Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1871-09-06
INDIANS OF wASHMGToN TERRITORY.
Women On Horseback- Babies and Chill
dren- Berries and Old Clothes Indian
TOilettes -Flatheads- ia king Chinook,

Ihe Indian women all ride astride,
usually with baby in front, and one Of
tender age sticking among the bundles
and bags with which the pony is capar-
isoned. They are aifectionate parents.
never abusing. nor even furnishing their
children, in comfortable ignorance of
that mischievous. because misap piled,
aphorism-"Spare not the rod" &c. In
spite Of this lack Of discipline their chill.
drcn are said to be uniformly obedieut.
One rarely sees an Indian alone
Clannish in their habits, they straggle
through the streets in companies, chat.
tering in an uuimpassioued, monotonous
fashion. OsteusibIy they support them
selves by gathering the wild fruit that
grow so generously in this Territory.-
The women gather and sell the berries.
and they bring them in oblong. open
mouthed baskets covered with branches
Of fern, which attain tropical luxuri-
ance, not uufrequently measuring seven
feet in height.
These baskets have band, fancifully
woven, about two inches in width. which
is passed over the head. the burden de-
peuding backward on the shoulders
They are the "old cloth men" of the
community. bartering their berries for
cast of clothing; a comfortable arrange
ment for the housewives here. for the
genus tin pedler is unknown on this
coast. The fireplace is the repository
of the numberless pieces that in thrifty
New England would find their way to
the paper mill. San Francisco is the
nearest market for them, and that is too
remote for profit.
The Indians of both sex have very
heavy hair, straight, black. coarse and
well kept, often dressed with oil. In
this savage condition they will never al
low it to be cut. and it falls 10 their
shoulders in elfsh, matted locks. The
men who mingle with the whites wear
hats or caps. but the women and girls are
bare headed, or with shawl ala Hiber-
mia. or handkerchief over the head -
The strap that sustains their baskets
would coDHict with millinery. They are
rarely found as house servants, the in
herited tendencies of generations dis
qualifying them for the supererogatory
virtues of order and cleanliness There
have been known those in whom these
rare gifts hourished, and they would
wash, iron bake and mend with uuex-
ceptional deftness. But in the most re-
liable the savage nature breaks out occa-
sionally in rebellion against the restraints
of hebdomadal routine which nothing
but return to aboriginal unconvention.
aliiies can assuage. 1t is significant
that short sojourn is sufficient to recon
cile them to civilization, and they will
abide contentedly among their pots and
pans till they have another attack.
They belong to the Tlathead tribe, and
the Disagreement is their stamp and
standard Of aristocracy, though not now
as rigidly insisted upon as formerly. If
the white man is disposed to cavil at i'm
provement upon nature, he must remem-
Der that it is only difference of stand
ard, and this one triumph Of style achiev-
ed, the Indian mother lives in blessed
exemption Of frizzes, futing and tucks
that harrow the daily existences of en-
lightened womankind The language
used between them and the whites is the
Chinook jargon. A French priest in the
interests of the Hudson Bay Company
compounded it from French. Latin, Eng.
lish and Indian. By this device no one
unfamiliar with the jargon could trade
with them, and the company held the
key of communication and traffic. 1t
contains about one hundred words and is
easily acquired. 1t is said the FIRST Chi
nook word the newcomer learns is "hat
AVA" which signifies go" The first
English who came to this coast told the
wondering Indians that they were king
Georges men," and now when an Indian
wishes to designate the nationality Of one
of her most gracious Majestys subjects
in British Columbia, be calls him a
king chant man." and the Americans
are not known in their dialect as Ameri.
cans, The first trading shi,s from the
Atlantic cnast to these waters called from
Boston the crew told the native they
were Boston men. and thenceforth in
Chinook nomenclature all Americans are
characterized as B ,stous,' fact that may
be strengthing spoke for the "hub. -
Olympia Letter. g---,.-.. .--.-.-
49,
I. Two young men in New York we're
sky-larking, last week. when one picked
up q pistol and said, lookout l may
shoot you." Hardly had the word beer
spoken before the pistol went of. th'
ball entering the neck and producing
death in few hours. s--f--e F %
Mr.. Samuel Taylor. Of Ashland. Ohio
a veteran Of 1919. end bachelor Of 81