l THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. 



Whenever it is the intention of an individual to make such a distribution of his 

 property, a number of his friends are called in solemn council; an inventory of the 

 articles is made, and the amount each one is to receive is decided upon. The 

 names of the persons who are to be thus favored are then announced in the 

 following manner: One of the party, seated on the ground with a board before him 

 and a stick in his hand, acts as a herald. The person about to give the presents 

 then announces a name, which, if satisfactory to the assembled friends, is repeated, 

 whereupon the herald strikes a blow on the board with his stick, and calls the 

 name in a loud voice; this is repeated until all the names are called to whom pre 

 sents are to be given, and the articles each is to receive decided upon. Messengers 

 are then sent to invite the guests. If the party is to be a large one, there will be 

 from fifteen to twenty messengers who go in a body, with painted faces, and sprigs 

 of evergreen in their hair. They enter the lodges with songs, and one of their 

 number announces the intended feast and calls aloud the names of all who are 

 invited. On the set day these assemble at the lodge of the Indian who gives the 

 entertainment, and, after much feasting, singing, dancing, and masquerade per 

 formance, which sometimes lasts several days, the articles are distributed. The 

 blankets are displayed on poles, or cords stretched across the lodge for the purpose, 

 and all the other articles are placed so as to be seen by the assembled guests, who 

 are seated at one end of the lodge opposite the goods. The herald, after making 

 a speech, extolling the great liberality of the donor, strikes the board with his 

 stick, and calls a name ; thereupon an attendant takes the intended present and 

 deposits it in front of the person who is to receive it, where it remains till all are 

 served. Then a song is sung, a dance performed, and the party retire. 



Sometimes these parties are composed of children. The parents of a boy or girl 

 who are ambitious for the child, give presents to the children of the tribe. 

 Invitations are sent to the parents, and the names of those children who are to 

 receive the offerings are given. The entertainments are similar to those in the 

 case of adults, except that the performers are children, who dance and sing and go 

 through a variety of plays. The dancing is certainly not graceful; it consists in a 

 clumsy sort of jump, with about as much ease and agility as a person would display 

 while attempting to dance in a sack. The children have a variety of plays, some of 

 which resemble those of white children, and were undoubtedly learned by observa 

 tion of the customs of those they have seen at Victoria and other places on the 

 Strait and Sound. For instance, peg-tops, which they call ba-bet hl-ka-di, and 

 battledore and shuttlecock, which is termed kla-ha-tla (kla-hak, shuttlecock; ko-ko-wi, 

 battledore). They also make little wagons, using for wheels sections of kelp stems, 

 cut transversely and about an inch thick. These stems are cylindrical and hollow, and 

 the little wheels answer exceedingly well for their miniature carts. They are quite 

 as expert as most white children in the manufacture of miniature ships and schooners; 

 some of which are very creditable pieces of work. But their chief pleasure is to get 

 into a little canoe, just large enough to float them, and paddle about in the surf. It 

 is this early and constant practice in the management of a canoe and the use of the 

 paddle, that makes them so exceedingly expert when they become of maturer years. 

 Another pastime of the boys is to imitate the killing of a whale. One will 



