LITMIR.BIZ

For full particulars see Tribal Boundaries at end of this chapter.

'The Newatees, mentioned in many books, are not known on the west coast. Probably the Klah-oh-quahts are meant.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 314.

There are no Indians in the interior. Fitzwilliam's Evidence, in Hud. B. Co., Rept. Spec. Com., 1857, p. 115.

The same name is also applied to one of the Sound nations across the strait in Washington.

The Teets or Haitlins are called by the Tacullies, 'Sa-Chinco' strangers. Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., pp. 73-4.

Sproat's division into nations, 'almost as distinct as the nations of Europe' is into the Quoquoulth (Quackoll) or Fort Rupert, in the north and north-east; the Kowitchan, or Thongeith, on the east and south; Aht on the west coast; and Komux, a distinct tribe also on the east of Vancouver. 'These tribes of the Ahts are not confederated; and I have no other warrant for calling them a nation than the fact of their occupying adjacent territories, and having the same superstitions and language.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 18-19, 311. Mayne makes by language four nations; the first including the Cowitchen in the harbor and valley of the same name north of Victoria, with the Nanaimo and Kwantlum Indians about the mouth of the Fraser River, and the Songhies; the second comprising the Comoux, Nanoose, Nimpkish, Quawguult, etc., on Vancouver, and the Squawmisht, Sechelt, Clahoose, Ucle-tah, Mama-lil-a-culla, etc., on the main, and islands, between Nanaimo and Fort Rupert; the third and fourth groups include the twenty-four west-coast tribes who speak two distinct languages, not named. Mayne's Vanc. Isl., pp. 243-51. Grant's division gives four languages on Vancouver, viz., the Quackoll, from Clayoquot Sound north to C. Scott, and thence S. to Johnson's Strait; the Cowitchin, from Johnson's Strait to Sanetch Arm; the Tsclallum, or Clellum, from Sanetch to Soke, and on the opposite American shore; and the Macaw, from Patcheena to Clayoquot Sound. 'These four principal languages … are totally distinct from each other, both in sound, formation, and modes of expression.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 295. Scouler attempts no division into nations or languages. Lond. Geo. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., pp. 221, 224. Mofras singularly designates them as one nation of 20,000 souls, under the name of Ouakich. Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 343. Recent investigations have shown a somewhat different relationship of these languages, which I shall give more particularly in a subsequent volume.

See Sproat's Scenes, pp. 272-86, on the 'effects upon savages of intercourse with civilized men.' 'Hitherto, (1856) in Vancouver Island, the tribes who have principally been in intercourse with the white man, have found it for their interest to keep up that intercourse in amity for the purposes of trade, and the white adventurers have been so few in number, that they have not at all interfered with the ordinary pursuits of the natives.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 303.

'Muy robustos y bien apersonados.' 'De mediana estatura, excepto los Xefes cuya corpulencia se hace notar.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 55, 124. 'The young princess was of low stature, very plump.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. Macquilla, the chief was five feet eight inches, with square shoulders and muscular limbs; his son was five feet nine inches. Belcher's Voy., vol. i., pp. 110-12. The seaboard tribes have 'not much physical strength.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 73. 'La gente dicen ser muy robusta.' Perez, Rel. del Viage, MS., p. 20. 'Leur taille est moyenne.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 343. 'In general, robust and well proportioned.' Meares' Voy., p. 249. Under the common stature, pretty full and plump, but not muscular – never corpulent, old people lean – short neck and clumsy body; women nearly the same size as the men. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Of smaller stature than the Northern Tribes; they are usually fatter and more muscular.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221. In the north, among the Clayoquots and Quackolls, men are often met of five feet ten inches and over; on the south coast the stature varies from five feet three inches to five feet six inches. Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297. 'The men are in general from about five feet six to five feet eight inches in height; remarkably straight, of a good form, robust and strong.' Only one dwarf was seen. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 60-61. The Klah-oh-quahts are 'as a tribe physically the finest. Individuals may be found in all the tribes who reach a height of five feet eleven inches, and a weight of 180 pounds, without much flesh on their bodies.' Extreme average height: men, five feet six inches, women, five feet one-fourth inch. 'Many of the men have well-shaped forms and limbs. None are corpulent.' 'The men generally have well-set, strong frames, and, if they had pluck and skill, could probably hold their own in a grapple with Englishmen of the same stature.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 22-3. 'Rather above the middle stature, copper-colored and of an athletic make.' Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71; Prichard's Researches, vol. v., p. 442. 'Spare muscular forms.' Barrett-Lennard's Trav., pp. 44; Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem., pp. 14-22.

Limbs small, crooked, or ill-made; large feet; badly shaped, and projecting ankles from sitting so much on their hams and knees. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Their limbs, though stout and athletic, are crooked and ill-shaped.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. 'Ils ont les membres inférieures légèrement arqués, les chevilles très-saillantes, et la pointe des pieds tournée en dedans, difformité qui provient de la manière dont ils sont assis dans leurs canots.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 343-4. 'Stunted, and move with a lazy waddling gait.' Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 428. 'Skeleton shanks … not much physical strength … bow-legged – defects common to the seaboard tribes.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 73-4. All the females of the Northwest Coast are very short-limbed. 'Raro es el que no tiene muy salientes los tobillos y las puntas de los pies inclinadas hácia dentro … y una especie de entumecimiento que se advierte, particularmente en las mugeres.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 124, 30, 62-3. They have great strength in the fingers. Sproat's Scenes, p. 33. Women, short-limbed, and toe in. Id., p. 22; Mayne's B. C., pp. 282-3. 'The limbs of both sexes are ill-formed, and the toes turned inwards.' 'The legs of the women, especially those of the slaves, are often swollen as if oedematous, so that the leg appears of an uniform thickness from the ankle to the calf,' from wearing a garter. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221.

The different Aht tribes vary in physiognomy somewhat – 'faces of the Chinese and Spanish types may be seen.' 'The face of the Ahts is rather broad and flat; the mouth and lips of both men and women are large, though to this there are exceptions, and the cheekbones are broad but not high. The skull is fairly shaped, the eyes small and long, deep set, in colour a lustreless inexpressive black, or very dark hazel, none being blue, grey, or brown… One occasionally sees an Indian with eyes distinctly Chinese. The nose … in some instances is remarkably well-shaped.' 'The teeth are regular, but stumpy, and are deficient in enamel at the points,' perhaps from eating sanded salmon. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 19, 27. 'Their faces are large and full, their cheeks high and prominent, with small black eyes; their noses are broad and flat; their lips thick, and they have generally very fine teeth, and of the most brilliant whiteness.' Meares' Voy., pp. 249-50; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 44. 'La fisonomia de estos (Nitinats) era differente de la de los habitantes de Nutka: tenian el cráneo de figura natural, los ojos chicos muy próximos, cargados los párpados.' Many have a languid look, but few a stupid appearance. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 28, 30, 62-3, 124. 'Dull and inexpressive eye.' 'Unprepossessing and stupid countenances.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 74, 80. The Wickinninish have 'a much less open and pleasing expression of countenance' than the Klaizzarts. The Newchemass 'were the most savage looking and ugly men that I ever saw.' 'The shape of the face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, the lips being thin and the teeth very white and even: their eyes are black but rather small, and the nose pretty well formed, being neither flat nor very prominent.' The women 'are in general very well-looking, and some quite handsome.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 76, 77, 61. 'Features that would have attracted notice for their delicacy and beauty, in those parts of the world where the qualities of the human form are best understood.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. Face round and full, sometimes broad, with prominent cheek-bones … falling in between the temples, the nose flattening at the base, wide nostrils and a rounded point … forehead low; eyes small, black and languishing; mouth round, with large, round, thickish lips; teeth tolerably equal and well-set, but not very white. Remarkable sameness, a dull phlegmatic want of expression; no pretensions to beauty among the women. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-2. See portraits of Nootkas in Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 108; Cook's Atlas, pl. 38-9; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, Atlas; Whymper's Alaska, p. 75. 'Long nose, high cheek bones, large ugly mouth, very long eyes, and foreheads villainously low.' 'The women of Vancouver Island have seldom or ever good features; they are almost invariably pug-nosed; they have however, frequently a pleasing expression, and there is no lack of intelligence in their dark hazel eyes.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 297-8. 'Though without any pretensions to beauty, could not be considered as disagreeable.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. 'Have the common facial characteristics of low foreheads, high cheek-bones, aquiline noses, and large mouths.' 'Among some of the tribes pretty women may be seen.' Mayne's B. C., p. 277.

'Her skin was clean, and being nearly white,' etc. Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. 'Reddish brown, like that of a dirty copper kettle.' Some, when washed, have 'almost a florid complexion.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 297, 299. 'Brown, somewhat inclining to a copper cast.' The women are much whiter, 'many of them not being darker than those in some of the Southern parts of Europe.' The Newchemass are much darker than the other tribes. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 61, 77. 'Their complexion, though light, has more of a copper hue' than that of the Haidahs. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221. 'Skin white, with the clear complexion of Europe.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. The color hard to tell on account of the paint, but in a few cases 'the whiteness of the skin appeared almost to equal that of Europeans; though rather of that pale effete cast … of our southern nations… Their children … also equalled ours in whiteness.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., p. 303. 'Their complexion is a dull brown,' darker than the Haidahs. 'Cook and Meares probably mentioned exceptional cases.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 23-4. 'Tan blancos como el mejor Español.' Perez, Rel. del Viage, MS., p. 20. 'Por lo que se puede inferir del (color) de los niños, parece menos obscuro que el de los Mexicanos,' but judging by the chiefs' daughters they are wholly white. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 125. 'A dark, swarthy copper-coloured figure.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143. They 'have lighter complexions than other aborigines of America.' Greenhow's Hist. Ogn., p. 116. 'Sallow complexion, verging towards copper colour.' Barrett-Lennard's Trav., pp. 44-6. Copper-coloured. Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.

'The hair of the natives is never shaven from the head. It is black or dark brown, without gloss, coarse and lank, but not scanty, worn long… Slaves wear their hair short. Now and then, but rarely, a light-haired native is seen. There is one woman in the Opechisat tribe at Alberni who had curly, or rather wavy, brown hair. Few grey-haired men can be noticed in any tribe. The men's beards and whiskers are deficient, probably from the old alleged custom, now seldom practiced, of extirpating the hairs with small shells. Several of the Nootkah Sound natives (Moouchahts) have large moustaches and whiskers.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 25-7. 'El cabello es largo lacio y grueso, variando su color entre rubio, obscuro, castaño y negro. La barba sale á los mozos con la misma regularidad que á los de otros paises, y llega á ser en los ancianos tan poblada y larga como la de los Turcos; pero los jóvenes parecen imberbes porque se la arrancan con los dedos, ó mas comunmente con pinzas formadas de pequeñas conchas.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 124-5, 57. 'Hair of the head is in great abundance, very coarse, and strong; and without a single exception, black, straight and lank.' No beards at all, or a small thin one on the chin, not from a natural defect, but from plucking. Old men often have beards. Eyebrows scanty and narrow. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Neither beard, whisker, nor moustache ever adorns the face of the redskin.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143; Jewitt's Nar., pp. 61, 75, 77. Hair 'invariably either black or dark brown.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Meares' Voy., p. 250; Mayne's B. C., pp. 277-8; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.

Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 126-7; Sproat's Scenes, pp. 26-7; Meares' Voy., p. 254; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Jewitt's Nar., pp. 21, 23, 62, 65, 77-8; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Mayne's B. C., pp. 277-8; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 44.

Mayne's B. C., pp. 242, 277, with cut of a child with bandaged head, and of a girl with a sugar-loaf head, measuring eighteen inches from the eyes to the summit. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 28-30; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 298; Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 222; Meares' Voy., p. 249; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 441; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 124; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 171; vol. ii., p. 103, cut of three skulls of flattened, conical, and natural form; Kane's Wand., p. 241; Jewitt's Nar., p. 76; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 325; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 45; Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem., p. 115.

At Valdes Island, 'the faces of some were made intirely white, some red, black, or lead colour.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., pp. 307, 341. At Nuñez Gaona Bay, 'se pintan de encarnado y negro.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 30. At Nootka Sound, 'Con esta grasa (de ballena) se untan todo el cuerpo, y despues se pintan con una especie de barniz compuesto de la misma grasa ó aceyte, y de almagre en términos que parece este su color natural.' Chiefs only may paint in varied colors, plebeians being restricted to one.' Id., pp. 125-7. 'Many of the females painting their faces on all occasions, but the men only at set periods.' Vermilion is obtained by barter. Black, their war and mourning color, is made by themselves. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442. 'Ces Indiens enduisent leur corps d'huile de baleine, et se peignent avec des ocres.' Chiefs only may wear different colors, and figures of animals. Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 344. 'Rub their bodies constantly with a red paint, of a clayey or coarse ochry substance, mixed with oil… Their faces are often stained with a black, a brighter red, or a white colour, by way of ornament… They also strew the brown martial mica upon the paint, which makes it glitter.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., p. 305. 'A line of vermilion extends from the centre of the forehead to the tip of the nose, and from this "trunk line" others radiate over and under the eyes and across the cheeks. Between these red lines white and blue streaks alternately fill the interstices. A similar pattern ornaments chest, arms, and back, the frescoing being artistically arranged to give apparent width to the chest.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143. 'They paint the face in hideous designs of black and red (the only colours used), and the parting of the hair is also coloured red.' Mayne's B. C., p. 277. 'At great feasts the faces of the women are painted red with vermilion or berry-juice, and the men's faces are blackened with burnt wood. About the age of twenty-five the women cease to use paint… Some of the young men streak their faces with red, but grown-up men seldom now use paint, unless on particular occasions… The leader of a war expedition is distinguished by a streaked visage from his black-faced followers.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 27-8. The manner of painting is often a matter of whim. 'The most usual method is to paint the eye-brows black, in form of a half moon, and the face red in small squares, with the arms and legs and part of the body red; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in squares, and the other black; at others, dotted with red spots, or red and black instead of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as painting one half of the face and body red, and the other black.' Jewitt's Nar., p. 64; Meares' Voy., p. 252; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 46; Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.

'The habit of tattooing the legs and arms is common to all the women of Vancouver's Island; the men do not adopt it.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 307. 'No such practice as tattooing exists among these natives.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 27. 'The ornament on which they appear to set the most value, is the nose-jewel, if such an appellation may be given to the wooden stick, which some of them employ for this purpose… I have seen them projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond the face on each side; this is made fast or secured in its place by little wedges on each side of it.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 65-6, 75; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 344. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 30, 126-7; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Whymper's Alaska, pp. 37, 74, with cut of mask. Mayne's B. C., p. 268; Kane's Wand., pp. 221-2, and illustration of a hair medicine-cap.

'Their cloaks, which are circular capes with a hole in the centre, edged with sea-otter skin, are constructed from the inner bark of the cypress. It turns the rain, is very soft and pliable,' etc. Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 112. The usual dress of the Newchemass 'is a kootsuck made of wolf skin, with a number of the tails attached to it … hanging from the top to the bottom; though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark cloth, of a much coarser texture than that of Nootka.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 77-8, 21-3, 56-8, 62-6. 'Their common dress is a flaxen garment, or mantle, ornamented on the upper edge by a narrow strip of fur, and at the lower edge, by fringes or tassels. It passes under the left arm, and is tied over the right shoulder, by a string before, and one behind, near its middle… Over this, which reaches below the knees, is worn a small cloak of the same substance, likewise fringed at the lower part… Their head is covered with a cap, of the figure of a truncated cone, or like a flower-pot, made of fine matting, having the top frequently ornamented with a round or pointed knob, or bunch of leathern tassels.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8, 270-1, 280. 'The men's dress is a blanket; the women's a strip of cloth, or shift, and blanket. The old costume of the natives was the same as at present, but the material was different.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 25, 315. 'Their clothing generally consists of skins,' but they have two other garments of bark or dog's hair. 'Their garments of all kinds are worn mantlewise, and the borders of them are fringed' with wampum. Spark's Life of Ledyard, pp. 71-2; Colyer, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, p. 533; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 30-1, 38, 56-7, 126-8; Meares' Voy., pp. 251-4; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Lord's Nat., vol. i., pp. 143-4; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 344-5; Whymper's Alaska, p. 37; Greenhow's Hist. Ogn., p. 116; Macfie's Van. Isl., pp. 431, 443; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 46. See portraits in Cook's Atlas, Belcher's Voy., Sutil y Mexicana, Atlas, and Whymper's Alaska.