The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 28

197. 'Regular, and often fine features.' _Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 29.

[237] _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 309-10, 322-3, 370-1; _Lord's Nat._, vol.

i., p. 229. 'Opening of the eye long and narrow.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 197.

[238] 'Had it not been for the filth, oil, and paint, with which, from their earliest infancy, they are besmeared from head to foot, there is great reason to believe that their colour would have differed but little from such of the labouring Europeans, as are constantly exposed to the inclemency and alterations of the weather.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol.

ii., p. 262. 'Between the olive and the copper.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp.

370-1. 'Their complexion, when they are washed free from paint, is as white as that of the people of the S. of Europe.' _Scouler_, in _Lond.

Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 218. Skin 'nearly as white as ours.'

_Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 314-5. 'Of a remarkable light color.'

_Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 29. 'Fairer in complexion than the Vancouverians.' 'Their young women's skins are as clear and white as those of Englishwomen.' _Sproat's Scenes_, pp. 23-4. 'Fair in complexion, sometimes with ruddy cheeks.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S.

Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 197. 'De buen semblante, color blanco y bermejos.' _Crespi_, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, s. iv., vol. vi., p. 646.

[239] Tolmie mentions several instances of the kind, and states that 'amongst the Hydah or Queen Charlotte Island tribes, exist a family of coa.r.s.e, red-haired, light-brown eyed, square-built people, short-sighted, and of fair complexion.' _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., pp.

229-30.

[240] _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 322-3, 371; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 370; _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 283; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 315.

[241] _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 218; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 74. 'What is very unusual among the aborigines of America, they have thick beards, which appear early in life.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex. Ex._, vol. vi., p. 197.

[242] 'After the age of p.u.b.erty, their bodies, in their natural state, are covered in the same manner as those of the Europeans. The men, indeed, esteem a beard very unbecoming, and take great pains to get rid of it, nor is there any ever to be perceived on their faces, except when they grow old, and become inattentive to their appearance. Every crinous efflorescence on the other parts of the body is held unseemly by them, and both s.e.xes employ much time in their extirpation. The Nawdowessies, and the remote nations, pluck them out with bent pieces of hard wood, formed into a kind of nippers; whilst those who have communication with Europeans procure from them wire, which they twist into a screw or worm; applying this to the part, they press the rings together, and with a sudden twitch draw out all the hairs that are inclosed between them.'

_Carver's Trav._, p. 225.

[243] _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 220.

[244] _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 370-1; _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 226; _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 287.

[245] _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 232; _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., pp. 218, 220, 223. 'The most northern of these Flat-head tribes is the Hautzuk.' _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. ii., p.

325.

[246] _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., pp. 204, 233. 'This wooden ornament seems to be wore by all the s.e.x indiscriminately, whereas at Norfolk Sound it is confined to those of superior rank.' _Dixon's Voy._, pp. 225, 208, with a cut. A piece of bra.s.s or copper is first put in, and 'this corrodes the lacerated parts, and by consuming the flesh gradually increases the orifice.' _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., pp.

279-80, 408. _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 218; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 276, 279; _Crespi_, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, s. iv., vol. vi., p. 651; _Cornwallis' New El Dorado_, p. 106; _Catlin's N. Am.

Ind._, vol. ii., p. 113, with plate.

[247] _Mayne's B. C._, pp. 281-2; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 75, 311; _Barrett-Lennard's Trav._, pp. 45-6; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 279, 285.

[248] _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 82, 106, 310, 322-3; _Mayne's B. C._, pp. 282, 283; _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 251.

[249] _Mayne's B. C._, p. 282; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 251, 276, 291; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 310. 'The men habitually go naked, but when they go off on a journey they wear a blanket.' _Reed's Nar._ 'Cuero de nutrias y lobo marino ... sombreros de junco bien tejidos con la copa puntiaguda.' _Crespi_, in _Doc. Hist.

Mex._, s. iv., vol. vi., p. 646.

[250] _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 253, 276-7; _Catlin's N. Am. Ind._, vol. ii., p. 113.

[251] At Salmon River, 52 58', 'their dress consists of a single robe tied over the shoulders, falling down behind, to the heels, and before, a little below the knees, with a deep fringe round the bottom. It is generally made of the bark of the cedar tree, which they prepare as fine as hemp; though some of these garments are interwoven with strips of the sea-otter skin, which give them the appearance of a fur on one side.

Others have stripes of red and yellow threads fancifully introduced towards the borders.' Clothing is laid aside whenever convenient. 'The women wear a close fringe hanging down before them about two feet in length, and half as wide. When they sit down they draw this between their thighs.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 322-3, 371; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., pp. 280, 339.

[252] A house 'erected on a platform, ... raised and supported near thirty feet from the ground by perpendicular spars of a very large size; the whole occupying a s.p.a.ce of about thirty-five by fifteen (yards), was covered in by a roof of boards lying nearly horizontal, and parallel to the platform; it seemed to be divided into three different houses, or rather apartments, each having a separate access formed by a long tree in an inclined position from the platform to the ground, with notches cut in it by way of steps, about a foot and a half asunder.'

_Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 274. See also pp. 137, 267-8, 272, 284.

'Their summer and winter residences are built of split plank, similar to those of the Chenooks.' _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263. 'Ils habitent dans des loges de soixante pieds de long, construites avec des troncs de sapin et recouvertes d'ecorces d'arbres.' _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 337. 'Their houses are neatly constructed, standing in a row; having large images, cut out of wood, resembling idols. The dwellings have all painted fronts, showing imitations of men and animals. Attached to their houses most of them have large potatoe gardens.' _Dunn's Oregon_, pp.

293-4. See also, pp. 251-2, 273-4, 290; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 89; vol. ii., pp. 253, 255, with cuts on p. 255 and frontispiece. 'Near the house of the chief I observed several oblong squares, of about twenty feet by eight. They were made of thick cedar boards, which were joined with so much neatness, that I at first thought they were one piece. They were painted with hieroglyphics, and figures of different animals,'

probably for purposes of devotion, as was 'a large building in the middle of the village.... The ground-plot was fifty feet by forty-five; each end is formed by four stout posts, fixed perpendicularly in the ground. The corner ones are plain, and support a beam of the whole length, having three intermediate props on each side, but of a larger size, and eight or nine feet in height. The two centre posts, at each end, are two and a half feet in diameter, and carved into human figures, supporting two ridge poles on their heads, twelve feet from the ground.

The figures at the upper part of this square represent two persons, with their hands upon their knees, as if they supported the weight with pain and difficulty: the others opposite to them stand at their ease, with their hands resting on their hips.... Posts, poles, and figures, were painted red and black, but the sculpture of these people is superior to their painting.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 331. See also pp. 307, 318, 328-30, 339, 345; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 111, 113-4; _Reed's Nar._; _Marchand_, _Voy._, tom. ii., pp. 127-31.

[253] On food of the Haidahs and the methods of procuring it, see _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., pp. 41, 152; _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 306, 313-14, 319-21, 327, 333, 339, 369-70; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, pp. 148, 284-5, 315-16; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 273; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 251, 267, 274, 290-1; _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 337; _Pemberton's Vancouver Island_, p. 23; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263; _Reed's Nar._

[254] _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 339; _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p.

316; _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 372-3. 'Once I saw a party of Kaiganys of about two hundred men returning from war. The paddles of the warriors killed in the fight were lashed upright in their various seats, so that from a long distance the number of the fallen could be ascertained; and on each mast of the canoes--and some of them had three--was stuck the head of a slain foe.' _Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 30.

[255] The Kaiganies 'are noted for the beauty and size of their cedar canoes, and their skill in carving. Most of the stone pipes, inlaid with fragments of Haliotis or pearl sh.e.l.ls, so common in ethnological collections, are their handiwork. The slate quarry from which the stone is obtained is situated on Queen Charlotte's Island.' _Dall's Alaska_, p. 411. The Chimsyans 'make figures in stone dressed like Englishmen; plates and other utensils of civilization, ornamented pipe stems and heads, models of houses, stone flutes, adorned with well-carved figures of animals. Their imitative skill is as noticeable as their dexterity in carving.' _Sproat's Scenes_, p. 317. The supporting posts of their probable temples were carved into human figures, and all painted red and black, 'but the sculpture of these people (52 40') is superior to their painting.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 330-1; see pp. 333-4. 'One man (near Fort Simpson) known as the Arrowsmith of the north-east coast, had gone far beyond his compeers, having prepared very accurate charts of most parts of the adjacent sh.o.r.es.' _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., p.

207. 'The Indians of the Northern Family are remarkable for their ingenuity and mechanical dexterity in the construction of their canoes, houses, and different warlike or fishing implements. They construct drinking-vessels, tobacco-pipes, &c., from a soft argillaceous stone, and these articles are remarkable for the symmetry of their form, and the exceedingly elaborate and intricate figures which are carved upon them. With respect to carving and a faculty for imitation, the Queen Charlotte's Islanders are equal to the most ingenious of the Polynesian Tribes.' _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 218. 'Like the Chinese, they imitate literally anything that is given them to do; so that if you give them a cracked gun-stock to copy, and do not warn them, they will in their manufacture repeat the blemish. Many of their slate-carvings are very good indeed, and their designs most curious.'

_Mayne's B. C._, p. 278. See also, _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 293; _Mofras_, _Explor._, tom. ii., p. 337, and plate p. 387. The Skidagates 'showed me beautifully wrought articles of their own design and make, and amongst them some flutes manufactured from an unctuous blue slate.... The two ends were inlaid with lead, giving the idea of a fine silver mounting.

Two of the keys perfectly represented frogs in a sitting posture, the eyes being picked out with burnished lead.... It would have done credit to a European modeller.' _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 258. 'Their talent for carving has made them famous far beyond their own country.'

_Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 29. A square wooden box, holding one or two bushels, is made from three pieces, the sides being from one piece so mitred as to bend at the corners without breaking. 'During their performance of this character of labor, (carving, etc.) their superst.i.tions will not allow any spectator of the operator's work.'

_Reed's Nar._; _Ind. Life_, p. 96. 'Of a very fine and hard slate they make cups, plates, pipes, little images, and various ornaments, wrought with surprising elegance and taste.' _Hale's Ethnog._, in _U. S. Ex.

Ex._, vol. vi., p. 197. 'Ils peignent aussi avec le meme gout.' _Rossi_, _Souvenirs_, p. 298; _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., pp. 74-5.

[256] _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 338; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 63; vol.

ii., pp. 215-17, 254, 258; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 251, 253, 291, 293.

'They boil the cedar root until it becomes pliable to be worked by the hand and beaten with sticks, when they pick the fibres apart into threads. The warp is of a different material--sinew of the whale, or dried kelp-thread.' _Reed's Nar._ 'Petat.i.to de vara en cuadro bien vistoso, tejido de palma fina de dos colores blanco y negro que tejido en cuadritos.' _Crespi_, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, s. iv., vol. vi., pp.

647, 650-1.

[257] _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 269, and cuts on pp. 121, 291; _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 335; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., p.

204; _Vancouver's Voy._, vol. ii., p. 303; _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. cxxv; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 174; _Reed's Nar._; _Catlin's N. Am.

Ind._, vol. ii., p. 113, with plate. The Bellabellahs 'promised to construct a steam-ship on the model of ours.... Some time after this rude steamer appeared. She was from 20 to 30 feet long, all in one piece--a large tree hollowed out--resembling the model of our steamer.

She was black, with painted ports; decked over; and had paddles painted red, and Indians under cover, to turn them round. The steersman was not seen. She was floated triumphantly, and went at the rate of three miles an hour. They thought they had nearly come up to the point of external structure; but then the enginery baffled them; and this they thought they could imitate in time, by perseverance, and the helping illumination of the Great Spirit.' _Dunn's Oregon_, p. 272. See also, p.

291. 'A canoe easily distanced the champion boat of the American Navy, belonging to the man-of-war _Saranac_.' _Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 29.

[258] _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 219; _Macfie's B. C._, pp. 429, 437, 458; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol.

i., p. 206; _Lord's Nat._, vol. i., p. 174; _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 74; _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 279, 281-3, 292; _Sutil y Mexicana_, _Viage_, p. cxxv.

[259] _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 374-5; _Tolmie and Anderson_, in _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., pp. 240-2, 235; _Macfie's B. C._, p. 429; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., p. 205; _Dixon's Voy._, p. 227. 'There exists among them a regular aristocracy.' 'The chiefs are always of unquestionable birth, and generally count among their ancestors men who were famous in battle and council.' 'The chief is regarded with all the reverence and respect which his rank, his birth, and his wealth can claim,' but 'his power is by no means unlimited.' _Bendel's Alex.

Arch._, p. 30.

[260] _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 273-4, 283; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263; _Bendel's Alex. Arch._, p. 30; _Kane's Wand._, p. 220.

[261] 'Polygamy is universal, regulated simply by the facilities for subsistence.' _Anderson_, in _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 235. See pp.

231-5, and vol. i., pp. 89-90. The women 'cohabit almost promiscuously with their own tribe though rarely with other tribes.' Poole, spending the night with a chief, was given the place of honor, under the same blanket with the chief's daughter--and her father. _Poole's Q. Char.

Isl._, pp. 312-15, 115-16, 155. 'The Indians are in general very jealous of their women.' _Dixon's Voy._, p. 225-6. 'Tous les individus d'une famille couchent pele-mele sur le sol plancheye de l'habitation.'

_Marchand_, _Voy._, tom. ii., p. 144. 'Soon after I had retired ... the chief paid me a visit to insist on my going to his bed-companion, and taking my place himself.' _Mackenzie's Voy._, p. 331. See pp. 300, 371-2. _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263. 'On the weddingday they have a public feast, at which they dance and sing.' _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 252-3, 289-90. 'According to a custom of the Bellabollahs, the widow of the deceased is transferred to his brother's harem.' _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol. i., p. 203-4. 'The temporary present of a wife is one of the greatest honours that can be shown there to a guest.' _Sproat's Scenes_, p. 95.

[262] 'The Queen Charlotte Islanders surpa.s.s any people that I ever saw in pa.s.sionate addiction' to gambling. _Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p.

318-20. See pp. 186-87, 232-33. _Mackenzie's Voy._, pp. 288, 311. The Seba.s.sas are great gamblers, and 'resemble the Chinooks in their games.'

_Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 25-7, 252-9, 281-3, 293. 'The Indian mode of dancing bears a strange resemblance to that in use among the Chinese.'

_Poole's Q. Char. Isl._, p. 82. _Lord's Nat._, vol. ii., p. 258; _Parker's Explor. Tour_, p. 263; _Ind. Life_, p. 63.

[263] _Scouler_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. xi., p. 223; _Duncan_, in _Mayne's B. C._, pp. 285-8, and in _Macfie's Vanc. Isl._, pp. 434-7; _White's Oregon_, p. 246; _Simpson's Overland Journ._, vol.

i., p. 205; _Hutchings' Cal. Mag._, Nov. 1860, pp. 222-8; _Ind. Life_, p. 68; _Reed's Nar._; _Anderson_, in _Hist. Mag._, vol. vii., p. 79.

[264] The Indians of Millbank Sound became exasperated against me, 'and they gave me the name of "_Schloapes_," i. e., "_stingy_:" and when near them, if I should spit, they would run and try to take up the spittle in something; for, according as they afterwards informed me, they intended to give it to their doctor or magician; and he would charm my life away.' _Dunn's Oregon_, pp. 246-7. See pp. 279-80; _Poole's Q. Char.

Isl._, pp. 320-1.