The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1892-12-10
THE CHILKAT INDIANS.
Character and Customs Of 4 Tribe of
Alaskan Aborigines.

''G S'IINAl INDIANS.
Cnaracter and Customs Of Tribe Of
Alaskan Aborigines.
The old-time Chilkat dressed in skins
| and furs obtained from the inland
tribes, had his garments picturesquely
frlnged, and tasseled, and beaded, and
woven in with stained swanquills. He
wore bracelets of copper, and carried
copper spears knives, and arrows He
was a warrior, and lived but to perish
in battle. In those days no ceremony
was complete unless attended by hui
man sacrifice; execution of slaves was
OF frequent occurrence, for superstitious
belief deemed disaster and illness the
doing of angry spirits, only to be ap-
peased by the shedding of human
blood. Tribal wars and hand-to-hand
fights followed from the slightest dis
ageement.
1t was the custom then for all the
young men in the village to plunge
each morning, winter and summer, into
the chilly stream, stay in the lev
waters till benumbed with cold, and
then to thrash one another with stout
thonged whips till circulation and ami
nation were thoroughly restored.
This novel apprenticeship is said to
have had the effect of creating unusual
stamina, producing the ability to with
stand cold and hunger, and deadening
feeling. The Indians say that war
rior thus trained, though mortally
wounded, would face his foe and cut
and stab while life remained. In such
duels they protected their heads with
wooden helmets, shaped in design ac-
cording to their nation; they also wore
buckskin shirts, and bound their arms
with strips of leather. Gormandizing
competitions used to be popular form
OF entertainment; an immense trough,
called Klook-O -Ook-Tsik, fourteen feet
long, fourteen inches in width, and If
teen feet in depth, was filled with meats,
bear and mountain-goat, fish, berries
The present generatian of Chilkat
Indians is fast relinquishing tribal Gus
toms and ceremonies, and is taking but
little interest in the history of it's
ancestors. Dances are no longer held
in which family head-dresses and cos
tunes are worn. The great wooden
banqueting-trough is now embedded in
moss and in grass that grows between
the floor-boards in the house where
once old Kay Tsoo' assembled his fol.
lowers by drum-beat, dispatched them
on the trail for war or trade, declared
the guilty and the innocent, and con-
demned to death as he willed. =
In character these Indians are strange
composition-unemotional, morose, un-
sympathetic, superstitious, Indifferent to
death, without the slightest idea
of gratitude, and having an astonish-
ing respect for the property of 9TH
ers. When on trading journey, or out
hunting, they will leave their belong
lngs hanging on bushes all along the
trail; and snow-shoes, sometimes a
musket, blankets, leg Of smoked
bear, dried salmon, are frequently
noticed along an Indian path. y
An incident happened to us which
demonstrates their utter want of feel
ing for the interests of others. While
at one of our camps party Of Indians
returned from a journey to the interior
which they had made on snow-shoes.
noticed that their chief, Klenta
koosh, was not with them on their re-
turn, and asked of one of the Indians:
"Kusu Klenta Koosh'' (''Where is Klein
ia Koosh'0? ''Klake sekoo, klake set
teen" (''I don't know. have not seen
him') Then he explained that he had not
seen the chief for three DAYS. While
crossing the mountains they were
caught in dense fog; the party kept
together for time by calling constant
ly to one another, but finally the voice
of the chief grew fainter and fainter,
and then could no longer be heard In
the same breath with this explanation
the Indian asked me: Have the sal
mon started to run up the river?" I
ignored his question, and asked again:
But where is Klenta Kooshc" AS if
disgusted at my interest in such a
trivial matter, the man answered quite
snappishly: II don't know; either he
has been killed by a bear or drowned
crossing one of the swollen streams. -
e. j. Glave, in Century.