The Native Races (Vol. 1-5). Hubert Howe Bancroft
p. 263; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 310. 'The men habitually go naked, but when they go off on a journey they wear a blanket.' Reed's Nar. 'Cuero de nutrias y lobo marino … sombreros de junco bien tejidos con la copa puntiaguda.' Crespi, in Doc. Hist. Mex., s. iv., vol. vi., p. 646.
250. Dunn's Oregon, pp. 253, 276–7; Catlin's N. Am. Ind., vol. ii., p. 113.
251. At Salmon River, 52° 58´, 'their dress consists of a single robe tied over the shoulders, falling down behind, to the heels, and before, a little below the knees, with a deep fringe round the bottom. It is generally made of the bark of the cedar tree, which they prepare as fine as hemp; though some of these garments are interwoven with strips of the sea-otter skin, which give them the appearance of a fur on one side. Others have stripes of red and yellow threads fancifully introduced towards the borders.' Clothing is laid aside whenever convenient. 'The women wear a close fringe hanging down before them about two feet in length, and half as wide. When they sit down they draw this between their thighs.' Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 322–3, 371; Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., pp. 280, 339.
252. A house 'erected on a platform, … raised and supported near thirty feet from the ground by perpendicular spars of a very large size; the whole occupying a space of about thirty-five by fifteen (yards), was covered in by a roof of boards lying nearly horizontal, and parallel to the platform; it seemed to be divided into three different houses, or rather apartments, each having a separate access formed by a long tree in an inclined position from the platform to the ground, with notches cut in it by way of steps, about a foot and a half asunder.' Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 274. See also pp. 137, 267–8, 272, 284. 'Their summer and winter residences are built of split plank, similar to those of the Chenooks.' Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 263. 'Ils habitent dans des loges de soixante pieds de long, construites avec des troncs de sapin et recouvertes d'écorces d'arbres.' Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 337. 'Their houses are neatly constructed, standing in a row; having large images, cut out of wood, resembling idols. The dwellings have all painted fronts, showing imitations of men and animals. Attached to their houses most of them have large potatoe gardens.' Dunn's Oregon, pp. 293–4. See also, pp. 251–2, 273–4, 290; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 89; vol. ii., pp. 253, 255, with cuts on p. 255 and frontispiece. 'Near the house of the chief I observed several oblong squares, of about twenty feet by eight. They were made of thick cedar boards, which were joined with so much neatness, that I at first thought they were one piece. They were painted with hieroglyphics, and figures of different animals,' probably for purposes of devotion, as was 'a large building in the middle of the village. … The ground-plot was fifty feet by forty-five; each end is formed by four stout posts, fixed perpendicularly in the ground. The corner ones are plain, and support a beam of the whole length, having three intermediate props on each side, but of a larger size, and eight or nine feet in height. The two centre posts, at each end, are two and a half feet in diameter, and carved into human figures, supporting two ridge poles on their heads, twelve feet from the ground. The figures at the upper part of this square represent two persons, with their hands upon their knees, as if they supported the weight with pain and difficulty: the others opposite to them stand at their ease, with their hands resting on their hips. … Posts, poles, and figures, were painted red and black, but the sculpture of these people is superior to their painting.' Mackenzie's Voy., p. 331. See also pp. 307, 318, 328–30, 339, 345; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 111, 113–4; Reed's Nar.; Marchand, Voy., tom. ii., pp. 127–31.
253. On food of the Haidahs and the methods of procuring it, see Lord's Nat., vol. i., pp. 41, 152; Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 306, 313–14, 319–21, 327, 333, 339, 369–70; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., pp. 148, 284–5, 315–16; Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 273; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 251, 267, 274, 290–1; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 337; Pemberton's Vancouver Island, p. 23; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 263; Reed's Nar.
254. Vancouver's Voy., vol. ii., p. 339; Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 316; Mackenzie's Voy., p. 372–3. 'Once I saw a party of Kaiganys of about two hundred men returning from war. The paddles of the warriors killed in the fight were lashed upright in their various seats, so that from a long distance the number of the fallen could be ascertained; and on each mast of the canoes—and some of them had three—was stuck the head of a slain foe.' Bendel's Alex. Arch., p. 30.
255. The Kaiganies 'are noted for the beauty and size of their cedar canoes, and their skill in carving. Most of the stone pipes, inlaid with fragments of Haliotis or pearl shells, so common in ethnological collections, are their handiwork. The slate quarry from which the stone is obtained is situated on Queen Charlotte's Island.' Dall's Alaska, p. 411. The Chimsyans 'make figures in stone dressed like Englishmen; plates and other utensils of civilization, ornamented pipe stems and heads, models of houses, stone flutes, adorned with well-carved figures of animals. Their imitative skill is as noticeable as their dexterity in carving.' Sproat's Scenes, p. 317. The supporting posts of their probable temples were carved into human figures, and all painted red and black, 'but the sculpture of these people (52° 40´) is superior to their painting.' Mackenzie's Voy., pp. 330–1; see pp. 333–4. 'One man (near Fort Simpson) known as the Arrowsmith of the north-east coast, had gone far beyond his compeers, having prepared very accurate charts of most parts of the adjacent shores.' Simpson's Overland Journ., vol. i., p. 207. 'The Indians of the Northern Family are remarkable for their ingenuity and mechanical dexterity in the construction of their canoes, houses, and different warlike or fishing implements. They construct drinking-vessels, tobacco-pipes, &c., from a soft argillaceous stone, and these articles are remarkable for the symmetry of their form, and the exceedingly elaborate and intricate figures which are carved upon them. With respect to carving and a faculty for imitation, the Queen Charlotte's Islanders are equal to the most ingenious of the Polynesian Tribes.' Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 218. 'Like the Chinese, they imitate literally anything that is given them to do; so that if you give them a cracked gun-stock to copy, and do not warn them, they will in their manufacture repeat the blemish. Many of their slate-carvings are very good indeed, and their designs most curious.' Mayne's BC, p. 278. See also, Dunn's Oregon, p. 293; Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 337, and plate p. 387. The Skidagates 'showed me beautifully wrought articles of their own design and make, and amongst them some flutes manufactured from an unctuous blue slate. … The two ends were inlaid with lead, giving the idea of a fine silver mounting. Two of the keys perfectly represented frogs in a sitting posture, the eyes being picked out with burnished lead. … It would have done credit to a European modeller.' Poole's Q. Char. Isl., p. 258. 'Their talent for carving has made them famous far beyond their own country.' Bendel's Alex. Arch., p. 29. A square wooden box, holding one or two bushels, is made from three pieces, the sides being from one piece so mitred as to bend at the corners without breaking. 'During their performance of this character of labor, (carving, etc.) their superstitions will not allow any spectator of the operator's work.' Reed's Nar.; Ind. Life, p. 96. 'Of a very fine and hard slate they make cups, plates, pipes, little images, and various ornaments, wrought with surprising elegance and taste.' Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 197. 'Ils peignent aussi avec le même goût.' Rossi, Souvenirs, p. 298; Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., pp. 74–5.
256. Mackenzie's Voy., p. 338; Lord's Nat., vol. i., p. 63; vol. ii., pp. 215–17, 254, 258; Dunn's Oregon, pp. 251, 253, 291, 293. 'They boil the cedar root until it becomes pliable to be worked by the hand and beaten with sticks, when they pick the fibres apart into threads. The warp is of a different material—sinew of the whale, or dried kelp-thread.' Reed's Nar.