ApPvIL 14, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



535 



in both instances, and the tales of the Raven 

 as culture hero and trickster, so well known 

 among the Indians farther north, are heard 

 here among the Quilleutes, while the same 

 adventures are told of Blue Jay among the 

 Quinaults, as is the case among the Chinook 

 and other neighboring peoples in the south. 

 These traditions will form an excellent 

 basis for a comparative study of the mythol- 

 ogy of the region. 



Particularly valuable information in re- 

 gard to the conventional development of 

 design in basket ornamentation was ob- 

 tained among the Quinaults, bearing out 

 the theory that the common geometrical 

 figures which are used so much are almost 

 invariably conventionalized representations 

 of natural objects, and, as a rule, of animals. 

 N"otes on the social life and beliefs of the 

 Indians were also secured, and observations 

 made on the influence of the so-called 

 ' Shaker ' religion, which has been gaining 

 a strong hold on the natives of that section 

 during the last half-dozen years. In general 

 it is hoped that the work of the summer 

 will contribute very materially to the solu. 

 tion of many of the problems, general and 

 special, which are offered by the Indians of 

 the N"orthwest. 



Livingston Farband. 



aechjeological investigations on the 

 north pacific coast of amertca. 



The archfeological work conduoted on the 

 northwest coast of America, prior to the 

 organization of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 

 pedition, was not extensive. The available 

 knowledge concerning it is largely confined 

 to three publications — two by Dr. William 

 H. Dall, on cave and sb all-heap remains of 

 the Aleutian Islands : and one by Mr. 

 Charles Hill-Tout, a resume of the archae- 

 ology of the southwestern portion of Brit- 

 ish Columbia. 



The archgeologica' investigations which I 

 carried on in conrection with the Jesup 



Expedition during the past two years 

 dealt chiefly with two problems: (1) ex- 

 amining the archajology of the southern 

 interior of British Columbia ; and (2) in- 

 vestigating the shell-heaps of the coast of 

 Vancouver Island, together with those of 

 the adjacent mainland. 



In the southern interior of British Colum- 

 bia, more particularly in the valleys of the 

 Thompson and Eraser Elvers, now live 

 tribes of the Salish Indians. This region is 

 one of almost desert dryness. The houses 

 of the Indians are covered with a roof of 

 timbers and earth, and are partly under- 

 ground. Unlike the tribes of the coast, who 

 have such an abundance of the few staples 

 — cedar, seal, salmon, and shell-fish — that 

 they depend almost exclusively upon them, 

 these people have to resort to a great vari- 

 ety of natural resources. Primarily among 

 them may be mentioned the deer, which 

 furnish them with skins for clothing, flesh 

 for food, and bone and antler for imple- 

 ments. The sagebrush-bark is used for 

 textile fabrics. Salmon are taken for food 

 in the rivers, and berries and roots are ob- 

 tained in the mountain valleys. Many ob- 

 jects are made of stone. They bury their 

 dead in little cemeteries along the river, 

 although an isolated grave is sometimes 

 seen. Their method of burial in the ground, 

 instead of in boxes deposited in trees, in 

 caves, or on the ground, the conical form 

 of their lodges, and their extensive use of 

 chipped points of stone rather than of those 

 ground out of stone, bone, and antler, ally 

 their culture with that of the tribes of the 

 East, and differentiate it from that of the 

 coast people. None of the native peoples 

 of British Columbia make pottery, and no 

 pottery has been found by archseological 

 work. Food was boiled by dropping hot 

 stones into baskets or boxes containing it. 



The archaeological remains are found in 

 the light sand of the valleys and hillsides. 

 The wind is continuallj' shifting this dry 



