SHUSWAP PEOPLE OP BRITISH COLUMBIA. 11 



be seen, that many or most of the bodies had been buried in the usual upright sitting 

 posture, though others appeared certainly to have been bent into a sitting postvire and 

 then laid on the side, and a few cases seemed to shew that the bones had been laid closely 

 together after the disappearance of the softer parts of the body. The implements and 

 objects found had evidently been placed immediately about the body in each case, and in 

 some instances numbers of flakes, scrapers, etc., were lying together in such a manner as 

 to show that they had been contained in a single package. Yellow and red ochre was 

 common in some of the graves, and in one instance the head had been thickly covered 

 with red ochre, which still adhered to the skull. The best and most shapely implements 

 found were those associated with bodies buried near the crest of the hill, and, generally 

 speaking, the older occupants were better provided in this respect than the most recent. 

 It seemed obvious in all cases, however, that the objects accorded to the dead w^ere rather 

 intended to represent certain forms of property than to be of actual utility. Thus may 

 be explained the large proportion of flakes of arrow-stone to the number of arrows, and 

 the fact that many of the latter were crooked, or from their size and slender form more 

 ornamental than useful ; also the occurrence of prettily coloured pebbles, crystals of quartz 

 and calcite and pieces of mica. Small rod-like pieces of black slate, not unlike though 

 somewhat thicker than ordinary slate-pencils, were moderately common. 



Copper, in the form of small beaten sheets or plates, evidently used for purposes of 

 ornament, was the only metal certainly found in association with the interments, though 

 a drop-shaped piece of lead may have been so associated. No iron implements were 

 found. A small blue glass bead seemed to belong to one of the later graves There was 

 thus little or no evidence of traffic with the whites at the time of the burials, and admit- 

 ting that the objects above mentioned had been obtained in this way, it was conjectured 

 that the place had been abandoned as a burying ground shortly after the whites lirst 

 reached the "West Coast, and that the older graves considerably antedated this period. 

 The Indians now resident at Lytton state that they have no knowledge of the people who 

 were buried at this place. It is, of course, impossible to affirm definitely that the people 

 buried here were the ancestors of those noM" living in the same region, as most at least of 

 the burials belong to a time which is practically prehistoric. It is highly probable, 

 however, that these interments are those of the N-tla-kfi-pe-mooh of the last century. 



Various small animals appear to have been buried with some of the bodies, and 

 amongst these the bones of a beaA'er and the jaw of some animal like a martin were dis- 

 tinguishable. These, with the occurrence of teeth of bears, perforated for suspension, and 

 the natirre of the weapons, would appear to indicate that the people were rather hunters 

 than fishermen, though the presence of numerous adzes seems to suggest canoe-making 

 as an art practised. Shells of dentalium and perforated scollop shells (Peden caurinus) 

 show that trade was carried on with the coast. 



Of objects found in these graves besides those above referred to, the following may 

 be mentioned : — Adzes made of wapiti antler, precisely similar to those found in shell 

 heaps on Vancouver Island ; jade adzes and chips and selvage pieces of jade cut from 

 adzes during their manufacture; antler points and pointed bone awls or bodkins; stone 

 skin-scrapers ; borers of chert or arrow-stone, and notched edges of the same, probably for 

 scraping and shaping thongs ; pestle-shaped hammers and one oval hammer of granite, 

 well shaped and with a deep median groove for attachment ; straight pipes made of steat- 



