NO. 8 DRAWINGS BV GEORGE GIBBS BUSH NELL 7 



As previously mentioned, it is not known whether the canoe, the 

 prow of which was sketched by (iibbs, was placed on a scaffold 

 when in use or had always rested on the ground as shown in the 

 drawing. The drawing suggests that the prow was rather massive 

 and heavy, but there is no way to judge its size. 



The Chinookan tribes who occupied both banks of the lower 

 Columbia excelled in carving wood and bone. On January 20, 1806, 

 when near the mouth of the Columbia on the south side, the Lewis 

 and Clark party were among the Clatsops with whom they maintained 

 a friendly intercourse. The narrative of the expedition refers to the 

 skill of the natives in making many articles used in and about their 

 houses, described as "large wooden buildings, varying in length from 

 twenty to sixty feet, and from fourteen to twenty in width." The 

 narrative continues (p. 432) : 



They are . . . very dexterous in making a variety of domestic utensils, 

 among which are bowls, spoons, skewers, spits, and baskets. The bowl or 

 trough is of different shapes, sometimes round, semicircular, in the form of a 

 canoe, or cubic, and generally dug out of a single piece of wood, the larger 

 vessels having holes in the sides by way of handles, and all executed with great 

 neatness. In these vessels they boil their food, by throwing hot stones into 

 the water, and extract oil from different animals in the same way. Spoons 

 arc not very abundant, nor is there any thing remarkable in their shape, except 

 that they are large and the bowl broad . . . The usual plate is a small mat of 

 rushes or flags, on which every thing is served. 



Later, when the expedition was at the Cathlamah village, also on 

 the Columbia and not far from the Clatsops, certain customs of the 

 people were recorded in the narrative (p. 493) : 



This village we have already described, as situated opposite to the seal 

 islands : on one of these the Indians have placed their dead in canoes, raised on 

 scaffolds, above the reach of the tide. These people seem more fond of carving 

 in wood than their neighbours, and have various specimens of their taste about 

 the houses. The broad pieces supporting the roof and the board through which 

 doors are cut, are the objects on which they chiefly display their ingenuity, 

 and are ornamented with curious figures, sometimes representing persons in 

 a sitting posture supporting a burden. 



Beautiful examples of the work of the people near the muuth of 

 the Columbia are shown in figure i. Three of the carvings are in 

 wood and one in bone. The latter, a knife handle, has on the end a 

 remarkable representation of a raccoon, Procyon loior, with the eyes 

 indicated by copper inlays. The club is made of cedar and is rather 

 light for the purpose indicated. All were collected by George Gibbs 

 probably in 1850 or 185 1. Another bowl obtained by him in the 

 vicinity of Shoal water Bay, on the coast a short distance north of 



