The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes. Hubert Howe Bancroft
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Название: The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes

Автор: Hubert Howe Bancroft

Издательство: Public Domain

Жанр: Зарубежная классика

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isbn: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41070

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СКАЧАТЬ by their teeth; but, at least in later times, they seem not to attack the living, and their performances are somewhat less horrible and bloody than the wild orgies of the northern tribes. The sorcerer is thought to have more influence with bad spirits than with good, and is always resorted to in the case of any serious misfortune. New members of the fraternity are initiated into the mysteries by similar ceremonies. Old women are not without their traditional mysterious powers in matters of prophecy and witchcraft; and all chiefs in times of perplexity practice fasting and laceration. Dreams are believed to be the visits of spirits or of the wandering soul of some living party, and the unfortunate Nootka boy or girl whose blubber-loaded stomach causes uneasy dreams, must be properly hacked, scorched, smothered, and otherwise tormented until the evil spirit is appeased.314 Whether or not these people were cannibals, is a disputed question, but there seems to be little doubt that slaves have been sacrificed and eaten as a part of their devilish rites.315

      The Nootkas are generally a long-lived race, and from the beginning to the failing of manhood undergo little change in appearance. Jewitt states that during his captivity of three years at Nootka Sound, only five natural deaths occurred, and the people suffered scarcely any disease except the colic. Sproat mentions as the commonest diseases; bilious complaints, dysentery, a consumption which almost always follows syphilis, fevers, and among the aged, ophthalmia. Accidental injuries, as cuts, bruises, sprains, and broken limbs, are treated with considerable success by means of simple salves or gums, cold water, pine-bark bandages, and wooden splints. Natural pains and maladies are invariably ascribed to the absence or other irregular conduct of the soul, or to the influence of evil spirits, and all treatment is directed to the recall of the former and to the appeasing of the latter. Still, so long as the ailment is slight, simple means are resorted to, and the patient is kindly cared for by the women; as when headache, colic, or rheumatism is treated by the application of hot or cold water, hot ashes, friction, or the swallowing of cold teas made from various roots and leaves. Nearly every disease has a specific for its cure. Oregon grape and other herbs cure syphilis; wasp-nest powder is a tonic, and blackberries an astringent; hemlock bark forms a plaster, and dog-wood bark is a strengthener; an infusion of young pine cones or the inside scrapings of a human skull prevent too rapid family increase, while certain plants facilitate abortion. When a sickness becomes serious, the sorcerer or medicine-man is called in and incantations begin, more or less noisy according to the amount of the prospective fee and the number of relatives and friends who join in the uproar. A very poor wretch is permitted to die in comparative quiet. In difficult cases the doctor, wrought up to the highest state of excitement, claims to see and hear the soul, and to judge of the patient's prospects by its position and movements. The sick man shows little fortitude, and abandons himself helplessly to the doctor's ridiculous measures. Failing in a cure, the physician gets no pay, but if successful, does not fail to make a large demand. Both the old and the helplessly sick are frequently abandoned by the Ahts to die without aid in the forest.316

NOOTKA BURIAL.

      After death the Nootka's body is promptly put away; a slave's body is unceremoniously thrown into the water; that of a freeman, is placed in a crouching posture, their favorite one during life, in a deep wooden box, or in a canoe, and suspended from the branches of a tree, deposited on the ground with a covering of sticks and stones, or, more rarely, buried. Common people are usually left on the surface; the nobility are suspended from trees at heights differing, as some authorities say, according to rank. The practice of burning the dead seems also to have been followed in some parts of this region. Each tribe has a burying-ground chosen on some hill-side or small island. With chiefs, blankets, skins, and other property in large amounts are buried, hung up about the grave, or burned during the funeral ceremonies, which are not complicated except for the highest officials. The coffins are often ornamented with carvings or paintings of the deceased man's crest, or with rows of shells. When a death occurs, the women of the tribe make a general howl, and keep it up at intervals for many days or months; the men, after a little speech-making, keep silent. The family and friends, with blackened faces and hair cut short, follow the body to its last resting-place with music and other manifestations of sorrow, generally terminating in a feast. There is great reluctance to explain their funeral usages to strangers; death being regarded by this people with great superstition and dread, not from solicitude for the welfare of the dead, but from a belief in the power of departed spirits to do much harm to the living.317

CHARACTER OF THE NOOTKAS.

      The Nootka character presents all the inconsistencies observable among other American aborigines, since there is hardly a good or bad trait that has not by some observer been ascribed to them. Their idiosyncrasies as a race are perhaps best given by Sproat as "want of observation, a great deficiency of foresight, extreme fickleness in their passions and purposes, habitual suspicion, and a love of power and display; added to which may be noticed their ingratitude and revengeful disposition, their readiness for war, and revolting indifference to human suffering." These qualities, judged by civilized standards censurable, to the Nootka are praiseworthy, while contrary qualities are to be avoided. By a strict application, therefore, of 'put yourself in his place' principles, to which most 'good Indians' owe their reputation, Nootka character must not be too harshly condemned. They are not, so far as physical actions are concerned, a remarkably lazy people, but their minds, although intelligent when aroused, are averse to effort and quickly fatigued; nor can they comprehend the advantage of continued effort for any future good which is at all remote. What little foresight they have, has much in common with the instinct of beasts. Ordinarily, they are quiet and well behaved, especially the higher classes, but when once roused to anger, they rage, bite, spit and kick without the slightest attempt at self-possession. A serious offense against an individual, although nominally pardoned in consideration of presents, can really never be completely atoned for except by blood; hence private, family, and tribal feuds continue from generation to generation. Women are not immodest, but the men have no shame. Stealing is recognized as a fault, and the practice as between members of the same tribe is rare, but skillful pilfering from strangers, if not officially sanctioned, is extensively carried on and much admired; still any property confided in trust to a Nootka is said to be faithfully returned. To his wife he is kind and just; to his children affectionate. Efforts for their conversion to foreign religions have been in the highest degree unsuccessful.318

THE SOUND INDIANS.

      The Sound Indians, by which term I find it convenient to designate the nations about Puget Sound, constitute the third family of the Columbian group. In this division I include all the natives of that part of Washington which lies to the west of the Cascade Range, except a strip from twenty-five to forty miles wide along the north bank of the Columbia. The north-eastern section of this territory, including the San Juan group, Whidbey Island, and the region tributary to Bellingham Bay, is the home of the Nooksak, Lummi, Samish and Skagit nations, whose neighbors and constant harassers on the north are the fierce Kwantlums and Cowichins of the Nootka family about the mouth of the Fraser. The central section, comprising the shores and islands of Admiralty Inlet, Hood Canal, and Puget Sound proper, is occupied by numerous tribes with variously spelled names, mostly terminating in mish, which names, with all their orthographic diversity, have been given generally to the streams on whose banks the different nations dwelt. All these tribes may be termed the Nisqually nation, taking the name from the most numerous and best-known of the tribes located about the head of the sound. The Clallams inhabit the eastern portion of the peninsula between the sound and the Pacific. The western extremity of the same peninsula, terminating at Cape Flattery, is occupied by the Classets or Makahs; while the Chehalis and Cowlitz nations are found on the Chehalis River, Gray Harbor, and the upper Cowlitz. Excepting a few bands on the headwaters of streams that rise in the vicinity of Mount Baker, the Sound family belongs to the coast fish-eating tribes rather than to the hunters of the interior. Indeed, this family has so few marked peculiarities, possessing apparently no trait or custom not found as well among the Nootkas or Chinooks, that it may be described in comparatively few words. When first known to Europeans СКАЧАТЬ



<p>314</p>

'I have seen the sorcerers at work a hundred times, but they use so many charms, which appear to me ridiculous, – they sing, howl, and gesticulate in so extravagant a manner, and surround their office with such dread and mystery, – that I am quite unable to describe their performances,' pp. 169-70. 'An unlucky dream will stop a sale, a treaty, a fishing, hunting, or war expedition,' p. 175. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 165-75. A chief, offered a piece of tobacco for allowing his portrait to be made, said it was a small reward for risking his life. Kane's Wand., p. 240. Shrewd individuals impose on their neighbors by pretending to receive a revelation, telling them where fish or berries are most abundant. Description of initiatory ceremonies of the sorcerers. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 446, 433-7, 451. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 98-9. A brave prince goes to a distant lake, jumps from a high rock into the water, and rubs all the skin off his face with pieces of rough bark, amid the applause of his attendants. Description of king's prayers, and ceremonies to bring rain. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 145-6, 37. Candidates are thrown into a state of mesmerism before their initiation. 'Medicus', in Hutchings' Cal. Mag., vol. v., pp. 227-8; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., pp. 51-3; Californias, Noticias, pp. 61-85.

<p>315</p>

They brought for sale 'human skulls, and hands not yet quite stripped of the flesh, which they made our people plainly understand they had eaten; and, indeed, some of them had evident marks that they had been upon the fire.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., p. 271. Slaves are occasionally sacrificed and feasted upon. Meares' Voy., p. 255. 'No todos habian comido la carne humana, ni en todo tiempo, sino solamente los guerreros mas animosos quando se preparaban para salir á campaña.' 'Parece indudable que estos salvages han sido antropófagos.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 130. 'At Nootka Sound, and at the Sandwich Islands, Ledyard witnessed instances of cannibalism. In both places he saw human flesh prepared for food.' Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 74; Cornwallis' New El Dorado, pp. 104-6. 'Cannibalism, all-though unknown among the Indians of the Columbia, is practised by the savages on the coast to the northward.' Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 310-11. The cannibal ceremonies quoted by Macfie and referred to Vancouver Island, probably were intended for the Haidahs farther north. Vanc. Isl., p. 434. A slave as late as 1850 was drawn up and down a pole by a hook through the skin and tendons of the back, and afterwards devoured. Medicus, in Hutchings' Cal. Mag., vol. v., p. 223. 'L'anthropophagie á été longtemps en usage … et peut-être y existe-t-elle encore… Le chef Maquina … tuait un prisonnier à chaque lune nouvelle. Tous les chefs étaient invités à cette horrible fête.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 345. 'It is not improbable that the suspicion that the Nootkans are cannibals may be traced to the practice of some custom analagous to the Tzeet-tzaiak of the Haeel tzuk.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., pp. 223-4. 'The horrid practice of sacrificing a victim is not annual, but only occurs either once in three years or else at uncertain intervals.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 156.

<p>316</p>

'Rheumatism and paralysis are rare maladies.' Syphilis is probably indigenous. Amputation, blood-letting, and metallic medicine not employed. Medicines to produce love are numerous. 'Young and old of both sexes are exposed when afflicted with lingering disease.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 251-7, 282, 213-4. 'Headache is cured by striking the part affected with small branches of the spruce tree.' Doctors are generally chosen from men who have themselves suffered serious maladies. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 438-40. 'Their cure for rheumatism or similar pains … is by cutting or scarifying the part affected.' Jewitt's Nar., p. 142. They are sea sick on European vessels. Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 81. Description of ceremonies. Swan, in Mayne's B. C., pp. 261-3, 304. 'The patient is put to bed, and for the most part starved, lest the food should be consumed by his internal enemy.' 'The warm and steam bath is very frequently employed.' Medicus, in Hutchings' Cal. Mag., vol. v., pp. 226-8.

<p>317</p>

The custom of burning or burying property is wholly confined to chiefs. 'Night is their time for interring the dead.' Buffoon tricks, with a feast and dance, formed part of the ceremony. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 105, 111-2, 136. At Valdes Island, 'we saw two sepulchres built with plank about five feet in height, seven in length, and four in breadth. These boards were curiously perforated at the ends and sides, and the tops covered with loose pieces of plank;' inclosed evidently the relics of many different bodies. Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., pp. 338-9. 'The coffin is usually an old canoe, lashed round and round, like an Egyptian mummy-case.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 170. 'There is generally some grotesque figure painted on the outside of the box, or roughly sculptured out of wood and placed by the side of it. For some days after death the relatives burn salmon or venison before the tomb.' 'They will never mention the name of a dead man.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 301-3. 'As a rule, the Indians burn their dead, and then bury the ashes.' 'It was at one time not uncommon for Indians to desert forever a lodge in which one of their family had died.' Mayne's B. C., pp. 271-2, with cut of graves. For thirty days after the funeral, dirges are chanted at sunrise and sunset. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 447-8. Children frequently, but grown persons never, were found hanging in trees. Meares' Voy., p. 268; Sproat's Scenes, pp. 258-63. The bodies of chiefs are hung in trees on high mountains, while those of the commons are buried, that their souls may have a shorter journey to their residence in a future life. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 139-40. 'The Indians never inter their dead,' and rarely burn them. Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 51.

<p>318</p>

'As light-fingered as any of the Sandwich Islanders. Of a quiet, phlegmatic, and inactive disposition.' 'A docile, courteous, good-natured people … but quick in resenting what they look upon as an injury; and, like most other passionate people, as soon forgetting it.' Not curious; indolent; generally fair in trade, and would steal only such articles as they wanted for some purpose. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 272, 308-12, etc. 'Exceedingly hospitable in their own homes, … lack neither courage nor intelligence.' Pemberton's Vanc. Isl., p. 131. The Kla-iz-zarts 'appear to be more civilized than any of the others.' The Cayuquets are thought to be deficient in courage; and the Kla-os-quates 'are a fierce, bold, and enterprizing people.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 75-7. 'Civil and inoffensive' at Horse Sound. Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 307. 'Their moral deformities are as great as their physical ones.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 88. The Nittinahts given to aggressive war, and consequently 'bear a bad reputation.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 74. Not brave, and a slight repulse daunts them. 'Sincere in his friendship, kind to his wife and children, and devotedly loyal to his own tribe,' p. 51. 'In sickness and approaching death, the savage always becomes melancholy,' p. 162. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 30, 36, 52, 91, 119-24, 150-66, 187, 216. 'Comux and Yucletah fellows very savage and uncivilized dogs,' and the Nootkas not to be trusted. 'Cruel, bloodthirsty, treacherous and cowardly.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 294, 296, 298, 305, 307. Mayne's B. C., p. 246; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 190, 460-1, 472, 477, 484; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 294-6. The Spaniards gave the Nootkas a much better character than voyagers of other nations. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 25, 31-2, 57-9, 63, 99, 107, 133, 149-51, 154-6; Forbes' Vanc. Isl., p. 25; Rattray's Vanc. Isl., pp. 172-3. The Ucultas 'are a band of lawless pirates and robbers, levying black-mail on all the surrounding tribes.' Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 43. 'Bold and ferocious, sly and reserved, not easily provoked, but revengeful.' Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 72. The Teets have 'all the vices of the coast tribes' with 'none of the redeeming qualities of the interior nations.' Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., p. 78.