The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1894-04-04
LAND OF THE TINNEES.
CIVILIZED INDIANS OF THE FAR
NORTHWEST.

tor1ltO1Y anu nelnneu IN DN mlgnty
mountains, dwells race of red men
who daily grow more numerous, who
have made themselves proficient in
many of the arts of peace, and who,
rs they become known in their customs
and conditions, must excite the won
der and attention of the civilized
world. The people are known to the
few travellers who have found their
way among them as the Tinnees, and
they have their infrequent communi-
cation with 'civilization" chiefly
through the Hudson Bay Company
posts at Fort George and Fort Fraser.
Their morals are more strictly guarded
than are those of any white Nation of
to-day; they esteem cleanliness both
of person and surroundings as they
do courage; and they have a saying
that ''to desert friend is worse than
to slay him"
The last white visitors to the home
of the Tinnees were the men compos-
ing the Government survey party sent
north last summer under A. l.. Pou-
drier, which has recently returned.
The appended notes of the chief of
the expedition give some interesting
facts concerning the Tnnees and the
land they live in.
''The immense country north of the
fifty-fourth parallel, generally de-
scribed as the lake region, is hardly
known to the present generation.
Years ago, during the gold excitement
in Omineca, great deal of trade and
travel was taken that way, and nearly
all the old pioneers are familiar with
the wonderful scenery of the section.
''Since the gold boom the only in
hsbitants of this extensive country
have been Indians and a few Hudson
Bay Company employees. The natives
are known as the Tinnees, this name
including the whole race, some of the
representatives of which inhabit the
country east of the Rocky Mountains,
others peopling the lake region proper
and still others living as far to the
south as the Chilcotin River. The
race is divided into many families;
First, the Chilcotins, living on the
plain of that name; then the Car
riers, or 'porteurs,' around Fort
Fraser, and, again, the Siccanies and
the Nahanies, occupying the country
north and east of the Nechaco River.
'1n language the Tinnees have no
relationship with the other tribes of
the North, but, curiously, Indians liv-
ing as far south as California (the
Navajoes, for example), or in Okla
homa, the Chilcotees, speak tongue
very similar to that of the Tinnees.
''Of late years a young and ener-
getic missionary, Father Morrice, of
Stuart Lake, has been giving his time
and talents to the upbuilding of a
Tinnees Nation which shall compare
not unfavorably in many ways with
that of the whites. The mother
tongue of the Tinnees, which is ex-
ceedingly rich in expression, has been
through his efforts reduced to a sys-
TEN of phonetic writing, the chsrac-
ters being remarkable for the simplic-
ity and from the fact that they rest
rather than weary the eye of the
reader. The written language is so
simple and SO systematic that child
or a man may with equal facility learn
to read or write it to perfection. Not
one of the tribe, from a child of six
to the old men and women of three
score and ten, is unable to-day to
either read or write.
''The phonetic Tinnees is employed
by the Indians in their correspond
ence-for they have risen to the dig
nifty of postal system of their own
in the marking of signs for the guild
ance of travellers and explorers, and in
the hundred and one other ways fa-
miliar to civilized Nations.
''To further develop the theory and
render its success more complete
Father Morrice, with the aid of the In
dians, had special types cast from his
own designs, bought a printing press
and three years ago printed and pub
lished several elementary works on the
language and history of the Nation.
For the past two years he has been is
suing a month"; y newspaper, to which
every Indian in the vast district is a
willing subscriber. 1t is called the
News. Its first page is devoted ex-
clusively to local affairs, such as hunt
ing and trapping and all else which
may practically interest the commun-
ity in which it circulates. Another
portion is devoted to religious sub
jects, and the remainder of its sixteen
pages of space treats of the world in
general, IA great deal of attention be-
ing paid to science, the customs and
manners of foreign countries, usefu
inventions, etc.
"There is, says Mr. Poudrier, "nC
other part of the province where tho
Indians are so highly civilized, 81
truthful and so honest-rare qualities
indeed for an Indian race. One grea'
advantage traceable to the publication
of the News is the development of q
taste for and knowledge of agricul
ture. The hunting and trapping ar,
nearing an end in the lake region, anC
the natives see that the resource whicl
they must in future look to is farming
The new generation is fast becoming
a community of scientific tillers of tn,
soil. Were all the Indians of Americi
in so advanced a state they would a
no time be n cause of anxiety; tn,
Government would never be calleC
upon to supply their wants, and tn,
white brother could learn not a httl