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D Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de rMuction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X 1 >/ Mr. 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th« copy film«d h«r« has b««n r«produc«d thankt to tho gonorotlty off: L'OKomplairo ffilmA ffut roproduit grico i la oAnAroaitA da: Library Division Provincial ArcMva* of British Columbia Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Tha imagaa appaaring hara ai'a tha baat quality poaaibia conaidaring tha condition and iagibility off tha original copy and in liaaping with tha ffiiming contract apaclfficationa. Laa imagaa auivantaa ont 4t4 raproduitaa avac ia plua grand aoin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da raxamplaira ffilmA. at mn conformiti avac laa conditiona du contrat da ffiimaga. Original copiaa in printad papar covart ara ffilmad baginning with tha ffront covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illu8;ratad impras- aion, or tha bacit covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara ffilmad baginning on tha ffirat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat imprimia a:«nt ffilmia an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarmlnant aoit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatration. aoit par la aacond plat, aalon la caa. Toua laa autraa axamplairaa originaux tont ffilmte an commandant par la pramiAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'illuatration at 9n tarminant par la darniira paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Tha laat racordad frama on aach microfficha ahali contain tha aymbol — «>■ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha aymbol ▼ (maaning "END"), whichavar appliaa. Un daa tymboiaa sulvants apparaltra tur la darniAra Imaga da chaqua microfficha. aalon la caa: la aymbola »► aigniffia "A SUIVRE". la symbola y aigniffia "FIN". Mapa. piatat. charta. ate. may ba ffilmad at diffffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axpoaura ara ffilmad baginning in tha uppar lafft hand cornar. lafft to right and top to bottom, aa many fframaa aa raquirad. Tha ffoilowing diagrama illustrata tha mathod: Laa cartct. planchaa. tablaaux. ate. pauvant itra ffilmAa A daa taux da reduction diffff4ranta. Loraqua la documant aat trop grand pour Atre raproduit an un taui clich*. il aat ffiim* A partir da I'angia supAriaur gaucha. da gaucha d droita, at da haut an baa, an pranant la nombra d'imagaa nicaataira. Laa diagrammaa auivants illuatrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 V- "fT /'• ^ \.-^ THK THIJNG OF ALASKA. J)V Bessie L. Piituani. ,>|p^KE last ceusr.rt report unnibers tlic natives of Alaska beloiig- ro ii'M to tlie Thliu^nt tribe as a little less than 4,800 souLs. vS^ ^^ '^^^^ majority of them inhabit the southeastern part of the territory, very few being found beyond Yakiitat or below Priuco Frederick sound. Their skiu is lighter color than that of the average Indian, the facial expression usually good iiaturod; the cheek bones are prominent, the eyes small, the face Hat and wide. For gen- erations they have spent the greater part of their time in canoes ; hence the lower limbs have been (mly partially developed and exer- cised, the result of which shows in the ungainly manner of walking. As their methods of living have been greatly modified within the past few years, this defect in plwsical condition is gradually being correct- ed ; use and exercise of the formerly almost unused membei's have done mucli to increase their efficiency, likewise to improve the per- sonal appearance of their owner. All of these people belong to one of two clans or totems, the Wolf or the Raven. These are divided into nearly forty sub- :totems or phratries, as the Bear, Eagle, Shark, Frog, Beaver, etc., each of which has its chief whose power varies with his wealth and person- al influence but is never absolute. A man never marries one of his oAvn clan ; that is, one of the Rav- en clan must make an alliance with a Tvolf, and r/'C nersn. The children belong to the clan of the mother. ( It would seem that the principle of woman's rights is not totall}- ignored even in the lowest depths of barbarism). A man's heirs are not his own but his sister's children as tliey belong to his own totem. The individual names, as a rule, refer to the sub-totem to which their possossin- belongs. On this subject we find the following interesting uoto in a circular issued by the secretary of the Alaskan Society of Natural History, Miss Cassia Patton: "A child receives various names at different periods of its life. The final name, which is purely a personal one, is usually taken from an ancestor on the mother's side. Most names, however, have some ref- erence to the emblem to which the owner belongs, and on hearing it the Thlingites know at once to which totem the ])erson belongs For instance, at Wrangel, there is a male name, Sa-gatw, meaning voice like a frog. The frog is his emblem, and one knows at once that he belongs to the Raven group. Under one roof may be found people F*^ ^r 18 Ta- THWNCi Ol- .1I,A,SKA. Thev show , "'''«' «^ Porj,oi«e form (]isl.P« i ' ''"'^^^^'t ^u ihe oi] of -/ at; CTa'tvr"''' '"■ '"•'^' '-•■ * „'';,:':r;r ""p'^^"- \' ^^""8, native of their fp.-,.;f , -^ ^^^^''^ with aviHifTr above the obMacIenefll™ """ '"^"* '" P™s olw„ ^''" there must give him «.r\ ? "'"^^■' '«^^1 others ^vl,^ , fP®*** TT„ri . ^^ ^'^t^sfactorv pom,^^,. ^- ^'^"^ would fish Halibut may be found in favomH T*'^^ *"^' "^^ Privilege THE THLINO OF ALASKA. 19 "This fish varies in hI/o from 20 to 120 pounds and is caught onl'y with a hook and line. Thi' fish stays close along tho bottom, and is such a greedy feeder as to he. readily caught by the clumsy hook. In fishing for halibut the canoe is anchored by means of stones and cedar bark ropes. The bait is lashed to the hook, a stone sinker at- tached to the line, and the contrivance lowered to the bottom. Some- times the upper ends of the lines are attaclied to floats, and more than one line tended at a time. A fish being hooked is hauled up, played for a while, drawn alongside, grapi>led, and finally dispatched witli blows of a club carried for the ])nrpose. It requires no little skill to land a 100-i)ouud hu]ii>ut i» a light fishing canoe. A primitive halibut fishing cmtfit consists af kelj) lines, wooden floats, stone sink- ers, an anchor line, a wooden club, and wooden fishhooks. It is im- possible, with our most modern appliances, to compete with the In- dians in halibut fishing. With their crude implements they meet with the most surprising success." The surplus of fish, after due provision lias been made for the ne- cessities of winter, is converted into oil — the sauce indispensible for all food, be it fruit, meat, or the hard cakes made from the sea algae. Their manner of preparing it is extremely crude. The fish is cut in- to small pieces and placed in a wooden trough or canoe partly filled with water. Large stones are raised to a red heat, and with the aid of sticks or wooden shovels and thrown into the water ; this raises it to a boiling point and partly cooks the fish. It is then allowed to cool, the oil that rises to the surface is carefully removed with wooden la- dles and put away in bladders for future use. An inferior grade of oil, usually consumed at the time, is obatined by pressing the pieces of flesh between planks. A more savory dressing is the oil obtained from the heads of salmon and lialibut which have been buried in the sand on the beach until they have become rancid. The earliest visitors to these regions report no other garments worn by the natives than those fashioned from the skins of wild beasts, either in the form of furs or tanned leather. The outer gar- ment worn by both sexes, a loose cloak of sea otter skin, was a great favorite with the early traders who eagerly bought all that were oflfered for sale, paying what seemed to the natives like fabulous prices. They were shrewd enough to discover before long that it was not profitable to cut into pieces skins which were so valuable, hence they substituted other material for their own wardrobe. The northern tribes, ucjtabh- the Chilkats, have long been adepts at the art of weaving blankets. Their warp is the bark of the cedar finely shredded and spun into a cord ; the wool of the mountain goat dyed various colors, usually black, yellow, white, or rarely brown, furoisbes yam for the filling. These colors are fantastically arranged lf)3B13 20 'I'"J^ TllLIX(i (,r ALASKA. -?f:ti;:^;-:r:!;::,::;::;:;:r.,7yT.- " "'"' "™» """1 "» n„. .-„„,^.,„ i ';,, ;^.' I'" ■"■ 'li'i it i.Bco,„B eimt '"" :; '.:"'7"""» '" ".,„.,, ,,!:;;;;,:;;';,:; •;;;«;•'■. .■-.ion,,,. .,;"a..: Coa... I.,.li„„s ,.,■ S,,,,0, ,^t ;, -''";-""; Jr.-- Nil.bW< in-The «.v« „ „,t,.,..s,„,, ,.<.,.„,.„, o;;:;,^;;.'' '•;:■. J:.iti»i. c„,,.,„S^ AM„fe the Tl,lin,,if H-,i,I., , ""■'"•■il .■ibl],tie». -, - «"• 4«'' o;;: :;:™ ;^;:j -.>• «.)...■ <.,.;!.:;, :■" s workers. Their fnrJ "^islvpf muJcois, ava.,vo,.. i ^ mtflt, "■^"r"™**'. l«into,I „„ ti„. I " , C T: ? ""^ """»' I'.-ael the inside „f til,, , ■:f ;f "/;™;'i <...■ i-iust,;, .,,^::: pf «<» .tsel£ The former i so" i'l ' I '""'' ''"'"^ ''"■"Pert ,'oml ' ? THE THLFNG OF ALASKA. 21 make it pli;i1)l<' ciKninrli to ciial)]!' it to Itf strippc'd into Hhreds. * * * * "Other kinds ol' wgetublc tiber, HUt-h as wild nettle and a species of wild hemp, are l)eiiten on the rocks, shredded, and spun with a nidc distafV and spiii(ll(> into a strou<; twine or thread. * * * * Fiber of cedjir l)ark, lu-ni}), and goat's wool are spun into threads for use in w(!aving the blankets for which certain tribes are famous. "The simplest cords or lines are those of kelp, sometimes single, sometimes laid up into two oi' more strands for additional strength as rope. The neatest rop^'s and cords, however, are made from strands of spruce root or bark iibt>r, the small stnlf being dexterously twi.ited like our own ropes. A few of the most important uses to which dif- ferent varieties of native cordage are put may be enumerated a.i follows : Warp for blankets, fishing lines, canoe anchor lines, sheets for sails, lashings for boxes, grornmets for heads of chisels and wedges, head- dresses, girdles, guys for erecting columns, and dipping lines for turning the smoke-hole shutters of the housxture of the fabric." A trib(> of savages witliout some cui'ioiis legends and superstitions would be an juiomaly. Among those or the Thlingits is one that the bear is a man chang(>d into that uncf)uth form. This fact, so the story goes, was discovered accidcMitally by the daughter of a chief. She went one day to pick berries and came upon a bear's track. As a punishment for the terms of ridicule which she applied to the beast it decoyed her into its lair, revealed to her its former condition, com- pelled her to assume an ursine form and marry it. Finally, her un- couth husband and children were slain by her kinsmen, siie was per- mitted to resume her human fojin and return to her friends. Variations of this legend are common among other coast tribes, lience it is not strange that to (his day when :i native finds himself in proximity to a brown bear, profiting by the sad experience of the princess, he at once THE THLING OF ALASKA Buys tho most charrniii^,' jiiul tliittoriii^ things he can think of about bears in general and tliis one in ])jirtit'ul!iv. Previous to the pnrchfisc' of tliis territory by onr Government slavery was onc^ of the dark featui«'s of thcnr life ; slaves were obtained either as spoils of war, by barter with other tribes, or were the oflf- spring f»f f(;njale slaves. They were allowed no civil rights ; were not allowed to own proi)erty, ami even a i)resent made to one of them be- came at once the property of his o\vn(>r. They were seldom allowed to marry and never without the master's consent. A liberated slave became one of the lowest caste of the Thliugits and belonged to his mother's clan. They were often sacrificed on festive occasions, the old or diseased members being almost invariably chosen as victims, for the shrewd master had too keen an eye for financial prosperity to l)art with an able ])0(lied slave. That a faint spark of mercy still shone in the heart of tlu^ Thlingit is shown by the fact that if the in- tended victim made his escape or temporarily concealed himself his lif(^ was spared. And it is addeil, furtiier, that on more than (me oc- casion a master has aided his favorites in making such escape. The last rites performed at the death of a member of the tribe vary with the rank of the deceased. Slaves were accorded no burial but their bodies were cast into the sea. The poorer classes simply bury their dead with little or no cereniony. Formerly the bodies of sorcerers were placed in boxes fastened upon poles. ( )ther persons of prominence were cremated v '^- 'uneral pyres. Previous to the final ceremony, a great feast wuh -^ by the relatives of the deceased to which none but those belonging to his wife's cuai were eligible as guests. No stated time was fixed for the ceremony, and the body was often in an advanced state of decomi)osition l>efore all were in readiness. The creunition process was conducted wholly by the guests, the relatives meantime howling, burning their hair by placing their heads in the fiames, smearing their faces with ashes of the deceased, slashing their arms with sharp knives, or bruising their faces upon the rocks. When the body was reduced to ashes the guests repaired to the house of the widow. The relatives followed and commenced the funeral dirges ; as they became exhausted the guests took up the song, and this was kept up for four successive nights, the only cessations being for taking refreshments. If the deceased was a man of wealth, one or two slaves were at this time slaughtered to serve him in the future life. On the fourth day the relatives washed their blackened faces, adorned them with a coat of bright paint, gave presents to the guests and especially to those who had been officious in burning the dead body, and the ceremony was ended with another feast. The most important festivity of the tribe is that in memory of a deceased relative, "to glorify the dead, " as they term it, Mouaments A PARMER'S PHniOSOPHY. Id mt are of ton orected f)u aucli otu'iiHifniH, raf>re, perhaps, to glorify tha giver of the feast than the dcail whoHe imuiiory ho strives to honor. Only the most wealthy indulge hi th«>He feasts, and guests are invited from all the settlements, ev«m the most remote. As in civilized life, these elaborate bauiiuets often reduce their host to bankruptcy ; yet he is content to spend the rest of his life in poverty with the clear conscience of having glorified his ancestor. Many of the customs alluded to in this paper have become, or are rapidly becoming, things of the past. Sorcerers are losing tljeir influ- ence ; excepting in tlie more remote tribes, the blanket has been doffed for white man's ready-made clothing ; jmpils in the 8itka mission school object to being called Iiidiims. "We are Alaskans," they aay ; potatoes for their own consumption and to sell are raised in their gar- dens, and the old method of cooking with hot stones has been replaced by the stove and modern cooking utensils. They are ingenious, imitative, bright ; and treat the women and especially the aged, with the utmost kindness. Of their future prospects Mr. Niblack says : " Contact with th« whites has staggered and arrested these Indians in their development. They are now adjusting thcjraselves to a new mode of life. Although much reduced in numbers, they are far horn being near extermination. Much is to be hoped for in the recent establishment of industrial and other schools, and in the general interest now taken in the Indians. In the prohibition and prev(intion of the sale of liquor to them a great step has been taken. Much more needs to be done in the suppression of prostitution, in the recognition of Indian rights to hunting and fish- ing grounds, and in medical assistance to a people childishly ignorant of the simplest laws of health. Their Indian doctors are fast dis- appearing, and with them raxich of the degrading superstitution ol an ethnical gioup capable of almost any rise in the scale of civilization. " A FARMER'S PHILOSOPHY HE TUMBLES ON TO A FEW GOOD REASONS WHY THERE ARK HARD TTMES. Theke is being so much said in this country about haixi times and the scarcity of money, and as everybody has a cause and knows a remedy, I thought I would write to tell your readers what I tkink i* the cause. " We buy more than we produ«e. " There is too much flour and bacon shipped her© every year. Tte things we ouglit to make at home we are bujring.