The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

for his wealth and popularity, who exerted over his tribe influence rather than authority, but who was rarely opposed in his measures. Sometimes a league existed, more or less permanent, for warlike expeditions. Slight offenses against usage—the tribal common law—were expiated by the payment of an amount of property satisfactory to the party offended. Theft was an offense, but the return of the article stolen removed every trace of dishonor. Serious crimes, as the robbery of a burial-place, were sometimes punished with death by the people, but no special authorities or processes seem to have been employed, either for detection or punishment.359

Slavery, common to all the coast families, is also practiced by the Chinooks, but there is less difference here perhaps than elsewhere between the condition of the slaves and the free. Obtained from without the limits of the family, towards the south or east, by war, or more commonly by trade, the slaves are obliged to perform all the drudgery for their masters, and their children must remain in their parents' condition, their round heads serving as a distinguishing mark from freemen. But the amount of the work connected with the Chinook household is never great, and so long as the slaves are well and strong, they are liberally fed and well treated. True, many instances are known of slaves murdered by the whim of a cruel and rich master, and it was not very uncommon to kill slaves on the occasion of the death of prominent persons, but wives and friends are also known to have been sacrificed on similar occasions. No burial rights are accorded to slaves, and no care taken of them in serious illness; when unable to work they are left to die, and their bodies cast into the sea or forest as food for fish or beast. It was not a rare occurrence for a freeman to voluntarily subject himself to servitude in payment of a gambling-debt; nor for a slave to be adopted into the tribe, and the privilege of head-flattening accorded to his offspring.360

      MARITAL RELATIONS OF THE CHINOOKS.

Not only were the Chinooks a peaceable people in their tribal intercourse, but eminently so in their family relations. The young men when they married brought their wives to their father's home, and thus several generations lived amicably in their large dwellings until forced to separate by numbers, the chief authority being exercised not by the oldest but by the most active and useful member of the household. Overtures for marriage were made by friends of the would-be bridegroom, who offered a certain price, and if accepted by the maiden's parents, the wedding ceremony was celebrated simply by an interchange and exhibition of presents with the congratulations of invited guests. A man might take as many wives as he could buy and support, and all lived together without jealousy; but practically few, and those among the rich and powerful, indulged in the luxury of more than one wife. It has been noticed that there was often great disparity in the ages of bride and groom, for, say the Chinooks, a very young or very aged couple lack either the experience or the activity necessary for fighting the battles of life. Divorce or separation is easily accomplished, but is not of frequent occurrence. A husband can repudiate his wife for infidelity, or any cause of dissatisfaction, and she can marry again. Some cases are known of infidelity punished with death. Barrenness is common, the birth of twins rare, and families do not usually exceed two children. Childbirth, as elsewhere among aboriginals, is accompanied with but little inconvenience, and children are often nursed until three or five years old. They are carried about on the mother's back until able to walk; at first in the head-flattening cradle, and later in wicker baskets. Unmarried women have not the slightest idea of chastity, and freely bestow their favors in return for a kindness, or for a very small consideration in property paid to themselves or parents. When married, all this is changed—female virtue acquires a marketable value, the possessorship being lodged in the man and not in the woman. Rarely are wives unfaithful to their husbands; but the chastity of the wife is the recognized property of the husband, who sells it whenever he pleases. Although attaching no honor to chastity, the Chinook woman feels something like shame at becoming the mother of an illegitimate child, and it is supposed to be partly from this instinct, that infanticide and abortion are of frequent occurrence. At her first menstruation a girl must perform a certain penance, much less severe, however, than among the northern nations. In some tribes she must bathe frequently for a moon, and rub the body with rotten hemlock, carefully abstaining from all fish and berries which are in season, and remaining closely in the house during a south wind. Did she partake of the forbidden food, the fish would leave the streams and the berries drop from the bushes; or did she go out in a south wind, the thunder-bird would come and shake his wings. All thunder-storms are thus caused. Both young children and the old and infirm are kindly treated. Work is equally divided between the sexes; the women prepare the food which the men provide; they also manufacture baskets and matting; they are nearly as skillful as the men with the canoe, and are consulted on all important matters. Their condition is by no means a hard one. It is among tribes that live by the chase or by other means in which women can be of little service, that we find the sex most oppressed and cruelly treated.361

      CHINOOK FEASTS AND FESTIVITIES.

Like all Indians, the Chinooks are fond of feasting, but their feasts are simply the coming together of men and women during the fishing season with the determination to eat as much as possible, and this meeting is devoid of those complicated ceremonies of invitation, reception, and social etiquette, observed farther north; nor has any traveler noticed the distribution of property as a feature of these festivals. Fantastically dressed and gaudily decked with paint, they are wont to jump about on certain occasions in a hopping, jolting kind of dance, accompanied by songs, beating of sticks, clapping of hands, and occasional yells, the women usually dancing in a separate set. As few visitors mention their dances, it is probable that dancing was less prevalent than with others. Their songs were often soft and pleasing, differing in style for various occasions, the words extemporized, the tunes being often sung with meaningless sounds, like our tra-la-la. Swan gives examples of the music used under different circumstances. Smoking was universal, the leaves of the bear-berry being employed, mixed in later times with tobacco obtained from the whites. Smoke is swallowed and retained in the stomach and lungs until partial intoxication ensues. No intoxicating drink was known to them before the whites came, and after their coming for a little time they looked on strong drink with suspicion, and were averse to its use. They are sometimes sober even now, when no whisky is at hand. But the favorite amusement of all the Chinook nations is gambling, which occupies the larger part of their time when not engaged in sleeping, eating, or absolutely necessary work. In their games they risk all their property, their wives and children, and in many instances their own freedom, losing all with composure, and nearly always accompanying the game with a song. Two persons, or two parties large or small, play one against the other; a banking game is also in vogue, in which one individual plays against all comers. A favorite method is to pass rapidly from hand to hand two small sticks, one of which is marked, the opponent meanwhile guessing at the hand containing the marked stick. The sticks sometimes take the form of discs of the size of a silver dollar, each player having ten; these are wrapped in a mass of fine bark-fibre, shuffled and separated in two portions; the winner naming the bunch containing the marked or trump piece. Differently marked sticks may also be shuffled or tossed in the air, and the lucky player correctly names the relative position in which they shall fall. A favorite game of females, called ahikia, is played with beaver-teeth, having figured sides, which are thrown like dice; the issue depends on the combinations of figures which are turned up. In all these games the players squat upon mats; sticks are used as counters; and an essential point for a successful gambler is to make as much noise as possible, in order to confuse the judgment of opponents. In still another game the players attempt to roll small pieces of wood between two pins set up a few inches apart, at a distance of ten feet, into a hole in the floor just beyond. The only sports of an athletic nature are shooting at targets with arrows and spears, and a game of ball in which two goals are placed a mile apart, and each party—sometimes a whole tribe—endeavors to force the ball past the other's goal, as in foot-ball, except that the ball is thrown with a stick, to one end of which is fixed a small hoop or ring.362 Children's sports are described only by Swan, and as rag babies and imitated Catholic baptisms were the favorite pastimes mentioned, they may be supposed not altogether