The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 33

[350] For description of the various roots and berries used by the Chinooks as food, see _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 450-5.

[351] The Multnomahs 'are very fond of cold, hot, and vapour baths, which are used at all seasons, and for the purpose of health as well as pleasure. They, however, add a species of bath peculiar to themselves, by was.h.i.+ng the whole body with urine every morning.' _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 509, 409. Eat insects from each other's head, for the animals bite them, and they claim the right to bite back. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 183-4.

[352] _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 323-4; vol. ii., p. 13; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 324, 338; _Ross' Adven._, p. 90; _Kane's Wand._, p. 189; _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., p. 113, pl. 210; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp.

124-5; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 429-31, 509; _Hines' Ogn._, p.

110; _Franchere's Nar._, p. 253; _Emmons_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., pp. 206-7, 215-16, 468.

[353] 'When the conflict is postponed till the next day, ... they keep up frightful cries all night long, and, when they are sufficiently near to understand each other, defy one another by menaces, railleries, and sarcasms, like the heroes of Homer and Virgil.' _Franchere's Nar._, pp.

251-4; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 322-3; _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 124; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 340-1; _Ross' Fur Hunters_, vol. i., pp. 88, 105-8; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 354; _Stanley's Portraits_, pp. 61-2; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_, p. 232.

[354] Pickering makes 'the subst.i.tution of the water-proof basket, for the square wooden bucket of the straits' the chief difference between this and the Sound Family. _Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 25; _Emmons_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., p. 206; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 77; _Ross' Adven._, p. 92; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 241, 260; _Franchere's Nar._, pp. 248-9; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 432-5; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 329-32; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 138-9; _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., p. 113, pl. 210, showing cradle, ladles, Wapato diggers, _Pautomaugons_, or war clubs and pipes. _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 248-9; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 184-5, 188-9.

[355] _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 161-3; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 253.

[356] _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 433-5. 'Hollowed out of the cedar by fire, and smoothed off with stone axes.' _Kane's Wand._, p. 189. At Cape Orford 'their shape much resembled that of a butcher's tray.'

_Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., p. 204. 'A human face or a white-headed eagle, as large as life, carved on the prow, and raised high in front.'

_Ross' Adven._, pp. 97-8. 'In landing they put the canoe round, so as to strike the beach stern on.' _Franchere's Nar._, p. 246. 'The larger canoes on the Columbia are sometimes propelled by short oars.' _Emmons_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., p. 218. 'Finest canoes in the world.' _Wilkes' Hist. Ogn._, p. 107; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 252; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 121-2; _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 79-82, with cuts; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 86, 324; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 325-7; _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 217; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 276-7; _Brownell's Ind. Races_, pp. 535-7; _Ga.s.s' Jour._, p. 279.

[357] Dried and pounded salmon, prepared by a method not understood except at the falls, formed a prominent article of commerce, both with coast and interior nations. _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 444-7, 413.

A fathom of the largest hiaqua sh.e.l.ls is worth about ten beaver-skins. A dying man gave his property to his intimate friends 'with a promise on their part to restore them if he recovered.' _Franchere's Nar._, pp.

244-5, 137; _Ross' Adven._, pp. 87-8, 95-6; _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p.

166; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 322; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 133-4; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., p. 333; _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. i., p. 392; _Kane's Wand._, p. 185; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., p. 250; _Ga.s.s'

Jour._, p. 227; _Morton's Crania Am._, pp. 202-14; _Fedix_, _l'Oregon_, pp. 44-5.

[358] Have no idea of drawing maps on the sand. 'Their powers of computation ... are very limited.' _Emmons_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., pp. 205, 207; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, p. 493; _Ross'

Adven._, pp. 88-9, 98; _Kane's Wand._, p. 185.

[359] The Willamette tribes, nine in number, were under four princ.i.p.al chiefs. _Ross' Adven._, pp. 235-6, 88, 216. Casanov, a famous chief at Fort Vancouver employed a hired a.s.sa.s.sin to remove obnoxious persons.

_Kane's Wand._, pp. 173-6; _Franchere's Nar._, p. 250; _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 88, 340; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 322-3; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 253; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, p. 443.

[360] 'Live in the same dwelling with their masters, and often intermarry with those who are free.' _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 197, 247. 'Treat them with humanity while their services are useful.'

_Franchere's Nar._, p. 241. Treated with great severity. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 181-2; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, p. 447; _Ross' Adven._, pp. 92-3; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 88; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 305-6; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 129-30; _Fitzgerald's Hud. B. Co._, pp. 196-7; _Stanley's Portraits_, pp. 61-2.

[361] _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 161, 171; _Emmons_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., pp. 211-2. 'In proportion as we approach the rapids from the sea, female impurity becomes less perceptible; beyond this point it entirely ceases.' _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. ii., pp. 134, 159; vol.

i., pp. 366-7, 318; _Wells_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xiii., p. 602; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 439-43. Ceremonies of a widow in her endeavors to obtain a new husband. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. v., p. 124; _Ross' Adven._, pp. 88, 92-3; _Franchere's Nar._, pp.

245, 254-5; _Hunter's Cap._, p. 70; _Hines' Voy._, p. 113; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. ii., pp. 16, 294-5; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 340; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 132-3; _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., pp. 231-2; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 175-7, 182; _Ga.s.s' Jour._, p. 275; _Strickland's Hist. Missions_, pp. 139-40.

[362] 'I saw neither musical instruments, nor dancing, among the Oregon tribes.' _Pickering's Races_, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. ix., p. 43. 'All extravagantly fond of ardent spirits, and are not particular what kind they have, provided it is strong, and gets them drunk quickly.' _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 155-8, 197-202. 'Not addicted to intemperance.'

_Franchere's Nar._, p. 242. At gambling 'they will cheat if they can, and pride themselves on their success.' _Kane's Wand._, pp. 190, 196.

Seldom cheat, and submit to their losses with resignation. _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., p. 332; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 410, 443-4; _Wells_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xiii., p. 601, and cut of dance at Coos Bay; _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., pp. 392-3; vol.

v., p. 123; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 77; _Ross' Fur Hunters_, vol. i., pp. 90-4, 112-13; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 114-15, 121, 125-8, 130-1; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 247-8; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol.

ii., p. 242; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 341; _Palmer's Jour._, p. 86.

[363] _Tolmie_, in _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 248; _Ga.s.s' Jour._, pp.

232, 275; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 123-8; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 205, 255-6; _Swan's N. W. Coast_, p. 267; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. v., p. 654.

[364] Doctors, if unsuccessful, are sometimes subjected to rough treatment, but rarely killed, except when they have previously threatened the life of the patient. _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 176-185.

At the Dalles an old woman, whose incantations had caused a fatal sickness, was beheaded by a brother of the deceased. _Ind. Life_, pp.

173-4, 142-3. Whole tribes have been almost exterminated by the small-pox. _Stevens_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., pp. 82, 179.

Venereal disease prevalent, and a complete cure is never effected.

_Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 440, 508. Generally succeed in curing venereal disease even in its worst stage. _Ross' Adven._, pp. 96-9. The unsuccessful doctor killed, unless able to buy his life. _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. iv., p. 394. Flatheads more subject to apoplexy than others. _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 87; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol.

i., p. 126-7, 307, 312-15, 335, vol. ii., pp. 94-5; _Townsend's Nar._, pp. 158, 178-9; _Franchere's Nar._, p. 250; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 115-9, 127; _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. ii., p. 53; _Parker's Explor.

Tour_, pp. 176, 191-2; _Fitzgerald's Hud. B. Co._, pp. 171-2; _Strickland's Hist. Missions_, pp. 139-40.

[365] A chief on the death of his daughter 'had an Indian slave bound hand and foot, and fastened to the body of the deceased, and enclosed the two in another mat, leaving out the head of the living one. The Indian then took the canoe and carried it to a high rock and left it there. Their custom is to let the slave live for three days; then another slave is compelled to strangle the victim by a cord.' _Letter_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. ii., p. 71. See also vol. iii., pp.

217-18; vol. vi., pp. 616-23, with plate; vol. v., p. 655. 'The emblem of a squaw's grave is generally a cama.s.s-root digger, made of a deer's horns, and fastened on the end of a stick.' _Wilkes' Nar._, in _U. S.

Ex. Ex._, vol. v., pp. 233-4, vol. iv., p. 394. 'I believe I saw as many as an hundred canoes at one burying place of the Chinooks.' _Ga.s.s'

Jour._, p. 274. 'Four stakes, interlaced with twigs and covered with brush,' filled with dead bodies. _Abbott_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol.

vi., p. 88. At Coos Bay, 'formerly the body was burned, and the wife of the corpse killed and interred.' Now the body is sprinkled with sand and ashes, the ankles are bent up and fastened to the neck; relatives shave their heads and put the hair on the body with sh.e.l.ls and roots, and the corpse is then buried and trampled on by the whole tribe. _Wells_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xiii., p. 602. 'The canoe-coffins were decorated with rude carved work.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 54. Strangers are paid to join in the lamentations. _Ross' Adven._, p. 97. Children who die during the head-flattening process are set afloat in their cradles upon the surface of some sacred pool, where the bodies of the old are also placed in their canoes. _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., p. 111. On burial and mourning see also, _Swan's N. W. Coast_, pp. 72-3, 13, 186-9, with cut of canoe on platform. _Mofras' Explor._, vol. ii., p. 355, and pl. 18 of _Atlas_; _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 423, 429, 509; _Kane's Wand._, pp. 176-8, 181, 202-5; _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp.

124-5, 335-6, vol. ii., p. 157; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 144, 151-2; _Thornton's Ogn. and Cal._, vol. i., pp. 281-2, vol. ii., p. 53; _Belcher's Voy._, vol. i., p. 292; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p.

255; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 119-20, 131-2; _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, pp.

149-50; _Fremont's Ogn. and Cal._, p. 186; _Irving's Astoria_, p. 99; _Franchere's Nar._, p. 106; _Palmer's Jour._, p. 87; _Ind. Life_, p.

210; _Townsend's Nar._, p. 180.

[366] 'The clumsy thief, who is detected, is scoffed at and despised.'

_Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 130-1, 114. 'The Kalapuya, like the Umkwa, ... are more regular and quiet' than the inland tribes, 'and more cleanly, honest and moral than the' coast tribes. The Chinooks are a quarrelsome, thievish, and treacherous people. _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., pp. 217, 215, 198, 204. 'A rascally, thieving set.' _Ga.s.s'

Jour._, p. 304. 'When well treated, kind and hospitable.' _Swan's N. W.

Coast_, pp. 215, 110, 152. At Cape Orford 'pleasing and courteous deportment ... scrupulously honest.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. i., pp.

204-5. Laziness is probably induced by the ease with which they obtain food. _Kane's Wand._, pp. 181, 185. 'Crafty and intriguing.' Easily irritated, but a trifle will appease him. _Ross' Fur Hunters_, vol. i., p. 61, 70-1, 77, 88, 90-1, 124-5, 235-6. 'They possess in an eminent degree, the qualities opposed to indolence, improvidence, and stupidity: the chiefs above all, are distinguished for their good sense and intelligence. Generally speaking, they have a ready intellect and a tenacious memory.' 'Rarely resist the temptation of stealing' white men's goods. _Franchere's Nar._, pp. 241-2, 261. Loquacious, never gay, knavish, impertinent. _Lewis and Clarke's Trav._, pp. 416, 441-2, 504, 523-4. 'Thorough-bred hypocrites and liars.' 'The Killymucks the most roguish.' Industry, patience, sobriety and ingenuity are their chief virtues; thieving, lying, incontinence, gambling and cruelty may be cla.s.sed among their vices. _c.o.x's Adven._, vol. i., pp. 115, 131, 296-7, 302, 304-5, 321, vol. ii., p. 133. At Wis.h.i.+am 'they were a community of arrant rogues and freebooters.' _Irving's Astoria_, pp. 322, 342. 'Lying is very common; thieving comparatively rare.' _White's Ogn._, p. 207.

'Do not appear to possess a particle of natural good feeling.'

_Townsend's Nar._, p. 183. At Coos Bay 'by no means the fierce and warlike race found further to the northward.' _Wells_, in _Harper's Mag._, vol. xiii., p. 601. Umqua and Coose tribes are naturally industrious; the Suislaws the most advanced; the Alcea not so enterprising. _Sykes_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1860, p. 215. Calapooias, a poor, cowardly, and thievish race. _Miller_, in _Id._, 1857, p. 364; _Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 151; _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 87, vol. ii., pp. 16, 36; _Warre and Vavasour_, in _Martin's Hud. B._, p.

83; _Palmer's Jour._, pp. 84, 105; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, pp. 249-50; _Ind. Life_, pp. 1-4, 210; _Fitzgerald's Vanc. Isl._, p. 196; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., p. 207, etc.

[367] 'They all resemble each other in general characteristics.'

_Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 229. Shushwaps and Salish all one race.

_Mayne's B. C._, p. 296-7. 'The Indians of the interior are, both physically and morally, vastly superior to the tribes of the coast.'

_Id._, p. 242. 'The Kliketat near Mount Rainier, the Walla-Wallas, and the Okanagan ... speak kindred dialects.' _Ludewig_, _Ab. Lang._, p.

170. The best-supported opinion is that the inland were of the same original stock with the lower tribes. _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 316. 'On leaving the verge of the Carrier country, near Alexandria, a marked change is at once perceptible.' _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 77. Inland tribes differ widely from the piscatorial tribes. _Ross'

Adven._, p. 127. 'Those residing near the Rocky Mountains ... are and always have been superior races to those living on the lower Columbia.'

_Alvord_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. v., p. 654. 'I was particularly struck with their vast superiority (on the Similkameen River, Lat. 49 30', Long. 120 30') in point of intelligence and energy to the Fish Indians on the Fraser River, and in its neighbourhood.' _Palmer_, in _B. C. Papers_, vol. iii., p. 84. Striking contrast noted in pa.s.sing up the Columbia. _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p.

199.

[368] 'The Shewhapmuch ... who compose a large branch of the Saeliss family,' known as _Nicute-much_--corrupted by the Canadians into Couteaux--below the junction of the Fraser and Thompson. _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 76-7. Atnahs is their name in the Takali language, and signifies 'strangers.' 'Differ so little from their southern neighbors, the Salish, as to render a particular description unnecessary.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 205.

They were called by Mackenzie the Chin tribe, according to _Prichard's Researches_, vol. v., p. 427, but Mackenzie's Chin tribe was north of the Atnahs, being the Nagailer tribe of the Carriers. See _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 257-8, and map.

[369] 'About Okanagan, various branches of the Carrier tribe.'

_Nicolay's Ogn. Ter._, p. 143. 'Okanagans, on the upper part of Frazer's River.' _Ludewig_, _Ab. Lang._, p. 170.

[370] Also known as Flat-bows. 'The poorest of the tribes composing the Flathead nation.' _McCormick_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1867, p. 211.

'Speaking a language of their own, it is not easy to imagine their origin; but it appears probable that they once belonged to some more southern tribe, from which they became shut off by the intervention of larger tribes.' _Mayne's B. C._, p. 297. 'In appearance, character, and customs, they resemble more the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains than those of Lower Oregon.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 205. 'Les Arcs-a-Plats, et les Koetenais sont connus dans le pays sous le nom de Skalzi.' _De Smet_, _Miss. de l'Oregon_, p. 80.

[371] The origin of the name Flathead, as applied to this nation, is not known, as they have never been known to flatten the head. 'The ma.s.s of the nation consists of persons who have more or less of the blood of the Spokanes, Pend d'Oreilles, Nez Perces, and Iroquois.' _Stevens_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 207; _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p. 150; _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., p. 108; _Stuart's Montana_, p. 82.

Ga.s.s applied the name apparently to tribes on the Clearwater of the Sahaptin family. _Jour._, p. 224.

[372] Also called _Kalispelms_ and _Ponderas_. The Upper Pend d'Oreilles consist of a number of wandering families of Spokanes, Kalispelms proper, and Flatheads. _Suckley_, in _Pac. R. R. Rept._, vol. i., p.

294; _Stevens_, in _Id._, p. 149; _Stevens_, in _Ind. Aff. Rept._, 1854, p. 210. 'Very similar in manners, etc., to the Flatheads, and form one people with them.' _De Smet_, _Miss. de l'Oregon_, p. 32.

[373] The native name, according to Hale, is _Skitsuish_, and Coeur d'Alene, 'Awl heart,' is a nickname applied from the circ.u.mstance that a chief used these words to express his idea of the Canadian traders'