Now, the mouth of the Stikin River is Russian, the head-waters British. Beyond these, we have the water-system of the McKenzie—for that river, although falling into the Arctic Sea, has a western fork, which breaks through the barrier of the Rocky Mountains, and changes in direction from west and south-west to north. Lake Simpson, Lake Dease, and the River Turnagain belong to this branch; the tract in which they lie being a range of highlands, if not of mountains.
This is the country of the Nehannis; conterminous on the south with that of the Takulli, and on the north-east with that of the Dahodinni. How far, however, it extends towards the Russian boundary and in the north-west direction I cannot say.
The Nehannis are, probably, the chief British representatives of the class called Kolúch.[75] Assuming this—although from the want of a[239] special Nehanni vocabulary, the philological evidence is wanting—I begin with the notice of the Nehannis, as known to the Hudson's Bay Company, and afterwards superadd a sketch of the Sitkans, as known to the Russians of New Archangel; the two notices together giving us the special description of a family, and the general view of the class to which that family belongs.
That the Nehannis are brave, warlike, and turbulent, is no more than is expected. We are far beyond the latitude of the peaceful Eskimo. That they are ruled by a woman should surprise us. Such, however, is the case. A female rules them—and rules them, too, with a rod of iron. Respect for sex has here attained its height. It had begun to be recognized amongst the Athabaskans.
The Nehannis are strong enough to rob; but they are also civilized enough to barter; buying of the inland tribes, and selling to the Russians—a practice which seems to divert the furs of British territory to the markets of Muscovy. But this is no business of the ethnologist's. They are slavers and slave-owners; ingenious and imitative; fond of music and dancing; fish-eaters; active in body; bold and treacherous in temper; and with the common Kolúch physiognomy and habits.
These we must collect from the descriptions of the Russian Kolúches—the locality where they[240] have been best studied being Sitka Sound, or New Archangel. We must do it, however, mutatis mutandis, i.e., remembering that the Sitkans are Kolúch of an Archipelago, the Nehanni Kolúch of a continent.
The Kolúch complexion is light; the hair long and lank; the eyes black; and the lip and chin often bearded.
The Konægi are the natives of the island Kadiak. Now Lisiansky, from whom the chief details of the Sitkan Kolúch are taken, especially states that, with few exceptions, their manners and customs are those of these same Konægi; one of the minor points of difference being the greater liveliness of the Sitkans, and one of the more important ones, their treatment of the dead. They burn the bodies (as do the Takulli Athabaskans) and deposit the ashes in wooden boxes placed upon pillars, painted or carved, more or less elaborately, according to the wealth of the deceased.
On the death of a toyon, or chief, one of his slaves is killed and burned with him. If, however, the deceased be of inferior rank the victim is buried. If the death be in battle, the head, instead of being burned, is kept in a wooden box of its own. But it is not with the shaman as with the warrior. The shaman is merely interred; since he is supposed to be too full of the evil[241] spirit to be consumed by fire. The reason why burning is preferred to burying is because the possession of a piece of flesh is supposed to enable its owner to do what mischief he pleases.
Now the Konægi are admitted Eskimo.