blankets, mats, and property, again covered, when the deceased is of the richer class, by another inverted canoe, the whole bound together with matting and cords, and deposited usually on a plank platform five or six feet high, but sometimes suspended from the branches of trees, or even left on the surface of the ground. The more bulky articles of property, such as utensils, and weapons, are deposited about or hung from the platform, being previously spoiled for use that they may not tempt desecrators among the whites or foreign tribes; or, it may be that the sacrifice or death of the implements is necessary before the spirits of the implements can accompany the spirit of the owner. For the same purpose, and to allow the water to pass off, holes are bored in the bottom of the canoe, the head of the corpse being raised a little higher than the feet. Some travelers have observed a uniformity in the position of the canoe, the head pointing towards the east, or down the current of the stream. After about a year, the bones are sometimes taken out and buried, but the canoe and platform are never removed. Chiefs' canoes are often repainted. Farther up both the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, excavations of little depth are often made, in which bodies are deposited on horizontal boards and covered over with a slightly inclining roof of heavy planks or poles. In these vaults several tiers of corpses are often placed one above another. At the Cascades, depositories of the dead have been noticed in the form of a roofed inclosure of planks, eight feet long, six feet wide, and five feet high, with a door in one end, and the whole exterior painted. The Calapooyas also buried their dead in regular graves, over which was erected a wooden head-board. Desecration of burial places is a great crime with the Chinook; he also attaches great importance to having his bones rest in his tribal cemetery wherever he may die. For a long time after a death, relatives repair daily at sunrise and sunset to the vicinity of the grave to sing songs of mourning and praise. Until the bones are finally disposed of, the name of the deceased must not be spoken, and for several years it is spoken only with great reluctance. Near relatives often change their name under the impression that spirits will be attracted back to earth if they hear familiar names often repeated. Chiefs are supposed to die through the evil influence of another person, and the suspected, though a dear friend, was formerly often sacrificed. The dead bodies of slaves are never touched save by other slaves.365CHINOOK CHARACTER.
There is little difference of opinion concerning the character of the Chinooks. All agree that they are intelligent and very acute in trade; some travelers have found them at different points harmless and inoffensive; and in a few instances honesty has been detected. So much for their good qualities. As to the bad, there is unanimity nearly as great that they are thieves and liars, and for the rest each observer applies to them a selection of such adjectives as lazy, superstitious, cowardly, inquisitive, intrusive, libidinous, treacherous, turbulent, hypocritical, fickle, etc. The Clatsops, with some authors, have the reputation of being the most honest and moral; for the lowest position in the scale all the rest might present a claim. It should however be said in their favor that they are devotedly attached to their homes, and treat kindly both their young children and aged parents; also that not a few of their bad traits originated with or have been aggravated by contact with civilization.366
The Inland Families, constituting the fifth and last division of the Columbians, inhabit the region between the Cascade Range and the eastern limit of what I term the Pacific States, from 52° 30´ to 45° of north latitude. These bounds are tolerably distinct; though that on the south, separating the eastern portions of the Columbian and Californian groups, is irregular and marked by no great river, mountain chain, or other prominent physical feature. These inland natives of the Northwest occupy, in person, character, and customs, as well as in the location of their home, an intermediate position between the coast people already described – to whom they are pronounced superior in most respects – and the Rocky Mountain or eastern tribes. Travelers crossing the Rocky Mountains into this territory from the east, or entering it from the Pacific by way of the Columbia or Fraser, note contrasts on passing the limits, sufficient to justify me in regarding its inhabitants as one people for the purposes aimed at in this volume.367 Instead, therefore, of treating each family separately, as has been done with the coast divisions of the group, I deem it more convenient, as well as less monotonous to the reader, to avoid repetition by describing the manners and customs of all the people within these limits together, taking care to note such variations as may be found to exist. The division into families and nations, made according to principles already sufficiently explained, is as follows, beginning again at the north:
THE SHUSHWAPS.
The Shushwaps, our first family division, live between 52° 30´ and 49° in the interior of British Columbia, occupying the valleys of the Fraser, Thompson, and Upper Columbia rivers with their tributary streams and lakes. They are bounded on the west by the Nootkas and on the north by the Carriers, from both of which families they seem to be distinct. As national divisions of this family may be mentioned the Shushwaps proper, or Atnahs,368 who occupy the whole northern portion of the territory; the Okanagans,369 in the valley of the lake and river of the same name; and the Kootenais,370 who inhabit the triangle bounded by the Upper Columbia, the Rocky Mountains, and the 49th parallel, living chiefly on Flatbow river and lake. All three nations might probably be joined with quite as much reason to the Salish family farther south, as indeed has usually been done with the Okanagans; while the Kootenais are by some considered distinct from any of their adjoining nations.
The Salish Family dwells south of the Shushwaps, between 49° and 47°, altogether on the Columbia and its tributaries. Its nations, more clearly defined than in most other families, are the Flatheads,371 or Salish proper, between the Bitter Root and Rocky Mountains on Flathead and Clarke rivers; the Pend d'Oreilles,372 who dwell about the lake of the same name and on Clarke River, for fifty to seventy-five miles above and below the lake; the Coeurs d'Alêne,373 south of the Pend d'Oreilles, on Coeur d'Alêne Lake and the streams falling into it; the Colvilles,374 a term which may be used to designate the variously named bands about Kettle Falls, and northward along the Columbia to the Arrow Lakes; the Spokanes,375 on the Spokane River and plateau along the Columbia below Kettle Falls, nearly to the mouth of the Okanagan; and the Pisquouse,376 on the west bank of the Columbia between the Okanagan and Priest Rapids.
THE SAHAPTIN FAMILY.
The Sahaptin Family, the last of the Columbian group, is immediately south of the Salish, between the Cascade and Bitter Root mountains, reaching southward, in general terms, to the forty-fifth parallel, but very irregularly bounded by the Shoshone tribes of the Californian group. Of its nations, the Nez Percés,377 or Sahaptins proper, dwell on the Clearwater and its branches, and on the Snake about the forks; the Palouse378 occupy the region north of the Snake about the mouth of the Palouse; the south banks of the Columbia and Snake near their confluence, and the banks of the lower Walla Walla are occupied by the Walla Wallas;379 the Yakimas and Kliketats380 inhabit the region north of the Dalles, between the Cascade Range and the Columbia, the former in the valley of the Yakima, the latter in the mountains about Mt. Adams. Both nations extend in some bands across into the territory of the Sound family. The natives of Oregon east of the Cascade Range, who have not usually been included in the Sahaptin family, I will divide somewhat arbitrarily into the Wascos, extending from the mountains eastward to John Day River, and the Cayuse,381 from this river across the Blue Mountains to the Grande Ronde.
A chief on the death of his daughter 'had an Indian slave bound hand and foot, and fastened to the body of the deceased, and enclosed the two in another mat, leaving out the head of the living one. The Indian then took the canoe and carried it to a high rock and left it there. Their custom is to let the slave live for three days; then another slave is compelled to strangle the victim by a cord.' Letter, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 71. See also vol. iii., pp. 217-18; vol. vi., pp. 616-23, with plate; vol. v., p. 655. 'The emblem of a squaw's grave is generally a camass-root digger, made of a deer's horns, and fastened on the end of a stick.' Wilkes' Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. v., pp. 233-4, vol. iv., p. 394. 'I believe I saw as many as an hundred canoes at one burying place of the Chinooks.' Gass' Jour., p. 274. 'Four stakes, interlaced with twigs and covered with brush,' filled with dead bodies. Abbott, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. vi., p. 88. At Coos Bay, 'formerly the body was burned, and the wife of the corpse killed and interred.' Now the body is sprinkled with sand and ashes, the ankles are bent up and fastened to the neck; relatives shave their heads and put the hair on the body with shells and roots, and the corpse is then buried and trampled on by the whole tribe. Wells, in Harper's Mag., vol. xiii., p. 602. 'The canoe-coffins were decorated with rude carved work.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 54. Strangers are paid to join in the lamentations. Ross' Adven., p. 97. Children who die during the head-flattening process are set afloat in their cradles upon the surface of some sacred pool, where the bodies of the old are also placed in their canoes. Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 111. On burial and mourning see also, Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 72-3, 13, 186-9, with cut of canoe on platform. Mofras' Explor., vol. ii., p. 355, and pl. 18 of Atlas; Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 423, 429, 509; Kane's Wand., pp. 176-8, 181, 202-5; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 124-5, 335-6, vol. ii., p. 157; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 144, 151-2; Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. i., pp. 281-2, vol. ii., p. 53; Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 292; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 255; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 119-20, 131-2; Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., pp. 149-50; Fremont's Ogn. and Cal., p. 186; Irving's Astoria, p. 99; Franchère's Nar., p. 106; Palmer's Jour., p. 87; Ind. Life, p. 210; Townsend's Nar., p. 180.
<p>366</p>
'The clumsy thief, who is detected, is scoffed at and despised.' Dunn's Oregon, pp. 130-1, 114. 'The Kalapuya, like the Umkwa, … are more regular and quiet' than the inland tribes, 'and more cleanly, honest and moral than the' coast tribes. The Chinooks are a quarrelsome, thievish, and treacherous people. Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 217, 215, 198, 204. 'A rascally, thieving set.' Gass' Jour., p. 304. 'When well treated, kind and hospitable.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 215, 110, 152. At Cape Orford 'pleasing and courteous deportment … scrupulously honest.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., pp. 204-5. Laziness is probably induced by the ease with which they obtain food. Kane's Wand., pp. 181, 185. 'Crafty and intriguing.' Easily irritated, but a trifle will appease him. Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., p. 61, 70-1, 77, 88, 90-1, 124-5, 235-6. 'They possess in an eminent degree, the qualities opposed to indolence, improvidence, and stupidity: the chiefs above all, are distinguished for their good sense and intelligence. Generally speaking, they have a ready intellect and a tenacious memory.' 'Rarely resist the temptation of stealing' white men's goods. Franchère's Nar., pp. 241-2, 261. Loquacious, never gay, knavish, impertinent. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 416, 441-2, 504, 523-4. 'Thorough-bred hypocrites and liars.' 'The Killymucks the most roguish.' Industry, patience, sobriety and ingenuity are their chief virtues; thieving, lying, incontinence, gambling and cruelty may be classed among their vices. Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 115, 131, 296-7, 302, 304-5, 321, vol. ii., p. 133. At Wishiam 'they were a community of arrant rogues and freebooters.' Irving's Astoria, pp. 322, 342. 'Lying is very common; thieving comparatively rare.' White's Ogn., p. 207. 'Do not appear to possess a particle of natural good feeling.' Townsend's Nar., p. 183. At Coos Bay 'by no means the fierce and warlike race found further to the northward.' Wells, in Harper's Mag., vol. xiii., p. 601. Umqua and Coose tribes are naturally industrious; the Suislaws the most advanced; the Alcea not so enterprising. Sykes, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1860, p. 215. Calapooias, a poor, cowardly, and thievish race. Miller, in Id., 1857, p. 364; Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 151; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 87, vol. ii., pp. 16, 36; Warre and Vavasour, in Martin's Hud. B., p. 83; Palmer's Jour., pp. 84, 105; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 249-50; Ind. Life, pp. 1-4, 210; Fitzgerald's Vanc. Isl., p. 196; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 207, etc.
<p>367</p>
'They all resemble each other in general characteristics.' Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 229. Shushwaps and Salish all one race. Mayne's B. C., p. 296-7. 'The Indians of the interior are, both physically and morally, vastly superior to the tribes of the coast.' Id., p. 242. 'The Kliketat near Mount Rainier, the Walla-Wallas, and the Okanagan … speak kindred dialects.' Ludewig, Ab. Lang., p. 170. The best-supported opinion is that the inland were of the same original stock with the lower tribes. Dunn's Oregon, p. 316. 'On leaving the verge of the Carrier country, near Alexandria, a marked change is at once perceptible.' Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., p. 77. Inland tribes differ widely from the piscatorial tribes. Ross' Adven., p. 127. 'Those residing near the Rocky Mountains … are and always have been superior races to those living on the lower Columbia.' Alvord, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 654. 'I was particularly struck with their vast superiority (on the Similkameen River, Lat. 49° 30´, Long. 120° 30´) in point of intelligence and energy to the Fish Indians on the Fraser River, and in its neighbourhood.' Palmer, in B. C. Papers, vol. iii., p. 84. Striking contrast noted in passing up the Columbia. Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 199.
<p>368</p>
'The Shewhapmuch … who compose a large branch of the Saeliss family,' known as Nicute-much– corrupted by the Canadians into Couteaux – below the junction of the Fraser and Thompson. Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., p. 76-7. Atnahs is their name in the Takali language, and signifies 'strangers.' 'Differ so little from their southern neighbors, the Salish, as to render a particular description unnecessary.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 205. They were called by Mackenzie the Chin tribe, according to Prichard's Researches, vol. v., p. 427, but Mackenzie's Chin tribe was north of the Atnahs, being the Nagailer tribe of the Carriers. See Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 257-8, and map.
<p>369</p>
'About Okanagan, various branches of the Carrier tribe.' Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 143. 'Okanagans, on the upper part of Frazer's River.' Ludewig, Ab. Lang., p. 170.
<p>370</p>
Also known as Flat-bows. 'The poorest of the tribes composing the Flathead nation.' McCormick, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1867, p. 211. 'Speaking a language of their own, it is not easy to imagine their origin; but it appears probable that they once belonged to some more southern tribe, from which they became shut off by the intervention of larger tribes.' Mayne's B. C., p. 297. 'In appearance, character, and customs, they resemble more the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains than those of Lower Oregon.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 205. 'Les Arcs-à-Plats, et les Koetenais sont connus dans le pays sous le nom de Skalzi.' De Smet, Miss. de l'Orégon, p. 80.
<p>371</p>
The origin of the name Flathead, as applied to this nation, is not known, as they have never been known to flatten the head. 'The mass of the nation consists of persons who have more or less of the blood of the Spokanes, Pend d'Oreilles, Nez Perces, and Iroquois.' Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 207; Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. i., p. 150; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 108; Stuart's Montana, p. 82. Gass applied the name apparently to tribes on the Clearwater of the Sahaptin family. Jour., p. 224.
<p>372</p>
Also called Kalispelms and Ponderas. The Upper Pend d'Oreilles consist of a number of wandering families of Spokanes, Kalispelms proper, and Flatheads. Suckley, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. i., p. 294; Stevens, in Id., p. 149; Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 210. 'Very similar in manners, etc., to the Flatheads, and form one people with them.' De Smet, Miss. de l'Orégon, p. 32.
<p>373</p>
The native name, according to Hale, is Skitsuish, and Coeur d'Alêne, 'Awl heart,' is a nickname applied from the circumstance that a chief used these words to express his idea of the Canadian traders' meanness. Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 210.
<p>374</p>
Quiarlpi, 'Basket People,' Chaudieres, 'Kettles,' Kettle Falls, Chualpays, Skoielpoi, and Lakes, are some of the names applied to these bands.
<p>375</p>
'Ils s'appellent entre eux les Enfants du Soleil, dans leur langue Spokane.' De Smet, Miss. de l'Orégon, p. 31. 'Differing very little from the Indians at Colville, either in their appearance, habits, or language.' Kane's Wand., p. 307.
<p>376</p>
So much intermarried with the Yakamas that they have almost lost their nationality.' Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 236.
<p>377</p>
'Pierced Noses,' so named by the Canadians, perhaps from the nasal ornaments of the first of the tribe seen, although the custom of piercing the nose has never been known to be prevalent with this people. 'Generally known and distinguished by the name of "black robes," in contradistinction to those who live on fish.' Named Nez Perces from the custom of boring the nose to receive a white shell, like the fluke of an anchor. Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., pp. 305, 185-6. 'There are two tribes of the Pierced-Nose Indians, the upper and the lower. Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 533-5. 'Though originally the same people, their dialect varies very perceptibly from that of the Tushepaws.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 341. Called Thoiga-rik-kah, Tsoi-gah, 'Cowse-eaters,' by the Snakes. 'Ten times better off to-day than they were then' – 'a practical refutation of the time-honored lie, that intercourse with whites is an injury to Indians.' Stuart's Montana, pp. 76-7. 'In character and appearance, they resemble more the Indians of the Missouri than their neighbors, the Salish.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 212; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 54.
<p>378</p>
'La tribu Paloose appartient à la nation des Nez-percés et leur ressemble sous tous les rapports.' De Smet, Voy., p. 31.
<p>379</p>
The name comes from that of the river. It should be pronounced Wălă-Wălă, very short. Pandosy's Gram., p. 9. 'Descended from slaves formerly owned and liberated by the Nez Perces.' Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 247. 'Not unlike the Pierced-Noses in general appearance, language, and habits.' Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 533-5. Parts of three different nations at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia. Gass' Jour., pp. 218-19, 'None of the Indians have any permanent habitations' on the south bank of the Columbia about and above the Dalles. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 365. 'Generally camping in winter on the north side of the river.' Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 223.
<p>380</p>
The name Yakima is a word meaning 'Black Bear' in the Walla Walla dialect. They are called Klikatats west of the mountains. Gibbs, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. i., p. 407. 'The Klikatats and Yakimas, in all essential peculiarities of character, are identical, and their intercourse is constant.' Id., p. 403, and Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 225. 'Pshawanwappam bands, usually called Yakamas.' The name signifies 'Stony Ground.' Gibbs, in Pandosy's Gram., p. vii. 'Roil-roil-pam, is the Klikatat country.' 'Its meaning is "the Mouse country."' Id. The Yakima valley is a great national rendezvous for these and surrounding nations. Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., pp. 19, 21. Kliketats, meaning robbers, was first the name given to the Whulwhypums, and then extended to all speaking the same language. For twenty-five years before 1854 they overran the Willamette Valley, but at that time were forced by government to retire to their own country. Tolmie, in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 244-7.
<p>381</p>
Wasco is said to mean 'basin,' and the tribe derives its name, traditionally, from the fact that formerly one of their chiefs, his wife having died, spent much of his time in making cavities or basins in the soft rock for his children to fill with water and pebbles, and thereby amuse themselves. Victor's All over Ogn., pp. 94-5. The word Cayuse is perhaps the French Cailloux, 'pebbles.' Called by Tolmie, 'Wyeilats or Kyoose.' He says their language has an affinity to that of the Carriers and Umpquas. Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 249-50. 'Resemble the Walla-Wallas very much.' Kane's Wand., pp. 279-80. 'The imperial tribe of Oregon' claiming jurisdiction over the whole Columbia region. Farnham's Trav., p. 81. The Snakes, Walla-Wallas, and Cayuse meet annually in the Grande Ronde Valley. Thornton's Ogn. and Cal., vol. i., p. 270. 'Individuals of the pure blood are few, the majority being intermixed with the Nez Perces and the Wallah-Wallahs.' Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, pp. 218-19. The region which I give to the Wascos and Cayuses is divided on Hale's map between the Walla-Wallas, Waiilatpu, and Molele.
