Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-11

There are some preachers among them and
religion is generally taught in the schools.
Few people realize the change that has
been brought about among these Indians
through the work of the missionaries and
the bringing in, Of our civilization Father
Duncan, who Christianized the Metlakaht-
lans, tells me that cannibalism was common
among the Indians along the coast of British
Columbia and he describes certain canniba
1easts which he saw Slavery existed among
the lhllngets at the time we took posses
sion OF the territory, and Ivan Petroff, who
III 1851 made report for the government
as to the condition of these Indians, saws the
able-bodied slaves were slaughtered on fes-
tive occasions, and that it was not uncom-
mon tor rich man or chief to have slaves
killed and buried with him at the time Of
his death, in order that he might have serv-
ants in the spirit land. There are indians
living in Alaska today who were slaves n
their youth, and it is said their children are
looked down upon by the families which
have always been free The slaves were Of
two claSseS-thoSe who had been captured
in warfare and those who were born into
bondage. The children OF slaves became
slaves in their turn They waited upon
their masters. They did all sorts of low
work and were cruelty treated They were
sacrificed upon great occasions, such as the
building OF house or some unusual fcas-.
and, not intrequently, to show the power
and richness OF the owner in that he could
afford to destroy such valuable property.
Before the missionaries came polygamy
prevailed among the Indians Today mar
riages are usually held in the churches and
the ceremony is a Christian one performed
by the minister. Monogamy is common. and
even the chiefs seldom have more than one
wife. In the past some of the heads OF the
tribes had as many as 20 wives, and a Rus
sian authority speaks of a man on the Mass
river who had 40. In such cases the first
wife ruled the harem. In the past children
were married and marriages now take place
at an early age, One of the old 'rhlinget
customs was to pen up the girls in some our
ot-the-way place as they reached the mar
rlageable age. wooden coop or Jail was
made for the maiden, and she was kept there
for from four months to year There was
no light in the coop except that which got IN
through the cracks and when the door was
opened the girl came out pale and wan and
supposedly humble and ready for marriage.
The marriages were usually arranged by
the relatives, and the girls were carefully re-
strained from making any advances to the
men.
lntant1clde was not uncommon. Twins
were considered bad luck and were often
killed at birth. The common method of kill
ing babies was to stuff their mouths with
moss or grass, and they were usually car
rled INTO the woods to be put to death This
was done by the women, generally the rela-
tlves OF the mother. My authority for this
IS Mr.. Jones, who says he has lived for 20
years among the Thlingets.
This missionary tells some queer stories
as to how the natives received the white
mans civilization. When they first saw a
steamboat they thought It was live gianr,
or demon, and took to the woods They
called it fire canoe and thought it might
bring some terrible disease, such as small
poX. TO ward off the danger they pulled no
certain native vegetables, which they held
below their eyes as they looked at the steam
boat, believing this would keep off the dis
ease. They went wild over the photograph
when it first came and paid quarter to hear
single tune. When the first negro came
north they advanced all kinds of theories
as to what made him black, and when they
saw man with wooden leg they regarded
HIM with great wonder. Another curiosity
was the man who had wig. which he nut