Like all other Indians, these people are inordinately fond of tobacco
for smoking, chewing, and snuff; the latter, however, is used only by
aged individuals, especially the females, whose countenances show the
effect in a manner quite disgusting. The men consider a supply of
tobacco of as much importance as the supply of ammunition for the
prosecution of the chase. The first request upon meeting an Indian is
that you furnish him with a chew or a pipe full. Little satisfactory
intercourse can be had with him until he is mollified by a gift of
tobacco. The first thing that an Indian receives when arriving at the
trading post is a clay pipe and a plug of tobacco. The pint of molasses
and the three or four hard biscuit (which have received the local name
of 'Canadian padlock,' doubtless because they are so difficult to open),
are of secondary consideration. When the spring arrivals are camped at
the station it is not unusual for several to contribute a number of
plugs of tobacco and a gallon of molasses. These are boiled together and
then water is added to the mixture. This villainous compound is drunk
until a state of stupefaction ensues. The muddled creature under the
influence of that liquor seems like an idiot. The effect is terrible and
does not wear away for several days. The pipes used for smoking are made
of stone obtained from river pebbles, usually a fine-grained compact
sandstone. The color of this stone varies from a dark reddish brown
nearly the color of clotted blood to a lighter shade of that color. The
red stones often have spots of every size and shape of a yellowish drab
which form a strange contrast with the darker colors. The darker the
stone the less spotting it will have. The best of all the pipes and
those most valued are of greenish sandstone having strata of darker
colors which appear as beautiful graining when the pipe is cut into form
and polished.
[Illustration: FIG. 121.--Wooden spoon or ladle, Nenenot.]
Other pipes are of hard slate and very dark without markings. All the
material is hard and the effect of the fire within renders them harder
and liable to crack if used in very cold weather. These pipes vary but
little in shape (I have figured three--Pl. XXXVIII and Fig. 123--to show
the pattern), but there is considerable difference in size. The largest
ones are made of the green stone, while the smaller ones are made of
other stones. The stem is of spruce wood and is prepared by boring a
small hole through the stick lengthwise and whittling it down to the
required size. It is from 4 to 8 inches long and is often ornamented
with a band of many colored beads.
[Illustration: FIG. 122.--Wooden spoon or ladle, Nenenot.]
The rough stone for a pipe is selected and chipped into crude form.
The successive operations of wearing it down to the desired size are
accomplished by means of a coarse file or a harder stone. The amount of
labor bestowed upon a pipe consumes several days' time before the final
polish is given.
The value set upon these pipes is according to the color of the stone,
as much as the amount of labor expended in making them. They are always
filthy, partly on account of the bad quality of tobacco used. The ashes
and other accumulations within are removed by means of a bodkin-shaped
instrument of bone or horn. The back of a broken horn comb is a favorite
material for making a decorated pipe-cleaner (Fig. 124). The
ornamentations consist of cruciform and quadrate figures on the handle.
The tobacco used for smoking is the commonest black plug of very
inferior quality, soaked with molasses and licorice. This moist tobacco
is cut into pieces and a coal of fire placed upon it. They prefer this
quality, and purchase the lighter and drier kinds only to serve as
kindling for the darker sort.
They do not know how to brew or ferment liquors of any kind, and as the
importation of intoxicants is wisely prohibited, the native has no
opportunity to indulge in his craving for liquors, the supply of which
was plentiful in former years. A spruce beer is made by the servants of
the company for the holidays, and a taste is sometimes given to a
favorite Indian, who is so easily affected that a pint of this mild beer
will send him reeling and happy to his tent, where it soon becomes known
that beer is to be had. The importunities for drink are now so frequent,
that the barrel must be emptied of its contents in order to avoid the
constant beggings for it.
[Illustration: FIG. 123.--Stone tobacco pipe.]
[Illustration: FIG. 124.--Pipecleaner, Nenenot.]
[Illustration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIX