THE INDIANS OF CAPE FLATTERY. H 



of such connections are considered half slave, and although some of the more in- 

 telligent have acquired vv^ealth and influence among the tribe, yet the fact that the 

 father or mother was a slave is considered as a stigma, which is not removed for 

 several generations. Their status, as compared with the African slavery of the 

 Southern States, is rather that of bond servants ; they are the hewers of wood and 

 drawers of water. They appear to have no task-work assigned them, but pursue 

 the same avocations as their owners; the men assisting in the fisheries, and the 

 women in manufacturing mats and baskets, and other indoor work, or in prepar- 

 ing and curing fish. Formerly, it was considered degrading for a chief, or the 

 o'Nvner of slaves, to perform any labor except hunting, fishing, or killing wh ales ; 

 proficiency in any of these exercises was a consideration that enabled the most 

 expert to aspire to the honor of being a chief or head man ; but since the tribe 

 has been under ' the charge of an agent of the Government, and it is seen that no 

 distinction is made between bond or free, but that both are treated alike, the old 

 prejudice against labor is wearing away, and men and women, with the exception 

 of a few among the old chiefs, are willing to engage side by side in such work as 

 requires to be done for the agency. And it is to be hoped that, in a few years, 

 under the judicious plan of the treaty, slavery will be gradually abolished, or exist 

 only in a still milder form. The division of labor between husband and wife, or 

 between the males and females, is, that the men do 'all the hunting and fishing, and 

 cut the firewood. The women dress and cure the fish or game, bring wood and 

 watei', and carry all burdens of whatever nature that require transportation. They 

 also attend to the household duties of preparing and cooking food; but the men 

 wash and mend their own clothes, and in many instances make them. This custom 

 is not confined to the slaves, but is practised by all. The women also provide a 

 portion of the food, such as berries and various edible roots, and, to a limited extent, 

 cultivate potatoes. The fact that they assist in procuring food, appears to secure for 

 them better treatment by the men, than is usual among the buff'alo-hunting tribes 

 east of the Rocky Mountains. The husband, however, claims the privilege of cor- 

 recting the wife, and some of them receive very severe beatings ; but, on the other 

 hand, they have the privilege of leaving their husbands, which they do for a slight 

 cause. The marriage tie is but a slender bond, which is easily sundered, although it 

 requires much negotiation when first contracted. Among the common people it is 

 simply a purchase, payment being made in blankets, canoes, and guns, or such other 

 commodities as may be agreed upon ; but where the girl is the daughter or relative 

 of a chief, a variety of ceremonies takes place. One of these, which I have wit- 

 nessed, displayed a canoe borne on the shoulders of eight men, and containing three 

 persons, one in the bow of the craft in the act of throwing a whaling harpoon at 

 the door of a lodge ; one in the centre about to cast a seal-skin buoy, which was 

 attached to the harpoon ; and one in the stern with a paddle as if steering. The 

 ceremonies in this instance represented the manner of taking a whale. 



The procession formed on the beach a short distance from the lodge, and in 

 front of it an Indian, dressed in a blanket which concealed his head, crept on all 

 fours, occasionally raising his body to imitate a whale when blowing. At intervals 

 the Indian in the canoe would throw the harpoon as if to strike, taking studious 



