380 TESTIMONY 



Deposition of Circus Jim, MaJxah Indian^ sealer, 

 pelagic sealing. 



State of Washington, 



Counti/ of Clallam, ss : 

 Circus Jim, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am about 35 years 

 old, and am a native Makah Indian. I reside on the In- 

 Experience. diau reservation at Neah Bay, in Clallam County, 



State of Wasliington, United States of America. I 

 am by occupation a hunter and fisherman. I have been engaged at 

 hunting seals for about seventeen years. In early times, and until 

 within the last ten years, I hunted seals with spears in canoes. During 

 the last ten years I have been sealing up and down the coast in schoon- 

 ers, but used spears all of the time. When we used canoes exclu- 

 sively I used to hunt and capture seals about 30 miles in the Straits of 

 San Juan de Fuca. Seals used to be plentiful in the straits, but for 

 Decrease ^^^^' ^'^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^-^ ycars they have become very scarce 



in the straits, so that now we can not find any more 

 there. We used to hunt seals in cauoes for about 20 miles out in the 

 ocean, oft" Cape Flattery and up and down the coast, between Greys 

 Harbor and Barclay Sound. Seals were very plentiful along the coast 

 six or eight years ago. I used to be out on the water hunting seals in 

 a canoe for a coui)le of days at a time, if the weather was flue. Three 

 Indians would go in one canoe. One would handle the spear, the other 

 two would paddle and steer the boat. I was the spearman. Usually we 

 found several seals at a time asleep on the water and would creep upon 

 them, sometimes as near as 20 feet, but more frequently not closer than 

 40 to 50 feet. I wonld then throw the spear at them 

 splarf*^^^ ^'^^ ^^'^ ^^^^ almost always secure all that I hit. Very rarely 

 I would hit and secure two seals at a time. I would 

 then get a seal on each barb of the spear. 



We use smaller canoes now since we began to use schooners in which 

 to carry our canoes and hunters to the sealing waters, and but two In- 

 dians go in one of these sm aller canoes. A great many years ago we used 

 to catch about one-half cows and one-half young seals. I never caught 

 cauoht no miikincr ^^^ scals aloug the coast that had given birth to their 

 cows^'ifiong^coSt. '°^ young and that had milk in their breasts. I never 

 James Q. Swan capturcd any barren COWS. I first went sealing m the 

 1889. ' ' Bering Sea in the James G, Swan in 1SS9, and went 



Lottie, 1891. again on the schooner Lottie in 1891. While in tlie 



sea I caught a great many cow seals that were giving 

 Mostly milking milk. Most all the seals we caught in the sea were giv- 

 s^ais^^caught in Ber- ing milk. I have bccu out Sealing this spring along the 

 ^°^ ^^' coast in the schooner James G. Swan. We have been 



^^./ames G- Swan, q^^ three timcs. Our schooner carried 15 canoes, 

 each one manned by two Indians, and we secured ten 

 Fifty per cent preg- scals iu all, fivc of which had pups in them. I know this 



nant cows. , -^ ' , , i i j_i 



because I saw the pups when we cut the carcasses open. 



We dry the meat of the seal and use it for food. The 



other five seals were smaller and probably male and 



cw.""* ^''''^ "^°'' female. Seals do not haul out on the land along the 



. coast to breed, nor do they give birth to their young on 



watCT or on kelp™ ^ the Water, or on the kelp. I never caught any little 



black pups along the coast. I used to catch a great 

 many gray ones on the coast, but caught but one this year. We hunt 



