NORTHWESTERN AMERICA. 205 



the rugged and mountainous tract enclosed between the two northern 

 forks of the Columbia. The Flat-bow River and Lake also belong 

 to them. They are great hunters, and furnish large quantities of 

 peltry to the Hudson's Bay Company. In former days, they were 

 constantly at war with their neighbors, the Blackfoot tribes, by 

 whose incursions they suffered severely. In appearance, character-, 

 and customs, they resemble more the Indians east of the Rocky 

 Mountains than those of Lower Oregon. 



3. TSIHAILI-SELISH FAMILY. 

 E. SHUSHWAPUMSH, OR SHUSHWAPS, OR ATNAHS. 



The Shushwaps possess the country bordering on the lower part of 

 Frazer's River, and its branches. From the vocabulary given by 

 Mackenzie of the dialect spoken at Friendly Village, on Salmon 

 River, in latitude 50 30', and about ninety miles from the sea, it 

 appears that the natives of that village belong to this tribe. Beyond 

 them, according to Mackenzie, a different language is spoken, 

 probably that of the Hailtsa Indians, of whom some mention will be 

 made hereafter. 



The name of Atnah is given to this people by the Tahkali, in 

 whose language it means stranger or foreigner. The Shushwaps 

 differ so little from their southern neighbors, the Salish, as to render 

 a particular description unnecessary. By a census taken a few years 

 since, the number of men in the tribe was ascertained to be about 

 four hundred. The whole number of souls at present may be rated 

 at twelve hundred. 



F. SELISH, SALISH, OR FLATHEADS. 



How the name of Flathead came to be applied to this people cannot 

 well be conjectured, as the distortion to which the word refers is not 

 practised among them. They inhabit the country about the upper 

 part of the Columbia and its tributary streams, the Flathead, Spokan, 

 and Okanagan Rivers. The name includes several independent tribes 

 or bands, of which the most important are the Salish proper, the 

 Kullespelm, the Soayalpi, the Tsakaitsitlin, and the Okinakan. The 

 number of souls is reckoned, in all, at about three thousand. 



The Salish appear to hold, in many respects, an intermediate place 



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