672 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS. 



small boxes were placed in tlic coffins with the bodies. All the coffins 

 were next covered with several layers of calico, blankets, mats, and 

 cedar boards to the depth of about 8 inches. An old man then made 

 some remarks, followed by a speech from the child's father, and when 

 this was concluded the grave was filled with earth, a little new calico 

 having been thrown in with the dirt. Next all gathered on the beach, 

 a fire was built on which two or three pieces of cloth were burned, a 

 few men made presents to the fathers of the children just deceased, 

 some calico was given by the women to the mothers, and the two 

 fathers, with another medicine man, presented small sums of money to 

 the men. 



RELIGION. 



The practical part of their religion is a compound of Shamanism and 

 Spiritism, called in Chinook's jargon tamanous, tamahnous, or tamana- 

 mus, and the word expresses their idea so completely that it has been 

 somewhat adopted into English, for the word expresses a combination 

 of ideas for which we have no exact English equivalent. Tamanous is 

 a noun, and as such refers to any spiritual being, good or bad, more 

 l)Owerful than n)an and less powerful only than God or Satan. Hence 

 the being may be a good or bad tamanous. It is also used to express 

 the work of influencing any of their spirits by incantation. The word 

 is also an adjective, and as such is used to describe any stick, stone, or 

 similar article in which spirits are at times supposed to dwell, and also 

 any man, as a medicine man, who is supposed to have more than ordi- 

 nary power with these spirits; hence we often hear of tamanous sticks 

 and tamanous men. It is likewise a verb, and to tamanous is to per- 

 form the incantations necessary to influence these spirits. In some 

 cases it is done mainly by the medicine men, but in others by any one. 



Objects and implements of icorship. — I do not believe that these Indians 

 ever had any idea of the Great Spirit before the coming of the whites. 

 They have however a plain idea of a great being, perhaps mythologi- 

 cal, who has much to do with the world as it now is, and who is called 

 in Twana and Nisqually Do-ki-batt, and in Klallam Mi-ki-matt. The 

 word means a changer, and considering his work, it is an appropriate 

 name. When he was here he was supreme, and they think he may have 

 a second coming at any time. 



Demons. — They firmly believe in the presence and power of malignant 

 spirits, and much of their tamanous is to conquer them and to gain 

 their favor and aid. The chief of these demons, according to the 

 Twanas, is Skwai il, who resides below, but in another place from the 

 disembodied human spirits. Often a parent tells a child, "You must 

 not steal or do wrong ; if you do, Skwai-il will see you and take you to 

 his dwelling-place." 



Angelic spirits they believe to be constantly around. Every man and 

 nearly every woman formerly was thought to have one which was called 



