the night, the inmates of the house sleeping on one side of the building and the visitors on the other. On the following morning, after a good meal has been indulged in, all go down to the beach to where the bridegroom’s canoe is moored, the parents of the bride taking with them a number of blankets, which they put in the canoe. If the bride is a person of rank the whole course from the house to the beach is covered with a line of blankets for her to walk on, and two old women, as maids-of-honour, lead her down to the canoe. The bride is dressed for the occasion in all the bravery of bright-coloured blankets and what other ornaments she may possess. Over her head, completely enveloping her, a blanket is thrown as a kind of bridal veil. Behind her come the female slaves of her father’s household, carrying all her personal belongings, such as mats, baskets, blankets, wooden platters, spoons, etc. The bridesmaids now place the bride in the bow of the canoe, after which etiquette demands that the bridegroom shall reward them for their services by a gift of one or more blankets each. When this has been done the parties separate, the girl’s family and friends going back to the village, and the youth with his bride and friends returning home. If the girl were the daughter of ordinary parents she would have to dispense with some of these ceremonies, such as the walking on blankets, etc. Some days later the bride and bridegroom and his friends return to the bride’s old home, where a feast is held. After the feast is over they separate again, and some time later the girl’s parents and friends pay a return visit to her husband’s home, bringing with them blankets and other presents equal in number and value to those bestowed on themselves. These are distributed to the son-in-law and his friends, after which all partake of a second feast, which closes the marriage ceremonies, and thereafter the girl and youth are regarded by all as man and wife.
Sometimes the suitor is not acceptable to the girl’s parents, and after a family council has been held he is rejected. A friendly neighbour is called in as before to act as intermediary and convey to him the decision of the parents, only on this occasion she provides no meal for him. If the youth has set his heart on the girl he will now try and induce her to elope with him. If she refuses to do this, he has perforce to give her up and seek a wife elsewhere. If, however, she consents, he seizes the first opportunity that offers and carries her off to the woods with him, where they remain together for several days. If the objection to the young man on the part of the parents is not deep-rooted, he is now permitted to keep the girl as his wife on payment to them of a certain number of blankets. If, however, they object even now to have him as a son-in-law, they take the girl from him, and it is understood on both sides that he is to trouble her or them no further.
With regard to the suitor’s fast of four days and nights I questioned my informant whether the old-time youths of the tribe really and truly abstained from food and drink on these occasions. He assured me they undoubtedly did, and that it was a matter of honour with them to eat or drink nothing during the whole period, the significance of their abstinence being that they were now men, and could readily endure the hardships and privations incident to manhood. Apropos of this custom he related to me an instance of what befell a certain luckless youth who sought surreptitiously to break his fast. The family of the girl whom he sought to take as wife had all gone out on the third day, leaving him squatting in his place by the door. They had gone across the inlet to pay a visit to a village on the other side. The absence of the whole family tempted the famishing youth to take advantage of his temporary opportunities to satisfy the cravings of his stomach. So he left his post and ran down to the beach and hastily dug up some clams. As he was in the act of eating these a little girl told him that the family was returning on the water. In his haste to eat the clams he had prepared he swallowed one whole, and it stuck in his throat and choked him so that he died. His melancholy end was regarded by everybody as richly deserved, and his fate was held up thereafter as a warning to succeeding generations of young men.
These customs are no longer kept up among the great body of the Squamish. Marriages among them are now conducted very much after the manner of the whites and solemnized by the priest. A few of the heathen Squamish, who still hold up their old tribal customs, continue to marry their daughters in this way; but these are few in number, and, generally speaking, the marriage customs as here described are only a tradition in the tribe.
Naming
A child usually received no name in babyhood, but when about three years old the elders of the child’s family or clan would choose a name for it from among those of its ancestors. This name it would bear through life if a girl, but if a boy, and the son of some person of rank and wealth, some years later his parents would give a potlatch, and then he would receive a new name. This was quite commonly that of his own father or of his paternal grandfather, whether they were alive or dead.
The names of dead people were tabooed. That is to say, it was a breach of custom and good manners to mention the name of a dead person in the presence of the deceased’s relatives or connections. This custom gave rise to inconvenience at times. It was quite common for men to be called by the name of some implement or utensil. An individual once bore the name of Skumel ‘paddle.’ When he died, as they might not use this term before his relatives, they had to make use of the term qautliwus when they wished to say “paddle.” I did not get the significance of this new term. Another person bore the name Slukcen ‘moccasin.’ When he died a new word had to be coined, and today both terms are in common use for moccasin.
The stories give us examples of the names used formerly. I append a few specimens of these here: Tciatmuq ‘owl’; Qoitcital; Atsaian; Siatlmeq ‘rain-man’; Tculq; Cauk ’skull'; Sqeils ‘copper’; Cukcuklaklos; Tetketsen.
Puberty Customs
When a girl arrived at puberty she would call her mother’s attention to her condition. The mother at once informed the father, who calls the family and relatives together. They discuss the matter and arrange what course the girl is to follow. From this statement it would seem that no two girls necessarily followed the same procedure. First of all they take two strands of the wool of the mountain sheep or goat and tie them to her hair, one on each side of her forehead. This is a public notification of the girl’s condition, which everybody understands. She is now set to “pull" wool or hair without food or drink for the space of four days. She was kept without water during this period because it was believed that if she drank water when in this condition she would spoil her teeth. She must abstain from washing or bathing, and must never go near the fire during the four days. It was believed that if she sat near the fire during her menses her skin would become red, and ever after remain so. When in this condition her mother, or grandmother, or some other woman would pull out all the irregular hairs from the edges of her eyebrows so as to make them fine and even. The denuded parts were always rubbed with the girl’s saliva to prevent the hairs growing again. When the four days were up, some old women would take her in hand, and bathe her head and body in hot water, and scrub her with branches till her skin was almost torn off and her body was sore and covered from head to foot with scratches from the severe treatment she had received. The prickly brambles of the trailing blackberry (Rubus sp.) were often employed for this purpose, and my informant told me that it was no uncommon thing for a girl to toss and turn in agony the night following this bath, unable to close her eyes in sleep for the pain and smarting of her body. If she were the daughter of a chief or a noble she would be bathed by the sqomten or siu (medicine man or woman). These would be paid for their services with gifts of blankets or skins.
The object of these heroic measures was to make the girl “bright and smart.” After the bath she was given food and drink and permitted to come to the fire. Sometimes a friend of the family would mark the occasion by putting a nice new blanket over the girl’s shoulders. After her meal her face would be painted with streaks of red paint, and the girl would then go to the forest and pull down the branches of all the cedar and spruce trees she passed and rub her face and body with their tips, and then let them spring up again. The object of this practice was to make her charming and attractive in the eyes of men. She would also take a quantity of fern-roots of the edible kind (Pteris aquilina) and offer them to the biggest trees she could find. This was supposed to give her a generous nature and keep
