Weekly Trinity journal., 1858-05-29
Frazer River Indians.

The San Francisco Herald relates sTbe T..
dans are represented as very superior to tbn
Sound Indians, commonly termed 'Chenooks ),
They are large, muscular men, fond of atblet;c
sports, of lighter color than the southern tribes
and very brave and determined. Many of ther,
women are represented as being quite handsome
with regular features, and even delicate hands
and feet The males are very jealous of their wo'
men, and a want of chastity is severely ana
promptly punished. One most remarkable fea.
ture was observed among the Northern Indians,
as they are called, which is, that many of them
have light hair and eyes, and present marked
difference in their general physiognomy from the
Indian tribes with which we are acquainted Il
is by no means unusual for the Indians to visit
the camps of the whites at night, when not occu
pied, and engage them in running, leaping and
wrestling matches. at which latter they are said
to be very expert. They are also fond of throw
ing summersaults and exhibiting their physical
prowess in other ways. The whites on Puget
Sound are too much in the habit of slappng, boy
ing and beating the Chenooks, who never make
any resistance but when anything Of the kind ia
attempted on one of the Frazer River Indians, he
is certain to reply in kind. They also exhibit
remarkable trait in this connection when strtck
with the fist they strike back in the same man.
ner, and will not have recourse to any other
weapon but one of the same nature with which
they are assaed. They are very expert at sin:
gle stick, and kick with as much dexterity as
French sabot fighter. The men are nearly all
armed with good English muskets, which they
handle with great address, and are remarkably
good shots. Colts revolvers are in great demand,
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dol
lars in gold dust being frequently offered for one
but the miners would assuredly hang any man
found guilty of supplying the Indians with those
weapons. The six barreled revolver, Aliens pat
cut, brings nearly as high price, and very little
objection seems to be made against selling them
to the Indians, as they are notoriously more dan
gerous to the possessor than to any one else Two
distinct and hostile tribes reside on Frazer river
and the enmity existing between them is repre-
sented to be a. great as that described by Cooper
between the Delawares and the Hurons They
freely engage as guides, and may be relied on
Mr.. Harkness says that quite number of mur.
ders had been recently committed among those
Indians by lawless emigrants, and that feeling
Of hostility was beginning to manifest itself when
he left, which threatened very serious conse-
quences. These murders were caused by some
petty thefts by the Indians The Northern In
dians use very little paint and are not tattooed
at all Since the influx of immigration, they are
much better dressed than before, and wear their
habliments with much ease aud natural grace
The hair is worn quite long, and is ornamented
with feathers. The Chenooks stand in the great
est awe of the Northern Indians, one hundred Of
whom are more than match for ten times that
number of Chenooks. They are however, very
much afraid of bomb Shells and express an en-
phatic dislike to those guns that & shoot twice.
They also entertain the opinion that they cannot
run away from cannon, believing from the elect
of cannon balls on large trees, that the guns will
throw to any given distance. Canoes OF colossal
proportions are built by them from the immense
trees existing in that region. The tree is care
! fully felled by being burned down, during which
operation the fire is regularly tended to prevent
its expanding too far and to retain it in given
space. The fallen trunk is then shaped out into
a canoe with exceeding labor. until it arrives at
the required dimensions and model, after which
it is followed out by burning. AS soon as this
process is concluded, they fill the canoe with wa
ter, and then heat large rocks red hot, which are
thrown into the water and generate steam, by
which the wood becomes plant, when it is spread
amdships by means of stretchers, tightly wedgcd
in, until it acquires the requisite breadth of BEAM
when the water is baled out and the canoe al.
lowed to dry. Many of these are capable Of car
ryng one hundred warriors, with their arms, &C.
coutrements, and provisions for several weeks
Several of them have been purchased by the
whites, one end sawed off and built to make fiat
stern, and then rigged into sloops and scbooners
some of thefh capable of carrying from seven 10
nine tons Of cargo. The Northern Indians also
build extensive forts, large enough to shelter six
or seven hundred warriors with their families
These forts are built of trees, very substantial,
and exhibiting much skill in their construction,
and perfectly proof against small arms. Their
system of government is similar to that of other
Indian tribeS, consisting of Head Chief, who is
the arbter of all civil difficulties q War Chief,
to whose guidance is principally entrusted all
military expeditions and Council, composed
of such men as have rendered distinguished SER
| vices, or are recognized as OF superior sagacity
and wisdom. The Office of Head Chief is beredi-
tary, the others are awarded by general consent.
They declare most emphatically that the 'Bos-
tons shall not go into the Thompson river coun-
try, which they claim as peculiarly their own.
RIR II HIS -.