NO. 17 SMITIISOXIAN EXPLORATIONS, It)l6 II5 



constituted one of their principal occupations, in which they were 

 second only to the Makah Indians of Neah Bay. The daring, cour- 

 age, and skill with which these primitive people hunted, attacked 

 and killed the "(iiant of the Sea" in their frail canoes and with 

 their primitive weapons, must have been remarkable. At the present 

 time pelagic hunting- is confined to the hunting of the valuable fur- 

 seals which constitute a not unimportant source of income to the 

 Ouileute. Last year alone they sold $6,000 worth of furs. The 

 Ouileute learned the art of sealing some seventy vears ago from the 

 Ozette Indians, who in turn obtained it from the Nootka of Van- 

 couver Island. In the meanwhile, the Ozette and Nootka have aban- 

 doned this occupation, partly voluntarily and partly owing to public 

 interference, so that, to-day, the Ouileute are the only Indians in the 

 United States proper who are permitted to hunt and kill fur-seals. 

 The Ouileute use special canoes for that purpose ; these canoes are 

 dug-outs, made of cedar, and are manned by three i)eople. The 

 sealing season lasts from March until July, and the hunters verv 

 often go 30 and 40 miles out into the sea. The Ouileute derive most 

 of their revenue from the sale of the several species of salmon that 

 are caught in the Ouileute river. 



A novel feature of American Indian ethnology has been fovmd 

 among these Indians in their former ceremonial life. Like the 

 other tribes of the Northwest area, the Ouileute had a lumiber of 

 secret societies, corres])onding more or less to the fraternities of 

 the Xootka, Kwakiutl, and Salish tribes, with this remarkable excep- 

 tion : All Ouileule secret societies were occupational; that is to sav, 

 an individual became a member of a certain order, because he 

 followed the profession of that order. Thus, Dr. Frachtenberg 

 found special orders for Warriors, Hunters, Fishermen, Seal- 

 hunters, Whale-hunters, Rain-makers, etc. The importance of 

 this new phase of primitive social life cannot be overestimated. 

 There can be no doul:)t that the culture of the Ouileute Indians is 

 closely related to the cultures of the Kwakiutl-Xootka and Salish 

 groups. Furthermore, Dr. Frachtenberg is practically convinced that 

 he will be able to produce conclusive evidence in the near future, 

 showing that the languages of the Wakashan, Salish, and Chima- 

 kuan families have been derived from one common mother-tongue, 

 which he proposes to call the Moscdi language, from the numeral 

 mos " Four," which occurs, in one form or another, in all languages 

 that constitute these three groups. 



On October 12, Dr. Frachtenberg interrupted his Ouileute field- 

 work and proceeded to the Tulalip Reservation, Washington, where 



