268 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



his last voyage that they were exactly the same with those worn by the 

 inhabitants of New Zealand."* Mackenzie mentions this rain dress 

 amongst the Bilqula (1793).t These mats or cloaks were circular in 

 form, with an opening in the center for the head. 



Ceremonial Paraphernalia. — The origin of the custom of wearing cere- 

 monial masks and head-dresses, in this region, would seem to have 

 originated in the actual wearing of them in war. Mijch of the cere- 

 monial display amongst these Indians has reference to prowess in com- 

 bat, and it is an undoubted fact that, in the sur\7^iv^al of many primitive 

 implements of war we have the origin of much of the dance and cere- 

 monial paraphernalia peculiar to this region. 



With the desire to protect the body, armor naturally originated. The 

 masks and visors worn were painted in all the hideous colors and pat- 

 terns adopted ordinarily for the face. They were sometimes carved 

 with representations of the totem of the owner, but were intended in 

 any case both to protect the wearer and to strike terror to the enemy. 

 Vancouver (1793) mentions an encounter with the Tlingit, up Behm 

 Canal, Alaska, in which the chief put on a mask consisting of a " Wolfs 

 face compounded with the human countenance." The masks were often 

 worn without head pieces or visors, and some of them were so thick that 

 a musket ball fired at a moderate distance could hardly penetrate them.| 



There seems nothing unreasonable in tracing the origin of much of 

 the dance and ceremonial paraphernalia to customs originating in war. 

 Most of our secret and benevolent societies which parade in public have 

 a military organization and uniform. The grass hat shown in Fig. 40, 

 Plate XII, is in imitation of the wooden war helmet, and other sur- 

 vivals will be pointed out from time to time. 



Armor. — Formerly the body was protected in combat by various de- 

 vices, the simplest being a leather garment, jerkin, or doublet. This 

 was usually made of one, two, or three thicknesses of hide and in itself 

 offered considerable resistance to arrows, spears, or dagger thrusts, but 

 was still further re-inforced by a cuirass or coat of wood, made of 

 strips or slats, worn either over or under the doublet, but usually over. 

 These are illustrated in Plate xv, Figs. 52 and 53. The doublet or 

 shirt has an opening for the neck and one for the left arm ; the right 

 side is not sewed up, faciliting the putting on of the garment and be- 

 ing secured by ties or toggles and straps. There are two other admir- 

 able specimens in the National Museum (Nos. 46465 and 60240), but 

 as they are similar in patterns to the one illustrated in Plate xv 

 they are not reproduced here. They differ only in having shoulder 

 pads of hide secured on by toggles and straps and in offering some 

 protection to the arms, Vancouver (1793) thus describes a similar 

 shirt worn by a war party of Nass, which his boat parties encountered : 



Their war garments were formed of two, three, or more folds, of the strongest hides 

 of the land animals they are able to procnre. In the center was a hole sufficient to 



* Dixon, Voyage, p. 191. t Mackenzie, Voyages, p. 371. 



tLisiansky, Voyagse, p. 150. 



