· THE · DISCOVERY · FIRST · VISIT · ON · PUGET · SOUND · 1792 · OFF · BLAKELY · ROCKS ·· BY · RAPHAEL · COOMBS ··· 1895 ·

VANCOUVER’S SHIP DISCOVEROR.

THE SIWASH
THEIR
LIFE LEGENDS AND TALES

PUGET SOUND AND PACIFIC NORTHWEST

FULLY ILLUSTRATED

BY J. A. COSTELLO

SEATTLE
The Calvert Company
716 FRONT STREET
1895

Copyright, 1895, by
J. A. COSTELLO
and
SAMUEL F. COOMBS

PREFACE

The excuse for this book is that it is the first attempt to depict the life or ethnology of the maze of Indian tribes on Puget Sound, and it is believed, will be found not wholly uninteresting. It has been the aim to attain as nearly the facts in every instance as possible which in any way lead to a proper understanding of the natives of the country as they were found by the first whites to arrive. Mika mam-ook mika tum-tum de-late wa-wa. Ko-pet mika ip-soot halo mika tum-tum ko-pa o-coke. De-late wa-wa mika tum-tum, nan-ich Sahg-a-lie Tyee; my heart speaks truthful and I hide nothing I know concerning the things of which I speak. My talk is truthful as God sees me.

From the old pioneer and the more intelligent native have all the material facts been drawn, and as these opportunities will not endure for many years longer it is the belief and hope that this work will find an enduring place in the home and public libraries.

For material aid in the compilation of the historical and pictorial matter of this work the author is indebted to Samuel F. Coombs, one of the few pioneers who has a genuine interest in the preservation of the life and habits and traditions of the aboriginees; H. A. Smith, of Smith’s cove; Rev. Myron Eels for valuable information and assistance, touching the Skokomish Indians; Edward Morse, son of Eldridge Morse, than whom, probably none have a truer insight into the mysteries of early Indian life on the Sound; E. H. Brown, and to W. S. Phillips, F. Leather and Raphael Coombs, artists.

Seattle, December 14, 1895.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Chapter I
A bit of history[1]
Chapter II
Fifty-four forty or fight[4]
Chapter III
Pioneers of the forties[6]
Chapter IV
Siwash characteristics[10]
Chapter V
The Flathead group[13]
Chapter VI
The Chinook la lang[15]
Chapter VII
Traditions of Vancouver’s appearance[17]
Chapter VIII
The Old-Man-House tribe[19]
Chapter IX
The Twana or Skokomish tribe[33]
Chapter X
Do-Ka-Batl, a great spirit[46]
Chapter XI
Their game of sing-gamble[51]
Chapter XII
Twana Thunderbird[53]
Chapter XIII
Superstition their religion[57]
Chapter XIV
Their daily existence[62]
Chapter XV
Legend of the first frog[69]
Chapter XVI
Another man in the moon[71]
Chapter XVII
S’Beow and his grandmother[72]
Chapter XVIII
The demon Skana[74]
Chapter XIX
The fall of Snoqualm[75]
Chapter XX
Legend of the Stick-pan[77]
Chapter XXI
The magic blanket[79]
Chapter XXII
Legend of Flathead origin[81]
Chapter XXIII
Legend of the first flood[82]
Chapter XXIV
Origin of the sun and moon[83]
Chapter XXV
Skobia the skunk[84]
Chapter XXVI
The extinct Shilshoh tribe[86]
Chapter XXVII
Quinaiults and Quillayutes[90]
Chapter XXVIII
Tradition of a great Indian battle[99]
Chapter XXIX
Sealth and allied tribes[102]
Chapter XXX
The Makah tribe[115]
Chapter XXXI
Footprints of unknown travelers[122]
Chapter XXXII
Some neighborly tribes[124]
Chapter XXXIII
Totemism and superstitions[132]
Chapter XXXIV
Mythology and native history[139]
Chapter XXXV
Yalth and the butterfly[142]
Chapter XXXVI
Potlatch and Devil dance[145]
Chapter XXXVII
The T’Klinkits and Aleuts[148]
Chapter XXXVIII
The Indian and the south wind[156]
Chapter XXXIX
Pleasure and profit in the marsh[159]
Chapter XL
Indians in the hop fields[162]
Chapter XLI
Legend of the crucifixion[166]
Chapter XLII
Romance in real life[168]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Vancouver’s ship ([frontispiece])PAGE
On the Sound[3]
Sunlight on the water[9]
Typical Siwash face[10]
A Klootchman[11]
La Belle Klootchman[12]
Launching[16]
Paddling[18]
All that’s left of Old-Man-House[20]
Wm. Deshaw[22]
Grand potlatch[25]
Old-Man-House village[28]
Digging clams[32]
Guardian spirit Totem[41]
Wolf mask[42]
Wolf mask[44]
Bowl and spoon, by Twana Indians[47]
Vignette of Chief Seattle[50]
Night around the sing-gamble[53]
The Twana Thunderbird mask[54]
Box made of slate, carving[56]
Thunderbird, Dakotah Indians[58]
Ojibwa, flying Thunderbird[59]
Haida Thunderbird head[60]
Ojibwa Thunderer[61]
Building Siwash canim[63]
Symbolic drawing[68]
Indian implements[76]
Face mask of Twanas[83]
Charm mask[84]
Stone and copper war clubs[85]
Quinaiults hunting the hair seal[97]
Copper and iron daggers[99]
Twana war clubs[100]
A Quinaiult hut[101]
Chief Sealth[102]
Oldest house in King county[110]
Duke of York[112]
East Indian carving[113]
Canoe head Totem[114]
Totem column, northern Indian[126]
The bear mother[129]
Haida child dance at Houkan[130]
Haida Thundermask[133]
Skamson the Thunderer[137]
Corner of Houkan village[138]
Haida grave-yard[140]
Mrs. Schooltka[143]
Silver and copper ornaments[144]
Quinaiult tribesman[147]
Yakutat Alaska[149]
Volcano of Boguslof[151]
Kodiak Alaska[153]
“Kla-how-ya”[157]
Spearing the hair seal[158]
Indian duck hunting[160]
Klootchman gathering rushes[161]
An educated Indian[163]
Stone hatchets[164]
Sea otter lookout[165]
Beaver marsh[167]