BDLL. 30] 



KUTENAI 



741 



quiaii tongues, the form of a word used 

 in composition differs from that which it 

 has independently. Redui)lication is 

 very rare, occurring only in a few nouns, 

 some of which are possihly of foreign 

 origin. There are a few loan-words from 

 Salishan dialects. 



The Upper Kutenai include the follow- 

 ing subdivisions: Akiskenukinik, Akam- 

 nik, Akanekunik, and Akiyenik. 



The Lower Kutenai are more primitive 

 and nomadic, less under the influence of 

 the Catholic church, and more given to 

 gaml>ling. They have long been river and 

 lake Indians, and possess peculiar bark 

 canoes that reseml ile some of those used in 

 the Amur region in Asia (Mason in Rep. 

 Nat. Mus., 1899). Of late years many of 

 them have taken to horses and are skillful 

 in their management. The Upper Kute- 

 nai keep nearer the settlements, often 

 obtaining a living by serving the settlers 

 and miners in various ways. ]\Iany of 

 them have practically ceased to he canoe- 

 men and travel Ity horse. Both the Ujv 

 per and the Lower Kutenai hunt and fish, 

 the latter depending more on fish for 

 food. Physically, the Kutenai are well 

 developed and rank among the taller 

 tribes of British Columbia. Indications of 

 race mixture seem to be shown in the form 

 of the head. Their general character 

 from the time of De Smet has been re- 

 ported good. Their morality, kindness, 

 and hospitality are noteworthy, and more 

 than any other Indians of the country 

 they have avoided di'unkennessand lewd 

 intercourse with the whites. Their men- 

 tal ability is comparatively high, and the 

 efforts of the missionaries ha\e l)een re- 

 warded with success. They are not ex- 

 cessively given to emotional instability, 

 do not lack a sense of interest, and can 

 concentrate attention when necessary. 

 Their social system is simple, and no evi- 

 dence of the existence of totems or secret 

 societies has been found. The chieftain- 

 ship, now more or less elective, was 

 probably hereditary, with limitations; 

 slavery of war prisoners was formerly 

 in vogue; and relatives were resiionsible 

 for the debts of a deceased person. ]Mar- 

 riagewasoriginally polygamous; divorced 

 women were allowed to marry again, and 

 adultery was not severely punished. 

 Adoption by marriage or by residence of 

 more than a year was common. Women 

 could hold certain kinds of property, such 

 as tents and utensils. A wergild was cus- 

 tomary. Religion was a sort of sun wor- 

 ship, and the belief in the ensoulment of 

 all things and in reincarnation prevailed. 

 The land of the dead was in the sun, from 

 which at some time all the departed 

 would descend to L. Pend d' Orel He to 

 meet the Kutenai then living. In the 



old days the medicine-men were very 

 IKJwerful, their influence surviving most 

 with the Lower Kutenai, who still paint 

 their faces on dance occasions; but tattoo- 

 ing is rare. Except a sort of reed ])ipe, a 

 bone flute, and the drum, musical instru- 

 ments were unknown to them; but they 

 had gambling, dancing, and medicine 

 songs. The Lower Kutenai are still ex- 

 ceedingly addicted to gambling, their 

 favorite being a noisy variety of the wide- 

 spread guess-stick game. The Kutenai 

 were in former days great buffalo hunters. 

 Firearms have driven out the ])Ow and 

 arrow, save as children's toys or for kill- 

 ing birds. Spearing, the l)asket trap, and 

 wicker weirs were much in use by the 

 Lower Kutenai. Besides the bark canoe, 

 they had dugouts; both skin and rush 

 lodges were built; the sweat house was 

 universal. Stone hammers were still in 

 use in parts of their country in the last 

 yeai'S of the 19th century. The Lower 

 kutenai are still noted for their water- 

 tight baskets of split roots. In dress they 

 originally resembled the Plains Indians 

 rather than those of the coast; but con- 

 tact with the whites has greatlj^ modified 

 their costume. While fond of the white 

 man's tobacco, they liave a sort of their 

 own made of willow bark. A large part 

 of their food supply is now obtained from 

 the whites. For food, medicine, and 

 economical purposes the Kutenai use a 

 large number of the plant i^roducts of 

 their environment (Chamberlain in A^erh. 

 d. Berl. Ges. f. Anthr., 551-6, 1895). 

 They were gifted also with esthetic appre- 

 ciation of several plants and flowers. 

 The disea.«es from which the Kutenai 

 suffer most are consumption and ophthal- 

 mic troubles; venereal diseases are rare. 

 Interesting maturity ceremonies still sur- 

 vive in part. The mythology and folk- 

 lore of the Kutenai consist chiefly of 

 cosmic and ethnic myths, animal tales, 

 etc. In the animal tales the coyote, as 

 an adventurer and deceiver, is the most 

 prominent figure, and witli him are often 

 associated the chicken-hawk, the grizzly 

 l)ear, the fox, the cricket, and the wolf. 

 Other creatures which ajjpear in these 

 stories are the beaver, buffalo, caribou, 

 chipmunk, deer, dog, moose, mountain 

 lion, rabbit, squirrel, skunk, duck, eagle, 

 grouse, goose, magpie, owl, snowbird, 

 tomtit, trout, whale, butterfly, mosquito, 

 frog, toad, and turtle. IVIost of the cos- 

 mogonic legends seem to belong to. the 

 N. w. Pacific cycle; many of the coyote 

 tales belong to the cycle of the Rocky 

 mt. region, others have a Siouan or 

 Algonquian aspect in some particulars. 

 Their deluge myth is peculiar in several 

 respects. A number of tales of giants 

 occur, two of the legends, "Seven Heads" 



