560 REPORT— 1895. 



In regard to the personal appeai-ance of the Ts'Ets'a'ut I refer to the 

 measurements contained in the tirst part of this report. Tlic individuals 

 whom I saw were short, of light colour, with broad and flat faces and low 

 noses. Their mouths were full. Their general appearancr; is very much 

 like that of the Nisk"a'. 



They have no fixed villages, but make a camp wherever tlioy intend to 

 hunt. Their staple food is porcupine, marmot, mountain-goat, and bear. 

 The skins of these animals supply the raatei'ial for clothing. In summer 

 they go down the rivers of Portland Inlet to catch salmon, which they 

 dry for winter use 



At present they wear white man's clothing, but according to Levi's 

 descriptions their old style clothing corresponded to that of otlier Tinneh 

 tribes. Eoth sexes wore high boots (kiie) made of marmot skins and 

 reaching to the thighs, and pants (ekiaye ) made of curried skins. Men 

 wore a leather jacket (aya'n) cut like a shirt and reaching to the middle 

 of the thigh. In winter they wore a jacket of marmot skins with mittens 

 attached (agotsqa') and threw a robe of birdskins (tss'a) over their 

 shoulders. In travelling they tied the robe around their waists by means 

 of a belt (se). Women wore a short coat, which was tied around the 

 waist (atlae'), and a jacket (tl'a), both being made of mountain-goatskins. 

 The skin of the belly of the beaver was also used for the manufacture of 

 clothing. In recent times both sexes have adopted the use of the moccasin 



info my camp and complainerl that Na-nok. the chief of the Tahltan Ku-nii-iia.?, 

 W(ull not let them proceed to Dease Lake unless thej- paid him something for pass- 

 ing through his country. I had with me at the time as servant one Jim, a Ku-n;i-r a 

 Indian, who explained the cause of Na-nok's conduct by detailing the statement 

 published in The Province. I made Na-nok understand that he must not make 

 reprisals; that his tribesmen at Portland Inlet had full liberty to return to their own 

 country if they wished ; that his jurisdiction did not extend to levying tolls on 

 strangers passing through the country, in which he himself was only a sojourner, as 

 he had done nothing to improve it ; and that he must let the Naas Indians pass, 

 which he accordingly did. This happened about twenty years ago. 



'As to the original inhabitants of Portland Inlet the most ancient of which we 

 have any account is the Tongas band of the Tlinkeet tribe. The wintering villages 

 of this band at one time extended as far sorth as Muh-Ut-hah-la ; they were driven 

 northward by two (Metlakathla) hordes of Tsimsians (men of the river) who de- 

 scended from the interior by the valleys of the Skeena and Naas, took possession of 

 the Tsimpshian Peninsula, and .'ettled thereon. The Tongas, being forced to relinquish 

 their rights therein, retired to the coast and islands immediately north of the entrance 

 to Portland Canal. If there were any inhabitants in Portland Inlet when the Tlinkeets 

 first reached that locality, they would have been exterminated or otherwise absorbed 

 bv the latter race before the Tsimshian race made its appearance on the scene of action. 

 The Tongas would be the most likely Indians to give what information may be 

 obtainable respecting any race more ancient than themselves, which may have existed 

 in the locality under consideration. The Tlinkeets of Cape Fox might also be able 

 to throw some light on the subject. 



'You are aware that the Ku-na-nas of the Stikine Valley are closely allied to the 

 Tlinkeets of that section, i.e. the Skat-kwan. The Skat-kwan are closely allied to 

 the Tongas, and these facts may account for the Naas Indians' moderate treatment 

 of the little band of Ku-na-nas who unfortunately tumbled, as it were, into the lands 

 of the stranger, and stranger meant enemy in the days and in the country of which 

 I am writing. Had they reached ClumaJi, a*, the head of the Pehm Canal, the 

 point for which they were making, they would have been amongst their friends the 

 Skat-kwan Tlinkeets' 



Theie is no traditional evidence of the invasion of the Tsimshian tribe to which 

 Mr. McKay refers, although it is probable that the Tsimshian were originally an 

 inland people. The statements collected by me show also that Mr. McKay is mis- 

 taken in regard to his notions of the distribution of tribes in Southern Alaska. 



