THE INDIANS OP THE NOETHWEST COAST. 343 



ers plucked from an eagle's skin, or by the display of a tuft of white 

 feathers on the end of a pole or at the mast head of the canoe.* In the 

 friendly dances and ceremonies of welcome a fan or tuft of white 

 eagle feathers was carried in token of friendship and peace. 



TREATIES OF TEACE. 



At a conclusion of peace it was the custom to exchange hostages in 

 token of good faith. Dall says of them : 



These are obliged to eat with tlieir left hands for a certain period, as they carried 

 weapons in the right hand, during combat. Each hostage has two companions of 

 equal rank assigned to him by the tribe which holds him.t 



Lisiansky (1804) says of the hostages sent by the Sitka to the Russian 

 forces : 



Tliey were in one canoe, and sung as they approached a sort of song of a melan- 

 choly strain. On landing, the hostage threw himself flat on his back iu the shallow 

 water, according to the custom of the country, and continued in this posture till 

 some of our people arrived who were sent to lift him up and conduct him. t 



In general the treaties of peace were ratified by feasts and elaborate 

 ceremonies often lasting many days. 



^Vancouver, Voyage, Vol. ii, p. 389; and Dixon, Voyage, p. 160, 



tDall, Alaska, p. 417. 



t Lisiansky, Voyage, p. 156. 



