The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

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СКАЧАТЬ id="ulink_3caf0132-eb92-564a-a2c4-601d39a2c223">When a Thlinkeet arms for war, he paints his face and powders his hair a brilliant red. He then ornaments his head with white eagle-feathers, a token of stern, vindictive determination. During war they pitch their camp in strong positions, and place the women on guard. Trial by combat is frequently resorted to, not only to determine private disputes, but to settle quarrels between petty tribes. In the latter case, each side chooses a champion, the warriors place themselves in battle array, the combatants armed with their favorite weapon, the dagger, and well armored, step forth and engage in fight; while the people on either side engage in song and dance during the combat. Wrangell and Laplace assert that brave warriors killed in battle are devoured by the conquerors, in the belief that the bravery of the victim thereby enters into the nature of the partaker.162

Coming from the north, the Thlinkeets are the first people of the coast who use wooden boats. They are made from a single trunk; the smaller ones about fifteen feet long, to carry from ten to twelve persons; and the larger ones, or war canoes, from fifty to seventy feet long; these will carry forty or fifty persons. They have from two and a half to three feet beam; are sharp fore and aft, and have the bow and stern raised, the former rather more than the latter. Being very light and well modeled, they can be handled with ease and celerity. Their paddles are about four feet in length, with crutch-like handles and wide, shovel-shaped blades. Boats as well as paddles are ornamented with painted figures, and the family coat-of-arms. Bodega y Quadra, in contradiction to all other authorities, describes these canoes as being built in three parts; with one hollowed piece, which forms the bottom and reaches well up the sides, and with two side planks. Having hollowed the trunk of a tree to the required depth, the Thlinkeet builders fill it with water, which they heat with hot stones to soften the wood, and in this state bend it to the desired shape. When they land, they draw their boats up on the beach, out of reach of the tide, and take great care in preserving them.163

      INDUSTRIES OF THE THLINKEETS.

The Thlinkeets manifest no less ingenuity in the manufacture of domestic and other implements than in their arms. Rope they make from sea-weed, water-tight baskets and mats from withes and grass; and pipes, bowls, and figures from a dark clay. They excel in the working of stone and copper, making necklaces, bracelets, and rings; they can also forge iron. They spin thread, use the needle, and make blankets from the white native wool. They exhibit considerable skill in carving and painting, ornamenting the fronts of their houses with heraldic symbols, and allegorical and historical figures; while in front of the principal dwellings, and on their canoes, are carved parts representing the human face, the heads of crows, eagles, sea-lions, and bears.164 La Pérouse asserts that, except in agriculture, which was not entirely unknown to them, the Thlinkeets were farther advanced in industry than the South Sea Islanders.

Trade is carried on between Europeans and the interior Indians, in which no little skill is manifested. Every article which they purchase undergoes the closest scrutiny, and every slight defect, which they are sure to discover, sends down the price. In their commercial intercourse they exhibit the utmost decorum, and conduct their negotiations with the most becoming dignity. Nevertheless, for iron and beads they willingly part with anything in their possession, even their children. In the voyage of Bodega y Quadra, several young Thlinkeets thus became the property of the Spaniards, as the author piously remarks, for purposes of conversion. Sea-otter skins circulate in place of money.165

The office of chief is elective, and the extent of power wielded depends upon the ability of the ruler. In some this authority is nominal; others become great despots.166 Slavery was practiced to a considerable extent; and not only all prisoners of war were slaves, but a regular slave-trade was carried on with the south. When first known to the Russians, according to Holmberg, most of their slaves were Flatheads from Oregon. Slaves are not allowed to hold property or to marry, and when old and worthless they are killed. Kotzebue says that a rich man "purchases male and female slaves, who must labor and fish for him, and strengthen his force when he is engaged in warfare. The slaves are prisoners of war, and their descendants; the master's power over them is unlimited, and he even puts them to death without scruple. When the master dies, two slaves are murdered on his grave that he may not want attendance in the other world; these are chosen long before the event occurs, but meet the destiny that awaits them very philosophically." Simpson estimates the slaves to be one third of the entire population. Interior tribes enslave their prisoners of war, but, unlike the coast tribes, they have no hereditary slavery, nor systematic traffic in slaves.

      CASTE AND CLANSHIP.

With the superior activity and intelligence of the Thlinkeets, social castes begin to appear. Besides an hereditary nobility, from which class all chiefs are chosen, the whole nation is separated into two great divisions or clans, one of which is called the Wolf, and the other the Raven. Upon their houses, boats, robes, shields, and wherever else they can find a place for it, they paint or carve their crest, an heraldic device of the beast or the bird designating the clan to which the owner belongs. The Raven trunk is again divided into sub-clans, called the Frog, the Goose, the Sea-Lion, the Owl, and the Salmon. The Wolf family comprises the Bear, Eagle, Dolphin, Shark, and Alca. In this clanship some singular social features present themselves. People are at once thrust widely apart, and yet drawn together. Tribes of the same clan may not war on each other, but at the same time members of the same clan may not marry with each other. Thus the young Wolf warrior must seek his mate among the Ravens, and, while celebrating his nuptials one day, he may be called upon the next to fight his father-in-law over some hereditary feud. Obviously this singular social fancy tends greatly to keep the various tribes of the nation at peace.167

Although the Thlinkeet women impose upon themselves the most painful and rigorous social laws, there are few savage nations in which the sex have greater influence or command greater respect. Whether it be the superiority of their intellects, their success in rendering their hideous charms available, or the cruel penances imposed upon womanhood, the truth is that not only old men, but old women, are respected. In fact, a remarkably old and ugly crone is accounted almost above nature—a sorceress. One cause of this is that they are much more modest and chaste than their northern sisters.168 As a rule, a man has but one wife; more, however, being allowable. A chief of the Nass tribe is said to have had forty.

      A young girl arrived at the age of maturity is deemed unclean; and everything she comes in contact with, or looks upon, even the clear sky or pure water, is thereby rendered unpropitious to man. She is therefore thrust from the society of her fellows, and confined in a dark den as a being unfit for the sun to shine upon. There she is kept sometimes for a whole year. Langsdorff suggests that it may be during this period of confinement that the foundation of her influence is laid; that in modest reserve, and meditation, her character is strengthened, and she comes forth cleansed in mind as well as body. This infamous ordeal, coming at a most critical period, and in connection with the baptism of the block, cannot fail to exert a powerful influence upon her character.

It is a singular idea that they have of uncleanness. During all this time, according to Holmberg, only the girl's mother approaches her, and that only to place food within her reach. There she lies, wallowing in her filth, scarcely able to move. It is almost incredible that human beings can bring themselves so to distort nature. To this singular custom, as well as to that of the block, female slaves do not conform. After the girl's immurement is over, if her parents are wealthy, her old clothing is destroyed, she is washed and dressed anew, and a grand feast given in honor of the occasion.169 The natural sufferings of mothers during confinement are also aggravated by custom. At this time they too are considered unclean, and must withdraw into СКАЧАТЬ