SHUSWAP PEOPLE OF BEITISH COLUMBIA. 25 



better looking than their own, and treaties for peace and intermarriages were made. The 

 language of the strangers fell gradually into disuse, and only a few words of it are now 

 remembered by the oldest Indians of the Similkameen, the N-tla-kfi-pe-mooh and 

 Okauagan dialects being now used by these people indiscriminately. These strangers, 

 who are said to have come from the Chilcotin country, are thus the earliest inhabitants 

 of the Similkameen valley of whom any account has been obtained. 



The traditions and legends of the British Columbia Indians would make it appear 

 that before the advent of the whites the different tribes of Indians were constantly at war 

 and endeavouring to enslave the weaker bands. The more northern races were the most 

 warlike and were continually dispossessing the less warlike southern tribes of their 

 fisheries and hunting grounds. It thus appears possible that the intruders may really 

 have been a Tinneh tribe which was driven south before the advance of the Tinneh now 

 inhabiting the Chilcotin region. 



Mr. Mackay then gives the following list of words, collected a few at a time from 

 different sources, as representing all that can now be got of those of the old primitive 

 language of these immigrants. It will be observed that a considerable proportion of 

 the whole are the same with those obtained by myself from Joyaska, on the Nicola, so 

 much so that possibly some of these words were actually obtained by Mr. Mackay from 

 this old man. The story above narrated evidently applies equally to the older Indians of 

 both the Nicola and Similkameen. The matter being one of considerable interest, Mr. 

 Mackay's complete list is here given in his own orthography : — 



Sl-si-aney, ram of the mountain sheep Tsik-hi, woman. 



or bighorn. Sass, bear. 



T-jJue or Ti-pae, ewe of the mountain Sa-pie, trout. 



sheep or bighorn. Ta-ta-ney, knife. 



Ti-li-isu-in, give me the spoon, or bring Sa-te-tsa-c, spoon made of mountain 



me the spoon. sheep horn. 



Tin-ill, bear-berry {Arclostaphylos). Tlohst-ho, snake. 



Ska-kil-ih-kane, rush mat. N-shole, give it to me. 

 T-haeh, man. 



Numerals. 



1. Sa-pe. 6. Hite-na-ke. 



2. Tuti-ih. Y. Ne-shoie. 



3. Tlohl. 8. K-pae. 



4. Na-hla-li-a. 9. Sas. 



5. E-na-hlë. ^ 



An Indian named Joyaska, who lives in the Nicola valley, below the lake, and who 

 is probably over sixty years old, informed me (in 1888) that he, with seven other men and 

 some women and children belonging to them, were now the only remaining true natives 

 of the Nicola region. Most of the Indians now living in this region are, according to 

 him, comparatively new comers from the Similkameen and Thompson Kiver countries, 

 who have settled in Nicola because of its good grazing lands and otherwise favourable 

 situation. He further states that his people spoke a language difierent from that now 



Sec. II, 1891. 4. 



