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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
228. The Nootka-Columbians comprehend 'the tribes inhabiting Quadra and Vancouver's Island, and the adjacent inlets of the mainland, down to the Columbia River, and perhaps as far S. as Umpqua River and the northern part of New California.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221.
229. Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, a close observer and clear writer, thinks 'this word Nootkah—no word at all—together with an imaginary word, Columbian, denoting a supposed original North American race—is absurdly used to denote all the tribes which inhabit the Rocky Mountains and the western coast of North America, from California inclusively to the regions inhabited by the Esquimaux. In this great tract there are more tribes, differing totally in language and customs, than in any other portion of the American continent; and surely a better general name for them could be found than this meaningless and misapplied term Nootkah Columbian.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 315. Yet Mr. Sproat suggests no other name. It is quite possible that Cook, Voy. to the Pacific, vol. ii., p. 288, misunderstood the native name of Nootka Sound. It is easy to criticise any name which might be adopted, and even if it were practicable or desirable to change all meaningless and misapplied geographical names, the same or greater objections might be raised against others, which necessity would require a writer to invent.
230. Kane's Wand., p. 173; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 441; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 108; the name being given to the people between the region of the Columbia and 53° 30´.
231. The name Nez Percés, 'pierced noses,' is usually pronounced as if English, Nez Pér-ces.
232. For particulars and authorities see Tribal Boundaries at end of this chapter.