to some extent agree, are as follows.272 The Nitinats, Clayoquots, and Nootkas, on the sounds of the same names along the west coast of Vancouver Island; the Quackolls and Newittees,273 in the north; the Cowichins, Ucletas, and Comux, on the east coast of Vancouver and on the opposite main; the Saukaulutuchs274, in the interior of the island; the Clallums,275Sokes, and Patcheena, on the south end; and the Kwantlums and Teets,276 on the lower Fraser River. These tribes differ but little in physical peculiarities, or manners and customs, but by their numerous dialects they have been classed in nations. No comprehensive or satisfactory names have, however, been applied to them as national divisions.277
Between the Nootka family and its fish-eating neighbors on the north and south, the line of distinction is not clearly marked, but the contrast is greater with the interior hunting tribes on the east. Since their first intercourse with whites, the Nootkas have constantly decreased in numbers, and this not only in those parts where they have been brought into contact with traders and miners, but on the west coast, where they have retained in a measure their primitive state. The savage fades before the superior race, and immediate intercourse is not necessary to produce in native races those 'baleful influences of civilization,' which like a pestilence are wafted from afar, as on the wings of the wind.278
NOOTKA PHYSIQUE.
The Nootkas are of less than medium height, smaller than the Haidahs, but rather strongly built; usually plump, but rarely corpulent;279 their legs, like those of all the coast tribes, short, small, and frequently deformed, with large feet and ankles;280 the face broad, round, and full, with the usual prominent cheek-bone, a low forehead, flat nose, wide nostrils, small black eyes, round thickish-lipped mouth, tolerably even well-set teeth; the whole forming a countenance rather dull and expressionless, but frequently pleasant.281 The Nootka complexion, so far as grease and paint have allowed travelers to observe it, is decidedly light, but apparently a shade darker than that of the Haidah family.282 The hair, worn long, is as a rule black or dark brown, coarse, and straight, though instances are not wanting where all these qualities are reversed.283 The beard is carefully plucked out by the young men, and this operation, repeated for generations, has rendered the beard naturally thin. Old men often allow it to grow on the chin and upper lip.
NOOTKA HAIR AND BEARD.
To cut the hair short is to the Nootka a disgrace. Worn at full length, evened at the ends, and sometimes cut straight across the forehead, it is either allowed to hang loosely from under a band of cloth or fillet of bark, or is tied in a knot on the crown. On full-dress occasions the top-knot is secured with a green bough, and after being well saturated with whale-grease, the hair is powdered plentifully with white feathers, which are regarded as the crowning ornament for manly dignity in all these regions. Both sexes, but particularly the women, take great pains with the hair, carefully combing and plaiting their long tresses, fashioning tasteful head-dresses of bark-fibre, decked with beads and shells, attaching leaden weights to the braids to keep them straight. The bruised root of a certain plant is thought by the Ahts to promote the growth of the hair.284
The custom of flattening the head is practiced by the Nootkas, in common with the Sound and Chinook families, but is not universal, nor is so much importance attached to it as elsewhere; although all seem to admire a flattened forehead as a sign of noble birth, even among tribes that do not make this deformity a sign of freedom. Among the Quatsinos and Quackolls of the north, the head, besides being flattened, is elongated into a conical sugar-loaf shape, pointed at the top. The flattening process begins immediately after birth, and is continued until the child can walk. It is effected by compressing the head with tight bandages, usually attached to the log cradle, the forehead being first fitted with a soft pad, a fold of soft bark, a mould of hard wood, or a flat stone. Observers generally agree that little or no harm is done to the brain by this infliction, the traces of which to a great extent disappear later in life. Many tribes, including the Aht nations, are said to have abandoned the custom since they have been brought into contact with the whites.285
NOOTKA FACE-PAINTING.
The body is kept constantly anointed with a reddish clayey earth, mixed in train oil, and consequently little affected by their frequent baths. In war and mourning the whole body is blackened; on feast days the head, limbs, and body are painted in fantastic figures with various colors, apparently according to individual fancy, although the chiefs monopolize the fancy figures, the common people being restricted to plain colors. Solid grease is sometimes applied in a thick coating, and carved or moulded in alto-rilievo into ridges and figures afterwards decorated with red paint, while shining sand or grains of mica are sprinkled over grease and paint to impart a glittering appearance. The women are either less fond of paint than the men, or else are debarred by their lords from the free use of it; among the Ahts, at least of late, the women abandon ornamental paint after the age of twenty-five. In their dances, as in war, masks carved from cedar to represent an endless variety of monstrous faces, painted in bright colors, with mouth and eyes movable by strings, are attached to their heads, giving them a grotesquely ferocious aspect.286 The nose and ears are regularly pierced in childhood, with from one to as many holes as the feature will hold, and from the punctures are suspended bones, shells, rings, beads, or in fact any ornament obtainable. The lip is sometimes, though more rarely, punctured. Bracelets and anklets of any available material are also commonly worn.287
The aboriginal dress of the Nootkas is a square blanket, of a coarse yellow material resembling straw matting, made by the women from cypress bark, with a mixture of dog's hair. This blanket had usually a border of fur; it sometimes had arm-holes, but was ordinarily thrown over the shoulders, and confined at the waist by a belt. Chiefs wore it painted in variegated colors or unpainted, but the common people wore a coarser material painted uniformly red. Women wore the garment longer and fastened under the chin, binding an additional strip of cloth closely about the middle, and showing much modesty about disclosing the person, while the men often went entirely naked. Besides the blanket, garments of many kinds of skin were in use, particularly by the chiefs on public days. In war, a heavy skin dress was worn as a protection against arrows. The Nootkas usually went bareheaded, but sometimes wore a conical hat plaited of rushes, bark, or flax. European blankets have replaced those of native manufacture, and many Indians about the settlements have adopted also the shirt and breeches.288
DWELLINGS OF THE NOOTKAS.
The Nootkas choose strong positions for their towns and encampments. At Desolation Sound, Vancouver found a village built on a detached rock with perpendicular sides, only accessible by planks resting on the branches of a tree, and protected on the sea side by a projecting platform resting on timbers fixed in the crevices of the precipice. The Nimkish tribe, according to Lord, build their homes on a table-land overhanging the sea, and reached by ascending a vertical cliff on a bark-rope ladder. Each tribe has several villages in favorable locations for fishing at different seasons. The houses, when more than one is needed for a tribe, are placed with regularity along streets; they vary in size according to the need or wealth of the occupants, and are held in common under the direction of the chief. They are constructed in the manner following. A row of large posts, from ten to fifteen feet high, often grotesquely carved, supports an immense ridge-pole, sometimes two and a half feet thick and one hundred feet long. Similar but smaller beams, on shorter posts, are placed on either side of the central row, distant from it fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five feet, according to the dimensions required. This frame is then covered with split
'The Newatees, mentioned in many books, are not known on the west coast. Probably the Klah-oh-quahts are meant.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 314.
<p>274</p>
There are no Indians in the interior. Fitzwilliam's Evidence, in Hud. B. Co., Rept. Spec. Com., 1857, p. 115.
<p>275</p>
The same name is also applied to one of the Sound nations across the strait in Washington.
<p>276</p>
The Teets or Haitlins are called by the Tacullies, 'Sa-Chinco' strangers. Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., pp. 73-4.
<p>277</p>
Sproat's division into nations, 'almost as distinct as the nations of Europe' is into the Quoquoulth (Quackoll) or Fort Rupert, in the north and north-east; the Kowitchan, or Thongeith, on the east and south; Aht on the west coast; and Komux, a distinct tribe also on the east of Vancouver. 'These tribes of the Ahts are not confederated; and I have no other warrant for calling them a nation than the fact of their occupying adjacent territories, and having the same superstitions and language.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 18-19, 311. Mayne makes by language four nations; the first including the Cowitchen in the harbor and valley of the same name north of Victoria, with the Nanaimo and Kwantlum Indians about the mouth of the Fraser River, and the Songhies; the second comprising the Comoux, Nanoose, Nimpkish, Quawguult, etc., on Vancouver, and the Squawmisht, Sechelt, Clahoose, Ucle-tah, Mama-lil-a-culla, etc., on the main, and islands, between Nanaimo and Fort Rupert; the third and fourth groups include the twenty-four west-coast tribes who speak two distinct languages, not named. Mayne's Vanc. Isl., pp. 243-51. Grant's division gives four languages on Vancouver, viz., the Quackoll, from Clayoquot Sound north to C. Scott, and thence S. to Johnson's Strait; the Cowitchin, from Johnson's Strait to Sanetch Arm; the Tsclallum, or Clellum, from Sanetch to Soke, and on the opposite American shore; and the Macaw, from Patcheena to Clayoquot Sound. 'These four principal languages … are totally distinct from each other, both in sound, formation, and modes of expression.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 295. Scouler attempts no division into nations or languages. Lond. Geo. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., pp. 221, 224. Mofras singularly designates them as one nation of 20,000 souls, under the name of Ouakich. Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 343. Recent investigations have shown a somewhat different relationship of these languages, which I shall give more particularly in a subsequent volume.
<p>278</p>
See Sproat's Scenes, pp. 272-86, on the 'effects upon savages of intercourse with civilized men.' 'Hitherto, (1856) in Vancouver Island, the tribes who have principally been in intercourse with the white man, have found it for their interest to keep up that intercourse in amity for the purposes of trade, and the white adventurers have been so few in number, that they have not at all interfered with the ordinary pursuits of the natives.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 303.
<p>279</p>
'Muy robustos y bien apersonados.' 'De mediana estatura, excepto los Xefes cuya corpulencia se hace notar.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 55, 124. 'The young princess was of low stature, very plump.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. Macquilla, the chief was five feet eight inches, with square shoulders and muscular limbs; his son was five feet nine inches. Belcher's Voy., vol. i., pp. 110-12. The seaboard tribes have 'not much physical strength.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 73. 'La gente dicen ser muy robusta.' Perez, Rel. del Viage, MS., p. 20. 'Leur taille est moyenne.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 343. 'In general, robust and well proportioned.' Meares' Voy., p. 249. Under the common stature, pretty full and plump, but not muscular – never corpulent, old people lean – short neck and clumsy body; women nearly the same size as the men. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Of smaller stature than the Northern Tribes; they are usually fatter and more muscular.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221. In the north, among the Clayoquots and Quackolls, men are often met of five feet ten inches and over; on the south coast the stature varies from five feet three inches to five feet six inches. Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297. 'The men are in general from about five feet six to five feet eight inches in height; remarkably straight, of a good form, robust and strong.' Only one dwarf was seen. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 60-61. The Klah-oh-quahts are 'as a tribe physically the finest. Individuals may be found in all the tribes who reach a height of five feet eleven inches, and a weight of 180 pounds, without much flesh on their bodies.' Extreme average height: men, five feet six inches, women, five feet one-fourth inch. 'Many of the men have well-shaped forms and limbs. None are corpulent.' 'The men generally have well-set, strong frames, and, if they had pluck and skill, could probably hold their own in a grapple with Englishmen of the same stature.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 22-3. 'Rather above the middle stature, copper-colored and of an athletic make.' Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71; Prichard's Researches, vol. v., p. 442. 'Spare muscular forms.' Barrett-Lennard's Trav., pp. 44; Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem., pp. 14-22.
<p>280</p>
Limbs small, crooked, or ill-made; large feet; badly shaped, and projecting ankles from sitting so much on their hams and knees. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Their limbs, though stout and athletic, are crooked and ill-shaped.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. 'Ils ont les membres inférieures légèrement arqués, les chevilles très-saillantes, et la pointe des pieds tournée en dedans, difformité qui provient de la manière dont ils sont assis dans leurs canots.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 343-4. 'Stunted, and move with a lazy waddling gait.' Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 428. 'Skeleton shanks … not much physical strength … bow-legged – defects common to the seaboard tribes.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 73-4. All the females of the Northwest Coast are very short-limbed. 'Raro es el que no tiene muy salientes los tobillos y las puntas de los pies inclinadas hácia dentro … y una especie de entumecimiento que se advierte, particularmente en las mugeres.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 124, 30, 62-3. They have great strength in the fingers. Sproat's Scenes, p. 33. Women, short-limbed, and toe in. Id., p. 22; Mayne's B. C., pp. 282-3. 'The limbs of both sexes are ill-formed, and the toes turned inwards.' 'The legs of the women, especially those of the slaves, are often swollen as if oedematous, so that the leg appears of an uniform thickness from the ankle to the calf,' from wearing a garter. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221.
<p>281</p>
The different Aht tribes vary in physiognomy somewhat – 'faces of the Chinese and Spanish types may be seen.' 'The face of the Ahts is rather broad and flat; the mouth and lips of both men and women are large, though to this there are exceptions, and the cheekbones are broad but not high. The skull is fairly shaped, the eyes small and long, deep set, in colour a lustreless inexpressive black, or very dark hazel, none being blue, grey, or brown… One occasionally sees an Indian with eyes distinctly Chinese. The nose … in some instances is remarkably well-shaped.' 'The teeth are regular, but stumpy, and are deficient in enamel at the points,' perhaps from eating sanded salmon. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 19, 27. 'Their faces are large and full, their cheeks high and prominent, with small black eyes; their noses are broad and flat; their lips thick, and they have generally very fine teeth, and of the most brilliant whiteness.' Meares' Voy., pp. 249-50; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 44. 'La fisonomia de estos (Nitinats) era differente de la de los habitantes de Nutka: tenian el cráneo de figura natural, los ojos chicos muy próximos, cargados los párpados.' Many have a languid look, but few a stupid appearance. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 28, 30, 62-3, 124. 'Dull and inexpressive eye.' 'Unprepossessing and stupid countenances.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 74, 80. The Wickinninish have 'a much less open and pleasing expression of countenance' than the Klaizzarts. The Newchemass 'were the most savage looking and ugly men that I ever saw.' 'The shape of the face is oval; the features are tolerably regular, the lips being thin and the teeth very white and even: their eyes are black but rather small, and the nose pretty well formed, being neither flat nor very prominent.' The women 'are in general very well-looking, and some quite handsome.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 76, 77, 61. 'Features that would have attracted notice for their delicacy and beauty, in those parts of the world where the qualities of the human form are best understood.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. Face round and full, sometimes broad, with prominent cheek-bones … falling in between the temples, the nose flattening at the base, wide nostrils and a rounded point … forehead low; eyes small, black and languishing; mouth round, with large, round, thickish lips; teeth tolerably equal and well-set, but not very white. Remarkable sameness, a dull phlegmatic want of expression; no pretensions to beauty among the women. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-2. See portraits of Nootkas in Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 108; Cook's Atlas, pl. 38-9; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, Atlas; Whymper's Alaska, p. 75. 'Long nose, high cheek bones, large ugly mouth, very long eyes, and foreheads villainously low.' 'The women of Vancouver Island have seldom or ever good features; they are almost invariably pug-nosed; they have however, frequently a pleasing expression, and there is no lack of intelligence in their dark hazel eyes.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 297-8. 'Though without any pretensions to beauty, could not be considered as disagreeable.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. 'Have the common facial characteristics of low foreheads, high cheek-bones, aquiline noses, and large mouths.' 'Among some of the tribes pretty women may be seen.' Mayne's B. C., p. 277.
<p>282</p>
'Her skin was clean, and being nearly white,' etc. Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., p. 395. 'Reddish brown, like that of a dirty copper kettle.' Some, when washed, have 'almost a florid complexion.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 297, 299. 'Brown, somewhat inclining to a copper cast.' The women are much whiter, 'many of them not being darker than those in some of the Southern parts of Europe.' The Newchemass are much darker than the other tribes. Jewitt's Nar., pp. 61, 77. 'Their complexion, though light, has more of a copper hue' than that of the Haidahs. Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 221. 'Skin white, with the clear complexion of Europe.' Meares' Voy., p. 250. The color hard to tell on account of the paint, but in a few cases 'the whiteness of the skin appeared almost to equal that of Europeans; though rather of that pale effete cast … of our southern nations… Their children … also equalled ours in whiteness.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., p. 303. 'Their complexion is a dull brown,' darker than the Haidahs. 'Cook and Meares probably mentioned exceptional cases.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 23-4. 'Tan blancos como el mejor Español.' Perez, Rel. del Viage, MS., p. 20. 'Por lo que se puede inferir del (color) de los niños, parece menos obscuro que el de los Mexicanos,' but judging by the chiefs' daughters they are wholly white. Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 125. 'A dark, swarthy copper-coloured figure.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143. They 'have lighter complexions than other aborigines of America.' Greenhow's Hist. Ogn., p. 116. 'Sallow complexion, verging towards copper colour.' Barrett-Lennard's Trav., pp. 44-6. Copper-coloured. Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.
<p>283</p>
'The hair of the natives is never shaven from the head. It is black or dark brown, without gloss, coarse and lank, but not scanty, worn long… Slaves wear their hair short. Now and then, but rarely, a light-haired native is seen. There is one woman in the Opechisat tribe at Alberni who had curly, or rather wavy, brown hair. Few grey-haired men can be noticed in any tribe. The men's beards and whiskers are deficient, probably from the old alleged custom, now seldom practiced, of extirpating the hairs with small shells. Several of the Nootkah Sound natives (Moouchahts) have large moustaches and whiskers.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 25-7. 'El cabello es largo lacio y grueso, variando su color entre rubio, obscuro, castaño y negro. La barba sale á los mozos con la misma regularidad que á los de otros paises, y llega á ser en los ancianos tan poblada y larga como la de los Turcos; pero los jóvenes parecen imberbes porque se la arrancan con los dedos, ó mas comunmente con pinzas formadas de pequeñas conchas.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 124-5, 57. 'Hair of the head is in great abundance, very coarse, and strong; and without a single exception, black, straight and lank.' No beards at all, or a small thin one on the chin, not from a natural defect, but from plucking. Old men often have beards. Eyebrows scanty and narrow. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 301-3. 'Neither beard, whisker, nor moustache ever adorns the face of the redskin.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143; Jewitt's Nar., pp. 61, 75, 77. Hair 'invariably either black or dark brown.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Meares' Voy., p. 250; Mayne's B. C., pp. 277-8; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.
<p>284</p>
Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 126-7; Sproat's Scenes, pp. 26-7; Meares' Voy., p. 254; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Jewitt's Nar., pp. 21, 23, 62, 65, 77-8; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Mayne's B. C., pp. 277-8; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 44.
<p>285</p>
Mayne's B. C., pp. 242, 277, with cut of a child with bandaged head, and of a girl with a sugar-loaf head, measuring eighteen inches from the eyes to the summit. Sproat's Scenes, pp. 28-30; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 298; Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 222; Meares' Voy., p. 249; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 441; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 124; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 171; vol. ii., p. 103, cut of three skulls of flattened, conical, and natural form; Kane's Wand., p. 241; Jewitt's Nar., p. 76; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 325; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 45; Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem., p. 115.
<p>286</p>
At Valdes Island, 'the faces of some were made intirely white, some red, black, or lead colour.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. i., pp. 307, 341. At Nuñez Gaona Bay, 'se pintan de encarnado y negro.' Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 30. At Nootka Sound, 'Con esta grasa (de ballena) se untan todo el cuerpo, y despues se pintan con una especie de barniz compuesto de la misma grasa ó aceyte, y de almagre en términos que parece este su color natural.' Chiefs only may paint in varied colors, plebeians being restricted to one.' Id., pp. 125-7. 'Many of the females painting their faces on all occasions, but the men only at set periods.' Vermilion is obtained by barter. Black, their war and mourning color, is made by themselves. Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442. 'Ces Indiens enduisent leur corps d'huile de baleine, et se peignent avec des ocres.' Chiefs only may wear different colors, and figures of animals. Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 344. 'Rub their bodies constantly with a red paint, of a clayey or coarse ochry substance, mixed with oil… Their faces are often stained with a black, a brighter red, or a white colour, by way of ornament… They also strew the brown martial mica upon the paint, which makes it glitter.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., p. 305. 'A line of vermilion extends from the centre of the forehead to the tip of the nose, and from this "trunk line" others radiate over and under the eyes and across the cheeks. Between these red lines white and blue streaks alternately fill the interstices. A similar pattern ornaments chest, arms, and back, the frescoing being artistically arranged to give apparent width to the chest.' Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 143. 'They paint the face in hideous designs of black and red (the only colours used), and the parting of the hair is also coloured red.' Mayne's B. C., p. 277. 'At great feasts the faces of the women are painted red with vermilion or berry-juice, and the men's faces are blackened with burnt wood. About the age of twenty-five the women cease to use paint… Some of the young men streak their faces with red, but grown-up men seldom now use paint, unless on particular occasions… The leader of a war expedition is distinguished by a streaked visage from his black-faced followers.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 27-8. The manner of painting is often a matter of whim. 'The most usual method is to paint the eye-brows black, in form of a half moon, and the face red in small squares, with the arms and legs and part of the body red; sometimes one half of the face is painted red in squares, and the other black; at others, dotted with red spots, or red and black instead of squares, with a variety of other devices, such as painting one half of the face and body red, and the other black.' Jewitt's Nar., p. 64; Meares' Voy., p. 252; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 46; Spark's Life of Ledyard, p. 71.
<p>287</p>
'The habit of tattooing the legs and arms is common to all the women of Vancouver's Island; the men do not adopt it.' Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 307. 'No such practice as tattooing exists among these natives.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 27. 'The ornament on which they appear to set the most value, is the nose-jewel, if such an appellation may be given to the wooden stick, which some of them employ for this purpose… I have seen them projecting not less than eight or nine inches beyond the face on each side; this is made fast or secured in its place by little wedges on each side of it.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 65-6, 75; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 344. Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 30, 126-7; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., p. 442; Whymper's Alaska, pp. 37, 74, with cut of mask. Mayne's B. C., p. 268; Kane's Wand., pp. 221-2, and illustration of a hair medicine-cap.
<p>288</p>
'Their cloaks, which are circular capes with a hole in the centre, edged with sea-otter skin, are constructed from the inner bark of the cypress. It turns the rain, is very soft and pliable,' etc. Belcher's Voy., vol. i., p. 112. The usual dress of the Newchemass 'is a kootsuck made of wolf skin, with a number of the tails attached to it … hanging from the top to the bottom; though they sometimes wear a similar mantle of bark cloth, of a much coarser texture than that of Nootka.' Jewitt's Nar., pp. 77-8, 21-3, 56-8, 62-6. 'Their common dress is a flaxen garment, or mantle, ornamented on the upper edge by a narrow strip of fur, and at the lower edge, by fringes or tassels. It passes under the left arm, and is tied over the right shoulder, by a string before, and one behind, near its middle… Over this, which reaches below the knees, is worn a small cloak of the same substance, likewise fringed at the lower part… Their head is covered with a cap, of the figure of a truncated cone, or like a flower-pot, made of fine matting, having the top frequently ornamented with a round or pointed knob, or bunch of leathern tassels.' Cook's Voy. to Pac., vol. ii., pp. 304-8, 270-1, 280. 'The men's dress is a blanket; the women's a strip of cloth, or shift, and blanket. The old costume of the natives was the same as at present, but the material was different.' Sproat's Scenes, pp. 25, 315. 'Their clothing generally consists of skins,' but they have two other garments of bark or dog's hair. 'Their garments of all kinds are worn mantlewise, and the borders of them are fringed' with wampum. Spark's Life of Ledyard, pp. 71-2; Colyer, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, p. 533; Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, pp. 30-1, 38, 56-7, 126-8; Meares' Voy., pp. 251-4; Grant, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 297; Lord's Nat., vol. i., pp. 143-4; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 344-5; Whymper's Alaska, p. 37; Greenhow's Hist. Ogn., p. 116; Macfie's Van. Isl., pp. 431, 443; Barrett-Lennard's Trav., p. 46. See portraits in Cook's Atlas, Belcher's Voy., Sutil y Mexicana, Atlas, and Whymper's Alaska.
![The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes - Hubert Howe Bancroft](limg_read206179.jpg "The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes - Hubert Howe Bancroft")