Part 13 (2/2)
The art of all arts, however, among the people who built these ancient houses is the one in which modern Pueblos excel,-pottery. Thousands of whole vessels have been taken from these ruins. There are many forms,-great water-jars, flasks, cups, bowls, ladles,-and, in ware and decoration, they are much better than those made by modern Pueblos. The ware is generally thinner, better baked, firmer, and gives a better ring when struck. The decorations are usually good geometrical designs.
The ancient builders were, in culture, mode of life, and architecture, much like the modern Pueblos. It is probable that some of them were the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. The Mokis claim that some of the ruins of the McElmo Canon were the old homes of their people; and the inhabitants of Cochiti a.s.sert that it was their forefathers who lived at _El Rito de los Frijoles_. We cannot say of every ruined building who built it, but certainly the builders were Indians very like the Pueblos.
ADOLF F. BANDELIER.-Historian, archaeologist; made an extended study of the ruins of New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico.
XXVII. TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.
A long and narrow strip of land stretches from Vancouver Island northward to Alaska. It is bounded on the east by the great mountains, on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its coast line is irregular; narrow fiords run far into the land. The climate is generally temperate, but there is much rain.
Dense forests of pine, cedar, hemlock, and maple cover the mountain slopes. Many kinds of berries grow there abundantly, supplying food for man. In the mountain forests are deer, elk, caribou; both black and grizzly bears are found; wolves are not uncommon. In the remoter mountains are mountain sheep and mountain goats. Beaver and otter swim in the fresh waters, while the seal, fur seal, sea-lion, and whale are found in the sea. In the waters are also many fish, such as halibut, cod, salmon, herring, and oolachen; sh.e.l.l-fish are abundant.
In this interesting land are many different tribes of Indians, speaking languages which in some cases are very unlike. Among the more important tribes or group of tribes, are the Tlingit, Haida, Ts.h.i.+mps.h.i.+an, and Kwakiutl. While all these tribes are plainly Indians, there are many persons among them who are light-skinned and brown-haired. The hair is also at times quite wavy. The forms are good and the faces pleasing.
But these Indians are not always satisfied with the forms and faces nature gives them. They have various fas.h.i.+ons which change their appearance.
Among these is changing the shape of the head. Formerly the Chinooks, living near the Columbia River, changed the shape of all the baby boys'
heads. The bones of the head in a little baby are soft and can be pressed out of shape. As the child grows older, the bones become harder and cannot be easily altered. The Chinooks made the little head wedge-shaped in a side view. This was done by a board, which was hinged to the cradle-board, and brought down upon the little boy's forehead. It forced the head to broaden in front and the forehead to slant sharply. After the pressure had been kept on for some months, the shape of the head was fixed for life.
From the strange shape of their heads thus produced, the Chinooks were often called ”Flat-heads.” On Vancouver Island the head of the Koskimo baby girl was forced by circular bandages wrapped around it to grow long and cylindrical.
[Ill.u.s.tration.]
Chinook Baby in Cradle. (From Mason.)
Another fas.h.i.+on among the women of some tribes was the piercing of the lower lip for the wearing of a plug as an ornament. Thus, when a little girl among the Haida was twelve or thirteen years old, her aunt or grandmother took her to some quiet place along the seash.o.r.e; there she pierced a little hole in the lower lip of the child, using a bit of sharp sh.e.l.l or stone. To keep the hole from closing when it healed, a bit of gra.s.s stalk was put into it. For a few days the place was sore, but it soon got well. The bit of stalk was then removed, and a little peg of wood put in. Later a larger peg or plug was inserted. When the girl had grown to be an old woman, she wore a large plug in her lower lip, which would hold it out flat almost like a shelf.
[Ill.u.s.tration.]
Tattooing on a Haida Man. (From Mallery.)
Many of the Northwest Coast tribes tattooed; generally the men were more marked with this than women. The patterns were usually animal figures, showing the man's family. The Haida were fond of having these queer pictures p.r.i.c.ked into them. Upon their b.r.e.a.s.t.s they had the totem animal; on their arms other suitable patterns.
[Ill.u.s.tration.]
Gold Chief's House. Queen Charlotte's Island. (From Photograph.)
The villages of these tribes are almost always on the seash.o.r.e. The houses were generally in one long line, and all faced the sea. The houses of the different tribes differed somewhat. The house of the Haida was almost square, measuring perhaps forty or fifty feet on a side. In olden times they were sunk several feet into the ground. On entering the house the visitor found himself upon a platform several feet wide running around the four sides; from it he stepped down upon a second platform, and from it upon a central square of dirt which contained the fireplace. The eating place was around this hearth; the place for lounging, visiting, and sleeping was on the upper platform. There each person of the household had his or her own place. At its rear edge, near the wall, were boxes containing the person's treasures and the household's food. There was but one doorway and no windows in a Haida house. Outside the house, at the middle of the front, stood a curious, great, carved post of wood. These were covered with queer animal and bird patterns, each with some meaning (see XXIX.). In Haida houses the doorway was cut in the lower part of this great post or pole.
The beach in front of the village used to be covered with canoes dragged up on the sand. These canoes were ”dugouts” of single tree trunks. The logs were cut in summer time, the best wood being yellow cedar. The chief tool used was the adze, made of stone or sh.e.l.l. Fire was used to char the wood to be cut away. After it had been partly cut out inside it was stretched or shaped by steaming with water and hot stones, and then putting in stretchers. Sometimes single-log canoes were large enough to carry from thirty to sixty people. They were often carved and painted at the ends. The paddles used in driving these canoes were rather slender and long-bladed, often painted with designs.
The present dress of these Indians is largely the same as our own. In the days of the first voyagers, they wore beautiful garments of native manufacture. They had quant.i.ties of fine furs of seals and sea-otters.
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