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Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ,.M» '^- W. inotewu' ant/ ^.^. ,.^0ei^ ^/Ae^ Mttvetiit^,^^»*6jA iaouttn/tit^ T ^^ THE INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. BV DR. FRANZ BOAS. During the last seven years my studies of the North American Indians have led me frequently to the coast of British Columbia, into the recesses of its deep fjords and to the storm-beaten shores of its islands. In the following remarks I will describe some of the results of my studies and some experiences, hut I will dwell particularly upon the interesting customs which it was my good fortune to observe in a cruise along the coast last winter. Many are the tourists who nowadays in commodious steamers pass up and down the rugged coast' of British Columbia on their tour to Alaska and many a time have the beautiful fjords, the snow- covered mountains the foot of which is clad in evergreen forests been described in vivid color-. But a different impression is left on the mind of him who in a small canoe passes through the intricate channels of the coast, tossed by tempestuous squalls which blow down the sides of the mountains and struggling against the rapid tides which in places rush like torrents through narrow openings. The overwhelming solitude and stillness of the shores, the monotony of the dark pines and cedars, of the channels and of the roaring cascades beget a longing for the sight of human work, of human habitation, that swallows the admiration of the magnificent sceiicry. Gladly welcomes the traveller the smoke which is seen to arise in the far distance, at a place where the steep coast line is interrupted by a small flat and which indicates the presence of an Indian village. While thus travelling from place to place with my Indian friend? had ample opportunity to become familiar with their life, their cus- toms and their ideas. Before describing the life of the Indians I may be permitted briefly to summarize what we know about their general appearance and their relationships to each other and to the rest of the Ameri- can race. The casual visitor is first of all struck by the remarkable similarity of the natives of the North Pacific Coast with the races of Eastern Asia. Even after a long acquaintance with the people single individuals are found whom one might almost mistake for Asiatics. It happened to me even last winter that I met a broad- faced, light-complexioned person, with brownish, almost black hair, 229 us HI r 230 TAe Indians of British Columbia. attired in a sailor's suit, whom I was unable to classify for quite a while. Finally he happened to look sideways, which brought into prominence a very strongly Mongoloid eye — the peculiar eye, that we always see in Chinamen — and this settled in my mind that he must belong to Asia. In fact he proved to be a Japanese. This formation of the eye which is more strongly marked in the Mongol is sometimes the only means of detecting the difference between individuals belonging to the two races. Taken as a whole, how- ever, the face of the Indian is much heavier built, his hair is not as coarse as that of Chinamen or Japanese, Young persons have the Chinese eye often just as strongly developed as the Chinese themselves. We may say that the people, particularly those of the northern parts of the territory, occupy a position intermediate be- tween the Indians of the plains and the East Asiatic races. But the tribes of this coast are by no means homogeneous. A few of them take quite an exceptional position. In most cases the noses and faces of these Indians are wide, but low. Among the southern tribes there are some, whose faces are, to the contrary, wide and very high, the noses being at the same time narrow and almost Roman in form. It is remarkable that as soon as we cross the mountains of southern British Columoia the characteristic Indian face becomes very prominent. I must not omit to mention one peculiarity. We are accustomed to consider the Indians as possessed of black, straight hair, and as of a reddish complexion. The hair of the Indians of the North Pacific Coast is very frequently slightly wavy and brownish, his complexion is very light. Ther" are even a few tribes among whom red hair and almost white complexions occur. The most striking peculiarity exhibited by these tribes is the effect of the custom of artificially deforming their heads by closely bandaging and pressing the head of the infant as long as it is in the cradle. By this means growth of the head sideways is stopped and it grows backward and upward. The forehead becomes at the same time flat and receding. It is very curious that in the region of which we are speaking a great many different methods of deforming the head are in use. Further to the south, instead of lengthening the head, the Indians flatten it. They bring a strong pressure to bear upon the forehead. The custom of deforming the head is very widely spread, and was still more so in olden times. In America it is still practiced on the coast of British Columbia and as far south as Oregon. The tribes of Kansas flatten their heads. Formerly all the people of ^ The Indians of British Columbia. 231 Colorado, of the lower Mississippi, of the West Indies, and the Peruvians deformed the heads of their children. Outside of America the custom is found in several islands of the Pacific Ocean and, what seems hardly credible, in southern France. The last-named occurrence seems to be the only survival of a cus- tom which in antiquity was practiced from the Caucasus through Hungary to southern France. It has often been asked what the meaning of this practice may have been. We must undoubtedly consider it simply as a fashion which grew up as other fashions do and as having no more nor less meaning than the deformation of the feet by the Chinese, of the teeth by the Africans, or of the waist by our own ladies. If in regard to their physique these Indians are by no means uniform, they are still less so in regard to their languages. Seven radically distinct languages are spoken by them in this small area, and some of them are split up in subdivisions to a marvellous extent. When saying radically distinct languages, I mean that they differ as much in structure and in vocabulary as English and Turkish, which as we know are not related at all ; while the subdi- visions may differ as much as English and Greek, both of which belong to the Aryan stock. There is only one thing which these languages have in common, namely, their extreme harshness, super- abundance of consonants and scarcity of vowels, combined with an extreme energy of pronunciation. The languages are in structure similar to other American languages. In this respect no affinity to Asiatic peoples is found. They fall naturally into a number of groups which show very interesting geographical relations. The languages of southern British Columbia resemble in structure somewhat those spoken on a belt which stretches along the North- ern States and Southern Canada right across the continent. Tht languages of the north are, on the other hand, somewhat analogous to the languages spoken in the whole extreme northwestern portion of America ; but each of these two groups is wholly unlike the other. I will not enter into these somewhat difficult relations any fur- ther, but will describe that portion of my travels which seems to touch upon some of the most interesting problems of Indian history. On several of my trips I had visited a tribe who bore the jiroucl name of the Kwakiutl, the "smoke of the world." This name, I might say, almost characterizes the Indian. T'.ie " smoke of the world," that means that their hospitality is such that the smoke of their fire at which the food is being roasted fills the whole world, and that the fire is being kept burning all the time. When I first 232 The Indians of British Columbia. visited the tribe my arrival gave rise to much speculation and dis- trust, which led to my being invited to attend a council at which the subject was to be discussed. At that time the minds of the Indians were much stirred by efforts of the Canadian Government to put a stop to certain dances and ceremonials, and every stranger was suspected as a Government agent with sinister designs. In the council I was addressed as follows by the chief of the village: " We want to know whether you have come to stop our dances and feasts, as the missionaries and agents who live among our neighbors try to do. We do not want to have anybody here who will interfere with our customs. We were told that a man-of-war would come if we should continue to do as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers have done. But we do not mind such words. Is this the white man's land? We are told it is the Queen's land; but no! it is mine! Where was the Queen when our God came down from heaven? Where was the Queen when our God gave the land to my grandfather and told him, ' This will be thine '? My father owned the land and was a mighty chief ; now it is mine. And when your man-of-war comes let him destroy our houses. Do you see yon woods? Do you see yon trees? . We shall cut them down and build new houses and live as our fathers did. We will dance when our laws command us to dance, we will f'jast when our hearts desire to feast. Do we as k the white nraii, 'Do as the Indian does'? No, we do not. Why then do you isk us, ' Do as the white man does '? It is a strict law that bids us dance. It is a strict law that bids us distribute our property among our friends and neighbors. It is a good law. Let the white man observe his law; we shall observe ours. And now, if you are come to forbid us to dance, begone; if not, you will be welcome to us." My words in reply to this speech seem to have been taken very kindly, for since that time I have never been made more at home than among this tribe. How much more friendly was my reception last year. On one of my later visits I had received an Indian name, Heiltsakuls, "The one who says the right thing." I was coming down the coast in a small steamer which, as it approached the village in the middle of the night, blew its whistle until a canoe came alongside. I was recognized at once and paddled ashore, and many were the welcomes that were offered to me that night. I had arrived at a most opportune season for my studies. The whole tribe and a great many friends from neighboring villages were assembled to celebrate the great religious ceremonial which The Indians of British Columln'n. 388 takes place about midwinter. There was excitement in all the houses. Here preparations were made for feasts, there the ap- proaching ceremonies were earnestly discussed. Others were busy collecting all their property in order to pay off debts, which is con- sidered one of the most important transactions in the life of these Indians. On the morning after my arrival I invited at once the whole tribe — about 250 souls in all — to a feast. It was a feast to them, although the provender which I furnished consisted of nothing but hard tack and molasses. Before the biscuits were distributed I had to make the formal speech depreciating my small feast and asking my guests to be happy and to eat to their hearts' desire. In return I was told that no feast like mine had ever been given and that I was a great chief. The figurative speech of the Kwakiutl Indians has it about like this: "You are the loaded canoe that has anchored in front of our village and is unloading its riches; you are the precipice of a mountain from which wealth is rolling down upon all the people of the whole world; you are the pillar supporting our world." And all this for a treat of hard tack and molasses. But the gross flattery of this speech must not be taken too seriously, as it is simply a stereotype formula used for expressing the thanks for a feast. Custom requires that before the feast four songs are sung. The young men — the singers — sit in two or three rows in the rear of the house. Planks are laid in front of each row, and they carry short sticks to beat time with. As soon as the time for opening the song begins the singing master jumps upon a bo.\ and gives the signal to begin. At once the deafening noise of the beating of the boards begins, and then the chorus commences the song. I regret that I cannot give an example of this peculiar music. It has often been said that Indian music is no more than a n\eaningless and senseless howling, but to him who knows to listen to the music so imperfectly rendered by untrained voices the weird strains soon gain a curious attraction. As the musical phrases repeat them- selves and appear in new and unexpected combinations, the art of the native composer becomes clearer and clearer. As new rhyth- mical forms are introduced into the song we recognize beauties which were at first obscured by their imperfect rendition. The words of the songs also prove a deep poetical feeling, although this becomes not so apparent in feast songs, which are made distasteful to the refined ear by an incredible amount of brag on the one hand .and of flattery on the other. 234 The Indians of British Columbia. Let me give a few examples of this poetry in translation. Here is a feast song: 1. I am a great chief, famous alt over the world. I am the highest chief among all the tribes. Chiefs are my servants. Chiefs are my messengers. Chiefs are to me like my ragged, torn blankets. Do not irritate me, else I will destroy your pro|)erty and your lives. I am like to a mountain whom nobo