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

The Kenai[179 - Tnai, 'man;' Tnaina Ttynai, Thnaina, Kinai, Kenai, Kenaize.] nation includes the Ingaliks, of the Lower Yukon; the Koltchanes, of the Kuskoquim River; and to the south-eastward, the Kenais, of the Kenai Peninsula, and the Atnas, of Copper River.[180 - See notes on Boundaries (#pgepubid00021) at the end of this chapter.]

Thus we see that the Tinneh are essentially an inland people, barred out from the frozen ocean by a thin strip of Eskimo land, and barely touching the Pacific at Cook Inlet. Philologists, however, find dialectic resemblances, imaginary or real, between them and the Umpquas[181 - Besides the 'Umkwa,' being outlying members of the Athabaskan stock,' there are the 'Navahoe, the Jecorilla, the Panalero, along with the Apatsh of New Mexico, California, and Sonora. To these add the Hoopah of California, which is also Athabaskan.' Latham's Comp. Phil., p. 393.] and Apaches.[182 - William W. Turner was the first to assert positively that the Apaches spoke a language which belongs to the Athabascan family. Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Sprache, p. 316.]

    THE CHEPEWYANS.

The name Chepewyan signifies 'pointed coat,' and derives its origin from the parka, coat, or outer garment, so universally common throughout this region. It is made of several skins differently dressed and ornamented in different localities, but always cut with the skirt pointed before and behind. The Chepewyans believe that their ancestors migrated from the east, and therefore those of them who are born nearest their eastern boundary, are held in the greatest estimation. The Dog-ribs alone refer their origin to the west.

The Chepewyans are physically characterized by a long full face,[183 - Face 'oval.' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Broad faces, projecting cheek-bones, and wide nostrils.' Id., vol. i., p. 242. Foreheads low, chin long. Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. An exact compound between the Usquemows and Western Indians. Barrow's Geog. Hudson Bay, p. 33.] tall slim figure;[184 - Generally more than medium size. Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Well proportioned, and about the middle size.' Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Long-bodied, with short, stout limbs.' Ross, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.] in complexion they are darker than coast tribes,[185 - 'Dingy copper.' Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 526. 'Swarthy.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Dingy brown, copper cast. Hearne's Trav., p. 305. 'Very fresh and red.' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Dirty yellowish ochre tinge.' Ross, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.] and have small piercing black eyes,[186 - 'Small, fine eyes and teeth.' Franklin's Nar., vol. i., 242.] flowing hair,[187 - 'Hair lank, but not always of a dingy black. Men in general extract their beard, though some of them are seen to prefer a bushy, black beard, to a smooth chin.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix. Beard in the aged 'between two and three inches long, and perfectly white.' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. 'Black, strait, and coarse.' Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 524. 'Neither sex have any hair under their armpits, and very little on any other part of the body, particularly the women; but on the place where Nature plants the hair, I never knew them attempt to eradicate it.' Hearne's Trav., p. 306.] and tattooed cheeks and forehead.[188 - Tattooing appears to be universal among the Kutchins. Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 419. The Chepewyans tattooed 'by entering an awl or needle under the skin, and, on drawing it out again, immediately rubbing powdered charcoal into the wound.' Hearne's Trav., p. 306. 'Both sexes have blue or black bars, or from one to four straight lines on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to which they belong.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxx.] Altogether they are pronounced an inferior race.[189 - Women 'destitute of real beauty.' Hearne's Trav., p. 89. 'Very inferior aspect.' Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 8. Women nasty. Mackenzie's Voy., p. 126. 'Positively hideous.' Ross, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 304.] Into the composition of their garments enter beaver, moose, and deer-skin, dressed with and without the hair, sewed with sinews and ornamented with claws, horns, teeth, and feathers.[190 - A Deer-Horn Mountaineer's dress 'consisted of a shirt, or jacket with a hood, wide breeches, reaching only to the knee, and tight leggins sewed to the shoes, all of deer's skins.' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. The cap consists of the skin of a deer's head. Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii.]

    THE NORTHERN INDIANS.

The Northern Indian man is master of his household.[191 - As witness this speech of a noble chief: 'Women were made for labor; one of them can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do. They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as traveling any considerable distance, in this country without their assistance.' Hearne's Trav., p. 55.] He marries without ceremony, and divorces his wife at his pleasure.[192 - An Indian desiring another one's wife, fights with her husband, principally by pulling hair. If victorious, he pays a number of skins to the husband. Hooper's Tuski, p. 303.] A man of forty buys or fights for a spouse of twelve,[193 - 'Continence in an unmarried female is scarcely considered a virtue.' 'Their dispositions are not amatory.' 'I have heard among them of two sons keeping their mother as a common wife, of another wedded to his daughter, and of several married to their sisters. Ross, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 310. Women carry their children on the back next the skin, and suckle them until another is born. They do not suspend their ordinary occupations for child-birth. Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxii. 'A temporary interchange of wives is not uncommon; and the offer of their persons is considered as a necessary part of the hospitality due to strangers.' Id., p. xcvi. Women are 'rather the slaves than the companions of the men.' Bell's Geog., vol. v., p. 293.] and when tired of her whips her and sends her away. Girls on arriving at the age of womanhood must retire from the village and live for a time apart.[194 - They are harsh towards their wives, except when enceinte. They are accused of abandoning the aged and sick, but only one case came to his knowledge. Franklin's Nar., vol. i., pp. 250, 251.] The Chepewyans inhabit huts of brush and portable skin tents. They derive their origin from a dog. At one time they were so strongly imbued with respect for their canine ancestry that they entirely ceased to employ dogs in drawing their sledges, greatly to the hardship of the women upon whom this laborious task fell.

Their food consists mostly of fish and reindeer, the latter being easily taken in snares. Much of their land is barren, but with sufficient vegetation to support numerous herds of reindeer, and fish abound in their lakes and streams. Their hunting grounds are held by clans, and descend by inheritance from one generation to another, which has a salutary effect upon the preservation of game. Indian law requires the successful hunter to share the spoils of the chase with all present. When game is abundant, their tent-fires never die, but are surrounded during all hours of the day and night by young and old cooking their food.[195 - Beeatee, prepared from deer only, 'is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly cut into small shivers; all of which is put into the stomach, and roasted.' Hearne's Trav., p. 144. 'Not remarkable for their activity as hunters, owing to the ease with which they snare deer and spear fish.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiii. The Deer-Horn Mountaineers 'repair to the sea in spring and kill seals; as the season advances, they hunt deer and musk oxen at some distance from the coast. They approach the deer either by crawling, or by leading these animals by ranges of turf towards the spot where the archer can conceal himself.' Do not use nets, but the hook and line. Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. 'Nets made of lines of twisted willow-bark, or thin strips of deer-hide.' Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 25. Curdled blood, a favorite dish. Simpson's Nar., p. 324.]

Superabundance of food, merchandise, or anything which they wish to preserve without the trouble of carrying it about with them while on hunting or foraging expeditions, is cached, as they term it; from the French, cacher, to conceal. Canadian fur-hunters often resorted to this artifice, but the practice was common among the natives before the advent of Europeans. A sudden necessity often arises in Indian countries for the traveler to relieve himself from burdens. This is done by digging a hole in the earth and depositing the load therein, so artfully covering it as to escape detection by the wily savages. Goods may be cached in a cave, or in the branches of a tree, or in the hollow of a log. The camp-fire is frequently built over the spot where stores have been deposited, in order that the disturbance of the surface may not be detected.

Their weapons[196 - The weapons of the Chepewyans are bows and arrows; stone and bone axes and knives. Harmon's Jour., p. 183. The bows of the Deer-Horns 'are formed of three pieces of fir, the centre piece alone bent, the other two lying in the same straight line with the bowstring; the pieces are neatly tied together with sinew. Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 180. In preparing for an attack, each Coppermine Indian paints his shield with figures of Sun, Moon, or some animal or imaginary beings, each portraying whatever character he most relies upon. Hearne's Trav., p. 148. In some parts hunting grounds descend by inheritance, and the right of property is rigidly enforced. Simpson's Nar., p. 75.] and their utensils[197 - 'Their cooking utensils are made of pot-stone, and they form very neat dishes of fir.' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 181. Make fishing-lines and nets of green deer-thongs. Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxvi.] are of the most primitive kind – stone and bone being used in place of metal.

Their dances, which are always performed in the night, are not original, but are borrowed from the Southern and Dog-rib Indians. They consist in raising the feet alternately in quick succession, as high as possible without moving the body, to the sound of a drum or rattle.[198 - 'They are great mimics.' Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 13. Men dance naked; women dressed. A crowd stand in a straight line, and shuffle from right to left without moving the feet from the ground. Hearne's Trav., p. 335. 'The men occasionally howl in imitation of some animal.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 35.]

They never bury their dead, but leave the bodies where they fall, to be devoured by the birds and beasts of prey.[199 - 'They manifest no common respect to the memory of their departed friends, by a long period of mourning, cutting off their hair, and never making use of the property of the deceased.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxviii. The death of leading men is attributed to conjuring. They never bury the dead, but leave them, where they die, for wild beasts to devour. Hearne's Trav., p. 341. The Chepewyans bury their dead. When mourning for relatives they gash their bodies with knives. Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., pp. 21, 22.] Their religion consists chiefly in songs and speeches to these birds and beasts and to imaginary beings, for assistance in performing cures of the sick.[200 - 'The Northern Indians seldom attain a great age, though they have few diseases.' Martin's Brit. Col., vol. iii., p. 525. For inward complaints, the doctors blow zealously into the rectum, or adjacent parts. Hearne's Trav., p. 189. The conjurer shuts himself up for days with the patient, without food, and sings over him. Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 41. Medicine-men or conjurers are at the same time doctors. Hooper's Tuski, pp. 317, 318. 'The Kutchins practice blood-letting ad libitum.' Jones, Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 325. 'Their principal maladies are rheumatic pains, the flux, and consumption.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxiv.] Old age is treated with disrespect and neglect, one half of both sexes dying before their time for want of care. The Northern Indians are frequently at war with the Eskimos and Southern Indians, for whom they at all times entertain the most inveterate hatred. The Copper Indians, bordering on the southern boundary of the Eskimos at the Coppermine River, were originally the occupants of the territory south of Great Slave Lake.

The Dog-ribs, or Slavés as they are called by neighboring nations, are indolent, fond of amusement, but mild and hospitable. They are so debased, as savages, that the men do the laborious work, while the women employ themselves in household affairs and ornamental needlework. Young married men have been known to exhibit specimens of their wives' needle-work with pride. From their further advancement in civilization, and the tradition which they hold of having migrated from the westward, were it not that their language differs from that of contiguous tribes only in accent, they might naturally be considered of different origin. Bands of Dog-ribs meeting after a long absence greet each other with a dance, which frequently continues for two or three days. First clearing a spot of ground, they take an arrow in the right hand and a bow in the left, and turning their backs each band to the other, they approach dancing, and when close together they feign to perceive each other's presence for the first time; the bow and arrow are instantly transferred from one hand to the other, in token of their non-intention to use them against friends. They are very improvident, and frequently are driven to cannibalism and suicide.[201 - According to the report of the Dog-ribs, the Mountain Indians are cannibals, casting lots for victims in time of scarcity. Simpson's Nar., p. 188. 'Instances of suicide, by hanging, frequently occur among the women.' Harmon's Jour., p. 198. During times of starvation, which occur quite frequently, the Slavé Indians eat their families. Hooper's Tuski, p. 303. 'These people take their names, in the first instance, from their dogs. A young man is the father of a certain dog, but when he is married, and has a son, he styles himself the father of the boy. The women have a habit of reproving the dogs very tenderly when they observe them fighting. "Are you not ashamed," say they, "to quarrel with your little brother?"' Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., pp. 85, 86. 'Whether circumcision be practiced among them, I cannot pretend to say, but the appearance of it was general among those whom I saw.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 36. Dog-rib Indians, sometimes also called Slavés, 'a name properly meaning 'strangers.' Gallatin, in Am. Arch. Soc. Trans., vol. ii., p. 19.]

    HARES, DOG-RIBS, AND TACULLIES.

The Hare Indians, who speak a dialect of the Tinneh scarcely to be distinguished from that of the Dog-ribs, are looked upon by their neighbors as great conjurers. The Hare and Sheep Indians look upon their women as inferior beings. From childhood they are inured to every description of drudgery, and though not treated with special cruelty, they are placed at the lowest point in the scale of humanity. The characteristic stoicism of the red race is not manifested by these tribes. Socialism is practiced to a considerable extent. The hunter is allowed only the tongue and ribs of the animal he kills, the remainder being divided among the members of the tribe.

The Hares and Dog-ribs do not cut the finger-nails of female children until four years of age, in order that they may not prove lazy; the infant is not allowed food until four days after birth, in order to accustom it to fasting in the next world.

The Sheep Indians are reported as being cannibals. The Red-knives formerly hunted reindeer and musk-oxen at the northern end of Great Bear Lake, but they were finally driven eastward by the Dog-ribs. Laws and government are unknown to the Chepewyans.[202 - 'Order is maintained in the tribe solely by public opinion.' Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 26. The chiefs are now totally without power. Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 247. 'They are influenced, more or less, by certain principles which conduce to their general benefit.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxv.]

    THE TACULLIES, OR CARRIERS.

The Tacullies, or, as they were denominated by the fur-traders, 'Carriers,' are the chief tribe of New Caledonia, or North-western British America. They call themselves Tacullies, or 'men who go upon water,' as their travels from one village to another are mostly accomplished in canoes. This, with their sobriquet of 'Carriers,' clearly indicates their ruling habitudes. The men are more finely formed than the women, the latter being short, thick, and disproportionately large in their lower limbs. In their persons they are slovenly; in their dispositions, lively and contented. As they are able to procure food[203 - 'Many consider a broth, made by means of the dung of the cariboo and the hare, to be a dainty dish.' Harmon's Jour., p. 324. They 'are lazy, dirty, and sensual,' and extremely uncivilized. 'Their habits and persons are equally disgusting.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 62. 'They are a tall, well formed, good-looking race.' Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154. 'An utter contempt of cleanliness prevailed on all hands, and it was revolting to witness their voracious endeavors to surpass each other in the gluttonous contest.' Ind. Life, p. 156.] with but little labor, they are naturally indolent, but appear to be able and willing to work when occasion requires it. Their relations with white people have been for the most part amicable; they are seldom quarrelsome, though not lacking bravery. The people are called after the name of the village in which they dwell. Their primitive costume consists of hare, musk-rat, badger, and beaver skins, sometimes cut into strips an inch broad, and woven or interlaced. The nose is perforated by both sexes, the men suspending therefrom a brass, copper, or shell ornament, the women a wooden one, tipped with a bead at either end.[204 - The women 'run a wooden pin through their noses.' Harmon's Jour., p. 287. At their burial ceremonies they smear the face 'with a composition of fish-oil and charcoal.' When conjuring, the chief and his companions 'wore a kind of coronet formed of the inverted claws of the grizzly bear.' Ind. Life, pp. 127, 158.] Their avarice lies in the direction of hiaqua shells, which find their way up from the sea-coast through other tribes. In 1810, these beads were the circulating medium of the country, and twenty of them would buy a good beaver-skin. Their paint is made of vermilion obtained from the traders, or of a pulverized red stone mixed with grease. They are greatly addicted to gambling, and do not appear at all dejected by ill fortune, spending days and nights in the winter season at their games, frequently gambling away every rag of clothing and every trinket in their possession. They also stake parts of a garment or other article, and if losers, cut off a piece of coat-sleeve or a foot of gun-barrel. Native cooking vessels are made of bark, or of the roots or fibres of trees, woven so as to hold water, in which are placed heated stones for the purpose of cooking food.[205 - The Tacullies have 'wooden dishes, and other vessels of the rind of the birch and pine trees.' 'Have also other vessels made of small roots or fibres of the cedar or pine tree, closely laced together, which serve them as buckets to put water in.' Harmon's Jour., p. 292.] Polygamy is practiced, but not generally. The Tacullies are fond of their wives, performing the most of the household drudgery in order to relieve them, and consequently they are very jealous of them. But to their unmarried daughters, strange as it may seem, they allow every liberty without censure or shame. The reason which they give for this strange custom is, that the purity of their wives is thereby better preserved.[206 - 'In the summer season both sexes bathe often; and this is the only time, when the married people wash themselves.' The Tacullies are very fond and very jealous of their wives, 'but to their daughters, they allow every liberty, for the purpose, as they say, of keeping the young men from intercourse with the married women.' Harmon's Jour., pp. 289, 292, 293. A father, whose daughter had dishonored him, killed her and himself. Ind. Life, 184.]

During a portion of every year the Tacullies dwell in villages, conveniently situated for catching and drying salmon. In April they visit the lakes and take small fish; and after these fail, they return to their villages and subsist upon the fish they have dried, and upon herbs and berries. From August to October, salmon are plentiful again. Beaver are caught in nets made from strips of cariboo-skins, and also in cypress and steel traps. They are also sometimes shot with guns or with bows and arrows. Smaller game they take in various kinds of traps.

The civil polity of the Tacullies is of a very primitive character. Any person may become a miuty or chief who will occasionally provide a village feast. A malefactor may find protection from the avenger in the dwelling of a chief, so long as he is permitted to remain there, or even afterwards if he has upon his back any one of the chief's garments. Disputes are usually adjusted by some old man of the tribe. The boundaries of the territories belonging to the different villages are designated by mountains, rivers, or other natural objects, and the rights of towns, as well as of individuals, are most generally respected; but broils are constantly occasioned by murders, abduction of women, and other causes, between these separate societies.[207 - 'The people of every village have a certain extent of country, which they consider their own, and in which they may hunt and fish; but they may not transcend these bounds, without purchasing the privilege of those who claim the land. Mountains and rivers serve them as boundaries.' Harmon's Jour., p. 298.]

When seriously ill, the Carriers deem it an indispensable condition to their recovery that every secret crime should be confessed to the magician. Murder, of any but a member of the same village, is not considered a heinous offense. They at first believed reading and writing to be the exercise of magic art. The Carriers know little of medicinal herbs. Their priest or magician is also the doctor, but before commencing his operations in the sick room, he must receive a fee, which, if his efforts prove unsuccessful, he is obliged to restore. The curative process consists in singing a melancholy strain over the invalid, in which all around join. This mitigates pain, and often restores health. Their winter tenements are frequently made by opening a spot of earth to the depth of two feet, across which a ridge-pole is placed, supported at either end by posts; poles are then laid from the sides of the excavation to the ridge-pole and covered with hay. A hole is left in the top for purposes of entrance and exit, and also in order to allow the escape of smoke.[208 - Mackenzie, Voy., p. 238, found on Fraser River, about latitude 55°, a deserted house, 30 by 20, with three doors, 3 by 3½ feet; three fire-places, and beds on either side; behind the beds was a narrow space, like a manger, somewhat elevated, for keeping fish. 'Their houses are well formed of logs of small trees, buttressed up internally, frequently above seventy feet long and fifteen high, but, unlike those of the coast, the roof is of bark; their winter habitations are smaller, and often covered over with grass and earth; some even dwell in excavations of the ground, which have only an aperture at the top, and serves alike for door and chimney.' Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 154.]

Slavery is common with them; all who can afford it keeping slaves. They use them as beasts of burden, and treat them most inhumanly. The country of the Sicannis in the Rocky Mountains is sterile, yielding the occupants a scanty supply of food and clothing. They are nevertheless devotedly attached to their bleak land, and will fight for their rude homes with the most patriotic ardor.

    NEHANNES AND TALKOTINS.

The Nehannes usually pass the summer in the vicinity of the sea-coast, and scour the interior during the winter for furs, which they obtain from inland tribes by barter or plunder, and dispose of to the European traders. It is not a little remarkable that this warlike and turbulent horde was at one time governed by a woman. Fame gives her a fair complexion, with regular features, and great intelligence. Her influence over her fiery people, it is said, was perfect; while her warriors, the terror and scourge of the surrounding country, quailed before her eye. Her word was law, and was obeyed with marvelous alacrity. Through her influence the condition of the women of her tribe was greatly raised.

Great ceremonies, cruelty, and superstition attend burning the dead, which custom obtains throughout this region,[209 - 'Quelques peuplades du nord, telles que les Sikanis, enterrent leurs morts.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 339. 'The Sicaunies bury, while the Tacullies, burn their dead.' Harmon's Jour., p. 196. They 'and the Chimmesyans on the coast, and other tribes speaking their language, burn the dead.' Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 236. See also Dunn's Oregon, pp. 79, 80; Ind. Life, pp. 128, 136; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 362, 363.] and, as usual in savagism, woman is the sufferer. When the father of a household dies, the entire family, or, if a chief, the tribe, are summoned to present themselves.[210 - They fire guns as a warning to their friends not to invade their sorrow. Mackenzie's Voy., p. 139.] Time must be given to those most distant to reach the village before the ceremony begins.[211 - 'In the winter season, the Carriers often keep their dead in their huts during five or six months, before they will allow them to be burned.' Harmon's Jour., p. 249.] The Talkotin wife, when all is ready, is compelled to ascend the funeral pile, throw herself upon her husband's body and there remain until nearly suffocated, when she is permitted to descend. Still she must keep her place near the burning corpse, keep it in a proper position, tend the fire, and if through pain or faintness she fails in the performance of her duties, she is held up and pressed forward by others; her cries meanwhile are drowned in wild songs, accompanied by the beating of drums.[212 - 'She must frequently put her hands through the flames and lay them upon his bosom, to show her continued devotion.' Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 239. They have a custom of mourning over the grave of the dead; their expressions of grief are generally exceedingly vociferous. Ind. Life, pp. 185, 186.]

When the funeral pile of a Tacully is fired, the wives of the deceased, if there are more than one, are placed at the head and foot of the body. Their duty there is to publicly demonstrate their affection for the departed; which they do by resting their head upon the dead bosom, by striking in frenzied love the body, nursing and battling the fire meanwhile. And there they remain until the hair is burned from their head, until, suffocated and almost senseless, they stagger off to a little distance; then recovering, attack the corpse with new vigor, striking it first with one hand and then with the other, until the form of the beloved is reduced to ashes. Finally these ashes are gathered up, placed in sacks, and distributed one sack to each wife, whose duty it is to carry upon her person the remains of the departed for the space of two years. During this period of mourning the women are clothed in rags, kept in a kind of slavery, and not allowed to marry. Not unfrequently these poor creatures avoid their term of servitude by suicide. At the expiration of the time, a feast is given them, and they are again free. Structures are erected as repositories for the ashes of their dead,[213 - 'On the end of a pole stuck in front of the lodge.' Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 237.] in which the bag or box containing the remains is placed. These grave-houses are of split boards about one inch in thickness, six feet high, and decorated with painted representations of various heavenly and earthly objects.

The Indians of the Rocky Mountains burn with the deceased all his effects, and even those of his nearest relatives, so that it not unfrequently happens that a family is reduced to absolute starvation in the dead of winter, when it is impossible to procure food. The motive assigned to this custom is, that there may be nothing left to bring the dead to remembrance.

A singular custom prevails among the Nateotetain women, which is to cut off one joint of a finger upon the death of a near relative. In consequence of this practice some old women may be seen with two joints off every finger on both hands. The men bear their sorrows more stoically, being content in such cases with shaving the head and cutting their flesh with flints.[214 - Women cut off a joint of one of their fingers. Men only cut off their hair close to their heads, but also frequently cut and scratch their faces and arms. Harmon's Jour., p. 182. With some sharp instrument they 'force back the flesh beyond the first joint, which they immediately amputate.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 148.]

    KUTCHIN CHARACTERISTICS.

The Kutchins are the flower of the Tinneh family. They are very numerous, numbering about twenty-two tribes. They are a more noble and manly people than either the Eskimos upon the north or the contiguous Tinneh tribes upon their own southern boundary. The finest specimens dwell on the Yukon River. The women tattoo the chin with a black pigment, and the men draw a black stripe down the forehead and nose, frequently crossing the forehead and cheeks with red lines, and streaking the chin alternately with red and black. Their features are more regular than those of their neighbors, more expressive of boldness, frankness, and candor; their foreheads higher, and their complexions lighter. The Tenan Kutchin of the Tananah River, one of the largest tribes of the Yukon Valley, are somewhat wilder and more ferocious in their appearance. The boys are precocious, and the girls marry at fifteen.[215 - 'The men are completely destitute of beard, and both men and women, are intensely ugly.' Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 320. 'They reminded me of the ideal North American Indian I had read of but never seen.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Distinguished from all other tribes for the frankness and candor of their demeanor, and bold countenances. Simpson's Nar., p. 100. 'Males are of the average hight of Europeans, and well-formed, with regular features, high foreheads, and lighter complexions than those of the other red Indians. The women resemble the men.' Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 379.] The Kutchins of Peel River, as observed by Mr Isbister, "are an athletic and fine-looking race; considerable above the average stature, most of them being upwards of six feet in height and remarkably well proportioned."

Their clothing is made from the skins of reindeer, dressed with the hair on; their coat cut after the fashion of the Eskimos, with skirts peaked before and behind, and elaborately trimmed with beads and dyed porcupine-quills. The Kutchins, in common with the Eskimos, are distinguished by a similarity in the costume of the sexes. Men and women wear the same description of breeches. Some of the men have a long flap attached to their deer-skin shirts, shaped like a beaver's tail, and reaching nearly to the ground.[216 - 'Tunic or shirt reaching to the knees, and very much ornamented with beads, and Hyaqua shells from the Columbia.' Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418. The Tenan Kutchins are 'gay with painted faces, feathers in their long hair, patches of red clay at the back of their head.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 239. Jackets like the Eskimos. Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 221. 'Both sexes wear breeches.' Simpson's Nar., p. 103.] Of the coat, Mr Whymper says: "If the reader will imagine a man dressed in two swallow-tailed coats, one of them worn as usual, the other covering his stomach and buttoned behind, he will get some idea of this garment." Across the shoulders and breast they wear a broad band of beads, with narrower bands round the forehead and ankles, and along the seams of their leggins. They are great traders; beads are their wealth, used in the place of money, and the rich among them literally load themselves with necklaces and strings of various patterns.[217 - 'The Kutch-a-Kutchin, are essentially traders.' Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418. Appear to care more for useful than ornamental articles. Whymper's Alaska, p. 213. 'Dentalium and arenicola shells are transmitted from the west coast in traffic, and are greatly valued.' Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 391.] The nose and ears are adorned with shells.[218 - Some wear 'wampum (a kind of long, hollow shell) through the septum of the nose.' Hooper's Tuski, p. 270. They pierce the nose and insert shells, which are obtained from the Eskimos at a high price. Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., p. 84.] The hair is worn in a long cue, ornamented with feathers, and bound with strings of beads and shells at the head, with flowing ends, and so saturated with grease and birds' down as to swell it sometimes to the thickness of the neck. They pay considerable attention to personal cleanliness. The Kutchins construct both permanent underground dwellings and the temporary summer-hut or tent.[219 - The Loucheux live in huts 'formed of green branches. In winter their dwellings are partly under ground. The spoils of the moose and reindeer furnish them with meat, clothing, and tents.' Simpson's Nar., pp. 103, 191. The Co-Yukon winter dwellings are made under ground, and roofed over with earth, having a hole for the smoke to escape by, in the same manner as those of the Malemutes and Ingaliks. Whymper's Alaska, pp. 175, 205. Their movable huts are constructed of deer-skin, 'dressed with the hair on, and sewed together, forming two large rolls, which are stretched over a frame of bent poles,' with a side door and smoke-hole at the top. Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 321.]

    FOOD OF THE KUTCHINS.

On the Yukon, the greatest scarcity of food is in the spring. The winter's stores are exhausted, and the bright rays of the sun upon the melting snow almost blind the eyes of the deer-hunter. The most plentiful supply of game is in August, September, and October, after which the forming of ice on the rivers prevents fishing until December, when the winter traps are set. The reindeer are in good condition in August, and geese are plentiful. Salmon ascend the river in June, and are taken in great quantities until about the first of September; fish are dried or smoked without salt, for winter use. Fur-hunting begins in October; and in December, trade opens with the Eskimos, with whom furs are exchanged for oil and seal-skins.

The Kutchin of the Yukon are unacquainted with nets, but catch their fish by means of weirs or stakes planted across rivers and narrow lakes, having openings for wicker baskets, by which they intercept the fish. They hunt reindeer in the mountains and take moose-deer in snares.[220 - The Loucheux are 'great gormandizers, and will devour solid fat, or even drink grease, to surfeiting.' Hooper's Tuski, p. 271. 'The bears are not often eaten in summer, as their flesh is not good at that time.' Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 321. Some of their reindeer-pounds are over one hundred years old and are hereditary in the family. Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 394. 'The mode of fishing through the ice practiced by the Russians is much in vogue with them.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 211.]

Both Kutchins and Eskimos are very jealous regarding their boundaries; but the incessant warfare which is maintained between the littoral and interior people of the northern coast near the Mackenzie river, is not maintained by the north-western tribes. One of either people, however, if found hunting out of his own territory, is very liable to be shot. Some Kutchin tribes permit the Eskimos to take the meat of the game which they kill, provided they leave the skin at the nearest village.[221 - The Kutchins 'have no knowledge of scalping.' 'When a man kills his enemy, he cuts all his joints.' Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, 327. The Loucheux of Peel River and the Eskimos are constantly at war. Hooper's Tuski, p. 273.]

The Kutchins of the Yukon River manufacture cups and pots from clay, and ornament them with crosses, dots, and lines; moulding them by hand after various patterns, first drying them in the sun and then baking them. The Eskimo lamp is also sometimes made of clay. The Tinneh make paint of pulverized colored stones or of earth, mixed with glue. The glue is made from buffalo feet and applied by a moose-hair brush.

In the manufacture of their boats the Kutchins of the Yukon use bark as a substitute for the seal-skins of the coast. They first make a light frame of willow or birch, from eight to sixteen feet in length. Then with fine spruce-fir roots they sew together strips of birch bark, cover the frame, and calk the seams with spruce gum. They are propelled by single paddles or poles. Those of the Mackenzie River are after the same pattern.[222 - 'At Peace River the bark is taken off the tree the whole length of the intended canoe, which is commonly about eighteen feet, and is sewed with watupe at both ends.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 207. When the Kutchins discover a leak, 'they go ashore, light a small fire, warm the gum, of which they always carry a supply, turn the canoe bottom upward, and rub the healing balm in a semi-fluid state into the seam until it is again water-tight.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 225. The Tacullies 'make canoes which are clumsily wrought, of the aspin tree, as well as of the bark of the spruce fir.' Harmon's Jour., p. 291. Rafts are employed on the Mackenzie. Simpson's Nar., p. 185. 'In shape the Northern Indian canoe bears some resemblance to a weaver's shuttle; covered over with birch bark.' Hearne's Jour., pp. 97, 98. 'Kanots aus Birkenrinde, auf denen sie die Flüsse u. Seen befahren.' Baer, Stat. u. Ethn., p. 112. The Kutchin canoe 'is flat-bottomed, is about nine feet long and one broad, and the sides nearly straight up and down like a wall.' Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 323.]

In absence of law, murder and all other crimes are compounded for.[223 - As for instance for a life, the fine is forty beaver-skins, and may be paid in guns at twenty skins each; blankets, equal to ten skins each; powder, one skin a measure; bullets, eighteen for a skin; worsted belts, two skins each. Hooper's Tuski, p. 272. 'For theft, little or no punishment is inflicted; for adultery, the woman only is punished' – sometimes by beating, sometimes by death. Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 325.] A man to be well married must be either rich or strong. A good hunter, who can accumulate beads, and a good wrestler, who can win brides by force, may have from two to five wives. The women perform all domestic duties, and eat after the husband is satisfied, but the men paddle the boats, and have even been known to carry their wives ashore so that they might not wet their feet. The women carry their infants in a sort of bark saddle, fastened to their back; they bandage their feet in order to keep them small.[224 - Kutchin 'female chastity is prized, but is nearly unknown.' Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 325. Loucheux mothers had originally a custom of casting away their female children, but now it is only done by the Mountain Indians, Simpson's Nar., p. 187. The Kutchin 'women are much fewer in number and live a much shorter time than the men.' Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418. The old people 'are not ill-used, but simply neglected.' Whymper's Alaska, p. 229. The children are carried in small chairs made of birch bark. Id., p. 232. 'In a seat of birch bark.' Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 384.] Kutchin amusements are wrestling, leaping, dancing, and singing. They are great talkers, and etiquette forbids any interruption to the narrative of a new comer.[225 - The Loucheux dances 'abound in extravagant gestures, and demand violent exertion.' Simpson's Nar., p. 100. See Hardisty, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 313. 'Singing is much practiced, but it is, though varied, of a very hum-drum nature.' Hooper's Tuski, p. 318. 'At the festivals held on the meeting of friendly tribes, leaping and wrestling are practised.' Richardson's Jour., vol. i., p. 395.]

    THE TENAN KUTCHIN.

The Tenan Kutchin, 'people of the mountains,' inhabiting the country south of Fort Yukon which is drained by the river Tananah, are a wild, ungovernable horde, their territory never yet having been invaded by white people. The river upon which they dwell is supposed to take its rise near the upper Yukon. They allow no women in their deer-hunting expeditions. They smear their leggins and hair with red ochre and grease. The men part their hair in the middle and separate it into locks, which, when properly dressed, look like rolls of red mud about the size of a finger; one bunch of locks is secured in a mass which falls down the neck, by a band of dentalium shells, and two smaller rolls hang down either side of the face. After being soaked in grease and tied, the head is powdered with finely cut swan's down, which adheres to the greasy hair. The women wear few ornaments, perform more than the ordinary amount of drudgery, and are treated more like dogs than human beings. Chastity is scarcely known among them. The Kutcha Kutchin, 'people of the lowland,' are cleaner and better mannered.

The Kutchins have a singular system of totems. The whole nation is divided into three castes, called respectively Chitcheah, Tengratsey, and Natsahi, each occupying a distinct territory. Two persons of the same caste are not allowed to marry; but a man of one caste must marry a woman of another. The mother gives caste to the children, so that as the fathers die off the caste of the country constantly changes. This system operates strongly against war between tribes; as in war, it is caste against caste, and not tribe against tribe. As the father is never of the same caste as the son, who receives caste from his mother, there can never be intertribal war without ranging fathers and sons against each other. When a child is named, the father drops his former name and substitutes that of the child, so that the father receives his name from the child, and not the child from the father.

They have scarcely any government; their chiefs are elected on account of wealth or ability, and their authority is very limited.[226 - 'Irrespective of tribe, they are divided into three classes, termed respectively, Chit-sa, Nate-sa, and Tanges-at-sa, faintly representing the aristocracy, the middle classes, and the poorer orders of civilized nations, the former being the most wealthy and the latter the poorest.' Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 418.] Their custom is to burn the dead, and enclose the ashes in a box placed upon posts; some tribes enclose the body in an elevated box without burning.[227 - On Peel River 'they bury their dead on stages.' On the Yukon they burn and suspend the ashes in bags from the top of a painted pole. Kirby, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 419. They of the Yukon 'do not inter the dead, but put them in oblong boxes, raised on posts.' Whymper's Alaska, pp. 207, 211.]

    THE KENAI.

The Kenai are a fine, manly race, in which Baer distinguishes characteristics decidedly American, and clearly distinct from the Asiatic Eskimos. One of the most powerful Kenai tribes is the Unakatanas, who dwell upon the Koyukuk River, and plant their villages along the banks of the lower Yukon for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. They are bold and ferocious, dominative even to the giving of fashion in dress.

That part of the Yukon which runs through their territory abounds with moose, which during the summer frequent the water in order to avoid the mosquitos, and as the animals are clumsy swimmers, the Indians easily capture them. Their women occupy a very inferior position, being obliged to do more drudgery and embellish their dress with fewer ornaments than those of the upper tribes. The men wear a heavy fringe of beads or shells upon their dress, equal sometimes to two hundred marten-skins in value.

At Nuklukahyet, where the Tananah River joins the Yukon, is a neutral trading-ground to which all the surrounding tribes resort in the spring for traffic. Skins are their moneyed currency, the beaver-skin being the standard; one 'made' beaver-skin represents two marten-skins.

The Ingaliks inhabiting the Yukon near its mouth call themselves Kaeyah Khatana. Their dialect is totally distinct from the Malemutes, their neighbors on the west, but shows an affinity with that of the Unakatanas to their east. Tobacco they both smoke and snuff. The smoke they swallow; snuff is drawn into the nostrils through a wooden tube. They manufacture snuff from leaf tobacco by means of a wooden mortar and pestle, and carry bone or wooden snuff-boxes. They are described by travelers as a timid, sensitive people, and remarkably honest. Ingalik women are delivered kneeling, and without pain, being seldom detained from their household duties for more than an hour. The infant is washed, greased, and fed, and is seldom weaned under two or three years. The women live longer than the men; some of them reaching sixty, while the men rarely attain more than forty-five years.

The Koltschanes, whose name in the dialect of the Kenai signifies 'guest,' and in that of the Atnas of Copper River, 'stranger,' have been charged with great cruelty, and even cannibalism, but without special foundation. Wrangell believes the Koltschanes, Atnas, and Kolosches to be one people.

The Kenai, of the Kenaian peninsula, upon recovery from dangerous illness, give a feast to those who expressed sympathy during the affliction. If a bounteous provision is made upon these occasions, a chieftainship may be obtained thereby; and although the power thus acquired does not descend to one's heir, he may be conditionally recognized as chief. Injuries are avenged by the nearest relative, but if a murder is committed by a member of another clan, all the allied families rise to avenge the wrong. When a person dies, the whole community assemble and mourn. The nearest kinsman, arrayed in his best apparel, with blackened face, his nose and head decked with eagle's feathers, leads the ceremony. All sit round a fire and howl, while the master of the lamentation recounts the notable deeds of the departed, amidst the ringing of bells, and violent stampings, and contortions of his body. The clothing is then distributed to the relatives, the body is burned, the bones collected and interred, and at the expiration of a year a feast is held to the memory of the deceased, after which it is not lawful for a relative to mention his name.