1G,000 MILES OF FORESTED SHORE LINE 



321 



CHIEF Kkkwa^ila. 



»f kiii.>> nm Inlet Df 



Briiki' d toirci valinl , 



,: II5D0 .. . 



Pholo by E. A. Sterling. 



Home of a Proud Nimkish Chief. 



note the sign over the door of this chief's house, also the totem painted on the sign. another chief in 



the same village had a sign reading: 



Chief John Clark 



OF TiAWSis Gave a Feast. 



1.130 Sacks of Flour— Cost $2,260.00 



September 18th, 1911 



where your cruising launch can nose its 

 way half a dozen times a day into 

 Sounds and Inlets where you have a 

 water setting comparable to the Lake 

 of Lucerne with a Riga above every 

 headland. And if you miss the art and 

 history developed by the people of the 

 Swiss [Mountains, remember that you 

 can go ashore in colonnades of trees 

 which were fully mature when the old 

 bridge at Lucerne was built, and more 

 beautiful than any cathedral; and in 

 the Indian Villages find traits and cus- 

 toms unchanged from the time of the 

 Lake dwellers of Como. 



The Indians of the British Columbia 

 coast are known generally as Siwash. 

 Actually the term Siwash is not a tribal 

 name, but a" term of derision in the 

 Chinook jargon. The traits which give 

 rise to the name probably resulted in 

 part from contact with tlic whites, 

 although most of the tribes were never 

 highly developed. There are LSS l)ands 

 or tribes of Indians in P.ritish Columbia, 

 with a total population of about 25,000, 



of which a large per cent live on or 

 adjacent to the coast. 



These various bands are under the 

 charge of regional government agencies, 

 and under each agency are several 

 bands. For example the Kwawkewlth 

 Agency at Alert Bay has charge of 

 Kwashela, Nimkish, Tsawataineuk and 

 MamalillikuUa and various other bands, 

 all belonging to the Kwawkewlth or 

 Lachwiltach Nations. The population 

 of these various bands varies from a 

 dozen or two up to two or three hun- 

 dred individuals. 



A\'liile some of the old Indian tradi- 

 tions and customs are dying out, most 

 of the tribes keep up some form of the 

 potlach, which in the native tongue 

 "Palth-piah" means the distribution of 

 gifts. For example, "potlach conwav 

 sun nisika muck-a-muck," is a Chinook 

 version of "Give us this day our daily 

 bread," in the Lord's prayer. .\t the 

 same time like most Chinook words it 

 has a host of meanings which cover 

 carni\-als, feasts, meetings for trade and 



