THE FLAT-HEAD TRIBES OF COLUMBIA RIVER. 203 



North American tribes, though rather lighter than the Indians of the Missouri and 

 the frontier of the United States : the mouth is wide and the lips thick ; the nose 

 of a moderate size, fleshy, wide at the extremities, with large nostrils, and generally 

 low between the eyes, though there are rare instances of high aquiline noses ; the 

 eyes are generally black, though occasionally we see them of a dark yellowish 

 brown, with a black pupil."* 



But the most remarkable feature among them is the almost universal flatten- 

 ing of the head by mechanical contrivances: various means are resorted to to eflect 

 this end ; but the model of deformity is the same throughout, consisting in a 

 depression of the forehead and consequent elongation of the whole head, until the 

 top of the cranium becomes, in extreme cases, a nearly horizontal plane. This 

 custom obtains among many tribes, among which are the Klickatats, Kalapooyahs 

 and Multnomahs of the Wallamut river, and its vicinity; and the Chinouks, 

 Clatsaps, Klatstonis, Cowalitsks, Kathlamets, Killemooks and Chelakis of the 

 lower Columbia and its vicinity .f It is also stated that several tribes of the coast, 

 both north and south of the river, are in the same practice, but they are all said 

 to speak dialects of the Chenouk language.^ 



" The mode by which the flattening is effected," says Mr. Townsend, " varies 

 considerably with the different tribes. The Wallamet Indians place the infant, 

 soon after birth, upon a board, to the edges of which are attached little loops of 

 hempen cord or leather, and other similar cords are passed across and back, in a 

 zigzag manner, through these loops, enclosing the child and binding it firmly 

 down. To the upper edge of this board, in which is a depression to receive the 

 back part of the head, another smaller one is attached by hinges of leather, and 

 made to lie obliquely upon the forehead ; the force of the pressure being regulated 

 by several strings attached to its edge, which are passed through holes in the 

 board upon which the infant is lying, and secured there."§ 



" The mode of the Chinouks, and others near the sea, differs widely from that 

 of the upper Indians, and appears somewhat less barbarous and cruel. A sort of 

 cradle is formed by excavating a pine log to the depth of eight or ten inches. 

 The child is placed in it on a bed of little grass mats, and bound down in the 

 manner above described. A little boss of tightly plaited and woven grass is then 

 applied to the forehead, and secured by a cord to the loops at the side. The 



* Lewis and Clark. Exped. II, p. 130. 



t Townsend, Jour, to the Columbia River, p. 175. } Irving, Astoria, II, p. S8. 



§Ut supra, p. 175. 



