cranial deformation formerly practised by this tribe took place. This was effected by frontal pressure, pads or bands of slowi being tied across the anterior part of the cranium and held there by thongs fastened to the bottom of the cradle. A pad was also tied across the top of the head about the line of the coronal suture to prevent the head from rising to a ridge here, as was common among the Siciatl [Sechelt] tribe, the Squamish regarding this as ugly and unsightly. The immediate effect of this pressure was threefold. It caused a flattening of the occipital region by contact with the cradleboard; it gave a peculiarly receding sweep to the frontal bone, a line of beauty in Squamish eyes; and it produced a compensatory bulge of the head laterally; the general effect of all which was to make the head appear abnormally short and the face unusually broad. This practice of cranial deformation has now, I believe, been wholly given up by the Squamish, though the infant still passes the greater part of the first year of its existence in a cradle as formerly. On one of my visits to the Squamish I observed an Indian mother nursing her baby in a rush-made cradle with open top. This, I was informed, was the style now commonly used.
“It gave a peculiarly receding sweep to the frontal bone, a line of beauty in Squamish eyes.”
Should the birth take place in the winter, or when it was not convenient for the mother to retire to the woods, a temporary screen of reed mats would be put up in the general dwelling, behind which the woman would give birth to her child. A very peculiar custom obtained among the Squamish in the case of first-born children. The mother might not feed the child from the breast for four days. Her breasts must first be steamed with a decoction of the rind of the elderberry (Sambucus mcemosa), and then covered with poultices of the same material. This was kept up for four days, its object being to “cook" the mother’s milk. The process, called in the Squamish wutlkwai miukwum ‘cooking the breast,’ was sometimes repeated at the birth of the second child, only on this occasion the infant was not deprived of the breast. It was thought that the mother’s milk was harmful to the child before the fourth day and before it had been “cooked.” This strange custom, amongst others, may perhaps have had something to do with the high death-rate among the old-time children. In earlier days, before contact with the whites, it was not at all uncommon for a mother to give birth to a dozen children; but there were few households which contained a family of more than half of that number. It is true that female children were commonly strangled at birth if there were too many girls in the family. This unnatural practice was effected by the parents themselves — usually by the mother — by stopping the nostrils and placing a gag of slowi in the child’s mouth. My informant was herself doomed to this fate at her birth, and was only spared at the earnest solicitations of an elder sister.
After the birth of the child, when the woman had passed the afterbirth, she was taken or went down to the river or inlet and bathed in the icy-cold water, no matter what time of year or what kind of weather it was. My informant stated that she had been thus taken to the river and washed all over after the birth of her first child in the month of January, when the water was covered with ice and the ground with snow. Ablutive ceremonies played a very important part in the lives of the old-time Squamish, as we may easily gather from their old customs. Men, women, and children bathed constantly. Among the young men it formed an important feature of their training. Each sex had is own special bathing place, men and women, or boys and girls, after childhood never bathing together.
The birth of twins was a very special event, twins always possessing, it was believed, supernormal powers, the commonest of which was control of the wind. It would seem that the birth of twins was usually presaged by dreams on the part of both parents. In these dreams instructions would be given to the parents as to the course they must pursue in the care and upbringing of the children. These they must follow implicitly in every particular. If they were neglected it was thought and believed that the twins would die. If the event took place in winter a fire must be built in the woods, but the husband must on no account touch or have anything to do with it. If the husband built the fire a very cold period would follow. Immediately after the birth, both husband and wife must bathe in cold water, using the tips of spruce, fir, and cedar branches to scrub themselves with. After this they must remain in seclusion, apart from the rest of the tribe, for a month. Any breach of this rule was regarded as a grave offence, which was bound to bring severe punishment upon the offenders. The hair of twins was supposed never to be cut. If for any reason this rule was departed from, great care had to be taken to bury all that had been cut off. Neglect of this, it was believed, would bring about a severe winter. Throughout the whole childhood of the twins the greatest care had to be taken of them. If at any time wind was desired for sailing, the bodies of the twins would be rubbed with oil or grease, after which, it is said, the wind would immediately rise. The tsaianuk, a kind of small fish which I was unable to identify, and which periodically visits the Squam-ish River in large numbers, are said to be descended from a pair of twins (see the story of the origin of the tsaianuk, below).
When a woman desired to give birth to a son she would place during her pregnancy a bow and arrows under her bed. If a daughter was desired a needle and some of the utensils used in weaving would take the place of the bow and arrows. Another custom to ensure the same end was for the woman to chew, in the early days of her pregnancy, the leaves of certain kinds of willow and other shrubs. These leaves were distinguished as “male" and “female" leaves.
Customs Practised to Prevent Pregnancy
When a woman desired to bear no more children she adopted one or more of the following practices. She would get out of bed immediately after giving birth to her child and stand for some time up to her armpits in the icy cold water of the inlet, or river, or sound, according to her locality; or she would bury the after-birth on the beach at ebb-tide just at the line of land and water. Another practice was to hang the after-birth on the branch of a tree and keep it there for a twelvemonth. Still another was to turn round three times and kick the after-birth before it was disposed of. Usually the mode of disposing of the after-birth was by burying it secretly in the ground. Among the Squamish it was never burned, as among some tribes. It was believed that the mother would swell up and die if the after-birth was burned. It is said that a woman once destroyed the after-birth in this manner with this melancholy result; hence its disposal in this way was ever afterwards most carefully avoided.
Marriage Customs
Formerly, when a young man took a fancy to a girl and desired to make her his wife, the custom was for him to go to the house of the girl’s parents and squat down with his blanket wrapped about him just inside the door. Here he was supposed to remain for four days and nights without eating or drinking. During this period no one of the girl’s family takes the slightest notice of him. The only difference his presence makes in the house is to cause the parents to keep a bright fire burning all night. This is done that they may readily perceive that he takes no advantage of his proximity to the girl to make love to her or otherwise molest her during the night. On the fourth day, if the suitor is acceptable to the parents, the mother of the girl asks some neighbour to acquaint the youth that they are willing to accept him as their son-in-law, and give him the girl. To himself they still say nothing, nor in any way take the slightest notice of him; and as no communication of any kind can take place between the girl’s people and the young man at this stage of the proceedings, this neighbour now cooks a meal for the fasting lover and informs him at the same time that his suit is acceptable to the family, and that the girl will be given to him in the usual way.
After the young man’s acceptance by the girl’s parents in the manner described, the youth would then return home, and in a few days come back for his bride, accompanied by all his friends and relatives. If he were just an ordinary young man of the tribe, of no particular standing, he would bring with him one canoe-load of blankets; but if he were a person of rank, such as a chief’s son, he would bring two canoe-loads of blankets with him. These he would distribute,to the bride’s relatives. He and his friends are now entertained for the rest of the day by his prospective
