Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/838

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

dawson] ANTHROPOLOGIC LITERATURE 767

of the analysis of jade from the same locality already made by Dr B. J. Harrington of McGill University. 1 The interesting questions con- nected with the mode in which the jade bowlders were cut up and the adzes trimmed to shape are also discussed by Mr Smith, who arrives at the conclusion that the work was done chiefly with flat pieces of hard siliceous sandstone, fragments of which, evidently used for this purpose, are commonly found. Other modes of cutting up bowlders of jade or allied materials, however, were also in use, as indicated by specimens in the collection of the Geological Survey of Canada, some of which, with little doubt, have been worked upon with fragments or crystals of quartz, as stated by the natives of the present day, and confirmed by inquiries made by Mr Hill-Tout.

Straight pipes, resembling cigar-holders in form and made of soap- stone, are represented by a number of specimens, some of which have been ornamented by designs in incised lines. These are characteristic, and in them it may be supposed that the tobacco native to the region (Nicotiana attcnuatd) was smoked on occasions of ceremony or festiv- ity. Of implements made of bone or antler, a considerable variety, in- cluding wedges, adzes, scrapers, awls, needles, harpoon-points, clubs, and handles of root-digging sticks have been found. The last-men- tioned objects are peculiarly the property of women in these tribes, forming the crutch-like handle of a pointed staff employed in extract- ing the several varieties of roots which at certain seasons are used as food.

Copper, employed chiefly for ornamental purposes and beaten into thin plates, is found in limited quantity. Other ornaments have been made of bone and of several species of sea-shells, including the large Pecterit the Dcntalium, and the Haliotis or " abalone." These shells, it will be remarked, imply trade with the coast.

The incised designs already referred to as occurring on some of the pipes are also noticed in certain cases on objects of bone or antler. The writer would be inclined to regard most of these designs as trivial, but explanations are given of them in Mr Smith's memoir which may recommend themselves to some of those versed in native art. In respect to artistic genius and workmanship these natives of the interior of British Columbia were, however, far behind those of the coast, of which their best efforts may be regarded as a faint reflex.

Mr Smith may be congratulated on the opportunity which has been afforded to him of illustrating the archeology of this interesting local- ity, which, though well in the interior of British Columbia, is situated

1 Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Section HI, 1890, p. 61.

�� �