resemble the men.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 379.

[216] 'Tunic or s.h.i.+rt reaching to the knees, and very much ornamented with beads, and Hyaqua sh.e.l.ls from the Columbia.' _Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, p. 418. The Tenan Kutchins are 'gay with painted faces, feathers in their long hair, patches of red clay at the back of their head.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 239. Jackets like the Eskimos. _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 221. 'Both s.e.xes wear breeches.' _Simpson's Nar._, p. 103.

[217] 'The Kutch-a-Kutchin, are essentially traders.' _Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, p. 418. Appear to care more for useful than ornamental articles. _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 213. 'Dentalium and arenicola sh.e.l.ls are transmitted from the west coast in traffic, and are greatly valued.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 391.

[218] Some wear 'wampum (a kind of long, hollow sh.e.l.l) through the septum of the nose.' _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 270. They pierce the nose and insert sh.e.l.ls, which are obtained from the Eskimos at a high price.

_Franklin's Nar._, vol. ii., p. 84.

[219] The Loucheux live in huts 'formed of green branches. In winter their dwellings are partly under ground. The spoils of the moose and reindeer furnish them with meat, clothing, and tents.' _Simpson's Nar._, pp. 103, 191. The Co-Yukon winter dwellings are made under ground, and roofed over with earth, having a hole for the smoke to escape by, in the same manner as those of the Malemutes and Ingaliks. _Whymper's Alaska_, pp. 175, 205. Their movable huts are constructed of deer-skin, 'dressed with the hair on, and sewed together, forming two large rolls, which are stretched over a frame of bent poles,' with a side door and smoke-hole at the top. _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 321.

[220] The Loucheux are 'great gormandizers, and will devour solid fat, or even drink grease, to surfeiting.' _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 271. 'The bears are not often eaten in summer, as their flesh is not good at that time.' _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 321. Some of their reindeer-pounds are over one hundred years old and are hereditary in the family. _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 394. 'The mode of fis.h.i.+ng through the ice practiced by the Russians is much in vogue with them.'

_Whymper's Alaska_, p. 211.

[221] The Kutchins 'have no knowledge of scalping.' 'When a man kills his enemy, he cuts all his joints.' _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, 327. The Loucheux of Peel River and the Eskimos are constantly at war. _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 273.

[222] 'At Peace River the bark is taken off the tree the whole length of the intended canoe, which is commonly about eighteen feet, and is sewed with watupe at both ends.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 207. When the Kutchins discover a leak, 'they go ash.o.r.e, light a small fire, warm the gum, of which they always carry a supply, turn the canoe bottom upward, and rub the healing balm in a semi-fluid state into the seam until it is again water-tight.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 225. The Tacullies 'make canoes which are clumsily wrought, of the aspin tree, as well as of the bark of the spruce fir.' _Harmon's Jour._, p. 291. Rafts are employed on the Mackenzie. _Simpson's Nar._, p. 185. 'In shape the Northern Indian canoe bears some resemblance to a weaver's shuttle; covered over with birch bark.' _Hearne's Jour._, pp. 97, 98. 'Kanots aus Birkenrinde, auf denen sie die Flusse u. Seen befahren.' _Baer_, _Stat. u. Ethn._, p. 112. The Kutchin canoe 'is flat-bottomed, is about nine feet long and one broad, and the sides nearly straight up and down like a wall.' _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 323.

[223] As for instance for a life, the fine is forty beaver-skins, and may be paid in guns at twenty skins each; blankets, equal to ten skins each; powder, one skin a measure; bullets, eighteen for a skin; worsted belts, two skins each. _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 272. 'For theft, little or no punishment is inflicted; for adultery, the woman only is punished'--sometimes by beating, sometimes by death. _Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 325.

[224] Kutchin 'female chast.i.ty is prized, but is nearly unknown.'

_Jones_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 325. Loucheux mothers had originally a custom of casting away their female children, but now it is only done by the Mountain Indians, _Simpson's Nar._, p. 187. The Kutchin 'women are much fewer in number and live a much shorter time than the men.' _Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, p. 418. The old people 'are not ill-used, but simply neglected.' _Whymper's Alaska_, p. 229. The children are carried in small chairs made of birch bark. _Id._, p. 232.

'In a seat of birch bark.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 384.

[225] The Loucheux dances 'abound in extravagant gestures, and demand violent exertion.' _Simpson's Nar._, p. 100. See _Hardisty_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1866, p. 313. 'Singing is much practiced, but it is, though varied, of a very hum-drum nature.' _Hooper's Tuski_, p. 318.

'At the festivals held on the meeting of friendly tribes, leaping and wrestling are practised.' _Richardson's Jour._, vol. i., p. 395.

[226] 'Irrespective of tribe, they are divided into three cla.s.ses, termed respectively, Chit-sa, Nate-sa, and Tanges-at-sa, faintly representing the aristocracy, the middle cla.s.ses, and the poorer orders of civilized nations, the former being the most wealthy and the latter the poorest.' _Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, p. 418.

[227] On Peel River 'they bury their dead on stages.' On the Yukon they burn and suspend the ashes in bags from the top of a painted pole.

_Kirby_, in _Smithsonian Rept._, 1864, p. 419. They of the Yukon 'do not inter the dead, but put them in oblong boxes, raised on posts.'

_Whymper's Alaska_, pp. 207, 211.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIVE RACES of the PACIFIC STATES COLUMBIAN GROUP]

CHAPTER III.

COLUMBIANS.

HABITAT OF THE COLUMBIAN GROUP--PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY--SOURCES OF FOOD-SUPPLY--INFLUENCE OF FOOD AND CLIMATE--FOUR EXTREME CLa.s.sES--HAIDAHS--THEIR HOME--PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES-- CLOTHING--SHELTER--SUSTENANCE--IMPLEMENTS--MANUFACTURES-- ARTS--PROPERTY--LAWS--SLAVERY--WOMEN--CUSTOMS--MEDICINE-- DEATH--THE NOOTKAS--THE SOUND NATIONS--THE CHINOOKS--THE SHUSHWAPS--THE SALISH--THE SAHAPTINS--TRIBAL BOUNDARIES.

The term COLUMBIANS, or, as Scouler[228] and others have called them, _Nootka-Columbians_, is, in the absence of a native word, sufficiently characteristic to distinguish the aboriginal nations of north-western America between the forty-third and fifty-fifth parallels, from those of the other great divisions of this work. The Columbia River, which suggests the name of this group, and Nootka Sound on the western sh.o.r.e of Vancouver Island, were originally the chief centres of European settlement on the North-west Coast; and at an early period these names were compounded to designate the natives of the Anglo-American possessions on the Pacific, which lay between the discoveries of the Russians on the north and those of the Spaniards on the south. As a simple name is always preferable to a complex one, and as no more pertinent name suggests itself than that of the great river which, with its tributaries, drains a large portion of this territory, I drop 'Nootka' and retain only the word 'Columbian.'[229] These nations have also been broadly denominated Flatheads, from a custom practiced more or less by many of their tribes, of compressing the cranium during infancy;[230] although the only Indians in the whole area, tribally known as Flatheads, are those of the Salish family, who do not flatten the head at all.

[Sidenote: COLUMBIAN FAMILIES.]

In describing the Columbian nations it is necessary, as in the other divisions, to subdivide the group; arbitrarily this may have been done in some instances, but as naturally as possible in all. Thus the people of Queen Charlotte Islands, and the adjacent coast for about a hundred miles inland, extending from 55 to 52 of north lat.i.tude, are called _Haidahs_ from the predominant tribe of the islands. The occupants of Vancouver Island and the opposite main, with its labyrinth of inlets from 52 to 49, I term _Nootkas_. The _Sound Indians_ inhabit the region drained by streams flowing into Puget Sound, and the adjacent sh.o.r.es of the strait and ocean; the _Chinooks_ occupy the banks of the Columbia from the Dalles to the sea, extending along the coast northward to Gray Harbor, and southward nearly to the Californian line. The interior of British Columbia, between the Cascade and Rocky Mountains, and south of the territory occupied by the Hyperborean Carriers, is peopled by the _Shushwaps_, the _Kootenais_, and the _Okanagans_.

Between 49 and 47, extending west from the Cascade to the Rocky Mountains, chiefly on the Columbia and Clarke Fork, is the _Salish_ or Flathead family. The nations dwelling south of 47 and east of the Cascade range, on the Columbia, the lower Snake, and their tributary streams, may be called _Sahaptins_, from the name of the Nez Perce tribes.[231] The great _Shoshone_ family, extending south-east from the upper waters of the Columbia, and spreading out over nearly the whole of the Great Basin, although partially included in the Columbian limits, will be omitted in this, and included in the Californian Group, which follows. These divisions, as before stated, are geographic rather than ethnographic.[232] Many attempts have been made by practical ethnologists, to draw part.i.tion lines between these peoples according to race, all of which have proved signal failures, the best approximation to a scientific division being that of philologists, the results of whose researches are given in the third volume of this series; but neither the latter division, nor that into coast and inland tribes--in many respects the most natural and clearly defined of all[233]--is adapted to my present purpose. In treating of the Columbians, I shall first take up the coast families, going from north to south, and afterward follow the same order with those east of the mountains.

[Sidenote: HOME OF THE COLUMBIANS.]