The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes

342

The following terms applied to Chinook complexion are taken from the authors quoted in the preceding note: 'Copper-colored brown;' 'light copper color;' 'light olive;' 'fair complexion.' 'Not dark' when young. 'Rough tanned skins.' 'Dingy copper.' 'Fairer' than eastern Indians. Fairer on the coast than on the Columbia. Half-breeds partake of the swarthy hue of their mothers.

343

'The Cheenook cranium, even when not flattened, is long and narrow, compressed laterally, keel-shaped, like the skull of the Esquimaux.' Broad and high cheek-bones, with a receding forehead.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 220. 'Skulls … totally devoid of any peculiar development.' Nose flat, nostrils distended, short irregular teeth; eyes black, piercing and treacherous. Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 115, 303. 'Broad faces, low foreheads, lank black hair, wide mouths.' 'Flat noses, and eyes turned obliquely upward at the outer corner.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 198, 216. 'Faces are round, with small, but animated eyes. Their noses are broad and flat at the top, and fleshy at the end, with large nostrils.' Irving's Astoria, p. 336. Portraits of two Calapooya Indians. Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 14. South of the Columbia they have 'long faces, thin lips,' but the Calapooyas in Willamette Valley have 'broad faces, low foreheads,' and the Chinooks have 'a wide face, flat nose, and eyes turned obliquely outwards.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 88; vol. ii., pp. 15-16. 'Dull phlegmatic want of expression' common to all adults. Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 145. Women 'well-featured,' with 'light hair, and prominent eyes.' Ross' Adven., pp. 89-93. 'Their features rather partook of the general European character.' Hair long and black, clean and neatly combed. Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 204. 'Women have, in general, handsome faces.' 'There are rare instances of high aquiline noses; the eyes are generally black,' but sometimes 'of a dark yellowish brown, with a black pupil.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 425, 436-7. The men carefully eradicate every vestige of a beard. Dunn's Oregon, p. 124. 'The features of many are regular, though often devoid of expression.' Townsend's Nar., p. 178. 'Pluck out the beard at its first appearance.' Kane's Wand., p. 181. Portrait of chief, p. 174. 'A few of the old men only suffer a tuft to grow upon their chins.' Franchère's Nar., p. 240. One of the Clatsops 'had the reddest hair I ever saw, and a fair skin, much freckled.' Gass' Jour., p. 244; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 75. For descriptions and plates of Chinook skulls see Morton's Crania, pp. 202-13; pl. 42-7, 49, 50, and Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., pp. 318-34.

344

'Practiced by at least ten or twelve distinct tribes of the lower country.' Townsend's Nar., pp. 175-6. 'On the coast it is limited to a space of about one hundred and seventy miles, extending between Cape Flattery and Cape Look-out. Inland, it extends up the Columbia to the first rapids, or one hundred and forty miles, and is checked at the falls on the Wallamette.' Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 307. The custom 'prevails among all the nations we have seen west of the Rocky Mountains,' but 'diminishes in receding eastward.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 437. 'The Indians at the Dalles do not distort the head.' Kane's Wand., pp. 263, 180-2. 'The Chinooks are the most distinguished for their attachment to this singular usage.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 198. The tribes from the Columbia River to Millbank Sound flatten the forehead, also the Yakimas and Klikitats of the interior. Tolmie, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 231-2, 249. 'The practice prevails, generally, from the mouth of the Columbia to the Dalles, about one hundred and eighty miles, and from the Straits of Fuca on the north, to Coos Bay… Northward of the Straits it diminishes gradually to a mere slight compression, finally confined to women, and abandoned entirely north of Milbank Sound. So east of the Cascade Mountains, it dies out in like manner.' Gibbs, in Nott and Gliddon's Indig. Races, p. 337. 'None but such as are of noble birth are allowed to flatten their skulls.' Gray's Hist. Ogn., p. 197.

345

All authors who mention the Chinooks have something to say of this custom; the following give some description of the process and its effects, containing, however, no points not included in that given above. Dunn's Oregon, pp. 122-3, 128-30; Ross' Adven., pp. 99-100; Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 167-8, with cut; Chamber's Jour., vol. x., pp. 111-2; Belcher's Voy., vol. i., pp. 307-11, with cuts; Townsend's Nar., pp. 175-6; Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 216; Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 150; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 294; Irving's Astoria, p. 89; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 302; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., pp. 110-11, with plate. Females remain longer than the boys. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 476, 437. 'Not so great a deformity as is generally supposed.' Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 142-3, 251-2. 'Looking with contempt even upon the white for having round heads.' Kane's Wand., p. 181, 204, cut. 'As a general thing the tribes that have followed the practice of flattening the skull are inferior in intellect, less stirring and enterprising in their habits, and far more degraded in their morals than other tribes.' Gray's Hist. Ogn., p. 197. Mr. Gray is the only authority I have seen for this injurious effect, except Domenech, who pronounces the flat-heads more subject to apoplexy than others. Deserts, vol. ii., p. 87; Gass' Jour., pp. 224-5; Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 335-7; Morton's Crania Am., pp. 203-13, cut of cradle and of skulls; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 349-50, Atlas, pl. 26; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 294-5, 328, with cut; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 124; Wilson, in Smithsonian Rept., 1862, p. 287.

346

The Multnomah women's hair 'is most commonly braided into two tresses falling over each ear in front of the body.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 508-9, 416, 425-6, 437-8. The Clackamas 'tattoo themselves below the mouth, which gives a light blue appearance to the countenance.' Kane's Wand., pp. 241, 184-5, 256. At Cape Orford 'they seemed to prefer the comforts of cleanliness to the painting of their bodies.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 204. On the Columbia 'in the decoration of their persons they surpassed all the other tribes with paints of different colours, feathers and other ornaments.' Id., vol. ii., p. 77. 'Ils mettent toute leur vanité dans leurs colliers et leurs pendants d'oreilles.' De Smet, Miss. de l'Orégon, p. 45. 'Some of these girls I have seen with the whole rim of their ears bored full of holes, into each of which would be inserted a string of these shells that reached to the floor, and the whole weighing so heavy that to save their ears from being pulled off they were obliged to wear a band across the top of the head.' 'I never have seen either men or women put oil or grease of any kind on their bodies.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 112, 158-9. See Dunn's Oregon, pp. 115, 123-4; Cox's Adven., pp. 111-12; Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 25; Irving's Astoria, pp. 336-8; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 354; Franchère's Nar., p. 244.

347

'These robes are in general, composed of the skins of a small animal, which we have supposed to be the brown mungo.' 'Sometimes they have a blanket woven with the fingers, from the wool of their native sheep.' Every part of the body but the back and shoulders is exposed to view. The Nechecolies had 'larger and longer robes, which are generally of deer skin dressed in the hair.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 392, 425-6, 438, 504-9, 522. 'I have often seen them going about, half naked, when the thermometer ranged between 30° and 40°, and their children barefooted and barelegged in the snow.' 'The lower Indians do not dress as well, nor with as good taste, as the upper.' Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 244-5. The fringed skirt 'is still used by old women, and by all the females when they are at work in the water, and is called by them their siwash coat.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 154-5. Ross' Adven., pp. 89-93; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 123-4; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 15-16, 281-2, 288; Townsend's Nar., p. 178; Kane's Wand., pp. 184-5; Franchère's Nar., pp. 242-4. The conical cap reminded Pickering of the Siberian tribes. Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., pp. 25, 39; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 111-12, 126-7; Hines' Voy., p. 107. Collars of bears' claws, for the men, and elks' tusks for the women and children. Irving's Astoria, pp. 336-8; Gass' Jour., pp. 232, 239-40, 242-4, 267, 274, 278, 282.

348

'Their houses seemed to be more comfortable than those at Nootka, the roof having a greater inclination, and the planking being thatched over with the bark of trees. The entrance is through a hole, in a broad plank, covered in such a manner as to resemble the face of a man, the mouth serving the purpose of a door-way. The fire-place is sunk into the earth, and confined from spreading above by a wooden frame.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 77. Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Archives, vol. iii., p. 206, speaks of a palisade enclosure ten or fifteen feet high, with a covered way to the river. 'The Indian huts on the banks of the Columbia are, for the most part, constructed of the bark of trees, pine branches, and brambles, which are sometimes covered with skins or rags.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 260. But 'the Chinooks build their houses of thick and broad planks,' etc. Id. Lewis and Clarke saw a house in the Willamette Valley two hundred and twenty-six feet long, divided into two ranges of large apartments separated by a narrow alley four feet wide. Travels, pp. 502-4, 509, 431-2, 415-16, 409, 392. The door is a piece of board 'which hangs loose by a string, like a sort of pendulum,' and is self-closing. Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 110-11. 'The tribes near the coast remove less frequently than those of the interior.' California, Past, Present and Future, p. 136. 'I never saw more than four fires, or above eighty persons – slaves and all – in the largest house.' Ross' Adven., pp. 98-9; Palmer's Jour., pp. 86, 108; Irving's Astoria, p. 322; Nicolay's Ogn., pp. 144, 148-9; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 327, from Lewis and Clarke; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 135-7, from Lewis and Clarke; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 144-5, 178-9, 245; Franchère's Nar., pp. 247-8; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 65; Townsend's Nar., p. 181; Kane's Wand., pp. 187-8; Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 204, 216-17; Strickland's Hist. Missions, pp. 136-9.

349

'In the summer they resort to the principal rivers and the sea coast, … retiring to the smaller rivers of the interior during the cold season.' Warre and Vavasour, in Martin's Hud. Bay, p. 83. All small fish are driven into the small coves or shallow waters, 'when a number of Indians in canoes continue splashing the water; while others sink branches of pine. The fish are then taken easily out with scoops or wicker baskets.' Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. i., pp. 389, 288-9, 384-6, 390-1. Fish 'are not eaten till they become soft from keeping, when they are mashed with water.' In the Willamette Valley they raised corn, beans, and squashes. Hunter's Cap., pp. 70-2. A 'sturgeon, though weighing upwards of three hundred pounds, is, by the single effort of one Indian, jerked into the boat'! Dunn's Oregon, pp. 135, 114-15, 134, 137-9. The Umpquas, to cook salmon, 'all provided themselves with sticks about three feet long, pointed at one end and split at the other. They then apportioned the salmon, each one taking a large piece, and filling it with splinters to prevent its falling to pieces when cooking, which they fastened with great care, into the forked end of the stick; … then placing themselves around the fire so as to describe a circle, they stuck the pointed end of the stick into the ground, a short distance from the fire, inclining the top towards the flames, so as to bring the salmon in contact with the heat, thus forming a kind of pyramid of salmon over the whole fire.' Hines' Voy., p. 102; Id. Ogn., p. 305. 'There are some articles of food which are mashed by the teeth before being boiled or roasted; this mastication is performed by the women.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 314, 316, 240-2. 'The salmon in this country are never caught with a (baited) hook.' Wilkes' Hist. Ogn., p. 107. 'Turbot and flounders are caught (at Shoalwater Bay) while wading in the water, by means of the feet.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 38, 83, 103-8, 140, 163-6, with cuts. On food, see Ross' Adven., vol. i., pp. 94-5, 97, 112-3; Lord's Nat., vol. i., pp. 68-9, 181-3; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 409-15, 422, 425, 430-1, 445, 506; Wells, in Harper's Mag., vol. xiii., pp. 605-7, with cuts; Nicolay's Ogn., pp. 144, 147-8; Palmer's Jour., pp. 84, 105; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 244; Irving's Astoria, pp. 86, 335; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 329-32; vol. ii., pp. 128-31; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 113; Abbott, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. vi., p. 89; Ind. Life, p. 165; Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 26; Kane's Wand., pp. 185-9; Franchère's Nar., pp. 235-7; Gass' Jour., pp. 224, 230-1, 282-3; Fédix, L'Orégon, pp. 44-5; Stanley's Portraits, pp. 59-62.

350

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

351

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

352

Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 323-4; vol. ii., p. 13; Irving's Astoria, pp. 324, 338; Ross' Adven., p. 90; Kane's Wand., p. 189; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 113, pl. 210½; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 124-5; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 429-31, 509; Hines' Ogn., p. 110; Franchère's Nar., p. 253; Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., pp. 206-7, 215-16, 468.

353

'When the conflict is postponed till the next day, … they keep up frightful cries all night long, and, when they are sufficiently near to understand each other, defy one another by menaces, railleries, and sarcasms, like the heroes of Homer and Virgil.' Franchère's Nar., pp. 251-4; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 322-3; Dunn's Oregon, p. 124; Irving's Astoria, pp. 340-1; Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., pp. 88, 105-8; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 354; Stanley's Portraits, pp. 61-2; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, p. 232.

354

Pickering makes 'the substitution of the water-proof basket, for the square wooden bucket of the straits' the chief difference between this and the Sound Family. Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 25; Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 206; Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 77; Ross' Adven., p. 92; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 241, 260; Franchère's Nar., pp. 248-9; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 432-5; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 329-32; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 138-9; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 113, pl. 210½, showing cradle, ladles, Wapato diggers, Pautomaugons, or war clubs and pipes. Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 248-9; Kane's Wand., pp. 184-5, 188-9.

355

Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 161-3; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 253.

356

Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 433-5. 'Hollowed out of the cedar by fire, and smoothed off with stone axes.' Kane's Wand., p. 189. At Cape Orford 'their shape much resembled that of a butcher's tray.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 204. 'A human face or a white-headed eagle, as large as life, carved on the prow, and raised high in front.' Ross' Adven., pp. 97-8. 'In landing they put the canoe round, so as to strike the beach stern on.' Franchère's Nar., p. 246. 'The larger canoes on the Columbia are sometimes propelled by short oars.' Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 218. 'Finest canoes in the world.' Wilkes' Hist. Ogn., p. 107; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 252; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 121-2; Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 79-82, with cuts; Irving's Astoria, pp. 86, 324; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 325-7; Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 217; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 276-7; Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 535-7; Gass' Jour., p. 279.

357

Dried and pounded salmon, prepared by a method not understood except at the falls, formed a prominent article of commerce, both with coast and interior nations. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 444-7, 413. A fathom of the largest hiaqua shells is worth about ten beaver-skins. A dying man gave his property to his intimate friends 'with a promise on their part to restore them if he recovered.' Franchère's Nar., pp. 244-5, 137; Ross' Adven., pp. 87-8, 95-6; Swan's N. W. Coast, p. 166; Irving's Astoria, p. 322; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 133-4; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 333; Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. i., p. 392; Kane's Wand., p. 185; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 250; Gass' Jour., p. 227; Morton's Crania Am., pp. 202-14; Fédix, l'Orégon, pp. 44-5.

358

Have no idea of drawing maps on the sand. 'Their powers of computation … are very limited.' Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., pp. 205, 207; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 493; Ross' Adven., pp. 88-9, 98; Kane's Wand., p. 185.

359

The Willamette tribes, nine in number, were under four principal chiefs. Ross' Adven., pp. 235-6, 88, 216. Casanov, a famous chief at Fort Vancouver employed a hired assassin to remove obnoxious persons. Kane's Wand., pp. 173-6; Franchère's Nar., p. 250; Irving's Astoria, pp. 88, 340; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 322-3; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 253; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 443.

360

'Live in the same dwelling with their masters, and often intermarry with those who are free.' Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 197, 247. 'Treat them with humanity while their services are useful.' Franchère's Nar., p. 241. Treated with great severity. Kane's Wand., pp. 181-2; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 447; Ross' Adven., pp. 92-3; Irving's Astoria, p. 88; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 305-6; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 129-30; Fitzgerald's Hud. B. Co., pp. 196-7; Stanley's Portraits, pp. 61-2.

361

Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 161, 171; Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., pp. 211-2. 'In proportion as we approach the rapids from the sea, female impurity becomes less perceptible; beyond this point it entirely ceases.' Cox's Adven., vol. ii., pp. 134, 159; vol. i., pp. 366-7, 318; Wells, in Harper's Mag., vol. xiii., p. 602; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 439-43. Ceremonies of a widow in her endeavors to obtain a new husband. Wilkes' Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. v., p. 124; Ross' Adven., pp. 88, 92-3; Franchère's Nar., pp. 245, 254-5; Hunter's Cap., p. 70; Hines' Voy., p. 113; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 16, 294-5; Irving's Astoria, p. 340; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 132-3; Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 231-2; Kane's Wand., pp. 175-7, 182; Gass' Jour., p. 275; Strickland's Hist. Missions, pp. 139-40.

362

'I saw neither musical instruments, nor dancing, among the Oregon tribes.' Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 43. 'All extravagantly fond of ardent spirits, and are not particular what kind they have, provided it is strong, and gets them drunk quickly.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 155-8, 197-202. 'Not addicted to intemperance.' Franchère's Nar., p. 242. At gambling 'they will cheat if they can, and pride themselves on their success.' Kane's Wand., pp. 190, 196. Seldom cheat, and submit to their losses with resignation. Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 332; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 410, 443-4; Wells, in Harper's Mag., vol. xiii., p. 601, and cut of dance at Coos Bay; Wilkes' Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. iv., pp. 392-3; vol. v., p. 123; Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 77; Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., pp. 90-4, 112-13; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 114-15, 121, 125-8, 130-1; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 247-8; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 242; Irving's Astoria, p. 341; Palmer's Jour., p. 86.

363

Tolmie, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 248; Gass' Jour., pp. 232, 275; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 123-8; Kane's Wand., pp. 205, 255-6; Swan's N. W. Coast, p. 267; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 654.

364

Doctors, if unsuccessful, are sometimes subjected to rough treatment, but rarely killed, except when they have previously threatened the life of the patient. Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 176-185. At the Dalles an old woman, whose incantations had caused a fatal sickness, was beheaded by a brother of the deceased. Ind. Life, pp. 173-4, 142-3. Whole tribes have been almost exterminated by the small-pox. Stevens, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. i., pp. 82, 179. Venereal disease prevalent, and a complete cure is never effected. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 440, 508. Generally succeed in curing venereal disease even in its worst stage. Ross' Adven., pp. 96-9. The unsuccessful doctor killed, unless able to buy his life. Wilkes' Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. iv., p. 394. Flatheads more subject to apoplexy than others. Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 87; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 126-7, 307, 312-15, 335, vol. ii., pp. 94-5; Townsend's Nar., pp. 158, 178-9; Franchère's Nar., p. 250; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 115-9, 127; Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. ii., p. 53; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 176, 191-2; Fitzgerald's Hud. B. Co., pp. 171-2; Strickland's Hist. Missions, pp. 139-40.