[109]'The dead body of a chief is embalmed with moss, and buried.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 177.[110]'In one of the small buildings, or kennels, as they may very properly be called, was a woman who had retired into it in consequence of the death of her son.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 184.[111]'The word Aleutian seems to be derived from the interrogative particleallix, which struck strangers in the language of that people.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. iii., p. 312. The Unalaskas and 'the people of Oomnak, call themselvesCowghalingen.' 'The natives of Alaska and all the adjacent islands they callKagataiakung'n.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 154. 'The inhabitants of Unalashka are calledKogholaghi; those of Akutan, and further east to Unimak,Kighigusi; and those of Unimak and Alaxa,Kataghayekiki. They cannot tell whence these appellations are derived; and now begin to call themselves by the general name ofAleyut, given to them by the Russians, and borrowed from some of the Kurile Islands.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 219.[112]Yet, says D'Orbigny,Voyage, p. 577: 'Si on interroge les Aléoutiens sur leur origine, ils disent que leurs ancêtres ont habité un grand pays vers l'ouest, et que de là ils sont avancés de proche en proche sur les îles désertes jusq'au continent américain.'[113]Trapesnikoff took from an unknown island in 1753, 1920 sea-otter skins. Durneff returned to Kamchatka in 1754, with 3,000 skins. In 1752 one crew touched at Bering Island and took 1,222 Arctic foxes, and 2,500 sea-bears. Cholodiloff, in 1753, took from one island 1,600 otter-skins. Tolstych in one voyage took 1,780 sea-otter, 720 blue foxes, and 840 sea-bears.Coxe's Russ. Dis., pp. 43, 44, 49, 51, 53.[114]Sparks,Life of Ledyard, p. 79.[115]A great deal of character.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 32.[116]'Rather low of stature, but plump and well shaped; with rather short necks; swarthy chubby faces; black eyes; small beards, and long, straight, black hair; which the men wear loose behind, and cut before, but the women tie up in a bunch.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. 'Von Gesicht sind sie platt und weiss, von guter Statur, durchgängig mit schwarzen Haaren.'Neue Nachr., p. 150. 'Low in stature, broad in the visage.'Campbell's Voy., p. 112. Hair 'strong and wiry;' scanty beard, but thick on the upper lip.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 154.[117]'Les femmes aléoutes portaient aux mains et aux pieds des chapelets de pierres de couleur et préférablement d'ambre.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'None are so highly esteemed as a sort of long muscle, commonly called sea-teeth, thedentalium entalisof Linnæus.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 40. 'Women have the chin punctured in fine lines rayed from the centre of the lip and covering the whole chin.' They wear bracelets of black seal-skin around the wrists and ankles, and go barefoot.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 155. 'Im Nasen-Knorpel und der Unterlippe machen beide Geschlechter Löcher und setzen Knochen ein, welches ihr liebster Schmuck ist. Sie stechen sich auch bunte Figuren im Gesicht aus.'Neue Nachr., p. 169. 'They bore the upper lip of the young children of both sexes, under the nostrils, where they hang several sorts of stones, and whitened fish-bones, or the bones of other animals.'Staehlin's North Arch., p. 37.[118]'Leur conformation est robuste et leur permet de supporter des travaux et des fatigues de toute sorte.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 577.[119]At Shumagin Island, their caps were of sea-lion skins.Müller's Voy., p. 46. On the front are one or two small images of bone.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. A wooden hat, 'which in front comes out before the eyes like a sort of umbrella, and is rounded off behind.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 38. 'Einige haben gemeine Mützen von einem bunten Vogelfell, woran sie etwas von den Flügeln und dem Schwanz sitzen lassen;—sind vorn mit einem Brettchen wie ein Schirm versehn und mit Bärten von Seebären—geschmücket.'Neue Nachr., pp. 151, 152.[120]On a feather garment, 'a person is sometimes employed a whole year.' 'The women for the most part go bare-footed.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., pp. 36, 39. 'Seams covered with thin slips of skin, very elegantly embroidered with white deer's hair, goat's hair, and the sinews of sea animals, dyed of different colours.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 156. 'Ihr Pelzkleid wird über den Kopf angezogen, und ist hinten und vorn ganz zu. Die Männer tragen es aus Vogelhäuten; die Weiber hingegen von Bibern und jungen Seebären.'Neue Nachr., p. 152. 'Boots and breeches in one piece.'Campbell's Voy., p. 113.[121]'Round the sides and ends of the huts, the families (for several are lodged together) have their separate apartments, where they sleep, and sit at work; not upon benches, but in a kind of concave trench, which is dug all around the inside of the house, and covered with mats.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 512. 'When they have stood for sometime, they become overgrown with grass, so that a village has the appearance of an European churchyard full of graves.'Langsdorff's Voy., p. 32. 'In den Jurten wird niemals Feuer angelegt und doch ist es gemeiniglich sehr warm darinnen, so dass beide Geschlechter ganz nakkend sitzen.'Neue Nachr., p. 150.[122]'A bidarka or boat is turned up sideways, and at the distance of four or five feet, two sticks, one opposite to the head and the other to the stern, are driven into the ground, on the tops of which a cross stick is fastened. The oars are then laid along from the boat to the cross stick, and covered with seal skins, which are always at hand for the purpose.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 152.[123]'Among the greatest delicacies of Oonalashka are the webbed feet of a seal, which are tied in a bladder, buried in the ground, and remain there till they are changed into a stinking jelly.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. ii., p. 165. Almost everything is eaten raw.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 520. The sea-dog is caught with nets, killed when asleep, or enticed on shore by a false cap made to resemble a seal's head.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 205.[124]'L'Aléoute peut tuer les phoques et les oiseaux, sans être obligé d'en rendre compte à la compagnie.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. vii., p. 4.[125]'Die Spitze selbst wird theils aus Obsidian oder Lavaglas, theils auch aus Trachyt verfertigt.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 268. Spear-handles are feathered, the points of sharpened flint.Neue Nachr., p. 102, 'Arrows are thrown from a narrow and pointed board, twenty inches long, which is held by the thumb and three fingers. They are thrown straight from the shoulder with astonishing velocity.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 205. 'Les armes défensives consistaient en une cotte de joncs tressés qui leur couvrait tout le corps.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'No such thing as an offensive, or even defensive weapon was seen amongst the natives of Oonalashka.' Probably they had been disarmed by the Russians.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 515. 'Wherever any one has fixed his habitation, nobody else dares to hunt or fish.'Staehlin's Nor. Arch., p. 37. For birds they point their darts with three light bones, spread and barbed.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157. 'Indeed, there is a neatness and perfection in most of their work, that shews they neither want ingenuity nor perseverance.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 514.[126]They make 'baskets called ishcats, in which the Aleutians keep all their valuables.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 181. 'Thread they make of the sinews of the seal, and of all sizes, from the fineness of a hair to the strength of a moderate cord, both twisted and plaited.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157. Of the teeth of sea-dogs they carve little figures of men, fish, sea-otters, sea-dogs, sea-cows, birds, and other objects.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 46.[127]'Wollen sie etwas an ihren Pfeilen oder sonst eine Kleinigkeit leimen, so schlagen sie sich an die Nase und bestreichen es mit ihrem Blute.'Neue Nachr., p. 173.[128]Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 159;Campbell's Voy., p. 59.[129]'Comme les femmes coûtaient cher en présents de fiançailles, la plupart des Aléoutes n'en avaient qu'une ou deux.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. Purchase as many girls for wives as they can support.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 160. 'Objects of unnatural affection.'Id., p. 160. 'Their beards are carefully plucked out as soon as they begin to appear, and their chins tattooed like those of the women.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 48. 'The Russians told us, that they never had any connections with their women, because they were not Christians. Our people were not so scrupulous; and some of them had reason to repent that the females of Oonalashka encouraged their addresses without any reserve; for their health suffered by a distemper that is not unknown here.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 521.[130]'It often happens that a mother plunges her noisy child into water, even in winter, and keeps it there till it leaves off crying.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 202. 'Schreyt das Kind, so trägt es die Mutter, es sey Winter oder Sommer nakkend nach der See, und hält es so lange im Wasser bis es still wird.'Neue Nachr., p. 168.[131]'Have their own chiefs in each island.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. 'Generally is conferred on him who is the most remarkable for his personal qualities.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 219.[132]Those of the inhabitants who have two wives give their guests one, or a slave.Neue Nachr., p. 171. 'In the spring holidays, they wear masks, neatly carved and fancifully ornamented.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 160.[133]'On avait soin de le disposer de manière à ce qu'il ne touchât pas la terre.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'Embalm the bodies of the men with dried moss and grass.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 161. Slaves sometimes slaughtered.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 48. 'Bury their dead on the summits of hills.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 521. 'When a man dies in the hut belonging to his wife, she retires into a dark hole, where she remains forty days. The husband pays the same compliment to his favorite wife upon her death.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 218. 'Die Todten werden begraben, und man giebt dem Mann seinen Kahn, Pfeile und Kleider mit ins Grab.' 'Die Todten umwinden sie mit Riemen und hängen sie in einer Art hölzerner Wiege an einen auf zwey Gabelen ruhenden Querstock in der Luft auf.'Neue Nachr., pp. 101, 154.[134]'Naturellement silencieux.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 578. 'Sie verrichten auch die Nothdurft und das Ehegeschäft ohne alle Scheu.'Neue. Nachr., p. 150. 'A stupid silence reigns among them.' 'I am persuaded that the simplicity of their character exceeds that of any other people.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 182, 183. 'Kind-hearted and obliging, submissive and careful; but if roused to anger, they become rash and unthinking, even malevolent, and indifferent to all danger.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 32. 'To all appearance, they are the most peaceable, inoffensive people, I ever met with. And, as to honesty, they might serve as a pattern to the most civilized nation upon earth.'Cook, vol. ii., p. 509.[135]'To hunt was their task; to be drowned, or starved, or exhausted, was their reward.'Simpson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 229. 'They are harmless, wretched slaves,' whose race will soon be extinct.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. iii., p. 315. The Russian hunters 'used not unfrequently to place the men close together, and try through how many the ball of their rifle-barrelled musket would pass.'Sauer,Billings' Ex. App., p. 56. 'Of a thousand men, who formerly lived in this spot, scarcely more than forty remained.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 235. 'La variole, la syphilis, voire même le choléra depuis quelques années, en emportent une effrayante quantité.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. ii., p. 51.[136]Kaluga,Kaljush,Koljush,Kalusch,Kolush,Kolosch,Kolosh,Kolosches. Marchand calls them Tchinkîtâné.Voyage aut. du Monde, tom. ii., p. 3.[137]SeeHolmberg,Ethn. Skiz., pp. 15, 16.[138]Ugalachmiuti,Ugaljachmjuten,Ugalyachmutzi,Ugalukmutes,Ugalenzi,Ugalenzen,Ugalenzes.[139]They 'call themselves G-tinkit, or S-chinkit, or also S-chitcha-chon, that is, inhabitants of Sitki or Sitcha.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., 128.[140]The orthographic varieties of this word are endless.Stickeen,Stekin,Stakhin,Stachin,Stikin,Stachine,Stikeen,Stikine,Stychine, are among those before me at the moment.[141]At the end of this chapter, underTribal Boundaries, the location of these tribes is given definitely.[142]A Thlinkeet boy, 'when under the whip, continued his derision, without once exhibiting the slightest appearance of suffering.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 242.[143]'Leur corps est ramassé, mais assez bien proportionné.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 46. 'Very fierce.'Portlock's Voy., p. 291. 'Limbs straight and well shaped.'Dixon's Voy., p. 171. 'Stolze gerade Haltung.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 16. 'Active and clever.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 237. 'Bigote á manera de los Chinos.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 14. 'Limbs ill-proportioned.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 49. 'Très supérieurs en courage et en intelligence.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 54.[144]The women 'are pleasing and their carriage modest.'Portlock's Voy., p. 291. When washed, white and fresh.Dixon's Voy., p. 171. 'Dunkle Hautfarbe.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 16. 'Eran de color blanco y habia muchos con ojos azules.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 14. As fair as many Europeans.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 112. 'Muchos de ellos de un blanco regular.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 43.[145]'Leur chevelure, dure, épaisse, mêlée, couverte d'ocre, de duvet d'oiseaux et de toutes les ordures que la négligence et le temps y ont accumulées, contribue encore à rendre leur aspect hideux.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 46. 'A more hideous set of beings, in the form of men and women, I had never before seen.'Cleveland's Voy., p. 91. The men painted 'a black circle extending from the forehead to the mouth, and a red chin, which gave the face altogether the appearance of a mask.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 146. Pourraient même passer pour jolies, sans l'horrible habitude qu'elles ont adoptée.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'That person seems to be reckoned the greatest beau amongst them, whose face is one entire piece of smut and grease.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68. 'Ils se font des cicatrices sur les bras et sur la poitrine.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 223. 'Um aus dem Gesichte diese fette Farbenmasse abzuwaschen, gebrauchen sie ihren eignen Urin, und dieser verursacht bei ihnen den widerlichen Geruch, der den sich ihm nahenden Fremdling fast zum Erbrechen bringt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 20.[146]Meares,Voyages, p. xxxi., states that at Prince William Sound, 'the men have universally a slit in their under lip, between the projecting part of the lip and the chin, which is cut parallel with their mouths, and has the appearance of another mouth.' Worn only by women.Dixon's Voy., p. 172.[147]'About three tenths of an inch below the upper part of the under lip.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'In the centre of the under-lip.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'Fendue au ras des gencives.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 224. 'In the thick part near the mouth.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'When the first person having this incision was seen by one of the seamen, who called out, that the man had two mouths.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 369. 'In their early infancy, a small incision is made in the center of the under lip, and a piece of brass or copper wire is placed in, and left in the wound. This corrodes the lacerated parts, and by consuming the flesh gradually increases the orifice, until it is sufficiently large to admit the wooden appendage.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 408. 'Les femmes de Tchinkîtâné ont cru devoir ajouter à leur beauté naturelle, par l'emploi d'un ornement labial, aussi bizarre qu'incommode.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 48.[148]'Simply perforated, and a piece of copper wire introduced.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'Les jeunes filles n'ont qu'une aiguille dans la lèvre inférieure.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 226. 'On y prépare les petites filles aussitôt qu'elles sont nées.'Id., tom. iv., p. 54. 'At first a thick wire.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. When almost marriageable.Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 51. 'The children have them bored at about two years of age, when a piece of copper-wire is put through the hole; this they wear till the age of about thirteen or fourteen years, when it is taken out, and the wooden ornament introduced.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'Said to denote maturity.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 100. 'Se percer la lèvre inférieure des l'enfance.' 'D'agrandir peu à peu cette ouverture au point de pouvoir jeune fille y introduire une coquille, et femme mariée une énorme tasse de bois.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'Never takes place during their infancy.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'When the event takes place that implies womanhood.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 243. 'Wenn zum ersten Mal beim Mädchen sich Spuren der Mannbarkeit zeigen, wird ihre Unterlippe durchstochen und in diese Oeffnung eine Knochenspitze, gegenwärtig doch häufiger ein Silberstift gelegt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'Pues les pareció que solo lo tenian los casados.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 15.[149]'Concave on both sides.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'So lange sie unverheirathet ist, trägt sie diesen; erhält sie aber einen Mann, so presst man einen grösseren Schmuck von Holz oder Knochen in die Oeffnung, welcher nach innen, d. h. zur Zahnseite etwas trogförmig ausgehöhlt ist.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'Une espèce d'écuelle de bois sans anses qui appuie contre les gencives.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 224. Pieces of shell resembling teeth.Meares' Voy., p. xxxi.[150]'As large as a large saucer.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'From one corner of the mouth to the other.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'Frequently increased to three, or even four inches in length, and nearly as wide.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'A communément un demi-pouce d'épaisseur, deux de diamètre, et trois pouces de long.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 54. 'At least seven inches in circumference.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxviii. 'Mit den Jahren wird der Schmuck vergrössert, so dass er bei einem alten Weibe über 2 Zoll breit angetroffen wird.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. From two to five inches long, and from one and a half to three inches broad. Ladies of distinction increase the size. 'I have even seen ladies of very high rank with this ornament, full five inches long and three broad.' Mr Dwolf affirms that he saw 'an old woman, the wife of a chief, whose lip ornament was so large, that by a peculiar motion of her under-lip she could almost conceal her whole face with it.' 'Horrible in its appearance to us Europeans.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'Es una abertura como de media pulgada debaxo del labio inferior, que representa segunda boca, donde colocan una especie de roldana elíptica de pino, cuyo diámetro mayor es de dos pulgadas, quatro lineas, y el menor de una pulgada.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. 126.[151]'Une énorme tasse de bois, destinée à recevoir la salive qui s'en échappe constamment.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'L'effet de cet ornement est de rabattre, par le poids de sa partie saillante la lèvre inférieure sur le menton, de développer les charmes d'une grande bouche béante, qui prend la forme de celle d'un four, et de mettre à découvert une rangée de dents jaunes et sales.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 49. 'She is obliged to be constantly on the watch, lest it should fall out, which would cover her with confusion.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 244. 'The weight of this trencher or ornament weighs the lip down so as to cover the whole of the chin, leaving all the lower teeth and gum quite naked.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'L'usage le plus révoltant qui existe peut-être sur la terre.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 226. 'Always in proportion to a person's wealth.' 'Distorts every feature in the lower part of the face.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68, 172. 'In running the lip flaps up and down so as to knock sometimes against the chin and sometimes against the nose. Upon the continent the kaluga is worn still larger; and the female who can cover her whole face with her under-lip passes for the most perfect beauty,' 'The lips of the women held out like a trough, and always filled with saliva stained with tobacco-juice, of which they are immoderately fond, is the most abominably revolting part of the spectacle.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 52. 'Dadurch entsteht eine im selbigen Maasse ausgedehnte Lippe, die höchst widerlich aussieht, um so mehr, da sich nun mehr der Mund nicht schliessen kann, sondern unaufhörlich einen braunen Tabaksspeichel von sich gibt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'So distorts the face as to take from it almost the resemblance to the human; yet the privilege of wearing this ornament is not extended to the female slaves, who are prisoners taken in war.'Cleveland's Voy., p. 91. 'Look as if they had large flat wooden spoons growing in the flesh.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'The sight is hideous. Our men used jocosely to say, this lower lip would make a good slab to lay their trousers on to be scrubbed.'Dunn's Oregon, p. 277. 'On ne connaît point d'explication plausible de cette mutilation, qui, chez les Indiens, passe pour un signe de noblesse.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 336.[152]'Die Männertracht unterscheidet sich in Nichts von der Weiber; sie besteht nämlich aus einem bis zu den Knieen gehenden Hemde.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 18. Some of their blankets 'are so curiously worked on one side with the fur of the sea-otter, that they appear as if lined with it.' 'Some dress themselves in short pantaloons.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 238. 'Las mugeres visten honestamente una especie de túnica interior de piel sobada.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Se vestian las mugeres tunicas de pieles ajustadas al cuerpo con brazaletes de cobre o hierro.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 15. 'Usual clothing consists of a little apron.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 49. 'Their feet are always bare.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 114.[153]'Usan sombreros de la corteza interior del pino en forma de cono truncado.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. Their wooden masks 'are so thick, that a musket-ball, fired at a moderate distance, can hardly penetrate them.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 150.[154]Pluck out their beard.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 112. 'Ils ont de la barbe, moins à la vérité que les Européens, mais assez cependant pour qu'il soit impossible d'en douter.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 229. 'The women in general are hair-dressers for their husbands.'Portlock's Voy., p. 290.[155]'Der Eingang, ziemlich hoch von der Erde, besteht aus einem kleinen runden Loche.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 25. 'Ils se construisent des maisons de bois ou de terre pour l'hiver.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 87. 'The barabaras of the Sitcan people are of a square form, and spacious. The sides are of planks; and the roof resembles that of a Russian house.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Habitan estos Indios en chozas ó rancherías de tablas muy desabrigadas.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvi. At Sitka the roof 'rests upon ten or twelve thick posts driven into the ground, and the sides of the house are composed of broad thick planks fastened to the same posts.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 129. 'Dans l'intérieur des terres, des habitations bien construites, spacieuses et commodes.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 74. 'Shanties on a large scale.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 100. 'Their huts are made of a few boards, which they take away with them when they go to their winter quarters. It is very surprising to see how well they will shape their boards with the shocking tools they employ; some of them being full 10 feet long, 2½ feet broad, and not more than an inch thick.'Portlock's Voy., p. 292. 'High, large, and roomy, built of wood, with the hearth in the middle, and the sides divided into as many compartments as there are families living under the roof.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 410. 'Lebt in Schoppen aus Balken gebaut, wo an den Seiten für jede Familie besondere Plätze abgetheilt sind, in der Mitte aber Feuer für alle zusammen angemacht wird. So pflegen gemeiniglich 2 bis 6 Familien eine einzige Scheune einzunehmen.'Baer's Ethn. u. Stat., p. 97.[156]'Vingt-cinq pieds de long sur quinze à vingt pieds de large.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 220. 'Roof in the whole with the bark of trees.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 53. 'Las casas en que estos habitan en las playas son de poca consideracion y ninguna subsistencia.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 49. 'A few poles stuck in the ground, without order or regularity.'Dixon's Voy., p. 172. 'Gebäude besteht aus langen, sorgfältig behauenen Brettern, die kartenhausartig über einander gestellt, an zahlreichen in die Erde gesteckten Stangen befestigt, recht eigentlich ein hölzernes Zelt bilden. Es hat die Form einer länglichen Barake mit zwei Giebeln.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., pp. 220, 221.[157]All kinds of fish; 'such as salmon, mussels, and various other shell-fish, sea-otters, seals and porpoises; the blubber of the porpoise, they are remarkably fond of, and indeed the flesh of any animal that comes in their way.'Portlock's Voy., p. 290. 'Vom Meere, an dessen Ufern sie sich stets ansiedeln, erhalten sie ihre hauptsächlichste Nahrung; einige Wurzeln, Gräser u. Beeren gehören nur zu den Leckerbissen des Sommers.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 22. Cakes made of bark of spruce-fir, mixed with roots, berries, and train-oil. For salt they use sea-water. Never eat whale-fat.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 131. At Sitka, summer food consists of berries, fresh fish, and flesh of amphibious animals. Winter food, of dried salmon, train-oil, and the spawn of fish, especially herrings.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Sus alimentos se reducen á pescado cocido ó asado ya fresco ó ya seco, varias hierbas y raizes.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 50. They chew 'a plant which appears to be a species of tobacco.'Dixon's Voy., p. 175. 'Sont couverts de vermine; ils font une chasse assidue à ces animaux dévorans, mais pour les dévorer eux-mêmes.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 52. 'Tägliche Nahrung der Einwohner—sind hauptsächtlich Fische, doch häufig auch Mollusken und Echinodermen.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 222.[158]'Le poisson frais ou fumé, les œufs séchés de poisson.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 62. 'Is sometimes cooked upon red-hot stones, but more commonly eaten raw.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 53. 'Not so expert in hunting as the Aleutians. Their principal mode is that of shooting the sea animals as they lie asleep.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 242. They boil their victuals in wooden vessels, by constantly putting red-hot stones into the water.Portlock's Voy., p. 291. 'Das Kochen geschieht jetzt in eisernen Kesseln, vor der Bekanntschaft mit den Russen aber wurden dazu aus Wurzeln geflochtene Körbe angewandt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 23.[159]To their fishing lines, bladders are fastened, 'which float upon the surface of the water, so that one person can attend to fourteen or fifteen lines.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 134. 'Ils pêchent, comme nous, en barrant les rivières, ou à la ligne.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 232. 'For taking the spawn, they use the branches of the pine-tree, to which it easily adheres, and on which it is afterwards dried. It is then put into baskets, or holes purposely dug in the ground, till wanted.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Su comun alimento es el salmon, y es ingenioso el método que tienen de pescarle.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Their lines are very strong, being made of the sinews or intestines of animals.'Dixon's Voy., p. 174. 'Die Riesenbutte, die in Sitcha bisweilen ein Gewicht von 10 bis 12 Pud erreicht, wird aus der Tiefe mit grossen hölzernen Angeln, die mit Widerhaken aus Eisen oder Knochen versehen sind, herausgezogen. Die Angelschnur besteht aus an einander geknüpften Fucusstängeln.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 32.[160]'Bows and arrows were formerly their only weapons; now, besides their muskets, they have daggers, and knives half a yard long.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 55. Their weapons were bows, arrows, and spears.Dixon's Voy., p. 67. 'Leur lances dont l'ancienne forme n'est pas connue, est à présent composée de deux pièces: de la hampe, longue de quinze ou dix-huit pieds, et du fer qui ne le cède en rien à celui de la hallebarde de parade dont étoit armé un Suisse de paroisse.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 68. Knives, some two feet long, shaped almost like a dagger, with a ridge in the middle. Worn in skin sheaths hung by a thong to the neck under their robe, probably used only as weapons.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 373. 'Las armas ofensivas que generalmente usan son las flechas, lanzas de seis y ocho varas de largo con lenguetas de fierro.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 46. 'The daggers used in battle are made to stab with either end, having three, four or five inches above the hand tapered to a sharp point; but the upper part of those used in the Sound and River is excurvated.'Portlock's Voy., p. 261. 'Principally bows and arrows.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 131. 'Sus armas se reducen al arco, la flecha y el puñal que traen siempre consigo.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Comme nous examinions très attentivement tous ces poignards, ils nous firent signe qu'ils n'en faisaient usage que contre les ours et les autres bêtes des forêts.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 172. 'Der Dolch ist sehr breit und hat zwei geschliffene Blätter auf jeder Seite des Griffes, das obere jedoch nur ein Viertel von der Länge des unteren.' 'Beide Blätter oder Klingen sind mit ledernen Scheiden versehen.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 28.[161]'A kind of jacket, or coat of mail, made of thin laths, bound together with sinews, which makes it quite flexible, though so close as not to admit an arrow or dart.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 372. 'Für den Krieg besitzen die Kaloschen auch von Holz gearbeitete Schutzwaffen: Brustharnische, Sturmhauben und seltsam geschnitzte Visire, mit grellen Farben bemalte Fratzengesichter darstellen.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 216.[162]'They never attack their enemies openly.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 55. 'Les guerriers tués ou faits prisonniers à la guerre, passent également sous la dent de leurs vainqueurs qui, en dévorant une proie aussi distinguée, croient y puiser de nouvelles forces, une nouvelle énergie.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 155.[163]'Bien hechas de una pieza con su falca sobre las bordas.'Perez,Nav., MS., p. 17. 'On n'est pas moins étonné de leur stabilité: malgré la légèreté et le peu de largeur de la coque, elles n'ont pas besoin d'être soutenues par des balanciers, et jamais on ne les accouple.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 72. 'Las regulares canoas de que se sirven son de pino, y no tienen mas capacidad que la que basta para contener una familia, sin embargo que las hay sumamente grandes.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 48. 'Rudely excavated and reduced to no particular shape, but each end has the resemblance of a butcher's tray.'Dixon's Voy., p. 173. 'Their canoes are much inferior to those of the lower coast, while their skin "baidarkes" (kyacks) are not equal to those of Norton Sound and the northern coast.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 101. At Cook's Inlet, 'their canoes are sheathed with the bark of trees.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 188. These canoes 'were made from a solid tree, and many of them appeared to be from 50 to 70 feet in length, but very narrow, being no broader than the tree itself.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxviii. 'Their boat was the body of a large pine tree, neatly excavated, and tapered away towards the ends, until they came to a point, and the fore-part somewhat higher than the after-part; indeed, the whole was finished in a neat and very exact manner.'Portlock's Voy., p. 259.[164]'Ont fait beaucoup plus de progrès dans les arts que dans la morale.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 233. Thlinkeet women make baskets of bark of trees, and grass, that will hold water.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 132. They have tolerable ideas of carving, most utensils having sculptures, representing some animal.Portlock's Voy., p. 294. 'Ces peintures, ces sculptures, telles qu'elles sont, on en voit sur tous leurs meubles.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 71. 'De la vivacidad de su genio y del afecto al cambio se debe inferir son bastantemente laboriosos.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 48. 'Tienen lana blanca cuya especie ignoraron.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 16. 'Masks very ingeniously cut in wood, and painted with different colors.' A rattle, 'very well finished, both as to sculpture and painting.' 'One might suppose these productions the work of a people greatly advanced in civilization.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 150, 241. 'Found some square patches of ground in a state of cultivation, producing a plant that appeared to be a species of tobacco.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. iii., p. 256.[165]'The skins of the sea-otters form their principal wealth, and are a substitute for money.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 54. 'In one place they discovered a considerable hoard of woolen cloth, and as much dried fish as would have loaded 150 bidarkas.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 160.[166]'Le Gouvernement des Tchinkitânéens paroîtroit donc se rapprocher du Gouvernement patriarchal.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 83. 'De su gobierno pensamos cuando mas, oiendo el modo de someterse á algunos viejos, seria oligárhico.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 50. 'Though the toyons have power over their subjects, it is a very limited power, unless when an individual of extraordinary abilities starts up, who is sure to rule despotically.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 243. 'Chaque famille semble vivre d'une manière isolée et avoir un régime particulier.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 61. 'Ces Conseils composés des vieillards.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 155.[167]Tribes are distinguished by the color and character of their paint.Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 51. They 'are divided into tribes; the principal of which assume to themselves titles of distinction, from the names of the animals they prefer; as the tribe of the bear, of the eagle, etc. The tribe of the wolf are calledCoquontans, and have many privileges over the other tribes.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 238, 242.[168]'The women possess a predominant influence, and acknowledged superiority over the other sex.'Meares' Voy., p. 323. 'Parmi eux les femmes jouissent d'une certaine considération.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. They treat their wives and children with much affection and tenderness, and the women keep the treasures.Portlock's Voy., p. 290. The Kalush 'finds his filthy countrywomen, with their lip-troughs, so charming, that they often awaken in him the most vehement passion.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 56. 'It is certain that industry, reserve, modesty, and conjugal fidelity, are the general characteristics of the female sex among these people.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 133. 'Quoiqu'elles vivent sous la domination d'hommes très-féroces, je n'ai pas vu qu'elles en fussent traitées d'une manière aussi barbare que le prétendent la plupart des voyageurs.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 61.[169]'Weddings are celebrated merely by a feast, given to the relatives of the bride.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 57.[170]'Ils ne s'écartent jamais de deux pas pour aucun besoin; ils ne cherchent dans ces occasions ni l'ombre ni le mystère; ils continuent la conversation qu'ils ont commencée, comme s'ils n'avaient pas un instant à perdre; et lorsque c'est pendant le repas, ils reprennent leur place, dont ils n'ont jamais été éloignés d'une toise.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 221.[171]'Ont un goût décidé pour le chant.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 75. 'The women sit upon the ground at a distance of some paces from the dancers, and sing a not inharmonious melody, which supplies the place of music.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 114. 'They dance and sing continually.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 240. Besides the tambourine, Captain Belcher saw a castanet and 'a new musical instrument, composed of three hoops, with a cross in the centre, the circumference being closely strung with the beaks of the Alca arctica.'Voy., vol. i., p. 103.[172]They lose at this game all their possessions, and even their wives and children, who then become the property of the winner.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 62. 'Ce jeu les rend tristes et sérieux.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 235.[173]Upon one tomb, 'formaba una figura grande y horrorosa que tenia entre sus garras una caxa.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxviii. 'The box is frequently decorated with two or three rows of small shells.'Dixon's Voy., p. 176. 'The dead are burned, and their ashes preserved in small wooden boxes, in buildings appropriated to that purpose.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 57. 'Nos voyageurs rencontrèrent aussi un morai qui leur prouva que ces Indiens étaient dans l'usage de brûler les morts et d'en conserver la tête.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 205. 'On the death of a toyon, or other distinguished person, one of his slaves is deprived of life, and burned with him.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 241.[174]Called by Gallatin, inAm. Antiq. Soc. Transact., vol. ii., p. 17,Athapasca, the name 'first given to the central part of the country they inhabit.' Sir John Richardson,Jour., vol. ii., p. 1, calls them 'Tinnè, or 'Dtinnè, Athabascans or Chepewyans.' 'They style themselves generally Dinneh men, or Indians.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 241.[175]Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., pp. 1-33.[176]'Les Indiens de la côte ou de la Nouvelle Calédonie, les Tokalis, les Chargeurs (Carriers) les Schouchouaps, les Atnas, appartiennent tous à la nation des Chipeouaïans dont la langue est en usage dans le nord du Continent jusqu'à la baie d'Hudson et à la Mer Polaire.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 337.[177]Are 'known under the names ofLoucheux,Digothi, andKutshin.'Latham's Nat. Races, p. 292. 'They are called Deguthee Dinees, or theQuarrellers.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 51. 'On Peel's River they name themselvesKutchin, the finalnbeing nasal and faintly pronounced.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 378. They are also calledTykothee-dinneh, Loucheux or Quarrellers.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 83. 'The Loucheux proper is spoken by the Indians of Peel's River. All the tribes inhabiting the valley of the Youkon understand one another.'Hardisty, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 311.[178]Gallatin, inAm. Antiq. Soc. Transact., vol. ii., p. 17, erroneously ruled the Loucheux out of his Athabasca nation. 'Im äussersten Nordosten hat uns Gallatin aufmerksam gemacht auf das Volk der Loucheux, Zänker-Indianer oder Digothi: an der Mündung des Mackenzie-Flusses, nach Einigen zu dessen beiden Seiten (westliche und östliche): dessen Sprache er nach den Reisenden für fremd den athapaskischen hielt: worüber sich die neuen Nachrichten noch widersprechen.'Buschmann,Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, p. 713. Franklin,Nar., vol. ii., p. 83, allies the Loucheux to the Eskimos.[179]Tnai, 'man;' Tnaina Ttynai, Thnaina, Kinai, Kenai, Kenaize.[180]See notes onBoundariesat the end of this chapter.[181]Besides the 'Umkwa,' being outlying members of the Athabaskan stock,' there are the 'Navahoe, the Jecorilla, the Panalero, along with the Apatsh of New Mexico, California, and Sonora. To these add the Hoopah of California, which is also Athabaskan.'Latham's Comp. Phil., p. 393.[182]William W. Turner was the first to assert positively that the Apaches spoke a language which belongs to the Athabascan family.Buschmann,Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, p. 316.[183]Face 'oval.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Broad faces, projecting cheek-bones, and wide nostrils.'Id., vol. i., p. 242. Foreheads low, chin long.Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. An exact compound between the Usquemows and Western Indians.Barrow's Geog. Hudson Bay, p. 33.[184]Generally more than medium size.Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Well proportioned, and about the middle size.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Long-bodied, with short, stout limbs.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.[185]'Dingy copper.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 526. 'Swarthy.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Dingy brown, copper cast.Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Very fresh and red.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Dirty yellowish ochre tinge.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.[186]'Small, fine eyes and teeth.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., 242.[187]'Hair lank, but not always of a dingy black. Men in general extract their beard, though some of them are seen to prefer a bushy, black beard, to a smooth chin.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Beard in the aged 'between two and three inches long, and perfectly white.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Black, strait, and coarse.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Neither sex have any hair under their armpits, and very little on any other part of the body, particularly the women; but on the place where Nature plants the hair, I never knew them attempt to eradicate it.'Hearne's Trav., p. 306.[188]Tattooing appears to be universal among the Kutchins.Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 419. The Chepewyans tattooed 'by entering an awl or needle under the skin, and, on drawing it out again, immediately rubbing powdered charcoal into the wound.'Hearne's Trav., p. 306. 'Both sexes have blue or black bars, or from one to four straight lines on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to which they belong.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxx.[189]Women 'destitute of real beauty.'Hearne's Trav., p. 89. 'Very inferior aspect.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 8. Women nasty.Mackenzie's Voy., p. 126. 'Positively hideous.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.[190]A Deer-Horn Mountaineer's dress 'consisted of a shirt, or jacket with a hood, wide breeches, reaching only to the knee, and tight leggins sewed to the shoes, all of deer's skins.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. The cap consists of the skin of a deer's head.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii.[191]As witness this speech of a noble chief: 'Women were made for labor; one of them can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do. They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as traveling any considerable distance, in this country without their assistance.'Hearne's Trav., p. 55.[192]An Indian desiring another one's wife, fights with her husband, principally by pulling hair. If victorious, he pays a number of skins to the husband.Hooper's Tuski, p. 303.[193]'Continence in an unmarried female is scarcely considered a virtue.' 'Their dispositions are not amatory.' 'I have heard among them of two sons keeping their mother as a common wife, of another wedded to his daughter, and of several married to their sisters.Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 310. Women carry their children on the back next the skin, and suckle them until another is born. They do not suspend their ordinary occupations for child-birth.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii. 'A temporary interchange of wives is not uncommon; and the offer of their persons is considered as a necessary part of the hospitality due to strangers.'Id., p. xcvi. Women are 'rather the slaves than the companions of the men.'Bell's Geog., vol. v., p. 293.[194]They are harsh towards their wives, except when enceinte. They are accused of abandoning the aged and sick, but only one case came to his knowledge.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., pp. 250, 251.[195]Beeatee, prepared from deer only, 'is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly cut into small shivers; all of which is put into the stomach, and roasted.'Hearne's Trav., p. 144. 'Not remarkable for their activity as hunters, owing to the ease with which they snare deer and spear fish.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiii. The Deer-Horn Mountaineers 'repair to the sea in spring and kill seals; as the season advances, they hunt deer and musk oxen at some distance from the coast. They approach the deer either by crawling, or by leading these animals by ranges of turf towards the spot where the archer can conceal himself.' Do not use nets, but the hook and line.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. 'Nets made of lines of twisted willow-bark, or thin strips of deer-hide.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 25. Curdled blood, a favorite dish.Simpson's Nar., p. 324.[196]The weapons of the Chepewyans are bows and arrows; stone and bone axes and knives.Harmon's Jour., p. 183. The bows of the Deer-Horns 'are formed of three pieces of fir, the centre piece alone bent, the other two lying in the same straight line with the bowstring; the pieces are neatly tied together with sinew.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. In preparing for an attack, each Coppermine Indian paints his shield with figures of Sun, Moon, or some animal or imaginary beings, each portraying whatever character he most relies upon.Hearne's Trav., p. 148. In some parts hunting grounds descend by inheritance, and the right of property is rigidly enforced.Simpson's Nar., p. 75.[197]'Their cooking utensils are made of pot-stone, and they form very neat dishes of fir.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. Make fishing-lines and nets of green deer-thongs.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxvi.[198]'They are great mimics.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 13. Men dance naked; women dressed. A crowd stand in a straight line, and shuffle from right to left without moving the feet from the ground.Hearne's Trav., p. 335. 'The men occasionally howl in imitation of some animal.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 35.[199]'They manifest no common respect to the memory of their departed friends, by a long period of mourning, cutting off their hair, and never making use of the property of the deceased.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxviii. The death of leading men is attributed to conjuring. They never bury the dead, but leave them, where they die, for wild beasts to devour.Hearne's Trav., p. 341. The Chepewyans bury their dead. When mourning for relatives they gash their bodies with knives.Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., pp. 21, 22.[200]'The Northern Indians seldom attain a great age, though they have few diseases.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 525. For inward complaints, the doctors blow zealously into the rectum, or adjacent parts.Hearne's Trav., p. 189. The conjurer shuts himself up for days with the patient, without food, and sings over him.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. Medicine-men or conjurers are at the same time doctors.Hooper's Tuski, pp. 317, 318. 'The Kutchins practice blood-lettingad libitum.'Jones,Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 325. 'Their principal maladies are rheumatic pains, the flux, and consumption.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiv.[201]According to the report of the Dog-ribs, the Mountain Indians are cannibals, casting lots for victims in time of scarcity.Simpson's Nar., p. 188. 'Instances of suicide, by hanging, frequently occur among the women.'Harmon's Jour., p. 198. During times of starvation, which occur quite frequently, the Slavé Indians eat their families.Hooper's Tuski, p. 303. 'These people take their names, in the first instance, from their dogs. A young man is the father of a certain dog, but when he is married, and has a son, he styles himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of reproving the dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting. "Are you not ashamed," say they, "to quarrel with your little brother?"'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., pp. 85, 86. 'Whether circumcision be practiced among them, I cannot pretend to say, but the appearance of it was general among those whom I saw.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 36. Dog-rib Indians, sometimes also called Slavés, 'a name properly meaning 'strangers.'Gallatin, inAm. Arch. Soc. Trans., vol. ii., p. 19.[202]'Order is maintained in the tribe solely by public opinion.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 26. The chiefs are now totally without power.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 247. 'They are influenced, more or less, by certain principles which conduce to their general benefit.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxv.[203]'Many consider a broth, made by means of the dung of the cariboo and the hare, to be a dainty dish.'Harmon's Jour., p. 324. They 'are lazy, dirty, and sensual,' and extremely uncivilized. 'Their habits and persons are equally disgusting.'Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 62. 'They are a tall, well formed, good-looking race.'Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154. 'An utter contempt of cleanliness prevailed on all hands, and it was revolting to witness their voracious endeavors to surpass each other in the gluttonous contest.'Ind. Life, p. 156.[204]The women 'run a wooden pin through their noses.'Harmon's Jour., p. 287. At their burial ceremonies they smear the face 'with a composition of fish-oil and charcoal.' When conjuring, the chief and his companions 'wore a kind of coronet formed of the inverted claws of the grizzly bear.'Ind. Life, pp. 127, 158.[205]The Tacullies have 'wooden dishes, and other vessels of the rind of the birch and pine trees.' 'Have also other vessels made of small roots or fibres of the cedar or pine tree, closely laced together, which serve them as buckets to put water in.'Harmon's Jour., p. 292.[206]'In the summer season both sexes bathe often; and this is the only time, when the married people wash themselves.' The Tacullies are very fond and very jealous of their wives, 'but to their daughters, they allow every liberty, for the purpose, as they say, of keeping the young men from intercourse with the married women.'Harmon's Jour., pp. 289, 292, 293. A father, whose daughter had dishonored him, killed her and himself.Ind. Life, 184.[207]'The people of every village have a certain extent of country, which they consider their own, and in which they may hunt and fish; but they may not transcend these bounds, without purchasing the privilege of those who claim the land. Mountains and rivers serve them as boundaries.'Harmon's Jour., p. 298.[208]Mackenzie,Voy., p. 238, found on Fraser River, about latitude 55°, a deserted house, 30 by 20, with three doors, 3 by 3½ feet; three fire-places, and beds on either side; behind the beds was a narrow space, like a manger, somewhat elevated, for keeping fish. 'Their houses are well formed of logs of small trees, buttressed up internally, frequently above seventy feet long and fifteen high, but, unlike those of the coast, the roof is of bark; their winter habitations are smaller, and often covered over with grass and earth; some even dwell in excavations of the ground, which have only an aperture at the top, and serves alike for door and chimney.'Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154.[209]'Quelques peuplades du nord, telles que les Sikanis, enterrent leurs morts.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 339. 'The Sicaunies bury, while the Tacullies, burn their dead.'Harmon's Jour., p. 196. They 'and the Chimmesyans on the coast, and other tribes speaking their language, burn the dead.'Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 236. See alsoDunn's Oregon, pp. 79, 80;Ind. Life, pp. 128, 136;Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 362, 363.[210]They fire guns as a warning to their friends not to invade their sorrow.Mackenzie's Voy., p. 139.[211]'In the winter season, the Carriers often keep their dead in their huts during five or six months, before they will allow them to be burned.'Harmon's Jour., p. 249.[212]'She must frequently put her hands through the flames and lay them upon his bosom, to show her continued devotion.'Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 239. They have a custom of mourning over the grave of the dead; their expressions of grief are generally exceedingly vociferous.Ind. Life, pp. 185, 186.[213]'On the end of a pole stuck in front of the lodge.'Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 237.[214]Women cut off a joint of one of their fingers. Men only cut off their hair close to their heads, but also frequently cut and scratch their faces and arms.Harmon's Jour., p. 182. With some sharp instrument they 'force back the flesh beyond the first joint, which they immediately amputate.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 148.[215]'The men are completely destitute of beard, and both men and women, are intensely ugly.'Jones, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 320. 'They reminded me of the ideal North American Indian I had read of but never seen.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Distinguished from all other tribes for the frankness and candor of their demeanor, and bold countenances.Simpson's Nar., p. 100. 'Males are of the average hight of Europeans, and well-formed, with regular features, high foreheads, and lighter complexions than those of the other red Indians. The women resemble the men.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 379.[216]'Tunic or shirt reaching to the knees, and very much ornamented with beads, and Hyaqua shells from the Columbia.'Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418. The Tenan Kutchins are 'gay with painted faces, feathers in their long hair, patches of red clay at the back of their head.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Jackets like the Eskimos.Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 221. 'Both sexes wear breeches.'Simpson's Nar., p. 103.
[109]'The dead body of a chief is embalmed with moss, and buried.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 177.
[110]'In one of the small buildings, or kennels, as they may very properly be called, was a woman who had retired into it in consequence of the death of her son.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 184.
[111]'The word Aleutian seems to be derived from the interrogative particleallix, which struck strangers in the language of that people.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. iii., p. 312. The Unalaskas and 'the people of Oomnak, call themselvesCowghalingen.' 'The natives of Alaska and all the adjacent islands they callKagataiakung'n.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 154. 'The inhabitants of Unalashka are calledKogholaghi; those of Akutan, and further east to Unimak,Kighigusi; and those of Unimak and Alaxa,Kataghayekiki. They cannot tell whence these appellations are derived; and now begin to call themselves by the general name ofAleyut, given to them by the Russians, and borrowed from some of the Kurile Islands.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 219.
[112]Yet, says D'Orbigny,Voyage, p. 577: 'Si on interroge les Aléoutiens sur leur origine, ils disent que leurs ancêtres ont habité un grand pays vers l'ouest, et que de là ils sont avancés de proche en proche sur les îles désertes jusq'au continent américain.'
[113]Trapesnikoff took from an unknown island in 1753, 1920 sea-otter skins. Durneff returned to Kamchatka in 1754, with 3,000 skins. In 1752 one crew touched at Bering Island and took 1,222 Arctic foxes, and 2,500 sea-bears. Cholodiloff, in 1753, took from one island 1,600 otter-skins. Tolstych in one voyage took 1,780 sea-otter, 720 blue foxes, and 840 sea-bears.Coxe's Russ. Dis., pp. 43, 44, 49, 51, 53.
[114]Sparks,Life of Ledyard, p. 79.
[115]A great deal of character.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 32.
[116]'Rather low of stature, but plump and well shaped; with rather short necks; swarthy chubby faces; black eyes; small beards, and long, straight, black hair; which the men wear loose behind, and cut before, but the women tie up in a bunch.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. 'Von Gesicht sind sie platt und weiss, von guter Statur, durchgängig mit schwarzen Haaren.'Neue Nachr., p. 150. 'Low in stature, broad in the visage.'Campbell's Voy., p. 112. Hair 'strong and wiry;' scanty beard, but thick on the upper lip.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 154.
[117]'Les femmes aléoutes portaient aux mains et aux pieds des chapelets de pierres de couleur et préférablement d'ambre.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'None are so highly esteemed as a sort of long muscle, commonly called sea-teeth, thedentalium entalisof Linnæus.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 40. 'Women have the chin punctured in fine lines rayed from the centre of the lip and covering the whole chin.' They wear bracelets of black seal-skin around the wrists and ankles, and go barefoot.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 155. 'Im Nasen-Knorpel und der Unterlippe machen beide Geschlechter Löcher und setzen Knochen ein, welches ihr liebster Schmuck ist. Sie stechen sich auch bunte Figuren im Gesicht aus.'Neue Nachr., p. 169. 'They bore the upper lip of the young children of both sexes, under the nostrils, where they hang several sorts of stones, and whitened fish-bones, or the bones of other animals.'Staehlin's North Arch., p. 37.
[118]'Leur conformation est robuste et leur permet de supporter des travaux et des fatigues de toute sorte.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 577.
[119]At Shumagin Island, their caps were of sea-lion skins.Müller's Voy., p. 46. On the front are one or two small images of bone.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. A wooden hat, 'which in front comes out before the eyes like a sort of umbrella, and is rounded off behind.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 38. 'Einige haben gemeine Mützen von einem bunten Vogelfell, woran sie etwas von den Flügeln und dem Schwanz sitzen lassen;—sind vorn mit einem Brettchen wie ein Schirm versehn und mit Bärten von Seebären—geschmücket.'Neue Nachr., pp. 151, 152.
[120]On a feather garment, 'a person is sometimes employed a whole year.' 'The women for the most part go bare-footed.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., pp. 36, 39. 'Seams covered with thin slips of skin, very elegantly embroidered with white deer's hair, goat's hair, and the sinews of sea animals, dyed of different colours.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 156. 'Ihr Pelzkleid wird über den Kopf angezogen, und ist hinten und vorn ganz zu. Die Männer tragen es aus Vogelhäuten; die Weiber hingegen von Bibern und jungen Seebären.'Neue Nachr., p. 152. 'Boots and breeches in one piece.'Campbell's Voy., p. 113.
[121]'Round the sides and ends of the huts, the families (for several are lodged together) have their separate apartments, where they sleep, and sit at work; not upon benches, but in a kind of concave trench, which is dug all around the inside of the house, and covered with mats.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 512. 'When they have stood for sometime, they become overgrown with grass, so that a village has the appearance of an European churchyard full of graves.'Langsdorff's Voy., p. 32. 'In den Jurten wird niemals Feuer angelegt und doch ist es gemeiniglich sehr warm darinnen, so dass beide Geschlechter ganz nakkend sitzen.'Neue Nachr., p. 150.
[122]'A bidarka or boat is turned up sideways, and at the distance of four or five feet, two sticks, one opposite to the head and the other to the stern, are driven into the ground, on the tops of which a cross stick is fastened. The oars are then laid along from the boat to the cross stick, and covered with seal skins, which are always at hand for the purpose.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 152.
[123]'Among the greatest delicacies of Oonalashka are the webbed feet of a seal, which are tied in a bladder, buried in the ground, and remain there till they are changed into a stinking jelly.'Kotzebue's Voy., vol. ii., p. 165. Almost everything is eaten raw.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 520. The sea-dog is caught with nets, killed when asleep, or enticed on shore by a false cap made to resemble a seal's head.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 205.
[124]'L'Aléoute peut tuer les phoques et les oiseaux, sans être obligé d'en rendre compte à la compagnie.'Choris,Voy. Pitt., pt. vii., p. 4.
[125]'Die Spitze selbst wird theils aus Obsidian oder Lavaglas, theils auch aus Trachyt verfertigt.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 268. Spear-handles are feathered, the points of sharpened flint.Neue Nachr., p. 102, 'Arrows are thrown from a narrow and pointed board, twenty inches long, which is held by the thumb and three fingers. They are thrown straight from the shoulder with astonishing velocity.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 205. 'Les armes défensives consistaient en une cotte de joncs tressés qui leur couvrait tout le corps.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'No such thing as an offensive, or even defensive weapon was seen amongst the natives of Oonalashka.' Probably they had been disarmed by the Russians.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 515. 'Wherever any one has fixed his habitation, nobody else dares to hunt or fish.'Staehlin's Nor. Arch., p. 37. For birds they point their darts with three light bones, spread and barbed.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157. 'Indeed, there is a neatness and perfection in most of their work, that shews they neither want ingenuity nor perseverance.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 514.
[126]They make 'baskets called ishcats, in which the Aleutians keep all their valuables.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 181. 'Thread they make of the sinews of the seal, and of all sizes, from the fineness of a hair to the strength of a moderate cord, both twisted and plaited.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 157. Of the teeth of sea-dogs they carve little figures of men, fish, sea-otters, sea-dogs, sea-cows, birds, and other objects.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 46.
[127]'Wollen sie etwas an ihren Pfeilen oder sonst eine Kleinigkeit leimen, so schlagen sie sich an die Nase und bestreichen es mit ihrem Blute.'Neue Nachr., p. 173.
[128]Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 159;Campbell's Voy., p. 59.
[129]'Comme les femmes coûtaient cher en présents de fiançailles, la plupart des Aléoutes n'en avaient qu'une ou deux.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. Purchase as many girls for wives as they can support.Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 160. 'Objects of unnatural affection.'Id., p. 160. 'Their beards are carefully plucked out as soon as they begin to appear, and their chins tattooed like those of the women.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 48. 'The Russians told us, that they never had any connections with their women, because they were not Christians. Our people were not so scrupulous; and some of them had reason to repent that the females of Oonalashka encouraged their addresses without any reserve; for their health suffered by a distemper that is not unknown here.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 521.
[130]'It often happens that a mother plunges her noisy child into water, even in winter, and keeps it there till it leaves off crying.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 202. 'Schreyt das Kind, so trägt es die Mutter, es sey Winter oder Sommer nakkend nach der See, und hält es so lange im Wasser bis es still wird.'Neue Nachr., p. 168.
[131]'Have their own chiefs in each island.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 510. 'Generally is conferred on him who is the most remarkable for his personal qualities.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 219.
[132]Those of the inhabitants who have two wives give their guests one, or a slave.Neue Nachr., p. 171. 'In the spring holidays, they wear masks, neatly carved and fancifully ornamented.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 160.
[133]'On avait soin de le disposer de manière à ce qu'il ne touchât pas la terre.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 579. 'Embalm the bodies of the men with dried moss and grass.'Sauer,Billings' Ex., p. 161. Slaves sometimes slaughtered.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 48. 'Bury their dead on the summits of hills.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 521. 'When a man dies in the hut belonging to his wife, she retires into a dark hole, where she remains forty days. The husband pays the same compliment to his favorite wife upon her death.'Coxe's Russ. Dis., p. 218. 'Die Todten werden begraben, und man giebt dem Mann seinen Kahn, Pfeile und Kleider mit ins Grab.' 'Die Todten umwinden sie mit Riemen und hängen sie in einer Art hölzerner Wiege an einen auf zwey Gabelen ruhenden Querstock in der Luft auf.'Neue Nachr., pp. 101, 154.
[134]'Naturellement silencieux.'D'Orbigny,Voy., p. 578. 'Sie verrichten auch die Nothdurft und das Ehegeschäft ohne alle Scheu.'Neue. Nachr., p. 150. 'A stupid silence reigns among them.' 'I am persuaded that the simplicity of their character exceeds that of any other people.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 182, 183. 'Kind-hearted and obliging, submissive and careful; but if roused to anger, they become rash and unthinking, even malevolent, and indifferent to all danger.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 32. 'To all appearance, they are the most peaceable, inoffensive people, I ever met with. And, as to honesty, they might serve as a pattern to the most civilized nation upon earth.'Cook, vol. ii., p. 509.
[135]'To hunt was their task; to be drowned, or starved, or exhausted, was their reward.'Simpson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 229. 'They are harmless, wretched slaves,' whose race will soon be extinct.Kotzebue's Voy., vol. iii., p. 315. The Russian hunters 'used not unfrequently to place the men close together, and try through how many the ball of their rifle-barrelled musket would pass.'Sauer,Billings' Ex. App., p. 56. 'Of a thousand men, who formerly lived in this spot, scarcely more than forty remained.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 235. 'La variole, la syphilis, voire même le choléra depuis quelques années, en emportent une effrayante quantité.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. ii., p. 51.
[136]Kaluga,Kaljush,Koljush,Kalusch,Kolush,Kolosch,Kolosh,Kolosches. Marchand calls them Tchinkîtâné.Voyage aut. du Monde, tom. ii., p. 3.
[137]SeeHolmberg,Ethn. Skiz., pp. 15, 16.
[138]Ugalachmiuti,Ugaljachmjuten,Ugalyachmutzi,Ugalukmutes,Ugalenzi,Ugalenzen,Ugalenzes.
[139]They 'call themselves G-tinkit, or S-chinkit, or also S-chitcha-chon, that is, inhabitants of Sitki or Sitcha.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., 128.
[140]The orthographic varieties of this word are endless.Stickeen,Stekin,Stakhin,Stachin,Stikin,Stachine,Stikeen,Stikine,Stychine, are among those before me at the moment.
[141]At the end of this chapter, underTribal Boundaries, the location of these tribes is given definitely.
[142]A Thlinkeet boy, 'when under the whip, continued his derision, without once exhibiting the slightest appearance of suffering.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 242.
[143]'Leur corps est ramassé, mais assez bien proportionné.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 46. 'Very fierce.'Portlock's Voy., p. 291. 'Limbs straight and well shaped.'Dixon's Voy., p. 171. 'Stolze gerade Haltung.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 16. 'Active and clever.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 237. 'Bigote á manera de los Chinos.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 14. 'Limbs ill-proportioned.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 49. 'Très supérieurs en courage et en intelligence.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 54.
[144]The women 'are pleasing and their carriage modest.'Portlock's Voy., p. 291. When washed, white and fresh.Dixon's Voy., p. 171. 'Dunkle Hautfarbe.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 16. 'Eran de color blanco y habia muchos con ojos azules.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 14. As fair as many Europeans.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 112. 'Muchos de ellos de un blanco regular.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 43.
[145]'Leur chevelure, dure, épaisse, mêlée, couverte d'ocre, de duvet d'oiseaux et de toutes les ordures que la négligence et le temps y ont accumulées, contribue encore à rendre leur aspect hideux.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 46. 'A more hideous set of beings, in the form of men and women, I had never before seen.'Cleveland's Voy., p. 91. The men painted 'a black circle extending from the forehead to the mouth, and a red chin, which gave the face altogether the appearance of a mask.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 146. Pourraient même passer pour jolies, sans l'horrible habitude qu'elles ont adoptée.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'That person seems to be reckoned the greatest beau amongst them, whose face is one entire piece of smut and grease.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68. 'Ils se font des cicatrices sur les bras et sur la poitrine.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 223. 'Um aus dem Gesichte diese fette Farbenmasse abzuwaschen, gebrauchen sie ihren eignen Urin, und dieser verursacht bei ihnen den widerlichen Geruch, der den sich ihm nahenden Fremdling fast zum Erbrechen bringt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 20.
[146]Meares,Voyages, p. xxxi., states that at Prince William Sound, 'the men have universally a slit in their under lip, between the projecting part of the lip and the chin, which is cut parallel with their mouths, and has the appearance of another mouth.' Worn only by women.Dixon's Voy., p. 172.
[147]'About three tenths of an inch below the upper part of the under lip.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'In the centre of the under-lip.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'Fendue au ras des gencives.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 224. 'In the thick part near the mouth.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'When the first person having this incision was seen by one of the seamen, who called out, that the man had two mouths.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 369. 'In their early infancy, a small incision is made in the center of the under lip, and a piece of brass or copper wire is placed in, and left in the wound. This corrodes the lacerated parts, and by consuming the flesh gradually increases the orifice, until it is sufficiently large to admit the wooden appendage.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 408. 'Les femmes de Tchinkîtâné ont cru devoir ajouter à leur beauté naturelle, par l'emploi d'un ornement labial, aussi bizarre qu'incommode.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 48.
[148]'Simply perforated, and a piece of copper wire introduced.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'Les jeunes filles n'ont qu'une aiguille dans la lèvre inférieure.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 226. 'On y prépare les petites filles aussitôt qu'elles sont nées.'Id., tom. iv., p. 54. 'At first a thick wire.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. When almost marriageable.Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 51. 'The children have them bored at about two years of age, when a piece of copper-wire is put through the hole; this they wear till the age of about thirteen or fourteen years, when it is taken out, and the wooden ornament introduced.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'Said to denote maturity.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 100. 'Se percer la lèvre inférieure des l'enfance.' 'D'agrandir peu à peu cette ouverture au point de pouvoir jeune fille y introduire une coquille, et femme mariée une énorme tasse de bois.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'Never takes place during their infancy.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'When the event takes place that implies womanhood.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 243. 'Wenn zum ersten Mal beim Mädchen sich Spuren der Mannbarkeit zeigen, wird ihre Unterlippe durchstochen und in diese Oeffnung eine Knochenspitze, gegenwärtig doch häufiger ein Silberstift gelegt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'Pues les pareció que solo lo tenian los casados.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 15.
[149]'Concave on both sides.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'So lange sie unverheirathet ist, trägt sie diesen; erhält sie aber einen Mann, so presst man einen grösseren Schmuck von Holz oder Knochen in die Oeffnung, welcher nach innen, d. h. zur Zahnseite etwas trogförmig ausgehöhlt ist.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'Une espèce d'écuelle de bois sans anses qui appuie contre les gencives.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 224. Pieces of shell resembling teeth.Meares' Voy., p. xxxi.
[150]'As large as a large saucer.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'From one corner of the mouth to the other.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 280. 'Frequently increased to three, or even four inches in length, and nearly as wide.'Dixon's Voy., p. 187. 'A communément un demi-pouce d'épaisseur, deux de diamètre, et trois pouces de long.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 54. 'At least seven inches in circumference.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxviii. 'Mit den Jahren wird der Schmuck vergrössert, so dass er bei einem alten Weibe über 2 Zoll breit angetroffen wird.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. From two to five inches long, and from one and a half to three inches broad. Ladies of distinction increase the size. 'I have even seen ladies of very high rank with this ornament, full five inches long and three broad.' Mr Dwolf affirms that he saw 'an old woman, the wife of a chief, whose lip ornament was so large, that by a peculiar motion of her under-lip she could almost conceal her whole face with it.' 'Horrible in its appearance to us Europeans.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'Es una abertura como de media pulgada debaxo del labio inferior, que representa segunda boca, donde colocan una especie de roldana elíptica de pino, cuyo diámetro mayor es de dos pulgadas, quatro lineas, y el menor de una pulgada.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. 126.
[151]'Une énorme tasse de bois, destinée à recevoir la salive qui s'en échappe constamment.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. 'L'effet de cet ornement est de rabattre, par le poids de sa partie saillante la lèvre inférieure sur le menton, de développer les charmes d'une grande bouche béante, qui prend la forme de celle d'un four, et de mettre à découvert une rangée de dents jaunes et sales.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 49. 'She is obliged to be constantly on the watch, lest it should fall out, which would cover her with confusion.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 244. 'The weight of this trencher or ornament weighs the lip down so as to cover the whole of the chin, leaving all the lower teeth and gum quite naked.'Portlock's Voy., p. 289. 'L'usage le plus révoltant qui existe peut-être sur la terre.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 226. 'Always in proportion to a person's wealth.' 'Distorts every feature in the lower part of the face.'Dixon's Voy., p. 68, 172. 'In running the lip flaps up and down so as to knock sometimes against the chin and sometimes against the nose. Upon the continent the kaluga is worn still larger; and the female who can cover her whole face with her under-lip passes for the most perfect beauty,' 'The lips of the women held out like a trough, and always filled with saliva stained with tobacco-juice, of which they are immoderately fond, is the most abominably revolting part of the spectacle.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 52. 'Dadurch entsteht eine im selbigen Maasse ausgedehnte Lippe, die höchst widerlich aussieht, um so mehr, da sich nun mehr der Mund nicht schliessen kann, sondern unaufhörlich einen braunen Tabaksspeichel von sich gibt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 21. 'So distorts the face as to take from it almost the resemblance to the human; yet the privilege of wearing this ornament is not extended to the female slaves, who are prisoners taken in war.'Cleveland's Voy., p. 91. 'Look as if they had large flat wooden spoons growing in the flesh.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 115. 'The sight is hideous. Our men used jocosely to say, this lower lip would make a good slab to lay their trousers on to be scrubbed.'Dunn's Oregon, p. 277. 'On ne connaît point d'explication plausible de cette mutilation, qui, chez les Indiens, passe pour un signe de noblesse.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 336.
[152]'Die Männertracht unterscheidet sich in Nichts von der Weiber; sie besteht nämlich aus einem bis zu den Knieen gehenden Hemde.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 18. Some of their blankets 'are so curiously worked on one side with the fur of the sea-otter, that they appear as if lined with it.' 'Some dress themselves in short pantaloons.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 238. 'Las mugeres visten honestamente una especie de túnica interior de piel sobada.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Se vestian las mugeres tunicas de pieles ajustadas al cuerpo con brazaletes de cobre o hierro.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 15. 'Usual clothing consists of a little apron.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 49. 'Their feet are always bare.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 114.
[153]'Usan sombreros de la corteza interior del pino en forma de cono truncado.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. Their wooden masks 'are so thick, that a musket-ball, fired at a moderate distance, can hardly penetrate them.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 150.
[154]Pluck out their beard.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 112. 'Ils ont de la barbe, moins à la vérité que les Européens, mais assez cependant pour qu'il soit impossible d'en douter.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 229. 'The women in general are hair-dressers for their husbands.'Portlock's Voy., p. 290.
[155]'Der Eingang, ziemlich hoch von der Erde, besteht aus einem kleinen runden Loche.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 25. 'Ils se construisent des maisons de bois ou de terre pour l'hiver.'Laplace,Circumnav., vol. vi., p. 87. 'The barabaras of the Sitcan people are of a square form, and spacious. The sides are of planks; and the roof resembles that of a Russian house.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Habitan estos Indios en chozas ó rancherías de tablas muy desabrigadas.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvi. At Sitka the roof 'rests upon ten or twelve thick posts driven into the ground, and the sides of the house are composed of broad thick planks fastened to the same posts.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 129. 'Dans l'intérieur des terres, des habitations bien construites, spacieuses et commodes.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 74. 'Shanties on a large scale.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 100. 'Their huts are made of a few boards, which they take away with them when they go to their winter quarters. It is very surprising to see how well they will shape their boards with the shocking tools they employ; some of them being full 10 feet long, 2½ feet broad, and not more than an inch thick.'Portlock's Voy., p. 292. 'High, large, and roomy, built of wood, with the hearth in the middle, and the sides divided into as many compartments as there are families living under the roof.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 410. 'Lebt in Schoppen aus Balken gebaut, wo an den Seiten für jede Familie besondere Plätze abgetheilt sind, in der Mitte aber Feuer für alle zusammen angemacht wird. So pflegen gemeiniglich 2 bis 6 Familien eine einzige Scheune einzunehmen.'Baer's Ethn. u. Stat., p. 97.
[156]'Vingt-cinq pieds de long sur quinze à vingt pieds de large.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 220. 'Roof in the whole with the bark of trees.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 53. 'Las casas en que estos habitan en las playas son de poca consideracion y ninguna subsistencia.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 49. 'A few poles stuck in the ground, without order or regularity.'Dixon's Voy., p. 172. 'Gebäude besteht aus langen, sorgfältig behauenen Brettern, die kartenhausartig über einander gestellt, an zahlreichen in die Erde gesteckten Stangen befestigt, recht eigentlich ein hölzernes Zelt bilden. Es hat die Form einer länglichen Barake mit zwei Giebeln.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., pp. 220, 221.
[157]All kinds of fish; 'such as salmon, mussels, and various other shell-fish, sea-otters, seals and porpoises; the blubber of the porpoise, they are remarkably fond of, and indeed the flesh of any animal that comes in their way.'Portlock's Voy., p. 290. 'Vom Meere, an dessen Ufern sie sich stets ansiedeln, erhalten sie ihre hauptsächlichste Nahrung; einige Wurzeln, Gräser u. Beeren gehören nur zu den Leckerbissen des Sommers.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 22. Cakes made of bark of spruce-fir, mixed with roots, berries, and train-oil. For salt they use sea-water. Never eat whale-fat.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 131. At Sitka, summer food consists of berries, fresh fish, and flesh of amphibious animals. Winter food, of dried salmon, train-oil, and the spawn of fish, especially herrings.Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Sus alimentos se reducen á pescado cocido ó asado ya fresco ó ya seco, varias hierbas y raizes.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 50. They chew 'a plant which appears to be a species of tobacco.'Dixon's Voy., p. 175. 'Sont couverts de vermine; ils font une chasse assidue à ces animaux dévorans, mais pour les dévorer eux-mêmes.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 52. 'Tägliche Nahrung der Einwohner—sind hauptsächtlich Fische, doch häufig auch Mollusken und Echinodermen.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 222.
[158]'Le poisson frais ou fumé, les œufs séchés de poisson.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 62. 'Is sometimes cooked upon red-hot stones, but more commonly eaten raw.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 53. 'Not so expert in hunting as the Aleutians. Their principal mode is that of shooting the sea animals as they lie asleep.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 242. They boil their victuals in wooden vessels, by constantly putting red-hot stones into the water.Portlock's Voy., p. 291. 'Das Kochen geschieht jetzt in eisernen Kesseln, vor der Bekanntschaft mit den Russen aber wurden dazu aus Wurzeln geflochtene Körbe angewandt.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 23.
[159]To their fishing lines, bladders are fastened, 'which float upon the surface of the water, so that one person can attend to fourteen or fifteen lines.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 134. 'Ils pêchent, comme nous, en barrant les rivières, ou à la ligne.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 232. 'For taking the spawn, they use the branches of the pine-tree, to which it easily adheres, and on which it is afterwards dried. It is then put into baskets, or holes purposely dug in the ground, till wanted.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 239. 'Su comun alimento es el salmon, y es ingenioso el método que tienen de pescarle.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Their lines are very strong, being made of the sinews or intestines of animals.'Dixon's Voy., p. 174. 'Die Riesenbutte, die in Sitcha bisweilen ein Gewicht von 10 bis 12 Pud erreicht, wird aus der Tiefe mit grossen hölzernen Angeln, die mit Widerhaken aus Eisen oder Knochen versehen sind, herausgezogen. Die Angelschnur besteht aus an einander geknüpften Fucusstängeln.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 32.
[160]'Bows and arrows were formerly their only weapons; now, besides their muskets, they have daggers, and knives half a yard long.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 55. Their weapons were bows, arrows, and spears.Dixon's Voy., p. 67. 'Leur lances dont l'ancienne forme n'est pas connue, est à présent composée de deux pièces: de la hampe, longue de quinze ou dix-huit pieds, et du fer qui ne le cède en rien à celui de la hallebarde de parade dont étoit armé un Suisse de paroisse.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 68. Knives, some two feet long, shaped almost like a dagger, with a ridge in the middle. Worn in skin sheaths hung by a thong to the neck under their robe, probably used only as weapons.Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 373. 'Las armas ofensivas que generalmente usan son las flechas, lanzas de seis y ocho varas de largo con lenguetas de fierro.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 46. 'The daggers used in battle are made to stab with either end, having three, four or five inches above the hand tapered to a sharp point; but the upper part of those used in the Sound and River is excurvated.'Portlock's Voy., p. 261. 'Principally bows and arrows.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 131. 'Sus armas se reducen al arco, la flecha y el puñal que traen siempre consigo.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxvii. 'Comme nous examinions très attentivement tous ces poignards, ils nous firent signe qu'ils n'en faisaient usage que contre les ours et les autres bêtes des forêts.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 172. 'Der Dolch ist sehr breit und hat zwei geschliffene Blätter auf jeder Seite des Griffes, das obere jedoch nur ein Viertel von der Länge des unteren.' 'Beide Blätter oder Klingen sind mit ledernen Scheiden versehen.'Holmberg,Ethn. Skiz., p. 28.
[161]'A kind of jacket, or coat of mail, made of thin laths, bound together with sinews, which makes it quite flexible, though so close as not to admit an arrow or dart.'Cook's Third Voy., vol. ii., p. 372. 'Für den Krieg besitzen die Kaloschen auch von Holz gearbeitete Schutzwaffen: Brustharnische, Sturmhauben und seltsam geschnitzte Visire, mit grellen Farben bemalte Fratzengesichter darstellen.'Kittlitz,Reise, vol. i., p. 216.
[162]'They never attack their enemies openly.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 55. 'Les guerriers tués ou faits prisonniers à la guerre, passent également sous la dent de leurs vainqueurs qui, en dévorant une proie aussi distinguée, croient y puiser de nouvelles forces, une nouvelle énergie.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 155.
[163]'Bien hechas de una pieza con su falca sobre las bordas.'Perez,Nav., MS., p. 17. 'On n'est pas moins étonné de leur stabilité: malgré la légèreté et le peu de largeur de la coque, elles n'ont pas besoin d'être soutenues par des balanciers, et jamais on ne les accouple.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 72. 'Las regulares canoas de que se sirven son de pino, y no tienen mas capacidad que la que basta para contener una familia, sin embargo que las hay sumamente grandes.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 48. 'Rudely excavated and reduced to no particular shape, but each end has the resemblance of a butcher's tray.'Dixon's Voy., p. 173. 'Their canoes are much inferior to those of the lower coast, while their skin "baidarkes" (kyacks) are not equal to those of Norton Sound and the northern coast.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 101. At Cook's Inlet, 'their canoes are sheathed with the bark of trees.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 188. These canoes 'were made from a solid tree, and many of them appeared to be from 50 to 70 feet in length, but very narrow, being no broader than the tree itself.'Meares' Voy., p. xxxviii. 'Their boat was the body of a large pine tree, neatly excavated, and tapered away towards the ends, until they came to a point, and the fore-part somewhat higher than the after-part; indeed, the whole was finished in a neat and very exact manner.'Portlock's Voy., p. 259.
[164]'Ont fait beaucoup plus de progrès dans les arts que dans la morale.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 233. Thlinkeet women make baskets of bark of trees, and grass, that will hold water.Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 132. They have tolerable ideas of carving, most utensils having sculptures, representing some animal.Portlock's Voy., p. 294. 'Ces peintures, ces sculptures, telles qu'elles sont, on en voit sur tous leurs meubles.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 71. 'De la vivacidad de su genio y del afecto al cambio se debe inferir son bastantemente laboriosos.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 48. 'Tienen lana blanca cuya especie ignoraron.'Perez,Nav., MS. p. 16. 'Masks very ingeniously cut in wood, and painted with different colors.' A rattle, 'very well finished, both as to sculpture and painting.' 'One might suppose these productions the work of a people greatly advanced in civilization.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 150, 241. 'Found some square patches of ground in a state of cultivation, producing a plant that appeared to be a species of tobacco.'Vancouver's Voy., vol. iii., p. 256.
[165]'The skins of the sea-otters form their principal wealth, and are a substitute for money.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 54. 'In one place they discovered a considerable hoard of woolen cloth, and as much dried fish as would have loaded 150 bidarkas.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 160.
[166]'Le Gouvernement des Tchinkitânéens paroîtroit donc se rapprocher du Gouvernement patriarchal.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 83. 'De su gobierno pensamos cuando mas, oiendo el modo de someterse á algunos viejos, seria oligárhico.'Bodega y Quadra,Nav., MS. p. 50. 'Though the toyons have power over their subjects, it is a very limited power, unless when an individual of extraordinary abilities starts up, who is sure to rule despotically.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 243. 'Chaque famille semble vivre d'une manière isolée et avoir un régime particulier.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 61. 'Ces Conseils composés des vieillards.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 155.
[167]Tribes are distinguished by the color and character of their paint.Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 51. They 'are divided into tribes; the principal of which assume to themselves titles of distinction, from the names of the animals they prefer; as the tribe of the bear, of the eagle, etc. The tribe of the wolf are calledCoquontans, and have many privileges over the other tribes.'Lisiansky's Voy., pp. 238, 242.
[168]'The women possess a predominant influence, and acknowledged superiority over the other sex.'Meares' Voy., p. 323. 'Parmi eux les femmes jouissent d'une certaine considération.'Laplace,Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 87. They treat their wives and children with much affection and tenderness, and the women keep the treasures.Portlock's Voy., p. 290. The Kalush 'finds his filthy countrywomen, with their lip-troughs, so charming, that they often awaken in him the most vehement passion.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 56. 'It is certain that industry, reserve, modesty, and conjugal fidelity, are the general characteristics of the female sex among these people.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 133. 'Quoiqu'elles vivent sous la domination d'hommes très-féroces, je n'ai pas vu qu'elles en fussent traitées d'une manière aussi barbare que le prétendent la plupart des voyageurs.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. iv., p. 61.
[169]'Weddings are celebrated merely by a feast, given to the relatives of the bride.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 57.
[170]'Ils ne s'écartent jamais de deux pas pour aucun besoin; ils ne cherchent dans ces occasions ni l'ombre ni le mystère; ils continuent la conversation qu'ils ont commencée, comme s'ils n'avaient pas un instant à perdre; et lorsque c'est pendant le repas, ils reprennent leur place, dont ils n'ont jamais été éloignés d'une toise.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 221.
[171]'Ont un goût décidé pour le chant.'Marchand,Voy., tom. ii., p. 75. 'The women sit upon the ground at a distance of some paces from the dancers, and sing a not inharmonious melody, which supplies the place of music.'Langsdorff's Voy., pt. ii., p. 114. 'They dance and sing continually.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 240. Besides the tambourine, Captain Belcher saw a castanet and 'a new musical instrument, composed of three hoops, with a cross in the centre, the circumference being closely strung with the beaks of the Alca arctica.'Voy., vol. i., p. 103.
[172]They lose at this game all their possessions, and even their wives and children, who then become the property of the winner.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 62. 'Ce jeu les rend tristes et sérieux.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 235.
[173]Upon one tomb, 'formaba una figura grande y horrorosa que tenia entre sus garras una caxa.'Sutil y Mexicana,Viage, p. cxviii. 'The box is frequently decorated with two or three rows of small shells.'Dixon's Voy., p. 176. 'The dead are burned, and their ashes preserved in small wooden boxes, in buildings appropriated to that purpose.'Kotzebue's New Voy., vol. ii., p. 57. 'Nos voyageurs rencontrèrent aussi un morai qui leur prouva que ces Indiens étaient dans l'usage de brûler les morts et d'en conserver la tête.'La Pérouse,Voy., tom. ii., p. 205. 'On the death of a toyon, or other distinguished person, one of his slaves is deprived of life, and burned with him.'Lisiansky's Voy., p. 241.
[174]Called by Gallatin, inAm. Antiq. Soc. Transact., vol. ii., p. 17,Athapasca, the name 'first given to the central part of the country they inhabit.' Sir John Richardson,Jour., vol. ii., p. 1, calls them 'Tinnè, or 'Dtinnè, Athabascans or Chepewyans.' 'They style themselves generally Dinneh men, or Indians.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 241.
[175]Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., pp. 1-33.
[176]'Les Indiens de la côte ou de la Nouvelle Calédonie, les Tokalis, les Chargeurs (Carriers) les Schouchouaps, les Atnas, appartiennent tous à la nation des Chipeouaïans dont la langue est en usage dans le nord du Continent jusqu'à la baie d'Hudson et à la Mer Polaire.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 337.
[177]Are 'known under the names ofLoucheux,Digothi, andKutshin.'Latham's Nat. Races, p. 292. 'They are called Deguthee Dinees, or theQuarrellers.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 51. 'On Peel's River they name themselvesKutchin, the finalnbeing nasal and faintly pronounced.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 378. They are also calledTykothee-dinneh, Loucheux or Quarrellers.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 83. 'The Loucheux proper is spoken by the Indians of Peel's River. All the tribes inhabiting the valley of the Youkon understand one another.'Hardisty, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 311.
[178]Gallatin, inAm. Antiq. Soc. Transact., vol. ii., p. 17, erroneously ruled the Loucheux out of his Athabasca nation. 'Im äussersten Nordosten hat uns Gallatin aufmerksam gemacht auf das Volk der Loucheux, Zänker-Indianer oder Digothi: an der Mündung des Mackenzie-Flusses, nach Einigen zu dessen beiden Seiten (westliche und östliche): dessen Sprache er nach den Reisenden für fremd den athapaskischen hielt: worüber sich die neuen Nachrichten noch widersprechen.'Buschmann,Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, p. 713. Franklin,Nar., vol. ii., p. 83, allies the Loucheux to the Eskimos.
[179]Tnai, 'man;' Tnaina Ttynai, Thnaina, Kinai, Kenai, Kenaize.
[180]See notes onBoundariesat the end of this chapter.
[181]Besides the 'Umkwa,' being outlying members of the Athabaskan stock,' there are the 'Navahoe, the Jecorilla, the Panalero, along with the Apatsh of New Mexico, California, and Sonora. To these add the Hoopah of California, which is also Athabaskan.'Latham's Comp. Phil., p. 393.
[182]William W. Turner was the first to assert positively that the Apaches spoke a language which belongs to the Athabascan family.Buschmann,Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, p. 316.
[183]Face 'oval.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Broad faces, projecting cheek-bones, and wide nostrils.'Id., vol. i., p. 242. Foreheads low, chin long.Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. An exact compound between the Usquemows and Western Indians.Barrow's Geog. Hudson Bay, p. 33.
[184]Generally more than medium size.Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Well proportioned, and about the middle size.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Long-bodied, with short, stout limbs.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.
[185]'Dingy copper.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 526. 'Swarthy.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Dingy brown, copper cast.Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Very fresh and red.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Dirty yellowish ochre tinge.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.
[186]'Small, fine eyes and teeth.'Franklin's Nar., vol. i., 242.
[187]'Hair lank, but not always of a dingy black. Men in general extract their beard, though some of them are seen to prefer a bushy, black beard, to a smooth chin.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Beard in the aged 'between two and three inches long, and perfectly white.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Black, strait, and coarse.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Neither sex have any hair under their armpits, and very little on any other part of the body, particularly the women; but on the place where Nature plants the hair, I never knew them attempt to eradicate it.'Hearne's Trav., p. 306.
[188]Tattooing appears to be universal among the Kutchins.Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 419. The Chepewyans tattooed 'by entering an awl or needle under the skin, and, on drawing it out again, immediately rubbing powdered charcoal into the wound.'Hearne's Trav., p. 306. 'Both sexes have blue or black bars, or from one to four straight lines on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to which they belong.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxx.
[189]Women 'destitute of real beauty.'Hearne's Trav., p. 89. 'Very inferior aspect.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 8. Women nasty.Mackenzie's Voy., p. 126. 'Positively hideous.'Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.
[190]A Deer-Horn Mountaineer's dress 'consisted of a shirt, or jacket with a hood, wide breeches, reaching only to the knee, and tight leggins sewed to the shoes, all of deer's skins.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. The cap consists of the skin of a deer's head.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii.
[191]As witness this speech of a noble chief: 'Women were made for labor; one of them can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do. They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as traveling any considerable distance, in this country without their assistance.'Hearne's Trav., p. 55.
[192]An Indian desiring another one's wife, fights with her husband, principally by pulling hair. If victorious, he pays a number of skins to the husband.Hooper's Tuski, p. 303.
[193]'Continence in an unmarried female is scarcely considered a virtue.' 'Their dispositions are not amatory.' 'I have heard among them of two sons keeping their mother as a common wife, of another wedded to his daughter, and of several married to their sisters.Ross, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 310. Women carry their children on the back next the skin, and suckle them until another is born. They do not suspend their ordinary occupations for child-birth.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii. 'A temporary interchange of wives is not uncommon; and the offer of their persons is considered as a necessary part of the hospitality due to strangers.'Id., p. xcvi. Women are 'rather the slaves than the companions of the men.'Bell's Geog., vol. v., p. 293.
[194]They are harsh towards their wives, except when enceinte. They are accused of abandoning the aged and sick, but only one case came to his knowledge.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., pp. 250, 251.
[195]Beeatee, prepared from deer only, 'is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly cut into small shivers; all of which is put into the stomach, and roasted.'Hearne's Trav., p. 144. 'Not remarkable for their activity as hunters, owing to the ease with which they snare deer and spear fish.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiii. The Deer-Horn Mountaineers 'repair to the sea in spring and kill seals; as the season advances, they hunt deer and musk oxen at some distance from the coast. They approach the deer either by crawling, or by leading these animals by ranges of turf towards the spot where the archer can conceal himself.' Do not use nets, but the hook and line.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. 'Nets made of lines of twisted willow-bark, or thin strips of deer-hide.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 25. Curdled blood, a favorite dish.Simpson's Nar., p. 324.
[196]The weapons of the Chepewyans are bows and arrows; stone and bone axes and knives.Harmon's Jour., p. 183. The bows of the Deer-Horns 'are formed of three pieces of fir, the centre piece alone bent, the other two lying in the same straight line with the bowstring; the pieces are neatly tied together with sinew.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. In preparing for an attack, each Coppermine Indian paints his shield with figures of Sun, Moon, or some animal or imaginary beings, each portraying whatever character he most relies upon.Hearne's Trav., p. 148. In some parts hunting grounds descend by inheritance, and the right of property is rigidly enforced.Simpson's Nar., p. 75.
[197]'Their cooking utensils are made of pot-stone, and they form very neat dishes of fir.'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. Make fishing-lines and nets of green deer-thongs.Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxvi.
[198]'They are great mimics.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 13. Men dance naked; women dressed. A crowd stand in a straight line, and shuffle from right to left without moving the feet from the ground.Hearne's Trav., p. 335. 'The men occasionally howl in imitation of some animal.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 35.
[199]'They manifest no common respect to the memory of their departed friends, by a long period of mourning, cutting off their hair, and never making use of the property of the deceased.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxviii. The death of leading men is attributed to conjuring. They never bury the dead, but leave them, where they die, for wild beasts to devour.Hearne's Trav., p. 341. The Chepewyans bury their dead. When mourning for relatives they gash their bodies with knives.Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., pp. 21, 22.
[200]'The Northern Indians seldom attain a great age, though they have few diseases.'Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 525. For inward complaints, the doctors blow zealously into the rectum, or adjacent parts.Hearne's Trav., p. 189. The conjurer shuts himself up for days with the patient, without food, and sings over him.Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. Medicine-men or conjurers are at the same time doctors.Hooper's Tuski, pp. 317, 318. 'The Kutchins practice blood-lettingad libitum.'Jones,Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 325. 'Their principal maladies are rheumatic pains, the flux, and consumption.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiv.
[201]According to the report of the Dog-ribs, the Mountain Indians are cannibals, casting lots for victims in time of scarcity.Simpson's Nar., p. 188. 'Instances of suicide, by hanging, frequently occur among the women.'Harmon's Jour., p. 198. During times of starvation, which occur quite frequently, the Slavé Indians eat their families.Hooper's Tuski, p. 303. 'These people take their names, in the first instance, from their dogs. A young man is the father of a certain dog, but when he is married, and has a son, he styles himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of reproving the dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting. "Are you not ashamed," say they, "to quarrel with your little brother?"'Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., pp. 85, 86. 'Whether circumcision be practiced among them, I cannot pretend to say, but the appearance of it was general among those whom I saw.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 36. Dog-rib Indians, sometimes also called Slavés, 'a name properly meaning 'strangers.'Gallatin, inAm. Arch. Soc. Trans., vol. ii., p. 19.
[202]'Order is maintained in the tribe solely by public opinion.'Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 26. The chiefs are now totally without power.Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 247. 'They are influenced, more or less, by certain principles which conduce to their general benefit.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxv.
[203]'Many consider a broth, made by means of the dung of the cariboo and the hare, to be a dainty dish.'Harmon's Jour., p. 324. They 'are lazy, dirty, and sensual,' and extremely uncivilized. 'Their habits and persons are equally disgusting.'Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 62. 'They are a tall, well formed, good-looking race.'Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154. 'An utter contempt of cleanliness prevailed on all hands, and it was revolting to witness their voracious endeavors to surpass each other in the gluttonous contest.'Ind. Life, p. 156.
[204]The women 'run a wooden pin through their noses.'Harmon's Jour., p. 287. At their burial ceremonies they smear the face 'with a composition of fish-oil and charcoal.' When conjuring, the chief and his companions 'wore a kind of coronet formed of the inverted claws of the grizzly bear.'Ind. Life, pp. 127, 158.
[205]The Tacullies have 'wooden dishes, and other vessels of the rind of the birch and pine trees.' 'Have also other vessels made of small roots or fibres of the cedar or pine tree, closely laced together, which serve them as buckets to put water in.'Harmon's Jour., p. 292.
[206]'In the summer season both sexes bathe often; and this is the only time, when the married people wash themselves.' The Tacullies are very fond and very jealous of their wives, 'but to their daughters, they allow every liberty, for the purpose, as they say, of keeping the young men from intercourse with the married women.'Harmon's Jour., pp. 289, 292, 293. A father, whose daughter had dishonored him, killed her and himself.Ind. Life, 184.
[207]'The people of every village have a certain extent of country, which they consider their own, and in which they may hunt and fish; but they may not transcend these bounds, without purchasing the privilege of those who claim the land. Mountains and rivers serve them as boundaries.'Harmon's Jour., p. 298.
[208]Mackenzie,Voy., p. 238, found on Fraser River, about latitude 55°, a deserted house, 30 by 20, with three doors, 3 by 3½ feet; three fire-places, and beds on either side; behind the beds was a narrow space, like a manger, somewhat elevated, for keeping fish. 'Their houses are well formed of logs of small trees, buttressed up internally, frequently above seventy feet long and fifteen high, but, unlike those of the coast, the roof is of bark; their winter habitations are smaller, and often covered over with grass and earth; some even dwell in excavations of the ground, which have only an aperture at the top, and serves alike for door and chimney.'Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154.
[209]'Quelques peuplades du nord, telles que les Sikanis, enterrent leurs morts.'Mofras,Explor., tom. ii., p. 339. 'The Sicaunies bury, while the Tacullies, burn their dead.'Harmon's Jour., p. 196. They 'and the Chimmesyans on the coast, and other tribes speaking their language, burn the dead.'Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 236. See alsoDunn's Oregon, pp. 79, 80;Ind. Life, pp. 128, 136;Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 362, 363.
[210]They fire guns as a warning to their friends not to invade their sorrow.Mackenzie's Voy., p. 139.
[211]'In the winter season, the Carriers often keep their dead in their huts during five or six months, before they will allow them to be burned.'Harmon's Jour., p. 249.
[212]'She must frequently put her hands through the flames and lay them upon his bosom, to show her continued devotion.'Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 239. They have a custom of mourning over the grave of the dead; their expressions of grief are generally exceedingly vociferous.Ind. Life, pp. 185, 186.
[213]'On the end of a pole stuck in front of the lodge.'Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 237.
[214]Women cut off a joint of one of their fingers. Men only cut off their hair close to their heads, but also frequently cut and scratch their faces and arms.Harmon's Jour., p. 182. With some sharp instrument they 'force back the flesh beyond the first joint, which they immediately amputate.'Mackenzie's Voy., p. 148.
[215]'The men are completely destitute of beard, and both men and women, are intensely ugly.'Jones, inSmithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 320. 'They reminded me of the ideal North American Indian I had read of but never seen.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Distinguished from all other tribes for the frankness and candor of their demeanor, and bold countenances.Simpson's Nar., p. 100. 'Males are of the average hight of Europeans, and well-formed, with regular features, high foreheads, and lighter complexions than those of the other red Indians. The women resemble the men.'Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 379.
[216]'Tunic or shirt reaching to the knees, and very much ornamented with beads, and Hyaqua shells from the Columbia.'Kirby, inSmithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418. The Tenan Kutchins are 'gay with painted faces, feathers in their long hair, patches of red clay at the back of their head.'Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Jackets like the Eskimos.Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 221. 'Both sexes wear breeches.'Simpson's Nar., p. 103.