MEMOIRS
OF THE
American Museum of Natural
HARLAN 1. SMITH, dla
SAGINAW, BF. 5. briCitiG
ald
History.
Voiume II.
ANTHROPOLOGY. I.
en
Tue Jesup Nortu Paciric Expepition.
PY, The Fhomenon Indiens ef Beiish Columbia.
By JAMES TEIT.
Edited by FRANZ BOAS.
April, 1900.
The following method of transcribing Indian words is used in the publications of the Jesup
Expedition :
&, €, i, 0, U ....eeeeeeee have their continental sounds (short). 4, @, 1, 6, 0........+.2+. long vowels, A, E, 1,0, U....++eeeee+. Obscure vowels, 8 cee ceeeceeees Vowels not articulated, but indicated by position of the mouth. MH ccccececececccevceee im German Badr, seceesceescscceeecoes O in German voll, SOREL Fasdierelesp eseincedigraie <Q RNUONMS
Ned sede end dene s 6bdiene a: SAAR
seceecccecescevescoces Separates vowels which do not form diphthongs.
BL cece cece sees eceeee Sin s8land,
AU vccceeccec cece cecees Ow in how,
Lisccccceceseseeceeeees a8 in English.
I] ..ceccceceecceeeveeee very long, slightly palatized by allowing a greater portion of the back of the tongue to touch the palate.
I ccccccscesceseceees+s posterior palatal /; the tip of the tongue touches the alveoli of the lower jaw, the back of the tongue is pressed against the hard palate, sonant.
L .cceccceseseceeseeess the same, short and exploded (surd).
Oboerecwedasecs cedcielval VOLE A
1" ® oO &
kos icsccseecceceeceeeee English &
Be haxsuenesiae seceeees palatized 4, almost dy.
KX .......ceee++eeeeee6 posterior palatal 4, between & and &’.
BEA Siok caenesis soos. Velar g.
(Lane rae tse Rt sescee veeee palatized g, almost gy.
Hiice des hide HEA Role .. chin German Buch.
Wei vieccech-echeiaiie aoe Meee # pronounced at posterior border of hard palate.
Mi sacoisedsdioticerbenbs Uatgute . palatal x as in German ich.
rie cere aere ar «+... are evidently the same sound, and might be written s' or ¢’, both
being palatized ; ¢ (English s#) is pronounced with open teeth, the tongue almost touching the palate immediately behind the alveoli; s is modified in the same manner.
Ota er askub Ate occavader avert wee. thas in thick.
d, t
b, p Pye ee as in English, but surd and sonant are difficult to distinguish. gk
Teg stacais, oda leiy espace oroasiyy bs .. as in English.
Ve vetigeea vans VERrewns as in year.
W, M,M.......0006.+66. a8 in English. Lecce ceccseecveeevees Gesignates increased stress of articulation. soceccceecececeseeeees iS @ Very deep laryngeal intonation.
ERRATA.
p. 183, 2d line of footnote, “ Fig, 122” should read, “ Fig. 120.” Pp. 223, in legend to Fig. 198, “z$43 " should read “ 744,.”
we
By James Tet.
Edited by FRANZ BOAs,
Map, PLates XIV — XX,
CONTENTS.
EpiTor’s NoTE. Introduction, Historical 4nd Cubataniteeh
Name of the Tribe .
Habitat . ‘ Divisions of the Tribe Population fo v9 Migrations and Intercourse . Mental Traits
Manufactures
Work in Stoue
Work in Wood . Painting ‘ Preparation of Skins . Basketry
Mats i Weaving and Netting .
House and Household .
Habitations House-Furnishings .
IV. Clothing and Ornaments
Clothing of Upper Thompsons
Clothing of Lower Thompsons and Upper rine Band .
Modern Clothing . Decoration of Clothing
Personal Adornment .
IV.—Tue Tuomrson Inpians or British Cotumsia.
PAGE
165 167 167 167 168 175 178 180 182 182 183 184 184 187 188 190 192 192 199 206 206 220 220 221 222
i 1 i { 4
© 4 a
VI.
VII,
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV,
CONTENTS,
Subsistence Wo Ne ES ae Varieties and Preparation of Food Preservation of Staple Foods Dishes Seasons .
Hunting . Fishing . oe
Travel and Transportation ; Trade Travel and Transportation Trade
Warfare ‘
Games and Pastimes
Sign Language ae ae
Social Organization and Festivals . Social Organization .
Festivals
Birth, Childhood, Puberty, Marriage, and Death
Pregnancy .
Childhood .
Twins
Puberty .
Marriage as
Customs regarding Women
Burial Customs of the Upper Thompsons
Burial Customs of the Lower ‘lhompsons Religion, rae ae ee
Conception of the Worid .
Prayers and Observances .
Festivals
Guardian Spirits .
Soul
Shamanism ,
Prophets wcheg .
Ethical Concepts and Teachings Medicine, Charms, Current Beliefs
Medicines F
Surgical Operations .
Charms .
Current Beliefs Art (by Franz Boas) .
Decorative Art
Music
Dancing. . . . . . Conclusion (by Franz Boas) APPENDIX . oo. 46 we ew es
PAGE 230 230 234 236 237 239 249 255 255 258 263 272 283 289 289 2096 393 393 306 310 3r 321 326 327 335 337 337 344 350° 354 357 360 365 366 368 368 370 37! 372 376 376 383 385 387 391
EDITOR'S NOTE,
The following description of the Thompson Indians is based on two manu- scripts prepared by Mr. James Tit, — the one a description of the Upper Thomp- son Indians, written in 1895; the other a description of the Lower Thompson Indians, written in 1897 as a result of work done by Mr. Teit for the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, To these manuscripts have been added notes furnished by Mr. Teit, explaining the uses, and methods of manufacture, of specimens which he collected for the expedition, Other information was furnished by him in reply to inquiries of the writer concerning questions that seemed of interest. The detailed descriptions of methods of weaving, and the patterns for costumes, are based on examination of specimens in the Museum, ‘The chapter on art and the conclusion were written by the editor. ‘The former is the result of his study of specimens and photographs, and of personal inquiries conducted with the assist- ance of Mr. Teit.
Mr. Teit is fully conversant with the language of the Thompson Indians, and, owing to his patient research and intimate acquaintance with the Indians, the information contained in the following pages is remarkably full, Physical characteristics, language, and the mythology and traditions of the people, are not included in the present description. The. traditions of the Upper Thompson Indians, collected by Mr. James Teit, have been published by the American Folk- Lore Society.
The drawings for the text illustrations in this paper were prepared by Mr. Rudolf Weber. The plates are reproductions of photographs taken by Mr, Harlan I. Smith. I am indebted to Prof. N. L. Britton for identification of the plants referred to. I have to thank Miss H. A. Andrews and Miss M. L. Taylor for valuable help in preparing the manuscript for the press.
Following are the more important publications bearing on the ethnology of the Thompson Indians: ‘ Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia,” by George M. Dawson (Transactions Royal Society of Canada, 1891, Sect. I], pp. 3-44); “Sixth Report of the Committee on the North-western Tribes of Canada,” containing the ‘Second General Report on the Indians of British Co- lumbia,” by Franz Boas (Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1890, pp. 632-647); ‘“ Tenth Report of the Committee on the North- western Tribes of Canada,” containing the “ Fifth Report on the Indians of British Columbia,” by Franz Boas (/érd., 1895, pp. 522, #:); “ Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia,” collected and annotated by James Teit, with introduction by Franz Boas, Boston and New York, 1898 (Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, Vol. VI), ‘ Report on the Ethnological Survey of Canada,” 1899, containing “Studies of the Indians of British Columbia,”
pp. 4-88.
New York, February, 1900. [165] FRANZ BOAS 165
ae eran aS SET
a ee ee ee
eee nS Se
Ff ADAMS 4, f LAKE
y pe, \ —— \ _S Camvawal
oe LAKE
efme—menmon, PAshcroft + em, 8
Enderby
pallu meas
/ + “ta
ce
Duffey «Lake
“eeenesttteeeereemeeness.
LOWER
OKANAGON i — LAKE a A G 0 N | ve \) LB, : Keremeos D aah / 4 Sumas { —_-" Lake \ ‘ -_ : é coemmocemcoamme 7 ee B .
MAP SHOWING
a alae LOCATION OF THE THOMPSON INDIANS AND 1 NEIGHBORING TRIBES. q
The area formerly inhabited by the Athapascan tribe a of Nicola Valley is indicated by shading,
te,
" pay rames
INDIANS
pascan tribe
I.—INTRODUCTION, HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL,
Name or tHe Tripe,— The Indians to be described in the following pages were called “Couteau” or “ Knife" Indians by the employees of the Hudson Bay Company ; but at the present day this name has been entirely superseded by that vf“ Thompson” Indians, taken from the name of the river in the neighborhood of which they have their homes, They call their entire tribe Niak‘a’pamux, They are also so designated by all the neighboring tribes of the interior, although they are sometimes called Liikatimii’x and Sa’lic by the Okanagon, and Nko‘ata- mux by the Shuswap, The Lillooet occasionally call them Ce’qtamux, which name is derived from that of Thompson River. In all these words the ending “mux” means “ people.” The Indians of the Fraser Delta, whose territory ad- joins theirs on the soutiwest, call them Sema'mila (said to mean “ inland people,” “inland hunters,” or “people up the river”), Their language belongs to the Salishan stock.
Hapitat., — Their habitat is the southern interior of British Columbia, mostly east of the Coast Range, but it extends far into the heart of that range (see opposite map). It is about a hundred miles in length, by ninety in breadth, Through this territory flow three rivers, — Fraser River : its principal tributary, Thompson River; and a smaller tributary of the latter, Nicola River, In the valleys of these rivers, or in close proximity thereto, are found the princi- pal villages of the tribe, while the country on either side is their hunting-ground,
Their neighbors to the north and east are the Shuswap, to whom they are nearest akin. ‘To the northwest of their territory live the Lillooet, to the south and east the Okanagon, while at the mouth of the cafion of Fraser River they border on the Coast Salish. In former times a small tribe of Athapascan affinity inhabited the upper portion of Nicola Valley. They have become merged in the Thompson Indians.
The tribes with whom they are familiar, and their names, will be found on the map. The Upper Thompson Indians had no knowledge of any Coast tribes except those of Lower Fraser River. Some of the tribal names, such as Smilé’qamux (‘the people of Similkameen”), signify the location which the people inhabit, regardless of their tribal affiliations. A number of more distant tribes, the location of which is not given on our map, were known to them by name, These were most of the Salish tribes of Montana, Idaho, and the in- terior of Washington; the Sahaptin; the Kootenay ; and the most northern Shoshone tribes, who were called “tail people” because they wore attached to their head-dresses a long string of feathers reaching down to the feet. A tribe to the southeast called Stiltx:, ten days’ journey from Spences Bridge, neither Salish nor Sahaptin, came sometimes to trade fish near the mouth of Nicola River. The Crees were also known by name. Before the advent of the whites no other tribes were known. The Hudson Bay Company's employees are called
[167]
168 TEIT THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
“the real white men,” a name also applied by a few Indians to French-speaking people.
Divisions OF THE TRIBE. — Their territory may be divided into two parts ; the dividing-line being near Lytton, at the junction of Thompson and Fraser Rivers. Here the latter enters a deep cafion, through which it rushes with impetuous force, until it emerges at Yale, some fifty-seven miles farther down, having cut its way through the Coast Range. ‘The country on either side is extremely rugged. Towering mountains, which reach beyond the snow-line, extend on every hand. The valleys are very deep and narrow, often merely gorges. The rainfall is abundant, especially in the southwestern part of this district, and therefore the whole country is clad with heavy timber, mostly fir and cedar. As might be ex- pected, agricultural and pasture land is scarce ; game is also rather scarce : so that the Indians depend mainly on the products of the streams for their livelihood. The winters are short, but there are occasionally heavy falls of snow. Such is the country of the Lower Thompson Indians.
The country north and east of Lytton, and immediately east of the Coast Range, is of a totally different character. Although it is rugged and hilly, the contours of the mountains are round, and their slopes gentle. They are inter- sected by numerous deep and narrow valleys, while still farther east rolling hills or plateaus prevail.
The valleys and lower parts of the country are covered with sagebrush, grease-wood, etc.— evidences of a dry climate; while the higher grounds and mountain-tops are covered with grass and scattering timber, mostly pine. The conditions are favorable for stock-raising, and patches of arable land are found. Game, especially deer, is much more abundant here than in the lower section, and there is much greater facility for engaging in agricultural pursuits. The climate is extremely dry, with hot summers and moderately cold winters, the latter generally short and accompanied by slight snowfalls.
The country below Lytton is named Uta'mqt (meaning “ below,” or “to the south”), while that above Lytton is called Nku’kama (meaning “above,” or ‘to the north”). By adding ‘“-mux” (“people”) to the previously mentioned names, we have the designations by which the inhabitants of the two sections are known ; viz, Uta’mqtamux (“people below”) and Nku’kdmamux (‘people above”). The former name especially is often used without the ‘“-mux.” These two divisions are the ‘Lower Thompsons” or ‘“Cafion Indians” and ‘ Upper Thompsons” of the whites, by which terms I shall designate them.
The Lower Thompson Indians have their villages at favorable spots along the banks of Fraser River, from a little below the village of Si’ska in the north, to a few miles below Spuzzum in the south. Their hunting-grounds extend west- ward to Harrison Lake and the mountains east of the lower course of Lillooet River, southward to the head waters of Nooksack and Skagit Rivers, and eastward to the head waters of Tulameen and Coldwater Rivers. Along this line they come into contact with the Lower Lillooet ; the Coast Salish, whose villages and
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 169
hunting-grounds are confined to the immediate vicinity of Fraser River, while the Thompson Indians hunt in the mountains a few miles to the south ; the Klickitat; and the Okanagon.
The villages of the Lower Thompson Indians seem to have been much more stationary than those of the upper division of the tribe. Many families wintered for generations, in fact as long as can be remembered, at the same spot. Since the advent of the whites some of the smaller village-sites have been abandoned. The inhabitants removed to the larger villages, which happened to be near settlements of the whites. Decrease in the number of inhabitants has been one of the prime causes of removals.
The present villages of the Lower Thompson Indians, from south to north, are as follows :—
Name. Location.
1, Spé’zém (“little flat’’) Spuzzum...... West side of Fraser River, about 9 miles above Yale, 2 miles below Spuzzum station, C. P. R., and 110 miles from Pacific Ocean.
2. Ti’kwalus, known as Chapman’s Bar among the whites............ 008. East side of Fraser River, about 13 miles above Yale. By SROXWA RE cca siee tienes ce near aw es West side of Fraser River, about 15 miles above Yale. Ay TOC AWG iicicnveu erred eiees cnen ee East side of Fraser River, about 16} miles above Yale. 5. Noié'ltsi (“burnt body ")............ West side of Fraser River, about 23 miles above Yale. 6. Kalulaa’1ex (“small house of owl”),. East side of Fraser River, about 24 miles above Yale. 7. Koia'um (“to pick berries”), called by the whites Boston Bar............ East side of Fraser River, about 25 miles abuve Yale. B, NtSUwl Oki ce seed cer aeic sens swede West side of Fraser River, about 27 miles above Yale. g. Kapatci’tcin (“sandy shore”), called by the whites North Bend.......... West side of Fraser River, about 28 miles above Yale. ro, Npikti’m or S'inpakti’m (“white hol- LOW? )icsiticnnets surelanbryae Savane East side of Fraser River, about 30 miles above Yale, TD; ESA UMAR isa sier ee sutia averted East side of Fraser River. 12, Sinta’ki (“reached the bottom”’)..... West side of Fraser River. 13. Spa’im (“flat land” or “open flat”).. East side of Fraser River. 14. Skwa'uyix. cc... cece ceeeveeeeeees .. West side of Fraser River. 15. Kimu’s (“‘ brow” or “edge”)....... . East side of Fraser River. 16, S’ak (“valley ” or “ depression”)...., East side of Fraser River. 196 NRAttet thy sce ies ears eae yaceeeee East side of Fraser River, about 38 miles above Yale;
near Keefers station, C, P. R., but on the opposite side of the river. 18, Staxéha’ni (“this side of the ear or
CE sia eigtelacaa an, sean Hee eee vines East side of Fraser River. 1g. Liqua’getin (“ferry” or “crossing- PHAGE. Yi sccsicgcaiacais ve Ut cadale-nt eas East side of Fraser River, about 3 miles below Si’ska.
In this list detached houses have been grouped with the nearest village. Some Indians think that Si’ska ought to be included with the Lower Thompsons. In 1858 Koia’'um (Boston Bar) was the largest and most populous village.
PAE EERIE
Rem race dy
|
170 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
At the present day Kapatci’tcin (North Bend) and Spo’zém are the largest villages, They contain fully one-third of the whole population. All the other villages are small.
The Upper Thompson Indians are divided into four minor divisions more or less recognized. These are :—
1. The tkamtci’nEmux (“ people of Lkamtci’n,” the Indian name of Lytton) or Niak‘apamux’0’é (‘the Niak‘a’‘pamux proper”), sometimes called ‘“ Sa’lic” by the Lower Thompsons, the Indians of Lytton and vicinity. They are sometimes simply called Nuak‘a’pamux. I shall call them the Lytton band.
2. The Sraxa’yux, the people along Fraser River, above Lytton. Their territory extends up Fraser River about forty miles, where they come into con- tact with the Upper Lillooet a few miles below the town of Lillooet. Their hunting-ground is chiefly on the west side of Fraser River, and comprises all the eastern slopes, and the summiis of the Lillooet Mountains, It does not extend far east of Fraser River, the country there being generally used by the Indians of Lytton, Spences Bridge, and Ashcroft. I shall designate them as the Upper Fraser band.
3. The Nkamtci’nEmux (“ people of the entrance”), taken from the name of the land at the mouth of Nicola River (Nkamtci’n), and probably having refer- ence to the confluence of the two rivers, or the “entrance” of one into the other. These are the people of Spences Bridge and vicinity in particular, but the name is often applied in a general sense to all the Indians along Thompson River from a little below Spences Bridge upward. They extend along Thompson River to Ashcroft, where their territory adjoins that of the Shuswap. Their hunting- grounds extend back for thirty or forty miles on each side of Thompson River, and include the upper half of Hat Creek. I shall call them the Spences Bridge band. :
4. The Cawa’xamux or Tcawa’xamux (“ people of the creek,” taken from the name of Nicola River, Tcawa’x or Cwa'ux, meaning “creek”), comprising the Indians along Nicola River from a few miles above Spences Bridge to consider- ably above Nicola Lake, where their territory adjoins that of the Okanagon, whose nearest village is at Douglas Lake, some thirty-five miles from Nicola Lake. Their hunting-grounds are on either side of Nicola River, and extend thirty or forty miles back. In early times their villages did not extend more than fifteen miles up the river. They visited the upper part of the valley on hunting trips and for fishing in the lakes. I shall call this division the Nicola band.
The Spences Bridge band sometimes call the Upper Fraser band Skwoti'ki- namux (‘‘ people of the other or opposite side of the ridge or mountains”), be- cause they are divided from them by a narrow range, which follows the east bank of Fraser River. The Lytton band who live along the shores of Fraser River, and the Upper Fraser band, are sometimes collectively called ‘‘ people of Fraser River.” The Lytton band who live along Thompson River above Lytton, and
Rag
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 171
the Spences Bridge band, are sometimes collectively called “ people of Thompson River.”
Besides these, there are the usual names attached to every little band or com- munity, which is simply the name of the place or village they inhabit, with the suf- fix ‘‘-mux” (“people”), as we might say in our language ‘people of London,” ‘people of Liverpool,” etc. This method of designating their folk according to the several towns to which they belong, is, so far as I know, the only one em- ployed by the Lower Thompson Indians,
Among the Upper Thompson Indians, the people of some of the bands or villages are sometimes called after the name of their chief. For instance, the people on Thompson River immediately above Spences Bridge, who occupy two or three small villayes, but are under one chief, are called Saitkinamuxs ha Cumaxa'tr'tza (“people of Cumaxair'tza,” this being the name of the chief). This custom, however, is of recent origin.
The differences in dialect betwecn the several divisions of the tribe are very trifling. A few words only are used in a different sense, while others vary slightly in pronunciation. The difference in dialect between the lower and upper divisions is most clearly marked. The former seem to have borrowed several words from their neighbors of the coast.
During the last twenty-five or thirty years, owing to increased intercourse and prolonged visits among the different divis ons of the tribe, there appears to have been a tendency towards assimilation of the dialects. The lower half of the tribe affect the dialect current among the upper half. Through association with the white man, several new words have been introduced into the language. Most of these have reference to names of things new to the Indian.
The following is a fairly accurate list of villages belonging to the upper divisions of the tribe :—
VILLAGES OF THE Lyrron BAND
Name. Location.
1, Nuaqta’kitin (‘the crossing-place, ’ “ place for crossing the river”), Kan-
aka Bar......ecsce esse eeeeeeeeees On Fraser River, about 11 miles below Lytton (some Indians class it with the Lower Thompsons). 2. Si’ska (“uncle’’), Cisco............. On Fraser River, about 8 miles below Lytton.
3. Nqa‘ia (from nqa‘iex, “to swim”)... West side of Fraser River, about 2 miles below Lytton. 4. Lkamtci’n (“confluence”’ [of rivers] ), Lytton... ccceceeeeeeeeeeeseeess South side of Thompson River, ut its junction with the Fraser.
5. Neqa’umin or Nqau'min (so named be- cause the water comes from a lake called Nqauma'tko [‘‘wolf lake or water" ], from sqaum [“wolf’’]), Thompson.......sseeseeeeeeeeeee+ South side of Thompson River, about ro miles above Lytton.
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eto
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172 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VILLAGES OF THE Ly110oN BAND — Continued, Name. Location, 6. Tixezé'p (shortened form of xzé'ép,
~
“sharp ground or place for pitching lodges,” so called from small sharp stones around there),.............
. N’a'tqélpte'tenk (“yellow pine little
slope")......... Sie ateeatate anna gerieatng
8. Nx’6mi'n (meaning doubtful)...... 9. Anexté’t’tim (“stony little hollow”),
East side of Fraser River, about 1 mile above Lytton.
West side of Fraser River, about 1 mile above Lytton, West side of Fraser River, 2} miles above Lytton, Kast side of Fraser River, 3 miles above Lytton.
10. Sta'ien, or Strain (meaning doubtful), Styne Creek...........c00000. +++ West side of Fraser River, about § miles above Lytton. 11, Npuitci’n (“low ridge shore”)...... West side of Fraser River, 8 miles above Lytton. 12, Nqoi'kin (“black pine ridge,” so called because young firs grow thickly there like neko@'t [| “black pine forest.” |) wcisanedieiaatuwebier oa East side of Fraser River, 8 miles above Lytton. 13. N6'6t or Neré’t (allied to rd'it, “sleep”), West side of Fraser River, 12 miles above Lytton. 14. Ntcé’qtceqqékénk or Ntcéqtceqk6-
2, Nqa’ktko (“little rotten water” )
kinnk (“the red little side hill or SlOPE” )aiviccdv ieee seas whee eta
West side of Fraser River, 15 miles above Lytton.
VILLAGES OF THE Upper FRASER BAND.
Name.
. Nuip’pa’em (“to extract marrow,” PI ’
from s’Lippa’,, “marrow ” [of bones P ’
Location,
West side of Fraser River, about 22 miles above Lytton. West side of Fraser River, 28 miles above Lytton.
3. Tia’ks (refers to nose or point in the
river), Fosters Bar...........cs005 East side of Fraser River, about 28 miles above Lytton. 4. Nse'qip (“little deep hollow or cut"), West side of Fraser River, about 38 miles above Lytton. 5. Skeka’itin (“place of coming up above,
or reaching the top”)........
West side of Fraser River, about 43 miles above Lytton.
The last-named village is the extreme northera limit of the tribe on Fraser River, Here their territory adjoins that of the Lillooet, whose nearest village is
SEtL (near the town of Lillooet), five miles above, on the same side of Fraser River,
VILLAGES OF THE SPENCES BRIDGE BAND.
Name. Location.
1. No‘qem (from s’no'k, “ valley”), Dry-
NOCH. ci vpeecseseccsecsveseveues South side of Thompson River, 16 miles above Lytton. 2, Nsqa'qaulten (“little looking for game
place ” from s’ké‘aut, “to stand in a
place and look around for game when
hunting”), Spences Bridge..... +++ South side of Thompson River, 23 miles above Lytton,
and half a mile below Spences Bridge.
on.
on,
mn,
er
er
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 173
VILLAGES OF THE SPENCES BRIDGE BAND — Continued.
Name.
3. Nkamtci’n (“confluence” or “en-
trance’), Nicola Mouth,..... +006.
4. Atci'tciken (meaning doubtful), or Nkaitu’sus (“reaches the top of the brow or low steep’). The trail gets up on the top of a bench here, and enters the Spa'piam Valley.........
5. Pemai’nfs (“the flat underneath or near the brow or steep”). A low flat extends along the river here for some distance.........65 VebA Gin’ dieuiwares
6. Nqée'itko (“little lake or pond"). There is a stagnant pond at this PAGO os disse tiie cccreced ir iwedercnes
7. Zaxxauzsi'ken (“middle ridge or hill”).
8, Pe'gaist (“white stone")........... g. Semexa’u (“little lynx,” from semeEra’u, Tyr") 4 cdisliss ei atale wince’ 0s Geis sinticnis
10, Spa'ptsen (“‘little Indian hemp place,” from spa'tsan, “‘ Indian hemp”), Spa- {SUTis.s dite whee ap oacneanmeuleeue as
11, Nté'qem (“to make muddy,” or “muddy creek’), Oregon Jacks.....
12, Snapa’ (“burnt place,” from s'pa’a, “any burnt place in the mountains or forest ’’), Black Cafion....... Se diates
13. Nukaa’tko, Nukaa’tqo, or Nekaa’tko (from nko or nkwa, Shuswap for “one,” as Nkwaa'tko, “one little water,” similar to Npéa’tko, which means the same).........0.eeeeees
14. SLaz or Sxiétz (meaning doubtful), Cornwalls......... SOR ae Sodpealenls iss
15. LoLowt’q (‘‘slides,” from Lowd’q, applied to places where gravel, small stones, or sand keeps sliding or fall- ing down)............4 veuyes ea
Location,
South side of ‘Thompson River, at its junction with the Nicola, about 24} miles above Lytton.
North side of ‘Thompson River, about 3 miles back in the mountains from Spences Bridge.
South side of ‘Thompson River, about 28 miles above Lytton.
South side of Thompson River, 30 miles above Lytton.
Half a mile back from ‘Thompson River, on the south side, about 31 miles above Lytton.
South side of Thompson River, 32 miles above Lytton.
North side of Thompson River, 32 miles from Lytton.
South side of Thompson River, 35 miles above Lytton. North side of Thompson River, about 1 mile back
from the river, and about 39 miles above Lytton.
South side of Thompson River, about 1$ miles back from the river, and 42 miles above Lytton.
North side of Thompson River, about 43 miles above Lytton.
About 1 mile Luck from Thompson River, on the north side, about 45 miles above Lytton.
On Nicola River, about 8 miles from Spences Bridge.
Staz village is the farthest up Thompson River. Beyond, on both sides of the river, the country is inhabited entirely by Shuswap.
cre seat
Beene
a Sa
AR A NN I Na a a
174 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
VILLAGES OF THE NICOLA BAND. Name. Location.
- Kapatci’tcin (“little sandy shore”)... Near Nicola River, about 12 miles from Spences Bridge. 2, Ca’xanix (‘‘little stone or rock”)..... Near Nicola River, about 16 miles ab-ye Spences Bridge.
3. x'0'tx'Atkawéd (“holes by or near the
trail )icsssescvecenveeeceeessoes Neat Nicola River, 23 miles above Spences Bridge. 4. Xanexewé'I (“stone by or near the
Ha sas sisandvaeresicauentsen NGAP Nicola River, 27 miles above Spences Bridge. 5. Qaiskana’ or Koiskana’ (from koés or
kw6'es, a bush the bark of which is
used for making twine; some say
it is a Stuwix’ or Athapascan name,
but this seems doubtful), Pitit Creek. Near Nicola River, 29 miles above Spences Bridge. 6. N’a'iek or N’é'iek (“the bearberry”). Near Nicola River, 39 miles above Spences Bridge.
7. Tsulu’s or Sulu’s (“copen” or ‘open
flat? 5 saiaditeaacsloacever acters +++. Near Nicola River, 40 (?) miles above Spences Bridge. 8. Pti'tek or Prtu’tek (“little spring” [of
water] )......... Kaine we tesevecees About 41 miles above Spences Bridge.
Near Nicola River, a few miles from the west end of
or rocky gulch), Nicola Lake
10, Ntsta’tko or Ntsa'ta’tko (“cold water’), Coldwater.
tr, Zuxt (meaning doubtful)..........5 » Near west end of Nicola Lake, 50 miles above Spences Bridge. 12, Qwiltca’na (meaning doubtful)....... Near the middle of Nicola Lake.
13. Ntcé’kus or Stcé’kus (“red rising ground oreminence,” or “ red face "), About 1 mile back in the mountains from Qwiltca’na, Qwiltca’na may be said to be the terminal village in this direction. Three miles above it is the nearest village of the Okanagon. The nearest four villages of the latter are as follows : — Name. Location.
Qeé"tamix or tkatamix (Okanagon word,
meaning “ broad patch of bushes”... About 3 miles from Qwiltca’na. Spa’xemin (“ shavings ” or “ cuttings,” as
of wood or bone), Douglas Lake..... 11 miles from Qwiltca’na, Komkona'tko (“head water” or “head
lake”), Fish Lake............000, - 21 miles from Qwiltca’na. Zu'tsemin or Zu'tsamin (“red ochre or
earth”), Vermillion................ On Upper Similkameen River.
The Indians of all these Okanagon villages have a considerable admixture of Thompson Indian blood, and speak both languages. The pure Okanagon is not found until Niki’us and K érEmya'uz, on the Similkameen, are reached.
Many of the villages in the above lists are very small, consisting of two or three families ; while others are large, and contain about a hundred or more inhabitants. Very few occupy old village-sites, A list of the villages thirty-five
Ze,
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRIT!SH COLUMBIA, 17
wm
to fifty years ago would be very different. These villages are almost all situated on reserves, Some places where Indians live in detached houses have been included under the name of the village nearest to which they are located.
So far as current tradition tells, the tribal boundaries have always been the same as they are at the present day, except that about sixty or more years ago the Shuswap-speaking people extended a few miles farther down Thompson River than now, and the country around Nicola Lake was held by an Athapascan tribe, Both of these have been absorbed by the Thompsons.
PoruLation, — The tribe is at the present day greatly reduced in numbers. The existence of numerous ruins of underground houses might be considered as sufficient proof of the decrease of the tribe, were it not that the same family sometimes constructed several of these houses, and that after the first epidemic of small-pox many of the survivors moved, for protection or support, to larger communities, and constructed.new houses there. After the formation of small towns or settlements by the whites, who set up trading-stores in different parts of the country, many Indians removed to their neighborhood for convenience of trading with or working for them. Moreover, the Indians began to se’ what use the whites made of arable lands, and they obtained “reserves,” and gained some knowledge of farming. Then many who had no arable land moved either to more favorably situated places, or to their “reserves” when convenient. By this means the number of old house-sites was considerably increased. Nevertheless, according to the testimony both of the Indians themselves, and of white men long resident in their country, the Thompson Indians were certainly at one time much more numerous than at present.
The old people say that forty or fifty years ago, when travelling along Thompson River, the smoke of Indian camp-fires was always in view. This will be better understood when it is noted that the course of Thompson River is very tortuous, and that in many places one can see but a very short distance up or down the river, The old Indians compare the number of people formerly living in the vicinity of Lytton to “ants about an ant-hill.”. Although they cannot state the number of inhabitants forty years ago, there are still old men living who can give approximately the number of summer lodges or winter houses along Thompson River at that time, showing clearly the great decrease which has taken place.
In 1858, when white miners first arrived in the country, the Indian population between Spuzzum and Lytton was estimated at not less than two thousand, while at present it is probably not over seven hundred. If that be correct, and assum- ing that the number in the upper part of the tribe was in about the same propor- tion to those in the lower as now, the population of the entire tribe would have numbered at least five thousand.
Notwithstanding the fact that a year or two before the arrival of the white miners the tribe had been depopulated by a famine, which infested nearly the whole interior of British Columbia, the actual decrease of the Indians has taken place only since the advent of the whites, in 1858 and 1859.
ST RMT ACA RU, TR eres
; ii » = i
|
176 TELT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
Small-pox has appeared but once among the Upper Thompson Indians ; but the Lower Thompsons state that it has broken out three or four times in their tribe. Its first appearance was near the beginning of the century. Nevertheless this disease has reduced the numbers of the tribe more than anything else. It was brought into the country in 1863, and thousands of Indians throughout the interior of British Columbia succumbed to it. If the evidence of the old people can be relied on, it must have carried off from one-fourth to one-third of the tribe. In many cases the Indians became panic-stricken, and fled to the mountains for safety. Numbers of them dropped dead along the trail; and their bodies were buried, or their bones gathered up, a considerable time afterwards, Some took refuge in their sweat-houses, expecting to cure the disease by sweating, and died there,
It was early in spring when the epidemic was raging, and most of the Indians were living in their winter houses, under such conditions that all the inhabitants were constantly exposed to the contagion. The occupants of one group of win- ter houses near Spences Bridge were completely exterminated; and those of another about three miles away, numbering about twenty people, all died inside of their house. Their friends buried them by letting the roof of the house down on them. Afterwards they removed their bones, and buried them in a graveyard. Since then the tribe has been gradually decreasing, until at present I doubt if it numbers over two thousand souls. About fifteen years ago it was reckoned by a missionary long resident among them as numbering about twenty-five hundred.
Many suppose that the decrease among Indian tribes in general is chiefly due to the dying-off of the old people and to the sterility of the women. My obser- vations lead me to a different conclusion, at least regarding the Upper Thompson Indians. ‘There are comparatively few sterile women among them.
The following statistics concerning the Indians of Spences Bridge will serve as an illustration of the decrease of the Indian community. ‘They were collected by myself, and extend over a period of ten years. While they may be no criterion for the whole tribe (some bands having remained almost stationary during this period, while others have decreased considerably more than the one to be discussed), still I think they will show what is happening, to a greater or less extent, in several bands of the tribe.
In 1884 the Spences Bridge Indians numbered 144 (not including 13 tem- porary residents from other tribes or bands). During the period 1884-94 I recorded the following changes :—
INCREASE. 22 (Full-bloods. ccc cesses cesses nnaceceevesesenecceene Sereecenesceseretecaae 99 Births UBlalt-b ceeds). f05 3000 tice ks te ae nctteies wa aandg eek nisin dew dea views Pe cderevdts . 4 — 43 Immigration of Indians from other villages.......... ce ceee cece eens Fea iae Che pees 10 Total Ancrease sis ccii osawteneinaiecedarsauee <atievee 4468 ON cee oa tae eer eer 53
wt
bat
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 177 DECREASE,
Infants and children born after 1884. ... ccc reece e cece nee ee ee eens coeceees 98
Death Children born before 1884..... 0. :eceee vee eeenee AACR ee ee crenoeae 8
als Adults under 60 years. .ccc cc cece cece eee eee eee e ee ee eee en nett eseeeeeees BF
Adults Over Go years.cssccccccvecssesececereeeenerceetenetseeeceens ioe § Removal of Indians to other villages. .... ccc cece ee eee eee rennet eee nent ens Wesigiog 17 Total Gecrease.cciccccccercceeccareecerenseenteeetes eh eneeneenseareueas 89
The resulting decrease during this period is therefore 36, leaving a population of 108.'
It will be seen from the above that although there was a very high death- rate, the birth-rate was also high, and that the principal cause of the band’s decrease was the great mortality among children. At the present time about thirty-three per cent of the people composing this band ave about fifty-five years of age or upwards, and therefore were adults when the white miners first came to the country, In the nearest neighboring band there are twenty-five per cei.t who may be placed in the same category.
The heavy death-rate is attributable principally to two causes, — epidemics and consumption, Epidemics such as measles, influenza, ete., fall far more heavily on them than on the whites. Measles especially carries off a large number of children. The majority of deaths between the ages of eighteen and fifty are from consumption. Some deaths among the young people are directly due to venereal diseases (originally introduced by the whites), and to the use of whiskey and its concomitant evils; but the percentage of such deaths is relatively quite small, although these vices are the indirect cause of many deaths. To this cause are also attributed, to a great extent, the birth of weak children, and sterility among some of the women. If the Indian Department would provide for resi- dent physicians for the Indians, these conditions might be materially improved.
During the last few years there has been a slight improvement in some places. Ina few of the more remote villages the birth-rate has risen, and the rate of mortality among children has fallen. In these places the population seems now to be about holding its own or is slowly increasing. Places such as North Bend, which are situated close to towns, and where there is much association with the whites, still show a very high mortality.
The birth-rate among the Lower Thompsons seems to be higher than among the upper division of the tribe, while the mortality of children seems to be lower. During the last years there has been a preponderance of surviving male children among the upper division, and of surviving female children among the lower division, of the tribe.
Little care is taken of the children during a certain age. From their birth until they are able to walk they are generally wrapped up, and, we might say, even
' For statistics for 1894-99 see Note 1, at the end of this paper.
<i STAN AEP TEES
i al ll LS la RN a le i
178 TELT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
taken too much care of; but as soon as they can walk, and from that time up to the age of ten, they are often allowed to run around exposed to the weather, with little or no clothing other than a cotton shirt. It is during this period of life that most of their children die.
The beef that they are doomed to extinction seems to have a depressing effect on some of the Indians, At almost any gathering where chiefs or leading men speak, this sad, haunting belief is sure to be referred to,
MIGRATIONS AND INTERCOURSE. — There is no historical tradition, so far as I am aware, of any former migration of the people, with perhaps one exception. This, even if true, is very uncertain. The tradition is to the effect that a band of Indians from the neighborhood of Lytton, owing to a dispute, broke away from the main body, crossed the mountains to the south or southeast, and eventually settled somewhere near Columbia River. Some relate the story in exactly the reverse way, claiming that it was a party from Columbia River who migrated, and settled at or near Lytton, The bare fact is stated without any details, As only a few of the old Indians are familiar with this tradition, the events narrated therein must have happened a long time ago, if they ever did happen,
About fifty years ago many of the Nicola band moved into the Stawi’x: country, around Nicola Lake, and some of them intermarried with the Indians there, Some members of the Spences Bridge band, who were related by marriage to the Nicola band, also moved up there, About the same time the Okanagon, whose hunting-ground had been in the Douglas Lake country, commenced to make permanent settlements in that neighborhood.
There seems to have been very little direct intercourse between the upper and lower divisions of the tribe. The Lytton band, who occupy a central portion, intermarried and had frequent intercourse with the Lower Thompson Indians and with the other bands of the upper tribe; but the latter seldom or never inter- married with the Lower Thompson Indians, and had little or no intercourse with them, Very few people from Spences Bridge ever went beyond Lytton. This may be partly owing to the difficulty of access to the lower country; but another reason was the feeling between the divisions of the tribe, the Upper Thompson Indians considering the lower division as a rather inferior race. Formerly the villages of the Lower Thompson Indians had little intercourse with one another, owing to the difficulty of travel in the Fraser Catton. Commiuni- cation between Spuzzum and the villages of the Coast Salish was fairly easy, and consequently intercourse and intermarriages were not infrequent. Since the ar- rival of the whites, the construction of the Caribou wagon-road and the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Fraser Cajon, and the awakening of a desire among the tribe in general to better their condition, there has been much intercourse among all portions of the tribe, with the result that many persons belonging to the lower division have married others of the upper division, and settled in the country of the latter.
The Lower Thompson Indians, seeing the more favorable circumstances
se din 3
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 179
under which the Nicola and Spences Bridge bands lived, moved to the country of the latter, whose fertile soil afforded a much better opportunity for farming pursuits than their own rugged district. Even the Lytton band have followed their example to some extent, Several people from Lytton have settled among the Nicola band, and a large percentage of the people of Neqa’umin, who belong to the same tribal division, have settled around Ca'xanix and other parts of Lower Nicola River,
This latter instance is a good illustration of the change which has taken place in the mode of living of the Thompson Indians. Neqa’'umin was once a very populous place, and people from other parts were drawn there by its splendid facilities for fishing ; but since the advent of the whites, and the abandonment by the Indian of hunting and fishing for the less precarious pursuit of agriculture, Neqa’umin has become in a measure deserted, as there is hardly any arable land in its vicinity,
The most notable migration in recent years, however, is that of a large band of Lower Thompson Indians, who crossed the intervening mountains, and settled in Nicola Valley, near the mouth of Coldwater River, and in other places, where they now have reserves.
Those bands who live in territory adjoining that of other tribes have occasion- ally intermarried with their neighbors, but not to any great extent. The Lytton band, who are surrounded on all sides by other bands of the tribe, have probably less foreign blood in their veins than any of the others; the Lower Thompson Indians, especially around Spuzzum, have a slight admixture of Cowichan blood ; the Upper Fraser band have a considerable amount of Lillooet and a little Shuswap blood; the Spences Bridge band, some Shuswap and a little Okanagon blood ; while the Nicola band, besides having some admixture of Okanagon, have also some Athapascan blood in their veins.
Since the arrival of the whites many women have married white settlers resi- dent in their country. This has resulted in the development of a half-breed population. The female portion of these half-breeds marry either white or half- breed men ; while the male portion although in many cases they marry Indian women, generally live apart, only « .ew of them settling with their Indian rela- tives, or living regularly in the Indian villages. Besides these, there are half- breeds of illegitimate birth, — children of women who have lived with white men foratime. The offspring in such cases, having been brought up among the Indians, generally remain with them, living as Indians, and when of age marry among them, All European nations have contributed almost equally to this mixed race. On the other hand, there is hardly any mixture with Chinese and negroes (except among the Upper Fraser band), largely owing to the fact that the majority of the Indians look with contempt upon these races.
Although for the last thirty-five or forty years there has been uninterrupted contact with the whites, yet the percentage of children of mixed descent is com- paratively small. For example, in two small bands who inhabit Spences
a ll A a a a
a tA a a
180 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
Bridge and vicinity, and who number 108 and 101 souls respectively, we find the following numbers of full-bloods and half-breeds i—
Nkamtei'n Band, Pe'qaist Band, Individuals, oremeeee ates . eee eemuemeneee Totals, Males, Females, Males, | Females, ; eneee cepa ereeeenangnnesonnnsneneenaismmesnsinnnnes | ree ees | a : 4 white and | negro. ........scee sees I a - | — | q } white,......... Conneeveeee ieeus us 1 —_ 2 I 22 FANUC cccrecverseeeceececreerees 5 I 6 3 a Full-blooded Indians,.............. 49 49 or) 49 187 1 TOG idesavcves COUN VOW iE Cp Peeeere Me caleirs ian IOAN Ok + 209 , This amount of admixture is considerably above the average, as observed among : other bands, Among the same bands admixture of foreign Indian blood has taken : place as follows ; — Individuals, Nkamtci'n Band, Pe‘qaist Band, Totals, A h Shuswap... se sscccceccevceuevevevens oni 5 8 “ | 7 see reeences seeeee rare e in at ei 3 8 33 HO. Basted UNO O08 AGH OO Obes Healers 7 2 4 Okanagon..... seeenges COteb eee eeeeerees 1 — } : POCO ene ee re reeeee rene eeeenens 5 _ 10 G. “) paautaancaneuenis Penne e ee ee eens 4 _ FESO Gs ee pice occkclede vwaenk svete: inn a 4 Walla Walla........ cece ssieeeee see, _ I 4 q Pure Shuswap...s.cc.cceceseseceeecece es, I I A 47 4 Less 5, also included in first list as partly White... .. cess scecceeseesecs toon 8 a SUMMARY, Full-blood Thompson Indians. ............0.ceceeeeese. eee eeneneeneees 145 Mixed-blood Thompson Indians ; — 4 Thompson Indians and other Indian tribes.............. ee re soeee 42 Thompson Indians and white.............cceeceeeeeseeeee ccs, 22 209
Menrat Traits. — Although the Thompson Indians, when the white miners
first came among them, had the reputation of being treacherous, they cannot a be so characterized at the present day. As with every other people, there are 4 both good and bad among them; but on the whole they are more honest and a
q
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 181
industrious, intelligent and receptive, than other Indian tribes, They are quiet, sociable, and hospitable; yet combined with the last two qualities are often pride and suspicion. Some are of a jocular, humorous temperament; and some are courageous, determined, uid persevering, although the last-named quality is not a characteristic of the tribe as a whole, Some show it, however, to a marked degree when hunting or fishing. Being proud, they are easily offended, but sel- dom allow their wrath to get the mastery of them. As a rule, they are not vin- dictive. They admire a tian who is athletic, active, energetic, industrious, strong to endure, brave, hospitable, liberal, sociable, and kind. They are fond of the wonderful, of oratory, gambling, story-telling, hunting, and horseback-riding. They are not as proud-spirited as they were, nor do they take as much interest in games, athletic exercises, and fun, as formerly, Disease and the knowledge that they are doomed to extinction are the chief causes for this: while change of pursuits, and the acquirement of new ideas, also have their effect.
At present these people, both socially and otherwise, may be said to be in a state of transition from the customs and modes of life of the past, to those at pres- ent in vogue among the surrounding whites. Although some of the old people cling tenaciously to many of the old habits and traditions, the one idea of many of the younger people is, to advance their material condition, and to copy and vie with the whites in many lines of industry, as well as in customs and dress, This latter propensity very often results in the adoption of more evil than good customs, as is true in the case of whiskey-drinking. I may add, that the ease with which liquor can be obtained, especially along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, principally from unscrupulous whites, is the cause of the ruin, both moral and physical, of many of the young people, as well as of brawls, and some- times loss of life. Be it said to their honor, however, many of the tribe have little or no desire for liquor, and, although it is so easily procurable, never avail themselves of the opportunities so flagrantly brought to their notice. Those Indians who indulge in whiskey almost always do so to excess, and they are gen- erally those members of the tribe who most closely copy the whites in other par- ticulars. Moreover, these are often included among the most industrious and progressive members of the tribe. On the other hand, those individuals who are more exclusive and conservative have, as a rule, little or no craving for whiskey, and refuse to use it, nor will they accept other innovations brought by the white man.
The Lower Thompson Indians are quieter and steadier than the people of the upper division, but at the same time they seem to be slower and less energetic. They are better fishermen and more expert in handling canoes, while the Upper Thompson Indians are better horsemen. The difference in disposition between the two divisions of the tribe is brought out rather strongly on Cold- water River, where people from Nicola and Boston Bar live in close preximity. While arrests for drunkenness, assaults, horse-stealing, etc., are quite frequent among the former, they are almost unkown among the latter.
“
i a at i ti
mel:
Il. MANUFACTURES,
Most of the implements and utensils of the Thompson Indians were made of stone, bone, wood, bark, skins, matting, or basketry. Work in stone, bone, and wood was done by the men, while the preparation of skins, matting, and basketry-work fell to the share of the women. There was a certain amount of division of labor, inasmuch as workmen skilful in any particular line of work exchanged their manufactures for other commodities,
Work ty Srone.— Their work in stone was of the same character as that done by the prehistoric people of Lytton, which is described in Part III of this volume. Stones were battered into shape, cut, and flaked. Jade and serpentine bowlders were cut by means of gritstones or beaver-teeth. But few polished implements are found. Steatite pipes were polished with stems of Zyzdsetum and a mixture of grease and pitch of the black pine. Stone skin-scrapers and hand-hammers are used up to this day. The Indians are still familiar with the art of making arrow-heads. When these were to be made from a bowlder, the following method was employed. The bowlder was split by being laid on a stone and struck with a hand-hammer, generally a pebble | of handy size. When a suitable piece had been obtained, its edges were trimmed off with a hard stone, Then it was wrapped in Fig: 8 (elf), -Arcow-Flaker, nat, size, STASS Or hay, placed on edge on Antes | Gali, Wedee mde ‘
a stone, and large flakes were split off with a hand-hammer. After a suitable piece had been obtained, it was placed on a pad in the left hand and held in position with the fingers. It was given its final shape by means of a flaker made of antler (Fig. 118), which was used with a forward and downward pressure. The blunt point served for faking off larger chips, while the smaller one was used for the final stages of the work. In later times iron flakers were often used. The method of holding the flake was the same as that of the Carriers of northern British Columbia.'
' See Notes on the Western Dénés, by Rev, Father Morice (Transactions of the Canadian Institute, Vol. IV, Toronto, 1895, p. 65); also Stone Implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake Tidewater Province, by W. EI. Holmes (Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 1897, p. 81).
[182]
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 183
Work tx Woop, — For work in wood a number of tools were used. Trees were cut down by means of wedges made of elk-antler (Fir 119), which were
driven in with hand-hammers.
ude These differed somewhat — in ne, shape in different regions. A ind type found among the upper of division of the tribe is shown in ark Fig, 120. The Lower Thom:- sons often imported hammers Wis from the Lillooet (Fig. 121). his The latter resembles the style nd of hammer in use among the Indians of Vancouver Island.' ie Gian ai ahaeh GA Ac Risa Hatin Le OES wooden mallets made me of a piece of a trunk of a tree, with attached branch that served as a handle, were used. Occasion- ally stone clubs with flat sides were used for driving wedges. Most of the rougher work in wood was done with wedge and hammer. Adzes and axes of jade and serpentine (lig. 122) were in common use. The method employed by the upper division in hafting chipped stone axes is shown in Fig, 123. The lower division used adze-handles similar ™ to those of the Vancouver Island Indians (Fig. 124). Stone chisels were fas- tened into handles with sockets, in which the stone was inserted. These tools were also used for building canoes. For cutting and carv- ing, chipped stone knives (Fig. 125) or beaver-tooth knives (Part III, Fig. 49) were used. The former were similar to the crooked knives of the : Coast Indians, but they had a shorter handles. Fig. 126 {) shows a chipped carving- |) i knife carefully trimmed on . atl one side, with curved point. Drilling was done by means i : of stone points. Many bone < objects are decorated with h small circles (Fig. 1185 see r ‘ also Part III, Fig. 109). 5 These were made with a | Fig. 124 Giis. Handle of Adze. e Fig. 123 (y}8a). Stone Adze, } nat. size, “4 h nat. size, : notched point made of bone, preferably that of the bear, one end of which was placed in the centre of the circle, while the other was used to scratch the circular line. When one of the s "See Fig. 9, 4, ia Stone Hammers or Pestles of the Northwest Coast of America, by Harlan I. Smith (American
Anthropologist, N. $., Vol. I, p. 363), characteristic of Spences Bridge ; Fig. 122, above, was found at Lytton,
aL
| | | | | | | |
184 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
points was blunt, a circle without a central dot was produced. Nowadays these circles are made with augurs and bits. Bone was also sharpened and _ polished with gritstone and sand, or with the stems of Lguzsetum.| The Lower Thompsons and the Lytton band made dug-out canoes of cedar and pine. After the dug-outs were finished, they were filled with water, which was boiled by means of red-hot stones. Dried salmon-heads were put into the water, which was kept simmering for twenty-four hours or more. The wood absorbed the oil from the salmon-heads, and was thus rendered less liable to crack. Occasionally canoes were made of spruce-bark with the smooth side out, sewed with spruce-root, and stretched over a wooden frame. The seams were calked with “ Big. 235, Ale. melted gum. They were not much used by the Lower Thompsons. size, Paintinc. — Many of the implements and utensils made of stone, bone, wood, bark, or skin, were painted. Red and brown ochre seem to have been used most extensively for this purpose. Copper clay was used for blue paint ; white, calcareous, and yellow earths were also in use (see Part III, p. 133). A white paint was also made of burnt deer-bones. Powdered char- coal was used as a black paint. A powdered fungus that grows on hemlock- trees also furnished a red paint. Al! these paints, before application, were mixed with melted deer-grease and heated, and applied with a small stick or with the finger. The paints were kept in vessels made of steatite or of other stone, or on flat pieces of hide. The root of /*thospermum angustifolium Michx. was also used as red paint, particularly for sainting dressed skins. The fresh root was dipped into deer’s grease and rubbed on the object to be painted. It was also used as a facial paint. The flowers of Delphintum Menstesit DC. were used both as a blue paint and asa dye. The juice of yellow lichens furnished a yellow dye. Grass used for decorating basketry was dyed brown and black by being placed in mud. Green and blue dyes were obtained by boiling rotten wood ; a light red dye, by boiling bark of the alder. Recently washing-blue mixed with oil has been extensively used by the Lower Thompsons for painting canoes and paddles. All these paints and dyes have nearly gone out of use. Paints were fixed on skin by being rubbed with heated Ofunéza.
PREPARATION OF SKINS. — The skins of numerous animals were used for clothing, bedding, bags, etc. The skin of deer and elk was of greatest impor- tance, but those of the bear, wolf, coyote, lynx, fox, marmot, hare, and marten were also in demand. The Lower Thompsons made use of the wool of the mountain- goat. Skins are prepared in the following manner. The skin is first dried, and the flesh side scraped free from fatty substance with a sharp stone scraper. Then itis rubbed all over the inside with the decomposed brains of deer, with marrow
'See Note 2, at the end of this paper.
Fig. 126 (g}§,)._ Point of Stone Knife, Front and Back Views, 4 nat. size.
‘SE
ee a, Ee ee ee
we
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 185
extracted from the larger bones, or with the oil extracted from salmon-heads by boiling. It is then rolled up and put in a cool place. This latter process is repeated each morning for two or three days, until the under side of the skin is soft and oily. If the weather is not hot or breezy, the skin is dried near a fire. After it has been made soft and pliable, it is stretched on a frame- work of four poles (the ends of which are tied together), and beaten or pounded until quite soft by means of a stick sharpened at one end, or a stone scraper inserted into a wooden handle three or four feet in length (Fig. 127, also Plate XIV, Fig. 1). This completes the dressing of skins intended for robes or blankets. Buckskin for shirts, ieggings, etc., is first scraped by means of a stone scraper or a bone or horn chisel of the same form as that used in woodwork. This is held in one hand, while the other hand is pulling off from the outer cuticle of the skin the hair which the scraper loosens. Skins for moccasins are often smoked on a framework of bent sticks, the ends of which are inserted in the ;
‘ Fig. 127 (ify). Stone ground near the edge of a hole about a foot and a half in depth, Scraper. nat, size. and not much more than a foot in diameter, dug for the purpose. In this hole a fire of rotten fir-wood, or any other wood that makes a smouldering fire, is kin- dled. Fir-bark broken up fine and mixed with dry yellow-pine cones (Pinus pon- derosa Dougl.) is considered best. Wormwood or sagebrush (Artemisia Srigtda Willd.) is frequently used, especially by the Nicola bana. _ If it is desired to have the skin very dark, juniper (Funiperus Virgendana L.) is added to the fire. An old blanket is spread over all to keep in the smoke and exclude the air. When the under side of the skin is sufficiently colored, it is reversed, so that the other side may be treated similarly. The process at present most in vogue is somewhat dif- ferent. The dry skin is thoroughly soaked in water for several days. It is then placed loosely on a piece of poplar log about five inches in diameter and four feet or so in length, the bark of which has been previously peeled off, leaving a smooth surface. The log is then placed with one end resting on the ground, and the other against a tree, in the bark of which a notch is often cut to keep the stick in position. As part of the skin is allowed to hang over the top end of this stick, the pressure against it prevents the skin from slipping. The part of the skin extending along the smooth surface of the stick or log is then scraped, and the work is finished by moving the skin over the log as required, The scraper used is a deer’s ulna (Fig. 128) or a horse's rib (Fig. 129), which are sharpened a little. They are held with one hand at each end of the bone, and worked much as a person would use a “draw-knife.” The ends are covered with sagebrush and skin, The same kind of scrapers were in use in prehistoric times (see Part III, p. 147). Iron scraping-knives are now often used, but these are more liable to cut the skin than bone knives,
After the inside of the skin has been scraped, the hair side is treated in the same way, care being taken to remove the outer cuticle along with the hair.
ail tn a a ENS a
186 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
Then the skin is hung over a pole and dried. When dried, it is smoked as be- fore described, put into a basket or other vessel with some warm water and a strong solution of soap, where it remains for twenty-four hours or more, and is then rolled lengthwise, together with a little dry grass. One end is fastened with a rope to a log, while the other end is folded around a short stout stick held in the hands. The stick is then turned until the skin is well twisted and the water wrung out. The dry grass is intended to soak up the moisture oozing out on the inside.
Fig. 128 (,)95). Skin-Scraper, # nat. size.
After wringing, the skin is stretched on a frame and pounded on the inside in the usual way until quite dry and soft, when it is again smoked as before. To assist the drying process, especially in cool weather, a fire is often lighted close by, and the stretched skin gently warmed in front of it from time to time. In cold weather, skins are dressed inside the house. To give a skin a bright yellow color, dry corncobs with a little wood ave burned under it. Fawn-skins are generally softened by spreading over che knee and rubbing with a sharp stone or scraper. Skins are also tanned in a decoction of Betula papyrifera Marsh.
Sometimes skins are left in water in a warm place till the hair can be pulled off. By this means the outside cuticle of the skin is left on. Skins thus treated are never smoked, and after being softened present a glossy appearance on the outside. These are generally made into gloves. The Indians prefer the first
Fig. 129 (;4§5). Skin-Scraper, ? nat. size,
method of curing, Some Indians claim that the custom of smoking buckskins was learned from the Okanagon, It is said that, after being smoked, the skin does not shrink so much when it gets wet as it otherwise would ; while many insist that if the skin be rubbed with brains, it need not be smoked at all.
The implements formerly used for sewing skins were wooden, bone, and horn needles, and awls of different sizes. Bone awls are still used, but steel needles have entirely supplanted the old-fashioned needles. In sewing skins, glovers’
be- la | is ed eld he ut
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 187
steel needles are now used. In place of pins long thorns were used. Thread was made of willow and other bark, and also of deer-sinew and buckskin, and the same is still used. In olden times embroidery was done with porcupine- quills, often dyed different colors, and more recently, but before the arrival of the whites, with horsehair, which was also often dyed. Beads also were very largely used prior to 1858. Embroidery in beads rapidly went into disuse after the year 1858, and was superseded by embroidery done in silk thread, which at the present day is almost universal. Very little beadwork has been done by the tribe for the last twenty or twenty-five years. Although some of the patterns wrought at the present day with silk may be old, most of them are copies of the white man’s patterns,
Basketry. — Basketry-making is an im-
portant industry among the tribe. Above Lytton, baskets of various shapes were made of birch-bark, while spruce-bark was used for the largest kind of baskets. The bark is generally cut as shown in Fig. 130. The edges are stitched with split spruce or poplar roots. The rim is strengthened by means of a hoop made of split willow- twigs that is placed on the inside, over which the bark is stitched with split spruce- roots. The rim is often ornamented with stitches made of the bark of Prunus demtssa Walpers. The outside of these baskets .s often ornamented with incised or red painted designs.
The lower division of the tribe and the Upper Fraser division make beautiful coiled basketry of cedar-twigs. This .ype of bas- Fig. 130 (748s). Pattern for Birch-bark Basket. ketry is made by the Chilcotin, Lillooet,
Lower Thompson Indians, and by a number of tribes inhabiting the Cascade Mountains, in the State of Washington.
Only women and girls occupy themselves with this work. These baskets are made from the small trailing roots of the cedar (7haja gigantea Nutt.) They are dug p with an ordinary root-digger, and pieces of the desired length and of about the thickness of a finger are cut off. These are buried in the ground to keep them fresh. When required, they are taken out, and peeled or scraped with a sharp stone or knife. They are then hung up until dry enough for use. Next they are split into long strips by inserting and pressing forward the point of the bone awl used in basket-making. The awl is made of a long bone of a deer, which is split and pointed. The pieces which split the desired width and thickness throughout their entire length are used for stitching purposes,
ce al Sle a ln lh Ram an NS il Ae all tll la
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188 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
while the others which split irregularly, or are too short or too thin to be used for that purpose, are put together in bundles of about a dozen each, to form the coils. In weaving, these are kept continuous and of uniform thickness by adding fresh pieces as required, and the whole is covered by whip-stitching with the long regular pieces of splint already mentioned. The coils are laid around, one on top of another, and stitched over and under, commencing at the bottom of the basket (Fig. 131, @). With each stitch the awl is made to split part of the splint whipped around the lower coil. The bottom of the basket is made either of coils worked in the ordinary manner, or of thin pieces of wood stitched over. Most of these baskets are water-tight.
In another kind of basketry thin pliable strips of cedar-sap or other wood are used as coils instead of the bunches of split roots, These are stitched over in the same manner and with the same material as the other kind, but are neither as strong nor as durable, nor are they water-tight.
Ornamentation in basketry is produced by hooking in strips of grass and bark with the stitches, so that they cover the latter on the outside only. This is done by bringing the piece of grass over the outside of the last stitch, then doubling it back and catching the doubled end with the next stitch. The outsides of some baskets are completely covered in this manner, so that the whipped cedar-splints can only be seen from the inside. The grass used is that called nho’itlexin. It is long, very smooth, and of a glossy yellow-white color. To make it whiter, diatomaceous earth of the same kind as is used for cleaning and whitening goat's hair is sometimes spread over it, and it is then .eaten with a flat stick ona mat or skin. The grass is seldom dyed, as the colors are said to fade soon. The Upper Fraser and the Lytton bands sometimes use Elymus triticoides Nutt. instead of this grass. The bark used is that of Prunus demissa Walpers, which is either left its natural light reddish-brown color, or is dyed by burying it in damp earth. By thus keeping it underground for a short time, it assumes a dark-brown color, while when kept longer it becomes quite black.
Large open-work baskets made of cedar-twigs (Fig. 131, 6) are also used by the Lower Thompson Indians, while they are unknown on the upper courses of the rivers. These baskets are of the same make as those used on the coast. The rim is made by forming a coil out of the upper, free ends of the twigs, and whip- ping it with another long twig.
Nowadays the Upper Fraser band occasionally make baskets from the stalks and leaves of Indian-corn.
Mats.— The Upper Thompson Indians make a variety of mats of tule (Sctrpus sp.) and bulrushes ( Zypha latifolia L.), which are woven or sewed with twine made of the bark of Apocynum cannabinum L. The method of making large tent-mats is shown in Fig, 131,¢. The end of the mat is made of rosewood. The reeds are strung on bark strings, and held in place by other bark strings which pass around them near their ends. Mats made of young reeds and bul- rushes, which are used to cover the floor of the lodge and as table-mats, are
rat Saree
WW
SL
i Fic, 131. DETAILS OF WEAVING. a (qh¥x), Coiled Basket, nat. size; d(ghfs), 0 en-work Basket, nat. size ; c (dp), Rush Mat, § nat. size ; d (449q), Grass Mat, nat. size; ¢ (rb9a)s Small Rush ‘Mat, 3 nat. size; / (1 $3), Rush Mat, 4 nat. size 5 g (rife), Skin Blanket, 4 nat. size ; h (hfe), Square Bag, } nat, size;
7 (rh¥s), Round Bag, ¢ nat, size. [189]
<<" -
190 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
woven in a different manner. The selvage consists of a two-stranded bark string, which holds the warp. The latter is of a lighter two-stranded bark string, which is passed through the selvage string, as shown in Fig. 131, @ The grasses are woven into this groundwork as indicated in the same figure. By using grass of different colors, patterns are obtained. Sometimes strands of wool are woven into the mat in place of grass. At the lower end the rushes are generally cut off. This kind of matting is also used for making pouches. Some table-mats are woven in a still different manner. They are made of young tule or bulrushes, and tied with a twine made of Afocynum cannabinum L. or El@agnus argentea Pursh, (Fig. 131, ¢,/). This method of weaving is identical with that used by the Coast Indians in making cedar-bark blankets. It is also used by the Thompson Indians in weaving matting for the manufacture of bags, and in weaving blankets of twisted strips of rabbit-skin (Fig. 131, g), pouches, and socks of sagebrush.
WEAVING AND Nettinc.—Threads were made of the fibre of Apocynum can- nabinum L. and of Asclepias spectosa Torr. The former was traded to the Lower Thompsons. When bark-fibre was not available, the Lower Thompsons used nettle. The fibre was shredded and cleaned by being pulled with the left hand over the sharp edge of a small board held in the right, the bark being pressed down against this instrument with the thumb of the right hand. This fibre is spun on the bare thigh into a two-stranded twine. Bags are also woven in the following manner : The threads of the warp, which consist of two-stranded bark twine, are held in sets of two by loops of the woof. In each row the loops of the woof hold that pair of warp threads which in the preceding row belongs to two adjoining loops (Fig. 131, 4). The fabric is thus considerably strengthened. The selvage edges of these fabrics are often made of strips of skin. Round bags of this kind are woven by first tying the warp of two-stranded twine with the woof, This portion forms the bottom of the bag. The woof is continued down spirally, and the bag is widened by putting new warp strands around the extreme lateral woof strands (Fig. 131, 2). When the bag is to be nar- rowed towards its upper end, the warp strands are
een joined into the loops of the woof as required. The Fig. 132 (tits). Detail of Woven Bag. upper end is finished by sewing the loose ends of the warp into a strip of buckskin (Fig. 150).
Wallets are also made of a twined weaving, the character of which is shown in Fig, 132. Designs on these fabrics are made in embroidery or by weaving colored grasses or bark twine into the fabric, as shown in the same figure. This style of weaving seems to have been acquired recently through intercourse with the Sahaptin.
The Lower Thompson Indians weave mats of strips of cedar-bark of the same style as those used by the Coast Indians (Fig. 133).
N
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, Ig!
At the present day rag mats or rugs are often made from scraps of cloth, calico, etc. The patterns on these are mostly the same as those on basketry.
The weaving of blankets was an important industry among the Lower Thompson Indians, The Coast Salish utilized both dog-hair and goat-hair
in their manufacture, but the Thompson Indians seem to have used the latter only. Sometimes the wool was made whiter or cleaned by mixing a quantity of baked white diatomaceous earth with it and beating the whole with a flat stick, The manner of making the thread is exactly the same as that described by Dr. Boas as the process employed by the Songish.' The loom and spindle are also the same, excepting
that both disk and shaft of the latter are of wood. I, Mig. 433 (lf. Detail of Cedarbark Mu. cannot describe the exact manner of weaving, as I
Fig. 134 Gdio). Netting-Stick. 3} nat. size.
Tribes of Canada, 1894, p. 567.
never saw it done; but the whole process of blanket- making, and the implements used, are said to be exactly the same as those found among the Lower Fraser Indians. Most blankets had a fringe of tassels, six to nine inches in length, along one end. Black bear’s hair made into threads, and spun threads of goat's hair dyed either yellow with lichens or red with alder-bark, were woven into the blankets in patterns similar to those used in bas- ketry. The Indians of Spuzzum continue to make these blankets at the present day.
For making nets, thread of the bark of Apocynum cannabinum L. was used. A wooden netting-stick (Fig. 134) served for making the meshes of equal size. The meshes were made with a double knot.
1 Ninth Report of the Committec of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, on the Northwestern
t 6 3 !
Pt
aS
— a OR a A lh EEE NEES SAN IE a BERS SK
IIIL— HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD.
Hapitations.—The houses of the tribe were similar to those of the Shuswap and Okanagon. Like all the southern tribes of the interior, they used a semi- subterranean hut, in the Chinook jargon called ‘“kekule-house,” as a winter dwelling. These winter houses were generally built in the valleys of the prin- cipal rivers, within easy distance of water, and were inhabited by groups of fami- lies related to each other, who, although scattered during the hunting and fishing seasons, dwelt together during the winter. These dwellings rarely numbered more than three or four at one place, and often there was but a single house. The size conformed to the number of people (from fifteen to thirty) to be accommodated,
A spot with loose soil was selected for the site of the underground house. The person who desired to build the house asked all his neighbors to assist. Frequently twenty or thirty people came, so that the building was sometimes completed in a single day. They were given food by the owner of the house, whose relatives contributed from their store of provisions. The site was laid out in the following way : A bark rope was knotted at a distance of from twenty to forty feet from one end, according to the proposed diameter of the house. A second rope was marked off the same length as the first. Then the two ropes were crossed on the ground at right angles, the middle being determined by eye. Sometimes the centre was determined by folding the two ropes over and tying them together in the middle. Then they were laid down so as to be at right angles, The centre and each end were marked with a small stake. With the four stakes on the circumference as a guide, a man marked a circle on the ground with a stick, Then the women began to dig the soil with their digging- sticks (see Fig. 212), They also used wooden scrapers with sharp, flat blades. The loose earth was put into large baskets with the hands and by means of small baskets. The contents of the large baskets were then dumped near the hole, to be used later on for covering the roof. Green timber was generally used for the heavy posts of the house (Figs. 135, 136, and Plate XV). This was measured with bark ropes, the length being determined by eye, in accordance with the diameter of the hole. Then trees were cut, barked, and hauled to the building- site with stout bark rope. Generally these. timbers were not squared. They were worked with wedges, hammers, and stone adzes. The thin poles used for the roof of the house were also barked, except when dry wood was employed for this purpose. They were cut, tied into bundles, and carried to the building-site with ordinary packing-lines by men or women. After the wood was obtained and cut, the upright braces (Figs. 135, 136, a) were erected. These were placed about fifteen inches deep in the ground, which was firmly pressed down by stamp- ing it with the feet and beating it with sticks. The tops of the braces were notched to support the rafters (4). The butt-ends of these were placed about
[192]
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 193
two feet deep in the ground, one at each of the four points marked when the circle was laid out. The braces and rafters were securely connected with willow
FE aa 4 Hat a) a
q & a <i Be Pe " a
rd ; Bee "1 4 i .! cA ia cy
Figs. 135, 136. Plan and Elevation of Underground House,
withes. The rafters did not meet in the centre. The side-rafters (c) rested on a the ground and on the outside of the main rafters, at the place where these were 4 supported by the uprights. The rafters were either notched for the reception of
(a rem th i a Di
194 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
the braces, or they were simply tied on, while their butt-ends were embedded in the ground. Horizontal poles (¢) from one to two feet apart were tied to these rafters and side-rafters, They formed the support for the roof-covering, Above the place where the side-rafters and main rafters join, the poles were placed much nearer together, often so that on the ends of the poles of two opposite sides rested the next pair of the other two sides, The ends of the rafters were con- nected by four heavy timbers (¢), which formed the entrance,
This structure was covered with poles or pieces of split wood (/), which ran from the ground to the entrance, as shown in Fig, 136, their ends resting on the rafters and side-rafters, They were not tied to the framework, They were covered with pine-needles or dry grass; and then the entire structure was covered with earth, which was beaten and stamped down firmly. The Lower ‘thompson Indians, owing to the heavy rainfall prevailing in their country, lined these houses with large pieces of cedar-bark, the inner side out.
A large notched log (g), with its butt-end resting on the ground near the centre of the apartment, and the other end in the square hole or entrance, gave access to the house, This log, or ladder, was placed almost upright. It leaned against the west side of the entrance-hole, to which it was firmly lashed. The fire was at its foot, and separated from it by a slab of stone, which protected it from the heat. A groove was cut along the back of the log, from near the bottom to the top, to serve as a hold for the hand. The small end of the ladder, above the hole, was often rudely carved in the form of the head of a bird, animal, etc., or was painted in red or other color, in patterns. Sometimes these ornamen- tations represented the guardian spirit of the builder or principal man of the house, but usually they were for adornment only. The head man of the house sometimes painted new designs, according to his dreams, The ladder was generally placed with its small end slightly leaning toward the east. Persons coming in or going out descended or ascended with their face toward the north- east, and the right hand in the groove. Some Indians claim that all the southern interior tribes made these ladders lean slightly toward the east, and that they all, with the exception of the northern Shuswap, ascended and descended in the manner above described. The northern Shuswap invariably took hold of the groove with the left hand, turning their face toward the south- east, and back to the fire, which was always built on the north side of the ladder. When entering the house, they gave warning by shouting “ A’la!” This was dene that the women who were cooking might have time to pro- tect the food from dust or dirt. The spaces between the four main beams were called rooms or houses, and took their names from the points of the compass, the main rafters being placed N.E.-S.W. and N.W.-S.E.
These houses were generally inhabited from December till February or the beginning of March, according to the severity of the winter. Though inconven- ient, they were extremely warm, hence the inmates were generally scantily at- tired. Up to fifteen or twenty years ago, almost the entire tribe lived in these
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 195
houses during the winter, but by degrees the ordinary log-house. of the whites have superseded them. The last one went out of use among the Spences Bridge band about 1890, Plate XV shows the remains of an underground house in Nicola Valley, as it appeared in 1897, After these dwellings were deserted, the framework disappeared, and a circular hole remained, Great numbers of these are found throughout the country (see Part III, Plate XIII), The Indians of Yale constructed a few of these dwellings shortly before 1858, but ordinarily they lived in large lodges made of split planks. Only one single instance is known of a lodge of this kind being built in Spuzzum. It was constructed about forty years ago, by people related to the Coast Indians,
Throughout the year, excepting the three coldest months, the abode of the Indians was the summer lodge,—a framework of poles, covered with mats or bark. These lodges were square or round, The latter was the kind common among the Nicola and Spences Bridge bands, Elsewhere the square lodge was universally used. The construction of either kind was very simple.
The square lodge was built as follows: A flat piece of ground was selected and cleared of obstructions, Two pairs of stout poles (Fig. 137, a) were tied together with willow withes at their small ends, and set up about ten feet apart, forming the gable ends of the lodge. They were held in position by three or four cross-poles (4) on each side, reaching horizontally from one pair to the other. Two or three poles running parallel with the two pairs of poles (@) were sometimes tied to these. The gable ends were formed by placing several short poles (¢) with their lower ends set out some distance and their tops leaning against the two main poles, The doorway, or entrance, to the lodge was in one of the gable ends. Over the bottom of this framework, around the circumfer- ence, were spread long reed mats, measuring about five by twelve feet. An- other row of mats, slightly overlapping the lower ones, was laid above these, and so on to within about three feet of the point where the poles met. The space above was left open for the exit of smoke and the admittance of light. This type of lodge, covered with strips of cedar-bark, was also used by the Lower Thompsons,
In a common variety of the square type, the four corner poles were made to converge at the top to within about two feet of one another, where they were held in position by four short cross-pieces, just as in the winter house. This kind of lodge (Fig. 139) looked almost circular, and very much like a winter house covered with mats, excepting that the ends of the four poles protruded, and that there was no ladder visible. In some (Fig. 138; Plate XVI, Fig. 3) the two sets of poles were tied together as in the ordinary square lodge, and were set slanting toward one another to within three or four feet of meeting.
In building circular lodges, which were larger than the square ones, a dozen or more long poles were placed some distance apart, with their butts upon the ground, outside the cleared space, forming a complete circle from fifteen
‘ &
196 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
to twenty feet in diameter. The poles were placed with their small ends toward the centre of the space, where they met and supported one another without being fastened together. Other methods of building the framework of the round lodge are shown in Figs. 140 and 141. The plan employed in the lodge shown in Fig. 141 is also illustrated in Fig. 2 of Plate XVI. Fig. 1 of the same plate shows the completed lodge. The mats were placed as on the square lodges. At night and in bad weather the opening at the top was covered by a flap, which consisted of a mat or skin fastened to a long, slender pole. Some- times the earth was banked up half a foot around the bottom of the lodge, and two or three layers of mats were used. Among the Nicola and Spences Bridge bands, skins — chiefly buffalo-hide, or deer, elk, moose, or caribou skins — were often substituted for mats. These were often painted in different colors and figures, The Lower Thompson Indians did not use round lodges. The lodges varied in size. They often measured twelve feet from the surface of the ground to the smoke-hole. The floor was covered with small fir-branches, which were spread more thickly near the wall where the people slept. The fire was in the middle of the lodge; and the doorway was a space, three feet by five feet or less, ieft in the ‘ower row of mats, over which was hung a piece of mat, skin, or blanket, a little larger than the hole, and stiffened at the lower end by a thin piece of stick.
Ail these types of lodges are still used by the older people; but the young people prefer, in the summer-time, tents of cotton drilling or light canvas. They are easy to pitch and stake, and light to carry.
To accommodate large numbers, such as gather at potlatches, fishing-places, etc., the Indians made use of large lodges (Fig. 142), closed or covered at the back, but open in front. The roof rested on long, slanting poles (@), which were supported by shorter braces (4), to which they were tied. These poles were set ten or twelve feet apart. Long horizontal poles (¢) were placed across the roof poles. These were covered with mats, tenting, etc. Opposite, at a distance of fifteen feet, was placed another shelter of the same kind. The open sides faced each other; and in the space between, large log-fires were lighted. For better protection against the wind, gable ends of fir-branches or brush were laid across from one shelter to the other, making one huge lodge, which was often fifty or sixty feet in length.
Besides these, the Upper and Lower Thompsons use the hunting-lodge. Its shape is that of the square lodge, but larger, with heavier poles. Instead of mats, sticks and bark spread with fir-branches are used for covering. It is gener- ally built in sheltered valleys in the mountains, close to good hunting-ground, and used in the fall of the year.
Another lodge, generally used but once, is the “ brush-house,” thrown up temporarily by hunting-parties in the winter or early spring, and consisting of a square or conical framework of light poles covered with fir or spruce branches.
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 197
Where good bark was abundant, as in Lotani Valley, these lodges were built on the plan of the square type. Spruce, balsam fir, or black pine, in long strips and as wide as possible, was spread over the poles with the smooth side of
Fig. 137. Rig, 158
Fig. 139.
Fig. 142. Figs. 137-142. Framework of Lodges.
the bark out. The Lower Thompsons use cedar-bark only. Frequently the temporary lodges of the Lower Thompsons were only a single slanting roof, similar in construction to the large shelter described before (Fig. 142), but much smaller.
: .
swears <2
198 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
Close by the hunting-lodge, or near an Indian village, is sometimes found a temporary structure for the habitation of girls when coming to womanhood. It is conical, and made entirely of fir branches and tops. Four small fir-trees are placed in a square, and their tops are tied together. The branches of the trees are knotted together, and the open spaces filled with fir tops and twigs.
Another house is built for women during their periods of menstruation. As these are occupied a few days only, they are roughly made of brush, while the Lower Thompsons use cedar-bark. They are generally conical. The last two dwellings are made large enough for a person to sit inside with ease. In the ecatre of most of the lodges for adolescent girls there is a small circular hole into which the girl places her feet, or in which she squats down. These houses are fast going out of use.
Still another structure is the ‘sweat-house.” These houses are always found close to water. They are similar to those in use among the Shuswap, and generally consist of a dozen or more willow wands bent over, and both ends stuck into the ground; the longest ones in the middle, and the shortest «cs on each side. One half are placed at right angles to the other half, givin t) structure a round shape, and are fastened at each intersection with withes (Vlate XVII, Fig. 2). To form the door, the wands are placed iar enough apart tc admit a man creeping on handsand knees. A hole a foot square is dug on one side of the entrance to hold the hot stone. Some sweat-houses are made of shorter wands with their butt-ends in the ground, their small ends bent toward one another, and interwoven. They are shaped like the others (Plate XVII, Fig. 3). When in use, the structure is covered over with blankets to keep in the hot air and steam. When the person sweating has finished his bath, the blankets are taken away to be used on another occasion. Sweat-houses near favorite camping-places are built with more care. A larger number of willows are used, forming almost a network. The structure is then covered thickly with dry pine-needles, and that again with a thick covering of earth (Plate XVII, Fig. 1). It is then perfectly tight, excepting the door, which is covered with a piece of blanket or skin whe» the building is #1 use. Some are covered all over or only around the bott 9: with bark; with these a blanket is also used. The floor is covered thickly \.'t' the ends of fresh fir-boughs, often mixed with juniper, sagebrush, or other aro ..1a1 :: plants. These houses accommodate from one to four persons in a squatting pos- ture. When wands are not available, the Nicola band build the framework of their sweat-houses of poles, as in a conical lodge.
The cache is used for the storage of provisions and utensils, Caches are sometimes made on the lower limbs of a large tree with spreading top. A few poles are spread from one limb to the other, their ends being tied. The articles are then placed on top of these poles ; and the whole, covered with bark and mats, is secured with ropes. The most common cache is the Indian cellar. This is used solely for the storing of berries, fish, ete. A circular! vie 2 out four feet in depth, and of the necessary diameter, is dug. In it are caretuuny laid the articles
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 199
to be stored. If these are berries or roots, they are placed in baskets, and wrapped over with birch-bark. The roof is then put on. It consists of small poles laid closely side by side across the excavation. Above these are laid in the same manner, but at right angles, another row of poles. The structure is then covered with pine-needles and earth. An opening is left in the centre of the poles for removing stored articles. This is generally closed by putting sticks or bark acros3 it, and covering them with earth. Sometimes these cellars, especially those for storing fish, are made in the side of a bank, in which case the door is generally in the side. The cache common among the Lower Thompsons is in the form of a large box, usually of boards, with a slanting roof sometimes on both sides, like that of a house. It is generally raised on posts five or six feet above the ground, has a small door in one of the gable ends, and is approached by a short ladder placed underneath (Plate XIV, Fig. 2). At the present day mai.t’ of them are roofed with shingles instead of bark, and a roll of tin is nailed around part of each post, to keep mice and other animals out.
The Upper Thompsons build scaffolds of poles, about five feet above the ground, near their houses. They are used for storing cumbersome articles, such as saddles, etc. (Plate XVI, Fig. 1).
At the present day the Thompson Indians live in villages of well-built log- houses, most of which are floored with lumber and have shingle roofs. Some of these buildings are inhabited the whole year round, others only at intervals throughout the year. The inhabitants often camp near their favorite hunting, fishing, root-digging, or gold-mining resorts, or on their reserves, and engage in agricultural pursuits. Many Indians, during the farming season, live in small log-houses. There still remain a few Indians of the tribe who prefer to camp out in summer lodges during the entire year.
House-Furnisuincs. — The Indians slept on a thick layer of brush or dry grass covered with skins or grass mats. ‘The rolled-up ends of these, or skin bags filled with down of bulrushes or of birds, served as pillows. Hammock beds were used inside of winter houses. These were made of buckskin stretched on thongs, which were fastened to the beams or posts of the house. Other mats, spread on the ground at meal-times, served for tables. These measured about three feet by five feet. The people squatted round the mat, helping themselves to the food. When at home, they usually squatted or sat on the ground in a reclining attitude. The tribe still do so when in camp, but most of their houses are now tolerably we!i furnished.
Baskets and Bags. — Baskets and bags are used for storage as well as for carry- ing and various other purposes. The lower division of the tribe sell many of their cedar-rovi baskets to the upper division, so that they are quite often found among the latter. Large oblong baskets with lids are used for storing food and clothing. Smaller ones of the same kind serve for holding sewing-materials and trinkets, Their lids slide up and down on a string, which at the same time serves asa handle, Recently the lids have been hinged to the baskets (Fig. 143). The
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200 TEIT, THE THOMPSON
most common kind of basket is somewhat conical (Fig. 144), and is used for a carrying. Still another kind, which is rounded, or, as the Indians say, nut- shaped (Fig. 145), was formerly used for holding water. Round, open bas-
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Fig. 143 (144s). Oblong Basket. Height,
ans belonging to the Lytton band formerly used the same kind of baskets for saddle-bags. Recently, in imitation of objects seen among the whites, the Lower
Thompsons have begun to make baskets in the shape of trays, pitchers, goblets, etc. The upper division of the tribe used more frequently than cedar-root baskets those of their own manufacture, made of birch-bark, and occa- sionally of poplar and spruce bark (Fig. 147). These bas- kets varied much in size, and were used for purposes of storage and transportation, as buckets and cups, and for cooking. Large baskets, about three feet high, three feet long, and two feet and a half
wide, made of poplar or spruce bark, the smooth side turned outward, were used in the winter houses for the storage of provisions. They had hoops around the middle and around the rim, and were often painted with pictures.
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INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
kets served as kettles, the food . being boiled by throwing hot 4 stones into the baskets into which it had been placed. Still 3 another kind of basket has a flat back, which is made to hang against the post or wall (Fig. 146). In shape it is sim- ilar to the fish-baskets used by anglers. Such baskets are used for holding tobacco and pipes, a hole in the centre of the lid allowing the pipe-stem to protrude. At one time they were much used for holding bait and fishing-tackle, for 13 inches. which reason they were called
“used for bait.” Some Indi-
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Fig. 144 (gd#5). Conical Basket. Height, 12 inches.
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 201
Large open-work baskets made of cedar-twigs, of the same shape as those
used by the Lower Lillooet and the Coast tribes, were also made by the Lower Thompson Indians, especially near Spuzzum (Fig. 148). They were used for carrying fish, Very few of them are used
at the present day. Bags of various kinds are still used by the Upper Thompson Indians, — large ones, mostly rectangular in shape, for storage ; and small ones for pouches. Some of them are made of a piece of matting or bark fabric, which is folded over and sewed up at both sides with a piece of buckskin (Fig.
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Fig. 145. Fig. 146 Fig. 145 (g8z). Round Basket. Height, 7 inches. Fig. 146 (gh$5). Flat-backed Basket. Height, 9 inches.
149). The top is left open, and is closed, when required, by a buckskin lacing. Another bag, generally large, is circular or sack-shaped (Fig. 150; see also p. 190).
They also make large painted bags of stiff hide set with fringe (Fig. 151). Smaller pouches for odds and ends are square. The back piece is longer than the front, and laps over to form a cover (Fig. 152). They are made of dressed buckskin, dressed or undressed buffalo-skin, fawn and other skins with the hair left on, but also of fine matting, and more recently of cloth, They are often ornamented on either side with wide buck- skin fringe, and are either embroidered witi. silk and beads or painted. Another bag, for holding nee- dles, thread, etc., was made of a narrow piece of buckskin, on which other pieces of buckskin were sewed in the form of pock-
Fig. 147 (sia). Birch-bark Basket, Front and Side Views. Height, 8) inches. ets, This was hung
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202 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH, COLUMBIA.
up near the bed, or rolled up and tied with a string. Small and medium-sized
bags were sometimes made from fibre, and worked in colored patterns. Most
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Fig. 148 (s§{s). Open-work Basket. Height, 19 inches,
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of these bags are still in use among the tribe. Grass mats and bags were ornamented with dyed grasses,
Various Household Utenstls.— A small pot for paint or ochre was one of the few stone vessels used. It is doubtful whether this kind of pot was made by the tribe. It was scarce among them. Large, flat stones were used for grinding dried meat and berries on (see Part III, Fig. 33). Large carved stone vessels (Figs. 153, 154) were used for catching drippings of oil, for grinding to- bacco-leaves, berries, etc. Among the lower division, square boxes and buckets bent of wood, in
the same style that prevails on the coast, are in use.
All kinds of dry food were spread on the table-mat. Liquid food was served in the basket in which it was cooked. It was either supped out of the basket or poured into small bark cups. Fish and sometimes meat an:: roots were served in flat, oblong birch-bark vessels, The Lower Thompson Indians frequently
Fig. 149 (:4%7). Bag. Width, 29 inches,
Fig. 150 (y}%3). Round Bag. Height, 28 inches,
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 203
ee ee Tes
ed used wooden trays (Fig. 155) of varying sizes. Spoons of many sizes, generally st large (Figs. 156, 157), were made of alder or birch, also of mountain-sheep’s horn, Se ‘i Short-handled spoons were made of the skull-cap of the deer (Fig. 158). Large its 4 horn spoons are still common. Other wooden utensils were a smooth, rounded th fi stick, with one end thicker than the other, for stirring liquid food (Fig. 159);
q a pestle, bottle-shaped, for mashing berries, etc.; the same implement as the —_ 4 i hammer used for driving wedges (Figs. 120, 121); and tongs, for lifting the hot re 4 stones when cooking. These tongs were simply two sticks flattened towards Is a one end, and were used one in each hand (Fig. 160). er a he 4 ig a id Be V7,
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Fig. 151 (y4¥z). Bag made of Hide. Width, 15 inches. Fig. 152 (y4¥s). Pouch. 4 nat. size.
Fire was obtained by means of the fire-drill, which consisted of two dried 4 sticks, each over a foot in length, and rounded off to less than an inch in diame- S ter. One stick was sharpened at one end; while the other was marked with a 4 couple of notches close to each other, — one on the side, and the other on top. The sharpened end of the first stick was placed in the top notch of the other
q stick, and turned rapidly between the straightened palms of both hands. The
“a heat thus produced by the friction of the sticks caused sparks to fall down the
2 side notch upon tinder placed underneath, which, when it commenced to smoke,
a was taken in the hands, and blown upon until fanned into a flame. The tinder
sy was dry grass, the shredded dry bark of the sagebrush, or cedar-bark. The
. q sharpened stick was called the ‘‘man,” and was made of black-pine root, tops of
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204 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
Fig. 153. Fig. 154.
Fig. 153 (1491). Stone Vessel representing a Frog, Length, 13 inches, Fig. 154 (182). Stone Vessel representing a Cup with Snake coiled around it, Length, 17 inches,
Fig. 155 (gh%5)."— Wooden Tray, Length, 24h inches.
Fig 158 (zk§1). Spoon made of Figs. 156 (1495), 157 (14$q). Wooden Spoons, Lengths, 18 inches and 9 inches. the kull-Cap of a Deer. § nat,
nS es Se
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 205
young yellow pine, heart of yellow-pine cones, service-berry wood, etc. The notched stick was called the “woman,” and was generally made of poplar-root. However, many kinds of wood were used for this purpose. When hot ashes or
0
Fig. 159. Fig. 160, Fig, 161, Fig. 159 (1483). Stirrer. Length, 38 inches.
Fig. 160 (y4§1a, 6). Pair of Tongs. Length, 37 inches. a, Inner View of One Leg ; 4, Inner and Outer Views of Other Leg. Fig. 161 (g4¥5). Slow-match, } nat. size.
a spark fell upon the tinder, they said, “The woman has given birth.” Dry limbs of trees were gathered by means of a long stick (sometimes fifteen feet in length) with a wooden or horn hook at the end.
Fire was carried from place to place by means of a slow-match made of cedar-bark (Fig. 161). Some of these would keep the fire for over two days.
1V,—CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS.
The dress of the Thompson Indians, before their intercourse with the Hud- son Bay Company, was made almost entirely of dressed skins, with or without the hair. The poorer class were rather scantily clad, while those who were richer, or were good hunters and trappers, had an abundant supply of clothing, though some of them did not wear much in the summer. The disparity of clothing among the several portions of the tribe was due to their trading facili- ties, The Spences Bridge and Nicola bands, who had an abundance of deer in their own country, and who also traded with the Okanagon, were better provided with skin garments than the Indians below Lytton, who had few deer in their country, and were less favorably situated for trading.
CrLoruinc or Upper Tuompsons,—The principal articles of clothing were shirts, trousers, and robes, The shirts worn by the men reached halfway to the knees, and were generally made of two doe or buck skins sewed together (necks down). The sleeves were wide, and the neck was furnished with a lacing. The hind-legs of the skin formed the sleeves ; and along the entire length of the back of each was a fringe of cut skin, this being the only ornament. Among the mpenees Bridge and Nicola bands some of the shirts had bone beads, dentalia, and colored glass beads strung on the fringe ; while others were or- namented at the bottom and shoul- ders, as well as down the sleeves and over the seams, with porcupine- quills (sometimes dyed red and yellow) and feathers, and with a fringe of horsehair, dyed or un- dyed, instead of the ordinary skin. This mode of decoration was not generally adopted, and is said to have been copied from the Okana- gon. Some shirts were decorated according to directions given by the guardian spirit of the owner.
Buffalo-skin shirts (Fig. 162) were made somewhat in poncho style, with a slit extending down the chest. A skin collar was laced to the neck part, which could be drawn tight by means of the lacing. Front and back were cut off square, the back part being longer than the front. The sides were cut into a wide fringe. At a convenient place below the arms, front and back were joined
[206]
Fig. 162 (,38y), Buffalo-skin Shirt,
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 207
by means of a strap of buffalo-skin, which, being knotted at one end, was twice drawn through two pairs of corresponding slits, and then knotted at the free end. A buckskin shirt, somewhat similar in style, is shown in Fig. 163. It consists of a single skin, fringed at the edges, and front and back sewed together under the arms, It is decorated around the neck with holes and red paint. The decorated part seems to representa poncho made of skin; the broad fringe on each side-seam, tails,
Fig. 163 (g}§). Bucks \in Shirt, Front and Back Views.
Sometimes jackets (Fig. 164) were worn instead of shirts. These were made of a single piece for the back, and of two front pieces which were joined in the middle of the chest by means of strings. The long sleeves were each made of a single piece of skin, with the seam on the under side of the arm. The seams on the sides, below the sleeves, and on the shoulders, were set with skin
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208 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
fringe. Sometimes jackets had a lacing along their lower edge, by means of which they could be drawn tight around the waist.
More recently long buckskin coats (Fig. 165) have been used, often set with fringe along all their seams, and with fur of the animal that was the guardian of the owner, *
Long leggings made of buckskin, reaching over the thighs, were worn, They
_A were often trimmed with fringe along the outside of each leg, and were held up by a buckskin strap fastened
J
TOE Fig. 164 (F48§)."7 Buckskin' Jacket,
to the belt around the waist (Fig. 166). Short leggings consisted of a square piece of heavy buckskin, which was wrapped a couple of times around the leg, and held in place immediately under the knee by a garter, generally of twisted otter-skin, and left open at the ankle. Some of the old men continue to wear such leggings, Poor people wore short leggings made of sage- brush-bark, In Nicola Valley they used bulrushes instead,
With the long leggings was worn a breech-cloth,—a piece of buckskin which
passed between the thighs (Fig. 167). Fig. 165 (ai¥e). Buckskin Coat, The ends were fastened to the belt in front and behind, or the front end or both ends were held by the belt, hanging down over it. In place of this, some of the old men hung a square piece of buckskin or buffalo-skin from the waist in front.
Later the Indians imitated the trousers which they saw worn by the em-
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 209
ployees of the Hudson Bay Company. These were made of buckskin, From the lower half of the thigh down, they were fringed, the fringe often increasing
jon LE acta fy a al
F yg. 167 (yh). Breech-cloth,
in width as it neared the feet (Fig. 168). * Buck- f skin trousers as short 4 fig, 166 (aM). Buckskin = aS a breech-cloth were also used ; while others reached below the knee, and were worn with
short leggings. The Indians wore moccasins, The soles of all moccasins are made of unsmoked a buckskin. Skin of the black-tailed deer (Car- tacus Columbianus), obtained from the Lower Thompsons, is best adapted for making aN moccasins, The leg-piece is made of smoked doeskin, They are sewed with thread made of deer-sinew. The style of moccasin used about fifty or sixty years ago differed from the one prevailing at the present time. In 3 former times the whole moccasin up to the ankle was made of a single piece (Fig. 169).
My There was no seam at the inner side, but
f the skin was turned over the foot and cut off
3 to conform to its shape, and so that the seam
4 would extend along the toes and backward Fig, 168 (,}%3). Buckskin Trousers, if
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210 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUM.IA.
on the outer sidc of the foot, rising gradually towards the heel. A strip of skin, often fringed, was sewed into this outer seam (a, a), The fringing sometimes began near the toes, and increased in width towards the heel, or it began at the instep and extended back to the heel. The top of the moccasin was brought
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round to the heel, and both sides cut off at the heel end and sewed together (4, 4). When this was done, a strip of the sole was left extending backward over the heel. This was not cut off so as to form a seam with the pieces that were folded over the sides of the heel, but was left standing in the shape of a trailer. The part of the moccasin that lay over the instep was then cut so as to form a tongue (c). The upper edge was cut off straight at about the height of the ankles, and furnished with a lacing. To this edge the leg-piece was sewed, which was gener- ally pinked. When in use, the leg-piece lapped over the tongue in front, and was tied with the lacing, Sometimes a fringe was inserted in the seam joining the upper to the moccasin.
Another cut of moccasin was made as follows (Fig. 170): A piece of skin larger than the sole of the foot was turned up and gathered over the toes and the side of the foot, extenc ag up behind nearly to the ankles. The heel was made in the same inanrer as in the moccasin just described. The up- per extended nearly to the toes, and a strip of skin was sewed over the seam which joined it to the bottom piece. The upper extended upward in a broad tongue. The leg-piece was the same as in the preceding kind. Many Indians claim that this style of moccasin was introduced about the beginning of this
Fig. 169 (sh'g). Moccasin.
Fig. 70 (gh). Moccasin,
oe
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 211
century from the Okanagon, while others maintain that it has been borrowed from the Athapascan tribes to the north.
In the modern style of moccasin the bottom piece is cut still larger, so that when turned over the foot it almost reaches up to the instep. The upper of this moccasin is therefore very small. The bottom piece is gathered in in the same way as just described ; but, owing to the great distance between the upper and the toe, a wedge-shaped piece is cut out of the bottom piece in front, and the latter sewed up, so that a seam runs from the upper to the toe, over the middle of the foot. The leg-piece and the tongue are the same as in the moccasin just described. This style of moccasin is frequently used in winter. It is made very
Fig. 171 (s$$4). Moccasin. Fig. 172 (fa). Moceasin,
SO AAS NY
Fig. 173. ‘Trailers of Moccasins.
large, so that socks of sagebrush or pieces of skin may be worn inside. Nowadays the Indians use a coarse linen for the leg-pieces, because it dries more easily than smoked doeskin (Fig. 171). Sometimes the toe is cut and sewed in a way similar to that shown in Fig. 172, but this style has nearly gone out of use. Almost all moccasins have trailers at the heel, from about one inch to two inches and a half long (Fig. 173).
For walking on slippery ground, two strips of skin are sewed to the unde: side of the sole of the moccasin, running crosswise (Fig. 171).
Another modern moccasin is made just like a slipper, with a sole, and an upper which is sewed up at the heel. To this is attached an ankle-piece, which is laced in front.
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212 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
The moccasins were occasionally ornamented with porcupine-quills, goose- feathers, or horsehair, either dyed or undyed. In place of socks or stockings, grass or sagebrush-bark was put inside the moccasins. In winter the wealthier people substituted bear, buffalo, or other skin, with the hair side next the feet. Some of these bits of skin were sewed into the form of socks. Buffalo and bear hair, sagebrush-bark, and grass were used for weaving socks. Some of these have closed heels, are laced in front, and padded with loose sagebrush-bark ; while others are open at the heel, and have a tongue in front (Fig. 174). They also wore stockings reaching to the knee, usually made of the leg-skin of the deer, the hair being inside. Poor people also wore long boots made of sagebrush-bark,
Figs. 174 (148), (.d$.9- Socks made of Sajebrush-bark, Fig. 175 (4490). Knit Stocking,
that reached up to the thighs, These were pac ‘ed with loose sagebrush-bark. The upper part was decorated with two feathers hanging down from behind. Recently they have begun to use knit stockings of their own manufacture. They are made of coarse wool of two colors, and show the same designs as were used for decorating bags (Fig. 175).
Formerly gloves were not used, but in winter the Indians wore mittens, which were fastened round the neck by a long string. These mittens were also made of the leg-skin of the deer, and were worn with the hair inside.
Most of the Indians wore a plain or twisted narrow band of skin encircling the head. More recently head-bands made of cloth have been worn (Fig. 176). Often the long hair was gathered behind and tied with a thong which was at-
TELIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 213
tached to a beaded strip of buckskin (l’ig. 177). Caps made of skins of various animals, such as beaver, deer, fox, lynx, loon, hawk, and eagle, were frequeutly worn, Sometimes the head-skin of the animal served as a cap (Fig. 178), while the skins of smaller animals were worn so that the head formed the front of the hat, and the tail hung down behind. Many men wore caps made of the skin of the animal that was their guardian spirit. Fig. 179 shows a head-band made of two coyote-tails, and decorated with chicken-hawk feathers. Red and green
Fig. 176 (y4$y). Head-band made of Cloth.
<A) ee Fig. 178 (qh). Skin Cap. i 272 cet ae eee ribbons are tied to the back feathers. The front of the band is daubed with red ochre.
Hunters and warriors wore more elaborate |yead-dresses, Fig. 180 repre- sents a hunter’s head-band. It is made of c skin daubed with red ochre. In front is a cross-piece of horsehair, bucks... fringe, and eagle-down. The buckskin fringe is daubed with red ; and the body of the horsehair is dyed yellow in a decoction of lichens, while the tips are dyed red. The feathers on top of the band represent deer’s ears. On the right-hand side are attached hawk-
we tetsiscrcige-y AgQvact et
214 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
feathers and eagle-down; on the left side, an eagle-feather with tip dyed red, and eagle-down. Warriors used buckskin bands painted in various de- signs with ochre. Tail-feathers and down of the bald-headed eagle were at- tached to these (Fig. 181). Sometimes wing-feathers were used. The hunter’s and warrior’s head-band often had a long streamer attached, which was also worn tied into the hair (Fig. 182). The specimen here figured is made of buckskin daubed with red, and cut in the form of a snake. Pairs of feathers of the bald eagle are attached to it, with tips dyed black in imitation of feathers of the golden eagle. The base of each feather is surrounded by yellow horsehair, and
Fig. 180 (447). Hunter’s Head-band, Fig. 181 (¢4%3). Warrior's Head-band.
wound with red wool, At the upper end are two chicken-hawk feathers and eagle-down.
Shamans wear high head-bands, the upper rim of which is stiffened by means ofahoop. In Fig. 183 a band of this kind is represented. In front are two eagle- feathers with tips painted black. To the base of each is attached a feather of the red-winged flicker, and horsehair dyed yellow, and the whole is wrapped in red wool. Behind are two tassels of yellow horsehair and eagle-down, wrapped in red wool. Designs in red are painted on the sides,— on one side a star and a man with a head-band; on the other, a star and a wolf (see Fig. 304). The wolf is the favorite guardian of the shaman. Sometimes four ermine-skins are attached to head-bands of this description, They are also made of beaver-skin
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 215
The dress of the women differed little from that of the men. Buckskin shirts were worn in the same way, but were generally of greater length, and or- namented with more fringe, especially around the breast and back of the shoulders ; and the seams, front, and edges often had strings of dentalium shells sewed into them. The body of the shirt shown in Fig. 184 is made of two doeskins. Sleeves
Fig. 183 (y49s). Shaman’s Head-band.
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Fig. 184 (48g). Woman’s Buckskin Shirt.
Fig. 182 (,4$g). Warrior's Hair- ribbon,
and fringe are made of a third doeskin. The neck is tied over each shoulder with a skin lacing. Near the lower edge of the shirt is a painted zigzag pattern, which represents aseam. The pinked edge below represents arrow-heads. The holes, according to some Indians, represent stars.
Many shirts had a fringe of skin attached across breast and back. Den- talium shells, beads, and trinkets of various kinds, were attached to these. Some shirts had two or three rows of fringe; and many were highly decorated around
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216 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
the seams, borders, shoulders, and breast with dentalium shells, dyed porcupine- quills, goose-feathers, horsehair, and, more recently, with colored glass beads and with thread. The cut of the woman’s shirt showed a great deal of variation. Some were very wide, and others narrowed considerably below the waist. They were often held in by a belt.
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Fig. 187 (0). Short Legging. Fig. 188 (493). Woman's Head-band.
A long piece of buckskin, the lower part cut into a fringe, encircled the body, forming a kind of bodice (Fig. 185). Many of these reached up to the breasts. Sagebrush-bark of the same shape, the loose ends reaching to the knee, was sometimes substituted (Fig. 186). The Lower Thompsons used cedar-bark instead. Sometimes the Upper Thompsons wore aprons made of horsehair, either white or white and black.
The women wore long leggings and moccasins, the same as the men, but many wore short leggings (Fig. 187). These were sometimes ornamented along
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRISISH COLUMBIA. 217
the sides, They wore either broad head-bands or caps, Fig. 188 shows a head- band of deerskin, pinked along the upper edge, and painted with red designs. It is set with rosettes of deerskin, which are painted red in the centre, forms of women’s caps made of deerskin are shown in Figs. 189-191.
Some
Fig. 189 (1)$4). Woman's Cap, Fig. 190 (427). Woman's Cap,
Fig. 191 (449). Woman's Cap.
Fig. 192 (1495). Maiden’s Breech-cloth.
Many of the poorer people had to be content with only the breech-cloth, moccasins, and a deer or dog skin blanket to cover the body.
Maidens wore a breech-cloth like the men, but of a tighter fit and of thicker buckskin (Fig. 192). The specimen here figured is of buckskin, and sewed with bark thread. Th lower end of the sides and the waist can be let out or drawn up. Some girls wore a small narrow breech-cloth underneath, made of softened sagebrush-bark, so as to prevent any chafing. It was renewed from time to
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218 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
time. They always laced their robes tight in front with buckskin strings, so that the breasts were not visible) They wore their hair plaited in four braids, They wore hair ornaments and necklaces (see p. 223), and generally wore a buckskin cap or head-band, which was either embroi- dered or ornamented with perpen- dicular rows of dentalia. Some of the head-bands were high in front, narrowed towards the back, and were ornamented with alternate strings of beads and dentalia run- ning up and down, both ends of which were fastened to the head- band. Fig. 193 shows a young woman’s head-band made of buck- Fig. 193 (git). Malden's Head-band, skin, painted red with designs rep- resenting lodges in the lower part, and stars in the upper part. It is set with a string of dentalia, glass and bone beads,
The poorer class of the Upper Thompsons wore in the winter-time robes of deer, dog, marmot, and buffalo skin, with the hair on. In deerskin robes parallel stripes running the full length of the robe (perpendicular in some, horizontal in others) were made by cutting, scraping, or burning the hair (Plate XVIII, Fig. 1).
One kind of deerskin robe consisted of three large dressed buckskins with the hair on, and sewed together side by side, with the heads all in the same direction. The hair was scraped off the heads, which were then daubed with red ochre. The hair was also scraped off the tail-ends of the skins for the distance of a foot or more, and this part of the skin thoroughly softened. Stripes were then scraped clean of hair lengthwise in the intervening or hairy part of the robe, which, when all was completed, left alternate stripes of hair and bare skin, each about a couple of inches in width, giving it a very picturesque appearance. It was worn inverted, with the heads down and tails up, the softened part of the robe being intended for the neck and shoulders. Robes of all kinds, which were tanned with the hair on, were generally worn with the hair side out.
They also wore cloaks and robes of sagebrush and willow bark, and in Nicola Valley of bulrushes, woven in the manner described on p. 190. The richer class wore robes and cloaks of beaver, coyote, lynx, wolf, and bear skins, etc., with the hair on, and worn with the fur sideout. Robes of woven marmot, hare, and the skins of other small animals, were worn by all classes. The style of weaving these has been described on p. 190.
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TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 219
Marmot robes were generally made of ten or twelve skins sewed together, with or without the tails left on, All the seams between the skins were trimmed a) | with buckskin fringe, and the edge around the robe was often treated in the vay same manner. Some of the buffalo robes were dressed soft and white, the hair ee being scraped off altogether, and one side of the robe painted with pictures. Others were painted on the flesh side, while the hair side was worn next the body. Beaver robes were made of from four to eight skins sewed together. They were often dressed quite white on the inside, and painted with animal or geometrical designs in red. In such cases they were worn with the hair side in, otherwise they were always worn with the hair side out. Many men wore light robes of finely dressed buck or doe skin, without hair, painted on one side with pictures (see Fig. 301). These robes were often made of only one skin or two ; skins sewed together, and were worn hanging over the left shoulder, the right :
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Fig. 194 (y}%s). Poncho made of Sagebrush-bark.
arm and shoulder being left naked. Larger ones were worn over both shoulders, tied at the breast, and covered the whole body from head to foot.
Ponchos were made of different skins, chiefly coyote (Plate XVIII, Fig. 2), fox, wolf, etc., and were decorated with a fringe of buckskin and feathers. They were generally lined with buckskin. Some men wore the whole or part of the skin of their guardian in this manner. If it were that of a bird or small quadruped, it looked more like a necklace than a poncho, and in fact was often called a necklace. The head of the animal was always in front, and the tail behind; and if the skin were that of a large bird, a wing lay on each shoulder. Ponchos and cloaks were occasionally made of Adectorta jubata L., the hairlike lichen that hangs from trees. In rainy weather, ponchos and cloaks made of sagebrush or willow bark, and sometimes others made of cedar-bark, which were
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220 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
often painted red all over or in alternate stripes, were used (Fig. 194). The poor people wore these exclusively. More recently ponchos of Hudson Bay red or blue cloth have been worn, These are embroidered with beads, and set with feathers along the edges. When worn as robes, the skin blankets were fastened at the breast with a couple of buckskin strings, and were also often gathered in around the waist by means of a buckskin string or belt. Blankets, such as those of beaver or buffalo skin, when old and the hair was mostly worn off, were cut up and made into moccasins,
CxLotuinc or THE Lower THompsons AND Upper Fraser Banp, — The Lower Thompsons did not wear any buckskin shirts. They used robes only. Most of these were woven of mountain-goat wool. They often had fringe round the edges. Patterns were woven in black, yellow, and red. Robes made of skins of deer, mountain-goat, and marmot, tanned with the hair on, were also in common use. Woven rabbit-skin blankets were rarely used; neither did they wear painted robes of dressed deerskin, Ponchos woven of mountain- goat wool or cut out of skins were worn. Poor people used robes, ponchos, and aprons made of cedar-bark, which was sometimes dyed red. Wealthier people used the same kind of breech-cloths as those of the Upper Thompsons. Many old men wore skin aprons instead, Caps made of elkskin or deerskin were worn, but head-bands were much more common. Those of the women were of buck- skin, and were generally ornamented with rows of dentalia sewed on perpendic- ularly. The men’s head-bands were usually of marten and other animals’ skins, or of entire bird-skins, such as those of the loon, the pelican, the hawk, etc., the heads and beaks of which were worn on the brow. Feather head-dresses proper were not much used.
In summer and in rainy weather the Lower Thompsons went barefoot. In winter the same kinds of moccasins were used as are found among the upper divis- ion of the tribe. Poor people made shoes of dog-salmon skin. Pieces of soft- ened bear or goat skin with the fur left on were worn inside of the moccasins in place of stockings.
The principal dress of the Upper Fraser band consisted of robes made of dogskins sewed together, and of cloaks of plaited dry willow-bark. The better class among them wore marmot, goat, and deer skin robes. Dressed skin was rather rare among both these divisions of the tribe, and garments sucit as shirts and coats were seldom worn.
Mopvern Ciotuine. — Intercourse with the Hudson Bay Company affected the dress of the tribe, especially of the upper division. Skins, etc, were often exchanged for Hudson Bay pantaloons and coats, colored handkerchiefs and sashes, red blankets, red. or blue cloth, colored ribbons, beads, etc., so that in 1858 all these articles were in common use among the tribe. The red cloth was made into leggings, tobacco-pouches, etc., which were usually highly ornamented with colored beads and silk ribbons. Beads were very largely used for the
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 221
ornamentation of buckskin moccasins, shirts, and all kinds of clothing, besides many other articles, Long cloth leggings with a wide stiff fringe on the outside of each leg, and short beaded leggings reaching to the knee, were introduced. Woollen blankets largely took the place of skin robes ; and large red sashes, blankets, cloth, ribbons, and beads of many colors, gave unwonted gaudiness to their costume. But these, in turn, have gone out of use, so that now the Indian dress differs very little from that of the whites, except that some of the old people have a different method of wearing it.
Blankets are still often used by the older people in the winter-time, but always over their other clothes, By the men they are often made into shirts, pantaloons, and leggings ; and buckskin shirts and pantaloons are worn occasion- ally. Moccasins are the general footwear of both men and women, especially among the Upper Thompsons, who live in a dry climate. They never go bare- foot. Square pieces of blanket are generally worn inside of the moccasins, Buckskin coats and vests are sometimes worn by the men of the Spences Bridge and Nicola bands, and are often richly embroidered with silk thread. The skin robes and long leggings of former days have gone almost out of use. Woollen blankets, generally of gaudy colors, are used altogether for the bed. Buckskin and blanket leggings reaching to the knee are sometimes used. When hunting, or travelling any distance, the men always wear moccasins, and tie garters around the legs below the knee, and around the ankles. This keeps the legs of the trousers close and tight, and is said to assist considerably in walking, Fur caps, generally of fox, lynx, or beaver skin, are sometimes worn in the winter-time ; but many of the older men wear only handkerchiefs on their heads, both summer and winter. Buckskin gloves are very commonly used in summer and winter by both sexes, and buckskin mittens in the winter.
The young men of the Upper Thompsons, especially those of the Spences Bridge and Nicola bands, affect the cowboy style of dress, Cowboy hats are the common headwear, and the horses are saddled and bridled in cowboy fashion. Most of the clothes of the men are bought ready-made from the neighbor- ing trading-stores; and the colored dress-stuffs and calicoes of the women, which they make, after the style of the whites, into skirts, jackets, gowns, and dresses, are also bought there. Many of the women are very expert with their needle and in cutting clothing.
Almost the only head-dress worn by the women is a silk handkerchief, gen- erally of gaudy colors. Moccasins are almost as much worn by them as by the men. In cold weather, or when there is much snow on the ground, some of the old women roil pieces of buckskin or of blanket around the leg, and tie them.
DecoraTIon or CLotuinc. — In describing the styles of clothing I have inci- dentally stated that buckskin fringe, designs painted in red, pinking, and perfora. tions, were used for the purpose of decorating clothing. Fringe was placed particularly on seams. It was often decorated with glass and shell beads
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222 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
strung on some of the strips of skin. The arrangement of these beads will be more fully described in Chapter XIV, Copper tubes were used for the same pur- pose. These were about six inches long and half an inch in diameter. They were often worn attached to the belt, generally four on each side. Strings of glass beads, dentalia, disk-shaped horn, bone, or shell beads, were sewed on to clothing. Formerly elk-teeth were used for the same purpose. Feathers were also frequently used for purposes of decoration. These were often wrapped ina brush-like bunch of short horsehair dyed yellow, and in eagle-down, and tied with red wool, Ribbons were often attached to the tips of the feathers, Porcupine and other quills were sewed on to bands of skin, and these stitched on to cloth- ing for purposes of decoration. Sometimes the quills were stitched directly on to the clothing. Later on, beads and silk were substituted for these. With the introduction of silk the old designs seem to have disappeared, and imitations of designs of the whites have taken their place.
PERSONAL ADORNMENT.—Both men and women wore ear-ornaments, which consisted of strings of bark or skin passed through holes in the ear, from which hung dentalium shells, Later on, colored beads, and brass, copper, and silver buttons, were used with the shells. Fig. 195 shows an ear-ornament from Nicola Valley. It consists of dentalia, glass, and bone beads, At the lower end are small tassels of red wool. Formerly scalps of the red-headed woodpecker were used as tassels. Fig. 196 shows a longer form of a woman’s ear-ornament. More re- cently the Indians have cut ear-ornaments of varying shapes and sizes from sheet-copper or from copper kettles bought from the Hudson Bay Company. Often as many as four pen- dants were worn in each ear. The holes for these were made along the helix of each ear. The Lower Thompsons sometimes used ear- ornaments of abelone shell. Nose-ornaments were used by women only. These generally
consisted of one or more dentalium shells Earemament (Fig. 197) or apiece of bone (Fig. 198) passed
through the septum of the nose a sufficient distance to allow the ends to project beyond the nostrils on either side. Copper and slate were also used. Some were crescent-shaped, but the great majority of them were straight. Scalps of red-headed woodpeckers were inserted in one or both ends, The conical hole in the end of the
‘ . ° Fig. 196 (gz). Woman's Ear-orna- one shown in Fig. 198 was used for this purpose. Nose- ment. ‘
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 223
rings were not used by the tribe, although they are said to have been worn by both men and women of the southern Lillooet. Labrets, or lip-ornaments, were also unknown,
Necklaces were composed chiefly of shells, claws, seeds of cactus and E/e- agnus argentea Pursh., or small, flat, circular horn or bone beads strung on a buckskin or bark thong. Sometimes several of these necklaces were worn to- gether, covering the chest from the neck aimost to the waist, and by men and women alike. Girls and young women used the cactus-flowers, which they threaded on bark. Necklaces for men were also made of animal skin twisted. These often had pendant eagle-feathers attached a few inches apart, on both front and back, Others had only four feathers, two of which hung over the left breast, and two over the right breast. Later, necklaces were composed almost entirely of large and small colored beads obtained from the Hudson Bay Com- pany or from the Okanagon, Others were made of shell beads and dentalia (Fig. 199). Sometimes pieces of sheet-copper about three inches square were attached
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Fig. 198 (g89s). Nose-ornament,
Fig. 199 (1499). Necklace made of Beads and Dentalia.
Fig. 200 (yh¥o). Beaded Necklace,
to necklaces. Still other necklaces fit close to the throat, and consist of buckskin ornamented with bead-work (Fig. 200). The specimen here shown is scented with castoria. Some of these tight-fitting necklaces are made of strings of but- tons and beads. A necklace in common use was made of the claws of the grisly bear. These were worn by such shamans only as laid claim to the grisly bear as their guardian spirit, or by hunters who had killed this animal, and who thus made known their bravery.
In later days, bracelets and anklets were worn, —the former by men and women, the latter by women only. They were of brass or copper, round and thin. The ends met around the wrists and ankles. Women wore from two to four on each arm and one or two anklets on each foot. The men wore only one bracelet on each arm. These rings were obtained from the Hudson Bay Company or from other Indian tribes. Finger-rings came into use with the advent of the Hudson Bay Company. The ordinary finger and ear rings, so common among the whites, are very little used by either the men or the women,
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Special attention was paid to the hair-dress. The hair was allowed to grow. and was cut only as a sign of mourning, The Upper Thompsons greased their hair with the best fat from the deer’s back, while the Lower Thompsons used salmon-oil. Balsam-fir, the leaves of a broad-leaved plant from Okanagon, and a sweet-grass from Thompson River, were boiled separately, mixed with deer’s grease, and used for perfuming the hair. Hunters, before their departure, anointed their hair with a decoction of deer’s brain and a certain plant. All, except the very old, took a daily morning bath in some pond or stream before dressing their hair and painting themselves. The women combed the hair of their husbands. Combs were made of wood split into thin strips and glued together, as showa in Figs. 201, 202, and 203, which represent the most common forms in use (see also Fig, 285).
Figs. 201 (, $82), 202 (:48s), 203 (rdfa). Combs. 3, 4, and 4 nat. size respectively.
Many styles of dressing the hair were common among the Upper Thompson men. The hair which falls naturally around and in front of the ears was done up in two braids, one on each side of the head. These were brought across each other over the brow, and tied together in three places. The loose ends of the braids protruded beyond each temple. The back hair was allowed to hang loose, or was tied at the back of the neck with a string (Fig. 204).
Another style was as follows: The front hair was plaited in two braids, one on each side of the head. The back hair was also put up ina braid. The side braids were brought around to the back of tke neck, where they were crossed and tied. The back braid was turned up over the intersection of the other two, which were also turned up, and all chree tied together, ends up. Often a comb was put into the knot.
In another style the front hair was done up in two braids, which hung down alongside the ears, one on each side of the head, Occasionally only one side of
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 225
the front hair was put up ina braid, while the hair on the opposite side hung loose, or was tied with a string. In this style the back hair was tied with a string, or hung Joose or in two braids. ‘
Still others cut the front hair a little above the eyebrows, or only that part between the eyes above the nose, straight across from temple to temple. The rest of the hair was drawn back and tied behind the neck, or was allowed to hang loose. Some parted the hair down the centre of the head, and gathered it back and tied it behind the neck. Sometimes the hair hung loose all round, Others
Fig. 204. Hair-dress of Man. : Fig. 205. Hair-dress of Woman.
tied the front hair up in a knot on the top of the head or immediately above the brow. The back hair was also tied in a knot, or was left loose, or was tied with a string.
Among women the almost universal method of doing up the hair was to divide it equally into two braids, one on each side of the head. The braids hung down behind, and their ends were usually tied together at the back. A few wore their hair loose or tied behind with a string. Young women wore their two braids folded up on each side (Fig. 205). Others braided the hair on each side in two braids, those of each side being tied together at their ends.
Warriors tied the front hair on one side in a knot, while the opposite side was left loose or braided into a queue (Fig. 206). This style was employed on the war-path, as well as under ordinary circumstances. The top-knot of warriors was frequently decorated with from one to four large tail-feathers of the eagle or hawk, or with a bunch of small feathers, and daubed with red ochre.
Warriors used also the following styles of hair-dress, which were often decorated with feathers of the hawk and eagle. The hair on the top of the head
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226 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
was gathered together and braided upward for a few inches, the ends hanging down like a mop. The braid was generally daubed with white clay to make it stiff (Fig. 207). In some cases the hair on top of the head was made into two short braids, one on each side, which were crossed at right angles and tied. These were also stiffened with clay, and looked like the cross-feathers in front of a shaman’s head-band (see Fig. 183). In another style the front hair was made into two short braids, one on each side above the brow. These were stiffened with clay, and looked like two horns ; or the front hair was made into one braid of medium length just above the brow, stiffened with clay, and made to lean forward, upward, or to either side, like a large horn ; or part of the front hair was made into a short braid just above the brow, and was painted a fiery red. It protruded in front, or hung down over the brow nearly to the nose.
Fig. 206. Figs. 206, 207. Styles of Hair-dress of Warriors.
Children of both sexes, up to the age of puberty, usually wore their hair loose. Girls, when performing the puberty rites, had their whole hair done up in two knots, one behind each ear (Fig. 208). Boys, during these rites, had their whole hair done up in a knot at the back of the head (Fig. 209).
Widows and widowers, or other mourners, had their hair cut straight across the shoulders or the back of the neck.
The loose hair and the ends of braids of both men and women were generally tied with a narrow strip of animal’s skin (often that of the person's guardian) from three to four feet long. Animals’ tails, especially those of the otter and panther
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TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 227
were also used ; and some shamans used rattlesnake, bow-snake, and garter-snake af skins,
Hair-ribbons were very generally used by both sexes. One form of these has been incidentally mentioned in the description of head-dresses (Fig. 182), Others consisted of pieces of buckskin with numerous strings. They were fastened
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Fig. 208. Figs, 208. 200. Styles of Hair-dress, Fig. 209.
to the head, the strings being allowed to hang down in close proximity to the ears or at the back of the head. They were embroidered with porcupine-quills. Fastened to them were dentalium shells, pieces of bone, claws, feathers, ete. ; and recently, either in addition to or instead of these, colored glass beads, metal buttons, and colored ribbons have been used, while red or blue cloth has often taken the place of the buckskin. In many cases, however, these ornaments were strings of shells or beads fastened to the hair with bark twine, and were often passed through or fastened to the plaits of the hair, so that each braid was ornamented from top to bottom with shells, beads, etc.
A hair-ornament worn by men only was a strip of buckskin about two inches wide, and from two to four feet long, to which were loosely fastened pairs of feath-
%, ers of the eagle or hawk every few inches from top to bottom. This string of pendant feathers was fastened to the hair at the crown of the head, or attached to the back of the war head-band. Another ornament was made of narrow strips of otter-skin plaited in a braid from two to four feet long. Into this braid were fastened, one below the other from top to bottom, eagle or hawk : feathers, which stuck out at right angles to the braid, .nisie tHe (li) Tweens This ornament was particularly worn by warriors.
The beard was pulled out with tweezer, mace of two pieces of horn tied together at one end, or of a single piece of horn or wood (Mig. 210). A similar
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228 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
instrument of copper or other metal, bent to meet at the ends, is still used. Some of the women used to pull out part of their eyebrows to make them narrower, as narrow eyebrows were considered a mark of beauty. The parting of the hair was frequently painted red.
Red ochre or other red earths, the best of which were obtained from the Okanagon, were used for painting faceand body. Powdered micaceous hematite or specular iron obtained in the Spences Bridge region, charcoal, yellow ochre, and white clay or powder, were also used. The paints were rubbed on either dry or after the face had been greased. Some modes of painting were peculiar to the warrior and the shaman, or were used in ceremonials. Others were for personal adornment, and were used more by the women than by the men. The painting was done with the finger or with sticks of different sizes. Young women had a red dot painted on each cheek, or they extended these dots over temples and eyebrows (Fig. 205). Elderly women painted the whole face red up to the eyes. Men painted their faces according to their dreams. Large spots of red were put on each cheek, also a streak along each eyebrow. Sometimes the face was covered with wet red paint ; and stripes, across or up and down, were scratched into it with the lower jaw or teeth of the deer. Sometimes the right or left side of the face was painted red. One of these dream designs is shown in Fig. 207. Painting is now seldom used except by shamans or women. (See also l‘ig. 291.)
Tattooing was confined mostly to the women, and was rarely used by the Upper Thompsons. The women of the Lower Thompsons had often a few
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oe Fig. arr. Designs of Tattooing. straight lines radiating from the mouth sideways and downward over the chin, or one or two straight lines on each side of the face, from the bridge of the nose toward the lobes of the ears. They often had tattooings on the back of the wrist. A few of these designs are shown in Fig, 211. Evidently the custom of tattooing the wrists was borrowed from the Coast tribes.'| Tattooing was done by puncturing the skin with a fine needle or cactus-spike, and passing a fine thread coated with powdered charcoal under tie skin.
A substitute for soap was warm water mixed with birch-leaves, and allowed to stand for some time, ashes of poplar-wood, urine, or a particular kind of white, soapy clay obtained from the shores of certain lakes. The skin, when rough, was greased with fat from the deer’s back, and by the Lower Thompsons with salmon-oil, Ashes of young shoots of Pseudotsuga Douglast? Carr or of Picea were mixed with deer-fat and used as an ointment.
! See Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1890, p. 590.
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 229
-gannistry "ft CAR TT
It is of interest to note, in connection with a description of the efforts of the Indians to adorn their bodies, their ideas of what constitutes personal beauty. I give here their opinions regarding various features.
: Pretty, | Fairly Pretty. Ugly.
Skin .....+eeeeeeee+./Light, smooth, even color. |Red. \Dark. Stature... .ceeeeeeeee "Tall. Medium. _— Body ....eee seer cere ‘Not too fleshy, straight, bare.|Very thin, bony,| Fat, hairy. | large joints. AIMS... ccc cece recone |Long. _ iVery short. Hands of men......- 'Medium size. \Small. Short fingers. Hands of women..... ‘Small. 'Medium size. _| Large. Legs... cee eeee eee res |Medium length, | _ Very long, very short. Feet of men......... |Medium size. ‘Small. |'Toes turned out. Feet of women....... |Small Medium size. Large. Breasts of women .... |Full. _ Small. Halt vec eceeenee oe |Light, long, abundant. — _ Face wc csc cscs eeeees Bare, sharp hair-line. ‘Small mustache. Hairy, particularly forehead. Cheeks .....-eee eee ‘Red. _ 'Fat, Byes ....e cece ee eee \Medium size, round. | = Very large, very small. Eyebrows ...........|Narrow. = Very heavy. Ears wc. seers ee ees Medium size. Small. Standing off, large. Nose | |Medium length. \Aquiline. Very long, very short. : eT oe \Straight. | _ Concave, flat. ‘ Mouth.......0 seco |Medium size. | _ Very small, very large. ViPS. sivec so ce vinseetieiore |Medium full. (Thin. | —_ Olt Nene ec eet | — | — |Receding.
The Lillooet are ridiculed on account of their low stature and tendency to obesity, while the Coast tribes of the delta of Fraser River are stigmatized as “ broadheads,” or “ flatheads,” from their custom of deforming their heads ; ‘‘ con- cave noses”; and “barefeet,” because they wear no moccasins.
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Peat eatiadly =% —
V.— SUBSISTENCE,
VARIETIES AND PREPARATION OF Foop, — Formerly deer, salmon, roots, and berries were the staple food of the tribe. Deer was more important to the upper division, while salmon was the principal food of the lower division. In those days a large portion of the tribe lived in the mountains during the greater part of the year, moving about from one root-digging or decr-hunting ground to another, according to the harvest-time of certain roots and berries, or as the deer changed their feeding-grounds during the seasons. They sometimes set fire to the woods in order to secure a greater abundance of roots on the burnt hillside. The men engaged in hunting and trapping, while the women attended to the gathering and preparation of roots, berries, and other food. Only when winter set in did they return to their winter houses.
According to current tradition, a long time ago (probably last century) deer were very numerous along Thompson River, but were scarce again during the lifetime of the grandfathers and fathers of the old men now living. At that time the deer was supplanted by the elk, mountain-shcep, and mountain-goats, the first two of which were very abundant. The elk, for unknown reasons, grad- ually became fewer in numbers, the last uf them disappearing about fifty years ago, Old, partly decayed elk-antlers are sometimes found scattered around in some parts of the higher mountains and plateaus in the neighborhood of Thomp- son and Nicola Rivers, proving that elk must at one time have been compara- tively numerous. Mountain sheep and goats have also become more and more scarce, until now they are found in only a few spots in the hunting-grounds of the Spences Bridge band. On the other hand, during the last sixty years, as these other animals have disappeared, deer have become much more numerous, At the present day deer are not as numerous as they were ten or twenty years ago.
The meat of deer, elk, mountain-sheep, mountain-goat, marmot or ground. hog, bear, beaver, porcupine, hare or rabbit, squirrel, yrouse, ducks of certain varieties, geese, cranes, and robins, was eaten, These animals were all shot or snared in abundance. Moose, buffalo, antelope, and caribou do not occur in the habitat of the Thompson Indians, but their dried meat was obtained by trade. The Indians also ate lynx and coyote meat. ,
The Lower Thompsons hunted principally mountain-goat, black bear, and marmot. They also ate rock-rabbit, which was not used as food by the upper band.
Salmon, of which there are five varieties, and which run in the larger rivers in the fall of the year, were the principal fish caught. In Fraser River they are generally plentiful every year, but some years they are scarce in Thompson River. The salmon caught and cured by the Indians along Fraser River are the king salmon, These are scarce in Thompson River, where the sockeye run
[230]
every fourth year in large numbers. When these were scarce, the people caught
what they could of the humpback salmon. Trout and fish of many kinds were
fished for, especially during the spring and autumn. No insects or shell-fish
were eaten, Roots and berries formed ar important part of the food-supply of the tribe.
The former were gathered in the early summer and in the fall of the year. Some 3
of the roots used grew in the dry valleys, while the majority were obtained in the Ate |
higher mountains only. ; Roots are dug with a root-digger (Fig. 212), which is a piece of service-
berry or other hard wood from two to two and a half feet in length, bent
My : 6 | rie | ‘ a) co cli
ws tS nN TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 231 c8 4 © mm 4 “2 -
a
Fig. 212, @ toy), 6 CyA$a). Root-diggers, 4 nat. size,
slightly at the point. It is sometimes burned a little at the point to increase its toughness. The other end of the stick is inserted in a wooden or horn handle. The stick is inserted loosely in the handle, so that it can be reversed when one point gets dull. Iron rods, bent near the point and with a wooden handle, are most commonly used at the present day. While digging roots, the women gen- erally carry a small basket on the back, into which they toss them (Fig. 213). When it is full, they empty it into a larger basket close by. The women also secure roots and seeds in the fall by robbing the nests of squirrels and mice.
The roots of the following plants were used ‘as food by both divisions of the tribe: Claytonia sp. (tatu'in), Ledium Columbianum Hanson, Ferula déssoluta, Allium sp. (kolau'a), Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh., var. mznor, Fritillaria lanceolata Pursh, The following roots could not be identified : Sxwi'pis, tsipt’as. The upper division used, besides these, the roots of Peucedanum macrocarpum . Nutt., Balsamorrhiza sagittata Nutt., Potentilla sp. (xi'lexil), Brodi@a grandiflora =i
5 he
232 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
Smith, Lewesea rediviva Pursh., Hydrophyllum occidentale Gray, Cnicus undulatus Gray. The following roots, used by this division of the tribe, could not be determined: xala’ux6za, wé’tsamat, hatce’us, Xenaxain, sxaiim, up0’piqxin, sxwisé’nak, kakwa’mtca, qa'lqil. This last is said to grow under the ordinary root of Ferula dissoluta, and to be sweet, while the latter is bitter, The Lower Fraser band use also roots of Pterts aquilina L., var. lanu- gtnosa (Bory) Hook., and of the following undetermined plants: smilmé’l, sxyaii’am, sci'tco, tsi’kwa. These last- named species were not much in demand among the upper division, who traded consid- erable quantities of roots of Lewista rediviva Pursh, to the lower band. The roots of Typha latifoka L. are occasionally eaten.
Both the upper and lower divisions used the fruit of the following plants: service- berry (A melanchier alnifolia Nutt.), of which six different varieties are distinguished (called stctiqem’6’e, sihu’s, taxtexo’xsa' or nqiéppu’p- sa, spiqpd’q, and Lixihii’za) ; whortleberrry (Vaccinium Myrtillus L., var. microphyt-
Fig. 213, Woman digging Roots. /um Hook.); gooseberry
(Ribes sp.); Ribes lacustre
Poir ; soapberry (Shepherdia Ce «rdensts Nutt.) ; Oregon grape ; Vaccenzum mem- branaceum Dougl.; choke-ches.y (Prunus demissa Walpers), of which two varieties are distinguished; bird-cherry (spa’zsus'); salmon-berry (adus Mutkanus Mog.); raspberry (Raudus sp.); Rubus leucodermis Dougl.; strawberry (Fra-
garia Californica Cham. and Schlecht); currant (Redes Hudsontanum Rich.') ;
Cornus pubescens Nutt.; Sorbus sambuctfolia (C. and S$.) Roem; Lonzcera in- volucrata Banks (?); bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-urst Spreng.) ; elderberry (Sambucus Canadensis 1.) ; Viburnum pauctflorum Pylaie; hawberry (Crategus rividares Nutt.), of which two varieties are distinguished (a'luska and nkwi'tka) ; Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt., of which three varieties are distinguished (stseka’pEL,
' Not much_used.
EIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 233
sqaqwa’u,' and kokima'uz'). Perhaps these last are different species of roses, The following are undetermined : taxpa’, qazexi’n,' sxwi'sa,
The lower division of the tribe used, besides, the following undetermined kinds of fruit: qe’qwet, ska’u, qwo'qwox, kumtcé’ns (cranberry ?), stse’yuk, tiqtaka'las, kokoo’za, x‘wri'xwek, li'tse, simaxi’tsxin, ci’ni (sweet Oregon grape ?%), koxwa’p (crabapple ?), and also the salal-berry (Gau/theria),
The stalks of Heracleum lanatum Michx., of a plant called La’qo, and also the peeled stems of Ba/samorrhiza sagittata Nutt., were eaten raw. The last- named were soaked in water for one night before being eaten, The lower division also ate sprouts of Epilobium angustifolium L., of various kinds of Audus, and also of two undetermined plants (a’kama and tsewé'ta). Alectoria jubata 1. was much eaten, particularly by the lower division.
The cambium layer of the black pine (nus contorta Dougl.), yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl.), spruce (/icea sp.), balsam-fir (4 dzes grandis Lindl.), cottonwood (Populus tremuloides Michx.), and Douglas spruce (Pseudotsuga Douglastt Carr), was much sought after in spring for the same purpose. That of the yellow pine was often dried for winter use. The cambium of Adnus rubra Bong. was also sometimes eaten. ‘To separate the bark from the tree, a short piece of horn or wood was used, and the cambium was scraped off with an imple- ment of bone or horn sharpened to an edge. Such implements were similar in shape and size to those now used by the Athapascan tribes of the northern interior (Fig. 214). At the present day, knives are used for scraping, The heart or inside part of the cactus (Opanda sp.) was utilized by the Spences Bridge band, and was cooked in the ordinary ground ovens, or steamed. Two kinds of mushrooms were peeled and eaten raw, or were slightly roasted before the fire. Nutlets from the cones of the Prunus albicaulis Eng, were a favorite food among the upper divisions of the tribe. These nutlets, after being cooked in ovens or roasted in ashes, were sometimes crushed, mixed with dried service- berries, and put into sacks for winter use. The yellow-pine nutlets were some- times gathered. The Lower Thompson band used hazel-nuts, which they sold to the upper bands, The seeds of Badsamorrhiza sagittata Nutt. were also eaten.
The Indians seldom drank pure water when eating, but they substituted for it the water in which meat or fish had been boiled. The stalks and leaves of wild celery and of a plant called * Hudson Bay tea” or ‘‘ Labrador tea,” fir-twigs, rose- bush leaves and stalks, bearberry stalks and leaves, were dried, and used for preparing drinks.
Fig. 214 (482). Sap-scraper. 4 nat, size,
' Not much used.
“73 88 TR
ANAT ABTODI V HH
234
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
PRESERVATION OF StapLe Foops,— Meat was preserved in the following manner: The fat of large game was cut off, and stored in deerskin sacks. The flesh was then cut into thin slices, and, to further assist in the drying process, each slice was pierced with numerous holes or slits some five or six inches in length. These slices were then dried by the sun and wind on a framework of poles placed a few inches apart and about five fect above the ground, Fre- quently artificial heat was resorted to. Meat was also spread on poles above the fire inside the lodge, or hung up near the roof and dried in the smoke. The In- dians of Nicola Valley, in case of necessity, dried their meat in the sweat-house, but the Spences Bridge band preferred roasting it on sticks before a hot fire.
The fat of deer, elk, or bear was often melted down in the following way : Large pieces of fat were spread out by running several thin sticks through their entire length. The centre stick was made to protrude a few inches at each end, and was then placed across two forked sticks which were set firmly in the ground. The drippings were caught in several trough-shaped dishes of bark, wood, or stone, which were placed under the slices of fat (see Fig. 155). The most common kind was large, oblong, and shallow. Close by, a small but hot fire was kindled. When all the fat was melted, it was tied up in a deer’s paunch, and stored away for future use. The larger bones were broken up, and the marrow was melted and stored in deer or elk | .adders.
Salmon were dried in the following way: The fish was cut up along the belly, and all entrails and blood removed. The backbone was separated from the back, and the knife drawn deeply across the fleshy part of the fish several times, leaving an inch or so between each cut. The Lower Thompsons use the same form of fish-knife as is used by the Coast tribes. It consists of a curved blade with a short handle, similar to our chopping-knives, Those of the Upper Thompsons were similar in shape to those found in prehistoric sites (see Part III, Fig. 34). The fish was then stretched, and kept open by thin sticks, the ends of which were inserted into little holes cut near the outside edges of the fish on each side. Finally the whole was hung over a long pole todry. The part containing the backbone hung on one side, and the rest on the other. In this manner about a hundred fish were generally suspended a few inches apart on one pole, and hung there until quite dry and hard. They were then taken down, piled in heaps, and carried to the winter cellars or fish-caches, where they were stored, Birch-bark was then put under, around, and on top of the fish, or the cache itself was lined with birch-bark to prevent any moisture which might soak through from damaging the fish. Salmon caught late in the fall were also dried. The backbone was not taken out. They were simply gutted, and cuts an inch apart made deep in the flesh along the whole length of each side. The Lower Thompsons stored the dry fish in elevated wooden caches, in which they remained all winter. In spring they were removed and placed in cellars, where they were allowed to lie until the following spring, when they were taken out, and aired by being spread on flat rocks, They were then returned to the cellar, and kept
“et 84 68
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 235
Ver Riccig
ADVODIS V I 4s
perhaps for another year. Most families thus kept the surplus of each season's catch of salmon for two or three years, for cases of emergency. Salmon-heads were also dried and stored away. Salmon-roe was wrapped up in dry grass or bark, and buried in the ground until it was nearly rotten, when it was taken out and roasted or boiled. The Indians compare the taste of the roe prepared in this way to that of cheese. It is not much eaten by the upper division of the tribe.
For making salmon-oil, a hole three or four feet square and about two feet deep was dug in the ground, This was lined at the bottom and sides with large slabs of stone, and all holes and seams were plastered up with mud. In this re- ceptacle a number of fat salmon were placed, with water enough to boil them.
Heated stones were thrown in, and after a while the boiling mess was broken up
and stirred with a stick. More water was added if required, and the whole kept
simmering until all the oil was extracted. It was then allowed to cool off, and
all the oil floating on the top of the water was skimmed off. The boiled salmon
was afterward taken out, squeezed in the hands, and put into baskets, to be eaten
at once or dried in cakes. Salmon-oil was put up in salmon-skins, which were : scraped, blown into shape, and dried for the purpose. They were tied at each end, and sealed with salmon-roe where tied. Some of the Upper Thompsons put up in salmon-skins a mixture of salmon-oil and deer’s or elk’s grease. A mixture of about one quarter salmon-oil and three quarters roasted or partly roasted salmon-flesh which had previously been pounded up fine was also kept in salmon-skins. The Nicola band prepared oil of catfish in the same manner. It was principally obtained from the liver.
Roots are threaded on strings of bark or grass and hung up to dry. Ser- vice-berries, soapberries, wild cherries, huckleberries, raspberries, brambleberries, and rose-pips are dried by being spread thinly upon mats exposed to the hot rays of the sun, Sometimes they were baked in cakes without drying, and were then put into a cedar-root or birch-bark basket, and boiled by means of hot stones. When somewhat cooled off, the stones were taken out, and the berries were mashed with a stick or kneaded with the hand, and finally spread rather Fig. a1s (qifa¢). Drying-frame. J nat, size. thickly on a layer of fresh pine-needles, leaves, or dry grass, which was supported on a framework of poles, where the sun and wind dried them. The juice left in the basket was poured ws @! over the berries as they dried, and formed into cakes. A good deal of juice,
BUtastecsg y «as ==
236 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
however, if not drunk, was thrown away. Small frames of split cedar-wood (Fig. 215) were frequently used by the Lytton band for drying service-berry cakes on,
Berries and meat were mashed with pestles (Fig, 120) on large flat stones, which are frequently found in village-sites (Part III, Figs. 32, 33).
Disurs. — Food was boiled in baskets into which red-hot stones were thrown, It was roasted on spits in front of the fire, under ashes, or in underground ovens, Dried venison and dried berries were sometimes pounded together and mixed with hot deer-grease. This mixture was cooled in cakes and put into sacks, or wrapped up in bark or skin, A favorite dish was made of roots of a floury nature (generally bitter-root) and service-berries boiled together until soft and thick, A little deer-grease was then added, and the whole eaten with a spoon, Sometimes A/ector7a was added and the deer-fat boiled with it. Salmon- roe and bearberries were boiled in the water in which salmon or trout had been cooked. Deer's blood was a delicacy, It was mixed with roots, berries, and deer-fat, and boiled until thick. The Indians at the present day often prepare flour by boiling it with dried service-berries and fat until it resembles porridge, sugar being sometimes added. ‘They also burn flour in a pan until it is brown, and then mix it with fat and sugar. The tails of large fish, such as salmon and trout, were roasted before the fire until the bones and skin were quite crisp. Salmon were sometimes soaked in water for a week, until half decayed, aud were then cooked with berries and roots, Fried salmon or trout were soaked for a while, and were then pounded up fine with a stone or wooden masher, and eaten with grease,
Dry roots are cooked in the following manner: A circular hole is dug in the ground to the depth of two feet and a half, and large enough in diameter to contain the roots to be cooked. Into this hole are put four or five flat stones,— one in the centre and the others around the sides. Above these is piled a large heap of dry fir-wood, on which is placed a quantity of small stones. The wood is then kindled, and allowed to burn until nothing but the embers remain, when the small stones drop down to the bottom of the hole. The unburnt wood is next taken out, leaving nothing but the ashes and stones. Enough damp earth is then shovelled in to cover thinly the top of the stones, and this is overspread to the depth of half a foot or more with the branches of bushes, such as the ser- vice-berry, maple, alder, etc. Next follows a layer of broken fir-wood branches, over which is spread a layer of dry yellow-pine needles, and still another layer of fir-branches. By this time the hole is nearly filled up. The roots are then placed on the top, and covered carefully with a thick layer of broken fir-branches, a layer of dry pine-needles, and again a layer of fir-branches. The whole is covered with earth, and a large fire of fir-wood is kindled on top. In this way immense quantities of roots are cooked at one time. They remain in the oven —according to the kind being cooked — for from twelve to twenty-four hours. The root of the wild sunflower is difficult to cook, and it is therefore allowed to lie in the oven for two days. A large root from a plant resembling a large
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 23
“I
lily was strung and dried after it was cooked. One kind of dish is made of the roots of Lilium Columbianum Hanson, Peucedanum macrocarpum Nutt., and salmon-roe which had been buried, boiled together.
Cactus and Adcforia, as well as many roots, were steamed in the following way: Before any branches were put into the hole, a stick from an inch and a half to two inches in diameter was planted perpendicularly in the ground, reaching con- siderably above the level of the hole. When everything was covered up, the stick was pulled out, leaving an aperture into which water was poured, causing steam to rise from the hot stones underneath. When sufficiently steamed, the usual fire was kindled on top. Wild onions were flavored by putting them into the oven close to leaves and flowers of the humming-bird plant ; sunflower-roots, with flowers of Pentstemon Menztest? Hook. Other roots are flavored with flowers and stems of /*ragarta Cal/fornica Cham. and Schlecht. The seeds of Batlsamorrhisa sagittata Nutt. were mixed with deer-grease, and boiled by means of hot stones, The gum of the tamarack was used for chewing,
Berries and roots are still gathered, preserved, and cooked as formerly, but not in large quantities, and are only supplementary to other food,
Salted salmon put up in barrels has in a great measure taken the place of dried salmon, Many Indians of the upper division dry them only when there is a large run, Nowadays the principal diet of the Indians is venison and other fresh meat of the chase, fresh fish and beef, flour, rice, sugar, tea, coffee, oatmeal, beans, ete., obtained from stores. Vegetables which they raise themselves, such as potatoes, squashes, peas, beans, corn or maize, carrots, turnips, and onions, are consumed in large quantities. These are boiled, fried, and roasted in ovens or in ashes. Squashes do not ripen in the lower part of the country, but apples are cultivated there. Muskmelons, watermelons, and tomatoes are cultivated and eaten by some Indians of the upper division of the tribe. Some of those who live on their reserves and do much farming keep cows, raise hogs and chickens, and are toler- ably well supplied with milk, eggs, butter, and pork. Even many who live in the villages keep hens, Many of the women make jam of wild berries, and of fruits which they procure from the whites. Horseflesh is seldom eaten, owing to the influence of the priests, and because it is not eaten by the neighboring whites,
Srasons, —I1 will mention at this place the divisions of the seasons and months. Many moons are designated according to the occupations of the people and the food that is being gathered. Asa rule, they count their moons beginning at the rutting season of the deer, in November. Some Indians begin their count with the end of the rutting season, at the end of November ; others, particularly shamans, with the rutting season of the big-horn sheep. Many people of the Lytton band begin when the ground-hogs go into their winter dens, Many of the Lower Thompsons begin with the rutting season of the mountain- goats. Some moons are called by number only, but those following the tenth moon are not numbered. Following are the names of the moons used by the Spences Bridge band, and their principal characteristics,
\ | a | | t } | I | ] | | | ae | ae | | | a
238 TELT, THE THOMiSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
First Moon, or Voukteui + — The deer rut, and people hunt.
Second Moon, or N't'ixtin (“ going-in time,” so named because most people went into their winter houses during this month), — ‘The weather begins to ge cold, and the people go into their winter houses,
7ntrd Moon, — Bucks shed their antlers, and does become lean.
hourth Moor, or Pesqa'pts (“ spring | winds | time,” so named because Chi- nook winds generally blow ia this month melting all the snow). — The weather improves, and the spring plants begin to sprout. “The people come out of their winter houses.
Lifth Moon, or Nxwvitin (“coming-forth time,” so named because. the people came forth from their winter houses in this month, although many came out in the fourth month), — The grass grows, and people come forth from their winter houses,
Sevth Afoon. — The people catch trout with dip-nets, and begin to go to the lakes to trap fish. The trees put forth leaves, and the waters increase. Seventh Aloon. The people dig roots,
hiighth Moon, or Kwekwe'kwiiit (plural of the diminutive form of kwa‘it, “ripe,” “they area little ripe”). — The deer drop their young, and service-berries begin to ripen,
Ninth Moon, or Vexwauzsi’kentin (* middle time,” so named because of the summer solstice), — “The sun returns, and all the berries ripen. Some of the people hunt,
Tenth Moon, ov vaxa'ks (“first of run,” first or “nose” of ascending fish),
The sockeye or red salmon run,
The Next Moon, or Kwiswt (‘| poor} fish") kekaitka’in ( they reach the source"), ~The cohoes or silver salmon come, and the salmon begin to get poor. They reach the sources of the rivers,
The Rest of the Year, ov wwiiistin (“fall time”), — The people trap and hunt, and the bucks begin to run,
Phe Lower Thompsons also called the months by numerals up to ten, or sometimes eleven, the remainder of the year being called the autumn, ‘Their names are as follows :
first Moon, — Vhe rutting time of deer,
Second Moon, ov N'ulx: ( ecing in”). People go into their winter houses.
Third Moon, or Wawi't ta sv'ulx’ (“the last going in”), The last of the people go into their winter houses.
Keourth Moon, or Nxuxuct (“little coming out ") skapts (“spring or warm wind” ), Alternate cold and warm winds. Some people camp out in lodges for a time.
hifth Moon, or N'ulxwa'uas (“going in again”), — Last cold. People go into winter houses again for a short time.
Stath Moon, or Nxuwit (“coming out”). —- Winter houses left. for vood, Peopie catch fish in bag-nets,
oO
'TEET, THOS ‘THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRETISH COLUMBIA, 239
Seventh Moon, —- People go on short hunts.
Lighth Moon, — Veople pick berries,
Ninth Moon, ~ People commence to fish salmon,
Zenth Moon, ~ People fish and cure salmon.
Lleventh Moon, or Kokauxtmu's (“to boil food a little’), so named because people prepared fish-oil.
Autumn, — People hunt large game, and go trapping.
The moons are grouped in five seasons: winter, beginning with the first snow that stays on the ground, and lasting until its disappearance from the valleys, generally the second, third, and fourth months ; spring, beginning with the disappearance of the snow, and embracing the period of frequent Chinook winds, the fifte and sixth months; summer, the seventh, eighth, and ninth months; early autumn (Indian summer), embracing the tenth and cleventh months ; and late fall, which takes up the rest of the year, “This indefinite period of unnamed months enabled the Indians to bring the lunar and solar years into harmony.
The Indians could tell the solstices to within a day by the position of the sun in relation to certain trees or other marks on mountains, “Phere were trees in certain places, with stones to sit on near them, to which they frequently re- paired to observe the sun when they believed it to be near the solstice.
Huntinc.—Hunting, trapping, and snaring of game was one of the most Important occupations of the Thompson Indians, The Lower ‘Thompsons, although they had an abundance of fish, spent much time in hunting, “They even hunted on the mountains on the western slope of the Coast Range. Hlunt- ing-parties who visited the most southern part of their hunting-grounds were sometimes absent for seven months, returning only when the snow began to melt in the mountains.
Bows and arrows were the principal weapons used in the pursuit of game, The best bows of the tribe were sinew-backed. Most of them were made of juniper-wood, The Lower ‘Thompsons used hemlock, yew-wood, and dogwood, When a bow is being made, a layer of decr-sinew is glued to its concave side, When the glue has set, two men bend the bow over so that what was originally the concave side becomes the back of the bow. ‘The bow shown in Tig, 210 is made in this manner, When the bowstring is released, this bow is: perfectly flat. When mounted, it ae umes the form shown in the illustration, “The centre, which for convenience in grasping is made a little narrower Cian the rest, ts veapped with bird-cherry bark. “The string is made of the back-sinew of decr,
iy. 217 shows a bow similar in form to the preceding one, “The clasticity of this bow is increased by a wrapping of bird-cherry bark, which, however, ts not as effective as sinew backing, The string is central, Loon-down is wrapped on the ends of the string to keep it from twanging,
The bow shown in Fig. 218 is made of birch, | [tis backed with sinew and cos ered with snakeskin, ‘The great thickness of the bow in the middle produces the
* or) oa o ad ton Lal -
'h
I
’
i
t 240 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, ' Fig. 216 (y4¥o). Sinew-backed Bow. 4 nat. size, a, Side view; 4, Front view ; c, Cross-section. H { Reel y \ | | | VV VV VY TT ] JAWRRRERITRURERRRRAAT TINT oniy | i , deb debdbdelditllid pedachs , , deb b Adis + hahaa Sealumnabinanniniedeetnmeren mind 5 Me | EKA TT TTT HUTUAATEQIRIVITONRRUUNUT HUULUERIOUATRTRARNOVOVAUTOUENTAS Zi | fy ~ ce Li LULL NURUEMURRGUN UEC RUUMEMSCenumraae | 1 i } | { j j j | Fig. 218 (,49,). Bow covered with Snakeskin. | a, Side view, and 4, Front view, § nat. size; c,d, Ends, 4 nat. size, ! { | j | j Fig. 219 (1491). Bow wound with Bark, } nat. size. Cross-section, 4 nat. size, wy | | | | ; ] } ‘ Fig. 220 (,4$7). Bow. § nat. size, | | i % f
| { {
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 241
double curvature of the mounted bow. The middle is wound with bird-cherry bark, and ornamented with horsehair dyed yellow. It has an eccentric string made of twine of Afocynum cannabinum L., which is used only when sinew is not available. The method of attachment of the bowstring is shown in the figure.
In Fig. 219 is represented a bow similar in shape to the preceding, but it is wound with bird-cherry bark instead of having a sinew backing. The ends are covered with flattened goose-quills. This type of bow was in common use among the Okanagon, the Athapascan tribe of Nicola Valley, the Nicola band, and among some men of the Spences Bridge band, while the other bands did not use it. This bow was held perpendicularly, while all the others were held horizon- tally.. The arrow-release from this type of bow was secondary ; from the others, primary. Simple bows (Fig. 220) were used for shooting birds and small game. Bows were often painted or adorned on their flat inner sides with incised lines filled with red paint. Some of these bows were ornamented with woven quills dyed in different colors, or with pieces of buckskin embroidered with quills, at the middle and halfway between the middle i and the tips. Scalps of the red-headed wood- pecker were frequently attached to the ends, A hand-guard (Fig. 221) for the protection of the back of the thumb was used on the bow hand, particularly with the bows of the Okanagon type.
Arrows were made of rosewood or of the wood of the service-berry, and were a little over two feet long. The wood was soaked in warm water, and then straightened with the teeth. The arrow shown in Fig. 222, ¢, still exhibits the marks of the teeth. Others were polished with the arrowshaft-smoother (see Part III, Fig. 57, p. 146). The feathering consists of three split feathers applied spirally (Fig. 222, 4, e, v), or two whole feathers laid on flat (Fig. 222, a, 7).
cade
Fig. ar (,48,). Hand-guard.
* The feathers were fastened to the shaft with deer-sinew and pitch, Arrow-heads
were made of glassy basalt, which was obtained at a certain place north of Thompson River. The Lower Thompsons found stone for their arrow-heads near the head waters of Skagit River. Many were made out of large chipped heads, which are found in great numbers in the valleys. The Indians believe that the latter were made by the Raven. The form, and the metiod of tying with sinew, are shown in Fig. 222, a, 6. The heads of war-arrows were inserted in a line parallel to the nock, while those of hunting-arrows were inserted at right angles to the nock. It will be noticed that when the bow is held horizontally, the head of the war.arrow is horizontal, while that of the hunting-arrow is vertical. The Indians maintain that thus the head more easily penetrates betweea the ribs. More recently iron points have replaced the stone points. The points of war- arrows wer? generally barbed; those of hunting-arrows, leaf-shaped. Some
3 #% 4 ft AG¥OSHS VM
Bea rrce
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
42
na
Arrows, 4 nat, size,
16 1501)
\,S (1480), ¥
by, da (ha), e (Ab
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 243
war-arrows had a detachable foreshaft (Fig. 222, 4). were often made of antler or of bone.
Fig. 223 (1h$n)+
The foreshafts of these
They were barbed, and poisoned with the
juice of flowers of Ranun- culus sp., or with rattle- snake poison. For small game, arrows without points’ (Fig, 222, ¢) were used. Some of these were barbed (Fig, 222, 7). Still others had a detachable head, which was tied with a string to the middle of
ithe shaft (Fig. 222, ¢). ’ When the head was dis-
engaged, the movements of the animal were im- peded by the dragging shaft. “These were used particularly when hunting in underbrush. The wing- ed end of the arrow was
often painted red. Spiral lines or rings were painted on the arrow-shaft. Often the figures of animals were branded on the shafts of hunting-arrows, those of men on the shafts of war-arrows. The latter were often painted black. Hawk, grouse, and the red-winged flicker were used for winging arrows. Hawk-feathers were
preferred for war-arrows. Quivers were made of tanned deer, elk, or buffalo hide (Fig. 223) with a wide fringe, and were often paint- ed on the outside. They were often made of clipped buffalo-fur with hair turned in, the outer side being scraped white and painted. They were also frequently made of wolverine, dog, coyote, and other skins, with the hair left on, the tails forming an ornament at the lowerend. Sagebrush quiv- ers were also in use (Mig.
4 v1 % SF fy aA vf
h Quiver
224). Small game, such as grouse, squirrels, and other small animals, were tied
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244 TET, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
to buckskin strings fastened to the quiver, Some quivers had small pouches attached for holding fire-drill and tinder. Some had covers (Fig. 225) for the protection of the arrows.
The first guns used by the Thompson Indians were flintlock muskets, which were soon adopted in warfare and in hunting. Some of the old men still use them, but repeating- rifles of the latest Win- chester and Colt models are now generally used. ///- They used wooden pow- der-horns decorated with feathers, and suspended
Fig. 225 (4485). Quiver with Cover.
from the right shoulder by a buckskin strap (Fig. 226). The powder-horn was worn under the left arm, while the ammunition-pouch hung on the right-hand side,
Deer were generally hunted with
bow and arrows. The hunting-dog was of great assistance in the pursuit of the deer, The dogs of the Thompson Indians resembled in appearance the coyote. Through interbreeding with the dogs introduced by the whites, they have become totally extinct. The nu- merous dogs found among the tribe nowadays are mongrel hounds and curs of every description. The native dogs were rather poor “es watch-dogs, but good hunters, The best ones for deer-hunting were valued highly, and were taken great care of. For several days before starting to hunt with them, they were tied up, and fed sparingly on good food. Some Indians went so far as to purge them with medi- cine, and sweat-bathe them.
The hunter started out before day- break with his dog or dogs inhand, The animals were held by a_ halter (Fig. Fig. 046 (yi). Powderchorn 227) with a toggle, which prevented the
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 245
noose from closing tightly. Some hunters carried a small quantity of sweet service-berries, which they ate when feeling exhausted. Having reached a place which the deer frequented, the hunter singled out the tracks of some large buck, let the dogs loose, and then followed himself as fast as he could run. The dogs generally ran the deer to water, very often driving him to the larger rivers; and the deer, if possible, made for some favorite crossing-place. At these places, especially in the fall of the year, Indians were always on the watch, As soon as the deer took to the water to swim across, two or three pursued him in a canoe. When overtaken, he was caught by the antlers by means of a long stick with a crook at the end. His head was pulled under water, and kept there until he was drowned. The deer was then pulled ashore, skinned, and cut up. Often the dog brought the deer to bay in some creek, keeping him there until the Indian came up and despatched him, A dog that could do this was most valuable.
Fig, 227, a (4h87), 6 (Sa). Dog-halters, 4 nat. size
In the fall of the year, during the rutting season, and also at a later date when the deer came down from the higher mountains to their winter grounds in the lower hills, the people of the Spences Bridge band lay in wait for game dur- ing the night at the regular swimming-places, and shot them with bow and arrows as they landed.
It is said that formerly during these seasons large numbers of deer were in the habit of swimming from the south to the north side of Thompson River, where there were favorite rutting-grounds, In the winter-time, owing to exposure to the sun’s rays, there was also generally less snow on these hillsides than on the south side of the river. During the last ten years or so the deer have almost entirely stopped swimming the river, as was their wont: hence this method of hunting has become obsolete. This change of habit is probably due to the scarcity of deer in the south, and to the erection of a line of fence, which extends along the railway the entire length of Thompson River on the south, ‘This fence has been built within the last twelve years, and the Indians say that during that time there has been a perceptible decrease in the number of deer frequenting
the north side of the river in the winter-time. Hunting with dogs has also gone
ae
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*
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246 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
completely out of use, because the old breed of dogs has become extinct, and but few of those which they now possess are of any use for deer-hunting. The law is also against the practice.
Another method of hunting, in vogue among the Spences Bridge and Nicola bands, was that of shooting deer by moonlight at their favorite salt-licks, Dur- ing the hot weather of summer, deer are fond of repairing to those places at night to lick the salty ground. Within easy range of these licks the Indians dug shallow pits, and planted a few bushes in front of them asa screen, There the hunter lay until a deer appeared, when he shot it. Sometimes, if bushes or trees were at hand, they were used for concealment instead of pits. Deer were also shot in this manner at their favorite drinking-places. This method is still practised by the Indians. To huni deer single-handed required intimate knowledge of the deer’s habits and of the ground which they frequent at different seasons, ability to take advantage of cover and to get within range, and capa- bility to track and to shoot well. Some Indians, especially single men, while hunting on the mountains, endured much hardship and exposure. Some of them would start out with cold weather in the winter-time, taking with them neither food nor other clothing than that which they wore. They lived entirely on what they shot, and used the raw deerskins for blankets. They made rough kettles of spruce-bark or deer’s paunches, A hole was dug in the soft ground near the fire, into which the kettle was placed, with brush underneath. The open end was made small and stiff by means of a stick threaded through it around the edge ; and the sides of the open end were sometimes fastened with bark to one or two cross-sticks which lay on the ground across the opening. Hot stones were put in to boil the food. These paunches were also sometimes used as water-pails. +
A favorite metho’ of procuring deer was by means of deer-fences, These were formerly very numerous, and their remains may still be seen in several parts of the mountains, They were in common use as late as fifteen years ago, and one of these was in regular use near Spences Bridge until about 1891.
Some of these fences were built in order to catch deer in the summer-time, but most of them were intended for capturing deer from the latter part of Sep- tember to the beginning or middle of December, since they were placed in those parts of the mountains which the deer frequent at that time of the year. They were generally built in little valleys or defiles between mountains, and especially in those which were favorite places of deer crossing from one mountain to another, or at spots where large numbers of deer generally passed on their way down from the higher mountains to their winter grounds. In every case, however, the localities were well chosen.
At these places a fence was roughly constructed, It was seldom over fot feet or four feet and a half in height, and consisted of poles, limbs of trees, ete., placed close enough together to hinder the deer froi) passing through. times these fences were from half a mile to a tile oF Hore fi length.
Some- At intervals
TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 247
of every eighty or a hundred yards a gate or opening was left wide enough to allow a deer to easily pass through, In the middle of each opening a shallow hole was scooped out, and a snare made of bark string was placed in it (Mig. 228). This snare was also fastened to the small end of a long spring-pole (@), which was placed in position on one side of the opening. The snare rested on a number (eight or more) of small sticks (4), which lay over the shallow pit, and served to release the trap. The spring-pole was held down by a trigger (¢) which was pushed through between the two sticks d ande. When the deer stepped upon the sticks 4, they pressed down e, and thus released the trigger ¢« The snare was hidden under a thin covering of dry spruce-needles, which covered the lower end of the spring-pole, A piece of log was placed on the ground a suf- ficient distance from the snare on each side to compel the deer, in stepping over, to
Fig. 228. Deer-fence.
place his foot in the snare. As soon as the deer did this, the pole sprang up, drawing the snare tight around his leg, and suspending him in the air, or at least lifting him off the ground, Sometimes, when a very large buck was caught, he would pull the spring-pole out of place, and go away with it attached tu his leg, but he never went far before becoming entangled in the bushes, Deer-fences were not much used by the Lower Thompsons. This method of hunting was very successful if the snares were kept dry. The Lower Thompsons set nooses on deer-trails. ‘The head of the animal or its antlers were caught in these nooses.
When two or three men hunt together, they generally start simultaneously, at a distance of a few hundred yards from each other, to walk over the prescribed ground, and meet occasionally at given points for consultation. If the party is Jarge, the general method employed is that of driving. A leader is chosen to direct the hunt, generally one of the more experienced men, and one who knows well the ground to be hunted. In winter, one of the larger gulches may be chosen, as the deer frequent such places during cold weather. Some of the best marksmen are stationed at those places for which the deer are expected to make. The rest of the party, who are the drivers, then make a circuit to the top of the
248 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA,
gulch, and come down in a line in the shape of a crescent, walking about a hun- dred yards apart. The deer, if not shot, are driven before them, and try to make their escape up the slopes leading out from the sides of the gulch. They are then either shot down or frightened back by men stationed at these places. As they cannot get back, owing to the drivers, they are forced to go towards the bottom of the gulch, where most of them are shot by the main body of the marks- men, who are stationed there behind trees or under other cover. Sometimes a large number of deer are killed in one drive in this way. The Upper Thompsons sometimes surrounded a valley from all sides, and drove the deer towards the centre,
Generally the oldest hunter present divided the deer, which was cut into nine pieces. The forelegs were cut away from the body, The two ribs or sides were separated from the back. The brisket was cut out, and the back cut in two near the shoulders, leaving the head and neck attached to the front half. In a fat buck, besides these cuts, the fleshy and fatty part of the body between the skin and the bones was laid off in an entire piece. This was considered the best part of a fat buck, as there were no bones in it, and it contained a large part of the fat of the animal.
When the party was not very large, the drivers were necessarily a consider- able distance apart, which gave the deer a better chance to escape. In this case the drivers resorted to shouting. This of course frightened the deer, and caused them to run away from the drivers. Sometimes, when there were hot hunters enough, and it was desired to “drive” a certain place, women and boys were pressed into service. In some of the flatter and more open parts of the country, deer were sometimes hunted by the Indians on horseback; but most of the country is too rough for hunting in this manner. ;
Formerly deer were also caught in nets. These were about seven feet high and from fifteen to two hundred yards long. This method of hunting was prac- tised by the Spences Bridge and Nicola bands, but to a still greater extent among the Okanagon. The nets used were generally made of the bark of Apocynum cannabinum L, They had large meshes, and were set at evening in open patches, between clumps of bushes, forming a corral open at one side. The nets were tied to the bushes, shutting off the open space between them. ‘They were often set across deer-trails. Generally early in the morning there were some deer in the corral unable to find their way out. Then the entrance was guarded, and men went in to shoot the deer or drive them into the nets, in which they were en- tangled. Deer were also driven into the corral by men, women, and children, who formed a large half-circle, and gradually drove towards the entrance of the net.
Large hunting-parties would sometimes kill elk by driving them over cliffs which border plateaus in some places, Deer and elk were also killed in winter, when there was very deep snow in the mountains, by being run down by hunters on snowshoes, who shot or clubbed them when near enough. Dogs also soon ran them down when the snow was deep and had a thick crust.
TEIT, THE ‘THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 249
At the present day the men of the Upper Thompsons hunt a good deal. Even those engayed in farming and other work often make short hunting-trips, especially in winter-time, when, as a rule, there is not much other work to be done,
Hares, squirrels, and grouse of several varieties, were either snared in their haunts or shot with arrows, as described above (Fig. 222, 7). <A trap for small game is shown in Fig, 22 The snare, like all others, is made of twine of Apocynum cannabinum L. The sides of the loop rest in notches cut in the sides of the trap- stick, These snares were \ set on the animal’s run, The spring-pole is generally from five to six feet long.
Bears were generally hunted with bow and arrow, but sometimes with dogs. They were also trapped by means of dead falls. Mountain-goat and big-horn sheep were hunted with bow and arrows, Beaver were also occasionally hunted with dogs. They were killed with a spear with a bone point. Coyotes and foxes were often caught by digging or smoking them out of their holes. To kill black bear or cougar was considered no great feet; but the hunter who had _ killed, single-handed, grisly and especially silver-tip bear, was highly respected for his courage ; and for this reason many young men hunted the grisly. Many stories are related of desperate encounters with this animal. ‘The introduction of the repeating-rifle has minimized to a great extent the dangers of such encounters, The Indians claim that the grislies were much less fierce in some parts of the country than in others. Stories are related of an Indian who lived a couple of generations ago, and hunted the grisly with weapons peculiar to him- self, One of these was a bone, which he held by the middle with his hand. It was sharpened to a point at both ends. His other weapon was a stone club. When the grisly opened its mouth and stood up to fight him, the Indian shoved the hand holding the bone (with the points up and down) into the animal’s mouth, When the beast closed its mouth, the sharp points pierced it, causing it great pain; then, while the bear was trying with its paws to take the obstruction out of its mouth, the Indian clubbed it. Excepting some of the older men, very few of the Indians now trap or snare game or fur-bearing animals, The young men prefer hunting to trapping.
Fisuinc. — In the larger rivers, where the current is generally rapid, salmon and other fish are caught by means of the bag-net (Fig. 230). The net is
Fig. 229 (gh$7). Snare for Small Game.
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250 TEIT, THE THOMPSON INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, : made of bark twine woven in large meshes. The size of the mouth is about equal to the space enclosed by a man’s extended arms with the middle fingers touching
each other. This bag is fas-
Pn te , tened on a hoop, generally jt Sua\s r of fir or cedar, which has a SR long, straight handle of the
x ayy ( same material. Around the
. £9 nay och sy hoop there are small horn
SK ine a rings, to which the bag is
NYY attached. In nets used for
58) ey the capture of small fish
Sy” the meshes of the et are
cas fastened to the ho»p. A string, to which a_ small piece of stick is fastened at one end, for a handle, is attached to the bag, and this is held in the hand of the fisherman while manipulating the net. When he is sure of a capture, he lets go the piece of stick, when the weight of the fish causes the horn rings to come together, and thus close the mouth of the net. The fisherman then draws the net ashore, pulls the stick, thereby opening the bag, and throws the fish*out. It is then put into a rather large circular hole made by scraping away bowlders, which are piled up around the sides, leaving a clear space of pebbles, sand, or gravel in the centre. The bowlders around the edges form a wall a foot or two high. Near this hole is kept a small stick to be put into the fish's mouth and gills, and to break its neck by pressing the head backward, as well as a short club of wood or stone for striking the fish on the head and killing it when first taken out of the water.
Drag-nets are occasionally used in winter, spring, and early summer, especially in lakes and in the pools of rivers. They are generally about twenty fathoms long, and their meshes are of about the same size as those of the dip-nets, or slightly smaller. Some of them are set by being fastened to stakes at each end, or have sticks for buoys, and stone sinkers at the bottom. They are left in the water all night, and hauled into a canoe in the morning.
Plai.orms reaching a few feet out from the edge of the river are erected for the fisherman to sit on while dipping his net into the stream, which he does at short intervals, drawing it down with the current. These platforms are built at those spots where the fish “hug the shore” in their attempt to get up a rapid stretch of water. About three yards or so upstream, above the platform, a few stakes about half a foot apart, and reaching a few feet above the surface of the water, are driven into the river-bottom. Large flat bowlders held in both hands were used as pile-drivers. The stakes are tied near their tops