we have seen west of the Rocky Mountains,' but 'diminishes in receding eastward.'
Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 437. 'The Indians at the Dalles do not distort the head.'
Kane's Wand., pp. 263, 180-2. 'The Chinooks are the most distinguished for their attachment to this singular usage.'
Hale's Ethnog., in
U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 198. The tribes from the Columbia River to Millbank Sound flatten the forehead, also the Yakimas and Klikitats of the interior.
Tolmie, in
Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 231-2, 249. 'The practice prevails, generally, from the mouth of the Columbia to the Dalles, about one hundred and eighty miles, and from the Straits of Fuca on the north, to Coos Bay… Northward of the Straits it diminishes gradually to a mere slight compression, finally confined to women, and abandoned entirely north of Milbank Sound. So east of the Cascade Mountains, it dies out in like manner.'
Gibbs, in
Nott and Gliddon's Indig. Races, p. 337. 'None but such as are of noble birth are allowed to flatten their skulls.'
Gray's Hist. Ogn., p. 197.
345
All authors who mention the Chinooks have something to say of this custom; the following give some description of the process and its effects, containing, however, no points not included in that given above. Dunn's Oregon, pp. 122-3, 128-30; Ross' Adven., pp. 99-100; Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 167-8, with cut; Chamber's Jour., vol. x., pp. 111-2; Belcher's Voy., vol. i., pp. 307-11, with cuts; Townsend's Nar., pp. 175-6; Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 216; Nicolay's Ogn. Ter., p. 150; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 294; Irving's Astoria, p. 89; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 302; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., pp. 110-11, with plate. Females remain longer than the boys. Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 476, 437. 'Not so great a deformity as is generally supposed.' Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 142-3, 251-2. 'Looking with contempt even upon the white for having round heads.' Kane's Wand., p. 181, 204, cut. 'As a general thing the tribes that have followed the practice of flattening the skull are inferior in intellect, less stirring and enterprising in their habits, and far more degraded in their morals than other tribes.' Gray's Hist. Ogn., p. 197. Mr. Gray is the only authority I have seen for this injurious effect, except Domenech, who pronounces the flat-heads more subject to apoplexy than others. Deserts, vol. ii., p. 87; Gass' Jour., pp. 224-5; Brownell's Ind. Races, pp. 335-7; Morton's Crania Am., pp. 203-13, cut of cradle and of skulls; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 349-50, Atlas, pl. 26; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 294-5, 328, with cut; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 124; Wilson, in Smithsonian Rept., 1862, p. 287.
346
The Multnomah women's hair 'is most commonly braided into two tresses falling over each ear in front of the body.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 508-9, 416, 425-6, 437-8. The Clackamas 'tattoo themselves below the mouth, which gives a light blue appearance to the countenance.' Kane's Wand., pp. 241, 184-5, 256. At Cape Orford 'they seemed to prefer the comforts of cleanliness to the painting of their bodies.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 204. On the Columbia 'in the decoration of their persons they surpassed all the other tribes with paints of different colours, feathers and other ornaments.' Id., vol. ii., p. 77. 'Ils mettent toute leur vanité dans leurs colliers et leurs pendants d'oreilles.' De Smet, Miss. de l'Orégon, p. 45. 'Some of these girls I have seen with the whole rim of their ears bored full of holes, into each of which would be inserted a string of these shells that reached to the floor, and the whole weighing so heavy that to save their ears from being pulled off they were obliged to wear a band across the top of the head.' 'I never have seen either men or women put oil or grease of any kind on their bodies.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 112, 158-9. See Dunn's Oregon, pp. 115, 123-4; Cox's Adven., pp. 111-12; Pickering's Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., p. 25; Irving's Astoria, pp. 336-8; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 354; Franchère's Nar., p. 244.
347
'These robes are in general, composed of the skins of a small animal, which we have supposed to be the brown mungo.' 'Sometimes they have a blanket woven with the fingers, from the wool of their native sheep.' Every part of the body but the back and shoulders is exposed to view. The Nechecolies had 'larger and longer robes, which are generally of deer skin dressed in the hair.' Lewis and Clarke's Trav., pp. 392, 425-6, 438, 504-9, 522. 'I have often seen them going about, half naked, when the thermometer ranged between 30° and 40°, and their children barefooted and barelegged in the snow.' 'The lower Indians do not dress as well, nor with as good taste, as the upper.' Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 244-5. The fringed skirt 'is still used by old women, and by all the females when they are at work in the water, and is called by them their siwash coat.' Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 154-5. Ross' Adven., pp. 89-93; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 123-4; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., pp. 15-16, 281-2, 288; Townsend's Nar., p. 178; Kane's Wand., pp. 184-5; Franchère's Nar., pp. 242-4. The conical cap reminded Pickering of the Siberian tribes. Races, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., pp. 25, 39; Cox's Adven., vol. i., pp. 111-12, 126-7; Hines' Voy., p. 107. Collars of bears' claws, for the men, and elks' tusks for the women and children. Irving's Astoria, pp. 336-8; Gass' Jour., pp. 232, 239-40, 242-4, 267, 274, 278, 282.
348
'Their houses seemed to be more comfortable than those at Nootka, the roof having a greater inclination, and the planking being thatched over with the bark of trees. The entrance is through a hole, in a broad plank, covered in such a manner as to resemble the face of a man, the mouth serving the purpose of a door-way. The fire-place is sunk into the earth, and confined from spreading above by a wooden frame.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 77. Emmons, in Schoolcraft's Archives, vol. iii., p. 206, speaks of a palisade enclosure ten or fifteen feet high, with a covered way to the river. 'The Indian huts on the banks of the Columbia are, for the most part, constructed of the bark of trees, pine branches, and brambles, which are sometimes covered with skins or rags.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 260. But 'the Chinooks build their houses of thick and broad planks,' etc. Id. Lewis and Clarke saw a house in the Willamette Valley two hundred and twenty-six feet long, divided into two ranges of large apartments separated by a narrow alley four feet wide. Travels, pp. 502-4, 509, 431-2, 415-16, 409, 392. The door is a piece of board 'which hangs loose by a string, like a sort of pendulum,' and is self-closing. Swan's N. W. Coast, pp. 110-11. 'The tribes near the coast remove less frequently than those of the interior.' California, Past, Present and Future, p. 136. 'I never saw more than four fires, or above eighty persons – slaves and all – in the largest house.' Ross' Adven., pp. 98-9; Palmer's Jour., pp. 86, 108; Irving's Astoria, p. 322; Nicolay's Ogn., pp. 144, 148-9; Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 327, from Lewis and Clarke; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 135-7, from Lewis and Clarke; Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 144-5, 178-9, 245; Franchère's Nar., pp. 247-8; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 65; Townsend's Nar., p. 181; Kane's Wand., pp. 187-8; Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 204, 216-17; Strickland's Hist. Missions, pp. 136-9.
349
'In the summer they resort to the principal rivers and the sea coast, … retiring to the smaller rivers of the interior during the cold season.' Warre and Vavasour, in Martin's Hud. Bay, p. 83. All small fish
