458 REPORT — 1894. 



bates among his family. The bride's father presents one blanket and 

 some food to each of his visitors, who depart, taking the bride along. As 

 a rule, the latter follows her hasband. When she gets old and sickly she 

 often returns to her own village, in order to be buried with her relatives. 

 Only when some of her children preceded her in death she is buried with 

 them. Although chiefs were in the habit of taking wives in other 

 villages, marriages among families of the same village were not forbidden. 



The customs of the Lillooet tribes above Fort Douglas were different. 

 Girls when of age slept with their mothers. When a man intended to 

 marry a girl he crept stealthily up to her bed and tried to take hold of 

 her heel. The meaning of this action is said to be founded on the fact 

 that the heel of the woman is near her private parts when she squats, as 

 Indian women are in the habit of doing. She informs her father at once 

 that a certain man has taken hold of her heel, and he must marry her. 

 She follows the young man to his parents. As soon as they arrive, the 

 groom's mother fills many baskets with boiled food and sends them to 

 the bride's mother, while the male relatives of the youth carry blankets 

 and other presents to the girl's father. They are invited to sit down and 

 given a feast. The bride's father sends the groom bows and arrows and 

 shoes that he may be able to hunt for his wife. The groom's mother 

 gives her dentalia for her hair, earrings, and bracelets. After the young 

 man has killed a number of deer he carries them, helped by his friends, 

 to his wife, and asks her to take them to his father-in-law. She asks 

 several women to help her, and they take the meat to her father's house. 

 The young couple and the parents continue to exchange pi-esents for 

 several years. 



I have not learned anything of importance regarding customs refer- 

 ring to birth. The names are given by paternal and maternal relatives, 

 and each family and tribe has its own names. For this reason each person 

 has several names, and is called in each village differently : in his mother's 

 village by the name of the maternal relative after whom he is called ; in 

 his father's village by the name of the paternal relative whose name he 

 has received. 



The ancient burial customs were described to me as follows : — Each 

 family had its own burial-place, which consisted of a large box or a small 

 house built on piles. This building was erected by members of the 

 family only, and all those who helped to make it received ten blankets in 

 payment from the chief. All the members of a family were placed in 

 this box or house. The first one to die was placed in the north-east 

 (or north-west) corner, the face turned eastward, the body Ij'ing on its 

 left side. The next one was placed south of the first, and so on until 

 one row was filled. Then a new row was begun, and the dead ones were 

 all deposited in the same box until it was full. Persons who were very 

 fond of each other were often placed side by side. When the building 

 was full, the bones were taken out, put on new blankets, cleaned, and 

 placed in a new box. Evidently they were piled up in one corner, as 

 there was room for additional burials in the new box. After the bones 

 had been replaced three or four times, they were not taken out again, but 

 a new house was erected. Chiefs and common people were buried in 

 separate houses or boxes. 



The burial ceremonies were as follows : — ^Immediately after a death 

 had occurred, the corpse was prepared for burial by an old man, who had 

 first to chew cedar leaves as a protection against the dangerous influences 



