The Flathead nation, to which nearly all the Puget Sound Indians belong,
may almost be termed amphibians; for though they can, and do in some
cases, live inland exclusively, they are never happy when away from the
water. They are canoeists by birth and education. A coast Indian is as
helpless and miserable without a canoe as a plains Indian without a
horse, and the Siwash (Chinook for coast Indian) is as expert in the use
of the canoe as the Sioux, Crow, or Arapahoe in the use and control of
his cayuse. Almost the sole means of travel, of intercommunication among
these people, and between themselves and the whites, is the canoe.
There are very few horses owned in any of the coast tribes, and these
are rarely ridden. When a Siwash attempts to ride a horse he climbs onto
it kicking and grunting with the effort, much as an Alabama negro mounts
his mule, and sits him about as gracefully. But let the Siwash step into
his canoe, and he fears no rapid, whirlpool, nor stormy billow. He faces
the most perilous water and sends his frail cedar shell into it with a
skill and a consciousness of mastery that would put to the blush any of
the prize winners in our Eastern canoe-club regattas. The canoes are
models of nautical architecture. They are cut and carved from the cedar
trees which bounteous Nature, in wise provision for the wants of Her
children, has caused to grow so plentifully and to such prodigious size
in the Sound country. They are of various sizes and lengths, owing to
the uses for which they are intended. If for spearing salmon or for
light traveling, they are cut from a tree twenty to twenty-four inches
in diameter, and are not more than twelve to fifteen feet long. If for
attending nets and bringing in the catch, they are generally longer, and
if for freighting and long-distance traveling, they are of immense size
and capable of carrying great burdens. A tree of the size wanted is
selected, perfectly sound and free from knots, and a log of the desired
length cut off. The log is hollowed, carved out to the desired shape,
then trimmed and tapered outside until it is a mere shell, scarcely more
than an inch thick anywhere.
[Illustration: AN OCCIDENTAL GONDOLA.]
It is then filled with water, a fire is built near in which rocks are
heated and thrown into the canoe until the water boils. This is
continued until the wood is thoroughly cooked and softened, when the
water is turned out, the canoe is spread at the centre, braced out to
nearly twice its natural width or diameter, and left to dry. This gives
it "sheer" and enables it to ride a heavy sea like a lifeboat.
Handsomely carved figureheads are attached to some of the large canoes,
and the entire craft is painted, striped, and decorated in gay colors.
I measured one of these cedar canoes that was thirty-four feet long and
five and a half feet beam, and was told by its owner that he had carried
in it four tons of freight on one trip, and two cords of green wood on
another. It would carry fifty men comfortably and safely. There are not
many of the Indians that can make the larger and better grade of canoes,
and the trade is one that but few master.
There is one famous old canoe builder near Vancouver, to whom Indians go
from distances of a hundred miles or more when they want an extra fine,
large, light canoe. For some specimens of his handiwork he gets as high
as $80 to $100. The Indians throughout Washington Territory and British
Columbia do considerable freighting for whites, on streams not navigable
for steamers, and they take freight up over some of the rapids where no
white man could run an empty canoe.
Some of these Flatheads are industrious and are employed by the whites
in salmon canneries, lumbering and logging operations, farming, etc.
Steamboat men employ them almost exclusively for deck hands, and they
make the best ones to be had in the country; better than either whites
or Chinamen. They are excellent packers by education. In this
densely-timbered country horses can not, as a rule, be used for packing,
and the Indians, in going across country where there is no watercourse,
pack all their plunder on their backs. Whites traveling in the woods
also depend on Indians to pack their luggage; consequently it is not
strange that the latter become experts at the business, and it is this
schooling that makes them valuable as deck hands. They are not large
men, but are tough, sinewy, and muscular. An average Siwash will pick up
a barrel of flour or pork, a case of dry goods, or other heavy freight
weighing three hundred pounds or more, roll it onto his back, and walk
up a gang-plank or a steep river-bank as easily as a white man would
with a barrel of crackers.
No work is too dirty or too hard for them. They are obedient to orders
and submissive to discipline, but their weak point, like that of all
Indians, is their inordinate love of whisky. Quite frequently, after
working a few weeks or months, they quit and go on a drunken debauch
that ends only when their money is gone. Their dress is much the same,
in general, as that of the whites in this region, with the exception
that the Indians wear moccasins when hunting. This footgear is little in
favor here with white hunters, owing to there being so much rainfall,
and so much wading to do. Rubber boots are indispensable for hunting in
most seasons, and a rubber coat should also be included in every
hunter's outfit. I found the Hannaford ventilated rubber boot the most
comfortable and perfect footgear I have ever worn. You can scarcely walk
a mile in any direction in this country at any time of year, on
mountains or lowlands, without encountering water. Moccasins soon become
soaked, and are then the most uncomfortable things imaginable. I asked
one of my guides why he did not wear rubber boots instead of moccasins,
and he replied:
"O, I dunno. De moxicans cheaper, mebbe. I mek him myself. Can't mek de
boots."
This is about the only use the Indians make of buckskin. It is not
popular with them as a material for clothing, on account of the vast
amount of rainy weather.
It has been said they make cloth from the wool of the goat, but, so far
as I could learn, they make very little, if any of it, of late years. I
saw some blankets that Indians had woven from this wool, but they were
very coarse. They have no machinery for spinning; the yarn is merely
twisted by hand, and is so coarse and loose that it would not hold
together a week if made into a garment and worn in the woods. Of course,
a fair article of yarn, and even cloth, may be, and has been, made
entirely by hand, but these people have neither the skill, the taste,
nor the industry to enable them to do such work. A coarse hair grows
with the wool on the goat, and the squaws do not even take the trouble
to separate it, but work both up together, making a very uncouth-looking
fabric, even if thick, warm, and serviceable.
As a class, these Indians appear to be strictly honest, toward each
other at least. They leave their canoes, guns, game, or in fact, any
kind of property, anywhere they choose, without the slightest effort at
concealment, and always feel perfectly sure of finding it on their
return. About the only case of pilfering I ever heard of, while among
them (and I took special pains to investigate) was when John asked me
for some fish-hooks, and said in explanation:
"I had plenty hooks, but I reckon Seemo he steal all my hooks."
"Why, does Seymour steal?" I inquired. He looked all around to see if
Seymour was within hearing, and not seeing him, replied:
"You bet. He steal my hooks, too."
[Illustration: A SIWASH AND HIS MORNING'S CATCH.]
[Illustration: AN INDIAN SALMON FISHERY.]