FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 101 



PACIFIC SLOPE 



The Salishan tribes retained the wooden fire sticks until compara- 

 tively recently. They also were skillful in the preservation of lire, 

 and as a rule the fire sticks were bundled up with a braided cedar 

 bark slow match. Paul Kane gives an account of the Chinook fire 

 making : 



"Fire is obtained by means of a small, flat piece of dry cedar, in 

 which a small hollow is cut with a channel for the ignited charcoal to 

 rim over. This piece the Indian sits on to hold it steady, while he 

 rapidily twirls a round stick of the same wood between the palms of 

 his hands with the point pressed into the hollow of the flat piece. 

 In a very short time sparks begin to fall through the channel upon 

 finely frayed cedar bark placed underneath, which they soon ignite. 

 There is a great knack in doing this, but those who are used to it 

 will light a fi.re in a very short time. The men carry these sticks 

 about with them, and after they have once been used they produce 

 fire more quickly." ^ 



The Quinaielt Indians of Washington made fire by drilhng. "With 

 this he lighted the end of the braided slow match of cedar bark. 

 This was often carried for weeks thus ignited and held carefully 

 beneath the blanket to protect it from wind and rain."^ 



Throughout California the method of making fire was uniform, 

 one example sufficing: 



''The wood most used for fire making is that of Baccharis douglasii. 

 A flat stick of this, as dry as possible, is obtained and a shallow hole 

 made in it, from which a small notch is cut to the edge of the stick. 

 The drill, a short piece of wood with the lower end trimmed to fit 

 the hole, is then placed in it and twirled rapidly between the palms 

 with a downward pressure. This causes a fine dust to be ground 

 from the stick. This dust runs out to one side through the notch, 

 and if conditions are favorable after a time ignites, no tinder being 

 used. But if the wood is not thoroughly dry, or if the air is moist, 

 it is exceedingly difficult to kindle a fire by this method."* 



■WE3T INDIES 



Ramusio, Navagatione et viaggio, III, Venetiae, 1565 (p. 124), gives 

 an illustration and description of the Cuban Indian method of mak- 

 ing fire. The hearth consists of two pieces of round wood tied 

 together at the ends. The drill works in the groove between the two 

 sticks. Dr. H. Ling Roth remarks that this type of hearth is found 

 nowhere else in this region.^ 



' Paul Kane's Wanderings in North America, 1859, p. 188. 

 •C. Willoughby. Smithsonian Report, 1886, p. 268. 



« Phillip Stedmen Sparkman. Culture of the Luiseno Indians, Berkeley, Univ. of Calif. Pub., vol. 8, 

 No. 4, 1908, p. 209. 

 »H. Ling Roth. The aborigines of Hispaniola, Journ. Anthrop Inst., vol. 16, 1886, p. 282, 



