ON THE NORTH-WESTEKN TRIBES OF CANADA. 571 



The Indians are fond of brass finger-rings (^ci'qhohwa'tsitsqa'i'na'ni). 

 One young fellow wore six : three (on first, third, and fourth fingers) on 

 the right hand and three (on first, second, and fourth fingers) on the left. 



Many of the ornaments are undoubtedly charms, and the Indians are 

 very loth to part with these. One blind Indian had more than a dozen 

 bits of stone, wood, fur, &c., besides a sort of needle made of the small 

 bone of the leg of a grizzly bear. Bear's teeth and claws are much worn, 

 either in necklaces or pendent from the hair or some part of the dress. 



In the olden times necklaces of dqku'p'malc, a shell found in the rivers 

 of the Lower Kootenay region, and wristlets of the same material were 

 worn. Men, women, and children wore earrings made of these shells, the 

 child's ear being pierced very early in life. No evidence of the existence 

 of labrets, nose ornaments, or the practice of knocking out certain of the 

 teeth could be found. 



Tobacco, Pipes. 



The Indians call store tobacco yd'k'et, and their own sort, made of the 

 leaves of certain willows and plants, tcakd'u. They have a remembrance 

 of having obtained tobacco from the south-east. The principal plant 

 which they use for making their native tobacco is that known as tcakd'woh 

 (the kinnikinnik plant, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). The pipe-stems {dqhu'tla) 

 are made oi a' qJcumo" wok (Viburnum opulus) and other woods. The pipe 

 itself (kos) is made of stone procured from the Lower Kootenay. These 

 pipes difler very much in form and size, and are but little ornamented. 

 Very few of them are now made. The Indians are very fond of cigarettes 

 (iyu'q'd'iit), and in making them prefer to use printed paper (see figs. 

 13,14). 



Food (kiketl). 



Much of the food supply of the Kootenays is now purchased. They 

 are very fond of such sweet things as sugar, sweet-meats, jellies, and pre- 

 serves. The Upper Kootenays obtain the refuse when cattle are killed by 

 the Chinamen and the ranchers. The Lower Kootenays will eat horses, and 

 have been known to eat the dead bodies of cattle that have been drowned 

 and have remained for days in the river. The Kootenays do not eat 

 skunks (fta'Qas), cats (pits), frogs (we' tdk), crows (aa'aa), ravens (ko'kwen), 

 certain hawks, various kinds of woodpeckers, owls, robins (tci'kEku), 

 plover (Au'fse'is), jays (k-ok'-u'sk-'i, blue jay; ivd'koks, white jay), although 

 the children occasionally eat the red woodpecker (md'Eka), and a few 

 Indians will eat the owl (k'ii'pt), and the hawk called i'ntldk (Accipiter 

 Gooperi). The Indians eat the eggs (d' qkimu' qan) of a few birds whose 

 flesh they do not use as food, such as the yi'kets'nd and the took' tldtltld. 

 The Kootenays have the reputation of being enormous eaters, and the 

 writer's experience fully corroborates this. The Kootenays have the 

 disgusting habit of eating the vermin (h6"ke) which infest their heads, 

 and even the chief has been seen picking the lice from one of his tribes- 

 men's head and devouring them with evident relish. 



Food Plants. 



A large portion of the food of these Indians is of a vegetable nature, 

 consisting of berries, roots, moss, &c. The following are the principal : — 



Berries : sk'o'md, service-berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) ; hisyi'tin (Bibes 

 oxycanthoides), wild gooseberry; dqko'ho and gdtsfMgo'ko, raspberry; 



