The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-12-25
Interesting Notes on a Very
Strange Race.
LIEUT.. sCHwATKA's PAPER.
Division Into Many CIans-women's
Position Chiefand Medicine Man
Disposition OF the Dead.

a b one having its own name, its OWL
distinct chief, and having no common
chief over all, or even over any small
number of clans. Each clan again has
its own distinct territory, and so little
have they in common, beyond the same
language. that they often war against
each other, as do distinct tribes of In
dams now in the western parts of our
country. In Alaska itself, and in that
part which is the home of the Thlinket,
one very seldom hears the word "TLlir-
ket" used, but nearly always the mere
designation of the clan, as Tongass, AUX,
St;ckeen, Kehk, Sitks, Hoongan, Chilkit,
Koo'zuahoo, Yakutat, ETC., and casual
observer, knowing nothing Of their Ian
/ guage, while passing among them would
be very sure TO think that he had en-
| couutered as many totally different
/ bands of Inlians-as different as the
| Sioux, ArTupahoes, Cheyennes, CoGan
ches and others, on our great western
plains. From all this II is evident that
/ the only bond they acknowledge as
common is their language.
They freely intermarry, and In fact l
think l may say there is something Of
tendency TO 90 TO another tribe or clan
for a wife, as such marriages are frequent
and are certainly spoken of to the so
jOurner among them more than the
other kind. Perhaps there is a very
good explanation for this when the
queer relation between man and vie
among the ThlinEets is known TO my
readers, one of the most curious Ger
tainly to be found in any savage COM
munity; a case OF Toman's rights"
that il is hard 70 findfhe natiOna. equal
the world over, barbarous or civilized. |
When Thlinket man and woman en-
ter into the bonds OF matrimony the |
usual relations between the sexes OF |
savage communities seem to hold until /
a stranger perChance desires 70 buy |
something in the household, q curio, or |
some product of the chase that may |
have been secured by them, and while |
he may make his bargain directly with |
the man be will always find the consent |
of the woman necessary to close 1t, |
sort of supervising auditor of family af-
fairs, so 10 speak. II this female func-
tionary be absent temporarily the bar
gamer may find his bargain undone |
when she returns If they are in q posi-
ton TO enforce the return of the article /
or articles by force and intimidation.
LNEA SUN uAEdAAAEa Vi baA HGAAAa AdNc
been known after the lapse OF i've or six
months.
CraniOmetrical measurements, so COM
mon from the disinterred and captured
skulls of the dead aborigines. is here TO
certain extent prevented by the /
Thlinket misunderstanding their dead,
and to such an extent that the skull is
more or less completely destroyed, and
thoroughly so for scientific purpoles.
There is one exception, fortunaI, ", to
this burning. and that is the doctors,
medicine men, or shamans, who are put
into boxes above ground, and, like most
doctors, assist science, but in this case
wholly unintentionally. These graves
of the shamans are jealousy guarded,
and there being but few of them and in
Conspicuous places near villages, il is
easy for the tribe TO watch
them and correspondingly difficult for
the collector 10 investigate.
The RELATIONSHIP these savage doctors,
medicine men, or shamans TO the others
is about the usual one of these function
aries among barbaroas nations. They
preside at all feasts, keep up a ding
donging on their tom-toms all night, at
tempt % to cure the sick, stick their
noses into everybody else's business
generally, and make themselves as dis
agreeable as they can on all occasions.
They are generally at swords point
with the chief, who is jealous of their
power and influence, and in retaliation
the medicine man bolts the regular
throws his weight toward
the making of a new chief, and, if sue
cessful, the same old story begins over
again.
These medicine men can be picked
out from among any number OF other
80 T~,asawe h. shaTr r1ar-ra1 1
which consists of having immense
punches OF hair upon their head, gener-
ally in plated rows that are done up
under the hat in the most incongruous
way, while the laity have their hair
cropped" or at least cut COMPARE
lively short. The fact that this an
wieldy bunch is generally full of disgust
ing mass of loose feathers, with which
they sprinkle their locks during festive
and funeral occasions, does not add TO
the appearance of the doctor in the
least. The boxes in which they are
buried on the hillsides near the villages
over which hey preside for there is sell
dom more than one medicine man in the
same Indian town, 10 doubt owing to
the great jealousy among them. are
most curious affairs, about the capacity
OF the common or s. tent, but rather ola
shape as II the tent had been split in
two by a vertical plane passing through
the ridge pole. The largest vertical
surface Is presented 70 the water which
the village faces. and which can be
called the front Of the village. and this
face OF OK feet is usually decorated with
all the barbaric paintings common TO
this nation. The boards, hewn from
huge logs, are massive affairs, two or
three feet wide BY three or four inches
thick and are spiked or tree-nailed to
more massive posts q foot or two
through. The roof Is spiked down and
the body bent up, is often placed in a
massive box running the whole length
OF the sarcophagus, which by its weight
holds down the floor, which is raised a
foot or two from the ground. Ii is easy
10 be seen that entrance into the more
sub tantial OF these cryptS Is out OF the
question. The general principle on
which these savage doctors OF divinity
have their bodies saved while those OF
the public at large are cremated is
founded on the belief that the spirit OF