I 



ON THE ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 491 



if the salmon catch was poor. Their traditions tell of troubles of this 

 kind occasionally. They also hunted the deer with dogs, and occasionally 

 secured a mountain -goat or two. In hunting the deer they did not shoot 

 or trap them. The dogs were ti-ained to drive them into the water, where 

 they were easily despatched by men in canoes. Some of the men were 

 skilful with the bow and arrow, and secured by this means many duck, 

 &c., but it was in fishing the tribe excelled. Fruits and roots of various 

 kinds were also eaten by them. This we may gather for ourselves from 

 their folk-tales. I was unable to secure the native names of many of 

 these. Sucli of those as I did get will be found in my vocabulary of 

 Sk'qo'mic tei'ms below, with their botanical equivalents. I could not 

 learn that any family or village had exclusive rights over fishing, hunting, 

 or berry and root grounds. These seemed to be common to all alike. 

 Neither could I hear anything of ' First Fruits ' ceremonies as among the 

 N'tlaka'pamuQ and River Indians. The chiefs used formerly to pray for 

 the tribe or village to Te tcitl sla'm, the upper chief, but I could learn no 

 particulars of these prayers. They have been in contact, more or less 

 close, Avith white men for over two generations, and this intercourse, with 

 the influence of the missionaries, has broken down and thrust aside many 

 of their old pagan beliefs and practices, many of which are not known at 

 all by the younger men and women, and almost forgotten by the older 

 ones. Like the other tribes of this region they were fond of fish- oils, and 

 particularly salmon-oil. They extracted oil from the sturgeon, the seal, 

 the salmon, and the dog-fish. They stored these oils away in bottles made 

 from the sounds, or air-bladders, of certain fish. They used this oil for a 

 variety of purposes besides food. One of these was the anointing of 

 the bodies of sick persons and also the bodies of twins when wind was 

 desired. 



P/ii/sica/ Characteristics, 



With the exception of about a score of photographs of men and boys 

 of the yk'qo'mic I regret to say that I can add no new matei-ial to our 

 knowledge of the physical characteristics of this tribe. Dr. Boas's earlier 

 work along these lines among them so prejudiced their minds against 

 anything of the kind that I found it impossible to do anything with them, 

 more particularly after the death of the late Bishop Durieu, who had a 

 great influence over them. The good Bishop had made an appointment 

 with me just before his death sickness, and had promised to exercise his 

 influence in my behalf, and I was sorely disappointed to learn of his 

 death. He told me himself that on tlie occasion of Dr. Boas's visit many 

 of the Indians ran away and hid themselves in the woods rather than sub- 

 mit to the examinations. I made an effort, however, and chief George 

 ' rounded ' me up a score or so of children of all ages, but the mothers of 

 them came upon us before I had measured the first boy's head and dragged 

 them all ofi". After this I gave up the attempt to do anything with them 

 in this way. I may say, however, that, like the N'tlaka'pamuQ, they are 

 clearly a mixed race. We find two distinct facial types among them, one 

 of which is distinctly and markedly Mongolic. I regret being unable to 

 secure a good specimen of this type among my photographs. 



Archaoloffi/. 



Archaeological investigation carried on within the territory of the 

 Sk"q6'mic has resulted in revealing to us, among other things, one fact of 



