BULL. 30J 



KUTA WICHASHA KUTCHIN 



739 



118,1814. Necketoos.— Ibid., II, 592, 1817. Neekee- 

 toos. — Morse, Rep. to Sec. War, 371, 1822. Neeke- 

 toos.— Lewis and Clark, Exped., ii, 473, 1814. 



Kutawichasha ( ' lowland people' ). One 

 of the two chief local divit^ions of the 

 Brule Teton Sioux, formerly inhabiting 

 the bottom lands along Missouri r. 

 Coutah-wee-cha-cha.— Corliss, Lacotah MS. vocab., 

 B. A. E., lot), 1874. Kud-witcaca.— Dorsev in l.')th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 218, 1897. Ku"ta-witcaca. — Ibid. 

 Kunwica'sa. — lapi Oaye, xii, 12, 1884. Kuta- 

 witcaca. — Dorsev, op. eit. Lower Brule. — U. S. 

 Stat, XIV, (199, "l8G8. Lower Brusle.— U. S. Ind. 

 Treat., 892, 1873. Lowland Brule.— Dorsey, op. eit. 

 Toncas. — Corliss, Lacotah MS. vocab., B. A. E., lOU, 

 1874. 



Kutchakutchin ( ' giant people ' ) . A 

 Kutchin tribe in Alaska, inhabiting both 

 banks of the Yukon from Birch cr. to 

 Porcupine r., including the Ft Yukon dis- 

 trict. In 1847 Mc^lurray descended Por- 

 cupine r. to the Yukon and built Ft 



SAVIAH, CHIEF OF THE KUTCHAKUTCHIN 

 SON, Arctic searching Exped., 



(from 

 Si) 



Yukon at the confluence. In 1 860 Robert 

 Kennicott wintered at Ft Y^'ukon, and in 

 1866 Ketchum explored the country about 

 the fort. In May, 1867, Dall and Whym- 

 per (Dall, Alaska, 277, 1870) visited Ft 

 Yukon, being the first to reach that point 

 by way of the river. The Kutchakutchin 

 are somewhat nomadic, living principally 

 by hunting and trapping the fox, marten, 

 wolf, wolverene, deer, lynx, rabbit, 

 marmot, and moose. They are traders, 

 making little for themselves, but buying 

 from the tribes which use Ft Yukon as a 

 common trading post. Nakieik, their 

 standard of value, consists of strings of 

 beads, each string 7 ft long. A string is 

 worth one or more beaver skins accord- 

 ing to the kind of beads, and the whole 

 nakieik is valued at 24 pelts. Their 



dwellings, shaped like inverted teacups 

 are of sewed deerskins fastened over 

 curved poles. The women are said to per- 

 form most of the drudgery, but the men 

 cook. Lacking pottery, their utensils are 

 of wood, matting, sheep horns, or birch 

 bark; their dishes are wooden troughs; 

 and their spoons of wood or horn hold a 

 pint. Kettles of woven tamarack roots 

 are obtained from the Hankutchin. 

 Jones says they are divided into three 

 castes or clans: Tchitcheah (Chitsa), 

 Tengeratsey (Tangesatsa), and Natsahi 

 (Natesa). Formerly a man must marry 

 into another clan, but this custom has 

 fallen into disuse. Polygamy and slavery 

 are practised among them. They for- 

 merly burned their dead, but now use a 

 coffin placed upon a raised platform, a. 

 feast accomi^anyingthe funeral ceremony. 

 Richardson (Arct. Exped., i, 386, 1851) 

 placed the number of men at 90. They 

 have a village at Ft Yukon. Senati, on 

 the middle Yukon, was settled by them. 

 The Tatsakutchin and Tennuthkutchin, 

 offshoots of the main tribe, are extinct. 

 Eert-kai-lee.— Parrv quoted bv Murdoch in 9th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 51, 1892. Fort Indians.— Ross, MS. 

 Tioteson Tinnc, B. A. E. Ik-kil-lin.— Gilder quoted 

 bv Murdoch in 9th Rep. B. A. E., 51, 1892. Itch- 

 aii.— 11th Census, Alaska, 154, 1893. It-kagh-lie.— 

 Lvon quoted bv Murdoch, op. eit. It-ka-lya- 

 rmn.— Dall in Cont. N. A. Ethnol., 1,30, 1877 

 (Nuwukmiut Eskimo name). I't-ka-lyi. — Simp- 

 son quoted by Murdoch, op. eit. Itkpe'lit. — Peti- 

 tot, Vocab. Franpais-Ksiinimau, 42, 1876. Itkpe- 

 leit. — Ibid., xxiv. Itku'dlin. — Murdoch, op. eit. 

 Koo-cha-koo-chin. — Hardisty in Smithson. Rep., 

 311,1SG6. Kot-a-Kutchin.— Bancroft, Nat. Races, I, 

 147, 1874. Kotch-a-Kutchins.— Whvmper, Alaska, 

 247, 1869. Koushca Kouttchin.— Petitot, Autour du 

 laedesEsclaves, 361, 1891. KutchaaKuttchin. — Peti- 

 tot, MS. vocab., B. A. E., 1865. Kutcha-kutchi.— 

 Richardson, Arct. Exped., i, 386, 1851. Kutch a 

 Kutchin. — Kirkby (1862) in Hind, Lab. Penin.,ir, 

 2.54, 1863. Kutchia-Kuttchin.— Petitot, Diet. D^n6- 

 Dindji^, xx, 1876 ('giant people'). Kutsha-Ku- 

 tshi.— Latham, Nat. Races, 293, 1854. Low-land- 

 ers. — Raymond in Sen. Ex. Doc. 12, 42d Cong., 1st 

 sess., 34, 1871 . Lowland people. — W h vmper, Alaska, 

 254, 1869. Na-Kotchp6-tschig-Kouttchin.— Petitot, 

 Autour du lac des Esclaves, 361, 1891 ('people of 

 the river with gigantic banks') . O-til'-tin. — Daw- 

 son in Rep. Geol. Surv. Can., 202b, 1887. Youkon 

 Louchioux Indians. — Ross, MS. notes on Tinne, 

 B. A. E. 



Kutchin ( ' people ' ) . A group of Atha- 

 pascan tribes in Alaska and British 

 North America, inhabiting the region 

 on the Yukon and its tributaries above 

 Nuklukayet, the Peel r. basin, and the 

 lower Mackenzie valley. They have 

 decreased to half their former numbers 

 owing to wars between the tribes and the 

 killing of female children. Chiefs and 

 medicine-men and those who possess rank 

 acquired by property have t^'o or more 

 wives. They usually live in large parties, 

 each headed by a chief and having one 

 or more medicine-men, the latter acquir- 

 ing an authority to which even the chiefs 

 are subject. Their dances and chants are 

 rhythmical and their games are more 

 manly and rational than those of their 

 congeners. They have wrestling bouts 



