178 THE KOOTANIE INDIANS. 
peltries’ undressed skins, trapped by the Kootanie 
Indians, a fine tribe owning large herds of cattle 
and a great number of horses. 
All the savages I saw wore small brass crosses 
suspended from their necks, and invariably made 
the sign of the cross on their breasts when they 
shook hands. Two Romish priests have been 
long resident in the Flathead country; these 
indefatigable men pay regular visits to the 
Kootanies, and from their teachings these out- 
ward signs of Christianity have been learned. 
Their canoes are of a most singular shape, 
not unlike the Kallispellem canoe shown in the 
illustration of Syniakwateen. They are made of 
a large sheet of bark, stripped from the spruce- 
fir, which is tightly sewn at both ends, but sloped 
to form a conical point. The length of the bot- 
tom of the one I measured was 12 feet, the 
width between the gunwales only 74 feet; the 
bark is supported on ribs of split wood, and 
gummed where there are any holes or weak 
places. 
When an Indian paddles it, he sits at the 
extreme end, and thus sinks the conical point, 
which serves to steady the canoe like a fish’s 
tail, while the other is raised clear above the 
surface. They are more easily upset than any 
