The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1880-11-11
Singular Custom.

LIN 10 hilON IL. III TO
lation OF an and wife is purely a mat
ter of convenience. The woman re
quires food and the man needs some one
to make his clothing and to take charge
of his dwelling while he is hunting.
Marriages are usually contracted while
the interested parties are children. The
father of the boy selects a little girl
who is to be bis daughter-in-law and
pays her father something. Perhaps it
1t snow-knife or a sled or dog, OF
now that many of them are armed with
tirelocks the price paid may De a hand
full of powder or a dozen percussion caps.
The children are then atfianced, and
when arrived at proper age they live
together. The wife then has her face
tattooed with lampolack and is regarded
as q matron in society. The method of
tattooing is to pass a needle under the
skin, and as soon as it is withdrawn its
course is followed by thin piece OF pine
sick dipped in oil and rubbed in the
SCOT from the bottom Of kettle The
forehead is decorated with letter V in
double lines, the angle very acute, pass
ing down between the eyes almost to the
bridge of the nose and sloping gracefully
10 the right and left before reaching the
roots Of the hair. Each cheek is adorned
with an egg-shaped pattern, commenc-
ing near the wing Of the nose and SOP
ing upward toward the corner Of the
eye these lines are also doutle. The
most ornamented part, however, is the
chin, which receives gridiron pattern
the lines double from The edge OF the
lower lip, and reaching TO the throat TO-
ward the corners Of the mouth, sloping
outward to the angle OF the lower Jaw
This is all that is required by custom,
but some OF the bellies 10 not stop here
Their hands, arms, legs, feet, ard in fact
their. whole bodies are covered with blue
traeery that would throw Captain Con.
s:antinas completely in the shade. Ionic
columns, Corinth;an capitals, together
with Gothic structures Of every kind are
erected wherever there is az oppor.un;-
~ 20 Place -hera, out l never saw anv
attempt at fcure CT animal drawing for
personal decoration The FERNS are gen
orally seometrical n design and svnl-
netrical in arran cement, each LIMB re.
ceivtng the same orramenta-;on as It's
fellow. None q -ae men are tat:ooed.
Some tribes are mole uvoEuse in his
sort Of decoration han Others. The
Iwillik and Ki2nepatoos are similar and
as have described, ~: the Netchillil,,
Ookjooik and Ooovesiks;lik women
have tie designs uQon their fares, con-
structed with three tines instead Of TWO,
ore Of hem te;ng broader Than the
others. The pattern s tie same as ina,
Of the IwiLiks ari kinnepa;oos, With
the addition @: n olive branch az the
outside corners q the eyes and mouth
Marriage with them IS MOI the sacred
Institution OF civilization, but exchanges
are very common. II a man who is
going On a journey las wife encum-
bered with a child tia: would make
travelling unpleasant, ne exchanges wives
with some friend who remains in camp
and mas no such Inconvenience. Some
times man will want a younger wife 20
travel with and in thai case effects an
exchange, and sometimes such exchanges
are made Tor 10 especial reason, and
among friends !: IS = usual thing to ex-
change wives for a week or Two about
every TWO months. Unmarried men
who are going on Quincy have no dit-
fcul,y in borrowing wife for the time
being, and sometimes purchase the bet
ter half altogether.
1t might be supposed that in such
state Of society there would be TO TO
mances, no marrying Cor love; but tina.
would be mistake. for there have been
several romantic little episodes tina.
came under nv observation during Nv
residence in North Hudson's Bay.
There is poor Old man dwelling with
the lwilliks, near Depot Island, named
Iteguark, who had two very attractive
and useful wives, or Nu-lee-augar, as is
the native term. The old man rad been
a good hunter, but few years ago me.
with an accident tina. resulted in his
right knee becoming stitfened, and his
hunting days were over. He can still
hunt seals through the ice, but cannot
work up 10 them on top of the ice, nor
can he chase the reindeer and musk OK
on his native hills. Then it was that
OxeOmadiddlee looked with envious ewes
7,pop tho vourcfe. ,,d xo;ra.. 80 lee