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•

REPORT — 18S8.

Teligions ideas, particularly the dance Tlok'oala (= soniotliinnr unexpected
coming from above), wliieh, in course of time, has partly been adopted by
all their neighbours. There are a wpoat number of spirits of this dance,
each of which has his own class of shamans, the duties and preroc^atives
of whom vary according to the character of their genii.. The Kwakintl
bur^ their dead in boxes, which are placed in small honses or on trees.
Posts, carved according to the crest of the deceased, are f)laced in front
of the graves. Food is burnt for the dead on the beach. Their mourning
ceremonies are very complicated and rigorous.

The Coast Salish worship the sun. They i)ray to him and are nob
allowed to take their morning meal until the day is well advanced. The
wanderer, called Kumsno'otl by the Comox, Qiils by the Cowitchin and
Lkungen, and Qais by the Skqomish, is also worshipped. They believe
that he lives in heaven and loves the good, but punishes the bad. The
art of shamanism wa.i bestowed by him upon the first man, who brought
it down from heaven.

The Kutonaqa are also sun- worshippers, even more decidedly so than
any of the other tribes. They pray to the sun. They offer him a smoke
from their pipe before smoking themselves, and sacrifice their eldest
children in order to secure prosperity to tlioir families. They believe
that the souls of the deceased go towards the east, and will return in
<'ourse of time with the sun. Occasionally they have great festivals,
duinng which they expect the return of the dead. They have also the
custom of cutting off the first joints of the fingers as a sacrifice to the
sun. They piei'ce their breasts and arms with sharp needles and cut off
pieces of flesh, which they ofiVr to the sun. It is doubtful whether
they practise the sun-dance of their eastern neighbours. The dead are
buried, their heads fticing the east. It is of interest that the positions of
the body after death are considered to bo prophetic of future events.
The mourners cut their hair and bury it with the deceased. Warriois
are buried among trees which are peeleil and painted red. Each shaman
has his own genius, generally a bird or another animal, which he acquires
by fasting in the woods or on the mountains. The shamans are able to
speak with the souls of absent or deceased persons, and are skilful
jugglers.

llcport on the Sarcee Indians, by the liev. E. F. Wilson.

The Sarcee Indians belong to the great Athabascan or Tinneh stock,
to which the Chipevvyans, Beavers, Hares, and others in the North. West
and, it is said, the Navajoes, in New Mexico, also belong. They Avero
formerly a powerful nation, but are now reduced to a few hundreds.
Their reserve, which consists of a fine tract of prairie land, about a
liundred square miles in extent, adjoins that of the IJIackfeet, in Alberta,
a little south of the Canadian Pacific Railway line, and seventy or eighty
miles east of the Rocky Mountains. Although friendly and formerly
confederate with the Blackfect, they bear no aflinity to that peo|)le ; they
belong to a distinct stock and speak an altogether different language.
They are divided into two bands — the Blood Sarcees and the Real
Savcees.

During my visit, which lasted seven days, I liad several interviews
with their chief, 'Bull's Head,' a tall, powerful man, about sixty years of
age ; and it was from him and one or two of his leading men that I

ON THE NORTU-WESTEUN TRIBES OF CANADA.

gathered most of my information. I found, howevor, tliat the Sarceos
were not so ready to converse, or to tell either about their lem^nage or
their history, as were the Blackfeet, whom I visited last summer. Tea
and tobacco seemed to be with them the chief desiderata, and except
with gifts of this kind it seemed almost impossible to gain anything from
them. And after all, even when plied with these commodities, the infor-
mation they gave was very meagre, and often far from satisfactory.
From what little I saw of these people I should be inclined to say that
they are of a lower order and inferior in mental capacity to the Blackfeet ;
I judge this chiefly by the style in which they told their stories and
traditions, such as they were, and by their having no elaborated theories
as to certain phenomena in nature, about which many other of the Indian
tribes have always so much to say.

Chief • Bull's Head,' in reply to my questions as to their early history,
made a great show of oratory, both by voice and gesture, but much of
what he said was very childish and confused, and seemed to be scarcely
worth the trouble of putting down.

These people call the Blackfeet ' Katce,' the Crees ' Nishinna,' the
Sioux * Kaispa,' and themselves ' Sotenna.' The Indians of their own
stock, as I understand, they call ' Tinnatte.' These two last names seem
certainly to connect them with the great * Tinneh' or Athabascan nation.
Sarcee (or rather Sarxi) is the name by which they are called by the
Blackfeet.

Whence these People Came.

* Formerly,' said * Bull's Head,' * the Sarcee territory extended from
the Rocky Mountains to the Big River (either the Saskatchewan or the
Peace River). Our delight was to make corrals for the buffaloes, and to
drive them over the cut bank and let them fall. Those were glorious
days, when we could mount our swift-footed horses, and ride like the
wind after the flying herd ; but now the buffalo is gone we hang our
heads, we are poor. And then, too, we used to fight those liars, the
Crees : we engaged in many a bloody battle, and their bullets pierced our
teepees. Thirty battles have I seen. When I was a child the Sarcees
were in number like the grass ; the Blackfeet and Bloods and Peigans
were as nothing in comparison. Battles with the Crees and disease
brought in among us by the white man have reduced us to our present
pitiable state.'

Another Indian told us how the Sarcees were at one time one people
with the Chipewyans, and gave us the myth which accounts for their
reparation. * Formerly,' he said, * we lived in the north country. We
were many thousands in number. We were travelling south. It \ .s
winter, and we had to cross a big lake on the ice. There was an elk's
horn sticking out of the ice. A squaw went and struck the horn with an
axe. The elk raised himself from the ice and shook his head. The
people were all frightened and ran away. Those that ran toward the
north became the Chipewyans, and we who ran toward the south are the
" Sotenna " or " Sarcees." '

* The Chipewyans,' said * Bull's Head,' 'speak our language. It is twenty
years since I saw a Chipewyan. We call them " Tcohtin." They live np
north, beyond the Big River' (probably the Peace River).

REroKT — 1888.

Tni:iu TitADiTiONS, Bkliefs, &,c.

' There was a time,' said ' Bull's Head,' ' \vli*^ii tli(>ro were no lakes.
The lakes and rivers were occasioned by the bursting of the belly of tlie
buflalo. It was when the belly of the buflalo burst that the people
divided ; some went to the north and some to the south. For years and
years 1 have been told that the Creaor made all people, and I believe it.
I have heard my mother and other old people speak of the days when
there were no guns and no horses, when our people had only arrows,
and had to hunt the buffalo on foot; that must have been a very long
time ago.'

The Sarcees have a tradition similar to that of the Blackfeet about
men and women being first made separately, and then being brought
together through the action of the mythical being ' Napiw.'

They have also a tradition of the flood, which accords in its main
features with that of the Ojibways, Crees, and other Canadian tribes.
They say that when the world was flooded there were only one man and
one woman left, and these two saved themselves on a, raft, on which they
also collected animals and birds of all sorts. The man sent a beaver
down to dive and it brought up a little mud from the bottom, and this
the man moulded in his hands to form a new world. At first the world
was so small that a little bird could walk round it, but it kept getting
bigger and bigger. ' First,' said the narrator, * our father took up his
abode on it, then there were men, then women, then animals, then birds.
Our father then created the rivers, the mountains, the trees, and all the
things as we now see them.'

When the story was finished I told the narrator that the Ojibway
tradition was very much the same as theirs, only that they said it was a
mush-rat that brought up the earth and not a beaver. Upon this five or
six of the men who were squatting around inside the teepee smoking
cried, ' Yes, yes ! The man has told you lies ; it was a musk-rat, it was
a musk-rat ! '

Tt seems dubious whether the Sarcees are sun- worshippers ; but, like
the Blackfeet, they call the sun ' our father,' and the earth * our mother.'
They also engage each summer in the ' sun-dance.' They depend also for
guidance in their actions on signs in the sky and on dreams. They think
they know when there is going to be a fight by the appearance of the
moon. One of their number, named 'Many Swans,' says he is going to
have a good crop this year, for he dreamed that a white woman came
down from above and asked to see his garden, and he showed his garden
to the woman, and it was all green.

' Bull's Head ' had no theory to give as to the cause of thunder ; he
knew that Indians of other tribes said it was a big bird flapping its
wings, but his people did not say so ; they did not know what it was ;
neither had they anything to say about an ec ipse.

V /.

Manner of Living.

The Sarcee Indians are at present all pagans ; they appear to have no
liking for the white people, and the white people seem to have little
liking for them, and would gladly deprive them of their lands and drive
them away farther into the wilderness were they permitted to do so.
But the paternal Government, as represented by the Indian Department,

Ox\ THE NOKTU-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA.

.-./

take=i fare Mint, ihoy are not imposed upon. Tliore is an fiulian Aj^^on')
statioiuul on tlieii- reserve, who twice a week doles out to tliem the
Government rations, eonsisting of excellent fresh beef and good flour*,
and there is also ': farm instructor, who has charge of th(^ farming stock
and implements, and does what he can to induce these warriors and huu^iers
to farm.

They have also residing among them a missionary of the Chnroh of
Kngland, who visits them in tlieir teepees, and does his best to collect
their little blanketed children to school, giving two Government bis!:!aits
to each scholar as a reward for attendance. But the people are evidently
averse to all these things, which are being done for their good. Their
only idea of the white man seems to be that of a trespassing individual,
who has more in his possession than he knows what to do with, and may
therefce fairly be preyed upon.

The dress of these people consists, as with other wild Indians, of a
breech-clout, a pair of blanket leggings, beaded moccasins, and a blanket
thrown loosely, but gracefully, over one or both shoulders. They wear
their long black hair in plaits, hanging vertically, one plait on each side of
the face, and one or more at the back. Some of them knot their hair on
the top of the head ; and some, I noticed, wore a coloured handkerchief
folded and tied round the temples. This, I believe, is one distinguishing
mark of the Navajo Indians in New Mexico. Very often the leggings
and moccasins are dispensed with, and the man appears to have nothing
on except his grey, white, or coloured blanket. The women wear au
ordinary woman's dress of rough make and material, and short in the
skirt, next to the skin, leggings and moccasins, and a blanket round the
shoulders. Ornaments are worn by both sexes, but chiefly by the men.
They consist of brooches and earrings made of steel, necklaces and brace-
lets made of bright coloured beads, bones, claws, teeth, and brass wire,
and finger-rings, also of brass wire, coiled ten or twelve times, and cover-
ing the lower joint of the finger. Every finger of each hand is sometimes
covered with these rings. Both men and women paint the upper part of
the face with ochre or vermilion. The people live in ' teepees,' conical-
shaped lodges, made of poles covered with tent cotton, in the summer,
and in low log huts, plastered over with mud, in winter. They
depend for their subsistence almost entirely on the rations supplied by
Government. They keep numbers of ponies, but seem to make little use
of them beyond riding about. They keep no cattle or animals of any
kind beyond their ponies and dogs. The latter are savage, and are said
to I9 descendants of the wolf and the coyote, with which animals they
still of^en breed. They seem to have no manufactures ; they make no
canoes, baskets, &c., but they know how to prepare the hides and skins of
the animals they kill, and they make their own clothing, saddles, bows
and arrows, and moccasins. Some of the women do very excellent bead-
work. Bridles they do not use ; a rope or thong fasteijed to the pony's
lower jaw takes the place of a bridle ; their whips are a short stout stick,
studded with brass nails, and provided with two leathern thongs as lashes
at one end, and a loop for the wrist at the other. Their bows are of
cherry wood, strung with a leathern thong, and their arrows of the
Saskatoon willow, winged with feailiers, and pointed with scrap-iron,
filed to a sharp point. The shaft of the arrow has four shallow grooves
down its entire length.

RErOKT— 1888.
Gamhlino.

The Siiroees, like most other wild InJians, are inveterate gamblers.
They will f^amblc everytliing away — ponies, teepees, blankets, leggings,
nioecasins — till they have nothing left but their breech-clout. In my
report of the Blackfeet last year I mentioned the use of a little hoop or
wheel for gambling purposes. I find that the Sarceoa also use this, and
two of them showed me how they play the game. A little piece of board,
if procurable, or two or three flattened sticks, laid one on the other, are
])ut for a target, at a distance of eighteen or twenty feet from the starting-
])()int, and the two players then take their places beside each other ; one
has the little wheel in his left hand, an arrow in his right ; the other one
has only an arrow. The play is to roll the wheel and to deliver the two
arrows simultaneously, all aiming at the mark which has been set up.
If the wheel falls over on one of the arrows, it counts so many points,
according to the number of beads on the wire spoke of vhe wheel that
touch the arrow. Nothing is counted unless the little wheel falls on one
of the arrows. The articles for which they play are valued at so many
I)oints each. A blanketis worth, perhaps, ten points, a pony fifty, and so on.

Another method by which these people gamble is as follows : Two
men squat side by side on the ground, with a blanket over their knees,
and they have some small article, such as two or three brass beads tied
together, which they pass from one to another under the blanket ; and
the other side, which also consists of two persons, has to guess in which
hand the article is to be found — very much like our children's * hunt the
whistle.' The Sarcees use also the English playing cards, but it is a
game of their own that they play with them. Whoever gets the most
cards is the winner.

Matrimony.

The Sarcees are polygamous, the men having two, three, or four
wives. The time of moving camp is generally looked upon as a pro-
pitious time for love-making. The camp is in the form of a ring, with
the horses picketed in the centre. Early in the morning the young men
drive the horses to a swamp or slough to water them. They are thinking,
perhaps, of some young squaw whom they wish to approach, but they
are ashamed to sneak to her. Then, as soon as all is ready for the move,
the chief gives the word, and the callers summon the people to start on
the march. The chief goes first and leads the way. Now is the oppor-
tunity for the bashful young swains ; they drop behind the rest and
manage to ride alongside the young women of their choice, and to get a
few words into their ears. If the young woman approves the ofier, she
follows her white sister's example by referring the young man to her
parents. If the parents consent, mutual presents are exchanged, such as
horses, blankets, &g. ; the girl is dressed in her best, and her face painted,
and the young man takes her away. A husband can divorce himself
from his wife at any time if he pleases, but he has to restore the presents
that he received with her, or their equivalent. Girls are often betrothed
at ten years of age and married at fourteen. A betrothed girl may not
look in a man's face until after her marriage. A man may not meet his
mother-in-law ; if he chance to touch her accidentally he must give her
a present. At a feast among the Blackfeet at which I was present an
impatient mother-in-law was standing without and sending messages to
the son-in-law within to make haste and leave before all 'he good things

ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA.

•

were done, so that alio might come in and jj^et her share ; hut lie sent
word back that he was in no hnrry. Parents do not often punish their
children, but sotnelimcg, in a fit of ill-temper, will beat tliem cruelly.
They are more cruel to their wives than to their children. While I was
making these notes a Sarcee woman came into the lodge with her noso
cut ofT; her husband had done it as a punishment for hor keeping
company with another man.

Medicine.

The Sarcees are not considered to be much versed in the use of medi-
cinal roots and herbs; they are much more ready to take the white man's
medicine than are their neighbours, the Blackfeet.

Among themselves they depend chiefly on magic and witchcraft for
recovery irom sickness. There are 8.bout a dozen so-called ' medicine-
men ' in the camp, but most of them are loomen. Chief among them is
an old squaw named ' Good Lodge.' They are always highly paid for
their services, whether the patient recovers or not. A medicine-man
when called in to see a sick person will first make a stone red-hot in the
fire, then touch the stone with his finger, and with the same finger press
various parts of the patient's body, to ascertain the locality and character
of the sickness. Then he will suck the place vigorously and keep spitting
the disease (so he pretends) from his mouth. This is accompanied by
drum beating and shaking a rattle. The Sarcoes do not ble^d or cup,
but they blister (often quite efficaciously) by applying the end of a piece
of burning touchwood to the affected part. They also use the vapour-
bath. To do this a little bower, about three feet high, is made of pliable
green sticks, covered over closely with blankets. Several stones are
hea'jcd red and placed in a small hole in the ground inside the bower ;
and over these the patient sits in a state of nadity and keeps putting
water on the stones, which is supplied to him by an attendant from
without. When thorouglily steamed, and almost boiled, he rushes out,
and plunges into cold water. This treatment sometimes effects a cure,
but more often induces bad results and death. The vapour-bath, as
above described, is used very extensively by Indians of many different
tribes ; some, however, omit the plunge into cold water.

Burial Customs.

I had a good opportunity to investigate the burial customs of these
people. Riding across the prairie with a young P]nglishman who had
spent several years in the neighbourhood, we came upon a ' blnff,' or
small copse, of fir and poplar trees, covering some two or three acres of
ground. We suspected it was a burial-ground, and, dismouting from
our horses, entered it. No sooner had we done so than we found our-
selves in the midst of the dead — the bodies wound up in blankets and
tent-cloth, like mummies, and deposited on scaffolds from six to eight
feet from the ground. Four or five of tbese bodies could be seen from
one point, and others became visible as we pushed our way through the
tangled underbrush. A little baby's body, wrapped up in cL>tb, was
jammed into the forked branch of a fir tree about five-and-a-half feet from
the ground. The earth was black and boggy and the stench nauseous.
Here and there lay the bleached bones and tangled manes of ponies that
had been shot when their warrior owners died— the idea being that the
equine spirits would accompany the decejised persons to the other world,

UEPOUT — 1888.

and make tbemsolvos useful tliere. Beside eaeli bt)dy lay a bundle of
oartbly goods — blankets, loggings, saddles, Ac., also cups, tin pots,
kettles, and evin-ytbing tbat the spirit of the departed could be su|)pose(l
to want. Pursuing our explorations we came upon a 'death teepee.' 1
had heard of these, and had often desired to see one. It was just an
ordinary teepee, or Indian lodge, made of poles leaning from the edge of a
circle, fifteen feet or so in diameter, to a point at the top, and covered
with common tent cloth. IMie stench was disgusting, and the ground
like a cesspool ; but I wanted to see all, so we effected an entrance and
examined the contents. The old warrior, whoever he may have been,
was wrapped up in rotting, sodden blankets, sitting with his back against
an orditu\ry Indian back-rest. We could not see his face, as the blanket
covered it, but the top of his scalp was visible and a great bunch of
slimy, filthy looking eagle feathers adorned his head ; just behind him
hung his leathern (piiver, ornamented with a leathern fringe, two feet in
huigth and full of arrows ; also his beaded tobacco pouch ; and by his side
were a tin basin, a fire-blackened tin pot with a cover, and a large bundle
of blankets, clothing, and other effects. I made a hasty sketch of the
dismal scene and then retired. "We were glad to mount our horses once
more and to breathe again the fresh air of the prairie.

Physical Development.

The Sarcees do not strike me as so fine or tall a race as the Blackfeet,
althougli one whose measure I here give was of about the same height as
the Blackfoot Indian, ' Boy Chief,' whom I measured last year. They
have rema»'kably small h^nds and feet. I traced on paper the hand of a
Sarcoe Indian named -d above Water.'

Following is the Uu*. . rement of an adult Sarcee, about thirty years
of age, named ' Many Shields.'

1. Height from ground to vertex'

meatus autlitorius

chin

umbilicus

fork

knee-cap joint .

elbow (bent)

tip of finger (lianging vertically)

2.
S.
6.

8.
11.
12.

13. Height — sitting on the ground

Circumference of chest at armpits .
„ „ mamniie

„ al haunches ....

2(5. Span — outstretched arms ....
27. „ tlnimb to middle finger

Length of thumb ......

„ foot

Head — greatest circumference (over glabella)
„ arc, root of nose to inion .

,, meatus auditorius, over head
„ over glabella to meatus auditorius
length of face, root of nose to chin .

17.
18.

28.
29.
80.
81.
82.
33.
41.

ft.
5
5
4
3
2
1
3
2
2
3
2
2
5

1
1
1
1

III.

Hair, eyes, and skin the same as those of the Blackfoot Indian * Boy
lef (see Report of 1887).

Chief

' In the measuromonts of the P.lackfoot ' Boy Chief,' given in the Report of last
year, the ' heiglit from
4 ft. 84 in., as printed.

i:round to vertex' should hu\e been 6 ft. 8^' in., instead of

ON THE NOUTII-WESTEBN TRIBES OF CANADA.

Two or three young Indianu triod the strength of their eyesight.
They cuuld couut the prescribed dots at a diutuucc of 28 feet.

Language.

I cannot give as full a report of the Sarcee language as I did of the
Blacki'oot, for the reason that no one, so far as I could learn, outside the
Sarcee tribe has any knowledge of it. The missionary in charge had
only arrived a few weeks before, and though he knew the Blackfoot, and
through that medium could make himself understood by a few of the
people, he knew nothing whatever of Sarcee. We were told that it was
an exceedingly difficult language to acquire, and full of gutturals; others
said that it had no vowels in it; others that it was like a hen cackling.
Under these circumstances it was vain to expert to make out the gram-
matical rules of the language, but I thought I would do what I could to
collect a small vocabulary of words. A few of the people understood
Blackfoot, and some few others Cree, and through the medium of these
two languages I was able to collect the following Sarcee words and short
sentences : —

VoCABUriART.

Pronounce a and d as the first and second a in larva, e as in they,
i as in pique, I as in pick, o as in note, u as in rule, ai as in aisle, ati us
ou in bough, // guttural as in icli (German), <j (a sound found also in the
Sioux language) pronounced like the Arabic ghain, a ghr sound ; ic like
ch in church, it like the French nasal n in hon.

man (or men)

kftttini

a big man

kilttini tcu

woman

tsika'

women

tsikuii

boy

sittsi

boys

siltamika

girl

etriika

infant

tsittJi

my, thy, his father

ittra, nittra,

mittrii

my mother

innii

my son

s\^A

thy son

nipila

Bull's Head's son

ilgsltsi ma^ala

elder brother

kiniga

younger brother

nish'itla

Indians (prairie

people),

tklukodissdna

Indians (probably of

Tinne nation),

Tinn'atte

my head

sitsitsi'n

thy head

nitsits'ina

Bull's Head's head

ilgdtsi mitsitsina

my eye

sinna^u'

my nose

sitsi

my arm

s'ikannft

my leg

sigCis

iny. thy, bis hand

s'illa, nllla,

mllla

my foot

sikka

my heart

sitsjinnAgiX

my blood

sittikla

town

natsil^an'iklate

chief

hak'itci

my friend

klessa

house

nutsiga

a small house

natsiga sitla

teepee

kauwd

kettle

missokulilli

tinpot

Asrd

small ditto

asra sltla

basin

tcistlii

axe

tsllh

knife

mils

my knife

sim'assa

thy knife

nim'assa

his knife

maskiskld

boat

tAn'ikass'i

moccasin

naka

boot

kastcage

pipe [pouch

mistot6

tobacco

katcin

his tobacco

uatisgiini kiskla

bun

tcatrd

moon

inii^ji

nEPOUT — 1888.

Mlsvr

Boh

day

tsinnis ,M

nijfht

itIi\Kn-6

spring

taggani\fea

suintnor

hatiikusi

autunm

hiVssini

winter

sasskahe

next winter

klikil siisski'iho

hist winter (.snow)

tanalsususato

it is snowing

SOSi'ltC

the wind is blowing

tikiln'istci

it is cold

koskass

it is w;irm

kakow'i.skis

it is raining

tcato

tire

koh

water

tub

earth

lillka

river

s'iska

hil<c

totcu

well or spring

hat'allalllll

prairie

tkluka

the IlockyMoun-

tea

island

stone [tains

tsa

tree

itci

a pine tree

kah

a big tree

itci tcu

a small tree

itci sitla

wood

ditsiil

a log of wood

missea

l)rushwoo<l

titci

grass

kuflo

meat, fiesli

al'ina

dog, klih

dogs, klikah

horse

isklih

horsci

isklikah

my dog

sllltsa klih

my dog or horse

sU'ttsa

mare

isklih hanimaka

my mare

hanimaka sil'itsa

haideklishi

cow

hanimaka haidellisht

bufTalo

liAnni

buifaloes

hannlla

a black ox

haid6klishi, <li'skashi

deer

kuini

elk

tease

the black elk

iididinidjo

rabbit

nikhVtila

snake

natosaga

bird

ilka^e

cprg

i^^asa

duck

tees

fish

kluka

pig (big dog)

kliksi tcu

gun

sittrana

cart

mftsseklilshi

book

djinishii

hat

sitsin'itila

coat

dilkoshi

handkerchief

sili'ssiti\niga

trousers

istli'i

leggings

istti'ikok'ita

shirt

ki'ucistania

blanket

tc'iyisi-tcastcide

Hour

nctsokilssi

yes

paper

ttUklishi

itsi'tawa

money

diltilih

one

ilgligah (klikkazah)

whip

istlahikla

two

akiye (ilkinnil)

red

dilgi'isso

three

trdnki (traanah)

white

dig'assigil

four

didji (dizhna)

black

dishkoshe

five

kosita

God (the Creator)

iskluhi

six

kosiranni

„ (our Father)

UiUuninan

seven

tclstcidl

devil

sinomato'ikli

eight

clashdedji

heaven

tselarj'di

nine

khikuhi^A

minister

diki\hatsi dikahi

ten

kunisnan

soldier

triiskiliah

eleven

kli'kkumitau

big

tcu

twelve

akiimitan

small

sith'i

thirteen

tri'igimitan

strong

magiinisis'ta

fourteen

didjimitaii

old

t Canute

fifteen

wiltanmitan

it is good

niokauilli

sixteen

wistaiimitan

it is not good

matogugli

seventeen

tcistimitan

ft »» >i

tosilraa

eighteen

clashdedjimitan

he is dead

trasitsd

nineteen

klikuanmitan

this

teige

twenty

ak'adde

that

tetegela

twenty-one

akadde egligimitan

all

kftnniltilla

twenty-two

„ ekamitaii

many

nikla

twenty-three

„ etraiikimitafi

who is it ?

matag:anita ?

twenty-four

„ edijimitafi "

far off

kussil

thirty

trafite

near

wiltoii

forty

pisde

here

t;\tig6

fifty

kositat^

there .

niu^<itc

sixty

kostrate

ON THE NOUTII-WKSTEKN TUIDES OF CANAPA.

i^liat in thiit /

yurticrdiiy

to-moirow

whiti! man

American

thou

they

thou art asleep

tntiiita? tata . . . ?

ilkhu

nakkodikiii or ekhitsi

dikiihalli

nii\ni'asai-nit8uni\

Hinni, si una . . .

ninn'ila, ninna . . .

^ti^nn'itta, in'iila

kisiihuUui

ninna nitta

Is it your knife /

I love hiin

you love liim

he loves him

1 love it

I do not. love it

two men

two women

one dog

the boy runs

the dog runs

the dogs run

one dog runs

I run

thou runnest

he runs

I a''rivc

thou

they

he rides

I smoke

you smoke

he smokes

the Blackfoot smokes

we smoke

they smoke

I smoked yesterday

I shall smoke to-morrow

he will smoke to-morrow

I will look for them to-morrow

I drive them home

if he goes he will see you

if I go you will see me

king, big chief

go home

come in

my house is good

my horses are good

it is not good

give it to me

he gave it to me

come here

be quick

do not be afraid

I am hungry

I am sick

I am very sick

are you sick ?

he is not sick

he is tired

seventy
eighty
ninety
one hundred
I w.alk

thou widkest
he walks
I am asleep
ho is asleep

I'cistcidi'nni
claslidedjde
kUikulildinna
koriisnanto
sinna nishelkli
ninna kiyelkh
yiyolkh
siima nlsta
sitti

ni mftssA, liih ?

sinna tsit to midisi

ninna tsit to niidininni

tsitto niidininni

tsitto midisi

totsitto midisi . . .,

fikiye k'attini

fik'iye tsikuah

klih klikazah

sitta kahilkla

klih kahilkla

klikuh nillda (?)

klili klika... h nilklii

sinna kaniiHl ;i

ninna il-in.lkla

kanilkla

I'klitilnilkla

sinha nt'mishrA

ninna enahieilA

ihiila enanikatila

niinic nilniMgtlhtik (?)

kisiilni\ta naniesaliiCiila or nanallaltila 0)

klikartiskla

sihiisto

niniito

itotila (or does he smoke ?)

katci itotila

isait6tila

itotila

ilkha sihiist6te

ekhitsi sin ita isto

eklatsi itd isto

eklatsi makogidisi

naniisho

itsitlya ti istca

nitsitiya ti nistca

Akitsi nakawa

ntltisha

kunift

sahokokahilli

silitcikakonilli

to makanilli

sahanaha (or tastoa)

sahanahii

tast'iyft

a wvit ta,

to minna nidji

sitsa'ahidso

sakiitila

tigga, sakiitila

nokutilalah?

to makiitila • • •:

iatiistca

REPOET — 1883.

he is very tired
he is not tired
are you not tired ?
where have you been ?
what is your name ?
I don't know
1 don't understand
do you understand
I have none

tigga istiistca

to istastca

to stanistcaki lah ?

astiikotci disiya ?

tatdnisiita ?

msitsikonishrd

t6 nidistcl

ni ditcaki lah ?

nitowd.

Notes on the Language.

It will bo noted in the above vocabulary —

1. That the first, second, and third persons of the personal pronoun
appear to be sinna, ninna, iniila ; when used as possessives with a noun
«i . . . , ni . . . , ma . . . ; and when governing a verb (e.g., to smoke, see
vocab.), si . . . , ni . . . . , i. . . . It appears, however, from the various
verbs given in the vocabulary, that (if correctly obtained) there must be
a great variation in the mode of forming the persons ; and this, I expect,
is due to their belonging to distinct paradigms.

2. The negative appears to be to prefixed to the verb. The Blackfeet
Indians prefix mat to the verb, and follow it by ats. Ojibways prefix
kaivin, and end the verb with si. The Sioux simply use sJini after the
verb. Crees prefix namd.

3. The interrogative particle appears to be hilahy or lah after the
verb. Blackfeet express this by Jciit before the verb and pa after it.
Ojibways by nd, Crees by tci, Sioux by he — all after the verb.

4. The numerals in this lan^age are rather puzzling. There appears
to be a double set. Kositd was given me as 5 ; yet 15 was wiltaumitau ;
and 50 took again the first form, hositdte. So with 16: hostrani is 6 ;
wistanmitan, 16 ; Jcostrate, 60. I notice also that the word for 6 seems to
be an extension of the word for 3, and the word for 8 an extension of the
word for 4. 10 seems to stand alone. The endings for the ' teens '
being mitan, which seems to have nothing to do with Jcunisndn. It
seems curious also that the ' teen-ending ' should be continued through
the ' ties * ; twenty-one would seem to be expressed in Sarcee as 10 + 11 ;
but this is merely a surmise of mine, and if I knew more of the language
I could probably explain these seeming irregularities. I may mention
here, in connection with this, that the Ojibways count 1 to 5 with distinct
words, then seem to begin 1, 2 again with the ending waswi from 6 to 10.
Ojibways and Crees have almost the same words for the numbers 1 to G,
entirely different words for 7, 8, 9, and are nearly the same again for 10
and 20.

6. The plural of the noun appears to be ilea or a. There does not
appear to be any distinction made in the plural endings between animate
and inanimate objects.

6. There does not appear to be any distinction made in the first
person plural of the verb between ' we exclusive of the party addressed *
and ' we inclusive.' In these two points (5 and 6) there is a decided
divergence from languages of the iVlgonkin stock, and a leaning towards
the Siouan.

7. Ittra, ninna, it seems, mean — the first, ' father,' or * my father,' the
second ' mother,' or ' my mother,' the possessive pronoun not being used
in the first person for nouns of near relationship. This agrees with the
Sioux.

ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA.

8. The adjective follows the iionn, the same as in the Sioiir..

9. In the foregoing 2G0 words and sontencoa I do not recognise one
word as similar to any word in any other Indian language with which I
am familiar. But I have never before examined any of the * Tinneh '
or Athabascan stock. I might, perhaps, except ninna, ni . . . , the second
person of the pronoun, which is analogous to niyey ni . . . of the Siouan
dialects.

10. The sign of the past tense may be te, and of the future ita (see
smoke in vocab.), but of this I cannot be sure.

11. The Sarcees seem to keep their lips parted while speaking, Fvnd
the accent is generally on the last syllable of the word. The langua:^e
has rather a clicking, ' slishing ' sound.

12. In inflecting some of the verbs I have introduced the personal
pronouns, but I imagine their presence is not necessary except for
emphasis.

Notes hy Mr. H. Hale on the foregoing Report.

Mr. Wilson's report on the Sarcees is specially valuable as being the
only detailed account we possess of this interesting branch of the great
Tinneh or Athabascan family. Some information concerning the tribe
has been given incidentally by various writers, including Sir Alexander
Mackenzie, Umfreville, and Petitot, but no particular description of the
people has been heretofore published. It has been known merely that
they spoke a dialect of the Tinneh language, and that they lived in close
alliance with the Blackfoot tribes.

The Tinneh family, or stock, has attracted much attention from
ethnologists, partly from the peculiar character of its members and
partly from its wide diffusion, in which respect, as Mr. H. H. Bancroft
has observed, it may be compared with the Aryan and Semitic families
of the Old World. It occupies the whole northern portion of the American
continent, from Hudson Bay to the Rocky Mountains, except the coasts,
which belong to the Eskimo. Tinneh tribes also possess the interior of
Alaska and British Columbia. Other scattered bands — Umpquas,
TIatskanais, and Kwalhioqnas — are found in Oregon. The Hoopas and
some smaller tribes live in Northern California. Thence, spreading east-
ward, Tinneh tribes, under various designations — Navahoes (or Navajos),
Apaches, Lipanes, Pelones, Tontos, and others — are widely diffused over
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and the northern provinces of the Mexican
Republic.

The best account of the Northern Tinneh, east of the Rocky Mountains,
is found in the introductory portion of the * Dictionnaire de la langue
Dene-Dindjie ' of the eminent missionary-philologist, the Abbe Petitot,
"who resided many years among them, and studied their languages,
customs, and traditions with much care. In his list of the tribes belonging
to this portion of the stock he makes a division styled mountaineers
(Montagnards) , possessing the conntry on both sides of the Rocky
Mountains. The southernmost tribe of this division, on the east side of
the mountains, is the Tsa-ttinne, a name which he renders ' dwellers among
the beavers.' The name is derived from tsa, beaver (which has various
other dialectical forms, tso, sa, za, and so), and timie (otherwise ienve, tcna,
afena, tunneh, ilcnr, tlanneh, dhuljie, &c.), the word for 'man' in the
different dialects. M. Petitot describes the Tsa-ttinno, or 'Beaver
Indians,* as comprising two septs — a northern tribe, who hunt along the

REPORT — 1888.

Peace River, and a southern, who dwell about the head-waters of the
North Saskatchewan, towards the Rocky Mountains. The latter, he says,
are the Sarcis, who hove separated themselves from the northern band.
The tribal name of Sotenna, which Mr. Wilson obtained from the Sarcees,
is evidently a dialectical variation of M. Petitot's Tsa-tb'nne.

It has been supposed that the separation of the Sarcees from their
Tinneh kindred, followed by their union with the Blackfeet, was the
result of dissensions among the Tinneh tribes. But the information
obtained by Mr. Wilson shows that this idea was not well founded. The
separation is now ascribed by the Sarcees to a superstitious panic, but
very probably resulted merely from the natural desire of their forefathers
to find a better country and climate. Their southward advance brought
them in contact with the Blackfeet, with whom they confederated, not
against their Tinneh kindred, as had been supposed, but against the Crees,
who have from time immemorial been the common enemies of the Tinneh
and Blackfoot tribes.

The legend of the deluge, which Mr. Wilson obtained, is given by
M. Petitot in a slightly diiferent form, which on some accounts is worthy
of notice. In early times, we are told, there was a 'deluge of snow ' in
September. This was changed to a flood of water by the act of ' the
mouse,* an important character in the mythology of some of the Tinneh
tribes, being regarded as * the symbol or genius of death.' He pierced
the skin-bag in which * the heat ' was contained, and the snow was forth-
Avith melted. The flood quickly rose above the mountains and drowned
the whole human race except one old man, who had foreseen the
catastrophe and had vainly warned his neighbours. He had made for
himself a large canoe, in which he floated, gathering on it all the animals
he met. After a time he ordered several of these animals to dive and
seek for earth. These were the beaver, the otter, the musk-rat, and the
arctic duck. According to this version of the story, it was neither the
beaver nor the muf<k-rat that brought up the earth, but the duck. This
morsel of earth was extended by the breath of the old man, who blew
upon it until it became an immense island, on which he placed succes-
sively, during six days, all the animals, and finally disembarked himself.

This s'^^ory is evidently made up from various sources. The skin- bag
of heat bitten through by the mouse seems to be a genuine Tinneh
invention. The diving of vhe animals, with the formation of the new
earth, is a well-known creation myth of ^he Algonkin and Iroquois tribes ;
and the ' six days ' are probably a late addition derived from the
missionary teachings. An inquirer among the Indian tribes is constantly
coming across such composite myths, which require careful study and
analysis.

Other observers agree with Mr. Wilson in regarding the Northern
Tinneh tribes as inferior in intelligence to the neighbouring Indians of
other stocks. This is doubtless a just view. The inferority, however,
would seem to be not from any natural deficiency, but rather the result
of the very unfavourable conditions under which the former are con-
demned to live. Not much can be expected from bands of widely
scattered nomads, often famine-stricken, Avandering over a barren region,
under inclement skies. In better surroundings their good natural
endowments become apparent. The Hoopas of California display much
intelligence and energy. Mr. Stephen Powers, in his accoutit of the
' Tribes of California,' published by the American Bureau of Ethnology,

ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA.

the

speaks of the Hoopas with macli admiration, and styles them 'the
Romans of Northern California ' ; he states that they had reduced most
of the surrounding tribes to a condition of semi-vassalage. Mr. J. P.
Dunn, an able and experienced writer, in his recent work, ' The Massacres
of the Mountains,' describes the Navahoes as the most interesting of all
the western tribes. They are a peaceful, pastoral, and agricultural people,
remarkable for their industry and for their ingenuity in various manu-
factures. Their women weave excellent blankets, which, he says, * have
been the wonder and admiration of civilised people for many years. They
are very thick, and so closely woven that a first-class one is practically
water-tight, requiring five or six hours to be soaked through.' They
make pottery, and ' have numerous silversmiths, who work cunningly in
that metal.' Their women are well treated, are consulted in all bargains,
and hold their own property independently. In 1884 ihe tribe numbered
17,000 souls, cultivated 15,000 acres of land, raised 220,000 bushels of
maize and 21,000 bushels of wheat ; they had 85,000 horses and 1,000,000
sheep. It has seemed proper to mention these facts as evidence that
the Indians who inhabit so large a portion of British America, and whose
descendants are probably destined to hold much of it permanently, belong
to a stock which, under favouring circumstances, displays a good aptitude
for civilisation.

M. Petitot, it should be observed, speaks of the Sarcee language as
forming a connecting link between the languages of the northern and
southern Tinneh tribes. Mr. Wilson's vocabulary, though taken under
many disadvantages, will doubtless be fcund extensive enough to afford
useful data to philologists in classifying the idioms of this important family.

The Committee ask for reappointment, with a renewal of th^ grant.

SPOTTISWOODE AND Cn., NKW-STUEET SQUARB
LONDON