196 



Makah alone of all these tribes venture to kill it in whaling style. The 

 Kwillehiut take it by means of harpoons l)uoyed with seal-skins, which 

 they leave to mark its course until it dies, and the more southern Indians 

 content themselves with the animal when it drifts ashore dead, as occasion- 

 ally happens. The blubber is cut up and preserved by partially smoking-, or 

 the oil tried out and saved in the paunches of animals. 



As the salmon form the most important staple of subsistence, so with them 

 are connected the greatest number of superstitions. These have, with many 

 tribes, in a measure died away, but till of late years were rigorously main- 

 tained. Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, mentioning the capture of the first salmon 

 at the Dalles, in 1807, an occasion of great rejoicing as a harbinger of the 

 school, state that, "in order to hasten their arrival, the Indians, according 

 to custom, dressed the fish and cut it into small pieces, one of which was 

 given to each child in the village." At the mouth of the Columbia, the first 

 salmon taken could only be eaten by the medicine-men. The next was 

 eaten by the inhabitants of the lodge. The taking of the "first fish of the 

 season" was, in fact, everywhere the occasion of a feast. The salmon dance 

 was performed, and the anticipations of plenty lightened the hearts of all. 

 The earlier fish could not be obtained at any price by a Avhite man, unless 

 they were first cooked, lest he should open them with a knife instead of a 

 stone, or cut them crosswise. The heart was always roasted and eaten, for 

 fear a dog should eat it, when no more salmon would be taken. The 

 restrictions upon women during menstruation and pregnancy were stringent, 

 and there were numerous other details observed, such as eating particular 

 parts with the rising and falling tide, consuming the fish before sundown, 

 &c. On the ripening of the salmon-berry however, these rules were abated, 

 the incoming of the schools being by that time rendered certain. The feasts 

 have of late been discontinued, and the salmon dance neglected. In all 

 tliese respects, the Niskwalli had the same observances as the Tsinuk. 



To the above is to be added, as a limited resource, the potato, which 

 is more or less cultivated by all. The estimate formed by Colonel Sim- 

 mons, in 1854, of the quantity raised by all the Sound tribes was somewhat 

 over 11,000 bushels of potatoes; no proportion, however, existing among 

 the various tribes of the amount to the population. 



