460 REPORT— 1894. 



the buffalo, fifth the mountain-goaf, sixth the black bear, seventh the elk, 

 eighth the marten, ninth the eagle. The mink is one of the very last 

 among the brothers. Accordingly there are a number of restrictions and 

 regulations referring fco hunting. 



When a porcupine is killed, the hunter asks his elder brother's 

 pardon, and does not eat of the flesh until the ensuing day. 



The mountain-goat hunter fasts and bathes for several nights. Then 

 early in the morning he paints his chin with red paint, and draws a red 

 line over his forehead down to the point of his nose. Two tail feathers 

 of the eagle are fastened to his hair. These ornaments are believed to 

 enable him to climb well. 



The elk hunter adorns his hair with coal, rod paint, and eagle-down. 

 His chin is painted red, and two red lines are drawn horizontally across 

 his face, one passing between nose and mouth, the other over his eyes. 



Those who go to catch sturgeon bathe in a pond early in the morning. 

 They rub themselves with bundles of a plant called tsWutlptie until they 

 bleed. Then they smear their bodies and faces with red paint, and strew 

 white eagle-down on their heads. Each winds a thread made of mountain, 

 goat wool around his head, and another one around his waist. A woven 

 blanket of mountain. goat wool is painted red, and put on. The fish is 

 caught in the following manner : — Two canoes are allowed to drift down 

 river, a net being stretched between them. The oarsmen are seated on 

 the outer sides of the canoes only. The net is stretched between two 

 poles. As soon as a sturgeon is caught, the two canoes approach each 

 other, and the net is wound up by means of the poles. While this is 

 being done the ' sturgeon hunter ' sings, and by means of his song pacifies 

 the struggling sturgeon, who allows himself to be killed. The fisherman 

 must disti'ibute the sturgeon among the whole tribe, each person receiving 

 a portion according to his rank. I was told that the Tc'ilEQue'uk- do not 

 catch sturgeon. This is probably due to their recent immigration to the 

 Fraser River Delta. 



The origin of the various designs of ornamentation used by hunters 

 i« made clear by the following story, which was told to me by George 

 StsEe'lis, chief of that tribe. His grandfather, who was chief at Sk'tsa's, 

 accofnpanied another man on a bear hunt. After two days' search they 

 found the tracks of a black bear, and soon their dog scented the cave in 

 which the bear was asleep. They tried to stir him up by means of long 

 sticks. When he did not come they made a large fire at the entrance of 

 the cave in order to smoke him out. Still he did not come. Then the 

 hunters thought he was dead, and the companion of George's grandfather 

 crawled into the cave. At once the bear took hold of his head and 

 dragged him into the cave. The grandfather, on seeing this, fainted, 

 and remained in a swoon for three days. When he awoke, he saw his 

 companion coming out of the cave. He told him : ' When I was hauled 

 into the cave, the bear took off his bearskin blanket, and I saw that he 

 was a man. He bade me sit down, and told me : Henceforth, when you 

 go to hunt bears, paint the point of your arrow red, and draw a red line 

 along its shaft. Draw a line of mica across your face from one temple to 

 the other across your eyes, and one line of mica over each cheek vertically 

 downward from the eyes.' When the hunters reached home they told 

 their experiences. Henceforth the people followed the instructions of the 

 bear-man, and were successful when hunting bears. 



The panther is not hunted by the StsEe'lis, because he is supposed to 



