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NOTES ON THE SKQOMIC [SQUAMISH] OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, A BRANCH OF THE GREAT SALISH STOCK OF NORTH AMERICA ¹

The following notes on the Skqomic [Squamish], a division of the Salish stock of British Columbia, are a summary of the writer’s studies of this tribe. While he has sought to make them as comprehensive and complete as possible, he is fully conscious that they are far from being exhaustive. There are, indeed, insuperable difficulties in the way of making really exhaustive reports on any of our tribes at the present time. There are, in the first place, many invincible prejudices to be overcome. Then there is the difficulty of communication, and when these have been partially overcome there yet remains the difficulty of finding natives who possess the knowledge you are seeking. Not every Indian is an iagoo, a story-teller; and only the older men and women remember the practices, customs, manners, and beliefs of the tribe, and even these have forgotten much that is important to know. These and other difficulties stand in the way of complete and exhaustive investigation; and I cannot better illustrate the need of pushing on our work among these interesting peoples without further delay than by stating that since my last report was sent in my principal informant among the Ntlakapamuq [Thompson], Chief Mischelle, from whom I secured so much valuable information a year or so ago, has passed away, and can render us no further aid.² In a few years, all those who lived under the old conditions in pre-missionary days, and who now alone possess the knowledge we desire to gather, will have passed away, and our chances of obtaining any further reliable information of the past will have gone with them. In my work among the Squamish I have been more than usually fortunate, and have been able to bring together much interesting matter not previously known or recorded.

Ethnography

The Squamish constitute a distinct division of the Salish of British Columbia and both in language and customs differ considerably from the coast tribes on the one hand, and the interior tribes on the other. The structural differences of their speech are so great as to shut them off from free intercourse with the contiguous Salish tribes. The tribe today numbers less than two hundred souls, I believe. Formerly they were a strong and populous tribe, numbering, when the white men first came into contact with them, many thousands. Some of their larger okwumuq, or villages, contained as many as seven hundred people, and that less than fifty years ago. We gather this from the early white settlers themselves.

The original home and territory of the Squamish seems to have been on the banks of the river which gives them their tribal name, and along the shores of Howe Sound, into which the Skuamish runs. Their settlements on the river extended for upwards of thirty miles along the banks. Their northern neighbours were the Lillooets, and the Tcilkotin [Chilcotin] division of the Dene stock. Their southern neighbours were the Lower Fraser tribes. According to one of my informants the Indian villages that used to exist on English Bay, Burrard Inlet, and False Creek were not originally true Squamish. They were said to be allied by speech and blood to the Lower Fraser tribes. How far this is correct seems impossible to say.³ Squamish is everywhere spoken throughout this territory, and has been as far back as our knowledge of it goes; and the Squamish villages, according to my informants, extend to and include Mali, at the mouth of the Fraser, which place Dr. Boas was informed by the River Indians belonged to them, and which he has accordingly included in their territory.⁴ It was probably the dividing line, and, like Spuzzum, farther up the river, was composed partly of the one division and partly the other.

Our first knowledge of the Squamish dates back to rather less than a century ago. The first white man to sail into English Bay and Howe Sound and come into contact with them was Captain Vancouver. He recorded briefly his impressions of them in the diary of his voyage to this coast, a short extract from which may be of interest in this first formal account of the tribe. He writes thus:

Friday, June 15, 1792

But for this circumstance we might too hastily have concluded that this part of the Gulf was uninhabited. In the morning we were visited by nearly forty of the natives, on whose approach from the very material alteration that had now taken place in the face of the country we expected to find some difference in their general character. This conjecture was, however, premature, as they varied in no respect whatever, but in possessing a more ardent desire for commercial transactions, into the spirit of which they entered with infinitely more avidity than any of our former acquaintances, not only bartering amongst themselves the different valuables they had obtained from us, but when that trade became slack in exchanging those articles again with our people, in which traffic they always took care to gain some advantage, and would frequently exult on this occasion. Some fish, their garments, spears, bows and arrows, to which these people wisely added their copper garments, comprised their general stock-in-trade. Iron in all forms they judiciously preferred to any other article we had to offer.⁵

They have not altered much in these points of their character since Vancouver’s visit, and many of them have today, I am told, snug little sums judiciously invested by their good friend and spiritual director, the late Bishop Durieu, in safe paying concerns. It is only fair to say, however, that they deserve to be prosperous. They are probably the most industrious and orderly band of Indians in the whole province, and reflect great credit upon the Roman Mission established in their midst.

I obtained the following list of old village sites, not ten per cent of which are now inhabited. The list is not perfectly complete. There were a few more villages at the upper end of Burrard Inlet which have been long abandoned, and whose names my informants could not recall. My enumeration contains in all some ninety-three villages, each of which, according to Chief Thomas of Qeqios and others, was formerly a genuine Squamish okwumuq, containing from fifty to several hundred inhabitants.⁶

On Squamish River. Right Bank: (1) Cotais; (2) Ncaitc;(3) Tktakai ‘vine-maple’; (4) Sqaqaiek; (5) Kwanaken ‘hollow in mountain’; (6) Yukuts [Yookwitz]; (7) Stotoii ‘leaning over’ (a cliff); (8) Komps; (9) Slokoi; (10) Nkukapenatc ‘canoes transformed to stone’ (see story of “Qais,” below); (11) Kwolan ‘ear’; (12 Kauten [Kowtain] ; (13) Qeqios; (14) Sietcem ’sandy' [Seichem, Brackendale]; (15) Npokwis [Omega Mountain] ; (16) Ekuks [Ainwucks] ; (17) Tciakamic [Cheakamus] ; (18 Toktakamai ‘place of thimble-berries’; (19) Spapak; (20) Etleuq; (21) Skauican [Skowishin]; (22) Poiam [Poyam].

Left Bank: (1) Sklau ‘beaver’; (2) Stamis [Stawamus]; (3) Smok; (4) Qaksine (on Mamukum Creek) [Memsquum, Mamquam River] ; (5) Kiaken; (6) Ikwopsum [Yekwaupsum] ; (7) Qekwaiakin; (8) Itlioq; (9) Pokaiosum ’slide' [Poquiosin]; (10) Skumin ‘keekwilee-house’; (11) Cemps; (12) Tcimai; (13) Tcuktcukts [Chuckchuck].

Howe Sound. West Side: (1) Tcewas; (2) Swiat [Woodfibre] ; (3) Cetuksem [White Beach]; (4) Cetusum [Potlatch River]; (5) Kwitctenem (McNab Creek]; (6) Kekelun [Kaikalahun, Port Mellon] ; (7) Koekoi; (8) Stcink (Gibson’s Landing).

East Side: (1) Kukutwom ‘waterfall’ [Shannon Falls]; (2) Cetsaken; (3) Cicaioqoi; (4) Qelketos ‘painted’; (5) Skutuksen ‘promontory’; (6) Kulatsen [Thunder Bay]; (7) Npapuk [Alberta Bay]; (8) Tumtis ‘paint’; (9) Tcakqai [Horseshoe Bay] ; (10) Stoktoks [Copper Point]; (11) Stcilks ’sling'; (12) Ketlalsm ‘nipping grass’ (deer come here in spring to eat the fresh grass) [Eagle Harbour] ; (13) Skeawatsut (Point Atkinson).

Islands in Sound: (1) Tlaqom (Anvil Island); (2) Tcalkunts (Gambier Island); (3) Qolelaqom (Bowen Island); (4) Sauqtitc (Hat Island) [Bowyer Island] ; (5) Mitlmetleltc (Passage Island).

English Bay, the Narrows, Burrard Inlet, and False Creek. From Coal Harbour to Mouth of North Arm of the Fraser: (1) Tcetcelmen; (2) Tcekoaltc; (3) Papiak (lighthouse) [Brockton Point]; (4) Qoiqoi ‘masks’ [Lumbermen’s Arch]; (5) Suntz; (6) Skeakunts; (7) Tcants; (8) Sqelc ’standing up' (Siwash Rock); (9) Stetuqk;(10) Helcen ’sandy beach, soft to the foot'; (11) Snauq (False Creek); (12) Skoatcais ‘deep hole in water’; (13) Skwaius; (14) lalmuq (Jericho); (15) Qapqapetlp ‘place of cedar’ (Point Grey); (16) Ulksn ‘point, nose’ [Point Grey]; (17) Tleatlum;(18) Tcitcileek; (19) Kulaqen;(20)Humelsom;(21)Mali. North Side from Point Atkinson, through the Narrows, up to the Inlet: (1) Stkqel [Cypress Creek]; (2) Smelakoa [West Bay] ; (3) Ktcam; (4) Homultcison (Capilano Creek, former headquarters of supreme chief); (5) Tlastlemauq (Saltwater Creek) [Mackay Creek]; (6) Stlaun [Mission Reservation]; (7) Qotlskaim ’serpent pond'; (8) Qoaltca (Lynn Creek); (9) Tcetcilqok (Seymour Creek); (10) Kiaken ‘palisade.’

Social Organisation

The social organisation of the Squamish has been so much broken up and modified by missionary and white influence that it is difficult now to learn any details about it. The tribe appears to have been divided, like the Thompson, into a number of okwumuq, or village communities, each of which was governed by its own local chief. I could gather nothing of their beliefs with regard to the origin of their different villages; they seem to have none or else to have lost or forgotten them. Of the origin of the tribe as a whole and some of the chief events of their existence I gathered an account a few years ago from an ancient member of the tribe, who was born a year or so after Captain Vancouver’s visit to them in 1792 [see article above]. Briefly it tells how the first Squamish men came into existence; how later the tribe was overwhelmed by a flood, and only one man and his wife escaped in their canoe, which landed on the mountains contiguous to the present Squamish territory; and how later again a severe and prolonged snowstorm caused, by cold and famine, the death of the whole tribe save one man and his daughter. From these two the Squamish trace their tribal descent.

The people were divided into the usual threefold division of chiefs, nobles, and common people. The lines, however, between these classes were not absolutely rigid. According to my informants, a member of the lower class, if a woman, could rise to the class above her by marriage with a member of that class, the wife usually taking the rank of her husband if not a slave. But a man of the lower rank, even if he succeeded in marrying a woman of the middle class, could only become a member of that class by undergoing a long and severe training, in which daily washings and scrubbings of the body played an important part. This was evidently a form of initiation the further particulars of which I could not learn. As a rule the chiefs and their families and immediate relatives formed a class or caste apart, the title of chief or headman descending from father to son, patriarchate prevailing among the Squamish. Consequently a chief usually married a chief’s daughter or daughters. But this rule was sometimes broken, and a woman of a lower class was taken to wife. In these cases the chieftainship would properly descend to one of the chief’s brothers or his son, and not to his own son. This was the rule. But it was possible to break this also and transmit the headship of the tribe to his own son by giving many potlatch feasts, and thus securing the goodwill of the tribe in his son’s favour. The son, too, upon his father’s death, would also give a feast and make handsome presents to all the influential men of the tribe. From this it would seem that children took their social rank from their mother rather than from their father, which looks like a trace of matriarchate, or mother-right. It is clear from their folk-tales, however, that these class divisions were not hard and fast, but that members of a lower caste could by the performance of certain acts pass into that above it.

Of secret societies I was unable to obtain any information whatever, and whether such formerly existed among the Squamish — of which I am extremely doubtful — it seems impossible to say.

Among the chiefs there were some of higher rank than the others, as among the Thompson. The supreme siam of the tribe was known by the title Te Kiapilanoq, and had his headquarters at the mouth of the Homultcison Creek, now called Capilano by the whites. He was local chief also of the Homultcison sept. Next in rank to him came one of the Squamish River chiefs. He likewise had a proper title, being known as Te Qatsilanoq.⁷ I was unable to learn what special significance these titles had. It is possible we may see in them the special names of two powerful gentes. The gentile system of the Squamish, if such existed, is not at all clear. The distinction between what might be regarded as a gens, or a sept, or a mere tribal division is very difficult to determine.

I could gather nothing satisfactory from any of my informants on this head. Heraldic and totemic symbols, according to some of them, were never used in the old days; but yet I was informed by others that some of the old houses had carved posts or columns, and that the figure of a bird or some other animal would sometimes be placed on a pole in front of the house or fastened to one of the gable ends. They also, sometimes at least, used masks in certain of their dances, if we may rely on the information on these points in their folk-tales. The tribe, as my ethnographical notes show, was formerly divided into a number of subdivisions, or okwumuq. Whether each of these should be regarded simply as a tribal subdivision, as among the Thompson, or as a gens, as among the northern tribes, is doubtful. Each division had its own proper name - in every instance, I think, a geographical one —derived from some local physical peculiarity, exactly as among the Thompson. In every okwumuq there existed the same threefold division of the people into three classes, and in some instances the total number of souls in each village would amount to several hundreds. Generally speaking, each community would be made up of several families or clans. The members of these clans were not bound together, as the gentes of the northern tribes, by common totems or crests. They comprised the blood relatives of any given family on both sides of the house for six generations. After the sixth generation the kinship ceases to hold good and the clanship is broken. Under this arrangement an individual’s relatives were legion, and he would often have family connection in a score or more different okwumuq. Among the present Squamish almost all of them are related in this way to one another, and their cousinships are endless and even perplexing to themselves. Marriage within the family or clan as thus constituted was prohibited, but members of different clans in the same village could intermarry with each other. If each village community is to be regarded as a separate gens having a common origin from some common ancestor — which I think is extremely doubtful — then marriage among the Squamish was not forbidden to members of the same gens. For my own part I am disposed to regard these separate communities as mere subdivisions of the tribe, which were effected at different periods in their tribal history, and generally, probably, from the same causes which have all over the world led to the founding of new homes and new settlements, viz., increase and stress of population. The evidence for regarding these divisions as distinct gentes having each a separate origin and springing from a separate ancestor, as among the northern tribes, is scanty and doubtful. This view is strengthened by the traditional origin of the tribe, which makes them all spring from a common pair. I do not desire to be understood as asserting that totemic gentes did not formerly exist among the Squamish, as Dr. Boas seems to hold. All I say is that after diligent inquiry from several of the chiefs and others I could myself find no evidence of it. I could not learn that any particular group or family bore names peculiar to that group or family, or possessed privileges not shared by the others other than the right to certain dances and their accompanying songs the origin and source of which was some personal dream or vision or experience of their own or their parents. But the ownership of these dances differed in no way from the ownership of a canoe or any other piece of property, and constituted no kind of bond or union between the owner of them and others of the tribe or okwumuq.

The only peculiar name that I could learn other than those of the supreme chiefs was that borne by the offspring of female slaves by their masters. This was the term stacem, and was a word of reproach.

Polygamy was commonly practised among the Squamish, the number of a man’s wives being limited only by his rank and wealth. A chief would frequently have four or five wives. Each wife had her own quarters in the house, which included a fire and a bed of her own. A favourite wife would rank first. She would be regarded in consequence with jealousy and hatred by the others. The husband would sometimes eat with one, sometimes with another. Infidelity in wives was punished by cutting the soles of their feet, or in some instances, by stoning them to death.

Mortuary Customs

The burial customs of the modern Squamish are now commonly conducted in the same way as our own, few, if any, of the older ceremonies, which are discountenanced by the priests, being observed. In former days the following customs were universally practised. When life had left the body the corpse was taken out of the house and washed by some elderly friends of the family. It was then doubled up and placed in a box coffin before it had grown rigid. In the case of chiefs, the body was sometimes placed in a canoe instead of a box. It was then taken to the burial-ground whether it were day or night. If it were night-time torches would be used. The box containing the corpse was then placed in a roughly constructed cedar-slab shed, after which everybody returned home. The immediate relatives of the deceased followed the corpse, accompanied by the other members of the family or clan, together with all their friends, and a band of special mourners, who are engaged for the occasion. All those who followed the corpse to the graveyard must paint the breast of their garments with red paint. If this were not done a scarcity of fish would be the result of the next salmon run. The mourners are of both sexes, and all cry aloud. The period of mourning lasted generally about a month. If, however, the deceased were very dear to the survivors, the mourning would be kept up longer. When a chief died the whole community turned out to mourn, and almost everybody followed the corpse. The hired mourners are paid for their services with blankets or skins. If the friends of the deceased are wealthy a feast is held immediately after the disposal of the body, and the mourners are then paid. If, however, the relatives of the deceased are poor, then no feast is given at the time, and the payment of the mourners is also deferred until such occasion as a sufficient number of blankets and skins has been collected, and they are in a position to hold a feast. It was customary to choose the occasion of some big potlatch gathering, when everybody would be present.

When the relatives of the deceased have returned from the graveyard they burn cedar (Thuya gigantea) and salal-berry (Gaultheria Shallon) branches and whip the whole dwelling with boughs, particularly that part where the body lay, to drive away the presence of death, sickness, and ghosts, all of which are supposed to linger there.

Some three or four days after the burial it was not unusual for the witches and wizards of the tribe to declare that the ghost of the dead had returned from the land of spirits for something to eat. The relatives of the deceased are informed, and they immediately gather all the best food they can procure, and take it, sometimes to the burial ground and sometimes into the woods, and spread it out on a big blanket made from the wool of the mountain sheep or goat. The witches and medicine-men now invite the shade of the dead to eat. Presently they assure the relatives that the spirit is satisfied. The food is either then distributed to the poor and old, or else it is consumed in a fire built for the occasion.

The customs to be observed by the immediate survivors of the deceased differ somewhat according to sex. If a woman had lost her husband she must fast for one whole day. At the close of the day a neighbour would bring in a large piece of dried fish. The widow must now bite four mouthfuls from this piece of fish, while it is held in the neighbour’s hands, without touching it herself except with her mouth. After she had eaten her four mouthfuls of fish she might partake of other food, but must be careful to abstain from eating it before her children. Should the food be eaten in the presence of the children it was believed that they would all shortly die, the act being regarded as equivalent to “eating up their life.” This rule must be strictly observed for the space of a month. For the same period she must bathe the first thing every morning and scrub her body with boughs, after which she must blow on the tips of her fingers four times successively if she desired to get stout or fat, and if she wanted to become thin she must suck in the air from the tips of her fingers the same number of times. Another practice she must observe was to place tsutzetcaie (spruce-boughs) under her bed, and also hang some at the head of it. The object of this was to preserve her from her husband’s sickness. She must also eat her food off these boughs for at least a month. The widow always accompanied the corpse of her husband to the burial-place. Her blanket is painted for the occasion with streaks of red paint, as is also the crown of her head. Excessive weeping sometimes made her so weak that she had to support herself with a staff (ttcatc) while walking to and from the graveyard. The customs to be observed by the widower are simpler. He must likewise bathe every morning at daybreak, and must also abstain from eating before his children for the space of a month; but his head was not painted, only his blanket; and he puts the tsutzetcaie only at the head of his bed, and not under it. Some three or four days after the burial all the relatives of the deceased, except the widow or the widower, must cut their hair. The severed hair is always carefully collected and buried. After the ceremony of hair-cutting is over all those who have attended the funeral go in a line to the river or the inlet, according to the locality, and walk down into the water till it is up to their breasts; then at a word they all dip together once and come out again. If they are wearing blankets at the time they cast them aside, but otherwise do not trouble to disrobe.

It was customary for widows and orphans some time during the mortuary rites to take a small white pebble and roll it in their mouths four times. This was supposed to prevent the teeth from decaying.

Birth Customs

It was customary among the Squamish women to retire to the woods when they were about to give birth to their children. Usually a woman went quite alone or accompanied only by her husband. Midwives were called in for the first child, but afterwards only in cases of difficulty or when the labour was unduly prolonged. Usually the woman would fulfil her daily duties to within an hour of the child’s birth, and be ready to take them up again a few hours afterwards. In the case of first children parents of standing would engage three or four midwives or experienced women for the occasion. Each had her own special duties to perform. These were prescribed by long-established custom. It was the office of one to sever the umbilical cord and of another to “cook the milk" and generally look after the mother. They were paid for their services immediately afterwards by the husband with gifts of blankets. This honorarium was also prescribed by usage, the number of blankets given on the occasion depending on the husband’s social position.

Immediately after the birth of the child it is washed all over in cold water and then wrapped in the softest slowi (inner bark of the cedar, beaten till soft and fine) and placed in a cradle of cedar-wood. This cradle was constructed in the following manner. A piece of cedar-wood about thirty inches long and ten or twelve inches wide was first taken; a second, and shorter, but considerably broader piece was then bent over this in the form of an arch, and fastened in this position to the longitudinal edges of the other, thus forming a kind of pocket. The lower piece, or bed of the cradle, extended about four inches beyond the other at the foot, and about six inches at the head. The extension at the foot was bent upwards till it reached an angle of thirty or forty degrees, and fastened in this position to the upper piece by lacing. This formed a kind of foot-board the object of which was to keep the baby from slipping down out of the cradle and allow at the same time the liquids to escape. The head of the cradle was left open. The child passed the first year of its life in this receptacle, never leaving it except to be washed twice daily. It was both fed and dandled in its cradle. If the mother had outside work to do, the cradle was usually slung to her shoulder or to a swing-pole. In carrying it the weight was borne on the hip.

It was during this cradle existence of the child that the cranial deformation formerly practised by this tribe took place. This was effected by frontal pressure, pads or bands of slowi being tied across the anterior part of the cranium and held there by thongs fastened to the bottom of the cradle. A pad was also tied across the top of the head about the line of the coronal suture to prevent the head from rising to a ridge here, as was common among the Siciatl [Sechelt] tribe, the Squamish regarding this as ugly and unsightly. The immediate effect of this pressure was threefold. It caused a flattening of the occipital region by contact with the cradleboard; it gave a peculiarly receding sweep to the frontal bone, a line of beauty in Squamish eyes; and it produced a compensatory bulge of the head laterally; the general effect of all which was to make the head appear abnormally short and the face unusually broad. This practice of cranial deformation has now, I believe, been wholly given up by the Squamish, though the infant still passes the greater part of the first year of its existence in a cradle as formerly. On one of my visits to the Squamish I observed an Indian mother nursing her baby in a rush-made cradle with open top. This, I was informed, was the style now commonly used.

“It gave a peculiarly receding sweep to the frontal bone, a line of beauty in Squamish eyes.”

Should the birth take place in the winter, or when it was not convenient for the mother to retire to the woods, a temporary screen of reed mats would be put up in the general dwelling, behind which the woman would give birth to her child. A very peculiar custom obtained among the Squamish in the case of first-born children. The mother might not feed the child from the breast for four days. Her breasts must first be steamed with a decoction of the rind of the elderberry (Sambucus mcemosa), and then covered with poultices of the same material. This was kept up for four days, its object being to “cook" the mother’s milk. The process, called in the Squamish wutlkwai miukwum ‘cooking the breast,’ was sometimes repeated at the birth of the second child, only on this occasion the infant was not deprived of the breast. It was thought that the mother’s milk was harmful to the child before the fourth day and before it had been “cooked.” This strange custom, amongst others, may perhaps have had something to do with the high death-rate among the old-time children. In earlier days, before contact with the whites, it was not at all uncommon for a mother to give birth to a dozen children; but there were few households which contained a family of more than half of that number. It is true that female children were commonly strangled at birth if there were too many girls in the family. This unnatural practice was effected by the parents themselves — usually by the mother — by stopping the nostrils and placing a gag of slowi in the child’s mouth. My informant was herself doomed to this fate at her birth, and was only spared at the earnest solicitations of an elder sister.

After the birth of the child, when the woman had passed the afterbirth, she was taken or went down to the river or inlet and bathed in the icy-cold water, no matter what time of year or what kind of weather it was. My informant stated that she had been thus taken to the river and washed all over after the birth of her first child in the month of January, when the water was covered with ice and the ground with snow. Ablutive ceremonies played a very important part in the lives of the old-time Squamish, as we may easily gather from their old customs. Men, women, and children bathed constantly. Among the young men it formed an important feature of their training. Each sex had is own special bathing place, men and women, or boys and girls, after childhood never bathing together.

The birth of twins was a very special event, twins always possessing, it was believed, supernormal powers, the commonest of which was control of the wind. It would seem that the birth of twins was usually presaged by dreams on the part of both parents. In these dreams instructions would be given to the parents as to the course they must pursue in the care and upbringing of the children. These they must follow implicitly in every particular. If they were neglected it was thought and believed that the twins would die. If the event took place in winter a fire must be built in the woods, but the husband must on no account touch or have anything to do with it. If the husband built the fire a very cold period would follow. Immediately after the birth, both husband and wife must bathe in cold water, using the tips of spruce, fir, and cedar branches to scrub themselves with. After this they must remain in seclusion, apart from the rest of the tribe, for a month. Any breach of this rule was regarded as a grave offence, which was bound to bring severe punishment upon the offenders. The hair of twins was supposed never to be cut. If for any reason this rule was departed from, great care had to be taken to bury all that had been cut off. Neglect of this, it was believed, would bring about a severe winter. Throughout the whole childhood of the twins the greatest care had to be taken of them. If at any time wind was desired for sailing, the bodies of the twins would be rubbed with oil or grease, after which, it is said, the wind would immediately rise. The tsaianuk, a kind of small fish which I was unable to identify, and which periodically visits the Squam-ish River in large numbers, are said to be descended from a pair of twins (see the story of the origin of the tsaianuk, below).

When a woman desired to give birth to a son she would place during her pregnancy a bow and arrows under her bed. If a daughter was desired a needle and some of the utensils used in weaving would take the place of the bow and arrows. Another custom to ensure the same end was for the woman to chew, in the early days of her pregnancy, the leaves of certain kinds of willow and other shrubs. These leaves were distinguished as “male" and “female" leaves.

Customs Practised to Prevent Pregnancy

When a woman desired to bear no more children she adopted one or more of the following practices. She would get out of bed immediately after giving birth to her child and stand for some time up to her armpits in the icy cold water of the inlet, or river, or sound, according to her locality; or she would bury the after-birth on the beach at ebb-tide just at the line of land and water. Another practice was to hang the after-birth on the branch of a tree and keep it there for a twelvemonth. Still another was to turn round three times and kick the after-birth before it was disposed of. Usually the mode of disposing of the after-birth was by burying it secretly in the ground. Among the Squamish it was never burned, as among some tribes. It was believed that the mother would swell up and die if the after-birth was burned. It is said that a woman once destroyed the after-birth in this manner with this melancholy result; hence its disposal in this way was ever afterwards most carefully avoided.

Marriage Customs

Formerly, when a young man took a fancy to a girl and desired to make her his wife, the custom was for him to go to the house of the girl’s parents and squat down with his blanket wrapped about him just inside the door. Here he was supposed to remain for four days and nights without eating or drinking. During this period no one of the girl’s family takes the slightest notice of him. The only difference his presence makes in the house is to cause the parents to keep a bright fire burning all night. This is done that they may readily perceive that he takes no advantage of his proximity to the girl to make love to her or otherwise molest her during the night. On the fourth day, if the suitor is acceptable to the parents, the mother of the girl asks some neighbour to acquaint the youth that they are willing to accept him as their son-in-law, and give him the girl. To himself they still say nothing, nor in any way take the slightest notice of him; and as no communication of any kind can take place between the girl’s people and the young man at this stage of the proceedings, this neighbour now cooks a meal for the fasting lover and informs him at the same time that his suit is acceptable to the family, and that the girl will be given to him in the usual way.

After the young man’s acceptance by the girl’s parents in the manner described, the youth would then return home, and in a few days come back for his bride, accompanied by all his friends and relatives. If he were just an ordinary young man of the tribe, of no particular standing, he would bring with him one canoe-load of blankets; but if he were a person of rank, such as a chief’s son, he would bring two canoe-loads of blankets with him. These he would distribute,to the bride’s relatives. He and his friends are now entertained for the rest of the day by his prospective father-in-law, and accommodation is afforded them for the night, the inmates of the house sleeping on one side of the building and the visitors on the other. On the following morning, after a good meal has been indulged in, all go down to the beach to where the bridegroom’s canoe is moored, the parents of the bride taking with them a number of blankets, which they put in the canoe. If the bride is a person of rank the whole course from the house to the beach is covered with a line of blankets for her to walk on, and two old women, as maids-of-honour, lead her down to the canoe. The bride is dressed for the occasion in all the bravery of bright-coloured blankets and what other ornaments she may possess. Over her head, completely enveloping her, a blanket is thrown as a kind of bridal veil. Behind her come the female slaves of her father’s household, carrying all her personal belongings, such as mats, baskets, blankets, wooden platters, spoons, etc. The bridesmaids now place the bride in the bow of the canoe, after which etiquette demands that the bridegroom shall reward them for their services by a gift of one or more blankets each. When this has been done the parties separate, the girl’s family and friends going back to the village, and the youth with his bride and friends returning home. If the girl were the daughter of ordinary parents she would have to dispense with some of these ceremonies, such as the walking on blankets, etc. Some days later the bride and bridegroom and his friends return to the bride’s old home, where a feast is held. After the feast is over they separate again, and some time later the girl’s parents and friends pay a return visit to her husband’s home, bringing with them blankets and other presents equal in number and value to those bestowed on themselves. These are distributed to the son-in-law and his friends, after which all partake of a second feast, which closes the marriage ceremonies, and thereafter the girl and youth are regarded by all as man and wife.

Sometimes the suitor is not acceptable to the girl’s parents, and after a family council has been held he is rejected. A friendly neighbour is called in as before to act as intermediary and convey to him the decision of the parents, only on this occasion she provides no meal for him. If the youth has set his heart on the girl he will now try and induce her to elope with him. If she refuses to do this, he has perforce to give her up and seek a wife elsewhere. If, however, she consents, he seizes the first opportunity that offers and carries her off to the woods with him, where they remain together for several days. If the objection to the young man on the part of the parents is not deep-rooted, he is now permitted to keep the girl as his wife on payment to them of a certain number of blankets. If, however, they object even now to have him as a son-in-law, they take the girl from him, and it is understood on both sides that he is to trouble her or them no further.

With regard to the suitor’s fast of four days and nights I questioned my informant whether the old-time youths of the tribe really and truly abstained from food and drink on these occasions. He assured me they undoubtedly did, and that it was a matter of honour with them to eat or drink nothing during the whole period, the significance of their abstinence being that they were now men, and could readily endure the hardships and privations incident to manhood. Apropos of this custom he related to me an instance of what befell a certain luckless youth who sought surreptitiously to break his fast. The family of the girl whom he sought to take as wife had all gone out on the third day, leaving him squatting in his place by the door. They had gone across the inlet to pay a visit to a village on the other side. The absence of the whole family tempted the famishing youth to take advantage of his temporary opportunities to satisfy the cravings of his stomach. So he left his post and ran down to the beach and hastily dug up some clams. As he was in the act of eating these a little girl told him that the family was returning on the water. In his haste to eat the clams he had prepared he swallowed one whole, and it stuck in his throat and choked him so that he died. His melancholy end was regarded by everybody as richly deserved, and his fate was held up thereafter as a warning to succeeding generations of young men.

These customs are no longer kept up among the great body of the Squamish. Marriages among them are now conducted very much after the manner of the whites and solemnized by the priest. A few of the heathen Squamish, who still hold up their old tribal customs, continue to marry their daughters in this way; but these are few in number, and, generally speaking, the marriage customs as here described are only a tradition in the tribe.

Naming

A child usually received no name in babyhood, but when about three years old the elders of the child’s family or clan would choose a name for it from among those of its ancestors. This name it would bear through life if a girl, but if a boy, and the son of some person of rank and wealth, some years later his parents would give a potlatch, and then he would receive a new name. This was quite commonly that of his own father or of his paternal grandfather, whether they were alive or dead.

The names of dead people were tabooed. That is to say, it was a breach of custom and good manners to mention the name of a dead person in the presence of the deceased’s relatives or connections. This custom gave rise to inconvenience at times. It was quite common for men to be called by the name of some implement or utensil. An individual once bore the name of Skumel ‘paddle.’ When he died, as they might not use this term before his relatives, they had to make use of the term qautliwus when they wished to say “paddle.” I did not get the significance of this new term. Another person bore the name Slukcen ‘moccasin.’ When he died a new word had to be coined, and today both terms are in common use for moccasin.

The stories give us examples of the names used formerly. I append a few specimens of these here: Tciatmuq ‘owl’; Qoitcital; Atsaian; Siatlmeq ‘rain-man’; Tculq; Cauk ’skull'; Sqeils ‘copper’; Cukcuklaklos; Tetketsen.

Puberty Customs

When a girl arrived at puberty she would call her mother’s attention to her condition. The mother at once informed the father, who calls the family and relatives together. They discuss the matter and arrange what course the girl is to follow. From this statement it would seem that no two girls necessarily followed the same procedure. First of all they take two strands of the wool of the mountain sheep or goat and tie them to her hair, one on each side of her forehead. This is a public notification of the girl’s condition, which everybody understands. She is now set to “pull" wool or hair without food or drink for the space of four days. She was kept without water during this period because it was believed that if she drank water when in this condition she would spoil her teeth. She must abstain from washing or bathing, and must never go near the fire during the four days. It was believed that if she sat near the fire during her menses her skin would become red, and ever after remain so. When in this condition her mother, or grandmother, or some other woman would pull out all the irregular hairs from the edges of her eyebrows so as to make them fine and even. The denuded parts were always rubbed with the girl’s saliva to prevent the hairs growing again. When the four days were up, some old women would take her in hand, and bathe her head and body in hot water, and scrub her with branches till her skin was almost torn off and her body was sore and covered from head to foot with scratches from the severe treatment she had received. The prickly brambles of the trailing blackberry (Rubus sp.) were often employed for this purpose, and my informant told me that it was no uncommon thing for a girl to toss and turn in agony the night following this bath, unable to close her eyes in sleep for the pain and smarting of her body. If she were the daughter of a chief or a noble she would be bathed by the sqomten or siu (medicine man or woman). These would be paid for their services with gifts of blankets or skins.

The object of these heroic measures was to make the girl “bright and smart.” After the bath she was given food and drink and permitted to come to the fire. Sometimes a friend of the family would mark the occasion by putting a nice new blanket over the girl’s shoulders. After her meal her face would be painted with streaks of red paint, and the girl would then go to the forest and pull down the branches of all the cedar and spruce trees she passed and rub her face and body with their tips, and then let them spring up again. The object of this practice was to make her charming and attractive in the eyes of men. She would also take a quantity of fern-roots of the edible kind (Pteris aquilina) and offer them to the biggest trees she could find. This was supposed to give her a generous nature and keep her from becoming stingy and mean.

After a girl had arrived at puberty she was never allowed to play or mingle with the boys. She was kept indoors at work all day long. The lot of a girl among the Squamish in the olden days does not appear to have been an enviable one. A girl or woman during her monthly periods was “bad medicine"; that is, she was supposed to carry ill-luck with her. If she entered a sick-room the invalid was sure to get worse; and if she crossed the path of a hunter or a fisher he would get no luck that trip.

When people were sick they were rubbed with dog-fish oil. When the screech-owl (cam) was heard hooting around a house it was regarded as a sure sign that some of the inmates would shortly die. Caiu signifies “ghost" or “shade.”

Dwellings

The dwellings of the old Squamish were of the communal kind, whether they were the ordinary slab and cedar-board structure or the winter keekwilee-house. As far as I have been able to gather, only the upper tribes on the Squamish River used the skumin, or keekwilee-house. That this structure was known to them is clear from the name of one of their villages, which signifies in English “keek-wilee-house.” The lower tribes commonly used the cedar structure all the year round. Each village contained one and sometimes two of these placed at right angles to one another, or in parallel lines according to the local peculiarities of the village site. Some of them, in the more populous villages, were of enormous length, extending in an unbroken line for upwards of 600 feet. Houses of two or three hundred feet in length were very ordinary dwellings. In width they varied from 20 to 40 feet. The walls, too, were of variable height, ranging from 8 to 15 feet when the roofs were gabled. If the roof contained but one slope, then the higher side would rise to 25 or even 30 feet.

Both sides and roof were built of cedar boards or slabs split with hammer and wedges from the cedar trunk. The cedar (Thuya gigantea) of British Columbia lends itself readily to operations of this kind, and the task is not as difficult as might be imagined. The white settlers almost everywhere build their houses, stables, fences, and barns of cedar split by themselves in this way. I have seen boards split out as smooth and uniform as if they had been cut out with a saw and planed. In the native dwellings the boards were held in place by withes or ropes made from young cedars or from the branches of older ones. There were no windows in these buildings; sunlight and air came in through the doors or by the roof, a part of which was pulled down a few feet to let the smoke out and the air and light in during the day in fine weather.

These structures are open from end to end without partitions or divisions of any kind. The chief quite commonly occupied the centre of the building. Next to him, on either side, came his brothers and other notabilities, and beyond these the baser folk. Each family had its own allotted space at the side of the dwelling and its own fire. This space was commonly just ample enough to allow of the beds of the family being arranged around three sides of a square with an open front towards the fire and centre of the room. The bed was raised by a kind of platform or bed-stand about two feet from the ground. In the space beneath were stored roots and such-like commodities. Above and over the beds, shelves were hung. On these were stored the dried fish and utensils of the family. If the family were one of position and wealth several large cedar boxes would be found lying about. These would contain the blankets and skins and other valuables of the owners. To separate the beds of one family from another, hanging curtains of grass and reeds were suspended on either side, but the front was left open. The beds of the Squamish consisted of reed mats and slowi, i.e. the inner bark of the cedar beaten till fine and soft. Rolls of the same material formed their pillows. Their coverings were, for the poorer class, mats of the same materials. For the wealthy these were supplemented by mountain-goat blankets and dressed deer-skins. The Squamish husband and wife did not sleep side by side, but feet to feet. If the bed space was confined the feet of one would reach to the head of the other; but usually this was not the case, plenty of room being allowed.

In winter it was customary to keep the fires burning all night, large logs being placed upon them for the purpose. On the occasion of feasts and dances the hanging mats about the beds would all be taken down, the beds themselves serving for seats or platforms for the drummers and spectators.

Household Utensils

The Squamish housekeeper possessed cooking pots of both cedar and basketry. Food was served in large shallow cedar troughs or dishes. Smaller platters of the same material were also in use, likewise spoons, though these were also made of horn. When eating they sat on mats or squatted on their haunches. Of baskets they had a great variety. Some of these were made from the split roots of young cedar, spruce, or fir trees, others from the bark of the alder and birch.

Dress

The dress of the Squamish in pre-trading days did not differ materially from that of other tribes of this region. The men commonly wore high leggings and waist-cloth. Over their shoulders, when they were not actively engaged, they wore, toga-fashion, a native blanket. The women of the nobler class wore a dressed deer-skin shroud or smock, which reached from the shoulders to below their knees; inferior women wore only short petticoats of woven slowi. Moccasins were worn at times by both sexes. The women sometimes covered their heads with a plaited conical hat with broad sloping brim. This served also as a receptacle for berries and other small things if no basket were at hand. The exterior of these hats were commonly figured in red and black paint or dyes. Some of the older women may still be occasionally seen wearing them, but they have gone out of use generally.

Markings on right arm above back of the hand. Colour blue.

Markings on left arm above back of the hand. Colour blue.

Tattooing and Painting

In earlier days the men used to paint themselves for dancing and other ceremonies. I could not learn that the men ever tattooed their bodies. A favourite decoration was that effected by sprinkling particles of mica over their faces and bodies upon a groundwork of grease. This gave their bodies a glistening appearance. They obtained the mica for this purpose from disintegrated granite. The women commonly employed a kind of red clay for facial decoration. This they smeared over their cheeks, chins, and foreheads. When confined only to the cheeks and not too lavishly put on the effect was not displeasing to the eye. It gave them a ruddy, comely appearance. The old women of pagan habits still decorate themselves this way. The women were accustomed to tattoo themselves on the arm or wrist and lower leg. The markings were always simple and generally crude, bearing no resemblance whatever to the elaborate and fanciful designs of the Haida and other northern Indians.

Games

The Squamish had a variety of games. I obtained some information on some of these. The commonest and most popular were the ball games. Of these they had two called kekqua and tequila. The former was a kind of lacrosse, and the ball was caught and thrown with an instrument similar to the lacrosse stick. The other was a kind of football. They played also a game called tckwie. This was a kind of shuttlecock and battledore, and a favourite pastime of the girls. They were acquainted also with qauwilts, or the “cat’s-cradle" game. But dancing and dramatic impersonations of animals were their favourite pastimes, and these played an important part in the tribal festivities in earlier days.

Dances

The Squamish had three kinds of dances, called respectively metla, koqoks, and skaip. The first was the common dance, which anyone could perform; the second was characterised by spasmodic shakings of the head on the part of the dancer; the third had for its distinguishing feature a shaking or violent trembling of the hand, which was held aloft in the air during the dance. In this dance the dancer spits much blood, or something which has the appearance of blood. I have not myself seen a dance of this kind, so cannot say whether it is really blood or not. As they appear to be none the worse after the dancing is over they probably do not spit blood. When dancing they invariably sing. These dance-songs are private property. No one can use another person’s song unless permission has been given, or unless it belongs jointly to more than one person. These dance-songs are acquired by inheritance or they are learnt in dreams. Dreams or visions are the original source of all their dances. A person dreams of a certain dance, and on the next occasion introduces it. Not everyone is a dancer; only those who are by mental temperament fitted for the part ever become noted dancers.

The reason of this is simple. A dancer during the performance of his dance is not in a normal condition of mind. He or she is practically in a hypnotic trance state. On the occasion of a dance the dancers come foward as they are moved or promoted by self-suggestion or the mental suggestion of the waiting audience. They sit passively waiting for the “psychological moment,” just precisely as do the sitters in a mediumistic circle. The monotonous beating of cedar boards on all sides, which is their dance music, has the effect of sending some of them into hypnotic trances. First one and then another heaves a deep sigh, or utters sounds indicative of mental disorder; some swoon outright, and have to be brought to a dancing condition by the dashing of cold water over them; and some start off in a kind of frenzy, and dance from fire to fire all round the building till they fall exhausted from their exertions.

Dancers had to undergo a certain training. When young men or women desired to become dancers they had first to subject themselves to a four days’ fast. In this condition it was easy for them to pass into the hypnotic state. In the case of girls in particular they would invariably swoon away on the fourth night, when the dance would be held, and the sqomten and the siu would work upon them to restore them to consciousness. Presently a girl would come out of her swoon with a deep sigh and begin singing, and then start off dancing for half an hour. This dance she is supposed to have learnt in her trance. When she has finished her performance she is driven out into the forest among the trees. The purpose of this is that she may learn a new dance from the bushes and trees, which they think are able to hold communication with the neophyte in her present state and impart to her some of their knowledge. After a while she returns to the building again and performs a new dance. When a novice performs his or her first dance it is called their hausalktl. Nearly all the spectators of the dances beat time with sticks on loose cedar boards placed on the beds. The movements of the dancers are various, agility and endurance being more aimed at than what we should call grace. Prancing like a high-stepping horse is a noted feature in some of the men’s dances. An old resident of the district, Mr. Jonathan Miller, now postmaster of Vancouver City, but who formerly had much to do with the Indians in his capacity of provincial constable, informed me that at the close of one of their dances, which took place about thirty-eight years ago at the village of Qoiqoi ‘masks,’ in Stanley Park (which then had a population of 700, and now contains but one family) a noted medicine-man, or sqomten, gave a performance. He came into the circle with a small living dog in his teeth. As he danced he devoured the creature piecemeal. He bit the skin from its nose and tore it backwards with his teeth till he reached the throat. He then tore off piece after piece of the flesh and danced round the building devouring it as he went. This dance was known as the “dog-dance.” This is no longer practised even by the pagan bands, as far as I can learn.

There is a custom among the Squamish of “bringing out" a girl, not altogether unlike the custom among ourselves. In the case of a girl who had lost her mother when she had reached the age of puberty she was publicly “brought out" at the next dance, and sang and danced her mother’s song and dance before the whole community. She was attired for the occasion in a special garment or head-dress. When the people were assembled for the dancing an elderly man of the girl’s family would proclaim aloud that So-and-so was going to dance and sing her mother’s song. Her brothers or her cousins would now prepare and robe her. This ceremony was called soyumaitl, and consisted in placing upon her head a kind of veil composed of tails made from the wool of the mountain-goat, which hung down all around her person, and bobbed and swayed as she moved. The garment was called soyumen. If the girl were a good industrious sister, the brothers would show their esteem and regard for her by seating her on a pile of blankets, afterwards to be given away to mark the occasion. Usually the ceremony took place in the house, but sometimes a platform would be erected on several canoes joined together on the water, and the dance would take place there. When the announcement would be made of the dance all the people would show their pleasure by clapping their hands much as a white audience does. In earlier times the girl danced on a blanket, which was afterwards sqals,