THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 13 



stant singing. They relieve each other as they get tired; but the girl is never left 

 alone, nor do the songs cease except at slight intervals. At the expiration of this 

 first period, the girl is taken out to be washed. The little girls form a procession, 

 at the head of which she walks, with her face concealed in her blanket, the chil 

 dren singing as loud as they can scream. Arrived at the brook she is required to 

 sit naked in the cold water half an hour, and is then taken back to the lodge. 

 She is bathed in this manner three times a day for a fortnight, and her hair tied 

 up in two bunches, one on each side of her head, which are wound round with 

 cloth, strips of leather, beads, brass buttons, and other trinkets. The only dress 

 worn is a cincture of fringed bark about the waist, reaching to the knee, and a 

 blanket. At the expiration of a month the ordinary dress is resumed, and a head 

 dress of the shells of the dentalium put on. This is the distinctive mark of all 

 young girls until they are married. After this first period they are not compelled 

 to live apart on the monthly return, nor are they required to be secluded after 

 giving birth to a child. Love matches are frequently made, and whenever the 

 parents are opposed the young couple will hide themselves in the woods for a day 

 or two, and on their return the matter is amicably arranged. 



Marriages usxially take place at an early period. The men take for wives either 

 the women of their own or the neighboring tribes; but they are prohibited from 

 marrying any of their own connections, unless the consanguinity is very remote. I 

 do not know of an instance nearer than a fourth cousin. I knew of one young 

 man who was in love with his own cousin, and the Indians spoke of it to me in 

 terms of contempt ; they said he wanted to marry his sister, and it was not per 

 mitted. Polygamy is practised among the Makahs, but is not general. None of 

 them, however, have more than two wives, and these are on terms of perfect 

 equality. If one thinks herself ill treated, she will leave and get another husband, 

 in which event she will take her children with her. If the wife dies, the father 

 takes the children; but while the mother lives and they need her care, she invaria 

 bly takes them with her to her new abode. The facility with which the wives can 

 leave their husbands and take others, gives rise to great confusion, particularly to 

 the mind of a stranger seeking information relative to their domestic affairs. 

 Chastity among the females is a thing much talked of, but it appears to be more 

 honored in the breach than the observance, and, although they are not so grossly 

 licentious as the Clallams and other tribes on the Sound, yet the men have great 

 occasion for jealousy. 



The festivals are but few, and are confined to the ta-ma-na-was ceremonies, 

 which usually take place during the winter months; to certain &quot;medicine&quot; per 

 formances, which will be alluded to hereafter, both of these closing with feasting 

 and dancing, and the pot-lat-chcs, or distributions of presents, which arc made at 

 all seasons of the year. The^ta-ma-na-was is allied to a religious ceremony, and 

 will be treated of under that head. The pot-lat-ches occur whenever an Indian has 

 acquired enough property in blankets, beads, guns, brass kettles, tin pans, and 

 other objects of Indian wealth, to make a present to a large number of the tribe ; 

 for the more an Indian can give away, the greater his standing with the others, 

 and the better his chance of attaining tc the dignity of a chief among his people. 



