ON THE NOBTH-WESTEEiN TRIBES OF CANADA. 567 



wild animals. The number of poles used varied from five or six to nine 

 or ten. There was no particular separation of men and women in the 

 lodt^es ; communal houses were unknown. In the old days it was 

 considered a grave offence to let the fire in the tepee go out. Larger 

 lodges for the chief and for the medicine-man were the rule. Lodges 

 were also constructed of the rush called tibmtl. 



Sweat-houses. 



The sweat-houses {wise' ydtT) were made of willow sticks bent over 

 one another so as to form a dome-shaped structure from 2\ to 4 feet high 

 and some 4 feet in diameter. This dome is covered with blanket, grass, 

 bark, &c. A hole is dug in the ground in the centre, in which the bather 

 crouches. Near to the sweat-house is built a firft, in which stones are 

 heated red-hot and placed within the wise'ydtl, when water is poured 

 upon them, and the naked Indians stand the almost suffocating tem- 

 perature for a long time, until suddenly they rush out and plunge into 

 the stream close by. The Kootenays are very fond of these sweat-baths, 

 and the writer has seen more than a dozen of the wise'ydtl in close 

 proximity on the banks of one of the many creeks of the country. 



Implements, &c. 



The use of the name dqkii'tdtl for both ' flint ' and ' axe ' seems to 

 indicate of what material the Kootenays made axes in the past. Axes 

 were also made of dter or elk horn called d'qJcdtle'et. Knives (^dqktcd'm&tl) 

 were of similar materials. Needles and awls {tlo'o) were made of the 

 sharpened small bones of the leg of the moose (iiets'na'pliiv) and other 

 animals. Hammers {pu'pu) of stone are still in use. 



Manufactures 



Water-tight baskets, made of split roots and known as yi'tslcl, are still 

 manufactured by the Lower Kootenays, but the art appears to be nearly 



Fig. 5. — Root-basket. The original is Fir. 6. — Moccasin, beaded and orna- 

 o\ inches high, 5| inches across mented. The original is 10 by 5 



bottom, and 3j' inches across top. inches. 



lost amongst the Upper Kootenays of British Columbia. The larger 



