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THE COAST INDIANS OF SOUTHERN ALASKA AND NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA.

By Ensign ALBERT P. NIBLACK, U. S. Navy.

BASED ON THE COLLECTIONS IN THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. AND ON THE PERSONAL OBSERVATION OF THE WRITER IN CONNEC- TION WITH THE SURVEY OF ALASKA IN THE SEASONS' OF 1885, 1886 AND 1S87.

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SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.

I. Chorography of Southern Alaska and Northern British Columbia ; Progress of Ethnological work in this region, — Scope of this paper, — Clas- sification of Indian stocks, — History. II. Environment: Organic and inorganic. Characteristics of Indians: Physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, and aesthetic characteristics.

III. Regulative Organization : Consanguiueal, Political, and Industrial. Ori-

gin of "mother-rule" and "father-rule" — Totemism and Tribal organ- ization: Tlingit, Kaigani, Haida, and Tsimshian Totems — Origin of Totemism— Chiefs and petty chiefs, freemen, and slaves — Division of labor — Inheritance and rights of property.

IV. Mutilations: Lip, ear, and nose ornaments; tattooing; painting the body.

Ornaments : Necklaces, pendants, and bracelets. Primitive clothing : ceremonial blankets and head-dresses ; the art of weaving ; modern dress ; rain cloaks ; armor ; helmets and head-dresses ; masks ; batons ; blank- ets; coats; leggings; slave-killers; ceremonial paraphernalia in general. V. Food: Its preparation and procurement. Implements and Weapons : In- • dustrial implements and tools ; hammers and mauls ; adzes ; knives ; scrapers; mortars and pestles; wedges; chisels; drills; paint-brushes; weapons of war and of the chase ; clubs ; daggers ; bows and arrows ; epears ; fur-seal spears ; salmon spears ; fishhooks ; fish-rakes ; fish-bas- kets; lines; floats; drag-nets; dip-nets; weirs; bird and other land traps ; canoes; canoe outfits; canoe-making. Hunting and fishing : Salmon ; halibut; herring and eulachon ; sijawu ; sea otter; seals ; deer; mountain goats and sheep ; bears. VI. Landworks : Fortifications. Temporary dwellings : Tents and summer houses. Houses : Details of house construction. Villages : Names of villages; groups of villages; residence. VII. Arts and Industries: Raw materials; ropes and cords; mats; baskets; dishes ; spoons ; household boxes and chests ; cradles ; household uten- sils; i>aint8 ; metal working; lumber and wood- work. Paintings, draw- ings, AND carvings: Totemic and commemorative columns. Music: Singing ; drums, rattles and whistles. V VIII. Productions: Rearing and cultivation. Locom tion: Canoe travel. i' Wealth : Currency ; property in land ; coppers , aves. Trade : Ex-

change of commodities. IX. War and Peace : War customs : scalping ; duels. Peace customs : treaties of peace. X. Vices and Demoralization of the Indians : Gambling ; rum ; hoochi- noo : tobacco; immorality. XI. SH.4.MANIS.M : Witchcraft trial ; snperstitiou ; sickness and death ; medicines; treatment of the sick,

2-47

228 SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.

XII. Mortuary Customs : Ancient sepulture ; depositories of ashes ; mortuary columns ; customs of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshiau ; modern cus- toms ; Christian burial ; Shaman burial,

XIII. Feasts. Dances. Ceremonies. Potlaches, Theatricals. Initiatory

ceremonies: Marriage; childbirth; naming; piercing the ears and nose; tattooing; puberty; bringing out ; self-naming; chieftaincy ; glo- rification of the dead. Festive Ceremonies : Welcome; trade; house- building; potlaches; ceremonial dances ; "cultus" dances ; theatricals.

XIV. General Character of the Traditions. Myths and Folk-lore— Bir-

LIOGRAPHY.

XV. General Notes: Relations and affinities of the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshiau, and Kwakiutl — the Haida — Remarks on the Maori of New Zealand — the Kaigani — Ethnological work to be done.*

* To complete, in a measure, the study of the ethnology of this region, there should be added several other chapters. The data at hand does not, however, just yet warrant this undertaking. Chapter XIV, and others of the above, are very incom- plete. In itself Chapter xiv would take several volumes to cover the ground satis- factorily. A synopsis of the chapters needed is appended to indicate their scope.

XVI. Creed and Cult: Superstitions; religious beliefs and practices; religious organization: regulative. Shamanism; operative, fetichism. Shaman- istic priestcraft ; paraphernalia; religious rites of the Shaman. Secret and religious organi -rations in the tribe; the relations of the ceremonies to the religious beliefs. XVII. Language OF THE VARIOUS Indian stocks: grammatical structure; vocab-

• ularies; dialects; linguistic affinities of the different stocks.

XVIII. Ethnical affinities aud relationships of the various Indian stocks of the North West Coast as far as indicated by all the foregoing. The collection made by Lieut. George F. Emmons, U. S. Navy, in south- eastern Alaska, now in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, has been drawn upon for twenty or more illnstra- tions. His collection admirably supplements that in the National Museum, and it is to be regretted that the two collections have not been brought to- jrether.

AUTHORITIES QUOTED.

Dixon (George), A Voyage Round the World. London, 1789.

Portlock (Nathaniel). A Voyage Round the World. Loudon, 1789.

Vancouver (George). A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and rouud

the World. 3 vols. London, 179fr'. Mackenzie (Alex.). Voyages from Montreal through the Continent of North

America in 1789-93. London, 1801. Laugsdorff(G. H. von). Voyages and Travels (1803-'07), 2 vols. London, 1813-14. Lisiausky (Urey). A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1803-06. London, 1814. Dunn (John). History of the Oregon Territory. London, 1844. Simpson (Sir George). Narrative of a Journey Round the World, 1841 and 1842.

Loudon, 1847. Poole (Francis). Queen Charlotte Islands. London, 1872. Dall (W. H.). Alaska and its Resources. Boston, 1870.

Bancroft (H. H.). Native Races, vol. I, Wild Tribes. San Francisco, 1883. Petroff' (Ivan). Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of Alaska.

Washington, 1684. Dawson (G. M.). Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands. B. In Geological Survey

of Canada. Montreal, 1880. Powell (J. W.). Annual Reports of Bureau of Ethnology. Washington. Swan (J. G.). Publications, Manuscripts, Notes, Letters, and Collections in National

Museum. Port Townsend, Washington Territory. Boas (Dr. Franz.). Publications, Notes, Letters, etc. Worcester, Mass. Frazer (J. G.). Totemism. Edinburgh, 1887.

Other brief references are made in foot notes in the text. The above are the prin- cipal aiithorities quoted.

229

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

General view of Kasa-an Village, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

From a photograph by the author.

This general view is shown in detail in Plates II and III. The village is on the north sliore of Skowl Arm, a hranch of Kasa-an Bay. about four miles from the entrance. The present chief is Satrab-tan, a nephew of the former well-known Chief Skowl. The population is about 150 souls. It is not in the regular steamer track and is seldom visited, but it is especially rich in ethnological material. The inhabitants are Kaigani of the Haidan stcwk, and speak the Haidan language with little modification. Their customs are similar to the Haidan, but have been much modified bv the influence of the Tlingit.

Report of National Museum, 1888. — Niblack.

Plate I.

THE COAST INDIANS OF SOUTHERN ALASKA AND NORTHERN BRITISH

COLUMBIA.

By Ensign Albert P. Niblack, U. S. Navy.

I.

CHOBOGBAPHY OF SOUTHERN ALASKA AND NORTHERN BRITISH

COLUMBIA.

From Puget Sound in Washington Territory to Mount St. Elias in southern Alaska, the coast line is broken into a continuous archipelago. The Ca'scade Mountains, running throughout this territory parallel to the coast line, leaves, adjacent to the Pacific, a strip of country about 150 miles broad and 1,000 miles long, called generally "The North West Coast." Through the narrow channels of this archipelago winds the steamer route to Sitka, a route unparalleled for its length and the wild magnificence of its scenery. Warmed by Asiatic currents and moistened by a phenomenal rain fall, this region is less rigorous in its climate than generally supposed. Thickly wooded with pine, fir, spruce, and hemlock, the vegetation spreads from the water's edge to the snow line limit of the loftiest mountains. The forests are stocked with game and the waters with food fishes. The soil, though not deep, is fertile, and would itself support the native population without the other gifts with which nature has so lavishly endowed them. In every crevice in the rocks, where the.soil is scantiest, a stunted tree rears its head. In the spring the forests are gay with ferns, shrubs, and brightly colored wild flowers, and in the summer a large variety of edible roots and berries are found in profusion.

Dotted throughout this region are the winter villages of the Coast Indians, whose ethnic variations are somewhat marked as we go north, but who differ as a group quite materially from the hunting Indians of the interior, and more sharply from the Eskimo. In contrast with the fierce, revengeful Tiune, they are generally mild in disposition. In physical characteristics they are shorter, the cheek bones are less prom- inent, the nose is straighter, and the face rounder and fuller. From

231

232 - REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

the Columbia River to Mouut St, Elias these Coast Ludiaus have marked ethuic affiliations, but the linguistic variations are great, aud in the southern region are now the subject of sj'stematic governmental investi- gation.

Comparative philology aud mythology, a study of the primitive cus- toms aud habits of the geographical aud linguistic groups, and com- parisons of the ethnological material and collections from tbis region, can alone throw light upon the history and ethnic affinities of the various Indian stocks.

ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.

In British Columbia, the philological and mythological part of the work Las been commenced by Dr. W. F. Tolmie and Prof, George M. Uawson, in connection with the geological and natural history survey of Canada, and is now the subject of special investigation by a commit- tee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, under a grant for the purpose. Dr. Franz Boas is conducting the work for the committee in the field, and the result is being from time to time pub- lished.

For Washington Territory and Alaska, this investigation is in the hands of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution.

SCOPE OF THIS PAPER.

The facts here published were gathered by the writer in the summer seasons (May to October inclusive) of 1885, 188G, aud 1887, while on duty in the survey of Alaska now being carried on by the officers of the Navy, under the direction of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The material presented has little bearing on the philology and mythology of the region embraced in the survey. Such work must come later, be undertaken more systematically, and carried on in the winter mouths, Av hen the Indians are located in their permanent villages. The writer is indebted to Judge J. G. Swan, of Port Townsend, AVashington Ter- ritory, for valuable notes on the Eaida of Queen Charlotte Islands. His collections from the North West Coast, under the direction of the Smith- sonian Institution, form the bulk of the ethnological material in the National Museum from the region about Dixon entrance, and have been freely used in the accompanying illustrations.

CLASSIFICATION.

A provisional classification of the Indians of the North West Coast, from Puget Sound to Cape St. Elias, based on philological considera- tions, would, according to Dr. Franz Boas, divide them into three groups, as follows :

Group I. Salish, Kwakiutl, and Wakashan (Nutkan).

Group II. Tsimshian.

Group irr. Tlingir and Haida.

THE INDIANS or THE NORTHWEST COAST. 2o3

" It seems that the laugiiages euumerated above represent as many diflfereut lioguistic stocks, so far as our limited kuowledge extends."*

A classificatiou based on other than philological and geographical groupings is out of the question at present. A comparative study of the customs, habits, mythology, aud beliefs of all the tribes of this re- gion can alone form the basis of an ethnological classilication. Charts I and II show the location of the different lodian stocks on the North West Coast. This paper deals principall3' with the tribes around Dixon entrance, and in our own Territory of Alaska, of which Chart I shows the geographical grouping into stocks. The Kaigani, on the southern part of Prince of Wales Island, are a branch of the Haidan stock. On Annette Island, at Port Chester, will be seen the location of the Tsimshian emigrants. This is a colouy that, in 1887, under the leadership of the missionary, Mr. Duncan, abandoned Metlah-Katlah- British Columbia, owing to difficulties with the civil and eclesiastical authorities. The Indians seem very largely to have sympathised with the Eev. Mr. Duncan, as they voluntarily followed him to our own Ter- ritory, where the settlement is called i^Iew Metlah-Katlah.

In Chart II no attempt is made to enumerate the tribes comprising the different stocks. It is interesting, however, to observe that the Bilqula are Salishan. t

HISTORY.

European civilization has borne with crushing force upon the Indians of the Northwest coast. Demoralized and staggered by contact with the whites, the remnant of the former population is just beginning to rally from the blow. Nothing places the Northern tribes higher in the scale of intelligence than the philosophy with which they are adapting themselves to their changed environment, retaining their advantageous native customs and accepting from us only what contributes to their comfort and welfare. The greatest curse to them has been alcohol, and against this temptation they seem absolutely unable to struggle.

The early European voyagers to this region have preserved in their narratives rough accounts of the habits, customs, and actual condition of the natives. Our earliest acquaintance dates from the visit of Ber- ing in 1741, coming from the north. En 1774-'7o the Spanish navigators, Juan Perez and La Bodega y Quadra, coming from the south, explored the coast to the northward. In 1778 Captain Cook, having with him Vancouver as a midshipman, made his celebrated visit to this region. After that several mercantile companies sent ships thither to trade,

•Science, vol. xii., No. 299, p. 194.

t "Among the liuoiiistic results of my journey the most interesting are the dis- covery of three unknown dialects of the Stilish stock and the establishment of the fact that the Bilqula, who are of Salish lineage, must have lived at one time wi/h other Salish tribes near the sea."— Notes on EthnoJogy of Britiah Cohimbia (Am. Philolog, Soc, Nov. 18, 1887, p. 422), by Dr. Franz Boas.

284 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

notably Captain Meares (1786), ol' the East ludia Company, and Cap- taius Portlock and Dixon (1787), of the King George's Sound Coiu- pauy. In 1788 several Aiucricau ships, representing a Boston com- pany, also appeared on the coast. In 1789 in the Washington, Captain Gray explored the east coast of Queen Charlotte Islands, and, in 1701, Captain lugrahaui anchored in a harbor in the southeast part of this same archipelago. In the same year, Marchand, representing a French company, also traded with these islanders.

In 1792-'94: Captain Vancouver made his admirable reconnaissance of the coast in search of a northwest passage to the Pacific from the Atlantic.

In 1793 Mackenzie descended the Salmon Eiver and reached salt water in latitude 52*^ 21' N., in the country of the Bilqula.

With the formal occupation, by Baranoft', of a fortified post at Sitka in 1800, the natives of the Northwest coast may be said to have entered upon a new phase in their civilization, due to contact with the whites. A few years later this post was destroyed and the occupants massa- cred by the Tlingit; but, in 1805, Baranoff and Lisiansky re-established it on the site now occupied by the town of Sitka, called by them New Archangel. From this time to the purchase of xYlaska by the United States in 1867, the history of this region is largely the history of the Russian-American and the Hudson Bay Company, the latter of w^bich still continues to be such a powerful commercial factor in British America.

II.

ENriKONMENT—OBaANIC AND INOBGANIC ; AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS -PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL. MORAL, AND .ESTHETIC.

ENVIRONMENT,

The physical character of the region occupied by the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian is similar in general to that of southern British Colum- bia, but for local reasons this area has a peculiar climate. A branch of the warm Japanese current sweeps along the coast, and, coming in con- tact with the colder air and water of the north, gives rise to excessive humidity, producing in summer the rains and fogs, and in winter the snows and sleets, that are so prevalent in this region. Thermometrical observations, extending over a period of fifty years in the region about Sitka, give the lowest winter temperature as 4° Fah. below zero, the mean winter temperature being about SS*^ Fah., the same as in Washington, District of Columbia. In the summer, on the contrary, the rainy and overcast days so predominate, that the temperature never rises above 90° Fah. The maximum recorded about Sitka is 87° Fah. With an annual rainfall of from 60 to 95 inches and an average of be- tween one hundred and ninety and two hundred and eighty-five days in the year on which rain has been known to fall,* the climate may be said to have its drawbacks. The shortest winter days are from four to five hours long, while the summer nights are correspondingly brief. In the long summer days, when the weather is fine, the atmosphere is won- derfully clear, and the scenery fairly sparkles with an excessive brilliancy due to exceptional hygrometric conditions.

The territory is very broken and snbdivided. It is densely wooded with spruce, hemlock, white pine, fir, birch, alder, and underbrush, the vegetation crowding down to the high-water line. It is also very mount- ainous, and indented with bays and arms of the sea. The waters are deep and the tidal currents swift, the tides rising and falling twice a day through a range of from 12 to 21 feet, making navigation in places extremely hazardous. Travel is entirely by water, the villages being on the water courses, and the canoe here reaches its highest develop- ment. Huge landslides in the face of the mountains, snow-capped ranges with sparkling glaciers in the sides and valleys, floating glacier ice in the bays and straits, and the bright green vegetation everywhere, all these give a characteristic beauty to the scenery of this region.

* Dall, Alaska, p. 451,

235

236 REPOl^T OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

The principal ±'ur-beaimg aaimals are the browu aud black bear, wolf, the cross, red, aud silvei fox ; beaver, mmk, marteu, aud laud otter, while m the mountaius of the mainland are wild goat;s and sheep. Cod, her- ring, trout, and eulachon abound in certain localities, but the staple supply is furnished by the halibut and salmon. To complete the pict- ure there must be mentioned the innumerable flocks of wild ducks and geese in season, the lonely herons and cranes, the omnipresent gulls eagles, hawks, crows, aud ravens, the skimmiug surf birds, and, in the woods, not generally seen from canoes, grouse and a variety of smaller members of the feathered tribe.

In Dixon Entrance, Clarence, Sumner, and Chatham Straits, and par- ticularly in Frederick Souud and Stephen's Passage, Alaska, is the breeding ground for whales, which may be seen spouting in schools of six or seven. AVherever the whale is, there also is found the whale- killer (Orcv? (iter). These run also singly or in schools, and are the mer- ciless enemy of the whale. The dorsal tin, projecting so prominently above the surface of the water, gives them a characteristic readily seized upon b^^ the native artist, who never omits this appendage from his conventional drawing or carviug of this animal.

The presence of the bear, eagle, raven, wolf, orca, whale, and other representatives of the animal kingdom in this region, and the know- ledge of their peculiarities b^' the Indians, explain the prominent part they play in the mythology of the coast, as stated in Chapter vii.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

The Indians about Dixon Entrance are unquestionably superior in physique to the coast Indians to the southward. As among themselves the physical superiority rests with the Haida. This may be due to real ethnical differences, but is probably accounted for in the fact that natural conditions in the Queen Charlotte Islands and around such an exposed arm of the sea as Dixon Entrance have produced a finer and more robust people than those in less exposed regions. While there is considerable uniformity in the general physical characters of all the stocks on the northwest coast, a practised eye can detect the differences between them.

Laugsdorft' (1805) says of the Tlingit :

They do not appear to Lave the least aflSuity ■with the Mongol tribes ; thej' have in geaeral large, fiery eyes ; a small, flat, broad nose; and large cheek-bones ; indeed, in all respects, large and strongly marked features.*

In general amongst the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, the hair is thick, stiff', coarse, straight, and black. It is worn short by the men, excepting the shamans or doctors, and long by the women. Instances cited t of auburn tresses and golden curls are ascribable to intermixt- ure with European and American traders. The eyebrows are small and the eyes generally black or brown, though gray eyes are to be seen.

'Langsdorlf, Voyages, Part ii, p. 112. t Poole, Queen Charlotte Islands, p. lilf).

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II. View of the Eastern Part of Kasa-an Village, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

From photographs by the author.

The lower portion of the plate joins on to the left of the upper, the column marked A being represented in ea- h. The two together give an enlarged view of the east- ern portion (right-hand half) of the village of Kasa-an, Plate I. In the large house in the upper view, to the left of the canoe on the beach, is the body of Chief Skowl lying in state (1887), as pictured in Plate LXVII. The two carved columns in the lower right-hand corner (Fig. 1) are enlarged views of two commemorative mortuary columns shown in the general view. The nature and object of these are explained in the text.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate II.

A <

EXPLANATION OF PLATE III. View of the Western Part of Kasa-an Village, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

From photographs by the author.

The lower view is the extreme left of Plate I enlarged, and joins on to the left of the upper view. B(jth together n'i)resent thegrave-yai"d of the village of Kasa-an.

Report of National Museurr, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate III.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 237

The habit of plucking* the hair from the face and body obtains among the younger men, but the older ones suffer it to grow and wear a scanty beard and mustache, never however attaining any considerable length. Amongst the latter, also, long years of service in canoes has impaired their powers of locomotion and misshapen their legs, rendering them decidedly awkward on shore. This, by comparison, gives the body a long and large appearance. The head appears unusually large, due both to a real disproportion and to the mass of bushy hair and the high cheek-bones of the men. Their noses are less flat and fleshy than those of the Indians to the south. The teeth are white and fine, but in old age are much discolored and worn. The wearing down of the teeth comes from eating dried salmon on which sand and grit have been blown during the process of drying. The hands and feet are small and well shaped, especially amongst the women. As they all go barefooted a greater part of the year, their feet are callous, excoriated, and wrinkled by exposure. The women are comely and tine looking in youth and in early bloom usually have rosy cheeks. In complexion both sexes are surprisingly light colored. This is in no way due to intermixture with whites. Dixon (1787) says that they were "very little darker than the Europeans in general.* Langsdorff" makes the same statement.! The Haida are markedly fairer skinned than the others, but still the dark tinge is quite apparent, and exposure always adds to it.

The habit of frequent bathing in both winter and summer hardens their physique. As soon as a child is able to leave its cradle it is bathed in the ocean every day without regard to season, and this custom is kept up by both sexes through life. This, with scant wrappings, kills off the sickly children, and hardens the survivors. J The scanty clothing worn by the men, their reckless exposure in all kinds of weather, and their ignorance of hygienic laws of ventilation and sanitation in their dwell- ings, bring in their train a long series of ills.

They are not particularly long-lived, although grey-haired people are not uncommon. Rheumatism and pulmonary diseases are their worst ills. Small-pox has ravaged the coast terribly. First intro- duced amongst the Tlingit by the Spaniards in 1775,§ it worked its way down the coast, breaking out from time to time in later years, de- populating villages and proving a fatal scourge to the natives of this region. No one thing contributed more to dishearten and subjugate these Indians than the ravages made by this fell disease.

Weak eyes and blindness are one to exposure and to the smoke of camp and household fires. Debauchery by bad alcohol, worse whisky, and the native " hoochinoo" has added its quota to the physical misfor- tunes of the Indians, while venereal diseases are extremely destruc- tive.

* Dixon, Voyages, p. 238.

t Langsdorff, Voyages, Part II, p. 112.

t Langsdorff, Voyages, Parr ii., pp. 112, 113, and 135.

^ Portlock, Voyage (1787), p. 271.

238 REPOKT OF ISATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

Their habits of life are quite regular, and, when undisturbed by war, they carry on a definite routine throughout the different seasons, col- lecting food, furs and raw materials at one season to serve them for the next.

EMOTIONAL OHARACTERISTICS.

They are self-possessed, diguitied and reserved, although much less tac- iturn than the hunting Indians of the western plains and the interior. They have the usual Indian stoicism under suffering, and bear extremes of cold, heat, hunger, and exposure with fortitude. They are quite venturesome, goiug well out to sea in their canoes. The Kaigani go out to Forrester's Island for birds' eggs every spring, 20 miles off the coast. Dixon (1787) states that he sighted a Haida canoe 8 miles out at sea, and, though caught in a fog, it reached land in safety, as he afterwards met the saoie partj-^ close in shore.* They often make trips of hundreds of miles in their canoes along the coast and interior waters, although in early days this was not so feasible, owing to the warlike relations of the different tribes. They are fond of parade and display, and are scrupulous observ^ers of ceremony and etiquette. Many of their deadly feuds originate from trilling causes based on breaches of etiquette or custom. Dancing and singing are a part of their cere- monies of welcome, trade, and war, and to the early vojagers to this region the Indians seemed entirely given over to these exercises. Their narratives express generally the impression that these natives were aggravatingly and immoderately fond of dancing, because they could not trade with them until they had finished singing and feasting. They are equally fond of long speeches and addresses — it all being intended to impress the observer with the rank, importance, and influence of the individual who provides the entertainment. They are also great stick- lers for justice and for custom. When smarting under the sense of a real injury or imaginary wrong they are cruelly and umeasonably revengeful, although ordinarily friendly. They impressed the early voyagers as being somewhat hospitable and generous, although this was largely, as now, founded upon the expectation of an equivalent return.

Their bravery is relative. If stronger than an opponent, their war- like demonstrations are quite pronounced, but in the presence of a supe- rior force they are inclined to be submissive and peaceful, although ready to take an underhand advantage. Ambush, surprise, and supe- rior numbers are the favorable conditions of coast Indian warfare, and no mercy is shown to women and children, except perhaps to make slaves of them or to hold them for a ransom. While slavery was prac- ticed, before its abolition by our Government in 1867, slaves were treated with cruelty.

It is the universal testimouy,^.s voiced by Portlock (1787), that " they treat their wives and children with much affection and tenderness."!

Pixon, Voyage, p. 8J1. t Portlock, Voyages, y. 290.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 239

lu the approach to political aud industrial equality of the sexes, and iu the respect shown for the opinions of their females, these Indians furnish another refutation of the old misconception concerning the systematic maltreatment of the women by savages. Such a thing is incompatible with the laws of nature. Good treatment of the female is essential to the preservation of the species, aud it will be found that this ill-treatment is moi^e apparent than real.

By nature they are rather indolent, but their love of the power and the display incident to wealth has changed their disposition since 1775, so that they have become more enterprising. Originally the chiefs conducted the trade of the tribe, but iu time the natural abilities of the other sex in driving bargains has resulted iu the predominance of the intiuence of the women in such matters.

They endeavor to impress others with their importance, wealth, and powers, but are guarded in their expressions of wonder, surprise, or enjoyment at what they see elsewhere. They have come now to rely upon European medicines in sickness. When through carelessness, recklessness, and ignorance of the laws of health they come to grief, they incontinently dose themselves with all sorts of patent medicines which they buy from the traders.

Missionaries have been comparatively successful amongst them, the Greek and Presbyterian Churches having made considerable progress with them. The opportunities for long addresses, prayers, experience meetings, and singing in some of the Protestant forms of worship ap- peal strongly to native predilections, the intiuence of the Greek Church being principally about Sitka. The missionaries, however, discourage their dancing, and have influenced them in many localities to cut down the totemic columns and abandon cremation for inhumation-at- length as pi;acticed by the whites.

INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTICS.

One sees many strikingly intelligent aud attractive faces amongst the older men aud women, where exjierience has given decided char- acter to their expressions. The stolid, imjierturbable moodiness attrib- uted to the Indians of the interior here gives place to a more alert ex- pression of countenance. They acquire knowledge readily, and the children at school make fair progress. They are quite ingenious, and especially handy with tools, picking up a trade with surprising readi- ness, aud turning their hands to almost any sort of business. They are quite imitative and progressive, but have shown good sense and conservatism in retaining many native implements and methods where better adapted to their needs. They have a keen appreciation of the value of money, work for wages, aud have considerable business Judg- ment. It would seem that, with their ideas of acquiring wealth, we have little to teach them iu habits of thrift. Of necessity, they have a good knowledge of the topography aud hydrography of their re^ioh,

240 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, tSSS.

and of the habits and best modes of capture of all sorts of mariue ani- mals. On shore they are rather disappointing as hunters, as they are not at all cool headed. Their superstitions, beliefs, and practices of witchcraft, sorcery, slavery, and shamamism do not necessarily place them on a very degraded intellectual plane when we compare their practices and beliefs with those of other savage tribes.

They possess a fair knowledge of human nature ; have good oratorical powers; are communicative when diplomatically approached; have a keen sense and appreciation of the grotesque ; and have a great sense of wit and humor, as they laugh immoderately at the antics of the dancers, the witty remarks of the clowns, and the grotesque carvings erected in ridicule of the whites or of their neighbors. Placing implicit confidence in the truth of their legends and the reliability of their carved columns, they have an immense respect for graphic characters. Anything writ- ten on paper or carved isi per se credible, and they attach the greatest value to a letter of recommendation written by a white man, irrespec- tive of the sentiments expressed by the writer.

MORAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Judged by our standard, these Indians of the north have fallen by the way side. Judged by their primitive ethical conceptions, as compared with those of the surrounding tribes when they first came in contact with the whites, they may be said to be distinguished by the great prog- ress they had themselves made in morals. When first visited by the early voyagers these Indians, like all others on tiie coast, were bold, arrant thieves. With them it was not dishonorable to steal, and, if caught, restitution settled the matter. On the other hand, they dis- criminated, and seldom or never stole from a guest, and never robbed one of their own totem. With them, to-day, an unwatched camp or an uidocked house is sacredly respected, and the most valuable property cached in the woods, as is the Indian custom, is as safe from other In- dians as if guarded night and day. Unfortunately, white men have set some very bad examples in this respect, and the Indians have been more often sinned against than sinning.

They have great respect for the aged, whose advice in most matters has great weight. Some of the older women, even bond women in former times, attain great influence in the tribe as soothsayers, due as much to their venerable api)earauce as to any pretense they may make of working medicine charms. They are remarkably fond of and indul- gent to their children, rarely chastising them. As between the sexes, the rights of the women are respected and the terms of equality on which the men and women live are very striking to most visitors of this region. Although marriage is essentially by purchase, and the question of morality' and immorality of the wife solely one of sanction by the husband, yet even this restriction is centuries in advance of their northern neighbors, the Aleuts and Koniagas, with whom promiscuity

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 241

aud the most bestial practices obtain. Early voyagers invariably mention the modest, reserved, aud decorous bearing of the Tlingit, Haida, aud Tsimshian women. Uufortuuately, in recent years, the pur- chase of womeu aud the practice of sanctioued prostitution have, under the spur of artificial needs of finery and luxuries, had a most demoral- izing effect on them, aud, with the rum question, are the serious problem which confronts the friend of the Indian. In their inveterate addiction to gambling and their craving for tobacco and alcohol they possess simply the vices iu(;ideut to savagism. In their disregard for the lives and feelings of slaves, and in their practices of compounding murder and other crimes by the payment of indemnity to the relatives of the injured, we see simply the operations of custom, which with them has the force of law. Murder, seduction, wounds, accidental killing, loss of articles belonging to another, refusal to marry a widow according to law, casus belli in general, any wrong may be righted by payment of an indemnity in the currency of the region.

Sir .Tames Douglas, Governor of the Hudson Bay Company about 1840, says :

If unmarried Avomen prove frail, the partner of their guilt, if discovered, is bouojd to make reparation to the parents, soothing their wounded honor with handsome presents. A failure to do this would cause the friends of the offending fair one to use force to back up their demands and to revenge the insult. It must not, however, be supposed they would be iuduced toact this part from any sense of reflected shame, or from a desire of discouraging vice by making a severe example of the vicious, or that the girl herself has any visitings of remorse, or that the parents think her a bit the worse for the accideut, or her character in any way blemished. Such are not their feelings, for the offender is simply regarded as a robber who has committed depredations on their merchandise, their only anxiety being to make the damages exacted as heavy as possible.*'

Petroff illustrates as follows the curious custom of paying for in- juries:

Wars are frequently avoided by an indemnity arrangement, and they go so far in this system of compensation that they demand payment for losses from parties who have been in no way instrumental in causing them. For instance, an Indian at Sitka broke into the room of two miners in their absence, emptied a demijohn of liquor, and died in consequence, and the relatives of the robber demanded aud received pay- ment from the unfortunate Caucasians. If a man be attacked by a savage dog and kills him in self-defense, he must pay for the dog to the Tlingit owner. A small trading schooner, while running before a furious gale, rescued two Tlingit from a sinking canoe, which had been carried to sea. The canoe was nearly as long as the schooner and could '^ot be carried or towed, seeing which, the natives themselves cut the worthless craft adrift. When the humane captain landed the rescued men at their village he was astonished by a peremptory demand for payment for the canoe, backed by threats of retaliation or vengeance.*

To such an extent was this question of indemnity carried, that when the Russians at Sitka tried to interfere with the killing of slaves on ceremonial occasions, they were only successful in preventing it by ran-

*Quoted in Petroff's Report, p. 177- * Petroff Report, i». lOf).

n. Mis. 142, pt. 2 .!(>

242 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

soming the proposed victims. A uarration of the exactious of the Indians for damages on a ^count of the accidental deaths of relatives in the employ of whites would fill a chapter.

^liSTHETIC CHARACTERS.

These Indians are exceedingly fond of singing and dancing; have considerable artistic taste in the use of colors ; are advanced in the arts of carving; and have fair abilities in drawing and designing — all of which will appear in subsequent chapters. Their carvings in slate show the height to which their art rises, and would seem to easily place them at the head of the savage tribes of the world, especially when taken in conjunction with their industrial development. They bathe frequently in the sea, but on the other hand continually daub their faces, bodies, and heads with grease and paint, although this latter fashion is now dying out ami has almost disappeared, except as an occasional custom. Tliey were formerly indifferent to the stench of de- cayed animal and vegetable matter about their houses and villages, but the influence of the whites has wonderfully improved them in this respect. They are still, however, indifferent to all sanitary laws of ventilation, and their fondness for putrid salmon noses and herring roe is very trying, while the smell of rancid grease destroys the aes- thetic value of many otherwise interesting curios from the region. A visit to an Indian house is to the uninitiated still somewhat of an ordeal, although nothing to what it formerly was. Through living in such in- timate relations in tlie houses, there is an absence of a becoming sense of modest^" iu family life, although the offenses are chiefly to be laid at the door of the men, who in the summer months go almost naked, whereas the women dress very much the same in all seasons.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

Contact with the whites has staggered and arrested these Indians iu their development. They are now adjusting themselves to a new mode of life. Although much reduced in numbers, they are far from being near extermination. Much is to be hoped for iu the recent establish- ment of industrial and other schools and in the general interest now taken in the Indians. In the prohibition and prevention of the sale of liquor to them a great step has been taken. Much more needs to be done in the suppression of prostitution, in the recognition of Indian rights to hunting and fishing grounds, and in medical assistance to a people childishly ignorant of the simplest laws of health. Their Indian doctors are fast disappearing, and with them much of the degrading superstition of an ethnical group capable of almost any rise iu the scale of civilization.

in.

REGULATIVE OBGANI-ZATION: CONSANGUINEAL-POLITICAL— IN- DUSTRIAL.

Government does not begin in the ascendency of chieftains through prowess in war, but in the slow specialization of executive functions from communal associations based on kinship. * * * Evolution in society has not been from militancy to in- dustrialism, but from organization based on kinship to organization based, on prop- perty, and alongside of the specializations of the industries of peace the arts of war have been specialized."

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

On the northwest coast totemism permeates the whole tribal organi- zation. The ceremonies at birth, initiation, naming, matrimony, feast- ing, dancing, funerals, and all other social occasions, all have for their object, in some way, the identification of the individual with his totem under its specific name. A totem is simplj^ an organization of con- sanguineal kindred into a recognized group or band, but with its defi- nition and practical workings we have more to do later.

Amongst the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshiau, the organizatian is based on mother-right; that is, birth-rights, such as rank, wealth, prop- erty, etc., are received from the mother. Amongst the southern tribes of British Columbia father-right is the form of social organization. In the lowest and rudest forms of primitive human society we have simply the recognition of the maternity of a child, the paternity either not being known, or not considered. Matriarchy, this tracing of descent in the female line only, " mother rule," finds its most primitive form in the tribal organization of some of the Australians, where the tribe and child recognize a group of mothers (a sub-phratry), their issues, as it were, being pooled. The evolution of patriarchy, the recognition of definite male descent, " father-rule," is obscure, but its most primitive form is also found amongst some Australian tribes, where a group of fathers belonging to a sub-phratry have the monopoly of privileges with the women of a corresponding female sub-phratry, although the tribes may be a thousand miles apart and speak diiferent languages.! As we advance from matriarchy towards patriarchy, we find, at the boundary, tribes wavering between female and male descent, or in which

* MaJ. .T. W. Powell. An. Rep., Rinean of Ethnology, I, p. 33. t Frazer, TotemiHin, p. r>7.

244 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

the male and female line have equal rights, but everywhere mother rule seems to have preceded father rule. "The couvade or custom in accordance with which the husband takes to his bed and is treated as an invalid when his wife has given birth to a child is perhaps a fiction, intended to transfer to the father those rights over the children which under the previous system of mother-kin, had been enjoyed by the mother alone."* In the evolution of social organization, therefore, matriarchy naturally precedes patriarchy. In the recognition of pater- nity and in the accumulation and inheritance of property from botli father and mother, or either, we find the beginnings of i^atriarchy and of the evolution trom "organization based on kinship to organization based on property." The recognition of property may be in itself the lirst step in this evolution. With the development of the institution of marriage, man's position in the community becomes lixed by kinship. In the segregation of blood relatives, based on either matriarchy or l)atriarchy, we get the household. In the organization of consanguiueal kindred, we have the basis of the communal organization. In this stage, "There is no place in a tribe for any person whose kinship is not fixed, and only those persons can be adopted into the tribe who are adopted into some family with artificial kinship specified. The fabric of Indian societj'^ is a complex tissue of kinship. The warp is made of streams of kindship blood, and the woof of marriage ties."t What has here been briefly said with regard to the origin and de velopment of the patriarchal form of social organization from the ma- triarchal is peculiarly pertinent to a study and comparison of the ethnical affinities of the tribes of the northwest coast. The southern tribes have very few of the customs and traditions peculiar to the northern, and their social organization is different, '-mother-rule" be- ing peculiar to the northern group and " father-rule" to the southern. Dr. Franz Boas says :

On account of philological considerations, T think that the social organization of the Kwakiutl was originally patriarchal, or it may he more correct to say that the male and female line had equal rights. This opinion is fonn.led on the fact that even among the tribes among whom matriarchate prevails at present, the same terms are used for denoting relationship in the male and female lines. t

No satisfactory inferences as to the influence of these various north- west coast tribes on one another in traditions, customs, a!id social organization can as yet be drawn in view of the meager data we have. There is no more promising field for sociological study than in this re- gion. In the ceremonial institutions, in the elaborate dance parapher- nalia, in the carved heraldic columns, in the wide variations in the mortuary customs, in all the practices of tribes of highly imaginative and inventive Indians, we have here similarities and differences so be-

*Frazer, Toteniism, p. 78.

f Major Powell, in An. Rept., Hureau <»!' i;tlini)l(ii;y. I. p. (!'.*.

IScienc, VoP. Xli, No. t>!10, i>. VX>.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 245

wildeiing, tliai it 18 difficnll to trace the mutual influences of the differ eiit ethnic groups. In nothing, however, more than in the totemic or- ganization do we recognize these differences.

TOTEMISM.

The organization of consangnineal kindred is variously called the totem, the clan, the totem clan, or the gens (plural, gentes). Frazer, in his work on Totemism, thus defines it : *

A totem is a class of material objects which a savage regards with superstitious re- spect, believing that there exists between him and every member of the class au in- timate and altogether special relation. * * * The connection between a man and his totem is mutually benehcent ; the totem protects the man, and the man shows his respect for the totem in various ways, by not killing it if it be an animal, and not cutting or gathering it if it be a plant.

Considered in relation to men, totems are of at least three kinds : (1) The clan to- tem, common to a whole clan, and passing by inheritance from generation to genera- tion; (2) the sex totem * * * ^^3) The individual totem, belonging to a single individual and not passing to his descendants. * * *

The clan totem. — The clan totem is reverenced by a body of men and women who call themselves by the name of the totem, believe themselves to be of one blood, de- scendants of a common ancestor, and are bound together by common obligations to each other, and by a common faith in the totem. Totemism is thus both a religions and a social system. In its religious aspect it consists of the relations of mutual re- spect and protection between a man and his totem ; in its social a spect it consists of the relations of the clansmen to each other and to men of other clans. In the later history of totemism these two sides, the leligions and the social, tend to part com- pany. ' * * On the whole, the evidence points strongly to the conclusion that the two sides were originally inseparable ; that, in other words, the further we go back the more we should find that the clansman regards himself and his totem as beings of the same species, and the less he distinguishes between conduct towards his totem and towards liis fellow-clansmen.

Tribal Society. — ^^These totems, clans, or gentes are sometimes organ- ized into groups called phratries. the union of the latter forming the tribe or i)eople. We have, therefore, (1) the household or family; (2) the totem ; (3) the phratry ; and (4) the tribe.

On the northwest coast the household is not the unit of the totem or of the phratry, as more than one totem is represented in each; the father beloDging to one totem and the mother and children to another. Besides this, a brother and his wife may belong to the household, or a sister and her husband ; thus numerous totems may be represented under one roof.

The practice of totemism on the northwest coast has not yet received the thorough study it deserves. It remains for some organization, governmental or incorporated, to systematically collect the data nec- essary for a complete tabulation of the phratries and gentes of all the tribes, and an exposition of their mutual relations and significance. In connection with this, a study of the totemic carvings, legends, myths, and folk-lore, must be prosecuted. The lists of totems from time to time published have.served so far to obscure rather than elucidate the sub-

* Totemism p. 1, sq.

24() REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, l^SX.

.lect, owing to the apparent want of agreement of any two writers. The tendency to generalize from a study of one tribe alone has added to the confusion. Thorough and systematic collection of data at each village can alone give a reliable groundwork for generalizations. This work must be undertaken soon, or it will prove either incomplete or too late altogether.

The exceedingly imperfect data given here will at least serve as a pre- liminary sketch of the tabulation.

CONSANGUINEAL ORGANIZATION.

Totems. — From their nature, totems are in a state of flux. Clans tend to become phratries split up into sub-phratries ; sub-phraties decay and finally disappear. An individual distinguishes himself,becomes wealthy, and hence a leading man in the village. His totem, or indeed his in- dividual crest or sub-totem, may have been an obscure one. As he rises, its importance in the tribe rises with him. Under his successsor, the totem widens its numbers and influence, and finally eclipses other clan totems, which eventually melt away or are incorporated with it. In the course of time, either by the accession of other totems or else by its splitting up into sub-totems, it came finally to be ranked as a phratry, then a sub-phratry. In this evolution we see the subtotem grow into a clan totem, then into a phratry or sub-phratrv, when decay sets in, and it " melts into the vast reservoir of nature from which it sprang."

On the northwest coast we see only a few of the stages in this evolu- tion, but by a study of totemism as it exists in all parts of the world the curve of the rise and fall of totems has been so accurately plotted, that there will probably be found in this region no wide variations from the general system.

Tlingit. — Amongst the Tlingit two exogamous groups of gentes exist, that is, they are divided into two phratries. The individuals composing the gentes in one phratry can only marry individuals in any gentes of the other. These phratries are popularly called the Eaven and the Wolf. Much confusion arises from the fact that in the Wolf phratry we have the Wolf totem, and in the Eaven phratry the Eaven totem. Frazer says of this :

Considering the prominent parts played in Tlingit mythology by the ancestors of the tsvo phratries, and considering that the jjhratries are also names of clans, it seems jirobable that the Raven and Wolf were the two original clans of the Tlingits, which afterwards by sub-division became phratries*.

Through popular misapprehension the origin of these two phratries

*Frazer, Totemism, p. 62. This seems to be further borne out by the testimony of Lisiansky, Voyag., p. '242, Sitka (1805). " The tribe of the wolf are called the Coqueians, and have many privileges over the other tribes. They are considered the best warriors, and are said to be scarcely sensible to pain, and to have no fear of death. If in war a person of this tribe is taken prisoner he is always treated well and is generally set at liberty."

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

247

IS assigned to the tradition of the two mythical beings or heroes, Tetl and Kanulc, whose struggles, valor, and beneficence endowed the Tlingit with the good things of life. In his frequent transformations Tetl ofteu adopted the form of the raven, giving to the Raven phratry the apparent right to claim descent from the great Tetl, Some authori- ties claim to identify Kanuk, the other godlike personage with the progenitor of the Wolf phratry ; but Dr. Franz Boas claims through his interpretations of the Tlingit legends that " this Kamilc is identical with the eagle,"* and also that the Tlingit use the title Eagle and Wolf without discrimination in designating the so-called Wolf phratry. May not this be due to a possible amalgamation of the Wolf and the Eagle totem at a remote period antedating the growth of the totem into a phratry. This amalgamation takes place in the course of time in all Indian communities having a totemic organization. The partial list of Tlingit totems as verified by the writer is as follows :

Phralries.
Wolf or Eagle.	Raven.
Totems.
Wolf.	K,iTen.
Bear.	Frog.	1
Eagle.	Goose.	1
Whale.	Beaver.	i
Shark.	Owl.
Porpoise.	Sea-lion.
PuflBn.	Salmon.
Orca.	Dog-fish.
Orca-bear.t	Crow.	__l

The above totems are divided into sub-totems with special names denoting locality and collateral relationship. The vocabulary of titles, sub-titles, etc., is a large one, and needs in itself special study. The data has not yet been collected to enable us to give an adequate idea of the complexity and ramifications of the Tlingit totemic organization.

Kaigani. — The principal totems are the Crow, Raven, Brown Bear, Beaver, Eagle, Wolf, and Whale. In addition are also found the Seal, Orca (Killer), Gnll, Crane, Frog, Shark, and others. Boas adds the Sparrow-hawk, Codfish, and Skate. The two exogamous groups or phratries amongst the Kaigani are the Wolf and the Eagle, according to Boas, designated as the IshitVa'nas and Ta¥tl a'nas. The division of

'Notes on Ethnology of British Columbia, before Am. Philos. Society, November 18, 1887, p. 42-2. ^

tAt Fort Wrangell several households of the Orca and Bear totems have been amal- gamated into one called by a different came from either, viz, Ndnad'H.

248 U'Kl'OKl' OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 18i<H.

the above uamed totems iuto the two groups is not knowu defluitely enough by the writer to wari-ant giving the list. Enough is known however to iUustrate several anomalous groupings. For instance, the Eaven and Bear totems belong to the Eagle phratry, whilst amongst the Tiingit they belong to the opposite or Raven phratry. . In consequence of this, when, for instance, a Kaigani of either of these totems goes to Fort Wrangell (Stikiue) or Tongass (Tunghoash), he becomes a member of the opposite phratry, and can only marry in what, in his own village, would be his own phratry. This illustrates very forcibly that it is the gens or totem which counts. Once a Bear always a Bear; whereas the j)hratry is in one sense limited or local. The obligations attaching to a totem are not, therefore, confined to tribal or national limits, but ex- tend throughout the whole region. In childhood a transfer can be made from one totem to another. Supposing a chief desires his son to succeed him and to belong to his own totem; the babe is transferred to his sister to suckle, and is figuratively adopted by her. In this way the son acquires the totemship of his father, and at an early age is taken back by his own mother to raise. Dawson cites these cases of transfer as often effected among the Haida to strengthen the totem of the father when its number has become reduced and there is danger not only of loss of prestige but of extinction. The ties of the totem or of the phratry are considered far stronger than those of blood-relationship. A man can not marr^' in his own totem whether within or without his own tribe, or his own phratry within his own tribe. Thei^e is nothing to prevent a man from marrying his first cousin, and much to i)rohibit his marriage to a most remote connection or an absolute stranger. The children always take the mother's totem amongst the Tiingit, Kaigani, Haida, and Tsimshian, unless transferred to the father's by a fiction. Thus " mother-rule," or matriarchy prevails. Wealth and chiefship descend in the female line in a most curious way, as explained hereafter in dealing with the subjects of chiefship and inheritance. Dawson, speaking of the intertribal relation of totems, says :

All ludian ou arriving at a strange village where he may apprehend hostility wonld look for a house indicated by its carved post as belonging to his totem and make for it. The master of the honse, coming out, may, if he likes, make a dance in honor of his visitor, but in any case protects him from all injury. In the same way, should an ludian be captured as a slave by some warlike expedition and brought into the vil- lage of his captors, it behooves any one of his totem, either man or woman, to pre- sent themselves to the captors, and, singing a certain sacred song, offer to redeem- the captive. Blankets and other property are given for this purpose. Should the slave be given up, the redeemer sends him back to his tribe and the relatives pay the re- deemer for what he has expended. Should the captors refuse to give up the slave for the property offered, it is considered rather disgraceful to them. This, at least, is the custom pursued in regard to captives included in the same totem .system as them- selves by the Tsimshians, and it is doubtless identical or very similar among" the Haidas, though no special information ou this subject was obtained from them.*

* Dawson, Report, B, p. 134.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 245)

This is also the custom amougst the Tliugit and Kaigaui. Langs dorff (1805) cites the custom about Sitka, and says that the ransom was usually paid in sea-otter skins.*

Haida. — Dawson states that —

A single system of totems (Haida, Kwalla) extends tbrougbout the different tribes of tbe Haidas, Kaigauis, Tsimsbiaus, and neigbboring peoples. * » » Tbe totems found among tbese peoples are designated as tbe eagle, wolf, crow, black bear, auifin- tchale (or killer), Tbe two last named are imited, bo tbat but four clans are counted in all. Tbe Haida names for tbese are, in order, koot, kooji, kit-si-nax.a and sxa-nu-xu. The members of tbe different totems are generally pretty equally distributed in eacb tribe. Tbose of tbe 6<ame totem are all counted, as it were, of one family, and tbe cbief bearing of tbe system appears to be on marriage. t

According to Boas, the Haida are divided into numerous totems and into the two phratries, Eagle and Eaven, tlte same as the Kaigani. J

In the absence of any other information the subject must rest in this unsatisfactory condition.

TsimsMan. — Amongst the Tsimshian there are four gentes or totems, the Raven, the Eagle, the Bear, and the Wolf. A person of any totem may marry into any other than his own indiflerenlly. In the strict sense, therefore, there are no phratries amongst the Tsimshian. Boas states that the totems of the Kwakiutl are the Eaven, Eagle, and Bear, and that he believes that the Tsimshian have in general modified the cus- toms of northern Kwakiutl. §

Origin of Totemism. — Some idea has been given of the systems of totems amongst the northern tribes of the northwest coast. Its prac- tical workings will be given later on, in treating of the habits, customs, and traditions of these tribes. It may, in one sense, be out of place here to deal with the theory of totemism in a work of this nature, but something may be added to the general fund of speculation. No satis- factory theory has yet been advanced in explanation of the origin of totemism. Mr. Herbert Spencer finds it (1) in the primitive custom of naming children after natural objects from some accidental circum- stance or fanciful resemblance or in nicknaming later in life; (2) the confounding of or misinterpretation of such metaphorical names or nicknames with the real objects, that is, confusing these objects with their ancestors of the same name, and reverencing them as they already reverenced their ancestors. Sir John Lubbock takes his stand on the ''supposed resemblance" theory. Totemism can not be traced from ancestor worship directly, because it actually exists where there is the most unsatisfactory recognition of ancestry, that is of paternity or maternity, or even both. The confusion of natural objects with their known ancestors of the same names and reverencing them as they rev- erence such ancestors is in itself quite plausible enough, but the ex-

* Langsdorff, Voyages, part ii, p. 130.

t Dawson, Report, ji. 134, B.

t Correspondence, also Science, Oct. '20, 1888.

^ Science, Vol. xii, No. '299, p. 195.

250 REPORT OF NATIONAL M1J8EUM, 1888.

istence of totemism where ancestry is vaguely or not at all recognized would seem in itself to call for some other solution.

Does not the theory of anthropomorphism, the childish and natural philosophy of all phenomena, as suggesed by Prof. O. T. Mason, account for totemism ? Belief in the possibility of human descent from natural objects exists universally amongst primitive people. This has uudoubt^, edly been strengthened by the credibility of the reality of experience in dreams, which, as a sequence, is followed by a belief in the possibility of sexual relations with objects of nature also founded on dreams. The existence of customs in Bengal, Servia, and Greece of marrying bride and groom to trees before marriage to each other is an illustration of the survival of such belief.*

Clearly, before we can have a recognition of ancestry, we must have a recognition of paternity ; and a misinterpretation of names and con- founding of ancestry with natural objects can not precede a belief in the possibility of sexual relations and descent from natural objects. It seems not unreasonable therefore to trace the origin of the belief last named to the well-knbwn anthropomorphism and credulity of savages in the reality of dreams. This is simply here suggested as a partial solution of the question.

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.

Chiefs and Petty Chiefs. — In the sense in which the term is ordinarily used, there is no absolute chiefship. The family is the sociological unit. The head of that household in the village, which, through inheritance, wealth, numbers, and influence, predominates over the others, is nomi- nally chief of the village. His authority is shadowy, and his power is largely due, aside from wealth, good birth, and family influence, to his prowess in war, or to personal and masterful qualities. i;^ow and then, through various causes, a chief may rule a village with absolute or des- potic sway, but the |)owet is not so much due to headship, in itself, as to personal and aggressive qualities in the individual. Bank is prin- cipally dependent on wealth and good birth, although the latter in itself implies inheritance of rank and wealth. Personal qualities count for what they are worth in addition. General recognition and consensus of opinion settle the question of rank. That is to say, it is about what the individual can make it by all the arts of assertion, bargain, intrigue, wealth, display, and personal prowess.

Besides the principal chief, there are others, who are the heMs of the other principal clan totems or households of the village. Their rank or claim to distinction and respect is relative to that of the chief in the degree of their wealth, age, superiority of natural understanding, the number of persons of which their household consists, and the gen- eral good fortune and prosperity of the group of persons of which they

* Frazer, Totemism, p. :J4.

THH INDIANS OF THE NOK I'HWEST COAST. 251

ure the recognized head. Indeed, each household is in itself a subor dinate government. The head of it, through heredity, wealth, ability, or otherwise, simply is recognized as a petty chief in the village. The head chief merely overshadows in the extent of his influence the pettj^ chiefs. Often reverses of fortune turn the tables, and some decline in influence while others rise. Often the alliance of the medicine men is gained by purchase or by the sacrifice of private property, and the chiefs and shamans combine to uphold each other in the respect and fear of the community. Many bitter feuds grow out of the rivalries of house- holds and geutes in the struggle for power and influence in the tribe. Often a man is strong enough, lilie Chief Skowl of Kasaan, to crush out all opposition, or even, like Chief Skiddaus,* to extend his influence beyond his own village through the ownership of valuable lands, or through the necessities of war, and have his suzerainty recognized by the chiefs of other villages. In a strict sense, however,, the village is the tribal unit. Alliances of tribes have always been only temporary, and no lasting federatiou has ever been formed. Simpson, who visited Alaska in 1841, says, of the rivalries of Chiefs Shakes and Qualkay, at Fort Wrangell (Stikine), " though Shakes was the principal chief, yet he had comparatively little influence ; while the second ruler in the tribe (Qualkay) possessed a strong party in the village."t

A chief, as a rule, is not treated with any very marked deference on ordinary occasions excepting by his own household, but in ceremonies a degree of state was formerly kept up, to impress visitors or strangers with the importance and high rank of the dignitary. In the ceremonies at the conclusion of peace between the Russians and Indians at Sitka (1804), Lisiansky states that the Indian chief wbo acted as an ambassa- dor was either borne by his slaves upon a mat-carpet or rug, or carried on the shoulders of his attendants, as become his rank, and not due to any infirmity of the chief, for in the ceremonial dances which followed he took a prominent part.f

In early days the chief traded for all his tribe or household, subject however, to the approval of those present ; but in recent years, with the abolition of slavery and the influence of the whites, the authority of the chiefs has been very much weakened. Instances are not rare where medicine men or shamans have been head chiefs of villages.

Freemen. — Below the chiefs come the freemen, who are the ordinary people of the tribe composing the different households. Above these in one sense, or above the petty chiefs for that matter, come the shamans or medicine men. This rank, however, is in no sense political. They iare simply a class whose functions are largely religious.

Slaves. — On our acquisition of the territory of Alaska in 1867 the practice of slavery received its death-blow amongst the Indians. Pre-

* Poole, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, p. 108. t Simpson, Journey Round the World, Vol. i, p. 212. f Lisiansky, Y-oyages. p. 2:^2.

252 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

viously to that the Russian authorities had sought to ameliorate, m some degree, the hardships of this wretched class iu the viciuity of Sitka, but it was still in practice when we took i)ossession. The slave class has now gradually been absorbed into the body of the freemen and slavery is a thing of the past.

Formerly wealth consisted largely in the possession of slaves. Simp- son estimates that in 1841 one-third of the entire population of this region were slaves of the most helplesss and abject description. Though some of them were prisoners of war and their descendants, yet the great supply was obtained by trade with the southern Indians, in which the Tsimshian acted as middlemen. They were kidnapped or captured by the southern Indians from their own adjacent tribes and sold to the Tsimshian, who traded them to the northern Tlingit and in- terior Tinne tribes for furs. The last-named had no hereditary slaves, getting their supply from the coast. Dunn states (1834) that at Port Simpson, British Columbia, " A full-grown athletic slave, who is a good hunter, will fetch nine blankets, a gun, a quantity of powder and ball, a couple of dressed elk skins, tobacco, vermilion paint, a flat file, and other little articles."*

Slaves did all the drudgery ; fished for their owner ; strengthened his force in war ; were not allowed to hold property or to marry ; and when old and worthless were killed. The master's power was unlimited. If ordered by him to murder an enemy or rival, his own life paid the forfeit or penalty if he either refused or failed. The children of slave women by the master were slaves. In certain ceremonies it was customary to give several slaves their freedom ; but at funerals of chiefs, or in ceremonies attending the erection of a house by a person of consequence, slaves were killed. Slaves sacrificed at funerals were chosen long before the death of their master and were supposed to be peculiarly fortunate, as their bodies attained the distinction of cremation, instead of being thrown into the sea. Simpson (1841) saysof Chief Shakes at Wrangell (Stikine), that he was " said to be very cruel to his slaves, whom he frequently sacrificed iu pure wantonness, in order to show how great a man he was. Un the recent occasion of a house-warming, he exhibited as part of the festivities the butchery of five slaves ; and at another time, having struck a white man in a fit of drunkenness and re- ceived a pair of black eyes for his pains, he ordered a slave to be shot, by way at once of satifying his own wounded honor and apologizing to the person whom he had assaulted. His rival (Qualkay), on the contrary, was possessed of such kindness of heart, that on grand holi- days he was more ready to emancipate his^ slaves than to destroy them ; yet, strange to say, many bondmen used to run away from Qualkay, while none attempted to escape from Shakes; an anomaly which, how- ever, was easily explained, inasmuch as the one would pardon the recaptured fugitives, and the other would torture and murder them."t

Dnnii, Orporon, p. 27^?. t Rinipson. .Tonrney, Vol. i, pp. 212, 213.

THE INDIANS 4)F THE NORTHWEST COAST. 253

The practice of killing slaves in ceremonies and for reparation in quarrels was quite common among the northern tribes, and numerous instances might be cited. At Howkan, in one of the Indian houses, may be seen a couple of large wooden images each representing a wolf, with human face and real human hair on the head. This was to remind slaves that, if they escaped from their owners, they would become transformed into creatures like those depicted, half man, half wolf.

Poole (1863) says that the Haida, Chief Klue, informed him "that some years previously his brother-in-law, in those days the greatest chief on the coast, had been entrapped by the Fort Rupert Indians on his way home from Victoria and scalped and killed, with all his males, his females being divided as slaves among the victors."* This example is cited to show that it was very questionable if the northern Indians made very good slaves, being so warlike, and preferring, as they claim, death to slavery. On the other hand, the southern tribes were more docile, the Flatheads forming the principal part of the slave popula- tion of the northern Indians. In case of the liberation of a slave, he was adopted as a freeman into the clan to which his mother belonged either by birth or as a slave.

Civil Government. — There are no stated periods for councils or delib- erative gatherings. A household consultation or a meeting of the gens or of the chiefs takes place under the spur of necessity. Women have usually as much to say as the men on other than ceremonial occasions, and their advice is frequently followed, particularly in affairs of trade. In matters affecting one or more gentes or the village, representatives of the various households or gentes meet more formally. They squat around or sit cross-legged, delivering formal speeches in turn, which are heard with rapt attention and approved of by grunts, murmurs, and uplifting of hands. In cases such as witchcraft or offenses of medicine men, sentence to death or to fine is adjudged by the leading men of the village after trial. Under most circumstances, however, the law of blood revenge, an "eye for an eye," leaves little need for otherthan family councils, as they are purely totemic offenses, and are arranged by the injured gens.

INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION.

Division of Labor. — As between the sexes, the women attend mostly to the common household duties, but the men have a fair share of the outside work about the house and camp, A chief is usually more or less waited on by his dependents. When slavery was in vogue, this class performed all the menial drudgery. The liberated slaves still occupy a somewhat dependent position. The men are the warriors and hunt- ers, though an old woman of rank usually steers the war canoe. In ordinary transit the women assist the men in paddling, and the owner

*I*i^oli\ Qiu'oii Cliailotte Islands, j). 28.').

254 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUyEUM, 18»8.

orthe mostexperieuced person steers. In the season of hunting fur-bear- ing animals, the women and children (and formerly slaves) take charge of the camps — fishing, drying fish, and gathering and drying berries for winter. Altogether the division of labor is upon equitable and economic principles, and the women by no means do all the drudgery. During the runs of salmon, herring, and eulachon, and in fact at all times during the summer season, special employment is dropped, abd all the natives alike engage in the work in hand. In addition to the food supj)ly, materials are collected to be worked up during the winter months, by those specially skilled, into various useful and ornamental objects. Difierent men and women acquire adeptuess in different arts and industries, and devote their leisure to their trade. Some of the men are expert house-carpenters, canoe builders, basket-makers, tan- ners of hides, hewers of wood, metal workers, carv ers of wood, stone, horn, bone, slate, manufacturers of metal implements, ornaments, house- hold utensils, etc., and are regularly paid for their services. This is especially true of the wood-carvers, who make and paint the totemic and mortuary columns. Others enjoy prestige as successful hunters of certain animals or expert fishermen. Some of the women are expert basket- makers, carvers of household utensils, weavers of cloaks and mats of cedar bark and wool, and makers of dance and ceremonial costumes. Generally the men are carvers and the women weavers. Dunn (1834) says of the Tsimshian, and it applies also to the Haida and Tlingit, " Every chief keeps an Indian on his establishment for making and re- pairing canoes and marking masks for his religious representations; this man they call the carpenter. " *

Portlock (1786) says of the Tlingit, "the women are the keepers of their treasures, "t In fact, as before stated, the women are practically on an equality with the men in the industrial organization, and whether her advice in all matters is sought or not, she is quite apt to give it. Cases of "henpecked'' husbands are not rare.

Inheritance. — In this totemic organization some singular features present themselves. Blood relationship is cut across in an arbitrary way, giving rise to peculiar customs and laws. As before stated, first cousins may marry, but totally unrelated persons in the same phratry may not. In a war between gentes or phratries, a groom, while cele- brating his nuptials, may be called upon to fight his father-in-law on account of some trivial feud.

Property is inherited by the brother of the deceased, a sister's son, a sister, or the mother, in the order named, in the absence of the preced- ing. As a rule the wife gets nothing. She has her own dowry and personal property. Whoever inherits the property of the deceased, if a brother or sister's son, must either take the widow to wife, or pay an indemnity to her relatives in case of failure to do so. In case the heir is already married, the next in succession takes her; for instance, the

'Dniin, Oregon, p. "lOl. t P(»r1.I<i(k, Voy.agos, j). 200.

THK INDIANS OF THE MORTHWEST COAST. 255

brother may inherit the property and the nephew get the relict. In case there is no male relative to marry her or in case an indemnity is paid, the widow may marry any other man. Sometimes an adopted child or the sou adopted by a sister of the deceased may be the heir. The heir of Chief Skowl of Kasa-au (Kaigaui) was his sister's sou, Sahattan, who is now chief of the village. Should a boy be killed by accident, the indemnity is paid, by a reversal of this rule, to his mother's brother, the boy's uucle. Property inherited is taken possession of by the heir as soou as the body is burned or enclosed in the burial box. It becomes his duty within a year to give a great feast and erect a mortuary column in honor of the deceased. This ceremony is called glorifyiug or elevating the dead, and is one of the principal ones in this region, ,

Lisiansky (1805) says of the Tlingit about Sitka:

The right of succession is from uncle to nephew [meaning sister's sou], the dignity of chief to yon excepted, which passes to him who is the most powerful, or has the greatest number of relations. Tliough the toyons have power over their subjects, it is a very limited power, unless when an individual of extraordinary ability starts up, who is sure to rule despotically, and, as elsewhere, to do much mischief. These toy- ons are numerous ; even in small settlements there are often four or five.*

SUMMART.

The industrial organization is not different from the political, and most of the laws and customs which control them in their actions are founded on totemic laws, traditions, legends, folk-lore, and super- stitions. For this reason the regulative organization, while not exactly weak, is at least not well differentiated. The actual function or occu- pation of the individual, both as a member of a household and of the tribe, is partially developed, although there are no real craft classes. Organization is based on kinship, and descent is in the female line. Totemism cuts across blood relationship and its chief bearing is on marriage. Most of the ceremonies have a bearing directly on totemism, and have for their object the identification of the individual with his totem.

'Lisiansky, Voyages, p. 243.

IV.

PERSONAL ADORNMENT: MUTILATIONS, LIP ORNAMENTS, TATTOOING, AND PAINTING. ORNAMENTS, NECKLACES, PENDANTS, AND BRACE- LETS. DRESS, ANCIENT, MODERN, RAIN, WAR, AND CERE MONIAL. .

MUTILATIONS.

The practice of mutilation is older than recorded history. Mau never lias been satisfied with either his structure or appearance, and has con- stantly endeavored to improve upon both. On the northwest coast the mutilations are of the head and face, the practice of flattening or com- pressing the head being, however, peculiar only to the southern tribes of this region. Mackenzie, in his visit to the Bilqnla, in 1793, described their heads as " wedge-shaped." This does not, however, obtain among the Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit, but they pierce the ear and the sep- tum of the nose, and in addition the women slit the lower lip.

Li])., nose, and ear ornaments. — "While amongst the Eskimo the men pierce the lip and wear the sleeve button-sluiped labrets of bone, shell, ivory, or stone, amongst the northern Indians the women alone wear the lip ornament. Between these two geographically are the Koniagas and Aleut. With the Koniagas both sexes pierce the septum of the nose and the under lip and wear ornaments in them.

Beginning with the Yakutat* and running as far south as the Kwa- kiutl,t we find the custom amongst the women of wearing a labret in a slit cut in the lower lip. It is symbolic of maturity, the incision first being made either in childhood or else at puberty. In either case it is done with some ceremony, which is described in Chapter xiii. A cop- per wirt'l or piece of shell or wood is introduced into the fresh incision to keep the wound open. The object inserted is gradually enlarged until an artificial opening of some size is made. When maturity is reached a block of wood is inserted. This is oval or elliptical in shape, and amongst the Haida and Tsimshian quite elongated. With the Tlingit, on the other hand, it is almost circular in shape. In general it is hollowed out on both sides, and grooved on the edge like the sheave

* Dall, Alaska, p. 428, and liancroft, Vol. i, Native Races, both state that the Ya- kutat do not now wear the lip ornuriicut. Dixon (1787), however, in Voyages, p. 172, minutely desenl)es the custom as then in vogue amongst them.

t .Simpson, .lourney Jfound the World, p. 204, Vol. i. (1841).

t Vancouver, Voyages, Vol. ii, p. 4i)8, .states that the copper or lira.ss "corrodes the lacerated parts, and by consuming the llesh gradually inereases the orilii'e until it is suI'Mciently large to admit the wooden apiieudagc"

-- 25<i

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.

Chief Kitkun, of the Haida Village of Las Keek, Queen Charlotte Islands, British

Columbia.

From a photograph in the U. S. National Musejm.

Kitkun is here selected as a tj'pe of the Haida Indian. The rank wliicli lie held in 1873 was that of a petty chief of tlie village, his brother, Chief Klue, being- tlie head chief. On the death of his brother, Kitkun became head chief of the village, assuming the hereditary title. Chief Klue. The tattoo mark on the breast repre- sents Kahatla, the cod-fish, and that on his arms Cheena. the salmon. The design on his back is shown in Fig. 2, Plate V, and represents Wasko, a mythological being of the wolf species.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate IV,

Chief Kitkun, of the Haida Village of Las Keek, Queen Charlotte Islands, British

Columbia.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

Haida Tattooing.

From photographs by the author and sketches by James G. Swan, of Port Townsend, Washington.

Fig. 2. Design c<)])iecl froiii the back of Chief Kitkiin, representing Wasko, a myth-

ologieal being of the wolf specii s. Fig. ;5a. Tattooed design on tlie back of the Haida (shown in Fig. 4) representing

the Thunder-bird. Fig. fib. Design on tlie leg of tlie Haida (shown in Fig. 4),' half way between the

knee and thigh, representing the squid octopus. Fig. '6c. Design on the skin of the Haida (shown in Fig. 4) just below the knee,

representing Tlankostan, the frog. Fig. 4. Young Haida from Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columlna. The tattoo

mark on the breast represents Hoorts, the bear, and that on his fore-arm

Koot, the eagle.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate V.

Haida Tattooing.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 257

of a pulley to keep it in place. Each succeeding year a larger and larger lip-block is inserted, the effect being in old age to drag the lip down, exposing the discolored and worn teeth, and forming altogether, to the European, a disgusting spectacle, but to them a thing of beauty and a token of rank, maturity, and social position. In running, it flops up and down between the nose and chin in a very undignified manner. It is as embarrassing to an Indian woman to be seen without her labret as for a European woman to be seen with uncovered bosom.* Female slaves were invariably forbidden the privilege of wearing them. The size of the labret measures the social importance and wealth of the wearer. The custom is now dying out, but is still seen amongst the older Haida women, the labrets being principally made of wood. Form- erly it was the custom to ornament them with copper and inlay them with haliotis shell by way of beautifying them. They varied in size from 4 inches long by 3 broad down to small buttons to wear in the first incision. Now that this custom is dying out, a form of it is seen in the piercing of the lip with a small hole and the insertion of a silver tube or bar (Plate xi).

Piercing the nose. — Both sexes pierce the septum of the nose and in- sert ornaments, originally of copper, bone, wood, or haliotis shell, but now of silver, such as rings or bars or tufts of red woolen yarn, with pendent shark's teeth. The Tlingit wear a silver or bone ring through the nose, as seen in several accompanying plates, but formerly the cus- tom of wearing an ivory stick or pin obtained in some localities.

Piereing the ears. — Both sexes pierce the lobe of the ear and wear or- naments as in the nose. Around the rim of the ear additional holes are ])ierced. Men of rank have as many as five or six of these latter. For- merly, according to Dawsou,t " these held little ornaments formed of plates of haliotis shell, backed with thin sheet copper or the small teeth of the tin- whale." This custom is also fast dying out. Amongst the older men and women one still sees these practices, but in a modified and less pronounced form.

Tattooing. — This practice is found rarely among the Tlingit, if at all, and only occasionally amongst the Tsimshian, although it crops out here and there, in a very mild form, all along the coast. With the Baida alone, of all the Indian stocks, tattooing is a fine art, and is com- mon to both sexes. The figures are conventional representations of their totems, pricked in charcoal, lignite, or black pigment, and serve to identify the individual with his or her totem. The men have these de- signs tattooed on their breasts, on their backs between their shoulders, on the front part of their legs below the thighs, on the shins below the knee, and on the back of the fore-arms. Occasionally the men also have these designs on the cheek and back of the hands, although rarely seen

* La P^rouse, Voyage, torn, ii, p. 226. t Dawsou, Report, B, p. 109,

H. Mis. 142, pt. 2 17

258 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

now.* The women tattoo the same a8 the men, excepting that the de- signs on the upper part of the leg are said to be omitted. The designs on their fore-arms invariably extend down over the back of the hands and knuckles, and this alone serves to distinguish the Haida women from those of other tribes on the coast. Plate iv shows the tattooing on KitkUn, Chief of Laskeek, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Plate V shows the details of tattooing, which subject will be found more thoroughly treated in a paper by Judge J. G. Swan, in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 60-73. Fig. 2, Plate V, is the design on back of KitMn. Frequently the tattooing on the hands represents finger- rings and bracelets. A Haida woman who had on her person a figure of a halibut laid open, with the face of the chief of her tribe shown on the tail, told Poole that it would protect her and her kin from drowning at sea.t * * * Judge Swan says:

It should be borne iu mind that, during these festivals and masquerade perform- ances, the men are entirely naked, and the women have only a short skirt reaching from the waist to the knee; the rest of their persons are exposed, and it is at such times that the tattoo marks show with the best effect, and the rank and family connec- tion are known by the variety of designs. Like all the other coast tribes, the Haidas are careful not to permit the intrusion of white persons or strangers to their Tomana- wos ceremonies, and as a consequence but few white people, and certainly none of those who have ever written about these Indians, have been present at their opening ceremonies when the tattoo marks are shown. * * * As this tattooing is a mark of honor, it is generally done just prior to a Tomanawos performance, and at the time of raising the heraldic columns in front of the chief's houses. The tattooing is done in open lodge and is witnessed by the company assembled. Sometimes it takes sev- eral years before all the tattooing is done, but when completed and the body is well ornamented, then they are happy and can take their seats among the elders.

The design is carefully drawn in charcoal or lignite (ground in water) on the body and then pricked in witli needles. It takes some time to finish a design, but once completed the status of the individual is fixed for life.

Painting the body. — From the Yakutat, throughout the region south, the custom obtains, on ceremonial occasions, of painting the face and body -a variety of colors, and daubing the hair with red, black, or brown pigments. This custom is now becoming rare. On ceremonial occa- sions of importance the white down of eagles or other birds is pow- dered over the paint on the body and head, giving a polite coat of tar and feathers. In war various hideous and grotesque patterns were formerly adopted for the face, such as a circle of black with a red chin, giving to the wearer the appearance of having on a mask. The colors on the body are removed in lines by brushes or sticks in order to trace the pattern of the totem of the wearer, similar to the tatooing on the body. Amongst the Tlingit this in effect takes the place of tattooing;

*Seen by the writer at Kasa-an village (Kaigani) 1885. The practice of tattooing is dying out and only found among the older people. tPoole, Queen Charlotte Islands, p. 311 [1864].

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 259

sometimes the designs are laid over the other paint with charcoal. Nowadays the paint is washed off after the ceremonies, but formerly it was the custom throughout the coast for the rich to reuew the coat daily, while the poor would have to manage according to their abilities. Vancouver thus describes the war paint of the Nass, with whom he had a hostile encounter :

These had contrived so to dispose of the red, white, and black as to render the nat- ural ugliness of their countenanced more horribly hideous. This frightful appearance did uot seem to be a new fashion among them, but to have been long adopted by their natural ferocious dispositions.*

Before the advent of looking-glasses the Indians made one another's toilets. A chief was served by his slaves or his wife. This custom of adorning the body with paint served other than aesthetic purposes. In war and ceremony it added to the effect on the observers ; it identi- fied the wearer with his totem, and finally served as a protection to the body against mosquitoes and the weather. This last named is the principal use to which the custom is now put, viz, of wearing a coat of black paint on the face and hands. This must be distinguished from the mourning paint made from charcoal. The other referred to is a brownish-black paint, now commonly worn to prevent the burning of the skin in hot weather from the glare of the sun on the water, and as a protection against mosquitoes and sand-flies. This coat consists of a soot, like burnt cork, made from a charred fungus, rubbed into the skin with grease. This gradually turns black and is frequently re- newed.

In general the paints used were charcoal, charred and roasted fun- gus; white, red, and brown earths (ochres); lignite, vegetable juices; and powdered cinnabar.

Sair. — As mentioned, ochres and bird's down are used for dressing the hair for ceremonial occasions. Portlock says that among the Tlin- git, this was only practiced by the men.t Ordinarily the hair is worn short by the men, excepting the shamauj and long by the women, who usually wear it done up in two plaits down the back, but sometimes in one plait, or "clubbed" behind and bound with red cloth. The ear- lier custom was somewhat different, according to Portlock (1787), who says : "The women wear their hair either clubbed behind or tied up in a bunch on the crown of the head ; the men wear theirs either loose or tied at the crown."

The hair is dressed with combs of a somewhat conventional pattern, as illustrated in Figs, lie and 11^, which are from two specimens in the Emmons Collection in the Museum of l!5atural History, New York. Figure lie is made from a small, thin piece of bone, while lid is carved

* Vancouver, Voyage. Vol. ii, p. 337. t Portlock, Voyage (1787), p. 290,

260

REPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

from cedar wood aud ornamented with a totemic design. Figure lie is a stone comb in this same collection.

Fig. lie. Bone Comb.

(Tlingit. Knimons Collection.)

Fig. Ud. Wooden Comb.

( Tliiigit. Emmons Collection. )

^Jiijg.'J^g'BSiipa:;*

Fig. lie. Stone Comb.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

ORNAMENTS.

With the practice of mutilations comes the adornment of the person with ornaments fashioned from a great variety of materials. It seems that, not content with the facilities oftered naturally for securing these to the person, mutilations were often practiced solely to enable the wearer to attach ornaments to the ear, lip, nose, or cheek.

Labrets or lip ornaments. — These are made of stone, wood, bone, shell, ivory, silver or copper, sometimes of one material only, sometimes of a combination of several. In form they vary from a pulley-shaped disc to a collar button, aud in size from 4 inches to a small cylinder of one-eighth inch in diameter. The labret shown in Plates xlix and

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI.

Ancient and Modern Metal Ornaments from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11.

Fig.	lln
Fig.	12.
Fig.	13.
Fig.	14.

Copper Bracelets, same as those worn in Alaska. Cat. No. 20627, U. S.

N. M. Kwaikutl Indians. Bella Bella, British Columbia. Collected by

James G. Swan. Copper Bracelets. Inlaid with shell. Cat. No. 19529, U. S. N. M.

Tlingit Indians, Fort Wrangell, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan. Copper Bracelet. Inlaid with sliell. Cat. No. 20637, U. S. N. M. Tsim-

shian Indians, Ftut Simpson, British Columbia. Collected by James G.

Swan. Bracelets. Of twisted coi)pei»wire. Cat. No. 56468, U. S. N. M. Kwa-

kiutl Indians, Fort Rupert. British Columbia. Collected by James G_

Swan. Copper Necklace. Ancient form. Cat. No. 88715, U. S. N. M. Masset

Indians (Haidan stock). Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.

Collected by James G. Swan. Necklace. Of copper wire, ancient form. Cat. No. 88746, U. S. N, M.

Masset Indians (Haidan stock), Queen Charlotte Islands, British Colum- bia. Collected by James G. Swan. Hair Ornament (Tchenes). Of steel, highly jtolished. inlaid with haliotis

shell. Ancient form, worn by young girls, and valued at one to two

slaves. Cat. No. 10313, U. S. N. M. Tsinishian Indians, Nass River,

British Columbia. Collected by Lieut. F. \V. Ring. U. S. A. . Hair-pin. Of iron inlaid with shell. Cat. No. 19528, U. S. N. M. Tlin- git Indians. Fort Wrangell, Alaska. Col'ected by James G. Swan. Ear-rings. Of silver, modern type. Cat. No. 19552. U. S. N. M. Tlingit

Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan. Nose-Rings. Of silver, modern type. Cat. No. 19551, U. S. N. M. Tlingit

Indians. Sitka. Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan. Ear-rings. Of silver, modern type. Cat. No. 19550. U. S. N. M. Kaigani

Indians (Haidan stock). Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Collected by

James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888. — Nibiack.

Plate VI.

Ancient ahd Modern Metal Ornaments from the Northwest Coast.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIL

Bone and Shell Ornaments from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 19. Ear axd Nose Ornaments. Of shark's teeth. Cat. No. 73993, U. S. N. M. Auk Indians, Admiralty Island, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 21. Ear Pendants. Of skeins of red worsted, ornamented with abalone shell. Cat. No. 88883, U. S. N. M. Masset Indians (Haidan stock), Queen Char- lotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 22. Necklace. Of dentalium shell with pendant of abalone. Cat. No. 88885, U. S. N. M. Masset Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 23. Ear Pendants. Of red worsted and abalone, the latter carved to show wearer's totem. Cat. No. 20674, U. S. N. M. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report cf National Mjseum, 1883.— Niblack.

Plate VII.

1 .1 ^?f .f

Bone and Shell Ornaments from the Northwest Coast.

THE INDIANS OP THE NORTHWEST COAST.

261

L in the figure of the "Bear Mother" is a good illustration of tbe size ami appearauce of this appendage as worn up to recent years.

Nose ornaments. — Fig. 13, Plate vi, is the general type of silver nose- rings in use around Dixon Entrance. It is often worn in this same shape made of bone. Another favorite ornament both for the nose and ear is the sh;>rk's tooth, as shown in Fig. 20, Plate vii. As such it is usually attached to the hole in the nose or lobe of the ear by a yarn of red worsted. Sometimes the red worsted is alone worn; sometimes a piece of bone triangular in shape replaces the shark's tooth which it is meant to imitate. A bone or ivory stick or cylinder was formerly worn. Fig. 17, Plate vii, is an illustration of a primitive bone nose ornament of a diflferent type from any of these mentioned.

Uar ornaments. — Figs. 12 and 14 represent the common types of sil- ver ear-rings now worn in the northern region around Dixon Entrance. As mentioned above, sharks' teeth and red worsted are favorite ear ornaments. These are illustrated in Figs. 20, 21, and 23, Plate vii. Fig. 12rt is a Tiingit ear ornament of ivory from the Emmons Collection in the Museum of Natural History, New York. In its ornamentation and design it shows the effects of intercourse with the Aleut and Koniagas to the north. Fig. 12& is a pin or peg of ivory or bone of a type sometimes worn by the Tiingit and Haida.

Hair ornaments. — Fig. 11«, Plate vi, is an iron hair-pin from Fort Wrangell, Alaska (Tiingit.) It is inlaid with haliotis and highly polished. Fig.

11, Plate VI, is an iron "tchene"

highly polished and inlaid with

haliotis shell. It is worn by young

girls as an ornament in the hair.

This specimen is from the Nass

Indians (Tsimshian), but they are

also found amongst the Tiingit

and Haida, and were formerly

valued at from one to two slaves.

Eed is the favorite color for cloth

or ribbon used by the women for

dressing their hair, as described

previously. Necklaces. — Fig. 22, Plate vii, is

a necklace of red beads and denta-

lium shell strung alternately and

further ornamented with a square piece of abalone shell pendent. This specimen is from Masset, British Columbia (Haida), as is also that shown in Fig. 9, Plate vi, which is made of twisted copper wire and is of a very primitive type. Fig. 10 is the same kind as that shown in Fig. 9, but it has been oxidized by the heat and looks somewhat like iron wire instead of copper.

':■

Fig. 12a. Ear Okn'ament

(Tlingiu Emmons Col tion. )

Fig. 126. Ear Ornament.

(Tiingit and Hnid^. EmmoD8 Collec- tion.)

262 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

Finger-rings. — These were formerly made entirely of copper, boue, shell, or black slate, and were ornamented with totemic designs. Now silver has so generally displaced all other materials that the primitive types are rarely seen.

Bracelets. — Fig. 5, Plate vi, is a pair of copper bracelets from Bella Bella, British Columbia, (Kwakiutl) similar to those worn north. Fig. 6 represents a pair from' Fort Wrangell, Alaska, also of copper, in- laid wjth haliotis shell. Fig. 7 is one similar in style to that shown in Fig. 6, from Fort Simpson, British Columbia (Tsimshian). Fig. 8 rep- resents a very primitive type of copper bracelet of twisted copper wire, from Fort Rupert, British Columbia (Kwakiutl), but similar to those worn north. Fig. 166 is a Tliugit iron bracelet of native workman- ship, from the Emmons Collection. Plate viii represents the types of silver bracelets worn on the northwest coast at the present day. They are made from silver coin, and have re- placed those of bone, horn, copper, shell, and iron formerly worn. Fig. 24 represents the coin hammered out into a flat strip of the re- p. jgj^ quired width with ends rounded into shape.

Iron Bracelet. ^^S' 25 represents the Same bent nearly into

(Tiingit. Emmons Collection.) shapc by gcutlc hammering.

In its flat shape the silver has little or no elasticity or spring, so the next step is to round the bracelet out on the inside, as shown in cross- section, Fig. 26. This is done by means of a hammer and a blunt cold chisel. In the process of hammering the bracelet curls uj) more and more, and is beaten out thinner and broader. This economizes silver, and gives elasticity and clasp to the bracelet. The next step is to carve the design on it as shown in the finished bracelet, Fig. 27. On this width totemic designs are seldom carved, scroll work being used. The tools are of the most primitive kind, consistiug of a hammer, blunt cold- chisels, and a sharp steel carving or etching tool. Figs. 28 and 30 represent a style of clasp somewhat in vogue, but Figs. 27 and 29 are the prevailing patterns. On the larger bracelets the totemic design of the wearer is usually carved. Fig. 31 represents the design on Fig. 29 rolled out, and Fig. 32 the same for Fig. 30. The former design repre- sents the Bear, and the latter the Thunder Bird. Figs. 27, 28, and 29 are Tiingit, Fig. 30 Haida, but the same types are found amongst all the northern tribes ; the Haida being the most expert silversmiths, as they are also in general the best carvers on the coast.

Dixon (1787) states that the Tiingit and Haida wore large circular wreaths of copper about the neck, evidently of native manufacture. With the introduction of iron by Europeans bracelets of iron wire some- what took the place of the more expensive copper ones, to be in turn later succeeded by those of silver. The present custom is to wear

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII.

-^^

General Modern Type of Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit Silver Bracelets.

Fig. 24. Strip of Silver, hammered from a coin ; fii'st step in making the bracelet

represented in finislied state in Fig. 27. Fig. 25. Second Step in makinc; Bracelet.

Fig. 26. Third Step in making Bracelet. Strip hammered to concave section. Fig. 27. Finished Bracelet. Cat. No. 19539, U. S. N. M. THngit Indians, Alaska.

Collected by James G. Swan. Fig. 28. Bracelet. With clasp. Cat. No 49201. U. S. N, M. Tlingit Indians,

Sitka, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean. Fig. 29. Spring Clasp Bracelet. Cat. No. 19532. U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians.

Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan. Fig. 30. Bracelet. Largest size. Cat. No. 20251. U. S. N. M. Haida Indians,

Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G.

Swan. Fig. 31. Design on Bracelet, Fig. 29. Thunder-bird or Eagle. Rolled out im- pression. Fig. 32. Design on Bracelet, Fig. 30. Hoorts. the bear. Rolled out impression.

Repon of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate VIII.

p!!!:::?-':!:-!!!--!';!;;;!:,),-

General Modern Type of Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit Silver Bracelets.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 263

bracelets and ear, nose, and finger rings of silver. The natives prefer silver to gold. Their fondness for red worsted as ear ornaments Las also been alluded to, and is well illustrated in Plate VII.

DRESS.

Primitive clothing. — What early attracted the traders to this repjion was the character of the clothing worn by the natives, consisting of valuable furs roughly sewn together, seal and sea-otter being the most common and the most sought after. The costume of the men was scanty, consisting of an under coat, a cloak, and sometimes a breech clout, although the last named seemed to be a very unimportant and often omitted article of dress. Dixon (1787) describes their clothing as " made of such skins as fancy suggests, or their success in hunting fur- nished them wii h, and sometimes loose cloaks thrown over the shoulders and tied with small leather strings. * * * The dress of the women differs in some respects from that of the men. Their undergarment is made of fine tanned leather, and covers the body from the neck to the ankle, being tied in different parts to make it fit close. * * * The upper garment is made in much the same manner as the men's coats, and generally of tanned leather, the women not caring to wear furs. * * * Over this is tied a piece of tanned leather like an apron, and which reaches no higher than the waist."*

In other words, both sexes wore a cloak and an under garment or coat reaching to the waist. To this the men added a belt or breech piece, and the women a skirt or gown reaching to the calf or ankle. Both sexes went barefooted, although wearing, as now, in very cold weather, a kind of moccasin.

Sea-otter skins were a staple article of trade amongst the Indians themselves, and were stored in large quantities, being the basis of wealth and the unit of value. The eagerness of Europeans to trade for them led to the exhaustion of the stock on hand, the sacrifice of their clothing, the i^ractical extinction of the sea-otter, the adoption by the Indians of European clothing, and sub- stitution of other standards of value and wealth. Gar- ments of fur are still worn in cold weather, the skins of the less valuable animals, such as the rabbit, squirrel, and goat being used. These skins are fastened together with cords of twisted linen or finely spun vegetable fibre. Figs. 21a and 21& represent two varieties of bone fids or awls for pricking the holes in the skins to enter

.. ^y T ,. . (Tlirrgit. Einmnns Collec-

the thread tor sewing. tion.)

Ceremonial blanket — These northern Indians, particularly the Chil- kat tribes (Tlingit), have possessed from time immemorial the art of weaving twisted bark thread and the wool of the mountain goat into blankets. These they value most highly, and persons of rank and

Dixou, Voyage, p. 239.

264 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

wealth wear theui only on extraordinary occasions. They are com- mouly called Ohilkat blankets, and form heirlooms in every wealthy family. One of these is pictured in Plate x. Fig. 33. To-day they are worth from $25 to $40 each. Dawson states that the Haida obtain them from the Tsimshian. The warp consists of twine of finely shredded cedar bark spun into a thread or cord. The woof is of yarn spun from the wool of the mountain goat. (The details of the weaving are shown in Plate x, Fig. 33«.) Much confusion exists on this point- The mountain goat resembles our domestic animal in external appear- ance, but has beneath the hair an inner coat of white, soft, silky wool, while the mountain sheep (big-horn) has a thick covering of hair like a deer. The fringe on the side is shorter than on the bottom. The wool is woven into a pattern representing the totem of the owner, dif- ferent dyes being used in the wool, the conventional colors being black, yellow, white, and sometimes brown. The black is obtained from char- coal and the yellow dye from a moss called sekhone (Tlingit). The blanket is woven in different designs skilfully blended into a complete pattern, as in tai)estry, Fig. 33. A ceremonial coat or gown similar in design is also woven in this way. A specimen is figured in Plate x, Fig. 34. The details of the method of weaving both these garments are shown in Fig. 33a, same plate.

Chief ^s ceremonial head dress. — In connection with this blanket and coat or gown, a conventional liead dress is worn by the chiefs in this northern rCj. . These are shown in Plate x. Fig. 35, and consist of a cylindrical wooden frame aboutlO inches high, with an elaborately carved front of hard wood, beautifully polished, i)ainted, and inlaid with aba- lone shell and copper. Pendent behind is a long cloth, on which are closely sewn the skins of ermine, which form an important item in a chief's outfit. Around the upper periphery of the head-dress is an elaborate fringe of seal-whiskers. In ceremonial dances the space within this fringe and the top of the head-dress is filled with eagle or other bird's down, which falls like snow in the motions of the dance. This costume is completed by leggins of deer's hide, ornamented with the beaks of puffins, which rattle with the movements of the wearer. These are shown in Fig. 36, Plate x. The costume complete as worn by a chief is figured in Plate ix.

Amongst northern tribes these ceremonial blankets are worn by the chiefs. Amongst the Haida, women of rank also wear them in the dances. In all its details, the costume shown in Plate ix well illus- trates the height to which the native arts of weaving, inlaying, carving, and dyeing had risen on this coast before being influenced by the ad- vent of the whites.

The dress of a Ohilkat chief, encountered by Vancouver at Lynn Canal in 1794 is thus described by him :

His external robe was a very fine large garment that reached from his neck down to bis heels, made of wool from the moo -i tain sheep, neatly variegated with several

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX.

General Type of Tsimshian, Haida, and Tlingit Chief's Costume.

From photographs and sketches by the author

The details of this costume are shown in Plate X. In the to[) of the head-dress, within the fringe formed by the seal whiskers, aquatic birds' or eagles' down is gen- erally placed, which, in the ceremonial dances, falls and floats in the air about the wearer like snow on a winter's day, adding much to the picturesqueness of the scene.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate IX.

General Type of Tsimshian, Haida, and Tlingit Chief's Costume.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE X,

33(^

Details of Chief's Costume, as shown in Plate IX.

Froni photographs and sketches by the author

Fig. 33. Cerejionial Blanket. AVorii by Indians of rank and wealth on the North- west coast, commonly called a " Chilkat blanket," because the best .specimens come from the Chilkat country, although other tribes are more or less exjiert in weaA-ing them. The warp is composed of twisted cord or twine of cedar liark fiber, anil the woof of worsted spun from the wool of the mountain goat. Brown, yellow, black, and white are tlie colors used, and tiiese are skillfully wrought into a pattern re}iresenting the totem or a totemic legend of the owner. The details of tlie weaving are shown in Fig. 33a. The design on both the I lanket and the cere- monial shirt represents Hoorts, the bear.

Fig. 34. Ceremonial Garment or Shirt. Woven as described above. The trim- ming on the collar and cuffs is sea-otter fur.

Fig. 35. Chief's Ceremonial Head-Dress. Carved from hard wood, beautifully inlaid, painted, and polished. The erect fringe on the upper circumfer- ence is formed by seal whiskers set into the frame. The pendent trail is made from three lengths of ermine skins, there being about ten skins in each row. The top of the head-dress is filled with liirds* down on ceremonial occasions, and in the motion of the dances this sifts through and falls like snow about the person of the dancer.

Fig. 36. Buckskin Leggings. With three rows of puffin beaks, which lattle with the motion of the wearer. This style of legging is also made from ordi- nary cloth, or from the woven blanket stuff, similar to Fig. 33.

Report of National Museum, 1 888.— Niblack.

Plate X.

Details of Chief-s Costume, as shown in Plate IX.

THE INDIANS OP THE NORTHWEST COAST. 265

colors, aud edged aud otherwise decorated with little tufts or frogs of woolen yarus dyod of various colors. His head-dress was made of wood, much resembling in its shape a crown, adorned with bright copper and brass i)lates, from whence hung a number of tails or streamers, composed of wool and fur wrought together, dyed of various colors, and each terminating by a whole ermine skin.*

Another variety of this blanket is described by Lisiansky (1805), as seen by him near Sitka :

These blankets are embroidered with square figures, and fringed with black and yellow tassels. Some of them are so curiously worked on one side with fur of the sea- otter, that they appear as if lined with it, and are very handsome. t

This is not unlike a blanket described by Vancouver, as worn by the Kwakiutl, Johnstone Strait, British Columbia (latitude 52° 20' K), as follows :

The clothing of the natives here was either skins of the sea-otter or garments made from the pine bark. Some of these latter have the fur of the sea-otter very neatly wrought into them, aud have a border to the sides and bottom decorated with various colors. In this only they use woolen yarn, very fiue, well spun, and dyed for that purpose, particularly with a very lively and beantiful yellow.t

The art of loeaving. — These fine bark garments are found also amongst theTsimshian, who either made them or traded for them with the Kwa- kuitl, giving in exchange sea-otter skins.§ In general, while the art of cedar bark weaving was understood throughout the coast, and while the southern Indians had some knowledge of weaving in wool, it may be said that the northern Indians were more expert in weaving wool and making baskets of grass, and the southern Indians in weaving bark fibre. To-day, at the two extremes, we find the northern Tlingit tribes, and the Makah Indians of Cape Flattery, the expert basket makers, but ^ li J character of their work is so difi'ereut that it can be readily dis- tinguished. The southern tribes are also the expert cedar bark weavers, and the northern Tlingit the best weavers of wool. Wherever these or other arts may have been developed, it is amongst the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands that we find the best specimens of workman- ship. Originally the wealthiest stock on the coast, they have from earliest times been remarkable for their readiness to adopt the customs and ideas of others, and to develop and adapt them to their own pecu- liai needs. The Tsimshiau seem to have acted as the middlemen, for most of the trade and intercourse of the Haida with the other tribes has been through them. In this way it will be found that the Tsimshian have influenced the Haida not a little in the development of their pecu- liai customs and ideas.

Modern dress.— Th^ change in ordinary dress, as the Indians became stripped of seaotter and seal skins, consisted largely in the substitution

* Vancouver, Voyage, Vol. ili, p. 249-50. X Vancouver, Voyage, Vol. II, p 281.

t Lisiansky, Voyage, p. 23d. ij Ihid., p. 325.

266 EEPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

of cloth for garments and European blankets for fur cloaks. Langs- dorif says of the Tliugit in 1806:

The clothing of these people is very simple, consisting of a covering around the waist, and an outer garment made of a piece of cloth or skin about 5 feet square, two ends of which are either tied round the neck or fastened together with a button and button-hole.*

The favorite colors were red and blue, but this costume was only worn about the villages. Out hunting and fishing they practically went naked. Later, when the European blanket replaced the cloth cloaks, they were ornamented with a border of red or blue cloth, on which was sewn rows of pearl buttons, thimbles, Chinese coins, etc. This style of blanket obtains to-day. (See Plate xi.) Plate xi represents the modern costume of the Tlingit. The ear pendents of the man are shark's teeth. The labret of the woman is bone or silver, and illustrates the transition stage from the lar^e labret to none at all, or almost none.

The early voyagers were astonished at the demand for thimbles on the coast, and supposed the women to need them for sewing. It was found, however, that the use of the needle was very little understood,! and that the thimbles were regarded as rare ornaments for blankets and clothing. Formerly abalone and dentalium were looked upon as the most valuable kind of trimmings and ornaments, but their importation in quantities by Europeans cheapened their value. The Chinese coins were admired for the cabalistic characters on them.

The women early adopted European dress, supplemented with the ordinary blanket. The present costume, with headkerchief of black silk, is seen in Plate xi. The earlier costumes, however, were ornamented more elaborately. On the dress were tightly-fitting stays of cloth, often of scarlet color, ornamented with pearl buttons. These, with silver or bone nose-rings, bracelets on the arms, braids of silk or red worsted in the ears, and European blankets across the shoulders, made up the costume of the Indian women around Dixon Entrance up to more recent years, since when jilain " store clothes" have displaced the former more gaudy vestments. To complete the former costume, it should be added that the hair worn long, was usually parted in front and bound club- shaped behind with scarlet cloth. At i)resent the hair is usually worn in two plaits down the back. Both sexes as a rule go barefooted, but before the introduction of European shoes moccasins of one or two thick- nesses of deer or elk hide were worn in cold weather. The older Indians still wear them in out of-the-way localities. These they either make themselves or trade for with the Tinn6 tribes of the interior.

Head-covering. — Both sexes, until recent years, either went bare- headed, or wore hats woven of grass and painted with the totem of the owner. In ceremonies, of course, various styles of ceremonial head- dresses are and were formerly worn ; and in war costume, heavy wooden helmets protected the head. At present, all styles of European hats

Langsdorff, Voyages, Pt. ii, p. 112. t Lisiansky, Voyage, p. 241.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Modern Tlingit Male and Female Costumes.

The costume of the man is more or less ceremonial, as the native dress has re- cently heen generally abandoned and European clothes adopted. The dress of the women is that now generally worn by all the northern Indian women. The plate represents the costume of ten or twenty jears ago. and in this sense is modern. The labret, a small cylinder of silver with a broad head, is the modern style of lip-orna- ment, ditferiug materially Irom the large ones worn until a few yeara ago.

Report of National Museum, 1 888.— Niblack.

Plate XI.

O.

Modern Tlingit Male and Female Costumes.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII,

	-> J\
	%<^k>
<:	^^s\
yQ>	\ I *^^^ )

Twined Grass and Spruce Root Hats from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 37. Twined Basketry Hat. Twining consists in weaving tlie woof-strands around a series of warp-strands. Two methods are enipkwed in this liat. Tlie letter a (Fig. 37) marks tiie bi)undary between the crown and brim. Above a, the mode of twining is that sliown in Fig. 37?> ; below a. that shown in Fig. 37e. Fig. 'S~i(l is a top view of this same hat. showing the totemic device, Hooveh, the Raven, painted in black and reil. Cat. No. 89033, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Queen C'liarlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James (t. Swan.

Fig. 38. Twined Basketry Hat. Fig. : He shows the method of i)laiting cedar- bark fiber. This hat differs from Fig. 37 only in being lower and flatter.

Fig. 39. Parasol-Shaped Hat. Ornamented with a totemic design at *he top and painted in solid color on the remainder of the outside surface. Cat. No. 1782. U. S. N. M. Tlingit. Alaska. Collected by Dr. Suckeley.

Fig. 40. Twined Basketry Hat. With wooden appendages representing the beak of the raven "Hooveh." From photograph in U. S. National Museum. Tlingit Indians, Alaska.

Report of National Museum, 1 888.— Niblack.

Plate XII.

mi	1
[|py~y_^	i^^

Twined Grass and Spruce Root Hats from the Northwest Coast.

'THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 267

and caps are worn, but the women use generally only a black silk hand- kerchief. The grass hats are still seen on the coast in out-of-the-way places, particularly around Dixon Entrance. These are cone shaped, with considerable spread, being particularly adapted for protection, in rainy weather, to the elaborately dressed hair worn on ceremonial occa- sions. In the north, the truncated cone-shaped form is surmounted by a more or less tall cylinder, in the ceremonial hats reaching an absurd height; in the south, it becomes more parasol-like in shape, although both styles are found throughout the whole coast, excepting that the very tall ceremonial hat is limited to the north. Plate xii illustrates the varieties. Fig. 37 is the usual type, ornamented with the toteraic device representing the Raven, painted on the hat in red and black, the detail being shown in Fig. 37d, which is a top view of Fig. 37. The details of the weaving or twining are illustrated in enlarged section in Figs. 376 and 37c. The hat naturally divides itself into two sections— the crown and the rim— the dividing line being at a in Fig. 37. The method of making the crown is the same as that used in the Haida basketry, and shown in 376, while the rim is woven by a variation in the above method shown in Fig. 37c. These figures are from an article by Professor O. T. Mason on Basket Work, in Smithsonian Beport, 1884, Part ii. Of Fig. 37c he says: "It shows the regular method of twined weaving, the introduction of the skip-stitch or twilled weaving into the greatest variety of geometric patterns, and the ingenious method of fastening off by a four-ply braid showing only on the outer side." At the divid- ing line, marked a, on the inside, a cylindrical head-band of spruce root is stitched to make the hat fit the head, a string passing under the chin being usually added. Fig. 38 is an ordinary type of spruce root hat also found on the coast. Amongst the southern Indians, where cedar bark is so much used, these two styles of hat are reproduced in that material, which, not being tough enough to twine, is woven, as shown in detail in Fig. 38e. This is the same pattern as their mats. The hats thus made are light and flimsy and soon lose their shape, whereas the twined spruce root ones and the baskets both retain their shape and be- come water tight after a preliminary soaking. Fig. 39 is another varia- tion in the shapes found on the coast. It is often painted in solid colors and ornamented on top with a totemic design. Fig. 40 is a ceremonial headdress, similar in design and outline to the wooden helmets illus- trated in Plate xiii. This shape is seen in the carvings in the large totemic columns, and is doubtless an imitation of the wooden helmets formerly worn in battle. These survivals and imitations are spoken of elsewhere. The animal represented in Fig. 40 is the Raven.

Raifi Cloaks. — Along the whole coast a peculiar form of cloak was worn in rainy weather to shed water. Dixon (1787) says of them, as seen at Sitka : "I had no opportunity of examining them minutely, but they appear to be made of reeds, sewed very closely together, and I was told by one of our gentlemen who was with Captain Cook during

268 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

his last voyage that they were exactly the same with those worn by the inhabitants of New Zealand."* Mackenzie mentions this rain dress amongst the Bilqiila (1.793). t These mats or cloaks were circular in form, with an opeuiug in the center for the head.

Ceremonial Paraphernalia. — The origin of the custom of wearing cere- monial masks and head-dresses, in this region, would seem to have originated in the actual wearing of them in war. Much of the cere- monial disphiy amongst these Indians has reference to prowess in com- bat, and it is an undoubted fact that, in the survival of many primitive implements of war we have the origin of much of the dance and cere- monial paraphernalia peculiar to this region.

With the desire to protect the body, armor naturally originated. The masks and visors worn were painted in all the hideous colors and pat- terns adopted ordinarily for the face. They were sometimes carved with representations of the totem of the owner, but were intended in any case botli to protect the wearer and to strike terror to the enemy. Vancouver (1793) mentions an encounter with the Tlingit, up Behm Canal, Alaska, in which the chief put on a mask consisting of a " Wolf's face compounded with the human countenance." The masks were often worn without head pieces or visors, and some of them were so thick that a musket ball fired at a moderate distance could hardly penetrate them. J

There seems nothing unreasonable in tracing the origin of much of the dance and ceremonial i)araphernalia to customs originating in war. Most of our secret and benevolent societies which parade in public have a military organization and uniform. The grass hat shown in Fig. 40, Plate XII, is iu imitation of the wooden war helmet, and other sur- vivals will be pointed out from time to time.

Armor. — Formerly the body was protected in combat by various de- vices, the simplest being a leather garment, jerkin, or doublet. This was usually made of one, two, or three thicknesses of hide and in itself offered considerable resistance to arrows, spears, or dagger thrusts, but was still further reinforced by a cuirass or coat of wood, made of strips or slats, worn either over or under the doublet, but usually over. These are illustrated in Plate xv, Figs. 52 and 53. The doublet or shirt has an opening for the neck and one for the left arm ; the right side is not sewed up, faciliting the putting on of the garment and be- ing secured by ties or toggles and straps. There are two other admir- able specimens in the National Museum (Nos, 46465 and 60240), but as they are similar in patterns to the one illustrated in Plate xv they are not reproduced here. They differ only in having shoulder pads of hide secured on by toggles and straps and in offering some protection to the arms. Vancouver (1793) thus describes a similar shirt worn by a war party of Nass, which his boat parties encountered :

Their war garments were formed of two, three, or more folds, of the strongest hides of the land animals they are able to procure. In the center was a hole sufficient to

Dixon, Voyage, p. 191. t Mackenzie, Voyages, p. 371.

tLisiansky, Voyagse, p. 150.

THE INDIANS OF THE NOKTHWEST COAST.

269

admit the head and left arm to pass through, the mode of wearing them being over the right shoulder aud under the left arm.

The left side of the garment is sewed up, but the right side remains open; the body is, however, tolerably well protected, and both arms are left at liberty for action. As a further security on the part which covers the breast they sometimes fix on the inside thin laths of wood.*

Fig. 46. Detail of "Weaving Armor.

(Cat. No. 49213. U.S. N. M. Tlingit. Collected by J. J. McLean. )

Fig. 53 is a rear view of a wooden cuirass or body armor from Sitka, showing method of strapping it to the body. It is from a specimen in tbe National Museum (No. 49213) consisting of numerous (seventy-four) rods of hard wood about 2 feet long, woven together with dark and white twine in alternate bauds. The threads are sometimes single and sometimes in pairs, and are made to pass over aud under the rods in pairs, but in such manner that the overlappings alternate from one row to the next. This is shown in detail in Fig. 46, where la and lb represent the parts of one cord, and 2a and 26 represent those of another. The view represents the upper left hand corner of the weav- ing and two upper threads, showing seven rods in both plan and sec- tion. As stated, this method of running the cords or twine is varied by occasionally running them in pairs. Fig. 43, Plate xiii, is a front view of the same specimen of armor. Fig. 49, Plate xiv, represents another variety of body armor in which the wood is in the shape of laths or broader flat strips of wood, also woven together with twine. Strips of hide were sometimes used to secure the strips of wood to- gether; and sometimes the breast piece or covering was in one solid thick piece. The armor shown in Plate xiv is from a sketch in Lisiansky's Voyage, p. 150, Plate i. The method of wearing it is shown

'Vancouver, Voyage, Vol. ii, p. 339.

270 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

in Fig. 51, Plate xiv, which also shows the mask and helmet iu place. The parts are very heavy and clumsy, and the most that can be said in their favor is that they protected the vital parts from injury.

With the introduction of iron and of fire-arms the Tlingit adopted a new form of protection, consisting of a buckskin strip around the neck, with iron plates attached pendant down the breast.*

Helmets and head-dresses. — The chief's ceremonial head-dress has already been described, and is illustrated in Fig. 35, Plate x. In Plate xm a variety of helmets is shown. Fig. 41 represents a wolfs head, the wearer or owner belonging to the Wolf totem. It is so light that it could not have served as a protection of any kind, and hence is cer- emonial in its nature. Fig. 42 is a thick massive helmet similar to the one illustrated in Plate xiv. Fig. 47. Fig. 44 represents the Bear totem, while Fig. 45 is carved in representation of the Beaver. On the rim of the latter four copper plates or shields are jiainted. These two helmets (Figs. 44 and 45) are similar in shape to the grass hat shown in Fig. 40, being that of an oblique truncated cone surmounted by a tall cylinder, and evidently represent the ancient form of helmet worn by the chiefs as seen in the carved columns and other old-time pictographs. They are now worn only in the ceremonial dances, the two illustrated being of light cedar wood and of rather recent make. Another variety of head dress is a ring of shredded cedar bark, twisted into a rope, stained dull red with the juice of the baric of the alder, and made into a circular grommet like a crown Plate xviii. Some of these are orna- mented with bows, rosettes, and tassels of the same material, the finest and most elaborate being found amongst the Haida, although clearly borrowed or copied in design from those of the Tsimshian and Kwakiutl. With the latter these are only worn in the winter religious ceremonies, and their use is considered improi)er on any other occasions, whereas the Haida wear them in any of their dances without the peculiar signi- ficance attached to theui by other tribes.

3[asJi8.—What has been said in a general way of helmets and head- dresses is equally true of masks, with the addition that the latter are found even in much greater variety and more ingenuity is displayed in constructing them. The writer has endeavored to trace the origin of the custom of wearing masks in ceremonies to the original practice of wear- ing th( m in war as a protection. In this view, the simplest form is that shown in Figs. 48 and 50, Plate xiv, the former being a side and the latter a top view. The top rim is thinner than the lower part, and has several grooves or peep-holes cut in it to enable the wearer to see through, as shown in the plate. The front is carved or painted with the toteraic representation of the owner. Fig. 50 shows a projection on the inner side (front), which consists of a leather becket or ejelet, covered with a wrapping of grass or cedar bark, and let through the front of the mask, being secured by a knot outside. This goes m the

Jyisiaosky (1805), Voyage, p. 5J38.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII!

Wooden Helmets and Cuirass, or Body Armor.

Fig. 41. Wooden Helmet. Carved in sliape of wolfs liea(L Cat. No. 234-11 , U. S. N. M. Haida Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected liy James G. Swan.

Fig. 42. Wooden Helmet, similar to Fig. 47. Plate XVI. Cat. No. 74341, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. .Collected hy John J. McLean.

Fig. 43. Wooden Armor. Made of hard wood rods woven together with twine. Detail in Fig. 46. Another view is given in Plate XV (Fig. 53), showing method of securing it to the body. Cat. No. 49213, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 44. Helmet. Carved to represent Hoorts. the bear. Cat. No. 89037. U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Skidegate. Queen Charlotte Islands. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 45. Helmet. Surmounted liy a carved figure of Tsing, the beaver. The painted figures re])resent cojiper plates, emblems of wealth and infiu- ence. Cat. No. 89035, U. S. N. M. Skedan Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British- Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XIII.

Wooden Helmets and Cuirass, or Body Armor.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIV.

Tlingit Wooden Armor

Fig. 47. Wooden Helmet. Secured to the liead In- straps fastened under the chin. Fnim Lisiansky. Voyage. Plate I.

Fig. 48. Wooden Mask OR Visor. Sliowing holes for ey s. Side view. From Lisi- ansky. Voyage, Plate I.

Fig. 49. Body Armor. Made of slats of wood fastened together by twine woven around and between them. From Lisiansky, Voyage, Plate I.

Fig. oO. Mask or Visor. Showing becket or strap, which is held in the teeth to keep the mask in i)lace when worn in fighting. Made of one piece of wood, bent to slmpe and held by a strap of leather, as shown at a. Cat. No. 74343, U. S. N. M. Tlingit, Alaska. Collected by J. J. McLean.

Fig. 51. Sketch. Showing method of wearing the armor.

The leather jerkin underneath is similar to that shown in Plate XV.

Report of National Museum, 1888. — Niblack.

Plate XIV.

Tlingit Wooden Armor.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XV.

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Wooden and Leather Body Armor.

Fig. 53. Jerkin. Of two thicknesses of uioose liiile. Worn under the armor (shown in Fig. 5:}) as an additional protection to tlie body. Tlie left side has an arm-hole; the right side is open, l)eing secured by straps under the right arm. Cat. No. 180.187, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Alaska. Loaned by Max B. Richardson.

Fig. 53. Armor of Wooden Rods. Inside view of Fig. 43. Plate XIII. showing straps by which it is secured around the waist. Cat. No. 49313, U. S. N M. Tlingit Indians, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XV.

r< l> I . Ill H ' h ii h 1 1 iTTTl'-

Wooden and Leather Body Armor.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST. COAST. 271

mouth of the wearer, and is firmly gripped ia the teeth to hold the mask iu place. Above this becket the mask is recessed or hollowed slightly, to give a clearance to the uose of the wearer. Altogether it may be seen to be a very clumsy method of protecting the face. Other kinds of masks were worn to protect the face in war, having the addi- tional objects of representing in their carved outlines the totem of the wearer, or, by their hideousness and grotesqueness, of striking terror to the enemy by lending to the effect of their menacing gestures the ap- pearance of some superhuman being. Often these masks were so mas- sive as to be worn without helmets or head pieces. Straps or thongs of leather fasten them to the head, or a loop of cedar bark cord in the hollow side of the mask is held in the teeth.

The ceremonial masks are carved from spruce or yellow cedar and are generally very elaborate, being highly colored in grotesque or hide- ous designs, and often inlaid with abalone shell or copper. The eyes are pierced through to enable the wearer to see about him, and the mouth is also usually cut through, or, if not, teeth are carved or inlaid in bone. Lips, teeth, nostrils, and eyelids are sometimes represented in copper. The top of the mask is usually bordered either with hair, feathers, or down. By means of ingeniously concealed mechanism the eyes are sometimes made to roll and the jaws and beak to snap. (See Fig. 60, Plate xvi). Some of them, representing ravens and cranes, have beaks projecting from two to four or five feet. In con- junction with the masks are often worn wooden fins or wings on the back of the head or on the back at the shoulders. Fig. 59, Plate xvi, represents the raven as a ceremonial mask with lips of copper, sur- mounted by a tall fin of wood representing the fin of the orca or killer. This is fringed with human hair, and the figure carries in its month a bow and arrow of copper. Fig. 50 represents a woman's face, with nose and lip ornaments of conventional pattern, and with curiously painted lines in unsymmetrical design. A variety of masks are sketched in the foreground of Plate lxvii. The custom of wearing wooden masks and head-dresses in ceremonies and dances is found throughout the whole northwest coast from the Aleuts to Puget Sound. There is a large collection of these iu the National Museum, which in themselves are worthy of separate illustration. The limits of this paper admit only of presenting the few shown in Plates xvi and lxvii.

Ceremonial Batons, Wands, etc.— In Plates xvi and xvii are repre- sented various ceremonial implements carried in the hands of the chiefs and shamans on state occasions, and permitted to be carried only by men of such rank. Fig. 54 is a carved representation of a bow, the figures on the ends representing the whale. It is carried by the Haida shamans in their medicine dances. Fig. 58 is a ceremonial bow carried by a Haida chief. The two carved heads represent the bear. Carved ceremonial arrows go with this type of bow, and in them we see the survival of the ancient weapon as a purely ceremonial emblem, just as

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k"' !i:*"M' 'W

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST. COAST.

271

raoutb of the wearer, and is firmly gripped iu the teeth to hold the mask iu place. Above this becket the mask is recessed or hollowed slightly, to give a clearauce to the uose of the wearer. Altogether it may be seen to be a very clumsy method of protecting the face. Other kiuds of masks were worn to protect the face iu war, haviug the addi- tioual objects of representing in their carved outlines the totem of the wearer, or, by their hideousness and grotesqueness, of striking terror to the enemy by lending to the effect of their menacing gestures the ap- pearance of some superhuman being. Often these masks were so mas- sive as to be worn without helmets or head pieces. Straps or thongs ot leather fasten them to the head, or a loop of cedar bark cord in the hollow side of the mask is held in the teeth.

The ceremonial masks are carved from spruce or yellow cedar and are generally very elaborate, being highly colored in grotesque or hide- ous designs, and often inlaid with abalone shell or copper. The eyes are pierced through to enable the wearer to see about him, and the mouth is also usually cut through, or, if not, teeth are carved or inlaid in bone. Lips, teetb, nostrils, and eyelids are sometimes represented in copper. The top of the mask is usually bordered either with hair, feathers, or down. By means of ingeniously concealed mechanism the eyes are sometimes made to roll and the jaws and beak to snap. (See Fig. 60, Plate xvi). Some of them, representing ravens and cranes, have beaks projecting from two to four or five feet. In con- junction with the masks are often worn wooden tins or wings on the back of the head or on the back at the shoulders. Fig. 59, Plate xvi, represents the raven as a ceremonial mask with lips of copper, sur- mounted by a tall flu of wood representing the fin of the orca or killer. This is fringed with human hair, and the figure carries in its mouth a bow and arrow of copper. Fig. 50 represents a woman's face, with nose and lip ornaments of conventional pattern, and with curiously painted lines iu unsymmetrical design. A variety of masks are sketched in the foreground of Plate lxvii. The custom of wearing wooden masks and head-dresses in ceremouies and dances is found throughout the whole northwest c<?ast from the Aleuts to Puget Sound. There is a large collection of these iu the National Museum, which in themselves are worthy of separate illustration. The limits of this paper admit only of presenting the few shown in Plates xvi and lxvii.

Ceremonial Batons, Wands, etc.— In Plates xvi and xvii are repre- sented various ceremonial implements carried in the hands of the chiefs and shamans on state occasions, and permitted to be carried only by men of such rank. Fig. 54 is a carved representation of a bow, the figures on the ends representing the whale. It is carried by the Haida shamans in their medicine dances. Fig. 58 is a ceremonial bow carried by a Haida chief. The two carved heads represent the bear. Carved ceremonial arrows go with this type of bow, and in them we see the survival of the ancient weapon as a purely ceremonial emblem, just aa

272 KEPOKT OF NATIONAL IMUSEUM, 1888.

to-day we have the court sword as a survival of the sword or rapier carried by gentlemen of other periods. In the same way, Fig. 63 is a Tliugit ceremonial dance wand in the shape of a dagger; and Fig. 64 is a Haida baton (called by them Taskear), in the shape of a war hince of earlier days. Fig. 55 is a fragment of an ancient Haida baton {TasM or Tasl'car,) the lower part being missing. The top figure of the carving represents the raven, below that the crow, and then the whale. Be- tween the whale and the next lower figure, which is Skamson, the spar- row-hawk, is a spindle and socket, which pull apart. The sparrow-hawk rests on SMIUl; the ceremonial hat, which in turn rests on Tsing, the beaver. This baton is carried in the hand by the chief on the occasion of a great potlatch or feast. At a given signal the two parts are sepa- rated and the distribution of presents begins, the chief retaining one part in each hand. Fig. 57 is a carved cane or wand from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, inlaid with pearl shell, and is the finest spe- cimen of native carving from the southern Indians in the Museum. Figs. 61, 62, and 65 are types of the Haida chiefs' batons or Taslcears; they are held in the hand on occasions of ceremony. At a potlatch the chief calls the name of the recipient of a present, and then thumps on the floor if the gift is satisfactory to the guests, as explained later on. In the totemic theatrical exhibitions these batons indicate the totem and rank of the bearer. When a chief dies and is laid out in state the baton stands near his body. In Fig. 61 the top figure is a chief wear- ing a ceremonial hat, or Skillik, similar to the grass hat in Fig. 40. Tbe lower carved figure is the frog. In Fig. 65 the upper figure is Koot, the eagle, and the lower Tsing, the beaver.

Rattlea, Snappers, and Whistles. — In dealing with ceremonial parapher- nalia it might be well to describe here all the accessories of ceremo- nial costumes, such as the accompanying rattles, snappers, drums, whistles, etc. These, however, are reserved for Chapter VII, where they are dealt with as musical instruments.

Ceremonial Blankets. — In connection with Plates ix and x, a very well-known type of chiefs ceremonial costume has been described in this chapter. The Chilkat and cedar bark blankets are important factors in all ceremonial dances and functions. Other forms of ceremonial blankets or mantles are made from Hudson Bay Company blankets, with totemic figures worked on them in a variety of ways. The usual method is to cut out the totemic figure in red cloth and sew it on to the garment (or- namenting it with borders of beads and buttons) by the method known as applique work; another method is to sew pieces of bright abalone or pearl shell or pearl buttons on to the garment in the totemic patterns. Plate XIX well illustrates the applique method. Fig. 74, Plate xix, is a vestment which hangs pendant down the back, representing the totem or crest of the wearer. Fig. 75 represents a cloak with a neck opening ornamented in red cloth with the totemic design of the tJrca or killer.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVI,

Ceremonial Dance Paraphernalia.

Fig. 54. Ceremonial Baton or Wand. In form of a bow. The ends represent the head and tail of the whale. Carried bj- the Sliaman in medicine dances. Cat. No. 89099, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected bj' James G. Swan.

Fig. 55. Carved Cane (Taski). Carried in the hand of tlie medicine man at a potlatch. Cat. No. 88133. Masset Indians (Haida), Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 56. 3Iask. Representing woman's face with nose-ring and ceremonial i)aint. Cat. No. 21570, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Alaska. Collected by Dr. J. B. White, U. S. Army.

Fig. 57. Carved Ceremonial Cane. Cat. No. 150847, U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl In- dians, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 58. Carved Ceremonial Bow. Bear's head in relief. Carried by chief in cer- emonies and dances as a wand, baton, or emblem of rank. Cat. No- 89096, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 59. Mask. Representing Hooyeh, the raven, with bow and arrow of copper in his mouth and with the fin of the orca above the head. Cat. No. 89043, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Laskeek. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected By James G. Swan.

Fig. 60. Mask. Representing a demon with mechanical apparatus for rolling the eyes and snapping the jaws. Teeth of cojiper. Cat. No. 89042, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Repo^ of National Museum, 1 888.— Niblack.

Plate XVI.

Ceremonial Dance Paraphernalia.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVII,

Chief and Shaman Ceremonial Batons.

Fig. 61. Chief's Baton (faskear). Cedax* wood. Carried on ceremonial occasions to denote rank. Lower figure, a frog ; upper, cliief with ceremonial hat. Cat. No. 89097, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 63. Chief's Baton (taskear). In dancing or when presiding over a feast the chief thumps on the floor with his baton to emphasize the time or to at- tract attention when al)out to speak. Cat. No. 89095, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 63. Dance Wand. Carried in the hand. Ornamented with human hair. Cat. No. 127169. U. S. N. M. Hoodsinoo Indians (Koluschan stock), Alaska. Collected by Paymaster E. B. Webster, U. S. Navy.

Fig. 64. Dance Wand. Of wood, in imitation of ancient war spear. The carved head is ornamented with human hair. Cat. No. 74527, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 65. Chief's Ceremonial Baton. Carved. Upper figure. Koot, the eagle ; lower, Tsing, the beaver. Cat. No. 89098, U. S. N. jM. Haida Indians, Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 66. Shaman's Baton or Wand. Supposed to possess magical powers. Carried by medicine man in his ceremonies. Cat. No. 89100, U.S. N. M. Haida Indians, Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Col- lected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XVII.

Chief and Shaman Ceremonial Batons.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVlll

Red-cedar Bark Paraphernalia from the Northwest Coast, and Ancient Rattle.

Figs. 67. 6y. and 69. Head-Dresses. Of cedar-bark rope, stained red with tlie juire of tlie alder. Worn in the winter ceremonial dances of the Kwakiutl and other southern coast Indians. This style borrowed by the northern Indians and worn by them in their ceremonials, but not witli the same significance as in the south. Cat. Nos. 20849. 20910. Hoodsinoo Indians, Admiralty Island, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 70. Necklace. Of cedar-bark rope, like those above, with pendent tassels of cedar-bark twine. Worn over right shoulder and under right arm. Figs. 67. 68, 69, 70, are Cat. Nos. 129013-15. U. S. N. M. Talcomk, sub- tribe of Bilqula Indians, Vancouver Island. British Columbia. Col- lected by Dr. Franz Boas.

Fig. 71. Girdle or Necklace. Of cedar-bark rope. Worn around the neck with the pendant down the back of the wearer in the south previous to going on a whaling expedition. Amongst the Haida it is simply a ceremonial ornament. No number.

Fig. 72. Sash. Of cedar-bark rope. Worn over the shoulder. Ornamented with gulls' down. Cat. No. 72701. U. S. N. M. Stikine Indians. Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 73. Rattle. Ancient form. Made of wood with pendent beaks of thejniflfin This type of rattle is mentioned by many of the early voyagers. No number.

Report of National Museum. 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XVIII.

Red-cedar Bark Paraphernalia from the Northwest Coast, and Ancient Rattle.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIX.

CHIEF'S Blue Cloth Ceremonial Vestment.

Fig. 74. The design represents the hahbut, worked on in red cloth, edged witli bead and button trnnniings. While it is a modern garment, it shows the artistic skill of these Indians in working up every article of personal pi'operty into a totemic design. As a cei-emonial vestment it is worn pendent down the back. Cat. No. 20679, U. S. N. M. Tsimshian In- dians, Port Simpson, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XIX.

CHIEF'S Blue Cloth Ceremonial Vestment.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

273

It is in the form of a truncated cone, with no openings for the arms. Other forms of ceremonial blankets are simply square pieces of cloth to go about the shoulders, ornamented in totemic designs, or with i^end-

Fis- 75. Shaman's Cloak.

(Cat. No. 89197, U. S. N. M. Skidegate, B. C. Collected by James G. Swan.)

ant puffin beaks or deer hoofs attached to a long fringe. These are sometimes of tanned deer skin, having the design painted on in a regu- lar pattern in black and red colors.

Ceremonial shirts or coats. — Fig. 34, Plate x, represents a woven cer- emonial coat of mountain goat's wool as already described. Other forms are made of cloth or blanket material and ornamented with to- temic designs, as described above. Fig. 75a represents the Sea Lion, and Fig. 756 is a rear view of the same coat ornamented with a design of Wasko, a mythological animal of the wolf species. The edges and arm- holes are bordered with red cloth, and the whole garment is neatly made. Fig. 80, Plate xxi, represents a buckskin coat, with the right side fringed aod open and the left side sewed up, having an arm-hole for the left arm. The bottom is also fringed, and the neck-hole slit to admit the head. The design represents the bear. It is a Tlingit garment, loaned to the Museum by Mr. Max B. Eichardson, of Oswego, New York. Other ceremonial coats are illustrated in the accompanying plates.

Ceremonial leggings. — These are of buckskin, blue cloth, blanket stuff, or of goat's wool, woven as shown in Plate x, Fig. 33a. A very common type IS seen in Fig. 36, Plate x, fringed and ornamented with pend- ant beaks of the puffin, shown in the detail of the same figure. Other kinds are cut out in the pattern or outline of some totemic animal and either painted in design or worked on in colored cloth by the applique method. They are secured to the leg by straps of cloth or bucksUiii and are usually worn in conjunction with moccasins or the bare feet. H. Mis. 142, pt. 2 18

274 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

Fig. 75a. Cerkmonial Shirt.

(Cat. No. 89194, U. S. N. M. Skidegate, B. C. Collect by .lames G. Swan.)

Fig. 15b.

Rear View of Fig. 75a.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XX.

Carvings on Rocks, and Stone Implements from the Northwest Coast.

From photographs by the author.

Fig. 76. Ancient Tlingit Sculptures. Carved on the rocks on the beach near Foi-t Wrangell, Alaska. The figure represents the orca or whale- killer.

Fig. 77. Ancient Tlingit Sculptures. Representing several human faces and conventional designs.

Fig. 79. Primitive Stone Implements, a is a scraper for removing the inner in- tegument or bark from the trunk of the pine tree for food; 6 is a small stone hammer: c, a heavy stone sledge; d. an adze, of which e is a side view: /, a variety of stone adze blades (see Plate XXIII): g, a type of adze, sliowing method of hafting: h, a scraper used in the process of tanning hides. Haida Indians, Dixon Entrance. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XX.

Carvings on Rocks, and Stone Implements from the Northwest Coast.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXI.

Tlingit Ceremonial Buckskin Shirt.

Made of two thicknesses of buckskin, .sewed up on the left side; open on the rigJit. The )ieck-opening is slit to admit the head. The figure is painted on tlie front in black and red colors, and rejuvsents the totem of the Bear. Cat. No. 180588, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Alaska. Lent by Max. B. Richardson, of Oswego, N. Y.

Report of National Museum, 1888— Niblack.

Plate XXI.

Tlingit Ceremonial Buckskin Shirt.

THE INDIANS. OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 275

Slave'Mllers, — These are ceremonial iinpleiuents formerly used by the chiefs in dispatching the slaves selected as victims of sacrifice on occasions of building a liouse, or on the death of a chief or other impor- tant personage, as described in Chapter xiii. Some varieties of these instruments are illustrated in Plate xlvi. The pointed ends were driven by a quick blow into the skull of the victim, whose body was accorded special consideration in burial. They seem in general to have been made of bone, or of wood tii^ped with stone. Naturally, with the advent of the whites, this custom has had to be abandoned, and these implements have, in time, become very rare.

V.

FOOD; IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS; HUNTING AND FISHING. FOOD: ITS PREPARATION AND HOW OBTAINED.

Food. — Fish and berries form the staff of life amougst the Indians of this region. Around the summer camps, at all times, can be seen strips of halibut or salmon suspended in the smoke of the dwelling-houses, or drying in the open air on frames erected for the purpose. In the sum- mer season there is an abundance of all kinds of food, but the energies of the Indians are directed to laying up a stock for winter's use. Hali- but abound from March to November, and are readily caught on their favorite banks, known to the natives who camp near such localities. Halibut and salmon, fresh and dried, form the basis of the food supi)ly. The salmon are caught during the "runs." After the daily wants are supplied, and a sufficient number dried for winter's use, the surplus fish are converted into oil. This oil, as well as all other kinds, is used as a sauce, into which nearly everything is dipped before eating. Seal and porpoise flesh, or blubber, is esteemed a great delicacy, although tbey will not eat whale's blubber for superstitious reasons. Any kind of meat of wild animals is eaten when procurable, but it is only in recent years that they have ever salted down or dried meat for winter's use. Other kinds of fish, such as cod, herring, and eulachon, are much esteemed. During tbe run of herring large quantities are dried or pressed into oil. Eulachon {Thaleichthys pacificus), the so-called "candle-fish," a kind of smelt, run in March and April at the mouth of the Skeena, Nass, and Stikeen Rivers. These have the greatest proportion of fatty matter known in any fish. In frying they melt almost completely into oil, and need cnly the iasertion of some kind of a wick to serve as a candle.

Fish roe. — The roe of fish is esteemed a great delicacy, and great care is taken to collect it in the water, or remove it from captured fish. It is either eaten fresh, or dried and preserved for winter's use, when it is eaten in two ways: (1) It is pounded between two stones, diluted with water, and beaten with wooden spoons into a creamy consistency; or (2) it is boiled with sorrel and different dried berries, and molded in wooden frames into cakes about 12 inches square and 1 inch thick.

Herbs and berries. — Roots, herbs, berries, and snails are amongst tbe luxuries of the summer season. Raspberries, salmon berries, straw- berries, currauts, red and blue huckleberries, salal, and thimble berries abound late in the summer. Some of these are collected and dried for

276

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 277

winter's use, forming, with the dried fish, the principal winter's supply Poole (1863) says of the Haida, that they often, through feasting or improvidence, eat up all the dried berries before spring, and " were it not for a few bulbs which they dig out of the soil in the early spring- time, while awaiting the halibut season, numbers of Indians really would starve to death."*

Portlock mentions the root of the wild lily as very much used by the Tlingit. Crab-apples are found, but are scarcely edible. Wild parsnips are abundant and palatable. Many years ago an American ship cap- tain gave the Indians potatoes, and they are now regularly cultivated, and form a considerable item in the winter food supply. Other vegeta- bles may be and are grown. Near all the villages now may be seen j)atches of ground planted, howev^er, principally in potatoes.

Oil. — Fish is eaten dried by breaking it up and soaking the bits in fish-oil or grease, having the consistency of uncooled jelly. This oil is obtained from seals, porpoises, herring, salmon, eulachon, goat, deer, bear, and the livers of the dog-fish, shark, and other vertebrates. It is the odor of this rancid oil which permeates everything Indian, and renders a visit to a lodge on the northwest coast somewhat of an ordeal.

Invertebrates. — Invertebrates and several species of marine algae or

sea- weed are eaten. Of the former there are clams, crabs, cuttle-fish,

-and mussels or oysters, the last named being often poisonous at certain

seasons. The clams, echinoderms, and sea-weed are gathered at ebb

tide. The shell fish are usually eaten in the winter months.

Sea-iceed. — The seaweed is dried for winter's use and pressed into a kind of cake, like plug tobacco. A species of it, quite black when dried, is used for making a dish called sopallaly, of which the Indians are im- moderately fond. This is made by breaking up a very small piece of the pressed sopallaly cake into little bits in a bowl or dish and adding warm water. It is then beaten with a wooden spoon and sugar is added. It froths and foams like the white of an Qgg or like soap, and gradually turns from a terracotta color to white. Berries, fresh or dried, are sometimes added, and the mixture is consumed with avidity by old and young. Langsdorflf (1805) says in spring and summer the Tlingit gather several sorts of sea- weed, which, " when cooked, make a bitterish sort of soup." t

He mentions also " a sort of square cake made of the bark of the spruce fir, pounded and mixed with the roots, berries and train oil." t

Baric. — The inner bark of the spruce and hemlock forms an important part of the food supply of the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian. The southern Indian eats pine bark. Plate xx. Fig. 79a, shows a stone scraper used by the northern Indians for removing this inner bark from the trunk. The scrapings are molded into cakes about a foot square

* Poole, Queeu Charlotte Islands, p. 315. tLangsdorff, Voyages, Pt. li, p. 131.

278 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

and an inch thick, dried and preserved for winter's use. It is eaten, like dried fish, with oil as a sauce.

Birds. — The Indians are remarkably fond of wild fowl, but the diffi- culties of shooting and entrapping them with their ordinary imple- ments and means have made them a very inconsiderable source of their food supply. At certain seasons, however, they capture them by strat egy. Wild geese they catch after they have shed their large wing- feathers and are unable to fly.* At other times they hunt wild fowl by night with torches and fell them with clubs. Poole (1864) thus de- scribes bird slaughtering amongst the Kwakiutl:

The birds, which are small but plump, burro vr their holes in the sand-banks on the shores. When the slaughtering season arrives the Indians prepare torches composed of long sticks having the tips smeared with gum taken from the pine trees. Armed with handy clubs, they then place these lighted torches at the mouths of the holes, and as soon as the birds, attracted by the glare, flutter forth, they fell them to the ground.!

Birds' Eggs. — Birds' eggs are collected, wherever possible, in early summer. The Haida derive their supply from the outlying rocks of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Kaigaui make trips out to Forrester and other islands. Each location is pre-empted by particular families, and considered hereditary property, which is handed down from gen- eration to generation.

Cooking and Preparation of Food. — Dried fish, bark, roe, etc., are eaten with grease or oil, as before stated. Salmon roe is buried in boxes on the beach, washed by the tide, and eaten in a decomposed state. The heads of salmon and halibut are esteemed a great luxury when putrefied in the tide or salt water. Meat is either broiled on a stick, roasted on hot stones, or boiled in a kettle. Before the intro- duction of kettles, meat was boiled in a wooden dish or water-tight basket by means of red hot stones added to the water. Fresh, fish and cuttle fish are alwa\'s cooked. Oil is extracted from the livers of dog- fish and stranded sharks and whales, to sell to the whites. Oil is ob- tained in ditferent localities from salmon, herring, eulachon, and pollock. The fish is usually allowed to partially putrefy and then boiled in wooden boxes by means of hot stones dropped in the water. The grease or oil is skimmed from the surface. The refuse is squeezed in mats, and the grease obtained is stored in boxes. Sometimes this grease or oil is run , into the hollow stalks of giant kelp, which have been tanned or pre- pared beforehand as follows: The stalks are soaked in fresh water to extract the salt, dried in the sun or in the smoke of the dwelling, and theu toughened and made pliable with oil, rubbed thoroughly in. In this form of storage the oil is as portable as in bottles, or in jars, with less danger of breakage. Birds or wild fowls are toasted on a stick before a slow fire without any previous plucking or cleaning, and the feathers and skin removed afterward. The entrails are supposed to add a decidedly better flavor to the bird.

* Portlock, Voyage, p. 265. t Poole, Queen Charlotte Islands, p. 284.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXII,

Primitive Stone Implements from the Northwest Coast, with Wooden Wedge for

SPLITTING Wood.

Fig. 81. Stone Hammer OR Sledge. Head of basalt; haft of wood. The drawing shows method of hafting. Cat. No. 88820, U. S. N. M. Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 82. Stone Sledge. Head of basalt; handle of wood: lashing of spruce root. Cat. No. 88815, U. S. N. M. Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, Britisli Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fio-. 83. Stone Pestle. For grinding paint, and sometimes used as a hand weapon. Cat. No. 89011, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 84. Wooden Wedge. Body of spruce or cedar; lashing on the hea'd of twisted spruce root. Used in splitting logs and getting out timber for industi-ial purposes. Cat. No. 72679, U. S. N. M. Makah Indians, Cape Flattery, Washington. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 85, Stone Sledge. Head of basalt: lashing of raw-hide. Cat. No. 20596. U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl Indians, Bella Bella, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 86. Stone Sledge. Head of basalt: lashing of spruce root. Cat. No. 20893, U. S. N. M. Kaigani Indians (Haida). Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XXII.

Primitive Stone Implements from the Northwest Coast, with Wooden Wedge for

SPLITTING Wood.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 2^9

Wbeu the salmon or halibut are caught, it is the duty of the womeu to cleau and dry them. The head is cut oflf, the fish slit dowu the back, back-boue aud eutrails removed, and the tail and fins cut off'. The cleaned fish is then cut into long flakes, which are hung on a wooden frame, and cured, without salt, either in the sun or by means of a slow fire beneath. Sometimes they are dried in the smoke of the dwellings. The fish when dried are either wrapped in bark or stored in chests or boxes, and stowed for future use out of the reach of the dogs and children. When bear, deer, goats, or other game are killed, the skin is not generally removed from the carcass until most of the flesh has been eaten. In this way the skin forms a wrapper to preserve and protect the flesh. Grease obtained by boiling the meat is skimmed from the surface of the water and esteemed a great delicacy.

INDUSTRIAL IMPLEMENTS OR TOOLS.

In general. — Primitive tools were of stone, the most common edged ones beiug of flint, or a peculiar hard green jadeite, or, where possible to obtain it, of jade, which last named they got from the north in trade. Eough tools and implements, such as sledges, hammers, mortars, pes- tles, scrapers, etc., were of igneous rock, roughly carved in the totem of the owner. The knives for more delicate carvings in wood were of copper, flint, jade, or the bones of fishes and mammals, the work being smoothed down with shark skin used as a sand-paper. Steel has now been substituted for stone in all of their tools, but the native shape has been in a measure retained.

Hammers and Sledges. — These were of hard igneous stone, rudely carved, and are used here aud there even to this day. Figs. 81, 82, 85, and 86, Plate xxii, represent a variety of these as regards shapes, sizes, and methods of hafting, while Plate XX, Figs. 79, h and c, show a very primitive form of hammer and sledge-head, respectively.

Adzes. — A variety of adz-blades of a green jade-like stone are shown in Fig. 79, same plate, d, e, and/. Figs. 88 and 89, Plate xxiii, are other varieties of this pick-shaped blade, of which Figs. 90 and 91 show methods of hafting. A more handy variety of adz, for finishing and planing work, is shown in Fig. 79 g, f being a variety of blades as re- gards size. The methods of hafting this flat-shaped blade throughout the northwest coast are shown in Fig. 79 g and Figs. 87, 92, 93, and 94, Plate XXIII. Iron or steel is now substituted for stone, aud the favor- ite form is that made by sharpening the end of a broad flat file. Dixon (1787) says the only stone implement he saw amongst the Tlingit an<l Haida was an adze made of jasper, " the same as those used by the New Zealanders."*

Knives. — Before the introduction of iron the only metal available was copper. This was not used for industrial i^urposes, as knives, on ac-

* Dixon, Voyage, p. 224.

280

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

M.

count of its softness. Ohief reliance was placed in jade, flint, or other stone, and upon shells and bone. In the Emmons Collection in the Museum of Natural Historj- in New York are two primitive Tlingit stone knives, with horn handles, and illustrated in Figs. 99 a and 99 h. The handles are of deer horn, the blades of jade, and the lashing of buckskin. Marchand (1791) expressed his astonishment at the elab- orately carved posts in front of the Haida houses of Queen Charlotte Isl- ands, which, he says, were fashioned out with " a sharp stone, hafted on a i' ' ,///M branch of a tree, the bone of a quadru- ped, the bone of one fish and the rough i" I '«/ skin of another."* On the introduction

of iron, which both Cook and Dixon attribute to the Russians, the Indians were not slow to adapt it to their pur- l)0ses. Dixon says that in Captain Cook's time "'iron implements were then also in use" among the Tlingit and Haida, while, in 1787, their knives were "so very thin that they bend them into a variety of forms, which answer their every purpose nearly as well as if they had recourse to a carpenter's tool chest." t This applies, however, equally well to-day, as Plate xxiv will show. Figs. 97 to 103, inclusive, illus- trate a variety of knives from the north- west coast, all of similar design or pat- tern, those from the north, however, having their handles carved with totemic designs after the usual custom of this region. Figs. 95 and 9G represent fish knives of a simple pattern, which replaced those of shell formerly used. Fig. 103 represents a pat- tern not uncommon in the north, being, besides a dagger, an all around knife for carving, cleaning fish, cutting up game, etc., much as a bowie knife is used by the trapper of the interior.

Scrapers. — Two varieties of stone scrapers are shown in Plate xx,Fig. 79a and k. The former is a very j)rimitive instrument used for scraping off the inner bark of the spruce and hemlock for food. The latter is a stone skin scraper used in cleaning hides in the process of tanning. These are also of bone, as shown in Fig. 79fc from the Emmons collection, and are often ornamented with totemic designs, as in the specimen shown. Mortars and pestles. — Stowed away in the older houses of the different

* Quoted by J. G. Swau, in Smithsou. Gout, to Knowledge, 267, p. 12. t Dixouj Voyage, p. 243.

Figs. 99a and 99&. Stone Bladed Knives.

(Hillda. Emmons Collection.)

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXII!,

Primitive Stone and Steel Implements from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. ST. Stone Adze. Rudest form; showing mode of hafting. See Plate XX, 79/. Cat. No. 43234, U. S. N. M. Tlingit. Alaska. Collected by Com- mander Beardslee. U. S. Navy.

Fig. 88. Stone Adze Blade. Hafting shown in Fig. 91. Cat. No. 88996. U. S. N. M. Tsimshian Indians. Fort Simpson, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 89. Sime as Fig. 88. Cat. No. S9013. U. S. N. M.

Fig. 90. Stone Adze. Witli lashing of twi.sted spruce root. See also Plate XX. Fig. 79. d and e. Cat. No. 88816. U. S. N. M. Masset Indians (Haida). Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 91. Same as Fig. 90. Cat. No. 88720. U. S. N. M.

Fig. 92. Hand Adze. Blade of steel; handle of bone. Cat. No. 23376, U. S. N. M. Makah Indians (Wakashan stock). Cape Flattery, Washington. Col- lected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 93. Adze. Blade of steel. Cat. No. 23462, U. S. N. M. Clallam Indians (Sal- ishan stock), Washington. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 94. Adze. Blade of steel: general noilh west type. Hafting same as used for- merly on stone blades. See Plate XX, Fig. 79/. Kwakiutl Indians. Bella Bella. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museu.-n, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XXIII.

Primitive Stone and Steel Implements from the Northwest Coast.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXIV,

Industrial Implements or Tools— Knives from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 95. Fish Knife. Steel. Used in cleaning- and inepaiing fish for drying. Cat. No. 74378, U. S. N. 'SI. Tlingit, Sitka, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 96. Fish Knife. Steel, with copper handle. Cat. No. 88772, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Masset. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig, 97. Wood-carving Knife. Blade of steel. The end of the blade Jp curved to make the deep cuts of relief-carving. Cat. No. 129977n, U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl Indians, Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 98. WooD-CARViNG Knife. Straight blade of steel: liandle carved to represent a sea-lion. Cat. No. 129977?). U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl Indians, Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 99. WooD-CARViNG Knife. Cat. No. 129978a, U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl In- dians. Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Collected b}' James G. Swan.

Fig. 100. Wood-carving Knife. Cat. No. 129978b. U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl In- dians. Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Collected l)y James G. Swan.

Fig. 101. Wood-carving Knife. Curved end of blade. Cat. No. 20831, U. S. N. M. Kaigani Indians. Prince of Wales Island. Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 102. Wood-carving Knife. Carving represents Hooyeh, the raven. Cat. No. 67831. U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka. Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 103. Knife. Used as a weapon and for carving wood, cutting np meat, fish, etc. Cat. No. 74267, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Col- lected bv John J. McLean.

Report of National Museum, 1 888.— Niblack.

PLATE XXIV.

Industrial Implements or Tools-Knives from the Northwest Coast.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

281

villages are now found large and small stone mortars and pestles, sur prisingly well carved in totemic designs.

These were by some people supposed to indicate that in early days these Indians ground maize, as did and do the huntiug ludians ot the interior, but such is not the case, as they were unacquainted with cereals of any kind. These mortars were used for an entirely different purpose. In the larger ones were ground and prepared the tobacco plugs for chewing; in the smaller were mixed and ground the different i^aints used for the bodj', masks, carviugs, and all the various purposes to which these native pigments were and are now applied. Fig. 83, Plate xxii, represents a paint-pestle, which was also used as a weapon or missile, carried in the hand in times of local feuds, brawls, and quarrels. Fig. 83a represents a pestle of this kind in the Jilmmons Col- lection already referred to. Another variety of pestle is shown in Plate lxiii, Fig 338. Fig. 339 of same plate is an ancient tobacco mortar of marble or calcite, rfeatly carved on the exterior with a totemic design. Other mortars carved in likeness of frogs, birds, fishes, and flower-pots are found throughout the northern region.

Wedges. — These are usually of wood and formerly were entirely so. Now, however, iron wedges are some- times used. These, in any case, are for splitting up logs into boards, and in getting out timber in the rough generally. A very useful type of wooden wedge is shown in Fig. 84, Plate xxii, general throughout the coast. These were used in connection with the heavy sledges shown in the same plate. The heads of the

Fig. 79A-. Bone Skin Scraper.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collec- tion. )

^/r^^^M^^S^^^'^^tt^i&^gS!'^**' 4v ii^t.

Fig. 83fl.. Paint Pestle.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collectioa )

wedges are protected, or prevented from splitting, by a grommet woven from tough withes or from spruce root and put on as shown in the

282

KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

illustration. The skill with which huge slabs, rafters, and boards are gotten out with the rough tools employed is surprising.

Chisels.— 'A primitive type of chisel is shown in Fig. 78, consisting of a green stone blade mounted in a wooden handle. The blade is similar in shape to those of the adzes. This instrument was used in roughing down the surface, the smoothing being done by scraping with sharp-edged shells or stones, or even by rubbing with shark or dog-fish skin to get a finished surface.

Drills. — Holes, where drilled, were made by patient digging with a pointed instrument of stone or bone, or by driving in a copper spike and withdrawing it. Joints were made by dovetailing, mortising, tonguing and grooving, or notching and lashing, great ingenuity being shown in avoiding the necessity for pegs or nails. Paintbrushes. — These are shown in all their varieties in Plate XLV, A and B, and are well adapted to the neat work demanded of them. Bristles, hair, and vege- table fiber are the materials used for the brush-heads. The handles of those from the northern region are carved with the usual totemic designs.

Other tools and implements adapted to special uses in their arts and industries will be described in Chapter VII.

\\

WEAPONS OF WAR AND OF THE CHASE.

Weapons. — The principal weapons before the advent of the whites were clubs of wood and stone, bows and arrows, spears with shell, bone, flint, copper, or jade tips, and, above all, the dagger, the constant companion p; 7g of the Indian of this region.

Chisel. Cluhs.— These were of wood, of stone, or of stone

f Emmons Collection.) haftcd wlth wood. Thc haftcd stone clubs were simply industrial implements already described and used for the time being as weapons. A Tsimshian stone war-club is illustrated in Fig. 122, Plate XXVII. A Tlingit stone war-club in the Emmons Collection, New York is shown in Fig. I19a. It is possible that the slave-killers, shown in Plate xlvi were also carried as weapons, although no war-clubs of this type are now found in this region. Plate xxviii illustrates a variety of clubs used for different purposes. Fig. 132 is a war-club pure and simple, the others being hunting or fishing implements and used to give the death-blow to seals, sea-otters, or fish after their cap- ture by the different methods explained hereafter. These are all carved either with the totemic design of the owner or a representation of the animal itself. Each club is used distinctly for the purpose of dispatch-

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

283

ing the animal for which it was made. Figs. 128 and 129 are sea-otter clubs ; Figs. 130 and 131 are seal clubs. The halibut and other lish clubs are similar in design. A type not here illustrated is a round wooden knob with straight handle.

Baggers. — Dixon (1787) says of the Ilaida and Tlingit:

Their weapons are spears fixed to a pole 6 or 8 feet long, and a kind of short dagger, which is worn in a leather case, and tied round the body; to this dagger a leather thong is fastened, at the end of which is a hole for the middle finger; the leather is afterwards twisted round the wrist in order to fix the dagger firm in the hand, so that the warrior loses his weapon only with his life.*

The handle is generally nearer one end than the other, giving a long blade and a short one. The leather sheath is usually strapped to the waist or hung about the neck, concealed be- neath the blanket. The handle is small in diameter, wrapped with leather, and secured by a thoDg to the wrist when carried in the hand. The blades are flat and thicker down the middle than towards the edges, being generally grooved on each side of the center ridge. All varieties of patterns, how- ever, are found, the different types being well represented in Plate xxv, of which Fig. 108 represents a primi- tive dagger of copper inlaid with hali- otis shell, while Fig. 107 is the same type, of steel, with copper mountings. Fig. lOld is a sheath of buckskin for the short blade of the dagger, and 107e the same for the long blade, the latter having, as shown, a strap to go about the neck. The dagger shown in Fig. 107 is from the Copper Eiver Indians, but is clearly a Tlingit type, having undoubtedly reached that region in the course of trade. Fig. 106 shows a one-bladed dagger with a carved handle. Fig. 104, with its three details, a, b, and c, shows the method of securing the handle to the blade. Fig. 1 05 is a Tlingit chief's dagger. The edges of all of them are rather dull and the points somewhat blunt, but the execution which these deadly weapons do is in the force with which they are driven into an

Fig. 122a. Stone Wab-Club.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

Dix(fn, Voyage, p. 244.

284

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

adversary. The two primitive types of copper daggers seen by Dixon (1787) in this region are reproduced from sketches in his Voyage, p. 188, in Plate xxvii, Figs. 116 and 117. Amongst the Aleut and Tinne to

n

Fig. 1086. Stone Dagger.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

Fig. 108c. Stone-bladed Dagger.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

the north the type of dagger is that shown in Fig. 118, described also by Portlock (1787)*. This type is found in the Yukon region and well

* Portlock, Voyage, p. 261.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXV,

Fig.	104
Fig.	105
Fig.	106
Fig.	107

Fig. 108.

Copper and Steel Daggers with Sheaths of Buckskin and Moose Hide.

Dagger. Steel blade; cedar- wood handle, sshowing method of attach- ment. Cat. No. 74264, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka, Alaska. Collected by Jolm J. McLean.

Dagger. Steel blade; carved wooden handle, representing an Indian chief sitting. (Sheath of moose hide to the left.) Cat. No. 74362, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Dagger. Steel blade; carved cedar-wood handle. Cat. No. 76463, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

DoUBLE-BLADED DAGGER. With copper monntings; Tlingit type. Prob- ably acquired by Copper River Indians through trade. Fig. 107e is buckskin sheath with neck-strap. Fig. 107rf is the sheath for the short blade. Cat. No. 88702, U. S. N. M. Atna or Copper River Indians (Athapaskan stock), Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Dagger. Of copper; double-headed; primitive type: elaborately chased and inlaid with abalone shell. Cat. No. 89020, U. S. N. M. Haida In- dians, Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands British Columbia. Col- lected bv James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1 888.— Nibiack.

Plate XXV.

Copper and Steel Daggers with Sheaths of Buckskin and Moose Hide.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

285

back into the interior. Fig. 116 is a slight modification in the type of 117, iu the direction of 118. The first daggers that were made of steel, after the advent of the whites, were converted by the natives from large flat files, which they also made into adze blades. The skill- ful manner in which the Indians gronnd down the files into beauti- fully fluted daggers challenged the admiration of the traders, who found the work as skillfully done as that by European metal- workers. The primitive dagger was of stone or boue. Those of bone were of the shape shown in Fig. 107, Plate xxv, with a sharp ridge running down the middle. Fig. 1086 represents a Tlingit stone dagger from the Emmons Collection Fig. 108c from the same source, has a blade of stone and handle of wood covered in totemic design. Another dagger of jadeite or nephrite, not here represented, is a long jirism of square cross-section pointed at each end, about three-fourths inch on a side, with the handle about one-third of the distance from one end. Fig. ] 08d is a steel dagger, also from this collection, of native workmanship. The edges are very sharp, and it is an exceedingly dangerous weap- on. The handle is covered with plate copper, as shown. Fig. 108e is a Tlingit steel dagger also from the Emmons Collection. The handle is wrapped with buck- skin strips, and outside of all is wound a cord of plaited human hair. Fig. 108/ is a Tlingit ivory guard for the point of a dag- ger to protect the wearer from

danger of accidental stabbing. Fig. ISOg is an ivory dagger edge guard for fastening over the sharp edged point of a dagger. Both of

Fig. IQSd. Steel Daggek.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collec- tion.)

Fig. 108e. Steel Dagger.

(Tlingit. Emmoi tion. )

Colleo

286

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

these specimens are from the Emmons Collection, bladed dagger with goat-horn handle.

Fig. lOSh is a steel-

Fig. 108/.

Ivory Guard for Dagger Point.

(Tlingits. Emmons Collection.)

Fig. 108if. IVOUY GUAUD for

Dagger.

Botes and arrows. — In course of trade many of the Eski- mo types of bows and arrows have found their way south amongst the Indians, particu- larly amongst the Yakutat and other northern Tlingit. With the Eskimo and Aleut the bow and arrow is, equally with the

the

V.

//

harpoon, a weapon of the greatest importance, and a high type of each has been developed. The backing of sinew on the bow is occasionally found amongst the Tlingit, but not so skillfully applied as in the north (see Smithsonian Report, 1884, "A Study of the Eskimo Bows in the CJ. S. National Museum," by Mr. John Murdoch). Amongst the Indians of the northwest coast the bow and arrow is and always has been only an auxiliary hunting implement, although a very important one, in the capture of sea-otter. To-day the bow and arrow survives only as a means of despatching wounded game to save powder and ball. The two types of coast Indian bows, the broad and narrow, are shown in Plate xxvi. The narrow type (Figs. 109, 110, and 115) is principally confined to the Tlingit, whereas the broader one (Figs. Ill, 112, and 114) is found amongst not only the Tlingit, but the Haida and .Tlingit as well. In Fig. 112 the peculiar groove down the inside of the bow is shown. The device in Fig. 115 to protect the thumb from the snap of the bow-string consists of a wooden bridge lashed to the inner side of the bow at the middle. This is a willow bow of the type found in the interior amongst the Tinne, and either copied from their type or obtained by trade from them. Cedar and yew are the principal woods used by the coast Indians for bows, the strings being of hide or sinew. Few bows are now seen amongst these Indians except as toys for the chil- dren.

Arrows.— Before the introduction of iron, arrow-heads were of bone, flint, shell, or copper. The copper and later iron heads were of the shape shown in Fig. 133fl or i34«, Plate xxix, fitting into an ivory or

Fig. lOSh.

Steel-bladed Dagger.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXVI,

V

/03 //o /// //3 ,73 //■/ //S

Tlingit and Haida Bows and Tlingit War-spear.

Fig. 109. Bow. Tlingit type: narrow. Cat. No. 75454. U. 8. N. M. Tlingit In- dians, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 110. Bow. Narrow type. Cat. No. 16406, U. S. N. M. Yakutat Indians (Tlingit), Alaska. Collected by William H. Dall.

Fig. 111. Bow. General coast-type. Cat. No. 63551, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka. Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 112. Bow. General broad coast-type: under side showing the groove. Cat. No. 73546. U. S. N. M. Kaigani Indians (Haida), Queen Chai-lotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by J. Loomis Gould.

Fig. 113. War Spear. General type after introduction of iron. Handle carved with owner's totem. Blade of steel (bayonet shape). Cat. No. 75419, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka. Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 114. Broad Boav. General coast type. Compare 111, 113. Cat. No. 88812, U. S. N. M. Masset (Haida). Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 115. Willow Bow. With device for receiving the blow of the string. Cat. No. 75455. U. S. N. M. Tinne Indians, interior of Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean in Sitka.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XXVI.

Tlingit and Haida Bows and Tlingit War-spear.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXVII

/^/

Fig. 121.

Fig. Fig.

Weapons of War and of the Chase.

Figs. 116 and 117. Copper Daggers. From Dixon's Voyage, page 188.

Fig. 118. Steel Dagger. Cat. No. 2025, U. S. N. M. Arctic coast and Yukon

River. Collected by B. R. Ross. Fig. 119. Steel Arrow-head. . Foreshaft of bone. Cat. No. 74960, U. S. N. M.

Tlingit, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean. Fig. 120. Steel Arrow-head. Bone foreshaft. Cat. No. 74958, U. S. N. M.

Tlingit, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean. Steel Arrow-head axd Foreshaft. Cat. No. 74966. Tlingit, Alaska.

Collected l\v John J. McLean.

122. Stone War Club. Tsimshian, Fort Simpson, Alaska. From photograph.

123. Arrow. Shaft of cedar; steel head and foreshaft in one piece. Cat. No. 73457, U. S. N. M. Kaigani, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Col-

lected by J. Loomis Gould.

Fig. 124. Arrow. Shaft of cedar; bone head and wooden foreshaft. Feathers at- tached to the shaft at their extremities. Cat. No. 20694, U. S. N. M. Bilqula Indians, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 125. Arrow. Head of shell; featliering glued to the sliaft. Cat. No. 20694, U. S. N, M. Bilqula Indians, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 126. Blunt Arrow. Of cedar; for practice and dispatching game. Cat. No. 63551, U. S. N. M. Tlingit. Sitka. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 127 (a and h). Throwing-stick. Of wood; carved in totemic designs and in- laid with haliotis shell. Cat. No. 7899, U. S. N. M. Tlingit, Sitka. Collected by Dr. T. T. Minor, U. S. Army. The Tlingit are not known to have used the throwing-stick, while it occurs throughout the entire Eskimo area. (See Smithsonian Report, 1884, Part II, legend to Plate XVII.)

Report of National Museum, 1888.— NiblacU.

Plate XXVII.

i I

Weapons of War and of the Chase.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

287

bone fore-shaft, the shaft being of cedar. In some varieties the barbs are ou one side only. Fig. 124, Plate xxvii, represents a bone-headed arrow. Figs. 135 and 136, Plate xxix, are bone spear-heads, but the same shape of smaller size are used for arrows. These are set into a bone or ivory fore shaft similar to the Eskimo arrows. Fig. 125 rep- resents an arrow with a head made of shell. The fore-shafts are of light cedar wood let into the larger shafts. In the Emmons Collection is a black flint arrow-head represented as coming from this region. The style of blunt-headed arrow is shown in Fig. 12G. These are generally used for despatching wounded game. Fig. 126a shows one variety of bone arrow-head of this blunt pattern. The tenon at the butt fits into

Fig, 126a. Bone Akhow-head.

{Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

Fig. 126&. Bone Abrow-head.

(Tlingit Indians. Emmons Collection.)

Fig. 126c. Bone Aerow-head.

(Tlingit Indians, Emmons Collection. )

a socket either in the bone fore-shaft or in the cedar shaft itself. Fig. 1266 shows another kind, in which the shaft fits into the head itself, where it is secured by means of a tight lashing of twisted bark, cord, or sinew. Fig. 126c shows a third variety, in which a thin tongue or projection on the side of the bone arrow-head lets into a groove on the side of the shaft. Through holes pierced in this tongue and through the head of the arrow-shaft wires are run to attach the head to the shaft. The general types of iron arrow-heads are shown in Figs. 119, 120, 121, and 123, Plate xxvii, and 133a, 134a, and 138, Plate xxix. The fore-shafts of 119 and 120 are of bone. Arrows with bone fore- shafts, or bone or ivory sockets on the head of the arrow-shafts, and with detachable heads similar to those used by the Eskimo, are occa- sionally found amongst the Tlingit. The arrows of the southern Indians are in general superior to those of the northern, and of the interior In- dians to those ou the coast.

War spears. — The primitive form was a simple wooden pole sharpened and hardened in the fire, or pointed with copper and later with iron.*

* Bodega y Quadra, quoted in Bancroft, Native Races, Vol. i, p. 104.

288 REPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

Not many stone spear heads are found in this region. There is one in the Emmons Collection in New York, but how it was attached to the spear shaft does not appear. Marchand (1793) describes the war spear as consisting of two parts, a wooden shaft aud an iron head, shaped like a Swiss halberd.* Plate xvii, Fig. 64, shows a wooden ceremonial spear, doubtless an imitation of an ancient form of copper or stone- headed spear. Fig. 113, Plate xxvi, is a Sitka war spear with carved handle or shaft and steel bayouet pointed head. In general the war spears have shafts from 10 to 14 feet long, whereas the hunting spears are much shorter.

Fur-seal spear. — This in general consists of a long, light cedar shaft and a detachable head. The shaf^is of the primitive type with a socket in the upper end to receive the butt end of the detachable head. This latter was formerly made of bone but later and at present of iron or steel. (Plate XXIX, Figs. 133a, 134o, 135 and 136.) The steel ones are generally made by the Haida themselves from old flat files which they purchase from the traders. The end is sharply pointed, as shown in the figure, while the edges and back are wrought into sharp barbs to hold in the flesh. A loop of wire, or a shackle near the butt end, serves for the attachment of one end of a strong cord of plaited sinew, sea-weed, or vegetable fibre, the other end being secured to a float or bladder. This spear is nothing more nor less than a harpoon. The seal being struck, the head detaches itself and the animal is thus secured to one end of a line. When not in use, the head is carried in a sheath made of two pieces of cedar wood in the shape of a fish's tail, securely lashed together with bark or spruce root lashings. (Figs. 1336 and 1346.) When about to be used, the sheath is removed and the detachable head fixed in the socket of the light cedar shaft. Figs. 135 and 136 represent de- tachable spear heads of bone, with barbed edges. The cross sections G and d show that one is lenticular in shape and the other triangular. This type of spear head is not unlike that of the Eskimo and Aleut and is of very primitive design. Arrow-heads of this shape and description are common amongst the Eskimo but are rare in the coast Indian region. The fur-seal spears here described are virtually harpoons.

Sainton spears. — Primitive types of salmon spear heads are shown in Figs. 137 and 138, Plate xxix. The shafts are now, as always, of light cedar wood, the recent changes in the character of the spears being due to the substitution of large steel fish hooks for spear heads. These hooks, purchased from the traders, are lashed to the spear shaft near the end, as shown in Fig. 149, Plate xxx, and the old-fashioned spear head done away with altogether. This is a very effective spear, and in the Indian's hands seldom fails to bring up its victim. Fig. 137e is a bone salmon spear head from the Emmons collection. Fig 149a is a Tlingit salmon gig of deer antler for snagging salmon, also from the

"Marchaud, Voyage, torn, n, p. 68, also quoted by Bancroft.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXVIII

Weapons of War and of the Chase— Clubs.

Fig. 128. Club. For killing sea-otter. Carved to represent the animal. Cat. No. 88828, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians, Masset. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 129. Club. For killing sea-otter. Cat. No. 88825, U. S. N. M. Haida In- dians, Masset. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 130. Club. For killing seals. Carved sea-lion. Cat. No. 88824, U. S. N. M. Haida Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 131. Club. For killing seals. Carved seal. Cat. No. 88930, U. S. N. M.' Haida Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected liy James G. Swan.

Fig. 132. War Club. Carved to represent the raven. The three figures {a, b, and c) are frogs. Tsimshian Indians. Fort Simpson, British Columbia. Col- lected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XXVIII.

Weapons of War and of the Chase— Clubs.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXIX,

/3Jb

Haida and Tlingit Hunting and Fishing Implements.

Fig. 133 (a and h). Seal Spear-head. Of steeL Head detachable from foresliaft and secured by a plaited lanyard of sea-weed made fast to a shackle iu the butt. The case h is made of two pieces of cedar lashed together with split spruce-root. Cat. No. 88929. U. S. N. M. Masset Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 134 (« and h). Seal Spear-head. Barbs on the back as well as on the sides. Cat. No. 88890, U. S. N. M. Masset Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 135. Bone Spear-Head. Barbed and detachable. Cross section shown in e. Cat. No. 74962, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 136. Bone Spear-head. Cross section shown in d. Cat. No. 74963. U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka. Alaska. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 137. Spear-head. Of steel: foreshaft of wood. Steel head shown in a ; fore- shaft in b. The point d fits into a socket in the spear-head a. The point c of the foreshaft fits into a socket in the spear-head. Cat. No. 88803, U. S. N. M. Masset Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 138. Fish Spear-head. Three prongs of steel. Cat. No. 18933, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians. Sitka, Alaska. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 139. Fish Rake. Teeth of sharpened iron nails. For taking herring during a run. From a sketch by the author.

Fig. 140. Halibut Line-float. Of cedar wood : carved to represent a shag or duck. Cat. No. 43237. U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska. Collected by Commander L. A. Beardslee, U. S. Navy.

Plate XXIX.

Haida and Tlingit Hunting and Fishing Implements.

THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.

289

Emmons Collection. Fig 137, Plate xxix, represents a flat steel spear head, a, with detachable wooden fore-shaft, h. A line attached to the head is also fastened to the eud of the spear shaft, allowing several feet

Fig. 137c.

Bone Spear-head.

(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. )

Fig. 149a Salmon Gig.

(Tlinnit. Emmons Collection. )

drift. This type is adapted to the capture of other kinds of fish and even the sea-otter, but one better for all purposes of hunting and fish- ing is that shown in Fig. 150, Plate xxx. A detailed description of the spear complete niay not be out of place, as it is the general coast Indian type from Puget Sound to Cape St. Elias. Such a spear consists of three parts, the shaft, fore shaft, and head. The shaft is a light cedar pole, having in the outer end a socket, and served on that end with a wrap- ping of cedar bark fibre or spruce root to prevent its splitting. The general type of fore-shaft is that shown in Fig. 1376, Plate xxix. It is of cedar wood, about 8 to 10 inches long, and pointed at both ends, that at c being a flat leaf-shaped expansion fitting into the socket in the end of the shaft. The point d fits into a socket in the butt of the spear head. The usual type of spear head as now found is that shown in Fig. 150, Plate xxx, consisting of a barbed arrow-sbaped head of steel with a socket at the butt formed by two pieces of bone lashed to the end of the steel tip. The lashing tapers, and is usually covered with spruce gum so as to offer no obstruction to the whole head entering a fish, seal, or other vic- tim. The lashing also secures the end of a laniard about 2 feet or more long, the other end of which goes to the end of the shaft and is there lashed. In other words, the detachable head is really attached to the spear shaft by a very stout cord. The two bone barbs at the butt of the spear head form the socket for the end c of the fore-shaft. When the game is struck the fore-shaft comes away from both the spear shaft and spear head, but the head is secured to the spear shaft by its lan- iard, and a harpoon line is bent to the spear shaft, so that the capt- ured animal is on one end of a continuous line of which the other is H. Mis. 142, pt. 2 19

290

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888.

either attached to a float or is iu the hand of the Indian. Fig. 150a is another steel salmon spear head of the same type, while Fig. 138, Plate XXIX, is a three-pronged spear of a very different type. In its more primi- tive form the three barbed prongs are of long pieces of bone with barbed and serrated edges. Sometimes the same design as that shown is found, in which the arrow- shaped tips are of bone or shell. Steel is now generally used, the fore-shaft of the head being permanently se- cured into a socket in the head of the cedar wood spear shaft with a tough lashing and a coating of spruce gum at the joint.

Fish hooks.— The apparently clumsy hooks of this re- gion have been found to possess so many advantages over the type used by Europeans that they are retained by the Indians to this day. Curiously enough the use to which they put our large steel hooks is shown in Fig. 149, Plate xxx, viz, as spear heads, to which they are admirably adapted. There is little in the art of fishing that we can teach these ludians, and their conservatism is founded on exceedingly good judgment, although it is not to be denied that superstitious belief in the effi- ciency of certain forms of hooks is somewhat of an ele- ment in such conservatism. One advantage the native hooks undoubtedly possess over our own is in not being liable to foul the bottom. A very primitive type of hook is that shown in Fig. 147, Plate xxx, in which the barb is a straight piece of bone, the shank a piece of wood, and the snood or snell a piece of whale bone. The snood is attached to the shank by a lashing of bark. This type of hook must be distinguished from the double-pointed one similar in general construction shown in Fig. 146. This is a sort of gig or snag for hooking fish where they are plentiful. Fig. 145 is such an instrument pure and simple, the iron head shown fit- ting to a cedar pole shaft. It is used for gigging salmon where they are thick and sluggish during the "runs." A very primitive type of hook not uncommon in Alaska is that shown in Fig. 142, consisting of a small narrow block of wood with a spike of bone, shell, or iron, and a snood of spruce root, kelp or whale bone. The general varieties of hooks used in the northern region about Dixon Entrance are shown in Plate XXXI. Of these the primitive halibut hooks are Figs. 155, 156, 159, and 161. The first two are made in two pieces, each lashed at the joint with cedar bark, the shanks being carved with designs supposed to give good luck to the fisherman. The barbs were formerly of bone or shell, but later of iron. The last two are made from the forked branches of a tree dressed down to neat dimensions, and are very strong and serviceable, often bringing up halibut weighing from 50 to 120 pounds. The bait is lashed to that arm of the hook which carries

Fig. l.JOu.

Salmon Speak

HEAD.

(Tlinsit. Emmons Col- lection. )

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXX.

Fishing Implements from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 141. Trawl Line. Of cedar roots, with whalebone snoods or ganging and cedar liooks for ocean fishing. Cat. No. 6560. U. S. N. M. Kwakiutl Indians, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Collected by Dr. T. T. Minor.

Fig. 142. Hook. Of wood, with iron or bone barb and whalebone or cedar-withe shank. Primitive type.

Fig. 143. Knot by which the Haida join sections of kelp-stem fishing-lines together.

Fig. 144. Piece of cord spruce-root, cedar bark, or other vegetable fiber used as fish- ing-line.

Fig. 145. Jig or snag for hauling out salmon. Cat. No. 129979, U. S. N. M. Nimp- kish Indians. Fort Rupert, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 146. Fish-hook, jig. or snag, with two barbs: bone point; whalebone ganging or snood. Primitive type. Cat. No. 74189, U. S. N. M. Makah Indians, Neah Bay, Washington. Collected 1)y James G. Swan. .

Fig. 147. Fish-hook. Single-barbed, with bone point and whaleborte snood. Same tyix? as Fig. 146. Cat. No. 74188. U. S. N. M. Makah Indians. Neah Bay. Washington. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 148 (a and b). Hook. For black cod. b shows peg in position and hook baited; a shows position when not in use, with lashing tightly drawn to pre- serve the elasticity. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 149. Salmon Spoon. Made of European steel fish-hooks. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 150. Seal or Salmon Spear. Head detachable, showing the lanyard by which it is made fast to the spear-shaft. Cat. No. 129980. U. S. N. M. Nimpkish Indians, Fort Rupert, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 151. Sketch showing halibut line with stone sinker o, float b, and hook c.

Report of National Museum, 1888.— Niblack.

Plate XXX.

Fishing Implements from the Northwest Coast.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXXI

Fish-hooks from the Northwest Coast.

Fig. 152. Halibut Hook. Of iron, modeled after wooden type. Lashing designed to secure the l)ait around the point: the lines or snoods of cedar-bark twine, spruce root, kelp, sinew, or hide served with bark or spruce-root fiber. Cat. No. 88778. U. S. N. M. Masset Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, Britisli Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 153. Fish-hook. Of yew, with bone barb. Cat. No. 72649, U. S. N. M. Makah Indians, Cape Flattery. Washington. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 154. Fish-hook. Of yew. with iron barb. Cat. No. 88765, U. S. N. M. Mas- set Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 155. Fish-hook. Of spruce, representing a sea-gull. Cat. No. 42976, U. S. N. M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka. Collected by Commander L. A. Beardslee.

Fig. 156. Fish-hook. Representing a medicine man. Cat. No. 74351. Tlingit In- dians, Sitka. Collected by John J. McLean.

Fig. 157. Halibut Hook. Similar to 154. Cat. No. 88780. U. S. N. M. Masset In- dians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 158. Halibut Hook. In two pieces: barb of ii-on; snood of spruce root. Cat. No. 88766. U. S. N. M. Masset Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 159. Halibut Hook. Iron barb: carved wooden float. Cat. No. 88762, U. S. N. M. Masset Indians, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Collected liy James G. Swan.

Fig. 160. Red-fish Hook. The rod a of spruce; the hooks hh of iron; the snoods of buckskin. Cat. No. 89208, U. S. N. M. Skidegate Indians. Queen Charlotte Islands. British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Fig. 161. Halibut Hook. Largest type. Cat. No. 20656. U. S. N. M. Tsimshian Indians. Fort Simpson, British Columbia. Collected by James G. Swan.

Report of National Museum, 1888 — Niblack.

Plate XXXI.

O

THE INDIANS OF THE NOETHWEST COAST. 291

the barb aud just under it. Fig. 158 is also a primitive type of book made iu two pieces and of the same character as those just described. A second primitive variety is that made by steaming aud bending a tough limb of yew or other wood into the shape shown in Fig. 153, which is a Makah hook from Cape Flattery, Washington Territory (Wakashan stock). Their hooks are by far the neatest on the coast, and are traded to the northern Indians. The lashing shown across it in the plate is for securing the bait, this being the method of winding the string when the hook is not in use. Fig. 152 is a Chilkat and 157 a Haida version of this same type of hook. Fig. 152 is an iron one modeled also on this design, and similar in shape to Fig. 161.

Another kind of hook differing from those just described in shape, principle, and freedom from fouling the bottom, is used for catching cod, flounders, etc., and is thus described by Judge J. G. Swan in a pamphlet on the fisheries of the north :

They are made of the knots of hemlock limbs cut out from old decayed logs. These are split in pieces of suitable size and whittled to the required shape, and bent by being steamed into the form which in the sMl hook resembles the longitu- dinal section of a goose egg. The lower portion of these hooks are curved inward to form a barb, and when not iu use the two ends of the hook are fastened together by a piece of twine, which is also used to tie on the bait. When the hook is to be used the two parts of the hook are separated by means of a stick or peg, which the fish knocks out when he takes the bait, and the two ends of the hook close together aud hold him fast ; the peg floats to the surface and indicates to the Indian that he has caught a fish.

The sinker is another ingenious contrivance ; it is a large stone, weighing from 12 to 15 pounds, and a smaller one to serve as a tripping stone ; the line is firmly wound around these stones with many turns, aud a bight or loop tucked under one of the parts in the same manner a signal officer rolls up a flag iu a ball and tucks a bight of the haliard under a turn, which, when pulled out, sets the flag free ; so when the Indian fisherman thinks, from the number of floating pegs, that he has enough fish, he pulls out the loop of his line, the stones become loosened and fall out, and he hauls in his line relieved of their weight.

The Haidas frequently put on one hundred hooks to a single line, which acts like a trawl, and so plentiful are the black cod that often from fifty to seventy-five are hauled in at one time. The bait used seems to be anything handy, as the skil is a greedy feeder, aud will take either fresh herring, squid, or a strip of the white skin from a halibut's belly. The Indian, however, has enemies to contend with; one of the most formidable is the ground shark, or nurse <