172 BEPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



the child lies at. full length, and the sides of the cradle are suffi- 

 ciently high to enable the mother to lace it in by a cord passed from 

 side to side, a small block being put at one end as a pillow. When the 

 mother is traveling she carries the cradle on her back in nearly an up- 

 right position, with the head appearing just above her shoulders. But 

 if she is working she suspends the infant from the pliant branch of a 

 tree, or, sticking the pole in the ground at a slight angle, hangs the 

 cradle, sometimes upright, sometimes horizontally, on the end of it. 

 They move pole and cradle so as to keep it near them, and every now 

 and then give it a swing so that it rocks up and down. It is said that 

 when children die they are put in some lake or pool, in their cradle, and 

 left to float, the water being regarded as sacred ever after. 



Swan, in his "Indians of Cape Flattery,"* says: "The practice of 

 flattening the heads of infants, although not universal among the Ma- 

 kahs, is performed in a manner similar to that of the Ohinuks and 

 other tribes in the vicinity of the Columbia River. As soon as a child 

 is born it is washed with warm urine, and then smeared with whale oil 

 and placed in a cradle made of bark, woven basket fashion, or of wood, 

 either cedar or alder, hollowed out for the purpose. Into the cradle a 

 quantity of finely separated cedar bark of the softest texture is first 

 thrown. At the foot is a board raised at an angle of about 25 degrees, 

 which serves to keep the child's feet elevated, or when the cradle is 

 raised to allow the child to nurse, to form a support for the body, or a 

 sort of seat. This is also covered with bark (he-se-vu). A pillow is 

 formed of the same material, just high enough to keep the head in its 

 natural position, with the spinal column neither elevated nor depressed. 

 First the child is laid on its back, its legs properly extended, its arms 

 put close to its sides, aud a covering either of bark or cloth laid over it; 

 and then, commencing at the feet, the whole body is firmly laced up, so 

 that it has no chance to move in the least. When the body is well se- 

 cured, a padding of he-se-yu is placed on the child's forehead, over which 

 is laid bark of a somewhat stiffer texture, aud the head is firmly lashed 

 down to the sides of the cradle; thus the infant remains, seldom taken 

 out more than once a day while it is very young, and then only to wash 

 it and dry its bedding. The male children have a small opening left in 

 the covering, through which the penis protrudes, to enable them to void 

 their urine. The same style of cradle appears to be used whether it is 

 intended to compress the skull or not, and that deformity is accom- 

 plished by drawing the strings of the head-pad tightly and keeping up 

 the pressure for a long time. Children are usually kept in these cradles 

 till they are a year old, but as their growth advances they are not tied 

 up quite so long as for the first few months. The mother, in washing 

 her child, seldom takes the trouble to heat water; she simply fills her 

 mouth with water, and when she thinks it warm enough spirts it on 

 the child and rubs it with her hand." 



"Smithsonian Confr. to Knowledge, No. 220, pp. 18-19. 



