SHUSWAP PEOPLE OF BEITISH COLUMBIA. 13 



or distribution of property, but was unable to ascertain the precise nature or order of the 

 proceedings. One man was seen to arrive with the bones of a brother wrapped in a cloth 

 and tied behind his saddle. The remains had in this case been brought from Vermilion 

 Forks, on the Similkameen, where the man died about a year before, and were thus being 

 returned to his own country, where the feast was in progress. 



The Tshilkotin Indians, the nearest Tinneh tribe to the northward of the Shuswaps, 

 are said to have frequently, though not invariably, burnt the bodies of the dead on a pile 

 of logs, and when death occurred far from the home of the individu.al the ashes were 

 carefully collected and carried back for ultimate interment. 



The dead were never under any circumstances burnt by the Shoo-whâ'-pa-mooh, with 

 whom bodies were buried in a sitting posture, wrapped in deer skins. The notes already 

 given respecting the graves near Lillooet, go to show that if bodies were not burnt by the 

 Stâ'-tlum-ooh, the building of a fire on the grave was at least occasionally a portion of the 

 mortuary rite. 



The following notes respecting other customs of the Shuswaps are very incomplete, 

 but already most of the usages referred to have either disappeared or have become much 

 modified : — 



Mr. J. "W". Mackay informs me that he has discovered that, in primitive times, in 

 the case of a man dying and leaving behind him a widow or widows, his brother next iu 

 seniority took the widow to wife. The right of a man to the widow of his deceased 

 brother was considered as incontestable as that to his own wife or wives, and the women 

 had equally a claim to receive from him the duty of a husband, which if not accorded 

 rendered the man despicable in the eyes of his tribe, and absolved the widow or widows 

 from their duty to him. 



The proper name of a man is changed from time to time during his life, the new 

 name assumed being that of some dead kinsman. No strict rule obtains now as to the 

 name taken, whatever may have been the usage formerly. Thus a man may at will adopt 

 the name of a dead elder brother, or that of his father if dead. No ceremonial feast 

 occurs on this occasion, but merely a gathering of the people at the instance of the chief, 

 when the new name is announced. 



Young men on reaching manhood were accustomed to separate themselves and go 

 away alone into some solitary part of the country, where they would sometimes remain 

 for three or fou.r months. They might hunt or trap, but must avoid contact with other 

 people and keep away from habitations. Occasionally a young man thus engaged would 

 clear a course in the woods or arrange bars for running or for jumping, and thus endeavour 

 to increase his strength and endurance. They also meditated and dreamed dreams till each 

 discovered his particular guardian spirit. 



Young women, at the time of reaching maturity, and thereafter at recurrent periods, 

 are accustomed to wander forth alone after dark, for considerable distances, breaking 

 small branches from the trees as they go and scattering them about or suspending them 

 upon the limbs of other trees. Young fir-trees a few feet in height are thus often split 

 and torn apart for several feet, or the branches or growing tops tied iu knots. This cus- 

 tom still prevails and the tokens of it may often be observed near Indian camps. No 

 explanation of its meaning can be offered. 



