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British Columbia Historical Books Collection
Dawson, George Mercer, 1849-1901
"Contains: Vocabulary of about seven hundred words of the Kwakiool language. From: The Royal Society of Canada. Proceedings and transactions. ser. 1, v. 5, sec. 2, 1887." -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 88.
63-98 pages : photograph, table ; 30 cm
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VI Section II, 1887. [ 63 ] VI.—Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People of the Northern Part of Vancouver Island and Adjacent Coasts, made during the Summer of 1885; with a Vocabulary of about seven hundred words. By George M. Dawson. (Presented May 25, 1887.) During the Summer of 1885, the writer was engaged in the geological examination of the northern part of Yancouver Island and its vicinity, the territory of the Kwakiool people. In connection with the prosecution of his work, he was in constant and intimate association with this people, and enjoyed many excellent opportunities of obtaining facts respecting them, of hearing their traditions and stories, and of becoming familiar with their mode of life and habits of thought. The notes, made at the time, are here presented in a systematised form. As thus set down in order, they are intended to be merely a record of facts and observations, and are offered as a contribution toward our knowledge of the Indians of the west coast. No attempt is made to theorise on the observations, nor has the time at my disposal been sufficient to enable me to institute the comparisons which suggest themselves readily enough between these and other tribes of the region. These tribes, together with their ideas and their lore, such as they are, are passing away before our eyes, or where they still show evidence of continued vitality, they are losing their old beliefs and ways. This being the case, it is perhaps needless to apologise for the necessarily incomplete character of this paper in some respects. A map has not been prepared to accompany this paper, but that published in the Annual Report of the Geological Survey for 1886 embodies a large number of native names of places, including those of all the villages here referred to. I.—Territory and Boundaries op the Kwakiool People. The people speaking dialects of the Kwakiool language, and constituting together one of the largest groups of the coast of British Columbia, have, so far as I know, no general name of their own. Dialectic differences of minor importance, from a linguistic point of view, are regarded by them as clearly separating tribe from tribe. The name 1 Kwakiool" has, however, by common consent, come to be employed to designate the whole, though strictly applicable to but two important tribes now inhabiting, with others, the vicinity of Fort Eupert. To the north, their territory comprises the coast of the mainland and a number of adjacent islands, bordering on the territory of the Tshimsian and interlocking with it. They enclose the peculiar and isolated Bilhoola people, who inhabit Dean Inlet and the North and South Bentinck Arms, on the north and south, and on the seaward side. Thence, southward, they claim the mainland coast to the entrance of Bute Inlet. Their territory includes, also, most of the islands by which the Strait of G-eorgia is closed to the north, and the north-east coast of Vancouver Island to some rrJ m 64 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL distance south of Cape Mudge. Their southern border meets that of the group of peoples to which Dr. Tolmie and myself have provisionally applied the general name "Kawitshin." Thence, northward, they possess the Vancouver coast to the north-west point of the island, and extend down the west coast as far as Gape Cook or Woody Point, where they meet the Aht peoples. Their limits are shewn with proximate exactness on the map accompanying the " Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia," by Dr. Tolmie and the writer, published by the Canadian G-eological Survey in 1884. On that map, however, the boundary between the Kwakiool and Aht peoples is, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, placed too far to the north. It is also to be noted, that while on the map it is necessary to divide the whole territory in a general way between the various peoples, large tracts are practically neither traversed nor resided in by any of them. This applies particularly to a large part of the rough mountainous country occupied by the Coast Range, and to a lesser degree to the similar country in the interior of Vancouver Island. The Kwakiool, like other tribes of the coast, go wherever they can travel by water, and live on and by the shore, seldom venturing to any considerable distance inland. Cut off from the Nasse and Skeena Rivers by the Tshimsian, from Dean Inlet and Bentinck North Arm by the Bilhoola, they possess no available or practicable route through the region of the Coast Mountains to the interior of the province. Between Bute Inlet and the Bentinck Arms they travel by lakes and rivers (which for the most part do not appear as yet on the maps) some distance into the mountain country; but they have nowhere come habitually into contact with the Tinne people who inhabit the whole northern part of the interior of the province, and they have no trade routes to the interior, such as those in possession of the Bilhoola and Tshimsian. II.—Notes on Tribal Subdivisions op the Kwakiool, and Details Respecting them. In the " Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia," (1884) two enumerations were given of the tribal subdivisions of the Kwakiool people, one being by the late Dr. Tolmie, and the other by the writer. These did not precisely correspond, and neither was considered complete or satisfactory, the number of the constituent tribes or tribal subdivisions and the manner in which they have become mingled of late years, rendering it difficult to formulate the subdivisions. With the assistance of Mr. Gr. Blenkinsop, who has long resided among this people, I am now able to offer a complete, or proximately complete, list of the tribes, with the names and localities of most of their places of residence, generally the so-called " winter village," where the most substantial houses are found, and in which one or more tribal subdivisions are generally massed during the cold m< nths, though in summer scattering to various fishing places and other resorts. The winter village is, occasionally, entirely deserted during a portion of the the summer, but is more usually left in charge of a few old people. Various circumstances conspire to render it difficult to give satisfactory or definite localities for the several tribes. The combination of two or more recognised tribal divisions m a single village community during the winter months has not been confined PEOPLE OP VANCOTJVEE ISLAND. Tribal Subdivisions op the Kwakiool People. (Statistics for year ending June ZOth, 1885, by Geo. Blenkinsop. ■ Name of Tribe. Name and situation of principal village. O M 00 © O Q W a§ g tn a? CO i Total No. of Tribe. © 03 eg © ©£ V e3 J2 © © ^» O 02 Value of furs and fish-oil obtained. !> Douglas Channel. 0 O Keim-ano-eitoh.... Gardiner Channel. Island. Tolmie Channel and Mussel Inlet. 5 Milbank Sound and neighborhood. Calvert Island, River's Inlet. 1 GO 03 6 2 23 8 24 47 14 2 6 — $125.00 57.50 00 Sh 03 <C ?£-■ go o ,» 0 Ow'-I-ye-kumi, Forward Inlet, Quatsino Sound. 5 15 19 34 1 — 132.50 1 Hwat-es', Quatsino Sound, near the Nar-\ 2 8 12 20 6 .... 56.25 fe 03 j|| j rows. 1 18 69 76 145 1 — 265.00 Tla-tli-sl-kwila.... Ne-kum'-ke-Hs-la. • 1 MeF-oopa, " Nawitti" of the whites, east 1 j end of Hope Island. i 9 55 46 101 10 — 772.50 r—1 o . ] r 10 34 31 65 5 — 35.00 ^is Walis-kwa-ki-ool.. i y Sa-ki6h, " Fort Rupert Village " of whites. - 7 24 24 48 15 .... 60.00 ■ j J I 8 34 25 59 2 40.00 16 83 79 162 12 75.00 Na'-kwok-to. 12 60 64 124 22 125.00 Te-nuh'-tuh _ J-Kwa-tsi, Point Macdonald, Knight's Inlet, -j 10 o o 71 29 49 22 120 51 4 2 148.75 56.25 Tsa'-wut-ai-nuk... i r 12 83 65 148 16 280.00 \ Kwa-us-tums, west end of Gilford Island. - 4 40 29 69 1 .... 71.25 Kwa-wa-ai-nuk J I 2 28 18 46 10 87.50 Ma'-me-li-li-a-ka.. • I Mem-koom-lish, Village Island, near en-J j trance of Knight's Inlet. j 14 4 91 19 74 31 165 50 5 14 110.00 25.00 10 58 49 107 7 .... 45.00 ejj 7 32 31 63 7 58.75 P «3 7 42 41 83 8 168.75 ■£ © I (-1 Wi-we-eke Tsa-kwa-loo'-in," Uculta village" of whites, near 11 o o 4 4 64 19 26 18 61 20 26 14 125 39 52 32 11 2 .... 762.50 337.50 185.00 112.50 Tsai'-i-ye-uk, Arran Rapids, entrance to Bute Inlet >■ Ta-ta-pow-is, Hoskyn Inlet. -j o O 190 1033 936 1969J126 1 46 $4,292.50 Sec. ii, 1887. 9. 66 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL mm 413 m to recent years, but appears to have occurred as far back as tradition goes. In such case, each tribal subdivision often has its own place of summer residence. "When the small-pox first ravaged the coast, after the coming of the whites, the Indians were not only much reduced in numbers, but became scattered, and new combinations were probably formed subsequently; while tribes and portions of tribes, once forming distinct village communities, drew together for mutual protection, when their numbers became small. The establishment of Fort Eupert, at Beaver Harbour (in 1849), resulted in the migration of several tribes to that place and their permanent residence there. The same may probably be said of Bella-Bella, to the north, and occurred again much later on the erection of a trading post at Alert Bay, Cormorant Island. At all these places, however, old Indian villages, or at least old village sites, previously existed, Circumstances of this kind have particularly affected the tribes of Queen Charlotte Sound and its vicinity, which were besides from the first closely allied by intermarriage and otherwise. The Rev. A. J. Hall, in a letter in answer to certain enquiries on these people, writes:—" It would appear that the Indians had no settled home till the whites came. During the summer months, they were scattered to the mouths of the rivers, collecting food, and many tribes amalgamated at such places as Alert Bay to amuse themselves with feasting and dancing during the winter." On the advice of the medicine men, or shamans, the village sites were, further, not infrequently changed at times of public calamity or sickness, or for other reasons, and as all these Indians subsist largely on shell-fish, such abandoned village sites are permanently marked by shell heaps, and generally by white beaches formed of the bleached and worn fragments of shells. Low shores well adapted for the landing and beaching of canoes have usually been selected for the more important villages, especially where such a shore is contiguous to some rocky point or promontory or small high rocky island which could be utilised as a fortification. Almost every suitable rock along the coast shows evidence of having, at one time, been inhabited as a fortified village of this kind. On Graliano Island and the small adjacent islands of the G-ordon Group alone there are eight or ten places recognised by the Indians as former village sites, and known to them by special names, as having, at some former time, been inhabited by the tribes, or portions of the tribes, now living at Mel'-oopa (" Nawitti "of the whites.) Though there is abundant evidence that the Kwakiool people is now much reduced in number, the circumstances above noted render it improper to argue as to the former populousness of the region from the great number of old village sites. The sites of permanent villages appear to have been changed more frequently and easily by this people, than by the Haida or other races of the coast with which I am acquainted. As a result of such changes, particularly in Queen Charlotte Sound, it is difficult, or even impossible, exactly to define the territory appertaining to particular tribal subdivisions. In the tabular enumeration of tribes, I have adopted, in each case, the most correct orthography, comparing the tribal names as written down at the time from the dictation of different individuals. It will thus be found that the orthography does not exactly correspond, in several instances, with that given in the " Comparative Vocabularies," though it is, in all cases sufficiently near to permit of easy identification. In his official returns to the Indian Department, Mr. Blenkinsop adopts a still different spelling, in which the "English" rather than the "Continental" sounds are given to the vowels. Mr. PEOPLE OF VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 67 Blenkinsop's name is given in the subjoined notes in parenthesis, following that here actually adopted. To the enumeration of the tribes, I have added Mr. Blenkinsop's statistical return for the year ending June 30th, 1885. This I have myself had an opportunity of checking in a number of instances, and can, therefore, vouch for its general accuracy. The figures are of value as exhibiting the actual status of the tribes at the present time, and in the printed reports of the Indian Department are not given in detail. The first five tribal subdivisions were not included in Mr. Blenkinsop's district, no precise returns are available for them, and as I have not visited these tribes, the information which I am able to offer concerning them is merely that already found in the I Comparative Vocabularies." (1) Hai-shi-la.—Called by the Tshimsian " Kitamat," and known to the whites by that name. Douglas Channel. (2) Keim-ano-eitoh.—Called by the Tshimsian 1 Kitlop," or " people of the rocks." G-ardiner Channel. (3) Hai-haish.—Inlets on Tolmie Channel and Mussel Inlet. (4) Hail-tzuk.—Called by the Tshimsian " "Witsta," a word having some reference to the flattening of the cranium, said by Dr. Tolmie to have been practiced in varying degrees by all the Kwakiool people, but of which, in most tribes, little or no trace is now to be found. Milbank Sound and neighbourhood. This people consists of three septs or smaller subdivisions, Owia-lei-toh, Owit-lei-toh and Kook-wai-wai-toh, occupying respectively the southern, middle and northern parts of the Sound. The last named is closely associated with the Kitistzoo or southernmost sept of the Tshimpsian, and is now nearly extinct. (5) Wik-einoh.—Meaning "the portage makers." This people carry their canoes to a Jake. Calvert Island, River's Canal. (6) Kwaf-shi-ld (Kwaw-she-lah).—This people borders on the last, inhabiting Smith's Inlet. (7) Klas'-kaino (Klaso-ki-no).—This people was not mentioned in the lists in the "Comparative "Vocabularies," and their territory, in the vicinity of Klaskino Inlet of the charts, to the south of Quatsino Sound, was erroneously included on the map with that of the Aht. They border on the Kw '-tsl-no to the north, on the Aht people to the south, the line being approximately at Cape Cook or Woody Point. The tribe is very much reduced in number and may be said to be on the verge of extinction. These, with the three following tribes, constitute a well marked group, being together the Kwakiool of the west coast of Vancouver Island. All four tribes are particularly and very remarkably distinguished from others by the practice of bandaging the heads of the female children, and causing them thus to assume an elongated conical form. These tribes are celebrated among the rest for growing good potatoes, which they cultivate in very small patches in a number of places, generally on cleared spots which have, at one time, been village sites. Mr. Blenkinsop states that they grew in all about two hundred bushels of potatoes in the year to which his returns apply. From Ow-it (or as said by the Fort Rupert Indians " Ow-wTtti") hereditary chief of the Kwa'-tsi-no, a number of interesting details were obtained respecting,the migrations of the four tribes above alluded to. The Klas'- kaino had, however, so far as he knew, always inhabited their present territory, which, as 68 M M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL 'Jih I ^ he said, was regarded as awlis eik, a " very good" or "specially favourable" one. When questioned closely as to the ultimate origin of these and other tribes, 0 w-It said that tradition always related that they " came down " or " appeared " at a certain number of definite points. I was unable to obtain any more exact definition of his meaning, but it is altogether probable that these place are those occupied by the oldest village sites handed down by tradition, beyond which knowledge does not go. Thus, in the case of the Klas'-kaino, the following five places were enumerated as those at which they had " come down": Oominis (south entrance point of Quatsino Sound), Kwat-lim-tish, Tl-wes, Ta-nilh and Tsa-wun-a-hus. The termination represented by the forms -kaino, -tsl-no, -pino, a,n&-kl-mo, of the names of these five tribes, doubtless conveys the idea of " people " varying in form according to combination. The name of the Kwa'-tsi-no thus probably means "people of the west," from kowat-se 1 west-side " in combination with the above. The suffix in Kos'-kl-mo in the same way, doubtless signifies " people of Ko-se," the place of that name being that of their reputed origin, as stated on a following page. (8) Ewa'-tsl-no (Kwawt-se-no).—These people inhabit Forward Inlet, Quatsino Sound, but also resort to the west coast of Vancouver Island to the north of the Sound for halibut- fishing, where they have rough temporary huts at several places. Their principal or winter village, named Ow'-i-ye-kumi, is on the east side of Forward Inlet, opposite Robson Island, and occupies the low neck of a small peninsula, with a good beach for canoe-landing at each side, and bounded by a low cliff inland. They have also a second little village, of ruder construction, named Te-na-ate (from ten-rie meaning " hone-stone," and referring to the abundance of sandstone), on the north shore of the upper part of Forward Inlet (Winter Harbour). This may be classed as a "summer village," but is rather an " autumn village," in which they reside when the dog-tooth salmon is running up the small streams in its vicinity. The Indians were living here when I first visited the inlet in September, 18*78. The father of Ow-It, the present chief, is still alive, though very old, and Ow-it has taken his place as chief. Ow-it's son, Ka-a-let, is married and has children, so that, at the present time, four generations are represented. Ow-It informed me that the principal village, above noted, was founded by his grandfather. It originally stood on the high rocks just above and to the east of the present site, and was fortified like most of the old towns. Afterwards, in more peaceful times, it was moved down to its present site, which was at first all wooded, but was gradually cleared. The Kwa'-tsi-no people, he said, formerly lived in the vicinity of San Josef Bay and Sea Otter Cove, where they " came down " in eight separate places, all of which he named, and where several old village sites are still to be seen. They drove the Kiaw-pino people away from Forward Inlet and killed many of them at that time. The old Kiaw-pino village was at Grassy Point of the chart, at the entrance to "Winter Harbour. This is said to have occurred very lono- ago, but may not improbably have been immediately antecedent to the founding of the Kwa'-tsi-no village, above referred to. The Kwa'-tsi-no people formerly obtained considerable quantities of dentalium shells (utl-ila or a-tl-a, Dentalium preciosum) of which they made good use in trade, at a place between the village site and the east entrance point of Forward Inlet. The fishery was carried on in deep water by means of a number of split sticks or twigs in the form of a faggot PEOPLE OP YANCOUVEE ISLAND. 69 which was tied to the end of several poles lashed together so as to reach the bottom the shells being impaled by driving the faggot into the muddy bottom. The Indians of the village obtain water from the stream immediately behind the houses. A second small stream in the same bay, a little further to the north, must neither be drunk from nor washed in, being one of the malignant or unlucky streams. When, ignorantly, on the point of washing in it, I was prevented from doing so by a hurried remonstrance on the part of some Indians near by, who scarcely seemed to know whether to be most alarmed or amused at my surprising ignorance, but to whose prejudice, as they were quite earnest in the matter, I was glad to give way. (9) Kiaw-pino (Ke-a-pe-no).—This tribe was not distin guished from the Kos'-ki-mo in lists in the " Comparative Vocabularies." It now numbers twenty individuals in all, and these have practically amalgamated with the Kos-ki-mo, living with them in their principal village (Hwat-es). They were at one time, however, evidently an important independent tribe, their principal village, named Bce,being situated six miles east of Koprino Harbour of the chart, on the noTth side of Quatsino Sound. This village has now entirely disappeared, but square sepulchral boxes, in good preservation, exist on the small island near it, in which the dead appear to have been deposited since the abandonment of the village site. They have a few rudely constructed houses on East Cove, of Koprino Harbour, to which they resort in the summer and particularly in the salmon-curing time in the autumn. As previously noted, they were driven from Forward Inlet by the Kwa'-tsi-no, where, I was informed by Ow-it, they " came down" originally in two places, viz., at the head of Browning Creek and at Grassy Point in "Winter Harbour. This account of their origin does not, however, tally with that which states that they originated as runaways from the Kwa'-tsi-no, according to the tale given further on. Such contradictory stories are not uncommonly found among the natives, who do not appear to .have mentally compared conflicting evidence of this kind, which has been passed down by word of mouth, and has -probably suffered change in the process. (10) Kos'-kl-mo (Kose-ke-moo)—The people of this tribe are still somewhat numerous, and their principal village, which is large and well built, is situated on the point between Hecate Cove and Quatsino Narrows, in Quatsino Sound. They are physically much superior to the Kwa'-tsi-no, and better off in every respect. The village is named Hwat- es. A second or " summer village" is situated on the south side of the Sound, nearly opposite Koprino Harbour, and is named Ma-ate. As before mentioned, the distinction between winter and summer villages is a somewhat arbitrary one, depending rather on the occupations of the people than on the seasons, though, to some extent, corresponding with the latter. Thus, in August (1885) the Kos'-ki-mo were all living in the winter or principal village. There are a number of wooden slab tombs, of the usual character, on islands and rocks near this village, and a few canoes which have been used for sepulchral purposes. A cave on the west side of the Narrows, not far from the village, has also been employed for the deposit of boxes containing the dead. I visited this place in 1878 and again in 1885, but the presence of the Indians prevented close investigation. There is a considerable number of coffin-boxes in the cave rudely piled together, with a few carved wooden dishes. None are recent, and some must be many years old, as they are falling to pieces from decay. NN 70 G-. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL Referring to the place of origin of the Kos'-ki-mo, Ow-it related that their first country was at Ko-se (named Kao-sa-a by the "Nawitti," the dialect of these people differing somewhat) in a small bay three and a-half miles west of Cape Commerell, on the north coast of the island. This place is also that of the fabled origin of the Kos-ki-mo, as given on a subsequent page. Leaving Ko-se a long time ago, they came round to Quatsino Sound, and attacked and slaughtered, to the last man, a tribe named Ho-ya, which inhabited the upper part of the Sound, and spoke the same (Kwakiool) language. It is handed down that the Ho-ya people were those who first practiced the peculiar deformation of the heads of the female children, and that they carried the practice to greater excess than the other tribes who subsequently adopted it. On asking for what reason it was so adopted, no very satisfactory explanation could be obtained, but there semed to be an idea that it, in some way, secured the new comers in the possession of the country. From the statements given in connection with the four tribes just described, it would appear that the most remote tradition of the natives places the Klas'-kaino, on the Sound of the same name and on the coast between Cape Cook and the south entrance point of Quatsino Sound ; the Ho-ya, on the upper part of the Sound ; the Kiaw-pino, on Forward Inlet, and probably also on Koprino Harbour of the chart (to which access was easy by way of the lagoon above Winter Harbour); the Kwa'-tsi-no, at San Josef Bay and Sea Otter Cove; and the Kos-ki-mo, at Ko-se. It is probable that the two last-named tribes made a combined descent on the inhabitants of Quatsino Sound, for the Kos'-ki-mo must have passed the original Kwa'-tsi-no strongholds on the way south, leaving their homes unguarded behind them, and this they would scarcely have dared to do except by agreement with the Kwa'-tsi-no. The date of these events can only be conjectured. (11) Tla-tll-sl-kwila and Ne-kum'-ke-lls-la (Nawitti).—I do not certainly know whether these two tribes formerly inhabited separate places, but it is highly probable that they did so, as they are said formerly to have been very numerous. Dr. J. W. Powell, of Victoria. states, in the Indian Report for 1879, that the Ne-kum'-ke-lis-la formerly inhabited Cox Island, off Cape Scott. Their principal village was, however, not many years ago, at Cape Commerell, or Na-wi-ti, whence the name by which they are known to the whites. Both tribes lived together at Cape Commerell (according to Mr. Blenkinsop) as they now do at Mel'-oopa, on the south-east shore of Hope Island. Mel'-oopa is commonly known on the coast as the " Nawitti Village." The village at Cape Commerell stood on a small rocky peninsula on the east side of the Cape, to the south of which is a little bay with a fine sandy beach. Posts and other lemnants of the old houses are still to be seen (1885.) It is mentioned as an Indian village in the Vancouver Pilot (1864) and, it is to be presumed, was still inhabited at the date of survey of this coast in 1860. These people say that when the number of those living as far west as Cape Scott became much reduced, they finally drew together for mutual protection. They still have rude huts at several places on the north shore of Vancouver Island, and to the south of Cape Scott, to which they resort for halibut-fishing. They also frequent Cox, Lanz and other islands lying off Cape Scott, and the islands east of Hope Island to Miles Cone, which, from its form, they call Kel-skil-tim or " high head " (as of the Kds'-ki-mo women). The original residence of the Kos'-ki-mo (Ko-se) is now included in the " Nawitti" territory. One of the old fortified villages of this people was situated on the east entrance point of Port Alexander, Galiano Island, and another, according to my Indian canoe-men, on PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 71 the little rocky islet in the centre of the harbour. Toward the head of the harbour, on the east side, is a somewhat remarkable rock-shelter, formed by an overhanging cliff, beneath which several houses were, at one time, built. There can, I believe, be little doubt that the bay at the village of Na-wi-ti was the site of the destruction of the "Tonquin," and massacre of the crew of that vessel. As this is a point of some historic interest, the reasons for this belief may here be briefly stated. The " Tonquin " was a vessel of 290 tons burden, belonging to Astor's American Fur Company. After reaching Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia, in 1811, she was sent on a trading voyage to the north, leaving Astoria on June 5th. It is unnecessary to detail the circumstances leading to the attack on the vessel while at anchor, the massacre of the crew, and the subsequent explosion of the magazine, by which the ship was destroyed, and a large number of natives who had crowded on board were killed. The facts, so far as known, were subsequently obtained from an Indian interpreter, who alone escaped, and are recorded by Ross Cox and Franchere.1 It has been generally stated that the scene of this lamentable occurrence was in Nootka Sound, which version Bancroft, in his "History of the North-west Coast" (1884), follows, while Greenow, in his " Memoir on the North-west Coast of North America" (1840), believes Clayoquot, also on the west coast of Vancouver, to have been the place in question. The name of the locality, as reported by the Chehalis interpreter, is, however, sufficiently distinctive, and I can only account for the circumstance that its correspondence with Na-wi-ti has been overlooked, by the fact that this name has not usually appeared on the maps of the coast, though " Nahwitti Bar " and " Nahwitti Cone" occur on the detailed charts of the northern part of Vancouver Island. Ross Cox, who came into personal contact with the escaped interpreter at Astoria, writes : " A few days after their departure from the Columbia, they anchored opposite a large village, named New "Whitty, in the vicinity of Nootka, where Mr. McKay immediately opened a smart trade with the natives." After giving the relation of the interpreter as to the massacre and explosion, he describes the escape of three of the crew in a boat. " They rowed hard for the mouth of the harbour, with the intention, as is supposed, of coasting along the shore to the Columbia; but after passing the bar, a head wind and flowing tide drove them back, and compelled them to land, late at night, in a small cove," where they were subsequently found and killed by the Indians. Franchere's version of the story (Op. cit. p. 136) is nearly identical with that of Cox, except that he gives the name as " Nouhity." Though stated in the Vancouver Pilot to be unsuited for an anchorage, by reason of the rocky bottom, the little bay on the east side of Cape Commerell, at Na-wi-ti, is moderately well sheltered, and is the first place on the north shore to the east of Cape Scott, which could be utilised as a harbour. It would occur to no one, not possessed of an accurate chart, to attempt to enter Bull Harbour, in the vicinity. The mention of a bar over which a strong tide runs again agrees with " Nahwitti Bar " of the chart, while no bar is found at the entrance to Nootka or Clayoquot Sounds. Bancroft, notwithstanding the general completeness of his information in such matters, was evidently unaware of the existence of Na-wi-ti when he wrote:—"The Chehalis, from whom alone we have any direct 1 Narrative of a Voyage to the Columbia River (1832) and Relation d'un voyage a la C6te du Nord-Ouest de i'Amgrique Septentrionale, Montreal (1820). yj<\ i 72 Gr. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL relation, call this village Newity} which misleads Irving, who, with Franchere before him, the only place where Lamanse's narrative is given, loosely styles the harbour where the i Tonquin " .anchored, Neweetee. Now, on all this island, there is not, and never has been, a place called by any people the 'Harbour of Neweetee.'' The Nawitti tribes have been singularly unfortunate since the advent of the whites. Their village, probably that above referred to, and named " Newittee " by Bancroft, was destroyed by H. M. S. " Daedalus" in 1850, and in the following summer H. M. S. "Daphne" attacked the same village, which had meantime been rebuilt, killing a number of the people. These retaliatory measures were undertaken by order of Governor Blanchard, in consequence of the murder of some seamen, for which the Indians are not clearly known to have been directly responsible.2 Dr. J. W. Powell, of Victoria, further states that the tribes now living together at Mel'-oopa were, " some years ago," nearly all killed in a raid made upon them by the Bella-Bella.3 I do not know the precise date of this occurrence or any particulars respecting it. (12) Kwa'-ki-ool, Walis-kwd-ki-ool, Kwl-ha (Kwaw-keoolth, "Wawlis-kwaw-keoolth, Kwe- ah-kah).—These tribes or septs now together inhabit Beaver Harbour, their village surrounding Fort Rupert, and being named Sa-kish. Though Indian villages had. previously existed in Beaver Harbour, the present one has been occupied only since the founding of the fort in 1849. The three tribes above enumerated are very closely connected, and together are generally referred to as the Kwakiools, the same name having been adopted for ethnogical purposes for the whole people described in these notes. The prefix vjalis, of the name of the second sept, signifies " large " or " great." It is difficult to trace the former movements of the Fort Rupert people, as the tribes above named appear to have lived together at certain seasons, or in villages not far apart, from the earliest memory. The oldest known principal village was Ka-loo-kwis on Tumour Island, the Kla-wit-sis tribe now inhabiting it, having moved there from Klooitsis Island of the chart, a mile to the south, when the Fort Rupert tribes left. The Fort Rupert people still speak of Ka-loo-kwis as their old home, and regard it with a species of affection. This people, or a portion of them, also at one time had a village named Klik-si-wi, at the mouth of the river of the same name, all trace of which has now disappeared. They are closely related to the Nim'-kish and lived with them at the village named Whulk, at the mouth of the Nimpkish River,4 and at I-lis (Alert Bay) during the salmon fishing season. When this was past, they used to move over to villages at White Beach (Nooh-ta-muh), on a small island between the north-west point of Harbledoun Island and Swanson Island, and to a village named Tsai-te on Mound Island, the Kwi-ha exclusively inhabiting the last named It is related that the Walis-kwa-ki-ool and Kwi-ha separated a long time ago, owing to a quarrel between two chiefs, one of whom was killed (13) Nim'-kish (Nim'-keesh).—The people so named now live at I-lis, Alert Bay, Cormorant Island. The Rev. A. J. Hall, whose mission church and school is at Alert Bay, writes the names of the tribe Num-kes, and states that it is derived from Num-hya- 1 Bancroft (ii. 155) quotes from an English translation of Franchere's Narrative, in which Nouhity of the original is variously rendered " Newity" and " Newitti." 2 See History of British Columbia, by H. H. Brancroft, p. 274. 3 Report of the Deputy Superintendent-General of Indian affairs, Ottawa, 1879 p 113 1 / ^ ?lage 1S named Cheslakee's VillaSe by Vancouver in 1792. He represents it in a plate, and states tnat at the tame there were thirty-four houses. The number of people is estimated at 500. PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 73 li-gi-yu, a fabulous halibut, of enormous size, which is said to cause the tide-rip off the point of the bay. Num is the numeral " one," this creature having " one" remarkable mouth. Mr. Hall also informs me that there are four subdivisions or septs among the Nim'-kish as follows:— 1. Gigilkum chief man Klakuglas. 2. Zlzitl-wa-]a-kama-yl, | " Kla-kwa-zi. 3. Sisinklayl | " Gwa-ma-kulas. 4. Ninilklnuh " " Kum-hyila-gilis. Mr. Hall further adds:—" Many other tribes have lived in this bay, notably the Fort Rupert Indians. The Num-kes at one time lived at the west end of the bay, having removed there to be protected from the north-east winds which prevail in summer, and in the winter they went to the east end to escape the south-east winds. At one time they lived more on the [Nimpkish] River and Lake than they now do. The name of one of their tribes, the Ninilkinuh, meaning ' the men who live at or are accustomed to go to the source of a river.' They have now, and always appear to have had, a village about three miles from the mouth of the river [just below the place where the lake empties itself, on the west bank]. To this village they repair every October to catch and cure their winter salmon. Many of their legends are connected with the lake and river. They formerly had relations with the Aht Indians, who came across Vancouver Island nearly to the head of the lake to take salmon." (14) Naf-kwok-to (Nah-kwok-to).—These are the Nakwahtoh or Nuk-wul-tuh of the I Comparative Vocabularies." They lately inhabited, as their principal village, a place, Te'-kwok-stai-e, on the lower part of Seymour Inlet, but have removed to Blunden Harbour (Pa'-as) on Queen Charlotte Sound. They go in summer to Ma'-pak-um, on Deserter's Island of the Walker G-roup, for halibut fishing, and to a place on the Storm Islands. They also have a salmon fishing station on the lagoon, above Shelter Bay, named A-wut-s or " the foamy place." (15) le-nuh'-tuh and A-wa-l-tle-la (Ta-n5ck-teuch and Ah-wah-eet-la-la).—The Tan-uh- tuh of " Comparative Vocabularies." The principal village of these tribes is at Kwa-tsi, at Point Macdonald, Knight's Inlet. I did not visit their village, and no particulars respecting these peoples were obtained. (16) Tsdf-wut-ai-nuk, A-kwaf-amish and Kwd-wa-a-nuk (Tsah-waw-ti-neuch, Ah-kwaw-a- mish and Kwaw-waw-i-nuk).—Tsa-wutti-e-riuh of "Comparative Vocabularies." These tribes, in winter, come together in a rather large village on the west coastr of Gilford Island, just north of Health Bay, named Kwa-us-tums. It is built on a point, the houses facing two ways, and is, in this respect, somewhat unusual. The Tsa'-wut-ai-nuk are much the most numerous tribe. They go, in summer, in part to Ha-ta at the head of Bond Sound, in part to Kwa'-e at the head of Kingcombe Inlet. The detachment going to the last-named place lives first, during the salmon season, at the west angle of the inlet, and subsequently moves over to the east angle to gather " clover root." The A-kwa'-amish resort, in summer, to A-tl-al-ko, at the head of Wakeman Sound. The Kwa-wa-ai-nuk go for the most part in the summer season to a village named Ho-ho-pa at George Point, the west end of Baker Island. A part of the tribe goes to Kun- Sec. ii, 1887. 10. 74 GK M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL i/m mg UJll sta-mish, a village composed of two or three houses of very rude construction, at the north entrance point of Claydon Bay, Wells Passage. They engage in salmon fishing at the mouth of a river emptying into Embley Lagoon close by, and also in the manufacture of canoes, for which they are celebrated. At Kun-sta-mish is a little rocky islet which has evidently, at one time, been occupied by a fortified village. {11) Md'-me-li-li-a-ka and Kwlk'-so-tino (Mahma-lilli-kullah and Kwick-so-te-no).—These tribes reside in a large village, subtantially built, named Mem-koom-lish, and situated on the west end of Village Island of the chart, not far from the entrance to Knight's Inlet. There are numbers of graves on the little islands off the village and along the shore to the south of it. Tradition does not relate that these tribes had any other principal village. They are the Mamaleilakitish, or Mam-il-i-li-a-ka, of the " Comparative Vocabularies." (18) Kld-wit-sis (Klah-wit-sis) Klowitshis or Kla-wi-tsush of " Comparative Vocabularies."—These people now live at the village named Ka-loo-kwis, on the west end of Tumour Island, having moved to that place after it was abandoned by the Fort Rupert tribes, as previously noted, probably about 1849. They formerly resided at the west end of Klawitsis Island of the chart, not far off, where the site of their old village is still clearly apparent. Previous to the removal of the Fort Rupert tribes, and perhaps also subsequent to that event, a part of this tribe inhabited a village just to the south of Health Bay, on the west end of Gilford Island. This is marked as a village on the charts, but all traces of it have now disappeared, with the exception of the old shell-heaps. The present village consists of ten or eleven large houses, some of which are well built. Two of them, at the time of my visit (1885) were adorned with designs of a large salmon, in black and red, in heraldic style, extending across the whole width of the front. A small island with graves, decked out with streamers of calico, etc., lies opposite the village and not far off. (19) Md-tilh-pl (Mah-teelth-pe) Matelpa or Met-ul-pai of " Comparative Vocabularies."— The village of this tribe, named Etsi-kin, is situated on Havanna Channel. No further particulars were learned respecting this small tribe. (20) Waf-lit-sum, Wl-we-eke, Kwl-ha, Wl'-we-ekum and A-wa-oo ("Waw-lit-sum, We-wai- ai-kai, Kwe-ah-kah, We-wai-ai-kum and Ah-wah-oo).—These tribes are closely allied, their central place being at Cape Mudge. They are together know to the whites as the Li-kwil- tah or TJculta Indians. This name is probably adopted from that given to this people by the southern Indians of the Strait of Georgia. They constitute the southern branch of the Kwakiool people. The principle village of the Wra'-lit-sum is named Koo-sam, and is at the mouth of Salmon River, Vancouver Island. An old village, not now inhabited, still remains on the opposite side of Johnstone Strait. The Wi-we-eke constitute the premier tribe of this group their village, named Tsa- kwa-loo'-in and known to the whites as the " Uculta Village," being situated on the west side of Cape Mudge a short distance north of its extremity. When Vancouver first visited this region (1*792) he noted an extensive village at Cape Mudge and describes it at some length (Vol. I. p. 328, 8vo. ed.), and the situation is so favorable a one that it has probably been a central point for the Indians ever since they inhabited the coast. The present village is ranged along a low shore. In Vancouver's time, it was built at the summit of a high bluff of sand and gravel, a little south of the modern site. The Kwi-ha tribe is said in former times to have been a part of that of the same name now residing at Fort Rupert. Their principal place is Tsai-iye-uk at Arran Rapids, north PEOPLE OF VANCOLVEE ISLAND. 76 entrance to Bute Inlet. This is also described by Vancouver, who refers to it as the "village of the friendly Indians" {Op. cit., Vol. I. p. 326). The principal place of the Wi-we-ekum and A-wa-oo is now on Hoskyn Inlet, and is named Ta-ta-pow-is. The A-wa-oo formerly inhabited a village at the mouth of Campbell River, Vancouver Island, and nearly opposite to the TJculta village. They have since become merged in the "Wi-we-ekum tribe. The latter are named Wi-wi-kum in the " Comparative Vocabularies." III.—Mode of Life, Arts and Customs of the Kwakiool. The dwellings, utensils, canoes, mode of life, and food of the coast tribes of British Columbia, have been so frequently described before, and there is so much in common between them, particularly between the northern tribes taken as a group, of which the Kwakiool people forms a member, that it is scarcely necessary to enter into detail respecting these matters. Close investigation will doubtless reveal many interesting points of difference, but the main facts as described for the Haida will apply almost equally well to the Kwakiool. (See Report of Progress, Geol. Surv. Can., 1878-79.) Notwithstanding diversity of language and dialect, these coast people form a single group in respect to arts, and to a less extent in regard to customs and traditions. The useful arts and modes of construction have evidently been readily adopted by various tribes from whatever source they may have originated. In dexterity and constructive skill, as well as in artistic representation, the Haida people, however, excell all the others. The villages consist usually of a single row of houses ranged along the edge of the beach and facing the sea. The houses are generally large, and are used as dwelling places by two or more families, each occupying a corner, which is closed in by temporary partitions of split cedar planks, six or eight feet in height, or by a screen of cloth on one or two sides. Each family has, as a rule, its own fire, with cedar planks laid down near it to sit and sleep on. When, however, they are gathered in the houses of smaller and ruder construction, at summer fishing places, etc., a single fire may serve for a whole household. The household effects and property of the inmates are piled up round the walls, or stowed away in little cupboard-like partitioned spaces at the sides or back of the house. Above the fire belonging to each family is generally a frame of poles or slips of cedar, upon which clothes may be hung to dry, and dried fish or dried clams are stored in the smoke. Eating is a perpetually recurring occupation, and smoke appears to ooze out by every chink and cranny of the roofs of the large houses, the whole upper part of which is generally filled with it. The houses of the Kwakiool are not so large or so well constructed as those of the Haida, though if Vancouver's representations of them are to be accepted as accurate, they are more commodious and better built now than in his time. The introduction of metal tools may have produced a change of that kind. Wood-carving is practiced, but not so extensively as among the Haida, and carved totem-posts are not nearly so numerous nor so large or artistic in design as among that people. Such examples of posts of this kind as occur are also invariably separate from the houses, and no instance of a carved post forming the door of a house was seen in any of the villages. These carved posts are divided by the Indians into two classes, those outside the houses being named tld-us, 76 G-. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL ps-. Bftii/^ ; Bafcj ^^■K- those inside the houses tla-elh'. Carved posts of the last-named kind, generally those which support the ponderous main beams of the roof, are rather common in the Kwakiool village. The designs are frequently grotesque and the carving generally very rude. The ends of the main beams which project at the front of the house are also not infrequently carved. Large painted designs, generally in black and red, though often with the addition of blue and other colours, are common on the fronts of houses. These are in the usual conventional or heraldic style—involved, but often neatly executed. Such designs include the thunder bird, the monsters Tse-akish or Si-si-ootl, salmon, whales, " coppers," etc. The most valuable possession of the Kwakiool and other northern tribes is the " copper " or copper plate of which the peculiar form is illustrated in my Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, already cited (p. 135 B.) A conventional face is often scraped out upon the surface of the " copper". The most valued coppers are very old and have been handed down for generations. These are known as tla-kwa. Smaller " coppers" of modern manufacture are named tld-tloh-sum. A copper, to be of value, should be of equal thickness throughout, except at the edges, where it should be thicker than elsewhere. When struck, it should emit a dull sound and not ring. The dentalium shell, named a-tl-a, was formerly used as a currency, but as with other coast tribes, the blanket is now the unit of value A somewhat inferior quality, known in the Hudson's Bay Company parlance as a " two and a-half point" blanket, is the standard, and is named ul'-hul-as-kum. The Kwakiool employ the fathom, measured between the outstretched hands across the chest, as their principal measure, counting num-pun-M " one fathom," matl-pun-ki " two fathoms," and so on. The half-fathom, measured from the middle of the chest, is named nuk-a-pot'. The distance from the elbow to the end of the outstretched fingers is also used as a measure under the name of kla-kwa-pa-al. The next smallest unit of measurement is a span, reckoned from the tip of the thumb to that of the outstretched second finger. This is named " one span with the long finger," num-pun-kh-la-huns-kil-tsan-a-e. The short span is similarly measured between the tips of the thumb and first finger, and known as num-pun- kh-huns-tsan-a-e or " one span with the short finger," and so on, changing the affixed numeral. In addition to the ordinary mode of counting num " one," matl " two," in-tooh " three," mo I four," and so on, there are various recognised modes of enumerating articles of different kinds. Thus in counting fiat objects, such as blankets, the Kwakiool says num-uh-sd, matl-uh-sd, etc. In counting circular or spherical objects, such as money or balls, he habitually uses num-skum, malt-sum, in-tooh-sum, etc. In counting persons, the numeral is again changed to nlm-ook, ma-look, In-took, moo-kiS, sl-ki-ok, etc. Again, in counting lots, each made up of a like number of objects, a different termination is appended to the numeral thus,—num-uh-stdld " one lot," ma-a-luh-stdlti " two lots," in-tooh-stdld " three lots," mo-stdla "four lots," slk'-l-a-stdlci "five lots," etc. "One to each," "two to each," etc., are expressed by ndtl'-num-la-hi, ma-e-matl-la-hi, yatl-in-tooh-la-hi, ma-e-moo-la-hi, sl-sl-ki-a-la-hi, etc. The first two ordinal numbers are expressed by kl-fil'-a-kl-wa "first," md-kil-a-hd-kl-al- a-kl-wa I next to first." These, however, appear to be seldom used, and it is difficult to explain the idea to the Indians. The numeral adverbs "once," twice," thrice," are nun- pun-a, matl-pun-a, in-todh-pun-a. When a child has grown large enough to leave the little cradle, tied into which it spends most of its earlier days, usage demands that the cradle, together with all the wrappings and bark forming the bedding and its appendages, shall be carefully collected PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 77 and carried to a recognised place of deposit. This custom is not now strictly adhered to with regard to the cradle, but is still obligatory in respect to the bedding, which is generally neatly packed in a box or basket, and laid away never to be touched again. Every village probably has such a place of deposit. That for the Ka-loo-kwis village is in a sheltered recess in limestone cliffs at the western extreme of Harbledown Island. It is named kl-ats-a-kwdsh' or " cedar bark deposit place." Another similar recess in a cliff, filled with cradle wrappings, exists on the south side of Pearse Peninsula, east end of Broughton Island. At Mel'-oopa and at Hwat-es' there are similar places, that at the first named village being beneath logs, at the back of the village, and not on the shore. When a young man desires to obtain a girl for a wife, he must bargain with her parents, and pay to her father a considerable number of blankets. Owing to the great desire to accumulate blankets for the purposes of the potlatch or donation feast, together with the scarcity of marriageable girls, the parents are very strict and exacting in this respect. The young man is often still further fleeced by his wife, who, at the instigation of her parents, may seize upon some real or imaginary cause of grievance and leave him. The father then exacts a further blanket payment for her return, and so on. Just as among the Haida and other coast tribes, a man must give a potlatch (Kwakiool pus-a or ya-hooit) on assuming a name. To obtain a name for his child a potlatch must be be held, and at every subsequent occasion on which a man gives a potlatch, he assumes a new name, which is generally that of one of his ancestors. He is then known only by his last assumed name, which is regarded as his chief or most honourable one. This custom naturally introduces much complication in the matter of tracing out genealogy, or in arriving at the names of the actors in former events. Medicine or sorcery as practiced by these people for the cure of disease, is much the same as among other tribes of the coast, though the peculiar tubular bone charm, employed by the Haida and Tshmisian, was not here observed. The sorcerer may be either a man or a woman, famed for skill in such matters, to whom their vocation may have been indicated by dreams or visions. Medicines may be given to the patient by his friends, but the sorcerer does not deal in drugs, devoting his attention solely to exorcising the evil principle causing the disease. This is done by singing incantation songs, the use of a rattle and vigorous sucking of the part affected, which in many cases is kept up for hours and frequently repeated, and must always be handsomely paid for. Sickness is still, generally, and was formerly at all times, attributed to the witchcraft of enemies. Certain persons were known to possess the power and were called e'-a-ke-nooh. Such a malignant person, wishing to bewitch an enemy, is supposed to go through a series of complicated and absurd ceremonies, of which the following is an outline :—An endeavour is first made to procure a lock of hair, some saliva, a piece of the sleeve and of the neck of the dress, or of the rim of the hat or head-dress which has absorbed the perspiration of the person to be bewitched. These are placed with a small piece of the skin and flesh of a dead man, dried and roasted before the fire, and rubbed and pounded together. The mixture is then tied up in a piece of skin or cloth, which is covered over with spruce gum. The little package is next placed in a human bone, which is broken for the purpose, and afterwards carefully tied together and put within a human skull. This again is placed in a box, which is tied up and gummed over and then buried in the ground in such a way as to be barely covered. A fire is next built nearly, but not exactly, on the top of the box, so as to warm the whole. mynuuMiBMWflmillillllll 78 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL * JJ$ A Then the evilly disposed man, beating his head against a tree, names and denounces his enemy. This is done at night or in the early morning, and in secret, and is frequently repeated till the enemy dies. The actor must not smile or laugh, and must talk as little as possible till the spell has worked. If a man has reason to suppose that he is being practiced on in this way, he or his friends must endeavour to find the deposit and carefully unearth it. Rough handling of the box may prove immediately fatal. It is then cautiously unwrapped and the contents are thrown into the sea. If the evilly disposed person was discovered, he was in former years immediately killed. If after making up the little package of relics as above noted, it is put into a frog, the mouth of which is tied up before it is released, a peculiar sickness is produced which causes the abdomen of the person against whom the sorcery is directed to swell. After death the body is immediately coffined, not a moment being lost. Should death occur at night, the coffin-box is set outside the house at once, till daylight may admit of its being disposed of. The face of the dead is first washed and the hair combed, and then the face and head are painted with vermilion and the body wrapped in blankets by near relatives or friends. It is then put into any box of a suitable size that can be found, generally one of those used for the storage of house effects or dried fish. The box so employed is named tik-l-d'-tse. The body is doubled up, and no hesitation is felt in using violence towards it in order to press it into the box. The graves of the Kwakiool are of two principal kinds: little scaffolds to which the coffin-box is lashed, high upon the branches of fir trees and known as tuh-pl'-kh ; and tombs built of slabs of wood on the ground. Small tent-like erections of calico are now often substituted for the latter, and the bodies of relatives or friends, dying at different times, are in both cases often placed together. If a person of importance or much respected, a canoe (previously rendered unserviceable) is often drawn up and deposited near the grave. The trees used for the deposit of the dead are often quite close to the village, but when a tomb is placed upon the ground, it is generally on some rocky islet or insular rock, which may be further away, but is still in sight from the village. Such islands become regular cemeteries. Graves in trees are generally festooned with blankets or streamers of cloth, and similar appendages are affixed to poles in the vicinity of graves on the ground. Roughly carved human figures in wood are also often added. These sometimes hold in their hands wooden models of the copper plates which are so much valued by these northern tribes of the coast. Similar models are also at times nailed up on posts near the graves. At Pa'-as (Blunden Harbour) the upper part of one of these coppers (but one of inferior value) wras found broken in two and affixed at a grave in token of grief. The lower part was not found, and had probably been used before on some similar occasion. At 'Fort Rupert and Alert Bay, bodies are now frequently buried in the ground, owing to the influence of the whites. Such a grave is named tik-l-ds. After the body has been deposited in the grave, a fire is made near it, in which some food is burnt, such as dried salmon, fat, dried clams, etc., and all the smaller articles belonging to the deceased are thrown into the fire at the same time. The canoe, house, and other larger effects are then taken possession of by the son, father, daughter, wife or brother of the dead, generally in the order named. The wife or husband of the deceased goes into special mourning for a period of one month among the Queen Charlotte Sound tribes, or for four months among the Kos'-ki-mo. The survivor lives during this period PEOPLE OF VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 79 separately in a very small hut, which is built behind the house, eating and drinkino- alone and using for that purpose dishes not employed by other members of the tribe. The near relatives of the dead cut their hair short, or if women, cut a small portion of it off. A widow marks her face with scratches, in token of mourning ; among the Kos'-ki-mo she cuts her face with a shell, and does not generally marry again for at least a year. In some cases about a month after death, the men of the tribe collect in a house to sing a song which relates the deeds and virtues of the deceased. This is named sd'-luma or kwai'-um, the "crying song." Children are sometimes, in the same way, mourned for by the women. When at Mel'-oopa (" Nawitti") in 1878, the first sound we heard at daybreak, was the crying and lamentation of the women, the song being taken up first by one and then by another, in different parts of the village. This, it was ascertained, was in consequence of the death of a boy which had occurred some time before. V.—Custom of the 1 Potlatch" oe Donation Feast. In my notes on the Haida people of the Queen Charlotte Islands, the facts which could be obtained as to the potlatch or donation feast of these Indians and of the Tshimsian were detailed. This custom is common to all the coast tribes of this part of North America, and has extended, though in a less marked form, into the interior of the continent. The main features of the custom are probably identical, or nearly so, among all the tribes of the British Columbian coast. They are certainly nearly the same with the Haida, Tshimsian and Kwakiool peoples Among the latter, this ceremony is known as pus-a or ya-hooit, these terms probably denoting special forms of the ceremony appropriate to certain occasions. In speaking of the custom, I will, however, use the commonly recognised word potlatch as being the most convenient. The rules governing the potlatch and its attendent ceremonies have grown to be so complicated that even those persons most familiar with the natives can scarcely follow it in all its details, and it is sometimes difficult for the natives themselves to decide certain points, leaving openings for roguery and sharp practice with the more unscrupulous. Mr. George Blenkinsop, who has been for many years among the Kwakiool, informs me that the custom was formerly almost entirely confined to the recognised chiefs, but that of late years it has extended to the people generally, and become very much commoner than before. The Rev. A. J. Hall bears testimony to the same effect. With the chiefs, it was a means of acquiring and maintaining prestige and power. It is still so regarded, but has spread to all classes of the community and became the recognised mode of attaining social rank and respect. Many of the younger people in the Kwakiool villages are willing to abandon the custom, but the majority, and particularly the older people, are in its favour —a circumstance probably largely explicable by the fact that nearly all are creditors or debtors under the system. The pernicious effect of the extension and frequent recurrence of the potlatch, arises chiefly from the circumstance that every member of the tribe, male or female, is drawn into it. If not themselves endeavouring to acquire property for a potlatch, every one is pledged to support, to the utmost of their means, some more prominent or ambitious individual. Thus, wives even rob their husbands to assist a brother, or some other mm 80 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL v//, 9m. relative, in amassing blankets preparatory to a struggle for social preeminence, and should the aspirant be beaten, would feel mortified and ashamed. All become miserly and saving, but to no good purpose, and the great gatherings of natives which occur when the potlatch takes place, lead not only to waste of property and time, but to troubles of many other kinds. As a particular instance of the custom, let us suppose that a Nim'-kish, of Alert Bay, has collected together as his own, or obtained control of, say, five hundred blankets, and wishes to make a potlatch to the Fort Rupert tribes. He goes to the Fort Rupert village and makes known his intention of distributing a thousand blankets at a certain date. He begins by lending out his stock of five hundred blankets, giving larger numbers to those who are well off, and particularly to such as are known to have the intention of giving a potlatch in return. This loan is reckoned a debt of honour, to be paid with interest at the proper time. It is usual to return two blankets for every one borrowed, and Indians with liberal ideas may return even more.. The greater the number of blankets loaned out to any individual, the more he knows that his wealth and standing are appreciated by the stranger, who, later on, taking with him a thousand or more blankets returns to his home at Alert Bay; at which place also, in due time, the Fort Rupert people arrive. The potlatch does not, however, then occur at once, as much preliminary talk, ceremony, and feasting are in order, and the Nim'-kish must entertain their visitors—first one and then another volunteering feasts and diversions. It may also, very probably, happen that delay arises because the man about to give the potlatch has not obtained the requisite number of blankets, many being owing to him and others having been promised by friends whom he is obliged to dun. The Fort Rupert people, becoming weary of waiting, lend all the weight of their influence to coerce the debtors into payment, and these may, in the end, be forced to borrow, from others to enable them to redeem their pledges—all such arrangements leading to interminable haggling and worry. At length, however, all is ready, and with the accompaniment of much bombastic speech-making and excitement, the mass of blankets is distributed in exact proportion to the social position of those taking part—or, what is the same thing, in proportion to their individual contributions. To surpass the man who has last given a potlatch, and acquire a superior standing to his, the next aspirant must endeavour to give away more than a thousand blankets, and will strive as soon as possible to be in a position to do so. The nominal excuses for giving a potlatch are numerous, the most common being, however, the wish to assume a new and more honourable name. The name proposed to be taken passes by common consent, if the potlatch shall have been successful and on a sufficient scale. Should an Indian wish to humiliate another for any reason, he may destroy a great number of blankets or much other valued property. This, according to custom, leaves his adversary in debt to the amount of the property made away with. It then behoves the debtor to bring out and destroy a like or if possible a greater amount of property. If he is not able to do this, he lies under the reproach of having been Worsted by his foe. The present principal chief of the Fort Rupert people is now known, since his potlatch last completed (autumn of 1885), as Na-ka-pun-thim, and aspires to, and well maintains, the position of premier chief of the Kwakiool people. He is apparently a man PEOPLE OP VANCOTJVEE ISLAND. 81 of great energy of character, but naturally has many enemies, among whom are to be reckoned the chiefs of most of the other tribes. One of these, the Nim'-kish chief to attain a superior position to Na-ka-pun-thim, lately broke up and destroyed a very valuable "copper," leaving Na-ka-pun-thim in an inferior position till he coold obtain and destroy a similarly valuable piece. Not himself having a suitable "copper," the Nim'- kish chief collected his means to purchase one which was in the possession of a young man of the tribe named Wa-nook. This " copper" had been purchased by Wa-nook's father from Wa-nook's wife's mother, in order that his son might assume an important place in the tribe as its possessor. The various tribes were assembled at the Fort Rupert village for a potlatch, and after haranguing them, Na-ka-pun-thim publicly offered 1,400 blankets for the " copper," but Wa-nook still held back for a higher price. The natives assembled were divided into two parties, and were much excited, calling each other by opprobious names and some encouraging Na-ka-pun-thim, others his adversaries. Mr. Hall describes Na-ka-pun-thim as coming out before the people accompanied by a man hideously dressed and wearing a mask, drawing out and exhibiting a scalp in each hand and saying to his principal rival: 1 These are enemies of mine whom I have killed, and in a like manner I will crush you." Then, even before he had quite completed the purchase of the "copper," he began to break a large piece from one corner, and as the I copper " in question was undoubtedly more valuable than that previously mutilated by the Nim'-kish chief, he, according to Indian ideas, effected his triumph, changing his name from " Suh-witti" to that above given, and—as is sometimes done—erecting a post in commemoration of the event, on which, in this instance, the " copper " itself was elevated. VI.—Traditions, Folkloee and Religion. The traditions and stories of the Kwakiool people appear to centre chiefly about Cape Scott, the north-west extremity of Vancouver Island. Almost every feature of the coast in this vicinity has some tale appended to it. It is the point identified with the appearance of their culture-hero and may be assumed to be the site of their earliest home, in sos far as this can be ascertained through the distorted medium of tradition. The now familiar figure of the culture-hero, is, with these people, as with most others, that about which innumerable stories have been grouped by a natural process of aggregation, the central idea being now scarcely sufficient support for the whole. The name of this hero, like other words in the language, is somewhat changed in the various dialects. After hearing it pronounced by a number of individuals in the northern part of Vancouver Island and on the west coast, I adopted" Kan-e-a-ke-luh " as the most correct rendering.1 The " Nawitti " people use a form more nearly rendered by " Kan-e-a-kwe-a," while neither of these names were known to a Kwa-wa-ai-nuk Indian, who gave me " Na-la-no-koom-ki-la," explaining it as meaning the " first man." Rev. A. J. Hall writes the name " Kanikelag." All these renderings are very probably derived from the ordinal number " first " given to me as kl-dVa-kl-wa by a Fort Rupert Indian.2 1 Dr. Franz Boas writes the name of the culture-hero " Kanikilak." Science, March, 1887. 2 One cannot but be struck, however, with the close resemblance of this word to kanaka, the Hawaiian word for " man." Is it within the bounds of possibility, that the story of the arrival of this culture-hero depends on some historical event perhaps connected with the period of remarkable movement and adventurous sea voyages which Fornander shews to have occurred in the Polynesian region, about the eleventh or twelfth centuries of our era? Sec ii, 1887. 11. 82 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL From an intelligent " Nawitti " Indian, the following brief account of Kan-e-a-ke-luh. was obtained. Kan-e-a-ke-luh, a very powerful being, anciently inhabited Cape Scott. At that time, though many animals existed, and some beings resembling men, there were no properly formed men. Leaving Cape Scott, where he had a very large house, Kan-e-a- ke-luh set out on a pilgrimage eastward, along the shore. He first met with a man of some kind who was engaged in sharpening a knife upon a stone, and having been uncivilly received by him, he took away the knife, and giving the owner two cuts on the head, antlers grew out. Then with some of the paste which was upon the stone, he marked the rump of this being, who went away transformed into a deer. Further on he found a lot of women without any trace of eyes, cooking eel-grass (Zostera) roots at a. fire. He took the food away and left them groping about for it for some time. When at length he spoke to them, they received him well, in consequence of which he provided th^m with eyes. Next he came across a man with innumerable mouths, all of which but one he closed. In these days also there were beings with sexual organs on their foreheads. This he also rectified, and after doing many other wonderful works returned to Cape Scott. At last Kan-e-a-ke-luh left Cape Scott finally, going very far away and disappearing altogether from mortal ken, so that the people supposed the sun to represent him. Kan-e-a-ke-luh had a father named Ma-kwans whom he turned into a heron. His mother was named Kla-klan-ilh, and she either was originally a woodpecker or was by her son changed into that form. My informant was not very clear on this point. A high rock on the coast opposite the end of Nahwitti Bar is said to represent a man who was changed into stone by Kan-e-a-ke-luh, during his journey, for some misconduct. The natives now throw an offering toward this rock in passing and address some words to it, asking for favourable weather. In the little bay immediately to the east of Cape Scott is a flat greenstone boulder, on the beach, upon which is a natural depression closely resembling in form and size the print of a left foot. This is said to have been made by Kan-e-a-ke-luh when still a mere boy, and the Indians say that the other end of the stride —a right foot-mark—is to be seen on Cox Island. No one dares to put his foot on either of these marks, as it is certain to result soon in misfortune or death. A much more detailed account of Kan-e-a-ke-luh and his works was obtained from Ow-it, the chief of the Kwa'-tsi-no, who appeared to be well versed in such lore and sure of the faith which was in him. According to Ow-it, the father of the hero was named Ma- kwans, the mother Haia-tlela-kuh, and he had also a younger brother named Ne-no-kwish. The father and his sons " came down " or appeared at Cape Scott, and lived there, the elder brother killing whales for the support of the younger. After a time, Kan-e-a-ke-luh left his home at Cape Scott. He walked eastward along the shore and did not go in a canoe. When he came to Ko-se he saw a young girl, and asked her to go and fetch some water for him to drink. She refused, saying that a terrible monster named Tsi-a-tish (Tse-a-kish of the Ma'-me-li-li-a-ka, said to live beneath the sea and swallow canoes, etc.) guarded the water and killed all who endeavoured to approach. At length, however, she was persuaded to go. She put on her belt, which represented the double-headed serpent se-sentl (sl-sl-ootl of the Kwa-wa-ai-nuk Indians) and set out. Immediately the monster, which had an immense mouth, swallowed her; but Kan-e-a-ke-luh was close behind. He began to sing a song which caused the creature to burst open and forthwith PEOPLE OF VANOOUVEE TSLAND. all the Kos'-ki-mo people came out. They walked at first in a one-sided manner, their joints being imperfectly formed, but Kan-e-a-ke-luh remedied this, and thus originated the Kos'-ki-mo tribe. Further on, Kan-e-a-ke-luh found a man playing in the surf on the shore. He would allow the waves to roll him over and over on the beach, singing meanwhile thus, Yo ha ha hi'. From the sound, Kan-e-a-ke-luh supposed that there' must be a number of people, but the creature had innumerable mouths, all over his body. When Kan-e-a-ke-luh spoke, remonstrating with him for his foolish conduct, he was answered at once by all the mouths. Kan-e-a-ke-luh then passed his hands over the body of this creature closing all the mouths but one, and converting him into a properly formed man. Afterwards Kan-e-a-ke-luh went on to Sa-kish (Beaver Harbour). Here lived a man and his son ; and Kan-e-a-ke-luh was about to pass along the shore in front of their house, which faced the sea. The son, however, who was a very powerful medicine man, said to his father, " So this is he who is to put the world all in order again." He had a blanket filled with diseases which he had conjured away from the sick, and shaking this blanket toward Kan-e-a:ke-luh, the latter was immediately overcome by the influence of the diseases and fell into a swoon or sleep. This happened four times, when at last Kan-e-a- ke-luh had to content himself with going round behind the house, which it appears he was allowed to do unmolested. Next Kan-e-a-ke-luh heard that some way up the Nimpkish River (Kwa-ne) there lived a man who had three daughters, and that these girls who had heard of his fame, were making love songs about him and singing them. On arriving at the river and getting near the house of these people he took off one of his shortest fingers, and made of it a man, into the form of which he entered. This man (now Kan-e-a-ke-luh) was covered with sores from head to foot, and with a blanket wrapped about him waited at the edge of the river where the girls came down to the water. Soon the three girls came down to the river to bathe. The youngest, walking first, spied Kan-e-a-ke-luh, and exclaimed, " See this little slave," and the eldest sister replied, " So you have found a slave now." When the sisters went in to bathe, the two elder called upon Kan-e-a-ke-luh to wait on them, saying, " Come wash my back," and so on, but the youngest did not do so and would not let him touch her, so he said " She must be my wife." He married her, and after a son had been born, he went away from the Nimpkish River, leaving his wife and son from whom the Nim'-kish people originated. After performing these and other tasks, Kan-e-a-ke-luh returned to Cape Scott, his old home. There he found that his brother had died, meanwhile, his bones only remaining. Then Kan-e-a-ke-luh said " You have been sleeping quite a long time, my brother," and sprinkling the bones with water, brought him to life again. But the father and mother of Kan-e-a-ke-luh acted very badly toward him and his brother. When they had caught plenty of salmon, the old man would raise an alarm that people were coming in canoes to put Kan-e-a-ke-luh to death, and when he and his brother had run away into the woods to hide themselves, the father and mother would boil and eat all the salmon. So Kan-e-a-ke-luh became very angry, and one day he and his brother Jrid themselves in the house. Then the father said, " So these boys have gone again," and at once began to cook and eat their salmon. Kan-e-a-ke-luh then shot him 84 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL with an arrow and also killed his mother, changing his father into a heron and his mother into a woodpecker. These are some of the chief acts which Kan-e-a-ke-luh performed. After finishing all his works, he married 1 a woman of the sea" and went away over the ocean and was no more seen. This, Ow-it said, he did that no one in future should " have his name" as one of theirs. The wife of one of the chiefs at Na-wi-ti once assumed his name, but she was lost from a canoe, and drowned, and no one has dared ever since to take it. The younger brother, however, did not disappear, and so some persons still use his name. Thus Ow-it, for example, has this name as one of his. Though Kan-e-a-ke-luh never returned, he had a son who came back named Kla-soo-te-walis, and all the salmon, berries and other good kinds of food came with him, " and this is the reason that they return year by year to the present day." Ow-it claims himself to be a descendant of this son, as does also the Kos'-ki-mo chief. The Rev. A. J. Hall, several times referred to before, was kind enough to make enquiries for me as to the myths of the Nim-kish tribe. Of Kan-e-a-ke-luh he writes as below. This account it will be seen does not perfectly agree with either of those above given. I Kani-ke-laq had no wife and no child, and belonged to no tribe. No one knows his origin or whence he came. He never travelled in a canoe, but always walked. He is regarded as a deity and as the creator. Those who blasphemed him, he turned into birds, beasts, and fishes ; but those who spoke well of him, he turned into men and protected. The heron was once a man who despised Kani-ke-laq. It was Kani-ke-laq who stole fire and water and gave them to the Indians. The chief who possessed fire, lived at the ' edge of the day,' viz., the rising of the sun. When the friends of this chief were dancing round the fire, Kani-ke-laq appeared in the form of a deer, and with a bunch of gum wood between his antlers, joined the dancers. At a given signal from his friends outside, he dipped his head, and the sticks ignited. He leapt across the fire and rushed from the house, scattering the stolen fire everywhere. He was pursued, but his friends had placed halibut on his track, which caused his pursuers to trip up. This accounts for the short black tail of the deer, burnt of course by the fire. | Kani-ke-laq also stole water from the ' Nawitti' chief, who alone possessed it. To do this, he assumed a form of a raven, but borrowed the bladder of a sea-lion (gllkum). The water was in a hole in a stone, a foot in diameter. He was allowed to take a little, and when the chief went to drive him off, he begged for more,-because his thirst was not quenched. Having consumed all there was, he flew off, and vomited the water everywhere. Where the water dropped, rivers were formed, and ever since there has been an abundance of water." The following deluge myth was obtained, in 1878, from Hnm-tshit, a chief of the Hailtzuk division of the Kwakiool, at Ka-pa (Kilkite Village of charts), Yeo Island, Mil- bank Sound :—Very long ago there occurred a great flood, during which the sea rose so as to cover everything with the exception of three mountains. Two of these are very high, one near Bella-Bella, the other apparently to the north-east of that place. The third is a low but prominent hill on Don Island, named Ko-Kwus by the Indians ; this they say rose at the time of the flood so as to remain above the water. Nearly all the people floated away in various directions on logs and trees. The people living where PEOPLE OP YANCOUVEE ISLAND. 85 Kit-katla now is, for instance, drifted to Fort Rupert, while the Fort Ruperts drifted to Kit-katla. Some of the people had small canoes, and by anchoring them managed to come down near home when the water subsided. Of the Hailtzak there remained only three individuals : two men and a woman, with a dog. One of the men landed at Ka- pa, a second at another village site, not far from Bella-Bella, and the woman and dog at Bella-Bella. From the marriage of the woman with the dog, the Bella-Bella Indians originated. When the flood had subsided there was no fresh water to be found, and the people were very thirsty. The raven, however, shewed them how, after eating, to chew fragments of cedar (Thuya) wood, when water came into the mouth. The raven also advised them where, by digging in the ground, they could get a little water; but soon a great rain came on, very heavy and very long, which filled all the lakes' and rivers so that they have never been dry since. The water is still, however, in some way understood to be connected with the cedar, and the Indians say if there were no cedar trees there would be no water. The converse would certainly hold good. It will be observed that two original versions of the flood story seems to have been combined in that above given, the result being that both mountains and canoes appear as means of safety. One of the most remarkable local stories which I have met with, is that attaching to a little stream which enters Forward Inlet, Quatsino Sound, a short distance south of the principal village of the Kwa'-tsi-no. This stream is named Tsoo-tsi-o-le, and an intelligent Indian told me that on its upper waters peculiar beings named A-tlis-im reside. These people—for they resemble Indians—come sometimes down to the sea to fish, and they have been seen at night crossing the inlet in black canoes. If followed to the shore, they lift their canoes up on their shoulders and hasten away inland. Thus the Indians know that their canoes are not made of wood, but of some very light material. On enquiring particularly of Ow-it as to this, the following more detailed and probably more authentic version of the story was obtained:— Very long ago, at a time when the people were celebrating their winter feast or " cannibal dance," the possessed individual, or medicine man, was dancing on the end of a sort of projecting jetty formed of large split cedar planks, fixed together end to end, and anchored out with stones and ropes. Something having happened to displease him very much, he tied one of the stones about his neck, and plunging into the sea, was drowned. Overcome with distress or shame, his wife, taking her children with her, fled away into the woods near or up the little stream above referred to. The runaways multiplied there and were afterwards seen by the Indians at various times. They had forgotten how to speak, but communicated with each other by whistling. These people were said to be the original ancestors of the Kiaw-pino or a part of them—a statement somewhat at variance with that previously given as to the origin of this tribe. At another time, the Kwa'-tsi-no saw a man in a canoe, on the sea, who, on being followed, landed, and folding up his canoe, hurried away up the valley of the Tsoo-tsi-o-le. The Indians, however, determined to pursue him, and did so till they reached a lake of some size from which the river comes, the head of which is said to reach nearly to the present trail running from the Winter Harbour Lagoon to Koprino Harbour. The man followed is supposed to have been a descendant of the fugitives previously mentioned, and was a sorcerer of great power. He drew his bow, and as his pursuers were coming 86 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL along the path in single file killed all but one, with a single arrow. The solitary individual who escaped related that the sorcerer, or medicine man, lived in a house built on piles, in the middle of the lake, which piles or posts, Ow-it averred, can still be seen. In the same little bay at Cape Scott, in which the foot-print of Kan-e-a-ke-luh is shewn, there are a couple of granite boulders to which superstition attaches. One of these is said to represent a man, and is named Kuk-ush-nook, the second represents a woman. Its name I did not learn, and at the time of my visit it was buried up under drift-wood carried in by some storm and could not be seen. The first has two cup-like hollows, about a foot apart, and a strong imagination may indicate other parts of a face, these being the eyes. I was unable to determine whether these hollows are artificial or accidental. The Indians place a handful of gravel or sand in one or the other, according to the direction from which they wish the wind to blow. It is further related of the vicinity of Cape Scott that there was formerly a hole in the rock whence blood spurted up at times, which was considered very terrifying and supernatural. This was long ago closed by a plank of wood and buried up. The existence of bad or malignant streams has already been mentioned. Those considered to be of this character are very numerous, but no explanation of the cause of their evil reputation was obtained, except that some of them were said to be the resort of the double-headed serpent, subsequently mentioned. Of a large lake, not shewn on the charts, which exists behind Actaeon Sound (north part of Queen Charlotte Sound), the Indians say that the water is inhabited by some strange beings, who, while they are asleep, untie their canoes and set them adrift. Washing in the water of this lake is said not only to cure diseased eyes, but also to remove wrinkles and signs of age. With regard to sneezing, it is held that, if the irritation causing this act arises on the right side, it is lucky, the reverse being unlucky. Tse-a-kish, a malignant creature, fabled to live under water and destroy canoes, has already been mentioned in connection with the story of Kan-e-a-ke-luh. The double- headed serpent, sl-sl-ootl, evidently plays an important part in the myths of these people. It is represented as with a cylindrical body, terminating at each end in a serpent's head, and with the appearance of a human face in the middle. It is said to be often quite small, and at times to be found in the sea, but at will can increase to an immense size. To see this creature is most unlucky, and may even cause death. Kan-e-a-ke-luh's brother once saw it, and in consequence his head was twisted to one side. To possess a piece of the serpent, on the contrary, brings good luck and good fortune in fishing and hunting. The belief in the " thunder-bird " being the most prevalent and unchanging myth of the west coast tribes, is naturally not wanting among the Kwakiool. Lightning is caused by the twinkling of its eye, and thunder by the flapping of its wings. Mr. Hall informs me that, under the name of Kwuniisila, it is regarded as the special protector of the Nim'- kish. | It is said to have made its appearance when the first house was being built at the village on the river. A large stone in front of the village is named after it, ' the place where Kwuniisila alighted.' 'What are you doing,'he said. The chief of the Gigilkum was trying to raise the log which supports the roof of all their houses. He saw they were unable to lift it, and said in answer to their appeal for help : ' This is why I have come from above.' He then seized the immense log with his claws and placed it PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 87 on the two posts. Before he left them, he said, ' You will always have a friend in me to watch over you; when any of you die, I shall weep with you.' This bird is represented as carrying a whale in its claws. Whales' bones are said to have been found on the tops of the mountains, the remains of Kwuniisila's repasts." In addition to reverence for, or fear of, such fabled beings as those above described, to superstitions attaching to localities, and the fear of sorcerers and sorceries, these people believe in the existence of an unknown being of great power, answering to the idea of a supreme God. This being is named Ki-i, and is respected, and petitioned in prayer. The close connexion of the culture-hero, Kan-e-a-ke-luh, with the sun, has already appeared in the tales concerning him, together with the belief that the chiefs, or some of them, are related to Kan-e-a-ke-luh by descent through his younger brother. Doubtless, also, in connection with this, we find that the sun (nd-la) under the name Ki-a-kun-a-e, or 1 our chief," was formerly worshipped and prayed to for good health and other blessings. In former times these people also addressed prayers to the mountains, under the name of Noo'-mas, or " the ancients," for favourable winds. The high rocky island in the centre of Queen Charlotte Sound, named Numas Island on the chart, is particularly known to the Indians under this aspect as Noo'-mas, though it is also named Sa'-loot-si. Such of the traditions and stories of the Kwakiool as I have been able to ascertain are given above literally and without change or embellishment, and no attempt is made to account for discrepancies or to explain the origin of their myths and beliefs. VII.—Actual Condition of the Kwakiool People. The difficulties attendant on any effort toward the improvement of the condition and mode of life of the coast tribes of British Columbia, are very grave ; and the actual results of missionary labours, such as those carried on by Mr. Hall among the Kwakiool, and other self-sacrificing persons elsewhere, are in most cases, to all appearance, small. It is difficult to induce individuals to abandon their old customs and bad habits, and nearly impossible to prevent them from relapsing from time to time, owing to the fact that they still live promiscuously among and herd together with the mass of the tribe. Since the arrival of the whites, the Kwakiool, equally with other tribes, have became in a word I demoralised." They have lost, to a great extent, their pride and interest in the things which formerly occupied them, losing at the same time their spirit and self-respect, and replacing it by nothing. It is comparatively easy at all times to obtain a sufficiency of food, and food is at some seasons—as during the salmon run—to be had in the greatest abundance with very little effort. Beyond this, there is nothing more to occupy their time fully and to keep them out of mischief. They are restless and unhappy. In some seasons, good wages are to be obtained by picking hops in the vicinity of Puget Sound, and it has thus became customary for many of the tribes to go south in the autumn, nominally for this purpose, but in reality with no great prospect of obtaining work. They may then be seen leaving their villages in bodies in their large and well-built travelling canoes, whole families together with their household effects and children, and three, four or five paddlers to ea h canoe, setting out cheerfully enough on their voyage of two hundred miles or more. They may obtain a little money while away, which they invest in goods 88 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL and whiskey if they can obtain it (and in this there is unfortunately very little difficulty). They live, however, in the vicinity of Victoria^ and other large towns in a state of shameless debauchery, and thus very often return in a diseased state to their homes. The condition of these people is in no sense bettered by endeavouring to teach them moral maxims or religious dogma. They do not appreciate the truth of the former, nor can they in their low mental state rightly understand the latter. To endeavour to do so is merely to imitate the procedure of the Indian shaman over the dying. If, on the contrary, you speak to them of means of improving their material condition, or deplore with them the rapid diminution of their tribe, the more thoughtful and mature listen with the greatest respect and attention. The problem is, fundamentally, an* industrial one, and is to be attacked, if successfully, from that side. They are naturally industrious enough, and capable, though not so persistently laborious as the whites, and less easy to control than the Chinese. They obtain a certain amount of precarious employment in connection with the canneries and other nascent industries of the northern coast, but have not generally the offer of any permanent remunerative work. It is thus primarily essential to establish industries among them which will remove the temptation now felt to drift to the larger settlements and towns. Improvement in mental and moral tone will then naturally follow. The Kwakiool, with other Indians of the coast, already cultivate in a desultory manner small crops of potatoes, on such minute patches of open land (generally the sites of old villages) as are to be found along the shore. Their bent is, however, not that of an agricultural people, and the densely wooded character of their country calls for labour, herculean in proportion to the unsystematic efforts of these people, before it can be cleared and reclaimed for agriculture on any large scale. They are, on the contrary, excellent boatmen and fishermen in their own way, and it is towards developing, encouraging and directing their tendency in this direction that efforts should be made. They would readily learn to build boats, make nets, and to take and cure fish in such a manner that the product wTould be marketable, and in so doing might attain independence and what would be to them wealth. They might not, it is true, be able to compete on equal terms with the whites in such matters, but this need not prevent them from developing into very valuable members of the community of the west, the scattered constituents of which are already gathering from all quarters of the world and being welded into a new whole. To effect these objects, the most essential step is the establishment of industrial schools, of which there are already good examples in several parts of the country, where the younger people will be separated from their old associates and instructed in various callings appropriate to their condition and surroundings. PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 89 VOCABULARY Of about Seven Hundred Words op the Kwakiool Language. (From Ya-a-kotle-a-katlos (Tom) of the Kom-o-yawS, a subdivision or sept of the Kwa'-ki-ool orKwa'-kuU tribe, now inhabiting the vicinity of Fort Rupert, Beaver Harbour, Vancouver Island.) The subjoined vocabulary is based on the schedules of words given by Major J. W. Powell in his "Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages." Having been obtained from an educated Indian, with the additional assistance of a good interpreter, it is much more complete than those given for several tribes of the Kwakiool people by Dr. Tolmie and the writer, in the | Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian tribes of British Columbia." The rendering of many of the words differs from that of those in the nearest corresponding list in the " Comparative Vocabularies," but is believed in most, if not in all cases, to be here more exact. The difficulties in the way of obtaining a strictly accurate vocabulary of a language of which the grammatical construction is not fully known, are obvious, and these, having already been touched on in the introduction to the " Comparative Vocabularies," need not here again be referred to in detail. It will also be observed, in many cases, that what are evidently the same root-words appearing in various combinations, are not always represented by identical letters. No attempt is made to unify these, as this would imply the introduction of hypothesis and the alteration of the words as written down at the time with all the care possible. Striking instances of this occur among the numerals. The alphabet employed is identical with that of the | Comparative Vocabularies," and is as follows :— Vowels. a as in English fat. a, I | father. e | " met. e I I they. i I " pin. I | " marine. o I I pot. 6 " | go, show. u " | nut, but. y " " year. ai " " aisle. ei " " vein. oo | U pool, fool. eu I French peu (seldom used). ow 1 English | now. The distinction of long and short vowels (following Gibbs) is noted as far as possible, by the divi sion into syllables—the consonant that follows a vowel being joined immediately to one intended to be pronounced short, whereas a long vowel is left open, being followed by a hyphen. Where this is insufficient, or a nicer distinction is desirable, the usual long and short marks are supplied. Explosive or klicking sounds are represented by the letters k, t, etc., in combination with an apostrophe, thus—'k 't. An acute accent (') at the end of a syllable indicates its accentuated character, when this is very distinct. In some cases certain syllables are run very hurriedly over and almost whispered, and though really forming a part of the word, might easily be omitted by a careless listener. Where this has been noted it is indicated by the use of smaller type. Strongly guttural syllables are printed in small capitals, thus—law-ES.. Sec. ii, 1887. 12. 90 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL (1) Persons. Man Woman Old man (poo-kwa'-num or ( boo-hwa-num. sut-ak'. j noo'-mas or kwul'- \ yukoo. Old woman tlik-wa'-ne. Young man hS-ihl-a'. Toung woman atloos'-taw-kus. Virgin ke'-i-a'-la. Boy .pa-pa-koom'. G-irl tsa-tsa-ta'-kum. Infant kin-a-num. Infant just born we-yok' o-mal. Male infant (no special name.) Female infant (no special name.) Twins yi-kmtl'. Married man (no special name.) Married woman " | Widower .puMos'. Widow kukios. Bachelor (old) (no special name.) Maid (old) | " I Old people , no'-ne-mas. Young people a-tloos'-taw. Great talker ki-aw-tola. Silent person d-moo'k. Thief kil-oo-tle-'k. (2) Parts oe the Body. Head Moo'-mis. Hair se'-l-a. Crown of the head oh-tle-e. Scalp kun-uh-kle-e. Face ko'-kum-a-e. Forehead .». o-km-wa-e. Eye ka-yak-us. Pupil of the eye tsa'-ats-o-pe-lik. Eyelash ....ha-pe-lih. Eyebrow a'-un. Upper eyelid o'-e-kl-atl-tawe. Lower eyelid .pun-klo-tax-taioe. Ear pus'-paio. Perforation in the ear kwa-wutawe. Nose , heln-sus. Eidge of nose ko-ko-ya'-yilh-pa-e. Nostril ai-wa-kai-nis-pa-e. Septum of n ose awa-koh-ste-e. Perforation of septum of nose kwa'-wil-pai. Cheek a-oom-ya-e. Beard ha'-puh-sta-e. Mouth sims. Upper lip al-kio-tuh-sta-e. Lower Up ^pun-kio-tuh-sta-e. Tooth ki-kl. Tongue ..kilAim. Saliva kwe-stu'kw. Palate e-Afo-TiLH. Throat .pets'-a-ha-wa-e. Chin o-tl&s'-ke-e. Neck o-ha'-wa-e. Adam's apple ko'-ka-wha-wa-he. Body , o'-kwin-a-e. Shoulder ok'-si-ya-pa-e. Shoulder-blade .pa-lot'-se. Back a-ivi'-ke-e. Breast o-paw'-e. Hip o-noo-tse-e. Belly ta-'ke'. Navel kut-a-lo'-kwut-se-e. Arm e-yus-so. Eight arm hel'-kiotse-ya-pai-e. Left arm 'kum-howilts-e-ya-paie Arm pits tum'-kwa-lus. Elbow tla-kioan-e. Wrist o-tlah'-tsan-a-e. !(no special name as distinguished from arm.) Palm of hand o-tsoh'-tsdn-a-e. Back of hand owi-ki-atsan-a-e. Pingers kioa-kwa-tsan-a-e. Thumb ko'-ma. First finger tsv-mal'-a, " the pointer." Second finger no'-la, "longer." Third finger ke'-eta, "shorter." Small finger sil-ta', "shortest." . Finger nail tsum-tsum. Knuckle oh-tle-e. Space between knuckles a-wah-ko'-tsan-a-e. Eump a-woh-koh'-tla-e. Leg kio'-kwai-o. Leg above knee e-wun-ool-kia-e. Knee o-kwe-ha-%'. Leg below knee (no sepai*ate name.) Calf of the leg.. a-wa'-pit-sa-e. PEOPLE OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 91 Ankle (no separate name.) Ankle bone kadtl'-ko-kw. Instep oioi'-klats-sa-tsa-e. ( (no special name Foot ) as distinguished (_ from leg.) Sole of foot pulk-a-slt-sa-e. Heel oh-tlah'-sit-sa-e. Toes kwa-kwak-slt-sa-e. Large toe ko-ma- sit-sa-e. Second toe tsim-a-lak-sit-sa-e. Third toe no-lak-sit-sa-e. Toe nail tsum-tsum-sit'-sa-e. Blood dl-kwa. Vein or artery na-sa-e. Brain tluk-wa!. Bladder te'-hat-se. Gall tuh-mas. Heart muk-o-paw'-e. Lung kwd'-wha. Liver te-wand. Stomach po-whuns. Eib ka-lum'. Spine hum-oom-oi-ki-d-e. Footprint te-ta-moof. Skin tle-sun-a-e. Bone ha-'kh. Intestines ya-hi--kil'. (3) Dress and Ornaments. Cap kla-tumlh'. Moccasins pel-poh-tsi-tsa-e, (not used by coast tribes.) Cedar-bark hat tin-sum. Short petticoat tse-a-ph. Gird le tse- up-tums-d. Garters ke-tsuk-tsi-tsa-e, (worn by women round ankles.) Cedar-bark blanket kio'-pd-os. Eobe of mink skin mdt-sus-kum. Sinew thread a-tum. Necklace kun-hd-wa-e. Cedar-bark neck-cloak wdh-saw. Bracelets yekwoikila. Pouch tla-pa-tin-ootsa-e. Eod worn in septum of nose.. o'-tai-in. Ear-rings teis'-tuk-wa. Nose-rings wd'-lil-pa-e. Paint (black) tsotl'-na. Paint (red).... ka-kom'-yin. Barehead lool-sum-a. Barefoot lool-tsi-sila. Naked hd'-na-la. (4) Dwellings. Village klo-kwila. House ktok. Doorway td'-Mla. Smoke-hole kwd-natze. Fire-place luk-wilus'. Fire kwul'-ta. Fire-wood luk-wd. Blaze a-no-pe-hula. A light kwa-katla. Dead coals tsult'-na. Ashes kwun-d-e. Smoke kwd'-hila. Soot kwd'-tloops. Poker klun-ka-kldta'. A seat kwah-ta-milh'. The place where seats are...kwat-se'-lus. Upright post of house tla'-mi. Main rafter of house kidt-te-wahe. Mat kle-wa-e. Bed ke-e-lus. Floor pd'-eilh'. Ceiling se'-la. Wall tsd'-kum. Lintel kd-i-kial-taw-e''. Opening for window nd'-kwatse. Carved post (outside house). tla-us. Carved post (inside house)...tla-elh. Stairway ta-heiUen'. A stone tal-sum. Paint mortar kia-tatse'. Spring wd-wd-kula. Water • wdp. 92 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL (5) Implements and Utensils. Bow, of wood tli-kwis'. Bow-string tli-kwv-tsim. Arrow d-nut-lum. Notch in arrow for string...kul'-pas. Arrow-head of stone Thvn-pd-e. Arrow feathers tsul-kiuh-ste-e. Quiver a-na-tlum-dtze. War-club (stone)..... klah-std-la. Fish-club tul'-wa-kdn. War-spear mas-to'. Sling yin'-ka-yo. Canoe (general term) whd'-kwunna. Canoe (large). . kwuh'-um. Canoe (medium) whv-took-u'h. Canoe (small) whd'-who-koom. Fish-line to'-kwd-a-no-e. Fish-lin e, of kelp sd'-na-patl. Fish-net ke-tlum. Oolachan net td-katl. Dipping net how-tai-o. Halibut hook yl-kio. Pipe wd-hat-se. Pipe-stem of wood kldh'-sta-e. . Cup kwa-as-td'. Meat-tray tlo-a-kwe. Grease-bowl tsa-pdtse. Fire-drill. un-d'k. Kelp oil-bottle wd'-wa-te. Axe soo-pai-oo. Adze kun-tsai-oo. Hand-adze for shaping canoe tsik'-im-in, (Chinook jargon for iron ?) Knife 'kd-wai-oo. Knife-handle keowk'-pek. Knife-point o-pa-e. Knife-edge o-whe-e. Borer wun'-aioo. Stone hand-hammer pul'-pul-kh. Horn ladle hd'-ke-gia. Basket (for food) Ih-ha'-e. Wooden water-box or bucket ha-kat-se. (6) Food. Food he-ma-omis. Meat ui'-tsi. Milk tsd-me. Juice sa-a'k. Dried salmon hd'-mas. Dried herring-eggs d-unf. Dried meat lumo-ul'-tsi. Dried halibut kid'-was. Oolachan grease 'kli'-ina. Dried berries 'ta-uk-d'. Dried clams kioo'-matse. Cambium layer of hemlock.. Idw-'KB.. Dried sea-weed hluk-us-tun'. Black tsoo-tla. Blue tsa'-sa. Brown kle-aha. Green klin-huh. (7) Colours. Eed tld'-kwa. White mel-a. Yellow klin-huh. (8) Numerals. One... Two... Three. Four ., Five... .num. .matl. .in-tooh. .mo. .sik'-ira. Six kd-tld. Seven atle-poo'. Eight matl-kwin-dtl'. Nine nd-ne-md'. Ten les-too'. Eleven. .num-a-gloo. Twelve matl-e-gioo. Thirteen in-tooh-wha-gloo. Fourteen mo-a-gloo. Fifteen | ...sik-i-a-gloo. Sixteen kd-tld-gloo. ' Seventeen atle-poo'-gioo. Eighteen matlrkwin-dtl-gloo Nineteen nd-ne-md-gloo. Twenty mat-sum-gioo-staw. Twenty-one nu'-num-a-kaw-la. Twenty-two a-matl-dw-la. PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 93 Twenty-three in-te-heato-la. Twenty-four a-mo-a-kaw-la. Twenty-five sik-l-a-kaw-la. Twenty-six kd-tla-kaw-la. Twenty-seven atl-po-kaw-la. [la. Twenty-eight a-matl- kwin-alt-heaw- T wenty-nin e nd-ne-md-kaw - la. Thirty in-tooh-slm-gioo-staw. Forty mo-skum-gioo-staw. Fifty sik-l-a-stum-gioo-staw Sixty ka-tlaskum-gioo-stow Seventy atl-pookum-gioo-siaw Eighty \ matl-kunn-atl-sum- 8 "" 1 gioo-staw. Ninety nd-num-soo-kwa. One hundred Id'-km-te. One hundred and one Id'kin-te-he-me-sa-num One thousand loh'-sum-glt. One half (in length) ap-spd-e. One half(in quantity,\iquid8)nuk-d-ydwla. One half (in quantity, so\ids)nuk-sa-d-kh. All ndwhd. None kl-dws. (9) Division oe Time. A year *. A moon num-ah-unh, " one year." num-skum, "one moon." A half moon nuks&e. First quarter of moon hwut-tai-oo. Last quarter of moon hl-na-kwula. Day nd'-la. Night kd'-nootl. A day (24 hours) (no name.) Dawn nu-nakwula. Sunrise tle'-tsin-a-kwula. Morning ka-dl'-d. Mid-forenoon ka-dl'-a-pai. Noon nuk'-ke-ld. Afternoon kwd'-punt. Sunset len'-sa. Dusk tsd-kwun-a-kula. Evening tsa-oos-too-ioit. Midnight nuk-di'-ki-e. Day before yesterday he-hok-swtl. Yesterday hlen-swtl. To-d ay wha-nd- luh. To-morrow hlin-stld. Day after to-morrow he'-looh-sa. Now hoh-te. October wul-et'-sun-uh, " not yet time forsalmon." November kv-okwa-teld-an-uh, " salmon catching time." (10) Standards op Value. Dentalium shells utl4l-a or a-tl-a. Blanket (2^ point) ul'-hulros-kum. Copper (large valuable ttnd)tld-kwa. Copper (small inferior kmd)tld-tloh-sum. (11) Animals. Bat bd'-kuml-ow-e Beaver tsd-we (or tsaio in Kos'-ki-mo.) Bear (grizzly) gil-d. Bear (black) kld-e. Dog wdt'-se. Deer (general name) kai'-was. Fawn to-pe-wa. Deer (h alf grown) ko'-kwaio, (from "forehead"referring to prominence of this part) Deer (buck) wut-look, (added to name = "horned deer.") Elk tld'-wols. Ermine kv-kil-um'. Fox , d-tsai. Goat (mountain) mul'-uh-klo. Lion (mountain) .put-e. Mink mut-sa. Mouse ki-ki-a-tsuk. Mole or shrew ....klap'-kepu-s. Marten kluk-uh-he. Otter hoom'-te. Otter (sea) 'kds-uh. Porcupine , mi-hite. Porpoise kloo-loote. Eabbit us-dw-d. Eacoon , mai'-oos. Seal ml-gwdt. Seal (fur) uA-wuh. Skunk ydh-pa-la, Squirrel Wolf.... (not found in Kwakiool country.) . ti-me-nas. ..a-tla-num'. 94 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL Whale (large) kwd-yxm. Whale (smaller) .pel'-kena. Whale (killer) mah-enooh. Wolverine nd-tla-e. Sea Hon.. kle'-uh-un. Antlers and horns wut-hAa. Claw tsum'-tsum. Hoof tsoh-tsok. Hide (with hair or wool)....hd-pis-a-na-e. Hide (without hair, loathev)kwdt-se. Tail..-. a-poh-ste-e. (12) Birds. Bird pe-pa-tloomis. Eaven kwd-wl-nuh. Cormorant (large) lah-luhw'. Cormorant (small) klo'-ba-nuh. Crow kih '-a-la-ka. Dipper or water-ouzel kll-e-whut-sa. Duck .pe-pa-tloomis. Duck (mallard) klat-ki oo. Duck (pin-tail) wi-tsin. Duck (harlequin) md-tsl-nuh. Duck (buffle-head male) tld-d-tle. Duck (buffle-head female)...hw-pe. Duck (merganser male) ko-kos. Duck (merganser female)...tlum'-kai-o, " dirty forehead." Duck (teal) tla-tlan-e. Eagle (white-headed) kun-kw. Goose (wavy) kle-stdh. Goose (small kind) nilrd. Goose (brant) nan-a-hd-kum. Goose (Canada) nuh-a-'kh. Grebe (small) kow-tak-uh. Grebe (large) hd'-md-si-ld-lis. Grouse (dusky) hom-ho-md. Grouse (ruffed) koo-koo'-mish. Gull tse-kwe. Hawk md-md-nuh. Heron kwd'-kwa-ne. Humming-bird kwd'-d-koom-te. Jay kwus'- kwus. Kingfisher kit-il-ow'-e. Loon ,...* kluh-kuh-es. Owl tuh-tuh hil-etl. Owl (small) puk-wd'-e. Owl (white) kld'-sa-ha. Oyster-catcher kwl-kwl-kwi. Pigeon d'-moo. Plover kd-til'-sil-a. Curl ew kwd'-kwd-koom. Eobin _ tso'-pd-le. Sandpiper tsus-ho-we-a-koh. Snipe tsd'-tsal-kio. Sparrow tsus-kwd-nuh. Swan ka-ko'-kh. Swallow ma-ma-tle-kia'. Woodpecker (red-shafted)...kwool-tum'. Woodpecker (red-head) tla-tlan-aetV. Widgeon ..whe'-pa-la. Wren whd-td. Feathers tsul'-tsul-ke. Wings .pul-lum'. Tail nah'-ste-e. Egg tse'-kwunoo. Yolk of egg ..kloh'so. Bird's nest kul'-ha-tse. To fly .put-la-nd-kwula. (13) Fish, etc. A fish ma'-ma-dmis. Crab ., ...'kow'-mis. Dog-fish whul'-a-koom. Halibut .....pdw'-e. Mussel (large) s.o'-le. Mussel (small) la-es'. Shark whul-a-koom-dk'-sa. Trout ko-la. Salmon (silver) tsd-vmn'. Salmon (dog-tooth) kwd-ha-nis'. Salmon (quinnat) mit-lek. Salmon (summer) hd-no'-na. Oolachan tsd-whun. Mackerel kul-ai'-ookwa. Flounder .pd-es. Herring wd'-na-e. Cod (black) tldh'-sta-la. Cod (red) kloh'-sum. Clam (lar-ge) mut-d'-ne-e. Clam (medium) kia-vje-kd'-nim. Clam (small) kul-kul-amuh'. Cockle [ tsd-le. Chiton (black) kd'-nis. Chiton (large red) kin-oof. Gills kow'-sin-a-e. Breast-fin .pd'-spile or put-Id' PEOPLE OP VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 95 Belly-fin kit-d'-ke-e. Back-fin kit-e'-ki-a-e. Tail-fin tsd'-sne-e. Scales kow'-pet. To swim md-nd'-kumla. Spine on fishes back .pa-spile. Eoe kai'-ne. Frog wuk-ais'. Lizard kut-vs'. (14) Eeptiles. Snake si-tlum. Snake (water) kd-lowe. (15) Insects, etc. Ant kiat'-sa-lut-se. Bee hum'-tsa-lut-se. Butterfly (a large species) ..hum'-oom-oo. Butterfly (small yellow) lo'-le-nooh. Caterpillar ye'-a-kwae. Dragon-fly md'-ma-'kwd. Flea $ to'-pai-ut-se. Fly kd'-ka-te-na. Horse-fly sd'-te-kwd. Louse kai-ln'. Maggot d-pa-ne. Mosquito tl'i'-stlund, (also black-flies and sandflies.) Ichneumon kul-kai'-tdn-uh. Spider yd-kit-tin'-ekuh. Fly-blow whd-sa-e. Snail (helix) kd-lowe. S1U£ .kwd-d-tsu'k. (16) Plants. Bud of tree kwd'-sa-ma. Leaf. md'-me-muh. Limb tlin-d-'k. Bark HA-koom. Bark (cedar) tin-ds'-s. Stump tsuk-oo-metl'. Eoot tlo-p'ke. Tree tlo'-us. Tree (fallen, with root) ho'-puk-umola. Wood luk-wd. Brush tse'-tsuso. Forest tlo'-d-tse-kwula. Berry (sal-lal) nuk-watl. Berry (crab-apple) tsul'-uh. Berry (salmon) kum'-tsu-kw. Berry (arctostaphylos) kwd'-dtum. Grass '. kl'-xtum. Eipe tlo-pd. Unripe kls-tld-pd. Cedar tree kwah-tld'-oo. Cedar tree (large enough for canoe) wil'-koo. Yellow cypress te'-wh. Alder kldw'-ha-mis. Crab-apple tsul'-a-whom-is. Maple k"ioo'-tlas. Douglas fir HOWH'-mis. Hemlock ule'-vms. Yew tlum'-dke. Scrub-pine ..kd'-kul-wamis. Easpberry mat-'tsoo-mis'. Kelp wd'-wa-te. Bladder-weed (onshore)—tlus'-tluk-'kw. (IT) Geographical Terms. South-east nul'-tss. North-west .....gwe-na-kw. Out to sea tld-sakw. North-west wind tsd'-kw. South-east wind mat-las. South-west wind tlds'-pa-la. West wind keaks'-ala. East wind UA-iootl. North-east wind yoo'-ydla. IK.it/ 96 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL A cloud un'-a-wae. Horizon kl-a-tlila. Sun nd-la. Moon muk-mla. Full moon na-kum. Stars td-tdw. Eainbow wd-ka-loos. Fog ul'-hula. Hoar-frost kl-wi-sut-sum-is, (also now applied to epsom salts.) Snow nd-e. Hail tsd'-kwa-kul. Ice 'kloh. Icicle tsa'-ma-ke. Water wdp. Foam d-d'-u)i. Wave kulrd-e. Current tsd'-la. Eddy kut-o'-suh. Tide (rising) iu'-na-kwila. (18) The Firmament, eto. Tide (falling) hi-dts'-a-hula. Tide (high) guh-wal-dlis'. Tide (low) hi-ats-a-is'. Eain iu'-kwa. Thunder kwin'-wha. Lightning 'tlin-e'-akwa. Wind i-dw'-la. Whirlwind hyil-d-pe-a-kwila. The ground a-wv-na-kms'. Dust td'-kia. Mud tsuk-wd'. Sand ai'-kis. Salt tum-is-ki', (same with salt water.) Bock tei'-sum. Cliff along shore ha-yim'-is-ta'. Eclipse of sun nuk-uh-kh. Earthquake nl-ni-ne. Shower kwa-sild. Storm tsd'-kwa-kula. (19) Kinship. My son whun'-ookw. My father hun-omp. Mv son's son ) , .„ ■XT „ , j i. >■ tso-la-ma. My son s daughter j My mother ..hun-opump. My father's father on-pas-in-omp' My wife hun'-ka-num. My husband hun'-tla-wuna. Male orphan hd'-ma-la. Female orphan hd'-ma-la-kus. Family kai-a-'kap. (20) Social Organisation, etc. Name of tribe f ATom-o-^e a sept ( of the Kwakiool Indian .pa-'koom. White man md-matl-a. Negro tsoo-tlum. Half-breed nuh-saw'-e. Indians to the north kwi-tula. West coast tribes and those to the south kwi-kwa-tula. Indians of Comox ko-mook-e. Inland tribes interior of) . , , 7 . British Columbia \ta-whul-is. Chief , kl'-a-kun-a-e, " our chief." Young man becoming a Chief kia'-ki-dkd. Leading man ow'-i-la. Man of knowledge ndw'-ka-te. Friend ni-mokw. Warrior how'-tla-wai-nooh. Enemy kd'-kis. A coward ki-kelpis. Battle ho'-a-tloo. War-whoop we-kia-hints. (21) Eeligion, Mortuary Customs, Medicine. God kl-l. The ancients, fabulous beingatdh-tsus. The future world d-tla-kowa. The sun (as worshipped) ki-a-kun-d-e, " our chief." Dead body 'tla-le or d'-tsi-hit. Soul or spirit .puh-iohun-a-e. Grave, in the ground tik-l-as'. Grave, in tree tuh-pe'-kh. Coffin-box tik-i-d'-tse. Health a-aik'-ik-sal. PEOPLE OF VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 97 Sickness tsuh-ko'-lum. Pain tsi-hild. Vertigo kiat-til'-a-hula. Headache tsuh-tsdw'-luh. Toothache kl-katla. Cough luh-aw. Smal 1-pox kl-kin-d'-e. Boil tsum-sd-e. Cut, with a knife .puh tsa'-na-e. Cut, with an axe soop-sis. Scar.... - kwut-d. Bruise tei'-wha. Splinter in the foot ... kin-u7c-se~s'. S ick at stomach tsik-sum-sila'. Sea-sickness kd-iou'p. Sick man kul'-wha-tla. Lame man kloh-sis. Blind man pa-pas'. Deaf man kwul'-dkoom. Breath d-sa-d. Sweat (on the face)..- kowd-sa-ma-e. Sweat (general) tsul-kwa. Blood ul'-akw. Medicine .put-d-e. [akw. A medicine man .puh-ul'-a or na'-wul- Medicine song kum'-tum. Sweat-house kla-tlila. A dream me'-a-pula. (22) Amusements. Doll ii kid'-kin-atlum. Battle yla-tin. Swing a-wa-haioo. Sons: kum'-tum." Dance yiuh-whd. Mask yuh-oomilh. Gambling sticks le'-pa-iu. Gambling; with sticks. ,le'-pa. (2.3) New Words. Horse kioo-tan, (from Chinook jargon.) Bull, cow, etc moos-moos-a, , (from Chinook jargon.) Sheep la-ma-ta. Hog koo-shoo, Cat (from Chinook jargon.) .poo'-se, (from Chinook jargon.) Cock, hen ka'-ka-o. Goose tle-sta. Axe soo'-paioo. Auger wun-aioo. Awls of metal sU'-um. Beads .kla-yala. Broom hl'-kwa-yoo. Cloth ya-wa-pit-soo. Comb HUK-wm. Knife (pocket) kios-kiosa. Pork hd-maioo. Hoe hul-paioo. Hammer lik-i-aioo. Kettle hun'-uh-klawooh Tin plate sik-ik-l-d. Scissors klup-aioo. Table hun-ta-mitl. Pistol ap-soot-tik- Gun T.hun-tlum. Eifle tsd'-kioo. Eamrod tlim-kwaioo. kw. Cannon Bullet . Jiai-mun-us. tl-gl'-la, "thing to kill." Gun-fl in t klp-U-pa-e. Powder tso'-laioo. Brass hlin-ha. Iron tsih-in', " strong." Silver td'-luh, (from " dollar") Cap or hat tl-tum'-tl. Necktie....... Id'-ld-whi-wae. Coat td'-tuts-a-wak-uh. Vest dkwa-yd'-e. Shirt kus-un-d'-e. Trousers , umn-kai'-sta. Shoes W-paioo. Boots hai-yim'-gloo-staw, " come up on the legs." Stockings tsd'-tsi-tsit-lafctsi-tsae " stretch on the feet." Eibbons tsu-wul'-tsu-wd'kw. Shawl .lowk'-sum. Handkerchief (white) milh'-sa. Dress (gown) koom'-tso-wioo. Bread..,, kwd'-kook-sum. Flour kwdH.. Match (friction) kl-tsaioo, " to rub." Sugar e'-gl-sila. Soap tso-kwaio. Sec. ii, 1887. 13. 98 G. M. DAWSON ON THE KWAKIOOL PEOPLE. Tobacco .....tlo'-kwe. Whiskey nun-kai'-ma. Finger-ring kai'-a-kut-ut-klae. Mirror un'-ha-tse. Picture kla'-tum-a'k. House „ klok. Eoof..-r. se'-la. Window nd'-kwotse, (Other parts of the house have similarly the same names as those given to native houses.) School-house kia-ka'-tuksi-lut-se. " book-house." Church \ tsd'-ma-tse. " prayer-house." Barn '. kl'-tut-se, "grass-house." Pencil or pen kia'-taioe. Paper kia-tdkoh. Newspaper tsl-ki-al'-um- tsaw-luh. Eoad or trail td'-hi-la. Waggon tse-tsik. Bridge -pal -wi-hlila. Well ....la'-pdkh, " dug out." Steamboat, hl-aka-ya-la, " fire on top." Bail way ." hl-aka-ya-lil-sila, " steamboat on land." Interpreter he-loh'-stae. Blacksmith li-ki-nooh. Trader ka-kll-a-wil-a-tsi-la, " keeping a place for trade." (24) Adjectives, Pronouns, Verbs, etc. Large wd'-lis. Small um-d'-e. Strong tlo'-kw'i-mas. Old noo'-mas. Young d'-tloos-td. Good al'k. Bad yak'-sum. Dead hld'-ld. Alive kwuld. Cold wut-dla'. Warm, hot tsul'-kwd. Afraid kit'-lila. Far kwe-sa'-la. Near nih-whd'-la. I yin. Me noo'-kwa-um. Thou.. \ yoo-tl, He yu'k. We , yinooh. Ye yih-ta-whootl. They yih-ta-whd'-ta. This .yih-kla'-ta. That yah-hd'-ta, All nd-whd. Many. Who.. ,'kai-nim. .yuh-un'-kwd. Here lah-kla. There Id-ha. Yes 1 kai-tl. No H To eat-w^. hd-mdp'. To drink na-'kh. To run tsil-whila. To dance , yuh-whd'. To sing frm-wA-HULA. To sleep mi'-uh-a. To speak ya-kun-tdla. To see td-kwula. To love tla-whula. To kill kl'-la-kla. To sit kwd'-Mld. To stand kld'-wha-tla. Togo hai'-kia. To come ». ke'-la-kia. To walk kd'-sa. To work , e-a-hula. To steal kll-ootla'. To lie kldl-kwala. To give To laugh ta-tlila. .tso or yd'-kwa. To cry .'kwd'-sa.
Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9959791
Ethnography
Glossaries
E99.K9 D2
English; Wakashan languages
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. E99.K9 D2
Indians of North America--British Columbia
Notes and observations on the Kwakiool people of the northern part of Vancouver Island and adjacent coasts, made during the summer of 1885, with a vocabulary of about seven hundred words
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