The Project Gutenberg eBook of To the American Indian, by Lucy
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Title: To the American Indian
Author: Lucy Thompson
Release Date: January 2, 2022 [eBook #67084]
Language: English
Produced by: Mary Glenn Krause, Charlene Taylor, Robert Tonsing and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN ***
TO THE
AMERICAN INDIAN
By Mrs. Lucy Thompson
(Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah)
EUREKA, CALIFORNIA
COPYRIGHT, 1916
By Mrs. Lucy Thompson
(Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah)
[Illustration: CHE-NA-WAH WEITCH-AH-WAH.
In Her Wedding Dress]
To Milton J. Thompson
My beloved husband, with whom all of my married life
has been so pleasantly spent, I dedicate this book.
Mrs. Lucy Thompson,
Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah.
CONTENTS
[Illustration]
Chapter Page
I. General History; Bill McGarvey’s Store 11
II. Creation of the World 55
III. The Wandering Tribe 59
IV. Traditions of the Ancient White People 64
V. Time and Names 69
VI. Death and the Spirit Land 72
VII. Through the Pearly Gates of Heaven 83
VIII. Burial Customs 93
IX. The Indian Devil 97
X. The White Deer-Skin Dance 101
XI. The Lodge Dance 111
XII. Our Christ 120
XIII. The Sampson of the Klamath Indians 124
XIV. The Deluge of the Klamath Indians 127
XV. The High Priests 133
XVI. Laws of the Fish Dam 135
XVII. The Ancient Houses 138
XVIII. Wars of the Klamath Indians 142
XIX. The Marriage Laws 145
XX. The Two Famous Athletes 153
XXI. Pec-wan Colonel 162
XXII. A Narrative of the Humboldt Indians 165
XXIII. Romance of a Wild Indian 168
XXIV. The Prophet that Failed 173
XXV. Teachings of the Klamath Indians on Child-Birth 176
XXVI. The Wild Indian of Pec-wan 178
XXVII. How the Rich Tried to be a Talth 181
XXVIII. The Slaves 183
XXIX. The Wild Indian of Mo-reck 185
XXX. How a Cor-tep Girl had her Wish Granted 188
XXXI. Our Tobacco 190
XXXII. Our Mermaids 192
XXXIII. Fairy Tales 193
PREFACE.
As there has been so much said and written about the American Indians,
with my tribe, the Klamath Indians, included, by the white people,
which is guessed at and not facts, I deem it necessary to first tell
you who I am, for which please do not criticise me as egotistical.
I am a pure full blooded Klamath river woman. In our tongue we call
this great river by the name of Health-kick-wer-roy, and I wear the
Tat-toos on my chin that has been the custom for our women for many
generations. I was born at Pec-wan village, and of highest birth
or what we term under the highest laws of marriage. I am known by
my people as a Talth. My maiden name was Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah,
Che-na-wah being my given name. My father, being also a Talth, took me
at a very early age and began training me in all of the mysteries and
laws of my people. It took me years to learn and the ordeal was a hard
one. I was made a Talth and given the true name of God, the Creator
of all things, and taught the meaning of every article that is used
in our festivals, together with all the laws governing our people. I
can understand every word, every nod and gesture made in our language.
Therefore I feel that I am in a better position than any other person
to tell the true facts of the religion and the meaning of the many
things that we used to commemorate the events of the past. In this book
I will endeavor to tell all in a plain and truthful way without the
least coloring of the facts, and will add many of our fairy tales and
mother’s stories to their children. I will also give the names of many
things in my own native tongue.
Mrs. Lucy Thompson
(Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah)
Eureka, California
June, 1916.
TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN.
CHAPTER I.
BILL McGARVEY’S STORE.
The Old Klamath Bluffs Store, or fort, and in late years the Klamath
Post Office, was built in 1855 or 1856, by a man named Snider. He
conducted it as a trading post for Indians, soldiers and travelers
alike. It was built of rough split lumber and strongly made of double
walls with sawed blocks four inches thick placed between the walls, and
was bullet proof, with port-holes so that a few white men could defend
themselves against many Indians. This store is located twenty-four
miles up the river from its mouth, and is about eighteen miles down
the river from Weitchpec or the junction of the Trinity River, and
something like forty miles below Orleans Bar on the Klamath. Orleans
Bar was at one time the County Seat of Klamath County. The old store
is on the north bank of the river on a bar that was formed in ancient
times, and is high enough to make it safe from all high waters. It is a
beautiful, sunny spot and on the line of travel up and down the Klamath
river.
The north side of the river is mostly prairie along the bank, and the
old Indian trail is on that side. The whites took up the Indian trails
and improved them so they were traveled by all. This old store is also
the central ground for the lower Klamath Indians, as here close by is
where they held the sacred White Deer-Skin Dance, which is a worship
to their God. Here for ages past have gathered the wealthiest and
most prominent Indians, both men and women of all the upper and lower
Klamath tribe, including the Hoopa, Smith River and our Indians down
the coast as far as Trinidad.
White men have visited this famous old store, whose names will go
down in history, such as General Crook and many other army officers,
besides many wealthy business men. All of them liked to linger in
this beautiful spot where the sun shines warm and the pleasant sea
breeze fans it all through the summer months. There is a trail to
this place from the north, Crescent City, Reck-woy and other places.
This is not a mining country as there are no mines below the mouth of
the Trinity, except in the river gravel or in the low bars that have
been washed down from the upper Klamath and Trinity rivers where all
the rich gold-bearing mining placers are found. These mines were the
cause of the old store being a central stopping place for the men in
the early days, going to and from the mines. In the Fall of 1876 I
counted upwards of three thousand Indians there at a White Deer-Skin
dance. There were five different languages spoken among them, the lower
Klamath, upper Klamath, Hoopa, Smith River and Mad River. Some of them
could speak two and some three, while others could only speak one. So
it can be seen that this old Klamath Bluff store or Klamath Post office
as it is now called, has been the scene of many and not a few murders
and this store will be mentioned often in my writing.
In about the year 1861 Snider sold the stock of goods to Bill McGarvey,
a jolly Irishman. It was Bill McGarvey that named me Lucy, yet he
always called me by my Indian name, Che-na-wah. Bill McGarvey kept in
stock plenty of whiskey, always in the flat pint bottles, which he sold
at a dollar a bottle to the whites and Indians alike. He would only
bring out one bottle at a time in selling it to the Indians so that any
time they became quarrelsome he could tell them that it was all gone.
Bill McGarvey had many ups and downs in the way of his trading there
among them and I will tell of some of his experiences.
Three Indians came to the store one day bringing with them a fine
looking young Indian girl and wanted to borrow thirty dollars and
leave the girl as security. He talked it over for awhile, the Indians
saying that they had to have this amount to make a settlement with some
other Indians, that they would come back and pay him and take the girl
in thirty days. So he decided to let them have the money without due
consideration of how he would take care of the girl. After they were
gone he began to think of the situation that he had placed himself
in, as he was a bachelor. So he made up a room for her and when it
came to cooking he thought he would have her wash the dishes and sweep
the house but she would do no house work unless he paid her for it.
McGarvey tried to argue the case with her and told her that he had to
furnish her food and cook it, also furnish a room and a bed to sleep
in and that she ought to clean up the house. She answered by telling
him that he was doing only what he had to do and that she would not
work unless he paid her for it. McGarvey had to absolutely wait on her
for the whole thirty days as completely as if she had owned him as a
slave. She could go and come as she liked, always coming back in time
so he could not make a complaint, telling him that if he said so, she
would stay in the house all the time. He said that the experience was
in after years a lesson to him in dealing with the Indians. When the
thirty days were up they came with the money, paid him and took the
girl.
Another time he wanted to get in his winter supplies and at that time
he got his goods from Crescent City, (Caw-paw) and he went to Cortep
village which is about six hundred yards above the store and on the
same side of the river to see if he could hire them to go down the
Klamath and out to sea to Crescent City with their canoes, as they
had a large new one. He hired five of them, all Cortep Indians to go
and bring his goods into the mouth of the river and store them there
until they had them all in before the ocean would get too rough, as the
winter months were coming on.
Early in the morning the five Indians of the Cortep village (this was
a town village of the Klamath tribe) started down the river and on
arriving at the mouth never stopped to take a view of the weather, but
put out to sea. The ocean was very rough, the waves were rolling high,
and when they got into the breakers their boat capsized and all five of
them were drowned. This brought on serious trouble for Bill McGarvey.
The relatives of the drowned Indians talked it over for three or four
months and then decided to go to McGarvey and demand pay, the most of
it to be paid in Indian money. McGarvey said that after counting it
up it would amount in our gold to about fifteen hundred dollars. He
refused to pay it, telling them that he was not responsible for the
drowning, that he had only hired them to bring in his goods by water,
that their getting drowned was not his fault and he would not pay. At
this they went away.
Two or three days after, late in the evening he heard small stones
striking on the shed-roof of the kitchen at the back part of the
store. He listened, but heard no more, so he went to the door of the
kitchen, enclosed with a high, strong picket fence, and opposite the
kitchen door was a gate in this fence, and as he looked out of the door
there stood a tall, slender fine looking Indian woman, one that had
always been a friend of McGarvey, and not only to him but to all the
whites. This woman was my close kindred which gave me the opportunity
of knowing it correctly. She beckoned to McGarvey to come, and as
he came up to her she told him to make preparations for himself and
the other two men that were in the store to defend themselves as the
Cortep Indians would be there very early the next morning and would
kill him unless they could manage to hold the Indians off. Then the
Indian woman stealthily crept away and back to her home while McGarvey
and his two friends, Jack Paupaw and George A. White, began at once
to prepare for their defence as well as they could. They got in as
good a supply of water as they had vessels to hold it in, closed the
doors and bolted them from the inside and opened the port-holes. Under
the store was a large cellar just on a level with the ground from the
outside. Sure enough, early the next morning there came twenty-five or
thirty of them, with their faces blackened with war paint and yelling
the war-hoop. But McGarvey and his friends were ready to keep them at
bay for a few hours, until a young Indian that was a great friend of
the whites and a life-long friend to McGarvey came and as he walked up
to the door of the store he asked to be let in. They opened the door
and let him in. This Indian, named So-pin-itts (Solomon), lived close
by and is yet living. After he was in the store awhile he went out and
talked it over with the Indians and called a stop till the next day,
during which time McGarvey tried to make a settlement with them; and
finally by telling them that it was too much money, that he never kept
so much money in the store and that the only way he could pay that
amount was to send to Crescent City and get his friends there to help
him. Finally the Indians, consented to this and all of them went home.
McGarvey wrote a letter to his friends in Crescent City asking them to
help him, telling them of the situation he was in and asked them to
intercede in his behalf or the three of them would be killed by the
Indians. He also wrote a letter to the Government officer in command
of the Smith River Indian Reservation, telling him of his predicament
and asking him to send a squad of soldiers to his assistance, and then
dispatched the letters by an Indian in post haste. The Indian, not
knowing the contents of the letters, went with all speed to deliver
them to the friend of McGarvey at Crescent City. The friend, after
reading them, also made haste to deliver the one to the commanding
officer, while the officer in turn arranged to send ten soldiers with
an officer to the McGarvey store. They arrived at the store on the
morning of the fifth day after the truce had been given. At daylight
the soldiers came down the hill to the north of the store, whooping
and yelling at the top of their voices, after a long and tedious march
of almost day and night over rough mountain trails, up hill and down,
through brush and timber with only part of the distance in the open
ground, traveling for about fifty hours.
On the arrival of the soldiers the Indians were dismayed, knowing
that they had been out-generaled and that McGarvey had sent for the
soldiers instead of sending for the money to pay them, and had done it
by sending one of their own men to deliver the message. At this turn of
affairs the Indians quieted down and abided their time, as they never
get in a hurry to make a settlement.
After the soldiers had been there for a few days they received orders
to remain until further notice. It was then that McGarvey hired some
men to build an addition to the store. This was erected at the west
end of the store, about twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long and
eight feet high to the eaves. It stood out over a steep bank of a small
creek that comes down close to the west end of the store. This made
comfortable quarters for the soldiers where they would be sheltered
from the hot rays of the summer heat and the rains of the winter
months, also privacy from the prying eyes of the inquisitive Indians.
Here the soldiers remained for about eight months, having all sorts
of a jolly time, as Bill McGarvey had plenty of whiskey to supply
their thirst at a dollar a bottle after each pay day. McGarvey on some
occasions would take quite freely of the whiskey himself, becoming
intoxicated and boisterous. On these occasions his friend Solomon, the
Indian, would go into the store and keep him straight, locking the
doors and letting no one in.
Jack Paupaw and George White went to their own homes. Jack Paupaw was
a blacksmith by trade and was working in Crescent City. He was an old
pioneer of Crescent City and the Klamath river. He returned to Crescent
City while White went up the river to a place known as Big Bar, thus
leaving McGarvey with the soldiers, as everything was now quiet. Things
proceeded smoothly while the soldiers were there and all thought that
the trouble was forgiven and forgotten and the soldiers were ordered
back to their command.
But the Indians of the Cortep village began to scheme for another plan
for revenge of their lost relatives, but gave up McGarvey and chose
this time a man by the name of Bryson who was the superintendent of the
Klamath Bluffs Mine, situated only about two hundred yards up the river
from the store. Bryson had a miner’s cabin which he lived in while
working at the mines, up from the river out of the way of high water.
The mine was down close to the river. He was coming up the trail to
his cabin for dinner just about twelve o’clock when one of the Cortep
Indians shot him down in his tracks with one of the old muzzle loading
rifles; this Indian was named Lotch-kum. Then all the Indians left for
the timber to get out of the way of the whites and friendly Indians.
This started the row going again and McGarvey barricaded his store
until the friendly Indians came to his assistance. The first family to
come was Weitch-ah-wah (my father) and his brother (my uncle).
At that time they were camped at the mouth of Tec-tah creek, some four
miles down the river from the store, and as soon as they heard of the
killing of Bryson they started for their home at the Pec-wan village
about one mile above the store and on going home went by the store
and stopped to learn the particulars of the killing. McGarvey made
arrangements with Warrots (my uncle) to go up the river and give notice
to the whites, T. M. Brown, the Sheriff of Klamath County, and to the
soldiers stationed at Camp Gaston in Hoopa Valley, some twelve miles up
the Trinity river from its junction with the Klamath. After Warrots had
delivered the message at all points he stealthily returned to his home
at Pec-wan in the night so the other Indians would not find out he was
on this errand against them. On the day following Warrots’s return,
the Sheriff and other white men came among them. George A. White, who
was a cripple as has before been stated, started to walk on the front
porch of the store when some of the angry Indians said to him, Melasses
White you can’t fight, you are crippled (Melasses was his Indian name).
White went back into the store and got one of the first makes of Henry
rifles. (The one Warrots had let McGarvey have to defend himself
with, and was the one my brother had brought from Oregon while he was
up there with the white men and was the only one to be found on the
Klamath of the kind and make at that time). As soon as the Cortep
Indians saw the rifle they knew at once that Warrots had given it to
the whites to shoot them with and it caused them to swear vengeance
against Warrots and his brother. Upon further inquiry they also
found out that Warrots had been up to Hoopa and told of the killing
of Bryson. T. M. Brown having been the Sheriff of Klamath County a
number of years and also a pioneer of the Klamath river was quite well
acquainted with the habits and customs of the Klamath river Indians and
he counseled with the friendly Indians and agreed to pay them for their
services if they would bring in the guilty Indian Lotch-kum dead or
alive. So Warrots set out to find Lotch-kum and kept watching different
places to find where he was hiding. The country being heavily timbered
Lotch-kum kept out of sight for nearly a year but at last Warrots
found where he was hiding in a creek some eight miles down the river
from the store and about one mile up the creek from the river in the
heavy redwood timber, in a large pile of drift logs. He first heard
Lotch-kum’s little fist dog bark and on watching patiently for awhile
saw Lotch-kum come out. At this he went back to his home in the Pec-wan
village, then visited with the Ser-e-goin village and told them that he
had found the hiding place of Lotch-kum. When they got ready three of
them, the other two being from the Ser-e-goin village, Monmonth Jack
and Marechus Charley, with Warrots leading the way arrived close to
Lotch-kum’s hiding place. They commenced to keep a close lookout for
him, as they could see his tracks in the soft dirt and sand in the bed
of the creek; and had to keep up the watch for about ten days. Finally
they saw him come creeping out to the creek where he began to bathe
himself. Warrots raised his rifle to his shoulder, took aim and fired,
Charley and Jack firing next. Lotch-kum fell to the ground but kept
raising up and falling down again, trying to get away, when the three
of them ran up to him as fast as they could, drew their long heavy
knives and severed his head, put it in a sack and carried it back to
the old store in triumph. Inside they rolled it out on the counter,
which satisfied the whites for the killing of Bryson. Bryson was
buried in a pretty spot a little north-east of the store, with hardly
a mark to show the place where he was to sleep, and all settled down
to peace and quietness again between the Indians and the whites. But
the Pec-wan Indians were divided between the Indians and the whites,
some of them were friendly to the whites while others took sides with
the Cortep Indians. Warrots was a Pec-wan Indian and full brother to
Weitch-ah-wah. The Sheriff and Government officers gave to the three
Indians who had killed Lotch-kum, letters of very high recommendations
for their services and to the good graces of all the whites. (I have
seen these letters with the signatures many times in my girl-hood days.)
Now the Cortep village and part of the Pec-wan village began to make
plans to kill Warrots, and as he was considered to be a good and
faithful friend of the whites by these Indians, it must be done in a
way so as to deceive the whites and not to let them know it was being
done as a revenge for the part he had taken in killing Lotch-kum. So
they bided their time waiting for a good chance, but all the time
Warrots was hearing of their schemes through his friends and he went
to the Sheriff and Government officers and told them that Lotch-kum’s
friends were planning to kill him and all of them promised him that
no one would be allowed to harm him. Sheriff Brown sent him word to
meet him at Trinidad as Trinidad was at that time in Klamath County.
Warrots came and laid the facts before him and the Sheriff promised
him protection and Warrots went back home. After about three weeks his
brother Weitch-ah-wah and all the family except myself (I was about
eight years of age) went away, thereby Warrots’s enemies got their
chance to carry out their plans. Early in the morning Warrots went
down to the creek which was only a short distance, to bathe and there
he met a little boy, the son of Pec-wan Ma-hatch-us. He spoke to the
boy, bathed in the creek and went back up to the house, when he saw
another Indian coming up the river trail from the Cortep village,
and as he passed the boy Warrots saw him stop, talk to the boy and
give him a piece of bread which he ate. The boy then came up to the
Pec-wan village while the Indian, who was from the Cortep village,
kept on up the river. As the boy got to his house he became ill and
in about thirty minutes died. Evidently the Indian had given him a
piece of poisoned bread which had killed him. They gave no attention
to the one that gave the bread but instead laid all the blame on
Warrots for the death of the boy and as soon as the ceremony and
burial was over they pounced upon Warrots and shot him at the door of
his sweat-house, killing him. The next day Warrots was laid to rest
in the grave-yard of his own folks in Pec-wan village. None of the
whites ever made any attempt to punish any of the Indians or stop them
from killing him. This is the reward he received for being a faithful
friend to the whites in times of need. His brother with his family was
forced to leave their home in Pec-wan village and move to Ser-e-goin
village, where lived the friends and helpers of Warrots, Mermis Jack
and Ser-e-goin Charley. After living there for awhile we moved up to
Hoopa so as to get farther away from our enemies and where we could
have a better chance for protection. I took a position with the Agent
which they said I filled with credit to myself and satisfaction to
them. Mermis Jack and Ser-e-goin Charley lived for many years but were
never friendly with the friends of Lotch-kum. Mermis Jack finally died
suddenly and in a manner that pointed strongly that he was given poison
in his food. Ser-e-goin Charley died a natural death in 1886.
In 1876 Bill McGarvey died in the old store that went by his name so
long. He had not been feeling well for some time. In the large room at
the west end of the store building he had a large stone fire-place, put
in many years before and he used this room as his bed-room and also
a sitting room. In this room he was taking his bath in a tub when he
fell over dead in front of the fire-place. The same evening his Indian
lady friend died in her home which was just a short distance from the
store. McGarvey had outside shutters to his windows which fastened
from the inside and these he had fastened, and in the morning as he
did not open the store, his Indian friend Solomon waited until late in
the morning for the opening of the store, when he became suspicious
of all not being right. He pried open the shutter of the window on
the south side of the store which would give him a view of everything
in the room where McGarvey slept, and there before the large stone
fire-place lay McGarvey cold in death and beside him was the tub in
which he was taking his bath. When the Indians heard of his death they
all said Bill McGarvey and Mollie have both gone over to the other side
together. (Mollie was closely related to all my folks.) Bill McGarvey
was laid to rest by the side of Bryson, on the flat above the store,
and the store passed into the hands of James McGarvey, a brother of
Bill. James McGarvey made the claim that he was the only living brother
which was afterwards said to be false, yet he got the store and ran
it for several years. He kept whiskey and sold it to the Indians and
the whites. The Indians would get drunk and have fights and kill each
other until he finally got mixed up with them by having a row over one
Indian finding a pistol in the trail that belonged to a white man by
name of Jim Douglas. McGarvey thought he would make the Indian give up
the pistol in short order and he went into the Wah-tec village which is
situated but a short distance from the store and as he got within a few
yards of Ray-no, the Indian, he drew his pistol and commenced to shoot
at him. McGarvey’s shots went wild and the Indian drew his pistol and
shot McGarvey, striking him in the back on the left side, just missing
the back-bone and went clean through the body on the striffin of his
stomach and he fell to the ground. The white men went to his assistance
and carried him to the store and the Indians that were in the row
left and went up the river to other villages with the pistol in their
possession. This raised quite a furor of excitement and the whites were
counseled with by the Indians that were friendly to both sides and they
were asked to bring back the ones that were in the shooting of McGarvey
and to bring back the pistol to the rightful owner. The next day they
came back and returned the pistol to James Douglas and he gave them
five dollars to be given to the one that found it. In some three weeks
Jim McGarvey was up and walking around and in a short time went to
Orleans Bar, where there was a Justice of the Peace and tried to swear
out a warrant for the arrest of the Indian but the warrant was refused
by the Justice who told him that he had commenced the row himself by
shooting first, while intoxicated. Several years before this, Klamath
County was taken off the map by being absorbed into Humboldt and Del
Norte Counties, leaving this old Klamath Bluffs store in Humboldt
County.
Jim McGarvey was selling whiskey to the Indians and causing so much
trouble among them that it caused a number of killing scrapes. After
this trouble was settled and Jim McGarvey got well of his wounds, he
sold the store to Peter Kane and moved down the Klamath River to within
about three miles of the mouth of the river and settled at the mouth
of a small creek close to the bank of the river, taking with him all
of his ill gotten gains and his beautiful little Indian woman that had
lived with him for years and to whom he had never been married by any
law. She was neat and tidy and a good cook but McGarvey got mad at her
for crying over the death of her mother and struck her on the back of
her head. From this she began to lose her mind and he finally abandoned
her and she became a raving maniac and died, leaving no children. Her
body was taken back up to her birthplace and laid to rest with her kin
in the family grave-yard, while Jim McGarvey lived on his place for a
few years and then died.
Peter Kane now had the store and he also kept whiskey and a rough
house. He would sell whiskey to the Indians and get drunk himself,
having trouble all around. He said one fall that he had two five
gallon kegs of whiskey and that the Indians close around there had
four hundred dollars and that he would get it all out of them for the
two kegs of whiskey. His selling to them was the cause of four of them
getting killed. Peter Kane had an Indian woman belonging to Redwood
creek. She spoke the Hoopa tongue and bore him three children. One day
one of the little girls about seven months old was crying and Kane
grabbed her roughly by the neck, held her out, shook her at the same
time, he walked out through the kitchen and threw the child flat on the
ground with its face down, then turned and walked back into and store
cursing the child and its mother. The next morning the mother got her
things together and started for her home on Redwood creek. Arriving at
the Klamath river which she had to cross she proceeded to cross over
with her children and had almost reached the other side before Kane
found that she was leaving. As soon as he discovered that she was
going he ran into the store, grabbed his rifle and ran down the bank to
the water’s edge and began firing. He fired several shots at her, the
bullets striking close by but failing to strike her. She went to her
home in the night, some twenty miles away, over a rough mountain trail
and through heavy timber most of the way. She never came back. The
Indians preventing him from following her that night was all that kept
him from killing her. It got too warm for him and he sold the store to
C. H. Johnson and afterwards went to the Indian woman on Redwood creek
and remained there with her. This brute took the same little girl by
her legs and dashed her brains out against a large redwood post, so
every one said. The woman again had to flee for her life. She left for
Hoopa Valley, where she could get some protection and Kane did not
dare to follow her there. He drifted down on the coast and lived for a
number of years but finally took sick and died in the County Hospital.
The woman he had lived with and bore him children remained at Hoopa
and raised the other children. Can you expect children, born to such
fathers under such conditions to grow up to be good and respectable
men and women? Many of them are a credit to their Indian mothers while
those who have good respectable fathers and are born under wed-lock,
having a birth that they can be proud of, over the average, make the
best of men and women.
I have strenuously fought the whiskey traffic carried on by the
unprincipled white men for years and did all that I could to stop it,
and made bitter enemies in doing so. Yet it is going on just the same
under the very eyes of some of those who are employed by the U. S.
Government to put it down. It looks as if they were paid to keep their
eyes closed and not see it.
When C. H. Johnson took over the store he cleaned it up and built an
addition to it and put in a large stock of provisions, made friends
with the Indians and did not keep any intoxicating liquors and he
allowed no one to drink around the store. He gave the Indians good
advice so that all looked up to him as a friend among them and he
never meddled with any of their wives but treated them with respect,
so that all could come and go, trade and chat with perfect ease and
freedom. Many of them would lay their troubles before him and he would
listen patiently and always try to give them good advice and keep down
trouble among them as far as it was in his power to do so. Mr. Johnson
kept this store for over twenty-five years and the Indians never at
any time made a threat against him or offered to harm him in any way.
He began with the help of the settlers and succeeded in getting the
government to establish a post office at the store and which he named
Klamath Post office, while he was the Postmaster. He ran the Post
office with the store and made a good official, striving at all times
to do what he could for the patrons of the office. It was very few
times that any complaint was made for mislaying mail. He ran the Post
office for about twenty-two years and during this time many of the
Indians sent letters and received others and he used to read their
letters for them and did much of their correspondence for them. He kept
the office until he died. Mr. Johnson used to keep quite a stock of
patent medicines and acted as doctor to the Indians if any of them were
sick, often going to see them and give them medicine if he thought by
doing so he could cure them. In serious cases he would advise them to
go to a white doctor which they would sometimes do.
As Mr. Johnson never kept any whiskey, being opposed to selling it to
the Indians, his neighbors now took advantage of the whiskey business
and began to get it in quantities and sell it to the Indians and mixed
bloods which still kept the quarrels going. It looks as if it will
still continue so to the end. It is a well known fact that Mr. Johnson
made money at the store and when he became sick he was attended by
white men until he died. It was said that no money was found above a
small sum. The stock of goods was run down until there was but little
left. The reader can guess how this happened as Mr. Johnson never made
a failure and always paid for his goods, his credit being good for
whatever he ordered. He was the father of one daughter, her mother
being a Klamath Indian woman. This daughter he always claimed as his
child and made arrangements for her to have all he possessed at his
death, but she will never get but little. He was buried upon the flat
beside the grave of Mr. Bryson in a deplorable manner.
A man by the name of Oscar Chapman, after the lapse of several weeks
was sent up to take charge of the store until the estate could be
settled. The Post office was moved from the store and Chapman continued
to run the store about one year and kept whiskey to sell and ran
gambling tables in the store. He meddled with the women, both married
and single for which he was shot dead in ambush. The Coroner was sent
up from Arcata to take charge of the body and brought it down to Arcata
for burial.
[Illustration: BILL McGARVEY’S STORE.]
Then a man named William Lawson was sent up there to take charge of
the store and remained a few months and would not stay any longer. The
order was given to him to sell all he could and box up the remainder
and take what was left down to the mouth of the Klamath by boat and
store it there for safe keeping until some future time. Thus, the old
store at Klamath Bluffs is dismantled and now stands there unoccupied.
After the death of Mr. Johnson the Government put two lady matrons on
the Klamath river to look after the interests of the Indians. They at
once began to look after this store and made reports against it. The
order came that no one could buy it or start it up as a trading post
without first giving a bond in the sum of ten thousand dollars, yet it
had been run by different men, sold a number of times and none had ever
given any bonds for over fifty years.
Around this store there are many tales woven, and I will tell quite a
number of them, using this place as a center to start with, as this is
where the lower Klamath Indians have their White Deer-Skin dance and
a short distance above the store is where one of their sacred lodges
is located. They have the true name of God which is used in the lodge
only in a low whisper, and outside of the lodge when three or four of
them are out in a secret place, and then only in a whisper when they
are burning certain roots and herbs that give sweet and pleasant odors
to their God. While the festival is being held all difficulties are
settled. Those of lower birth at the present time are pretending to
carry out the worship, but for the past few years have made a sorry
affair of it.
MARRIAGE
In the high marriage of the Talth the woman is most beautifully dressed
on her wedding day. A buck-skin dress all strung with beads and shells
that clink and rattle with her ever graceful step. Her hair is parted
in the middle, brought down on each side and rolled with the skin of
the otter. This skin is nicely dressed or tanned and then cut into
about one inch strips, thus holding the hair so it hangs down to their
hips or lower, according to its length. Around her neck are strings of
most beautifully arranged beads and of high value among them; they hang
down to her waist, almost completely covering her chest. A buck skin,
dressed and made as white as it can be made, goes over the shoulders
and fastens around the neck and hangs down covering the back. This
makes her very beautiful. She is so quick in movement that one has
to keep their eyes on her closely to see all of her actions, while
she speaks low and softly. These high marriages are very few and this
beautiful sight of the bride is seldom seen. The girls born of these
marriages were always looked up to by the Indians. When these girls
came along or were met by any children of other births, the latter
would always get out of the trail and let them pass.
The Klamath Indians never had a chief like the other large tribes but
were ruled by these men and women of such births that became members of
the order.
Another system is the “half married” one, the woman taking her husband
to her house to live with her. By this marriage she is the absolute
boss of the man and has complete control of all the children. She has
the power to correct her husband in all his actions and can send him
out to hunt, fish or work just as she deems proper, he being a slave
to her, as they usually both belong to the class that are slaves. It
amuses one to hear them use the term against white men that marry white
women, the man having no home of his own, and the woman taking him to
her home. They say that white man is half married just the same as our
people are half married and that the white man can not walk out at any
time as he is not boss for the woman owns everything. They have a third
form of marriage that belongs to the middle class. These marriages
are considered by the whole tribe as good marriages and the children
born by these marriages have a good standing in all walks of life. The
marriage is performed by a part barter and trade, such as giving in
exchange a boat or fishing place or any other property of a personal
nature. This ceremony is more of the common than the imposing way.
Since the coming of the white man he has brought this marriage around
to a simple form of buying outright by giving a price as one would for
a horse, cow or any other purchase. The old Indian law was an exchange
of valuable articles and often the woman did not go to the man she
married and live with him in his own home until they had been married
one, two or three years.
The Klamath Indians were, at the coming of the white man, a very large
tribe, there being several thousand of them. It taxed every resource
of the country in which they lived for all of them to obtain a
subsistence, therefore everything was owned in the same way that it is
now owned by the white man. The land was divided up by the boundaries
of the creeks, ridges and the river. All open prairies for gathering
grass seeds, such as Indian wheat, which looks similar to rye, besides
other kinds of seed; the oak timber for gathering acorns, the sugar
pine for gathering pine nuts, the hazel flats for gathering hazel nuts
and the fishing places for catching salmon.
The most frugal and saving of the families had become the owners of
these places and their ownership undisputed and these ownerships were
handed down from one generation to another by will. In time this left
a great many of them owning no property by which they could make a
living and many of their own people became slaves to the wealthy class.
They made the slaves work and kept them from starving, and by this
there came about the “half married” system. There are some of these
Indians that were born slaves living yet, and they are the ones that
are always ready to tell the white man all of the Indian legends in a
way to fit their own cases. They cannot tell the true legends at all,
as they are ignorant of such facts. The wealthy ones would see that the
men got wives and that the girls got husbands, build them houses and
some families were very kind to their slaves. When they were sick they
saw that they had doctors and the proper care. Some families were mean
and over-bearing to their slaves, giving no care to the sick, letting
them die and going so far as to throw them into a hole, leaving them
there to suffer and starve until they died. This sort of treatment
was looked down upon by the ones that had better humane feelings and
they sometimes prevented such inhuman actions. The most of the doctors
are women and they exercised great power, especially those who had a
high standing as to family, and the art of curing most all diseases or
cases of sickness. A few of the doctors were men and they used roots
and herbs of different kinds and they are hard to beat as doctors in a
great many kinds of sickness. They can cure the bite of a rattle snake,
not one of them ever dying from the bite. I knew many of the people
that were bitten by the rattle snake at different times and they were
cured and lived to be very old. For this cure they use salt water out
of the ocean and the root or the onion of what you call kelp and which
is taken out of the ocean. They pound the onion of the kelp and make
a poultice out of it, place it over the wound and keep it wet with the
salt water, at the same time letting the patient drink all he can of
the salt water. The patient is kept perfectly still and not allowed to
move about more than is necessary. They bind the limb or place where
the part is bitten to prevent the free circulation of the blood through
these parts.
In other things they are equally as good. In child-birth they prepare
a woman for giving birth to her child and at the birth of the child
they have an old woman to take care of the mother and child. After the
birth of the child the cord is cut and tied, then they take the black
part of a large snail, which has an oily substance, and place it over
the navel. They put a bandage around the child which is kept there for
some time. I have never known an Indian of the old tribe to be ruptured
and yet they do not know anything about surgery. If anything of a
serious nature happens to a woman during child-birth they are at a loss
to know what to do to save her. If the woman gives birth to twins and
they are a boy and girl, they try to raise them both, but if it be two
boys or girls they pick one of them and raise it while the other one is
neglected and starved to death, and when it died they went through all
the forms of sorrow by crying and mourning over the loss of the child
just the same as if they tried to raise it. If anything happens to the
mother that causes her death at child-birth or after and the child is
yet an infant, they take sugar-pine nuts or hazel nuts and pound them
into fine flower and mix this in warm water, making a milky substance
out of it. They can raise a child on this preparation as well as if it
was nursed at the mother’s breast. Every family in the olden times was
very careful to keep a good supply of pine and hazel nuts on hand.
The Indians were preservers of the sugar-pine timber which grew on the
high ranges of mountains on the north side of the river and there was a
very heavy fine and also death to the Indian that willfully destroyed
any of this timber. The sugar from these trees was also used by them
as a medicine in different cases of sickness. The salt water mussels
that they gather which cling to the rocks close to the sea-shore, is an
article of food for them and they gather and eat them while fresh by
boiling them. They also dry them and take them up the river to their
homes for winter use. In the month of August and a part of September
these mussels become poisoned, in some years worse than in others, with
phosphorus. Sometimes whole families would get poisoned by eating them
out of season and in this case they use the sugar which is taken from
the sugar-pine tree and which is a sure cure if taken in time. This
made the Indian prize the sugar-pine tree very highly and putting to
death even a member of their own tribe who harmed a tree in any way.
In the early days when a white man arrived among the Indians, he took
an Indian woman, and in the fall of the year she would want to gather
some pine nuts, the white man would go with her, taking his axe,
and cut down the tree, as he could not climb it, and told the woman
there they are, what are you going to do about it? At first the woman
complained and finally said that the white man would spoil everything.
Then the Indians began to cut the trees. In the last few years these
trees have become very valuable in the eyes of the white man, and it
has become the complaint of the white man that the Indians ought to be
arrested and punished. Some of them have gone so far as to say that
the Indians ought to be shot for cutting down this fine timber for the
nuts. I leave the reader to decide which one ought to be punished for
the cutting of the great number of these fine sugar-pine trees.
The Indians also took the greatest of care of the hazel nut flats as
the nuts are used in many ways. The nuts were gathered and stored away
as they could be kept for a long time and could be pounded into flour,
put into warm water and made a good substitute for milk which could be
used for weak, sickly children, also in some cases for sick persons
that needed nourishment and had weak stomachs. The hazel is used in all
of their basket making, as the frame of all the baskets are made of the
hazel sticks. In taking care of the hazel flats they got out in the
dry summer or early in the fall months and burn the hazel brush, then
the next spring the young shoots started up from the old roots. On the
following spring in the month of May, when the sap rises and the shoots
start to grow, the women go forth and gather these young shoots which
are from one to two feet in length. Some of these sticks grow up to a
height of three feet and are gathered for making the large baskets and
also the wood baskets. They gather these sticks by the thousands and
take them home where the women, children and men all join in peeling
the bark off the sticks. They take up a handful in the right hand,
then place the butt end of one of them in their mouth, taking hold
of it with their teeth and the left hand, giving it a twist so as to
peel the bark around the end, and as they get the bark started they
give the stick one quick jerk and the bark peels off at one effort.
After they are peeled they are laid out in the sun, on a smooth place,
in thin layers and allowed to bleach and dry and when they are dried
they gather them up and assort them out according to their size and
length, and tie the different sizes in bundles and lay them away for
use, sometimes three or four years later, before they are made up into
baskets. The small sticks are used for making up the very fine baskets.
The reader can easily see by this why the hazel was preserved and not
destroyed as it had a great value to them in many ways. They made
withes of it for tying their boats and other things. The oak timber
they were very careful to preserve as they gathered the acorns from it
late in the fall, October and November. The oak tree furnished them
with the staff of life, as it was from the acorn they made all their
bread and mush and this bread they could take for use on long journeys
on their hunting trips. They would wrap up a large lump of dough and
placing it in a cool place, keep it for several days before it would
begin to spoil or sour. From this dough they made their mush by taking
a piece about the size of a tea cup and put it into one of the baskets,
fill it nearly full with water, then take some wash stones taken from
the river or creek and put them in the fire until they were hot and
often red-hot when they would take two sticks and lift them out, drop
them into the basket and stir the whole briskly with a paddle, made for
this purpose, they would soon have it boiling and by putting in another
stone and with a little more stirring they would soon have the basket
of mush cooked. They call this mush Ka-go and it is very nutritious
and gives great power of endurance. After the basket of mush has been
set aside for thirty or forty minutes it is then dipped out into small
baskets made for the purpose and of size to fit the stomach. One person
serves, handing out the mush together with a piece of dry salmon or
venison or different things that may be prepared for eating. The acorn
furnishes the bread to all the Klamath river Indians.
All the oak timber was owned by the well-to-do families and was divided
off by lines and boundaries as carefully as the whites have got it
surveyed today. It can easily be seen by this that the Indians have
carefully preserved the oak timber and have never at any time destroyed
it.
The Douglas fir timber they say has always encroached on the open
prairies and crowded out the other timber, therefore they have
continuously burned it and have done all they could to keep it from
covering all the open lands. Our legends tell when they arrived in the
Klamath river country that there were thousands of acres of prairie
lands and with all the burning that they could do the country has been
growing up to timber more and more.
The redwood timber they use for making their canoes and building their
houses. In making a canoe they took a redwood log in length and size to
suit the canoe they wanted to make, and split the log in half, shaping
the bottom of the canoe first, then turning it over and chipping off
the top until they get it down to the right place when they would
start shaping the guards; after this they dug out the inside, leaving
it a certain thickness and this they gauged by placing one hand
outside and the other inside, moving both hands slowly along—and it is
surprising how even the thickness is in all parts. They cut out the
seat in the stern with a place to put each foot on the side in front
of the seat so one can brace himself while paddling it with a long
and narrow paddle, pointed at the end, so they can paddle or push the
canoe with it. They are certainly expert in the Klamath river with a
canoe, either the men or women. They have no keel on their canoes,
just a round smooth bottom, with a rounded bow and stern. A large
hazel withe is put through holes in the corners of the bow and drawn
very tight across it so as to keep the canoe from splitting in case it
strikes the rocks very hard, which often happens, as they grind upon
the rocks in the rough places in the river. These canoes will carry
heavy loads, much larger than they would seem to carry; sometimes from
forty to one hundred and fifty sacks of flour at a load. In making a
canoe, the Indians always leave in the bottom and some two feet back
from the front or bow, a knob some three inches across and about two
inches high, with a hole about one inch deep dug into it, and this
they call the heart of the canoe and without this the canoe would be
dead. When I was a young woman no Indian would use a canoe unless it
had the heart left in it to make it alive, as it was not safe to use if
not thus fixed, something after the fashion or notion of the sailors
as to a vessel being christened. The redwood canoes are being used for
a distance of one hundred miles up the Klamath river but the redwood
is used only for a distance of about thirty miles up the river, for
houses, after this distance they use red fir for houses. The redwood
is a soft, easy timber for working and not susceptible to being sun
cracked and is an ideal wood for making a canoe. After they have
finished making the canoe they take the shavings and some dry brush and
burn it both inside and outside and then brush off the dry parts which
leaves it very light and dry. After using the canoe for a few days and
if any light cracks start in it they take it out, dry it perfectly and
go over it with pitch taken from the fir tree. In doing this they first
put the pitch on the cracks then put hot rocks on the pitch which melts
it and it fills up the cracks. After this treatment the canoe will last
for years.
Their tools for working timber were very crude and they had to work
very slow. For axes and wedges they used the elk horn. They would cut
the horn to the length preferred with flint and then use a granite rock
where the quartz would adhere to it making it very rough, and with this
they would whet the horn into shape. After this they put grease on them
and lay them up so that the fire would dry the grease into them, until
it became very tough and could be used for years before wearing out.
For their malls or hammers they took a granite rock and by pecking on
it, could work it down to about one foot in length, then work it down
so that at one end it would be about four inches across the face of it
and the other end about two inches across it, while in the middle they
would bring it to about one inch, making it so one could hold it with
ease, using the large end for the mall part. With these crude tools
they cut trees, made their canoes and houses, by the aid of the fire to
help in many ways. They could split up a log into slabs and get some
nice looking lumber, only rough and of different thickness and in this
way they could build a very warm and comfortable house. In building
a house they leveled off a piece of ground from thirty to forty feet
square, then beginning in the center of the square they dug down about
five feet and from twelve to twenty feet across, surrounding this
part they dug a trench two feet deep and in this they set the slabs
or boards up endwise, being careful to put thick ones at each of the
four corners with holes burned through the top ends. These boards were
about eight feet long, which would leave them about six feet above the
ground on two sides. To this they tied with hazel withes a heavy pole
of the same size across the two gable ends on the same level of the
side poles. They tamped the ground in tightly around these boards the
same on all sides. At one corner of the gable end they had a very wide
plank about four feet in width and about four inches thick; they cut
out a hole in this plank about two feet across and around this they
put in about two feet from the corner setting it down in the trench,
tramping it very solid, for the door. Then they put across the top from
four to six very heavy poles for rafters, the two top poles being only
about three feet apart, with one a little lower than the other so as to
give it a slope for the water to run off when it rained. Then they tied
all this with hazel withes until the whole thing is fastened solidly
together and after this part is finished they put on the roof, using
the same heavy slabs which are about eight feet long, doubling them so
as to make it rain proof while the center part or comb of the roof is
short slabs about four feet long and in the center they leave a large
wide plank, so they can raise it to a slanting position so as to keep
the rain out and at the same time let the smoke out. After the roof
planks are all placed they put the large poles across the top, over
the joints and tie them down to the ones under with the hazel withes,
making it all quite substantial as to strength. Then they make a hole
in the center of the basement about one foot deep and side this up
with stones to fit for a fire-place, making it very smooth, then put
gravel in the bottom of the fire-place to the thickness of four inches
in depth. They then put a plank wall all the way around the house or
basement part holding them firmly to their place, after the fashion of
the white man’s wainscoting. After this they take a good quality of
clay, wet it with water until they get it to suit and plaster it over
the floor of the basement, tramping it until they get it plastered
over about four inches thick, while it is drying they keep very close
watch of it, and where it starts to crack they go over it with more
clay, filling in the cracks. They keep the cracks filled until the
floor becomes very dry and hard and this makes a very smooth floor.
They smooth off the upper floor which is irregular in shape and place a
slab or post at the four places which come opposite the corners of the
house, back about one foot from the wall and under one of the rafter
poles, so as to give support to the rafters. Then they put in an inside
partition in front of the door, letting this come back some ten feet
on each side of the door, reaching up to the roof and an inside door,
which is like the white man’s door. This is a place fixed in all the
houses for keeping their winter’s wood in while the rest of the place
is for storing away their provisions for the winter months, such as
dried salmon, eels, acorns and the other kinds of food which they store
in large baskets, some of these baskets are large enough for a man to
lie down in. Some of the girls make their beds in this upper part of
the house for the summer months. In a house where there is a large
family this upper part of the house is well filled with baskets holding
the different articles of food-stuffs, some of which have been stored
there for a number of years. They have shutters to both the outside and
inside doors and the roof projects well out all around the house, which
makes the house warm in the winter time and cool in the summer. Going
down into the basement they take a log about one foot through and cut
the right length, cut notches in it for footsteps and set it in place
and the little Indian children can go up and down this like squirrels
with less accidents than the whites have on their stairs. The whole
family eats in the basement and all the cooking is done there and at
night things are cleared away and all the women and girls sleep in this
basement, while the men and boys all go to the sweat-houses to sleep.
Outside in front of the door they make a sort of porch, the floor of
which is made of smooth rocks, thus completing the house. In going
through the doors they have to stoop very low and almost in a crawling
position and raise straight up on entering the inside. The inner door
is high and they can stand up on going through it. The doors in most
cases face toward the river. One of these houses will stand for fifty
years and with some repairing will stand a great while. There were
from ten to forty of these houses in a village and the villages were
from one half to three miles apart, some on one side and some on the
other side of the river. Generally there was a sweat-house to each
dwelling but sometimes there was only one sweat-house for two houses.
The men and boys visited from one sweat-house to another for a social
time and to remain over night. The Indians that travelled up and down
the river used to stop with old friends or relatives and would get in
the sweat-house, exchange news and smoke their pipes until a late hour
in the night. There is no law forbidding the women from sleeping in a
sweat-house, but the men say the women have too many fleas on them and
the women say the men talk too much, so the women let the men sweep,
get the wood and make their own fires in the sweat-houses. Sometimes
an Indian will take his wife or favorite daughter to the sweat-house
to sleep if the weather is cold but the women prefer to sleep in the
dwelling houses as they are very comfortable there and can be kept very
warm with a small fire. The women make a sort of mattress of the tules
that grow in the swamps. They gather this tule, let it dry and bleach
it, then take strings of their own make and commencing in the middle of
the string they lay one of the stalks of the tule and plat them closely
together. They weave the tules close together, putting about six
strings in a mat about three or four feet wide and have the mat five or
six feet in length, sometimes making them three and four thicknesses
which they can fold up and put out of the way in the day-time and take
out and unfold at night. These mats are quite comfortable to sleep
on. The old women sleep on the basement floors while the young girls
sleep on the upper floors in the warm months and on the lower floors,
with the old women during the cold months. My people were in the habit
of eating but two meals a day, the first meal or breakfast came about
eleven o’clock and in the evening, after dark the women prepare the
supper, the menu differing according to the season of the year.
As soon as it begins to get cold the men would go out and get large
loads of small limbs and brush, tie it up in a bundle which they placed
on their backs and held with both hands and as they came in they sang
a song for luck in whatever they might wish for, such as making money,
good health and many other things. With this wood they make a fire in
the sweat-house and the smoke coming out of the crevices would make
it look as if the house was afire for a short time, when the wood
would burn down to a bed of coals and the smoke all disappeared and
then the men and boys would strip and creep into them, one at a time
and in about thirty or forty minutes would all come crawling out of
the small round door, steaming and covered with perspiration weak and
limp, appearing as if they could hardly stand up. After crawling out
they lay flat on the stone platform that is fixed for the purpose and
sing the same songs, only at this time in a more doleful way. They lay
in this way for thirty or forty minutes, then get up and still looking
weak start off down to the bank of the river, one at a time, and plunge
into the cold water and swim and splash for a time, then all go back to
the dwelling house and go in where the women folks are preparing the
evening meal, take their seats around the basement floor, out of the
way of the women while they are cooking, and all will join in laughing
and talking until the evening meal is over. Then the men and boys go
back to the sweat-house for the night and prepare for a big smoke, all
laughing and talking about different topics and telling amusing tales.
Some of the older ones would discuss points on Indian law, others tell
how things are changing, how this and that used to be and is different
now, how they fought the other tribes, when they were victorious and
when they were defeated, praising one that was the leader or condemning
another, one that was a good general and many other things, and some
were very interesting talkers. They talked until they were ready to go
to sleep for the night and then they would place the wooden pillows
under their heads. Some of them would not use any kind of covering and
would be almost naked, as the sweat-houses would keep very warm for at
least twelve hours after a big fire had been built in them. Early in
the morning they would come out and each take his own way for the day,
such as hunting, trapping, fishing or getting something that might be
needed for the family. The old men dressed deer skins, many of which
the hair was left on and these were for the women to use as blankets
and for shawl-like coats which they wear, for moccasins (noch-i)
they take a dressed deer-skin and smoke it and then make it up into
moccasins. They make dresses and many other things out of skins. Others
would dress furs which they use in many ways. They use the Fisher
skin for quivers to carry arrows in, also the young Panther skin. The
fresh water Otter they dress very nicely for the women to tie their
hair with. Some would make mauls and wedges for future use and others
were making bows and arrows, while a few would give directions to
the others. The women went about their work such as pounding acorns,
soaking the flour and preparing it to make bread or mush, some cutting
fresh salmon and preparing it for cooking, others go out after wood for
their part of the living and cooking quarters and others made baskets
for cooking purposes. Some made hats and baskets they used for storing
away food, while others made fine dresses for wearing and anything that
was to be done, but few of them being idle, unless it was some of the
old women that were very wealthy. The Klamath people have the same kind
of tobacco that grows over a large part of the United States, which,
when it grows up has small leaves. They prepare the ground and plant
the seed but will not use any they find growing out of cultivation.
They are very careful in gathering the plant and cure it by the fire,
or in the hot sun, then pulverize it very fine, then put it up in tight
baskets for use. It becomes very strong and often makes the oldest
smokers sick, which they pass over lightly, saying that it is a good
quality of tobacco. The women doctors all smoke but the other women
never do. Their pipes are made out of yew wood with a soap-stone for a
bowl, the wood is a straight piece and is from three to six inches long
and is larger at the bowl end where it joins on to the stone, it is
notched in so it sets the bowl on the wood, making the pipe straight.
They hold the pipe upwards if sitting or standing and it is only when
lying on the back that one seems to enjoy the smoke with perfect ease,
however they can handle the pipe to take a smoke in any position. Some
of these pipes are small, not holding any more than a thimble-full of
tobacco. My people never let the tobacco habit get the better of them
as they can go all day without smoking or quit smoking for several days
at a time and never complain in the least. The men, after supper, on
going into the sweat-house take their pipes and smoke and some take two
or three smokes before they go to bed. The old women doctors will smoke
through the day and always take a smoke before lying down to sleep. All
inhale the smoke, letting it pass out of the lungs through the nose.
Women doctors are made and educated, which comes about in a very
peculiar way. They are usually from the daughter of wealthy families.
Most of them begin quite young, and often the doctor will take one of
her daughters that she selects along with her and begin by teaching
her to smoke and help her in her attendance on the sick, and at the
right time will commence with her at the sweat-house; while others will
have a dream that they are doctors and then the word will be given
out, and in either case along in the late fall all will be made ready,
the day being set. The sweat-house (which is the white man’s name and
does not have the same meaning in our language, we call it Ur-girk)
being selected they take her to it, dressed with a heavy skirt that
comes down to her ankles and which is made of the inner bark of the
maple, with her arms and breast bare. They all go into the sweat-house,
there being from fifteen to twenty men and women in number, she having
a brother or cousin, sometimes two, that look after her. All begin
to sing songs that are used for the occasion, dance jumping up and
down, going slowly around the fire and to the right, they keep this
up until she is wet with perspiration as wet as the water could make
her and when she gets so tired that she can stand up no longer one of
her brothers or cousins take her on his back with her arms around his
neck and keep her going until she is completely exhausted, then they
take her out and into the house. There she is bathed in warm water
and then allowed to sleep as long as she wishes, which revives her
and gives her back her strength. On awakening she appears rested and
vigorous, with a beautiful complexion. She can now eat her meal such as
is allowed her. While she is training for a doctor she is not allowed
to drink any water or eat any fresh salmon, all the water she gets is
in the acorn mush or in the manzanita berry, pounded to a flour and
then mixed with water, made into a sort of mush and warmed. They are
allowed to eat all other kinds of food. These dances are kept up at
intervals all through the winter months until late in the spring, when
they will take her far back on the high mountains and keep her there
all through the summer, never allowing her to drink water, only as
mixed with mush, nor eat any fresh salmon. In the fall they bring her
back home to the river when she will go through the same performance in
the sweat-house. Sometimes she will be from three to ten years before
being ready for the final graduation exercises when she will be taken
back to some almost inaccessible place on a high peak or on a very
high rock where they will smoke, pray and fast for from three to five
days. While at this place none eat or drink and on leaving it the pipes
are left secreted so as to be found on the next visit. On this trip
there will not be more than three or four with her and always one of
them is an old doctor so as to care for her, and on coming back, after
they get down the hill part way to a suitable place they make a stop
and all eat and take a rest. The young doctor bathes herself, loosens
her hair and washes it, then dries it and combs it with a bone knife.
These knives of deer bone, about the size of a table knife and have a
hole bored through the handle and a string tied through it and fastens
around the wrist, and in carrying it the point of the blade is up
and lays against the arm so that a person would hardly know that she
carried it. This comb is beautifully carved and checkered with black
stripes. She gently strokes the hair with it until it is dry, then she
thrusts the point through it, close to the head, gently pressing the
blade down through it, she keeps the comb in motion until the hair
is perfectly straight and glossy and then she parts the hair in the
middle of the forehead, then takes stripes of Otter skin and ties it
up, letting it hang down on each side of the head and in front of each
shoulder. This girl is a virgin, as perfect in statue and active in
movement and health as God can make her. She can bear hardships and
punishment without complaint or murmur, that would make a bear whine.
After all have rested they start for home which will perhaps take them
two or three days to reach and all the time her health is looked after
to see that she is in good spirits and does not become wearied, and on
arriving home she is allowed to rest for two, three or four weeks when
all is made ready to give her the final degree. This time preparing
one of the large living houses for the purpose, by taking off a part
of the roof and fixing it so that all can come and get a chance to see
the whole performance. The time is set and word is sent all up and down
the river and at the appointed time they will be there, some coming for
many miles to see and take part in giving the young doctor her final
degree. At sun down the fire is made in the center of the living room
and at the commencement of the hour of darkness she is brought in, goes
through the door and down into the basement, takes her place, when
the others that are to help her take their places, forming a circle
around the fire and all start singing in a low and monotonous voice,
jumping up and down, the young doctor taking care of herself at first
and taking instructions from the old doctor who sits close by but takes
no part other than to instruct her. After keeping this up for from two
to four hours the young doctor becomes very warm and fatigued and they
keep close watch of her until the time comes, when one of the men takes
hold of her and holds her up and helps her to stand, still wearing her
down until two men take hold of her by each arm and in this way keep
her dancing until she is helpless and so limp that she can no longer
go on. Then they lay her up and out of the way, still keeping on with
the ceremony until daylight in the morning, when all repair to their
places to sleep for a few hours, then arise, go forth, bathe and eat
and go back to their homes. The young doctor does not always go through
this ordeal and come out safely, as sometimes she became so warm that
she would never recover from the effects of the severe punishment,
but this seldom happens. After going through this she is pronounced a
doctor and can begin practicing her profession. She is now allowed to
get married if she so desires and the most of them do and raise large
families and live to be very old. They wield a big influence among
the tribe if they are successful as doctors and some of them are very
successful as doctors while others are of the ordinary class. These
women doctors are seers, as when they are called to doctor the sick
they claim to tell what is the cause of the sickness and what will cure
it. They suck the body where the pain is located and sing in a sort of
chanting way for awhile, then suck the body again and keep this up for
four or six hours, if it is a serious case there will be two doctors
and sometimes three and in this case they will not agree as to the
cause, if the patient gets well there will be one of them that gets the
credit for the greater part of it and sometimes all of it. When there
is a case of sickness, the relatives of the sick one decides on the
doctor, and the amount of money or other valuables, or all valuables
just as they may, go to the doctor and laying it before her at which
she will accept or refuse the offer, but if it is satisfactory she will
prepare to go with them and if it is rejected she will demand more and
sometimes she will call for some valuable relic which she knows the
family has in their possession, sometimes an article that has in years
gone by been in the doctor’s own family, and she will strive to get it
back again. If the sick one should die while she is trying to get more
they will make her pay to them all that they have laid down to her,
but if she accepts the money and goes and the patient dies, then they
make her return all that was given to her. If there was two or three
doctors then they all have to return all that was given to them and
then they will debate among themselves as to which one of the doctors
is the best. Some of the doctors were very successful and hardly ever
lost a patient, and accumulated great wealth, owning the best fishing
places and large tracts of land where they could gather acorns, hazel
nuts and grass seeds, besides many slaves. They were great talkers and
always had a ready answer to every question, and were almost habitual
smokers, using a large pipe and smoking often. They had a wonderful
constitution. To give an idea of the power of one of these most
successful doctors I will give a sketch of one and her methods. This
doctor was born at Cortep village and of a wealthy family who had been
for many generations back. She married a man that was born at Pec-wan
village, also of a wealthy family and would be called after marriage
in the Indian tongue as Peck-wish-on, but not in this case as she was
called by the tribes as Caw. She became famous among her people and
would come out of her house and sit on the porch of the stone platform
in front of her door, take off her cap, stroke her hair down over her
face and eyes and sit this way for hours at a time, and all, young and
old, would become afraid of her and say; look at Caw, she will make
some one sick, and there would be such a dread of her that there was
sure to be some one sick in two or three days, then they would say
that Caw made them sick, and if they could get her to doctor the sick
one she would cure the sick one as she seldom ever failed to cure any
of her cases. She doctored and took all the wealth of her mother and
father into her own hands besides all that her brothers and sisters and
other relatives had, for doctoring them. She lived to be quite old and
had raised a family of boys and girls. She had lots of slaves, land
and fishing places and money. Her son was the richest Indian in the
whole tribe and was known as Pec-wan Colonel. I knew a girl that this
doctor took for a doctor bill and who was to be the wife of one of her
grandsons. But as the grandson and girl grew up to be of marriageable
age he did not want her for his wife and the money was returned, which
freed her and she married another man, one of choice. These doctors
never act in cases of child-birth, nor do they ever attend or have
any part in these cases. An old woman that is always very pleasant
takes these cases, taking charge of the woman that is about to become
a mother and prepares her for the task of giving birth. She has a
medicine which she prepares and gives to the woman which does not fail
to do its work in a very short time. This is the pitch or gum of the
fir tree, that has by fires or otherwise dropped into the waters of the
creeks or streams and laid in the water for a long time which makes it
very brittle and hard. They take a piece of this and after pounding
it until it becomes as fine as flour put it into a cup of water and
let the patient drink, which in most cases brings her out in good
condition. This is not the only remedy they have for they have many for
use in the different condition of the patient; the baby is also cared
for by these women. They wash the child and dress it in soft furs, such
as rabbit skins or other soft kinds of fur. They now pound hazel nuts
into flour, put it into warm water which makes a kind of milk and then
feed it to the child, they also take milk from the mother’s breast and
give to the baby, they do not let the baby nurse at the mother’s breast
until after the first ten days, at which time the child is allowed to
do so until time to wean it. The baby is provided with a basket made
for the purpose and the child is placed in this in a sitting position,
it has a strap fastened in the back so that the mother can swing it
across her back, set it up against the wall or lay it down flat just as
she may choose. The baby if in health will doodle its feet and laugh
when any one takes notice of it. The baby baskets are changed in size
as the baby grows older and larger, the older baskets are burned. These
granny women are called Na-gaw-ah-clan. The Klamath Indians have men
doctors and they use many kinds of roots, herbs and some minerals, and
when it comes to wounds, bites of poisonous reptiles, chronic diseases,
women are ailing with such disease as falling of the womb and many
other kinds of sickness, they are called by rich families, and they
too are paid in advance and if they fail to cure they have to return
the money or if they refuse to come and the patient dies they have
to make good all that was offered them. These men doctors hand down
their secrets of the different kinds of medicines they use and for
what each kind is used, to their sons or close relatives, and before
one begins to practice he goes back on the mountains to some distant
and secluded place where there is a large rock or high peak, where he
can look over the whole surrounding country all alone. There he prays
to his God for health, strength and success. He does not drink water
or eat and punishes himself as much as he can and stands up under the
strain, he is gone from eight to twelve days and on his return he
bathes himself, rests and sleeps, smokes his pipe for three or four
weeks and then is ready to take up the calling of the doctor and will
go with the old doctors for quite awhile so as to make sure that he
makes no mistake in handling the cases nor in the uses of the different
kinds of medicine to be used for different cases or diseases. These
men doctors are called Pe-girk-ka-gay, the women doctors being called
Kay-gay. Most of the men doctors are of the highest birth and are often
members of the highest families and are often members of the secret
lodge. It is only them that stop the women doctors and make them many
of their accusations or retract their sayings, thus keeping them in
bounds of reason, though they are very lenient with them and often let
them go too far before they stop them. These men doctors help to start
and to make the settlements for the white Deer-skin dance, and this
is the time when all troubles between individuals, clans and villages
are settled, so the whole tribe is in peace. If any of them are not
willing to settle their difficulties they are strictly forbidden to
attend the worship, and if they should attend they would lose the
respect of the whole tribe, besides they would be dealt with harshly.
So in case there be some that cannot make a settlement it is best for
them to remain away for this is a time and place where all is free and
the best of good cheer and behavior must prevail. The White Deer-skin
Dance they hold every two years unless something of a serious nature
happens and which sometimes did happen and so crippled the people that
they could not hold them for a number of years, such as contagious
diseases or other calamities. In years that everything was all right
these men doctors would get together about the last of July or the
first of August and have a talk and settle the question and give out
the announcement that they were going to have the Deer-skin Dance
(Oh-pure-ah-wah). The word would be sent out to all the Indians up
and down the river, to the Hoopa and Smith river Indians and down the
coast as far as Trinidad, and any and all of them of the other tribes
could come and see the dance and none of them would ever be molested.
Now they would begin to settle all of their quarrels among themselves
by paying, this was done by arbitration in most of the cases, as they
would select the ones that were friends to both sides of the ones in
dispute. They would argue the case and bring them to a settlement if
possible, and if they could not make a settlement they could not come
to see the dance. This way things would move along and all kinds of
sayings would be learned and disputed as those that had no authority
would be guessing and often times give out something as coming from
some of the head men. All would believe it to be true until it got far
enough when the head ones would pronounce it as not authoritative and
the false sayings would stop. Another false story would take its place
and this would go on until about the middle of August when the Talth
would get together and set the time for the dance to start. They always
put in the fish dam first, it being a part of this great festival.
The one that handles the putting in of the fish dam is known as Lock,
and the fish dam is called La-og-gen. Lock selects one other of the
high priests and one girl of equal high birth and the three go to a
secluded place out on a high mountain from which place they can have a
good view of the surrounding country and there the girl makes a small
fire and is given instructions of how and what to do. The other man is
also directed what to do. Lock unrolls his emblems, which is a closely
woven scroll that is absolutely water proof and takes from it the roots
that he burns slowly over the fire that the maiden keeps burning. These
roots are burned as an incense and have a sweet odor as they burn, and
while they are burning Lock prays and sings to God to give him health
and power to carry through all the hardships of putting in the dam.
They remain here for two days and nights, then go back down the river
to where the fish dam is to be placed. There they land with their boat
and stop at a very large rock which is close up to the water’s edge,
and a large creek of clear pure water which enters into the river just
at and a little below this large rock. In the middle of the night the
maiden gets wood and starts a small fire and fixes things for Lock
and his helper. This girl is a virgin of purity. She goes across the
river and bathes herself and dresses her hair, using her Indian knife
like a comb, which she carries fastened to her wrist, until her hair
is dry and glossy, then she lets it hang loose, wearing a band around
her head made of beads which keeps the hair from falling over her face,
just coming to the jaw, and if at any time the hair comes over her
face she strokes it back with her Indian comb, but she never touches
her hair with her hands. After she has bathed and dressed she goes to
the lodge and lies down and sleeps until late in the morning when Lock
and his helper come to the lodge and lie down and sleep until late
in the morning when Lock-nee and his helper come to the lodge, when
the three of them all take a bath, and then eat for the first time
since they started. None of them are allowed any water and will not
be allowed to drink any for many days yet. Some of these people would
start in looking fine and when they came out they would often look
like a walking skeleton, they would soon regain their flesh although
sometimes they never would regain their normal condition. These three
keep themselves secluded and no one has seen or heard of them, but all
are anxiously waiting to hear the word. After they have had their meal,
Lock and his helper go back across to the large rock, then Lock unrolls
his scroll, burns some more incense and gives his order to his helper
to go out to all the villages and call on as many to come forward and
help to put in the fish dam as is needed, and this is the time for them
to appear before Lock. Sometimes there will be from one hundred to two
hundred young men, no old or sickly ones are wanted. After they all
appear before Lock, he assigns to each lot of eight or ten of them,
the part and amount that they are to do. After this they go home, fix
up their provisions and camp outfit and in about thirty hours’ time the
river bars in and around this place are alive with Indians, and the air
is filled with merriment and jokes.
Early in the morning they all start out without eating, and cut the
small pines that are from two to three inches through at the butt
ends. Some will make a fire, and as the others are cutting and packing
in they will take the green pine poles and run them through the fire
until they are scorched then take them out and the bark is peeled off
easily. While they are yet hot they split each one in two and four
pieces, then others get long hazel withes and run them through the fire
and while they are hot split them in two pieces, then they take them
and the pine pieces and plat them together like mats, leaving the pine
sticks about one and two inches apart, these mats when set upon end
are about nine feet long, with five or six hazel withes about fourteen
inches apart. After they get a mat put together they roll it up, making
each mat so that one man can pack it on his shoulder and at a given
time they all carry them down to the river to the place where the fish
dam is to be put in. Others get the posts which are about eleven feet
long and five or six inches through, they are all sharpened at one end
and made very smooth, all the bark being taken off. Some get the long
pole-beams or girders which are from twenty to twenty-four feet long
and about six or seven inches through with the bark taken off. The girl
that carries the true name of God is, during the day, in the lodge or
house that is used only on these occasions. This house was kept in
good condition at all times but no one lives in it, except on these
occasions, also the sweat-house that Lock sleeps in while this work
is going on. In the evening, about dusk, after all the workers have
retired for the day, she quietly goes out and crosses the river, as
Lock’s helper at this time is watching for her and takes the canoe over
to take her where Lock is concealed under the large rock close to the
bank of the river, and she gathers a quantity of dry wood by which Lock
keeps a small fire burning all through the day and on which he burns
incense. Lock keeps out of sight of all the workers as they do not
want to see him and avoid doing so. Lock gives orders to his helper,
directing him so that he can deliver the orders to the different
companies of workers. This helper is one that has the birth but has not
the secret of the true name of God. Lock gives him all the orders in a
low whisper, and this helper is called Lock-ee.
As soon as the girl whom they call Normer, has finished, the three
cross the river to the south side and after landing they all bathe,
there being a secluded place close by where the girl takes her bath
and when they have finished they proceed to the Lah-wah-alth or house
where Lock’s wife and his helper’s wife are preparing the only meal
that they eat every twenty-four hours. After the meal is finished Lock
and his helper go to the sweat-house for the night in which a fire has
been started by an old man who was selected to get the wood and thus
the place was warm for the night. Lock and his helper take a smoke and
then retire. Very early in the morning there is a fire made in the
sweat-house and Lock and Lock-nee take a sweat and then go back across
the river, Lock going to his secluded place and keeping himself hid so
that none can catch even a glimpse of him. The girl also keeps secluded
by keeping in the house where the wives of Lock and Lock-nee are, and
she is busy fixing her dresses, combing her hair and keeping herself
very neat and what spare time she may have after this she is making a
new dress or skirt from the inner bark of the wild maple that grows on
the river. The bark is bleached until white, then platted and hung to
a band that goes around the waist, making it as a skirt, coming down
to the ankles. All the workers which are called Nah-quelth are ready
to work like beavers getting everything in readiness. No one eats more
than one meal a day and all must be in good health and young before
they are accepted to work on the fish dam. The day that it starts and
until it is completed must not exceed ten days. The girl, Normer, now
sends Lock’s wife or Lock-nee’s wife, (either one can go) to select for
her ten girls all of which must be of good birth from the middle class
or rich, and not more than ten, but if ten cannot be secured a less
number will do. These young girls now come and are called Wah-clure,
but they do not see Normer. They remain with their kindred and are
drilled and fixed up to be ready for the last day and final finish of
the fish dam. Now Lock-nee has selected from the Nah-quelth or workers,
either five or six to act as managers over the different parts of the
work, and these take the bark of the madrone and make a hat which
looks very much like an old style plug hat that the white man wears.
This is striped and painted in a novel fashion and these workers are
very noticeable as they go from place to place giving instructions to
the workers. These plug hat men now select twelve or less boys and
put them to making ribbons of bark which they stripe off very flowery
by painting and carving, also making fancy Indian pipes, carving and
painting them very artistically. These boys are called Charrah and the
pipes and ribbons made by them are put on the top of long slim poles
from twelve to fifteen feet long and are to be used at the finish of
the fish dam. These poles have the bark taken off and are clean and
white.
All this time Lock has kept himself secreted from the eyes of all
the workers and on the morning of the fifth day, very early, he and
Lock-nee go up the mountain side and select the first one of the long
beams or stringers that is to be put in on the north side of the
river, starting just above the large rock under which he keeps himself
secluded up to this time, and when he has selected the one that suits
him he makes a small fire at the roots of the tree and burns his
incense, then sits down by the fire and prays to God to give blessings
to the whole people with health and plenty. Now all of the workers
knowing the time, and the boys and the men have followed up and are
all looking for the posts, twenty-two in number, and the rest of the
stringers which are ten besides the one that Lock selects, making
eleven altogether. After Lock has finished with his prayer to God he
commences to cut the tree, Lock-nee helping him and together they cut
it down and when it falls with a crash all the workers shout loudly,
“oh-oo”, and the whole side of the mountain echoes with their voices.
Lock-nee begins to trim off the branches and peel the bark while others
come in and help. All the workers are scattered off in different
places, each squad looking for posts and the rest looking for stringers
and cutting them down and as each tree fell they all holler “oh-oo.”
They take the bark off and trim and sharpen the posts. All these pieces
are complete in one day and taken down to the river’s edge by evening
and before any one can eat or drink water after all the pieces are
finished. Lock and Lock-nee take the lead with the stringers, a rope
tied around the large butt end which is quite heavy timber and start
down the mountain with it, Lock all the while talking in prayer to God,
and if the timber stops he prays and talks good and as he has all his
life been so good that God causes the timber to move along easily. As
Lock starts all the rest follow with their timbers and all arrive about
sunset on the north bank with all the heavy frame part for the fish
dam. These people while they are working all day are full of jokes,
laughing and telling funny stories, and if one has done a mean trick
of any kind and others know of it, he is twitted about it; they poke
fun at each other continually, yet they all keep good natured about it
and they are all very witty in their answers. They all smoke during the
day, each one using his own pipe and all have their own buck-skin sack
to carry his pipe and tobacco in. Now all the timbers are in the water
and tied to the bank and left floating, ready for morning. Men and boys
now bathe themselves and clean their hair, when all depart for their
different camping places, parting with jests and jokes, and eat their
only meal in twenty-four hours. Lock addresses the girl as my child,
my daughter and other endearing terms. After the meal is over Lock and
Lock-nee go to the sweat-house to rest and sleep for the night and in
the morning, early, all are out and ready and go down to the river and
across in their canoes, they having many of them on such occasions.
Lock now gets the rock for driving the post, this is of granite and
flat, from twelve to fifteen inches across and from two to four inches
thick and weighs from fifty to sixty pounds. Only those who use this
rock ever have a chance to examine it and it is said to have been made
many generations ago. It is kept hidden in a secret place and only
brought to view for this purpose and all the other tools that are used
for every part and purpose in putting in the fish dam (La-og-gen) are
hidden in a secret place, not all being in one place, and there are
never more than two persons (Lock and Lock-nee) at one time that know
where to find them, being handed down from one to another. This rock
they call Milth-me-ah-lisi and in calling for it they say, Say-yah.
The other tools are called by their different names, the hammer they
call Tec-wan-ore. Lock and Lock-nee drive the first two posts which
starts the fish dam, the first one is driven nearly perpendicular, and
now the workers have to put up a staging which Lock climbs upon as the
post is long and has to be driven quite deep into the ground. Lock-nee
holds the post so as to keep it in place while Lock takes a maul and
as he raises it he talks to God, using words for lots of salmon and
to bless all, and at this he comes down with a hard blow, and keeps
it up until the first post has been driven to the proper depth, he
does not strike his blows fast, each blow is struck slowly. The second
post is set at an angle on the down river side of the first one, set
to make a brace against the current of the river, and also the top
ends come together so as to leave a fork or crotch at the top which
is tied securely together with hazel rope, leaving it so beam poles
can be placed in the crotch and tied securely. Now when Lock-nee has
the second post properly set in place, Lock commences as on the first
and drives it down to the proper depth and after this is done Lock and
Lock-nee take the hazel withe and tie it to the first one, leaving
the crotch. This being done Lock passes the mall over to the other
workers and drive the rest of the posts, the next two of which are set
angling down the river and the third two are set angling up the river
so as to make it in a shape like the old style of a worm fence made of
rails; this is also done for the purpose of bracing the whole structure
against the current of the river. As soon as the posts are all driven
Lock and Lock-nee place the first long stringer in its right place,
which is on the north side of the river, then the workers soon place
the rest of them and tie them with hazel withes. Then smaller posts
are driven at the corners for each trap, at the corners two posts are
driven, one angling down the river and they are placed so as to leave
the crotch, in which a pole is placed. The traps are about twelve feet
wide and fourteen feet long commencing so the center of the first trap
will be in the center of the first worm of the main frame work and
this is started first on the north side of the river. When the posts
are all driven for the traps which are many of them for the corners
and side and also to brace against the current of the river. The top
pieces are placed and braced, then poles are withed to the sides and
ends all around each trap. The mat or woven work of small split poles
are taken in and placed, unrolled, letting them close up, close to the
frame work of the structure. These traps are set on the down river
side of the main structure so that all of this mat work has to be put
on the inside of the frame work of the traps. Then all of this matting
is tied with hazel withes very carefully. These traps are not put up
close together, there is a place of about six feet left between each
trap so that a canoe can be run between them. This matting is placed
all the way across on the upper side of the main frame, except on the
south side of the river where there is an open place of about twenty
feet in width, this only has the main beam over it and is left so all
can pass up and down the river in their boats, and also a chance for
many salmon to pass up river. They place boards along the main fish
dam so as to leave a good foot walk all the distance across the river
from one bank to another. They put in a gate at the lower end of fish
traps and one at the upper end of each trap, and at this time the water
begins to roar so that when close to the dam it is deafening. Now there
are so many families to each trap, so the upper gate is closed down and
the lower gate is opened. We are now up to the noon hour of the tenth
day, when there is a long pole some twenty to twenty-four feet long set
just at the south side and end of the fish dam and just on the lower
side, on the top of this pole all of the fancy work that the boys have
been making is tied and there is a mound of sand heaped around the foot
of this pole to a height of three or four feet and from eight to ten
feet across. Now it is about four o’clock in the afternoon and Lock
and Lock-nee are with the Nah-quirlth, busy as bees putting the final
touches to the fish dam. And of all the tribes, the women are the most
anxious and are from place to place asking the others how the girl
Normer is, if she is well, can she go and if she is going, when out
comes Normer from her place where she has been kept from view all these
days. She has in the palm of her right hand a small basket in which is
a small piece of acorn dough, and she goes in a swift run on a broad
smooth trail in an easterly direction for a distance of five hundred
yards to this pole, which she runs up to, facing it, then going around
to the right she sets the basket on top of the mound, close up to the
pole. All are watching for her and as soon as one sees her they all
shout at the top of their voices. Then Lock runs to hide as he does not
want to see her at this time. Now she turns and goes back at the same
swift speed and at this time all of the girls that she sent for are
in their place where they dance. The ground is all fixed, having been
scooped out leaving a depression some four feet deep and twenty feet
across, gently sloping to the center. Normer comes up to the dancers
and passes on in a westerly direction down the river until she comes to
a woman who has been a Normer before her and tells her where to turn to
the river, where she bathes herself, then turns back and walks to where
the girls are dancing and sits down in front of them and urges them to
sing louder and dance faster. These Wa-clures stand erect moving the
body forward and backward by the action of the knees, raising first
one foot and then the other. Normer keeps watch of the sun and as it
is getting low and it is getting time for all to come, she raises to
a kneeling position and bids the Wa-clures to sing louder and dance
faster, they then move very lively. Normer is the absolute ruler of
her people as she is the child of God’s own purity. Then comes Lock
with Lock-nee closely behind and thirdly comes the boy, Charrah, with
the same basket that Normer left at the pole and which is now full of
water, and as Lock walks up to Normer the girls all drop down and hover
over Normer, then Lock and Lock-nee drop over them, then the boy who
has the basket of water lowers his hand and throws the basket, water
and all as high up in the air as he can and the water comes down over
them in a shower. As the boy throws the basket and water up in the air
he and all of the boys drop down over the others, hovering over Normer
like a swarm of bees hovering over the queen. This is done for her
protection, for now come all the workers, each one having a long pole
on the top of which are tied the bark ribbons and fancy carved Indian
pipes that the boys made, and as they come running up they form a half
circle around the heap letting the long heavy poles fall over them with
a crash which is done so quickly that it is very hard to see how it is
done, and just as quickly the whole heap raises up out of this place
and place themselves in fours for the next move. At this time if Normer
was silly enough she could command every man, woman and child to lie
flat on their abdomens and go without eating for another twenty-four
hours, as all must obey her commands, no matter what they might be. Now
the fish dam is completed and all go to their camps. Normer goes to
the lodge with Lock, while Lock-nee secures and takes to her the first
salmon taken from the fish dam and Lock-nee cuts out from the middle
of this salmon enough for her supper, while no one else can eat of the
salmon until the next day. Every thing now becomes quiet for an hour,
as they are all taking their evening meal. Then first one than another
will begin to inquire about Normer and her health. Now all depends upon
Normer, if she is strong enough she quietly goes out and cleans off
the ground this same evening but if too tired she puts it off until
morning. After making her plans she then gives her orders to Lock and
he in return gives it out to the people and they all begin to prepare.
After Normer has cleaned the ground she makes a small fire just in
front of the dancers and on which she places the incense roots, then
as the dancers come up and take their places she sits there with her
hair hanging loose, down on each side of her face, and with beads over
her neck and hanging down over her breast, she has on a white buck-skin
dress trimmed with beads and shells, all of which are made by her own
hands as we use only of our own make. She does not use feathers of any
kind. Normer sits there a model of beauty with the teachings that have
been hand-down through the many generations, that if she should, while
carrying out her duties, lose her virtue, or disobey any of the laws
of her God, that she would be struck dead for doing so. Now the dance
starts and this is the beginning of the White Deer-skin dance. This
place is about ten miles up the river from the place where the White
Deer-skin dance is held but is started first at this place after the
finishing of the fish dam. Normer starts it here and then all go home,
but Normer, Lock, Lock-nee, the girls and the boys remain here, Lock
and Lock-nee taking charge of the fish dam and all stay here as long as
the fish dam holds intact, except the last day of the White Deer-skin
dance when Lock calls all of them and asks if they want to see it the
last day, if they decide to go not one of them must eat the last day
and all go together and return in the evening when they all eat. Now
all is fun and mirth with all of them that remain at the fish dam, Lock
and Lock-nee leading them all in the plays and fun of every nature.
Normer stays with Lock and Lock-nee but she now goes out and plays and
jokes and has her share of the fun, and all have their regular meals.
This place where the fish dam is put in is called by them Cap-pell
and is a bar of some twenty or thirty acres, high enough so the river
never over-flows it and yet it is very level. It is a pretty place,
being situated on the south bank of the Klamath river. There are two
villages on this pretty spot, one being Cap-pell which was very large
in the ages gone by and which contained a very large number of Indians.
The other village was called Sy-ah and was very ancient, being the
place where the lodge was situated. The house they stay in is called
Lah-wa-alth and the house where Lock and Lock-nee sleep is called
Ur-girk.
I will say to the white race that my people, or any other Indian tribes
as far as I know them, do not use the name of our Creator when using
profane language, as we would feel it a disgrace to do so, even to
think of such a thing. We never use the sacred name of God, only in our
prayers.
The following are a few expressions sometimes used: Kee-mol-len-a
Ta-ga-ar-a-wah-ma, (bad talk) pointing the right hand, with the fingers
extended, toward a person and at the same time saying: Woo-saw-ah,
means that the person is badly born, and they never forgive you for
this. Another is: Char-reck-quick-cal-lah, and means: “I wish you were
in hell”, and for this also they never forgive.
CHAPTER II.
THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.
In a vision, the Indian through his mysterious eyes
Sees yonder in the distant skies,
A scene sublime of the past ages,
That for aye will enchant bards and sages.
On His mighty Throne, high in the infinite realms of Heaven, sat the
great ruler of the stars and endless skies, Wah-pec-wah-mow (God). As
he peered down through the darkness of a cheerless and lonely space,
He created a new world, the earth on which we live. He first made the
soil of the earth and placed it in a buck-skin sack. He opened the sack
and shook the soil from it; it fell down into the chasm of darkness,
and Wah-pec-wah-mow could not see anything but the intense darkness. He
commanded that the rays of light should penetrate the awful darkness,
and there should alternately be night and day. The sun to shine by day
and the moon to shine by night, to break the awful stillness of this
once dark and cheerless world.
Gazing down from His Throne on high, Wah-pec-wah-mow saw the world he
had created was a desolate waste without human life, or life of any
kind. He now began the transformation of the new world, and lo, the
once barren surface of the earth was clothed in verdure; forests lifted
their giant branches sky-ward; tranquil streams flowed and great rivers
wended their way to the ocean.
The first living thing placed upon the earth was the white deer
(Moon-chay-poke). The white deer roamed over the hills, mountains,
in the valleys and on the plains. He was the pride and dignity of
the animal kingdom. This is why the Klamath Indians revere the white
deer that is so sacred to their hearts and use the skin as an emblem
of purity, in one of their greatest festivals, or worships, which
is termed in English as, “The White Deer-skin Dance.” In the Indian
language it is called, “Oh-pure-ah-wah”; which does not mean dance but
means one of their most sacred religious festivals.
The next living creature that Wah-pec-wah-mow placed upon the earth was
the red eagle, Hay-wan-alth, who has ever since ruled as the monarch of
the skies. The Indians prize the feathers of this eagle very highly,
and use them in their great festival. In the decoration of their
head-gear, they take a single feather, fasten it in the hair at the
back of the head, arranging it so that it stands straight up. They also
use the feathers of the bald eagle, Per-gone-gish, and the gray eagle,
Per-gish, sometimes as a substitute for the feathers of the red eagle.
After the white deer and red eagle was placed upon the earth,
Wah-pec-wah-mow now created all the other animals of the earth. Some
were to roam upon the plains, others in the forests, some to eat grass
and others to devour other animals, etc.
Wah-pec-wah-mow did not give our people any single day during the
week or month, as a day of worship, but gave them a certain season
of the year in which to hold their religious ceremonies. This season
of worshipful ceremonies usually begins in the month of September,
and lasts for several days. It is the season of the year when the
water of the rivers and brooks ebb lowest, and the summer is almost
ready to wane into the glories of Autumn. This season is called,
“Kne-wal-la-taw,” the eighth month of the year, according to our way of
reckoning time.
When Wah-pec-wah-mow had finished creating the plant and animal life of
the earth, He then created the first real man. He made the first man
of the soil of the earth, and placed him in the beautiful valley of
Cheek-cheek-alth. This valley was located in a far off northern clime.
When the first man was created and he became a living being upon the
earth, Wah-pec-wah-mow said to him, “You are a living man.” God named
this man He-quan-neck. Inspired with the breath of life, He-quan-neck
first saw the light of day in this sweet valley of sunshine, flowers,
fruits and herbs. Among the growing herbs was the herb walth-pay,
which has a forked root. God saw that the man was lonely in this
sunny valley, and he was not pleased with his work. Wah-pec-wah-mow
now requested He-quan-neck to blow his nose, which he did, and
immediately the forked root, or walth-pay turned into a living woman,
Kay-y-yourn-nak. Man now became blessed with a living companion and for
a time they dwelt together in the chaste life of peace and happiness.
Our tradition has been handed down through the long centuries, the
first dwelling place of man and woman was far away in a northern clime.
It would seem a distant land across the waters from the North American
continent that is located in the northern part of the world, which we
call Cheek-cheek-alth.
Man and woman in the valley of Cheek-cheek-alth knew no sin, two pure
souls were they in this valley of perpetual sunshine and flowers.
The loneliness of two human beings dawned upon Wah-pec-wah-mow so
he decided to have the earth populated with people. He now caused
He-quan-neck and Kay-y-yourn-nah to fall asleep, and while they slept
He caused the snake to crawl across the woman’s bare abdomen, that
awakened the sleepers, and this opened their eyes to their nudeness and
thereafter they knew sin. The finer senses of the woman awoke, as she
became deeply humiliated at the sight of her naked self, and she began
to fasten leaves together from the herb, Cur-poo-sa-gon, out of which
she made an apron to clothe herself. Thus the first garment that woman
wore was from the leaves of this wonderful plant. This plant grows in
abundance along the lower Klamath river and its surrounding regions,
and the little Indian girls up to this day like to gather these leaves,
rub their face and hands with and wear them upon their heads under
their caps. These leaves have a very strong and unpleasant odor.
Wah-pec-wah-mow commanded the man and woman to go forth and bring
children upon the earth. A curse fell upon the woman, that she should
bear children with pain, therefore every woman after her, through all
the long centuries has had to endure this hardship. The first children
were born some with light hair and fair skin and blue eyes, and some
with black hair, dark skin and black eyes and as they married they
would mate with black hair, the others with light hair and when they
left the old land Cheek-cheek-alth they were not so dark, many of them
were light haired, fair and blue eyed.
Wah-pec-wah-mow put a curse upon the snake that it should crawl upon
its belly as long as the earth should last.
God’s laws were that every man and woman should marry and bring forth
children. These people were taught to obey the laws and be honest.
They increased in number until they became very numerous, and at that
time, they all talked the same language. As time sped by they became
very numerous and Wah-pec-wah-mow now caused our people, the Indians,
to start on their long journey, away from their native haunts and
childhood’s land, Cheek-cheek-alth. We do not know how long, but they
wandered thus in search of a new land, leaving behind them only a
memory of the old land. A land that claims its own no more in life and
like a people in exile they wandered on.
CHAPTER III.
THE WANDERING TRIBE.
From the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the mystic Eden of long ago, came
our wandering tribe of people who long since inhabited North and South
America; for we are all one people. Among them were our leaders, the
men who possessed in their secret breasts the true name of God. These
men and women in our language we call Talth, and were the High Priests,
and great rulers who ruled our people. Therefore, we were one of the
tribes that was never ruled by a single chief, but by our Talth, or
High Priests. Upon leaving the old land the Talth carried with them the
forked root, Walth-pay, (the root from which woman was made) and the
stalk of this root as a divine rod of strength, endurance and courage,
being used as a saviour of the tribe. With it the Talth would command
food for their famished members and bring peace and rest to their weary
bodies. The Walth-pay stalk kept perfectly green, and blossomed all the
while, and the High Priests carried it with them on their long journeys
and years of wanderings.
In my infancy, I was taught all that was good, and to make for a true
and noble womanhood; that there was a God in Heaven who ruled over all,
and during my researches throughout I have found nothing better. When
these last two members finish their earthly reign, with us perishes the
true name of God to my people. With it has perished from the earth our
true Indian laws, our sublime religion, our deeds of chivalry, as rich
as the civilized world has ever beheld. Also our glorious manhood and
womanhood; immoral, corrupt, tottering, down-trodden and debauched by a
superior race, we have perished in that winter night of the transition
period. At a single blow our laws were torn asunder; loathsome diseases
we had never known crushed out the life and beauty of our physical
bodies, and demented our spiritual minds with lowly passions. Poisonous
spiritous drink has set the brain on fire, degrading man and womanhood,
thus as a race we have perished. And this great land, the richest the
world has ever known, the land of our forefathers for so many thousands
of years. Now another race is struggling on where our reign has ended.
Already our great rulers are at rest, and forever; laureled with the
glories of the primeval ages that have passed away in silence. As a
nation, like the ancient Egyptians, we have grown old and passed away;
we have seen a great civilization rise to the highest of its splendors
and pass away to another land beyond recall. Today we see another
civilization endowed with a splendor of its own, rising over the debris
of the eternal years.
We are all one tribe from the source of the Klamath river to its mouth,
and down the coast as far as Trinidad, (Cho-ri) and up the coast as far
as Wilson creek, which we call Ah-man. We are classed in two divisions
and term ourselves as Po-lick-las along the coast and up the river
as far as Weitchpec, designated as the lower division of our tribe.
From Weitchpec on up the river to its source we term as Petch-ic-la,
the upper division of our tribe. We intermarry to a great extent,
having the same marriage laws and religious ceremonies and all our
traditions and teachings are the same. We call God, Wah-pec-wah-mow,
which means in our tongue the father of all and we do not consider Him
as one “which has been so much of the white man’s allegory, but as an
Invisible Omnipotent Being, who rules this great universe with an all
seeing eye, He is everywhere.”
Wah-pec-wah-mow is the common name applied to God, used by all classes
of our tribe, as the real and true name of God is never spoken. Our
high priests, born of the royal marriages, are initiated in the Holy
Lodge and are given the true name of God, but they never speak it
outside of the lodge, it is only spoken inside after they have gone
through a long and secret communion, and then the name is only
whispered in the lowest whisper from mouth to ear. This true name is
only used by the Talth with profound reverence to the Great Creator,
in the sacred lodge and in the hallowed lonely places far back on the
high mountains where they go to worship in the profound solitudes, away
from the gaze of curious people. Our religion has been too sacred,
too sublime an ideal to quarrel over, hence we have remained silent
through the gloom of so many years and borne patiently the insults on
royal society as being heathens. This true name of God, as great as the
universe, will never be spoken again. If it should be uttered in a loud
and harsh tone of voice, it is said that the earth will tremble, ignite
in mighty flames and pass away forever. Ever thus, since the creation
of the world, the Talth have handed down our religion and traditions
from the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth, from generation to generation.
It is the duty of every Indian child to be pious and worship the Great
Creator. Our sacred religion is O-pure-ah-way (the White Deer-skin
dance) where all the members of the tribes in unison and worship, and
entertain our guests with much hospitality.
In our recollections of the past we left the land of our birth
(Cheek-cheek-alth) many thousands of years ago with our leaders, the
Talth, who were given the true name of God in the old land, and carried
with them the forked root, or Walth-pay. With this divine rod they
commanded food, comfort and peace during their long years of weary
wanderings. After we left the beautiful valley of Cheek-cheek-alth, for
years we wandered down a European land, always moving toward the south,
having our origin in the far north. Over this land we wandered like
exiles, we know not how long, as it might have been centuries until we
reached the rolling waves of the ocean. Upon reaching this salt water
we made boats or canoes, and paddled over the waves until we reached
the opposite shore, having crossed the straits in safety. Having
reached this opposite shore, upon this new continent we continued our
weary years of wandering, ever on, far on, down this land, always going
south as before. We carried the memory through the long ages, the
perils of the far north, the huge icebergs, the regal monarchs of the
North that floated like ghost-ships at night on dream-land seas, the
splendors of the aurora borealis flickered across the snowy fields and
through this land of the midnight sun came our brave forefathers.
In this land of the frozen North some of our people were left, the
Esquimau; they were given a language as they were separated from our
sturdy band and emigrated over the snowy fields and have long since
from this time on inhabited the land of perpetual ice and snow.
Our tribe would often become weary with travel and become very
dissatisfied and would quarrel much among themselves. The Talth would
stop after hearing so much grumbling and build a lodge where their
members would hold a meeting and offer up worship to God, that He would
guide them aright, endow them with power to bring peace among their
people, comfort them in their wants and give them food. After the lodge
meeting and prayer the Talth would command with the rod of Walth-pay
food for their people. The food came to them in the form of acorn dough
out of which they made bread or pop-saw. The Indians would never see
pop-saw falling to the ground, but they would find it where the Talth
told them to look, and each one would be compelled to gather up their
own, or they would go hungry. As long as they remained camped in the
same place the pop-saw would come to them but when they would break
up camp and travel on the pop-saw would cease to come and the tribe
would grow very hungry and begin to quarrel again. The Talth would
stop after days of fatigue and hunger, and build another lodge where
their members would worship at the sacred shrine. After the worship
food would come again in the form of the acorn dough, commanded with
rod of Walth-pay. Sometimes the Talth would leave the camps for several
days, during which time the people would become very restless and
discontented and some of the people would try to perform the duties
of the Talth in their absence, and some of them would pray to the
sun, some to the stars and other idols. The Talth would be very much
humiliated upon their return to find their people so corrupt in their
worship, and it would take much faithful work to assure peace and order
among them again. The Talth would plant the herb, Walth-pay at their
stopping places during their travels, and it would readily take root
and grow, at almost every stopping place some of our people were left
and God would give them a language; they would inhabit the locality
permanently and branch out to other localities, while our part of the
people traveled on until they reached their final earthly home on the
Klamath river, which we call Health-kick-wer-roy, and here we found the
white race, (Wa-gas) which will be told of in another chapter. Thus
we traveled on down a great continent, leaving behind at our stopping
places, a portion of our people, which were given different languages.
Thus were our languages confounded among the tribes of America, and our
tribes became numerous, being scattered over the land of the midnight
sun of perpetual ice and snow, over the continent of North America to
the equator and regions of perpetual sunshine; and beyond the equator
over the continent of South America to its farthermost southern
borders, where we merge into the regions of ice and snow again, our
tribes have been scattered. Over this great land we are all one people,
however some of our tribes were far superior to others. We know not how
many centuries we wandered, or when we reached our last stopping place
on the Klamath river and where we decided our long journey should end,
and that we would make this our final home. The Wah-teck, Wah-ker-rah,
Cor-tep and Pec-wan villages were among our first camping grounds on
the Klamath river. Here we spread our camps and built our first houses
long ages ago, and have resided in them and kept them in repair from
generation to generation. Some of these primeval houses yet remain
in these old villages, haunted with the romance of centuries and the
inspiring history of past ages. Upon our first arrival there were a
great many of our people and we began to divide off into different
villages and locate along the Klamath river and down the coast as far
as Trinidad, (Cho-ri) and up the coast to Wilson Creek (Ah-man). The
other tribes were placed by Wah-pec-wah-mow in different localities,
that all the people might sustain themselves with plenty of game and
food, and be kept comfortable.
The Talth kept the Walth-pay in commemoration of God’s creation of
woman and their travels, and planted it in a few selected places
back in the lonely mountains. The Talth all know where to find this
wonderful herb growing, but it is also fading with the remote ages as
there are only a few Indians left who know where to find it. With them
passes away the sacred rites and laws of an ancient nation forever, and
the primeval art becomes a thing of the mystic ages.
CHAPTER IV.
TRADITIONS OF THE ANCIENT WHITE PEOPLE.
When the Indians first made their appearance on the Klamath river it
was already inhabited by a white race of people known among us as the
Wa-gas. These white people were found to inhabit the whole continent,
and were a highly moral and civilized race. They heartily welcomed the
Indians to their country and taught us all of their arts and sciences.
The Indians recognized the rights of these ancient people as the first
possessors of the soil and no difficulties ever arose between the two
people. Their hospitality was exceedingly generous in the welfare of
our people and all prospered together in peace and happiness, in their
pursuit of human existence. After a time there were inter-marriages
between the two races, but these were never promiscuous. For a vast
period of time the two races dwelt together in peace and honored homes,
wars and quarrels were unknown in this golden age of happiness. No
depredations were ever committed upon the property of their people, as
the white people ruled with beacon light of kindness, and our people
still worship the hallowed places where once they trod. Their morals
were far superior to the white people of today, their ideals were high
and inspired our people with greatness. After we had lived with these
ancient people so long, they suddenly called their hosts together and
mysteriously disappeared for a distant land, we know not where. We have
no memory of their reason or cause why they abandoned their ancient
homes where they had dwelt for untold centuries. Wars did not drive
them forth, for we loved them more than brothers, and difficulties
were unknown between the two people. On leaving they went toward the
North from whence we came, and disappeared from our land beyond the
northern seas. It was a sad farewell when they departed from this
land, for our people mourned their loss, as no more have we found such
friends as they, so true and loyal. In their farewell journey across
this land they left land-marks of stone monuments, on the tops of high
mountains and places commanding a view of the surrounding country.
These land-marks we have kept in repair, down through the ages in
loving remembrance. I have seen many of these land-marks myself (and
often repaired them) that they left as a symbol of the mystic ages and
the grandeur of a mighty nation that passed in a single season. Oh, how
little we know of the depths of the ages gone, how wide, how profound
and deep is the knowledge we seek; a monument of stone, a stone bowl,
a broken symbol, a hallowed unknown spot, a lodge of ruins, all this
makes a golden page glittering with diamonds that trills the emotions
with mysterious longings for truth and light in the depths unknown.
When the Wag-as left this land they assured my people that they would
return to them at some future time. Perchance thousands of years
have elapsed since then, and they have not returned, we have waited
in vain for it seems that our cherished hopes are fading. However,
some of our people are still looking for the return of the white
man. The traditions handed down lead us to believe that the Wa-gas
returned to the land of their birth, in the far north, the valley of
Cheek-cheek-alth, as their traditions were given to us that their
origin was in this same land of Cheek-cheek-alth, as they came down
from the North when they came to this land. When the Wa-gas first
arrived on this continent they handed down the traditions to us that
it was inhabited by a giant race of people when they first came.
These giants were represented by the Wa-gas as being very swarthy in
complexion, and they used implements so large that no ordinary man
could lift them. It was an age when large animals roamed the earth, and
it seems the birds and fowls were all very large in size. It appeared
to be the first age, and was the age of the giants. The recollections
transmitted by the Wa-gas were that these giants were very cruel and
wicked. It was said that God became displeased with them and destroyed
them and they all perished from the earth. It was also said that God
appeared to the High Priest of the Wa-gas and told them that he was
going to destroy the giant race and that the Wa-gas themselves would
survive upon the earth as a new people. Smaller birds and animals
would appear upon the earth for the use of man, thus the age of giants
perished, but the Wa-gas do not hand down any tradition of how they
perished from the earth, as my people have no recollections of ever
seeing giants. My mother says that our people in ancient times have
seen many relics belonging to these prehistoric giants, such as huge
stone bowls, stone slabs and other implements so great that our people
could not move them. During the ages of rains and wearing away of the
earth, these implements have been buried so deep and have sunk into the
earth, that is the reason we cannot find them today. The Indian name
for the giant race is Pah-pel-ene, which means people that have all
died and passed away.
When the Wa-gas returned to Cheek-cheek-alth it is supposed they found
a ladder in this beautiful valley which extends from earth to Heaven,
and climbed it to Werse-on-now, (Heaven) where they dwell with God. All
the half castes with the exception of a few went away with the Wa-gas,
and nearly all those that were three quarters Indian remained with our
people. This is said to be the reason why some of our people are very
fair. Some of the Indians are still looking for their return to the
earth, when they come back it is believed that peace and happiness will
reign supreme again over this great land and all evil will be cast out.
When the present race of the white people made their first appearance
upon the American continent, we believed it was the Wa-gas returning
and a hearty welcome was extended to them and there was great rejoicing
among our tribes. But soon the sad mistake was discovered to our
sorrow, when the men began to debauch our women, give whiskey to our
men and claim our land that our forefathers had inhabited for so many
thousands of years, yet not a single family has ever been driven from
their house on the Klamath river up to this day. We no longer termed
them as Wa-gas, but as Ken-e-yahs, which means foreigners, who had no
right to the land and could never appreciate our kindness, for they
were a very different people from the Wa-gas. They had corrupt morals
that brought dissolution upon our people and wrought the horrors of
untold havoc.
When the Indians first reached the Klamath river there were large
prairies and vast tracts of grassy land, which have since grown up
in timber and under-brush. Many of the prairies were set on fire and
burnt off every year during the dry seasons which kept the timber from
growing up very fast.
The Klamath emptied into the ocean at Wilson creek, about six miles
north of where it now goes into and ocean at Reck-woy. There were
high bluffs of rocks between the river and the ocean all the way from
Reck-woy to Wilson creek, which kept the river in its course to Ah-man
(Wilson creek) where it emptied into the ocean. The river was said to
have kept in this course until our Christ caused the mighty rocks to
split open and the waters of the river rushed ahead to the ocean at
Reck-woy, where it has ever since flowed into the ocean.
The traditions handed down say that the land, north of Redwood creek,
where it goes into the ocean, extended far out into the sea to the
large rock that is now known to the white people as Redding rock, has
continually washed away leaving this rock jutting up from the ocean
depths and can be seen for many miles over the surrounding area of land
and sea. This rock is located at a distance of about ten miles from the
shore and is called by the Indians Sa-quan-ow. This name translated
into English means an acorn pestle, a conical shaped stone, carved
out of granite and is used to pound acorns and grass seeds into the
finest flour. Long ages ago Redding rock extended up from the ocean to
a great height, and from a distance appeared to be a huge Sa-quan, or
pestle, hence its name. After ages of erosion the massive rock became
surrounded by water and the receding bluffs left it alone out in the
ocean where its greater portion has crumbled and fallen beneath the
waves as it is seen today. The Indians still call it Sa-quan-ow.
There has been but little change in the channel of the Klamath river,
except at its mouth since our arrival in this land. In olden times
the channel of the river was very deep and clear and much narrower
than it is now and large bars of alluvial soil composed its banks,
where luxuriant grasses grew, and upon these lowlands during the
winter months great herds of deer and elk would graze, coming down
from the snow covered mountains. The channels of the large creeks
and tributaries of the river, such as Blue creek, (Ur-ner) Tec-tah
and Pec-wan have practically never changed as they still flow into
the river in the same places. Where the Trinity river flows into the
Klamath river it has made but little or no change during the passing
ages as has been handed down to us.
We have no word of severe earthquakes in our regions, but have had
slight shocks from time to time throughout the centuries. We have no
tales of any great damage ever done by earthquakes and our people
never held any fear of tremors of the earth. But my people tell of
great tidal waves that have swept our country. They say a long time
ago one swept up the Klamath river to the mouth of the Trinity river,
a distance of over forty miles, and did great damage, as it swept away
houses and thousands of our people were drowned and carried away by the
rolling waves of the ocean, so few of our tribe were left that they
were well nigh exterminated. Many smaller tidal waves have swept over
the coast where the destruction was not so great.
They tell of epidemics that came up the river and laid us low in the
devastation of life, thousands of our people would pass away in a
single season; they would die so fast that they could not be buried
and many of the bodies would be thrown into the river. The only way we
could keep the whole tribe from complete devastation by the ravages of
these dreadful diseases was to abandon the dead and leave the river
and go back into the high mountains and there we built bark houses
and remain until the snow and cold would compel us to retreat to the
lowlands again. In our mountain home we subsisted on wild game,
berries, pine nuts, roots and herbs. Some of our people would have such
a terror of the fatal diseases that they would refuse to return to
their homes and would brave the fierce storms of the cold winter until
they were convinced that all dangers had ceased. In our traditions of
the passing centuries many of these epidemics have almost devastated
the land of human life. During one of these contagions it was said that
the children would go down to the river to swim and would lie down in
rows from six to twelve in number upon the sand, as if they were alive
and had been placed there by careful hands; but they would be in their
eternal sleep, contagion having overtaken them.
CHAPTER V.
TIME AND NAMES.
We have ten months for one year, and four seasons, as follows:—
1st month: Caw-cha-witch.
2nd month: Nan-ah-wetch.
3rd month: Nachk-sa-witch.
4th month: Chaw-na-ah-wertch.
5th month: Mere-i-yaw.
6th month: Cauh-chow.
7th month: Chere-wer-sere.
8th month: Cana-wal-a-ture.
9th month: Cher-mick.
10th month: Wealth-ah-wah.
Spring: Key-atch-ker.
Summer: Kis-sa-no.
Autumn: Ka-yock-ka-muck.
Winter: Cah-mah.
We lose time in our count each year, so we throw in or stop counting
until the time comes around to start again. The Klamath Indians are
good in counting and can count up into the thousands. We count ten,
and ten hundreds for one thousand. All of our counting is done by
whole numbers; we have no fractions. All the women have to count and
count closely in weaving baskets in order to make the designs come out
correctly. We have astronomers, called Haw-getch-neens, and they keep
close observation of the sun, which we call Ca-chine-wan-now-slay. Day
we call Ca-chine; the moon, Nas-cha-wan-now-sloy, this means the night
sun.
English names. Klamath Indian.
An old woman Ca-par-a
Young women Way-yun
Little girl Wer-yes
Baby Oaks
Boat or canoe Yacht
House Och-lum-ilth
Come in the house Och-la-may
How do you do my friend I-ya-quay Nec-tor-mer
Me or I Neck
Yes A
Fire Metch
Mother Calk
Father Tat, or Tatus
Grandfather Peach
Grandmother Gooch
Old man Ma-we-mer
Young man Pay-girk
Large boy Che-na-mouse
Small boy May-wah
Mother-in-law Cha-win
Father-in-law Par-ah
Sister-in-law Netch-nah
Brother-in-law Weitch-tay, or Tay
Uncle Jim
Aunt Tool
Klamath river Health-kick-wer-roy
Redwood timber Keilth
Mermaids Squer-tuck
Silver Salmon Nep-puoy
Steelhead Salmon Squalth
King Salmon Ah-pus
Hook-bill Salmon Cha-goon
Grizzly Bear Nick-witch
Sea or Ocean Pis-calth
The Bald Hills we call Cho-lu, contains many hundreds of acres of open
land, high up where one can see as far as the eye can reach in all
directions.
There is another species of the Salmon caught in the Klamath river, the
English name of which I do not know but we call it Ra-gawk.
In the year 1850 my people had never heard of the present white race
and we were then making our fires with two pieces of wood, one the
willow and the other of hardwood.
My mother and father never learned to talk English, so I talk to them
only in our own language.
CHAPTER VI.
DEATH AND THE SPIRIT LAND.
There is a large and silent river that flows through the shadowy vale
of death. On the banks of this awful and mysterious river dwells an
old woman, called Sye-elth, and she keeps at her side a large dog,
Chish-yah, (the common name for dog).
When an Indian dies, if he has led a dishonorable and wicked life, a
broad path leads his soul down to the banks of the river to the very
door where the old woman lives in her house. When the wandering soul
reaches her door, the Chish-yah tries to drive it back to the dead
body, but the old woman fights the dog off and if she is successful in
her efforts she takes charge of the miserable soul and sends it on to
the opposite side of the river, in the shadowy land of endless anguish.
If the dog is successful in fighting the soul back it returns to the
dead body where life is regained and the person lives again. This
seldom occurs, and only where the body lives in a state of coma and is
supposed to be dead, but after a few hours comes out of that state and
revives into life again. The Chish-yah is seldom successful, as a case
rarely occurs. This is why the Indian never likes to scold or treat the
dog badly.
The old Indians do not like to look at a photograph or to have their
photographs taken, because they say it is a reflection or a shadowy
image of the departed spirit, O-quirlth. They do not like to see
spirits, but they say they have often seen them. This is the reason
they turn their backs on the camera and object so strongly to having
their pictures taken. Often have my people been ridiculed for their
strange actions, but they have a reason for every one of them. If the
civilized man could only respect the reasons and simple ways of the
highest type of primitive man, as much as primitive man venerates his
civilization.
When the spirit comes back to the tired and weary body, and that body
lives again, that person is said to meet a very unfortunate existence.
It is said he is never satisfied with earthly things again. He is very
restless and unhappy as nothing can satisfy his longing soul, and
always meets death suddenly.
On the shore of this mysterious River of Death awaits a young man,
Pa-ga-rick, in his canoe; he is always ready to receive the soul from
the old woman as she hands it into his care. His canoe is similar in
shape and size to the earthly Indian canoes, with the exception that if
one may note carefully that all the canoes contain in the bow a knob in
the center, some three feet back from the bow, which is the heart, and
they say it is the life of the boat. Also the canoe the Indians use is
burned inside and out, and polished smooth. The canoe that Pa-ga-rick
uses for the crossing of the souls is neither burned or polished and
has no heart, therefore it is called the dead boat, merm-ma. In olden
times no Indian would venture out in a boat upon the water that did not
contain a heart, as they said it was lifeless and would be sure to sink
or some disaster befall it. We call our canoe here on earth, Yatch.
Sye-elth [TN: lives?] just on the bank of this dark River of Death,
Char-reck-quick-werroy, where she gets the souls away from the dog.
She takes it to the water’s edge and gives it to the man in the dead
boat. He takes the soul into his canoe, paddles it across those
silent waters, the awful stillness, the awful fear of death. When
the canoe, Merm-mo or Nee-girk, either name, touches the opposite
shore, Po-ga-rick, takes the soul, o-quirlth, and banishes it into
exile, exile without an end or example in story, and leaves it in a
wilderness. In this wilderness it is damp, a constant gloom is cast,
dark and fearful clouds forever flit, cold winds forever howl and
shriek the agonies of hell.
In this terrible wildness, the souls of the condemned men and women
sustain their misery up on bitter berries, bitter grasses and roots,
and cannot die. They had never lived but a wasted life upon earth,
therefore they can wait to die, as souls never die. These wretched
souls since Time began, and I think the time is sad and heavy through
all the weary ages, since they go wandering, hallowing, moaning,
weeping and wailing, grieving grief without an end and suffering pain,
intense pain that knows no ending. Thus, Wah-pec-wah-mow, the Great God
has seen fit to punish his disreputable children until the judgment day.
Sye-elth, this old woman, is the satan of my people, Chish-yah, the
dog, is our Guardian Angel. This old woman is our evil doer who is
always trying to influence the Indians away from the path of rectitude.
She hovers about them in life unseen, seeking out their weak points,
that she may lead them evil ways and vindicate her cruel wants upon
their death by taking their souls down the broad path to the wilderness
of anguish. Fearing her powers, fearing the Unhappy Land, the Indians
struggle to live simple and peaceful lives and never quarrel over their
religion.
The wretched souls banished into the wilderness of anguish do not
quarrel with one another, as they are too wretched in their own agony
to concern themselves about others.
The Indian seeing a vision of the unhappy land tries to live the simple
and honest life, near to nature, and their nature’s God. However, there
is not a tribe however well guarded but some and sometimes many stray
afar from the path of rectitude and are lead into the wilderness of
anguish by their cruel Satan, Sye-elth.
My people believe that there will sometime come a chance for them to
become regenerated, or reborn, so that many of them will be given the
opportunity to recompensate for the wickedness of their former lives
and given a chance to live good clean lives in their second birth. Thus
given the opportunity by God when they die again, they will be rewarded
in going to Heaven, Werse-on-now. However, if the ones given the
opportunity of being saved, do not live lives of integrity after their
second birth, they are cast off and destroyed forever.
The Indians who had always lived the life of integrity on earth when
they die their soul or spirit travels a narrow and winding trail which
takes the soul to north, to a land far away from their native haunts.
This far northern clime is said to be the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth,
where the spirit finds a ladder that reaches from earth into Heaven. As
the spirit climbs the ladder to Heaven it reaches God on that infinite
shore where it dwells forever in flowery fields of light, straying
together with the Master in peace and love, and joining the spirits of
those that have gone before them.
Can you of the Christian faith comprehend why we take so kindly to your
own belief? Yet we think that ours is the most perfect and yet you call
us savage. We love our God almost akin to sadness and are always ready
with a prayer-offering, be it midday hour or in the hours of the silent
night. The Indian in all his savagery, could never blaspheme the sacred
name of his Creator in man’s builded houses, or in his daily life as
he is a child of nature, akin to nature’s God, that the Divine Being
is the beacon light of his soul, showing him life beyond the grave and
into the flowery fields of light and love, on that infinite shore, into
the glories of Heaven.
The Indian through his long centuries of barbarism battled with the
environments of barbaric man. In his child-like nature he taught his
sons and daughters to be kind, courageous, self-denying, industrious
and above all have integrity that could not be questioned. Fathers,
brothers and cousins guarded the mothers, daughters and sisters, that
not one of them may stray into a life of shame by the passions of
designing men. Woman was manifestly the upholder of her race, loved
as the unassuming creature, who gave to the race clean limbed and
vigorous men. But ah, the sad knell, the approach of civilized man,
and his crushing hand of debauchery to the sorrow of our race, and our
laws have long since been demolished, and with it our true religion,
our life blood, our all. Out of the gloom of saddened years, rising in
scattered remnants, who like the children of Israel that have lived
without a country for many weary centuries, we are struggling to gain
our own once more. Freedom to worship God in our own way and to be
allowed to become citizens of this our own glorious country.
When a illegitimate child was born, mother and child lived in disgrace
and after death could never reach the kingdom of Heaven, but traveled
that broad road which leads to the wilderness, being forever lost.
During their life the mother is always addressed as Caw-haw, a name
that reminds her always of her disgrace every time she is spoken to,
and the child is always reminded of its unwedded mother. Sometimes the
unfortunate mother may marry, but she is always known as Caw-haw as
long as she lives and can not take the name of the man she marries.
Those who sought unscrupulous brawls were low and disgraced, all
traveled after death the broad road to Satan and are never given an
opportunity to go to Werse-on-now. There are many of the miserable
souls who lived a wasted life on earth, only to enter in the Spirit
Land, the wilderness of anguish.
In marriage the wife takes the husband’s name and the husband takes
the wife’s name, just as an exchange of names and the family names are
handed down from one generation to another. This is done by giving the
name to a daughter, son, cousin, etc., either the mother or father’s
name on both sides of the family. Sometimes the generation dies out
and there are none left of a near kindred, in this case they sometimes
give the name to a close friend and this custom is followed more by the
high families. As an example, some years ago an old man lived in the
Pec-wan village, his name was Ta-poo-sen. He died some thirty years
ago, and at this writing a middle aged man is living in the Cor-tep
village who adopted his name after his death, and he is known to every
one as Ta-poo-sen. There are quite a number of Indians living at the
present time who have taken the names of deceased relatives or friends.
The deceased has been laid at rest for at least one year before any one
takes his or her name.
The Klamath Indians are very much prejudiced against one taking their
own life. They look down on the act, and if one should take his own
life, which we call o-motch-ser-mer-yer, there is no chance for them to
be saved and they go down the broad road that leads to the old woman
and she gives them over to the man in the boat and he takes them over
and leaves them in the wilderness where they live in misery until the
judgement day and then are destroyed forever, there being no salvation
for them and the family will be looked down upon for many generations
to come and held back in taking part in any of their social functions.
The children will be shunned by their playmates. The Indian seldom
commits suicide and will avoid self-destruction by wishing that some
wild animal will take them while they sleep, and of such cases they
tell some very weird and touching tales. There was a girl taken by a
wild animal of which reference is made in another chapter. Another was
a young man of good family belonging to the Pec-wan village and he
wanted to marry a girl of the upper division. The young woman refused
him and this nearly broke his heart, so he went back into the mountains
all alone and there he busied himself by trapping and hunting until
he had accumulated great riches of valuable furs and other things
and was there for a number of years when he returned to his home. He
never married and lived to be an old man and all the children called
him grandpa. As he became old he also became blind but the children
all loved him and any of them were always ready to lead him wherever
he wanted to go, and he was always ready to give blessings to the
newly married couples and to newly born babies. He always wanted to
visit where there was a new born baby. This old man would sweep and
keep clean the village, even down to the creek and river, feeling and
sweeping the whole day long and when he was tired some of the children
would lead him home, and he thus lived to a good old age. So this is
the way it would go in accordance with their belief in the hereafter.
A Klamath Indian would never commit suicide if there was any way to
prevent it on account of the stigma it would place on the family.
The Klamath Indian grave is made about two and a half feet deep. They
take redwood or Douglas spruce boards which they place in the oblong
square as they never nail or fasten the boards together. Placing one
wide board in the bottom and boards on each side with short ones fitted
in across the ends, the coffin is made ready to receive the corpse.
At the time of death the body is washed with the branches of the
wormwood dipped into a basket of water and brushed over the entire
body, never allowing their hands to touch the body at any time if it
can be avoided. After the body has been bathed in this manner it is
clothed in the regular clothing and laid out for burial, wrapped in a
blanket and placed on a wide plank where it is left for twenty-four
hours. After it has been laid out friends and relatives gather around
it in prayer, and the director of the funeral is given a large bunch
of flag grasses, which he takes in his hand and holds over the blaze
of the fire to ignite and with flaming grasses he stands over the
body waving it back and forth sprinkling the falling ashes over the
body. This is the final blessing given with solemn prayer, the same as
anointing the body with holy water.
The Indians remove the corpse from the house (the reasons being
explained in another chapter) by making an opening in the wall on the
left hand side of the door by which they go out, as they never carry
a corpse through the door. The personal belongings and bedding, also
the dishes he has used during his illness are taken out through this
opening upon the removal of the body and everything is burned in a
large fire made outside of the house.
With great ceremony and mourning the corpse is carried out of the house
on the same plank it was laid out on. At the grave they unroll the
corpse from the blanket, the clothing being cut open down the front,
the body washed again, this time without the removal of the clothing.
This final bath is a solution of the Ho-mon-nah roots pounded fine as
powder and then put into a basket of water. This shrub or plant is
much different from the wormwood, and it is considered one of their
best herbs for fumigation and disinfecting purposes. After the bath is
completed the body is again wrapped in the blanket and laid carefully
down in the grave. The funeral director, as before, burns a bunch
of flag grasses over the body, allowing the ashes to fall over the
remains. Articles they wish to place in the grave with the body are
put into the grave and the plank that the body was carried out on is
fitted into the top of the coffin as the top covering. Three or four
persons take part as pall-bearers in taking the body to the grave. The
body is laid with the head directly to the west as they say when the
judgement day comes all the Indians will rise up out of their graves
facing the rising sun, and those who are worthy will rise in glory to
the splendors of glory to the Heavenly Father above.
In this grave things of little value are placed, things usually
belonging to the deceased. When things of value are placed in the grave
it is broken up which destroys the value of the article.
The coffin is covered over with earth, and after this being completed
they take two stones about eighteen inches long by twelve inches wide,
one is placed at the head and the other one at the foot of the grave.
On the top of the stones directly in the middle of the grave they place
another wide plank about six feet long and eighteen inches wide.
Stakes are driven on each side of this plank in the middle and with a
rope of Indian make they tie the board to the stakes so it can not be
removed without some difficulty. After this has been completed some dry
sand is sprinkled around the grave and covering it completely to the
sides of the wide board, this is done so the Indians can immediately
detect if any one has molested the grave. The reason why the Indians
always have their grave-yards near the village or dwelling places is to
keep the wild animals away from the grave. Sometimes the mourners place
large baskets on the grave, sometimes two and often many more, there is
no certain number to use. They are turned upside down, close up to the
sides of the plank and on the ground around the grave. These baskets
are made secure by driving a stake through the center of them and into
the ground. On top of the plank they lay basket plates, also acorn
baskets. Around the grave a picket fence is made by driving the pickets
into the ground, a strong hazel withe is tied around them about twelve
inches below the tops. At the middle of the head and the foot of the
grave a strong post is driven into the ground that stands much higher
than the tops of the pickets. To these posts a cross-beam is fastened
or tied and on this a number of deer skins are hung. These skins are
dressed whole with the hair left on and the body and head are stuffed
with weeds. The head is elevated almost perpendicular with the body and
the legs are left hanging straight down. Some of the clothes that have
been worn by the deceased are also hung on this cross-beam which makes
quite a display and would lead one to believe very strongly that many
valuables were also placed in the grave.
During and after the burial is completed all the close relatives of
the deceased weep and wail mournful songs, saying good-bye child,
or calling out whatever relationship they were to the deceased. The
mournful wail of an Indian mourner is so intensely sad that the
surrounding sky and earth seem weeping with the sorrowful ones.
After the burial rites have been completed those who had taken part in
the burial go into the family sweat-house where they wash their entire
bodies from the basket of water containing the ho-mon-nah solution and
sweat themselves in the sweat-house. After this they all go to the
river taking the basket of solution with them and bathe with it in
the river. Upon returning to the house they all change their clothes
except the one who dug the grave and he puts on the same clothing
and wears it for five days longer before he is free from the burial
rites. His duty now is to kindle a fire which he keeps burning about
a couple of hours each evening close by the foot of the grave. This
fire is made between the hours when the first long shadows are cast
and the twilight gathers into the darkness of the night. They say the
flickering of the fire-light keeps them from seeing the O’quirlth, the
spirit of the departed one, which is said to hover over the grave and
around the home for five days after death. After five days have elapsed
the spirit departs either to Heaven or to the wilderness, according to
what kind of life the deceased has lived. The friends and relatives
of the deceased will weep, wail and pray that his spirit will go the
narrow road, to the old land, Cheek-cheek-alth, where it will find the
ladder and climb to Werse-on-now (Heaven). Sometimes a bitter enemy of
the deceased will pray and hope the departed spirit will go the road to
Sye-elth where she hands him over to the man in the dead boat where he
takes the spirit across the river and banishes it into the wilderness.
The light of the fire keeps the Indians from seeing the spirit when it
leaves the grave as they never wish to behold spirits. However, they
claim, in spite of their caution, the spirit is sometimes seen by the
Indians. They say when it leaves the body it looks like a shadow image
of the person passing off. They claim a photograph resembles the spirit
of the dead and the old Indians never want to look at it as they never
wish to be reminded of the spirit.
The walls and the floor of the room which the person used is scrubbed
every day with the ho-mon-nah solution, also whatever furniture there
is in the room is gone over very carefully with the disinfecting
process and is kept up for five days until the spirit departs. The
family lives in the same room as usual, but Cah-ma-tow, the grave
digger has his own separate bed in the room. He fixes a small board
for himself on which his meals are served separate from the family
and dines by himself. The morning of the fifth day he arises earlier
than usual, making a broom of the boughs of the Douglas spruce and
sweeps the floor of the house nice and clean. He burns the roots of
the ho-mon-nah which fumigates the house and with solution made of the
same plant he scrubs the floor and goes over all the wood-work in the
house for the last time. After this is finished he gathers up all the
things he has used during the five days, the baskets of solution, his
small board table, etc., and takes them all to the sweat-house. Here
he takes the solution and washes his hands and entire body and after
he has finished bathing he takes the baskets and clothes he has worn
up the hill away from the river to a thicket and hangs them all up in
a small tree, where he leaves them to the elements to decay. He then
comes back and sweats himself thoroughly, afterwards plunging into the
river and comes out cleansed of any foul disease he may have contracted
in handling the dead body.
The Indians get or hire any one who is willing to do the burial as it
is not necessary to be a relative or even a well known friend of the
family.
During the five days the opening in the house where the dead body was
taken out is left open as the family and friends never use or go near
the regular door of the house during this period. After five days have
elapsed the opening in the wall is sealed up tightly leaving no trace
that an opening was ever made in the wall. They never leave the gap
for another case as the Indian never wants to be reminded that another
death may occur in his household.
It has often been expressed by the white man that when a funeral is
held every man, woman and child in the village attends the funeral,
this is far from being true, not any more than the funeral of a white
man. Near friends and relatives of the deceased may attend while a
great many others in the village will go about as usual, not even
pretending to know that a funeral is being held. Of recent years the
white man is allowed to help with the burial if he chooses. Valuable
articles of the dead are not buried with them as is generally believed
by the white theologist, instead only mere trifles of either little or
no value placed in and upon the grave.
When an Indian is very wealthy or rich, and has a family of several
children he sometimes divides his fortune equally among them, of course
always making provision for his wife as long she lives and remains
single. Sometimes he has a favorite son or daughter to whom he leaves
his entire fortune, disinheriting his other children. The Indian legacy
is bequeathed to whom he chooses and his will cannot be broken. In
some cases the wife’s wealth is just as great or even greater than her
husband’s. She divides her wealth among her children as she chooses,
the same as her husband.
When husband and wife have been wedded a number of years and have
reared a large family, upon the death of the husband the wife cuts her
hair close to her head and burns it. She keeps her hair cut close to
her head and is called Ca-win until some one proposes marriage to her
when she lets it grow out to its natural length again. If she refuses
the offer of marriage, after her hair has grown over two inches in
length, she is addressed as Care-rep. This name explains itself, that
she is a widow and has had an offer of marriage but has refused it. The
sisters and daughters of a deceased man sometimes cut off a part of
their hair during their period of mourning for him.
CHAPTER VII.
THROUGH THE PEARLY GATES OF HEAVEN.
Long time ago a mother and father resided in Cor-tep village, in the
house of Metch-cher-rau, located about a half-mile up the river from
the old Klamath Bluffs store. They had two good children, a boy and
girl, the girl being the eldest. Brother and sister loved each other
divinely; their devotion was more divine than human hearts had ever
known. Their parents were very wealthy, and were married of a good
marriage ceremony of the wealthy class. Metch-cher-us-ah-may, the
sister, was the most lovely of all the girls of the tribe; besides
her rare beauty she possessed a kind and loving disposition beyond
comparison. When she had grown to womanhood, she went to the Talth, or
High Priests, and asked them if she might join the sacred lodge. But
the High Priests sadly shook their heads, and said they could never
admit her to the sacred lodge, as her parents were not of high birth,
and that she was not of the Talth marriage. Her pleadings were in vain,
and she turned away from the lodge deeply grieved, realizing that she
had been barred forever from the sacred altar of the High Priests,
and that she could never become a Talth, or mix with the Priests. It
would be useless to plead again; she was denied their solitary ways of
worship and she could never sit in their lodge and kindle their sacred
fires. Her proud spirit was grieved and wounded almost beyond human
endurance; a great battle now waged within her heart, that God Himself
might take her above her humble birth and station in life, that she
might rise in greatness beyond the glories of the High Priests, as she
would walk in Heaven, and they on earth until death claimed its own.
She would rise from her bed about four o’clock every morning while the
villages were yet dark and sleeping and go to gather wood, praying as
she gathered the branches in her basket, and when it was filled she
would return to her house, praying all the while, and leave the wood
there long before any one was astir to see her at work. After this task
was done she would go to a high rock on the hill-side in a small creek,
a short distance from the Cor-tep village, where she would spend the
entire day on top of this rock, praying to God and weaving baskets.
There was a small basin of water in this solid rock close by where she
sat, which she used to keep her basket materials wet as she worked
them. The rock was very high when she sat upon it long ages ago, but it
is nearly covered with earth at this present writing. At evening-tide
she would return to her home. So earnest were her prayers, so patient
was her humble soul in waiting that she prayed a number of years on top
of this rock, ere her prayers were answered in Heaven. Praying in the
great solitudes of a vast creation she never faltered, but prayed on
to the Heavenly Father that he might give her strength and courage to
become far more pure than any that had ever lived on earth before her,
that she might rise as a virgin of purity above her people, leaving in
her footsteps the holy halo when she had passed from the earth away to
the realms of Heaven above.
This beautiful woman, made far more beautiful in her purity, the
sublime whiteness of her soul shining forth, transfigured beyond the
glories of womanhood. After these years of faithful prayer, dark
suspicions and intrigues rose from the people of the villages, as
her actions seemed so strange and why one so beautiful should always
be solitary. No doubt some youth was yearning for the beauty of her
arms to encircle him, the sweetness of her smile had fascinated all,
as her sweetness was so perfect. She was always alone, and there did
not seem to be anything to prevent it. Day by day the village folks
grew more restless in their surmises of their doubts and fears for her
safety, and they brought the tale to her parents who accused her of
clandestine meetings with some unscrupulous man who no doubt had ruined
her virtuous womanhood, and that they would soon cast her from the
village in disgrace if she persisted in her lone walks to the woods in
the early morning and kept solitary place on the rock during the day.
How unjust we sometimes accuse the innocent; how deep the wounds we
thrust that we mourn in after years in sad regret of our cruel words
spoken when God has taken them away and they no longer soothe our dark
afflictions. Rising in wounded pride once more she proclaimed her
innocence, that her soul was free from this preposterous accusation. So
long she had been patient and true, so long she had denied herself the
pleasures and passions of earth, directing her thoughts to lofty ideals
she could proudly verify when the time came for her to go to the Throne
on High, when the Heavenly Father would call her to the Eternal Home.
She said she could not tell her parents and the people her reasons and
account for her actions now; why she would always get up so early in
the morning to get her wood, and why she spent the entire days upon the
rock. But she assured them that they would all know at a future time
why she spent so many hours of solitude, this time would be when God
called her Home, and they would repent for their cruel accusations.
During these years of patient prayer, brother and sister met in loving
companionship of sympathy and exchanging the prayer of their ambitions.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene, the brother, knew the secret prayers of his
devout sister, and by them his thoughts were directed to higher ideals.
Pledged by solemn vows, he would never make known her secret prayers,
until she herself was ready for him to do so. They prayed together, he
alone at his fishing, she alone on the high rock at her basket weaving,
their prayers united. However, his faith in God was not so strong, and
his prayers were not so earnest as his sister’s, that the future years
left him alone on earth to mourn her loss.
Metch-cher-us-ah-may heeded not the warnings of her people as she
continued to rise in the early morning hours to gather her wood before
the light of day, so that no one would feast their unscrupulous eyes
upon her while she was at work. After this task was done she would go
as usual to the high rock and weave baskets the whole day through until
evening, saying her prayers all the while.
Spring time had come when all the leaves of the trees and shrubbery had
grown up, and the sap of the maple tree was full. Metch-cher-us-ah-may
peeled the maple tree of its bark and took the inner layers that grow
upon the surface of the hard wood of the tree and out of this bark
she made a dress of beautiful fringes, softer than silk itself, as
it hung in ripples about her body. From the yellow-hammer she plucked
its beautiful golden feathers and made a cape in which she wrapped her
shoulders and arms. Spring-time waned and mid-summer came; it was the
last summer that she would spend on earth, as her faithful prayers
had been answered and she was now ready to be taken to Werse-on-now
(Heaven). Ah, she could now mount to the glories of Heaven without
passing through that dark and shadowy vale of death. The High Priests,
who had turned her away from the scared lodge, together with the other
people, would all have to die and the earth would give them a grave.
Their hands would never touch her body, the earth would give her no
grave, but instead, her body would be carried through the winds and
storms until she reached that Infinite Shore where she would dwell in
the flowery meadows of Heaven.
The evening before the day of her departure she brought all of her
baskets she had made to her home and gave all of her wealth to her
brother, telling him to watch for her in the early morning, as she was
departing for a far better throne than she had ever known upon earth.
In the early morning hours, ere the sun was shining over the mountains
of the Klamath, she bathed her body with sweet scented herbs, put on
her new maple dress and draped her shoulders with the gorgeous dyes of
the yellow-hammer feathers, her long raven locks were combed and left
flowing about her shoulders. Bidding her brother good-bye, he beheld
her mount the rock where she had sat so many years in devout prayer;
he alone saw her rise from the earth to go to the realms above. Swift
as the lightning from Heaven she mounted the rock, bowing to the great
creation of the world with her arms outstretched and her beautiful hair
flowing, she stood erect with her face to Heaven in the north with her
eyes closed. Out of the north, on his mighty wings, rose the red eagle
and came to her feet on the rock. Dipping her hand to the west, to the
land of the setting sun, she bade the world farewell and mounted the
eagle’s back. With outstretched wings, gorgeously tipped in crimson,
he rose from the rock with his fair princess mounted securely upon his
back, and flew with her to the far north from whence he came. In the
early dawn of the rising sun, in all the glories of Indian summer, her
brother saw her mount the eagle and fly away to the Kingdom of Heaven,
passing not through the gates of death.
She sat on the eagle’s back through the long journey, with her eyes
always closed, her arms raised above her shoulders and her hands
folded at the back of her head and neck. The eagle on his long journey
north to the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, commanded her not to open her
eyes, though the storms from Heaven may feel severe against her face
and body. Rising from the earth she felt the heat of the still Indian
summer beat like fire upon her. Far away they soared and the eagle
said, “You will now feel the mighty winds of Heaven sweep around you
in piercing gales, but do not open your eyes.” Far up through the
winds they soared and she opened her eyes not. Far on they flew and
he said again, “You will feel the rain pouring in torrents upon you,
but you must never open your eyes.” Through the rain they went until
he again said, “You will now feel the cold fall like piercing blades
of ice but you must never open your eyes.” Through the piercing cold
they flew, her eyes always shut, until he said again, “You will now
feel the snow fall thick and fast upon you, but you must not open your
eyes.” Through the mighty winds and the cold, fierce storms of Heaven
they had flown, until the eagle at last exclaimed, “You will feel the
warmth of pleasant summer again, open your eyes and I will leave you
in that sublime land of Cheek-cheek-alth.” She opened her eyes for the
first time during her long flight through the airy regions and beheld
the beauteous land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the old land that gave birth
to our people long ages ago. She now stood upon the banks of the most
sublime river the world has ever known, with its hallowed charms and
brilliant gems of fortune, its mystic waters of transparent brilliancy
flowing sweet and peaceful through the valley of Cheek-cheek-alth. On
the shores of this wonderful river she beheld millions of the dead
turk-tum (short shells of the Indian money) shining from the sands of
the water. From this river long centuries ago, when the Indians first
left their native land in search of the new world they brought with
them the cheek, or Indian money. They say this money is found in no
other clime except in the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the land of
their birth. They do not use the dead turk-tum washed upon the banks
of the river for money, but fish for the live cheek in the river which
they catch the same as fish, and out of these live shells make their
cheek or money. This money through the long evolution of centuries has
been handed down from one generation to another.
In the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, this divine princess found the ladder
that goes to Heaven and climbed it, round by round, until she reached
Heaven. All of her tribulations of earth, were finished, the false
accusations of cruel friends could no longer thrust their wounds into
her blameless soul as she now sat glorified on a Throne of Eternal
Splendors, truly a Saint in Heaven.
Several days had elapsed since the departure of Metch-cher-us-ah-may
and the people began to inquire why she returned no more to the house
at night-fall. They went in search of her and found the wood baskets
she had used here on earth, left on top of the high rock where she had
taken her flight. Her brother then informed them that his sister had
gone to Werse-on-now as he had beheld the vision himself. The parents
recalling to mind the harsh words spoken of their dark suspicions
concerning their saint-like daughter, wept and wailed most bitterly,
and were bowed down with heavy hearts and sad regrets, that one so true
could no longer stay on earth; that God should so early call the divine
and true to His Eternal Home.
The brother who had loved his sister so devotedly, recalled to memory
the tender devotion of her trying years of patience. Heart wrung with
the strange pathetic life of his sister and the charm of its beautiful
ending, he wept until his proud heart seemed broken asunder. Weeping
tears of blood it seemed, from the heart that loved so much, for the
gentle hand that touched his brow, the hallowed form, the low voice and
cheering smile was gone forever.
After a few days, the bitter wailing of her parents and the intense
grief of her brother was answered by the gentle Saint herself. Her
spirit came earthward in a shadowy image, or o’quirlth, and appeared
before her loved ones, soothing them with gentle words of compassion
in their dark hours of grief and sad regrets, assuring them that she
dwelt safely beyond the Pearly Gates of Heaven, in the infinite
meadows of beauty and light. Their misgivings no longer wounded,
for her spirit survived in peace and happiness and for them to weep
bitterly no more. Her spirit faded from the earth, leaving her parents
assured of the eternal years of her greatness, a Saint in Heaven.
Her brother, Metch-cher-us-ah-chene, could not be comforted long, as
he had only known a sister’s love and tender devotion. Day by day he
grieved more and more in his loneliness, a sorrow that knows no comfort
when the loved one has gone to realms beyond. His grief became so great
that he could not long endure it, when her spirit answered him in his
loneliness once more. This time she appeared before him in her living
form as she had lived on earth, and brother and sister met in sweet
earthly communion for the last time as she would return to comfort them
no more. She lifted that heavy veil of sorrow from his heart and gave
him courage in earthly things again. She instructed him to go to a
riffle on the Klamath river, opposite the old Klamath Bluffs store and
fish there for twelve days, at the end of which he would catch a small
fish about the size of one’s little finger, and that this fish would
have many white rings encircling its body. This fish as soon as it was
caught was to be put in an elk-horn Indian purse, which is beautifully
carved out of the elk’s horn and polished smooth on the internal and
external surfaces. They sometimes carve and color very artistic designs
upon them, cutting out a small oblong lid in the middle of the purse
which they fit on it after putting the money in and wrap the lid on
securely with a strip of buck-skin.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene fished on the riffle for twelve days as directed
by his sister and at the closing of the twelfth day he caught the
small fish, which he put in the elk-horn purse, and then the raven,
or qua-gawk, came to him and said for him to mount his back, which he
did and then the raven commanded him to close his eyes and keep them
tightly closed until he was told to open them. The raven flew with him
through sunny regions, rain, cold, sleet, snow and over icy fields,
taking the same route that the red eagle had flown with his sister.
Over the icy fields he could feel the ice with his hands, then after
this the raven sat him down, in a warm place and commanded him to
keep his eyes closed, and the raven flew on and left him alone for a
short time. While alone he began to feel around as he could not open
his eyes, he felt in the sandy soil around him and felt that it was
covered with cheek, (the shell of the Indian money) and he began to
rake it up in heaps around him. When the raven returned he said that
he must leave the cheek where it was found, as it was too heavy to
carry so far. Metch-cher-us-ah-chene mounted the raven’s back again
and away they flew to the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, which was only a
short distance from where raven had first left him. Upon arriving in
this land, the raven set him down on the banks of the wonderful river,
Wer-roy, where the climate is always warm and pleasant, the valley
forever green and the fruits and flowers forever bloomed through one
long perpetual summer day. On the banks of this glorious river the
raven said for him to open his eyes and fish in its brilliant waters
for one of the living cheek, or little shell fish. Fishing in this
river of sublime beauty he caught this rare and precious shell fish
which the raven said he must put in the elk-horn purse with the other
fish his sister had told him to catch in the Klamath river. He put the
two fishes together as he had been instructed, and lo, vast riches soon
followed. The fish he had caught in the Klamath was the female fish,
while the one he had caught in the river of Cheek-cheek-alth was the
male fish.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene mounted the raven’s back again, the raven
instructing him to keep his eyes closed as before, and they flew back
to the Klamath river, back to the Cor-tep village. When they reached
the Klamath river the raven instructed him to make twelve of these
elk horn purses as large as the horns would permit and he made twelve
of the largest kind that he could, and as the male and female cheek
would breed little cheek in the small purse he would take the young
cheek just as soon as they were large enough and place them in one
of the larger purses. He kept on breeding cheek in this way until he
had all of his large purses filled with money, or cheek, and he now
began putting the cheek in a large basket. His riches were growing so
large that he did not know what he was going to do with so much money.
Finding himself so lonely in the midst of his vast riches he wooed a
wife from the Pec-toolth village where the Trinity river flows into
the Klamath. Following the custom of marriage his name was changed
to Pec-tow, adopting his wife’s name, and she taking his name. After
they had been married but a short time his ambitions died within him
and he lost interest in his work and neglected the teachings of his
sister. Now the two fishes made their escape from the breeding purse
and turned into a worm or bug, about an inch long, with white and black
stripes on their bodies and two long horns on their heads. These worms
can be found along the river banks around the large rocks, and the
Indians always consider it good luck to find one of them, as they catch
and put them away in a purse to keep them for good luck. After the
escape of these fishes he no longer had the power to accumulate vast
riches and ill luck followed.
His wife gave birth to a handsome boy, but it was said that God was
displeased and caused the child to die. A second child was born to
them, this time a beautiful baby girl, but it died also. A third child
was born, another beautiful baby girl, but God too took it away as he
had taken the others. A fourth child to this unhappy couple was born, a
boy, it was still said that God was displeased with his marriage, and
the handsome babe followed its brother and sisters in Heaven. At the
death of the fourth child, Metch-cher-us-ah-chene became very sad and
thoughtful. So sad and heavy was his heart that earth seemed to him but
dreary waste without the noise and prattle of his beautiful babies. He
thought long and could not understand why God took the innocent and
pure away to His Heavenly Home so soon.
Rising in the early morning he would weep as he went up the mountain
side to gather a load of sweat-house wood, and with this on his
shoulders he started to the sweat-house in the village, singing and
weeping as he went, “I-a-quay, tus,” saying he was very sorry for his
children. The mourner sat down to rest, putting the load of wood on the
ground and resting his back and shoulders against the load. When he
had rested sufficiently, he tried to rise with his load in the usual
manner but there was a heavy weight on his load and he could not rise;
as if some one was holding him down. He looked around but saw no one,
so he tried again and was able to rise with the wood. He sat down a
second time and rested with his wood and as before when he began to
rise up he could not, but after looking around and seeing no one, he
was able to get up all right. He sat down and rested a third time when
the same thing happened and upon reaching home he made a fire in the
sweat-house and sweated himself in the usual manner, after which he
went to the river and took a cold plunge in the water. Coming out of
the plunge he went back to the sweat-house and seated himself in front
of the door, and gazed far off in the distance, imagining that he could
see the spirit, O’quirlth, and at the same time his wife was calling
him to dinner. He continued to sit there gazing far beyond the earth.
He did not answer her calls, his spirit had gone to join his sister in
Werse-on-now, where she resided in Heaven with God. There you may see
brother and sister straying together in the infinite meadows of Heaven
and about them his beautiful babes, the pure buds of the blooming
meadows.
After the death of Metch-cher-us-ah-chene his wife returned to her
native village at Peck-toolth where the Trinity and the Klamath rivers
come together. She took with her the large basket with cheek, (money)
and after a time married a man of the Weitchpec village which is
located on the north side of the Klamath river opposite the mouth of
the Trinity river. From her second marriage she had one son, and all
the cheek she had brought with her made these two villages very rich
from this time on.
CHAPTER VIII.
BURIAL CUSTOMS:
WHY THE DEAD ARE NEVER TAKEN
THROUGH THE DOOR.
Many generations ago, there was a woman born and reared at a village
called Os-sa-gon and which is located some six or seven miles south of
the mouth of the Klamath river, on the ocean shore. Some years ago this
place was a very large village of the Klamath Indians.
When this woman had grown into beautiful womanhood she was wooed and
won by a young man of the Wah-teck village, which is located near the
old Klamath Bluffs store and near the White Deer-skin dancing grounds.
They were both of wealthy families, and celebrated their nuptials of
good ceremony of the middle class. During their wedded life they were
very happy together, three little ones came to bless this happy union,
one boy and two girls. After the third child was born the husband
became very ill and entered into the shadowy valley of death, leaving
his young widow and children to mourn his untimely departure.
Up until his death, it had always been the custom of the Indians to
take the dead body out of the house through the door, and as they
carried it through they would take the ashes from the fire-place in the
house and throw them through the door as the body was carried out. The
ash dust was allowed to remain until the wind had swept it away. This
had been their custom from generation to generation. They had performed
the same rite with him but in this a strange coincidence happened which
changed their custom in removing the dead from the house.
After his burial was over and his wife had once more become reconciled
to her daily routine of work, she would sit and weave baskets with her
face toward the door, which was contrary to the Indian teachings, as
one should never sit facing the door but must always sit with their
backs turned upon it. She did not think this teaching of any importance
and always sat with her face toward the door while at work on her
baskets, and at short intervals she would look up from her basket and
glance at the door.
Nearly a year had elapsed, when one day while she was sitting weaving
her basket, thinking intently of her husband, how happy their wedded
life had been, how devotedly she had loved him in life and how deeply
she mourned his loss, seemingly his departed spirit answered her from
the unknown world. Glancing up at the door she beheld his spirit, and
dropped her basket with a sudden cry of joy and sprang to the door that
she might take him in her arms, that he might never more leave her in
her loneliness. Instead of her husband, the loved one, she caught in
her arms the post which stands as a supporting column on the outside
of the inner door, or between the inner and outer door of the Indian
house. Her conscious self left her as she thought he was trying to get
away from her, and, thinking that she had fastened her hold upon his
leg, instead she was clinging to the post. Her once supple body and
limbs became as rigid as iron when her children and folks gathered
around her and tried to make her let go of the post, but their efforts
were of no avail for she only clung the tighter. At last they were
compelled to cut away the post before they were able to move her to a
bed, where they did everything possible to restore her. She remained
in this state of unconsciousness for several days, when they decided
to take her down to the river and put her into a canoe. They took her
down as far as Blue Creek (Ur-ner), some eight miles, and then turning
back and coming up the river to Notch-co, some eight miles above the
Wah-teck village, making sixteen miles in all. In these sixteen miles
the river changes its course from due north swinging around in the
different bends, west to nearly south. They kept taking the woman up
and down the river the whole summer, until late in the Autumn, and
kept her alive during this period by nourishing her with the marrow
fat from the leg bones of the deer, of which they applied to her lips
and breasts by rubbing. When she had fully regained her consciousness
she would, during all her spare time, weave baskets. The main frame or
rib work of the basket are hazel switches which is called ho-lealth.
In drawing or weaving the work in and out over the switches they
turn to the left hand side and the basket-maker always keeps a basket
of water within her reach, and at short intervals dips her hand into
the water, moistens the switches and straightens them back into their
proper places, thus building the basket up straight. This woman never
straightened back the switches of her basket, therefore, they were made
into a round twist. The children would say to their mother, (Calk) “Why
don’t you straighten the switches on your basket?” She would always
reply, “Never mind, that is alright”, and tell them to stop talking
so much about her basket weaving. She kept on weaving baskets in this
manner until all of her children had grown up into man and womanhood.
One evening as the twilight was fast gathering into darkness, she was
sitting working on her baskets as usual, with her basket material
around her, she simply said, “My time has come, my husband is waiting
for me.” She picked up her basket she was weaving and placed it on the
fire, saying her spirit, O’quirlth, would have it to use while she was
leaving for the world beyond the grave, and died. Her children and her
husband’s folks had gathered around in her last dying moments.
The Indians now keep the dead body for one whole day, (twenty-four
hours) to satisfy themselves that life has actually departed. They bury
the body and after it is laid in the grave, they say that the spirit,
O’quirlth, remains hovering around the living and near the newly made
grave for five days. When five days have elapsed the spirit departs,
and if the individual has lived a good moral life, his spirit goes
to Cheek-cheek-alth, there finds the ladder and climbs to God, where
he dwells forever in eternal happiness. If he is a mean and degraded
wretch his spirit goes the broad road to the old woman and the dog,
where she hands him over to the man in the dead boat and he takes the
wicked spirit across the river and leaves him to wail in the wilderness
of anguish until the judgement day.
When that woman died they did not take her through the door, but made
an opening in the wall on the left hand side of the door as one stands
on the inside of the house facing the door. From this time on they have
never taken a dead body through the door, but always make an opening
in the side of the house on the left hand side, through which they
take the body. The Indians teach their children never to stop or stand
in the door-way, in going or coming in. One will never see any one,
old or young, stop, stand or sit in the door of an Indian house. Since
the death of this woman they always burn the basket material of the
deceased, or any unfinished work that belongs to the one that has just
died.
There is a coarse grass, a sort of saw grass, that grows on the ridges
and under the tan-oaks and fir timber which they use in nearly all
their baskets, and this grass we call ham-mo. When one dies and the
body is taken out of the house, they place some of this woven grass
over the door on the inside, in a manner that one would not notice
it, unless it was shown to them. The family will wear strands around
their necks, and this is done to prevent them from seeing or meeting
the spirit which hovers around and near the body for five days before
departing for the unknown realms beyond.
The custom of cutting the hair on the death of a near kindred extends
back to the time when they were in the old land, Cheek-cheek-alth.
CHAPTER IX.
THE INDIAN DEVIL.
The Klamath Indians in bringing down their legends from the creation
of man until the present day, say that some were made to be good
and honorable, some bad and some were real bad and mean, which they
termed devils, or Oh-mah-ha. We have the conception of the invisible
Satan, (Sey-elth, or wicked old woman) and a real living devil such
as walks the earth, and we fear them as they will harm us if they
get the opportunity. We have had these living Indian devils (living
human beings) all through the long and weary centuries, ever since the
creation of man-kind, such devils as we find in every race and nation
of the earth. Our Indian devils are Indians who for some reason or
cause leave the tribe and go far away into the lonely mountains, and
into the depths of the forests, where they live near the streams and
places almost inaccessible. In their loneliness they roam through the
forests and over the mountains like some wild animals of prey. They
forget the language of their mothers and become something like wild
beasts, fleeing from the sight of human beings.
In olden times, the women, especially were always careful to keep
together on their camping trips when they were gathering the acorn
crop, grass seeds, pine nuts, etc., for fear of these Indian devils.
These Indian devils would sometimes watch the camps of the Indians
very closely and follow them about as they moved from place to place,
watching for an opportunity to seize one of the young women and carry
her off to make her his wife. If a young woman strayed away too far
by herself, she was often made a captive by one of these devils. The
women of the tribe had great fear of them as they had great horrors of
becoming the wife of a wild man.
Sometimes the women would be captivated by the Indian devils and would
be gone away from their tribe for years, when they would return and
tell of their wild life and experiences. They would become the mother
of children and the children would inherit the wild habits of their
father, as they would always be whistling, making strange noises,
romping wildly about and always on the go, roaming everywhere in the
wilds. These women were never happy when they came back to their
people, as after a time they would long to go back to their devil
husbands and children. They always managed to get away and return to
the old wild life, as it held such a fascination for them, when they
once experienced the wilds that they could not resist the calling of
such a life.
When the Indians would go on their hunting and camping trips into the
mountains, as soon as they heard an owl screech or hoot, they would
stop and listen, and try to distinguish if it was an Indian devil
imitating the owl or the cry of a wild animal. The Indians would stop
at once, kindle a fire and hallo; this was given as a warning to the
devils that they were awake and ready to fight them if necessary.
When the Indians go camping far back into the mountains, and even if
a white man accompanies them, they always insist on making the first
camp fire, when a camping place is selected. In building the fire the
first stick of wood they lay down points directly north and south,
on the north end of this stick of wood they place another stick some
eight or twelve inches back from the north end, placing this branch
east and west, thus making a cross. When the cross is made they proceed
to kindle the fire, and during the whole time they are offering up a
prayer to God in a low tone of voice. This prayer is earnestly offered
up to the Almighty asking Him to protect them from the Indian devils
and wild animals, while they are in the wilds and to keep them from
accidents. After the first worship has been offered up any one can
build the camp fire as long as they camp in the same place, and the
Indians do not repeat this form of worship until they move away to a
different camping place. The Indian places his soul in the care of God,
and worships at his shrine under the open Heavens and boundless skies,
and not at the religion and traditions of another race that has a
tradition from the beginning of the creation of a living man, and down
through the long centuries of thousands of years. If this is true, let
me quote from the so called civilized races, for instance, Rome had its
Caesar, oft writ in history, “Great and brave,” but all the world knows
that he lived the heartless conqueror, crushing out the lives of men,
his hands were dipped in human blood and he died the tyrant’s death.
All the world knows that France had its monarch, his name is writ on
Fame’s record as the mighty conqueror of Europe. The winding rivers of
Europe were once red with the blood it shed, there were gory battle
fields left in his wake, to say nothing of broken hearted mothers and
children who went weeping under cheerless skies without a home to
shelter them. For example, our own United States, in 1861–65, cities
went down in ruins, homes were destroyed, human blood flowed like wine,
thousands sleep in unknown graves, they died martyrs for a great cause,
and the Redman was just as much of a martyr for his cause as they.
Truly our tribes were not blood-thirsty, for the love of blood or the
lust of glory, but instead were compelled to yield to a superior race,
and our noblest men sleep in narrow graves with the best, the proudest
of the race, dead around them. Exterminated rather than educated until
the noblest of our race are gone, and out of the miserable remnant
comes a feeble cry today, that for nearly four centuries the redman
has merely existed without a country. Love for the child-race of a
bygone age, tears for the infant race, in all its infancy a type of
primitive manhood, reserved and poised, courageous, enduring, master
of self and above all self controlled, a proud vanishing figure in a
nation of unrest. Love for the adult race saddened with regrets hanging
heavy and the stain of blood on their hands from the infant tears for
the superior race, for who can tell what this child-race might have
been when they were full grown and educated. Tears and love, love
and tears, sweetly mingled when infant and adult meet in one great
brotherhood of forgiveness. Always thus, since time began, someone
must die a martyr for the beginning of every cause, and it has ever
been thus, since the dawn of history, among all races and nations, the
heathen, the barbarian and the civilized nations of the world.
Educated man today through his long evolution of centuries know there
is only one God, and all are seeking one goal and the soul of man
cannot be lost just because he worships a little different from his
fellow man. Every race has its own creed, and one race has no more of
a right to say another race is lost forever and eternally just because
they differ in their form of worship, and the rising generation of the
present century knows better. So at least let the tradition of the
noble type be just, as he is being fast absorbed into another race
and even at this day all that remains of him is tradition of his past
existence, and usually that tradition is of a mongrel type, rather than
the true.
We are always afraid of the visible devil, (oh-mah-ha) that is
the living devil here on this earth, as we are compelled to guard
continually against these monsters in keeping ourselves from being
harmed. We are at all times at peace with God, we love Him as the Great
Ruler and we are always ready to offer a prayer and to worship him.
When an Indian sits down to smoke, he fills his pipe, lights it and
takes a deep breath filling his lungs with smoke, and then expels it
slowly through his nostrils and mouth with a low grunt. Then in a low
and solemn voice he offers up a prayer to God, asking Him for good
health, long life and good luck. This good luck is in earning money,
accumulating vast riches, success in fishing and securing wild game,
and in fact all the success in the pursuit of an Indian life.
The devil is termed as key-mol-len, which means a low miserable person
or animal. And God is in the Heavens an invisible Being to living man,
he is everywhere and He rules over all.
CHAPTER X.
THE WHITE DEER-SKIN DANCE.
The fish dam being completed, all except the ones that are to stay
there, Lock-nee, Normer, the Wah-clures and the Char-rahs now move
down the river and go to their different homes to prepare for the White
Deer-skin Dance. This dance is held about ten miles down the river
from where the fish dam is put in, and this place they call Wah-tec
and is a pretty place containing about fifty acres, of a nearly level
place, being a high bar or flat so that no water ever gets over it, and
situated on the north side of the river, just down under the village
on gentle sloping place. There is a large spring of cold water flowing
from under the upper flat or high bar, while some forty steps below the
dance ground there is another spring, larger than the other, clear and
cold, which is used for part of them that camp, all being some three
hundred yards down the river below the old Klamath Bluff’s or Johnson’s
store, that was put there in the year 1855 or 1856 by a man named
Schneider, and owned so long by Bill McGarvey. Before the dance starts
two that are of high birth, one girl and one man, the man can be young
or old but they must be of high birth, and sometimes one of them is a
Talth, goes first and cleans off the ground, (all of which parts I have
taken) by taking the grass off, then sweep it clean, then three smooth
stones that are set well down in the ground but extending above the
ground some eight or ten inches. These stones have been for a long time
and are for the three in the center of the row of dancers, which are
fifteen and seventeen in number; the girl makes a small fire and then
places her incense roots on it to burn so as to please Wah-pec-wah-mow,
she remains there to keep up the fire while the dance is in progress.
This man and girl are called May-wa-lep, and eat their regular meals
each day. When all is in readiness for the dance to start in the
evening of the first day, the two first villages up the river from the
dancing place, all dressed in their robes and regalia, go down to the
river bank and get into a large boat or canoe, one sits in the stern
to paddle and keep it pointed down the river until they come to where
they have prepared their camping place for the dance. The first village
up is called Cor-tep, and the next one above it is Pec-wan, Pec-wan is
where the big Talth Lodge is situated for the Po-lick-las division,
and is very wealthy. This village is my birthplace and always comes
in strong with the finest of regalia and the most beautiful display
of deer skins. Now each village dances separate and one at a time, as
the Cor-tep village dancers come up and form themselves into line, the
three in the center are the leaders and the middle one of the three is
the one that lowers the pole that has the deer skin on it. He raises
his right foot and starts to sing, letting his foot down at the same
time, and the rest all follow. Now there stands at each end of the row
of dancers those who in their right hand hold a large flint which they
call Ne-gam, this has a strong buck skin string tied tightly around it
and then looped around the wrist so as to keep it from slipping off the
hand, and as the dancing starts they go back and forth in front of the
row of dancers passing each other at middle of the row of dancers, and
they have a whistle in progress. After dancing until they are all tired
out, they stop and the three in the middle of the row sit down on the
stones while the rest stand, all raising the pole on which the deer
skins are held, letting the butt end of the pole rest on the ground.
After the Cor-tep village has danced out they retire to their camp,
and in from fifteen to thirty minutes the Pec-wan village dancers come
up and go through the same performance. The regalia and deer skins are
the common kind, and the count of the days that the dance is to run
has not yet commenced as these two villages may dance two dances for
each day, after the first evening, for three or four days before the
rest of them can get ready to come, there are five of them in all.
Next above Pec-wan to come is Ser-e-goine then Mo-reck and the next is
Cap-pell where the fish dam is, when they all get to the dancing place
they dance ten days and each village dances in its turn. They start the
first dance about nine o’clock in the morning and it is fully twelve
o’clock, midday, before the last one has finished. Now bear in mind
that there are two or three men all the time in the different camps
asking the men, one and all to come in and dance, it does not matter
from where they come or to what tribe they belong, they are asked to
come in and take a part in this great festival, so that the dancers
are changing all the time, and from one village to the other and which
ever village they dance in, they are invited to eat at their camp all
is free and no one is allowed to go hungry, and there would be some
from far off that could not speak a word of the Klamath tongue only
by signs with the hands, yet they were carefully looked after, shown
around, fed and asked to get in and dance, the others carefully guiding
them through so they would make no mistake and it was considered the
worst of ill manners to make light of their mistakes anywhere in their
presence, they were guaranteed protection and courtesy and seen to get
home without being harmed or molested.
[Illustration: BEGINNING OF THE WHITE DEER-SKIN DANCE.]
The different dance camps have a number of women, sometimes eight ten
or twelve and they work like beavers, cooking and preparing the food,
these women are the sisters, aunts and other relatives. Some of them
may own one half of all the valuable parts of what they are dancing
with and all may own some part. As with the Klamath Indians the women
own by inheritance or accumulation all of their own wealth just the
same as the men do and a wealthy woman is just as much sought for a
wife by the Klamath Indians as they are by the whites and just the same
a wealthy man is sought for by the women as they are by the whites.
The girl keeps her fire burning while the dance is going on and the man
assists her at all times. Now the village to which the dance belongs
starts about dark in the evening and goes through the same performance,
each giving a dance, keeping it up till about nine o’clock at night,
when they retire to their different camps where they all take their
evening meal, after this they all prepare to sleep for the night, and
the most of them sleep until full daylight in the morning, when they
rise to go through the same routine. On the last day at this place,
or the tenth day of the dance, (oh-pure-ah-wah) this being the great
day, all that are to be there have come, and this day they bring out
the white deer-skins, the longest of the flints, some of which were
red while others were streaked with red and white, the white being the
most valuable, some of them are twenty and twenty-two inches in length
and from four to five inches wide in the center of the blade and quite
heavy to handle; at this the Pec-wan village leads all others in white
deer-skins, they having five that are white and many that are light or
nearly white, all being dressed softly and nicely with the whole skin,
nose, ears and the hair left on, even the hoofs are white and the nose
and ears are decorated with the red feathers of the woodcock or Indian
hen taken from the scalp of the bird and put on stripes of buck-skin
with small pieces of the abalone shell hanging down in front of the
nose of the deer some four inches long. Ser-e-goine comes next with the
longest flints, the most valuable belonging to a family of sisters,
and the other villages that make up the five come in, in rotation as
to riches in valuable articles for the dance, now the upper river or
Pech-ic-las comes in to the different dances with their valuables as
to the line of relationship or old time friendship, and the women
put in their wealth and take their places and help to cook and wait
on all just the same as the Po-lick-las, yet they speak a different
language but are so closely mixed in marriage and so many of them
speak both tongues and the whole meaning of the big dance being just
the same to both that there is no mistake between them in any part of
the management of the dance. The men all wear a buck-skin blanket made
of two and three deer skins, dressed with the hair on and made very
soft, these are sewed together with the sinews of the deer, used for
thread, with a bone needle and to the lower part of the blanket they
sew the tails of the civet or ring tail cat. This blanket is fixed so
as to be tied around the waist and hangs down below the knees with
the cat tails dangling at the bottom, if clear dry weather they wear
these blankets with the hair side next to their skin, which leaves
them looking very white, but if it turns damp or commences to rain the
blankets are turned with the hair side out so as not to get the flesh
side wet and soiled. All of the dancers have great rolls of shell
beads, called Turk-tum, strung around the neck, hanging down over the
breast and reaching to the waist. These shells are the same species of
shells as the cheek, only they are shorter and do not have the value
by from fifty to one hundred times as much, and all have head dresses
but no feathers only the one bald eagle or other eagle feather that is
stuck in the back of the hair and stands up perpendicular. The four men
that stand at the end of the row of dancers and which carry the large
flints and whistles in their mouths have for a head-dress a close woven
cloth which we make ourselves from the small tread fibers of the flag,
these are twisted into strands and woven into a thick, heavy cloth,
these are some eight inches wide by three feet in length, or more,
and are ornamented with the tusks or teeth of the sea lion, fastened
at the upper edge of the piece and this cloth is placed center of
forehead, then back to the back of the head and tied, leaving the ends
floating with the tusks sticking out in front. This head-gear is called
cher-wer-ner, and the blankets are called cah-ane. This white deer-skin
place is called Wah-tec and the village that sits just back of the
dance place at the brow of the high flat, or bar, is of the same name.
The Wah-tec village is north of the dancing place and just north of
the village is the level flat where they play their stick game which
is as rough as the white mans’ foot ball game. This game is called
werlth-per and I have seen them pile in heaps at this game and many
get hurt, there must be no fighting, yet they take a deceptive way of
hurting one another if there is a dislike between them, just like the
whites do. The white deer-skin dance at the end of ten days comes to an
end at this place and the whole place is alive with Indians from all
parts. Now the whole thing comes to a halt and all that are managing
the dance return to their villages for more supplies. This stop is for
one day only and now the stick game starts; and they may have several
games between the up river and lower rivers, during the next few days.
After the one day stop, so as to replenish provisions, they all start
very early on the morning following and first go down the river from
Wah-ker-ah about one mile to where a small creek enters into the river,
this creek known as Bloxer Creek, but we call it Hel-le-gay-ow, this
is on the north side of the river where this creek comes into the
river, now when they get to creek, they being on the south side and
close to the entrance of the creek to the river, here all halt, this
being where there are two trails, one goes down next to the river,
crossing the creek and up to a small flat just at the foot of the hill,
with the large pepperwood trees hanging it, is a place where the dance
starts, and this trail and to this place, none can go unless they are
born of the highest marriage. The girl and man that are of high birth
have already gone and cleaned off the grounds, made the fire and are
burning the incense. When the host arrives here they must give all
their valuable articles that are to be used at this place, over to the
poorest and shabby looking ones, if they have the right birth to take
them over this piece of road or trail, to this place, Hel-le-gay-ow,
and all from all parts know whether they have the birth, as this is
kept close track of by the full blooded Klamath Indians. And if any
persists or offers to go over this trail, to this place, they will be
told very firmly to keep back and if needs be they will tell them that
they are not born good enough to pass this way, but wait and go the
other way. There has never been one of mixed blood of any part with the
white man or any other mixture of blood, that they would let go this
way. Only pure Klamath Indians are allowed. There was never a white
man (ken-e-ah) that they would consent to let pass this way, for they
did not know what kind of people the whites were and that the white
marriages were not such as to give them the birth.
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE KLAMATH RIVER NEAR PEC-WAN.]
[Illustration: At every place where my people hold the White Deer-Skin
Dance, (Oh-pure-ah-wall) we have this same way, that we separate the
Talth and high birth from the other classes.
Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah.]
I can pass and have passed many times and have the training to know
which can, and those that are not allowed, and the powerful in riches
have to stop and take the upper trail, such as Pec-wan Colonel and
Captain Sur-e-goine Jim and others whose wealth and influence that the
white man thought would allow him to any part or place. I am one that
knows that the birth is the one great event that gave to my people more
honor, more power and more of everything in this life than all the
riches in the whole world could buy. My people do not talk and tell of
this for many reasons, they do not tell the white man thinking that
they might wish to disobey the rule or right to stop them, and of all
the white men that have married the Indian women, we do not think that
a single one of them ever told their husband of this for the reason
that they themselves did not have the birth to pass over this part of
the trail, and was therefore ashamed to let their men know that such
was the case, and the white men thinking nothing of it stopped and did
not notice that such was the case, it is kept from the mixed bloods
where their fathers raised them in the same way, not even their own
mothers telling them, ashamed for her children to know of her birth,
and the mixed bloods that are raised among the Indians know that their
birth does not admit them, so keep in their right place and are also
ashamed to say anything about it, and so it has been kept until I told
my husband, we being duly and truly married in the high marriage of
my law and married in his law, my husband being a Free and Accepted
Mason, how it was and for him to look and see for himself, but to stay
back and that we would take the upper trail and go with the rich, the
warrior and the throng that could not go the lower trail, where my
father (A Talth) and sisters could and did go, yet they were poor and
other that could go, there being few that could go while many went the
way we did. This I never could have and which was very easy to see when
once told and shown. Now after the Talth and them that have the birth,
have done their dancing at this Hel-le-gay-ow, the girl and man slip
out and go on up the hill through the timber into the other trail for a
short distance and there clean off another place, make a small fire and
place on it the incense to burn and the girl sits down in front when
the dancers come following up and as they come into the trail.
Now all the rich, the proud of all but their birth, comes in behind,
and as they come up to the next dance place and form into line to
dance, all can look on and see, soon this is done, and the same is done
in two more places until the whole of them finally arrive at a large
prairie that they call Bloxer, meaning wide in shape, as they come to
the opening they cross a small branch and turn to a flat between two
small branches or creeks that contain about two acres, at the foot of
the raise from the flat is a large spring of cold, clear water flowing,
here they halt for the final wind-up. They have been at this all day
and the girl and the man (May-wa-lep) have the fires burning the
incense, in the evening they dance, each one dances their turn, using
here the white deer-skins and all of the finest of their regalia and
valuables, after the dance is over they have their supper and retire,
tired out. Early the next morning all is astir and they dance the five
dances in the forenoon and eat dinner in the after part of the day.
The last and final dance is to come when this is finished late in the
night, about nine o’clock, then all take their meal, when many of them
depart and the great White Deer-Skin Dance is closed for two years
at least, or maybe more, and all go home. Now when we speak of the
dance being closed for two years or more, we mean by this of the old
and ancient laws, by which it was conducted, for it has already been
carried through in a spurious or farcical way by them that are of low
birth, not having a single one that was a Talth to take the lead and
carry it through in proper form, but the white man sees it and does
not know the difference.
Those of high birth come to the remaining Talth to ask a few questions
while the Talth answers them in a smooth tone of voice, which is their
gift and lets it pass on in quiet, knowing that it is forever done.
The Talth that now live make only one last request of the living, that
is, that when they come to give up this life, that before they are
laid away, when being prepared for burial, that the emblem or mark of
the Talth be placed on them. This is four black stripes placed on the
breast eight inches in length, one half inch wide and one inch apart,
and on each arm between the shoulders and elbow, there is to be three
stripes four inches long, same width and one inch apart, which are the
marks or emblem of the Talth.
When they are prepared for the last resting place, the grave, and these
emblems or marks are never put on any of them unless they have been put
through the secrets of the Lodge, and carry in their breast that true
name of Wah-pec-wah-mow, (God) there are only two of these left, one is
myself and the other my father. This chapter now closes and we take up
the greatest of all, the Lodge dance, (Wah-neck-way-la-gaw) called by
the whites by many different names.
CHAPTER XI.
THE LODGE DANCE.
The white man calls this dance the jump dance and this has caused
the Indians to call it thus when they speak of it in the white mans
tongue, but we call in our language Wah-neck-wel-la-gaw, and which has
no meaning as to a dance. This dance is held at the Pec-wan village,
and it is about one mile up the river from where the “White Deer-Skin
Dance” is held. This festival is held one year after the White Deer
Skin Dance, or is held alternately. This is the most sacred festival
that we have, and like the fish dam, we start preparations for the
festival some two months ahead and all differences and disputes are
settled before this starts. If there are any who can not or will not
settle, they must not come to see or take part in the festival, and by
this the reader can see that this once powerful and numerous tribe of
Indians, by making these complete settlements among all of their people
once a year, one year for the Fish Dam and the next year the Lodge
Dance. And could be managed by the High Priests and be well governed
without the aid of a chief, as they never had a chief. The Pec-wan
village was in olden times a very large and wealthy village. This is
where the lodge of the lower Klamaths is situated, and this lodge and
the house where all the tools of the Talth are kept, is the only one
now at this writing left of the whole tribe. In the times when the
white man first came there was one of these lodges at Big Lagoon, which
we call Ah-ca-tah, and one at the mouth of Redwood Creek which we call
Orick, one at the mouth of Klamath River which we call Reck-woy, and
one at Pec-wan. Four of these lodges belonging to the lower division
of the Klamath River, and the upper rivers had a number of lodges, but
there is not one of them left. There are no Indians left to tell of
them, or how and what they were used for, so making it at are time only
one that is left, and only two of the Talth are left to tell of the use
and meaning of the grand good that come from them to the proud people.
When all is ready the three Talth start very early in the morning and
select the timbers for putting up a complete new frame of the lodge,
not leaving a single piece of the wood-work of the old lodge, but
replacing it with new. Upon their return from selecting the timbers
the Talth then go into the house, where the tools are kept and take
them out. Those that are used for getting post and the frame with all
the sidings, they put these in a very nicely knit sack which is made
of good and lasting material and kept for this purpose, then they take
it on the outside of the house and leave it there for the night. Now
the Talth return to their homes and family, always bathing themselves,
for they are as near perfect in their cleanliness as it is given human
being to be. They go into their homes with smiles for their wives and
children, and all others that they may come in touch with. These Talth
are very firm in their manners, very witty in jokes, but slow to speak
in matters of decision. After supper they retire to their sweat-house
to sleep. There they first take a smoke and then go to sleep. Now the
ones that are the workers have already been selected for getting out
the material to put up the wood part of the lodge, and the whole of
the work must be done in one day. Every piece is made to fit in its
place, where it is gotten out in the woods, so that when it is brought
in, which is done the same day, all fits into its place. The whole
structure is set up without the use of tools; no noise and no words are
spoken, only by the three Talth, and by them only in a low voice.
Those that work to get out these timbers must all be of good birth,
not necessarily of the highest birth, but of good birth of the wealthy
and well-to-do class. Some of the ones of the highest births are not
considered to be of the right minds, with good behavior to be made a
Talth. No one of the low births or slaves are allowed to take part in
the making of the old lodge, Talth-ur-girk. We have degrees in this
lodge work, some are allowed to go in and learn a small part of it and
are never given any more, while other are allowed to learn a greater
part, and they are never given the true name of God.
[Illustration: THE LODGE PREPARATION HOUSE, AND SWEAT-HOUSE, AT
PEC-WAN, ON THE KLAMATH RIVER.
Photo by ERICSON]
This highest marriage takes twelve strings of cheek, twelve pieces
to each string, and out of the few marriages there was very few that
was good to be made a Talth, and by this they were compelled to choose
from the girls as well as the boys. The ones that were right for the
Talth, to keep from loosing the workings of the order, as well as to
keep the sacred name of God from being lost. If through famine or
epidemic it would be lost in some of the places or lodges, they could
get some that were Talth to come from Ah-ca-tah, Orick, Reck-woy or
from some of the lodges from the Pech-ic-las, so that they could fix up
the lodges and take some of the ones of the right birth and initiate
in to the secret workings of the order, and make them Talth, and build
the order up again. These things have happened many times in there long
history and occupation of this land. Now all the old lumber that is
taken from the lodge when it is to be made anew, is taken to the house
which the Talth use for there preparations, and to keep the working
tools in, and there it is used to renew the weak parts, and the rest is
used for fire wood in this house, so that none of it is wasted.
The dance, after everything is fixed and all in readiness, will last
for ten days, and when all is ready the Talth and all the workers,
which are called Wer-ner-ger-ee, go to their different homes or friends
and eat their supper, and after this is finished, all the workers with
two of the Talth go out and gather wood, which is the small limbs and
twigs of the huckleberry, which we make use of by keeping a small fire
through the night in the lodge, and on the fire we burn incense roots
which give off a pleasant odor. Now the other Talth, who is the master
of the ceremonies, goes straight from the house to the lodge, and with
him the one, or the two girls. These girl are not always a Talth, but
sometimes one of them is and has the whole secrets of the order, even
to the real name of God. These girls must be born of the highest birth
to even help. The master, when he goes in, talks or prays while the
girl or girls sweep it and place things in shape, which keeps them
busy, if there is only one girl, she does not have time to leave the
lodge. About nine o’clock the Talth with all the workers come out in
line, single file, with a bunch of wood, each one with his bundle on
his shoulder, all singing, and this in the night or evening sounds most
beautiful, as it is most perfect in time and tune and makes one feel
the love for the great Creator of all things.
When they arrive with the wood, all lay in around the top of the house
or lodge, then either one of the two Talth takes some inside of the
lodge and makes a small fire inside. The floor of the lodge is made of
marble, and they have a large bowl made of marble in which is placed
clean, pure water, and in this water is placed the roots walth-pay. Now
when the time is ready, all will come inside of the lodge and bath in
the marble bowl with the walth-pay in it. This bowl is kept secreted
and only the Talth knows where it is; the master of the lodge has taken
the bowl out from its hiding place and put it in its proper place,
and put the water and walth-pay roots in it. Now when the workers and
the two Talth comes with the wood and after the fire is started, the
two Talth remain and all the others go outside, and the three Talth
bath themselves, also the one or two girls, as the case maybe. If one
of them is not a Talth then she too has to go outside. Then the Talth
go through all the secret part of the work in the lodge, while the
girl that is a Talth remains inside of the lodge, and takes part in
the secret workings. The lodge is now opened, and all the workers are
invited to come inside. Some of the workers are Talth, sometimes nearly
all of them, if not, they are high born. They all wash themselves in
the marble bowl and all have the Indian comb, the men’s being longer
than the ones the girls have. After washing, each one washes and combs
their hair until it is clean and glossy, leaving the hair hang down
loosely, using the combs to stroke the hair back, and careful not to
touch it with their hands.
The men are perfectly naked, while the girls have a maple bark dress
fastened around the waist, hanging down to the knees, otherwise they
were nude. Now the master takes his place in the south-east corner of
the lodge, sitting on his Indian chair and in his hand he holds his
staff, or rod, which is the stalk of the walth-pay. This staff is the
stalk which grows from the herb or root that God made women from in
the first creation, and the staff is so old that it is black with age.
The next one in authority sits in the north-east corner of the lodge,
while the third one sits in the north-west corner of the lodge. The
lodge sits north and south, the entrance is at the south end, the west
side being left dark. The Master in managing the ceremonies, has a
helper (this was my part and the emblem I wear is the Dove) who sits
on the right hand side of the Master, and if there is no girl that is
a Talth, then a man that is a Talth has to fill the place, and this
one has to place and move the chair of the Master as he rises and
sits down, and if there is only one girl, then she has to preform a
double duty of removing and placing the chairs of all three officers
of the lodge, and when this happens is keep her on the move all night
until five o’clock in the morning; when she comes out very tired, yet
light hearted and very proud of her birth, her standing and the great
knowledge she has of the secret history of her people. Very few there
be that has ever been admitted to her high plane, and none has ever
excelled her. She knows that she and all the other Talth are full
blooded Klamath, and no mixture of any other blood in their veins. This
secret organization dates back to the very beginning of God’s creation
of man and woman, as this staff of the walth-pay is what God made woman
out of. This walth-pay they have preserved in this land in selected
places and it still grows here, and we still use it in all of our
secret work. It only grows in a few places, and all of us know where to
find it. They brought this with them, from the old land, and on down
through the ages to commemorate the first creation of woman.
I have offered to go to the lodge and teach one or more when there was
enough of the Talth left to do so, but now there are none left, and
they could not pick out a girl that was eligible to give it to, until
now there is no chance left, and what ever is done towards the meeting
of this old and ancient order is only a farce, and done by the low
births, the low class and the slave class. When I first told my father
that I was going to marry a white man, my people objected, saying that
if I had children they could not be admitted to the order. It was then
I told them to select one that I might teach the secret part of the
lodge to. It is sad for me to write of the inside working of the lodge,
and who can blame me. My people are passing away, being absorbed by the
white race.
Now all are inside of the lodge and they give the whole night to
chanting and praying to God, to please the Creator, to give them
health, wealth and to watch over them, keeping them safe from disease.
They keep this up until about five o’clock in the morning and then they
all go down to the house where the dance is to be held, and this house
is called Ah-pure-way. They build a small fire and place some roots on
it. Now during this time the wealthy families have moved from their
homes, bring their wives sisters and daughters to cook and prepare food.
The first dance is hurriedly gotten ready and then the dancers come up
to the house, going in and taking their places. The dance starts and
will last for ten days. As soon as the first dance is over the Talth
go to their homes to eat and rest, and the tired but proud little girl
goes to her home and eats, after which she takes a much needed sleep.
All have bathed, which they never fail to do, and dressed their hair
and combed it cleanly. There are five villages that take part in the
Po-lick-las dance, being the same ones that took part in the White Deer
Skin Dance. All Indians are invited to come, rich or poor, from any
and all tribes, from far off and near by. Far away tribes are looked
after, fed and asked to take part in the dance, even if they cannot
speak their language. They will motion to them and show them how and
give them full protection at all times and under any circumstances, so
that they may enjoy it to the fullest. This is the time that the very
poor and slave class of our own people are made jolly and contented,
proud to be known and called a Klamath Indian. They are here allowed,
both men and women, to put in whatever they may possess that is of
value, that is used to dance with. The wealthy ones that own lands,
hunting territory, fishing places, slaves, flints, white deer-skins,
fisher skins, otter skins, silver gray fox skins and fine dresses made
of dressed deer skins, with fringes or shells knotted and worked in the
most beautiful styles, that clink and jingle as they walk and makes one
have a feeling of respect and admiration for them. The eyes will strain
to look on this most pleasant sight, which can never leave one’s memory
that has seen it in its flowery days.
They take the scalp of the woodpecker, which they sew together from
sixty to one hundred in number, on a piece of nicely dressed buck skin,
the edges also being buck skin, it looks like a plug hat. They let the
ends hang as streamers at the back of the head. These are valued at
from one to two hundred dollars, having red and white fringes, which
makes them look very pretty. These head dresses are called Rah-gay and
the scalps are called cheese, whether one or many of them. They have
great strings of the long hollow shells, called cheek and turk-tum,
around their necks, hanging down over the breasts to the waist. This,
the most sacred of all their festivals, is held in a house and more of
their wealth is displayed at this time than on any other occasion. The
wealth of the whole tribe of the Klamath Indians, even the Hoopas and
Smith River, and any other tribe can put in and help in this dance.
Here in this dance the rich ones will turn over to the poorest of them
their display of wealth and go away, leaving it in their care, our
people do not use feathers but very little, less than the white people.
In the evening of the second days dancing, the Talth go back to the
lodge and the Master with the girl who is a Talth, go into the lodge,
and the Master puts fresh clean water into the bowl, pounds and places
the walth-pay roots into it and it is ready for use. The other girls
remaining in the preparation house or goes to other parts to preform
when they have things fixed for them. The Master gives prayers to God
while the other two Talth in authority will take the same ones, the
workers, and go out for more wood, the same as the first time, coming
in about nine o’clock, all in single file, led by the two Talth singing
the song as they come and place the wood the same as before. Now the
two Talth go inside and the lodge is opened, the Talth girl helping
until all is in readiness, then the workers are called in and the Talth
each take their place, the Master with his staff of the walth-pay, and
the girl in her place by the Master and the workings of the lodge are
gone through with as before, and kept up all night until five o’clock
in the morning, when they come out and go to their homes and camps to
eat. Now the dancers take up the dancing and the whole thing moves
along smoothly, without a thing to mar the good times. The Talth do not
take any part in the dancing, and are but seldom seen to take a look at
it, and the Master does not come to see any part of it, but if he does,
he just passes on, laughing joking and jesting with all the men and
women and they are more than glad to see him.
The Talth call each other brothers, and the girls sisters, and the word
brother and sister is used a great deal among these people.
When the lodge is working in its secret part of the order, there is a
guard stationed at the door on the outside to keep others from hearing
or entering. In the evening of every second day they open the lodge
until the dance has run for eight days, when they open the lodge in the
same way, in the evening for the fifth and last time. The Master and
the girl go into the lodge, while the two Talth and the workers go and
get the wood, coming back at nine o’clock, then the same performance
is gone through with, ending about five o’clock in the morning, then
all the worker are expelled from the lodge and go to the dance house
and make the fire, burn the incense roots, sweep and clean the house
for the last two days of the festival. The three Talth and the girl
remain in the lodge and finish the winding up ceremonies of the lodge
for the dance, after which the bowl, staff and other emblems and tools
are placed in their secret hiding places so that them who are Talth
know where to find them, then they come out and go to their homes to
eat, sleep and rest. Now the last two days of the dance commences,
and the finest of dresses and the most valuable of articles are used,
all the riches are brought out, showing which are the most wealthy of
family, some of which have long records dating back for generations,
telling how the family first started in prominence, and up to the
present time. This festival is held for the purpose and equality of
the whole people together, the rich, the poor and the slave, make
themselves come together in peace and harmony as one family and to make
the poor and the slave feel that there is some good to live for, and
more and above all to make them warriors, that none dare scorn. That
if any other tribe dare to violate the laws of humanity, such as to
mutilate the dead by scalping and other ways, which the Klamaths would
not tolerate for a moment, and by the Talth to keep and preserve their
old and ancient teachings of the sacred order which has been handed
down to them through the ages, which they say has never been, through
it all, down to where it is now. They say that a number of times it
has been low, yet there was enough to revive and bring it back to its
proper place, so as not to loose it in its secret parts and keep it up.
At the end of ten days the dance, late in the evening closes and the
people scatter in all directions, while the rich families, that have so
many women to help in preparing the food, and some with children, and
so much wealth to move, will keep their camp open until the next day,
and some for two days longer, until they can get everything ready for
moving home.
[Illustration: THE LODGE DANCE.]
CHAPTER XII.
OUR CHRIST.
A young woman of the Pech-ic-la’s, the upper division of the Klamath
tribe, lived at Caw-ah-man, now known as Orleans Bar. She was the
mother of Po-lich-o-quare-ick, our Christ, and never married after the
birth of her son, and lived single all her life, residing with her
folks at Orleans Bar. Caw-ah-mis-o-ma, the mother of our Christ, during
the years of her womanhood, would go alone daily to a high rock, not
heeding the remonstrances of her parents and kindred, and would ascend
the sides of this rock to its top, where she would seat herself and
weave baskets every day. She went alone every day for nearly three
years to this rock and made baskets, and one day Wah-pec-wah-mow (God)
appeared to her and said that she would bear him a male child, which
would be His Son, and this Son would be our Christ, or Savior, who
would be a very wise and talented man of the two tribes and would rule
our people.
Upon reaching her home that evening she told her parents and the people
of the tribes that she soon would give birth to the Son of God, that
God himself, having appeared before her, made facts known to her, and
that she should not be looked upon in disgrace by her people. Her
parents and a great many of the people of the Klamath tribes believed
her story to be true and they made ready to receive the Child.
Caw-ah-mis-o-ma gave birth to a son as she had said, and cared for the
infant in her father’s home, giving it the name of Po-lick-o-quare-ick,
proclaiming the child to the tribes as the Son of God. Her parents and
a great many of the people of the tribe believed in the infallibility
of the child, while a number of the people did not believe in him as
infallible, and regarded him as a bastard child. Some of our Talth, or
High Priests, did not believe in his divine birth and considered him
as the bastard son of man, however, they recognized his great powers
and wisdom as an ordinary man. Most of my people worshiped the child as
divine.
During the childhood and boyhood years of Po-lick-o-quare-ick he sought
the solitudes of a great creation, as he never played with other
children, and never mingled in the social gatherings of his people.
As a little child he played alone, and when he had reached the age of
about two years, he had a little canoe that he would play with and sail
it in the waters at Orleans Bar. This little toy boat was one of his
earliest playthings, and when he left his early childhood scenes he
left this boat at Orleans Bar on the south bank of the river in a rift
or crevice of a large rock. There, to this day the Indians say you can
see the little boat that he played with and which has turned into a
solid stone, and is still the perfect shape of a small boat. (This I
have not seen).
While yet a small boy of tender years, Po-lick-o-quare-ick came down to
the river to Ca-neck, alone, where he spent a great deal of his early
boyhood years in restless wandering, as he was never still. He would
never go with his mother, or with any one else as he went from place
to place alone. On the south side of the river at Ca-neck is a small
lake at the foot of the hill back from the river, and is surrounded
on the outer banks by marshy lands. This lake cannot be observed from
the river or village, and its existence might never be known except by
coming upon its very banks. He spent a great deal of his time playing
in his solitary ways about the lake. Just back of this lake is a rock
that our Christ used as a place where he would continually be sliding
down its side, he wore away one large and some small groove with his
heels, in this solid stone, which can be seen to this day. (This I have
seen many times and my people rub their fingers on these grooves and
then rub the fingers on their eyes, to cure weak or sore eyes.) About
half a mile below the lake, located on the same side of the river, is
another rock, where the young man went for prayers which he offered up
to his father, (God) to bless him with great powers and wisdom. As he
knelt at the top of this rock in prayer he left the sunken imprint of
his knees and feet in the rock, which is still visible.
Another rock concerning our Christ is located a short distance above
the lake on the bank of river, which was his special fishing place,
where he would sit on the rock and fish. Here also in the solid stone
is the sunken imprint of his bare feet and knees, and also the pool
of water, close by, that he cast his fish in; all of which are left
as his written memoirs of his past existence. These are his written
annals left upon the rocks; the traditions handed down through the
long centuries when the Christ himself had passed away, far out on the
ocean waves, perchance to a better land than that, which had given him
birth. (This place I have been close to many times, yet I never went
to see it.) He could speak the language of any tribe or nation without
teaching, and could peer into the darkness of the past, telling the
events of bygone times. He could gaze into the future and tell of the
events to be, so great was his wisdom; he could also command anything
he wanted, and his commands would be answered, to his every wish.
When he was in the prime of his years he took a lot of valuable things,
such as cheek, cheese (the scalp of the woodcock) and other things, got
into his canoe and started down the river and when he arrived where
Bill McGarvey’s store afterwards was built, he stopped and took a rest
in the early morning sunshine. This is the reason this place is the
warmest and most sunny the year round, that is to be found in any part
of our whole territory. After resting as long as he wished he started
on down the river. Many of the Indians followed after him, and as they
were crowding quite close he commanded that an opening be made through
the rock bluff at Reck-woy, which was done and this turned the Klamath
river into the ocean at that place, some six miles south of where it
went into the sea before, at Ah-man. (Wilson Creek) Thus they never
caught up to him but could see out in the ocean, gliding gently on
towards the west. He had previously told them that he was ready to go
and was going, that in some future time he would come back. He was the
wisest man that we have ever had among our people, he knew all things
and could do all things and we hold his name with great reverence. It
is the custom of our young women to use the expression; “when we get
married and if we have children, we wish they can talk all languages
like Po-lick-o-quare-ick.” My people for many generations look for
him to come back, but since the coming of the Ken-ne-ah’s, the white
people, they are losing trace of his name and the things that he did,
and it will soon be lost. It is now my desire, after many years of
thinking, to write it all out so it may be preserved for the American
Indians, that they may know something of the religion and teachings of
our forefathers.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SAMPSON OF THE KLAMATH INDIANS.
Kay-kay-my-alth-may, the Sampson of the Po-lick-la’s, (the lower
Klamath Indians) and the Pech-ic-la’s (upper Klamath Indians), was born
at the village of Auh-leek-kin on the river. This village is about
twelve miles down the river from the old Klamath Bluffs store, and
about the same distance from the mouth of the river at Requa. It was
once a large and flourishing village, a long time ago at the time of
Sampson’s birth, and long after he was dead.
This Indian Sampson was a tall and handsome fellow, with sinewy arms
and a body of muscle. His hair was extremely long, such flowing tresses
of beauty and strength, wherein his wonderful physical powers lay.
This man of wonderful physique was a Klamath Indian, a lone and mighty
warrior for all who opposed him; and it mattered little how many in
number were against him, they were always defeated. This warrior did
not use bow and arrows, spears or shields to defend himself in his
conquests, but used instead the sling and pebbles. He would raid whole
villages in the quest of wealth and none dared combat him but what were
defeated. The tribes feared him for his great strength, as they knew
not where he got his super-natural power.
The tribes of the Smith River, Hoopa and Klamath feared him greatly as
he reached the dizzy heights of his powers and massacres. He refused to
pay tribute to any of the tribes.
One day this warrior bold, emboldened by his triumphs, met a beautiful
and shy maiden of another tribe, with whom he fell desperately in love.
Her people were the Smith River tribe (He-na’s) with whom he was
fighting at the time. He defeated them and took her captive, and alas,
love after a time proved his utter ruin. Ah, what monarch of earth
that love will not conquer with her soothing hands! After he captured
the maiden he married her so she could hold herself respected before
all, and took her to his home at Auh-leek-kin, giving her the name of
Auh-leek-kin-on. No children came to bless this union; no childish
prattle or laughter to lift the gloom of the coming years.
This Sampson’s dwelling place was in a house where he had made a
cellar in the clay and in this cellar he always retreated at night
that he might not be suddenly surprised and taken by his enemies. His
wife yielded to his love, seeking the secret of his great strength,
and alas, mighty man and warrior, the conqueror of tribes fell before
the weak hands of the woman he loved. Day by day, so gentle and sweet
her endearing words of affection fell like balm on his troubled soul,
soothing the afflictions of a dark and turbulent career. Patiently as
the months past by she gained his confidence. Ah, ’tis sweet to yield
to woman’s wiles, though she leads you to the grave, yawning with the
grim jaws of death. In this woman’s feeble arms, this powerful man
revealed his secret, that his mighty strength was in his long and
flowing hair, the beauty of night and the strength of nations.
False woman came to dwell in his life as she gained the secrets of
his mighty powers; siren like was the touch of her fingers upon his
troubled forehead. Fascinated in the comfort of one he loved so
passionately he fell asleep, and one fatal day with his head laid
lovingly upon her lap, the cruel woman of destiny arose stealthily and
stole from the fire embers a flaming torch and burnt the raven locks
off closely to his head, as he slept soundly on.
Upon awakening, to his great alarm and grief, he found that his
super-human strength had left him. The pride of his life, his long and
flowing locks were gone, and with it his fate was sealed. The powerful
warrior lay vanquished at the feet of his enemies, to grieve his loss
as only great men can grieve.
After his enemies had captured him they decided to put out his eyes
that he might never more be able to fight them. Thus, at last, the
great and strong Kay-kay-my-alth-may was defeated by the weak hands of
a woman he had loved and trusted so much.
After he had been captured and tortured, his proud spirit gave grief so
intense that only a great physical strength could long endure. He lived
a few short years, in his native village, but the time seemed long in
his blindness. He could no longer behold the splendors of the sunrise
on the mountain tops or the splendors of the sunset on yon Pacific
Ocean. The wunderlust of his life had set in dismal gloom as he pined
away and died of a broken heart. His faithless wife returned to her
people, where she also died, leaving no one to mourn her and only the
memory of his great strength.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE DELUGE OF THE KLAMATH INDIANS.
It has been handed down from long ago that the people became so wicked,
no good was found in anything, and human progress retrograded into
destruction. Unwedded women became the mothers of a host of bastard
children as the men led a life of debauchery, and the women a life of
shame. Crimes and murders lurked in every corner, plunder and the greed
for riches followed each other in a terrible way. Men sought not honest
lives, but sought the greed and plunder of riches. Those who commanded
their self-respect and cherished their family pride became few and far
between. Profane language became the rule, laws became corrupt and
unheeded, and whole communities swerved downward in utter ruination.
God became angry upon looking down, He saw the people growing more
corrupt, year by year, where human beings eked out a miserable
existence in their greed. God appeared to one of the good men,
(a Talth) a man who had always lived an honest and upright life,
respecting his fellow men, and observed above all, God’s moral laws. He
appeared to this man, Gus-so-me, who possessed in his secret breast the
true name of God, and God said unto him that He was going to destroy
everything on earth with a great flood, as the people had become so
wicked that He would no longer endure the sights of such wickedness.
Gus-so-me pleaded with God not to destroy the people by flooding the
world, and God then told him to go forth among the people and see how
many good ones he could find, he could find but one more, so God told
him to prepare a raft, as He was going to destroy the world with a
flood. This one man that had the abiding faith of an honorable man
was Haw-gon-ow, also a Talth. God now appeared before their two High
Priests and bade them prepare for the final deluge as there was no good
people to be found on earth, except the two Talth and their wives. He
bade them to build a large raft upon which they would float while the
rest of the creation would sink beneath the rising waters and perish.
Gus-so-me and the Haw-gon-ow began at once to build the raft, (men-up)
while the people continued in their wild revelries, jeering in contempt
at the two builders, but they heeded them not and worked steadily on.
When the two Talth completed the raft He caused it to begin raining,
and it rained steadily, causing the waters to rise higher and higher,
until the o-plah-peck (flood) waters covered the entire world. When
the waters came up around the raft the two Talth took their wives,
Ger-ke-er and Ca-wa-mer onto the raft, where they remained and floated
upward as the water rose. These two wives were also Talth, and our holy
order was kept intact over the great deluge. They carried with them
upon the raft, the herb, or walth-pay, which as before kept perfectly
green and bloomed, they also took with them the raven and the dove, but
all the other species of the earth were left, and they were destroyed
in the great flood. It rained steadily for many days and nights upon
a terror stricken world, until all the valleys and lowlands were one
continuous sea, and only tops of the highest hills and mountains
remained uncovered, where the people stood huddled together, as they
had been steadily driven up the mountain sides by the water. And still
it continued to rain, the people running hither and thither, piercing
wails went up as the terrible apprehension of destruction was upon
them, their piteous cries were only answered by the rising waters as
their bodies were tossed a moment upon the angry waves and then sank
to their graves in the unknown depths. Soon all the highest mountain
peaks were covered with water and the world was one continuous sea. All
living creatures had perished from the earth, as they had sank beneath
the waves to live no more.
When the rain stopped, Gus-so-me sent the raven (bua-gawk) forth from
the raft to see if it could bring any tidings of dry land. He flew away
over the waters until he found some dead fish and never returned. This
is the reason the raven ever since has lived on carrion and always
remained so wild, inhabiting the far off crags of the mountains that
command a view of the surrounding country, so they can see any one
approaching, and fly away. After a few days had passed and no tidings
of the raven came, Gus-so-me sent forth the dove, (aw-rah-way) and
after it was gone a short time, it returned to the raft with a twig of
the pepperwood. Gus-so-me now knew that the waters on which he floated
were going back, and soon there would be dry land, and from that time
on, the Indians have had a great reverence for the dove. We carry the
symbol of the dove in our sacred lodge, and teach the children from
childhood never to harm the dove, and we never harm it in any way.
After the return of the dove the raft floated on the waters for a few
days longer and finally rested on the top of a very high mountain,
known as Ne-gam-alth, which is located in the far north-east on this
continent and not across the ocean. This lofty peak glistens in the
sunlight and can be seen from a great distance. The raft as it rested
on this mountain, turned to white flint, and when the sun shines this
flint glistens brightly. In our traditions only one man has ever
climbed this mountain and returned to our people since the flood,
bringing with him a piece of the flint, and since this time we have
used the white flint at our festivals, it being the most valuable of
all other kinds.
When the waters went down sufficiently, God commanded Gus-so-me
and Haw-gon-ow, with their wives, to go down from the mountain and
re-populate the earth. From these two Talth and their wives came our
present people, and they again scattered over the continent. In coming
down from the mountain top the Talth carried with them the walth-pay,
the same as they did when they first made their long journey from the
land of Cheek-cheek-alth. This divine herb bloomed perpetually again,
and Gus-so-me, with the assistance of Haw-gon-ow, in using the correct
words of their prayer to God, could command with the herb anything they
needed for human existence, as their prayers would be granted by God.
God now created the animal and plant life that was destroyed during
the flood, with the exception of the raven and the dove, which the
High Priests carried with them upon the raft. When the re-creation was
made, God first made the white deer, then the red eagle, the same as
in the first creation. He also placed the rain bow in the heavens as a
promise to Gus-so-me and Haw-gon-ow, that he would never again destroy
the people by flood, but if the people ever become so corrupt again
He would destroy them with a great fire burning the world. When the
Indians see the rainbow in the heavens, they always look upon it with
the assurance that it is the promise of God, that He will destroy the
world no more with rain. When the heavy rains fall they always say that
it will not continue to rain very long, for the next time all the world
will pass away in flames.
The Talth bring down the traditions that when they first arrived in
this land, the white race which they found here were a highly moral
race. They lived in peace and happiness and crimes were things unknown.
With the passing of this white race, passed the age of innocence and
peace.
Upon the arrival of the present white race, the Indians first
believed that it was the ancient white people returning. The tribes
rejoiced as they thought peace and happiness would reign again, for
the Wa-gas had given them their faithful promise that they would
some day return. Alas, the sad mistaken identity of these people for
they were foreigners who took advantage of our hospitality, and soon
wanted to claim the land of our forefathers. Crimes followed in their
footsteps of extermination, together with race hatred has covered
nearly sixty-five years of their annals. Worse than the shot and
shell, it brought the pride of our race to their graves long ago. The
introduction of whiskey brought desolation and ruin upon us, without an
example story to tell. They ruined the splendid morals of our women,
and led them to prostitution, which they had never known since the
re-creation of our kingdom. They filled their bodies with loathsome
disease that we had never known since the world began, and our Indian
doctors gave up in despair for they could not find any cure for these
diseases. When our loyal good men rose up and remonstrated against
these outrages, these foreign white men were wont to abuse us and call
us savages, and sent some of the tribes away to distant reservations to
starve and die. They called our women “Squaws”, and our men “Bucks”. It
seems they had an idea that we did not possess human souls, cherished
with the human love of devotion. They claimed our lands and their
historians termed us as, “the wild denizens of the forest,” as if
we were foreigners in the remote ages of a vast antiquity. Fortune
seekers, gamblers and cut-throats lived with our women in adultery
until they grew weary of them and left them with children. Poor little
children of their own flesh and blood, children without a birth and
without a parent to legalize them as his own. The fathers of the animal
kingdom are proud to fight for their young and will not abandon them,
even in the jaws of death. Can such a class of people as this have a
soul, when they have committed such outrages upon my people and have
disgraced the living by their deeds? The origin of our race was proud,
the proudest that ever walked the earth, and when these children find
their pride forever robbed by no fault of their own, their proud
hearts break down in the sorrowful years that follow, as their fallen
parentage leads them to unhonored graves. Such sorrowful processions
as these follow each other under the gloom of oppression. I have today
looked among my tribe of the Po-lick-la’s and the Pech-ic-la’s and am
deeply grieved to find but very few babies born of good pure blood,
that is not tainted with the virus of venereal diseases. Where do these
pathetic conditions arise? We are reluctant to point again to the
white man. In some instances a large family of brothers and sisters do
not know their true relationship. I dare say, perhaps each one came
from a different father, and the father comes from God knows where,
and has gone they know not where, but such a father will undoubtedly
answer at the Throne of the Almighty God. I pray that God may have
mercy upon such children who are left to suffer the disgrace of an
unworthy parent. Today where the Klamath rears its regal monarchs of
the forests, where it rears its lofty mountain peaks from its rugged
shores, and mingles its waters with the Pacific Ocean, this glorious
country once in its beauty and pride, I have scanned its hostage and
find not one, whose birth will admit them to that holy lodge, not
one who can burn its sacred fires at the sacred alter. The Talth are
waiting ever, for no more will answer their piteous pleadings, to save
and cherish a sublime religion. A precious few of the middle aged have
the birth, but their morals in a larger sense, have been corrupted,
their integrity has been undermined until they think a promise broken
is better than a promise kept, therefore, while the world lasts they
can never be admitted to this sacred lodge. Some of the ken-ne-ah men
have been honest enough to wed our women under their laws, and some of
them have married under both the white man’s and the Indian’s marriage
laws. Most of these men have brought up large families, and the
children from these unions, on an average, make men and women that the
American nation might well be proud of.
The High Priests say today, that from their ancient teachings, and
their ancient religion, that the corruption of the ken-ne-ah’s (whites)
among themselves, and the demoralization of their own race, that the
two races are becoming very wicked. Men and women alike use profane
languages, men debauch their women into prostitution, the whiskey and
wine from the saloons pierce the hearts of young men and women alike,
breaking up the ties of peaceful homes, and tearing asunder the love
of human hearts, thus leaving desolation as it goes on. The greed for
riches by trickery and deception in general leads the Talth to believe
very strongly, that ere long God will send the great conflagration that
will consume all the world in flames, and that its people will pass
away. Over their ashes God will create another people, where they will
build their stately mansions, of the soul unto God. Over the ashes of
the obliterated ages, will prosper a new people with new governments,
and new laws, and the ages of peace and happiness will dawn again,
shedding its radiance of glory over the entire world. Thus have
prophesied our High Priests.
CHAPTER XV.
THE HIGH PRIESTS.
The Talth are born under the highest marriages, and there has been
at no time but very few of them, on account of the scarcity of cheek
(money) to make the marriage. There had to be twelve pieces to make
one string, (caw-ton-a) they count them only as ten pieces, and it
makes twelve strings, so that when it is counted there will be one
hundred and forty-four pieces. The woman that a Talth may marry does
not have to be of a Talth family, but can be born of the middle or
wealthy class. Her people can match back, or nearly so, in valuable
articles for the twelve strings of cheek, that he gives. Under such a
marriage as this there may be several children. Now if the mother and
father are full blooded Klamath Indians, then their children are of
the right birth, yet there may be one, and perhaps two of them, which
is not often the case, that might be of the right disposition, close
of tongue and bright of mind, so as to weigh all matters of whatsoever
kind intelligently, giving a broad minded and liberal decision in any
case. This applies the same, both to man and woman, and if all is
satisfactory, either he or she, under the birth can be admitted to the
Talth lodge, and sometimes they are taken through only one part and
cannot go further, and sometimes they are taken through two parts and
are not taken any further, and but few are taken through the whole and
become a Talth. And no less a number than three can act in the lodge,
and make a fourth to be a Talth. Now all these other children are of
the high birth, and are put to act in many important places to fill at
the festivals and in other ways. Many of them never make an application
to become a Talth, and many of them are rejected, and not allowed to
even make a start if their conduct is not proper. There never has been
one born that is half white, or any part of any other tribe, that was
ever admitted to the lodge. They must be full blooded Klamath, of the
upper or lower division of the tribe, and down the coast from Ah-man
to Trinidad. The upper rivers from the junction of the Trinity speak
a different language, and intermarry very freely, and have the Talth
lodge in which they work together. Up the river they have entirely
lost it all now, and have not one lodge left. At the mouth of the
Klamath the old lodge has tumbled down, but not one of the Talth is
left. At Pec-wan, twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river is the
Talth house, where all of their working tools are kept, and it is yet
in a good state of preservation, the lodge is left but it is old the
dilapidated.
We have in our breast the feeling of love for the present white race,
which love was instilled in us by the cherished remembrance of our
Wa-gas. We loved this race and this is the reason our women are so
willing to marry the white man, and so easy to be deceived by them.
CHAPTER XVI.
LAWS OF THE FISH DAM.
When the fish dam is put in, they have very strict laws governing it.
There are nine traps which can be used, one belongs to Lock and his
relatives, one to Lock-nee and his relatives, one to Normer and her
relatives, and so on down the line. These families come in the morning
and each one takes from the trap that which belongs to them, as many
salmon as they need, by dipping them out with a net that is made and
used for this purpose, and they must not let a single one go to waste,
but must care for all they take, or suffer the penalty of the law,
which was strictly enforced. After all these get their salmon, then
comes the poor class, which take what they can use, some of which they
use fresh and the rest they cut up, smoke them lightly then they are
dried. When they are dried they are taken down and packed in large
baskets with pepperwood leaves between each layer, so as to keep the
moths out of them, and then they are put away for the winter. The
Indians from up the river as far as they are able to come, can get
salmon, and down the river the same. In these traps there get to be
a mass of salmon, so full that they make the whole structure of the
fish dam quiver and tremble with their weight, by holding the water
from passing through the lattice work freely. After all have taken
what they want of the salmon, which must be done in the early part of
the day, Lock or Lock-nee opens the upper gates of the traps and let
the salmon pass on up the river, and at the same time great numbers
are passing through the open gap left on the south side of the river.
This is done so that the Hoopas on up the Trinity river have a chance
at the salmon catching. But they keep a close watch to see that
there are enough left to effect the spawning, by which the supply is
kept up for the following year. The whites have often said that the
Indians ought not to be allowed to put in the fish dam and thereby
obstruct the run of salmon to their spawning ground, and it has been
published in the papers that the fish dam ought to be torn out. One
year it was published in the county papers that it had been torn out
by the wardens, this was a false publication as it was never torn out
by Indians or whites. On the other hand after the salmon cannery was
established at Reck-woy, which is at the mouth of the river, the whites
and the mixed bloods commenced to fish for the cannery; the whites have
laws that no one is allowed to let a net extend more than two thirds
the distance across the river, and wardens are paid to see that the
law is obeyed, yet the whites set one net from one side two thirds
across, and then just a few steps up another net from the other side,
and which extends two thirds across in distance, and in a distance of
sixty yards, there will be from eight to ten nets, making so complete
a net-work that hardly a salmon can pass. Will the whites preserve the
salmon through all the ages, as the Klamath Indians have done, if they
should survive so long? Not unless they enforce the laws more strictly.
While the fish dam stands against the strain of the pressure of the
water and salmon, Lock, Kock-nee, Normer, all the girls (wah-clure)
and the boy (char-rah) remain and watch things until the water raises
and washes the dam out, which often takes two and three months, and
then they all go to their homes, glad that the dam is washed away. Lock
and Lock-nee, during all this time at the fish dam, use the utmost care
and precaution to see that they are all kept in good health, bathing
daily and keeping clean, so as not to soil their beautiful buck skin
dresses that has taken the most skillful and patient work to make,
and the most patient and skillful work to clean if soiled. All this
whole ceremony of putting in the fish dam has been carried through
so precisely with the teachings that have been handed down to them
through many generations as God’s laws, that a white man, to see it
and understand the meaning of the different parts, and then not have a
decent respect for it and carry himself accordingly, has not been born
of a God-loving mother. The writer has helped as a Normer in putting
in the fish dam and knows the meaning of every move that is made.
These sacred laws were given to us by the white race of people that
inhabited this country when my people first came to this land. The
Wa-gas in ancient times first put in the fish dam some twenty-four
miles farther down the river, at a place called by the Indians as
Tu-rep, which is a flat bar containing some eighty or a hundred acres,
and is located on the south side of the river, the north side which is
steep, being nearly a bluff, the same as it is at Cap-pell. The Wa-gas
changed it from Tu-rep to Cap-pell, saying that Tu-rep was to close
to the ocean. At that time the river went into the sea at Ah-man, six
miles north of the present mouth of the river at Reck-woy. Cap-pell
gave more of a chance for the people to get to the fish dam, and
therefore benefit a greater number of them. They taught my people to
put in the fish dam, and gave them all the secret and sacred teachings
of the laws governing it. This was done before the great deluge that
covered the world, and drowned all but the two Talth and their wives,
who went through it all. The present site where the fish dam is built
has been there for long ages, and the laws governing the fish dam are
very ancient, and are now lost forever. They may put it in, but not by
the sacred laws and regulations that was used so many generations, as
they are lost, and no one can get them.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE ANCIENT HOUSES.
Many of the houses of the Klamath River Indians date back to the
prehistoric centuries of the long, long ago, and have been repaired
and rebuilt many generations. Some of them are hallowed with alluring
traditions and inspiring history, when our people were powerful and
ruled a mighty nation. The Indian name of these houses is Oc-lo-melth.
One of these houses is situated at Wah-tec, less than two hundred
yards from where the White Deer-Skin Dance is held, and is my mother’s
house, where she was born and where she first looked out upon the light
of a strange world. The surroundings of this house are filled with
the romance of centuries, together with the wonderful history of the
passing ages, as it dates back before the Indians came to this land
from Cheek-cheek-alth. They say the house first belonged to the Wa-gas,
the white people that were here when they first arrived. The Wa-gas
were very fond of pets and while they lived in this house they kept a
number of deer as pets.
When the Wa-gas left this land, they left behind at this place a young
man that was half Indian and half white. He remained for some time
and cared for the pets, as the Wa-gas cherished them. The young man
became lonesome for his people, in spite of the fact that he was very
devoted to the deer, and one day he answered the call of the Wa-gas
and followed in their footsteps, to join them in the far north. As
he was leaving he asked the Indians of my ancient blood to care for
his pets, as he would be absent and never return. This my people have
done according to the request of the young man and out of their great
friendship between the two races. This ancient house became a hallowed
spot where sacred memories fill its every surroundings of a people that
have passed away in silence long ago.
In one corner of this dwelling, within its walls, is a large stone
trough which was made and placed there by the Wa-gas untold centuries
ago, so they could feed their deer. The deer were fed upon the stalks
of tobacco and the walth-pay, the stalks being pounded into fine meal,
mixed together and then placed in the stone trough for the deer to
eat. It was said for ages, and up to the advent of the present white
race, that the spirits of the departed Wa-gas would come earthward in
the deep shadows of the evening time and open a door, which was made
in the corner of the house for that purpose, so the deer could come in
at night and feed upon the meal. The deer would stealthily emerge from
their forest homes at night and upon finding the door open would enter
the house and eat the meal, then just before the break of day they
would silently vanish into the forests, and the door would be closed
when morning came. My mother has seen the deer coming toward the house
in the dark shadows of evening, but she has not seen them for a good
many years, as they have become hunted beasts of prey.
Through the memory of the passing ages the Wa-gas left this land before
the world was covered with water, and according to these traditions
this house goes back for hundreds of centuries. This house has
survived, with its long line of descendants, but it is now fading in
the storm of years that are passing, and the place of its ruins will
soon be forgotten.
There are a number of these old houses in the different villages along
the Klamath river, from its source to its mouth, and on the coast from
Ah-man to Trinidad. At the present day most of them are deserted, and
are left to sink into ruins and oblivion.
The rattlesnake is called May-yep-pere, and they make their dwelling
places under the ground and in the dark recesses. The children born in
this house are not afraid of these snakes, as they never harm them.
The snakes crawl out and over the house without restraint. I had no
thought of fear, as the blood of ages had made me akin to these fierce
reptiles, where my people had sheltered them and fed them for thousands
of years. In olden times the whole family would go away and leave
the house alone for several days, sometimes for two or three weeks,
and during their absence the snakes would creep out over the house
and lie about in numerous places. If a stranger tried to approach the
house they gave him warning, and if he attempted to enter they would
at once be aroused into a fury and would attack him. My mother says
that strangers have attempted to enter the house while the family was
away and have been severely bitten by the rattlers. Therefore, the door
of this house was always left unlocked, as no one would ever attempt
to enter it that knew its strange history. If the family was at home,
strangers could come and go at their will, as it was never known that
the snakes ever attempted to harm any one while some member of the
family was present.
When the family would return from their sojourn, the head of the
household, or someone who was born in this house, would precede the
rest. I remember it was always my mother’s duty upon reaching the door
of the house, and she would begin talking in a low tone of voice,
saying: “We are coming home, we are here now and you must all go out of
the way.” Upon hearing her voice the snakes would immediately begin to
creep away to their hiding places. Upon entering she would begin to tap
lightly upon the floor with her cane and would keep talking until all
the snakes would disappear, after which the rest of the family would
enter the house, talking, laughing and playing without any thought of
the snakes ever harming them.
This historical house is now owned by my mother, and in which she
has not lived for fifteen years, but up until about five years ago
she would go almost every day and build a fire in it and sit around
the house and weave baskets. In the past five years it has not been
repaired and has racked into ruins, so bad that she does not care
to enter it any more, except on special occasions when she wants to
break up something. For the past twenty years she has been breaking
and pounding to pieces the stone bowls, trays and all the ancient
implements that were left by the Wa-gas. She is endeavoring to destroy
all these sacred reminiscences of the prehistoric days that they may
never be ruthlessly handled and curiously gazed upon by the present
white race. The stone trough that the deer fed out of, is so large and
heavy that she cannot break it to pieces, but is letting it sink into
the ground, and it is being covered with rubbish, together with
its strange charm and fascinating history, where my pen has failed to
impress, this deep sentiment, therefore its wonderful tradition has
faded with the closing of this chapter where a new era has dawned. My
mother gave my husband two of the small stone bowls, as relics of the
days that are gone forever, and he keeps them as cherished memories.
[Illustration: MRS. THOMPSON’S MOTHER AND FATHER, AND HER MOTHER’S
HOUSE NOW DESERTED.]
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE WARS OF KLAMATH INDIANS.
The Klamath Indians as a tribe, are like all other people that have
a history dating back long before the great flood as their legends
plainly tell. They have had wars and plenty of them, through all the
ages, and never have laid down their bows and spears at any time to
any other tribe or tribes, and have at different times had to fight
every tribe, and sometimes combinations of tribes. They have many times
been nearly exterminated at different places of habitation. It was at
the junction of the Trinity River, that the Hoopas (Ar-me-musees)
would come down the Trinity River and strike them in the center of the
tribe, and kill, burn and scatter them before they could gather, and
at times they would patch up the differences with the Hoopas, and let
it go by without war. Thus the Hoopas became more bold and cruel, and
began the tactics of mutilating the bodies of the slain, or cut off
the hair of the dead and wear it when dancing their war dance. These
things when carried to a certain point would not be tolerated, so the
Klamaths would gather in great numbers, strong enough to throw a force
against them that they could not resist, burn their villages and drive
them back, taking both men and women as prisoners, until they would beg
for peace and things would be settled, sometimes for a long period. In
these settlements they gave women for marriage on both sides, so as to
make relationship between them, which would keep long and everlasting
peace periods. The Klamath Indians would take Hoopa men for slaves and
give their own men for slaves, but at all times these were of the low
birth and slave class that was given in this manner, and never of the
wealthy class.
Our tribe extended to the mouth of the Klamath and six miles north to
Ah-man, and here they had to fight back the treacherous Crescent City
and Smith River Indians, these He-nas were hard fighters, brutal in
every way, killing women and children, and when they took a fancy to a
fine looking young woman they would exterminate her people, and take
her and try to kill her by being abusive and starving her. The Klamaths
would fight the tribe for such deeds, and they would fight on and on
for many years, and settle and patch up until the He-nas would do some
unbearable act, when the Klamaths would gather a strong force and go
after them. On several occasions they nearly exterminated the whole
tribe of the He-nas. They were married and mixed in relationship with
the Klamaths for over one hundred miles up the river, but the Klamath
women dislike to marry among them on account of their cruelty. On the
other hand the He-na women were pleased to get the opportunity to marry
Klamath men. Our tribe extended down the coast as far as Trinidad,
a distance of over fifty miles, and here they had to fight back the
Mad River and Humboldt Bay Indians, which we call the Way-etts. The
Way-etts were a large tribe, fat and lazy, living mostly on clams,
shell fish, mussels and other fish. They were not good warriors, but
strong in numbers, and the Klamaths easily held them to the line of
their own territory, and with the Way-etts they would not mix in
marriage, claiming that they were too low in morals and did not make
and live in permanent homes, all the time moving and camping here and
there.
The Klamaths had some wars with the Redwood Creek Indians and some with
other small tribes, and held themselves all through the ages, so as to
have many that could call themselves pure blooded Klamath Indians.
The worst of all the wars was, that the Klamath Indians were almost
continually fighting among themselves, village against village,
sometimes close together and sometimes far apart, one rich family and
their slaves against another rich family and their slaves. The great
festival, one of which was held each year unless prevented by some
great calamity, would bring about an almost complete settlement of
their differences, and bring them together on as near friendly terms
as could be had, and caused the fighting to be stopped for nearly half
the time, in many cases stopping it for all the time. In this way the
Klamath Indians were kept from exterminating themselves, and were held
together as a powerful tribe, there being several thousand of them
when the first white men came. Our tribe was governed by the Talth and
without ever having a chief.
My people wore hats or caps that we made with our own hands by weaving
them out of our basket material, with the different marks or designs
wove into them, for many generations before the coming of the present
white people. No woman would wear a hat that she would make herself,
believing that it was unlucky for her to do so.
It is a pleasure for me to say that my people never had a war with
the present white people, for in the first coming of Ken-e-ahs we
took up all differences of a serious nature between us and settled it
ourselves, so as to make it satisfactory with them and forced it to be
satisfactory with my people. Thus we kept down those of our people that
were disposed to go to bloody wars, and only for this we might have
held the whites back for a long time on account of the roughness of
the country. It is only about seventy years since we first knew of the
white people that are here now.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MARRIAGE LAWS.
The Klamath Indians intermarry to some extent with the surrounding
tribes. The upper and lower divisions of the Klamath tribes marry very
freely, being the same tribe, with the exception that their language
is different. The two divisions are so closely associated with each
other that many of our people speak both languages fluently. It was
always considered a good marriage for a man of the lower division to
marry a woman of the upper division, or a man of the upper division to
marry a woman of the lower division, but they always preferred to marry
outside their own division if possible, as they were not so liable to
marry relations. It was not considered good to marry relations, even to
fifth and sixth cousins, as their law taught them that marrying blood
relations was a crime against posterity. It was considered a crime
for parents to bring demented or deformed children into the world.
By marriage they keep a close trace of their relationship, the woman
never loses her identity by marrying, as she takes the name of her
husband and the husband takes the name of his wife, as the following
will illustrate: a Trinidad woman marries a man of the Pec-wan village,
the Indian name of which is Cho-ri, therefore the woman is Cho-ri
woman, and they call her husband after marriage Cho-rosh; the husband
is a Pec-wan man, therefore they call the wife after him and call her
Pec-wish-on. The children are called Pec-wan-alth, and are always
addressed by these names which remind them that their mother is a
Cho-ri woman, and their father a Pec-wan. This custom is followed so
that they can trace out their relationship exactly for generations.
Occasionally a Talth will marry the daughter of a wealthy family,
however, they are very careful in selecting their wives, as they
usually marry into the Talth families, if they can marry where there
is no relationship. Some of the very rich men had plural wives, or as
many wives as they cared to support, but the average Indian had but one
wife. There has been some instances of plural marriages since the white
man made his appearance on the Klamath River, one of which I will make
special mention of. This Indian who had made eleven women his wives,
was born under the very lowest marriage laws, at the Wah-teck village
and was known as Ca-wah-ter; his parents were extremely poor, living
in poverty and squalor at the Wah-tec village, where they raised a
large family of children. The romance of his parents was very pathetic
as they had nothing to give in exchange of the marriage vows, except
some manzanita berries. The exchange of food-stuffs in the marriage
ceremony is considered the very lowest of marriages that could be
called a marriage. From this lowly marriage were born several brothers
and one sister, Ga-wah-ter and his brothers, when they had grown into
manhood, were all industrious and became good managers in securing
wealth, as the bitter taunts of the poverty of their parents urged
them on to greater ambitions. While they were children, the children
of the middle and wealthy class would not associate with or play with
them, always being coldly shunned by the other children and looked down
upon as unworthy of respect. Children of the wealthier class would
always make insinuations that the brothers and sister of this family
were born under the very lowest of marriage, that their parents were
nothing, hardly worthy of notice. These children grew up almost in
desperation, being despised so much for their poverty, and the storms
of insinuations were continually hurled at them in defiance, to become
anything better, where their birth was so lowly. When they reached
manhood, they were stricken with remorse because of their lowly birth
right, their parents were both born of good birth, their families
having at one time a good deal of wealth before they were married so
unfortunately. With that remorse of poverty sunken deep into their
hearts these young men started out in the pursuit of the Indian life to
hunt, trap, fish and accumulate all the wealth they could possibly get.
Early and late the brothers were always at work, as great ambitions
spurred them on to accumulate vast riches, and rise up from the lowly
depths, where they had been so despised. They worked and banked their
wealth together until they became very rich, then they separated
and married, each taking his portion of the wealth as they went to
different places to make homes for their families.
Ga-wah-ter, with renewed energies every time he thought of the bitter
stings of his early boyhood years and struggles, determined to become
one of the richest men on the lower Klamath River. His prayers were
so sincere, his ambitions so great, his toil so earnest, that his
reward came after the weary years of struggle, for he was now one
of the richest men the Klamath River had known for generations. He
rose to power and greatness from a miserable down-trodden child. Now
his triumphs were supreme, for he had crowned himself with success
and everlasting power, and could now look down upon those who had
scorned him so much in his youth, for they could never be so rich as
he. When his vast fortune was made, eleven wives shared his home at
Ser-e-goin village, where he spent most of his wedded life. His first
wife belonged to the upper division of the Klamath Indians, and was
the romantic bride of his life, as he had given to her the love of his
young manhood, and his tender devotion was hers throughout the years
of their wedded life. When the ten other brides had come to dwell in
their home, she remained his constant companion and counselor of the
household. One to five children were born to all the wives except the
first wife. Sometimes the wives would all get to quarreling and become
very insolent to one another, when the husband would appear upon the
scene and whip them all, except his first wife, he never punished her
as he loved her more than all the rest.
For many years, with riches, wives and children around him, he was a
powerful member of the Klamath Indians. As he grew old, family troubles
arose among his relatives and sons, which resulted in bloodshed and
loss of lives. One day, under the excitement of all these troubles, he
started to swim across the river as no canoe was at hand, and while
swimming across at Ser-e-goin village severe cramps overtook his
already tired body, and he met the tragic death of drowning. A very
large family of children were left fatherless, and the wives separated
off from the home at Ser-e-goin, each one taking her own children.
Some of these children are alive yet and have a great deal of wealth.
This closes the summary of one of the plural marriages of the Klamath
Indians.
Some of the Talth had plural wives, but they always married the first
wife by the highest marriage ceremony, so that the children born under
this marriage would be eligible to be admitted to the sacred lodge.
As before, the husband takes the wife’s name and is always addressed
by her name, while the wife is addressed by the husband’s name, an
exchange of names as well as the exchange of marriage vows. The other
women that may be married to a Talth, under the plural marriage, are
not married by the highest marriage laws, therefore, their children
can never be admitted to the sacred lodge. Plural marriages among the
Talth are very seldom, and a Talth under no circumstances will marry a
slave, or any one of the low class. The Talth usually select their wife
or husband with great care from the families of high birth. When they
marry they live very happily, and are devoted to their families. They
were never known to gamble or drink the white man’s whiskey, their soul
being free from all temptations. I will here illustrate the devotion of
one of the Talth marriages. This Talth was of a very wealthy family of
the Pec-wan village, who married a woman of the Tu-rep village. Under
the Indian laws of marriage, the husband took his wife’s name and was
known as Tur-rep-ah-wah and the wife was known as Pec-wish-on. After
they had been married for two or three years the wife contracted a
chronic illness, which made her almost a helpless invalid for a number
of years, and the devoted husband would cook, wash, sweep and attend to
all the household duties. He remained by the side of his sick wife day
and night, administering to her every want, lead her tenderly about,
take her in his canoe for long boat rides on the river, that she might
get the fresh air and grow strong again. He secured the very best
Indian Doctors for her, and payed all the doctor bills during all the
years of her illness. His kind patience and attentions towards her,
never failed him, as he continued in this way, giving up all his time
to his wife for a number of years, until at last, with all his effort,
he succeeded in almost making her well, and she is yet alive. He lived
for a few years, then died leaving her a widow.
The Talth marriage is a long ceremony, where a great deal of wealth
is exchanged between the two families of the bride and groom. This
ceremony is principally performed by the Indian money, cheek, which is
a long slender shell, conical in shape and is inclined to be curved.
It is about one and a half to two and a quarter inches in length,
and is valued according to its length, and longer the shell the more
value it is. This money is measured by the rings of the joints of the
middle finger from the inside of the left hand, and it takes twelve
pieces of cheek to make one string, which is called cor-ton-a. In
stringing the cheek they put the two large ends together and the two
small ends together, this is done to prevent the shells from cupping
inside. In estimating the value of a string of cheek, we hold one end
of the string between the fore-finger and thumb-nail of the left hand,
drawing it tightly up the arm towards the shoulder, keeping the arm
extended straight. Ten of the cheek on the string are measured in this
way, not measuring the two which makes twelve on the string, as the
twelve only make ten, according to our numeration; we do not count the
extra two cheek on the string as we wish to give full value, so that
no one will be able to find any fault as to the value of the string.
In measuring the cheek a tattoo is made on the arm where the end of
the string comes, so they can easily detect if any of the cheek has
been exchanged, should it happen to be handled by different persons.
In marriage the young Talth gives twelve strings of this cheek to the
parents of his bride, as it is the real Indian money that we brought
from the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the parents give in exchange
other valuable articles to their son-in-law. The elder Talth always
attend these high marriages, bringing with them the herb, walth-pay,
with which they give the benediction to the bridal couple, in wishing
them peace, love, happiness and success.
The children born under these marriages are selected by the Talth and
are given the opportunity to become a Talth. A Talth is very reserved
and never advances to meet anyone who is a stranger that is inquiring
into our traditions. Our traditions and religion are too sacred to
be expounded before strangers of another race, therefore the white
man has received most of his allegory from the lower classes of the
Indians. This type of Indian readily gives the fairy tales of the
tribe, such as mothers and grandmothers tell to the little children for
their amusement, and these are the stories that the white man is made
to believe as the true traditions and religion of the Indian. These
stories are no more like the traditions and religion of the Indian
than daylight is like night.
There is another marriage law that is termed among the Indians as,
“half married.” The prospective husband gives but a small sum of
articles, of little value, and receives in return a few articles of
little value. In this marriage the husband is taken to the wife’s home
to live, or in the same house with her parents, and the wife, in this
marriage, is the head of the household and the husband is compelled
to obey her in whatever she commands him to do. He is compelled to
fish, hunt, work and support her folks just as much as he supports his
wife, while the wife teaches the children and rules them absolutely,
as the husband has no right to correct his own children or make them
mind in any way. When these children become men and women they must
marry according to their mother’s wishes, as the husband has nothing
to say as to their conduct, or pursuits of happiness in life. However
unpleasant it may seem to him, he must bear it all with patience and
silence. If he refuses to obey his wife and children, she can make his
surroundings in home life very unpleasant for him, and if he wishes to
dissolve the marriage vows and she is willing, he has nothing to do but
to walk out of the house, as his wife guides the children and rules
the household, and owns everything that belongs to him, except his own
individual life, even his own children acknowledge him as their father
in flesh and blood, but no more.
There is a slave marriage where, they being absolute paupers, having no
home of their own and no articles to exchange in the marriage ceremony,
they are married by the exchange of food-stuffs, and this is considered
to be the lowest marriage that could be called a marriage. When they
have a divorce they do not have much trouble in separating as articles
are given back by their masters and a settlement is usually made easy.
In some of the Indian marriages, they do not mate happily. After they
have been married a short time, or even a number of years, serious
trouble arises and results in a final separation, and when such a
separation is agreed upon, and there are no children, all the valuables
exchanged at the marriage alter are returned accordingly. If there
are children and the father wants them to remain legitimate he must
be very careful in counting out the valuables or the wealth that he
wants returned from his wife’s people. He must divide a portion of the
wealth that he gave to his wife’s people on his wedding day, to each
child, the remaining portion is given back to him. If all the valuables
of exchange between the contracting parties are returned to him or his
people, this leaves the children as bastards, without a law to protect
them from slanderous tongues and no rights to a legitimate birth.
These children are forever looked down upon by the Indian society,
as bastards without a marriage to legalize them as the off-spring of
respectable parents. I can truthfully say that in the past twenty-five
years, and more, since the advent of the white man among the Klamath
Indians, that most of the white men have married under the half married
system, until there are no Indian marriage laws. The “squaw” gives her
“white buck” her home and supports his low born half breed children,
while he idles his time away on the Indian ranches or lies about in
a drunken stupor. Yet these same white men cry, is there no redress
for the Indian, has he no soul to save? Oh, not a soul to save under
these conditions. But why do these white men hang around the Indian
ranches and reservations, living off the toils of the Indian? There
is a pathetic story in this nefarious business of human lives. The
Indian himself has followed pursuit after his white brethren in the
half married system, or not marrying at all, until there is no sacred
marriage tie. This shows positively, that the Indian laws are forever
lost. Education is the only way out of these difficulties, for those
who have had an opportunity to attend the schools have married under
the laws of the United States, and these laws must be enforced, since
all the Indian laws have been abolished by the degenerate white men. I
trust the day is not far distant when the degenerate white man will no
longer be tolerated to camp on the reservations and leave in his path
the ruination of human lives.
Before the appearance of the white man, the marriage of the middle and
wealthy classes were considered sacred, the most sacred ties that could
bind a human being for the cause of the future generation. Divorces
were considered a disgrace upon posterity and a shame upon moral
society, therefore, divorces were few and far between. When a divorce
cause was pleaded, usually trouble ensued that resulted in bloodshed
before the case would be settled. These divorces sometimes left the
birth of the children for slanderous tongues to assail, and when these
children became of age they would resent bitterly the action of their
father and mother, and the feud would be renewed, sometimes for several
generations before a final settlement would be made. Divorces among the
Indians were very difficult to obtain, as it was ruinous to posterity,
and a menace upon society. Among the Talth divorces were unknown.
CHAPTER XX.
THE TWO FAMOUS ATHLETES.
The Indians play a game that is similar to the white man’s football
game, with the exception that the Indians use sticks and the white man
a ball, therefore this game has been termed in English as the “stick
game”, the Indian name for it is oh-wetlth-per. They select the giants,
or the greatest athletes of the tribe to make up the two teams. In
this contest one division of the tribe will offer a challenge to the
surrounding tribes, and the challenge is contested by any division, who
think they are capable and strong enough to make the meet. The Klamath
tribe usually played games with the upper division of the tribe and
often plays against the Hoopa Indians, and sometimes the Smith Rivers.
Each side would put up large sums of money and valuable articles for
their chosen team, which would cause much excitement in betting and
gambling upon the games. The side of the victorious team would win
large sums of Indian money, which would add to the wealth of their
division and make them more powerful. Therefore, each division would be
very careful in selecting their giant athletes. The tallest, quickest,
strongest and the most splendid physiques of men were chosen.
The Indians selected a level piece of ground, upon which to play the
game. There is one of these famous play grounds but a few yards from
the Wah-tec village. This game is very ancient as the Indians say that
it goes far back into the ages, and through the memory of evolution
they have carried it forward down to the present day, where it will
soon be lost forever unless the advent of the new race revives the old
spirit of the game again. Upon the play ground they draw a very large
circle with lines across it, then stepping to the center of this
circle they make a small round hole which is about ten inches across at
the surface, and from this hole they draw several other lines out to
the large circle, thus mapping out the different points of the game,
as on a tennis court. They take two little sticks, about three inches
in length and carve out a nob at each end, then they fasten these two
sticks together with a strong buck skin string and spread the untied
ends apart about two inches, then they place the two tied sticks in the
holes in the center of the court. Each team consists of twelve men,
and they have an umpire to give the signal to start the game, and to
see that no foul or unfair means are taken by either side of the team.
The men in each team have round sticks about twenty inches in length
and are straight with the exception that a hook is made or carved on
one end, which is used for the purpose of hooking the tied sticks and
tossing them about. There are twelve points to be played in this game.
When the two teams are lined up on the court, the umpire gives the
signal for them to start, and the game is on. The leaders of the teams
are watched from both sides, and scramble to see which side hooks the
tied stick first from the middle of the court with his stick, and toss
it as far as he can over his opponent’s side of the court. Both teams
now make a wild scramble, and pile up on one another in their effort
to hook the sticks again with their sticks, and toss them back into
their opponent’s territory. If one of the teams can manage to toss the
tied sticks out over the large circle of the court, on their opponent’s
side, they are the ones who win the point in the game. The team that
can win the largest score in the number of points played in the game,
are the winners. The champion team is applauded and praised loudly by
the immense crowds that gather to witness these interesting games. The
players in their wild enthusiasm for the glorious laurels of victory
usually clash together so roughly in their efforts to rescue the
sticks from the other players, that occasionally some of their number
get hurt, and often crippled for life. There are some instances where
a player has been killed outright upon the court, in his desperate
struggles against the on-rushing crowd.
In olden time when this game was played so much, there lived a young
Indian by the name of Su-me-ah-chene, who became one of the greatest
athletes that the tribe ever had. He became so skilled in the game that
he would never lose a single point. His dwelling place was on top of a
high mountain that rose up in it majestic grandeur from the north-east
banks of the Klamath River, and this place was over a distance of
five miles from the village of Ca-neck, and this mountain was named
in honor of the great champion and still bears his name to this day,
being known among the Indians as the mountain of Su-me. Su-me-ah-chene
became very proud of his accomplishments in this favorite game, and
issued a challenge to all the young men of the surrounding tribes,
as he was anxious to match himself against any of their champions.
His challenge was finally taken up by a young man who lived back of
Trinidad and whose dwelling place was also located on a high mountain,
east of Trinidad, toward Redwood Creek. The grandeur of this mountain
can be seen many miles away, up and down the coast and from many places
far back on the surrounding mountains. This mountain is covered with a
huge growth of pine and redwood timber, and is known among the Indians
as Cay-way-ett mountain, being named after the famous athlete who lived
upon its summit. Su-me-ah-chene, hearing of Cay-way-ett’s intentions
of taking up the challenge, sent him word that he was ready to play.
Cay-way-ett at once accepted the challenge, and they made arrangements
to play the game on the Klamath River, at the village of Ca-neck.
The court was selected at the lower end of the high river bar, which
made an ideal place to play the game. The two youthful giants both
belonged to the lower divisions of the Klamath tribe. Together they
made arrangements for the day when the big meet should be held. They
had now won the distinction of being the two leading athletes of the
tribes, and they sent their invitations far and near, to all the people
of the tribes to come and witness the great feat for the championship.
Inspired with a great enthusiasm the people assembled around the play
ground, in a vast multitude, that was eager, restless and talking, as
the two giants appeared upon the court with their teams. Striding upon
the court with the spring and step of the greatest of athletes, they
represented two handsome figures as were ever seen among the tribes.
They proudly met as superb beings in stately birth and tawny muscles,
and many a maiden’s heart was thrilled with emotion, when they beheld
these champions, the handsomest of men. The two champions had as yet
been proof against the arrows of matrimony, and all the pretty and
wealthy maidens of the tribes had assembled to behold the everlasting
courage and endurance of these two strong youths.
As the umpire gave the signal for the game to start, the crowds watched
with keen interest. Su-me-ah-chene and his team played hard and furious
as their opponents were close upon them and after a long and desperate
struggle he and his team succeeded in tossing the tied sticks over the
outer circle of the court, and won the first point amid the applauding
and shouting of the spectators. An intermission for rest is always held
after each point, and Su-me-ah-chene glowing in the first triumphs left
the court, and walked among the maidens to make their acquaintance and
hear their words of praise. As he spoke to many he lingered in a crowd
of up river girls, where his attention was attracted to three dark eyed
beauties, who had come from Cah-ah-man or known to the white people as
Orleans Bar, he at once made their acquaintance and lingered, talking
with them until it was time for him to join his team and play for the
second point. Renewed with strange emotions, something akin to love,
the gallant champion played furious and won point after point, until
the game was finished. He had not lost a single point in the game.
During the intermission of each point, he would seek out the three
pretty maidens, and linger in their company until he fancied himself
desperately in love with one of them. Laureled with fame and wealth,
at the close of the game he proceeded at once to the girls, and walked
with them as they mingled with the departing crowds. Walking at the
side of the maiden he was loath to part with her at all, as he extended
to the three girls a hearty invitation for them to come and visit his
home, in the village of Su-me. They eagerly accepted his invitation
as they were highly honored to get the opportunity to visit him, and
they inquired of him how they would find his house from the rest of
the houses in the village. He assured them that they would make no
mistake in finding the house, as he described to them that there was
a large pine tree standing just in front of his home. There were no
green branches on this tree as it had died a long time ago, and the
small sap-suckers had bored into the trunk of the tree and built their
homes there as they could be seen flying about the tree. He gave them
such a vivid description of the tree, that he assured them they could
not possibly miss his house. The girls were delighted with him and
departed with bright anticipations in visiting the champion in his
home. Say-gap, or the Coyote who lived in his home at the lower western
end of the Su-me village, was near the happy group and over heard
Su-me-ah-chene’s invitation and description of the dead pine tree, so
he planned to entertain the girls himself, that they may not go to
visit Su-me-ah-chene in his home.
The day that the girls had planned to visit Su-me-ah-chene, Mr.
Coyote moved the pine tree down in front of his house, and when the
girls arrived at the village of Su-me, they began at once to look
for the tree Su-me-ah-chene had described to them. After they had
looked about for a short time, one of them pointed down the hill to
the lower western end of the village, to the tree, and said that must
be the place they were looking for, delighted upon seeing the tree,
they rushed down the hill to Say-gap’s house. Say-gap met them at
the door with a cordial welcome, and asked them in, they all entered
the house and seated themselves while he was planning how he could
best entertain the girls and make himself appear very attractive to
them. He summoned his grandmother and asked her to spread a banquet
for the young ladies, and told her she must prepare the very best of
food-stuffs they had in the house for the evening meal. The grandmother
began to move about in the adjoining room in the rear of the house,
as if she was preparing the food for supper. She had a large basket
of acorn mush already cooked and hid away, so her nephew (he was her
nephew instead of her grandchild) would not eat it all himself, as he
would always eat up everything that was good and let her go hungry.
This acorn mush she kept hid and did not bring it out for Say-gap and
his guests to feast upon. She pretended to look among the shelves for
awhile and fumbled through them, when she at last brought out a large
Indian plate of shrimps, or some sort of worm, that looked very much
like shrimps. She came into the room where Say-gap was entertaining the
girls and began to roast the worms on the coals. The worms would twist
about on the coals, pop and fly all over the house. The girls looked
at one another in dismay, and wondered if this was the best food that
his house could afford, they became very angry and said that they had
been deceived. Rising from the seats they told their host that they now
did not believe him to be Su-me-ah-chene, but he was an imposter. They
fled from the house in a rage and returned to their homes at Orleans
Bar. Say-gap followed them home and kept pleading, saying he was
Su-me-ah-chene, their much admired champion of the “stick game.” This
made the girls more peeved than ever, so they made a resolution among
themselves, that they would not accept Su-me-ah-chene’s attentions or
consider any excuses that he might offer, if they chanced to meet him
again.
After a few days the girls received word that Su-me-ah-chene was going
to play again at another big meet, so they all agreed to go and see
it as before. At the meet Su-me-ah-chene in his usual good spirits
was animated with glory upon winning the first point, so during the
intermission he resolved to find the three girls and inquire why
they did not keep their promise to visit him, as he felt very much
disappointed. Upon finding the girls he greeted them in his usual good
humor, but they drew themselves up haughtily and refused to speak to
him, as they believed that he was making light of them and having a
lot of amusement among his friends at their expense. As before he won
all the points, and during the intermissions he would return to the
girls, thinking perhaps he could find out what was wrong and win their
friendship again. The girls as before treated him very coldly, and were
so haughty that they would not listen to any of his excuses. Toward
the closing of the game the three girls moved over on Cry-way-ett’s
side of the court, which provoked Su-me-ah-chene. When the crowds
started for their homes after the game, Su-me-ah-chene said he would
go down to the mouth of the river, at Reck-woy village to visit for a
few days, as he had been turned down by the three girls. Upon reaching
the village, a host of pretty girls were glad to meet the much talked
of champion, and all greeted him with a royal welcome. When his visit
ended, he announced to the girls his intentions of playing another game
at Ca-neck with the Cay-way-ett team, and gave them all an invitation
to come.
Again another game was being held at Ca-neck, for the championship
between Su-me-ah-chene and Cay-way-ett. All the Reck-woy girls were
to be present, and were highly honored to think that Su-me-ah-chene
himself had invited them. Su-me-ah-chene and his team as usual won the
first point and during the intermission for rest he went among the
Reck-woy girls to visit with them. They were all pleased to be honored
with his company and marveled over his great athletic feats, and he
soon fancied that he was falling in love again. This time with one of
the pretty little Reck-woy girls.
Su-me-ah-chene won every point as he had in the previous games, and
after receiving the cheering congratulations of the Reck-woy girls,
together with the maiden of his choice, he invited some of them to come
and visit him at his home. The girls were pleased over the invitation
to visit him, and promised to visit him in a few days. He described to
them the dead pine tree, where the sap-sucker would be flying about, so
they could easily find the house, which was located near the center of
the village. Four of the girls came to visit the champion as they had
promised, they crossed the river and climbed the hill to Su-me village,
where following his directions closely they easily found the tree and
the house. They found him home, and entered, he appearing handsomer
than ever, as he greeted them with a hearty welcome, and said he was
glad they had kept their promise. He entertained them so nicely that
the time went by quickly, and he was loath to have them depart so soon.
They were having such a splendid time that he suggested they spend the
night at his home, to which the girls readily agreed. The next morning
the girls returned to their homes at Reck-woy, very tired and happy
after being so pleasantly entertained by the young champion. A few
days after the departure of the girls Su-me-ah-chene decided he would
go to Reck-woy and return the visit, and during this visit a romance
developed into matrimony, as he wooed for his bride the pretty maiden
of his choice. After the wedding the proud little bride accompanied
her husband to his home, where she began housekeeping in an elegant
fashion. Meanwhile his rival Cay-way-ett and the maid of Orleans Bar
had married.
After the wedding of the giants, they were very happy with their brides
only for a short time, and they challenged each other for another game,
to which they both agreed. The multitudes of people had assembled to
witness the big meet as usual, to applaud and praise their favorite
champion. While the two giants were engaged upon the court with their
powerful teams, the wife of Cay-way-ett stole away from the crowd
to the home of Su-me-ah-chene, upon reaching it she entered, and
selected one of the beautiful dresses of Mrs. Su-me-ah-chene and gowned
herself in it. She dolled herself up very handsomely in the dress and
ornaments and seated herself in the seat of honor, as being the lady
of the household. Su-me-ah-chene approached Mrs. Cay-way-ett believing
her to be his wife, as she assured him that she was his Reck-woy wife
instead of the bride from Orleans. Mrs. Su-me-ah-chene saw her husband,
to her great indignation, caress the other woman and at once believed
him to be unfaithful to her. She at once recognized the beautiful
dress that Mrs. Cay-way-ett wore to be her own, and all this leading
her to believe stronger than ever that this strange woman had stolen
the affection of her husband, and that he had allowed her to usurp her
of her household. Believing this all to be true, Mrs. Su-me-ah-chene
assailed her husband to his great surprise, with a hot torrent of angry
words, and fled from him, back to her home in Reck-woy. The truth
dawned upon the broken hearted champion that Mrs. Cay-way-ett had
deceived him in making him believe that she was his wife, and at once
sought his girl bride at Reck-woy, and pleaded at her feet to return
with him to their home at Su-me. But her pride had been wounded beyond
endurance, and she haughtily turned from the greatest of champions, and
the greatest of men, and left his stately form bowed down with grief,
a sense of a deep loss, and the sorrowing presence of loneliness.
Thus the true sweet bride of his affections had been ruthlessly borne
by the wings of fate, away from the love of his mighty manhood.
Grieved and hurt by this great blow, he refused the attentions of Mrs.
Cay-way-ett. This treacherous woman had sought revenge, as she believed
that Su-me-ah-chene had deceived her for his own amusement, when she
first visited him at Su-me, and the Say-gap had followed her to her
home at Orleans Bar. As the wife of the other giant, Cay-way-ett, she
became enamored with the mightiest of athletes, Su-me-ah-chene, as she
remembered he was once her lover. Having lost his love after he became
the champion, she was thrilled with passions for his great victories,
and determined to deceive him. She falsely declared to her husband
that she was going on a visit to her people at Orleans Bar, and he
readily consented to her going. For a time he believed that his wife
was visiting her people, but to his great disappointment he found her
to be unfaithful to the marriage vows, as she was attempting to win the
love and admiration of Su-me-ah-chene. Thus the greatest of men were
robbed of the affections of their young brides, the cheer and comfort
in their homes of fame and wealth, and the love of a glorious womanhood
had faded. The moral of this story is to impress the fact upon the mind
of a young bride that if she is fickle with the love of a great man,
and plans to deceive him, in the belief that she will win a greater
man, and a greater love, she will most likely to her great sorrow lose
them both. Far better to love the truly great, who love you in return,
than to lose that love in plotting and planning, for the greatest who
love you not.
CHAPTER XXI.
PEC-WAN COLONEL.
Pec-wan Colonel (his Indian name was Me-quin) had been for the last
fifty or sixty years, the richest Indian among the lower Klamaths.
When standing erect he was probably a little over six feet, of medium
build and was very graceful in his movement. He was a fine looking
man, and every inch an aristocrat. He was a descendant of a very
wealthy family on both sides of the house, and his mother was born
in the Cor-tep village, about one half-mile below Pec-wan village.
There was five boys and two girls of his mother’s family, his Uncles,
Aunts, and Grandmother on his father’s side, belonged to the upper
division of the tribe, and they too were a wealthy family. Pec-wan’s
mother was from a family of doctors, his mother and her two sisters
being doctors, his mother was without question the most noted and
prominent woman doctor that the lower rivers had among them, for the
past seventy-five years or more. When she married his father, whom
they called Cor-tep-pish, by his being married to a Cor-tep woman, she
married a man of a very wealthy family, and when her mother and father
died they cut her off, and did not give her any part of the riches of
her own family, but divided it among the four sisters and two brothers.
She had five children, three girls and two boys, the Colonel being the
third child, and he followed close in his mother’s ways. She would go
out and sit on her door-steps of the front porch, stoop over with her
elbows on her knees, and comb her hair over her face with her fingers,
then rest her chin on her hands, and sit gazing into the distance, and
other ways, thereby causing all to be afraid of her except the Talth
and their families, over whom she had no control. All the wealthy and
slave classes became sorely afraid of her. Whenever the people would
see her sitting thus, they began to murmur among themselves, saying
that she was trying to make some one sick, and that some body would
be sick. If some one should become sick anywhere within a distance of
a number of miles from her, their first thought was that she had made
them sick, and she was the one that could cure them. These doctors
are paid in advance for their services, and when they came after her,
instead of accepting what pay they brought and offered to her, she
would talk with the greatest of shrewdness, comment on the case and
demand of them the most valuable articles which she knew they had, and
would scheme to get all she could. She seemed to have a magic power
to cure, and did cure in most cases as she had perfect confidence in
herself, and gave perfect confidence to the sick one of her ability
to make them well; somewhat on the same principal of the Christian
Scientist among the people of today. But for this pay the doctor has
to cure the sick person, and if the patient should die within a year
from the time the doctor prescribed for them, she is compelled to
give back all that was given to her. This doctor seldom had to return
her fee and gathered wealth in abundance, and succeeded in her shrewd
practice. Taking from her brothers and sisters the entire fortune
that her mother and father had left them, she had power and influence
among her people. She tried to make doctors of her three daughters,
but they became the most commonest kind. She turned nearly all of her
fortune wealth over to her son, the Colonel, and while he did not have
the shrewdness of his mother, he managed in the long run by deaths
and otherwise, to get possession of the greater part of the wealth of
so many rich relations, that he too had power and influence above his
people. His walk, manner and very actions, were very impressive to any
one that met him. He would never eat in a white man’s house, my house
was the only white man’s house he was ever known to stop in over night,
and eat at the table. He was very liberal in his own house, and the
white man has had many meals at his table. Pec-wan Colonel was born at
Pec-wan village, where the Talth lodge is located.
A full blooded Klamath Indian, born of wealthy parents but of the
middle class, and with all of his wealth and influence could not become
a Talth, therefore he could at all times and on all occasions keep
his place; he knew where he could come in, and where to keep back with
perfect ease. He was closely related to the Talth families, and when it
came to festivals, he could and did lead them all with more deer skins,
silver grey fox skins and other kinds, with enough strings of turk-tum
and cheek to cover the breast of all who danced, besides long and
valuable flints, both red and black and all kind of dancing fixtures.
He always kept a large camp with plenty of provisions, and plenty of
women to cook and wait on the crowds, he was very liberal and fed many.
He was mean to his slaves and cared nothing for visiting Indians of
other tribes, only his own Klamath people, and to all of these he was
closely related to, far up the river, and he visited them as far up as
they lived. In the large festivals he could draw on the Pech-ic-las,
his relatives, for whatever he wanted to keep him at all times in the
lead. He had but one wife, she was also of a wealthy family, and when
he thought at one time to take another wife she told him plainly, that
there would be no two wives for her, that she could and would go to her
father’s home and not return, so he gave up the notion and remained
with her.
She was a good woman, very kind of disposition and pleasant of manner;
she never had any children, and has been dead now for about twelve
years. There is a nephew of his named Pec-wan Harry, he married a woman
who lived close to the mouth of the river at Wah-kell village and he is
now called Wah-kell Harry, and they have quite a family of children,
and to him went nearly all of the wealth. He too is a fine looking man
of the same build as Pec-wan Colonel.
CHAPTER XXII.
A NARRATIVE OF THE HUMBOLDT INDIANS.
The following is a true narrative of the way that the Humboldt Indians
(Way-yets) have been treated and almost exterminated by the white man.
Humboldt Bay being a harbor where vessels could come in and make a safe
landing, was the place where the whites would naturally first make a
settlement, and make a base from which to supply the miners and cattle
raisers, therefore it soon became a town. First it was called Bucksport
and afterwards named Eureka, and the whole surrounding country was at
the first coming of the white man thickly populated with Indians, there
being hundreds of them, and even up into the thousands. These Indians,
the Klamath River Indians, called in their language the Way-yets,
and the country in which they lived or around Humboldt Bay, they
called We-ott. They also had names for the different places, such as
Ar-ca-tah, (Arcata) Per-wer (Eureka), and at times they would call the
whole of the country Per-wer.
As the whites became more numerous they began to crowd the Indians back
more and more, never at anytime willing to concede that the Indians
had any right to any thing that they wanted, until the Indians began
to rebel at being drove from their homes, where they had lived for
thousands of years. Whenever they made the least resistance, the whites
were up in arms, until finally the Humboldt Indians were moved to a
reservation at Smith River and kept there for a time, among the Smith
River Indians. The Smith River Indians were not friendly with them, not
treating them kindly and many of them died there for the want of food
as they did not know the country and could not gather food supplies.
When some of them would go out to get fish or gather supplies the
Smith River Indians, being jealous of them, would follow and kill them,
and the soldiers would never say a word or reprimand them and only
laugh at them. They had no medicine case when sick and had no way of
treating the sick ones in their way. They had no sanitary provisions
and could not keep themselves clean, which they were strict in their
own homes. The young girls had no rights with the soldiers or white men
and were diseased, and if an Indian made any objection to the white
man’s treatment, they were in return kicked and abused, and often
killed, in this way many of them died at Smith River.
The Klamath Indians called Crescent City, Caw-pay, and Smith River,
He-na, and all the Indians are one tribe and they call them He-nas,
but sometimes designate the certain part in which they live, by
calling them Caw-pay Indians, So after they had been kept on Smith
River reservation for awhile, they were driven like a lot of hogs,
only with less care as to whether they lived or died, to the Klamath
River Reservation, which extended from the Pacific up the Klamath River
for a distance of twenty miles, extending out one mile on either side
of the river. When they were driven to the Klamath River Reservation
they were treated by the lower Klamath Indians in a more humane way,
as a part of the Klamath Indians were good to them and tried to see
them get something to live on, and would doctor the sick ones, helping
them as much as they could, that is, a certain part of them would.
They kept the ones that were disposed to be unfriendly to the poor
Humboldts from doing them harm, yet many of them died while on the
Klamath. After keeping them for a while the order came to move them to
the Hoopa Indian Reservation, which is situated on the Trinity River,
and comes down the Trinity to its junction with the Klamath River, and
into Humboldt County; so the Humboldts were gathered together again
by the soldiers, and were kicked and clubbed, the children thrown
into boats, and when killed they were cast into the river. While this
murdering was going on, the head men of the lower Klamath Indians,
went to the Humboldts and told them to make a break and run and hide
in the brush, for they might just as well perish in that way as be all
killed by the brutal soldiers. So a good many of them made good their
escape, wandering through the woods and the Klamath Indians picked up
many of them and took care of them for a number of years, while many
of them died from exposure and starvation. I have seen the bones of
quite a number where they had died in the heavy redwood timber, and
the soldiers took what Indians were left to the Hoopa Reservation. The
Indians here did not like them and they had no way to gather provisions
on which to live, and no way to doctor or take care of the sick, no
sanitation by which to keep clean. Once a week two or three pounds
of flour was given out to each family to live or die on. The Klamath
Indians would buy beef from the agent and give it to them to keep them
from starving, and when things became more quiet, the Klamath Indians
took the most of them that they had picked up, and took them to Hoopa,
to their own people, and left them there. After this had dwindled
down to a mere nothing, by the help of the lower Klamaths a few got
back to Humboldt Bay, their ancient home. To finish them up, as they
were having a festival on what is now called Gunther Island, just
north of Eureka, a crowd of six or eight white men, took a canoe and
slipped over there in the night with axes, club and knives and murdered
innocent men, women and children, which nearly exterminated the once
great and numerous tribe of Indians, known as the Humboldts, and by the
lower Klamath Indians, as the Way-yets. One influential Humboldt Indian
and his family, was kept safely at Pec-wan village, by Wetch-ah-wah,
(my own father) and after everything was quiet on Humboldt Bay,
Wetch-ah-wah brought him and his family back to their home, where he
lived peaceably for many years, having died only a few years previous
to this writing. Today there are not more than twenty or less Indians
living, and what are left, have lost completely all their old and
ancient customs and teachings. They never had only the most spurious
ideas of the Talth Order, when they were placed here by Wah-pec-wah-mow
(God), and given their country and language. Sometimes it seems hard to
think of man’s inhumanity, but as sure as the sun goes down, the white
man will suffer for his wicked treatment of the Humboldt Indians.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ROMANCE OF A WILD INDIAN.
This happened during the early years of my grandmother’s life, and
concerns principally a family at Reck-woy village, at the mouth of the
river. On the south side of the river is a village named Wealth-quow,
and at this place the Indians gave a large entertainment, where many
guests had assembled to take part in the dance. This dance is commonly
known in the English language, as the “Brush Dance.” The Indians always
begin dancing these dances after sundown, and sometimes dance until
late at night. Large crowds had gathered at this dance, and among the
guests were three girl friends from across the river at Reck-woy, who
joined the dancers in their usual custom of holding a bunch of brush
over their faces, so no one would know who they were. All the dancers,
both men and women hold the bunch of brush over their faces, after the
fashion of a masquerade ball. While the dancers were making merry two
wild Indians came in and joined them, with the brush over their faces
and nobody knew who they were. When the dancers finished for a short
intermission, the three Reck-woy girls left the room and went down to
the foot of the hill, about thirty yards away where a spring gushed
out of the hill-side. Laughingly they had gone to get a drink of nice
cold water from the spring, and wash their faces in the cool refreshing
water. As they left the house the two wild Indians followed them down
to the spring, and upon reaching it, they sprang upon one of the girls,
named Os-slock-o-may and captured her, covering her mouth with their
hands so she could not scream for help, and the other two girls made
their escape back to the house to give the alarm. Everything being
favorable for the wild Indians, as the thickets grew high and dense,
and the forests being near, they were soon lost in the inky shadows
of the big trees, where they carried their captive. The two Indians
traveled with the girl all night, going in a southerly direction away
from the river, and as they went along through the darkness, she would
take small pieces of her buck skin apron and tie them to the bushes,
thus making a trail which aided her followers for a long distance. When
the alarm was given that Os-slock-o-may had been captured by the wild
Indians, the guests did not dance any more, and all the men who were
able, went in pursuit of the wild Indians, to rescue the girl. They
lost her among the dark shadows of the trees, as they could not find
any trail to follow that night, and the next morning they all started
out in hot pursuit, soon finding the trail she had left, The girl’s
supply of strings had become exhausted and therefore had no means of
leaving any further trace of the direction her captors were taking her.
However, they searched the hills, creeks and mountains for several
days, but never found her trail again, and she was given up to the
wilds, and the procession turned homeward, very sad and heart broken.
Somewhere in the depths of a dark canyon among the redwoods, the wild
Indians had carried Os-slock-o-may. When they reached their hiding
place, one of the Indians made her his wife, after the fashion of a
primeval wedding. The wild Indians are always very rich in all kinds
of Indian wealth, and this wild Indian dressed his bride in the most
beautiful of Indian dresses, made of buck skin and ornamented with
shells, and lavished wealth upon her. A little son came to their home
in the wilds, of which they were both very proud, and they watched
the little baby grow into a robust, handsome little fellow, who by
nature inherited the ways of his father, as soon as he was big enough
to walk and talk. He would run away from his mother and skip among the
trees, romp among the bushes and seemingly never grow tired of his wild
revelry; he would talk and whistle to himself, and this grieved his
mother very much, as she had tried every plan to subdue him from his
wild romping but of no avail. When the boy was about six years of age,
his mother became very lonesome for her people, and wished very much
to see them again, so one day she summoned up the courage to ask her
husband to allow her to return to her home on a visit, as she said her
folks were mourning for her as lost, having given up hopes of seeing
her alive. He consented to let her go home on a visit, and that she
could take her little boy with her, so they began to make ready for
the journey as it was a long distance, and the country was very rough.
The O-ma-ha (Devil) husband who was immensely rich, dressed his wife
in one of the most beautiful of Indian dresses, and the little boy was
also richly clad, and so they started on their journey to Reck-woy. The
wild man guided and accompanied them until they neared the village of
Wealth-quow, the village from which he had stolen her on the night of
the dance, and here as they came into a small open space over-looking
the village, he parted from his wife and little son, and they crossed
the river and went into her native village. As she entered the village
she was most beautiful to behold, dressed in the most gorgeous Indian
dress, with her little son by her side, and startled friends and
relatives, who had mourned her as dead, greeted her with much surprise
as they had mourned her loss for nearly nine years. Her folks were
over-joyed to find their long lost child restored to them, and with
hearty greetings and a royal welcome, she found herself back in the
village of her birth. With breathless interest they sat listening to
her wonderful tales concerning her life in the solemn wilds, how she
had been carried over mountain and crag, and through the huge forests,
to a strange home in the cave in a cliff of rocks, where one of the
wild men had made her his wife. In this strange cave she had enjoyed
the comforts of a luxuriant home, for her husband was exceedingly rich
and was very kind to her and their child. From her description it
seemed this cave was located at the source of Redwood Creek, which we
call Cho-lu-wer-roy, in a dark canyon, which is perhaps over a distance
of sixty miles from Reck-woy, off in a southerly direction. In a cave
of this dark canyon, surrounded on every side by the giant redwoods,
she had spent nine years of her life, listening to the sigh of the wind
among the trees and strange enchantment of the babble of the brooks
down the rocky canyon. Safe in her cave and lonely, with nothing but
nature and a wild man to comfort her, she had grown more lonely as the
years crept by in her desire to see her people once more. How they
had traveled on their journey back along the creek beds for a long
distance, over high mountains and around sheer walls of great bluffs,
and through the awful calm of dense forests and overhanging thickets,
she had at last reached the home of her birth. Parting from her devoted
husband for the first and last time, she faithfully promised to meet
him again at the close of her visit, and return with him again to the
cave in the wilds. During the first days of her visit she encouraged
her boy to associate with the children of the village. But he could
not resist the calling of that wild nature he had inherited from
his father, and all of his mother’s pleadings proved of no avail in
changing his character. He would watch his opportunity and run away
from the other children and play by himself, among the dense bushes,
jumping and whistling as he would go. His mother gave up in despair in
her efforts to change his ways.
She remembered the day and place where she had promised to meet her
husband, and return with him to their home, but she refused to go
and meet him at the appointed time and place, as she said she never
intended to return, and had merely made him the promise in order to
get back to her people, and now that she was with them she would never
leave them again.
He waited in vain at the appointed place as she came not to meet him,
and after waiting a long time he came to the conclusion that she had
made him a false promise, so he crept cautiously down to the river, and
swam across to Reck-woy village, where he knew his wife was staying.
When he reached the other side, he crept up the hill-side and concealed
himself in a dense clump of bushes, where he could look down upon the
house where he knew she was staying, and watched for her. His wife
seldom ventured out of the house, as she was afraid that he would
get her again, so she kept close indoors that he might not have any
chance of getting her away again. One day he managed to attract the
attention of his little son, and he came up to his father and they
talked together, he directed the son to go and tell his mother to come
to him, as he was waiting for her. When the son delivered the message
to his mother, she replied that she did not believe this to be true,
so he returned to his father, telling him what his mother had said. He
immediately sent him back to her, imploring that she come to him, the
mother looked puzzled at the boy, and said that he must be mistaken,
but he said that he knew his father, and pleaded earnestly for her to
return to their home in the canyon. Studying the boy’s eager face a few
moments, she replied by saying that he could choose between her and
his father, he could remain with her, or go with his father, back into
the lonesome wilds. The boy at once preferred his father and bade his
mother farewell. Father and son returned to their hiding place, and
the mother, who had once cheered them in the lonesome wilds, never saw
them again, they had gone out of her life forever, like a dream that
had come and gone, and faded again, with the closing day, back into the
primeval redwoods, where you may see father and son straying together
among the mystic shadows of dream-land mountains.
When the Indians are dancing for pleasure, such as they did in the
brush dance, and any one wants them to dance faster and harder, they
shout to the dancers: “hal-o-may-yah,” which means dance harder.
In this kind of dancing the word “dance” is called “o-may-like.”
But in the sacred dances, such as the Lodge Dance, it is called,
Wah-neck-wel-la-gaw, and has a different meaning altogether.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE PROPHET WHO FAILED.
This Indian was a Smith River, and the Klamath Indians in their tongue,
called him, He-na Tom. In the year about eighteen hundred and sixty
five, this He-na Tom, while living at his home on Smith River, which
is north from the Klamath River, his wife became sick and died, and
he mourned her loss greatly. In the fall he had a prophetic dream,
which caused him to commence a sort of revival among the Smith River
Indians, telling them to destroy everything they had ever received
from the white people, discard all the clothing, houses and in fact,
burn all and everything, and go back to their old Indian way of living
entirely, and in a short time all the dead Indians would come back to
life, to this world. As it happened He-na Tom had a sister, that was
married to a Klamath River man, and they had a family of grown sons and
daughters, and this family lived in a village called Ni-galth, which
is situated on the west side of the Klamath River, opposite the mouth
of Blue Creek, some eight miles down the river from where the Klamaths
hold their White Deer-Skin Dance. So in the fall, after the Klamaths
had finished putting in the fish dam, and the Indians from all parts
of the country had been invited to come and see the ceremony, and the
White Deer-Skin Dance was going on, He-na Tom made his appearance
among them with his sayings, telling them to destroy all their white
man’s goods, burn all the houses that were made in the white man’s
way, and tear down all their Indian houses, but not to burn the lumber
of the Indian houses, thus leaving a clear opening, and for all of
them to bring all their Indian money and wealth of all kinds, and hang
it up in plain view, around him where he was lying, covered with
Indian blankets made of deer skin. He told them to go ahead with the
White Deer-Skin Dance, so when the dead ones appeared, they would all
dance with them and make a big jubilee, and all of them who failed to
comply with his holy orders, and not bring their valuables, that it
would all turn into rock or rocks, and those that disbelieved and did
not come, would themselves turn to rock. He had a great many of the
Klamath Indians of the wealthy class, all of the poor class, and a few
of the high class that was wild and willing to follow, and there was
a lot of valuable property and things destroyed, while the shelves or
tables were loaded with provision for the dead when they came, so they
could eat, dance and all be joyful, while all the white people were
to turn to rocks. Some of the wise ones of the high class, that were
versed in the secret mysteries, hung back saying no, that they wanted
to see. While they were claiming that He-na Tom had gone to meet the
dead Indians, and that he would be back with them that night, three or
four of the doubtful ones went over to where the large piles of Indian
blanket were by a fire, and on lifting up the blankets behold, there
was He-na Tom. They spoke to him, calling him by name, but he did not
answer, his followers claimed that his body was there, but that his
spirit had gone to meet the dead ones. When the old ones who were so
highly versed in the mysteries as not to be hoodwinked, had seen enough
to convince them that there was no truth in it, they shook their heads,
quietly moved back and retired to their camps or homes, saying that
He-na’s prophesies were a fake, and that he was a humbug. As it turned
out, that night He-na Tom slipped down the Klamath River, to the mouth,
and up the coast, back to Smith River, his home. So when the Klamaths
came to gather back their valuables, there was considerable of it that
the rightful owners could not find, and never did get back, which made
many of them very angry.
He-na Tom’s brother-in-law was afterwards killed, and all of his
Klamath relations were compelled to leave the Klamath River, and go to
Smith River to live for a number of years before they dared to return
to the Klamath again. I have long since found that the Klamath Indians
are bad fellows, for any one to try to play fake on. They have, or used
to have, their wise ones, that watched the different positions of the
planets, at different seasons of the year, and tell of hard winters,
of cold or warm summers, and of different harvest famines. They
sometimes had dreams that they interpreted for good or bad. Other than
this I have never heard of them ever having prophets.
Since the white race of people, that they found inhabiting the Klamath
when they first arrived there, which we call the Wa-gas, which must
have been thousands of years ago, they do not tell of ever having
come in contact with any kind of a white race, or of any other race
ever coming among them until the present white race came, which we
call Ken-ne-ah. The Klamath River is so inaccessible, winding its way
through high mountains, with no valleys, that to this day it is a wild
country with lots of game and fish. And there never has been a Preacher
of any kind among us to this day.
CHAPTER XXV.
TEACHINGS OF THE KLAMATH INDIANS ON CHILD-BIRTH.
The Klamath Indians say that a child born at the time the sun is at
the farthest north and on the point which it is to turn back south,
or as the white man counts time, would be in the month of December
and which we count the tenth month, and call Cah-mo, is the worst and
most objectionable time we have for a child to be born, most of them
die young or in infancy, and if they live they are of little use to
themselves or the tribe. A child born in the time in which the acorns
fall, which would be from the tenth of October to the twentieth of
November, and which time or month we call Can-na-wal-at-tow, is the
best or one of the best times, as these children are nearly all bright,
healthy and prosperous, and make the leading ones. While children born
in April, May and June, as we count the time, also make good, healthy
and bright men and women, and also the leading ones. Children born
between the twentieth of July and the first of September, which we call
Cher-wer-ser-a, are weakly and do not live long, most of them dying
young, but if they do live they are foolish and not of any use to their
people. Those that are born in the time the white man designates as
October, May and June, are the ones that receive the prayers of the
mother, grand parent and wise old heads of the tribe, and all look
forward to their being useful to the tribe, particularly those that
are of the high families. The Klamath Indians are a people that are at
any, and all times, praying to the great father of all, and are pleased
when a new baby is born. They take the best of care of the mother in
child-birth, but if a woman brings into the world a child that is dead
or still-born, she is looked down upon and is almost cast aside, and
has a hard time to pull through. If she dies in the struggle, there is
but little sympathy for her loss, and if she lives, she is ever after
called Cam-ma-gay, so that any and all may know her, and if she is
a married woman and has had children and saved them, and afterwards
brings one into the world dead, she is always afterwards called
Quirk-ker-alth.
In all my life among them I have never seen but few of these women, but
do know some that have met with this misfortune. The Klamath Indians
are the best in the world at handling their women in child-birth, in
the old Indian way.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE WILD INDIAN OF PEC-WAN.
This happened at my birth place and about one mile up the Klamath River
from my mother’s birthplace, at Wah-tec village both places being on
the north side of the river. At Pec-wan village, there comes down from
the east and north, a creek that enters into the Klamath River, at
or near Pec-wan village, and is called Pec-wan Creek. This creek has
three forks, the north, middle and south forks, the south fork being
the largest one. The mountain rises to a height of about four or five
thousand feet at the head of the south fork, and nearly the whole of
the country of Pec-wan, is covered with a dense growth of large timber
and thick brush. In this vast forest of timber, there are sloping flats
on the creek, and up the sides of the mountain there is oak timber, the
acorn, from which we make our bread, and which we call pop-saw. In the
Fall, which is the last part of October, and on through the month of
November, sometimes later, there was a family moved back on the south
fork, to a picking place. At these camps they most always have houses,
sometimes they are made of cedar bark and sometimes of boards, but they
are made tight and comfortable, so if there comes a rain they can keep
dry and warm, particularly the women and children. After they had been
there for sometime and had gathered a quantity of acorns, there came
some wild Indians (Oh-mah-hah) around on the outside of the houses,
and as there was quite a number of young men in the camps, the girls
were closely watched by the men, and were not much afraid of the wild
men. The men would go outside and holler at the Oh-mah-hahs to come
into the house, so that they could see them, but they were afraid to
come in, only watching a chance to steal one of the girls, and take
her away for a wife. After the Indians had gathered as many acorns as
they thought they wanted, they concluded to go back to their homes,
but two of the large, strong and athletic young Pec-wans, said they
were going to remain in the camp, and hide in one of the houses. The
rest all got ready and started home, leaving the two young men, who
climbed up to the frame, where the platform is fixed, that they put
the large basket plates, filled with the acorns on, that are hulled,
so as to dry them, over where they make the fire to cook and warm by,
the heat going up through the platform and plates, drying the acorns;
so the young men secreted themselves up there for they could not be
seen, and kept very still. In the evening the Wild Indians came, and
not seeing or hearing anyone, supposed that all had left the camp,
and after spying around awhile, an Oh-mah-hah ventured into the house
and sat down by the fire-place, and opened a buck-skin sack, which we
call ac-gure, and which has sticks inside to act as stays, to hold it
in shape, it being twelve or fourteen inches long, and carry it under
the arm, each one of these wild men had one of these sacks, which is a
sort of a magic wand, and in this, they carry different kinds of herbs.
Some of which are very good for a person’s health, and some act like
magic for poison, and with it they can kill any one they wish. Now this
wild man after sitting down, opened his sack, and took out each kind
of herbs or roots, saying as he lifted each one out, what it was good
for, and after he had taken part of them out and laid them by the side
of the ac-gure, he thought he heard a noise, so leaving his ac-gure
and the roots, he ran outside, at this the young Pec-wans jumped down
from their hiding place, and grabbed up the ac-gure and put the roots
back into it, immediately after this the wild man returned and begged
and pleaded with them, to give them back, but they refused to do so.
He told them they could not use it unless they were taught the art, by
which to use it. Then they wanted him to teach them, but he said he
never would, so they told him they would keep it. After he had begged
and talked for awhile, they started home taking the ac-gure with them,
and the wild man following and pleading in every way for them to return
the sack to him. As they kept on towards home, the Oh-mah-hah told them
if they would return it to him, he would cause any one that they might
wish for, to die, and would give them half of all he had, but they
refused, and kept on until they reached home. The wild man went with
them into the house, and they fed him, and every time they went out, he
went with them. Sometimes they would go for wood for the sweat-house,
and he would follow them closely, always pleading for his ac-gure and
acting so simple, that it seemed this ac-gure was his whole life. They
were determined never to give it back to him, and so one morning they
concluded to make a big fire in the sweat-house, put him inside, fasten
the door, and smoke him to death. They kept the ac-gure, and they say
this family, was ever after, very lucky in getting deer and other game,
as they had the Wild Indian’s devil.
This is the only time, where they caused a Oh-mah-hah to die, that I
know of. These sweat-houses, are sure an ideal place, to smoke a person
to death in.
CHAPTER XXVII.
HOW THE RICH TRIED TO BE A TALTH.
I will give the history of one Indian that was very wealthy, who
belonged to the He-na’s. (Smith Rivers) This Indian while yet a very
young man, had by inheritance, been left so much wealth that he felt
there was no part or place, but what he had the right and power to go,
and being closely related to some of the wealthy families of the lower
Klamath, and among the rest to a family of one of the Talths, which
lived at Wah-tec village, close to where the White Deer-Skin Dance
is held. When it came time for this dance, he took with him a great
many of his most valuable articles to use in the dance. He went up to
Reck-woy, the mouth of the Klamath, and on up to Wah-tec to visit with
his relatives, and take part in the dance, by putting his valuables
in. Everything went along merrily to his satisfaction until the dance
was finished at Wah-tec village. The day all was in readiness to move
down to the place where they all make a stop, and only those that have
a high birth are allowed to travel on the lower trail and go to the
place that is held sacred ground, and here, when he was told not to
go, he said, “why I am richer than any one here, I can go any place,”
then when some of his relatives told him to stay back, that he could
go on the upper trail with the others that were rich, he protested
strongly and still persisted in going, but was told plainly that his
riches counted for nothing at this time and place. That with all his
riches, he was of low birth, that his mother and father were married
in the low marriage, and that he was of the He-na tribe, and that he
could give his riches to one that was born right, to take there for
him if he wished to do so, or he could take his riches with him on
the upper road, to be used on up the hill, and at the finishing place.
At this he cowed down like a child and wept, leaving all of his wealth
and started back into the mountains, back to the very highest mountains
where the bear, panther and wolves were plentiful. All alone he went
to where there is a large rock which we call Hah-i-o-claw, and he
remained there for three days singing and praying, then with nothing to
eat he wandered on through the wild timber and brushy country, back to
Crescent City, (Caw-pay) and proclaimed himself a doctor, and always
was known afterward as Caw-pay or Crescent City Doctor and lived to be
old, and all of the old time white inhabitants of Crescent City well
remember this Indian that went by the name of Crescent City or Caw-pay
Doctor. He was an oddity and many are the jokes that the old time white
men, and some of the white women played on him. I am related to him
and knew him well, and the place where he claimed he went to the large
rock, and I will say that it is a wild country, in which there are
plenty of wild animals. I have been on this mountain often and seen the
land marks that were left there by the white race on going north.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE SLAVES.
Among the Klamath Indians there were many slaves, which we called
Ki-elth, when the white man first came to our country. These slaves
came about in many ways. Some were mixed blood of Klamath and Hoopas,
some were all Hoopas, and some were mixed blood of the Klamath and
Smith River’s, and consisted of both men and women, but most of them
were Klamaths themselves. Slavery was brought about by wars, famines,
and contagious diseases. In case of a famine there would be a shortage
of acorns, and no run of salmon in the river for two or three years,
and sometimes longer, when the winters were long and cold, or dry,
with but little rainfall. All the land and fishing places belonged to
the wealthy families, who would gather it all for themselves, leaving
little or none for the poor families, which would leave whole families
hungry and starving. They would go to some rich man’s house and offer
themselves as slaves, and these offers were usually accepted. In other
cases there would be sickness start in a well-to-do family, and often
be a death or doctor bills to pay, and no chance to gather acorns or
fish or hunt until they would be reduced to poverty and become hungry
and offer themselves as slaves to some rich family or some big doctor,
which was most of the time accepted. (This is something like what the
white doctor is doing today among his own people.) Sometimes in war or
fighting they would take them and let them be slaves in other ways. Now
these wealthy families would have very large and commodious houses,
and a house would be full to over-flowing in numbers and all would be
mixed up in conversation, and at the time of eating the slaves were
first waited on, while their own children sat back or helped to attend
to their wants, and they were served with as good as their own family
had, and were treated in a way that made them feel at perfect ease in
every way. Often times when the houses would become too crowded they
would build another house and let them move into it, as these wealthy
families kept close touch with their relations or kindred so as not to
marry those that were their own kindred. Sometimes there were families
that had slaves that were not good to them, fed them poorly and refused
to doctor them. These are not hard to select, as one will hear it
mentioned at all times. I have seen and known many of them that were
slaves and were born of slave parents, and some of these slaves were
so well treated by their masters that they at this time claim kindred
with the children of the masters and the families of the masters are
so tender in speaking to them of it that they do not let them know,
unless they become too familiar or make the claim too bold, when a few,
very few words will halt them in their claim for all time. These slave
children are the kind that are mostly the Indians that are left today,
and trying to make themselves and the white man believe that they
know the true legends of the Klamath Indians, when in truth they do
not know, and what they do know, such as not being allowed in certain
places, and their birth and so on, they deny to the whites so as to
hide their once low standing.
These slaves were married off, and any and all were allowed to redeem
themselves, to buy their freedom. Many in war times, for bravery and
daring deeds gained their liberty, and after gaining it would be
successful, become rich and buy back their brothers and sisters, or
a part of them that they liked best; and after a long time, by good
marriage, they could get their family back to a good standing among the
people, but they are kept close track of through the generations and
can never get to where one of them can become a Talth and go through
the secrets of the lodge or order. They must be of free born parentage
for all time before they are admitted to be a Talth. By this the reader
can understand that only the learned ones are competent to give the
true legends of their people, just as it is with the whites or other
people.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE WILD INDIAN OF MO-RECK.
This happened many years ago at the village of Mo-reck, which is
situated on the north bank of the Klamath River, just below where we
put in the fish dam. Up to within a few years ago there lived in this
village a family named Plats who had three boys, one of which became
sick and died, and in burying him they followed out the old and ancient
custom.
The house in which the family resided was very old, and the name of
the house was Plats-ah-chene, the boys were called Plats-ots-ene, and
the family was very rich. When the rich bury their dead they often put
more less valuables in and on the grave, and they did in this case. The
sand is put over the grave and kept dry by a board, so they can at any
time by looking at the grave, see if any one has been meddling with it,
or robbing the grave of the valuables, which has been done many times.
So the other two brothers of the dead boy noticed one day that things
did not look just right, and on a close examination they discovered
that it had been robbed, and after fixing the grave they kept watch for
the person or persons that done it, as there was left a part of the
valuables in and on the grave. So early one night as they were sitting
close to the grave, they heard a noise and kept very still, soon they
saw a man moving along like a shadow in the dark. This wild Indian
seemed to feel the presence of the watchers and kept moving stealthily
around, but was afraid to come up to the grave. So finally the wild
Indian (Oh-mah-hah) left and went down to the river and swam across to
the other side, landing just below the Cap-pell village. One of the
brothers cautiously followed behind, telling the other brother to go up
the river on the north, and keep on the old trail, and keep a close
watch and see if the wild Indian tried to swim back somewhere above
Cap-pell, while he took a boat, crossed the river and kept close to
the Indian, who went up the river and swam back to the north side just
below the village of Wah-say. So the brother on the north side went
too far up the river and missed the Indian, so when he arrived at the
village of Ma-reep and took a boat and crossed over to the south side
just below Ma-reep, and remained there on the south side by a large
hollow fir tree, which is called Ta-po, and close to the trail, thus
the two brothers were both on the south side. The Indian on the north
side became afraid and worked his way up the river until he came nearly
opposite Ca-neck, and then swam across to the south side again. As he
was dodging from tree to tree, as was the way of these wild Indians,
he came up to the large fir tree. The brother that was in the hollow
of the tree made a quick grab and caught him with a firm hold, and as
he was wrestling with him the other brother came to his assistance
and together they held and tied him fast to the fir tree. This Indian
was painted all black with some kind of a mixture of pitch and other
ingredients. He begged to be let loose and offered to give them half
he had, also if they had any enemies to tell him and he would cause
them to become sick and die. This Indian had the ac-gure sack which he
carried under his arm but refused to give it to them, telling them that
they would soon die as they did not know how to handle it, and he would
sooner die himself than tell them how to handle it. So the two brothers
left him tied to the tree after trying to persuade him to give them the
sack, and in the morning they went home, thinking that their folk might
become alarmed at their long absence. Upon their arrival they told
what they had done, and after eating they went back to the Indian and
began another bargain with him. At this he agreed to give them all the
wealth he had if they would let him go, but he still refused to give up
the ac-gure sack, as it contained poison, and a charm which they could
never use unless he told them how, and this he would never do. So they
finally agreed to take his wealth and let him go, so he led them to his
home which was west and south to a place on Redwood Creek, where there
was a cave in a clump of large rocks, some twenty-five miles from their
home. When they went into this cave-house they found that he had great
wealth stored there, and they took it all home, leaving him there with
his ac-gure to gather up more wealth with, and he was never seen again.
The Klamath Indians never kill these Wild Indians, but in many cases
where they had caught them, they most always found that they were rich
by robbing graves of wealthy people, and that they always had the
ac-gure. The wealth that these two Mo-reck Indians received from this
Wild Indian made the Mo-reck village so rich that it never afterwards
had to ask help from any one to carry their part through any of the
great festivals. These Wild Indians are evidently a former part of our
own cast-off people and of late years have entirely disappeared and the
Indians are wondering what has become of them. Some think they have
gone back into the tribe in other places or went out and mixed with the
present white people so as not to be known by them.
CHAPTER XXX.
HOW A COR-TEP GIRL HAD HER WISH GRANTED.
About sixty years ago there lived a girl in the Cor-tep village by the
name of Mee-cher-us-o-may, and her parents urged her to marry a young
man who lived farther up the river at the village of Mor-eck. (I have
forgotten his name.) The girl did not like the man, yet her parents
kept urging her to marry him against her will. There was two of her
girl friends that was going down the river to Reck-woy, so she got
into the boat or Indian canoe with them and started down the river. As
they glided along Mee-cher-us-o-may kept wishing that some wild animal
would take her, kill her and eat her. When they got to a place called
Hay-way-gaw they all camped out on the bank of the river, back some
twenty yards or more from the waters edge. The canoe was pulled up on
the sloping sand so as to make it safe for the night, then they made a
fire, cooked their evening meal and then talked until it was time to
go to bed. All this time Mee-cher-us-o-may was wishing some harm would
come to her. The three girls made their bed for the night so that all
three could sleep together and when they went to bed Mee-cher-us-o-may
slept in the center, so all went to sleep. In the morning she was
missing, she got her wish. She had been taken from between the other
two girls, and on examination they could see very plainly where a wild
animal had dragged her over the dry sand, down to the edge of the
water, into the river and disappeared with her, and she was never seen
again. They thought an animal of the leopard species took her as some
of the animals have been seen a number of times on the lower Klamath,
and the Indians are very much afraid of them. This happened when I was
a little girl.
CHAPTER XXXI.
OUR TOBACCO.
The white race of people that the Klamath Indians found in this land
had a weed they called tobacco, which we call Hah-koom, and taught them
to use it by smoking it in the pipe and to cultivate it by selecting a
proper place, pile brush over the ground and then burn it, which would
leave the ground with a loose layer of wood ashes. Over this, while the
ashes were yet dry and loose, they would sow the seed and protect the
crop by putting around it a brush fence. From year to year they would
select from the best stalks seed for the next year and at times to hold
the seed for a number of years if necessary, for if kept properly it
will grow after being kept for a long time. The only thing that will
bother or destroy the crop of tobacco is the deer and they often jump
over the brush fence and eat every part of the crop, even to the roots.
When an Indian takes his pipe to smoke he inhales the smoke and keeps
it in his lungs for ten or fifteen seconds and then blows it out
through his nose mostly, some through the mouth and then he gives a
slow grunt, saying a few words in a plain audible tone. These words
are to the Wa-gas the white people we loved so well, wishing that the
Wa-gas, would give them good luck, long life, that they could see them
come back or that they themselves could go to see them and be with
them, and many other kinds of wishes for the Wa-gas. The old women
doctors use tobacco very freely and have pipes that hold a handful of
tobacco at a single smoking, and they ask the Wa-gas to give them good
luck in curing a sick person. The doctors are about the only ones of
the women that smoke. The Indians have the most complete control over
themselves and can smoke one, two or three times a day, or quit for a
week or longer without a murmur.
CHAPTER XXXII.
OUR MERMAIDS.
The Klamath Indians tell of the Mermaid that they said could be seen at
night come and sit on a rock out in the middle of the river, at a place
called Ca-neck. This rock is in a rocky and rough place in the river,
some thirty miles up the river from its mouth, and some nine miles
above where the White Deer-Skin Dance is held. This rock is in the
middle of the river and the water in the summer time, at the low stage,
just covers the top of it. On each side are whirls and eddies which the
Indians have used for fishing with dip nets for many generations. There
was never more than two of these Mermaids seen at a time, but they have
been seen many times in the generations gone. They had very long hair,
and were half fish and half women, but it is not known whether they
were male or female. They looked like women and would sit there combing
their long hair for hours at a time, and as they went away one could
see their long hair floating in the water. The Indians say that for
the past twenty years or more, they have not seen them and think they
have been washed away, or that the river has been filled by the gravel
and debris from the mines, which have destroyed them. They also say
that they never had any fear of the Mermaids, but looked upon them as a
freak of nature. They could see them plainly in the summer months while
fishing, when the moon was full and sometimes they would be only a few
yards away from them. These Mermaids we call Squerth-tucks.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FAIRY TALES
THE WOMAN OF SIN.
Hundreds of years ago a young man and his wife resided at what is
called Tu-rep village, which is located on the south side of the
Klamath River about six miles from its mouth. The Tu-rep bar on the
river is very large, consisting of fifty or a hundred acres of rich
and productive soil. This man’s wife before her marriage belonged at
the Si-elth village, across the river from Tu-rep on the north side.
They lived very happy together for a number of years, he being very
kind to her in every way and never spoke in a cross manner at any
time. As the years went by he began to drift away from her and their
home, neglecting her more and more. It seemed that a soul affinity had
come into his life, a woman at the Reck-woy village, at the mouth of
the river, was enticing him away from his wife and home. He found a
resistless charm in her serpent-like arms, and as the days went by he
would tarry longer in her company and he would be loath to part with
her at all. At last his wife was being left alone so much and neglected
that she became suspicious that another woman had robbed her of his
love. She found her suspicion to be true as her husband was now giving
all of his attention to the woman at Reck-woy. The wife became very
sad and broken hearted over her husband’s actions and unfaithfulness,
and went about her work in a dispirited manner and her attitude and
appearance became one of profound sadness. In company she always
seemed down hearted, as the same sad look was always upon her face,
making her appear to the visitors as wretched and lonely.
As the miserable wife spent the lonely days at Tu-rep village, the
people decided to give a large entertainment a host of guests gathered
to make merry. Among the crowd was a man from the Ur-ner village, which
is nine or ten miles up the river at the mouth of Blue Creek. During
the entertainment the Ur-ner man was attracted to the lonely Tu-rep
wife who appeared to him to be very sad and lonely in the midst of such
gaiety. He came over to where she was seated and began a conversation
by exchanging a few remarks. He thought he might be wrong in addressing
her so boldly, and started to walk away but something stirred his inner
emotions strangely, so much so that he could not resist the temptation
to return to her. This time after a few remarks he summoned up courage
to inquire into her troubled life, as he said she seemed very lonely.
Deeply impressed by his winning manner and kind words her confidence
was easily won and she readily related to him her unhappy marriage and
how unfaithful her husband had grown. He at once became more interested
and listened patiently to her story of sorrow, and with his sympathetic
words of comfort, strange emotions that had long been dead within her
breast thrilled into life once more. She had become a victim of his
beguiling words of comfort as he drew her into his arms of passionate
love. Alone and together they planned a secret meeting place that her
husband and the village folks might not know of their clandestine
meetings.
When the Tu-rep husband would go down the river to Reck-woy to bask
in the love of the woman of his affections, his wife would wait until
the darkness of night had cast its gloom over the village, when she
would creep carefully forth from her dwelling and meet her lover. She
had a long way to go up the Tu-rep bar from her house, and each step
she would take, she would cover her foot-prints with stones. In this
manner she would cover her tracks over, for a distance of at least one
mile along the river bar and when she reached the upper end of the bar
she would step out into the water, and as before she covered over her
tracks with stones until she stepped into her lover’s boat. The Ur-ner
Indian would come across the river from the opposite bank and take her
into his canoe and paddle back to what is known as Stah-win bar. This
is also a large bar covered with huge redwoods. Together they would
wander into the inky blackness of the huge redwoods where they would
enjoy each other’s company until a late hour at night, when the Ur-ner
man would again take his soul affinity into his canoe and return her
to the upper end of Tu-rep bar, where she would leave him and proceed
down the bar to her home, as before covering over her foot-prints with
stones. She held these clandestine meetings with the Ur-ner Indian in
that manner every time her husband would leave her and go to Reck-woy.
After a while her husband became suspicious of her action, as when he
returned home at night he never found her at home, yet he was very
kind to her. He made every attempt to trace her footsteps but they
were always lost upon the bar and all his efforts were futile. At last
in desperation he made up his mind to try other plans to detect her
mysterious whereabouts. He would start down the river on a pretence
of going to Reck-woy, but would hide where he could see his wife’s
movements around the house. This was kept up for sometime but he could
not find out which way she had gone, but in his earnest endeavors
to discover her whereabouts, one night he saw her covering over her
foot-prints with stones as she went to meet her lover. Her shame and
sin was at last discovered in spite of all her efforts and precaution
to hide her disgrace from human knowledge. This covering of foot prints
with stones is called in our language, “Way-nah-mah way-lap-po-lah
hah-elth-werm-chelth,” which means covering the tracks of sin and
shame with stones. To this day there can be seen at Tu-rep bar in the
summer months when the waters of the river is low, the rows of stones
that this sinful woman used to cover up her foot-prints of shame, and
they stand out in strange relief along the waters edge where they were
supposed to have been placed centuries ago by the woman of sin. The
Indians point to these stones as a warning to all married women that
no matter how secretly they sin against the marriage vows, they will
be discovered sooner or later, and their sins will be reflected upon
them throughout their lives. The moral of this story is to keep women
from sinning and when they are tempted into sin that they are forever
burdened with the heavy stones of disgrace that points to their sins
and time cannot efface it.
WHAT HAPPENED TO TWO MA-REEP GIRLS
A number of generations back there lived in Ma-reep village a man and
his wife with their three girls. The oldest of them was a good dutiful
child, helped her mother in every way she could, while the other two
were naughty, idle, cross and pouty. When it came time for their
meals the oldest would eat and act like a perfect lady but the other
two girls always kept up their naughty ways. They would go away in a
corner and pout for more of this or that thing, and their mother kept
telling them that if they did not stop being naughty, and act in a
better manner and eat their meals properly, that a big owl would come
and carry them off. They kept on until one night sure enough, a large
owl came and took them and carried them about a mile down the river
and placed them on a large, high rock, where they could not get down.
They sat there and turned to stone, and are sitting there to this day
and look like two little girls sitting up there. This rock we call
Hoaks-or-reck and Klamath Indian mothers have been pointing to these
two little stone girls, telling them this fairy tale to keep them from
being naughty and to have them conduct themselves in a good, mannerly
way. This rocks is close to the river on the north bank at the lower
end of Ma-reep Rapids.
THE ADVENTURES OF A COYOTE.
Long ages ago a Coyote with his family resided at He-melth, which
is a place on the Klamath River that is famous in Indian lore. One
lovely day in early spring Mr. and Mrs. Coyote with all their children
journeyed over the hills of the Klamath from He-melth to a place on
the mountain side known as On-a-gap. This was a place where they went
annually to gather green grasses upon which they would feast during
the spring months. The family was camping out and having a good time.
They kept on moving toward the mountain top when there suddenly came
quite an unexpected snow storm, the weather turned freezing cold and
Mr. and Mrs. Coyote did everything possible to save the lives of their
children, but of no avail. One by one they perished in the cold snow
as it kept snowing and falling very fast. The fond parents were left
desolate and grief-stricken in the gloom of the storm, as they never
could call back their loved ones. (The Coyote we call Say-yap.) As
they laid the little bodies in their graves of snow, Mr. Coyote grew
desperate over his great loss, and determined to seek revenge against
the Sun. The Sun, he argued, heartlessly murdered his children, because
it had refused to shine and give them warmth, so he started out at
once upon one of the longest journeys ever made by any living animal.
He chased the Sun over mountains, hills, through canyons, across vast
plains and valleys, and past rivers and lakes, until he at last came to
the ocean. Here he lost it, for it sank into the waves with a mocking
laugh and left him standing alone upon the shores of darkness. Darkness
closed around him with its mighty arms and he stood there on the shores
of the restless ocean for several minutes in utter despair. Weary in
body and limbs, and sad at heart for his great loss, the truth flashed
upon him that he could never in this world get his revenge, as the
being of his wrath was swift in its flight through space. Thus on the
shore he stood, when he suddenly turned his back on the west with a
kick of contempt in that direction, where the Sun (his great enemy) had
sank. In silence he gazed towards the east and then away towards the
northern horizon, and there in the far north he saw a more pleasing
scene where he buried his great burden of sorrow. While he still stood
there gazing he saw the seven stars winking down through the heavens
at him, and they kept winking for him to join them. Suddenly he felt
himself rising from the earth as if he had been transformed into an
Angel with wings, and he rose far away to the Kingdom of Heaven. Up
he soared, ever up, until he was at last flying among the seven stars
and when he reached them, he began to dance and sing, as they were all
girls and also sisters. They asked him not to keep on singing as they
said he did not know how to sing properly and said they would teach
him how to sing, so he could join them in some of their songs. So he
became flattered to think that the sisters were taking so much interest
in him and he became very vain at once, as some narrow minded people
do, when they become associated with a superior circle. He was rather
enthusiastic now, to think what a good escape he had made from the
cruel earth to a beautiful abode in Heaven. He flattered himself so
much in his wild enthusiasm that he thought himself very wise, and he
would display some of his talent before the sisters. As they offered to
teach him he replied to them, “I can sing beautifully; I used to sing
for my wife and children down on the earth, they always said my voice
was good and I believe I know a good deal about singing, and do not
need any training. So never mind girls about teaching me for my voice
is just splendid and I can sing perfectly.” The sisters looked at each
other and felt very disappointed to think that the Coyote persisted
in knowing all about the fine arts, when he practically did not know
the first step. After some persuasion they decided they would never
be able to teach him any of the fine arts of singing, for the stars
of Heaven were much different from those on earth. They reasoned too,
that perhaps he was out of his natural mind, after traveling so many
millions of miles through space. The sisters replied as good naturedly
as they could: “very well kind sir, we are deeply grieved to find that
by our billion of years of experience and knowledge we are not able
to teach you anything, and you may proceed as you like.” The Coyote
began to dance and sing again among his friends until he grew very
tired and when he could no longer sing and dance he began to talk to
them in a broken tone. His head grew dizzy as his mind wandered from
the songs and drifted into thought about himself. He kept repeating
the words as he danced until he lost his pipe, tobacco pouch, belt and
deer skin trousers, which caused the sisters to smile and wink among
themselves. They tried to persuade him not to talk so much but he kept
right on and would not heed them. They became very weary and bored
over this stupid nonsense and the elder sister said they would join
him in his revelry. One on each side of him took his hand in theirs,
formed one large circle and began to dance and sing around him. They
dragged him faster and faster until they whirled him as fast as they
could go. His poor head was in a dizzy whirl and he began to fear for
his safety, not knowing when they would let him rest, as it seemed they
had been whirling him for centuries. They might go on whirling him for
a thousand years, and he felt so famished and weak that he could not
endure this treatment much longer. “Ouch!” he exclaimed in a terrible
voice, “I say girls I cannot glide your fast whirls any longer, I am
afraid I will fall down in a heap and die, or else my bones fly to
pieces.” “So you shall fall in a heap Mr. Coyote,” exclaimed the girls
in a loud chorus, “down with you to the earth from whence you came, as
you are not a bright pupil here in heaven. Up here you must be very
brilliant and you have always been stupid enough to think that you
knew it all. We are weary of your revelry, so farewell, we wish you
many happy days down on the earth and again we say farewell,” and they
pushed him down from his place in Heaven. He fell so rapidly through
space that he found it impossible to keep himself together and the
bones of his body fell to pieces and went flying and whizzing in each
direction, but some how they managed to fall in a heap at Ca-neck,
which is a very ancient village and the most famous among my people for
stories, as so many wonderful tales begin there. The Coyote’s bones
laid bleaching in the sun for a short time near this village when a
heavy rain storm caused the river to overflow its banks. The rising
waters of the river took the Coyote’s bones and carried them down to
the mouth of the river at Reck-woy where they were washed upon the
sand beach. After being planted there in the sand for several days, a
slender shoot sprang up and unfurled its green foliage above the sand.
In time this slender shoot grew into a tall alder tree and the Coyote
and his bones were now transformed into a tree. One day an old woman
with her wood basket on her back and a stone hatchet in her hand came
along the beach looking for some wood. She took a great fancy to this
alder tree as she thought it would make good wood for the fire, it was
just the kind of a tree she had been looking for, for some time, and
was pleased upon finding it. So she began to chop it and to her great
surprise the tree sprang from the earth and vanished in a flash and
then took up the shape of a Coyote which stood before her. “Ouch!” he
yelled in a loud voice, “go away, old woman, how dare you cut me to
pieces like that?” The old woman became more frightened than ever, as
she dropped her hatchet and ran for her life back to the village. She
could not find any reason for such a strange encounter and came to the
conclusion that it was some of the Indian devils trying to frighten
her. The Coyote, to his great relief, was once more in his own natural
body and he set out to travel upon the earth again. He ventured to the
rabbits as he had a desire to visit them. Upon reaching the rabbit’s
home he found Mrs. Rabbit away and only her small children there, upon
entering the house he asked the children to give him something to eat
as he was very hungry, not having had anything to eat for a long time.
The children were too young to understand what he was saying and all
of them became frightened and ran out of the house. When they were
all safely outside they set fire to the house in hopes of burning the
Coyote to death, and he was busy inside, going through the shelves
looking for something to eat. But as fortune favored him this time he
heard the flames crackling in time to make his escape from a dreadful
death. After his narrow escape he decided to go and stay with his
grandmother at Weitchpec and he journeyed slowly up the river until
he reached her home. As soon as he arrived there he had a long story
to tell her, he said he was almost dead from hunger, as he had been
on a long journey without any food and asked her to cook the best she
could afford as he needed it to build up his strength again, and he
also informed her that many of his cousins were coming to visit her. He
explained to her that he had left them a few miles down the river to
camp for the night and they had sent him ahead to tell her they were
coming and for his grandmother to prepare a feast and be ready for
them. She told him there was nothing to eat except Tur-perks, which
are blighted acorns that fall to the ground and are worm eaten, that
she was sorry for her guests but it was the best she could do. She at
once set about cooking great basket-fulls of the tur-perks, as she
never doubted but what her grandson was telling the truth. When these
were cooked she placed the baskets on the table before the Coyote,
never doubting but what he would leave plenty for his cousins to eat.
She never dreamed that one small being could eat so much at one time,
and was greatly disappointed and humiliated when she found that he
had eaten all the acorns, even licking the baskets clean and dry. As
he finished this large meal he heaved a sigh of relief, as it was the
first meal he had eaten for over a hundred years, just how long ago he
first left the earth to go to Heaven he could not remember. His cousins
were not coming, he just wished to deceive his grandmother, that she
might cook a great quantity so he could feast by himself. He deceived
her for the first time very cleverly as she did not doubt the story
of his cousins coming. After this meal the Coyote called to her and
said, “I am going to fish tonight and if my luck is good our baskets
will be filled by day-break, now my dear you may cook tonight another
large quantity of tur-pecks and tomorrow I will help you prepare the
fish for cooking as I think my cousins will arrive at sunset. His
grandmother still believed his story to be true but she was very tired
and after he had gone to fish she decided to go to bed, thinking she
would have plenty of time on the morrow to cook the tur-pecks for the
cousins, as they were not coming until evening of the next day. When
the Coyote reached the bank of the river he did not even pretend to
fish but jumped from boulder to boulder and bruised his head and face
as much as he could. Some time in the night he returned and repeated
to her a pitiful tale of how some one had attacked him and given him
a severe beating—of how some of the other people would not allow him
to fish, etc. She listened patiently to his tale of woe and realized
for the first time that he was telling her falsehoods. After he had
finished his story she became very angry and gave him a severe scolding
for being so deceitful. The Coyote did not stay with her very long as
he wearied and annoyed her so much she planned to get rid of him. One
day she hired a young man to take him across the river to the village
of Peck-toolth where she instructed him to camp for the night. That
night after dark the young man asked the Coyote to sleep at his feet,
which the Coyote gladly did as he was somewhat tired from tramping
through the woods that day and he was soon fast asleep. Then the young
man quietly left the bed and rolled a log in the place he had been
lying in. He did this to deceive the Coyote when he awoke, as he would
most likely see the log and think he was still sleeping there, then he
hurried away and left him asleep and alone at Peck-toolth. The Coyote
woke up during the night and looked about him and soon discovered the
log and that the young man had left him alone. He jumped to his feet
hastily and ran down to the banks of the river, and when he arrived
there he saw the young man standing on a high rock on the opposite
side of the river, he yelled until he was hoarse for him to come over
in his canoe and take him across to his grandmother’s. The young man
refused to help him which made him very angry and he called him all the
names he could think of and begged him in a pleading manner, but of no
avail. At length the Coyote became so enraged that he yelled at the
top of his voice that he would murder him if he ever reached him and
he seized a sharp stone and ran up and down the river for a long time,
swearing as fast as he could utter his words. The man stood still
on the rock with a mocking smile on his face and watched the frantic
efforts of the Coyote, when he thought he was getting pretty tired the
young man called out to him to swim across the river, he dared him and
said it was easy to swim across. The Coyote at once took up the dare
and plunged into the river and began to swim with all his might as he
was compelled to swim against the current. He was almost successful in
getting across when the young man shouted to him to look back across
the river as there was something coming down the bank. The Coyote was
foolish enough to look back over his shoulder, and as he did so the
strong current swept him back on the same side he started from. He
immediately made another desperate attempt to swim the river. He swam
and swam, fighting against the strong current until he became exhausted
and it was impossible for him to swim any longer. Realizing he would
soon drown he called again and again to the young man to rescue him a
boat, but the other stood immovable on the rock and calmly replied,
“I cannot help you for your last day on earth has ended.” The Coyote,
crying the mournful wail of death, sank into the waters of the river to
rise no more.
A BEAR STORY.
Many years ago the Indians were warring among themselves at the village
of Hop-paw, near the mouth of the river. A portion of them whipped the
others and those who were defeated in the battle moved away from there
and went back in the mountains to live, while the victorious warriors
also left the Village for a few days’ stay at a place known as Si-alth.
While the Indians were all away, a bear strayed into the village and
went into one of the Indian houses where he discovered a very large
basket filled with beautiful Indian dresses and strings of Indian money
and other Indian ornaments. He was very happy when he discovered this
basket and began to take the things out and look them over carefully.
As he came to the dresses he would try each one on and then dance, but
he could not seem to find one that suited his idea of fashion. He kept
on throwing the dresses aside as he pulled them off. He wanted one that
rattled as he danced. At last he found the one he wanted, for when he
put it on and danced the shells began to rattle, as there were a great
many on the dress. As he danced, to his great delight, the shells rang
like music in his ears, and well satisfied with the dress he pulled it
off and put it back in the basket with all the other articles. After he
had finished storing them away in the basket he began to tear up the
earthen floor, and scatter things all over the house. After doing all
the damage he could he shouldered the large basket and started for the
woods, and traveled some distance to a large hollow redwood tree. He
decided to stop here and put on the dress with many shells and put it
on, and began to dance and sing, having a glorious time all by himself,
as he had no comrades to join him in the fun. This is the song he sang
while he danced: Ho-wen-ah-a, ho-wen-ah-a, nah-hay, nah-hay. After he
had danced for some time, he became so tired that he could no longer
sing. The dress began to weigh so heavily upon him that he became
exhausted but he managed to keep on dancing, he loved to hear the music
of the shells as he danced about.
After visiting for several days at Si-alth the Indians returned to
their homes at Hop-pow. When they reached the village they discovered
that everything had been turned topsy-turvey in one of the houses, and
that the large basket of Indian dresses were missing. They at once
suggested that some of their enemies had returned while they were away
and stolen the things, and they all followed in hot pursuit to recover
the stolen articles. But they could find no trace of them, and in
despair gave up the chase. Some of them made a closer inspection of the
house and this time they were sure they saw bear tracks in the soft
ground. The Indians now followed the bear tracks closely, which led
them to the large redwood tree, and as they approached it they could
see that it was hollow and had a large roomy place inside, and glancing
in they saw the bear dancing, dressed in one of the dresses. One of
the smaller boys became tired watching the bear and asked if he might
go up near the tree and the older Indians decided to let him go and
asked him to try to get the dresses away from the bear. The boy agreed,
and went up until he was afraid to go nearer. The bear’s attention
was now attracted to the boy, and he saw at once that the Indians had
discovered his hiding place, and stopped dancing and left the tree,
carrying with him the Indian dresses, determined to take them to his
own home, which was in a tree top near by. This tree was hollow up its
trunk and in the top of this hollow the bear made his home. He tugged
with all his might at the huge basket but it was so large he could not
pull it through the hollow to his nest, and when he saw that he could
not pull it through it made him mad and he tried to dig the tree up by
the roots. He dug so rapidly that he soon found he had dug a cave under
the tree, and being fatigued from his strenuous efforts he seized the
basket and pulled it after him into the cave. Once in there he thought
himself secure from the Indians. As the bear disappeared into the cave
with the basket, all the Indians ventured up near the tree, they began
talking as to what they would do, being very anxious to recover the
things as it meant a great loss of riches if they could not recover
them again. They finally agreed they would kindle a fire at the mouth
of the cave and smoke the bear out of his den, so they gathered up a
large pile of wood and dry branches and made a fire. The Indians lined
up ready for him when he came out. The owner of the articles was an old
man and he took his place near the cave, with his bow drawn, ready to
shoot the bear, but his arrow did not wound the bear fatally and the
bear seized him and crushed him to death. The enraged bear then turned
upon the other Indians, but at last he sank to the ground riddled with
arrows. They recovered the basket of dresses and returned home in a
mournful procession, for one of their members had departed to the
spirit land. The bear in his wild revelry had also lost his life.
THE WOOING OF ROBIN RED-BREAST.
Long centuries ago before the world was inhabited by very many
people, Robin Red-breast lived as a handsome young man by himself in
a magnificent mansion on the Klamath River. This skeptical young man
always laughed mockingly at the suggestion of matrimony, as he was very
rich and kept many servants about. In fact he kept a servant for each
room of his splendid mansion.
He would often go by himself on moonlight strolls by the river or walk
in the sunrise in early morning through the woods. The young maidens
would catch a glimpse of him as he passed their windows, or as they
peeked from out the bushes at him, admiring all the charms of his
physical manhood. But proud young Red-breast would walk haughtily by
them whenever he chanced to meet them and positively refused to accept
any of their attentions that they were so eager to bestow upon him.
Every maiden that chanced to catch a glimpse of him imagined herself in
love with him, and her lonely heart would invariably yearn for his love
that he might make her happy.
The laws of olden times were very different from the laws of today. It
was the rule then that when a young maid fell in love with a youth, it
was her place to go and call on him first at his home, also to propose
matrimony, unless the young man preferred to do so himself, then it
was proper that he should. This was true in the case of Red-breast, as
in the days of yore, when a young man returned a woman’s affections he
would accept her love and make her his wife. And if he did not return
her affections he would refuse to consider her proposal of marriage.
Many young ladies called each day at Red-breast’s home, seeking the
loving devotion that he might bestow upon them. He always kept a door
usher to announce the arrival of any young lady that would call to seek
his acquaintance, and desire to unite her fortune with his. The later
was usually her purpose in view wishing a private interview. Red-breast
gave strict orders to the usher not to admit any young lady that might
call inside the door of his mansion, and besides he could never show
her into his presence without consulting him first. When the usher
would announce to Red-breast that a young lady was at the door wishing
to interview him, Red-breast would always ask the kind and color of her
dress, if the usher replied that she wore a suit of teach-ah-me-tah, he
was told to send her away as he did not wish to see her.
One by one the girls came to the mansion in hopes of securing an
interview, but to their great disappointment they were all turned away
from the door. One can imagine how many poor broken hearts followed
each other as they had been dismissed from the door of love to go forth
into the lonely world to weep. Some of these girls were foolish enough
to shut themselves in dark cells, that they might never be seen by the
man who ruined their hopes of a happy wedded life. Other compassionate
souls threw themselves into the sea, that their early sorrows and
disappointments might be ended forever. Poor deluded girls, if they had
only known how little Red-breast cared for their miseries and how he
mocked them in his mansion they would never even have considered him as
worthy of notice. However, many of the girls were not so foolish as to
destroy all their future happiness but forgot the mocking Red-breast
and sought other lovers whom they married and were very happy.
It had now come to pass that all the girls in the world had called at
the mansion of Red-breast for the purpose of wooing him for a husband,
except one. All these girls had agreed among themselves that each take
their turn in calling upon Red-breast until he selected one of them for
his wife. Now all the girls in the world had called with exception of
one, and all the other girls were restless and wondering what her fate
would be. She was a sweet young thing with cheeks as red as cherries,
eyes that sparkled like dew-drops and hair that hung in ringlets. It
was an ideal Autumn morning when this maid called at Red-breast’s
mansion, the madrone berries were ripe and hung in crimson clusters
from the branches of the tree, filling the atmosphere with a dewy scent
of sweetness. Heaven and earth seemed blending together and then fading
away into the melancholy shadows of Autumn. Such was the appearance of
the surrounding world when this shy sweet maiden came tripping lightly
up the long wooded avenues to the door of Red-breast’s mansion with
her heart all a flutter. The usher greeted her with a pleasant “good
morning,” as her appearance was very stunning, and he bade her wait
at the door until he returned with his message from his master. Upon
announcing her arrival the haughty Red-breast said, “ah! I don’t care
the snap of my fingers for the prettiest and sweetest maiden that ever
walked the earth, it is not for her love and companionship that I care,
but for what she might wear, her beautiful gown if it is made of the
right material is all I want. I say again that they are all foolish
young things to seek my love, for I have none to waste upon them, it
is all concentrated upon myself and no one else.” Then he asked the
usher the same question, as to what kind of a dress she wore. For the
first time the usher replied that she did not wear a dress of the
teach-ah-me-tah like all the other girls had worn, but she wore a gown
of pretty red, bedewed with clustering ornaments of its same gorgeous
hues. My! exclaimed Red-breast, you can show her in at once, and he
jumped to his feet in delight, his eyes sparkling with false pride. Go
tell her quick that she is the only girl that ever had the honor to be
admitted into my presence. Now I will woo her with all my heart and
flatter her very soul away for the purpose, but not for my wife you
know. You know what I am, so mind you don’t put her wise. Poor little
girl, poor little foolish girl, it is a shame to treat her so cruel but
I cannot help it when she wears such a tempting gown of red, red at
last, my favorite color, and that color I am going to have.
A minute later a sweet shy maid of scarce three seasons old was ushered
into his halls and the magnificent apartments in which she stood before
Red-breast. Her heart had ceased to beat for a few moments as he rose
and greeted her in an elegant manner. He was far handsomer than she
ever dreamed a man could be, and for the first time in her life she
fancied that she was deeply in love. Breathlessly she recollected the
stories of the other girls that had been before her, and now she could
hardly blame them for their mad actions of self-destruction over such
a striking personality. Red-breast received the maiden with a hearty
welcome of flattery as he dismissed the usher from the apartment, that
they might be alone to plan out the future. Gallantly he knelt at the
fair maiden’s feet and poured out to her full measures of his love,
in his elegant and commanding language he pictured in her mind how he
had turned away so many other girls from his door who had come to seek
him as their lover. How he had done because he could never love and
knew that some day he would find his only true love which he believed
to be her, as he had never felt the emotion of love until he first
gazed into her bright eyes. His sweet voice sounded in her ears so
soft and the touch of his fingers was as magical as Heaven itself. Her
cheeks blushed redder than ever as she listened to his tender words of
devotion. She shyly whispered, “yes” as he rose and pressed her against
his breast, and they planned together for the marriage vows. They both
agreed they would exchange the wedding vows on the following morning,
then he held her by the hand and showed her into a nice room where he
said she could spend the night in peaceful dreams, and then he took
his leave, leaving her alone in her room, and he told her that this
room would always be her own private room, where she could retreat and
find solace in being alone. Once alone she sat still for a long time,
dreaming of the blissful future she would enjoy with a husband that so
many had tried to woo but could never win because he loved her only.
Night came with its shadows and she found herself very tired as her
poor brain had been kept in a constant whirl since meeting Red-breast.
Wearily she took off her beautiful gown and laid it carefully on a
chair beside her bed and then hid her face under the silken covers.
Soon in slumberland she did not waken until morning and the sun was
already high in the sky. The gown she wore was the beautiful spangles
of the madrone berries that blushed in their tint of the deepest
vermillion red. While the maiden was sleeping Red-breast stole softly
into the room and devoured the beautiful gown and all that night he
feasted upon the berries and ornaments of the gown. As he gulped down
the last berry he crept softly to the side of the sleeping beauty and
gazed a farewell look upon her innocent face. He then changed his
mansion into a dreary isle of Autumn dampness and flew away as a bird.
Henceforth Red-breast never again appeared on earth as a man, but has
ever since been on earth as a bird.
Sad was the maiden that woke up that morning to find only a terrible
disappointment awaiting her. She found in her heart no solace, but
grief, bitter grief that had no compassion upon her bitter soul.
Looking about her in her loneliness she saw that Red-breast had
deceived her, and that he had selfishly eaten her pretty gown, all that
she could find of it was the ugly strips that had held the ornaments
in their place, and lo, this maiden so young and fair, and once so
beautiful, fled down the damp aisles weeping for the chill of winter
was upon her and had left her desolate, without her clothing.
The moral of this story is that young women should have a care in
pursuing handsome young men, lest they be deceived and left in
desolation.
DR. BEAR AND MRS. SKUNK.
Once upon a time a father and mother skunk (wah-chelth) were rearing
a family of two children and there was no food for them to eat. The
old folks were in great distress about what to do as they were all
starving. The mother was very anxious for her family, and one day
she happened to think of a good plan to secure something to eat. So
she announced to her family that she would play sick and have the
bear (chee-ur-ra) come and doctor her. Her husband and children were
delighted with her plan and Mrs. Skunk warned her children to keep very
quiet when Mr. Bear came to doctor her, so she went to bed, feigning
to be very ill while Mr. Skunk went after Dr. Bear and found him at
home. The Doctor accompanied Mr. Skunk at once to the bedside of his
wife and walking into the room began asking Mrs. Skunk about her
illness and she replied in a very weak voice, pretending to feel very
miserable and asked her children to go to one side of the room and be
very quiet as she wanted Dr. Bear to examine her. The children went
to one side of the room at once as they had been cautioned by their
mother to keep very still, as she was going to throw musk in the Bear’s
face and blind him. The Bear began to get things ready to doctor Mrs.
Skunk and as he was about ready to examine her the children became very
anxious and restless, and began whispering to each other and indulging
in a big tete-a-tete, about what a large dinner they were going to
have when their mother killed the Bear. They kept whispering so much
that the Bear became suspicious of their actions and listened closely
and his sharp ears caught a few words of their conversation about what
their mother was going to do. He began moving towards the door to make
his exit, when the mother Skunk saw that he was about ready to get
away and threw the musk with all her might at the Bear’s face but it
missed his eyes and he escaped safely. Mrs. Skunk became very angry
with her children who had spoiled her plans, by being over anxious
and whispering too much. Instead of getting the bear meat as they had
anticipated, they both received a good sound thrashing from their
mother which taught them a lesson for the future.
HOW THE ANIMALS CONQUERED THE MOON.
Many years ago there was a total eclipse of the moon which lasted for
several days and nights. The night continued so dark that the people
and animals were not able to see to go about, so all the animals of
the animal kingdom held a council and decided to devour the moon, as
it had become a useless planet and would not give them light at night.
The animals journeyed from the earth up to the moon and began a fierce
battle to conquer and devour it and after a long struggle the moon lost
its balance in the heavens and fell earthward. It struck the earth
at Ca-neck on the Klamath River where the waters whirl and rush into
fearful rapids. At the lower terminations of these rapids where there
is a large round depression in the land, on the south and west side
of the river, is the place where the moon is supposed to have struck
the earth when the animals threw it down from the heavens. While the
animals and snakes were wrestling with the moon at Ca-neck it was then
the frog stepped forth and objected, saying that they should not devour
the moon completely, as they would need it to light the world at night
in the future. Listening to the frog’s wise council they all agreed to
allow him to restore the moon to its proper place. So the frog began
at once to gather all the blood of the moon and fuse it together with
its other remnants, and when he had completed the task all the reptiles
and animals rendered their assistance in trying to throw the moon
back into the heavens so it would shine again. The great multitude of
animals became exhausted in their mighty efforts as they could not even
move it from its resting place on earth. They were all so tired that
they were about ready to give it up in despair, when the little ant
(hah-pooth) came forward and suggested that he was able to do it. The
multitude roared with laughter at the ant and taunted him with jeers,
saying: “you little hah-pooth, what can a little insignificant thing
like you do with the great big moon?” However, the little ant saw the
opportunity to show his power of great strength, even if he was little
and rushed in among the crowd and made his way right under the moon,
the moon began at once to raise from the earth, and with one mighty
effort the little hah-pooth threw the moon back into the heavens where
it has ever since remained.
The Klamath Indians always remark when the moon is full, that the dark
place on its face (known to the white man as the “man in the moon”) is
the frog in the moon. Whenever there is an eclipse of the moon it is
said that a huge frog is trying to swallow the moon.
THE ACORN.
Many years ago several families were out camping in the Fall, in the
last part of October or November gathering acorns for food. (When the
families get all fixed up in their acorn camps all go forth to pick the
acorns each day as they drop from the tree, using the large baskets to
put them in and carry to camp, in the evening when all have gathered
at the camp house and the evening meal is over, all the family men,
women and children take their places and commence taking the hulls off
so as to get the meat or kernel out. This is done by the teeth and it
is wonderful how expert we become at it, and it is seldom a kernel is
mashed or bruised. These kernels are nearly always in halves, sometimes
in three pieces and once in a great while there will be four pieces,
and to find one that is divided into four pieces just as it grew in the
shell is not a common occurrence. There is on the inside of the outer
shell a very thin skin that covers the kernel or meat of the acorn.)
There was a young Indian girl out with her basket picking acorns, and
as she went along with her basket picking up acorns she would as often
as she could, place some in her mouth and crack the hull and take the
kernel out and put it in the basket with the ones that were not hulled.
As she was going along she happened to open one where the kernel was
in four parts which at once became very amusing to her, so she set her
basket down and on taking a look at it she took the outer hull off
and made a neat little cradle out of it, then she took the inner skin
part and made a nice set of baby clothes, after she did this she took
the whole of the kernel and covered with the clothes and placed it in
the cradle that she had made of the hull. After all was finished she
looked at it and then put it in the hollow of an oak tree and went
on picking her acorns until time to go back to the camp house. When
it came time for them all to return to their homes she had forgotten
what she had done. One day while she was preparing some acorn flour
she heard a noise behind her, some one saying mother, mother, and on
looking behind her she beheld a little boy and as soon as she saw him
she knew that he was formed from the acorn that she had fixed and left
in the hollow oak tree. She raised the Sa-quan or pestle in her hand
and tried to catch the boy but he ran from her and she followed after
him and the race kept up until the boy got to the edge of the ocean,
where there was a man in a boat, so the boy jumped into the boat, the
man pushed the boat off and together they started out to sea, and had
got well out when the girl arrived at the sea-shore, she hurled the
stone pestle at them and it fell into the sea and the top of it stuck
up and is there to this day.
Any Indian will tell his white brother this story as a true part to
their religion, as calmly and seriously as if it was the truth and
perhaps some of the lower class really believe it, yet it is only a
fairy tale.
This is the rock that sits out in the ocean some eight or ten miles
from the land, at the present time from Orick or the mouth of Redwood
Creek. This rock the white man calls Redding Rock, the Klamath Indians
call it Sa-quan-ow. The true facts concerning this rock are told in a
preceding chapter.
THE BLUE JAY.
There was an old mother deer making mush for her family’s breakfast
one morning and while she was cooking it she broke her leg and she
then allowed the marrow from the bone to run into the mush as she
stirred it. This made the mush very palatable and oily. The Blue Jay
who happened along at the time, watched the deer cooking the mush and
saw her break her leg and mix the marrow fat with the mush and when the
mush was cooked the Blue Jay tasted it and found it very delicious.
That day when the Blue Jay went home she decided she would make her
acorn mush in the same way, so after fixing her mush she broke her leg
to get the marrow which she stirred into the mush, but to her great
disappointment the substance she took from her leg was not oil but
blood and when she saw how bloody it made her mush and which spoiled
it, she became very mad for being so simple, so she at once turned upon
herself and plucked out all her tail feather and stuck them in the top
of her head and ever after the Blue Jay has worn a top-knot of feathers
on the head.
THE MOURNFUL COO OF THE DOVE.
The Dove (Ah-row-wee) since the deluge of the world has been considered
by the Klamath Indians as the sacred bird. They carry the symbol of the
dove in their ceremonial worship in the sacred lodge, and worship the
bird as divine. Around this little bird is woven a pathetic tale of why
he coos so much and always seems so sorrowful.
Long ago a family of doves made their home and nesting place on a
level bench of land, about half a mile up from the Pec-wan village
on the north-east side. On this bench-like piece of land on the hill
side stood a very large live oak tree and close by the vicinity of
this tree is a small spring of water which gushes forth, the rest of
the flat being covered with grasses. In a little sheltered cove of
this flat the Doves would make their nests and rear their families.
When the baby doves grew strong and large enough to fly they would
all fly up into the live oak tree. There they would hide among the
branches when danger was near and all the families would roost among
the branches of the trees every night. At this time there was a
handsome young male Dove who announced his intentions of taking a trip
up the river to Weitchpec, and while visiting among friends went with
shiftless companions who taught him how to play Indian cards, which
are made of small sticks and called pair-cauk, and the game wah-choo.
The game became so fascinating that he spent the remainder of his
time gambling and did not realize that he had left a sick grandmother
at home and that she wished him to come back home at once. He was so
deeply interested in the game that he did not take any heed of the
message and continued to play cards. Later he received a message that
his Grandmother was dead, but in the revelry of the game it seemed to
him but folly and played on, not heeding the words of the messenger
who kept repeating the words that his grandmother was dead until he
succeeded in diverting the attention of the youthful gambler. The
young gambler looked up sadly from his cards and said, “I will now
shuffle the cards again and again, yes, shuffle them again and again.
My grandmother is dead, and to let the world know that I mourn her loss
deeply, I will coo among the lonesome bushes the mournful coo of a
broken heart, the piteous coo of a grief that knows no ending while I
live.”
The beautiful moral of this story is to teach and impress upon the
minds of the children that they should not drift into shiftless ways,
neglecting to respect and cherish their grandmothers and to love
them as dearly as their own mothers and even more in respect to old
age. Indian mothers repeat the story to their children and mourn as
the doves, by repeating the words: Wee-poo-poo, wee-poo-poo-poo-poo,
whee-whee-whee-poo-poo. Thus illustrating that they might become very
sad and mournful by not being kind and thoughtful to the aged, and
making their sunset years bright and cheerful.
I could give enough of these Fairy Stories to make a book. All classes
of my people, can on meeting his white brother sit down and tell him
these Fairy tales, as a part of our religion, with a twinkle in his
eye, and let him pass on. Some of our fairy stories are partly founded
on truth and then carried off into an imaginary sense, so as to make
them long.
THE END.
Transcriber’s Notes:
- Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
- Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=).
- Blank pages have been removed.
- Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected; 2 cases
of an upside down ‘e’ were treated as errors, one was just the word
‘these’, the other had an inverted ‘s’ on the same line.
- Some variations in hyphenation have been standardized.
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