918 



WASCOO WASHA 



[B. A. E. 



dried and preserved for winter use. Tlie 

 most notable of their industries were 

 work in wood (bowls, spoons), horn 

 (spoons, cups), and twined basketry 

 (bags, various forms of stiff baskets). 

 Coiled basketry has been learned since 

 closer contact with the Klikitat; the chief 

 materials used in twining are cedar roots 

 and various grasses, of late also trader's 

 cord and yarn. Realistic figures are 

 carved in wood and horn; while the bas- 

 ket designs are partly geometrical, recall- 

 ing the basketry art of n. California, and, 

 as in that area, bearing conventional 

 pattern names, partly realistic, though 

 crudely so (angular figures of men, eagles, 

 and deer are characteristic of the basketry 

 art of the lower Columbia). The latter 

 designs may be plausibly explained as an 

 adaptation of forms familiar from wood- 

 carving to twined basketry with its 

 straight line and angular patterns. The 

 original Wasco costume consisted of 

 blanket robes (the pelts of bear, deer, 

 wolf, coyote, raccoon, and mountain 

 goat in summer), sleeveless shirts of rac- 

 coon or coyote skin, breechcloths of 

 raccoon skin, and moccasins of deerskin; 

 hats and gloves were made of coyote skin. 

 Two types of house were in use — the 

 partly underground winter house, roofed 

 with cedar bark and having board plat- 

 forms about the walls for beds, and the 

 summer house with frame of fir poles and 

 covering of tules or cedar bark; the latter 

 type might have several fireplaces, ac- 

 commodating three or four families. 

 Sweat-houses were frequently used and 

 were of quasi-supernatural significance. 



In childhood the head was flattened 

 by pressure on the forehead, and the ears 

 were punctured with five holes in each 

 ear; adults whose heads were not flat- 

 tened were derided as no better than 

 slaves. As regards naming, the most 

 interesting fact is perhaps the absolute 

 impossibility of translating a single 

 Wasco name, the Caainookan dialects dif- 

 fering in this respect from the vast ma- 

 jority of American languages. Puberty 

 ceremonies were observed in the case of 

 both girls and boys; the former were sub- 

 ject to the usual taboos, after the fulfil- 

 ment of which a menstrual dance was 

 held, while the latter "trained" for the 

 acquirement of strength and one or sev- 

 eral guardian spirits. Burial was on 

 boards put away in "dead people's 

 houses"; slaves were s<)metimes buried 

 alive to accompany a chief to the next 

 world. Three classes of society were 

 recognized: chiefs (the chieftainship was 

 hereditary), common .folk, and slaves 

 (obtained by capture). There was no 

 clan or totem organization, the guardian 

 spirits referred to being strictly personal 

 in character; the village was the main 



social unit. Religious ideas centered in 

 the acquirement and manifestation of 

 supernatural power ol)tained from one 

 or more guardian spirits. The main so- 

 cial dances were the menstrual dance, the 

 guardian spirit dance, in which each 

 participant sang the song revealed to him 

 by his protector, and the scalp dance. 

 The most striking fact in the mythology 

 of the tribe is the great rule that Coyote 

 plays as culture-hero and transformer. 

 See Sapir, Wishram Texts, Pub. Amer. 

 Ethnol. Soc, II, 190a (e. s.) 



Afiilakin.— Gatschet, Kalapuya MS., B. A. E. 

 (Calapodva name). Amp;;^ankni. — Gatschet in 

 Cont. N. A. Ethnol., ii, pt. ii, 21, 1S90 ('where the 

 water is': Klamath name). Awasko ammim. — 

 Gatsehet, Kalapuya MS., B. A. E. (Kalapuya 

 name). Caclasco.— Lee and Frost, Oregon, 186, 

 1844. Cathlas.— Stuart in Nouv. Annates d. Voy., 

 XII, 27, 1821. Cathlascans. — Scouler in Jour. Eth- 

 nol. Soc. Loud., I, 237, 1848. Cathlasco.— Gatschet 

 in Mag. Am. Hist., I, 167, 1877, Cathlascons. — 

 Scouler in Jour. Geog. Soc. Lond., xi, 224, 1841. 

 Cathlaskos.— Morse, Kep. to Sec. War, 368, 1822. 

 Cathlassis. — Stuart, op. cit., 26. Cathlatscos. — 

 Scouler in Jour. Geog. Soc. Lond., xi, 224, 

 1841. Catlaseon.— Ibid., 243. Guithlasko.— Gat- 

 schet in Cont. N. A. Ethnol., li, pt. I, 93, 1890 

 (Klakama name). Ka-clas-ko.— Lee and Frost, 

 Oregon, 176, 1844 (Chinook name). Saxlatks.— 

 Gatschet, Molalu MS., B. A. E., 27, 1877 (Molale 

 name). TTncoes.— H. R. Rep. 98, 42d Cong., 3d 

 sess., 467, 1873. Wacoes,— Palmer inlnd. Aff. Rep. 

 186.'i, 194, l.s5t'i. Wasco.— Hine.i, Oregon, 30, ln9, 

 1851. Was-co-pam.— Lee and Frost, Oregon, 167, 



1844. Wascoparns.— Dart in Ind. Aff. Rep., 215, 

 1851. Wascopaw.— Lane (1849) in Sen. Ex. Doc. 

 52, 31st Cong., 1st sess., 171, 18.50. Wascopens.— 

 Meek in H. R. Ex. Doc. 76, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 10, 



1845. Wascoputns.— White, Ten Years in Oregon, 

 2.59, 18.50. Wasko.— Mooney in 14th Rep. B. A. E., 

 741, 1896. Waskopam.— Gatschet in Cont. N. A. 

 Ethnol., II, pt. I, 93, 1890 (Tenino name). Was- 

 kosin.— Shea, Cath. Mi.ss., 478, 1855. Waskows.— 

 Alvord (1853) in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, v, 6.52, 

 1855. "Wiss-co-pam.— Ross, Fur Hunters, I, 1855. 

 Woscopom.— Tran.s. Oreg. Pion. Asso., 85, 1887. 



Wascoo. Given by Ker (Trav., 104, 

 1816) as the chief village of the "Ilisees" 

 (q. v.). 



■Wasechun-tashnnka. See American 

 Horse. 



Washa. A small tribe, probably of 

 Muskhogean stock, which, when first 

 known to Europeans, inhabited the lower 

 part of Bayou Lafourche, La., and hunted 

 through the country between that river 

 and the Mississippi. In 1699 Bienville 

 made an unsuccessful attempt to open 

 relations with them, but in 1718, after 

 the close of the Chitimacha war, they 

 were induced to settle on the Mississippi 

 3 leagues above New Orleans, and they 

 appear to have remained near that place 

 to the time of their extinction or their 

 absorption by other tribes. They were 

 always closely associated with another 

 small tribe called Chaouacha, with which 

 they finally became united. In 1805 

 Sibley stated that there were only four 

 individuals of this tribe living scattered 

 'among various French families. The 

 name Ouacha is perpetuated in that of 

 a lake near the Louisiana coast, and it 



