Читать книгу The Salish People: Volume IV - Charles Hill-Tout - Страница 8

Letter to Franz Boas1

Buckland College

Vancouver, B.C.

Oct 3rd 1895

Dear Sir,

Some months ago I forwarded to Dr. G. M. Dawson of Ottawa an ancient and peculiar skull taken from one of the series of tumuli explored by myself at a place called Hatzic on the Fraser about 50 miles up from its mouth. He said he thought you might be at Ottawa during the summer and would perhaps be good enough to examine it for me that your notes might be appended to a paper he was good enough to read for me at the recent meeting of the Royal Society at Ottawa and which was thought of sufficient interest to anthropology to publish in the Society’s Proceedings.² As I have not heard anything on the point from Dr. Dawson, may I venture to ask you if you have been to Ottawa since the meeting of the Royal Society in May or have seen or heard of this particular skull from anybody there? I think it will interest you if for no other reason than that it does not conform to the Cowitchin [Halkomelem] type, in whose area the mounds are situated, but rather, if to any of your characteristic types, to the Chinook of the Columbia.³ It is excessively contorted and flattened, so much so that Dr. Dawson suggests post-mortem modification, but I do not think that this is so myself. I feel sure Dr. Dawson would send it on to you if you have not seen it and if you cared to; and I may say that I should personally feel grateful to you for a few notes upon it to add to my paper with reference to it. I am sorry I cannot send you a copy of my paper yet. The matter of it, I think, would interest you. This skull is practically all the human remains we have recovered from this series of mounds. They are evidently of great age and singularly devoid of relics, a few copper things only having been recovered from them — not a single relic of stone of any kind. From another one a portion of the frontal bone of a second skull was taken, which had been curiously preserved by the verdigris from a copper ring buried with it, and this appears to me to indicate that the excessive flattening of the frontal bone which is seen in the more perfect skull was not peculiar to it but was probably common to the builders of these sepulchres.

In the explorations carried on by myself and a few friends among the middens of the Lower Fraser district, among the relics of interest we have recovered several crania of a type markedly distinct from those of the Indians now inhabiting this region. This will be of interest to you on account of their marked dolichocephaly. But besides their low cephalic index, their other peculiar charactersitcs differentiate them very widely from any of the typical crania of this district, I am not sure that I ought not to say of British Columbia. In looking over your tables of the physical characteristics of the tribes of this region I can find no division in which to place them. They seem to form a type by themselves. The mean cephalic index of the Lower Fraser tribes is, I see, about 88.50, and your minimum index does not fall below 82.7 for these people, whereas the mean of these midden crania of which I am speaking is under 74, judging by those that have come under my observation, none of which show signs of post-mortem or other modification, if we except a slight flattening in the region of the lambda due to the cradle, and which, if it affected their cephalic index at all, would tend to raise rather than lower it. This index is lower than any you have given with the exception of one of the Lytton group, all which you state have suffered from post-mortem deformation. I am familiar with the Lytton type, but see nothing in common between them and the midden dolichocephali, which are undoubtedly true dolichocephali. Contrasted with the brachycephalic skulls, also found in these middens, but I think always in the superior layers, they present very striking differences, two of the most noticeable of which are the entire absence of the parietal bulge, and the lofty sweep of the coronal arc. Indeed I think they might fitly be described by the term acrocephalic.

These middens from which they are recovered are very extensive, one in which I have chiefly worked covering an area of over 4% acres and having a maximum depth of over 15 feet. They are of some age too, having been abandoned for at least half a millenium. They were formed before the alluvial islands in the estuary came into existence and when the salt waters of the gulf extended up as far, at least, as Port Hammond, 25 miles from the present mouths of the river. In speaking of middens I may say that we possess a great number of prehistoric heaps of the kind in this district, all of which have evidently, like those of the Fraser, been abandoned for many centuries. The oldest and biggest stumps of our biggest trees are seen projecting from their masses everywhere along the inlets, and I have thought it possible that this wholesale abandonment of such evidently desirable camp sites, in whose vicinity shell and other fish abound and have abounded in great quantities from time immemorial, may be accounted for by that intrusion of the Salishan warriors, which your linguistic investigations seem to declare must have taken place here at some indeterminate period in the past. I have suggested this explanation in my paper in speaking of these old camping grounds. The undoubted age of the middens, their long abandonment, and these dolichocephalic crania taken from some of them form together at any rate an exceedingly interesting question to my mind. I hope to be able to get the American Bureau of Ethnology to help me in these investigations for the future. More extensive exploration than I have hitherto been able to afford to give them is required. I know of several series of tumuli in other quarters, which I should like to open.

I owe you an apology for this lengthy letter. I would not have ventured to inflict it upon you but for your known interest in these questions and topics. I trust I may hear from you at your leisure. Through the kindness of Dr. G. M. Dawson I possess your 6th and 7th reports on the North-West Tribes of Canada. I should like a copy of your others very much if you have any you can spare, and shall be pleased to send you a copy of my paper when printed later in return. Is your report of the natives of this district issued yet? Dr. Dawson told me you had one coming out.

I am very truly yours

Chas. Hill-Tout

To Dr. Boas.

P.S. Do you mind saying whether you think it possible to effect a pemanent deformation of the bones of the skull by continued practice of cranial contortion through many generations? For example, might not the marked brachycephaly of the Harrison River Indians be accounted for if it could be proved that they were the descendents of the Hatzic mound-builders who flattened their heads excessively. It seems to me that some permanent contortion of the head might result from these causes. Is this possible? C. H-T.

Letter from Franz Boas¹

New York 127 East 58th St.

Oct 25th 1895

Prof. Chas. Hill-Tout

Vancouver B.C.

Dear Sir,

I just received your interesting communication of Oct 3rd on my return from a trip to Europe. I have not been to London nor have I heard about the skull which interests me very much. Is it a find from the large stone graves and what were the copper implements found with it? Your find of longheaded skulls is important and I should like much to examine them. It is very likely that I shall be on the coast about the month of May and should be very glad if I could assist you in your interesting work. I may be able to obtain funds for this purpose.

Thanking you for your interesting letter and hoping to hear from you again,

I remain yours very truly

Franz Boas

Letter to Franz Boas

Buckland College

Van. B.C.

Nov 2nd 95

Dr. Franz Boas.

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for your reply to my letter forwarded through Dr. G. M. Dawson. I am expecting every day a proof copy of my paper on the mounds and middens of this area from the printers of the Royal Society of Canada’s Proceedings. I will send you one as soon as I am able. I have spoken of my work among these with some detail in this paper.

The contorted skull was taken from one of the Hatzic tumuli, which are made partly of stone and partly of earth. (They are described in full in the paper.) I had hoped to get a note from you on it before the paper was finally incorporated in the Proceedings. I will write and ask Dr. Dawson to forward it to you, and if you will write a few notes upon its physical characteristics and send me, I will send them to Dr. Bourinot and ask him to add them as a supplement to my paper. I think the matter is interesting enough for this to be done. I have photos of the most contorted skulls of this region known to most of the learned societies but none of them approaches to the excessive deformation of this one. I should value your opinion on this skull, from your wide experience in such matters, very much. You could either send it back to me direct or to Dr. Dawson. It is not in my power to present it to anyone. It is claimed by the person who gave me financial help in my explorations.

With regard to the longheads from the midden I saw their importance at once and the necessity of getting a higher opinion than my own upon the matter, and I shall look forward with much pleasure to meeting you in May next. If I might venture to offer a suggestion to one whose experience is so much wider than my own I would suggest a comparison with ancient Algonquian skulls. I am not familiar with the characteristics of these. I suggest comparison with them because it seems to me to be quite possible that these longheads may belong to the Algonquian or Iroquoian stocks. As you are aware there is a widely circulated tradition among the Eastern families of these stocks that their ancestors once lived west of the Rockies. This is but a vague conjecture of mine, and much more exploration and excavation must be done before one can do more than offer it as a simple suggestion. To do this more funds than I can command are needed. I am, therefore, very gratified to learn from your kind letter that you feel interested in my work and are inclined to help me. I should be glad and grateful if you could interest the B.A.A.S. in my undertaking, which is, in brief, to do for B.C. what Dr. Cyrus Thomas has done for the States.¹ I am convinced from my experience of the past few years that B.C. is archaeologically as interesting as any part of this continent and considerably more important than some areas which have received far greater attention, seeing that it has been in the past in the direct line of the great migrations from N.E. Asia. I am exceedingly enthusiastic over the whole question and would like nothing better than to devote the next ten years of my life to the work in this district; but being a married man with a large growing family I cannot afford the time unless some of the learned Societies see fit to employ my services. I shall await your arrival here with considerable impatience.

You ask me what were the copper implements taken from the tumuli. Just four articles, and no more, viz. an awl or possibly a spindle about nine inches long and a quarter inch in diameter, a small finger ring wrapped in a piece of skin and the whole enclosed in a wad of cedar bark, and two pairs of bracelets apparently — possibly one pair was not bracelets as the wrist orifice is very small. They are figured in a plate which will appear (with the other illustrations) with my article mentioned before.

It seems hardly worth while to give you additional information as my paper must shortly be at hand, which will possibly give you all you want. May I then ask you to write a few notes for me on this Hatzic skull which I may add to my paper without any modification as a supplemental note from yourself? I will at any rate ask Dr. Dawson to forward it to you. I think I told you in my former letter that with the exception of a piece of the frontal bone of another skull this is the only one taken from the whole series of mounds there. The preservation of it was due without doubt to the presence of a large cedar tree which had grown out of and over the mound and which was in the last stages of decay when the mound was opened. You know something of the durability of B.C. cedar, so these mounds are of considerable age.

Hoping the skull will reach you safely and you will be able to comply with my request²

I remain

very truly

yours

Charles Hill-Tout

P.S.

You did not say if you had spare copies of your reports to B.A.A.S. other than those I have, 5th and 6th. If you have and can spare me one of each I shall find them interesting and useful and shall be grateful to you for them. I am indebted to Dr. Dawson for those I possess of yours. C. H-T.

Letter to J. W. Powell, Bureau of Ethnology ¹

Buckland College

Vancouver B.C.

Feb 1st. 96

To Colonel Powell

Director Bureau of Ethnology etc.

Washington.

Dear Sir,

May I ask you if you have any linguistic material you can place at my disposal. I shall be grateful even for loans. I have been engaged upon the B.C. stocks this winter, and the result of my labors has been to bring out beyond question the radical unity of the whole group. Nor is this unity confined to the limits of B.C. tho’ my work has mainly and primarily been directed toward these. I find myself hampered by the imperfection and crudeness of my material. I can hear of only a very few grammars. I possess Hall’s on the Kwakiutl and have been promised Father Morice's. I have also a copy of Dr. Boas’ 6th Report on the Northwest Tribes of Canada, a copy of the 8th in which Dr. Chamberlain has treated of the Kitonaga, and the Comparative Vocabularies of Dawson and Tolmie. These with Father Morice’s list of Dene roots, which I only acquired a few days ago, constitutes the whole of my material. In these vocabularies the Tlinkit are represented by one poor and partial list only. And as this stock is of importance to another side of my work I feel its poverty very much. Can you help me in any way by putting me in the way of obtaining other vocabularies and grammars? I expect help from the Canadian Institute, but at present I do not know how far they can aid me.

Another and perhaps more important result of my work has been to disclose the existence of radical and structural relations with the Japo-Peninsular group of languages. The Japanese affinities with the northern tongues are very striking and far-reaching, and I am convinced from my long inquiry that with more perfect materials I can still further bring this out. I hope too to establish to the satisfaction of philologists a Law of Consonantal Equivalency which will be found workable outside the limits of my own inquiry. I drew the attention of Dr. John Campbell of Montreal to the affinities of the B.C. stocks with the Indo-Chinese group some time ago, that being the first Asiatic group with which I compared them, and he was of the opinion that I should find them connecting thro’ the Malay-Polynesian if there existed any relation at all. That a relation exists is certain but it is thro’ the Japo-Peninsulas I think rather than thro’ the Malay-Polynesian. How ever, this is a secondary consideration. That they are an undoubted member of his “Klictan” family there can be no two opinions when the evidence is examined. I shall venture to send you a few characteristic radicals that you may judge for yourself. I hope to have a paper ready shortly, setting forth at length the results of my work. I had hoped to have sent you before this my paper on “Later Prehistoric Man in B.C.” but it has not yet left the printer’s hands.² I wanted by its means to enlist your sympathies and assistance in the work with which it deals. My own efforts are the first and only systematic attempt to deal with the B.C. mounds; and alone, and at my own expense, I can do but little. My heart is wrapt up in the work, in this and in linguistics, and I envy the opportunities which the members of your staff enjoy. I would ask nothing better of fortune than to give me such an opportunity and this broad, almost untouched, field to work in.

Moreover, myself apart, I cannot help thinking that this region is too important and valuable to Anthropology to be left so much alone. I have shown in my paper how important are the prehistoric monuments of this region, such as they are, in treating of the question of American origins. There can be no doubt that this northern coast has seen the coming and going of more than one great division of the pre-Columbian races. Dr. Boas has promised to aid me all he can. He agrees with me upon the importance of the work. Our own government, while sympathising, is too poor to render any effective aid.

Can you put me in the way of getting a copy of Horatio Hale’s “Ethnology and Philology of the U.S. Exploring Expedition”? This will be useful in tracing out Malay-Polynesian affinities. I hope you will find yourself able to help me.³

I am very truly yours

Chas. Hill-Tout

Letters to the B.C. Provincial Secretary ¹

Buckland College

Van. B.C.

Sept. 25th 97

The Honourable

The Provincial Secretary, B.C.

Dear Sir,

During the past few years I have been collecting specimens of the tools and utensils etc. of the native tribes of this Province, and though my collection is not large it is fairly representative of the area from which it was taken, and I have several specimens which are not to be duplicated. Sir John Evans, Dr. Munro, and Dr. Dawson are pleased to express satisfaction at the collection, and I have received several offers of purchase, one from Dr. Dawson himself. I have not yet decided to accept any of these, and before doing so I would like to know if the Executive would care to purchase them for the Provincal Museum. I would rather that they remained in the Province, so if you could bring my offer before the Executive I should be obliged. I am not asking any unreasonable sum for the collection, though, as I said before, there are specimens among them of which there are no duplicates known. If the Executive thinks fit to purchase, I will arrange them in their proper order in the Museum.

In this connection I would like to say that when the archaeological material now in the Museum is transferred to its new quarters in the New Building a different system of classification and arrangement should be made so that the collection will not be simply interesting but educative in its influence, which, as I take it, should be the primary end of museum collections. As the material is now arranged it is neither one thing nor another, articles from different areas and stocks being mixed together without any regard to their origin or development. I shall be pleased to give to this end such knowledge as I possess of the technology of this area. I think I may venture to claim for myself the widest knowledge we have on this subject. I shall be obliged if you will bear this offer in mind when you contemplate a removal. It is claimed for you that your aim has been always to employ those who are the recognized authorities in their particular departments for all service on behalf of the Province. If this principle still animates the Executive, it can scarcely overlook my claims.

Hoping to get an early reply from you in regard to my offer of my collection,

I remain

Very truly yours

Chas. Hill-Tout

Buckland College

Van. B.C.

Dec. 8th 97

The Honourable

The Provincial Secretary

Victoria

Dear Sir,

In reply to your communication informing me that the Executive are willing to purchase my collection of Indian relics provided the price asked is reasonable, I beg to append a descriptive list of same.

With regard to the price I should put upon them, permit me to say that it is not easy to fix upon a sum for a collection of this kind. The objects themselves are sometimes of little intrinsic value though they may be very rare and ethnologically speaking of priceless value. The general method of placing values upon relics of this kind is to consider their rarity, the cost and trouble of procuring them, and whether there are many duplicates. Taking these points into consideration, if I were to ask for twice the sum I have fixed upon it could not be considered by those capable of judging an unreasonable price, as a great many of the objects in my collection are of rare form and make and without known duplicates; and some are of the highest technologic value, such as the partially cut nephrite boulders displaying as they do the methods of cutting employed by the old-time Indians.² If, therefore, I place a sum upon them which only fairly covers my working and field expenses in gathering them, I do not think you can grumble. This, as near as I am able to estimate it, is about $250. There are 317 pieces in the collection, of which the rarer specimens alone would fetch the price 1 am asking if I took the trouble to offer them to private collectors. The collection should be kept intact as it is representative, as far as it goes (which is farther than any other known collection), of the Fraser area and of the Salish stock. They will require a case about 12 by 3 feet.

I am

very truly yours

Chas. Hill-Tout

P.S. The fact that Dr. G. M. Dawson is anxious to secure them for the Dominion Museum should assure the Executive that they are worth possessing.

List of the specimens of workmanship of the native races of B.C. in the Hill-Tout collection:

“Unique sculptured complex human figure, very valuable, no duplicate known.”

12 boulders of green jade or nephrite, 3 of which have great scientific value showing as they do the two methods of stone cutting employed by the natives – until the discovery of these but one method was known; 10 pestle hammers, assorted, no two alike, some carved, and some remarkably fine and polished specimens; 6 fractured ditto; 1 unique medicine bowl with human head sculptured on one side of it — no other of the kind known-, 2 plain oval ditto of different patterns; 1 compound ditto, containing 4 wells or basins; 3 irregular perforated stones, probably “sinkers” or anchors; 1 small perforated pebble, probably “sinker”; 1 circular perforated stone, probably spindle whorl; 5 sling-club stones; 5 chipping hammers; 3 celts; 15 scrapers; 6 pieces of worn grindstone; 10 augite-porphyrite flakes and nodules from graves; 40 assorted bone implements, including shaman’s incised sucking tube, perforated needle, barbed spear and arrow points; 3 steatite stone pipes, one carved and of unusual pattern; 1 small soapstone ditto model, made by modern Indians at Lytton; 1 copper spindle; 1 copper armlet; 1 copper knife; 1 copper ring; 4 pieces of copper bracelets; 1 fractured copper ornament; 1 perfect perforated scollop shell from Interior; 1 very fine double-edged and pointed dagger, rare design; 1 unique sculptured complex human figure, very valuable, no duplicate known, in stone,³1 fractured double-edged stone sword “Roman” type, none such in Provincial Museum; 12 worked augite-porphyrite knives or scrapers; 50 assorted agate and jasper flakes, unworked, of various colours, taken from burial mounds; 6 fine ditto worked knives; 6 imperfect state knives; 6 augite-porphyrite ditto of different pattern; 1 incised rod-like stone, use not known, probably “chafer”; 5 plain ditto; 6 stone axes, some very perfect, mostly of jade; 1 perfect large jade adze; 1 slightly fractured ditto; 5 slightly fractured small ditto; 4 jade chisels; 12 spear heads of different kinds of stone; 20 very fine and rare augite-porphyrite, agate and jasper arrow heads of different patterns, small size; 12 ditto large size; 12 ditto less perfect; 12 “palaeolithic” assorted arrow heads; 2 beautiful and rare leafshaped stone knives, very symmetrically wrought; 4 specimens of basketry, unusual patterns; 1 small bark basket; 1 bow and 3 arrows with carved points from Polynesia: 317 pieces in all. N.B. The last item is only piece not of B.C. manufacture.

Letter from James Teit ¹

Spences Bridge, B.C.

3rd June 1899

My dear Mr. Hill-Tout,

Your letter of the 23rd ult. came duly to hand; also the papers for which I am very much obliged. I am sorry that I have no spare copies of the folktales I wrote. I only received a few, and these I distributed amongst my friends, or gave to parties who have been kind enough to send me books dealing with Indian subjects. However, I send you herewith the only copy I have on hand, and when you have finished reading it please return it and oblige. Seeing you have been good enough to send me copies of some of your papers, I shall make a point of sending you a copy of the next paper of mine, which will be printed very soon. It is a large paper dealing principally with the manners and customs of the Upper Nlakyapamux. I should much like to get a copy of your article on the Nla. Culture-hero.²

Last year I collected 60 stories (for Dr. Boas) from the people of North Bend, Boston Bar, and Spuzzum, and last winter I wrote a paper descriptive of the customs of the people between Lytton and Spuzzum. These papers will be printed by the American Museum.³ I also did some work (for Dr. Boas) last year among the Lillooet people, and I am going amongst them again in about a week’s time to finish up my work. I have obtained some very interesting information regarding them, and also a very good collection of stories.⁴ I may say that I have collected some 20 more myths among the Spences Bridge and Nicola people since I wrote up those for the American Folklore Society.

So far I have done practically nothing with the Thompson language although I speak it rather fluently, but I contemplate making some study of it before long and shall commence to compile a dictionary of it. Dr. Boas is desirous for me to do this.⁵ I do not understand the rules governing the initial “N” in Thompson, but have no doubt the significance could easily be found out by studying lists of words. It is also very common in the Shuswap and Okanagon. Re. the difference between “ud” and “tlum,” I think your informant was probably correct regarding the former; “ud” is certainly a very definite form. Concerning the “TlohaQwontcit": a commoner form with the same meaning is “axkwontloteit" = “art thou still hungry.”

Hoping this may find you well, I remain,

Yours very truly

J.A.Teit

Letter to C. F. Newcombe¹

Abbotsford B.C.

March 4th [1901]

My dear Dr. Newcombe

Thanks for your kind reply to mine. I fully appreciate your position as head of the Nat. Socy, but fear I do not quite understand the attitude of the Soc. as a whole towards my request.² From a remark made by Mr. Gosnell I fear many of the members are confusing the Survey work with that of the Jesup Exploration fund of the New York Museum of Nat. Hist. He says the complaint was made “that while the B.A.A.S. received many reports through the agency you represent, very few specimens found their way to England but were ultimately lodged in the U. States.” Will you kindly allow me to assure the Nat. Soc. of Victoria that no