stingy and mean.
After a girl had arrived at puberty she was never allowed to play or mingle with the boys. She was kept indoors at work all day long. The lot of a girl among the Squamish in the olden days does not appear to have been an enviable one. A girl or woman during her monthly periods was “bad medicine"; that is, she was supposed to carry ill-luck with her. If she entered a sick-room the invalid was sure to get worse; and if she crossed the path of a hunter or a fisher he would get no luck that trip.
When people were sick they were rubbed with dog-fish oil. When the screech-owl (cam) was heard hooting around a house it was regarded as a sure sign that some of the inmates would shortly die. Caiu signifies “ghost" or “shade.”
Dwellings
The dwellings of the old Squamish were of the communal kind, whether they were the ordinary slab and cedar-board structure or the winter keekwilee-house. As far as I have been able to gather, only the upper tribes on the Squamish River used the skumin, or keekwilee-house. That this structure was known to them is clear from the name of one of their villages, which signifies in English “keek-wilee-house.” The lower tribes commonly used the cedar structure all the year round. Each village contained one and sometimes two of these placed at right angles to one another, or in parallel lines according to the local peculiarities of the village site. Some of them, in the more populous villages, were of enormous length, extending in an unbroken line for upwards of 600 feet. Houses of two or three hundred feet in length were very ordinary dwellings. In width they varied from 20 to 40 feet. The walls, too, were of variable height, ranging from 8 to 15 feet when the roofs were gabled. If the roof contained but one slope, then the higher side would rise to 25 or even 30 feet.
Both sides and roof were built of cedar boards or slabs split with hammer and wedges from the cedar trunk. The cedar (Thuya gigantea) of British Columbia lends itself readily to operations of this kind, and the task is not as difficult as might be imagined. The white settlers almost everywhere build their houses, stables, fences, and barns of cedar split by themselves in this way. I have seen boards split out as smooth and uniform as if they had been cut out with a saw and planed. In the native dwellings the boards were held in place by withes or ropes made from young cedars or from the branches of older ones. There were no windows in these buildings; sunlight and air came in through the doors or by the roof, a part of which was pulled down a few feet to let the smoke out and the air and light in during the day in fine weather.
These structures are open from end to end without partitions or divisions of any kind. The chief quite commonly occupied the centre of the building. Next to him, on either side, came his brothers and other notabilities, and beyond these the baser folk. Each family had its own allotted space at the side of the dwelling and its own fire. This space was commonly just ample enough to allow of the beds of the family being arranged around three sides of a square with an open front towards the fire and centre of the room. The bed was raised by a kind of platform or bed-stand about two feet from the ground. In the space beneath were stored roots and such-like commodities. Above and over the beds, shelves were hung. On these were stored the dried fish and utensils of the family. If the family were one of position and wealth several large cedar boxes would be found lying about. These would contain the blankets and skins and other valuables of the owners. To separate the beds of one family from another, hanging curtains of grass and reeds were suspended on either side, but the front was left open. The beds of the Squamish consisted of reed mats and slowi, i.e. the inner bark of the cedar beaten till fine and soft. Rolls of the same material formed their pillows. Their coverings were, for the poorer class, mats of the same materials. For the wealthy these were supplemented by mountain-goat blankets and dressed deer-skins. The Squamish husband and wife did not sleep side by side, but feet to feet. If the bed space was confined the feet of one would reach to the head of the other; but usually this was not the case, plenty of room being allowed.
In winter it was customary to keep the fires burning all night, large logs being placed upon them for the purpose. On the occasion of feasts and dances the hanging mats about the beds would all be taken down, the beds themselves serving for seats or platforms for the drummers and spectators.
Household Utensils
The Squamish housekeeper possessed cooking pots of both cedar and basketry. Food was served in large shallow cedar troughs or dishes. Smaller platters of the same material were also in use, likewise spoons, though these were also made of horn. When eating they sat on mats or squatted on their haunches. Of baskets they had a great variety. Some of these were made from the split roots of young cedar, spruce, or fir trees, others from the bark of the alder and birch.
Dress
The dress of the Squamish in pre-trading days did not differ materially from that of other tribes of this region. The men commonly wore high leggings and waist-cloth. Over their shoulders, when they were not actively engaged, they wore, toga-fashion, a native blanket. The women of the nobler class wore a dressed deer-skin shroud or smock, which reached from the shoulders to below their knees; inferior women wore only short petticoats of woven slowi. Moccasins were worn at times by both sexes. The women sometimes covered their heads with a plaited conical hat with broad sloping brim. This served also as a receptacle for berries and other small things if no basket were at hand. The exterior of these hats were commonly figured in red and black paint or dyes. Some of the older women may still be occasionally seen wearing them, but they have gone out of use generally.
Markings on right arm above back of the hand. Colour blue.
Markings on left arm above back of the hand. Colour blue.
Tattooing and Painting
In earlier days the men used to paint themselves for dancing and other ceremonies. I could not learn that the men ever tattooed their bodies. A favourite decoration was that effected by sprinkling particles of mica over their faces and bodies upon a groundwork of grease. This gave their bodies a glistening appearance. They obtained the mica for this purpose from disintegrated granite. The women commonly employed a kind of red clay for facial decoration. This they smeared over their cheeks, chins, and foreheads. When confined only to the cheeks and not too lavishly put on the effect was not displeasing to the eye. It gave them a ruddy, comely appearance. The old women of pagan habits still decorate themselves this way. The women were accustomed to tattoo themselves on the arm or wrist and lower leg. The markings were always simple and generally crude, bearing no resemblance whatever to the elaborate and fanciful designs of the Haida and other northern Indians.
Games
The Squamish had a variety of games. I obtained some information on some of these. The commonest and most popular were the ball games. Of these they had two called kekqua and tequila. The former was a kind of lacrosse, and the ball was caught and thrown with an instrument similar to the lacrosse stick. The other was a kind of football. They played also a game called tckwie. This was a kind of shuttlecock and battledore, and a favourite pastime of the girls. They were acquainted also with qauwilts, or the “cat’s-cradle" game. But dancing and dramatic impersonations of animals were their favourite pastimes, and these played an important part in the tribal festivities in earlier days.
Dances
The Squamish had three kinds of dances, called respectively metla, koqoks, and skaip. The first was the common dance, which anyone could perform; the second was characterised by spasmodic shakings of the head on the part of the dancer; the third had for its distinguishing
