The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington 9780231895323

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THE LUMMI NORTHWEST

INDIANS

OF

WASHINGTON

A LUMMI INDIAN IN SPIRIT DANCE COSTUME

THE LUMMI I N D I A N S OF NORTHWEST

WASHINGTON

BY

BERNHARD J. STERN

NEW Y O R K : MORNINGSIDE

COLUMBIA

HEIGHTS

UNIVERSITY MCM-XXXIV

PRESS

C O P Y R I G H T

1 9 3 4

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY P U B L I S H E D

P R I N T E D IN T H E THE WILLIAM

M A R C H ,

PRESS I 9 3 4

U N I T E D S T A T E S Oh

BYRD PRESS, RICHMOND,

AMERICA VIRGINIA

T A B L E OF

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: THE LUMMI INDIANS PART I.

THE CYCLE OF LIFE

Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. PART II.

The Child is Born The Boy Grows Up The Girl's Puberty Ceremony Marriage The Household When Death Comes

13 17 24 27 31 35

TRIBAL CULTURE

Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter XI. Chapter XII. Chapter XIII. Chapter XIV. PART III.

7

Getting Food in its Season Festivities Social Distinctions Medicine Men Magic The Secret Society Weaving and Woodworking Conflict

41 54 72 75 83 86 88 97

LEGEND AND LORE

In the Beginning The Origin of Fire Making How the Deer Came into Existence The Origin of False Clams The Adventures of Mt. Baker's Wife The Origin of the Sxoaxi Mask How the Lummi Came to their Present Abode In the Land of the Dead

107 108 109 109 112 113 115 120

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE

I. II. III. IV. V.

FACINC PACE

A Lummi Indian in Spirit Dance Costume . . . . Frontispiece An Old Woman in Native Dress 26 A Group of Lummi Indians in Their Spirit Dance Costumes . 58 Spirit Dancers in Action 68 1. The Sxoaxi Mask and Ceremonial Spears and Clubs 2. Spirit Dance Rattle 114 VI. Map The Territory of the Lummi Indians 124

INTRODUCTION: T H E LUMMI

INDIANS

The Lummi Indians who speak a Coast Salish dialect are now settled on a reservation in northwest Washington near the Canadian border, covering the area of their former mainland villages. In former times they also inhabited the shores of the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound and subsisted on food obtained by fishing, hunting and plant gathering. During the winter months they lived in patrilocal village communities of from five to twenty long-houses of permanent construction in which approximately ioo to 200 persons resided. At other times they travelled about in small groups on the islands and on the mainland setting up temporary huts made of mats wherever they stopped to get food from which they set aside their winter stores. The various Lummi villages were united by close ties of marriage and descent and not through formal political control. The core of the social structure was the family, three generations of which lived together in the long-house. Village rule was vested in the old men whose power was derived through superior wealth, lineage, knowledge and skill rather than through specific delegation of governmental function. There was division of labor between the sexes: in economic pursuits the men hunted and fished while the women gathered bulbs and berries; in the arts and crafts women wove the baskets, blankets, mats, clothes and fishnets and tanned the hides while men built the houses and manufactured canoes and wooden chests. Barter relations were maintained with neighboring tribes on the mainland from as far north as the Frazer River to as far south as the White River and with tribes on the adjoining islands. With these tribes they were allied through marriage which was primarily conceived as a means of enhancing prestige by establishing bonds of mutual economic advantage and of defence against the recurring marauding attacks of the strong tribes to the north. Dread of imminent conflict motivated a strict regimen in the education of the youth for proficiency in battle; it led to emulation of warriors and to the construction of stockades and other devices for protection such as pitfalls at the entrances to houses. It was the practise of warriors to decapitate the victims of battle and to display their heads as trophies; women and children of the vanquished were brought back to the villages as captive slaves. As distinguished from the democratic pattern of the Indians east of the Rockies and in common with the Indians of the Northwest Coast the importance of wealth in determining social status and influence was

7

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

one of the ccntral features of the Lummi culture. Hardly less marked was the emphasis on ancestry; concern with genealogies which were reckoned to the fifth generation was very pronounced. Three social classes were recognized and consciousness of rank suffused all aspects of tribal life. Emphasis on wealth tended to accentuate personal acquisitiveness and fostered intense striving for prestige. Personal property rights extended not only over inherited rights to names, ceremonial costumes, masks and dances, manufactured objects and partially worked raw materials, over valuable objects such as deer hoofs, shells and horn, but were also recognized over fishing locations in Puget Sound. Potlatches during the months of enforced idleness caused by inclement winter weather provided occasions for the distribution of accumulated property to invited guests with the anticipation of manifold return, and for the display of inherited privileges. These festive occasions brought together neighboring Indians and helped to cement alliances. Religious expression centered primarily around the guardian spirit concept which pervaded the entire culture. All skills acquired by a person whether in hunting, fishing, fighting, dancing, in the uses of the cedar or in any other phase of Lummi life were ascribed to the agency of guardian spirits whose friendship was won through a disciplined quest during adolescence. T h e power of medicine men among the L u m m i while significant did not approximate that among the tribes to the south; their function was largely that of regulating the soul's relation to the body thus curing or causing illness or death, and of placating departed souls. They had not exclusive knowledge of magic, which anyone could acquire by purchase from those who were adept. Excessive use of malevolent magic was restrained by members of a secret society who served as vigilantes. T h e attitude of all tribal members to the animals which formed the food supply were reverential; especially was this evident in the regard for the sockeye salmon, the first catch of which was the occasion for the most important ritual of the year. Compared to its performance elsewhere along the coast, the first salmon ceremony of the Lummi exhibited a highly developed form. Sexual life appears to have been relatively restrained. Female prenuptial chastity was idealized and was guarded by the isolation of girls from puberty until betrothal. Excessive sexual intercourse was tabued as not conducive to individual and social welfare in that it prevented concourse with friendly spirits. Apart from the practical arts of basket and blanket weaving and of canoe building in which a high degree of skill was manifested, and the creation of complex ceremonial masks in which the influence of the northern tribes was apparent, the art of the Lummi was poorly developed.

Introduction

9

Housepost carvings and paintings were very crude attempts at realistic portrayals in contrast with the highly conventionalized totem poles of the Northwest Coast. Both ceremonial and spirit dances were, however, elaborately developed; those of the tribes to the south appear stilted and undistinguished in comparison. Because of the tribe's geographic isolation until recent years, Lummi culture has remained relatively alive in spite of the aggressively disruptive encroachments of the whites, whose exploitation of the Indians has been flagrant in this region. The contents of this book are based entirely upon materials collected through the author's ethnological research in 1928-29 which was partly financed by funds granted by the Bureau of American Ethnology, the faculty research fund of the University of Washington and the Columbia University Council for Research in the Social Sciences. The author is especially indebted to Joseph Hillaire, a Lummi Indian whose sincere interest in preserving the traditions of his people made him an eager and intelligent informant. Among the other members of the tribe who served as informants were August Martin, Matt Paul and Mrs. Matt Paul, William McClusky, Timothy Jefferson and Frank Hillaire. Inasmuch as the life described in the following pages is either still a part of Lummi culture or was extant within the memory of the older men of the tribe, the historical present tense is used throughout.

PART I T H E CYCLE OF

LIFE

CHAPTER

ONE

T H E C H I L D IS

BORN

A pregnant woman is held in high esteem among the Lummi Indians; childless women arc scorned, and stem ate, meaning barren, is an epithet of contempt and reproach. T h e woman with child denies herself many foods and willingly observes many restrictions to protect the infant from all possible harm. She does not eat halibut which it is believed causes white blotches on the skin of the baby, steelhead salmon which causes weak ankles, trout which produces hare-lip nor the beaver which nurtures an abnormally large head. She also abstains from shag or blue cod which gives the child convulsions, the sea-gull and crane which make it a "cry-baby," and deer meat which brings on absentmindedness. T h e mother must not look at freakish things, such as ceremonial masks, deformed persons or snakes else the baby will be born a freak; she must not observe the agonies of a dying fish or any other dying animal, for the infant may suffer similarly. She swallows if she sees anything which she thinks will improve the character of the child; she spits at anything she detests. Precautions must be observed to insure a safe and easy delivery. T h e pregnant woman must not sew and must be careful not to tangle any yarn or cord about her person or the navel cord will be tangled. She must not sleep with her head covered or the child will be smothered at birth. When she rests she must not lie on the bunk carelessly or crosswise. Cleanliness is stressed and daily baths required. A pregnant woman picks no fruit for the bushes would cease to be fruitful. She avoids berry patches, clam beds and all places where food is gathered, because any ground upon which she walks becomes sterile. If a male child is desired, and males are usually preferred, the woman looks at the moon through the corner of her right eye at fixed times and recites a formula learned from one who knows suin or magic. Older relatives with experience can almost always tell whether the child will be a boy or a girl, by the way the expectant mother walks and by the changes in her face and voice. If she steps forward with her left foot first, the child will be a girl. If the woman desires a small baby, she drinks juices and eats no fats. Just before the birth of the infant, when the danger of marking it has passed, she does housework to relax her muscles. Men and women with spirit power shun a pregnant woman for there is an atmosphere about her which makes it impossible for spirits to tarry. Medicine men rarely assist at delivery out of fear of losing their spirit powers. '3

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

W o m e n who "understand the language of the child" watch its position as it moves in the womb and inform the mother when the time of delivery approaches. A poor woman bears the child without attendants; an old woman skilled in magic and the mother of the woman are usually present to aid the rich. T h e place of childbirth is preferably beside a gooseberry bush or on a beach. T h e attendant recites magical words which command the muscles necessary for the delivery and tell the baby to come forth willingly. A band of cedar bark is belted around the body of the woman just above her abdomen and she tugs at another cord fastened to a tree to assist her in bearing down. Among the drinks given to relax the muscles and to facilitate delivery are thistle roots and tips boiled in salt water, boiled nettles, cactus with the sharp points singed off mashed and soaked in salt water, and goose and swan fat. Choke-cherry and the bark of the June plum tree are often given the woman to chew. Dogfish oil and bear grease are applied to ease the muscles. W h e n the child emerges from the womb, it is grasped by its right hand so that it will be right-handed or by both hands so that it may use either hand. Those present speak to the child at once. N o one must think anything harmful for the baby understands unexpressed thoughts and may die. T h e navel cord is tied and cut and the baby is bathed with luke-warm water, rubbed with dogfish oil and wrapped with shredded cedar bark. T h e father then buries the afterbirth in some remote place where people are not likely to trample upon it, or places it in a big cedar stump to insure a long life for the child, or fastens it on the top limbs of a cedar tree to make the child brave. When the remnant of the navel cord falls from the baby, it is wrapped and placed with household goods which are seldom moved, or is buried in an alder tree so that it can remain in contact with something strong. If this be neglected the child will be a wanderer. T h e first faeces of the baby is buried, not burned, to prevent the child's intestines from becoming weak. T h e mother must not scratch her head with her fingers for several days after childbirth lest she become bald. T h e birth of twins is considered especially auspicious. Parents who have twins are looked upon with favor in the village because the twins through their special powers are able to increase the wealth of the people; for twins, when hunting or fishing, have influence over the elements. If they want the wind to blow in a certain direction they blow in that direction and the wind responds. T h e parents of twins of the same sex must guard against wishing anything that is not for the general good, for their wishes are sure to be fulfilled. Twins are not permitted to cry lest they spoil the weather. If the twins are of different sexes one is sure to die; parents who have a strong preference for one of the twins are certain to

The Cycle of Life

l

5

save their favorite only if the other is put to death. This act is thought necessary for the welfare of the family but is looked upon as disgraceful. A mother of twins has exceptional power to heal the sick. Directly after she has given birth she may relieve severe aches and pains by pressing her teeth firmly against the afflicted parts of a patient's body and by spraying saliva over them. Mothers who do not desire a second child may, directly after the birth of the first child, magicly avoid future conception. The afterbirth of the child may be placed in a split tree with the idea that as the tree grows together the woman's womb will do likewise. If the afterbirth is hurled into a swirl in the river or at sea, as it swirls, the woman's womb twists into a position that prevents conception. A core of a snail or some variety of bitter leaves chewed and eaten as fast as possible will also close the womb. A newborn babe is bathed every morning in cold water and talked to while its eyes and mouth are being washed. If the baby gurgles while bathing it will have a short life. Crabs are mashed and put on the baby's legs and abdomen to increase its strength and activity, and its body is massaged with oil. On the first day, some chopped clam meat soaked in the milk of another nursing mother is given the infant to suck. Thereafter it is nursed by its mother who eats many clams to increase her milk and avoids fruits which give the baby colic. The woman's breasts are "cooked up" to stimulate the milk; a hot rock is held close to her breasts and water is poured slowly over the rock so that as the steam rises it heats them. She drinks only water treated with herbs to improve the quality of her milk. As she goes about her work the mother carries her infant on her back in a cedar root basket strapped over her forehead. When seated, she holds the basket on her lap or sets it in a convenient place. The basket is so constructed that even if the mother must move quickly as in the case of an enemy's attack, the child will not be harmed. Skilled women make the baskets. Cedar roots are split, soaked in water until pliable and woven to fit a child up to the age of four or five months. After the infant's arms are bound close to the body by cedar bark bands and its feet are so placed that the child will not become bow-legged, the top of the basket is laced over a buckskin flap. A cedar bark pad, attached to the upper end of the basket, rests on the forehead of the baby to prevent the normal growth of the head and to flatten it into the high receding shape which is a sign of rank among the Lummi. Another type of basket or cradle board is hollowed out of a cedar board to the depth of about one inch. The child is laid upon this board on soft shredded bark stacked thicker at the base so that the child will lie at an angle to facilitate digestion. Its body is covered with cedar bark strips

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

and then bound with buckskin straps drawn through four holes on each side of the board. A cedar bark pad for flattening the head is fastened by buckskin straps and another strap holds the pad in place to prevent it from smothering the child who is bound to its cradle board during its early infancy. After infancy, the child plays around the village with its brothers, sisters and cousins with little direction. When the child creeps and eats regular foods, the mother must never eat the child's leavings or the latter will eat anything it lays its hands on, will develop untidiness and will be disrespectful. Children are warned never to mistreat young birds or even to handle them for the delicate birds are sure to die and as a consequence their own children will perish prematurely. They are taught to be attentive to the needs and wishes of the old men and to render them little acts of kindness such as bringing them fresh cool water when they enter the house. T h e boys tag along after the old men whose tempo is not too rapid for them; their insistence on hopping into the old men's canoes at every opportunity is a source of merriment. When the elders recognize that the child is impressionable they gradually prepare him for participation in the activities of the tribe.

CHAPTER

TWO

T H E BOY GROWS

UP

A youth learns the traditions and customs of his tribe by observing others at work and from the stories of his elders. W h e n very young, he acquires knowledge of the use of the bow and arrow and of the preparation, maintenance and use of the canoe; he learns how to fish, and other common tasks and skills. T h e old men soon tell him of the restrictions he must observe if he is to develop into a courageous warrior. H e must never remain in bed after others have arisen but must get up with a start in order to leave sleep on the bed. They warn him never to lean against a wall or to sleep with his back towards the fire; never to sit down but to squat with bended knees and with arms folded so that he may always be prepared for battle. H e must not eat the gizzards of animals lest they weaken his knees and prevent speed in running. He is taught what acts to avoid as disgusting and ill-mannered such as belching, gulping, eating prior to his elders and rejecting food offered by his parents. T h e elders never coddle or indulge him but demand rigid and immediate obedience. At every available opportunity, the old people of the village relate the accomplishments of the heroes of the past in the presence of the children with the intention of educating them in tribal traditions and customs. Their stories are told graphically and dramatically; bystanders participate by interjecting enthusiastic comments to make the exploits of the ancestors appear more vivid and to impress the children with the honor and esteem with which the great men are regarded. Children are encouraged to seek experiences which will enable them to rival the virtues of the men of the past. Relatives watch eagerly for evidences of interest in their stories and select for special attention the boys who are most responsive. Parents hope that the eldest son will perpetuate their traditions but if this son does not qualify because of indifference or incapacity, another son is chosen as a favorite and his training begins. T h e first objective is to develop in the little boy courage and self-confidence in the face of the terrors of nature. He is sent out on very dark and stormy nights to fetch a bow and arrow of an old man from a remote place or on similar errands which develop hardihood and perseverance. He must bathe every morning in the icy waters of Puget Sound and often for punishment he is forced to do so again in the evening. H e is harshly treated and discriminated against, deprived of good foods, and given as 17

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

nourishment only the tail of the salmon and the head and backbone of ducks. The father is so anxious to develop fortitude in the child that at the slightest breach of the severe discipline, he becomes furiously enraged. Sometimes he frightens the boy, if he fails to respond immediately, by hurling a handful of burning shredded bark directly at him. The child is often broken in spirit by the rigor of his discipline, not appreciating the motives of his parents who wish to prepare him for the more intense training to follow. At the time when the boy's voice begins to change, the next period of his training commences. Emulating the example of the brave characters in the stories that he hears, he bathes more often in the icy water and, after bathing, rubs his entire body with cedar bark or boughs to toughen his muscles. The father tests his son's endurance by cutting the latter's body with sharp stones, bones and ice, to see if he will flinch. He first uses this agonizing test on the tougher part of the body and then on the more tender parts, even under the arms, while the boy bears the pain pluckily. The boy's skin sometimes becomes so tough through constant cold bathing and rubbing that growing hairs are unable to penetrate it. His parents then chide him about developing breasts like a woman. They suggest how this can be avoided and the boy in order to prove his manliness performs the operation. After plunging into the icy water of the Sound, he rubs sand on his breasts making them tender, even drawing blood, and then amputates his nipples by crushing them between stones. Among some families, a white-tipped eagle feather is used to swab the boy's throat to give him a strong voice. When the boy reaches the age of fourteen or fifteen he ventures out alone in earnest to seek his guardian spirit. Spirits animate everything— the raven, the crow, the bluejay, the wolf, the bear, the serpent—all animals, birds, rocks and trees—the smoke, the wind, the rain, the thunder, the ashes, the bee and even the lowly flea. These once were humans who became corrupt and were therefore changed into animals and inanimate objects by Xelas, the Transformer. Among these spirits, there are some destined to be of special service to the boy and he strives to communicate with them. He wanders far through the woods to seek a remote secluded spot, for the air at places where many people live is not fit for spirits to dwell. In his search for his spirit, he attempts to outdo in the severity of his training those who have preceded him and his success in his spirit experience is relative to his effort. As he journeys, hungry and cold, he plunges into every stream and lake he comes upon. After bathing, he rubs his body with brushes made of cedar boughs until his skin becomes toughened. He rubs the brushes on his body until they break into shreds, and then fastens the shredded

The Cycle of Life

J

9

brushes on the top of a cedar tree. If the tree absorbs them, he accepts this as proof that he will have a long life. H e may place the brushes on rocks by the stream or lake in which he bathed. If moss grows over them and preserves them, he accepts this as a token of friendship from the spirit of the rock which promises hardihood and longevity. As he wanders from place to place he drives hardwood stakes in the ground to show where he has sought his spirit. If the youth sees or hears unusual things he will remain at a lake or stream for days and dive to the very bottom seeking that spirit which will make him a great man in wealth or skill. Deep in the waters is the home of spirits who can transform themselves into diverse shapes. T h e most important of these spirits is Sinedqi, the spirit w h o can adopt varied forms such as that of a serpent, a mallard duck, a short log or a twoheaded lizard. H e has lizards as slaves on the borders of streams to warn of the coming of intruders and to frighten them away. Cranes also are his slaves, giving alarm of anyone's approach by frightful squawking. It is necessary for the youth who ventures near the home of Sinetlqi to have observed careful restrictions and to be clean in every way. If he has had sexual intercourse before he makes this visit, he will not survive. As he dives in the water, if he hopes to be successful in reaching the home of the spirit, he must never turn about. For if he sees the spirit and turns in his effort to escape his body twists in the direction of his turning, breaking his bones and causing his death. If he wishes to leave the place for any reason, he must move backward keeping his eyes set on the spirit until he is out of sight. H e then makes further preparations by more rigid training and dives down into the water again at that place, acting as if he feared nothing and were merely going to his own home. When he reaches the home of the spirit, he usually faints from excitement and exhaustion. While he is in the swoon, the spirit speaks to him and grants him the gift he deserves or advises him where to go to seek the spirit suited to his ambitions. H e takes whatever instruction, advice or gift the spirit offers and goes forth seeking deeper experience from other spirits. T h e youth acquiring the friendship of Sinetlqi usually becomes a great medicine man. T h e young man in his wandering may come upon a carcass. H e sees a bee or a fly alight upon it. H e asks himself " H o w did the insect get to this lonely spot? H o w did it learn that the carcass was here?" At night in a dream the bee or fly reveals itself as a human and instructs him in the art of trailing. T h r o u g h its spirit help, he learns to discern by a slight change of the lay of a branch or of the leaves of a tree whether any animals have passed through a place. H e learns to distinguish between the swaying of a bush caused by the wind and that caused by living creatures;

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The Lummi

Indians

of Northwest

Washington

to tell by the grass, the brush, the fern, even by the bare ground as to whether animals frequent a region. H e knows the woods intimately and develops into a skillful hunter. Or he may stealthily follow a crawling snake and see him nibbling at herbs. T h e question comes to him " W h y does he eat herbs?" If his ambition is to become a medicine man, he dreams of the serpent as instructing him in the nature and use of herbs. H a v i n g gone through this experience, he is skilled as a medicine man. If after having sought for a spirit experience in vain, even to the extent of imperiling his life, and as a result of his great privation and exposure becomes ill, he may find shelter in a hollow cedar log. H e stays there alone; there is no one to help him. H e remembers his disappointments and the places he has sought his spirit. H e feels forsaken, forgetting even the shelter of the cedar. But the cedar has been wooing him while he has been seeking the spirit elsewhere. In a dream he sees a splinter of the cedar tremble and come to life. T h e n it rises to a standing position, but instead of a stick it is now a m a n who instructs him in the mysteries of the cedar. H e is told of its usefulness from its roots to the top-most branch, instructed as to which side of the tree to hew so that the tree will fall in such a way as to prevent a serious break and leave the whole tree for lumber for a canoe. H e is taught the art of making large canoes and the process of carving the planks for the roofing of the house. T h e values of the bark and roots, the art of handling great logs single-handedly if necessary, are all revealed to him. F r o m then on he becomes skilled in woodcarving and in the other uses of the cedar, all of which skills arc attributed to the help of his guardian spirit. T h e youth, before he goes out for training, is counseled never to run away f r o m anything strange or unusual but rather to approach it and endeavor to grapple with it. T h e old people say "If you are strong mentally, as you lay your hands on things that seem strange, you will faint or die and while you are in this condition, the object or animal will impart to you a special skill or power." T h e boy strives to follow this advice. If at night he comes across a stone looming before him like a monster, he rushes toward it and grapples with it. While he is in a faint, he has communications with the spirit of the rock which transmits to him the skill of diving to great depths, a skill which helps him to escape danger during warfare. T h e spirit of the rock also gives him long life by making it difficult for any rival to penetrate his spirit experiences. If he grapples with a bear, and he is fit, through his careful observance of the restrictions of life, to become the friend of this bear, he faints and the spirit of the bear speaks to him and gives him power. F r o m him, the boy may learn the skill of extracting with his hands the spirit which is causing the ailment

The Cycle of

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of a person and so become a medicine man, or he may acquire great strength which gives him the endurance to become the skilled back-hold wrestler of his village. He may also learn during this experience to become a great hunter. Communication with the wolf spirit usually enables a man to become a great hunter, with the spirit of the salmon a great fisherman, with the beaver to build a big house, with the raven to acquire shrewdness in bargaining, with other birds the ability to speak at gatherings as an orator, with ashes the ability to lay the foundation of a house. All the skills of later life are obtained while in training and the youth also receives through spirit experience such gifts as war clubs, spears, carving equipment, dancing sticks, designs for dancing costumes, spirit dances and songs, drum designs and directions as to how to become wealthy. When the youth is satisfied that he has had a sufficient number of spirit experiences to give him great power, he returns to his village. He has remained away for a year or more, sometimes for as long as four years. When he approaches his village, he sends a message ahead to his parents to prepare for his homecoming. They reserve a section of the house and refurnish it with fresh mats and bedding. When he arrives he is given new clothes. Everyone who knows he has been in training looks upon him with awe. The nature of his spirit experience is a secret and he is feared for his possible power and strength. He is very careful how he associates with his friends because now, after his training, he is like a man who has many hounds ready to defend their master. During his training, he overcame spirits who now serve him and at the slightest provocation, they may attack those who provoke their master. The youth never demonstrates his power carelessly; only when there is ample reason does he display his skill. He must never reveal all his spiritual power on one occasion, but must always hold something in reserve; a person who exhibits all his power disarms himself and lays himself open to attack and easy defeat. Before the youth goes into training he is called by a nickname peculiar to his family. But upon his return, a saloyat or testimonial ceremony is held at which masked ceremonial dances are performed. On this occasion, his parents give him one of the names of his famous ancestors, preferably that of his great grandfather on either his father's or mother's side or a name which one of his parents dreamt should be given to him. The name of the ancestor serves as an incentive to the child to inspire him to rival the deeds of his namesake. If the youth is named after an object derived through his parent's dream, the meaning of the name is explained so that he may acquire the power of the object by developing a thorough knowledge of the magic relating to it. It is considered a crime to give a boy

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

a name of an ancestor to which the family is not entitled through inheritance, and the father in announcing the name explains his right to give it. Wars have occurred due to the stealing of a name. In his address bestowing the name, the father speaks to the witnesses somewhat as follows: "I wish to bring my deceased elder down as it were, in the person of this child I am naming. I want you, please, to name my child when you see him at any gathering so he will be known." The dancers at the namegiving ceremony are warriors whose strong spirits can resist any attempts of rival claimants of the name to hypnotize them. The song in which the name is incorporated and the name itself become the property of the boy and his descendants. When a person, only recently named, is at a gathering and hears someone who is giving gifts mention his name, he presents the speaker with a gift as an expression of appreciation of the honor shown him. Personal names are used only at public gatherings when a person has been singled out as a recipient of a gift. In ordinary conversation the name is avoided and the kinship term is used in its place. This is done out of veneration for the departed elder, whose name the individual now possesses. A youth's spirit experiences do not cease when his period of training is over, although most later experiences are renewals of intimacies with the spirits who had appeared to him in his quest. Spirits travel from place to place and while passing, they draw near to the individuals to whom they have previously appeared. Especially do the spirits appear in the winter when, because of the weather, the people in the village engage in little work. During this period the people are surcharged with their spirit powers. A spirit of a "flying human being" called xhaltup reveals itself in the fall of the year to such men and women among the Lummi people and the tribes northward who have observed the necessary restrictions. Sometimes, although not seen it is heard in the deep gullies of the mountains or on an island which submerges at high tide, making the noise "U uh u uh u uh, u uh u uh u uh." It is discernible only in the early morning, or in the twilight of the evening and is never seen when a person is with other people but always when he is alone halibut fishing, duck hunting or in the mountains hunting deer. The man who wishes to be receptive to the spirit of this "flying human being" or other important spirits as they wander past the locality of the tribe, must not sleep with a woman during her menstrual period but must stay as far away from her as possible; he must not have excessive intercourse with his wife for "If you are always sleeping with a woman, the spirits will smell you and leave you." The spirit of the thunderbird frolics about when the thunder roars and is in the lightning when it flashes. When large round scales are found

The Cycle of Life

n

around the roots of a tree after it has been struck by lightning, they are regarded as scales of the thunderbird. If anyone collects them who is not privileged to do so by inheritance, he is likely to die a violent death. The spirit of the thunderbird sometimes manifests itself in a whirlwind looking like a great fish with a hawk-shaped head and with a tail like a salmon. After the youth returns from his period of training, he becomes a recognized member of his household active in the life of the village according to his skills either as a hunter of ducks, beavers and deer, a fisherman, a wood carver or medicine man. All men of the village are able to perform in some manner these varied tasks, except that of a medicine man, but there is specialization due to variations in skill. Experts are always called upon for special tasks by the other members of the village who pay for these services in other commodities or services. As a boy he ran about naked but now the youth usually wears a blanket thrown over his shoulders with its overlapping ends fastened at the breast by an ironwood pin about five or six inches long. When at work he leaves his shoulders free by folding the blanket and pinning it around his waist. For general use he may wear instead of the blanket, a tanned buckskin shirt that extends to the knees. During the summer, he often goes about entirely naked or clad only in the loin-cloth. In the winter, he may wear a bear hide with the fur facing outward, which extends to the knee or below and is fastened with a strap over one of the shoulders. These garments are worn especially by hunters and warriors when going through the woods. Men permit their hair to grow long and after combing it usually let it hang down their backs, tied with a buckskin cord at the nape of the neck. Sometimes it is rolled into a pug and held in place with a long four-toothed wooden comb. Deer tallow is used to grease the hair and as a face cream before pigments made of pulverized woods are applied. While the youth is in training, or soon after his return, his parents choose his future wife.

CHAPTER T H R E E

T H E GIRL'S P U B E R T Y

CEREMONY

A girl has a carefree and uneventful childhood but when signs of puberty are observed she is placed in seclusion in a part of the house closed off by mats until she menstruates for the first time. During this period of seclusion, she is not permitted to touch or to scratch her head lest she become bald. She wears a shoulder brace to hold her body erect, because if a girl slouches at this time she will become round-shouldered. She must walk gracefully with a firm short step for habits formed now will persist. When she eats, she must chew her food thoroughly before swallowing and must always avoid excess in eating and drinking. Her mother and grandmother bring her food; otherwise she is kept from men and women alike until menstruation begins. The girl has special powers during the first menstrual period; if she crosses a berry patch it becomes barren, and her saliva is effective as a healing fluid. When she is ready for the cleansing ceremony of puberty which will protect her in life and enable her to marry into a family with high prestige, two women versed in the suin or magic connected with the ceremony, are chosen to direct it in the presence of the members of the tribe who gather to sing and beat drums and sticks to the rhythm of the songs. The ceremony lasts for four or five days. The first days are used to instruct the girl to abstain from such acts as excessive eating, remaining close to the fire or eating anything warm during the ceremony. While these instructions are being given, the girl is marked with red paint from head to foot and each morning these marks are renewed. Designs of human forms are painted on her face, head and shoulders. A form with outstretched arm is drawn along her forehead, its trunk following the ridge of the nose and its legs tapering toward the corners of the mouth along the cheeks. Another human form in a standing position with arms outstretched is painted over her breasts. Little crosses are made on her arms and legs. As the girl is being painted magic words are recited for her protection. During these days also the hairs on her forehead are plucked out and the women who are preparing her for the ceremony rub her saliva over the plucked area to prevent regrowth. On the evening of the third day, four rocks large enough to be held in both hands, four watertight baskets, four cedar boughs split at one end for tongs, and four handfuls of winter ferns are made ready. Four strong young men are then chosen to be the dancers. 24

The Cycle of

Lije

25

At daybreak on the fourth day, the girl is struck lightly on the head with cedar bark for her protection and to give her courage to withstand the gaze of any person who tries to browbeat her. Later that morning, she is curtained behind blankets with the two women who are presiding over the ceremony. The four baskets filled with water and winter ferns are placed in front of the blankets. The rocks are heated in an open fire opposite which, at a distance, stand the dancers, their faces painted with red streaks. The song of the attending women begins; drums are vibrated and sticks beaten rhythmically. The dancers with tongs extended to pick up the rocks, clatter slowly toward the fire each pointing at one of the four rocks; they nearly touch them and then back away. This is repeated three times without pause. As he advances the fourth time, each of the dancers grasps a hot rock with his tong and dancing four abreast, they place the rocks in the baskets of water which contain the winter ferns. The singing and dancing continues while the attending women bathe the girl with the warm water from the baskets and brush her body with the ferns. After the bath is completed a scramble is made for the blanket and the girl is seen by the spectators for the first time. The hair-combing ceremony follows. As a special song is sung with the words: "This person now born is combing her hair," the women directing the ceremony take strands of the girl's hair beginning at the front of the head from the right side and throw them over to the left side and then alternate parts from the left to the right and from the right to the left. When the back of the head is reached, the hair is braided very tightly in two braids. The girl is then dressed, ending this part of the ceremony. In payment for their participation in the song, the spectators are given parts of a large goat wool blanket which has been cut into equal portions, and the dancers and the women attendants are liberally rewarded. The occasion of the celebration of a daughter's attainment of puberty is ranked as a saloyat or testimonial ceremony. If a member of the host's family or his wife's family is able to claim the privileges, through inheritance, of one of the tsextan or ceremonial dances, he hires such groups of dancers to perform at this time. Spirit dances are also performed by individuals who are so inspired during all the days of the celebration. Neither of these observances is confined to the puberty celebration but are performed on many other occasions. The parents of the girl often use the occasion of the puberty celebration to give the girl a name, if she has not already been given one. The name is chosen from among the girl's ancestors who are known for their skill in weaving, in basket-making or in suin. As with the name of the boy, the family is entitled to use only such names as it can claim through inheritance, and the father in announcing the name explains his privilege.

26

The Lummi

Indians

of Northwest

Washington

This ceremony is like the boy's naming ceremony already described and similar precautions are taken against rival claimants. As children, the girls go about naked but after puberty they put on cedar bark dresses of various styles. One-piece dresses are sleeveless and are open all the way down the front. Two-piece dresses have a skirt extending from the waist to the ankles which is slipped on over the head and a jacket-waist open in front, the fringes of which hang six inches over the skirt. The jacket is fastened at the waist with a three-inch girdle decorated with small cedar bark rosettes. The women usually wear their hair in two braids which they permit to hang over their breasts while around the house, but when doing any vigorous work they swing the braids over their backs. The ends of the braids are tied with combings. Wooden hardwood combs with five or six teeth are used. The younger women always wear strands of shredded cedar bark or soft skins tied about their heads. After the puberty ceremony, the girl is again secluded until arrangements are made for her mariage. During this seclusion, she is instructed in the various details of motherhood and infant care, by an old woman who is paid for these services. She is told to be patient in case of poverty, to endure cruelty on the part of her husband, to take married life for better or for worse. She is taught weaving and basketry and other women's skills so that even if her husband is never at home, she will be happy because she has her work to do. The seclusion of the girl, occasionally lasts as long as two years during which time she never leaves the house except to bathe in the evening when she cannot be seen.

AN OLI) WOMAN IN NATIVE DRESS

CHAPTER F O U R

MARRIAGE Young people usually have no choice in the selection of their mates. T h e parents of the boy, after consultation with the old men of the tribe, select a girl whom they desire him to marry from outside their kinship group. (See Note I.) Their preferences are determined on the basis of the wealth and ancestry of the girl and whether, if chosen, she will enhance the strength and prestige of the village. Although girls with brown hair and light complexion are considered most beautiful, physical beauty has no weight in determining the selection. The girl most prized is an only child of a family of wealth and high status, who has shown fine tact in the acknowledgment of the gifts she has received, who reveals ability in housework, weaving and basketry and who knows the genealogy and kinship relationships of her people. In the case of a rich man, more than one wife is chosen for the son as a means of extending or perpetuating friendly cooperation with other villages. The father of the youth, and influential old men having reputations for being persuasive in such negotiations, visit the girl's parents. If the son accompanies them, he remains silent throughout the parley. They bring blankets and pelts as gifts and lay them in the house of the father of the marriageable girl. No matter how excellent the applicant may be, the father of the girl usually appears indifferent or actually hostile. Sometimes upon hearing of the coming of the suitors he takes his belongings and leaves his home making it necessary for them to come again. At other times, he bars the doors against their approach and the youth's representatives besiege the house seeking every opportunity to obtain an entrance. The family of the girl is prepared for this siege with a goodly supply of water and wood but if supplies run low, young men are sent out to replenish them when the besiegers are thought to be off guard. If one of the suitor's friends effects an entrance when the young men are either leaving or entering, he sings his song announcing victory in effacing the barriers between the two families. The members of the besieging party are then called in, negotiations begin and arrangements are made for the forthcoming marriage. The father of the girl may show his independence by rejecting the blankets and pelts offered during negotiations by suitors, and hurling them out of doors in seeming anger, asking the visitors to leave. As this implies that the property is insufficient, the elders return to the village 2

7

28

The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

for help from relatives to augment their gift. While they are gone, sometimes for many days, the youth, with a blanket over his head disclosing only his eyes, remains outside the door of the girl's home without food or water. T h e people in the house pay no attention to him; passers-by laugh at him. T h i s humiliation is interpreted as proving the sincerity, not only of the father but of the son. When the elders return with added goods they are permitted to enter the house. After discussion by the spokesmen about the fine ancestry of the applicant, the girl's father then selects two of the old men of his village to take the boy by each arm and lead him into the house. In the presence of the elder relatives of each family and the boy, while the girl still remains in seclusion, the date is set for the boy's family to come after the girl. T h e visitors then return to their village. T h e father of a girl recognizes that he must not reject applicants too often lest he overreach himself and be the loser thereby. For if it appears that a father is carrying an indifferent, hostile attitude to extreme lengths, young warriors attempt to gain access surreptitiously to rape the girl. A story is told of a young warrior who secretly entered the house of a girl who was "one hard to get." After penetrating the section of the house in which the girl was secluded, he raped her and then rushed out shaking his deer hoof rattlers loudly to call attention to his act. T h e fear that a like occurrence may disgrace his family, and the antagonism of relatives w h o would share in such shame, makes the father cautious, so that he usually does not refuse more than one or two proposals. When the delegation of the accepted suitor returns home, the relatives of the youth begin at once to assemble property and to store large quantities of ducks and deer. A t the appointed time, the parents with a large number of their tribesmen go forth in canoes prepared to bring back the bride. In the meantime, the girl's parents have invited many friends to attend the marriage festivities and if the host has such rights, he has made arrangements for masked ceremonial dancers. When the youth's parents and fellow tribesmen arrive, they are cordially received. As they disembark each of the tribesmen carries a portion of the goods and the food to the house for which service he is compensated during the festivities by the father of the girl. When everything has been brought to the house, a meal is served while the old men of both families make speeches telling of the glories and exploits of their respective ancestors for the young man and woman to know and to emulate. T h e festivities continue for three or four days during which traditions are further related and spirit dances are performed. On the closing day, the prospective bride is seated in the center of the house on a pile of blankets and pelts which have been contributed by rela-

The

Cycle of

Life

29

tives w i t h the words: " H e r e is what I cover my niece with" or " H e r e is w h a t I give for my niece to sit on." T h i s property n o w belongs to the girl. T h e masked ceremonial dancers perform around her the type of d a n c e which the family is privileged to use. W h e n the dance is over, an old m a n f r o m the girl's village addresses the girl declaring her married. A f t e r h a n d i n g her a water-tight basket and a little broom called xuixual, used for sweeping, the old m a n speaks to the parents of the y o u n g m a n saying: " O u r daughter is accustomed to use these articles. D o n ' t be afraid to m a k e her w o r k . " T h i s is not intended to encourage the parents-in-law to impose on the girl, but really implies: " W e have trained her well, D o n ' t m a k e her work too hard." W h e n the old m a n ends his speech, the masked dancers take the girl by her arms and, while dancing, escort her f r o m the house to the canoe which is to take her to her f u t u r e home. If the young man's parents are rich, they hire m e n to carry the canoe all the way to the house so that the girl will not be obliged to walk on the rough beach. O n these occasions, the dancers seat the girl in the canoe and then carry it down to the beach. In the course of the three or four days of festivity, the girl's father has distributed to the old and important m e n of the visiting village all the property which had been given him to bind the agreement. T h e wealthy person noted for giving public celebrations or potlatches receives the most property so that if the couple, at some f u t u r e time, visits his village, he will not fail to make them k n o w n and to honor them. T h e giving of property is calculated to establish the couple as influential. T h e bridal party starts for home in canoes, its members singing as they paddle. M a n y times, especially if the girl is an only daughter, her parents weep as though she were lost as she leaves for her husband's village. Except for occasional visits accompanied by her husband, she leaves their home forever and their authority over her is completely severed. It is a disgrace for a w o m a n to return to her parents' h o m e alone for this act is interpreted as m e a n i n g that her husband has driven her away. In the "humpbacked year" only is an opportunity given to the youth to choose their mates. At a celebration in that year, the boys and girls dance opposite one another, and as they dance each searches for a favorite. T h e boy or the girl w h o makes a choice places a hand on the shoulder of the one chosen, and if acceptable to each other, they lock a r m s and are understood to be betrothed without an interchange of property at that time. Some time after the dance the boy's parents visit the parents of the girl b r i n g i n g gifts and formally ask for her. T h e marriage takes place in the customary m a n n e r .

30

The1 Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

Sometimes parents of friendly families agree, while their children are still young, even in infanthood, that the latter will marry when they come of age. All the young people of the village then partake in a dance during which the boys dance around the girl placing quills in her hair which she removes and rejects until she accepts the quill of the chosen youth. The pledge is marked by an exchange of property and from then on, the children are considered betrothed. If one of the children dies before reaching marriageable age, another son or a nephew, or if it is the girl, another daughter or niece, is substituted to fulfil the agreement of marriage. Elopements are rare for it is the tradition that sorrow and shame result therefrom. The story is told of an elopement ending in the revengeful killing of the youth by the brother of the girl who was brought home disgraced. Medicine men, hunters and warriors are often given additional wives as gifts by parents in neighboring tribes who wish to have the friendly cooperation of these important men. The status of a wife taken because a first wife did not bear children is ignominious; only when parents are in disgrace do they permit their daughters to function in this capacity. Such wives are known under the unsavory sobriquet "chamber-pots" and are acquired without ceremony. Old maids and bachelors are scornfully characterized by the epithet sfemale.

CHAPTER F I V E

THE

HOUSEHOLD

T h e villages in which the Lummi Indians live when they are not travelling in search of winter stores, are composed of a group of long houses usually arranged in a single row along the waterfront, but at Gooseberry Point grouped in the form of an L. The houses, about sixty feet wide, comprising a varied number of sections each approximately sixty feet long, have walls made of wide overlapping boards fastened horizontally between two upright slender poles by cedar limb ropes. The roof, when not a gable, usually slants from one side of the house which is fourteen feet high to the other ten feet high, and is made of hollow planks overlapping each other in such a way that they drain water and can be raised to let in light and let out smoke. Entrance through the front doorway of the house is made difficult by obstacles the use of which is restricted by inherited rights. One house has an image of a man with an abnormally large narrow head and deepset eyes carved out of a single log with a narrow opening between its arched legs. When entering one must stoop to get through the opening. Pitfalls are generally placed beyond the high stumps impeding entrance and a person must avoid falling into the pits by swinging himself as he enters. On the side of the house facing the water is an unimpeded entrance used by the occupants.. A low fence about four feet high extends into the house from this entrance, and it is impossible to enter here without being immediately visible to everyone inside. T h e interior of the house is not divided by partitions but house posts supporting the cross beams mark the section divisions. These house posts are painted or carved with designs of birds, animals, or humans, sometimes a rainbow on a yellow background, the symbol of the spirit of the sockeye salmon. The design symbolizes the spirit experience of the occupant. The inside walls are at times painted in a serpent design of varied colors to represent the spirit Sinetlqi. Along the walls around the house, about three feet from the ground, and extending out four feet or more, are planked benches which serve as bunks. Above the benches protruding from the wall are shelves upon which supplies are stored in baskets and wooden boxes. Rush mats are used to cover the walls and bunks. T w o or three generations of relatives dwell together in one of these long houses in intimate association, each family occupying its section of the house in the center of which a log fire bums which serves for cooking 31

32

The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

purposes and for w a r m t h . T h e fires are built against a heavy log upon which dried maple and alder wood is placed in such a manner as to cause a draft which directs the smoke to the opening in the roof. T h e people having greatest authority a m o n g the members of the household are the richest old men. Hospitality is generous and some people from other villages are usually living in the house as guests. T h e old people of the household usually awaken at four or five in the morning and while still reclining on their bunks, relate their dreams in a low tone and by telling stories of past events, give advice in reference to enemies to guard against and great men to admire. At daybreak, all arise from their bunks. T h e m o r n i n g meal is not eaten at once for "the throat is sleepy," but because "early in the morning, the salmon are hungry," the men go fishing until about eight or nine o'clock. It is the ambition of a young wife to have her food prepared early so that her husband, upon returning from fishing may invite other members of the household whose food is not yet ready, especially the old men. At the meal, the old men discuss the events of the village which the young men in their busy quest for food have not had time to observe and also tell the traditions of the tribe. Meals are served on mats placed on the ground. T h e large wooden platters used to serve food are filled at the fire where the food is being cooked, vegetables and meat being placed on the same platter. These are set directly before the diners and each person takes his share with his fingers or with a horn spoon. H e puts it into his individual bowl or eats it directly from the platter. T h e platter is never passed f r o m person to person, but the food in it is considered the portion of the one to whom it is first given. It is ill mannered to refuse food or return partially consumed food to the platter; unfinished portions are put away in baskets for future use. After the adults have had their share, the children are served. T h e left-over food is divided among the women or used for another meal. After the morning meal, the people go about their work. T h e men in groups fish or hunt ducks, beaver or deer or build canoes or prepare bows, arrows or spears or gather timber for building or fuel. T h e wives gather berries, roots and bulbs in their seasons, dry the meat and fish for the winter supply, tan the hides, dig and dry the clams, gather cedar bark and roots for baskets and rushes for mats and weave baskets, mats and blankets. In the houses of the rich, slaves do the menial household tasks which otherwise are performed by the women, although it is not uncommon and not humiliating for men to assist in cooking, serving and cleaning the house, especially on ceremonial occasions. W h e n the day's tasks are over, all gather together within the house and the evening meal is served about sunset. By the light of the log fires the members of the household gossip and discuss the happenings of the day until it is time to go to sleep.

The Cycle of

Ufe

33

The occupants of the house sleep on the wooden bunks which are covered with mats. A person usually sleeps each night in the same place protected from the cold by blankets. There is a spirit between the sexes in the household that approximates sex equality. The property the wife acquires by her skill is her own and she may dispose of it as she desires. Women have their say in all the important decisions of the family. They are deterred from speaking at public gatherings only by the fear of having their statements challenged and thereby suffering ridicule. They participate in feuds through the use of their magic; they have their own spirit songs and dances derived through spirit experiences in time of sorrow. They distribute gifts at public celebrations or potlatches along with the men, although there is no tradition of any woman attaining great wealth in this manner comparable to the results of such negotiations by men. Co-wives live together amicably for the most part, each engaged in her own tasks and skills, and with her own property. On the other hand, the very fact that a woman must leave her household to join the household of her husband makes her position disadvantageous for true equality. For when her husband is harsh, cruel or neglectful, she has no recourse to her people and must submit, sometimes ignominously, to humiliation by his actions. Her early education stresses not equality but patient acceptance of the discriminations to which her husband may subject her and this spirit dominates her behavior. The fact that men at public occasions refer to people whom they do not consider their equals as "my little wives" indicates that there is an element of condescension in the attitude of the men to the women. But it is not the tasks that women perform that give them an inferior status for men in emergencies help in any of their tasks and women are rated of high status whose skills in weaving blankets, baskets or mats or fishnets, or whose knowledge of magic make them wealthy. There is an equal feeling of responsibility in regard to the care and training of the children. During their menstrual periods, women are avoided by their husbands for the odors will be detected by the deer and the hunt will be unsuccessful. If a woman bathes while menstruating she will get sores all over her body. When a husband and wife have a serious quarrel, some older influential person who had been particularly chosen to be the recipient of gifts during their marriage festivities is asked to intercede by relatives who compensate him for his efforts. If the couple become reconciled, they invite their friends to a saloyet festival and give away everything they possess to wipe out the wrongs done to each other and to start anew. Eventually they receive goods in return but for some time they remain poverty stricken and dependent upon the hospitality of their relatives and friends. The years pass and husband and wife, participating in the village work

34

The Lummi

Indians of Northwest

Washington

and play, develop their various skills which they attribute to the gifts of their guardian spirits. There is no monotony of custom for details are always changing. There is no drab sameness of personality for there are individual variations in character, performance and skill. There are differences in status, differences in temperament, differences in observance of custom and rite.

CHAPTER S I X

W H E N D E A T H COMES When a person in the household becomes very ill, a medicine man is called to relieve him. In addition to exorcising spirits and replacing souls, the medicine men use herbs and barks for purgatives, tonics, astringents, and healing salves. Grippe and rheumatism are treated by steam baths independently of the work of a medicine man. A steaming-hut is prepared by making arches out of maple poles and placing cedar boughs over these arches leaving an opening at one end facing a fresh water stream. The hut is covered with moss and dirt to keep in the steam. The patient pours water slowly on the heated rocks within the hut and stands naked in the midst of the rising steam sweating vigorously. When he can endure the heat no longer he plunges into the cold water of the stream. Owls hooting around the house, snakes seen hanging over branches, the sight of large strange fish and the sudden appearance of other strange animals are omens of death. When death comes, the corpse is first washed by men called weqweqie accustomed to this work who put the tender tips of the cedar in their mouths to prevent nausea caused by the odors, for, since no embalming process is used, bodies decompose quickly. Scrupulous care must be taken in the disposal of the dead body and every customary detail must be strictly observed, for if the deceased is mishandled, he will carry the soul of one of his loved ones with him to the land of the dead. If the corpse is a child, the weqweqie lifts its body heavenward and implores the spirit of the universe to restore it to its parents in the form of another child. If the deceased is an adult, the weqweqie working alone in an enclosed part of the house, throws the body four successive times toward the exit to symbolize the four stages of future life and to assure its return to life in the form of an infant. Marks such as pierced ears and a lock of gray hair at birth are accepted as proof that a person has been in this life before. The body of the deceased, clothed in his festive garments, is taken out of the house feet first because, if removed head first, a momentum will be started which will cause other members of the family to die shortly after. As a further precaution, there is a general cleansing of the house by an individual called spdqtviseltass who burns kernels from a plant in fire, filling the room with pleasant fumes, and then brushes the walls of the house with cedar boughs singed in the fire. The corpse, after being removed from the house, is taken to the burial 35

36

The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

ground, a short distance from the village. If the mourners are wealthy, they have it buried wrapped in blankets in a canoe. This canoe with the corpse is placed on a frame eight to ten feet from the ground or lashed on trees with cedar bough ropes. The bows, arrows, paddles, deer-hoofs used in dancing, and shells of the deceased are put into the canoe to be his property in the land of the dead and to insure the welfare of the living. The side of the face buried closest to the ground sometimes becomes as rotten wood or moss and men are often so represented in the land of the dead. When a corpse is missing after burial, the articles buried in the grave are given to the weqweqie. He sometimes disposes of the body to secure these treasures. On a dark night, he takes the corpse down to the water and pushing the body out head first, he utters the name of the place to which he wishes it to go. The tide carries it out to the deepest parts of the sea; a body so treated is never found again. The weqweqie attributes its loss to the activity of wolves which resemble human beings and are always looking for the bodies of rich people to carry to their homes. Many stories of the work of these wolves are current. If a death occurs while a family is on a hunting expedition, or at a time when a man can not have the customary burial, the body is temporarily buried above the ground, covered with bent boards. Sometimes a group of families agree to help one another in the expense of moving their dead from their temporary burial sites to a more suitable permanent burial place and after the reburial they hold a public gathering at which gifts are given away. As a sign of grief, the hair of the mourner is cut to the shoulders. Strands of goat wool are tied to the wrists, ankles and about the waist of the mourners. These are retained until they fall away to prevent the early death of the relatives of the deceased. The mourners must fast for four days after the death, and bathe daily after the fourth day. During the period of mourning the relatives do not jest or gossip or enter into the general village life. They fish and hunt but refuse to come to public gatherings saying: "Our sorrows are too fresh; we do not want to be acting as though we found pleasure in the departure of our dear one." Wherever the mourners go they relate the details of the deceased person's final days and hopes that have been unfulfilled, and usually end in bitter weeping and wailing participated in by others who are reminded of their own sorrows. At the death of the head of the household, all the possessions of the family are given away except the house, the ceremonial masks and the slaves. When a wife dies only her personal property is disposed of and the same is true of a child except of an only child, when all the family belongings are distributed. This is done to efface the memories of the

The Cycle of Life

37

deceased's presence and to prevent the soul of the dead f r o m returning to use his property and taking one of the other members of the family with him. W i d o w s or widowers must not g a z e into the light of the sun or of a fire or their eyes will weaken. T h e y must never eat their food facing the other members of the family lest it shorten the lives of the relatives, but must eat alone with their faces to the wall holding food well u p between their thumbs a n d index fingers. W a r m food or drink which cause the teeth of mourners to decay are avoided as are clams which cause a "roaring" stomach. Mourners, to prevent being startled, must pass through a door backward whether g o i n g in or out. T h e y are not permitted to use sharp implements of any kind at meals or at work. T h e y must not comb their hair with their fingers but must use wooden combs. If mourners are not satisfied with their bodily form a n d desire to become stouter, they breathe vigorously on the end of their fingers four times, as soon as they awake in the m o r n i n g ; if they desire to become thinner they d r a w their breath from the point of their fingers four times. T h e breath and teeth of mourners have healing qualities and their saliva is used to moisten any part of the body where hair has been plucked to prevent its regrowth. Recent mourners must not g o near berry patches and clam or bulb beds lest these become infertile. Mourners g o for long walks at daybreak in search of spirit experience, for left alone in their sorrow, they are very susceptible to spirit visitations. W o m e n often obtain their spirit songs during their periods of mourning through dreams or while faint f r o m bitter weeping. When the hair of a mourner becomes long again, about t w o years later, he gives a saloyet or testimonial celebration to announce that the period of mourning is at an end and to show the people that he wishes to enter social life again. After the ceremony, the mourner ceases to talk about the dead and engages in all the activities of his village. A rich m a n need not wait for the full period to expire but may give the affair sooner. T h e widow or widower does not remarry until at least a year has passed after the death of the spouse; if this period has not intervened the deceased wife or husband will be jealous of the new spouse a n d will cause the latter's death. A s a precaution against the jealousy of the deceased, a widower, before he remarries, straddles a young spruce or cedar or a gooseberry bush so that his sex organs and other parts of his body which came in contact with his former wife will brush against the tree or bush, symbolically effacing the presence of the departed one. A single brother of the husband is obligated to continue the relationship with the widow's people by marrying the w i d o w ; if there is no single brother, a cousin must do so. Such marriage is called tceien. Likewise

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

a sister or cousin marries a widower. The purpose of these marriages is to perpetuate the prestige acquired by intermarriage between the families. The father's oldest or most successful brother is successor in authority at his decease and the orphaned children are sheltered and nurtured by him. Death is not the end for the souls of the dead have future existence; they visit the homes of their friends especially where objects of which they are fond are kept and they can be pacified only by burning such articles. The souls of the dead also frequent the homes of the living seeking food, particularly in the summer time. T o protect the living against illness, an old man presides over the burning of some rare foods to satisfy the souls. As the sun sets, food and fire are prepared and the old man, while burning part of the food, addresses the souls as guests. In this way, the souls are gratified and they return to "the happy hunting ground" without taking any of the souls of the living with them.

PART II TRIBAL CULTURE

CHAPTER SEVEN

G E T T I N G F O O D IN ITS SEASON In early spring groups of families leave their villages to travel about together from place to place to get food. They set canoes a short distance apart and lay roofing planks across them making canoe rafts upon which they place their families and their goods including mats for their temporary huts. With these conveyances they journey on calm days often chanting as they paddle to their next camping place. Among the major foods of the Lummi are ducks which are plentiful throughout the region and which are caught in quantities with four types of nets. About March or April, when herring are spawning, a submerged net called tlupulyen is used. The net which is about four to five feet wide and fifty to seventy-five feet long, is spread by cedar poles which are fastened at intervals of a fathom along its length. The nets are set along the shore where the herring spawn is found on the sea weed, and are weighted down so that the sea weed hides the net from the ducks. The shorter ropes of the net are set close to the shore and the longer ropes out, so that the net inclines at an angle to catch the ducks as they dive and swim towards shore to feed on the spawn. As the ducks, feeding under the net, start to the surface of the water, they become entangled in the net and are drowned. There are times when so many are caught that the entire net floats to the surface, in spite of the anchor rocks at both ends. At other seasons of the year ducks are caught with a hanging net called teqam, with a duck spear called teskeman or with a spread net called tetetcan. The teqam, which is a large duck net made from nettles or willow bark, is from ten to twelve feet wide and about fifteen to twenty feet long. A narrow spit is chosen over which the ducks usually fly, and at this place the net is stretched between two poles, and set up at dawn or twilight. The ducks flying in the semi-darkness strike this net and are caught. Men watching the nets lower them to remove the entangled ducks and then hoist the nets again. The teskeman or the duck spear has five sharp prongs made by tying five notched and pointed pieces of ironwood, yewwood or bone, with wild cherry bark to an eight or ten foot pole. The top prong is about fourteen inches, the next two about ten inches and the remaining two about eight inches long. The notches prevent the ducks from slipping off easily when they are speared. The spear is used on dark calm nights by a man sitting in the bow of a canoe paddled by another who sits in the stern and occasionally kills ducks by striking them with 41

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

his paddle. A pitchwood fire is built on a platform about three £eet square, set in the stern of the canoe, covered with sand to keep the fire from burning too rapidly. The fire attracts the ducks and dazzles them as they come toward the canoe. The tetetcan net, made of nettle twine, is used on dark nights when there is a breeze, by two men working together on a canoe in which the pitchwood fire is burning. The net is spread out on a pole about eight or ten feet long and attached with cedar rope or wild cherry bark to crosspieces four or five feet long, one set on the end of the pole, and the other about seven feet from the end, leaving enough room on the long pole for handling. Cords of deer or buckskin connect the ends of the cross-pieces. The edge of the net is fastened around the frame with enough slack in the center to allow the ducks to get entangled. The hunters paddle toward the wind and when they reach the ducks the man in front who operates, prepares by gathering all the slack from the net and by fastening it to a peg in the handle, to prevent the net from flapping in the wind. The ducks come toward the fire and when they are frightened by the noise of the canoe they rise out of the water and fly away from the fire toward the wind. The man with the net releases the slack from the peg and raising the net from the groove in the bow of the boat where it has been resting, he swings it with the wind, tilting it slightly to meet the rising ducks. As the ducks strike the net, he lets it fall in the water and seldom do any of the ducks escape. As the net lies floating on the water, the ducks struggle in vain efforts to get away. The hunters wring their necks, place them in the canoe and proceed to another group to repeat the process. Bows and arrows are used in killing ducks for sport to demonstrate skill and strength more often than to obtain food. The hunter prepares a blind of bushy branches of white fir leaves about three feet long, fastened to two cross-pieces. He hides behind it as he paddles against the wind, circling gradually around the ducks to shoot them as they arise from the water. It is considered a feat to shoot an arrow through a duck. The shag and the loon, who live far out at sea are killed with bow and arrow. Some swift hunters go out to the shore at daybreak and slaughter the ducks as they come to the surface to feed. Mallard ducks are so easy to get that they are not highly thought of as food. Ducks are not stored but are caught for immediate use, or for provisions on long journeys or as gifts at festive gatherings. In May, the groups go to Matia, Barnes, Spieden and Clark Islands, where the camas are obtained for the winter stores. The women usually gather the bulbs with digging sticks, a task which involves strenuous work for many days. The diggers lay out little plots in the shallow soil where camas grow, cut the earth in small sections, lift the soil with the sticks

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43

and collect the bulbs in their baskets. They crush the soil directly afterwards and plant the seeds broken from the stems. Small sections are lifted consecutively until the whole plot is finished. It is customary for the women to return to the same places yearly but they do not have exclusive rights to these plots. After a sufficient supply of camas has been gathered, the bulbs are cooked. Holes are dug in the ground and surrounded by heated rocks. The hot rocks are removed after a short time, and raw camas are placed over a matting of winter ferns set over the heated ground and are covered with maple leaves and winter ferns and allowed to steam for two or three days. When cooked, they are stored whole in wicker baskets which have plenty of ventilation to prevent moulding, or they are kneaded into loaves and then stored. They arc then hidden in the woods until they can be taken back to the village. Camas are sometimes exchanged for potatoes with the Indians on the White and Frazer rivers. While the women and children are busy with the camas plots, the men arc trolling for spring salmon. The lines are made by the women from fine netde roots. In June, the groups embark for places where willow trees grow in abundance, there the women gather the bark of willow saplings for materials needed in construction of the reef nets. Each woman makes a strip of net about two feet wide and one fathom long. Twenty sections are woven together in two rows of ten each for the reef net. In the meantime the men gather boughs of cedar saplings for the ropes used for fastening the reef net anchors. The boughs are twisted until they make fine strands and then plaited along the grain of the wood. When this preparatory work is done, the members of the party move to their fishing grounds where temporary dwellings are constructed of roofing planks arranged over a rectangular frame supported by poles. The walls of the house are made by large mats carried along for this purpose. The leader or captain of the fishing party dwells at the front end of the house while the other men of the party with their wives occupy sections according to the seating arrangement in the canoes. The captain wears a bonnet made of shredded cedar bark, clustered at the top with the ends short in the front and down to the neck in the back. He hangs this bonnet on a pole inside his section as soon as he enters the house to symbolize that he is alertly watching the salmon though he is not fishing. The sockeye salmon fishing season is awaited with keen anticipation by the people. For the sockeye is the siem or rich man of all the fishes and no fish is as highly esteemed or is surrounded with as much veneration. If treated with proper respect, the sockeye leaves his long-house,

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the smoke of which is like a rainbow, and makes pilgrimages to the fishing sites to be food for the people. When the time for setting the nets comes, each man in a group of fishermen knows his particular location and task. A pole is put through the ropes tied around the anchor rocks, which are carried between two canoes until the men reach the place where they are to fish. Men stationed on the shore direct those in the canoes where to stop by signalling with their arms. Then the canoes part and take the proper places; the anchors are dropped and the rope ladder and net are lowered. All is set and there is silence. The captains of each canoe, fully arrayed in the traditional costume made of strands of goat wool and duck down, stand watching intently for any signs of fish. They are always hopeful and occasionally cry aloud, "Your older brother will be here soon." Suddenly the fish are seen and as they come up the rope ladder the captain shouts, "Leyit Leyit Leyit eeeeeeee e." "Watch them! Watch them! Watch them! e-e-e-e-e-e-" Every man stands tense at his post, firmly gripping his rope holding the net and as the fish reach the center of the net, the captain cries, "Shamit, Shamit, Shamit," "Lift, Lift, Lift." Every man pulls with all his strength to raise the net to the surface of the water. If the men at the rear of the canoe are a little slow, the captain shouts at them to lift the head of the net because there is danger of the fish passing over it. When the net is brought to the surface, the captain calls, "Yetesat, yetesat" "Release lines" and the canoes are brought together as the men pull in the net shouting as they pull. As the fish struggle at the surface of the water, a spray goes up and a rainbow can be seen extending from one end of the canoes to the other. This is the first catch of the sockeye salmon and everybody is happy although constrained by veneration for the fish. The reef net is released from the anchor ropes and the rope ends are fastened to a large wooden buoy. All the fishermen go ashore. The people on the shore are elated. They have been watching with interest all that has happened and have joined in the shouts of the fishermen as a greeting to the fish. Winter fern, duck-down, red paint, cedar bark and spice plants have been gathered by the women who are ready to perform the first salmon ceremony. The children with their backs painted and with duck-down in their hair are waiting to honor the fish. As the canoes land facing the west each child goes to receive a fish which is placed with its head resting on the child's left arm and its tail on his right arm. He steadies the fish by holding the back fin with his teeth, and carrying it like a baby in his arms he turns to the left and sidesteps up the beach to the place where the women are preparing to cook it. The fish are gently placed,

Tribal

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45

with their heads toward the water, on the winter fern which has been laid out for this purpose. All the children take part in this performance. When all the fish are ashore and are placed on the winter fern old people put kernels of the spice-plant and duck-down and red paint in front of the fish. T h i s is the fishes' meal to show the good will of the people at their arrival. A bunch of shredded bark is lighted and the food placed before the salmon is burnt. T h e women, with red paint on their a r m s and faces and with d o w n in their hair, split the fish laying each one open. A long trench is d u g and a fire of hot coals is built in the trench. T h e n pieces of green ironwood are set across the trench f r o m one end to the other side by side about two inches apart. T h e cleaned fish are set on these sticks and roasted over the b u r n i n g coals, and places are prepared on both sides of the trench to lay the fish after they are cooked. Great care is taken in all this work. While these preparations are being made, some old m a n or w o m a n who knows the traditions of the fish and who has been careful to learn all the details of the ceremony sings a spirit song. A t the end of each strain, the names of the various places are mentioned where fish of different kinds are caught and a gift is cast into the water for the fish of that particular place. W h e n the song and n a m i n g of the fish is ended, and the baked salmon set in two rows on either side of the fire, the women call to the children who carried the fish, " C o m e children, eat." T h e children sit before the baked salmon as though they were to eat it all, but d o not touch it. Meanwhile the old men pass behind them and paint their backs. T h e n other fish are served them and the children are permitted to eat as much as they desire. T h e fish is next given to the people, family by family, in as large quantities as they need for a meal. T h o s e remaining are h u n g up to dry. T h e bones a n d sticks of ironwood are gathered and thrown into the water, symbolizing the breaking u p of canoes as though the occupants the fish did not intend to leave. All the children now gather around a very old m a n and the following song is sung by the whole e n c a m p m e n t :

heyawiya o heyawiya heyawiya o heyawiya euqete sen xwtetipisnatc bwa ceyan e tess \we sewi walexw heyawiya o heyawiya heyawiya o heyawiya

Isn't it just like a tail the penis of the old old m a n

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The children dance around the old man and everyone beats time. Suddenly the children rush away and leave the old man standing alone. The performance is over and everybody is happy. All the requirements have been carried out and there is now freedom in the use of the salmon and confidence that the salmon will come again next year. Fishing locations are owned by members of families who secure their rights through inheritance. (See Note II.) These men, who usually act as captains of the canoes, choose those who participate in the season's activity. The men whom they choose must each furnish the sections of the net, and the share to which each is entitled is in proportion to the net furnished. The owner of the location hires skilled hunters to gather provisions which he furnishes to his helpers during the fishing season. A particular way of allotting the fish after the haul must be observed out of respect to the fish. Ten piles of fish are made for the ten men participating and as the catch is distributed, the captain must count, "oneone," "two-two," "three-three," and so on repeating each number up to ten as he deposits ten fish in each pile before he goes on to the next one. After he has dropped ten fish in each of the piles, he begins with the first one again, until the entire catch is allotted. The fish are distributed after each haul until each person participating obtains his share. Then the rest of the fish, comprising the largest portion, belong to the owner of the location. N o matter how early in the season a person obtains his share, he must continue in the party until the season which extends through July and August is over. There is much work to be done after the fishing is completed and each person participating must help in this work. The salmon are sun dried and stored for winter food. People not participating in the fishing party obtain fish in exchange for blankets or other food. During the fishing season, the salmon berries which are found in abundance in the woods, are gathered by the women and served as refreshment. One or two men often paddle to places where sea eggs can be found, such as Pt. Midgley, and at low tide gather with dip nets a whole canoe-load of eggs which are brought back to the fishing camp. These sea eggs are eaten fresh as a relish by breaking open the shells and eating the yellows. When the sockeye salmon season is over the ropes used to stay the canoes while fishing are cut loose and everything cleared away preparatory for future use, so that there will be nothing to clean the next year when the season begins. T h e people then prepare to go to the clam beds on the east and west sounds of Orcas Island, where they remain during September and October. On the way to the clam beds, and while the clams are being gathered, the men are busy hunting ducks and deer.

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Four kinds of clams are gathered and prepared, the sawha or butter clam, the squthcu or small steaming clam, the stulaam or cockel clam, and the swam or horse clam. The clams are usually dug by the women except when large quantities are needed when the men do the digging and the women prepare the clams. The strong piece of ironwood used for clam digging is called s\alax. The clams to be prepared for storage are shelled and pierced by a piece of ironwood about two feet long and one-half inch in diameter with the sharp edges rounded off so as to leave an oval hole in the clams. One pointed end of the stick is thrust into the ground near a fire and the clams are thus baked. When baked, the clams from two of these sticks are strung together on cedar bark, hung over the fire on poles to dry, and then stored in baskets. Often butter clams are eaten fresh. Holes are dug in the beach in which large rocks are placed and heated red hot. Then the ashes are cleaned away from the rocks and the clams are heaped upon the hot coals and covered with sea weed. If there are only a few to cook, two sticks are placed above a fire of hot coals and the clams in the shell are placed in a row on these sticks. The small steaming clams, usually found in the same bed as the butter clams, are either eaten raw or cooked for immediate use in the same manner as are the latter. They are never dried and stored away. The cockel clams are generally dried for winter use in large quantities but are sometimes eaten fresh. They are found on sand bars very near the surface and are easy to get. Even children gather them by kicking them loose with their toes. The horse clams also are found on sand bars. As one walks along the bar at extreme low tide, one sees round formations on the sand. When these are touched there is a spurt of water and the clam pulls its head down. They work themselves down into the sand very quickly, so one must dig fast in order to catch them. Men therefore help to dig these clams which are considered very good and comprise the goodly part of the winter storage supply. These clams are often exchanged for other articles the family may need. "When the frogs sing," clams as well as cod fish, flounders, and sea eggs are not fit to eat. At a place called Elelung, on Orcas Island, there is a clam bed cultivated by its owners. They took the largest rocks that were in the clam bed and moved them out to extreme low water marks, setting them in rows like a fence along the edge of the water. This made clam digging very easy compared to what it had previously been because there are only small pebbles and sand to dig in. It is exceptional to cultivate clam beds in this manner and while other clam beds are used by everyone in the tribe, here only the owners who cultivated the bed gathered. The baskets used for the storage of the clams are made of cedar roots or cedar bark in small meshes. These types of baskets permit plenty of

4

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

ventilation which is essential in preventing mold and in keeping the clams from decaying. Crabs are often gathered for immediate use but are never stored. When wanted in large quantities, men spear them from canoes. It is considered great sport for the children to wade among the weeds at low tide to permit the crabs to bite their toes, after which they lift them out of the water and bring them ashore. Crabs are cooked by placing them in rows over sticks set over the fire. During the months when the clams are being gathered and stored deer meat is also being prepared for the winter. Deer are caught with bows and arrows when a man hunts alone, otherwise by pits and by nets made from the fibres of the spinal cord of the deer. T h e hunters using the net go in groups of three or four, to a narrow neck of land like Deer Point on Orcas Island and set their net on the runways of the deer. Then men go to the point and scare the deer toward the mainland. As the deer come leaping along the trail, they run into the net which is fastened with strong cords on the trees on either side of the trail. T h e impact breaks the necks of most deer, but a man is stationed near the net to prevent the strong deer from escaping by killing them as they fall. W h e n pits are set on the runways instead of nets, the same process is used to scare the deer toward the mainland until they fall into them. T h e deer after being caught is skinned and quartered and the meat is divided among the participants of the hunt. If one of the hunters is a visiting relative, he is given the largest portion to take home with him on his return, otherwise the division is equal. T h e deer meat is dried by exposing it during the day when the sun is hot and covering it over at night. N o salt is used in the process. T h e tallow of the deer develops as the blossoms form on the wild lilacs and when the flower is in full bloom the deer is fattest. When worms form in the throat of the deer, its meat is not considered good. Hides are tanned by the women. T h e deer hide is soaked in rainwater, which is saved for this purpose, until the hair loosens. T h e hair is then scraped off by a sharp stone and the hides washed thoroughly, and smeared with the brains of the deer, the oil of which makes them soft. They are then colored by placing them over a tripod of sticks which is set above a smoldering fire made of rotten wood. W h e n one side is colored from its original color of almost cream white to dark brown, the hide is turned around and the other side is treated. A hunter saves the feet of all the deer he kills because the hoofs are valuable. T h e feet are put in boiling water which loosens the hoofs. While the latter are still soft, a piece of ironwood about a quarter of inch

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49

in diameter is pierced through the small end of the hoof from the inside and the eight hoofs are put on one stick to dry. They are used on the dancers' costumes, and are sometimes used as a medium of exchange. At the end of October, the Indians move northeastward around Point Lawrence spearing cod-fish as they go. The cod is either dried in the sun or before the fire on sticks. The oil is kept to be used for pouring on the fires during ceremonies, to heighten the illumination. The various families go to the places where they had hidden their camas, collect their supplies and then move over to the mainland where they fish in the rivers and creeks for dog salmon, humpback salmon, silver salmon and steelhead salmon by means of river traps, hooks and dip nets. The river traps are weirs called stceyeq. Three heavy poles from eight to ten inches in diameter are set into the river bed, two slanting upstream and one downstream and crossing each other near the top, forming two crutches where they are tied with rope made of cedar limbs. Similar sets of these poles are put up at intervals of two fathoms, in a straight line across the stream, and two long heavy poles are laid in the upper crutches where the three poles cross each other, the thick ends of each of the long poles being buried and pegged securely in the banks of the stream. This now serves as a walk to span the stream. Long slender poles are then fastened to the second crutch in the frame reaching from bank to bank, and a second set of slender poles is fastened to each of these poles. Other vine maple poles are webbed as close together as possible, forming a heavy screen. When this work is finished the fastenings are cut and the screen is lowered into the water and rests against the second slanting pole. Leaves and other debris drift up against these walls and form a dam. When the water above the dam is high, a hole is cut in the webbed wall and the water streams through. A large pocket is set on the wall the top of which is supported by stakes driven into the river bed. The fish ascending the stream swim into this basket then turn around trying to escape and swims into a long slender basket which is too narrow for them to turn around to escape. The pocket is provided with an opening so that the catch, usually equal to a canoe load, can be emptied into a canoe very easily. The fish hook, used in muddy water, is made of bone fastened to a socket which fits into the end of a long pole, and which is attached by a slack rope held by the fisherman. He places the pole in the water and as he feels the fish strike against it, he gives an upward pull. If the fish is caught the socket slips off the end of the pole and the fish is pulled in by the string. The dipnet, also used in muddy water, is a bag fastened by horn rings around a bent wooden frame which is attached to a pole about eight to ten feet long. Strings pass through the rings which, when

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

tightened, open the net. When the salmon enters the net, the string is dropped, closing the top, preventing their escape. A large supply of fish is caught and smoked for the winter. During years when fishing is not good the fishermen, when passing a rock at the mouth of the Nooksak River, pretend they arc vomiting by gagging loudly, and the spirit of the rock sometimes responds by enabling them to load their boats with fish in a short time. Beaver, otter, mink and bear are caught by traps on the mainland. Four upright poles with a deadfall between them and with a latch connected to the point where the bait is placed, are set in the ground on either side of a trail. As the animal pulls at the bait, the deadfall is released and the animal is struck in the back. The passage is too narrow for the animal to turn and the other end is blocked. The hides of these animals are used for clothing. Bear oil is used for lubrication in the same manner as cod fish oil. The bear and beaver are caught for their meat as well as for their pelts. The meat is cut and dried, roasted by the fire and eaten fresh. The beaver's teeth are saved and used for ornaments and in games. A very few men hunt the mountain goat whose wool is used for blankets. The goats live in very craggy places, and the hunter is obliged to chase them for many days in the dangerous passes of the mountains to get a good shot at them with his bow and arrow. The difficult climbs among the rocks retard the advance of the flock of goats and enable the hunter to keep up with them. As the trail becomes narrower, the flock is unable to go fast enough and the hunter overtakes those in the rear and shoots them. This hunting is done on the territory of the friendly Nooksak tribe around Mt. Baker. Goat wool is considered equal in value to eagle feathers. As the families journey from place to place during the spring, summer and autumn months, they catch other fish for immediate use and for storage. Herring eggs are gathered by the men in March and April. The top boughs of young cedar trees about five or six feet tall are twisted into ropes and are anchored when the herring spawn. When sufficient eggs have settled on the leaves the boughs are taken from the water and are hung up to dry, after which the dried eggs are stored in baskets. They are later eaten with oils. Herring are caught from canoes with rakes made of sharp pointed bones set into a long flat pole. They are dried by piercing about ten or fifteen through the gills with a stick and then placing the stick over a frame six feet high arranged over a fire. In the late spring, halibut are caught by means of hooks along the waters north of Orcas Island and also among the islands south of Point Lawrence. The halibut hook is made of a piece of hard wood, which has been curved by heating, burned on the outside until the curve is very sharp and then baked so that

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there can be no further contraction or expansion. To one end of this curved wood, a piece of bone is tied tighdy by cherry bark which is covered with pitch to hold it in place. The bait is put on the bone and the hook, attached to a line, is dropped into the water from a canoe. Two hooks are fastened to one end of a stick about three feet long which in turn is fastened at the center with a kelp. A sinker is attached to the other end of the stick so that the hooks travel along the sandy bottom of the sea, about four inches above the sand. Halibut is baked and eaten fresh, or cut and dried in the sun or smoked for winter stores. Spring salmon are caught with a two pointed spear at low tide by men watching for them along the river channels. The spear is made of a pole fourteen feet long into detachable parts fastened to a line thirty feet long at the end of which is a wooden buoy carved according to a design derived through spirit experience. A good spearsman usually strikes the spinal cord of the fish and kills it at once. If the prongs enter the sides of the salmon, the fish may jerk them off the pole when swiming away, but the wooden buoy marks its course and it is easily overtaken and killed. Flounder are speared at night from canoes or are caught by men who wade into the water and hold the fish by stepping on them until they can pick them up and throw them into the canoes. They are pierced with sticks and roasted by setting the sticks at an angle before an open fire. Devil fish which are caught at low tide under large rocks on beaches in various parts of the Sound, are boiled or steamed. Smelts are gathered all along the shores; they are shaken off floating sea weed to which they are attached when the weeds are thrown on the beach by storms. They are prepared in the same manner as are the herring. Bullheads, caught under rocks, are eaten boiled. Skate fish are speared as they come to the shore and are roasted. About twenty-five varieties of berries and sixteen varieties of roots are gathered by the women and are either dried, steamed, or eaten fresh. A delicacy is made of soap berries by stirring them with a little water until the mixture becomes fluffy. The woman who prepares the cream is careful to see that there is no grease in the utensil or on her hands for if a little grease comes in contact with this food, it condenses. Wooden spoons are used to eat the preparation which is relished by the children. When all have had their fill, the children have great sport mischievously daubing the remainder on each other's hair. Women, in order to prevent children from making too much noise while picking berries tell them stories about Tzualuch, the female giant who went about gathering children in her basket. Seal are captured at the Lummi Rocks and at an island off Point Francis. A seal hunter sits on the rocks and shakes his foot in the water

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stirring up the phosphorus and at the same time makes the noise of a groaning seal. As the seal comes toward the surface and becomes visible by the glow of his eyes which shine through the water, the hunter spears him. The seal is generally roasted by putting a long pole through the carcass and barbecuing it. Fat is sometimes saved by gathering it in large clam shells. This fat is used with food and for illumination but is usually kept in the skins of seal to protect hunters when they are caught in storms. Oil is then sprayed upon the waves to settle them and to prevent threatening waves from breaking. Seal bladders are used as buoys. Porpoise, also captured with a spear, are baked and the rendered oil is used with food. Because of the danger connected with the hunt of the sea lions few men venture out to seek them, and those who do must know the proper magic. As they pursue the sea lions, they pronounce their names and sing their songs to keep them in a steady course. When the hunter thrusts the spear into the body of a sea lion, the detachable pronged point remains in its body. The line is let out as the sea lion rushes away with the wooden buoy, which is carved according to designs derived through spirit experience, to mark his course. The hunters continue to pronounce his name to keep him in his course, fearing that if he should double back, he would come up to the surface under the canoe endangering the hunters. When the sea lion is struggling with the burden of the buoy, they pronounce the name of a place on the shore where the sea lion should go to die. The hunters then have little difficulty in getting their game and the sea lion is divided among the participants. For large gatherings, the animal is barbecued but otherwise it is roasted on sticks and dried for winter storage. As the families wander and camp overnight from place to place, they use a temporary house of a lighter type than that used during the sockeye salmon season. The frame is made of poles set in the ground, lower in the rear and higher in the front, to allow the roof to have enough slant to shed rain. Mats about six feet wide and fifteen or twenty feet long, especially made for the purpose from the longest blades of the cat-tail rushes, are set around the frames to serve as walls on three sides of the house, the length of which depends upon the number of people to be accommodated. Two or three mats are placed over the roof so that they lap slightly over each other to drain the rain. Young cedar limbs are used to tie the mats to the frame. In late November, the Indians return to their permanent villages or winter camps where their long houses are situated along Lummi Bay and Bellingham Bay. The women sweep the houses and throw the debris into heaps in the rear of the camps. The men arrange the boards of the roof and repair the houses in preparation for winter, changing some of the shelves and patching places in the boards where the knots have fallen out. The men

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look for dead fir trees from which the bark can be culled for the winter and pile them about their camp. Pitch is gathered for starting fires and for illuminating the house during the public ceremonies. T h e winter supplies are stored on elevated platforms in the section of the house occupied by the family owning them. Before the winter sets in, the men hunt for ducks for their immediate use, never touching the winter stores until they begin their public celebrations. These occur throughout the winter, the families going from one festival to another until the spring returns and the quest for food begins anew.

CHAPTER

EIGHT

FESTIVITIES Throughout the winter months, public celebrations, lasting about four to seven days, are given which the neighboring tribes attend and reciprocate. When a man contemplates giving a stetlenaq or "an affair to give things away" generally known as a potlatch, he collects blankets, furs, canoes, and other objects of value keeping a record of what he is accumulating by tying knots on a cord, each knot representing the goods he wishes to give to a certain guest he plans to invite. He chooses his prospective guests carefully, studying their wealth, status and family relationships, that he might distribute his property wisely and get returns from his gifts, for the giving of gifts is an investment from which the giver expects added return. After accumulating a sufficient amount of goods for specific guests, he plans on additional needs such as gifts to be given to people who attend unexpectedly or goods to be used to amuse the people by scrambles. When he has fully decided that he is ready for the potlatch, he calls the people of his village together and informs them of his purpose. Other men of the village usually participate by giving him large quantities of goods to add to those which he has already assigned to special guests. After these arrangements are made, messengers are sent in various directions to the different neighboring villages and tribes to invite those guests who are particularly wanted at the potlatch. The messenger delivers the invitation at the meal served him upon his arrival. This invitation cannot be refused because such an act is construed as extreme discourtesy, displaying lack of appreciation of hospitality. He also invites ceremonial dancers from other tribes to join in the performance of the dances which he is privileged to give through inheritance. Groups of people travelling in canoes in the winter to a place where there is to be a large gathering have devices for warming themselves en route. Dry cedar bark is wrapped with cat-tail blades in the form of a long fuse-like coil. The end of the coil is lighted and the fire is preserved by the green blades of the cat-tail rushes which, firmly wrapped about the core of the cedar bark, retain the smoldering fire for a long time. While on their journey, if any of the members of the party get cold, or if it is necessary to camp for a meal, they land on the shore and start a fire. A supply of dry cedar bark and dry wood or pitch, taken along in the canoes, is ignited by blowing on the smoldering fuse until it flares and sets fire to the 54

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shredded bark after which other fuel is added. Another way of preserving fire on these long journeys is to burn dry crab apple wood and place the charcoals in a large clam shell. This is covered with cedar bark, and after the clam shell is closed, it is wrapped firmly with cat-tail rushes. Sometimes when members of a neighboring tribe come in large numbers to a potlatch they are greeted as they attempt to land by a sham battle called sxwtsetal of which they are warned in advance and which continues until the host declares one side victorious. When the guests arrive at the long-house, they are escorted by a person who acts as the host to the place where they are to sit, for members of each tribe and village are seated together. The acting host is usually a man who by frequent attendance at such gatherings has learned to know the leading people of the various tribes. This avoids embarrassing the guests by asking who they are. T h e real host moves about up and down the center of the house and keeps bowing and making ingratiating gestures from the time the visitors come in until they have reached their seats. The amassed wealth of the man giving the potlatch is displayed on the top of a long scaffold, in the center of the house. When he considers it an appropriate time, he sings his syowan or spirit song, as he walks back and forth at the foot of this scaffold with a ratde in his hand. From this conspicuous place, a master of ceremonies hired for this occasion explains the purpose of the gathering saying that the host feels very humble, considering himself unworthy to be the offspring of such great progenitors, and that he hopes that by giving these little gifts, the guests will be pleased to permit him to claim such honor. All that he has inherited from his father is mentioned such as his house, implements, ceremonial paraphernalia, canoe, name and fishing location; his relationship to other tribes on his father's and mother's side is set forth in detail. The knowing old men express their approval, after which the master of ceremonies calls out the names of the important guests at the request of the host asking them to come forward to receive gifts. The host then gives blankets made of goat wool, from ten to forty pounds in weight, or other gifts which he has been saving for this purpose. The recipient accepts the gifts graciously, but it is clearly understood by all concerned that he will at some future time return their equivalent, and he feels deeply obligated to fulfill such responsibility. Occasionally to break the monotony while the host is distributing the gifts, he suddenly throws a large blanket for a scramble. The expectant crowd rushes for the blanket and all strive to take a firm hold of it. In the rush, one who loses his hold may easily be trampled under foot. When the crowd is settled and those who have been unable to get a hold have moved away, anyone wishing to purchase the blanket may do so by paying

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separately for the share of each one who has a hold. W h e n no one buys, the blanket is cut into as many portions as there are holders. T h e material can be worked into another blanket. After the potlatch, the host is poor but very happy. Sooner or later he obtains increased wealth through being invited to the affairs of his guests. One must be careful not to over reach oneself in giving too many of these potlatches. One of the siem or rich men of the Lummi gave six potlatches during his life, an unusually large number, which proved to be one more than his spirit powers said he should give. He had as his guardian spirit a little black sea-pigeon called squ/aqu/ts which surrounded small fish until it got them into a large school; while it held them in a group by circling around them, sea gulls and ducks would gather from far and near to feed on the fish. Finally the sea-pigeon would dive directly under the school and darting up through the center would get his food and fly away. This guardian spirit had told the siem that he could gather people together for large potlatches just as his spirit did with the ducks that had come to feed on the fish and for this reason he had been successful five times. But by over-reaching himself by giving the sixth potlatch, he forfeited the guidance of his spirit and died soon afterward. One wealthy man among the Lummi, whose spirit was the raven which symbolises shrewdness, had, on his house, a ridge pole with an end carved like the head of a raven. T h e center or body of the log served as a trough which caught the rain. W h e n the trough was full he would announce a potlatch. Only when all the guests had assembled would he admit them, after first opening the spout to let the water pour out as an indication of the outpouring of his kindness. Other festive occasions, when gifts are given away, are the saloyat affairs, or public testimonials. Saloyat means literally "to lift up or exalt in the minds of the people," or "to lift above the ridicule of the people." Events occasioning the saloyat ceremonies are: puberty, marriage and naming celebrations, reconciliation of a quarreling couple, return to health of an ailing baby, a testimonial to the original builder of a house, the unveiling of some property of the deceased, such as a bow and arrow, spear, or costume, and the expression of faith in a married sister who has been mistreated by her husband and driven away from her home. T h e purpose of the ceremony in all these occasions is to heighten the prestige and better the status of the person so honored. T h e host hires an orator to announce the purpose of the gathering and explain his inherited right to use the particular type of ceremonial dance, or tsextan. If a child is to be named, the orator pronounces the name and explains the relationship between the one who once bore the name and the one to whom it is to be given. If a marriage is being celebrated, he expresses

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the joy of the parents in the union, which is to be shown by the property to be distributed. In like manner other purposes of the celebration are announced to the guests. The individual to be honored, or the object representing him in the case of honoring the deceased, is placed in the center of the house upon a pile of blankets or in a canoe. A curtain is hung at one end of the house behind which the dancers get ready. T o guard against the work of a medicine man and magic or suin, the young men who perform the dance are marked with paint for protection by relatives who are either medicine men or otherwise possessors of suin. Magic words are pronounced to make the painting effective. After the dancers are marked with paint, they put on the costumes and masks characteristic of the specific dance to be performed. There are five types of tsextan or ceremonial dances at public celebrations. These are called sxoaxi, sqalatcan, xwtsesan, a deer ceremony and xanxanital. The people who arrange for tsextan ceremonies make an effort to employ persons who have not publicly appeared as spirit dancers, for people having spirit songs are inclined to be influenced by their spirits instead of confining their attention to the forms of the ceremony. The masks worn by the sxoaxi dancers are variations of conventionalized representations of birds, animals and human features combined to make a full face. A crow's head with the beak pointing downward may serve as the nose, which develops as it goes up toward the forehead into the body of a man, whose round head extends above the mask proper. The mouth below the crow's beak represents the mouth of some beast with one or two teeth missing, and through it the performer looks to see where he is going. The pupils of the eyes of the mask project like bulbs. Slender reeds about eight and twelve inches long, to which tufts of swansdown are attached, are fastened at intervals along the top of the mask. The story of the origin of the sxoaxi mask will be told later. The sxoaxi dancer is generally naked down to the waist. His costume consists of a belt of goat wool, with fringes made of coarse heavy tassels serving as a skirt, and swan's hide leggings. In one hand, or sometimes in both, he carries a set of rattles made of deep sea shells fastened on a rim loosely enough for the shells to strike against each other when shaken. Often he carries cedar boughs in one hand. The designs of the masks and the costumes are received through dreams or through inheritance from father, mother, uncle or aunt. One who uses the mask without right, through deceit, will receive sores wherever the mask touches his face. A comedian usually participates in the sxoaxi dance. His mask is painted red on one side, representing rotted flesh, and black on the other, or is a distorted face with the mouth twisted on one side and with hair in disarray. For a costume he wears a blanket or fur costume which leaves his

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington

right hand free. T h e audience is not supposed to laugh at the comedian irrespective of how funny he looks, at the risk of being covered with sores, or having the passages of the lungs, nose and throat infected with sores. Laughing at the comedian's acts is also considered an insult to the honored person. The dancers jangle their rattles behind the curtain constantly during the time they are preparing to dance. The host, in the meantime, makes arrangements for the singers, who are usually women with high voices so that the low grunts of the dancers can be heard above their singing. The singers sit on benches around the house. T h e drums are then vibrated vigorously as a signal for the dance to begin, and the performers come out from behind their screen, shuffling their feet rapidly, grunting, and shaking their rattles. The masked dancers, numbering from two to twelve, move toward the honored person until they come within a few feet of him, and after staring enquiringly or touching him gently with a cedar bough, they back away shuffling their feet, until they get behind the screen. Drums are again vibrated vigorously and the dancers repeat their advance and retreat in the same manner. This is done a third time. As the dancers come forward the fourth time the song is begun. The drums beat very slowly, and on each beat the performer brings the rattles down forcefully, at the same time giving a low deep grunt. The heavy masks over the noses make breathing difficult and tax the dancers' strength. The performers dance in a circle around the honored person to the accompaniment of the drums and singing until his name is mentioned in the song, when they close around him. The drums are again vibrated vigorously and the performers, with shuffling feet, go around the house with the honored person accompanying them. As they pass, any one in the audience moved by feelings of respect may step up and tie a goat wool cord on the latter's arms to represent some property he wishes to bestow. At another vibration of the drums, the person returns to the seat upon the pile of blankets or in the canoe. The performers continue dancing. The comedian has been dancing along with the other performers from the beginning, often dancing after beats to attract attention and to exaggerate the character of the dance. He repeatedly annoys the dancers by quizzically scrutinizing their masks, picking at their eyes, looking at their noses, picking their teeth and other absurd antics. When the dancers have cedar boughs in one hand, rather than rattles in both hands, they may whip the comedian vigorously with the boughs to drive him away. It is difficult for the dancers to see through the masks but whenever they catch sight of the comedian they whip him keeping time with the drums as they do so. When not annoying the dancers, the comedian goes around the room pretending to take lice from the singers' hair. He sometimes goes to a very

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old woman or a very pretty girl to do this, as a pretense at being affectionate. T h e dancers continue, shuffling in time with the rapidly vibrating drums, a feat which taxes their strength. T h e best dancer is noted for his persistence in this part of the ceremony. Young men are stationed at the screen in readiness to relieve the fatigued dancers of their masks as soon as they draw near it. It is the objective of the dancer, to approach as closely as possible to the screen where the young men are waiting, to bow temptingly as though he were ready to let them take off his mask, and then to move away and dance around the house again. This is done by each dancer and the performance continues until the last dancer eventually is relieved of his mask. T h e audience comments in a laudatory way about the one who holds out the longest, saying, "There is a long winded fellow." When the last dancer has retired behind the screen and is relieved of his mask, the dance is over. After the dance, the property upon which the person has been sitting is distributed to the special guests with the request that they remember the occasion. T h e host then walks along with blankets over his shoulder which may be for an old man who had not been especially invited and not included in the first gift disposal or for a scramble. If it is for an old man, he places it upon the latter's shoulders mentioning his name and saying: "I am clothing you." The young people are all watching for the possibility of a scramble and if he hurls out the blanket they rush to secure their share. T h e host later pays off the dancers and the singers with property not on display which has been pledged by relatives at the beginning of the ceremony. Anyone wishing to give his spirit song and dance as an expression of his enjoyment, is now free to do so. Another of the tsextan dances, strictly hereditary in families, and used at saloyat occasions is called sqalctcan. T h e preliminaries are the same as with the sxoaxi dance. The strong young dancers prepare behind a curtain arraying themselves in their warriors' spirit dance costumes and wearing no masks. Fires burn low; drums are vigorously vibrated. A s the dancers come forth in the semi-darkened room they cast sparks through the air in different directions, by some means unknown to the audience. They approach the subject thrice, each time more closely, and return behind the curtain rapidly shuffling their feet and gasping jerkedly with the vibrating drums in the semi-darkness. Then the fires are lighted brightly with pitch, a song is sung, and the dancers come forth keeping time with the steady beat of the drums. One of the dancers then lifts a red hot rock from one of the fires and deposits it in a basket filled with water held by one of the other dancers. The hot rock floats in the basket. The singing is continued, and the other dancers perform around those preparing the basket and rock, drawing attention away from the latter. A feather is then placed on the

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The Ltimmi

Indians of Northwest

Washington

rock, supposedly piercing it, and the two dancers who are holding the basket raise it high in the air so that it may be seen by all. As the singing becomes more vigorous the dancers hop around excitedly near the two performers holding the basket, stretching their arms upward as if to influence the feather. While the two men holding the basket dance around the house, the other dancers accompanying them, the feather floats away from the rock into the air as far as ten or fifteen feet several times and returns. When the dancers make one complete circuit, the basket, rock, and feather are put away. The drums are then vibrated vigorously and the dancers shuffle their feet rapidly. Each dancer persists as long as he can handle his body gracefully; when he can hold out no longer he rushes behind the curtain and the performance is over. Following the rock and feather performance, the sqaletean dancers often perform another stunt. A stuffed mink is moved about on the ground as though it were alive. The participants dance about the moving animal gesturing as if to grasp it or as if frightened by its motion. They blow whistles, made by placing outer bark of a wild cherry tree between two small sticks, cut to permit the center portion of the reed to vibrate when blown. The chase of the mink is considered amusing and the audience laughs heartily. Sometimes this performance is used as a substitute for the rock and feather stunt, but at great events both may be used. Gifts are distributed following the dance in the same manner as after the sxoaxi dance. Xwtsesan is another type of tsextan dance, performed at ceremonial occasions. A beam is hewn out of a cedar log about forty to fifty feet long, about two feet wide and eighteen inches thick. The ends of the beam are set on pillars which have been dug into the ground and stand six feet high, the tops of which are gouged out to permit the beam to move freely. A round cedar log about four feet long and three feet in diameter, hollowed out like a barrel is placed in an upright position on the ground midway between the two pillars and serves as a bumper. It is called mexiy, meaning "navel." The property to be distributed to the specially invited guests in honor of the occasion is hung over the large beam. If the honored person is able to take part in the dance—a very difficult performance—he stands on the beam, otherwise he stands on the ground before the beam. Able dancers arrayed in their spirit dance costumes are then asked to stand in a row upon the mass of property on the beam. The host announces the reason for the ceremony and his right to use this dance through inheritance. A song distinctive to the dance is sung and the dancers keeping time with the slow steady rhythm of the song, attempt to spring the beam so that it hits the "navel" on the accented beat. The hollow log produces a low rumbling

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sound which carries for many miles announcing the event far and wide. The difficulty in dancing arises from the sudden jar of the beam as it lands upon the "navel." Unskilled persons usually fall, making it necessary for them and their relatives to distribute gifts to avoid ridicule and to cover their shame. When the song is over, the performers leave the beam, the property is distributed to the special guests from the displayed goods and the dancers and singers are paid from gifts of the relatives of the honored person. Scrambles are made and spirit dances begin. Another tsextan performance is a stuffed deer ceremony, so old that even its name has been forgotten. Old men seated in a circle at the center fire sing the appropriate song while heating a stuffed deer. The deer because of the song and the heat comes to life. It is released and permitted to move as it will. Silhouetted by the fire, the deer appears to the audience as if leaping from the shoulders of one singer to another and the people are highly amused. Members of the secret society xanxanitl which is to be described later sometimes participate in saloyat ceremonies by giving masked dances. As in the other tsextan dances they prepare behind a curtain. They paint their faces and all other exposed portions of the body black and don individual masks carved according to a pattern revealed in a spirit dream, representing wolves, bears, ravens, blackfish or other animals. Shuffling with the vibrating drums, they advance from behind the curtain and recede three times before the honored person as in the sxoaxi dance. Then the song is begun and each participant dances as his spirit moves him. The dancer masked as a raven first assumes the sitting posture of a raven. At a certain stage of the song, he rises to his feet and spreads his arms and what at first was the form of a beak, then appears as a wing. Miniature carving attached to the wing, shake as he dances. In like manner, the other dancers go through motions which are typical of the masks they wear. Each dancer is careful not to reveal too much of his spirit experience lest a rival penetrate his power and gain control of him. After the dance, gifts are distributed as usual and spirit dances begin. Very few members of the Lummi are xanxanitl, so that when these ceremonies are performed men from the Sanich, Lekweyan, or Klallam tribes are invited. The days of the potlatches and of the saloyat affairs which are not spent in thé performance of the tsextan dances which form the central feature of the occasions, are filled with spirit dances, games, and speeches by the old men who recite the traditions of the tribe. Spirit dancers rehearse their spirit songs immediately upon their arrival at public celebrations and until the other guests have come. They sit on the edge of the bunks rattling deer hoof poles, each in turn humming his

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

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spirit song so that those present, especially the drummers, may become accustomed to the tune. The dancer remains seated keeping time with the deer hoofs and swaying as though he were dancing. A certain movement of his body indicates that he has reached the last strain of the song, and the drummers are ready to beat the last stroke. It is rude for a drummer to fail to watch the actions of the dancer closely enough to mark the finishing stroke at the exact time. If the drum beat does not keep exact rhythm with the song the dancer usually signals the drummers to stop and he starts the song again. H e sings the whole song through, after which the song leader with the drum attempts to repeat the song in a tone adapted to the voice of the dancer. If, after this trial, the song is correctly sung, the dancer permits the leader to go through it again repeating the song as often as he desires, usually five times. Each singer rehearses in the same way until all are certain that their songs will be sung correctly. These songs with their accompanying dances, are performed at intervals during the festivals. Immediately prior to the performance of the spirit dances and songs, the dancers put on their costumes for the first time, for one "becomes stale" if he appears too soon in his dance regalia and also gives a rival an advantage over him which might lead to sickness. When the dancers are arrayed in their costumes, mothers and wives go around the house thanking those in the audience who are to sing and urging active participation to assist the dancer in fulfilling his spirit with the remark, "Have pity on your poor little slave." This is said even though the dancer be very rich, for the rich are always humiliating themselves in this manner. The observers and the participants are all seated around the house on the sleeping bunks. Those who are' not dancing beat time with sticks of about six to twelve inches long intensifying the sound of the drums to encourage the dancers. A person seated at the front of the house begins the dancing and is followed by one seated at his left and so on, in fixed order, from right to left. The order is interrupted only when a new dancer, startled suddenly, is given special privilege because he is too excited to await his turn, and then the regular order is followed again. When the turn of a dancer approaches, he begins to groan as if catching his breath, sobbing and moaning as he does so. Experienced singers with drums in their hands, gather close to his side. The leader, striving to catch the faintest indication of the nature of the song, repeats the most distinct sounds the performer is making. Then the succeeding parts of the song come more clearly, until a full measure has been recognized. The performer sings the refrain again and if it is the same as the song the singers have composed from the sounds made, the latter sing it a few times over. The performer signals to stop singing. Now more composed, he repeats the song, inserting words which the singers incorporate into the song. A per-

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son will not commence his dance until the song is repeated exacdy. Should there be the slightest variation he will stop and give the refrain again. When the leader of the singers repeats the song from beginning to end with the correct words and beat, he faces the center and the performer rises from his seat and dances around the room in the manner peculiar to his syewan or spirit song-dance. T h e movements of each dance vary; they are for the most part imitations of the movements of the spirit that animates the dancer. If he is imbued with the spirit of the wolf, raven, blackfish, cedar, or any other animal, bird, fish, tree, or object, the dancer indicates the nature of his particular spirit by the way he hops, jumps, springs, squats or walks, and by the words of his song. Dancers animated by the spirit of the wolf, dance squatting. At the beginning of each measure of their song they draw up their arms bringing their bent wrists up below their chins with fingers pointing directly downward. One dancer is reputed to have caused his knuckles to crack and spurt blood upon his initial public demonstration of his wolf spirit dance. In the song of the person animated by the spirit of the sea, which appears half-bear and half-human and whose home is surrounded by hovering flies because there is much food around, are the words " O the flies of the home of the awful beast"; then the song changes as if the guardian spirit were instructing the dancer in how to obtain food by hunting and the refrain is " T a k e your food now, brave one." T h e sound of a whistle can be heard plainly above the panting of the dancers animated by the spirit of the whistle. T h e song of the spirit of the west wind contains the phrase "Look out people the west wind is going to blow." T h e drum beat of the song of the spirit of an old woman which enables a woman and sometimes a man to be skilled in household work, is slow and measured. Women also often dance the spirit dance of the sandhill crane whose spirit visitation makes them skilled in digging clams, vegetables and roots and in berry picking. A person animated with the spirit of the cedar does not do his dance alone but is accompanied by five to ten dancers. T h e opening strains of his song which he sings as he gestures while sitting around the fire, give the clue to his spirit experience. H e then warms some carved or smooth cedar poles with mops of shredded cedar bark or twilled goat wool fastened at the end, as he describes the approach of his spirit in a canoe. When he arrives at the phrase " N o w the spirit is walking" he hands the poles to the dancers who are to accompany him who hold them vibrating forward from the waist. W h e n the leader begins to sing the next phrase "What will the spirit eat," he arises and dances around the house with his pole outstretched, the other dancers joining him. If any rare food is stored in the luggage of the guests, the power of the pole leads the dancer irresistibly toward it

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

and he prods the bundles with the pole until he uncovers the food. H e usually tosses the food into the center of the house; if there is only a small amount, the leader later burns it as an offering to dead souls but if there is an abundance it is served to the assembled guests. During the progress of the dance, the poles are struck against the cross-beams of the house either to permit a dancer to get a rest from this long difficult dance, or to regulate the beating of the drums to a faster or slower tempo. T h e dance ends with a great shout. Some dancers go through actions diverging from the general forms. One man animated by the spirit of the locomotive goes through the motions of a locomotive in his dance; another, by the spirit of fire, swallows burning cedar bark. But in general the dances and songs fit into the established pattern, and with distinctive tunes that are easily recognized by the audience who are assisting the dancer by beating time with drums and sticks. T h e dancer by movements of his arms or body regulates the tempo of the dance and directs the drummers to stop or to emphasize certain measures. Right turns only are permitted; if a dancer passes the place where he commences his dance he must continue until he completes the circuit. When an old man dances, some of his relatives may join him at the end of the dance, to help him fulfill his desire. Boys of about ten years goaded by proud relatives often dance along with their grandparents in the rhythm of the dance while the onlookers delight in the performance. A s a dancer passes each section of the house, the occupants of the benches in that section become more enthusiastic in their rhythmic accompaniment and in their rendition of the song; the more friendly the audience the more vociferous the accompaniment which is thought to aid the dancer to gratify his spirit. Hardly is one dance completed when another person prepares to dance. If there is an undue pause, one of the old men present, seeking to encourage participation, will make facetious remarks like, "I smell something that isn't coming out," or "One of you is hiding something," and in a short time a dancer will respond. T h e dancing continues for many hours until one round of the house is completed. Food is then served and after dinner the spirit dancing begins anew. Spirit dance costumes vary according to the spirit experience of the person and according to inherited rights to use certain patterns. T h e flat carved models of war clubs on the costumes are restricted to the descendants of a warrior named Kokaltxw, and clubs of other shapes to the posterity of other noted warriors. T h e shirt of the spirit dance costume, now made of cloth, was formerly made of buckskin or cedar bark extending three or four inches below the hips, and sometimes consisted merely of buckskin or cedar bark two inch strips crossing over the naked chest. Carved models of war clubs, made of

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the wood of the white snowball tree, are loosely attached to these shirts or strips at intervals of about one and one-half inches so that when the dancer performs the clubs strike against each other making the sounds of clappers. Above the rows of these clubs and sometimes on the back of the shirts are rows of eagle feathers tied so that they flutter during the dance. Sometimes eight or ten feathery edges are tied together at the quill end and attached instead of the rows of individual feathers. Shells are often used to decorate the breasts of the shirts instead of the bead-work which is a recent innovation adapted from the Eastern Indians. The shells are suspended with a buckskin strand drawn through two small holes in the garment and through a pierced end of the shell. Sometimes instead of shells, pictures of snakes, animals and birds or a combination of animals are painted on the breast of the shirt in various colors but predominantly red. Some dancers also have on the shirts clusters of deer hoofs which rattle against one another during the dance. Goat wool or hide pants are worn some ending above the knee and some below. The headdress is made either of cedar bark or of hair saved from the cuttings at the time of mourning. The cedar bark headdress is made of two braided bands of cedar bark laid side by side and fastened securely together five inches from each end to fit the head. The remainder of the bark juts out like a full tassel at the front and back. Dissected eagle feather vanes are tied in little bunches with nettle twine and are fastened in a vertical position behind the projecting front tassel and horizontally above the rear tassel by means of deer cords or fine strands of goat wool. Black or white tipped eagle feathers are inserted in the crown of the headdress and fastened to little ironwood sticks at two places, permitting a slack of about an inch between the sticks and the feathers, so that when the individual is dancing the feathers flutter about as if they were floating. The hair of a hair headdress is attached to a buckskin bonnet made to fit the head, permitting the hair to hang down over the shoulders of the dancer and to wave as he dances. One or two feathers attached loosely to a stick as previously described projects from the top of the bonnet, which is tied under the chin. Dancers, animated by the spirit of the tveaqaean or warrior spirit, the xhaltap or spirit of the "flying human being," the st\ayeolyt or wolf spirit and the sqalcsan or the "spirit having no pity" wear bands of deer hoofs around the knees and ankles. Thirty or forty deer hoofs are strung to the fringes of four inch buskskin straps, so that the deer hoofs knock against one another when the person is dancing. When the costume is not being worn, these strings of deer hoofs are fastened in four places on a pole about three feet long and carried about by their owners who never allow anyone to handle them carelessly because they regard them as peculiar treasures.

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The Lummi

Indians of Northwest

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The bands of deer hoofs worn around the knees are fastened near the top of the pole and those worn around the ankles below them. When these dancers enter the house, they paint their faces according to their dreams and sit as close to the fire as possible. Holding the tops of the deer hoof poles, they shake them and mutter continuously "ye hee u." The oldest of these dancers is often asked to treat persons ailing because of the presence of unknown spirits. When he voices the song of the spirit, the other dancers rise suddenly to their feet, thrusting the ends of the deer hoof poles in the direction of the patient sometimes even striking him. The sudden start causes the patient to tremble violently and gasp jerkily for breath. This violent gasping usually takes the form of a song which is developed as the drummers learn to follow it syllable by syllable and draw it out. The song becomes the spirit song of the patient. Persons animated by the spirit of the cedar, tie bands of cedar bark around their ankles instead of deer hoofs. The designs and shapes of the drums used during the dances are derived through spirit experiences and their meanings are kept secret. The rattles, called xwyalmoxwtces, are used by those who are animated with the spirit of wealth and wisdom which enables them to acquire riches through careful negotiations. These people usually sing that class of songs which is called titosyewan "a gentle song." The rattles vary in material and pattern. They are sometimes made of two pieces of wood hollowed thin and, after a few pebbles are inserted, fastened together with fine cedar roots. Fringes of goat wool are attached in the seam where the two cup-shaped pieces are joined and a handle is worked out from one end of the cups. Sometimes the rattles are made of the hollow horns of a rare species of the mountain goat, which are steamed and moulded into the shape of the rattle just described, and fringes are added in the seams. The horns are very rare and are considered of great value. Rattles are sometimes made in the form of a bird, about eight or ten inches in length, the cup part of which contains pebbles varying in circumference from eight to ten inches. They are painted with red or black spots or with other colors. Persons who use these rattles are looked upon with respect by everyone. Ceremonial spears are used during the dances decorated with the form of the sinetlqi as it appeared to the person during his spirit experience. The head of the spear is carved and colored to represent the head of the spirit as a serpent, the rest of the four or five foot pole being spotted or striped. Lizards or colored birds, which represent the slaves which watch about the home of this spirit, are often carved at the top of the spear in such a manner that they move as the spear is shaken. Spirit dancers animated with the spirit of xhaltap or "flying human being" usually dance with outstretched arms. Mingled with their gasping

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breath one can hear the sound " U uh, u uh u uh, u uh uuh uuh." Their faces are painted with a blotch of black on each cheek tapering to a point at the base of the ears. These dancers are usually very difficult to handle. Their songs are simple, but if the singers deviate in the slightest degree in the pronunciation of the syllables or the drummers vary in the rhythm of the song, the dancers become frantic. When a dancer reacts in this fashion, strong cords of cedar bark are placed around his waist and are held tightly by two or more men who attempt to control him. The cords are never put around the soft part of the abdomen, lest they injure the dancer as he strives to get away but are placed well under the arm pits. The frenzy of the dancer increases as he feels the resistance of those trying to hold him. The drums are then beaten vigorously, and he is permitted to go about the house vainly attempting to escape from those attending him who follow him about holding him with the cedar cords. Usually when the dancer makes one circuit around the house, he becomes more peaceful but he continues in his excited state for days during the festival until he is given blood of a deer to drink. After drinking this potion he becomes somewhat calmer and then begins his song and dance. When the dance is over and he is seated again in his place, he resumes his gasping for a short time but finally subsides. The weaqaean or warrior spirit dancers are noted as the best dancers at any gathering. They seem to receive superhuman strength when their spirits draw near and are very daring. A person manifesting the spirit song and dance of the weaqaean for the first time, goes through a process called qaltay or "breaking in". At first gasping and catching his breath, he makes agonizing bodily contortions. His face writhing in seeming torment, he trembles violently while drums are beaten vigorously in an attempt to discern his spirit. A headpiece of crushed cedar bark is put upon his head and a band of cedar bark tied around his waist. In his hand is placed a pole about six feet long near the pointed top of which are deer hoofs which rattle as the pole is shaken. Four or five strong young men who are selected by his relatives hold him in his frenzy by means of the band around his waist. They permit him to start on a trip, retarding his speed as much as they can as he runs groaning loudly from village to village. As he approaches the houses in a village, the occupants hear his groaning and prepare their drums. When he enters a house, with the men who are restraining him he runs around in it while drums are beaten. Sometimes he stops short and remains in the house until a particle of food is rammed on the sharp end of his pole. If it is the wrong kind of food or is not the best in the house the dancer shakes the pole until the food falls off. T h e dancer seems to know what the occupants of the house possess and if they have what his spirit wants to eat, he stays until they have given it to him. This causes great excitement in the house; bundles are unwrapped in an effort to get the desired article.

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When the dancer's wishes are gratified he rushes away. Those in charge of him take the food from the end of the pole and carry it along with them. Many houses are visited in this way for five or more days during which the dancer has nothing to eat and only a sip of water which he takes through a hollow bone of a swan's wing or through a clam shell with a hole pierced through the bottom. He must not let any water touch his teeth. Upon returning to his home village, the new dancer sings and dances his syowan or spirit dance. Those who attended him are compensated and those whom he disturbed are paid for the trouble he caused them. At the next public gathering of his village or that of a neighboring village, he is privileged to dance at any time when moved by his selya regardless of his place in the order of the dance. Gifts are then distributed by relatives pleased by the results of the young man's experience. All expect great things from a person having weaqaean. His strength is displayed in his aggressive activity in the dance; he shows his ability to handle his body under any circumstance by his leaping and springing. Often when the weaqaean dancer performs at a potlatch, his spirit is not gratified by his dance and he continues to groan loudly while others are performing. One of the hosts of the gathering will then say: "Come let us do something for this man. We cannot let him alone this way." The drummers and clappers then surround the man and beat to the rhythm of his song until he arises again and fulfils his spirit's wish. Then only does his groaning subside. Many times if a dancer is moved very strongly by his spirit, others of the same temperament may through contagion, leap into action and run frantically about the house in all directions, until young men are called upon to catch them. Every young man desires to take part in this work to test his strength against a man so moved, who must be approached in a sympathetic spirit, not one of antagonism. The young men try to catch him as he passes them rather than to step in front of him. They grasp him under the arms around the chest and pivot around swinging him in the air. Then as he is held suspended he weakens and subsides. He often humiliates the young men who try to catch him by bowling them over or by dragging them along with him. Every person has more than one spirit dance and is always seeking for new experiences to secure additional spirits to protect him, for a rival may be trying to penetrate his power. The rival may concentrate in a dream on the power displayed by the person. If successful in discovering the man's experience through the dream, he causes the spirit of the latter to desert him bringing on illness. For this reason, a person needs more than one spirit for defense and holds some of his power in reserve. He performs only the dance used the first time he dances before a gathering and conceals his

SPIRIT DANCERS IN ACTION

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other experiences. Sometimes, after he finishes dancing his customary spirit dance, another of his spirits draws close to him and moves him to express its presence. To relieve himself, he sings this spirit song at the place he has been seated without going into the center of the house. The dancer never boastfully displays his versatility for fear that a rival will see too much and destroy his power. It is extremely humiliating to fall while dancing or walking, or to have any part of the costume fall. When this happens the unfortunate person must give away considerable property to reestablish his reputation and restore himself in the good opinion of the people. Women participate in the spirit dances along with the men and in the same manner. Their experiences are often very intense derived as they are through great sorrow and suffering. When a woman obtains her spirit song through the agony caused by her husband's neglect, her relatives may fasten a piece of wool around her arm while she is dancing. This represents gifts that they are ready to give. When she finishes her dance, the gifts are brought out and distributed by her father or her husband's parents or grandparents to the important guests assembled. One woman who had been ailing for some time was brought to a gathering at one of the large villages and the skilled drummers drew out her spirit song by their careful response to her strivings for expression. When their drums had attained harmony to her song, she arose from her sick bed and danced as if she had superhuman strength. Sometime later another woman doubting the genuiness of her spirit experience, spitefully threw feathers at her. She responded by singing a spirit song concerning a snow banked canoe, and in the morning when the people of the village arose they found deep snow outside. Not being prepared for such weather the old people in the village pleaded with the woman saying, "If you really know about these things please pity us and stop this weather." Very early the next morning she left the village walking along the edge of a sound where there was no snow. When she came to a neighboring village, she marked her face with paint while looking toward the water, and, walking boldly out, she submerged herself into the water with her face looking to the south. After doing this, she walked out of the water and silently returned to Gooseberry Point. Before she reached there, a rain began which completely melted the snow before daylight. Public gatherings usually last from three to six days. When masked dances and spirit dances are not being performed, the people play games. Chief among the games is the gambling game called slahal. Ten men on competing teams kneel opposite each other with a board before each team, upon which the men beat with sticks as they sing during the game.

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Drummers arc at one or both ends of each team. T w o men on one side have bones, one of which is all white and the other marked around the middle with black or red stripes. Each of the two men conceals his set of bones under a mat moving them from one hand to another until he decides in which hand to keep the white bone. Then both of the men at the same time finally grip the bones and expose their hands, swaying them back and forth across their breasts until the opponents guess in which hand the white or "female" bones are hidden. The team which has the bones sings its gambling spirit songs in a fervent animated manner as long as the bones remain in its possession, led by one who has a gambling spirit song acquired in a dream. Players who have the proper magic, recite some words over the sticks when the game begins. One skilled in guessing, points for his team. When he guesses the location of the white bones, they are given over to his team and the men on his side begin to sing. If he guesses only one bone, he continues to guess until he gets the other. Assume that the four bones are in the hands of the two players in the following locations: Striped

White

Striped

White

If the guesser points to the right, he wins both bones; to the middle, one bone; to the left, he loses two tallies; if he holds up his thumb and little finger, meaning that both are on the outside, he gets one. The songs and shouts of the players and watchers make the game very exciting. It continues until one side wins all the tallies from the other. Betting on the outcome is very intense, many valuables being wagered. Another popular gambling game is one called slahalem, played by two men who sit opposite each other on a mat. A number of round, thin hard wood discs about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, one of which is painted red or black, are hidden in two piles of cedar bark which are first mixed together and when separated, moved around. The opponent watches the piles and guesses for the colored disc announcing his choice by a movement of his finger. If he guesses correctly, the discs are turned over to him and the other man guesses; if he errs he forfeits one of his ten tallies. The game is played until one loses all his ten tallies while the audience betting on moves and on the game, seek to divert the players by songs and by distracting side remarks as well as by magic phrases. This game is usually played by men having the suin of gambling. A similar gambling game, smitali, is played with two pairs of marked beaver teeth used as dice, the players and audience betting on the throws. A popular game for men, women and children, is one which is called "come on laughter." Two sides are chosen and they sit in rows facing each other. Contestants attempt to walk to the opposite side to get a selected

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object and to return it to their side without smiling in spite of the songs and jeers of the opponents. Athletic contests also are enjoyed. Backhold wrestlers are invited to the gatherings to display their skill. Shinny and other ball games are sometimes played; among the latter is the game called sqeqtemes played with a wooden ball which is passed from one team-mate to another in an attempt to keep it out of the hands of the competing team. Canoe races are held when the weather permits. Persons who have food, hides, shells and other valuables to trade, take advantage of public gatherings to exchange these articles for others. So through the long months of winter when weather forces food-getting activities to cease, the people amuse themselves at festive gatherings, where friendly tribes come together and renew their acquaintance, where skills are exhibited, and riches displayed. It is around these months, that the social life of the village centers. All the pursuits of the Indians throughout the year are devoted to the purpose of making the public gatherings a success in the multitude of food and gifts to be dispensed, for in this manner prestige is obtained.

CHAPTER N I N E

SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS The ability to give potlatches and to return at a premium the gifts bestowed by others determines the status of a Lummi Indian. The siem or rich man, of whom there are a few in every village, is not so much one who hoards his riches, but rather one who gives them away wisely by choosing men as recipients who will return them to him with liberal additions. These siem are not "chiefs" as they are so often designated, nor are they even "bosses," for they have no legislative, judicial or executive authority. No siem has special authority as leader in war, or as a marriage spokesman, or as a person to end feuds and personal quarrels. Such persons are asked to serve in these capacities who are thought best able to bring about the end desired. A certain siem may be asked repeatedly to function in a specific way because of his effectiveness. But a siem has never fixed authority; he is requested to serve by the parties involved in the negotiations. For example, the person chosen to represent the family when a daughter is being sought as bride for a son, is the one who through his knowledge of the genealogy of the family and his persuasiveness as a speaker will best succeed. So too, when husband and wife quarrel, an old rich man is chosen to arbitrate who was mentioned at the marriage ceremony and who knows well the genealogy of both families and how they cooperated in the past. The power of the siem sometimes comes through his ability to humiliate a fellow-tribesman in the presence of a crowd by presenting him with gifts that the latter cannot return. The following incidents illustrate the arrogant behavior of a siem. The siem was speaking and another rich man acted indifferently. The former took a blanket and hurled it in the face of the discourteous one saying, "Here, don't you hear me when I am speaking?" The man so treated was humiliated because he could not return the property, for if he had the siem would have continued to return it in greater amounts intensifying the humiliation. On another occasion, a visiting siem hearing his name pronounced carelessly stood up without regard for what was going on and humiliated the speaker as he threw some property at him, saying: "Here, after this be more careful in pronouncing names." The siem are most catered to at public gatherings and most frequently invited as guests and given gifts, for they are most likely to repay them. A siem is always heard on any question under discussion, for when he disagrees with what is being said he names the speaker and says: "Here are blankets; listen to my side of the question." He must be heard and his 72

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blankets give weight to his words. The blankets given are in this instance a "dead gift" which need not be returned. A siem often trifles in fun intentionally mispronouncing the name of another rich man, either with one syllable slurred or entirely wrong. Others correct him and all laugh. Later the perpetrator of the joke pays blankets to the victim to indicate that his act was a jest and to relieve all ill-feeling. The siem is constantly calling himself a humble man and belittling himself in the presence of his friends to pretend that he does not regard his wealth of importance. When he speaks he prefaces his words by saying, "My thoughts are along this line, I, your poor member." When he is about to dance his spirit dance, his relatives ask the people to help him express his spirit by singing, with the words, "Have pity on your poor little slave." From early childhood, he is taught that it is not thought proper to exalt oneself by boastfulness, for others can do that also, and he never refers to himself as a siem. The poor, who are neither slaves nor rich are referred to as taltsaus. The distinction between these poor and the rich is very ill-defined since poor people may be highly esteemed because of ancestry or relationship. One often hears the comment, "He is poor but he is from a fine family." A person who is in poverty feels ashamed for fear of dishonoring his wealthy ancestors. For when a man takes his grandfather's name, people give him gifts, expecting him to return them as his grandfather did, but the poor man cannot do this for he needs whatever he gets for himself. Poor friendless people are feared and young people are advised never to cause them any trouble for they have little to lose if they kill, and do not hesitate to do so if occasion demands, rather than take any rough treatment from others. The right to flatten the head is inherited and indicates the prestige or importance of one's ancestry. The Lummi use the general term squayyetz referring to slaves, of which there are two distinct groups, captives and orphans. Orphan children who become dependent upon their relatives or on other people of the tribe upon the death of their parents lose their status and are known as staychem. Upon attaining adulthood, they may redeem themselves by giving large quantities of food and blankets to their benefactors but the humiliation of their dependent period is remembered with rankling shame. Children are taught not to mention defects in the status of people, due to the fact that some one in the history of their families may likewise have been in servitude. Adults are very reticent about discussing social status for it is considered very bad taste. Captive slaves, known as stseanaq, comprise women and children captured in attacks on other tribes. They are the property of their captors,

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and arc raised in fear of them although they are never whipped. The slaves who wear their hair short are permitted to marry other slaves, but live under the same roof as their masters in a portion of the house assigned to them even when married. All siem have slaves. The master does not talk to the slave unless he is giving orders and the slave may not look at his master too much and must be very humble and servile. There is a common saying "Only slaves need be ordered before they do any work." When a male slave, captured as a child, grows up, he is still referred to with diminutive kinship terms even by children many years his junior. Masters although always discriminating against them are careful not to mistreat slaves too cruelly for fear that a slave in a depressed condition might obtain a spirit power enabling him to secure revenge, for a slave has nothing to restrain him from killing. They are given the worst food, cheated in the games of the children, restricted in associations and forced to do the drudgery of the household. They often accompany members of the family on hunts, carrying the game that is killed. At public gatherings they dance their spirit dances if so inspired. Slaves may be exchanged for other property at the wish of their master. They are not buried or given away at his decease but the widow may secure property by loaning them out for use. Slaves are sometimes ransomed by their tribesmen, and only in this manner can they be redeemed from slavery.

CHAPTER T E N

MEDICINE MEN Among the most influential men in the village, although not as powerful as in some of the neighboring tribes, is the medicine man or cxwneam. Medicine men attain their skills through spirit experiences; some have as many as ten different spirit powers, which supplement each other and guard them from the malevolent influences of other people. Among the spirits which a medicine man usually possesses are: swetixwtan, the spirit of a giant who can, by taking long strides, travel around the world observing it in a short time; squelqtishun, the spirit of the whirlwind; sxeiyawatc, the spirit of the bullhead; xalxalewetcang, the spirit of the lizard; guedalf{uwo, the spirit of the nether world; and siaman, the spirit of wealth and wisdom. The medicine man is very secretive as a caution against having his spirit experience penetrated by a rival with consequent personal disaster. He considers himself merely the agent of these spirits. A young medicine man watches the other medicine men at work on their patients to learn their procedures and to observe their successes and failures. He may test his ability by using his spirit power to interfere with the work of the older medicine men and in this way discover his strength as compared with them. If the older medicine men fail to help the patient, he offers his services and if he effects a cure he takes advantage of every later opportunity that presents itself to practice. Soon he acquires a reputation for being skilled and his services are sought and paid for. He never sets a price but takes what is given. The reward is usually high, for it is feared that he will work injury on the family if he is not treated generously. Any calamity caused by insufficient payment is attributed to the guardian spirits of the medicine man in spite of him, and therefore he is not blamed, but feared by the people. Some medicine men have reputations as specialists in certain types of cases. A medicine man sometimes feels incapable of handling a case alone and is permitted to call in a co-worker of his own choice. Sickness is in most cases attributed either to the work of a medicine man who has directed a harmful spirit called sxet against a person or family, or to the temporary absence of a person's selee or soul. The medicine man functions by breaking up spiritual snares set up by other men either in the form of strange spirit visitations or spirit stings and by replacing the soul. They are also employed to find hidden objects with a divining rod and to apply drugs. 75

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The medicine man, seeking to harm a family places some force in their home such as the spirit of the whirlpool at the threshhold of the house, causing illness to those who cross over it, or a skeleton of a deceased person where food is stored so that persons who come to get food have to face it, or a spider or some other insignificant object where least expected, so that his scheme will not be discovered easily. The force causes persons in the family to have strange dreams in which they find themselves eating, living and talking with the dead who do not seem to notice their presence. This worries them until it causes serious illness and even death. When the members of a family suspect that some strange spirit is hovering about their home, they generally seek the help of a medicine man for deliverance from this dread. When the medicine man arrives he first works over the person who is most seriously affected and who has been wrapped in blankets and placed on a mat near the fireplace. A watertight basket which the medicine man usually carries with him is filled with cold water and set before him as he rests on one or both knees. He chants his spirit song until the people in the house become familiar with the rhythm after which the latter sing it over and over leaving the medicine man free to act as he feels moved by his spirit. During the singing, the medicine man pours some water in his mouth and then blows it into the patient to loosen the sickness after which he extracts the harmful influence with his hands or by sucking with his lips. While he is striving to draw the spirit out of the body of the victim the spirit pleads "I am here just temporarily, just let me alone. I will soon go." After the patient is somewhat relieved the medicine man seeks the primary cause of the family trouble. His spirit swetixwtan carries the medicine man over large areas enabling him to investigate how the patient became ill. He searches it first at a distance and then encircles the house. If nothing unusual is discovered outside, then the work of tracing the cause centers inside the house. When the cause of the illness is discovered, the medicine man becomes violent and frenzied, crawling rapidly and jerkedly along the ground as if animated by some unseen force with which he is struggling. He indicates where the force is to be found and when he becomes more composed, if he feels equal to the task he tries unaided to break up its influences. As this is considered a very difficult task for a single person, the help of other medicine men is often solicited. If the force is a whirlpool, persons having the guardian spirit of the black fish, the sea lion, the seal and the devil fish are the most likely persons to overcome its influence by tracing the whirlpool to its source. The medicine man having this spirit, falls into a trance while the other medicine men watch over him fearing that he might die. As he lies on the ground he mutters an account of what his spirit is doing in its effort to destroy the influence of the whirlpool or other forces, telling how or why it affected the family.

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When he finally gets the force entirely under control, the person is healed and the family is free from its evil influence. When a medicine man secures control over a spirit which another medicine man has directed against the people he wishes to harm, he may return it immediately to the medicine man who sent it by taking it to the window or door in his cupped hands and hurling it out. Sometimes he believes this to be too hazardous, because he thinks that this spirit is merely an insignificant manifestation of the power of his adversary—"a little dog at the end of a pack of hounds"; he therefore conceals the spirit in his person instead of returning it, later permitting it to escape. At times he places the spirit in a bundle of cedar-bark and shoots an arrow through the bark, piercing the spirit in the same manner. At other times he destroys the spirit by placing it in a rock which has been heated and then breaking the rock by pouring water on it. Sometimes he holds the spirit in his hands and twists it as if he were breaking a long object after which he throws the parts in opposite directions or reunites them in a reverse position, returning the spirit to the medicine man who caused the illness. When the reversed spirit enters the body of the latter, he usually becomes seriously ill, especially if this spirit is his strongest power. The medicine man sometimes holds the spirit he has discovered over the fire, after which he releases it so that it goes back to its master and makes him ill, occasionally even bringing on blindness. Because of the danger involved in the discovery and return of a spirit, a medicine man does not use his power carelessly or for the destruction of life and the injury of others unless large sums of property are offered for such work. One medicine man upon returning to his village after sinatlqi had appeared to him as a land otter in a spirit experience, turned some dry clams and fern roots prepared for him by his sister for food, into frogs and snakes, and then restored them. At another time after other medicine men whom he had called to test, had been unable to remove poison briars which were causing his face to swell, he drew them out by passing one hand over the surface of his face. The magnetic power of his hand was so great that when he used it to draw out sickness he almost drew out the patients' lives. To prevent this from happening he weakened the power of his hands by dipping them in urine until he was able to handle patients with the moderate power of other medicine men. On one occasion when a relative of his coveted an agate hammer which he had been unable to purchase from a canoe builder in a neighboring village, he volunteered to try to get it for him. At dusk he had a new mat brought for him to kneel upon and a new water-tight basket filled with water. As he sang his spirit song assisted by a group of spectators he took the water that was in the basket and gripped it in his hand until it disolved. He then sent his spirit power to

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get the agate hammer. Toward morning, he began to talk as if in a trance, and the hammer appeared in the basket. T o test their power over spirits, medicine men engage in tournaments. In the course of their travels, two medicine men may meet in some remote place and challenge each other to a test of strength. They may measure their skill in drawing sickness out of the body of a patient with their cupped hands, by trying to pull a knot out of a green piece of wood, or from a tree. They sing their spirit songs and placing their hands upon the projecting knot they seek to extract it from the wood without using physical methods, relying entirely upon their spirit power. If one medicine man is successful in extracting the knot, his opponent endeavors to pull another knot. In these contests, medicine men take stones in their cupped hands and while singing their spirit songs cause the stones to become invisible and to skim over the water. On one occasion one of the medicine men instead of causing a stone to disappear as his opponent had done picked up a snake by the head and with one stroke stripped off all the flesh, leaving the backbone and ribs bare, but the head intact. After doing this, he held the skeleton of the snake in his hand and said to his opponent, "It is easy enough to cause things to disappear, but now watch this." He then caused the skeleton to swim up the stream as if it were alive. It is usual in these tournaments for medicine men to stand facing each other and have a duel with their spirits. With their fists close together as though holding a pole, they silently implore their spirits to come to their assistance and protection. When one is confident of his strength he moves his arms forward jerkily, opening his fists and hurling a sting into his rival. This is repeated many times, at first playfully like two children throwing darts at one another, but then more seriously. During the spirit dances, a medicine man sits in a strategic position away from the crowd and from this vantage point fixes his gaze on the performer. With the aid of the light of the fires, the medicine man's gaze penetrates the dancer as he passes each fire in the house discerning his spiritual strength. A dancer who has had no real experience with spirits during a period of training appears entirely transparent. In that case the medicine man's gaze penetrates through the person, resulting in the death of the pretender. Out of fear of the medicine man's test of his spirit power, one does not take part in the spirit dances unless he has had a genuine spirit experience. Young Lummi warriors have been known to defy medicine men by painting themselves and dancing before the latter, challenging them to do harm; such reckless behavior is rare among the neighbors of the Lummi where the medicine men are held in greater respect and fear. As illness is often caused by the temporary absence of a person's soul, the

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medicine man must be able to discover and replace the souls of the sick. The souls of people become separated from their bodies in various ways. A child who distracts the attention of people from the topic of conversation or from a performance may lose his soul. This may also happen to a child who dissatisfied with the food given him, looks longingly upon the food which an older person is eating. His soul merges with the food causing the older person to choke with violent coughing. When this occurs the parents of all the children become alarmed and inquire as to whose soul was swallowed; if the person cannot tell, a medicine man is asked to identify the soul. A man walking carelessly through the woods or elsewhere may be startled suddenly by some unusual noise or occurrence and may lose his soul although he may not know that this has happened until he becomes ill and a medicine man has been called. A frail person is one whose body and soul are easily separated; when startled or hurt, "his soul falls off or flies away." The soul of an onlooker may be lost during the spirit dance of a man or woman animated by sqeqwt, the spirit of a wierd looking female who has magnetism which draws the souls of children and invalids, and smothers them under her arm. When this happens the dancer animated by the sqeqwt spirit, begins to wail as though mourning for someone. If the dancer is not able to return the soul, a medicine man is called upon to do so. To restore the lost soul, the medicine man is aided by his spirit swetixwtan, which carries him with great speed to the land of souls, and assists him to locate the lost soul by tracing the life of the person back to the time of the soul's disappearance. The spirit song, sung by one medicine man while he is seeking the soul begins "What is that that I hear"? Then he gives the answer of the spirit, "It is I, swetixwtan." These words are sung only once during the performance, the melody of the song being repeated with nonsense syllables. After a medicine man identifies the soul, he returns it to the patient. He sings his spirit song, and rubs his hands over the patient's body, as if caressing it, preparing the latter for what is to follow. He then places hands upon the patient's head and repeatedly breathes forcefully through an opening between the thumbs and palms of his hand, causing a warm feeling to suffuse the patient, making him sense that he is under the influence of the medicine man. The medicine man may also massage the back and the breast of the patient, vibrating the latter to the rhythm of his song or he may vibrate the patient's head with his hands or rub his thumbs or palms over the eyes of the patient. He then takes the soul in his cupped hands and sings a song especially sung for the return of souls. While the song is continued by others, he approaches the patient and when he reaches him he lifts his hands over the latter's head and, slowly bringing them

The Lummi Indians of Northwest

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down, places the soul either over the breast of the patient or over one of his shoulders or on one of his sides. H e then sweeps his hands over the patient in a soothing way and when the song is finished the work is done.

The

proper return of the soul is assurance of recovery but if it is improperly restored the patient becomes restless and weary.

O n e medicine man has

been seen draining a piece of black rubber out of a body; another uses a cattail stalk to suck blood or inflamed matter from the patient. Some suck out the illness by placing the mouth directly against the patient's body; others use cupped hands. Sometimes a young man's illness after a period of training is caused by the fact that his soul is being carried by a fish on its tour around the world. T h e medicine man called in penetrates into the spirit world and questions familiar beings if at any time in their travels they saw the soul of this young man.

W h e n the medicine man discovers that this soul is being

carried on a tour by the fish, he inquires as to when the tour was started, and when it will be completed. W i t h this information the doctor is able to determine the time of the recovery of the patient, but if this information is not obtained before the tour is completed, the patient dies.

If proper

ceremonies are performed at the proper time to pacify the spirit of the fish, the fish restores the soul of the patient. W h e n the patient recovers his full strength, he knows all the habits of the particular fish that his soul had travelled with, the time and place of spawning, the season and place in which the fish are most easily caught, and other information about the fish that makes him a skilled

fisherman.

T h e medicine men assemble each year at a large gathering, very soon after the fishing of the sockeye salmon is over, to discover whether any of the souls of the sick are in the land of dead souls, by means of a ceremony called smatnatc.

They say: " S o m e of our people have not been well and we

feel very uncertain about the weather. Let us take a trip into the soul world and see what we can learn." Those consenting to go choose their strongest spirits as guides on their expedition, because this is a dangerous undertaking, and they need every precaution for a safe return. One says, " I will use the spirit of the woodpecker to bore holes in the house for us to look through."

Another: " I will use my mouse spirit that he may cut all the

bow-strings in case a fight ensues."

Still another says: " I will take my

magnetic spirit along that he might draw the souls of our friends together quickly." T h e other medicine men select from their spirits those they think most effective in carrying out their work. W h e n all is ready, they take a long rope of braided, shredded cedar bark and lay it on the ground in the house to symbolize a canoe. Each medicine man armed with a pole, which he calls his cane or qa\wa, takes his position in the canoe just as he would were he to go out into the water.

Each man leans heavily upon the pole

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and the people in the house prepare sticks and drums with which to beat time for the singing. T h e m a n in the rear of the canoe is first to sing his spirit song, and all who are in the house accorripany him. T h e men in the canoe sway and rock in their progress toward the land of souls, each singing his spirit song successively as they journey on. Upon their approach to the camp of the people in the soul world, the man in the bow gives warnings, such as "There is the smoke of their camp. Let us wait until they are asleep." T h e journey proceeds cautiously. T h e singing ceases and the leader makes reports as they draw near the camp and warns his companions of what he sees ahead. When they reach the camp, they disembark after which they g o about as if looking for someone. Some of the medicine men pick things up occasionally which are understood by those in the house as being the souls of persons who are sick. Others work together to capture some influential person whom they think will be able to give them information concerning the coming winter. When they have satisfied themselves that they have done all that they can, they return to their canoe and start back. Their return trip is brief because there is nothing to interrupt their progress. When they arrive home, they get out of the canoe and relate their adventures to those who are in the house. Then each returned medicine man announces in turn that he has obtained the souls of certain individuals in the land of the dead souls. H e does not at once restore them to their owners, but first retains them on his person until he has ascertained the causes which separated the souls from their bodies. On one occasion when a woman doctor returned from the spirit land, she told of how she had extracted blood from a woman giving birth to child there, and asked, " W h o among you does not bear children, and would like to have this blood?" One of the women accepted it, and gave birth to a son. T h e boy is still living; he is a tiny fellow with no arch in his nose. T h e souls of the dead often leave their abode and wander through the earth at sundown. People are careful not to work at that time lest they become seriously ill or die because an unknown soul has spoken to them. A medicine man is called to restore the soul of a patient if he becomes ill because of this experience. Souls of the living often accompany the souls of the dead when the latter return in the summertime, and they can only be brought back by a medicine man. Owls have close communication with the dead and often possess the souls of the dead; they are therefore never eaten. When old people hear an owl hooting close by their homes, they go out and urge it to g o away, for fear that a dead person will communicate with his living friends, causing illness. A story is told of a young man, a very good hunter, who returning one day just before daylight from his hunt, surprised a man who was

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standing at the entrance to his home and who was reaching out as if grasping food, and then eating it. The young man who was clean was unobserved. He laid down his catch, and his bow and arrow, and creeping up to him, grasped him around the waist. The person was transformed into an owl fluttering helplessly in his grip. He entered the house and when the surprised occupants asked him where he had obtained the owl that he held, he told them what he had seen. In order to determine whose soul it was, and at the same time desiring to be at peace with the soul, the people took strands of goat wool and wrapped them around the legs of the owl and released him into the dawn. In the stillness of the moment, they heard a clap at a grave of a deceased member of the tribe, so they knew that his soul had been visiting home in the form of an owl.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MAGIC Suin or magic is something distinct and independent of the arts of the medicine man derived through the help of his guardian spirits. Its practice is not confined to medicine men although they are adept in it, but is known also by others among both men and women. Its use is always surrounded with great secrecy and mystery. One possessing suin, who wishes to kill another person, goes out before dawn and carves the image of the intended victim on that part of the tree which faces the rising sun. Holding a war club in one hand and a handful of red paint in the other, he stands tense as though facing the enemy. At the break of day, he simultaneously strikes the figure with the club and hurls the paint at it as he pronounces the name of the victim, who is thus doomed to an early death. A recent widower or widow knowing suin is usually employed to do this work as being most likely to be successful because of the effects of sorrow. Sometimes discarded garments of the proposed victim are placed in the grave of a person who died from a disease causing early decomposition of the corpse, with the expectation that the body of the enemy will likewise lose its vigor and decompose as the corpse does. The sputum of an intended victim or pits of June plums which he has been eating, or his discarded clothes may be placed in the center of an ant hill. As the ants eat away these things, the body of the enemy will begin to break out into sores which will cause certain death. A girl may consult an expert in suin to get revenge on an unfaithful husband. The woman skilled in suin cuts long gashes on the arms, breasts and body of the girl, deep enough to draw blood and teaches her secret words to be recited at a certain time and in a certain way to be effective. The girl is advised to take early morning baths to protect herself from the counter effects of the enemy's suin which might harm her or prevent the working of her own suin. When husbands neglect their wives, the latter sometimes use love medicine which they have obtained from women who know the art of magic. This strongly perfumed medicine derived from flowering plants in remote fields where there are no passers-by, is made effective by certain words and actions which act as charms. Its potency cannot be tampered with by ridicule lest one die. If it works successfully, it causes black spots to appear on the back of the man's neck and breast and he finally becomes intensely lonesome and restless. As a result the neglected »3

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woman who hovers around him wins his affection again. A woman may take the hair of her negligent husband or any person she hates and wrap it into the gills of a salt water trout which makes its way up the fresh rivers in the spring time. As the woman pronounces certain words blending together the names of the person she hates and of the fish, she throws the fish back into the water. The lure of the fish makes the doomed person lonely and downcast. In an effort to get relief he may rush to the water where he may be completely overcome and drowned. One who knows suin understands the function of the various bones, organs and muscles of the body and can use this knowledge to hypnotize or cast spells. If a person who knows suin wants a boy to win a foot-race, he stands in a position where he can get full view of the runners. With the object in mind of interfering with the efforts of the opponents of his favorite he pronounces the secret name used in suin for thigh. Concentrating all his powers on the thigh of the best of the rival runners, he deprives the runner of the full support of his limbs and his choice wins the race. In telling of such an experience, the people say, " H e named his legs for him." All the painting on a person who dances or goes to battle is for protection from medicine men and to counteract those who would use suin. It is not used for decoration but represents hideous spirits and gives the persons so painted an expression of fearlessness. The paint itself does not protect without the suin that goes with it. The relatives of a new dancer are usually very anxious about him and before his dance an old man or woman relative skilled in suin carefully paints the parts of the body of the dancer which he understands, through his suin, using appropriate words as he does so, muttering repeatedly, "Even if they look at you, dear son, they can never hurt you." If the dancer is not properly protected any person practicing suin 01 a medicine man will be able to cause his legs to cramp or otherwise weaken him. Suin is used by those who know it in hunting deer. Early in the morning as the sun is rising a person understanding suin talks as if addressing someone who knows his plans. He names the places where he intends to hunt and then says, "I suppose our grandchild is wandering along the shores about this time. Her limbs are strong and she trusts them to escape us, but let them become numb when we see her." With these words, the hunter starts on the hunt. When he approaches the deer, it does not seem to notice him but appears busy or hypnotized, and he easily shoots it with his bow and arrow. A man experienced in suin, says to his hook as he removes it from its place in the rotten wood which keeps it pliable: " H o w nice it will be when the halibut will try to find his way to you. I suppose he is waiting for us

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to come." While doing this the man names the halibut by its secret suin name. When the hook is set in the water, the halibut as if hypnotized does all in its power to get in a position to bite the hook and get caught, even fighting with others to get at the hook. The people using suin speak of the various kinds of fish in terms of relationship. The seal is spoken of as sister, the sockeye salmon as an older brother, the hump-back salmon as the orphaned child of a deceased brother or sister. These terms are always used to designate them, in the camp or while fishing. The cedar trees also have names. The male or coarsegrained is called pdoqwtan; the fine-grained or female was called paloqwtanot. When those possessing suin are felling the trees, they call them by their names and tell them which way to fall so that they will not break. Another name is given to the trees while they are being split so that they split straight and new names are given at each succeeding process until the timber is made into house-boards and canoes. Only the persons who know suin, know these names. The name of the tree is also used to designate the canoe made from it. On a stormy day, if there is danger while travelling, the man who understands suin slaps the sides of the canoe and shouts, "Pdoqwtan take us home safely. Wake up! Help us through this." The canoe seems to respond to the words spoken, and, as if coming to life, carries the occupants safely through the storm. Suin can be bought, sold or transferred from one person to another. Parents who know it teach it to their favorites among their children.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

T H E S E C R E T SOCIETY A secret society among the Lummi called xunxanital restrains the medicine men and the men and women skilled in suin from using their arts too frequently to injure others. For the members of the society act in the role of vigilantes and execute those who are considered harmful to the tribe because of the misuse of their power. The mode of punishment is gruesome. A long green stick is heated in the fire and forced up the victim's rectum all the way to his throat forcing blood and flesh to come out of his mouth. The victim is then sent groaning among the people to die as a warning to others to avoid a like fate. The same punishment is threatened against a person who reveals the secrets of the society or who ridicules or slights its members. The latter are therefore feared and treated with deference. Whenever a member's name is mentioned, it is necessary to give a gift to him out of respect and out of fear. Membership in the society is by initiation or by invitation to persons who in their spirit dance reveal the proper spirit. A father and mother having a child who in spite of their instruction fails to find a spirit, believing this to be a reproach, discuss the matter with their friends and express a desire that their child join the xunxanital. The parents make it a point to bring their son to a potlatch where men having knowledge of xunxanital are gathered from various tribes. They acquaint every member of the secret society with the son they wish to have initiated without the young man knowing that they are doing so. At a most unexpected moment, even though the young man may be in a crowd, chosen members of the secret society, all painted black, rush upon him. All other young men in the house, knowing the procedure of the xunxanital rush away in fright. The victim is held helpless in the air with arms outstretched. While one of the leading members holds him by the hair, the other members of the society shake his body until he lies limp in their hands. Then they stretch him out on a mat and cover him with blankets, while the doors of the house are guarded by the strongest men. Each of the medicine men who are members of the society gestures in turn as if moulding something with his hands in the form of a dart. He breathes life into this object and releasing it from his hand shoots it into the candidate. This represents a missile or sting intended to give power to the candidate who often responds by flinching. The medicine man then sings his spirit song over the prostrated novice watching for any sign of life about his 86

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inanimate body. Any response is regarded as a reaction to the spirit song. W h e n the first medicine man's song is finished and no sign of life is revealed, another tries his spirit song. In this way the various rhythms peculiar to the xunxanital are sung. Finally, the young m a n arises, in response to one of the songs, which becomes his spirit song. T h e other people are now permitted to enter. T h e novice is dressed in the garb of the xunxanital which consists of black paint all over the face, arms, back and above the waist in front except for a vertide strip in the middle of the body about the width of the face, which is left to reveal any sign of blood that drops from the person's mouth when he dances. After he is painted he gets up on his knees holding two knives, one at each temple. A s he crawls forward on his knees he waves his a r m s forward alternately putting one knife at a time against his temple with the blade facing front. T h i s symbolizes the act of stabbing his temples to m a k e the blood come out of his mouth as his crawling symbolizes the act of a blackfish seeking food. T h i s procedure is repeated night after night until the novice develops skill; he then become a full-fledged member of the secret society. Sometimes more than one candidate is initiated at the same time. Relatives of those initiated distribute gifts. Men w h o reveal the spirit of the xunxanital in their spirit dances cannot be discriminated against and are invited to be members of the society irrespective of their wealth or status. One member recognizing that the person manifests the society's spirit calls it to the attention of all the m e m bers present, who then offer him inducements in the form of gifts to join the society. A n invited person must be very careful in his plea of refusal, but some refuse because they consider the society degrading. T h e xunxanital is animated by the spirit of the blackfish. T h e blackfish travel in packs like wolves, and scour the bottom of the sea s w i m m i n g close against submerged sea cliffs, brushing off animals from the gorges in the rocks. After they get their prey out into deep water, they circle around and eat it. A s the members of the secret society come to the place of festivity, they land in the group formation of the blackfish. Because of fear of the members of the xunxanital, tribe are reluctant to give any information about it.

the members of the

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

WEAVING AND WOODWORKING Women among the Lummi Indians are skilled in the weaving of blankets, baskets, mats and nets and their status in the village is largely determined by the degree of their skill. The names of women noted for their abilities in these arts are given to their descendants to perpetuate the memory of their meritorious work, and to imbue the succeeding generations with similar ambitions. Blankets are woven primarily from the wool of the mountain goat. After the wool is removed from the hide by means of sharp flints, it is washed thoroughly and made very fluffy. The fluff is produced by beating a bunch of the dry wool with a blunt edged stick, occasionally adding a claylike substance called stewaq which the women gathered from swamps to make the wool silky and easy to work. After the wool has been treated, it is pulled into a long strand and wound into a ball, so that it can be unwound from the center of the ball without getting tangled. A spindle is made from a stick about two and one-half or three feet long tapered to a point pierced through a wooden disk. The end of the woolen strand is fastened at the point where the disk is set firmly in the wood, and the spindle is twirled by the friction of the hand over the thigh, the whorl giving momentum to its movement, until the wool which extends from the spindle to a pole above, is twisted into a cord tight enough for weaving. This is then rolled around the shaft of the spindle and another section is twisted, a process which is continued until the spindle is filled. The yarn is then removed from the spindle and rolled into a ball, and the spindle is filled again until sufficient material has been spun to weave the blanket. The weaving frame called qieman and consisting of four poles fastened at right angles, is placed against the wall. The end of the spun wool is tied to a narrow bar often the shaft of a bulrush, held horizontally in front and above the lower pole of the frame. The wool is then wound over the top pole and under the lower one and back to the horizontal bar, where it is reversed. The winding continues to be over the top pole and under the lower pole, until the required width of the warp called tcatcayan, usually one fathom, has been wound. The weaver then begins to insert the weft called tctsqan. A stick three or four inches wide is used to separate the threads of the warp so that the weaver can toss the ball of wool from one side of the frame to the other. The cross thread is pulled tightly and hammered down with the edge of the board, after which the warp threads

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arc parted alternately, again held wide apart by the stick and another cross thread put through and tightened. The cross weaving is usually started at the bottom of the frame and continued upward. When it reaches a height difficult for the weaver, she pulls the blanket so that she can begin at the bottom of the frame again, until she finishes the weft of the entire blanket. The horizontal bar is now removed separating the ends of the warp so that the blanket lies flat ready for use. Fringes are usually fastened to the litde loops through which the horizontal bar passed taking care of the slack caused by its removal. Sometimes fringes are attached all around the blanket. In the case of the very heavy blankets made from very coarse strands of yarn, the weaver works the weft from the top of the frame down. Pieces of wool long enough to reach across the warp twice, are worked in with the fingers. The weaver starts from the edge at her right, using her thumb to catch the end of the yarn as she weaves it through the weft and she occasionally runs her finger between the warp and lifts the weft with the back of her fingers to tighten the weave. In the weaving of another style of blanket, after the warp has been prepared the material used in the weft is broken into sixteen or eighteen inch pieces. The first piece is fastened at the weaver's left at a point called stsemiXwen or backbone, which is the place where the warp has been so arranged that when the blanket is finished a cord can be pulled out so that the warp separates it, making it unnecessary to hem the finished work. The weaver then holds the yarn in place with the fingers of her left hand and pulls it through the warp with the thumb of her right hand. Each weave is made under and over two cords of the warp and a zigzag pattern is woven in by alternating the cords. Two extra heavy lines of yarn are fastened at the backbone and the yarn used in the weft, is wound around them and then worked into the warp. It is a mark of unusual skill to be able to work well with both hands, that is, for a weaver to start her weft from one side and when she reaches the other side of the warp to start from there to work back thus making a smooth edge on her work. A weaver not able to do this has to tie knots at the beginning and end of each strand. Geometrical designs in the form of triangles, squares, diamonds, blocks and parallel lines are often worked in the blankets by using varied colored yarns. The colors used are: reddish brown derived from hemlock bark; a bright red from alder bark; a dark green from a slender tree fungus usually found hanging from the boughs of fir and cedar trees in strings; black from bog peat, and the natural color, white. To dye the yarn, the bark or fungus used is first boiled in water and the yarn then dipped in the hot colored water. The designs are given no meaning or significance. The wool of a wool-dog, raised for this purpose, is also used to weave

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The Lummi

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of Northu/est

Washington

into blankets. T h e down of the swan and the eagle is worked into the coarse d o g wool while it is being spun serving as a fleece. T h e finished blankets are of three kinds: the c o m m o n blanket generally used as a garment, called sweqetl, measuring about one fathom wide a n d one and one-quarter long, the second, used for bedding, called xwlaqas, measuring about one fathom wide and two or three fathoms long, and the third, qetsenang which is very long and m a d e especially to be used as a medium of exchange or to serve as gifts during festivals, at which time also the other two types are sometimes distributed. Baskets are m a d e by the women from the roots, bark and limbs of the cedar trees which are plentiful in this region. They gather young pliable cedar roots growing on the tops of rotten fallen trees, or in soft soil close to the surface of the ground. In May or June, when the sap is running, they cut the limbs from a cedar tree sapling about six inches thick. T h e tender bark is stripped from the same tree. T h e n the tree is cut down and that portion of the trunk free f r o m knots is cut in four to six foot lengths. When these are quartered, the heart is taken out and split into strips onehalf inch to one inch in width. T h e roots, limbs, bark and what is selected from the body of the tree, are tied in bundles and carried home by means of long packing straps. T h i s material is put away for future use and may be traded as raw material. T h e roots and limbs are trimmed by removing the outer surface and are split into long slender strands. A sliver is started at the small end of the root or limb and the sliver is held in the teeth. T h e right hand holds the top of the limb and the left grasps it at the place where the sliver is being pulled off. If the woman wishes the sliver to become thicker, she pushes the top of the limb away from her; if she wishes it thinner, she pulls it toward her, all the time steadily pulling the sliver with her teeth and with her right hand, until it splits off or comes to the end. Each limb and root makes several of these strands which are then coiled, tied and put away in large baskets. T h e strips gathered from the body of the tree are split in the same way into thin wide pieces in thicknesses of one or two grains of the tree. These are split from the top end, the inner parts of the tree first, until the outside or sap side is reached. T h e outside pieces are generally used for basket rims. T h e bark is placed in the sun and when it is dry is stripped into narrow pieces for baskets or mats or shredded for garments. T h i s material is also stored and often sold as raw material. There are seven types of baskets varying in their use and texture. All these varieties are made in different shapes and designs, with or without handles depending upon the choice of the basket-maker. T h e heavy service basket called stetlelqamos is m a d e of cedar limbs split into quarters or into

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finer strands. Its bottom is made first by weaving the limbs in a square mesh leaving the ends loose. These are then brought up and crossed in a diamond shaped mesh to form the sides of the basket; the meshes are fastened at the intersections with fine strands of cedar roots. After the sides are worked up to the desired height, the ends are wrapped around a rim made of two or three of the split cedar limbs in such a way that they interlock to prevent unraveling. The handles, made of twisted cedar limbs, are worked in and either wild cherry bark or cedar roots are wrapped around the rim to make it smooth and strong. Another type of heavy service basket is called seqaleias. The bottom is woven in the same way as described above but the sides are made by bringing up the ends perpendicularly and twilling them with cedar roots at intervals of from one to two inches, twisting two cedar root strands between each of the uprights. The rim and handles are made the same way as the above. A basket designed for heavy packs is also made of the same material and approximate pattern although sometimes made watertight. These baskets have small bottoms and widen out toward the top. Pack straps made of goat wool and buckskin are used with these baskets. The goat wool is braided into a strip three or four inches wide and about twelve or fourteen inches long tapered at the ends to which buckskin cords three or four feet long are fastened. The pack strap is used by placing the pad of goat wool over the forehead and tying the buckskin cords around the basket which is slung over the back. The water-tight basket made of the best material is called sptec (diminutive spapotce). The straightest strands of cedar roots, made pliable by soaking in a basket of water, are wrapped tightly around a core made of a bunch of very fine pieces of carefully picked cedar roots. The weaver starts from the center of the bottom and coils the strands around the core which she keeps at the same thickness while adding other fine roots to it as she progresses in making the basket. The awl is used to perforate the edge of the coil through which the cedar strand is then inserted and pulled tightly around the core, to make the basket watertight. This process is repeated with each stitch. These baskets are usually decorated with designs which are made of different shades of wild cherry bark and birch outer bark. Ribbon like strips of these barks are tucked under each stitch involved in the design covering the cedar root strand on the outside of the basket. Sometimes split strips of cedar saplings are used instead of the root core of the above basket, with the result that the basket is not as watertight. A small covered basket, called sqweam, often used in connection with a public ceremony, is made of the same material as the watertight basket and in the same way. The basket, referred to as samsamoaele or "beehive"

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The Lummi Indians of Northwest

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is suspended over the head of the honored person to represent a large amount of property. T h e common basket called tsetlqeias, is made from long thin strips of cedar bark from one-half to one inch wide. T h e bottom is made in square mesh and the ends are pulled up perpendicularly to form the sides and strips are woven alternately above and under. Sometimes the style is varied by splitting the ends of the strips and weaving in tightly, near the top of the basket, long slender cedar roots. T h e opening of the basket is then drawn in a little before the rim is put on. T h e rim is made of a hoop of two thicknesses fitting the basket and placed on the outside of the projecting perpendicular ends which are cut even with it. T h e hoop is then stitched to these ends very tightly with cedar roots. T h e basket called tetlpat, made from cedar bark is used to store cured foods such as dried clams, fish, meat or berries. It is made in the same manner as the common basket only is entirely of cedar bark. T h e rim is woven with loop holes through which a long braided cord of cedar bark is interlaced. When the basket is full of food, the cord is drawn and the basket is ready to be stored away. Shredded cedar bark is also used for men and women's clothing. T h e long strips of bark are shredded by crushing the bark between the glancing edges of two boards, one of which the woman holds firmly between her bended knees while, with the other hand, she beats the bark until it falls into shreds and becomes fluffy. In making garments for men and women, long strips of bark are selected to hang over the shoulders and extend down to the desired length. Short pieces are woven in at the shoulders to hold the garment together, and then short pieces are placed between the hanging ends, leaving a space for the neck. Strips of cedar bark, three to five inches wide, are woven across the chest and back, around the waist and hips, and sometimes in other parts of the garment, but the lower shreds are left hanging loose. These garments are seldom made with sleeves. Often they are made of strips of the natural yellow and a red which is colored by sprinkling it with the water of boiled alder bark. T h e cedar bark headdresses are of two types, one peaked, the other a braided band described in the discussion of the spirit dance costume. T h e peaked headdress was made by tying a bunch of cedar bark at one end allowing sufficient bark above to form a full tassel. T h e bark is woven to fit the head allowing long strands of bark to hang over the neck and shoulders. Such a headdress with a cedar bark shirt is used by the captains of fishing parties during the fishing season and during their spirit dances. Mats are made from cedar bark and from tule reeds and cattail rushes. There are three types of rush mats, those used for building temporary

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houses, called soleatc, often as large as six by twenty feet; those used for covering the sleeping benches called stewan, and another type, about three by five feet, used for the bottom of the hunters' canoes called gelctan. The cedar bark mats used to cover stored food are made of narrow even strips of dried bark about one-half inch wide woven together with the edges braided to prevent unraveling. The tule reed mats, used on the bottom of large canoes to protect goods from any water which may come into the canoe, are about five or six feet wide and are very simple. The sappy ends are braided together and cords made of the feathery edge of the cattail rush are twilled across the mat in the middle and at both ends. The cattail rush mats are more elaborate. The rushes, gathered from swampy places in the summer when they have attained full growth and while they are firm, are cut close to the roots. The women dissect them and place them on the roof tops to dry in the sun. When they are dry, the thin edge that grows at the lower end of each long blade, is stripped off. T w o strands are knotted together and the loose end rubbed into a twine by twirling it between the palm of the hand and the thigh. Other strands are worked in until a ball of cord is made. T h e long blades of the rush are then arranged upon the ground with butts and tops alternating. The blades are pierced at right angles with a very smooth and sharp wooden needle about twentyrfour to thirty inches long, the point of which is a little wider than the rest of the needle. When the entire needle is inserted into the blades, a wooden "creaser" is pressed over the ridge made by the needle to prevent the blades from splitting further. Then the needle, threaded with the cord, is pulled through and the process repeated at intervals of three to six inches, until the desired length is reached. Four blades are plaited to form the ends of the mat and are stitched in over its whole length. Then the ends of rushes are braided so that these ends are covered and the mat is finished. The twine for the reef nets for catching the sockcye salmon is made from the bark of willow saplings and is gathered in early June. The bark is torn into very fine strips, the outside layer removed, and the inner fibres used. Gill nets, submerged duck nets, suspended duck nets, dip nets and spread nets are made from the bark of nettles which are gathered in early fall as soon as the plant gets firm. After they are split and dried in the sun, a woman takes the split nettles and rubs them with the skin side downward over a thin edged wood board made for that purpose. As the nettle is worked over this thin edge all the brittle substance breaks away from the fine fibers of the plant. The net cord is prepared in the same way from both the willow bark and the nettle. When a sufficient amount of fiber is gathered the woman takes enough of the fiber in her left hand to make a cord one-eighth or

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one-twelfth of an inch thick. She makes a knot on the end of the fibers to prevent them from unravelling, separates the loose ends of the fibers, places them on the bare skin of her leg, below the knee, and with the palm of her right hand pressing the fiber against her leg, she makes a slow downward stroke which twists the fibers in two yarns. T h e n with a vigorous upward stroke the two yarns are rolled together to make the cord. T h e loose ends of the cord are always kept separate in two parts and other fibers are worked into these ends as the work proceeds, care being taken to keep the cord as near the same size as possible. T h e cord is wound into a ball upon a reel made by tieing together two sticks about six inches long. T w o cords are then tied in knots at intervals to make the desired size mesh for the net. A thin board measuring sixteen or twenty inches in length and from four to six inches wide is set firmly in the ground. A length of the cord is thrown around one edge of the board and a reef knot is made by crossing the cords at the other edge of the board, twisting them with a right turn, then crossing them again and making another twist. T h e knot is tied first on one side of the board then on the other, and the process is repeated till the desired number of meshes are made for the depth of net needed; gill nets have twelve to eighteen meshes, submerged duck nets ten, suspended duck nets twelve, spread nets ten, and each of the five sections of the reef net are twenty-four meshes wide and forty meshes long, the meshes being about four inches. T h e board is sometimes omitted and the fingers are used instead. After the desired number of meshes are made each mesh is hooked over a peg. T h e end with the ball hangs suspended from the half of the first mesh. T h e cord is held with the left hand and three fingers (not the index finger or the thumb) are used as a mesh board. A cord held with the right hand is worked from underneath through a loop in the mesh upward, care being taken not to cross the cords. T h e cord is then drawn until the loop is the size of the mesh desired. Another length of the cord is passed through the mesh from above downward. T h i s work when done by an expert becomes almost mechanical. A sufficient amount of twine is rendered from the ball and a half hitch is fastened to one of the stocks to prevent it from unwinding. As each loop is drawn through the mesh the spread fingers of the right hand hold it open and as it gets large enough the ball suspended at the end of the cord swings into the palm of the hand as it is pulled up. T h e right hand, with outstretched fingers, holds the loop with the thumb and little fingers and the palm facing toward the body and the ball rises and falls into the palm as the cord is pulled down through the loop. As it is drawn tight the upper loop of the knot is rolled with the thumb of the left hand. T h e knot to be perfect must have the ends which form the crotch in each mesh lie together running through a loop at both

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ends of the knot. All the webbing used by the Lummi Indians was knitted in this way, including the deer net which was made of the cord of the back of a deer. Canoes are built exclusively by men. The canoe builder chooses, with great care, a cedar tree approximately thirty feet long from any place within the area of the tribe and fells it by cutting all around it with a sledge and an elk horn blade. Suin or magic is employed to tell the tree to fall in a certain way to save it from breaking and from falling on the cutter. The tree is then trimmed and, when the boughs are removed, it is split into halves by means of large stone hammers; both halves are used as material for canoes. Small bone wedges start the split at one end and after the crack is begun, wooden spruce knots are inserted as gluts. As the wedges open, short timbers catch all the slack and the working wedge is placed at the smallest part of the split until the other end is reached. The outside of the log is shaped into the form of the canoe pattern with a stone adze until a rough finish is acquired, and then work on the inside is begun. Fires are set at intervals in the canoe and are permitted to burn until they have made holes large enough to hold large rocks which have been heated to red-hot. When these rocks have burnt the holes deep enough, they are removed and the sections between the holes are hewn out with the elkhorn and hammer. After these sections have been removed, the unfinished canoe is light enough to be handled, and the canoe builder with a few helpers drags it to his home along skids. If the log is obtained from a great distance, it is taken to the nearest point from which it can be brought by water to the builder's home. The canoe is then first finished up on the outside following the proposed pattern. Rows of little holes are next pierced from the outside by a bone point set in a wooden handle, at intervals of three or four feet, to the depth of one, two or three fingers depending on the thickness desired for the canoc. The inside of the canoe is then hewn until the holes are reached, the latter acting as a gauge indicating that the proper depth has been cut. The holes are then plugged up with sticks dipped in pitch. The finishing work is done with a stone adze and special effort is made to have the chip marks in orderly rows. When the marks appear as rhythmic as fish scales the canoe is valued highly and the builder is considered very skillful. The shape of the canoe depends upon whether it is built for speed for racing, or for journeying from place to place to get food. The latter canoe is made with a projecting rim extending a few inches beyond the sides of the canoe to withstand the waves. The inside convex surface of this rim is painted red which is the only coloring on the interior of the canoe. Cross pieces for seating are set four or five feet apart just below the rim. Holes

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arc drilled at the end of these cross pieces and corresponding holes on the side of the canoe where the seats rest, and through these holes the seats are laced to the sides with cedar limbs. The large canoes have their prows carved in the shape of a projecting nose and these are painted to give the appearance of conventionalized heads. No special meaning is given to these designs. The canoes for speed are built lighter and narrower than the conveyor canoes. The same technique is used throughout. Men also make the wooden water buckets and storage chests. A cedar board about three-fourths of an inch thick, twelve to fourteen inches wide, its length depending on the size of the box to be made, is marked into four parts. The three dividing lines between the parts are bevelled with a fine stone chisel and the board is then wrapped with wet sea weed about three inches thick. The wrapped board is buried in glowing charcoals above which a fire is kept burning until the seaweed dries, when the board is removed and the seaweed covering discarded. The board is then placed on a flat surface and bent into a square or rectangular shape by setting a narrow board in the bevelled creases and applying pressure. Holes are drilled two inches from the ends of the board which are mitred to fit closely together. Hardwood pegs, dipped in boiling pitch, are then driven into these holes welding the ends close together. Wedges are inserted in each end of the peg to help keep them in place and the sides of the box are complete. The board for the bottom two inches thick, is marked to the required size and then cut. An inch joint is carved out from the inside lower edges of the sides of the box and likewise from the top edges of the bottom board and the latter is fitted into the sides and jointed by means of pegs dipped in pitch. Hot boiling pitch is put into the seams on the side and bottom of the box to make it watertight. Holes are made near the top on each side of the box through which handles of coiled cedar ropes are drawn. The boxes which are used for water are often decorated with realistic figures of birds and animals usually colored dark red, and rarely carved. The design is obtained by the maker in a spirit experience. Wooden storage chests are made in the same manner as are the buckets with the addition of a fitted lid. A long rectangular cooking bowl called seme is hollowed out of a piece of dry cedar; its projecting ends are carved out as handles. This utensil is used for baking and steaming foods at large gatherings. Food is boiled by placing it in the bowl in water and heating the mixture with hot rocks, previously washed in a basket of water. Plates and platters called qwsoles are also made of cedar as are various sizes of spoons called tlopan. The latter are also sometimes made of mountain goat horn.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CONFLICT The Lummi Indians speak of themselves as a strong and numerous people. The story is told that after the conquest of the mainland by Skaloxt, the story of which will be told later, the people at one of their villages were so numerous, that when they shouted in unison the vehemence of their shout caused passing ducks to fall from the shock. Their "standard" is the cattail rush that grows about the house of the spirit of the two headed serpent sinatlqi. They say "You can cut down these rushes but they will always grow up again, even more than before. The Lummi are just that way." Attacks on other tribes are spontaneous affairs; there is no war council or careful premeditation. A warrior in a village arouses a fighting spirit by declaring that he is going to attack another tribe as a protest against some wrong done in the past or to revenge the death of one of his relatives. Other men having confidence in his strength express a willingness to cancel old grudges at the same time which may not have been important enough to risk battle alone. There is always some cause for fighting for the Indian is very sensitive and never forgets grievances. Some men join the war party because of slights at potlatches where they are invited but not given anything, some because they wish release for their pent up feelings occasioned by mourning, others because they are angry at a murder although it may have been retaliated, others because of an antagonism that arose during the athletic contests. Many join purely for the glory of fighting to capture heads of victims and to obtain slaves. The weapons used in warfare are bows and arrows, spears, and stone or bone war clubs. The bows are never very long, the strips of wood from which they are made being measured from elbow to elbow when the finger tips are touching each other at the chest. With these bows an able warrior can send an arrow through a young cedar tree, three or four inches in diameter. Poisons made from gall mixed with oil to prevent evaporation, are sometimes put on the arrow points. Spears are made of yew-wood poles six and seven feet long, to the end of which is attached a notched spear point made of rock or elk-bone. The spear point is fitted into the split end of the pole and wrapped to the pole with deer cords and then cemented with pitch. The spear pole is used to vault from the canoe when landing and to jump over objects in the way as the warriors pursue or retreat, as well as for fighting in hand to hand combat.

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In preparation for attack, the men fix their canoes to get all the speed possible from them, by closing up all leaks with cedar bark and pitch and singeing off the roughage. There is no dancing before the fight. Warriors refrain from sexual intercourse prior to battles lest their guardian spirits desert them. A group of men inexperienced in fighting go along as paddlers assisting as best they can during the battle. Old men also sometimes go along to use their spirit powers to encourage their warriors or to baffle the enemy. The warriors who take active part in the battle, generally sit in the bows of the canoes. Two or three of these men are in each of the canoes, with their bodies and faces painted for protection according to the directions obtained during their dream experiences. Men trust so much to their guardian spirits' help that each is willing to fight the battle alone if necessary and warriors sometimes go into camp single-handed to kill off the leading men of the rival tribes. One successful warrior is said to have had a flea for his guardian spirit. When he fought even the dust turned into fleas discomfiting his enemies and enabling him to kill them easily. One left-handed warrior conquered because the enemy did not expect to be hit by a club wielded by the left hand. Attacks are generally made at night, particularly toward morning. The best warriors or the best runners of the rival tribes are usually the first objects of attack. If such persons are killed, victory is claimed. The warriors behead their victims and bring home the heads as trophies. The heads are pierced through the neck on sharp poles, called tcaneqan which are placed in front of the houses for this purpose when they are built and to which the side boards of the house are fastened. Although the number of trophies on the pole determines to some extent the reputation of the warrior who lives in the house, it is not so much the number of heads as the persons they represent that brings prestige. Warriors at the beginning of their careers, display as many heads as possible, even of women and children, to gain recognition, but after one attains distinction, the standing of his victims determines the importance of his victory. While the trophies are on display, each warrior participating in the battle gives his war or victory dance as a sign of defiance to anyone to challenge his right to the victory. After the dances, the heads are kept on display for a brief time and then removed. Women and children are taken as slaves, to be used or sold to others, or redeemed by their relatives. The attackers especially try to take members of important families as slaves in order to humiliate them; the aged are left to die of privation. When women are captured they pull out strands of hair from the right sides of their heads and drop them where they are captured so that they may have a safe return through escape or by being redeemed from servitude.

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T h e fear of attack of enemies always hangs over the L u m m i people. A place was kept prepared behind their village for the safe retreat for the women, children and aged men. Men sit in a position balancing their entire weight on the ball of their feet and squatting down in a way that enables them to spring up at once. W o m e n prepare cradles for their babies that can be easily transported in case of attack. Men do not stand long in one place, especially near a rock or post, for fear of lurking foes. T h e entrance to the houses are made difficult to prevent surreptitious entrance. Many stories are told of the death of men who were not cautious and alert and also of men of valor to set a standard of behavior and to stimulate a war-like spirit. Feuds between members of a village and of neighboring villages are numerous and persistent. They arise not only through acts such as adultery, rape, murder which usually provoke retaliation and because of expressed insults, but also by insults that are thought to be implied in the remarks of someone speaking in public. T h e pride of the persons involved determines the intensity of the feud. A n accident which might be disregarded by some persons may agitate others with such high feeling that not only the immediate family but the cousins of one side of the family or sometimes even both will become involved in the feud. Y o u n g children were always told to be careful of the members of families whose ancestors had been antagonists even in remote times. T h e latter are always referred to as enemies and the emotions of the youth are played upon in such a manner that they long to engage in hand-to-hand combat with them. They are warned especially to guard against the suin or magic which might be used against them and of the devices of medicine men directed to injure them at the request of the rival families. It is against such dangers that children are cautioned to avoid careless action while at play in the presence of old men. Old members of the household while lying on their bunks very early in the morning before the family arises talk at random, interpersing warnings and giving advice helpful in war while discussing the history of the family. When adultery or rape is committed, the brothers of the disgraced victim seek to retaliate either by committing an offense against some woman in the family of the offender or by killing the perpetrator of the act or anyone closely related to him. D u r i n g the course of a feud all the hunting grounds are watched in hope of finding the offender; when he is found and killed, an impression is left on his body to show why he was killed. While the search for the offender is being m a d e his family may disclaim him by passing the news around that they will have nothing to do with him because of his conduct. If he is then killed they are not obliged to retaliate. Feuds are ended by one of the parties involved presenting property to the other party with words expressing the sentiment: " I bring this gift to cover up the blood which has been shed on your side of this feud and 1

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hope that you will accept it without any obligation on your part." T h e gifts are generally accepted because the party making the offer is usually the stronger of the two who wishes to rid himself of the constant impending danger. This blood-money usually ends the feud with all concerned. T h e slayer who caused the feud may gradually pay back those who have contributed toward the gift. Blood money is sometimes demanded by the injured party. Men do not fight with fists but with short straight knives; the attack is directed toward the abdomen. Knives are never carried about at a public gathering but are laid on mats near the sleeping-places. W h e n journeying the men carry their knives and other weapons in a pouch worn over their right shoulders. More recendy, guns have been used in battle. T h e Yeqwatltax who lived on the northern end of Vancouver Island and who are said to have been the first tribe to learn the use of guns from Russia, harrassed the Lummi. One of their expeditions is often described: T w o canoes, manned by sturdy warriors returning home from an attack on the Klallam, decided to attack the L u m m i who were encamped on Hales Pass. They had with them a Klallam woman they had captured and two of the leaders had disputed as to which was her rightful owner. They needed rest before engaging in another fight, so they landed at Lummi Island at a place called Moltona. T h e woman was released from the cross piece of the canoe to which she had been tied as a captive. T h e warriors left their canoes and lay on their stomachs on the warm sand. T h e afternoon sun was warm and all were soon asleep except for two young men who were set to watch while the others rested. These men had heard the quarrel over the woman and when all was quiet they began to laugh mischievously. When they attracted the attention of the captured woman, they motioned for her to go away. They repeated this several times and each time they nudged one another and giggled. T h e woman thought that they were only making fun of her, but when they signaled to her with more earnest gestures, she decided to go. At first she was timid but took courage as the distance between her and her captors widened. T h e young men finally waved to her to hurry and she turned and ran for the woods. She took a northerly course over the narrowest part of the island toward the place where she knew she would find some L u m m i people. T h e Klallam and the Lummi were friendly and their languages were similar. She hoped to save herself and to warn the people of the coming of the Yeqwatltax. Many of the Lummi were trolling for spring salmon along the Pass. When the woman came to the beach, she saw them and shouted: "Come and get me; the Yeqwatltax are coming." One of the men said, " W h a t is that person saying ? Sounds like Yeqwatltax is mentioned." They went ashore and after listening to the woman's story, they

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took her aboard and brought her across the Pass to Portage. Messengers were sent to different camps of the tribes and the leading warriors assembled to prepare for battle. The Yeqwatltax were soon seen coming. Two canoes of the marauding northern tribes came at full speed. The Lummi were prepared to meet them. As they came toward shore, the Lummi began to shoot and killed the paddlers one after another, who fell overboard with agonizing shrieks. They were very brave and no sooner would one man be killed when another would take his place as paddler. A young warrior by the name of Snuqweit held a position on a little bluff and fearlessly fought the enemy until he was called from a distance to retreat, by Sehunep another warrior who was noted for having such a loud voice that one could hear every word he said clear across the Pass. A dog would whine in fear when he spoke. From his long experience in war he had learned that it was not safe to fight in one position too long, so when his clear piercing voice was heard saying, "Come up from there; it is dangerous to fight close up too long," Snuqweit obeyed. The latter spoke of this battle as follows: "The Yeqwatltax were so warlike that when I shot the man sitting in the bow of the canoe, as the shot struck the paddle end right by his hand, and then hit him in the breast, he arose spreading his arms out, gave the war cry, hurling the blade of his paddle far out into the water and then fell back dead." The attackers were repulsed and they failed to recapture the Klallam woman who had warned the Lummi. It was after this battle that the Lummi Indians built a stockade at Gooseberry Point. The stockade was made from half logs seven and eight feet long set in a row on the ground, the top end sharpened in the form of a wedge. Long logs were grooved along one side and fitted over these wedged points, each top log forming a section which was braced inside by other logs. The sections were so arranged that the stockade was rectangular enclosing the entire village. This required many sections for the village had two large houses ten to twelve sections each, at right angles to each other. Tunnels with rocks over the top were dug at opposite corners of the stockade to points a short way out so that the entire stockade could be guarded by two men at these lookouts. There was a large pole in the center of the enclosure for hoisting a pitchwood torch to give light in case of a night attack. They perfected the light so that they could see a dog from a distance at night. A plank was planted along the trail to the spring water directly in back of the stockade with sharp bone spikes protruding to hamper the enemy during attacks and to catch anyone seeking to poison the water supply. In the daytime, the spikes were fixed so that the villagers would not be hurt, but every night they were set again. The stockade was built by a man named Sneqwaniq. When it was completed bullets were sent to the tribes of the

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north as a challenge for them to come to battle but these messages were never answered. Once the Yeqwatltax came toward one of the L u m m i villages when there were only a f e w warriors at home. One canoe with about thirty warriors suddenly appeared along the shore from the south. It had been easy for them to conceal themselves along this shore because there was a turn in the shore-line and the tide was low. The people had not seen the canoe until it rounded the bend and was rushing toward the camp with all the speed it could make. Stcaliqw, who was the only leading warrior in camp, took his musket and ran out to the beach to meet the enemy. H e fired at them but the attackers tilted their canoe and the slug sank into its heavy sides. A s the canoe's momentum carried it onward, he retreated and fired repeatedly with the same result. Running along the shore he attempted to jump a high embankment and fight from ambush. A s he leaped some of the driftwood gave way under his feet and he did not quite make the jump. He managed, however, to cling to an over-hanging tree, and as he did so he saw the dust fly just above his head where the slug from the gun of the bowman of the northern war canoe buried itself. Clinging to the tree he turned and fired at the bowman who with a shrill cry leaped into the water shot in the breast. T h e captain of the war canoe then swung his prow to sea and the warriors strained on their paddles and made their escape without further mishap. They had picked up the body of their dead comrade as he drifted by; there remained no evidence of the battle to convince the Lummi warriors that were absent that a battle had been fought. When Syenetlxw, another prominent warrior, returned from the hunt Stcaliqw taunted him for being away from the camp when he was so badly needed saying "P'eh! Where were you when your enemy was here?" Syeneltxw replied "P'eh! Where are your trophies to show that you were in battle?" In referring to this occasion the old men would say: " A t that time, those two great warriors passed wind at one another." They would point out the overhanging tree to the children as they passed by in canoes, saying, "That is where Stcaliqw stood as he fired the shot that scared the Yeqwatltax away." Another skirmish that the Lummi had with the Yeqwatltax at this village was in the springtime just as the winter camps broke up. The approaching enemies were not noticed until they began to run across the narrow neck of land that connects Point Francis to the mainland. T h e alarm was given and the camp was astir with warriors rushing out to the front of the village and the women and children running for the woods. The Lummi braves lined up to guard the village and the enemy approached with an excited young warrior frantically attempting to rush ahead of his tribesmen several of whom were holding him back by heavy cords tied

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about his waist. A spokesman of the northern braves was shouting and making signs for the Lummi to send their best man to fight single-handed with their brave. But the Lummi answered with a volley of shots. The enemy all dropped to the ground only to rise to continue their advance while the Lummi were reloading. When the enemy got near the camp Syenetlxw shouted to his comrades as he ran up into the woods, "I am unfit to battle because I had intercourse last night." Finally the leading warrior of the Yeqwatltax was killed and they retreated. Of the neighboring tribes, the Cowitchan were the greatest foes of the Lummi. The following is a typical story of one of their batdes. The Lummi once were encamped at Momli when the Cowitchan landed to fight them. From Sleiqsan, now Sandy Point, the Cowitchan had located the camps of the Lummi and decided to attack them at night. Under cover of darkness at high tide they crossed Lummi Bay toward the camp. The Lummi, alarmed at the sounds of their approach, sent the women to the woods with the children while the men stayed to give battle. The Cowitchan instead of giving battle, went to the woods to hunt for the women and children intending to carry them off as slaves. The Lummi warriors waited for them to come but to their surprise, they heard the screaming of women which revealed what the Cowitchan warriors were doing. They started off into the woods and fought the enemy there. The Cowitchan warriors were busy with their captives and retreated as best they could, intending to make way with them. The Lummi understood their country well and knew that by this time the tide had gone out and that the canoes were lodged in the sand and mud of the shores. They merely followed the Cowitchan people down to the water's edge where they got the advantage over them when the Cowitchan discovered it was impossible for them to move their canoes. The Lummi warriors shouted to the women to break away from their captors, which they did while the Lummi killed the Cowitchan men until their dead lay over the beach where the battle was fought. There were very few, some say two or three, who managed to get away during this battle by carrying a small canoe from the shore and using it to make their escape. When the tide came in, dog fish came and mutilated the bodies of the dead Cowitchan. In referring to this incident the Lummi people say that the dog fish helped them in the battle.

PART III LEGEND AND LORE

LEGEND AND LORE IN THE BEGINNING

The tradition of the origin of the Lummi people centers around the unique shape of the potlatch house at Gooseberry Point: Two brothers were placed upon this earth. They first landed in the vicinity of Somane. There they discussed the problem of getting a livelihood. They concluded that salmon would not come to this place so they moved south. The older brother stopped at Melexat but the younger brother, Swetan, continued on to San Juan Island, where he stopped to make a home. To both brothers, Xelas, the Transformer had given some important gifts—the salmon, the reef-net, the spear, suin and fire. Swetan, in his wanderings around the island became very lonely. When he would reach home, he would amuse himself by shaping a piece of rotten wood into the form of a person, and to this image he would relate his adventures, his likes and dislikes. When the Transformer came again, he asked Swetan why he had made this image. Swetan answered: "I was lonesome, I could not bear to be alone. This was the only way I could get comfort." The Transformer replied: "I will change this that you may enjoy yourself." He sprinkled water on the rotten wood and it became a woman. From the union of Swetan and this transformed image, sprang the Taleqamec tribe. The older brother after trying many ways to propogate a strong people, finally used a worn out mat successfully. At some very remote time, the Taleqamec tribe was visited by a great plague which nearly exterminated them. One of the last survivors gave a potlatch. When the feast was over he began to give gifts to his distinguished guests. One of these, named Qokwaltxw, was called to receive a gift which he apparently did not care to take. The host, confused by his behavior, continued to distribute the gifts to the other guests, occasionally trying to please Qokwaltxw by offering different gifts. But Qokwaltxw still showed dissatisfaction. When all the gifts were distributed, the survivor of the Taleqamec tribe exclaimed appealingly: "I don't know what to do. I am left alone of all my people and I care for nothing that I possess. But all that I have offered to this man does not suit him. I would like to know what he would take. I am willing to give all I have, even my house, if it will please Jum." Qokwaltxw answered: "That is just what I want." So the house was given him. Qokwaltxw had the house torn down and moved to Sandy Point on 107

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the northern part of Lopez Island. W h e n he arranged it in line with the buildings of that village, it was too cramped. H e then placed the house at right angles with the original village and made it the home of his daughter. T h i s part of the village was thereafter called Twlolames "facing one another" from which the name Lummi is derived. Qokwaltxw permitted his daughter to marry a man of a rich family from Lummi Island. H e asked the young people to live in this new home. As the family grew, he urged the children to excel in bravery and strength through careful observance of the restrictions of life. His hopes were gratified by the young warriors who were descendants of this family and were known among the Indians of Puget Sound as great leaders of their people. One of these was Sehenep who helped to bring the Lummi tribe into high repute. His people moved to Gooseberry Point where they used their inherited privilege to build their house in the shape of an L as had their forefather Qokwaltxw. T H E ORIGIN OF F I R E

MAKING

While the Indians were assembled at Xanetan they heard of the coming of Xelas, the Transformer. They prepared to welcome him with a feast. Fresh salmon was placed in a wooden bowl filled with water and tilted so that the sun rays were focused directly into it. From early morning young girls sang and danced about the bowl imploring "Quickly cook! Quickly cook! Quickly c o o k ! " During the dancing Xelas landed on the shore where mats were placed for him to walk over. H e approached the people and asked them what they were doing. They answered " W e have been waiting for you and we wish you to eat with us. A special meal is being prepared for you by our daughters." Xelas looked upon the people with favor and said " I will show you a better method of cooking food." So the dancing was stopped and Xelas took from the folds of his garment a little stick with a hole in the center which did not go entirely through the piece of wood and which had a notch leading out to one side. He placed this stick upon the ground and held it firmly while he took a slender shaft in his hand and put some very dry crushed cedar bark in the cavity of the stick upon the ground. H e twirled the end of the stick against the cedar bark in the cavity of the stick rubbing his hands together with the stick between them, constantly bearing down upon the particles of cedar bark. From the friction caused by the twirling, heat was created which first began to be visible by a thin curl of smoke. W h e n the fire appeared, it was nursed on with dry cedar bark which was always at hand. After this demonstration the Transformer selected the strongest young man in the village to make fire for his people. It is said that a foot print is seen on the

Legend and Lore rock where Xelas stepped ashore and the place has ever been called "foot print" Xanetan. H o w THE D E E R C A M E INTO EXISTENCE

Xelas started across East Sound to a place that has been called Teamteamkilang and as he landed he found a man busy on the shore grinding pieces of bone into sharp pointed instruments. T h e young man was putting finishing touches on the work when he was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Xelas asking him " W h a t are you making?" T h e young man without showing any courtesy replied, "Oh, I am making these for that proud and boastful Xelas who was supposed to come to these shores to visit these people. When he comes I shall greet him by piercing these into both his breasts." Xelas, surprised, asked him to let him see them. T h e young man carelessly handed them to him not knowing to whom he was speaking. Xelas calmly asked him to extend his hands. T h e young man obeyed and Xelas picrced one into each of his wrists saying, " F o r your folly you shall be food for your people." T h e young man then bounded away as a deer. Xelas commanded him to stop to remind him that he had no gall but the boy, now a deer, did not heed his call. Today, you will find in the fetlocks of the deer two little bones which the hunters call "tooth picks." These are said to be the bones Xelas pierced into the boy's wrists.

T H E ORIGIN OF FALSE CLAMS

A tribe of Indians had been visited by a great plague and only one man and his son survived. T h e man had learned while hunting ducks that, where there is a group of ducks, there are always one or two who seem never to spend much time eating but are on the alert and at the slightest movement are off for safety. So as soon as the man recognized the danger that had come upon his people, he took his little son away from them to an island. There they lived alone. T h e little boy began to wander about as he became able and he ventured further and further as he found new adventures. Years passed in this way and the father began to make arrows which he hoped to exchange for desired objects from passing bands of people. He was an expert at making them and would spend much of his time on the beach doing this work. One very calm day while he was working with his arrows his boy came rushing to his side and said, "Father, a pretty little duck is coming along the shore. I wish you would get it for me." T h e father saw a little duck of many colors swimming close to the shore. It seemed very tame so he tried to get it by wading out to it. While the

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duck was not startled, it kept at a safe distance. He tried to reach it with a stick but the duck moved further away, so he thought of his arrows. H e got a bow and an arrow, took aim and shot at the duck. The arrow pierced the bird and he lay on the waters as though he were dead. The man took his canoe from the shore and went out to get it, but as he reached for it, it fluttered and dived out of his reach. He went ashore and took other arrows and said to his boy, "Stay here. I will return soon and bring the little duck to you." The duck had swum quite a distance out into the water, so he followed. When he came within shooting distance he aimed at the bird and again hit his mark. As he reached for the duck a second time, it dove again, coming up at a distance and started swimming out to sea. The man followed the duck, interested not only in the duck, but in the arrows which had taken many hours of hard work. When he came within shooting distance of the bird again, he shot it, and again he thought he had captured it. But the little duck swam away with three arrows pierced in his body. The man decided to paddle with all his might and run it down. While he was doing this a heavy fog came up and when he looked back to see his home, he could see nothing. He wondered for some time, what he should do. He thought that the fog would soon lift and that he could easily find his way back home, so he decided to follow the little duck until he captured it. The chase began. The little duck kept ahead at a safe distance but always visible to the man. After some time, the man could see the shady appearance of land ahead and as he neared the shore he saw the duck rise out of the water as a man. Taking off his coat of many colors he shook the arrows loose and said to the man in pursuit, "Come ashore. My master has been wishing to see you for a long time." The man was surprised at what he had seen but he stepped ashore. He took the arrows which were handed to him and followed the man who had called him. They went up a steep incline and came to a large cave in the hill. As he walked in, an old lady met him and said, "Come in, my sonin-law. We have waited long for you." When he walked into the cave he saw three young men just donning feathery garments and starting out like great eagles over the water. The old lady said, "Those are just my sons starting out to hunt. Come and watch them." He stepped to the mouth of the cave and watched the three great birds go out over the water. The fog had lifted and he could see clearly, but all looked strange to him. Suddenly he saw one of the eagles circle and shoot downward to the water, and struggle with some large object while the

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other two birds came to his assistance. They had caught a whale and they lifted it bodily out of the water and brought it ashore. After landing the game, the eagles took the choice part of the whale, the section just under the dorsal fin, usually given to the main hunter, and the people took the rest of the whale. The people were rejoicing, as the young men, dressed in the feathery garments of the thunder-bird, walked off to their home to welcome the man they had wished to see for a long time. A meal was prepared for them at which a young lady was introduced to the man who was brought to this unknown place with the words, "Here is your wife." The man seemed uneasy, thinking now of his little boy left alone, but to his surprise the young lady said, "Your little boy is all right. My friends are taking care of him, so do not worry. We shall go to your little boy and I shall live with you. But for the present, I wish to go with you on a hunt. My father's garments are here which will be yours, so you must learn to use them." The man hesitated at first. Knowing that cowardice was not liked among the people, he consented to use them. They helped him put on the garments and they told him to try to fly from the precipice. He leaped into the air and to his surprise it was very easy to fly. He circled out a little distance and came back. He was so happy to know that he could do this, and, confident of his strength, he said to the girl, "Let me go and hunt alone and see what I can do." The old lady stepped up to him and said, "You must be very careful. We are here to guard the people who live below from the dangers of a great serpent which lives in the water." She stood close to his side and pointed to the exact position where the serpent usually came to the surface. She said, "It looks exactly like a whale when it rises, but it never shows its tail. It will mean certain death if you touch it." With this precaution the man started out, and as he circled over the waters, anxious to be through with his work, he forgot the warning that he had just received and flew directly over the place where the serpent lived. The people on the shore saw him as he circled over the place and knew in an instant that he had made a mistake. In the excitement of the moment the three brothers and the mother did not notice the girl as she rushed in to get her garments and before they could stop her she was sailing out over the water to the assistance of her husband. The young hunter swooped down over the whale and began to raise it up as he had seen the other young men do. He was cheered as he felt it yielding to his strength, but after lifting it a little he felt it draw back, pulling him into the water. The serpent had pulled him down until only his back was visible above the surface when his young wife came to his assistance. She alighted on his

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back and attempted to draw him from the water by flapping her wings. The thought of the danger facing their sister had moved the men on shore to go to her aid, and each taking hold of the other, the great thunderbirds began to pull on the serpent. Even with all this assistance it was impossible to raise the serpent out of the water, so the mother decided to die with her children and went to their help. The mighty birds pulled upon the serpent, seemingly in vain. Suddenly, with a snap like the breaking of ice, the body of the serpent gave way. The birds carried it to the shore where it was cut up in small bits and thrown to the four winds. Today, anyone walking along the shores will see these bits which appear to be clams, but when they are dug out, they are found to be fastened to a rock and they contract in the same manner the big serpent did when he was in the water. T H E ADVENTURES OF M T . BAKER'S

WIFE

Spieden Island in Puget Sound called Whateth, was formerly one of the wives of Mt. Baker, the other wife being Mt. Rainier. After a serious quarrel Mt. Baker sent his wives away. He hired many animals to dig a trench for his wife Whateth to travel in, which now forms the Nooksak river. Before she started on her journey she gathered many kinds of food. As she came to the salt water at Lummi Bay, she started in a southerly direction and ate her first lunch at Chucheenung now Barnes and Clark Islands. There she ate chucheen so that is why this food is found there. She then travelled west and stopped at the next island, Matia Island, where she ate camas and this food is found there. She went a little further west and ate some mussels at Sucia Island so this food is found there. She started in a southwest course along what is now President Channel and stopped at Flat Top Island and ate devil-fish, so this food is found there. Being with child she decided to stop in this vicinity. It took her a long time to decide and as she stood looking over the country, the winds blowing about her tall figure caused many whirlpools. Whenever the winds were blowing it made no difference how far away people were, a suction of water would draw them toward her and devour them. Xelas, the Transformer, came to her and said, "If you remain standing, this will continue until there will be no more people, so you must lie down." She lay down, and that is why the island is now there. Her child is a nearby island very similar in shape to Spieden Island. On clear days Mt. Rainier, the other wife, can be seen raising her head above the clouds to see how her husband is getting along.

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T H E ORIGIN OF THE SXOAXI M A S K

A boy whose mother was dead was undergoing training. His father never permitted him to have anything that he wanted. H e was never even permitted to associate with his only sister. Every morning he had to bathe, and at night he was sent on long errands to distant places either to deliver messages or to find articles that had been left intentionally to test him. One day when he was at home, his sister came to him in spite of all that had been done to keep them apart, and sympathized with him saying, " Y o u must be hungry. I will go with you on your next errand and help you get some food to eat." T h e very next time he was sent on an errand, the girl followed him, and prepared some fern roots which he ate. W h e n he returned, he felt very sick. T h e father at once suspected the boy of disregarding his instructions and said to him: " Y o u are spoiled. I will send you away where you will die as all those who break their promises do." T h e boy was sent away. While he was on his journey over the hills and through the woods, sores began to break out all over his body. H e was so ashamed of what he had done that he decided to walk as far away from home as he could before he died, so that he would never be found again. H e had reached a little creek and, after drinking of its water, he decided to camp there. H e prepared a place to rest, for he was now very weak. Many days' journey separated him from his home. While he slept, two men approached and looked pitying over his body and said to him, " W e will help you if you will do what we tell you. Tomorrow, go down to the creek and there you will find two salmon. One will be red and the other, black. Catch them and bring them here. Handle them very carefully. Gather winter ferns to lay them on while preparing them for cooking. Cook them on the fire and when they are well done, lay them on skunk-cabbage leaves, on one side of your fire. Sit on the other side looking longingly at the fish, but do not dare to touch them. Then your desire to eat will leave you." T h e boy looked at the men who spoke to him. They were dressed in cedar bark, one painted with red paint and the other with black. Without any further conversation they left him. T h e next morning, the boy went down to the creek and there he found the two salmon as he had been told. He carefully followed directions and as he sat watching the cooked fish, he was tempted very strongly to eat them but did not. As he sat there, he felt something move on his cheek, and then saw a frog leap from his cheek to one of the salmon on the other side of the fire. Another frog then leaped from his other cheek to the

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other salmon. Frogs also leaped from his breast to the salmon. Finally he left the place. That night, he camped again further up the stream. Again he saw the same two men and heard them say, " G o up this creek and follow it as it goes under the mountain." T h e next morning, he went up toward the mountain and saw that the creek disappeared at its foot. H e stepped into the water and was drawn along by its current until he reached a long house. He looked about and saw various kinds of costumes hanging on the walls. An old man addressed him saying, "I am glad you have come but you must hurry back home now. W e cannot give you anything from here. T h e gift that you are to have, we shall bring to your home. When you reach home, do not go into the house at once but ask them to clean up the place, putting new mats at the section of the house where you will stay. Tell them to have two large baskets made for you and in the morning, after the house has been cleaned, and you have stayed one night, tell your sister to take three strands of her hair, to tie them together, and then to go out on the river bank to troll. Then you will receive that gift that we intend for you." When the boy reached home he had his father prepare the house as he had been told to do, and when the work was finished, the following day, very early in the morning, he sent his sister down to the river to troll. At first, she did not know what to expect. She spliced three strands of her hair and fastened them on a little pole and cast it out on the water. T o her surprise she felt the pole pulling and she began to draw it up joyously but was startled as she heard rumbling noises under the water. Her brother encouraged her to keep pulling and when her catch came to the surface it was the Sxoaxi mask used in ceremonial occasions. It looked very hideous to her, the form being like the face of a big person with bulging eyes and an open mouth showing one tooth missing, and a nose like the head of a bird. T w o bunches of deep-sea shells were fastened to a wooden hoop and attached on either side of the mask. T h e young man asked that one of the baskets be brought to him and he placed the mask in it. H e then told his sister to fish again and she drew up another mask just like the first. That night, when the people were gathered, all wondering what this strange happening meant, the young man began to sing the song used with the mask at ceremonies. T h e strongest young men of the village who were the near relatives of the boy were chosen to use the masks. They placed them on their heads and shook rattlers in their hands going through the motions indicated by the rhythm of the song. When the dance was perfected the young man was called to different

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THE SXOAXI MASK AND CEREMONIAL SPEARS AND CLUBS 2.

SPIRIT DANCE RATTLE

Legend and Lore villages to use the masks at ceremonies.

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In this way he acquired great

wealth. H o w THE L U M M I C A M E TO T H E I R PRESENT ABODE

Among the Swallak people, who lived on Orcas Island, dwelt a widow with two sons, the oldest of which was named Whtathum. After due preparations were made with the help of some friends, the widow secured the hand of a young woman from the Skalakin tribe on the mainland to become the wife of her eldest son. This was the first marriage between the two mighty tribes and the young couple was therefore highly esteemed. Whtathum became a victim of pride and taunted his young wife about her great fortune in having married him. T h e girl tolerated this abuse and her forbearance was praised by the people. T h e kindness shown by the people to his wife made Whtathum very jealous. His mother cautioned him against his overbearing behavior but her advice only made him worse. One day the wife's parents came with some of their near relatives to visit their daughter. They brought food with them which the girl prepared. She invited some of the oldest people of the village to share it and to meet her parents. T h e topic of conversation was principally the expression of good will and admiration of the daughter who came as a stranger to their midst but who had won their respect through her kindness to all who came to her home. T h e visit lasted for two days after which they returned to their homes laden with food which was given them at their departure. Whtathum was respectful while his wife's parents were there but after they went away his old moods returned with greater intensity. In the course of one of his outbursts he took a basket of elderberries which had been part of the food brought by the girl's parents, and threw it out saying, "They even bring their dung to us." H e then ordered his wife to leave. T h e girl's patience was exhausted, but because her mother-in-law begged her to stay, she remained for her sake. Her husband persisted in his cruel treatment in spite of his mother's pleading. Finally one night when Whtathum sent her away again, she took a canoe and departed alone for her home. When she arrived she revealed how she had been abused. Her people could hardly believe the story for they had received such a warm welcome and all had seemed to be so well pleased with the girl. When they heard of Whtathum's disposition, they were angry and determined to kill him at the first opportunity. They decided that if he were such a man, he would soon come to them, for his people would convince him of his folly, and in order to restore himself in their favor he would come to urge his wife to return.

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Whtathum tried to convincc himself that he had a right to act as he had done, but every time he discussed his behavior with anyone his confidence weakened. He began to inquire among his people if they had seen his wife, but no one gave him any encouragement. His mother told him that his wife's desertion was his own fault. She cried and warned that great wars often resulted from such conduct as his. Whtathum saw his mistake. There was nothing now for him to do, but go to the parents of his wife and bring her back. One day he went on a trip accompanied by his young brother. It was early and the day was warm and calm, as they paddled swiftly and silently through the oil-like surface of the waters. As they came around Tcawoqs now Point Midgley, they could see the blue smoke curling up from the village far up on Lummi Bay at a place called Momli. It was early afternoon when they started across Hales Pass and followed the shore along the mainland north of Temxwigsan, or Gooseberry Point. T h e tide was running out when the two men in the canoe reached Telopi where their canoe went aground. A young man on the shore noticed the two as they stopped. H e saw the man in the rear of the canoe step into the shallow water and after making some motions toward the camp, start off along toward the village. T h e young man rushed up to warn the people of the coming stranger. It was Whtathum who stepped from the canoe. As he stood in the water by his younger brother, he told him of his sorrow. H e repented his conduct and he told his brother that he would try to reconcile himself to his wife's people if they would accept him. H e feared, however, that they would not forgive him and he told his brother to be careful and not permit the canoe to get lodged on the sand bar but to keep it in the water by following the tide out. H e said, "If I see any danger I will warn you by running out on the sand bar in front of the camp. If you see me do that, do not wait for me because it will mean sure death." So Whtathum started away from his brother unarmed, hoping to right the wrongs of the past. T h e people were all on the alert as soon as the young man brought the news of the coming stranger. Whtathum's wife recognized him and told the people that it was her husband. Her brothers told her to go down to the beach and work on a mat, and that when he approached she should be peaceful with him so that he would not suspect any danger until they could surround him. Sitting on a mat on the warm sand, her long hair bathed in the afternoon sun, she was very attractive to Whtathum. H e recognized her at once, and in his eagerness to make up with her did not sense the danger before him. She did not appear to be hostile so he lay down on his stomach on the mat and said, "Will you see if there are any lice in my hair?"

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The wife who had been wronged so long had only one object in her mind and that was revenge. Now was her chance. She started to fondle his head and to pretend to be looking for lice, but all the time she was tangling her fingers in his long coarse hair. When her hands began to tighten against his head, he jokingly asked, "What are you doing?" She did not answer him but screamed for help. He rose to his feet but his wife held firmly to his hair. He saw the men coming with spears ready to kill him. His only thought now was to warn his younger brother, so he would leave and save himself. Whtathum, like the stately bush deer of his mountain home, raised his head and summoned all his powers in his effort to get far enough out on the sand bar for his brother to see him. His wife held on to his hair with all her might, and as he ran, she dangled behind him like a blanket. The young boy in the canoe saw his brother as he ran with an object clinging to him. Directly behind him came a band of warriors that quickly gained on their victim. Then he saw them mercilessly kill his brother. Broken hearted, he stepped into his canoe and started for home. When he arrived he told his mother of his brother's fate and cried out, "They have killed my brother. I have nothing to live for but revenge." So he left his home and friends for the friendly stillness of the great forests and lakes of Orcas Island. He lamented the loss of his brother and he bathed and fasted for many days. Only occasionally would he chew a bit of licorice root. He came to Mountain Lake where he stayed for several days bathing in its cool water, scrubbing his body with cedar boughs and diving down in different places along its shores in the hope of meeting the spirit of the lake. He did not experience any strange thing until he had gone clear around the lake, when he heard a hidden voice say, "I am no good for you. Go to a little lake at the foot of Mt. Constitution. There they will give you what you want." Nearly a year had been spent in the quest of the spirit and the young man was getting weak from fasting and exposure. As the voice gave him directions it seemed to him that the whole island on which he lived was placed before him and he could see just where the lake was to which he should go. Weak and worn, he started out for the lake. It was early in the morning when he found it just as he had seen it in his dream. There was a little steep bluff overlooking the lake from the east and as he examined the water it looked very strange. Fine seaweeds lay hanging downward in the water along the edge. He threw a stick into the water and a whirlpool appeared and drew the stick out of sight. He decided that this might happen to him when he would dive in the water, so he made a rope of cedar boughs long enough to reach the center of the lake. He fastened one end securely to a tree and the other around his waist. He went into

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the water and swam out to the center. Suddenly he was drawn down by a great whirlpool till the rope tightened. T h e current drew him downward so forcibly he was unable to turn and reach for the rope. T h e strain was great and he fainted. T h e suction in the lake ceased and the water of the whirlpool gushed out overflowing the banks of the lake. When the water of the lake settled back to its natural level the body of the young man lay high and dry upon its banks. While still in a faint condition, the young man heard a voice telling him to go to Metels, now Point Lawrence, and he would get what he wanted. W h e n he awoke he was weak but happy in the thought of getting the reward of his suffering. It was evening as he camped. In the morning he started for Point Lawrence. W h e n he arrived he swam out some distance and dived. A war club was handed to him by an unknown hand and a voice said, " T a k e this and go. W h e n you use it all living things around you will become dazed and helpless. W h e n you show it to people a heavy fog will enshroud you. Your name shall be Skalaxt." So the young man's cry for vengeance was heard. H e prepared some cedar bark for a covering and wrapped the club and carried it toward home. W h e n he neared his destination he hid his treasure and then went to his home. H e was weak, but with the care of his mother he quickly recovered. H e told no one about what he had gained. As he went about, he would try his arm to see how much of a blow he could give and the result was amazing. His brother had a dog that he had used while hunting and it now belonged to Skalaxt. One day a group of young men went out to Deer Point to hunt deer with the deer net. While they were setting the nets the dogs began to fight. Skalaxt's pet dog was getting the worst of it, so Skalaxt took a stick and struck one of the dogs to stop the fight and killed it. His guardian spirit had given him such power in the use of his arm that without much effort the blow was fatal. T h e owner of the dead dog looked at Skalaxt and sneered, " W i t h dogs you are brave. W h y don't you think of your brother?" T h e hunt was abandoned as the young men heard the bold reply, "All right, let's go. I must wipe away my sorrows for my brother." W h e n Skalaxt came to the village he announced his decision to attack the Skalakin tribe. He said, "Dry your canoes and singe off the roughness from the bottoms. Tomorrow we shall go." T h e whole camp was astir; groups here and there were discussing the possible outcome of such a step. They knew that the Skalakin were a mighty people, but they also remembered Skalaxt's long absence and the possibility of his getting some great gift which would give him the courage to carry out his plan. T h e next

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morning, several canoes were carried from their place on the shore and set on the water. When all were ready Skalaxt said, "Wait until I return." H e brought the club from the place where it was hidden and leaving it still wrapped in the cedar bark, he stepped into the leading canoe and gave the word to start. Men skilled in the use of paddles sank them deep into the green water and with even strokes the canoes were carried swiftly out through Obstruction Pass and around Point Lawrence. It was evening when they reached Point Midgley. The old men who were along called a halt and said to Skalaxt, "Why are you bringing us to such danger without showing us what your strength is. Kindly show us a little." So Skalaxt unwrapped his bundle and as he lifted it, a mist came up, so heavy that the men in the same canoe could hardly see one another. This act brought approval from the leaders of the several canoes and the party moved on across Hales Pass under cover of this heavy fog. When they came to the place where Skalaxt had stood some years before and had seen his brother killed, he stopped the party and gave these orders. "I shall do all the fighting. There must be a trail along which the people are accustomed to travel to go to the woods. I will locate that trail and guard it while you approach the village from the beach. Give me a little start then follow up quickly and give the war cry." With the speed of a deer, Skalaxt bounded off through the night and heavy fog. As he expected, he found a well beaten trail back of the camp which the people used in leaving the village during an attack. No sooner was he ready when he heard the war cry of his comrades from the beach. There was a stir and a rush in the house. He could hear the heavy breathing of the people as they made their way up the trail. As they would come groping their way through the fog, he would club their heads and let them fall to the ground. The people seemed to be in a stupor and did not notice what was happening to those ahead of them. When the bodies were heaped in a pile in one place, Skalaxt would move down the trail a little and continue to slaughter the people as they came. Each time he moved he would get a little closer to the houses until finally he came upon the warriors attempting to keep back their enemy while the rest of the people escaped. These men he also killed. The slaughter was so great that it is said very few, if any, escaped from that village. Skalaxt and his party returned victorious but he was not satisfied because he knew that the Skalakin tribe lived in many different villages. Sometime thereafter, with a few men, he returned to satisfy his revenge. This time they landed at Portage. There they found a man fishing flounders at night. They silently drew close to him. When he saw them he was frightened, but Skalaxt told him not to fear, that if he would tell where

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the village was and where the grounds lay, they would not harm him and his family. After he told, he took Skalaxt's advice to hurry home to bar his door and keep the fires well lit up in his house. That night Skalaxt crept into one of the houses and hid. The people were all busy preparing meals of fresh flounder which were caught that evening. While a woman was cooking, a dog came near her and she drove it away saying, "You long-faced thing like Skalaxt." Skalaxt stepped up to the woman pulling her to the ground by her hair. Taking the flounder which she was cooking, he slapped it across her face saying, "Yes, I am here, take that." Then another slaughter took place. In the spring, Skalaxt decided to go a third time, but this time to get a wife. He went with two men to Sandy Point and followed the Old Nooksak River, now Red River, to a place called Kwakas. There they pulled their canoe into a slough and waited to see what would happen. There was a siem living up the river, who wanted to go out net fishing. He said to his friends, "It may be that Skalaxt will be waiting for me somewhere along the river. I will take my daughter along and offer her to him, so that he will spare the few of us still living. I will also give our river and land to him that he may come and live with us." While fishing, he would shout repeatedly his offer to Skalaxt hoping he would spare him. When they came near Skalaxt's hiding place Skalaxt pushed out to him and said, "I am here and I will be glad to take your offer." The siem told Skalaxt to take his daughter and accept the river as a gift with her. He urged him also to move his relatives to the mainland and to renew friendly relations with this tribe. Skalaxt took the girl as wife and moved his friends to the main land thus enlarging the territory of his people. From that time, the Lummi Indians grew to be a mighty tribe, roving not only along the main land, but all over among the islands. IN T H E L A N D OF THE DEAD

The parents of an only son, in their affection for him, neglected to put him through a period of intensive training to search for spirits. But the boy longed to do things as other men did. With admiration, he had watched hunters returning with their game or had heard them relate startling experiences of the hunt. He saw young men of his age dancing at the festivities during the winter, the period when men refrained from work and sang their spirit songs. Some warriors in his village decided to attack another tribe. Canoes were prepared and they embarked on the warpath. The young man eager

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to follow his companions went with them. When they arrived on the shores near the camp of the enemy, they disembarked and approached the camp on foot. The enemy evidendy had received warning and made the battle a series of skirmishes. While the battle was being waged, the young man was chilled by the thought of death but in his eagerness to bring home a trophy of war, he pilfered a skull from a grave. He wrapped it in his blanket and carried it back to his canoe. As the warriors returned, they boarded their canoe and started for home. All were surprised that the young man survived the battle, knowing that he had no training, but none of them questioned him as to what he had done because he was from a respectable family. When they arrived at their home village, he went to his house. He carried the skull which was wrapped in a blanket to his bunk and sat down without telling what had happened during the battle. At night, his father and mother seemed to hear mumblings from the direction of the boy's bunk. After this had occurred many nights, the mother investigated and discovered the skull wrapped in a blanket on her son's bunk. This struck her with fear, for since the day she saw her boy place this bundle on his bunk, she noted great changes in his behavior. He refused to eat or to keep company with his parents. The mumblings became distinct conversations which together with his queer demeanor only pointed to the boy's most certain death if they were not stopped. In the absence of the boy, the mother took the skull and tossed it far out into the water. When the boy returned he seemed to be aware of the absence of the skull. He went to his bunk, looked carefully where he had laid it then turned to his mother he said, "What have you done?" Without further remarks, he went out, got into the canoe, and with a long pole he fished the skull from the water and brought it back to its place. Again the weird communication was heard in the house. Three times the mother endeavored to dispose of the skull, but each time the boy recovered it without any difficulty. The whispering conversation was continued more boldly and finally through the night the boy would be seen walking from the house with a blanket over his head in such a way that it appeared as if two people were there instead of one. All of this time the boy had been conversing with the skull which slowly and gradually turned into a beautiful girl who was now accompanying him in his night walks. In the day time she would be a perfect skull. The boy's health declined until he became like a skeleton. Then the girl said to him, "I must now leave you and go to my people." Then the boy begged to go along. When she refused he insisted that he must go. The girl consented but warned him that in the land of the dead, strange

122

The Lummi Indians of Northwest

Washington

things happened which if noticed would bring disaster upon him. T h e boy promised never to notice anything and the girl consented to take him along. After they had walked together a short distance from the home, the girl stamped on the earth. T h e earth opened. They walked through the opening which closed behind them. A new world seemed to open before the young man as he passed beautiful prairies and forests. Along the path was a bed of ripe blackberries at which the boy exclaimed, " O h , how beautiful," upon which the berries became bees, buzzing all about the pair. T h e girl reminded the boy of his pledge never to notice anything, and he renewed his promise. After walking a little distance farther he saw a deer trotting away from them. " O h , a deer," he said. Immediately he became a deer, leaping around with the others. W i t h a wave of her hand the girl caused him to return to the form of a man and said, "Didn't I tell you to be careful?" So the boy promised again to be more careful. Beautiful things passed by in their walk along the strange path. A t last they came to a river and the girl told him, "There is my home. Now you must take special care not to notice any of the people." As the boy looked toward the camp across the river, he saw the people playing upon a springing beam. T h e people dancing in time with the music would sometimes spring up and land on their heads, springing back to their feet. Thrilled by the scenes before him, he asked the girl, " H o w shall we get across?" She answered, " I will shout and they will come for us." T h e boy said, " T h e river is wide and I have a louder voice, let me call." T h e girl consented and when they came to the bank the boy shouted at the top of his voice, "Come and put us aboard." T h e dancing was continued and everyone moved about as though they heard no sound. Again and again, the boy shouted but each time to no avail. H e consented to have the girl call which she did in a soft musical voice. T h e whole camp seemed to stir and go to the bank. A canoe was launched and young men paddled with all their might across the stream. T h e boy forgetting his promise not to notice anything, exclaimed, " W h y , the canoe is only one-half." T h e girl hushed him but the boy seemed not to hear, saying, "One of the men has rotten wood on the side of his face, and another has moss on the side of his face." T h e girl kept nudging the boy who barely escaped making a remark in the hearing of those in the canoe. As they landed they sniffed the air and said, " A human scent." T h e girl quieted their fears by telling them

Legend

and

Lore

I2

3

that all was well, so they embarked and were taken across. She took the young man to her home and related the account of her acquaintance with the boy. While they were in the house a shout went up in the camp. "An elk, an elk is swimming down the stream." Such excitement stirred the camp that the girl asked the boy to go out and look. As they stood on the bank of the river he looked for the supposed elk but none was to be found. The cry continued, "Elk, elk, going down the river." When he asked the girl, she explained that they meant a caterpillar was going down the stream that it was rare food and they considered a man great if he could capture such an elk. He broke a long stick, reached out for the caterpillar and drew it to the shore. He was at once accepted as a great man. The girl told the boy, "You cannot remain with us long, you must return to your people." But the boy begged to remain with the girl stating that he desired to marry her. After consulting her parents it was decided that they should marry, but first he was to return to his people. Preparations were made for their return. Berries, meats and bulbs were stored in small baskets containing not much more than a handful. With these little baskets the girl returned with the boy. When the boy arrived at his home he told his parents of his decision and his plan and asked them to call their friends which they did hesitatingly, knowing of their limited supply of food and property. A large crowd assembled. The girl was now visible to the living and proved to be a very beautiful woman with long brown hair. She took the basket containing the dried berries and started to pass the food to the people. Each person received a large handful. Each time she would hand a portion to an individual she would shake the basket and it would be full again until the whole house was fed on what appeared to be a handful of food. The same thing was done to each of the other baskets to the surprise of the people everyone had plenty to eat. Soon after the boy died and returned with his wife to the ghost land.

NOTE I

(1) Kinship relationships are designated by the following terms which are used in place of proper names except on ceremonial occasions: Most remote ancestor—qVt'cia'qw Great-great-great-grandparent or child—okwiyaqw' Great-great-grandparent or child—tso'p'iaqw Great-grandparent or child—tco"maqw Grandparent—se'la' Grandchild—e' 'ngas Parent—e'ya"leng Father—men Mother—ten Relative—stce'tce' Plr.—stce'letceRelatives of the preceding generation—selo'langat Parent's sibling and cousin—se"'tcs Plr.—sele'tcs Parent's sibling and cousin when parent is dead—sksetce"'! Plr.—sksetce'l Child—nga'ne' Plr.—nge'nngane' Male child (new-born)—swe 'ko'l Female child (new-born)—slena'tco"! Sibling's child and cousin's child—ste'kwan Plr.—stete'kwan Diminutive term for sibling's child and cousin's child—tkwano'l Sibling's child and cousin's child when orphaned—sqwannge'tcl Older sibling and child of parent's oldest sibling—che"'il Plr.—csce'il Younger sibling and child of parent's youngest sibling—sea'atcan Plr.—sela'atcan Diminutive for younger sibling and child of parent's youngest sibling— setcall Brother or male cousin—cxwc'qwe' Plr.—cxwelc'qwe' Sister or female cousin—e"'las Plr.—ele 'las Relationship between siblings and cousins—eq'we'tal' Step-parent—cxwso'kel Step-child—snane''ng Plr.—snanne-'ng Half-siblings and half-cousins—snatci'wal Wife—den' Husband—sweik' Co-wife—si'ye" Relationship between co-wives—sasio'tal Favored wife—tie'lnatc Widow or widower—sye"'tan Relationship between in-laws—kwak'welwa'stal 124

Note I

12

5

In-law—skwolwas Plr.—skwelkwo'lwas In-law after death of child's spouse—kwel$weong' Parents-in-law, wife's brother and wife's male cousin—sle"'il Plr.—slsle-'il Wife's sister, wife's female cousin, husband's brother, husband's cousins—snge'txwan Plr.—sngele'txwan Diminutive—snenete'xwan Son-in-law, daughter-in-law—stcawte-'! Wife or husband's brother—snet'ce'lnak Relationship between two or more women married to brothers— nen'tc'iweltal Relationship between in-laws and person after death of spouse—tce''ie Plr.—tcetc'oye' Orphan—qwe'nang Relationship between tribes when there are any marriage ties—lekut'ol Gender is indicated by the masculine prefix tsa and the feminine prefix sa. The first person possessive is expressed by inserting the prefix na between the term and the gender prefix as for example tsana8e''tcs, meaning "he my uncle"; third person possessive, by adding a suffix s as for example tsase'las, meaning "his grandparents." Relationship by marriage is expressed by the prefix cxw when no special term exists, as for example tsanacxwse'la', meaning "my grandfather by marriage." Age in relation to the speaker is designated by modifying adjectives meaning older, intermediate and younger except in the instances noted in the table. Although they are designated by the same kinship terms, brothers are distinguished from male cousins and sisters from female cousins by modifying phrases in conversation. When a child's father or mother dies, the term used to express relationship to the deceased one's relatives changes but his relation to his living parent's relatives remains the same. When both mother and father die, the relationship terms change on both sides. When a person speaks of his deceased elders, he uses the past tense prefix with the possessive prefix, as for example kwnase'la' "my deceased grandparent." The kinship terms reflect the existing social organization and status relationships; for example, a husband's brothers and cousins potentially obliged to marry his widow (levirate) and a wife's sisters or cousins potentially obliged to marry her widower (sororate), are designated by the same kinship term signifying this relationship, while those not involved in such a relationship are grouped under another term.

NOTE II OWNERSHIP OF FISHING LOCATIONS Members of the L u m m i tribe fished with the reef net at seven different sites: Tceltenem or Point Roberts; Sqalekwcan or Village Point on Lummi Island; Xwtcixom or Bee Station north of Sandy Point; Tlqwoloqs or Point Doughty on Orcas Island; Xoxolos, a point on Orcas Island south of Freeman Island; Xwitcosang, in Upright Channel south of Shaw Island; Sxoletc, a point on Lopez Island opposite Lopez. The information available concerning ownership of fishing locations is fragmentary and refers only to the first of these sites but there is consensus of conviction among informants that the evidence indicates the form of ownership of fishing locations prevalent in this region. At Tceltenem along the reef which extends nearly to the center of the bay are seven locations named by the L u m m i : Tsetlsngtonele, "the one nearest the shore"; Qetsxolyon, "the leavings"; Tlelpotcn, meaning not known; Mokwsoi, "kissing rock"; Sxoxol, "hollow or deep place on the r e e f ' ; Sqileqs, "outer end of r e e f ' ; Tomtomexon, "the edge of the current." Each of these locations, which contained enough frontage on the lee side of the reef for as many as five nets, was owned and managed by an individual who was a direct descendant of the former owners. These individuals permitted their near relatives to operate nets within their premises. When a woman is the only direct heir, her husband manages the location, with the assistance of her relatives. Each location was operated by the same individuals or his successors every year and exclusive rights were recognized and honored. When the young man took over the fishing location he was often given the name of his father irrespective of the name he had previously had. When last used by the Indians in 1898, the fishing rights at locations on the reef of? Tceltenem were owned by the following individuals who had obtained these rights through inheritance: Tcexenoq and his father at Tsetlsngtonele and at Sqileqs; Sxotqomoltxw and his son Stenoq at Mokwsoi; Yiqsep, brother-in-law, and Tleluqom and Yeqwetx, brothers, at Sxoxol. Others who owned fishing rights at locations which cannot be exactly identified were Tlpetcon, Poquchtin, and Sitexolton jointly; Joe of Semiamoo and Saqalkett; Joseph Bell and Felix Solomon; and Harry Sxewalton. Although the material is fragmentary it may be concluded that while the sites are considered the property of the entire tribe, rights to fishing 126

Note II

127

locations belong to specific individuals and not to the village or tribe as a whole; that these fishing rights are usually controlled joindy, sometimes by father and son, sometimes by brothers, sometimes by brother-in-laws; that these fishing rights are inherited in the immediate family. The last two conditions suggest that the ownership may be regarded as family ownership rather than individual ownership.

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