Brief Description of the Tsimshian[1] Culture Areas

The North Pacific coast is inhabited by a number of distinct tribes, whose culture is fairly uniform. We may distinguish three groups of tribes: the northern group, which embraces the Tlingit, the Haida, and the Tsimshian; the central group, which includes the Kwakiutl tribes and the Bellacoola; and the southern group, to which belong the Coast Salish and the Nootka. Among the last-named group the characteristic traits of North Pacific coast culture are weakest, while in the first group they are most strongly developed. In the following pages I shall give a very brief description of the material culture of the tribe, confining myself, however, to those points that may help give the proper background of the life to which the myths and tales refer. A fuller discussion of social customs, social organization, and religion, as well as a description of the life of the people as it appears in their tales and traditions, will be given later (see p. 393).

Name

The Tsimshian, who are the subject of the following sketch, take their name from the Skeena River, on which they dwell. In their own language this river is called K-sia’n, and they call themselves Ts!ᴇm-sia’n. Ts!ᴇm- is a nominal prefix, signifying “the inside of a thing;” the initial k- of K-sia’n is a prefix indicating place names; so that the word would mean “Inside Of The Skeena River.” The locative prefix k- occurs in the names of almost all the rivers of this area, as in K-lō’sᴇms (“Nass River”).

The Tlingit of Alaska call the Tsimshian Ts!ōtsx̣ᴇ’n (a phonetic modification of the word Ts!ᴇm-sia’n, m being absent in Tlingit), the Bellacoola call them ᴇlxī’mx, the Bellabella designate them as Gwī’tᴇla (“Northerners”). The Haida call each tribe by its own proper name.

The Tsimshian call the southern Tlingit G·id-qane’dz; the Hai’da, Haida; the Xa’isla (the most northern branch of the Kwakiutl tribes), G·it!amā’t; the G·imanoi’tx (the branch of this tribe living on Gardner Channel), G·it-lâ’°p; the Bellabella, Wutsda’.

Material Culture

The Tsimshian, who belong to the northern group of tribes. inhabit the valleys of Nass and Skeena Rivers and the channels and islands southward as far as Milbank Sound. They are fishermen, who subsist partly on the salmon that ascend the rivers of the coast in great numbers; partly on deep-sea fishery, which is prosecuted on the codfish and halibut banks off the coast. At the same time they hunt seals and sea lions, and use the whales that drift ashore. The people of the villages along the river courses and deep fiords of the mainland are also energetic hunters, who pursue particularly the mountain goat, but also the bear and the deer. Vegetable diet is not by any means unimportant. Large quantities of berries are picked in summer and preserved for winter use in the form of cakes. The sap of the hemlock and some species of kelp are also dried and stored away for use in the winter season. The olachen is sought for eagerly, and early in spring all the subdivisions of the Tsimshian tribe assemble on Nass River, which is the principal olachen river of the northern part of the coast. This fish is caught particularly on account of its oil, which is tried out and kept in boxes.

Mr. Duncan, the well-known missionary to the Tsimshian, gives in one of his letters the following description of the preparation of olachen, as witnessed by him at Nass River:[1]

Clams are dug on the beaches and are dried for winter use. This work devolves on the women; in olden times it was done by women and slaves. Mayne (p. 254) describes their preparation as follows:

A favorite dish is snow mixed with oil, This dish is described by Mayne (p. 252) as follows:

Hunters used bow and arrow and the spear, and in traveling over mountains they carry a long mountain stick, provided at the tip with a horn of the mountain goat.

It seems that in former times it was difficult to lay by enough food for the whole year, and there seem to have been periods of famine toward the end of the winter before the appearance of the olachen. This feature is quite prominent in the tales of the Tsimshian, much more so than in the tales of the neighboring tribes.

The industries of the Indians are based to a great extent on the occurrence of the yellow and red cedars. The wood of the red cedar, which is easily split, is worked into planks, which serve for building houses, and which are utilized in a great variety of ways by the native woodworker. The bark of the red cedar is also used extensively for making matting, baskets, and certain kinds of clothing. Strong ropes are made of twigs of the cedar, while others are made of twisted cedar bark. Formerly blankets were woven of the inner bark of the yellow cedar, which was shredded and softened by careful beating, and then woven by a simple method of twining., The wool of mountain goats was also spun and woven.

It may be said that the salmon and cedar are the foundations of Northwest coast culture.

Part of the year the Indians live in permanent villages. These villages consist of large wooden houses built of cedar planks and arranged in i a row facing the sea. A street is leveled in front of the houses, and the canoes are placed on runways on the beach in front of the village. Tradition tells of villages of several rows of houses. In olden times the houses of the Tsimshian were of moderate size, probably about thirty feet square. The following description is based on the observation of a few houses seen in the village of the G·it-qxā’la in 1894:[1] While the house of the Haida[2] generally has on each side of the central line three heavy beams which support the roof, the house of the Tsimshian and of the Kwakiutl has only one pair of heavy beams, one on each side of the doorway. In the Kwakiutl house these two beams, which rest on heavy posts, stand no more than six feet apart.[3] In the houses of the Tsimshian and Nîsqa’ᵋ (figs. 1-3) they stand about halfway between the central line and the lateral

walls. The house of the Tlingit, as represented by Shotridge,[1] is very much like the Tsimshian house, except in minor points. The posts are still farther apart than in the Tsimshian house. This arrangement necessitates that provision be made for a ridge beam. The heavy beams B rest on the uprights U, which are seldom carved. On top of the beams three or four supports S are laid, on which rests the ridge beam R. The latter consists of two parts, leaving a space in the middle for the smoke hole. Sometimes, but not regularly, two additional beams R’ rest on these supports. In a few cases the central ridge beam is then supported by a smaller support S’. The lower end of the roof is either arranged as shown in figures 1 and 2 or as indicated in figure 3. In the former case the roof supports are separate from the walls; beams V are laid on the uprights C, and the roof boards rest on the beams R, B, and V. In the latter case (fig. 3) the corner post P is connected with the rear corner post by a square beam which supports the lower ends of the roof boards. The walls of the old houses consist of horizontal planks of great width. The thick base planks of the front, rear, and sides (figs. 2, 3) are grooved, and the

thinner planks are let into these grooves. The two top moldings of the front are also thick planks, which are grooved. Over the door D is a short, heavy plank, on which rests a single thinner vertical plank. The construction of the back may be seen in figure 1. Sometimes the houses are built on steep banks, so that only the rear half is built on the ground. In this case a foundation of heavy cedar trees is built. A short log is placed with one end in the bank, the butt end standing out toward the beach, where the side wall is to be. Another log is placed in the same manner where the second side wall is to be. A third heavy log is placed over the butts of the two projecting logs. Then two more logs are put on top of the first pair with their ends in the bank, and thus a foundation is built up to the level of the embankment. This is covered with a platform, and the house is built about eight or ten feet back from its outer edge, so that the platform forms the front portion of the floor of the house as well as a summer seat in front of the house door.

The fireplace was in the center of the house, just under the smoke hole. In the daytime the people lived on the floor of the house. The seat of the house owner was in the rear of the fire. Guests used to sit by the side of the fire. The beds were arranged on a platform that ran all around the walls. Provisions were also kept partly on this platform, partly on shelves, which were suspended from the beams and rafters. Sometimes young people had their bedrooms on such shelves. According to tradition there were some houses that had more than one platform, and in which the floors were quite deeply excavated.

The building of a house of this type required considerable skill in woodworking.[1] In former times the Indians felled large trees by

means of stone chisels, stone axes, and fire; but the planks used for house building were usually split off from a live tree by cutting deep notches into the trunk at appropriate distances and then splitting off pieces from the tree by means of large wedges, which were driven with long-handled stone mauls (fig. 4); while on the southern part of the coast hand hammers were used. After the planks had been split off, they were smoothed by means of stone or bone adzes (fig. 5). For very fine work the process of smoothing was continued until the surface of the plank had reached a high degree of finish. The planks and boards were finally polished off with grit stones and dogfish skin. The art of making household utensils from thin planks of this kind had reached a high degree of perfection. The method pursued was that of kerfing the planks and of bending, after having subjected the wood to a steam bath. In this manner the sides of boxes and buckets were made. These were fastened to a wooden bottom either by means of pegs or by sewing with twisted cedar twigs (fig. 6).

Water-tight boxes were secured by calking the joints. Large boxes of this type (fig. 7) were used for storing provisions, blankets, etc.; smaller water-tight boxes, for cooking food, the box being filled with water, which was then heated by means of red-hot stones.

Food trays (fig. 8) were made of large blocks of wood hollowed out by means of chisel and ax and finished with a crooked knife, the handle of which fitted the hand nicely. One of the best products of the woodwork of the natives of this region is the dugout canoe, which is made of cedar, hollowed out, and worked down to an even thickness. After the cedar has been hollowed out, it is steamed and then spread, and thus large canoes are made of graceful form and capable of withstanding a heavy sea.

The basketry of the Tsimshian is not elaborate. Simple or twilled woven matting is made of wide strips of cedar bark (fig. 9). Water-tight baskets and hats are woven of twined spruce-root work (fig. 10; see also illustrations of such basketry in Emmons 1). To a certain extent spruce-root basketry takes the place of the small boxes which are exclusively used on the southern part of the coast for carrying water. Baskets made of woven cedar bark are largely used for storage of provisions, for keeping blankets, for box covers, for holding spoons, and for berrying.

For fishing, hooks and harpoons are employed. For halibut fishing a tackle is used with a crosspiece made of a light twig, to each end of which a hook is tied (fig. 11). After the fish is landed it is killed with a carved club (fig. 12). A great variety of forms of fish traps are found, in which large quantities of salmon are secured during the summer months. Traps are also used for securing land game. Small fur-bearing animals, as well as larger game, as bears and deer, are trapped in this manner.

The bow (fig. 13) is of simple construction. It is made of a single piece of yew wood, with slightly curved back, flat belly, and narrow, round grip. The arrows are carried in a wooden quiver. Arrows with detachable heads were used for hunting sea otter, while land game was hunted with arrows having bone points. It would seem that in olden times, practically all along the coast, the art of stone chipping was not in use, while rubbed slate points and pecked and battered stone hammers and stone mortars (fig. 14) were common. While the men procure all the animal food except shellfish, the women gather berries and dig roots and shellfish. On Queen Charlotte Islands, and perhaps also among the Tsimshian, tobacco was raised in olden times in gardens cleared near the villages. The tobacco was not smoked, but chewed mixed with calcined shells.

In olden times the dress of the Tsimshian consisted of a breechclout, over which was worn a blanket of fur or of dressed skin. The front edges of blankets made of dressed skins were painted (fig. 15). Dressed skin was also embroidered with porcupine quills (figs. 16, 18), although this art was not as prominent among the coast tribes as it was among the Indians of the interior, Wealthy people used expensive furs for making their blankets, while the poor used marmot skins. On ceremonial occasions—that is, at festivals and potlatches—the leaders dressed much more elaborately. A painted or embroidered apron (fig. 17) and leggings (figs. 16, 18) decorated in the same manner were added to the blanket. The Tsimshian and Tlingit also wore ornamental blankets of mountain-goat wool.[1] Aprons and leggings were made of similar material. The apron and leggings seem to have been parts of the ceremonial costume worn at dances rather than ordinary dress.

The children of the nobility were tattooed on the back of the hands and on the chest with designs representing their crests. The helix of the ear was perforated four times; and large ear-ornaments made of long tassels of wool, with square pieces of abalone shell attached to them, were worn pendant from these perforations. Teeth of the killer whale were also worn as ear-ornaments. The septum of the nose was perforated, and a horizontal bar of bone, or a pendant made of abalone shell or of the tooth of the killer whale, was worn as a nose-ornament. The lower lips of women were perforated in the center, and labrets were worn in this hole. Young girls wore a thin nail with a head on the inner side. With increasing age the size of the labret was increased, and old women wore large wooden plugs inlaid with abalone shell. It is said that noble girls used to bite on a greenstone pebble in order to wear down their incisors.

Weapons were, besides bow and arrow, dagger, spear, and club. Warriors protected their bodies by means of armor made of rods or slats and a loose outer armor of heavy hide. All of these were painted

with the crest designs of the wearer. Greaves were worn over the shins, and the head was covered with a helmet.

Household utensils, canoes, and practically all objects utilized by the natives, are elaborately decorated. This is true particularly of their woodwork. The style of decoration is very characteristic. Only animal motives are applied, each design generally consisting of a combination of various parts of an animal’s body, whose forms, although highly conventionalized, are easily recognized. The conventional type of this art is based

on the principle, so common in the art of children and of primitive people, of representing what appear to the artist as the essential parts of the animal, with little regard to their arrangement in space. This method of representation is developed here to a high artistic perfection. In general, the artist endeavors by distortion and dissection to fit the whole animal as nearly as possible into the decorative field. This is frequently accomplished by splitting the animal in two, and by representing the two halves spread out; but many other processes are used. The forms are expressed in curved lines, and there is a tendency to utilize oval fields, which may be elaborated by a group of concentric or almost concentric elliptical or rounded designs. These peculiar designs resemble eyes; and the Northwest coast art may be said to be characterized by the prevalence of the eye motive. The eye is used with great frequency to indicate the joints of the body, the original idea being evidently a representation of the ball-and-socket joint, the curved outline of the figure representing the socket, the inner field the ball. These designs are done both in carving and painting, The colors applied are principally black and red, although green and blue also occur. Among the Tsimshian and Tlingit the same kinds of designs are used on blankets woven of mountain-goat wool and cedar bark. The animals used for ornamentation are almost throughout those which play an important part in the mythology and in the beliefs connected with the social organization of the tribe. It is remarkable that geometrical designs are practically absent. Only among the Tlingit, where elaborate decoration of spruce-root basketry occurs, does a highly developed geometrical decorative art accompany the more realistic art before described. It seems probable, however, that this art has been introduced through contact of the coast tribes with the tribes of the interior. The decoration resembles the designs used in the porcupine-quill embroidery of Athapascan tribes, and is executed in basketry by a peculiar method of “false embroidery.” To a limited extent, such geometric designs are used in quill embroidery applied to leggings and other articles. of dress, and seem to have been used on old types of blankets woven of mountain-goat wool. The realistic art, which is based on woodwork, is essentially a man’s art; the geometric art, which is based on basket and mat weaving, is a woman’s art.[1] The products of different parts of the country and of different tribes were so varied, that a lively trade existed all along the coast. The Tsimshian sold to the Haida, in exchange for canoes, particularly boxes of olachen oil, carved spoons of mountain-goat horn (fig. 19) and bighorn-sheep horn (fig. 20), wool and woolen blankets. Dentalia, abalone shells, copper, and slaves were also important in intertribal trade. Dried salmon, halibut, and other kinds of staple food, were also sold in exchange for furs and other valuables. It is said that blankets made of marmot skins sewed together were a standard of value. The curious copper plates made in olden times of native copper, later of imported copper (fig. 21), represented high values. These were used only at potlatches.