456 INDIAN TRIBES OF 



Their adoption of names is arbitrary, and a fortuitous circumstance 

 is frequently seized upon to gratify the passion for a change. The first 

 name they bear is generally taken from some circumstance at the 

 child's birth, and in after life others are added to the first, and there 

 are few individuals but are well supplied with them. 



The missionaries have succeeded in inducing many of the Spokane 

 tribe of Indians to reside near them, which affords an opportunity of 

 attending to their temporal wants, as well as of giving them instruc- 

 tion. 



On their way, they met a party of Pend' Oreilles Indians, digging 

 the cammass-root. Some of these were purchased that had been 

 cooked with the Oregon sunflower, which imparted to them the taste 

 of molasses. 



Shortly after their arrival, they were joined by two Canadian free 

 trappers, whom our party was desirous of procuring as guides ; but it 

 was soon found that they were ignorant of the country, and not trust- 

 worthy. 



The customs of the Indians, in relation to the treatment of females, 

 are singular. On the first appearance of the menses, they are fur- 

 nished with provisions, and sent into the woods, to remain concealed 

 for two days ; for they have a superstition, that if a man should be 

 seen or met with during that time, death will be the consequence. At 

 the end of the second day, the woman is permitted to return to the 

 lodge, when she is placed in a hut just large enough for her to lie in at 

 full length, in which she is compelled to remain for twenty days, cut 

 off from all communication with her friends, and is obliged to hide her 

 face at the appearance of a man. Provisions are supplied her daily. 

 After this, she is required to perform repeated ablutions, before she 

 can resume her place in the family. At every return, the women go 

 into seclusion for two or more days. 



When in childbirth, they are still more hardly treated, being re- 

 quired to keep strictly to the hut, whence they are not suffered to be 

 moved, however ill they may be. Death often ensues in consequence. 



In case of illness, very few comforts are allowed the sick, in conse- 

 quence of the custom that all the garments about a death-bed must be 

 buried with the body. They have no medicines, except for sores or 

 wounds. 



The conjurors, or medicine-men, are employed to cure diseases, and 

 they have practices similar to those mentioned in speaking of the Nez 

 Perces. 



After death, burial takes place within a few hours. The corpse is 

 washed, wrapped in skins, with the legs doubled up, and then put into 



