only peculiar name that I could learn other than those of the supreme chiefs was that borne by the offspring of female slaves by their masters. This was the term stacem, and was a word of reproach.
Polygamy was commonly practised among the Squamish, the number of a man’s wives being limited only by his rank and wealth. A chief would frequently have four or five wives. Each wife had her own quarters in the house, which included a fire and a bed of her own. A favourite wife would rank first. She would be regarded in consequence with jealousy and hatred by the others. The husband would sometimes eat with one, sometimes with another. Infidelity in wives was punished by cutting the soles of their feet, or in some instances, by stoning them to death.
Mortuary Customs
The burial customs of the modern Squamish are now commonly conducted in the same way as our own, few, if any, of the older ceremonies, which are discountenanced by the priests, being observed. In former days the following customs were universally practised. When life had left the body the corpse was taken out of the house and washed by some elderly friends of the family. It was then doubled up and placed in a box coffin before it had grown rigid. In the case of chiefs, the body was sometimes placed in a canoe instead of a box. It was then taken to the burial-ground whether it were day or night. If it were night-time torches would be used. The box containing the corpse was then placed in a roughly constructed cedar-slab shed, after which everybody returned home. The immediate relatives of the deceased followed the corpse, accompanied by the other members of the family or clan, together with all their friends, and a band of special mourners, who are engaged for the occasion. All those who followed the corpse to the graveyard must paint the breast of their garments with red paint. If this were not done a scarcity of fish would be the result of the next salmon run. The mourners are of both sexes, and all cry aloud. The period of mourning lasted generally about a month. If, however, the deceased were very dear to the survivors, the mourning would be kept up longer. When a chief died the whole community turned out to mourn, and almost everybody followed the corpse. The hired mourners are paid for their services with blankets or skins. If the friends of the deceased are wealthy a feast is held immediately after the disposal of the body, and the mourners are then paid. If, however, the relatives of the deceased are poor, then no feast is given at the time, and the payment of the mourners is also deferred until such occasion as a sufficient number of blankets and skins has been collected, and they are in a position to hold a feast. It was customary to choose the occasion of some big potlatch gathering, when everybody would be present.
When the relatives of the deceased have returned from the graveyard they burn cedar (Thuya gigantea) and salal-berry (Gaultheria Shallon) branches and whip the whole dwelling with boughs, particularly that part where the body lay, to drive away the presence of death, sickness, and ghosts, all of which are supposed to linger there.
Some three or four days after the burial it was not unusual for the witches and wizards of the tribe to declare that the ghost of the dead had returned from the land of spirits for something to eat. The relatives of the deceased are informed, and they immediately gather all the best food they can procure, and take it, sometimes to the burial ground and sometimes into the woods, and spread it out on a big blanket made from the wool of the mountain sheep or goat. The witches and medicine-men now invite the shade of the dead to eat. Presently they assure the relatives that the spirit is satisfied. The food is either then distributed to the poor and old, or else it is consumed in a fire built for the occasion.
The customs to be observed by the immediate survivors of the deceased differ somewhat according to sex. If a woman had lost her husband she must fast for one whole day. At the close of the day a neighbour would bring in a large piece of dried fish. The widow must now bite four mouthfuls from this piece of fish, while it is held in the neighbour’s hands, without touching it herself except with her mouth. After she had eaten her four mouthfuls of fish she might partake of other food, but must be careful to abstain from eating it before her children. Should the food be eaten in the presence of the children it was believed that they would all shortly die, the act being regarded as equivalent to “eating up their life.” This rule must be strictly observed for the space of a month. For the same period she must bathe the first thing every morning and scrub her body with boughs, after which she must blow on the tips of her fingers four times successively if she desired to get stout or fat, and if she wanted to become thin she must suck in the air from the tips of her fingers the same number of times. Another practice she must observe was to place tsutzetcaie (spruce-boughs) under her bed, and also hang some at the head of it. The object of this was to preserve her from her husband’s sickness. She must also eat her food off these boughs for at least a month. The widow always accompanied the corpse of her husband to the burial-place. Her blanket is painted for the occasion with streaks of red paint, as is also the crown of her head. Excessive weeping sometimes made her so weak that she had to support herself with a staff (ttcatc) while walking to and from the graveyard. The customs to be observed by the widower are simpler. He must likewise bathe every morning at daybreak, and must also abstain from eating before his children for the space of a month; but his head was not painted, only his blanket; and he puts the tsutzetcaie only at the head of his bed, and not under it. Some three or four days after the burial all the relatives of the deceased, except the widow or the widower, must cut their hair. The severed hair is always carefully collected and buried. After the ceremony of hair-cutting is over all those who have attended the funeral go in a line to the river or the inlet, according to the locality, and walk down into the water till it is up to their breasts; then at a word they all dip together once and come out again. If they are wearing blankets at the time they cast them aside, but otherwise do not trouble to disrobe.
It was customary for widows and orphans some time during the mortuary rites to take a small white pebble and roll it in their mouths four times. This was supposed to prevent the teeth from decaying.
Birth Customs
It was customary among the Squamish women to retire to the woods when they were about to give birth to their children. Usually a woman went quite alone or accompanied only by her husband. Midwives were called in for the first child, but afterwards only in cases of difficulty or when the labour was unduly prolonged. Usually the woman would fulfil her daily duties to within an hour of the child’s birth, and be ready to take them up again a few hours afterwards. In the case of first children parents of standing would engage three or four midwives or experienced women for the occasion. Each had her own special duties to perform. These were prescribed by long-established custom. It was the office of one to sever the umbilical cord and of another to “cook the milk" and generally look after the mother. They were paid for their services immediately afterwards by the husband with gifts of blankets. This honorarium was also prescribed by usage, the number of blankets given on the occasion depending on the husband’s social position.
Immediately after the birth of the child it is washed all over in cold water and then wrapped in the softest slowi (inner bark of the cedar, beaten till soft and fine) and placed in a cradle of cedar-wood. This cradle was constructed in the following manner. A piece of cedar-wood about thirty inches long and ten or twelve inches wide was first taken; a second, and shorter, but considerably broader piece was then bent over this in the form of an arch, and fastened in this position to the longitudinal edges of the other, thus forming a kind of pocket. The lower piece, or bed of the cradle, extended about four inches beyond the other at the foot, and about six inches at the head. The extension at the foot was bent upwards till it reached an angle of thirty or forty degrees, and fastened in this position to the upper piece by lacing. This formed a kind of foot-board the object of which was to keep the baby from slipping down out of the cradle and allow at the same time the liquids to escape. The head of the cradle was left open. The child passed the first year of its life in this receptacle, never leaving it except to be washed twice daily. It was both fed and dandled in its cradle. If the mother had outside work to do, the cradle was usually slung to her shoulder or to a swing-pole. In carrying it the weight was borne on the hip.
It was during
